Chapter 6
A/N: I'd like to say that your support on all of my stories really warms my heart. It makes my day and I end up making dying whale noises and flopping around on my floor when I read each and every review. Continue to tell me what you think. I'm glad you guys like it! Tell your friends!
"Where is she?!" Mrs. Benson came barreling through Spencer's apartment, "Where is that precious girl?"
A disheveled, groggy Sam walked out of Spencer's bedroom in nothing but one of his T-shirts, "Awww, I missed you too Mrs. Benson but it's too damn early for this."
"Not you, ya little demon! The baby! Let me see that cute little bundle of joy," Mrs. Benson had waaaay too much energy for seven in the morning.
"Ariel's still asleep… hopefully," Sam yawned.
"Ariel? Oh what a precious name!" she cooed, "Now, since two out of her four grandparents have passed on and the other two are estranged I will take over as Grandma!" Mrs. Benson proclaimed.
"Mrs. Benson you don't have to do that," Sam rubbed her eyes trying to wake herself up.
"Nonsense Samantha! I'm happy to do it," Mrs. Benson chirped, "and besides only the Lord knows when that shrew and my precious Freddie will give me grandchildren."
An equally tired Spencer rounded the corner carrying Ariel, "Look who just woke up."
"There's my baby!" Mrs. Benson rushed over to Spencer side, "Hi Ariel! I'm your Grammy!"
Ariel looked around dazed. She was still a little bit sleepy and the crazy lady was all in her face.
"Ariel, do you want to spend the day with your Grammy?" Mrs. Benson cooed. Ariel looked helplessly at her mother.
"You know Mrs. Benson she's painfully shy-" Sam was cut off by the crazy lady.
"Nonsense! I'm her Grammy she'll be fine with me," She ignored Sam, "You are so pretty Ariel!"
"Really, Mrs. Benson I don't need anyone to watch Ariel today and even if I did Spence-"
"Samantha, I want to take care of this precious little baby," Mrs. Benson sternly glared at the young mother.
Sam looked helplessly at Spencer, who liked the idea of maybe spending some time alone with Sam, "We know Mrs. Benson is trustworthy. Why don't we leave Ariel with her for the afternoon and we can use to clean out Ariel's room and maybe do some shopping for it."
Sam's helpless look turned into a glare. That was not what she was looking for. She didn't want Ariel subject to tick bathes!
"Fine," she muttered, "Ariel can spend the day with you, BUT you will not do any of the psychotic things you used to do to Freddie. Ariel is my daughter if I want her to have tick bathes I will be the one to give them to her understand?"
Mrs. Benson was not happy with Sam's condition but she agreed. She just wanted to spend the day with her precious little adoptive angel.
"I'll bring her over in an hour," Sam took her little demon from Spence, "We have some stuff to do first."
"I'll see you in an hour then," Mrs. Benson huffed out the door.
"Really?" Sam turned to Spencer after Mrs. Benson left.
"What?" Spence asked innocently.
"The woman's a loon!" Sam sat Ariel down in her booster seat, "I'm not sure if I want her to be Ariel's adoptive 'Grammy.'"
"Cake-cakes!" Ariel squealed.
Sam sighed, "She wants pancakes."
"Pancakes it is!" Spencer whipped out the batter from the fridge and heated up a pan, "Any special topping? Chocolate? Blueberries? Maple syrup? My super-secret blueberry syrup?"
"Wow quite the selection! Ariel do you want chocolate?"
"Chocolate!" Ariel squealed and her blonde ringlets bounced.
"Chocolate it is then," Spencer beamed, "What my princess wants my princess will get."
Ariel's eyes lit up, "Pony!"
"I guess Mommy will have to be the bad guy," Sam smiled, "No pony. Where would we keep it? There's no room here!"
Ariel frowned. She wanted a pony and her daddy said she could have whatever she wanted.
Sam gazed at Spencer from her spot next to Ariel. He was so good with her, the perfect father. He called Ariel his princess. Sam had wanted nothing more in the world than to love a man who was a good father. His antics made Ariel smile and laughed. She really loved him and so did Sam.
"Here you go my dears," Spencer set two plates of steaming pancakes in front of them, "Do you want something to drink? Milk, orange juice, lemonade?" Spencer rustled through the fridge.
"Milk!" Ariel squealed.
"Two cups of milk, please," Sam accentuated the last word as she looked scornfully at her daughter.
"Pwease!" Ariel repeated getting her mother's message.
"Two milks coming up!" Spencer turned around and got to work. He enjoyed having people to cook for and this was his family, his baby girl and hopefully his future wife…
Since the shock of Sam's reappearance had worn off, Spence had known that he wasn't going to let her leave ever again. He loved her and was going to prove it. Spencer and Carly's great-grandmother had left her engagement ring to him when she died almost a decade ago. He had never found the right woman to give it to but now he was sure. Whatever it took Samantha Puckett would be his bride.
He looked back at Sam and Ariel. Sam was cutting up the pancakes for Ariel and she was gleefully stuffing them in her mouth. "How do you like them Ariel?" He asked.
"Yummy!" She beamed as she put another piece in her mouth.
"Here's your milk Princess," Spencer set a Sippy cup, which he had left over from when Carly was little, in front of her.
"Do you want to wear your yellow dress today?" Sam asked the little girl. Ariel shook her head no as she sucked on the bottle. "What about the pink one?" Ariel's eyes lit up and shook fervently shook her head yes.
"You'll look pretty for Grandma," Sam brushed Ariel's blond curly hair from her face.
"No!" Ariel looked at her mother with large horrified eyes.
"She really wants to spend the day with you," Sam began to dig in to her own pancakes.
