A/N: Y'all the struggle is real let's go! GO USA! GO JAMAICA!
8/22/2016: Working on chapter 15.
8/24/2016: 2:53 AM Chapter completed
This is based on true events I read about this and it broke my heart this is the inspiration for Mary's story and the next few chapters.
Mercedes POV
Mercedes and Avery stood in the doorway waving bye to Braxton and Truvy as Dwight pulled up in the driveway. "Bye Braxton" Avery shouted. "See you later alligator!"
"After while crocodile!" Braxton shouted back.
"Can't you see you're in my way now. Don't you know you cramping my style." Dwight walked up singing and snapping his finger. Avery jumped in his arms. "G'pa missed you this much, Avery." He showered the giggling 4-year old with a bunch of kisses. "G'pa been saving all those kisses for you."
"I've been saving my kisses for you too. I gave Grana-Mary hers this morning." Avery grabbed Dwight's face blowing raspberries on his cheek causing Dwight to laugh.
"That's a lot of love. It tickled me down to my socks! Mercedes, I missed you too; get over here with your glowing self." Dwight pointed at Sam's car then pulled Mercedes into a hug. "Sam is here. It's only four o'clock is everything okay?" He said closing the door behind them.
"Everything is fine as far as I know. He just got here like ten minutes ago. If something happened at work, he'll tell me later on. He and Mary are in the study." Her daughter caught her attention trying to open the refrigerator. "No, Avery, you've had enough juice. Drink some water. You can have more juice with dinner."
"That's good. I didn't want this to drag out longer than it already has. I told Mary the night it all blew up that this is all on us. We're at fault for not telling Sam soon enough." They sat there silent none of them spoke a word as Dwight wiped the tears that fell from his eyes. Mercedes took his hand in hers giving him a reassuring squeeze.
Avery came over to the table with a handful of Kleenex. She climbed in Dwight's lap being as careful as a four year old could be, she wiped his face. "G'pa don't cry; it's gonna be okay."
"Avery, Mommy needs you to go into the living room, you know and that blue folder that's on the table. Those are your worksheets. Mommy needs you to pick two and do those. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes, Mommy, I can do anything. I'm a big girl!" She said pumping her fist in the air.
"Thank you for the tissue princess. Avery is so sweet and precious she reminds me of Stacey when she was that age back to what I was saying Mercedes, every day I wondered how do I tell my son, 'oh you have you twin and also he was taken from us when he was born', like how does anyone tell their child something like that."
Mercedes caressed her protruding belly feeling her babies move around she winced, "Ouch, kicked me in the ribs. That hurt. That's a good question Dwight and, unfortunately, I'm drawing a blank. When do you tell them? I mean, you have to factor in their emotion."
"Yup, we were so young. Still in college, I was working. We were newly married with a baby on the way. Mary will explain the rest. I'm glad it's out but we should have been the ones to tell him, not Matthew." When Mercedes winced at another strong kick, Dwight smiled before leaning closer to her stomach to whisper, "Hey little ones G'pa here to tell you stop kicking your mother in the ribs it hurts. And when you're born in this amazing, crazy cruel world stay together. Kick once on three if you agree, three."
"Awww, that's so sweet. You got me tearing up. I felt that." Dwight leaned up and kissed Mercedes on the cheek. "Awww G'pa."
"That's my name. I'm gon' head on upstairs and get me a good hot shower. Y'all staying for dinner? I doubt anybody feels much like cooking, so I'm thinking about doing curbside from Applebee's. Here, let me help you up."
"Thanks Dwight yes, we're staying for dinner I didn't take anything out the freezer" Mercedes said waddling into the living room. With a small sigh, she plopped on the couch propping her feet up on the foot stool. Avery climbed on the couch and laid her head on Mercedes stomach sniffling. "Avi sit up and look at Mommy. What are you crying about?"
"Nothing." Her bottom lip trembled as she spoke.
"Mommy knows what it is. It's about that mean man. You want to tell me how it made you feel?" Avery buries her face in Mercedes bosom "you don't well, I'll hold you baby. Come up here. But, Baby, when Daddy comes out we have to tell him what happened. We aren't keeping secrets. Shh, it's okay Baby, Mommy's got you. Your Daddy is going to flip when he hears this."
Sam's POV
"I was drugged by the doctor. Well, he didn't administer the dosage. He ordered it and the nurse gave it to me to slow down labor because he didn't want to be bothered. He needed a nap." Mary slid a piece of paper across the table face down. "This is what they gave me."
Staring straight at his mother Sam sat there speechless he shook his head gathering his thoughts. "Being a homicide detective I hear some crazy things…but doping up patients to get a nap in is a first? All I can say is doped up patients, a drunk uncle in the waiting room, and the doctor catching Z's the perfect setup to steal a baby. Where was dad?"
