Eight Months of Hell
Sam stood at the alter gathering his thoughts, a feeling of total relief in his mind, they'd made this commitment to each other, she was in a good place about things and he was finally happy about that, eight months ago this scene was unimaginable, his mind flashed back over that dreadful time.
Flashback
We're having a baby" Jessie shouted across the room as everyone cheered that Easter Saturday evening, they'd had the shortest courtship ever, reconnecting just four months ago and announcing marriage less than 4 weeks later. granted this was maybe their fourth time around but nevertheless it was quick. Rachel was where she'd always wanted to be on stage, her schedule was hectic, but they'd finally reconnected when Jessie got the lead part playing Romeo to her Juliet, The show itself wasn't doing that well but their relationship had grown quickly and Jessie excited to have her in his clutches again wasted no time in getting her down the isle and now knocked up
They'd had the best day together everyone had finally landed in Manhattan, so for once the crew were, at the most 10 minutes away from each other, with only Santana and Brittany totally out of the loop living in Canada doing some research program
Tina was an Attorney, a very established one, her career needed no introduction but her personal life suffered for it and Blaine had taken her up as his project, his main aim being to find her a decent man, someone who could be her equal. While he was on that mission Tina was happy to sit there single and happy, and if truth be told she was getting tired with these dead end guys he kept finding, she'd had a crush on him from back in school that had never gone anywhere past a stolen kiss but she lived in hope that one day he might see her as she saw him, and now he finally had as she stood holding his hand flashing her engagement ring for all to see. Blaine was the lead in his second theatrical play, he'd spent hours writing, planning and auditioning and now he was getting things together it was a busy time for him but somehow he'd always found time to make Tina his main priority
Quinn had been a housewife, looking after her busy husband and three children 12, 10 and 8 years old, Artie and her were going through a bit of a time, their relationship had always been a bit liquid, Artie was always moaning about Quinn's crazy bedroom activities, but he seemed happy enough. In the beginning they'd been around each other constantly and there was always a bed close to their vicinity, they'd wonder off in the middle of conversations and return hours later with marks on their bodies and questions left unanswered. At some point after maybe their first two years of married bliss, Quinn had their second child and Artie got himself a big filming contract that meant he was away a lot, Quinn eventually became miserable, constantly moaning to Rachel and Tina about her lack of marital bliss, and 6 years later they were talking divorce and custody
Sam, who'd made his name as a Pop Artist, hadn't wasted time when Mercy turned up in Manhattan, she'd finally decided that this was the place to be following a spate of loneliness in Los Angeles after completing her roll in Carmen, he'd wooed and worked at getting her back. It had been nearly four years since they'd last tried at anything, that being when she went off to find herself in Los Angeles. Granted she hadn't stopped since the day she stepped foot in the City but there was never a day when she hadn't missed her friends. She'd come back with the idea of setting down some roots, found herself some premises to get her long awaited Recording Studio up and running, just before these Easter festivities she'd finally surprised him with a proposal, of course he'd said yes and they'd announced that morning they were getting married in eight months time, nearly everyone was happy.
Two Weeks Later
Two weeks after the announcement and everything as they knew it came crashing down, although it took a while to unfold, Jessie came walking into the living room of their house where everyone was sat talking babies, planning a Christening and suggesting names
"Why would you fucking do that?" he burst into the room shouting with a scan picture in his hand as everyone stopped talking and Rachel burst into tears
"It wasn't on purpose Jess I really didn't know" she screamed back at him
"So what do you suggest we do now, I mean seriously what?" he stood over her asking everyone watching
"I really don't know"
"So I guess the first question is who's the Father then?"
"I don't know" she looked up at him saying, everyone looking around the room embarrassed for the question and the answer
"What the fuck does that even mean?" his face shocked at her revelation "What have you been doing, there must be somebody in the fucking picture?" he asked "I don't believe this has become my fucking life" Jessie grabbed his coat and walked out the house leaving Rachel crying and everyone trying to console her
"Jess" she called after him, wiping the cutlery off the table when he banged the door on his way out
"I'll go talk to him" Mercy got up telling everyone
"No I'll go" Quinn stopped her from getting up saying "Back in a bit" she looked at everyone saying as she walked out the room
Jessie & Quinn
"Jess" Quinn half smiled when she saw him sitting on a bench in the Park
"Quinn" he grabbed her hand looking around "I need to talk"
"Come on, we'll go to mine, grab a coffee" she pulled him up saying "So what are you going to do?" she asked as they walked through the park and into her house on the street across from his house, minutes later they stood in the rustic kitchen of her fived bedroom, two story, picturesque double fronted home, him watching her make the drinks, while he was trying to find a good place to start from "Just start from the beginning" she turned telling him like she was reading his mind "Nothing you say can shock me"
"Why didn't we keep it together?"
"Because you didn't want to hurt Artie" she laughed "Chances of that now are slim"
"So what are you trying to say?" he grabbed her hand as she put the drink in front of him
"That you're happily married with someone's baby on the way" she smiled at him
"But right now I need to be with you Quinn" he stood up pressing her up against him "That's why you came to find me isn't it?"
"It wasn't but look, what's going on between Rachel and you?"
"Can we get back to that?" he asked finding her lips
"Jess" she pulled away saying, smiling as she looked into his begging eyes before pulling him back and taking his lips and they went back to their familiar place "What are you going to do?" she asked after their fumble
"Thing is I don't know what my next move is, I mean, can I bring another man's child up?"
"If you love her you can reach a compromise, it's when the loves gone it becomes a problem" she replied "Do you love her?"
