Hi, guys! So I am having a MAJOR problem with my account. Whenever I try to submit a chapter, I get signed out somehow and I have been trying to update for so long. Is this happening to anyone else? Maybe its just my internet, oh well.

Thanks for all the reviews and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5

It was getting to be almost three in the afternoon when people started to leave the Manson residence. Danny and Tucker stood outside Danny's car, speaking in quiet voices.

"So, she wants you to stay?" Tucker asked slowly with a confused look on his face.

"I think so. She seemed a little off when I was talking to her, but she's probably just had a rough couple of days."

Tucker swayed back and forth on the sidewalk, looking up into the sky. He asked, "Danny, how long has it been since the last ghost attack? It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Danny nodded, then laughed. "I don't even remember that last time I had to use my powers."

"So do you think Amity if finally safe? Even if the ghost portal isn't closed?"

"Not sure." Danny responded. He looked at Tucker and shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't heard of any attacks in months."

The sun was shining and a warm breeze made the leaf-less trees sway. It was the beginning of March. "Noah's birthday is the 22nd. I can't believe that its almost been five years…" His voice trailed off as he watched more people exit out of Sam's house.

He wondered where he would be at today had he come back and lived with Sam after Noah was born. A full time worker and a full time dad: that thought terrified him.

Danny turned back to Tucker. "I don't think I would have made a good dad. I thought that after Noah was born that I would have my life together, but I guess not. I mean come on, I felt like I had it all in high school. I felt invincible. Then she got pregnant..." Danny looked up just in time to see Sam standing near the window talking to get mother. "I do miss her, though. And I don't think I can live without getting to know Noah." He ran his hands furiously through his hair. "I just don't know what to do!"

"Well, just talk to Sam. Maybe you can start visiting him on the weekends or something."

The boys decided that Tucker would take the car to go visit his parents, then pick Danny up later to head back home. "Just text me. I feel bad, I feel like I have been leaving you to deal with your female issues. But good luck Danny. You know Sam's a hardass, but just be nice. She's been through a lot." And with that, Tucker hopped in the car and Danny walked back into the house.

When he walked back inside, he saw Sam sitting alone on the couch holding a cup of coffee. He could see the steam rising from the mug, as she seemed to be staring off into space. When she noticed his arrival, she moved over and he sat down.

"So, what did you want to talk about."

"Umm, just wanted to talk, I know we haven't talked in awhile." Danny didn't know how to start. He watched her face nervously, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. She looked impatient, and slightly unfriendly.

"Hmm." She said stiffly, and set her coffee down on the table. "Ok, I'm just going to tell you why I wanted you to stay: Noah needs a father. He needs to know that you care about him, that is, if you do care."

"Of course I care! Listen Sam I know I messed up big time, and I'm sorry. I freaked out…"

"Really? You've been freaking out for the past five years and that's why you haven't been around?" He could tell by the sound of her voice that she was getting angry. "I was scared too! I had no idea how to raise a baby, and I did it all alone too!"

"Look," she said, rubbing her eyes. "I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here. I want Noah to know you. I do. I want him to know and love his dad. But on the other hand, how to I introduce my son to a man who abandoned him as a baby? How do I tell him that Danny? You think you can just walk right in here and everything is ok? What the hell am I suppose to do?"

"Sammy listen…"

"Don't call me that."

They sat in silence.

Danny watched and her cheeks turned pink and her eyes became watery. "I didn't come here to fight with you."

"I know." She said, tucking her shoulder length hair behind her ears.

"We have to figure this out. Today. I don't want to leave Noah in the dark about his father."

"Ok." Danny said almost in a whisper. "I'm trying Sam. This is hard for me too."

At that moment, Sam looked up and said slowly, "This is hard for you? Please tell me Danny how its hard for you."

Danny froze in shock, "Sam…I…"

"No. Let's face it Danny, you took the easy way out. You decided to just leave us and go off pretending like we never existed."

"That's not fair!" He exclaimed angrily. "You told me in the hospital that you never wanted to see me again. How was I supposed to take that?"

She buried her face in her hands and rubbed her eyes yet again. "Danny, you are so damn clueless."

"Really? We're going to start that again? What, are we 15?"

"Nope, I'm twenty three, Danny. Twenty three and I have full time job and I'm a full time mom. What do you do? You still live in a college town and take no responsibility for your actions."

They sat in silence again, but this time it was more painful.

"So what do we do?" Danny asked, trying his hardest to yell back at her.

"I am not sure really." Sam looked at the large grandfather clock near the fireplace. "I know deep down, somewhere, you're a good person. That's why I want you to have a relationship with Noah. I could honestly care less about you anymore, and it wouldn't bother me to never see you again, but for Noah's sake, you should be around more often."

This was not the Sam he knew. He could feel his heart breaking as she said she didn't care about him. Of course he still loved her, and he knew he hurt her very badly.

