I scanned the playground of the park, my eyes searching for Sam; she said she'd be here. I walked towards the swings, my hands deep in my pockets, dodging toddlers and preschoolers running around as if they didn't have a care in the world. I reached the bench where we met and a thousand memories flooded back.
Seven year old Freddie was on his knees, searching for the marble that had rolled under the bench. Sweat dripped down his nose, the summer heat was getting to him. He wiped his forehead, catching the beads of sweat nestled there. A shadow loomed over him and he squinted, trying to make out the figure in front of him. There was a girl around his age standing in front of him wearing Capri pants and a shirt that said "Mama's Girl"; her hair was a tangled mess of blonde curls and she had a smudge of mud on her cheek. She rubbed her nose, leaving more dirt. "You looking for wormths too?" she asked him. He shook his head. "I'm looking for my marble. I dropped it." She kneeled down beside him and patted the ground a few times. "Thith ith a good playth to look for wormth," she said in an approving voice still patting the ground. "Mind tharing?" Freddie shook his head. She gave him a grin, showing off the gaps in her teeth which explained the lisp. "I'm Same said proudly. "Fredward Benson," he replied formally, the way his mom taught him. "Fredward?," Sam's voice rose up an octave. " Thath a funny name," she giggled. Freddie's face fell and Sam's softened. She touched his shoulder lightly and smiled cheekily at him. "But I like it."
I smiled, remembering. She was actually being nice then, he remembered in amazement. I scanned the park another time, this time catching sight of a blonde head turning the corner. I grinned, silly Sam was late. I crept towards the bushes that trailed the park's pathway, wanting to scare them. I inched around the bush, careful not to make any noise when suddenly a shrill voice screamed.
"Who is that?" nine year-old Freddie's awed voice distracted Sam from her mud pie making. The bench served as her kitchen "counter top" and she set her cake down there. She wiped her muddy hands on her jeans and looked up to see a brunette girl laughing with a young man who could only be her older brother. Sam rubbed her nose, leaving a trail of mud. "Carly Shay," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. "She just moved to Bushwell so don't freak her out with your dorkiness, Freddork." Freddie didn't reply, he was too busy drooling over this new girl. He stood up quickly, abandoning the pile of pebbles he was suppose to be sorting for Sam's "cake". "Hey!" he called from a distance, his voice squeaky and high. Carly turned around. "Hey," she replied in a friendly voice. "W-want to make p-pies with us?" Freddie stammered. Carly looked at her brother who nodded enthusiastically. Spencer was glad someone wanted to play with Carly. "Okay," she said, grinning. Sam was in shock; Freddie never spoke to girls—never. She glared at this new girl as she sat down next to them. She would never like her, she told herself. How wrong she was.
"I can't believe you dragged me here in the middle of the night," sixteen year-old Sam Puckett complained to Freddie. "It's my birthday and I was having a nice dream," she mumbled. Freddie ignored the annoyed blonde who was only in her pyjamas, a jacket thrown over her shoulders. He was setting up the telescope he got for his birthday. Sam huffed and plopped herself on to the bench, her arms crossed over her chest. "This better be good, Benson." She complained again. "Alright, alright," he said. He peered into the peep hole and adjusted the telescope. "There," he said proudly. "C'mere already, Puckett." Sam huffed again and walked towards Freddie, trying to suppress her curiosity. "Now look through here," he told her, pointing at the peep hole. Sam slapped his hand away. "I'm not an idiot, nub," she mumbled. Freddie coughed to hide a laugh, earning him a punch in the arm. "Ow," he mumbled, rubbing the sore spot. He watched Sam, her mouth open in a "O". Freddie grinned. "What you're seeing is Sirius, it's a constellation," he told her. "A constellation is basically a collection of stars that make a certain shape. I knew you always wanted to go to the moon and, well, this is the closest I could get." He blushed then. Sam looked at the blushing Freddie and took his hand, entwining her fingers with his. "Thank you, Freddie. This, by far, is the best gift I've ever gotten," She said sincerely and leaned in and gave him a kiss.
Sam tackled him from behind, sending both of them rolling down the small hill, thus covering them in leaves. They stopped at the bottom off the hill, Sam on top of Freddie, and she was grinning madly. "Gotcha, Benson." She sniggered. He was still breathless but not just from their little tumble, more from the beautiful blonde smiling down on him. Freddie stared into her blue eyes, wanting so badly to kiss her but she was already on her feet before he even started leaning towards her. "Let's go, dork. We'll be late for Spencer's goodbye party." He rolled his eyes and got to his feet. His heart was still flying in his chest, thanks to Sam.
"Freddie?" Sam's voice broke the still of the night, his heart was racing in his chest. He didn't look up. He felt her slide into the bench beside him, he felt her take his hand and squeeze it gently. "I'm coming back, okay," she whispered, he didn't dare get his hopes up. "It's just for six months and I really need this so that I can be successful in the future. It'll be good in my resume…"Sam explained quickly, Freddie was barely listening. "…And it's only in Canada, it's just a plane ride away. You could go up there or I could go down h-," Freddie had put a hand over her mouth. "Just leave, Sam. I don't need any explanations." His voice sounded husky and dark even to him. Sam flinched like she was slapped, she turned away, wanting to hide the tears that she knew were coming. "I'm sorry I can't stay, Freddie," she whispered. "It's just that I have nothing here in Seattle anymore. Carly and Spencer are in Canada and my mom's off in Phoenix and Melanie's in Italy for school and," she sniffled and breathed in deeply, "I've got nothing left." She turned her back on him, hiding the tears that were falling. "How 'bout me?" he asked hoarsely, startling her.
