AN-Really sorry I haven't updated in awhile. I've just been really busy with classes and everything. But considering I'm sort of sick and can't do anything this weekend, hopefully I'll be able to catch up on my writing a little. Anyway, this chapter is a sequel to chapter 369, where Sam asked Freddie to go on a ski trip with her and her mom.
….
Psychiatrist
"So what did you tell your mom again?" Sam asked as Freddie helped her cram a few pairs of boots into her suitcase in her bedroom.
"That I was going on a school-sponsored trip with the Young Men Against Bacterial Infections club she thinks I'm a part of," Freddie said proudly. "So that I can learn about all the dangers of an unreliable laundry detergent. But little does she know that for the next three days, I am going to be having the time of my life enjoying a ski trip with my wonderful girlfriend."
"How awesome is this going to be?" Sam grinned, standing on her toes to give him a quick kiss.
"Very," Freddie chuckled. "Your mom's seriously the best for agreeing to let you bring me along to this ski lodge. See, at least with your mom, we don't have to worry about her freaking out on us about us being together this weekend. She'll let us be, unlike my mom, who would probably sew my gloves to hers'."
"At least you wouldn't have to remind your mom that bathing suits in the hot tub at lodge aren't optional," Sam pointed out. "But yeah, I guess you're right. She won't care what we do down there."
"Sam!" the couple suddenly heard Pam Puckett call from downstairs.
"What?" Sam yelled back, not realizing how close she was to her boyfriend's ear.
"Down here, now!"
"Ugh, she probably got her foot stuck in another jar," Sam moaned, rolling her eyes.
"You want me to help?" Freddie asked.
"No, you just stay up here and try to figure out how many of my Fat Cakes you can jam into my bag," Sam replied. "I'll be back in a minute."
Sam headed downstairs into the cluttered living room of the Puckett house.
"What?" Sam asked her mom. "I thought we weren't leaving for the lodge for another hour."
"Just sit and give me a second," Pam said, looking through a pile on the coffee table. "Now where did I put it…ah-ha!"
"Wait," Sam frowned. "Is that a book?"
"And a darn good sausage plate too," Pam said as she opened up the book she had just found, a grease stain visible on the cover.
"Why are you reading a book?" Sam asked, confused. "Do you even know how to read?"
"Hey! Who do you think read through all your Juvie forms?" Pam said indignantly.
"Oh-kay," Sam said, shaking her head, deciding it was best not to question her mother's odd behavior. "Well, if you aren't going to make me pull your foot out of a jar, I'm just gonna go back up to Freddie, and-"
"Not so fast!" Pam barked as Sam made to get up. "Benson's the whole reason for this little chit-chat."
"What are you talking about? What did Freddie do?" Sam asked. "And hey! Is that-That's a parenting book?"
"Yeah, I got it at a garage sale back when you and Melanie were younger," Pam said, still flipping through the book. "But then Melanie started getting accepted into all these top-notch preschools and winning awards, so I figured I didn't need it since she was doing so well and you were probably going to wind up just like her. Man was I wrong about that."
"Thanks," Sam said spitefully. "But don't you think six months before I turn eighteen is a little late to be breaking that thing out?"
"Here's that chapter!" Pam said finally, ignoring her daughter's last comment. "Alright, kid, now that you've gone and found yourself a hot piece of guy-"
"You've got to be kidding me," Sam mumbled, rolling her eyes.
"-And you've obviously got those feelings-"
"Are we really doing this?" Sam cut her off. "Look, I don't know what sort of 'happy pills' your psychiatrist has you loaded up on right now, but I'm just gonna go finish getting packed-"
"No one's packing anything until you and I get a few things straight for this weekend," Pam said.
Sam frowned. Her mother actually seemed sort of…firm and authoritative right now, two things Pam Puckett generally wasn't. When it came to parenting, she was more on the "relaxed" side.
"Um…like what?" Sam asked. "Don't worry, Freddie and I won't stop you from talking up rich skiers there on vacation. We'll just do our own thing together and-"
"Will you pipe down and let me parent here?" Pam snapped, looking down at the book in her hands. "Alright, rule number one!"
"Rules?" Sam repeated.
"You and Muscle Boy have an midnight curfew this trip," Pam said, again, ignoring Sam's comment.
"Midnight?" Sam exclaimed. "But there's supposed to be this haunted ski trail I was going to drag Freddie to! It won't be scary if we go before midnight."
"Rule number two!" Pam continued. "Sleeping arrangements: I get one bed, you or Hunky get the second bed. Not both of you, one of you."
"Well there's no way I'm sleeping on the couch," Sam muttered. "But why do you have to be so-"
"Rule number three!" Pam went on. "If I find out that you and Arm Boy-"
"Ugh! Just call him Freddie, will you?" Sam cringed.
"-If I find out that either of you do anything on this trip, you're-you're what's that word for when you discipline your kid? Oh right, grounded," Pam said.
"What? Since when do you care what me and Freddie do?" Sam cried.
"Because I know what happens on ski trips!" Pam said. "And I'm not about to have my kid making mistakes like I did! Well, other than the whole 'jail thing'."
"But-But this is stupid!" Sam argued loudly. "You can't just decide to ruin this trip for us!"
"Yeah I can, I'm a parent!" Pam said, thumping her chest triumphantly.
"Barely," Sam mumbled as she turned to head back upstairs and into her room where Freddie was trying to jam a box of Fat Cakes into her suitcase.
