If you are reading my other stories, I apologize that DMMO is the only one that I've been updating. There is a lot coming out of my brain right now in this fic and even right now, the next chapter has already been started and is being worked on. As for the other stories, I will update them as soon as I can, but Calliope is working in overdrive over here at DMMO. Thanks for reading. Love y'all.
Don't Make Me Over 21
Sam's fingers brushed Mercedes' as she passed him the gravy that she knew he was about to take the rest of. That man ALWAYS took entirely too much gravy. She watched as he doused his chicken, potatoes, and macaroni in it and shook her head, laughing to herself. "Can't have too much gravy, Woman!" He fussed at her as he set the gravy boat down on the table.
"Of course not," she told him, giggling. He turned to look at her and she saw this glimmer in his eyes. She smiled shyly and turned away. Things had been going well. They were in therapy together, working on their communication and their friendship and their love. This was their first Thanksgiving as a couple and she never really imagined herself to be the "take home to Mom" kind of woman, at least not in a long time. Now, not only was she that woman, but she had nothing but high hopes for her future. She had stuck to her decision, now six months big and constantly gloating about calling it right on having a girl.
Rachel and she had become close – Finn was still in prison for his attack on her and as far as Jonesy knew, he was not going to try to come after her again. With his record and sentence, he would be incapable of battling for custody, if he DID ever try. The letters that he sent her from the inside were like the nail in the coffin. Nobody in their right mind would appoint any child to a man that said the things that he said in those letters. No jury in the world would decide that a home with her, even with her often questioned past, and Sam – freaking honorary dad of the year Evans was a worse place for anyone than with however the hell one could describe Finn. And Jonesy had honestly transitioned from being mad at him to feeling sorry for him.
She no longer wanted him to have power over her or the ability to frighten her with just a thought. Sometimes, there were relapses, but for the most part, she had no reason to latch on to all of the rage that what happened used to cause her. She still hated it, but she preferred to be a survivor instead of a victim. That wasn't to say that she thought she was better than anyone who held on to their rage. That was their right and she was the last person alive to ever try to judge any damn body. It was more like… it didn't work for her. For her, she just wanted to live life thinking about the good stuff and leaving the bad stuff beneath her feet.
Jonesy still had her rough moments. The night before they went back to Kentucky for Thanksgiving at his parents' home, she had a severe crying spell. Sam simply held her and rocked her. "I'm not gonna ask you to talk about what's wrong," he told her.
"I was watching Selena perform that performance, in the red glittery suit and she was singing Donna Summer, and they're both gone, now. And then, I for some reason was thinking about how Pimp C. raps about "One day you're here, and then you're gone," and he's gone, too. I got onto the internet and some way or another, ended up coming across this dark psychology of the Nickolodeon cartoon Rugrats and all of the babies are dead..."
"Jonesy..." He said, gently and rubbed her back.
"I just want her to be okay. I've been having pains and even though the doctor keeps saying that everything's fine... I just want her to be okay, Sam."
"I know. I want her to be okay, too... and I'm sure that she will be. We stress your doctor the hell out on a daily basis. She'll do everything to make sure that our girl is safe and healthy." She sat up and stared at him and they offered each other smiles as he wiped her tears. "You need to get some sleep, since we're leaving early in the morning."
"I'll get some sleep when I stop hurting," she said, miserably.
"What hurts?" He wondered.
"My lower back and right here," she held her hand over the bottom of her baby bump. "I can't think of anything that I might have done to cause myself any pain."
"I'm sure it's fine, Woman." He kissed her forehead and said, "I'm going to light some candles. That should help you sleep." And it did, after a long time of staring at the flame and wondering/worrying about everything that might be wrong..
Sam helped Mary to clear the table after dinner while Stacey and Mercedes went for a short walk to "work off some of their food" to make room for dessert. Mary watched Sam as they washed the dishes. "I hate when you do that," he told her.
"When I look proudly at my boy?" she asked.
"When you stare at me wanting to say something, but hesitating. You know that I'm just gonna pressure you to tell me what's up," he said.
"You and Jonesy seem like you've gotten closer, now," she said, pleased.
