June 2012
"And this is the kitchen. You probably won't be in here much unless your mommy or I bring you in here with us. It'll probably mostly be me bringing you in here so we can both spy on Mommy when she starts making us yummy dinners again."
Sam cradled Lukas to his chest with one arm as he left the kitchen with a glass of ice water in the other hand. "And these are the stairs. You're not gonna get to know these until you start walking, Squirt, but until then, Mommy and I will take care of 'em for you….and here's mine, Mommy, and Uncle Puck's office. Sometimes Uncle Finn's here too but I'll show you this room some more tomorrow….you've already seen your room…aand here's mine and Mommy's room again. You'll get familiar with all the rooms pretty soon though."
He looked up with a smile, seeing Mercedes sitting up on her half with her hands sitting in her lap on top of the blankets. It was their third day being home from the hospital and though they'd put Lukas' crib to use during the day, Sam set up his pack 'n play for him to sleep in at night so that he and Mercedes had less of a distance to travel when he woke up in the middle of the night.
"Thank you, Cap," Mercedes said upon receiving the glass of water. She took a long sip and then set the glass down on the nightstand nearest to her.
Meanwhile, Sam gently bounced Lukas in his arms while saying, "Sometimes it's still so crazy to me that he's finally here. Y'know?"
"Mhm I know exactly what you mean. But I just…I can't get over how tiny he is."
"He's a little guy, but don't worry, Luke. You'll grow like crazy and then Mommy's gonna wonder how you got so big so fast—watch."
"Oh hush," smiled Mercedes. "You'll go through some midlife crisis if he ends up being taller than you."
Sam chuckled, "Not if he got your genes in that department, Shorty."
He looked up in time to see Mercedes stick her tongue out at him. "You're lucky you're holding Lukas—otherwise I'd chuck all these pillows at you."
Sam bent his grinning lips close to Lukas' face and mumbled, "Nice save, Squirt."
Mercedes giggled, "You're such a dork!"
At that, Sam just grinned and shrugged, "You love it. And hey, Stormy, you're supposed to be trying to sleep when he sleeps."
Right away, Mercedes lips battled a grimace and a smile, "I know and I did try, but it's hard to sleep when I want to watch him sleep."
Sam smiled softly, "I know but Dr. Brenner said you'll wear yourself out if you try to stay up all the time.
Both of them looked to Lukas when he made two hesitant gurgles, and then promptly stretched his tiny lips into a small oval, only to shut them right away and complete his yawn. Sam smiled right away. "I love when he does that."
"Me too," replied Mercedes. "His mouth's so tiny—it's just…ugh, he's too cute."
Not long after his yawn however, Lukas started to make gentle fussing noises, and as Sam tried to loosen his swaddle to check on his diaper, Lukas' tiny light brown hands appeared from beneath the blankets, fists clenched with the exception of his thumbs which were poised to be sucked.
"Cap, where are his mittens?"
Still trying to check the possible reason for Lukas' tears, Sam replied, "I took 'em off—he hates them."
Mercedes lowered her head in one hand and then immediately raised it, "He needs to wear them, Babe. They keep him from scratching himself in the face." After flipping back the covers and slowly getting out of the bed—a tender soreness still lingering between her legs—she stood and started towards the bedroom door. "He probably hates having his arms swaddled more than anything," she argued. "Just leave his arms out of the blanket 'til I get his mittens."
"Okay," replied Sam. "And his diaper's dry by the way."
"Mmkay, I'll try feeding him in a sec."
When she left the room, Sam turned his attention back to Lukas and quietly whispered, "Dude I told you, you had to keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times or else your Mommy was gonna fuss at me.
Lukas merely shifted his head, settling it more comfortably against his daddy's arm while he cooed. Finally he opened his eyes and blinked slowly up in Sam's direction. Sam's lips broke out in a smile; out of his peripheral vision he saw Mercedes returning from the nursery and muttered to his son, "You're gonna have to work with me if you wanna get away with stuff, Squirt. Capiche?"
