Author's Note: Here is another chapter. Thanks for reading and please be kind enough to leave a review. Thanks – Anna.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee nor any of its characters.

I Knew You Were Waiting for Me Part II

Chapter 15

"Hey baby, how are you?" Sam asked as he sat on the bed in his hotel room. Mercedes could tell that he was exhausted by the way his voice crawled across her fiber optics and into her ear. "Sam, I know you're tired, so why did you call me tonight? You need to get your rest." She reprimanded him lightly. "I'm never too tired to speak to you." Sam spoke through a yawn. "Unhuh….Congratulations on the big win!" She said cheerfully as she picked up her remote control while she was lying in bed and muted her television. "I liked seeing you on my television tonight." She smiled and, although he couldn't see her, he could still hear it in her voice. "You watched the game?" He asked languidly. "Let it never be said that I don't support my man." Mercedes spoke confidently. He groaned out loud as he warmed at how happy he was made by her last statement. "It will never be said, sweetheart." He smiled.

"What were you doing tonight?" He asked. "I was banging on my water heater with a hammer. You wouldn't believe how cold it was in here when I got back." She replied. "Oh, I wish I was there right now to warm you up." Sam kicked off his shoes and socks as he continued to sit on the bed. "Well, I can tell you I would have loved to have taken you up on that offer." She said. "Were you able to fix it? I don't want you, in there, getting sick; especially on top of your throat issues." "Well, it is a little warmer than it was and I have several blankets so I should be alright until I can get a repairman out here within a couple of days." Mercedes spoke as she cocooned herself in all of the blankets that were on top of her king-sized bed. She had her cellphone on her pillow and her head pressed against it as she lie on her side.

"A couple of days? When is your doctor's appointment?" Sam sounded a tad bit worried. "Tomorrow." "I'm so sorry Mercedes." "What about?" "I wanted to be with you. I don't want you to think that you have to go through this all alone." "I know Sam, but I understand that you have your job to do." "But, this job isn't more important to me than you are…you know that right?" "Sam you waited for me for over thirteen years. You went to doctor's appointments all alone…and so did I." " But you shouldn't be alone; not for the really important ones." Sam mumbled. Sam stood up and pulled off his pants, unbuttoned, and removed his shirt as he continued to speak to her. "I want to be there in case you get some upsetting news. I want to be holding your hand and letting you know that I am here for you through all of it." He said. "Sam don't worry, I'll will handle any news that I receive better this time, really, and we will talk about everything when we are together again—I promise." Mercedes tried to reassure him.

Sam pulled back his covers, his eyes glimpsing a magazine on the small table in his room, and allowed his lower back to pleasantly hit the mattress as he got under the covers; resting his head onto the pillow, one hand under the pillow and the other grasping the cellphone. "I got an email from Treasure Trailz today they were wondering if I would allow them to do a spread in my home…our home." He said. "Do you want to?" Mercedes asked. "Well, that all depends if you want to? They are tossing around the idea of photographing me in all of my old homes as a part of their 'Trailz Traveled' marketing campaign." He said. "That sounds interesting." "If seeing me in an old motel is interesting." Sam said as he shifted in bed on to his side and yawned again. Mercedes could feel, instantaneously, the fear and embarrassment that began radiating from Sam's heart. "Baby, you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of-and especially not about where you've been." Her voice was calming and her tone comforting.

"But what if….what if by doing this thing, my mug shot turns up and the whole drug story? The last thing that Rick needs is for that to surface…and then there is you…I don't want you to have any more negative publicity around you either." He confessed. "Sam, if you are concerned then you should talk to Rick about it. But, if this whole Trey thing has taught me anything; it has taught me that I don't care what other people think of me anymore; as long as the ones that I love know the truth. You taught me that. And I know the truth. So what's a little, or a lot, of bad publicity? For the kind of epic love story that we have Sam….you take the good with the bad, right?" She smiled. Sam's heart warmed again as he reflected. "It would be nice to see our first home together; again…." Sam smiled. "Yes, it would." She agreed. "Oh, I miss holding you right now." He confessed as he snuggled deeper into bed although Sam's voice had begun to drift. "What are you wearing right now?" He asked. "I'm in bed Sam, I am wearing nothing but you on my lust-filled imagination." She said seductively. Sam groaned. "Now that's what I like to hear." Sam's breathing becoming even more relaxed. Mercedes hearing all of the signs of fatigue in his voice replied. "You better go to sleep now baby. I will speak to you later." She was resigned to just hang up the phone. "Wait, wait…" He spoke again quickly. Sam got a small burst of energy but it was fading fast. "I'll love you always." He said while drifting again. Mercedes smiled. "I'll love you always too, Sam, goodnight." Mercedes disconnected their line.

