Chapter 15
"So you and Melanie ended up hooking up a second time. Aw, man, I did not know that. I mean, I guess I should have figured it out by the way that Sam talked, but I didn't realize that you guys weren't together-together." Carly said as he explained the beginning of his Sophomore year to her.
Flashing back to October, 2014
It was almost a month after Melanie left town that Freddie got a call from someone he hadn't heard from in quite some time. In fact, it was during his little 'friends with benefits' phase with Wendy the last he even had a text from her. In fact the last time he talked to her more than a few words was when he had just been cleared to fly back home after his tuna injuries. That was a memorable weekend.
"Hey, Sam." He answered and tried to sound like he hadn't even thought of any other girl but her. "How's it going?"
"Whattup nub?" She replied. "Wait, that's right, it's me who has something up. Guess who's moving home?"
"Huh? Oh my gosh. You? You're kidding me. When?"
"Next week." She replied. "The rent's due and I've decided to come back to Seattle. I'm tired of L.A. and I just, well, it's time to come home. And believe it or not my mom actually called and said she wanted to see me. I know it won't last with her but I might just have time to find a decent place to live before she gets too annoying."
"Aw, Sam that's great news? Wait, what about Cat? You said you didn't want to go off and leave her on her own. She's got another year of school doesn't she?"
"She's moving in with Jade and another friend of theirs from school for senior year. We talked about it. With her starting senior year, she didn't have time for the babysitting any more and I'm sure as chiz not going to pay her half of the rent and do all the work around here to support her scrawny little butt, so she decided to room with them."
"I can't wait to see you." He could hardly contain his excitement. "What are you doing about your stuff?"
"Uh, actually you'll be getting some boxes any day now. I packed up all my chiz and sent it to you. You know, for safe keeping until I get there. I sure as heck couldn't send it to my mom. Even if she is acting kind of motherly this week, she'd probably hawk everything for beer money sooner or later."
Throughout the conversation, he never managed to tell her that he and Melanie had been together again, unofficially. But then again, they had parted company with no strings attached. Melanie, of course, had no contact with Sam due to their little disagreement the first time the mild-mannered twin and the former tech producer had split up the previous December, so Sam had no clue about his hookup. She knew absolutely nothing about his tryst with Valerie either and unless Wendy told her, Sam had no way of knowing about his being with her, either.
Less than a week later Sam rolled into Seattle as unceremoniously as she had left. Her first stop wasn't to see her mother or any of her other not-currently-incarcerated relatives but at Bushwell.
She planned on surprising Freddie at his door but ended up running into him in the lobby while he was attempting to help Lewbert get his computer working.
"Oh dear God! She's back! Run for your life!" The doorman screamed and ran for cover when he saw the blonde walking through the front door.
"Sam!" Freddie dropped what he was doing and hurried toward her. Without thinking he threw his arms around her and held her tight. "God but I missed you."
Sam simply chuckled at him. "Yeah, missed you too, nub."
"I wasn't expecting you until Thursday." He suddenly became conscious of what he was wearing and the fact that he hadn't shaved since the weekend.
"Meh, decided to head out a couple of days early. Say, you mind letting go of me. Either I got used to Cat's wimpy, limp wrested hugs or you got stronger because you're squeezing me like a boa constrictor."
"Oh, uh, sorry." He blushed and stepped back.
"Gotta say, I like the look." She ran a hand over his stubbly cheek. "Finally loosened up a little I guess."
"I guess." He replied and reached for her hand and looked her up and down. "You look like you might have just gotten a little more normal living with Cat. Come on, we've got to go up and see Spencer." He took her had, forgot what he was doing and they walked toward the Shay's private elevator.
End of flashback
"And that's the story of the Seddie reunion, huh?" Carly questioned. "Short and sweet as it was."
"It wasn't that short. We were together for nearly two years."
"My only question is, did Sam know how much you, how can I say this nicely, got around. Because I know for a fact that during the whole time she lived in L.A. she didn't date. Cat called me to ask me if Sam even liked boys one time after she tried to set her up with one of her friends from school and Sam wouldn't even go out with the dude one time."
"I didn't start off telling her about all Wendy and Val if that's what you're getting at. She was smart enough to know I had dated. And she had to know I did things with her sister. But she found out about it all eventually. And it wasn't pretty."
Flashback to April, 2016
Freddie was nearly done with his third year of college. He had worked hard, took extra classes so he could build up credits and graduate a year early just like he planned and hopefully get an internship with some tech company before starting on his Masters in the fall.
Sam and Freddie had now been dating again for well over a year and a half and things were going well for the couple. Better than ever in fact. Sam was now working a decent paying job, renting Carly's old room from Spencer because she and her mother had another argument not long after Sam moved home. Freddie returned to his part time job at the computer store while attending his final semester of college classes. He was considering asking Sam to get a place of their own as soon as he graduated and got settled into a job.
He was driving home from work one Friday evening, anxious to get back to Bushwell and to Sam because his mother was scheduled to be out of town for the weekend. His phone rang and he glanced at it long enough to determine who was calling. Not that he wanted to talk to an ex-girlfriend while driving, but he answered anyway.
