Chapter 25
Still in real-time.
Carly had just learned that Sam was coming to Seattle. She was excited to tell her brother but accidentally left Freddie know without preparing him.
"Uh, apparently Sam decided to come see us." Carly said with less enthusiasm than normal, not revealing any additional details.
The silence and awkwardness in the room was horrible.
"Well somebody didn't die, did they?" Freddie soon asked. "Carly, just because Sam and I used to date, there's no reason for you to not be excited because your best friend is coming home. And Spencer, Sam is like a little sister to you. Which makes the fact that her and I used to, well, you know, um, go out, a little awkward to talk about. But anyway, you don't have to act like you dread seeing her because I'm sitting here. In fact, I'm happy Sam's coming home. Even though she probably would rather eat broken glass than see my face."
"Oh, Freddie." Carly used that same 'I pity you' tone she always did when she rejected his affections when they were younger. "I'm sure there's a way you and Sam can patch things up and be friends again. We just have to give her some time. Maybe counseling?" So much for not interfering.
"Please don't do this." He begged. "Don't go trying to fix us. All you'll do is wazz her off. We just need to stay out of each other's space and for God's sake, we need to keep her and Alex apart."
Carly and Spencer just looked at him funny.
"That kid hasn't seen her mother for damn near a year. If some woman shows up that looks just like her, I don't know how she'll react. It took months for her to sleep without me reassuring her that her mommy was fine and that we'd see her again one day. Seeing Sam would be far too much shock."
Carly and Spencer both nodded in agreement to his request, knowing that he was only doing what he felt best for his child.
The day arrived for Sam's return. Carly was excited, Spencer was pensive and Freddie was reclusive. He had been informed that she was due to arrive in the evening and he made sure to do all his errands early in the day. Marissa would be working overnight as usual and all he had to do was take Alex to the park right after lunch time to be sure he would not need to leave the apartment after five. He wouldn't have to try hard to stay in, he was quite accomplished at it.
Unfortunately, the little girl had other plans, or rather her belly did. They returned home early and they spent the better part of the afternoon with her not feeling well. Fortunately, Marissa had been called into work early, he knew his mother would have a fit if she knew the girl was sick. However by sundown he was getting desperate for some help, nothing he was doing was making her any better.
By the sounds of the commotion in the hallway, Sam had arrived just in time for dinner. Little more was heard from apartment 8-C leading him to think that she was resting from her trip or the Shays and Sam were deep in conversation.
After eight at night, he finally conceded that a trip to see a doctor would be necessary. Reluctantly, he informed his mother of the problem and she insisted that he bring the child straight to the hospital where a doctor friend of hers would be standing by.
It was nearing midnight when the young father and his little girl returned to Bushwell. Fortunately, The lobby was deserted, Lewbert had long since retreated to his own place for the night when Freddie carried the sleepy child across the lobby and toward the elevator. All he wanted was for the day to be over and to tuck Alex into bed and crash himself. It was times like this that he regretted being a single parent the most.
He pressed the button and waited patiently for the lift doors to open and when they did, he got quite a shock. There, not six feet away, stood the other two faces of the iCarly trio. He couldn't help notice Sam made no eye contact with him, choosing to stare at the kid he was carrying.
Carly immediately greeted him. "Freddie. What are you doing out so late? Oh my gosh, is Alex OK?" She hadn't spoken with him most of the day and she wasn't aware of the situation as noticed the child's slumped, sleepy form in his arms.
"She's got an upset tummy." He tried to speak quietly. "But she's going to be fine, we were just down to the hospital to see my mom. All she needs is some rest."
Sam simply stood there silently.
Freddie and Carly's conversation roused the little girl out of her slumber and for some unknown reason the first thing her eyes focused on was Sam. "Mommy?"
Poor Freddie's eyes tore open and he tried to turn the girl's face away from Sam's direction but his daughter would have none of it. Her gaze drew toward her aunt like a magnet attracted to steel.
Sam's jaw dropped and she uncharacteristically grabbed at Carly's hand for comfort.
"Mommy!" The child again said louder and she reached her arms toward the blonde woman, nearly jumping out of her dad's arms. "Mommy!" She cried louder when Sam stood still and simply looked like a deer caught in a car's headlights.
"No. I'm not." Sam replied quietly and literally ran out of the elevator and past them, out the door onto the street.
"Well that wasn't good." Carly sighed and ran after Sam.
"Mommy!" Alex shouted and Freddie hugged her tightly into his body as he jumped into the elevator and pressed the door close button frantically. "I want Mommy!"
"Oh, God!" He moaned. "I knew this would happen." This was the one thing he wanted to avoid at all costs. It was going to be a long night.
He quickly ushered the fussy child to apartment 8-D and tried to calm her down. "Sweetie, I know that lady looked a lot like Mommy but it wasn't her." He had avoided mentioning Melanie to avoid this very situation.
"Mommy came back because I was sick. I want mommy. Where did she go?" Alex fussed with tears running down her face. "You said she was coming back, why did she leave again?"
"Honey, the lady down there with Aunt Carly is a friend of hers, not Mommy. That lady is not coming here, she doesn't know you. Her name is Samantha and she is as different from your Mommy as chocolate and vanilla."
"NO!" The child shouted. "That was Mommy. I want Mommy. Bring her back. Daddy please, you have to make her come back!"
His usual go-to, to calm the child down when she was fussing was to bribe her with food. She was half Puckett after all. Today, this would not be possible due to her upset belly. He prayed for something to distract her. He tried anything he could think of, TV, toys, playing games, none of it would have effect on her. The longer the evening went, the more she fussed until she finally fell asleep four hours later from sheer exhaustion.