"Get away with what?" asked Mercedes.
Sam froze and then slowly looked up his girlfriend. Mercedes gave him an expected brow arch, to which Sam cast her a crooked smile. "Hey look, you found his mittens."
"Were they supposed to be lost?" she asked, raising her other brow.
"Um…I don't think so—they were on his dresser right?"
Mercedes nodded slowly, "Yeeahh?"
"Good, good. And I think you were right earlier about him being hungry."
While Lukas' coos grew to short cries, Sam bounced him lightly in his arms while Mercedes slipped the mittens back over his hands. He watched her hands work with expert quickness, and smiled softly.
Mercedes caught it and mocked his smile, "What?"
Sam slowly shrugged and shook his head, "Nothing. Just admiring you."
Her lips spread a bit and she chuckled, "The way I put on baby mitts is admirable?"
"Maybe," he retorted. When she looked up at him, he simply grinned and changed the subject, asking, "Wanna get settled and I can hand him to you?"
Mercedes nodded and Sam followed her from their bedroom to the nursery. He knew she'd quickly grown fond of the glider as a place to nurse Lukas; a few times he asked her if she wanted it moved into their bedroom but Mercedes turned down the offer, telling him each time that it was just fine in Lukas' room. She sat down and while she slipped a hand up her shirt to adjust her bra, Sam walked around the room, giving Lukas' bottom gentle pats. He started to softly sing a favorite song of his to Lukas in the softest voice:
"On a sweet Sunday morning,
14 years ago, I was only 15—now I'm reminiscing.
I broke into a million pieces—each piece a thousand creases;
a memory of my heart, looking up at the stars. '
Cause I, I wanted to fly like Superman does
and feel tremendous.
'Cause I, I wanted to fly like Superman does
and feel tremendous."
He looked up from Lukas' calming face to Mercedes and quietly asked, "Are you ready for him?"
She nodded and held her arms out while asking, "Keep singing that song though. I've never heard it before. It sounds really beautiful but really sad too."
Sam smiled at the floor after handing Lukas over. "Alright…hang on a sec." He turned on his heels and quickly left the room, only to return with one of his acoustic guitars strapped over his shoulder. He gently strummed a chord and took a seat on the floor with his back against the sleigh crib and softly sang the rest of the song, all the while aware of Mercedes' eyes on him.
"On a sweet Sunday morning,
14 seconds ago I was only in mourning
from my 15 minutes of fame.
I broke into a million pieces—each piece a thousand creases;
a memory of my heart, now I'm lookin' at the stars.
'Cause I, I wanted to flyyy like Superman does
and feel tremendous.
'Cause I, I wanted to flyyyy like Superman does
and feel tremendous.
'Cause what goes up must come down,
and what's coming down's, coming down fast—
I think you fell on my heart
'cause what goes up must come down
and what's comin' down's coming down fast—
flew with the stars…flew in the starrrrrrrrrs...
I broke into a million pieces, each piece into a thousand crease;
a memory in my heart when I look at the stars,
'cause I, I wanted to fly like Superman does,
and feel tremendous.
'Cause I, I wanted to fly like Superman does
and feel tremendous.
On a sweet Sunday morrrnnniiiinggg…"
He strummed one final chord and by the time he finished, he sat up a bit taller to see that Lukas had fallen asleep with his tiny, plump lips slightly parted from suckling. His short, dark lashes lay high above his plump, mocha and rose-colored cheeks, and his mitten covered hands were both huddled right below his round chin. Sam folded his arms across the body of his guitar and continued watching him sleep peacefully in Mercedes' arms until she quietly spoke up.
"Where's that song from?"
His green eyes went to her face and he faintly smiled. "It's a song I learned back in high school. Um…remember how I told you not long after my family moved up here, my dad lost his job and we lost our home?"
