DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE NOR ANYTHING ELSE.

Lorenzo Ramirez Jr-James Rodriguez

"Dani, come on so I can do your hair." Mercedes called out for her daughter as she sat down on the couch, hearing her feet come down the stairs, she saw the wild hair of the five year old before she saw her. Chuckling when she smiled widely and came to sit in her lap. She sprayed her hair down with a mixture of water and coconut oil before she took the brush and began brushing out the tangles.

Danielle winced a little as she sat still on her mother's lap, watching a little of the movie that was on the screen, "Mommy?"

"Yes baby?" Mercedes answered as she put the brush down and picked up her comb, starting the part the girl's hair in different sections.

"Are you going to get married?" The little girl asked innocently as she stared at all the pretty dresses that were in the woman's closet.

Mercedes stopped for a moment before she shook her head, continuing at her task, "I don't think so baby."

"Mommy." She drawled out with a sigh, frowning but it turned into a bright smile when she thought of something, "You can marry my daddy when he comes back home."

Mercedes immediately felt tears form in her eyes once the words left the little girl's mouth. How do you tell your daughter that was never going to happen?

"I think you should get a big, poofy dress but not white, it could be purple, since that's your favorite color. You can wear a tiara and sparkly shoes. You're going to look so pretty mommy." The little girl spoke animatedly as her mother did her hair, not noticing the sadness that was sitting behind her.

Mercedes looked over the x-rays one last time before coming to a conclusion. Turning off the machine, she turned the lights back on and wrote in the charts. Definitely broken she thought. She walked out of the room and handed the chart to the nurse.

"Dr. Jones?"

"Yes." Mercedes answered as she turned around, hearing the voice and seeing the familiar face, "Hi Alex."

The teen smiled as he walked up to her, "Do you have a minute to talk?"

"Sure." Mercedes said with a smile as she gestured towards the empty waiting room, "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better. I'm still taking it easy. I was allowed to go back to school but you know, I can't do any physical activities or anything."

"Yes, try to stay away from that until school's out for this summer." Mercedes gave him a gentle smile before looking around, "Are your parents here?"

"No, actually Uncle Sander brought me. I wanted to come by to say thank you again and to give you this." He picked the bag up that he placed on the floor, handing it to her, "Uncle Sam explained the history between you two and I ask him what kind of candy did you like. I brought you a bunch of snickers, almond joys and green jolly ranchers."

"Aww, that is so sweet." Mercedes said as she gave him a smile as she leaned over and hugged him, "Thank you Alex, this really means a lot to me."

"It's nothing, really." He pulled back and pushed his glasses back up on his face, smiling, "I'm really thankful."

Mercedes saw Sander coming, shaking her head at the man once he stopped in his tracks to talk to a nurse, "He's hopeless."

Alex turned around to see who and what she was talking about, chuckling as he nodding, "Definitely." He looked at her again as he stood up, "We should get going. My mom is going to flip if I'm not back before dinner."

"Yes, you should. Thank you so much for this again. I really appreciate it."

Alex smiled as he nodded, placing his hands in his pockets, "Maybe we could get together soon at Uncle Sam's house. I would like to meet Danielle, if that's okay with you and her."

Mercedes smiled as she nodded, "I think we can make that happen." She laughed when he came and hugged her again, smiling, she waved at him and Sander before the two walked out. She turned on her heels and grabbed a snicker from the bag, opening it up, she took a bite as she headed towards the elevator. He didn't know but he just made her day one hundred percent better.

Sam drummed fingers against the counter as he sat on the stool in his kitchen. Today was a busy day for him. He was meeting this LJ guy who was taking Dani and her friends to Florida. After that, he had invited Santana over to talk. He had a lot of things he wanted to say to both of them. Hearing the doorbell ring, he got up and headed to the front door, pulling the hat down on his head as he peeped out the hole to see who it was first. Opening the door, he looked at the boy in front of him, who had a nervous smile on his face.

"M-Mr. Evans, right? No, I know who you are..I'm just.." He rambled out, seeing the blank expression on the man's face.

"Come in." Sam said as he moved aside, smirking to himself. He was nervous. Good he thought as he closed the door and headed into the living room, gesturing for him to take a seat.

Lorenzo sat down and looked at the man cautiously, "So.."

"The only thing I know about you is your name and age. Change that." Sam said as he leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes sir." He replied quietly, swallowing a huge lump in his throat as he stared at him, "My name is Lorenzo Ramirez Jr. I'm twenty-two and I'm graduating this year. I'm a computer engineering major. Honor roll student, sir. I play soccer. I already have a job line up for when I get out of school. I have one sister, Lourdes. I come from a good family and I'm a good man, I swear I am. I've known the Ms. Jones and Dani for since they've moved here. I have the upmost respect for them both."

"That's good to know." Sam said sincerely as he sat up, folding his hands in front of him, "Thank you for your background but I still don't trust you. Why should I let my nineteen year old daughter go out of town with not only her friends but you?"

"Sir." He started tugging at the collar of his shirt nervously, "I understand that you're uncomfortable with me being older and a guy around a bunch of girls but I promise you, I'm not like that. I see my sister's friends as my little sisters as well. I will never let anything happen to them and you can trust me, I swear."

