Sam

They were supposed to be ordering dinner, but Sam had completely lost his appetite. Amy was surprisingly casual about sneaking behind Artie's back, and it bugged Sam. Earlier, she had actually called her brother from the waiting room at the doctor's office. Meanwhile, Sam had squirmed anxiously, listening to her end of the conversation.

"Hey," she'd said, cradling the phone on her ear as she flipped through a magazine. "Whatcha doing?"

Sam had looked around the waiting room where they'd been sitting for nearly 45 minutes already by that point. They'd been warned about this. Amy's doctor was busy because she was good, though, and Amy had decided it would be worth the wait. It was definitely nerve-wracking to watch the other pregnant women and their partners in the waiting room. He'd made eye contact with a terrified-looking dude whose wife or girlfriend looked like she was ready to give birth any day.

"Can't you find some cute girl to push you?" Amy had asked Artie. "... well, you're still good. It's only 3:15. So unless it takes you 45 minutes..."

Something Artie said next must have caught her off-guard. She'd hesitated and glanced at Sam in alarm. "Oh, I had a break, but yeah..."

Sam had held his breath, when he'd realized Artie must have been asking why Amy was calling him now when glee rehearsal would be starting. He'd closed his eyes and buried his head in his hands.

Amy then laughed at something Artie had said. "Well, it wouldn't be a really good session if you didn't make your therapist cry in their car afterwards."

Sam had arched a brow at her. Somehow, and he didn't know how, but she'd succeeded in dodging the question and changing the subject with Artie.

The nurse with the clipboard had stepped out at that exact moment and called Amy's name. Sam's eyes grew wide, and he desperately hoped Artie hadn't heard on his end. Amy quickly got off the phone with her brother and stood up, unbothered by the whole thing. And that didn't sit right with Sam.

Now, two hours later, Sam grilled Amy about the whole ordeal while they waited in line at the deli to order dinner.

"I was just calling him back because I wanted to talk before he went to therapy," she explained, sighing as she crossed her arms in front of her and studied the menu. "Nothing here sounds good at all. Maybe I'll just get the chicken noodle soup or something, that might be okay..."

"I don't like lying to him," Sam went on.

He knew the cover story was that Sam had gone to Lima in order to help Mr. Schue and Amy with the glee clubs during a combined rehearsal. In actuality, Mr. Schuester was handling both glee clubs on his own that day, in the auditorium, to cover for Amy.

"And the alternative is what?" Amy asked, pointedly. "Are you ready to tell everyone?"

Sam sighed and shook his head. No, he wasn't ready for anyone to know yet. His family was now living with the Abrams family for the next month or so. That meant that Amy had moved downstairs into Artie's room, which was separated from the rest of the house in such a way that it would hopefully be possible for Amy to hide the fact that she was throwing up, almost every single morning now.

"If it seems like they're going to find out on their own anytime soon," he said. "Then we go ahead and tell them. Starting with Artie."

"Definitely starting with Artie," Amy echoed, heaving a huge sigh. "But I actually might have to say something to explain myself to Will next month. My next appointment is right in the middle of our crunch before Regionals. It's... another Thursday. You don't have to come to that one. But thanks for coming today."

"Well, I had to see this little blob with a heartbeat for myself, too," he said, softly, tucking his hand into hers. There was room for a little bit of excitement. Afterall, they'd just seen their baby for the first time. Seeing the fuzzy image on the screen made it a lot more real. And they'd gotten an official due date, August 20th.

He was next to order, and he started to order a tuna sandwich, but Amy made a horrible face and stopped him. "Please," she said. "Order anything but that. The smell of your mom making tuna the other day nearly sent me running to the bathroom to puke my guts out."

Sam ordered tomato basil soup and grilled cheese instead, against his better judgment. He needed comfort food. He'd make amends with his abs later. Amy got the chicken noodle soup that she thought sounded tolerable, and they took their number and took a seat.

"If my family sees you run to puke your guts out," Sam said. "They'll know."

"I said almost," Amy quickly corrected herself. "Usually the only time I actually throw up is in the morning. The rest of the time, it's just a general feeling of bleh all day but no actual puking."

"I don't know how much longer I can stand keeping this from Artie," Sam confessed, at which point Amy gave him a pleading look. "But I will. I know."

