*A/N: Here's the new chapter. This story is slowly coming to a close. This chapter and the next will wrap it up and then there will be the epilogue which will take place about a year or so after. Hope you enjoy.*
Chapter Eight
"Sam!"
Sam laughed at the look on Freddie's face. Sam, Freddie and Catlin sat in the living room in Sam's house. They had just returned to Seattle and were relaxing before heading off to bed. Catlin had packed up most of her belongings and they had brought them with them. After they had returned to the house, Catlin had gone and put her clothes away in the room that was now hers.
Catlin had wanted to know more about Sam and Freddie's past, so Sam had put on the iCarly DVD's and was currently playing them. Currently it was the webcast that Sam had spilled Freddie's secret to the iCarly viewers.
Catlin had asked why Sam had done that and she had explained it. Apparently, Freddie didn't like her explaining that. That or he didn't like the way she had explained it.
"It's not funny, Sam. That was the worst week of my life. Well, second worst."
"I think it is. I was so mean to you back then. The look on your face is priceless though."
Freddie crossed his arms and sat back, a pout on his face. Catlin laughed at the look on his face as Sam turned back to the TV.
Finally, a few hours later, Catlin couldn't stay awake anymore.
She kissed Sam and Freddie on the cheek and headed to bed.
"Goodnight, honey."
"Goodnight, sweetie."
"Goodnight, Sam. Goodnight, Freddie."
Catlin headed up to bed. Freddie turned to Sam and beckoned her over to him. She got out of the chair and walked over and joined him on the couch.
"Sam, do you ever think about us?"
She looked at him in shock. "What do you mean?"
"Do you ever think about what would have happened if we hadn't broken up? Would we be married now? Would we have more children?"
She smiled at him. "I like to think so."
He pulled her into his lap and placed his arms around her waist. "Can I tell you something without you freaking out on me?"
"Yes. You know you can tell me anything."
"I still love you, Sam. I never stopped loving you."
Sam slipped her arms around his neck. "I still love you, too, Freddie. I've always loved you."
"Sam, do you wanna give us another shot? I would understand if you didn't, especially after what I did to you. I mean, I-"
Sam laid a finger against his mouth, quieting him. "Stop. What did I tell you in California? No more looking at the past. Live for now and for the future. I do love you, Freddie, and I do want to be with you. We will work on us. It may take time, but we will. We will work on us, but our main focus should be Catlin. Now that we have our daughter back, we need to work on building our relationship with her."
Freddie smiled at her. He noticed how much she had changed over the years. Losing Emily when they were younger had made her grow up a lot, and it made him love her even more. "I love you, Sam."
"I love you, too, Freddie."
He leaned down and kissed her. Sam kissed him back and tangled her hands in his hair as he deepened the kiss. He ran his tongue across her lips and Sam opened them for him. She lightly moaned as she felt his tongue gently massaging hers. Sam broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against his.
"Stay with me?"
"Always."
With that, the two headed up to bed. The next morning would bring Carly and Catlin's introduction.
The next morning, Sam awoke to sounds down in the kitchen. She could hear talking and smell coffee brewing and bacon and eggs cooking. She smiled to herself and stretched. She then slipped out of bed and threw on her robe over her nightgown. She quickly made the bed before heading downstairs. Over the years, she had grown out of her tom boyishness and actually started to take care of her appearance. It all started because she wanted to prove to Freddie that she would be fine without him, though it was a complete sham. She had been lost without him and he knew it.
She stood in the doorway to the kitchen with her arms crossed over her chest and smiled at the scene in front of her. Catlin sat at the table with a glass of orange juice in front of her laughing at something Freddie was saying to her. Freddie, meanwhile, stood at the stove cooking bacon and eggs. He had a pot of coffee brewed and his cup was sitting within arm's reach of him. The sight made Sam's heart swell knowing that her little family was almost complete. Seeing Carly's reaction today would put it closer to being complete.
Catlin looked up and smiled at her. "Morning, Sam."
Freddie turned from the stove to smile at her. "Morning."
"Good morning, you two."
She walked towards Freddie to make her a cup of coffee. He stopped her and kissed her good morning.
"Morning, love."
"Good morning."
She smiled at him and proceeded in making her cup of coffee. She sat down at the table with Catlin while Freddie finished up breakfast.
He brought their plates to the table and then sat down with them. "I hope you don't mind that I made you breakfast, Sam."
