AN: I'm Back and I want to thank you guys for all of the reviews and Follows. They mean a lot to me. I'd like to wish a Belated Happy Birthday to ZeeJack who has been following this story since day one and has had nothing but encouraging words to say about it so thank you and I hope your Bday was awesome.
Disclaimer: I don't own glee or any of its characters.
When they pulled up to the courthouse Mercedes began to fidget in her seat. Jake looked at her and said "Breath Mercy everything is going to be okay. The judge will see that they belong with you and you have all of us backing you up." Mercedes took a deep breath and nodded her head in agreement to what Jake said. She looked in the rear view mirror and saw that the twins were in their own little world having their own little conversation. Following her line of sight Jake smiled. Mercedes looked back over at Jake with watery eyes and said "What if I'm not good enough? What if I mess them up worse then that women did?" Jake grabbed her hand and said "Are you kidding me? You will make a great mom to these kids. Heck in the day you have know them you have been a better mom to them then that crazy women that gave birth to them. So don't ever doubt that you are a good mother. Because that is what you are their mother. Don't ever doubt that." Mercedes nodded as Jake reached over and wiped away the tears that made their way down her face.
As they were talking Santana walked up to the passenger door and saw them deep in a conversation. So she lightly knocked on the window trying not to startle them just get their attention. When Mercedes stepped out of the car Santana grabbed her and wrapped her up in a tight hug. As they pulled apart Santana squeezed her hand reassuringly before letting it go so they could take the twins out of the backseat. With two little hands in each of hers and her family right next to her Mercedes began to make her way to the front of the court house. As they stepped into the building it was as if Mercedes' nerves disappeared and she put her game face on. They walked to the elevators with confidence and waited for them to arrive. Once in the elevator they pushed the button for the eighth floor. As the elevator dinged they walked off and over to the receptionist. "Can I help you with something?" She asked with a genuine smile on her face. "Hey Emma we're here to see the judge." Said Santana retuning her smile. "Okay sign in and I'll let him know that you are here." said Emma as she began to walk away.
After signing in they took a seat and waited. Five minutes passed before the bailiff came out of the judges chambers and greeted them. "Hello the judge will see you now." Standing up they follow the short muscular man down the hall towards the judges chambers. When they reached the room the bailiff knocked on the door and waited. At a voice saying come in they all walked into the office. Sitting in his office chair was judge William Schuster. When he looked up from his paper work he nodded in greeting at Santana before addressing the rest of the people in the room. "Hello I am Judge William Schuster, but you can call me Judge Schue." He said as he stretched his hand out to be shook. Mercedes gave him a smile and shook his hand and said "It's nice to meet you judge I am Mercedes Jones and this is Noah and Rachel." After greeting the children Mercedes sent them back outside into the waiting room with Jake. She then went and sat down with her hands in her lap. "So let's get right into it then? As I am understanding the situation you found the children in question in an ally correct?" Judge Schuster said. After receiving a nod from Mercedes he continued "Do we know anything about the person that left them there? And you took them to the doctor this morning correct? What did they say?" "All we know is that her name is Shelby. And that she had been abusing them. As for the doctors aside from diagnosing Noah with Asthma they are fine. Under weight and bruised but their fine." Said Mercedes as she handed him the paper work. The judge nodded his head as he went over the papers and said "These are the documents you found when you found the children?" At her nod he asked the question that had been nagging in the back of his mind since he got the phone call from Santana "What are your plans with the children? Do you want to be a foster mom or do you just want to give them over to the state and let them deal with it? Do-" Before he could say anything else Mercedes interrupted him and said "With all do respect sir those kids out there became mine as soon as they called me mama for the first time. I already love them as my own and I want to adopt them." Judge Schue looked at her with admiration before he said "How about we talk to the kids first then I'll make my decision on what to do?"
