Paternal Bonds Shattered

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

A/N: Here it is guys, the end, the final chapter, everything comes to a close here. Please, enjoy ^_^, and definitely leave some good thoughts at the end.

Chapter 48 ( New Life)

"Okay class, I want your addition homework in by Monday," Vanessa said as she placed her fingertips on her oak desk. Her class of first graders all moaned as they began moving from their desks. They hated weekend homework when they could spend it with their friends. She eyed the studious twins in the front row, Adam and Andy, six years of age. Ten years had passed since the events at the cliff, ever since then, everyone's lives had been incredibly peaceful. "Just remember, if everyone hands in their papers Monday, we'll have a pizza party!"

The class cheered and began filing out of the classroom. Andy was working hard trying to do as much as he could on the assignment as it was. He and Adam were supposed to go home with Vanessa. Their mother was nine months pregnant and the doctor had advised her not to drive a car, and their father was at the office, it was a long day. Adam looked up at Vanessa and grinned. "So, Auntie Nessa, if we finish this while you get ready to take us home, does that mean we get extra points?" Adam smiled innocently at her and Vanessa rubbed his head.

"Sweet Adam, my dear, dear, sweet Adam. If you think just because you're Rachel's son, that I'm going to give you any special treatment…" Adam smiled innocently and gave her a hug, causing her to laugh and pat him on the shoulder. "The cute stuff isn't going to work. I have four children at home who have attempted to use that at least a hundred times each in their lives." Jackson was now eighteen and starting college, he had absolutely no idea what he wanted to be. Megan, who was sixteen, wanted to be a nurse later on. Randy, fourteen, didn't really care what he wanted to be. He just wanted to have fun with his friends. The youngest was Sarah, she was ten years old and truly brightened up everyone's day. After she was born, Vanessa and Kent decided no more kids. He got a vasectomy and she had her tubes tied. Freddie and Jonah swore never to have that seemingly fatal operation, they both felt like keeping their man parts.

"Are you sure? I mean, are you really sure?" His smile brightened and Vanessa placed a hand on her arm and smiled sweetly at him, closing her eyes and wagging her eyebrows.

"You are too cute, but it's not going to work. You get the same treatment all the other children get. It's only fair. I had to do the same with your mother when she was your age." She frowned and looked up, dear god she felt old now. Rachel was only twenty nine, but either way. Andy looked up from his paper and sighed.

"Adam, can you let Aunt Nessa get ready to go, I want to go home! Tired of being in school!" Vanessa laughed as Adam quickly jumped over to his desk.

"Okay!" Vanessa sat at her desk and eyed the two boys with a pleasant smile. Rachel and Derek were more than thrilled when they learned they were having twins. They had to name one after Derek's late brother, Adam, and give him that respect. The two married soon after finishing college. Jonah and Valerie were very happy with this, as were Freddie and Sam. Although they weren't sure how they felt about being grandparents at the age of forty. It didn't matter to Michael or Vincent and Viola, they were always thrilled to have great grandchildren. Michael being seventy six and Vincent being eighty four, they were getting too old. The next oldest grandchild was only nineteen, and that was Valerie's son Kyle. It'd be years before he had a kid!

Sadly, Ryan never got to see his great grandchildren marry. He passed away at roughly the age of one hundred. Having lived a fulfilling life, he was ready to go. Vanessa's phone rang and she answered it, her daughter was calling. "Hey Mom. Guess what Randy just did…"

"What did he do now?" She sighed and rubbed her forehead tiredly, Randy was always getting in trouble.

"Broke the neighbor's window while playing baseball with his friends."

"Megan! I told you not to tell mom on me!" Vanessa groaned softly as Megan's voice moved away from the phone.

"She was going to find out anyway."

"I'll be home in a bit, try not to kill each other, okay?" This was going to be a long day, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to. Family life was really great now, and everyone had something to distract themselves from. It seemed everything from twenty to thirty years ago was just a thing of the past for them. Granted, they thought about it from time to time, but it was just a memory.

