Chapter 36
After everyone else left them alone, Sam and Freddie sat down on the couch together. "Sorry it took so long, babe. I can't believe Gibby left his gas tank run dry."
"It's alright, that's Gib-butt for you." Sam replied and kissed him again, still rubbing at her sore hand. "So. Did we want to do those last personal gifts tonight or wait until morning? Cause I've gotta warn you, what I got for you isn't really a morning thing."
"It's up to you, babe. Why are you rubbing your hand? Did you punch something again?"
What a convenient cover he had just suggested. "That stupid dishwasher." Was all she said. Freddie knew she disliked the machine already.
"Sam. Baby, punching inanimate objects doesn't help. All is does is hurt my princess."
"The thing's running, ain't it?" She scoffed. "You and Karl seriously need to look into replacing that beast before it really goes on the fritz and sprays water all over the kitchen or some chizz."
Freddie sighed at her attitude. "Do you think we'd better soon get to bed? We can get up nice and early and open our last gifts." He wanted to wait until Christmas morning to give her the ring.
"Orrr, we could get them now, stay up late doing otherrr things and sleep in tomorrow. Then maybe do those things again after we wake up. You know, since Melanie's going to Gibby's first thing." She turned to him with a flirt.
"We can't sleep in too late, baby. Dad wants to leave about 10. And I really wanted to save your gift for morning."
"My God, Freddie. Ten? As in a.m.? On a holiday? Your grandma's in a nursing home not boot camp, she's not going anywhere is she?"
"Right. But you know how that generation is. She probably gets up by 5 every day anyhow. And Dad wanted to get over there early so we could have dinner with her."
Sam opened her mouth to object but her cut her off. "Which, by the way, old people eat at noon. Because they go to bed at, like, six in the evening."
Sam conceded with a huff. Karl Benson was good to her and Sam loved Freddie's grandma like her own. The old lady took quite a liking to Sam, too. The blonde couldn't help but respect the octogenarian, especially with the way she made fun of Marissa's odd cleaning and disinfecting habits.
"OK, I guess I can wait until morning for my present, but I want to give you your present tonight. Then you can decide if you want to turn in early or not." She wiggled her eyebrows and grabbed his hand. "Come on."
"Huh? Why do I hafta get up? I just sat down here." He moaned.
"I'm not giving you your present anywhere but in that bedroom. Because as soon as you see it, I know what's gonna happen." She said with a smirk.
"Does this have anything to do with that Stacy's Secrets bag I saw in the trash can the other day?"
"Only one way to find out." She switched her behind in a flirty way as she led him back the hallway.
Christmas morning, Sam woke up to the hideous sound of Freddie's alarm on his phone. Normally she was up for work before him and was in the shower by the time it went off. The 1812 overture at full volume was not a pleasant sound to wake up to, especially for a girl who only got to sleep at 4:30.
"Five minutes, please!" She begged, pulling her pillow over her head. "Just make it stop! Freddie!"
Freddie stretched and shut off the noise. "Sam, it's already 8:30, we only have a little over an hour to get ready and eat breakfast. And if you want your present before we leave we need to get started."
Sam had her feet on the floor, wide awake. "Hey, who needs sleep. I'm good to go." And with that she headed for the bathroom. "I'm grabbing a shower. After last night I need it. When I get done, I expect breakfast and my present to be waiting for me."
"As you wish." Freddie snuck a quick kiss as she slipped past him into the bathroom.
Melanie was already up and ready for her day, she was an early riser anyway. She planned to get a quick breakfast and head over to Gibby's to spend the day with his family and planned on being there about nine.
"Hey, Freddie." She acknowledged. "Toaster waffle?"
"Uh, no thanks, you go ahead. I need to get something ready for Sam."
"Bacon and eggs again?"
"What else?" He shrugged. "We're leaving in about an hour, so she's getting ready while I make breakfast."
"Did you give her the ring yet?" The look on his face told him she wasn't supposed to know about this. "I mean, um, the special thing you were holding until you were alone?"
"So you know about the ring? Let me guess, Gibby told you?"
"Uh, yeah." Mel pulled her hot waffle out of the toaster and dropped it on a plate, trying to pass the blame onto a convenient scapegoat, but Freddie saw through the ruse, he knew Sam had somehow stumbled upon the ring. "Gibby, right. So can you make me a strip of bacon, too?"
"Sure." He responded and pulled another strip out of the bag and placed it in the pan.
"I want to give her the ring before we go to visit my grandma."
"No time like the present, Freddie. I'll make myself scarce so you guys can have some privacy. But you're not really going to propose to my sister over bacon and eggs are you? Wait, that might be the best thing, well except for fried chicken or ham."
"Propose?" Freddie choked on the coffee he had just sipped. "It's not an engagement ring, Mel. I just wanted to get her something nice as a promise for an actual proposal in the future. But I guess if Sam wants it to be an engagement, it could be. I just thought she'd think it was a little soon for that. I guess It's really up to her."
'Oh Boy!' Melanie thought to herself. At least she knew Sam was going to say yes.
As soon as the bacon was cooked, Melanie finished her breakfast and returned to her own room to get ready for her day with the Gibson family. Sam soon emerged, hair still damp, and in her bathrobe, but ready to chow down on breakfast before getting dressed.
"Gotta tell you, I'm a little tender after last night." Sam Smirked to Freddie as she sat down to her food. "Not looking forward to a long car ride."
Freddie sat across the breakfast island from her with a bowl of cereal. "Sorry. Maybe you should take a cushion to sit on."
"So where's my other present?" She asked, before chomping in on a piece of toast.
Freddie produced a small box from seemingly out of nowhere. It was the familiar ring box, but he had managed to adhere a neat, little bow onto it.
