Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 36 (Cousin's Arrival)

Spencer rolled over on his bed, moaning as someone kept shaking him. He heard Sasha saying for him to wake up, but waved his hand through the air, brushing her off. "Five more minutes…please?" They'd been up almost all night, sorting through the things they wanted to take to Florida with them and the things they didn't need anymore and were going to take to the Goodwill store. "I promise I'll give you a morning kiss in five minutes." He heard his love take a deep breath, and then suddenly found himself falling towards the floor.

When he opened his eyes he saw Sasha, fully dressed, smirking at him. He rubbed his head and groaned, why did she have to go and do that? "Spencer, you need to get dressed now. It's noontime, Carly's up, and your cousin's in the living room." His eyes widened and he quickly shot up from the ground, a bit too quick of a rise though, as his vision started to become fuzzy for a split second. He put his hand to his head and moaned.

"Michael's here? Already? When did he get here?"

"Like five or ten minutes ago…In fact, our neighbors saw him and came over to chitchat, so he's being distracted. So is Aunt Regina, actually." They were both there? Right, he'd forgotten that Regina and Michael wanted to tell Nevel to back the hell off of Carly before they decided to drop a legal bomb on his ass. "I made some waffles for breakfast, and it turns out, your cousin is quite hungry." He laughed and quickly shook his head.

"Nah, Michael's just a big eater, he always has been." He didn't know Michael and Regina would be over here so soon, to be honest, he thought he had another day or two. With everyone in as much of a hurry towards the goal of Florida, it wasn't a total surprise that they had decided to take the nearest flight out. "Now Carly's been holding Michael off from coming in here to wake you himself, but I don't know how well she's doing."

"Hah, it's like we're kids again!" She raised an eyebrow as he flashed a toothy grin. Whenever they were young and visiting each other during the holidays, they would always want to start the day out playing video games or something of the sort. Whenever one woke up, they would wake the other by dumping an ice cold glass of water on their faces, then proceed to pull them from the bed by the ankles. "Let's just say, we had fun ways of waking each other up as kids."

"I'll say." Michael's voice rang in his ears and he quickly looked to the doorway. He froze and his lips curled upwards, seeing his favorite, and only, cousin for the first time in nearly twenty years. To him, it didn't matter that he was still in his boxers. He was so moved by his cousin's presence that it brought tears to his eyes.

Michael was tall and had a well built body, though only slightly bigger than Spencer was. He was about average sized, had spiked red hair that he got from his mother's side of the family and dazzling blue eyes. He still had a bump on his nose from when he fell out of a tree-house when he was about seven years old. His face was flat, but his smile lifted his freckled cheeks up to his eyes. He had a deep tan and was wearing a short sleeved black shirt neatly tucked into blue denim jeans.

To see him again was refreshing, to say the least. In fact, he was almost certain this was still a dream, or at least, he would have thought that if Sasha hadn't shoved him out of the bed after trying to wake him for ten minutes. Michael's eyes were just about as misty as his were about to become. "Damn Spencer, if I knew how beautiful of a family you had, I would have come to get you out of this hellhole sooner!" Sasha's cheeks went red and Spencer's lips rose, and once more, he could feel the pride in his family again.

"Well, it took a little bit of time for me to have my senses kicked into gear, I guess." Michael laughed and walked over to him. He put his arm around his neck, then started rubbing his hand over Spencer's head. Spencer yelped and laughed as he tried to pull away. "Ouch!"

"And that is for being an idiot. You had it coming." He took a step back and looked to Sasha, rubbing his chin. He grinned and extended his hand. "It's great to meet you! Finally." He turned his gaze to Spencer, still smirking at him. "Oh yeah Cuz, I am not letting you go for this." Spencer rubbed the back of his head while Sasha shook Michael's hand, though the handshake didn't last long. Michael quickly gave her a family hug. "In this family, we greet each other with hugs, if that's not a problem for you."

"Not at all," she replied. "It's really great to meet some more of Spencer's relatives."

"Oh yeah, you're going to enjoy it when you get to Florida. Now where you guys will be staying? Beautiful! Aunt Jessie's got a house right outside Lake Bradford, which is on the edge of Tallahassee. It's kind of hidden away so no one can find her. I'm telling you, fishing out on that lake is awesome. Spencer remembers it, don't you Spence?" He wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulders and grinned.

"Vaguely, Mike…very vaguely." There were some years where his mom would take him to Florida to see his grandparents, his dad never bothered to go, though. During those holiday visits as a child, he and Michael would often go out with Grandpa Travis and Uncle Ken, who would take this boat onto the lake and hand them fishing poles. Grandma Rebecca, Aunt Regina, and Jessica would always sit on the shore, chatting, or reading some sort of new literature.

