Author's Note: iLost My Mind is definitely my new favorite episode of iCarly. (My previous favorite was iThink They Kissed.) So, in honor of that episode, and while we wait for iDate Sam and Freddie, I wanted to write a completely happy Seddie fic. No drama (well, maybe just a little, since this is Sam and Freddie, after all), just a string of happy occasions that couples tend to go through together. Enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: iCarly © Dan Schneider

I. The Official Couple

There was a certain excitement in the air that following day when Sam was finally checked out of Troubled Waters thanks to her (now much less hairy) mom, who reluctantly, but obligingly, came to sign the release forms for her. Sam walked out of the mental hospital late that afternoon feeling alive and rejuvenated in more ways than one.

She purposely didn't tell Carly, Spencer or Gibby — then again, why would she tell Gibby? — about her departure right away because…well…to put it bluntly, she just really wanted to spend a little extra one-on-one time with a very specific someone first.

"Thanks for the lift, Mom," Sam said as she opened the door of her mother's jank car.

Pam reached for a handful of fries on her dashboard.

"Just make sure you feed our catfish when you get home," she said, obnoxiously stuffing the delicious-looking fries into her mouth.

"Frothy ate the catfish like four months ago," Sam informed her.

Pam chewed on her fries in silence, and because her mouth was so full, one of them fell right out and landed on the seat. Sam quickly reached over and snatched it, popping it into her mouth before her mother could even attempt to grab it from her hand.

"Whatever," Pam said with a careless shrug. "I'm gonna go to Build-A-Bra and build me a sexy see-through bra to wear on my date tonight with that insane asylum cop."

"Okay, Mom," Sam said, forcing herself not to roll her eyes.

"Love ya, kid," Pam said with a small grin on her face.

"Love you, too, Mom," Sam said, grinning back. She slammed the car door shut and listened to the loud lovely sound of tires screeching as her mother recklessly drove away, making a sharp left turn. The annoying sound of a blaring car horn immediately followed.

Sam smiled to herself as she turned around and walked through the doors of Bushwell Plaza. She instantly spotted Lewbert, who was sitting at his desk with his eyes closed, head tilted back and mouth wide open as he snored lazily. Other than him, though, the lobby was completely empty, and Sam couldn't help but frown a little in disappointment. She was sure that he'd be—

"Hey, crazy."

"Jeez!" Sam said as she jumped in surprise. She turned around to meet a pair of smiling brown eyes as he came walking down the stairs. She let the hand that she'd just thrown onto her chest to slip right off. "You just scared the chiz outta me, Benson!"

"Sorry," he said, but she could tell in his lighthearted tone that he hardly meant it at all, especially with that huge grin that was currently slapped across his face. It was the kind of grin that lit up a person's entire face, the kind that was definitely a little contagious, too, since Sam suddenly found herself grinning ear to ear despite the little scare he'd just given her.

"Yeah, well, you'd better be," she said, but her tone was free of even the smallest trace of anger. She honestly couldn't help the fact that she was now grinning like an idiot, too, and that she couldn't, for the life of her, wipe the grin off her face. "I can't believe you skipped last period to come and meet me here," she said, changing the subject. She couldn't help but throw a little insult at him then, just for old time's sake. "Who would've ever thought that Freducation would actually be bad enough to ditch a class? I wonder what Psycho Momma Benson would do if she ever found out about this."

Freddie simply opened his mouth and let out a rich laugh, which seemed to be just as contagious as his smile, because Sam found herself grinning wider and letting out a lighthearted chuckle herself. Between their laughter, she hadn't even noticed when Freddie took a step towards her. It wasn't until Sam felt a hand on her waist that she abruptly stopped laughing and looked at him; really looked at him, with her big, shining blue eyes.

"So are we really gonna try this?" she asked, seemingly out of nowhere, her voice serious and maybe even a bit nervous, because hey, this was a pretty big deal. A huge one, actually.

She felt Freddie's palms curve against the small of her back. He began making small, soothing circles against it with his thumbs. He was starting to lean towards her, too, but at that point, Sam was already feeling so lightheaded that she barely even noticed. However, when she felt a familiar pair of lips gently touch her own, reality sank in, and she allowed herself to close her eyes and get lost in his tender kiss. Her hands came up to rest gently across his firm chest, even though, if it were her way, she would've jumped him and wrapped her legs and arms around his body.

But this was nice, too.

After a few blissful seconds of their lips touching, Freddie slowly pulled away from her. Sam's eyes fluttered back open as she grinned widely at him.

"Did that answer your question?" he asked in a sly yet sweet tone.

Sam tried to answer, but she found that her breath was caught in her throat, and Freddie seemed to pick up on that right away as he grinned again.