-NEXT-

Angie and Johnny sat in their new house, wondering what they would do with it. They were now engaged to be married, planning their wedding in a few months. Ten years ago, Cara and Angie had been offered an acting position by a director, but neither of them accepted the deal. They just wanted to live normal lives. Now, Cara was living with her parents somewhere in Hollywood, her mother was still an actress. The paparazzi had a field day when they discovered Carly's secret married life and the fact that she had a daughter, but it was worth it for the best little daughter she could ever have. "I miss Cara, you know."

"I know you do, Angie. So do I." They talked to her on the phone often. She wanted to return to Seattle one day, but not for a while. She wanted to bask in the family life with her mom for as long as possible. The whole family deal between them had been kept a secret for sixteen years, so she lived with her father and never her mother, it was depressing. "She's a great friend."

"Yeah, a lot of good people out there…You remember Timmy?"

"Ah yeah, his uncle got my dad arrested finally." Johnny chuckled to himself and sighed. Guppy had enough money to hire some really good detectives and really powerful lawyers to do some digging around on Victor. He lost all his money first, out millions, then he lost whatever connections he had as the police arrested each and every one of them. Soon it was down to nothing but the clothes on his back. Which, ironically enough, he was only wearing a pair of swim trunks in the back of his house when he was arrested. The police took his dry clothes and towel, and threw them in his pool. It took a year to accomplish everything, and another year to gather all his charges against him and find him guilty of fraud, extortion, and drug regulation. His days as a crime boss were over, and Johnny was not following in his footsteps. "I can promise you this much, I'm not going to become a crime boss."

"Oh really? I think it'd be very lucrative." Angie laughed and placed her finger seductively on his lips, then started to trail down his chin. "My mafia man." His eyebrows lifted up as she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. She pulled back for a second and held her smirk. "Good, though, I don't want my future husband going to prison. Who would I have to kiss then?"

"I don't know." He smirked in return and eyed her lips. "I suppose you'd have to start making a bunch of fruits fall in love with those lips of yours." She laughed and kissed him, pushing him down on the couch and moaning as his hip pressed against hers. "God I love you."

"You love God or you love me?" She smirked and gazed into his eyes dangerously. He laughed once and rubbed his hand along her back.

"Well let's see. God brought you to me, so I love God for that. And then there's you, to the fact that I say: Oh god, I love you, Angie."

"Good!" She kissed him roughly as he pulled her close to him. He usually let her be on top, because that way she felt in control. Her life had been a mass of being out of control for so long, she just didn't want to feel trapped anymore. Her past still weighed a bit on her mind, but overall, she was living an extremely happy life, and a very sexual one at that, with her fiancé.

-NEXT-

Victoria graded some of the art projects her students did, they were very good paintings. She was impressed. Though it was her sister Veronica's daughter, April, who constantly threw a little something in her portraits in order to sway her aunt into giving her extra points. She lifted her eyes up to her niece, who was seated at her desk, smiling proudly. She sighed as the rest of the class left and April walked up to her. "So what did you think of my project, Aunt Victoria?"

"It's beautiful." She pointed to the portrait of rolling hills, deep seated plains, and gusts of wind blowing the leaves across the neon sky. "It really speaks to me. Quite literally, actually." She smirked and pointed to the pattern of the leaves, they seemed to spell out I love you Aunt Vic. April gasped and covered her mouth, hiding a smile.

"Oh my, how did that get there? Wow, what a coincidence, right?" Victoria closed her eyes and chuckled as she folded her hands over each other on her desk.

"April. You're a seventeen year old woman with a great talent. You don't need to put subliminal messages in your portraits to gain points, when you're good enough to get an 'A' without them." April sighed and looked to the side. So Victoria was right, but hell, she couldn't help herself sometimes. It was just something she tended to do when she was younger, and she sort of grew into it.

