Thanks for all of the reviews, follows and favorites. I appreciate you taking the time to read and especially your thoughts on my story. I am so happy you are enjoying this.

I saw a request for some face claims for Zack and Ally. Believe it or not, those were hard for me but I did finally choose the ones I see when I write about them. I realize the ones I have chosen are not teenagers now but you'll have to think back to when they were LOL

Ally – Jordin Sparks

Zack – Zachary Taylor Thomas

Also, in addition to the ones tagged to the story, there is only one other Glee character used in this story, and yes that person is Sam's ex-wife. Her identity will be revealed in chapter 8 but I'm loving the guesses.

I do not own Glee or its characters.

Sunday September 6th

Having endured a completely sleepless night, I climb out of bed around eight. I start the coffee maker and then send her a text.

Morning beautiful, you up?

After waiting a couple of minutes and receiving no response, I conclude that she is still sleeping. I fill my mug and then take a seat at the breakfast bar. Even though I'm just getting out of bed, my mind is racing like I've been up for hours. Did Friday night really happen or are my dreams playing a trick on me? I stand and walk over to the refrigerator to find something for breakfast. With not much to choose from I decide on frozen waffles. My phone chimes just as I open the freezer. I close it, walk over to the bar and pick it up to see a text from her.

Morning babe, I was in the shower

I take couple of deep breaths and then click the icon to call her. "Hey baby. How are you this morning?"

"Hey you. I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm good too. Was just about to make some breakfast for me and Ally. Have you eaten?"

"No, I was just about to heat up a couple of frozen waffles."

"That doesn't sound appetizing at all. I can make breakfast for three if you want to join us."

"Well, that depends. What are you making?"

"French toast, bacon and eggs."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

She giggles. "OK, I'll see you when you get here. Drive safe."

"I will. See you in a bit."

I end the call and then stare at the phone. Since she invited me, I think it is best to ask her about Friday night in person. I can read her body language and face for clues on whether she is being straight with me. She's never lied to me before, well, at least that I know of, so I'm hoping that sentiment will remain the case when I broach the subject. I turn off the coffee machine and go into my bedroom to get dressed.

On my way to her house, she calls me. "Hey babe, are you on your way?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Can you do me a favor and stop at O'Hares? I didn't realize I was low on eggs. Can you get a dozen, please?"

"Of course. Anything else?"

"No, just the eggs and you and I'll be all set."

"Ok, see you in few minutes."

"See you then."

I slide my sunglasses to rest on top of my head as I step into the market. I smile at the greeter and then make my way to the dairy section. After I select a carton of eggs, I turn to go to the cashier to pay. I notice a store clerk smirking at me, and I look back at him confused. "Do I know you?"

"You were in here Friday night. The funniest shit I've seen in a long time." He laughs and shakes his head. "Good to see you made it home in one piece."

I chuckle nervously as I near him and lower my voice. "So, I was in here Friday? What did I do that was so funny?"

"Aside from what you had on, you were singing at the top of your lungs and running through the store while the manager chased you."

"You're kidding, right?" I look at him completely mortified as he continues shaking his head and laughing.

"Nope, the manager fell like three different times. We all had a good laugh. We just thought you were some homeless guy who had had a bit too much to drink but when you went to get into your car, we knew you were far from homeless."

"Oh my god. I'm so embarrassed. I'm so sorry. I'll pay for any damages or cleanup."

"Nah, it's all good." His laughs finally calm down to a soft chuckle. "At least tell me you enjoyed your ice cream."

"So, I bought ice cream?"

"Yep, Ben & Jerry's cherry cordial. Said it was for your lady."

"Um, look I've got to go. I'm sorry again for my behavior Friday night. Have a good day." I turn quickly and go to the cashier to pay for the eggs. This is all too much. She's cheating on me. I cannot believe she is cheating on me. I feel a pang in my heart as the cashier hands me my change. I take it and then hurry out of the market. How could she do this to me? To us? All the signs are pointing to me being at her place, but I don't want to believe it.

I park at the curb in front of her house and turn off the engine. I don't know what I am supposed to do. I cannot be with a cheater. She can't find time to have sex with me, but she can with Nick? I close my eyes and try recall all of the events of Friday night. I brought ice cream to her and when she slammed the door, I dropped it. If she didn't immediately pick it up, it may have melted and there may be remnants in the artificial grass on the porch right in front of the door. I exhale forcefully and climb out of the car. As I near the front door, I look down for any signs of melted ice cream but see none. I guess that's a good sign, but I cannot go on that alone. There are just too many things that aren't adding up. I knock on the door and wait for her to answer.

She opens the door and smiles brightly at me. "Hey babe."

"Hey." I step into the house and wait by the door as she closes it and looks up at me. She moves toward me for a hug. I put one arm loosely around her back. "Here's the eggs." I pull away from her and hold up the bag.

