Chapter 23

We're in real time and Carly is talking to Freddie's about his relationship with Sam.

"So you guys got married on the down low? And Melanie has mental health issues? Holy chiz balls, Freddie."

"Yeah, holy chiz balls is right. I really don't even like talking about it. Honestly, that's why I never pushed for the divorce. I was afraid of what it might do to her. Now listen, you are the first person I have told about that other than my mom. You cannot, repeat, cannot, no way, no how, under any circumstances let that get to Sam, understand? She doesn't know, at least according to their mom."

"Me? How would I . . .?" She sounded so innocent.

"Because I know you talk to her on a regular basis. Or at least, I suspect you do. I'd be shocked of you didn't." He looked at her intently. "You need to promise me, Carls. Not a word about Mel's problems."

"OK, Freddie." She agreed before making a suggestion. "You guys should talk, you know."

"Huh? Who should talk? Believe me, I've tried to get hold of Melanie. I try a couple of times a week a send texts and emails, leave messages."

"You and Sam." She said with a rare serious mother-like tone. "I know your breakup was bad. I just hate being in the middle. I have to be afraid to even say her name around you because you close off and Lord help me if I mention you when I'm talking to her. I might as well cuss at her."

"You realize what you're talking about, right? Me and Sam talking civilly is on the same level with peace talks in the Middle East."

"It can't be that bad, Freddie. You love her, or at least you once did. I know how she felt about you, it's why it hurt her so bad. Did she ever know anything about Alex being sick?"

"I doubt she knew all the details about what was wrong with her just from the forms she saw in my room. Maybe Pam told her about it. She hasn't spoken to me since the day she walked out and last I heard it's been six or seven years since she talked to Mel. Unless they suddenly kissed and made up since she left last fall which I don't see happening. Especially since Mel is supposedly back east and you've said Sam is still in L.A."

Carly had a certain look, a look he knew too well, a look that said 'I have a plan and I'm not above interfering in someone else's life'.

"Carls, I know what you're thinking. And no. Please, no. Do not start thinking up some elaborate scheme to get us to talk out our feelings and get us to forgive each other. I mean, I forgive Sam for running off, I don't have a choice. What I did was unforgivable. I hurt her real bad and then did the one thing that I always promised I'd never do, I lied to her. Maybe not directly, but I kept the fact that I had a baby with her twin sister a secret? I laid in bed beside that girl, I made love to her, knowing that I had a child with another woman, acting like everything was all peachy-keen. What I should have been doing was telling her, taking my ass kicking like a man and being honest. Instead, I betrayed her trust and smashed any hope of ever even having her as a friend."

That evening, after returning to her room, Carly decided to video call Sam. It had been a while since they talked face to face and even if Freddie asked her not to, she couldn't help but attempt to gauge how Sam was feeling about the whole situation.

"Yo, Shay!" Sam sounded like her old self, holding her phone out at arms length to talk to Carly on it. There were a couple of kids running around behind her. "What up, girl?"

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were working? You want to call me back after you're done?"

"No prob, I can talk. Hey, settle down you little heathens or I'm getting the jell-o." Sam shouted. "Sit down and rot your brains with TV and video games like normal kids."

"Why are they afraid of jell-o?" Carly asked.

"Why could I beat up a biker gang with a sock full of butter?" Sam shrugged. "Some things are better off not understood."

A few seconds of silence passed. "Getting all settled in yet?" Sam asked, setting the phone down and trying to stay in front of it. "How many of Spencer's fires have you had to put out?"

"Things are great. He's only started two fires since I'm back. I guess I actually need to start looking for a job before long." Carly sighed. "You given any thought about coming to visit me before I start working?"

"How many times have I told you that's not happening. The state of Washington isn't big enough for me and certain nub who shall remain nameless."

"Sa-am." The brunette scolded.

"Car-rls." Sam mocked back.

"I know he hurt you but don't you think you'd feel better if you could somehow forgive him and not have all this hatred in your soul?"

