I'm back with another chapter for y'all! Sending out lots of thanks and love to those of y'all who are enjoying the story so far. I don't think I've quite made this clear yet, but this is a slow burn fic (with some other… relationship roadblocks dispersed throughout), so strap in and enjoy all this fumbling around one another these two are going to be doing!
When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw him. He was skinny. Almost too skinny. Sure, he had muscles, but he looked like the slightest of gusts could blow him away. He was tall, too. He was at least 6' and much taller than anyone else in the house. Grandmother's going to LOVE that. He had short dirty blonde hair, a kind face, and… Woah. A mouth. A big one. It wasn't bad though. He definitely wasn't what she imagined when her grandma told her about him a few minutes ago. Realizing there was an actual conversation happening, she hurried over to join her grandmother and sister in greeting him.
"This right here is my Moonshine and, there she goes." Abeline grinned as Mercedes rushed up to them. "This here is my Sunshine. Why don't you all make yourselves acquainted while I talk to Shelly for a minute? Go on, now."
"Hello!" Amaiya wasted no time in introducing herself. "My name is Amaiya Lynn Jones, but you can call me Maiya. Or Amaiya. Or Lynn. Or Jones. Or Jonebug. My grandaddy used to call me Jonebug." Her smile, despite missing a couple of teeth, was wide as ever. "It's like Junebug, but with Jones, but you take the s off the end. My dad's nickname is Junebug and everybody says I look just like him, so sometimes, people call me Junebug Jr. You can call me that too. I'm seven years old, and—"
Are you kidding me? She's embarrassing us already? "Maiya," Mercedes called out to her sister. She smiled in an effort to conceal her nervousness. She hoped it was working. "Stop talking so much. You don't want to scare him off when he just got here."
Sam chuckled at their exchange. "Oh, she could never scare me off, I promise." He bent down to Amaiya's eye level and shook her hand. "Hi, Maiya. I am Sam. Sam I am. And I do not like green eggs and ham."
She nodded approvingly as she shook his hand. "Nice. I'm more of a Horton Hears a Who girl myself."
"Oh, yeah? What do you think of," He thought for a moment, "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street?"
She giggled. "That's my second favorite."
"Now, that's nice," He said, smiling at her.
Mercedes watched on, officially feeling that the third wheel feeling she knows all too well. What in God's name is happening right now?
Sam stood back up and looked at her, a smile still on his face. "And what about you, Sunshine?"
For more than a split second, everything stopped. When they locked eyes, her heart stopped beating, her lungs stopped breathing, and her brain stopped thinking. Between his intensely green eyes, his voice, and his smile, something struck her. She couldn't quite tell what it was.
Before she could gather her thoughts and speak up, her sister nudged her. "Now who's scaring him off?" She whispered.
This brought Mercedes back and she smiled abruptly. "Mercedes. Hi."
"Any nicknames I should be aware of?"
"Well, it seems like there are plenty of those going around," she briefly cut her eyes at her sister, "so, no."
"I mean, we're all going by nicknames, aren't we? Including Ms. Abby. In the spirit of shortening our names, mind if I do the same for you? How's…" he studied her for a moment, "how's Cedes?"
Absolutely not. I am not about to let this guy call me by my nickname when we just met. Aren't nicknames more of a "friends and not acquaintances" kind of thing? She twisted her mouth and shook her head. "Nobody calls me that."
"I call you that." Amaiya pointed out.
"I know, and I've been trying to get you to stop for forever," her sister retorted.
"Tina and Santana call you that, too."
"Okay, you know what? Cedes is fine." If I don't end things now she'll expose my deepest secrets before dark.
Sam's smirk turned into a lopsided grin. He extended his hand once again. "It's nice to meet you, Cedes."
When their hands touched, Mercedes had to force herself not to react to the jolt of energy she felt. I'm losing my mind. I have to be.
"Alright, Sam." Shelly reappeared from her huddle with Abeline. "I'm going to go. You're in good hands, I'm sure of it…"
Mercedes stood there, mind whizzing. She had to tell Santana about this. All of this. It was so monumental but also so... weird? She had never met this boy in her life and he was going to be living with them, and now, he was giving her something. Some type of vibe. And she had no clue what it was. This is going to be keeping me up at night.
