Summer Menagé IV
AnniKay

Sam/Mercedes/Puck
Disclaimer: I own Nothing…Murphy, Falchuk, and Brennen along with Fox and others own this fandom and all the characters there in…Anything you recognize obviously belongs to them.

THANKS to everyone who has taken the time to review any or, in some cases, all of the stories in this series. Your encouragement helps more than you know. Take a moment and let me know what you enjoyed most about the update.

THANKS to DaughterofDarkness87 for all her beta reading awesomeness.

AN: This is the next story in the French Lessons Universe. It will be from many different perspectives and will take care of the summer between Commune's collegiate sophomore and junior years. Again, it is planned as a series of connected one shots. I hope that you will read, enjoy and review.

Guest Staring:
Bob Sagat as Danny Tanner
Lori Laughlin as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis

Chapter 24
Nobody's Perfect (Jessie J)
Mercedes PoV

I tried to be a good person. I tried to live a right life. I had my vices, refusing to only love either Noah or Sam was probably chief among them. But I did try to be a DIVA without being a bitch. There were times that I failed to walk that particular line. I was, after all, only human. One sure fire way to flip my bitch switch was racism. I had a bone deep hatred of the N-word and could not stand bigotry of any kind. The other way, which I discovered by accident, was to make me afraid. I didn't mean 'scared' either. I liked a good horror movie or jump scare as much as the next person. But fear, actually being afraid for someone I loved or even myself, fear…that was not an emotion I was comfortable with. The night of the twenty-fifteen VMAs was the first time I truly understood fear. The other times I'd thought that I had been afraid, I'd really just been very, very scared. I'd been scared for others. I'd even been scared for my relationship. But in that moment, when Corbin Richardson popped his happy ass up and talked to me-touched me, I saw every one of his intentions towards me in the smirk on his lips and the glint in his eyes. I was so afraid in that moment that all I could do was, literally, grin and bear it. I couldn't even manage to say anything. I hid my fear behind a veneer of professional aloofness. I think I managed to come across as polite…barely.

Maybe it had been naïve of me…I knew that Kurt often accused me of relying too literally on God's protection. That night, for the first time, I wondered if maybe he wasn't a little bit right. Because even when I'd chatted with Toccara earlier and in the small talk confirmed his presence, I didn't think that my stalker would show his face. Let alone get all up in my face. After all, he'd made up some international business emergency to avoid the VIP meet and greet after our Staples Center concert. Then again, maybe I'd had to come face to face and endure the touch of that bastard because, as much as I liked Toccara, I was putting my safety above hers. It went against all my Black girl sistahood and female solidarity, but I listened to Ethan and Daniel and Lester, who had all warned me against giving her a heads up about what a psychotic jack ass of a bastard she had become involved with.

When it occurred to me that we were leaving my fellow voluptuous Jones woman in the lurch, I'd approached Rangeman through Lester to try and find out a way to warn her that wouldn't get the asshat's attention. Lester had been more serious than I'd ever seen him before. "You can't. You cannot say anything to anyone associated with Richardson. It would take away every advantage we currently have." He said bluntly. "Right now, he thinks that he is the one in control. He thinks that he is the chess master and running the game. The idiot that he actually is fully believes that he is several steps ahead. He is cocky and arrogant. Not only will that make him underestimate us, but it will cause him to get bolder. The bolder he gets the easier it will be for him to slip and make mistakes. The more mistakes he makes, the easier it becomes for us to catch him.

Lester had brought in the male family members he had the most direct access to. Uncle Ethan's response had been two fold, an angry combination of Lester's pragmatism and his ownfamilial over protectiveness. "Look, as your uncle, I love the wonderful young woman you are and how much you care for others. But I'm just gonna be real as hell with you Benzie. I didn't spend three weeks arguing and three hundred bucks all to convince my stubborn ass big sister to use a breast pump so I could hold and feed Toccara Jones when she was a baby. I didn't change her diapers or read to Toccara Jones every night of ever break I had from college. I didn't spend years considering her the daughter I'd probably never have. I don't hold her in my heart as dear to me and as beloved by me as Adam or Avery. I care about her as a fellow human being. But ultimately, I don't give a damn about Toccara Jones and I would trade her health and well being for yours in less than a heartbeat. That's why, as your uncle, I am telling you here and now, DO NOT say anything to her. As your lawyer, I can tell you honestly that you cannot say anything to her. Legally, you cannot accuse that psychotic asshole of anything without proof and, right now, none of the evidence we have would hold up in court. Doing so would open you up to legal action and there is no way he wouldn't use his advantage. It would be impossible to keep you safe and sane having to go to a court house and face him every day for who knows how the hell long a trial could take. So no…Mercedes Antoinette Jones, you're just gonna have to let God and Toccara take care of herself while we and He takes care of you."

After I'd misread his actions concerning Hannah for all those years, Daniel had decided that I lacked the ability to understand subtlety, so he was just as brutally honest with me as Uncle Ethan had been. "Look 'Ain't Got No Mercy', Let's just say for a second that Toccara already knows that Old Dude is foul as hell…and really, if she doesn't know for sure, she damn sure has to at least suspect…what is she going to do if you step to her with this information? The way I see it, she'll do one of two things. If she confronts him, that certainly puts her further in danger and could put you further in danger. Or she could just dip to the left which would almost undoubtedly put you further in danger and could still, possibly, put her in danger too. Right now, the best-case scenario or both of you is for that muthafucka to either get arrested, tried and convicted or even better yet, he gets hit by a bus driving to work and he can go to hell and see how demons handle stalking." I could have sworn he finished by saying that it would probably still be kinder than what he wanted to do to the stalking ass coward. But he acted like he hadn't said anything after the demon comment.

It made me feel a little bit scuzzy, but I did as they asked. Primarily because I knew that Daniel was right. The best way for both me and Toccara to be safe from Richardson was if he was either behind bars or dead. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to curl up in a corner and freak the hell out as was an appropriate reaction to that particular situation. The VMAs pretty much demanded our attendance at the after parties and even if they didn't Darcy and Daniel were adamant that they did. So, I needed to get my head back in the game. I had to shake off the fear and all the thoughts about that jackass to get through the night. If the first thing I did once we'd seen the back of Corbin Richardson was wash the hell out of my hands, well who could blame me. It was a good safety measure. I knew there were certain drugs that could be absorbed through the skin. I didn't put it past him to have tried to slip me something that way. Since the very beginning of the whole music artist journey, I'd found that the best way to get past, to push away thoughts that destroyed my calm, shake my confidence and robbed me of my joy was to focus on those things that gave me back strength and happiness. To get happy enough thoughts to restore my positivity, I didn't really have to work that hard. That entire summer had been full of them.

I allowed myself to remember all the fun we'd had with the younger siblings, our daughters, parents and Bubbie when they were on the road with us. I couldn't help but smile as I thought about Sarah's excitement at having been mentioned in several post Teen Choice Awards best dressed articles. The three of us, she, Tessa and I were lumped together at number three on two different ones and she'd gotten an honorable mention on like six others. Plus she was mentioned in a Huffington Post article about whether it was right to reward kids for good grades when having a good educational foundation should have been reward enough. Thinking of Sarah reminded me that I needed to interrogate Santana for more information about the mysterious lover boy that Stevie and Stacey said had popped up at Sarah's birthday party. Inquiring minds wanted to know, because both of the twins said that the looks he was giving Sare-Bear were hot like fire. Noah was no help. He just laughed and said that KC and Sarah had known each other from way back. My thoughts of Tana led me to remember the palpable sense of pride that she, Artie and Brittany had when they showed us their Lima home, and just how happy we were for them. I made a mental note to set them up with the landscaper and maintenance company the Moms had taking care of our place, I might pay for them for the first three months as my house warming gift or something.

