So, Samcedians and other friends… we have only five more chapters to this particular story including this chapter, then we have to say a temporary farewell to them. I don't know how frequent these next five chapters will be, and I may take a bit of a break between AFAECS and the sequel… but I promise that there will be a sequel!
Look on the Bright Side will continue and even stretch out to include drabbles that may be requested for the sequel, as well. I am still accepting drabble prompts, though I haven't had the chance to write them all up yet(working on it)and I may wait until I've had the chance to complete Right Before My Eyes, an unrelated Samcedes fanfic, until I begin the sequel to this. After chapter 40, I intend to have everything pertaining to the main story arch of this thing wrapped up and I'll need a little break from the angst and drama that I have swallowed up my brain and heart with writing it. But, I am SO GLAD to have gotten so close to so many of you through this and I hope to continue all such friendships in the future, through other stories and such. Love you folks!
The Relocation
Matt had called Mercedes as soon as he had details and information. It shocked her to find out that Mary had been killed and it hurt her to know that no matter how badly things had been between Sam and Mary, he was elsewhere, hurting inside over his loss. When she felt his movement in the bed and woke up to the soft sounds of his tears, she immediately went to comfort him. It was going to take him some time before he would be alright… and that truly damaged the shape of her heart…
Stacie was balled up on the couch, crying to herself, wishing that she had a room of her own, for the moment, because this was one of those days where she needed complete solitude. Her body literally hurt with pain, from the sorrow and rage that she felt for the entire situation that led them all to Lima and for the fact that her family had been ripped to shreds. Why would God do this to her? She had been so nice and kind to other people. She had been caring and open and loving. She did everything that she thought was right and it just did not seem fair to her to have to hurt this way on account of other people's hatred.
Mercedes hand wrote a detailed letter explaining all of the evil that had befallen the Evans family through the underground white supremacy movement in the state and submitted it into her church's prayer request box. She instructed Santana, "Use my personal savings account, instead of the charity account and I don't care how much it costs, I am going to pay for all of Mary Evans' services." She also let Dwight know that if he or Stacie needed any financial assistance with anything, she would cover it, as well. He was a little too numb to debate with her on whether or not he would be willing to ask her for any help, so he simply agreed and just decided not to bother her for anything.
After Mercedes' letter, her pastor formed a special prayer band for not only the Evans family, but for her family, as well. A group of concerned church members decided to take up watch around her shop, scheduling hours for several of them to be present, because the police did not seem to be concerned with these people. That gave Sam the chance to get his proper rest, which only came after having drugs for his pain. Sam spent a great deal of time sleeping during his healing process. Mary's body was being sent back to Nashville, where her family would make arrangements for her services. Santana spoke with Mary's mother to let her know that there was a beneficiary for all of the services and to simply call her when she needed the process a payment for any of the arrangements.
The woman sounded terribly miserable and Santana felt exceptionally bad for her. She remembered how terrible it was for her family when her mother died, and they had known that it would happen, because the woman had been sick for a while. She couldn't imagine how hard it was for this woman to lose her daughter and to lose her so suddenly. Santana also wanted to try to be there for Stacie, if she needed it. She was around the age that Santana had been when her mother got sick and she knew that it was tough to lose a parent when you're still figuring out who you are in that teenage mindset. She sighed and got onto the elevator, with the key that Quinn had been forced to turn over.
The girl was still on the couch, not sleeping, but simply laying there while the dogs cuddled up against her feet. Santana went to check on her and she looked up and sat up when she saw her, "You don't have to get up, Sweetie. I just came to see if you needed anything. It's about lunchtime and we're probably calling an order in at Breadsticks."
"I'm not very hungry, Miss Santana, but for my dad's sake, I'll have something. You can just order me something cheap and light," she answered and shrugged her shoulders. Santana nodded and took the hint. The kid wanted to be left alone, so she wouldn't bother her too much, but she definitely intended to keep checking in to see if she hadn't lost her mind. Then, she went to peek in on Sam. Mercedes was seated next to him, as he sleep on the bed.
"Stacie?" She called out softly.
