Disclaimer: So weird to write this for a show I don't even watch anymore. But anyhoo...I did not create or own Glee or any of the characters. I am just trying to improve on the storylines they abandonned.

Chapter 21

Dwight and Mary Evans first met in highschool. Well, "met" is not exactly the correct word for their first encounter. On that particular day, Mary, a petite blond cheerleader, walked up to Dwight, a linebacker for the football team, while he was standing around a crowd of football players next to his locker. The sophomore girl grinned at the goodlooking junior and politely asked if he was Dwight Evans. Full of teenage cockiness and swagger, Dwight smirked and answered yes confidently. Then Mary hauled out and punched him in the face. The shock of this little girl packing such a huge punch knocked Dwight on his ass. He fell back against the lockers and just stared at her in disbelief, rubbing his jaw.

"That's for picking on my cousin, Wilbur." Dwight shook his head, trying to regain his senses.

"Who?"

"The kid you threw in the garbage bin today, you- you- ape! You keep your big gorilla hands to yourself, you big jerk or I'll come and beat your ass in front of your locker! Every. Single. Day." Then Mary slowly turned around and walked away, the football team watching her in amazement and fear. From that first hit, Dwight knew he was in love.

Even now twenty-six years later, Dwight adored the fierceness and tenacity of his wife. Mary was a force to be reckoned with when it came to her family and friends. But that same tenacity can quickly turn into stubbornness if the wrong opportunity pops up. Mary was a stickler for the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Anything less was an invitation to a hell of a fight. Dwight was all to acquainted with that side of his beloved, which is why he knew she had to be hurting from this argument with Sam. After leaving the family room, Dwight looked at a couple rooms in the house and eventually went straight to the garden to find his wife.

One thing Dwight knows about his wife, when she's angry, she has to do something physical. Mary has been known to wash the car, mow the lawn and pull out the weeds in her garden in the span of one hour, from one bad phone call with her momma! It was her way of working out angry tension and frustration. She had to move. After she worked all of her frustration out, then she could talk. This time Dwight decided to talk to her while she was working her tension out.

Sure enough, Mary was in her vegetable and fruit garden at the southern side of the backyard. Dwight walked toward her stealthily as he observed Mary kneeling on her green gardener's mat with a garden hand trowel in her work glove clad hands. Dwight stood there watching her, noticing the soil being watered by tears falling from her eyes. He frowned and shook his head at her sadness.

"Mary?" he called to her calmly. Mary lifted her head surprised and her face softened at his sight.

"How did you know I would be here?"

"Where else would you be?" He laughed. "You weren't in the kitchen baking or in the bathroom scrubbing. So using my power of deduction, I knew you would be here." Mary made a small laugh and shrugged her shoulders.

"You do know me." Dwight nodded.

"Mm hmm. Which is why I know you can't let this thing between you and Sam fester or you will be cleaning houses up and down this county." Mary let out a deeper laugh and exhaled a deep breath.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know. I'm just so mad, Dwight. That boy! He always tries to handle things on his own instead of coming to us. Just like when he stripped at that club in highschool and thought we would never find out. Like I'm some kind of idiot when I see my son coming home with tons of dollar bills and glitter in his shorts!"

When Mary first suspected Sam was involved in something illegal to raise money, she followed him after school. Like a true spy, she ducked and hid behind bushes until she watched him enter the Happy Ending Adult Club. She tried to keep her emotions in check when she entered the establishment and took a seat in the back. But all hell broke loose when she witnessed Sam, "White Chocolate", strutting down the runway in his gold shorts. Anger overtook her as she watched cougars pawing on her baby's body. Mary threw three women off of Sam, grabbed her son and dragged him out of the club. Sam's explanation was simple- the family needed the money and he was going to do whatever it took to help them. That night, she made Sam promise that he would never take matters into his own hands again and would come to the family with the problem.

