"Hey, Kurt." Mercedes smiled into the phone.
"Hey, Mercedes! So, Blaine and I are drafting our last-minute itinerary for our couple's retreat next week, and-"
Blaine could be heard from afar. "He's drafting it, I'm looking at restaurant menus and trying to tell him that we won't even know what we really want to do until we get there."
Mercedes chuckled. "Hi, Blaine."
"Anywho," Kurt continued, "we just wanted to check and make sure that you and Sam were still keeping Liss next week?"
After Thanksgiving, Kurt and Blaine asked Mercedes if she and Sam could watch their daughter Melissa while they were out of town. They didn't want to bother them, but all the other godparents were either already busy or had to bail. "Yep. Everything's in order. Sam's been babyproofing the house like crazy."
"Yay! Ugh, have I told you how glad I am that you two are back together?"
"Only every time we talk, Kurt."
"I can't help it! You guys are just so in love and I love love." His adoration could be heard through the phone. "Which is why I'm hoping that Blaine will get back to loving me on this trip."
Blaine's voice again, "He's just upset because I started the Saved by the Bell reboot without him."
"You're darn right I am," Kurt yelled at him. "How dare you."
Mercedes let out another laugh. She missed her friends. Ever since their reunion for the deduction, she was excited to be able to see them all again, whenever that would be. Especially now that she and Sam were back together for real. It was definitely going to feel like old times. She hoped it would happen soon.
"I've got to go," Kurt said. "But thanks again! I'll see you Saturday morning?"
"See you Saturday morning."
Friday evening
Sam pulled into his driveway, glad to finally be home after his first week as head coach. He was surprised when he saw Devon's car parked in the driveway. As he reached the door, she nearly knocked him over when she rushed out of it. "Woah. Hey, Dev."
"Sam! Hey, there," she said quickly, pacing to her car.
"Hey, Mercedes and I are probably gonna have dinner soon if you want to- and she's gone."
As quickly as she appeared, Devon had gotten in her car and disappeared.
Weird. He thought. He opened the door and called out to his partner, "Honey, I'm home. Oh."
The lights were dimmed with candles all around his living room. He let out a pleasant sound at the delicious smell in the air. Whatever Mercedes made for dinner, he knew it would be delicious. Somewhere in the house, he could hear a beautiful old-style jazz song, a woman's voice floating over the already romantic atmosphere to delight his ears. As he wandered through their living room, he noticed a path, he assumed for him, made from rose petals. He stepped into the dining room and smiled. Mercedes had been busy. Real busy.
The table had been set for two with water and wine glasses, cloth dinner napkins in their rings atop the plates, and an aerating bottle of red wine, complete with candles and more rose petals littered across the table. But it wasn't until he saw the woman in the room that his breath was truly taken away.
There Mercedes stood in a sleeveless deep red evening gown, ankle-length with a slit that reached all the way up to her gorgeous thigh with heels to match. Her hair was in a curly updo and while he knew next to nothing about makeup, he could tell that it was flawless. She looked like she was going to a red carpet event.
Okay, maybe that he was exaggerating there, but she still looked incredible. He kept opening his mouth to say something, something as simple as 'hi', but he could never get it out.
She said it for him softly, "Hi."
He gulped, feeling the utter dryness in his mouth. He was used to her making him nervous with her beauty, but this? He never could've expected or prepared for this. "This looks, it smells, there's a," finally, he settled on a complete sentence, his cheeks going red, "you look really beautiful."
She smiled and he could feel himself losing his words all over again.
"Thank you." She walked over to him. "So, do you like it? Everything else, I mean."
He gave her their usual greeting embrace and kiss, still distracted by the extravagant setup. He turned back to it with his hand still on the small of her back. "Yeah, what is it?" He tried to think before asking, "Crap, did I miss an anniversary or big date or something?"
Well, this was a big date for them in a way, but she wasn't going to reveal that to him just yet. "No, not at all. I mean, our six-month anniversary is right around the corner, but that's not why we're doing this."
"Okay. So why?"