"Of course not. This looks delicious, Freddie. Thank you."
"Anything for my two favorite girls."
"So, Sam, what time is Carly supposed to be here today?"
"She said sometime late morning. Knowing Carly it will be around eleven."
"Are you excited to meet her, Catlin?" Freddie took a sip of his coffee.
"Yea. I know that she is you guys' best friend and I want her to like me."
Sam laid her hand on Catlin's. "She will love you, sweetie."
The three ate breakfast in silence after that and then they all went to dress. Sam and Freddie were in Sam's bedroom. Sam had just gotten out of the shower and was in her walk-in closet getting dressed.
"What do you think Carly is going to say, Sam?"
"Truthfully, I don't know. I'm scared she going to be mad at me. I mean, she knew all about Emily when I was pregnant. She knew that we gave her up for adoption. She doesn't, however, know that I stated with the adoption agency that my file was easily accessed by her if she ever wanted to find me."
"Sam?"
"Yea?"
"Did you put my name on the birth certificate?"
"Of course, I did."
"What about through the adoption agency?"
"No. It was after we broke up that the adoption agency contacted me. The agent said that the family that had adopted my daughter wanted to know if, when she was older, I would agree to have my file be accessed by her. I was mad at you still so when they asked me the father's name, I asked them not to put it down."
"Oh. You were really mad at me, weren't you?"
"Livid. But I was more hurt than anything else." She walked out of her closet brushing her hair.
"How long did it take before you weren't mad or hurt anymore?"
"I cooled down after about six months. Right around the time of Emily's first birthday. The hurt took longer."
"How much longer?"
"The day you apologized."
"What? You were really that hurt?"
"Yea, I was. What did you expect, Freddie? I was in love with you. I don't mean just some high school, teenage crush type love. I mean, fully and deeply in love with you. You were everything to me. You were my life."
Freddie had his head in his hands when Sam came into the room, fully dressed. She walked up and stood in front of him with her hands on his shoulders. "Freddie?"
He looked up at her with a sigh. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. "I'm sorry, Sam. I never meant to hurt you."
"I know, Freddie." She ran her hand through his hair and smiled down at him. "It's alright. I don't blame you."
He buried his face in her stomach and sighed again. "I just feel so guilty."
Sam cupped his face and forced him to look at her. "Don't. It's the past. It's not important. What's important is now. It's me and you and our beloved daughter."
He smiled at her and pulled her down to sit in his lap. "I love you, Sam."
"I love you, too."
He covered her mouth with his and kissed her deeply. She laced her fingers in his hair and kissed him back. Freddie rolled them over onto the bed. He lay on top of her with one hand in her hair and the other on her waist. He trailed kisses from her lips down to her neck. Sam moaned and pushed him closer when suddenly the sound of the doorbell pierced the silence. Freddie laid his forehead against hers.
"Dammit."
Sam laughed and lightly kissed him. "Dammit is right."
She pushed him off of her and stood up. She fixed her clothes and headed downstairs. The bell rang again as she got to the bottom of the stairs.
"Coming!"
She opened the door and a huge grin broke out on her face. "Carly!"
"Sam!"
The brunette flung her arms around her best friend. Sam hugged her back with the grin still plastered on her face. She pulled back and looked at her. Carly had aged gracefully. Her hair hung loose around her face in shoulder length layers. She had gained a little weight courtesy of her two daughters.
Sam stepped back and let Carly in. Griffin and the girls were behind her. Griffin smiled at her and ruffled her hair. Sam scowled at him and fixed her hair before the girls flung their arms around her waist.
"Aunt Sam!"
She hugged them. "Hi, girls."
She shut the door behind them as Freddie and Catlin made their appearance downstairs. Sam grinned at them. She walked over and wrapped her arm around Freddie's waist. She turned and looked at Carly who had her mouth open in shock.
"Sam? Are you two back together?"
"Yea. We are, Carls."
"Why now? What took so long for you two to get back together? What changed after all these years?"
"I did." Catlin spoke up and Carly turned to look at her.
"Who are you?"
Catlin grinned at Sam and Freddie before looking at Carly. "I'm their daughter."
Carly's jaw dropped. "You're their what?"
*Hahaha. I love Carly. I love her reaction. Push the little button for me and I'll get the next chapter out probably on Friday. It will make me happy and you may get a cookie for it.*
