This update was longer over due. I'm currently working on updates for all the stories as well as some new one shots but I am a college student and classes have been kicking my ass so bare with me. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. Please leave reviews!
The conversation Mercedes was preparing to have with her three year old was not one she was looking forward to anytime soon. And if it was up to her she might have held if off for as long as she possibly could have. Noah had been on her case none stop about it. The night she told him, he forced her upstairs to tell the little girl. Luckily for Mercedes, Leilani had been out cold and Noah had learned from previous times what little diva the child could become when woken up from her beauty sleep. Mercedes used the window to talk him down from his rampage and he offered to give her a little time before he would take matters into his own hands.
That was almost a month ago and things were becoming quite awkward and hard for him. He'd already been very protective of the two of them, but just hearing that she was his daughter, definitely put him in true daddy mode. He'd had a couple of conversations with his mother and Bubbie, against Mercedes' wishes and they were both thrilled and upset. They'd both been getting on his case about settling down and having children, but they couldn't help but be upset that they had missed out on so much of the little girl's life already. And the fact that Mercedes was stuck on putting things off until the "right" time didn't make it any easier. Still they respected her wishes, understanding where she was coming from, but not so much accepting in the choices in which she took. Of course, just to be on the extra safe side, a DNA test was taking and if her looks wasn't enough, the DNA test surely proved that Leilani Noelle Jones belonged to Noah Puckerman.
Noah stepped into the role of fatherhood almost immediately. Completely aware that fathering a child doesn't make you anything but a sperm donor, from personal experience, Noah made sure he became very active in Leilani's life. He was stuck on trying to be everything that his own father was not. The two went out on little dates, sometimes with, sometimes without the company of Mercedes. He took her to the park or out for ice cream and even sat through tea parties with her and her stuffed animals; anything to get to know the toddler better. And he enjoyed every minute of it and Leilani did as well. He was willing and ready to do anything the little girl wanted to do as long as she was happy. Mercedes contributed to their bonding time by bringing her to practices every now and then, allowing her to play with the children of his other teammates, with Finn being the only one on the team with full knowledge of their situation. No one asked, and those who wanted to knew better than to open their mouths to speak on it.
Mercedes waited patiently for Leilani and Noah to return from the current date to get frozen yogurt from their favorite fro-yo place Pinkberry. She was banned from this outing like many others and decided to clean up the house a little, while fixing dinner for the three of them. In the process of cooking and cleaning she had come up with the decision that tonight would be the night that she'd explain herself. There might not have been much explaining for her to do since Lani was so young, but she was no dummy. She was very smart for her age and sometimes she surprised Mercedes with the vast amount of knowledge she had. As she closed the oven door where she was baking the chicken, she heard the house door shut and the sound of her daughter's laughter filled the room.
"Cedes, we're back." Noah shouted lifting the girl from around his neck and setting her to her feet. "Mommy, mommy, Uncle Noah and I got you a present." She beamed as she ran across to room into the arms of her mother who'd just exited the kitchen.
"A surprise? For me? What is it?" Mercedes asked as she pulled back from the hug.
"We got you fro-yo" she smiled widely, "but we ate it at the place." She ended softly, shuffling her feet back and forth with her hands behind her back.
"You ate mommy's yogurt?"
Leilani sighed and nodded slowly. "We ate it. Sorry mommy."
Mercedes laughed and kissed the top of her head. "It's okay baby. I forgive you."
"Uncle Noah too?"
"Yes, Uncle Noah too."
"Good, because we tricked you mommy. We didn't eat it." She laughed taking the cup of frozen yogurt from behind her back and shoving it into her mother's hand.
"You tricked me!" Mercedes gasped and started tickling the little girl.
"I got you good mommy."
"Yes you did baby, yes you did. Here, why don't you take off your jacket, put this in the refrigerator and go play in your room for a little bit. I'll be in there soon so we can have a tea party." Mercedes spoke to her, moving the curls from her daughter's face.
"Promise?" Leilani pouted a little.
"I pinky promise!" Mercedes smiled, extending her pinky and linking it with Leilani's smaller one. Once she let go, the little girl took off running to do as her mother asked, and Mercedes proceeded to join Noah on the couch.
"So how was your date?" she asked running her hand along her shoulder.
"Oh, you know, like all of our dates, it was awesome." He smiled at the thought of his time spent with his daughter and pulled Mercedes closer into him. "We had fun."
"Well I'm glad. Maybe next time I can go?"
"Okay, okay. I'll think about it." He huffed and she hit his chest playfully. "Fine you can come. It'll be good for us, you know. We need more family outings." Noah agreed.
"Especially since you like to hog my child." Mercedes laughed.
"Because you held her captive for so many years." He retorted.
