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 124 (The Drive)

Emily and Carly were driving toward Linda Peeloff's home, somehow the woman decided to let Carly visit her. It hadn't been difficult, Emily managed to convince the woman that Carly deserved to know her mother. Carly sort of felt like Emily was just doing this to earn brownie points, but that wasn't the case for the elder woman at all. She cared about Carly, she cared about her as if she were her own child.

"Ms. Benson, do you know why Mom and Dad never stayed together?" Carly asked while looking over at Emily. Emily had tears going down her face because she was remembering how horrible it felt having her child taken away and the man she loved was forced to marry someone he hated. She couldn't be happy if Robert wasn't happy. She was sad for Spencer having to go so many painful years not knowing she was his mother. Carly didn't deserve that. Carly was shocked to see this woman crying for no apparent reason, so she thought to ask. "Why are you crying?" Emily shook her head and wiped her eyes, she couldn't tell her the reason, not yet.

"I just think…" She took a deep breath and wondered if she should be honest. She knew that Carly was going to find out and that it would hit her hard, so was it right if she told Carly herself and didn't let Linda hurt her? Perhaps it was a good idea to warn her before Linda tore her heart apart. She hated the woman because of what she had done to Robert and what she had done to her children. It didn't matter if she her cousin or not, she was angry at her.

"Ms. Benson?" Emily's hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel, then relaxed. She looked at Carly and smiled softly.

"I just think you deserve to know the truth about things." Carly didn't understand what that meant, but if she had to guess, she'd say there was yet another lie going on. She sighed heavily and turned to gaze out the window. She was starting to become annoyed with all of the lies surrounding her and all of her friends. "I want to warn you…the woman you're about to meet is one of the most virulent women I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because she left your father."

"What?" Carly's eyes widened in surprise, she had no clue that it was her mother that left. She thought that someone just filed for divorce. What was it that happened that was so bad? Carly saw how Emily's hands seemed to tighten up once more, she seemed to become emotional when thinking about Robert and Linda at the same moment. She decided maybe it was best to change the subject. "Ms. Benson, I was wondering…well, I was kind of surprised you didn't make Freddie come along. Aren't you worried?"

"Robert's with him, I'm not worried at all. Besides, Freddie's perfectly capable of taking care of things when I'm gone." Once more, Carly was surprised by Emily's response. Wasn't this the woman who was a crazy, overprotective mother? Was this not the woman who gave Freddie tick baths and cloud block? None of it made sense to her, it was like Emily just completely changed into a sane woman. She needed to know why Emily wasn't concerned about Freddie's well being while she was gone.

"Aren't you at least concerned about him?"

"Of course, what caring mother wouldn't be concerned about her child?" It was the reason she'd moved near Spencer in the first place so long ago, it was the reason she'd tried her best to keep Tyrone away from Freddie and from Sam. "I have something to tell you, Carly…" Emily kept her eyes on the road as she turned the corner. Her windshield wipers were on high speed, batting away the rain. She sighed deeply and released the gas for a brief moment, to take down the speed. "I'm not always overprotective like you may have been led to believe…"

"What?"

"There is no such thing as 'cloud block.' Although, I do make Freddie wear sunscreen when he leaves the house to be in the sun for a long time, it's precautionary. There is also no such thing as a tick bath…my son is not a dog." Carly slapped her forehead and closed her eyes. Of course, it was so simple. Why had she not caught those facts in the past? Why had Emily felt a need to masquerade as an insanely overprotective woman though? What was the reason?

"I-I don't understand…why would you act the way you did?" Emily frowned as she turned another corner and began driving down a narrow road. They were only within a block from Linda's house, and both women were becoming very anxious for this meeting. Emily was going to make sure Linda didn't do or say a thing to hurt Carly. As they came up to a stoplight, Emily pressed down on the brake and slowly came to a stop. The light was red, so Emily leaned back and looked over at Carly with a soft, honest, motherly look. Oddly, Carly felt a warm feeling because of it.

"It is because of those who want to harm my son. If I come across as overprotective, then the gangs will be afraid of me and not so eager to attack." Carly could understand that, she would hope Emily could do whatever it takes to protect her child. She smiled and tilted her head back against the chair. She wanted to ask the woman if she could date Freddie even though Robert was going to marry her and Freddie would become her stepbrother. She had so many other questions as well, such as would she be required to participate in arranged marriage?

"I'm guessing I won't be permitted to try and date Freddie now that you and Dad are getting married." Emily chuckled and shook her head. There was no way she would allow that to happen, not when Freddie was already taken up by someone. The light turned green and Emily pressed her foot on the gas pedal. Carly looked at her, as if awaiting a response. She was thinking of something to say and tapping her thumbs upon the steering wheel. She drew a slow breath and closed her eyes for a moment.

"I will say this, everything your grandfather has told you about arranged marriage…it is all questionable. I won't tell you anything about him yet, but I will say there are things that you don't even know. I hold true to my culture, but I am also not a slave driver or anything that your grandfather may have said about me. He hates us for his own reasons, and I can't say that I am a big fan of him either."