"She IS my girlfriend, now. So, I guess you can say that we have gotten closer. We're best friends and we have a damaged friendship that we have been working very diligently on and we for whatever reason took on entering into a romantic relationship on top of everything else." he said.
"She has that glow, that sparkle in her eyes," Mary said.
"She's pregnant," Sam reminded his mother.
Mary rolled her eyes and put away a dish, "That has nothing to do with the way that she looks at you, Boy."
"Yes it does, Carmen even said..." He said and shut up.
"Carmen? Who is Carmen, some kind of expert or something?" Mary asked, sarcastically.
"Yeah, she's one of the doctors that we see. She explained that with Jonesy's sexual past and her hormones that she might sometimes see me as something other than the bestie, Sam..."
"Yeah, well - you ARE her boyfriend, too."
Sam nodded, "But what if I'm only her boyfriend because her hormones were a mess when she accepted me as her boyfriend? What if with all of the bodily changes and stuff she's been through, she mistakenly thought that she needed a lover, instead of just needing her best friend to be in her corner?"
"You were something other than that a long time ago. I thought therapy was gonna help you two to realize that," Mary complained.
"Therapy has helped both of us. But, I think that's why I feel like I do. I don't think that I should have pursued her while she's dealing with everything that she's dealing with. She's been depressed, stressed out, and everything else in between and above and beyond. It's like watching some kind of tragic natural disaster, but not being directly affected by it to just watch her. I think that I'm not really good for her in addition to everything else. I moved too fast and put unnecessary stress on her to love me back and to be with me. Now, she'll never back down from it. That's how her stubborn ass is," he said and handed his mother the last dish before kissing her on the cheek. "I'm content with having my best friend be a real best friend to me. Maybe love just isn't enough, sometimes."
"Sometimes, it isn't. But, I'm not gonna accept that about this thing. In a few more months, she's gonna become a mother. You're gonna be the closest thing to a dad that her daughter has. I can't honestly believe that you're gonna offer yourself in this way for the sake of your friendship. You're being there for her every step of the way because you are in love with her and you have been, forever... unless she was right about you..."
"Right about me, like how?" He wondered with a furrowed brow.
"When she was worried that if you knew the truth, that if you knew the real her that you wouldn't love her," Mary said, putting away the last dish and wiping her hands, before reaching into her little purse for a doobie.
"She wasn't right," he said. "She was exactly opposite. Us going through the therapy and the classes and the learning experiences that we have together in the past few months has made me love her more than ever before and the reason that I'm willing to do all of this for her and with her is because I honestly can't imagine my life without her, and it's unfair of you to even call that on me." Mary's eyes dampened. "You haven't been there this whole way. You haven't seen her go from devastated to excited to worrying herself to death with everything. You don't see what she's like after a long day of pretending that everything in her life is well out together and it's just me and the walls to witness her let it all go."
Sam sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter as he added, "And, like you said, in another four months, she's having a baby. It ain't mine and I told her to terminate it before it got to be an actual baby. The guy it's for is in prison, but he won't be there long and she might try to push this kid off as somebody else's but what if they don't buy it and she has to take a test and Finn fights her for the girl, just to spite her? We can fight him on it, but that'll be more stress, more shit in our relationship than all of this has already caused. And what if she has the baby and things turn out like I said - she hates it, resents it, resents herself for keeping it, resents me for not pressing her harder? There is a lot of shit that can still go wrong and even though I am in complete support of her and Babycakes and I would lay my life down for them... I still think that she probably made a mistake with not terminating the pregnancy."
Mary's eyes widened and she shook her head to clear her mind a little bit as she passed him her joint. Sam took a hit and asked, "How fucked up is that? A kid that I've already promised to protect and care for, I don't know if I believe that she should be here? When Jonesy was floating on air about it, when it was like the only thing that she had to look forward to, that was one thing – but now, she's so emotionally invested in the idea of this kid being her salvation from what happened between her and Finn that she's become obsessed with her safety and a healthy birth. Meanwhile, I actually a few times in the beginning, when we were planning everything and happily moving along… I in the back of my head hoped that she would just lose it. I'm… like the shittiest person alive."
