Second ever iCarly Fic for me…… be kind.
"Honey, wake up. Today is the day." I said, trying to sound cheerful. I nudged the woman in bed next to me in a vain attempt to awaken her.
"Don' wanna…." She rolled back over and pulled the covers over her head.
"This was just as much your idea as it was mine, now UP!" She rolled back over and shot me a death glare.
"That's a start. We owe it to her to be there today."
"Well, as usual you are right, Mr. Benson."
"You know it, Mrs. Benson."
I got out of bed and walked through the closet that connected our room to the childrens'. Freddie was 13. Shayne was only 3, but already was showing a stubborn streak just like her mother, who STILL was not out of bed.
Today was an important day. 12 years ago today, our lives changed forever.
I shook Freddie awake, then went over and picked Shayne up while she was still asleep. I made my way back to my room, while gently awakening my daughter. When we got to my room, Shayne saw her mother hanging halfway out of bed and started fidgeting to get me to let her go. She sprinted over and got right up in her mother's face.
"Mommy, MOM!!! WAKE UP!!! There's Cops at the door, and they've got a WARRANT!" She was just like her mother. This worried me more and more every day.
"Samantha Benson, do what your daughter says." I laughed. Other than a three-year-old girl, no one on this planet had power over Sam.
"Okay, Okay. I'm up. Thank you Shayne." She deadpanned, sitting up and taking Shayne in her arms. She turned to me. "Freddie up yet?"
On cue, Fredward Benson, jr. came into our room and sat down on the edge of the bed, and began tying his shoes. He had his mother's sense of urgency, and I think he may have picked up that today was not going to be a normal Sunday.
"Good job, kiddo. Now can you watch your sister while your father and I get ready?" Sam set Shayne down next to Freddie and got out of bed.
We entered our bathroom and hurried through our shower and the entire after shower ritual. I stood at the mirror, attempting to get my hair into something resembling a respectable style. Sam stepped out of the shower and wrapped her arms around me.
"You need mama to fluff your hair, Benson?"
"No, thank you…" I said flatly, smiling. Even 12 years later, she could not resist a light-hearted jab every once in awhile.
"All right, we need to hurry." I stepped out of the bathroom and walked to the closet, picking out something fitting for the occasion. I settled on a good pair of khaki's and a button-down shirt. I bent down and picked up two pairs of shoes off the floor of the closet. Both were old and beat down Chuck Taylors. Mine in black and Sam's a rainbow of shades and color. When I returned to my room, Sam had slipped on one of her signature hooded sweatshirts, which was actually mine. I am still amazed by the way she manages to look her best when she is wearing the most beat-up casual things.
We marched out the front door, Freddie leading the way, with me holding Shayne and Sam following behind us. I got Shayne situated in the back seat and went to get in the drivers side.
"Oh, oh no Benson. You drive like my grandmother. We gotta get there sometime today. I'm driving." Sam took my keys out of my hand and unlocked the doors. I circled around the car and settled into the passenger side.
The ride to Seattle was uneventful until we got close to the old building. Memories came flooding back, and the enormity of what we were going to do crashed in on both of us when Bushwell came into view.
"Dad, what is this place?" Freddie asked, his voice shakier than I expected. I looked back at him to see him nervously fingering the small nearly invisible scars along his right arm and under his jaw. They had gotten much smaller as he grew. Or, well, they stayed the same size, and he grew around them.
"Your mother and I grew up here." That was true in every way possible.
The grounds were well kept. It seems some things can change even the coldest heart. As if thinking about him made him appear, a man stepped from around the corner of a small building in the corner of the lot
"That time again already?" he asked, offering his hand. I shook his hand before pulling him into a short hug.
"How have you been Lew?"
"As well as can be expected. 12 years, huh.?" The anger that used to define Lewbert had been replaced by a profound sadness those years ago. With this came what I guess was some kind of twisted sense of duty. He wouldn't let anyone else do what he thought of as his job. He turned and led us to the door of the old building.
As we stepped onto the lobby, I ran my fingers through Freddie's dark hair, then took his hand and led him towards the back wall. I started talking about all the things on and around this wall.
"12 years ago, when you were only a few months old, there was a really bad earthquake. This is where your mother and I and our friends lived." I pointed at various pictures along the wall, telling him about all the people that had lived here.
"This is your grandmother."
"This is one of your Uncle Spencer and Socko. You would have loved them." I ran my hand over the picture, trying to fight back the fear of what would come next.
I took the next picture down and smiled weakly. The pale-skinned, dark-haired girl smiled back up at me, frozen in better days. Sam came up behind me, wrapping her free arm around my waist as I turned back to my son. I handed him the picture.
"Wow, dad, she's really pretty."
"Turn down the hormones there, Freddo." Sam bent down next to Freddie Jr. "Her name was Carly. She's your mother."