WOW! It has been a very long time! I still love this story and I think about it all of the time. So here is a massive update! Thank you for holding in there. Enjoy and as always please share your thoughts at the end. I love reading your comments!
Come Back to Me
Chapter 14
From across the field Quinn notices Mercedes talking to a little girl. She stops conversing with the Jones' to look. Noting her silence the Jones' turn to see what she is staring at. They all watch as Mercedes begins to cry while hugging this girl. Concerned they all walk over to her. Quinn rubs Mercedes' back and kneels down next to her. "Baby are you okay? What's going on?"
At this Mercedes swiftly turns to Quinn and asks through teary eyes, "Lucy are we in a dream?" Before Quinn can answer, her eyes lock with Faith's and like Mercedes she too begins to wonder if she is actually seeing what is right in front of her.
Quinn answers Mercedes but she does not take her eyes off of Faith. "No baby we aren't."
Faith, who has been the calmest through all of this, touches Quinn's face and says, "Mommy."
Before Quinn has the opportunity to try and process anything, Judy appears behind the awestruck Jones' and clears her throat, "Perhaps I can explain."
At least at first glance the woman looked like Judy. Maybe just a little older in the face but other than that the women could be twins. Olivia speaks to the woman first, "And who might you be?"
The woman can tell that everyone is confused, angry, and needy for answers. She expected as much before arriving at the graduation ceremony with Faith.
She proceeds with caution because she wants to explain everything as best as possible. She is on their side, and they need to see that. "Hello everyone, my name is Leslie, Leslie Hart." After hearing the woman's last name it makes Quinn think, but she does not say anything because there is not enough time to process everything that is going through her mind right now. She lets the woman continue. "I am Judy's older sister and I have been taking care of Faith for the past two years."
Everyone is at a loss for words, especially Quinn. She had no idea that her mother had any siblings. Everyone looks at Quinn and all she does is make the famous "I don't know face" while shrugging her shoulders. There are hundreds of thoughts running through everyone's minds. No one knows which question they should ask first. However R.J manages to say something first, "Say what?"
Leslie responds, "I know this is all confusing but if we could go somewhere so that we can talk about everything that would be ideal. There is so much that I need to tell you and I hope that by the end of all of this you will understand why Judy did what she did, and why I helped."
This time Ray takes the lead, "Why don't we all go back to ours. Obviously we have a lot to talk about and I'd rather not discuss it here." He turns to his daughter, "Mercedes, Quinn are you guys okay with that?"
Mercedes quickly grabs Faith and picks her up. Quinn moves to attach herself to Mercedes' hip and together they say, "We aren't going anywhere without her." The rest of the Jones' turn to look at Leslie and she nods in agreement.
Faith rests her head on Mercedes' shoulder, hugs her, and smiles before saying, "Let's go Mama!"
This melts everyone's heart, including Leslie's, so she suggests, "Why don't the girls ride with me, Mercedes or Quinn can drive my car and we can meet you back at your house." Looking around at everyone she continues, "Does that sound okay?"
The Jones' and Quinn all look at each other and silently agree with head nods and eye contact.
The car ride is extremely awkward. Quinn is driving, Leslie is sitting in the passenger seat, while Mercedes rides in the back with Faith. About five minutes into the ride, after having ogled over Faith and wonder in amazement she asks, "How does she know who we are? I mean we only knew her for two days. I know I will never forget any part of those two days, but how can she know us?"
Leslie smiles to herself because she can hear the disbelief and joy in her voice. The happiness she feels because this is actually happening and the sheer confusion of it all. "Well Mercedes I made sure that she knew who her parents were. My intentions have always been the best. I know you don't know me or know who I am but all I ever wanted to do was help. There was a picture in her car seat the day she came to live with me and my family. I made copies of that picture and we looked at it every day. She memorized your faces and had been eagerly awaiting the day where she would see you in person. I couldn't tell her much about you guys because I don't know that much myself, but I made sure that she know that you two love her with all of your hearts."
Quinn is choked up. She hoped that when she placed the pictures in the car seat they would serve as a reminder to Faith of where she came from and she is grateful to know that it did. Mercedes and Quinn make eye contact in the mirror and Mercedes mouths, "I love you." to her girlfriend.
The rest of the car ride was spent in mostly silence. Except for the sounds that came from Faith because she and Mercedes were bonding in the back seat.
