A/N: I just wanted to say that MyCarlyDotCom and myself appreciate those of you that have and continue to read this story as well as though who leave comments and suggestions for it. Unfortunately, the remaining chapters will most likely not be posted every week as we have gone through our pool of finished chapters and are currently working on chapter 11. We will do our best to get them posted as quickly as possible, but please remember that life happens, and the time tables may fluctuate. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a review, and one of us will do our best to respond. Now without further adieu, I give you chapter 10.

Freddie had no idea what to expect when the door began to open. Sam, of course, had an inkling as to how the kids may react, and while the prospect of that reaction brought warmth to her heart, she still hoped they would know well enough to take it easy on their previously hospital-bound father. As Sam opened the door, all three children looked up from whatever show they were watching and went wide-eyed as they saw their dad stepping in behind momma. Lexi was the first one off the couch, followed quickly by Evan and Ethan, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" each one called out excitedly, running to Freddie's side. "Hi," he responded, a deep unease on his face. Lexi being the oldest was the one that noticed her daddy was not his usual self. "Daddy, are you okay?" she asked, and with that one small question, the moment that both Sam and Freddie had feared came to pass. "Uh," Freddie stuttered, looking to Sam for help, who stepped up beside her daughter, "Lexi, sweetie, do you remember when Mommy told you what happened to Daddy?" The six-year-old looked up at her mother and nodded, "Daddy's head was hurt," she replied.

"That's right," Sam replied, glancing up at her husband, "do you remember what else I told you?" Lexi thought and thought about it, but after a few moments, she shook her head before hanging it in defeat. Dropping down to her knees, Sam motioned her daughter over to her, "It's alright, baby," she said, embracing Lexi, "I told all of you, that daddy is all better, but he might not remember things from before getting hurt." "Daddy," Ethan said, tugging on Freddie's pants, "do you remember us?" he asked. The question as innocently wondered as it was, made Freddie's heart hurt, and he dropped to his knees in front of both boys. "Listen to me, boys," he began, "I may not remember things from before I got hurt," Freddie paused, fighting to keep his tears at bay, "but I do remember that I love you all."

If one were to look at Sam right then, they would most likely say she was proud of Freddie as she watched the scene playing out in front of her, but that would have been a gross understatement. Freddie had handled his greatest fear about returning home before his memories of the kids reemerged and handled it better than Sam had hoped. What happened next happened so quickly that Freddie didn't even have time to brace himself for the onslaught of three small bodies. Under different circumstances, Sam would have found the visual of her husband tackled by all three kids hilarious. "Guys, get off your dad," Sam said, trying not to laugh as the kids swarmed over Freddie. Just as she was moving in to pull them off, she heard Freddie laughing; in fact, it sounded as if he was genuinely enjoying it. Well, everyone else was laughing it up, and heaven knows that the whole family needed this, so Sam joined in too.

By the time Freddie was able to break free from his offspring's onslaught, all five members of the Benson family were red-faced and out of breath. Once Freddie caught his breath, he looked around a moment, "I thought Carly was supposed to be here?" Sam took a moment to look around, "Huh, she was here. I know I saw her car outside," she said, looking through the front window, "well, she must have left during the ruckus. I'll text her after we eat." Freddie nodded as Sam checked the time, "Okay, kiddos, who's hungry?" All three children answered "me," in unison, "alright, everyone in the dining room," Sam said, picking up the two large bags of food and carrying them into the kitchen. Freddie followed into the kitchen, and while Sam was getting the food ready, he worked on getting drinks for them all.

Sam watched in mild disbelief as Freddie placed all of the kid's favorite beverages down in front of them. An unexpected but welcomed surprise that showed his memories of the kids were there; they just needed a little push to be brought from recesses of his mind. The smile that had made its way onto Sam's face was still there when Freddie came to grab the first two plates of reheated food, "What's got you smiling?" he asked. The smile on her face broadened, "Do you realize that you just got all of their favorite drinks without asking what they wanted?" she queried, nodding towards the kids. Freddie seemed stunned by this revelation, "huh," his expression changing from amazement to delight. "How about that. I didn't even think about it; I just did it, kind of like autopilot," Freddie remarked, suddenly feeling like something lifted off him. Sam, for her part, snickered inwardly at the techy analogy of his.

"Here," Sam said, handing him two plates, "will you give those to Ethan and Evan?" Freddie nodded, took the plates of food, and stepped over to the two boys. "Here you go, Ethan, Evan," he said, placing dinner in front of them before returning to the kitchen to grab Lexi's next. Moments later, Freddie returned with Lexi's food in hand, and Sam following close behind with theirs. Once everyone was seated around the table, there was very little talking, which Freddie was thankful for, as he was still not entirely comfortable. What conversation there was, was basic dinner table chit chat, the kids were just happy that their dad was home now. Once finished, the kids went back into the living room to watch TV while Freddie and Sam cleaned up. Stepping up behind his wife, Freddie wrapped his arms around her, "Why don't you go sit down? I'll take care of these," he said, nodding to the dishes. Turning around, Sam leaned up and kissed him, "They're all yours," she said, sliding out of his arms.

