Chapter 28
As Carly took Melanie up to her own apartment , Freddie left himself into Spencer's as he typically did. "Hey, Spencer can we talk a minute?" He was hoping for some one on one guy talk with Spencer but that wasn't happening. "Sam? What are you doing here?" He questioned when she saw her sitting on the couch with the artist, his arm around her, obviously comforting her.
"Go away, Fredward!" She choked, it was clear she had been crying and could hardly talk.
"What's wrong?" He again questioned.
"I said get out of here! I don't want to see your face, you stub rag." She wailed, but he pensively sat down on the other side of her.
"Not until you tell me what's wrong and what I did to wazz you off this time." He got a little more resistant at Sam's trying to push him back. Surely, over the last 3 months she had gotten everything off her chest, she hadn't been this upset since she first moved home.
"It's not you, butt munch. It's her! I saw her coming into the building and I know you've taken her back. So just forget me, let me alone and I'll do the same for you."
"No, Sam." He said quietly and placed a hand on her shoulder, inviting her to turn his way. "There is nothing you can ever say or do to make me forget you."
"If you won't then I'll make you. You remember the double fist dance, right? Well, the band's warming up."
"Stop with the threats. I didn't take her back if that's what you're worried about and I won't. I'm not putting Alex through that again. Or myself for that matter."
"You're keeping Melanie from her own kid?" Spencer questioned. "Dude, that's harsh."
"Melanie can see Alex but I refuse to lie to my child and pretend like Mel and I are some story book family when there's a constant fear that she's going to leave again."
"What?" Sam couldn't believe her ears. "But, you two are married. You're seriously dumping her?"
"Melanie and I may be married on paper but we aren't getting back together as a couple. Yes, I love her, she's the mother of my child for cheese sake, how can I not? But as far as her and I ever being a couple again, I can't do that. I'm not in love with her any more. I would rather be alone for the rest of my life than live in constant fear that I'm going to come home some day and find she's gone for whatever reason again."
Sam sniffed, wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and turned fully to face him. "You're telling me that you didn't take Melanie back? At all? You're not going to live your happily ever after with her in a suburban house with a white picket fence and a two car garage?"
"Nope." He shrugged with a bit of a smile. "I guess not."
"Well, for what it's worth, you won't be alone. You have friends, Freddie. Friends that care about you and I've gotta say that you've got a little more spine than I gave you credit for."
"How's that?" He questioned.
"Well, I figured that as soon as Mel made a reappearance, you'd take her back despite the fact that she's put you through hell the past year."
"You really think I'm that soft?" He questioned with an eyebrow raise.
"Kinda." She shrugged and tried to look innocent. "You do a pretty good imitation of a marshmallow, you know."
"As much as I'd like Alex to have a normal family with a mom, in our own place, not at her grandma's, I just can't put either of us through that again. And, to be honest, the last little while, I've got to thinking that maybe you were right all along, Melanie isn't necessarily the right girl for me anyway."
He was in the presence of the right girl, and he knew it, all he had to do was convince her.
"Hmph, too bad you didn't come to that conclusion before you had a kid with her."
"I guess I was too caught up in the fact that there was actually a girl who liked me, who wanted to be with me and I had stuff in common with, who wanted more than to be just friends."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Psh. There's plenty of girls who would gladly be more than friends with you. Granted, they're pretty much all either in jail or mental hospitals but still."
He had to keep up this banter. "Yeah, I remember one time there was this girl who actually ended up in the looney bin because of me." He joked with a smirk. "A real hot blonde, too."
"See, I've been telling you for years that you're enough to drive people crazy. You know, I'll bet your mom was perfectly normal before you were born." She joked back with a smirk of her own. "Then you ruined her."
"You've never met my aunt. If you think my mom's crazy. She's perfectly normal compared to her sister."
"Oh, God! You mean to tell me it runs in the family? I pity your kid."
"Uh, you know, I think I just remembered, I need to take a shower." Sensing that things were going to be OK, Spencer quickly got up to give the two a little privacy.
"Thanks, Sam." Freddie leaned forward and hugged her.
Sam hugged him back. For the first time in years, they actually felt close to each other. "What for? Insulting your family again."
"For believing me and for being my friend all these years. Even when I didn't deserve it."
"Well, there was a time I didn't feel too friendly about you. But what can I say? I guess I've been around Carly too much. Maybe I'm the one who's getting soft."
Meanwhile, 2 floors up, Carly and Melanie had entered apartment 10-B and sat down to talk.
"Sorry if I seemed shocked to see you, I didn't know you were coming back." Carly tried to break the ice.
"No one did. Heck, I didn't even know before Thursday." Mel replied. "But I guess I should have just stayed away. I'm not sure why I even came back but it's pretty clear I really shouldn't have."
The dark haired girl played stupid. She figured Freddie must have rejected her but wanted to hear it first hand. "How so? Marissa?"
"Freddie. He said he couldn't take me back. I didn't even see his mother. Apparently she had Alex out somewhere." She sniffed. "I came all this way to see my daughter and I wasn't able to."
"Why?"
"Marissa took her shopping for new shoes or something. Oh, you mean Freddie? He said he wouldn't let me back in their life because he's afraid I'll leave. And I guess he's right. I've ghosted him enough over the years and he has no reason to ever trust me again. I've just got to wonder if there's someone else."
"There's someone else?" Carly asked quietly which Melanie took as insincere.
"You don't have to play dumb. It's you, isn't it? I'm guessing he's seeing you, right?" Mel asked. "He's been into you since middle school."
"No! Gross, er I mean, no way. Freddie and I are friends, best friends but I'm not dating him. He's like a brother to me. That's why I said gross. I could never look at him romantically, even if he wasn't married."
