A/N: I'm really really sorry about the long wait. School and life has been so busy lately. But here we are, the last chapter. Don't worry though, there's still an epilogue. I just want to thank you all for your support on this story. Your reviews, favorites, and follows mean so much to me and I hope the journey of this story has been as worthwhile for all of you as it has been for me.

So without further ado, I give you the conclusion of Playing House. Mild lemon warning near the end. It's a nice and sweet one though. :)

Chapter Eighteen

"Tookiee!" Charlie cried.

Sam used a damp cloth to wipe the cookie crumbs off of Charlie's mouth.

"No more cookies, baby. You've had enough," she said.

"Tookieee!"

Sam shook her head and lifted Charlie out of her high chair. "Your daddy spoils you. No wonder he can barely get you to go to sleep."

She took Charlie to the living room and turned the TV on to Girly Cow reruns and placed Charlie in her little play area in front of the TV, with a blanket and pillows and stuffed animals surrounding her. Charlie immediately pulled her bear to her and became entranced with the TV.

Sam sat down on the couch with her laptop and tried to work on her homework for class but quickly found that she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept drifting to Freddie and how strange he'd been acting lately. It wasn't like he was doing anything that she could complain about. He came home on time, and he was mostly attentive to her and Charlie...he was still Freddie. But he seemed distracted and distant sometimes and Sam would catch him looking at her, like she was a puzzle he was trying to figure out. He was hiding something, she could feel it. And Sam didn't like secrets.

The door opened and Freddie walked in.

"Dada!" Charlie squealed.

"Hey princess," he grinned, walking over to her and lifting her up. He sat down on the couch beside Sam with Charlie on his lap.

"Hi," he said, kissing her.

"Hey, where have you been?"

"Uh, with Spencer. He needed help with a sculpture."

Sam frowned. She had talked to Carly an hour ago, she and Spencer were on their way to Yakima to visit their grandad.

"Da...da..." Charlie patted his face, trying to get his attention.

"What is it, baby girl?" He asked.

"She's probably thirsty," Sam said. "She was eating cookies earlier."

"Let's get you some juice then. Huh?" He kissed Charlie's cheek and stood up with her. "You want anything?"

Sam shook her head. She turned to watch Freddie in the kitchen. He poured apple juice into Charlie's bottle with one hand while he cooed and talked to Charlie.

He had lied to her. He looked right into her face and lied with barely any hesitation. Sam tried to ignore the nervous tightening in her gut as she watched Freddie wheedle a kiss out of Charlie before giving her her bottle.

In Sam's experience, men only lied when they had something to hide. And that something was usually another woman. She felt her heart drop down into her stomach. Was it possible that Freddie-her boyfriend for over a year, her best friend, the father of her child, the love of her life-was cheating on her?

X

"Sam's starting to suspect something..." Freddie said as he paced back and forth in the Shay apartment.

"Freddie, calm down," Carly soothed.

"Why didn't you guys tell me you were going to Yakima over the weekend? I told Sam on Saturday that I was with Spencer and now she knows I was lying!"

"And she hasn't beaten you up yet?" Spencer asked.

"It's because of Charlie. Sam won't act impulsively as long as she has Charlie to think about but she's been pulling away from me, I can feel it."

"Well, you're the one that wants to have this whole elaborate proposal plan," Carly pointed out.

"I want it to be perfect."

"And it will be," she assured him. "You just do whatever else you need to do and I'll handle Sam."

Freddie took a deep breath. "Okay," he nodded. "Thanks, Carly."

"And I'll just sit here uselessly," Spencer said.

"Like you always do." Carly smiled.

"Hey!"

X

"I need your help," Sam said, cornering Julie in the employee break room.

"Sure, with what?"

"I need to follow Freddie."

Julie closed her locker and turned to her. "What?"

"I think he's cheating on me."

Julie laughed. "Come on, Sam. That's ridiculous. The boy is crazy about you. Why would he cheat?"

"Why do men do anything?" Sam exclaimed. "And even if he's not cheating on me, I know he's definitely hiding something."

"Don't you think you should just trust him?"

Sam looked at her. "This coming from you? Do you remember when my cousin Chaz got parole and you had him bug the phones of the guy you were dating at the time because you were convinced he was cheating on you?"

"Well, that was different," Julie defended. "The bastard really was cheating on me."

"Just because you're with Spencer now doesn't mean you can just let your guard down."

"Why?" She asked in alarm. "Has Spencer ever cheated before?"

"No! I mean, he's backed over two ex-girlfriends with a car, but he's never cheated on them to my knowledge. Of course, he's never really been in a relationship long enough to cheat..." Sam trailed off at the look on Julie's face. "But its different with you! You guys have been together for 5 months! That's a record for Spencer."

"Fine, Puckett, you win." She tossed Sam her coat and pulled on hers. "But after we trail Freddie, we're trailing Spencer."

