A.N. I felt bad about the cliffhanger so here. Mostly dialogue but important nonetheless.
Life's too short to even care at all. I'm losing my mind, losing my mind. Losing control."
"Boy, do I wish I had your problems. You have two eligible, successful, and hot alphas fawning over you, and you think that's a problem?" Mercedes laid down on the blanket carefully. A sliver of the bottom of her stomach poking out from her (actually it is clearly Sam's) shirt.
Santana incessantly shakes her head. Her long hair waves ever so slightly in the draft she creates. It's a much welcome reprieve from the heat of Central Park.
The blanket is placed on a neat patch of grass under a large tree. The large tree that they had sat under many a time during undergrad. This is where they would come when being an adult got to be a little too much and they needed to get away and decompress.
And now, that seemed to be just the case for Santana. How did Mercedes not see the distress this had put her under? It was a curse, not a blessing.
Though, she put her self into this mess supposedly and she was going to have to take herself out of this somehow, someway.
"I'm going to have to decide. Preferably, before they find out about each other."
But that was proving to be much more of a herculean feat than she was expecting.
Last night, or well, this morning had been a close call. She wasn't really thinking when she had left Rachel's. Just that Beth needed her, and maybe that was the omega in her operating more than anything. The overwhelming urge to nurture, and care for, and fix, and mend, clawing to get out.
"Yeah, maybe leaving one to go rush to the other just after fucking wasn't your best moment, but hey what's done is done." Mercedes shrugged or did the best she could while laying on her side.
"But, I feel so bad. You didn't see the way she looked at me. Or didn't look at me. She looked so betrayed. She practically kicked me out. I felt like a whore."
"Hey! I know some pretty cool whores. Don't talk about my friends in that negative tone of voice."
Santana rolled her eyes,"I can't stand you, you know that?"
Mercedes only shrugged again and brushed her curly hair out of her face.
"How do you know Quinn anyway?"
"She didn't tell you? Sam's sister is her kid's mom."
Santana's nose scrunched up, "Emily? Emily is Beth's mom? And to think, I thought I didn't like her just because she was related to Sam!"
"Yep! That's why Sam dislikes her."
"He hates Quinn for taking care of the kid his sister dumped on her?"
"No, he hates that Quinn got her pregnant in the first place."
"But Girl!Sam abandoned the kid?"
"I never said Sam was logical, besides he hasn't talked to Emily in years. Probably stopped around the time Beth was born."
Santana shook her head, "You married an idiot."
"Yeah, but he's hot and his dic-"
"If Sam hates Quinn so much, why did he invite her to the party?"
"Hate is a strong word, he doesn't hate her really. Just a very strong dislike. But he didn't invite her, I did. Because I like Quinn. She's funny. And single. And you're single and you like to laugh. And I was trying to set you up okay! But you fucked it up by being a damn alpha magnet." Mercedes began to pout dramatically.
"Yeah, well your facts are wrong anyway. Quinn is not funny." Santana frowned petulantly.
Mercedes rolled her eyes harshly, "You're petty. Anyway, how's your mom?"
Santana sighed heavily, thinking back to the last conversation she had with her mother a few days prior, "She's not worse. But she isn't better either. They think it's her kidneys. She goes in for a few more tests in two weeks."
Mercedes leaned up to place a comforting hand on her best friend's thigh, "She'll be okay."
Santana only nodded.
"Something's been bothering me, though," Mercedes said after a bout of comfortable silence.
"What?" Santana continued to stare at the expanse of green grass in front of her.
"You smell different." Mercedes looked a bit concerned, which didn't serve to make Santana feel any better, "Not like in a bad way. You remember back in college after Sam's and I's first date?"
Santana nodded. She remembered it vividly, if only because she was bored out of her mind and lonely, waiting for Mercedes to come back. She really had needed to make new friends.
"When I got back you said I smelled different. Then we later found out it was because Sam imprinted on me." Cedes paused, waiting for Santana to fill in her blanks.
