A/N: I am finished for today. Yay. I hope you enjoy this double update as we get closer and closer to the end...Thanks again for supporting me this work and forgive all my mistakes...I don't own anything but them...

Sixteen

Sam

Mercedes's grandmother has been in the residential home without needing therapy for a week. Mercedes has visited her everyday. Today's my first time, and I'm glad Jessica is on her weekly playdate and couldn't come.

"Granny, do you want to go outside?" Mercedes asks. "I can push your wheelchair and you wouldn't have to walk that far."

I stare out the window and notices that it looks like it's about to rain, but I don't say a word. Every time Mercedes comes home after visiting her grandmother, she's been depressed. I found her in her the closet crying yesterday. I've never been around a crying female other than Jessica. So, I treated her the way I would do my daughter. I pulled her into my arms and held her. She cried for several minutes, and when she looked up, her eyes were red and puffy. Her cheeks were swollen, and she had a runny nose, but she still looked beautiful I walked us into the bathroom, got a cool washcloth, and cleaned her face.

When I was done, I gave her a butterfly kiss like I would have given Jessica, too. She did a half laugh, half cry and I wrapped her in my arms again.

"You ruined my favorite shirt with your snot," I said.

She started shaking in my arms, but this time it was from laughing.

"Sam!" I'm pulled out of my thoughts at the sound of my name and look at her. She's standing in front of me waving her hand in my face. "Come outside with us. Maybe Granny can use some fresh air."

Just as I'm about to tell her that it's about to rain, I hear a clap of thunder and the sound of rain hitting the window.

"Oh hell no," she says.

"Melinda, go and make sure your father didn't leave his car window down again." She tells Mercedes.

"I've already checked," Mercedes says.

"Good. He always leaves it down and then gets mad at me when it rains inside his baby. Last time he got mad, I told him to kiss my black ass. And you know what? He did." She lets out a laugh before waving us off. "I'm going to go and cook his favorite soup that he likes to eat on rainy days."

When she looks around the room and doesn't see her kitchen, she begins to fret. One of the nurses comes in, gives her medication, and helps her get into bed. The rain continues to fall. I'm not sure if it's the weather, the comfortable bed, or the medication, but she falls asleep soon after.

Mercedes sits on the chair on the other side of the room, and I get up and sit next to her. I put a hand on top of hers for comfort, but she takes it a step further and puts her head on my shoulder. I want to offer her words of comfort, but there's nothing I can say that will make this any better. Besides, Mike's words from a few weeks ago pop back into my head.

"What happens when she dies, and Mercedes doesn't need you anymore?"

The only thing I know is that I won't let her go. My daughter depends on her too much. We have a routine. One that includes Mercedes reading to her every night, playing with her and loving her. Jessica has an extended family now that includes grandparents who actually leave the house, and an uncle whose bark is much worse than his bite. Sometimes I'll lean against the door and watch as Mercedes teaches Jessica her letters and then reads her a book.

I'm no longer doing this on my own, and I admit that I am crazy about my wife. In a short time, we've become a team. Mercedes does whatever needs to be done. Whether it's cooking dinner, laundry, or taking care of Jessica, she does it all with a smile and without complaint.

Another thing I've realized is how lonely I was before she came into my life. Even before Jessica, when I had sex with those women, I was lonely. I didn't know it. Now, I have her with me, and even when we lie in bed watching a movie or just enjoy each other's company without sex, I like every minute of it. But the sex is incredible, too. My wife wants it all the time, and I am just glad our sex drives match each other equally.

"You know what I can't figure out. How a virgin is so adept at sex as you are?"

Her mouth hangs open at my question, and then she throws her head back, overtaken by uncontrollable laughter. She laughs so hard and so long that tears fall down her face and she has to hold her stomach.

"I can't believe you," she says. "But, um, thanks? I think that was supposed to be a good thing." She laughs again.

"Tell me," I whisper. I take her hand and put it on my dick.

"Sam, hell no, my grandma is a only few feet away."