"You aren't shitty, Samuel. You're nervous and you're worried. You love this baby already, but you love Jonesy more and you know her. This baby and who she might become and who she might be seen as by you and Mercedes is still an unknown. Sometimes the thoughts that go through our heads are really uncomfortable to us. But, that's how you know that you aren't shitty. The fact that those kinds of thoughts bother you to even think 'em. But, do you think that it'll be easier for her to deal with now that she's grown so much in therapy and in life with you or how she was when she first realized? Sam… she's grown so much - you both have. I know that she still hurts. I know that she still cries. I know that there's still some hatred and anger inside of her for everything that's happened, but I also know that no matter what kind of shit we face, facing it with somebody that loves the hell out of us is always a much easier and more enjoyable journey. Stop beating yourself up, Baby and just love your girlfriend like you do and love her through whatever happens." She kissed him on the cheek.
"Hence why I'm here, with her..." he said.
"That's where the hell you belong, Sammy. I had you two married in my brain from the first time that I ever met her."
"Whoa! Married? Mom… can you let us at least have some time as what we are before getting into all of that?" Sam asked, laughing.
"Yeah, I guess that I have to, but I see it in your future. I'll never see you with anybody else, even if you two separated and never spoke again and you married the richest, most beautiful, most whatever other qualities person in the world."
"You tell her that?" He wondered.
"Yep. She just said, 'But, I am the most beautiful, most whatever except richest whatever in the world,' and I gave her an extra brownie, for confidence that I approve of."
It was cold outside and with Stevie bringing Sheila home with him for the holidays, the space was limited. He'd wanted to get a hotel room, but Mary had made such a fuss about him not wanting to spend all the time that he could in the house with the family that he buckled and settled for sharing a damned room with Sam and Jonesy, while Stacey enjoyed the privacy of her room. "Why don't you let me and Sheila in your room and you sleep in the room with Jonesy and Sam?" Stevie tried to pressure her.
"Because all of my stuff is in my room and I'm not gonna move it all out for you and her to do all kinds of freaky stuff in my bed!" Stacey argued. The two of them were always arguing. They had been arguing since Stacey learned to talk.
Mary often admitted, "It has to be hard for my Little Cappy to be surrounded by all these impulsive and reckless folks." Being heavily interested in the zodiac and signs, she had been following the behavior of her family members for years and when they brought home mates, told them things about their relationships and the possible outcomes. It was the most annoying thing in the world to Stevie, as he didn't believe or subscribe to any of that foolishness, but she simply went on with it, regardless, claiming, "Capricorn is a practical sign. Things like the zodiac will not appeal to him." But, according to Mary, the Lord was punishing her when he gave her a Capricorn middle child and a baby Aries. The two butted heads at every turn.
Stevie was closer to Sam than anyone else in the house, but wished sometimes that he wasn't, because he knew it prompted Mary to think that it was because Capricorn and Taurus were both Earth signs and whatever else she was thinking. He stopped arguing with Stacey the moment that he saw Mary peak around the corner. She stared at the both of them and he gave her a small smile as he moved his bags into the biggest of the bedrooms and set them next to the bed. Sheila and Mercedes were seated on his old bed and he asked, "Are you going to be in my bed or Sam's?"
Mercedes replied, "Sam and I usually take your old bed, because its bigger, but if you want it for you and Sheila, that's of course fine."
"Sam's old bed is more comfortable, because it hasn't been used nearly as much. We'll take it," he said.
Sheila rushed over to him and helped him out of his coat. Mercedes always felt odd when she was around the two of them. She introduced the two of them when Stevie came to visit a couple of months before. Sheila and Mercedes had gotten close through group therapy and she had invited her along to keep her company while Sam and Stevie did brotherly typed stuff. As it turned out, Stevie and Sheila hit it off well and he was extremely understanding about her undesired status of rape survivor. Sheila was the type who did not hold back that information in the beginning. She told Stevie when he asked her to exchange contact information with him and the two of them had been having a long distance attachment for two months.
