Wow, I was blown away by the reviews I received for my last chapter. I feel truly grateful to you all: my reviewers and even those who didn't review. Thanks for letting me feel your love guys. And since you all showed me love by reviewing, I am gonna show a whole lot by putting this up earlier than I told you I would. ENJOY!!

Thanks to the following reviewers: Extant, Magma823, dino, Flaming Water, Mo mo, RenesmeeScarlet, Devilchild93, Magic713, ShortSweet'NToThePoint and bloodmoon13!! And if your name isn't here, but you reviewed, I am sooooooooooooo sorry!!

Chapter 6: The 7 Year Old Secret

Disclaimer: I do not, never will, but wish I owned Danny Phantom

It was more of a statement than a question. More fact than uncertainty. It had Sam looking at him, eyes wide and mouth agape, totally speechless. She blinked back the tears and her lips trembled. Danny moved closer to her and kissed her trembling lips gently. When he pulled back, she noticed that he too had tears in his eyes. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes as if they were itching her and nothing else. A tear fell from his eye and she noticed that he had suffered a lot from not being able to see his son. She was the lucky one. She pulled him into her arms and he cried. She remained tearless.

"How long have you known?" She asked softly as he calmed down. He pulled away from her, and looked into her eyes, his own eyes red.

"A couple of years," he said, looking away.

"How?" She almost choked on the word.

"I snuck out some nights and I came to look at you. It wasn't hard to see that you were pregnant."

"Why?" She asked, only one word, one syllable. Danny didn't like how it sounded.

"Why? Why what?"

"Why did you come to look for me and never tell me? If you had, we wouldn't have been here now. I wouldn't have been married to the most hateful man I know!"

"We've been through this already, Sam. Don't let it happen again. Please." Sam rolled off the bed and pulled on her robe. She spun around and glared down at Danny.

"I'm going to check on Shaire. I'll be back," she said sternly. She turned and walked away.

"Sam," he called after her. She ignored him. He sighed and leaned back on the fluffy pillows. Were they fighting? Why were they fighting?

Sam came upon Shaire's door; she could hear the cartoons he was watching. She opened it. She smiled immediately, masking her true emotion. He was covered in food, lying on his stomach on his carpet watching TV, just as she had told him. His eyes flickered over to her and he grinned. He sprang up from the carpet.

"Took you long enough," he said as he looked up into her smiling face.

"Aren't you the patient one," she said, "now, hop out of those clothes and into the bathtub and I'll go get some bubble bath."

"That's for little kids."

"Aren't you a little kid?" She asked. He paused. He nodded slowly.

"Good, I'm going to get the bubble bath then," she said and turned to leave.

"Mommy," he said hesitantly. She turned to him, hand on knob.

"Yes Shaire," she answered.

"Ben…is he gone? Are you…are you…ok?" He asked. Sam blushed as she realized that he was no idiot, he knew that things were off between her and Ben, he possibly knew that he had hit her.

"Why wouldn't I be alright?" She asked, smile intact, afraid of what he would say.

"I was just asking because…because he hit you," Shaire said, giving her two very concerned eyes that screamed Danny.

"I'm ok, Shaire. It was nothing," she said, trying to get his little mind off of it.

"It is something!" He stepped forward, raising his voice in anger, "he can't hit you like that. You did nothing wrong, we did nothing wrong! You're not supposed to hit women! Didn't his mother teach him that?" Shaire exclaimed. His chest rose and fell angrily. Sam walked over to him and lifted him into her arms.

"Don't worry for mommy, ok honey. I can handle this and I refuse to live with nonsense. I love you, and I will do everything to keep you. He won't get in the way, husband or not," she said reassuringly to him.

"Let him go away, please mommy. Let him go away," he said into her shoulder as he clasped his hands around her neck.

"I will. Now go and get ready for your bath. I'll be back soon," she said, putting him down. His eyes were red, he wanted to cry, so did Sam. And she knew she would cry, after all she still had Danny to argue with. He turned away from her and pulled off his top. Sam left, knowing that today she and her lover would not part sweetly.