"I know, but I feel like I have to be ahead of everyone else." Victoria nodded and tapped her pen lightly on her desk. She understood April's strive for the best, but again, it was still not needed that she try to coax her teachers into giving her more points.

"April dear, you are the best artist in this class. The fact still remains that you're one of the few students that really tries in here. Most have chosen this class just simply as a way out of a calculus or chemistry class. You took it, because you like to paint." April's eyes brightened and she smiled. She loved painting. Hell, she painted a whole portrait of her family and found it funny that despite the fact that it was her Aunt Vixen with the blonde hair, she was the only one of her cousins that had golden blonde hair, not even Vixen's two children had blonde hair.

"Thanks Auntie…you know, sometimes I just still think I need an extra curve. I guess I don't, usually." Victoria shook her head and smiled. She was very proud of her niece. Just then, her younger brother hurried into the classroom. Max had somewhat short hair, but with strands of his hair that fell neatly in front of his eyes. He was fifteen years old, into rock, and always seemed to dress in all black. It was concerning, at times.

"Hey sis! School's out, are we heading home or not?" April let out a disgusted groan and passed Max, pushing her fingers on his forehead.

"Patience, dweeb. I was talking to Aunt Victoria about a project." Max rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Oh really? I thought you were busy making out with your boyfriend." April paled and turned around swiftly. She knew he was taunting her about David, one of the jocks at the school that she sometimes hung around and on occasions, drooled over.

"He is not my boyfriend!"

"Wouldn't know, with all the puddles you create from your mouth." April's face went red as Max smirked and waved at Victoria. He felt damn proud of himself now, as well as very triumphant. "Hi Aunt Victoria! I'd love to stay and chat, but we really have to get home! Mom's throwing a fit because she's too old to model now and has to stay at home." Victoria chuckled as she watched the two leave the room, still bickering in the hallway. Kids will be kids.

She sighed and took a look at the portrait that April had done. It was filled with such vivid colors and such passionate detail, it was obvious she'd worked hard on it. Her eyes drifted to the center of the picture, where several people had been painted. It was a loving family, surrounding a child and showering it with hugs and kisses. Smiling to herself she turned the painting over and read the back, which had the title. Return of the Prodigal Child: A tribute. She turned the painting back over and looked at the child in the center.

It was a girl, drawn with such detail. She had soft brown hair, a bright red smile, and deep brown eyes. Her face was round and her gaze looked warm and inviting. Victoria felt her heart lift up as she took a sip of her coffee. Perhaps she could overlook the placement of the wind-blown leaves and call it coincidence.

-NEXT-

Twelve year old Rebecca was at her Aunt Vixen's home, playing with her cousins, Vinson and Vivian. Vinson was thirteen and Vivian was eleven. Vixen sat in her living room recliner, eyeing the trophy cabinet that the kids were looking at. "Aunt Vixen won all these herself?" Rebecca looked to her cousins with wide eyes and they nodded their heads. Vinson was the one to speak up.

"She won them through dance competitions, but mostly it was her dance students and stuff." Pride shone in Vixen's eyes as the children crooned over the trophies. She had every right to be proud of every student she taught over the years. Being forty may have depressed her husband, but it sure didn't depress her. As far as she was concerned, she still had another twenty years to go! There was a lot of fire left in her. She always told Veronica that she needed to have gone into a career that she could have continued after she turned forty. Hell, the woman was lucky to have still worked until she was forty four. The trophy case started to shake when Vivian tripped and bumped into it. Vixen's eyes widened and she quickly stood up, thinking she'd have to scoop the kids out of the way. It stopped shaking and she let out a sigh of relief.

"Careful around that trophy case kids, I don't want you knocking it over onto yourselves and getting hurt." In truth, she'd rather a dozen broken trophies on the floor than to have her children or niece injured. Vivian ran over to her mother and hugged her leg.

"Sorry mommy, I'll be more careful." Vixen smiled and hugged her daughter while Vinson and Rebecca watched with a smile. The kids were always happy to know their mother wasn't a vain dance instructor who might care more about the trophies than anything else. Vinson looked to the ground and swallowed, one of the trophies had fallen off.

