Paternal Bonds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. I keep it simple.

A/N: Thoughts in "Italics" and regular speech in "Regular font." Only applied if in quotes.

A/N: By the way, everybody is 26 in this story, except Spencer who would be older. I doubt he'll be mentioned much. Please read this regardless of their age. It will all make sense, I promise. They have to be this old in the story.

Chapter 4 (Family)

Freddie sat in his study, typing on the computer. He did a lot of things in life, being owner of a major corporation wasn't the only thing he did. He was also a writer; he had a few best sellers in both fiction and nonfiction. He also had been a web designer at one point of time, he wasn't anymore though, he really just wrote books every now and then. He also critiqued films and books, which was what he was doing right now. "Carly's latest movie, Kicking off Summer. Movie rating, C+." Freddie sighed and shook his head, Carly was a great actress but kept getting into movies that just weren't all that great. "The movie starts out great but toward the middle of it, it takes a sharp turn for worse…" Freddie stopped typing and leaned back in his chair, he didn't watch a lot of television, but when asked to review a movie or something, he would have to do so. Now he could not get his thoughts off of Sam, he wondered if she had moved on, if she had gotten married.

"What am I doing with her child?" Freddie thought as his mouth formed a flat line. "I need to get this kid back to her family, either that or just give this kid to the police." Freddie gripped the handles of his chair and pushed himself out of his seat, he walked out of his study and spotted the little girl walking around the living room area. He smiled as she tossed the bear into the air and grabbed it; she held it close and then tripped. When she fell, she looked around and got right back up. "Heh, looks like she was scanning the area to make sure no one saw her fall. She's so much like Sam…" Freddie sighed and crossed his arms. "What am I thinking? I can't give her to the police; I just have to find Sam. But, I'll need to get the girl to talk to me." The girl stopped and turned to stare at Freddie, she rested her chin on the bear's head and Freddie's face softened. "Hey, I know you don't trust me or anything, but would you like to see pictures of your mom?"

The girl's eyes brightened and she nodded her head, Freddie smiled and walked back into the study, the girl tilted her head and waited until Freddie walked out of the room. In Freddie's hand was a large, red book. Freddie sat down on the couch and opened the book, the girl crawled onto the couch and looked at the photos on the first page. Freddie pointed to one photo and grinned. "That is Carly Shay's older brother, Spencer. Those two were the greatest. Carly was your mom's best friend, up until the time Sam had to leave." Freddie looked at a photo of Sam and smiled softly. "That's your mom, Halloween, her mother actually made her dress up as an angel. Sam wasn't happy about that." Freddie chuckled and kept his eyes on the picture. "Though, your mother really was an angel…" The girl looked at Freddie, his face was sad. He closed his eyes and chuckled. "My apologies, anyway, let's move on."

Freddie turned the page and spotted a picture of Carly with her father. "Ah, the father's day pictures! This is where Sam's father returned for the day but went back to his job. My father came around and apparently Sam's dad did as well." The girl's eyes grew large and her body stiffened slightly. "We all thought Sam's dad was dead…no wait…he'd been released from jail, it was Carly's dad we thought died. Carly's dad was in that submarine and something hit it and caused a bunch of water to go in it, he had managed to survive."

The girl spotted a picture of Sam's father and frantically began pointing at it. Freddie raised his eyebrow and looked at her. "That is Sam's father, yeah…He was released from jail, he'd been released on good charges and came by for father's day." Sam's dad had been in jail because of sexual assault, he was in for about five years, though he was supposed to be in for ten years. "This man would have been your grand-" The girl then pulled the photo out of the album and began to rip it up. "What are you doing?" At that the girl ran out of the room and Freddie set the album on the couch with a sigh.

"What happened?" Tina asked as she walked into the room.

"The kid seems to not like Sam's father for some reason. I wonder if she's even met the guy before."

"Hector Puckett, isn't he…"

"My editor, yeah." Freddie shook his head and crossed his arms. Hector Puckett was the guy that helped Freddie to become who he was today, one of the few ex convicts to actually make a full turnaround.

"Do you know where he is though?"

"Not really. I think he lives in Arkansas somewhere, that's quite a ways from here actually."

"Did you ever ask him if he knew where Sam was?" Freddie placed his chin on his fist and sighed, the girl peered around the wall and into the room.

"I asked him once, but apparently he was very distraught or something. He told me that he had no idea where she was and if he knew, he'd tell me."

