Disclaimer: I don't own anything but some of the twisted elements of this story thanks to Glee and Tickled Pink I don't have to strain my brain too much in this Samcedes adaption. BTW I don't hate any of the characters on Glee. I just used some elements of their Glee characterization for my work. On Glee Noah was a man whore and Quinn slept with her boyfriend's best friend. Those are the facts, and I love Mark Salling's and Dianna Agron's body of work on the show, and that they gave us multifaceted characters who make TV drama and sometimes fanfictions tawdry like my mother's soaps were back in the day.

Chapter Four

Sam wished that he was dreaming. As soon as he arrived to his family's home and heard his mother's greeting, he should have been convinced that she had either become a Stepford Wife or had been body snatched. Being ambushed by a happy Mrs. Jones further proved his theory on body snatching, but he should have put two and two together. The cars, his mother's happiness to see him and Mercedes, Mercedes' mom hugging her and being nice to him all added up to this surprise engagement party. Sam looked around the room and was shocked that she had forgone a family tradition of Sunday dinners to host a party on the Lord's day of rest as she had called it all those years when he wanted to play sports or do something order than attend church and Sunday supper with his mom, dad, and later on his siblings.

The only thing that he liked about the party was that he got to play loving fiancé to Mercedes. He didn't know if it was possible for her not to look gorgeous, and when his mother spoke about her beauty, he felt as if she was surprised. The more he observed her the more he realized that she wasn't as vain as the other women he had dated. Sure she was just as beautiful and even more sexier, but she had the attitude that she wasn't hung up on her looks. After overhearing her tell Tina that she was wearing make-up for him made him realized that he had never seen his former girlfriends or mother go a day without wearing make-up. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't notice that she was leaving his side and headed towards Mike and Tina with a look on her face that said she had an axe to grind. He quickly began to walk in her direction but was waylaid but no other than Noah Puckerman.

"Sam my man this in an incredible shindig with your parents throwing a party on a Sunday and with the rumors that I am hearing that you are getting married very soon, I can't help but be suspicious. Dude, what is going on?"

Sam really wasn't in the mood with dealing Noah today, but he had to try to convince his friend that there was not anything suspicious about his upcoming marriage to Mercedes. "There is nothing going on besides our parents deciding to surprise us by celebrating our engagement with this party."

Noah smirked and shrugged as he lifted his drink. "I just figured that this catered affair with wine, the media, and the secrecy behind your engagement is obviously a cover up for something. Did you knock up Judge Jones' superstar daughter and are now being forced to marry her? Come on man give me the details, she is not even wearing an engagement ring, and no notice has been sent to the paper. Something isn't right here."

Sam took a drink from a waiter who had just walked by him. He needed time to think of a reply, and he didn't know what to say. Why hadn't his mother or her mother thought of a freaking engagement ring? They were the ones pushing him and Mercedes to pretend that this was a love match, and he realized there was nothing he could say to convince Noah that he wasn't right.

Mercedes, who was not too far away from Sam, when she began to overhear their conversation, almost wished she didn't have to go over there and rescue Sam. However, it was obvious from the look of panic that she saw in Sam's eyes that he needed her to bail him out. Noah had a big mouth, and Mercedes didn't need the press to overhear his conversation with Sam, so she came up to Sam got on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek and pretended to be happy to see Noah.

"Sweetie, Tina and Mike were wondering if you were going to bring Noah over to introduce him to them," she said including the jerk that she wouldn't even take the time to shake his hand or look him in the eye to acknowledge his presence.

"Mercedes, I was just having some bro time with my friend and just telling him that it was odd that he hasn't given you an engagement ring, I hope that means he is not thinking of ending his engagement with you like he did with Quinn. You know he gave her his grandmother's ring, and she refused to give it back to him. Mary had to sue her to get the ring back. Quinn was a lot like Mary in looks and temperament though she sure gave your mom a run for her money." Noah began his spiel targeting Mercedes and ended it by targeting Sam before returning his gaze back on Mercedes.