"Um, thanks." She takes the bag out of my hand and studies me for a moment. "Everything OK?"

"Actually, no. I need to talk to you." I stuff both of my hands in my pockets. "Where's Ally?"

"In the shower. Sam what's wrong? You're scaring me."

"Ok, I don't know how to say or ask this so I'm just going to do it. I convinced myself that Friday night was a dream. OK, so after our little tiff over text on Friday and because I had had so much to drink, I thought that you were here with someone else. I told myself that you stopped texting with me because you had company. I remember telling myself to come over here and catch you in the act, and I remember saying to myself that that was what I was going to do. But at that point, everything gets fuzzy. See, I think that I drove over here Friday night and caught you almost naked with some blond guy named Nick, but I'm not sure. It looked like you two were about to have sex. What I do know for certain is that I went to O'Hares Friday night at 12:43 and bought your favorite ice cream. I found the receipt on the floor in my car last night. Now when I went to get eggs for you, one of the clerks recognized me from that night. He said something was funny about the way I was dressed and when I woke up yesterday morning, I was dressed in a jacket, my briefs and one shoe. I convinced myself it was all a dream but after everything that I have come across, it's not looking like it was. I've tried to make sense of this all night. And then to have the clerk at O'Hare's confirm that I was there and buying ice cream for you, I can only come to one conclusion." I cross my arms over my chest and glare down at her. "You are cheating on me."

"What?" There is nothing but shock on her face.

"You're cheating on me!"

She stares at me for a moment and then lets out a dry chuckle and shakes her head. "OK, so let me make sure I understand this. You have memory of coming over Friday night and me being here with someone named Nick about to have sex? You have a receipt that shows that you bought ice cream from O'Hares around the corner Friday night. And with the receipt and the clerk recognizing you from that night today you've come to the conclusion that I am cheating on you. Do I have it all straight?" I hold my posture and nod once at her to confirm her statement. She closes her eyes and shakes her head. Taking the bag with her, she turns and walks back over to the front door. Not looking at me, she opens it and leans against it. "You need to leave." Her words come out in an angry whisper. "Now." I don't move. I just look over at her, but she doesn't look at me. "Get out now."

I stand my ground. "Are you going to respond? You aren't even going to deny it?"

Her head turns toward me, and her eyes burn into me. "Get the fuck out of my house right now. That's the last time I'm going to say it. My next action will be a call to the police." She turns her head away from me and stares out into the yard. We are both locked in place. After a few moments, her hand moves to her back pocket and she pulls out her phone. I watch as she unlocks it and dials 911. Before she can hit the call button, I uncross my arms and walk out the door. I walk down the porch steps and wait to hear the inevitable slam of the door, but it doesn't come. Instead, she screams something at me and then I feel something hit me in the back of the head. Reflexively, my hand goes up and rubs it as I look down at the bag with the egg carton inside. Then the door slams.

As I drive back to the apartment, my anger gets the best of me. While waiting at stoplights, I punch the steering wheel repeatedly. How could I have been so wrong about her? She's just like my ex-wife and I refuse to deal with a cheater again. I reach the apartment with bruised and throbbing knuckles on my right hand. I'm done with dating. No one knows what monogamy means anymore. I drop onto the couch and through clenched teeth let out a guttural scream. I throw my head back against the couch and kick over the coffee table in frustration. Not even remembering the pain already there, I sit up and punch the arm of the couch. I immediately hiss at the contact. Fuck! After a few minutes, I stand and walk into the kitchen. I turn on the faucet and run cold water over my bruised hand. I still cannot believe it. And the way she avoided answering me. How could she do this to us? I guess it's good that I found out now. I shake my head as I turn off the faucet and grab a towel. I already know that Zack isn't going to take this well. After drying my hand, I unfold the towel and lay it on the island. I need to ice my hand to reduce the swelling. Still fuming, I walk over to the freezer and snatch it open. My heart instantly stops as I inhale sharply. I stand there motionless as I blink rapidly. Then I slowly realize the fucking mess I just made and I immediately start to panic. I close my eyes and shake my head. I curse and scream, but nothing I am doing at the moment, will change the fact that there, staring back at me, is a carton of Ben & Jerry's cherry cordial ice cream. What the fuck have I just done!

I'm weaving in and out of traffic as I drive back over to her house. I messed up big time and I need to fix it. I know it's not too late. I will just have to grovel and beg her to forgive me. Why am I always so fucking impulsive? Dammit. Please don't let it be too late. It was just an argument. Couples have them all the time.

