A/N: A short chapter from me. I know I can't believe it either. It starts all smutty but ends on sad note. Thanks again for reading. As always I don't own anything but my mistakes...Today will probably be a double update day...

Thirteen

Mercedes

While Sam cooks, Jessica claps her and giggles as he spins around and puts a piece of steak on the metal spatula. He points at me and flings the food in my direction. I open my mouth just in time and catch it. You can take the baseball player off the baseball field, but you can't take the baseball field out of the baseball player.

"JC!" Jessica says. She is learning more and more words everyday and JC is her version of her nickname Jessie. Sam throws one at her, and to everyone's amazement, she catches it too. She laughs so hard that it falls out her mouth and lands on the tray. She quickly takes it and shoves the entire thing into her mouth.

I reach across the table and give her a high five.

"It's your turn, Dad," Sam says. I think that takes Dwight by surprise. He opens his mouth wide, but when Sam throws it, it hits the side of his mouth and starts to fall on the table. He catches it with his hand before it hits the table and eats it.

"It still counts as a catch," I tell him. "As long as it doesn't hit the table."

"I agree." Dwight says and gives me a high five.

Sam treats tonight as if he is a Hibachi chef and takes our orders. And presents us our plates. The shrimp are so good that I reached over and grabbed one from his plate when I finished all of mine.

"I know you don't mind," I say as I swipe another shrimp from Sam's plate.

"Yeah, Sammy, let her have whatever she wants. Remember that is what all women want," Dwight says.

"Nom nom," Jessica says with a mouth full of food.

"Yeah, thanks for the tip, Dad," Sam says.

Dwight gives Sam a thumbs up, but I think that's because he doesn't pick up on Sam's sarcastic tone. I elbow Sam in the ribs, and he snorts. He rolls his eyes when I look at him.

While Dwight is distracted by Jessica, Sam leans down and whispers in my ear, "What the hell does he know about what women want?" That question is followed by another eye roll. "Nothing, that's what."

Smut Alert

Later on, I leave Dwight and Jessica in the living room. He's built a huge fort with blankets and pillows. Underneath it, he has sleeping bags for him and Jessica. He says once she falls asleep, he'll go to the couch since he's too old to sleep on the floor. Jessica barely looks at me when I say goodnight. Dwight waves me off and tells me they'll be fine, so I go upstairs to the master bedroom.

"Gotcha," Sam says as he comes up and behind me and leads me to the bedroom and guides me to the bed.

"Why the hell are you already naked?" I ask when I realize he has no clothes on. He starts to nibble the side of my neck while he pulls down my shorts at the same time.

"Because I'm ready to be balls deep inside you," he says, and I do a fake gasp and pretend to be shocked as he removes my clothing.

"You are so uncouth. Like a wild animal who needs to be tamed." I say while moving my neck to give him better access.

Instead of rising to the bait, he sucks on my neck almost giving me a hickey before putting his finger inside of me, and my eyes nearly roll to the back of my head.

"So wet," he moans. I feel his body on my back. He spreads my legs and rubs the tip of his dick through my slit. He swipes it up and down, driving me nearly insane. "Tell me you want me," he says.

"Stop playing and just make love to me, you crazy man." I take his hand and pull him closer. I sigh when I feel the thick head of his dick near my entrance, but then he pulls away, and I groan. A mere second later though, he flips me over onto my back, and I feel his tongue on my clit. "Oh, hell yeah," I moan. I throw my head back, reach between my legs, and rub the top of his head. "Good boy," I joke. "Now eat me out before I ride your face."

He growls, sucks my clit, and lets it go. He puts me back on all fours and gets off the bed to stand behind me before he pushes the tip of his dick inside of me. "Is this what you want?" he asks.

"Yes. You don't have to go slow anymore." I love when he's slow and gentle, but we've never done this position before. In all the porn videos I've seen of this position, the sex is always fast.

"Stop telling me what to do," he says. He takes his time and gently enters me.

"Mmhmm," I moan. I bite my bottom lip to stop from crying out. He's large, and there's still a little pain, but it's a good kind of pain. I will happily endure this every day to have him inside of me fulfilling a need I never knew I had.

His hands tighten on my hips, and he goes slow, going as deep as possible. He pulls almost all the way out, only to slide back in.

"Even though you were a know-it-all who knew nothing, you are amazing in bed. I bet that's why you're so haughty. You have always known you are sex goddess who never fails to give out the utmost in satisfaction."

