It was your average school night. Carly, Sam and Freddie were in the iCarly studio planning the next webcast.
"So I think that's everything we need for next week's show." Carly and Sam started wooing.
"Everything's set Freddie?" Carly go off the beanbag.
"Yeah have it written down right here."
"Sweet!" Sam got up as well and stretched
"I don't know about you all but I'm beat."
"Yeah it is getting pretty late. I think I'm turn in." Carly yearned
They all headed out the studio and down stairs.
"Hey Carls can use your phone to call my house?"
"What's wrong with your phone, Sam?"
"I uh, forgot to charge it this morning." She held up her completely dead cell phone.
"Hey Sam how could you forget to charge you phone?" Freddie asked from his place on the couch. Sam walked behind him.
"The same way how I almost forgot to do this…" She slapped him on the back of his head
"Hey Carly are you gonna let her treat me like this?" Freddie complained
"Alright you two cut it out before I have to separate you both."
"Ah don't bother, I gonna call my mom to pick me up anyway."
Sam dialed her home number and waited for her mom to answer.
"How you two became friends I will never figure out." Freddie commented
Just then there was a knock at the door.
"Carly could you get that Spencer yelled from his room?"
"Yeah, sure thing."
She answered the door to find Freddie's mom.
"Hi Mrs. Benson."
"Hello Carly." She walked right past Carly
"Freddie it's almost past your bedtime and you still haven't taken your organic bubble bath yet."
Freddie sunk down into the couch and turned beat red.
"Aww, you still take bubble baths." Carly laughed
"Jeez mom did you have to say it in front of Carly?"
"I would have I you came home sooner." She grabbed Freddie's hand and proceeded out the door with him yelling "MOM!"
"Oh and goodnight Carly, Samantha."
Carly waved and Sam just nodded from the phone.
"Oh Mrs. B." Carl closed the door.
"Damn it mom!!" Sam slammed down the phone
"Hey what happened?"
"She's not answering phone. Must be knocked out on the sofa again."
She looked like she was about to break something.
"Hey could you give me a ride?"
"Umm, yeah sure. Let me just get Spencer."
Spencer had just pulled up to the entrance of Sam neighborhood.
"You can just drop me off here, I know the way."
"No way Sam, it's not safe." Spencer refused
"Yeah Sam, we don't want anything to happen to you."
Sam opened the door.
"It's alright my place is one of the first houses you see." She said from outside the car
"Well alright just be safe Sam." Spencer still had an unsure look on his face.
"Goodnight Sam." Carly rolled up her window.
Sam watched as the car turned the corner before she turned around to the entrance and started walking.
Little did the Shay's know that Sam was lying. She actually lived towards the back of the neighborhood where it wasn't so nice looking. The deeper you went the more messed up the lawns and signs looked.
Getting closer and closer to her home Sam started to regret not taking Spencer's offer. Her hands were deep in her jacket pockets, she could see her breath every time she sighed. It was getting colder, but at least she could see she was almost there.
Sam had made herself up the few steps toward the door and searched her pants pockets.
"Shit! I hope I have my keys." After a while of panic she finally found what was needed.
Sam made her way into her home and quickly shut the door behind her.
"Mom? MOM!" She yelled while turning in the nearest lights on.
She noticed a note near the lamp.
Dear Sam,
I took a late shift at work.
The car is on the fritz again, so that's why it still here.
I will probably be home late. Keep the door locked and don't answer for stranger.
Try not to burn the place down, again.
Love Mom.
P.S. there's some left over take out in the frige for dinner.
Sam read the note and tossed it in the trash and headed for the refrigerator.
Her poor mother. She had to take two jobs to support the two of them. (Rent isn't cheap ya know.) Sam had offered to get a job to help out, but her mother refused, telling her not to worry (the only reason she got the job at the chili place was so she wouldn't have to ask her mom for money to payback Carly and Freddie. Her mom never found out about it).
So Sam warmed up some food and chilled on the couch for a while.
"And next up is 'Who wants to be a stuck-up, super-fiscal mega model.' Here on your favorite channel."