"Hey. Been a while since I heard from you. How's it going?"
"Oh, yeah. I-um, guess I should have called or something earlier. Sorry. I know when we last saw each other we said we'd stay friends even though, well you know. But things just got kind of busy and all." Just how busy, he was about to find out.
"Yeah, I get it. Me too, really. So, what's up?" He tried to be cool. "School going well?"
"Uh, yeah. But here's the thing Freddie. Hey, are you free to talk? Because I could call you back if you're busy."
The young lady was certainly not looking forward to having this conversation but she needed to and she was very nervous about it.
"No. I mean, yeah. I can talk. I'm driving, but my car has this hands free thing for the phone, so it's alright really."
"Good." She paused for a good long while before continuing. "Listen, I feel really bad about not telling you this sooner but I just couldn't find a way. An - and I really need to."
For a second time she paused and Freddie was afraid she was going to confess that she discovered she had an STD or something.
There was only one way for her to do this. Just rip the metaphorical band-aid off and say what she had to say . "Freddie, I got pregnant when we were together. And the baby - she's sick. I need to ask you about some health things with your family."
His eyes began to focus on a narrow point. Thank God he was coming to his exit. He shook his head to clear his vision, signaled his move and as soon as he was off the highway pulled off the road entirely.
"Fredward, are you there? Please don't hang up on me. I really need your help with this." She begged, nearly in tears. "The baby needs your help with this."
"Yeah. Uh, yeah, I'm still here. I, uh, was just pulling over. I don't think I should be driving right about now. You know, so I can concentrate."
"Right. Good." She agreed, she had dropped a bombshell on him. "Stay safe when driving."
He continued to process what he had been told silently. Why hadn't she called him earlier, why didn't she call him when she found out she was pregnant? Was the only reason he was finding out he was a father that the baby was sick or was she planning on hiding this from him forever? Was it even his?"
"Can you talk to me, please?" The girl begged. "I know this is a lot but I really need you to focus and help me."
"I don't really know what to say. I mean, are you sure she's mine?" He blurted out without thinking how it would make the young lady feel.
Her answer was short, to the point and very cold. "Of course she's yours, you dill hole. I'm not some slut that runs around screwing half the guys on campus."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that. I just, well, um, surely you've seen other guys. It's been a while since we . . ." He heard her huff and again corrected his statement. "I mean, what can I do to help?"
"For starters, quit making me feel like some skunk bag that's been knocking boots with every dude she comes across." She huffed. "Yes, I dated other guys but you were the only one it could be."
"I already apologized, I didn't mean you were a slut. It's just, I figured you'd have had other boyfriends since we last saw each other. My God, it's been two years. Isn't that what everyone says college is for, to stretch your legs and try other things, see other people?"
"Kinda hard to see those other people when you're a knocked up college sophomore ya know?" She bristled. "I had to take a semester off to have the baby. But I suppose you're still planning to graduate early."
"Uh-huh" He replied. "In a couple of weeks."
"I just started classes back up and then the baby got sick. They've run tons of tests and done all kind of examinations. She's spent weeks in the hospital. The doctor is at the point where she wants to start ruling out genetically possible conditions. We're grasping at straws, Freddie."
"So that's where I come in?" He asked quietly. "They need some health history on the father's family to see if there's a pattern or anything."
"Right. And I could have just mailed this to you but I really thought we needed to talk about it before I did because I didn't want to drop this on you without an explanation. Can you help me, Freddie? Help us? Please."
"Of course I can and I will. I just don't know if I should be sitting along the road going over all this. Um, could you maybe call back in a bit. Or I could call you, like over the weekend or whatever. I'm sure I can answer just about anything quickly."
"This isn't a brief phone survey to ask you plan to vote for, Fredward." She snipped. "Or the simple one sheet health history thing you have to fill out when you go to the dentist to get your teeth cleaned. This thing is, like, twenty pages of very detailed questions. About you, your parents, even some about your grandparents. There's questions about race, ethnicity, developmental milestones and even whether you've ever had your DNA tested for Lord only knows what. It would probably be easier if I send it to you. Just please fill it out with as many answers as you can and send it back to me right away, alright?"
End of flashback
"Holy crap" Carly gasped. "I had no idea she was sick. No one ever told me. Of course, I really didn't know about the baby until after Sam told me. I guess that was when she was on her way back to California after she found out and you guys split up. It wasn't like you bothered to tell me." She snipped.
"Well, it wasn't like I wanted to brag about knocking up my on-again, off again girlfriend slash friend with benefits the summer after freshman year. Besides, I really didn't even know if she wanted me in the kid's life at all at that point, much less who she told that she had a baby. Or wanted to know. I thought it was best to simply not tell anyone and let her do it in her own time. And I didn't say anything to anyone about any of it, I kept this completely to myself. In truth, I think I was having a little trouble accepting it all at that time and if I didn't say it, I thought it might not be true."
Yes, I know the identity of the baby mama is ambiguous. It won't be long before we find out who she is but first someone else needs to find out about the baby. And, if you guessed it won't go well, you're right.
