Thank you for your continued support. I appreciate it.
Standard disclaimer.
"Oh my god, stop eating that!" Mercedes said, trying not to laugh and failing miserably.
Sam popped the fudge brownie in his mouth and winked at her. And with an exasperated sigh, she reached back into the backseat, to fix the plastic wrap on the plates of brownies, cookies, and cupcakes.
"If you keep stealing food, there won't be any left for your family's cookout," she said, knowing that wasn't a good enough reason, to stop him from eating.
She was willing to bet, there wasn't much that would come between him and food.
He turned his attention from the road to pout.
"But I love your cooking."
She rolled her eyes at his lame attempt.
"Uh huh."
"Well, at least, I'm not touching the potato salad. You really should appreciate the little things in life, my little grasshopper."
Mercedes scoffed in disbelief.
"The only reason you're not scarfing that down, is because, I have that and the pasta salad in a cooler, safely locked away in the trunk."
Sam's brows shot up.
"There's macaroni salad? Why was I not informed of this?"
"Probably because, I wanted it to at least, make it to your parent's house before you devoured it."
He shook his head.
"So little trust."
"You ate an entire bowl of cookie dough yesterday, when I made the mistake of running out to the market, without hiding it first. Seriously, I thought it would be safe."
"You were wrong."
"Your obsession with food is starting to scare me," she said wryly.
"It's not an obsession. I'm a growing boy, damn it."
She raised one brow in disbelief.
"Thank God we're here. I'm starving," he grumbled, as he parked in the only empty spot on the street, which just happened to be in front of a large white Victorian house with black trimming, where a party was clearly being held, judging by the amount of people walking around the property.
They loaded their arms up, with all the plates Mercedes made and headed for the front door.
Sam kicked the door lightly, since his hands were full.
And the door was opened, by an older woman with blonde hair. She took one look at Sam and smiled.
"It's my baby boy!" she announced loudly to the crowd in the house, as she cupped his face and pulled him down, to give him a sound kiss on the cheek.
Then, she stepped back as she noticed Mercedes.
And her expression went from excited to stunned, in a matter of seconds.
Sam smiled sheepishly and Said,
"Mom, this is my girlfriend, Mercedes Jones." He gestured with the plate of brownies. "Mercedes, this is my mother, Mary Evans."
"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Evans," Mercedes said, feeling a little awkward, with his mother standing there gaping at her and her hands too full, to offer to shake the woman's hand.
Not that his mother seemed to be able to respond, or anything at the moment. And now, Mercedes was starting to become a little worried.
"Girlfriend?" Mrs. Evans finally choked out.
"Yeah, why do you sound so..." Sam started to say, only to be cut off by his mother, who turned her head and yelled into the house.
"Dwight!"
Mercedes shot a nervous look at Sam, who was muttering something, about putting his mother into a nursing home, that only served green Jell-O.
She looked back at the door in time to see an older man...who was clearly Sam's father, by the almost identical features...step into the doorway.
He smiled when he saw Sam.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Mom's freaking out," Sam said. "Any chance we can get in there, before my girlfriend's arms fall off?"
The man noticeably started and looked at Mercedes, then did a double take.
"Girlfriend?" he asked, in clear disbelief.
"Yes! Girlfriend!" Sam snapped, but his parents didn't seem to notice, because, they were staring at Mercedes, as if they couldn't believe such a person existed.
And on top of that, her arms were starting to feel like they were about to drop off.
"Uh...about to drop the cupcakes," Mercedes mumbled, as she tried to readjust the three plates in her arms.
"Oh, sorry," Dwight said, reaching out and relieving her of the cupcakes, while his wife grabbed the plate of, peanut butter, chocolate chunk cookies from her.
Dwight looked from her, to the plate in his hands.
"Where did you buy these? They look good," he said, as his hand expertly snuck beneath the plastic wrap.
'Hmm...like father like son,' Mercedes thought, as she looked him over quickly.
The man was clearly in shape, a good sign for Sam, since he couldn't stop eating.
"I made them," Mercedes said, feeling a little embarrassed by the attention.
"You made these?" Dwight Evans asked, with a cupcake in his hand.
She nodded.
"She's a great cook," Sam announced proudly.
