The Evans Child
Day 1
Sam and Mercy Evans were having their first trip together abroad since baby Michael had come into the world. they were making this holiday stroke business trip to Dubai, Sam a multibillionaire initially made his money in the hotel business before branching out into anything lucrative that came his way, recently an opportunity had come up for him to open a hotel in a well sort after area he'd had his eye on for a while out there, it was a dream that was too good for him to pass up, it was in a prime tourist spot and he'd been looking for a gap in this particular area of market for a while. Three hotels had finally caved in and sold him the land along with it's developments and he was about to step in and make a profit plus his biggest ambition to date a seven star hotel stretching across all three complexes for around 4000 guests, it would be bringing business and opportunities to the local people too a win, win investment
He didn't usually bring his family with him on business trips but, since Michael had been born, he'd taken parenthood seriously, for him 2 months was much too long to leave his family alone, he was scared his son would forget him. It took some talking, and lots of presents before he finally got Mercy to agree they'd come on the trip with him and even more favours to get her to stay for the full 2 month he'd envisaged it would take to tie up the deal and start the work. The bargaining tool being he'd come back with her after 4 weeks to see family and have Christmas day in their home for a week, without work, before they went back to Dubai for the final month
They'd talked it through, the plan was to commit half a year in total to planning, building and furnishing, then spending around a month on completion to ensure they had the right staff for their vision and a good, trustworthy manager for the project, Sam had committed to giving the new project some attention after everything was set up.
They sat in the private VIP departure lounge amusing their 3 year old, waiting to be called for their private jet, Sam running around trying to catch Mickey while Mercy was trying to find something to slow the child down, they hadn't even got on the plane yet and he'd tired them out already. "God is that us?" she asked relieved when she noticed their pseudo names on the announcement board "They're ready for us babe" she pointed at the board telling him
"Come on guys the plane's ready" he called to Jessie; his Project Manager, who was travelling with his wife Santana and their 5 year old Blake. Sam finally caught up with his son, grabbed him by the arm and laughed at the boy trying to fight him off "Stop it" he told him when he started kicking at him, Mercy stood watching trying to stuff everything back in the bag
"Ready" Jessie stood with Blake in his arm and a bag in his spare hand, looking like he had his family in check
"Yeah" Sam picked Mickey up, smiled and made for the exit, watching Mercy pulling the half closed bag over her shoulder "You're new" he smiled at the girl stood at the desk smiling at them "I'm Mr Sam Evans" he told her
"Oh" she smiled "Your private jet Sir, they're boarding you now" she held her hand out for the passports, her eyes waiting to meet with his
"Thank you" he smiled his eyes paying attention to Mickey, as he handed her the passports and grabbed Mercy's hand walking through the barrier, Mercy grabbed their passports back when she walked through cutting her eye at the woman, she really was fed up of these bitches, couldn't she see he had a child in his hand and a wedding ring on his damn finger
Their plane was a small twelve seater, it had two full size bedrooms, a dining room with bar that doubled up as a meeting room near the front, personalised carpet throughout imprinted with Evans in black and white, and everything you'd expect to find on the private jet of a billionaire, the isle on the two sides of the plane allowed the crew to get to their quarters at the rear of the plane without disturbing the passengers
They were both fretful for Mickey being noisy, they'd travelled private specifically because there wouldn't be many people, and with it being Mickey's first time flying they expected noise, lots of noise. The child was grumpy at his best, he'd cried none stop for the first 8 months of his life and nowadays he was only quiet when he was eating or sleeping and that included shouting, tantrums as well as annoying whining with a little bit of crying to kick it off, it looked like he was going to keep hold of the so call naughty twos until he was at least 10 years old.
"God only knows what he's going to be like in this confined space" Mercy rolled her eyes as she took her seat, watching Sam put Mickey's bag and his laptop in the overhead
"We'll be fine" he laughed, trying to stop his son from escaping through his legs as he put the items overhead
"Mickey" Mercy called grabbing for him to sit him down, but he got away
"I'm sorry" Sam leaned over the chair and grabbed his son "It's his first flight and we really don't know what he'll be like" he told Jessie and Santana as he looked down at Michael's smiling face made an appearance between the seats peering at them "Sorry in advance"
"It's fine I have ear plugs" Santana held them up telling him before she put them in
"She has earplugs" he sat down telling Mercy
"I heard" she giggled "She doesn't know he can be heard through solid steel"
"She's put them in already" he whispered giggling
"Good for her I wish I had some too" she turned her back to her husband and child to settle into sleep. The agreement was he'd have him for the first leg of the flight, they'd had a busy night, and she'd agreed to him keeping her up all night if she could rest first on the plane.
Mercy was asleep by the time the plane was ready to lift off, Sam did her seatbelt up, sat her chair up and held her hand with Michael strapped in on his lap as they lifted off, she was asleep all through the whole thing. They were less than thirty minutes in the air before she was woken my Mickey's almighty scream, straight away she knew it was her child "Okay" she heard Sam trying to calm him
"What's wrong with him?" she sprung round screaming an octave higher than the child, it was plain to see where Michael got his tantrums from
"His ears were more than lightly blocked, they need popping it's painful for him" he rolled his eyes at his wife playing up more than their son right now
"Give him this" she handed him a sweet, a rare treat for the child "He should have had it before we lifted off" she cut her eye at Sam
"Sorry I forgot" he quickly took the wrapper off and offered it to their son, he smiled as Mickey stopped crying for a second to look at the alien object, he put it in his mouth to show him what to do with it, watching him grab it from his hand and throw the whole thing into his mouth, it did the job, but only for as long as it lasted because when he realised it was done he was screaming again
"Sam" Mercy moaned again at the noise "Undoing her seatbelt and stomping off to the bedroom
"I'll walk him around" he found the packet and gave it another try to stop the noise a few minutes later he released the seat belt and was up walking Mickey around.
