This takes place a little over six years after 'You Are Cordially Invited' ended. Sam and Freddie have a five year old daughter named Monica, nicknamed Nica.
Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'VicTorious, 'iCarly', or the plots of the original and this. The original one-shot's idea is courtesy of an anonymous reviewer, and the idea for this is courtesy of a second, who like the original one-shot, asked to remain anonymous.
The hair style I try to explain that Cat has now is the hair style Ariana Grande had at the AMAs this year, when she wore that gold dress when she performed 'Bang Bang' with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj. I didn't see it, no cable, but I saw pics online. I like the hairstyle, so I chose it for Cat's new hair.
No POV
Flashback - One year ago
For getting the green light on production of her new horror script turned movie 'From The Shadows', about a group of demon's who have escaped Hell and roam the Earth, hiding in shadows, and grabbing random pedestrians and torturing, killing, or eating them in various twisted ways, Jade decided to throw a party at the L.A. mansion being used to film the opening and most of the scenes of the movie, the main room where the demons torture the pedestrians being turned into a party room to celebrate.
The only two absent from the large group are Carly's older brother Spencer and Sam and Freddie's four year old daughter Monica, who Spencer happily agreed to watch since he has an art exhibit for his sculptures to prepare for and Monica loves spending time with her 'uncle' Spencer.
A few hours into the party, Tori heads to the apartment she shares with her lovely wife, the two got married two years ago, with a drunken Cat in tow. Soon after, Freddie heads to Spencer's apartment where the oldest Shay sibling is staying while in town. Since he hasn't had anything to drink, he was never one for drinking anyway, he figured it'd be better to stay there and spend a bit with Monica before she went to bed, and not wanting his daughter to see a drunk helped make that decision.
A few hours later, most of the guests have left, leaving a drunken Sam Puckett and slightly tipsy Jade West, everyone else long gone.
"Why did you need Freddie's wedding dress, anyway?" Sam asks with a drunken slur as she sits on the couch in the large room, an unopened beer in hand.
"For one of the scenes, a room downstairs was a bridal shop's back room, and we needed some wedding dresses to make it believable. Instead of buying or renting some from an actual shop, I decided to just borrow Freddie's Tori's, and a few others from the crew." Jade says, sipping her wine. "Don't worry, they were put in protective plastic so they didn't get ruined or anything." She adds, more to herself for fear of Tori killing her if anything happened to the half-Latina's dress.
"Good. Freddie loves that thing." Sam says, opening the beer and taking a swig. "He got mad at me when I tried to sell it on eBay last month." She says, taking a sip.
"Tori's the same. Apparently, even for Freddie, the dress is a huge symbol for their marriage, that getting rid of it would be the worst possible sin or something." Jade says, finishing off the wine. "I'll be back. I'm gonna go make sure the dresses are back in their bag things for when Tori comes pick them up and drop Freddie's off tomorrow." She says, standing up and walking towards the hallway.
"I'm coming too." Sam slurs, standing up with wobbly legs and slowly following the Goth. "Slow down." She says, using her free hand to help her stay up her as she follows Jade.
"No. You're too drunk to do anything anyway." Jade says, setting her empty wine glass on a table in the hall.
"Fuck you Jade, I'm not drunk." Sam says, almost tripping over the carpet.
"No thank you, only Tori and her fingers, tongue, and our collection of toys have the honor of fucking me." Jade says, walking down the flight of stairs.
"Ew. I don't need to hear about your lezzie love fest." Sam says with a groan, following Jade down the stairs. "Why'd you have to put it so far away, anyway?" She asks, holding onto the railing with both hands, the bottle of beer set on a small table at the top of the stairs.
"It's one flight down, three doors down from the steps." Jade says with a deadpan. "And the stairs are only like fifteen feet away from the room we were in."
"Still too far." Sam says, groaning a bit.
A few minutes later, Jade stopping to make fun of how Sam looks and sounds from all her drinking, Jade opens the door to the room where they put the dresses, noting that both dresses are still in their delivery bags from when the dresses were first bought. After checking to make sure nothing was wrong, she puts the dresses back on the hooks and goes to leave, only to be stopped by Sam's drunken comment.
"This room is weird." Sam says, looking around the room as she stumbles.
"How is it weird? It looks like every other room, just with fake sewing machines and a few wedding dresses." Jade asks as she pulls Sam to the door after the blonde tried to grab one of the sewing machines.
"It just is." Sam says, pulling herself out of Jade's admittedly loose grip.
Everything after that is a blur to the girls. All Jade remembers after that is Sam convincing her to brink Freddie's and Tori's dresses upstairs, the Goth drinking more wine, and even the occasional vodka, because of Sam. All Sam remembers after that was grabbing Freddie's dress as Jade told her to leave it.
