Paternal Bonds

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. I keep it simple.

A/N: Thoughts in "Italics" and regular speech in "Regular font." Only applied if in quotes.

A/N: by the way, everybody is 26 in this story, except Spencer who would be older. I doubt he'll be mentioned much. Please read this regardless of their age. It will all make sense, I promise. They have to be this old in the story.

Chapter 23 (Legal Procedures)

A few days later, Freddie, Sam and Angie all got into the car and started driving toward the city. "Where are we going?" Angie asked with a bright smile.

"We have to take care of some legal stuff and we're going to spend some time together," Freddie said while driving. Sam looked at Freddie and let out a sigh.

"Freddie, do you think I could go to where they found my child?" Sam asked in a quiet voice, Freddie glanced over at Sam and smiled.

"Sure, it isn't too far from here I think."

"Thank you." Freddie nodded and looked in the rearview mirror, Angie was looking out the window at all the fields.

"We'll have to get her registered in the school district and a so forth."

"Yeah, and I really don't know what I'm going to do, I want to study but I'm afraid to go to college on my own."

"You can always earn a degree online. However, I don't think it would be good to stay in the house, you should venture out some time." Sam nodded; she would definitely do that when the time came. Freddie parked the car near the side of the road, it was about ten miles from the mansion.

"Oh my god, he died out here? Thank god Tina was driving along at the time and found Angie." Freddie nodded, he had almost told Tina not to go shopping that day, now he was happy she did or else she might never have found Angie. Everyone got out of the car and Freddie opened the trunk, he pulled out two wooden sticks nailed in the form of a cross, one of which had a sign on it. He also pulled out a hammer and walked to the side of the street where the grass met and started to hammer the cross into the ground. Sam stood next to the car and Angie held her hand.

"I would have had a brother, Mommy?" Angie asked while looking up at her mom.

"Yes, you would have a brother; He would be just a few years older than you." Angie frowned and looked at the cross, a tear escaped her eye and she wiped it.

"I would love to have a brother or sister…" Sam looked down at Angie and smiled; Freddie stopped hammering and stood up.

"That will mark where he was," Freddie said quietly. Everyone stared at the cross and read the words on the sign.

Javed Adler Puckett, son of Samantha Puckett. May his spirit rest in peace.

"Javed Adler Puckett, eternally free," Freddie said with a small smile. "Javed means eternal and Adler is a take on freedom since it means eagle."

"You didn't have to do that," Sam said with a tear that rolled down her cheek. "You really didn't."

"I wanted to." Freddie looked up and spotted some flowers in the meadow, Angie saw them too and ran over to pick the flowers. When she came back, she placed the flowers on Javed's grave.

"You would have been my older brother," Angie said quietly. "I really would like to have known you."

"Maybe one day you'll be a sister," Sam said with a smile. "An older sister, one who has sibling that looks up to you. Angie smiled and Freddie looked at his watch.

"Let us stay here a few more minutes," Freddie said. "But then we should go because we don't want to be late."

"Right…" Sam knelt down next to the grave and looked at the name. "Javed, it's a wonderful name. I'm sorry that you were stuck with a bad man Javed, and wish you could have been free. You would love your sister, you'd love the man that I'm going to be with, I'm sure of it, I am happy though that you are no longer suffering and you're safe in God's hand with all the other angels." Sam closed her eyes and tears fled her eyes, Angie was crying as well, Freddie let a tear fall, but he never really cried. Freddie placed a hand on Sam's shoulder and she looked up at him. "Freddie, I…"

"Those words are very powerful and very meaningful." Freddie knelt down next to the grave and thumbed it over to check the wood; he brought his hand down and rested his arm on his knee. "I didn't know you, but I know your mother, and I love her no matter what. Your sister appears to be happy, and I'm sure you are as well." Freddie smiled softly and glanced over at Sam. "I have your mother safe now, Javed. No harm can come to her; I am going to take her as my wife." Sam stood up next to Angie and Freddie stared intently at the grave.

"What are you doing?"