"Where have you been?" Mercy asked when he finally got to their bedroom about an hour later
"Entertaining our son, why?" he looked at her, not willing to tell her he'd stopped at the bar for a stiff drink to stay awake
"I thought we agreed..." she looked at him knowing he'd been up to something
"You can't have it both ways Mercy, either you want sleep or you want noise, those are the choices" he tutted at her
"No need for the tone, or the sarcasm, now who's tired and grumpy?"
"Me I guess" he looked at her smiling back at him "Sorry"
"Get some sleep, I'll watch him" she held her hands out to take their son, he gladly passed him over and climbed on the bed. Last night was his choice, and he loved every minute of it, it wasn't very often he got the chance to pay so much attention to their relationship, work was a big part of his life, but since Mickey had come along, it was hard for either of them to fit them in. Because of the trip everything had come to a standstill by midday yesterday so he sent the car to pick his wife up, sent a sitter to look after Mickey and they went for a meal, relaxing chat and lots of adult freaky sex, they even did some stuff they hadn't tried since well before Mickey was conceived, they'd both forgotten what it was like to just have fun.
But today they were learning that sex at 22 was sex for 22 year olds, and they needed to be grateful they got that with each other back then because now they were 30, with aching and tired bodies, they couldn't jump around and go 12 rounds in a night without the backlash, which was what they were experiencing now "Maybe 6 would be a more realistic goal for next time" he giggled "I'm bushed" he rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes
"So Daddy should be" she tickled her son talking to him, before getting her phone out to play some games with him, she gave him half the earphones to let him listen to some nursery rhymes to keep him quiet until his dinner came. She was sat listening to them too, clapping and singing along, she didn't know when she'd fallen asleep but when she woke up Mickey wasn't on her lap, wasn't even in the room and Sam was fast asleep still leaning on her "Mickey" she jumped up whispering, Sam's head fell on the pillow but he didn't wake up "Mickey" she sprung off the bed to go find their son.
If it had been anywhere else she might have been super panicked but they were on their private plane in the sky, with sealed doors, there weren't many places he could go "Mickey" she called as she got to the dining room
"Here Mrs Evans" The airhostess called holding her hand up "He was playing with Blake earlier I guess he came back to find him" she pointed at Blake
"God Mickey" she held her chest at finding him "Sorry we fell asleep and he wondered off"
"He was fine, he's only just got here" the hostess smiled
"Thank you and sorry for the disturbance" Mercy smiled at Santana
"No problem, it's a long flight he can come play any time he wants" Santana smiled watching Mercy pick her son up and walk away
Their husbands had business together but this was really the first time the two women had been in the same room as each other, it was always going to be an awkward relationship, how do you become your husband's bosses wife's friend, it didn't seem like it was going to happen, they both seemed to opt for it being a formal relationship and started it there
Mercy got back to the bedroom and managed to settle back in without Sam opening his eyes, she wasn't going to say anything to him about falling asleep and leaving Mickey awake and unsupervised, he'd hit the roof, and he didn't care that people were on the plane and in ear shot. She sat looking at their little miracle, he'd been planned for of course, but there was so many obstacles once they knew he was there, she'd more or less been in hospital for the first trimester bar maybe six days, the second trimester saw a mystery swelling all over the body which sent her to bed again and in the final trimester, the little man had sat on her groin nerve meaning she couldn't stand for any amount of time without support, so they had to have a nurse living with them while Sam was away. It was pretty hard on the relationship and Sam had dealt with it by diving into work, building an empire for his family, which meant he was away a hell of a lot until that final week, he'd said it was torture seeing his wife in constant pain and not being able to do anything about it, plus he felt he was to blame, and no matter what she said she couldn't change his mind. Then as law would have it Michael Samuel Evans arrive in the most textbooks of water births. The little bundle of joy with his green eyes and light brown straight hair, his scrumpled face and that unforgettable first screech, telling everyone he's inherited his Mother's lungs.
At three years old, the child they welcomed into the world that day, was unrecognisable, his hair was a mass of frizzy uncontrollable tight curly blond, he was chucky with dimples in his cheeks and his eyes moved from green to hazel and every colour between depending on the weather and his mood. He was undeniably cute, even more so when he was asleep, and he was everything to his parents, Aunt and Uncle and Grandparents "Okay" she pulled him back on her lap as he attempted to get down again "Go Bye Byes" she told her son she knew he wasn't listening to a word she was saying as she snuggled him in her arms. She laughed watching him trying to wriggle out of her arms, silently for a while and then kicking with noise
"Hey" Sam woke up unhappy with his son kicking his Mom that way "Stop that, naughty" he looked at him with his makeshift angry face "Don't do that to Mommy, you'll make Daddy angry" he held his sons kicking legs "Come here" he took him off her and put him firmly on his lap to talk to him. The child was spoilt no doubt, he had everything maybe a six year old might have, but when it came to manners and respect they both demanded that from him, and he was getting a lesson right now from his Dad. "Do you want a drink or something, I'm going to get some snacks I'm starving"
"Fresh orange juice please babe and find out what time lunch is, I don't like you eating rubbish food"
"Will do" he got up with Mickey in his arms to go check out the snacks, and have a man to man talk with his son, he was gone for a good twenty minutes before she heard Micky screaming, she rolled her eyes, Sam eventually emerging with a crying Mickey who'd refused to share Blake's toys with him, he was having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that not every toy he saw belonged to him
There was some reprieve at lunch time and again at dinner, then around 9pm Mickey settled into sleep mode and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The adults had their evening meal, talked and went to get some rest after a few drinks. "We hardly heard a peep out of Blake how do you do it?" Mercy asked Santana about their rather conservative 6 year old
"Sad to say, but he's addicted to Dinosaurs and we stock up" Santana laughed "Books, toys, films anything we can find"
"Sam and Mickey are addicted to Avatar, but that's something they play in his bedroom, it's totally kitted out" she laughed "Actually it's literally a remodel of Pandora, they have the suits and everything" she looked at Sam to change the conversation, she knew she was getting much too excited at their child's bedroom
"Yeah well this isn't work" Sam announced "So what do you guys do for leisure?" he looked at Jessie asking
"Keen gardener" Jessie told him laughing "I have to be keen about it, Santana writes, a lot" he looked at his wife
"Writes?" Sam asked his attention turned to Santana "What do you write?"
