"Why'd I agree to let her do this?" Freddie asked, pacing back and forth in his and Sam's bedroom later that afternoon. "Huh? Why didn't you stop me? What was I thinking?"

"Oh I dunno, that you'd try to ease up on being the typical nubby dad for once," Sam said, not looking up from her laptop as she sat on their bed.

"I don't even know this boy," Freddie said, ignoring Sam's comment. "For all we know, he could be a-a-jerk!"

"Baby, it's just one little date at the mall," Sam said. "Nothing to get worked up over."

"Hopefully I'll at least get a glance of this boy when I drop her off," Freddie sighed.

"Just don't make a scene," Sam said.

"Yeah, yeah," Freddie mumbled, sitting down at the foot of the bed. "You feeling any better from this morning?"
"Uh-huh, I told you, I think I got it out of my system," Sam nodded. "Too bad, actually, if I was sick I could've used that as an excuse not to go through all these dancer audition tapes. There's so many of them!"

"You could always go back to the dance school," Freddie said.

"Nah, I like being in charge," Sam chuckled.

Just then Lauren poked her head into the bedroom. "Um, daddy? You know we have to leave in three hours so you can drop me off. You should start getting ready so we're not late."
"Um, I think I can manage to put shoes and a jacket on in that time," Freddie frowned.

"So you excited for your date tonight?" Sam asked Lauren. "Oh, you should stop by the churro stand; I was there a few weeks ago and they're amazing. It's like they're right from…where are churros from?"

"Spain, baby," Freddie said. "Didn't you pay attention to that documentary we watched over the summer?"
"Uh, no."

"Um, Sam?" Lauren asked slowly. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Sam nodded, closing her laptop. "What's up, kid?"
"I-I know you always say you're not really into fashion or make-up or getting dressed up or anything," Lauren said. "But do you think maybe you could, you know, help me figure out what to wear tonight."
"Yeah, I could do that," Sam smiled.

"Thanks," Lauren replied. "I already have a few things in mind. I'll go lay them out for you to see."

"Hey, Sam?" Freddie said as Lauren left the room.

"Yeah?"

"When you're helping her pick out her outfit…can you try to convince her to wear a parka or something?"
Sam laughed as she leaned down to give him a quick kiss. "I'll try."
"No you won't."
"No, I won't," Sam agreed, patting his shoulder.

She headed down the hall to Lauren's bedroom, where half of the teen's wardrobe was sprawled across her bed.

"I thought you said you had a few things in mind," Sam commented.

"This is a few," Lauren said. "Okay, so what do you think of this top with this skirt?"
She held up the articles of clothing for Sam to see.

"I think you'd give your father a heart attack," Sam told her. "And he's already in there freaking out over his little girl going on her first date. Let's not stress him out anymore."

"Fine," Lauren sighed, tossing the outfit onto the floor. "Well what should I wear then?"
"Well what about these jeans?" Sam asked. "They're your favorite pair, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but I can't wear them on a date with Scott Ackermen," Lauren said. "I have to wear something totally stunning."
"Laure," Sam said gently. "You don't have to go over-the-top on a date, you know. You should wear something you feel comfortable in."
"But I want to look nice," Lauren said.

"You can look nice," Sam said. "But you don't have to wear some crazy outfit to try and impress this guy."

"Well how else am I supposed to impress him?" Lauren asked, tossing aside a shirt that Sam knew would cause Freddie to pass out.

"Oh, I dunno, you could try talking to him," Sam smirked. "Isn't that what you usually do on first dates? You're supposed to see what you guys have in common, what kind of things he likes, tell him about what you like. You know, see if you guys click."

Lauren thought about this for a moment.

Sam looked down at the pile of clothes on Lauren's bed and held up a purple top.

"This one's cute; and I have some earrings you can borrow that would match perfectly with it."

"I do love that top," Lauren said. "And I can really borrow your earrings?"
"Sure," Sam grinned. "I've had them for years and I hardly ever wear them. My Uncle Carmine gave them to me for my sixteenth birthday, actually. It was pretty sweet, a prison guard had to bring them over because he was in jail for something to do with a jar of horseradish…hey, you know what? You can just keep them. They've been in my family for years and you're supposed to pass them down from mother to daughter anyway."
Lauren stared at Sam. "You-You want to give them to me?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," Sam smiled. "I do."

Lauren stepped over and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Sam."

….

"Okay, you can just drop me off here," Lauren said as Freddie drove into the mall parking lot. "I'm meeting everybody inside."

"Alright, you have your phone on you?" Freddie asked.

"Yup."

"You have money?"
"Yeah, but if you want to give me more, I won't mind," Lauren grinned.

"And you're sure you don't want me to walk you in?" Freddie questioned.

"Dad," Lauren moaned. "I'm fifteen, not five. I can walk into the mall on my own."

