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Chapter 4

"Okay Tina, remember this is just an introductory date. You'll be meeting at Theodore Roosevelt Park in forty five minutes, he'll be wearing a green Henley and dark jeans." Mercedes said subtly biting her lip because she started to imagine what he looked like in that and knew it was down right sexy.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so excited, I read his profile and he seems so amazing! Plus he has the family man mentality, I hope we click!" Tina said looking at herself in the mirror, it was colder out so she had on a pair of light wash jeans and black and white sweater with a pair of ankle boots.

"Yeah… Kurt if you don't mind taking over I need to head over to Sa- Mr. Evans." Mercedes asked, grabbing her things not giving him a chance to even answer before telling Tina goodbye and good luck then leaving.

"Yeah… sure." Kurt said, assessing Tina's outfit. "You look great, just remember to not overshare right away. He's a simple guy who's looking for someone to complete his family."

"He could seriously be the one…" Tina said excitedly and Kurt had to hide his look of doubt because he was almost certain that Sam Evans already belonged to someone else.

...

Sam tied his shoes and sighed. "Do I really have to do this? Can't I call in sick or something?"

"Dude, it's not a job, it's a date! Besides you saw the woman's picture. She's hot." Stevie said.

"Hot or not, I still don't want to do this." Sam muttered.

Mike smiled. "You know, Izzy was telling Chloe how happy she was that Mercedes was going to be in the mother daughter pageant with her. I am surprised you agreed to that."

"I didn't have a choice." Sam said under his breath, angry that Mercedes was able to make him agree not only to that but proving that she would be great at helping Izzy.

"Dude she's your kid." Mike said, chuckling.

"It wasn't Izzy that changed his mind…" Stevie teased, smirking at his brother.

"Oh, does the beast have the hots for Princess Tiana?" Mike teased laughing.

"No, she's a frustrating, annoying woman who-" Sam stopped when Mercedes walked in talking to Quinn.

"Drool much?" Stevie asked before laughing.

"She made you stop complaining about her and hasn't even looked your way." Mike said, chuckling.

"Shut up!" He said, eyes roaming the way her dress clung to her curves. He just wanted to run his hands up and down her body, followed by his tongue.

"That dress looks amazing on her, I wonder if she's single…" Stevie teased.

"Leave her alone, she's not here for you to fuck with she's here to find Izzy a mother." Sam growled.

Mike watched as Izzy ran up and hugged Mercedes laughing, and Mercedes bent down hugging her back. "From the looks of it, Izzy has already found herself a mother."

"Mhm, I have to also like her." Sam said, rolling his eyes and checking his watch. He needed to leave but wanted to say bye to Izzy first so he walked into the living room where they would be doing their practicing.

When he walked in Mercedes was currently being hugged on by a man that Sam didn't see come inside before said man kissed her and she let out a giggle shaking her head.

"Ahem." Sam said, getting their attention looking only at Mercedes and the man standing next to her. "I'm leaving."

"Have fun daddy!" Izzy said, running over to her dad and hugging him.

Mercedes moved close to Blaine. "Look, it's the ass himself." She whispered.

"Very sexy ass." Blaine whispered back and they both laughed.

"Mercedes a word." Sam said but he wasn't asking.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." Mercedes said to Blaine before walking in the direction Sam did. "Can I help you Mr. Evans?"

"I don't appreciate you bringing your boyfriend to my home, especially around my daughter." He snapped walking into her personal space and she was mad she was literally against a wall.

"Excuse you? First of all, I told you I would bring someone by to help with our clothing, and you said it was okay, so why don't you back the hell up, and go out on your date! Mr. Evans."

"You didn't say he was your boyfriend, nor did you mention having one." Sam said, placing both hands on the side of her head.

"You do know what they say about people who assume right? Now again, you should be headed out. Your date is waiting for you." She said, trying to push him back but he stood firm in front of her.

"Don't test me." Sam said lowering so that his lips grazed her cheek.

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it." She said sarcastically.

Sam didn't say anything, instead he just turned her head and kissed her before pulling away. "I have a date, if it goes poorly you will know about it."

"And if it goes well?" She questioned.

"You're the matchmaker." He retorted with a shrug before walking away and out the door so he could make his date.

Mercedes swallowed hard as Sam left, she was getting in way too deep, this had to stop. It had too.

Izzy hopped up on the counter as her grandma was plating the cookies. "Can I have one?"

"Of course my angel. Tell me are you excited about your pageant?"

"Yes! Mercy and I are gonna sing together and her friend Blaine is making us matching dresses." She said happily.

"You really like her don't you?" Mary asked, smiling at her granddaughter.

"I do!" Izzy looked around the room to see if anyone was there then leaned into her grandma. "She's gonna be my new mommy." She whispered.

"What's that?" Mary asked, making sure she heard her correctly.