"You got it." came her reply and she looked over at him for a bit although he hadn't seem to notice because his eyes was closed. She could tell he was still a little peeved and although he didn't say much, it was obvious he was mad she hadn't told her yet.
"Well, dinner's on. Keep your eye out. I've got a hot date with a diva that I must attend." She smirked and stood up, heading to Lani's room.
Mercedes gave herself a quick pep talk upon her arrival to the door that led to a Princess' Paradise. She opened the door to find Leilani already sitting at the table amongst her dolls and stuffed animals and headed straight for her bed.
"Ready for our tea party mommy?" Leilani asked looking over at her mother.
"In a minute sweetheart, but first, come and sit over here with mommy." Mercedes patted the side of the bed next to her and Leilani sat her doll down, to join her mother on the bed. She crawled up into Mercedes lap and got comfortable. For a while Mercedes just played in Leilani's hair, running her fingers through the curls, pulling them and watching as they bounced back, while Leilani sat quietly sucking her thumb. They had been sitting in silence for five minutes before Mercedes finally broke it. "You know that question you ask me a lot?"
"The one about a pony?" Leilani looked up at her mother smiling.
"No sweetheart, not the pony. The other one, the question about daddy?" Mercedes stopped playing in her hair for a split second to look at her daughter and continued right after she nodded.
"Uh huh. You always say not to worry about it because you love me and he loves me and that's all that matters, right mommy?"
"Right, kinda. You see… Ugh I don't know how to say this." Mercedes grumbled and Leilani turned around in her lap to face her. Mercedes thought to herself for a minute and pulled the picture of her and Noah out from Leilani's drawer. "Who's that?" she asks showing her the picture.
"That's you mommy and daddy right?"
"Yep. And Who does daddy look like?" she asked hoping this way would help her get what she needed to say out.
"He looks like Uncle Noah." Leilani answered proudly.
"Well that's because, he is Uncle Noah."
"Huh!" Leilani cocked her head a side-eyed her, her brows furrowing.
"Uncle Noah, isn't really your Uncle Noah. He's your father." She tried to explain.
"You mean like how Papaw, is your daddy?" Lani asked.
"Yes, exactly. Like Papaw is my daddy, Noah is your daddy."
"So, I don't have an Uncle Noah?" she asked a little pouty.
"Nope, you have something even better, daddy Noah."
"Yay! I like daddy Noah, better than Uncle Noah." She said matter of factly.
"But they're the same."
"Nuh uh! Uncle Marcus only comes by and plays with me sometimes but he gets to play with Ari all the time because he's her daddy and she gets him all to herself when they go home. Since Uncle Noah, is daddy that means I get him all to myself and we can play all the time." She said referring to her Mercedes' older brother and her uncle.
"Well not really kiddo. You gotta share him with me too." Mercedes smiled and hugged her.
"Okay, but only sometimes okay." She said holding her mothers face in her small hands.
"Okay baby. Only sometimes." She laughed. "Now that you understand, let's go tell daddy the good news."
"Can he just come in here mommy? I don't want us to get up. I wanna stay in your lap." She pleaded and Mercedes complied.
"Sure sweet heart. Noah!" she called out into the living room. "Can you come here for a second?"
Noah had remained on the couch. He'd only gotten up once to check on the food, and returned to his spot on the couch and was currently flipping through channels. He chucked the remote to the side of him and stood to his feet upon hearing his name being called, making his way to the room.
"Yes, your highness? What can I do for you this evening?" he asked as he leaned against the door.
"Daddy!" Lani yelled. "Come lay with us, please?" she asked with those big doe like eyes that matched his eye color.
"Daddy?" he looked at her shocked and then fixed his gaze onto Mercedes who simply nodded her head with a smile on her face.
"Yes, mommy said you're not Uncle Noah. And I was sad."
"Why were you sad princess?" he asked coming into the room completely.
"Because I didn't think you would be able to stay and play with me a lot like you do now. But then mommy said you were Daddy, so I was happy again because that means I get you all to myself." She smiled and Mercedes cleared her throat "Oh yeah, but I have to share you with mommy."
"Did she now?" a smiled appeared on his face. "How do you feel about that?"
"Mhm, she did." She smiled back. "And I like you being daddy, so can you please come lay with us now. Please!" she pleaded, with the infamous pout that got her and her mother whatever they wanted from him.
"Sure thing princess, whatever you want." He laughed as he kicked off his shoes and crawled into the pink bed with the two of them. Leilani crawled into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck while Mercedes snuggled into his sighed. He wrapped an arm around each of them protectively and placed a kiss on Leilani's head and one her Mercedes lips.
"I love you girls." he whispered.
"We love you too daddy." Leilani kissed his cheek and hugged him tighter.
"That we do baby, that we do." Mercedes smiled and kissed the little girl's cheek and then proceeded to kiss Noah back.