As she walked back to her room, currently occupied by Daniel Fenton, she was confused. What was going on? Feelings were never so difficult for her to deal with. Her feelings had never been so complicated. She was torn between Ben and Danny and it was so obvious who her choice should be, but Ben had more advantages than Danny. He had money. Money did not matter much to her, but it mattered to her two children. She had already accepted that she would have to sacrifice everything for them and she had prepared herself for it, but she wasn't ready for a sudden appearance from D. Fenton. She shook her head. She would have to forget him, send him out of her bed, out of her house and out of her life. Even as she made the decision, she was wondering if it was the correct one.

Danny was already dressed when she entered the room. He wasted no time in talking.

"I think its best that I leave now," he said. She opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped. She refused to betray her decision. How dare she think about telling him that she didn't want him to leave? And so soon after deciding that she didn't want him in her life! Danny looked around. No picture of Sam and Ben. Glass was on the floor. How could he tell her that he didn't want to go? They stood for a few seconds, debating mentally what they should do.

"Umm, could we not do this?" Danny asked.

"Do what?" Sam snapped. He blinked unexpectedly at her reply.

"Fight. We can solve this. You don't have to kill yourself so that Shaire and Zoey can be happy. Ben's money isn't the glue that holds your life together. It's not an advantage he has over me," Danny said. Sam gasped. It was as if he was reading her mind.

"Kinda hard not to fight after I cheated on my husband."

"Why did you have to say that, Sam? Don't you think we both know that?"

"Doesn't stop it from being wrong!"

"I know that! You know that! And you also know that I don't care and that I won't stop! Not until you're mine, forever!"

"Could you stop referring to me as chattel? I have two children to think about Danny! Leaving Benjamin at this point in time would not go well with their lives and what I want them to make of it!"

"You're forgetting that one of those children belong to me! Don't you think I care about Shaire too! I want what's best for him too!"

"Then stop trying to take me away! I can't do it! I can't be selfish! I don't care about myself! Only my children!"

"When did you get so weak? I don't understand. I've always known you as a fighter. As an independent woman. Someone who wasn't afraid to stand against anyone just to prove and to defend what she thought was right. Now, you're different. You're not the Sam I feel in love with," Danny said softly. It was a blow to Sam. It hit her straight in the heart.

"You're right, I've changed. I've learnt that sometimes, to get what you want, to show everybody that you're right, that you're a strong person, you have to put aside what matters to you. Put aside silly dreams and silly thoughts and pursue what you want, silently and carefully. Slowly too. I would have thought you would have understood strategy, don't you fight ghosts, or at least used to?" Sam also lowered her voice. He would not win.

"You disgust me," he said. It was the dirtiest look he had ever given her and tears immediately rose to her eyes. It was impossible to build defenses against him, he was her softest spot.

"Get out of my house you selfish halfa," she growled.

"It's not even yours," he said, giving her a sarcastic grin. He disappeared. A harsh breeze rushed past her and through the window, almost tearing up the panes and dragging the windows themselves with it. Sam took several deep breaths, but she could not suppress her sobs. That was the meanest thing he had ever said to her since they had known each other and it hurt. It hurt her to know that the man she loved was treating her so badly. She fell onto the bed in a messy lump. She pushed back her tears and soon she lay on her bed, eyes red but dry, feeling alone in the world, numb to her feelings.

"Mommy, who were you talking to? And what did they say to get you so upset?" A small voice asked. Sam turned around to see the door open and Shaire poke his head through it, looking at her intently.

"I was…um…talking to Ben on the phone. We had, we had an argument," she lied.

"Benjamin," he said, staring at the picture of his mommy and Benjamin on the ground among the broken shards of dangerous glass. The air was filled with silence until Sam thought she was suffocating. Had he seen through her lies? She already knew that he was a smart kid, had he been able to tell that she was lying. Shaire looked up at her, a shocking look of total understanding on his face, then it seemed he was feeling great emotional pain. Sam inhaled sharply at the sight of her son's face.

"Did you get the bubbly bath? I think I might actually like it," he smiled. She exhaled at the sudden sweetness of his voice. His face was completely angelic, not a trace that the world's hideousness and corruption had touched him, yet that look remained in Sam's mind and she knew something was going on that she did not know about.

