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"I can't believe this…" Sam said anxiously as she paced back and forth in Carly's living room. "I can't believe I'm getting married in one week…"
"Technically one week and two days," Carly corrected.
"This is insane," Sam said, running her fingers through her long, blonde hair. "This whole thing just snuck up on me…"
"You've been engaged for almost six months," Carly pointed out. "You've known about this wedding for a while. How can it feel so sudden?"
"It just does!" Sam snapped. "Aw man…what if-what if I'm not ready. What if me and Freddie are making a huge mistake getting married?"
"Okay, I know what's happening here," Carly said. "These are the pre-wedding nerves. I read about them in the bridal magazines I got you that you never touched. Look, what you're feeling is totally normal. Everybody feels anxious right before their wedding."
"It's just…God, Carly, this is going to be my whole life now," Sam sighed, sitting down next to her best friend. "This is all so permanent…after this wedding, Freddie and I are going to be together forever."
"But that's what you want, right?" Carly said. "You love Freddie!"
"I know, I know, and I-I do want to spend forever with him" Sam said. "I don't know why I'm freaking out. I just…I guess I'm just worried that something's going to go wrong."
"Oh, nothing is going wrong with this wedding," Carly said firmly. "I've spent the past six months making sure of that."
"I'm not talking about with the wedding," Sam mumbled. "I'm talking about with the-with the rest of this. What if something goes wrong with Freddie and me? I mean things have been so good with us for all these years, something's bound to go wrong eventually."
"Why do you say that?" Carly frowned.
"Well…things always go wrong eventually," Sam shrugged. "Don't they?"
"They don't have to," Carly said comfortingly. "Not if they're really, really right. And if there's one thing I know, it's that you and Freddie are right for each other."
"You-You really think so?" Sam asked.
"Of course," Carly nodded. "I wouldn't have gone to so much trouble planning a wedding if I didn't think it would be worth it, after all."
"No, I guess you wouldn't," Sam chuckled. She looked down at her lap. "I still just feel so nervous…like I've got a million butterflies in my stomach. God…it's like when I first started dating the nub."
"Like I said, Sam, it's totally normal," Carly assured her. "In fact, I even heard if you don't feel nervous before your wedding, it's bad luck."
"Well, I guess that's something," Sam said.
"You know…" Carly said slowly. "Maybe I can help you with your nerves a little bit. Hang on for a second."
Carly hurried into her bedroom and returned a moment later with a small box. She opened it up and pulled out a simple gold necklace.
"Here," Carly said, handing the necklace to Sam. "If you want, you-you can wear this until after the wedding."
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"It's my favorite necklace," Carly explained.
"Really? I've never seen you wear it."
"No, I-I haven't worn it in awhile," Carly said. "See, right before my dad had to leave when I was eight for his job in the Air Force and I moved in with Spencer, he gave me this necklace. I was really upset and worried that he'd wind up getting hurt or something, so my dad got me this, and he told me whenever I was feeling nervous and worried about him, to just look down at this necklace and know that he was always thinking of me and that he'd be home with me soon. And it worked. Whenever I was feeling nervous, I'd look down at the necklace and I'd feel calm."
"Whoa, Carls, I-are you sure you want me to wear this?" Sam asked softly.
Carly nodded. "Yeah. I hope it can help your nerves just like it helped mine. And it can even be your something borrowed…if-if you want it to be."
"Of course I want it to be," Sam said at once, throwing her arms around her best friend. "Carly, this-this means so much. Thank you."
"Hey, what are maid-of-honors for?" Carly laughed, returning Sam's embrace.
…
"I can't believe my mom talked me into having Melanie stay at our place for the wedding," Sam said grudgingly a few days later as she struggled to pull new sheets onto the pullout sofa bed in her and Freddie's living room.
"What's the big deal? She's your sister," Freddie pointed out.
"She's annoying, that's what the big deal is," Sam snapped.
"She's not that bad," Freddie said.
"Then why don't you marry her?"
"Come on, I thought your relationship with her has gotten better," Freddie said. "You even made her a bridesmaid!"
"That doesn't mean I want to live with her for the next five days," Sam moaned. "I already know she's gonna be running around trying to show me fancy hairstyles and make-up stuff for the wedding."
"Well she just wants to help," Freddie reasoned. He stepped over and put his arms around Sam. "Who knows; you two might wind up having a fun time together while she's here."
Just then there was a knock at the front door.
"Ugh, that's her now," Sam groaned as Freddie went to answer the door.
