author's notes: sorry it took so long to update! life is hectic!

Dead to the world, that's what Inez and Seaweed could only think when they looked down at their sleeping mother. Her clothes had been discarded in a neat pile (even the mink shawl) on the foot of her bed, while she was curled up and turned on her side.

Seaweed had made Inez promise she wouldn't bother their mother and Inez made him promise not to burn any breakfast. Since Maybelle looked so peaceful when she slept, they'd decided to take care of themselves this Sunday morning and let her rest.

So far, the fire department hadn't arrived yet.

Body sore, but in that great way that makes you want to soak in a hot bath, Maybelle's eyes fluttered open feeling two pairs of big brown eyes gazing at her. She stretched her arms high over head, wincing slightly at just how stiff her body had been … well, before Corny had gotten a hold of it. That little thought made her smile and she looked at her kids, wondering what exactly they were up to.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Seaweed asked, flour spots all over his black shirt.

Maybelle sat up in the bed and held back that grunt of pain when Inez hopped in the bed next to her.

"Yeah, baby, that would be nice." She smiled when he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek and left the room.

They weren't always a handful.

"Mama, are you hurting?"

Maybelle turned to Inez, who bore a truly curious expression on her face. It would be best to take the safe route for this answer.

"I'm a little sore, yes, but I'm not hurting too bad. Why?"

"You look like you're hurting. Did somebody hurt you?"

Maybelle laughed and shook her head. "It was quite the contrary, baby. Nobody hurt me at all. In fact, they made me feel better. I guess you could call it a … you could call it a good hurt." When Inez frowned, Maybelle kissed the top of her head and pulled her in so she was lying closer to her. "It'll make more sense to you when you're older and can understand better."

Inez shrugged and nestled against her mother's bosom. Maybelle was elated that Inez didn't understand. She was going to make it a goal of hers that she didn't understand for ten more years if she could help it.

"Thank you for tuning and we hope to see you tomorrow … on the Corny Collins show!" Corny held out an arm while the council members joined in with him, all smiles.

It was sealed in concrete; Amber had snagged Link, much to the annoyance of the other female council members. He watched with that feeling of disgust in the pit of your stomach making you want to vomit as Amber pushed herself on Link the entire show. He'd expected Velma to step in, maybe be a mother for once, but she soaked it up as much as Amber did.

Link didn't seem to mind, completely oblivious to the fact that Amber was the biggest brat on the set.

When the cameras were off and Amber was complaining about how shiny her nose probably looked on television, Corny bid a quick adieu to the council members and was skirting off. If he hurried, he could catch the last ten minutes of Maybelle's show and catch the shop before she decided to close it.

They'd only spoken on the phone since their encounter and Corny couldn't get enough of her. He didn't think he could ever feel the way he felt about Maybelle about anyone in his life. She was truly something special.

"Corny?"

Velma's irritating voice cut through his thoughts like a razor and he stopped in his tracks to turn around and sigh.

"Yes?"

"Don't sound so excited to hear my voice," her tone dripped with sarcasm.

Corny clasped his hands together and shrugged. "I am excited, so excited … I can't even move!" He didn't want this to take too long, he was going to miss Maybelle's show.

Velma rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. "I.Q. would like to the sing the song After Midnight, you know, the one Seaweed Stubbs sang on Negro Day. I thought it would be a great idea so I'm running it by you."

"You'll have to run it by Maybelle since she was the one that wrote it."

"Corny, come on," she laughed lightly and clicked her heels as she walked over to him. "Do you really mean that? Who's even watching them on Negro Day? It's ridiculous."

"Maybe for you. Ask Maybelle," and with that, Corny turned his back to Velma and walked off.

Velma watched him walk off with a growing hatred. Ever since Negro Day had been approved, he'd been acting different. He was almost acting as if he truly cared about integration.

With his undone tie and sleeves rolled up, Corny was making a quiet exit from WYZT studios. He'd managed to get pass the throng of screaming girls, since lately, they'd been screaming for Link and he shook Brenda when she was distracted by Noreen and Doreen. That girl was getting creepier by the minute.

All he really wanted to do was just listen to WEDD and tell Maybelle hello. He couldn't get the time if he paid for it now it seemed.

Getting in the car, he turned on his radio and smiled, nearly missed it.