"Yeah I do, it's just right now I don't like her very much" he pulled her back to him kissing her neck, before he got dressed and left, Artie was bringing the children around any minute
Blaine & Sam
Blaine had just about got to the café before he was on the phone to Sam, asking him to meet him there "Dude, she's nearly five months gone, so it's not Jessie's, she hasn't named me yet, but if this comes out now, I'm at the curb with Tina and I only just got this shit off the ground" he threw at him before he ever got to sit down
"I didn't know you and Rachel were... when?" he sat hard in the chair opposite him asking
"Dude I really don't want to remember those months in my life, we were both lonely I was throwing Tina at any man that moved and well she was there offering it up on a damn plate I took it, a few times" he grabbed his hair with his two hands "Jessie's a brother and I'm thinking now, I should have told him all this before they got hitched"
"That relationship happened so fast, there wasn't time to tell anyone anything" Sam told him "So when did this thing between you guys finish?"
"Maybe the day she got back with Jessie"
"Shit Dude" Sam sat looking at him
"I know but until we do the test we won't know"
"What a fucking mess" Sam raked his hand through his hair telling him "I got to get to work Blaine, but call me later" he got up saying
Sam & Rachel
"Sam" Rachel gasped as she answered the door, he'd been banging frantically
"I've just been talking to fucking Blaine" he walked in telling her "When the fuck did you find the time?"
"Sam" she shouted "Jessie could be here you walk in shouting your fucking mouth off like that, I haven't put anyone in the picture yet and I won't until all the tests have been done, I know what everyone has to lose here"
"It's taken me fucking years to get Mercy back on side, and if this messes things up for me I'll never forgive you"
"Seriously Sam she's my sister, we didn't tell her shit was going down between us, because you chose not to..."
"if I remember rightly you were already talking marriage, family and new fucking life when she came back, I didn't see the point in throwing that in the mix"
"Well now obviously there's a fucking point" she pointed at her tummy telling him
"Is it mine?"
"I don't know"
"Blaine, me who the fuck else was there?"
"Seriously are you fucking judging me Evans, we were both there, no questions if I remember rightly, no strings right?"
"I'd call this a fucking rope" he shouted back at her "I want to know yesterday, I can't live with this, I don't want to keep this shit from Mercy just let me know before Jessie's party" he stared at her saying "How the fuck did this happen?" he raked his hand through his hair asking
"We lived in the same house, bed hopping was our thing, come on Sam, even you know how this shit happens" she rolled her eyes telling him
"Just get the tests done, let me know what you need" he opened the door and walked out, he really didn't know what to do
Ladies Lunch
The following week the girls were getting together for a lunch, talking about Jessie's birthday party that coming weekend.
"Curiosity more than anything else" Rachel announced in the middle of orders "How would you feel if your man went and started another family?"
"Heartbroken I guess, it's never been something Art said he wanted" Quinn told her
"But surely if he finds another partner she'd want children?"
"Knowing Artie I couldn't see him getting rid of a child"
"What about you Mercy, how would you feel if Sam had children outside your relationship?"
"I wouldn't feel anything, it wouldn't happen" Mercy laughed, checking Rachel for the question
"I'd cut Blaine's tackle off" Tina added
They dived into lunch chatting about different things for a while until Rachel brought the issues around relationships back up again "What would you do if..."
"For crying out loud, if that's another partner question, lighten up Rachel" Quinn told her rolling her eyes
"Okay I'll stop, hormones" she giggled
The Results
"Hi" Sam stepped in the café surprised to see Artie there "What are you doing here?"
"Same as you I guess, waiting for fucking Rachel"
"Shit Art you too?"
"I swear this bitch is doing this on purpose, this shit sticks to me and Quinn's got her argument hasn't she, my children are gone"
"I wish I could find the word sorry in there somewhere but I'm quietly praying it belongs to anyone except me" Sam told him looking up as Blaine appeared at the doorway
"Fuck Artie you too?" Blaine rolled his eyes asking
"Dude" Artie rolled his eyes replying
"Tina's telling me last night about their conversation at lunch, being all about cheating husbands and babies born out of marriage and shit, I wanted to tell her, but I'm praying really hard this shit doesn't stick to me"
"I think we're all praying" Sam replied
"Drink?" Blaine asked as they nodded and he made their order, they were all drinking by the time Rachel turned up "About fucking time, I really don't have time for this" cutting his eye as he spoke
"I'm not leaving Mercy for you if that's what you think is going to happen if it's mine, I'm going to beg like a bitch for as long as it takes to keep her"
"Snap" Blaine said looking at Rachel
"Okay can we calm down please?" she looked at all three men asking "This is fucking traumatic for me too" she took the envelop out of her purse and put it on the table
"Just get it done Rachel" Artie spat "You always need to be the fucking centre of attention" he told her as she roughly picked up the letter and opened it, reading it through before she looked up at the three men
"It's you" she looked at Sam telling him
"Fuck" he sunk into his chair saying before he held his head in his hands and cried "I can't lose Mercy for this"
"Sorry Dude" Blaine shook his shoulder telling him as people looked on at this man crying in the café
"I got to go see Mercy" he got up telling everyone before he grabbed his jacket and left
Sam & Mercy
Sam made his way over to the studio, he was supposed to be at work, so straight away she'd know something was wrong. His mind was on how quiet she was last night when he'd got in, she was trying to be her usual jolly self but hearing Blaine tell him about Rachel's topic of conversation yesterday he knew her brain must have been working overtime, they both knew Berry always had motive.
"Sam" she smiled, happy to see him as he walked through the door
"I just came to check in" he smiled as she waved and carried on instructing her pianist; Trevor, he was playing a melody waiting for her to catch something and run with it
"What about this" she hummed as Trevor picked it up and took it somewhere else. Next thing he knew she was humming along happily to the song and eventually she stood up looked at him smiled and then started singing her version of 'So Confused' by Syleena Johnson "Could you excuse us for a minute please" she asked Trevor, when she saw Sam's face and knew something was wrong, Trevor got up and left the studio "Sam" she walked up to him saying. He looked up at her and his face told her everything "Sam, what's wrong?" she gasped
"Mercy I..."
