Title: The First Cut Is The Deepest

Author: Mackenzie
Email: ouiseriland.net
Genre: "Las Vegas"
Rating: R
Spoilers: Everything thus far
Disclaimers: To get a better understanding of this story, I recommend you reading the first one, "When You Say Nothing At All"
Props: Cat Stevens, Sheryl Crow and the ones who inspired and encouraged me to write this... you know who you are.

Chapter One

Empty Beds and Discarded Makeup

She used the key he gave her to let herself into his home. The first thing she did was place his mail and newspaper on the small table along the wall in the hallway. Toeing out of her shoes, she gingerly made her way down the caramel colored hardwood floors towards the kitchen to see what he needed at the grocery store.

Ever since Jillian died, Sam took it upon herself to help Ed make it through the day, and now, embarking on the nine month anniversary of her death, she didn't see it getting easier anytime soon. After many hours of screaming until their throats were raw, Samantha Jane finally convinced Ed to give her a key to his house so she can spruce the place up and make sure he has a stocked kitchen. In return, Ed provided testimonies during the adoption that Sam was trying to complete of young Jasmine.

Surprisingly, the two had fallen into a calmness... a comfortable pattern. They took care of each other. If Sam couldn't pick Jasmine up from school because of a client, she knew that all she had to do was call Ed and he'd drop everything and pick her up and bring her back to the Montecito, showering her with fruit, juice boxes, and coloring books in his office while Sam finished up. To compensate him for the time he was lavishing on her new daughter, Samantha repaid Ed with home cooked meals, trips to the grocery store when he needed it and nagging him to see the doctor when she felt that the stress was beginning to creep up on him.

Despite the whispers of fellow employees, Samantha and Ed were not sleeping together. Both man and woman knew that they were no where near being ready for that gigantic step, yet both didn't seem to mind to assume a family position, in a strictly non-sexual way. Being around Jasmine so much, the girl finally felt comfortable enough to call Ed 'daddy'... something that at first didn't set well with his eldest daughter.

Father and daughter fought tooth and nail over that for many a week until finally Ed managed to get Delinda to realize that nobody would ever take her place in his life or heart and that seemed to calm her fears.

As Sam moved around Ed's kitchen with familiarity, she opened the fridge to find an unopened tub of French onion dip. Being riddled with hunger pangs, she grabbed it and opened a drawer to get a knife to cut the plastic band from around the lid. As she pulled the drawer open, a tube of lipstick rolled down. Sighing softly, Sam picked it up and examined it, not recognizing it as a brand that she wore. It was a tube of MAC, Spanish Fly. Tucking it carefully back into the drawer, Sam thought it was a weird place for a tube of lipstick, but then again, everything about Jillian was unique. "She had her own sense of style, my wife." Ed would say as the two would reminisce deep into the night, the head of a sleeping Jasmine resting in one of their laps.

For several months, Samantha kept Jasmine away from Ed. The very last thing he needed was an eight-year-old hanging around him, taking his time up with questions. It wasn't until Samantha was surprised with a surprise birthday party that Ed pulled her aside and told her that he wanted to start spending time with Jasmine, something that shocked her, but also made her very happy. Sam was confident that with men like Ed, Danny, Mike and Luis than Jasmine would have no feelings of abandonment where fathers were concerned.

Carefully running the knife around the rim of the dip, Sam peeled away the protective piece of plastic and then went rummaging through the cabinets to find the bag of Ruffles potato chips she knew she stashed.

"Rummaging through my things now, funny, I thought that ended once the kids got out of the house."

Sam bolted upright and looked into the grinning face of the home's owner. "Funny man. I came by to see if you needed groceries and I was hungry, I didn't get a chance to have lunch today."

Ed chuckled softly as he walked over and glanced at his mail, "Help yourself, hon, you know I'm only yanking your chain."

Samantha grinned as she spotted the bag of chips and dug in, "Jasmine's pestering me to let her join the brownies."

