Nope Glee's not mine.
"Alright Harmony be extra careful putting this one up okay?" Mercedes craned her neck around the figure that was standing in front of her as she gripped on tightly to the chair supporting the small child.
"Okay Ms. M." Harmony cut her eyes at the women behind her shaking her head slightly at the overwhelming concern as she stuck the last music note unto the bulletin board, slapping her hand on it once she got it in place to make sure it stayed. Mercedes released the chair and stepped back once she made sure Harmony was completely done with her task. She pulled her shoulder length waves into a quick bun as she surveyed their work. Harmony hopped down from the chair, landing with her hands up and her eyes closed mimicking the landing of an Olympic gymnast. She skipped over to where Mercedes stood and looked up at the board they had just spent the last hour working on. Big bold black letters on top of a purple background read 'Welcome Parents to The Jones School of Music's Open House' with music notes scattered around it. Beneath it had pictures of Mercedes and her students, from her little ones to the teenagers. Mercedes' eyes focused on her favorite picture, directly in the middle of the board was a picture of Mercedes teaching a young girl on piano. The picture showed Mercedes with her eyes trained on the girl, a small smile playing on her face. Mercedes' hands rest on the piano keys and the girl's hands mimic hers. The child's coco color matched Mercedes' and her big eyes were closed shut while she seemed to be belting out a note. Wild, small ringlets of hair framed the child's round face and she exuded a determination that matched the women that sat next to her in the picture.
Mercedes would never admit it out loud but that little one had become her favorite student. She crouched down and draped her arm around the child next to her and squeezed the body tightly a causing a giggle to escape the young girl. It had been a year since that picture was taken with Harmony, she was a little taller now and a lot more sassy, but she was still her favorite student. Mercedes called her the little girl with the big voice.
The steady click of heels signaled the upcoming arrival of one of the other music teachers Mercedes worked with an within seconds the figure was at her doorway.
"Well, it's no surprise what student you had stay behind and help you today now is it Mercy. I swear you two are attached at the hip." Mercedes arched her eyebrow and shrugged at her friend.
The women turned her attention to the smaller pair of brown eyes focused on her and she smiled. "How's my little Harmony doing?" She said brightly. Harmony offered a big smile back and tugged at the edge of her shirt.
"I'm fine Ms. Rivera but you know I'm not so little anymore. I'm nearly six!" Six little fingers went up in the air and brown eyes shined brightly.
"You are so right Harmony! I almost forgot." The woman placed a palm to her forehead. "You have to forgive me, I'm old, the last time I was six was twenty years ago."
"Wow!" Harmony's eyes stretched wide and her jaw dropped. "You're super old. I wonder if my Grandpa was six like me twenty years ago too. Then that would mean you are the same age as my Grandpa!" Harmony's attention focused on Mercedes. "Ms. M are you old like Ms. Rivera too?"
"No sweetie. Ms. M wasn't around when Ms. Rivera was born. That was super long ago." Mercedes tried her best not to laugh at the glare that her friend was giving her but it was almost too much. She shook her head and moved to usher Harmony out of the room.
"Why don't you go to the lounge and eat something before open house starts Harmony. I think Mr. Hummel has a slice of cheese pizza with your name on it." Harmony nodded once before taking off down the hall.
Mercedes moved to her desk in the very back of her class. She had chosen to put it there because it was right next to the large window that overlooked one of the prettiest fields she'd ever seen. When she was looking for a place to build her school and discovered a small suburb in N.Y. called Larchmont almost four years ago she instantly fell in love. She leaned back in her chair slightly and sighed at the relief of finally giving her feet a break.
"Alright Santana. How are things looking?" Santana eyed the women in front of her and frowned.
"From the looks of things not too good. I mean damn girl could you at least pretend you're half as rich as you are." Santana sashayed to Mercedes' desk sitting at the edge of it ignoring Mercedes' eye roll.
"Shut the hell up San. I've been working with Harmony all day. We had a lesson and we worked on the bulletin board, I have a change of clothes in my office. Besides you know I wasn't asking about that." Santana waved her off with a exasperated sigh.
"You know everything is running smoothly. I've been on everyone's ass all day and my room is immaculate thank you very much." Mercedes nodded her approval and took out the bun she placed in her hair earlier, finger combing through it and allowing herself to relax in the few minutes she had before she had to get back up again.