"No, Boss Lady – it's me. I came to see what you wanna eat. Calling an order in to Breadsticks."
"The usual, I guess and get Sam's usual, too. He's able to eat a little more, now," Mercedes said, gently strumming her boyfriend's back with her fingertips as he rested.
"I talked to Mary Evans' mom today. She said that she'll be calling me or getting the merchants that she'll use to call for the financial purposes." Mercedes could hear the sorrow in Santana's voice as she reported this.
"Thank you, so much, Girl. You have no idea how much it means to me for you to handle all of these things for us," Mercedes said.
Sam then groaned, "Yeah, thanks Santana…" Then he slept again. He had been in and out of consciousness. Mercedes smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him on the shoulder.
Santana looked at the tattoos, and it was the first time that she had seen them. They made her frown. Hell, he needed those things removed. They were just a reminder of all of the shit that had been happening to the people that she loved and the heartbreaking mistake that Quinn had made. "No prob," Santana said and left the apartment.
Dwight approached his son and asked, "How are you today?"
"It's been a fair day," Sam said with a shrug.
"The drive to Tennessee is gonna be one long drive. I'm not really ready to see your grandmother. I don't know how she'll feel about things. I don't even know if Mary told her about where we stood."
"Knowing Mom, she didn't tell her a damned thing. I'm sure that Mom intended to do everything in her to try to make sure that you didn't leave her," Sam said, with bitterness in his tone. "Everything but be the mother and wife that this family needed. I can't believe that after all of that – she still was selfish enough to prompt Stevie to shoot!" Sam sniffled and wiped the tears that snuck from his eyes. "Just because she was shot, did that mean that Stevie should have to ruin his life, too? Did she ever give a shit about any of us?"
"I think that she did," Dwight said with a shrug. "She certainly cared about you guys more than she ever did about me."
"But, why? You were so good to her, Dad."
"I think that she was angry with me for being the kind of man who wanted to make an honest woman out of her. Mary got pregnant with you before we were even considering marriage, and for me, that was enough. I wanted to be the kind of father that was there every step of the way and I didn't want people to look at her and think that she was the kind of girl that just slept around with guys. I talked it over with her parents, with my parents and we all came together and started making things happen. Nobody ever really asked her if she wanted it and when she talked to her mom about not being ready, she was called out of her name and kicked out. We had to take her in and at that point, she kind of felt like she didn't have a choice."
"Well, the moment that she realized that she did have a choice – like say, before she decided to cheat, before she decided to cry rape, before she decided that she was going to be the biggest bitch that she could think to be to Mercedes, to me, to Stevie, to Stacie and you, she could have just decided to walk the hell away. Instead, she fucks all of us up in the head and gets herself killed before any of us have the chance to resolve this stuff in our minds." Sam groaned. "I would've forgiven her for the things that she helped to happen in my life. It would've been hard to forgive her for hurting Mercy, but I know that eventually, I probably would have, but for her to direct Stevie to shoot, when I know she could hear us telling him not to do it… It's like she just wanted to prove to herself one last time that she was more important than everybody else… I'm not going to Tennessee, Dad."
Dwight wasn't going to push Sam. It was obvious that he had been going through enough, and Mary certainly had done nothing recently for Sam to want to pay her proper respects. Stacie and he could take the truck to Tennessee, have the ceremonies, spend some time with Mary's family and the rest of the Evanses and return to Ohio to try to get started on rebuilding their new life without Mary Evans in it.
Mike's hand was still hurt from where Stevie had shot the dart gun out of his hand, but he was able to go to work at the hospital, with minimal disturbances of pain. He took something none drowsy for the pain that he was feeling, but he was more worried than he was in pain. He worked as a tech in the place, and his hours had changed after he and Tina came back, so he worked overnights and he was always wondering if his lady was alright. She had gone through so much, without having the proper time to get over it. After the mess with Quinn, he simply did not know how she might bounce back.
