A little ray of sunshine
Chapter 11.

Disclaimer: I don't own 7th Heaven or any characters except for Frank Bennett and Samantha Collins, I do own Ben's mothers first name as I don't believe it was ever mentioned in the show.. Please enjoy.

Warnings: Sam sex coupling
Primary Pairings in this chapter: Ben and Mary Kinkirk
Patty-Mary Kinkirk and Samantha Collins

Buffalo Kinkirk's
24th August 2012

Margaret Kinkirk-Bennett just got off the phone with her son Kevin, "So.. The plans have been changed", "She said as she walked back into the living room. "The kids are going to be here sometime tomorrow". She sat down with her cup of tea as Frank, Patty-Mary and Samantha looked at her, "Why,? is something wrong?", Patty-Mary asked looking concerned. "No", Margaret replied, "Mary and Lucy's grandparents live in Buffalo and they surprised their grandchildren by meeting them at the airport, so they decided to stay the night at their house". They all nodded and smiled, "That's sweet of them" Samantha said as she took a sip of her coffee. "It is very sweet". Patty-Mary agreed as she smiled at her girlfriend and leaned into kiss her before turning back to her mother.

"Okay, So Do you have everything organized?", She asked her mother, leaning over to reach for a cookie and took a bite into it. Margaret nodded and smiled, "The bedrooms are all made up, Kevin and Lucy in the guest bedroom upstairs, Ben and Mary in the guest bedroom down stairs and Savannah in her room next to Kevin and Lucy", She said quite proud of herself as she looked at them. "That's great", Patty-Mary said smiling as she sipped her own coffee, "Is there anything else you want us to do or get for tomorrow?". It was now just after 5:30pm and since the rest of her family wasn't going to be here till tomorrow, she wanted to get going and have a quiet night with her girlfriend. "No... just yourselves", She said answering her daughter. Frank was listening in as he was watching tv and looked at the girls and spoke, "You girls can head off now if you like", He knew that Patty-Mary was too polite to say anything and so let her know it was okay.

"You sure Frank..", She replied softly and looks at her Mom, "Mom?... You sure?". Margaret smiled at her daughter and nodded, "Yeah, you guys go and have a nice night". She said as she finished her cup of tea. Patty-Mary and Samantha finished their drinks and stood up, "Okay, well we will get going", Patty-Mary said as she carried their cups into the kitchen and rinsed them out. She walked back out into the living room and leant down to kiss her mother and then her step-father, Samantha bending down to do the same. "Thanks for having us Maggie", Samantha said smiling softly as she stood back up. "You're family, so you are welcome anytime", She said, standing up to walk the girls outside. They walked out and Patty-Mary looked back at her mother, "So.. let me know when they are going to be here". Margaret nodded and smiled, "Of course I will... see you later girls", Frank came out and they both waved as the girls drove out the driveway and drove off.

Margaret an Frank closed the door and smiled at each other, "I really like Sam", She said as she headed into the kitchen to start dinner.. "I really like her too, she is a lovely young woman and I think she is been really good for Patty-Mary", Frank agreed as he walked into the living room and began to tidy up. "So you won't mind if she was to become a more permanent member of our household?", He continued taking their own cups into the kitchen and walked over to the sink and then wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her softly. Margaret was looking through the freezer for something to eat, "I wouldn't mind at all, She is wonderful for Patty-Mary.. I know it took me some time to get used to this, but I really just want to see her happy", She said as she smiled at her husband. "I know honey, You are a wonderful mother and the kids all appreciate everything you do".

Frank opened up a drawer and grabbed the Chinese menu out and closed it again, "Hey why don't we order in tonight, You have been busy cleaning up and getting everything ready so why don't we just relax tonight?", He said as he kissed his wife's cheek. She nodded and smiled, looking at him, "Sounds perfect hon", She said as they both sat down at the dinning room table to choose their favorite dishes. Once that was all sorted, Margaret reached for the phone and dialed and told the woman on the other end what their order was and then told them who it was for and how much it would be.. She hung up and smiled, "It should be here in about 20 or so", She said as she stood up, put the phone back on the hook and grabbed two wine glasses and the wine out of the fridge and filled them up, taking one back over to Frank as he stood up to walk back into the living room so they could wait for their dinner to arrive.