XXXXX

"Accckkkk! Acccckkk!" These sounds escaped Mercedes' throat. "Just a little longer, hold steady….there." Dr. Clark pulled the long Stroboscopic device slowly out from the depth of her throat and wiped it with a cloth before placing it back into a deep cylinder filled with antiseptic solution. He then passed Mercedes a tissue to wipe her mouth. Mercedes throat felt raw and it burned but she was more worried about his second opinion than she was about the pain. The doctor stared at the images on the computer monitor trying to make heads or tails of what could be done in her best interest; after all she was a Grammy award winning singer and no one would want to have the responsibility of being the doctor who messed that up.

Mercedes prayed silently that what was happening to her would not be more than she could bear. Dr. Clark finally pulled his glasses up and placed them on top of his head and turned and looked at her. "I do see the two nodules that the previous doctor had discussed with you and I do think that we should simply remove them." Dr. Clark said. Mercedes had a small look of horror on her face before Dr. Clark smiled at her. "Don't panic, Ms. Jones, according to what I am seeing, while looking at these images, is that although you do have two of them and one is bigger than the other-in total they are not that big at all. I can remove them simply as an out-patient procedure." "You can?" Mercedes sat up straight in her joy. "I can schedule it for tomorrow morning and you just have to follow the regime to prevent further vocal abuse in the future. I will have my Speech Language Pathologist step into the room and explain what will be expected from you after the procedure alright?" "Doctor, are you sure that this will not cause any permanent damage?" She asked. "Ms. Jones, nothing is guaranteed but I will say that I have performed hundreds of these surgeries during my career and only once was there a problem and that was because the patient was a smoker. Are you a smoker Ms. Jones?" "Evans, Mrs. Evans, and no I'm not." "Then we should have nothing to worry about, Mrs. Evans. You wait here I will have my nurse come in with some consent forms for you to sign, and the SLP to explain what is required, but I will tell you no eating or drinking after midnight tonight. So I will see you tomorrow, get some rest." Dr. Clark spoke as he walked out of the office.

XXXXX

Sam called Mercedes that night as well. She could tell that he was fatigued but this was a different type of fatigue. Last night's fatigue was from game day; while this fatigue just seemed like it came from traveling in a cramped bus or an airline with too little leg room; for too long. She knew that fatigue all too well. "Hey sweetie, what did the doctor say?" Sam asked. "The doctor assured me that it would be a simple procedure. So simple in fact that I am doing it tomorrow." "TOMORROW! Why didn't you tell me sooner? I will talk to the head coach and I will try to catch the first flight back." Sam said. "Sam you will do no such thing-don't be silly. I'll be fine. I won't be able to speak for several days afterwards anyway and with you here I will just be more tempted to do so. I will text you every day but this will be better." "Why so soon?" Sam asked. "The sooner I do the procedure the sooner that I should be able to speak again maybe even by the time we see our families when we get to Lima." She conceded. "You did tell your family to meet us there right?" She asked. "Yeah, they know that I don't have much time between games. So before the next game they said they would come up for the day." Sam said. "Good, I will tell mom tonight so that we will all have dinner together at Mom and Dad's. I will be doing better by then-I may not be at my best, not yet anyway, but better. Just keep me in prayer tomorrow alright?" Mercedes said. "Always." Sam answered.

