Sorry for the delay, between being sick, and starting a new job, my muse has been running away from me. But you all know I am never too far away from a story.
Present Day
"You left, no forwarding address, no note. Nothing…"
Mercedes stared at him. "How did you find me, Sam? Why did you find me?"
Sam moved closer to her. "I meant what I said, Mercedes; I love you. And I am here, well I was here to try and convince you to give me a chance. And now I am more determined than ever."
She shook her head, "How did you find me?"
Sam laughed. "It took some doing, that's for sure, and I had to call in a lot of favors…not to sound cheesy; I felt like Prince Charming searching for Cinderella."
Mercedes scoffed, "For that, you would need my shoe…." Her voice trailed off when Sam pulled her shoe from his bag.
"You left it in my hotel in such a fury you forget some things."
Mercedes shook her head as Sam kneeled in front of her. "My fairest lady, I have traveled the world in search of the woman who can fit this shoe. Would you do me the honor of trying it on?"
She rolled her eyes. "Sam…"
Sam shook his head, "I am not moving from this spot until you give me your foot."
She shook her head as Sam stayed put; she had to give it to him; he was determined. Smiling, she extended her foot to him, and he put her shoe on.
"Sam…how did you know that-"
"That Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, with Brandy, was your favorite? You told me on the car ride. Mercedes, I know I hurt you, but if you give me the chance, I promise I will never do it again."
Why did he do this to her, make her feel so wanted when she knew the feeling was fleeting.
"Sam, this can't work; you are a congressman; I followed your campaign and what you stand for? What your platform was is so positive, so amazing. You are going to change the world."
"Only if I have you by my side."
"And Quinn? What about her? Because you and she were supposed to be married!"
Sam nodded. "I hurt her too, and I regret it I do. I wish I could say that I am sorry for it, but I am not sorry for falling in love with you. I am not sorry for wanting a life with you. Quinn is great, she really is, and had I not met you, we would have a content life, but I don't want to be content. I want to be happy; I want to be in love and happy. And I have never been happier than when I walked in here and found out that I was a father."
Mercedes swallowed. "Sam… there are so many things that could go wrong with us."
"And so many things that could go right, that will go right if I have my way. Mercedes, I just want a chance to prove that you can rely on me, trust me, love me."
Sam took her hand in his left and wiped a falling tear. "I don't deserve it, and if you say no, I will be here for you and the twins, I will help you as their mother, and I will be the father they deserve, but please don't say no."
"I just need time to think; if you want to be around the kids…and me, then I will let you. And then sooner or later, we will get back to talking about us."
Sam smiled. "I can respect that. And accept that."
Someone knocked on the door, and Mercedes sighed. "Hold on."
Opening the door, she froze when Finn stood there smiling. "What the hell are you doing here? Who gave you my new address?"
Finn shook his head. "Cedes, I didn't realize how losing me has made you fall so far. A one-bedroom apartment? Then I hear you have a baby, and don't tell me."
"And why the hell would I tell you? What makes you think I owe you anything!"
"If you are making my child live in a place like this, then yeah, you owe me."
She laughed, shaking her head. "And what the hell makes you think that you are the father?"
Finn stares at her for a moment, then masks the anger. "Please, if it wasn't me, then who is it?"
Sam moved behind Mercedes and stared at Finn. "Hey, baby, who is this?"
Finn's eyes found Sam's, and he steps closer to Mercedes. "Baby? Who the hell are you?"
"I got this; just go check on the twins."
Sam smiled with a nod, kissing Mercedes's cheek. "Okay, but I am here."
"Mercedes, who the hell is that?!"
"Why do you care? I haven't seen you in almost a year. And now you show up?"
Finn ran his hands through his hair, "Look, I was stupid; I should have married you. I should have started my life with you. The last 11 months, I have been lost."