Dwight took a big bite, closed his eyes and made a yummy moaning sound. And in seconds, he had the entire cupcake devoured.
He reached out and snagged the second plate of cupcakes from Mercedes and headed back into the house, without a word.
"My cupcakes!" they heard him snap at someone. And Mercedes just barely stopped an eye roll.
'Definitely like father like son.'
"Hey, old man, she made those for me!" Sam yelled, charging into the house, to go after the cupcakes, essentially leaving Mercedes with his mother, who was still staring at her.
"Um..." Mercedes gestured to the car. "I have two more plates of cupcakes. I didn't think those two would've survive the trip over here," she said, feeling foolish.
'Perhaps, I should go hang out in the car, until after the party is over,' she thought.
Seven hours in a car with nothing to do, sounded better than being gawked at.
Mary Evans' eyes narrowed on Mercedes.
"You're really his girlfriend?"
"Yes."
"This isn't just some sick game he's playing?"
"Uh...no...is there something wrong?" Mercedes asked. She was really starting to feel self-conscious.
"Nothing, other than, you are the first woman he's ever brought home. So you'll have to forgive me, if I seem a little surprised. For a moment there, I thought hell had frozen over."
She put her arm around Mercedes' shoulders, as if they were old friends.
"Now, let's go in there and give a few dozen people, the shock of a lifetime."
"Mom," Sam growled in warning.
She ignored him. Again.
He leaned forward and tried to grab the photo album off Mercedes' lap, only to have his hand slapped away, by the two women.
"Damn it, mom! This is supposed to be a barbeque. Shouldn't you be mingling and being a good hostess or something, instead of sitting here and embarrassing me?"
"The hell with the barbeque! I've waited over thirty years, for my only child to bring home a woman and I'll not be denied!"
Several people around his mother, smartly moved back, while he just glared.
"Aww...you look so cute..." Mercedes started.
"Naturally," he said with a sniff.
"...playing dress up in your mother's clothes," she ended, with an evil little smile.
He turned his glare on her, but she simply smiled sweetly and returned to the pictures from hell.
"Mercedes?" Sam called.
She ignored him pointedly and laughed along with his mother.
"Mercedes, baby? Do you want to go get something to eat?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I could go for a burger and potato salad, thank you," she said dismissively, before laughing at something his mother pointed out.
"Oh, that sounds good. I'll take the same. Thank you sweetie, oh, and get us each another soda, since we seem to have run out," his mother said, gesturing to their empty cups, without looking away from that damn album.
He was seriously going to have to torch that.
'Where the hell is the adoration and love?'
His mother normally babied him. Hell, at this point, she would normally be getting him a third plate of food and a drink.
And not to forget Mercedes, who should be loading up a plate for herself, with food for him to steal.
What was wrong with his women?
Sam walked into the kitchen, where food covered every surface.
As he made up the women's plates, his father, who was licking icing off his fingers, walked into the room, with two of his uncles and three of his cousins.
The bastard hid the cupcakes and wouldn't share. When Mercedes made the mistake of mentioning, the other two plates of cupcakes, still in her trunk, he ran for them with his father close behind.
And his father actually tackled him to the ground, stole his keys and his beloved cupcakes.
"Those were without a doubt, the best cupcakes I've ever had," Dwight Evans announced happily.
"We wouldn't know, since you wouldn't share any of them, you greedy bastard," Uncle Chip said.
"I don't share," Dwight said simply.
The men rolled their eyes.
"So," cousin Turk said, as he leaned against the wall, with his arms crossed over his massive chest, "How much did you pay her?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked, about to lift the ketchup from the counter.
His other cousin Chuck answered,
"What he means, is why is she here? Did you pay her? Did she owe you a favor? We're just wondering how you managed to get her here."
Aggravated, Sam snatched the ketchup bottle, with more force than necessary and squeezed an insane amount on both burgers.
"She's my girlfriend, plain and simple," he said.
"Uh huh," his father said in clear disbelief.
Sam slammed the bun on top of the burger, forcing ketchup out the sides.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Why is it so hard for you bastards to believe, that she's my girlfriend?"
They took that as their cue, to tell him exactly why they didn't think she was his girlfriend.
"She's too nice."
