DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE NOR ANYTHING ELSE.

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Sam sighed as he tossed on a fresh shirt. Once again, they didn't advance to the playoffs and everything that they did wrong as a team, always fell on one person. Him. He didn't know how much more he could take. The last couple of weeks felt like hell to him. He just felt different..like he didn't belong. He closed the locker, grabbing his duffle bag in the process. He grunted as he walked down the hallway. Sam really didn't feel like the interviews tonight. He just wanted to get on the plane and be at home with his girls. Going out the backdoor of the building, he was immediately attacked by flashing lights. Ignoring the millions of questions that was coming his way, he pushed his way past them as he walked to the bus.

Mercedes was sitting in the choir room getting her music plans together. They were getting ready for district that was in a couple of weeks and she knew that they were ready. She jumped a little when she heard the intercom turn on, asking her if she could report to the principal office. She sat her papers down on the bench as she stood up and walked towards the building. She knocked on the door and smiled when he waved her in. She sat down in the chair in front of him, "You wanted to see me, Mr. Patton?"

"Yes Ms. Jones, I did." He straightened up the papers that were on his desk, folding his hands together on top of them, "I wanted to talk to you about the music program."

"Ms. Jones, you have been such a wonderful asset to the school for the last four years and I couldn't have chosen anyone better."

"Mercedes smiled, "Thank you sir."

"But I'm afraid that we have run into a few money problems." He sat up straight in his chair, "Even though we are one of the top public schools in Tampa and we run a lot of successful departments that money goes to, such as the as the choir and football team, we had to do some adjustments."

Mercedes started to frown a little, "What do you mean adjustments?"

He sighed, "I'm afraid we're going to have to cut the music program."

"Excuse me?" Mercedes asked in shock.

"Now this doesn't mean that you're losing your job, that's the last thing I want to happen. You can still teach your music theory class, there just can't be a choir."

"No." Mercedes looked at him with anger shining through her eyes, "Are you trying to tell me that you're cutting this because of money issues for athletics?"

"Ms. Jones, our funding is very low right now and yes, I am cutting it because of that. Our football team has won a lot games these past years.."

"And we've been winning competitions, your point?" Mercedes cut him off, "With all do respect sir, you're not going to sit here and tell me that the football team is more important than my kids. No one should be put above anyone. We are a team. We work together. If money is an issue, let the athletics and the music department combine and fundraise. It doesn't have to result to this." She said shakily on the verge of tears.

"Mr. Patton looked at her with sad eyes, "I'm sorry Ms. Jones but..."

"Mercedes shook her head as she stood up from her chair, swinging the door open as she walked out of the office. She couldn't believe this was happening. Everything that she has worked so hard for was going down the drain. The last four years of her being here was over in a blink of an eye. She grabbed her purse from her classroom and headed out the school. Once she got into her car, she pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the daycare to pick up her daughter. Wiping the few tears that managed to make their way out as she pulled into the parking lot, getting out quickly. She opened the door and headed towards the front. She greeted Carrie, one of the instructors, as she walked in. She walked to the 'Bumblebee Area', were they kept children three years old and under at. She stopped at the gate as she waited for them to bring Ari. Seeing the biggest smile on Arianna's face when she saw her brought one to her own, "Hey baby girl." She picked her up from out of Mandy's arms, kissing her cheek softly. She thanked them when they handed her the diaper bag. She walked back to her car, opening the backdoor. She sat the bag down on the floor and strapped Ari down in her car seat. She then proceeded to get back in the car and drive off.

Sam sighed in relief as he opened the front door to the house. He was so happy to be home. He sniffed the wonderful aroma that was in the air, hearing his stomach starting to growl. He sat his things down in the foyer and headed towards the kitchen. On his way he couldn't help but smile when he heard his daughter babbling. He entered the kitchen, greeted by a piercing scream from the small body of Ari, "Hey cookie." He went over to her and lifted out the high chair, "I missed you." He blew kisses on her cheek, causing her to laugh loudly.