X

Freddie has known Sam for ten years now. And at every turn she has always managed to surprise him. When they met, she was just a bully that liked to make his life miserable. It wasn't until after they started doing iCarly that Freddie found out about Sam's home life and why she was the way she was. He hadn't known that Sam had harbored a crush on him until she kissed him at the lock-in. He hadn't known that Sam had a flair for cooking and business until she turned Gibby's into a (literal) underground success. And he hadn't known just how devoted she could be until he saw her with Charlie. It seemed that no matter how much time he spent with Sam, it would be impossible to really know all of her and she would never stop surprising him. It's what made him so sure that spending the rest of his life with her would be a non-stop adventure.

But, at the moment, Sam's unpredictability was giving him a headache and was threatening to blow the lid on his plans. He couldn't have known that when she started getting suspicious about his behavior, she would decide to stalk him instead of confronting him. A confrontation he might have been able to deal with, but knowing that Sam was on his tail made it difficult to do what he needed to do. And he was already on a deadline.

Fortunately, Julie was doing all she could to sidetrack Sam without looking suspicious. He had told Sam when he left the apartment that he was going to the arcade. Now he really had to go because he knew that she would follow him. When he got the phone call from Spencer, who had gotten the word from Julie that she and Sam were back at Gibby's, he went over to the cafe across the street from the University of Washington to meet Carly and Ian.

"Hey, sorry guys," he said, sliding into the booth across from them.

"Sorry for what? For being an hour late?" Carly asked irritably.

"It's not my fault. Sam was following me!"

"Why?" Ian asked.

"Because she knows I'm lying to her and she wants to know what I'm up to. So come on, guys, help me out. The sooner I do this, the better."

"Well, you don't have to have such an elaborate plan, you know," Ian said. "Just pop the question."

Carly elbowed him. "Hush you! It's romantic."

Ian rolled his eyes but kept silent.

"Okay, so Sam and I are taking Charlie on a picnic on Sunday so she won't be at Gibby's all day."

"Gibby's will close at five and the staff is going to help clean up and get everything together," Carly put in. "You sure you can keep Sam away from the restaurant for that long?"

"With Charlie's energy at the park? We'll be there all afternoon. I just need you to sneak into the apartment while we're gone, Carly. You can hide in Charlie's room until we get there."

"Okay. Just text me when I need to come over. And Emilio said that he can stay and cook for you."

"And Tess should have the smuggled Canadian Fatcakes here the day after tomorrow."

"I can't believe you got Sam's cousin to smuggle Fatcakes for you." Carly shook her head. "Didn't she just get parole? What if she gets caught?"

"You won't believe what else she plans on smuggling in," Freddie said wryly. "If she gets caught, the Fatcakes will be the least of her problems."

"What's the difference between American Fatcakes and Canadian Fatcakes?" Ian asked.

Carly and Freddie looked at him.

"They're only a thousand times better," Freddie said.

"Never ask that question around Sam," Carly said at the same time.

"And how many relatives does Sam have?" He wondered. "They all seem to be in jail or on parole..."

"They all are, sweetie." Carly nodded.

Ian laughed. "Why? Is Sam from some Italian mob family or something?"

Carly and Freddie exchanged a glance.

"We can't discuss that," Freddie said quickly.

"Are you kidding me?" Ian exclaimed. "Sam's from a-"

"Shhhh!" Carly hissed.

"Dude, and this is what you want to marry into?" He asked Freddie.

"Honestly, I can't wait." Freddie grinned. "This the exact song I want to be playing." He slid a piece of paper over to Ian.

"I don't know the song."

"I'll send it to you."

Carly looked at it. "I don't know the song either. Why is it so special?"

"It's the song that was playing on my PearPod when we first kissed."

"Awww..." Carly melted.

"Nice." Ian smiled. "Sappy but nice."

"So, that's it? I should get home before Sam starts looking for me."

Carly nodded. "Don't worry about everything else, we'll take care of it."

Ian got out of the booth and Carly moved to follow him but stopped when she noticed that Freddie hadn't moved.

"You alright?"

"Do-do you think she'll say yes, Carls?" He asked hesitantly.

"I can't promise you that she will. It is really soon, after all. But, I know that no matter what, Sam loves you and she will always love you. Whether or not she wants to get married tomorrow or ten years from now, it doesn't matter because I know that she'll always want to be with just you."

He nodded, feeling better. "Thanks, Carly."

"Don't get cold feet now, Benson. We've come too far in planning this thing."

"I know, I know. And believe me, I appreciate the help. I know it isn't easy for you to lie and keep secrets from Sam."

"Only when it's for a good cause. And this definitely qualifies. Come on." She got out of the booth and pulled Freddie up by the arm. "It's time to get you home to your girlfriend and baby, mister."