"Maybe you need a little more convincing," he breathed.

Their lips met again before Sam could do so much as nod her head. Who initiated the kiss this time wasn't exactly clear, and really, it didn't even matter. Sam was too caught up in the moment to point out just how ridiculously cliché and dorky this all was.

Then again, though, she secretly, maybe, kinda sorta, actually, positively loved it. She'd just never admit that out loud.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The sound of Lewbert's incessant shrieking completely shattered the moment as Sam and Freddie immediately jumped apart from each other. They whipped around to stare at the nasty doorman behind the desk, who was now screaming and wildly flailing his arms above his head.

"WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE DOING EXCHANGING SPIT IN MY LOBBYYYYYYY?" Lewbert demanded.

"Sam and I are going out now," Freddie announced, and the very bold and sudden declaration seemed to surprise Sam. She turned her head to look at Freddie, who briefly glanced at her and flashed a proud smirk.

Lewbert slammed his palm against his desk.

"WELL, WOOPTY-SKIPPITY-FLIPPIN'-COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO FOR YOU TWO!" he shouted. He reached for something behind his desk. "HERE, HAVE SOME RAISINS IN CELEBRATION!" He then chucked a handful of wrinkly black raisins at the two of them, and while Sam obviously wasn't one to ever turn down free food, she definitely had to make an exception in this case. She covered her face with her arm, dodging the raisins that came pelting at her.

What a truly freakish celebration it was.

II. The Honeymoon Stage

"Sam? Freddie? Are you guys down there?"

Freddie slowly wound his arms around Sam's back, gently pulling her closer.

"Saaaam? Freddieee? I know you guys are down there!"

Sam smiled as her hands crept up his chest and wrapped around him, clasping together behind his neck.

"Okay, that's it, I'm coming down there!"

Their tongues clashed and rolled together, and a sigh escaped from the back of Sam's throat as Freddie's hands began roaming…

"OH MY GOD!"

The two of them flinched at the sound of Carly's now much louder voice. They simultaneously broke apart and turned their heads to see their brunette friend standing at the staircase, her eyes widened.

"Okay…how many times have I caught you two making out on my couch this past week?" she asked.

Sam and Freddie exchanged a puzzled glance.

"Uhhhh, like…six…" Freddie started hesitantly.

"…teen?" Sam finished for him.

"Yes!" Carly shouted. "That's sixteen times too many!"

They wore similar sheepish looks on their faces now, though they didn't exactly look regretful for their actions. Carly simply rolled her eyes and let out a small huff.

"Look, I get that you guys are totally into each other and wanting to kiss and snuggle and act all cutesy all the time," she said, "but we kinda have our popular web show to rehearse that airs tomorrow night!"

"All right, all right, we get it, Carls," Sam said. "We'll be up in a minute."

Carly continued standing there, though, narrowing her brown eyes at them. She held up her Pear phone.

"You've got exactly sixty seconds," she warned, before she slowly turned and began climbing back up the stairs.

Sam and Freddie looked at each other again, little matching smiles inching across their faces. They began leaning towards each other again, but they stopped when they suddenly heard Carly scream from upstairs: "I JUST STARTED THE TIMER!"

Sam let out a sigh against Freddie's mouth, pulling back from him.

"All right, c'mon," she said as she reluctantly got up from the couch. "We'd better get up there before she breaks out the spray bottle again."

"Yeah," Freddie agreed, standing up as well, "I can't say I enjoyed getting repeatedly sprayed in the back of the head with water."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that wasn't water," Sam said, to which Freddie furrowed his eyebrows.

"Then…what was it?" he asked, somewhat scared to hear the answer.

Sam shrugged.

"Beats me," she said, then after a pause, her facial expression suddenly changed into a much more mischievous one as her eyebrows shot upward. "You wanna take the elevator so we can make out on the way up?"

"You've read my mind!" Freddie said as he eagerly walked over to the elevator and pressed the button.

They were kissing again before the elevator door even slid open. Hands tangled into hair as mouths crushed together. They both breathed in sharply as they clumsily shuffled their way into the elevator. Freddie backed Sam into the corner, and a soft grunt escaped her lips when her back hit the wall. She reached up and ran her hands through Freddie's smooth hair, messing it up completely, not really caring if it bothered him.

It wasn't until they heard the ding, and the elevator door slid up again, that they suddenly felt something cold and wet hitting their skin. They instantly separated and recoiled, trying to block the liquid that Carly was squirting at them.

"You two have seriously got to learn how to keep your hands off each other for more than ten seconds!" Carly said, although she had a hint of a smile on her face.

