"Alright, Heather, you get a special treat today," Freddie said as he helped the toddler pull her shoes on. "You get to have Lauren babysit you while daddy runs out for a few hours. Won't that be fun?"

"Lauren fun!" Heather smiled.

"I brought Sam breakfast, daddy," Lauren said, coming into the room.

"Great, thanks a lot, Laure," Freddie said as he finished tying the laces of Heather's shoes. "Okay, Heather, you're all set. Go ahead and play."

"Dad," Lauren said. "Is it me or does Sam seem a little upset lately? All week she's just kind of been, I dunno, out of it."

"I know," Freddie sighed as Heather hopped off his lap and ran out of the room. "Sam's just going through a lot. I mean she's been in the hospital for two weeks, now she's being cooped up at home…she's not used to it. Plus, well, with her being on bed rest she realized that-that she's not going to be able to go back to Washington this year like she always does to visit Conner, so that's really taking a toll on her too."

"That's so sad," Lauren said softly.

"It is," Freddie agreed heavily. "But I'm hoping what I have planned for today will help to take Sam's mind off of things."

"What are you going to do?" Lauren asked.

"You'll have to wait and see," Freddie smiled, getting to his feet. "Alright, I need to get going. Thanks again for watching Heather, you're really helping me out. In fact, tonight, why don't you go out and have a little fun?"

"Cool!" Lauren grinned. "Scott wanted to go to the movies tonight. I'll text him and let him know it's on."

"Ugh, the movies?" Freddie frowned. "Wouldn't you guys rather go somewhere better? Like a library?"

"Um, no," Lauren said. "Now where did I leave my phone…?"

"Movies…" Freddie muttered darkly as Lauren headed out of the room. "I know what happens at the movies. No one winds up watching the dang screen!"

…..

Why can't they have decent shows on during the day? Sam thought to herself as she flipped through the channels of the television. It's just a bunch of stupid game shows and soap operas!

Deciding to give up, Sam turned off the T.V and tossed the remote down, leaning against her pillows.

It had been one week since she had returned home from work the hospital and she did not know how in the world she was going to survive three more months of bed rest. She was so bored! For once in her life she actually wanted to get out of bed and do something.

She sighed as she looked over at her nightstand, staring at the picture of Conner. That was another thing she hated about being confined to her bed; she literally could not escape the haunting reminder that she wouldn't be going home to her son.

As she continued to stare at the picture, she briefly wondered what life would be like if Conner was still around. He'd be turning from fifteen this year. Like Lauren, he'd probably be begging to learn to drive every chance he got. He would've probably been taller than her by this point, and he might've even had a girlfriend who Sam would of course deem not good enough for him…

"Hi mommy!"

Sam turned towards the door and saw Heather bouncing in with Lauren at her heels.

"Hi girls," Sam smiled.

"We got bored downstairs," Lauren explained, helping her sister up onto the bed. "Care if we sit with you for a little?"

"Go for it," Sam nodded, pushing some pillows out of the way. "What have you guys been up to today?"

"I was trying to work on my extra-credit project for history," Lauren replied. "But Heather kept running around getting into everything."

"Well I can keep her up here with me so you can work if you want," Sam said.

"No, it's okay," Lauren said.

"How's that project going, anyway?" Sam asked. "You're doing a report on your family history, right?"

"Uh-huh," Lauren nodded. "It's going to be a lot more detailed than my family tree. It's a lot of work, but I actually really enjoy it. It's cool."

"You're enjoying a school project?" Sam smirked. "You are definitely your dad's daughter."

…..

A couple of hours later, Heather and Lauren were still sitting on the bed with Sam. Heather was fast asleep and Lauren was absentmindedly flipping through channels.

"Where's Freddie?" Sam yawned. "I didn't know he was gonna be gone all day. Did he tell you where he was going, Laure?"
"Um, no," Lauren said quickly.

"Well then I wonder where-aw man! He's probably down at the computer store," Sam sighed. "Some new software thingy was supposed to come out today…He's probably been standing in line waiting to get it this whole time! Unbelievable! You know, I should-"

"Should what?" Freddie suddenly asked, coming into the room.

"Dude, where have you been?" Sam asked. "You've been gone four almost five hours. I swear, if you left me to go to that stupid computer store-"

"I didn't go to the computer store," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "Even though the new software that was released today would allow me to process data from a whole range of programs 5.6 percent faster than-"

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Er, anyway," Freddie said, changing the subject as he sat down on the bed next to his wife, giving her a quick kiss. "Listen Sam, I know you've been feeling upset lately; about the scare you had earlier and having to be on bed rest and not getting to-er, well…the point is, I-I know that this has been rough on you. And-And I really wanted to do something that would make you feel maybe a little bit better."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked curiously.

Freddie smiled as he got to his feet, giving her one last kiss. He walked back across the room and poked his head out into the hall. "Alright, come in."
"Who are you talking to?" Sam frowned. "What did you-Oh my God!"

Carly stepped into the room from the hall, dropping her bag on the ground as she hurried over to Sam.

"Sam!" Carly exclaimed, throwing her arms around her best friend.

"Careful," Freddie said.

"Sorry," Carly said, quickly releasing Sam.

"It's okay, it's okay," Sam assured her. "But what-what are you doing here? You didn't tell me you were coming!"

"Freddie called me a few nights ago," Carly explained. "He told me you could really use some company, so we decided to surprise you."

"Aw, baby," Sam beamed, looking over at Freddie.

"Surprise," Freddie chuckled.

"And Lauren!" Carly gasped, standing up to hug the teen. "Look at you! You must've grown five inches since I last saw you!"

"Hi, Carly," Lauren greeted her, returning her hug.

On the bed, Heather slowly began to stir and open her eyes.

"Looks like somebody's awake," Sam chuckled.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Carly said. "I didn't mean to wake her. But whoa! That cannot be the same little girl I saw two years ago!"

As Heather sat up, she looked at Carly with a confused expression.

"Heather, sweetie, you know who this is," Freddie said, scooping his daughter up in his arms. "This is Carly, your mom's and mine's best friend. She came to see you right after you were born."

"Hi Heather," Carly grinned. "Wow, you look just like your mommy. Only with your daddy's eyes."
Heather buried her face in her father's shoulder, wary of the strange new woman.

"Eh, she's just being shy," Sam told Carly. "Trust me, give her a few more hours and she'll be chatting you up like crazy. But wow, I-I still can't believe you're here! How long are you in town for?"

"About a week," Carly replied. "It's all the time I could get off on such short notice."

"That's okay, a week's better than nothing," Sam reasoned. "Man, I really wish I wasn't stuck in bed now."

"Hey, we'll still have a good time," Carly said. "I brought a ton of old DVDs that we used to watch when we were kids. You and I are going to have a week-long marathon of Girly Cow and Celebrities Underwater. I bought the boxed sets of each, they're in my bag. Freddie, would you mind-"

"Here you go," Freddie said, handing Carly her bag.

"See!" Carly said happily, pulling out the DVDs. "We've got extended scenes, outtakes, behind-the-scenes…the whole nine yards!"

"No way!" Sam grinned as she picked up the Celebrities Underwater DVD. "This is the season where Ryan Seacrest went head-to-head with Oprah!"

"Who's Ryan Seacrest?" Lauren frowned.

"Great," Freddie said, shaking his head. "Now I feel old."

"Dude, this is incredible!" Sam said excitedly. She looked back over at Freddie. "Thank you for doing all this, baby."

"Hey," Freddie smiled. "I'd do anything for you."