"Novels mainly"
"Anything we know?" Mercy asked
"Children's books mainly" she replied smiling "And you?" she looked at Mercy asking
"I don't have time for a pastime" she laughed "I do the accounting for the business, and with Mickey it's proving to be more than a full time job right now"
"But she used to sing too before we had Mickey" Sam looked at his wife before looking back at Santana "And she's good"
"Well that's on the cards for a chill out night" Jessie laughed
"Definitely" Sam laughing before taking another sip of his wine, they sat having easy conversations getting to know each other in a different way for the rest of the evening, soon it was way past 11pm, Mercy yawned and Sam took the lead from that "Guys I'd love to stay up and chat but I'm learning fast, we sleep when he sleeps and tomorrow's a long one so... he looked at Mercy "We'll bid you goodnight"
"I think we're saying the same" Jessie got up the same time as him, the women smiled at each other and got up too, everyone saying a formal goodnight before leaving the dining room
Dubai Burj Al Arab
Day 2
The next day they only had to stand the grizzle for about three hours when he woke up some seven hours later and they were landed in Dubai, it was much like they'd imagined, cars littering the streets, horns popping, people selling whatever they'd grown, the tall skyscrapers with graffiti on the wall larger than life. They sat quietly in the limo being driven across the busy town and through the bustling streets until they finally reached the Burj Al Arab it was what they were calling their competition in the nicest way possible. Finally they mounted the bridge and entered into what felt like the mouth of a rather large whale
"It feels a bit scary don't you think?" Santana looked up unable to see the top
"It's a building sweetheart" Jessie squeezed her hand telling her silently it was alright
They finally walked into the foyer the red and gold décor dripping with money, the staff over polite and helpful, immediately they felt like they were on holiday Mercy and Santana grabbing the cold drinks they were being offered as they stood being checked in. Mickey had run off a few times sending Sam wondering off around the foyer, it had gotten to the point where the doorman was holding his arm out trying to stop the child from escaping
"I have a nasty feeling we should have brought the reigns" Mercy laughed handing Sam his drink
"We'll shop for some tomorrow, I can't be doing this every day"
"I'm tired watching you, let's get him upstairs and get his playpen sorted" she took their passports back and the door cards
"We'll catch up later" Sam turned to Jessie nodding confirmation and they were gone to their suite
The suite had been made child friendly as they'd asked, everything breakable up high couches moved away from the walls, doors with soft closers locks high up, plugs childproofed and finally they could lock the door and let the child tire himself out, Mercy sat on the couch, Sam's head in her lap as they watched their son investigating his new habitat
"This is lovely but I've got to get to work" he looked up at her knowing he was going to get some flack, she was tired and Mickey was nowhere near tired so, she'd have to stay up watching him while he was out "And before you start, I'll be back in four hours tops"
"I wasn't going to say anything"
"We're going to have a good look at the premises, get an idea"
"That's fine I might try and strike up a conversation with Santana"
"Daddy" Mickey came running towards them with some alien substance in his hand
"What the hell is that?" Sam jumped up to go examine the green substance in the child's hand "Soap" he rolled his eyes "Trust him to find the one thing... how did you get into the bathroom?" he asked him, all Mickey had for him was a mischievous grin "Come on" he grabbed his arm and led him back to the bathroom for the clean up. Mercy sat shaking her head, that was from his Dad, Sam was forever touching stuff, especially when they went shopping he couldn't help himself and he'd be too disgusted to take muck off his hands if it turned out to be nasty, he'd run waving his hands ahead of him until he found a bathroom too scared to touch it again, shed seen that look in Mickey's eyes just now
"Father and son" she giggled "Now you're Mommy's boy again" she held her arms open for him to run into, now he was all cleaned up "Four hours yeah?"
"Four hours tops" he leaned in kissing her lips before ruffling Mickey's hair, grabbing his briefcase and leaving their suite
Santana & Mercy
"Hi" Mercy smiled as the receptionist picked the call up "Could you put me through to the St James' suite please" she smiled at how polite the receptionist was as she waited for the connection "Santana, its Mercy, I was wondering if we could take the children around the complex get them tired or something?"
"Sure I was just thinking what to do with Blake for the afternoon, thank you for thinking of us"
"Thank you for accepting" Mercy giggled "Twenty minutes in the foyer?"
"Twenty minutes" Santana confirmed
Mercy changed Mickey's clothes quickly, grabbed her purse and they were out the door and in the escalator well before time, she smiled as she walked towards an already waiting Santana and they said a graceful hello "I think we need to get past this formal stuff if we're going to be in each other pockets for 2 months" Mercy suggested
"Jessie said the same thing, but I don't know how sincere I can be with my husbands, bosses wife" she laughed
"As sincere as you want, how about we pretend they don't exist when we're together?"
"Deal" she giggled "Shops?" she turned pulling Blake with her to follow Mercy
"I need to get some reigns for this child, he's forever running off" she held his hand firmly in hers
"This will show us what direction to go in" Santana walked towards the digital map on the stand, they got their bearings and went off in search of, two hours and they'd brought toys, books and even music and still no sign of reigns "You could get him a stroller, that's what we had for Blake until he was about four"
"I guess if it comes to it we'll have to go with one, I'll see what Sam thinks when he gets back" she looked down at Mickey pulling her in the direction of more fairground rides, they were dotted around the complex and so far they'd stopped at every one "Why not?" she looked at Santana they both laughed and followed their sons, by the time the children had finished the ride Mercy had decided to buy the stroller
"Oh" Santana pointed to the poster as they walked through the mall on their way back to their suites "We were just talking about this last night, should we?" she giggled asking
"As long as you know its a we and not a me, that's fine" Mercy chuckled back, they'd just talked themselves very easily into doing a Karaoke evening "But make it a surprise at the end of the night, Sam will have me up there all night if he gets wind"
"Jessie doesn't even know I sing, so no high expectations"
"It's for fun, what can go wrong?" Mercy laughed as they got in the escalator "Come on in, Sam will be away for a while yet, no point in sitting alone"
The Hotel Suite
"Oh" they walked into the suite shocked for seeing Sam and Jessie sitting there "I didn't expect you back for hours" Mercy smiled walking towards her husband
"I promised within 4 hours" his head went up to take her kiss
"Hi" Santana followed Blake over to his Dad to give and receive kisses
"So you were on a clock that's why everything went so fast" Jessie laughed at Sam "We whizzed through the formalities" he picked their son
"Yeah" he looked up at Mercy "What's with the stroller?"
