~Chapter 43~
A/N: Place epilogue of FWB here, if you want. Twist to the end of Phantom Planet: Danny has created a worldwide law; Fenton and Phantom are to be spoken of as two different people to protect the younger generation.
Almost three more months had passed. Sam's due date was so near that Danny's excitement, once again, became unbearable. Thankfully, unlike with the twins, she would have to be induced, which meant that the timing would be exact. It was a relief to have no surprises with this one. It was also a relief that Danny was, unwillingly, letting her go into the ghost zone with him while Johnny and Kitty were babysitting the twins. He still didn't trust them and still hated the idea of letting them near the twins, but they hadn't given him a single reason to think they might hurt them. He had left them alone with the twins before and always came back to find them safe and sound...when nobody else was available of course. Sam had come to trust them, but probably more because she desperately wanted their help than anything else. And since Sam was so pregnant, she really couldn't do much anymore, so Danny had to go along with whatever she thought was best. For now.
But at least now they were peacefully in bed ready to go to sleep. He didn't know that Sam wanted to have this conversation, nor was he expecting it, but...
"Danny, we need to talk," she said.
And that sentence right there always meant he was in trouble. Again. For the millionth time. Even if it was about something that happened last week.
"About what, dove?" he asked, softly kissing her cheek and inwardly hoping this would be sweet enough to let him off the hook for whatever the heck it was this time.
She took a deep breath and stated, "I'm not okay."
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"
"A long time ago Cole asked me if I was okay with 'being violated', and I said I was. I'm not," she answered.
He already knew that. She didn't know it, but he knew she wasn't really okay. He just didn't know why. It had been three years, four actually, since her rape and for some reason there was still some part of her that couldn't get over it.
"Why aren't you okay?" he asked.
She shrugged and said, "I don't really know. But I think part of it is because I don't want to go back to seeing the twins as not yours. For two years I only saw them as adopted and kept waiting for you to stop treating them like they were yours biologically...you know, like you were the real father...but you never did and finally on the third year I guess I realized you wouldn't stop seeing them like they weren't yours. After that I started looking at you like their real father. But when I think back to being raped, I keep remembering that you've adopted them, and I don't like seeing it that way."
Well that was one thing he didn't know... Of course he wasn't their real father. Of course he adopted them. But he didn't know she was waiting for him stop loving them all the way up until a couple years ago. At least she eventually came to know that he wouldn't, and couldn't even if he tried.
He sighed and put his arms behind his head.
"It's all right, Sam. I'm not their biological father and I know that, but it's just not possible for me to stop treating them the way I do. And I guess I can understand why you thought that way. I mean, I was really young when they were born and most guys, especially if the baby isn't theirs, would've left. At first I was only covering for you to help you keep your secret, but then my life started changing and I knew that I didn't want to pretend to be the dad anymore.
And I already know you're not okay. I've known it all along. You're afraid, that's why I hold you every night."
In fact, he would've been holding her right now, but she was facing him and her stomach was now so big that it pushed him away. Unless she was facing the other way he literally couldn't hold her.
"There's more to it, I just don't know what it is yet," she said.
"He's dead, Sam. You don't need to worry anymore."
"I still have nightmares though."
No. They weren't just nightmares, they were night terrors. She swore she saw shadows, swore there was someone there, but there wasn't. It was all in her head but for a while she genuinely believed it was real. It made him wonder what exactly she'd dreamt about that scared her so much. Since this usually happened only when he didn't have his arms around her, he was starting to assume that her dreams were about him not being there to protect her, but it could be anything. He was just glad she hadn't had one in a long time. It worried him because he knew what the stress could do to the baby. He could calm her down, but there was nothing he could do about the baby. Despite being pretty much full term, she could still die. If Sam could just hold out a little longer, just for a few more days...
And sometimes these night terrors snuck up on her randomly, whether he was holding her or not. There would be no apparent trigger for them, but each time was the same. She woke up screaming his name, then made him check the darkest corner of the room, and finally cried herself back to sleep. Never once had he blamed her for this. She'd gone through so much in her past that it wasn't surprising she still suffered from the trauma. During the day she was fine but during the night she worried him.
"Sam?"
"Hm?"
"What are your nightmares about? What happens in them?" he softly asked.