He could hardly wait to feel that rush of the lake breeze once more, and to watch the sunrise over the crystal waters. He closed his eyes and imagined, for the moment, taking the old boat out on the lake with Carly and Blake in tow, all grown up. He could picture Sasha waving on the shore with his mom beside her. He felt the cool breeze against his face, blowing his hair back. The air was crisp and the water rippled, splashed, with each movement of a fish. There was no peace greater than this peace, and it was in the loving arms of his family.

When he opened his eyes, he frowned at the current reality before him. It wasn't his dream, it wasn't his peace, and he loathed it. "God I can't wait for Florida," he grumbled and slowly moved towards his closet. "I hope we can get the hell out of here soon." It was the tenth of December, Saturday, and Carly told them just last night about T-Bo's cousin. "Could we likely get there by next Saturday?"

"Well, it's a two day drive. If you're staying at motels along the way-"

"Screw motels. There's going to be how many of us? Me, you, Sasha, Carly, Ulysses, Aunt Regina…I'd say we could stop at a motel halfway." That would give them three days, if they left Monday, they'd get there either Thursday or Friday. With a U-Haul truck, the sedan, and six eligible drivers, they could push as far as possible before having to stop. He wouldn't force them into exhaustion though, he would stop. "Sasha, Carly and I stayed up late last night sorting through everything. If we pack today and tomorrow, give what we don't need to the Goodwill and start off on Monday, we should be good, right?"

Sasha moved over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention. "Is it possible for us to transfer Carly's transcripts to the school in Florida, or do we have to do that from here?"

"They'd mail the transcripts in." That was Regina's voice. Spencer's eyebrows rose sharply and he turned to see his Aunt smiling at them from the doorway. Her red hair curled down to her shoulders and her soft brown eyes gazed out through the brown glasses that rested easy on her slender nose. "If there's anything you have up here that can be done in Florida, it's best to do it there. It's easy to call a school and have them send transcripts in. The high school Carly would be going to is actually the Richards High School, their classes break for winter around the twentieth, and their classes begin around January 6th…plenty of time to transfer her. Is there anything else tying you down here?"

"No, besides this house." Michael and Regina glanced at each other and Spencer moved his hand through his hair. He understood he'd be breaking lease, and there was a price he had to pay, of course Socko already paid that for him. He could, and should, move out as soon as possible. "The only thing left tying us to Seattle are our friends, and Nevel." Michael snapped his fingers and leaned against the wall.

"Ah yes, I'd almost forgotten about him." He hurried towards the door and glanced back over his shoulder. "Come on mom, let's let them get dressed and all. Spencer, when you're done, I'd like you to take us to see this Nevel kid. I was talking to your neighbor, James, and he says some police officers found one of Nevel's henchmen passed out at some bar late last night. Easy arrest." Well that was good news, it meant Nevel had lost half of his, so-called, insurance. "Honestly Spencer, I'm surprised you'd let some kid try and push you around. Doesn't he still have to listen to his mother?"

"I think he controls her…"

"Wow…Well then, dude's in for a shock of reality. This'll be fun, me and you, busting heads and taking names. Just like old times!" Spencer laughed as his cousin and Aunt headed out of the bedroom. Like old times indeed, they used to look out for each other whenever they got a chance. Whenever they were together, they were like an unstoppable tag team duo, even if it was for a few weeks per visit. If they went through the neighborhood and saw some kid picking on another, they tried to put a stop to it. Kids in school, they knew who they were, and they didn't have to misuse their parents reputation, they were working on building up one of their own. Too bad it all ended when Robert put his foot down and banned Jessica from seeing her family, then stealing custody when she divorced him and escaped his abuse.

"I suppose it will feel good to relax again…" He reached into his closet and pulled out a pair of dark jeans and a blue shirt. He looked back to Sasha and tossed the clothes onto the bed. She smiled as he moved his hands to her waist and gave her a quick peck on the lips, that morning kiss he promised her. "What do you think of Mike and Aunt Regina?"

"I think they are nice people, I can't wait to get to know more about them. You're really ready to take off on Monday?"

"Yeah, I want to get the hell out of this town as soon as possible. I want you guys to be happy and for me to be able to take care of you. I also don't want mom to worry anymore." Sasha's smile grew and she moved closer to him, hugging him tight. She pulled her head back and met his eyes.

