"Sorry about the rain," Freddie said as him and the twins rushed into a nearby diner later that day. "But that's Seattle for you."
"It's okay," Leah said, fixing her hair.
"Hey, after lunch, do you think we could go see the Space Needle?" Kira asked. "I want to throw my gum off the top!"
"Ew," Leah cringed.
"Er, we-we'll see," Freddie said as the three sat down at a table. "Anyway, you girls will love this place. Your mom, Carly and I used to come here all the time when we were kids for their fantastic burgers."
"Sweet," Kira grinned.
"Thanks for taking us out, Freddie," Leah said.
"No problem, I wasn't going to leave you two with my mom," Freddie chuckled. "No one deserves that."
"How did you live with her for eighteen years?" Kira asked.
"Not sure," Freddie said. He took a deep breath, fiddling the edge of his napkin as the twins looked over the menus. "Also, I have been meaning to talk to you both about something important."
"Important?" Leah repeated as her and Kira looked up. "What is it?"
"Is it about mom?" Kira asked.
"No, it's-it's about you guys…and me," Freddie said. "You both know that when I marry your mom in a few weeks, I'll technically be your step-father, right?"
"Sure," Leah nodded.
"We know that," Kira said.
"Good, um, well…see, over the past couple of years, I-I've really started to think of you both as almost my own daughters," Freddie went on. "I love you girls, and I'm really glad you've been a part of my life and will continue to be."
"We love you too," Leah said.
"Well, I-I've been thinking lately," Freddie said. "And-And as honored as I am to about to be your step-father, I-I was thinking it might be sort of nice to, you know, get rid of the 'step' part. Only if you both are completely comfortable with it, of course, and don't think-"
"You mean…you'd be our actual dad?" Kira said. "How?"
"I would have to adopt you," Freddie explained. "It's more of just a legal thing…but I thought making everything official might make us all seem more like a family."
"You could adopt us?" Leah said slowly. "Really?"
Freddie nodded. "Again, only if you two-"
"I think it's great!" Leah exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Kira nodded in agreement. "You're practically our dad now anyway."
"I'm so glad you guys feel this way," Freddie said, grinning widely.
"Of course we do, you're the best!" Leah said, hugging Freddie tightly.
"Thank you, Leah," Freddie said. "That means the world to me."
"Freddie?" Kira asked quietly as Leah pulled away from Freddie. "Do we…do we get to call you 'dad' now?"
Freddie gave her a small smile. "Whatever you're comfortable with."
Kira nodded as she leaned over to give Freddie a hug as well. Then she craned her neck so she could reach his ear.
"I love you, dad."
….
"Well what about the back?" Carly asked as her and Sam looked around the bridal store. "Do you want one that scoops? Or do you want one with lace?"
"I don't know," Sam sighed. "All of these dresses look uncomfortable and frilly."
"You're barely even looking," Carly said, rolling her eyes.
"Well this is boring…and I'm hungry," Sam said.
"We can go get lunch after we finish," Carly said firmly. "Just look around. Listen," she lowered her voice so the nearby sales associate couldn't hear her. "I know you really wanted the girls to come with you today. I tried my best, but they won't anyone under sixteen in here. But you're not here to buy a dress, you know."
"I'm not?" Sam frowned.
"No way, this place is way overpriced," Carly said.
"You spent how much on that tiny purse of yours?" Sam smirked, looking at Carly's handbag.
"That's different!" Carly hissed. "This bag is a one-of-a-kind Luchelle DeMoire! But that's not the point. I brought you here today so you can at least figure out what you want in your dress. Just try on a few things here, and then we'll go out tomorrow with the twins and find almost the same dress for half the price somewhere else."
"Shay…that's pretty crafty of you," Sam said proudly.
"So will you at least start trying on some dresses?"
"Fine," Sam conceded. "I do sort of like that one over there…"
"She'll try the Tiffany Monroe gown," Carly said promptly to the sales associate. She turned back to Sam. "She already has all of your sizes. Let's go back to the fitting room so we can start! Oh, this is so exciting!"
"Your dress is in the first dressing room," the sales associate said to the girls. "Follow me, please."
"I'll take pictures of you in all the dresses to show Kira and Leah," Carly said as the two followed the woman. "But don't worry, I won't let Freddie see any of them."
"Why's that matter?" Sam asked.
"The groom can't see the bride's wedding dress until the big day!" Carly exclaimed. "Did you read any of the bridal magazines I sent to you?"
"Not really," Sam admitted as she reached her dressing room.
"Do you need any help getting the dress on?" Carly asked.