"I'm pretty sure your grandmother won't mind seeing "Melinda" with her hand in a man's pants. I am sure based on what she just told us that she liked to do the same with your grandpa."

"Stop, Sam, that's just too much." She says and removes her hand from by body.

"You never know. Your grandmother might have a wild side."

"If you promise to stop making these comments about my saintly grandma, I'll tell you everything."

"Please and thank you."

She takes a deep breath, and after a few more giggles, she sobers up. "Okay, so, I convinced myself that I was going to be this amazing lover, except I had no experience beyond kissing, so I decided to read about it in books and fanfictions. I started following role plays that had porn gifs, and then I started participating in role plays on Tumblr, and then it progressed to me watching videos on Twitter whenever I was horny. One account was by a man who swears he could teach you how to have sex." She looks away from me in embarrassment.

"So, all this time you were judging me, and you've been addicted to watching and reading about sex?"

"I'm not addicted," she whispers. "But yeah. That's how I know how to put it on you." She admits pushing me away from her.

I look up at the ceiling as if I'm praying. "Thank you, Tumblr and fanfiction writers and freaks who Tweet," I say. "What's your favorite thing that you have read about or seen? What's your fantasy?" I ask. I put my arm around her and pull her close. She smells amazing like she always does. "You can tell me. I'm your husband." When she remains silent, I say, "My dad had some porno magazines and VHS tapes under his bed. I found them when I was about thirteen. I jerked off to the magazines at first and when he was asleep I watched the videos in my room."

"I wasn't thirteen when I did this Sam," she says.

"You should have seen them. One was about a plumber who bangs some housewife. He was fat and had a pornstache. Do you want to recreate that one with me?" I ask, suddenly liking the idea.

"I can't even imagine your father watching porn." She admits stuck on the fact that my dad likes porn.

"Well, what the hell else was he going to do? It's not like he left the house to go find a woman. He probably is watching porn right now on his phone and masturbating."

"Gross," she says, shivering in disgust at the thought. "Why did you have to tell me this?" she asks. "Now every time I see him that's what I'm going to think about."

"Your mom probably watches porn, too, wouldn't surprise me if Roz has an Only Fans page. I can't imagine what your dad might be into. They are adults with healthy sex drives. As long as they are not hurting anyone."

"Stop, Sam, please change the subject before you make me puke."

"I will if you tell me what you like to watch the most," I say.

"Okay," she says. She takes a deep breath and sits up. "You can't tell a soul, but I like reading about threesomes and seeing them." She says the last part so matter of fact that it takes me several seconds for her words to sink in.

I move away and cup her face in my hands. She looks up and blinks at me with her pretty brown eyes. "What did you just say? You like threesomes?" I look down at her and wait. "Do you want to be in a thruple or is this is a once in a lifetime thing?" I whisper.

"Eww, no!" She tries to pull away but I hold her face tight. "I don't want to be dicked down daily by two men. What the hell is the matter with you?"

"But you like to read about it and watch it?" I ask.

"Yes, the men worship the woman and it's all about her pleasure not them getting off like most porn is. The woman is the star and that is how I learned how to suck a guy off. Most threesomes I watched was the woman giving head to one man while the other man takes her doggy style. There was this one video where there was double penetration and I almost had a heart attack, so I am not the freak you think I am."

I burst out laughing when she says this, and because I can't stop laughing, she starts laughing with tears falling down he eyes. Then I wrap my arms around her and pull her to me. We fall silent, and the only sound in the room is Granny's snoring. She rests her head on my chest, and I find that I like it. Other than Jessica, no other human being has ever been this close to me before. I never thought I'd like this, but I really do.

We stay like this, in comfortable silence, until the door to the room opens and Melinda walks in. She stops short when she notices that Granny is sleeping. Mercedes leaves my arms to hug her mother, and then Melinda opens her arms to me. I hug her and it feels nice. I can't remember the last time I hugged a mother figure.

