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When Sam and Mercedes came back from their walk, everyone was busy preparing dinner. All of them had gathered at their cabin. Both of them immediately went to help with the dinner preparation. During dinner, Mercedes started to notice that she felt more at ease with Sam's extended family. Perhaps due to the length of time that they spent together was longer, but she finally felt more comfortable talking and interacting with them. After dinner, the ladies were told to be in the living room and all of the men cleaned up. Sam and Stevie washed the dishes while Dwight and his brother, Bill dried them. When they joined the other at the great room, Sam noticed that Mercedes wasn't there.
"She went to take a bath" Stacie informed her brother. Sam nodded as he sat down next to his sister.
"How long have you been dating, Sammy?" Eloise asked. She's been wanting to talk more about Sam and Mercedes, but couldn't find the time.
"Around six months now"
"Oh, tell us how did you guys meet?" Aunt Margory excitedly asked. Sam told them about their first meeting and how he helped with Quinn and Santana's wedding cake. When Mercedes joined them, she too was asked about their relationship. When the question started to be more personal, Sam noticed the discomfort in Mercedes' reaction.
"I guess that's enough interrogation for the night!" he said. "I don't know about you guys, but I am going to go and have a rest now. Need to be up early for the activity tomorrow"
"Oh, yeah! Everyone needs to be ready at 7:30 sharp! Make sure you have your breakfast first. We're going hiking!" Stacie excitedly announced. She grinned as she looked at everyone.
"Stace, you said this year we're going to relax. But hiking?" one of the cousins, Drake complaint.
"It's either that or trekking" Stacie replied. "Besides, nana and gramps didn't say anything about it when I ran the plan through them. So, no complaining!" Stacie sass.
"We took the easy course, so put your mind at ease!" Stevie added.
The next day, Mercedes groggily join the Evans clan for their hiking adventure. She definitely agreed with Drake about it. Sam raised his eyebrows when he saw Mercedes walking toward him with her sunglasses, hat, a small towel around her neck and a backpack.
"You seem eager" he said, smirking. Mercedes huffed at him. Sam took the backpack and frown.
"Why is it so heavy? What did you put in it?"
"My water bottles" Mercedes said. Sam frowned and opened the bag. There were three big bottles inside the backpack.
"I don't think you need this many -"
"I need to keep my body hydrated during the hike" Mercedes said. Sam chuckled and shook his head at Mercedes' antics. They followed the guide and Sam and Mercedes was at the end of the line. Sam was at the front, but slowed down his steps when he noticed that Mercedes was nowhere to be seen.
"Here, let me take your bag" Sam said as he took the backpack from Mercedes and carried it. He smiled as he watched Mercedes who silently walking next to him. They chatted with some of the relatives as they walked along the track and admired the greenery. Mercedes occasionally sipped the water from one of the water bottles that she had taken and held along the hike. When they arrived at the peak, they looked at the beautiful scenery and Mercedes was amazed. They took some pictures and rested before they started the journey down. Mercedes sat on one of the rocks and rested her legs and feet.
"It's not so bad right?" Sam asked as he sat next to her.
"The beautiful scenery makes the journey worth it" she answered, sipping some water. Sam smiled as he looked at her. Eloise and Mary came and joined them. Sam's smile became wider when he watched his grandmother and mother conversed with Mercedes. It warmth his heart to see them get along well.
After the hiking, the Evans clan went out to the nearest town and enjoyed their brunch since none of them wanted to cook. After brunch, it was free time for everyone before they gathered for a fishing contest. Most of them decided to rest and took a nap after the morning activity. Mercedes and Sam decided to go for a stroll and look around the park.
"Oh, let's go on a boat!" Sam excitedly said.
"What?"
Sam pulled the confused Mercedes to follow him. He rented a boat and excitedly went into it before he gave his hand to Mercedes who seemed reluctant to take it.
"Darling, come on! Take my hand!"
"Sam, dear. Do you know how much I weigh?" Mercedes said.
"So? It's not going to sink!"
Mercedes took a deep breath, sent a prayer to God and hesitantly took Sam's hand and stepped into the boat. She gripped Sam's hand tightly as she sat in the boat. Sam sat apposite her, grinning as he looked at her.
"See? We're not sinking!" he teased. Mercedes rolled her eyes. When Sam started to paddle, she gripped on the both side of the boat.