She looked up at him. "Because with everything we've both had going on, I just want us to have one night just for ourselves. No work, no school, no family drama, none of that. And we can't exactly have a night out, so I wanted to bring the mountain to Mohammed." She smiled as she gestured to the table.
"Well, I'm more than excited. Everything looks and smells so good. Who's that singing?"
"Sarah Vaughan. I thought I'd up the romantic atmosphere with some romantic jazz."
Fully ready for the night to commence, he pecked her quickly. "Okay, I have to wash up and get ready. Can't sit here in a polo and gym shorts smelling like locker rooms with you looking like that."
"I already picked something out for you. In the guest bedroom. And shower in the guest bath, please," she said as he walked away. "And one more thing."
He whipped around. "Hmm?"
"I need your phone." She held out her hand. "When I say just us, I mean just us."
He handed it to her, smiling wide. "Okay. I'll be back."
While he was showering and getting dressed, Mercedes carried out the rest of her tasks for the night. She went into their bedroom and looked in the mirror one last time, primping, ensuring that nothing was out of place. She fixed everything from her hair to her jewelry to her lipstick at least thrice. Then, hearing the shower cut off, she took a deep breath. The next time she looked in the mirror, she would be someone different. It may have seemed silly to everybody else, but she still felt that her virginity was something she wanted to give to the right person. After tonight, it would be her and Sam forever. This was as official to her as any engagement ring or marriage certificate; it was her way of telling Sam she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
And her entire stomach was in knots.
Sam came out of the bedroom cleaned and dressed in what Mercedes picked out for him, a black tuxedo and dress shoes. He grinned. "I look sharp, huh?"
She rolled her eyes. "You look dashing, babe."
"Let's get this show on the road."
"Okay, if you could sit right here." Mercedes pulled his chair out for him.
As he sat, she brought out the food, covered with cloches, and poured the wine and water. "I was really unsure about what to make, so I made two different dishes. One was a little more fancy schmancy and the other was a little more casual."
He chuckled. Only she would cook two separate dishes for one night. "I like casual."
"So do I. So much so that I was planning on serving it until my sister-in-law took off with it earlier." She deadpanned.
So that was why Devon was in such a rush to get out of here. "In that case, did I ever tell you how much I love fancy schmancy?"
She smiled at him. "Then you are going to love what I've prepared for us tonight, Mr. Evans." She lifted the cloches. "Pan-seared ribeyes with garlic rosemary potatoes and grilled asparagus."
Sam's mouth watered at the sight of the meal.
"Just be careful because I'm pretty sure I cooked it for long enough, but Dev and I couldn't find the food thermometer so it," she cleared her throat before quickly mumbling, "might not be the slightest bit cooked in the middle." She paced over to her seat.
Sam laughed at her again. "It looks amazing, Mercedes. And I'm sure it's cooked perfectly."
"You sure? It's not too basic or anything, is it? I wanted to make it romantic but not corny and fancy but not pretentious and impressive but not Ramsey-esque or anything like that—"
"It's great." He stopped her rambling. "I love it. Let's dig in."
Sam immediately cut into his steak and sighed with satisfaction. He held up a piece. "What did I tell you? Cooked to perfection. Medium. Just the way I like it."
Mercedes meant to make it medium-well, but she would keep that to herself.
Sam put the steak in his mouth and he could've sworn he was seeing stars. "Oh, gosh. Mercedes."
She winced. "It's not good?"
"No." He shook his head. "It's freaking amazing. I could kiss you it's so good. Which, actually, I will once I'm finished eating this. You outdid yourself, girl."
His compliments made her giddy with laughter.
They continued talking and eating, though Sam mostly did the latter, obsessed with how good the food was. As they were close to finishing their meal, he decided to take the risk of saying something he hoped wouldn't ruin their night. "I gotta say, this is not the way I thought the week was gonna end."
She frowned. "Why not?"
"I mean, at the top of the week— and I don't want to self-sabotage or anything, especially not with how well things are going so far— I thought you were still going to be mad at me by the time Friday got here."
Her frown deepened. "Mad? Why would I be mad at you?"
