AN-So this chapter is a sequel to chapters 558 and 591, where the plot is that Sam and Freddie both got married to other people but wound up getting divorced shortly after and reuniting with one another a few years later at Carly's wedding when their daughters meet. It's a completely different storyline than most of these oneshots, but I hope you still enjoy it!
…..
Birthday
"I'm nervous," Sam said as her and Freddie looked in at their now eight-year old daughters, sitting happily on the couch in Sam's living room. "This is such huge news to just dump on them."
"Sam, I hardly think we're dumping it on them," Freddie smiled, putting an arm around her. "They know we love each other, and they've been fine with us dating these past five years."
"I know…but marriage is a whole new step," Sam said. She looked down at the sparkling engagement ring on her finger that Freddie had proposed to her last night. She smiled. "Don't get me wrong; I definitely want to marry you-"
"Aw, thanks," Freddie chuckled.
"But I'm still worried about how the girls are gonna take it," Sam said. "Especially Megan…"
"Megan?" Freddie frowned. "Why? She loves you."
"I know, but-but if I marry her dad it's gonna make me her step-mom," Sam said. "And-And I dunno, I-I'm just worried she might get a little freaked out that that means I'm trying to move in and replace her real mom. I mean even though she only sees Darleen a few times a year, they still have a pretty good relationship, don't they?"
"Yeah," Freddie nodded. "But Sam, I'm sure Megan knows that you're not gonna try to get rid of her mom. And like you said; she only sees Darleen a few times a year; she'll love having a step-mom who she can come to when she's down here with me. Heck, she comes to you all the time now anyway. She told you all about her crush on Dale Fitzpatrick and didn't say a word to me, after all."
"Yeah," Sam said, still looking hesitant. "I just…I really want this all to go well, and I don't want to make it hard on Megan. Eliza will be thrilled to have you as her step-dad because, well, she doesn't really have any dad. She's met Jack like, three times."
"I want to be there for her as a father," Freddie nodded. He leaned down and kissed Sam. "Baby…we can be one big, happy, blended family. Megan wants that, and so does Eliza. And me."
"And me," Sam said softly. She took a deep breath. "Okay…let's go tell them."
The two stepped into the living room and sat down in front of the two girls, blocking the television from their view.
"Hey!" both girls yelled simultaneously.
"Don't worry, you two can get back to your T.V. soon," Freddie chuckled, rolling his eyes. "But Sam and I need to talk to you guys about something important first."
"Are we ordering pizza for dinner?" Eliza asked excitedly, and Sam couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's response.
"No, sweetie," she said. "Well…maybe. Now I'm kind of hungry…"
"You girls know that Sam and I love each other very much, right?" Freddie said.
"Yeah," Megan nodded.
"And that we've really happy together these past five years," Sam continued.
"Uh-huh," Eliza nodded. "We see you kissing all the time. It's gross!"
Freddie smiled. "And you know that we each love both of you so much too, right?"
Both girls nodded.
"Well…last night, Freddie and I…we-we decided that because we love each other so much, and-and because we love you girls so much and-and we really want to have a family with the four of us that we-that we wanted to get married," Sam said, now glancing at Megan, watching her response.
"Married?" Megan repeated.
"Like with a wedding and everything?" Eliza asked.
"A small wedding, yes," Freddie said. "But what do you girls think about this?"
"We don't want to make you feel uncomfortable!" Sam said quickly. "We're not gonna move forward with anything unless you are completely on board with this. So, um, Megan? Would-Would you be okay with me being your, you know, step-mom?"
"Do I still get to keep my other mom?" Megan asked slowly.
"Of course," Sam nodded. "She'll always be your mom. But I'll just be here to, um, do mom things with you too. Because like we said, we love you both very much."
"So I get two moms?" Megan grinned. "That's so cool!"
"R-Really?" Sam said, slightly taken aback by how well Megan was taking the news. "You're okay with me marrying your dad?"
"Yeah, I think it's great!" Megan nodded. "Hey, can I be your flower girl? Or I know! Eliza and I can both be flower girls!"
