iRecover

Carly woke up later that day feeling as though she'd slept for a month. She looked around the room and saw Sam in street clothes, rocking gently in her chair, cooing to their little girl. For a split second, Carly thought that Melanie and Sam must have swapped clothes. Carly knew her partner was truly a gentle soul, but this was Sam whacked out on something other than Loopy Gas. This was Sam at her most gentle. She spoke to the little girl in a tiny voice. Carly could only look on in pride.

"See? There's Mommy… There's Mommy…"

Carly smiled. Sam kept cooing to her little girl.

"Ask Mommy why she was sleeping, huh? When you did all the hard work…"

Only on the job a few hours, Sam Puckett had a knack for this parenting thing.

Panic set in once Carly remembered that she'd had twins. Sam squashed a Cupcake Meltdown before Carly to utter a single panicky syllable.

"Relax, Cupcake… Mel and the Nub've got her… Twenty little fingers, twenty little toes, we're all good…"

Carly giggled. Sam knew her far too well.

"You've got lots of visitors… Even your father was here…"

That certainly was something Carly hadn't been expecting. They hadn't spoken in ages.

"He left that…" Sam motioned to the large US Air Force teddy bear on the side table, along with flowers and a sealed card.

Carly had no idea what to say. Not wanting to linger on an awkward moment, Sam slowly began to admit guests to Carly's room via text message. Sam Puckett was multitalented. She could rock a newborn and text at the same time.

Moments later, the Bensons came in, Carly's missing daughter dozing in Freddie's arms.

"See? This one isn't mythical either, Fredward…"

It was playful ribbing between the couple. He knew he had deserved that much. He would never live down believing that his wife was once a figment of his imagination.

Carly found herself kissed and cuddled by both Freddie and Melanie at once. She sat up, however tenuously, intent on sharing a moment with her childhood friend turned brother-in-law. She kissed him gently on the cheek.

"You're the best, you know that?"

He flushed and smiled.

"So I've been told…"

Over the next hour, it seemed that everyone Carly knew was coming by. Marissa Benson stopped by, offering to sit in and watch the children, should Sam need to leave for any reason.

Carly knew what Sam was thinking just based on a cocked blonde eyebrow.

'Not even a day old, and this mess of a woman is intent on giving the kids a complex…'

Melanie waved off her mother-in-law's otherwise sweet gesture, assuring her that she and Freddie were available, twenty four hours a day, for babysitting purposes.

Marissa Benson gave way to the remainder of the Shay family. Spencer and Socko had driven to Yakima to get Carly's grandparents, who seemed only to concern themselves with the new great-grandchildren and nothing beyond that.

Gibby, Tasha, and Guppy wandered in next, the little boy carrying a very poorly wrapped large box. It was evident that Guppy had attempted to wrap the box himself.

"Happy Birthday!"

Sam couldn't help but chuckle. For once, the kid had gotten it right.

Carly dozed, in and out of consciousness the rest of the afternoon and evening. She awoke to find T-Bo waiting at the door, carrying what appeared to be smoothies and a stick full of she didn't know what. Beyond that, Sam was gone, rocking one of the twins just outside the door. Carly gently lectured T-Bo. His heart was certainly in the right place, but he simply hadn't thought things through.

"T-Bo, they've just been born… You're sweet, but they can't have smoothies just now…"

He knew that. He explained that he thought it would be easier than forcing her and Sam to subsist on hospital food. Carly eyed the large pole that had impaled perhaps two dozen homemade kosher dills. T-Bo was unorthodox, but he was thoughtful, she'd give him that much.

Spencer's friend smiled at her. The Groovy Smoothie had never delivered, but for the Pucketts, he'd make an exception. Whatever they wanted, he'd hand-deliver it. Carly knew she should thank him before Sam overheard, or else T-Bo would be doing nothing but making round trips between the Groovy Smoothie and either the hospital or Bushwell.

THREE DAYS LATER…

Sam escorted Carly through the lobby of Bushwell Plaza. She had thought of everything. Freddie and Melanie each had a twin, while she had enlisted the help of a few extra hands in carrying miscellaneous baby gear in from the car. Socko had fallen over himself to offer the use of his van, which was sweet, but not entirely what Mama Puckett had in mind.

No sooner had they entered the lobby, Lewbert began grumbling.

"Oh Great! Now there're more of them! And they cry and smell weird!"

Sam glared at him. If looks could kill, Lewbert would have been a crumpled heap on the floor. He still thought of her as a child – Carly's troublemaking best friend. He had critically misjudged her. She snapped her fingers and it was all over. Two of Uncle Carmine's best 'collectors' had snatched the doorman up by the arms and had escorted him into his office. They needed to have a little talk about respect.

IN APARTMENT 8C…

Spencer was in the apartment, racing around, attempting to have everything as close to perfect as he could manage. When Sam had gone to pick up Carly, Spencer was left without the strongest arms he knew, and there was heavy lifting to be done. He hadn't meant to snoop, but he had no choice under the circumstances. He had found Shelby Marx's phone number on Carly's desk and called it. She wasn't used to random phone calls from strange men, but she had remembered meeting him before. She packed up Wendy and their little munchkin and were off.

Wendy had settled onto the sofa with Megan as Sam, Melanie, and Freddie left to pick up Carly and the twins. What Spencer had in mind was – in a word – insane, but Shelby sensed that that was par for the course for Spencer Shay.

TEN MINUTES LATER…

Spencer escorted Sam and Carly into their shared bedroom. Not much had changed, other than the addition of a strange piece of furniture in the corner, where Carly's nightstand had once been. It looked as though a rainbow had just thrown up all over a deformed dresser.

"Like it?"

Carly had no idea what to say, exactly.

"And it is…?"

"Side by side crib… Designed it myself. Put my art skills and my carpentering skills together and… voila!"

Carly shot Sam a questioning look.

"It's safe, Cupcake… Trust me. I told him I wouldn't allow it up here if it wasn't…"

Carly blushed. Leave it to her big brother to think of everything.