Fair warning - it gets a little sappy at the end. I just felt the need for some romance. Please enjoy and as always, let me know what you think!

Saturday evening, Hudson-Hummel Home

If Mercedes was feeling melancholy at all after her chat with Rachel, the feeling disappeared as soon as she stepped back into the basement to find that the party had devolved into typical New Directions shenanigans.

The ottoman had been pulled up close to the TV and Jake, Mike and Rory were sitting on it, video game controllers in hand. Artie was next to them with the fourth controller. Tina, Quinn and Kurt were in a huddle beside the couch and in the middle of the room, Sam, Blaine, Unique and Marley were dancing and singing along to 'Call Me Maybe' playing from someone's phone. Ryder, Joe, Kitty and Sugar were gathered around the snacks while Ty and Jesse were in conversation at the back of the room.

"Oh my God," she said to herself with a laugh as she surveyed the chaos in the room. "I was gone all of fifteen minutes."

"Rachel okay?" Kurt asked as he came up beside her.

She nodded. "Yeah, she's all right. Or will be. Just a little overwhelmed by memories for a minute." She inclined her head towards the impromptu dance floor and smiled. "And you were giving me grief about who I said 'I do' to?"

Kurt shrugged, smiling back at her as he observed the dance party. "He and Sam are terrible influences on each other. Bad Idea Twins for real." He shook his head. "They're not even drunk."

Mercedes laughed. "At least our lives will never be boring."

As if to prove her point, Sam suddenly was next to her, pointing at her as he sang along with the song now playing, something she didn't recognize.

"She got me drunk like Corona
Heart racing like it's Daytona
Ooh, I'm in Heaven, I swear, right now

And those eyes can hypnotize
Was designed to blow my mind…
"

Sam mimed his head exploding, making Mercedes laugh before he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a dance, spinning and twirling her around the room, still singing, "Look what God gave her, how perfect He made her, she walks in the room, It's like He answered my prayers, the way that she moves, how could anybody blame her?"

Beside them, Tina and Blaine were dancing, Marley and Unique, Kitty and Joe. Mercedes threw back her head and just laughed. Maybe she had married a crazy man, but he was a crazy man who clearly adored her.

As the song came to an end, Sam deposited her back beside Kurt and kissed her before he went back to dancing and goofing off with Blaine and the others, the song playing now an old Biggie one from the 90s.

"You were saying?" Kurt said with a laugh.

"My point exactly," Mercedes agreed, adding, "This is the most random playlist. It must be Sam's."

Kurt laughed and nodded. "He is so hopelessly in love with you," Kurt said. "I suppose that cancels out anything else." He shook his head, laughing again. "I can't believe you're letting him kiss you so much in front of all of us. Remember that time we talked Dad and Carole into letting us have a slumber party here, for the whole club? You two woke up holding hands and you were mortified that anyone might have seen."

Mercedes waved a dismissive hand. "That was ten years ago, Kurt. I've grown up a lot since then. We kissed in front of people when we were dating in New York." She had to laugh a little at herself though. She did remember that, it had been not long after they'd gotten back together that spring of senior year and she'd wanted to keep it lowkey. He'd quietly rolled out his sleeping bag next to hers early in the evening and she didn't protest, not then or after the lights had been turned out for them to go to sleep and they were actually all in their sleeping bags and his hand found hers in the darkness. Kurt had been one of the first ones awake in the morning and if anyone else besides him had seen it, no one else had said anything. Honestly, no one had really said anything to them at all the rest of that spring, just accepted their couplehood as the inevitability it apparently was.

Kurt considered this. "I suppose you did. Anyway, the point is, when he and I were on the playground earlier today, I was all prepared to give him the whole 'you better treat my best friend right or you'll have me to answer to' speech and I never even got the chance. He just kept rambling on about how amazing you are and how much he loves you and what a great mom you'll be –" Mercedes narrowed her eyes at Kurt at this part and he held up his hands in mock surrender "- someday," he specified, with emphasis. "And how lucky he is and did I mention he loves you and you're amazing?"