…
In the Jones' heavily decorated living room everyone sat with listening ears. The room was decorated with congratulations balloons, decorative graduation caps, streamers and rolled up papers that resemble diplomas. The graduation party is happening at the Jones' home and they only had a few hours before people would start to arrive by the dozens. They were all quiet as they were giving Leslie the opportunity to explain her part of the story. Faith sat on Quinn's lap while Mercedes sat with her arm wrapped around Quinn's waist. Leslie begins, "Well the reason why Quinn doesn't know who I am is because my parents disowned me when I got pregnant when I was sixteen. My parents, my family, and my friends wanted nothing to do with me, even the the father of my child wanted nothing to do with me. For months I was pregnant and alone. I found shelter at a clinic for teens in similar situations and stayed there until giving birth to my first child, Thomas. After having Thomas his father finally came around and stepped up to help take care of us. I went on living my life, got married, had two daughters, and not once did I speak to any member of my family. That is until two years ago when I got a call from my sister."
"The call was strange and desperate. She told me that I needed to help her daughter." She gestures to Quinn, "To help you, my niece. She explained to me that your father had no intentions of letting you go and that I needed to come and take the baby if I wanted to keep it in the family. I was on a flight from Florida that same night. I arranged a meeting spot with your mother. She told your father that she found a family to adopt Faith. He didn't know it was me, and still doesn't. He really wanted nothing to do with any of it, so he didn't ask questions. When that man knocked on my hotel room door and put Faith in my arms, I cried. I cried for you and for her because what was happening to the two of you was so cruel and familiar and I hated it, but I didn't know another way to help. When I found the picture of you three girls I realized then that I would raise her until you two were 18, an age where your parents would have no say in how you choose to live your life. So here I am today. My intentions were to come earlier, for Faiths birthday, but the whole family came down with an awful cold and it prevented us from doing anything."
As Leslie stops at the end of her story she takes a deep breath. her eyes are watering and you can tell that she really cares. The family is ready to ask questions. Olivia is first, " I thank you for everything that you have done for Faith and for the girls, but why didn't you try to contact Mercedes?"
Leslie was ready for that question so a second didn't go by before she responded, "I am truly sorry ma'am but I was under the impression that neither my sister and her husband, nor you and your husband wanted anything to do with the baby. I was informed that the two of you thought that the girls were in a meaningless relationship and that you were working together with my sister. However, when I saw that picture I could tell that the girls were in love and I decided that the separation would only be temporary."
Mercedes is next, she is grateful she is, but so angry at the same time, "So that's it. You didn't even try to make any contact with Lucy?"
"Please Mercedes understand that, that wouldn't have been the best option."
"Why"
Quinn says something for the first time looking Leslie in the eye, "Because then I wouldn't be in Ohio right now and none of this would be happening. My parents would have probably shipped me off to someplace so minuet that thinking about communicating with anybody would be out of the question."
Quinn looks at Mercedes now, " My father is a scary man. I still don't know how I managed to leave his house, but the day I left his house he erased me from his memory. He no longer has a daughter. To him, I'm nothing."
Mercedes eyes soften at these words. She leans in to plant a kiss on Quinn's cheek, "You have us. We are your family."
Quinn smiles and nods as she prevents a tear from falling, "I know."
There are many more questions asked and all them have answers. They learn about faith and her personality, the learn about Leslie's family, and that she has not had contact with Judy since organizing the pick up of Faith. The conversation continues until the door bell rings indicating the first party guest.
…
13 Years Later
Fifteen year old Faith walks into her Brooklyn brownstone house to find that no one is home. This frightens and upsets her. Her mama is supposed to be home and in bed on bed rest and she isn't here. Before panicking she picks up her phone to call her. When it goes directly to voice mail three times she starts pacing. A few minutes later the front door opens and in walks a very pregnant Mercedes, furious Faith asks "Where have you been?"
"Excuse me?" Mercedes is not pleased with the tone her daughter has chosen to take with her, "Do want to try that again?"
Faith realizes what she had done. "I mean, I mean, you are supposed to be on bed rest, so when I came home and saw that you were gone I started to panic, I didn't mean to be rude I'm just scared." Faith starts crying and at this Mercedes softens her expression to help comfort her daughter.
"Faith what is it? You can't be this upset because you came home to an empty house."
Through tears she replies, "You're not supposed to be out of bed."
Faith has always been extra emotional when it came down to the well being of Mercedes. Their emotional bond is intense and Faith has always tried her best to take care of Mercedes and Mercedes knows this, that's why she is not surprised by Faith being, what some would consider, over emotional.
"Okay Faith come inside with me. I need to lye down. Come on."
Faith and Mercedes walk into Mercedes' and Quinn's room and get into bed. Faith snuggles in to her mama's side. Mercedes asks Faith to start talking but she hasn't stopped crying yet. "Okay Nugget, what happened?" Faith loved chicken nuggets as a child and one day Mercedes started calling her her little Chicken Nugget.
Faith calms down and starts to tell her mother what's wrong, "I got in trouble at school today for punching a girl in the face."
Mercedes was not expecting to hear that, so she is shocked, angry, and surprised all at once, "Sit up and explain this to me because this is not like you and I really need you to help me understand how this happened."
