The Greatest Secret

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly

A/N: As you know, thoughts are in italics and speech is in regular font.

A/N: IMPORTANT-I wrote this chapter up because I had forgotten that Valerie should have had her baby by the time of the reunion. She conceived in November, so nine months would be August. That is after the Grandfather chapter and before the reunion. Here you go. Please use the new chapter (which will be the chapter updated yesterday) to review this one.

Chapter 107 (Valerie's Labor)

It was early August; Valerie was due any day now. She and Jonah were dining out at a nice Italian Restaurant. It wasn't much, they didn't dine out that often. They were discussing the upcoming reunion and the possibility of going. Valerie wanted to be there for Sam and Freddie, but was concerned about whether they should take the baby with them or not. They had until October to decide, but it really wasn't that far.

"You know, we can always leave the child with our parents, the reunion is only for part of the day," Jonah said with a subtle nod. Valerie smiled and began to unfold her napkin. Jonah glanced over as the waiter walked up to the table. It was a well dressed man who was probably in his early forties, his hair was combed back nicely and he wore what looked like an expensive suit. Valerie looked over at the man and smiled. He looked to her and gave her a polite smile. He noticed her pregnant belly and assumed the two to be married.

"Hello, I am your waiter tonight, you may call me Tony…" Tony didn't appear to know that Jonah and Valerie were underage, so he held out his wine menu to Jonah. "Would you like to look at our wine list?" Jonah smiled politely and held his hand up to refuse. He decided to give a little humor into the night by acting older than he really was, but it would still be polite enough.

"Thank you for the offer, sir. But as you can see, my wife is pregnant and it would be best for her not to drink alcohol. Of course my good man, even if she was not pregnant, we still could not partake in your wine of the day, for we are not old enough." The man blinked and smiled as he gracefully pulled the wine menu back. He appreciated Jonah's honesty and apparently polite refusal of the wine list. The waiter set two menus on the table and placed his hand over the other at his waist.

"Can I interest you and your lovely lady in anything to drink tonight?" Valerie blushed slightly at the comment and looked at the menu toward the drinks. Water would be good for her. She started to say something but stopped when she felt a sudden cramping. She clenched her teeth and strained, it felt like a contraction. The waiter and Jonah looked at her as she tried to relax, she wasn't sure if it would be time to go into labor or not, but she hoped it wouldn't be right now.

"I'll have….water," Valerie said as she took a slow deep breath. Jonah nodded and asked for the same. The waiter nodded and walked off to retrieve their drinks. Jonah looked at Valerie and raised his eyebrows, concerned with the slightly twisted expression Valerie had.

"Are you okay Valerie?" Jonah asked. Valerie took another breath and smiled, after about a minute the contraction had ended.

"I'm fine, it was just a contraction, I think…" Jonah's eyes widened and he began to tap his fingers on the table, he wasn't sure if her having a contraction right now was good or bad, but he felt that he should get ready just in case. He knew that Sam and Freddie had all the materials they would need, such as cameras and tools that would be used during the labor process.

"Do you think I should call Freddie?" Valerie slowly shook her head and leaned forward, she wasn't going to worry so much about the contraction. They were normal to have. Of course, if they started getting closer, then it would be best to get to the doctor.

"No, I'm fine…" Jonah smiled and picked up his menu. He took a deep breath and looked through for the food items. In a few more minutes, Tony came around with the drinks. He smiled at the couple and wondered if they were ready to order.

"Would you like a few more minutes?" Tony asked while smiling at the two. Jonah looked at Valerie and saw that she appeared intensely focused on the menu, he smiled politely and held up his hand.

"I think we'll wait a little longer before ordering," Jonah stated calmly. Tony nodded and walked off. Valerie felt like she was having another contraction, and oddly, it had only been four minutes from the last one. Could that mean she was going to go into labor? No, the doctor said something about it, when she would go into labor, the contractions would be more intense and painful.

"Jonah, I think I might like the lasagna and ravioli plate," Valerie said as she eyed the food. Jonah glanced at the food on his menu and nodded, it was inexpensive and looked very appetizing. He was tempted to order the same thing. Of course, the veal looked pretty appealing as well. "What do you think, Jonah?"

"Well I'm stuck between the veal and what you're looking at."

"Oh?" Valerie looked toward the veal and chuckled, it wasn't expensive, but it wasn't cheap either. Although she didn't have a problem with that, they did have money enough to eat a good meal at a fancy restaurant on special occasions. "Well if you want my opinion, I think you should ask the waiter for a recommendation." Jonah pressed his lips together and nodded, it seemed like a good idea.

"Yeah, I think I'll do just that." Valerie continued looking at the menu choices, then stopped. Her eyes widened as she felt another contraction, they were getting closer and they felt like they were growing stronger. Jonah's phone began to ring, so he checked it. "It's from Freddie…" He answered the phone as Valerie clenched her eyes shut. "Hey Freddie, what's going on?"

"Well Sam wanted me to call you guys up and ask how your dinner was going," Freddie replied with Sam holding her arms around his neck and standing behind him. Jonah could hear sounds such as Sam kissing Freddie on the neck. "I don't see why, but she likes to kiss me while I'm on the phone."

