Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 13 (New Home)

A week later, the family was packed, but not with much. The buyer had enjoyed Spencer's sculpture so much that he paid a bit extra, mostly considering when he heard the others helped, so they had an even thousand to save away. During the week, Spencer also sold a lot of the furniture they had that they wouldn't be able to take with them, such as the couch. Lenny managed to stuff Spencer's mattress and Carly's mattress in the back of his truck, but transportation wasn't easy, so they were lucky to have those two items. Blake's crib also was transported in Socko's large SUV. The table and chairs were sold, however, but Lenny was providing the table and chairs. As for all of the furniture that went, Lenny and Socko decorated the house for the family while they packed the bare essentials. In all, Spencer acquired seven hundred dollars from his sales. Sasha pooled together the items she had in her old house and sold off five hundred dollars. Her landlord let her get away without owing him any money. All together, the family had two thousand and two hundred dollars to their own name.

The only contact he'd had with his father was when Tyrone came by to repossess the car, which he'd lent to Spencer when Robert had gone overseas. At that point, it was clear to Spencer that his father and grandfather had no intention of helping him any longer.

They hadn't seen the house yet, so they were eagerly anticipating it. Carly was riding shotgun in the SUV while Spencer and Sasha sat in the seats behind them, Blake was in the car seat between the two. Spencer's eyes drifted out at the buildings they were passing. They were all stone and brick, old looking, and looked as though they'd been through decades of neglect. His breath caught in his throat as the air from the outside came through the open window and stung his palate. He gagged and felt Sasha reach over to close the window. "We're in one of those really poor neighborhoods, aren't we?" He met Socko's eyes in the mirror and felt his heart sink in his chest. Socko frowned and moved his eyes back to the road.

"Unfortunately. We couldn't find anywhere better. It's not so bad, though, the neighbors here are actually friendly people."

"Friendly, you say?" He moved his eyes out to see three people in a circle on the sidewalks. They were shoving each other over what looked like some kind of drug container. The huskier man looked like he had a gun in his waist. "Okay, and your definition of friendly and safe is?" He'd known Socko for years, yes, since they were children, but he was beginning to feel he had a misconception of what Socko thought a good place was. His eyebrow rose as Socko's eyes turned to the mirror once more.

"Statistically, this is the safest part of town. There's practically no crime where you're going. Then again, where you're going is also a part of town where few people actually live. Your chances of crime happening around you are slim to none." He had his doubts, but if Socko said it was safe, then it was safe. He met Sasha's nervous gaze and reached over to hold her hand. His eyes moved to Carly, she was shaking. It was hard to see, but looking hard enough, he could tell she was probably very frightened. He pressed his lips together and looked to Blake. His son was asleep.

"Good, because that's the most important thing right now. You said Lenny would be at the house?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Carly whined and moved her head back. No one had done iCarly this week, of course no one was sure how to do it. She couldn't even bring her laptop! She'd put everything on a few flash drives, but that was it. Spencer kept his laptop, due to managing finances and so on, but that was the only computer they had. It was looking more and more like iCarly was over, but Carly wasn't planning to go out without a fight. At school this entire week, people were commenting on Spencer having a son, but also commenting on what was going on. So far, no one knew anything was wrong, but she'd had to talk to several of her teachers, including Principal Franklin, and people were starting to suspect something.

"Spencer, are we going to be okay?"

"We're going to be fine, Carly. Trust me, everything's going to be okay." Carly sniffed and closed her eyes. She moaned and brought her head to rest on her window. "I know things look bad right now, but it'll work out."

"No offense, but why couldn't you stay in Law School? Why deliberately piss off dad because he and granddad couldn't grasp your hobby?" He winced and moved his hand to his chest. He shook his head and smacked his lips together. What could he say to her? He was getting tired of feeling like a letdown.

"Ouch. That hurt. I was trying to prove something to them, true, but at the same time…I don't know what I was thinking. I never anticipated having to take care of a family." He chuckled to himself and gazed ahead as Socko started to come to a stop near a curb to their right. He raised an eyebrow and waited as the others stared at the area. "This is it?"

Rural, or 'ghetto', was definitely considered better looking than this area. On their left were several old looking homes that seemed to have holes taken out of them and weeds growing up in the yards. On their right, nestled in between two mediocre homes that looked as bland as they were grey, was a small tan colored home with wood shingles. The yard was covered in weeds and tall grass, which was completely opposite from the homes on the sides. Spencer tilted his head and clicked his tongue as he scanned the homes.