I pull up in front of her house for the second time today. The bag with the eggs is gone. I run up to her front door and knock repeatedly with my left hand. She opens it, sees me and moves to slam it but I wedge my foot between the door and its frame. "Mercy, please baby. Just hear me out. I'm sorry. I was completely out of line. I didn't know how to say or ask the question, so I did what came naturally. I got defensive. I never should have treated or spoke to you that way." She continues to try to close the door against my foot and releases a groan at her failure to do so. "Can we just talk about it? More than anything it has more to do with my insecurities than you. You are the most trusting, honest, caring and respectful person I know. I hate myself for accusing you like that. Please baby, let me in so we can talk this over and put it behind us." She grunts and continues to struggle with the door.

"Mom?" I hear Ally's voice calling out from somewhere on the other side of the door and it makes her immediately still. "Is everything alright?"

She exhales roughly, releases the door and moves away from it to answer Ally. "Yes, baby. Sam and I had an argument but he is back to apologize." I push the door open a smidge and lean my head inside the house. My eyes land on Ally and I smile at her.

"I was a jerk and I'm going to beg for forgiveness if your mom is willing to hear me out." Mercy turns and narrows her eyes at me as Ally gives me a 'good-luck' look. I step into the house and close the door behind me. Mercy looks down at my bruised right hand and her face immediately softens.

"What happened?"

"I took out my anger on the steering wheel." I hold it up to her. "As you can see, the steering wheel won."

"Ally, can you put some ice in a towel for Sam?"

"Sure." Ally darts into the kitchen as Mercy turns and walks into the living room. I follow behind her and sit down on the couch. She sits in one of the armchairs. We sit in silence as we wait for Ally to bring the ice.

When Ally arrives with the ice, she walks over to me and gently places the towel on my hand. After holding it in place for a few moments, she looks over at her mom. "You want me to get lost for a little while?"

"Would you mind honey?"

"No, it's fine. I'll go down to Sarah's house. Text me when the coast it clear." She turns and looks at me with a smirk. "Good luck Sam." She chuckles, kisses Mercy's cheek on her way out of the room and then leaves the house.

We sit in silence for several minutes while I look over at her. I clear my throat and shift my position on the couch. "Merc-"

"FUCK YOU SAM!" She screams at me as she jumps up out of her chair. "HOW DARE YOU! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? IF YOU WANT TO END THIS JUST END IT! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR FUCKING GAMES!"

"I don't want to end this. I want you. I just thought-"

"Stop…..talking." Her words still my entire body. She glares at me with a half-scowl, half-frown on her face. She may be a pocket-sized, but the look she is giving me right now has me seriously questioning my safety. She sits back down, closes her eyes and shakes her head. She takes several deep breaths and then looks up at me. "I mean really, who the hell do you think you are? You come over here talking about this total fucked up memory you had and then tell me I am cheating on you. I am not a cheater Sam. I don't cheat. If I wanted to see someone else, I would tell you. I want to be with you and I thought that was what you wanted too. I mean I thought we were working toward something long term but maybe I've been misreading your intentions. Have I? If you can so easily confuse a memory with an alcohol induced dream and use that as evidence that I am cheating on you, maybe I was wrong about this whole relationship." She crosses her legs and her arms and continues to glare at me. "Are you seeing someone else?"

"No!"

"See I dated this guy back in college and he accused me of cheating on him, so he broke up with me only for me to find out that he was the one cheating on me. Is that what's happening here? Are you cheating on me?"

"NO!" Her eyes dart back over at me. "Mercy you just don't know how much I want you. My whole world revolves around you. You are on my mind every single second of the day." I run my left hand through my hair as I exhale. Hoping to lighten the mood I make an admission. "I know it was a dream now, and I know that the dream had more to do with my own insecurities than anything that you have done, but I also blame it on lack of sex." I chuckle softly as I look over at her hoping to see the hint of a smile but there is none.

"What are you insecure about Sam?"

"That I'm not good enough for you."

"Why wouldn't you be good enough for me? You aren't making any sense babe. So why don't you start by telling me every detail about this dream?"

"I pull up in front of your house with the ice cream and walk up to the door. I hear music playing from in here and then look through the side window and see you walking down the stairs in just a bra, panties and a robe. You walk into the living room and I hear you giggling and then moaning. Once I hear that, I start banging on the door until you open it. You tell me that I shouldn't be here and that it wasn't a good time. Then this tall blond guy comes out, wraps his arms around you and starts kissing and licking on your neck. You called him Nick and he called you Mimi. He told you to tell me bye and then you slammed the door in my face. When you slammed the door, I dropped the ice cream. Then my phone starts ringing, or what I guess was ringing and when I try to answer it, it just keeps ringing. The next thing I remember after that is waking up."

"And you have a receipt that shows that you bought ice cream at O'Hares Friday night."