"Mom…"

"What is it, Vinson?"

"One of them broke." She raised an eyebrow as he lifted the trophy up. It used to stand in the form of a pirouette with one arm bent over the head. Now the raised arm was off and it was no longer standing on the box that had the tag. Vinson looked at his mother, worried that he might be in trouble. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, Vinson." She smiled sweetly and took the trophy. It had been one of her favorite ones, and one of her firsts. She sighed and set it on the end table. "I'll have to take it in to get it fixed. It's okay."

"Love you, Mom."

"You too, sweetheart." Rebecca smiled and looked up and spotted a family photo of Vixen, her husband, and two children. She was reminded of her family and her heart lifted up. She loved her mom. Her mom didn't talk much about her past, but it didn't seem that it affected her much. She told Rebecca that when she was older, if she really wanted to know everything, she would tell her. Right now, she didn't want to fill her daughter's innocent mind with it all. Kyle and Rachel knew more than she did. All Rebecca knew was whatever happened, happened at least a year before Rachel was born.

"Hey Aunt Vixen, I'm an aunt too, you know." Vixen looked over and smiled, nodding her head. Rebecca huffed her chest proudly and walked over to her. "So we get to share stories about being aunts."

"Yes, that's true." Vixen laughed and hugged Rebecca, wondering if the young girl was trying to say something. "Are you saying you want to share stories?"

"Maybe. I just hope my nephews and nieces love me as much as I love you, Aunt Vixen."

"Aw, well I love you too, sweetie." Rebecca grinned and hugged Vixen tightly.

-NEXT-

In the cemetery, Valerie and Sam stood at Gibby's grave. Sam looked up and saw her mother a ways off, standing at Hector's grave. She knew her mom had a lot of issues with that man, and it was hard to still care about him. What she hated, was there was a small figment in her that was left over. She still hated him for what he did to her, what he did to their daughter, that much could be said. She didn't mourn him, she was only there to close matters up for herself before she passed on. She did not have long for the world, but in the end she was happy that her daughter was happy and her grandchildren were happy. She was thrilled to have seen her great grandchildren.

"I'm dying, Hector. My heart is failing me." Amy looked up into the sky and her voice shook. "My body is truly showing its age." Della had already passed on, due to Alzheimer's and pneumonia. "Della waits for me up above. Henry will have to manage on his own now." Henry was the healthiest of them, still very agile and active in his elderly years. Della had developed Alzheimer's when she was seventy, and was not aware of the seasons after a few years. A year ago, when she was seventy five, she stayed out in the bitter cold and developed pneumonia. Amy closed her eyes and a tear dropped from her eyes. "Such a strong, near invincible woman. It seemed nothing could shake us. Of all the things, it was pneumonia that got to my best friend…and now my body shutting down…"

She wasn't even supposed to be here, but Sam got permission from the nursing home to bring her out to the cemetery one last time. "Hector. I want you to know…when I first met you, you were a good man. That little girl you molested, I overlooked it because of your drinking…" She slowly closed her hands and scoffed. He'd been drunk when that happened, he'd been drunk most times. "Somewhere, somehow, you lost your mind. We blame Jeremy for it all, but there has to be some part on your end. You let that sadistic man control you…you let him twist your mind into hurting your own daughter. It's an act I couldn't forgive…" She breathed in and monitored her heart's beating. It was slow and steady, seemed slower each and every day. "I had a long, good life. These last twenty years have been the best years of my life. In my old age, I have learned one thing: Never hold grudges. I've come to accept that you were mentally ill, and I can't forget the things that you have done. However, I do forgive you and I release all my judgment of you into God's hands. I won't die a bitter old woman, Hector. I won't."

