"You guys will have to come up to visit me after the baby's born," Carly said on the last night of her stay as she sat in the chair by Sam and Freddie's bed. "Maybe for Christmas."

"That could be fun," Freddie agreed.

"Yeah, the kids could finally see snow," Sam agreed.

"And maybe we could even convince Spencer to fly over and join us," Carly smiled.

"Man…I haven't seen Spencer in years," Freddie sighed. "Not since our wedding, Sam."

"Well he's in Australia," Sam pointed out.

"I still can't believe that," Freddie chuckled. "When you told me that when you first came to Texas, Carly, I thought you were joking."

"He's happy down there," Carly shrugged. "So is his family. Even if that means I never get to see my nephew. You know, between you guys, you're really depriving me of the opportunity to spoil these kids."

"Oh yeah, I can't believe Dustin's gonna be eighteen this year," Sam said. "Man…that's crazy."

"You know, I've only met the kid once," Freddie said. "At our wedding. Did you guys get to spend a lot of time with him back in Washington before they moved?"

"Yeah, we used to babysit him at our apartment all the time," Carly nodded. "And once Conner was born he used to go by Sam's place a lot to play with him."
"Yeah, he was like a big brother to him," Sam smiled.

"That's sweet," Freddie said, squeezing his wife's hand.

"Well, I hope you guys really do come up for Christmas," Carly said. "It gets a little lonely up there by myself that time of the year."
"We'll try our best," Freddie promised.

"Remember when we were kids and we used to spend every day together?" Sam sighed. "And now all of us get together only once every few years?"

"I know, it's weird," Carly agreed. "But I'd say we're doing pretty well with it."

Sam nodded. "Yeah…I guess we are." She let out a soft sigh. "So what time does you plane leave?"
"Three in the morning," Carly sighed.

"I'm going to drive her to the airport in a few hours," Freddie said.

"Wish I could come with you guys," Sam said.

"I know, so do I," Carly said. "But…we have two hours left. We better make the most of them."

…

A few weeks after Carly left, Sam was lying in bed as Freddie sat next to her, scrolling along on his laptop screen.

"So tomorrow I'm going to take Lauren to school, drop Heather off at Mrs. Putman's house," Freddie said. "And then I'm going to come back here and take you to the doctors."

"At least I'll get to leave the house," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm thinking it might be a good idea to maybe move you downstairs after today, though," Freddie said. "You know, so you won't have to deal with the stairs each time you need to go to the doctors."

"You're kicking me out?" Sam said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not kicking you out," Freddie smirked. "I'm just saying it'd be easier for you if you don't have worry about climbing a full flight of stairs when you get back. I can set up a real comfy bed down in my office."
"Yeah, I-I guess that would be easier," Sam agreed slowly. "But…I dunno, I don't want to stay down there all by myself. I'm lonely enough already."

"What? You think I'm just gonna leave you down there every night?" Freddie grinned. "I'd sleep down there with you, baby."

"You would?" Sam smiled.

"Of course; I don't want to sleep up here alone either," Freddie said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss.

"Well in that case…I guess I can deal with moving," Sam said, leaning back against her pillows. "Plus, if I'm downstairs maybe I won't feel so isolated. I would've never thought I'd hate bed rest so much."
"Less than three months left," Freddie reminded her. "Remember, it's all going to be worth it in the end."

"I know," Sam said, resting her hands gently on her stomach.

"You know, at dinner today, Heather did the cutest thing," Freddie said, closing his laptop. "She was eating her spaghetti and decided it'd be faster if she tied all her noodles in a knot so she could slurp them all up at once."

"Aw, really?" Sam chuckled. "Did she get very far?"
"Nah, because she realized she doesn't know how to tie knots," Freddie said. "Still, it was pretty funny."

"Hey, I was thinking earlier," Sam said. "You know, while I was laying here doing nothing…Remember right before Heather was born how we took an entire day and spent it with Lauren so that she wouldn't feel so replaced by the new baby?"
"Yeah," Freddie nodded.

"Well we should do it again with Heather and Lauren," Sam said. "Or, well, you should at least. I can't exactly do much of anything. But this kid is gonna be here in ten weeks. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to take the girls out and have some fun while it's still just the two of them."

"It wouldn't be the same without you, though," Freddie said.

Sam gave him a small smile. "I know, but I was doing some reading earlier and-"

Freddie gave her a strange look.

