Chapter Fifteen
"Hi, Sam," Melanie said. "Can I come in?"
Sam was too shocked to try and stop her sister as she walked right past her.
"What are you doing here?" Sam demanded.
"I...I wanted to see Charlotte. It's her birthday, I brought a present." She reached into her large bag and took out a perfectly wrapped pink present with a matching pink bow on it.
Sam took the present and threw it on the couch.
"Sam!" Melanie exclaimed.
"One year, Melanie. It's been a year since you abandoned your baby. You've never stopped by, never once called to check up on her. In fact, you disconnected your number and made yourself unreachable to me. And now you think you can just show up with a present?"
"I was a mess, Sam. I was in no fit state to be a mother."
Sam rolled her eyes. "You're telling me," she muttered.
"But I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past year and I...I feel like a part of me is missing, Sam. Please, can I just see Charlotte? Just once?"
"We call her Charlie," Sam said. "And no you can't. We threw a party for her at the restaurant and she was really wiped out. She's sleeping now."
"Maybe I can come back tomorrow?" Melanie asked tentatively.
Sam sighed heavily. "You can't do this, Mel. You can't just drop in and out of Charlie's life. Being a mom is a full time job and you gave it up the day you left Charlie here."
"But you can't keep her away from me!" Melanie protested. "I'm her mother, I gave birth to her-"
"Were you here the week that you left her and she wouldn't stop crying for you? Did you stay up all night with her when she had colic? Were you here when she took her first steps or said her first word? Yeah, she talks now," Sam said off of Melanie's astonished look. "Do you know her favorite bedtime story or her favorite song? Do you know that she likes mashed carrots, hates mashed peas but loves them mixed together? You don't know any of that because you weren't here. You left her!"
Tears had started to flow down Melanie's cheeks in the middle of Sam's speech and Sam only rolled her eyes, not for a minute believing any of her sister's theatrics.
"I'm her mother, Melanie. I'm the one that was there for all of that. I'm the one that she calls mama so you can just go back to Princeton, live your life, become a doctor and pretend that we don't exist. That's what you're good at, right? Pretending your family doesn't exist? You've been doing it your whole life, why stop now?"
"Sam, please..." Melanie whispered.
"Get out of my house," Sam said firmly.
"I just want to see my baby..." she pleaded.
"The answer is no."
"I'm her mom!"
"Tell that to my lawyer," Sam snapped back. "I believe he had a colleague in New Jersey hunt you down at Princeton and you didn't contest the custody papers. In fact, you signed them gladly. What happened, Mel? Did the new guy that you were dating dump you and now you're having a crisis of conscience? It doesn't matter, it just made it easier for me to get full guardianship of Charlie, even though I was going to get it anyway, with or without your permission. If I say you can't see Charlie then you can't see her. Now get out."
Melanie turned and walked out but suddenly turned around at the door. "This isn't over, Sam. I'm not leaving Seattle without at least seeing my baby."
Sam shrugged. "Too bad I don't believe you."
She promptly shut the door in her sister's face.
X
Sam sat on the couch and wasn't aware of time passing by. A cold fear gripped her stomach.
Logically, she knows that Melanie can't really do anything to get Charlie back. Sam would have easily gotten custody of the baby because of Melanie's abandonment but Attorney McBride was overjoyed that his colleague was able to find Melanie and get her signature on the papers. It meant that Melanie was willingly handing over her rights to the baby and Sam would have solid custody. If Melanie was suddenly experiencing a change of heart then she would have to put up a hell of a fight in court and Sam would fight right back. And she had no intention of losing.
And yet still, Sam didn't like the idea of there being a threat at all. Why did Melanie have to come back? Why couldn't she just leave them alone? Sam sat there, lost in her thoughts until Freddie came home.
He pushed Charlie's stroller in, full of presents.
"Hey, Sam," he said. "There's more presents at Gibby's. I figured you could bring some home with you later or have someone help you carry it all here tomorrow. In the meantime, the guys stacked them in your office...Sam?"
Sam looked up at him, she didn't hear a word that he said.
"What's wrong?" Freddie asked.
"Melanie was here," she said.
"What?" He exclaimed. "What did she want?"
"She wanted to see Charlie."
"Well, did you let her?"
"No! I didn't let her!"
"Good," Freddie said, sitting down beside her. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know. What if she tries to take Charlie back? Once Melanie gets an idea in her head, its hard to talk to her out of it. If she's having some sort of crisis of conscience and has suddenly decided she wants to be a mother after all..."
"She signed over the custody papers to you, Sam. She can't get Charlie back, not without a fight."
Sam sighed and rubbed her hand over her face. "Maybe I should start the adoption process, it's going to be long but if it means that Melanie can't come anywhere near Charlie..."