"He broke his promise to me. To us! He thinks that this house means more to me than he does. The cost of this house must have been breaking him. But he doesn't say a word? It's like…it's like he doesn't even know me." Mary's face had fallen and she was fighting back tears. Dwight squatted down next to her and pulled her into his arms. He rubbed her back gently and kissed her forehead.

"Mary, you are taking this way too personally." Mary lifted her head to protest, but Dwight shook his head boldly. "No, you are. Sam is a man now. And a man is not going to go running to his mommy because he is in trouble. Now I know you and Sam have a special relationship. You always had and always will. But he is still a man with manly pride." Mary rolled her eyes. Dwight gently lifted her chin up so her eyes met his.

"Your son loves you. But he is just as stubborn and prideful as his daddy. You know that." Dwight smirked as Mary raised her eyebrow. Dwight leaned in and kissed her forehead again. He stood up and brought her up with him.

"You know what we need right now? People's Court!" Mary's eyes beamed and she nodded her head excitedly.

"Yes! You're right, sweetheart. That's exactly what we need." She declared as she clapped her hands and shook the dirt from her gloves.

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Stevie and Stacey walked gingerly down the hallway of the second floor toward Sam's bedroom. They glimpsed inside the room that was covered with posters of science fiction movies and gold plaques. The plaques were a mixture of highschool and college sport trophies and music awards. The twins stepped in a little further and saw Sam laying on a king sized bed, staring up at the ceiling. They both stood there watching their big brother for a minute, unsure if he even wanted them there. Stacey took a deep breath and marched up to him first.

"Hey." She said sweetly as she stood in front of him. Sam turned his head and smiled at her.

"Hey." He replied. He turned to Stevie who was still standing by the door awkwardly. Stevie was struggling with trying to look tough and stoic and wanting to run to his brother and give him a hug. Sam relieved him of the struggle by waving his hand to him to come over. Stevie smiled broadly and ran toward the bed. Sam sat up once the twins sat on his bed.

"Are you okay?" Stacey asked quietly. Sam shrugged.

"So are you guys mad at me too?" he asked cautiously. Stacey and Stevie looked at each other and simultaneously shrugged and shook their heads.

"For what?" Stevie asked as he kicked his shoes off and laid on the bed. "Ok, you were fired? You're ok now, right?"

Sam nodded his head nonchalantly.

"Problem solved to me." Stevie answered. Stacey shoved his shoulder lightly. He looked at her confused.

"Stevie, it's more complicated than that. We-" She moves her hand between Stevie and herself. "-don't care. But the lady downstairs does. She wants to feel like we have no secrets between us and this shows we do."

"Okayyyyy, but everyone has secrets. It's life. She's not our priest, she's our mother." Stevie snapped.

"She doesn't want to know your deep down desires, stupid. She wants to know things that are bothering us. This is a big thing that was bothering Sam and he kept it to himself." Stacey looked at Stevie for some recognition that he understood, but instead he made a face and closed his eyes.

"Think I should apologize?" Sam geared his question to Stacey with sad puppy dog eyes.

"Well if you look at her as pitiful as you do right now, yeah." Sam laughed as he shoved her lightly. Suddenly his face turned thoughtful. "Um, where's Mercy?"

"She's-" Stacey was interrupted by the sound of the house intercom buzzing. The Evans installed an intercom system into the house last year to avoid the constant shouting that was occurring throughout the house whenever someone was needed.

"Attention all Evans and friends of Evans! Please make your way to the family room pronto. We will be having People's Court in 20 minutes. I repeat, twenty minutes. So make your way to the family room immediately!" Dwight's voice boomed from the speakers.

The Evans siblings all looked at each other in shock.

"People's Court! Do you guys still do that?" Sam combed through his hair with his fingers. Stacey and Stevie nodded their heads quickly.

"Just had a session two months ago when I broke curfew by 3 hours. No phone or electronics for 3 days." Stacey interjected as she plopped her head in a pillow.

"And I had one two weeks ago for taking the car without permission. Two weeks of grounding and a week of working at the shelter." Stevie rubbed his face and ran his hands through his hair. "People's Court is intense."

