Chapter Seventeen
It had been the worst hour of his life.
Freddie had gone straight to the Shays after getting a frantic phone call from Carly. There was no doubt that Melanie had taken Charlie, it was just a matter of finding her before she took the baby out of the state. Sam, Spencer, Ian, and Gibby were all there at the apartment. They had called the police and Ian's dad. Freddie had spoken to the police officer that had come over and was assured that they would be posting AMBER alerts and notifying all of the nearby airports. Spencer and Gibby were now on the phone, trying to find the hotel Melanie was staying at. Ian sat on the stairs with Carly, who was sobbing softly into his chest.
But what worried Freddie the most was Sam. She had been panicked and angry when she first arrived at the apartment. Freddie had expected a firestorm of activity from her, that she'd make use of her uncle's prison contacts to find Melanie, and she'd get their baby back and beat her sister with her butter sock, which he wouldn't stop her from her doing. But instead she had taken one look in the empty playpen and picked up Charlie's bear that had been left behind and completely deflated. She had been catatonic on the couch ever since, holding the bear to her chest. As if losing Charlie wasn't bad enough, it tore Freddie apart to see Sam like this.
He sat down next to her.
"We'll get her back, Sam," he said gently.
"She didn't even take her bear," Sam said, her voice breaking. "Charlie won't be able to sleep..."
Freddie wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to his chest. Sam buried her face in Freddie's neck, the bear clutched tightly in her arms.
There was a knock on the door and Spencer answered it. Melanie came in with a crying Charlie in her arms and at once, Sam and Freddie stood up. Sam hurried over and took Charlie, barely glancing at her sister. As soon as the baby settled in Sam's arms she stopped crying.
"Mama..." Charlie said, her hands tangling on Sam's shirt.
"That's right sweetie, mama's here," Sam said, holding Charlie close and placing kisses on her face.
Freddie also kissed Charlie and look her over quickly, making sure she was alright. After a few minutes Sam looked up at Melanie, whom to her credit, hadn't run out the door and made a quick escape while she could have.
Sam handed Charlie to Freddie. He caught the murderous look in her eye and quickly gave the baby to Carly, who had walked up behind him.
"Sam, let me explain..." Melanie started.
"Explain?" Sam said coldly. "Sure, explain to me why you kidnapped my baby and then I'll knock your teeth out with my butter sock."
"Sam." Freddie put a hand on her arm.
"I didn't mean to kidnap her!" Melanie said, wringing her hands out anxiously. "I just wanted to see her and you wouldn't let me so I...followed you a little bit. I saw you go into Bushwell with the baby and come out without her. I waited outside the backdoor until I saw Carly leave and I was just going to look at Charlotte but I saw her lying there, looking so beautiful and so much bigger than I remember...so I took her. But I was going to bring her back! I just wanted to spend time with her."
"You might think you're explaining but really you're just making things worse for yourself," Freddie said.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "All you're telling us is that you're a stalker and a kidnapper!"
She moved towards her sister but Freddie quickly grabbed her around the waist and held her back.
"Carly, take Charlie upstairs," he ordered. He had a feeling things were about to get ugly and he needed Charlie out of there. Carly nodded and hurried up the stairs.
"I called my dad, he's on his way," Ian said.
"I can call the police," Spencer offered.
"No! Please don't," Melanie begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. "If I get arrested, I'll get kicked out of school!"
"You should have thought of that before you kidnapped Charlie!" Sam exclaimed.
"I brought her back! Please Sam..." She moved closer.
"I'd keep my distance," Freddie warned, still keeping a firm grip around Sam's waist. Melanie hesitated but Sam's feral expression made her move back a few steps.
"Sam, can we just talk? Please..."
Sam's stiff body relaxed in Freddie's grip and she moved away from him.
"Sam..." He grabbed her arm.
"Just give me a minute, Freddie."
He was going to protest but the determination on her face made him back off. Instead, he held out his hand. Sam sighed heavily and pulled her butter sock out of her back pocket, placing it on Freddie's palm.
"Sam!" Freddie called as she turned away.
"She kidnapped Charlie!" Sam protested.
"Give it to me, Sam," he said.
She hiked her right pant leg up and pulled another butter sock out of her boot and give it to him. He nodded in satisfaction and she walked out into the hallway with her sister, the door closing behind them.
Freddie threw the butter socks onto the table and fell back onto the couch.
