AN-Well, unfortunately my university gave me the shortest winter break of my college career, so my semester starts tomorrow so there will only be a couple more daily updates. Sorry, but hope you enjoy!

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Voltage

"You got a what?"
"An inflatable bounce house," Gibby said as him and Freddie sat in the Benson's living room. "It's incredible! And it only uses like, forty-five nine-volt batteries to inflate, so it's totally economical and-"

"But why?" Freddie asked.

"Well you know, the kids are almost all out of the house," Gibby shrugged. "I finally have some time for some quality bouncing. And hey, our grandkid can use it too! Hey, since Quincy and Emma are in town, we should have a big dinner tonight to celebrate its first inflation. Where are those two anyway?"
"Sam took them out for lunch," Freddie replied. "And then she took Emma in the meet the doctor who's going to be delivering the baby in three weeks. Isn't that insane? In just three weeks my grandchild is going to be here."

"Hey," Gibby said putting an arm around Freddie. "He's our grandchild."
"Yeah…" Freddie frowned, shrugging Gibby's arm off of him. "Let's stop saying it that way. But how great is it that Quincy and Emma decided they wanted the baby to be born here in Seattle with us instead of stupid old Oregon?"

He leaned back in his seat happily. "This is perfect. Next week Ashton, Tyler and Jason will all be here to wait to see their first niece or nephew and it's gonna be like old times with them all around again."

Just then the front door opened and Sam, Emma and Quincy walked in.

"Hey!" Freddie greeted them.

"Hi," Emma smiled as Quincy helped her down into the empty armchair.

"So did you see the hospital and get familiar with the place?" Freddie asked. "Did you meet the doctor?"

"Uh-huh," Emma nodded, resting her hands on her swollen abdomen. "Mom's right; he seems really good."
"Well he delivered all four of you guys," Sam pointed out. "He knows his stuff."
"Yeah, I mean you do have to be pretty qualified to deal with your mother when she's pregnant," Freddie chuckled. "I still have the bruises…"
Sam glared at him. "I'm sorry, was my giving birth to your children a little rough on you?"

"Well after we went to the hospital, we went baby shopping," Quincy said breaking up what was sure to be an argument between his in-laws.

"Why?" Gibby asked. "I thought you had most of the stuff."
"We do," Emma said. "But Quincy wanted to buy even more baby proofing stuff."
"Well I know our place back in Oregon is all set," Quincy reasoned. "But we are staying here for a few weeks after the baby is born. I thought it'd be a good idea if we do a little baby proofing here too."
"Um, you do realize that the baby isn't gonna be able to even hold his or her head up," Freddie said. "I don't think you're gonna have much to worry about here. You usually start really worrying about this stuff when the baby starts crawling."
"I told him that," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "But there was no arguing with him. Anyway, Gib, since your kid made us buy six tons of stuff, come help us bring it in."
"Kay kay," Gibby nodded, getting to his feet.

"You need any help?" Freddie asked.

"Nah, we should be able to get it in one trip," Sam told him.

As Sam, Quincy and Gibby headed back out to the car, Emma kicked her feet up on the coffee table.

"Man, I am so ready to get this kid out of me," Emma said. "How did mom do this three times?"
"No clue," Freddie replied. "But you know, I'm really proud of you, Emma. I just want you to know that I'm positive you and Quincy are going to be great parents. You have no idea the feeling you're going to get when you hold your child for the first time…it's breathtaking."
Emma smiled. "Thanks, daddy."

"Seems like just yesterday it was your mom sitting there, pregnant with you and your sister," Freddie sighed. "And here you are now…time sure does fly."

"Aw," Emma said. "That's really sweet. Hey, dad?"
"Yeah honey?"

"I'm kind of hungry for some spaghetti," Emma said sweetly. "Can you make me some? Please?"

Freddie laughed as he got up. "Sure, I can do that."
He turned to head into the kitchen.

"Wait! Actually, I changed my mind," Emma said. "I want soup."
"Soup it is," Freddie nodded.

"Hold on!" Emma said as Freddie took another step. "Make that chicken nuggets."

"Okay, I'll get you some-"

"Actually no, I'll just have a sandwich," Emma said. "With some chips. No, no…some coleslaw."

"Just like her mother," Freddie sighed.

…..

"Man, why do we have to give up our bedroom?" Sam moaned as her and Freddie set up the sofa bed down in the living room later that night.

"What? Did you want to make our daughter, who's eight months pregnant, sleep down here on this thing?" Freddie asked.

"No," Sam said. "But why can't we just bunk in one of the kids' old rooms for tonight?"

"Because I just spent three hours getting their beds all made for when they come next week," Freddie said. "I didn't want us to mess them up."

Sam couldn't help but chuckle as Freddie laid down on the hard mattress. "You're really excited to have everybody over here, aren't you?"
"Is it a crime to miss my children?" Freddie defended.

"Nah," Sam said, getting into the bed next to him. "I miss them too. I almost wish they'd move in with us again sometimes….almost."

"It's just so lonely here without them all the time," Freddie sighed.

"Thanks," Sam scoffed.

"You know what I mean," Freddie said, giving his wife a quick kiss. "Man…I wish I could go back in time back to when the kids were little and we were crying for all this alone time and tell ourselves to savor the chaos while we had it."

"Well we're gonna be grandparents soon," Sam said. "Hopefully we'll get some chaos out of that kid. And if the other three could get with the program we could have a house full of grandchildren in no time."

Just then the couple heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Freddie turned on the light and saw Quincy coming down in his pajamas.