III. The Usual Fighting

"Honestly, Sam, when I—"

"Okay, you know what, Benson—"

"—say six o'clock, it means six o'clock! Not six fifty eigh—"

"—I'm getting pretty sick of hearing you whine all the time abou—"

"—I swear, it's like you're just so inconsiderate at times that y—"

The sounds of Sam and Freddie's overlapping voices could be heard echoing down the hall, until…

"You're driving me crazy!" the two of them shouted in unison.

They immediately froze in surprise, blinking and looking at one another skeptically. However, before either one of them could say another word, the door of the Shays' apartment flew open.

"You guys are seriously fighting again?" Carly said in disbelief.

They both looked at Carly with matching fierce expressions on their faces, before they each began talking at the same time again.

"Sam thinks it's perfectly okay to show up an hour late to our—"

"Fredrina over here is being an annoying little nub as usual—"

They both cut themselves off when Carly simply closed the door again. They furrowed their eyebrows and looked at each other again.

"I'm not apologizing," Sam said stubbornly.

Freddie crossed his arms over his chest, equally as stubborn.

"Fine," he said, "then I'm not paying for you on our dates anymore."

Sam's eyes widened at that.

"Uh huh," Freddie said, nodding. "You can pay for yourself."

Sam looked like she wanted to say something then, but she hesitated. She opened her mouth, only to close it again. Finally, she threw her hands up in frustration.

"Okay," she surrendered, then after a pause, her voice got much more sheepish as she finally said, "I'm sorry I was so late for our date."

"Or our last nine dates," Freddie reminded her.

Sam rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she said, but she caught her aggravated tone, and she managed to hold it back as she muttered another, "Sorry."

"Okay," Freddie said. "I accept your apology."

"Good," Sam said, before promptly changing the subject. "Now can we go somewhere and grab some dinner? Mama's starved."

Freddie furrowed his eyebrows.

"What?" Sam asked.

"You just had three smoothies and one of T-Bo's weird pork-on-a-stick popsicles!"

"So?" Sam said with a shrug. "That wasn't my dinner."

"You really do have a beast-like appetite," Freddie said, but he uncrossed his arms and began walking down the hallway anyway, since he knew that a hungry Sam meant a much more dangerous Sam, and he just wasn't in the mood to deal with that right now.

"Aww, that's my good little Fredtart," Sam said as she reached up and teasingly ruffled his hair.

Freddie couldn't help the smile that momentarily spread across his face as Sam messed up his hair. He caught her hand just as she was about to bring it back down to her side. She looked slightly taken aback by the unexpected act of affection, but she didn't bother to stop him as he laced his fingers right through hers, tightly squeezing her hand in his own.

IV. The First Anniversary

If anyone was more surprised that Sam and Freddie had somehow managed to last as a couple for an entire year, it was Sam and Freddie themselves.

"Can I take off this annoying blindfold yet?" Sam asked impatiently.

Her hands were gently cupped in Freddie's as he pulled her along. Where they were headed, she had absolutely no idea. All she knew was that he'd been slowly dragging her around for what felt like forever, and the blindfold he'd tied around her head was starting to itch.

"Soon," Freddie promised. "We're almost there. Just give me one more second…"

Sam felt his hands slip away for a moment. She could hear the sound of something being unlocked and pushed open. A chilled gust of air immediately whipped against her face, causing a shiver to race down her spine, but the abrupt coldness soon melted away as she felt Freddie's hands carefully slip into hers again.

"Okay, now watch your step here," he said.

She took small steps, until her foot suddenly hit a wall. Realization began to sink in as she slowly lifted her foot off the ground and stepped over whatever was blocking her path. She felt Freddie's hands tighten against her palms as he helped her bring her other foot over.

"Can I take it off now?" she asked, unable to fight the smile that was beginning to form across her lips.

"Yes, you can take it off now," Freddie said in an amused tone.

Sam let go of his hands and reached behind her head, grasping the loose knot and untying it. Her heart began beating faster as she removed the blindfold from her eyes, and as she finally opened them, the whole world seemed to freeze and capture itself in a beautiful, perfect moment.

"The fire escape?" Sam whispered.

She stared into Freddie's warm eyes that had a glint of something in them that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"How romantic am I, huh?" he asked teasingly, before closing the small gap between them by gently pressing his lips to hers. Sam's heart practically exploded in pure and utter joy as her hands came up to gently grip onto Freddie's shoulders. She felt his hands slide around her waist in a very familiar way.

"Happy one year anniversary, Sam," he whispered against her mouth.

Sam slowly pulled back from him for a moment, her own eyes shimmering. A soft grin played across her lips.

"Back at'cha, Fredlips," she said in a sly tone.

They simultaneously leaned in and caught each other's lips again.