Mercedes nodded and he went on, "Well…it was just a really, really rough time, and at the time Quinn and I were going to the same church. She invited me to youth group a couple times and the youth pastor…I don't think he knew everything that was going on with my family and me but he knew something was up, so he gave me this CD—a guy named Moi. He told me there was a track on there called 'Superman' that Moi wrote about his own escape and dealing with issues his family had. Like…his escape was imagining that he could be like Superman. I dunno—it just always stuck with me, especially after I actually listened to the song. I mean," Sam chuckled softly, staring at nothing in particular now, "I listened to it so much that I managed to learn the melody on guitar, and…well it's become one of my favorite songs of all time. I could relate to how he needed somewhere to escape from the problems around him by wanting to be like Superman."
He looked up at Mercedes and smiled a little, finishing with a casual shrug. But her eyes were fixed on his face with a sad smile on her lips. He had a guess as to what question lay behind her eyes, but hadn't left her mouth. Willing to eventually oblige with an answer, Sam slipped his guitar off and propped the neck against the crib, and then walked on his knees so that he stood in front of his girlfriend and son. With both hands on either arm rest, Sam leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss on Lukas' forehead, and then raised his head to give Mercedes and equally tender kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, he raised one hand to tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear and let his fingertips linger along the side of her soft, smooth face. She, in return, turned her head a fraction and pressed her lips to the heart of his palm, much like she'd done the other night in the hospital.
"I sang the song to Lukas," Sam started, deciding to answer in his own time, "So that if he ever needed to feel like Superman for any reason, he'd have something to comfort him like I did."
Mercedes nodded, fixing her chocolate irises on his face again. "I pray our family won't give him a reason to need that, but…I'm glad you're giving him something special to keep in mind, just in case."
Sam moved his hands off the glider and sat on his knees so she could resume her gentle rocking. They both watched Lukas sleep a bit longer and then Mercedes stood up to place him inside his crib. After adjusting his blankets slightly, turning on his monitor and winding up the small classic music box on his dresser, she returned to the crib long enough to give his cheek an endearing stroke, and then faced Sam. He was gazing at her already, and when she reached for his hand, he watched their fingers intertwine and followed her out of the room.
"Where are we going?" he whispered when Mercedes passé through the threshold.
"We're supposed to rest when he does, right?"
"Uh-huh?"
"So we're gonna take a nap," she replied.
Their fingers parted long enough for the both of them to lie comfortably in bed, but as soon as Sam spooned to Mercedes, his fingers found hers once again and he let out a content sigh, nuzzling his nose into the back of her strawberry-scented head.
"Captain?" she murmured.
Sam raised his head slightly and caught a peek of Mercedes' closed eyes. "Yeah?" he quietly replied.
She gave his fingers a gentle squeeze before sleepily telling him, "You're a great dadday. I love watching you two."
He smiled softly against her head, "Thanks, Stormy." He held her a little tighter, though his embrace remained gentle. As he lay there, listening to her breaths fall to slow, evenness, Sam thought about how fortunate he became to have such an amazing, strong and loving woman in his life. Not just for him, but for his son as well; she was patient, tender, and gave so much love that it made Sam want to be an even better dad than he thought he could be before. He thought about what she said to him in the nursery, about not wanting Lukas to go through hardships like he had. With his eyes shut, he said a quick, quiet prayer for the same desire, and when he finished he found himself quietly humming "Superman" until he too had fallen asleep.
Please leave reviews! Song lyrics are from "Superman" by Moi Navarro. If you've never heard the song, check out the music video on Youtube! He's also sung the song (and others of his) in Spanish and oh-my-lanta…swoon. Haha. Not to sound like I'm trying to give his career a major promo/boost via my fanfic, but I have heard him live before and briefly spoke to him. He's a talented singer and a very humble man, and the song felt very fitting to help me tie in Sam's former homelessness into the fic. Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry for the slow updates. Between the Olympics, voting on portrait, work, Skype hilarity with Gina, & my other fics, I've been insanely distracted. Going to try to buckle down over the next few days. More is coming! I know many of you are anticipating a couple more things before this fic comes to an end. I haven't forgotten about them and they will happen before I bring Miracle Baby to a conclusion.