Title - Written By The Victors
Chapter title - The Children
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Romance/Adventure/Friendship/Drama
Disclaimer - I do not own the Uncharted Series in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the games. For this chapter I own, Penny Kingsley.
Chapter Word Count - 4473 words.
A/n - Please leave a review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy, xx (:
Little Cassie Drake was one of the cutest children Penny had ever had the privilege of knowing. The two year old loved coming to stay on their houseboat and Sam adored his niece. Nate and Elena were having the weekend off and Penny and Sam had offered to take Cassie sailing for the weekend whilst they were between jobs, knowing how much she enjoyed it.
"Unca Sam!" The toddler screamed from her fathers arms, reaching forward to her uncle.
"There she is, my little squid!" Sam beamed, taking the child from Nate's arms and spinning her around in circles above his head.
"If she pukes on you it's your fault." Nate shook his head, climbing onto the deck of the boat with a bag of Cassie's stuff.
"She's being difficult with bedtime at the minute." Elena explained to Penny in the kitchen. "She refuses to sleep until she's had a story but none of our stories are long enough apparently."
"They just aren't as interesting as Uncle Sam makes them, right honey?" Sam asked and Cassie giggled, walking her fingers along his tattoo until she spotted Penny.
"Auntie Pen!" She squealed, kicking her legs until Sam set her on the floor so she could rush over to her. Penny dropped to her knees, arms out ready to embrace the girl.
"Hello, darling." She lifted her up, giving her a tight cuddle. "Ready to see the dolphins tomorrow?"
"Dolphins! Dolphins!"
With a little more fussing from Nate and Elena and many more instructions which the Aunt and Uncle already knew, they were on their way and Cassie was staring wide eyed after her parents car. Sensing the on coming tears, Sam decided it was time for a distraction.
"Hey, Cassie." He whispered, gaining her attention. "What do you say we have some ice cream, hm?"
"Ah, not before dinner." Penny scolded, ignoring the famous Drake puppy eyed look coming from both Sam and Cassie. "Nope, don't even try it. Dinner first, ice cream after."
Sure enough less than an hour later, Sam and Cassie were eating their ice cream on the deck of the boat whilst Penny sat watching them with pursed lips. She loved watching Sam with Cassie. He was the most caring human she knew, especially when it came to her.
He always seemed to know when she was about to cry and would distract her with something else, she loved playing pirates with him, thanks to his insistence, she loved his stories, she liked to poke his tattoo and she loved riding on his shoulders since she was so high up.
As the evening wore on they bathed and changed Cassie together before settling her into their spare room. They read her three stories before she finally seemed to be sleeping at which point they headed off to their own bed. Less than ten minutes later Cassie was trying and failing to climb up onto their bed.
Sam being the giant softy he was pulled her up to lay in between them, not bothering to try and put her back in her own bed. She demanded another story as she reached up a hand to play with the ends of Penny's hair. Sam told her a story about a young pirate princess named Cassandra, which was her favorite story that Sam had ever told her, and she was soon sleeping, thumb falling from her mouth, hand still holding Penny's hair.
"You're so good with her." Penny whispered as she untangled the two year olds fingers from her hair.
"Well, I'm Uncle Sam. I'm the best." He smirked, settling the covers around the three of them. He leant over the child, pressing a lingering kiss to Penny's lips. "We should have one of our own. Don't you think?" He asked out of the blue and Penny smiled, a certain conversation with her sister in law coming to mind.
"Well, Elena seemed to think that I'd be pregnant by the time Cassie turned three."
Sam frowned, glancing at his sleeping niece. "But it's her birthday in four months."
"Well, if you're being serious... We better get a move on hadn't we?"
"Really?" Sam's grin widened as he leant forward. "You really wanna do this, sweetheart?"
"Do I really want a mini Sam Drake running around causing mischief?" She giggled. "Of course I do."
It seemed that no matter how many times they had sex, where they did it, what position they did it in or what time of the month it was, Penny just wasn't getting pregnant. She was back and forth to the doctors, trying out medical remedies as well as those she read online or heard on the grapevine and yet still, nothing was working.
In a desperate panic, both of them booked in to see their doctor to get checked. Sam's swimmers were still healthy and so were Penny's eggs. Medically there was nothing stopping them from getting pregnant. Penny still held out a little hope but she could see that Sam was quickly losing his.