She smiled at that. "Did he start talking in the Avatar language?"

Kurt considered the question. "Possibly? I'll admit, I may have tuned out a little bit. I remember something about you being his imzadi, whatever that means."

Mercedes frowned, thinking. "I haven't heard that one before. I don't know if it's an Avatar thing or not. I'll be honest, you know he's made me watch that movie, but it's been a long time and I don't really remember how that language works, what little I ever actually knew."

"I tried to break him of all that," Quinn said as she popped into their conversation. "I did the best I could, but he may just be a lost cause."

Mercedes laughed. "I appreciate the effort, but I think I like him just the way he is."

Quinn smiled. "Exactly as it should be. Anyway, we're going to head out. It's getting late and I'm exhausted. We'll see you at Breadstix in the morning?"

Kurt and Mercedes both nodded as they hugged her in turn and said goodbye to Ty as well. Mercedes saw Rachel finally come back inside, Jesse meeting her near the door. Rachel smiled up at him as he pulled her to his chest, kissing the top of her head. Mercedes couldn't help but smile at the scene – Rachel and Jesse had both grown up a lot and they really were a perfect match for each other. She really did believe that God had a plan for all of them and, despite the heartaches in their pasts, they had wound up where they were supposed to be.

Rachel and Jesse came to say their good-byes then – they were both anxious to get back to the baby, not wanting to take advantage of her dad – and Ryder headed out not long after them, unfortunately having to work the next day. Marley wavered on leaving, citing the hour and a half drive back to Columbus, but eventually Unique and Kitty talked her into coming to crash in their hotel room and the three of them left on an emergency Walmart run to get Marley the things she needed to stay the night before heading to the hotel for a slumber party.

The party continued to thin out, until eventually it was just the three couples left – Tina and Artie, Kurt and Blaine and Sam and Mercedes. Sam and Artie were locked in a heated Mario Kart battle while Kurt and Blaine had started cleaning up the snacks and Tina and Mercedes were curled up on the couch.

"Does it feel different, as a couple, being married?" Tina asked and Mercedes considered the question thoughtfully.

"Yes and no," she finally said. "Because, I mean, we weren't officially a couple again until the day we got married. And it's only been three days. So it's just different in general."

Tina nodded. "Right, that makes sense."

"But, still – yeah, it definitely feels different than the other times we dated. Signing the paperwork, saying the vows – yeah, it's kind of heavy. And of course, as you well know –" here she gave her a pointed look, "we had not previously been physically intimate –" Tina couldn't help giggling at her phrasing – "so that is obviously different."

"Good different, though, right?" Tina asked and Mercedes nodded. Tina continued, saying "Listen, I really am sorry if I embarrassed you at the beginning of the evening."

"No, it's okay. I mean, Quinn and I had talked a little about it already, it just – caught me off guard, I guess?" Mercedes shrugged. "You know, I'm just not used to having a sex life to talk about. I was never included in the glee girls sex chats, for obvious reasons."

Tina rolled her eyes. "Oh, God. Those chats were mostly just endless pontificating from Rachel about whether or not she should sleep with Finn, so please don't feel like you missed out on anything. And besides, didn't most of them not know your status back then? You really should have been included, even if you were just a silent observer."

Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, you and Kurt were only ones I'd ever officially told. And Quinn, but that was sophomore year when she was living with me. She probably assumed I'd slept with Sam and Shane by senior year."

Tina shrugged. "Well, whatever. It's really no one's business but you and the guy. But I meant what I said earlier, I really am glad for you. You wait this long, you deserve a good first time."