How much longer turned out to be a lot longer than Sam thought it would be.

January was rather long and uneventful, and well, January-like. There was a lot of snow, which Artie hated when there weren't little kids who wanted to build a snowman. It was just an added struggle for him to get to class. But it seemed like hanging out with this blind guy, Zack, had given him a little perspective. He bit back his complaints a lot more, Sam noticed. And then there was Artie's therapy, which Sam started going to, every chance he got. Julie would come often, too, and whenever she was filming, Artie also had to try to complain less. All in all, he was beginning to see his friend grow through these experiences. And Sam hated to think that their dorm days were now numbered, that their time as roommates would be up come summertime. Meanwhile, his best friend still had no idea about the little niece and nephew that was on the way.

Amy told Sam not to come home for many visits, so as to avoid creating suspicion. Plus, she reasoned that Sam needed to spend what little time he had left to do the college thing with Artie doing just that. Meanwhile, Amy couldn't visit because she didn't want the friend she usually stayed with to find out. Her morning sickness hadn't let up yet, but actual puking still tended to occur only in the first couple of waking hours of her day.

Valentine's Day happened to fall on a Friday, on the same weekend as Regionals for the middle schoolers. Artie invited Julie to come with him to Lima for the weekend, and they were all missing any Friday classes that hadn't already been cancelled, in order to leave on Thursday, after Artie's therapy session.

"I hope Amy didn't redecorate my room," Artie was saying, from his position in the standing frame on that Thursday.

Julie was busy finishing something for one of her classes, so it was just Sam watching that day. After missing that first session, Sam tried hard to attend as many as he could. Observing Ken was a neat opportunity for Sam. It confirmed that this was his new dream, this was what he wanted to do with his life. But his plan was a little more complicated now, with a baby on the way. Sam didn't know how much longer it was going to take him now, to get where Ken was today.

Artie had built his way up to twenty minutes at a time, after initially struggling to get past eight. Sam was pretty impressed with the way Artie's therapist didn't put up with any of his crap, and now, here he was. Standing for twenty solid minutes.

"I think she put up kitten posters," Sam teased. "And left them there, just out of your reach."

The week before, Sam had almost gone down to help his family with the move into the new rent house, just a few blocks from the Abrams residence. But he'd had a really big test in psychology to study for, one that would make the difference between a B and a C average, leading up to mid-terms. Sam's dad had assured him that they'd manage without him, and manage they did. Sam couldn't wait to see the new house. And now, Amy had her upstairs room back. Just in time to... share it with Julie for a weekend. He was bracing himself for the news to be out soon. In some ways, it might be a relief to get it over with.

"Feeling lightheaded?" Ken asked, as Artie gave a definitive shake of the head. "No? Good. Let's keep you up for five more minutes and then stretch out. I think, next session, I'll bring the ReWalk in and take you for a spin in it. How does that sound?"

"Sounds... great," Artie said, unconvincingly.

Sam thought he knew why Artie had mixed feelings. It had been pretty disappointing, years ago, when the ReWalk that he'd been given turned out to be defective. He never even talked about it.

Which was why, as they got ready to leave therapy that day, Sam had to state his observation. "You aren't very excited about the ReWalk," he said.

"He's just moving way faster than I thought he would," Artie said, shrugging as they approached the elevator. "Maybe because he knows he just has a semester with me, so he's trying to prove something."

"Or maybe he genuinely has your best interests at heart," Sam countered, at which Artie gave a wry smile.

"Sure, I think he does," Artie said, as the elevator opened and he rolled in, Sam stepping in behind him. "I just think there's a lot he didn't ask me about before he decided I'd do all of these things. He's not really letting me give my input much. I may not be a PT but I'm the one in this body."

Sam looked down at the other guy as they rode the elevator down, letting that comment sink in. "I'll remember that," he said. "If I'm ever a PT with my own patients."

"Do that and you'll be amazing, dude," Artie said, as the elevator opened, letting them off on the ground floor.

Everything they needed to head to Lima was already piled in Artie's car. They just had to swing by the dorm to pick up Julie on their way out, and then they'd set off for home.

Sam intended to keep a close eye on Amy while they were there. He'd be staying upstairs in Artie's old bedroom while Julie roomed in with Amy. If either Artie or Julie gave any indication of being suspicious, they were going to have to come clean. But if not, then Amy's goal was to tell everyone around spring break.