"If we can't have our own we could always adopt." He said in a quiet voice one evening. "I know how shitty orphanages can be. Why not save someone from that life."
"Sam." Penny bit her lip to keep from crying. She knew how much he wanted to be a father and she was starting to feel like there was something wrong with her. As she looked at her husbands tired eyes she broke down. "I'm sorry." She sobbed into his chest as he held her close, crying with her. "I'm sorry I can't give you a baby."
"Hey, sweetheart, it's not your fault." Sam soothed, rubbing circles into her back. "Remember the doctor said we were both healthy."
"Then why aren't I pregnant?"
"I don't know, honey... I don't know."
After so long of trying for a baby, Sam and Penny gave up on the idea for a while, deciding that it would happen when it happens. So a year later when they were about to head home for Cassie's fourth birthday party and Penny realised she'd missed her period two weeks previous, she was planning all the ways she could tell Sam.
First off she insisted on going to pick up Cassie's birthday present alone, saying that someone needed to go and give the birthday girl a hug and a kiss from the two of them as soon as they had docked. She slipped off to the doctors, making an emergency appointment and getting the confirmation that she was seven weeks pregnant.
She picked up Cassie's present along with a little something for Sam, Nate, Sully and Elena before heading to the party. In the cab on the way back she put each present for the adults into little boxes and stuffed them into her handbag. When she arrived she could see Sam with Cassie on his shoulders wondering down the beach front of Nate and Elena's new home.
"Hey, Pen!" Nate rushed over to greet Penny with a warm hug, taking Cassie's present from her hands and placing it in the living room with the rest of them. "How's life?" He asked as he kept an eye on Cassie's friends running around in the sand.
"Pretty spectacular actually." She decided to pull Nate's present from her bag, doing each one separately. "This is for you and no one else know's yet, so not a word, understood?"
Nate frowned, opening up the small box. Inside was a large circular pin badge reading 'Number one Uncle!'.
"Wait, Penny are you pregnant?" His eyes went wide, almost dropping the badge on the floor when she nodded, grin emerging on her face. "Oh my god, that's fantastic!" He embraced his sister in law in a tight hug before pulling back and pressing a hand to her stomach. "Hey little one, it's your Uncle Nate!" He laughed along with Penny as he straightened up. "Sam's going to be over the moon."
"I know." She smiled, eyes watery. "We both sort of lost hope after last year."
"Well, if anyone deserves this it's you two."
Nathan headed outside to help Sam and Sullivan keep an eye on the children whilst Penny headed to the kitchen to help Elena prepare the last of the party bags. She greeted her with a hug, before getting stuck in, slipping Elena's present onto the side. She let her find it herself, smirking at the woman's confused expression when she saw it.
"Who's is this?" She frowned, holding up the box and looking around to see if any of Cassie's friends parents had left it there.
"It's yours." Penny gestured for her to open it.
Elena squealed, Penny quickly placing a hand over her mouth when she saw the 'Number One Aunt!' pin badge. Elena hopped from foot to foot, tearing up as she pulled Penny into a warm embrace.
"It's about time!" She said when Penny finally removed her hand.
"Tell me about it. You were only a year out."
"Does Sam know?"
"Not yet and nor does Sully." She smiled. "I've got a badge for Sully too and then something a little different for Sam, which I'm gonna give him later."
"Think he'll cry?"
"Absolutely,I don't call him the BFG for nothing."
A little later in the day when all the children were splashing around on the shore, Penny sat down in one of the sun loungers beside Sullivan. She'd grabbed a towel to dry off her legs and Sully's gift from in the house before joining him, tossing the box onto his lap.
"What's this?"
"Open it."
She watched his face closely as he read the words 'Number One Granddad'. His jaw went slack, eyes wide as he stood from his sun lounger and joined her on hers. He pulled her into his chest and she could've sworn she heard him sniff.
"I'm proud of you, kid." He said when she pulled away, his arm still around her shoulders. "And I know for a fact Stanley would be too."
Penny's grandfather had passed away the year previous, his health just no longer what it used to be. She smiled, subconsciously fiddling with her necklace that she had added his picture too.
"It's a shame he won't get to meet him. Or her." She smiled, leaning her head on Sully's shoulder. "But they've still got you." She jumped when she spotted Sam walking towards them, hissing to Sully to hide the badge and not say anything.
