July 2012

Mercedes pulled up in front of the Cohen-Chang residence just as Tina came flouncing out of the front door in one of her patterned mod dresses. She smiled at her incredibly bright smiles Tina was wearing but cast her a slightly confused look when Tina reached the passenger door and morphed her expression to a crestfallen one.

"Hey…what's wrong?" Mercedes asked once Tina opened the door and sat down."

Pouting, Tina answered, "You didn't bring Lukas?"

Right away, Mercedes' worry vanished and she softly chuckled, "Nooo? He's spending the day with his daddy while you and I have some girl time! But if you really wanna see him we can go by the house before I bring you back home."

"You promise?"

Mercedes grinned, "Yesss I promise, Tina—right after we're done I'll bring you by so you can see him. It's not like Sam and I are hiding him."

Tina squirmed in the passenger's seat of Mercedes' Equinox like she was going to explode with joy, "I know, I know but…none of us wanted to bug you and Sam too much with our visits so we've been trying to be good about that. Well…me, Mike, Kurt and Blaine have; I can't speak for Santana since you know she only follows her own rules."

"True that. But I really think she's nervous or something about being near Lukas."

"Wait…what?"

Mercedes nodded while turning into the parking lot of the Lima Mall and searching for a vacant stall. "Because he's a newborn and all. I mean not new, new anymore—he's a month old now, but…new enough, y'know?"

Tina nodded. "He's so, so cute. He got a really good mix of yours and Sam's looks."

"I think he's got more of Sam than me," admitted Mercedes with a soft smile.

"Mmmm, maybe a little but I definitely see you in him. Everyone knows he got your nose, but I think he's got your eye shape too."

At that, Mercedes giggled dubiously, "I think he's still too young to tell."

"Watch! When you just look at him, you can tell he's gonna look split right down the middle—like when he stands next to you, people will say he looks just like you. When he stands next to Sam they'll say he's the spitting image of him."

Mercedes had had this conversation with her parents before, and they felt the same way Tina did. It wasn't something she was opposed to; in fact she was very curious to see how Lukas was going to change as he continued to grow. But if she were to go off of hers and Sam's baby pictures, it was hard to say if Lukas was going to look more like her or like Sam. They both inherited strong features from their parents—more so from their dads.

She found herself pondering this again as she and Tina entered the mall.

"Soo what would you say has been the most exciting thing about being a mom? Man that's so weird to say, but in a fun way!"

Mercedes' brows raised a bit initially but it didn't take long for all her facial features to melt into pure contentment, "I really love when he's just woken up from a nap and he just stares up at you. It doesn't last long 'cause you know he's hungry or wet but for the couple of seconds that he's just looking at you…not demanding your attention or upset that he's hungry, or sleepy or needing a new diaper…I really love that. And oh my God he's still a thumb sucker, Tina!"

Tina grinned, "Really?"

"Uh-huh, just like in the ultrasound picture we've got!" She giggled, "He almost always sleeps with his little fists near his face and a few times he's found his thumb and started sucking on it! It was so cute!"

"Do you have a picture?"

"You know we do. Sam's been so camera crazy. And he's in love with the video camera Rachel got us. Ugh, I keep telling him to stop filming Lukas during bath time or he's gonna embarrass the hell outta him when he gets older."

"Tina laughed, "Oh my God, I didn't even think about that! Can you imagine—he brings a girl home and the home videos come out?"

Mercedes joined her in laughing and said, "Girl, I don't wanna think about him bringing a girl home for a long, long, long time!"

Just as they reached the Lane Bryant store, Mercedes' cell phone jingled and buzzed in her pocket. She pulled her phone out to see that she had a text message from Sam. Right away, her lips curled up, and the smile only few when she saw what he had texted her.