With the house facing them, to the right of the home was the grey, dusty house with a broken window pane and a covered porch. A dark skinned woman with a pleasant, young smile, and a red bandana over black dreads falling over her shoulder in a ponytail stood on the porch. She was waving at them. She was wearing scrubs, distinguishing her as a medical assistant or a nurse somewhere. To the other side of the house was a red brick home with a closed porch as well, in addition to a neat and tidy yard. A man with grey stubble and frail arms watched from his rocking chair, which creaked with every rock.

The middle house was the one with Lenny standing on the porch. The family stepped out of the car and stared down at the cracked sidewalk. They were half expecting one of those cracks to turn out to be a snake trailing from the woods that was their front yard, but it was nothing so much as that. They made their way towards the house, walking carefully up the stone steps leading up the hill to the porch of their home. Sasha held Blake close to her chest while Spencer moved over to Lenny. "Okay Lenny, we're trusting you. Although, you didn't tell us we'd be living here…"

"Well it's better than nothing, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So, let's go inside! I can ensure you, the outside of the house is virtually spotless, without blemish." Spencer's stomach flipped and he immediately began wondering about the inside of the home. "So are you ready to see your first family home?" He chuckled nervously and felt Sasha's free hand clench onto his right hand. Carly took a deep breath and wrapped her arm around his left.

"Well, it's now or never." Lenny and Socko smiled at them and slowly opened the maple wood door. Instantly they stepped into what appeared to be a mix between the kitchen and the living room. On the right side of the room was a muddy brown, three seat couch that faced a small television on a small brown stand. To the left, past a sea of almost nauseating blue carpet was a square table with four chairs around them. The room was fairly small, but still big enough for elbowroom. "Not entirely big…"

"It's messy," Sasha said while staring at the baseboards of the walls. The walls were a pale green color, which was something Spencer instantly wanted to paint over. He sighed and took a step forward.

"Nothing that we can't fix, right?"

"If you say so…" They were led into the kitchen, which seemed to be made up of greasy peach floor tiles. There was hardly enough room in the kitchen to fit Spencer, Sasha, Socko, and Lenny, without bumping into one another. The kitchen had counters running across a wall with two windows near the sink, which rested in the middle of the wall. Next to the sink was a counter, and then an electric stove. Beside the stove was a white refrigerator. Sasha looked behind both appliances and her face twisted in a sour look. "We need to get behind here and clean up."

"That's not all." Carly knelt down and was inspecting the section beneath the cabinet doors. She swiped her finger under them and grimaced. "There's gristle under here! Ew!" Spencer clenched his eyes shut and exhaled. He made his way to the door opposite of them and started waving his hand, motioning them out of the kitchen.

"Moving along, moving along." The girls nodded and hurried past him. He turned to see a dark hallway with three doors. Two doors were on opposite walls while the third one was at the very end of the hall. When they opened the two doors closest, they saw beds and dressers. Carly was first to run to her familiar bed and jump on it, next to her bed was a dresser that sat right next to a window. She took a deep breath and sprawled out on the mattress. Next to her bed was an end table with a blue lamp. The ceiling fan was spinning around, cooling off the room, although the baseboards and walls were still dirty.

"This is okay. I have my bed now…" In the other bedroom, the setup was very similar to Carly's, but with a different bed and blue curtains on the windows. Sasha tapped her lower lip and frowned.

"The curtains seem out of place."

"We can get some new ones." Spencer continued down the hallway, sighing heavily as he opened the last door. He found himself walking into a completely white bathroom with enough space for two or three people to stand in. The toilet was right next to the sink, which sat directly in front of the bathroom closet. On the far end of the wall was a tall shower. It wasn't much, but it worked, and it was the cleanest room in the entire house. He turned to the others, who were making their way in, and gave them an exasperated look. "I know it's not much, guys, but maybe after some paint jobs, flooring, cleaning…it can be something for a while. Temporarily?"

"We can't afford anything better," Carly replied. She looked at the wall as though she wanted to lean against it, but thought better of it. Sasha met Spencer's eyes and smiled slightly.

"It's your decision, Spencer. Whatever's best…" Right, give him the hard decision. He put his hands to his hips and gave Socko a curious look. Maybe once they got to know the neighbors, perhaps after working around on the house, it really did hold promise. That was what he was holding out for. Carly was right, they couldn't afford better.

"It's small, barely enough leg room, but it works. Socko, Lenny, let's get to work." The two looked up at him as he closed his eyes and exhaled. No turning back now. "For now…this is our new home."

Well that's the new home, what do you think of everything? Pretty sure Carly's about to want to break down and cry. So Spencer's going to try fixing up the place. Stick around.