"Yes. I found it in my car last night. After the great day we had yesterday, the dream was the furthest thing from my mind but after finding it I thought about the last time I bought ice cream and that's when the dream came rushing back to me. Then the stop at O'Hare's to get eggs and the clerk telling me what I did was just too much, so I lashed out at you. I still don't know how I got home and I hate the thought of me driving and being that out of it. When I left here today and went home, I opened the freezer to get ice for my hand and there was the ice cream staring right back at me."

She shakes her head and narrows her eyes at me. "I should punch you Sam. I mean I really should. So why didn't you tell me about any of this yesterday? We spent practically the entire day together."

I shrug my shoulders. "I didn't see a need to share my crazy dream with you. Plus, I didn't even remember the dream again until I found the receipt."

She leans forward, uncrosses her arms and locks eyes with me. "OK, listen to me Sam. The only person I know that could be mistaken for a Nick is my first boyfriend, the one I told you about way back when we met, Nicholas Cavanaugh, but I've never called him Nick. I called him Nicholas or Nicky. I haven't seen him in several years. He's never called me Mimi. He calls me Mercedes or Cedes. Now as far as the lack of sex, that's your fault. Us not sleeping together was your deal not mine so you have no one to blame for that but you."

"What? What do you mean I'm to blame?"

"You were the one who decided that sex was going to wait. I was ready to have sex with you our last night in Florida."

"You've got to be kidding me." She shakes her head. "Now I'm really kicking myself." That statement finally solicits a giggle from her and it's like music to my ears. "Baby, please tell me we can forget this morning even happened."

"No, we can't do that." She stands, walks over and sits next to me on the couch. "We have to remember why this happened in the first place, and that is because you were keeping something from me. You can't do that anymore. You have to share anything that is causing you to worry or that is troubling you about me with me and I will do the same. OK?"

I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat. "I'll try." I smile timidly. That's a pretty tall order considering the secret I am currently keeping from her.

"Good." She lifts my right hand and I hiss. "Look what you did to yourself." She examines my hand and then gently places it back on my thigh. "You need some more ice?"

"No, but I could use a kiss. You know something that lets me know that I didn't royally fuck up the best thing that has ever happened to me." She leans forward and gently nips on my bottom lip before pressing her lips to mine. She moans softly and it causes every hair on my body to stand up. I angle my head and snake my tongue into her mouth as she brings her hand up and plays with the hair at the nape of my neck. Our tongues continue to duel until she captures mine between her lips. As she sucks on it, I forget my pain ridden hand and pull her onto my lap. "I need you baby."

"I need you too." Lord knows I don't want our first time to be a quickie on her couch but if I don't bury myself inside her soon, I'm going to go crazy. I begin to massage her ass as she pulls away from our kiss and looks down at me. Just as her hands go to the button on her pants, her phone rings. She exhales forcefully and pulls her phone out of her back pocket. "It's Ally." She slides off my lap and answers the call. "Yeah honey. Come on back home." She looks up at me as she ends the call. "Ally is on her way back, but you need to find us some time to finish this. I'm done waiting." She leans over and plants a lingering kiss on my lips before pulling me up to follow her into the kitchen.

I pick up Zack and during the drive back to Mercy's we have our delayed talk. I explain to him that I know it's been difficult on him living this double life. I ask him to just give me a few more days and explain that all will be out in the open soon. He hates when I tell him 'soon' but I don't want to give him a definite date, in case I chicken out like I have so many times before, but with our fight today and the subsequent conversation, I feel a lot more confident in telling her everything.

"What happened to your hand?"

"I had an argument with Mercy this morning and took out my frustrations on the steering wheel."

"Real smart pop." He chuckles as he turns up the radio to sing along with a song that starts playing. He stops singing abruptly and then turns the radio down. "Wait, does that mean you started to tell her the truth?"

"No, we argued about something else. But we are all good now."

"Oh, OK." He turns the radio back up and drums his fingers against the dashboard as we make our way to Mercy's house.

When we get back to Mercy's, Zack darts out of the car. Ally is standing in front of the house talking to a couple of boys. I'm taken by surprise to say the least. I turn off the engine and then step out of the car in time to hear Zack go into protective brother mode. It's so endearing but the look that Ally is throwing Zack is anything but.

"What school do you go to? He stands there looking at the boy with his arms crossed.

"Donaldson."

"How old are you?"

"I'm fourteen. I'll be fifteen in two months."

"Ally is only thirteen."

"I'll be fourteen next month Zack." Ally groans and rolls her eyes at Zack.

"Doesn't matter. You're a bit too old for her don't you think?" Man, Zack really isn't backing down and Ally is about to punch him. I can just feel it.

"No, I don't think I'm too old for her."

Finally, Ally has had enough. "Zack, you need to chill." She lightly shoves him back and then turns back toward Harry. "I'm sorry Harry. Zack is like my brother and he can get protective, usually for absolutely no reason at all." She turns her head and throws a look toward a smirking Zack.

"It's OK. I'll text you later."

"OK, see you Harry."