V. The Reunion

Sam could barely contain herself when she spotted her boyfriend walking towards her from the baggage claim. In fact, the moment she laid eyes on him, she took off, leaving Mrs. Benson completely in the dust. She ran towards him so fast that he purposely made sure to let go of his suitcase and drop his duffel bag just before she lunged herself at him, nearly tackling him to the ground with the amount of force she used.

She jumped into his arms, slinking her legs tightly around his waist. She didn't care that they were inside a crowded airport, or that this seemed like a cheesy scene in a pathetic little chick flick where the guy and girl finally reunite, and they immediately fall into each other's arms and kiss passionately as the guy spins the girl around.

This was almost like that, except there was no girly spinning, and instead just some full-fledged lip-on-lip action as Sam wound her arms around Freddie's neck and practically devoured his mouth in a not-so-innocent kiss.

"Miss me?" Freddie asked after they'd pulled away and Sam had gotten to her feet again, although her arms were still tightly wrapped around his neck, and his were still snugly wrapped around her waist.

"Well, I missed your lips, I'll admit that," Sam said, grinning so widely that she felt like her mouth would fall off. "By the way, what up with your face?" She slid a hand over his chin, which was now covered in dark, stubbly little hairs that scratched her fingertips. "You're growing some facial hair? Since when?"

Freddie rolled his eyes, but the smile he had on his face still didn't go away.

"Believe it or not, Sam, most nineteen-year-old guys do grow facial hair," he said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Yeah, but you're not most nineteen-year-old guys," Sam said with an impish grin on her face.

"You know, I can't tell if that was meant to be taken as an insult or a compliment," Freddie said, but he immediately backtracked that statement. "Insult, right?"

"You know me so well," Sam said. She reached up and thumped him lightly on the forehead. It didn't really hurt Freddie this time, though, because he knew that she wasn't actually trying to hurt him. He finally let go of her waist.

"What about you?" he asked, and when Sam started to furrow her eyebrows, he looked down at her chest and raised his eyebrows suggestively. "You're looking a bit more mature yourself, you know."

"Dude!" Sam shrieked in absolute horror, her eyes widening like saucers as her cheeks flushed a bright pink. She immediately got her revenge by throwing up her fist and punching his shoulder, this time definitely trying to hurt him. "What gives? We're apart for two and a half months and you come back as a total skeez?"

"I'm not a skeez!" Freddie said defensively, but Sam simply crossed her arms over her chest, covering herself so that he couldn't keep staring, and Freddie realized then that he'd have to do some quick damage control. "All right, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel all uncomfortable. But I think I know what'll make it up to you." He turned around and crouched down, unzipping his large duffel bag.

"You got me ham?" Sam asked, trying to look over his shoulder and see whatever it was that he was looking for.

"Better than ham," Freddie said. He finally found what he was looking for and pulled it out of the bag.

"Nothing's better than ham," Sam commented, but her mouth stretched open in elation when she laid eyes on Freddie's present. "Salt water taffy!"

"Yep," Freddie said, shaking the bag. "Five whole pounds of it. Fresh from New Jersey." He held the bag out in front of her face, dangling it temptingly.

Sam quickly snatched the candy from his hands, before slinking a hand behind his neck and pulling him in for another powerful kiss, and just like that, Freddie knew that he was forgiven.

VI. The Proposal

"I'm really nervous about this."

"It's normal to feel nervous, Freddie," Carly said over the phone.

Freddie was anxiously pacing back and forth in the living room of his and Sam's new apartment. They resided in downtown Seattle, still close enough to everyone they knew, but far enough so that their families — Freddie's mom — couldn't just barge in unexpectedly whenever they pleased.

"What if she says no?" the increasingly nervous young man asked, switching the phone to his other ear for no real reason, other than to somehow try to ease his nerves.

"Freddie, you guys have been together for seven whole years now," Carly reminded him. "Do you honestly think she's going to say no?"

"You never know with Sam!" Freddie said, at last stopping in his tracks. He flopped down on their black couch and picked up a purple decorative pillow, playing with its fringes. "I mean, what if…what if she laughs at me?"

"Freddie," Carly said with a sigh. He could picture her shaking her head. "She loves you and you know it. Just relax. You can do it."

"I can do it," Freddie repeated, feeling a sudden rush of confidence. He chucked the pillow back to the couch and stood up. "You're right. I'm just gonna look her in the eyes and say—h-hey, Sam!"

"Good luck!" he heard Carly say as he hastily yanked the phone away from his ear and tapped the screen with his thumb to end the call. He grinned nervously at his girlfriend, who was holding a plastic shopping bag. She slowly stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Okay, why are you all twitchy?" she asked, sensing right away that something was up. "Did you look through my sock drawer and find my stash of deer jerky?"