Sam POV - Present
"Sam, wake up." Cat says, poking me to wake me up from the couch in her apartment, the same apartment we started out babysitting service in, and holding out her hand to help me up when I finally yawn and stretch.
"What happened to the kids?" I ask, standing up. In case you're wondering, yeah, Cat and I still do our babysitting thing. Unfortunately, the name 'Sam & Cat's Super Rocking Fun Time Babysitting Service' is still the same.
"Their mom picked them up a half hour ago. It's almost time for you to head home. Freddie called to say he's on his way home and asked you to pick up Monica from pre-school." Cat says, handing me my phone, showing me that there's a few missed calls and texts.
"Oh, sorry." I say, pocketing my phone. "How come you didn't wake me for the kids?" I ask, grabbing my bag and heading for the door.
"You were out cold. I tried to wake you, but I couldn't." Cat says, following me.
Since my wedding, I've noticed Cat change a bit. She's more serious, and she stopped dying her hair. It's now a lighter brunette than her natural hair color, and she started styling it different. Now, she keeps a bit of it in a ponytail with a group of hair loose, hanging over the side of her face. It's a good look for her.
"Have you tried making bacon?" I ask her when I get to the door.
"I just did." Cat admits, pointing to the kitchen, where I notice the bacon smell in the air.
"How did I not notice that until now?" I ask myself, heading over to the kitchen and grabbing the plate with bacon. "I'll return the plate later." I say, heading out. "See you tomorrow Cat." I say, closing the door behind me.
"Fall asleep again?" I hear Freddie ask as I call him up on my way to my bike, the same bike Spencer gave me when we ended 'iCarly'.
"Not my fault Cat's turkey sandwiches are good." I say, opening the door to the parking lot, heading for my bike.
"And how many did you eat?" He asks, sounding like he's outside based on the sounds of traffic I hear.
"I don't know. She made like, ten, and there were like, four left." I say, grabbing my keys from my pocket.
"So you ate six? Since Cat tends to make meat stuff specifically for you." Freddie says with a small laugh. "Did you take your bike or your car today?" He asks in a serious tone.
"Bike. I'm gonna stop by the house to grab the car. Where are you?" I ask, starting my bike.
"Had to meet Robbie to get some tech stuff. I have to head back to the law office where we're getting everything ready for them." He says, the sound of a car door opening.
"Oh, okay." I say, grabbing my helmet. "I'm gonna let you go. See you later, bride." I say with a smirk as I make sure my bag is on my shoulders.
"Will you ever stop calling me that?" Freddie asks, irritated.
"Not in this lifetime, Mrs. Puckett." I say with a small laugh.
"Just pick up Monica. Bye, love you." He says, serious, but I can still hear hints of irritation.
"Love you too. See you when you get home." I say, hanging up. "Oh, that's more fun than it should be." I say, putting my helmet on and pulling out of the parking space, heading for our two story house we bought shortly after we got back from our honeymoon, which is also the same day Monica was conceived.
Freddie POV
It's been over five years now since I was stuck in a wedding dress. MY wedding dress, I should say. I've tried many times to get rid of it, simply because of the horror I went through just to wear it, but I never could.
Flashback - Night After Removing The Dress
It's been a little over thirty hours since I finally got the zipper of the dress undone, and here I am, sitting in a Hawaiian hotel, with the white wedding dress laying on the couch, my 'husband' technically, sleeping on the bed after what pretty much every newlywed couple does on their honeymoon.
I continue to stare at the dress, an odd feeling of contempt and respect as I stare.
Contempt because what straight guy wears a wedding dress to his own wedding, and not as a joke? Plus everything after; the corset, make up, shoes, hair extensions, everything. I don't know how women do it.
Respect because, around the time I finally got out of it, I realized my relationships with Sam wouldn't be what it is if it wasn't for the dress.
Okay, I realize it was more for the bet I stupidly agreed to, not the dress, but still.
Regardless of the newfound respect I have for the dress, my contempt for it outweighs any respect. So, I head to the kitchen and grab a bottle of alcohol, I don't know what kind, and a lighter and head back to the dress. For safety reasons, and so I don't have to worry about getting in trouble for burning the hotel's couch, I take the dress outside and hang it up on the tree sitting right beside the terrace. Thankfully, the branch stretches over the terrace, creating an awning type of thing, and leaves enough room to hang up the soon to be burnt garment.
Before I can start pouring the alcohol, I hesitate. I lift my hand to start pouring the amber-colored liquid over the white dress, and stop each time I try. But I can't do it.
In such a short amount of time, I end up doing what my mom said she couldn't do with the dress she wore when she got married to my dad in after he left us. I couldn't destroy the dress or get rid of it.
'Oh, great.' I think to myself when a thought enters my mind on why I can't burn the dress. 'I became the girl of my marriage.' I think with total fear.