The man looked up from his utility bill, "Join the brownies?"

Scarfing down a chip, Sam elaborated, "It's the first step to the Girl Scouts."

Ed nodded as he set the bills down and walked over and grabbed a few chips out of the bag, "Well, it might be good for her, you know? Teach her how to take care of herself and be an independent person, plus, it'd give you some extra time to get some errands run or something, you've been looking like a person who is stretching herself too thin, Sam, I meant to tell you that."

Sam sighed as she sat down on a barstool, "This coming from a man who isn't home but a few hours a week."

Giving her a small smile, Ed merely shrugged, "Touche."

She gave him a self-satisfied smirk as she continued to snack on the chips. A few moments of silence enveloped them and it was broken by her question, "Anything special you want me to bring you from the store, Ed?"

Ed dropped his copy of "Las Vegas Style" magazine and sighed quietly, contemplating her question. His blue eyes darted over to her in mild annoyance as she drummed her Mirage pink fingernails against the charcoal gray granite countertops. "You mind not drumming your synthetic nails against my counters?"

Sam let out a gasp so loud that it shook the man. "Synthetic nails??"

Ed groaned inwardly as he prepared himself to face the wrath of an insulted woman. Sam stood up and walked right up to her boss. "I'll have you know, Edward Melvin Deline," she paused for effect, rubbing his nose in the fact that his mother still insist on calling him by his full name in front of the other workers when she's angry with him, "That my nails are FAR from synthetic. It has taken me a LIFETIME to condition my nails and get them healthy and I take pride in them by polishing, moisturizing and exfoliating them daily."

Ed blinked, "You exfoliate your nails?"

Sam sighed in annoyance as she tossed her chocolate tresses over her shoulder, "You saying my nails are synthetic is like me saying your car is just a bucket of metal."

The man winced, "Point taken. I apologize for offending your..." he paused for a moment, his hands wildly gesturing, "nails."

Sam turned and grinned at him, "Apology accepted. Now, what do you want from the store?"

Rolling his eyes, Ed made his way towards the refrigerator for a beverage as he thought. Opening the door, he grabbed a bottle of Dasani and twisted off the cap. Sighing deeply, he shrugged, "I don't know. You want to have the gang over and barbecue some night next week?"

Sam gave him a teasing grin, "I didn't know you knew how to man a grill, Ed."

"Hey," he turned and put his hands on his hips in a gesture of mock offense, "If the cavemen could invent fire and the wheel, I can man a grill."

She giggled hard, she knew she couldn't let this just pass, "So you are a caveman? Or shall I call you Tarzan?"

He gave her a grin, "Careful, Jane, or I just may throw you over my shoulder and take you to the tree house."

"Oooh, I'm scared, Mr. Big Bad Caveman President is going to take me to some tree house."

Ed laughed hard as he leaned over and gently smacked her shoulder before pulling her into a tight hug. If anybody had ever said that he and Samantha Jane Marquez would become such good friends he would have laughed them out of his office, but here she stood in his home, in his arms, after getting him to laugh harder than he has laughed since the death of his beloved wife. Smacking a loud kiss on her cheek, he walked away from her, shaking his head, "You, Marquez, are going to drive a man out of his mind should he ever be foolish enough to pop the question to you."

Sam rolled her eyes as she started to clean up her mess, "What makes you think I'll marry anyway?"

Ed turned and looked at her, his face a mask of mild surprise, "You don't want to marry?"

She shrugged as she closed the door to the fridge, "I went down that road once before, Ed. I have a daughter, a great job and a circle of friends whom I love more everyday... what more could a girl ask for?"

"Oh I don't know," he sighed, "Stability, companionship, security, a sense of belonging?"

Sam gave him a soft smile, "I have all of that now." She glanced down at her watch. "Ed, I have to run, I need to pick Jas up from school. Write out a list of what you want and I'll make a trip to the store tomorrow." Walking over to him, she kissed his cheek and grabbed her purse and headed out of the house.