Another bit of joy reminded me of the happiness that Angel Mom had shared with all of us just a few weeks into the summer. The fact that she'd gotten promoted to Team Leader was a huge feather in her cap. But even more it meant so much to her that her principle trusted her that much even though she hadn't been teaching as long as some of the other teachers. We were all sure that she would do a great job. She loved being an educator and that love always made a good teacher great.

Of course, thoughts of things back home brought to mind Ms. Pillsbury, she had given me permission to call her Emma, but I just couldn't. She had been so happy and beautiful on her wedding day. Her dress had been so perfectly her. It had been lovely…the whole wedding had, in fact. But given her extreme attention to detail and Hal's military and Rangeman developed ability to focus, that wasn't surprising. Thanks to Hudson, Sam, Noah and I had been able to give her a perfect present for her wedding gift. She and Hal had registered for a lovely set of Lenox Opal Innocence Silver China. Just two weeks before the big day, when we were looking through the registry to find a great gift that would hold some meaning and show her that we were grateful for all she had tried to do for us when we were in high school, Hudson sighed at one point. "Oh, that would make me crazy. And I don't actually have OCD."

"What?" Noah asked her with a laugh at the look of pure disgust on her face.

Hudson shivered in disquiet. "People have gotten her all the serve ware for the set, but only two people have gotten her place settings. Meaning that her set is either going to be incomplete forever or she will have to spend quite a bit of money to complete her China cabinet."

"If it bothers you this much, Huds…Ms. Pillsbury would totally hate it." Sam said before quietly clicking on and purchasing four of the remaining eight place settings. I added another four settings and a set of crystal vases that the couple had chosen. Noah gave us both side eyes for leaving nothing for him.

"Get her two more sets…twelve is a more complete number than ten and it will give her extras too." Hudson suggested. That seemed like a good idea to him so he did that and also added the entire Marquis by Waterford, "Rainfall" five piece gift collection that remained on the registry as well.

At the reception Ms. Pillsbury thanked us profusely. I treasured the simple white gold cross bracelet she gave me to thank me for singing at her wedding. I told her that it was totally my pleasure, but she insisted that I take the gift. "Mercedes' I know that you could buy this for yourself a thousand over, but I also know that you are a truly good person and so you recognize the sentiment of gratitude behind the gift." She really wasn't wrong. It meant more to me than many of the more expensive pieces in my jewelry box. Ms. Pillsbury had also introduced me to her new sister-in-law. That was fun and it was a total trip. I'd never before been anybody's cure. Cheryl Gruber was hilarious. And her baby, Elianna, was as gorgeous as her name. I had to turn away from those thoughts…that way led to baby fever and madness.

My turn away from how much I was looking forward to having children with my two loves took me to my soul sister and her new fiancé. James and Quinn gave Kurt and Blaine all the credit for their meeting and I gave the credit they were due…but I knew in my heart of hearts that James had been the answer to their prayers of my parents and my Aunt Essie and myself. Because he truly saved her. There was a point when I was truly afraid that Quinn would take her own life. Not that she would commit suicide or anything she considered crass…but she'd started down a very self-destructive road. I'd seen that and knew where the road would end. But I had not realized how far down that road she had gone. Whether it was because we were dealing with our own dramas and things or just us being young and dumb, none of us New Directions really had. I regretted that, but I was so glad that we hadn't had to pay for our failure and that Quinn was now, every bit, as happy as she deserved…as the rest of us were.

A smile crossed my face as I considered our surreptitious engagement gift to Que and James. My mother had been an amazing help in getting the gift certificates purchased. We'd each asked her how she had known from which stores Quinn had planned on getting the furnishings for their home away from home. Momma had been evasive at best and down right shifty at worst. Suffice it to say, none of us had gotten an answer. We didn't get an answer when we asked her how she knew fairly detailed dollar amounts for each store either. Just an insanely smug look…she literally looked like a cat who caught a canary and knew exactly what to do with it. Despite, the fact that Momma refused to tell us how she knew, we'd been glad that her knowledge enabled us to get Quames all they would need to get what they wanted. That was the thought that ensured that I was smiling hugely as we left the Microsoft Theater to get changed. One of the papz caught the smile and by the time we made it to Ysabel for the Republic Records after party the enterprising photog had posted it online with a poll asking people to pick what they thought had made me smile like that. My favorite of the five choices was 'if you were going to a hotel with Sam Evans and Puck, you'd have a big ass koolaid smile on your face too'. Of course, there was the expected, 'you just know she is thinking…Ooooh…the after party has an all you can eat buffet', comment too, but thankfully that one only had two votes and the comments under it blasted the pollster and the two people who had selected that choice.

Hudson was, as always, amazing. We tended to just tell her were going to an awards show and she made the itineraries happen. We just followed them, often without asking any questions. She had us all set for dinner with our Crew and Team at our hotel. From there it was really easy to head upstairs and change from my gorgeous gown into a cutely sexy, viridian green, Haney Serena sequined romper with a deeply plunging-neck and a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti Betty Shanghai sandals in black with green, ivory and wine floral details. Dee took a moment to unbraid my hair to the nape of my neck and leave the weave flowing and waving down my back. The Ysabel party was…it was fine. As usual there were things we enjoyed and there were things that were, at best, social posturing and could be ignored. I was surprised to find that Tiana, though an Empire artist, was rolling deep with Taylor Swift's squad. Then again, from what a little birdie had told me about Tiana's real sexuality…maybe her inclusion in the Tay-Tay squad meant that the skinny blonde had a far more interesting reason for being a serial dater than I'd ever thought. Actually, I was pretty sure that I was just clutching at straws to keep the boredom at bay…but creating amusing mental back stories did keep me entertained for a few minutes.

The evening wasn't totally boring. I had fun talking to some of the West Coast centered artists that we knew and liked but didn't actually see very often. Quite a few of them had attended our concert and its after party just a few days prior and they were still gushing about our MJ tribute and the length of the dynamic concert over all. Puck and Nick Jonas decided to have a 'white boy rap-off' while Nick's brother, Joe, spun in the DJ's booth for Avicii who'd needed a break. And, yes, that was every bit as hilarious as it sounded. I got my dance on with a few people like Jamal and Kevin Valentine, guys who were just cool and chill and I didn't have to worry about trying to push up on me. Not that Kevin was gay…I just was the exact opposite of his type. Kevin had come with his little sister who had come with my cousin after we'd been there for about half an hour. Daniel popped up with one of his newest client, Andre Harris, and Andre's high school friend and pop princess Cat Valentine. Cat was, she was an amazing talent with a pretty simple mind. Daniel had discovered that the first thing he'd needed to do was to make sure that Cat reconnected with her friends from high school. Her label had isolated her from their protective influences and, instead allowed her to be surrounded by hangers on and sycophants. Her label approved 'friends' did not have her best interests at heart, at all. She though they were really her friends but they were just taking the poor thing for a ride.

I actually liked Cat. She was a very sweet girl. I wished that Brits, Tana, and Artie had come with us rather than going to the Adidas party. We were invited to both, but really only had enough time to attend one or the other, so we'd decided to take the divide and conquer approach. The VMAs had ended at a quarter after eleven, by the time we'd had a late dinner and changed and headed out to the parties, it was almost two. While our team and most of our crew had the chance to enjoy the nightlife as much as they wanted, Sam, Noah and I had to get checked out and on our bus by no later than four. We were due in San Francisco by nine thirty to make the final segment of Tina's roommate's father and aunt's regional morning show. Once we were finished with that, we would join the rest of the tour in Sacramento for a show that evening before heading on to Portland.