Jonesy and Sheila looked A LOT alike, like - people literally mistook them for sisters. That fact made Mercedes want to go sideeye the hell out of her dad. But, aside from the women's resemblance, Jonesy could see that dominant/submissive lifestyle of theirs bleeding through. She wasn't sure if any of the other family members saw it (but guessed that they probably did and just didn't say anything about it). She knew that life. It wasn't for everyone. For her, it was addictive, but it did something unsettling to her on the inside. Knowing Sheila's history, and the fact that she introduced the two of them, Jonesy worried about the younger woman's welfare.
Sheila and Stevie seemed to have something else going on. It was really kind of beautiful and cozy. Though it would take her more time to get comfortable with it, she had no control over their dealings and according to Sheila, she went to visit Stevie every weekend in Lexington, as he was enrolled at the University of Kentucky. It was a shorter trip to see him than it was for Sam to see their parents, here. Sheila had even began being sexually involved with Stevie, as she confessed in a group therapy meeting, but not the details. She just said that she thought she was in love and that while she still had some trust issues with men as a whole, she felt as though she could trust him, completely. She spoke even more openly about it all one on one with Jonesy. She and Stevie were having hot sex, regularly.
Some part of Jonesy envied her for that. It took Sheila a month of daily talks with him and weekend trips before she felt secure enough to give herself to Stevie, completely. Jonesy wished that she had that kind of abandon with Sam. She KNEW that Sam would never try to hurt her, but forcing herself to allow that knowledge to let her guards down was so difficult! She wanted to have sex with Sam, because she thought it might help things to feel more natural, more normal, more real... but every time they got into it, he stopped her. She felt like maybe he could sense her nervousness, but as she told him, she would always be nervous, until they got it out of the way! It was scary to think about the emotions that might be triggered and the thoughts that might arise, but she was willing to do it to see how it affected things. Sam was not so ready for that.
She watched as Stevie stroked Sheila's cheeks and smiled down at her before kissing her on the forehead and telling her, "You need to take a nap before we do the family stuff." She smiled back and nodded her head.
The woman clapped her hands once and told Jonesy, "Well, you heard the boss. I need to get my beauty rest," she said and winked at her friend. Stevie gave Mercedes a small smile, then he watched Sheila change into her bathrobe. Mercedes saw Sheila reach for Stevie's belt and remove it. When he sat down and she removed his shoes too, she was pretty much done. D/S relations... Stevie climbed into the smaller of the two beds and reached for his girlfriend and she cuddled closely to him and held onto him for dear life.
"Guess you're gonna watch us sleep, now?" Stevie asked with a small, amused grin.
Jonesy scoffed and rolled her eyes playfully, "I was looking at you two, but my mind was someplace else. Do you need privacy, or are you actually taking a nap, because my feet hurt and I'm not leaving this spot unless I have to."
"We are taking an actual nap," Stevie said and chuckled, pulling Sheila closer to himself. Jonesy nodded and reached for her makeup journal.
She and Sam had been in therapy together for three months, now and she and Unique had been working very hard to make sure that everything was set up properly for her hosting of her personal studio run of the show that she wished to bring to the national networking syndicate. They had taken a few trips to LA to meet the queen and others in the business and Unique was given a small budget to produce a local version of the show, which she would film in her personal studio in Ohio and air locally and online.
When Sam came into the bedroom to find her, she was seated up, leaned against the headboard, making notes in her journal. She looked up when she felt his shadow enter and gave him a smile, which he returned.
"We get the big bed, eh?" He asked. "Cool, though I have a feeling that it'll be like college and over the course of this next week, and they'll have the red ribbon tied on the door and make us share the couch. If that happens, I'll take the floor. No need to make you uncomfortable on that little couch." She smiled and sighed and glanced at the sleeping couple, holding each other tightly.
"They are moving along pretty quickly."
"You STILL don't sound so happy about it," he said.
"I worry about her. She's like a little sister to me, or at the very least a play cousin, and she's been through alot..." Mercedes commented.
"Well, hell - it's not like my brother is gonna jerk her around. Give him some credit. He can be selfish at times, but he isn't some threat. He loves her, which for him doesn't usually happen this fast. She's special to him. I'm happy for them."
