Chapter 41

"Look, Sam. You haven't spent as much time around your own mother as I have the last few years. She is different. And she only lives, what, ten minutes from here so if something comes up it's just a short drive to get there. But I want to sit down with Pam and talk about some ground rules before Alex spends the night in her house, no matter how much she's changed." Freddie stated with a dead serious look, directed at Melanie.

"For one, no smoking or booze in the house, even beer." Sam chimed in.

"Mainly I was thinking about the kind of guys she brings around." He added. "But the alcohol thing is worth mentioning, too."

"I'm impressed that she's quit the cigarettes." Melanie nodded. "I guess those patch things really do work."

"How about next time you're in town, we sit down with Pam and go over what we'd like to see. And then maybe do a trial run, like a sleepover before we commit to anything on paper." Freddie suggested.

"Yeah, and in the meantime we can all come up with a list of the dos and don'ts for Mom." Sam suggested.

"I am dead serious about this, and I'll make sure she is, too." Melanie agreed. "Now, about child support. I don't imagine I'll be making near what you do, but if she's staying with you it would only be right for me to pay something."

"Mel, I can support her just fine. But how about we both contribute equally to her college fund?"

"OK, if you feel that's fair, I'm good with it. And could you maybe agree to co-sign with me for a car loan so I can get my own. Not now, but after I move back to Seattle? I've never had a car."

He nodded in agreement.

"And I can help you find something that's not gonna break down every two thousand miles." Sam agreed. "Because I really don't think either of you know the first thing about buying a car."

Freddie just looked insulted. "Hey. I picked out my car."

"Hey yourself, Fredstumps. You drive a granny mobile that was made before we graduated from high school. And I'm sure Mommy Benson was holding your hand the whole time."

"That car had the best safety ratings in 2011." He defended. "Mom and I researched it thoroughly. It has more airbags . . . "

"Awh, my mom's an airbag. I'll bet you don't even know how to see if it needs a new battery or where the spare tire is located. I'm not saying you're some Helpless Harry who can't hold a screwdriver but lets all stick to what we know. And if I need a new laptop, you'll be the first one I call, just let me help with the car shopping, alright?"

Freddie chuckled in agreement and Melanie just shook her head at their playful exchange.

"Alright, enough you guys, mama's starving here. You two about ready to order some pizza or something. I'll text Carly to bring Alex back here and we can hang out and watch some movies?"

Melanie was shocked at the invitation and just looked quizzically at her twin. "You mean me, too?"

"Why not? You're only in town for a couple more days right? I'm sure Alex would like to hang out with you a little more than usual." Sam shrugged. "You good with that, Fredinand?"

"I suppose Alex could stay up a little later, just this once." Freddie agreed.

"It's not like there's school tomorrow." Sam reminded him.


Monday morning, the two met up while Alex was at school. Everything was all worked though and spelled out on paper, all they would need was a lawyer to write up the official documents and for them to sign and file. The trouble was, finding one who didn't want to drag this out in court and charge them a fortune. Lawyers make much more off long, complicated cases than they do off simple ones.

"Why don't we ask Carly?" Melanie suggested.

"I don't think she could do it, she works at the D.A.'s office, she doesn't do anything with family law." He argued.

"Well she surely knows someone who does."

He sighed. "I guess. Here, let me call her."

After a quick conversation, Freddie was given the number of a friend of Carly's who she promised them would be able to put it all together for them simply. They scheduled a meeting with the lawyer via teleconference to get their divorce papers drawn up.

Melanie returned to Portland intent on discussing her plans with her dad and step-mother. She began to actively search for a job in Seattle and within a month she was called for an interview to replace a retiring librarian at one of the colleges.

It was shortly after school was out for summer break when she called Freddie to tell him she was coming to town for a job interview the next week.

"Hi, Mels." He answered.

"Hey, Freddie. I know you're probably busy but I was wondering if we could try to get together over the weekend to talk about Alex staying with me and mom some time."

"Um, yeah. Sure. I didn't know you were coming to town."

"I just got the call this morning. I have an interview on Monday, so I was going to head to Seattle after work Friday evening."

"Did you call Pam yet? Sam talked to her the other day. I guess one of your uncles got arrested for over smoking bacon or something and she went to Idaho to bail him out."

"Oh gosh. I didn't hear about that. I hope she's home."

"Well, if she's not, check with Sam and Carly. You don't want to miss your interview or end up staying at a hotel or something. I'm sure they could put you up."

"Right. So, about us talking?"

"Yeah, no problem. Whenever you want. How serious is this interview?"

"I can't be sure but it sort of sounds pretty promising."

"I guess we'd better tell Sam to get busy finding you a car then." He suggested.

"Uh-huh. So, maybe over the weekend sometime?" Mel Questioned.

"Sure. Why don't we all try to get together on Saturday for dinner and talk about everything?"

Over the weekend, Freddie and Melanie along with Sam and Pam all sat down and worked out their terms. Pam agreed to let Melanie stay with her as long as she wanted and the there were to be no male 'guests' in the house any time that Alex was present, unless Melanie, Freddie and Sam all met and approved of them. The grandmother even reluctantly agreed to keep any alcohol out of the house, but did insist that her stash of beer in the garage be allowed to stay.

Melanie was to stay with Pam rent free as long as she paid the cable bill and purchased any food that she wanted as well as taking care of her own laundry and the cleaning. In essence, she was Pam's live in house keeper.

It was set that a trial of Alex staying with her mom and grandmother would happen the following Friday night. By that time, Melanie had her interview and felt very confident she would be offered the job. Sam had spent her free time trying to help her sister find a car. It was Wednesday evening , after she left work that the twins were set to meet up with a middle aged man who had a car for sale.

