Alright, y'all! back again on Tuesday as promised haha. I've been reading some reviews and things people have left/sent and realized I haven't been telling you guys what's next in the chapters! We won't do that today because I'm tired LOL but next time for sure! I can't find my horizontal line thingy so I'm just going to say I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and sorry for any typos! Also, one last thing! I'm going to be uploading every other Tuesday now instead of every Tuesday. My schedule has just gotten slightly busier so I'm going to give myself more time to write/read over future chapters. ENJOY!
Sam walked up Mercedes' porch steps. He leaned forward to knock on the door and leaned back while he waited for someone to come. He decided to replay the voicemail Mercedes left him again. It sounded so weird. Almost like she was sad about something. Was it sad or was it worried?
'But, I'm assuming you're good.'
Frustrated?
Before long, he heard someone open the door. He expected to see Mercedes, but saw her sister instead. "Hey, Sam." Ada smiled and let Sam in. She promptly hugged him. "It's so nice to see you."
Sam hugged Ada back, but pulled back with a weird face afterwards. "Hey, Ada." He said awkwardly. "You know you just saw me yesterday."
Ada stood, looking up at Sam. "I do."
"Then why did you just hug me? Since when do you hug people?"
Ada's jaw dropped slightly before returning to its previous position. "Fine, whatever." She said dully. "A friend of mine from high school works at the obgyn. She's pregnant and she's really bubbly and happy and her voice sounds like this now." Ada mimicked Angelica's voice. "And I just wanted to see what it would be like if pregnancy made me that bubbly and happy and exuberant."
"And how's that working out for you?" Sam asked as if he didn't already know.
"It's way too much effort and all I want to do is eat something and go to bed." Ada fell down on her back onto the sectional, stretching out her arms and legs. "Shit." She muttered.
"What?" Sam fell down beside her.
"I'm supposed to talk to you" She yawned as she sat up. She looked at Sam, who was stretched out like she was before. "Come on. Get up." She took him by his arms and pulled him into a sitting position. She sighed. "Look, I don't want to do this anymore than you do, but Mercedes is in the shower and you just so happened to get here so I guess I'm doing this now."
"Ada, what-"
"Mercedes wants to know the reason that you haven't been talking to her about your dad." Ada ignored Sam's face. "She thinks that you don't want to be with her anymore and that your relationship is on the verge of some sort of armageddon type shit."
"What?"
"She thinks that because you won't tell her this one thing, you don't want to be with her anymore." Ada listened to see if she heard Mercedes. When she didn't, she continued. "That's not true, right? Because if it is, Sam, I swear I'm kicking you out of this house. As long as she's been waiting to get with you-"
"No, no. That's not true at all. Literally the only reason I didn't tell her, which I already said to her, was you."
"You better not be placing your relationship troubles on me." Ada raised her voice and looked at Sam.
"No, no, no." Sam said quickly. "God, no. You're not the problem at all." If there was anything Sam was more afraid of than Mercedes, it was Mercedes' sister. And Mercedes' dad. And her mom. And her brother. Brothers. He was pretty much scared of the entire Jones clan when it came to Mercedes. Even her sisters could be little monsters. "She was so worried about you and everything that was going on with you, so I decided that I didn't want her worrying about anything else. I thought that you were enough. That was it." He took a breath and thought for a moment. "I don't want to be with her anymore? Where'd she even get that from?"
"I don't know." Ada shrugged. "She said something about no one around her being able to stay together or something. You know anything about that?"
Sam shook his head. "You need to talk to Mercedes about that. It's not my place to tell you anything about that."
"About what?" Ada asked, suddenly intrigued.
"About the things she's talking about. I shouldn't be the one you find out from."
"Sam what in the hell are you talking about?" Ada looked up the stairs for Mercedes once more, then back at Sam. "What's going on?"
A few minutes later, Sam still hadn't said anything. Ada put her hand on his shoulder. "Sam, if there's something going on, I need to know." She whispered.
"Ada, I can't tell you-"
"Can't tell you what?" Mercedes stood at the bottom of the staircase.
Sam and Ada shared a look before Sam thought of something. "What your new favorite restaurant is. Ada had no idea that there was anything around here other than Breadstix. I thought we should go there tonight instead. There's no need for you two to cook anything."
"Well, she's not cooking anything." Mercedes said matter-of-factly as she pointed at her sister. "And, I'm not actually cooking anything cooking anything. My mom said that there was a box of lasagna in the freezer. Not that one box of frozen pasta is enough for 4 people when four people includes my older brother who's here for every meal and my pregnant older sister who wants to eat anything and everything except fish as of, like, yesterday, and completely devours something as long as it's *not* fish."
Sam chuckled at Mercedes' rambling. He looked over to Ada for confirmation. She laughed a little, too. 'Aversions.' She mouthed.
"Anyways," Mercedes never stopped talking. "I just planned on ordering a pizza or something." She stopped talking. "Actually, yeah. We should go out. Because knowing my parents, they're not going to be able to stay for the entire parent-teacher night on account of the having to work, which means that Anaya is going to have to miss out on it. Again." She said, annoyed.
"Merce, calm down." Ada groaned. "All your obsessing over our parents' whereabouts is making my head hurt."
"Your sister's right." Sam walked over to Mercedes and took one of her hands. "Your parents don't have any reasons to not be able to stay for the entire thing tonight. We can all go out and have a good time."
"Yeah, right." Mercedes pursed her lips. "I'm a Jones, Sam. So is Ada. So are my parents. We can't live without crazy incidents happening to us or someone in our family every other day. It's practically illegal to not be-"
"Are you alright?" Ada interrupted. "We come home, you're fine. You go upstairs, take a shower, and you're cranky all of a sudden."
"I'm not cranky." Mercedes looked out the window above the kitchen sink at the large, beautifully mowed lawn. "I just have this feeling that Anaya's gonna be dropped off again, upset, and ready to burst into tears because her parents couldn't be there for another event that she had. Then, I'll have to find a way to make it up to her."
"Well, it's too late for ice cream." Ada chuckled. She cleared her throat awkwardly when she noticed that that didn't make Mercedes laugh.
Ada looked at Sam, who just looked back at her and shook his head.
"Well, would you look at that." Mercedes said dryly as she saw her dad's white BMW pull into the driveway. She marched over to the door with a look on her face.
Sam quickly stood in front of her and put his hands out to stop her. "Whatever you're thinking about doing or saying, don't do or say it. Let me answer the door." He kissed her on the forehead. He and Ada shared a look right before they heard footsteps on the porch. Sam walked over to the front door and opened it with a smile. "Hey, Mr. Reg. How's it going?"
"Samuel," Reggie laughed. "I'm not surprised to see you here." He joked.
"Neither am I, sir." Sam carried on.