"Is this going to change anything for us?" tears burst from her eyes without warning
"Mercy, lets sit down" he took her to the couch, watching her wipe her eyes with her sleeves "Mercy" he grabbed her hand as he spoke "This is the most horrible thing, I ... when we weren't together you know Blaine, Rachel, Artie and I lived in the same house, well our house"
"Well yeah, what does Artie want to move back in?"
"No babe" he dragged his hand through his hair "I just need to say this and pray we can deal with it" he squeezed her hand telling her "I had a thing with Rachel, actually it wasn't even a thing, we just slept together now and then no strings, I didn't tell you anything when we hooked back up because I guess it didn't mean anything, it was over and well she was getting married and happy and then"
"You and Rachel and you didn't tell me?" she dragged her hand away from him asking "Fuck" she gasped "So why are you telling me now?"
"Because she just ..."
"Do not tell me that baby is yours... Sam" she looked at him knowing that was exactly what he was going to tell her "It's yours" she gasped "How long have you known?"
"She just told me and I came straight round to tell you, Mercy I .. you know I love you and I don't know how, but I don't want this to come between us, Rachel means nothing to me"
"But the baby will, they'll be in your life forever, I need to think" she grabbed her purse, and walked out
Of course that bit of information went viral, everyone knew within 3 hours that Sam was the father and Mercy had left him, he was getting calls from the girls reminding him how stupid he was, that fact that all this happened before Mercy and he actually got back together didn't seem to matter to anyone except him.
Six weeks Later
Sam had turned up at Blaine and Tina's engagement party in the hope that Mercy would have turned up, it had been weeks since she'd walked out of the studio and he hadn't seen or heard from her since. He was hoping they'd at least get the chance to talk, if he'd have realised she was actually walking out of his life that day he'd have never let her go. He passing all his usual venues where he thought she might be, making his usual house calls to their friends before going back to the lonely apartment that had come to life for him just a few months ago. She'd left everything she hadn't even come back to the flat to collect underwear, she'd literally just got in her car and drove away leaving everything.
Six weeks on and people were still turning up to use booked rooms and he had to flip between recording and her studio to open up for them, she'd pumped everything into her studio so he got a manager in and got them to run it for her until she decided whatever it was she was going to do with it. As long as she kept the business he'd felt like there was a chance of her coming back, but as the months went on his hope left and he was blaming Rachel for absolutely everything, so much so Jessie had a word with him, the conversation ending with Jessie saying something like "That's not what I'm saying Dude, of course you'll always want her but when this little one comes into the world how the hell are you going to split yourself, you might tell her now you choose her, and I know you'd mean that, but then you see the baby and you love it, then you'll be resenting her for the rest of your life for not being able to build a relationship with your child. I guess I'm saying wait until the baby's here and then you might understand a bit more how you really feel" He had nothing to do but wait, he don't even know where the hell Mercy was
The Baby
"Jess" Rachel called from the bathroom one afternoon nearly two months later "I think this is it" she held her tummy telling him as he walked through the door
"About time, it's nearly three weeks overdue, come on" he picked her up saying, putting her in the car before running back to get her case out the hall and send a message to Sam, telling him to get to the hospital. Sam read the message and sent it on to everyone. When they got to the department Jessie was sweating, almost to crying and happy all at the same time "They're just making her comfortable I just came out to let you guys know where we were" he walked about telling them
"Get in there, stop stalling" Artie laughed,, the situation bringing him memories that made him smile at Quinn for their own experiences, surprised when she smiled back
Four long hours later he came out beaming telling everyone to come and meet Mason "Mason?" Sam asked
"Yeah we called him Mason" Jessie told him "You can have the middle name if you want"
"No, that's fine he's your son"
"Come meet him" he waved his hand calling everyone in, they weren't aware everyone was listening to this rather civil exchange of two men, who now had something very much in common "This" Jessie ran round to be at Rachel's side saying "Is Mason, yet to get a middle name St James" he presented a sleeping dark haired baby asleep in Rachel's arms
Quinn, Tina and Artie straight away cooing and arrhing as Sam stood trying to work out what he felt about seeing this little person that had him in him, it was almost like an out of body experience for him as she stood there genuinely happy and even proud for Jessie and Rachel, yet feeling intrusive for actually being a part of this happiness that was being shared and yet jealous for not getting the recognition he might have expected as the father of his first child.
"Come hold him" Jessie said making Sam's head jump up and everyone look at him
"No it's fine, congratulations" he smiled at Jessie
"Come on hold him" Jessie insisted
"Yeah hold him" Rachel added, he went forward wondering what the hell he was doing refusing to get attached to this little person, watching as Jessie took Mason from Rachel and turned to pass him over to him
"Watch his head" Quinn called across as everyone looked on
Sam stood thinking, this is my child, I'm going to connect with him in this second an excitement ran through his body at that fact, there was a little person that was of him, he felt like a king as he felt the weight of Mason rest in his arms "Hi" he smiled down at this baby laying in his arms, he knew what he felt was love but looking around he knew he had no business feeling it, surprised that tears were falling down his face "Hi" he said again wiping his face before grabbing Mason's little hand bringing a warmer feeling and bigger smile to his face.