Touring and promoting our brand was not easy, but I tried to, and usually, found something truly great about every single day of it. For example, take the day after the VMAs, even though we had to be in the 'Wake Up San Francisco' hair and makeup chairs after barely having time to nap…meeting Danny Tanner and Rebecca Katsopolis and all of DJ's family…really, they were all there…was totally worth it. They were truly kind people and they cared deeply for Tina and Mike, which made them awesome in my book. The interview was, it was nice. Mrs. Katsopolis took the harder, career focused questions, while Mr. Tanner asked the soft ball, school and family related questions. The questions were mostly ones we'd answered a thousand times before, but they worked in a few surprises too. "So, your first headlining tour is just days away from the majority of the dates. In addition to your friends' proposal at your Chicago show, social media has you three responsible for a record number of engagements at your concerts. How does it make you feel to know that conservative estimates think that there were an average of a hundred and two proposals that happen at each of your arena shows?"

Sam's answer started with a smile that was simply huge. "Humbling." He answered for all of us. "I mean, it is wonderful that our fans are feeling the love and wanting to commit to each other, so that is great. But at the same time, it is very humbling that so many of them want us to be a part of such a momentous occasion in their lives."

Puck and I quickly cosigned the sentiment, with Noah adding, "Yeah, but if things don't work out…remember, it ain't our fault. We didn't do anything but provide a soundtrack for your question popping needs." I smacked him on the arm for show, of course, he wasn't wrong. The studio audience found his irreverence and our byplay endearing.

"So, in an effort to assure full disclosure, I'll remind everyone that my daughter DJ happens to be roommates with one of KAMA's friends who is currently working as their background singer on the Aesthetic Enjoyment Tour." Danny said calmly to the camera. Before turning to us with his question. "Now, Tina told DJ about a time when young Mr. Puckerman was trying to woo Ms. Jones, and he compared her to a Nissan car ad."

Puck turned red as hell. Rebecca pounced all over it. "Are you embarrassed, Puck? I could have sworn you didn't get embarrassed."

"Yeah, I'm embarrassed. If you knew how smooth I thought I was being and yet how epically I failed to get Cede to date me with that line, you'd understand why. In my entire life there have only been two chicks I tried to scam on who didn't give me some play. Mercedes Jones was the first. She wouldn't have anything to do with me until I stepped to her correct. But back then, I was too stupid to realize that she valued herself in a way I just wasn't used to chicks our age doing."

I'd been carefully not looking at Sam. I knew that he knew the story and I knew that he almost died laughing every time he thought of the look he was sure crossed my face in that moment. Sammy-Boy had tried. He'd even almost managed not to laugh, but then Mr. Tanner looked at him. "Sam, you're extremely red yourself. Are you embarrassed for Puck, too?"

They had to wait for an answer. Sam had tried to keep his reactions to himself. But when he opened his mouth to answer, all that came out were big, loud guffaws. He laughed so hard he fell out of his seat. When he could finally speak, he tried to explain. "Sorry, sorry. Y'all just don't understand. Mercy, she has this look, and it was our friend Artie that told me that story and he…" more laughter. "Sorry, when he told me about it, he pulled Mercy's 'Hell to the No' face and…I just. It was just…too good. Then Artie, he showed me the look that Puck had on his face when she was completely unimpressed with the game he was running." More laughter. "Sorry, it was just too good." Since Sam had done his level best to give accurately convey the hilarity of the impressions Artie had done for him, Mr. Tanner, Mrs. Katsopolis and their audience certainly agreed.

When the three of us, the hosts and studio audience got ourselves together, the interview continued. "As a father, I cannot imagine having DJ spending her summers touring the country, especially after a year like you guys have had all while taking one and two thirds full college course loads. How are you managing to do all that you do at barely twenty-one…and how are your parents not going crazy worrying about you?"

I fielded that one. "Well, as for the first part…we're blessed to have a great support system. Our parents are always there to lend a shoulder or some perspective…or both. Our friends are all good about telling us when our schedules are adversely affecting our personalities. Our team is wonderful about making the work of our job go as smoothly as possible. We have the support of a great team at Warner. They have made sure that they gave us the best people for our tour. Our PA Hudson is…she is awe inspiringly efficient. Our crew is not only a bunch of very talented individuals, but they've made themselves into a Framily that we are proud to let us be a part of."

"As for our parents…they do worry. But they also pray…like a lot." Sam said with a grin. "And it probably helps that they have jobs and busy lives to live everyday themselves. Mercy's parents are both dentists and they have two toddlers still at home. Puck's stepfather is an architect and a general contractor. Ms. Becah, his mom, she just went back to med school to live her dream. They still have one and a half kid at home. I mean, yeah, Puck's brother Jake is an emancipated minor, but they still make sure that he has everything that he needs and has parental support. My mom is a teacher and she just got a promotion that gives her a ton more responsibilities. She and dad still have three kids at home. On top of all of that, our parents have started a business together…in addition to the one they started with, like, all the original ND parents. They are so busy that they don't have time to worry as much as they might if they had less going on themselves. Then again, wine and beer could also have a lot to do with the chill they manage to convey most of the time. But we know they worry about us, so we call them every day and visit when we can. Moms D and Hell Bent, Mercy's mom and dad, along with Bubbie Ruth, our head stylist and our, well technically Puck's, grandmother, they brought all our school age siblings and our daughters on the road with us for a couple of weeks. I think that seeing how seriously we take our safety probably helped them to worry less."

"Okay, I have to say that 'schedules adversely affecting personalities' is the nicest euphemism I've ever heard for getting cranky when you're tired. I think my twins' schedules were adversely affecting their personalities just last night." Becky chuckled easily. "So, other than your classes starting in a few weeks, what's next for KAMA?"

I handled that. "Well, we've still got sixteen concert dates in the next few months, we're filming a video in Barbados for our next single and we've got a few more singles to release off of Foolish Wisdom. So we're going to be pretty busy for at least the fall, winter and spring. Oh, and on top of that, a little birdie told me that my mom and favorite aunt on my mom's side of the family are going to convince me to pledge this year since I did not have any time at all to do so last year."

The interview was wrapped up soon there after and we spent a little time talking to DJ's family. In thirty minutes, Jesse Katsopolis seemed to become Noah's reformed bad boy mentor-slash-idol, all while the rocker turned radio host tried to convince Noah to grow his hair out. As those two were bonding, Joey Gladstone and Sam had a ball trying to outdo each other in an impromptu imitation competition. Tina, Mike, Becky, DJ, and the other Tanner girls and I were their judges and I almost hurt myself I was laughing so hard. We had so much fun getting to know Tike's new people that we ran a little late getting to Sacramento. Thankfully, it was only an hour and a half on the road, less than that by the time Brock finished 'making good time'. Sacramento was a great show. The crowd was hype. We did a pretty straight set order, so the show itself ran silky smooth. Chelsea Wolfe was older than most of our other openers. She was as much a singer-songwriter as Alessia and Todrick. Her biggest difference was that there was a far more country meets R&B vibe to her music even if she presented a more gothic aesthetic. She had never been a main stream headliner, but she had been touring for years. She'd recently released her fourth studio album and her time on our tour promoting it was introducing her to a whole new audience. We said goodbye to her after Sacramento, it was rather sad. I wanted nothing but the best for our witchy woman. She was truly talented.

There wasn't an after party in Sacramento. Instead as soon as we were finished with all the meet and greets and promo recording for area radio stations, we hit the showers and loaded in. The drive to Portland was a long one and because the stay was going to be so short, we were staying at the Jantzen Beach RV Park. According to Hudson, since we were booking an entire bulk of lots, we got their ten percent off Triple-A discounted rate for the eight big ass RVs and the two rigs. Sam, Noah and I spent the first half of the trip building each other's pleasure up and up and up until all we could do was revel in our orgasms. Sometimes our lovemaking bordered on tantric…at least the pop culture definition thereof. When we'd first gotten started touring, I'd kind of felt a little bad for Hudson. She had to hear all our sounds and we were each really loud in different ways. Then there was the fact that Hudson was asexual, which made it both better and worse somehow. I worried about how it affected our shy PA, but Hudson had made me check out her super effective Bose noise canceling headphones. Two minutes with those bad boys on my head and I fully believed that nothing we could do would bother Huds while she was wearing them.