"You know," he insinuated something with a nod of his head, "the whole She-Who-Must- Not-Be-Named thing."
She shook her head, still not catching on.
"The cheerleading coach from hell?"
"Oh. You mean Daniella?"
He put his hands up. "You said it, not me."
She put her utensils down. "What made you think I was mad at you over Dani?"
"Because you guys went head to head on Monday and I just kind of… stood there. I didn't interfere or stand up for you or anything. And I keep going over it in my head and thinking 'that's where I should've stepped in' or 'that's when I should've said something'. I didn't do my job, Mercedes. I should've protected you from her but I didn't."
She reached across the table for his hand. "You didn't do anything wrong, babe. I love you for wanting to step in, I do. But I love you even more for not stepping in."
"You do?"
"Of course. Frankly, I wouldn't expect you to. I understand that I'm your girlfriend and you want to protect me, but I'm also a grown ass woman. I can handle myself. Plus, Dani was being a bitch and the bitch needed to be checked. You couldn't have done anything about that. You're kind of not that intimidating." She looked off to the side as she lightly insulted him.
He smirked. She was right, he wasn't. "But after she left, you kicked me out of your office."
"Yeah, because I wanted to be alone, not because I was upset with you. That whole interaction proved to me that Dani was still going to be a thorn in my side." She began to sound a little irritated, "It pissed me off that after all this time, nearly 6 months, she was still hellbent on being with you. And she's probably going to continue to be until we leave in August. No matter what we say or how many times you tell her that you don't want her and you'll never be with her, she won't stop. Now that? That irritates me to no end. It does more than irritate me; it makes me want to scream and throw things. Preferably at her," she said. "But Sam, my feelings about that and about her have nothing to do with you. I'm sorry that I made you think that."
Sam kissed her hand. "I just want us to be happy," he whispered.
She opened her palm to caress his cheek. "We are. I would tell you if we weren't. And I would hope that you'd do the same."
He nodded, telling her that he would. Just as they resumed their meal, a song came over the speakers and he got an idea. "You wouldn't happen to know what song this is, would you?"
Mercedes lifted her head from her plate as she listened for the song. She hadn't even been listening to the music, she was so nervous. "Ella Fitzgerald. 'Moonlight Serenade'."
Sam slowly rose from his chair. "Well, I'm sure the First Lady of Song wouldn't mind if we completely butchered her song with a slow dance?" He extended his hand to her.
A sweet smile graced her lips as she took it. "Even if she did, I'm sure we wouldn't be the first," she said softly.
He kept her hand and put his other hand around her waist. She placed hers around the back of his shoulder as their foreheads touched. She closed her eyes, feeling them fall into a rhythm as they swayed back and forth.
"Is everything okay?" He asked before she fully relaxed. "You seem uneasy. Even a little tense."
She smiled, caught. He knew her too well. "I'm just worried about whether or not you'll like the molten lava cake I made for dessert."
He cheesed, throwing his head back as they both laughed quietly. He brought his gaze back to her. "I promise, you have nothing to worry about." He gave her a light kiss and pulled her closer to him.
She leaned her head onto his chest, fearlessly clinging to him. The bit about the lava cake was true, but she was still worried about her final acts for tonight. The night had been so close to perfect. No, the night was perfect. In the truest sense of the word. She'd only hope it would stay that way.
"You know what this reminds me of?" He asked lowly.
She nearly swooned at the bass of his voice vibrating his chest against her ear. "What's that?"
"When you first got back six months ago. Remember we went to the lakehouse and slow danced?"
"And I cried and poured my heart out to you about how lonely and unhappy I was? How could I forget?"
He snickered. "Yeah."
"I still can't believe I did that." She cringed at the memory.
"It was sweet. Impassioned."
"It was so damn corny." She gave a few hearty laughs against his chest.
He would never believe that. "You only said what was on your heart. You can't call that corny. But I was saying that because look at us now. 6 months, a crazy cheerleading coach, a broken engagement, and all the therapy in the world later."
She chuckled.