X

The days passed and Sam was getting more nervous. Like a crazy person, she had followed Freddie but he never went anywhere that he wasn't supposed to go. And as far as she saw, he wasn't meeting another woman. He'd stopped being so distant and busy, almost becoming the old Freddie again, before she had noticed anything was amiss. But to Sam, it seemed like he was making a concentrated effort to act more normal. Or maybe nothing was going on and she was just being crazy and paranoid.

It was driving her nuts. She didn't like being the paranoid girlfriend. But she was very aware that there was more than just her own heart at stake if Freddie really was up to no good.

She picked up a smiling and very awake Charlie from her crib.

"Good morning, baby," she said. "Are you ready for the park?"

"Duck!"

"Yes, there will be ducks there."

Sam carried Charlie to the kitchen where Freddie was making breakfast.

"Dada!" Charlie cried happily, immediately reaching for him.

"Hi princess!" He said, taking her and kissing her cheek. "You hungry?"

"Da!"

Sam took the spatula from him and flipped the pancakes. "Go on, feed her. I've got this."

She watched as Charlie babbled nonsensically as Freddie prepared her breakfast. She was such a daddy's girl. Usually it warmed her heart to see Freddie and Charlie so close. But right now she had no idea what was going on with Freddie and as much as she feared losing him, she worried about what it would mean for Charlie even more.

She sighed. This was why she was so hesitant to start a relationship with him again. She knew that it would get complicated eventually.

"Hey, are you okay?" Freddie asked in concern. Charlie was in one arm and he placed the other around her waist, kissing her shoulder. Sam felt some of the tension in her body leave her at the small gesture.

"Mama...kay," Charlie said.

Sam smiled and kissed her. "I'm okay, baby."

"Don't burn the pancakes," Freddie said.

She looked down at the well done pancakes and quickly transferred them onto a plate.

"Hey, why don't you dress her after you eat?" Sam said. "I was thinking I could stop by Gibby's real quick before we leave."

"No!" Freddie exclaimed, suddenly standing up straight from where he was bent over Charlie's high chair. "I mean, I know you, Sam. If you walk in there, a couple minutes will turn into an hour. And Charlie is really excited for the park."

"Duck!" Charlie yelled.

"Yes, we're going to see ducks, baby," he said.

"But I need to check-"

"No, Sam," Freddie said firmly. "It's Sunday. There's nothing there that can't wait until tomorrow. This day is supposed to be just for us, as a family."

"Duck!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Why is she so obsessed with ducks?" Sam asked in exasperation.

Freddie looked down at their baby as she threw her pacifier to the floor. "I wish I knew."

X

Sam trudged into the apartment tiredly, pushing Charlie's empty stroller. Freddie walked in behind her, a sleeping Charlie in his arms.

"Well," she said. "I'm pretty sure she's been cured of her obsession with ducks."

"Now she's terrified of them. She may be scarred for life!"

"Hey, you're the one that took her to the pond and let her near the baby ducks."

"They were cute," he defended. "How was I supposed to know the mom would be so vicious? Speaking of, I need to disinfect this." He held up the finger that the mother duck had nipped. He had stepped into her path when she was about to attack Charlie, successfully saving the baby but getting bitten himself.

"It still stings," he whined.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Go put her down, I'll get the first aid kit."

He obediently took Charlie to her room. When he came back out, Sam had the contents of the first aid kit spread out on the coffee table.

"Come on, let me see it," she said as he sat down beside her.

"Be careful," he warned. Sam unwrapped the cloth she had wrapped around Freddie's index finger. Because of his tendency to bleed profusely from even the smallest of cuts, Sam had to improvise and tear off a small piece of Freddie's shirt to tie around his finger and stop the bleeding.

Charlie was extremely upset at seeing the blood pour out of her father's finger from the duck's bite and cried so much that they nearly took her home. Fortunately, she cheered up when they took her to the baby swings. But to say that Charlie no longer liked ducks would be putting it lightly.

The wound had closed up enough that Freddie wasn't bleeding anymore. And Sam rubbed disinfectant on it with a q-tip. Freddie winced and instinctively withdrew his hand.

"Don't be such a big baby," Sam admonished.

"I think its okay now," he said, cradling his hand protectively.

"Freddie, if you don't let me bandage that, I am calling your mother and you know that she'll take you to the hospital for rabies and any other chicken or animal disease shots that she can get her hands on."

He obediently gave his hand back and Sam quickly put ointment on his finger and bandaged it.

"All done," she said.

"Aren't you going to kiss it and make it better?" Freddie teased.

She rolled her eyes but did it anyway, placing a quick kiss over the bandaid. She started to gather up the first aid kit but Freddie pulled her onto his lap.

She giggled. "What are you doing?"

"Despite the whole duck incident, I had fun today," he said.

"Me too," she agreed, leaning into him.