Valerie and Sam turned their gaze over to see Vincent and Viola making their way to them. Vincent had two white patches of hair on the side of his head and wore a fedora to cover up the fact that he had thin white hair. He now bore a thin white mustache and was hunched over slightly, walking with a cane in his right hand. Viola walked next to him, her hand gently on his back. Her white hair was up in a bun and her eyes were bright and cheerful for an eighty year old woman. She wore a blue dress that had white dots on it while Vincent had dress clothes on. Valerie smiled and turned to them. "Hey Mom, hey dad."

"Hey Valerie, I see you're visiting Gibby." Vincent lifted his hand up and rubbed her shoulder. She nodded and looked to Gibby's grave. Sam took a deep breath and looked up as the wind rushed through her hair. Viola and Vincent peered down at the headstone and smiled sadly. They owed a lot to Gibby, they owed their daughter's life to him.

"You know, he actually started treating Sam right for the last, maybe, five years." Valerie had a big impact on him, she didn't even realize it, but her kindness had affected him in so many ways. Sam brushed her hair back and started to put it up in a ponytail. She was thankful to Gibby as well, she always would be.

"Thirty years ago today, was the worst day of our lives." Valerie closed her eyes as Sam lowered her hands and knelt beside Gibby's marker. "Thirty years ago, he lost his mind, so many lives were lost. Now, everything's better. Even Gibby's son's living a happy life with his uncle, who was fortunate enough to not have fallen victim to Jeremy's evil hands. Too far out of reach." She placed a rose beside his grave and slowly looked up to the sky. "Maybe if Gibby wasn't there, Val. You and I…might not even be here…"

"Jeremy would have killed us. Both of us. He would certainly have taken my daughter from us…" She remembered that furious chase, the one that led them to take Derek and Rachel to Jonah. If it wasn't for Gibby, Jeremy would have likely succeeded. Sam could recall a time, several times, when Jeremy would beat her, nearly killing her, and Gibby would pull him away, telling him that was enough. Sometimes he even beat Jeremy afterwards.

"He's at peace, we're all at peace. That's what really matters."

"Yeah." Valerie lifted her eyes to where Amy was and watched with growing panic as the elderly woman collapsed. "Oh my god! Sam, your mother!"

"What?" Sam looked over and her eyes widened. "No, mom! Someone call the ambulance!" Sam ran over to Amy and knelt beside her, shaking her. She knew her mom could die any day, but it didn't stop her from panicking. For her mother to die on this day, the thirtieth anniversary of the kidnapping. This was not a pleasant thing at all.

-NEXT-

At Rachel's home, she sat with her sister in law, Serenity and brother, Kyle. They were both nineteen and off of college for the weekend. She had her hand on her belly and smiled at them. She could pop at any day now. So she always needed someone around, or at least her phone nearby. "I'm only twenty nine and I'm going to have three children." She laughed happily and rubbed her belly as Serenity drank some soda.

"I think it's nice, I mean you have twins. They're prominent in mom's family, you know." Rachel smiled as she looked up to the clock. Her two sons should be coming home any minute now. Kyle brought a blanket to his older sister and placed it over her, as she had said earlier she was cold.

"Here you go, Sis."

"Thanks."

"So, what will you name her?" Rachel looked to her belly and sighed, she wasn't sure. To be perfectly honest, she and Derek hadn't thought of a name. Maybe something to signify renewal? It was a thought, since they were so close to such an old memory. To be done let the old memory pass away and give birth to a brand new memory, it was a renewal.

"I don't know, maybe…" She felt a sudden, stabbing pain inside of her and shouted out. "Oh my god!" Kyle's eyes widened and Serenity stared in shock, was it time? The pain hit her again and she shot up, holding her stomach and gasping. "Kyle! The car! Someone call Derek!" Serenity dropped her cup and ran to the phone as Kyle started to panic. He didn't know what to do, he'd never dealt with this before!

"Oh my god, oh my god!"

"Kyle! Focus!" She breathed in as Serenity dialed her brother on her cell phone. Rachel moaned as the pain started to increase. "Get to the car, call the gynecologist, it's happening! She's coming!"

