The Greatest Secret
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly
A/N: THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE, READ THIS FIRST: BECAUSE I HAVE REMOVED THE OLD AND "BLANK" CHAPTERS 131-147, IF YOU HAVE COMMENTED ON THOSE CHAPTERS PRIOR TO THIS, OR ANY OF THE "NEW" CHAPTERS I POSTED UP BEFORE REMOVING THE BLANKS, THUS UPPING FANFICTION'S CHAPTER COUNT TO 157, IF YOU WISH TO COMMENT ON THE CHAPTERS (FOR THE MOST PART, THIS MEANS BORIS, INNER GIBBY, AND PENNY), YOU WILL NEED TO COMMENT ANONYMOUSLY AS FANFICTION WON'T LET YOU COMMENT UNTIL MY WRITTEN CHAPTERS AND POSTS CATCH UP TO THE 157 MARKER.
Now with that said, please enjoy this chapter ^_^. Note, you'll see several nods to people and events that took place after I did GS's "fake" ending.
Chapter 138 (Thanksgiving Meal)
The first thanksgiving brought Marissa, Robert, Spencer, Sasha, Carly, and Freddie together as a family. It was a somber one, as it had only been a week since Zamira's family was taken. Zamira was still in a comatose state. The whole Davidson family decided not to gather together for Thanksgiving, as they had planned on doing a while back. They were almost certain someone was after them. Vera and Besim were both ready to head straight for India and hope for the best. Arian and Era were the strong ones, claiming they weren't going to be scared away. Besides, Arian felt he owed it to his eldest sister to remain at her side in case she awoke. Each family spent their Thanksgiving alone and hidden somewhere they felt safe. They wanted Marissa to get Tyrone, but nobody knew where he was. They couldn't blame him, though, especially if he felt they thought he was responsible for the explosion.
Sam wanted to spend Thanksgiving with the entire Puckett Clan, and they were definitely initiating Melanie into their crazy family. She would have visited Freddie this thanksgiving, but they were still worried about Carly. They weren't even sure if she'd quite processed everything yet. Especially since this last week, she nearly lost her maternal grandmother and never actually talked to Zamira. She'd been afraid of Zamira not accepting her or something. With all that, Sam and Freddie just didn't feel she was ready to handle any thought that they were dating.
Jonah and Valerie requested peace and quiet for the Thanksgiving and had brought their two families together for their first Thanksgiving meal. Granted, it was just Jonah's father, mom, and sister joining Valerie's four sisters, two parents, and four grandparents. Freddie had so gracefully wished Jonah luck with Valerie's family, and it earned him a glare in return. It was okay though, since Valerie was going to begin a four year apprenticeship with Rachael Ray. It would be the equivalent of college, then after that, she wanted to try and open up a business. Fortunately, her mentor would be giving her ample time to visit her family and friends, as long as she was learning her material.
Carly brought her turkey to her mouth and chewed it quietly, thinking to herself about her place in the family. "So, I'm still confused!"
"About what?" Freddie asked, raising an eyebrow curiously as Carly set her fork down. Carly rubbed her temples and sighed.
"Okay, Zamira, at some time, married a guy and gave birth to my birth mother. Linda marries Dad, leaves dad. At this point of time, what does this make me?" Marissa took a bite of mashed potatoes and swallowed them, remaining silent for her thoughts. Once she thought of something to say, she decided to add her input.
"You'll be my stepdaughter, that's really all you need to think about. Linda would be considered my cousin, so technically if you were associating relationships that way, we'd be second cousins. Because your father and I are marrying, that makes you my stepdaughter, Freddie your brother."
"Okay…" She picked up her fork and took a tentative bite of the ham on her plate. "So, I know granddad would never let it happen, but…when you and dad marry, are you going to try and arrange a marriage with me?" Robert and Marissa exchanged unsure glances while Spencer and Sasha absently ate their meal. Carly looked at them and pressed her lips together. "You didn't arrange their marriage, did you…" Marissa closed her eyes as she cut a piece of turkey and bit into it. Carly waited as the members of the family remained silent. "Oh come on, toss me a bone here."
"Carly, Robert and I aren't even sure…with everything happening around Freddie and his fiancé, Spencer and Sasha even were threatened when they got engaged…yet no, that wasn't arranged by us, it happened before I had the opportunity to even get to know my own son. Anyway, we're not sure what'll happen if we try to set you up with somebody."
"Let me guess, you think my granddad's going to try something?" Marissa chuckled and beat her fork in the air.
"Most likely." Carly sighed and moved her eyes to the side as she stabbed her mashed potatoes with her fork. The others stared at her as she stared at the fork, her cheeks were slowly turning red with realization that she just tried to use the mashed potatoes as though they were the meat. "Carly, you must understand that these take time. We don't even know if you've been dating anyone. You've not told your dad, you've not told Spencer…"
"I haven't told anyone. I mean, there's not really anyone out there…" Marissa nodded her head slowly and took another bite of her meal.
"In the end, Carly. It's up to you whether you want to participate in it or not. Nobody's going to force you to do anything that you don't want to do. I know it doesn't seem to coincide with what your grandfather said about my culture, but he's wrong about it." Carly hummed and reached over to grab for her iced tea.