"Maybe that's because it's what you did to her when she was on the phone before, remember?" Freddie chuckled and smiled as he looked upwards. He could remember doing that to her so many times before, it never got old. The waiter walked up to the table and saw that Jonah was on the phone. As he was about to turn to leave, Valerie's eyes shot open. Her contractions were too strong now. This was it, she was going into labor.

"J-Jonah," Valerie said in a quiet, but strained voice. Jonah looked over at her and his eyes widened, she was pale and appeared to be in great pain. His hand began to shake and he nearly dropped the phone. "It's time!" Valerie screamed out and the waiter turned back to her. All the occupants of the restaurant were now turning her way. Jonah shot out of his seat and began stuttering. As many preparation classes as they took, it felt like he was still ill prepared for this moment.

"Jonah? Jonah, what's going on?"

"I-It's Valerie…it's, she's, it's, I, hospital! Doctor! Labor!" Freddie started to respond to Jonah's stuttering, but Sam quickly took the phone from him and started to instruct Jonah. Sure, she hadn't been through this, but she knew well enough about pregnancy from having researched it and being around Valerie for the past nine months. She did know what Jonah should do in this moment.

"Jonah listen to me," Sam said in a calm yet quick voice. "Take a deep breath and help Valerie to breath." Jonah took a deep breath and quickly moved to his wife. The waiter and some other patrons and employees rushed over to help. "Freddie and I will meet you guys at the hospital with your things…ugh, everyone's over here, so they may be rushing with us, but whatever…just call the doctor!"

"Right." Jonah hung up the phone and knelt in front of Valerie. She was sitting in the chair with her hands on her stomach and her face twisted in pain. "Valerie, relax…take deep breaths." Valerie clenched her teeth sharply and nodded her head, still in extreme pain. Jonah stood up and looked at the waiter. "Can I get some help here? I need to get her to the car." Tony nodded and some people came to help Valerie to her feet while Jonah called up the doctor. As the phone rang, Jonah impatiently tapped his foot on the ground. They made their way out of the restaurant, the waiter wouldn't have a problem with letting them go free considering their circumstance.

"Doctor Thompson's office…"

"Yes, this is Jonah Brown, my wife's going into labor right now!"

"Okay sir, may I ask how far apart the contractions are?" Jonah looked at Valerie as she took a deep breath.

"Val? How far apart are they?" Valerie moaned and tried to think.

"Every four minutes…they last about forty to sixty seconds I think," Valerie said while breathing in. Jonah nodded as he fiddled to unlock the car doors. He took a deep breath to relax himself once more and spoke again into the phone.

"Four minutes, about forty to sixty seconds long."

"Okay sir, we'll send a nurse to meet you outside. Is there anyone that we should look out for?"

"Yes, our best friends should be there. Freddie Benson and Sam Puckett..." Everyone helped Valerie into the passenger side of the car while Jonah hurried to the driver's side. He had to admit, he was scared as hell at this moment, but he had to be strong. He was finally going to be a father, this had to be the best moment of their lives. Jonah quickly started the car and drove off, driving as fast as he could toward the hospital. At this moment, he didn't care if he got a ticket, his wife was in labor.

It wasn't a long drive at all to the hospital, only about ten minutes. Once they arrived, they saw Sam and Freddie hurrying to the car with a nurse and a wheelchair. Jonah opened the door and rushed to Valerie's side. They opened the door and helped her into the wheelchair. "Okay Valerie, just breathe," Sam said as she took her friend's hand. Jonah wiped his brow as the group hurried into the hospital.

"I thought you said someone else was going to be here," Jonah said in a quick voice. He didn't really care, since it wasn't important. When they entered the hospital, they saw Emily and Robert, next to them was Spencer and Carly. Jonah's eyebrows rose as everyone followed them towards the delivery room. "What are they doing here?!"

"Spencer and Carly were ringing the doorbell just as you told us Valerie was going into labor," Freddie replied. The two decided to tag along for any kind of support that might have been necessary. Freddie and Sam went into the delivery room with Jonah and Valerie, as according to what their wishes were. Everyone else had to wait outside the waiting room. "Would you like us to call your parents up?"

"Yes, that would be a great idea," Jonah said as he and the nurse helped Valerie onto the table. Freddie nodded and dialed up Jonah's parents as Sam dialed Valerie's. It would seem that the parents were going to be thrilled that the baby was finally being born. After they called the parents up, Freddie decided to pull out the camera. It was requested that Freddie be the one to record everything while Jonah was helping Valerie to deliver. Of course, that wasn't going to say that Freddie wouldn't get queasy. "You know you guys won't have to be in here the entire time, right?"

"Yeah, we know…" Of course Jonah would, that's just the way he was with Valerie. No matter how long the delivery took, he was staying by Valerie's side the entire time. Freddie and Sam intended to stay in the hospital. No one really cared whether Carly stayed or not, but she probably was going to leave whenever Spencer did.

Hours went by, each feeling like eternity. Jonah kept true to his promise to stay with Valerie the entire way. Freddie and Sam left the room every now and then to eat or to just simply get out of the room. Valerie was screaming the entire time, and once even cussed Jonah out for not using a condom and causing her this amount of pain. The funny thing was, the guy seemed to take all that she threw at him, which was pretty much everything but the kitchen sink. After a total of nineteen and a half hours, Valerie and Jonah were the proud parents of a baby boy which they would name Aaron.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.