Here's more of the couple's visit back home for Christmas. Thanks for all the reviews and follows.
Chapter 11
After they dropped Pam off at her house, the couple headed back to Marissa's. They bumped into Sonja in the hall.
"Sam, Freddie. Carly told me you were coming to Seattle. When did you get in?" She asked.
"This afternoon." Freddie replied.
"We were just getting back from my mom's." Sam told her. "We should get together, but I've got to spend some major time in the kitchen so we're ready for Christmas dinner."
"Spence and I are going to my folks' place for Christmas. We're having our own Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow, really informal, why don't you guys stop over? Bring Marissa, too." Sonja proposed.
"That sounds like fun." Freddie said. "What time?"
"About six or so. Spencer insists that we eat early so we have lots of room for Christmas dinner."
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Sam said. "Tell Spence we said hey."
Bright and early the next morning, Sam was ready to do some grocery shopping. Marissa was working, so her and Freddie went to the local Mega-Mart and brought back no less than fourteen bags containing everything from baking supplies to spices and ham to potatoes. Freddie knew that this was far more food than his mom normally kept in the house, but Sam knew exactly what she needed to complete the dinner and desserts she had planned.
"You're making both ham and turkey for Christmas?" Freddie asked as he carried the last of the bags into the kitchen.
"Nope. The ham's for our dinner tonight, and lots of leftover ham sandwiches later on." Sam replied. "Don't worry, I'll fix that ham so even your mom will eat it."
"So what do you need me to do?" He asked.
"Just stay out of my way and be prepared to help stir and wash dishes." Sam told him. "First on my list is baking cookies, so you can clear off the table and spread out a couple of kitchen towels with parchment paper on them for a cooling station. And we need to get that turkey in the brine right away if its going to have any flavor. Does your mom have a big stock pot or something big enough to soak it in?"
"I think she has one big soup pot, it's probably on the top shelf in the pantry."
Soon the turkey was marinating and Sam had mixed up batter for three different kinds of cookies and was working on a fourth. "Freddie, when you're done washing that big yellow bowl, could you open up a couple of bags of those bread cubes and dump them out in it to dry?"
By the time Marissa got home the table was filled with containers full of all kinds of cookies. The stuffing bread wasn't drying fast enough in the bowl, so Sam dumped it out on the cookie sheets when she was done baking and put them in the warm oven to help speed up the process. "Sam, Freddie, what's all this?" Marissa asked. "It smells so good in here, what is that aroma?"
"It's spiced apple cider and I think it's almost ready. I just thought I'd make some Christmas cookies and try to get a jump on getting things ready for tomorrow so there's not so much work in the morning." Sam told her. Truthfully, Sam had no intention of eating Marissa's food without at least attempting to give it some flavor. Even though the two Mrs. Bensons were getting along, Sam still felt Marissa couldn't cook to save her life and her obsession with what she felt were healthy foods was borderline disgusting in the blonde's mind.
"You didn't have to spend so much time cooking, dear. This is your Christmas vacation and here you are doing the same thing you have to do every day at work." Marissa offered.
"It's OK, I love to cook and bake and you were the one who had to actually go into work today. Freddie and I just hate to see you doing so much work after your long shift at the hospital, isn't that right, Freddie?" Sam explained as she headed back into the kitchen.
"Um, ye-yeah, Mom. Sit down, you've been on your feet all day. I'll bring you some spiced cider, it's really good." Freddie began to make his way to the kitchen for a cup of cider, but Sam already had a cup ready for her mother in law and met him in the doorway.
"Dinner will be ready in about half and hour, since we're having turkey tomorrow, I decided to make us a ham for dinner tonight, I hope that's alright." Sam told her.
"Oh, Sam. Ham is so salty and I've been trying to avoid any kind of red meat, but I guess a little bit will be OK." Marissa normally wouldn't even touch a ham sandwich given the choice, but she figured she could eat a small amount and not insult Sam.