Mercedes smiled sadly at the interaction. Her eyes still puffy from crying earlier and she hated that. She was hoping Sam didn't notice. She continued to stir the butter into the mash potatoes.

Sam kissed Ari one last time before he sat her back down. He pinched her cheek as he turned around. He noticed Mercedes was really quiet when he came in. Usually she would be talking to Arianna while she cooked but she wasn't this time. He walked over to her carefully, removing her hand from the spoon. He turned her around, immediately frowning up when he saw the puffiness and redness of her eyes, "What's wrong?"

Mercedes broke eye contact with him, feeling more tears starting to form in her eyes.

Sam hooked his finger underneath her chin, "Baby..talk to me." When she didn't say anything, he wrapped her up into hug, "I can't help you if you don't talk to me sweetheart."

Mercedes fist her small hands into his shirt, sniffling hard, "They're c-cutting the music program."

"What?" Sam asked in shock, he wiped the tears from her face away with his thumbs, "Why?"

Mercedes sniffled as she looked at him, "They're are cutting it because they need more money for the football team. Basically they're saying that they don't give a shit about my kids.

"Baby, I'm so sorry." He hugged her tightly. He knew that her job meant everything to her and it killed him to see her so hurt, "What if I wrote a check.."

"No." Mercedes pulled back and looked at him, "You're not going to do that. If they couldn't find a way to get the money, then you sure as hell ain't going to make it easy for them." She moved away from him wiping her face. She pulled the oven mittens from the draw and slid them on as she walked to the oven to take the chicken out.

Sam sighed as he watched her walk away from him, "Babe..I'm just trying to help." He sat in the chair by Ari, handing her one of her teething rings.

"I understand that Sam and I love you for that but..I guess it's for the best." She shrugged it off even though she was hurting inside. It was breaking her heart that tomorrow she had to tell her students that they could no longer be in choir because it didn't exist anymore. She grabbed two plates and a small bowl down from the cabinet.

Sam watched as she fixed Ari a small amount of mash potatoes in the bowl. His eyes traveled as she sat the plate down on the table and walked back to him signaling for him to get up. He sighed as he stood and walked over to the table, "Thank you for dinner." He said quietly as he sat down in his seat.

"You're welcome." She sat down in front of her daughter, smiling when she saw how excited she was getting. Scooping up some in the spoon, she blew it before she fed it to her.

"Just as Sam was about to pick up his fork, his phone starting ringing. He groaned when he saw his manager calling him, he clicked the answer button and placed it on speaker phone, "Hello?"

"Do you want to tell me why you are refusing interviews?" His manager didn't bother to greet him.

"I just don't want to talk to anyone B. At least not right now."

"Then when Sam? Listen, there are rumors going around that you are thinking about leaving Tampa and I need you to do an interview to clear that up."

Sam bit down on his bottom lip as he looked towards Mercedes, "I am thinking about leaving Tampa."

Mercedes turned to look at him over her shoulder. She knew that Sam was thinking about leaving the team and she was worried about what that meant for her career but it looks like there was nothing holding them back considering what has happen to her today. She turned back to her little girl and continued to feed her.

"WHAT?" Brandon shouted into his phone in shock, "Sam, why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Because I was just thinking about it at first Brandon. For the last couple of months I haven't felt like I belonged here and it got worse when we lost this weekend." He admitted.

"Sam.."

"I'll talk to you later B." He cut him off before he hung up the phone.

Mercedes wiped Ari's mouth before stood up. She handed her her bottle that was filled with water and watched as she wrapped her hands around it, picking it up before she placed it in her mouth. She walked over to Sam, sitting in the chair beside him, grabbing one of his hands.

Sam intertwine their fingers together as he looked at her. He took his free hand and moved some hair away from her face, "I love you." He leaned over to her and captured her lips into a slow, passionate kiss. Tilting his head a little, he ran his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her closely, "I promise that everything is going to be okay."