In the nine hours of travel time, we made serious love and caught some serious Zzs. As soon as we were checked in, Sam had us all in our exercise gear for a quick almost six mile run around the eastern end of Hayden Island, the small island in the Columbia River where the RV park was located. After the run, everyone's time was their own until we had to head to the venue at one for mic checks, practice, hair and makeup all before dinner and the show. For a change, we were actually able to take complete advantage of that down time. It felt so good to be able to just read for fun. Not reading for an assignment or something to make me a better Christian or person or songwriter…but just a fun, light, guilty pleasure, historical romance novel. It was great.

I wondered briefly how our fans would react if they could see us like we were that morning. There were no rock stars present on that tour bus that morning. Noah was rocking what had, once upon a time, been a navy blue ribbed tank-tee and some sweat pants that may have at one point been black but had faded to a soft and comfy charcoal gray. Sam's lounging ensemble was at least both significantly newer and color coordinated. His Blue Lantern graphic tee matched his Tennessee Titans workout shorts well. The shorts had been free, a gift from the team when we played Nashville. Both Sam and Noah had been made honorary Tennessee Titans for the night in some weird way. Apparently, their General Manager had been an old friend of Sam's grandfather. Sam had the entire rainbow of Lantern shirts and just threw on which ever 'matched' the shorts or sweatpants he'd thrown on that day. But the most ironic part of our lounging around clothes had to be that I, Ms. Diva Fashionista, had put even less effort than either of the guys into my look. I'd taken all the weave out of my hair and was rocking a weird braided faux hawk, until Dee could get ahold of me again. My clothing was actively borderline ratchet. Two soft sports bras were holding the girls in place and keeping me decent because the HU Bison basketball tank I'd stolen from my father years before was threadbare to say the least. My ribbed PJ leggings were bleach splotched, but so comfortable that I didn't care. I was the schlubbiest schlub in Schlubtown and I didn't care. I was completely comfortable. We had the tour bus's windows open and the cross breeze was just perfect.

We were all in our own little worlds though wrapped around each other. Puck was playing Mario Kart on his DS. He was deep in the Mushroom Kingdom. Sammy-Boy was deeply enthralled in the Black Panther comic book series…deeply. I was pretty sure that a bomb could have gone off next to us and he would have had to leave Wakanda to realize it. Then again, the pot should not call the kettle immersed. The world of Lady Whistledown and the Bridgertons had me enraptured. There was a good chance that I wouldn't have heard the bomb either. Apparently, no one else had really felt like going out for lunch any more than the three of us and Hudson had either because any place that would deliver to the RV park delivered to at least one of our rigs. The four of us had Chinese for lunch. It was delicious. Other than a short chat with our parents, our only interactions came from Sam playfully twirling my hair in his fingers as he read or Puck leaning over to drop a celebratory kiss on one of the two of us as he played his game. We just vegged out and enjoyed some quiet time until it was time to leave for the arena. I wasn't sure where Hudson, Brock and Jake disappeared to, but somehow we found ourselves alone together for a few hours just sharing space and companionable silence.

We enjoyed our quiet time so much that we'd had to rush to get ourselves presentable. It was only a short hop to the Moda Center, so Hudson had arranged passenger vans so that the only part of our caravan that had to move was the Swag Van, currently manned by our west coast tenants, Jon Scully, Ryan Atwood, Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts, who wasn't actually our tenant…though she was there as often as she could get away from her classes and her activism. Darcy had handled LA and Sacramento with them, teaching them Tessa and Joe's well-run system. Originally, Darcy had believed that she would have to stay with us until we went home, but the tenants had stepped up and they were golden without her. She'd actually had Puck, Sam and I spend an hour or two every afternoon before our two Cali shows signing things for the last three shows in that part of the tour. When we got back to the City, she had more stuff for us to sign for the Swag Shacks at the sixteen weekend fall and winter dates. Darcy was a beast when it came to her shit. The Swag Shack sales had doubled the expected take by half way through the summer. When she got her commission from those sales, she was going to lose her shit for real. I couldn't wait to see her reaction.

Though I was a true diva, even I didn't do mic check or practice in stage gear. I had replaced the old Howard tank with a fire engine red, stretch, crossback tank from Juno Active and the bleach splashed leggings with a pair of heather gray, pocketed, capris yoga pants from the same company. Unfortunately, my feet were shod in the shoes that I'd be wearing for the first part of the shoe. I was on my fourth set of the Marc Fisher gladiator sandals. Performing as hard as we did…it wore shoes out. I was jealous of Puck's simple black and white Adidas and Sam's cute blue Nikes. Sam hadn't changed from his lounging clothes, but, like me, Noah had. He just didn't like showing too much of his true self in public. Noah was for his friends and family…the rest of the world got varying gradations of Puck. He'd changed into some black, Adidas joggers and a black tee shirt with a white hand on the front flicking off the world. Running through the checks wasn't difficult. Though, mic check had had a few minor hiccups. It had been nothing too major or dramatic. Practice had gone smoothly, but while we'd been going through some of the dance sequences, I'd made a realization.

Sam, Noah and I all had very different, but complementary styles on the stage. Me, I was a full diva. When I got on stage I channeled all the best parts of the songstresses that had inspired me. I was more dynamic than Madame Franklin, but I tried to keep her love of improvisation when singing. I was less dynamic than Frau Turner, but I honored her by allowing a rawness and vulnerability into my songs and into my singing. Like Queen Bey, I infused my dancing with moves that highlighted my curves. I ramped up my own subtle sexiness and showcased the loved I shared with my boos. Sam, he was a whole different story. He loved to hide his less than stellar dancing behind his guitar and used every opportunity to show off how sexy he was with his ax in hand. Yet, the thing most people saw when he performed was his sincerity and sweetness. Noah, however, on stage, he was sex personified. It was like he'd taken Coach Sylvester's long ago advice from the group competitions Shelby had sponsored our final year of high school and ran with it. Several articles called his sexiness a mixture of Chris Cornell and Jon Bon Jovi with just a hint of Freddie Mercury. I just knew that he made me want to jump him in front of God and everybody most nights we were on stage. Then again, I felt that way about both of my husbands almost all of the time.

Like many contemporary arena tours, we had had several 'guest stars' over the course of the tour, Shaggy in Miami was the first. We'd sung 'Wiggle' with Jason Derulo in Pittsburgh, 'Dilemma' and 'Country Grammar' with Nelly in St, Louis, 'Crazy' Steven Tyler in Indianapolis and 'Like a Boy' and '1, 2 Step' with Ciara and Missy Elliot in Denver. All the guests were arranged by Lyor and Deborah. Several of them, like Shaggy, were surprises. But most we'd talked with and about ahead of time. We actually had guests appear with us on both of our Pacific Northwest stops. For our Portland show, we were joined by MC Large Drink himself, Cherry Poppin' Daddies' Steve Perry. He did two different covers with us, CPD's hit 'Zoot Suit Riot' and Ska legend, Derrick Morgan's 'Forward March'. Justin's musical knowledge was both exhaustive and exemplary. It made him invaluable to us. It helped to make us more aware people and better musicians. We'd added the second cover after Noah had raised a valid point. "Didn't ska come out of Reggae? I know that it was revived in the nineties by a bunch of white folk, but it was like Black music originally, right?"

Justin had shook his head. "Not exactly. I mean, yeah, it was totally Black music…most American music has root in Black culture. But actually, reggae came from SKA in the sixties. Ska started in the fifties and it combined elements of mento and calypso with jazz and R&B. The nineties groups like Cherry Poppin Daddies, the Mighty Mighty Bostones and even No Doubt and others of that set blended ska with punk and some swing music. But the roots are in ska."

"So what can we do to honor that?" Puck asked him. "Because you know that a lot of our fans are young enough not to know that it wasn't innovative or whatever when it came out when we were little."