"Too sweet."
"Nothing at all like the skanks you normally date."
"She doesn't come off as a brainless bitch, like the girls you took to the clubs."
"She doesn't annoy the shit out of us."
"Plus, there is that whole thing, where you've never claimed to have a girlfriend before, never told us about her, and gave your mother and me the surprise of a lifetime, when you announced her earlier. So, you can see why we're curious," his father finished, with a shrug.
"Plus, she's clearly too good for you," Uncle Mack added for good measure. "That's my main reason, for not believing this bullshit story."
Well, that...hurt.
Not that Sam could or would argue, that Mercedes was too good for him. She was. There was no question about that.
But what really hurt, was that they didn't believe him.
He was known for being an asshole not a liar. There was a big difference, as far as he was concerned.
His mother chose that moment to come in smiling.
'Thank god! She'll put an end to all this nonsense,' Sam thought.
"Do you need help with those burgers, sweetie?" Mary Evans asked, frowning down at the hamburger, Sam squished into a pancake.
She lightly tsked him, as she threw away the burgers and started over.
"I'm glad you're here, Mom."
She smiled warmly up at him.
While looking at the men of his family, he asked her,
"What do you think of Mercedes?"
Her smile grew.
"Oh, she's such a sweet girl. I'm so glad you brought her." Her smiled turned wistful. "I just wished you would date a girl like her, instead of the girls you find at bars, sweetie. A woman like that, is just what you need. I'm sure, if you straighten your act a bit, you'll get a woman like Mercedes one..."
The men laughed. And Sam held up a hand.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, woman! Back up there a second. I bring a woman home and introduce her as my girlfriend and you're giving me a lecture, on how to get her to go out with me? Are you serious?"
His mother blinked up at him.
"Well, yes. I've heard about some of those girls you date, sweetie, and while I appreciate the fact that you've never brought them home to me, I would really like to see you with someone. It would be nice if you considered dating Mercedes. She's such a nice woman."
Sam thrust his hands into his hair.
This was crazy.
Was this what normally took place, when a man brought a woman home to meet his family?
He was pretty sure it wasn't.
This was worse than when he met the Jones family.
"Shouldn't you be getting all excited and trying to push for marriage and grandbabies at this point?" Sam asked.
He really wasn't trying to encourage his mother to do that, but that's what happened, when Noah brought Quinn home six years ago, to meet his family.
Mrs. Evans looked thoughtful for a moment.
"You know, I probably would, if you were dating Mercedes. She's a very nice woman and I think she would do you a world of good." She smiled excitedly. "Are you thinking of asking her out?"
"Why the hell would I have to ask my girlfriend out? She's already going out with me? What is wrong with you people?"
She rolled her eyes and playfully slapped his shoulder.
"Oh, honey, you don't have to keep pretending. I'm glad you have a friend like Mercedes. Everyone thinks she's great."
She tapped a finger to her chin.
"Of course, your Aunt Ruth-Ann, has been pushing her towards Jason, for the past ten minutes. Not to mention, Champ and Davey have been trying to ask her out, for the past hour. I mean, clearly she's a catch. What I don't understand is..."
Sam cut her off.
"Men from my own family are hitting on my girlfriend?"
"They've been hitting on your friend," his mother clarified, in an annoyed tone, as if he was the one messing with her mind.
Sam stared at her.
Something was seriously wrong with his family.
Why was it so hard for them to believe, that Mercedes was his girlfriend?
"Actually," Turk said, a bit sheepishly, "I was going to ask her, if she wanted to catch a movie and dinner after the party."
Sam's jaw dropped so fast, he was surprised the damn thing didn't unhinge.
But he quickly recovered, so he could threaten his cousin.
"You stay the hell away from my girlfriend!" he said, pointing. He turned his finger on the rest of his family. "Just know, that at this moment, I hate you all."
They all rolled their eyes, as his finger stopped in front of his father. He narrowed his eyes on his old man.
"And I'm never sharing any more of her baked goods with you!"
Dwight gasped.
But...but...but..."
With that, Sam stormed out of the kitchen.
He just thanked God his friends were there for him, because, clearly his family wasn't.
Was it really so hard to believe, that he could land a woman like Mercedes?
Stay safe!