"My soul's holding up fine." Sam cracked. "And what makes you think he forgives me? We had it out good and proper. I doubt he's willing to be in the same state as me either."

"I think you'd be surprised how much he changed." Carly explained with a certain sadness in her tone.

"Well, yeah. He lives with my goody two shoes, geek sister. How could he not be an even bigger nub than ever?"

The look on Carly's face betrayed her brain, which was trying desperately to find a way to tell Sam that her sister was not there, without telling her things that she promised Freddie she wouldn't tell.

"Wait, did they break up?" Sam sounded a little too happy at that prospect for Carly not to notice. "Seriously? Heh! I knew it wouldn't last. Losers!"

"Break up? No. Psh, no." The dark haired girl as acting too nervous for Sam not to notice.

"What do you know?" Sam walked toward her kitchen for some privacy. "Hey Trina, can you go in there and make sure those two kids don't wreck the place. Or erase something off the DVR."

Carly sighed, even over video call from a thousand miles away, Sam could still break her down. "Melanie left him. She went back to finish her degree and he hasn't heard from her in months. And you live with Trina? I never knew that."

"Well, I was living with both of the sisters but then Jade and the normal one ran off together. Anyway, I guess Melanie's smarter than I gave her credit for being. Or at least has more balls than I ever thought she did. Wait, what about their kid? What happened to him, or her. Chiz, Carls that kid was sick. Tell me something didn't happen to her or-or him. I don't know if it was even a boy or a girl."

"No, Alex is fine." Carly replied. "Right as rain to be honest. And Freddie is a great father just in case you're wondering."

"Oh, thank God. I mean, uh, about the kid. I might hate the nub and my pain in the butt sister but I wouldn't wish anything bad on their kid, it's not his fault his parents are skunk bags."

"Her, Sam." Carly corrected. "Alex is a girl. Alexandra Diane Benson-Puckett to be exact. And I kept her the other day, she's awesome. Smart as can be and she definitely can eat her share of meat, like every other Puckett I've ever met. I just feel so bad for her, she doesn't have a mommy. I know what it's like to grow up without a mother and it's not fun."

"Weellll, you know if Mels ran off and old Fredbag is single, there's your chance Carly."

Carly just looked at her funny.

"Think about it. A man you kinda like, a kid, it's the whole package, a ready made family without having to squeeze one of the little boogers out of your tight little cooch."

"Why are you worried about my . . . , and more to the point, I'm NOT hooking up with Freddie." Carly snipped, cutting Sam off. "I didn't want to hook up with Freddie in middle school when he was obsessed with me. I didn't really want Freddie in high school when he saved my life and we tried dating. I didn't want Freddie long distance when I lived in Italy and I sure as chiz don't want him now. He's a friend, period. You and I have been through all this over and over."

"Whoa, easy there old girl. Don't go getting yourself all whipped up, I was just kidding. But my sister actually bolted on her kid? Damn, and I'm supposed to be the 'bad' twin. I might not be perfect but even I have some limits."

"So you didn't know? Don't you talk to your mom or anything?"

"Psh, no!" I haven't talked to her in years. She's a bigger stub rag than my sister. Plus I figured she was so far up Melanie's lily white bottom that I'd need a road map to find her. I grew up hearing Melanie this and Melanie that, Melanie's perfect, you need to act more like Melanie, Melanie gets good grades, why can't you?. Melanie brushes her hair, Melanie is so special. Sorry, but I know the speech, I don't ever need to hear it again."

"I guess they were close but Freddie says that Pam claims to have not heard from Melanie at all either."

"Holy chiz doodles. This is unbelievable. My mom talks to Fredinand? After he knocked up her precious, perfect princess daughter? Like, she has a civil conversation with him? What, is it like visiting hours at prison or something? Because if she could touch him, I would think she'd strangle him."

"He says Pam has kept Alex a few times. I think by the sound of things he's actually taking her over there this weekend to visit and have dinner with your mom."

