It's almost over! I'm so upset! But I'm glad I wrote it, so, so much! There'll probably be one or two more chapters after this, and it may be mostly fluff because they already admitted their love.
Sam's POV
He loves me, I thought as I laid in my bed, He loves me. It may've been a mistake on Freddie's part to say he loved me but I don't think he didn't mean it. He meant it; he just didn't mean to say it then. I couldn't stop before I responded "I love you, too." He didn't say anything, just left. But I had great dreams. The only thing I didn't enjoy about our little conversation was that I didn't know what to do the next morning. Do I bring it up? Do I pretend nothing happened? Do I kiss him? Do I hug him? Do I say it again? What, what, what do I do?
I don't know!
Those and other "Do I's" popped into my head as I dressed for the day. I hated that I'd be alone with him without knowing what to say or do. I had to face him though. So I took a deep breath, opened the door—
"Mommy!" Suddenly a flabby weight of some kind ran at me and I fell as I caught it. I landed on the floor with an "oof!" Blinking, I tried to make out what jumped on me. The grinning pudgy face of Guppy Gibson was close to mine, and I had to laugh. Guppy was wilder than the average six-year-old, like me at that age. Maybe that's why I liked the kid so much.
"Uh, 'Mommy'?" I asked with a grin. He nodded. I heard a knock on my door at that moment, and looked up to see a familiar boy—my husband. I could feel my cheeks flushing but I didn't show any sign of my discomfort.
"Morning, Mommy." Freddie chuckled. I took Guppy by the armpits and lifted him off of me. I then turned to face Freddie with a smirk.
"What's this 'Mommy' chiz?" I asked.
"Day Six of the challenge is to be parents." Freddie responded, "Too hard for you?" Oh, yeah. Well, as long as my kid's as awesome as Guppy, I'm fine. It just wouldn't be realistic because if Freducation and I really had a kid, he'd have some dork blood, which Guppy had none of.
"No," I said, "just checking, Daddy." He grinned at my new nickname for him, and I grinned back. A noise from our "son" got us out of our little daze.
"Are you gonna make out or somethin'?" Guppy asked. We both laughed whilst blushing. Freddie and I glanced at each other, and I swear on my grandmother's grave he was thinking Maybe later at me. A shiver went down my spleen.
"Come on, bud," I said, picking up Gibby's baby bro, "let's go do…mom-son stuff, 'k?"
"'K." Guppy replied, putting a tiny arm around my neck. I giggled (wait, I giggled? Must be the mom in me) and followed Freddio out to the living room. The sight on the sofa surprised me: a soccer ball with a few baseballs and an aluminum bat. I didn't even know Freddie owned sporty things. Guppy appeared unmoved by the sports equipment.
"What up?" I said, walking over and grazing my finger over the bat. "I didn't know you owned something so…non-nubbish." Freddie didn't roll his eyes at my comment like usual; instead he picked up the baseball, playing with it unhappily.
"My dad bought it for me on my fourth birthday." he said, "It was the month before he…died." These words hit me like a bullet. Freddie never talked about his dad but I knew he was gone. Still, hearing he died—when Freddie was only four—made me feel sorry for him. I knew the pain of losing a father, except mine just left. I didn't know if he was dead or not, but he was still gone. That was something Freddork and I had in common.
"I-I'm sorry." I stuttered. Freddie gave a small, depressed smile.
"S'okay." he said, "I'll see him again one day. And in the meantime I have my mom, Carly, Spencer, Gibby…" He didn't say it but I knew who he would say next. I didn't push; instead I picked up the soccer ball, put it under my armpit, and jogged to the door.
"C'mon, Fudgeface," I said, "time to play ball!"
"Yeah, Fudgeface!" Guppy said, mimicking me. I laughed out loud while Freddie blushed. He picked up the bat and came over to us, and stopped to poke Guppy in the stomach.
"That's 'Daddy' to you." he said. Guppy rolled his eyes into the back of his head, making us laugh again. Then we headed downstairs to the lobby and out to the park.
"Kick it to me, son! Kick it right to me!" Freddie was coaxing Guppy to kick the soccer ball which Guppy wasn't up to do. Like his older brother Guppy was no athlete and wasn't up to becoming one. Freddie wasn't David Beckham either but he couldn't grasp the fact Guppy was similar to him in that way. I simply looked on, trying to keep myself from rolling on the floor laughing at the pathetic sight.
"Thanks a lot, Mom." Freddie spat sardonically at me. I just smiled, which annoyed him (I'm sure of it and proud of it). As he turned his head back to face our child, a black-and-white sphere smashed him in the face. At that I did burst out into a fit of giggles. Oh geez, it was hilarious! I know, I know, I should be sympathetic considering he was writhing on the grass in pain but dang, it was funny!
The ding-a-ling of an ice cream truck rang through the air and Guppy, instead of coming to his father's aid, toddled over to the frosty treat car. I should've stayed with Freddie but I chased after Guppy. What? Mama loves dessert just as much as meat.