Sam didn't know if hiding it for that long would ultimately make things better or worse, but he really wanted to enjoy what was left of college with Artie. Their days of hanging out with the guys and playing Dungeons and Dragons, strolling around campus, and finding random events to go to were memories he'd hold on to.

He had to grow up way too fast. He still didn't know how he was going to be a father at eighteen. Well... nineteen. He'd be nineteen in May, right before the baby arrived in August. He wished he could ask his own parents how they did it, when they were just kids themselves. However, that would require telling them that his girlfriend was pregnant, and he couldn't do that yet.

"Sam?"

He didn't realize he'd grown so quiet, after they'd gotten in the car and gone after Julie. Artie stared at him, as they waited from where they'd parked in front of her dorm.

"S-sorry," he stammered. "A-a lot on my mind."

"Yeah, I know," Artie said. "You've been working hard and you're making all A's and B's. I know that didn't come easy. But you can relax now — it's officially the weekend."

Relax. Yeah. Right. But all Sam said was, "True dat, man."

Julie bounded out the front door and down the steps just then. She stowed her suitcase in the trunk and then climbed into the backseat next to Artie's dismantled chair.

"Sorry," he said, twisting around in his seat to look at her. "It wouldn't fit in the trunk with the luggage, so it had to go in the back."

"I don't mind," Julie said, as she leaned forward to give him a quick kiss.

Sam hadn't noticed that Artie and Julie were already getting to be that serious. He wondered if Kitty was going to be at the middle school Regionals competition to cheer them on. Kitty meeting Julie would be interesting, to say the least. And on Valentine's Day, no less.

Julie and Artie talked enough to make up for the fact that Sam was in the mood to ride quietly. He chimed in a few times, just to give the impression that he was part of the conversation, but he might as well have been on Mars. His mind was a million miles away. How far along was Amy now? Oh, yeah, she'd said thirteen weeks on the phone. Sam didn't know if anyone would be able to tell by looking at her already. At any rate, he hoped not.

When they arrived, Amy walked out to greet them, bundled in her huge coat. There was a little bit of melted snow on the ground, but it was mostly dry, just cold. As they unloaded and Sam put Artie's chair back together for him, Amy approached them, smiling. How she could smile when their secret could be thrust out into the open at any given moment was beyond Sam.

"Hi," Amy said to Julie. "We didn't really get to meet when you and Artie were on that date that we crashed, but I'm the infamous big sister."

"Hi," Julie said, accepting her duffel as Sam brought it over. "No, we didn't really get a proper introduction. Nice to meet you. I've been looking forward to coming to Lima and seeing where Artie's from and everything."

"I'm sure Arizona's much nicer," Amy said, linking arms with Julie as they stride towards the house. Sam looked at Artie, who shrugged and followed. Girls were so weird. They could act like long lost sisters when they'd just met.

"Usually in February, the stores are putting out spring clothes and I'm shopping for new tank tops and sundresses," Julie commented, with a giggle. "This is much different. I found out I actually didn't own a coat that was warm enough for Ohio and I had to go get this after the first snowstorm."

"Arizona just sounds better and better," Artie commented, as they followed Amy and Julie into the house. His mother stepped out of the kitchen right away to greet them all, her eyes landing on Julie.

"So this is Julie!" she gushed, striding forward to hug the petite brunette. "Welcome to our home, sweetie, and I hope you like spaghetti because that's really the only thing I don't ruin. Artie, come here for a minute, please, I still don't remember the exact ratio you used..."

As Artie headed into the kitchen to help his mom, with Julie following behind, Sam found himself alone with Amy. He studied her as she hung up her jacket. She had on a loose-fitting long sleeved OSU shirt and jeans.

"You can't tell yet," Sam quietly observed.

"Well, of course not, silly, it's way too early," Amy said, under her breath. She drew him in for a quick kiss. "Not this weekend, okay?"

"Okay," Sam said, reluctantly.

"I had my appointment this afternoon, you know," she said, still keeping her voice low. "Everything looks good. Next month, we may be able to find out the gender. Then we could just tell all the news at once."

Sam tried not to look as terrified as he felt.