"Who's usually the judge?" Sam asked.

"Hmm, sometimes mom, sometimes dad." Stevie stretched in the bed. "We even had Auntie Essie once. We had to keep shaking her to keep her awake though." Sam shook his head and got out of bed.

"Well come on. We've been summoned."

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The siblings walked into the family room silently. The atmosphere definitely shifted from the tension that was there an hour ago. There was still an intensity present but most definitely lighter. Dwight and Mary were sitting on the leather couch talking quietly. Mercedes was sitting on the stool at the bar alone. Sam immediately looked for her when they entered the room and felt sick seeing Mercedes looking so broken by herself. He wanted to immediately go to her and hold her, but felt like he had no idea what to say to her. Instead he opted to follow the twins to the loveseat next to the couch.

Mercedes looked up when she heard the sibling walking toward the loveseat. She watched as Sam sat on the loveseat, avoiding looking at her. Her stomach was tied in knots from this whole situation. She had no idea whether she should stay or go.

Sam avoided looking at his mom as he sat down. Mary watched him intently with a frown on her face. Dwight slapped his hands on his legs and stood up. All eyes were trained on him.

"Thank you all for coming."

"Did we have a choice?" Stevie asked sarcastically. Stacey jabbed him on the side with her elbow making him groan. Dwight smirked at his son.

"In fact, yes you do have a choice. If you choose to be in this family, you will participate. Do I make myself clear?" Stevie nodded as he slumped down in his seat.

"Okay then. So you all know the rules. We state our cases and listen to the judgment given." Mary added as she sat up on the couch.

"That's all well and good but we have one problem." Stacey interjected. "Who's going to be the judge?" Everyone looked at Dwight.

"I don't feel like I can truly be impartial." Dwight stated as he looked around the room. "What about the twins?"

"I'll tell you right now, I'm with Sam." Stevie declared as he sat up from his seat. "So I'm probably not the best judge." Mary was looking down frustrated when she suddenly lifted her head with a smile.

"Mercedes! She's the perfect judge!" she exclaimed.

"Huh?" Mercedes gasped, as all eyes turned on her. Sam shook his head, waving his hands.

"Wait, wait. I don't want to put Mercy in the midst of this chaos." His eyes finally met hers and they both turned away quickly.

"Um, if she's your girlfriend, she's family. Therefore she is automatically involved in this family chaos." Mary huffed. "Plus, she's smart, impartial and I trust her opinion." Mercedes looked at Mary with wide eyes.

"Really?! Why?" Mercedes couldn't help asking. Mary smiled as she got up and walked over to Mercedes.

"Because when you accidentally told me the truth, you were relieved that it was finally out there. That proves you are an honest and trustworthy person in my book." Mary made a point of emphasizing the word "accidentally" and side-eyed Sam. Sam was biting his lower lip.

"Well it has to be a unanimous vote. All in favor indicate by raising your hand." Dwight demanded. Slowly everyone lifted their hands. When all eyes turned to Sam, his hand was raised as well. He was looking intently into Mercedes' eyes.

"She is the best choice. She is the most brutally honest person I know." He stated confidently. Mercedes took in a deep breath and looked down, wringing her hands. Mary placed her hand on top of hers.

"What do you say?" she asked quietly. Mercedes shook her head as a small smile spread on her face.

"You are really the craziest white people I have ever met, you know that? Alright. I'll do it." She relented. The Evans cheered and clapped.

"Ok, let' set the courtroom up and get started." Mary declared.

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**I know, two chapters in two weeks? Amazing! It is just a short chapter to set you up for the next one which should be lengthy. Also I have been craving samcedes loving and nothing seems to be happening on site these days. So I decided I put my pent up energy into this story. The next chapter will be the trial! It will be a riot, trust me. Thank you guys so much for your support and reviews! They completely make my day. And with the horrible weather my hometown Chicago is getting right now, I need it! Tootles xoxo***