"You're important to me, Freddie; you really are," she whispered, still facing away from him. " Maybe even the most important person I have right now," Freddie looked up and Sam faced him; her eyes were shining, tears running down her face. He stood up, his face expressionless, and walked towards her. He towered over her now, she was almost a head shorter. He looked into her eyes and saw real sadness in them. "You're important to me too," he whispered, wiping her tears away, and kissed her.
"Call me when you touch down, alright? And call me if you need anything sent up." Freddie told Sam for the millionth time. He was holding her carry on bag, not wanting to let it go. She rolled her eyes. "I won't forget, Benson." She laughed at his worried expression. "You can give me back my bag now," she stated. Freddie shook his head and made a face, making Sam laugh. "I can't believe you're leaving me," he said. Sam turned serious in a heart beat. "I'll be back, you know," she reminded him. "I'm gonna miss you," he told her. "Ditto," Sam whispered. "You're such a dork, Benson" she said out of the blue. She pulled him close, her mouth inches from his, "But you're my dork," she whispered, biting her lip as if she was embarrassed to admit it. Freddie loved it when she did that, she looked so cute. He leaned in but Sam leaned back and his face fell into a pout. "Just kidding," she giggled and kissed him, turning his scowl into a smile.
Freddie paced the room, reciting the lines that would change his life in his head. He checked his watch again. 6:47. Sam was late by two minutes. Damn, he was so nervous. He let out a shaky breath and sat himself down on the nearest chair. He put his head in his hands and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't do this," he muttered.
"Can't do what?," a slightly out of breath voice asked from the doorway. He whipped around and there was Sam.
"This," he said. He walked towards her and took her hand. Always keeping his eyes locked on hers, he went down on one knee.
"Samantha Puckett," he said in a serious voice while Sam gaped at him. "I love you. I never want to lose you. You're beautiful and you take my breath away. Your love makes me stronger and," he laughs a bit breathlessly," it keeps me sane. And when you love someone like I love you, getting married is the only thing left to do." He stopped then and smiled a little. "So Sam," he cleared his throat, "Will you marry me?" She didn't answer. She just stared at him, her mouth slightly gaping. He got up then, his brow furrowing.
"Sam?" he half-whispered, "You okay?" She suddenly snapped out of it and threw him into a hug. Tears were streaming down her face and Freddie was as confused as can be.
She pulled back and smiled at him. "I'm fine, you dork. And I will. I will marry you."
"Daddy! Daddy!" I would've recognized that voice anywhere and grinned as a small figure wrapped in a jacket and a purple scarf ran towards me, her brown curls flying. I went down to her level and opened my arms wide. Her blue eyes were shining, her face slightly flushed. She collided into me, tipping us over and we fell to the ground, Adriana wrapped in my arms. She was laughing and I was laughing, leaves stuck in our hair.
"Let your father up, Dree," a laughing voice called out a few feet away. Sam still took my breath away; she was beautiful in every way, her blonde hair curling down her back, one hand held onto a blonde one year old boy who was sticking his fist in his mouth, the other was around her round tummy. Adriana jumped up and ran back to her mother still grinning like mad.
"Toby can walk now," she told me in a matter-of-fact voice. She poked her brother. "Go Toby, walk to Daddy," she cooed. Toby drooled as Sam positioned him so that he and I were in front of each other.
"Come to Daddy, Toby," I cooed. Toby's brown eyes met mine and he grinned an almost toothless grin. Sam let go of his hand and Toby stood there; clumsily, he took a step forward and toppled into my arms. I laughed and everyone joined in.
"Da-da," he said and I beamed with pride. I felt fingers running through my hair and looked up to see Sam smiling down at me. I rubbed her almost full term belly and she slapped my hand away.
"Don't wake them up, Freddie," she told me, making a face. "It isn't comfy when they keep kicking." I made a solemn face and hoisted Toby into my arms and walked towards Sam. I made Toby bow to her and I did the same.
"Toby, tell your twin brothers or sisters to stop kicking Mommy," I commanded him in a serious voice, making him face his mother's bulging belly. He patted her tummy a few times and spewed drool all over Sam's maternity shirt. She rolled her eyes. "Way to go, Captain Awesome," she walked towards an empty bench and sat down slowly. I let Toby and Adriana wander around stretch of space in front of us; they were counting the number of bricks and they were collecting leaves. Sam rubbed her tummy in circles with one hand and I took the other, entwining our fingers.
We watched our children play and I marvelled over the fact that they looked so much like the two of us. Adriana was the exact replica of Sam except for the brown hair which she got from me. Toby looked exactly like me except for the blonde hair which he got from Sam. Adriana was a mix of Sam and I; she had her mother's genes in terms of food preferences; she loved meat more than she loved baths. It was probably still too early to tell for Toby since he drooled most of the time. My eyes wandered away from Adriana and Toby and ended on Sam. Her tummy was huge now that she was nearing her due date. We were expecting twins, we didn't know the gender though. I grinned at the thought of two more children then grimaced at the thought of Sam in labor. She laughed at my expression.
"What're you thinking about?" she mused.
"You," I tell her. Even after ten years of being a couple, her smile still blows me away.