"I am too, Sam," Mercedes said, a little bit annoyed.
"What's wrong, then?" He asked.
"Nothing. I guess that I'm just stressed out," she told him.
Sam took her journal away from her and said, "Then, no work. It's the Thanksgiving holidays, anyway."
"She was talking about taking some photos - us two couples. It'll look like two brothers dating some twins," Mercedes told Sam. She laughed and Sheila stirred, but Stevie pulled her in tighter to himself, feeling her move around. He woke up and stroked her hair, humming softly until she settled, then shut his eyes back. "That was cute," Mercedes whispered, then started crying. Sam bit his lip and reached for her hand. She took his and they left the couple to continue their nap in peace. She wiped her face and he put an arm around her and walked her into the living room where Mary and Dwight were settled in front of the fireplace on a bearskin rug.
"Make room, Old Folks," Sam said and he and Mercedes settled themselves next to them. Mercedes was breathing hard from getting down there and already regretted this decision, until Sam placed her head on his shoulder. About two hours passed before they got up and Mercedes felt like she had been beaten with a damned stick. Sam helped her to the couch, then went into the kitchen with his father. The men were cooking tonight.
"Should I go get Stevie?" Sam asked.
"Stevie doesn't cook. He'd probably just be in the way. Anyhow, I think that he might need some alone time with his new young lady friend as much as I need some with you," Dwight said.
"Me? Why do you need alone time with me?" Sam wondered.
"Mare told me about your talk. I thought maybe you could use your Old Man's input, and even if not – it'll be there, in your options."
"Okay. We got a lot of stuff to cook, so… Start whenever you're ready," Sam said.
Jonesy's phone rang while she and Mary were sitting together in the living room and she answered it, because it was her mom. "Hey, Mom."
"Mercedes, I was online, looking for unique gift ideas for Christmas and I came across these darling handmade plaques that are usually interwoven with florals. It looks kind of like a crossbreed of a plaque and a mum. I can't even express to you how precious it will be in my granddaughter's nursery. Where are we on naming her, because I don't know if I want to grace such an expensive gift with Princess Babycakes?" Jonesy was sure that was the first time she heard her mother call the baby that and she said it with such disdain that Jonesy almost laughed.
"Well, I hadn't yet, but I still have time," she told her mother. The woman sighed and Jonesy put her on speaker. "I'm putting you on speaker, Mom."
"Wow. Great. Are you alone?" She asked.
"Mare is here," Jonesy said and as Stacey came into the room, "And Stacey just came in. The guys are in the kitchen and Sheila's taking a nap. You want to help me brainstorm on a name, because I honestly have given it a lot of thought and I keep disregarding every idea that I've had."
"What ideas have you had?" Maryvonne wondered.
"Not even important. We can start from scratch," Jonesy said.
Stevie woke up to see Sheila watching him sleep, wrapped up in his arms. "I kept trying to get up and you kept holding on tighter to me," she said. "Decided to just look at you for a while. You do some funny stuff in your sleep. You'll make these faces, like you're reacting to something that someone said, and you say things sometimes. Like, today you said, 'I'm not touching that thing!' And I asked you what thing, but you were still asleep, so… what thing?" She laughed.
"Dad, Sam and I were hunting and Sam shot something. I don't even know what it was. It was like no animal that I've ever seen in real life and Sam says, 'Help me get it to the truck,' thus, my response was born," Stevie answered.
"I need to brush my teeth," she said.
"Me too," he said.
After they finished with that, she gave him a kiss and told him, "I got you something!" Sheila headed back into the room and started digging through her bag for a small box. "Thanksgiving makes me grateful for the good things that I have. A year ago, I didn't think that I could ever be grateful for anything. But now, you're here, and I'm thankful for that; for you, Stevie. This is just a little something to say thank you for being a good thing for me."