Meanwhile Patty-Mary and Samantha had already picked up some pizza for dinner and were on their way home. Patty-Mary was driving and Samantha had the pizza's leaning on her knees smiling softly and giggling as Patty-Mary began to move her free hand which wasn't needed on the steering wheel to Samantha's knee and squeezing softly, moving her hand slowly up a bit further where it stayed till they got home. There was no words spoken between them on the drive home, they were so comfortable with each other that they could just sit and enjoy each others company. They got home and Patty-Mary drove into the garage, parking it and turning the engine off, taking the keys out and closing the garage. "So Babe", Samantha started, "Why don't we enjoy this pizza, have a couple glasses of wine and watch a movie?".

Patty-Mary nodded and smiled as Samantha moved closer to her allowing her to kiss her lips softly, "I like that idea baby", She said responded as she pulled the other girl closer, "I love you Sammie", She whispered in a hushed tone, smiling wide. "I love you too Trish", She said as she kissed her girlfriend back. Patty-Mary's real name was Patricia-Mary, but to most everybody she was Patty-Mary, however to her girlfriend, she was simply called Trish or Trisha. Patty-Mary's heart pounded fast inside her chest every single time she heard that nickname.. No one else ever had called her that so it was special, just as no one else ever called Samantha.. Sammie.. So both girls had special names for each other. "We should go up before this gets cold babe", Samantha said holding the pizzas up for Patty-Mary to see.. "Yes we should". Patty-Mary walked up the steps of the garage and into the main living room of their house..

Yes.. You heard right.. Their house.. Patty-Mary had officially moved in about three weeks ago and it was going wonderfully. She missed being at home with her parents, but she only lived ten or so minutes away, so it wasn't too bad.. But being able to crawl into bed each night and fall asleep next to her girlfriend was the most amazing feeling in the world. She now knew what her brothers felt when they met the love of their lives and it was just the best feeling she had ever experienced. Patty-Mary had never had a serious relationship before and it so this was the first time and she was loving it, and she was hoping it would never end.. She had the feeling it was something very special, she could feel it in her bones that Samantha was the one for her.

At The Colonel and Ruth Camden's.

The Kinkirk family had just had a lovely dinner at their grandparents house and Lucy was just about to take Savannah upstairs to have a bath before bed, "Thanks Colonel.. Grandma, The dinner was wonderful", She said smiling as she stood up and began to take her plate to the kitchen. "Well, it's our pleasure Lucy", The Colonel said smiling and gestured towards her, "Leave them honey, Grandma Ruth and I can do that.. You go get Savannah cleaned up for bed" He said as he stood up as well and took her plate from her, "You sure?", She said looking at him. Ruth stood up as well and chuckled, "We are sure Lucy, Go on", She said as she began to help clear the table. Lucy nodded and held her hand out to Savannah, "Come on.. time for your bath", She said smiling as Savannah took her hand, "Okay Mommy".

Ben, Kevin and Mary began helping their grandparents and Ruth held her hand up, "You sit down Mary and let us do it.. You need to relax", She said smiling, chuckling as she added, "I won't take no for an answer either". Mary nodded and smiled as she walked to her grandmother and kissed her cheek, "Thanks". She headed out to the living area and sat down, smiling as she picked up a book and started to read it, although her mind was on other things.. She was thinking about the time when Ben had come over when she was still seeing Wilson and he had helped her study and they had kissed. It felt so wrong, but so right at the same time.. That was the moment she knew she was in trouble.. She already had a crush on him, now she had kissed him, she never wanted to stop.. Her guilt was what drove her to try to convince Wilson to marry her.. She let the book sit on her lap as she settled into day dream about that day they first kissed.