He pushed her hair back from her face and leaned his forehead against hers.

"Sam, I know you think I've been acting different lately..."

"You have been," she whispered. "I'm not going crazy."

"No, you're not. But it's not what you think."

"Then what is it?"

He kissed her. "Come with me?" He murmured against her lips.

"Where?"

"You'll see."

"But Charlie..."

"Will be taken care of," he assured her.

"Carly," he said, raising his voice. "You can come out now."

Carly came out of Charlie's room and waved.

Sam looked between the two of them. "What's going on?"

Freddie stood up, taking Sam with him. "Come on," he said, taking her hand.

"But..." she tried to protest. Freddie kissed her deeply, making her forget what she was about to say and everything else.

"Stop resisting, Sam." He smiled. "The sooner we leave, the sooner you'll find out what's going on."

Sam sighed. "Fine," she agreed.

Freddie helped her into his coat and put on his own. He took her hand again and led her out the door.

"Have fun!" Carly called after them.

They walked the few blocks to Gibby's in silence. Sam saw the closed sign on the front door and dropped Freddie's hand, running over.

"Why is it closed?" She exclaimed.

"Sam, don't panic," Freddie soothed.

She turned to him angrily. "What did you do?"

"I may have asked Gibby and the staff to close early today," he said.

"Why? Why would you do that? And what makes you think you even have the right to? Do you know how much money we're losing by not having this place open for dinner on a Sunday night?"

"Go inside," Freddie said calmly in the face of Sam's rant.

"What?"

He nodded at the door. "Inside. Go."

When Sam still refused to budge, he walked around her and opened the door, waiting for her to go in.

"You are in so much trouble, Freddie," she said, stalking past him. "I am so angry at you right now..."

She stopped short when she walked into the restaurant. The entire place was filled with candlelight, the tables and chairs stacked against the walls and leaving a single table with two chairs as the focal point in the room. She turned to Freddie, open mouthed.

"Okay, it's a bit cliche," he said sheepishly. "But I thought there would be no better place to do this than here, the place you built and worked so hard for." He took both of her hands in his and took a deep breath. "Sam, I love you. You're an amazing friend, boss, mother, girlfriend, and person. This past year that we've been back together has just been...amazing. I can't imagine a better life than what I have with you and Charlie. And I know that it might seem like this is too soon or that we're too young but my heart...my heart is telling me that this is right. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Sam. And I don't want to wait. You're my best friend, the mother of my child, my soulmate..."

He reached into his pocket and took out a box. He knelt down on one knee before her and opened the box.

"And I'm asking you now, will you be my wife?"

Sam didn't know what to say. Of all the theories she had come up with for Freddie's strange behavior, this was the last thing she would have thought of. She looked at Freddie, who looked up at her nervously. She loved him so much. More than she thought it was possible to love someone. But was she ready to marry him?

Sam let her instincts guide her and blurted out what her heart was telling her: "Yes."

Freddie looked taken aback. "Yes?"

"What else were you expecting, nub?" She laughed. "No?"

"No...I mean..." He stood up, his face beaming, and kissed her.

"I love you," he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. "God, I love you."

Sam grinned. "I love you too. Do I get to wear the ring or what?"

"Oh! Yeah. Yes, of course." Freddie fumbled with the box, his fingers trembling. Finally, he got the ring out and placed it on Sam's left ring finger. It was a perfect fit.

She leaned into him and Freddie wrapped his arms around her.

"You recognize the song playing?" He asked.

Sam noticed for the first time that there was music softly playing. She was so caught up in the new ambiance of the restaurant and the proposal that she hadn't even heard it.

"I keep running away..."

She laughed. "You're such a nub. I can't believe you still have this song."

"Hey, it has good memories." He smiled. "Some of the best I'll ever have."

Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and he looped his around her waist, their bodies automatically swaying to the music.

They heard a throat clearing behind them and they turned to see Julie, holding a tray.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said. "But dinner is served."

She placed the plates on the table. "And also, congratulations!" she squealed and ran over to hug Sam.

"Sorry," she said, pulling away and wiping away tears. "I'll leave you guys alone."

"Thanks Julie." Freddie smiled.

He pulled out the seat for Sam and sat down across from her. Sam looked down at the lasagna and the container of parmesan cheese sitting right beside her plate and smiled.

"So, how long have you been planning this?"

"All of this," he gestured around the restaurant. "About a few weeks. But I've been working up the courage to propose for a few months now."

Sam dropped her fork. "A few months?"

"I've known for awhile now that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Sam."

She smiled down into her food, for once in her life she didn't feel hungry at all. The candlelight reflected on her ring, and she found that it was hard for her to take her eyes away from it. She felt like the giddy schoolgirl that she never was, as if Carly had come over and infected her with her daffodilness. At any other time she would have felt ridiculous, but right now she was too happy to care.