Mercedes raised an eyebrow and shook her head, not saying a word as Finn continued. "Walking away from you, it seemed like the right thing; Rachel was in my head about how different we were, how better suited for me she was. And I believed her. Then after you left, we started dating, I thought she was the one, but I was only the one until Jesse came along. And I felt how you must have felt. Then I ran into Tina and Mike, and I overheard them talking about how you were pregnant. And my world changed because I knew I had to get you back. I love you, Mercedes. I want another chance."
"No."
Finn stepped back. "No?"
"Hell No!"
Finn cut his eyes at her. "Why? Because of him?" He used his head and nodded towards Sam.
"No, because of me. I am not some sorry sloppy woman who can be swayed by nice words. You left me at the alter after convincing me that something was wrong with me. You could have told me as soon as you started feeling that way, but you waited, waited until I was standing in front of you, ready to marry you, to spend my life with you. You stood there in front of the little friends and family I had and humiliated me. Even if I got pregnant by you, which Thank God I didn't. I wouldn't take you back. So I am sorry your heart hurts because of Rachel, but that has nothing to do with me. Goodbye, Finn."
She shut the door in his face and closed her eyes as she let her head fall back against the door. Sam walked out and looked at her. "Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Sam, I let go of Finn the moment I met you."
Sam moved closer to her. "Can you forgive me? Please?"
Mercedes closed her eyes and took a breath. "Sam, I can appreciate your apology, and I am grateful you went through all of this to find me…to find us, but I am not sure if this is going to work."
"Mercedes, please."
She held up her hand. "That being said, I want you in the twin's life. I want them to know you, and I want them to grow to be proud of you. Because they will be, as long as you stay on that platform."
Sam frowned and nodded. "I will do things on your terms. But make no mistake, Mercedes, I am not going to let you go."
Mercedes chewed her bottom lip with a smile. She didn't expect him to.
Mercedes sat at the diner watching as Mike and Sebastian cuddled the twins. She leaned back in the booth with her friends.
Tina shook her head. "You are telling me that man showed up to your place, finally, didn't run when you told him about the twins. Finn showed up, and he still wanted you, and you let him leave?"
"He will come back next week to see the kids, but he and I can't be anything. He lied to me."
"And he explained himself." Tina sighed.
Sebastian rocked Zola. "I want to meet him; I want to know who is gonna be around my babies."
Mercedes shook her head. "No meeting you guys; it will only cause issues for us."
"Why if you don't want to be with him?" Mike asked.
Three pairs of eyes stared at her, and she sighed heavily. "Fine! Sam told me he loved me. And I ran and figured he would stop loving me. But he hasn't stopped. He wants me, and I am scared to want him back."
Tina held Mercedes close. "Sam isn't Finn. And he isn't Shane, or Anthony or Tank. He searched for you; if he didn't want you, he wouldn't have done that. So try not to let that break you away from him."
Mercedes watched her babies and sighed. "I am giving him a chance to be a father, and maybe I want him, maybe I love him too, but he's in Congress now. A State senator I am not the kind of woman he should be with, and we all know that."
Sebastian shook his head. "No. You are exactly the kind of woman he needs, so invite him over next week."
"I might do that, but no promises." She said looking down at her plate.
"Good now that we have established that, come to the concert with us tonight."
Mercedes sighed. "No, I can't go. I have no one to watch the twins."
Sebastian laughed. "Yeah, I fixed that for you; my mom and dad will watch them. I am not gonna lie; the twins have brought out a side of my parents that I have rarely seen. It's nice."
Mercedes shook her head. "Ugh, fine! But no bonding with him, and this is just so you guys can meet the father of those beautiful babies."
Sam sat in his father's home office while waiting on his parents. The moment he got back, his whole way of life changed. He thought he would be returning with Mercedes, but to return knowing that he had twins, that thought shook him for sure.
As his parents walked in, Sam straightened up.
"Good to see you, Sam. To call a meeting with us so soon after winning your seat must be important. Are you in need of some advice?"
"No. I wanted you and mom here because I wanted to let you know at the same time."