-Flash Back-

Mary heard the door bell ring and got up and headed to the door to answer it and she was very surprised at who was there.. It was Ben.. She looked at him curiously, "What are you doing here?", She asked shaking her head a little. Ben walked in and spoke, his hands in his pocket.. "I thought I could change your mind about coming to the pool hall", Mary closed the door once he walked in and turned to him as he continued to speak. "The guys asked me to come get you". Mary sighed softly, "But I told you that I have a date with my boyfriend, Wilson". Ben chuckled and smiled, "Relax, I know you have a boyfriend..", He looked up at her, "We all know you have a boyfriend.. We just wanna treat you as one of the guys". Mary looked down a little as he continued, "and you could be a little nicer considering the I went to the trouble to track down your address and drive over here".

Mary folded her arms, "Why are you and the guys so anxious to treat me like one of the guys?", she asked curiously. He answered her honestly, "Truthfully, we've gotten a bad and undeserved rep for running off female candidates like you". She nodded but kept her arms crossed, "Thanks, but one.. I'm not sure I wanna be one of the guys.. and two.. why couldn't you just track down my phone number?", She with a small smirk, wondering just why he came over. She did find him attractive and if she wasn't with Wilson, this is the kind of guy she would want. She could also tell he was interested in her as more then a friend and she couldn't help but feel very flattered at that. He chuckled again in response to that, "I could have but I thought begging would be a little more effective in person". Mary couldn't help a small chuckle and wide smile to escape as he explained that to her.

The phone then began ringing and She looked at it and then at Ben, silently excusing herself to answer it. "Hello?". It was Wilson on the other end and he was breaking their date. She listened to his reason why he couldn't go out, her expression changing to one of disappointment on her face. Mary kept silent as she listened to him, wanting him to suffer a little that he kept cancelling on her. She really did love her, but she kept feeling like he was putting more importance on work then her and their family. As he tried to get his way out of saying work was important to her by saying she was very very important to him as well, she let him off the hook. "Okay, Okay, enough. We'll have dinner another night", She said with a smile, however her feelings inside said differently. She hung up and turned back towards Ben who walked closer to her, "Sounds like Wilson just broke your date", he said softly.

Mary just looked at him like why did he bring that up, Ben spoke up.. "Look Princess.. I hate to burst your bubble, but not every guy you meet wants to date you". He said that cause he knew he had no change with Wilson on the scene, but secretly, he really did like her and want to date her". Mary tilted her head, not really believing him at this point but still hearing him out. "I mean, this is a legitimate on-behalf-of-the-guys visit, so are you coming or what?", He asked putting his hands back into his pockets. Mary sighed softly, "Sorry, Well I could go with you, but". She stopped and looked at him, "Alright, I have a confession to make.. I've been having some problems with the written work, the manual". Ben nodded in understanding as Mary continued, "And I was gonna get Wilson to help me out after dinner, So I really should stay here and study". She said looking at him again, feeling a little stressed.

"If you don't pass that test next week, you're out", Ben said looking concerned, "I know and I really don't wanna screw up anything else in my life", She shrugged a little, "So I guess I'll pass". She wanted to ask Ben, but really didn't want to intrude on his plans, but he came to the rescue, "You want some help?". He asked her, partly to really help her out and partly because he just really wanted to be able to spend some time with her as well. Mary looked up him, smiling softly, and bite her lip nodding as she accepted. "Sure, that sounds wonderful", She started, "I mean.. as long as you don't mind missing out on hanging with the guys?". He smiled back as he responded, "No.. I don't mind at all.. I really want to help you".

They started studying and pretty soon half an hour turned to an hour which then turned into two hours and then into three hours. They only stopped to have some pizza for dinner and now Mary was starting to get a headache. She held her fingers to her temple and closed her eyes, moaning in pain softly, "Ohh, my brain is starting to hurt, I need a break". Ben looked up from the book he was looking at her when she turned her head, "Sure", he said as they closed their folders and then Ben grabbed another slice of pizza while Mary spoke, "Can I ask you a question?". He nodded and began eating his pizza, "Why do you wanna become a firefighter?". He finished his bite and spoke softly, "My dad died when I was 10". He reached for his drink as Mary spoke, "I'm sorry'. Ben continued nodding, "He was a firefighter", taking a sip of his drink.