"You know," Freddie said hesitantly. "If we got married it would speed things up..."
"What?" Sam shook her head disbelievingly. "Did you just 'if we got married'?"
"Well, yeah..."
Sam laughed. "That's your solution? Get married?"
"Is it so crazy? We've talked about it before."
"Yeah, in the future maybe. When we're older and out of school. Not as some quickie solution to a custody problem. This is serious, Freddie!"
"And I am being serious. Sam, we're practically married already. So what if we're young and still in school? We both have incomes that will support Charlie and each other. And we could make Charlie officially and legally our daughter."
Sam stood up and walked to the kitchen, Freddie followed behind her. She tore open the fridge and took out the leftover ham that she had saved. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Since when did she have to be the reasonable one in this relationship?
She finished her ham while Freddie sat in front of her, lost in his thoughts. He looked so upset and worried that it tore at Sam's heart. She went over to him, rounding the counter to stand in front of him, right in between his legs. She put her hands on his face.
"Look, we're probably getting worked up over nothing. Melanie just said she wanted to see Charlie, not take her. Either way, we're not going to let her near Charlie and she'll probably just give up soon and go back to her life in Princeton."
"I'm sorry for-"
Sam kissed him. "Let's just take a bath, okay? It's been a long day."
Freddie nodded.
She sauntered off to the bedroom, aware that Freddie was watching her go. "I'll run the bath, you bring the ham," she called behind her.
X
Freddie was losing his mind. He'd screwed up. He'd really really screwed up. Blurting out that they should get married out of fear that Melanie would take Charlie was not in his plan. That wasn't the way he wanted to propose, if it could be considered a proposal at all. Sam didn't seem to take it seriously, not mentioning anything about it for the rest of the night. And why should she? It had to be the worst proposal in the history of proposals. But Freddie supposed that it was a good thing that Sam didn't think he was serious. It means that his real proposal will still be a surprise.
But first he had to take care of the Melanie problem. He put Charlie down in her playpen and gave her a few toys so that she wouldn't complain. She much preferred to crawl/walk around the living room now than to be "trapped" inside her playpen, as Sam put it. He picked up his cellphone and scrolled down to the number he wanted.
"Hi, Mr. McBride. It's Freddie Benson," he said. "There's something really urgent that I need to talk to you about..."
X
Sam was in the kitchen when she was called to her office because her twin was there. Abby was astonished as she looked between Sam and Melanie. The staff knows that Sam has a sister because she's had to explain Charlie but the fact that she and Melanie are exactly identical still catches most people off guard.
"What do you want, Melanie?" Sam asked, placing herself behind her desk but not sitting down.
"I want to see Charlie," Melanie said simply.
"Well, she's not here."
"You know what I mean, Sam."
"I told you. It's not gonna happen, Mel."
"I thought I'd give you a night to think over things, to maybe see it from my perspective..."
"Your perspective? You abandoned your baby a year ago, Melanie. And now you're back and you want to see her...for what? So that you can confuse her? Mess with her head and then leave again? I'm not letting it happen!"
Melanie crossed her arms. "Why? Are you afraid she'll mistake me for you? Or that she'll like me more?"
"Don't turn this into a twisted competition. This isn't about me and it isn't about you. This is about Charlie and what's best for her. She's smart, Melanie. She's so smart. I think she gets it from you," she conceded softly. "She picks up on things so easily. She gets attached to things and to people. I'm not going to let her get attached to you and have you leave. You're so much like Dad, Mel. I'm not saying this to insult you or to hurt you but it's fact. You know what it was like for us when he left. Do you really want that for Charlie? Do you want to put your daughter through that?"
Tears were in Melanie's eyes, silently slipping down her cheeks. She sat down heavily on one of the chairs in front of Sam's desk.
"Of course I don't want that for her. I just feel so..." She swiped at her tears and Sam pushed a box of tissues across the desk, taking a seat herself. "Most days I feel glad that I gave you my baby. I've decided that I want to be surgeon and that's going to take so much more time and so many hours after I'm done with med school. There's no way I could do it while raising a small child on my own, it would be impossible. I tell myself that I did the best thing. But then I'd be studying late at night or celebrating the end of finals at a bar with friends and I'd feel this guilt creep up on me so suddenly. I'd think about Charlotte at the most random moments, wondering how she is and what she looks like. Does she look like me or like...like Eric," she practically whispered the name. "That's the name of her father."
"Have you heard from him?" Sam asked.
Melanie shook her head. "We had a mutual friend that introduced us but he avoids me now. He doesn't want to tell me where Eric is or what he's up to and Eric certainly hasn't tried to track me down. I certainly know how to pick em, don't I?"