"Uh no it's not." Sam tried to flip the channel, but nothing happened.
"Oh come on! You've to be kidding me." She franticly pressed buttons. Still nothing.
"Lousy piece garbage." She threw the remote on the ground and the batteries rolled out.
"Maybe it needs new batteries." Sam wondered.
She got off the couch and walked into her mom's room.
"I think she has a pack in here somewhere."
Sam flipped the light switch and began searching. After about ten minute she came across empty.
Suddenly she found an envelope.
"Hello what's this?" Sam opened it and found a bunch of picture stashed in there.
A lot were of her mother when she was younger, which wasn't that long ago. After going through the pics she found some with a guy that look so familiar to her. She kept staring at them, like they were going to change.
"I swear I know this man." She found one of those photo booth strips with the strange man and her mom.
"Who the hell are you mystery dude."
Suddenly Sam heard a voice from behind her "That bastard is your good for nothing father."
"Holy crap mom, you scared me half to death." She stood up, the pictures still in her hands. "I didn't hear you come in."
Her mom just stood there with her arms crossed.
"Sweety, what are you doing here?"
"I just came in here to find some…" She gulped, her mom had the I'm-not-buying-it look on her face. "…batteries. Really I was."
Sam brought the attention to the photos.
"So this is pop." She sat on her mom's bed.
"Barely," Her mother joined her on the bed
"What do you mean?"
"I umm," She had started to regret she ever said anything.
"Well umm," She had no choice but to tell her daughter the truth.
"Okay Samantha, it all started when I was in high school." She began.
"I had been dating him for about a year I believe. Your father was about, I'd say around six maybe seven years older than me." She looked at Sam
"I was only sixteen at the time." She began to chuckle "Grandma almost had a heart attack when she found out about him. But no matter how many warnings she gave me I still snuck out every night to be with him."
She sighed and smiled "Then the day that changed our life forever."
"What was it mom?" Sam was getting really into the story. Her mom smiled again.
"I found out I was pregnant with you." This made Sam smile as well.
"Oh wow mom you're only like three years older than Spencer."
She nodded, a little embarrassed at the fact.
"At first your father was more than happy with the news. He'd always rub my stomach; try to talk to you in the womb."
"Sounds like you guys were in love." Sam stated
Suddenly the smile on her mom's disappeared almost as fast as it appeared.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Sam looked up at her mother.
"I started seeing I'm less and less." A tear fell down her face on her pants
"Around entering my second trimester I haven't seen him for days." She took a deep breath. "I came to his place one day have landlord tell me he left. Skipped town, no none knew where he had gone."
Sam's eyes became watery.
"Oh my god mom, I had no idea."
"Yeah well sweety, now you know the story about how your dad…" She broke down "…abandoned us." Now she had a serious look to her.
"So I ended up dropping out high school to raise a baby. Got a job to support us all by myself."
She hung her head down.
"If I ever see that son of bitch he's gonna have another thing coming to him, because he owes us fourteen years of child support and a payment on half a hospital bill."
Her fists were balled up and eyes were shut tight.
"Mom, are you alright?" Sam placed a hand on her moms shoulder.
"I need a drink and a smoke." With that she made a b-line out of the room, into the kitchen to get a beer.
Sam just sat there on the bed. A tear fell on the picture in her hand. She whipped it away and headed for her room. Her mom saw her run out with her arm over her eyes. She placed the cigarette down in the astray and knocked on her daughter's door, which was locked.
"Sam, Sam?" Nothing "Samantha please don't cry. It's not your fault." Still nothing. Her mom leaned against the door and sled down to seat.
"I don't want you to think you were a mistake. What ever anyone tells you, I wanted you." She paused "As much as I despise your father, he did leave me with the best gift in the world."
The door opened and she fell backwards.
"Really mom?" Sam looked down at her mom
"Yeah, really." She got up and hugged her daughter who still had tears in her eyes.
"Don't let anyone tell you that you weren't wanted." She kissed her forehead
"I love you sweetheart."
"Same here, mom." They both stood there smiling and hugging.