She doesn't talk to her ex very often. And when they do talk, it's exclusively about their son. The only reason she called today was to arrange a time to pick up Alec after he'd spent the weekend with his father. Quinn's anxious to get off the phone so she can get ready. Sam's coming over to take her to lunch. It's weird that a lunch date is so exciting. But her life is quickly turning exciting.

He'd brought her home from the club last night and stood in her doorway. "I know we're still new," he said, "and I don't want to rush anything or overdo it, but it would really suck if I had to go home alone."

Well, she didn't want him to be lonely. He'd only gone home an hour ago to change his clothes. Admittedly, they had been just sleeping all morning, because the late night partying scene took a toll after one reached a certain age.

"Six tonight works for me," Don said on the other end of the line. Quinn thought that meant they could wrap things up, when he added at the last second, in an obviously affected voice of just remembering something, as if he hadn't been waiting the entire conversation to bring this up, "Oh, how was your date on Friday night?"

Shit.

"It was very nice, thank you." That's all she's giving him.

"I was particularly interested when I learned that "Mr. Evans" was our son's teacher, so I looked him up on the school's website. Quinny," he said, clicking his tongue. "I'm embarrassed for you."

She wants to ignore him, but of course he pushes on.

"Did he take you to Chuck E. Cheese's for your date?"

"Fuck you."

"You sound defensive, Q. What is he, sixteen?"

"Yes, they're letting teenagers teach elementary school now. Not that it's any of your business, but he's twenty-two."

"Well, at least he's not half your age. Just almost."

She almost retorted with a comment about his secretary and new fiancee, but Quinn wasn't about to compare what she has with Sam to the way her ex-husband had destroyed their family. So, she ends on a more pleasant note.

"I will say, Don, that everything about dating Sam is new for me. It's new for me to be with a man who's caring and sweet and kind, and it's definitely new to be with a man who knows how to give me an orgasm." She hung up the phone.

XxXxX

"You seem kinda edgy," Sam says from across the table. They'd kept it simple with Panera Bread. She'd told him that he didn't have to take her to upscale restaurants every time they went out. She'd even offered to pay, but he'd looked like she'd just run over his dog, so she let that drop.

Quinn made an effort to smile. "Sorry, I was on the phone with Don before you came by. He's the perfect way to ruin a good day."

"Is everything alright with Alec?"

"He's fine. We were just deciding on a time for me to go pick him up."

"He doesn't bring him back?"

She shook her head. "We've got it worked out that Don comes here to get him, and I go there to pick him up."

"It seems like a dick move to make you drive all that way." Sam pushed his chips around the plate. "I want to go with you when you go to pick him up."

When Quinn doesn't immediately answer, because she's taking a moment to formulate the words that express just how bad his idea is, Sam goes on.

"I don't like you driving that far at night by yourself."

She doesn't point out that she's been driving since before he was born. But his trying to be protective is sort of cute. "It's really not a good idea."

"Why not?"

Quinn puts her fork down; there's no way she's going to enjoy the rest of her salad. "Because." She has to think of a way to articulate it. "Because I know him, and I know he'll be an ass if you're there, and he'll show off, like the ass he is, and I just don't want to deal with it."

"From what I've heard, he's an ass no matter what."

Not untrue, Quinn allows. "It'll be worse. He'll try to get in some pissing contest with you."

"I won't embarrass you, if that's what you mean." He looks just a little pitiful right then.

She gives him a look. "You know that's not what I meant."

He moves to a new tact. "I'll wait in the car when we get there."

Quinn can tell that he has no intention of letting this go. And she likes that he wants to take care of her, even though it's only an hour and a half drive to get to her former home. But she also knows that as dickish as Don can be over the phone, if he's actually confronted, face to face, with any new man in her life, well, he'll almost certainly take "ass" to a new level.

But, the thought of showing her ex just how much better she can do for herself has a certain pleasing quality. She's not with Sam so that she has someone to show off, but it might be a nice side benefit. And if he wants to go anyway . . .

"Just promise that you won't dump me when you see who I chose to spend twenty years with."

XxXxX

"Turn left at the next light," she tells Sam from the passenger seat. It's beyond strange to be driving around the place where she lived for fifteen years, the place she'd once thought she'd live for the rest of her life, with Sam.

He's such a new factor in her life, and everything here is old. It's old and gone, only to return for short, weekend trips to pick up her son. Someday, he'll be old enough to drive himself. She wonders if she'll ever come back, then.

"That's the hospital where Alec was born," she says, without knowing why.

Sam squeezed her hand.

"Ugh, I got married in that church. They should probably condemn the building."

He chuckled a little, but didn't comment. It occurred to Quinn that he might not enjoy seeing the highlights of her life spent with another man.

"I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear about all that."