"Wait until you try her baked ham, Mom. It's not salty at all and it's so tender, you really will like it." Freddie told her to try to keep her mind open. "And she made three cheese potato casserole to go with it and steamed broccoli and carrots."
"That sounds good, Freddikins. We just can't eat too much." Marissa told him as Sam stood behind her and rolled her eyes. Like she would let any ham get away from her.
"Mom, Sonja invited us over this evening, would you like to come along?" Her son asked.
"You two go ahead, I'm going to get cleaned up and get to bed early, I'll have to be up early to get that turkey stuffed and in the oven if we're going to be eating at noon."
"Um, actually, I have a plan for that bird that will save you from getting up before daybreak, Marissa." Sam announced. "Just let me take care of it. We may not be eating right at noon, but that's why Freddie volunteered to get up and make us a nice Christmas breakfast, isn't that right, sweetie?"
Sam nudged Freddie for his response. "Oh, um, yeah, Mom, we have it all taken care of. Why don't you go along with us this evening, it'll be fun."
"You two are working entirely too hard." Marissa scolded "After all, this is your holiday vacation."
"We don't mind. We're just glad we had the chance to come back to Seattle for the holidays" Freddie told his mother and gave her a hug.
Later on after the ham dinner was finished up, Sam, Freddie and Marissa headed over to Spencer's
"Come on in." Sonja greeted them at the door. "Spencer's just upstairs he'll be down in a minute."
From the kitchen a familiar brunette ran over to them. "Sam!" She greeted and threw her arms around the blonde.
"Carly? Wha-what are you doing in Seattle?" Freddie asked as the two girls left go of each other.
"Spencer called me on Wednesday and asked what I was doing for Christmas. Since I didn't have any plans, I figured why not. Just between us, I think Sonja's getting a bit overwhelmed with the wedding planning and she wants to get some help, but don't say anything." Carly whispered the last part.
"I thought you were done with the whole wedding planner thing?" Freddie asked quietly so Sonja wouldn't hear.
"Oh, it's just this once. And it is for family. Shh, Sonja's coming." Carly replied as her future sister in law and Marissa walked toward the kitchen."
"What are you three whispering about?" Sonja asked them.
"Nothing, nothing, just getting caught up." Carly replied. About that time Spencer came down the stairs followed by none other than Cat Valentine. Spencer approached Freddie and shook his hand but before he could get to Sam, the blonde was again besieged by a terminal hugger.
"Sam, I missed you so much!" Cat exclaimed.
"You saw me two days ago." Sam reminded her, trying to escape the younger girl's arms. "And what are you doing in Seattle?"
"You and Freddie were going away for Christmas, Nona went on an old people's holiday cruise and Carly was leaving town so I was going to be all alone." Cat told her with a pout on her face.
"I felt so sorry for her, I just had to bring her along. I couldn't stand the thought of poor Cat spending Christmas all by herself." Carly explained. "Did Spencer show you where to put your things, Cat?"
"Yep, and I can't believe I get to sleep in the iCarly studio" Cat shrieked.
"They just got in a little while ago, too. Spencer was waiting at the airport since ten this morning, their flight was delayed, something about the weather over Seattle." Sonja told them.
"It was terrible, we sat in that plane for almost four hours before we even took off from LAX." Carly whined.
"It wasn't so bad, we had a lot of fun playing games." Cat said, ever so cheerful. No doubt, this girl could find the silver lining in any cloud.
"They wouldn't let us turn on our phones. We were stuck playing hangman and tic tac toe on the back of the in flight magazines and barf bags." Carly said with a frown.
"Well, we're all here now." Sam said, putting her arms around her two friends. "When do we get to eat."
"Same old Sam." Spencer said with his arm around Sonja.
As the group gathered around the table filled with cookies and all kind of home made Christmas treats, Spencer got everyone's attention. "Um, hey guys, Sonja and I need to tell you all something."
Just wanted to throw in a little cliffhanger there. Most of you can probably guess what the announcement will be.