"Mercy is gonna be my new mommy." She said again a little louder.

"Oh babycakes… remember that's why we hired her so she could help your dad find someone?" Mary explained not wanting to crush her granddaughter's spirit.

"But he found her! Daddy likes her! He kissed her yesterday at ice cream. But she pushed him away so I gots to make her like daddy back."

"I picked up on that at the Halloween party…" Mary said more to herself than to Izzy.

Dwight overheard their conversation before adding in his two cents. "Stay out of it and let whatever is supposed to happen, happen." He said stealing a cookie.

"But Poppop she's perfect!"

"It's not just about what you want, she has to want that too." Dwight explained and Mary knew he was right but she wanted Sam to be happy and judging by how happy Izzy was already she knew it was a matter of time before Sam felt the same way.

"She's coming over on Saturday to help me make daddy breakfast for his birthday...that's what mommies do...right?" she asked the pair.

Mary smiled. "Yes sweetie, it is."

"Mary." Dwight said, giving her a knowing look.

"Izzybear, will you take Mercedes and Blaine some cookies?" Mary asked, handing her a few cookies.

"Yes!" Izzy said happily and ran out the room.

Mary looked at Dwight. "I know you think it's crazy but hear me out honey, you saw them dancing, we may not have seen his face but we saw hers, he was making her laugh and holding her close. Maybe the Matchmaker is the Match for Sam."

"But it's not in our place to force it to happen, they have to get there on their own." Dwight replied

"If Izzy is right and Sam kissed her, then am I really meddling?" She questioned lovingly.

"Yes, because his love life isn't our business." He answered picking up on her tone change.

Mary moved closer to him and kissed his cheek. "Fine. But I think I am gonna tell Mercedes how much Sam loves French Toast and bacon...just to be nice. He deserves a great birthday." She said walking away.

"As long as that's all you tell her." Dwight replied, chuckling. "Like grandmother, like granddaughter."

…

Sam couldn't lie, the entire drive to the park all he could think about was Mercedes, he knew it was wrong, knew that Mercedes was off limits, and that might be why he wanted her so much. As he stepped out of the car he noticed Tina immediately and he had to agree with Stevie that she was beautiful. "I can do this."

Walking over to her he smiled, handing her the flowers Mercedes recommended he give her. "Tina, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well." Tina replied, smiling and smelling the beautiful flowers. "These are beautiful."

Sam led her over to a nearby bench. "So um tell me about yourself?"

"Well I graduated from Brown with a degree in Child Psychology, moved to the city after getting my placement at the local hospital. Have some great friends I see regularly and I love a good horror flick. I am great with kids, and expect nothing but the best from my life. I think we could be great together. I mean look at us on paper. We are 87% match."

Sam sighed. "Not much into Horror flicks but I do love a good Marvel marathon."

"OMG me too. I think Superman is like the greatest Marvel hero ever."

Sam stared at her open mouth for a second thoroughly confused by her words. "Wait what?"

Superman! He's the really hot guy with a cape!" Tina answered.

"Superman is with DC…" Sam said, looking away from her.

"DC, Marvel, same thing. They have great movies. We should watch one together."

"That sounds fun, my daughter is more of a fan of princesses." Sam said, figuring he'd let it slide, he was offended by her saying they were the same thing, but you can't be good at everything.

"Princesses? Shouldn't you have her looking up to better role models? If you want to raise a strong daughter she needs a strong role model." She said, smiling brightly.

"Princesses aren't bad role models." Sam said looking at Tina like she was crazy. "Plus she likes them so I want her to enjoy what she likes."

"Princesses await a prince to rescue them, it's telling girls they can't be complete without a man. That is something we would need to discuss but we have time. So tell me what you and Bella like to do for fun?"

Sam internally groaned. "Its Izzy."

"I figured I could set myself apart from everyone else and call her Bella."

"But she hates that name, so please don't call her that." Sam said.

"Sam, you seem like a great guy and I can not wait to get to know you. But you are giving that little girl too much power."

"Isn't that just what you said? She needed strong role models to be a strong woman. I don't give my daughter anything but love and guidance."

Tina reached out for his hand. "Sam, it's okay, once we start dating exclusively I will show you the ways to get her to be her own young woman. And Bella will love me."

Sam gritted his teeth. "It's Izzy." He ran his hand through his hair letting out a sigh and Tina leaned before standing up and shooting him a look.

"You smell like honey and lavender." She accused.

"What?" Sam asked, looking at her confused.

Tina rolled her eyes. "You smell like a woman, are you just doing this to try to get into my pants?"

"To try and- What are you talking about!? Look, I hugged a friend for luck before coming here. But thank you for making me see that we may be a match on paper but not in person."

He stood up and walked away but stopped. "And FYI! Marvel and DC are NOT the same thing!"