He kept his eyes focused on the road but said, "No, it's interesting. Before, you were just the hot mom who showed up in my classroom one day. I like knowing more about you."

She worries he's going to see more than he wants when they pull up to the house where she lived with her husband and son for so long.

"Does it feel weird, ringing the doorbell?" Sam asks as they stand on the porch, waiting. He's at her side, but just half a step behind. He'd wanted to be here for her, but at the same time, was obviously trying not to intrude.

"It feels weird just being here." There's the swing where she'd sit with Alec when he was a baby and wouldn't go to sleep. She can see her favorite tree, an old oak, in the side yard. She hadn't fought in the divorce to keep the house, but some of it she missed. The outside didn't feel polluted by Don's cheating.

The door opens and there's Don. At first he's wearing his usual half smirk, as if he's extremely pleased with his own cleverness, but then his smile falters, just briefly, before his facial muscles contort again with a fresh veneer of civility.

"Quinny, you brought your friend."

That's really a better opening line than anything she might have hoped for. "Don, this is Sam."

Sam's got his usual smile, and no one can fail to be disarmed by it, at least in Quinn's opinion. He extends his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

They shake hands, and Quinn can see it in Don's face that he's trying to squeeze as hard as he can. It's a man thing, so whatever. She's seen Sam's muscles, and just hopes her ex doesn't get hurt.

Wringing his newly freed hand in an attempt to restore blood flow, Don steps back. "Come in, come in. Alec's still in his room, reading. You can't tear him away from those books, you know."

The entryway's been painted, a blue that she wouldn't have chosen, but it's not her house anymore. Quinn hopes the secretary's still visiting with her mother, and stays there until they've left. The younger woman is more than welcome to have Don, but that doesn't mean Quinn wants to see her face to face.

"The house looks nice." Not particularly, but maybe she's feeling magnanimous.

"Thanks. Sheryl's kinda picky, likes everything just so," he chuckled. Quinn wonders if he'd made a point to mention that the new female in his life had worked to undo the way Quinn had decorated their home of fifteen years. She decides she doesn't care.

Alec darts out of the hallway just then and jumps into her arms for a hug. The first crack in the facade appears when he turns to do the same with Sam.

"Hey, bud," Sam says with a smile. He crouches down when Alec holds out his arms to hug him, too. "Did you have a fun weekend?"

"I did all my homework and read ahead in our book. I finished the whole thing!" His class is reading a book together, and they were supposed to read a chapter over the weekend.

"Wow! You're gonna start us off tomorrow when we talk about it, ok?"

Don's biting his lip through the entire exchange, and Quinn's mentally calculating how long they have to stay for the sake of not being rude. She's hoping another twenty seconds is all propriety requires.

"Yeah, uh, maybe don't give the kids so much to do at home, huh? Let 'em be kids and run around."

Quinn knows he's just looking for some imagined point of contention. It's third grade, and Alec usually zooms through his homework in about twenty minutes, sometimes less. And he could have all the free time in the world, and he's still not going to "run around."

But Sam is ever polite. "Well, I just want to make sure my students get plenty of practice. If they don't keep up with what we learn in class, it doesn't really stick, you know?" He stands back up, still looking unruffled.

"Mostly women in your profession, right?"

Quinn sighs. And so it begins.

"That's true, but it's changing a little." Sam's voice is pleasant and friendly, and if he's irritated, it doesn't show. "Studies show that there's a real need for male role models, especially at the elementary school level."

Don snickers. "Hard to be a role model when you're so close to their age, am I right?"

She figures that's her cue. "Alright, I think it's time to go now. Alec, have you got all your things?"

Her ex-husband walks them towards the door and Quinn has never been so happy to see it. Though, in truth, this little meeting has gone considerably better than she'd hoped. No one's ended up with a black eye, so she's putting this one in the "win" column.

"I hate that you all can't stay longer, but I'm sure Sam has a curfew and his parents want him home."

She knew it was too good to be true. "Alec, give your dad a hug goodbye then go with Sam and wait in the car." The males in the room, at least the two older ones, don't mistake the tone in her voice.

As soon as the other two are out the door Quinn rounded on her ex-husband. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What are you talking about? I thought we were all having a nice time."

"You were being a jerk to Sam." She fights the urge to smack the shit-eating grin from his face.

"Oh, if I'd known your little boytoy was so sensitive I would have had a lollypop waiting for him."

Her hand clenches and unclenches, again and again. There's a soothing pattern to it that allows her to keep everything else in check.

"I would think that you'd be a little nicer to someone who spends so much time with our son."

"What, has he moved in already?"

"I meant in school, idiot." She's got to pull it back. Losing her temper means that he wins, and that's a thought she cannot stomach. Quinn doesn't even know why she's still standing here. Why doesn't she just leave? She could be happy in the car right now with Alec and Sam. That's the better option.