"Since then Sam has been changing girlfriends, the way my wife changes baby diapers. I hope this doesn't mean he's not counting on this engagement to last long." Noah wanted to raise doubt in Mercedes' mind. He didn't think that Sam deserved Mercedes, and as long as she only had eyes for Sam, he would never get a chance to tap that ass that he had been dreaming of since he met her. This was not the first time he fell for a girl who was engaged to Sam. In fact he was the reason why Sam and Quinn broke up, but Sam didn't know that. He and Quinn were having an affair behind Sam's back. And Sam found out about Quinn's infidelity when she and Sam were at her first doctor's visit, once the doctor mentioned the future delivery date then and only then did she confess to Sam that the child wasn't his because the timing of her conception was when Sam had been on a two month publicity tour with his first comic book, and he couldn't have possibly fathered the child. Quinn later aborted the baby in a bid to get Sam back. She never told Sam who the father was instead she kept lying to him saying it was just a one time drunken mistake.

Mercedes' suspicions concerning Noah Puckerman were right. He was not a true friend of Sam only an opportunistic swine with more testosterone than common decency. "Oh, believe me Mary tried to insist Sam give me that ring which is beautiful but has nickel in it like most engagement rings that we looked at here in little old Lima, and I am unfortunately severely allergic to nickel, so Sam has had to have the perfect hypoallergenic ring designed for me, and we are going to pick it up when we go to Vegas tomorrow."

The expression that crossed Noah's face was unbelievable. "You two are going to Vegas tomorrow? Wow."

"Yes we are, and I can't wait to spend some private time with my fiancée. Unfortunately our moms will kill us if we stay in one place for too long. We need to mingle some more." Sam said realizing just how toxic his relationship was with Noah. Noah bringing up Quinn and the ring was not something a real friend did at an engagement party. Sam was so not willing to subject Mike and Tina to his presence, a presence his fiancée could barely tolerate as is, so he walked them to the other side of the great room to put as much distance between them and Noah as possible.

Mercedes whispered in Sam's ear as they walked, "I know a jewelry designer in Vegas who always wants me to wear his designs when I am on the red carpet. I will call him up and ask if he will be willing to let me wear one of his designs as a favor. We shouldn't have to invest money in a costly ring for appearances sake. Plus the publicity that I will give him for wearing his design should more than make up for the cost of borrowing it for eighteen months. We also can purchase our wedding bands from him to sweeten the deal. I will call him tonight to let him know we will be stopping by one of his stores some time tomorrow."

Before the couple could make it completely across the room, they were stopped by Sam's seventeen year old sister and one of her best friends. "Well, Sam, how long was it going to take you to introduce me to the woman you are about to marry? I am thinking if you could have gotten away with it, you would have postponed the introductions until after you two had been married for what a couple of years?" Stacie Evans was curious about her future sister-in-law because her horrid mother couldn't stop singing Mercedes' praises which made Stacie wonder what kind of magic did her brother's future wife possess to have both her parents like her and make her brother stop his man whoring ways to commit to her.

Sam noticed the curious gazes of his sister and her friend Andrea. "Stacie and Andrea, this is Mercedes, and darling this is my baby sister, Stacie with the runaway tongue and her best friend Andrea."

Stacie smiled and stepped forward and Mercedes shook both girls' hands. Andrea only wanted to come to the party because she was a big Mercedes Jones' fan, and right now her friend was so star struck that she couldn't say a word only look at Mercedes with hero worship in her eyes after Mercedes told both girls it was a pleasure to meet them.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Stacie replied nudging Andrea who still was unable to speak.

Mercedes noticed that Stacie's friend was looking at her the way many of her younger fans would when they met her for the first time, so she offered the girl a friendly smile and complimented her red bottom shoes.

"Mercedes Jones is talking to me and complimenting my shoes; I could die right now here and be at peace." Andrea said placing her hand over mouth when she realized what she said out loud. Stacie and Sam couldn't stop themselves from laughing, but Mercedes felt a tug of sympathy for the girl knowing that her age she would have acted the same way towards Whitney or Mariah.

"Well Andrea those shoes are pretty sweet; I am going to take a wild guess and say that you like my music." Mercedes addressed the girl causing the girl to smile over her embarrassment.

"Stacie and I love your music. Sometimes high school can be so petty and we have drama always going around about who likes who, who dresses better, and who is or is not in the in crowd. When we are having bad days, we put on your music and sing it at the top of our lungs." Andrea couldn't stop gushing to save her life and Stacie finally rescued her friend from her verbal diarrhea.