"So are you excited?" Santana crossed her legs and grinned tugging at the edge of her black pencil skirt while she looked expectantly at Mercedes.
"For what?" Mercedes answered confused at the excitement on her friends face.
"You get to finally meet the man who adopted your little prodigy. Ever since she's been living with whoever this man is she's taken off. Not only is she smiling more since she's been taken out of foster care she's even become a better musician if that was even possible." Mercedes smiled a little at that. She'd been waiting to meet Harmony's new Dad for months now. She appreciated the man for not pulling Harmony out of lessons that she'd gotten for free when she lived with her foster family and from what she gathered from Harmony he was a single white male who decided to adopt a black child. She saw what living with him did for Harmony and that made Mercedes happy.
Normally Harmony would be dropped off to the music school after her academic school day and picked up when her lesson was over. Mercedes had never even seen so much as a glimpse of the man. He was always on time so he never had to come in and he sent his payments in with Harmony. Today would be the first time she would meet him and part of her was a little excited.
"Alright Wheezy. Lets get you to your office and out of those rags. We only got an hour left." Santana rose from Mercedes desk and started to walk out of her classroom.
"Still the pain in the ass you were in High School." Mercedes muttered softly as she got up from her seat and followed.
-/-
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about. You look hot!" Santana whistled low as Mercedes smoothed out her outfit.
"You like it?" Mercedes questioned unsure. She walked over to the mirror and looked herself over. She wore a simple black dress that hugged her curves just enough to be sexy and tasteful. Her hair hung low and free in waves stopping just below her shoulders and smooth legs gave way to killer black heels.
"You look flawless Mercy. You know if you didn't I would have said something. Now let's go, I can hear the kids starting to come in.
Mercedes and Santana walked side by side down the hall toward the front entrance of the school dodging excited kids practically pulling their parents down the hallways and into their main teachers classroom. They stopped at the front of the school greeting parents and their children.
"Mercy me oh my! I knew when I choose that outfit you'd kill in it." Kurt Hummel, one of Mercedes' best friends that she'd known since High School glided toward her. "You look gorgeous. Almost as good as me." He finished with a wink.
"Well I suppose that's what happens when I let you pick out my clothes." Mercedes responded with a smile.
"As you should have always been doing." Kurt playfully nudged Mercedes.
"Alright break up the love party you two." Santana said with an eye roll prompting Kurt to stick his tongue at her.
"Oh you're real mature Kurt." Santana snapped.
"And you're just jealous of mine and Mercy's undying love for one another. It's okay San she has enough to go around." Kurt said with a chuckle.
"You two behave. Today would be the day that we actually need to lead by example. I don't need these parents to think I hired a bunch of kids to teach their children even though we all know that's exactly what I did." Before Santana could open her mouth to respond something Mercedes was sure going to be slick Harmony shot out through the crowd of parents and ran straight into Mercedes, clutching on the end of her dress excitedly.
"Woah Harmony calm down you could of hurt someone!. What's all the running for?" Mercedes gently pulled Harmony from her and watched as the girl tried to calm her breathing.
"I'm sorry Ms. M. I really am but my Dad's here and I really want you to meet him." Harmony said with a smile.
Mercedes looked up in the direction Harmony ran from, her eyes scanning the crowd of familiar faces of parents that she'd seen almost daily, but when she saw him though there was no mistaking who he was. She barely registered the loud gasps of the two people standing next to her because her heart was doing this funny little thing where it sped up and she was breathing too fast and then it stopped and it felt like she couldn't breath at all. Green eyes locked with brown and he walked toward her with a swagger that had been perfected over the years. He looked way too good for words. His hair was short and tussled, bright green eyes were focused and trained on her, a plain black t-shirt and a brown leather jacket covered a beautifully fit body, and the blue jeans he wore fit him perfectly. She didn't even realize he was in front of her until Harmony spoke. Breaking her from the spell that was cast upon her when she noticed him.
"Ms. M. this is my Dad." Harmony turned to her Dad a big smile on her face. "Dad this is-"
"Mercedes." The voice of the man that she hadn't heard in so many years shook Mercedes and she knew she was in trouble.
"Sam." She said softly. Her usual confidence drained from her and she suddenly felt one inch tall.
"Well shit." Santana's voice shot through the tension building, a sly smile playing on her face while Kurt stood there with his mouth wide open. "This is going to be fun."