"Maybe Mrs. Puckett knows."

"My father is a police officer, he told me long ago that Amy Puckett was found dead in an alleyway. It's thought that she committed suicide." Freddie glanced down at the torn photo and scoffed. "It's hard to believe, isn't it? Hector Puckett is one of the few criminals, sex offender no less, to make a full turnaround and become successful."

"Yeah, if it wasn't for him, would you be this rich?"

"Actually yes I would…I just wouldn't have as much. But I'll tell you this, it makes no difference how much money I have…I'm still the poorest man around."

"I keep telling you, go out and get a girlfriend." Freddie closed his eyes and chuckled.

"And I keep telling you, that will never happen."

"You've searched for Sam for ten years, I think it's noble that you keep searching, but in all due respect sir, you shouldn't be so down in your life."

"You know, it'd be better if you just told me I needed to get a life, rather than sugarcoat it." Tina crossed her arms and smirked.

"Well Robert and I both think you need to get a family."

"What about you?"

"Well, I suppose in my excitement I failed to tell you, but Robert finally proposed to me a couple of nights ago!" Freddie smiled and stood up.

"That's great! I'm happy for you. I've been wondering when you two would finally get engaged. So if you start a family…" The little girl lost interest in the conversation and thought she saw Freddie look in her direction, she quickly turned and ran back to her room.

"That's the question, when we get married and start a family. I don't know if we'll be able to continue working under you or not."

"I really don't see any reason why you couldn't."

"Well, if I have a child then I want to be at home for it and Robert…he can probably continue being a butler, but I think he's going to try and find a job with higher…income…" Freddie rubbed his chin and sighed.

"Well if that's the case, then it's okay by me. Besides, you have every right to have a family." Tina smiled and then smirked.

"Thanks, now you need a family."

"I…I have a family!"

"Who?" Tina picked up the shredded pieces of paper. "Don't say your parents either. You hardly ever speak to your mother, hell, she stopped talking to you ten years ago. You talk to your father but I wouldn't say you have that father-son relationship. Carly Shay, another person you stopped talking to about ten years ago, Spencer is almost the same way. You go out into the city several times but you tend to not contact or connect with anyone. Not to sound harsh, but you need to start a family and the way to do it isn't how you've been going."

"How have I been going? I don't find use talking to people who I just have no interest in." Tina chuckled and shook her head.

"Well, I guess Robert and I will always be your family. I'm just concerned, and so is Robert, you isolate yourself in your study and all you do is write the books that you write and critique other books and movies."

"So are you suggesting that I should get out more often?" Freddie narrowed his eyes and smirked.

"That's exactly what I think! Robert and I would keep the house clean and all." Freddie sighed and crossed his arms.

"I-"

"Before you tell me you don't have a reason to go out, I think I should inform you that there's a little girl who could use some bonding time. I don't think she should be stuck in this house, for all we know she could get bored here." Freddie smirked and tilted his head slightly.

"You do put up a convincing front. Need I mention I am no dad? Nor does that girl want anything to do with me, she doesn't talk and she's terrified of me for some odd reason."

"Actually she's also terrified of Robert, I think she's terrified of most men."

"There, so why would you suggest that I, a man, take her somewhere?"

"It was a man driving that car that went speeding by me earlier. If that man was her father, she sure could use a better father figure right now. She's a six year old girl, she should warm up to you eventually."

"I don't know…" Freddie sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess you could go ask her if she'd like some ice cream."

"That's ice cream that's out of the house, right?" Freddie chuckled and lifted his eyes skyward.

"Yes. I'm thinking Brahms Ice Cream."

"Good, and maybe you can take her to the park."

"You're putting too much effort into that, I mean, I want to do these things, but don't forget that she won't talk to me."

"If you want to do these things, then do them. Show her that you want to do these things for her and it will help."

"Think you could get her to talk?"

"You can do it."

"Yeah…did I mention that every time that girl looks at me, it's with fear…I don't think I could get very far with her."

"That's not what I saw earlier when you and that girl were looking in the photo album. Go ahead and try, I bet you'd be surprised."

"Yeah, I'll do that. I have to wonder what her name is though."

"I don't know, we could ask her."

"If she'd talk to us."

"Good point."

"For Sam."

"Yeah."

"Hell, I don't know where she is, but I think Sam would want me to at least spend time with her daughter if I had her. If this little girl is reported missing, that will help us find her home."

There's the chapter, hope you enjoyed it!