"But why should you not like him? He's never done anything to you, has he? You shouldn't hate him…" Emily looked upwards at the trees passing overhead, the sun was starting to shine and the rain was beginning to go down. She flicked the windshield wipers on a lower speed and turned another corner. Tears started to threaten her eyes, so she blinked and shook them off. Carly already noticed them before she could hide them.

"Your grandfather was the cause of something so horrible…what he did to me, he got away with for almost thirty years…" Carly wasn't sure what to make of the statement, she felt sad that something bad happened to Emily, but she was also confused to think that Tyrone could have done anything at all.

"What did he do to you that was so bad?" Emily pressed her lips together and felt her hands tightening up once more. She hated to remember, but she was glad that Tyrone wasn't winning anymore. He couldn't hurt her or her family. He could try, and most likely he would, but she wasn't going to let him do anything.

"He took away the man I loved, the man I was supposed to marry, then he forced away my son." Carly gasped and her eyes widened at the horrible news. It was just terrible! Tyrone would never do something so bad, would he?

"He never told me…"

"You think he'd want you to know? Considering my son…and the man I've loved for well over thirty years…" The last part of her sentence was muttered, but Carly still was able to catch some of it. She didn't know what the elder woman meant, but something told her that she was closer to Emily than she thought.

"Grandpa always said…arranged marriage couldn't have love, that people were put with people they didn't even know." Emily raised her eyebrow and laughed, of course Tyrone would say something like that. Carly knew nothing, nothing at all. Tyrone was trying so hard to mold her, but his molding had to end at some point.

"Carly, in my culture…usually it is the husband that has to do the work, but I didn't have a husband, so I had to do the selecting of the bride. I am required to look at every woman that is in my son's life, a woman he knows and I am to evaluate her on how she acts around him. Then I am required to put them together, let them date for a little while and see how they feel about each other. When they make puberty, I must have a bride selected for him, at least by then…I bring them together once more and I tell them that they are to be wed, I ask them if they feel they are willing to marry each other…they then tell me yes or no. The parents, or family of the spouse are also involved in this. However, there is the dowry system, where if the spouse's parents are against their child getting married, they can pay a certain amount…but once the parents say yes, there's no going back…"

"So, you were in love with the person your parents chose? What did his parents say?"

"At first, it was yes…but then that changed…I was forced apart by my lover's father, and my son was torn away from me, practically upon the delivery table."

"Oh my god…" Carly felt a horrible feeling in her stomach, it was as if she'd eaten a ton of sharp rocks. She honestly couldn't believe there was a person on this earth that could ever do that to a person. It was too horrible, too cruel, too gruesome. "I'm so sorry…I never knew…"

"It's okay, it's in the past now." Carly knew it now, her guess had to be right. Emily was marrying Robert, she was in love with him. She said she was still in love with the man from long ago. If anything, it had to be Robert. Yet, if it was truly him, then that meant Spencer was Emily's son. Her eyes widened and her hands slowly closed. It was beginning to make sense to her. Spencer said he never knew his true mother, that he'd recently just found out about her. He'd recently found her. If he was forced away, that meant the person didn't think Emily should be his mother, so naturally it would have been kept a secret. Carly stared at her feet in shock. She wasn't sure if she could handle such news.

"I-I'm still not sure my grandfather would do all this…" Emily shrugged her shoulders and Carly slowly closed her eyes. "I don't know why he would. I am glad though…I'm happy that you can be happy again." Carly smiled at Emily and took a slow breath. It made her feel good when she knew that two people could live in happiness, rather than to be in a dire situation that they hated more than anything.

"Thank you, Carly."

"Two people who can be happy together, that's all I want…is for everyone to be happy." Emily smiled slightly and parked the car against a curb, they were finally at Linda's residence. Carly looked toward the yellow house and swallowed gently, she didn't know if she really was ready to do this anymore. She'd just been told that her mother was supposed to be a mean lady, so it did seem pretty scary for her. "Um, can I just ask…why Dad married her?" Emily sighed as she exited the car. She walked around and glanced over as Carly exited the vehicle. Carly was shaking with fear and nervousness, she didn't know what was wrong with her, she was never this nervous when meeting anyone.

"Now what I'm about to tell you may shock you, but your grandfather forced Robert to marry this woman." Carly took a step back and shook her head, her eyes were wide and her hands were beginning to sweat. Her mother, her birth mother was forced to marry Robert. Then this woman probably didn't even want her. "Carly? You're going to be okay, I'm here…" Emily took her hand and gave it a slight squeeze. She looked up at Emily and seemed to relax when she gazed into the motherly eyes. "We can turn back if you want, we don't have to go in there." Carly looked over at the house and saw the curtains move from the window, Linda's face appeared and her eyes were narrow. She swallowed and took a deep breath.

"No, I need to do this. I have to talk to her."

"Okay, I'm with you all the way. Let's go talk to her." Carly nodded bravely and watched as Linda's face left the window and the purple curtains fell back in place.

I hope you enjoyed this, do review. The next chapter, I am sure you'll enjoy