"So you wanna follow in his footsteps?" She asked, feeling curious. "No, not exactly", he answered and the continued, "You see, when my dad died, the way I saw it, the fire killed him and ever since then, I hated fire for taking my dad away" he said looking at Mary, "So for a guy who hates fire, being a firefighter seemed like the right way to go.. What about you?", he asked Mary. "Well, I wanted to work in public service, so first" She said looking up, "I tried to join the police department and they turned me down because I wasn't old enough and then I applied for the fire department and I got in", She finished shrugging her shoulders a little. She smiled as she added, "With a little help from my grandfather". Ben looked at her nodding, "Is that who you live with?" He asked. "Yeah, my grandparents, they're away this weekend", She said smiling. Ben smiled a little wider which caused Mary to do the same as they looked at each other.

A little while later after they had dinner, they were sitting on the couch still studying, Mary trying to concentrate but out of the corner of her eye, noticing that Ben was starting at her. She looked up and over towards him, smiling softly and keeping eye contact for a few moments before looking down at her watch, Ben still looking at her. "Oh, it's late, You should probably go". They both made a move to close their books and then Mary looked back at him, "Thanks for helping me tonight". Ben nodded and smiled, "I had fun.. Well as much fun as you can have studying". Mary chuckled very softly and smiled wider, keeping eye contact with him again. He pointed to his jacket, "Can you hand me my jacket?"

As Mary looked away and reached to get it, Ben moved his arm to behind the couch and moved just a tiny bit closer so when Mary turned back towards him, all of a sudden before she realized what was happening, his lips were on hers, her arm still outstretched to give him the jacket. They kissed for a moment before Mary pulled away realizing what happened and she slapped him on the cheek. She couldn't believe it.. On one hand, she wanted to feel those soft sweet lips on hers again and on the other hand.. He knew she had a boyfriend. Ben put his hand up to his face, "Ow! That hurt". Mary tried to look indignant, "Well good". She said firmly.. "Sorry", He said, not meaning it as much as he should have. It felt so nice to have his lips on hers and he was desperate to feel it again. All night they had both felt major chemistry between them and it wasn't surprising this happened. "Yeah, you should be", She said looking at him.

They both kept staring at each other, both of their hearts racing inside their chests, Mary's eyes moved from his eyes to his lips, wanting to feel that sensation again. It actually felt even better then she had imagined and way better then Wilson's kisses. She felt a little guilty thinking that, but she couldn't help that was the truth. All of a sudden, after staring at each other, Mary moved towards him, placing her hand on his cheek as she pressed her body close to him and kissed him, Ben putting his arm on her side and closing her eyes, kissing back. They began to slowly deepen the kiss when the door opened, Wilson walking in "Hey Mary, the door was open, so I just". He stopped in his tracks as he got around the corner and saw Mary and some other guy kissing, Mary hearing him and pulling away, looking at her boyfriend, feeling somewhere in between guilt and remorse for hurting him, but at the same time wishing he hadn't walked in so they could have kept kissing. "Thought I'd come in", he said, finishing his sentence.

Mary heard him speak, but she felt like she was experiencing an out of body kind of thing where she was there, but not really. He told her he wanted to surprise her, but he was the one who got surprised. She never wanted to hurt him, She did love him.. but she had to accept the fact she had some kind of connection with Ben and had begun to develop feelings for him.. She knew as much as she liked Ben, she needed to try to work things out with Wilson. He had just left after he found them and as much as she wanted Ben to stay, she needed to be alone so he had gone just after Wilson and Mary just closed the door after their goodbye and sighed, leaning against it wondering what she was going to do to fix this.

-end flash back-

Mary was still sitting on the same couch where it all happened and was lost in thought when Ben came in with a cup of hot chocolate. As he handed her the cup, he smiled and asked, "What are you thinking about babe?". She came out of her thoughts and looked over at him smiling as she took the hot drink from him. "Ohh thanks honey.. ", She said as she pulled him by his shirt to sit down next to her. "I was just thinking about the first time we kissed actually". He smiled at her softly as she recalled the memory.. "I had wanted to kiss you all night to be honest", She whispered shyly to him. Even though at the time she had bee with Wilson, she still found Ben really attractive and had wanted to do that. "Well to be honest as well baby.. I really wanted to kiss you all night too.. I knew you were with Wilson, but I couldn't help how I felt for you".