She's almost to the door when he says, "You didn't have to rub my face in it."

Against her better judgement, Quinn turns around. "What are you talking about?"

He spread his hands wide, palms up. "You brought him just to show me how quickly you'd moved on. You brought him just to hurt me."

Really? He's always been self-centered, but this is ridiculous. "Don," Quinn said, trying to take a conciliatory tone. "I bought him because he asked to come. He wanted to support me. And you'd already moved on when we were still married. You moved on with another woman in our bed."

"That was a mistake!"

God, now his eyes are getting red. Is he really going to cry? He'd said much the same thing on the day she'd walked into their bedroom to find her husband naked with an equally naked woman. Don had chased after her, pleading that it was all a mistake, that he was sorry. Quinn remembers vomiting.

"I'm sure your fiancee wouldn't like to hear that, Don."

And then the tears start. "I've regretted it every day. Every single day. Quinny, I love you."

This is making her stomach hurt. "You're embarrassing yourself."

He slumps down against the back of the couch. "I've got nothing now. I had everything, and now I've got nothing."

She doesn't enjoy seeing him like this. For the better part of two decades she'd been convinced she was in love with him, so this isn't something that gives her any sort of pleasure. Quinn sighs and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Don, you made your choice. And you don't have nothing. Alec loves you, and you've got another baby on the way," the baby that should have been hers. "And," this stings, "and you've got Sheryl."

And that's all she feels she owes him. Quinn said goodbye and returned to the car. She felt lighter once she was with Alec and Sam again.

Sam looked a little wary. "Everything alright?"

She smiled at him. "Everything's fine."

XxXxX

They stop to eat on the way back, and it's not long after they get home that Alec has to go to bed. Quinn tucks him in and then finds Sam waiting in the living room.

He looked at her from beneath shaggy bangs. "I really liked this weekend."

"I did, too." And she did, even staying up late to go to an awful nightclub.

"But I sorta wanted to punch your ex," he mumbled.

"That would have been a highlight," She pulled in and leaned against his front. It felt nice when he hugged her, warm and secure. "But it's probably a good thing you didn't." The apartment is quiet around them. She could stay here, leaning against him with her eyes closed, for a long time.

"Can I ask you a question?" Sam said.

She has an idea of what's coming next.

Sam sits down on her couch and pulls her with him. "We haven't even been together very long, I probably don't have any right to ask." He looked like he was unsure if he should continue.

Quinn said, "It's alright."

He proved her assumption correct. "Why were you with him?"

It's a question she'd asked herself a thousand times since the day she'd walked into her bedroom to find him with another woman. And she'd asked her mother, she'd asked Kitty. Alec was probably the only person she hadn't asked.

"We met in college, he could be dashing, when he wanted to be." She remembered dates and parties, being drunk on life more than alcohol. Nowadays, Quinn's an advocate of postponing all major decisions until after college; you don't know your own mind at that stage in life.

"I don't know. I guess inertia played a part. I wasn't really unhappy, for a long time."

Sam nodded. "I'm sorry for asking. It's none of my business."

She shook her head. "No, you met him tonight, so I understand why you'd wonder. He wasn't always like that. At least, not to that degree. At first it came off as confidence, and it was alluring. But that got old pretty quickly."

"I'm sorry he didn't treat you right."

Quinn shrugged. "It's over now, and I got Alec out of the deal." And that was pretty much all she had to say about fifteen years of wedded bliss. Looking back, most of it seemed grey and wan, a holding pattern that consisted of little more than continuing for its own sake.

"But," she said, "I'm having an interesting time these days. Who would have thought that a hot boy would want to take me to a nightclub?"

He laughs, and they kiss, because why not? Kissing him is fun; she really, really likes kissing him. Quinn's frowns when he finally pulls away.

"I guess you have to go home?"

Look at her, inviting a boy to stay over three nights in a row. Good grief, she's emerged from her cocoon not a shriveled divorcee, but a lusty cougar.

"I probably should. But I guess I could quit my job and stay in bed all day tomorrow. Your bed, I mean."

"But then Alec wouldn't have a teacher."

"I didn't say there weren't downsides."

She follows him to the door and gets a goodnight kiss. There's the promise to call later, and maybe he'll see her when she picks Alec up from school? That seems likely. One more kiss because everything's still new and she feels like a teenager around him.

It's still crazy, but it feels good.

Thank you so, so much to everyone who left reviews! It brightens my day when I get an email saying someone left a review. This chapter took a little longer because I've been deciding on what the next chapter will include. I have some ideas, and of course there's gonna be some drama, sooner or later. But if there's something you'd be interested in seeing, let me know in a review. I might not use it, but there's a chance. Let me know!