"Mickey running off" she smiled "We went to the mall for the children to play" she replied "I think Santana and I have a lot in common"
"A lot" Santana laughed
"So where's dinner this evening?" Mercy asked
"I booked the Al Iwan restaurant, it's buffet, I thought that would be better for the children" Sam told them
"And I've been checking out the Nanny system, it looks alright, we might try it" Jessie looked at Santana more asking than telling
"If you think it's alright, we might" she smiled
"So should we say 7.30pm for dinner, make sure the children are sorted before we leave for some evening entertainment at about 10pm?" Jessie suggested
"Evening entertainment" Sam raised his eyebrow looking at Mercy
"He's tired now" Jessie looked at their son in his lap more than ready for sleep, there was no point in trying to get him to do anything when he was tired "7.30pm" he whispered to Sam nodding at a sleeping Mickey in his arms, Santana got up and opened the suite door for them to exit the room
"While Mickey's asleep I thought I could spend some quality time with you" Sam looked up at Mercy smiling
"As long as we're talking quality" she giggled watching him slowly getting up to put Mickey in his bedroom, while she went to the bathroom, he finally got there and got in the bath with her just over two hours later all six were rushing down the corridor trying to get to the foyer on time
Dinner
"Hi" they all said at once, a little out of breath
"Mercy wants to go out tomorrow if we can fit something in" he looked at her before looking at jessie "So I thought we'd start earlier tomorrow and try and finish for lunch"
"Yeah" Jessie agreed
Dinner went quickly, the children had time to run around, while the parents sat in the comfort of knowing they were safe in doing that in the soft play area right next to their table. It was clear the kiddies corner was closing down when the hot chocolate came out, the lights went down and a bedtime story was softy read while all the toys were put away, a great way to end their day. They both got a cuddly toy to take care of for the rest of their holiday the aim of it being to make sure that their named toy behaved themselves all through their stay, in the hope that their behaviour would be mirrored on the child that owned it.
10pm and they were finally sat in the bar watching the entertainment, Jessie excited when the compare announced karaoke, he looked at Mercy with expectation in his eyes, Sam laughed "You've got to sing now" he told her "Everyone's expecting it"
"I will if you will" Mercy looked at Santana
"No I don't..." Jessie started his protest
"Yeah sure. I'll come up with you" Santana interrupted her husband smiling
"Are you sure about this?" Jessie asked her, Sam's hand was already up asking for the list of songs available, he was ready for this
"One song" Mercy warned him, watching him grab the book and flick through it like it was filled with presents
"What about this one?" he asked holding the book up for her to see and pointing at 'Love on the Brain' by Rihanna
"Really?" Mercy asked questioningly, looking at the titles herself "What about that one" she pointed at the book at 'Makeup' by Lyrica Anderson "Do you know this one?" she took the book off Sam and showed her choice to Santana
"Yeah" she laughed, Jessie's face was a picture "It's for a laugh isn't it?" she answered the question that was on his face
"I guess" he laughed "Sorry about this Sam" he leaned in to tell his boss
"Hey, have some faith" Santana tapped his shoulder as she got up, the two women linked arms and walked off to go register their interest, coming back looking pleased with themselves "No turning back now" she giggled, forty five minutes later their names were called and they wondered off to do their thing
Mercy: Would you love me the same, if I take off this makeup, would you love me the same, if I wasn't made up
Would you look me in the face, yeah, yeah, with all of these scars and this pain, I've covered with makeup
Santana: Oh, on and off relationships, I'm sick and tired of doing this Mercy: And I know that you're not to blame, you've been trying hard to love
But I can't let my guard down that easy, you know, you know, that my heart is too weak Santana: If that's not what you want
Babe you better tell me, before I start catching feelings
"Your wife's voice is amazing, did she ever do this stuff professionally?"
"She thought about it but no, for whatever reason she found accounting more interesting"
"What the hell were you worried about?" Sam looked at Jessie when his wife started singing
"We've been married for 8 years and I didn't even know this about her" he laughed "She was right when she decided we all needed to be together right now"
"We should get them up there doing this every night don't you think?"