"You know I'm slow, Mercy. You're going to have to tell me."
Mercedes rolled her eyes, "I think one of those knotheads imprinted on you!"
"Well, which one? And what does that even really mean?" This was beginning to feel all so new. Santana felt like an amateur surrounded by a bunch of professionals.
"It doesn't really work like that, San. Whoever did it probably knows they did it by now. But, it's not a conscious thing. It just happens. They kind of realize they did it over time. It means she chose you. You're kind of it for her. You're probably going to start feeling a bit weird in the next few days. Imprinting forms little fledgling bonds, and whatever super intense emotion they feel, you're going to feel it too."
"That makes all of this a hundred times worse! I'm just going to have someone else's emotions in my head, and I won't even know whose they are. What if I pick the wrong one?"
"Yeah, maybe you were right. This doesn't sound that cool anymore."
"Cedes-"
"-But if it makes you feel better, you, Santana Lopez, have never made a bad decision in your entire life. You're smart, you're thoughtful, and I have the utmost confidence that you will do what's right for you." Mercedes rubbed her back.
"Besides, I think the answer might be as simple as who you miss the most right now."
"I don't miss either of them. I just saw them."
"Your knees pulled into your chest and the rocking back and forth say something entirely different."
Santana looked down at her position. She scowled before slowly unfolding herself.
"I was sitting like that because Quinn made me sad."
The corner of Mercedes' mouth hitched up, "I'm sure that's part of the reason."
"You're insufferable."
Mercedes only laughed.
"Anyway, enough about my Twilight love triangle. How are you and my niece?" Santana finally turned so she was actually facing Mercedes.
"Your nephew and I are doing just fine."
Santana squealed loudly, "It's a boy?!"
"We found out yesterday." Mercedes smiled softly.
"Oh my God! I'm going to buy him so many pink things! You can name him Santana!"
"That's not-"
"I can see it now. Santana Samuel Evans and his entirely pink wardrobe." Santana stood up quickly. The blanket crumpled under her feet, causing Mercedes to frown. She had spent like twenty exhausting minutes trying to get it spread completely flat.
"How'd you know his middle name would be Samuel?"
"Because I've met your husband."
Mercedes chuckled loudly, "Why do you hate him so much?"
"Hate is a strong word. I don't hate Sam really. Just a very strong dislike. Also, his mouth is just so...large." Santana deadpanned.
"If I wasn't 5 months pregnant I'd kick your ass."
Santana shook her head in disbelief, "5 months, wow. I'm surprised he let you out of his sight."
"He didn't. He's sitting right there." Mercedes pointed to a bench about 30 feet away from them. Sure enough, there he sat. Patiently waiting for the two to finish talking. He idly kicked an old soccer ball between his feet. He waved excitedly when he noticed them staring. Mercedes rolled her eyes and waved back.
"Some days I think about hiring a hitman. But then he says something stupid in one of those even stupider impressions and I remember I'm in love with that idiot."
Sam begins to attempt to juggle the ball at her feet to impress the two omegas. He fails miserably.
Mercedes and Santana try not to laugh. They also fail miserably. Sam pouts on the bench.
"I missed this. I missed you." Santana nudged the other omega with her sandal.
"Don't get all sappy on me now. We were just making fun of my husband!"
"I'm being serious!"
"I know. I missed you too. You know you can call if you want to talk. It doesn't even have to be important. Sam has me on house arrest, so I'm bored out of my mind. Please call me. I'm begging." Santana's lip trembled, then she (softly) lunged at her best friend. Mercedes hugged her back with a smile.
Sam growled somewhere in the distance.
"I will literally kick that ball at your mouth, Sam! And I won't miss like you just did! It's a big target!" Santana yelled at the alpha.
Sam stopped growling.
"Oh! Forgot to ask. How big is Rachel?"
"I don't -very-know what you're talking about."
Mercedes gave her a discreet fist bump.