Mercedes stepped up behind Sam with her hands on her hips. "Well, then, tonight must just be full of non-surprises, dad, because I'm not surprised to see you here, either."
Sam closed his eyes for a moment and sucked his teeth as he cursed Mercedes in his head.
"Well, this is my house, Mercedes. My being here shouldn't be a surprise, considering this is where I live." Reggie quipped.
Mercedes looked at Anaya's face, and she became even more irritated. "Well," Mercedes stressed the word as she stepped in front of Sam. "It wouldn't be a surprise if it were about 8, which is when you would be here had you stayed at the school for the duration of the function that was being held there."
"Hey, Ada, where's Amara?" Sam looked behind him at Ada put his hands on Mercedes' shoulders to calm her before things escalated.
"She's probably in the game room." Ada said with a frown on her face.
"Cool." Sam moved Mercedes to his side and bent down towards her little sister. "Hey, Naya. How about you and I go and do whatever you sister and Prince are doing?"
Anaya tried to smile a little bit and nodded. She didn't say anything. She just followed Sam.
Mercedes looked at her father. "Ada, can you go get my keys, please? They're probably in the kitchen somewhere."
"Sure." Ada quietly stepped off to the kitchen, but hid behind the wall that separated the living room and the kitchen.
"Where are you all going?" Reggie asked.
"Out."
"To eat?"
"Yeah, unless you think that I'm taking my little sisters out to a high school party."
"I doubt that, but I'm pretty sure your mother left you something to eat."
"True, but one box of frozen lasagna isn't exactly enough food for 6 people."
"You act like there's not anymore food in that kitchen, Mercedes. It's enough for 5, I'm sure you'll be able to spread it out a tad bit thinner-"
"I really can't believe you. This is actually and completely unbelievable. Out of all days, you two had to pick this one to not be there for one of us."
"She's 9, Mercedes. She'll get over it. You should, too."
"She's your youngest child and there was probably something at the school that she really wanted you and mom to see but that just didn't work out. Never does."
"Mercedes your mother and I tried very hard to work something out."
"Where is Mom?"
Reggie looked down at his watch and tugged on his suit a bit. "She's working."
"Why, would you look at that, another non-surprise."
"Stop it with the sarcasm, Mercedes. I'm getting tired of it."
"Are you going to give me some money for us to eat with or not?"
"Not until you stop being disrespectful-"
"Then you stop being disrespectful."
"I swear, it's always something with you." Reggie flared his nostrils.
"You bet. The same way it's always something with you and mom."
"Your mother and I tried to work something out."
"You're both superiors at your job. If you had tried to work something out, you would've figured it out."
"First of all, as superiors, we have to be at work when we are needed. Second of all, I'm your father , so I would suggest you learn how to talk to me in my own house."
"I'm going to have to talk to you later, Dad. I've got to go wipe away your daughter's tears that you caused, by the way. Shocker, right?" Mercedes said angrily as she shut the door.
She took a breath and turned around. "Ada, did you find my keys?"
Ada appeared from the wall she had been hiding behind. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"That." Ada walked closer to her sister. "With Dad."
"You were eavesdropping?" Mercedes accused.
"I was going to find your keys. They've been there in the dish right beside you since you got home."
Mercedes looked down at the table at her side. Her keys were, sure enough, in the bowl with all the other keys in the house. "So you eavesdropped?" She looked back up at Ada.
"Oh my god. Yes, Merce. I eavesdropped. Why were you being so mean to him?"
Mercedes ignored her. "Sam, let's go." She yelled.
"I asked you a question, Mercedes." Ada said sternly.
The two youngest Jones children came down the stairs, followed by Sam. Sam went over to Mercedes and whispered in her ear. "She's not talking."
Mercedes looked up at her boyfriend, then at Anaya, who was quietly standing by the couch and looking at the floor. "Not at all?" She said worriedly.
Sam shook his head. "Not a word."
"Okay. Just go ahead and take Amara out to my car. We'll be there in a second."
Sam frowned. "Is Ada not coming?"
Mercedes just shrugged and gave him a quick peck before walking towards Ada. "Look, just forget what you saw or heard or whatever."
"How in the hell am I supposed to just forget something like that?"
"I'm going to talk to her," Mercedes point at Anaya. "And then, I'm driving whoever is in my car to go eat. Now, are you going to come? Or are you just going to stand here and ask me questions about a conversation that you weren't even a part of?"
Ada rolled her eyes and walked out the door.
Mercedes took a deep breath and walked over to Anaya, who had sat down on the couch. Once Sam and Amara left, she bent down in front of her sister and put her hands on her shoulders. "Hey, baby girl." Mercedes said softly. "You doing okay?"
Anaya didn't answer, she just looked down at her feet.
"I know you really wanted mom and dad to stay for your event." Mercedes tried to think of a way to console the girl in front of her. "If I had known, I would've been there for you."
Anaya shrugged with a pout on her face. "It's okay. It wasn't anything that special anyways."
"Hey, don't say that." Mercedes said sternly. "Everything you do is special, Naya. Look at me." She lifted her sister's head up and their eyes met. "Everything you do is special. Don't ever think anything otherwise and don't let anyone tell you anything other than that. Do you hear me? I don't care what it was. It was special enough for you to want them to come." With every moment that she looked at her sister, Mercedes felt more and more angry at her parents. "Okay. Here's what we're going to do." Mercedes started to think. She looked at her watch. "It'll be too late for ice cream in a few minutes, so we can't do that. I have a game tomorrow, but on Friday, I'll take you anywhere you want, okay? We can go get ice cream. Or," She smiled. "The carnival opens Friday. I can take you and Mara. Stevie and Stacy can go too, if they'd like. How's that?"
"I guess that's fine." Anaya returned her gaze to the floor.
Mercedes sighed. "Ok, Naya. I'm going to trust you with something, okay? It's a really big secret that you can't tell anyone. You think you can do that?" When her sister nodded, Mercedes went on. "Alright. Well, Ada is having a baby." Mercedes chuckled when Anaya's face lit up.
"A baby?" Anaya chirped.
Mercedes nodded. "Yeah. It's exciting, I know. We're both going to be aunts. And when the baby gets here, he or she is going to be sooo cute and precious. And they'll have those cute little baby hands and feet. Doesn't that sound exciting?"
Anaya hadn't stop smiling. "Yeah." She giggled.
Mercedes continued. "So, we can do something fun this weekend, but if you ever feel sad or upset, think about the baby. Think about the cute little noises they make that everybody loves so much and how they're going to just love everyone and everything. Alright?"
"Okay." Mercedes' sister nodded once more.
"Did that make you feel any better?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Come here." Mercedes pulled her sister in for a hug.
When they separated, Anaya asked Mercedes a question. "Is the baby going to stay with us?"