It was not long before Rachel was being rushed into the delivery room with the gynecologist sitting there. On the other side of the hospital, Amy was being rushed in at the same time. Her heart was failing quickly. Vanessa was the first to arrive at the hospital with Adam and Andy, they waited in the waiting room until her other sisters arrived, minus Valerie, who was with Sam and her parents on the other side of the clinic. It was not long before everyone was there, Derek was the last to arrive, due to his work and heavy traffic. When he made it in, he rushed to the delivery room where Rachel was with Vanessa. The gynecologist was having her breathe deeply. "I'm here Rachel!"

"What the hell took you so long, Derek!" She screamed as he placed his hand in hers. Big mistake. She clenched that hand so tightly that he almost instantly lost all feeling in it. Vanessa looked at Derek and saw the pain etched on his fight.

"She's putting up a fight, Derek."

"Who? Rachel or the baby?" Rachel screamed and tightened her grip on Derek's hand. He swore he heard something pop.

On the other side of the hospital, Sam sat in the room, watching the doctors rush to save her mother's life. Valerie and her parents sat there, waiting. They all knew there was a strong chance Amy wasn't going to make it. They weren't sure how long they'd been there, sitting there, waiting for the inevitable truth, but it came eventually. The heart monitor flat-lined and the doctor marked the time of death. Sam closed her eyes as Valerie gave her a hug.

A minute or two later, Freddie and Jonah came running in. "Sam! Valerie! Rachel just gave birth!" The women gasped and looked up at the men. They looked to Amy and frowned, closing their eyes. The second she passed, the baby let out its first cry. The doctor marked down the time of birth matching Amy's time of death.

They had a moment of silence for Amy, then made a break for Rachel's delivery room. As they made it, Henry walked into the hospital, looking around. Freddie called out for him. "This way, pop." Henry nodded and followed them.

In the delivery room, Rachel cradled her baby girl while Derek knelt with one arm around her shoulders and one hand over her belly. The two were gazing happily at the baby. Adam and Andy were standing in front of Derek, their hands on the bed and their eyes gazing in awe and wonder of their new little sister. Rachel and Derek's family and friends were surrounding them, watching happily. Rachel looked up as Freddie and Jonah ran in with Valerie, Sam, Viola, Henry and Vincent. They joined the family circle around the family as Rachel moved a corner of the towel from her baby. Everyone was silent and happy.

The baby peered her eyes into Rachel's eyes and opened her mouth in a yawn. Angie cooed as Johnny wrapped his arm around her waist. She wanted to have a baby now, but it would be a little while. They were going to wait until they were officially married. Rachel whispered to her baby.

"Eve. That will be your name. Eve." The baby Eve, born at 6:01, a minute after sundown. Rachel named her Eve, to signal new life, a new start, and a fresh memory. "You're my sweet little baby girl." She kissed Eve's forehead and continued to speak softly to her newborn baby. "On this day, our past passes away into the wind, a memory that is replaced with new birth. My precious baby girl, I have dreamed about you, for so long. Your father and your brothers, your cousins, your aunts, uncles, grandparents are all here to greet your arrival."

Eve cooed and looked around the room. There were so many faces, so many different expressions. They all looked like family. The ones closest to her, she could recognize as her father, her mother, and her brothers. She wrapped her fingers around her father's index finger. This was the best day of their lives. Sure, the passing of Amy was sorrowful, but it seemed shadowed by the birth of Eve, and symbolic for everybody. They were almost certain now, that the rest of their lives would be peaceful and quiet. For the first time in a long time, they had nothing to fear.

That's it, the end. It's been a long run, and well I thank everyone who reviewed, but most of all I thank Penny, who actually left thoughts on each chapter. Feels good, and perhaps the only reason I managed to complete this. I loved this story, writing it was fantastic, and now that it's over...it's just...wow. Leave your thoughts on this final chapter. Thank you so much, again!