XXXXX

Crystal had been driving for an hour as she tried to prepare Rick for what was to come. "Alright, there will be at least five of them there today. My mom Kathy and dad Bruce, his two younger brothers: Jason and James the twins; and my mom's sister Tracy." "Kathy, Bruce, Jason, James, and Tracy…got it." Rick nodded his head as Crystal put on her right turn signal and turned at the intersection. "My mom is a cancer survivor – three years ago." Crystal said. "So she's a fighter!" "That's an understatement. So is my dad." "Is he a cancer survivor too?" He asked. "No, but he was on a boxing team that his high school had years ago. Umm…he likes to think that he can still…you know…knock a guy out." She sighed. Rick looked over at her as she licked her lips and looked up in the air as she came to a stop at the red light. "Oh, and I better let you know, right now, that the twins have always alleged to have had…" She removed her hands from the steering wheel and covered her face then she lowered her head and shook it. "Have alleged to have had what?" Another car honked behind Crystal bringing her back and she noticed that the light had changed back to green. She took her hands away from her face and placed them back on the steering wheel. Crystal took her foot off of the breaks and the car began to move forward through the intersection; but she didn't answer. "Have alleged to have had what?" Rick asked again. "Sex with AN-JELLA!" She blurted it out. "They have both claimed to have had sex with An-jella." It physically hurt Crystal to have to say it at all, let alone, say it again. Rick's whole body froze. "How old are these guys?" Rick asked. "My dad's is turning 55 today so that makes them 48. I know, I know, it's disgusting, and she never confirmed it but she didn't deny it either. I just wanted to give you a heads up." Rick's face turned towards the passenger side window as he thought about how creepy that must have been for Crystal. "Oh, and my aunt Tracy, she…. Don't be offended but she likes to talk about money…a lot." "Why would that offend me?" He asked. "You'll see. You also might get the urge to defend me…but don't; it would only make matters worse." Crystal drove through a very nice neighborhood with lovely one family homes and manicured lawns. "What do you mean the urge to defend you?" Rick then heard her sigh again as she also began to shake a little "We're here." She said as she parked in the driveway of a Tutor styled house.

As they got out of the car and walked towards the front door Crystal spoke to him again. "Rick…there is one more thing." She said while they were standing on the front porch and she rang the bell. "What's that?" "We're gonna have to burn these clothes." She whispered. The front door flew wide open and Rick was hit with the largest Cannabis aroma wafting out of the house and through the front door. Rick began to cough. Crystal cleared her throat and then spoke while attempting to hold her breath. "Hi mom." She cleared her throat again. Her mother removed the blunt from her lips and kissed Crystal on the cheek. "Well, if it ain't the stranger finally come home." Rick's face held all of his shock as this thin black woman held open the door. She was wearing booty shorts and a tank top and slippers. "C'mon in…and this must be my so called son-in-law right? What's your name again?" She asked. Rick's eyes were wide and he began to laugh in spite of himself. "Rick Raven." He extended his hand. Kathy let go of the front door transferred her blunt into her other hand and reached out her other hand to shake his. Rick laughed out loud again at her action while Crystal thought she would die from the embarrassment of it all.

"Enter, enter." Kathy said as they walked in and she closed the door behind them. "Don't mind the Ganja. I have it for medicinal reasons." Kathy spoke up as changed positions and stepped out in front of them as she led them deeper into the house. Crystal and Rick walking side by side behind her. "Your cancer has been gone for three years now, mom." Crystal muttered under her breath from behind her mother; tired of her using that as an excuse to get high all the time. "HOW DO YOU THINK THAT I STAY CANCER FREE?" Kathy shouted back at her daughter. "Heffa, I can still hear you even if you are mumbling. I've been telling you that since you were a CHILD." Kathy's demeanor turned ferocious. Rick turned to Crystal with his mouth hung agape. Crystal took it remarkably in stride as she spoke again. "Mom, you knew that we were coming over. Why don't you go and put on something a little more reasonable?" Crystal asked. "PUT ON SOMETHING MORE REASONABLE?" She shouted. "I am 53 years old and going through hot flashes…this is reasonable in my own, damn, house. You'll find out soon enough."

"Hey you! You don't think that there is anything wrong with what I am wearing do you?" Kathy directed her conversation aggressively towards Rick as she whipped her body around, put the blunt in her mouth, placed her hand on her now protruding hip, and stood there waiting for his answer. Rick's eyes darted to Crystal who simply rolled her eyes and then spoke up "Never mind mom…" She sighed. "Where's dad?" "Yeah, I know you don't want to let him answer cause then he would have to notice that my body is still better than yours….Heffa." Kathy said unapologetically as she walked them into the family room.