"Oh, sorry, I'll go get it," she smiled quickly. She was good at switching moods or better yet, hiding her real emotions. She quickly walked into her bathroom and found it, staring blue and thick into her face from the face basin. She went back into her room and saw Shaire feverishly picking up the broken glass with one hand, clutching the towel around his body with the other.

"No I should do that. You might hurt yourself," she said advancing toward him.

"That's ok mommy. I want to help you," he said. She smiled on the inside. She had had an angel with a ghost.

"I really shouldn't let you do it and I won't," she said. Simultaneously, Shaire cried out in pain as he dropped the pieces of glass he had held in his hand. A few drops of blood followed, landing on a piece of mirror. The blood started pumping in Sam's head and she rushed over to him to assess the damage. He stood, hand closed staring at his fist. She gently touched his hand and he looked up at her. He wasn't crying, she could not understand. She opened his fist, winching at the sight of blood. The glass had forged a gorge in the middle of his palm and Sam choked back the tears and nausea as she drew him to the bathroom.

She turned on the tap and pushed his hand under it, washing all the blood away. A lot of blood.

"Do you feel dizzy? Does it hurt? Badly?" She asked, looking at him.

"No, I'm fine. This isn't the first time this has happened. I heal fast," he said, trying to pull his hand away from her. She refused to let it go. She raised an eyebrow and looked closely at him. He seemed terrified now but not because of his wound, but because of how Sam looked at him. He tried pulling his fist away but she held firm. What was he hiding from her? She looked at his hand and gasped. It was glowing! It glowed green and she watched as the skin slowly fitted itself back together. It bonded, sterilized and healed until nothing was left of the wound, not even the littlest scar. She licked her lips unconsciously and turned to him. He looked like a mother deer, carrying her children in her stomach caught in the headlights of a monster truck. She let go of his hand. He pulled it to himself, holding it close to his chest.

"I should have known," she said. She stooped down to his level and he shied away. She reached her hands out to him and hugged him. She brought him closer to her and she kissed him on his lips in happiness.

"It's not going to umm…hurt again. I know for sure," he said in a tiny voice.

"When did you find this out?" She asked.

"Well, when you're a boy turning into a man, you fall a lot. I can't tell when though, I've had it for a long time, till I can't remember when," he said, growing in confidence as he realized that Sam had accepted him with his strange talent. Sam smiled and kissed him once again, pulling him close to her body.

"So I'm guessing you're ready for your bath," she said when she drew away.

"Took you long enough," he grinned, "but first we need to clean this up."

'Of course,' Sam thought, 'a ghost.'

A FEW HOURS LATER

Benjamin pulled into the long winding driveway, the gates behind him closing. His hair was ruffled, his clothes messy and he was as tired as a man who had done what he had done that day should have been. It had been a long and exciting day. Martin was a very creative man. He parked his car and stepped out, double locking the door.

The first thing he noticed upon entering the kitchen was that it was spic, span and licked from roof to walls to floor. He smiled. She had been working. He took a walk through his house, enjoying the wealth it showed. With great satisfaction, he started up the stairs.

Sam could hear his footsteps riding the stairs. She kissed Shaire on the forehead one more time and watched him shuffle in his sleep before she exited the room, closing the door softly behind her. It was almost 11 pm. She saw Ben standing at the door to their room. Inside their room was just how he had left it with the only picture of them as a couple on the night table.

"Benjamin," Sam began. He turned his head to her, a bright smile adorning his features.

"Samantha! You look mighty splendid this evening. Is dinner ready?" He asked. She raised narrow eyes at him and slowly stepped forward in her pink heels, skirt slightly bouncing off her legs and her hair swaying with her movements. It was highly hypnotic, seductive and yet menacing. Ben surveyed her body, his eyes undressing her and having sex with her right there, yet he felt nervous and threatened by her very presence. The atmosphere was not right.

"I don't appreciate what you did earlier Benjamin," she said, saying his name as if it were a curse, "I've never been one to take orders and commands or allow anyone to rule my life. But I've changed. I've changed for those two kids I have now. The same two kids you threatened to take away. I'm doing what's good for them and if what I'm doing is not working, then I will have to switch to plan B," she said. She was tired of saying this. She was tired of reminding herself of the pain she felt every day. She stopped directly in front of him. He stepped back, reflexively. He stood at the very edge of the staircase.