Everyone looked up at the opening door "Mercy" Rachel gasped as everything seemed to go in slow motion for Sam at that second, he watched as faces around the room lit up and then dulled as they took in the hurt on Mercy's face at the picture she was looking at, Sam standing there holding his son smiling down at him his face full of love, there was no way he could hide what he was feeling, he'd become a father
"Mercy wait" he shouted seeing she was making to leave, he hurriedly gave Jessie the baby back before he made chase "Mercy" he called again as he followed her but she was determined to disappear again "Mercy stop" he finally tugged at her jacket telling her "We need to talk" he finally got her standing still, she wiped her eyes before turning around to look at him, he could see the pain in her face "Where have you been I've been so worried?" he asked standing waiting for her to answer but she made no attempt to even acknowledge he was talking "Are you alright?"
"Yeah actually I'm fine" she told him brushing his hand off her
"I was just..."
"You were just falling in love with your son Sam, yeah I saw" she spat "I'll collect my things, when I can just box them up and just to let you know I'm selling the studio"
"Why?"
"I can't be around this Sam, I'm not accepting it and I never will, unlike you I have a choice and I choose no"
"Mercy please" he jumped in front of her as she made to step off "I get this is a big thing, it's big for me too but I don't, I mean I can't totally lose you over this"
"It's obvious I never totally had you in the first place, if you neglected to tell me a little thing like you fucked Rachel and there was a possibility she could be having your fucking baby" she held her hand up at him telling him not to speak "I didn't come here for this, I'm done, now you know you can get on with your life, I intend to do just that with mine" she stepped past him and walked away
He stood watching her walking away, what could he actually do if she chose not to be in this with him, he'd met his child for the first time just minutes ago and that feeling was out of this world, he'd felt so proud and the love that came from nowhere was tremendous but watching Mercy walk away took all of that away and left in it's place a dark empty hole. Even walking back into that room with all the joy going on and looking into his son's eyes again didn't quite lift him back up, Mason's existence was just a reminder of how he'd totally fucked his life up "She's gone" he told them as everyone looked at the door expectantly
"Sorry Dude" Jessie told him "I was really rooting for you guys"
"Yeah" he replied flatly as he sat watching everyone getting excited about the new baby, until visiting was over and they left
Three Months Later
He was still waiting for Mercy to collect her belongings, he hadn't packed them as she'd asked they were exactly where she'd left them, his plan was to use the time it would take her to get everything together to talk her into staying. Rachel and Jessie had been round and made the third room into a nursery now for when Mason came round to stay, he'd stayed a couple of evenings and one night so far, there was no set routine on this, they'd just pass by or he'd pass by their house on his way from a gig or something. Life had turned into something different for him, this wasn't his happy ever after picture, that had so faded into the distant past now, but he was in a good place somewhere between sad, happy, lonely and hurting, Mason was at times his comfort
He got home one evening to see the lights on in his apartment, the only person it could be was Mercy, he rushed upstairs and pushed the door open smiling when he saw her packing in the living room "Hi, I thought you'd phone"
"Sorry is this not a good time for you, I can come back?" she looked at the door asking him
"It's a good time Mercy, it's always a good time" he smiled "I miss you"
"I miss you too Sam but it's not about how we feel about each other is it?"
"Isn't it?"
"Sam" she rolled her eyes before falling on the couch crying "I know I'm being totally selfish, I wish I could slap myself out of it, but this is a child Sam it's not just a girl you've slept with or a curable disease you've contracted it's a whole little person and I don't want to have to compete against that, I'm too jealous to live with this, I already hate the child, that isn't right" she cried "I hate you, Rachel everybody for making me come back and think that this was my life and I refuse to sit here and come second in your life, I don't want my children linked by blood to Berry I don't want that, I know myself I refuse to accept it, it's just better I'm out the picture"
"And I don't get a say in this?"
"What is there to say, I've just told you how I feel, I don't want this, I don't want to share you with anyone but our children, are you going to deny Mason?"
"I...I"
"So there's no say is there?"
"But in all this I love you Mercy"
"I never said I didn't love you, but I can't do this" she got up to carry on packing her bags
"Mercy" he stepped towards her saying "It's been such a long time for us, for me I.. please" he lifted her head, leaned in and grabbed her lips, his kiss getting urgent, he knew once they'd got past this it might be harder for her to go and even harder for him to let her go
"Sam" she pulled away from him gasping "What are we doing?"
"I love you Mercy, I'm in love with you, I need to be with you" she said nothing else, she more than needed his hands on her, they sunk into the couch and later that evening made their way to the bedroom, where they stayed until morning
Mercy woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking, she smiled and stretched at the familiar surroundings, jumping out of bed and to the bathroom before walking naked into the kitchen to see what Sam was doing "God" he rolled his eyes as he watched her walk towards him "Got to have me some of that" he lifted her onto the kitchen top kissing her and removing the hot pan off the fire before he took what he wanted "I love you Mercy Jones"
"I love you too Sam Evans" she kissed him saying before he went back to cooking the breakfast
They were sat eating a late breakfast when the bell went Mercy went to the intercom "Hi" she said, a smile on her face
"Hi" she heard the familiar voice say "It's Rachel and Mason"
"Oh" Mercy said looking at Sam "It's Rachel and Mason" she told him walking away from the intercom
Sam ran over to it "Rachel we're busy could I come over later?"
