Against All Odds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 19 (The Good Grandpa)

Carly woke up the next morning on Sam's couch, she felt like staying overnight and asked Spencer if it was all right. He had been fine with it. The sunlight poured in on her face, stinging her eyes, it had been a dark night and she was not ready to greet the morning sun. With a loud hiss, she pulled her covers over her face and heard Pam chuckling from the kitchen. "I told you last night you shouldn't sleep on the couch."

"You didn't tell me about the sun," she replied with a groan. She heard Pam laugh and tried desperately to close her eyes. They were in pain now and there was absolutely no way to force herself to go back to sleep. In defeat, she pushed the covers off her and slowly sat up. "What time is it?" It was Friday, but school was off for the day due to it being a teacher workday, or some other school function that she wasn't aware of. "It feels like morning…"

"Well it's eleven forty-eight, Sam's not up yet." That was unfortunate, but Sam had still been feeling bad throughout the day and night. She heard the girl wandering around during the middle of the night, so clearly something was up with her. When asked, Sam said she wasn't sure it was food poisoning because she and Freddie had the same meal on their recent date. He wasn't sick. She had been saying it could be from anything, considering she ate more than she should.

"You think it's food poisoning?" Carly rubbed her eyes and slowly stood up, shaking her head and trying to adjust her vision to the daylight. There wasn't much she wouldn't do for a dark room without windows. The closet behind the table was very tempting.

"I don't know, but if she doesn't get better, I'm going to have to take her down to the clinic." Carly nodded and pressed her lips together, staring curiously at Pam. She knew the two went to a free clinic somewhere, those things literally were godsends to poor people. Pam turned from the sink and pointed at the cell phone on the table. "You got a phone call by the way, about an hour ago."

"Really? Who was it?"

"I don't know, didn't check." Carly rushed over to her phone and flipped it open, sighing at the primitive design. She was going to have to get used to the flip phones. Nokia was not a bad brand at all, really. The people at the phone store were very welcoming when she had to trade in the phones. She clicked the missed calls and studied the most recent missed call, gasping with delight. Pam smiled at her as she washed her hands under the water. "So who is it?"

"Grandpa!" Pam did a double take and raised an eyebrow as Carly bounced happily. She stopped and looked to the older woman with a nervous chuckle, understanding her confusion. "Not granddad, my other grandpa. Mom's dad."

"Oh, you guys still talk to them?" Pam turned off the sink and grabbed a kitchen towel from the counter beside her. Carly nodded and watched as the woman dried off her hands. "I just assumed your mother's family was out of your lives. I was mistaken?"

"Well, it's complicated really." How could she explain the whole thing with her mother? She didn't even understand it all. A nostalgic feeling rushed over her as she turned her eyes to the cell phone, smiling softly. The first memory she had of her mother, the last memory of physically seeing the woman, was when she was only three years old. Her mom's brown hair rushed down to her neck and blossomed out like feathers, her beautiful peach colored lips smiled down at her and laughed as she cuddled her baby close. In truth, Sasha reminded her so much of her mother. "Dad sent her away, I was only three…I suppose I couldn't understand why…" Pam frowned and meshed her brow together. She tossed the towel onto the sink with a sigh and shook her head.

"That man…The more I hear about him, the more I want to bash his head open with the first thing I can get my hands on." Carly bowed her head and felt her heart sink. Even she was beginning to hate her father.

"Yeah…" Pam looked at her with concern and lowered her voice, putting her hand to Carly's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It just makes me angry to think of how your dad would treat his own family."

"It's okay." She lifted her head and shrugged away the pain the best she could. It was still too damn hard, but time healed all wounds. Right? "Anyway, if you met mom, I think you'd like her. I talk to her and Uncle Ken whenever they call. You know, mom has to do it through my Uncle because Dad's put some kind of restriction on her…I can't really understand, Uncle Ken never tells me when I ask, so there must be something bad about it. After what Dad and granddad did…I'd believe almost anything…"

"I can understand that. You call your grandfather back, I'm going to go check on Sam." Carly nodded and walked out of the kitchen. She took a seat on the couch and threw the blanket over her legs, the sunlight no longer bothered her. Tears brimmed her eyelids as she called her grandfather back. After a few anxious rings, Travis answered the phone. Carly smiled bright and breathed in. "Hey Grandpa, you called?"

"Yes, how are you doing, dear?"

"I've seen better days, but I'm okay." She crossed her legs over and looked towards the window, thinking of how ironic it was that the tables had turned and she was the one staying overnight at her best friend's home, rather than Sam doing it. She had wondered where Melanie was, but then, she'd forgotten Melanie was still at the boarding school. "What are you doing? Isn't it almost two over there?" She wasn't too sure on her time zones, whether it was two hours or three hours ahead of her.

"Actually it's almost three." She nodded and lifted her eyebrows, she'd have to remember this. "I just got done having a small lunch. You sound like you just got up."

"Yeah, a few minutes ago. I'm over at Sam's house right now. She's not feeling too well."

"I saw, I was watching iCarly yesterday. Are you and your brother okay? How is Blake?" She grinned and thought about how much joy her grandfather must feel about having a great grandchild. She knew he wanted to meet Blake, they all did. Maybe now they could, if Spencer could ever find the time or money for a plane trip to Florida.

"Blake's great. If only he could understand what's going on, but at the same time, I think it's better that he doesn't know." He would when he was older and they were still stuck in the same rut. Would things ever get better? Then it dawned on her, the first time she really gave it any thought. Her face paled and her lips started to quiver. Her final year of high school, would she be able to get into college? "Oh my god…Grandpa, how am I going to pay for college…"

"What do you mean?"