"No texting after eleven." The boy walks away with a shake of his head and I watch as Ally playfully punches Zack in the stomach and then pops him on the back of the head.

I chuckle as I walk pass them. I open the door and see Mercy laughing from the living room entryway. "Did you hear that?"

"I did. So cute, but Zack is going to get so much more than she's already given him. Just wait."

"Yeah I know but I thought Ally liked Aaron." We both shrug as I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her. "Hi baby. I missed you."

"You weren't gone that long silly." I nip at her bottom lip.

"I know but I was gone long enough to miss you." I press my lips to hers. "So, what are we going to do today beautiful?"

"I thought we could go to the park or something, but it's supposed to start raining soon. We could go see movie."

"Or we could just stay in a have a lazy day. Order some pizza, kids can have one of their video game marathons and we could find something else to do while they're occupied." I wiggle my eyebrows at her and then wink.

"I think the kids want to go out. They may still want to go bowling you know."

"Let's drop them off at the bowling alley for a few hours then. That way we can come back here and have some adult fun."

"Sam."

"I know, I know."

"They like spending time with us. We should cherish that. In a year or two, spending time with us will be the last thing on their lists."

"You're right. Let's find out what they want to do." At that moment, the door swings open and they both run in. The rain has started and it's coming down in sheets. "What are we going to do today guys? Sam here won't be able to bowl and now that it's raining that pretty much limits us to indoor activities."

"Why don't we just stay in and watch movies or something." Internally, I pump my fist. Ally totally read my mind.

"Yeah, I'm good with that." Zack flicks her ear and she elbows him in his side.

"Movie marathon it is. You two pick out the movies, Mercy and I will go make the popcorn and grab some drinks."

"Aye, aye captain." Ally gives me a playful salute as she and Zack retreat to the basement.

"Now you, come here." She narrows her eyes at me. "Don't look at me like that woman, it's all your fault. You gave me my first taste the other day and I've been craving more ever since." I walk toward her and grab her hand. Before she can stop me, I've pulled her down the hallway and into the bathroom. I close the door quietly behind us.

"Sam, we cannot keep doing this. What if the kids come up and hear us?"

"If you stay quiet, they won't hear a thing."

"That's easy for you to say. That tongue of yours is pretty lethal."

"I aim to please baby." I wrap my arms around her and lift her up onto the sink. "Damn jeans." I unbutton them and pull both her jeans and panties down and off her body. I drop them onto the floor, spread her folds and then plunge my tongue into her. She cries out. "Ssssh, Mercy quiet." I throw her left leg over my shoulder, rub feverishly on her clit and then lick the length of her slit. "Mine." I wrap my lips around her clit as my fingers glide into her. I feel her leg begin to shake against my head, so I suck harder and hum. She cries out again and I quickly remove my fingers and plunge my tongue back into her. I lap up her cream as her heavy breathing calms. When she is calm, I remove my tongue and lick the length of her slit again as I stand up. I shove my fingers in my mouth and remove them with a loud pop. "Finger licking good." She giggles as I kiss her lips and then help her off the sink. "You clean up and I'll start on the popcorn. Round two in a couple of hours." I wink at her and then exit the bathroom.

Mercy joins me in the kitchen about five minutes later. "You know, I think round two should be all about you."

"I could go for that." I pull her next to me and kiss the side of her head. "But that means that we will have to go at least two more rounds before the night is over."

"And why is that?"

"Because I need more. I want to be able to taste you on my tongue long after I've gotten home tonight." The microwave beeps and I remove the bag. I put another one in and start the timer.

"When is Zack going to his mom's again?"

"In two weeks. When's Ally going to her dad's?"

"She will be with him for the next two weekends."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"So, in two weeks your ass is mine and I mean that literally and figuratively. I will finally be balls deep inside you. Baby my dick is already twitching." I nip at her earlobe as my hand travels down to cup her ass. "I need to stock up on condoms now."

"Aren't you going to at least take me out to a nice dinner first?"

"No."

She half-chuckles through her surprised reaction at my response. "What?"

"Baby, when I finally have you all to myself, the only thing on my mind will be burying myself deep inside you. We aren't leaving your house or my apartment for the entire weekend." I turn her body to wrap both my arms around her waist. "Notice I didn't say bed and that's because I will be fucking you against every available surface wherever we are like I promised." I kiss her hard and hungry as her hands go up to tug on my hair and mine lower to massage her ass. The microwave beeps and I remove one of my hands and open its door to silence it. Just as I return my hand to her ass and snake my tongue into her mouth, my phone chimes and that manages to break our connection. I kiss the tip of her nose as I pull my phone out of my back pocket.

