As Sam's pregnancy progressed, the Benson's got more and more excited for the upcoming addition to their family. Heather, possibly the most anxious for the baby to arrive, had taken to taping up pictures she had drawn to the walls of the room that would be used for the new child almost every day.

"She keeps this up and we won't have to buy wallpaper," Sam commented one evening as Freddie worked on clearing out the lasts of the boxes in the closet of the room.

"Good idea," Freddie chuckled. He looked over his shoulder at his wife, who was sitting in a rocking chair in the corner, absentmindedly drawing circles with her fingers over the small bump of her abdomen. Sam was almost five months along now and was really beginning to show. She had had to break out her maternity clothes a few weeks ago and she now claimed she had a right to be in sweatpants almost around the clock.

Still, though, Freddie thought she couldn't look any more perfect.

"What are you staring at?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Freddie smiled. "It's just…you know how beautiful you are, right?"

Sam blushed. "Jeez…I forgot how sappy you get during pregnancies."

Freddie laughed as he stepped over and sat on the arm of the chair, leaning down to kiss her. When he pulled away he rested his hand next to hers on her abdomen.

"When's the doctor's appointment again?" he asked.

"Three weeks," Sam replied. "And that's when we can find out if we're having a boy or a girl if we want."

"Right," Freddie nodded. "Well, um, do we want to find out?"
"I don't know," Sam said slowly. "I mean I guess it would help with the preparations, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, and it would be easier to start narrowing down names," Freddie agreed.

"But…" Sam said thoughtfully.

"What is it?"

"I dunno, it's just, this whole pregnancy was a surprise, wasn't it?" Sam said. "We weren't planning on having another baby right now, right?"
"Yeah," Freddie nodded.

"So don't you think it might be fun to kind of keep the surprise going?" Sam said. "And find out the gender when the baby's born?"
"Hmm," Freddie said. "Actually…that sounds like a pretty good idea. I like it." He put his arm around Sam. "We'll get to hear the doctor cry out 'it's a boy' or 'it's a girl' the second he or she is born."
"I know," Sam grinned. "I can't wait."

…

"-And then Scott brought me this red rose to trig class," Lauren said a few evenings later as the family sat down at the dinner table. "Isn't that so romantic?"

"Lovely," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.

"And then at lunch he gave me a brownie his mom made," Lauren continued. "It was delicious."

"Nice," Sam smirked. "You know, when your dad and I dated in high school the only food his mom ever made for me were spinach cakes."

"Yuk!" Heather cringed.

"Yeah, well, just be lucky you escaped her tofu loaf," Freddie chuckled.

"And then after school today-" Lauren started.

"So Laure, how were you actual classes today?" Freddie cut her off. "Er, not that I wouldn't love for you to talk about your boyfriend the whole meal."
"Oh, they were fine," Lauren replied. "Oh, did I tell you? You remember that family tree I did a few months ago?"

"Sure," Sam nodded.

"Well my teacher was so impressed by it that she wants to keep it to use as an example for her future classes!" Lauren grinned.

"Wow, way to go, Lauren!" Freddie said proudly. "See, and you were so against doing it at the beginning."

"It was actually really cool learning about your guys' families," Lauren said. "I was kind of thinking about continuing it. At the end of every semester, my teacher lets us do an extra-credit assignment and I might do something more on our family history."

"Great idea," Freddie said. "It's nice to see you so excited about this."

"Mommy, I done!" Heather exclaimed, pushing away her plate of half-finished chicken nuggets.

"Heather, finish your dinner," Freddie told his daughter. "You're going to be hungry again in a few hours."

"Mommy not done," Heather said, pointing to Sam's still full plate.

"Mommy's not feeling too well, Heather," Sam replied. "But you need to finish."

"You okay?" Freddie asked, concerned.

"Yeah, it's just heartburn I think," Sam shrugged. "I got it around this time when I was pregnant with Heather, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Freddie nodded. "Well I'll get a container to store your chicken in for now. Because I know around two in the morning you'll be hungry for it again and I'll be woken up to get it for you."

"Thank you, baby," Sam grinned as Freddie took her plate up to the counter.

"Daddy, choco milk?" Heather asked sweetly as Freddie got up.

Freddie laughed. "So you're too full for dinner, but you have plenty of room for chocolate milk, huh?"
Heather nodded.

"Eat a few more bites," Sam told her. "And then you can have chocolate milk."

"Okay!" Heather agreed, turning back to her meal.

"Shoot…we're out of milk," Freddie pointed out, opening the fridge door.

"No choco milk?" Heather frowned.