"So we're not calling the police?" Spencer asked, sitting down next to him.
"I should call them and tell them we have Charlie back but we'll wait until they finish out there and see what Sam wants to do."
"I think Melanie should be arrested," Ian said. "Who kidnaps a baby?"
"Aliens?" Gibby suggested.
They all turned to look at him.
"When Guppy was five, he went missing for twelve hours. My dad said he was abducted by aliens because he found some weird white alien spaceship residue on the grass in our backyard."
"Where was Guppy?" Ian asked.
"Aliens took him! Weren't you listening? And then we found him asleep in the treehouse."
"He couldn't have been in the treehouse the whole time?" Freddie asked.
"Right, and the spaceship residue was just the tipped over can of white paint," Gibby scoffed.
"You think maybe he was the one kidnapped by aliens?" Ian asked quietly as Gibby went into the kitchen.
Freddie shrugged. "It would explain a lot."
The door opened and Sam walked in without Melanie. Freddie stood up and went over to her.
"You okay?" He asked, rubbing a hand down her arm.
"Yeah," she sighed. "Let's just get Charlie and go home."
"What about Melanie? Where is she?"
"She left. She's going back to New Jersey. She won't bother us anymore."
He frowned. "That's it? She took Charlie!"
"She gave her back. Look, she's my sister. I'm not going to have her arrested."
"But..."
"Let it go, Freddie. We talked it out and I took care of it. I'm going to get Charlie and then I'm going home. You coming or not?"
"I-I...um, later. Ian's dad is on his way so I should talk to him. And I'll let the police know that we have Charlie and that we're not pressing charges."
Sam nodded. "I'll see you at home then." She squeezed his hand gratefully and went up the stairs.
"Can you believe that?" Freddie asked once Sam was out of earshot. "Let it go? Melanie kidnapped Charlie! How am I supposed to let that go?"
"It sounds like they worked it out," Spencer said.
"They were out there for ten minutes! Unless Sam killed her and hid her body, I don't see how they could have worked it out."
"You don't have any siblings, right, Freddie?" Ian asked.
"No."
"Sometimes siblings just have a way of working things out between them," Spencer explained.
"So you're saying that if you had a baby and Carly kidnapped her then you would just be fine with it?" Freddie asked in disbelief.
"I'm saying that if Sam said she took care of it then you should believe her," Spencer said, standing up and clapping Freddie on the back.
"Hey, my dad is in the lobby," Ian said as he looked down at his phone. "Want to go down to meet him?"
"Yeah, sure."
X
It was quiet in the apartment when Freddie got home. He dropped his bag on the couch and made his way to Charlie's room. It was dark, the nightlight wasn't on like it usually was and when he walked over to the crib, it was empty. His chest tightened but he tried not to panic.
He went into his room and there was Sam, lying on the bed with Charlie sleeping beside her. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and bent down to kiss Sam's forehead before walking to the other side of the bed and lying down, Charlie in between him and Sam.
"Do you mind if she sleeps here?" Sam asked. "I-I can't..."
"I know," he said, placing a hand over hers. She couldn't stand to let Charlie out of her sight and truthfully, he didn't feel keen on it either. "Me too."
"Did you talk to Ian's dad?"
"Yeah. And I don't know if you'll like this or not but he told me that these type of kidnappings aren't uncommon in custody battles and that he has a private investigator that he usually hires to track the movements of the other parent in custody battles that he represents. He asked me if I wanted his PI to keep tabs on Melanie, to make sure that she doesn't try to take Charlie again and I said yes."
Sam nodded. "It's probably for the best. She said she's leaving tomorrow though so we won't need him for long."
"I-I don't understand how you're just okay with this. What did you guys talk about? What did she say?"
"She said that she didn't mean to take Charlie, that she just wanted to spend some time with her."
"And you believe her?"
"She did bring Charlie back. She didn't try to leave the state with her or anything."
"But..."
"Freddie, we have Charlie back. And Melanie is my sister. I'm mad at her but I'm not going to throw her in jail and ruin her career."
"I can understand that, I guess," he said reluctantly. "I called the police and told them we're not pressing charges."
"Thank you."
"Is she still going to try to fight for Charlie?"
Sam shrugged. "I think so."
"She's still going to try and take Charlie away from us and you're okay with that?" He asked incredulously.