Stop making out with your not-sure-what-to-call-her girlfriend and come on so we can start the movie

I chuckle and hold the phone up for Mercy to read. She laughs and pours the second bag of popcorn into another bowl. We each grab two bottles of water and then walk down the stairs to the basement to join the kids. I playfully shove Zack as both he and Ally laugh at me. "We know you two were making out so don't deny it. We just got tired of waiting."

"Yeah, it's no big deal. Just don't starve your kids in the meantime." Ally gets up and takes the bowl from Mercy and then sits back down on the small palette of blankets that she and Zack have put in the middle of the floor. "We thought we would do horror movies. First up is The Conjuring, then Annabelle, then The Grudge and then It."

"Sounds good. I'll hit the lights." I walk over and flip the light switch down and then take a seat next to Mercy on the couch.

"No making out with kids in the room dad."

"We wouldn't do that son." I lean in next to Mercy's ear. "Because you can't be quiet." She nudges me with her elbow and rolls her eyes. We cuddle up on the couch and begin to watch the first movie. Every so often I lightly trail my thumb up and down her shoulder or she gently caresses my knee. By the time we are midway through the second movie, she is nestled between my legs with her head resting against my chest. When the second movie ends, we decide to order the pizzas.

"Can we order that big chocolate chip cookie too?"

"Sure."

Mercy goes upstairs to order the food. "What's next?"

"The Grudge."

"Have I seen that one Zack?"

"I don't think so. I think you will like it though."

"Delivery is going to take sixty to ninety minutes. Apparently, there are a lot of people ordering pizza right now."

"I'm hungry."

I know me too. How about some salad or fruit to hold you over until it gets here?"

"That will work." Zack darts upstairs with Ally close behind him.

Mercy sits down next to me and I wrap her up in my arms and nuzzle against her neck. "You want some salad or a piece of fruit babe?"

"Nuh uh. I want you."

"So silly."

"I'm serious baby. Think we can sneak off for a few minutes?"

"Maybe after the pizza gets here." She kisses me softly on the lips.

"Good because I need to taste you again." I trail my hand up and down her thigh as I lick the shell of her ear. The kids run back down the stairs and Ally starts the next movie.

An hour or so into the movie, the pizza arrives. Ally pauses the movie as we all go upstairs. I go to the door while everyone else goes into the kitchen. After paying for the pizza, I head back downstairs.

"What do you want to drink, Dad?"

I still midway down the stairs and answer him. "Water, please. And bring the parmesan cheese with you." I continue down the stairs. I place the pizzas and the cookie on the coffee table and then go into the half-bath to wash my hands. When I come out, Mercy and Zack are back and already digging into the pizza.

"Babe, you want a salad or something to go with yours?"

"Nah. Just the pizza is fine." I take a couple of slices out of the box and place them on my plate and then take a seat next to her on the couch. "Where's Ally?"

"Right here." I turn and see her and also see that she has changed into some pajama pants and a washed-out superman t-shirt.

Zack immediately takes issue. "That's rude. I want to get comfortable too."

"Too bad. You should have brought something comfortable to change in, although I do have some pants with teddy bears on them that I can lend you." She sticks her tongue out of him as she leans over him and grabs a slice of pizza. She cackles when she sees the grimace on his face.

He swats her from over him and huffs. "I'm going to keep a change of clothes in Dad's car from now on."

Mercy just giggles at the two. "Well, you can always just keep something here if you want." She chuckles softly when she sees the smile that quickly spreads across his face and then lightly bumps into my shoulder. "You too, Dad." She looks over at me and winks.

"Done and done." I lean and bump into her. "Although fair warning, I look hella sexy when I am dressed down. You may not be able to keep your hands off me." Mercy just shakes her head and giggles, but Ally falls over laughing.

"Gross, dad. I'm trying to eat here." Zack shakes his head and motions for Ally to restart the movie, but she is still laughing. Ever the impatient one, he leans over, grabs the remote and restarts it himself.

After the movie ends, we all agree that we don't want to watch anymore. Ally and Zack clean up the remnants from our dinner and take the leftover pizza upstairs. "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the night?"

"Well, I know what I want to do but our little CBs won't allow that."

"CBs?"

"Cock blockers."

She swats my chest lightly and giggles. "Stop calling them that." She tries to sound angry but her continued giggles give her completely away. "It's only seven and with the holiday tomorrow, we can still hang out for a while longer."

"Sure. Nothing on my agenda until Tuesday." The kids rejoin us and move to turn on the video game console. Mercy stops them.

"Oh, no. If you want to play a video game, it needs to be something we can all play. We are spending time with each, the four of us. You two have your usual game time on Thursdays." Ally looks over at her and then quickly at Zack, who nods.

"Yes, mom." She opens the cabinet to find a game we can all enjoy. After perusing for a minute or two, she pulls out two options: Mario Kart and Just Dance. She holds them up for us to choose. "Which one do you want to play?"