Mercedes nodded again. "Yeah. You know, believe it or not, Rachel was actually right about something." She laughed at Tina's look of surprise. "Yeah, I know. But we talked a long time ago, the last time Sam and I dated, about how I wished it were his first time too, worrying I wouldn't be any good at it. And she said that if he was the right guy, that wouldn't matter, that he'd make me feel like I was the only one. And he did," she said simply.

Tina smiled, pressing her hand to her heart. "Augh. This is just so sweet and so beautiful and –"

"Oh, God, Tina, don't start crying!" Mercedes said in mock alarm and Tina laughed.

"Can I help it if romance moves me to tears?" she said, exaggeratedly pretending to wipe away a tear.

Mercedes glanced over at the guys again. "What about you, friend? How's your romance?"

Tina shrugged, but smiled as she looked at Artie. "It's good."

"Do you think –"

"That we'll get married one day?" Tina shrugged again. "I honestly don't know. It's been three years now, things are good. I don't know that he and I necessarily need the piece of paper, you know? I could see us going on forever like this, especially if we don't have kids."

"Are you not going to?"

"We're still undecided," Tina said. "Leaning towards probably not, but, who knows?"

"Aw, come on, Tay-Tay, you guys should totally have kids," Blaine said, coming to sit down beside Tina on the couch.

"Yes, you should," Kurt agreed, sitting beside Mercedes. "Everyone should, parenthood is awesome."

Mercedes laughed. "Are we back on this again?"

"If parenthood is so awesome, then why are people with kids constantly pushing people without kids to have them?" Tina questioned.

"Because we want you to join us in the awesomeness," Blaine said matter-of-factly and Tina and Mercedes both rolled their eyes.

"Or they just want companionship for the struggle part of it," Mercedes stage-whispered to Tina, who laughed. Kurt narrowed his eyes at her and Mercedes held up her hands in surrender. "Oh, calm down. I'm on Team Kids, just not yet."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Kurt said before turning towards the TV and calling out, "Hey, Sam?"

"Yeah?" Sam replied, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"You need to get this woman pregnant," Kurt said, ducking away as Mercedes tried to smack his arm, moving to the other side of the couch to sit next to Blaine.

"Yeah, okay, lemme finish the game first," Sam replied, still not turning away from the TV, even as Kurt, Blaine and Tina exploded with laughter and Mercedes shook her head.

"Y'all do realize he did not at all process what Kurt said, right?" she said and was proven right a few seconds later when Sam suddenly dropped the controller and whipped his head around to stare at all four of them.

"I need to do what now?"

Tina, Kurt and Blaine burst out laughing again and even Mercedes couldn't help giggling a bit at the look on his face. Before anyone could say anything else, Artie won the game and burst out with, "Aw, boo-yah! In your face, Sam!" That's when he realized Sam hadn't even been playing for the last minute or two and he spun his chair around to face the group on the couch. "Wait, what'd I miss?"

"Kurt told Sam to get Mercedes pregnant," Tina explained.

"What, like right now?" Artie looked intrigued. "I didn't know it was that kind of party."

"I assure you it is not that kind of party," Mercedes said firmly. "No one is getting anyone pregnant here tonight, unless maybe your dad and Carole have suddenly had the urge to have a late-in-life baby and plan to conceive it tonight, Kurt."

Kurt looked horrified at this suggestion. "How dare you, Mercedes. No one wants to think about Dad and Carole like that."

"Oh! Dude. I walked in on them once," Sam said. "When I was living here."

Kurt looked even more horrified. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "I mean, they weren't actually, you know, doing it, but they were in the living room when I came home one night, kissing, and your dad definitely had his hand down Carole's blouse."

"Oh my God," Kurt muttered. "I'm so sorry."

Sam shrugged. "I mean, whatever. Good for them, right?" He got up off the ottoman and came over to the couch to sit next to Mercedes, wrapping his arm around her. "I mean, I hope Mercedes still lets me at least get to second base when we're that old."

"Oh my God, Sam," Mercedes said, laughing as she swatted at him. "Stop torturing Kurt."