"Well, one of the men credited with the innovation of the genre was Derrick Morgan and his song 'Freedom March' was the epitome of his work." Justin had chimed back in. So we learned the song. We had to hire and practice with a brass and reed band and a small orchestra to give ourselves the full SKA-Punk sound. It was sorta costly, but it was ultimately worth it. The local reviews the next day were not just glowing they were almost effulgent. We heard about it on a call with the Team after we'd gotten up early and done a bunch of call-in, morning show interviews. Tacoma was something of a rerun of Portland, but we had two guest stars that night. We couldn't go to what was basically Seattle with me shaped the way I was and we not get Sir-Mix-a-Lot to join us for 'Baby Got Back'. And it would have been rude for us to go to Sea-Tac and not get Macklemore to join us for a song or two. He brought his friend Ray Dalton with him and Ray and the Dam Bros made the whole place weep with their memorial cover of 'Stand By Me'. The show went perfectly. Mr. Ray was such a gentleman, kind of Dad-like, really. Which made sense since he was actually older than my father. Ben was kind and cool as always. He surprised us by joining us at the after party. I think he was okay going with us, because we weren't heavy drinker…we just liked to dance and have fun. So, him chilling with a soda was cool with us. Better than cool, in fact, because it gave me an easy excuse to do the same.

The entire tour moved on to Spokane immediately after the after party. The second Washington state show was the last show of the summer. Sam, Puck and I had come up with a fresh new set list and used the night to showcase Tina, Tana, Xena, Arjun and the Damn Bros. we even had Cassidy with us for the encore…just because we wanted our whole family together for the final set of the main body of the tour. With all the meeting that we had and how many of us started classes the following Tuesday, there was just no way, without bending the laws of time and physics to get us all back to New York in time. So, we were leaving the roadies, minus Adams and Karofsky…who'd had to go home after Phoenix to make the first day of classes at OSU and CSU and any of the Crew who wanted to, to ride back the long way. Everyone else, including us, Bartana, Tike, Hudson, the tenants and Summer, Marceau, and Brantley…the only Team member who was still on the road with us at the last stop…all flew back to Manhattan early Saturday afternoon.

Viola and Patrick had the house all ready and a big, framily dinner waiting for us. Thankfully, Tina and Mike had been smart and dropped a lot of their stuff off at their apartment in Hayward, while we were in California. It took them barely anytime to grab the stuff that they had left in our brownstone before they said their goodbyes and caught a flight back to Lima. They would have a week with their families before they were back in the air…winging their way back to Berkeley and Stanford. They would join us only for the Barbados stop of the fall and winter dates…but they had definitely earned their full salary, their show bonuses and the tour bonus they were scheduled to receive after we met with Warner to finalize the numbers. Marceau was the next to head out. We had been lucky that Emory Med school classes started after their undergrad ones. So we didn't have to rework the choreography for those last few stops. After she made it down to Atlanta, she would have a whole week before her classes started, but she also had to get moved into her apartment. Ethan had written her a glowing recommendation for her prospective landlords from Sam, Noah and I, and Hudson had helped her with the paperwork to get a nice place that was less than ten minutes from the school.

After those who had no choice in leaving had gone about their business, the rest of us kind of lounged around just reveling in the feeling of being home. It was strange, I'd spent weeks running so fast that at times, I felt like I wasn't able to catch my breath. But in that moment, I was missing the subtle motion of the bus. At least I was until the door opened to admit, Nikki, EJ and Avery. They ran, or in Lil A's case toddled over for a hug and a kiss and a cuddle and in that moment, I was home and happy as could be to be there. The summer was over, and fall was around the corner. I wasn't sure what it would bring, but I was sure that my husbands, my family and my friends…we could face anything that life threw at us as long as we stuck together.

Watch Me (Jaden Smith)
Puck PoV

Touring was bullshit. I loved that shit, but it was fucking ridiculous. Basically, musicians were asked to run a marathon at sprint speeds every day for the duration of the tour. For us that was a hundred and four straight days of intensity. The thing about being on tour was that, for the most part, we were always on the job. We were either doing press for the tour, or exercising or practicing or performing…it was a lot of fun or it was no fun at all. There weren't a lot of just regular moments. We made some, especially when Mercedes was the one in charge of our workouts. When we took over those fitness centers and gyms, we may have all been doing different things, but we were all teasing each other and joking until our lack of breath was not from working out. Of course, there was none of that for Sam's workouts. I managed to hang with him, but, fuck, I preferred to save my endurance and stamina for the bedroom.

It took me until, like the end of June to figure out why Sam was going so hard when he led the workouts. He had figured out a work around for one of my favorite parts of summer. We just didn't have time to deal with his usual summer 'hormonal' moments. A couple hit us. Nobody would admit it, but our other driver Jake and Hudson rode with the fam for two days after we left Pittsburgh and we utilized every vocal preservation trick Shelby could think up. Our first Michigan stop was not our best performance of the tour…though, at least according to several blog posts Darcy sent us, a hell of a lot of the fans thought that Cede's voice was sexy as hell that night. It totally was; her voice in Auburn Hills made me have a hormonal incident of my own. I guess I shouldn't have complained about the 'runs of death' as Dame-Bro and Gothic Asian called them, Sam had managed to cut his hormonal episodes from three or four a month, like it had been that first summer we were all together, good times. Anyway, he'd managed to keep himself down to just three episodes during the AE tour, well four if I counted LA. But that was mostly 'yea! we're in a bed that isn't moving for more than one night' than an actual hormonal episode.

No matter how much I groaned about touring, I did love performing for and meeting our fans. I didn't even mind the press and promo events…some of them were actively fun. As much as I loved clubbin' and had thought I'd look forward to that particular part of being famous and shit, my least favorite part of the tour was the after party shit. Not only were we already assified tired, but those things were a chance for everybody to press up on the Zilla and get a selfie. I didn't get too pissed about all the fucking selfies. Hell, I actually liked doing those for appreciative fans. But the hos though. If I were the old me, it would have been awesome. I'd have been swimming in the pussy…but the me that I was at that point in my life, all I could think when those hos kept trying to push up on me, was that they were disrespecting Sam and they were disrespecting Cede and they were disrespecting the relationship the three of us shared. That shit pissed me the fuck off. Those hos needed to stop trying to get a dick that sure as fuck didn't belong to them.

The only good thing I could say about those ho-ish females that approached me and Sam at those after parties was that they were real about their failures. They didn't try and claim that their scamming was successful when it wasn't. They posted that they had tried to scam on me and-slash-or Sam and got shot down. In fact, one chick used the AE Tour's facebook page, Darcy was a social media beast, by the way. Anyway the chick came up with a game where people got points for getting shot down by any individual member of KAMA. There was a scale from polite 'no thank you' type rejections, but the big points came from getting shot down hard. She even set it so that the rejected person got bonus points based on if they got called a name. Ol' girl was good, she'd created a sliding scale of the names for each of us, too. Mercedes had the biggest point difference, and the highest scoring rejectee. Her scale started at 'Child Please' and the highest scoring of her rejections was a dude in Minneapolis who despite being White as hell, got called the N-word by Mercedes Jones. When I saw that, I had to make sure thatg I memorized his profile pic. I didn't know what he had said or done…but if it was bad enough for my Cede to say that word period, let alone in public….he must have needed his ass kicked into a coma. Sammy-Boy was in total agreement with me on that one. The highest point for one of my rejections went to a broad in Texas that I called a ho. I did remember her and yeah, I called a 'trick ass ho' dead to her face, actually. She'd pissed me off because I was nice enough to give her a selfie and she tried for a kiss bomb. She insulted not only my integrity with that move but she full on insulted my sex shark IQ…like I wouldn't see her thirsty ass trying to be slick. Sam's people, and for some reason he was the one of us that got hit on almost equally by both guys and chicks, they ran the opposite way. Someone had figured out that Southerners had a unique way of insulting people. His scale started at 'You ain't no better than you outta be' and went all the way up to 'flicted' and 'bless your Heart'.