"Sure" Jessie nodded
Both: Would you love me the same, Santana (Mercy): If I take off this makeup (if I take off this makeup) would you love me the same, (oh) if I wasn't made up (Oh if I wasn't made up)
Would you look me in the face, yeah, yeah, with all of these scars and this pain (scares and this pain) I've covered with makeup
And I can't judge you, I can't judge, you can leave if I'm too much,(too much) how do you want me to be so faithful, you've been trying hard to love
But I can't(I cant) let my guard down that easy, you know,(you know) you know, (you know) that my heart is too weak (Santana) if that's not what you want
Babe you better tell me, before I start catching feelings
Both: Would you love me the same... (Mercy)
When the song finished they stood clapping with pride at their wives performance
"I believe next up is Sam and Jessie" the DJ called out, the two men stood looking at the clapping crowd in shock, Santana and Mercy laughing at their faces "Come on" Mercy called them onto the stage, there was no point in hiding, the girls had made sure everyone knew who they were
"I suppose we better get up there" Jessie laughed with embarrassment
"Yeah, no one knows us" Sam shrugged his shoulders, mounting the stage to please the expectant crowd after the girls performance "What are we singing?" he asked Mercy as they got on stage
"Your choice" she giggled grabbing Santana's arm to go sit down now they'd actually took the challenge
"Can you give us '10,000 Hours' by Justin Bieber, Dan & Shay please" Sam asked the DJ
Sam (Both): Do you love the rain, does it make you dance, (when you're drunk with your friends at a party)
What's your favourite song, does it make you smile, do you think of me
(When you close your eyes, tell me what are ya dreaming), everything, (I wanna) know it all
I'd spend (10,000 hours and 10,000 more) oh, if that's what it takes to learn that sweet heart of yours
And I might never get there but I'm gonna try, if it's 10,000 hours or the rest of my life
I'm gonna love you (Ooh)
Jessie (Both): Do you miss the road that you grew up on, did you get your middle name from your grandma
When you think about your forever now, do you think of me
(When you close your eyes, tell me what are ya dreaming), everything, (I wanna) know it all
I'd spend (10,000 hours and 10,000 more, oh, if that's what it takes to learn that sweet heart of yours
And I might never get there but I'm gonna try, if it's 10,000 hours or the rest of my life)
I'm gonna love you (Ooh)
Both (Jessie): I'm gonna love you...
The night finished with four happy people a lot more relaxed in each others company than they were the beginning of this 2 month assignment, they hugged their goodnights and left for their own suites. Life was very much filled with work after that first night, they had deadlines to meet and Christmas was closing in fast they needed to have confirmed enough to keep the crew working during their week away, factoring in bad weather which might delay their return.
Day 28
"I'll see what I can do" Sam kissed his wife before ruffling his son's mop of hair
"Don't see what you can do, just do it" Mercy snapped at him
"Mercy" he rolled his eyes, with all the pressure to get this project off the ground on time she was adding shit he really didn't need
"Don't Mercy me Sam, just know your life's sweet right now, don't make it sour"
"Okay I'll be back this afternoon" he smiled turning to walk out the door, that was so true, she was as stubborn, if not more, as Mickey when she got started and her shit could go on for days, she'd already got him to the point where he couldn't miss a night without her, he walked out the elevator wondering how the hell she'd got him on a fucking clock like that. It must have been something in the air because they weren't like this at home, every night she wanted something and now every night he expected it.
"I'm back" he shouted early afternoon as he walked into the suite, Mickey charging around with some aeroplane in his hand bumping into his Dad's legs as he stood in the way "Son" he laughed picking him up to kiss him "Let's go shopping" he told him "Is shopping alright?" he walked towards Mercy as he spoke
"Hi" she smiled at him stretching her neck to give him a kiss
"Hi" he smiled kissing her and giving jealous Mickey another peck too "Can we go straight out, I feel like I'll go to sleep if I stay here"
14:00
"Sure" she grabbed their bags and Mickey's jacket and they left, they jumped in one of the cabs waiting outside, making the twenty minute journey to the Mall for an afternoon of browsing and eating, of course Mickey went on every machine they passed and they were happy to sit drinking coffee while they watched him in the activity circle tiring himself out. Half an hour later and it was time to move on Sam grabbed Mickey and threw him up on his shoulders before they carried on their journey "Oh look at that" Mercy stopped in the jewellery shop window admiring a beautiful diamond crested necklace "Can I try it on?" she turned to ask knowing he wasn't going to say no
15:30
"Sure" he was a bit peeved that he'd given up half a days work to walk around a mall and buy his wife more jewellery to go with her already grown collection, but he was going to do it anyway to keep her sweet, he put Mickey down and grabbed the boys hand tightly
They walked into the surprisingly crowded shop, he stood watching Mercy make a B-line for the counter and within seconds the piece was on the counter, he smiled as she flung it around her neck like it was a piece of costume jewellery "Fasten this for me will you please?" she looked back at him, he moved towards her and clipped the clasp together standing back for second to look at it
"Beautiful" he smiled at her mirror image looking back at him
"It is isn't it" she smiled, both their heads turned at hearing Mickey cry in the distance "Where's Mickey?" she asked looking at his two empty hands
"Mickey" Sam stepped off shouting his son "Mickey" he ran around looking in corners and describing him to other shoppers in the hope that they'd seen him "Mercy have you found him?" he shouted across the shop
"No" she screamed looking behind all the stands, the till, the store cupboard, nothing
"Someone must have taken him" Sam made for the entrance to the shop, he looked left, right, ahead there were too many people to see a small child being carried out at force "Call the police" he shouted for anyone that would listen "Our childs missing call the police" he yelled everyone in the mall looking at him, it was obvious English wasn't the first language with nearly everyone in the vicinity.
"Sam" Mercy finally came out of the shop "I called the police" they stood for a second just staring at each other before the shock of what was happening hit them "What are you thinking?" she asked him
"I'm..." his eyes filled with tears he was lost, he had nothing, Mercy saw it and collapsed to the floor she lay banging the floor hysterically demanding her baby back "Mercy" Sam tried to get her up but he was weak and crying "Mercy" he sobbed all he could do was sit on the ground beside her and hold onto her, both bawling helplessly. He held his heart scared it was going to burst out of his shirt, he looked down to see his shirt moving with the thump of his heart "I... I need to find him" he got up leaving Mercy laying there
"Sam" she shouted as he stepped off, holding her hand out for him to grab her, she needed to find the strength to get up and find her baby, she felt weak, ill but she needed to find Mickey "I feel..." she got out before an array of vomit left her mouth, she stood heaving for a good minute
15:45
It seemed like a lot of minutes after the call but suddenly the mall was full of police, they were like an army descending, all the exits where blocked, people were being questioned and for a while everything seemed to be going in slow motion as they stood watching everything going on outside them, unable to take the time to feel what was going on inside them
"Mr & Mrs Evans" someone came up to them, they remembered hearing their names but after that it was just sound with no meaning "So a description?" the woman standing in front of them asked, their faces blank
"Sorry who are you?" Sam asked
"Have you found him?" Mercy looked up asking the woman "Have you found our son?"