"This looks cozy." Sam smiled, taking Penny's towel. "You making moves on my wife, Victor?"
"Wouldn't dream of it." The old man smiled fondly, patting Sam's shoulder before heading to where Cassie was calling him.
"He's getting sentimental in his old age." Sam whispered conspiratorially. "He had tears in his eyes."
"Sammy, we need to talk."
"Sounds serious."
Sam frowned, following Penny into the house where she pulled her fourth and final gift from her bag. She handed him the box and leant against the kitchen counter, waiting as he opened it. His frown deepened when he pulled out the plain white pacifier.
"What's this for?"
"Think about it, daddy." She teased.
"Is this some kind of kinky thing?"
"Oh my god, Sam!" Penny snorted, slapping his chest as he smirked. "Think about it in a non sexual way for once."
"In a non sexual way?" He raised an eyebrow, staring intently at the pacifier before Penny could almost see the cogs working in his brain. "Wait..." Sam's voice caught in his throat as he stared at his wife, eyes questioning.
Penny nodded, tearing up at his expression. "Seven weeks."
"Oh my god!" He dropped to his knees in front of her, lifting her shirt and pressing kisses to her stomach. "Oh my god, I'm gonna be a dad!" He laughed through his tears, large hands stroking the skin of her stomach, imagining how it's going to grow in the next few months. "Hey, baby." He smiled. "It's your daddy. I can't wait to meet you." Sam wrapped his arms around Penny's legs, hugging himself to her, face pressed against her stomach as she laughed and cried, stroking her fingers through his hair.
"You told him then?" Nathan asked as he, Elena and Sully stood in the doorway, the children filing inside to eat. "You ok, Sam?"
Sam jumped up onto his feet, tears splitting into a huge grin. "I'm gonna be a dad, Nathan!"
Penny chuckled as she watched the brothers embrace before Sam hugged Sully and Elena in turn. She was happy to know that her child would be brought into such a loving family, so unlike the childhood she and Sam knew.
For a while they had thought about selling their house boat to buy a house, somewhere stable for their children to grow up but they knew that they didn't want that. Instead, they used money they'd saved from past jobs and money they made from selling the houseboat to upgrade to a slightly larger one.
The new house boat had a master bedroom and two spare bedrooms, one of which would become a nursery and the other would be used as a guest room. By the time they'd finished painting the nursery a pale grey and cream, Penny was two months along and had a small bump beneath her shirt.
Sam had his hands on her constantly. In public his hand rested on her lower back or around her shoulders, even more protective than he ever had been. And in private he always had his hands rested over the bump. Penny loved having Sam stroke her stomach when they lay in bed at night, listening to him whisper things to his unborn child.
Sam would never admit it to Penny, but he was terrified. Of course he wanted this baby more than anything but he and Nate hadn't had a good relationship with their father and he was petrified that he'd turn out like that. It wasn't until he confessed this after a few beers with his brother one evening that Nathan managed to reassure him.
"I was the same." Nathan admitted to his older brother. "Elena knows I've had commitment issues in the past and I think she saw how scared I was when I found out about her being pregnant. But we spoke about it and she reassured me that I wasn't going to turn into dad."
"How was she so sure?" Sam asked, still unconvinced.
"Sam, dad was an asshole, alright. But you and me, we're nothing like him." Nate turned so he was facing his brother head on. "I had you to teach me better when I was a kid. You aren't about to run off from Penny are you?"
"Of course not!"
"There you go, you see. The one key factor in not becoming like him. And I know that if, God forbid, anything ever happened to Penny you wouldn't send your son to an orphanage. You know what that's like."
Sam paused, nodding his head as he realised Nathan was right. "You think I'm having a son?"
"Elena and I are betting. She thinks you're having a girl." Nate chuckled. "And I know that boy or girl, that kid is gonna be the most loved and cherished kid in the world. Apart from Cassie of course."
At just over three months pregnant, Penny noticed she was alot larger than Elena had been and so Sam insisted she called for an emergency appointment at her doctors. Penny tried to reassure him that they were probably worrying about nothing but even she was concerned as she lay on the examination table as the doctor scanned her womb. Sam gripped her hand tightly, nerves getting the best of him.
"Well, Mr and Mrs Drake, I can assure you there is nothing wrong with you." The doctor grinned, a glint in her eye.