"Yes, that is why I am so mad that my brother hasn't introduced us to now. I am one of your biggest fans, and Andrea and I are a part of the Mercedes Militia. We even have our own fan website on Tumblr about our appreciation towards your artistry. A lot people can sing a song, but you write songs and sing them with such real emotion that we couldn't not support your career."

"Well your brother is not a big fan of my music. You do know that your brother's love of 80s rap music makes me irrelevant to him as an artist, so I think that is why he hadn't considered the fact that you would be a fan."

Stacie smiled when Mercedes mentioned Sam's questionable taste in music. "You know about him blasting that horrible music from his speakers. I hate it when he used to have to pick me up from school, and he would be playing that music. I bet I was the only five year old who knew the words to all the Beastie Boys' songs."

"So, you are telling me he has been listening to the same music for decades, and I thought it was just a childhood nostalgic kick. Baby we are going to have to get you to broaden your musical taste." Mercedes looked at Stacie with a look of camaraderie and was glad she wasn't the only one who found Sam's habit of blasting rap music from his car irritating as heck.

Stacie was talking to Mercedes more than any woman he had ever dated, and Sam was totally surprised. Stacie normally hated all of the women that he brought to events that his mother forced him to attend. She tried to stay as far away from his dates as possible, but now she was monopolizing Mercedes and was ganging up on him with his fiancée. "Now I am not going to let you two start thinking that you can gang up on me and change my taste in music." Sam said and was shocked to hear Stacie's and her friend's next request.

"Sam will you please take a picture of Mercedes with Andrea and me. We are going to post to this our site as soon as possible." Stacie asked giving Sam her phone that in the past Sam had never been allowed to breathe upon nevertheless touch. He took the picture after telling her, "of course."

After he had snapped the picture, Stacie and Andrea snatched the phone to make sure that the picture was on point. "Okay, now Sam you stand by Mercedes, I want to get a picture of the two of you to prove to the know-it-alls in my class that you are indeed marrying Mercedes, and she is going to be my sister-in-law."

Mercedes was shocked at Stacie's acceptance of her in Sam's life which she knew probably had more to do with her singing career than personality, but she had a feeling that the young girl and her would become good friends. "Stacie, I look forward to getting to know you better thanks for welcoming into your family." Mercedes accepted the young girl's hug and told the youngest Evans this after Stacie had invited Mercedes to a girl's night of popcorn, candy, and movies.

Stacie Evans was inviting a female associated with him over for a night of movies and fun, and Mercedes was accepting the invitation. Sam's mind was befuddled. Had his mother put something in the drinks or was his sister actually being nice to a female other than her friends, which Sam hadn't witnessed since she turned 13?

There was no doubt about the fact that Stacie Evans liked Mercedes because the words she uttered next left Sam astounded. "Mercedes I know that you two have to mingle or mom will literally have a cow which would be quiet amusing, but I rather you leave here tonight with a good impression of the family so avoid mother and Stevie if he's still here at all cost. Unfortunately you are stuck with Sam, but that works out for my good because I get to have another sane female in the family finally."

"Stacie you really are a breath of fresh air. When we get back from Vegas, I will call you to finalize our plans." Mercedes told the girl and said goodbye to Andrea as well as; the two girls could be overheard saying they were ditching the boring party and were going to go upstairs to Stacie's room, upload the pictures, and inform the Mafia that Mercedes Jones was the real deal and not a phony snob.

Sam was so busy wondering where his brother had gone or was going off to that he hadn't realized that Mercedes had turned towards him to ask him a question. His focus immediately shifted to the woman in front of him after she placed her hand on his chest. It seemed that was going to be her thing with when they were in public.

"How in the world did that happened? Stacie has barely said five words to any woman that I have brought home. In fact, Stevie and she used to torment Quinn relentlessly that she nicknamed the two the Children of the Corn," Sam said trying to distract himself from reacting to her touch and her curves being so close to his body and the sparks that flew from the feel of her touch on him.

"I don't know. You had me worried about Stevie so much that I hadn't asked you anything about your sister. I will have to tell your dad I am sorry because she is now my favorite Evans." Mercedes teased Sam batting her doe eyes up at him.

