Paternal Bonds Shattered

Disclaimer: Do I need to say it? I don't own iCarly

A/N:

Chapter 23 (Birthday Celebration)

Years passed by and Rachel turned three, along with the twins. This was the happiest day of Valerie's life, her baby girl was a beautiful toddler. Gibby made good on his promise to keep Rachel safe from harm. Jeremy never tried anything to the girl. Although on this day, he was coming under fire, as his girlfriend was five months pregnant with his child. But pregnancies seemed to be affluent, as Jeremy and Nevel both had ended up dating people too. Jeremy had several one night stands, and one of the girls ended up pregnant with his child four months ago. Whoever decided it was a good idea to date Nevel, was also giving birth to a child. These weren't the only women pregnant, Sam's nightmare happened a second time when her father became drunk six months ago. He abused her and now she was once again pregnant.

"Again, why the hell did you let me get drunk?" Hector asked as he sat with the men at the table.

"None of us were here," Gibby said with a low scowl in his voice. Hector kept going on and on about that and no one wanted to talk about it. They looked over as Rachel came bounding into the room. She had her hair up in pigtails and had two blue ribbons in her hair. She also wore a purple dress. She spun around and lifted her arms up. Gibby smiled as he bent over and picked the little girl up. To her, he was like an uncle. She was so young, she didn't know the things that happened in this house. Valerie came hurrying in and smiled at Rachel, crossing her arms.

"Uncle Gibby won't make me take a bath!" Rachel said defensively. She stuck out her tongue and smiled widely. "It's my birthday, and Uncle Gibby says I don't have to take a bath if I don't want to. Right?"

"Oh there's a lot of things Uncle Gibby would say," Jeremy stated while rolling his eyes. He laughed briefly as Gibby handed Rachel right to her mother. Rachel gasped and stared with wide eyes at Gibby. She had been tricked, how could he!

"You tricked me Uncle Gibby!" Valerie laughed and tapped Rachel on the nose. Gibby cooed briefly and rubbed her on the head.

"Now, now, you need to take a bath before you can celebrate," Gibby stated with a smile. He thought Rachel was adorable.

"Can I see Derek and Adam today?" She was so cute, it was hard for any of them to resist her. Having a little girl so young really did affect them in various ways. Jeremy didn't really seem affected, though. He still hated Valerie, he still wished ill for Rachel, no matter how cute she was. Valerie had learned to cook a lot of meals by now, and really won some of them over with her cooking. Of course, she always made sure her daughter got the best of everything.

"Yes, you can see them today," Valerie said with a gentle smile. They had moved in the last three years,but fortunately not far away at all. Hence, Gibby was still with Sylvia and she was pregnant with his child. The boys each had a child legitimately, though being around a man like Hector did screw with Jeremy's mind at least. "First you need your bath, though."

"Okay Mommy!" Rachel often wondered about her father, and why it was he wasn't around. She was far too young to understand what was going on and too young to understand why she didn't see Sam very often. One day she would, however. That day was not to come for a long time. Valerie carried her away to the bathroom and started filling the tub with water. "Mommy, when will I ever see daddy again?" Valerie frowned sadly and closed her eyes. She wasn't sure even when she'd see Jonah. It had been a while since she'd heard his voice, since she hadn't really received the time to talk to him on her radio, and she couldn't afford anyone else finding out about it.

"Someday soon sweetheart, someday soon." Rachel frowned as Valerie undressed her and set her into the water. She then smiled and started splashing in the tub, she really did enjoy taking baths, just as much as she enjoyed making her mom run around after her. She watched Valerie turn off the water and start rinsing her hair with water. She felt so happy being pampered by her mommy, there was nothing greater than the love of her own mom. She started humming as her mom began scrubbing the shampoo into her hair.

"Promise? Mommy, you promise? Promise I'll see daddy?" Valerie blinked as Rachel dipped herself beneath the water and started swishing her head from side to side, getting all of the shampoo out. She quickly rose from the water and grinned. "My hair's clean, mommy?" Valerie nodded and began to soap Rachel's body, making sure to cover her entirely in soap. "All the dirtiness is going away mommy, I'm going to be clean!" Rachel giggled and dipped herself in the water once more, cleansing herself of the dirt.