I might have felt some kind of way about the after parties, but they made us a lot of fucking money…so, I couldn't really complain. Besides, I loved traveling all around. I loved being able to do shit with Nikolette that it was never even possible for Moms to do with me and Sarah. I loved the fans, especially the serious, screaming and crying ones. Hell, I could even appreciate the fans who were really just into us because we were hot and our star was high. I loved performing for the fans. There was absolutely no high like there was to be found by walking onto a stage and hearing the love and praise and adulation of thousands of people who had paid good money just to see you. Okay, there was one…but sex with Mercedes Jones and Sam Evans was not something that anybody else got to do.

There was no part of the tour that was more fun than the two or so weeks that we pretty much had our whole family on the tour with us. Well, everybody minus the Elder Sibs, Mom, George, Angel Mom and Sand-Man. Sam, Cede and me, we made time to spend with each of the younger sibs. I talked with Stevie about his summer and he told me a lot about the fractures between him, Ethan and Bellatrix and the fourth member of their little clique. "Puck, I think she's just a bad influence on Bells. Bella's thinking about just saying fuck it. The worst part is that I'm starting to agree with her."

I could hear the question inherent in what he was saying. "Basically, you're saying that because Scarlett O'Hara is a 'bad influence' Lady LeStrange should drop her like a bad habit. But the problem with that is that, and I am speaking from personal experience here, every bad influence needs that good influence friend to be there to be the angel on their shoulder or, hell, just to be there when the 'brilliant' idea turns into a shit storm of epic proportion."

Stevie looked thoughtful. "I get what you're saying. Finn was that for you. I mean, it makes sense and everything. But how do you tell when the 'bad influence' is actively bad news? I don't want Bells to get hurt because of some bone headed idea Vivian-Leigh comes up with."

I laughed. "Yeah, you're worried for your girl but let's keep it real. You're also still kind of pissed that Scar-O had you thinking that Lady L was a total ho rather than just having ho-ish tendencies. But, like I said, I get worrying for your girl." I cut him off before he could argue. "Say what you want…but we both know how you feel about Bellatrix Thompson…so, I get how you're worried about your girl. But, Lil Man, we both know that if Vivian-Leigh goes completely off the rails and there was something that you or Ethan or Bellatrix could have done to stop her or something that you could do to make that shit better, and you aren't there to do it…that would hurt all of you just as much. That's the problem with being good people."

"Have I ever told you I hate it when you use logic effectively? Its weird." He huffed back at me.

"College man…the good ones don't try to teach you what to think; they teach you how to think." I joked.

My conversation with Sarah wasn't near as deep. She told me and Sam all about her summer so far. How glad she was that she was done being Sue's bitch-girl…at least until school started back. Sarah told us about Hope and Narcissa, her Junior Cheerios, and how much they'd improved over the course of the summer. She hit us off with how much she was having a blast rolling with the tour, and we started talking about her current obsession, looking at fashion in the different states and regions. "Summer fashion is so different when you're talking about places where it gets to be a hundred and ten in the shade. Just like winter fashion has to be different in places where they get feet and feet of snow every other week."

"Why don't you take pictures of what you deem acceptable fashion when you're out and about and start a junior fashion blog or something online. I'm sure that between Artie, Lauren and Darcy…they can help you make that happen." Sam suggested.

I cosigned that easily. "Yeah, and then when it comes time to apply to colleges and shit, you'll have a serious 'look at what the fuck I can do' portfolio or whatever." When Mercedes agreed that it was a good idea, the two of them started hammering out a solid plan for her to be able to make it work.

Nikki, Beth, the Twins and Sloane were super easy to spend time with. They just wanted to play and get cuddles. Even just eating a meal with them was quality time for them and it made us feel great. nothing was better than getting love from the munchkins that called you family. Stacey had actually had all three of us a little worried when she first got out on the road with us. There was a subtle air of sadness about her that made us all concerned. I took a stab at getting her to open up. Sam tried, Cede tried. I found out a lot about her. I got to know my baby sister even better, so, it was good on that front. But we ever got her to tell us exactly what was wrong. I finally went to her twin and got the skinny on what was going on. It took some work to get the truth from Stevie, then it was just a matter of us trying to remind Stacey that there was nothing she could do to make us, any of us, not love and support her. But Stacey wasn't the only one who came onto the road in a funk. Jake spent the first couple of days down in the dumps.

He and Chase had let each other off their relationship hook and that sucked for him, but they had done a good job making it happen without hurt or bitterness. So, he was ready to get back in the game by the time we hit the Teen Choice Awards red carpet. I didn't know for a fact that he and a former Disney starlet turned pop princess had some quality time…I just knew that they disappeared together at one point and came back in together almost an hour later. I also knew that when they came back in, ol' girl's lips were hella swole and she was walking like she'd gotten a serious infusion of Vitamin Dee. I wasn't one to name names, but I could say that the chick was smiling and glowing and happy so I made sure to give little bro a proud pound. Jake must had done something right because not only did Girly fave, follow and friend him on all his social media accounts, but by the end of the night, every member of her squad had too. It was a good thing that Jake was a much better person than I was at his age. Because back in the day, I'd have given a whole new meaning to 'Hashtag-SquadGoals'. After we got back with the tour and the fam, there were a couple of other times that I had to cover for him with Hell Bent and Moms D…letting them believe that he was on the couch in our bus when in reality he was enjoying the company of some of the native ladies of the various localities. I didn't even try to lie to Bubbie especially since she was the other person making sure that he had enough condoms and made sure he used them every single time. I wasn't completely irresponsible about encouraging my little brother to get over his ex by getting a few new girls under him. He and I had a whole system in place to make sure that he was safe and not doing anything potentially harmful or against his will. I was glad that Cede and Sam both understood that I wasn't trying to recapture my man whore ways or whatever else…I just knew Jake well enough to know that shit was going to go down, so it was best to help him do it right. He hadn't met his 'person' or maybe even 'people' yet. When he did found her or them, then he'd settle down. I had my money on move in week at whichever college he finally decided upon. No, really, we had a bet going and the only one in the whole family, including the Michaels extension, that wasn't in on it was Jakey-Boy himself.

I needed to win the Jake bet since Stevie and his Little Villainess got together way before I had my money on it. And Stevie could say what he wanted to, but Stacey had told me, in secret, about the matching necklaces. Bellatrix and Stevie were a couple for real. I'd paid my debt without saying another word when Sander and Gabby sent out the email about the tween's dinner date. One thing I tried never to do was to let others know when a secret was shared with me. I never let on that Stacey had told me that SteviTrix was a go. I never said a word when Stevie told me that Stacey was getting ready to come out to the family. That was probably the reason that as we were getting ready to head out from Seattle, Sarah felt safe enough to call me with all her problems.

"KC is back, and he is everywhere I go, Noah." She'd whined as soon as I said hello.

I just chuckled. "Its your own fault. You know that we are completely irresistible. You kissed him way too early in his formative years…now you're all he can see." I teased.

Her answering groan was music to my ears. "I'm getting stalked by a pubescent lothario and you're blaming me."

I straightened up quick after that. "Yo, what do you mean he's stalking you?"

"That was a poor choice of words. Calm your tits. KC is perfectly harmless in every way that isn't linked to my romantical and erotical well-being." She said quickly and firmly. "I have plans, Noah Tobias and none of them include finding my one-in-five-billion before I've even gotten my driver's license."

"Well, sometimes Fate is a bitch. She does things that dick us around at the moment but end up being the most epic thing ever in the long run. KC, he was ambitious when he was eight. He has to be even more so now if he was willing to leave his mom and move in with the Lopezes just to make sure that he has his shit together for college."

"That was his mom's idea." She shot back.

I snorted dismissively. "KC wasn't a weak ass push over as a kid. If he hadn't wanted to move, he wouldn't have. Though, maybe he had more on his mind when he said yes than college. Maybe he was concerned about the more personal aspects of his future."