"We are trying to find him Mrs Evans we need to know what he looks like, what did he have on?"
"Have on" she looked up at Sam, her mind blank, how could she not know what her son had left home in "I don't..."
"Jeans" Sam told her "Blue jeans"
"And a blue T-shirt with daddy's little man on the front in red" Mercy's mind jumped back into action at the sound of Sam's voice
"Blue sandals no socks" Sam added
"We have a picture" Mercy told her, looking at Sam who quickly took his wallet out and showed her a picture of their son
"Is there anything that these people might want?" the officer asked
"People?" Mercy asked shocked "What..."
"What do you mean people?" Sam asked at the same time
Up until now they'd only thought he was missing wondering around the mall, maybe crying because he'd lost his way back to them, now people were in the mix, they looked at each other as flashes of strangers physically taking their baby away, mixed in with horror stories of child abduction, exploitation and murder it was all too much, they broke and stood crying out loud for their baby
"We've put out an amber alert" the officer told them
"Sorry who are you?" Sam asked wondering whey they were giving all this information to a stranger
"Sorry I did say I'm Inspector Quraishi but call me Nada, I'm the lead on your case, I'll keep you updated on everything and hopefully get your son back to you as quickly as possible" she smiled "We have people searching every inch of the mall, I assure you, we'll do our best to find your son" she told them walking away.
It seemed like another age before someone else came up to them asking about relatives, offering coffee and sandwiches, they refused them all staying sat on the floor outside the shop in the hope that Mickey would find his way back to them "Mr & Mrs Evans" Nada came back to them, her voice so gentle it was almost patronising "We think you should go back to your hotel and wait for news"
17:00
"Sam" Jessie walked fast towards them with Santana in tow, their heads shot up with expectation
"Is he with you?" Mercy asked them
"No, we just heard" Santana walked towards her holding her arms out, Mercy jumped up and flew into them holding her tight and sobbing into her shoulder
"We lost our baby" she kept saying over and over again, Sam stood drained listening and unable to do anything to help the situation
"Come on" Jessie looked at his boss, who seemed to have aged at least 10 years from three hours ago when he left him, holding his hand out for the broken man to follow "Let's get you guys away from all these eyes" they just realised there were people talking to them, they didn't really know the language so they all turned to walk away
"Miss" a lady called they all spun around hoping for news "Your purse" the woman stepped out of the shop and handed Mercy her purse
"Thank you" Santana told her taking the bag Mercy didn't even seem to care about
"Miss" the woman called after them again "I'm sorry but you still have the necklace on" Mercy stood feeling her neck before she snatched it off and cried some more before passing it over
They walked through the crowd feeling like the doomed, everyone silently gossiping about what they thought might have gone on and keeping out of their way, it felt like the parting of the red sea as the crowd shuffled out the way not breaking their natural stride. Of course the hotel had already heard about the incident when they got there, everyone was moving around fast trying to keep reporters at bay, making clear the couples access and offering apologies for whatever had gone on
"Mr & Mrs Evans" Nada from the mall half smiled at them as they approached their suite "Just to update you, we're doing everything we can, we know the first 24 hours are crucial and we have everyone we can find out looking"
"Sorry what was your name again?" Mercy asked looking confused
"Nada" she smiled sympathetically
"Nada, why the first 24 hours?" Sam asked speaking for the first time in what seemed like an age
"Statistically there's a better chance of finding him unharmed the sooner we find him the better"
"But what do you expect after 24 hours?" he asked, his tone almost daring her to say the words he was thinking she meant
"We will keep looking Mr Evans" she closed her little book, thinking better of whatever it was she wanted to ask and let them walk into their suite "We have a guard on your door so you don't get disturbed" she told them seconds before the door shut almost in her face
"Do you want a drink?" Jessie moved to the cabinet asking them, he was being polite about it because he was pouring them a drink anyway
"Thanks" Mercy took the glass and threw the spirit down her throat in one swoop "Can I get another please?" she held the glass up at him asking
"I'll get it" Sam got up, took her glass and took his drink off Jessie, he filled the two glasses up and walked back over to his wife "Nerves" he held the glass out to her, she looked into his eyes both of them ready to cry, before she took the glass and emptied it by the time he'd sat down, he emptied his and put the two glasses on the coffee table in front of them "We just need some time alone if you guys don't mine" Sam looked up at Jessie and Santana stood watching them
"No problem you know where we are" Jessie told him grabbing his wife's hand to leave
"Jess" Sam called after him
"Yeah?" he turned asking
"Thanks for everything"
"No need for thanks, you'd do the same for me"
"What are you thinking?" Mercy looked at her husband knowing something was going on in that head of his
"I'm fucking mad now I just want to kill somebody, period" he jumped up out his seat telling her "I don't know why I let go of his..."
"Because I wanted you to fasten a stupid fucking necklace" she finished for him "I know he's prone to wondering off and I should have..."
"Stop" Sam held his hand up "Whoever did this was watching waiting for that exact second, we can't lay blame"
"We need to get the ransom money together, whatever it takes" Mercy told him
"Whatever, everything"
18:30
Fed up of the constant conversations outside their suite door they retired to their bedroom to block it all out, the guard would let in anyone who had anything to do with the case and they'd call Jessie and Santana if they needed them.