"It really doesn't matter. It's not like I expected him to sit around and wait when I haven't even returned his calls the past year. I'm just worried that he'll get mixed up with some random woman and it'll hurt Alex. If it's not you, do you know who this gal is?"
"Uh, I haven't got a clue." Carly was dumbfounded. In fact, the only female Freddie spent any time, besides his mother and daughter was . . . Sam! Holy chiz! A long, detailed talk with a certain young man was in her future. "I actually think you're kind of off base with this whole thought."
"Well, I guess I'm going to go back over to Mom's. Freddie told me I could stop by tomorrow if I wanted to see Alex."
"How long are you here for?" Carly asked.
"I - I, um, really don't know." Melanie said quietly. "Listen, can you maybe tell Sammy I was here. I really do want to talk to her."
"Sure, Melanie." The brunette smiled back.
By the time Melanie left the building, Freddie and Sam were done with their conversation. Sam returned to her apartment and Freddie returned to his mother's place where she had just arrived home with Alex. As soon as the child was out of ear shot, he brought his mother up to speed with what he had discussed with Melanie. Carly and Sam also discussed what she learned from Melanie. Sam flat out refused to make any attempt to contact her sister.
The following day, Melanie did indeed come by to see Alex.
A knock on the door which Freddie was dreading came early Sunday afternoon. He opened the door to find the mother of his child, looking very much like her old self. Obviously, she was intending to paint a good picture for the sake of the child.
"Come on in, Mel." He stood back and invited her inside.
Alex had been prepared for a visit from her mom and was eagerly awaiting Melanie's arrival. "Mommy!" She ran at the woman and nearly knocked her over.
"Oh my gosh, baby girl. You are getting so big." Melanie picked her up and hugged her tight.
Soon Marissa joined the three in the living room. While she was glad to see her granddaughter so happy, she also knew what this meant. Melanie wouldn't be staying forever, even if it wasn't her choice and sooner or later it would lead to heartbreak for the child. All she could do was hope that Freddie had thought up a way to explain to the little girl why her mother wasn't back for good.
Hours passed and the young mother decided it was time to head out. She only hoped that Freddie would either stop her from leaving or at least let her come by again in the next few days.
"Do you have to go, Mommy?" Alex asked. "Can't you stay here instead of Pam's place?"
"You can stop by again tomorrow if you'd like. But not too early, she needs time to unwind from school and get her homework done." Freddie told Melanie before she had a chance to answer her daughter.
"That would be great." Melanie replied to him. "How about I stop by after dinner time tomorrow and you can tell me about what you did in school, alright?"
Sadly, the child nodded and hugged her mother tight to say goodbye.
As soon as she was in the elevator, Melanie sent Freddie a text. 'We need to talk. Do you have time that we can meet up tomorrow. Maybe for lunch or something.'
He hated to be rude, he couldn't say no, but he had so much work to do and school days afforded him the time he needed to do things that he needed to complete at the office. Reluctantly, he agreed.
Their meeting place was the coffee chop where they first hooked up again after their initial breakup, just before they were about to start their second year of college. Freddie entered the shop and saw no sign of his blonde wife. He was running a few minutes off himself and expected her to be there waiting. 'Great. She flaked out again.' He thought to himself.
In a few moments, she appeared from the back of the store and approached him. "Hey, Freddie. Sorry if you were worried. I really needed a bathroom stop before I drink any more coffee."
He simply shook his head, same old Melanie with a bladder the size of a golf ball. "You sure you should be drinking caffeine with your meds and all?"
"I usually stick to decaf or something that's more milk and flavor that actual coffee. So, did you want to order anything before we sit?"
"Yeah. I actually need to head back to the office before it's time to pick up Alex after school, so this is as close to a lunch break as I'll get."
The two ordered their food, with Melanie offering to pay, and took a seat. "So what did you want to discuss?" He asked, as if he didn't already know.
"I'd really like you to reconsider what you told me the other day, Freddie." She begged. "I'm home now, I got my degree and if I'm here you can help make sure I take my meds and everything. I was fine each time we were together before. I need something solid in my life to keep me on track. Someone to support me."
"Melanie, you were off the radar for almost a year. Do you really think you can just come back like nothing happened? Married or not, my mom will have a fit if I just let you move in. And what makes you think I'm ready, even if you are?"
"We can find another place, then. I doubt our old apartment is available any more. But that's OK. Why did you move anyway?"
"Um, because I couldn't handle it all by myself with a five year old and work at the same time. I need support, too. And since I had no where else to turn I had to rely on my mom. It wasn't logical for me to be running back and forth across town, it was just easier to move back home. And a heckuva lot cheaper."
"I'm here now, we can just start over." She begged. "I can get a job, we can get our own place."
"I can't do that, Melanie." He coldly replied.
"Why not? Did you really resent my going back to school that bad. I thought that was our plan. As soon as you got your masters, I would go back and finish up my degree that I left on hold because of the baby, our baby. That was the plan, right? Or did you think I was going to work for the next forty years as a receptionist in an insurance office because you didn't want me to finish my education."
"And what part of the plan involved you not calling or having any contact with us for months?" He got a little short with her as their sandwiches arrived. The waitress scurried away at his outburst.
"That was because I had an episode, Freddie. And then I convinced myself that I couldn't stand the idea that I passed this mess off to Alex. Maybe if she wasn't around me she wouldn't get it. I know that sounds stupid but I think if I would have had you there for me, to talk to, everything would have been fine."
"Bullshit!" He argued. "That's totally bullshit. Melanie. I love you but I am not buying that excuse. There was no reason you couldn't call. Or text. You couldn't even send a damn postcard? You just up and dropped off the face of the Earth."