Mary looked at him. "Let us know what, Sammy?"
"I found her mom, and I Ummm…" Sam cleared his throat.
Mary frowned. "You found her, and she moved on. Sammy, I am so sorry, but it has been almost a year."
Sam shook his head no, and Dwight stared at them. "What in the Sam Hill are you two yapping about?"
"Mercedes, the woman I met in Hawaii."
"The one you dumped Quinn for, what of her?"
Sam looked at his dad. "I found her and went to see her."
"Oh, did you get her to sign that NDA? We don't need her going around talking about how she; whats the words those people use…" hooked up" with a senator."
Sam placed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. His parents would not let go of the notion that Mercedes was using him.
"You both realize she had no idea who I was until I told her."
"Like an idiot," Dwight said.
Sam exhaled and stood. "Look, Mercedes got pregnant while in Hawaii."
The room became eerily quiet before Dwight stood. "Get a DNA test. If they aren't yours, be done with her; if they are, pay her off."
"Dad! I want to be in my children's lives."
"Children?" Mary questioned.
Sam nodded. "She had twins 2 months ago."
"Well, there is no way they could be yours. It's been ten months." Dwight said, clapping his hands. "Glad to be done with that."
Sam ran his fingers through his hair. "Dad! Will you listen to me for one damn minute, please!"
Dwight stared at his son and then at his wife before taking a seat. "Fine, no need to get all emotional."
Sam looked at him and scoffed. "Get emotional? What kinda gaslighting bullshit is that? I am trying to talk to you about your grandchildren, and before you speak, let me clarify things for you; even if I didn't know she had the twins 2 months ago because of complications, I looked into the eyes of those two angels. I know I am their father."
Dwight folded his arms across his chest. "So what now? You need us to write her a check?"
"No, what I need is some damn support! I love her, and I want her and our children to move here, but she has been hurt so many times it's gonna take work. I will do my job here, but any time off I have will go to Mercedes and the babies."
"Fine! I can see you are determined. So we best make the most of it. But please tell me she named them something other than Apple, or pear, or heaven forbid she named them Jelly like your cousin."
"They have respectable names. Zachary and Zola."
Mary smiled. "Okay that's adorable. Can I-we see a photo?"
Sam nodded, pulling out his phone, and Mary swooned over the photos. "Dwight! They are precious, and look they have Sammy's green eyes. And his nose…can we meet them?"
"I am hoping to get her to come to visit soon so you can when she visits…I want you guys to be a part of our lives."
"Your lives? You can't possibly be thinking about marrying her." Dwight said, standing.
Sam pulled out a princess-cut 3-carat gold diamond ring. "I am not just thinking about it. I am going to do it. I know you can't understand this, but you need to, and I know not marrying Quinn is going to put a hitch in your plans for my future, but this is my future, and I deserve to follow my dreams."
"You are making a mistake," Dwight said through gritted teeth.
Mary sighed, standing herself. "Sam, we will support you in whatever he needs." Dwight gruffed about to speak, but she cut him off. "Dwight! We will help our son and our grandchildren with whatever they need; you will not cause our son to walk away from us; I have settled for a lot of things in our life Dwight, things I didn't agree about, things I didn't want to do. But this! You will not ruin this for me!"
Sam and Dwight stared at each other, then back at their Mary. Dwight nodded.
Mary smiled. "Okay, now, I know you didn't come in here, telling me I have grandchildren and not have any photo's for me."
Sam grinned, looking at her. "Of course, I have photos." Sam moved to his mom and showed her a few photos from his phone.
"Oh, Sam… they are precious. So beautiful. Oh, Sam…"
Sam couldn't have been more proud at that moment, the fact that his mom seemed to be just as excited as he was.
"Sammy, is this her? She's gorgeous."
"The kids take after her."
Mary smiled at her husband. "Dwight, come over here and look at these photos."