Sam bent his head to whisper in her ear, "So, I guess that puts me in third place, and I thought we were Team Samcedes looks like I have been thrown over by the Mercedes Militia." Sam teased back looking at her face. Who would imagine that because of a softball crashing through a window he would be standing here engaged to this charismatic, charming, and curvy woman who was tempting him to kiss her succulent lips as she ran her tongue lightly against them not taking her eyes off of his.

"Darling, we need to mingle." He told her before he lost all self-control.

"Why?" Mercedes asked him looking as if she didn't want to be anywhere else but right there with him.

"Because if we continue to stand like this I'm going to kiss you, and it would not be a socially accepted kiss that one expects at an engagement party; it will be a kiss that will let everyone know that as I make love you to your lips that I want to do the same thing to your body." As Sam explained why they had to mingle, he looked in Mercedes' eyes and saw an answering heat to the flame that burned in his own eyes.

Mercedes wanted to say something but couldn't. Sam had literally entranced her with his words, and she couldn't stop the intense hunger she now felt in her desire to feel his lips on top of hers, and she couldn't stop imagining how his tongue would feel on both her upper and lower sets of lips. When she felt her panties began to moisten, she shook her head to wake herself out of her trance. Looking up when she felt Sam tug her arm, she mindlessly allowed him to walk her towards Mike and Tina.

Now a day later, Mercedes was still revisiting everything Sam did and said at the surprise engagement party as she and Sam exited Henderson's executive airport. The entire plane ride to Vegas had been one of almost dead silence with Sam not saying more than good morning to her. Mercedes tried to concentrate on all that she had to accomplish today to distract her from his presence.

Sam's mind was blown as Mercedes had told him that the Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel & Casino had arranged for them to fly in by corporate jet, which Sam had never flown in a billionaire company's private jet before. A driver had picked him up from his condo and then picked up Mercedes, and the Mercedes Jones he was used to seeing on a now daily basis looked completely different. Her face rivaled a model's face with colorful cosmetics, her outfit of black jeggings, a black bustier, and a crop jacket screamed look at me. He could tell that she was in celebrity mode, and he could see how she was in high demand for a Vegas show. The showgirls in Vegas didn't have curves like Mercedes Jones, and he knew all of her concerts would sell out if she was going to be dressing like that on stage. Hell, he would buy a ticket just to see her move and dance around stage forget about going to just appreciate her voice.

When they arrived in Vegas, Sam was shocked that a limo awaited them there to take them straight to the hotel. He couldn't keep silent any longer and asked her if this was another perk of the job, and she told him how everything was covered by the hotel. Once they were driven to her meeting, he was further surprised to hear the concierge say, "Welcome back, Ms. Jones." Mercedes was led to a meeting and he was given the option to go to the casino or use his tablet to conduct his own business in a private conference room. Sam chose the conference room because he didn't know how much free time they would have while in Vegas, and he needed to get some work done so he wouldn't get behind.

Once the meeting was over, Mercedes had booked several shows for the month of the July involving Wednesdays then Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of the month, and she would have to return back to Caesar's in February with a similar schedule. She made sure to only do three days a week and would have to have Sam join her on some of the weekends because her total days of performing would be 18 and she would not want to commute after every performance to make sure they didn't spend too many nights apart.

Sam was surprised to find out that they were not staying in the motel. Mercedes told him they were leaving again and the two had a different driver waiting to take them to where they would be staying so Mercedes could change her outfit, and they could go choose the rings and hopefully a chapel for their wedding tomorrow.

"Roderick, it's always good to see you," Mercedes greeted her driver and part-time bodyguard that her management team loaned out to her. "How are your wife and son?"

"They are doing great Ms. Jones thanks for asking."

"Roderick Meeks, this is my fiancé, Sam Evans," she introduced Sam to the man that he would see regularly if he came to Vegas for some of her shows.

"Congratulations to the both of you." He said as he took their luggage and put it into the waiting vehicle.

They climbed into the limousine, and Sam was back on his iPad, and Mercedes didn't want to interrupt his work. She didn't know why he was being so aloof today. She thought that they were Team Samcedes and finally getting along. She couldn't understand why they weren't talking when they had a million things they needed to discuss if they were getting married tomorrow morning. Sam, however, only put his iPad away when he noticed that they had slowed down and were entering a gated driveway.