Stevie opened the box to see a platinum pocket watch. He made a whistling whew as she smiled self-consciously and explained, "I was gonna get you a fancy wrist watch, because I know that you like nice things, even though you can't afford them, right now. I wanted you to have something nice and being the sophisticated and debonair Sir that you are, that you might better enjoy a pocket watch. Plus, I figured this gives me a great excuse to ensure that you own at least one fine suit, in which I know that my hunky boo is gonna look amazing. She chuckled, cleared her throat and asked, "Do you like it?"
He looked up at her with a glimmer in his eyes and said, "I love it, Honeybee. Thank you." He hugged her and kissed her and asked, "Where did you get it?"
"I custom ordered it online from some watch company that had pretty good reviews. I couldn't find one that really seemed like you, so I helped to design this one and I had it engraved."
Stevie read: For the man I will always have time for. May he always have it for me. "Baby…"Stevie said as he grabbed her hand and kissed it, lovingly. "You didn't have to get me a thank you gift. I'm thankful for you, too. I am a very fortunate man with a very wonderful woman." He stared at the watch, dangling it in front of his own face, "I've never been given anything this nice, before. My parents could never afford expensive things. They could barely afford to live. That was why I had to get scholarships and why I am so afraid of not being good enough to get any to get into medical school." He shook his head. "Not gonna think about that, right now." He put his watch away and set it aside, "Not when I have to thank you for my gift…" He pressed himself against her, kissing her as she leaned back until he was on top of her, reaching for her clothes. Happy Thanksgiving…
Jonesy said, "I want something artsy and spiritual… graceful and elegant."
"Some kind of flower, maybe?" Mary asked.
"Jasmine fits that description, perfectly," Maryvonne said through the speaker phone. "The name means 'God's gift'. White jasmine represents amiability and modesty. Yellow jasmine represents grace and elegance. It's obviously perfect for your needs and now I want them used for her plaque."
"I don't know, Mom. God's gift, though? That sounds like I'm trying to be some kind of pro-life warrior and making a statement through my daughter's name," Jonesy said.
"What's wrong with pro-life?" Maryvonne asked. "I know that you believe in it, because this situation is proof."
"I believed that I should keep this baby, because I have always wanted one. I don't want to disrespect other survivors that decide against continuing their pregnancies."
"That has nothing to do with your walk in survival, Mercedes. You can name your daughter whatever you want and that name fits what you said that you wanted. Besides that, how many people do you think readily know the meaning of the name Jasmine and moreover, who on Earth will even know about your history, Jazz's conception and the journey? Unless you go around making announcements, Jazz is as good as Sam Evans'."
"Well, it is a pretty name," Jonesy said. "And it does fit. I would like her to have my initials. I want her first name to start with an M, like me and you, Mom. I'd prefer "M.E.R," but I can't think of any "M.E.R" names. I could settle for an "M.A.R." name, in homage to you and Mare. Any ideas? I could use Jasmine as a middle name, since Mom's already sold it to herself."
"She already has a nickname," Maryvonne said.
Stacey offered, "I can look up names that start with "M.E.R." online."
Mary gasped, startling Stacey and Jonesy and said, "You could name her Mercury!"
At the same time, the other three spoke –
Jonesy: The god?/ Maryvonne: The planet?/ Stacey: The element?
Then, Maryvonne asked, "Are you high, Mary Evans?"
"Yes, but that don't change the facts, Maryvonne Jones. Mercury fun facts: I know that you probably had no idea that not only was this baby conceived within Mercury's rule, but your daughter's zodiac ruled by Mercury. Mercury – a planet of open mindedness, new ideas and intelligence. Mercury gives way to lovely things like versatility, friendship, perceptiveness, communication – all things that Jonesy has and all things that I hope that she passes on to her daughter. It's an element. It's a planet. It's a god…"
"Hmph," Maryvonne mumbled to that.
"It's powerful and yet, not power hungry. And Mercury is androgynous, so even though we call Mercury a 'he,' let's not forget that he's changeable. He is what he has to be for the moment. Sometimes, as parents, we want our kids to be all the things that we're not. But then again, sometimes, we want them to be everything that we are!"
They heard Maryvonne smack her teeth, then she suggested, "Why don't you go have another hit from the bong, Evans? Mercedes, what other name choices do you have?"
