Chapter 30

Melanie and Sam were discussing Freddie's refusal to let her back into his life. Sam most definitely was on team Freddie and she didn't try in the least to hide it.

"It's not over between us. I think if we got into counseling." Melanie began to cry at the thought of losing Freddie for good.

"Oh my God! Don't you get it? You can sit and talk to head shrinkers all week long but it still doesn't change the fact that you ran off on him how many times already? He is not willing to put his daughter, your daughter, through the pain of there being any chance of you ever doing it again. Or even his own heart. You're just like dad. You can't deny it, you're not cut out for a husband and a family."

"You don't know everything about him, you know." Melanie huffed through tears as Carly entered the room.

Sam was pissed off and on a roll and getting louder. "Freddie? No, I don't. You are absolutely right, there's no way to get to know him because thanks to you and your wander lust, he's got bigger walls than me. And that's a damn big wall."

"I meant Dad." Melanie sniffed.

"Psh. I don't need to know anything about him. He's a stub rag. He ran off when we were five just like you did to your kid. He left mom to raise us on her own. We grew up like animals and had to fend for ourselves. It's just a good thing Freddie has more of a support system than Mom did for the sake of YOUR little girl."

"Dad didn't exactly leave us completely unsupported." Melanie wiped at her face and Carly sat down beside her on the couch to attempt to comfort her.

"He didn't?" Sam scoffed and now jumped up off her chair. "I seem to remember Mom not having any money or even a decent car when we were growing up. There were times the power got shut off and more often than not the only thing I had to eat I got from Carly's house or Freddie's."

Melanie looked shocked, surely she knew all this.

"Hell, I never even had an allowance, you know that? I busted on Freddie because his mom gave him, like, two dollars a week but I never got squat. Not one cent! What money I ever had I either earned myself or stole."

Melanie made an attempt at excusing her mother. "That's because Mom drank and smoked it all up. She's apologized to me for that by the way. And she would you too if you gave her a chance. But dad did send money. And he paid for the house and my school, too."

"Oh, please. Did Pam try to tell you that?" Sam huffed and flopped back down. "Was she drunk again and making excuses for him? I need to check my order because I'm pretty sure I'm not buying any of that horse shit!"

"No. Dad told me himself." Melanie replied with crossed arms.

"Psh! You talked to Dad? When?"

Melanie laid her cards on the table and made a confession. "I didn't just talk to him. I've been living with him in Portland for the last year."

The room drew silent and Carly and Sam both looked at Melanie like she said she had been living with Bigfoot.

"You met Dad? You were living with him? In Portland? What about Chicago? I thought that's where you were in school?" Sam questioned. This was all starting to sound like a load of hogwash. Maybe Melanie had totally slipped off the deep end.

"Actually I was going to go to Chicago but I found out Dad was in Portland so I went out there." Mel replied. "No one knew, not Freddie or Mom, I kept it to myself because I knew how everyone would react-just like this. It turns out he was living not far from a really good college."

"So that's why you insisted on leaving for school instead of one of the local schools?" Carly piped in. "The way Freddie said he tried to get you to do?"

"I had been in touch with Dad occasionally since around the time I got pregnant. He had just moved back to the west coast and Portland was one of the schools I was looking at anyway, so that's where I ended up." Melanie shrugged. "And I'm glad I did, because I had him to rely on when I needed help the most."

"Crissakes, Mel! You ran off from your husband and five year old daughter to hang out with our deadbeat dad who ran off from us twenty-some years ago? Did you ever stop to think of Freddie, or Alex? I was always afraid of turning into Pam but you're Dad 2.0, you know that? Can you maybe see a pattern here?"

"Make it sound bad, why don't you. I didn't necessarily intend to connect with him so closely. It just kind of happened. I knew him, we talked on the phone once in a while. He sent me money when I'd get in a pinch a couple of times. I did want to get to know him and after I was in Portland, we decided to meet up and have breakfast right one weekend. Next thing I knew I was going over to meet his wife and our half brothers. I was at their place for Christmas last year. It was after that, after I had my slip that he kind of insisted that I stay with them instead of on campus."

