AN: time for mr. shay's opinion! sorry for the delay. D:

oh, new story by the way! it's called "iHaunt iCarly" and it's that random fic I've been wanting to do for a long time. And in it you'll find my rant as to why "iSaved Her Life" isn't up. I'm still bitter :P but i'm shutting up now. thanks for the reviews, it means alot! :)

It's no secret that I haven't been around much. I'm a military man. I go wherever they tell me to go, no questions asked. I love my job and I love my country, but sometimes, I wish I would've chosen a different profession. I don't get to see my kids hardly at all, and my wife died several years ago. Because of this, Carly's had to grow up with no one but Spencer as a parent. Sure, my father stops in from time to time to check up on them, but Spencer's the one raising her. I'll be the first to admit that I was worried about that at first, but after time I realized he really could be responsible and that he did take good care of Carly.

To put it simply: I feel bad. I feel bad that I can't be there for Carly's birthdays like I could Spencer's. I feel bad that I'm just never around. I do get time off, and I most certainly come home to visit…but every time I do, I'm surprised. I know if I had to grow up with no parents I would've been unhappy as a kid. But, she's happy. I was surprised, but it didn't take me long to figure it out.

There aren't two gaps in her life like I thought there was. She's got two very close best friends to fill them. I'm not saying they replace parents, but it helps. Whenever I come I notice that they practically live over there, and knowing Spencer, they probably do. A boy and a girl - Freddie and Sam.

Freddie is…a bit wimpy. Being a man in the military, I can afford to be a little judgmental about these things. If it were up to me, I'd man that boy up a little bit. Instead he's into computers and technology. Not my favorite hobby of choice but I digress. He's a good kid.

Sam…oh Sam. Sam is another story entirely. She's obnoxious, sarcastic, and rude. She has zero respect for authority and she outright aggravates me. I've tried shooing her away but she just keeps coming back. A few years ago I even tried talking to Carly about it, and the only thing that resulted from that was Carly being mad at me. Spencer didn't agree with me either; no one did. Was it so hard to understand that I only wanted what was best for my daughter? Sam was a bad influence and a little delinquent. What kind of father wants their daughter around that?

But I was wrong. Spencer told me to pull the stick out of my ass and take a look around. Watch Carly and Sam when they can be Carly and Sam. He said that if I understood them more, I wouldn't be opposed to her. I was skeptical at first, but I soon learned.

Carly may be the good kid and Sam may be the bad kid, but that's only because I'm biased. I only see the good in my little girl and the bad in Sam. But the truth is, there's bad in Carly and good in Sam. Carly's no saint and Sam's no devil. It was a hard fact to accept, but it's a fact. I'm a facts kind of guy.

The fact is they love each other. They're too oblivious to see that they could possibly work as a romance, but for right now they just have love. They take care of each other, protect each other, hell they learn from each other. Sam learns how to function in society and Carly learns how to have a little fun. I'm not saying I want her to be like Puckett by any means, but a little loosening up never hurt anyone. A little harmless fun, not the 'wind up in juvie' kind that I was originally worried about.

I often wondered why Sam wasn't in jail yet, and it was because of Carly. Carly kept her out of a lot of trouble over the years because whatever Carly said is how things went. Well, mostly. Obviously Sam didn't listen to EVERYTHING she said, but pretty damn close. That girl is completely whipped and smitten over Carly, and yet my daughter can't see it. I'm not even sure Sam knows it either.

I was originally worried that Sam would get Carly into trouble. That is what delinquents do: they do some sort of crime with a good person present, get caught, and the innocent one ends up in the middle of the whole mess. I expressed my concern to Spencer about it and he laughed at me. He informed me that anything illegal or 'bad' that Sam does is completely separate from Carly. She doesn't let Carly get in trouble. I was skeptical; but I guessed I would just have to take everyone's word for it. I hated not being around, I couldn't see things for myself. Gah. Maybe it's time for me to have a one on one chat with Sam about my daughter, maybe then I'll get some real insight.

I was raised a military man, so that's all I know. And when I see how different Carly and Sam are, the only thing I can think is that they're like a soldier and his gun. The soldier is disciplined and for the most part, a good individual. His gun? A weapon that when in the wrong hands can be lethal and dangerous. But if properly handled, it can do a lot of good. Carly and Sam. Alright, so comparing my daughter and her best friend to a soldier and a gun is a bit of a stretch, but I'm grasping at straws here. They just go together.

Carly and Sam. Best friends. Sisters. More? Good god I hope not, she's still my little girl after all, I'm not ready to give her away just yet.