On the inside Mercedes was a nerves wreck but she nodded. Santana walked over to the door and called Jake and the kids in. When they saw Mercedes the twins ran over to her and climbed into her lap. Smiling she pulled them into her chest and kissed both of their heads. Judge Schue inwardly smiled at the interaction between the three before he addressed the kids. "How are you guys today?" The twins looked over at Mercedes silently asking if it was okay. She smiled at them and nodded her head. Rachel and Noah then took a few seconds to look at each other before returning their gazes to the judge. "We okay." Was the short answer Noah gave the judge. Judge Schuster nodded with a small smile at the twins before saying "Is it ok if I ask you guys a few questions?" The twins looked at Mercedes one more time and at her nod they turned around and said "Okay." Will smiled and said "Alright can you tell me about yourselves?" Rachel shyly said "My names Rachel and this is my brother Noah, and this is our mama." As she was talking she pointed to the people she was talking about. "Can you tell me about your life before you went to stay with Mama?" asked the judge. The twins shared a look before Noah answered in a small voice "Before mama brought us home Shelby use to be mean to us. She would hurt us and only sometimes gave us food." when he was finished talking he was looking down. Judge Schue raised and eyebrow at the confession but he schooled his face and said "How did she use to hurt you guys?" with a frown Noah said "She use to hit us and kick us all the time. She pulled Rachel's hair. She called us names and she once hurt me so bad I couldn't move my arm for a long time without it hurting." The adults in the room looked very upset but they schooled their facial features and kept their cool. Mercedes was willing herself not to cry over the abuse that crazy women put her babies through. Judge Schue nodded his head at the kids before he said "How did you guy end up in the place that you were found by miss Jones?" The twins both had a look of confusion on thier faces but Rachel was the one to speak. "Mama found us not miss Jones. Shelby took us to the ally after Noah woke up. She had caught him trying to get us some food and she began to hit us. She hit us until Noah fell asleep. After he woke up she put her coat on and we began to walk. When we got to the place with the trash can she told us to stay in there because the lady who finds us is our mama." Judge Schue was upset that this happened but he kept a stoic look on his face. Nodding he asked the last question he had "Thank you guys for being so brave and answering all of my questions I just have one more ok?" at the smiles and nods he received from the twins he asked "So how are you liking being with ms Jon- I mean your mama?" The biggest smiles came to the twins faces and they lit up the whole room as they started talking at the same time. The adults in the room began to chuckle at their enthusiasm. Not much was understood but they did catch "I love Mama" "She sings to us" "She loves us" and "The best mama in the whole world".
After the twins calmed down a little the judge asked them to go back outside for a few minutes while he talked to Mercedes. As Mercedes watched Jake take the kids back outside her nerves set in again, so she did all she could do which was to say a little prayer. When she turned back to the judge he said "Okay Ms. Jones I've heard everything that has been said in here today. And I've taken it all into consideration. I feel that you would be a great mother to the children in question, but I don't want you to take on this huge responsibility and regret it in the long run. So what I propose we do is give you the guardianship so you can foster them for two months. If after those months are over and you still want to adopt them I'll do the paperwork myself." You couldn't wipe the smile off of Mercedes face if you tried. She gets to take her babies home and they will be hers for good in two short months. Judge Schuester just had one more piece of business to settle before he let them good. "Okay so I want to put the children in therapy because of all the trauma they have been through. I know a great psychologist that can help. So here is her name and number I will set up the first appointments and let her know that I want to know the progress the kids are making." When he was finished Mercedes shook his hand with so much gratitude and thanked him profusely. "Thank you so much you don't know how much this means to me. I love those kids with all my heart." she said with happy tears steaming down her face. Judge Schuster handed her a tissue and said "Everything is going to work out. I'll see you again in two months and I'll hear from you if you need anything. Take care."
After a round of goodbyes Mercedes, Santana and Tina walked out of the Judges office full of hope and excitement. As they were walking Santana was so excited she said "Oh my god! We have to celebrate. They deserve it." Mercedes and Tina laughed but nodded their heads in agreement. "What we have to do first is go shopping the twins can't share a bed their whole life. They also need new clothes and shoes. Toys and whatever else they want they will have." said Mercedes as they where tuning the corner to the lobby. "We also have to look into getting them into Preschool or hiring a nanny." said Tina. Mercedes looked at Tina for a second before saying "Yes to the Preschool heck no to the nanny. I can care for my own children." Tina nodded before she said "What if you have to work late one night and can't get a sitter?" Mercedes frowned in thought before she said "Then they will just have to come with me because I don't won't or need them to have a nanny. You never know what they could be doing to your kids while your not there. My babies are fragile as they are and I won't let anything else happen to them." by the end of her rant she was breathing a little irregular and she realized they had stopped. Trying to get a hold of the situation Santana put her hand on Mercedes shoulder and said "Girl calm down don't be getting your pressure all up. Tina was just asking a question and you know you always have a baby sitter in any of us. They can come and sit in my office with a movie if worst comes to worse. So please relax." Mercedes took a calming breath and said "Your right I'm sorry for flipping like that. I just want the best or my babies and they have already been through hell and I want to make sure they come out as unscathed as possible. I love you guys for caring so much though and I don't know what I would do without you." When she was finished talking she pulled both Santana and Tina into a group hug.
