Sorry that I have OC's in the story. With the plotline, I couldn't make it work without some characters that aren't actually in Glee, and when I make a character, I try to make sure their developed. Excuse the developments for me, please?
4. Her Name in Lights
Sam and Mercedes' oldest son, Marvel, picked his father (and mother) up for lunch every Thursday that he was in town. When he went on trips and such, he generally tried to make it his business to be in Tennessee by Thursday. If he missed lunch, he took them to dinner, and if he missed Thursday, he did it the day he did return. Fortunately, it was Thursday.
Marvel looked more like Sam than he did his mother, though his skin was dark enough that people assumed he was biracial or something other than white, at least. He had thick, dark brown hair that he wore in a ponytail, neatly tended facial hair, broad shoulders and green eyes. Growing up in LA, and on the road, with his mother touring and his father in Hollywood, he loved the limelight and both the movie and music industries… but somehow ended up modeling. It took years for him to become an actor, outside of his father's projects; then he became an entertainment talk show personality.
But, being the son of Sam and Mercedes Evans, he probably could have done just about anything that he wanted to do with his life. His main goal, presently was to make cure that his father was looked after. Samara was Marvel's only daughter, but he also had two younger sons who did not spend nearly as much time with their grandparents as he would have liked. Samara practically lived with them and called her daddy crying nearly every day of how sad it was seeing her grandpa live without his Mercy.
Marvel and his wife, Delanna Cross (Evans), a former model turned model agency owner met during one of Sam and Mercedes' philanthropic crusades. The Evans were the type of power couple who not only rose to fame from next to nothing, but used their fame and resources to give back. While Marvel did not so much follow the religious faith of his parents, he was still a charitable person. He volunteered to help with relief efforts for a natural disaster – something that he remembered his parents doing each time a natural disaster struck somewhere during his childhood, and Delanna was there – one of the brightest new models in the industry, at the time and coincidentally a major fan of Mercedes.
The two hit it off, dated for years, had two sons and one daughter and got married, in that order. Now, they still did charity work, but the most important giving that they had was their time to Marvel's father. The statuesque woman with shiny, dark skin hugged her father in law tightly, upon sight. "Oh, Papa Sam!" She cheered and squeezed him.
"And, Mama Cedes," she said, glancing slightly at each side of him, trying to figure out where she might be in his mind. Very much like her daughter, she simply smiled politely and didn't embarrass herself by reaching out and possibly grabbing an imaginary breast, or something. "You beautiful folks ready for some fine dining?"
Marvel shut his eyes a brief moment to try to remember his mother's stature and reached out to hoist her up and spin her around. He felt badly for "entertaining this" as he called it, but Delanna reminded him that he had been very creative and kind about Santa when their children were small and told him it was virtually the same thing. Marvel did not feel that way about this. Santa was easy. He was pretend. This was his mother they were pretending to have alive.
The very woman who gave him life and "raised him right," even though he was being raised in a very fast and mean environment, and continued to love and cherish not only his father but each of her five children, just like a regular woman (despite the fact that she was a huge star). Losing her was his worst day ever. Trying to pretend that she was still alive was the second worst feeling that he had ever known.
Mercedes looked over the menu and said, "You know what, I think that I'll just share whatever you're having with you."
Sam chuckled and said, "You never eat your own food anymore. You trying to get skinny on me? You're already smaller than you've ever been." The waitress looked to the empty seat that Sam was joyously talking to, then at the handsome couple with a sympathetic but ashamed face. She felt bad that she, an outsider had to see such a thing and knew that they were probably little bashful about this.
"Can I take your orders?" She asked, looking down at her pad and refusing to make eye contact with any of the people again.
"Order for your wife, Papa Sam. She's been so soft-spoken these days," Delanna encouraged. That generally helped for them not to be accused of ignoring her. As Sam went over the menu with his wife, Delanna whispered to the waitress, "He has dementia and sees his late wife. Please just participate. Our usual waitress does."
"Mercy, did you see the chicken pasta? That sounds good. No, no… that's fried. You can't have that. The doctor took you off of fried stuff. I should know. It was me who had the pleasure of being the only person in the house with you when you were going through tots withdrawals. Mercy. Be serious. That's for kids…" He paused and stared up at the empty spot, incredulously. "Now, now, Mercy. I know they can't hear your sweet little voice, but you shouldn't tease me like that, especially not at the dinner table, and with the kids, at that." He reddened a little and snickered, "I DID used to do it to you all the time," he laughed.
"Dad… you two gonna order?" Marvel asked, having a hard time with the scene in front of him. Sam soon ordered a meal for himself and a kiddie plate for Mercedes. "Is there a jukebox in here?" Sam asked.