Mercedes' eyebrows went up. "Umm," She didn't even know what to say. "I think you should ask Ada that. But not right now, because no one can know that you know this. Okay?"
"Okay. Do you know how long she'll be here?"
"Another thing you'll have to ask her." Mercedes looked at her sister for a moment before standing up. "Well, if you're feeling better, I say we go out to eat." She took her sister's hand and pulled her off the couch. "Go ahead out. I'm going to lock the door." When Anaya walked out of the door, Mercedes took out her phone to send a text to Santana.
Hey. Can't go out this weekend. Anaya had a bad day so I'm taking her to the fair. Unless you wanna come?
She put her phone in her pocket and felt it vibrate. "That was quick." She said as she pulled it back out.
Ok, so I may or may not have just made a bet with your little sisters about whether or not I can get you to hold my hand. Don't make this harder than it has to be.- Sam
Mercedes giggled and locked the door before walking out of the house. Mercedes walked out to her car in the school's parking lot. She was excited to have a free afternoon. She was supposed to be taking her and Sam's siblings to the fair, but they decided to wait until tomorrow. When she got to her car, she saw Santana and Brittany laughing beside Santana's car. Mercedes put her stuff in the backseat and called out to Santana.
Santana's smile faltered a little when she saw Mercedes. "Hey, what's up?"
Despite sensing that something was off, Mercedes walked over to where her friends were. "Anaya decided to wait until tomorrow to go to the fair. You want to go back to our earlier plans?"
Santana frowned as she leaned off of the car. "So, since your sister doesn't want to do what you dumped me for today, you think I want to do something with you like we were supposed to in the first place?"
"I mean, if that's the way you want to look at it." Mercedes looked at Santana, slightly confused. "But there's more to my reason for rainchecking you than you think."
"I don't care what there is to it, Mercedes. You blew me off and I don't feel like giving you another chance right now. Let's go, Brittany." Santana turned around to get in the car while Brittany walked to the passenger's side.
"Okay, then I'm confused. I thought we already talked about this. Things have been happening on both our ends that has kept us from hanging out lately that we couldn't really do anything about."
Santana scoffed and turned back around to face Mercedes. "My god, you can't be serious."
Mercedes put her hands out in front of her. "What are you talking about?"
Santana got in Mercedes face. "Why don't you just go to more fake appointments with your sister or something." She opened the car door again and got in.
Mercedes' eyes widened with shock and confusion. "And what the hell does that mean?"
"Sam told me about Ada's OB/GYN appointment." Santana started her car. "How it was moved up. But you told me that the appointment was already happening that day. You two should get your stories straight the next time you want to not hang out with me."
"Wait," Mercedes frowned. "I said that?" Then it hit her. "Oh, my god. I said that. Tana, I didn't mean to say that. I must've gotten my days mixed up or something because I already knew when the appointment was supposed to be. I didn't lie to you to avoid hanging out with you."
"Oh, really? Then what about the part when you and Sam and your sisters all went out to eat. Forgot about that, too?"
"Santana, I swear to you, that was absolutely a last minute thing. Plus, I had just gotten in an argument with my dad and things were just crazy everywhere I looked. There was so much on my mind-"
"Whatever, Mercedes. Save your excuses for someone who's going to listen to them." And with that, Santana left the parking lot.
Mercedes walked back to her car. She didn't notice that during her ordeal with Santana, Sam had pulled up beside her car in his truck. She walked back with a smile on her face. "Hey." She went up to his rolled down window and kissed him.
Sam kissed her back and looked at her weird. "What was that?" He nodded towards the spot Mercedes' had just left from.
"It was nothing. Actually, it was a lot more than nothing, but I'm not even completely sure if it just happened, so I really don't want to talk about it." She moved to let him out of the truck.
When his feet were on the ground, Sam wrapped his arms around Mercedes' waist. "Did you two finally make some plans?"
Mercedes brought her arms under his and laid her head on his chest. "Anything but. If what I think just happened just happened, we probably won't ever be doing anything together. Ever again."
They started to rock from side to side.
"You're crazy." Sam chuckled.
"I'm completely serious. She's not angry because we haven't been hanging out. She's angry because she thinks I've been lying to her."
"Mercedes—"
"And you know if there's anything Santana hates most, it's lying."
"I love you." Sam smiled.
"What?"
"I love you. Like, really, really love you." His smile grew wider.
Mercedes furrowed her brows and shook her head, "Sam, that-"
"Has nothing to do with what we're talking about. I know. But, I'm just saying it." He tightened his embrace. "Like, this." He said. "This right here. I could just do this for the rest of my life. This is all that I need."
Mercedes felt her heart swell. "You also need air, oxygen, food, water. And you need to maintain a constant body temperature, blood pressure, pH bala-"
"Thank you, Smartie Pants. I already know that. What I mean is that aside from all the things that all humans need, I don't need anything else but this. But you." He kissed the side of her forehead.
Mercedes giggled as she lifted her head to plant a kiss on both his cheeks, then his lips. " I love you too, Sammy."
Before she could put her head back on his chest, Sam used his hand to cradle it and bring her into another kiss. They continued kissing and their hands switch places, hers going behind his head and in his hair, his returning to her waist. The electricity from a month ago is still there, but there's something different now. A sinking, break-open-the-sky kind of feeling. Or was it a vein-throbbing, adrenaline-coursing-through-their-bloodstream feeling? Mercedes knew both these types of feelings all too well. She pulled away from him, but didn't get too far because Sam kept his grip on her waist. "No." She said.
Sam didn't say anything, he just frowned.
Mercedes looked up at her boyfriend. "Don't make me say it, Sam." She said flatly.
Sam's frown deepened.
Mercedes huffed. "I don't know what you felt just now, but if it's what I felt, then I'm saying no."
Sam kept his frown. "What I felt when, exactly?"
Mercedes took Sam's hands off of her and put them at his sides. "Just now."
"Okay. I'm going to explain something to you, babe." He went into his truck and got his letterman jacket out of it. "English? Not really my best subject. In fact, it's my worse. I have a 70 something in it. Barely enough to keep me on the team." He pushed his jacket towards her.
Mercedes looked down at the jacket, then back up at Sam. "What is that for?"
"Well, as someone who is on a sports team at the school, it's for me to show off. But it's also for my girlfriend to wear when she gets cold. Or just whenever."
"I'm not cold."
"Yeah, you are. I can see the goosebumps on your arms from a mile away."
Mercedes' eyes rolled to the back of her head. "Sam, the goosebumps aren't from me being… cold."
Sam laughed. "Mercedes, if you're not cold then-" He stopped laughing. "Oh." Sam said lowly as mouth formed a tiny 'o' and his eyes widened. "You're not cold… because you're hot." He paused and fought a smile. "Like… hot, hot?." He nodded towards the ground rather than nodding at her specifically.