Currently, she was spending her time volunteering in overdrive at the crisis center and teaching self defense classes. Mike admired that she had also taken teaching Stacie Evans some moves to defend herself and she was venturing into deeper relationships with the women in her crisis group. He knew that she was battling with heavy trust issues after Quinn and the fact that she wanted to continue to try to build upon her trust abilities just made him so damned proud of her. He gave her a call, when he knew that she would be getting ready to head home. He was always her phone escort to her car and to Emma's.
"Hey, Lovely," he said.
"Hey," she said, sounding strange.
"You… alright?" He asked.
"No, but I don't want to get into it, right now. I have Joe and Shane with me. Paul came to see me while I was at my volunteer job," she said, angrily, with a shaky voice.
"Baby… Do. You. Need. Me?" Mike asked, with his stomach in knots.
"No, please do not leave that hospital. For all I know, he's trying to lure you out. You hang tight there. I'm picking up some things and I'm going to spend the night in Emma's room, so that we can just leave together when your shift is over. Plus, it was fortunate that you were able to keep working with all of the crazy mess that has been making you have to leave or call in. I don't want you to have any more issues. You need to focus on getting your standing back to good at that place."
"Ok, then. But, when I go on my break, I'm coming to visit you."
"That's fine," she said with a slight squeak in her voice and he knew that she was trying not to start crying. "I feel like I can't even remember what life was like before all of this started!"
"It's okay to feel that way, because I know in my heart that we'll have so much to appreciate after all of this is over. The media and the public have caught wind of all of these attacks and occurrences, and even though we can't just flat out accuse them, right now – they'll have to keep their distance, because so many eyes are on each of us now that it's impossible for them to get at us. We just have to tough it out a tad longer and give Matt and Sam the chance to nail those bastards to the wall." Tina was quiet for a while, so Mike called her name, "Tina?"
"Mike… I know that it's not usually done this way and it isn't usually over the phone and there are so many reasons why this isn't sentimental or sweet or the perfect way and stuff, but… I want you to marry me. Um… Is that okay? I mean… do you say yes to this totally unconventional proposal?" Tina bit her lip and bounced up and down nervously as the words took longer for Mike to process than she imagined, and just when she was about to dismiss her word vomit, Mike replied.
"I cannot believe that you've finally decided to make me the happiest man alive." Tina laughed on the other end of the phone and Mike promised her, "I'll stop by Emma's room when I get a chance, alright? We'll… we'll be okay, Tina. I love you." Tina was crying softly, now. "T?"
"I love you too, Mike," she replied.
Sam rode with his father to Kentucky, even though he couldn't do much to help him pack everything, as he was still injured and on several restrictions (and drugged and drowsy). However, Joe, Artie, Lauren, and Mercedes were pretty good help as far as putting things into the moving truck for him. Tina and Santana stayed with Stacie while they were packing up all of the Evans' things. Dwight and Stacie would be staying with Sam and Mercedes, for a time and any of the possessions that Dwight didn't want to try to get rid of with a garage sale would be stored in the POM downstairs stock room.
Joe and Mercedes were carrying some boxes to the moving truck, when she asked, "So, how is Quinn? I know that you've talked to her."
"She's feeling extremely bad, but letting her face heal completely before she returns to her daughter, so she won't have to try to explain why she's bruised up," he said. "She feels terrible and she misses the two of you," he added.
"Well, we feel terrible too, but we feel terrible because she betrayed us and didn't own up to it. We had to find out through someone else that she got people that we care about killed," Mercedes said.
"I understand your perspective," Joe said. "What Quinn did was wrong, even if her heart was in a better place than her mind."
Mercedes set her box down and Joe positioned it to line up with the others. "Puck was one of your best friends. You helped him and watched him clean up his act and get it together. You were the one that he'd call up to help him out when he and I weren't talking and a person that he trusted with his life… how did you feel when you found out what she had done?"
"I was disappointed. I was hurt and angry. But, at the same time, I love Quinn just as much as I loved Puck, and I knew that my reacting in a harsh way towards her wouldn't help to bring him back or for her to repent. Quinn is never going to be able to fully heal until she takes the time to care about herself long enough to know that she's worth getting help and receiving love. I think that she just saw you slipping away from her and it brought back up a lot of her old emotions that she didn't mean anything to anyone – that she's just a component of other people's lives. She was concerned about you, but this probably had more to do with her desperate need to be important to someone. You've always been the person to fulfill that need for her. Quinn needs serious help, not condemnation," Joe said. "I can't expect you to forgive her, but I do hope that you'll try to understand."