…

Sam walked back into his house annoyed for more than one reason but the main one wasn't even how the date turned out, it was because Mercedes hadn't answered any of his calls. A thirty minute drive from Central park to his home and he called her at least ten times but she didn't answer any of them.

How was he supposed to trust her to find his perfect match if he couldn't vent after the dates she forced him to go on? He started to drive to her office but he wasn't sure if she was there so he decided to go home and call her assistant letting him know he expected her to call him first thing in the morning. He ran upstairs to check on Izzy but she wasn't in there, his parents car wasn't there and neither was Quinn's. He went back downstairs looking in the living room when he saw both Izzy and Mercedes snuggled up on the couch asleep with Hocus Pocus still playing on the tv.

Izzy had her head on a pillow on Mercedes' lap, he could tell by her hand placement she was stroking her hair before falling asleep herself. He wanted to be mad at Mercedes but seeing her and his daughter like this made his heart happy. He wanted that forreal, he needed that for both him and his daughter. He stood there for a little longer before deciding to take Izzy to her room to get a better sleep.

Mercedes didn't know when she fell asleep. She and Izzy went over their song, their outfits, ate dinner and Mercedes helped her get ready for bed. With the promise of one movie, they barely made it 10 minutes in. She stirred when she felt Sam lift Izzy off of her.

"Oh, hey Sam, how was your date?" She asked yawning and stretching out.

Sam shifted Izzy in his arms. "If you can give me a few minutes we can discuss it."

Mercedes checked the time. "I really should be getting home."

"You're not driving back to the city this late." Sam said before making his way upstairs.

Ignoring Sam, she moved to find her shoes and bag. She was kinda afraid of what would happen if she did stay the night.

"I have your keys." He said coming back downstairs holding a shirt and some shorts for her. "Here, that dress can't be comfortable to sleep in."

"I am not sleeping here. It wouldn't be appropriate." She said flatly.

"Get over it." Sam said, tossing the clothes at her. "I want you to find me the best person." He added, shocking Mercedes.

"I assume today's date wasn't good?" Mercedes asked, picking up the clothes he threw at her.

"You'd assume correctly. She didn't know the difference between DC and Marvel and tried to tell me how to raise my child." Sam answered angrily.

"What do you mean she didn't know the difference? Even though it wasn't on the questionnaire I am certain most people know." She said, shrugging.

"Well she didn't and she got mad because I apparently smelled like you." Sam said

"Well that one was on you and not me! I didn't tell you to try and seduce me earlier." She defended herself.

"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore. I've realized that Izzy deserves a mother and I do want to get married, I want someone who wants me, that I won't have to fight. So the next person you have me go on a date with, make sure she's worth meeting my daughter." Sam said and Mercedes couldn't help but feel a pang in her chest.

"Fine. Now if you will excuse me, I have a bit of a drive. May I have my keys Mr. Evans." She said standing tall.

"Mercedes, I wasn't kidding, you're not driving home at this hour. There's a guest room down here." He said, grabbing her hand and showing her the guest suite.

She tried her best to ignore the pull she felt when his hand touched hers.

"You don't have to worry about me coming in here and trying to seduce you either. Also… thank you for being good to my daughter… she really deserves it." He said before shooting her a half smile.

"You don't have to thank me. She's amazing." She said softly.

"You are too, good night Merce." He said before walking out.

"Yeah...goodnight." She said feeling her heart ache at him just walking out. "It's for the best." She said to herself. "He needs a wife and you are not that. Just go to sleep and leave asap."

…

It was still dark out when Mercedes woke up, she checked her phone and saw that it was barely six in the morning. She sat up, stretching and shamelessly sniffed the shirt Sam gave her. It smelled so much like, she quickly snapped herself out of that fairy tale remembering he was just her client.

"That is all he can be… find him the perfect woman and then let go." Mercedes said to herself as she turned on the table lamp. She saw her keys and a note on the table quickly got out of bed figuring this was her sign to leave before anyone woke up.

She put her shoes on before grabbing her dress and purse, she stuffed the note in her purse then slowly snuck out of the guest room. She was happy that it was on the first floor and even more thankful that Sam had the alarm code taped on the flap.

She sighed before unsetting, then opening the door and resetting the alarm and quickly running to her car and leaving. She needed to get away and stay away from Sam for now but she already knew that was going to be difficult considering she had to be there Saturday morning for his birthday.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" She asked herself seeing the large home grow smaller the further she got away. She fished the note out of her purse and read it hoping it was a sign of something but it simply said:

Thanks again, get home safely.

-Sam

"This is what you wanted." She said but her heart still stung and she knew she needed to shut off that piece of herself until the job was done.

Aww Mercedes and Izzy are just too cute! Tina was tripping... crazy ass lol

Let's have a little fun:

Who are y'all thinking will give in first? Sam or Mercedes?