"We're in a better place than we've ever been. And it's only up from here. Thank you for tonight, Mercedes. I needed it."
Mercedes stopped their dance but remained in his hold. "It's far from over, baby."
His eyes crinkled with his smile. "The lava cake. Oh, hell yeah."
"No." She shook her head with a laugh. "There's more than just the lava cake."
Adding a frown to his smile, he asked, "What's next?"
"A couple of things, actually." She backed away from him and retrieved his phone. "I didn't just confiscate this because I wanted us to be alone."
He took it and his eyes widened as he saw all the notifications, many of which were still coming in. He was especially bewildered by the texts from his friends and family.
Bro, congrats! -Blaine
Awesome news dude! Happy for you! -Mike
This was my idea. You're welcome, Trouty. -Santana
Okay, so I already knew, but I have to say, WOW! Happy for you guys! -Tina
Finally, dude. Seriously, it was about damn time. -Puck
Congratulations, my sweet son! -Mom
You're totally famous now. Holy crap. Does this mean we're famous now, too? -Stacy
Confused by the messages, he looked up at Mercedes. "What did you do?"
She shook her head and pointed at the phone in his hand. "Find out for yourself."
He scrolled through the notifications until he found where they started. "Mercedes Jones tagged you in a post," he said.
Mercedes twiddled her thumbs, feeling her stomach sink, float, and sink again as she waited for him to read it.
He gasped softly as he saw it. "You didn't. Mercedes. No freaking way." He gave a tearful laugh as he looked back down at it.
She had compiled a host of pictures of them over their time together. Their first and second prom, her graduation, their time in New York, her going on her first-ever tour, up to now, with pictures and videos of them, mostly fooling around around the house. She'd somehow even gotten the picture he took of her sleeping in their bed in the wildest position he'd ever seen. The caption read:
My love, my light, my inspiration, my partner. For an entire decade now, we've drifted together and apart over and over again, but you've never left me. I still remember when you first asked me to dance at prom. I remember when you showed me the video of "Disco Inferno" you uploaded. I remember you somehow convincing me that we were made for one another in New York. I remember you being the first person to call when I won my GRAMMYs. I remember it all. Through my joys and triumphs, fears and losses, you've been there with no hesitation, always ready to be the first person I celebrate with or the first shoulder I cry on. And here we are, all those years later, and I've never been as in love with you as I am now. Sam Evans, the past 6 months have been bliss. Here's to the rest of our lives together.
Mercedes stood with tears in her own eyes, happy that he was happy. "From here on out, everyone knows who you are. I will never hide you from the world again."
He dropped his phone, not caring if it broke, and swooped her into his arms for an embrace. Then, he took her face and kissed her with everything he had. After that, he hugged her again. "I love you so much."
She both cried and laughed at once. "I love you, too."
Sam never wanted to let her go. She had no idea how much it meant to him that she did this. There was no more hiding. No more sneaking. No more resisting the urge to kiss her outside of their home. No more pretending. They could go outside together. Take their dog to the park. He could hold her hand as they walked down the school hallways. Hell, he could take her on a real date for once. He was happy enough just being with her. He knew how lucky he already was. But now he was hers and she was his, officially. And that? Well, that made his life feel truly complete.
He held her face again. "I'm going to marry you one day. I hope you know that."
She wiped his tears. "I do. I can't wait."
He picked his phone back up. "I seriously can't believe you did this. My sister is flipping out, by the way."
"Of course she is." She watched him happily as he began responding to the messages he was receiving. At that moment, she felt the atmosphere shift. It was time. "I'll be right back. You can go ahead and get the cake if you want. It's in the oven." She backed out of the room.
A few minutes later, she peered around the door frame to see him still on his phone, patiently waiting for her to come in so they could eat the two lava cakes in front of him. She took one last deep breath. Here goes nothing. She stepped into the doorway slowly with a portion of her lip bit. She winced and called his name, "Sam?"
Sam looked up and felt his breath leave his body yet again. "Oh my god."
Mercedes swapped her dress for something starkly different. She now stood before him in a feather robe of the same color that gracefully swept the floor. Underneath, there was a matching lace lingerie set.
