The Greatest Secret

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly

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

Chapter 121 (Living Arrangements)

Emily parked in the driveway and soon exited the car with the others. She actually enjoyed where the house was, since inside the gated community, there was no way for Tyrone to get in. Arian got in, but he wasn't blacklisted like Tyrone was. It had been requested that the guards keep Tyrone out of the homes and away from Emily and the others. Of course, what if Tyrone was to somehow enter? Would Freddie and Sam be in trouble?

"Okay, let's get inside and have some supper," Emily said while moving toward the door. She unlocked it and entered the house. She didn't really feel like cooking, so everyone could grab their own food. "Alright, this is just a grab and go day, I don't feel like cooking anything right now." The others nodded and headed for the kitchen. Emily sighed and fell back onto the couch, she actually was rather tense. She did have a lot of things to think about, such as Lionel Shay, Morris's offer, her father moving back to Seattle. There was just so much to deal with. "Sam dear, could you come in here?"

"Coming!" Sam answered from the kitchen. She walked out and sat next to Emily on the couch. "You wanted to talk to me?" Emily smiled and placed her arm around Sam's shoulders for a hug.

"Yes, it is about your Uncle and Aunt's offer to take you in…" Sam nodded and exhaled slowly. Emily wasn't sure about whether she wanted Sam living with them or not, especially since Sarah had entrusted Sam to her. "Sam, do you want to live with them?"

"Well, I don't know, I mean…" She wasn't sure. She wanted to spend some time with her actual family, though Emily was part of her actual family. It would be nice to live with Morris and Maggie, especially where Tyrone was concerned. "Tyrone doesn't know where they live." Emily hummed and rubbed her chin. This was true, Tyrone wouldn't be able to find Sam then. However, he did know that Sam lived with her. "I do want to spend some more time with that side of my family, I know that much." Emily sighed and leaned back, she still needed to be Sam's caretaker.

"Well, I'll think about it. However, either way, I intend to continue being your guardian." Sam nodded and smiled, she wouldn't have it any other way. Emily did figure that if anything went wrong, she could always pull Sam back under her roof. She needed to know that Morris and Maggie could properly take care of Sam, though. They couldn't neglect her, though she didn't think they would. Also, Freddie should be part of the decision-making. He was going to be Sam's husband after all. "I will talk to them about it. Whatever is best for you, that is how I intend to go with it."

"I understand." Emily looked to the window and spotted a car parking outside, it belonged to Spencer. She smiled and headed toward the door. Spencer waved after he got out of the car. He had some things he wanted to talk to his dad about. Sam stood up from the couch and turned to the kitchen. "Robert, Spencer's here!" Robert soon stepped out of the kitchen and looked over as Spencer entered the house. They were wondering what Spencer wanted to talk about.

"Hey Son, I thought you were going home after the reunion," Robert said as Spencer sat on the couch.

"No, I just needed to drop Sasha off," Spencer replied. He was going to go home, but there were some things weighing on his mind that he needed to discuss. He and Sasha had been talking about Carly for some time. "Sasha and I have been discussing the fact that we want to start a family at some point of time. We can't be watching over Carly…" Robert raised his eyebrows and frowned, it seemed Spencer was requesting Carly live elsewhere. If she lived with him, that wouldn't be too bad.

"Are you asking that she come to live with me?" Spencer nodded his head in reply. Sam wasn't too sure about how that would turn out. After all, if Carly lived with Robert and Emily, that would mean she'd be under the same roof as Freddie. Not only that, but how could she have her relationship with Freddie when Carly's in the same vicinity? Emily looked to Sam and sighed, she could easily see the worry in the young woman's eyes. Perhaps it would be best to talk to Morris and Maggie about Sam's living arrangements. She knew that they had to be fair, Spencer and Sasha couldn't take care of Carly when they wanted a family of their own. Not only that, but Robert did want to take care of his daughter before she became too old. "So, how long have you and Sasha been discussing this for?" Spencer tapped his finger on the armrest of the couch and leaned back slightly.

"Since the wedding…Sasha and I can't move into a bigger house yet, and she thinks she's pregnant…so we have to turn Carly's room into a nursery." There was no other bedroom in the apartment, and the couple didn't have enough money to afford a full house. Not yet at least. So it was either Carly slept on the living room couch or she go to live with another of her relatives, and Spencer was not about to send her off to live with Tyrone. "The only option we see is to hand her over to you." Freddie walked out of the kitchen with Jonah and Valerie, they had heard the conversation as well. Jonah was not too sure if it was a good idea, but he wasn't so cruel as to say Carly shouldn't live with her father. He was more concerned that she didn't cause his friends any more trouble.