Sam stood up and walked over to the other side of the table, planting herself on Freddie's lap.

"Hey," he said, grinning widely at her.

"Hey."

"What are you doing?"

"You're too far away."

She kissed him. It started soft and slow and gradually increased in intensity as she lightly nipped his bottom lip, begging for entry that he willingly gave. Their pace quickly became frantic as Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and Freddie's hands went up the back of her shirt, feeling her silky smooth skin.

Sam pulled away panting, leaning her forehead against his.

"There's uh...dessert..."

"I know there is," she smirked, wiggling on his lap.

He groaned and grabbed her waist, stilling her.

"I'm serious, Sam. You're going to want this."

"Freddie, for once in my life I'm not thinking about food," she said. "You really want to ruin the moment?"

He kissed her. "It's only because I love you that I have the strength to do this," he told her, lifting her and simultaneously standing up. He placed her on his chair and kissed her forehead, walking towards the kitchen.

"Freddie!" Sam pouted, not believing that he just left her. She angrily took a big bite of his barely touched lasagna.

He came back out a minute later, holding a large purple gift bag.

"Here," he said. "I wanted you to have the best dessert possible tonight and your cousin Tess went to a lot of trouble to get this for you."

"How did you get Tess to do a favor for you? Even I'm kind of scared of her."

Freddie thought of the large, heavily pierced and tattooed woman he had met with just yesterday to get the Fatcakes. He didn't think there was a part of her face that wasn't pierced and he had never felt so intimidated by someone in his life. Not even by Sam's Uncle Carmine. There was something about Tess's eyes, something that said that she could carve into your cheeks with a swiss knife just for the pure enjoyment of it. Luckily, when they met, Tess was in a good mood because she had successfully smuggled everything she had wanted to over the Canadian border.

"Remember a few months ago I fixed her computer and managed to restore all of her files that she accidentally deleted? Well, I didn't tell you at the time but she told me that she owed me and to tell her if I ever needed a favor. I don't think this was exactly what she had in mind, but she's the only person that I could think of that could get these for you."

He held the bag out to her and Sam took it, quickly ripping the tape that held the top of the bag together.

She looked up at Freddie. "Not that I don't love Fatcakes but I still have, like, three boxes at home..."

"Look carefully."

Sam took one out and gasped as she read the packaging. "Canadian Fatcakes?" She practically squealed.

"Yup."

She tore open the package and shoved the Fatcake into her mouth. "Oh my God..." she moaned.

Freddie shifted uncomfortably. He was already pretty riled up from earlier and hearing that wasn't helping his situation any. Not to mention that Sam had a way of eating Canadian Fatcakes that was quite...sensual. As he had learned when they had visited the Canadian Fatcake Factory years ago.

"Mmm...this is the best thing ever..."

Freddie pulled her up and kissed her before she could get started on another Fatcake.

"Do I have to compete with Fatcakes tonight?" He asked.

Sam shook her head. "Not if you take me home right now."

He grabbed the bag of Fatcakes and took her hand, pulling her towards the exit.

"Wait! The restaurant!"

"Don't worry, Julie will take care of it."

She willingly followed him and they walked hand in hand to their building, probably looking like giggling fools the whole way but she didn't care.

They had barely made it through the door of the apartment before Freddie was on her, his hands and lips everywhere. Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

"Oh God!" They heard.

They pulled away to see Carly sitting on the couch, her hands over her eyes.

"Oh hey, Carls," Sam said, panting slightly.

Carly slowly brought her hands down. "So I take it you said yes?"

Sam nodded and Freddie grinned, his arms still wrapped around Sam's waist from behind.

Carly squealed and ran up to them, grabbing Sam's left hand.

"Oh, it's so gorgeous!" She sighed. "It looks perfect on your hand, Sam."

"I know." She smiled.

"So can we start planning? The first thing you guys need to do is set the date. Oh and I can pick up all the bridal magazines at the newsstand tomorrow and we can start looking through them for dress ideas..."

"Carly," Freddie cut in. "That's great and all but I think it can wait until tomorrow."

"But there's so much to do! I think we should at least make a list, you know, all of the big important stuff first-"

"Carly," Sam interrupted, giving her best friend a look. "No offense, you know we love you, but Freddie and I really want to be alone tonight."

"Oh...Oh!" Her eyes widened. "Okay. Yeah, I'll leave you alone." She picked up her jacket from the couch and shrugged it on.

"Charlie's asleep," she told them. "She just woke up for a diaper change about thirty minutes ago so she should be good for the night. Don't go too crazy, I'll be here bright and early tomorrow morning to start the planning. Congratulations, you two!"

She hugged them both and left.

"So where were we?" Freddie asked huskily once the door had closed behind their friend. He peppered Sam's neck with light kisses.

"Mmm...I don't know, why don't you go to the bedroom and find out?" She smirked. "I just need to check on Charlie real quick."

