Chapter 9

Mercedes sat on the side of her bathtub staring in disbelief at the paper she'd been holding for the last hour. She knew that it was in plain English and understood every word but still, her eyes read the first line over and over again. "This can't be right." she mumbled with frustration. Mercedes left the bathroom in search of something quick to throw on and head out the door. Once she located her tennis shoes and baseball cap she flew out the front door.

It was now 2 months since the accident and she and Sam still
avoided each other as much as possible outside the hospital. During one
of their visits to the hospital they bumped into Mercedes' mother. Usually they
were able to put on a good enough front for audiences and their daughters but
this was not one of those times. The tension in the air was so thick when the
trio sat down for lunch that it could not be ignored.

"The girls are looking so much better, before you arrived the
doctor told me that princess Bailey regained her appetite and has all the
nurses sneaking her extra chocolate pudding" Her mom said with a slight
chuckle. She was doing all she could to lighten in the mood in the cafeteria
but nothing was working. So finally she asked point blank "what on earth is
going on between you too?" I know when something is bothering my daughter
and clearly something sour is happening because both of you look like you'd
rather be playing darts with each other's faces than sitting here entertaining
me. Mercedes looked over to her mother and responded without any hesitation.
"Mom Sam is having an affair with his doctor. It has been going on for two
years and I found out by accident in the woman's office. So I apologize but you
are absolutely correct to assume that I'd rather be doing almost anything
except for sitting here with him." With that Mercedes rose from the table and
left her mother sitting with her jaw on the table and Sam's unshaven face
buried in his hands as she exited the cafeteria. Momma Jones as everyone called
looked over at Sam. She didn't speak but her eyes showed concern. When
Sam's head rose from his palms he offered an apology to his mother in-law and
exited through the same doors as his wife.

Momma jones returned to Bailey's room a few minutes later in hopes
of finding her daughter, but neither she nor Sam were there. She however
did get a message from Riley " momma said she would be back to see us in a
little while and daddy said he had to go back to work and he would see us
tomorrow bright morning" Momma jones smiled for the sake of the girls and
played with them for about an hour more before she too decided it was time for
her to get home. she kissed her grandbabies, said a prayer for them and headed
out to the parking lot. Momma jones sat in her car trying to reach
Mercedes on her cell phone but knew she probably wouldn't answer so she settled
for leaving a voicemail. "Hi baby, I know you are going through a lot right now
but you call me. I want to know how you are doing. You know your father is on
his annual fishing strip so if you wanna come over and talk it'll be just us
girls. Love you baby, Bye"

All the way home Momma Jones prayed for her daughter and her
family while she listened to her favorite praise and worship CD. She knew
exactly how her daughter felt being betrayed, she too had been cheated on by
her husband before Mercedes was born. They were able to get through it but it
took a long time and a lot of rebuilding before it happened. They never even
told their children about it, no one but their counselor knew about it.

When momma jones pulled into her driveway she was only half way
surprised to see her daughter's car taking up way too much space in her garage.
"One day that girl is going to learn to park her car properly, we don't all
have five car garages" her mother said aloud as she entered the house through
the garage door.

"Baby" she called out. "In here mom" Mercedes replied. Momma Jones
walked through the kitchen onto the attached patio her husband built to find
Mercedes sitting Indian style in her father's favorite chair. She was truly the
definition of a "daddy's girl" and would always be. "Well that was fast",
Momma Jones said. Mercedes looked at her puzzled. "What was fast? " I left you
a message telling you to come over so we could talk about ten minutes ago when I
left the girls." Momma jones responded.

"Oh, well
I've been here since I left there. I didn't want to go home but I didn't want
to be out either. It seems everywhere I go there is someone with a camera
asking me about the girls and what not and today is just not the day, although I
am grateful for the support. Sometimes people fail to realize that too much of
something can also be a bad thing." Mercedes left her position on her father's
chair and headed into the kitchen in search of some wine. She found some and
poured a glass for her and her mother and they ventured into the living room.
Momma Jones listened to her daughter talk. The defeat on her voice sounded
nothing like the woman she raised. Her daughter was always full of life,
finding the best in any situation and just an all-around happy person. The
person sitting before her was wearing sweat pants and probably didn't comb her
hair before she threw it into that makeshift ponytail partially hiding
underneath her cap. She didn't want to rush her daughter into talking about her
marriage and figured it would take some time for Mercedes to warm up to the
conversation. She was completely shocked when Mercedes dropped the news on her
without any coaxing at all. Momma jones tried hard to keep up with the
details and keep her composure as her daughter cried over her husband's
infidelity. Hell, momma jones wanted to find Sam herself and slap him silly for
this mess but everything came crashing down when Mercedes said "And if all that
wasn't already too much, after a year of continuously trying and failing, today
I find out I'm 9 weeks pregnant." All momma Jones could do was hold her
daughter in her arms as she continued to cry until they both fell asleep on the
living room couch.

Mercedes woke the next morning almost confused about where she was until she smelled her mother's cooking. Momma jones cooking would always be incomparable to even the greatest and most famous of chefs in Mercedes eyes. Many times she tried to get her mother to seriously consider opening a restaurant but her mother refused saying she loved to cook but never wanted to feel like she was forced to do it. She kept busy with her interior designing and lucrative event planning business. Mercedes rose from her laying position to find her father sitting in the recliner in the far corner of the room gazing at her. "daddy what are you doing home, aren't you supposed to be on your fishing trip?" Momma Jones heard her daughter's questioned and interjected before her father had a chance to respond. "Your father's friend jimmy got called back on account of an emergency at work so the guys decided to cut this trip short. He only arrived about an hour ago. "

"yeah and I'm now glad I did. I can't tell you the last time I saw you sleep at home. You looked so beautiful asleep, I just had to watch you like I used to do when you and sydney were babies. Things are a little different now though. I heard your snoring before I even got out of my car! Lord have mercy, How does Sam do it?" he chuckled. It was clear to Mercedes that her father knew nothing about Sam's indiscretions and that is exactly how she wanted it for right now. .

"Kevin leave this child alone, she wasn't even hardly snoring" momma jones said sending a playful tap to the back of her husband's bald head. "Aw, she knows I'm only teasing honey. Right baby? Mercedes nodded her head and yawned. Baby why don't you get freshened up and come help me finish breakfast while your father unloads his van.

Kevin walked over to where his daughter was sitting and gave her a quick peck before he headed out to the garage. when he got there he saw a car pulling up behind his and watched as a man stepped out. "Cedes Sam's here!" he called out back into the house.