Mercedes didn't know whether to laugh or scream. She just covered her face and sighed. "Yes, Sam. That is correct. Which is why I'm telling you 'no' right now. Because I'm not ready to do any of that with you yet."
"Why not?"
"Why not?" Mercedes looked at Sam like he was crazy. "Because we're 17. And, out of all the Jones children who have been in or are still in high school, only two of us have not been pregnant before we graduated college. That's 50/50. And I plan on keeping it that way."
"So, you don't want to have sex with me because you're afraid you'll get pregnant?" Sam asked.
"Could you not talk so loud?" Mercedes hissed. When Sam laughed in her face she backed away from him. "Why is it that everyone I'm involved with is an absolute lunatic?" She muttered.
Sam tried to stop laughing, but his efforts were in vain. He doubled over in laughter this, only able to stop when he saw Mercedes putting her seat belt on. "Wait, wait, wait." He ran over to her and knocked on her window. "Babe, wait."
Mercedes rolled her window down. "You think I'm just bringing this up for shits and giggles, Sam? Because I'm not."
Sam leaned into the car window smiling like an idiot. "I know that, I know. Trust me. I don't plan on sleeping with you. Okay?"
Mercedes rolled her eyes and began to roll up the window.
"Okay, not what I meant." Sam put his hand in the window and waited until Mercedes looked at him. "What I'm saying is, you really have nothing to worry about. I don't want to do anything with you until we're ready. Or, until you're ready"
"What does that mean, Sam?" Mercedes was almost afraid to ask.
"If we're being honest, and, by honest, I mean completely honest, I've been ready to do anything with you since we were 13. I think I can wait a little while longer." He chuckled.
"That's disgusting."
"Disgusting?"
"So, what? You've just been thinking nasty thoughts about me when I wore shorts and a tank top around you every time we spent the night together somewhere?" Mercedes asked sternly.
"Dear God, please let me stop putting my foot in my mouth." Sam said to himself. "All I'm trying to say is this: I've been able to hold down the fort on my sexual appetite for the past four years. If you don't want to do something, you don't have to worry about it. Let's say that." He opened the car door and brushed his lips against hers.
She smiled. "I hate you-"
"You love me." He kissed her again.
"I wanna thank you for how mature you're being about this. I know it was sudden and we hadn't really talked about it-"
"It's been on your mind, though. I can tell."
Mercedes sighed tiredly. "Maybe, but my mind is in a lot of places right now. Trust me, that's not the only thing." She chuckled.
"Well, what's on your mind?"
"Well, for starters-"
"Why don't we talk about it on our date tonight?" Sam interrupted as he closed Mercedes' car door and got in his truck.
Mercedes gave Sam a confused look. "We're… we're not going on a date tonight."
"Oh, really?" Sam started his truck. "Because I'm pretty sure I just told you that I wanted to talk about what's on your mind over the date we're having tonight. I wouldn't mention a date if there wasn't going to be a date, Mercedes. I'll be at your house at 6. But you won't be ready, so we'll leave at 6:30-7." He backed out of the parking spot and drove off.
Mercedes sat in her car for a minute. "What in the hell?"
When Mercedes walked in her front door, Ada was asleep in the loveseat. Mercedes went over to her and bent down to her stomach. "Hi, Baby." She whispered with a smile on her face.
"Tell that baby to stop giving me such a hard time when I'm trying to sleep." Ada said, her eyes still closed.
Mercedes nearly jumped out of her skin. "God, Ada. Don't fucking do that."
Ada chuckled. "You've got the worst nerves I've ever seen on a human being. You should look at getting some training on that or something."
Mercedes smoothed down her ponytail and took a breath. "Don't. What's keeping you from sleeping?"
"Not only do I have to pee all the time, but I can't get comfortable. Also, if not getting comfortable wasn't enough, since I can't sleep at night, I end up sleeping during the day, which is only making things worse." Ada sat up to let her sister sit beside her.
Mercedes sat in the newly empty spot. "Well, what are you going to do? You can't keep this up forever. Mom and Dad are going to have more and more questions about this 'project' and you can't tell them you haven't worked on it because you've been sleeping all day."
"Mom and Dad never ask me about anything. Especially not since I was 15."
"That's not true-"
"Oh, it's more than true." Ada said. "They never ask me anything like that. When I was six and I broke my arm, Dad wasn't there. He never thought to ask what happened, never asked me how I was doing, nothing. When I was, like, three-"
"Ada, there's no way you can remember something from when you were three." Mercedes looked at her sister. "Six? Possibly. But three? No."
"Scientists have proven that you can remember things from as early as three years old."
"True. However, a study shows that age 7 is the time that we really start remembering things as they happened, instead of forming false memories." Mercedes avowed.
Ada chuckled. The one thing Ada always noticed about Mercedes was how smart she was. "You little walking encyclopedia bitch." That prompted a laugh from Mercedes as well. "What are you not better than me at?"
"You know, I don't know, because I'm a better singer than you, too." Mercedes took out her phone and dialed a number.
Ada cleared her throat. "Are we not having a conversation?"
"Just, wait a minute. I'm calling Sam."
"You don't need to call him. He's probably gonna be here in a few minutes."
"Yeah, we have a 'date' tonight, but I don't want to go."
"What? No." Ada jumped and looked at her sister. "You should go out."
"He just told me about it right before I came here, he's gonna be here in 2 hours, and I don't feel like going out tonight." She took her phone away from her ear. "He didn't answer." She put her chin in the palm of her hand. "He didn't even work up to it. He was just all 'Hey, Mercedes. How about we talk about your business and your feelings on a date tonight. Oh, you didn't know we had a date tonight? Well, darling, it has to exist because I just told you about it and I'm the be all end all when it comes to future events because I-'"
"What did he really say?" Ada laughed.
"That is what he said, Ada." Mercedes said, annoyed.
"You should go out with him. He's probably taking you to the fair or something."
"I'm already taking everybody else to the fair tomorrow. Why do I need to go today and tomorrow?"
"Because tomorrow, you'll have a seven, eleven, and two nine year olds dragging you around."
"Well, I don't feel like going anywhere today." Mercedes' phone rang, she picked it up. "It's Sam." She answered the phone. "Hey, why didn't you answer?"
"My mom wanted me to stop by the grocery store and get some things for the homeless family at our church."
Mercedes frowned. "Sam?"
"Yup?"
"Do you, uh, have the money for that? I mean, I know they're in need and all, but you guys kind of need to save your money." That came out worse than Mercedes intended for it to.
"Well, considering the fact that we have food in our home and the lights are on and the other utilities work in my family's house that my parents are able to pay for, I think we can stand to buy a few non perishables for a family who really can't afford them. People who are actually homeless. I feel like that's who needs the most help." Sam said.