"Your mom's been worried sick, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, but wouldn't you know, she's extremely worried about you, Carly, and Blake. Me too, but I think she's expecting me to be the responsible one here."

"Yeah. I can see that. I'm just…amazed that your family is so accepting of me. I've been so used to being judged that I didn't think anyone, much less a political family, would possibly accept me." Spencer looked past her for a second and saw Regina looking in with a smile, she'd just left the bathroom, and her hands were wet. Sasha glanced back and pulled away from Spencer for a second, meeting the gentle woman's gaze.

"Why wouldn't we accept you, sweetie? You're my nephew's fiancé, and you've stood by his side even in his darkest hour. We admire that about you, that you've had the strength to put up with some of that craziness of his." Spencer felt his cheeks turn red as Sasha broke out a giggle, then cupped her hand over her mouth. "I don't think there's anything about you that I would judge unfairly, the same goes for Kenneth, Jessica, or their parents. So try not to put yourself down because of how you grew up, show us who you are. We'll love you for who you are, not for anything less. The hard life you've led, the mistakes and the good things that you've done, hardships you've faced, everything about your past only makes you into who you are now, and from what I see before me…" Regina stepped inside and lifted her hand up to Sasha's chin. Sasha's eyes began to water and her lips remained in a bright smile as she tilted her head upwards just a bit and straightened her shoulders. "I see a beautiful, stunning woman who has a great head on her shoulders and will make a not only a great mother to her children, but a great wife too."

"R-Really?"

"Oh yes." Regina lowered her arm and hugged Sasha. "I hear you want to teach." Spencer sighed and took this moment to go ahead and start putting on his clothes, no more distractions. As he pulled his pants on, he watched the two women discuss. He was genuinely thrilled that Sasha was actually smiling, and that Regina was letting her know that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her.

"I would love to teach, maybe kindergarten, or English. I actually love working with children."

"Good, because if you're willing to take courses at TCC, that's Tallahassee Community College, Ken and I would like to help pay for your first year of school. Jessica's going to be paying for Carly's college, and all, so that's why it's Ken and myself. Once you and Spencer get on your feet and all, you two can take it from there. Does that sound good?" Sasha gasped and quickly nodded her head, then the two women looked over to Spencer. Regina's face softened a bit more and Spencer's eyebrows rose, he was already wondering about the whole money situation. "I know you don't want to rely on your family's money, Spencer, but it's only until you and Sasha can get settled. We're not going to put money in your bank, we're not going to do anything that you don't want us to do, we'll only offer help…so, does that sound okay?"

He didn't have the heart to turn down his Aunt, especially if she and Uncle Ken were going to help Sasha achieve one of her life's goals, and that was going to school. He knew no matter what, she needed to do that, if not for her own self worth, for her family. It would actually help out considerably for the first year, since they would be considered 'out of state' students for the first six months at least, and that meant the price was much higher. When they started to have to pay for school themselves, they'd be considered 'in-state' and would likely be able to actually afford it on their own. "Yeah Aunt Gina, anything for Sasha. That is, assuming she wants to go back to school." He folded his arms across his chest and shot them a smug little smirk. Sasha practically leapt for joy and threw her arms around his neck.

"Yes!" She was like a child who just got the present she always wanted, and to see that joy inside of her, was worth everything to him. She moved back to Regina and hugged her, trying not to squeal too much, for she didn't want to make a fool of herself. "Thank you Aunt Regina! Can I call you that?" Regina laughed heartily and hugged her back.

"Of course you can! You're my Niece, after all." Spencer glanced back at the doorway and saw Carly standing with James and Michael, Blake was in Michael's arms, grinning at the attention he was being given. James flashed a smile and leaned against the doorframe.

"Geez, I'm missing all the excitement?" He pushed off and made his way to Spencer, meeting his gaze. "So you're leaving us, huh? I hope you and your family will be happy, you've certainly earned it."

"Thanks. Are you and Juanita going to help pack things up?"

"Yeah of course. Why don't you and your cousin go take care of Nevel, I don't think you'll need me there. Ulysses is on his way with that truck of his. Juanita's going to help Carly and Sasha, and is your Aunt going with you or staying here?"

"I'm going to stick around here," Regina answered. "Michael knows what to do and what to say. He and I discussed it over the plane ride." Michael flicked his thumb up and grinned.

"Yep, let's go handle that pint-sized twat." Michael raised his hand up and looked to Spencer. Spencer smiled and gave him a quick high five, then gripped his hand. The two pat each other's back like brothers and immediately started heading for the door, making sure to say goodbye before they left.