The Greatest Secret

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 167 (Resting)

Sam bounced in the window and threw her head back as Brian, Madeline and Leon pulled up in their silver four door Nissan truck. Behind them, Greg and Annie, the two siblings had stopped at the motel first and unloaded. "Guys! Uncle Brian and Aunt Madeline are here! Greg and Annie just pulled up behind them!" First to come running was Melanie, the adults walked in with stride. Sam gazed out the window and watched Brian get out of the car with his family. Her eyes shifted over to Greg and Annie, who were standing outside of the car and talking amongst themselves. "I thought Greg was bringing his girlfriend with him…"

Morris raised his eyebrow and opened the door. He motioned with his hand and smiled softly. "Let's go out and help them with their luggage." The others followed after him. Madeline looked over with a chuckle as Maggie smirked at her. Morris stopped and leaned back, whispering to Hugh. "There she goes." Hugh laughed while Brian stared at his wife pitifully.

"Hey Madeline, I told you we'd get here before you! I win the bet." Greg and Annie walked up to their mother and cleared their throats, smiling in vain at her. "What? It's true." Madeline looked over to Brian and crossed her arms.

"See, I told you we shouldn't have taken that stop earlier." The man rolled his eyes as everyone else laughed and made their way to his car to help with luggage. Within minutes, they had all their baggage in the house. Brian and Madeline had everything in one of the back bedrooms that had been his old bedroom growing up. This left one bedroom and it would be left to Violet and Venus, who would have to share the bed in there. Leon would be fine with sleeping on the couch during the holidays. Greg and Annie were fortunate they had a hotel room, otherwise they'd just be out of luck. Buzz, Garth, and Carl would likely think the same. Although, it worried everyone that the 102 year old man in a wheelchair would be on the move every single day. They all were going to be staying at the Knights Inn.

Everyone was resting easy on the sectional, chatting about their trip and waiting for the other relatives to arrive. "If anyone passed through those mountains without pictures, I got em!" Sam held up her camera and grinned.

"We didn't catch anything," Annie said as she took the camera and started shifting through the photos. "Whenever bro gets behind the wheel and his foot hits that pedal, there's no stopping him…No matter howfast he's going." She slowly glared at Greg as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. Her eyes darted back to the pictures and her eyebrows lifted up. "You have some great shots, I may be able to make some paintings out of these."

"You should. Every scene is just waiting to be immortalized in paint, right?" Annie laughed at the use of her old catch phrase and nodded her head.

"Yeah, you got it. Though I got the inspiration to paint my lead-footed brother, then chuck the painting out the window." Greg laughed and looked over, only slightly offended.

"Was my driving really that bad?"

She closed her eyes and replied, sparing him no blows. "Yes. Be glad your girlfriend decided not to come at the last minute, she saved herself from having to endure your driving."

"I'll have you know, Georgia actually likes my driving." Annie's eyebrows rose as her lips formed a very subtle smirk. Sam and Melanie watched with bemusement.

"I'm stunned, maybe she is more of a race car type than I thought. I guess you'd better pick up speed, bro. You have a lot of competition ahead of you." He sighed and she leaned back in the cushion, feeling very proud of herself. She turned her head to the front door as it opened and Venus walked in with her mother following. "Hey, you guys made it! It's about damn time." Venus appeared energetic, but her mother looked a tad worse for wear.

"Such a long ass drive," Violet said as she tossed her bags on the ground. Venus nodded and set hers next to the wall. Altogether, they only had about five bags, an ample amount for their time. "Mom, Dad, you two need to move to Seattle. I swear, the drive is hellish!" The others laughed as Susan moved over to Violet and hugged her.

"I'm glad you made it Violet." Violet smiled and hugged her mother back. Venus made her way over to Sam and Melanie, then grinned as she high fived them both.

"Looks like all the teenagers are here. I bet you feel good about that."

"Just a little," Melanie joked. Sam chuckled and nodded her head. She wouldn't mind being the only teenager there with her sister, but to that same respect, she really didn't want to be the youngest there. "Did you know we got mom's old room?"

"Really? Awesome! Have you guys been out back yet?" The girls shook their heads and Venus glanced over to the family. Her mom crashed next to her brother and sister in law, so they wouldn't have to worry about getting their stuff in the room for a while. "Okay then, let's leave these old people and go check out the back!"

"All right!" The adults looked up and stared back at Venus with flat stares. She laughed and quickly hurried to the back door with the girls. When they made it outside, they were pleased to see a large fence encompassing the yard. Vines and plants ran along the fence and met with the lucious green grass. Each corner had it's own little garden of shrubs, roses, trees, and other plants. In the middle was a large blue, 8-shaped pool. The pool had a screen over it, covering it up for the winter. It was a bit depressing, since the girls really would have liked to go swimming, even though it was far too cold to do that.

"It's so beautiful," Melanie swooned happily. Sam moved over to a rosebush in the far left corner. She reached down and lightly held the bulb of one rose. The other two girls moved over to her and bent over to smell the flowers. "Grandma and Grandpa sure know how to keep a garden. Maybe one day I'll have one of my own! That would be awesome."

"It would be."