Faith sits up, she knows her mama is angry and this makes it even harder for her to explain. Though tears and a shaky voice Faith continues, "I... I had to read an essay in front of the entire class today. It was about the person I admire the most and how they have inspired me to live the kind of life I want to live and when I finished this girl, who doesn't like me, Sasha" This is a name that Mercedes and Quinn have heard before. Sasha loves to taunt Faith, but Faith can usually handle herself so Mercedes is even more confused. "Sasha started to say that the person I admire was stupid and that even though they mean the world to me I don't mean anything to them. I ignored her at first and even told the teacher what she was doing. All he did was tell her to stop, but she didn't. She kept saying mean things to me."
Mercedes still doesn't understand why Faith punched her, "What else did she say?"
"She started saying that I'm nothing and I mean nothing, and I couldn't take it anymore. I told her to stop and she didn't, so I turned around and punched her." Faith started to cry harder and all Mercedes could think of was how out of character this was for her daughter.
"Faith look at me." Faith picks her head up to look her mother in the eyes.
"You know violence is not okay. I understand that this girl said some really hurtful things to you, but you have the ability to remove yourself from situations that make you uncomfortable, situations that will make you so enraged that you think that punching a girl who hasn't physically harmed you would be okay."
Trying to get Mercedes to understand she says, "I know mama but you weren't there. I couldn't take it anymore! I wrote the essay about you! She was saying all those mean things about us." Faith became inconsolable and there was nothing that Mercedes could say or do to calm her down. Mercedes grabs her daughter and holds her tight and close to her chest.
…
Quinn enters the house after a long day. She had to leave Mercedes' doctors appointment early to go to Faith's school. She didn't tell Mercedes because she didn't want her to be worried during her appointment so she lied and told her that there was an emergency at work and that she had to deal with it immediately.
When she arrived at Faith's school and saw her waiting in the office she looked angry and frustrated. She began to ask her what happened, but before she could finish her question they were called to enter the principal's office.
She greeted the principal while her daughter sat in the seat next to her and asked him, "What's this about." Quinn was a straight to business kind of woman. Her power suite, short neckline haircut, and firm handshake says all of those things. She is currently doing a stint as a college English professor specializing in play writing. She is also directing the end of the year play for one of the top arts colleges in NYC. So the principal was taken aback by the question. Usually he tries to ease into giving bad news.
"Well ma'am your daughter has physically assaulted another student."
Quinn looks at her daughter and says, "Explain." Faith is still running on adrenaline from the altercation so she doesn't cry when she explains what happened. When she is finished Quinn nods her head and says okay before directing her attention back at the principal. "So where is the other student? Why isn't she here with her parents?"
The principal looks a little confused, "Well ma'am your daughter is the one that inflicted harm on another student."
Faith knows her mom and she shakes her head at her principal calling him stupid in her head, because he is about receive a rude awakening. Quinn begins, "You can't honestly believe that my daughter is the only one at fault here. I am in no way condoning violent behavior, but there are three parties at fault here, not one. From what my daughter says she tried to reactive help from her teacher and no help was given, causing the other student to continue to provoke her. From what I understand my daughter kept her composure for as long as she could before she exploded. Where is her teacher? Why isn't he here? He did nothing to help defuse the situation and because my daughter decided to take things into her own hands you want to blame her for the entire incident?"
Both Jones' are looking at the principal, waiting for him to close his mother and respond to Quinn's questions. He shuts his mouth after a few seconds and gulps, "Well ma'am."
Quinn raises a hand for him to stop, "It's Mrs. Jones."
The principal clears his throat before he continues, "My apologies, Mrs. Jones. We have no tolerance for violent behavior at this school. What your daughter did was unacceptable. She has to receive a consequence for her actions."
Quinn asks, "And what about the actions of her teacher and the other student. The other student may have not been physical, but her actions were intended to inflict pain."
"Having heard what you have said i do agree that the other two parties need to be held accountable as well. Looking at your daughters records I see that she is an honor student and has never had a problem up until now.
Faith still frustrated speaks, "That's not true. I have complained numerous times about being bullied by this girl and no-one has done anything about it. This was not the first time this girl has harassed me, but no one does anything to help me and now when I help myself I get in trouble for it. How is that fair?"
The principal responds, "It's not fair and I am sorry you don't feel supported here but I would like to help fix that."
Quinn is proud of her daughter for standing up for herself but she does not like that she took to violence to make a difference.
The principal and Quinn agreed that as a result of her actions Faith would have to start talking to the school consoler twice a week.
Quinn returned to work after the meeting and is only just getting home hours later. She kicks her shoes off as soon as she enters her house and walks to her bedroom. As she enters she sees her wife and child sleeping and that image worms her heart. She knows Faith is having a hard time with everything that happened today. This is not the first time someone has teased her for having two moms.