"I think that sounds like a plan, don't you, Eliza?" Freddie grinned. Him and Sam turned to the small blonde girl, whose face seemed to be blank.
"Eliza?" Sam said slowly. "You okay?"
"So if you're gonna be Megan's step-mom if you marry Freddie, would Freddie be my step-dad?" Eliza asked.
"Yes," Sam nodded. "Isn't that great?"
Eliza didn't reply.
"E-Eliza?" Freddie said tentatively. "What's-"
"I don't want you to marry Freddie, mom," Eliza said firmly, jumping up to her feet.
"Eliza-" Sam started.
"No!" Eliza said loudly, crossing her arms.
"But sweetie, I-I don't understand," Sam said, confused. "You love Freddie! Why don't you-"
"You can't marry him, mom!" Eliza said, tears starting to form in her eyes. "You can't!" And with that she turned and stormed off to her room, slamming her door behind her, leaving a befuddled Sam and a hurt Freddie behind.
…
"She hates me," Freddie sighed a few hours later as he slumped down in his seat.
"No, she doesn't," Sam said gently, squeezing his hand. "She loves you."
"Then why doesn't she want me to marry you?" Freddie asked. "Why doesn't she want me as a step-dad? Did you get anything out of her when you were in there?"
"No, she's pretending to be asleep right now," Sam said. She leaned over and kissed him. "Look, Megan's passed out on the couch. I know we were planning on celebrating everything tonight, but maybe you should just come back in the morning. I'll make pancakes; Meg's favorite. And maybe Eliza will be a little more willing to talk about what's bugging her then."
"Okay," Freddie reluctantly agreed. He stood up and carefully scooped up his sleeping child. He gave Sam another quick kiss. "Love you. Tell Eliza I said good night."
"Love you too," Sam smiled. "And I will."
…..
"Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!" Megan chanted the next morning as her and Freddie came into Sam's house.
"Already got a plate ready for you," Sam grinned, rustling the girl's hair as she gave Freddie a quick kiss.
"Thank you, Sam!" Megan said happily. "Where's Eliza? I have to show her my new nail polish color."
"Um, she's still asleep," Sam said lamely.
"Asleep, huh?" Freddie said softly so only Sam could hear him.
"You know that girl has never slept past seven-thirty in her life," Sam said. "The one thing she didn't get from me was her early rising."
"Ah…so she's actively missing pancake day to avoid me," Freddie said heavily. "I don't suppose you got anything else from her after I left?"
"No," Sam said. "But maybe…maybe you should go and talk to her."
"Me? Sam, I'm the one she hates here!"
"I told you' she doesn't hate you," Sam said. "Look, I really think you need to go in there."
"You do?"
"Yes," Sam nodded. "I do."
Freddie took a deep breath. "Alright. Here I go then."
He headed out of the kitchen and down the hallway to Eliza's room He knocked once and heard the sound of a bed creaking.
"Eliza?" he said, slowly opening the door and stepping inside. "Honey?"
He saw Eliza under her covers, apparently fast asleep. But Freddie knew better; when Eliza was really asleep, she would scrunch up her nose slightly, just like Sam.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of bacon. "Well…since you're asleep, I guess I'll just have to go share this bacon with your mom instead of you."
And just like that the eight-year old's eyes flew open, and Freddie couldn't help but chuckle. She truly was Sam's daughter.
"You have bacon?" Eliza asked softly.
"Here you go," Freddie said, handing her the bag as he sat down on the corner of her bed.
Eliza carefully sat up and accepted the bag. "Thank you," she mumbled without looking him in the eye.
"You're welcome," Freddie said.
The two sat in silence for a few minutes as Eliza ate her bacon.
"You know, Eliza, your mom and I won't get married if you really don't want us to," Freddie said.
Eliza looked up at him.
"When I proposed to her, we both agreed that we would only move forward with everything if you and Megan were both on board," Freddie said. "So if you're not, that-that's okay. Your mom and I will wait."
Eliza looked back down at her lap.
"But, um, I just wanted to know if maybe you wanted to let me know why you don't want this wedding to happen," Freddie said. "Because if there's some sort of problem that you're going through, we want to be able to help you. And we can only do that if you talk to us."