"I need to see your beautiful face," he says. I let out a loud moan of protest when he pulls out of me, but as fast as possible, he has me on my back. I open my legs, and he hooks an arm underneath one and lifts it. He slides right back in. He's going faster now, but he's still giving me those long strokes.

He grins when he looks down at me. There's a coat of sweat on his forehead. He dips his head and practically takes my entire breast into his mouth. He sucks and bites and pulls on it. With him inside of me, his body on top of mine, and my breast in his mouth, never has anything felt so good.

"Sam," I moan. He leaves my breast long enough to put his mouth on mine. I open it for him, and he kisses me so deeply that I think he's sucking the air out of my body.

The lovemaking continues, and I do my best to control my moans, but I know if we were alone in this house, I'd be screaming at the top of my lungs.

"Uh," is all I can manage to say quietly when he does another long stroke, and my climax takes me by such force and such surprise that I sigh his name lovingly.

"Yeah, you like that, don't you?" he taunts. "I like it too." He picks up speed again, and not much later he is saying my name as he comes.

It takes us both several minutes to catch our breath. He pulls me close and sticks his face in the crook of my neck.

"Wow," is all I can think to say. But after a few minutes I feel him begin to harden again. "We're gonna do that again tonight?"

He bursts into laughter at my question and rolls onto his back before pulling me on top of him. I like this. I like the intimacy and how unembarrassed we both are after what we shared.

As I stare into his green eyes, he leans down and kisses me. His full lips are soft and pliant under mine. And I slowly ride him until it's him begging me to go faster this time.

Sam

Despite the late hour, I'm not ready to fall asleep yet. Having her in my bed and feeling her soft body next to mine is a feeling I can't explain. I feel like we are like any other married couple in America, so I begin to talk to her about things we need to cement in our calendars. "Did you get those days off so we can go to Hawaii?"

"Instead of quitting my part-time job, I am now an independent contractor who works from home so many hours a week. And Unique is more than happy to fill in for me while we are away at the piano bar," she reveals what she has been up to in regards to her employment. I am glad that she will be working from home. We still haven't hired a nanny yet, it gives her time to visit her grandmother and be a good mother Jessica.

"What are you and Jessica going to do in Hawaii when I am working?"

"I don't want to disrespect the locals and be a tourist who hurts their economy and the environment instead of cherishing it. I want to take Jessica to a hula dancing class taught by a kumu. We are going to have an authentic guide who will help us give back to the people there, and of course we are going to enjoy the home that we are staying at that is so close to the ocean." She lies back down and sighs. "But I want to go see Granny before we leave."

"You are amazing. I doubt many people care about the people in Kona and how they can hurt the island more than help it by not supporting the locals who live there."

"I have a question for you," she says. I let out a yawn as I wait to hear the question. "Have you considered seeing your own therapist about your dad?" My eyes pop open at the question. No one has ever asked me that before other than Mike. At the time when I unloaded some of this on him, he was my coach, and he always kept things professional. I was lucky he didn't tell me to shut the hell up and kick me out of his house that day I just showed up there.

"Hello?" Mercedes says after a few minutes of me not answering her..

"Can we please not talk about him anymore?" I say even though I know it's not what she wants to hear.

"Don't you think you should try to reconcile with him instead of tolerate his presence, and don't you want to change now that you are a father and Jessica is going to get older and notice how you are with her beloved Ike?" She is pissed. I can tell by the tone of her voice.

"I'm not trying to difficult but you don't realize how frustrating it is to talk about, talk to, and deal with with my father. And yes I tried therapy. I'll tell you about it another time but suffice to say it was a waste of time for me."

Thankfully she doesn't say another word, and after a few minutes, I hear her even breathing. Relieved not to have to talk about my dad or therapy anymore for the moment, I turn on my side and close my eyes.

I don't know which is worse. Leaving my dad this morning as he cried and begged me to come back soon or the scene in front of me right now involving Mercedes and her grandmother. Earlier Dad cried so much that it made Jessica cry. She clung to him, which only made him cry harder. When I managed to pull her from his arms, she reached back for him. As we walked to the door, she told him to come, which brought more tears to his eyes. He only calmed down when I promised we'd be back for a weekend next month. I told him not to push it when he asked if we could come sooner.