"Oh thank God." Sam breathed a sigh of relief, grip on Penny's hand loosening.
"However there is news." The doctor continued. "I can't begin to understand why we're only just seeing this but..." She turned the screen so the soon to be parents could see. "Meet your happy and healthy, babies."
"Babies?" Penny's voice came out far too loud for a doctors office as she looked at the monitor.
Sure enough, clear as day there were two babies beside each other. Penny looked in shock from the screen to Sam who was unmoving. She reached her hand up to press her palm to his cheek.
"Honey?" She asked, gently. "You ok?"
"Twins." He began to smile. "Penny, we're having twins. I've got super sperm!"
"Oh my god." Penny rolled her eyes as she and the doctor began to giggle.
Once they had their scan picture they were in the car in the parking lot, face timing Nate and Elena. Sam couldn't even bare to tease them, instead holding up the scan for them to see. Nate was ecstatic, congratulating his older brother and then doubling his bet with his wife for the gender of the babies.
Sam continued working with Sully whilst Penny was pregnant. She did as much as she could for a while until she simply couldn't be climbing around or putting herself in risky situations. Instead she took a backseat and did the research for the boys. At six months pregnant she couldn't say she minded being able to sit with her feet propped up on a chair with a book on her lap and her laptop on a table to the side of her. Especially knowing how much climbing their job entailed most of the time.
Sam called constantly, partially through her insistence to know that everything was fine on his end, but mainly because Sam had turned into the most paranoid and over protective husband and father of the century. Penny had actually had to sit him down and make him promise to stop fussing over her unless she asked him to when he would barely let her walk to the shops alone.
What she did appreciate was his attentiveness. He'd always been there for whatever she might need him for but now he did everything without so much as a word from her.
He'd massage her back, her feet, rub her tummy at night when the babies wouldn't stop moving, sing to them which always seemed to calm them and Penn down. He ran her baths and washed her hair for her, helped her wash in the shower even when she didn't need it but of course she knew his ulterior motive for that one. Even when she woke up at two in the morning with a craving for pickled onion flavor chips and ice cream, he found the nearest twenty four hour gas station and got her what she needed.
The only thing that she had insisted upon him doing, was quitting smoking. And he hadn't even attempted to argue. He'd tried to quit in the past but with how stressful their job was, he always went back to them. But they both agreed that they didn't want smoke around their children and so he'd been making an attempt at quitting.
It was hard for him, having been smoking for so long. Sometimes his hands would shake or he'd fiddle with anything and everything, trying to find some sort of distraction from wishing he had a cigarette. Distracting his hands was easy enough, he'd just flick his lighter, roll a coin between his fingers or run his hands over Penny's stomach. And whenever he needed to distract his mouth he'd find Penny and kiss the breath out of her. What he found harder to distract was his mind.
At first he tried to take on more work but it just stressed him out and made him want to smoke more so instead he'd been to a music shop and got himself a guitar. He had played very briefly in his teen years and so he knew the basics of chord progression but learning the more advanced stuff took his mind off everything. Not to mention it relaxed Penny. Plus she always had a thing for musicians.
Eight months and twelve days into her pregnancy, they were cuddled close together on their sofa, watching a horror movie after they just finished their most recent job. Sully was fast asleep in the guest room, too tired to head to his own home just yet.
At one particularly scary scene Penny jumped, hiding her face in Sam's Henley as he rubbed circles into her back. For a second, Penny thought she had wet herself in fear, but they she realised what it was and panicked.
"Shit, this isn't right, it's too soon."
"What? What's wrong?" Sam asked as his wife pushed herself into a seated position her hand darting between her legs. "Babe?"
"My water broke." She stared wide eyed at her fingers. "But, it's not been nine months yet, they can't be here already!"
"Well, maybe they get their patience from their mother." Sam joked but Penny glared. "Look, it's fine. You're fine, they're fine. I'll go get the bag and wake Sully up, you find his car keys."
"Why do we need his car keys?"
"Unless you want to go to the hospital on my bike?"
Penny's labor lasted for ten and a half hours. During the whole thing Sam tried to distract her with jokes and little quips but for the most part she could only focus on the pain of her contractions. Sam held her hand, not complaining when she squeezed the life out of it. He didn't even get upset when she whispered that she hated him for doing this to her. He knew she didn't mean it, not really.