Sam tried to look surprised. "Freddie? Is this jewelry?" She began wiping her hands on a napkin.
He took her surprise as hesitation. "Before you say anything, I just want to say that the last couple of weeks with you living here has been so great and I can't wait to spend the rest of out lives together. I found my destiny with you, Sam and I don't ever want to be apart again."
The blonde opened the box and smiled wildly as she saw the ring. Freddie knew her fake shock was all an act, she somehow knew about the ring, but he didn't care. "Freddie. Is this what I think it is?"
"It's whatever you want it to be, sweetheart. If you want it to be an engagement ring, it is, if you want it to be a promise that's fine, it's up to you." He took her hand. "But no matter what, I just want you to know I love you and I'm committed to you. Forever. If you'll accept it, that is."
"First off, yes. I accept. And I want to be with you forever, too. Maybe it's a bit soon to actually be engaged, so let's just call it a pre-engagement ring. And if you can come up with maybe a little more memorable proposal than over breakfast, that wouldn't be the worst thing. You nub."
"So, even though we know that someday we'll be getting married and you've got a ring, you still want some grand romantic gesture for a proposal. Wow, I've got to say that's the most nubby think I think I've ever heard you say." He teased. "You sure you're really Sam?" He began searching for her mole by trying to move her shirt collar.
"Meh, what can I say, you must be rubbing off on me. But would Mel do this?" She ran her hand up his thigh under the table and kissed him deeply.
"You taste like bacon." He muttered as their lips parted.
"Of course." Sam smiled proud of the fact. "And you call me a nub again and you'll be the one with a sore crotch."
Freddie stretched across the breakfast bar and kissed her. "I love you, Sam."
"Love you too. Nub. Now how about you let mama finish this nice breakfast you made me before it gets too cold and go get yourself cleaned up and ready to go. It's getting late and I still need the bathroom to finish my hair and put on a little makeup."
"Aren't you going to wear the ring on, Sam?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Heh. Right." Sam smiled and took a big bite of bacon. "As soon as I'm done with breakfast. Don't want to get it all greasy. Heh."
"OK, baby." Freddie kissed her cheek and headed for the bathroom to get prepared for the day.
"What the chiz am I gonna do? He wants me to wear the thing and if I put it on and it gets stuck, my finger will turn all numb and fall off." Sam mumbled to herself, a mouth full of food.
She stared at it for a while, taking in its beauty and mesmerized by the idea that it will look so good on her hand. Sam was never the kind of girl to wear a lot of jewelry. In fact, the only jewelry she ever wore was a necklace Carly had given her on her sixteenth birthday and a small charm bracelet Freddie gave her for Christmas a few years ago, which she had stuffed in the bottom of her drawer ever since she moved home and found him dating Carly. She had her grandmother's wedding band that the old lady gave her too, but she never wore it because it was way too large.
Sam sighed and picked up the ring after wiping the breakfast remnants off her hands onto a crumpled up paper towel. By now the shower had shut off and she knew Freddie would soon be returning. She attempted to slip the ring on her right hand, but it fit even tighter than her left. She tried first the left pinky and then the right, but neither would work, either. As much as she hated to do it, Sam slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. Surprisingly it went over her knuckle a little easier than she thought it would but she knew removing it wasn't going to happen any time soon.
It wasn't that she didn't want to wear the ring, she wanted it desperately. She was just afraid that if she put it on, it would have to be destroyed to get it off. The ring looked so good on that hand it wasn't funny. Sam slipped her empty plate and glass into the sink and made her way toward the bathroom to finish preparing herself to leave.
Freddie was now in the bedroom getting dressed and Sam snuck up behind him. After a quick slap to the back side and a kiss or two, she began putting on her modest makeup. The doorbell rang and Freddie made a dash for it to let his father in.
"I'll only be a minute yet." Sam informed him.
'It's OK, I still have to finish getting dressed. I can't find my Christmas tie. The one with the elves and reindeer on it."
"Aw, that's too bad." Sam said with an eye roll and smirk he couldn't see.
Soon, Sam emerged from the hall and greeted Mr. Benson as Freddie went to search for the missing tie. The first thing Karl Benson noticed when he looked at Sam was her left hand.
"Congrats, kiddo." Karl smiled at her and offered a hug. "You realize Freddie's grandmother is going to go off the deep end, right?"
"I hope that's a good thing." Sam questioned. "Oh, God. I forgot all about Marissa, speaking of off the deep end."
"Are you kidding me? It'll give Freddie's grandmother something to live for. As for his mom, I can't say what her reaction is going to be, but judging by how much she admires you, I'd say your odds are good. Just don't expect to get away today without having a little talk about great-grandbabies with my mother, though."
"Oh, Lord." She sighed. "Please don't tell me Grace expects me to be a baby factory."
"Not so much a factory, but she's always saying it would be nice to have at least one while she's still around to see him."
"Then tell her to hold off and take her vitamins because kids aren't happening until we're married for at least a year or two. And this isn't technically an engagement ring. It's a pre-engagement ring. So the ol' girl better not be expecting any kids popping out of me for at least three or four more years."
"Alright, Sam. I'm sure she'll be good with that." He chuckled. "Freddie! We better be going soon. You about ready, bud?"
Freddie came into the living room, disappointed that he couldn't find the tie he was looking for. The tie which Sam just happened to hide in the hallway closet, in the pocket of his raincoat, which he hadn't worn for over a month.
"Sorry. I couldn't find my new elf tie."
"The snowman one is fine. You ready to go? My car's running." Karl turned toward the door.
"Should have hid that one, too." Sam mumbled.
"Huh?" Freddie questioned.
"Oh, I said I like that one on you." Sam plastered on a fake smile and took his hand.