"Do you even know what you're doing?" she asked, scared. It was Sam's time to roll his eyes at her.
"Of course! How hard can it be?" he answered. Mercedes bit her lower lip as she eyed the lake. She couldn't help the nervousness inside of her.
"Darling, relax! Your nervousness is sucking all the romance out of this"
"Did you know how deep is the lake?" Mercedes asked curiously. Sam let out a sigh. He stopped paddling. Mercedes started to panic when she noticed that the boat is not moving and they were in the middle of the lake.
"Why did you stop?" she asked.
"Will you relax and just enjoy it? Trust me. Okay?"
Mercedes took a deep breath and released it slowly. She slowly nodded as she looked at Sam's eyes. A smile appeared on Sam's face when he saw her becoming more relaxed. He resumed paddling and they both enjoyed the activity together, talking and reminiscing about their relationship. When the weather was getting hotter, Sam brought them to the small jetty.
"See? Nothing happened to you" he teased Mercedes as she took his hand and they walked back to their cabin.
"O-kay! We can do it again next time!" she playfully replied, laughing at him.
Mercedes watched the Evans men who were ready with their fishing rode, as well as Eloise and Stacy. She smiled as she watched Mary who stayed next to Dwight. Mercedes squealed when Sam appeared out of the blue behind her and pulled her hand to be with him.
"Sit here and be pretty. You're my goddess of luck!" Sam said. He laughed when Mercedes rolled her eyes. She watched as Sam prepared the bait and threw his line into the lake. Ten minutes into the wait, they heard a shout of joy coming from Stacy. She had managed to catch a fish. Mercedes chuckled when she noticed that Sam was getting antsy. She started to feel bored when Sam's rode was being pulled. Somehow, excitement took over and she was cheering for him as he reeled his rod. However, they were disappointed when it turned out to be some branch instead of a fish. Sam pouted and groggily threw away the branch. He gave a side-eyes to Mercedes who was laughing.
"Very funny!" he said bitterly as he cast the line again.
"Awww, did I hurt your feeling?" Mercedes said. "Let me give you a lucky kiss!" she continued as she kissed his cheek, making him smile. Half an hour passed by and Sam noticed that Mercedes had been quiet. Suddenly, he felt her head on his arm. He turned around and noticed that she was sleeping. Sam chuckled as he put down his rod and brought Mercedes' head to lie down on his thigh.
"Is she sleeping?" Mary, who was sitting nearby them asked. Sam nodded and chuckled with his mom.
"I don't think I'm gonna get any fish today" he muttered as he reeled his line and put down his rod. Then, he looked at Mercedes who was peacefully sleeping on him.
"Fishing date, is definitely a no, huh?" he whispered and chuckled. The loud and noisy cheered as Stevie reeled out a big fish shook Mercedes out of her nap. She seemed to be confused at first when her eyes landed on Sam's handsome face.
"Hey, sleeping beauty" Sam said, smiling. She rose up and looked around.
"What happened? Did you win?" she asked. Sam shook his head.
"I forfeited. You distracted me with your beauty"
"That's so cheesy" Mercedes frowned. "Gosh, I am so sorry, baby!" she said.
"It's not a big deal! Don't worry about it"
"Sam"
"Mercedes, I said it's okay. It's not a big deal. Let's go back to the cabin and get ready for tonight"
"Are you sure?"
Sam rolled his eyes. He cupped her face in both of his hands and kissed her. "I am 100 percent sure!"
Sam was in the shower when he heard Mercedes' loud scream. Being alarm, he immediately washed off the shampoo on his hair and reached for his towel. Without drying his wet body and hair, he rushed out to the room.
"Are you okay?" he frantically asked. The water dripping from his hair made it harder to look around, but he was certain that Mercedes was dancing around the room.
"Sam! Wipe your body first!" Mercedes yelled as she noticed the droplets of water on the floor and his body.
"You were screaming! What happened?" Sam asked, worried.
"Oh!" she said. "Nothing bad happened. Just -" Mercedes paused halfway as she looked at Sam and grinned. "I got the job!" she announced excitedly. Sam's eyes when wide as he heard it. In an impulse, he walked toward her and scooped her into a hug.
"Congratulations, darlin'! I told ya, that you're going to get it!"
Mercedes didn't even care that her boyfriend was soaked and wet. She just reveled at the feeling of being in his arms and the giddiness that she felt once she heard the news.