"My priority is my daughter and let me make something very clear to you right now." Sam glared at him for a moment, "She better come back the same way she leaves. If anything happens to my daughter, I will kill you with no hesitation."

Lorenzo nodded almost immediately, rubbing his sweaty palms down his jeans, "Y-Yes sir."

Sam stood up from the couch, causing the young man to do so as well. He seemed like a good kid and Mercedes vouched for him but he had to see for himself. He felt at ease though because he knew he had the bodyguards for Dani anyways. He looked at him again before holding out his hand, still not giving him a smile, "Don't forget what I said."

Lorenzo nodded as he shook his hand quickly. He had never been scared of anyone in his whole entire life, besides his parents and Dani's mom, but her dad took the cake, "I won't."

"Good." Sam said as he let go of his hand, walking towards the front door and opening it, just to see Santana walking up the steps, "Hey."

Santana looked up and gave him a small smile, "Hi." She saw a shaken up LJ coming out of his house and she couldn't help but smirk, "Hey LJ, estás bien?

"Hola señora Lopez. Estoy bien..creo. Tenga un buen día." He rushed out as he passed her, heading down the steps to his truck.

Sam raised a brow while Santana laughed at the boy, "You scared him."

"I had to." Sam smiled as he walked back into the house, closing the door again once she came in, "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine." She said as she sat her purse down on the couch, sitting down, she crossed her legs and placed her hands on her knee.

"Thank your for coming. I really been wanting to talk to you for awhile." Sam said honestly as he looked at her, "I wanted to give you my side of the story."

"There's no need." Santana interrupted him, sighing as she casted her eyes to the floor, "I know the truth and there is no reason for you to keep repeating it over and over again. I believe you. I guess the reason I've been so cold is because even knowing the truth, I wasn't so trusting with excepting you back in my life. My girl has been to hell and back for the past twenty years. I was there. I saw her ups and downs, and it killed me." She looked at him again, "I guess what I'm saying is I don't want to see her hurt anymore and yes, I'm scared for her because every since you've been back, she has been nothing but happy."

"I'm not going hurt her Santana, I swear I'm not."

"I know." She said again, placing a smile on her face as she crossed her arms, "You're a good guy Sam, I always felt in my gut that it had to be more to the story. You don't how many times I've tempted to call you over the years but I didn't for two reason. Mercedes didn't want me to and I'm pretty sure I would've kicked your ass if I saw you again."

"I'm still surprised you never tracked me down to do so." He laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to lighten up the mood.

Santana smirked as she looked at her nails, "Actually, I've never physically hurt you but I did do a couple things."

Sam raised a curious brow when he heard what she said. Seeing that familiar devilish look on her face, he sat up, "What did you do?"

"I'm the reason you no longer went to your favorite Thai restaurant after getting food poisoning twice. The damage to your trucks on several occasions. I anonymously payed a naive rookie player a thousand dollars to step on your ankle one game. I was the one who got into the locker room undetected and cut up both of your uniforms." She saw the look on his face, "Yeah, don't underestimate Snix. I have my ways and when you hurt the people I love, I don't hesitate to hurt you in some way. I actually feel really bad now but at that moment, I was satisfied."

"Damn." That was all Sam could say. He remember every single one of those moments like it was yesterday. She was right when she said she had her ways because he had no idea that it was her who did all those things, nor could anyone find out who it was. Sam came out of his thoughts when he heard her apologize and he gave her a small smile, "Don't be. I understand why you did it."

Santana nodded as she picked at the end of her shirt, frowning, "Your brother is the biggest asshole I have ever met, seriously. I literally want to smash his face in and make him pay for what he did."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Sam sighed as he shook his head. He was over Saint completely. He wasn't a brother to him, matter of fact, he was dead to him. He stared at his former friend for a moment before speaking, "Are we okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay."

"Am I pushing it if I ask for a hug?" Sam teased lightly, seeing the frown on her face, he chuckled as he stood up anyways and attacked her with a big hug.

"Gross Trouty." Santana rolled her eyes but she hugged him back, hiding the smile that was on her lips. She was happy that they cleared the air and they could be friends again. She really did miss him.

Mercedes held the bowl in her hands as she walked to her living room, seeing Sam on his phone, she smiled as she made her way in and sat beside him on the couch. Sticking her spoon inside her bowl of chocolate ice cream, scooping up some and placing it in her mouth. She turned to Sam, placing a bit more on her spoon and putting it to his mouth, "Let me just see if your sweet tastebuds are gone for real."

"They are, Mercedes." Sam chuckled as he moved his face from the spoon, locking his phone and putting it on the table.

Mercedes rolled her eyes as she put the spoon in her mouth, moaning dramatically which caused him to laugh, "Alex came by to see me yesterday and he brought a candy bag."

"I know. He called me the other day and asked what your favorites were."

"So sweet of him and so sweet of you to help." Mercedes said as she turned to the side and gave him quick peck on the lips, "How did things go with LJ and San?"

"I don't like the boy and things went great with Santana. We made amends, which I'm very happy about. I even got a hug out of it." Sam snickered at that as he stole the cherry from Mercedes' bowl, popping it in his mouth.