"I didn't mean for it to come out like that, I'm sorry. I just know you've got a lot of stuff that you already have to pay for and how your mom can get a little… extra with the giving spirit. That's all. You'll let me know if you need anything, right?"
"Don't do this, Mercedes."
"I'm not trying to do anything, Sam." Mercedes put her free hand up in defense. "I'm just saying."
Ada tapped Mercedes on the shoulder. "What happened?" She whispered.
Mercedes shook her head. "Anyways, I was calling to tell you that I don't think we should go out tonight."
"Are you kidding me?" Sam laughed dryly. "So, what? I'm too poor to take you on a date now?"
"That's not what I'm saying, babe. It's just that you brought up the idea of a date out of nowhere when I thought that you were just going to come here and we were going to watch a movie or chill or something."
"I don't want to come to your house and 'chill', Mercedes. I want to take you out. On a date. You've been my girlfriend for over a month now and we haven't gone on one official date yet."
"I know. But Sam, I'm really tired and I was really just looking forward to coming home and relaxing."
"Alright, Mercedes." Sam said it like it was nothing, but Mercedes could practically hear him rolling his eyes.
"So, you're coming over?" Mercedes tried to ignore his attitude.
"Probably not. Starting to think that I don't feel like doing anything today either."
Mercedes rolled her eyes and breathed in deeply through her nostrils, trying to keep calm. "Sam, I really wanted to talk to you about something."
"Well, we're on the phone. That's what people make phone calls for. To talk to someone."
Mercedes closed her eyes and breathed frustratingly once again. "In person, Sam." Mercedes glanced at Ada. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "I don't really feel like arguing and fighting right now. Don't forget to meet us at the fair at 12 tomorrow." She paused before the next part, "I love you." She hung up the phone and put her forehead in her hands.
"You wanna tell me what all that was?" Ada asked slowly.
"I don't know, Ada. I really don't know." She sat herself up. "Where's Prince?"
"Probably upstairs with Little A."
"Where's Little A?"
"Probably upstairs with Big A."
"And Big A is?"
"Probably upstairs doing Little A's homework." Ada chuckled and rested her hand on her stomach.
Mercedes looked at where her sister's hand was. "I didn't even notice how much you were showing until the appointment the other day. It's crazy."
Ada smirked. "Why do you think I wear baggy clothes all the time? My secret plan. If you can't tell I'm pregnant and you know I'm pregnant, Mom and Dad won't have any idea."
"Yeah. If I didn't know you were pregnant, I'd definitely not assume anything."
"Really? Nothing? Because my boobs have gotten ridiculously bigger."
Mercedes chuckled. "Well, it's not like they were that small in the first place." She said to herself.
"Oh, fuck you." Ada laughed and looked over to her sister. "Besides, I don't have the biggest boobs out of the entire family." She teased.
"Please, there's no way mine are bigger than yours."
"Mercedes, you've had those round boulders on your chest since you were 14."
"Whatever. Mine still probably aren't the biggest."
"Well, whoever's beating you is barely doing so."
Mercedes rolled her eyes playfully. "Okay, Ada. Since I have the biggest 'boulders', you should give me my room back."
Ada smiled. "You can have it. I'm not as bad off as I used to be, with the morning sickness and all. So it's yours."
There was a knock at the door. "I got it." Mercedes went to the door, opened it, and smiled. "Hey, Mom." She stepped aside to let her mother in.
"Hey, sweetheart. I've got the stuff for dinner tonight. Hope you guys are hungry!" Diane walked in the door. "What are you two doing in here?"
Mercedes shrugged playfully, "I was trying to get in a couple episodes of RHOA but Ada decided to mess with me."
"Please, you were practically begging for someone to talk to you. And I was watching tv first."
Diane chuckled. then walked into the kitchen.
Mercedes sat back down with her sister, who had a weird look on her face.
"Fuck." Ada muttered.
Mercedes looked over. "What?"
Ada closed her eyes and frowned. "Fish."
"What about it?"
"She has it. She has fish. Oh, my god." Ada put her forehead in one of her hands.
"Are you okay?"
Ada didn't say anything, she just kept her head in her hand.
"Go to the bathroom. Hurry up." Mercedes pushed Ada off of the couch slightly.
"I was thinking about making chicken tetrazzini tonight, but we might end up with a full spread tonight." Diane started putting away the newly bought groceries. "Salmon en papillote. Add some lemon and basil and asparagus. Put some rice on the side. What do you think? My mouth's watering at the thought." She smiled brightly.
Mercedes went into the kitchen to help her mother. "Well, I don't know. Don't really think I want Salmon tonight. What else you got?"
"Let's see," Diane walked over to the bags she placed on the island. "I've also got some green beans and some peas. I could put something together with the tilapia that's in the freezer-"
"I don't really think I'm in the mood for seafood tonight. Whatever we have I'll probably end up making it in bulk, so I'm trying to find something easy. Knowing your brother like I do, he'll eat enough for three people all by himself." She chuckled as she left the kitchen before coming back and looking at Mercedes. "I'm gonna finish putting that up later. You don't have to help." sat in the sectional.
Mercedes frowned as she followed her mother to the living room. "Jay's the reason you're making whatever in bulk? You always make lots of everything."
"No. There was only going to be 5 of us, but Edith's coming to stay for the weekend. I also thought that Sam might be over."
Mercedes smiled. Edith was her grandmother and she loved her a lot. Mercedes' mother grew up in Georgia, and when her dad died 4 years ago, Edith moved up north to Fort Wayne. Mercedes smile faltered after she did some math in her head. "Okay, but you said 5. Is Dad not coming?"
Diane took a deep breath. "No, Mercedes. He's working. You know that."
"I don't know that, but I guess I should have. Knowing my father like I do."
"Mercedes." Diane hissed.
"You need to figure out how to get him here sometime, Mom."
"Your father isn't here all the time, no. But don't act like he doesn't live here anymore. And don't forget, when he's not here, he's out making sure we keep the lights on."
"Yes, absolutely." Mercedes said sarcastically. "Because we're barely making it by, right? It's so hard to keep the lights on in this huge house because Chief Executive Officers get paid so little, right?"
"Why do you keep bringing this up, Mercedes? Like I've said before, we're lucky we even got to stay in Lima. The company wanted your father to move to California."
"Oh, that didn't happen? I'm so surprised. Since I never see him, I thought that-"
"What the hell, Merce?" Ada appeared suddenly.
Mercedes looked at her sister before shaking her head. "Ada-"
"No. You've been doing this thing with dad ever since my…" Ada paused and glanced at Diane. "Doctor's appointment." She hoped her mother didn't think anything of the way she said that. "You keep talking bad about him and you won't tell me why."
"It's nothing, Ada." Diane said calmly. "She's just upset that your father's been missing some things recently."