"Sunshine," Abeline said one Shelly left, which Mercedes hadn't even noticed, "why don't you and Moonshine take this young man up to his new room and help him get settled in. Then, we'll get started on this Welcome Day Feast."
"Sure. Follow me." Mercedes took one of Sam's suitcases and walked up the stairs.
"Wait, so, you live here?" He asked as he did as told.
"Mmhmm. Bakery downstairs, house upstairs. Hope you're ready to clock in some hours icing and checking out customers."
"Oh, I'm totally down. I mean, I've never done it before, but whatever I can do to help out."
They helped Sam settle in and put some of his things away. Once they were done, he asked a few more questions to get the lay of the land.
"So what's it like living here? Is your grandma strict?"
"No, not really," Mercedes replied. "Her only rules are homework before tv or working in the bakery or anything else, no drinking or drugs inside the house, and help out downstairs whenever she asks. Other than that and general respect and courtesy, nothing you need to know."
"She probably also has rules about partying, but Cedes doesn't go to any, so we don't know about those." Amaiya tucked her braids behind her ear. "You may want to ask about them if you plan on having a social life."
Mercedes scoffed. "I do too go to parties!" She looked at Sam, defending herself. "I go to parties."
"You do not!"
"Whatever." She waved Amaiya off and looked back at Sam. "I just no longer see the point in being in a crowded space with a bunch of teenagers who are probably too drunk to see straight. I'd much rather sit in my room and listen to my music."
Sam lit up at this. "So you're an introvert and you like music? Who're your favorite artists?"
"You probably don't listen to them a ton."
"Try me." He challenged her with a nod.
"Well, I love Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Mahalia Jackson. But my absolute favorite is Aretha Franklin."
"Wow. So, the Queen of Pop, Songbird Supreme, the Queen of Gospel, and the Queen of Soul. Those are some heavy hitters, Cedes."
There it was again. His lopsided grin paired with his gaze. How does he know those things? She allowed her surprise to shine through a little in her small smile. "Yeah, they are."
"Those were our mom's favorites, too," Amaiya said, never afraid to insert herself into a conversation. "She really loved music. She was going to be a singer, but it didn't work out."
"Oh, wow. My mom loves music too. She can't sing to save her life, though. Tragic."
As Amaiya laughed, Mercedes found herself intrigued by their conversation again as well. It was so natural. Sam almost talked to her like an adult, something few people ever did. She could tell they'd get along well.
"But Cedes is gonna be a singer, just like our mom wanted to be. She's going to sing with Beyoncé and Alicia Keys and Jazmine Sullivan. She's going to be a heavy hitter one day."
Mercedes swooned hearing Amaiya talk about her in that way. As much as she got on her nerves, she was one of her biggest supporters. "That's right." She sat beside her and put her arm around her, hugging her.
"So, why are you here, Sam? Where are your parents?"
"Amaiya!" Mercedes' eyes went wide. "Okay, I think it's time we get back downstairs." She started to get up when Sam put his hands out.
"No, it's okay, really! If some guy just kind of dropped out of nowhere and came to live with me, I'd want to know why, too." He looked at Amaiya and said, "My mom has some problems and she's getting help, so someone has to take care of me in the meantime."
"What about your dad?"
He shrugged. "Never met him."
Amaiya nodded. "I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I've never met my dad, either."
Mercedes looked at her sister, noticing the hint of sadness in her tone. As much as Mercedes tried to convince her otherwise, Amaiya always wanted to know him. Always. "Maiya, you—"
"Will you be going back to live with your mom when she gets better?"
Despite Mercedes catching his eye, Sam answered her. "I hope so, yeah. That's the plan."
"Well," she stood up perkily, "until she does, you've got us. We can be your family now. Now, let's go downstairs for your Welcome Day Feast." She took his hand and pulled him up.
He looked back at Mercedes. "Okay, Welcome Day Feast? That's the second time I've heard that since I got here."