"Come and lay down" Sam sat on the bed telling his wife "Please" he begged when she didn't move, she turned to look at him before getting up to do as he'd asked, he could tell she was still blaming herself for this, and just then he was so angry about the situation he could have gone in on what was his fault too, but she needed to feel he didn't blame her. He grabbed her hand as she came close and pulled her down onto the bed spinning round to lay beside her and pull her into him, her arm came round to cover his as her shoulders jerked and tears filled the soft pillow, he cried too, they cried until their tears were dry moans, there was nothing else they could do
"I was just thinking about the day we found out he was on his way" she rubbed his arm telling him
"I was such an ass" he smiled remembering himself jumping down the stairs four at a time with the pregnancy test in his hand, she'd left it on top of his beside cabinet that afternoon, he'd got in took his usual shower and was grabbing his pod off it when he noticed the stick beside it, he was past estatic, they'd been trying for nearly 6 months and just when they'd started talking about getting help it happened "A happy ass"
"Was it around day 4 when those headaches started?" she turned to ask
"Minute 4" he laughed "They never went away until the day he was born, I was fed up of hearing that damn excuse"
"I don't know how you still wanted to have sex in with all the projectile vomiting, coughing wee and periodic diarreiah" she smiled at him
"And then after nearly 15 hours of total agony..."
"Agony for me you mean" she nudged him
"It was painful and disgusting watching all that, it was more than painful for me" he rested his head on hers "We ended up with a C-section"
"Yeah all 10lb oz of him" Mercy smiled
"Yeah, he's always been our emotional rollercoaster" Sam pulled her to him "He'll be back, I can feel it"
"I'll give them maybe three hours of his screaming and they'd be paying us to have him back" she grabbed her husbands face and kissed his cheek "He loves us, he'll be back" they lay thinking about their son hoping, praying he would be back
21:00
"I can't believe we fell asleep" Sam jumped up
"What?" Mercy asked sitting up looking at him questioningly for a second before it all came back to her "Have they found him?" she asked getting off the bed
"No" Sam told her rushing towards the bathroom
"Has anyone called?"
"Check the phones" he called back to her as water hit the pan
"No, no one's called" she told him rushing towards the bathroom herself "I need a quick shower"
"Me too" he started stripping ready to share the shower, they got in looked at each other and burst out crying again for not being able to put their baby to bed. A while later they were dressed and sitting around waiting for an update on something about their son, these 24 hours were slipping away fast, they'd felt every emotion there was to feel in the past 6 hours, now they were in despair.
"I need to eat but I can't" she sat on the couch telling him
"We need to eat something" he grabbed for the menu on the table "Sandwich?" he asked trying to make it appealing
"I'll have whatever you're having" she didn't even have the strength to think "We should have brought that damn stroller with us" she looked at it redundant in the corner
"He climbed out of it the last time we tried that, it wouldn't have helped" Sam sat next to her ready to order the sandwiches as the door knocked "News" he jumped up throwing his phone and the menu on the coffee table "Have you found him?" he opened the door asking
"Sorry Mr Evans, we just needed to tell you, we've widened the search to a five mile radius" a male officer stood looking at him apologetically
"Just tell us exactly what it is you guys are doing to find our son" Mercy walked up to the door ready to burst with the frustration "He's 3 years old, out in a strange country on his own and it's dark, he'll be scared to death, hungry and missing us" she burst into tears as she said the last words
"Mrs Evans I assure you we are doing everything we can to find your son" he told her
"Mr & Mrs Evans" Nada appeared at the door, looking at her colleague like he'd done something wrong "We need to rule out some things, sorry but I need to ask you some delicate questions, which is why I've brought my colleague with me, can we come in?"
Mercy didn't answer she just walked away from the open door "Come in" Sam pushed the door wider to let them in "Have a seat" he encouraged as they got to the lounge "What do you need to know?"
"Is there anyone who might have something against either one of you?" Nada asked
"No" Sam told her, no emotion in his voice
"Has anyone been in contact with any of you demanding money?"
"No" they sat watching the other officer writing notes as they spoke
"Did you notice anyone following you in the mall?"
"No"
"Are you involved in any negotiations that might merit cohesion?"
"No, what are you suggesting?"
"We are trying to build a picture Mr Evans" she smiled "Do you owe anyone any money?"
"No" he rubbed his hands down his calves, Mercy knew he was ready to blow
"Sam" she grabbed his hand feeling him about to get up "It's to find Mickey" she told him
"Sorry I understand this is a worrying time, but the more information we have the more we can focus the search" Nada told them sincerely apologetic
"There's no one we've offended, we don't really know anyone here other than the people that work on the site and Mickey doesn't know anyone either" Mercy told her "Now will you get out there and find our son please"
"We will do our best" Nada got up, the other officer followed suit, closing his note pad before he got up and they walked towards the door
"It's been nearly 6 hours he'll be hungry now" Sam jumped up telling them as he followed them to the door "We need him home" he walked past her to open the door "Please, I'm begging you, bring him home"
"We are doing our best Mr Evans" she half smiled before walking out the door
Seconds later there was another knock at the door, Sam rushed to open it "Room service" a elderly lady stood waiting to wheel tier food in, after a nod from the guard she completed her task and left
They sat looking at the food, unable to touch it, their child wasn't eating wherever he was, he wasn't safe, smiling, talking even, Mercy flinched as Sam took the plate up and threw it across the room "I can't sit waiting anymore I need to get out there" he jumped up telling his wife
"Sam" she got up to grab him
"I can't just sit here eating food" he pointed at her sandwich still sat there
"We don't know the country, people, town where the hell are you going to go?"
"I don't know but just sitting here feels so..."
"Helpless I know" she grabbed him, hugged him and let him cry
00:00
The phone rang making them both jump, Sam grabbed it, accepted the call and put it on loud speaker "Hello" he looked at Mercy wondering if this was the ransom call
"Mr Evans it's Nada"
"Have you found him?" Mercy asked
"We've found something, we're about to bring it over for identification"
"What have you found?" Sam asked
"A sandal that matches the description you gave of your son's attire" Sam and Mercy sat looking at each other, there was a clue which for them meant there was hope
"Where did you find it?" Mercy asked
"Just two kilometres outside the mall, going towards Jabal Ali"
"So does that tell us where they've taken him?" Sam asked
"Not quite but it points us in the right direction, you just need to identify the item Sir"
"Should we come to you?" he asked
"No Sir we'll bring it to you, it's not safe this time of night"
"It's not safe?" Mercy screeched "Our son's out there"
"Can we make a positive identification on the item before we start planning anything drastic?" Nada asked sharply
Mercy rolled her eyes she could get just as ratty as this bitch right now, but her son was missing and just as stressful as it was for them the pressure was on this woman to find the child of one of the most wealthiest families in Dubai at the moment "Okay can we see the item as soon as possible please?"
