*****DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS OR SETTINGS. THEY BELONG TO THE EXTREMELY TALENTED BRENDA HAMPTON.

Prologue

This story takes place in what would be the fifth season of 7th Heaven. Instead of Mary deciding she doesn't want to go to college, she is going to taking classes at Crawford University in the fall, and is majoring in English. She is still living at home. And she is not, I REPEAT NOT, in any debt or spiraling downward into trouble, nor will she be sent away to Buffalo. Robbie has not moved in with them, either (for obvious reasons if you read the other story). Mary and Wilson are still together, and still very much in love. Wilson and Billy are continuing to live in his parent's house in GlenOak, until they can find a place of their own. It is now August. This story is the sequel to my pervious one, Strange Circumstances. Please read that one first http://www.fanfiction.ws/read.php?storyid=890693. Other wise, you will not get some of the things in the story.

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I am back in school now, so it is going to take longer for me to write this story. The updates probably won't be as frequent as they were for the first one, but I will try my best to make the as prompt as possible.

Don't forget to review!

Mary hangs up the phone and walks downstairs into the kitchen to find her mother. She locates Annie, who is sitting at the dining room table paying some of the household bills. She looks up and smiles as she sees her daughter enter the room.

"Mom, I'm going over to Wilson's, OK?"

"Uh, yeah sure." Annie looks down at her wristwatch. It reads 11:30. "How long are you planning on staying?"

"I don't know, probably until around 4."

"So you'll be home for dinner?"

"Definitely."

"OK. Have a good time."

She walks out the back door and into her car. Mary's parents bought the car for her when she finally decided that she was going to college. They found a good deal on a "for sale by owner" sedan. Annie had fixed it up nice for her, gotten it a new paint job, fixed up the seats, tweaked the engine, that sort of thing. Mary loved the freedom that came along with having her own vehicle. Like right now for instance, she told her mom she was leaving and just left, and it wouldn't really matter what time she got back. No one else was relying her on to come back for their transportation. Finally, she was an adult.

She pulls into Wilson's driveway, her boyfriend of 6 months. She gets out of the car and rings the doorbell. Mary is greeted by the two men in her life, Wilson and Billy.

"Hello beautiful."

"Hey handsome."

"What about me?" four year old Billy whines.

Mary messes Billy brown hair and picks him up. "Better?"

He puts his head on her shoulder.

"Looks like somebody's tired." Wilson remarks. "How 'bout taking a nap Billy?"

"No!"

"Come on Billy. Take a nap, for me?" Mary coaxes. "Please?"

"OK, but only a quick one."

Mary puts him down, and takes his little hand in hers. The three of them walk into Billy's bedroom, and get him ready for his nap. After he is all settled, they walk out of the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind them.

"Hmm…what shall we do now that Billy is asleep?" Mary asks mischievously.

Wilson encircles her in his arms, pulling her towards him. They lips lock in a passionate kiss. Mary moans slightly as the pleasures of the lip-lock engulf her. She tries to regain her composure as her hands tug at the t-shirt covering his chest. She leans over and opens the door to Wilson's bedroom, and they walk inside, never breaking the kiss. They fall on the bed, and begin to loose their inhibitions. All of Mary's morals flashed through her head. Everything was telling her to stop, except for one voice, her voice of reason. It's OK. You love him. He loves you. Go ahead. It's all right. Needing no further persuasion, she continues her exploration of Wilson's attractive body. Their make out session becomes more intense. Mary tugs at Wilson's white shirt, and tries to pull it off of him. He helps her to do so, and she caresses his muscular chest. She runs her hand down his rock-hard six-pack, tracing the lines of his well-sculpted muscles, and then reaches for her shirt. Wilson finally realizes what she is doing, and puts his hormones on pause.

"Stop."

"Why?"

"What are you doing?"

"Following my feelings."

"I don't know Mare…"

"Come on, you can't tell me you weren't enjoying it."