"And does he know that you ran off from your kid? And you're married?" Sam threw her hands in the air.

"Absolutely. He's actually the one who gave me the courage to come back and face them, try to get my life back together. You see, dad has the same problem I do. He left because he didn't want to burden us. I guess he felt guilty about passing it on to me and helping me was his way of atoning for deserting us."

"Well that's a likely story." Sam huffed. "So what, he has a problem when he's around Mom and apparently me, but when it's his new wife and kids and even you, he's fine?"

"Sam, take it easy." Carly said with concern. By now, emotions were running high with both the twins. "What happened with your dad, it isn't Melanie's fault."

"His new wife, our step-mother, she's a doctor. A darn good one at that. She helps him keep it together and she helped me, too. It took a lot of one on one sessions with her before I accepted what I have to do in order to live a normal life and have my family back."

"Too damn bad she couldn't have convinced dear old Dad of that so he could have come back to Mom and us. Wait, this broad, whoever she is, wanted him for herself, didn't she? Although God only knows why."

"That's not fair. You don't even know him, or her!" Melanie shot back through tears. "She's a good person. They're very much in love and have a beautiful family and life together."

"Here's an idea. Since apparently you and our wonderful father get along so well and all, why don't you go live with him and let my . . . , I mean, let Freddie and Alex alone so they can live normally. Maybe if you'd quit popping up like a bad penny, he'd actually be able to get his chiz together and move on with his life."

With that, Sam jumped up, stormed off with no jacket and slammed the apartment door shut behind her.

It was obvious to Carly from what Sam said, and almost said, that her old friend was not necessarily only mad at her dad for running off when his kids were five. She was also very upset with her twin for the way she treated Freddie and her own daughter and she was placing the anger at her father onto her sister because they had so much in common.

"That didn't go well, did it?" Melanie asked.

"Not in the least." Carly replied.


Sam knew where Melanie was headed after she left her place but she needed to have a conversation with a certain nub and warn him about what she had just learned. As bad as she hated him for years, she couldn't bear to see him going into this situation blind. They were friends again, at least it seemed that way, and she owed it to him to keep him in the loop. The young woman took to the stairs rather than wait for an elevator and began pounding on door 8-D, ignoring the door bell.

Marissa answered with a scowl that was enough to peel paint from the wall. "Melanie. You'll have to wait, we're just finishing dinner. Didn't Fredward tell you not to come by before seven?"

The blonde pushed past her like she was not there. "Call me that again lady and you'll live to regret it." She said quietly through clenched teeth so the child wouldn't hear and headed for Freddie. "Come on Fredhead, I need to talk to you about something." She ordered and as soon as he was within three feet, she grabbed his hand and headed for his bedroom, dragging him like a rag doll.

Marissa just stood there mouth agape.

"Sam. What's wrong?" He asked, being pulled back the hallway. "Not that I'm upset to be missing cauliflower soup but I wasn't expecting you to drop by."

"Cauliflower soup? Gross!" She slammed his bedroom door shut. "No wonder your breath smells like a road killed skunk. More to the point, you need to know something before my wonderful sister gets here and unless I miss my guess, she's on her way."

Sam went on to give him all the gory details about her recent conversation with her twin and by the time she was done Melanie was at the door. Marissa announced her arrival with a knock on his bedroom door and Freddie visibly tensed.

"I need to get out there, Sam. I'm sorry but I don't want her alone with Alex. Well, Mom's there but still."

Sam huffed, grabbed his jacket and headed for the window.

"Where the crap are you going with my coat? Can't you just wait a few minutes? She won't be here that long. Alex has school and a bedtime."