Freddie nodded and walked to their room. Sam locked the door and turned out the lights then went into Charlie's room. Her baby was sleeping peacefully, the mobile still turning above her. Sam stilled the mobile and carefully adjusted Charlie's blanket. Her ring sparkled in the moonlight streaming in from the window and it made her smile. She was getting married. It still felt surreal to her.

When Sam turned to leave, she found Freddie standing in the doorway watching her.

"What?" She asked self-consciously.

"You are so beautiful," he said, his voice full of awe.

She rolled her eyes but walked over to him, draping her arms over his shoulders.

"You're such a sap, Benson."

"A sap that you're going to spend the rest of your life with." He smiled.

She leaned up and kissed him.

"Sam..." Freddie whispered, his forehead pressed against hers. "I love you so much, you have no idea."

"Why don't you show me?"

She took his hand and together they walked to their bedroom.

Freddie kissed her, softly and sweetly. Sam could feel the love pouring out of him, she could honestly say that she had never felt so happy in her life. She never knew that happiness like this could exist, or that she could love someone so much. She felt a desperation surge through her. She needed to be as close to him as possible, she needed these clothes out of the way.

She began to unbutton his shirt, her hands shaking in her need. Freddie covered them with her own.

"Sam, slow down," he whispered.

She shook her head. "Need you now."

"We have all night."

Sam was about to protest but then got a better idea. She pushed him down so that he was sitting on the bed and then stepped away from him.

"Alright then, if we have all night then you won't mind if I just take my time..."

She slowly began to unbutton her shirt, and Freddie sat there entranced as each button revealed a little bit of flesh. When the last button was undone he reached for her but Sam moved out of his reach. She flipped one side of her shirt open, showing him the lacy flesh colored cup of her bra, and then did the same with the other side of her shirt.

"Sam..." Freddie groaned.

She let the shirt fall off her shoulders and slowly pushed down the straps of her bra but made no move to take it off.

"Sam, come on. You're torturing me..."

"You said you wanted to take this slow," she said innocently.

"Not this slow," he protested, the frustration evident in his voice.

Sam smirked and Freddie swore he could see an evil glint in her eye. "We have all night, remember?"

She unbuttoned her jeans and slowly pulled the zipper down, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of her black silk panties. Sam rarely matched her underwear, unless she was planning to seduce him. And Freddie loved that. Seeing it now reinforced the fact that it was supposed to be just an ordinary day, that he had caught her off guard and she had no idea how different, how special this night would be. And knowing that reminded him that she had just said yes to marrying him. He was going to spend the rest of his life with this woman and most days would consist of just her and her mismatched underwear. He couldn't wait.

Sam pushed her jeans down her legs, still not in any hurry. When she had kicked her jeans off her feet, Freddie couldn't stand it anymore and he quickly picked her up and laid her down on the bed.

Sam giggled, lightly hitting him. "Freddie!"

"I'm sorry, okay?" He growled, as he moved above her. "No more slow."

He kissed her deeply, not giving her a chance to answer. Sam moaned into his mouth as their tongues met, her hands tangling through his hair, pulling him closer. When she wrapped her legs around his waist, his hardness rubbing deliciously against her heat, Freddie pulled back and quickly removed his jeans and boxers. Sam took the opportunity to remove her bra and he quickly fell back into her open and waiting arms. He kissed her and he could feel the cold metal of her ring on his bare skin as she caressed his back. It made him shiver and deepen the kiss, as he felt the solid reminder that this woman will soon be his wife.

Sam moaned as he moved down her neck, pressing kisses along the way, his hands cupped her breasts, feeling the peaks stiffen beneath his fingertips. He moved down to take one of those peaks into his mouth.

"Freddie..." Sam's hand fisted in his hair, keeping him to her chest. His tongue circled the hard peak before he took it wholly into his mouth and sucked. Sam's back arched up as a moan escaped her lips. He switched to the other breast, reveling in Sam's breathy moans.

"Freddie..." She pulled him up. "Freddie, please..."

Freddie knew that the desperation in her eyes matched his. Neither of them could wait any longer. He leaned back on his knees and let his hands gently trace over her frame, caressing her breasts, her stomach, her waist, until he reached the edge of her underwear, which he slid down her legs.

Sam pulled him down to kiss her and he positioned himself between her legs, moaning into Sam's mouth as his hardness came into with her wet heat. He looked into her eyes as he entered her, seeing so much love in them that he could have wept from it. He slid smoothly into her, Sam's back arching up to take him in deeper and he couldn't think. The feeling of her so smooth and tight around him was too much. Freddie didn't think he could ever get tired of this, even if they did it everyday for the rest of their lives. It wasn't enough, his hunger for this beautiful woman beneath him could never be satiated.