"Fine, I was, but we shouldn't be doing this."

"I want to. Please."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Just go, I'll tell you when to stop."

Before Wilson has a chance to think, Mary's lips capture his and everything happens quickly: the shed clothing, the skin, the touching. They both experienced a big rush of pleasure with contact in all the right places. Wilson is now in his boxers and Mary wearing nothing but her panties. Being in this state, not fully clothed, starts to make her uneasy. Even though Mary was genuinely fond of the new activities she was partaking in with the man she truly loves, recollections kept running through her head, making each move seem more scary and sinful as the seconds passed.

She gently places his hand on his chest and stares deep into his eyes. She is unable to express her feelings, but Wilson understands every word she does not say. She leans her head on his stomach, and he rubs her back in attempts to comfort her. After only a little while, he can feel her tears roll down the side of his body and around to his back.

"I'm sorry." She sniffles. "I-I just couldn't. It was just too overwhelming."

"I know, I know. Its OK, you don't have to explain anything to me."

"No, I owe it to you, I want to. Just give me a second."

"Here, come here." He tells her, gently pulling her body upward.

They lie next to each other. Wilson takes Mary's hands in his, and intently watches the expressions on her face. Being too embarrassed and at a loss for the right words, Mary looks away from him and closes her eyes, letting her tears fall down her cheeks. Wilson puts his arms around her, feeling the smoothness of her skin. She turns in his arms to face him again.

"Shh. It's OK. I understand. This wasn't easy for me either."

"Why?"

"It made me think of Billy's mother."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot."

"No, that's ok. You had no reason to remember, its fine."

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. It's been a while."

"Well, mine's been a while, too."

"No, it hasn't. That reminds me, Friday we are going out. I've already arranged for a baby sitter for Billy. I don't want you just sitting home."

"Why? What's so special about Friday?"

"Uh, nothing. It's just not a good night for you to be sitting home all by yourself."

"OK."

"So, are you OK?"

"No, not really. I feel awful about this whole thing. I shouldn't have done this."

"Its ok, really. I don't feel like this was a bad thing."

"Neither do I, but its just- I don't know."

Wilson notices goose bumps forming on the sides of Mary's arms.

"You cold?"

"A little. I'll put my shirt back on."

"No, come here."

Wilson positions Mary so that she is lying on top of him and rubs her arms to try and warm them up. She turns her head to the side, and thinks about what she is going to say to him, choosing her words very carefully.

"When Robbie did that to me, it was really scary and awkward. Its difficult to explain, but I want to try. There was no warmth to it, no love, nothing like that. Now this, I mean," she takes a deep breath and calms herself down. "Okay. For like a little while now, I kind of wanted to see what it would be like with you. I didn't really have any intentions of actually sleeping with you, but I kind of wanted to try it, you know do something. And I'm glad I did. It was really nice, and it felt really good. With Robbie it just felt completely wrong. You looked into my eyes, and he never looked up at me once. You gave me a fuzzy feeling inside, and I felt so safe. Then I went and ruined it. I really am sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I know exactly how you feel. When I was with Billy's mother, it wasn't like the way this was. I know I shouldn't compare you to her, but the difference is comforting. With her, it was more like just sex, the satisfaction of having done it, but with you it was more about feelings- your feelings. You wanted to do this, and I did too, so I went along with it. I'm glad I did because it reconfirmed my feelings for you Mary. I love you, I really do."

"I love you, too."

They kiss virtuously, then Mary returns her head to the place it had occupied before. They both become quiet, until Mary endeavors to break the tension.

"Wilson?"

"Yeah?"

"What was she like, Billy's mother I mean."

"Well, uh, she was tall, a redhead. She was kind of popular in school, but not really smart. I don't know, its weird. My taste in women, and even like people in general, changed so much since her and Billy. Or maybe I've just grown up, I don't know."

"What was her name?"

