Candle

"Why are you so opposed to this?" Sam groaned as her and her husband sat in their living room. "It's a great idea!"

"No, it's not!" Freddie said.

"We've always wanted a game room," Sam said.

"No, I said once that I wouldn't mind getting an old Ping-Pong table or something in here," Freddie said. "And that was twenty years ago! What you want to do is completely unreasonable. There's no way we're paying forty-thousand dollars for a vintage Ms. Pak Rat machine."

"But it'd be so cool!" Sam said.

"It'd wreck our savings!"

"Okay, all throughout our marriage, you've been saying that our savings were for when we retire," Sam said. "Well here we are!"

"Neither of us have retired yet," Freddie frowned. "We each have probably another six or seven years at least."

"But then we're gonna be super old," Sam pointed out. "What fun can we have then?"

"We're not going to be super old," Freddie said, putting an arm around her as he rolled his eyes. "And we'll have plenty of fun once we officially retire without splurging on useless things. We'll take that trip to Europe like we've always planned. We'll spend a whole month going around drinking fancy wine and tasting foreign chocolates and cheeses."

"Hmm, I do like foreign cheeses," Sam grinned, leaning up to give him a quick kiss.

"I know you do, baby," Freddie chuckled. ""Besides, you realize if we get any sort of Pak Rat machine Spencer would be at our house twenty-four-seven, right?"

"Oh…yeah, I guess you're right," Sam nodded.

Just then the Bensons' front door burst open and Carly bounced in.

"It worked!" she announced happily. "Months of maternal guilting have officially paid off!"

"What now?" Freddie frowned, confused.

"I just got off the phone with Clarissa," Carly beamed. "She agreed to have her baby born here in Seattle! Her and Clay are driving up this weekend and they're staying with me and Andy until the baby comes."

"Nice!" Sam grinned. "See, I told you Clarissa would realize that she'd much rather have her baby here in Seattle than in stupid Montana."

"I'm just glad I'll get to be there when my grandson is born," Carly said. "I can't wait. It's weird, though."
"What is?" Freddie asked.

"I'm going to be a grandma," Carly frowned.

"Didn't you realize this a few months back when Clarissa told you she was pregnant?" Sam smirked.

"You practically screamed it from the rooftop," Freddie added.

"Yeah, but now it's all happening," Carly said. "That's, um, actually why I came by here. You two know how to be grandparents. You already have three grandchildren."

"Being a grandma is easy, Carly," Sam chuckled. "It's like being a parent, but without any of the annoying stuff."

"There was nothing annoying about being a parent," Carly frowned.

"Dude…drop the act," Sam said. "You're telling me you loved dealing with three a.m. feedings, discipline, insane homework assignments, sass and attitude, having to pay for everything-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Carly said. "I guess those parts of parenthood weren't as great as some of the others."

"Well, lucky for you, as a grandparent, you don't have to deal with that stuff," Freddie said. "All you have to do is spoil the kid silly."

"It's really fun," Sam nodded.

"Is that what you guys do with your three?" Carly asked.

"Yup," Sam grinned. "I mean you basically become a built-in babysitter, and while you're watching the kids, you should try to maintain some level of responsibility, I guess, but for the most part you're just the loveable grandma that the kids look forward to seeing."

"And you're bound to be good at this," Freddie said. "I mean you spoiled all of our kids."

"Yeah, you'll be a natural," Sam nodded.

"But-But that was years ago," Carly said. "What if I lost my touch with dealing with kids?"

"Nah, you haven't," Sam assured her. "I mean when Emma had Savannah, it had been years since the nub and I had dealt with babies, but we picked up just fine."

"Okay," Carly nodded, still sounding a little nervous. "So…I just buy my grandson a bunch of toys. Got it."

"Well, okay, I guess you do have to do a little more than that," Freddie said.

"But you just said-"

"Gifts are a big part of being a good grandparent, but it's not everything," Sam said. "You also have to be willing to do fun stuff with the kid. Stuff that they wouldn't normally do with their mom and dad. Like last week when Emma and Quincy visited, Fredwad and I took Savannah and Katrina to the circus."

"And when Sam and I flew out to see Jason and Eileen a few months ago, we took Cole to the fair," Freddie nodded.

"I can do that!" Carly said. "But I'd have to wait awhile, wouldn't I? I mean I can't expect a newborn to enjoy a circus, can I?"

"Nah, for the first year, you'll honestly just be helping out Clarissa and Clay. That's another big part of being a grandparent," Sam told her. "You know, helping your kids get used being parents themselves. But don't get me wrong, you can still spoil the kid plenty within that first year."

"We stayed with the kids for about a week after Savannah, Cole, and Katrina were born," Freddie explained to Carly. "You remember how hectic is was getting used to having a new baby in the house, right? Well we were there to let the kids get a little sleep, fall into a steady schedule, and figure things out."

"That was nice of you guys," Carly said.

"Well, even if we're grandparents, we're parents still too," Sam smiled. "We still look out for our own kids too."

"Hopefully I can help out Clarissa enough after the baby gets here," Carly sighed. "With her living in Montana and all…"

"Something tells me she'll want to be dropping by a little more after this baby comes," Freddie said. "Nothing makes kids appreciate their parents than becoming parents themselves."

Just then, right on cue, the Benson's front door opened again and Emma walked in with her two children, eight-year old Savannah and two-year old Katrina.

"Grandma! Grandpa!" Savannah exclaimed, rushing over to her grandparents, her younger sister toddling behind.

"Hey!" Sam grinned as she hugged the girls. "What are you all doing here?"

"We're staying here for the long weekend," Emma announced. "That's cool, right? I guess I could've called, but, eh."

"Of course that's cool," Freddie said, hugging the girls as well. "But what's the occasion? You all were just up here."

"Clarissa called and told me Aunt Carly guilted her into having the baby in Seattle," Emma replied. "So I decided since Oregon isn't too far, I'd come up so I can see her. Oh, Ash is going to be here tomorrow. So is Quincy. He would've come up with me today, but he had to work."

"Well, looks like we'll have a full house this weekend, Sam," Freddie said. "See, now aren't you glad we didn't convert the twins' old bedroom into that game room?"

"You're getting rid of my room?" Emma gasped.

"Em, you haven't lived here in over ten years," Sam pointed out.

"But it's still my room!" Emma exclaimed.

"Alright, alright," Freddie said. "Sorry I brought it up."

"Savannah, Katrina, are you two hungry?" Sam asked.

"Ice cweam?" Katrina asked excitedly.

"You got it, sweetie," Sam grinned. "And afterwards we can go to the toy store!"

"Alright!" Savannah cheered.

"There goes my quiet afternoon of working on my model trains," Freddie chuckled.

"Not that you mind at all," Sam smiled knowingly at her husband.

"Course not," Freddie said. "Emma, you coming with us?"

"You mean you're asking if I'd rather stay here at the quiet house or go watch my kids get a sugar high and then beg for toys?" Emma scoffed, flopping down on the couch.

"Right," Sam smirked. "Got it."

"Girls, be good for grandma and grandpa, okay?" Emma said to her daughters. "Mommy's going to stay here and take a well-deserved nap."

"Naps are boring, mommy," Savannah said.

"Let mommy rest," Freddie chuckled. "She needs it."

"Carls, you want to come with us?" Sam asked. "See some grandparenting in action?"

"Sure, sounds fun," Carly nodded.

"Careful, Aunt Carly, they'll wear you out real fast," Emma yawned.

"She needs the practice," Sam said. "Alright, girls, let's get some ice cream!"