"Deer jerky?" Freddie repeated.

"It's a delicacy," Sam explained, but promptly went back to the subject at hand. "Now why are you acting so weird? Out with it."

"U-Uh," Freddie said, his eyes widening a bit. He swallowed audibly. He knew there was definitely no way out of this now, but that still didn't mean he was going to give in just yet. Out of desperation, he pointed to the bag she was holding. "Did you bring dinner?"

Sam glanced down at it, then back up at him.

"That depends," she said. "Are you gonna tell me why you're acting like you just got caught red-handed doing something you weren't supposed to be doing?"

"I wasn't—" Freddie started, but immediately stopped himself there and let out a groan of frustration instead. He brought his hands up to his face, palms pressing together, as though he were praying. He drew in a deep breath and let it out as slowly as he could, trying to calm himself down.

So, it looked like he was just going to have to do this right now as opposed to later.

He tightly closed his eyes for a moment, trying to find some kind of invisible strength, before he snapped them back open and looked directly at Sam.

"Come here," he said, and because he knew that she would start to protest, he reached for her hand and tugged her forward, forcing her to follow him. When they crossed the threshold that led to their kitchen, Freddie let go of her hand, opened the fridge, and pulled out a white box. "I was planning on waiting 'til after we ate to…" His blood ran cold when he opened the box to see a half-eaten chocolate cake inside. "Sam!"

"Yeahhh, you probably shouldn't have hidden that thing in the fridge, which you know I love to raid every chance I get."

"Wh…when did you…"

"This morning after you left for work," she said. "Not exactly one of your best ideas, Benson."

He stared down at the fancy purple frosting that was written across the cake. The message had originally read:

Will you

marry me?

However, thanks to Sam, half of the cake was gone, so now, all that was left of the writing was the you and the me. The question mark had been suspiciously smeared off.

"Unbelievable," Freddie said, shaking his head in disappointment.

Sam, behind him, rolled her eyes.

"Oh, dude, just shut up and make it official already."

Freddie turned his head, his heart suddenly beating fast.

"Wha…wait…you mean…so you're saying that…"

Seeing him visibly struggle and trip over his words elicited a smile from Sam.

"Of course," she said in a sincere tone, dropping her usual sarcasm, although it didn't last as she smirked devilishly and added, "I'm just surprised it took you this long to finally work up the nerve to ask me. I mean, we all know that you're the chick in this relationship, but I didn't think you'd be this much of a wimp and take flippin' seven years to finally—"

He shut her up grabbing her face and kissing her.

VII. The Wedding

"Samantha, you look positively gorgeous!"

Sam cringed upon hearing her full first name, but after giving herself a long look in the mirror, she really had to agree. She did look gorgeous. Her wedding gown had short laced sleeves that clung to her shoulders, as well as a straight neckline that was embroidered with intricately sewn pearls and sequins. The rest of the dress trailed downward to spread out in a pool of silk around her feet.

She kinda felt like a princess, as stupid and cliché as that was to say.

"Thanks," Sam said, turning to her bridesmaid, "Melanie."

Her twin sister smiled brightly at her, looking as beautiful and as perfect as ever in her violet halter top bridesmaid dress. Her hands were tightly clasped together as she held them up to her chest, looking as though she were trying to suppress a girlish squeal.

Sam could tell what she wanted to do just by that look in her sister's eyes. And so, before she could change her mind, she wrapped her arms around her sister, pulling her into a warm embrace. She closed her eyes and wrinkled her nose a bit at the smell of her sister's overwhelmingly sweet perfume, but as she felt Melanie soothingly pat her back, she was able to somewhat ignore it.

"Listen, Sam," Melanie said as she pulled back from their hug. "I know we haven't exactly been very close over the years, but I just want to let you know how much I love you and how excited I am for you that you're getting married!"

"I know, Mel," Sam said. She grinned in sudden realization. "Who would've ever guessed that I'd be the one getting married before you, right?"

Melanie smiled again, and Sam could see the glint of tears already starting to brim in her sister's eyes. Melanie herself realized this and quickly brought up her hand, carefully wiping her dainty little finger underneath her eyes, being cautious not to smudge her make-up.

"Oh, sugar, I promised myself I wouldn't cry!" Mel said, trying to collect herself, and when Sam gave her a knowing look, she grinned sheepishly and specified, "Well, I promised myself that I'd at least wait until the ceremony before I started to shed a few tears."

The two sisters shared one more grin.

"Okay, well, I'd better get out there so we can get this wedding started!" Melanie said, clapping her hands together in excitement as she began heading for the door.