"Nah, how hard can it be? It's just a dress," Sam shrugged.
Carly shook her head. "You're in for a surprise…Well, I'll be out here when you do need me."
"Got it," Sam chuckled.
She stepped into the dressing room where a beautiful white dress was waiting for her.
It does look nice, Sam thought. It probably cost more than my car did, but I guess it looks good…
She quickly shrugged off her clothes and began to pull the dress on. She soon found out that Carly was right; putting on a wedding dress apparently not a one-woman task. She couldn't reach behind her to close up the back, she didn't know how to deal with the train of the dress and she couldn't even think about how she was supposed to move in the gown.
"Um…Carly!" Sam said loudly. "I think I need help."
"Told you," Carly said triumphantly, letting herself into the room. "Whoa…Sam, you look so pretty!"
"I better, this dress is probably the most uncomfortable thing I've ever put on my body!"
"You'll feel better once you get it on right," Carly assured her. "Here, let me zip you up." She stepped behind Sam and began tugging at the zipper.
"Ow!" Sam snapped indignantly.
"Sorry, but the back won't close," Carly said. "Weird…I think the dress is too small."
"I thought you said they had my size," Sam said.
"They do, and this dress is the size I gave them," Carly said. "It just won't fit."
"Lovely," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Relax, wedding dresses get marked with the wrong size all the time," Carly said. "This is probably a couple sizes below what it says. I'll just go grab the sales lady and we'll figure it out."
Once Carly left, Sam turned and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had to admit, she did look hot in the dress, even with it unzipped.
Suddenly, she heard her phone ring in her bag. Trying not to trip in the gown, Sam grabbed her phone. She was surprised to see the name of the lawyer, Byron, who she had spoken to back in New York about getting a restraining order for the girls against their father, flashing on her screen.
"Finally," Sam said, breathing a sigh of relief as she answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hello, Ms. Puckett?" Byron replied on the other line.
"Yeah, it's me," Sam said. "So did everything work out with the restraining orders? I can't come in to sign them right now, but if you maybe fax them someplace or something, I can sign them so you can get them processed and everything and we can-"
"Ms. Puckett, the restraining orders did not go through," Byron said slowly.
Sam blinked. "What? Why? What was the problem? Their father has no rights to them! It shouldn't be that hard to keep him from seeing them! You said because he was violent in the past that-"
"Please let me explain," Byron cut her off. "I didn't perceive any problems with this because, like you said, their father does not have custody of the girls any longer-"
"Exactly!" Sam exclaimed. "So why is there-"
"The thing is," Byron said heavily. "Mr. Pewter has already submitted an appeal about that. He wants his rights back."
Sam felt her blood run cold. "W-What? He-He can't! He doesn't even get out of jail until tomorrow! How can he-"
"He has a very good lawyer, Ms. Puckett," Byron told her. "Mr. Pewter's appeal claims that his rights were unfairly revoked and that he has been denied seeing his children for the past ten years unrightfully."
"He stabbed me," Sam hissed.
"I know," Byron said gently. "But he didn't hurt the girls. He served his time for hurting you, and the appeal states that he'll maintain a set distance from you-"
"I don't care if he comes near me!" Sam snapped. "Let him, he knows what will happen! He can't come anywhere close to the girls though!"
"I'm sorry, but legally, he does have a case," Byron told her. "I'm beginning to set up your counter appeal, but as Mr. Pewter does get released tomorrow, I would suggest making sure you and your family leave the city for at least a few days."
"We-We already did," Sam said, her voice now barely a whisper. "Look, how-how likely do you think it is that Marshall will actually get somewhere with this? Tell me the truth."
Sam could hear Byron sigh deeply on the other line. "Honestly…I wouldn't count out him receiving joint custody."
Joint custody…Sam heard those words echoing around in her mind. Would Marshall really be permitted to visit the girls on the weekends? To take them every other Christmas? To spend their birthday with them?
Sam slowly hung up the phone. She felt dizzy and disoriented, and she could feel her stomach tightening. She placed a hand on the wall of the dressing room to attempt to balance herself.
This wasn't happening…This couldn't happen! Marshall was dangerous. He didn't want Kira and Leah to start a new life as a better man…He wasn't revenge on Sam. And Sam couldn't even begin to predict what lengths he would go to in order to make that happen.
"Alright, they're going to take a look at the dress," Carly said brightly, coming back into the room. "And then-Sam? Sam! Are you okay? You look sick!"
But Sam could barely hear her best friend's concern as she slowly felt her body numb, and then, everything around her faded into darkness.