Dwight shook his head. "I am not getting on board wi-" Mary shoved the phone into Dwight's face. "Holy hell, look at those cheeks."
Mary smiled. "Sam, when are we going to get to meet these two angels?"
"I am working on it. I have a few meetings this week, then I am flying back to see them on Friday."
"Well, I expect at least a video call," Mary said, but Sam knew it was more demand and not a request.
"I will make that happen, mom. I promise."
Mercedes pulled the Lasanga out of the oven. "I am just saying my friends are an acquired taste, and they pull no punches and say what they feel."
"That's fine…" Sam said, rocking Zola in his arms as Zach slept in the bassinet. "So, my mom would like me to video chat her so she can see the twins."
Mercedes pulled out the salad dressing. "That's fine. I am sure we can figure that out. Zach should but up soon, and we can call her then…or you can."
Sam took her hand in his, "We can. I want you to be there when I call her; it's time you met my mother anyways."
Mercedes took a breath. "Sam…Sam, what are you doing?"
Sam placed Zola in her bassinet and took Mercedes by the hand, "I am showing you, on your terms, that I want to be with you."
"That would mean moving to live with you?"
Sam nodded. "When you are ready."
"Ready? Sam, you are a state senator…."
"And when you are ready, I will make you my first lady, if that's what you want."
"And if I don't?"
Sam smiled, "Then I will tender my resignation."
"Sam, you can't do that!"
"Merce, you are my family. You the twins, I won't leave you, no matter how hard you push me away because you and I both know you will push me away."
She tried to hide her smile. "You don't know me."
"I don't?" He raised an eyebrow sitting on the sofa and pulling her to his lap. "You run because you don't think you deserve to be loved, but Mercedes, you do, and I am going to prove it to you. I promise you that."
Mercedes leaned in and kissed him softly. "Sam…I must be going soft because I actually believe you."
"Knock knock!"
Mercedes turned around to see her Grandfather, Sebastian, Tina, Mike, and Kurt at the door.
"Well, well well, look at you two getting all comfy."
Mercedes rolled her eyes, standing. "Hey guys, we were just talking." She pulled Sam up and moved over to her family. "Sam, this is Kurt, Sebastian, Tina, Mike, and my Grandfather."
Sam extended his hand and stood tall as he knew he was being taken in by her family.
Zachary walked over to Sam, looking him over. "I heard about your campaign; you are doing great things for your city, son."
"Thank you, sir; I can only hope I can live up to what those who voted for me expect. But more importantly, what my family does."
"Your family?"
Sam nodded. "Yes, sir, Mercedes and the twins, they are my family now, and I want to do right by them."
"If she will let you." Tina huffed.
Sam smiled. "Don't worry, she will."
Sam winked at Mercedes, and she blushed, shaking it off going to place the food on the table. "Come on, guys, let's eat before the twins wake up.
Sebastian moved to help her. "We can eat and get to know Sam better."
"I want to get to know you all better, too; you mean everything to Mercedes, which means that you mean something to me."
Zachary sat down with a smile on his face. "Well, you are already heads above Finn, that boy, he was more concerned with changing my sunflower than getting to know us better. Are you trying to change her?"
"No sir, your granddaughter, she is the one who changed me, for the better, I would say. I was so concerned about living my life the way my parents wanted me to that I forgot to live for myself."
"My sunflower has a way about her, and she makes everyone better."
Sam nodded. "That she does, and now, not only did she change my life, she has given me those two angels."
Mercedes blushed, trying to shake it off; she didn't need Sam seeing the effect he had on her.
Grabbing the plates, she went to work, listening to everyone talk.
"Sam, I am surprised you got her to agree to let you come back here; she is a master at not letting people in," Sebastian said.
"Yeah, well, when you come across a woman like Mercedes, it's worth the risk. Everything is."
Mercedes pretended that she didn't hear anything through her insides warmed at his words. She knew that Sam was a great guy, which scared her the most. That in the end, she just wasn't good enough for him.