"Your father was stuck at work. He had to wait for his relief to come in so he could leave. I had to call Uncle Matt to drive me to the hospital. A nurse named Lucy gave me the dosage and the next thing I know, I'm knocked out cold. How long I was out, I don't know. But when I woke up some time later it was to a nurse touching my belly. I told her 'I gotta push, get the doctor'. She said, 'he's still asleep I can do this. Let's go', I couldn't not push…I had to. So I pushed and the baby came out. She cut the cord walks toward the door. I tried to say something…anything but she barely turned to look at me and I passed out again. When I come to the next time, I asked to see my baby. They looked at me like I was crazy and told me I hadn't delivered the baby yet. The doctor finally came in. I pushed until you were born. You are the baby I got to keep."
"So you didn't know that you were having twins? You thought it was just one baby. Did you have an ultrasound? If so, did you have print out." Sam popped up a bottled water chugging down its contents until it almost gone.
"I did have one, but it was so grainy. The technician zipped the transducer so quickly it was hard to catch everything. I remember being mesmerized by the little one on the screen" Mary flipped opened a dusty blue baby book she flipped a few pages until she pulled a black and white photo. "Here is your very first baby photo."
"Wow, this is grainy. I look like an alien. Mom, is that my foot nah that's my head I think it's my head no that's my foot I'll figure it out. Can keep this picture please?"
"Baby that is your head and the little thing right there is your eye or your arm I'm just as bad as you," Mary laughed. "On your wedding I'll hand this book over to you and Mercedes. Remember this was the late 80s ultrasounds weren't uncommon but not everyone was having them."
"Who knew that you were having two babies? Why didn't you and dad tell me that I was a twin?"
"Your father, his parents, my parents, Uncle Matt, including myself that's six and whoever that nurse was in the room with me so seven people." She took a long deep breath as she tried to explain. "Sam you're a father now, how would you tell your child 'hey kiddo, you a twin and by the way he or she was taken from us at birth and there is no proof but what your mom saw and felt when she was doped to the gills."
"I don't know. That's a good question. A hard question that would lead to more questions than I'd have the answers for." He whispered.
"Your father and I don't blame Uncle Matt. This is on us. Just know that we wanted to be the ones to tell you. Matt has always felt that if he hadn't been drinking, this wouldn't have happened, which only makes him drink more. I don't even blame him for that. He wasn't the baby's father, so they wouldn't let him past the waiting room anyway. I just wish your father had been there with me, then I know I wouldn't have gone through this."
"Me too, Mom. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'm really sorry and I know that you weren't the only one that went through this. I am my brother's keeper. Have you done a search to find him?"
"When you turned 18, I started my search for my baby. But it wasn't until five months ago that someone finally emailed me. I still have it in my inbox. It read, 'Hello my name is Jayson I read your profile and I think I'm your son. My birthday is February 16th 1988, email me back'. I did, but I never heard anything back from him after that." Mary answered.
Suddenly, every stray thought in his mind coalesced into one clear realization. Sam pulled out the picture of Jayson that Lucas had given him. He handed it to his mother. "Tell me what you think about this guy." Mary gasped seeing the picture of Jayson. She stood and held up the picture next to a photo of Dwight. "Mom…that is a picture of Jay…well at least he was Jay to Mercedes … Jayson to me and you."
"Wait minute! Jay, this is Jay, Mercedes' Jay! I knew Mercedes and Avery belonged in our family. Oh look at him. My beautiful boy. He looks like your dad's sister with those blue green eyes. He's stocky where you're leaner. Oh my God, they took my baby and now he's dead and I never even got a chance to meet him!" She hugged the photo to her chest crying. "How did he die?"
"One day...one day real soon, we'll all sit down and let Mercedes tell her story to all of us. But he was shot and left for dead. I'm not going to get into much details because I'm now working the case…and"
The door opened and in walked Avery munching on a strawberry and a Belgian chocolate pop, "Daddy, Can I ask you a question? What is a bitch?"
"Mercedes!" Sam went to answer when Harleigh, Stacey, James, and Stevie came in the house arguing with each other. Sam picked Avery up as he and Mary hurried out of the office to see Stevie running upstairs. "Steven Cole Evans don't run up the stairs thinking you can get away from me. I'm right behind your ass, and I have the key to your door! How'd you get that bruise on your face?" Harleigh was fast on his heels.
Stacey turned to her boyfriend. "James, did Stevie bang his fist against the wall like he told Harleigh. You blinking fast that's how I know when you're lying! Harleigh, Stevie got into a fight! Who did he fight?!"
"What the hell is going on with the family in my home?" Dwight's voice rang out down the stairs.
Everyone one started yelling over each other all at once. Sam placed Avery on the floor next to him. She tugged at Sam pocket to get his attention. "Avery in a minute…"
"Stevie said that he….I asked James if he was…."
"Sam what are you doing home early?"
"Harleigh is nagging me about my hand its fine some ice will do…"
"Stevie just tell me and I'll leave you alone!"
"Stevie, why is your hand swollen? You got into a fight. In a minute, Avery."
"What is a bitch?!" Avery screamed bringing all the attention to her "I asked Mommy she didn't tell me. So I asked Daddy and y'all started going off. What is it?"
"Avery Rose Jones, you do not say that word. That's a bad word. Stevie, I told you about watching those shows with language like that around her. She's 4 years old with a growing vocabulary." Sam chided.
