When walking into a situation you're unsure of, you have to be prepared for anything. One of the worst things to walk into—outmanned and outgunned—is an ambush. There is nothing like an ambush led by two people that know everything about you. They know exactly how hard to hit you and where you're weak.
"What did you bring Fi for?" Sam asked the second they walked in the door.
Attacking Fi was not the ideal way to begin the conversation.
"Why wouldn't I be here?" she snapped.
"It's between me, Mike, and Maddie. I don't see where you fit in," he replied, instantly regretting it.
Fi looked like she was about to do or say something violent, so Michael stepped in front of her.
"I'd tell her anyway, Sam."
"Fiona is more than welcome," Madeline agreed kindly as she entered the room. "Thank you for coming over, Michael."
They all cautiously sat at the table, Michael and Fiona on one side and Sam and Madeline on the other.
At first they sat there in silence, waiting for the other party to speak first. Fiona stomped on Michael's foot and motioned to Sam. He ignored the throbbing pain and the heel-shaped hole in his foot.
"We're here, like you asked, so…" he trailed off hoping that someone pick up where he left off.
Madeline elbowed Sam. He winced and quickly said, "Thanks for coming. We didn't want you to see that-"
"I didn't want to see that," Michael shuddered.
"-before we told you. We've been meaning to. Right, Maddie?"
"We have, Michael. We didn't know when the time would be right."
"Are you dating?" Fiona chimed in.
"Yeah, we are" Sam confirmed.
Michael cringed. There went the fling theory.
"We weren't planning on it happening. It just…did," Madeline shrugged as she blew a puff of smoke out the side of her mouth.
"What about Virgil?" he asked.
"Virgil isn't in Miami," she pointed out.
"What about women with lots of money and expensive cars?"
"Sam's out grown that phase. Haven't you, Sam?"
"That's right, Mikey. Material possessions were nice, but there was never an emotional connection."
Madeline smiled. "I've already got him saying what I want to hear."
"I have a way with words."
His worst nightmares couldn't have come up with this odd and somewhat disturbing plot twist.
"Are you two serious?" Fiona asked carefully. Michael shot her a look anyway. "I'm only curious…"
"We've only been together for a few weeks, but I have a good feeling…" Sam admitted with a grin. Madeline returned a wide grin of her own.
"To think that we're together, after all the bickering and exploding houses…"
"You're never going to let that go, are you?"
"Not in a million years."
Fiona's gaze switched between them. She thought that they were adorable. Michael had to suppress the urge to claw his eyeballs out so he wouldn't have to watch them make eyes at each other.
"How did this happen?" he asked, despite the voice in the back of his mind begging him not to.
"I guess that something was always here. Sam was the only one of you three musketeers that would tell me what was going on. He's stayed at the house more than you have, Michael. Something was bound to happen eventually. We didn't realize it."
Sam merely nodded in agreement.
"When it did, I guess we weren't too surprised…"
"At first we were," he laughed.
Fiona smiled at them. "I'd love to hear the story of how you got together. Wouldn't you, Michael?"
His eyes narrowed. Surely his stomach couldn't take that. She took his hand and squeezed hard enough to make the bones creak in protest.
"Yeah, the story…" he agreed through gritted teeth.
Fi lifted his hand to her lips and then turned her attention to the couple across the table.
"Start at the beginning."
"Well, it started a few weeks back…"