She thought for a few seconds and replied, "When I was raped the first time, the very first giveaway that someone was there was the sense of being watched. The second was a twig snapping. And the third was a large shadow looming over me."
That would explain the shadow people...
"I ignored the first two when I should've just run," she continued. "In my nightmares I see the shadow and look behind me, but there's no one there. When I turn back around someone grabs me."
She stopped entirely and yawned. But there was no way that could be the end. No, it would take something much more severe than just being grabbed to upset Sam to the point of completely losing it. And when she woke up from those nightmares...just...BAM, all her logic was lost for some time until he could calm her down. So no, this definitely wasn't the end and she definitely wasn't telling him the whole truth.
"What next?" he asked.
She shook her head this time and said, "Danny, you don't want to know."
"Yes I do. That's why I'm asking."
Sighing, she caved in...sort of. "I basically just relive the same thing."
Seriously, that was far too vague. Sam never gave him such an unclear answer unless she was trying to hide something, but telling just enough truth to get by. Plus, her key word was 'basically'. No one said 'basically' and gave any real information away. He wanted the deeper details. He wanted to find out what in the world was scaring her so badly that even after all these years, she still couldn't sleep peacefully; not without him anyway, and even then there were no guarantees.
"Am I going to get any more information out of you or is this it?"
"This is it!" she quickly snapped.
Mood swing. Just go with it.
"Okay," he replied.
She turned over and pushed herself into him. Her stomach had grown so large and he was so tall that he couldn't put his arms all the way around her anymore.
"Would you quit sucking up to me?" she grumbled.
If he did, he would find himself in loads of trouble. If he didn't, he would find himself in a little less trouble. He couldn't win for losing with her. It just strengthened his resolve...NO MORE PREGNANCIES AFTER THIS ONE. He couldn't mentally take another nine months of hormones! Honestly... He loved Sam, he loved the twins, and he loved this child but this was the last one!
It would end though. It was almost over. All he needed to do was hold out for just a few more days...just endure it for a few more days... The baby would be born, Sam would finally stop killing him off every time he didn't do anything wrong and he would be free. Freedom. God, wasn't that a sweet word... And it was just days away...
"Sorry, dove," he said as he pecked her cheek.
"You just did it again, didn't you?!"
Crap.
"No, I didn't," he lied.
"You lie! You're lying to me! I'm supposed to be your precious 'dove'. Why would you lie to y-"
He just zoned out at that point. It happened every time and sometimes it could go on for half an hour. Just a few more days of this...just a few more days...not much longer...endurance...patience...willpower... Then he would go back to being her fiance and not her emotional punching bag. Tucker never got this treatment. Cole never got this treatment. Nobody else had to suffer. It was just him, it was just him! And invisibility hadn't been an option since several months ago, when he got busted for it and her wrath lasted throughout the whole month. No more ghost powers to avoid this...he'd learned that the hard way. Compared to this the cold shoulder was an absolute blessing!
Oh, and then there was, just as it was with the twins, the 'nesting stage' his mom talked about. Now that he no longer had school, he was stuck moving furniture all day, only to have her disapprove of it the next day. Ghost appearance? Johnny and Kitty. Let those two handle it. He was too busy being lassoed by Sam to deal with anything else. At the end of the day he could hear the ghost couple laughing downstairs talking about how it sucked to be him. Yeah it sucked to be him right now! But no...it would be worth it in a few days... He could soldier through another few days of harsh manual labor and pregnant hormones. He knew he could. He'd faced Pariah Dark and lived...he could do this much. Even though it really was harder than saving the world. Hard thought but...true.
Something about being a kiss-up.
"Speaking of kisses, any chance I c-"
"No, you perverted male!" she hissed back.
Insert deep, long sigh here.
"You should probably get your rest," he suggested.
"You just want me to shut up!"
Well, yeah... That and he'd spent the whole day remodeling the house and getting scolded for God-knows-what, which left him exhausted.
He decided to just close his eyes and zone out again.
There was a short moment of peace as they glided through the ghost zone, but only because Sam had decided to take a nap. Countdown 'til baby, two days left. Normally he didn't like Sam coming along with him when he tried to steer his way through the entire ghost zone through memory alone, but not only did she pester him beyond his limits, this also got him out of moving and moving and moving and moving and moving again all the house furniture. But unlike any of the ghosts he'd fought, he was getting a very precious reward this time. This time he was getting a little baby girl, another daughter, and the freedom to get more than just ten minutes of peace.