Mercy studies them for a moment and then smiles. "Let dance." Ally happily nods as Zack groans. Or that groan could have been from me because I groaned too. She looks over at me. "That good with you?" I don't answer immediately and when she notices, she says exactly what I hoped she wouldn't. "Or are you scared?"

When she said it, my eyes narrow at her. Dammit. Now I don't have a choice. I'm never one to back down and I think she has learned that about me. I smirk at her as I stand. "Oh, it's so on."

"Oh, god." I look over at Zack, surprised by his outburst. "Dad, I know you think that you are a great dancer, but believe me, your only son, when I say you are not." Zack just shakes his head and sits down on the floor next to the coffee table.

"Hmm, I see we have some naysayers around here, so let's turn this into a competition." I think for a quick moment, look up at Ally and then down at him. "I think it is safe to say that Mercy and Ally will be better at this game than you or me. So I say we each team up with one of them and the two who score the lowest number of points has to cook our dinner for next Thursday." I cross my arms, look quickly at each of them and wait for someone to speak.

Mercy jumps up and takes Zack's hand pulling him up. "I want to team up with Zack!" Ally looks over at me and smiles weakly.

"Harsh baby, but that's OK. Ally and I will take the two of you on any day of the week!"

'Sure. You just remember that while Zack and I wait for our perfectly cooked dinner Thursday night." I move over to Ally and take the game case from her as she loads the disc into the game console. "Ally go get some paper so we can make the song selection as random as possible." Ally darts up the stairs and is back in a flash with four pens and a pad of post-it notes in hand. "Now, write down the name of the songs and the artist. Fold them up and put female artists in one pile, male artists in another pile and then groups in a third pile." I sit down to do what she said and see that all of us are really into this. It only takes a couple of minutes to form the piles. Zack and I slide the table closer to the stairs to give us some room to move.

"Anybody want to go first, or should we draw straws?" Zack looks around at each of us. When nobody speaks up, I stand to go first. I pick one from the male artist pile and unfold it.

"Oh, good. I got Happy by Pharrell Williams. I know that one." I grin over at Mercy. "Be prepared to be amazed."

"Really, dad?"

"Pipe down you. You just don't recognize a talented dancer when you see one." Ally chuckles and takes me through a quick tutorial. Once the sensor recognizes me, I move my hand to choose the song. The music starts and I watch for the upcoming moves. They all seem simple enough, but I seem to do them a bit too late each time. The second verse is a little easier than the first since it seems the moves are being repeated so I do a little better that time around, but still, just a tad too late. By the time the bridge rolls around, I'm doing my own moves. I threw in the sprinkler, the cabbage patch and my infamous body roll. When the song finally finishes, I turn around and they are all rolling on the floor laughing their asses off. "Y'all just don't know talent when you see it." I turn and then sit down on the couch with a defeated look on my face.

Mercy finally peels herself off of the floor and sits next to me. "Aww, babe. It was a nice try." She leans over and gives me a lingering peck while trying her best to contain her giggles. I look over and see both Zack and Ally wiping their eyes as their laughing finally dies down.

"Well, that was quite a show Sam. Let's see what your score was." Ally looks up at the TV. "2813." She writes down my name and score on a post-it note and then looks up. "Who's next?"

"I'll go." Mercy stands and goes toward the female artist pile. She picks one, unfolds it and then smiles. "Oh, you are so going down." She turns the paper around for us to see. "Dark Horse by Katy Perry."

"Let me guess, that's the one you wanted?"

"Nope. Actually, I wanted Bang Bang or Problem but this one is cool too." She takes her place in the center of the room. She chooses the song and gets into the starting pose. Oh my god. The moment she started twisting her hips, I was lost. By the time she did the slow rocking move down to the floor and back up all while somewhat twisting those damn hips, I was ready to turn the damn game off. I wasn't even watching the TV anymore. My eyes were trained on her. Who throws a lasso like that? Every twist and pelvic thrust had me on edge. I know I shifted my position on the couch at least a dozen times and she still hadn't made it to the bridge yet. When the bridge finally came around, I had shifted my entire body sideways to shield the very prominent situation in my pants. She finally finishes and I think I am panting harder than she is. Ally and Zack cheer and then we all look up to see her score.

"9008! That's a personal best for me." She high-fives Zack and then turns her head to look at me. "Oh, nothing from the peanut gallery?" She raises an inquisitive eyebrow at me and smirks.

"That was great baby." My voice cracked almost unnoticeably but she picked up on it and gives me a confused look. She nods and then turns back to Zack and Ally.

"Who's next."

"I'll go." Ally walks to the table and picks one from the female artist pile, unfolds it and then starts bouncing up and down. "I got Problem!" She laughs. "You are so going down Mom."

I look over at Mercy. "We'll see little girl." She rolls her eyes and smiles as she walks over to the couch to join me. She leans in next to my ear. "You OK, babe?"