"Awwww," she half whined, half gushed, "Tina look!" She held her phone up so Tina could adore the picture too. Sam had Lukas cradled to his chest; Lukas' big green eyes were staring up at, Mercedes assumed was Sam, and his plump little lips were stretched into an unmistakable, toothless smile. He might have inherited her eye shape, as Tina stated, but the tiny creases that appeared at the corners of his eyes from the rise of his chubby cheeks were definitely Sam's. The caption he'd text for the picture read, "Hi Mommy! Daddy changed my diaper the right way so I'm happy now!"

"Oooohh my God! Okay, it's official—you and Sam have the cutest baby! Ugh, he's so adorable!"

Mercedes giggled again, "Thanks Tina." After texting Sam back and slipping her phone back in her pocket she huffed, "Okay! Let's get our shopping on."

"Yay!" cheered Tina with two quick fists in the air. "So what do you need from Lane Bryant? New bras for your bigger boobs?"

"Tina!"

Tina clamped her smiling lips together and shrugged, "What? You're telling me that they're not bigger?"

Mercedes scrunched up her face, "I didn't say that…but look, I came in here to find some…new underwear."

She knew she wasn't slick about her meaning but Tina still regarded her with confusion. "You brought me shopping for new underwear?"

"Not just any new underwear." Tina shook her head slowly a few times as if to say, 'I'm not following you', to which Mercedes hissed, "I need to buy lingerie, okay? I wanna get something sexy for Sam."

All traces of confusion vanished from Tina's face, "Are you guys gonna have sex soon?"

Mercedes lips puckered, thinking for only a moment, "I don't know. I mean I think it'd be kinda weird to schedule it all out but…if my doctor gives me the green light at my next appointment, then…well let's just say I wanna be prepared and I don't have anything like that."

She was currently pointing to a full figure mannequin wearing a pair of fire engine red satin and lace panties and a matching push-up bra with black lace along the lining of the cleavage.

"Ooo la, la—cute."

Mercedes rolled her eyes, "I didn't mean that, specifically. Besides it's kinda boring."

"So we need to find some lingerie that will be sexy and still say 'Cedes?"

Simultaneous to her triumphant nod, she said, "Yes."

Tina's smile changed to a slightly more mischievous one, "We got this. by the way, I'm glad you asked me to come help you and all but…how come you didn't ask Kurt?"

"Well…for a couple reasons: 1, I wanted to hang out with you today. And 2, I love Kurt but I don't think he ever went through the stress of picking our lingerie for his first time with Blaine."

While browsing through a rack of transparent babydoll dresses, Tina nonchalantly asked, "Are you gonna get waxed?"

"Heeelll to the nizzy-nah," Mercedes replied without hesitation. Tina giggled profusely while she explained, "I think my coochie's gona through enough trauma this year—I'm not about to have some chickes slap hot wax there and…" she shut her eyes and shook her head before completing the rant, "I'll take care of it myself when the time comes."

Tina managed to reign in her giggles and return to her cheerful calm as she said, "Okay. Hey what about this?"

Mercedes scrutinized the garment Tina was holding up to show her: a solid black babydoll dress with a pair of vaguely transparent leopard print boy shorts.

"Rawr," joked Mercedes with a quick, teasing purr. But after giving it a slightly longer glance, she said, "Let me see it."

"You like it?"

Mercedes shrugged, "I kinda do. I just..I want that outfit that's gonna help me keep my confidence up."

While Tina handed over the garment, she frowned, "Are you afraid to have sex with him? Because if you are, then it's probably not a good idea to plan all this out if you're not ready."

Mercedes shook her head, "That's not it. I am ready but I'm also nervous. I mean I've never done this before and I don't wanna be a disappointment to Sam."

It seemed like her reason for inviting Tina along had finally processed fully in Tina's mind. She gave Mercedes a slow nod and stepped up to hug her.

Mercedes returned the hug and after quietly thanking her, she went to draw away but Tina wasn't done hugging her.

"I had the same thoughts with Mike. Trust me when I say this…You'll be fine, Mercedes."