"I wanna be wit' you an' Daddy!" She whined.
"Ariel, Daddy and I have a busy day planned and Grandma offered to watch you," Sam explained, "You're safe over with her." She looked over at Ariel who was pouting, "Come on Baby," Sam picked up her little demon, "let's find your dress. Should we put your hair in pigtails today?"
Ariel nodded. She wasn't happy about going to her 'grandma's' house but her mother had never given her any reason not to trust her.
Sam set the little girl down and opened up the miniature suitcase containing most of Ariel's clothes. The pink dress Sam had been thinking of was conveniently on top and she undressed the little girl and slid the outfit of choice over her head.
"Wait here Sweetheart," She told the little girl, "I have to get a brush. Do you remember which bag the ponytails are in?" Ariel nodded and began rifling through her suitcase. She was almost positive they had put several ponies in there. When her mother returned, Ariel had two pony tails in hand. "There!" Sam sat back and looked at the picture perfect little demon. "Spence? Do you have ribbon?"
"Sam, I'm an artist of course I have ribbon!" Spencer had finished his breakfast by now and was cleaning up their mess, "What color?" He asked as he dried off his hands with a kitchen towel.
"I think white," Sam gave a sideways glance to Ariel who smiled at her mother, giving her approval of Sam's choice.
"Here," Spencer handed Sam a roll of white ribbon from a drawer and a pair of scissors.
"Thanks," Sam cut two lengths of ribbon to tie around Ariel's pigtails, "perfect!" Sam smiled as she looked at her adorable daughter. The bows had been the perfect finishing touch.
"Shoes?" Ariel looked at her mother expectantly.
"Oh right!" Sam pulled a pair of small pink flats from Ariel's suitcase and slipped them on her feet, "Now you're all ready to go."
Ariel looked disappointed. Her mother was still insisting that she go visit the crazy lady.
"Honey, you'll enjoy it. I promise," Sam gave her daughter a sympathetic half smile, "You still have a little while before we have to go. Why don't you color while Daddy and I get ready to go?"
"Ok Mommy," Ariel said half-heartedly. She sulked over to the little backpack containing her supplies.
Sam was expecting a day of heavy lifting and some hard work. She didn't take the time to doll herself up just to have it all ruined. If she and Spencer went out for dinner or something she'd take the time then, but for right now she settled on a pair of old jeans, a t-shirt and pulling her long brown hair into a ponytail. As she looked in the mirror, it reminded her that she'd have to find a stylist. She missed being blonde.
"Spencer!" She called from the bathroom, "Are you getting ready?"
"Ready?" He called back, "I just need to change… and brush my teeth!"
"Do it now," she shouted back, "We have to get going."
"Where are we going?" He asked entering the bathroom.
"I don't know. This was your idea!" She pulled a toothbrush out of her travel bag.
"Right," Spencer thought for a moment, "We should go to a hardware store and get paint," He walked back into his bedroom to change while Sam was occupying the bathroom, "then we can come back here and clean out that room," He reemerged wearing only his jeans, "Then we can start painting, maybe. I want to paint the whole room a light purple and then do paint several scenes from the movie."
Sam spit and then turned to face him, "Aren't you going to be upset when, in a couple of years, she grows out of it and wants to paint over all your hard work?"
Spencer shrugged, "We'll take pictures and it'll just give me a new project to get excited about."
"Your optimism is refreshing," Sam kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Nothing is bad when you're around," he smiled down at her like an eager puppy dog, so full of honest, pure love. He kissed her again, this time longer.
"Eww!" A small giggly voice floated over from the entrance to Spencer's room.
"What are you doing?" Spencer playfully chased the little girl. She ran, half screaming, half laughing, back into the living room.
"She needed more milk," Spencer explained when he came back a few minutes later. He threw on a t-shit and brushed his teeth. "Ready!" He announced walking back into the living room.
Sam stood up from her hunched position, "Good, I just finished packing Ariel's stuff," she slung the backpack over her shoulder.
"Come on Ariel," Spencer picked up the two year old, "time to go to Grandma's."
"I don't wanna!" Ariel looked sadly at Spencer.
"You have to Baby," Sam stroked the little girl's arm, "Daddy and I have a lot to do today."
The little family walked out into the hall and Sam knocked on the Benson's door.
"Finally!" Mrs. Benson frantically opened the door and immediately turned her attention to the little blonde girl that clung to Spencer, "There's my little girl!" Mrs. Benson went to take Ariel from her father but the little girl refused to let go.
"No!" she cried with tears in her eyes as the adults worked to pry her off of Spence. "Mommy! Daddy!" She began to sob and squirm when she was finally transferred into her adoptive grandmother's arms.
"Here's her bag," Sam handed Marissa the backpack. "I love you Ariel. We'll see you in a little while," Sam kissed her crying daughter goodbye.
Sam and Spencer listen to Ariel as they walked down the hall.
"Is it ok that we just left her like that?" Spencer asked nervously.
Sam could see it would take a while before Spencer was comfortable with Ariel crying. He needed to learn that she couldn't always get what she wanted. A little tough love is necessary for growing children.
"She'll be fine. Mrs. Benson will find some way to calm her down," she assured him.
"She won't have any abandonment issues or something like that?" Spencer looked behind him at the empty hallway, debating whether or not to go back for his little girl.
"We're going to be gone a few hours! We aren't leaving her forever," Sam laughed, "She'll be FINE."
Spencer still wasn't sure that leaving Ariel in that state was wise but Sam had been doing for two years. Despite raising Carly, maybe Sam was better versed in raising young children. Carly had been significantly older when he had become her guardian.
"Okay, whatever you say," Spencer wrapped one arm around Sam's shoulders as they walked into the elevator.