"Charlie looks like you," Sam said softly. "Just like you. Except her eyes are green now."
"Eric's eyes," Melanie almost sighed. "I really thought he was the one, you know? It wasn't just a one night stand. We'd dated for over six months and I'd fantasize about how maybe he'd propose after I graduated. I thought about moving into the city to be near him. He used to get so edgy when I tried to talk to him about things like that, I should've known."
Sam couldn't help but think of Freddie and how it was him that was always talking about the future and marriage and more kids one day. Her heart stuttered as she thought about his almost proposal the night before. And how much she wanted to say yes if only she knew that he wasn't just doing it because he was afraid of losing Charlie.
"What do you want, Melanie? You gave me guardianship of Charlie and one day I'm going to adopt her. You've already made it clear that your career comes first. So what is it that you really want?"
"I don't know. Why can't I just see her? Maybe then I can decide..."
Sam shook her head, her heart hardening towards her sister once more. "Not good enough, Mel."
Melanie could see Sam's walls going back up and her temper flared. "I called Carly last night, you know. She filled me in on you and Freddie. It must be nice, huh? You've got your instant family. You don't have to deal with a boyfriend that ups and leaves you. You didn't have to go through fourteen hours of excruciating labor to have a baby. You've got this perfect little life and you don't want me screwing it up."
"Yeah, you're not helping your case right now."
"You're playing house with my kid, Sam! Mine! You can't keep her away from me forever. If you're not going to let me see her then...then..."
"Then what, Mel? What are you going to threaten me with?"
"Maybe I'll take her back!"
"Take her back?" Sam asked incredulously. "Like what? Like she's a toy? Or maybe a puppy you left behind? Are you even hearing yourself, Mel? Everything that's come out of your mouth since you've been here has been about you. You're not here for Charlie, you're here for yourself. You're so selfish, Mel. The decision you made to leave Charlie was selfish. And threatening me now is selfish. Until you can learn to put Charlie and her needs first, you're not coming anywhere near her. I think we're done here. I have to get back to the kitchen so you can just show yourself out."
Sam stood up and walked to the door.
"You'll be hearing from my lawyer!" Melanie yelled after her.
"Looking forward to it," Sam called back over her shoulder. "Have him call mine!"
X
When Sam walked through her door she was immediately greeted by Charlie walking towards her in her brand new round baby walker that Mrs. Benson had given her for her birthday.
"Mama!" Charlie greeted, showing off her big toothy smile and Sam melted. She dropped her bags and kneeled down, picking up the baby and showering her in kisses.
Sam looked over at Freddie, who got up off the couch and kissed her in greeting. He picked up the bags that Sam had dropped and carried them to the kitchen.
"You look tired," Sam commented as she followed him.
"Charlie's been really active today. I guess I'm just getting used to her being up and about for most of the day instead of sleeping like she used to."
"Didn't she take a nap?"
"For an hour and then she refused to go back to sleep and refused to stay in her playpen."
Sam looked down at Charlie in her arms, who had occupied herself by taking a piece of Sam's hair into her mouth. She detached her hair from the baby and put her into her high chair.
She wrapped her arms around Freddie's waist from behind as he took out the containers from the paper bags Sam had brought.
"Go back into the living room," she said. "I'll feed Charlie dinner and heat all this up and you can relax for a little while."
He leaned back into her for a moment before making his way into the living room. Sam watched him, feeling concern bubble up in her chest. She'd noticed that he'd seemed more tired the past couple of months, ever since Charlie had started walking and getting more active. He had been staying up later at night because he couldn't get as much work done during the day since he had to follow Charlie around and stop her from hurting herself or play with her to keep her occupied. But every time Sam would express concern, he'd always shrug it off and say that he's fine, that he can handle it. She knows that there's no way that Freddie would ever admit to her that taking care of an active, energetic baby is becoming too much for him on top of work and school.
Sam quickly prepared Charlie's mashed carrots/mashed peas mixture and took out her favorite train spoon (she blamed Freddie).
"Okay, baby girl," she said, dragging a stool in front of Charlie's chair. "Time to eat. Open up for the choo choo train. Choo choo..."
Again, she blamed Freddie for the whole train business but it's what got Charlie to eat when they first started her on baby food. Before the train spoon, most of the food would end up on Charlie's clothes or on Sam and Freddie's clothes. Or, on one memorable occasion, all over Sam's face and hair.
Charlie opened her mouth and Sam wiped away the mush and spittle that dripped down the baby's chin. They continued like this until Charlie, apparently full, released her mouthful onto her high chair table.
