Chapter 240: Meeting Each Other
"Dad~" Sammi excitedly waved at Frank's car.
"Hurry and say 'Grandpa,'" Sammi urged the chubby boy beside her.
"Grandpa," the now noticeably cleaner little chubby boy greeted.
"Are you ready?" Frank asked.
"Yeah," Sammi nodded a bit nervously.
Frank had already told the kids about his real eldest daughter, Sammi. While the children hadn't explicitly said whether they accepted her, they all agreed to meet and get to know each other.
Sammi hadn't been able to sleep the whole night, wondering how she should face her siblings whom she had never met.
"Relax, they're all good kids," Frank said gently, sensing her anxiety.
He had already told Sammi about each of them in detail and shown her photos so she could have some idea of what to expect.
"Thanks, Dad," Sammi replied, nodding.
The chubby boy, however, seemed unfazed. He silently munched on a bag of chips.
Frank drove to a restaurant and brought Sammi and the chubby boy inside. They quickly spotted Fiona and the others.
"Dad~!" Debbie greeted him excitedly.
"This is your big sister Sammi, and this is your nephew, Chuckie," Frank introduced them truthfully.
"Chuckie, call your aunts and uncles," Sammi instructed the chubby boy.
Sammi was clearly emotional, speaking to each child with tears in her eyes.
"I've heard so much about you from Dad."
"Fiona, the beautiful and capable one, holding this whole family together."
"Lip, the genius — a real super-genius who graduated high school and is off to college. The future hope of the Gallagher family."
"Ian, the brave one — a rising star in the U.S. military, the future Captain America."
"Debbie, so sweet and kind, like a little angel."
"And Carl… Chuckie, look at your Uncle Carl. You two look exactly the same — it's honestly moving to see."
Sammi was enthusiastic and cheerful, showing no signs of awkwardness.
"…" Chuckie, however, continued to silently eat, focused entirely on his food.
"To be honest, she kind of freaked me out," Carl muttered under his breath.
"Be polite," Fiona said, giving Carl a light smack on the head.
As everyone ate and chatted, the initial awkwardness slowly faded.
"Sammi and Chuckie are still living in an RV," Frank said. "I want to bring them home. We're remodeling the house anyway, joining the two buildings together, and there'll be enough rooms for everyone."
The kids exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement.
Frank had already discussed this with them beforehand. Since no one had objected, he chose to raise it now.
"Thank you, thank you so much," Sammi said tearfully, covering her mouth with emotion.
After the meal, Fiona and the others headed home first.
"No more living in that rundown RV," Frank said. "I'll go back with you to pack up. Let's sell the RV—it's just taking up space."
"The house is still under renovation, so you and Chuckie can't move in yet. It should be ready in a week. For now, I'll put you up in a hotel."
"Whatever you say, Dad," Sammi replied obediently.
Back at the RV, they started packing.
You could tell that Sammi and Fiona were really sisters—both had trouble throwing anything away. She wanted to keep everything.
"Forget it. Just toss it all. I'll buy you new stuff," Frank said.
Though Frank had already spent quite a bit—investing in a bar, remodeling the house, bulk shopping, buying furniture—he still had a lot of money left.
With over $200,000 in cash, Frank was basically a rich man in the South Side. Even among working-class middle-income families, few had that kind of money. He could afford to be extravagant.
"Okay, whatever you say," Sammi agreed.
Unlike Fiona, who always argued with Frank over what to keep or toss, Sammi was completely agreeable. Whatever Frank said, she went along with—obedient and thoughtful, even more so than little Debbie.
Psychologically speaking, Sammi exhibited classic signs of emotional deprivation.
Abandoned by her father at a young age, she grew up lacking paternal love. People like her often go to great lengths to prove themselves once they find their estranged parent.
Deep down, Sammi desperately wanted her father's approval—to prove that abandoning her had been a mistake, to show she was the best child he ever had.
This kind of dynamic is not unique to Sammi. It often appears in families where sons are favored over daughters.
For example, in a household where parents prioritize sons, giving them the best of everything while neglecting their daughters—the daughters often grow up trying to win their parents' love and approval.
When the parents get sick, it's often the daughter, not the son, who stays by their bedside, spending time and money to take care of them. The favored son might barely visit.
Hospitals see this dynamic all the time. It's another form of emotional deprivation—daughters trying to prove they're more worthy than the ungrateful son.
Unfortunately, only a few parents ever recognize this. Most still blindly praise the son who barely lifts a finger. That's just human nature.
After packing, Frank and Sammi sold the old, beat-up RV—it wasn't worth much.
Then Frank found a clean, decent hotel near the house for them to stay in and helped them settle in with daily necessities.
Frank, feeling guilty toward Sammi, went out of his way to take care of everything. Sammi, in turn, fully embraced this long-lost fatherly love, often wiping away tears in secret.
Meanwhile, little Chuckie acted like an emotionless eating machine, constantly snacking or playing the game console Frank gave him.
Frank eventually realized why Chuckie seemed a little off—his intelligence appeared below average, with noticeably slow thinking and reactions. He often seemed dazed or mentally absent.
It was likely the result of Sammi's past—when she was pregnant, she had followed one of her ex-husbands into heavy drinking and drug use.