When they released from the hug they began to walk again. When they reached the lobby Mercedes noticed Jake was holding the twins to his chest as they napped. Smiling at the image she took a picture of them and showed Tina and San. Mercedes began walking over to them, when Jake saw her he sat up a little straighter preparing hisself for the worst after seeing how puffy her eyes were. Before she had to chance to say anything he said "So tell me what he said. Is it good or bad? Oh god it's bad huh? If he was a dick and took your kids away I'll go kick his a-" before he could say anything else he heard San and Tina began to snicker. "Boy please what are you going to do huh? Egg his car?" said Santana as she burst into a full belly laugh. "You know what satan nobody asked you and come on guys tell me the verdict." Tina and Mercy chuckled at their banter before Mercedes said "Well my babies are coming home with me." Jakes face lit up as she fist pumped the air and said "Hell yeah." With the sudden movement he made he startled the kids and they jerked awake. After looking around for a few seconds and whimpering their eyes landed on Mercedes and the both reached up to her.
Mercedes grabbed the kids and put one on each hip. They both buried their faces in the crook of Mercedes neck. "We go now mama?" asked Rachel. Mercedes smiled at her tired voice and said "Yes baby we're leaving now. Are you guys hungry?" at their nods she continued "Okay we're going to go and eat then we're going to go shopping." After receiving another tired nod Mercedes looked over at her friends and said "Alright then let's roll out." On the way to the elevator they stopped and told Emma goodbye. When they got outside Mercedes breathed a sigh of relief and in her head she began to thank god for making away for her to keep her babies. When they began to walk to the cars they discussed where they were going to eat lunch. It was decided they would go to the Mall and eat at the food court before the walked around the mall to shop. After buckling the kids in they were off to the mall.
When they got into the mall food court Mercedes asked the kids what they wanted to eat. They looked at each other and then back at Mercedes wide eyes. "We get to pick?" asked Noah who started looking around at all the different food places. Smiling a little smile Mercedes said "Of course baby now what do you want to eat?" After looking around for a few minutes Noah saw the pizza stand and smiled before pointing and saying "Can I have that please mama?" Chuckling Mercedes nodded her head and said "Of course. How about you baby girl?" Shyly Rachel pointed to the Chinese food stand right next to them. Smiling at the kids Mercedes walked them over to get their food. Noah got a slice of pineapple pizza with a bottle of orange juice while Rachel got some veggie fried rice and a bottle of apple juice. Not wanting the kids to feel left out Jake and Tina both got pizza like Noah and Mercedes and Santana ate Chinese like Rachel. While they ate they talked about where they were going to go first and they asked the kids what they liked and what was their favorite colors.
When they were finished eating they began to walk around the mall. Their first stop was to a clothing store were they bought the kids jeans, shorts, skirts, leggings, polo shirts in all colors, dresses, and just little shirts that they thought were cute like a red long sleeve that had Micky's hands with the thumbs up that said 'Turn Up' for Noah and a lavender Ninja Turtles shirt that had glitter letters that said 'I Love My Cutie Pie' on it with the purple ninja turtle. In the next store they picked out lots of undergarments along with several pairs of pajamas and a pair of slippers each. Before they headed into the next store they had to make a run to the car to drop off the bags they were carrying. When they went into the shoe store they bought the kids converse in every color and style, sandals, church shoes, sneakers, and another pair of slippers each. After several trips to Santana's car they headed to the furniture store were Noah picked out a Ninja Turtle bed with matching sheets and Rachel picked out a Frozen bed with matching sheets.