He smirked at the last thought. It was only two days until he would get to hold his newborn child in his arms for the first time. And not just his child, but Sam's too. It was their first child together, meaning the twins would have a little sister to play with when they grew older. He could see it now... At first his family was complete the way it was but now, with a third child on the way, he somehow had even more completeness. He didn't think that was possible but apparently it was.
He jolted forward as the rockets to the Specter Speeder died down. He pressed his foot on the gas again to get it going. It hardly moved at all. He pressed the gas again, but the rockets barely flickered.
He continued to press down on the gas, slowly heading towards an island he could land on. Something was clearly wrong...
He checked to see how much fuel was left, his first thought being that this was the problem, but the tank was just over half full. Well this was great... He could probably just transform into Phantom and fly both himself and Sam out of the ghost zone and come back to fix this thing later. Problem was...he was running on memory. He had the map, just in case, but the map only had landmarks. Here, on this deserted island, he couldn't see anything but a few satellite islands; all equally deserted. There were no landmarks he could follow. But if he could find something and fix the Specter Speeder, he could roam past these islands until he reached someplace familiar. From there he could just go back home.
Judging from the time they'd already spent in the ghost zone, they had to be hours away from the ghost portal. That wasn't good... He might not be able to call for help if he needed it, not at this distance.
He turned off the Speeder and hopped out of it just in time to hear Sam wake up and start complaining about the dress she was wearing. The maternity dress she was wearing. It went down to her knees, so it hid her scars, which gave her one less thing to complain about. But it would get worse for him because sooner or later she would realize that they were stuck until he could get the Speeder working again. It didn't necessarily have to be fixed, it just had to be able to transport them back home, where his parents could help him fix it.
Sighing, he went around to the back and opened up the trunk where the engine rested. Immediately, a huge cloud of black smoke burst forth with a strong hiss and a spark somewhere in there. He coughed and backed away. This was awesome because with Sam already having enough to whine about, he was stranded here giving her another excuse. He was also dooming himself to more torturous venting. Just...one long rant after another... She would probably break down in tears one minute and the moment he tried to console her, she would lash out at him. Then when he would try to comply and go along with whatever she said, she would do the same thing she did last night. It was always a lose-lose situation with her. Always.
"Danny, what was that?" she asked, clearly referring to the smoking engine of the ship.
He looked at it closer to see if there would be another spark. If there was, this thing could catch fire and he didn't want to put Sam in danger of that. He had intangibility so he wasn't really worried about himself, but Sam had nothing and was very heavily pregnant. Even though it was just two days...and even though she would have to be induced...she could still get stressed out by their predicament. It was still dangerous to the baby.
"Danny, seriously, what was that?" she repeated.
He saw her waddle over through his peripheral vision, hands placed on top of her stomach as usual. To his relief, her expression was only of concern with no hint of aggression.
"Uh... I-I don't really know. I think something happened to the engine. It'll be fixed in no time though, just go ahead and wait in the Specter Speeder for me. Be there in a few minutes," he assured her.
He was most likely lying about that... The way the engine threatened to blow up just now proved that something completely stopped working. Thankfully the smoke had cleared, there were no more sparks, and the hissing sound had stopped. It was safe to check everything out now, which also meant it was safe for Sam to stay in the ship. He would rather have her sitting down resting than standing on her feet outside on an unknown island. Hopefully she would go back to sleep. She really needed her rest. He supposed it had something to do with this baby being half ghost...assuming she had any of his powers. She might not have inherited any of them, which would work out great because he had no idea how to train someone else to use ghost powers. It was something he'd figured out on his own so explaining how all that worked to someone else... It couldn't be done, not with him.
Maybe it was actually the battery that had something wrong with it...? No...no, it was definitely the engine. Probably. All the parts seemed to be in tact; didn't look like anything fell off or something... What was wrong with this thing? He was no mechanic but it looked fine. Maybe something short-circuited. Some kind of electrical problem, or a valve somewhere?