To cheer my daughter up I ask Marley if it's okay for her to visit her best friend, Johnny. Marley agreed and I dropped her off at the Puckermans for a playdate. Afterward, my driver takes us to the hospital to visit Mercedes's grandmother. I am glad I didn't bring her with us today because the visit is not going smoothly as I imagined it would considering how reputable and expensive the residential home she is staying in.

"How about trying some of these red potatoes?" Mercedes says. "You love to eat potatoes."

That might have been true in the past, but today her grandmother doesn't want to eat them. Mercedes cuts a piece with the plastic fork and puts it up to her grandmother's mouth. The little old lady surprises me when she lifts her hand and smacks it away. She hits it so hard that the fork bounces back and hits Mercedes face.

"Hell no," I mutter. I sprint across the room, pull Mercedes from the chair, and move her as far away from her grandmother as possible.

Mercedes winces when I rub my thumb on the mark on her face. "That hurts," she moans.

"It's just a scratch," I tell her, trying to make her feel better. "It will be okay."

"Melinda, you know I don't want you talking to white boys" She points at me and says, "Move away from him. Mellie, you are only allowed to date church going and respectable men like your father who ask permission to date you."

"Granny, I'm Mercedes, your granddaughter and this is Sam, my husband. Melinda is my mother." I moisten a paper towel and dab Mercedes's cheek.

"Melinda, why aren't you in school?" Granny asks.

"We're not at home, Granny." Mercedes sighs and curses under her breath in frustration.

"I know where I am, young lady," Granny says. "Go tell your father it's time for dinner."

"Granny, we're not at home," I put a finger to her lips.

She looks up at me with surprise. "Don't disagree with her. It will only agitate her. Just go along with it," I whisper to her.

There's a loud crash on the floor. Granny has tossed her tray of food away. She's still in her chair, but she's scowling at us. "I said go and tell your father dinner is ready," she insists in a firm voice.

I look into Mercedes's eyes and nod slowly at her.

"Okay," she says. "Let me clean this up before I call him. You know how he likes a clean house."

Granny's scowl softens a bit. She gives us a curt nod. Mercedes bends down and picks up the discarded food. While she does that, I press the call button for the nurse.

"I made his favorite," Granny says. She's smiling now.

"What's his favorite?" I ask her.

"Chicken fried steak and potatoes," she says proudly. "He likes mine better than his mother's. "I need to fix my hair before he gets here. He likes it when I look pretty wearing his favorite color red. "I am his lady in red."

"Let me help you get ready, Granny," Mercedes finally catches on

"She is already ready and looks so beautiful in red.".

"Aren't you a kind sir?" She smiles shyly at me." When the nurse arrives and sees the mess, she says she'll call the nurse's assistant. She takes the tray out of the room while I wheel Granny into the bathroom. She sits there while I brush her hair and smiles at herself in the mirror.

"I need my lipstick. Mellie, bring me my red lipstick." Mercedes comes running into the bathroom with a tube of lipstick. She applies it to her grandmother's lips, and when her grandmother sees the finished product, she smiles again at her reflection.

"He'll be here soon, Granny. Let's get you into bed so you can wait for him." Mercedes's voice catches, and her eyes fill with tears. She looks away right before they spill.

Once I wheel Granny back and get her into bed, I sit next to her and take her hand in mine. She smiles at me and closes her eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

Mercedes's soft cries force me to my feet. I walk to her and take her in my arms. She buries her face in my chest as she cries. I have no words of comfort to offer her. When I was younger and dealing with my father, all I wanted was for someone to be there to listen. I didn't need advice because I knew in my heart I could not fix him. I knew I had to deal with the hand I was dealt in life and the parent department, but his condition left me ostracized.

Mercedes's situation is different. My dad's been a mess for as long as I can remember. That's his norm, but her grandmother is the backbone of the family, and seeing her fall apart like this is not only painful but uncomfortable for us both.

"She knows you're here, and she knows she's loved. All you can do is be there for her. And you're not alone in this," I tell her.

She's never been alone like I have been. She has a big family, and she has me now. Her family is also making sure they visit Granny as much as they possibly can.

"I know," she says into my chest. "It's hard to see her this way. She's always been so strong. If you ever had a problem, she would try to fix it, even if all you wanted to do was vent."

"And that part of her will always be there."

My words cause her to cry even more, and I cradle the back of her neck. We stay like this until the door to the room opens and Junior walks to the bed and gently kisses his aunt's forehead.