Sam turned back to the mirror again, but just as Melanie was about to leave the room, she froze at the doorway.

"Oh, and Sam?" Melanie said. Sam turned to look at her sister. "I love that he makes you so happy."

Immediately, Sam felt heat flush through her cheeks, but she still managed to give her sister one more smile before Melanie finally left the room.

Sam was left alone for not even a full minute before she heard another knock at the door. She tried her best not to grumble in irritation as she called out, "Yeah?"

The door opened a moment later, and her maid-of-honor stepped in.

"You ready?"

Sam's eyes remained glued to the mirror. She took a deep breath, before turning around.

"Yeah," she said, grinning at her best friend. "Let's get this show on the road, Carls!"

Carly smiled as she helped Sam pick up the long train from her dress and walk through the door. Sam grabbed her bouquet of colorfully assorted flowers and made her way towards the doors that led to the altar. When they reached it, Carly let go of her dress, giving her one last smile.

"Stay blonde," she said as some last-second familiar advice.

Sam grinned and pointed at her.

"Stay brune," she countered.

With one final grin, Carly turned her back to Sam and began the long walk down the aisle. Sam tightened her grip on the handle of her bouquet, straightened her shoulders and, with a confident look on her face, stepped through the doors.

She could hear the jumbled sounds of chairs creaking and people coughing and music playing as everyone rose from their seats, but from the second she stepped through the doors, her gaze locked onto one person and one person only.

And he looked…dare she actually think it, but…well, absolutely handsome in his black tux. The warmth in his eyes as she slowly walked towards him seemed to pierce right through her, sending a wave of heat throughout her entire body. She continued her steady pace down the aisle, smiling unconsciously when she saw him smile at her.

Her heart was already racing by the time she'd finally reached him and handed her bouquet to Carly. He held out his hand to her, and she let it comfortably slip into her own. They let their gazes on one another linger for a moment, before they turned to face the minister.

"We are gathered here today," the elderly minister began proudly, "to join Fredward Benson and Samantha Puckett in matrimony. If there is anyone who opposes this union, let them speak now, or forever hold their peace."

The room fell silent for a moment, when all of a sudden, someone shot up, threw a fist into the air, and shouted a loud and resounding, "SEDDAAAAYYY!"

Sam and Freddie shot a look at the obnoxious, bellowing man. He gave them two thumbs up before simply taking his seat again as if nothing happened.

"…Okay," the minister said unsurely, "well—"

"Look, can we just skip to the vows?" Sam asked, suddenly impatient. The random exclamation from that annoying super fan seemed to break her out of her nervous shell and bring her back to her normal outspoken self. "You know what, to chiz with you, I'm just gonna say my vows right now."

Carly and Melanie exchanged a confused glance, before Carly shrugged and began to take out a neatly folded slip of paper that had the vows that Sam had written. As Carly held it out to her, though, Sam waved her off, before turning to look back at Freddie. She squeezed his hands for comfort.

"Freddie," she began, "you know just as much as anyone that I'm not exactly a sentimental person. It's not that I don't like showing my softer side, it's more that…well, I guess that I really don't know how to show it. I mean, you obviously know that I'm not like most girls. I'm not girly and sweet like our best friend, Carly, over here." She paused to give Carly a teasing grin. "But I also know that you don't care about that, because you love me for who I am, which is a brutally tough chick who loves to get in trouble and scarf down ham and just have a rockin' time." She smiled when she saw Freddie smile at that.

"And…like I said," Sam went on, "I'm not very good at voicing my feelings when it comes to all this mushy, sentimental crud, but…" She took a deep breath. "I just want you to know that I love you, Freddie. A lot. Definitely a whole lot more than you probably think I do. And I honestly couldn't picture myself spending the rest of my life with anyone else but you." She knew that she had definitely said way too much already, but at that point, she just had to keep going. "You may be a complete dork who knows just how to get on my nerves with your nubbish ways, but you're my dork, and…this is gonna sound lame, but…I wanna let you know that, if I were ever stranded on an island for the rest of my life, and I could have either a lifetime supply of ham, or you…I'd choose you, every time, because you're all I need to make me happy."

The silence that followed her overwhelming speech nearly took all the breath right out of her. She felt another squeeze of her hand, which relaxed her a bit, but it still didn't help the fact that her heart was now thudding so hard that she could practically feel the beat of her pulse pounding in her ears. Her sweating hands suddenly became much colder as Freddie let go of them and slid his hands up to her face. He gave her cheek a comforting stroke with the pad of his thumb as he grinned his familiar boyish grin.

"You're all I need to make me happy too, Sam," he murmured.