"Now let me look the thing over mechanically while you ooh and aah over the color and how many speakers the radio has, alright?" Sam smirked at Melanie as they pulled into the driveway.

"OK, you know more than I do about it. I still think we should have looked at that cute, little hybrid that I saw on Greg's list."

"Mel!" Sam scolded. "Those cars are horribly expensive to work on and once they get a few years on them, God only knows what all will creep up in those electrical systems. You want something that's not only going to get you from point a to point b, but something that will last until you've made all the payments on it. And that guy wanted a lot more for that beast than it was worth."

The girls looked at this and two other cars the next day, none of them passing Sam's scrutiny. They were on their way home and Melanie was complaining about Sam's attitude about the cars.

"I understand that last one had a ton of miles but the silver car with the sunroof was nice and it was cheap, too."

"Right and the water stains on the inside mean the sunroof leaks. They all leak. Do you really want a wet butt every time it rains because the seat's soaked? You do remember that it rains more often than not in Seattle?"

"I guess that would be a problem. But what am I going to do? I'm supposed to hear tomorrow if I got the job and if I do, I need a car asap. That old Honda of Mom's is ready to die any day now and I hate driving that thing to begin with it stinks like cigarettes inside."

"I've got an idea. Let me work on Fredlumps for you, maybe we can get you a decent, dependable car without you even going into debt." Sam proposed.

"You think he's going to just give me his car?" Mel scoffed. "I mean, what would he drive? And what kind of influence do you think you'll have on him, anyway?"

"He's due for a new car and I'm going to take him by the dealership over the weekend to look at what's there. If he sees something he likes, maybe you can just buy his old one for what they would give him as a trade in. Which wouldn't be much. Surely you have that much saved up. Hey, I know. Maybe I'll borrow one and bring home for him to see."

Melanie agreed that this would be a good idea. When the twins returned home, Sam stopped at the Bensons' apartment with her sister to visit. As Melanie sat on the floor to play with her daughter, Sam pulled Freddie aside. "Say Frednubs, since Alex is going to be at Pam's with Melanie tomorrow night, how's about you take me out for dinner? You know, since I've been cooking for you almost every night non stop for over a week now."

"Sure, Sam." He grinned. "All you can eat Chinese?"

"You read my mind." She smirked, hatching a plan in her head. "Friday night is hibachi steak night."

"Should we call them and tell them to get another cow?"

The young lady borrowed a car from the dealership for the weekend and volunteered to drive. After dropping Alex off with her mother and Pam, while they were on their way to dinner, Sam started the conversation very abruptly. "So, how long are you going to keep driving your old car?"

"Why? What's wrong with it. Other than your opinion that nothing good with 4 wheels ever came across the Pacific."

"I just thought you'd like to have something with a little more tech in it." She shrugged.

"Tech in it?" He asked. "Like this one?"

"Yeah. You know the new models all interface with the current Pear-Pads and even the Pear Phones?" She pushed a button and the car began to ask permission to seek a device to interact with.

"Uh-huh." He was now suspicious of why she was driving a new car. He knew that she didn't normally get a car to drive as a benefit of her employment. "I've worked on a couple of those apps."

"Hey, try to see if the Green Tooth thingy can pick up your phone." She suggested. "I had to help some guy reprogram his the other day and I was surprised at how fast it is. And I know you have a top end phone. Just press that purple icon on the car's touch screen.

He did and was impressed. "So I can use the hands free and access my device while driving? Wow, that is cool. And you know, I'm actually kind of impressed that you know all that."

"You forget, I was top salesperson at the Pear Store."

"Right for the three hours you worked there."

"So all you have to do is tell this thing what you want it to do. And you know how you have that voice to text app, right? Well, if you have that on your phone, it'll even read your texts to you. Watch this, send text to Shay Carly. Heading out for dinner, ribs here I come. End."

The car sent the text and soon Carly responded. 'Why are you on Freddie's phone? Did you lose yours again?' The car read it to them and Freddie laughed at its synthesized voice reading Carly's words, because it sort of sounded like her.

"Hmm, cool. I wonder if it can remember my Zaplook map searches?" He asked.

"Give it a try."

After playing with the tech the whole way to the restaurant and having to practically be dragged out of the car, Freddie was in love.

"So, you think you could live with an interactive car?" Sam teased as they walked across the parking lot of the strip mall toward the restaurant.

"Yeah, but that car is so big. How much does something like that cost?" He fussed.

She rolled her eyes at his worrying about price. She knew how much he made. "Actually, it just seems big compared to that little import you drive. It sits a little higher and has more interior room, not to mention trunk space." The blonde laid the sales pitch on thick. "Which is actually a good thing."

"I guess it's not so big, and I bought that other one long before I had a kid. You can handle it, right? You're not a big person, if you can manage to drive it OK, I think I could. I suppose the time might come when Alex needs more space, too. Not to mention when she starts wanting to drag her friends along."

"Good point. Speaking of Alex, she seemed impressed by the car."

"She was impressed at the personal screen in front of her in the back seat." He said with a chuckle. "And she said the color was cool."

"Well, it is. The only cars on the road that are silver-grey anymore are old, retired cop cars."

"And I suppose if I buy something like this, you'll get a bonus, huh?" He left her know he was onto her scheme.

"A little and I'll split it with you." She reached for his hand as they walked through the door to eat. Because you know, you're just my friend you can't really use my discount."

"But if we ever . . . ? " He stopped before feeling too embarrassed. "Get me some numbers. Like, how much they'll give me for my old car and what the payment will be."