This came to mind over the holiday weekend. Just a short story with characters from iKept Something From You. Yeah, I know Christmas was a couple of weeks ago, but I just got it typed up.
7:00 Christmas morning. The Benson (formerly Puckett) home. Ten years after Sam & Freddie's wedding.
"C'mon, Steph. We're all waiting for you." Freddie called up the steps for the third time for his teenage daughter who was still getting ready for the holiday festivities.
"That's it! If she's not down here in five minutes, we're starting without her." Sam proclaimed. Christmas was the only day of the year that Sam willingly woke up before ten o'clock and she was raring and ready to tear into her gifts.
"Aw, Sam. We can wait a little bit for her. I don't want to take too many pictures without her." Freddie defended, his camera in hand. He always was way too soft with the kids.
"You already took, like, fifty pictures, Fredclick." Sam snapped at her husband. "Just take a few with Matt standing in front of the tree and photo shop Stephie in later."
"Yeah, Dad." Their ten year old son begged. "Mom and I are ready to go, we've been waiting for miss Pokey for over half an hour."
"Uh, Sam. Why don't we make some more hot chocolate and get some more cookies in here. You only had six pieces or so of the coconut fudge this morning." Freddie stalled and led Sam into the kitchen, hoping to give their daughter enough time to get downstairs.
"OK, Daddy, I'm ready!" Proclaimed fifteen year old Stephanie as she came down the steps and planted herself on the floor by the tree. "Great, now I have to wait for them."
"They're in the kitchen, supposedly getting more cookies." Her little brother informed her as he was shaking various gifts from under the tree. "They're probably kissing under Dad's mistletoe again."
Unlike, the rest of the household who were still in their pajamas, the teen was in her Christmas best. A red and green holiday sweater, dark red leggings and a sparkly, gold tie in her blonde pony-tail, that she wore just like her aunt. She had started wearing makeup when she turned fifteen, earlier that year, much to Freddie's chagrin, which was applied just like when she left for school.
"Is this what we were waiting for?" Her brother griped, turning around looking at her. "It's Christmas, Steph, not the prom. You don't have to look like a Bobbi Doll."
She turned to her brother and stuck out her tongue. "And with the way Daddy takes pictures, if I don't look my best, shots of me in my pajamas will be all over Splashface by noon. Speaking of which, don't stand too close to me when he's got his camera out. And would it have hurt you to at least change out of the Galaxy Wars Christmas pj's and comb your hair?"
"It's Christmas and I'm not changing until Mom says I have to." He informed her with a pout.
"What are you two arguing about already today?" Their dad asked, coming into the room a tray with four cups of hot chocolate in his hands.
"Merry Christmas, Daddy." Stephanie jumped up and planted a big kiss on her dad's left cheek. "I was just telling dweebus here not to be next to me when you take pictures. I don't need my friends seeing him in his pj's when you post the pics online."
"Relax, Stephie." Sam came in the room with a plate of cookies and fudge. "It's Christmas, you're supposed to wear your pajamas when you open your gifts. "It's not necessary to look like a model."
The teen just huffed and took a sip of her drink. "I see I can't even get my own mother to look presentable." Sam was wearing her long nightgown with bacon pattern."
"I happen to think your mom looks quite adorable." Freddie said, kissing his wife. "Kinda yummy, really."
"Ewww." The teen replied. "TMI, Daddy."
"I still think the kid's spent too much time with Aunt Carly." Sam whispered to Freddie as she took her mug off his tray.
"Yeah, she's turning into a girl." Sam smirked. "Speaking of Carly, her and Jason should be here around ten. Why don't we just wait to start opening gifts. Now Steph, put your cup down and stand beside your brother. We can just take some pictures awhile and . . . "
"Nu-Uh." Sam argued. "You get one minute to take all the pictures your heart desires and then we're opening presents. We've already waited for the holiday queen, we're not waiting any more."
Freddie knew his wife wasn't kidding and pointed his camera at the kids. An hour later, the presents were all opened and the family was sitting around the room examining their new treasures.
"Look at them, sitting next to each other on the couch and being all cute." Freddie said quietly to Sam. "It's hard to believe they can be so peaceful the way they fight other times. This is almost a Christmas miracle. I just don't understand why they fight all the time, they used to be so close."
