Mercedes was the first to arrive. This wasn't really much of a surprise. Ever since high school, it seemed like she was the only one who believed in punctuality. Sunrise, one of Lima's only diners that had brunch, was practically buzzing on this Sunday morning, and Mercedes sat quietly, watching folks walk by with a hot cup of coffee. She looked at her watch, and noticed that it was already 11:15. Sighing, she was surprised by a buzzing from her purse. She pulled out her phone and saw the name that made her smile.

Sam: Hey babe, how's the Troubletones reunion brunch going?

Just as planned. Nobody's here yet.

Well, that's not surprising. I mean, you're talking about Sugar and Brittana. Sugar probably still hasn't decided what she wants to wear, and Britt and Santana… Well, we know what they're up to.

Mercedes chuckled softly to herself. Even though Sam had been caught in the middle of all that at one time or another, he was actually pretty cool about their relationship. It didn't hurt that his wife was one of their best friends.

Yeah, well. They need to stop making hanky panky and get their butts over here.

As if summoned by her words, Mercedes looked up and saw the pair making their way to her table. Brittany was bouncing along happily while Santana followed a step or two behind, looking decidedly less excited.

Hon, they've arrived. I'll see you when I get back to your parents house.

She locked her phone, not bothering to wait for a response. Sam would find plenty to occupy him during the day, she just hoped that her day would turn out like she'd planned.

Mercedes stood up and went to greet her friends.

"Hey Britt! Santana. Speak of the devil."

She hugged Brittany tightly, and then did the same to Santana, who only put up a mild resistance. Mercedes gestured towards the table.

"Your coffee is waiting on you, Satan. Though I'm not sure how tired you could be at 11 in the morning."

Santana snorted. "You were at that party, same as me, Aretha. And we both know that Berry didn't turn off that damn karaoke machine until about three. How she manages to do show tunes in the morning and karaoke at night is beyond me. She's like a Terminator that's only ability is to annoy the people that can't stand her."

Mercedes had to laugh at that, and she took Brittany's arm, guiding her to the table. The New Directions (almost all of them, Mercedes had never been to a bigger party of glee nerds), had stayed in the auditorium late into the night, popping bottles of champagne and taking turns on the microphone. They'd all caught up as well. She'd heard her fair share of stories from Jesse and Rachel, learned all about Zizes new career as a meteorologist, and learned more about Mike's new girlfriend than she ever would have wanted to.

It was only as it got later, and she got a moment to herself that she found each of her Troubletones separately and invited them to brunch today. Santana was wary at first, saying that she didn't want to spend any more time in Lima than she absolutely had to, but Brittany had cracked the whip, and Santana changed her tune, saying they'd be there at 11. Sugar was on board as well, mostly because she had pretty much traveled with Mercedes and Sam from LA, so she wasn't in a rush.

In the years since they had last seen each other, since Brittany and Santana's wedding, and the occasional visit back home, Mercedes had tried to sneak in a few chances for them all to see each other. As good as it was to see everybody in the New Directions, Mercedes always had a special place in her heart for her Troubletones. And she thought of them as her's as well. Yeah, Sugar's dad had fronted the money for the group, and Ms. Corcoran had been the director, but from the first time she had stepped into that choir room, and felt finally free from Rachel Berry, Mr. Schue, and all the other baggage that came with being in the ND, she'd held these girls in a special regard. It wasn't that she didn't love Mr. Schue, and Rachel, she did. She loved all her New Directions peeps. But, the Troubletones were like a shooting star, they'd lasted only a moment, but their effect would last a life time.

She chatted happily with Brittany while Santana nursed her coffee and probably a hangover. She'd always loved the two of them together. Brittany smoothing out Santana's rough edges, and Santana being Brittany's backbone, looking out for her when she stretched herself too thin, or made herself too vulnerable. She also knew the two of them well enough to know that Santana gave Brittany the chance to be deliciously mean, and Brittany was a good cover whenever Santana wanted to be the big teddy bear that she was deep down inside.

"When does your flight leave?" Mercedes asked, looking over the brunch menu.

"Five. It'll give us time to hang out with Maribel and Luis a little more, then swing by Abuela's house before we leave town. She's always complaining that we don't visit enough." Answered Brittany.

"And who taught my grandmother how to use email, Britt? She wouldn't even know how to complain to us if you hadn't set her up with that Gmail account."