"Where's Jessica?" Melinda asks. "I have some toys for her at home." When we tell her that Jessica is at a playdate, she says, "You two get out of here and go have a nice dinner somewhere. It's important to have time for the two of you. And you know me and Junior will babysit for you whenever you want. Roz too. I put a crib in Mercedes's old room when you are ready to let her stay the night, Sam. Now, go and enjoy yourselves," she tells us.

Mercedes looks at her grandmother, who is still sleeping soundly. I can see she's conflicted about leaving.

"Come on," I say. "Let me take you out to dinner. You can always come back tomorrow." I put my hand on the back of her neck and cradle it.

"Go, honey," Melinda says. "Granny is just going to sleep, and I'm going to read that new Mary Monroe book." She pulls the paperback book out of her big purse and waves it in the air before she plops herself on the chair closest to her mother's bed.

After Mercedes says goodbye to her grandmother and mother, we leave her room hand in hand and are only stopped a few times before we get to the door. I take a few pictures and sign some autographs, and I'm relieved when we leave.

The moment we step outside, we're assaulted by the humidity from the storms, and after taking a few steps to the car, the skies open up again. With her hand still in mine, we sprint through the parking lot and jump into my black SUV.

Mercedes

My husband is a hot mess. But I am grateful for his messy ways. I know all that porn talk today was to distract me from me being sad about my grandmother. Every day I visit her, I come back to the apartment and just bawl my eyes out. After yesterday session in which he joined me in the closet, I wasn't surprised that he insisted in visiting her with me today to prevent that from happening again. Sam is really a nurturer and doesn't know how awesome this is. Not all people know how to nurture and take care of others innately, but Sam has been doing this almost his entire life. Whether it's taking care of his daughter, cooking, or handling things for his father. Things like talking to the housekeeper or the home health aide who comes to Dwight's home three times a week. I don't think Dwight needs a home health aide, but I think it's a way that Sam makes sure he has company.

When he's not taking care of his family, he's working out or playing baseball with Jake and some other teammates. What he never does is nurture himself. He's always on the go and doesn't know how to sit back and enjoy life. I insisted that he stay home today and let me go by myself, but when I returned from the bedroom after getting dressed, he was ready and waiting for me by the front door.

Knowing he would insist on going with me to the nursing home to nurture me, I relented. I was so glad that my mom came in when she did and suggested we spend some time alone. I wanted Sam to just be. Relax. And not have to do a thing.

Because it is still storming outside when we leave the home, we decide to get Uber Eats. When we made it to the apartment as soon as I got off of the elevator, I went to our bedroom and began to pull off my damp clothes. He follows, and when I'm in nothing but my bra and underwear, he walks to me and bends down to kiss me just as I hear a knock on the door.

"To be continued," he says. He starts to walk away, but he runs back and kisses me again.

I quickly put on a pair of sweatpants and one of Sam's Guardians t-shirt. By the time I get to the kitchen, he's opened several food containers on the island. He grabs two plates and two water bottles.

I am glad that he doesn't talk about porn or sex again, and when we are almost finished with the Korean barbecue, Jessica gets dropped off because the Puckermans are having a date night of dinner and movie. Marley reminds me that she has already eaten and her nightly bath. Sam thanks them again, and as they leave, Jessica goes to her toys and play like she is not ready for bed at all.

"The best part about Jessica having a playdate with Johnny is that they always send her back fed and bathed," he confesses. "The bad news is, I have to bathe Johnny when he's here. It's like trying to give a cat a bath. You think getting Jessica out of the bathtub is bad," he says while shaking his head. "It's ten times worse with Johnny. When I am finished, water is everywhere.

Sam

"I don't know about that Dad." My dad called while I was getting dressed, so I put him on speakerphone. He's been calling me everyday about us coming back to visit him, and he's been blowing up Mercedes's phone as much if not more than he has been calling mine. Of course, she feels bad and wants to visit him soon because heaven forbid Dwight Evans is ever lonely. Never mind the fact that he's the one who created his loneliness.

We have actually been enjoying this past month as a family. We've even hired a new nanny. While we both met and interviewed the applicants the agency sent, Mercedes made the final decision. She chose a middle-aged woman named Melva. She's a small woman with a slight Jamaican accent. Jessica took to her immediately and that was the most important thing in my eyes.