"Sam, Jess and I are going to sort out Mason's Christening remember, you promised"
"Rachel" he whispered "I've got Mercy up here she's not with this yet, I need time"
"Sorry Sam, Mason's not going away, let me in" he rolled his eyes and released the buzzer for her to bring him up, he grabbed a top and went into the bedroom to tell Mercy what was happening
"You told them they could come up?" she asked shocked
"I told them I'd babysit Mason while they went to sort his Christening sorry"
"I'll wait here till they've gone" she pulled her jogging bottoms and sweat top on saying
"Come out don't let this defeat us" he grabbed her hand asking "Your breakfast will get cold" he pulled her with him saying
He pushed the button to the front door and seconds later Rachel was walking through the door with a car seat in her hand and a baby bag in the other "Mercy" she smiled, the look on Mercy's face telling her everything she needed to hear
"Sam" she said a bit cheerier as Mercy watched her wondering around the living room, putting things out, walking into the spare room to put things in and ending up in the kitchen where they sat eating breakfast "Breakfast is late isn't it?" She commented as Mercy watched her putting bottles into a unit and milk cartons into the fridge she didn't ask permission to go into "So he's had his morning feed next one's due around 11am and maybe he might need another at 2pm but I've brought more than enough, I've put all his stuff in his room, except his soother, that's in the living room if he needs it"
"His room?" Mercy asked Sam
"The spare room, it's the nursery now"
"I thought that was going to be our..." she shook her head and stopped herself from talking "Why is she walking around our apartment like she lives here?"
"She's just putting Mason's thing..."
"You don't see anything wrong with this picture?" she moved her fork around the room at what Rachel was doing
"She's putting..." Sam got out before Mercy left the table "Mercy" he jumped up and went after her "What's up?"
"Nothing Sam, I just can't do this, I'm sorry"
"This has to work for me" he grabbed hold of her telling her "I love you Mercy" he rolled his eyes at her obvious reply "I really can't lose you"
"And I really can't do this Sam"
"Mercy please" a tear came to his eye as he begged
"Sam" they heard Rachel calling from the living room
"See" she looked at the door saying "I can't do this"
"Just give me a minute, just a minute" he begged walking towards the door "Rachel I really can't do this right now, ask Quinn or someone, this relationship is really important to me and I need to fix it"
"We're talking Mason here Sam" she gasped unable to believe he was choosing Mercy over Mason
"He's always going to be here Rachel, there'll be other times, I've got one chance at this, and right now I choose Mercy" he told her as Mercy came out of the bedroom
"I'll call" she looked at Sam saying as she walked across the room with her suitcase in hand, she didn't bother to even look at Rachel standing there with Mason in her arms, they stood watching as she walked through the door
"Mason's here she'll have to do like the rest of us and get used to it" Rachel said loud enough for her to hear as she closed the door
"Whatever, but in future, if Mason's staying I'll pick him up downstairs, he won't have a room here, his crib can be in that room but I want all that decking you've put in removed, it's our house not yours, you do all that shit at your own house"
"So what happens with Mason...?"
"If Mercy comes back, we'll agree that and get back to you, but I don't want you just popping over to drop him off or assuming that I'm free to be your unpaid fucking baby sitter"
"Sam"
"Don't Sam me you and Jessie made this decision about Mason coming into the world and I want to be in his life, he's my son, but I don't want him to take over my life to the point where I have no life, I chose a long time ago Rachel, Mercy's my life she's who I choose and as I've always said I'm going to fight to get her back and when I do all of this will be on her terms and you" he pointed at her "Will have to dance to her tune"
Two Weeks Later
There had been no communication, Sam was getting his information from Blaine, who was getting dribbles from Tina, apparently Mercy had found time to see a distressed Quinn something to do with the court case, which had ended with Tina agreeing to represent Quinn and the payment; Mercy was going to let her record some of her songs for an EP, that was something that everyone knew Tina had always wanted to do.
Rachel and Jessie had been to Sam's and removed the nursery they'd installed in his spare bedroom, they'd almost bombarded him with all this baby shit, he felt like he was spinning and couldn't say no to anything, him being the absent father and everything, that thing with Mercy had made him see he needed to claim his life back, especially if he wanted a life with Mercy. Coming to the end of two weeks and he finally gets that call from Mercy he was quick to set up a meeting at their favourite restaurant, he was more than desperate to see her
The Day Before Quinn's Court Hearing
It was the day before Artie and Quinn's custody hearing, it must have been a full moon because so much was going on, Blaine was preparing to tell Tina the truth about the Rachel situation. He was nervous as hell as he sat her down, and through sweat and shivering told her about the not-romantic events, surprised when she told him she was way over any drama Rachel thought she was bringing to any table, and life went on. The spent the night awake in bed and by the following morning they'd set a date for the wedding, he was on cloud nine for things going so well, a message from Sam made him unwillingly leave the house the next morning
Artie had turned up in the middle of the night wanting a conversation with Quinn, finally giving her that bit of information she might need to take their children from him. Telling her he'd done what he did because he thought it was easier than living with the lie of having slept with Rachel during their marriage, while she was pregnant with their last child and beyond. Quinn sort of took some responsibility for it, she was a monster to live with when she was pregnant, which left Artie on the couch or sleeping at Sam's a lot of the time. She wanted to make her own confession but he asked if she'd used their special room with anyone, she'd told him the truth that she hadn't and somehow they ended up in their room with their toys having a really good night, he didn't say much the next morning and when Quinn tried to question him he mentioned something about meeting Sam and left telling her he'd see her in court in a few hours, leaving her with a kiss to remember.
Rachel and Jessie were having a heart to heart, he'd finally revealed that he wasn't at all happy with Sam being involved in their lives and asked Rachel to cut him out. She'd come off all defensive telling him about a child needing to know it's father, he'd shouted something about her doing what the fuck she wanted and slammed out the door, she was super annoyed when the noise woke the baby up. Jessie had made his way over to Quinn's with the hope of finding comfort, he was shocked when he went to pull into her drive and saw Artie's car sitting there, he sat in his car for a while wondering how he felt about that, deciding Artie was her husband after all and went to find a bar, returning home nearing daylight and falling into bed and fast asleep before Rachel could ask a question
Sam & Mercy
Mercy walked into the restaurant smiling "Hi" Sam smiled getting up to deliver a kiss as Mercy walked towards him "I really miss you" he hugged her saying
"You might not after this conversation" she let him go saying
"Why what's up?"