I purchased a creamsicle for my son and a grape popsicle for myself. Only mine was one of those popsicles that come with two sticks to share with another person. Guppy jammed the entire thing in his mouth. Wow, is his mouth big.
"Thank you for helping me." Freddie huffed, walking up to us just as the ice cream truck drove off. We licked our treats in response. It took him a second to realize we were eating popsicles; when he did he frowned.
"Ah, you didn't get me one?" he said.
"You snooze, you lose, bud." I said, putting emphasis on "bud" like in The Cosby Show. He looked down at his tennis shoes, sifting the dirt with his feet. "Are you gonna pout now?"
"No!" he shouted, but a red color crept onto his neck. He looks so cute with that shade. Oh, man, am I turning into Carly? So what if I love him—I'm not going crazy about him. However, I guess being the dude's wife I should be nicer. So I held out my double popsicle for him. He looked perplexedly at it first but then broke off half of it and licked it.
"Now don't whine." I said. He sighed at me, and I ruffled his brown hair in an attempt to be cute and irritating. I never fail.
Our happy family went to sit on a bench to eat our cold snacks. Guppy tried to swallow his whole so he could play with the kids going wild on the playground. If you haven't caught on by now, yes, it was the very same playground and bench where Fredwina proposed to me. Coincidence? Perhaps.
"Freddie, can I go over there?" Guppy asked, pointing to the children after he finished up his snack.
"Yes, but today I'm 'Daddy', remember?" Freddie asked.
"Ah, lay off!" Guppy said, and he ran off to the other kids. I had to laugh but Freddie just frowned. Man, that guy needs to get a sense of humor.
The two of us watched as our chubby child swung on the monkey bars and flirted with the girls. He was no Gibby, that's for sure. No Freddie either. Guppy was a total ladies' man. But maybe it's good Freddie isn't; that way he's all mine. Wow, this being in love with Fredweird thing is so strange.
We were so intent on our son that we didn't notice two people walk over to us until they said something. One was a male and the other a female. I recognized both at once: Principal Franklin and Van.
Me and the nerd spun around faster than one could think possible and smiled widely at our visitors. Freddie might not have remembered Van but he sure knew Ted.
"Hello, Principal Franklin," he greeted, "And…"
"Vanessa." I said for him, and he nodded embarrassedly, "But call her Van." I scooted closer to Freddie and patted the empty seats beside me. In the process of scooting nearer to the dork, I pushed him off and he got a mouthful of dirt. After glaring at me, he said "You could apologize, you know."
"Oh, stop whining." I responded, and he mumbled something under his breath before sitting again. Van and Ted chuckled at our antics.
"I'm still shocked how much you two are like my Melissa and I." Ted said.
"Likewise." Van said. Freddie and I both cocked our eyebrows. I was surprised Ted's marriage was like Freddie's and mine, and I'm sure the dork felt the same about Van's.
"You both married your complete opposites?" I asked. Van nodded.
"Yes," Van said, "It must run in the family. My daughter married this man and, from what I've known, he's much like your husband." Hmm, I thought, I didn't realize how many love/hate relationships there were.
"Wow, that's a lot of Fram-like couples." Freddie joked. We all looked at him like he was mentally unstable.
"'Fram'?" I asked. His smile left.
"Seddie?" he asked in reply to my question. I just rolled my blue eyes at him, making the adults laugh.
"Well, we shouldn't bother you all." Ted said, standing. We said our goodbyes and Ted and his mother-in-law left. At the same time Guppy came running up to us. Freddie lifted him up with a moan (he's not very strong) and we all went back to his car. All the way back to Bushwell Plaza Guppy told us about his new friends and we both acted like it was the most astonishing thing in the world. So that's what it felt like to be a mother. Good practice, I s'pose.
When we arrived home Freddie went with Guppy up to the iCarly studio for more father-son time. I was going to head up as soon as I got some ham for myself. After I raided the fridge, I went to throw the plastic the ham was wrapped in away. When I tossed it in, I caught sight of a piece of paper with handwriting in red pen. I recalled a certain Thursday night of wooing when I saw this paper. Curiosity overcame me and I snatched it out.
Dearest Samantha, it read, From the hour of our first meeting I could not picture you as the beauteous creature you were to become. With your sunny coiled ringlets and never-ending pools of cerulean on your face and alluring pink lips I find my heart skipping needed beats. Alas, I found myself blinded by wronged lust for a dear brunette. If only I knew of the great hole in my life and how it could be filled by your love, then perchance I wouldn't have dared a glance towards her. I know now of my mistake and that it's you—only, only you—that I must hold. If you shall allow it, I will take your hand and lead you to places thought unimaginable by my love. Let me take your heart, for you've already stolen mine. One word summed this entire poem up: corny. Did you expect "beautiful" or "tear-jerking"? In that case I pity you. It was the corniest chiz I'd ever read and was written by the corniest nub I'd ever laid eyes on. Of course I was in love with said corny nub. Oh, well.