"She's your sister," Freddie said again.
"Yes, I know that," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Your point?"
Freddie opened the door and Melanie bounced right into the home. "Freddie!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. "Hi! How are you? It's been so long; two years, right?"
"Yup, crazy," Freddie nodded, returning her hug. "But hey, we're so glad you're going to be staying with us for the wedding, right, Sam?"
"Er, right," Sam said, through gritted teeth. "Um, hey there, Mel."
"Sam!" Melanie beamed, rushing over to her twin. "Oh my God, I can't believe this! You're getting married!"
"Yeah, it-it's true," Sam said, awkwardly patting Melanie's shoulder. "So anyway, we have the sofa bed all set up for you, and there's new towels in the bathroom-"
"Oh, we need to go shopping!" Melanie cut her off. "I'm sure you still have so much to buy!"
"Oh, um, actually I think I'm pretty set," Sam said quickly. "Yeah, um, Carly and I have been shopping a lot these past few months and I think we've gotten everything."
"You-You have?" Melanie said, her face falling slightly.
Sam caught sight of Freddie, who gave her a look.
"Or, um, you know what, I-I just remembered," Sam said reluctantly. "I-I do still need to pick out my shoes. I was going to go tomorrow, but if you want I guess we can go now and-"
"Okay!" Melanie said at once. "This will be so much fun! I love shoe shopping! Sometimes I like to just go to shoe stores and spend the whole day just looking around."
"The whole day?" Sam repeated, glaring at Freddie over her twin's shoulder.
"Come on, let's go!"
"Have fun!" Freddie called after them.
…..
"-And if you ever force me to do something like this again, I swear, you can forget about me ever watching another train documentary with you again," Sam said into her phone two hours later as she sat in the middle of the shoe store.
"Come on, you said you did need to buy shoes," Freddie said on the other line.
"Yes, and I would've been done ages ago!" Sam snapped. "But Melanie found me about fifty pairs to try on. I'm going to be stuck here for another hour. At least."
"Look, Sam, I know you and Melanie aren't exactly close, but I really do think it's important for you to try and connect with her a little more," Freddie said.
"But why do I have to connect with her at a shoe store?" Sam moaned. "Couldn't we do it over wings or something?"
"Melanie's a vegetarian," Freddie pointed out.
"Okay, you are not helping here, nub," Sam said. "So…I'll just talk to you when we get home. Whenever that is."
"Alright, love you," Freddie said.
"Yeah, yeah, love you too," Sam said, a small smile creeping onto her face. She hung up her phone and looked back at the mountain of shoeboxes in front of her. "My God…and I thought Carly was bad to shop with."
"Hey, did you find a pair you like yet?" Melanie asked cheerfully, walking back into the store carrying the two coffees that Sam had sent her out for earlier.
"I liked the first pair," Sam said.
"Well…those were cute, but I still think we can find something that will bring out your eyes more," Melanie said, handing her sister one of the cups.
"Mel, my dress is going to be covering the shoes anyway," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Yes, but they're still an important part of your outfit," Melanie said. "Just try on a few more pairs, okay?"
"Fine," Sam conceded, sipping her coffee. "What took you so long at Moonbucks anyway? Was there a long line?"
"No, I-I actually stopped at another store on the way," Melanie said, holding up a small bag.
"What'd you get?" Sam asked. "Another dress to add to your collection?"
"Nah," Melanie chuckled. "Actually, I picked up something for you."
"For me?" Sam said. "You-You didn't have to-"
"I know, but I wanted to," Melanie smiled. "It's not everyday you get to help your sister prepare for her wedding. And when I saw this in the store window I knew it would be perfect for you."
She opened up the bag and pulled out a beautiful, elegant golden barrette.
"Whoa," Sam said softly. "That-that looks just like-"
"It looks just like the one mom had when we were kids," Melanie nodded. "The one that one of her boyfriends gave her. She said it was the fanciest thing she owned, so naturally all we wanted to do was play with it. And one day you snuck into her room and got it from her dresser, and the two of us spent the whole afternoon playing hair salon and putting each other's hair into all these crazy dos; one of the only forms of entertainment we could ever both agree on…but then in the middle of it all, we accidently dropped mom's barrette-"
"-Down the drain," Sam finished, grinning. "Oh man, I remember that! We were so scared of how mad she'd be! We even tried taking the pipe of the sink out to get it back, but, well, we were six-years old with no plumbing experience."