"Yes," Kurt said. "Please stop torturing Kurt. And I'll stop pushing for anyone to get pregnant, I promise."

"Sounds like a deal."

The conversation turned to other topics, the six old friends laughing and teasing for another hour or two before Artie and Tina headed back to their hotel and Sam and Mercedes to their home.

"This was so much fun," Mercedes said as Sam unlocked the apartment door. "We're pretty lucky to have such good friends for so many years."

Sam nodded. "We really are." He followed her into the bedroom, pulling off his hoodie as he walked. "Hey, you never did get a chance to tell me why you were wearing my sweatshirt."

She was already in the bathroom, brushing her teeth, but stuck her head back out the door to explain, "Oh I followed Rachel outside at one point. We had a nice little chat. It was hard for her, being at the Hudmel house."

Sam nodded. 'I guess it would be. Kurt and I – we've both been there a lot more often over the years." He came into the bathroom, pausing to squeeze her shoulders before going to brush his own teeth. "You've got such a big heart, babe," he said. "It's one of the reasons I love you." She smiled at that and headed back into the bedroom to get out of her party clothes.

As she took off her dress and leggings and pulled on a tank top, Mercedes couldn't help marveling at the thought that it was only their fourth night married – and everything already felt so familiar, like they'd been living this way, together, for years. She also couldn't help but laugh a little when Sam came back into the bedroom, still wearing his Trouty Mouth t-shirt even though he'd dispensed with his jeans in the bathroom.

"What's funny?" he said, walking towards the bed, and she shook her head.

"That ridiculous shirt. I can't believe you still have it."

He looked down and laughed. "Yeah, I know." He pulled it off and tossed it onto the chair in the corner, before getting into bed, now in just his underwear. "Better?" he asked, reaching out to pull her to him.

"Mm-hmm," Mercedes replied, snuggling against him. "Oh," she said, remembering her conversation with Kurt, "when Kurt and I were talking earlier, he said you couldn't stop gushing about me at the park today. True or false?"

Sam laughed, the sound vibrating against her cheek where it lay against his chest. "True, of course" and Mercedes smiled.

"He said you called me some science-fiction sounding word. Imzi or something?"

"Imzadi," Sam said.

"Yeah, that's it," Mercedes said, pulling her head away from his chest so she could see his face. "What does that mean? Is it an Avatar thing?"

Sam shook his head. "No, Star Trek."

"Oh, okay." When Sam remained quiet for another minute or so, she finally added, "Are you going to tell me what it means?"

Sam looked vaguely embarrassed. "Yeah…it's just so cheesy and geeky."

Mercedes laughed softly. "Baby, I already knew you were both of those things, if you're worried about me finding out some not so big secret." She grinned. "Besides, you wouldn't have thrown this random word out at Kurt if you didn't want me to eventually hear about it and ask you to explain."

Sam rolled his eyes, knowing he was caught. "Ha. Okay, so it's a word from an alien planet, a race of mind readers. And it has a couple meanings – the primary one is 'beloved.'"

Mercedes smiled. "And the other one?"

"In certain situations – like with this Star Trek couple – and with us – it can mean 'the first.'" He saw her start to frown and he hastened to finish explaining. "I know what you're going to say – that you're not my first. But the thing is, 'Cedes, in every other way besides physically, every other way that matters, you are." He took a deep breath. "I always knew it, that sex with you would be so different than any other experience I've had and I swear to God, I know how cheesy this sounds, but I promise, it's basically a direct quote – 'other women may have had my body, but you're the first one to ever touch my soul.'"

"Sam…" Mercedes said in a hushed voice and then shook her head. "How do you do that? How do you find all the right things to say that just completely take my breath away?"

Sam grinned. "I'm not entirely sure, but I feel like it's in my best interest to keep figuring it out?"

Mercedes laughed, pulling his head down to hers for a kiss. "Hell to the yes," she muttered.