It hadn't dawned on Sam how fast the weekend had flown by until he was tucking the kids into their beds. Too busy getting his family settled into a new life, he missed out on the chance to get to know the newest members. It was a disappointment, but he was sure that he had years to do that.

Thor rocked back and forth as he watched his father finishing up with his brother. "Where's our story?" He reluctantly lied down when asked.

Sam looked at Prince who was already asleep like a starfish. He signed, "Not tonight, okay?" He finished with Thor and moved to the sleeping kid. He carefully covered the boy after choosing not to readjust him out of fear of waking him. With one kid down for the night, Sam felt proud of himself. He turned out the light and moved to the next room.

"Homework check," Sam called as he peeked into the bedroom of Braxton and Logan.

Braxton looked over his laptop screen. "It's the weekend," he announced as if the fact was forgotten. In his fantasy, Sam would accept the news and leave him to his movie.

Book in hand, Logan reminded, "We had two chapters to read."

"Why would I read a book when there's two movies based on it?" He argued, beginning a 'Movie vs Book' debate. "The characters that died in the movie, died in the book." Surprisingly, he hadn't failed a quiz yet.

After a moment of words, Logan declared, "Watching the movie is like using saccharin instead of sugar. It's good, but it's not as good."

Braxton slowly shook his head, wondering why he ended up with such a roommate. "You have an illness." He closed his laptop and left for a shower.

Braxton and Logan weren't the only odd pair sharing a room.

Sam dragged himself to the next room. He had been ignoring the flickering light for minutes. He hoped that the kids would solve the problem among themselves and he wouldn't have to get involved.

Jackson stood at the switch. "Dude, I'm trying to sleep," he growled. He shut the light off.

Peter turned it back on with the remote control. "Can't you see I'm doing something?" He sat in bed with his science book. "Five more minutes won't kill you." He knew that his dad would take his side, believing that he was studying.

He approached his son with a frown. "You can't read upside down," the father huffed. He lifted the action comic from between the pages of the textbook. Tired, he ordered, "Bed."

Even with her own room, Whitney wasn't satisfied with the new system. When she couldn't freely vent her emotions to her mother, she didn't hesitate to call her father. "But why do I have to be tortured? I have to see him at school and then come home to him and four of his little weirdlings," she complained into her phone, not mindful of her volume.

Sam leaned against the closed door. He knew he had to take baby steps when bonding with Mercedes' kids, but Whitney made it clear that she wouldn't let him fast track through any stage. He didn't want to give up on her kids because she wouldn't give up on his.

"...He's a lunatic! If I go downstairs for breakfast and see a new chart, I'll-" She paused, taking in the words from the other end of the call. "I don't need charts to tell me that Braxton has acting classes on Tuesday and Thursday or Prince is allergic to nuts."

But Sam did.

Sam tapped on the door, and it opened within seconds. In the moments of listening to her call, he realized he had to be a little more cautious with the oldest. Unsure of what the teen girl would consider overstepping, he just said, "Goodnight."

"Right," she breathed, silently wondering why Sam would bother. She slowly began to close the door, but the voice in her ear gave her pause. "Goodnight, Sam."

After checking on all the kids, Sam was finally heading to the bedroom that he had been daydreaming of: his and Mercedes'. His want for sleep was diminished when he saw his wife's face. He smiled seeing the small spread she made to commemorate their first night together in their home.

She passed out glasses of champagne before taking a chocolate dipped strawberry: another peace offering from Logan. She chuckled to herself as she bit into the sweet. "Am I wrong for choosing a favorite?" She joked, "When we break up, I'll fight you for Logan." After three divorces and a broken engagement, Mercedes found a sense of humor about splitting up.

He locked eyes with his wife, and in a clear tone, he promised, "We're not going to break up. I'm madly in love with you and would never leave." After getting a nod, he leaned in to taste her lips.

Mercedes stepped back with a frown. "But do you think that we can do this? I mean, will we ever feel like a family?"

"It's only the first week." He couldn't deny how bad things looked. "But of course. We just have to set an example."

Mercedes lifted her glass in toast. "To Togetherness." She paused, noticing little figures appear in the doorway.

Prince stood with Reed and Thor at his side. "I had a bad dream." he groggily spilled. "Can we sleep here?" he asked without need an answer. He bolted forward and fell back asleep the instant he was in the large bed.

Sam chimed his wife's glass and agreed, "Togetherness."

Mercedes sang as she entered the kitchen. When offered a mug, she declined. "Keep the coffee. I'll take the sugar." She stole a kiss from her husband and smiled. Her morning started early with a call from the East Coast. "I have a lot of work left, but I had to come out to check on the kids. They're too quiet."