What he didn't know was that Sam was still complaining in the Speeder, but this time it went from her 'tight' dress to false contractions. This would scare Danny half to death if he knew how frequently she'd been having them lately, so naturally she never told him, but they were painful nevertheless and felt just like real ones. She'd been having them for so long now that this was why she had to be induced. They said her body might not be able to handle giving birth to a supernatural being. She wanted to kill them for calling her baby a supernatural being, but luckily for them Danny was right beside her and would've stopped her if she tried anything.
She hissed as another sharp pain shot through her. This happened seven more times before some kind of instinct overwhelmed her and she hurried out of the vehicle.
"Danny..." she squeaked, finally coming to the realization that doctor or not her body was going to try to handle birth anyway.
Surprise! This baby didn't like the concept of timing.
"Danny, you got that thing fixed yet?" she asked after she was released from a wave of pain.
Having given birth once already, she knew the signs of when it really was time for the baby to come. Right now she felt extremely uncomfortable but when she start feeling pressure and her contractions reached their closest in time, that was when the baby was coming out and there would be nothing anyone could do to help her at that point.
"Um...well no, not really... It might take a little longer than I thought," he answered.
Well the baby wouldn't wait around forever! But if he knew she had already gone into labor, he would panic and never get it done. She didn't want to give birth in the ghost zone, of all places, and she was getting even more uncomfortable with just being here. Especially with their only means of transportation broken, instinct told her two things: find a secluded place, and make sure there was enough room. The Speeder was secluded but it was broken and too cramped. This island had more than enough room but it was in no way secluded. If Danny couldn't fix the Specter Speeder soon then she would have no choice but to give birth here. Once her water broke, that was it, and she wouldn't be able to go back anyway because then she might actually go ahead and have the baby in such a small area that it could put the baby in danger. She needed room and she needed to get back home. But it wouldn't help if Danny knew about this. Her water hadn't broken yet anyway, so she was fine...for now.
She tried to keep her spirits up by looking at the bright side. She was full term. That was good. She wasn't alone. Also good. Um...what else... Let's see... Uh...
There were no more upsides. She knew it could be worse, at least she had Danny here to help. But looking back this was the same guy who passed out during the twins' birth. He might not be very useful after all... Not unless he could fix-
She grabbed her stomach and bent over in pain, this time all but crippled by it.
"DANNY!" she screamed. Forget not letting him know, he needed to know just how important it was to get it done and if this was what it took then so be it!
"What?!" he shouted, running over to her just as she was straightening herself back out. "What, are you okay?"
Oh, yeah, she was dandy, let us all forget that she was in LABOR. Not that he knew...
"It's time," she grunted.
"Time?" he echoed.
She gripped her stomach. "Yes, time. It's time, Danny."
And time was sort of painful right now!
"Wh..." He shook his head and gave her a confused look. "What are you talking about? What time?"
"Faye..." she whimpered.
"What about her?" he asked.
That idiot! That clueless idiot! "Danny, God forbid you should...! It's time-!"
Her sentence was cut short when she grabbed her stomach and glared at him, soon going from a glare to a look of pleading with him just to take the pain away.
He put his hands of her shoulders. "Sam, calm down. Now...it's time for wha-"
He was stopped by an abrupt splattering sound on the ground.
"IT'S TIME!" he screeched.
A/N
Uh-oh. ;) If I say anything about Danny I'll spoil the next chapter, so I really don't have anything to say on it.
Oh but if any of you are wondering why those ghosts mentioned in the last chapter haven't made a single move yet, think about it. Those rumors of Danny being so protective, of him not at all willing to hold back and overly willing to completely obliterate anyone who comes near the twins? Yeah, those rumors have spread far and wide and they know he won't hold back by now. They're hanging back, still too afraid to truly make a move yet. Therefore, Danny's ghost sense hasn't gone off yet and believe it or not, Johnny and Kitty's help puts his mind at ease, as is actually shown in this chapter. He still doesn't want them near the twins but he's willing to leave them alone with the twins. He won't admit it but in a way he IS starting to trust them more and more, so he's a lot less likely to attack them (whereas he was seriously considering it before) than any other ghost. So whether he's realizing this or not, they're taking a lot of weight off his shoulders. And DO NOT FORGET THIS: he's seeing for himself that Johnny and Kitty are fighting for the twins, and thus are proving themselves to be more friend than foe. For Danny they're still neutral.
