I forgot to mention in the a/n before the previous chapter-I got Prince Eragon and Princess Saphira from the Inheritance triolgy, but they weren't the only things. The dragon's eye-shaped emerald on the floor of the throne room was based off of the Isitar Mithrim, for those of you who have read the series and know what I'm talking about.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom
Six months had passed since Vlad had brought his princess back to Wisconsin. He had not told anyone of Saphira's presence, mostly because the paparazzi would go wild upon hearing that Vlad Masters was no longer single. Finally, the preparations for the wedding were complete. The reason that it took six months was because Vlad had had to hire decorators, workmen, and such in secret, and they could only work at night. However, that was no longer of importance to the elder halfa. All that mattered at this point was that he and his bride were ready to be married.
It was an ordinary day for Danny Fenton. He came to his office and clandestinely vanished while Danny Phantom searched the premises for Skulker, whose ecto-signature had been recorded the previous night. His colleagues applauded him when he walked in holding the thermos containing the Ghost Zone's Collector of things Rare and Unique, and spent the rest of his afternoon inspecting the newest modifications to the space shuttle that Axion's scientists were working on. The new model was sleeker and more powerful that the older models that NASA was planning to retire soon. It got into orbit with half of the fuel that the original orbiters required, and with the new hydrogen cells that could run on even the lone hydrogen molecules that occupied the vacuum of space, it was capable of interplanetary travel. Danny drove back to this apartment to find Sam, who was reading the mail. "Anything interesting?" He asked as he gave her a kiss on the back of her neck.
"Nothing really, just a couple of bills, we're invited to Vlad's wedding, and that new credit card arrived."
"What was that?"
"A couple of bills."
"No, after that."
"That replacement MasterCard you ordered arrived today."
"No, in the middle!"
"What, we got invited to Vlad's wedding?"
"Yeah, that. This wouldn't happen to be Vlad Masters we're talking about, would it?"
"Yeah, the whole thing's happening at his castle in Wisconsin."
"He's getting married? To someone other than my mom? That's great! I'm glad he finally found someone."
"Me too. I just hope that the theme of the party is the Packers, for the sake of your sanity."
"My sanity? Aren't you coming?"
"Danny, I'm six months pregnant! I can't just up and go to Wisconsin!"
"Why not? If you really don't want to fly, I'm sure that my parents would let us come with them in the Fenton GAV."
"Yeah, and trust our baby's safety with your dad's driving? No way!"
"Well, we could always take one of our cars."
"We both drive tiny little sports cars. What if we get in an accident? We'll get totaled!" he looked at her analytically for a minute.
"What?" she asked, annoyed.
"It's definitely the hormones getting to you."
"What's that?"
"Come on, you think that you would have even stopped to blink twice if someone suggested that we head over to Wisconsin in a sports car seven months ago?" She sighed.
"I guess that it's just my maternal instinct kicking in. I never thought that I would be thinking like this, not in a million years. I'm afraid, Danny."
"What, that motherhood is going to make you soft?"
"No! That you won't love me the same way after I have this baby."
"Sam," he said, placing one hand on her bulging belly and wrapping the other around her waist. "I love you no matter what. I always have and I always will. Nothing can change that."
"But what if I become one of those moms that spend their days fawning over their kids and have no lives of their own? I don't want that!" he shrugged.
"Just look at my mom. Yeah, she loves us and cares about us more than anything, but she's still an active woman. She's a ninth-degree black belt and a ghost hunter, for pete's sake! If she can raise two kids and still have time to build some pretty advanced inventions and test them out on ghosts (notably me), I'm sure you'll be able to stay an individual come August."
"Thanks, Danny. You really know how to cheer me up," she said, softly. They shared a longish kiss. They broke apart, and the next time he spoke it was softly, his face an inch from her own.
"We'll take the GAV, but if you want then I'll insist that my mom drives." She gave a weak smile.
"That'll work," she said.
