"Awww, poor baby." Tracy squeezed Sam's hand.

"I feel like such a wimp when I say I couldn't live without him, but there it is."

"There's nothing wrong with feeling that way, Sam. Being madly in love with your husband doesn't make you any less of a badass. I promise."

"Really? It doesn't?"

Tracy's laughter made Sam feel better. "No, it doesn't. Who wouldn't love him? He's amazing."

"He is that. Things between us have been better than ever lately. Just when I think it can't get any better, it does."

"I wondered if having Scotty here would be tough on you guys. You haven't been married all that long, and it's a lot to take on a child when you're still figuring out the married stuff."

"Somehow it's all working perfectly. I keep waiting for problems, but we both feel like Scotty has always lived here. It just works."

"I'm happy for you, Sam. After all you went through with Peter and the miscarriages, no one deserves to be happy more than you do."

"Thanks. I keep hoping I might get another chance to be pregnant. Despite significant effort, I still get the monthly event."

"It'll happen when it's meant to be."

"Is that so?"

"I'm your big sister, and I say it is so, thus it is so."

Snuggled up to her sister, surrounded by her love and understanding, Sam debated something else she wanted to ask her but didn't know how to say it. "Could I ask you something so personal it defies even the boundaries of sisterhood?"

"Since when does anything defy the bounds of our sisterhood?"

"True," Sam said with a laugh that belied the nerves that fluttered in her belly at the thought of broaching this particular subject-even with Tracy, who was probably her closest friend in addition to being her big sister.

Tracy nudged Sam with her shoulder. "Just say it. After fifteen years of marriage and three kids, you can't shock me."

"Have you and Mike ever... God, this is embarrassing."

"There's not much Mike and I haven't done, so spit it out."

"Have you done anal?"

"Oh yeah."

"Really?"

"Back when we were having sex-before Brooke went ballistic and ruined a lot of things, including our sex life-we did it fairly regularly. It's been a few months since we did anything, though. At this point, plain vanilla is looking pretty darned good to me."

"I'm sure it is." Sam couldn't imagine going a couple of days without sex with Nick, let alone months.

"Are you guys talking about trying that?"

"We've almost done it a couple of times, but we always stop before it actually happens. It drives me crazy to know he's done it before, that he's done something with another woman that he hasn't done with me. Isn't that stupid?"

"It's not stupid that you want to be his one and only, Sam. How do you know he's done it before?"

"I asked him if he had, and he shrugged. He's too much of a gentleman to spill the dirty deets, but he didn't deny it. Knowing he's done it before, he's done that with someone else but not me... I can't stop thinking about it."

"It's not something you should do if you don't really want to. It's not for everyone."

"I think I want to." Sam's skin suddenly felt too tight for her body and her palms were sweaty just thinking about some of their recent encounters. "Sometimes I think there's nothing I wouldn't do with him."

Tracy fanned her face. "That's very hot."

"Tell me the truth, does it hurt like hell?"

"It's more uncomfortable than painful-at first. But the orgasms...whoa. Unlike any others."

"What makes it so much hotter than the regular way?"

"The fact that it's a little bit forbidden-not to mention illegal in some places. It's a huge leap of trust between partners, among other things, that you have to experience to appreciate. After the election, you should take him out to the cabin and rock his world."

"I'd rather do it right here. Did I tell you about what he did in the loft upstairs?"

"I don't think so."

"He recreated the beach in Bora Bora, right down to the palm trees and double lounge chair. We've had a lot of fun up there." Sam's face heated as she recalled some of the time they'd spent in their hideaway.

"He's one hell of a guy," Tracy said.

"He's the only one I'd want to do something like that with."

Tracy began to giggle uncontrollably.

"What?"

"I'm trying to picture you doing that with Peter-"

"Stop! Don't put that picture in my head! It was all I could do to have regular sex with Peter once a month. He would've freaked out about anything more than straight missionary. He was all about keeping it clean and tidy."

"Why am I not surprised that he wanted to control you in bed too?"

"I don't even like to think about him. The years I spent with him seem like a bad dream since I've been with Nick. It's night and day."

"Have you heard from your lovely ex-husband lately?"

"Not since he tried to kill himself and listed me as his next of kin at the hospital."

"So creepy."

"That's Peter for you."

"All this talk about sex-with Nick, not Peter-makes me want to go home and make up with my husband, who has put up with way too much shit from my kid in the last year."

"You guys are solid, Trace. You'll get back on track."

"I hope so." She hugged her sister. "Thanks for being here for me."

"Happy to be here for you the way you always are for me."

The front door burst open and Scotty came in ahead of Nick.

"Sam, we had the best time. Nick made a ton of money, and all these people wanted to shake hands with me. It was so cool."

Sam and Tracy shared a smile as Tracy got up to hug her new nephew and her brother-in-law on the way out the door.

Chapter Fourteen.

"Was she crying?" Nick asked Sam as he sat next to her and leaned in to kiss her.

"I'll tell you about it later. Did you guys eat?"

Scotty sat across from them. "They had all this fancy stuff I didn't like too much. Nick said we could order pizza."

"That sounds good to me."

"I'll do it!" Scotty got up and ran for the kitchen where they kept the takeout menus.

"He seems like his old self again," Sam said.

"He's getting there. We had a good talk about what happened at school."

"I called the kid's mom."

Instantly amused, Nick tipped his head for a closer look at her. "And?"

"I made it clear that we won't put up with her kid pounding on ours."

"Define 'made it clear.'"

Sam laughed at his insistent tone. "I let her know we'll press charges if he hits him again."

Her laughter fueled his. "Oh my God, I love it! Good going, babe."

"You think so? I'm worried that Scotty will be pissed if he finds out about it."

"Then tell him so he knows."

"I'm scared to."

Nick laughed again as he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Watch out for mama bear. No one messes with her cub."

"You know it."

Scotty came bouncing back into the room. "Thirty-two bucks for a large, a small and a salad."

"How much of a tip is that?" Nick asked.

"Ten percent would be three dollars twenty cents and twenty percent would be six forty. So seven bucks?"

"Excellent." Nick withdrew his wallet from the front pocket of his suit coat and handed it to Scotty. "I know exactly how much is in there, mister."

Scotty seemed stricken by what Nick had meant as a teasing comment. "As if I'd ever steal from you when you've given me everything."

"I was joking, buddy. I know you'd never steal from me."

The regret she heard in Nick's voice made her ache.

"Just making sure," Scotty said tentatively.

Sam held out her hand to Scotty. "Come sit with us. I want to talk to you."

"Am I in trouble?"

"Don't be silly," she said as she settled him between them. "You're not in trouble." She met Nick's challenging glance over Scotty's head. "I wanted to tell you that I talked to Nathan's mom about what happened today at school."

He looked up at her, clearly distressed. "You did?"

Sam nodded.

"What did you say?"

"I told her what happened and that we were upset about it and didn't want it to happen again."

"You didn't go all Police Officer Barbie on her, did you?"

Sam once again met Nick's gaze over the boy's head and saw that he was choking back a laugh. "Maybe. A little." She fought the urge to squirm under the glare coming from a twelve-year-old. "But I was nothing like Barbie," she added with disdain.

"Tell me exactly what you said."

"That if he hits you again, we'll press charges. And that he's not to give you any grief in school. Or else."

"Sam! I told you not to do that!"