"I'm not to that point, I guess," she said. "I just hate that there are so many people out there willing to hurt you and do you wrong and you find people that aren't like that and you get close to them and let them in and love them… then something like this happens and it makes you fear and question every relationship that you have," Mercedes said, with a low, shaky voice.
"Mm hmm… How are things with you and Sam?" Joe asked.
"They've been better. I'm trying to be there for him, but he just wants some time to himself. I try to give him time to himself, but he needs help because he's still injured and can't do everything for himself." She sighed, "Plus… I keep worrying and wondering if I hadn't been so damned stubborn and would have just not got involved with him, or if I would have just passed him off on Emma, if things would have ever happened the way that they have. I feel… I feel like everything that has taken place, from Quinn's decision, down to Puck and Kim and everything everybody's been through has been because I decided that I didn't care what anyone said – that I was going to take this person in and do everything that I could to help him. He could've lived without my help. None of this ever would have happened."
"You… regret taking Sam in?" Joe asked, seriously in disbelief.
"I regret that I wasn't more careful about this matter," Mercedes said. "I love Sam. I've never loved anyone like this." She shook her head and said, "I just don't know if I maybe shouldn't have taken the steps that I took."
"It would break Sam's heart to hear you say that," she heard Joe say.
"I know," she whispered, sadly. "It breaks my heart to think that way. But, everyone told me in the beginning that it would be a big mistake and that there would be suffering. Now, the person that I love more than anything is hurting worse than anything." She took a deep breath and shook her head, "I feel like I brought all of this on him."
"You didn't. The people responsible for all of this evil are going to be brought down, very soon," Joe reminded her. She nodded and felt his hand on her back to help her get to the house, again.
The ride home was Joe driving the truck and Dwight in the passenger's seat, with him. Sam, Mercy, Artie and Lauren sat in the back of the moving truck with the stuff, seated on a pallet. Sam rested on his good side, laying his head on Mercedes' lap. There was a light in the back of the truck and between the four of them, they kept each other entertained. Lauren told a few ghost stories. Artie told some jokes. Mercedes sang some songs. Sam did some impressions. After a moment of silence, Lauren commented, "I'm really grateful for another chance to just be with friends and enjoy their company."
Artie agreed, "I feel like I haven't seen most of you in a long time. It used to be all day, everyday chillin'. We gotta get this thing under wraps so people can begin to live again."
Mercedes felt Sam tense up beneath her hand as she stroked his hair. "You know what, Art? Let's not even talk about any of that," she said. "Sing with me, my Artie, baby."
Artie thought for a moment, then said, "Oh! I know… Girl change into them Victoria Secret things that I like. Alright, ok. Tonight you're having me your way…" Mercedes laughed at Artie's choice of song, but noticed that Sam still seemed tense. Artie kept singing, though Mercedes had not joined in with him. "When I put my fingers in your hair, wrap me up in your legs and love you 'til your eyes roll back I'm trying to put you to bed, bed, bed. I'ma put you to bed, bed, bed."
Now Mercedes took over, "And I'll rock your body, turn you over, Love is war, I'm your soldier…" Sam stared up at Mercedes singing that song, having him feeling some kind of way. He smirked and buried his face in her thighs. But, she noticed that he was a little more relaxed.
By the time they got to the end of the song, Lauren fanned herself and said, "If the two of you do that again, I don't care which one of you it is, somebody's gonna have to deal with the mess in my pantalones!" Mercedes gasped, Sam burst into laughter and Artie raised an interested eyebrow.
Artie said, "And with that challenge extended, might I just introduce performing You by Lloyd and Lil' Wayne…"
"No," Mercedes said. "That song gets to me." Sam sat up and looked at her, then at Artie, with a smile. Mercedes was confused. "Sam… what you doing?"