"Yes, Dad," Marvel answered. Sam asked that every time they came into this particular place. You wanna hear something?" He asked back, automatically giving Sam some change.
Sam grabbed the handful, reached out to his wife, then led her to the machine. The moment that he was out of sight, Marvel dropped his head into his arms and took a few deep breaths. His wife gently and playfully tugged his long ponytail to get his attention, so that she could offer him a needed smile. He took her little hand in his and kissed it, grateful for a woman who reminded him of his mother. He whispered to her, "I don't know how to lie to him. What if he sees through it? I still remember the last time he realized that she was gone…"
"This is one of the good days for him. You know that when she's around, he has energy and he has fun. His face is bright and his eyes light up. He is so happy over there teasing her about her music choices…" They both looked over to see Sam laughing and poking her in the side as he poked fun at whatever she was suggesting. They saw it so many times during her life, they knew that's what was happening. "And despite anything that he says to her, he'll come back to the table and say, 'You wouldn't think that after all this time it'd still work, but there's just something about this sweet thing's little eyes that gets me ev'ry time.' Then, he's gonna tickle her in the side and make some comment about the song she chose and she's gonna tell us (or in this case, him) why she chose it."
Sam came back, obviously arm-in-arm with Mercedes and said just what his daughter-in-law thought he would. She smiled at her husband as Sam began to entertain them with funny stories about Mercedes. Delanna eventually said, "My absolute favorite Samcedes Evans moment was the proposal." Sam's eyes sparkled and he looked lovingly to his side at a beaming Mercedes. That had been a great time.
Mercedes was performing her last show on her first tour, performing a hot number in which she danced and jumped around the stage a great deal. For the sake of her nerves, she had taken Unique, Tina and Blaine as her backup singers. Mike and Brittany were among her dancers. She'd wanted Santana to come along, but she was still working on her college career, and having a cheerleading scholarship, could not get away. Mike took a break from school because he knew that this tour would look great on his resume. Brittany was not in school, nor was Unique, who simply wanted to be a star. Mercedes, Tina and Blaine were taking all of their current classes online, in their extra time.
Sam had to stay in California for business. He was involved in making a studio motion picture and would only be able to catch perhaps three of her shows. He was certain that he would make the last one, because he had big plans for it. They had become the favorite couple of many Sam Evans fans, called Samcedes and the Diva and the Dork. Sam would make random videos, sometimes scripted, many times candid of their life together and post them on his official website.
Sometimes, the two of them would have online conversations about movies, songs, or whatever else they liked or didn't like. It cracked the fans up. For one, they LOVED Sam and his sense of humor. For two, they loved the way that the couple interacted with each other. So, by the time this particular show was underway, he made certain that he would have a certain moment captured on camera.
All of their old friends from Glee had made special arrangements to attend this particular show. Sam made sure that they all pledged and came through on their promise to attend. Kurt, Finn and Rachel were seated in a special section together. Rory, Sugar, Artie, Santana, Puck, and Matt Rutherford were on the front row. Lauren Zizes, Quinn and Joe were watching from backstage. Now, Mercedes was dancing, working all of what she had on that stage, singing her little heart out when Sam made his way onto the stage with a guitar and a flower.
When people began to somehow scream even louder, she turned and saw him. She excitedly forgot about the show and rushed to hug him hello. Through pants and deep breaths, she explained, "Any Sam Evans fans in the crowd, tonight?" Screams sounded all around the building and she looked at him, "I guess that the company must have approved this intrusion. You're crazy, but I can't believe you'd be THAT crazy, Sam Evans."
He reached out for Tina's microphone and snatched it from the stand, "Mercedes Jones, you underestimate me," he said. "I was thinking about the first time we sang a duet. Remember it?" He asked her, approaching her, center stage.
She looked around for her manager, wondering if Sam had indeed taken it upon himself to just jump himself on the stage and insert this portion of the show… Her manager's hand was over his mouth in shock and confusion. Oh my God… Sam Evans! She looked at Sam again, totally anxious, now. "Let me refresh your mind," Sam said and the lights lit up her name on the stage, which caused the fans to go insane. Mercedes' nervousness only grew, but she did manage a smile at the lights. "I was the first person to put your name in lights, and I knew that we'd all be seeing this for the rest of our lives. You were gracious enough to sing with me, even though I'm really not a vocal match for you."
A few tears made their way down her face as she turned from the lights, to Sam who was now close to her. "I'm hoping that tonight, you're willing to sing with me again. I went through a lot of trouble to make sure that it was okay for us to sing this song on stage." He smiled brightly and said, "I made it so!" She realized it was an impression. "That's my Captain Prichard," he told her. She glanced at her totally worried manager, but Sam, just as he had that faithful day, simply began playing his guitar… and dropped the microphone with an oops face and a chuckle.