"I can't tell you the detail or why I need to know I just need to know"
"Please don't tell me you want details?" he looked at her shocked
"Why, wouldn't you tell me?"
"If you had a valid reason, or we agreed it was going to seriously help us get back on track, but I wouldn't feel anything called comfortable telling you"
"I don't want details Sam" she giggled as she watched him holding his chest in relief "I do need answers though"
"Okay" he called the waiter over saying "Can we order first?"
"Sure usual for me please" she smiled, Sam took the opportunity to do some more begging, with Mercy sat in front of him he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass, eventually the food came and Mercy sighed in relief that there was something in front of him to stop him talking for a while
"Questions?" he asked before throwing the first bite of his stake in his mouth
"Yeah" she looked at her plate before looking back up at him saying "You said that when you guys lived together in our house it was a free for all, did Artie and Blaine sleep with Rachel too?"
"I don't even know if it's up to me to tell you their truth" he stopped eating and looked up at her saying
"This is purely about us Sam, I'm fighting with everything I have to get us back"
"Yes" he told her without hesitation "But I didn't know that until Blaine told me about her being pregnant, and then when we turned up for the results Artie was there too"
"And when you turned up for the results how did that go?"
"There was a letter with the results and Rachel opened it and read it out"
"Did you see the letter?"
"Not literally but she opened it in front of us"
"What did she say exactly?"
"Mercy I really don't remember as I said I just needed to get to you"
"Okay" she smiled grabbing his hand
"Are you coming back?" he asked his eyes begging
"Not yet" she smiled "But I feel very much like seeing the apartment" she giggled watching as he raised his hand to get the waiters attention
"Bill please" he told him wiping his mouth before getting up to put his jacket back on, they paid and went home
They didn't shut the door properly before they were all over each other, falling into familiar routines, hearing familiar noises and then finally "God I miss having that on tap" Mercy lay on her tummy looking across at him telling him
"You can have it back on tap, this is your call" he told her as he ran his fingertips down the line of her spine getting closer to the end of her Coccyx with every stroke before going back up to her neck again
"It is, I need a drink" she made to get up telling him, smiling when he pushed her back against the bed with his hand
"I'll get it" he slapped her naked butt saying smiling as he watched it wiggle
Two hours later and she was laying there having thoroughly enjoyed herself "Shall we get something in to eat?" Sam asked when he finally woke up
"I'll do a salad or something I'm not that hungry, what do you want?" she sat up asking
"I want to know if you're still my fiancée?" he smiled "This feels like we're moving forward but there's still this thing between us, I can feel you holding back" he grabbed her hips stopping her from standing up
"Holding back?" she turned to ask surprised
"Yeah you're taking too long to react to me"
"I enjoyed myself" she looked at him frowning
"I didn't say we didn't enjoy ourselves, just that there's still a barrier, I know you're minds not made up about this stuff with Mason" he looked at her as he said the name, watching her eyes harden, the muscles in her back tensed before she got up off the bed "Sorry" he flopped back on the bed telling her, he knew she was mad she didn't answer him, he rolled his eyes as he jumped out of bed himself "I'm sorry Mercy" he walked into the kitchen hugging her naked back to his bare chest "That won't happen again"
"I'll be alright honest" she turned to grab his chin as she spoke "Just give me some time"
"The next time he comes into the room you'll bring him in, I'm sorry" he kissed her neck telling her, before he sat at the table watching quietly as she cooked humming a turn he wasn't familiar with, it was a comfortable silence they both needed time to reflect. He sat wondering what all those questions were about because as many times as he threw them about in his head he couldn't see any holes. Mercy was fighting with herself, she didn't know why a child's name should bring such jealousy from within her, was she just going to hum to herself every time his name was said or his face appeared, she needed a better way to deal with this
They ate, before they went back to bed, finally finding sleep as daylight came through the window at them "I promised Tina I'd start on her EP later today so I'll be around for a few days is that alright?" Mercy asked three hours later as they got dressed to start their day
"That's fine" he smiled taking his phone out he needed to call Artie and Blaine, he left the bedroom made his call and smiled as she came through to the kitchen, they had breakfast before bidding each other a good day and parting company
The Coffee Shop
"So guys I asked you to come meet me because I have a confession" Sam slapped his hands on the table telling them "I had truth time with Mercy last night and as part of that I sort of confessed that we were all up for being the father of Rachel's baby" he huffed "I know I broke a code, but in my defence, I'm fighting for my life back here, and I'm sorry for whatever this causes for you guys, I'm hoping she doesn't take it any further, but just in case I need you guys to have the heads up" he looked up to see the waitress coming with their drinks
"We didn't order these" Blaine told her
"Sorry I did on my way over" Sam told them
"Oh thanks" Blaine smiled at him
"Thank you" Sam smiled at the waitress as she put them on the table, they waited until she'd left before carrying on their conversation
"Thankfully I came clean to Tina last night, I didn't tell her about anyone else though, well she knows about you obviously" Blaine nodded at Sam telling everyone "She was actually alright with it" he screeched "We set a date for our wedding"
"Congratulations" everyone smiled around the table
"I actually told Quinn last night too, I thought it might be something Tina came at me in court with this morning so I came clean"
"Why, what harm can it do you guys now?" Blaine asked
"I'm thinking, I haven't sorted it in my head yet but..." he trailed off looking around the table "We went back to our old selves last night and honestly, it felt so right, it brought everything back for me and I guess I realised I let it get this way because I didn't want to tell her I'd actually been unfaithful with Rachel, once I let that out I guess we found our place again"
"So you and Quinn might be...?" Sam raised his eyebrow asking
"Yeah she wanted to tell me about someone last night and I really didn't want to know, I don't think I ever want to know"
"But?" Blaine asked looking at his face
"But before I went to sleep last night I was watching her sleep and thinking, you know how you do?" he looked up at them saying "And headlights flashed across the window, well you know where we live, so I got up to have a look and I swear it was Jessie's car, he was just sitting there I watched him for about 5 minutes, he didn't get out the car or even turn the engine off and I don't know, it begs the question what was he doing at my house at like 2am?"