While Freddie finished cleaning up, Sam grabbed her phone and texted Carly, 'hey Carls, when did you slip out, and why didn't you say anything?' As she awaited a response, Freddie was drying the last few plates when his head began throbbing. The pain continued to escalate, and Freddie barely managed to set the dish down before wincing in pain and quickly grabbing the edge of the counter to attempt to maintain his balance, which was swiftly becoming harder to do. Though the pain lasted for just a bit more than a minute, it was long enough that he was concerned, and it reminded him of what happened while still in the hospital when some of his memories returned. There was something about this one though, the pain was twice as bad, and he couldn't remember anything more than before it.

Would this be all that he would remember from his past? There was still so much missing, the births of the kids, the early years of their marriage, not to mention their actual wedding. Then there were family and friends, most of which he still wouldn't recognize if Sam didn't introduce them as if they were meeting for the first time. Freddie was still deep in thought when Sam stepped back into the kitchen, "Hey, you won't..." she stopped mid-sentence as she took note that Freddie wasn't paying attention. "Freddie, are you okay?" she asked, moving to his side. It was at that moment that she noticed his hands tightly clamped on the counter, "Freddie!" Luckily, the pain had already subsided, but Freddie was undoubtedly still reeling from the episode. "I'm fine," he said, though he did not release his grip. Sam, not entirely convinced by his words, replied, "Really? If you're fine, then why are you still holding onto the cabinets for dear life?" Freddie looked around, his eyes finally coming to a rest on his still clutching hands, "I, I didn't realize," he muttered, forcing his fingers to release.

Once he disconnected himself, Freddie shakily made his way to the chair closest to him and dropped hard into it. Sam pulled up another chair next to him, "What happened?" she asked, taking his hand. "Do you," he stopped, taking a deep breath, "do you remember when I had that attack, or whatever it was, just before some of my memories returned?" Sam nodded, she remembered it all right; at first, it had scared the living hell out of her, unsure if the pain was an indicator of a more serious issue or not. "I think this was another one of those, and even though it lasted about the same length of time, the pain was much worse this time." Sam picked her phone up off the counter and began looking through her contacts for Dr. Greene's number. "What are you doing?" Freddie asked, watching her thumb through her phone, "I'm going to call Dr. Greene," she replied. "No, don't," Freddie said, stopping her from pressing the call button, "Why not?" Sam asked incredulously.

Freddie responded quickly, "Well, for one, I'm fine now. I just needed to sit down for a minute. Second, nothing terrible happened the first time, nor will anything happen this time," pausing a moment, Freddie leaned closer to her, "thirdly, I missed you, and I want to be with you," he whispered with implications he hoped Sam would recognize. It was until he uttered the last part that Freddie realized that something had changed. It was no secret that Freddie and Sam had been intimate on more than one occasion, three children and a fourth on the way was more than enough proof of that, but now something was different. Sam's body shuddered at hearing Freddie's last statement; it would be an outright lie if she said she hadn't missed that aspect of their life, but she didn't expect this to happen so soon. Sam slowly placed her phone down on the table, "fine," she sighed, "but if this happens again, I WILL call, understood?" she asked. Freddie smiled, "Understood Princess Puckett."

He found the look of surprise that graced Sam's face was amusing, evident by the broad smile on his face. If she hadn't been so encouraged by Freddie's use of his old nickname for her, Sam most likely would have hit him for scaring her so badly. "I should," Sam started, waving a fist in her husband's face, doing her best to be upset with him, but failing miserably. Freddie, for his part, looked like the cat that swallowed the canary, at least until Sam spoke up again, "Do you know how much you just scared me?" Casting his eyes to the floor, he apologized to his wife for worrying her, "I'm sorry for scaring you, it just happened so suddenly. At first, I thought that no more of my memories had returned, but then I felt this overwhelming desire for you, and I knew at least something had returned." Sam gave him a sour look, "So what, you didn't find me desirable before this little episode?" Freddie cursed to himself, "it's not that Sam. Ever since I came to, I've found you more than desirable," he paused, face turning red, "after this last episode as you put it, there was something different."

Freddie was trying to find the right words to describe what he had experienced but was not having much luck. Growling in frustration, he was about to give up on trying to recount his latest experience when it hit him, "Do you remember when we found out you were pregnant with Lexi?" Sam nodded, they were both ecstatic when her doctor had given them the news, but she was still confused, "what does that have to do with..." she began. Freddie frustrated that he wasn't getting his point across, pulled her face to his, and kissed her. Sam instantly realized what Freddie was trying to say, the electricity was still there, but this kiss was passionate and gentle at the same time. He remembered not only how they had both felt, but he also recalled how their love life had changed after as well. They were still active, but it was different; no, it was Freddie that was different. He had never been rough with her; if anything, he was more gentle than before, not only that they were more active than they had been.

It was the fact that Freddie remembered any of it that excited Sam, and she wanted to see how much more he remembered. "Do you remember her bout of colic?" she asked, attempting to stealth test him. Freddie frowned, "As I remember it, Lexi never had colic, she was a tranquil baby. Ethan, on the other hand, had a horrible case of colic," he replied. Sam was amazed by what Freddie remembered, especially given the fact they had never spoken about any of these things during his time in the hospital. As the conversation continued, Sam realized the resurfaced memories were either about her or the kids. Deciding to test further, "You know, I'll never forget what my mother said to me the day the twins were born." Freddie's face soured at this, "Your mom wasn't here when Ethan and Evan were born, nor was she there when you had Lexi. She was in Las Vegas gambling, " he replied. Looking curiously at her husband, Sam had one last question, "So, how much do you remember?"