"I'm not okay. I'm not okay with anything," she said. "But I can't think about that right now because we have Charlie here with us and she's safe and here." She caressed one of Charlie's hands. "Can we just not think about anything else? Just for tonight?"
As Freddie gazed into Sam's blue eyes across the pillow, he realized that he didn't truly understand how much Sam had changed over the past year. Maybe it was because he was too close to the situation, but he didn't see until now the profound effect that motherhood has had on Sam Puckett. No longer was she the impulsive, reckless teenager he had once known but instead a woman who was nurturing and empathized with others. It wasn't just Charlie, either. Freddie had seen her take on some questionable teenagers at the restaurant that most people wouldn't hire. Teens that had juvie records and personalities that were not unlike Sam at sixteen. Some might say that Sam's gone soft but Freddie could now see how she's grown, how she's become the Sam Puckett that she always could have been if life hadn't dealt her such bad cards early on in life. And if Sam wanted to think better of her sister, who was he to get in the way of that? But just because Sam was done with Melanie for now, didn't mean that he was. He put that out of his mind though, deciding to just enjoy the moment with Sam and their beautiful baby, who was home and safe with them.
He leaned over and kissed Sam and vowed to himself that Charlie would always be with them.
X
Melanie's hotel was only ten minutes away. Freddie struggled with what to do with Charlie after Sam had left to go to work but finally he decided on calling Spencer and having him come over to watch her.
He knocked on her door and waited a few minutes until she opened it.
"Freddie," she said, surprised.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure, come in." She opened the door wider and he walked in.
The room was small with just the basics of a bed, nightstand, and a TV on top of a dresser. There was a small, round dining table beside the window and that's where Melanie led him. He took a seat across from her.
"I would offer you something to drink but I really have nothing here," she said, smiling timidly.
"I'm here about Charlie," he said, bypassing the small talk.
Melanie nodded. "I know."
"What you did yesterday...Do you have any idea what you put us through? You might not care about me because you don't know me but Sam? And Carly was a wreck. She still is. She's convinced that she can't be trusted with watching Charlie now."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take her, I really didn't. I just saw her sleeping and she was so beautiful...I just needed to be with her for a little while. I took her here and she just cried the whole time. She could tell that I wasn't Sam, that I was a stranger...I'm a stranger to my own baby. There are no words to express how awful that feels, Freddie. And I know. I know it's my own fault. I'm the one that abandoned her. I made a mistake and now I want to make it right."
"And how will you make it right? By taking her away from the parents that she knows? The home that she's grown up in? It's been a year, Melanie. Time didn't stand still. Sam and I have grown to love that baby like our own. And she loves us."
Tears spilled down Melanie's cheeks. "I know. I can see that. But I love Charlotte too and I want to make things right."
"Sometimes being a parent means doing what's best for your child, even if it hurts you," Freddie said. "Sam and I have jobs, we can provide for Charlie. We both go to school and we work but we've established a routine for Charlie. We also have a support system of friends and family who help us with raising Charlie, and she's grown attached to them as well. I am asking you, Melanie, as a mother, to think about that. And think about whether you can provide a similar stable environment for Charlie, either now or in the near future, before you try to fight us for custody. Because if there is any chance at all that Sam and I will lose, then all I want to know is that Charlie will be raised in a stable environment with all of the love and attention that she deserves. So please, just think about that.
"Look," he said, feeling bad at how much of a scolded child Melanie looked like. "Sam and I know you love Charlie. And I can appreciate how hard it must have been for you to give her up. But you made the right choice in giving her to Sam. We wouldn't be fighting you so hard if we didn't think we could give Charlie the best life possible."
"Do you think I could ever be part of Charlie's life?"
"I think that if you give Sam time to get over what you did and if you actually made an effort to stay in regular contact with her...then she'd consider it. You're her sister, Melanie. She does love you. But you have to earn her trust."
He stood up and turned to leave.
"Freddie," Melanie said, stopping him at the door.
He turned around.
"Sam is lucky to have you. And so is Charlie."
He didn't know if that meant what he wanted it to mean but he decided not to pursue the subject. He had already said his piece. He nodded at her and left.
X
Sam carefully closed Charlie's door. She had gotten her energetic baby down for a nap and she was thrilled. With Charlie sleeping and Freddie out to a meeting with a client, it meant that she practically had the apartment to herself. She was going to fry herself some bacon and sit down to watch the MMA fight she had recorded.