"I'm crawling up the fire escape to my own place, dorkwad. And it's December in Seattle, it's cold outside. I don't want Mel knowing I was here talking to you. Now get out there and deal with your wife." She snapped and grunted as she crawled out across the window sill. "Gaaw, damn, this was a lot easier ten years ago. And hey, call me if you need to talk after she leaves, I'll bring your coat back down, OK? But I'm not promising I'll come in the same way I'm going out."

"Yep." Freddie smirked at her and went back out to the living room where Alex was telling her mother all about her day and why she just had to come to her school to see her perform in the holiday pageant.

He rolled his eyes, he was hoping to invite Sam or even Carly to go along with him and his mother to see the show. Melanie hadn't even crossed his mind to be invited.

The visit was short and had to be cut off due to the child's bath, reading time and preparing for bedtime. Alex said goodbye and went to her room to gather her things for a bath.

"Gheesh, Freddie. I know my mom was pretty lax about it, but does she really have to start getting ready for bed at half past seven?"

"By the time she gets a bath, dries her hair and reads for fifteen minutes, that puts her to bed at 8:30, which is a perfectly normal bedtime for a six year old." He defended, sounding more like his mother than he'd care to admit. "Any later and she's impossible to get going in the morning. You'd know that if you had been here for the last year."

"I can tell who raised you." She sneered. "Maybe tomorrow I could come by a little earlier?"

"How about I'll text you when dinner's over."

She had another idea. "I could just stay for dinner."

"You know Thursday is bean day, right?"

"I could bring pizza?" She suggested. "And what day is this pageant thing again? I need to mark my calendar."

Freddie sighed. "Next Wednesday. If you're busy don't worry about it. These things aren't that big of a deal."

"It is to me." Mel replied. "I need to be more involved."

"Alright then. We'll find out more about it from her teacher, I'm sure. I'd better go check and make sure she's rinsing her hair properly." Freddie wasn't trying to rush, but he was obviously cold toward Melanie.

"See you tomorrow, I guess." She said sadly and headed toward the door.


The little girl was excited at the idea of her mother attending the holiday show at school. Something she couldn't hide even if she tried. Marissa wasn't fond of the idea but she was willing to let it go in order to appease the child. Freddie would have just as soon the thing were cancelled and he didn't have to deal with any of it.

The day before the event, he still had yet to say anything to his two old friends about it. As soon as he figured they were home, he slipped up to their apartment to discuss it with Carly and Sam. As usual, he knocked before entering their apartment. Sam answered while Carly was in the kitchen preparing their meal.

"Carly! There's a nub at the door." Sam announced with a smirk to tease him. At least she was back to this mode rather than either ignoring him or the death glares. He'd take frenemies over utter hatred any day of the week.

"Ha ha, very original, Sam. You used that one in middle school." He cracked to the blonde who replied by sticking her tongue out.

"Hey, Freddie." Carly greeted. "What's up?"

"Can I ask you girls something?" He asked, following Sam to the kitchen.

"You just did." Sam cracked and walked past Carly to grab a drink from the refrigerator. "You want one?" She finally asked him and held up a bottle of neon colored soda?

"Yeah, don't mind if I do. Hey, listen there's this thing at school tomorrow. Kind of a holiday show, it's not a big deal but since you guys are like family, Alex and I were wondering if you'd want to come?"

"Awesome." Carly replied with excitement. "What time? Can I bring Spencer? You're going to record it, right?"

"I guess, if Spencer wants to come he's welcome. It's at six thirty. Shouldn't be too long of a thing, though." He replied with a shrug sitting at their breakfast bar.

Meanwhile Sam was looking at him funny.

"What?" He asked.

Her normally brash, loud personality got a lot softer. "You, uh, you really want me there? Or are you asking both of us just to be polite."

"We both want you there, Sam. You're her aunt. She loves you and it would mean the world to her. And it would me too, honestly. You see, Melanie's coming and . . . "

"Oh, um, I just remembered I told Mom I'd be over to bath Frothy." Sam turned her back and got back in the fridge.