Paternal Bonds Shattered

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

A/N:

Chapter 41 (A Peaceful Wedding)

Valerie was nervous as hell, her emotions on this day were skyrocketing. Her sisters, her mother, and even Sam were all in the bride's room with her and she just wanted one of them there. With all of them running around, it was almost too much. Sam grinned at Valerie from the wall and tapped her foot on the ground. "Valerie, having just got married, I can tell you that there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm sure you're feeling the same stuff I went through…"

"Yeah, but at least you didn't have this many people in-OW!" She yelped as a pin hit her body. Vixen frowned and looked at her apologetically. She sighed and brought her arms down, but Vanessa quickly put her hands under her arms and lifted them back up horizontally. "Why do I have to hold my arms out like this anyway? I'm tired of holding them up so much!"

"Dearest little sister of mine…" Vanessa clicked her tongue and started fixing the shoulder puffs and smiled into Valerie's eyes. "This is your wedding day, you want to be perfect for your handsome groom, don't you?" Valerie sighed and Sam rolled her eyes and smiled. Of course she wanted things to be perfect, but damn, she just wanted to relax. Her dress was already more perfect than it really was going to get! She looked to Sam, pleading with her eyes for help. Sam chuckled and took a step forward, clapping her hands together.

"Okay girls, you've got her dress all nice and fluffy." Valerie gagged on the choice of words. Fluffy? She was fluffy? "Now just give her a moment to rest, okay? This is an important day for her. Let me just have a few moments to talk with her and ease some nervous jitters and you guys go take care of the guests." The women agreed and left the room one by one, albeit reluctantly. Once it was just her and Sam, Valerie sighed and nearly fell back into a chair, but thought better of it when she realized she didn't want to mess anything up with her dress.

"Thanks, Sam, but…fluffy?" Sam laughed and started brushing her hand along Valerie's sleeve, making sure there was nothing on the dress that shouldn't be there. "I can see fancy, but why fluffy?"

"Couldn't think of anything better. Now, how do I ease your mind?"

"By not saying I'm in a fluffy dress." The girls laughed for a minute, then quieted down. Sam gazed with slight envy at Valerie's dress. If she hadn't just had her own wedding, she'd be jealous as hell.

"You are so beautiful."

"Oh?" Her eyes brightened and she lifted her dress a little at the waist and looked down at it, smiling and blushing a bit. "You think so?"

"Yeah. When Jonah sees you, he may have to try hard as hell not to faint on the spot." Valerie's blush deepened and she closed her eyes. She'd always fantasized about this day, thinking in might never happen. "You shouldn't be so nervous, you know."

"I know, but it's hard not to be. Not only that, but my family treats Jonah like he's the second coming." She laughed and Sam chuckled to herself. They had every right to, and the women knew that. "I can see why, after all the things he's done for them. Looking after them, protecting them, so many things…I never knew he cared so much for my family." Up until their capture, Jonah was only involved a little with her family. After that, they were almost always one of the top things on his mind. "Did you know that every day, he would either pay them a visit if he had time or call them up for sure and ask how they were? He always kept them in good spirits, especially my mom."

"You're lucky to have him, Valerie." Valerie smiled and turned her eyes to a mirror, gazing at herself in wonder. She really was beautiful. It had been a while since she actually felt that way about herself. She turned to Sam and held her cheerful smile.

"You're lucky to have Freddie!" Sam smiled as she and Valerie exchanged hugs. It was still hard on them to think about their years held hostage, but hearing of the sacrifices both Gibby and Nevel made eased their minds somewhat.

"You know, if I didn't have you there with me all those years, I think I might have gone insane."

"I know I would have." For Valerie, it was Gibby that really kept her sane. Gibby, and the hope that one day, Jonah was going to come for her. Her prince, her knight, her king. "I think wherever Gibby is right now, I hope he's happy." She wiped a tear from her eyes as Sam slowly nodded her head. Gibby was perhaps the only one there that held her captive that she actually felt any bit of respect for whatsoever.

"He wasn't as bad as the others."