"Oh – I know that song. Artie and me will do it for you ladies," he said.
"How the hell do you know that song?" Mercedes asked, sounding genuinely not prepared to hear her man and Artie perform it. "I mean, you were locked up when it came out and you told me you don't listen to stuff like that… so, so, how, how you know that song?"
Sam laughed at her nervousness and said, "I've heard it and I liked it. Me and Artie will do great with that song. I'll sing, he'll rap. It'll be cool. You'll love it."
"My body is not ready…" Mercedes said under her breath.
Lauren smirked and said, "Mine is, gentlemen!"
Artie jumped into the beginning rap without further delay. When Sam began singing, Mercedes entire body stiffened up and she involuntarily held her breath as he could hear from his projection that he was looking right at her as he sung… Whenever she let go of her breath, she felt like she was melting. Sam was close to her, singing against her skin and she was pretty much dead by the time they got to the end of the song.
"Damn, Artie," Lauren said, dabbing playfully at her chest with a cloth. She smirked, looked him up and down and winked. She licked her lips, blew a kiss and giggled.
Artie looked at Sam and made a legit face. "I think that I'm being propositioned."
Lauren laughed and asked, "So… ever hook up with a big girl before?"
Mercedes said, "I think that more ghost stories are in order!"
Lauren told her, "I can't remember any, right now."
Mercedes felt Sam getting close to her neck and she gasped when she felt his lips on it. "Where are Lauren and Artie?" She whispered.
"They hid behind some of the boxes," he whispered back.
"No way!" she whispered.
"Yes way. I think they're trying to give us a little privacy. We get to act like teenagers for a day and make out with my dad in the other room," Sam said into her neck and bit her.
"This… is not… aw, hell!" She said when she felt tongue on her skin. She cooed and asked, "No, for real… how you know that song?"
He whispered, "I've seen your reaction to it when it comes on your Pandora, so I looked it up and learned it." His hands were near the button on her pants, undoing it and Mercedes laughed, lightly, unable to make herself resist his advances any further.
Joe pulled the moving truck up to the front of the building, because it was too tall to go down the ramp to the underground delivery pit. But, it was Sunday, so there would be no one in the building. Dwight opened the back of the truck and Lauren helped Artie get down. Sam was snuggling in Mercedes' neck, but when the truck opened, he sat up and Dwight noticed that she had some marks on her neck that had not been there before. He was glad to see that Sam wasn't still completely depressed. It was hard to see his son with such low spirits the past few days. Dwight helped Sam out of the back of the truck, then they both helped Mercedes. Sam's hands glazed over his woman's shape and caressed her down to her buttocks. Dwight's eyebrow raised and he turned away.
Blaine, Kurt, Mike, and Tina all helped them to move the stuff into the building. It took hours for them to get everything either into the backroom or the stockroom. Sam went to lie down, alone, while Mercedes and Tina were out on the balcony, talking. "He asked me general stuff. How is my boyfriend, and telling me that he was sorry to hear about my friends and especially Kim. Mercedes, my hands were shaking and my heart was racing. I thought that I might just snap and attack him. Fortunately, since I hold my crisis group meetings at the community center, I had friends around to come see about me. But, it made my skin crawl."
Mercedes looked thoughtful for a time, then admitted, "I'm worried about Quinn, too." Tina scoffed, but Mercedes said, "No, seriously. I think that she needs to be seeing somebody again. If she did something that reckless with us still in her life, can you even think of what kind of Tom Foolery could be birthed with her being kept at a distance from us?"
"I can – but she'll be at a distance, so I couldn't give a shit," Tina said.
"T…"
"I lost my sister. You know how important you guys are to me, and I met you as a teenager. I knew Kim her ENTIRE life. I helped my mom to look after her when she was a baby. I'm the one who tried to cover her body with mine when our dad would go into one of his aggressive violent rages and beat us. I hid in closets with her, covering her ears and singing songs to drown out the shit that would be going on a room or two away to our mom whenever he stopped in," Tina said. "I did all of that so that she could have a chance to be okay, someday, Mercy. That day didn't come. All of that work, love and protection went to ash when Quinn's assistance gave those people incentive to go after Kim, and I won't lose Mike, too." Tina sighed and said, "I love her, Cedes. I always will, but I can't forgive her, right now. It's too soon. My feelings are too raw and this thing isn't even over, yet. When I've had the chance to pause and take a deep breath that feels free, then, I'll consider my next steps with her."