Ada looked at Mercedes. "Well?" After no response, she shook her head. "Okay, whatever. I'm going to take a nap." Before she could get up, Mercedes spoke.
"Dad doesn't care anymore."
"Mercedes." Diane barked. "You will stop disrespecting your father in this house."
"I imagine that that would be a lot easier if it was like he actually lived here. He's never here, he's never at any events or PTOs or anything." Mercedes retorted. "And it's not even about me. It's about Big A and Little A. Honestly, I don't give a damn if he never shows up to anything I do again. But our little sisters," She gestured between her and Ada. "Your youngest daughters," She pointed at her mother. "They deserve better than that."
Diane slowly rose up from her place on the sectional and took a deep breath. "I'm making chicken tetrazzini tonight. I'm going to go get started on it." She got up and looked at her penultimate daughter. "Mercedes, I don't know what in the hell you're getting so riled up about, but you figure it out and you cut it short before your grandma gets here. We're not doing this. Especially not tonight." She walked to the kitchen.
Ada looked between her mother and her sister. "Grandma? Grandma Edith?"
Mercedes ignored her. "I'm going upstairs. Let me know when grandma gets here." Mercedes started towards the stairs but stopped and turned around. "Actually, don't. I'm just going to take a nap. If I'm not up before dinner, come get me then." She started walking again.
"So, just gonna assume Grandma Edith is coming, back to the Dad we not talking about that?" Ada asked. No response. She huffed and laid back down.
Mercedes was in her bed facing away from the door. She was already loving having her room back. As she drifted off, there was a knock at the door. "Ada, there's no way Mom finished dinner that fast." She waited for whoever was at the door to leave. Instead, she heard her door creak open. "Ada, I swear." She turned over and Ada wasn't there. It was Sam. Mercedes' jaw dropped a little. "Hey."
Sam nodded his head quick and waved. He shifted uncomfortably. "I'm angry at you."
Mercedes readjusted herself in the bed. "I'm sorry about that-"
"I don't know what it is, Mercedes. I don't know why you can't just let me do what I choose to do or why you insist on financially counseling me every time you get the chance, but it's not going to be long before I grow really tired of it."
"It came out wrong, Sam. I tried to tell you that." Mercedes declared.
"I know you did. That doesn't change how I feel about it." You could Sam's anger in his voice. "I'm not stupid, Mercedes. If I couldn't afford to do something, I wouldn't do it."
Mercedes looked down at her hands in her lap and played with them. "I'm sorry again." She mumbled. "Can I make it up with something to eat?" She looked up at him with her beautiful doe eyes.
Looking at Mercedes, Sam immediately felt his anger dissipating. "I can't stay." He moved onto the bed. "I just wanted to come tell you how mad I was at you. I also just wanted to tell you that I probably won't be mad at you by the time I leave. Not because we're gonna do anything. But because I can't stay mad at you for more than 5 minutes at a time." He put his arm around her shoulder.
She smiled softly and placed her head on the front of his shoulder. "I didn't want you to think that I was 'financially counseling' you. And I know you're not stupid. I was only saying that because I know that you guys have been trying to save money lately and I thought that spending money you're trying to save for the good of someone else would be a little counterproductive."
"Big word."
Mercedes chuckled. "If you're going to keep giving things to other people, you're defeating the purpose of actually putting money aside for your family."
Sam tucked his lips in some. "I guess you're right. But those people were in need, Cedes."
"They might've been in need, Sam, but things for your family are tight at it is. I'm all for giving. You know that. But if you need to save, you need to save. Alright?"
"Mercy, I can't just-"
"If you still want to help them out, I'll give you something, okay? But you guys should keep saving. You don't know how long your dad's going to be in rehab." Mercedes tried to hint at the situation with Sam's dad in hopes that he would open up about what happened when he went to see him.
"Yeah, you're right. My mom's been looking for another job, though." Well, she tried.
Mercedes sighed internally and laid her head on Sam's shoulder. "HR?"
"Yeah. Finding a good paying job is a lot easier with a graduates degree." After his dad got sober the first time, Sam's mom went back to college so that if something ever happened again, she wouldn't have to worry about how they would get by. Only problem was, his mom never actually went job searching afterwards.
"Do you think she knew it would happen again?"
"Who knows?" Sam shrugged the shoulder that Mercedes wasn't on. "But when you have a child, a toddler, and a baby on the way, I think you want to be prepared just in case."
"I understand that." Mercedes said.
There was a moment of silence between the couple.
"I have to go soon." Sam kissed her forehead.
"Why?"
"Because you're lying here beside me and you're in a pretty tight tank top and leggings, which are an ultimate weakness of mine, and we had a conversation about this earlier and I told you that I would be able to wait and waiting is gonna be pretty hard if you keep showing off all you got like that." Sam said in one breath.
Mercedes chuckled. "Sam, just calm down." She took his hand. "I didn't mean we had to wait until we were married or anything. I just mean not right now."
"Alright, so not right now. What about tomorrow?"
"No."
"Two weeks from now?"
Mercedes laughed again as she got up from the bed and walked into her bathroom. "No, Sam. I'll let you know when. It's going to at least be a few months."
"You remember that thing I said about satisfying my sexual appetite?" Sam followed her and leaned against the doorframe.
"I do." Mercedes let her hair down and put it back up.
"Yeah, well, it was a lot easier when I didn't know you were thinking about…"
"Sex?"
Sam shifted and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah."
Mercedes smiled wickedly and looked at Sam in her mirror. "I'm not thinking about it. Are you?"
"I can't stand you."
Mercedes bent over and rinsed her face in her sink. "Towel." She stuck her hand out.
Sam pushed himself off the doorframe and grabbed her towel from her shower rack, handing it to her. "You think you're slick, you know. Telling me that you're not thinking about it."
Mercedes shrugged as she wiped her face. "I'm not."
"Yeah, you are."
"How are you going to tell me what I'm thinking about?" She questioned.
"I am you, Mercy. We always think the same thing."
"I'm not thinking about sex, Sam." Mercedes said again. Truth be told, she actually wasn't. At least, not until Sam said something about it. She walked out of her bathroom and stood at the foot of her bed, crossing her arms. "Honestly."
"So, if I just…" Sam walked slowly toward her. "Strolled over to you like that. And decided to wrap my arms around your waist like this," He did that. "You wouldn't feel a certain way?"
Mercedes tried not to laugh. "I'd think it was really sweet and romantic of you." She said sweetly. "It wouldn't get me in the mood though."
"What about if I did this?" He kissed her passionately. "And whispered in your ear like this." It was more than just a whisper, it was definitely a lustful hiss of sorts.
Mercedes was nowhere near phased. "Is that how you've gotten other girls into bed with you? By breathing in their ears and taking those tentacles you call arms and lacing them around their waists?" She smirked.