After saying goodbye to Roderick, Mercedes unlocked the door to the high-rise luxury condo, and she noticed that it was already after five. They probably would have to save ring shopping and choosing a chapel for the next day. The first thing that Sam commented on was design of the building when he looked around the place and its view from the 14th floor, and Mercedes didn't now how to comment as she showed him around. Sam's gaze was intent on her, and she fought to ignore the tingling feeling that began to travel down her spine. "I'll show you the guest room where you will be sleeping, and you can put your luggage away." Mercedes was not willing to keep dealing with Sam's hot and cold behavior, so she decided to just leave his presence, but she was stopped by Sam when he caught her arm in his grasp.

"What's the matter?" Sam asked her sensing that something was wrong but not knowing what to do with the chill that had entered the air.

"Not a thing." She told him as she removed her arm from his grasp and walked with him into the room that he would be sleeping in that night. She showed him where the towels and extra linen and blankets were. "If you need anything else, let me know." She said as she tried to exit the bedroom that felt smaller with his presence as quickly as she could.

"Mercedes, I can tell that something is wrong. Please tell me what it is?" Sam turned her around and looked her in the eyes.

"Do you really want to know what's wrong? Could it be the surprise engagement party that I had to endure yesterday when I was told it was going to be a quiet family dinner with your parents? Or maybe what's wrong with me is that I am marrying a man this evening who has barely said one hundred words to me all day? But it might very well be the fact that I have had to endure lengthy calls with my management team, label, and agent/publicist which has resulted in me being blamed for them scurrying about cancelling engagements, postponing my album launch till next year, and having no choice but to become a resident Vegas performer so that my band and the other people behind my career have gainful employment and that I stay relevant as an artist."

Sam didn't fully understand the pressure she was under and all that she was giving up for the marriage, and the only thing he could do was apologize. "Mercedes, I am truly sorry." He moved closer to her noticing the tears in her eyes and engulfed her in a hug. "I wasn't aware of the surprise party with a hundred plus people either and if I was in my right mind, I would have turned around and got us out of there and left our mothers to die of embarrassment, but because of you, we were able to make last night a success. I know I shouldn't have agreed to marry you, but your mother seems adamant that we marry, and if we don't she will make sure we go to jail, and I think that will negatively affect your career more than mine. I have also been having problems at work with this one client that I cannot seem to please. I have been accused by him of not devoting my energy to his project, and if I don't somehow find a way to work with him, I will cost my dad millions of dollars. I also have a deadline for my next comic that I don't see how I am going to meet. So, all of these stresses are adding up, and I haven't been communicating with you as I should. I, unlike my parents, am not a workaholic, and usually work doesn't consume me too much, but with all that has been happening this past week..."

"I understand Sam that you have also been negatively affected by our mothers' insanity."

Sam was so happy to hear the chill leave Mercedes' voice. "Do you remember at the barbecue that you asked me how my day was? He saw Mercedes nod her head that she did. "Well, that has been the first time anybody has cared enough about me to ask. I couldn't believe that your concern for me was real."

"We are about to be married and living with each other for eighteen months believe me when I say my concern for you was real. I think it would help us have a happy marriage if we were friends."

"Friends we are then; I think us being friends will help us with our attraction issue." As soon as Sam mentioned their sexual attraction to each other, he could feel something shift between them. He couldn't stop himself from lowering his head down to hers and watching Mercedes as she closed her eyes.

'How could a conversation about being friends turn into a possible steamy make-out session?' was the question that ran through Mercedes' mind as she didn't even try to resist Sam. She could feel his breath on her face and right before his lips could touch hers, the sound of Sam's cell ringtone L.L Cool J's introduction to "I'm Gong Back to Cali" came blaring out of his pocket.

Sam didn't want to answer the phone, but it was his sister's personalized ringtone, so he had to force himself to let Mercedes go so that he could reach into his pocket and grab his phone. The funny thing was he didn't even remember having grabbed Mercedes up in his arms to kiss her in the first place.

Mercedes tried to wrap her brain around what had just happened— or didn't happen and realized they had almost kissed. The startling part— she couldn't ever remember wanting to be kissed like she wanted to be kissed by Sam. This was not good. Not good at all.

