Hey guys! It has been quite awhile since I have delved into the world of fanfiction. I have been busy at work in my RPs as well as experiencing the craziness that is entitled My Life. I have had a lot of difficult things happen to me within the past few years including a divorce and the loss of my best friend and mentor, my dad. He always encouraged me to do anything and everything I wanted without any limitations and working from nothing, my dad always showed me that you can do anything you want to do no matter the limits of society. My dad was and will always be my hero and will continue to inspire me to do the things that I love to the best of my ability and so in his honor, this story will be highly influenced by what I have been through and the lessons of my wonderful parents and the real life lesson of never giving up on finding the best in every situation.

If you have not read my other Fanfic "Previous Endeavors" please feel free to go back and read it, but it is not essential to understanding what is going on in this story. I will reference the other fic when needed! So as promised, here is the first chapter to my Previous Endeavors sequel "Timely Endeavors".

As always, I am not Ryan Murphy,

I do NOT own the characters from Glee,

but will continue to try and write them better ;-)

Enjoy!

My dad always told me that life was full of lessons and that those lessons came from making mistakes. Damn. I've learned too many lessons.

Chapter One.

Living in Reality.

"Sam…are you alive in there?" He slightly turned his head, refusing to look away from the computer screen as he scrolled through dating profiles, narrowing his eyes as he landed on one in particular that he had been searching for. "Sam." He heard the door open as his mom let herself in, not satisfied with the empty responses she was receiving from her relentless attempts to check on her son.

"Mom…" He quickly spun around, feeling like a child again as she crossed her arms in front of him, the look of disappointment spread across her slightly aging face. "What if I was naked in here…or I dunno, with a girl?"

She cocked her eyebrow at him, trying her best not to laugh even though she knew he wasn't joking. She ignored his statement and found a seat on the edge of his bed, crossing her legs as she looked at him and sighed. "Are you okay? I mean…I know you're not okay. But, are you dealing with all of this okay? It's hard enough for me just losing your father, but you're going through so much more than the rest of us…First dad and then Mercedes…"

"Mom." He interrupted her as fast as he could, not wanting to hear any kind of consoling she was about to extend his way. No, he was not okay and no, he was not dealing with any of it "okay". He felt like his life was nothing but a consistent falling domino effect and no matter how he tried to brush things off and start again, his "second chances" were just more chances to screw things up or have something else horrible happen. "I'm fine." Just leave it there…you're fine…don't say anything else. "Apparently so is she. Can you believe she's already on a dating website, look at this…" There it went. What an idiot.

His mom moved towards the computer screen, looking over the information in front of her and scrolling through the profile of her son's soon to be official ex wife. She pursed her lips and looked over at Sam, placing her hand on his shoulder as he seemingly stared a hole into the floor. "Baby." She rubbed soft circles into his back, not knowing exactly what to say, but wanting to fix the situation. "I know you love her…and I know she loves you, too. Sometimes love just isn't enough to repair certain issues in a marriage honey. But there are other people out there and after your divorce is final, you're going to pick yourself up, get you some new clothes…please." He glared at her. "-and you're gonna find another wonderful girl and move on with your life. You're only 25, baby. You got married so young and had some major issues from the start. Not many couples can survive what you've been through."

"You mean their babies dying?" He was really on a roll with words flying out of his mouth that he should keep to himself. He could tell that wasn't what his mom was trying to get at exactly, at least not that harsh. She fell silent, letting her arm fall away from his back as she was trying to think of what to say next. "Mom, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, you're going through enough, too. I just can't believe everything keeps happening to me like this. First my little girl, then Mercedes, and now dad…" His voice cracked a little as he finished off his sentence, letting himself feel everything all over again like he often did, feeling sorry for himself.

"Sam. Life is hard. No one said it was going to be easy, and honestly it never is. When I first married your dad, I was 19 and we didn't have any money. I dropped out of college without a job, smart! We lived on bologna sandwiches and a water bed for years until we could save up money." She cracked a smile and searched Sam's reaction, trying to get him to smile. "We had oil heating and could only afford to heat one room during the winter, our bedroom, and we would run out super-fast to the bathroom, shower, then run back to the bedroom as fast as we could before we turned into popsicles." Sam cracked a small smirk on the corner of his lips thinking about them running through the house like idiots to avoid the cold air. "We didn't think we were ever going to get past that mess, but God we were so in love. As long as I had your dad and he had me, that's all that we needed." She sighed and rubbed her son's arm to comfort him as she had always done since he was a child. "Life is all about ups and downs and it's not just about the crap you go through, it's how you deal with the crap. If you want to find happiness, then let yourself be happy no matter what's happening to you. If you're looking for perfect situations and fairytale endings, then you will never be happy." She leaned in and kissed Sam's forehead, figuring he had had enough lecturing for the day and then turned to leave the room.

"Mom." She turned around when he spoke, nodding for him to go on. "Is that why you seem so calm about everything now? Finding happiness even though dad's gone?"

She looked down for a minute and then looked back at him, smirking lightly. "I miss your father more than words can express and it'll take time for it to hit me. I still expect him to walk through that door and give me a kiss and then complain about people at work. But, I think what helps me the most is that fate worked it out to where you could come home and stay with me and your siblings and when I'm missing dad the most, I can look at you and see him right here with us like he never left." She winked before closing the door behind her and Sam felt a tear roll down his cheek, the first one since he had even heard the news.

Maybe second chances aren't so you can have a flawless do over, but so you can learn how to handle your mistakes, cherish what you have, and never give up. Time to start working on some timely endeavors.

Thanks for reading, y'all! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Of course there will be plenty of Samcedes to come, don't worry! I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, and reviews!

Also – The oil heating and waterbed story was a true story about my parents when they first got married so I hope you enjoyed that lol!

Love, Kris