Tina rushed to pick up her microphone, and quickly darted back out of the way of the duet while Mercedes began singing Human Nature. When Sam began to sing, she held her mic to his lips. The two of them stared at each other as he sung, and when the chorus came, they shared the microphone, but the stage director quickly sent someone to clip a portable to Sam by the time he began the second verse of the song. By the time they made it to the end of the song, Tina was crying her eyes out and Unique was fanning herself – the two of them fangirling like they had never seen anything so sweet before.
All of their friends went wild from their spots as Sam began to talk again, "Thank you, Mercy. I appreciate you indulging me, again. First time was in private, this time – everyone's here. Our friends, your parents, my parents," He was pointing a hand all around at those he mentioned. "I can't think of any better time to do this," he said and reached into his guiter to pull out a purple ring box. Mercedes' knees went weak as he bowed to one knee and everyone became a maniac! "Mercedes Jones, I am crazy about you. I will never want to be with anyone the way that I want to be with you. I know that you said you don't want to get married until after you've won a Grammy, but right now, all I'm looking for is that promise that when you're ready, I'm your man."
She was crying, hard. He choked back tears of his own, because all of these things had to be said, "It doesn't matter how long the engagement is or how big of a wait I have ahead of me… I just need you to say 'Yes' and I need you to say it, tonight. Mercy, when the time's right, will you marry me?"
For the first time in years, Mercedes thought that she might pass out. Her grip was hard on the microphone and her breathing labored as she sobbed ugly cries and nodded her head. Sam looked down at the box and noticed that he hadn't even opened it, which made her chuckle at his face as he fumbled with opening it and dropped his guitar, then caught it with one hand and help the ring out to her with the other. "Little help, Mercy?" He said, trying to be quiet, but now, he had a microphone on himself. She laughed and reached for the guitar, to place it aside as he got up. "You didn't reach for the ring," he said.
She fixed her hair, shook her head, took a deep breath, chuckled and said, "You're supposed to put it on my hand." Then she held her hand out to him and let him do just that, and kiss the top of it. He pulled her into a hug, wanting to kiss her, but unsure if that was overkill. She soon let him know, by pulling him into a big juicy one, that it was not. It was not, at all.
"It's my favorite part of the movie, too," Delanna said. Sam looked at her blankly and she clarified, "The movie that they made about Mercedes… Diary of a Diva."
"We should watch that tonight," Mercedes said to Sam.
"I can't remember the last time I saw it," he said.
"Last year, on my birthday," she said. At the same time, Marvel said, "Last year on Mom's birthday." She looked at him and smiled, proudly. Soon, their dinner was presented to them.
Sam sifted through all of their personal collection: There were all of his cartoons and movies, all of her concerts, documentaries about one or both of them, their three season reality television show, and the family movies. He sifted through until he found it and cheered, "Oh, I see it, Mercy! I was starting to think that one of the kids had made off with it."
"They all have their own copies," she said. "I really enjoyed lunch with Marvel and Delanna. I wish that we could see our other kids so often."
"Want to watch some family movies instead?" He asked and reached for a few of them. "I was kinda wanting to see the real version of that proposal again. Makes me remember what happened that night, after the show." He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes.
"I don't even know what you mean," she said.
"We'd been together for three years, but you had been holding back on me," he said.
"Sam!" She hissed, like anyone else could hear him, but her.
"I think I may still have that in my private stash in the office," he teased.
"Oh, just put on s movie, already! We both know that you'll spend it trying to get fresh with me. Have you no shame? We're both covered in wrinkles and sags!" She fussed, with a hand on her hip.
He put one of the movies into the player and joined her on the couch, "Nonsense. You're as pretty as you've ever been, and no, I have no shame. I'm a horny old man. I looked forward to becoming one with you from the moment I decided to propose." He pushed his face into her neck and kissed her, lovingly. But, he didn't press the issue. Mercedes was not as confident about her body as she had once been. While he still found her gorgeous, having gotten better with time, as far as he was concerned, he always only went so far and allowed her to decide the rest of the path.
"Is that new nurse here?" Mercedes asked.
"Yeah… I think that Sammie has her living here," Sam said.
Mercedes frowned. Wait, what was that? Had he missed an opportunity? "Mercy? You want to retire to the bedroom?"
"What about family movies?"
"They'll still be here afterwards," he said and tried to pull himself up. She quickly stood up first and helped him up, being the healthier of the two. "What would I do without you?" He asked and took her hand as they walked to their room together.