She rolled her eyes. "They'll tell you it's 'customary', but I'm pretty sure Maiya made it up, like, a week ago."
Sam laughed. "You're funny."
She smiled sheepishly. "Thanks."
At their feast, Amaiya had another world of questions for him and dominated the conversation. As per usual, Mercedes stayed mostly quiet.
Abeline did have a question from time to time, though. "So, what types of things are you interested in, Sam? Got any hobbies?".
"I do, yeah. I like sports. Mostly football and basketball. I also like drawing and music, too. And I'm really into comic books."
"Oh, so talented! Sunshine, is there any chance he could still join the football team?"
Mercedes looked at her grandma confusedly. "I don't know, Grandmother. I don't know anything about sports at McKinley."
Amaiya pointed at her. "Not true. You know about the Cheerios."
"Cheerios?" Sam asked.
"Our cheerleading team," Mercedes said. "And I didn't try out, so my knowledge on that is limited at best."
"What else are you involved in at the school?"
Amaiya held her hand out to stop her sister from responding. "I'll answer that one for you, Sam." She lowered her head while keeping her eyes on him. "Nothing."
"I've been trying to get her to audition for that glee club that all her friends are in, but she's stubborn as a mule, that one." Abeline pointed to Mercedes this time.
Mercedes tried to smile sweetly, but the passive aggressiveness still shone through. "Grandmother, can we not do this now? In front of him?"
"Why not? He's going to be living here, he's going to see how things work some time or another," she said. "Sam, my Sunshine is too introverted for her own good. Seems no matter how hard I try, she is just stuck on wasting away in this house."
"There's nothing wrong with being an introvert." Sam smiled. "There are plenty of really cool introverted people."
Amaiya shook her head. "She hates parties even though all of her friends go, she's always home before 9, and one time, the school had a bake-off and she didn't even go even though she lives in a bakery. There's something wrong with that."
"Moonshine, watch yourself, now." Abeline cautioned her granddaughter.
Sam was shocked. "Oh, Cedes. Skipping the bake-off? That's no good at all."
She averted her eyes. I will not subject myself to that damn grin again.
Turning his attention away from her, Sam admired the full dessert spread in front of him."You know, Ms. Abby, I'm really grateful for how welcoming you guys have been, but this is way too much food. I mean, I know I'm a teenager and all, and we have a reputation for eating people out of house and home, but all of these cakes and pies are making me feel like you secretly plan on stuffing me into your oven later." He joked.
Sending out a boisterous laugh, the older woman shook her head. "No, no, that's not the plan. It's just how we do things around here is all."
"Tomorrow, she's going to go and hand out leftovers to people who need them!" Maiya said.
"Oh, wow. That's really wonderful of you," Sam said to Abeline. "I'd love to help out one day if I'm free."
"You sure can. As a matter of fact, you can be the one who goes out with Mercedes."
He can be the one that does what now? Mercedes tilted her head at her grandma.
"She's going to be making her own weekend runs in about a month or so. You can join her then."
"Grandmother, we already talked about this. I don't need to—"
"That sounds great," Sam interrupted her. "I'm looking forward to it, Cedes. Maybe you can show me around town some, too."
"You could show him the lake!" Amaiya smiled.
Mercedes shook her head. "I don't really go to the lake like that, sorry. But, yeah, you can join me." She put her head back down into her plate of forbidden blueberry pie.
That night, after saying goodnight to her granddaughters, Abeline stepped into Sam's room.
"Just checking in before I head to bed. You settling in okay?"
He nodded. "I am. Ms. Abby, I promise you I'm going to do my best to make sure that you won't get any problems out of me. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you've agreed to let me stay here."
"Of course, Sugar. Any friend of Shelly's is a friend of mine." She patted his hand. "If you need anything, you let me or my girls know. Actually," she thought for a moment, "if you need anything and you want to keep it quiet, tell Sunshine first. 'Cause that youngest one can't hold water, poor thing." She laughed. "She's such a motormouth, she'll tell your secret before you even get it out. But her big sister? You can tell her just about anything."
"Really?"Sam laughed along with her.