"Understood?" She whispered. He rolled his eyes, crossed his arms and pushed out a hip.

"I'm a rather comprehensive person, Samantha, not to mention how highly educated I am. And what is this talk about a plan B?" he said. Sam smiled, sadistically.

"Are you sure you want to know, Benny?" She asked.

"Then why am I asking? Are you an idiot or something? Yes, I wish to know!" He spoke to her as a king might have spoken to a peasant, "and never call me 'Benny' again."

"That's the best thing I have ever heard you say since we've been married. Goodbye Benjamin," she said.

"What's the goodbye for? I'm not leaving," he stood firmly. Sam laughed loudly, pleasantly evil.

"Goodbye Ben," she said and Benjamin felt himself falling. Head over heels, heels over head until his head stuck the very bottom of the stairs and he blacked out. Sam's eyes were still narrow and her sadistic smile was now a thin line of hate.

AT THE HOSPITAL

Sam sat in the waiting room, Shaire asleep in her arms and Zoey sitting beside her, iPod in ears looking very bored. Tucker sat on Sam's other side, a hand around his best friend's shoulder. Shaire sighed and opened his eyes to look around.

"Are we still in the hospitil?" He asked.

"Yes honey, we're at the hospital," she said, placing barely noticeable emphasis on the word hospital.

"Hospital," he repeated, he had caught on.

"I think you should go check on him," Tucker said. Sam, of course, had told him everything. He was trying to let her seem innocent, he was ready to put down his life to lie for her, after all, Ben was a lawyer.

"Sure. Here, take your nephew," she said, giving the heavy Shaire to Tucker. Shaire made himself comfy on Tucker's lap as Sam stood up and stretched. As if waiting for her to stand so that she could run into him, Danny appeared from out of nowhere. Sam was frightened but managed not to jump out of her skin. They stared at each other for a long time, the memory of their earlier fight coming back to them.

"How'd you manage with this big giant of a kid on your lap for the last hour? He's 7! Don't you think he should sit on his own seat?" Tucker teased.

"How did you know?" She asked. Zoey glanced up and slowly pulled her earphones from her ears, eavesdropping on their conversation. Tucker heard her question and looked up.

"Tucker called," Danny simply answered. Sam half-turned to Tucker. He gazed back innocently at them. When she told Tucker everything, she had told him everything, including what had happened between her and Danny. She straightened herself and brushed past Danny.

"You really shouldn't have said that to her," Tucker said.

"I was angry, I couldn't control it," Danny said and sat in Sam's seat.

"You really shouldn't have said that to her," Tucker repeated.

"Daddy," Shaire said, immediately sitting up. Danny raised an eyebrow and looked at Tucker.

"He's all yours…daddy," he said added, handing Shaire to Danny. Tucker was truly amazed at how perceptive the child was. Danny took him and Shaire started chattering. Danny smiled at Zoey and she grinned at him before plugging in her earphones. For a moment she felt as if she didn't belong.

Sam entered Ben's room and saw him lying there, helpless and barely conscious.

"You," he croaked.

"Hey sweetheart," she said sarcastically. Taking a seat beside him. She grabbed one of his hands and leaned forward.

"You bitch," he croaked again.

"Oh, you asshole. Did you seriously think you could get away with slapping me and threatening my kids?" She spoke softly and lovingly. She laughed, low and dangerous.

"No, you couldn't and you never can, because the next time you pull a stunt like that again…I'll kill you. Now, get better for Samantha and come back home so we can start over again," she finished. She pulled back and gave him a fake smile which said, 'I'm gonna kill you anyway you take it'. His eyes narrowed and Sam kissed his cheek. She walked out without looking behind her. Her smile went back to the thin line of hate. What she had told him was serious and she wouldn't hesitate to do it.

Dun, dun, dun!!! Sam gets serious! And the story heats up! And look at it, it's just the 6th chapter! What does crazy Toyoko have next? What twist will she let loose from her sleeve next, her very big sleeve. ROTFLOL!! Don't expect Ben back for a while and I'll see what I can do with this story. Read and Review, ok! Tell me what you think! Flames are welcome too!!