"What's that, Javed? You say you want me to marry your mom? You think she'll be happy with me and that I'll do a very good job on taking care of her and Angie?" Sam chuckled softly and Angie smiled, she then went over to Freddie and looked at the grave.

"Mommy, Javad thinks dad will be great for us!" Angie said with a grin. "He says for us to be happy and that the bad man won't be a threat anymore."

"You two are crazy," Sam said with a soft smile. Freddie smirked and stood up along with Angie.

"Yet you love us anyway," Freddie said as he wrapped his arms around Sam's waist and held her close.

"You're right, I do." Sam placed her arms around Freddie's neck and rested her head on his shoulder. "I always will love you." Freddie softly kissed Sam's forehead and rubbed her back.

"I'll always protect you no matter what." Angie smiled at the two, she couldn't be happier. Sam and Freddie stayed in that position for a few minutes while Angie decorated the grave with flowers. Sam and Freddie turned to look at the grave as Angie placed the final flower on the grave.

"It's beautiful," Sam said quietly. Angie smiled and hugged her mom.

"It is beautiful," Freddie stated with a nod. "We should probably head toward the courthouse and talk to Spencer, then we can go to some other places." Sam nodded and the three went into the car.

"Can we stay away from the movie theaters though?" Freddie raised his eyebrow as he started up the car, he understood that Sam would naturally be fearful of theaters.

"We won't be going to a movie theater, trust me, I won't be taking you there. By the way, does Angie have a birth day?"

"Six years ago, and it was sometime in the summer." Sam looked down, she hadn't known what the day was, she hadn't seen the calendar in years. "When did you find her?"

"July twentieth."

"Then Angie was born on July twentieth." Sam smiled and Freddie nodded his head.

"It's a day I'll remember," Angie said from the backseat. "Hey Mommy, if we go get ice cream, how many scoops will you let me have?"

"How many did dad let you have?" Sam asked with a subtle smirk.

"Two…"

"That's all you need, you shouldn't eat more than two scoops." Angie sighed and shook her head, she was defeated once more.

"What about-"

"Be happy with two scoops Angie, some people have none," Freddie stated while keeping his eyes glued to the road. "There are some people in this world that are deprived of that simple pleasure; you are one of the lucky few." Angie blinked and Freddie smiled at her through the rearview mirror.

"Okay, two scoops it is then!" Freddie chuckled and turned a corner.

"Sam, have you given any thought to enrolling Angie in school? She should be starting first grade, its fine for her to skip over kindergarten."

"She'll be safe in school?" Sam asked with a side glance.

"I don't see why she wouldn't be, the school district here is the safest district around. Besides, if she goes to school, she'll have friends to play with."

"I get to go school!" Angie asked quickly, a smile formed on her face.

"Heh, maybe," Sam responded. "I like that the schools are safe, and Angie does need friends to play with, I don't want to keep her cooped up in the house all the time."

"It'd be better than homeschooling in a way; she'd meet a lot more people."

"It's hard living fifty miles from the school though." Freddie shrugged and parked at the courthouse. "The city…how long has it been since I have been in the city?" Freddie exited the car and walked around to Sam's door, she stepped out of the car and Angie soon exited.

"So we get to see Grandma here?" Angie asked.

"Yeah, I think she's going to be here, we just need to talk to Spencer really." Sam nodded and the three walked into the courthouse, they continued walking until they found Spencer's office. Spencer stopped typing on a computer and looked up as Freddie, Sam and Angie walked into the office and sat down.

"Good morning," Spencer said with a smile. "Della went to the restroom, she'll be back in a bit." Spencer took a file on his desk and opened it up to reveal some papers. "Okay, so we have DNA connecting Angie to her mother."

"We would like to put it all down under one last name," Sam said with a smile.

"Okay, so what is her full name?" Spencer turned to the computer and started to type.

"Angela Jade Benson."

"That's a very nice name." Spencer typed in the information. "Now what is the father's name?"

"Freddie Benson."

"Okay, and Angie's birthday?"