Their lips met in a loving kiss, and they quickly became lost in each other, disregarding the high-pitched 'awwww' that seemed to float in the air around them.

VIII. The First Surprise

"Happy birthday, Freddie," Sam said, presenting a small blue bag to her husband of nearly two years. A look of pleasant surprise crossed his face as he glanced up at her for a moment. She grinned at him, still holding out the bag, waiting for him to take it.

"You actually remembered to get me something this year?" he said in disbelief, at last taking the bag from her.

"Yep. So are you gonna open it or not?" Sam asked in her usual hostile tone, but she still couldn't manage to take the grin off her face. She knew that he was genuinely impressed by this extremely rare kind gesture.

"Okay, I'll—" he started, but immediately stopped as something suddenly dawned on him. "Wait a minute, but…my birthday's not for another two weeks."

"I know," Sam said, before she hastily grabbed him by the wrist and tugged him down on their living room couch, "but this couldn't wait."

Freddie released the loose grip Sam had on his hand to reach into the bag. He pulled out a long, plain white box and immediately scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. He held the box up to his ear and shook it back and forth, listening to the dull clacking sound of whatever was inside that was hitting the edges of the box.

"Okay, seriously, what'd you get me?" he asked almost fearfully as he lowered the box again. "A knife?"

"Please, like you're even cool enough to have a weapon," Sam scoffed, although her tone sounded much more playful than it did vicious. As Freddie gave her another suspicious look, however, her patience began running thin. "Well, come on. Open it."

Freddie's eyes dropped back down to the box in his lap. He let out a short sigh as he finally took the cover off of it. The sound of the tissue paper crinkling seemed to be amplified a thousand times as Sam kept her eyes glued to Freddie's face, her heart pounding in growing anticipation. She watched as Freddie blinked and stared down at the item in the box with a look of sheer and utter confusion on his face.

"Wha…" he started, but his voice trailed off from there. He hesitantly reached into the box and finally picked up the item inside it, a long white stick that sort of resembled an old-fashioned thermometer. "What is this?" he finally asked, looking up at her.

Sam took a deep breath and spoke before she could lose her nerve.

"A stick that I peed on," she said all in one breath.

"A stick that you—what?" Freddie shrieked, grimacing. "Aww, Sam, why would you give me thi—wait a minute, what?"

And Sam found herself holding in that deep breath she just took as Freddie slowly but surely began to put the pieces together. She watched as he flipped the stick over to reveal a pale pink plus sign.

"Y-You're," he said, his voice wavering as he stared down at the stick in awe. He looked up into her eyes so abruptly that she swore she felt her heart leap inside her chest. "You're pregnant?"

Sam tried to speak, she really did, but at that same moment, she was hit by a powerful wave of emotion. She could feel tears brimming in her eyes, and all she could do was vigorously nod her head in response, holding back the tears for as long as she possibly could. She finally broke when Freddie flung his strong arms around her, pulling her flush against his chest.

She gave in and let the tears spill down her cheeks. Her arms slipped around his back, hugging him tightly.

"Samantha Benson, are you crying?" he whispered against her ear.

She smiled through her tears, knowing she'd been caught.

"No," she murmured halfheartedly.

His hands began to loosen against her back, before he pulled away from her completely, revealing his shining watery eyes.

"Me neither," he said with a joyous grin.

IX. The Pregnancy

"FREDDIEEEE!" Sam cried out in agony.

She was lying on the couch, wincing and clutching her bulging stomach. Freddie came rushing down the stairs, flushed and out of breath. He hunched over his wife and breathed in and out sharply.

"What's…wrong?" he asked as he panted.

She looked up at him with those big beautiful eyes of hers that she knew he couldn't resist.

"I'm hungry," she announced.

"Okay, what do you want me to get you?" Freddie asked.

"I want…a large…"

"What? Ham sandwich? Bucket of fried chicken? Bowl of chili? Anything, just name it, and I'll get it."

"I want," Sam said again, licking her lips, "…a large Greek salad."

"A large Greek salad? Really?" Freddie asked, astounded. "You sure you don't want some kind of meat? Maybe some ribs?"

Sam shook her head earnestly.

"No," she said. "I want a salad, with the juicy tomatoes…and the crispy red onions…and the delicious black olives…ooh, yes, the olives! Mama's craving those olives, Freddie!"

"Okay, okay, I'll go get you a nice Greek salad," he said, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead.

Pregnant Sam really did have weird cravings.

X. The Second Surprise

"Hmmm…"

"Doc, if you say hmmm one more time, I swear, I'm gonna come over there and bite your arm."

The doctor, a tall guy with black hair, looked up from his paperwork to give Sam an incredulous look. Her husband, standing beside her as she lay on a hospital bench, offered him a sympathetic look.