"So what are you thinking?" Sam asked
"Maybe Jessie was the guy she was trying to tell me about, I'm not bothered we're getting a fresh start" he smiled "I was saying to Blaine before you came in I wondered if your wedding was still on the cards?"
"I really don't know, it's not off as far as I know, the dates still set for Christmas, she hasn't given me a definite answer to that yet, everything's crossed" Sam told them
"But she stayed last night?" Artie asked
"Yeah" Sam smiled
"And you still don't know, Dude what the hell are you doing?" Blaine laughed
"What?" Sam chuckled asking "It's going to take a bit more than doing that right, that was never wrong by the way, I hurt her bad and I get that, I'm not pushing anything, I'm going as slow as she damn well needs me to on this" he frowned "I'm a package deal now, I need her to be all down for that to make this work"
They eventually wound the morning break down as Artie went off to his Court case, Blaine went off to his rehearsals for his new play and Sam went off to the studio to finish off another song for his album
The court case went well, Artie agreed joint custody of the children and they left the courthouse, kissed and he went off to go pack his belonging and the children and return home, telling her it was going to take the rest of the day and she should take the opportunity to spend some time with her girls, she didn't argue, she left the courts with Tina and went straight to the studio to have fun.
"Hi" Mercy smiled when she saw the two women walk into her studio "Things went well I'm guessing from you smile?" she asked Quinn
"More than well" Quinn beamed
"I'm happy for you" she hugged her saying before they got down to business within two hours they were doing the first take on Tina's version of '2am' by Brooke Simpson Quinn and Mercy helping out on the vocals it was late into the night when she saw the message from Sam telling her Rachel had left the baby with him overnight "Damn" she looked up at her girls saying "I need somewhere to stay tonight, Sam's is so not happening for me tonight"
"Fine" Tina smiled, and when they finally called it a night she went to stay with Tina and Blaine
The next morning as she'd expected just as she finished breakfast she got a call from Sam "I'm sorry about last night Mercy, I understand I really do, she just came crying saying Jess and her were having some argument or something and she couldn't cope with him"
"It's fine" she rolled her eyes telling him
"No it's not but sorry just seems so lame"
"It's fine honest"
"Look I'm in the studio this morning but can we do something this evening?"
"Yeah that would be good, you'll have to call me to stop me working I'm afraid, Tina and I are having a good time"
"When are you starting?"
"Straight after breakfast I guess"
"Hey Artie called me laughing yesterday, it was good to hear, I think Quinn and he are sorting things out"
"Yeah I didn't get the detail but I think it's along those lines, then Blaine and Tina..."
"They told you" he laughed "I wanted to tell you that last night"
"Never mind, have you got the baby tonight?"
"No, are you coming home tonight?"
"Maybe" she giggled "Bye"
"Bye" he sat looking at his phone, wondering how the hell he was ever going to get this to work out for them, he could barely get them in the same building right now, and he hadn't even started to think about including Rachel and Jessie in that mix, he was torn, truly torn, because when they were together it was magical, he'd tried life without her and it really wasn't for him, he closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch about to get his think on when Mason started crying for attention. He soon got him up, washed, fed and dressed making his way to Jessie's to drop Mason off before he made his way to the studio
"Hi" he said shocked to see Mercy sitting waiting
"Where have you been?" she asked stepping off the stool to hug him
"I had to drop him off"
"Okay" she smiled "I came to hear your song"
"We can do that" he smiled "Come on" he grabbed her hand and brought her into the booth "Track four please Kevin" he waved at the mixer telling him grabbing Mercy's other hand "Tell me what you think" he laughed nervously, he could sing in front of thousands of people and not get nervous but Mercy listening to his songs, to him exposing himself about her, always made him blush as he stood in front of her singing his version of 'This City' by Sam Fischer
"That was beautiful" she leaned forward kissing him "I need to get back to Tina, I just had to see you I was missing you, that's breaking my heart"
"I missed you last night too" he kissed her back saying "Hey newsflash" he laughed "Artie said Jess was sitting outside his house at 2am the other night in his car"
"Why?"
"He doesn't know, but he said Quinn wanted to tell him about some affair or something, what are the odds it's Jess?"
"Quinn's too freaky for him" she laughed waving as she walked through the door
"Hey" he called after her "Just so you know, this whole situation is breaking my heart"
"I know" she frowned "Bye"
"Bye" he smiled his face hardening as he realised she hadn't said her usual love you
Mercy, had other things on her mind, she didn't waste time she went to see Jessie and have that conversation, he broke, like she knew he would, and told her he'd been sleeping with Quinn "Are you sure Rachel didn't know?" she asked
"I don't know, I don't think so, she never said anything"
"Except that your baby belongs to Sam" she blurted out "Did you see the test results?"
"What test results"
"The letter?" Mercy asked shocked "Did she mention trans-cervical, trans-abdominal, having a needle in her tummy or anything?" she asked, Jessie face telling her he'd never heard any of this before "Okay I have to go" she got up telling him, taking her phone out as she got to her car to give Brittany the information and ask her to follow it up "Anything you can find, as quickly as you can, please Britt"
Two Days Later
Mercy had received word from Brittany and she wasn't happy about the results, she was 99.9% sure she was on the right track now and only God was going to save Berry from this beating she was about to deliver "Mercy" Rachel gasped when she saw her banging her door "What do you want?"