"BRUCE!" Kathy yelled at the top of her voice. "Your son's here and he's brought his attitude too!" "CHRIS! How you doin'?" Bruce got up from the armchair and punched Crystal in the arm. Crystal nodded. "I'm fine dad. Happy Birthday." Crystal leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Rick noticed the twins still sitting on the sofa but they spoke as well "CHRIS!" They said in unison but still not taking their eyes off of the football game that was playing on TV. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my husband Rick Raven." The twins stood up from the sofa as the father walked up closer to him and punched Rick in his hurt arm. Rick saw stars but tried not to show it. Crystal winced for him as she reached out and held onto his other arm. "So you're the man that married my son huh?" "No, actually I'm the man who married your daughter. Happy Birthday, sir." Rick answered as he smiled and extended his arm to shake hands. "Same thing." Bruce said as he shook it. "No…not quite." Rick answered his voice pitching slightly higher at the end of his sentence, again cutting his eyes towards Crystal, and releasing Bruce from the hand shake.

"You're the new QB for the Falcon's aren't you?" One of the twins spoke up but Rick didn't know which one it was. "Yes, that's right." "You've not been doing too badly so far this season; although I think that you looked a little weak on your passing during last week's game." "I was probably, a little too, preoccupied with being in love with your niece that day." Rick said to the shock of everyone in the room even Crystal who couldn't help but briefly smile. "HA" Kathy laughed out loud and then looked at Rick "Would you like a 40?" She asked. That was when Rick noticed that every man in the room had one. "Sure, thanks." Rick nodded. "Get me one too!" Bruce said as Kathy began to leave for the kitchen. "GET YOUR OWN, I'M NO SLAVE! I'VE HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE! I DO WHAT I WANT TO DO, NOW! AND THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE BEING AT YOUR BECK AND CALL!" She left the room. Crystal looked at Rick and their eyes connected then he mouthed "Near death?" Then Crystal rolled her eyes reassuring him that "It wasn't that serious." "I'll get it for you dad." Crystal said. "Thanks son." Bruce said as he sat back down in the armchair. Crystal just nodded but Rick was puzzled why her father insisted on referring to her as a boy. "Just have a seat Rick and help yourself." Crystal pointed to the bevy of snacks that were laid out on the table; to which she grabbed a handful of potato chips herself and began eating. Crystal was already feeling that her nerves were shot. The twins had also already had their hands dipping back into the snack piles but then they both looked behind Crystal's back towards the front door.

"Hey Chris. Where's An-jella?" All three men laughed a hearty laugh. "I thought she would be here." James said. "That's the only reason I came…" Jason nudged James. "…No offense Bruce." "None taken. I get it." Bruce said. "Dad!" Crystal looked around the room at the men. "An-jella and I had a falling out and you probably won't be seeing her around here anymore." Crystal dropped the bomb that disappointed almost every man in the room. "Too bad I wanted to make another 'investment' in her cosmetology business…it has a really good pay out." James' laughter was sinister at best and lecherous at worst and Jason's laughter wasn't much better. "You're right that 'investment' sure made my dividend grow…if you know what I mean?" Jason laughed again.

Rick sat down across from the twins but the awkwardness could be felt across the entire room. "Hey wait a minute!" James surprised everyone with his interruption. "You were with An-jella too; weren't you? I remember seeing pictures of you two together when you first came to town right?" James questioned. Crystal nearly died inside and Rick bit onto his bottom lip. "HEY Bruce, he may really be part of the family after all!" Jason howled. Bruce looked over at Crystal. "Are you sure that you're not pregnant?" Bruce asked. "I'm not pregnant!" Crystal spoke up. "She's not pregnant!" Rick spoke at the same time their voices nearly drowning out each other's.