"July twentieth, she is six years old." Spencer nodded and typed in the information.

"Where was she born?" Sam looked over at Freddie and he sighed, Spencer waved his hand through the air. "We'll just put down that she was born out of the hospital."

"Okay, thanks."

"Now, you're going to want to take her to the doctor, both of you will need to see one in case anything has happened. They won't take you until you go through the legal proceedings, or get medical insurance and whatnot."

"My insurance will cover Sam and Angie," Freddie said while crossing his arms. "Sign them up for Cigna." Freddie took out his wallet and handed several cards to Spencer. Spencer took the cards and started typing into the computer.

"So your doctor will take them in? I urge you to have a check up immediately."

"I have a doctor who is a family doctor; he'll take care of all that." Spencer nodded and looked over as Della and Valerie walked in.

"Valerie is here as a witness to prove Angie was born in America."

"Grandma!" Angie exclaimed as she got up and hugged Della. Della smiled and hugged her back.

"It's good to see you," Della said with a smile.

"Grandma, I'm bored…" Della laughed and rubbed Angie's head.

"Well, this is really where the grownups have to talk. I think your mom just wants you to be with her during this time."

"Yeah, but it's still boring!" Angie looked over as Spencer's printer shot a paper out, Spencer took the paper and set it on the desk.

"Okay, Sam, Freddie, I'll need you to sign here," Spencer said as he pointed to a few lines on the paper. "Valerie, as a witness, you will sign here." Valerie nodded and signed the papers, Freddie and Sam signed what they needed to sign. "Okay, I'll send this in to a judge and get it confirmed."

"Spencer, no offense, but you seem so different," Sam said quietly. Spencer smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"A lot can change…I still love art though, I spend most of my time out of work building sculptures."

"Really? So what is the latest?"

"I built a giant horse out of marshmallows." Sam chuckled and Spencer grinned. "Let's not forget the sculpture I'm still working on, I'm making a giant mouth. I'm putting a bunch of red candies together to form the lips and then I'm going to put a bunch of marshmallows in as the teeth."

"Cool."

"Don't forget, I'm making something great for you guys on your wedding." Spencer winked and Sam smiled in response, she couldn't wait to see what Spencer was building this time. Angie smiled and walked over to the desk.

"Does this mean that I have a connected family or something?" Angie asked with a look that said she better have a good family now and everyone would be happy or she was not going to be happy, Spencer laughed and nodded his head.

"Yes, you have a full family, a mommy and a daddy."

"Yay, I have two parents!" Angie ran over to Freddie and grabbed a hold of his shirt. "Daddy, can I have a puppy now?" Freddie tapped his chin and smiled.

"Well I suppose you deserve one," Freddie said quietly. "Let's see what your mother thinks of the idea."

"We'll have to wait until everything is finished," Sam stated with a nod. "First we have to get to the doctor and get our checkups and then we need to get you enrolled in a school, after that we can see about having a pet." Angie smiled and hugged Sam.

"Okay, that sounds good," Angie said. "But what's a doctor? Will it hurt to go?"

"No sweetie, a doctor is very trusting…" Sam blinked for a minute and cast a concerned glance at Freddie, he held up two fingers.

"My doctor's office holds two main physicians that work closely together," Freddie said. "One of them is a female, I will just ask my main doctor if he'll let her do the medical procedures, is that okay?" Sam smiled and nodded her head, she knew that going to the doctor meant having a physical done and she wasn't sure she wanted a strange man's hands on her body, Freddie of course understood that. "We can set up an immediate appointment with them; they work their schedule with the other doctor, so it should be just fine."

"I'll talk to them," Spencer said as he picked up the phone. "I can get them to see you in today, since you have to see them before you do anything else. I recommend you go get your papers from your house and then have Mrs. Puckett go to the hospital with you since she'll have whatever papers Sam will need."

"Okay, thank you Spencer."

Yay, Angie is officially an American born citizen. Next up is the doctor's office, but it will be so much more exciting. Hope you liked this chapter, and hopefully you liked the beginning of it too!