"Open the damn door Berry" she looked at her saying, watching as Rachel took her phone out and made a call "You can get the police to move me today but I'll be back" she warned the grin on her face telling Rachel that was more of a threat than a joke "Why did you do this?" she asked her kicking to door "Because Jessie was having an affair?"
"Well now you know how t feels having a third person in your life"
"I've never had a third person in my life Rachel, as you well know, I thought we were sisters" she kicked the door again shouting, smiling when it sprung open "And then there was me and you" she walked towards Rachel her fists rolled, her hair tied back and her heart bursting for revenge
They lunged at each other, slapping, scratching, biting, kicking and screaming in the hall neither one wanting to let go of the other as Jessie and Sam ran towards them
"Mercy" Sam grabbed hold of her fist that was about to connect with Rachel's stomach again "Stop, what's happened?"
"Ask her" she looked at Rachel as she spoke to him, her words like bullets, panting with anger
"Your girlfriends been sleeping with Jessie" Rachel fired back as the two women stood looking at each other breathless
"Where the fuck has that come from?" Sam stepped forward asking "That's a fucking lie"
"And you can put your hand on your damn heart and say that?" Rachel asked still shouting
"Yes" he replied his face as angry as rock "I can"
"She's been sleeping with my husband Sam"
"And that's why she named you as Mason's Dad, to get me back" Mercy told them her eyes still on Rachel
"Is that true?" Jessie asked, his eyes focused on Rachel waiting for her response
"Yes" her face broke into a thousand pieces, stood there admitting this to her husband
"You fucking lied" Sam gasped holding his chest "How fucking cruel" he looked at Rachel, his face filled with disgust
"I should bust your fucking head open" Mercy tried to shake Sam off to get at Rachel again, but even though he was in shock he quickly pulled her back
"She's not worth it" he pulled her to him telling her "Let's get out of here" he turned and walked out of Jessie's house leaving them to sort whatever they felt they had to sort out alone
"How did you know there was something wrong with her story?" Sam asked as they drove
"I guess it was the way she specifically asked me how I'd feel if you had children outside of our relationship and then the next day you had one, it didn't sit well with me, but I didn't know the reason she'd want to do that, that's what took the time, once I got the pieces I gave them to some clever friends, and result"
"Where are we going?" he asked looking at the road ahead
"I'm going to collect my things"
"Your coming home?" he smiled
"I was always coming home Sam, you're there"
"Who lives here?" he asked as she pulled up outside a dainty terraced row of houses "This is Orchard isn't it?"
"Yeah" Mercy smiled "Santana and Brittany have brought it, they move in next month"
"You've been staying this close to me?" he laughed
"I told them I'd tell no one so you're not coming up, and don't let on I broke that promise"
"I won't" he smiled "If you can tell me where we actually stand on this wedding"
"Christmas wasn't it, I changed no plans" she smiled kissing his cheek as he jumped out the car to see her in and wait for the bags to come down
Sure it had been a hell of a few months but she was back and he was up for making sure they had a hell of a life together "That's it" she smiled reaching up to kiss his lips "What's with the smile?" she asked as she pulled away
"I'm truly a lucky man"
"And I'm truly a lucky woman"
December
The week before the wedding and Sam's with Artie, Jessie and Blaine having a hell of a time in New York, they'd done the weekend thing and were meeting up with the girls at midnight on Sunday to take in a romantic midnight show as an alternative end to their hen and stag weekend
"What the hell is she doing here?" Sam asked as they walked into the venue to see Rachel sitting waiting at the bar
"It's a couples thing and I didn't think it was fair for me to be here without her" Jessie told him
"Sorry Dude but I'm not there yet and I know Mercy isn't"
"Mercy's here" Mercy called, giggling for the level of alcohol she'd consumed, walking over to the guys and stopping at the sight of Rachel "What the hell is she doing here?" she slurred looking at Sam for the answer
"Look" Blaine stepped forward saying "We do what we do, we fuck each other over, we fight like cats and even dogs sometimes but at the end of the day we're all we have, if somethings wrong between us it's up to us to make it right" he looked at the guys telling everyone "We only have one Rachel as fucked up as she is right now" he announces
"We promised to get to this place remember?" Artie looked at everyone excitedly "No lies" he reminded puzzled faces "It's kind of hard finding people to trust in this world, we all know that first hand, but who'd have thought a group of abandoned kids from an orphanage would have made it this far together?" he smiled at everyone "We've made it this far, we can get through this, I know we can"
"I agree with Art" Jessie said "We had a mission, we set out to beat this world, I know some of us got lost along the way but I hope at this point, right here, we can comfortably say we've stopped beating each other and we can face out and start the war we came here to start"
Sam looked at Mercy he was making no decisions as far as this was concerned "Your call" he told her
"Your dress is still in the damn shop" Mercy looked at Rachel saying "No hugs" she held her hand up at her saying when she saw her walking towards her "I'm not there yet"
"We're going to miss the show" Quinn told everyone as they left the bar and made for the box they'd booked "Hi" she beamed as she pulled the curtains aside and saw Santana and Brittany sitting there, wading in for a hug
"That's how you found out" Rachel looked at Mercy saying "I should have guessed, you'd run to them" she laughed
"But you didn't guess did you?" Mercy laughed, as they quickly said hello and settled into the show, by the end of the show the girls were having their usual banter and everyone was somehow happy again
End of flashback
The wedding march started, distracting Sam from his thoughts as he looked up to see Mercy coming towards him, he was speechless, everything seemed to hum until he heard her say "I do"
"I do too" he smiled as he looked in her eyes grabbed her cheekbone and pulled her to him "I love you Mrs Evans"
"I love you Mr Evans" he smiled back as their family clapped
The End