"Do you like it?"
"I, um, you, I, we," he stammered before shutting his mouth and nodding quickly. He should've known better than to try to form a coherent sentence at a time like this.
She walked slowly over to him as she explained her last surprise for the night. "So I think you've figured out by now that this dinner was more than just a dinner. I wanted this to be one of those nights that we always remember not just because we had steak and potatoes and slow danced, but because we did something that we'd never done before. I don't have any plans on us splitting up. Ever. You're not allowed to leave me." She laughed nervously. "But even if, God forbid, we do, I know I won't regret this. Because no matter what, I know that in this moment, I can't think of a way that I could ever trust anyone with this more than you. I'm ready for this next step with you." She stopped in front of him. "I'm all in, baby."
He stood up and brought her mouth to his for a long kiss. His hands traveled up from her hips to her waist. "Are you sure?"
She initiated a greedy kiss of her own, deepening it with her tongue.
"I'll take that as a yes," he growled as he took her by the hand, practically dragging her to the bedroom.
"What about dessert?"
Sam looked at her like she was crazy. Who could think about cake at a time like this? "I've got my dessert right here."
She yelped when he yanked her into the bedroom, pressing her gently against the closed door.
He would've mentioned how amazing the bedroom looked with even more candles and rose petals if he hadn't been so preoccupied. Instead, his attention became focused on untying her robe. "You'll let me know if I need to stop, right?" His mouth trailed her neck and exposed shoulders, leaving hot kisses in its wake.
"Uh huh," she breathed. She unpinned her hair and it cascaded down in loose waves.
He moaned. "And if anything hurts or feels uncomfortable?"
Her breath hitched when he gripped her back firmly and his kisses started finding their way lower and lower. "I'll tell you."
"And if you—"
"Jesus, Sam, can we get on with this already?" She fingered the hem of his shirt before pulling it off.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry." He smiled. "Just making sure."
She let her robe fall to her feet to give him full view of her bra and garter set.
He bit his lip as he hissed. "And I'm sure. Okay. Here we go."
She giggled at him. "You are such a- oh," she gasped quietly as he pinned her hands above her head.
"What was that?" He whispered in her ear.
"Nothing," she whimpered.
"Good to know."
Without warning, he picked her up bridal style and carried her over to the bed.
With the look Sam gave her as he finished undressing, Mercedes would have to remind herself to thank Santana heavily for tonight's idea. And the lingerie.
The next morning, Mercedes awoke in Sam's arms. She looked up at his face and smiled.
He must've felt her looking at him because soon after, his own eyes opened. "Morning," he said groggily.
"Morning."
He kissed her forehead. "How'd you sleep?"
"Amazing." She was pretty sure she'd never had better sleep in her life. "You?"
"I slept like a baby. Do you feel any different?"
"Yes and no. On one hand, it's us, so I knew it would happen eventually and it would be incredible. On the other, I don't see how I could ever be the same after a night like that."
"So I take it that I wasn't too bad then?"
"You were perfect. Thank you so much, Sam."
He moved her hair away from her face. "It was my pleasure," he said with a small smile. "And if we're talking about perfection, I wasn't the only one."
She smiled in disbelief. "Really? I feel like I have a long way to go before I become… proficient at it?" She grimaced and tried to laugh away how weird that sounded.
"Ridiculous. You were amazing. Not that you need it, because you don't, but if you do want to work on your skills," He tightened his hold on her bare waist, "practice makes perfect." He brought his lips down onto hers.
"That's what I've heard," she purred before kissing him again.
"It's true." When their lips locked the third time, he pulled her on top of him by her waist.
They made love again, determined to remain in their cloud of bliss. They were about to go once more when three loud raps at their front door made them both jump upright.
"Jeez," Sam panted with his hand on his chest.
After a few moments with no more knocks, they figured it was just a package, calmed down, and picked up where they left off.
Four more knocks.
"Who the hell is that?" Mercedes asked. "Were you expecting someone?"