I nod. "Yes, just remind me to have you do that song for me again when we are alone." I nip at her ear as Zack begins to aggressively clear his throat at us.

"Hello! Impressionable kids in the room."

"Don't remind me." I smile sweetly at him and then turn my attention to Ally. "Come on Ally, you can do it!"

Ally chooses her song. The music starts and I my eyes move between the TV and her. I'm quickly happy that Mercy didn't get this song. I would have keeled over for sure. Too much hip thrusting. I look over at Zack and immediately get tickled. He looks like he is about to snatch Ally up and make her sit down. I lightly elbow Mercy and nod my head at Zack. She looks over and starts snickering. I continue to move my eyes between the TV, Ally and Zack until the song finishes. Mercy and I cheer for her after it is over and wait for her score to appear.

"8573." Mercy writes her score down.

Zack stands. "I'll give you one less problem. Sit your narrow behind down somewhere." She shoves him as she passes, and he flicks her ear. "Cedes tell her she can't be dancing like that in public." Mercy and I just giggle. "It's borderline indecent."

"OK, grandpa. Just choose a song and keep your opinions to yourself."

"You need to listen to me. I'm your elder."

"Yeah by what, 53 days?"

"Doesn't matter. I'm still older."

"Whatever little boy."

Zack picks from the male artist pile, unfolds it and then reads it out loud. "It's My Birthday by Will. . Never heard of it." Zack takes his place and then chooses the song. The music starts and he seems to have caught on very quickly. As he goes through the song, I feel Mercy bouncing next too me and see her nodding her head out of the corner of my eye. Apparently, Zack does one of the moves perfectly, because both her and Ally yell out and then continue to cheer him on. I look on and continue to watch as 'Perfect' appears repeatedly on the screen. Once the song finishes, we all cheer for him and I notice the tips of his ears have turned red. We wait for the score.

"6355!"

"Not too shabby loser boy." Ally gives him a side hug as he bumps his hip into her.

"He's a chip off of the old block." They all turn and look at me and then roar with laughter again. "You know, I'm not going to take much more of this abuse." Ally tallies the score but we all know that Zack and Mercy won.

"Final score. Mom and Zack got 15,363 points. Me and Sam got 11,386 points."

"Losers!" Zack throws his arm around Mercy's shoulder. "What do you want for dinner Thursday night, Cedes?" She turns to him and they huddle together to come up with their menu.

When they are done, they both turn and face us. He just smiles and she taps her index finger against her chin in thought. A huge smile then spreads across her face. "Master Zack and I will require homemade chicken and dumplings with fresh green beans and a red velvet cake for dessert."

"You cannot be serious."

"Oh, yes we are! I have a ton of cookbooks that you are more than welcome to use. Ally can make the cake. It's her specialty."

I look over at Ally and she just shrugs. I look back over at Mercy and Zack and just groan. "Me and my big mouth."

We ended up dancing to most of the songs, even a couple of times as a group. When Ally started yawning, I looked down at my watch and noticed that it was after eleven. "It's late baby." I show her my watch.

"Oh, wow. I didn't realize."

"Yeah, I know." I look over at Zack. "You ready to go buddy?" He nods. I look back over at Mercy.

"You two need to keep some necessities here so on nights like these you can just stay over."

"We will do just that so the next time this happens we can."

She nods and tries to stifle a yawn. I stand and move over to the table to move it back. I begin to gather up all of the folded pieces of paper, but she stops me. "Leave them. We may need them another time." I nod and then pull her up from the couch.

"We're going to head out so you two can get some sleep, but we will be here early tomorrow."

"How early?"

"How's ten-ish?"

She nods and grabs my hand as we walk up the steps. Ally and Zack follow behind us. When we reach the main floor, Ally says her good nights by giving both me and Zack hugs and then kisses her mom on the cheek before turning to head upstairs to her bedroom. Once we reach the front door, Mercy pulls Zack into a hug and rubs the top of his head. "Have a good night, Zack. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Cedes." He releases her and then opens the door to exit. I hand him the keys so that he can wait in the car for me.

I gather her up in my arms and kiss her lips softly. "You know, we never did make it to round two. I'm going to be a mess tonight."

She playfully swats my chest. "I know but you had a good time tonight otherwise, right?"

"Are you kidding me? I had the best night. I need more just like it."

"I think we can manage that." She leans up and kisses me. After a few short seconds, I snake my tongue between her lips and devour her. Our tongues duel for a bit before she relents and allows me to take control. Once I've gotten my fill, I slowly draw away leaving a few lingering pecks on her lips. When we have parted, she lays her head against my chest and sighs softly. "Drive safe, babe. Text me when you get home."

"I will, beautiful. Good night." She raises her head to look up at me and then kisses me again.

"Good night."