Mercedes nodded and said, "That sounds fair. I don't want to make it hard on you, but I've decided that I just can't shut her completely off. I hate what she did, but like you – I still love her. I don't want to let these people take anybody else away from me."
"Do what you feel that you have to do, Mercedes," Tina said, with an annoyed shrug. "I want to go down and see if there are any croissants left from breakfast."
"I'll walk with you," Mercedes said and they headed down the elevator. "Don't be upset with me. This shouldn't be an issue that I have to pick sides on."
"I don't expect you to pick sides. I'm just a little disappointed that you're willing ot let her off easy, again and I hope that it doesn't blow up in your face," Tina said.
Tina and Mercedes had been trying to help organize the mess that had been formed – separating what would be sold and what would be kept and such other tasks when Kurt scampered up to them and said, "The first good news that we've gotten in months!" He held out his phone to show Tina something as he announced, "Barbra Patti Berry Hudson has been born!" Tina gasped and Mercedes covered her mouth in excitement at what she was hearing. Tina took Kurt's phone and gushed at the baby, as their friend continued his report, "She was born this morning (well… I don't really know what time it is in Hawaii), but she's 6lbs and 7oz, and 20 inches long!"
Mercedes cheered, "Carol must be so happy!"
"She and Dad are gleaming all over the place, getting ready to rush to Hawaii for the visit," Kurt said. Tina and Mercedes both stopped smiling and Tina glanced at Mercy, knowing that they were thinking the same thing.
"Why don't you visit, too?" Mercedes asked.
Kurt sighed and shook his head, "Well, it's a rough time, right now…"
"More of a reason for you to go," Tina said. "I've decided that I'm not doing anymore running. I'm riding the rest of the storm out. You're due for a vacation, Kurt and how often do you get to see your newborn niece and vacay in Hawaii, at the same time? It'll be a nice getaway for you and Blaine."
Kurt considered her words for a moment, then said, "Well… his boss did tell him that he could take some time off, after our current issues made the news."
Mercedes slapped Kurt on the back and said, "Kurt, you need to snatch up the love of your life and high tail it to Hawaii with your parents! Think of how great it'll be for Rachel to have you all there to celebrate the new addition to the Hudson-Hummel family with her?" Kurt looked excited, but he felt guilty. As though she could read his mind, Mercedes said, "We've all taken a break from this. Sam and I did. Quinn and Tina did. You and Blaine have been here for the bull, nonstop."
"I really do have several diva baby outfits that I designed myself to give her!" Kurt cheered.
"Cedes and I will help you to pack up your stuff," Tina said. Kurt and Tina began to jump up and down, flailing their hands at each other for the possibilities of his vacation. They began to gather up their purses and Mercedes began to collect her dogs when Sam noticed them leaving and approached.
"Hey – where are y'all headed?" He asked, with a bit of concern in his features.
Mercedes cheered, "Rachel and Finn had their baby and Tina and I are gonna help Kurt pack up so that he can go see them in Hawaii!"
Now, Blaine approached, laughing and asked, "Are you serious?"
Kurt jumped up and down again and waved his hands to cool himself, "I was going to surprise you, but , yes! We're going to go to Hawaii… I mean, that is – if you want to do that?"
"Of course, I do, Kurt!" Blaine said and rushed to his man to wrap him in a tight hug and kiss him, lovingly. "Let me see her!" Blaine fussed when he released him. Kurt pulled the photo out again and Blaine gushed, "Daww! She is going to totally ROCK that diva baby outfit number 20 you made, with the gold and pink bows!"