"Sorry," Quincy said. "Did I wake you guys?"
"Nah, we were up," Freddie replied. "What's up?"
"Emma's hungry," Quincy replied. "Do you mind if I bring up something to eat for her in your bed?"
"Sure, it's not like Sam hasn't already had full-course meals up there," Freddie said. "What's Em want this time anyway? I can run out to the store if I need to."

"She wants waffles," Quincy said.

"Oh, well we have a box in the freezer," Sam said.

"Maybe I should make her some fresh ones…" Quincy said. "I-I read that frozen food is bad for the baby."
"Nah, only if you eat it all the time," Sam assured him. "Trust me, she'll be fine eating the waffles."

"Besides, it will take too long for you make waffles from scratch," Freddie added. "And trust me, you don't want to keep Emma waiting."

"Alright," Quincy nodded. "I'll go make Emma her waffles then."

"Man, I remember when that was me," Freddie said reminiscently, leaning back against the pillows as Quincy headed into the kitchen. "Having to get up at crazy hours to make you all these meals to curb your pregnancy cravings. So glad that's over and-"

"Hey, waffles don't sound half bad right now," Sam said thoughtfully. "I could go for some. Go get me a few too, nub."
"What? Are you pregnant again too?"
"Keep dreaming," Sam chuckled. "But seriously, get me those waffles."
"Fine," Freddie said, shaking his head. "It's been nineteen years since you've been pregnant and I'm still catering to your pregnancy cravings…"

Freddie went into the kitchen where Quincy was busily arranging a platter of fruit next to the plate of waffles on the tray he made up for Emma.

"FYI, Quince," Freddie said, grabbing the box of frozen waffles. "You bringing her food in the middle of the night isn't just a pregnancy thing. You'll be doing it the rest of your life…"

Quincy didn't respond. He was staring off into space, deep in thought.

"You okay?" Freddie frowned, nudging Quincy's shoulder, bringing him back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Quincy nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
"You sure?" Freddie asked. "You seemed a little-"

"I'm freaking out, okay?" Quincy suddenly exclaimed, dropping his usually calm demeanor.

"Freaking out?" Freddie repeated. "About what?"
"About what? Oh, you know, the rain we're supposed to be getting tomorrow! What do you think I'm freaking out about? I'm going to be a father! I'm going to be a father in three weeks and I have no clue how to do any of this!"

"Whoa, Quincy, take it easy," Freddie said, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table for his son-in-law to sit in. "Look, I totally get how you're feeling-"

"I don't know the first thing about being a dad," Quincy said miserably. "I've never really been around kids too much. The only experience I've ever had is when I would watch Huey and Kirby when they were younger. And look how they turned out!"
"Your brothers turned out fine," Freddie pointed out.

"Sure," Quincy scoffed. "Huey only likes drinking drinks out of blue cups and Kirby thinks the Pythagorean Theorem is a recipe."
"That may have to do more with the Gibby in their genes than you watching them," Freddie said.

"I just don't know if I'm gonna be able to be a good father," Quincy mumbled. "I don't know any of this dad stuff. I've read all the books, gone to all the classes, but I still feel so unprepared."
"Quince, I hate to break it to you, but those classes don't make you suddenly feel ready to be a parent," Freddie said. "Sure, they teach you how to burp the baby and what to do during the whole birthing process, but at the end of the day…there's no class that can show you how to be a good father."
"Great, so I'm completely out of luck then."
"No," Freddie told him gently. "You're not. Quincy, I felt just like this when I was about to be a father for the first time. I drove Sam crazy reading every parenting book and going to all sorts of classes trying to make sure I was absolutely prepared. But even with all of that…I still felt scared. I was scared that I wouldn't know how to raise my child. I was scared that when he came he-he wouldn't like me. I was scared that I was going to be a terrible father who wouldn't ever know what to do for him. But when Jason was born and-and I held him in my arms for the first time…I knew from that second how much I loved him and that I would do whatever I had to do to make sure he was always safe and happy. I got that feeling after I held each of my children…And I know you will too. I promise you, Quincy, once you hold your child for that first time, and you look into his or her eyes…everything will just click. It did for me, and-and I like to think that-that I was a good father to my kids."

"You were."
Freddie and Quincy turned around and saw Sam and Emma standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

"Emma, what are you doing up?" Quincy asked.

"I came to see what was taking so long with my waffles," Emma said, stepping over to the table and sitting down between her husband and her father. She looked at Freddie.

"You were such a good dad to all of us when we were growing up. You still are…we were all so lucky to have you and mom."

"Thanks, Emma," Freddie said softly. "That means a lot."
She turned to Quincy. "And you're going to be an amazing dad, Quincy. Our son or daughter is going to love you so much…"

Quincy smiled as he reached over and squeezed her hand. "And you're going to be an amazing mom. Hey, you need your sleep, I have your waffles so why don't we get back to bed."

"Okay," Emma agreed as Quincy helped her to her feet. She looked over at both of her parents. "Good night mom. Night daddy. We'll see you in the morning."

"Night guys," Sam replied. "Oh, and Em? I have a few candy bars in my nightstand if you get hungry in the middle of the night. You know, to save Quincy a trip down here."

"Thanks," Quincy chuckled.

As the two headed back upstairs, Sam sat down next to Freddie.

"She's right, you know," she told her husband. "You were, and still are, a great father to all four of our kids."

"And you're still a great mom to all of them," Freddie responded.

"We really did a good job with them, didn't we?" Sam said quietly.

"We sure did," Freddie sighed, putting an arm around her.

"Hey, baby?" Sam asked.

"Yeah?"
"So how are my waffles coming?"