That Thursday, the young couple found itself on the road to Wisconsin in the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle along with Danny's parents and Jazz. Her boyfriend, Chris, felt bad about not being able to get the time off of work so that he could come to the wedding as well, so he decided to make amends by buying a wedding present on behalf of him and Jazz-an encyclopedia of various psychological maladies that commonly afflict new couples. It was a newer edition of the text that Jazz had tried to foist onto Danny and Sam six months before, but they had vehemently rejected it. "Honestly, Jazz, both you and your boyfriend are in the top five of your med school class, and both planning on being psychologists when you graduate. Do you think that we'd consult some book if we had a problem when we can just talk to you two?" Sam had asked. Danny's present was much more personal. Skulker had tried to kidnap Brett Farve when he had come to Casper High to give a lecture of some sort a few months before. Danny had saved him, and out of gratitude the NFL star had autographed a football for him. Danny hoped that the ball would end up next to the one signed by Ray Nitzchke.
They made great time on the first day and covered hundreds of miles. That night, they parked the GAV at a truck stop for the night so that everyone could get a good night's sleep before meeting Vlad and his fiancée. While they were unfolding the mattresses, Sam tapped Danny on the shoulder. "Danny," she said, "is it okay if you and your dad sleep in the front tonight? I kind of need to talk with your mom and sister." Danny saw the worried look in her eyes and immediately acquiesced.
"Dad," he began, "Maybe the two of us should stay in the front tonight."
"Why's that, son?"
"It's just…we should probably stay close to the GAV's defense system, just in case a ghost tries to attack it while we're asleep. The two of us should do it so that we can let the girls sleep peacefully."
"Great idea, son! I always knew you had the Fenton's ghost hunting intuition!" Jack pressed a button next to the pullout beds and two sleeping bags popped out of the wall. He brought the bags into the front seats and began prepping the defense system.
"Thanks," Sam said, giving him a quick kiss goodnight.
"No problem. See you in the morning," he replied as he went to the front section of the GAV, sealed off the cockpit, and soundproofed the back so that the girls conversation couldn't be overheard.
"So, Danny," his dad began, "how is everything with you two?"
"Everything's going great. Sam and I are really happy together."
"I always knew that you would be. You know, ever since you were little, the two of you had a bond that was closer than that of just friends. Anyone who saw you together always said that they had a feeling you would end up together."
"And we proved them right."
"That you did. By the way, are you planning on staying in the apartment, or are you going to get a house once the baby comes?"
"We haven't really discussed it that thoroughly yet. Right now, the plan is that we'll stay in the apartment for as long as possible, but we'll definitely get a house if it proves too difficult to raise a child in the apartment."
"I don't know if that's such a great idea, son. Buying a house is tricky business; it'll be tough to do on short notice, especially with a young child tagging around."
"Well, we could always stay with you guys if it comes to that-"
"Of course, your mother and I will take you in in a heartbeat!"
"But if worst comes to worst, Sam's parents have pretty deep pockets. I'm sure that they could arrange something for us, but I don't want to have to resort to that."
"Good thinking. In-laws can also be tricky business. You know, I still don't think that your auntie Elisha has gotten used to me yet."
"Not only that, I don't want to have to raise a family in a home knowing that I owe them for it. I don't want to have that shadow over us."
"Danny, you already owe them."
"For what?"
"For producing a daughter as smart and beautiful as Sam. That and not renewing their restraining order against you." Danny chuckled.
"That's true."
"Don't worry about that last option. If it turns out that you two do need to get a house, then you can stay with us until you can get a place of your own."
"Thanks, dad, you're the greatest."
"That's right! Me, Jack Fenton, the greatest ghost hunter in the world!"
"I was thinking more along the lines of greatest dad in the world, but that works too." His father laughed nervously.
"Enough talk, Danny. We should get to bed; I want the Fenton clan to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when we meet Vladdie tomorrow."
