A/N: Here we go! The first month of Sam's pregnancy. This chapter contains less vomiting, but a few inexplicit sex references. Enjoy!

In the back of The Flaming Pigs, Samantha Benson was observing the work of her employees. She had her black apron that sported a pig in a chef hat out grilling tied on a little loose to hide the slight bump between her hips. Sam was distracted, just trying to put off the inevitable talk with Carly that was soon to come. She hadn't told anybody she was pregnant yet, and she would only be telling those who meant the most to her. For now, at least.

With a sigh, she rubbed the palm of her hand against one eye tiredly. She had to get it over with sooner or later.

Flipping her phone open, she typed in Speed Dial Two, and up popped the words "Calling: Carly".

Shutting herself in a bathroom stall, she pressed the phone to her cheek anxiously.

"Hello?"

"Carly?"

"Hey, Sam!" Carly's voice sounded cheerfully through the phone. Sam winced. Even though Carly wasn't talking any louder than normal, her voice seemed unusually loud today. Probably the headaches again.

"Carly…" Sam began, her voice trailing off.

"Yeah?"

"Could you…meet me over here in an hour?"

"Sure!" Carly said. "But…you sound kind of upset, you OK?"

"It's just jet lag." Sam lied smoothly. "I'm fine."

There was a long pause.

"Oh…OK…Well, see you soon!"

"Back at 'cha." Sam said in a falsely cheery tone, and snapped her phone shut.

Suddenly, she realized that there was someone else she needed to tell. Might as well get it over with in a 2-for-1. She punched in Speed Dial Three.

"Hey, Sam!"

"Hey, Mel. Listen, can you meet me and Carly at my restaurant in an hour?"
"Sure! What's wrong?" Melanie asked.

"Nothing's…wrong, just be here, K?"

"K. See you!" Melanie said brightly, hanging up.

An hour later, Carly and Melanie were sitting side by side at a table, Sam across from them.

"So, you gonna tell us why we're here?" Carly asked.

Sam sighed, placing her forehead against the palm of her hand for a moment.

"Just wait a sec, I'm waiting for-"

"Hey, Freddie!" Melanie interrupted in a cheerful tone. Sam sighed with relief. Good. Freddie was here, too. There was no way she could do this without him.

Freddie pulled up a chair beside his wife. Placing an arm around her shoulder, he began immediately.

"Me and Sam had something we needed to tell you."

Melanie and Carly glanced at eachother.

Sam took over. "Well, over the course of our honeymoon, Freddie and I decided to tie our knot a little tighter-"

"Sam…" Freddie sighed.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Well, I told Freddie that we needed to be careful, and he didn't listen, so-"

"Sam!" Freddie scolded, cutting off his wife, who was now starting to smile a little.

"What Sam is trying to say is…Carly, Melanie-"

"Aunt Carly and Aunt Melanie." Sam corrected with a smirk.

"Right, Aunt Carly and Aunt Melanie…"

Sam and Freddie looked at eachother and smiled. At the same time, they finished the sentence.

"We're having a playmate for Emily and Tyler!"

A full minute of silence passed, in which Sam and Freddie beamed at eachother and Carly and Melanie's faces changed from confusion to realization to shock to excitement.

"You guys are having a baby?" Melanie squealed loudly, causing several people around the restaurant to eye Sam and Freddie strangely.

"That's so exciting!" Carly cried. Standing up swiftly, she ran over to crush Sam in a tight hug, which Melanie joined after a moment. "Emily's going to be so happy!" Carly said as she released Sam and returned to her chair.

"Oh come on, Emily's only five months old…" Sam said, the smile still on her face as she recalled Carly and Griffin's young daughter. "And Ty's only six months." She added as Melanie began to state how happy she and Pete's son Tyler would be.'

Melanie nodded. "I guess you're right…but…wow! I can't believe it, Sam! You're finally having a-"

"Ssssh!" Sam said. "I'm gonna surprise my employees about it later, but for now it's a secret, alright? You can tell Pete and Griffin, but that is it, OK?"

Carly and Melanie nodded.

A second silenced passed between the four.

"So…when are you gonna tell mom?"

Sam blinked. She hadn't even considered telling her mother. Sam said nothing and started to play with her apron strings.

"You are gonna tell her…right?"

Sam didn't meet Melanie's eyes.

"Uh…yeah! Yeah, of course I'll tell her." Sam said, plastering another smile on her face.

Melanie and Carly nodded approvingly. Only Freddie continued to eye her skeptically.

After her meeting with Carly and Melanie, Sam and Freddie had made their way home. Now, they were seated side by side on their bed, Sam slumped tiredly against the wall.

"Why'd you lie to Melanie?" Freddie asked abruptly.

"Hmm?" Sam mumbled sleepily.

"You told her you were gonna tell your mom about…about our…"

"Freddie, if you honestly think I want that witch in our baby's life-"

"Exactly! Why couldn't you have said that to your own sister?"

Sam gave a long sigh. "Cause…if I told her I didn't want mom to know, she'd just go and tell her anyway."

"But-"

"Mel's always been mom's favorite. She got preferential treatment throughout our entire life. It's not Melanie's fault that it was that way, but…well, she never got the bad side of mom. I don't even think she knows mom has a bad side. So she…she probably thinks that mom and I have as good of a relationship as she and mom did."

Freddie leaned back, leveling himself with Sam. "Well, it's been five years since you've seen your mom. She doesn't even know you and I are married yet. Let alone…you know…expecting. So…"

"You're saying we should tell her?"

"Well…yes."

Sam gave another thoughtful sigh. Extending her hand to a bowl on her nightstand, she pulled out a handful of pistachios and offered one to Freddie.

"No, thanks…What is it with you eating pistachios all of a sudden? You go through them like they're pork chops!"

Sam shrugged. "Mmmf, dunwo, beyf juff taeff goodmee." She said with a mouthful of pistachios, spewing some of the bits out of her mouth.

Freddie rolled his eyes, smiling a little. "What was that?"

"They taste good to me."

"Aah."

There was a minute of quiet, filled only with the sounds of Sam chewing her pistachios.

"So, are we telling her or not?"

Sam didn't answer, instead choosing to become preoccupied with her empty shells.

"Sam…"

Sam looked over at Freddie. To his surprise, she saw a hard glare forming on her blue eyes.

"Look…I think we should wait." Sam said, a tinge of anger in her voice.

"What's wrong?"

Sam shook her head. "My mom. She's not gonna be all that happy to see me. Not to mention the fact that we're married and everything. We're gonna tell her, but I want to wait for a little while, till we're sure that we want her in the kid's life, and maybe, till we know what it is."

" 'What it is?' It's called a baby."

"No, I mean if it's a boy or a girl." Sam said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well?"

"I agree with you. But…man, I didn't know you could be so protective."

"What goes around comes around." Sam replied, leaning against.

"Wait till we tell my mom…" Freddie said, starting to smile.

Sam laughed. "She'll probably glue herself to your side and make sure that you learn all of the very important safety procedures that she used on you 'for the benefit of our baby.'" Sam said, making air quotes with her fingers.

"She probably will…" Freddie said thoughtfully.

Sam sighed again, allowing her tired eyes to close.

"I look forward to it."