Sam abruptly shoved Mercedes on her back onto her bed and climbed on top of her. He looked at her, waiting for her to laugh again.
She didn't laugh, though. Instead, they both found themselves, breathing almost silently, big brown eyes staring into intense green ones.
"Hey, Mercedes, Mom wants you to-" Ada burst into the door to see Sam on top of Mercedes. "She wants you to set the table." She slowly backed out of the room.
Mercedes laughed again. "Boy, get off of me before we end up getting caught in the act or something."
Sam didn't say or do anything. He was mortified.
"Sam?" Mercedes waved her and in her boyfriend's face. "You in there? I need you to get off of me now." She tilted her head and looked at him sideways. "Seriously. Get off and stop looking at my boobs." After a moment, Mercedes gently pushed Sam over to the side and got up.
"Fuck." Sam whisper-shouted.
"What, Sam?"
Sam's eyes widened. "Oh, you know what."
Mercedes smiled and pulled Sam up from the floor. "We weren't doing anything."
Sam pouted. "We know that, but Ada doesn't."
"Well, you could always explain it to her at dinner tonight." Mercedes tried to persuade him.
"I can't stay." Sam cupped Mercedes' cheeks with his hands and put their foreheads together. "I told you that."
Mercedes kissed Sam's lips sweetly. "What if I told you my mom was making chicken tetrazzini?"
Sam gasped and brought his hands away from Mercedes' face. "Chicken tetrazzini?"
"Uh huh."
"I fucking love your mom's chicken tetrazzini."
"I know you do."
"With the teeny tiny noodles?"
Mercedes giggled. "Yes, with the teeny tiny noodles. Or, as everyone else calls them, angel hair pasta."
Sam sighed. "Guess you could just bring some for me tomorrow when we meet at the fair." He backed away from her and began to walk out of the room.
"What if I told you that Grandma Edith was coming tonight?"
Sam gasped again and raced over to where Mercedes was standing. "Grandma Edith?"
"Grandma Edith." Mercedes assured.
"I fucking love Grandma Edith-"
"Hey." Mercedes said. "Don't put my grandmother and a curse word in the same sentence."
Sam scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry. I just really love your grandma. Alot."
Mercedes laughed. "You're not the only one." She interlocked their fingers. "So?"
"I'm supposed to be home, Mercy."
"Just stay long enough to see my grandmother." Mercedes pleaded. That's it. You don't even have to stay for dinner. My mom can give you some food to take home."
Sam stared into Mercedes' eyes. "Fine. Let me call my mom and make sure it's okay."
"Great. I'm going to go downstairs and set the table. Just come down when you get off of the phone." Mercedes kissed Sam on the cheek and walked out of her room, where she saw Ada waiting on her.
"So, I'm guessing you and Sam worked out whatever problems you had." She smirked.
"Not really, no." Mercedes rolled her eyes. "And you didn't see what you think you saw."
"I mean, you're not an adult or anything, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I understand. I just wish you wouldn't have done it with our grandmother on the way."
"I swear, if you tell anyone what you saw-"
Ada reached the bottom of the stairs first. "Calm down." She got close to Mercedes and whispered in her ear. "Your sex secret's safe with me." She chuckled as she walked off.
"It's not a-" Mercedes almost shouted before realizing what she was saying. She huffed and went to set the table.
When Mercedes got downstairs, she saw Jeremy in the kitchen. She went over and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, bro."
"Hey." He side hugged her. "Is Sam here?"
Mercedes nodded. "He's upstairs. Making sure it's okay with his mom if he stays over-"
"You know who I haven't seen in a while?" Jeremy interrupted. "Santana. She hasn't been over since that night that the new girl in glee club came over. Larissa was her name. Haven't seen Santana since that night. You should've asked her to come over."
Mercedes rolled her eyes and walked over to the dining room. "Santana isn't exactly an ally of mine right now. She thinks I've been spending too much time with Sam and not enough with her."
Jay followed his sister to and began helping her. "What do you think?"
"I don't know. I explained the whole situation to her though. With Ada being here and this whole relationship I've got going on with Sam now, I don't have a lot of time. I've tried to- Forks on the left." Mercedes paused.
Jeremy looked down at the table and back up at Mercedes. "What?"
Mercedes walked over to where her brother was. "Forks always go on the left." She rearranged the utensils. "And the salad fork, which is the little fork, is the leftmost one. Same for the spoons. The smallest one is going to be closer to the plate. Go back and fix the rest."
Jay looked at Mercedes like she was crazy. "What the hell, really?"
"Yes." Mercedes said. "And Grandma Edith is coming over tonight so no cursing at the table. It's bad enough that you do it when she's not here." She went back over to where she was before.
Jay narrowed his eyes. "But don't you also do it when she's not here?"
"Now, you'll go back and set the table right. I'll get back to what I was saying. I've tried hanging out with her, but she's busy when I'm not. I've tried inviting her to things when I go out with Sam, she won't do it."
"I don't really blame her. Who'd want to third wheel with you guys?"
"But that's just it! I tell her she can bring Brittany or maybe Quinn. Hell, she could bring a damn stuffed animal if she wants-"
"No cursing at the table."
"Shut up. I swear, it's like no matter what I try doing, she doesn't want to hang out with me anymore."
"But she's still your friend though, right? She's not actually said anything to you about hating you or anything?"
"No, but she doesn't even want to co-captain the cheer squad with me. She texted me yesterday saying that she thought Quinn would make a better fit. I love Quinn and all, but Santana needs to figure this out. If she wants to hang out with me, she's going to have to start making efforts, too. I can't be the only one trying to figure things out." Mercedes ranted.
"Ok, let's talk about something else. I can already see the smoke seeping out of your ears." Jay chuckled.
Mercedes smiled and rolled her eyes. "I'm not that angry, Jay. It's just frustrating, is all. What do you want to talk about now?"
Jeremy walked to all the entrances that were in earshot of the where they were. He went over to Mercedes and spoke softly. "Do you think Mom made enough for an extra person tonight?"
Mercedes giggled. "What, another one of your freeloader friends coming over again?"
"Okay, first of all, they're not freeloaders, they pay their parts for everything, and they're both moving into their own places this weekend." Jay looked around one more time before speaking softly again. "I mean a female extra person." He avoided Mercedes' gaze.
Mercedes' jaw dropped to the floor. "No way." She gave her brother a smile that reached her ears. "Are you fucking kidding me? You've got to be kidding. How long?"
"7 months."
"Holy shit."
Jay rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay. I get it-"
"No, no, this is great, brother." Mercedes laughed. "But, I mean, wow. That was not what I expected." She put her hand on her brother's shoulder. "I guess Mr. Playa's still got some of his game, huh? It's been awhile since you brought a girl around. If I'm honest, I was starting to think you were gay."