"That was before Steph turned into a teenager." Sam replied. "At least we have a couple of years before he gets there."
"Yeah, if we're lucky by the time he hits the teen years, she'll be college." Freddie fantasized.
"Yep, but first, she'll have graduation, prom and BOYFRIENDS." Sam reminded him.
"Oh, God. First she starts wearing makeup and now you spring this on me. Way to ruin Christmas, Sam." He frowned.
"Relax, Nub. She hasn't even started talking about boys constantly yet." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Much."
"Hmmph! She better not, I'm not ready for that yet." About that time, the doorbell rang. "Must be Carly." He jumped up to let their friend in.
Freddie opened the door not to find he and Sam's best friend, but a tall, thin teenage boy with red hair, his hands behind his back, looking so scared he was ready to faint. Freddie recognized the kid as a boy who had moved in about two blocks down the street over the past summer. He had seen Stephanie walking home from school with him on rare occasion.
"Uh, G-good morning, Mr. Benson. I, er, mean Merry Christmas." The teen stammered with a nervous smile.
"Can I help you, there, um David, is it?" Freddie asked.
"Y - yea, er yes. Yes, sir. Is Stephanie home? I had something I wanted to bring to her, f-for Christmas."
"Got it Daddy." Stephanie hissed through clenched teeth. She pushed past her dad. "C'mon in David."
Freddie was flabbergasted. He never knew there was a boy who 'liked' his daughter, she never mentioned anything about boys, at least to him. Other than the makeup thing she was sort of a tom-boy like her mom. She was just as likely to play full-contact football as brush her hair. Freddie tried to be intimidating, at least much so as a thirty-something man could look wearing a Santa hat, Nug-Nug sweatpants and a tee-shirt with a Christmas stocking on it that said 'No coal is my goal.'
"I thought she hadn't started talking about liking boys?" Freddie snipped in a quiet voice to Sam.
"Can it, Fredlumps." Sam grunted with an elbow to his ribs as she walked over to the boy and extended a hand. "So you must be David."
"This is my mom, you already met my dad." Stephanie introduced her family.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Benson." He squeaked.
"Don't call her that." Steph whispered. "She doesn't like to be so, uh formal. Plus it reminds her of my grandma."
"I'm Sam. You care for some hot cocoa or a cookie?" Sam offered the boy.
"Thanks, mom. And that lump on the couch is my brother." Steph motioned toward Matt.
"Sup, Dave." Matt looked up from his video game for a second.
"Hi, Matt." David replied. "Got the new Game-Man I see. I hope I did, too. We didn't open our presents yet."
"H-how do you two know each other?" The blonde teen was confused how her little brother could know a boy five years older than him.
"Scouts." David replied. "Your brother is one of the new recruits in our group."
"Oh." She replied. "Well, um, anyway. You want to sit down, maybe we can go downstairs to the game room."
Freddie, with Spencer's help, had turned the basement into an entertainment room a few years earlier, with a super big screen TV, theater seating and every video game console known to man. This was also the only room he was allowed to have any collectibles his wife deemed as too nerdy, like trains or Galaxy Wars toys. Sam reasoned there was enough 'cool' stuff down there to cancel out the dorkiness.
The teens started down the basement steps before any further objections could be raised.
"W-wouldn't you rather stay here with the rest of us, Steph, where I can see what you're doing?" Freddie asked as she walked away.
"Freddie!" Sam hissed. "You and I used to hang out and even have sleepovers at Carly's when we were their age. No one was watching us. What are they going to do down there that's so bad?"
"Yeah, and we had our first kiss by the time we were their age, too. And then there was dating an, and, hands touching things. An, and, and . . . Grrrgh!"
"Let them go. I'm sure we can trust Stephanie. And David is a scout. You know, trustworthy and all."
"I guess I'll go downstairs and hook up that new zombie pursuit game I got you for Christmas, Sam." Freddie said loudly enough to be heard by anyone on the basement steps.
Stephanie rolled her eyes from the bottom of the stairs. "Sorry about that. My dad can be kinda well, my mom calls it nubby. Whatever that means." David just grinned at her.