Sam shook his head. "Were you? Holy crap, you don't think the paparazzi's found us already, do you? After not even 12 hours?"
She swatted and laughed at him. "Boy." She stood up from the bed.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I'm going to answer the door," she said, thinking it was obvious.
"Whoever it is, they can wait. Come back to bed."
Four more raps, more intense than the last.
"And what? Do the nasty with you while they bang our door down? Please." Mercedes found her pajama robe and quickly tied it around her body, walking out of the room.
Sam continued his pleading as she walked out, "Babe, wait. No. Just hold on. Please." He grunted when she left before thrashing his limbs in the bed and whining, "Oh, come on."
Mercedes looked through the peephole and opened the door slightly, shivering as the cold air rushed up against her and her thin clothing. "Devon? Why are you knocking on my door like the police? What are you doing here?"
"Well, someone's chipper this morning," her sister-in-law said sarcastically.
"You have someone show up at your doorstep at," she looked at the clock on the wall next to her, "7:03 on a Saturday morning in December when you're in bed with your boyfriend and tell me how excited you are to see them."
"Speaking of Sam, how did things go last night? You're looking very well rested. I'm going to take that as a sign that things went nicely."
Mercedes squinted at her. "They did. Which is why I'm irritated that you pulled me out of bed this early."
"Were you guys going for it again this early? A mornication?"
"A what?"
"You know, a morning fornication. Mason and I do it all the time—"
"Don't you ever mention sex with my brother to me ever again." Mercedes willed away the turning her stomach wanted to do.
"Aww, that must be so exciting! For Sam probably more than you. So who initiated it? More importantly," an eyebrow wiggle came before a quiet question, "are you a sex kitten?"
"What in God's name do you want?" Mercedes spat her question out.
Devon smiled, recognizing she had gotten ahead of herself. "Sorry, yeah. Mason and I are about to leave for our anniversary getaway."
"And you're at my house because?"
"Uh, we needed someone to take care of Aubrey."
"Yes."
"And you two agreed to do it, so—"
"Back that on up." Mercedes stopped her with a finger. "We agreed. Past tense. Sam told Mason we couldn't do it anymore."
Devon shook her head slowly. "No, he didn't."
Mercedes did the same on the opposite axis, nodding her head. "Yes, he did."
"Mercedes, he didn't. Do you want to ask your brother himself?"
As if on cue, Mason appeared on the steps, his sleeping 3-year-old around his hip. "What's going on?"
Mercedes took a deep breath. "One moment, please." She shut the door and marched to the bedroom, where Sam still lay, probably waiting on her to get back. "Mason and Devon are here with their three-year-old for us to take."
"Oh, I forgot that was happening today."
She widened her eyes at him. "You forgot? Did you also forget that Kurt and Blaine asked us to watch their baby this week?"
"No, I remembered. We decided we couldn't keep them both, so you said that since Mason and Devon asked first, Kurt and Blaine would be fine finding someone else to babysit."
"No," she drew out the word, "I said that Mason and Devon would be fine. I said that they asked first, but Kurt and Blaine couldn't find anyone else to babysit. You were supposed to tell Mason that we couldn't watch Aubrey."
"Mmm," Sam shook his head, his facial expression doubtful, "I'm pretty sure that's not how it happened."
"Sam, Kurt and Blaine are on a plane headed this way with their newborn as we speak."
"Wait, you didn't call them off?"
She crossed her arms. "Judging by this conversation, do you think I called them off?"
As the realization set in, Sam's hand shot to his mouth. "Oh, crap."
"There's no use in 'oh crap'-ing now. One kid is here and the other will be in a matter of hours. Put some clothes on and let's go handle this." She huffed at him and headed back to the front door.
What a night for those two! Mercedes seems ready to have the relationship Sam's wanted all this time and definitely carried out some elaborate plans to prove that to him. How did y'all like the night Santana helped her put together? Also, what a week to come! Before you ask, we're absolutely going to be seeing Samcedes as "parents" in the next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this update! Your reviews are always welcome (and always such a joy to read, lol.). Till next time!
