Sweet

Freddie paced nervously back and forth in the waiting room of the hospital, little beads of anxious sweat trickling down his face.

"Dad, you're wearing a hole in the floor," Ashton said, though she was nervously tapping her own foot.

"Seriously, Freddie, you look like you're about to pass out," Carly said, getting up from her seat between Clarissa and Jason. "You want to sit down?"

"No," Freddie sighed. "I just wish I knew what was going on. Shouldn't we have heard something by now?"

"Freddie, Emma went into labor twenty minutes ago," Carly reminded him. "It kind of takes longer than that for anything to happen."

"How long does it take?" Tyler asked.

"It depends," Carly said. "Didn't it take Sam almost a whole day to have Jason?"

"Yeah," Freddie nodded. "And Tyler was born in less than two…I just hope Emma's okay."

That afternoon, the Benson family, along with Quincy, Carly, and Clarissa, had gathered for a big dinner to celebrate Quincy and Emma coming to visit from their home in Oregon. Emma and Quincy had decided they wanted their baby to be born around all their friends and family in Seattle, so they were staying with Sam and Freddie for the time being. Emma, though, wound up going into labor in the middle of the dinner, two weeks before her due date, and the whole party had rushed her to the hospital.

Quincy was obviously back with Emma, and Emma had also asked Sam to be in the delivery room with her as well. She was scared, and she wanted her mother to be with her.

"We're here! Is there a baby yet? Am I a grandpa?" Gibby exclaimed, bursting into the waiting room with Tasha and his other sons, Huey and Kirby, at his heels.

"No," Freddie replied. "No baby yet."

"Well where's Emma then?" Gibby asked. "Tell her to speed things along!"

"She's in the delivery room!" Freddie frowned. "You know, delivering! Quincy and Sam are back there too."
"What? How come Sam gets to be back there?"

"Because Emma wanted her to be with her," Freddie replied. "She's her mom."

"I'm Quincy's dad!" Gibby pointed out.

"No offense Gib, but I think Emma kind of needs Sam more than Quincy needs you right now," Freddie said.

"Aren't you and Sam excited?" Tasha asked. "We're all going to be grandparents."

"Wow, that makes you all really old, doesn't it?" Jason smirked.

"Yes, thank you, Jason," Freddie snapped.

"Oh come on, you're not old," Carly said. "You guys aren't even fifty yet."

"You're the one who almost had a breakdown last week because you thought you found a gray hair," Freddie grinned.

"Well that's serious! You know how I am with my hair!" Carly defended.

"Dad, Clarissa and I are going to the gift shop," Ashton told Freddie. "I want to see if I can find some flowers or something to bring in to Em when we finally get to see her."

"Alright," Freddie nodded.

"Hey, we're coming too," Tyler said as him, Huey and Kirby got up.

"Why would you guys want to come look in a hospital gift shop?" Clarissa asked.

"Hot student nurses, duh," Tyler said as if it were obvious.

"Jason," Freddie sighed as the five started down the hall to the gift shop. "Go keep an eye on your brother and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"Dad, he's eighteen, do I really need to babysit him?" Jason groaned.

"Absolutely," Freddie nodded.

"Fine," Jason conceded, getting up and following everybody else out of the waiting room.

"Hey, you realize we're going to be co-grandpas?" Gibby said to Freddie.

"Yes, Gibby, I realize that," Freddie nodded.

"Isn't that cool? I mean when the baby learns how to talk and it says 'grandpa' it could be talking to both of us at once!" Gibby said happily.

"So cool," Freddie mumbled.

"Hey, you guys think the baby will be a boy or a girl?" Carly asked.

"Oh I hope it's a girl," Tasha smiled. "I've always wanted a daughter, and a granddaughter would be almost like getting one!"

"I hope it's a boy," Gibby said.

"How come?" Carly questioned.

"Because that way they can name the little guy Gibby Jr.!"

"My grandson will not be named Gibby Jr.," Freddie said firmly. "I think Sam will throw a chair at you if that happens."

"What are you hoping for?" Carly said. "A grandson or a granddaughter?"

"Either way I'm fine," Freddie shrugged. He looked at his phone. "I wish I could at least know how she's doing back there."

"I'm sure she's fine," Carly assured him. "Sam would've been here to tell us by now if she wasn't."