"I know that she is! And what about the diva baby outfit number 12, with the silver and green? I was worried that if she had Rachel's nose, that one would be far too comical, but seeing as how she doesn't, it might prove to be stunning beyond measure. She'll get her first photoshoot at the hospital, so that when she's famous…" Kurt said, taking Blaine's hand and they began to leave the building together with Tina and Mercedes standing back. The guys were to the vehicle before Kurt noticed that his girlfriends weren't with them and he looked through the window. Tina waved a hand at him and shrugged. He smiled, and mouthed "Thank you," to her before getting into the SUV.
"God, we really have a bad habit of leaving our guys out of our stuff, don't we?" Tina asked.
"Yeah, I think that we do," Mercedes said. "But, it's just because we've all been together so long and we've always done it this way. I mean, I tell Sam everything, but there is a very different you know dynamic when we share things with each other."
Tina said softly, "I feel like even though we've been leading separate lives and that all these years have been like when you live in your parents' house. All of our issues and stuff have been like it is amongst siblings and now… we're finally coming to the point where we're becoming adults and moving out of the house. It's a little bit frightening, but the look on Kurt's face when he left with Blaine… They're supposed to get married next year. They're going to be having a family of their own, soon. It's only right that we stop getting in the way of that and let them love each other without our interruptions."
"We don't interrupt," Mercedes said, offended.
"I totally invited us to help Kurt pack, and didn't even think about telling Blaine, Mike or Sam," Tina said. "I don't know how these guys even put up with this mess from us, sometimes, but they do. They love us. They've proven it time after time again, especially recently." Mercedes bit her lip, unsure of where this conversation was going. Tina sighed, pulled off a glove that she had been wearing and reached for Mercedes' hands to place on her left hand. "I want to tell you about this before someone notices and makes an announcement." Mercedes touched Tina's hand and felt the ring on her finger.
"Oh my God! When did…?"
"I proposed to him the night before last and the next day, he gave this to me. He's been sitting on it for two years, trying to get me to the point that I'd say yes!" Tina laughed.
"Wow…" Mercedes said, unable to breathe. "I'm so happy for the two of you. I knew this would be the results one day!" She pulled her friend into a tight hug.
Tina said, "I wanted it to be a special announcement, like we invite everyone over for dinner and tell you all how it happened, with Emma and Quinn there and in my dream world, Kim and Puck would've been there too. Hell, it'd even be cool if Rachel and Finn were there. But, since things have changed so much, but the one thing that hasn't and better not ever is my friendship with you, I had to tell you first. I'll wait until Kurt's gone, because I don't want to seem like I'm trying to overshadow his family's news."
"Oh God. Rachel's a mama and you're about to be a wife! All of my babies are growing up. What the hell am I gonna do with the empty nest?" Mercedes asked.
"Fill it back up with babies of your own," Sam finally spoke. Mercedes and Tina both laughed, but Sam raised an eyebrow at them. Hell, he was serious. He smirked and poked Mercedes in the side with one of his fingers, causing her to giggle and bounce a little.
Stacie came up to them with a tired smile and asked, "What's all of the celebration for?" Tina smiled at the girl and showed her the ring. Stacie covered her mouth and squealed, "Oh my God! My second favorite real life couple is gonna get hitched? This makes my day, today! Have y'all set a date? Do you got a florist? I could literally grow and arrange all your flowers with my bare hands!" Stacie offered. "There's room in the backyard for a garden…"
"We haven't set a date," Tina said. "We want to be sure that all of the mess is over with first, and we don't really want the planning to overlap with Kurt's planning for his and Blaine's wedding next year."
"They're getting married, too?" Stacie asked, eyes bright and wide with tightly clasped hands.
Mercedes waved a hand and said, "Oh, honey, they've been engaged for the past five years, waiting until their ten year reunion to make it official." Stacie, Tina and Mercedes all latched hands together and rushed off, "We need to call Rachel, first off, but don't tell her that Kurt's coming, but we also need to tell her about you and Mike! I haven't wanted to call her, because there's been so much bad news and I didn't want her stressed out while she was pregnant, but now we have some good news!"
"Does she know about you and Sammy?" Stacie asked.
"She knows that I have somebody," Mercedes said, and the three of them made way to the elevator. Sam stood, alone and was at least glad that Stacie was being fully integrated into the sisterhood (and kind of glad that Quinn wasn't there during the integration, Stacie didn't need any of Fabray's negativity, right now).