"We're gonna need milk for breakfast in the morning," Freddie said. "I might as well go buy some now. You'll still get your chocolate milk, Heather. Anything else we need from the store?"

"I could go for some gummy worms," Sam replied. "Oh, and some kiwis."

"Since when do you eat kiwis?" Freddie asked, amused.

"Since I've been carrying your kid," Sam said firmly. "Now are you gonna get me my fruit or sit here and be difficult?"
"And the mood swings have officially started…" Freddie mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"
"Nothing," Freddie said quickly, closing the fridge door. "Alright, I'll be back soon."
"Wait, daddy, can I drive to the store with you?" Lauren asked. "I can practice parking when we get there!"

Freddie sighed. "Sure, why not? Come on, Laure."

"Have fun," Sam smiled as her stepdaughter scrambled from the table. "Oh, and Freddie? Get me some peanut butter while you're at it."

…

The next morning Sam groggily opened her eyes and turned her head to look at the clock on her bedside table. It was slightly after six. She briefly wondered what had awoken her; she normally didn't wake up from morning sickness until at least seven.

"Did I wake you?"
Sam turned and saw her husband pulling on a button down shirt across the bedroom.

"It's Saturday," Sam yawned. "Why are you up so early?"

"I got an emergency text from my boss," Freddie explained. "Apparently some of the systems are down at work and he needs all the extra hands he can get."
"What kind of a jerk makes you drop everything on a Saturday morning to go to work?"

"It's fine," Freddie shrugged. "Thought I was gonna work on moving some baby stuff down from the attic today….I guess I can always do that tomorrow."

"How long are you going in for?" Sam asked.

"Hopefully not long," Freddie replied. "With any luck I'll be back here before lunch."

He stepped over to Sam's bedside and gave her a quick kiss. "I'll see you in a little bit, baby."

"Bye," Sam mumbled sleepily, already laying back down and closing her eyes.

…

"This is so cool; do you know my dad's great grandfather was not only a fencer, but the owner of this small chain of drugstores?" Lauren said to Sam later that day as she scrolled along on her laptop. "They went out of business, though, due to some tick infestation…"

"Well that explains his mom's fear of ticks, I guess," Sam said. She fidgeted in her seat, trying to get comfortable. Since she had gotten out of bed that morning, Sam had felt unusually awkward. She had terrible cramps and it seemed with every movement she felt sick. She made a mental note to ask the doctor about it when she went to her next appointment. She remembered feeling similar to this when she was pregnant with Heather two years ago, but that had been towards the end.

Guess this baby's just really active, Sam thought to herself, feeling her unborn child shift inside of her. She could feel a few gentle kicks against her abdomen.

"Is the baby kicking again?" Lauren asked excitedly as Sam placed her hands on her stomach. "Can I feel?"
"Sure, but hurry up before it stops," Sam nodded.

Lauren rushed over and placed her hands next to Sam's.

"That's awesome!" Lauren grinned.

"This kid's being extra energetic in there today," Sam said, shifting again in her seat, feeling a numb pain in her lower abdomen.

"Mommy? I watch pony movie?" Heather asked, coming into the living room with her favorite DVD.

"No, Heather, it's time for you to take a nap," Sam said. "In fact…I might go lay down for a little too."

"No nap!" Heather said loudly.

"Do you want me to read to you before you go to sleep?" Lauren offered.

Heather's scowl instantly turned into a smile. She loved having her older sister read to her.

"Lauren read to me!" she exclaimed happily.

"Thanks," Sam said to Lauren as the teen took her younger sister's hand. She watched her daughters head upstairs before heaving herself up off the couch and making her way up to her bedroom.

The second she reached the last step, though, she suddenly felt another pain in her lower abdomen. This pain was much sharper than the first, though, and Sam had to grip the railing of the stairs to keep from falling.

Despite the fact that she had been feeling pains all day, this was the first time Sam was worried…

Still wincing, Sam reached her bedroom and slowly sat down on the bed. She was still in pain, and, if anything, it was only intensifying.

What's going on? Sam thought anxiously. This hadn't happened during either of her pregnancies; not with Conner or Heather.

She felt another sharp pain ripple though her body, sending her jumping to her feet and forcing her to let out a soft cry. She looked back down where she had been sitting on the bed and saw a small pool of blood.

Sam's eyes widened in fright and she grasped the bedpost for support.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Her unborn child was in danger, that much she knew.

"Lauren!" Sam called out loudly. "Lauren!"
"What?" Lauren asked, coming into the bedroom. "I was reading to Hea-Are you okay, Sam?"

"I-I don't know," Sam said, trying to keep calm as to not alarm Lauren. "Lauren, I need you get my keys, get Heather, and drive us to the hospital. Now."