"Brittany." Tears begin to form in Wilson's eyes, and he starts to get choked up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you upset."

"No, its fine. Its nice to have someone to talk about it with a little."

They get quiet, and lay in each other's arms. Mary takes in his scent, never wanting to move from the position they were both in right now. She could lay the way they were for hours. Wilson turns slightly. He lifts one arm, the other still holding Mary to him. He picks up his watch from the nightstand and looks at it before placing it back down.

"Its 1:30, Billy will be up soon."

"Oh, ok."

"But before you get up, come here. Look at me."

Mary moves so that Wilson can see her face.

"Are we OK?"

"Yeah, everything's fine with me."

"Good. Are you all right?"

"I will be. Just give me a little while."

"Sure." Wilson gets a mischievous look on his face. "This was nice, we should continue it sometime."

"It was nice, but maybe we should wait a little while before we go any further."

"OK, I agree."

The vigor in Mary's voice comes back as she sits up. "You know what I think we should do now, in light of all of this?"

"What?"

"We should have a serious sex talk- talk about everything."

"If you have any questions, I can clear them up for you Mare. When a man loves a woman very much…"

Mary playfully hits Wilson in the side of the arm. They both get up and redress. After they are fully clothed, they go into the kitchen and sit at the table. They both have big smiles on their faces that they can't wipe off. 

"So, when should we have this little talk of ours?"

"Oh, I don't know. Not now that's for sure. Sometime when we can be alone, really alone, not like alone in my house or in public alone."

"This isn't going to be easy then, is it?"

"We'll come up with something. Maybe we could talk Friday, since you insist on getting me out of my house."

"OK. I know what we could do, we'll take a drive, park somewhere, then talk a little."

"That's fine. Not that I don't want to go out, but why are you so set on taking me out this Friday night?"

"Uh, well, I guess you mustn't have realized it yet. Friday will be 6 months since…"

Mary puts her head down in shame. Even though Wilson knows everything that happened last Valentine's Day, plus everything afterwards, she still gets embarrassed when he brings it up. Everything was such a mess then, not one of her proudest moments. After she has what appears to be a moment of silence for herself, she gets up and walks over towards Wilson. She kisses his lips fittingly.

"Thank you," she says after she pulls away from Wilson's mouth. "I couldn't have gotten this far without your help. You've been my shoulder to cry on, literally, and I can't express my gratitude enough."

"Your welcome, but it really wasn't that big of a deal. You needed me, so I helped you. I'm just glad your better now."

"Yes, it was a big deal. Stop being so modest. And I'm not completely better yet, but I'm trying."

"I know, and you're doing a good job."

"I'd never admit this to my dad, but the counseling really helped me. I think that's what gave me the final shove I needed to start and get my life back on track."

"Then why'd you decide to stop?"

"Because I thought I had gotten all I could out of it, and now it was up to me to do this for myself-"

Wilson kisses Mary in the middle of her sentence.

"What was that for?"

"For being yourself."

Mary sits down in Wilson's lap.

"Maybe I'll be myself more often."

They make out, but this time it is very innocent. As they kiss, Wilson gently touches Mary's face as she twirls his hair around her fingers. They continue to kiss for 10 more minutes until Billy walks in. He taps Wilson on the shoulder, and Mary and Wilson stop.

"Daddy, I'm hungry. I want lunch."

"Ok, what do you want? Peanut butter and jelly?"

"No."

"I know," Mary says, "how about all three of us make macaroni and cheese together?"

"Yeah!" Billy says, excited to spend some time with Mary.

They get out all of the ingredients, and put some water on the stove for the pasta.

"Mary, were you here the whole time I took my nap?"

"Yup."

"What did you and Dad do while I was asleep?"

"Well, uh, we played and talked a little."

"Yuck!"

"What's yucky about that?" Wilson asks his son.

"Its always yucky when you and Mary kiss."

Wilson and Mary both smile, a little embarrassed that even Billy could figure out what they were doing.