"Oh, yes. Sunshine can be a little slow to warm up to you, but she's got a good heart."
"That's good to know."
"Alright. You should have everything you need in here and you should be squared away. Go ahead and get some sleep before your first day at school tomorrow. I'll be down the hall if you need anything, hear?"
"Yes, ma'am." He thanked her one last time before she left the room. A moment later, he heard a light knock at the door. "Come in," he said.
Amaiya slowly peeked her head through the door. "We wanted to come to say goodnight."
"We?"
She looked behind her, groaning when she noticed she was alone. "I'll be right back," she said without even turning back around.
Sam laughed to himself as he heard her footsteps marching back toward the room and saw her practically dragging her sister by her wrist.
"We wanted to say goodnight." She smiled. She skipped over to Sam, who was already in bed. "I wanted to do my goodnight chant for you, my grandaddy taught it to me for when I'm scared or nervous. But Cedes said I probably shouldn't do that."
"Well, thanks for thinking of me. Who knows? Maybe you can teach me some other day." He kept his smile as she skipped out just the way she skipped in.
Mercedes gave a half-hearted smile. "Night. Don't forget, we leave tomorrow at 7:30 sharp. I don't like to be late."
"Affirmative. Goodnight."
She went to leave but backtracked. "Um, I know Maiya can be kind of overkill, but if you are anxious or anything about tomorrow, take it from someone who's used to being anxious, your first day is going to work out fine." She paused. "And if it doesn't, we are here for you if you need anything. So yeah, if you're good for tonight, I'm just gonna-"
"Actually I do have one question."
"Yeah?"
"It's quiet in here, like super quiet. I'm used to a lot of noise at night. Do you know of anything I could do about that?"
She thought for a bit. "I can bring my tv in here if you want. It's pretty heavy, I'll need some help lifting it-"
"No, I don't want to take anything from you-"
"It's okay, I," she laughed a little, "It's my brother's old room, so it's his tv in there. I don't use it." Despite her offering, she could see he was still a little uncomfortable with the idea. She came up with something else. "How about this? It's quiet in here, but if you open that window," she pointed to the window beside his bed, "you can hear cars, buses, trains, all the hustle and bustle of the city at night. If that doesn't work, then we can figure something else out, yeah?"
"Yeah, thanks. Goodnight, Cedes."
She waved. "See you in the morning. 7:30 sharp!"
Once settled in her own room, Mercedes lay awake as she did most nights. She turned on her lamp and looked beside her bed at the picture on her nightstand. "Hey, Mom," she sighed. "First day of school tomorrow, huh? I can't remember if I told you this, but I have both my free periods back to back this semester, so that's really gonna allow me to get some extra work done during the day. I'm going to put in the work to make sure I stay fully on top of my studies this year so I can help Grandmother out a little more. It's crazy to think that this is the last half of my high school career and you won't be here. I've adjusted to the sock of it all, but it still feels… less than great not having you here to send me off."
Getting lost in her thoughts, she stayed silent for a while before abruptly speaking back up. "Hey, do you remember a couple of weeks back when I told you I felt like Grandmother had some grand plans that were going to completely derail my life? Welp, surprise! I was right," she said flatly. "I had no idea just how right I was. It's this boy named Sam. Get this: we're taking him in and she literally told me a matter of minutes before he arrived." She rolled over onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. "Can you believe that? All I do for her and this is how I'm repaid? And he and Amaiya have become like two peas in a pod within a few hours," she said in disbelief. "It's insane, almost like they knew one another before he got here. He doesn't seem like too much trouble which is a good thing, but you did always teach me never to judge a book by its cover, no matter what it tells you. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess." She rolled back over to her nightstand and ran her thumb over her mother's face. "I can't tell you how much I wish you were here. You probably would've loved him just like Maiya does. I know she has the reputation of being Dad's mini-me, but she's so much like you, Mom." She stopped herself from retreating into her thoughts before she kept herself up all night again. "I should go to bed. Junior year waits for no one. I love you. Goodnight." She turned her lamp off and closed her eyes.
Can't wait to hear your thoughts!