A/N: I'm back! Now its back to the ol' routine. But things should be getting better as the place will get empty during the day, making it quiet so I can write.
Fingers crossed!
Enough rambling, here's chapter 14.
Carly and Sam returned to Seattle from their Hawaiian Honeymoon completely invigorated. It was everything they needed and more.
After spending a week there; the ladies arrived back home on Saturday which gave them plenty of time to unpack, do laundry and just relax before they both had to go back to work on Monday. Feeling a little jet lagged on the homecoming flight, Sam crashed on the couch and almost went right to sleep. Carly smiled at her, stroking her blonde locks.
"I love you Sam Puckett," she declared out loud. A sawing sound from Sam's nose was her response. "...despite your snoring."
Carly made way to the kitchen table where she laid down the mail that has accumulated in their absence. Next to the pile was the adoption form. She sighed and thumbed through the massive document.
"I guess now or never," the brunette sighed before sitting herself down and reaching for a pen from the little wicker basket in the middle of the table. She yawned as she grabbed the pile of papers too thick to be stapled. "Page one..."
About two hours later, a familiar yawning emanated from the living room and a woman with mused blonde hair came trudging in. Sam looked down to see what Carly was doing.
"You feel better?" Carly asked.
Sam covered her mouth to yawn, still semi tired.
"Little bit" Sam replied. "Need a hand with this?"
She shook her head. "Nope. You go and rest. There's ibuprofen if you've got a headache."
Sam just wordlessly grabbed a chair next to Carly and sat down.
"What?" asked Carly.
"I figured with my help we can get through this damn thing faster."
Carly insisted "No, babe. You sleep and I can handle this. Any questions about you that I can't answer I'll leave blank until later."
Sam rolled her beautiful eyes.
"Carls, I can take a nap if I feel really sick but what I need right now is a full night's sleep."
"Then GO!" Carly pressed.
Sam put her hay-colored hair in her hands. "I can't."
"Why?"
"Because..." she then cursed under her breath. "Because I can't sleep without you, okay?"
Carly didn't know if she was going to blush or giggle so she went with a happy medium.
"Awwww," she cooed, holding Sam's hand. "Am I like your teddy bear?"
Sam rested her head on her arm, looking up at her wife.
"More of a pink bunny holding a toothbrush. But I like your idea too."
"Well, yay!" she declared before leaning down to kiss Sam.
"Okay," Sam sighed. sitting straight. "Let's do this."
The adoption form was the longest thing they've ever encountered. Sam remarked that she never saw something with so many pages that didn't have a publisher listed in the beginning. It was meticulous in its detail; asking anything from annual income, medical history, and other things of interest.
Fortunately, for their sake, the document was strictly formal when it came to Carly and Sam's relationship. They just had to write how many years they knew each other and how them moving in together was relatively recent with the marriage. All of these factoids were 100% accurate and for all their caseworker knew, they were courting during those years of friendship. To an outsider, that may seem obtuse or fraudulent. But Sam reasoned that they loved each other for a very long time and were everything to one another except romantically involved.
In all honesty, neither one of them had a single relationship that lasted longer than their own. Even their friendship with Freddie doesn't go as far back.
Once it was all filled out to the best of their ability, Spencer took a gander at it to give his week's education in law to constructive use. After he began zoning out on page 11, the women decided it was fine and handed it over downtown to Anne at the agency. It felt like such a weight being lifted off of their shoulders, it was almost as serene as when they were in Hawaii. Almost.
Time passed and fall was becoming winter faster than you could see. It didn't help that the decorations for Christmas were up the day after Halloween.
Carly was trolling the mall, trying to hunt down something special for Sam, this being their very first Christmas together as wife and...well, wife. She had told Sam that she had some emergency work stuff popping up and that meant she wouldn't be home until much later that night. This gave Carly the perfect excuse to cruise the stores by herself without peaking Puckett around.
Meanwhile...
Sam had a half day so was stuck at home alone for several hours. Her and Carly was supposed to do the holiday decorating tomorrow but the blonde was so bored that she dragged the brown box from the back of the closet and went to work. She opened up the artificial tree they had bought a while ago and had used for quite some time. When Sam discovered her twin sister had an allergy to pine needles, she just got used to putting up artificial trees for Christmas.
The tree was in three sections and assembled easily, standing about six feet with the stand. The part that annoyed Sam to no end was unfurling every single leaf so they stick out. Her hands were getting irritated by the plastic prickles. She vowed that with all the trouble putting this tree up, Sam was determined to keep it standing at least a month after New Years.
It was when she was more than halfway through sprucing up the spruce that her cell rang.
Sam happily walked away from the tree to see who was calling. Her eyes widened when the ID came up as Anne. She answered it.
"H-Hello?"
"Yes, hi, is this Samantha?" Anne asked.
She cleared her throat. "Just Sam. How are you?"
"Oh I'm fine. Is Carly around? I tried calling her but it didn't go through; she might be in a bad spot."
Sam chuckled "She's at work. Normally she doesn't answer right away unless there's a meeting or she's in an elevator."