Mercedes glared at him for a moment, "Im really happy for you two. Why don't you like LJ though? He's a good kid, very respectful if you haven't notice."

"He's still a boy."

Mercedes laughed as she pushed his shoulder a bit, snorting, "Papa bear coming out in full force I see."

"Damn skippy. She's may be nineteen but she still my little girl." Sam shrugged as he gave her a lopsided grin, grabbing her hand and pressing a kiss against it, "Did I mention that I really love this ring on your finger?"

Mercedes smiled at him before her eyes drifted down to the heart shaped diamond ring on her third finger of her left hand. Yes. She had said yes when Sam asked her to marry him the other night. She loved him and he was right, they've spent so much time apart, "I love it being there. It's very beautiful too."

"Only the best for my girl." He smiled as she wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. He kissed her forehead, letting it linger awhile before moving, "I hate to bring this up right now but I want everything to be out on the table and done with. You could probably guess when I came into the emergency room the way I did was because Saint and I got into a fight. Well, the real reason why he sent that text was because he was jealous of our relationship. He had a crush on you and by doing what he did, I guess he was making sure since he couldn't have you, neither could I."

Mercedes stared at him for a moment to see if he was joking, placing her bowl in front of her on the table. She had no idea that Saint had a crush on her. One, he always joked around but she thought he was just playing and giving his younger brother a hard time just like big brothers do. She was beyond pissed. He had no right, none whatsoever to do what he did.

Sam looked at her carefully and noticed a lot of emotions running across her face. He knew she was mad and she had right to be, "Come here." He pulled her by her arm so that she could sit diagonally on his lap. He placed a soft kiss on her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist, "At the end of the day, the truth is out and his plan didn't work. I have you and Dani, and that's all that matters."

Mercedes sighed before she turned to look at him, smiling as she pulled his hat down over his eyes, "You're right."

Sam smiled as he leaned forward and kissed her, hearing their daughter coming down the stairs, he pulled back reluctantly, "When are you going to tell her?"

"When she comes back from Florida." Mercedes said as she pulled the ring off and placed it in the pocket of her pajama bottoms. She smirked as she gazed at him, putting him some type of trance before she whispered, "I want to enjoy this moment with you for a minute before we tell anyone."

"I have no objections to that." He said distractedly as he looked into her eyes before his own drifted down to her lips, "No objections at all."

Mercedes smiled as she kissed him on his cheek before getting off his lap, picking up her bowl and headed towards the kitchen.

Danielle moved both of her suitcases to the foyer, sighing as she walked to the living room with her hands on her hips, "I finally finished packing."

"I'm pretty sure you have more than what you actually need." Mercedes said with a chuckle as she looked at her daughter, smiling.

Danielle snorted as she wrapped her arms around her mom, laying her head down on top of her head, "Are you sure you're going to be okay while I'm gone?"

"Yes baby. I'm going to be very occupied." She said as she gave Sam a knowing look before looking back their daughter, "You know, with work and stuff."

"And I'm going to pop in and check on her to make sure she's alright, duh. What am I, chopped liver?" Sam asked teasingly as he stood up and made his way to them.

You're going to do more than just check on her I bet Dani thought before smiling, letting go of her mom to give her dad a hug, "No, you're not chopped liver. It's just this will be the longest I've been without mom and I just want to make sure she's going to be alright."

"She will be and don't you worry about her. You go have fun and enjoy yourself, I can handle things here." Sam reassured her as he rubbed her back, letting go with a smile.

Danielle looked between the two of them. They were super giddy for some reason and she had no idea why. She knew when her mom came home from their date the other night, it was super late but she was happy. She knew they were taking things slow so maybe they were just happy to be back in each other lives? She didn't know and honestly, she loved seeing them like this, "Alright, I'm going to head to bed because we're leaving at five to get head of traffic. I love you mom and dad." She gave them both a hug and a kiss before turning on her heels and heading back up the stairs.

"We love you too." Mercedes replied before she looked at Sam and smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist as she laid her head on his chest.

"Come stay with me for the week. I only live fifteen minutes away from your job." Sam said as he swayed them from side to side, twirling his finger in one of her curls, "Plus, me and Dasher get lonely. It would be nice to have some company."

Mercedes giggled as she lifted her head up to stare at him, placing a soft kiss on his lips, "Okay."

"Great, I promise you won't regret it." He whispered with a smirk, running his hands across her lower back. Yep, he was going to make sure, she didn't regret this at all.

A/N. Let the fun begin! Quick review today. That flashback though, tears man. That was so sweet of Alex to bring Mercedes that candy and thank her again. Sam being your typical overprotective dad with LJ, lmao. And yes I did use the soccer player for his FC! (The boy is fine lol) Samtana making amends was by far my favorite thing, and yes, I told you that Santana didn't physically do anything to him but she didn't let him get away with anything either. YES, Mercedes said yes,Oh my god. I believe you guys are going to fall in love with the next chapter. It's going to make you laugh & cry all in one! I asked on my tumblr account which flashbacks moments would you like to read so let me know guys!