"That's my little girl." Valerie started draining the tub, then continued rinsing Rachel's body. "And yes, I promise you're going to see daddy soon." Rachel squealed for joy as Valerie helped her out of the tub. Valerie felt a little guilty, promising something to her daughter that she wasn't even sure if she could fulfill. But she was a mother, she needed to figure a way to make it possible. But how, if they were here in Portland, Oregon and Jonah was all the way in Index, Washington. That was nearly a four hour drive. Then again, Jonah was now going to Antioch University in Seattle, which was closer, but not by much. Maybe it could be done, but it would be a hell of a road trip.

"I get to have cake, now?" Rachel dressed and Valerie laughed, she loved how innocent her baby was. The guys should have the cake out by now. Valerie lifted her daughter up and walked out into the kitchen where the birthday cake sat in the center of the table. It had three small candles positioned on the cake. "Yay cake!" Valerie chuckled as she set Rachel down. The youthful little girl bounced over to the cake and sat down as the others surrounded her. "So, you guys are going to sing? What's first, cake or presents?"

"Let's have the cake first," Hector said with a small smile. There was a big pile of presents, but they were all in Gibby's car. "You can get the presents at the end of the day, okay."

"Okay." Then everyone began to sing happy birthday to her. She closed her eyes and made a wish, then blew the candles out. Valerie sliced the cake and began serving it to everyone. This was going to be a great day. It wasn't long before the cake was eaten, that Rachel was already ready to go play with the twins. "Mommy, can we go see Derek now?"

"Yes, we can go see Derek now," Valerie said with a laugh. Rachel cheered and jumped out of her seat, then ran for the door. She wanted to go now, no waiting. Valerie chuckled and looked over at Gibby, he was going to be driving them there. "Well, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's get moving," Gibby stated while jumping up from his seat. He was more than eager to see Sylvia. It was only noon, so he had the entire day to be romantic with her. Jeremy glared as they left, he was going to get rid of that girl, he couldn't stand having that pest of a child here. He waited as Gibby started the car and drove off, then he slowly rose from his seat and started leaving.

"Where are you going?" Hector asked suspiciously. He didn't agree with the look on Jeremy's face, but didn't have much to comment about. The guy wasn't doing anything yet.

"I'm taking my daily outside break," Jeremy said while walking through the front door. Hector and Nevel exchanged concerned looks, then went on with their business. Jeremy got into his car and growled. "I am tired of all the fucking special treatment Valerie and her little freak of a daughter get. I am going to end it once and for all." He started up his car and started driving towards Sylvia's home. "Damn Gibby has to protect her at every turn, I'd like to see what happens when I get my hands on her and he can't be there to show up."

Gibby and Valerie met up with Sylvia, who was playing with the twins in the back yard. They were happy celebrating their third birthday. "Auntie Sylvia says we still can't see our mommy," Derek said with a pout as Gibby and Valerie rounded the corner. He looked over and smiled happily when he saw Rachel. "Rachel!"

"Derek!" Rachel exclaimed happily as she ran up to him and hugged him. Adam walked up to the two and waved, he was very quiet, unlike his brother. He wondered if his mother wanted him, both of them did. Sylvia would often say that she wanted them, but for some reason, she wasn't able to be with them at the time.

"Sylvia tells us that mom might be with us again someday." Gibby chuckled nervously as Valerie slowly glared at him, she was always just a little peeved that he was still so into torturing Sam. Sylvia looked at Gibby sadly and gestured for him to follow her. She wanted to talk to him about his choice in being evil. She didn't agree. She never agreed. Gibby sighed in despair as she dragged him to the other side of the yard.

"I thought I was bringing out the good in you," Sylvia said as she crossed her arms over. "And do you guys still have that poor girl locked up in the basement?"

"Well…"

"I think Uncle Gibby's in trouble," Adam said quietly. If he knew the circumstances, would he be calling Gibby 'Uncle' at all? That's what Valerie wondered.

"Well, let's not think too much about why Sylvia's probably yelling at him right now," Valerie said with a laugh as she picked Adam up and hugged him. Derek and Rachel decided to explore and wander about. They just happened to wander into the front yard as Jeremy's black Cadillac Eldorado pulled up behind Gibby's brown sedan.

Here we go, next chapter will be a chase.