Quinn and Beth sat on the porch swing of her sister's house, and the little girl was resting on her mother's chest. Quinn had been gone for several days and Beth had gotten terrified during her time away. She was never gonna get to see her dad, again and being away from her mom was a terrifying ordeal for her. Quinn heard her phone buzz and reached for it. The photo of Mercedes smiling brightly before they went out for her birthday shown on the screen and Quinn took a deep breath and answered, "Hello?"
"Hey… I was calling to check on you and to tell you that Finn and Rachel had their baby today," Mercedes said gently.
"Yeah, Rachel keeps me in the loop. I don't know how much Kurt has told her, but I'm pretty sure that she thinks that I'm still your girl," Quinn said.
"You are still my girl, Quinn. I'm just hella disappointed in you and frustrated with you. You… really outdid yourself with betraying me," Mercedes said, making tears fall down Quinn's cheeks.
"Well, I am a goal setter," Quinn said. She winced, thinking that she'd just made a huge mistake.
"It's not safe, still. But, when things are better here, I want you and Beth to come back. She doesn't need to be separated from her family and neither do you," Mercedes said.
Quinn smiled and said, "That's really sweet, Cedes; but… we have family where I am. With what happened with Tina and Kim, I guess it's finally hit me that maybe I should try to make things better between my sister and I while I still have the time. It might be hard for Beth, at first, to get used to the move, but I think that'll be better for her in the long run, than going back and forth. Plus, I don't want her to ever have to deal with the stigma of belonging to me. She won't have that, here. Frannie's getting me set up with the psychiatrist that she saw to help her out with all of the unresolved issues from our childhood, and hopefully – she'll be able to help me to become a better person."
"You aren't a bad person, Quinnie. You've just got a lot of demons," Mercedes told her. "I want what's best for you and Beth." There was a long pause, then Mercedes asked, "Will you at least come to visit us sometimes?"
"I'll definitely have to visit every now and then. I want Beth to have the chance to see her grandmother and to set a stone down for Puck. I want her to see you all, whenever you're ready, too." Quinn whispered, "She misses Tina, so much." And stroked her little girl's hair.
"I'm sure that Tina misses her… and I can't imagine her selecting anyone else to be her flowergirl," Mercedes said.
Quinn was silent for a moment, then laughed, and asked, "They got engaged?"
"Yeah. T proposed to him and he responds by pulling out a ring that he's been waiting to present to her for the past couple of years," Mercedes said.
Quinn fought off the tears and said, "I am so happy to hear this. I wish that I could take back everything. I should've been around for this. But, we all know that before I ever have the right to ever step in front of Tina again, it has to be after I'm squared away, psychologically and emotionally, and most importantly, when it's convenient for Tina."
"She'll come around, Q. I know that she will. She's the only person in the world that I know for a fact loves you as much as I do," Mercedes said.
"I take comfort that I don't even deserve in hearing you say all of these things to me… but it's probably best if I don't communicate with you too much either, until I'm better…" Quinn said, and waited for Mercedes' response.
"Alright," she said, softly and sadly. "Take care of yourself, Quinn."
"Of course, Love." She paused, then asked, one last time, "Have… you been taking your medicine?"
"Yes, Mom!" Mercedes said, mockingly and laughed sadly. "Goodbye Quinn."
"Bye, Mercy."
Y'all, I know that the last chapter had so much action and stuff, but I just wanted my bbs to have a small level of peace, so the church folk helping to keep an eye out for them was my way of doing that and next chapter, we can start in on more excitement, as they wrap up the last bit of mess with their sticky situation. Ready to start seeing the big boss men? It's about to go down. Karofsky. Fabray. Schuester. The secrets. The solution… it'll all come to a head very soon. Thanks for reading and all of you reviewers thank you so much for the continuous feedback and the correspondence that helps me to stay on my toes as much as possible with this crazy thing. I love y'all dearly and I appreciate all of you other readers, too… just for being willing to remain on this journey with me!