Eliza nodded. "I-I don't want you to get married to my mom because-because I don't want you to become my step-dad."
Freddie felt his heart drop as his worst suspicions were confirmed.
"Oh," he said. "Well…alright then. That clears that up."
"A step-dad is just like a real dad, right?" Eliza said.
"Well, yes, basically," Freddie nodded.
"That's what I thought," Eliza said sadly. "That's why you can't become my step-dad, Freddie."
"Er, Eliza, I'm not exactly following here," Freddie frowned.
"If you become my dad, then-then you'll just leave," Eliza sniffed.
Freddie blinked. "W-What?"
"My real dad left me when I was little, and he never even calls me on the phone now," Eliza mumbled. "And mommy said her dad left her too. Dads leave, Freddie. That's what they do. And I don't want you to leave because I love you!"
"Oh…Eliza," Freddie whispered, scooping the girl up into his lap. "Come here, sweetheart."
He hugged her close.
"Don't leave me and mommy and Megan, Freddie," Eliza sniffed.
"Eliza, I will never leave any of you," Freddie said.
"But if you become my dad-"
"Dad's don't always have to leave," Freddie said gently, stroking her hair. "I'm so sorry that that has been your experience so far, but not all dads leave, honey. I've been Megan's dad for eight whole years, haven't I? And I haven't left her."
Eliza nodded slowly.
"Elizabeth Jasmine Puckett, whether I am your step-dad or not, I will always love you," Freddie said firmly. "And because of how much I love you, I will never leave you, no matter what."
He kissed her cheek, and Eliza smiled up at him. "So even if you're my dad, you won't go away?"
"Never," Freddie promised.
"Oh…" Eliza said, taking all of this in. "Then-Then you can marry my mom, Freddie."
Freddie laughed. "So I have your blessing?"
"Yes," Eliza said, hugging the man tightly.
"Well thank you," Freddie said sincerely. He stood up and picked up Eliza. "Come on; let's go tell her the news."
Freddie carried Eliza out to the kitchen, where Megan was on her third plate of pancakes.
"Oh look who's up," Sam smiled. "Good thing I saved you some breakfast."
She slid another plate of pancakes onto the table.
"Mommy?" Eliza said as Freddie set her down.
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"I want you to marry Freddie," Eliza said.
Sam's eyes flickered to Freddie, who gave her a small smile.
"You do?" Sam said.
"Yeah, I want him to be my step-dad," Eliza nodded. "And it's okay, because he's never gonna leave us!"
"No," Sam said, still looking at Freddie. "I know he won't."
"So now there's gonna be a wedding?" Megan asked excitedly as Eliza hopped into her seat next to her.
Freddie wrapped his arms around Sam and leaned down and kissed her. "Yes. Now there's gonna be a wedding."
"We're eating!" Eliza cringed. "You guys said you'd stop kissing in front of us!"
"I believe our exact words were we'd 'try' to," Sam chuckled.
"Hey," Megan said suddenly. "Since you guys are getting married, does that mean that me and Eliza are gonna be sisters now?"
"Oh yeah," Freddie grinned. "I guess it does."
The two girls both let out loud, excited shrieks.
"We're sisters!" Eliza exclaimed. "I got a sister! I always wanted one!"
"Me too!" Megan beamed as the girls hugged. "Do we get to live together now? Can we share a room?"
"We were thinking you and your dad would just move in here, yeah," Sam said. "And Megan, we have that guest room that we were thinking we could use as your room and-"
"We want to share!" Eliza pouted.
"Yeah, I don't want my own room!" Megan nodded.
"Um…well I guess that's okay," Freddie said. "Less work for us."
"Yay!" the girls cheered.
"Come on, Megan," Eliza said, jumping down from her chair. "Let's go figure out where you're gonna put all your toys!"
"Okay!" Megan nodded, running after her.
Once the girls were gone, Sam leaned up and gave Freddie another long kiss. "Ten bucks says they're ready for their own rooms after six months of living with each other."
"I'll take that bet," Freddie laughed. "Hey…this is it, Sam. We're finally gonna get to start our family together."
"I know," Sam said. "I can't wait."