Marissa returned home to find the kid and Freddie asleep on the couch with him holding her tightly and a forty year old kids' show playing on the TV. As cute as the picture was, she knew there was a problem and hoped it wasn't the child's stomach ache. The middle aged nurse touched Freddie's shoulder to wake him gently and he carried Alex to her own bed before returning to the living room to talk to his mother.
"Why didn't you bring her back if she didn't feel better?"
"She feels fine in her belly, Mom." He responded with a yawn. "She was better by the time we got home."
"Well then why aren't you two in bed? You cannot rest properly on a sofa." She began a lecture.
"Because I don't fit in that toddler bed and I don't like letting her on my bed on account of her falling off." He snipped.
"Why can't she sleep in her own bed if she's feeling better?"
"Because we had another problem. I ran into Carly and Sam in the lobby."
Marissa gasped and put a hand to her mouth.
"And Alex went off the rails. She screamed and cried for hours, she thought Sam was Melanie." He explained as a tear rolled down his cheek. "There was nothing I could do, Mom. She was inconsolable. She was afraid to fall asleep before her mommy came to tuck her in."
"Oh, Fredward." Marissa threw her arms around him. "I was afraid of this. That poor child is going to end up in therapy over this by the time Samantha goes home."
"What the hell am I gonna do, Mom? Carly said she talked to Lewbert about looking at the empty apartment on the tenth floor. It's only a matter of time before Sam will be living in the same building and everything. "
"You'll start by watching your mouth. There is a child in this apartment. You cannot teach her those words." She scolded. "I think we need to sit down with Samantha and introduce them. We need to explain that they are sisters. Alexandra is a bright girl, she has friends in Sunday School that are twins, she'll understand if we explain it to her."
"Mom, Sam isn't going to want to be in the same room with me, I'm surprised she wants to be in the same state to be honest. There is no way she is going to agree to that. Our breakup was bad, she got hurt and there's no going back to the way things used to be."
"Nonsense. You two are adults and you were friends before you dated. So what if you couldn't make a go of it as a couple. I tried to tell you not to get physical with her. That little girl is more important than your pride or her aunt's selfish, bull headed nature."
He sighed deeply, Marissa was right, this had to happen for Alex's sake. "Let me talk to Carly, maybe she can convince Sam to do this. If we can meet someplace Sam feels safe and introduce them, she might agree to it."
"I hate to say it, but Alex does love Carly. And Carly will do what's best for her. How about if she sits down and talks to Alexandra, helps us get through to her that Sam is not her mother."
Long before noon, Carly was texting to apologize for the problem the night before. She felt terrible and only hoped that Freddie wasn't mad at her for it. He messaged back that he was busy but he would call her later.
After she returned home from the grocery store, Marissa took Alex to the park so that Freddie could have some time with Carly. She made arrangements to drop by his place while his mom and daughter were gone to talk about the situation.
"Come on in Carly." He opened the door and stepped aside for his neighbor.
"Freddie I am so sorry for what happened. I never thought you'd be out that late or I wouldn't have suggested to Sam that we go out for some snacks at midnight. Not that I could have stopped her when her stomach called, but still."
"You had no way of knowing, Carls. It was bound to happen sooner or later, I just wasn't expecting it within hours of Sam's arrival."
Carly made one observation. "You know, I've been so focused on how you and Sam would react when you saw each other, that I totally forgot there was someone else we had to think about. I'm surprised that she even recognizes her mother.
"Mel left when Alex was five, of course she remembers her and wants to see her. When she saw her clone it was only a natural reaction. I just don't know how we're going to convince a six year old that this woman who just happens to look identical to her mom isn't really the one she wants to see, even if we get them in the same room together."
Carly tried to be practical. "Well, Alex goes to public school. Surely she knows kids who are twins. Have you explained this to her?"
"Not a subject we talk about. I try to avoid even mentioning Melanie around her for fear of upsetting her."
"We have to do something, Freddie." Carly fussed. "Sam and I are going to sign the paperwork for apartment 10-B tomorrow. She sort of insisted on a sneak peek last night and picked the lock. We agreed that it'll work for us and we can afford it so I called the building manager on my lunch break today to set up the appointment."
The young man looked like he wasn't following this shift in conversation.
"There is no way we can keep Sam and Alex from seeing each other when we're all living in the same building. And it broke my heart to hear Alex cry like that."
"The question is how do we convince her that there are two of them?"
"We need to show her absolute evidence that Sam and Mel are twins." She suggested. "What if we have Sam tell her who she is and show her pictures. Any intelligent first grader will be able to tell that Sam is not Melanie within a few minutes."
"Thanks, Carls. That makes me feel so good. Considering I was fifteen when I first met Melanie and didn't know the difference in them." He huffed.
"Oh, don't be such a nub. You know what I mean. Maybe Pam could help with this?"
Freddie, of course, had reservations against this plan. "It won't work anyway. Sam freaked out something fierce too, by the looks of things. It would be a long shot, even if she didn't hate the sight of me. And trying to get Sam and Pam in the same room is impossible. The whole time Sam and I were together, they talked on the phone, like, twice."
"Well, they don't have to see each other then. Just take Alex to talk to Pam, surely you can convince her for the kid's sake." Carly was desperate and she figured he would be as well. "I'll work on Sam."
"Besides, the way Sam hates me I doubt that she'll do anything to help me or my family."
"Alex is her family too, Freddie. And yes, Sam freaked out last night. I know I'm not supposed to tell you this but when I caught up with her she was crying so she might not be as hard to crack as you think. I don't know why she reacted the way she did because we didn't talk about it. Just let me approach her and you work on getting some help from your mother in law."
OK, so who is wondering why Sam reacted so bad? It will be a while but we'll find out eventually.