"Nooooo, not the dirty diaperrr!" Sam only partially feigned dread as he lifted Lukas' rear near his nose and then scrunched his face up. As he walked up the stairs he childishly whined, "You're supposed to wait until Mommy got back to drop a load, Squirt! Come on now, you know the drill."

Lukas merely garbled a soft cry in response and Sam rubbed his back, "I'm just teasing, Luke."

He reached the nursery and carefully lay Lukas on his changing table to check his diaper. "Please be gas, please be gas, please be gas," changed Sam as he unsnapped Lukas' onesie and pulled back the waist of his diaper. Again, Sam's face contorted, "Oooo man! Lukas!" He chuckled once but couldn't shake the sour look on his face.

"Well I guess it's as good a time as any for us to get cleaned up for the day since it's already well past noon, huh?"

Lukas cooed on and while Sam snatched up some wipes and cleaned him from the mess in his diaper. After getting rid of the dirty diaper and taking off Lukas' onesie, Sam picked up Lukas' miniature form and held him to his chest, then grabbed a fresh diaper and a new onesie and left for his bedroom. He laid Lukas down on the bed, long enough for him to quickly undress as well and then took Lukas with him to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Lukas's tiny fingers tried to cling to Sam's chest but ended up forming an empty fist instead. His large, almond-shaped eyes blinked slowly a few times while Sam stroked a few fingers across his fine wisps of honey brown hair.

He stepped into the shower with is back to the warm water and occasionally moved a hand away from Lukas to cup some water and gently sprinkle it along his son's back. The first time he'd done it, Lukas shuddered, causing his butt to poke out but after a while he'd grown accustomed to the act and kept himself huddled close to his daddy's chest.

Sam spent a long time in the shower, with Lukas and when Lukas started to get fussy, he shut the water off and got out to dry them both off. It took them some time but eventually he got a fresh diaper and a plain white onesie put on Lukas, and for himself he merely stayed dressed in a pair of boxers to keep cool from the sweltering summer heat, despite having several fans on throughout the house.

When he brought Lukas downstairs, he started humming "Superman" to him and made his way to the kitchen to warm up a bottle for him. He looked down and watched Lukas' big green eyes stare at nothing in particular, while he hummed away and waited for the bottle to be ready. Lukas' little lips rounded and stretched for a yawn, and a few seconds later, Sam found himself yawning. "We're taking a nap later, Squirt. You had your Mommy and me up all night."

He finished readying the bottle and took it and Lukas with him to living room. Initially he sat on the couch, but moved to the floor with his back against the couch. Once Lukas was cradled in one arm, Sam held the bottle nipple to Lukas' lips and watched him suckle away—his dark jade eyes fixed up on Sam's face. In a matter of minutes, Lukas' eyelids began to droop and shortly after they shut, he'd stopped sucking on the bottle. Sam pulled it gently out of his mouth and watched his chest rise and fall in a quick, even pace; he shifted his son so that Lukas' chubby cheek rested against his chest, and then Sam slowly slid until he was lying on the floor. He reached up with one hand and snatched a pillow off the couch, stuffed it beneath his head and then kept both hands securely over his son's back. After another yawn, he closed his own eyes and soon fell asleep as well, long enough and deep for him to be oblivious to Mercedes' return home.

"Next time," whispered Mercedes as she stood near the front door with Tina, smiling adoringly at her two boys.

Tina nodded, smiling brightly, "Okay. Don't forget to get pictures of this!"

"I won't," promised Mercedes.

Tina waved and headed out of the house, half skipping down the driveway towards Mike's car. He'd called while they were spending their day at the mall and wanted to pick Tina up for a surprise dinner date.

Mercedes closed the front door as quietly as possible and set her bags down long enough for her to take her cell phone out. She tip-toed around the coffee table until she had a good view of Sam and Lukas; Sam's head was lolled to the side with some blond strands falling over his eyes. He had a stern, look on his face as if he was concentrating hard on his slumber. Lukas, on the other hand, looked incredibly content on his daddy's chest, and even had some faint snores escaping his nose.