"Then she'll move in with us," Emily said with a smile. It felt right to her, it felt like the entire family would be together. Of course there was Sam, so it would be difficult. However Sam wanted to take up Morris on his offer, so Emily had to deal with that. "Robert and I will discuss that, but we may decide to let her move in." Spencer nodded and smiled at her, he honestly thought it was the best thing they could do for Carly.

-NEW SCENE-

Two days later, Emily, Freddie, and Robert made their way to the home of Morris and Maggie Puckett. Sam would have been there as well, but she wasn't feeling at her best and couldn't make it. They rang the doorbell and waited for the couple to answer. They were pretty hopeful that this would turn out well. Maggie opened the door and smiled at them. She was dressed nicely and was well groomed, but that wasn't a surprise since she always tried to look nice. Of course, her breath did not smell like cigarette smoke, that was a plus.

"Come in," Maggie offered as she stepped aside. The three entered the house and looked around. The home was pretty clean. In the middle of the living room was a beautiful brown leather couch which faced a television hooked onto the wall. It was evident that these two had money, so they could definitely provide the things Sam needed while living with them, such as food. Morris walked out of a nearby room and smiled. He seemed well dressed as well. Of course, they were dressed in casual, every day clothes, they just were not slobs.

"I see you've kept the house nice and clean," Emily said as she looked toward the coffee table. There was no ashtray, so Maggie was most likely honest in trying to quit smoking. In place of the ashtray was a small glass bowl filled with rasinets.

"Yeah, I try to keep the house pretty clean. Have a seat!" Maggie gestured to the couch and waited as the three sat down. She and Morris sat in the two recliners that were positioned on either side of the couch. Emily looked at the bowl of rasinets and pointed to them. She wanted to have one, so she felt it was best to ask.

"May I?"

"Yes, but try not to grab a whole handful. Morris likes to try that…" Maggie turned to glare at Morris, causing him to laugh nervously. Emily chuckled and took a rasinet from the bowl. She placed it into her mouth and leaned back. She moved her eyes across the room and smiled, she could feel a very relaxing atmosphere. There were pictures neatly hanging on the walls and a beautiful fragrance seemed to fill the air.

"Okay, so let's talk…I understand that you want to let Sam live with you." Maggie nodded and took a raisin from the bowl.

"That's true. We love Sam and want to see more of her...We also know that Tyrone is a problem, and we are pretty sure he doesn't know where we live." Emily rubbed her chin and nodded. Tyrone shouldn't know where they lived, he never took the time or care most likely. It seemed like Morris and Maggie were not far away from Freddie, so it closed any distance problems for the couple. Freddie had his concerns as well, such as Morris having been an angry person in the past. He was sure that Morris would never hurt Sam, but his anger could pose a great problem for her.

"Does Morris have any trouble controlling his anger?" Freddie asked while crossing his arms. Maggie shook her head and Morris gave a confident smile. Anger management classes helped considerably for him. He rarely, if ever, got angry.

"I take Anger Management classes once a week," Morris said while raising his hand up. Freddie's eyebrows rose and a hum left his throat. "I don't drink at all and I tend to stay relatively calm…Maggie helps with all that." He smiled at his wife and she returned his smile with a sweet smile.

"Yeah, we've made sure to remove all alcohol drinks from this house a long time ago," Maggie added. Neither of the two had a drinking problem, but they did know that alcohol could contribute to Morris's anger issues. It had been difficult at first, but it gradually began getting better. Now, they were sure there wouldn't be any trouble. Morris just kept taking the classes to ensure nothing would happen, despite the instructor saying he really didn't need to go anymore.

"So why do you want to take Sam in, any other reasons?" Robert asked thoughtfully. Morris nodded and decided to answer this one. They wanted to feel good about themselves, they wanted to show David and Sarah that they could care for Sam. They wanted to prove to themselves that they weren't useless relatives.

"We know that Sarah didn't think we could care for her," Morris said as he held his hands together and slowly twiddled his thumbs. He slowly exhaled and closed his eyes, he hoped that they would understand why it was so important to them that they help take care of Sam. "We've wanted since Sarah's passing to show that we weren't worthless relatives, that we could take care of her daughter. We've wanted to prove that we were capable…to both Sarah, David, and to ourselves." Emily rubbed her chin and smiled, the tone in Morris's voice was definitely genuine.

"Ever since Sarah died, we've been doing all we could to better ourselves if we could," Maggie said with a smile. "We wanted to show Sam that we were good relatives…we know she didn't think we were before…" Emily nodded once more and took another raisin from the bowl. Those things really were addicting.

"You definitely show a desire to care for her," Emily replied. She just needed to know a few things about the living arrangements and then she could make the decision. "I hear you're trying to quit smoking?"