"So, what…he came back for me? Yeah, right." She scoffed. "I've known Santana my whole life. Nothing in her family history tells me that KC would move twenty-two almost twenty-three hundred miles away from his family to be with a girl."

I shrugged. "Her grandmother." Was all I had to say. Santiago Lopez's evil ass mother had always been ridiculously proud of the fact that when she met Tana's grandfather she'd known that he was the man she wanted to marry. She had done some seriously devious shit to make sure that had happened too. Of course, she was proudest of the fact that she had gone to her marriage bed a virgin and her late husband had been the only man she ever slept with. It was something she tried to convince all the girls in her family and those who were just family adjacent to set as the gold standard of behavior.

"Yeah, but I don't think her husband was as faithful as she was." Sarah pointed out. When we were little, there had been things, family rumors and secrets, we'd heard when we were at Adalia's…mainly before people realized that we understood what they were saying when they slipped into Spanish. So, I knew why Sarah was suspicious of that. She'd been little and easily overlooked, probably she heard more than I had.

"Still, KC grew up hearing his Abuela's stories and Adalia's ideas on how to be a good man. Maybe he really is at least wanting to see where things will go with you. So, I've gotta ask, and I need you to keep it one hundred…do you like Keiman or not?" I asked her.

Her response was half sigh and half groan. "I've liked him since we were six years old. He…Noah, he is so strong. He's stupidly honest. He's cute and hot and so fucking fine. I just…I'm not ready for a serious relationship…hell, I haven't even started dating and, I don't know…checking out what guys are out there…and yet everything inside me tells me that he could be the one."

"I don't know what to tell you. I guess, just remember, playing the field is supposed to be what you do to find your one. If you really think you've found your person, does it really make any sense at all to fuck that over because your search wasn't long and hard?" I asked her pointedly. "You've seen the people who dissect everything they can find about my sexual history."

"Yeah, I saw one the other day who swears that your first time was effectively rape and that was the whole reason that you were so promiscuous for the following five years and five thousand MILFs and chickenheads." She informed me smoothly.

I shook my head. "I don't consider it rape. I know it was wrong. If some grown ass man touched you or Stacey…I'd fucking kill him…so, yeah I know it was wrong. But it didn't have that big an effect on me. I was fucking destined to be a sex shark. It was almost certain when Mom and Paul's DNA combined into a male child. Same thing with Paul's DNA and Alicia's…if Jake had been a girl, he might be whole different."

"Yeah, I think if Jake were a girl, he'd be different." Sarah shot back snarkily.

"Shut it, you know what I mean. I'm just saying, if you're naturally a sex shark, fine. I always kind of thought you'd be like Bubbie. But what you have to ask yourself is, would Bubbie be the way she is if Zayde hadn't died?" We both knew the answer. Our grandparents had been deeply, soulmate level in love with each other. If Zayde hadn't passed away, they still would have been. Is it possible that they'd swing like the Lopezes? Okay, yeah, that was a possibility…but they'd have still been together, that much we knew for sure.

"Okay…" she drew out. "Do you wish that you'd found Sam and Cede before all of the others?"

"No." I answered honestly. "Not because any of the other chicks mattered…but because Nikki and Beth do. If I changed any of my past our daughters wouldn't exist and that would be the worst fucking world I could imagine."

"You're giving me mixed messages here No-No." she groused. "See if he's the forever guy. But if other shit happens, embrace it? Is that your advice here?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I returned smiling to myself. "This is some complicated shit. You can't expect an easy answer. But at the same time, it ain't fucking rocket science. All I can tell you to do is start by building a real friendship with the guy. See if you like him as a person. No," I cut her off before she could object. "You know you like the person he used to be. But there is a hell of a lot of difference between an eight year old and a fourteen year old. You guys are from two different cultures and two different religions. Hell, for the last six years, you've lived vastly different lives in totally different places. If it turns out that he really is your forever guy then you need to make sure that the foundation is right. That means being friends first and foremost. The rest of that shit can come later, if it comes at all."

The conversation seemed to help her out. That or she just started talking to Cede about it because I wasn't giving her what she wanted to hear. I got it, there were things that I just didn't see from the same perspective that she and Cede and the Moms did. I had a dick. That wasn't to say it hadn't hurt like a son of a bitch the first time my baby had turned to Cede rather than me for advice…but I'd eventually gotten over it and was just happy that she had other people she could talk to rather than making dumbass mistakes she didn't have to make. I kind of wanted her to go ahead and give KC a chance. I liked that kid. He had some good qualities; smart, courteous, ambitious; he got along well with Moms. We knew almost all of his people who lived in the continental US. Plus, he already had a very healthy respect for the hurt I could rain down on his head. That was a big plus. I hadn't had to give too many shovel speeches since we'd gotten famous. I knew that I wouldn't be able to give the one I'd given to Ms. Pillsbury's new husband…it wouldn't work for the kid. I needed to come up with something for smaller, not militarily trained douchebags who wanted to date one of the girls I loved.

The last show of the main part of the tour went off without a hitch. I, personally, would have preferred to keep the whole group together on the way home. But with so many of us needing to hurry our asses back to get back to classes a few days after that final stop, there was just no way in hell it could be managed. So, some of us flew, and the rest rode back on the buses. We ended up making the most of that final time with Marceau. She was going off to med school and so I'd gotten information from Moms about what kind of gift would be really useful to her. When she left, she had gifts waiting on her to find that Joaquina had slipped into her bag for all of us. One of the gift bag contained three of the eight piece sets of portable Purell bottles that had little loops on them for easy use. We had gotten her a really nice, analog watch which was a necessity for a proper blood pressure check, according to Mom and we made sure it was water resistant too. She already had a KAMA logo duffle bag and sweatshirt, so she ended up getting a subtly logo embossed laptop carrying messenger bag, one of the planners and at least one of each of all the cold weather gear we had on the site. Hey, she was from New Orleans and, technically, it snowed in the ATL.

Not all of those small gifts were from me, Cede and Sam, just the watch and the Purell. Everybody had chipped in and gotten her something they thought she could use. We'd have given her the gifts without the subterfuge, but she made us all promise not to make a big fuss. We had gotten her one big gift as her bosses, KAMA had paid her rent for six months. Hudson had proven invaluable in getting that done for us. I'd wanted to upgrade her to a two bedroom place, but Cede had pointed out that Marceau would end up either having to move at the end of her lease or get a roommate to make up for the cost once we weren't covering things anymore so I stuck with paying for the one bed one bath, six hundred and eighty square foot unit she'd made the arrangements for before we met her. It turned out to be really good that I didn't get my way because I found out later that Rainbow had handled another month, her fellow dancers had banded together and paid two months and then the rest of the band and road crew had handled the last two months of the year. I think they may have over paid if she'd had to put down first and last to secure the apartment…but I was also sure that she would definitely appreciate the help. Med school wasn't cheap and scholarships only covered so much.

Of course, saying goodbye to C-Cubed was harder, but it wasn't as final. We'd be seeing and talking to them all the time. Not that we didn't give them their own send off. We'd arranged for them to have a nice weekend at the Fairmont in San Francisco. They just had to make the reservation and they would spend up to seventy-two hours in a Main Building Balcony Suite. We were handling the room and two meals a day…still, I'd have been shocked if when they had a weekend all to themselves in a swanky hotel and they thought about food at all. We'd also paid for their Thanksgiving flights to and from Lima. But that one was more for our benefit. Moms D had decided that we were going to have Christmas in New York that year and stay through the New Year for Daniel and Riker's wedding. That meant we wouldn't be home over the Christmas break at all, so Cede wanted to do a HUGE Thanksgiving party at our house. Since Thanksgiving was a shorter break, it was always iffy if C-Cubed would make it home for the holiday. Cede wanted to make sure that they would be home for her party.

