Freddie's POV

The day as parents fasted much quicker than expected. Guppy's a pretty neat kiddo but I can't imagine what it'd be like to be his parent 24/7. His antics and wisecracks could get tiring after a few hours. It also didn't help that the kid kicked a soccer ball in my face and had started accustoming to calling me "Fudgeface". I just grinned and bore it because I knew it'd be over soon enough. Only two days were left of the challenge and it appeared both Sam and I would win, meaning Andrea would see no paint drip on anyone.

Sam came up to the studio after awhile of me and Guppy arguing over my masculinity (he claimed I had no muscle and that Gibby was the toughest person he knew—that's really what jumpstarted it) and I thanked her for arriving. She smirked at the blush on my face from the nonstop quarrel with a six-year-old.

"Too hard for you, Pop?" she joked, patting me on the back with too much force. I grimaced, going over to the computer on my tech cart. Guppy started telling Sam about our argument and how he won. I overlooked Sam's sniggers best I could and checked my e-mail: spam, spam, spam, spam, Andrea, spam—wait, who?

Andrea's e-mail address blinked back at me. I was confused on why she was e-mailing me considering we hadn't talked since Monday. How bad could it be? I thought, clicking on it but my hands were unsteady.

Hello, Freddie. I've been watching you and Sam progress through this challenge online and, if I do say so myself, you two are liking this more than you thought you would. You act very nicely as a married couple—why, if I didn't know better, I'd say you really were newlyweds. It's a very nice thing to see two people change by one, simple thing. I have a lot of friends who are as excited as I am (if not more so) at your sudden feeling change. You may've seen them at your wedding; they loved coming back and saying they went to "Seddie's wedding". Seddie? They had a name for us? I was only kidding earlier with Principal Franklin and his mother-in-law. I'm looking forward to visiting you all at the end of it all. Until then.—Andrea

"Hey, Sam?" I said. Sam—who had been giving her baby boy a piggyback—set him down and walked over to me.

"What up?" she asked.

"That Andrea chick's gonna visit us." I said. Her eyes enlarged in surprise, but she didn't appear overly shocked.

"Okay…" she said, "That's a bit…stalker-ish." Stalker-ish wasn't the adjective I had in mind but Sam saying it kind of scared me. What if she was some creepy stalker person who kidnapped Sam and I or something? If she was anything like Nora, it'd be the worst-case scenario. Wait…what if she was Nora using a fake alias? Oh…oh no!

"What if she's Nora?" I said, my face paling, "She could be using a fake name so we'd let her come, and then she'd take us back to that sound booth of horror!" Sam held a hand to my mouth, shushing me. Her face had a smirk on it that said "You're a paranoid freak" but in a cute, loving way. Something told me every time she insulted me from then on it'd be in a cute, loving way with a little malice thrown in here and there.

"Hold your horses, cowboy." she laughed, "I'm sure Nora wouldn't be that careful. Besides, why don't we enjoy the time we have left as husband and wife before it's up?" With that, she tugged me away from the e-mail and over to Guppy, who again launched into a tale of his superiority. I even donated a chuckle at the way he told his funny (yet insulting) story about me. It was like we really were one happy family.

Later that evening Guppy borrowed Spencer's bedroom for a sleepover. Clad in his footie pajamas with the dragons on them, he crawled between the covers of Spence's giant bed and looked back at us with a smile. I tucked him in as Sam looked over us with a motherly glint in her blue eyes. I reckon she'd make a good mother one day.

"G'night, Gup." I said, patting his head.

"Sleep tight." Sam said, doing the same. Guppy grinned at us before closing his eyes and going to sleep. We turned his light off and tiptoed out of the room, shutting the door behind us.

Once we were in the living room, I found it was the first time Sam and I were alone since my error in telling her I loved her. Considering how the last time I said something on accident went down, I figured she was feeling awkward and faking like she wasn't. However, Sam was always a square peg you tried to fit in a round hole; no matter how hard you tried, you could never understand her.

"So…" I said, "That was fun."

"Yeah." she responded, no awkward tone to her voice unlike mine, "Guppy's a cute kid." I bobbed my head to agree, looking away from her as the sweat began to drip from the apprehension. She wasn't nervous in any way (an act, perchance) so, of course, I had to be the edgy one. That's me—Fredweird the Edgy Nub.

"Um—" I started, but Sam's agitated grunt stopped me before I could say something comprehensible.

"Aren't you gonna kiss me?" she asked. I began apologizing before I processed what she said; when I did I was glad, but confused.

"What?" I said, always the intellectual. She rolled her eyes, hands upon her hips.

"In every afterschool special, by now you would've given a touchy-feely speech and kissed me. Don't you watch television?" she explained. I was flabbergasted at her sudden outburst; she was yelling at me for not kissing her? Really, if she wanted to, she could've just asked.

"So you want a kiss." I said, not asking.

"No duh, oatmeal-for-brains." she said. She insults me, yells at me, and then wants a kiss—this describes the girl I love. I couldn't ask for more.

I chuckled silently to myself, leaned as she did too and…well, I don't think I need to elaborate.

"Help!" This cry of terror resonated down the hall to the spare bedroom. Sam and I popped up from our slumber as though we'd never fell asleep in the first place. I went to ask her what she thought it was when she leapt from her side of the bed and ran out. I'd never seen her run so fast since the last time ham was served for dinner. It was like she knew who shouted it and why. Figuring I'd better follow, I got up and hurried to where she went.

Sobs from Spencer's bedroom notified me where she was. When I went in, Sam was lying in bed with Guppy, cradling him as tears cascaded down his face. My heart cracked in two at the spectacle; I didn't know what was happening but the look on their faces made me feel very dejected. I walked over to them as quietly as I could and slid under the covers. I put my hand on Sam's back as to get closer to them while she rocked him forwards and backwards in an attempt to calm him down. I asked in a hushed tone what was going on.

"Guppy had a nightmare." she whispered. Guppy, sniffling, nodded as he wiped another tear.

"There was a huge monster chasing me." he said, "It had five heads and big fangs and said it was gonna eat me." He couldn't finish for he again started bawling. Sam shushed him with gentleness and rocked him again. I swear, this side of Sam was unthinkable but so, so admirable. I wanted to be as good a parent as she.

"Lonesome stranger," Sam began singing. I looked over to her at the revelation of such a hypnotic voice. "with a crowd around you. I see who you are. You joke, they laugh 'til the show is over. Then you fall so hard." Guppy's eyelids drooped lower as she sang until they were shut and he was again dreaming. Sam kept rocking him, in case he wasn't fully asleep.

"What's that song?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I wrote it," she said, "just now." Dang, she's beautiful, motherly, and now a songwriting genius? I thought, I sure know how to pick 'em. Sam and I both got out of the bed, patted our son-for-the-day on the head, and went back to our room.

The song, if you couldn't tell, is Homeless Heart by the always amazing Jennette McCurdy. I'm sad to say this story will most likely have only two more chapters, including an epilogue. It's been very nice with you all, and I thank you for reading and making me feel like I do something right.