"I have no control over whose arm she bites," he said honestly.

"Very well," the doctor said warily, before awkwardly clearing his throat. "Now, Mr. and Mrs. Bens—"

"Don't," Sam started, holding up her index finger in warning, "call me by that name. Mrs. Benson is my psychotic mother-in-law."

The doctor looked taken aback.

"Okay, then…" He glanced down at his documents again. "Sam. Freddie. By any chance, do either of you two have a history of twins in your families?"

Both Sam and Freddie's faces dropped.

"Uh, I have a twin sister," Sam said hesitantly. "Why?"

The doctor looked back down at his papers, smiling a wide smile as he held up the black-and-white sonogram that showed the slightly blurry, but very distinct shapes of not one, but two tiny growing babies.

"Congratulations," he said as he handed the sonogram to Sam.

She held it out in front of her so that Freddie could see it, too.

"Twins?" Sam said in disbelief.

"Twins," Freddie repeated absentmindedly.

"That's right," the doctor said. "Now, would you two like to know the genders?"

"Yes," Sam said, at the same exact time that Freddie said, "No." She immediately looked up at her husband.

"No?" she repeated.

"You don't want it to be a surprise?" Freddie asked.

"This wasn't a big enough surprise for you?" Sam asked, waving the sonogram at him. "And anyway, you don't get any say in this, since you're not the one who's gonna be poppin' out two kids from your—"

"Fine, fine, I get it," Freddie surrendered, cutting her off. "You're right. You're the one who's gonna be going through the labor, not me, and if you really wanna find out right now, and not get to experience that excitement of hearing people cry out 'it's a boy!' or 'it's a girl!' for the first time just as the babies are being brought into the world, then…I dunno, I guess there's really nothing I can say to change your mind."

Sam's face softened then. She looked back down at the black-and-white picture of her—their children.

"Well, when you put it like that…" She sighed quietly. "I think I wanna be surprised, too."

Freddie smiled.

XI. The Delivery

"I'M GONNA KILL FREDDIE BENSON!" Sam shouted at the top of her lungs, her face deeply flushed and her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She shot a death-worthy glare at her best friend, who immediately flinched and held up her hands in mercy. "Where is he?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Uhhhh…I think he's in the bathroom," Carly said.

Sam narrowed her eyes, not buying it for one second.

"Go get him."

"From the bathroom?" Carly asked, appalled. "Eww, gross, I'm not going in there! I'm a lady!"

Sam groaned as she felt another sharp pain shoot through her body. She clamped her eyes shut and winced, clenching her hands against the sides of the hospital bed. Carly was out the door by the time she opened her eyes again. It wasn't long before she heard pounding footsteps and her husband came bursting through the door.

"There you are! Get over here so I can kill you!"

"Sam—"

"NOW!" she screamed mercilessly.

He immediately rushed to her side, since he was much more concerned about her well-being than he was about possibly losing his life after she got done with him. Her hand shot out to grab a fistful of his shirt, yanking him down swiftly. Her mouth crushed against his in a brutally hard kiss that didn't even stop once the doctor and nurses came walking into the room.

"Whoa, um," the doctor said, looking away in embarrassment, "let's get through birthing these two babies before you two start making another one, shall we?"

Sam at last broke the kiss by shoving Freddie away. She gasped a satisfied breath, wiping her mouth with her hand.

"Okay, now I'm ready," she announced, turning her head forward to look at the stunned doctor. "Let's do this thing."

XII. The Family

"Mama!"

"Daddy!"

Two rambunctious little five-year-old boys with light blonde hair and dark brown eyes came running towards their parents at full speed.

Sam leaned down to hug and kiss each of her sons.

"Daddy and Mama missed you both so much," she said as she held them tightly in her arms. "How was your first day of Kindergarten?"

"Good!" shouted one of them happily.

"Dumb!" shouted the other.

Freddie smiled at that.

"Dumb?" he echoed one of his boys. "Oh, Nathan, you're growing to be more and more like your Mama each and every day."

Sam glanced over at her husband.

"Oh, and it's just a coincidence that Nick just so happens to be totally into computers, right?" she asked teasingly.

Freddie merely shrugged as he took Nicholas by his small hand.

"That still doesn't change the fact that I see way more of you in our kids than I do of me."

Sam took Nathan's hand and began walking alongside her husband, heading towards their car.

"Mama," Nathan said, "can we have ham for dinner tonight?"

"Ham!" Nick exclaimed in excitement, before he and his brother began chanting, "Ham, ham, ham, ham, ham!"

"I rest my case," Freddie said with a teasing grin.

And in the small space between them, Sam and Freddie linked hands.