Mercedes steadied her phone in front of her and then lightly tapped the screen, capturing the tableau, and then promptly sent it to her mom, Mrs. Evans and Tina. After slipping her phone back in her pocket, she went back to her purchases and quietly took them upstairs to put away. By the time she'd come back down stairs, Lukas had been turning his head back and forth along Sam's chest—his indication of waking up soon. Mercedes saw Sam's grip along Lukas' back tighten, and a second later, he too was stirring awake.

Sam drew a deep breath and sleepily blinked his eyes as Lukas began to coo. When he turned his head in Mercedes' direction he rubbed his eyes and carefully sat up with their son.

"Hey Stormy," he croaked.

Mercedes was sitting on the couch, leaning forward with her elbows propped on her knees, and her chin resting in her hands. "Hi sleepyhead. You two have a good nap?"

"Mmmhm," Sam drowsily replied. "I need to get the AC fixed though. The fans might be enough for Luke but they're not cutting it for me."

"I can see that," she said with a grin, letting her eyes wander up and down his lack of clothes.

Sam let out a breathy chuckled, looking down at their son who was still waking up. When he looked back up at Mercedes he asked, "How was shopping with Tina?"

"It was fun. We saw a lot of cute stuff."

"Did you buy anything?"

Mercedes arched her brows, "Is the sky blue?"

Again, Sam chuckled, "Alright well show me what you got!"

"I'll show you some of what I got. But some of it, you're gonna have to wait to see."

Sam's brows furrowed, "How long? We're not talking like…Christmas?"

Mercedes rolled her eyes, "No. I know better than to torture you for that long, Cap."

He grinned, unnecessarily wide and then said, "So when do I get to know?"

"Soon," she replied. "That's all I can tell you. In the meantime, I'm more than happy to show you the stuff I got Lukas."

Sam's grin softened and as he got up from the floor, Mercedes held her hands out for Lukas, who was fully awake now. When Sam handed him over, Mercedes coddled him close and pressed her heart-shaped lips to the side of his mocha-hued scalp. "Mommy missed you today, Lukas."

His fingers curled into her when she started for the stairs; Mercedes went on to tell Sam, "You're gonna flip when you see all the Avengers stuff Tina and I found at the mall for him. And can you believe they're already advertising stuff for Halloween?"

"Ooo!" exclaimed Sam, "Can we please dress him up like a baby Na'vi this year?"

Mercedes paused at the second story landing and looked back at Sam, "No. We're not painting his skin blue, Babe. That's probably not even good for him—he'll only be four months old by Halloween!"

"Just think about it," urged Sam. Even without seeing his face at her back, she could tell he was desperate for Lukas to be a little native Pandora child. "You and me could dress up too! We could be Jake and Netyri!"

Mercedes shook her head with a smile, "What if I wanna be something else for Halloween? Why are we even talking about this right now? Let's talk about Halloween costumes in September. I don't wanna think about four months from now."

"You don't wanna think about Lukas at four months," Sam mumbled.

Sure enough Sam had hit the nail right on the head; though Lukas was still very small, he was certainly growing and it was a conflicting truth for Mercedes. She was excited but it also made her pout to think about how quickly he was going to grow, so jumping ahead to Halloween was not what she wanted right now. Right now, she wanted to gush over the Captain America, Iron Man and Thor onesies and t-shirts she found at the mall. She wanted to hold on to the confidence Tina helped reinforce in her that when the time allowed for her, she would be ready.

Please leave reviews! More is coming soon! Sorry if I devastate anyone by saying this, but Miracle Baby will come to an end soon. The number of chapters left is undetermined but I certainly can't see this fic going past 50 chapters. Just like Flash Forward, the final chapter posted will be a list of random notes of mine regarding moments throughout this fic. :)