With that thought now in my mind, I take the dress back off the branch, holding it carefully by the hanger and letting it rest over my other arm so it doesn't drag on the ground, and hang it up in the closet by the front door, where our suitcases still rest from when we got here the day before.
No POV - Present
A few hours later, Freddie returns home from work to see his daughter watching the movie 'The Little Mermaid', while Sam sends a glare to the screen when Monica is unable to see her mother's face.
"Hey girls." Freddie says, setting the bag he uses to store the tech tools he uses by the door as he takes his shoes off. "How was pre-school today?" He asks his daughter as he leans down and gives her a kiss on the top of her head.
"She's five. It's not like pre-school changes too much everyday." Sam mumbles, irritated at watching the movie her daughter seems to love so much.
As Monica tells her dad about what happened in pre-school, Freddie gives Sam a slight warning glare, telling her not to say stuff like that around their daughter, as he leans over to give her a kiss on the lips.
After the movie, Sam takes Monica up to bathe her and get her ready for bed, which the young brunette happily does, loving bath time with her mom.
When Sam returns, she sees Freddie looking through the wedding album her mother-in-law made for them when the got back from their honeymoon.
"You looked good in that dress wifey." Sam says with a smirk as she sits down beside him, looking at the pictures.
"It's not my fault I lost that stupid bet." Freddie says, rolling his eyes.
As sam continues to mock Freddie, something she surprisingly doesn't do that much anymore, Freddie looks through the album, stopping at the picture taken after he became 'Mrs. Sam Puckett' of him, Sam, his mom, her mom, and his sister-in-law Melanie in front of the chapel.
"I want Monica to wear my dress when she gets married." Freddie says, cutting off what Sam was in the middle of saying.
"You want to do what now?" Sam asks, coughing. "You love that stupid dress. You told me yourself that you love it as much as you do me, Monica, your mom, and our friends." She says, shocked by what he said.
"I know. That's why I want her to wear it when she gets married. Keep in the family and all." Freddie says, staring at the picture of them after the wedding.
Sam continues to stare at Freddie, trying to wrap her head around what Freddie just told her. For as long as Sam's known Freddie, and as long as they've been a couple, she knows that Freddie cares for a few things the most out of everything. Sam, Monica, family and friends take the top, while technology, his job working at the Pear Store with Robbie Shapiro where they go to big businesses and help them with their tech problems taking a lesser, but still important, part of his life.
Sam continues to stare at Freddie, fear entering her thoughts. Shortly after the party with Jade, when Sam returned home and thought Freddie picked up the dress with Tori while she and Jade were sleeping off their hangover, so she didn't bother to ask or anything. Later that day, she gets a text from Jade, one that freaks her out and that Sam has kept saved, thankful that Freddie has never had a reason to check her phone, to remind her of her stupidity and as her reason for why she will never drink again.
The text?
-Hey Puckett. You're screwed. I just found a pile of ashes in the room we kept Freddie's' and Tori's wedding dresses. Tori's is fine. But Freddie's? Well, I hope you know how to bring a dress back to life.- Jade W.
Since she got that text, Sam has taken to be jumpy when Freddie's around or he starts asking about the dress. Thankfully, Sam has kept him from checking the box where he usually kept it. She can never tell Freddie because she knows he'll never forgive her, and as much as she used to make fun of him, and as much as she still does on occasion, she does love him and can never let him know, the backlash being something she fears she can't handle.
"What's the rush? She's only five. She has a long time to go before we got to worry about that." Sam says, hoping Freddie doesn't hear how nervous she is.
"I know, but still." Freddie says, waving off her concern. "I'll be back. I'm gonna go take it out of the box and see it again." He says, standing up.
"You can't." Sam says quickly, grabbing Freddie's arm. "I mean, I sent it to a dry cleaners. It looked like there was a stain on it, so I sent it to be cleaned." She says, coughing a bit. 'Damn. I used to be so good at lying. Now look at me.' She things to herself as Freddie stares at her, confused.
"Uh, okay." Freddie says, sitting back down. "How long did they say it'll be until you can pick it up?" He asks, closing the album and grabbing a second one, this one from Monica's birth.
"Two or three days. They were kinda busy they said." Sam lies, her old lying abilities returning.
"Oh, okay. I'll look at it then." Freddie says with a smile when he sees Monica's first baby picture, a picture of a smiling Sam holding the newborn on the hospital bed, Freddie beside her, as Freddie got Tori to take the picture.
'Two days to be safe to find a replacement dress and hope Freddie doesn't notice the difference.' Sam thinks to herself, grabbing the wedding album and looking at pictures of the dress, trying to memorize it so she hopefully doesn't have to use pictures. 'I have to get Jade to help. It is her fault after all.' She tells herself, scanning every picture with the dress in it.
This is the end of chapter one. This is a two-shot, and the other half will be up in a couple of days at most.
To the anonymous reviewer who asked, hope I did okay so far.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your reviews.
Blessed Be.