"Oh C'mon, he's not carrying a baby-look at those hips." James said disrespectfully as he ate the pretzels that were in one of his hands and flippantly dismissed her with his other hand. Crystal looked down at her body and Rick looked over at her body as well then back to the twin trying to figure out what he was talking about. "If those hips can carry those thighs-then they can carry a baby too; is all I'm sayin'." Jason added and laughed wholeheartedly as he then took a swig from his 40. The room of men burst into laughter-all except Rick. "Good one Jason, good one." James howled some more. "And you, no need to be shy about bein' with An-jella, everyone has, isn't that right Crystal." James who had been speaking to Rick suddenly shot a glare towards Crystal and raised his eyebrows up and down. "What do you mean by that?!" Crystal barked.

"I know I always thought Chris was a lesbian, I was just waiting for her to admit it." Her mother said as she re-entered the room inhaling the last drag from her blunt, with a woman following behind her, as she was holding the 40 in her hand. Kathy bent at the waist exposing her cleavage to Rick as she had been passing the bottle to Rick. "I must say-you are a surprise." Kathy continued and chuckled briefly. "MOM! SERIOUSLY!" Crystal shouted. "THANKS A LOT!" "Why are you shouting at your mother? We have never seen you with a man before, only with that girl that everyone is talking about, and she seemed up for anything." Rick watched the woman speak "She must have been Tracy." He thought. James and Jason started laughing again "Up for anything!" They spoke in unison again. Crystal walked towards the kitchen in a huff but she was grabbed by the arm by the woman and Crystal then kissed the woman on the cheek as she left the room and went to get her father's drink.

"Tracy this is Rick- Chris's husband." Kathy said as she pointed to Rick. Tracy walked around Bruce and sat next to Rick on the chair. "So you work with Crystal?" She asked. "Nice to meet you; yes I am the QB for The Falcons'." Rick noticed an interest spark in her eyes. "Don't the QB's get paid the most of any player on the team?" She asked. "I suppose that depends on their track record." Rick responded. "Unhuh, unhuh…so…are we talkin' six or seven figures? A year or across three years? What are we looking at exactly?" Rick felt quite boxed in seeing how Tracy had been leaning in on his good shoulder more and more as she spoke. "It depends on the type of contract that the player receives." Rick still tried to artfully dodge the question that he knew she was asking. "I see...I see…so let's just say…hypothetically…that I needed to borrow some money from you, and it was in the 5 figure range, would you feel it, or would it seem like chump change to you?" Tracy asked and yet Rick could tell that she was waiting to hang on his every word, once he would have responded.

"TRACY!" Crystal shouted which made her immediately back up off of Rick. "What I was just making conversation!" "Mom, dinner is ready, the timer is going off in the kitchen." Rick using this opportunity to change the subject. "It would be nice to see where Crystal got her great cooking skills from?" Rick smiled towards Kathy and got up from the seat and took his place standing next to Crystal. "I would like to see where she gets her skills from too." Bruce interjected. "DAMN you Bruce your fat ass don't have to eat my cooking tonight or any other night for that matter. You've put on fifty pounds since we've been married. It's not like I haven't been feedin' yo ass!" Kathy's temperature soared again. "You are always tryin' to kill my buzz." Kathy reached into the smallest of room that could be found in her booty shorts front pocket and pulled out another joint, lit it up, and took an extra-long drag.

Crystal threw her hands up in the air in disgust. Rick wrapped his arm around Crystal's shoulder. "I would just like to set the record straight on a few things…" Rick started. "Those pictures that you saw of An-jella and me were publicity photos, nothing worth mentioning there—at all. I also can guarantee you without a shadow of a doubt Crystal—not a lesbian." Rick leaned in towards Kathy "I was there." He smiled as he whispered loud enough for the room to hear. Rick then turned his attention to Tracy "I actually make 8 figures, a year – so no I probably wouldn't even notice the 5, but I'm not giving to you anyway; Crystal on the other hand can have anything from me that she likes." Then lastly he turned to Bruce. "Bruce, your DAUGHTER Crystal…she has all the right girl parts, I should know, just told us that dinner is ready. We should probably get in there before it gets cold." Rick finished speaking to Bruce. The room had been very quiet. Rick using his arm around Crystal's shoulder turned her around and moved her deeper into the house towards the dining area. "LET's EAT!" Rick called out behind him.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading, please forgive any mistakes in syntax and grammar and please review.