"Sam, maybe you should take out some of these hot sauce bottles," Freddie said. "Or the ham."
"No, I'll just take out one of these stupid scarves," Sam said hotly, shoving him aside so she could attend to her suitcase.
"Um, you okay?" Freddie asked, sensing Sam's tone.
"No," Sam snapped. "My mom decided to pick now to become a concerned parent and has basically destroyed this trip now."
"Wait, she's not going to let me come with you guys?" Freddie asked.
"No, you can still come," Sam sighed. "But she's not letting us go out after midnight, you have to sleep on the uncomfortable couch instead of sharing a bed with me, and she'll probably come up with a million more stupid rules on the way up there. Can you believe her?"
"Wait, that's how you think your mom's ruining this trip?" Freddie asked, amused. "Sam, that's not ruining it."
"What do you mean?" Sam snapped. "She's being all-all-and she's-"
"She's parenting?" Freddie suggested. "Baby, isn't that a good thing? I mean, you've been saying for ages how you've sort of wanted your mom to show she cares a little more?"
"I've never said that," Sam said, crossing her arms.
"Well you say it without saying it," Freddie reasoned. "You know, in the way you talk about your mom sometimes."
"I say it without saying it?" Sam repeated. "See, this is why people call you the chick in this relationship. Look, can't you just be wazzed off with me about my mom being completely bonkers right now?"
"Sam, she's actually not being that unreasonable," Freddie said gently. "I mean, she's letting us spend time together, so long as we're back in by midnight, and I have no problem sleeping on the couch. Come on, you know that if this was my mom we were talking about, and we somehow got her to agree to let us go on this trip together with her, she'd want to be with us every second. See, at least with your mom, she's giving us some freedom."
"Are you defending her?"
"Sam, she's obviously being stricter with you right now because she cares about you," Freddie said, taking her hand. "And you've got to admit, even though your mom has always cared about you, it's refreshing to see her show it."
"But did she have to pick this week to start?" Sam groaned.
"Hey, we'll still have fun," Freddie smiled, wrapping his arms around her. "We're still gonna go skiing, and sit by the fireplace and drink hot chocolate, and relax in the hot tub…"
"You're just happy this means I can't drag you to that haunted ski trail," Sam pointed out.
"Maybe," Freddie grinned.
…..
"I'm the champion!" Sam laughed a few days later as her and Freddie ran back to the ski lodge where they were staying along with Sam's mom. It was near midnight, and the couple had just finished enjoying their last day at the lodge before they would be returning home to Seattle. "Face it, Benson, I destroyed you in that snowball fight."
"Yeah, and you destroyed almost every bone in my body too," Freddie winced, massaging his shoulder.
Sam laughed and leaned up to give him a quick kiss. "You'll live."
"Your sympathy's always nice," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"I'm really gonna miss it here," Sam sighed, looking out at the slopes.
"We can come again," Freddie reminded her.
"Yeah, I'm holding you to that," Sam chuckled.
"And see, I told you this would be a fun trip," Freddie continued. "Your mom didn't ruin it for us."
"Yeah, yeah," Sam said.
"Speaking of which, we should get inside," Freddie said, looking at his watch. "It's already 12:15. Besides, I'm freezing, since somebody took my scarf and threw it at a ski instructor!"
"He almost ran over the Fat Cake that fell out of my pocket!" Sam defended. "What was I supposed to do? Thank him?"
The couple walked into the lodge, where Pam Puckett was sitting on the couch, clipping her toenails into a teacup.
"Um, h-hey Mrs. Puckett," Freddie said, trying to seem to grossed out by his girlfriend's mother's activity.
"Shh! Don't ruin my concentration!" Pam hissed, getting ready to clip her last toenail. "I've had a perfect record so far, and I don't need to mess it up now…"
She clipped the toenail and it flew right into the teacup.
"Yeah! Ten for ten! Whoo!" Pam cheered.
"Um, well, c-congratulations," Freddie said, looking as though he might throw up. "Er, I-I think I'm gonna go take a shower and try to erase this whole thing from my memory."
"That boy needs a stronger stomach," Pam commented as Sam kicked off her boots.
"Pfft, no kidding," Sam agreed, sitting down next to her. She looked down at her lap. "Um, sorry Freddie and I got back a little after midnight. We sort of lost track of time and-"
"Eh, don't worry about it," Pam shrugged.
"Oh," Sam nodded. "Thanks." And then she let out a sigh. "Um, so, I-I guess I'm sort of, you know…s-s-sorry, about giving you hard time about everything before we left for this trip. You didn't ruin it. Freddie and I actually enjoyed it."
"Well you better make the most of the few hours you two have here before we leave tomorrow because due to a certain incident at the buffet, the lodge has decided to ban us from coming back here for the next five years," Pam replied.
"Wait, is that why it was closed for dinner?" Sam frowned. "What did you do?"
"You know the drill, kid. I can't tell you anything until after I clear it up with my lawyer first."
"Right," Sam chuckled. She cleared her throat. "Um, anyway, I-um, thanks. You know, for-for being sort of…motherly, this trip."
"Had to make up for lost time, didn't I?" Pam pointed out, looking through her teacup of toenails. "Hey, there's only nine in here! Where's my tenth toenail?"
Sam laughed and gave her mother the first hug the two had exchanged in quite some time.