Mercedes pulled back breathless, "I love you too." She nodded when he said everything was going to be okay. I hope so she thought as she stared intently into his eyes.

Mercedes looked at her watch as the bell sounded. She had the office do a mandatory call for all her students to come in the auditorium. She paced back and forth, the only sound that could be heard was the echo of her heels clacking against the hardwood floor. Hearing the door open, she sighed as she heard the chattering going on, "Y'all come in and take a seat, I have something important I need to talk to you about something." She waited until everyone was seated until she began.

"Ms. Jones before you start." Taylor stood up from her seat and walked towards her, "We have taken care of everything that we need for district. Here's the receipt." She smiled as she handed it to her.

Mercedes felt her heart swell up, making her even more nervous then she was before. She grabbed the receipt and mumbled a 'thank you'. Fiddling with the paper as she cleared her throat repeatedly, "I just wanted to talk to you about something before you heard it from someone else." She shifted on her feet as she made contact with them, "Um..there will no longer be a choir.." She was interrupted by a collective gasp from them, "There isn't enough money for athletics and music, so they decided to get rid of this. I'm so sorry you guys."

"It's not your fault Ms. Jones, we're going to find a way to fix this." Taylor said as she played with her fingers.

"Taylor..sweetheart." She looked at the girl and then everyone else, "There is nothing we can do. The decision has been made and finalized."

"This is complete bullshit." Jacob said as he stood up. He already knew what was going on because he heard his coaches talking about it yesterday. It mad him furious that they were doing this to them. Jacob was the only quarterback for the team and without him, they was no possible way for them to play. "I'm not going to play until they bring this back."

Mercedes sighed as she looked at him, "Jacob.."

"No Ms. Jones..it's not fair. You've worked your ass off with us and they are taking this away from not only us but from you too. So no, I'm not going to play next year and that's final." He looked at her, piercing blue eyes staring intently into brown.

Mercedes ran her fingers through her hair, holding up her arm as she looked at her watch, "You guys need to get to class. That's all I wanted to talk to you about." She watched as they grabbed their things and walked out.

"I don't know sweetheart." Mercedes looked at her, "I don't know.."

Sam laid Arianna down on his chest as he sat in the living room. Now that he was done with the season, he decided to take her out of daycare for the rest of the year and watch her himself during the day. He watched as Mercedes came in sitting her purse down in the chair, "Hey."

"Hey." She said softly as she took of her blazer, sitting it beside her purse. Sliding out of her heels, she walked over to the couch and sat beside Sam. She leaned over and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before she cuddled up into his side.

Sam shifted on the couch a little, keeping one hand on Ari's back, taking the other one and wrapping it around her waist, "How was your day?"

"Do you really want to know?" She said quietly as she played with the edge of his shirt.

Sam bent down and kissed her forehead, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Mercedes nodded against his chest. The quietness of the house soothing her mind, she smiled faintly as she listen to the small snores that was coming from their daughter, "How was your day?"

"Very entertaining." He smiled as he ran his hand through his daughter's curls, "We have a very active little girl."

Mercedes smiled as she leaned over and gave the sleeping little girl a kiss on the cheek.

Sam looked at her, taking his free hand and grasping it with hers, "Baby I think we should talk about this situation.." He took a deep breath, "I want to make to right decision because it not only about me."

Mercedes looked at him, "I think you should do whatever you think is best. I mean, I was a little hesitant at first because of my job..but I don't have to worry about that part anymore." She shrugged sadly.

"Merce.." He struggled to find the right words. He knew that she was still hurt by this but maybe it was a sign. Just maybe this was a sign that they needed to start somewhere fresh. He kissed her forehead, "We'll talk about this later. Right now, lets just enjoy family time."

"Okay." Mercedes whispered as she pulled the throw blanket over then, closing eyes hoping to finally relieve herself from the pain of these last two days.

A/N. Hey lovebugs! Thank you so much for being patient with me. Still having a little trouble with my computer but I am thankful I was able to fix my chapters for this story & my new one. Hope you enjoy, :)