"Yes, and I'm getting all the help I can. I haven't had a cigarette in a long time!" Freddie smiled at that, it helped him with another of his concerns. At least Sam would most likely not be living in a smoke filled home. She could be safe from Tyrone, she'd still be near him and near the school, and Carly wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Okay, well I am convinced that you want to care for her and that you will do your best. Now what I want to know…what are your house rules?" Sam definitely needed some rules in the house to follow. Morris looked at Maggie and decided to let her deal with that. They both had rules made out, but Maggie knew more about it than he did. He was just too nervous to say much. Maggie closed her eyes and nodded as she began to list out the rules.

"Well, we don't want to be dictators, so we didn't overdo it with the rules." That seemed fair to Emily, no one wanted to make Sam's living arrangements miserable. "Well, as for bedtime, we would appreciate her going to bed around 12:00, since that's when we go to bed. However, when she's in her room…on weekends she can watch television or work on the computer in her room for a little while longer…about an hour longer. On school days, we think it's best if lights go out at that time."

"Okay, that seems fair." That was generally around the time Sam went to bed on most days. Usually she didn't stay up as late as midnight, but it was a good time to set so Sam didn't feel like she had to go to bed around eleven. "What else?"

"Well we want her to help out around the house, so she'll have a few chores. We'll ask her to take out the trash and every once in a while, I would like for her to help me with the dishes. I would also like her help with the garden…" The garden wasn't actually a chore, it was more of a request. Morris worked on the garden all the time with Maggie, it was pretty much the equivalent to a family activity. "When we eat dinner, we eat at the table. Breakfast is here or at school, whichever is Sam's preference. Lunch is at noon and supper is at five."

"That seems fair as well." Emily closed her eyes and placed her hands on her lap. She was for Sam living here, but she had some rules of her own. She was to still be Sam's main guardian and caregiver, as Sarah entrusted that title to her. Anything that happened with Sam, she needed to know. "Would you like to hear some of my rules?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Freddie and Robert looked at Emily and remained silent, they really were there for support and knowledge of things. They had nothing to add unless they felt it was necessary. "I am still her main guardian, okay? I'm letting her live with you, but if there are to be any changes to her, I want to know. Such as an extreme, if she wants plastic surgery, you need to tell me about it and we'll discuss it. You can take her to doctor appointments, you can treat her well, but I must know what is going on with her since she is still under my care. Understood?"

"Yes, we wouldn't have it any other way." Maggie wouldn't argue with that, she agreed wholeheartedly with Emily. Morris agreed as well, he wouldn't want to keep Emily out of the loop, it would just be plain wrong to do.

"Okay…also, if I notice anything bad going on, I will reserve the right to take Sam back under my roof." Morris and Maggie nodded their heads, that was fair. Nothing bad would happen, they were confident of that. They wouldn't do anything harmful to Sam. Emily looked over at Freddie and Robert, she wanted to hear what they had to say about this. "Okay, what do you two think?"

"I think it'll be a great thing for Sam," Robert said as he leaned forward to take a raisin from the bowl. He ate it and smiled at Emily. He thought it was a great opportunity for Sam to get away from where Carly would be, thus staying out of danger, and she'd be able to spend more time with her actual family, something she'd been neglecting for years. "I see no reason that this wouldn't work out."

"I'm all for it as long as Sam is happy," Freddie stated. If Sam was having any problems, he would most likely do something about that. It was a safe environment for Sam, that much was true. Tyrone couldn't find her if he ever figured out that she was Freddie's fiancée. However, there were still some thoughts about what would happen if he did figure out where she lived. "What would you do if Tyrone came to your door?" Morris and Maggie looked at each other and then to Freddie, their eyes told him they would do everything in their power to keep Tyrone from taking Sam away.

"We would try to send him away if we could," Morris said with a nod. It would be better for them to call Emily, or threaten Tyrone with trespassing charges. "I would suggest Sam hide while one of us distracts Tyrone and the other can call for help. I would think to call up one of you…" Emily smiled and slowly stood up, she had heard enough, but would continue to be in contact with them.

"Okay, here's the deal," Emily said in a confident voice. Freddie and Robert stood up as well, figuring Emily was about done. "I'll let Sam stay with you for one month. At the end of that month, if she is happy, then she can stay with you, but if she is not, then she'll come back to live with me." Maggie stood up and shook Emily's hand, she had no problems whatsoever with that decision.

"That is fair."

So Carly has to live with Robert and Sam will be going to her aunt and uncle, I think that's fair, works out better because Carly won't figure out Sam and Freddie are together. Hope you liked the chapter!