"You know how Dad kicked us out…he's left us with nothing…"

"I know, Kenneth told me everything. He spoke with Spencer yesterday." She frowned and slowly closed her eyes. Why was she not surprised that they all knew what was going on already? At least someone else understood what they were dealing with. "Carly, things will work out. Trust me, things have a way of working out for the better."

"I know. I'm scared, though…it doesn't help, either, that those loan sharks are after Sasha."

"Yes, Ken told me about that. The man's name is Clarence Clayton?" Hearing that name sent fear burning through her veins. She hated to think that everyone she knew could be in danger because of that man. Though, it was Sasha who felt more of the guilt. She could only hope she never made the same mistake some day.

"Yeah, that's his name. Sasha borrowed ten grand to take care of Blake before she came to us, and now that they know she's with Spencer, they're still a threat. I don't think they've found us yet, but…I'm scared. When and how could we ever pay that off? Spencer says loan sharks give interest and Sasha mixed with them a year ago, so it could be up to twenty grand by now! How could we ever pay that off…" She didn't want to spill all that to her grandpa, she knew Spencer wouldn't want her to, he never wanted to worry their family. She couldn't help herself, right now, Travis was the closest person in her family that she could talk to. At least they still felt like family. "Where could we get that money from…"

"It couldn't be that, well…" She slowly opened her eyes and listened as her grandfather started shuffling through some papers. What was he doing? "Kenneth asked why the name was familiar, but I recognize the name. Here it is…Clarence wasn't always up in Washington. Back in the day a little before I was active in politics, back in the ice age my dear." Carly chuckled slightly and breathed in calm air, she loved how her grandfather always tried to leave humor in a tense situation. "Just as we weren't always in Florida, I knew Clarence personally in New York, we worked on Wall Street."

"Wall Street?"

"Yes, I was a stockbroker fresh out of college, Clarence was fresh out as well, but a year behind me. I taught him a thing or two about the trade. When I followed my father's footsteps and dipped my hand into politics, we lost contact. I'm surprised to hear he's become a loan shark…that's messy business right there…" Carly just about flipped over in shock, her grandfather actually knew the man? She wondered if this could be helpful in any way, but at the same time, there was probably nothing he could do.

"A politician's son getting mixed up with a woman that has a loan shark after her…I can't see that as being very good…"

"Your mother is close to her own retirement, I doubt she honestly cares if anyone tries to put her down politically for things that have gone on in her own family. However, this Clarence fellow…you don't worry about that, my dear." She lifted her eyebrows and pulled her lips inward. What was there not to worry about? "I can almost guarantee that will not surface, besides, your mother wouldn't have to do anything about it. I'm not in politics any longer and you're my granddaughter, if Clarence thinks he can put one over on my family, he's got another thing coming…"

"Grandpa don't…I don't want anything bad to happen. I don't want you guys to get in trouble, and Spencer wouldn't be happy knowing I told you about the loan shark."

"Carly, your brother has a big case of pride." Carly looked to the side and nodded knowingly. It was not a surprise in any way. "He turned down Ken's offer to help because he wants to prove to all of you that he can do this on his own." She smacked her forehead and groaned. She knew Sasha believed in him, she trusted him, why did he feel the need to 'prove himself'.

"We have no doubt he'd be able to, it's just…it's a little hard right now…The smart thing to do would be to take Uncle Ken's help, wouldn't it?"

"The offer's always going to be there. I'm sure if Spencer sees the need to take the offer, he will. Your brother's smart."

"I hope so…" He might not be that smart if he really turned down Ken's help. They couldn't just sit idly by and do nothing! Ken was respectful too, he wouldn't force their help if Spencer adamantly refused. This was very bad. "If it all goes to hell, Grandpa…I want you to know I love you guys." Where that came from, she didn't know, but it had to be said. Staring down an uncertain future without the slightest clue as to what was to come was devastating, frightening, and downright deadly.

"I'll say it again, have faith, things are going to work out."

"I know, it's just hard to be positive right now."

"I know it is. Your mother was here about an hour ago, she had to rush in to work. She wants you to know she's thinking about you and loves you very much." Her eyes lit up with wonder and a tear strolled down her right cheek. Her lips curled upwards and her hand moved to her chest, she could feel her heart pounding. So she missed her mother, that was hard to swallow, but she was thankful for her grandfather's words.

"I love her too. I miss her."

"Maybe you'll see her again one day."

"Maybe…" It wasn't too much to hope for, but right now it was probably not possible. There were so many things going on for everyone in Seattle, and her family in Florida couldn't just hop on a plane and fly to Washington. Trips like those required planning. She lifted her eyes to the kitchen and saw Sam standing in the doorway. Her hair was a frazzled mess, she had bags under her eyes, and her face was pale and pasty. "Grandpa, I think I need to let you go, Sam just woke up. She's a mess." She whispered the last part, but Sam appeared to hear her anyway. Her friend rolled her eyes and scowled at her for a minute before sitting down next to Carly.

"Okay Carly." Travis laughed and said his farewell before hanging up. Carly lowered her phone and turned to Sam, subconsciously reaching up and brushing her friend's hair with her hand. "You're up late."

"I got no sleep last night and you're surprised I'm up late?" Sam sounded a bit bitter. Carly didn't take offense, since she had every right to be in a bad mood. "So that was your grandpa?"

"Yeah, the one in Florida."

"Cool. Tell me about it while I fall asleep on your shoulder?" Carly laughed and nodded as Sam fell onto her shoulder. It was moments like these where she didn't feel so abnormal and out of sorts. "Carly, what if this isn't food poisoning?"

"What else could it be?" Sam remained silent, her eyes bore into the wall in front of her. Carly furrowed her brow and stared at her friend with question, she decided not to press the matter. She pondered if she should ask Sam's thoughts, but she didn't appear to be interested in talking about it. "I'm sure it'll pass."

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, stick around for the next