It was hard to argue with a mouth full of food.

Sam leaned against the counter as the kids ate their breakfast at the table. Charts in hand, he tried to organize the plans for the day and the changes that were added late. He hated to push the full schedule on Mercedes. He offered, "I can skip the staff meeting after school and help you."

She wouldn't allow it. "You wouldn't doubt Wonder Woman, would you?" She had a foolproof plan for her day: don't stress over it.

As the adults continued to talk, they didn't notice that the plates were quickly becoming empty.

Peter turned his sketch book for the table to see. "Ta-da." The thirteen year old always made a color pencil sketch before putting paint to canvas. He hated to waste materials on a project that he'd grow to hate before it was completed. "It's for the art contest. If I win, I get to be in a magazine."

Whitney sat back in her chair. "You can't call it art unless you have talent. That's just tacky." She had established herself high in the pecking order. Her siblings' opinions didn't carry the same weight, but she could alway rely on one brother to agree.

Prince dramatically nodded his head. "Tacky," he repeated. He leaned into his sister. "What does that mean?"

"Don't listen to her," Logan warned his brother. "It's cool."

Mercedes joined the group. Her attention was drawn to the quietest kid. "Reed, are you excited to play soccer today?"

The eight year old loved soccer, but when asked by Mercedes, he just shrugged. He was put on a youth soccer team at the local recreational center. In an indoor sports center, he could enjoy playing his favorite sport nearly year round.

Mercedes picked up on the cue that Reed didn't want her attention. As she tried to brainstorm topics to speak on, she remembered a conversation she had with her ex husband. She pointed out Braxton and Jackson. "Call your dad after school," she ordered, and the brothers looked at her with raised eyebrows. Although she wanted the call to be made, she summed up the news. "Your father was offered another tour, so you can't spend the summer with him."

"Tour? Is he in the army?"

The thought made the boys laugh. "He's a musician." Returning to their mom, they argued, "We've been on tour with him before. Why can't we go?" The two boys believed that life on the road helped build them into who they were.

Although his dad was a bass player, and he was named after the legendary Anthony Jackson, the twelve year old was always drawn to the drums. Hitting the road allowed him to learn from some of the greatest drummers in the nation. He wanted to be a musician, whether he got the rock star treatment or not.

Between flights, bus rides and nights in a hotel with a babysitter, Braxton had a lot of time to fill with movies. What started as a simple distraction became his passion. Hundreds of movies, he could pick out the smaller details that made each one special. At some point in his fourteen years of life, he decided that he was meant to make masterpieces to be put on screens.

"If you call him, maybe you can be with him when he's closer to the West Coast," Mercedes proposed.

Thor had the privilege of having his father live with him. He's heard about Whitney, Braxton and Jackson's dads. Innocently, he asked Prince, "Where's your dad?"

"I don't have one."

Peter looked puzzled. "You can't be born without a dad," he explained.

Wanting the topic to be forgotten, Mercedes quizzed, "Has everyone seen the chart for drop off? I will take the younger kids to school, and Sam will take the older."

"I'd rather take the bus," Whitney grumbled in protest, and she was serious. She refused to let anyone at her school know about her mom and Mr. Evans. She put her empty plate in the sink and started toward the stop.

Braxton believed that God was tormenting him because not only did he have to share a bedroom with Logan, but his locker was right beside his. More than once, he'd catch the blond gawking at the group of girls that gathered at the end of the hall. "Stop staring." He dropped his books into his bag. "You're not even being cool about it?"

He had his eyes on one girl. "Who is she?" he asked, singling out the bubbly brunette. Logan finally turned when he was asked why? "I just wanted to know her name."

"Listen, guppy, you just got to the pond. You can't go straight for a big fish like Riley Hensley." He knew her from his acting class. She was the most down to earth girl that he knew, but Braxton was a kid that played his board pieces smart. "I could introduce you, but what's in it for me?"

Logan immediately knew it was a shakedown, but Braxton had gotten in his head; the new kid didn't stand a chance without a wingman. He didn't have a lot to offer. "Bear claws."

"That better be food," he warned before starting towards the group. He was with them for a minute before the other girls parted. He was clearly talking about Logan because he repeatedly pointed over his shoulder at the boy.

Logan bit at his bottom lip as he imagined what was being said. He tried to keep himself busy by moving books from his locker. He built the nerve to peek at the pair, and he made eye contact with Riley. He stiffly waved at her, and when she smiled at him, he looked away to hide his grin.

Braxton strolled back to his stepbrother. "Movies, after school Wednesday," he announced. He would give Logan Riley's phone number later. "I don't know what a bear claw is, but I want it hot." He slapped his lock on his locker and strutted away.