Mary nodded and moved closer to him, "I know.. I didn't want to hurt Wilson, but I really liked you and found you so attractive.. I told my family I just felt like kissing you but the truth.. I was getting annoyed at Wilson for always cancelling our dates and you were there for me when I needed help and support". She took a sip of her drink and smiled. "Why did you go back to him and then try to convince him to marry you?". He asked, having always wanted to ask her. "I guess I was feeling guilty about hurting him and I did still love him, but I now know that love isn't always enough to sustain a relationship". Ben nodded and looked at her, moving his arm around the back of the couch, "Do you ever regret what we did?", He asked, his voice soft. She shook her head and smiled softly, taking his hand, "No.. never.. It made me realize how much I wanted you in my life.. I love you so much", She whispered as she leaned in to kiss his lips just as Kevin, Lucy, The Colonel and Ruth walked back in, Ben and Mary pulling apart quickly.

"No need to do that, You're married now.. don't feel ashamed", Ruth said smiling softly and chuckling. "Thanks Grandma", Mary said as she took another sip of her drink, "We should get to bed babe, It's getting late", Ben said as he looked at his watch. It now now just after 10pm and Mary nodded, "Yeah, we should.. We have a big day tomorrow". The colonel and Ruth nodded, "We should get to bed too, it is late for us..". They all said goodnight and headed upstairs to their bedrooms, Mary in her old room with Ben and Lucy, Kevin and Savannah in the other guest room. "Babe?", Ben asked as he got into bed with Mary,"Yeah honey?", She said in response, "I love you so much.. thanks for coming out here with me". Mary smiled at him,"Hey, they are my family as well, I love you so much and we will have a wonderful time". They cuddled into each other and fell asleep in each others arms, Mary knowing she had made the right decision.

Patty-Mary and Samantha's Home

Meanwhile Patty-Mary and Samantha had a wonderful quiet night at home. They had officially been together just over one year and they couldn't imagine being with anyone else now. Samantha had been thinking for a while of asking for her hand in marriage and whilst Patty-Mary was out doing errands for her parents earlier that day, Samantha had asked Margaret and Frank for permission for her to ask Patty-Mary to marry her. Margaret and Frank had been thrilled and had said yes straight away. Now all Samantha had to do was find the right ring and find a special and romantic way to ask her girlfriend. She almost asked her during their quiet night in tonight, but she really wanted it to be special and something to remember, so once Patty-Mary said she was going to head to bed, Samantha nodded saying she would be there soon as she sat in her office on the laptop, researching rings and thinking of ways to do this..

She had seen Patty-Mary eying off some rings as they walked around town, going past some jewelery store one day not long ago and she suddenly remembered how Patty-Mary's family was not only Catholic, but Irish-Catholic... She knew what ring to buy her.. It was the same ring Patty-Mary had been looking at.. It was a claddagh ring which is a traditional Irish ring and she couldn't wait to go and find the perfect one. Once she decided the ring she wanted, she decided to go looking as soon as she could, but for now.. It was time for bed. She stood up and switched off her computer and headed upstairs to the bedrooms, her heart melting at seeing Patty-Mary all snuggled up in the bed next to her. She was so in love with her and knew that this was the woman she wanted to fall asleep and wake up to every night and morning. She changed into her nightgown and got under the covers, moving closer to cuddle into her girlfriend and fell asleep, feeling excited and a little nervous at what she was planning on doing.

Sorry for the slow update and also for the shorter chapter.. I wanted to focus on the Buffalo Kinkirk's and also keep to Ben and Mary. I am thinking of putting some of my chapters in the future where it focuses on other members of the Camden and Kinkirk families as well especially since I do have some plans for some of them. My updates getting closer to Christmas will be a bit slower so I do hope you all bare with me :)