"Pam Puckett plays grandma? And family dinner? Oh dear God, this is too much. Stop the train, I need to jump off." Sam cracked, laughing.

"I'm dead serious, Sam."

"Well, thank you for all the comedy entertainment, girl." Sam still laughed.

"So knowing all now that you didn't know an hour ago, what do you think?"

"About what? That I wish I had a front row seat to watch the raging dumpster fire that is Freddie Benson's life? Shoosh, yeah. I mean, this is better than anything on cable. So, anyway, now that Melanie ran off is he slipping around and snaking every single girl in Seattle, present company excluded of course? Unless you're in some friends with benefits arrangement with him."

"What do you mean? Of course not! He's not even dating. He moved back in with his mom. Heck, he's not even officially divorced." Carly quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. That was something she thought maybe she shouldn't have said.

Sam of course, caught on. "What was that? Divorced? From who? Melanie?"

Carly's innocent, dumb smile crept out. "Yeah."

"They got married? Like for real, married. You sure he didn't just buy some dollar store ring and give it to her with a promise like middle school nerds? They were, like, officially really, legally married?"

"Uh, apparently?" Carly squeaked out.

"Oh for Pete's sake. She not only walked off on her kid, but her husband. You know, I think I need to call my mom now that you mention it."

"You're just going to rub in how Melanie screwed up when Pam always thought she was perfect, aren't you?" Carly dryly asked.

"Maybe." Sam smirked.

There was soon a loud crash from the living room followed by Trina's scream.

"Hey Carls, let me get back to you. I have a feeling that I need to get the jell-o."


Sam took a day or two to digest the information she was given. As much as she wanted to not have anything to do with her mother, an even bigger part wanted to not only rub the whole deal in Pam's face but to hear how the middle aged woman would try to spin this to make it sound as positive as possible.

She rang her mom's phone, or at least the number that used to be her mom's. Surprisingly her mother answered on the third ring.

"Hey, Mom." Sam said as soon as the older woman answered.

"Well, well, well. It lives." Pam cracked. "Whichever of you it is, I'm surprised to hear from you."

"It's Sam, Mom."

"Psh, that's even more surprising. You hardly ever even spoke to me when we lived in the same city, unless you moved back. I haven't heard from you since you bolted three years ago."

Sam resisted the urge to make a smart mouthed come back. "Yeah, I thought I'd better call. I kinda heard Melanie ran off."

"Took long enough for that news to get around. She left last fall."

"So you haven't talked to her? She really just up and left Freddie and her kid? No word on where she went?"

"She's supposedly off at college from what I understand." Pam answered shortly. "I'm guessing that once she gets her degree or gets tired of living wherever she is or gets herself knocked up again she'll come running back and that nub of a husband of hers will take her back."

Sam thought about that certain nub for a few seconds. How he would be the kind to take Melanie back once she decided she was done sowing her wild oats. Suddenly she didn't feel like gloating. Sure, she might be wazzed off at Freddie for lying to her, but even he didn't deserve to be treated like this.

"So did you just call to remind me how your sister screwed up her marriage and ran out on her kid or did you actually want something?" Pam was as abrupt as always.

"Um, no actually. Uh, I, you know, just heard about this whole mess and, like, thought it couldn't be true. So I wanted to see if it really was." As bad as she wanted to rub Pam's face in the fact that the sister who she was always compared to was a total screw up, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

There was something about thinking how Freddie was being forced to raise a child alone, not knowing whether he would ever see his wife again, that made her feel sick inside. She thought about calling Marissa or even Spencer to see how he was handling things but thought better of it. It was bad enough that Carly knew she knew about this, why let anyone else in on the idea that she even cared.

"Well, it was decent of you to call and ask I suppose." Pam replied. "If that's all you wanted, I better get going, I need to get ready to go to the bingo hall."

"OK, Mom. Hey listen, uh, what's the kid like?"

So, Sam shows her true colors and feelings. Sort of.