Brittany laughed, and patted Santana's thigh. "Well, then who would be sending us those amazing dulce de leche recipes that you like so much? Lord knows you don't know them."

Santana even smiled at that one. "Leave it to my white wife to know more about cooking Mexican food than I do."

Brittany leaned over and place a small kiss on her cheek. "Your white wife is better at cooking anything better than you are, sweetie."

Santana ducked her head a little with embarrassment, but chuckled softly, and kissed her wife's cheek.

Mercedes could only laugh, reaching her hands across the table to grab Brittany's.

"You don't know how much I've missed you two."

"Aw, Aretha, you missed us? Really and truly?" Santana clasped her hands together like she was one of those orphans in a silent movie.

Mercedes only rolled her eyes. "Yes, even you, Satan. Which, now that I'm in the moment, I can't imagine what I was thinking."

This brought laughter from all of them, and it died down just in time for them to hear a commotion from the doorway.

"Listen up peons, star coming through!"

Santana rolled her eyes, Brittany covered hers, and Mercedes could only look on in disbelief as she watched Sugar Motta march across the diner, and towards their table.

"She is still like that. I keep waiting for it to fade away, but it doesn't." Santana pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Oh, child, if you think she's bad now, imagine having to work with all that."

Brittany shook her head. "I heard the last album she produced, Mercedes. It sounded fantastic."

"It's not the quality of her work, Britt. It's, you know, Sugar. You remember it, I'm sure."

Brittany hid a chuckle behind her hand. "Only too well."

By that point Sugar had made her way to the table, and was hopping up and down, tugging on the arms of her former classmates, pulling them in for hugs.

"Oh! My Troubletones sistahs!"

Brittany seemed to be sharing her enthusiasm, and Mercedes stifled a chuckle when she looked over to see Santana with her head down on the table.

"Sugar, do you have to be so loud, so early?"

Sugar frowned slightly. "It's almost 11:30, but point taken, Santana. I'll try to keep it down."

Mercedes chuckled again. She wasn't sure why, but Sugar had always shown a deference to Santana, even when they were in high school together. It seems that things hadn't changed that much.

"Well, I've finally arrived, so I guess we can order." Sugar said, more quietly than before, but not lacking any of her former enthusiasm.

"Actually," said Mercedes, not meeting their gaze. "We're waiting on one more person. I told her not to be here until 11:30, because I knew you knuckleheads would be late."

They all turned to her with a look of shock in their faces. Not once had they invited another person to their Troubletone's lunches. It was always just the four of them. The original members. Even the Cheerios who had made appearances at some of their numbers weren't invited, neither were the New Directions girls who weren't a part of the original four.

Brittany made a curious face before taking her thumb nail into her mouth.

"Who is it?"

Mercedes took a deep breath. She wasn't sure what to say. She had single handedly taken it upon herself to invite a new person to the group. She had always said no kids (not that any of them had any yet), no significant others (though with Brittany and Santana being married certainly made that difficult to enforce), no friends, or friends of friends. Just the four Troubletones.

Mercedes made to answer, when the person she was waiting for bounded in the door of the diner.

"Here she comes now."

Three pairs of eyes turned and watched as Jane Hayword shuffled into Sunrise, holding a messenger bag close to her chest.

"I know her!" Shouted Sugar, much too loudly. "She was at Britt and Santana's wedding."

Santana turned to give another glare to Sugar, a silent warning to watch her volume.

"Just what is going on here, Wheezy?" Santana was suspicious, but not angry. They all turned questioningly to her, and Mercedes ignored them, waving Jane over.

"Jane! Here."

Jane, seeing them all gathered smiled a bit and hurried over. She took an empty chair near Mercedes, looking to the other woman for confirmation that she was allowed to sit down. Mercedes nodded slightly, and turned her attention back to the other women.

"You all remember Jane, of course."

They all nodded. Even if they weren't very familiar with her, they'd seen her at the party last night at the auditorium. Mercedes still wasn't ready to give everything away, so she simply picked up the menus.

"How about we get this party started?"

Brittany gave a look to her wife, and Sugar just looked for a moment, her face scrunched up in a question mark. Mercedes didn't raise her head from the menu again, calling the waiter over and starting them all with some mimosas. After a few moments while they all pulled out their IDs (Luckily Jane's 21st birthday had just passed), and then deciding on what they wanted, they were able to sip their drinks and a moment or two of awkward silence.