And nooowwwww... We had two birthdays, two days apart, so I've had to compensate for both by updating on this particular day. HAPPY BELATED/EARLY BIRTHDAY TO weird-o152 AND Chloee0x0! Hope you both liked this chapter. :3
Okay. Just because I've kind of had enough of this... You'll be VERY surprised at how many people (anonymity so as not to embarrass anyone) have PMed me asking me to put in a lemon or two, or if I could go into much more graphic detail with Danny and Sam's "first time" together in a later chapter. My answer? Yeah. Sure. You'll see a lemon. IF SOMEONE ELSE WRITES IT. I do not do lemons, guys. This story will not have a lemon in it. My only compromise is to let someone else write one for this story, and THEN you have your lemon.
Review quota is none because unlike last time I can see the keyboard very clearly. It's also two birthdays and I did one for Favorite Daughter Of Hades, so this time? Nope, zilch quota.
But review REPLIES? ;) 'Course!
Favorite Daughter Of Hades- Nah, it's fine! :) I promised to update on your birthday, so I did. You're welcome! XD I know, right? Gotta love Sam's pregnancy and Danny's 9-month suffering.
jim89- :P Maaaaaybe. Well, Sam's pretty strict about her views of people. It'll take a lot of work to change her mind about Valerie, but who knows, maybe she'll accept her as an ally. But just because you do seem pretty concerned about Valerie here, I'll give you a little spoiler: she will reappear in this story. Again, maaaaaaybe. ;)
princessbinas- I'll check it out if I've got the time. And if I find it on Nick. You also...sorta lost me... I don't know ANY of these characters, remember, so I got a little confused around the last part.
Samtastic V2.0- Don't worry. ;) She will show up. I'm afraid I can't tell you how Danny will react when she does though, because she's his clone/cousin AND she's still half ghost, yet also half human. He'll be pulled two ways with that. Awwwww, thanks! ^.^
SuperGeorgia- Well, no, they really are there to help. They may be his former enemies but do you really think they want innocent, VERY young children to die? This is also the golden chance to get into his good books and be able to roam within five miles of the twins and still exist. They genuinely want to help. Besides, Johnny and Kitty just always seemed like the type who would sooner help Danny than actually kill him. Despite the shadow I just can't see them truly wanting him dead. And now they're on his side, and trust me they don't want to get out of it. XD Yeah, I love Danny's insane overprotectiveness and pure love for the twins. All kids deserve a good father, and all mothers deserve a good husband. He'll be both. ;)
ObsessiveFanFictioner15- XD And the truth has been told! But to be fair, Sam is pregnant and he knows stress isn't good for her. "Just go with it." Perfect motto for him. Pfft, Danny, overprotective? Naaahhhh. Surely you're hallucinating these words, dear friend!
sammansonrepilica- :D Thank you! And yeah, I figured Danny and Sam needed more help. I always viewed Johnny and Kitty as good helpers if he ever needed them. Now...if it was the Box Ghost...ehhhh... Need I say more?
AwesomeMan327- Oh, sorry. The only reason Clockwork can be trusted is because he helped Danny keep from becoming Dark Dan, something that would hurt his kids. As for everyone else, they're still ghosts. They can be allies but that only means he won't try to destroy them, it doesn't mean he likes the idea of a visit when there's kids to consider. -_- And we all know how Danny is when it comes to the poor kids.
TheNinjaKitty13- Thanks! :D Oh. I don't watch Hetalia so I didn't know, and I also didn't know that Prussia used to be a country. :/ Sorry...
Okay. I had this chapter (and the review replies as they came) written out but was waiting to post this on the 24th. You should know, if you've been following my other A/Ns, that I have seizures. There are four triggers. Illness is one of them. I'm sick. -_- While I take medication to keep them under control, I've just hit a main trigger, which means my medication could fail at any time. In fact, I could've had an absent one right now and not even know it.
So I'm sick, susceptible to seizures, and exhausted. *sigh* Well, early update. Unfortunately I won't be able to update (even write) again until I'm better. Sorry to the birthday people but I didn't anticipate this. Consider it an early birthday gift.