"You don't realize how bored I get up here, okay?" Sam defended. "Anyway, I was reading and apparently if kids around Heather's age aren't properly prepared, they won't adjust right when the baby arrives. She'll feel all left out and forgotten."

"Huh, I've read that too," Freddie said thoughtfully.

"Just take the girls to the movies," Sam suggested. "Or to the beach or something. Or talk to Lauren and see if she has any ideas."

"I could do that…" Freddie said. "You're right, it would be good for Heather. And Lauren. I know she's older, but I don't want her to feel overshadowed by this new baby either."

He looked at his watch. "In fact, Lauren's probably still awake now. I'll go run the idea by her."

"Alright," Sam yawned. "Hey, before you come back, though, can you bring me up a grilled cheese sandwich?"
Freddie rolled his eyes. "Whatever you want."

He got up from the bed and headed down the hall to Lauren's bedroom. He saw the light shining from the crack between the door and the floor, meaning his daughter was still awake.

"Lauren?" he said, knocking shortly before opening the door and stepping inside.

Lauren was sitting at her desk on her laptop. As soon as she saw Freddie step into the room, though, she quickly slammed the laptop shut.

"What are you doing?" Freddie frowned.

"Just homework," Lauren said quickly.

"Um…okay," Freddie said, choosing to ignore Lauren's sudden secrecy. "So what have you been up to? You were really quiet at dinner tonight."
Lauren shrugged. "Nothing."

"Nothing? Come on, you're in high school," Freddie grinned. "Something exciting had to happen today."

"Just the usual class stuff," Lauren said, rolling her eyes. "Do you really want to hear about how my teacher lectured for a whole fifty minutes about Pride and Prejudice?"

"You okay, Laure?" Freddie asked, concerned about her attitude. True, he knew she was a teenager and he'd have to learn to accept the occasional sarcastic comment, but he knew his daughter, and he could tell something was bothering her.

"I'm fine," Lauren said, getting up and moving to her bed.

"Honey," Freddie said gently, sitting down next to her. "I'm your father. You can tell me what's wrong. Are you not doing good in one of your classes?"

"My classes are fine."
"Well did you and Danielle get into a fight or something?" Freddie tried.

"No."

"Well did something happen between you and Scott?"

Lauren didn't reply.

"Wait a minute…I was right, wasn't I?" Freddie said slowly. "Something happened with Scott? Alright, am I going to have to go over there and teach this guy a-"

"It was nothing like that," Lauren said softly, and Freddie could tell she was now on the verge of tears. "He didn't do anything."

"Well then what happened?" Freddie asked, putting an arm around her.

"We broke up," Lauren said shakily.

"Oh…Oh, Lauren, I'm sorry," Freddie said, hugging her tightly. As much as he despised her dating, he knew how much she had cared for Scott.

"It's so unfair," Lauren sniffed, burying her face in her father's shoulder.

"I know it is," Freddie soother her, gently stroking her hair like he used to do when she was younger.

"Neither of us even wanted to break up," Lauren sniffed. "But his stupid parents are moving to Alaska. You know how far away that is? He's leaving in three days because his dad got a new job and I'm probably never going to see him again."

Freddie didn't know what to say. He had been so busy on focusing on making sure Lauren didn't get her heart broken by Scott that he hadn't even stopped to think how he would handle it if he wasn't able to protect her.

"I knew it was too good to last," Lauren mumbled miserably as Freddie grabbed a tissue and handed it to her.

"You really liked him, didn't you?" Freddie said.

Lauren nodded, wiping her eyes. "A lot."

"I wish there was something I could do," Freddie said softly. "I really do, sweetie. I hate seeing you like this."

"Thanks," Lauren sighed. "But unless you can find Scott's dad a new job here, there's not much you can do."

Freddie kissed the top of her head, and the two were silent for a moment.

"Is he in the software business?" Freddie finally asked. "I can probably pulls some stings at work to get him a job."

Lauren let out a small laugh. "He's an FBI agent, daddy."

"Oh," Freddie said lamely. "Well…I can maybe send an email?"
Lauren shook her head.

"I'm sorry," Freddie said again. "I really do wish there was something I could do. If there was, I would do it in a heartbeat."

"I know," Lauren said.

"You want me to give you some privacy?" Freddie asked. "I know you probably have a lot on your mind right now."

"No," Lauren said at once. "Just…stay here with me. I-I think I kind of need my dad right now."

Freddie felt his chest swell up with fatherly pride.

"You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that," he said softly.