Melva is here Monday through Friday, but she's available on weekends if we give her enough notice. Mercedes goes to the hotel and sings three times every week and does contract work from home the two or three days a week. She continues to visit her grandmother almost every day, and I try to go with her at least twice a week.

We have family dinners on Sundays. Either here, where we both cook together, or at her mother's house where Junior helps Melinda cook, or at Roz's house. Even though I've told Melinda it's not necessary, she has purchased something new for Jessica each time we visit. Now my daughter expects it. She's also spoiled rotten by Roz and Junior, but I never complain. This is what I've always wanted for my daughter, and since she can never get this from my side of the family, I'm happy she has it with Mercedes's.

Why can't I have family like Mercedes's? Instead I have a needy father. He just keeps talking and talking.

"Sam, I really have something important I want to show you, so you have to come." He sounds happy today, and I don't understand his giddiness. The only time he is this happy is when I tell him we are on a way to see him.

"Just tell me what it is, dad." I say as I look at my reflection in the mirror. I turn my head and notice a red mark on my neck. I run my finger along it and realize it's a love bite. I remember Mercedes sucking on my neck last night, and I was buried too deep inside of her to notice.

"It's not anything I can tell you. You'll have to come so I can show you," he says. He sounds like an excited little kid, eager to show off a new skill. "And maybe Mercedes can make some more of those chicken salad sandwiches."

"You want us to come all the way there for a chicken salad sandwich?" Yeah, that's not going to happen. I don't want to make the trip up there, especially since I only have a few more weeks with my family until training camp.

"I really want to see you guys, and hold my grandbaby," he says. "It's so lonely here without you all. Please, Sam."

"Dad, you don't have to be lonely. You can always come here," I say, knowing full well that won't happen. In fact, whenever I've uttered those words in the past, he would quickly end the phone call. That's what I'm hoping he'll do today, but that's not the case.

"I'm working on it, Sam." That's new. And I don't know how I feel about it.

"Sure, dad," I say. "Look, I'll talk to Mercedes about it and see what she says. Her grandma is sick, so I don't think she wants to go too far away from her."

"Oh," he says. His voice drops like a kid who has just been told no, and I try to stuff down the feeling of guilt that overtakes me. What the hell do I have to feel guilty about when it comes to him? He's the one who should feel guilty, not me.

"I'll talk to her and get back to you tomorrow." I can imagine him perking up on the other end of the call.

"Okay. I'm so excited to see you guys, and I know you'll love my surprise. Talk to you tomorrow, Son. Bailey just got here." I hear the nurse aid in the background saying hello. After greeting her, I end the call and sigh.

It's been over a month since I saw my dad. In the off-season, I never go more than three weeks, but things have been so good at home that I hate to taint it with the special brand of crazy only he can dish out.

After being let in by Mike's assistant, I barge into his office. Honey runs to me and gets on her hind legs. She's a huge Great Dane who likes to play, so I lift the bouquet of roses I'm holding above my head so she doesn't get it.

"Good girl," I say while I rub behind her ears. She barks and runs to the other side of his office. He stands, looks at me, and shakes his head.

"For me?" he asks, gesturing at the pink roses.

"In your dreams," I say as I put the bouquet on his desk. "They are for my wife. I already know what I'm getting her for Christmas," I whisper to Mike. "Well, one of the things."

He leans back in his chair and stares at me. "Christmas already? And it's barely September," he says. "You're getting close to acting like a man that's falling head over heels in love. I'd be careful if I were you."

"Whatever," is all I say in return.

"So, you are getting what you want from this arranged marriage. Are you sure this is going to work in the long term?"

"Why wouldn't it?"

"What if she decides to leave after she has all her needs met?" he asks.

"She's not going to leave all of this." I say motioning towards my body and doing a body roll. "Plus, I won't do anything to make her want to leave me and Jessica. It's nice having someone to come home to, and she's great with Jessica. Better than I could have imagined. She loves spending time with her, and she's been understanding about my crazy ass father," I tell him so grateful that I thought of asking Mercedes to be my wife.