"Why does that sound so familiar? But anyway, you're right, time for sleep." The two men slowly nodded off into the blissful oblivion known to us as peaceful slumber. Meanwhile, the three Fenton women were busily engaged in 'girl talk.'
"I just-I don't know if I'm ready to be a mother, is all," Sam started.
"Of course you are! I wasn't nearly as ready as you were when Jazz came along!" Maddie insisted. "In fact, when I finally found out it came as a total surprise to both Jack and me. You see-"
"MOM! I really don't want to know the minute details of my conception, thank you very much! Sam, that can't be the only reason you're nervous."
"You're right," the younger woman said with a sigh. "I'm worried about my relationship with Danny."
"What? Has he been neglecting you? If he has, I swear I'm gonna-"
"No, Jazz, he's been really great to me. I swear, he's the best husband a girl could possibly ask for. I'm just afraid that he won't see me the same way after the baby comes along."
"How do you mean?"
"I know that he wouldn't just leave me with the kid all day. He knows me better then that. It's just that I'm afraid that I'll become less and less his wife, and more and more the mother of his kids. I'm afraid that this child will come between us."
"Come on, you know Danny would never let that happen. He's head over heels for you; he wouldn't let a kid get in the way of that. He would treat your child as living proof of his love and devotion for you, because that's exactly what it is. The baby will just make your relationship even stronger."
"But I don't want caring for the child to make us more distant with each other."
"Sam, I think that you're just being selfish," Maddie interjected. "You don't want to have to share your Danny with the child. I'm not saying this to be mean in any way; quite the opposite, it's perfectly natural for a couple to feel this way about their first child. The baby will bring you two closer together, I promise. There's nothing to be afraid of."
"I know," said Sam, tears beginning to stream down her face. "But I can't help it, I'm still so worried…" Maddie climbed out of her bed and sat down next to Sam. The ebony-haired girl wrapped her arms around her mother-in-law and cried on her shoulder.
"There, there, Sam. Everything will work out, I promise." As her mother tried to reassure her sister-in-law, Jazz sat down on Sam's other side.
"Even if you're too afraid to show how you feel to Danny, you know that you can always talk to us, right?" she asked softly.
"Of course I do! You think I would have started this conversation in the first place if I didn't think that I could talk to you?" Sam snapped. She immediately looked mortified at what she had just done. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that, I…"she broke down as more sobs wracked her frame. "What if I lash out at my children like that? What if I make a mistake? I'll be such a bad mother!"
"Don't say that, Sam." Jazz reassured the younger woman. "You've saved Danny's sorry butt how many times? You'll be a great parent, there's no doubt about that."
"There's just one thing that I think you need to do," Maddie said.
"What's that?" Sam asked.
"You need to be able to talk to Danny about these feelings. Of course you can always vent to us if you need to, but it's important for him to see how much suffering this is causing you. It'll make your relationship even stronger knowing that you can trust each other even with the most negative of feelings." Sam nodded as she extricated herself from her mother-in-law.
"I guess I should start now, then," she said. Sam got up and went over to the barrier that had come down between the front of the GAV and the back. She pressed a button on the side and the barrier rose back up with a pneumatic hiss. Sam entered the front and saw that both Jack and Danny were asleep. Danny had unzipped his sleeping bag and wore it like a blanket over himself as he slept in the chair; unfortunately it had fallen onto the floor. Sam could see the shivers that crossed his frame every once in a while. She sat down on Danny's lap and covered them both with the sleeping bag/blanket. She curled up with him and placed her head in the crook of his neck. His arms subconsciously snaked around her waist and met at the small of her back, binding the two of them together forever.
"Sam…" Danny muttered in his sleep.
"I love you too, Danny," Sam whispered, and fell asleep in his arms.
Ladies, you're better at girl talk than I am, so don't flame me for not writing it accurately! (grabs a wreath of garlic and hides behind his chair). Next chapter as soon as possible!
SAVE DANNY PHANTOM!