"And that was Who's Loving You by one of my favorite groups, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and one of my favorite songs! It holds a special place for me." She let out a little sigh into the microphone and laughed a little. "And now, it's getting that time, where I say my goodbyes and I hope you all have a good evening. Tune in tomorrow when I'll be interviewing one of our very own celebrities, Nadine Jackson of The Dynamites! Y'all have a good night!"

Maybelle shut off her station and the tunes from WEDD's regularly tuned station began to play and she shut her station down. She absently ran her fingertips over the side of her neck, smiling to herself as she shuffled the items in her studio together neatly.

Inez watched with a smirk and jumping stomach as Corny Collins' car pulled up. Seaweed appeared next to her, Inez assumed there was no one in the shop and she could smell the dust from the vinyl collection no one ever bought on his hands.

Fighting the urge to sneeze, she jumped up and waved happily to Corny.

"Yeah, I see he got your nose in the air, too." Before Corny made it up the man made pathway to greet them, Seaweed had already turned his back to the both of them and walking back into the empty store.

He did not see the look of confusion Corny shot him when his back was turned.

The door closed behind him, the opening and closing of the door made the bells jingle. He watched with a bit of twisted envy and disgust as Inez taught Corny the same handshake he'd taught her three days ago.

And what was wrong with his mama?

She didn't make it home until six the next morning! Seaweed may have been young but he was no dummy, not by a long shot. Inez was the one that blabbed about her saying she had a good hurt. She had no business telling her about those sort of things. Corny did a little hand jive with Inez and she caught in less than a second, both of them grinning.

Did he think he was going to be their new daddy just because he'd had their mama in his bed?

"I'll be damned," Seaweed grumbled, picking up records from cardboard boxes and filing them angrily.

He watched Inez grab Corny by the hand and drag him off until he was no longer in eyesight. Tyrone came into the shop with Latoya behind him. They greeted Seaweed and he put on some Jackie Wilson while they started dancing.

"Do y'all ever come in here to buy anything?" Seaweed asked with as straight a face he could manage.

Just as Maybelle was making her exit, Inez came rushing in.

"Guess who came by to visit you?"

"Guess who? You know I'm not good at that game, baby. Who is it?"

Inez's eyes only grew wider and she shrugged. "I guess he'll just have to surprise you, then." Inez trailed off, putting her hands behind her back and looking off innocently.

The faintest smell of Old Spice flirted past her nose and Maybelle held back the smile that threatened to spread across her face … but she couldn't hold back those butterflies. "Go tell your brother to close up the shop and go ahead and start up dinner, I'll be up to join him in a minute."

Inez nodded and turned back to Corny, smiling, "I still have your secret kept right here." She poked her chest and took off outside yet again.

"I don't know why she insists on going through all that trouble when she could just –"

She didn't get the opportunity to finish her sentence. Corny had taken her lips hostage with his own, snaking an arm around her waist. She leaned in to him, closed her eyes and let her body relax against him. She figured after all was said and done, relaxing around him should come a lot easier. And it did.

"I missed you," he whispered against her lips and she laughed.

"Easy now, you forget my kids are not far away from us."

"You're right, I should control myself." He pulled back for a second and leaned in once more, laughing – "But I just can't help it!"

Maybelle giggled, something that when done, would catch her off guard.

Corny rather liked her giggle, feeling that it egged him on and drove those already lingering dirty thoughts furthers. "I only came to say hi, I can't stay for long."

Maybelle understood perfectly well, she wasn't one for caring for other people's opinions but she did care about two that were very special to her. She wasn't quite ready on declaring new love to the world.

"I'll call you later tonight. How does ten sound? I can get an hour of you all to myself?" Maybelle laughed and Corny leaned in to kiss her again.

She couldn't stop laughing, no matter how she tried.

"All right, all right – ten tonight, on the phone, bad mouthing Velma Von Tussle. " Corny agreed to that with another kiss, and then another, until their lips were pressed together and he mumbled, "Okay, I love you," and pulled away.

"Gotta' fly now. Save me some of whatever it is you're cooking." He waved to her and peered through the hallway connecting the studio to the shop and bid his goodbyes to the kids. He waved at Maybelle once more, not really sure exactly why he was rushing.

Perhaps, it was because he'd just told her he loved her.