'Tis confusion!

Did Santiago send you?

with round two knocked out of the park, all that was left to do was make the giant nest Q was set on. We carried the supplies out to the living room, where we were met with raucous laughter. "What?" Q demanded. Sal was laughing so hard he was turning purple. "You...have a ..oh god...there's a sock in your hair, and Mara, your shirt's on backwards. No wonder you had to 'go get more blankets.' " He chortled.

"Ok, ok, calm down," Q replied. "We did actually go to get blankets. "

"Ahh," Joe said, "So the cover-ups are really a cover-up." Everyone groaned. I threw the pillow I'd been holding at his head. "That was terrible. Truly terrible," I laughed. We tossed the rest of the pillows and blankets down and started to arrange them. Soon Q's floor looked like a giant patchwork quilt with all the different coverings. Everyone grabbed pillows and settled down on the floor. Q and Joe brought the birthday cake and the remaining rum to the floor and set it in the center of us all. "I figured we'd keep the Zingy's cake for us tomorrow morning or something." Q muttered to me. "That cool?"

"Of course," I whispered back. He smiled.

The next part of the night was as fun as the first. We watched a handful of episodes of Jokers. Barbara, Emily, Bessy and I each picked our favorite episodes and poked fun at the guys throughout.

"Murr, I can't believe you couldn't give away tickets to "Back and to The Left," Barbara said. Murr shrugged. "Sometimes there's just no convincing people."

When the "Lost Boy" episode came on, I nudged Q and told him "You wouldn't believe how bad I felt for you during this punishment. I've watched Tommy Dreamer wrestle for years, and he doesn't hold back. I was sure you were going to have to be scraped off the ring." "Thanks for the vote of confidence," Q told me, but he was laughing. "That was seriously one of the most terrifying punishments I've ever had to face...but, I mean...at least I didn't have to get anything pierced, eh Murr?"

Murr laughed. "Yeah, you guys suck. I still can't believe you made me do that." Emily stroked his arm. "If you can skydive, you can do anything." Murr gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Ain't that sweet" Joe cracked. "Hey Emily, does Murr still have those nip piercings?"

"Ye..I mean, I wouldn't know." Emily said, trying to pretend we didn't all know what had gone down in the laundry room earlier.

"Sure you wouldn't," Q gently ribbed her. " Seriously, though, if you tell us, Sal will give you ten dollars."

"Funny, Q," Sal grumbled. I couldn't resist jumping in: "Actually, Sal will give you twenty if you're one of Santiago's people."

"You guys really were made for each other," Sal told us. I beamed.

The party continued into the early hours. It was three a.m before everyone else was asleep. Joe and Bessy were curled up next to each other, Joe's arms around Bessy. Murr and Emily were in a similar position. Sal and Barbara had disappeared into Q's guest room. Sal claimed it was because he had a messed up back, but Q whispered to me that Sal "snores like you wouldn't believe". Q and I were still awake, but had moved to the kitchen so as not to disturb the others. We were chatting over leftover cake. 

"Q, I don't think I can thank you enough for tonight. It was..magical. I can't believe you'd do all this for someone you just met ."

Q smiled. "I aim to please. It's not every day a beautiful, witty woman walks into my life." He paused. "So, is there any chance of getting some more time off work? Because I'd really love to see you again."

"And I you," I sighed. " I may have some unused vacation time, I've actually been meaning to check into that. And I'm off tomorrow- "I glanced at the clock, which read 3:22- " well, technically today, but the next day I work nine until three. Do you want to grab lunch or something?"

Q smiled. "I'd like that." He yawned. "Sorry."

"You're fine. I'm starting to get a bit tired myself. Are we sleeping in the 'nest'?"

"And wake up next to Murr's smelly feet and Joe's morning breath? I'd rather not. In case you didn't notice earlier, I have a kick-ass king sized bed mere feet from where we're sitting."

I laughed. "Silly me. I guess we should head there, then." Q nodded. "There should be a new pack of toothbrushes under the sink. I'll go find something for you to wear." I got up and headed to the bathroom as Q disappeared into his room.