"Yes Mrs Evans" the voice came back softer this time, Sam was so mad he just clicked the call off
The wait was excruciating, they didn't know what to say, didn't want to say what they were thinking, and didn't want to voice what they were hoping, when the door knocked the tension was so much they jumped with the shock, both running to the door knowing this was it, they were going to find out if their child was lost or taken "Mr & Mrs Evans" Nada's voice soft as her face appeared at the door "Can we come in?" they didn't answer they just moved away from the door and grabbed each other
"Where's his sandal?" Mercy asked as soon as the door shut, watching Nada look at one of the officers behind her and nod for him to come forward
The man held up a see through plastic bag with a blue sandal in it, hey both gasped "It's not Mickey's" Sam gasped "It's not Mickey's" he smiled with relief in his voice "Thank God it's not Mickey's" he squeezed Mercy to him her shoulder jerking with relief
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive it's not my son's sandal, his are brand new, and a different shade of blue" he told her, they quickly left the suite to go in search of the boy, but not before they made it clear that the sandal not belonging to Micky had put their search back to the beginning, because they now had no leads on where their son could be.
"I refuse to believe anything bad has happened to him" Mercy looked at Sam it seemed she was mad now "How could anyone look into a face as cute as his and want to harm him, he'll win them over he's an Evans" she smiled, Sam didn't even feel like convincing her of anything else, he wanted to believe that too
03:30
It had been 12 hours since Mickey had gone missing, there was only numb left to feel, they sat on the couch cuddled together, each silently coming to terms with the fact that something bad might have happened to their son
"Remember when Mickey started walking?" Sam asked smiling
"Yeah my first words were something like, he's going to run away that one"
"And he did, he's always done this stuff and ended up playing with someone or something he wasn't supposed to"
"I fell asleep on the plane and he wondered off to go find Blake"
"I've lost him so many times in his short life, around the house, at our parents, everywhere, the little fella is slippery" he laughed
"But I never dreamt he'd do anything as scary as this" she looked up at him
"Neither did I, but when he comes back I hope he's leant himself a lesson"
"He's learnt me one" she told him "You need to order some reigns, today, I'm not letting him out of my sight ever again"
"One things for sure wherever he is right now he's asleep, he gets that from his Mom" Sam smiled kissing her cheek "But I'm really scared for him"
"Me too"
04:00
"Nada" Sam called down the phone at seeing the now familiar number "Have you found him?"
"We think we have Sir" her voice a lot happier than it had been the past 12 hours
"Is he alright?" Mercy asked excitedly
"We need him checked out, so he's going directly to hospital, I'm sending a car to pick you up"
"We're ready" Sam told her, he didn't hear anymore of the conversation they stood hugging each other crying tears of relief, joy, stress, even anger crept in there. The car came it seemed like seconds later and within twenty minutes they were standing in the hospital waiting to be reunited with their son "Mr & Mr Evans" he told the receptions staff "Our son Mickey's been brought in by the Police, Sergeant Nada Quar.."
"Mr & Mrs Evans" Nada walked towards them smiling "99 percent sure he's your son, he looks just like you" she smiled at Sam "He was found this morning in the cleaners cupboard sleeping in an Eywa, it's an avatar themed rocking bed, it's a disused one they've removed from the mall some months ago, we don't know how he found it, he went to the toy store across from were you were and slipped through the store rooms"
"He has a Eywa bed at home" Sam rolled his eyes "We tell him if he sleeps long enough he might turn into an Avatar" Sam smiled
"I never thought he'd... he's 3 years old of course he'd believe it" Mercy looked up at Sam rolling her eyes at the Sam of it all "You believe it" she giggled
"He asked if he was an avatar now when we found him?" Nada laughed "He's through here" she turned to lead the way
"Mickey" Mercy gasped as her son came into view, he didn't look at all shaken by the whole experience "Why did you run away?" she asked hugging him
"Eywa" he smiled taking the hug, his face wondering what all the fuss was about, Sam moved in quickly hugging his family relieved
"Thank you" he turned to Nada smiling "We're eternally grateful"
"Eternally" Mercy looked up smiling at her "Can he come home?" she asked the nurse
"We're just waiting for his discharge notes and he's good to go, one lucky little man" Nada looked at him smiling "He was telling us all he was going to Mo'ara Valley for his 10th birthday" she laughed
"We are actually, it's a passion of mine" Sam laughed, taking his phone out to update Jessie
06:00
"Could you order us two sets of reigns for the morning please?" Sam asked the receptionist as soon as they walked into the hotel lobby
"Yes Sir" she smiled "Good to have him back"
"It is" Sam replied
They met up with Jessie, Santana and Blake when they got to their suite, everyone making a fuss of Mickey "Do you need to let your family know?" Jessie asked
"Shit" Sam and Mercy said at the same time looking at each other
"With everything going on we didn't even tell them" Sam admitted
"There's no point in stressing them out now, we'll be home in three days anyway" Mercy shrugged her shoulders telling him
"You might be right" Sam smiled kissing her nose, they ordered breakfast and ate together before The St James' left for their suite
That morning everyone stayed in bed it had been a traumatic 12 hours, Mickey was put in his bedroom, safe enough with no windows to climb out of and they were all locked in their bedroom, just in case he woke up before them. It was well after mid day when Mickey came running into their bedroom jumping on the bed demanding food, plonking himself on the pillow in the middle of them looking pleased with himself
"You gave us a scare little fella" Sam looked at him frowning
"Sorry Daddy" his cheeky face telling them that wasn't going to be the last time