~*Four weeks later*~
Sam had went to the tech school to take her GED test. It hadn't gone too well. She wouldn't have the results right away, but she knew she had bombed it. And if she did, there would only be one more chance to take the test and get all the paperwork done before college started in the fall. Freddie, Carly, Gibby and Mel might be starting without her. *I suck,* Sam thought to herself as she went to her next appointment. It was one of those busy days.
She arrived at the Seattle Women's Clinic where she met up with her father-in-law at his new medical practice. She hadn't seen much of Jonathon since she and Freddie had moved back to Seattle. He was still seeing her mom as far as she knew, and she avoided her mother at all costs. Jonathon was a little surprised to see Sam and wondered what had brought her to the clinic.
"Well, hello, Sam... it's good to see you," spoke Jonathon with a smile. "How's Freddie? And how's my darling grandson? And what brings you here?"
Sam returned Dr. Benson's smile, still feeling a little uneasy because of his association with her mother, but even so, he was her father-in-law, the man who had delivered her baby, and a brilliant doctor. "Freddie's doing good. Still looking for work. He's out job-hunting right now... and I bet he's found something," Sam replied. "And Baby Fredward is growing so much. It's hard to believe he's 3 months old already."
Sam took a deep breath, trying to explain the reason for her visit. "I'm sick," she said softly. "And I have no clue what's wrong with me."
"You're sick?" Jonathon repeated. "What sort of symptoms are you having?"
"Well, a couple of times in the past two weeks, I got dizzy and almost passed out. And I've been throwing up a lot. It's sort of like the flu," Sam explained. "Lately all I want to do is sleep..."
"Whoa! Wait a second! Sam, are you pregnant?"
"No... no!" Sam gasped, shaking her head in denial. "I can't be! I better not be!"
"I think we better do a test, just to be sure," insisted Jonathon. "When was your last period?"
"I don't want a test! I'm not pregnant!" Sam cried out. Then she reluctantly answered Jonathon's question. "I haven't had a period, not since before I had the baby."
"So, you're telling me you haven't had a period in the past three months, but you are 100% sure you're not pregnant?" Dr. Benson said incredulously. "Sam, you're not being rational."
"I'm not pregnant. You can do a test if you want to... but I'm not," Sam kept insisting.
"Alright then. We'll see, then go from there," said Jonathon. He then called for a nurse to draw some blood for some testing.
Sam sat there, not in the least bit happy about any of this. She knew something was wrong, but it couldn't be a pregnancy. Why wasn't Dr. Benson listening to her? The nurse came in and withdrew the blood. "The test results will be back in a jiffy," the nurse said cheerfully. Sam wanted to punch her. She sat there in the chair, waiting and waiting, and she nearly fell asleep. That's the way she had been lately, always so incredibly tired.
She had dozed off, but was rudely awakened when Jonathon came back into the room. "Sam, I need to talk to you," he said as he took a seat across from her.
"Your blood test results are back."
"Well, spit it out!" Sam insisted in a grumpy voice.
"I know you aren't going to want to hear this, but it's true. You are pregnant."
"No," Sam said in a small voice. How could that be? Freddie was gonna kill her. How could he be happy about this? They were teenagers, already had one baby and at the present time, only one of them had a job. They were also getting ready to start college in the fall. It was tough with one baby, how would they manage with two?
"I already have a baby..." Sam said softly, in a state of shock.
"I know, Sam. And I know this isn't want you wanted to hear. I'm sorry."
Sam's face was really pale, and Jonathon worried she might pass out considering she had mentioned previous dizzy spells. "Sam, let me call Freddie," Jonathon offered.
"No! No! I can't tell him this!" Sam cried out, getting up quickly and preparing to bolt from the room. "Please, Jonathon. Don't say a word to him. Please..."
"Sam, he needs to know..."
"I'm going to tell him. Just give me some time to figure out HOW to tell him this. This is not a good time for this to have happened."
Jonathon sighed, because Sam was stubborn and he could talk until he was blue in the face, and still she'd do things her own way. "I know this isn't the best time for another child. But my son loves you... and he's not going to blame you for this. Believe me, Sam. It's going to be okay."
"No, it's not," she said sadly as she got up and walked out. She took a cab back to the house and went inside, finding Mrs. Mendenhall in the kitchen with Guppy.
"Sam!" the little boy called out, running to her and hugging her tight.
Sam gave him a hug and a kiss as she spoke to the sitter. "Where's baby Fredward?" she asked.
"He's upstairs having his nap," replied the sitter. Sam paid Mrs. Mendenhall and sent her home. She was lucky to have found such a caring and responsible sitter for Guppy and Baby Fredward when she was working or had to be away from the house.
"Gup, I'm hungry... would you like a snack?" she asked the child.
"Sure," Guppy replied. He loved snacks.
Sam reached into the fridge, grabbed some food, and started throwing something together. She put some hotdogs on some buns and smeared peanut butter on them. Guppy looked at the plate Sam had given him and turned his nose up at it. "I'm not so hungry anymore," the little boy said, running off to play.
"Ohhh well... more for me," said Sam as she took Guppy's hotdog and added it to her own plate. She sat down at the bar and began eating.