After getting the bedroom things scheduled for delivery for the next day they made their way out of the store and towards the toy store. Just as they were about to enter the store Mercedes phone went off. She excused herself from the group and answered the phone. "Hello." She said into the phone. "Yes hello Ms. Jones this is Judge Schuster. I'm calling to let you know that the twins appointment is Tomorrow at 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm." the judge told her. Nodding Mercedes said "We will be their. Thank you so much for all of your help." Judge Schuster smiled and said "No problem just keep those kids safe and happy and keep loving them like I know you do. Have a great night Ms. Jones." After they said goodbye Mercedes was on her way back to her kids when she heard someone say "Now I might just be starting to think your following me now Ms. Pretty." turning around to the voice she came face to face with Mr. Green Eyes standing in front of an art supply store. Chuckling she replied "Well I could say the same about you Mr. Green Eyes." He smirked before saying "Mr. Green Eyes huh. I like it but I think we can introduce ourselves now don't you? I mean you are stalking me right?" They both began to laugh and walked towards each other. Mercedes extended her hand out to him and said "Mercedes Jones nice to me you.." Taking her hand he gave it a small peck before he said "Sam Evans or Sam I am and I don't like green eggs and ham." Mercedes giggled until she heard "Wow he has no game" come from behind her. Face palming she turned her head towards Santana and gave her a death glare. Raising her hands in the air Santana said "Sorry I just came to check on you. We got worried when you were out here for 20 minutes." as if on cue the twins came running over to her screaming mommy. Forgetting Sam was there she bent down and picked them up as they talked at the same time about the toys their Uncle Jake, and Aunts Sanny and Tina just got them. Mercedes smiled at them but it slowly started to fade when Rachel said "Mama who this." When Mercedes turned back towards Sam she noticed the smile that adorned his face and it had her breaking into a smile herself. Sam waved at the kids and said "Hi my name is Sam." Rachel smiled back while Noah raised an eyebrow at him. Mercedes smiled and said "Sam these are my children Rachel and Noah." when Sam noticed that Noah was still just giving him a raised eyebrow he said "It's so great to meet you guys. Hey is that a Ninja turtle?" when Noah nodded he said "That's awesome. I like the ninja turtles too." Slowly but surely a smile started to break out on Noah's face. Sam smiled back at him before looking back at Mercedes and saying "This my seem a little forward but can I have your number?" She hesitated before nodding and giving it to him. When he locked it into his phone he said "Well then until next time Ms. Jones." She chuckled and said "Goodbye Sam I am." as he was walking away he waved to the kids who in turn did the same.
After getting the third degree from Santana and Tina they went back to shopping. They went into a few more stores to get the wall decorations and also a few night lights, along with more clothes and a few learning games and toys for the kids. When they were finished shopping they decided to take everything back to the house and unpack before meeting up with Brittany and Mike for Dinner. As they were unpacking they group called Callie and Arizona and told them the good news before letting them know about the welcome to the family party they were throughing for the twins. After getting off the phone with them they called the rest of their friends to let them know everything that was going on. Before they knew it the bags were unpacked and aside from the beds and dressers everything else was set up. Mercedes got the kids changed into some clean clothes and then sat them down on her bed as she made the most important call she was ever going to make.
After telling the kids to sit quietly she took a calming breath and dialed a number she knows by heart. After the third ring her mothers voice filled her ears. "Hey baby girl how are you?" Mercedes shook out her nerves and said "Hey mommy. I'm good thank you. Are daddy and Matt home too?" Sensing something was a little off with Mercedes Joyce called both Chris and Matt into the living room where she was. Matt came bounding down the stairs as Chris came out of his office confused. Joyce put the phone on speaker before placing it on the coffee table and saying "Okay Mercy we're all here. What's up?" Mercedes took another calming breath before saying "Please let me finish before you say anything. Okay?" at their agreement she told them everything that happened up until that point. The silence on the phone was deafening before Mercedes couldn't take anymore. "Someone please say something." Being the first person to snap out of shock Matt said "So I'm an Uncle." when she answered yes a smile stretched across his face so wide that if it got any bigger he could fit a football in it. "That's so cool tell me all about them." Matt began to gush. Chuckling Mercedes did just that. When she was finished Chris finally said "Well I'm shocked but I can't say I'm not happy. I can't wait to meet the babies. They sound great and I'm so proud of the woman you grew up to be." When the kids heard Mercedes sniffle they turned to her and Rachel said "Don't cry mama it's okay." At hearing the little voice Joyce finally got over her shock and said "My baby isn't a baby anymore. I love you so much and I can't wait to meet my grand babies. I'm coming to visit this weekend, and since your about to go to dinner I want hold you up much longer but I want to video chat with you tomorrow." After Mercedes agreed to the visit and video call she finally huge up after promising to send pictures.
The day had been long but all in all a great day. After having a great dinner with friends Mercedes bathed the kids and put them in their pajamas before kissing them good night and headed to get ready for bed herself. She checked on the kids one more time before calling it a night. She prayed and then she climbed into bed and set her alarm before closing her eyes. Right before she fell asleep she heard her phone chime with a text message. Not recognizing the number she opened the text and it said 'Good Night Ms. Pretty' smiling she locked his number in before texting back 'Sweet dreams Sam I Am.' With that she closed her eyes and drifted into a peaceful sleep.
AN: So did anyone else guess who Mr. Green Eyes was? Thank you so much for reading please review and let me know what you guys are thinking. Until next time.
PS: I want to Congratulate Naya Rivera and Ryan Dorsey on the baby news!