Mary frowned and lowered her head. Jonesy patted her on the arm and whispered, "That was beautiful, Mare. I really like it, but let's just see what Stacey's come across online."
"A lot of the Mer names have to do with water," Stacey said. "But, there are some that don't." Mercedes looked over her shoulder at names, while Mary stepped out to go smoke.
"Oh, look – a few mean Emerald! That's my birthstone," Jonesy said, "Oh, but it wouldn't be hers."
"Wouldn't it be the conception stone, or whatever?" Stacey asked. "I think I just made that up. What I meant is that she was conceived under the same planet or whatever, like Mama said…"
"Oh, yeah, but the birthstones are month to month. She was conceived in June…"
"Glory, be! Have you found any name that you like yet?" Maryvonne asked. "For God's sakes, Mercedes. Your entire life, you have been so indecisive!"
"It's important to make the right choices. You always got on my case for being impulsive," Jonesy reminded her.
"You are, which is the reason that I suppose you even entertained the idea of naming your daughter after a Roman god!" Maryvonne said.
"He rules my zodiac," Jonesy said, trying to keep herself from laughing at her mother's agitation. Stacey couldn't help but to let hers out. Jonesy spoke over her laughter, saying, "Oh, look, Mom – I see my name's on this list! Oh my God. I had no idea that there were this many variations of my name. And my name means "mercy, grace, ransom and wage." Awww.. I'm like a gift or a payment or something."
"My payment for a series of bad decisions," Maryvonne commented.
"That's the Thanksgiving spirit, Mom! Why are you even on the phone with me? Shouldn't you be preparing for dinner? Oooh – There's a Mercuria! It's the feminine version of Mercury. Is that better?"
After some time, Mary's return, and going down different names on the list, they heard Sheila and Stevie in the other room, loudly making sex noises. "And he wonders why I didn't want them in my room!" Stacey complained, with a grimace on her face.
Mary shook her head and said, "He and Sam were always bad about controlling themselves when they got a girl alone, even in the house and even if we were home! Stevie moreso than Sammy, though. Used to be a time when Stevie's girlfriends used to try to sneak around with him. Now, I gotta remind myself that he's an adult."
"He's still in your house," Maryvonne said.
"Yeah, but this is a house of sex-loving foundations," Mary said. She poked Jonesy in the cheek and asked, "Are you blushing?"
"Listen to her, in there! I'm embarrassed to be witnessing this. I don't know how I would feel about a guy's folks hearing me do that, especially, like Mom said, in your house." She laughed at the sounds that Sheila was starting to make. Sounded like she was close to the finish line.
Maryvonne commented, "I seem to remember catching you in my house with Shane Tinsley."
"You and Dad were out of town! I thought I had more time to get my business," Jonesy said.
Mary waved a hand, "Stevie's almost 20. It's not a big deal anymore. Now, when he was 14 and I could hear those girls panting and him shushing them…"
"Hell no," Maryvonne declared. "In fact, the one time that I did catch Mercedes in the act, I rose hell and all its demons. I saw to it that that boy felt threatened to even breathe the same air as my daughter, and that was before I was mean."
Jonesy called bull. "Um, Mom – you asked me if I wasn't satisfied having been knocked up at 16 and went on to say, 'Still spreading those thick thighs for these snot nosed brats!"
"I remember the details, Mercedes. Have you decided on a name?" Maryvonne sounded exhausted, now. They had been talking a while. She was doing better, but she still had her condition affecting her. Jonesy wanted her to get some rest.
"I actually really like Mercury, Mom." Maryvonne groaned. "It has nice symbolism! I need Babycakes' life to have meaning, starting with her name and so forth."
"Sure," Maryvonne said. "I'll order it to say 'Babycakes,' just in case you change your mind on this Mercury thing. I have to go. I have to cook, or your aunts will go on an all day crusade about how I think I'm too good to go into the kitchen."
"Our family is very critical," Jonesy observed.
"It's full of women. I'll tell your aunts that you said hi."
"Have a good Thanksgiving, Mom."
"Yes," she said and hung up.
"Was she mad?" Stacey asked.
"No… That's actually her polite side."