"Sam, I know it doesn't mean much, but I am so terribly sorry. I know I hurt you, but I didn't mean to. You took the whole "getting pregnant" thing way better than I did after Noah was born. You're a good mom. And I'm sorry for everything."

"I just don't know what to do." She said, as a single tear trailed down her face.

Suddenly, Danny heard a small voice coming from the staircase. "Mommy?"

Danny and Sam turned around to see Noah standing holding a floppy stuffed dog. Sam immediately wiped the tear from her face, and smiled at their son.

"Come over here Noah. I want you to meet someone."

The small boy hurried over and Sam pulled him onto her lap. "I remember you." Noah said. "You were at the party for Grandpa today." Danny smiled, and Sam continued. "This is my friend Danny. We were friends a very long time ago." Noah looked between Danny and his mom, then back at his toy puppy, clearly uninterested of the strange man sitting on the couch.

"Do you want to show him your new trucks?" Sam asked, running her fingers through his hair softly. "Sure!" Noah said excitedly and jumped off from the couch. "There in the kitchen, on top of the fridge. I'll be right here if you need me."

Danny was unsure if she was talking to him or Noah, but he followed his son into the kitchen to retrieve the toys. When he got the basket down, Danny watched as Noah's eyes light up as he set them down on the table.

"This one is my favorite. It goes fast and is the fastest ever. You can be the red one and we will race."

Danny slowly picked up the red car Noah had set aside for him. He smiled as Noah told him all about the toys in front if them. Danny had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Why did I wait this long to do this? Why was I so afraid?" After nearly 20 minutes of playing, Sam peeked her head into the kitchen. "I'm going to up upstairs and change. Danny, there are crackers and cheese sticks in the fridge in you two want a snack." Danny looked at her, smiled, and nodded.

"Mommy, can Danny stay longer and play? He likes cars just like me." Sam looked at Danny, then back at Noah. "We'll see baby."

Sam closed the door and walked upstairs to her old room. She smiled as she entered the dark and gothic style room. She still had posters hanging up on the wall, and she was surprised her parents never took them down. When she had moved back in with Noah, she moved into the guest bedroom in the basement, so her parents wouldn't be woken up at night from the baby. She didn't even bother to redecorate the old room. Secretly, she still liked her dark purple sheets and candles around the room. She sighed as she pulled out a t-shirt and sweat pants from a duffle bag on the bed. She caught her reflection in her tall mirror, and walked up to it. She could not believe this was her. She would never have imagined herself as a responsible adult by the age of 23. She knew she wanted kids, but not for a long long time.

There was a picture of her, Danny, and Tucker during graduation taped near the top of the mirror. She laughed at the amount of eyeliner she was wearing. She looked so happy. She felt a lump from in her throat as the tears began to spill from her eyes.

"How could he do this to me? We were suppose to work through this together, then he just stop caring." She thought to herself as she tried to calm herself down. She knew she had to be strong for Noah. She loved her son more than anything in the world, but she couldn't help feel lonely when she would put Noah to bed, or when he did something adorable or funny and she just wanted to share that with someone, share it with his father.

She wiped her eyes, hopefully for the last time and headed back downstairs. She entered the kitchen to see Noah sitting on Danny's lab eating his snack. Sam sat down next to Danny. Neither of them said a word while Noah rambled on about his trucks.

Sam laughed and pulled Noah on her to lap and groaned, "You are getting too big!"

Noah laughed as cracker crumbs fell from his lap and onto Sam's. "You also need a bath little man. Why don't you go say goodbye to Danny and go find some toys for bath time."

"Bye Danny. You are good at playing cars. You can play them whenever you want too, I will share." Sam put him back on the ground and he went up the stairs.

Danny sighed. "That was amazing Sam. He is such a smart kid too."

"Yeah, he speaks pretty well for his age." She looked near the staircase to see if Noah had made it all the way upstairs. She opened her mouth to say something, but Danny beat her to it.

"I want to see him more often Sam. I don't care about the drive, but I want to be here more for him."

Sam nodded. "Alright. Do you want to come back tomorrow? I have to go take care of some things from the funeral with my mom; you could stay here and watch him maybe? I can trust you with him right?"

Danny grew excited. "Yeah of course Sam! What time do you need me here?"

"Probably around noon. I'll leave out food for his lunch and maybe a snack for later. He usually doesn't take a nap unless it's been a hectic day, but he will probably want to stay up if you're here."

Danny nodded, trying to remember all Sam was telling him. "So, when are we going to tell him I'm his dad?"

"Possibly tomorrow. I need to think of what to say first."

Sam walked Danny to the door, said a short goodbye, and quickly closed the door. Danny smiled as he pulled out his phone to call Tucker. "Tuck? Great news. Sam says I can come see him tomorrow too…"