"Alright, enough of that." Jay brushed Mercedes' hand off his shoulder. "I'll just tell her not to come." He pulled his phone out.
"Wait, Jay." Mercedes grinned and took his phone out of his hands, placing it in the table beside them. "Let her come." She said sincerely. "You might want to give Mom a heads-up, though. She may or may not be a little tense from a conversation I may or may not have had with her a couple hours ago."
"Jesus, Mercedes. Really?"
"In my defense, had I known you were bringing a girl home, I might've tried to butter her up a bit. This is your fault for springing this shit on me out of nowhere."
"Whatever." Jeremy picked up his phone. "I'm gonna go talk to Mom." He left the room.
As if on cue, Sam entered the dining room, placing his hands over Mercedes' eyes and smiling. "Guess who's staying for dinner." He said.
Mercedes snickered as she turned around. "So, she said yes?"
"She did." Sam nodded. "She just made me promise to bring her some."
"She might not be getting any tonight. Turns out, we have an extra guest coming." Mercedes traced circles on Sam's chest.
"Who is this extra guest?"
Mercedes thought for a moment. "I actually don't know her name." She laughed. "But my brother's bringing a girl home."
Sam's eyes widened a little and grabbed Mercedes hands. "Seriously?"
Mercedes nodded.
"You're kidding."
"I know, right? But no."
"How long?"
"7 months."
"Holy shit."
Mercedes snorted. "I know, right?"
"So all that time that we thought he was gay?"
"We were totally wrong." Mercedes was breathless from laughing.
"That's probably the craziest thing I've heard all day." Sam smiled and watched Mercedes laugh. He put his hands on her waist.
Mercedes got ahold of herself and looked up at her boyfriend. "It is, most certainly, very crazy." She said.
There was a moment of silence between the couple. They just stood in one another's arms, gazing into the other person's eyes. Sam was the first to speak up.
"You're so beautiful."
Mercedes felt her heart swelling and her cheeks burning as she put her face into his chest and beamed. When she felt Sam hug her, she hugged him back.
Sam lifter Mercedes head up and placed a kiss on her lips before putting his head atop of hers. "I love you."
Mercedes couldn't say anything. She was smiling too hard. But she knew that Sam knew that she loved him too.
They stayed like that for what seemed like forever. It was really only about 10 seconds, though. Because they heard footsteps— or, paw steps— coming closer and closer to them. Before long, They felt Prince jumping up to join the cuddlefest.
Mercedes cackled upon realizing the dog was there. She broke away from Sam and bent over to rub him. She took Sam's hand, "Come on. Let's go sit."
Mercedes finally got her nap after laying across Sam on the sectional. A knock at the door woke her up. She pushed herself off of Sam and rushed to the door. She opened it and smiled, expecting her grandma. The person at the door wasn't her grandma. Mercedes didn't know who it was. Who was it?"
"Grace." Jeremy walked to the door. "Hey."
"Hey," Grace smiled brightly. "Am I too early? I know you said dinner didn't start until about 7, but I thought I would… at least, come and meet some of your family." She glanced at Mercedes. "Is this one of your sisters?"
"Yeah, yeah." Jeremy looked over to Mercedes. "Mercedes, this is Grace, my girlfriend. Grace, this is Mercedes."
"Ahh, Mercedes." Grace said smoothly. "The smartest out of the sisters, loves to sing, and hates bananas with a passion." She shook Mercedes' hand. "Jay's told me a lot about you."
Mercedes gave the girl in front of her a cheeky smile. "I wish I could say the same, Grace."
"By the way, my name is Maya-Grace. So, if you'd like to call me Maya, or Grace, or Maya-Grace," Maya chuckled. I'm fine with that."
"Well, Maya, Grace, Maya-Grace." Mercedes smiled. "I have to say, before you got here I didn't even know your name." Mercedes said more to her brother than to Maya.
Jeremy shrugged. "Sorry 'bout that." He looked over at Sam and signal for him to come where they were. "Grace, this is Sam, a family friend."
"Family friend, long-time best friend of Mercedes, and short-time boyfriend of Mercedes." Maya shook Sam's hand.
"Why do I feel like you've told her everything about us, dude?" Sam whispered to Jeremy.
"Alright. Grace, why don't you come in, and I'll get everybody else down here." Jay brought Maya into the house, closing the door behind her.
Mercedes went over to Jay and whispered in his ear. "Don't leave her by herself, dufus. I'll go get everyone."
After getting her little sisters to go downstairs, Mercedes went to Ada's room and plopped down on her bed, grinning. "You would not believe who's downstairs in our living room."
Ada turned over in her covers. "If it's not our grandmother, why are you on my bed right now?"
"Oh, come on, Ada." Mercedes nudged her sister. "It's not Grandma Edith. It's even better." She patted Ada's leg and got off the bed. "Get up. I'll be waiting outside the door."
When Ada got out of her room, she stood next to Mercedes. "What is it?"
"More like 'who' is it. And 'who' it is is Maya-Grace. Check this out." Mercedes brought Ada to the top of the staircase and pointed at the girl in the living room.
Ada gasped. "Holy crap. She's gorgeous."
"Right?" Mercedes beamed.
"Ok, I know who she is. Why is she here?"
Mercedes giggled as she saw Jeremy walking towards Maya and hit Ada's side gently. "Watch this."
Ada watched as Jay put his hand on the small of Maya's back and kissed her on the cheek. She gasped again. "No way." She whispered. "No fucking way."
Mercedes gave her sister a look. "What's with you and the swearing?"
"I have no idea. Chalk it up to the growing fetus in my body. What in the hell am I looking at?"
"Oh, I think you know what you're looking at."
Ada went back up to the top of the stairs so that she could speak louder. "How did that even happen? And for how long has it been happening?"
Mercedes shrugged. "I don't know anything about how it got started. All Jay told me was that they've been together for 7 months now."
"7 months?" Ada's eyes widened. "How did he keep it a secret for this long?"
"Beats me." Mercedes said. "Come on, let's go ahead and get down there." She jogged down the stairs, followed by Ada.
Once Ada and Maya had been introduced, all of the Jones family who were present sat in the living room, chatting and getting to know Maya-Grace. After some time, there was a sound of a car door being shut in the yard. Mercedes jumped up, clapping and smiling. "Finally, Grandma's here." She went to the door and waited for her grandmother to knock. Mercedes opened the door with a smile on her face, but that smile quickly turned into a look of utter shock. "Oh, no."
Ada went over to the door. "Well, don't keep Grandma to yourself, Mercedes. I'm the one that's hardly seen her in the year I've been go-" Upon seeing who was at the door, she stopped dead in her tracks. "Nathan?"