"So we spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to avoid getting in trouble," Melanie nodded. "We cleaned the entire house, attempted to make mom a fancy dinner, you even did your homework."
"And it was all for nothing," Sam chuckled. "Because she came back later that night with a shiny pair of earrings from her new boyfriend and she forgot all about the barrette."
"Yup," Melanie said. She cleared her throat. "Well, anyway, I-I know you said you already figured out how you're wearing your hair, but maybe if you wanted to, you could wear this barrette in it for the wedding. You know, as your something new."
Sam smiled as she turned the barrette over in her hand. "I'd love to."
…..
"Okay, the band just called me to confirm that they'll be at the reception hall at four," Sam said, packing back and forth in her and Freddie's bedroom the night before the wedding as Freddie packed up his bag. "And the caterers said they're all good to go. Carly said all the decorations are being set up right now…I feel like we're forgetting something."
"Sam, relax, everything is taken care of," Freddie assured her.
"I know," Sam sighed. "I just can't believe that tomorrow we're going to be married."
"You excited?" Freddie smiled.
"Yeah," Sam grinned. "I am. But I'm also going to be kind of glad once all this wedding stuff is over."
"I know what you mean," Freddie nodded. "It will be nice to stop worrying about seating arrangements and flowers and just start our life together."
"Exactly," Sam said as Freddie zipped up his bag. "Are you sure you have to leave tonight?"
"Sam, you know the saying; the bride and the groom aren't supposed to see each other twenty-four hours before the wedding," Freddie said. "Besides, it's going to be chaos over here tomorrow. You're going to have Carly and Melanie fussing over your hair and make-up and dress."
"Ah, so you're escaping," Sam smirked, rolling her eyes.
"I'm staying with my mom, Sam," Freddie reminded her. "Believe me, it's not like I'm going off to paradise. I'm in for an evening of tick baths and her sobbing over my baby photos."
"Well, I'll miss you," Sam said, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a long kiss.
"I'll miss you too," Freddie said, kissing her back. "But hey, next time we see each other it will be at the altar."
"Can't wait," Sam said.
"Neither can I," Freddie said, picking up his bag. He gave her one last kiss. "Bye Sam."
"Bye," Sam sighed as Freddie headed out of the room. She heard their front door close behind him, and she sat down on the bed. This would be their first night apart in years. And hopefully it would be their last.
No more than five minutes had passed, though, when she heard a knock at her front door.
"Nub probably forgot his special toothpaste," Sam chuckled to herself as she hurried to answer the door. But to her surprise, it wasn't Freddie who was waiting on the other side for her. It was…
"Mrs. Benson?" Sam frowned. "Um, hi…what are you doing here? Freddie just left to go over to your place for the night."
"I know," Marisa replied, stepping into the apartment. "But I came by to see you."
"Me?" Sam repeated. "Why-Why would you want to see me?"
"Well, tomorrow is a very big day for you," Marissa started. "Tomorrow you'll be marrying my precious son…the person who I care most for in this world."
"Yeah, I-I know that," Sam said.
"And by marrying Freddie, it will…it will officially make you apart of this family," Marissa said slowly.
Sam didn't reply.
"So," Marissa said, taking a deep breath. "I just wanted to tell you…welcome to the family, Samantha."
Sam blinked. This woman, even these past six years of her and Freddie being together, had never said anything like this to her. Normally all she got were criticisms about her eating habits and apparent lack of etiquette.
"After tomorrow, you'll officially be my daughter-in-law," Marissa Benson continued. "And I wanted you to know that, well, even though we've clearly never seen eye-to-eye in the past, you can still come to me if you ever need anything."
"Oh…" Sam said, caught off guard at this sudden display of affection. "That-That's really nice of you Mrs. Benson-"
"Oh Samantha, I think you've reached the point where you don't have to call me that anymore," Marissa said. "After all, soon you'll be taking that title. You can call me Marissa, dear."
"Really? O-Okay," Sam nodded. "Well, um, thanks Marissa. That-That means a lot."
"I've always wanted a daughter," Marissa smiled. "Now don't get me wrong, Freddie's a wonderful son, but, well, secretly I always did wish he had been a girl."
"I don't think that's that big of a secret," Sam couldn't help but chuckle.
"But," Marissa continued, ignoring Sam's comment. "In my family, we've always had a tradition between a mother and a daughter on the daughter's wedding day…"
She reached into her purse and pulled out a small box. She opened them up to reveal a sparkling pair of sapphire earrings. "These have been in my family for generations," Marissa explained. "My mother gave them to me to wear at my wedding, and her mother gave them to her to wear at hers, and so on and so on. And…I want you to have them."