She not only talks to me about it, but she talks to my dad on the phone almost every day, which means I don't have to do it as much. They even get on FaceTime together so he can see Jessica more than one time a day.

"Stop calling your father that," Mike admonishes. "I'm glad she knows how to have healthy relationships with parental figures."

"Yeah, because who in their right mind wants to deal with all that when you don't have to? I'm stuck with him, she's not," I say.

"How's the therapy working?" Mike is the one who pushed me to find my father a new therapist when the first one wasn't working. His first would only talk to him on Zoom, but this one goes to the house. Instead of once a week, he's now getting treatment three times a week.

"We'll see. So far, he still won't leave the house. And he won't give the shrink permission to discuss their sessions with me. He says he doesn't want to put that on me." I roll my eyes. "He put everything else on me, so what's one more thing, right? Like he gives a crap about me."

Even as the words leave my mouth, I know they're not true. He doesn't love or care the way I want or need him to, but I know he cares. Though I will never admit it.

"Maybe this is his way of showing he cares. Whatever it was, he doesn't want to impose it on you. Respect that, Sam. You were a good son to him as a child and continue to be there for him as a man." Mercedes's said the same thins but hearing it from another person almost makes me believe it. "And now you're a good husband." He gestures at the flowers. "Bringing your wife flowers on a random Friday for no reason. Seems like something a man in lo"

"Oh, please," I say, interrupting whatever he was going to say next. "I am only doing this because she like this type of stuff."

"And last week when you came for dinner, she was wearing your first Word Series ring on a chain around her neck."

"I'm not a jewelry guy," I say. "Other than my wedding ring." I hold my left hand up. "Don't want any woman thinking I'm single," I say with a cackle. Mike cackles too, but I have a sinking suspicion that he's laughing at me and not with me. I open my mouth to say more, but the office door opens and Tina, Mercedes, and Michael Chang, Mike's father, walk in. He has Tina's arm tucked in his while he helps her to the couch. Her stomach is huge now, and she moves slowly.

I stand, give them the couch, and pull Mercedes into a hug. I plant a loud kiss on her lips, and she looks up and smiles at me. Something strange in my stomach shifts, and I feel a little unsteady on my feet. I slide my fingers under the collar of her shirt and pull out the chain with my Word Series ring. I tuck it back, but something about seeing it on her stirs something in me. Feelings, I never knew I had.

"Michael Chang let me tag along on his weekly lunch and mentoring session," she whispers. Michael is Tina's mentor, and I know Mercedes looks up to them both.

"That's because he would be a fool not to recognize how brilliant you are." She grins wider, and I feel proud for making her feel good about herself.

I hear a throat clearing, and when I look at Mike, he tilts his head toward the roses. I leave Mercedes long enough to get them and present them to her. She blushes and takes them from me, and hugs me. I'd never tell anyone, but this moment here feels better than any Word Series MVP and all.

"Mike, I have to meet your mother. We have plans tonight, but I'll see you tomorrow for the shower," Michael Chang says. He hugs his son, kisses Tina's cheek, and says goodbye.

"Mike, you should talk to your father about adopting me, so we can be brothers," I say. Mercedes punches my arm.

"I'll get right on that," he says.

"You guys want to come over tonight?" I ask Mike and Tina. "Or we can go get Jessica and come to you." I look at Tina, who looks so uncomfortable. I know Mike will want to keep her home.

"We're on our way to New York tonight," Tina says. Buffalo, New York is where the massive mansion Mike grew up in is located. Not only is it where he grew up on millionaire's row, but the property is now his, even though his parents still live there. Why don't you guys come tonight? We can have dinner there and you can spend the weekend? What do you think, babe?" she asks her husband. I almost want to laugh because there is no way he would deny her anything.

"Sounds good. The Puckermans are joining us, too." Mike says smiling. He would do anything to keep the love of his life happy.