She was just making conversation and giving Anne a reason for Carly not picking up. She didn't want to be rude or give her any reason to doubt Carly's access in the case of a real emergency.
"Is this a bad time?" Anne queried.
"No, no, no, no!" Sam sputtered like a machine gun. "Not at all."
"Well, I just wanted to give you two a call and tell you that your application had been processed. Now let me advise you both that the actual adoption process will take some time. You've got availability and doctor visits, then you have the cases when its an unwanted birth and the waiting around for that."
"Um," Sam stood stiff. "You probably wouldn't be telling me this unless..."
"Yes," Anne cheerily said. "You and Carly, from what I've seen from your application and talking with all of your references and that visit last month to evaluate your home; both seem like prime candidates for adoption. Personally, you ladies seem very lovely and responsible and caring to one another. And now the legal details corroborate your credentials. You're going to make a boy or girl very happy."
Sam was smiling so broadly and was excited to the point that she almost dropped her phone. She couldn't wait to see Carly's reaction.
"Anne, is there something I could get in writing for..."
"Well, naturally" Anne replied. "I was preparing to mail this to you but I like the direct approach when telling potential parents the good news."
The caseworker really did revel in moments like this. Her work can be dry and impersonal sometimes but its worth it when she tells a couple that they've been approved or even better, telling a young child they have a home.
"Listen, how long are you going to be there?"
"Um...about another hour. Why?"
Sam scrambled for her shoes and car keys.
"Would you mind if I picked up the letter in person instead of you mailing it."
"I suppose," Anne replied. "I admire your enthusiasm. I cannot imagine your wife's reaction."
Sam bit her lip "Me either. I'll be there soon. Goodbye and thanks again. So much!"
The blonde squealed with delight as she bounded out the door.
Christmas Eve.
They had a wonderful dinner with family and close friends. Everybody complimented on the nice decorations. Carly politely thanked them but reminded every one that Sam did the bulk of it. With the candles and bows and garland and lights; it was festive but not garish.
Once everybody left, Sam took Carly's face in her hands and gave her an unbroken kiss that lasted almost a minute. If that doesn't sound long to you, try holding your breath for 60 seconds.
"Wow," the brunette responded, flushed. "Where did that come from?"
"Mamma wanted to kiss her sweetheart all freaking night."
Carly gave Sam a wry grin, resting her arms around her neck.
"Know what time it is now?"
Sam blushed "I can guess."
"Presents!" exclaimed Carly as she ran to the coat closet.
"I guessed wrong," Sam sighed as she is left standing there.
Carly comes back with a big wrapped box. Sam could tell by her face that it had some weight to it. She sat on the couch, gift on lap.
"Come here," she smiled.
Sam smirked and held up her finger.
"Hang on, Carls. I've got something for you, too."
Carly made a face while her wife left and came back with a small bag.
"What's that?" Carly asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know," teased Sam as she sat beside her. She then handed the bag over to Carly. "You first."
Carly placed the present on the coffee table and took the bag.
"What'd you do?" chuckled the brunette as she rifled through it.
Sam braced herself for her reaction. Carly let out an audible gasp.
"You like it?"
Carly pulled out a Kindle fire, dressed in a dark red case.
"I love it!"
"And now when a new book comes out, you can download the digital version and read."
She smiled and kissed Sam, "Thank you, baby. Now you."
Sam snatched the box, letting it overshadow her lap.
"Gimme! Gimme!"
The blonde tore through the paper and her eyes widened.
"No way!"
Sam was now the proud owner of Blu-ray player / surround sound system combo. Carly remembered Sam checking out that stuff in the electronics stores.
"It also comes with a movie!" added Carly who handed Sam a Wizard of Oz Blu-ray.
"Oh god," laughed Sam.
"Your favorite movie still, right?"
Sam squinted her eyes "Don't you dare tell anyone. If anyone asks, this is yours."
Carly winked.
The radio had been tuned into holiday music all day for ambience. It was at this point that the stations were getting a little more varied. Right now, Peter Gabriel's cover of "The Book of Love" came on.
"I think Santa has something else for you," mentioned Sam.
"What?"
Sam dug through the magazine rack by the couch and pulled out the hidden envelope.
"This," she replied handing it to Carly.
The brunette was bemused by the packet and carefully opened it. She pulled out the letter and blinked rapidly. Sam sat in utter suspense as Carly silently read the paper, her eyes darting back and forth.
Carly let the letter fall to the floor, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. She slowly turned to Sam, who was also on the verge of tears. Carly's happy tears were the most infectious thing; Sam found it impossible to not at least get blurred vision.
Sam intertwined her fingers in Carly's.
"We did it."
"We did it!" cried Carly who hugged Sam so tightly.
"I love you so much," Sam whispered in her ear.
Carly's grip tightened.
"I love you too," she sniffed. "Best Christmas Ever."
Sam kissed Carly's neck. "Best wife ever."
"I think that's you" Carly sighed, wiping her tears.
Several more minutes of gentle touches and warm kisses later, the two retreated to their bedroom to celebrate. For Carly and Sam, Christmas morning would be very late this year.