After we were just back down to those of us who lived in the building, we were invaded by the midgets and that was awesome. I loved any time with Nik-Nak and EJ and Avery were two of my favorite non-Double A-S toddlers in the whole family. EJ told us all about his summer and how much fun he had when they went to the beach. Avery just gave us all her cute little smiles and climbed all over all of us spreading love and baby scent. We all talked and Ethan and Amanda got Cede and the rest of us caught up on some of the newest family gossip. "So, your uncle is in Vegas tying the knot."

Cede looked surprised. "I thought that Christophe and Mom had talked Bryant into letting the family be there."

Amanda laughed. "They thought so to. Daniel and Mellie are both with them and so are Mills, Francesca, and Madeline. That was the compromise that Nadia and Bryant reached between their desire to be scandalous and elope and Dani and Christophe's desire for them to have at least a small, family and friends only wedding."

Ethan whipped out his phone and showed us the pictures Bryant had sent him less than an hour before. Nadia had worn a wedding dress…a really sexy one. It was a silky looking material that followed her curves like a religion. The neckline was cut down to just above her navel and so was the back. There was a belt of crystal embellishments around her waist. Those crystals were mirrored in her red soled shoes. Melliscent and Nadia's girls were all wearing red, body-con, mini dresses. The adults' dresses had deep V necklines and crisscross backs. And while Mills hadn't put the word out yet, she was starting to show, and the changes in her body were certainly starting to make themselves very apparent. Mellie's dress was a little longer, a little less tight and had a one shoulder neckline to make it more age appropriate. Melliscent and the other three ladies were also wearing red bottoms, though theirs were that 'nude' neutral color and Mellie's weren't as high as the other ladies, but Mills had gone with the shorter shoes as well. Both Bryant and Daniel were in navy suits with white shirts and navy and red stripped ties. Saul, Neil, and Roman looked dapper in gray suits with red ties. Everyone looked really happy. "They are staying at Caeser's…they got married at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in the Gazebo." The pictures were beautiful. Bryant and Nadia looked seriously happy.

I said as much to the assembled onlookers. "We'll get Yazz to help us plan them a surprise reception or something that the whole family can come to, to celebrate. That should keep Moms D and Brother C off their asses about the Vegas thing. And if we pay for it, we don't have to get them a gift and we'll guarantee that they will actually come."

Cede loved that idea. "Oh, yeah…that will give Nadia the time to help Daniel and Riker plan their wedding and we can start letting Yasmine show us that she really is an all-around event planner. Two birds, one stone." She chuckled. "So, anything else on the family news front?"

Ethan looked thoughtful. "Daniel's in-laws have moved in. Amanda and I took them a housewarming gift. They're teaching at the UN International School and live in a building that is walking distance from it."

"I think I remember them from Riker's graduation. Her dad has amazing hair right?" Cede asked trying to remember an impression of a person she met as a child.

"Yup. He's Native American and her mom is both Native American and Black." Amanda nodded. "Ethan is thinking that we should do a thing for them. Especially since, if we work quickly enough, we can probable work it to include a going away aspect for Riker and Chris."

After a little more chitchat. Bubbie broke in. "Thanks to the new mannequins, I've got everything ready for the three of you for all your meetings Monday and Tuesday." She smirked.

"You mean the life model decoys." Sam joked. He wasn't entirely wrong though. Bubbie's new mannequins were custom made to represent Sam, Mercedes and me from the tops of our heads to the soles of our feet. Those bad boys had cost a pretty penny…but they were perfectly us in padded plastic or whatever. They allowed Bubbie and Kurt to be able to take care of their job even when we weren't actively present.

Bubbie just threw a pillow at his head. "Anyway, I'll bring them over tomorrow. And Kurt and I will help you with getting ready for at least Monday's meetings."

"But Bubbie," Sam said with a pouty smile. "Can't we see them tonight? What if we don't like it?"

"Yeah, because we actually care." I scoffed.

Bubbie wasn't even phased by the query. "Then I'll do what I always do if you or Noah don't like a particular meeting look or if Mercedes is published in a certain look…quietly donate it to a return to work, dress for success program. A good business look should never go to waste just because the two of you have rather plebian tastes."

"I love how she made sure to stress that it's just you and me that have 'plebian tastes'." Sam laughed. "Sorry Noah, Mercy's Bubbie's favorite now."

"Well, duh. Cede shops with her…shops with her and never complains. Even Sarah can't say that. Of course, she's the favorite." I returned with a smug laugh. "I'm still the original."

"Okay, OG…original grandson…are you guys ready for classes Wednesday?" Her answer was a whole hell of a lot of groans. "What? What's wrong?"

"I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation." Sam laughed.

Kurt shook his head. "Its not that for me. My summer was great, and I loved every moment of it. I just…usually back to school means a delightful shopping trip wherein my bestie and I get all kitted out for the coming school year. We even managed to sneak away for some bonding through shopping last year…though KAMA wasn't as huge as they are now…so it was far more manageable." He pouted. Santana and Britts were both in complete agreement with his thoughts on the subject.

Cede threw him an apologetic look as Blaine patted his hand. "I'm feeling unprepared. I love school clothes shopping, but what I really am missing is the supply shopping. Going and getting everything we'll need for the semester…or entire school year. Finding the coolest pens and notebooks…and now Momma and Daddy can't tell me that the pens I fell in love with are impractical based on either cost or outrageous colors, because A, I'm buying them myself and B, its just for notes so the professors won't say dick." My beautiful wife sighed pitifully. It wasn't helped by Blaine's cosigning the lack of new school supplies. Never mind that I was pretty sure that they hadn't used half of the stockpile they'd amassed over the two previous summers.

I voiced that simple truth and got pillow smacked by not only Cede and Blaine, but unexpectantly, or maybe not…Artie. "You're such a dork." I told him returning fire. The family room quickly devolved into a massive pillow fight that didn't end until someone accidentally knocked EJ off the couch he was jumping on. We literally all froze until he popped up.

"I'm okay, Momma. Why did everyone stop playing?"

Amanda laughed. "Because we just realized that it's past your and your sister's bed time and almost your cousin's. All three of you are back in school now and Benz, Sam and Puck have meetings that start really early in the morning."

No one had ever told me that half of parenting was bullshiting your way through answering why your kid couldn't do something that that you'd done yourself or that deep inside you knew was going to be fun as hell. Thankfully, he bought it. It was definitely better than the truth that we'd all stopped to see whose ass Amanda was going to kick if he'd been hurt. Unfortunately, that meant the party was over. Nikki asked and was allowed to sleep in her room at our house that night and since there wasn't actually school the very next day, it wasn't a big deal. We helped her through her nightly rituals, Sexy Mama brushed and braided down her freshly washed hair and I tucked her in, we all gave her kisses and she and Cede read a chapter of one of those Potter books they loved so much. Sam and I just basked in being home and watching our woman caring for our daughter. It was a heady feeling.

The next morning was probably going to be a sucktacular start to the new school year. The evening meeting wasn't even something we really had a clue what the end game was going to be. The Warner meeting the morning after was bound to be a pain in the ass. But in that moment, all I could think was no matter what the world threw at us; we were going to be just fine as long as we dealt with the future just as we'd done the previous three years…together.

Thank you for your patience. I apologize for the delay. Quite honestly, I found it very hard to return to writing after a deeply personal loss.
I hope that each of you will read and review. Let me know how you feel about this last chapter of the summer.

I'm taking some time to work on the first chapter of KAMA's junior year. The story will be called Entrez dans L'Avenir. I hope to start posting it sometime in mid to late August.

I'm also working on Illy's stories. I hope to have a new chapter of her Glee story 'Big Girls Can Be Sexy Too' within a month.
I hope that all my American readers had a happy and safe Memorial Weekend.
I am grateful for the service of all our Fallen Soldiers. May they rest in honor and peace.
TTFN,
Anni