Sam couldn't keep the thought of him almost kissing Mercedes out of his mind after his phone call with his sister. He had been trying to figure out where Stevie was, and Stacie had just heard from her brother. He had never attended the engagement party because his band, a couple of fellows he had met in college, had been invited to play at a various summer musical festivals throughout the southeastern part of the United States.

Stacie said their mother had thrown a royal fit, but their dad had made sure that Stevie was given permission to go along with the money that he would need to finance his part of the band's traveling expenses. Stevie was supposed to stay for the engagement dinner, but he had left early when they realized how far away their first venue was. Stevie's car had been at his parents because the boys had to take the biggest vehicle an extended cab Ford F150 to hold all of their equipment. Sam was glad that his brother got the opportunity to pursue this opportunity and didn't begrudge his brother's dipping out of his party. Sam wished that thoughts of his family would consume his mind, but the only thing he could think of the fact was the he had almost kissed Mercedes Jones!

Two hours later, they had ordered Chinese takeout for delivery and had eaten together, but thoughts of the near kiss still inundated his mind. Sitting outside on her balcony, Sam had finally started to relax, but no matter how he tried he couldn't keep kissing her out of his mind. He would probably still be kissing her now, if his sister hadn't of called. Sam tried to enjoy the warm Las Vegas air and figure out why he was so entranced by Mercedes. He barely knew her, and they were getting married and had to live together a whole year and a half before getting the marriage annulled. He knew from experience if he gave in to his desire that kissing Mercedes would lead to sex which would mean they would have to get a divorce something Mercedes told him repeatedly that she didn't want to have, and now he couldn't see why getting a divorce would be so bad.

Finally finished with making arrangements for tomorrow, Mercedes went outside to join Sam on the balcony bringing him a bottle of water. She could tell his mind was riddled with thoughts, so she tried to break him out of his reverie by explaining how she came to own this property in Vegas. "I don't know if you know Sebastian Smythe or have heard of his job with Sony records as the director of the development of new talent before becoming one of its CEOs. When Sebastian and I first met, believe me when I say that it was a mutual hatred at first sight. He said that Sony had to have lost its mind in giving a fatty like me a contract. My manager and publicist at the time Santana Lopez almost punched him in the nose. Well, when "Happy Part Two" came out and I was finally recognized as a star, he wanted to change my contract to extend it to a four record deal. Well I negotiated one of the units that his family owns in my contract. I figured I might as well broaden my portfolio with property because this place keeps appreciating in value, and it is worth more than my residences in both Los Angeles and Lima combined."

He shook his head. "So you are not just an intelligent, compassionate, gorgeous singing talent, but you are also business minded as well. How in the world are you still single?"

"While I was in high school, my mother made sure I was kept too busy to date. In fact, I had to be set up by Tina to even have a date for the prom. She went with this guy named Artie, and I went with his friend Matt. I was so into my studies and doing whatever my mom wanted that I didn't even know that Matt had asked Tina to set me up with him. When I got to college, old habits were hard to break and I dedicated myself to graduating and getting out of law school as quickly as possible. When I finally decided not to become a lawyer, I had some time to date and soon got in a relationship with a guy who didn't take me serious when I said that I wanted to wait to have sex after marriage. So, we ended up breaking up because of this, and I suddenly became famous and had plenty of opportunities to date but these guys wanted to date Mercedes Jones the star not Mercedes the woman. This burnt me out of dating for a while, and I got heavily involved in my charities and my career. Now that I have told you everything, let's turn the table and you tell me why you are still single as well."

Sam didn't know if he should tell her the whole Quinn story or not. He decided not to and skirted the question by admitting that he was not into commitment because he believe in working hard and playing just as hard to have balance in his life.

"I could tell you were no Mr. Commitment from you sister's and Noah's reactions to our engagement."

"Speaking of my sister, I don't know what magic you used in charming her; she is one of the most distant and anti-social people I have ever met. I think it has to do with having Mary Evans as her mother, but I think you should know that mom hasn't told either of my siblings about our sentencing but eventually we are going to tell them truth."

"I must admit that there is some ratchet part of me that actually is a little disappointed that I didn't meet your brother. I really wanted to see if he could live up to the reputation that you and Stacie had given him."