"Yeah…" They both wanted to move away from this discussion, it was too painful to think about on such a great day. "Let's talk about something else, okay? I don't want to think about all that today."

"Right. How about Jonah's great grandfather?" Sam chuckled as she recalled one of the first things George said when Valerie and Sam arrived at the home. She deepened her voice and tried to imitate him. "Finally, I can let myself die and die happy." Valerie laughed and wiped her eye once more. She was going to love being a part of Jonah's quirky, witty family. "Rachel, I bet you're proud of her aren't you?"

"She's grown to be quite the little girl. I couldn't be prouder." Rachel was truly the strength that really kept her going, the one that shone a light through all the darkness. She was so innocent, so sweet, so blissfully unaware of all the dangers that were happening. Valerie peered out the door and felt her heart jump as she saw the music begin to play. Sam closed her eyes and smiled happily. "Hey Sam, there's some strange guests in the party I don't recognize. They're all kind of huddled together in their seats, as though they're hiding someone. Think I should be concerned?"

"No, I don't think there's anything to worry about." Sam stepped to the door and motioned Valerie to step back. It was almost their time. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were up, the best man was walking to the altar with the groom, and now it was their turn to go. Rachel ran into the room and grinned.

"Mommy! Are you ready?" Derek was right behind her, smiling as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Rachel, I know you're excited, but calm down." Rachel giggled as Derek laughed happily. He too was thrilled, but didn't want to show it.

"I want to throw flowers on the ground!"

"Gracefully…"

"You mean I have to do it gracefully?" The group laughed as the music changed. Everyone stood up and both the flower girl and ring bearer quickly scrambled to their places. Rachel was in front of Valerie while Sam held the tail of Valerie's dress. Derek straightened himself and held the ring pillow carefully in his hands. She eyed Jonah and her heart rose. He looked so incredibly handsome with his hair combed back and his tuxedo so brilliantly shaping his shoulders and muscles. She was breathless, nearly fainting when his eyes met hers. This was the man she would spend the rest of her life with. Nothing, nothing could ruin this moment for her.

Jonah watched Valerie closely, his lips curling up into a smile. She was more than just drop dead gorgeous, she was stunningly beautiful. He wasn't sweating, but he was nervous as hell. He felt seemingly inferior in every way. He wasn't letting her go this time. Nothing in this world would tear them apart.

He watched as Vincent took her arm with his arm and walked to the minister. Sam took her place next to the altar and wiped her eyes. At least, she wasn't as emotional as Viola was. She felt for Vincent, who was about to become the wettest man in the entire wedding. Rachel and Derek took their places and smiled at each other while Valerie locked her eyes with Jonah. They didn't even hear the minister talking, or hear Vincent announce his handing her over and shake Jonah's hand. They took each other's hands and gazed lovingly into their eyes. A love this strong should never be questioned, that was one of the first things the minister said.

Hector sat with Victor's men surrounding him. So far, there were no problems. He was eternally grateful for this. He watched with tears in his eyes as his second daughter gazed so lovingly into Jonah's eyes. To him, she was his redemption, his second chance. He screwed up big time with Sam, she would never in a million years forgive him, and he understood that. That was why he made damn sure to treat Valerie right, to be a father to her.

Sure, being a father meant taking care of your children and making sure they were happy. He should have sent her back to her own family, Jeremy was the one making damn sure that never happened. It would have been best if he'd done so. "I'm sorry Valerie. I don't know what was wrong with Jeremy, honestly I don't." He wiped his eyes and clenched them shut. Did Valerie hate him like Sam did? Did she? Maybe, because he was never able to keep Jeremy at bay, and all the abuse she had to suffer from him must have made her hate him.

He wasn't sure if he should talk to her or not, if it would create any problems at all. He was, at least, very happy that she was finally finding her happiness with Jonah. Breathing deeply as the wedding came to a close, he stood with the rest of the guests and clapped proudly as the newlywed couple shared an intimate, passionate kiss. His thoughts, along with every other guests, when this happened was hoping that Viola's bawling would end before she drowned her husband.

Well at least he got to see Valerie's wedding ^_^. Next chapter will be interesting.