The buzzer sounded and Sam sighed. It figured her afternoon to herself would be disturbed. She walked over to the intercom and pressed the button.
"What's up Chester?"
"Hey Sam, you have a letter here at the desk. Do you want me to bring it up?"
"Could you, Chester? I'd come down and get it myself but Charlie's sleeping and I don't want to leave her..."
"It's no problem, Sam. I'll be right up."
"Thank you."
She went into the kitchen and heated up some milk in a mug, quickly preparing her special hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. When the knock came on the door, she carried the mug over.
"Hey Chester. Here you go, for your trouble." She handed over the mug.
"Oh, Sam, you didn't have to," he smiled at her.
"Come on, it's my special hot chocolate. You know you want it..." She waved the mug in front of his face.
"Well, alright..." He took the mug and handed her the letter.
"Thank you, Sam."
"Thanks for this." She held up the letter. "Who is it from?"
"From you."
"What?"
"That sister of yours. It's so weird, she came up to the desk and at first I really thought it was you. She asked me to give that to Sam and I thought why would you be asking me to give you a letter to yourself?" He laughed. "It took a minute for my old brain to catch up."
"Oh. Did she just leave?"
"Yeah, got in a cab and left."
"Okay. Thank you, Chester," she smiled.
"I'll bring the mug back up."
"Don't worry about it. I'll pick it up whenever. Or if you see Freddie come in later, you can give it to him."
He tipped the mug to her and left.
Sam looked down at the envelope in her hand. It had 'Sam' written on the front in Melanie's messy cursive. She really was going to become a doctor, she already had the handwriting for it.
Sam sat down on the couch and pulled the single sheet of paper out from the envelope.
Dear Sam,
First of all, I want to say that I'm really sorry for taking Charlie. I promise, it will never happen again. I don't know what to say...I guess that's why I'm writing this letter instead of talking to you face to face. I always did take the coward's way out, huh? But not you, Sam. You've always been the strong one out of the two of us. You took care of me when dad left us, you stood by mom when she turned into a trainwreck, and now you're raising my daughter. I can't thank you enough for that. She's so beautiful and healthy and man, she can really scream.
I'm such a mess, Sam. This past year has been hell as I tried to figure out what I really want. I thought I already had it figured out. I've always wanted to be a doctor. Remember when J'Maw Maw gave me that doctor's kit on our fifth birthday and I tried to make you be my patient? But you couldn't sit still long enough to be a patient. You'd rather do stuff like break into Mrs. Oldman's kitchen and steal her freshly baked cookies. But then you saw how upset I would get at not having a patient other than my Raggedy Tess doll and you pushed our neighbor Steven Gunther out of a tree and made him break his wrist so that he could be my patient. He was a whiny, snotty kid but I loved every moment of being a "doctor". Even over ten years later, that feeling hasn't gone away. I still really want to become a doctor.
I'm telling you all of this because I want you to know that I've made my decision. I'm going to finish college, I'm going to get into a really great med school, and I'm going to finally be a doctor. I don't think I could do anything else and not regret it ten years later, you know? I've dreamed of this for so long that I don't think I could live with myself if I don't actually do it. But this means that I really can't be a mom. And I think I'm okay with that now. I can see how much you love Charlie and I know that you've been a really great mom to her. I knew that when I left her with you that you're the only person I could truly trust her with, but I think you've surpassed even my expectations with the amount of love and devotion you've given her. For that, I'm endlessly grateful.
You told me that I'm selfish and you were completely right. I am selfish and as horrible as it may sound, I don't think I'm ready to change. I'm not ready to put another person before myself and I'm not ready to sacrifice my dreams. This means I'm not ready to be a mother. But you are. You're so completely ready. I shouldn't have doubted that.
I talked to Freddie and I can see how much he loves you and Charlie. I want to thank you both for giving her a family. I had no right to try and disturb that and I want to reassure you that it will never happen again. If you guys want to adopt her, I'll cooperate fully and sign whatever you need me to sign. You can give her the life that I can't give her and I'm lucky that you're both so willing to do it.
I just want to make one request. I'd really like to still be in your life and in Charlie's life. And I know it was my own fault for cutting off communication from you but I just couldn't face what I had done. But I'm ready now. I still want to be your sister and I want us to be able to talk and keep updated on each other's lives. I want to know how Charlie's doing...I could be her Aunt Melanie. I'd really like to be able to visit with you guys sometimes, whenever you feel ready. I don't want to lose touch with my family. My new phone number is on the bottom of the page. Call me whenever you feel ready to.