Sam finished her peanut butter hotdog she had been munching on, giving Freddie a hug when he came into the kitchen. "How'd the job hunt go?" she asked him,
hoping he had finally come upon some success. Working for T-Bo at the Groovy Smoothie wasn't the most glamorous of jobs for Sam, but really it wasn't so bad.
T-Bo was funny and made the job interesting, and the pay was decent considering the job wasn't in the least bit difficult.
Sam offered Freddie one of her hotdogs, wondering if he liked peanut butter on his weiner. She giggled softly to herself, thinking of how that thought had just sounded.
"Well I got a job," he said with a grin. " It's nothing great, but it'll help us out financially."
He glanced at the hotdog covered in peanut butter. "Uhhhh..no thanks," he said as he looked at his wife strangely.
"Are you okay?" he asked, because that was a weird combination even for Sam.
A huge smile came to Sam's face when Freddie mentioned he had found a job. "Ohh wow, so kewl... I'm so excited for you! Where are you working... and when do you start?" she asked him happily. At least one thing good had come of this day.
Sam then froze when Freddie asked her if she was okay. Did he know her so well that it showed? She dropped the hotdog smeared with peanut butter back onto her plate, doing her best to make her face appear completely emotionless. But it seemed Freddie had read her somehow. How did he do that?
"Uhhhh well... today has been sort of a bad day..." Sam said softly, looking down at her plate and avoiding Freddie's eyes.
"I took my GED test at the Tech School... and it pretty much looks like I bombed it. But I guess I won't know till the results come back..." Sam spoke, hoping that Freddie wouldn't realize anything more. That was just the icing on the cake of this incredibly sucky day.
Freddie felt like there was something more, but he didn't say anything about it. "You can try again," he said gently.
"Maybe Melanie can help you study," he said."It's not an easy test to take."
"I just don't want to disappoint you, Freddie," Sam admitted. "I never paid attention in school. I was always sleeping, harrassing you, or getting into trouble. It never meant that much then. Now I'm really paying for it. Because I do want to go to college... and I do want to make you proud of me."
"And I don't want to end up like my mom," she added.
She knew she could ask Mel to help her study or even Carly, but she preferred Freddie. After all, he was smarter than both Carly and Melanie combined. If anyone could help her pass, it would be him.
"Will you help me study? Please?" she asked him, giving him a pouty, please-help-me look. If she gave him that look, she knew he just couldn't refuse.
"I only have one more chance to take the test before college courses begin. How did you do on your test?" she asked him, yet she knew without a doubt that Freddie had passed his exam with flying colors. Not only was he drop-dead gorgeous; he had an impressive brain to go with all those hot looks.
"And you haven't told me about your job yet..." Sam reminded.
"If you really want me to help you study, I will, babe," Freddie told her. "But no screwing around."
"The test was kind of easy for me," he admitted. "Ohhh my job! Yeah, I got a job at a new electronics store. It's so cool!"
Sam was ecstatic about his new job. "A tech store? Ohhh wow, I bet you are in heaven there. I know how you like playing with all your techinical equipment," she told him teasingly.
Sam grinned. "I knew it! I just knew you did well on the test," she said to Freddie. "You're just such a brain! I teased you about your nerdiness many times in the past, but really I find it quite appealing. I know you can help me pass the test... but we'll only have 2 weeks to cram, because the last GED exam will be given 2 weeks from today. And the college courses begin soon after."
"I promise I won't screw around if you do help me study. I'll be good; I'll listen. I just really want to pass the test," she told Freddie. "Cuz I don't want to be left out when you, Gibby, Carly, and Mel start in the Fall. That would really suck..."
"Good, as long as you take it seriously, then it'll be alright," Freddie told her.
Sam's voice had trailed off as she was struggling with her other bit of news. How could she ever tell Freddie? Pregnant again, so soon? Their son wasn't even crawling yet... and she was going to have another baby...
"Freddie, there's something else I gotta tell you," she finally blurted out. "I'm sorry, but you aren't going to like this."
"I went to see your dad today at that Women's Clinic where he just started," Sam explained. "I had to go see him, cuz I've been feeling sick..." Looking into Freddie's dark-brown eyes, Sam started chickening out. She looked away, not able to speak.
Freddie listened as Sam was talking, and he frowned. "But why would you see my dad just because you were sick?" he asked in confusion. "What did he say?"
"Okay, let me put it you this way, Freddie..." Sam spoke looking deeply into his eyes. "Our wedding night was wonderful, wasn't it? The absolute best..."
"And if you could, would you change anything ... anything at all about it?" she asked him.
Freddie gave Sam an odd look. "If it was so wonderful; what's with the need to change something? I was with the woman I loved. I hope you had a good time, too. I mean, I realize that we didn't get much of a honeymoon, but once we get settled, we can always take a vacation to make up for it."
Okay, so this wasn't going well. "No... no, Freddie. I'm not saying it wasn't enough. I wouldn't change a thing about it. And I'm hoping you wouldn't either," Sam said with a heavy sigh.
This was much harder than Sam thought it would be, so she just blurted it out. "Okay, Fredward... let me put it to you this way. You and me. Our wedding night. No protection. You do the math..."