Quinn changes as quickly and quietly as possible before going into the living room and turning on the television. She has been watching "Friends" for about 20 minutes before Mercedes waddles into the room and sits next to her.
Quinn has been following Mercedes with her eyes and plants a soft kiss on her lips before Mercedes rests her head on her shoulders and Quinn places one arm around her back and places her other hand on her wife's stomach. Mercedes is still waking up so Quinn holds he close until the episode ends before starting a conversation, "How's my baby?"
Mercedes smiles and says, "Which one?" Quinn places a kiss on her forehead and Mercedes continues, "Everything is on the up and up. I don't think this baby is going to stay in much longer. If she doesn't come out soon I'm going to go crazy! Im done being pregnant. I don't know how you did this when we were teenagers."
"Honestly if I didn't have you I don't know how I would have made it to the end."
Mercedes picks up her head to kiss Quinn on the lips, "I love you."
When the kiss ends Quinn asks, "And what about my sleeping teenager?" Mercedes' eyes pop open as if suddenly remembering everything that happened before her nap.
"Oh my goodness! She is a mess. She could barely tell me what happened. I haven't really had a change to talk about it with her because she fell asleep while she was crying in my arms. L, I haven't seen her like this in a long time."
Quinn nods her head in agreement, "I know. She held herself together during the meeting with her principal but as soon as we got in the car the tears started to flow."
Mercedes slaps Quinn in the arm, "You lied to me! There was no emergency at your job. The emergency was our child!"
"Ouch! I know but I didn't want you to worry." Quinn rubs her arm and proceeds to tell Mercedes everything that happened. Mercedes agrees with the counseling and wonders if they should had sought outside counseling sooner.
As they are discussing this Faith walks in and squeezes herself between her two moms. It is very hard for the moms to cuddle when Faith is around. Mercedes and Quinn embrace her and they begin to talk about what happened, "I just got so angry. I put a lot of effort into that pager and everything I said came from the heart, and she just trashed it. I not what she said necessarily just that is was filled with so much hate!"
Mercedes takes her daughter's hand land asks, "Do you remember what I told you after something like this happened the first time?"
Faith nods her head yes but doesn't say anything.
Faith was five and she had just started kindergarten. Quinn was away in London taking classes until Christmas, so it was just the two of them getting along in their small two bedroom Brooklyn apartment. It was hard on Mercedes being that this was the first time in years that the two were going to be apart for longer than a day or two but she made it work.
Mercedes dropped off Faith every morning before heading to her job and then her afternoon class. On the nights that Mercedes has classes Rachel, Santana, or RJ will pick Faith up from school. Today was Santana's turn and the teacher did not give Santana a good report. She informed her that a few of the kids were laughing at Faith for not looking like her mom, more out of confusion than in a teasing fashion and Faith was still upset about it. The teacher had a discussion with the whole class about how families are all different and many of the kids began to understand, but Faith was still hurt.
When Mercedes arrived home Santana told her everything that happened and even she couldn't get Faith to feel better. She even tried to bribe her with ice-cream! Mercedes went into her daughter's room and squeezed herself onto her child size bed until they were face to face. Faith was clearly upset, "He Nugget. I heard you had a not so good day."
Faith replies, "I was not a good day."
"Will you tell me what happened?"
Faith took a deep breath, "The kids were laughing at me because we not the same color. How come we not the same color?"
It was Mercedes' turn to take a breath, "Well we aren't the same color that's for sure, but you already knew that. I have brown skin and you have white skin, but that doesn't mean we aren't a family."
"But mom has white skin and we look the same. I want brown skin too."
Mercedes smiles, she always in awe of how her daughter's little mind works, "You look more like mom because mom carried you in her tummy. If I carried you in my tummy you would look more like me, but I didn't. It was mom's turn to carry you and one day I will carry your brother or sister."
"Will my brother or sister have brown skin?"
"Maybe, but skin color doesn't matter. Color is not what makes a family. Love makes a family and I love you with all of my heart. Do you love me?"
"Mmhmm I love you mama, I love you this much." Faith stretches out her arms as far as they could go."
"Wow! That is a lot of love. It doesn't matter what people look like in a family, what matters is love and I love you and mom very much. We are a family. You are my daughter and one day mom will be my wife. And don't forget you and I have the same last name. We are family."
Faith repeats the word family and smiles. She knows she loves her mama and that is the only thing that matters.
"I love you mama."
"You were so young. I can't believe you remember."
"Of course I remember. I used to sing that song I made up." All three Jones' start to laugh as they remember the song that Faith used to sing.
In unison the sing, "Love makes a family, love makes a family, I have white skin, mama has brown skin, love makes a family!"
They all burst out into laughter again until Faith says, "I'm sorry I let my anger get the best of me."
The moms agreed that going to counseling was fair as this was the first time anything like this has happened. The three of the watched a movie, ordered takeout and stayed up past Faiths bed time.