"Thanks for picking Amya up for me, Tana" Mercedes told her best friend of 20 years as she and Landon stepped inside her townhouse.

"Woman, don't thank me. You know I look out for the little booger. Lan, your sister's upstairs with Brittany." He nodded and then headed up the stairs to find his sister. Santana looked back at Mercedes.

"What's going on with you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You look...happy."

"Oh my goodness, you sound like Landon. What's wrong with looking happy?"

"Nothing at all. It's just that it's been so long since I've seen you smiling the way you are. So what's the deal?" Mercedes shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I guess I'm happy that my son is about to get some help in school."

"Oh yeah, that was today. How did that go? Is his teacher anything like our chemistry teacher?" She shook her head vigorously

"Oh definitely not."

"Ooooh Landon's got a hot teacher?"

"Uh-" Mercedes could feel the heat rising in her face again.

"Holy shit. His teacher is hot. You're fucking blushing!" Santana yelled excitedly.

"Shhhh! Shut up Santana."

"What's so wrong with you having the hots for a man? Lord knows you deserve it."

"What's wrong is that it's my son's teacher. Oh my God did I just admit that I have the hots for my son's chemistry teacher?" She palmed her face as her best friend began laughing hysterically.

"Yes you did."

"I don't even know if that's really the deal. I mean I just met the man for Pete's sake! I really don't know the man other than he wants to help my son get his grades up."

"That should be the most important thing."

"I don't really think I need to be thinking about that sort of thing. I'm newly divorced."

"All the more reason you should have an open mind! You can get any man you want now." She cut her eyes at Santana.

"Highly doubtful Santana."

"And why is that?"

"Because! Nobody is going to want a divorced overweight mother of two. If my sorry excuse of a husband didn't, why would anybody else?" Before Mercedes could stop herself, she began crying. She felt the arms of her best friend wrap around her.

"Oh Mercy I'm sorry. I didn't mean to open that can of worms on you. It's just that I want to see you happy. After all the shit you've been through, you deserve that. Seeing you smiling today was such a good feeling. I just miss this smile...shit now you going to make me cry." Mercedes stopped crying.

"I know and I'm trying to be happy I really am. It's just going to take a while. Honestly seeing a smile on my son's face when i walked in that classroom today...it was like the best feeling ever."

"Maybe this chemistry teacher could be good for the both of you." Santana said with a wink and smile. She laughed as she wiped her face.

"Yeah, right."

"Hey you neeevveerrr know." Santana sang. The sounds of feet coming down the stairs interrupted their moment. Mercedes' 6 year old daughter, Amya came running into the kitchen.

"Mommy!" she exclaimed as she ran into the arms of her mother.

"Hey baby! how was your day?" Mercedes asked as she held her baby girl tight.

"Really good mommy. I got one of my stories read out loud to the class today." One thing Amya love the most was writing stories. She loved making up things and writing them down.

"Oh that's great baby! You can tell me all about it later at home. Ready to go Lan?" He nodded and she stood up from the kitchen table. Santana pulled her into a tight hug.

"I love you girl. Hey, are the kids going over to David's this weekend?" Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, we're trying out the joint custody thing. They leave after school on Friday, why?"

"There's this new bar Brit wants to check are coming with us."

"Aww San." She wined.

"Oh don't 'Aww San' me. You're going out, if i have to drag you out of the house."

"Ugh, Whatever. I'll talk to you later. Come on kids, let's go."

When Mercedes got home, she quickly got into "mommie mode". Making sure the kids got started on their homework and started on dinner.

"Landon, if you don't understand anything, let me know okay?" She said, watching her son ponder inside one of his books.

"Yes, mama, I know that." He said that sounded like annoyed tone.

"Hey now, you don't have to act like that."

"Sorry mom." He mumbled as he continued flipping through his textbook.

"Mmmhmm." After helping them with their homework and dinner, she retired into the TV room and caught up on her shows she saved in her DVR. After she put Amya to bed, she received a call from her ex-husband.

"Hello David." She answered in an uninterested tone.

"Why didn't you return my call from earlier?" He asked in a commanding voice.

"Ok one, you have NO right talking to me like that. Two, I was in a meeting with Landon's teacher when you called."

"A meeting with his teacher? Why wasn't I notified about that?"

"Because David, you don't live here anymore."

"But, I am still his father, Mercedes. I think I'm still allowed to be included in things like Parent-Teacher conferences."

"Well you should have thought about that when you decided to create another family."

It was no secret that Mercedes was still upset with David for his infidelity. David was her first everything; first love, first kiss. She did admit that marrying him after high school had been a bad choice, but soon after graduation she found out she was pregnant with Landon. David felt as if he needed to make things right by marrying her. It wasn't until after she had Amya that her marriage began to go south. He had become less affectionate towards her, stayed out extra late after work. All of the signs were there, Mercedes just refused to recognize them. Her breaking point had been when she saw with her own eyes that he was being unfaithful. One day, she had decided to surprise him at work with lunch. David was a successful Accountant and had his own accounting firm. When she walked into the building, she noticed that his secretary was not at her desk. Instead, she was sprawled out across her husband's desk, ass in the air as David pounded into her from behind.

At that moment, her heart had shattered into pieces and hasn't quite mended since that day. That day, she packed up the kids and stayed with Santana and Brittany for almost two weeks. When she felt strong enough to stand being in the same room as David and talked to him. He then proceeded to tell her that he had been having an affair with his secretary for 3 years. It had started right after Amya was born. She felt like the world had fallen down upon her. Thanks to her support system that consisted of her parents, big brother Rashad and best friends Santana and Brittany, she was able to pull through and file for divorce. She took everything from him, the house, the car, she even began collecting alimony. The only thing she gave back to him was his last name. If she really wanted her way, she could have easily given her children her last name but they were apart of him, she couldn't strip him of that too.

"Look, I didn't call to argue with you. I called to see what time you wanted me to pick the kids up on Friday."

"Well they both get home from school at around 3:30 so whatever time you're done with work."

"Alright then….So Landon is still having trouble focusing?"

"Yeah, Chemistry is the hardest for him now. Luckily his teacher can help him. He's creating an after school plan to help him get better with focusing and help him with his dyslexia." Mercedes could hear a voice in the background calling David and she rolled her eyes. The sound of the bitch the ruined her marriage irked her to no end.

"I'll be there in a minute! Damn. Alright Mercedes I'll be there to pick the kids up at around 5 okay?"

"Yep." When she ended the call, she let out a deep sigh of relief. She couldn't help but tense up when talking to him.

When she ended the call, she let out a deep sigh of relief. She couldn't help but tense up when talking to him. If it weren't for the kids, she wouldn't have any contact with him whatsoever.

Once she had enough of the television, she checked on the kids one last time before going to bed herself but not before having last minute thoughts about her son's chemistry teacher.