"I don't know about all that. I mean, I defend granddad because people say he's ignorant. Anyway…" What subject could be talked about right now that might put everyone at ease? She could talk about Melanie, maybe even Jonah and Valerie. She did have some questions regarding them. "So Freddie, how long have you and Jonah known each other for?"
Freddie lifted his eyebrows and smiled in recollection of pleasant memories. "I've known him since I was like eight or so." Carly chuckled and brought her cup to her lips. It wasn't much of a surprise to her anymore, specifically because she didn't know what to expect. Freddie took a bite of the cranberry sauce and swallowed it heartily.
"Hey, you guys know that singer, Ginger Fox?" The others nodded as he grabbed his root beer. "I heard on the news the other day that her manager dropped her." Carly sighed and glanced to the side, she actually liked that singer. Although, not much.
Spencer cleared his throat and lifted his fork into the air. "Yeah, we saw that coming for a while now. You guys know that web sensation kid, Fred? Is he still on youtube?"
"I think so."
"I don't like him much," Freddie remarked absently. He really didn't, he honestly felt the guy's stuff was annoying and redundant. He was more of a fan of the Dawson guy, though not by much. "There's a lot better talent out there, believe me." The others nodded their agreements and continued eating, searching the air for more conversation fuel. They were all smiling now, starting to really get into the family time together. There was nothing quite like a great Thanksgiving to bring a family together and smile during a rough time. Carly was the first one to speak up.
"Hey Freddie, there's this kid at school named Pete, I think he likes Sam. You think we ought to set them up?" Freddie raised his eyebrow and Marissa stifled a laugh. Robert kept a stoic expression as Spencer coughed on his drink. Sasha smacked him on the back. Carly gaped at the reactions with confusion and turned her head to each of them. "What? What is it?"
Freddie grabbed his napkin and wiped his mouth. He really didn't know what to say. He wasn't a jealous person, by no means did he find himself to be one, but the concept of another guy moving in on Sam was just too troubling for him. "Carly, you really should avoid meddling." She narrowed her eyes as Freddie flashed a grin and put his napkin back on the table. "It's not your place, we don't even know if she'd like the guy, for one thing. Maybe you ought to ask her what she thinks about it all. I'm almost certain she'd get a kick out of that."
"Was that sarcasm? Are you making fun of me?"
"Maybe, a brother can't tease his sister?" Freddie smirked and Carly gasped. Her face turned devious and she started to spoon her mashed potatoes. Robert raised his eyebrow and Marissa quickly called out.
"Hold on, no food fights at the table." Carly sighed and pushed the mashed potatoes into her mouth.
"Sorry mom."
"If you're going to counter, you can smack him as long as it's not hard." Marissa smirked as Freddie's jaw fell.
"Mom, you traitor!"
"Sorry hon, I have to let my daughter win sometimes."
"Ma, you're evil." Marissa smiled innocently and continued to chew her meal as Carly gleefully smacked Freddie upside the head. Who was he to complain when she called Carly her daughter? It was very appropriate, and very proper. Hell, she was more Carly's mother than anyone else was. He looked over and saw that Carly's face was red, probably embarrassed from being called 'daughter', as great as it felt. "So, anyone ever give any thought as to whatever happened with Nevel? I mean, we haven't seen him in a year…" Nevel wasn't even doing videos anymore, they thought for sure once iCarly ended, he would be thrilled, but it seemed when the show ended, so did he.
"Maybe without you guys, he had nothing left to attack," Robert suggested. Freddie shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his chair. He couldn't complain if Nevel had disappeared, the kid was irritating beyond measure, but just thinking about the guy created a sense of nostalgia.
"You ever wonder if I should have pushed so hard to end the show? I mean…I know there's nothing we can do about it now, the show's long over, but still…"
Carly raised her eyebrow and tilted her head slightly. "You have regrets? I mean, you think we could ever start iCarly up again, Freddie?" He pursed his lips together and Robert slowly raised his head up. Nobody was really sure if that would ever be able to happen, not with everything going on the way it was. The Shays were after them, god knows Lionel Shay doesn't need to know where Carly was.
Marissa pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head. "I hate to be the one to say no here, but it's just too dangerous to even think about that show right now." Carly looked down sadly for a brief moment and shrugged her shoulders, she understood just fine that it would be dangerous. There was no sense in starting the webshow up again when people were after the family.
"I understand. It's just the nostalgia creeping up."
"It happens…I know you guys miss iCarly, but that might fade in time. It's just better right now that you don't put yourself out there."
"Hey, a lot of crazy things happened with it, right Freddie?" Freddie blinked as he swallowed a piece of his food. He chuckled as he remembered their times with iCarly. He glanced at Spencer and grinned. There was a time after Spencer started returning to Law School, that some big television company tried to steal iCarly's ideas and Freddie had Spencer go in and scare them with one big suit. "You remember when the one guy from the food channel wanted to come on?"
"Not really…when was this?" Carly paused for a moment and tapped her chin in thought, maybe Freddie hadn't been involved in that.