"Yeah, I suppose you can," Freddie sighed. "Okay, well, have a good time tonight, Lauren. I'll be out here right at ten-thirty to pick you up."

"Got it," Lauren said, quickly opening her car door. "Bye dad!"

Freddie watched as his daughter walked off towards the mall entrance, remembering when he used to take her here when she was a little girl and she'd always hold tightly to his hand, afraid of losing him.

"Bye, Lauren," he whispered.

When he returned home, Freddie felt an empty space inside of him. He wondered if this was how every father felt when they dropped their daughter off on her first date…

"Hi, daddy!" Heather said brightly, looking up from the movie her and Sam were watching on T.V.

Heather's fever had finally broke earlier that afternoon, and though she still had a bit of a runny nose and cough, she seemed to be almost back to her old self.

Freddie smiled back at his youngest daughter. "Hey, Heather, what are you and mommy watching?"

"Pony Palooza," Sam said.

Freddie chuckled; Sam absolutely despised Heather's favorite movie, but had sat through it at least thirty times in the last month with her.

"Daddy watch?" Heather asked.

"You know what, Heather?" Freddie said, sitting down next to his wife and daughter. "I would love to watch with you."

….

"I thought you said you got this all out of your system yesterday," Freddie yawned the next morning as he held Sam's hair back while she vomited the contents up her stomach. He had once again been woken up as Sam sped into the bathroom that morning.

"Well clearly my stomach didn't get the memo!" Sam snapped, breathing heavily.

"Why don't I take you to the doctors?" Freddie suggested. "Maybe he can give you some medicine like Heather got. I mean you saw how much it helped her."
"I'm fine now," Sam mumbled, slowly getting to her feet.

"Sam, you just puked your guts out," Freddie reasoned. "Shouldn't you get this checked out now? I mean you have a busy week at work coming up."
"Fine, I'll see if I can make an appointment for after work tomorrow," Sam conceded. "Just to shut you up…"

"Thank you," Freddie said.

"So what's for breakfast?" Sam asked, walking back into the bedroom and grabbing a pair of sweatpants and an old sweater.

"How can you possibly think of food after you just-never mind," Freddie said, shaking his head. "I should be used to this by now. I can make us some eggs or something. I guess I should save a plate for Lauren to heat up for herself around noon when she'll be waking up. I mean she stays out on this date until ten thirty, though, I might add, she didn't get to the car last night until ten thirty-four, and then she stayed up the whole night texting the boy!"
"So? She had a good time," Sam shrugged.

"Did she?" Freddie scoffed. "Because when I asked her about the date in the car on the way home, all I got was an 'it was fun'."
"Well baby, I told you, guys are just an awkward topic to talk to your dad about," Sam reasoned.

"Yeah, I guess," Freddie sighed. "But I know she told you all about the date, didn't she?"
After Lauren had gotten home last night, her and Sam had gone into her room and closed the door for two whole hours, leaving Freddie to only wonder what they were discussing.

"Course she did," Sam said.

"Well?"
"Well what?" Sam asked.

"Are you gonna tell me about this date that's still giving chest pains just thinking about it?" Freddie said.

"Dude," Sam laughed, rolling her eyes. "I can't tell you what Lauren told me. There's a code! But trust me, everything was fine."
"Well fine, don't tell me everything," Freddie said. "But just a general synopsis."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "You sure you want to know?"

Freddie took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes, I want to know."
"Okay," Sam said. "Let's see-"

"Should I sit for this?" Freddie asked.

"Freddie…"
"Alright, alright, go," Freddie said quickly.

"Her and Scott got dinner at the cheesesteak cart in the food court," Sam started. "Then they walked around the mall and it took Scott two hours to work up the nerve to hold her hand."
"Two hours?" Freddie repeated.

"Uh-huh," Sam nodded. "And then right before his mom got there to pick him up, he kissed her for five whole seconds in front of Bed Bath and Bewilderment."

"And…?"
"And nothing," Sam said. "Those are the highlights."

"So let me get this straight," Freddie said slowly. "This Scott kid takes two hours to holds her hand and then kisses her in front of a store that sells coffee filters?"

"Basically."

"Oh my God!" Freddie laughed. "He sounds like such a chump in the romance department. This is great!"
"Oh like you were so smooth when you were fifteen," Sam snapped. "You were just as clueless about what to do on a date as Scott is!"

"That is so not-Fine, that's true," Freddie conceded. "But I'm just glad I had nothing to worry about."
"I told you," Sam said. "But Lauren still enjoyed the date. She thought it was amazing. I think she really likes this kid."

"Hey, as long as he keeps up this pace, I think I can handle this whole thing," Freddie said.

"Nah," Sam smirked. "I think you're still bound to spazz out over it eventually."