"Sam, it wasn't me. It was the neighbor next door. He called Avery a…" Stevie scrapped his hand through his hair as he shifted his sat down on the step. "Sam, I handled it. I made sure the guy knows that it will not be tolerated. Now, what happened to your hand?"
"My hand is not important. Tell me what jerk called my daughter out her name so I can give him a beat down. She's a little girl. Tell me exactly what happened, Stevie."
"This is how it all happened Avery and Braxton…." they all gathered in the living room as Stevie told the story one by one Dwight, Stacey, Harleigh, and Sam went into the kitchen and grabbed a weapon of their choice. Mary stood guard at the front door, while Mercedes stood guard at the back. "That's it. I'll do it again. If need be I'll take the pitch fork. Mercedes can you move please?"
Mercedes folded her arms looking Stevie up and down, "No. Is this the example you all want to set for your daughter, granddaughter, and niece for what to do when someone says or does something mean? You want her to learn to resort to violence!" Mercedes said. "We do not need to stoop to their level. You all need to calm down."
"Mercedes is right. So just take all of my cutlery back to the kitchen right now. And put it back where you found it. Dwight, really, a wooden spoon. Grab the box of popsicles, Harleigh, hand those out. Cool everyone down, I'll take a grape one myself. Thank you, sweetie."
As cooler heads started to prevail and the second box of popsicles ended up in the trashcan, Sam pulled his mother to the side. "Mom do you think now is a good time for me to tell everyone what we figured out or save it for later?"
"Save what for later? Sorry for interrupting. I finished my popsicle and they're all gone so I came to see if I could have a taste of Sam's."
"You're not interrupting anything you can have the rest I was asking mom should I share the semi-good news with everyone that I just found I found my twin."
"Oh baby. Thank you. But that's awesome. Shouldn't it be good news not semi-good news?" She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
"Everyone can I have your attention please we have some bittersweet news to share with you all I'll turn the floor over to Sam."
"As you all know by now that I'm a twin. A few hours ago I saw his face. Here in my pocket is his picture. Unfortunately, he was murdered five months ago. Even before I knew that he was my twin, I had already planned to solve his case and bring closure to me and my family. But now it's no longer just closure for me, Mercedes and Avery…but for all of us. Meet my big brother" Sam took out the photo showing to Mercedes first then everyone else. "Jayson."
Mercedes let out a yelp dropping her popsicle Charlie ran over licking up the spill. "Um….I gotta. I gotta…" She quickly waddled out the living room crying. "Hello Y-Yvonne…."
"Why did Mercedes run off like that when you pulled out that picture?" Stacey asked.
"Because it's the photo of her ex-fiance, Avery's father, and our brother Jayson." All of their mouths flew opened except Mary. He placed the "4x6" photo on the table everyone gathered around gazing blue green eyed face smiling back at them. "You see Aunt Denise in him don't you Dad."
Dwight was a sniffling crying mess Mary rested her head on his shoulder rubbing his hand crying as well. "I do! He's an Evans boy it's written all over him he looks just like her. Mary can you believe it! That's our boy! That's my son!"
"G'pa that's my Daddy he's in heaven he's an angel now!"
"If you don't mind me asking, how did he die?" Stevie asked. "How long did you have this case before you figured this out? If you knew all along you wouldn't have had to text the other dude."
"Like I told Mom whenever Mercedes is ready to share her story she will I found out today I swapped cases to get this one."
Stacey handed Stevie the photo he held it up to Sam face. "He does look like us I say we should get a DNA test you know the saying everyone has a twin we need to be on the safe side, James you're studying genetics school us."
"Assuming that Jayson and Sam are identical they'll have the same DNA unlike you and Stacey. There is a term 'chimera', I'll explain that later if it happens to be that probably won't the test cost $89 through the mail but we can go down to the lab tomorrow we can do the test for everyone."
"James I'm not waiting for some kit to come through the mail when we can have instant results in a day set it up for tomorrow. Anyone know where these cookies come from?" Mary points on the coffee table between them she removed the lid sniffing the cookies. "Whoever made these cookies didn't bake them right I'm not going to eat them."
"The nice lady who moved in next door met me on the sidewalk she gave me these cookies a little welcome gift from her I don't know her name she didn't say."
"Well I am! Hand me that container Mary ooh peanut butter cookies my favorite it's a business card attached to the lid might wanna check that out. Anyone else want a cookie?" Sam the container of cookies then from Dwight's hand. "Hey that's perfectly a good cookie why'd did you do that?"
"Un-freaking-believable, Shirley Wells baked these" Charlie ran over to sniff the cookie he raised his leg peeing on it. "Good boy Charlie! Mercedes!"
He goes upstairs to Mercedes room and hears on the phone. "Yvonne you were right I was wrong deep down I knew that they were related I just didn't want to believe it! He has a photo of him I don't know where…Yvonne I gotta go." She tossed her phone on the bed the two of them stand there looking at each other. "How long did you know?"
"How long did you know?"