Sam felt her jaw drop. "You-You do?"
Marissa nodded. "I thought they could be your something blue. You know, for-for the wedding tomorrow."
"I-Yeah, I-definitely," Sam nodded, still staring at the earrings. "They're beautiful, Marissa. Thank you."
"They'll match your eyes perfectly," Marissa said tearfully as she got to her feet. "And then you can pass them on to your daughter on her wedding day. Well, on all their wedding days. I'm assuming you and Freddie will give me more than one granddaughter, of course. Preferably four. Oh, but don't be at all discouraged from having any boys, though. In fact, four of those would be nice too…we can even things out."
Sam nearly fell out of her seat. "You-You want eight grandchildren?"
"Oh don't worry, you and Freddie are young," Marissa assured her. "You can manage it."
…
Okay, this is it, Sam thought to herself the next day as she stood in one of the back rooms of the church where, in about thirty minutes, she'd be walking down the aisle to Freddie. She stared at herself in the large mirror, examining her reflection. She was wearing her white gown; the one she had spent weeks picking out. As cliché as it was, it really did make her feel like a princess. She was wearing Carly's gold chain around her neck, and the barrette Melanie had gotten her was peaking out from beneath her gold curls. And the sapphire earrings that Marissa had given her yesterday were sparkling in her ears.
Sam gave a small smile. Something borrowed, something new, and something blue, she thought to herself. Just like the saying goes…I'm only missing something old…
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Sam said, figuring it would be Spencer, getting ready to walk her down the aisle. But instead it was her mother.
"Mom?"
"Wow…" Pam said softly, staring at her daughter. "Sammy, you look…beautiful."
"Thanks," Sam said, taking a deep breath.
"You nervous?" Pam asked.
"A little," Sam nodded. "But in a good way."
"You know…I never made it to this part of any relationship," Pam sighed as she stood next to her daughter. "Almost did in Vegas one weekend, but there was a wait at the cathedral."
"Yeah, I-I remember that," Sam nodded.
"Good thing I didn't go through with that," Pam sighed. "Guy was a sleezebucket…nothing like Benson…You really love him, don't you?"
"That's kind of why I'm marrying him, mom," Sam pointed out.
"Well I was just checking," Pam said. "People get married for a lot of other reasons besides love."
"Not us," Sam said, looking down at her engagement ring, remembering how thrilled she had been when Freddie had given it to her six months ago.
"No," Pam agreed. "I know. Listen kid, I-I'm real glad you found someone like Freddie to spend the rest of your life with. You two will be great together. And…jeez, I-I know the mom's supposed to give some big speech during this whole thing, but, well, I-I don't really know too much about all of this. Like I said, I've never made it this far."
"Mom, it's fine," Sam said quickly.
"No, it's not," Pam said. "I-I've always wished I could've set a better example for you when it came to this whole relationship thing. But, well, I never set good examples on a lot of things, did I? Anyway, um, the point of all of this is…I wanted to give you something."
"What is it?"
Pam reached into her purse and pulled out an old photograph. Sam stared down at the picture; it was an image of her as a young girl in her backyard, covered in mud. She was sitting on her mother's lap, who was also covered with mud.
"That's one of my favorite pictures of the two of us," Pam said. "Probably one of the few pictures that I actually have of the two of us, now that I think of it…but, well, I want you to have it just-just so you can see how far you've come, kid. You never had it easy, but somehow you've built this great life for yourself, and-and I'm proud of you. Real proud." She handed the picture to Sam as she wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve. "Besides, I hear you're supposed to have something old at these things anyway, so…there ya' go."
Sam stepped over and put her arms around her mom. "Thanks mom," she said softly.
"Anytime, kid," Pam smiled. She cleared her throat. "Well…I should go find my seat and see if your Aunt Maggie managed to get that mustard stain off her pantyhose. I-I'll see you out there, Sam."
As Pam headed out of the room, Sam took one last look at the photo. She carefully tucked it away within her dress.
Something borrowed, something new, something blue and something old.
There was another knock at the door and this time Spencer poked his head in.
"Hey," he smiled. "Wow Sam, you look…wow."
"That's the look I was going for," Sam chuckled. "Is-Is it time?"
"Yeah," Spencer nodded, holding out his arm for her. "Are you ready?"
Sam took a deep breath and took his arm. "Yeah. I'm ready."