"Mercedes trust me when I say be grateful that your meeting him has been postponed. He is a typical college frat boy flirt, and all he has on his hormone addled brain is sex, food, and music in that exact order."

She nodded and inhaled deeply. "I will take you at your word, but I still feel like I should be ratchet, so do you ever wish we could get back at our moms?"

Sam chuckled and nodded "The first forty-eight hours after the sentencing, I would daydream and imagine about a million ways to do just that." He studied her under the dim candle light on the patio table. She really was stunning and tomorrow, she would officially be his wife.

"Me, too, did you come with any good ideas?"

"I could come up with nothing that would give me a sense of revenge and avoid being sentenced to short of fifteen to life behind bars." He ruefully admitted before asking, "What about you?" Mercedes reluctantly admitted that she had been to upset by the situation and having to deal with disappointing the people who were involved in her career. Sam could see that Mercedes still felt guilty and she shouldn't. None of this was her fault. It was there mothers' fault. He reached out and covered her hand, ignoring the way the simple touch ignited the skin all over his entire body.

Sam wanted to cheer her up, "Maybe I can schedule my visits to comic conventions around possible performances of yours, and that way we can be together and you can fulfill some of your travel obligations. I can give you the dates and places of the conventions, so you won't feel as if you are letting everybody down."

Surprise and another emotion flickered in her dark eyes. "I'd really like that if it was possible. Who knows maybe we can make it work out. I much rather we focus on getting back at the two responsible for this situation." Mercedes admitted.

"How about we spend the rest of the night coming up with plans and implementing them while we are still here in Vegas?"

Sam's suggestion caused Mercedes to smile, and she tried to think of something that they could do when she remembered the other night at Mike and Tina's. "The other night, at Mike and Tina's, Tina joked when I commented how this was like an arranged marriage and she said I should be grateful my father didn't seal the deal with livestock."

"I can imagine my mom's reaction to sheep and pigs showing up at the house. I really like Tina's sense of humor; she seems to be a really good friend."

"She and Mike are actually my best friends. It's hard to judge friendships when you become famous. However, Tina was my childhood friend and Mike was my law school buddy, and they have stood by me. I'm just relieved that you get along with them both."

"Well they appear to be good people. I was thinking what if the animals showed up in your mother's courtroom instead of my mother's house kind of like a reverse dowry."

"That is an excellent idea! She will have a cow and that will be fitting since the courtroom will in fact be an indoor farm. You are truly diabolical in a good way."

Sam pretended the dust his back before mean mugging and saying, "I have my days." This caused Mercedes to laugh, and Sam couldn't help noticing the fullness of her mouth or how her lips were just downright kissable. Not that he dared to go there, but he certainly could imagine. "So, that would cover your mom because I have a client whose brother owns a petting zoo who can help us on that. "What about my mother?"

Mercedes shook her head thinking about how religious Sam mom appeared to be. "I don't know; something equally as disturbing. I know in Biblical times a man bought his bride with gold and silver. Only it would get expensive and cost us way too much to get enough of it to be disturbing to be our reversal of the bride price."

Sam thought for a moment and despite the stress of the last few days, losing his singlehood for the next year, he was actually enjoying spending time with Mercedes. At first, he'd thought her a sexy hot mess for throwing the softball through his window, but the more he got to knew her, he realized she was more than a hot body. Sam thought of Noah's reaction to her and oddly enough, it still bothered him that his colleague and friend looked at her as a piece of ass. A light went on his head as he remembered Noah's son, Johnny, had had a Pirate themed birthday party last year. "If we used those coins for our gold and silver, we could get thousands of them for hardly anything."

"I do know an event planner that might be able to get us a bountiful amount."

"Bountiful. Nice word play. Yeah, let's get an ample amount that it will fill her office."

"I'll call Kurt in the morning." Mercedes said laughing at their mothers' probable reactions.

"A toast to our first step in getting revenge," Sam smiled at her and lifted his water bottle.

Mercedes smiled and said, "One that won't result in us serving an additional sentence."

Sam burst out laughing looking at his pretty and witty wife-to-be out of the corner of his eyes. He thought to himself maybe just maybe their current sentence wouldn't be as bad as he previously imagined it would be.