When she collapsed onto her pillow, crying that she couldn't push anymore he'd wiped her hair away from her sweaty forehead, pressing kisses across her face and telling her how proud he was of her for all she'd done so far and assuring her that when they had their babies it would all be worth it. Penny had no idea how he'd managed to keep so calm.
Sam was just the master of keeping things below surface level. He was over excited but of course it hurt him and scared him seeing his wife in such distress. He knew that it would be worth it and that she'd be fine but he still wished he could take it all away from her. Instead he had to settle for attempting to offer her comfort instead, recalling now how Nathan had told him he felt like a spare part during Cassie's birth.
The first child to arrive was a little boy, seven pounds exactly and wailing like there was no tomorrow. Penny was so distracted by his cries that she almost forgot she had to push again. The second child was a little girl, six pound, eight ounces and crying just as loud as her brother.
Sam cut the cord for both of his children, quickly rushing back to Penny to tell her about them. When they were handed their children, one wrapped in baby pink and the other in blue, the two of them were overcome with tears of joy. The doctors and nurses cleared out in silence, leaving them only with their midwife who asked if they had chose their names yet.
"Well, we had two of each gender picked out cause we didn't know what we were having." Sam explained, looking at his children with utter adoration in his eyes. "Which one do you want to pick, sweetheart?"
"It's got to be Avery." Penny smiled, looking at her son, so tiny in his fathers arms. "Avery Nathan Drake."
"And this one," Sam gently caressed his daughters head. "I think Bonnie." Penny nodded in agreement, fresh tears spilling. "Bonnie Victoria Drake."
"They're beautiful names." The midwife smiled, silently slipping from the room after letting Penny know when she'd be back to try feeding.
"Sammy, we did it." Penny giggled, looking up at her husband. "We've got two babies, look!"
"I know, beautiful." Sam leaned down, capturing her lips in his. "This is the best thing we've ever done..." He took a shaky breath looking between his children. "Want to swap?"
Sully was the first in to visit, since Nate and Elena were quite the drive away. He cooed over each child, holding them each in turn. Penny saw him cry for only the second time since she'd known him when they informed him that Bonnie's middle name, 'Victoria' was after him.
When Nate and Elena finally arrived there were more tears and more cuddles all around. Penny was thankful that Elena had brought one of her many cameras along to capture the moment. And she was especially thankful that she took a picture of Uncle Nate, both children in either arm, crying because Avery's middle name was Nathan. She knew she'd cherish that photo for years to come.
Cassie Drake climbed onto Penny's bed with a frown on her face and Penny cuddle her close, asking what was wrong.
"You're belly's gone." She said simply and Penny laughed.
"That's because the babies aren't there anymore. See, your daddy is holding one and your Uncle Sam has the other."
"Oh." She nodded, understanding. "Can I?"
"Of course, sweetie." Penny got the young girl sat up straight beside her, taking little Bonnie from Sam's arms. She let Cassie think she was holding her, resting the baby in her lap and supporting her head as the four year old looked down at one of her new cousins.
"Mummy, look!" She grinned, placing her hands very carefully around the blanket.
"Isn't she beautiful?" Elena smiled, taking a picture. "Be careful though, honey."
"I am!" Cassie watched Bonnie for a while before insisting on holding Avery too. After a while she looked up at her Uncle Sam with wide eyes. "Unca Sam, can they play pirates with us?"
Sam chuckled, ruffling his nieces hair. "I think we'll have to wait until they're older first, squid."
"How much older?"
"A few years."
"But that's ages!" Cassie sighed dramatically. "Can they play dragons?"
"We'll see, sweetheart." Sam laughed, running his fingers through Penny's hair, noticing her sleepy state. "But I think for now they need to sleep and so does their mummy."
They bid their farewells to everyone, fed the twins and got them settled before he sat beside Penny, holding her hand in one of his, the other stroking her cheek.
"How you doing?" He asked, happy smile still on his face.
"I'm exhausted." She admitted with a breathy laugh. "But I'm happy."
"Me too." Sam pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Get some sleep. I'll keep an eye on them."
"I love you, Sam."
"I love you too, sweetheart."
A/n - I know I went incredibly cliched with the names but I couldn't resist. Plus, I love the name Bonnie anyways so...