"Oh Charlie..." Sam groaned. "No no!" She cried as Charlie started slapping at her spit up, getting it all over her hands and splattering it onto her clothes and face.
Sam took her out of the high chair and winced as the baby put her hands on Sam's shoulder, getting the mush and spit all over her shirt. Yeah, being a parent was just glamorous. She'd bet all the money in the world that there's no way her sister would last a week.
"Need some help?" Freddie asked, suddenly by her side, his eyes dancing with mirth at her situation.
"I guess I'm going to give her a bath now," Sam sighed. "So you can heat up dinner."
"Okay." He smiled, wiping green mush off her cheek with his finger.
Sam took Charlie into the bathroom and prepared her bath. A half hour later they emerged, with Charlie all clean and ready for bed, and Sam completely soaked from head to toe. She handed the dry, happy baby wordlessly to Freddie and retreated back into the bathroom to dry herself and clean up the mess that her less than a foot tall baby had somehow made.
When Sam came back out, Charlie was in her playpen with her stuffed purple unicorn that Gibby had given her for her birthday, and dinner was ready on the counter.
Sam sat down and Freddie leaned over and kissed her.
"What was that for?" She asked, smiling.
"Nothing. For just being you."
Sam blushed but quickly spooned some lasagna onto her plate and they started eating.
"Melanie came by the restaurant today," Sam blurted out.
Freddie put his fork down. "Wow, she really won't leave you alone, huh? What did she say?"
Sam shrugged. "Typical Melanie stuff, it's all about her. She's been feeling guilty, like buyer's remorse in reverse, I guess."
"You know, I actually would have liked to be there to hear the telling off I'm sure you gave her," Freddie smirked.
"She said that she's going to get a lawyer."
He rolled his eyes. "Why can't she just leave already?"
"I've been thinking..." Sam bit her lip and looked at him cautiously.
"No," Freddie said, reading her expression. "You're not thinking of giving in are you?"
"It's not like I'm going to hand Charlie over," Sam defended. "There's no way Melanie's getting her back. She'll have to do it over my dead body-"
"And mine," Freddie put in.
"But maybe she could see her, just once?"
"No, Sam!"
"Melanie is my sister, Freddie. And like it or not, Charlie is her daughter..."
"No, she's our daughter, Sam! I don't care about the biology of it all. We are the ones raising her and no offense, but your sister is not in my good books. She's selfish and unreliable and I don't want that kind of influence around Charlie. I thought we were on the same page about that."
"I know," Sam said. "That's what I told her. But how can she change if she isn't given the opportunity?"
"You don't know that she'll change. Are you really willing to risk Charlie and her feelings when you know there's a big likelihood that Melanie will just bail again?"
Sam sighed and pushed her empty plate away. "You're right," she admitted. "It's just...It's not supposed to be this way. Melanie is not the screw-up in the family. She's the smart one, she's the one that has her life figured out. If she can't make it...if even perfect Melanie can succumb to the screw-up Puckett genes, then what hope do I have? How long will it be before I screw this, all of this up?"
"Sam..." Freddie got out of his seat and spun Sam's stool to face him. He wrapped his arms around her. "Listen to me, you are nothing like your sister. Granted, I don't know Melanie very well or at all really, but I've known you for practically my whole life. I know how smart you are and how loyal. I know you've spent your life not believing in yourself and that you've still managed to accomplish great things despite your self-doubts. I've seen you with Charlie, and I know that you're an absolutely amazing mother. You're not going to screw this up. You'll make mistakes, sure, and so will I. But everyone does. I know that we can do this together. Don't lose faith in yourself, Sam," he said gently. "I know I never will."
Sam nodded and kissed him softly before leaning her forehead against his.
"We can get through anything together," Freddie said. "I know we can."
She wanted to believe him, she really did. But she had a feeling that they were going to be seriously tested, and Sam wasn't sure she was ready for it.
A/N: Well, it's almost the end of 2012 and I just wanted to thank you all for continuing to read and support this story. I appreciate every review, favorite, follow, and view. I know that the Seddie fandom has been dwindling since iGoodbye so I appreciate your continued interest in this story even more in the wake of Dan breaking our hearts. I think there's only a few more chapters left in this but don't worry, I'm gotten quite attached to this universe and to Charlie. I have a few ideas on some further adventures of this little family. :)
To iliveinWA, I'm from Washington myself, I grew up about an hour away from Seattle. UDub is a common, affectionate nickname for the school. As if UW isn't shorthand enough, they shorten it by cutting the pronunciation of the W in half, lol. I've had a few friends who went to the school and call it that way. Kind of like how Berkeley is never really called Berkeley by students and residents of the Bay Area, but is instead simply CAL to all of us.