Hi there! Now this chapter is one of three chapters which we call the 'incidents' chapters, those being the babysitting incident, the chilli incident and the doughnut incident. For the doughnut incident, it is so elusive and so secretive that even we have no idea what went down, the only thing that has been confirmed from both Sam and Mercedes is that it involved a doughnut. Nothing else has been said about it. Another thing that's been going on at the moment is that I (Charlotte) have requested a commission from the supermegafoxyawesomehot Jacki, or as she's known on Tumblr, Muchacha11! Yeah, I paid eleven quid and it's of Finn and Megan and it's so cute and everything! As you may know by now, Daniel does have Asperger's and a lot of the traits are based on my own experiences. Him stating he's not hungry when in the midst of a meltdown, getting his words confused and repeating them, the meltdown knocking him out after he's calmed down, that sorta stuff. The next chapter is about half written already and is indeed the Christmas chapter so that should be good! Also, who likes the idea of there being a Halloween chapter where Sam and Mercedes end up chaperoning the Halloween party at the school? For some reason, I can imagine Daniel going as Bilbo Baggins and he ends up drinking at least half the punch and gets a major sugar rush,only to crash out under a table when it's time for Will and Emma to pick him up. Also, just to clarify, Daniel is not a main character but he will be popping up in future chapters. Peace Out! TG101 :-D x

"...you have a good night,now." the policeman offered, tipping his hat to Sam and Mercedes before exiting the apartment, warily stepping around Mc Conaughey as he did so.

As soon as the door closed, Sam let out a long sigh of relief, sliding his back against the door, causing a yelp of surprise from Mc Conaughey, who bore the brunt of his weight.

"Thank God that's over." the blonde mumbled, shifting his weight so that the Jack Russel could wriggle free. They had just spent the best part of an hour explaining to the police that no,they weren't hurting each other and yes, they were just getting a bit frisky.

"Tell me about it." Mercedes muttered dryly, padding over to the spare bedroom where Daniel had locked himself as soon as the police knocked on the door.

"Danny? You okay,sweetie?" she called, lightly knocking on the door. "Danny? It wasn't your fault honestly! You did the right thing!"

Daniel couldn't understand where he went wrong. He always got taught that if someone was hurting someone else, then he should call 911 and that's exactly what he did. So if he did that, then why were Sam and Mercedes in their underwear? And why was Mercedes begging Sam to stop when she loved him like mommy and daddy loved each other? These things seriously confused him and made him feel not hungry.

Sniffling, he unlocked the door, crying again as Mercedes picked him up, not caring about personal space.

"Hey, it's okay." she soothed, gently rocking him as he cried into her shoulder.

"S-sorry...C- Cedes!" he cried, his tense body relaxing slightly as she began to rub his back. He absolutely hated physical contact with anyone unless he fully trusted them and for Mercedes to get this far in a matter of months was a seriously big achievement.

"I know you are hon, we've already established that. You shouldn't worry about it, okay? It was an honest mistake and nobody was at fault."

"I - I was - was just goin' with what I learnt." Daniel whispered, stringing his sentences together more easily, a sign Mercedes learnt that he was starting to calm down.

Mercedes mentally groaned. Of course he did. This was Daniel; he took things literally. If someone said that he let the cat out of the bag he would argue back saying there was no cat in his backpack because his mom had OCD and his dad was allergic to their fur. She knew it wasn't his fault, it was just the way he was and whilst she was patient and understanding, she would frequently question to herself how Will and Emma managed.

"Okay, and you did good. Why don't we forget about this and have some warm milk? Felix can join us as well." she sang, referring to Daniel's Fix it Felix plush he got for his third birthday.

The five year old sniffed into her jumper again before looking up at Mercedes with his big hazel eyes,which were still glassy with tears.

"M'kay." he mumbled as he began to nibble the tip of his thumb, something he always did to calm himself down."I'm...I'm not hungry." he declared as Mercedes carried him to the kitchen area of the apartment.

"I know that but I also know that you have warm milk after a meltdown to help sleep it off."

"No I don't!" Daniel protested sleepily, hitting the plush against her leg. "I'm not sleepy!"

"Yes you are." the older woman insisted as she put him down,before kneeling to his level and gently turning his face towards her, earning another cry of protest. That was when Mercedes knew she went too far and if she did it again, she would suffer the consequences, usually in the form of a bite.

"Right, what we're going to do is - please look at my nose so that I know you're listening."

Daniel reluctantly obeyed,still unhappy and uncomfortable with the whole situation. But he had Felix, which made things a bit more bearable.

"We're going to have some warm milk and read a chapter of the Phantom Tollbooth. Then I would like...look at my nose please...you and Felix to go to sleep and then we can watch Wreck It Ralph in the morning. You think you can do that?" Mercedes asked kindly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Guess so." he mumbled, wiping his nose with his sleeve, making Mercedes cringe slightly.

"No,sweetie, don't do that." she muttered, cringing even more as he took the sleeve away from his face,making a trail of snot lead from his nose.

"Sorry." he apologised yet again, his eyes beginning to flutter. To be honest, Mercedes couldn't blame him. It was eleven at night, three hours past his usual bedtime and to top it off, he'd had a major meltdown which, given the experiences at Kindergarten, always knocked him out eventually.

"Daniel bud,there's no need to say sorry, you've already done that." Sam yawned, coming up to the duo with a couple of small mugs full of warm milk. "Here. I know how much you like it." he offered, handing one over to the young child, who nodded appreciatively.

"That good enough for you?" Mercedes asked taking a sip of her own drink.

"Mmhm." Daniel responded, hiccuping slightly,causing him to cough a little. Sam patted his back, still making sure he was okay. Once Daniel had recovered, he wiped his mouth on Felix's hat.

Before Mercedes could correct him, Sam gave her a look which she translated as 'leave him to it'. The more milk he drank, the sleepier Daniel became and before he knew it, his chin was resting on his chest and he was fighting to stay awake.

"Okay then, now it's time for sleep." Mercedes explained gently, leading him to the spare bedroom where he would always sleep.

Daniel grunted tiredly as he climbed onto the couch and buried himself into the blanket, still clutching onto Felix."Night...'Cedes..." was all he could muster before his tiredness got the better of him.

"Night Daniel." she responded back, kissing him on the forehead.

"'s Danny."

"Okay then, night Danny."