Sam wrapped her legs around his waist and together they found a rhythm that gave Freddie so much exquisite pleasure that he felt like could black out from it. But Sam was writhing and moaning beneath him and he was desperate to bring her to the very peak of her pleasure first. He lifted up her thighs slightly and the change in angle allowed him to slide even deeper into her, making Sam nearly scream as he hit her spot.

"Freddie..." She gasped. "Oh God, I'm gonna..."

"Come for me, Sam," he said, the pace of his thrusts getting faster, wilder as he struggled to hold on.

Sam shuddered beneath him, her body tightening and shaking as she rode out her pleasure. Her walls contracted around him, squeezing him so tightly and deliciously that he couldn't hold back anymore. He released with a long moan as Sam clutched at him tightly, her fingers sliding on the sweat on his back but gripping him nonetheless.

He collapsed onto her and tried to move so that all of his weight wasn't on her but Sam held him in place.

Freddie pressed his forehead to hers. "Hey," he whispered.

"Hey."

"You think the sex will still be this good forty years from now?" He asked.

"It better be or else I'm divorcing you." She smiled.

He chuckled and fell onto his side of the bed, taking Sam with him so that she was lying partly on his chest. She intertwined her legs with his.

"Thank you."

"Freddie, if you're going to start thanking me every time we have sex-"

"No, not for that. Although, that was amazing and I am thankful. I meant thank you for saying yes, for agreeing to marry me."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be a sap. What else would I have said?"

"I just thought...I don't know, I thought you might have said it was too soon or we're too young. I mean, that's what everyone else is going to say."

"And when have I cared what anybody else has to say about me?"

Freddie smiled, playing with a strand of her hair. "That's true."

Sam rolled onto her stomach and propped her chin on Freddie's chest. "Do you think we're too young?"

Her voice held no doubts, just honest curiosity on what his opinion was.

"Ordinarily I would say yes, but given everything we've been through the past year and just in general since we graduated high school...I'm not just a college student stumbling around trying to figure out what I want. I know what kind of career I want, I know what I have to do to achieve it, and most important, I know that I want you and Charlie in my life forever. Why should we have to wait to publicly and legally acknowledge that just because of our age?"

She pressed a kiss to his chest. "I love you."

And with just those three words, Freddie knew that Sam felt exactly the same. They were ready for this.

X

"Okay, I'm here!" Carly announced, walking into the Puckett-Benson soon to be just Benson household, her arms draped with bags.

"Arlyy!" Charlie said.

"Hello Charlie!" Carly bent down to press a kiss to her where she was sitting on Sam's lap. She began dropping all of the bags around the coffee table.

"What is all of that?" Sam asked.

"I picked up your wedding invitations. Now we just have to stuff them into envelopes and address them. And I have some choices for wedding souvenirs here. I also got the layout of the reception hall so that we can draw a preliminary seating chart."

She began to take things out of the bag, laying them all out neatly on the coffee table.

"Um, Carls? Don't you think its better if you do all of that at Spencer's? I've got a baby here..."

As if to illustrate her point, Charlie quickly scrambled off her mother's lap and made a grab for the stack of envelopes.

"No!" Carly cried.

The tower of envelopes fell over and Charlie triumphantly held one in her little fist. Her other hand held onto the edge of the table.

Carly quickly picked up the baby and placed her in her playpen.

"That's okay." She took deep breaths as she fixed the stack of envelopes. "I have plenty of spare envelopes, and some spare invitations too."

"Carly, she's not going to stay quiet in there when she sees you doing all of that," Sam warned.

"You're just trying to get out of helping me," Carly retorted. "You can't use Charlie as an excuse for everything, you know."

"I do not-"

"What about when you had to leave early from wedding dress shopping because Charlie needed you? Or when you couldn't go bridesmaid dress shopping with me because there was no one to watch Charlie? Or-"

"Okay!" Sam cut in. "Maybe I have been using Charlie as an excuse. But you have to admit that you've been going overboard on this planning stuff."

"That's only because the wedding is in eight months and we're going to lose two weeks of planning when you're in New York next month!"

"It's not the end of the world, Carls. And Freddie's going to be gone longer, why aren't you freaking out about that?"

"Like Freddie matters," Carly said dismissively. "You're the bride. You need to be here for everything!"

"We'll do the cake tastings when I get back," Sam told her, trying to be patient with her best friend.

"Didn't you and Freddie already do two of them last week?"

"There are a lot of bakeries in Seattle!"

"And isn't Julie going to make the cake anyway?"

"That doesn't mean I can't taste other cakes."

Carly laughed in spite of herself. "You know, the only thing that I can get you to cooperate on this is food."

"That's because everything else is boring."

"No, it's not. It's fun! And I think you should cherish this experience, you only get married once after all."

"That's the hope," Sam said cheerfully. "Who knows with Frednub, though? He might annoy me enough one day that I'll just leave him."