"I know," Freddie nodded. "Still, I just can't stop worrying. I mean, even if she has this baby with no problems, is she ready for this? She's just a little girl, after all…"

"Freddie, she's twenty-two," Carly reminded him. "That's not exactly a child anymore. Besides, you and Sam were twenty-two too when you guys had Jason, and everything turned out fine."

"Yeah, I know she's an adult now and everything but I-I still can't help but-I still-"

"You think of her as your baby girl still, don't you?" Carly said knowingly.

"Well…yeah," Freddie nodded.

Carly squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "She still is…just, now she's your grown-up baby girl. And her and Quincy will be just fine being parents."

"I know," Freddie nodded. "It's just…it seems like just yesterday I was pacing around waiting for her to be born."

"Time flies," Carly smiled.

"Yes it does," Freddie said heavily.

An hour later, once everybody had returned to the waiting room, Freddie still had not sat down once.

"Hey!" Gibby said suddenly, causing everybody in the room to look at him.

"What is it?" Freddie asked.
"Do you guys think they call this place a waiting room because they send people in here to wait?"

Everybody let out a loud groan.

"Dad…don't be offended if I pretend I don't know you for the next few hours," Kirby said, shaking his head.

"Gibby, how could you have just realized this?" Carly frowned.

"What? I'm not a rocket scientist!" Gibby snapped. "How was I supposed to ever know that-"

"You guys!"

Everybody turned around as Sam rushed into the room.

"Sam!" Freddie said as she hurried over to the group. "How is she? Is she okay? Did everything-"

"Emma's fine, baby," Sam said, throwing her arms around him. "We're officially grandparents!"

Everyone cheered as Freddie hugged Sam tightly and Gibby and Tasha exchanged a quick kiss.

"So I'm an Aunt?" Ashton said excitedly.

"We're Uncles, dude!" Tyler said, high-fiving Jason.

"I can't believe this…I'm so happy for them," Freddie said, kissing Sam. "Wait, do we have a grandson or a granddaughter?"

"Granddaughter," Sam beamed. "You've got to see her! She's so tiny and precious and cute!"

"Well can we see her?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah, come on!" Sam nodded.

The party followed her back down a long hall and through a door into a small room.

Emma was lying on a hospital bed and Quincy was standing beside her, his arm around her as they both smiled down at a small bundle of blankets in her arms.

"You up for some visitors?" Sam asked from the doorway.

"Yeah!" Emma grinned as everyone gathered around her bed, trying to get a look at the newest addition to the family.

"Oh my God!" Ashton whispered, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "Look at her! She's perfect!"

"Yeah, she is," Quincy nodded.

"Congrats, you guys," Jason said.

"Thanks," Emma replied. She looked over at Clarissa and her sister. "By the way, all those things you've heard about this hurting more than anything in the world…they're right."

"You still did great, sweetie," Sam said, stroking her daughter's hair.

"Hey, I think she got my nose!" Gibby said excitedly.

"Aw, what a lucky girl," Tasha grinned.

"Clearly lucky is a relative term," Sam mumbled to Carly.

"Hey, do you have a name picked out?" Tyler asked.

"Gibby Jr. is still on the table," Gibby pointed out.

"Gibby, that sweet little girl doesn't deserve that!" Carly said.

"Er, sorry dad," Quincy said quickly. "But we already have a name picked out."
"Well what is it?" Huey asked.

"Savannah," Emma said. "We had that name picked for a girl for a few months now."

"Cute," Sam commented. "Not too girly…I like it."

"Yeah," Emma nodded. She looked over at Freddie, who still hadn't said a word. "Dad? You-You okay?"

"Yeah," Freddie said softly, rubbing his eyes. "It's just…she's beautiful."

"Are you crying?" Sam smirked.

"It's the birth of my first grandchild, I have the right to cry, thank you!" Freddie pointed out.

Sam rolled her eyes playfully.

"You wanna hold her daddy?" Emma asked. "You know, when you stop crying and can see properly?"

The room, including Freddie, laughed.

"Of course I want to hold her," Freddie said as Sam handed him a tissue. He made his way over to the bed and Emma carefully transferred the newborn into his arms.

He looked down at her, feeling an overwhelming sense of emotions as she slowly opened her dark eyes.

"Hi there Savannah, I'm your grandpa," Freddie said softly. "Welcome to the world."