Thank you, Sam. Really and truly. I'm so glad you're my sister. And I'm glad you're Charlie's mom now. I'm so proud of everything you've done, with the restaurant and school and your relationship with Freddie. I don't think you understand how much of a remarkable person you are. You're an inspiration to me and I know you will be to Charlie. You'll teach her strength, loyalty, courage, and love. All of the things that you've always had and that I'm still learning.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Melanie
P.S. I wrote a letter for Charlie. I was going to leave it with this letter but you should make the decision on what capacity I'll have in her life. I am okay with being Aunt Melanie but I don't know if you'll ever want to tell her that I'm her biological mom. If you do, I have a letter for you to give her when the time comes. If you don't want to tell her, I'll respect that and keep my silence.
Sam folded up the letter and sat back on the couch. She sat there for a really long time. For so long that the front door opened and Freddie walked in.
"Hey Sam, I brought you some fried chicken. The meeting went really well, you won't believe what this client is willing to pay me..." He looked at her sitting still on the couch. "Sam, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said. "Something just went very very right."
He sat down beside her and she handed him the letter. Several minutes went by while he read it and when he finished Freddie looked up at her.
"This is good, right?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"Then why don't you seem happier about it?"
"I-I don't know. I guess I'm still processing it. Charlie is really ours now," she smiled. "I just didn't think it would be this easy."
"To be fair we did go through a hellish few hours when we thought we might not see Charlie again," he pointed out.
"There is that. I just expected a court battle and more drama...I don't know, since when has anything ever come easy for me?"
"Baby," Freddie said soothingly, brushing her hair back over her shoulder. "This is a good thing."
"I know." She laid her head on his shoulder and they just sat there in silent contentment.
"You said you had chicken?" Sam asked.
Freddie grinned and grabbed the bag he had set on the coffee table.
"It's right here. Come on, let's go eat." He stood up and walked to the kitchen with the bag.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Sam said, quickly following behind him.
"Why is it so quiet?" Freddie asked as he took out the plates and silverware.
"Charlie's asleep, can't you tell?"
"You got her to nap for this long?"
"Eh, I made her a fortress of pillows and let her run and crawl around inside of it. She tired herself out and went right to sleep."
Freddie looked at her. "Wha-how...how..." He stuttered. "Why didn't I think of something like that?"
"Because you have no imagination, Fredpuss. Your mom must have scrubbed it out of with the tick baths. You have to know how to think like a kid sometimes."
Freddie put a plate in front of her, although Sam had already torn into the bucket and was munching on a drumstick in her hand.
"Yes, and you're quite talented at that," he smirked. "You know, if you didn't have the restaurant, you could have started a baby-sitting business."
"And take care of screaming brats all day?" Sam scoffed. "In what universe would I do that?"
"You take care of Charlie," Freddie pointed out, taking a seat beside her and jabbing a piece of chicken with a fork and setting it neatly on his plate.
"That's different. There's only one of her and she's mine. I'm not taking care of a bunch of stranger's bratty kids."
Freddie smiled at her. "I still say you'd be good at it."
She shook her head. "Maybe in another lifetime, Freddifer."
"Yeah, probably in a parallel universe where you never took Gibby's out of Ridgeway. You know, because theoretically, we could live in a world where every decision we make creates a universe. One where we did something and one where we didn't do something-"
"Hey!" Sam cut in loudly. "So Melanie said in her letter that you talked to her?"
Freddie turned to her. "Well, that conversation turn gave me whiplash. You want to talk about that?"
"Anything to stop your yapping. When did you talk to my sister?"
"I went to her hotel," he said. "I hope that what I said to her had a part in her decision but I think she was already feeling bad enough for taking Charlie the way she did."
"What did you say to her?"
Freddie shrugged. "Just that she should think about what's best for Charlie and that we wouldn't be fighting so hard for her if we didn't know that we could give her the best life possible. She seemed to listen to me."
Sam slid off her stool and draped her arms around Freddie's neck.
"Thank you," she said.
"I really don't think I did anything," he protested.
Sam pressed her forehead against his. "You do a lot. You do so much. For me and for Charlie."
He smiled. "You're getting sentimental, it's freaking me out."
"Shh..." she said, kissing him. "No more talking."
"Okay..." He murmured into her lips.