Venus stepped in between the girls and moved her hands to their shoulders, smiling brightly. "So girls, how are your boyfriends? They're not getting into too much trouble with Morris and Maggie I hope." The twins chuckled nervously and Sam's head rolled to the side. She wasn't sure how to respond to that, but was pretty sure she was the cause of Freddie's punishments. Studying their faces, Venus laughed and shook her head. "I'm not surprised Kyle gets in trouble, but I would have thought Freddie could get away with anything." Melanie laughed and Sam's face fell flat for a bit.

"No, Uncle Morris definitely laid down the ground rules for him. Just because Freddie and I are going to get married when we turn twenty means nothing, really, we're not married yet and are still young. I'm fine with it." She honestly thought having those restrictions and boundaries was a good thing, it kept them both aware of each other while not overstepping the line. "We don't need to be having sex."

"True, you don't want to run that risk."

"What about you, Venus? Any boyfriends?"

"Me? Nah, I'm not too interested in the dating world. Don't get me wrong, but I still would rather focus on my career."

"Oh? What are you planning to do?" Sam knew Venus was going to start college soon, but she didn't know where she was going. "What's in your plan for the future?"

"Me? Oh, I'm going to go to Julliard. I want to pursue a career in Theater." Sam's eyes widened with surprise, she was both happy and nervous hearing that. So long as Venus kept in touch, she'd be just fine with her going off all the way to that prestigious school. "I graduated with high honors, so I know they'll accept me. At least, I'm hoping."

"I'm sure they will. They'd have to be stupid to not accept you!" A gleam sparkled in her eyes as Venus laughed happily.

"Thanks." The three girls shared a hug, not letting go for a minute. Sam had no majoridea what she wanted to do. She really liked the idea of law enforcement, though. Seeing Marissa at work was awesome and inspiring. She had plenty of time to figure it out though, why worry now, when she could have fun with her family and her life?

"Hey girls!" The three looked over to see Susan standing in the doorway, smiling at them. "Carl, Buzz and Garth are here now. Also, I'm going to be making some cookies, for anyone who is interested." The three gasped and quickly ran for the door. Susan laughed and stepped out of the way. "You know, the cookies will have to wait until after dinner. Hugh doesn't want anyone's food spoiled."

"Okay Grandma."

Once inside, the girls practically tackled Buzz and Garth. They hugged them while Carl rolled his wheelchair behind them, speaking with a laughing tone. "Hey, any hugs for me?" Melanie turned around and started over, but Sam was faster.

"Grandpa Carl!" He grinned as they hugged him close. "I haven't seen you since the family reunion! I missed you."

"Yes, and have you gotten taller?" She laughed and quickly shook her head.

"Of course not."

"Aw, that's a shame. You will grow some more, though. Tell me, is your boyfriend's great, great aunt still kicking around?"

"Era? Yeah, she's still around. Are you still trying to ask her out on a date?"

"Oh yeah." He grinned and slicked his hand over his head, causing Sam to laugh. She honestly thought it'd be interesting if the two ever did hook up, but unlikely still. It'd be good, considering there weren't that many 100 year olds around to date. "Well, good that we're all finally here, now we can enjoy the Christmas season." The others nodded as Hugh started to hurry into the kitchen, the roast was almost finished.

Hours later, after dinner and after everyone was settled down, Sam and Melanie were in the upstairs guest bedroom, getting ready for bed. Melanie was brushing her teeth while Sam put on her night gown. Sam watched Melanie with a sad heart, knowing full well that Melanie probably was going through a lot of emotions just by being in the room. She was. She felt sorrow, joy, warmth, and confusion. Her mother's old bedroom, what life could have happened in this room?

She bowed her head as she recalled a childhood memory of playing with her mom, being read a bedtime story. Melanie didn't have that. She lifted her head up as her sister rinsed her mouth and turned around. "All done." Melanie flipped off the bathroom light as Sam moved under the covers on the right side of the bed. She lay on her back and watched Melanie move over to the left side. She flicked the lamp next to her off, the only light was the moon shining in on them. After a minute, she heard her sister mutter something. "Sam."

"What?"

"What was she like? Mom?"

"Mom…" She smiled softly and moved her hands behind her head. "She was a kind woman, loved everyone and tried her best to make people smile. If something was wrong, she was the first to try and find a way to solve that problem."

"Do you ever think about her?"

She moved her eyes down as a quiet breath left her lips. Did she think about her mom? Yes. Not a day went by that she didn't think about her mother in some way. "Yeah, every day…I miss her."

"Daddy too?"

"Yeah, Dad too."

"It isn't fair…" Her heart sank as she heard a small sob. She never thought Melanie would break like that, but then again, she hardly ever talked about the subject. "It isn't fair what Aunt Lucy did. I never even got to know my own parents."

"I know Mel, I know, and I'm sorry. It'll take some time to get used to it all, but you will. We'll all be here for you the whole way through. We're sisters for life, no matter what."

"Thanks Sam…" Sam moved her eyes over and smiled. She watched as Melanie turned over onto her side, her back facing inwards. Her eyes drooped for a minute, then moved to the ceiling. She prayed this Christmas would be everything Melanie needed to feel better, but truthfully, how do you cope in a situation like hers? With a heavy sigh, she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. Maybe over the holidays, she could talk to her grandparents about some home movies, letting Melanie see her mother for the first time. She needed that.

A calm chapter this is, I hope you thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes there will be home movies coming up, there will be a breakthrough, a turnaround, and a fantastic christmas gift :P