Before Freddie's blood pressure could get any worse, the doorbell again rang. Sam opened it to find Carly and her fiance, Jason.
"Hey, Carls. Jase. Come in." Sam welcomed them.
"Why does Freddie look like he's on the verge of a panic attack? I haven't seen him look like that since you went into labor when we were having dinner at Pini's." Carly whispered to her friend as Sam took their coats.
"A neighbor boy showed up with a Christmas present for Stephanie." Sam said quietly.
"Awwww, her first boyfriend." Carly cooed. "That's so precious. Hey, she's about the age when you and Freddie first started liking each other."
"He's NOT her boyfriend." Freddie replied coldly, taking the coats from Sam. "He's just some kid from the neighborhood."
"That obviously has a crush on our daughter." Sam smirked, poking him in the ribs with her finger tips.
"Oh, no. No, no, no!" Freddie again panicked. "Matt, what do you know about this David kid?"
"Well, he's pretty smart, he's on the high school math decathlon team and student government and he's president of the technology club according to Steph. I think he's in her grade, 'cause they have a lot of the same classes. Oh, and his dad is our troop leader. Dave is a whiz with technology and stuff, you should see him with a pear-pad. He can hack anything."
"Mmmmm." Freddie grumbled like Marge Simpson.
Several hours later, dinner was almost ready. Sam and Carly were busy in the kitchen, where Jason was helping stir gravy. He and Carly were still at the stage of not being able to be in different rooms for more than three minutes. Freddie and his son had made their way to the basement and hooked up the new game and were trying it out.
"Don't tell your mom I was playing this." Freddie warned Stephanie. "She's rabid about being the first one to play it." What surprised him was how mannerly David was and how he and Steph weren't even sitting too close together. A bottle of perfume was sitting on the coffee table in front of the girl, along with some discarded wrapping paper, obviously his daughter's Christmas gift from the boy.
"Oh-Kaaay." She replied, trying to think of a way to keep her friend away from her dad who was, in her opinion as a typical teenager, totally embarrassing her. "Um, David, I think I should go upstairs and see if my mom needs any help getting the table ready."
The two left the room and headed upstairs. "Need me to do anything, Mom?"
"You can set the table for me. Is David staying for dinner with us? You'll have to set a place for him, too."
"I'm sorry but I have to go soon. My grandparents are coming this afternoon, we have to do our Christmas late because my mom was working this morning. She's a nurse." He replied. "Bu-but I can help with the table."
"Isn't that something, Steph's grandma's a nurse, too. Why don't you stay for a little bit, we'll be done with dinner and have you home early, I promise." Sam said. "Besides, you look hungry."
"Oh, come on. Just stay for a little while. Please." Stephanie asked him.
Freddie had made his way up to the kitchen and was now standing behind the teenagers, waving his hands and shaking his head 'NO' at his wife.
"I suppose I could stay for just a little while, Steph." The boy replied as Freddie palmed his forehead. "Thanks, Mrs., er, Sam. I'll have to let my dad know so he doesn't worry. Him and my sister are working on dinner at our place." David pulled out his phone to send a quick text.
"Is that the new Pear 4.82?" Freddie asked, impressed that a kid not old enough to drive had a phone that wasn't even on the market three weeks ago.
"Yes sir. My dad got it for me last week. Sort of an early Christmas gift. He works at Pear."
"You know, I helped design a couple of the apps for that model?" Freddie bragged.
"My dad told me. He works for Pear, too. He's in the marketing department."
"Really? What's his name?"
"Dean. Dean Turner, sir."
"You're Dean's kid? Wow. I didn't know that. I work on a different floor from your dad, but I've run into him already at lunch time and in a meeting or two. He's a pretty good guy. I heard HR recruited him from a rival company. Must be a real ringer."
And with that, David and Freddie began to talk about technology and Freddie was not so uneasy with his daughter being friends with this boy. Poor Stephanie was totally embarrassed that the boy she liked was talking so freely with her dad. She almost fainted when Freddie offered to show David his train collection next time he came over.
OK, I hope that was an enjoyable bit of Seddie family fluffiness.