"Please." Carly rolled her eyes, not buying into her best friend's glibness. "You and Freddie are forever, you know that."

"Da!" Charlie said, lighting up at her dad's name. The envelope she had stolen was now a drool covered paper ball in her fist.

Sam smiled. "Yeah, I guess."

Carly kneeled in front of the table and uncapped a fountain pen, ready to get started on addressing the envelopes. "So are you going to help me with this?"

"Um, I should give Charlie a bath first." Sam stood up and lifted Charlie out of her playpen.

"Sam!"

"It's true! I was going to do it before you got here. She managed to get cottage cheese all over herself earlier, smell her." She held the baby out in Carly's direction, who immediately shrank away.

"No thanks."

"You know I have crappy handwriting anyway. Freddie should be home soon. Get him to help you, he writes like a girl."

"Freddie does have nice handwriting," Carly acknowledged.

"See? Problem solved. Come on baby girl, bath time," she said to Charlie.

"No!" Charlie yelled.

"Bubbles?" Sam wheedled.

"Bubby!"

"Yep, you'll have lots and lots of bubbles."

"Oh, Sam," Carly said. "Are you still going to ask Melanie to be a bridesmaid?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"You should do it soon. I can use you to get the initial fitting of her dress but we'll still have to send it to her so that she can try it on herself for final alterations."

"Eight months, Carly." Sam reminded her.

"Well, don't you think you should ask her before we start sending invitations out? If I keep to the schedule I can send these out in four days, five at the most."

Sam sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to win. "Fine. I'll call her right now, okay?"

"Okay." Carly smiled happily and turned back to the envelopes.

Sam carried Charlie to her bedroom and set her down on the bed with pillows surrounding her. After the whole kidnapping incident and the letter, Sam had gotten into contact with her sister. And Melanie had kept her word and stayed in touch with Sam with weekly phone calls. Their relationship still wasn't great but they were taking steps in getting to know one another again and Sam couldn't say that she wasn't happy to be talking to her sister again.

She picked up her phone from where it was charging on the dresser and sat down on the edge of the bed. She absentmindedly pulled Charlie down by the shirt when the baby tried to stand up on the bed. Charlie squealed as she happily rolled around on the pillows and Sam grimaced, knowing that she would have to change the sheets.

"Hello," Melanie's ever chirpy voice answered.

"Hey Mel," Sam said.

"Sam! Hi, how are you?"

"Good, good. How about you?"

"Oh you know, just finished finals and my summer internship starts next week already."

Sam had been planning on bringing up the bridesmaid thing first but since her sister gave her an opening...

"Hey, speaking of internships. Freddie has one in New York this summer."

"Really? That's great! It's with the Pear company I bet."

"Yeah, he'll be doing something for their office over there. He's going to be there for two months and I'm planning on taking Charlie and staying with him for two weeks."

"That's amazing, Sam," Melanie said happily. "You'll love New York."

"I was thinking, if you're not too busy, you might want to visit me...and Charlie."

Melanie was silent and Sam knew it was from shock more than anything else. In the time that they had been speaking to each other for the last few months, neither of them had brought up the possibility of Melanie seeing Charlie. But Sam had been thinking about it for awhile, and after a lot of discussion with Freddie, the two of them decided that they could give Melanie this chance to be a part of Charlie's life.

"I...I would love that, Sam," Melanie said softly. "I don't know what to say..."

Sam looked at Charlie, where she was preoccupied playing with her foot. "Freddie is leaving a week and a half from now. He's going to get settled over there and Charlie and I will follow in a month."

"That sounds great. I'll have to take Freddie out to lunch or dinner when he comes over then."

"Sure."

"I know all of the good hot dog stands in the city..."

"Now you're talking," Sam grinned.

"How's the wedding planning going?"

"Oh you know, I'm just sitting back and watching Carly run around like a headless chicken."

Melanie laughed. "I bet."

"I actually wanted to ask you to be a bridesmaid. You know, if you want..."

"Yes! Yes, I want to. Oh, Sam, I can't tell you what all of this means to me..."

"Yeah yeah," Sam said, knowing that her sister was about to get sentimental. "I have to give Charlie a bath so I should go."

"Okay. Thank you, Sam. Really. I'll call you next week?"

"Yeah. I should be able to tell you where Freddie is staying by then."

"Say hi to Charlie, Freddie, and Carly for me! Bye sis."

"Bye."

She hung up and looked down at a sleepy looking Charlie, lying back quietly against the pillows.

"Okay, baby girl. Bubble time and then a nap."

"Bubba," Charlie said as Sam picked her up but without her earlier enthusiasm.

Sam hugged her baby to her chest, feeling happy and content.

A/N: I will try to get the epilogue out soon. In the meantime, check out my new story 525, 600 Minutes. It's going to be a series of one-shots and Charlie will certainly be in some of them. :)