"Well it was just a message, Sam and I caught it one day but never bothered responding. Have you ever seen that show, Food Fight?" He raised his eyebrow and slowly set his silverware down, trying to recall the show. Didn't it come on just before Rachael Ray's big segment?
"Oh yeah, that's the show with Ricky Flame, it has to suck just being an 'opening act' before one of the food channel's real stars. Valerie is always turning on the television just a couple minutes before her idol, and there's the guy giving his closing speech. Sometimes he says some jealous remark about Rachael's show coming up." Carly laughed as she imagined the guy getting fed up with having a secondary slot.
"I heard some of the stars of the food channel might be looking for apprentices as well and that Rachael was supposedly not going to bother with it."
"Yeah, I guess once she met Val, she just had to get an apprentice of her own." He knew about the whole apprentice thing with the food channel. Some of the high chefs wanted to have someone to teach that they could hand off their cooking to. Paula Deen, Tyler Florence, Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, and Marcella Valladolid were the only other major chefs that were looking for apprentices. Ricky Flame never quite said whether he was going to or not. "He might try to get an apprentice just to attempt to be better than Rachael at something, but the thing is, he doesn't just cook, he has competitions and typically sounds a bit self absorbed. Rachael has more heart, that's what Valerie says, along with that heart being the reason people like her show the best."
"Go figure. Think the food channel will make any of the apprentices like battle or something?"
"Not unless they wanted to put them in on Chopped. In which case, I highly doubt. Though I wouldn't be surprised if old Rick will try and get Valerie on his side just to hopefully improve ratings."
"Let's hope not." Carly glanced at the window as she pushed a spoonful of potatoes into her mouth. Her eyes widened momentarily as she saw him, Griffin Halstrom. Her heart jumped up and she quickly looked back to her family, chuckling sheepishly. "Can I be excused?"
Marissa lifted her eyebrows with concern and eyed Carly's plate, she was pretty much done with her food. "I suppose, is there something wrong?"
"No, not at all…don't worry about it, mom." She smiled and rose to her feet. "Thank you." Freddie's eyebrow arched upwards as Carly placed her plate in the sink, then shot out to the living room. She opened the door and stepped outside, then closed the door behind her. "Griffin, what are you doing here? You know I said not while I'm with my family, right?"
"I missed you." He placed his hands onto her waist and smiled as he brought his lips gently to hers. She moaned once and leaned back, gazing into his eyes with wonder and slight upset. "We haven't gone out since you moved in with your family." He pouted his lip and Carly's cheeks became red, she hated when he put on a cute face. "You're not avoiding me because of-"
"No, no I'm not. I told you already, I accepted that stuff already…I know we haven't gone out, and I miss you too, but I haven't been able to see you while I'm with my family."
"Why not? Why not tell them that we're together?" Her brow furrowed and she glanced to the side. She hated to keep it secret, but nobody would go for the idea that this guy was her boyfriend. She and Griffin had been dating for nearly a year now. He wore leather jackets with spiked shoulders, black jeans, was now spiking his hair up, and most frequently rode around on a motorcycle.
"It's not exactly the image that would be good, you know? I mean, Mom's the Deputy Chief, Dad's moving on up in the military, and my brother is a lawyer now. They wouldn't approve…"
"So what if they don't approve? It's not like I'm asking you to run away with me. In which case…" He smirked slightly and nodded his head to the motorcycle in the street. Carly's eyebrows rose as he moved his smug eyes into hers. "You really do want to run off with me, that can be arranged." She smiled sweetly and looked back at the door, she was certain she heard moving inside. She placed her hand to Griffin's cheek and kissed him lightly. "It's thanksgiving, go be with your family. I'm with mine. Besides, they wouldn't like it if I left without warning. Now go, before they see you!"
"Aw all right…Are you sure you don't want to make out though?" She lowered her arms and narrowed her eyes for a moment before pointing harshly to the bike. "Go!"
"Geez, okay…" He turned around and paused, glancing back with a smile that made her heart melt. "Can I get one more kiss, though?" She smiled back at him and slowly shrugged her shoulders.
"Fine."
Inside, Freddie was busy straightening up the living room so they could all watch a movie together. He sensed something strange and looked towards the window in time to see Carly kissing someone. His eyes widened and he slowly turned to face the scene. Now since when was she dating someone, and why did she not tell them when they asked her earlier? What reason did she have for keeping the secret, hopefully she didn't think that she needed to hide her relationships because of her family's culture, that just wouldn't be necessary.
He titled his head to the left as the door opened and Carly walked inside, smiling brightly. She saw Freddie and waved. "Hey Freddie, how are you?"
"I'm fine, and yourself?"
"I'm okay." He watched suspiciously as she made her way into the kitchen. She had a peculiar bounce in her step, easily noticeable. He looked back to the window and saw the boy take off on a motorcycle. He wouldn't bother her about it, not right now. At least, he'd let her tell them whenever she felt like it. In the meantime, it wouldn't be right to accuse her of keeping a secret relationship when nobody told her about Sam just yet. Sighing, he shook his head and began to walk back in the kitchen to let people know it was game time.
Hope you enjoyed that!