April 5, 2022 (Tuesday)
As per their agreement, after getting cleaned up the next morning, Mercedes sat down on the bed and called the local clinic while Sam showered. She lucked out with an appointment that afternoon.
Her fiancée returned from the hall bathroom in jeans, a white fitted V-neck and an open flannel button-down. Mercedes told him her appointment was at 1:15 and then got herself dressed in dark skinny jeans and a pale yellow striped peasant blouse. Down at breakfast, Stacey asked Mercedes and Sam if they wanted to go riding with her after she got home from school. Sam agreed, but Mercedes kindly declined; with her uncertainty about being pregnant, she didn't know what sorts of precautions she should be taking.
The singer helped Mrs. Evans clean up from breakfast as Mr. Evans left for work and Stacey talked Sam into giving her a ride to school. When they were alone, Mercedes spoke to her future mother-in-law, "I told him. Last night, I told Sam."
Mary looked up from the pan she'd been scrubbing and asked. "And?"
"And he's going with me to the doctor's today." Mercedes quit wiping down the table and looked to the blonde woman. She smiled nervously and said, "You were right—he was really understanding."
After a few assuring nods, Mary told her, "You knew he would be too. Deep down, I'm sure. But all the same, I can understand why you would be afraid to tell him. It's not an easy thing to tell anybody when you weren't planning for it to happen. I should know."
Mercedes tilted her head curiously, "Has this happened to you?"
"Yes ma'am," replied Mrs. Evans. She pulled the stopper out of the sink and while she looked for a towel to dry her hands on, went on to say, "With Sam, no less. Dwight and I weren't even engaged yet. We had talked about marriage, but he hadn't proposed to me yet. And when we had to tell our parents…" she shook her head but wore a light smile. "Let's just say that they weren't as understanding as your parents or Dwight and I are."
"Were they pretty upset?" Mercedes assumed.
"That would be an understatement. Times were different back then, and both of our parents had parents with devoutly religious upbringings. It was embarrassing for them to have children who were having sex before marriage, let alone bringing a child into the world."
Mercedes frowned, feeling bad for what she was hearing. She'd never met Sam's grandparents—much less heard him, Stevie or Stacey mention them, and now she knew why.
"Mercedes?" Mrs. Evans was tilting her head now. She read the expression on the young singer's face and offered another friendly smile. "Don't be sad for us, sweetheart. Dwight's parents and my parents made their decisions not to be involved in their grandchildren's lives a long time ago. We've accepted that now, and we're all just fine. I always tell my kids that life's like a baseball game and we're always up to bat: Sometimes we're thrown a solid pitch; sometimes we strike out altogether and have to wait to try again, and sometimes we just knock 'em right out of the park. Just remember though… whatever happens with you and Sam? Dwight, your mom, your dad and I are all here for you two. "
After Sam returned from dropping off his sister, he, his mother and Mercedes all went walking in the backyard to talk and pick lemons. His mom informed the two that she'd filled Mr. Evans in on what was going on; neither of the young adults was bothered by this. After a few more hours of more little chores around the yard, Sam and Mercedes headed inside to wash their hands and head out for their appointment.
On their way, Mercedes' phone buzzed in her purse. She pulled it out to see "Mike C.: Video Call" sliding across the screen like a marquee. She touched the "accept" button and soon, Mike's frantic yet happy face appeared.
"What's up Mike? You okay?"
"Yeah, it's Tina," he huffed, "She went into labor!"
Mercedes smiled but her brows also knitted, "That's great! But…Why do you look like you just ran a marathon?"
"Well…I kinda did…not really…but you know what I mean."
Cocking a brow, Mercedes said, "Um…no." She giggled once as Mike elaborated with short breaths.
"I had to get everything together—you know, overnight bag, Little Mikey, all that."
"Ohhh I see. Where is Mach 3 anyway?"
"With my mom. She flew out yesterday. Good timing! I gotta go though. But I'll call you and Sam later!"
"Okay, tell Tina we love her! And congratulations you two!"
Mike waved cheerfully before hanging up. Sam shook his head in utter amusement at his best friend. The news of Tina's labor gave Mercedes a strange hope that she really was pregnant. Their kids could grow up together. She thought about an array of wonderful possibilities for the remainder of the drive.
When they arrived at the clinic and checked in, Sam and Mercedes sat side-by-side, waiting for the singer's name to be called. While she waited, a young teen nervously approached her and asked her for her autograph. Mercedes graciously obliged and swooped her initials across the scrap of paper the girl handed her. Minutes later, a nurse called Mercedes' name. She and Sam headed to the back half of the clinic and were ushered into an exam room.
The nurse instructed Mercedes to lie back on the exam chair; she then told her and Sam that the doctor would be in shortly.
Sure enough, minutes later, there were two knocks, and a female gynecologist with red hair and thick-rimmed glasses entered the room. She extended a hand to Sam and then Mercedes while introducing herself with a thick Southern accent. "Good afternoon y'all, I'm Dr. Stone. Good to meet 'cha." She set her clipboard down and moved to the small sink to wash her hands. "So you think you're expectin'?
Mercedes nodded, "Yes."
After some more personal questions, Dr. Stone told her, "Now you have three options here for confirmin' a pregnancy. We can do a urine sample or a blood sample and test 'em, or we can do an ultrasound right here. Or we can do all three if you wanna be triple sure."
"Ultrasound," Mercedes answered. "I went to the bathroom before I got here, so…I don't think you're gonna get me to pee in a cup."
Sam fought a smile and chimed in, "And she hates needles, so..."
"Not a problem," said the doctor. "Why don't 'cha lie back Ms. Jones and I'ma need you to lift your blouse to your chest and undo the button and zipper on your pants.
Mercedes obliged while the doctor prepared the ultrasound machine. Growing uneasy again, Mercedes reached for Sam and grabbed his hand. He gave her a reassuring squeeze and then lifted her hand to his lips.
When Dr. Stone turned back to her patient, she pulled up a stool raised a bottle over Mercedes stomach. "This is a little cold," she warned before squeezing the bluish gel below Mercedes' belly button. The next moment, the gynecologist was turning the transducer along the singer's curved abdomen.
Both Mercedes and Sam had their eyes fixed on the small screen. Sam's lips parted at the same moment Mercedes gasped; the profile of a baby's head—their baby's.
"So there's the head," spoke the doctor. "And that big black area behind's the amniotic sac."
When she moved the probing device down slightly, the room filled with the sound of rhythmic thrumming. Any words that could have been trying to leave Mercedes' mouth were caught in her throat. She felt Sam squeeze her hand a little tighter as he asked, "Is that the heartbeat?"
To him, it sounded like a family of horses were galloping past the room.
"Yes, sirrey!" answered Dr. Stone. "Sounds fast doesn't it?"
Instantly alarmed, Mercedes asked, "Is that bad?"
"No, darlin'. It's good—healthy and strong. Just from lookin' at him or her, I'd say you're 'bout 10 or 11 weeks along."
She let the couple marvel at the sound and sight of their growing fetus a little longer and then lifted the device from Mercedes' stomach. "And there ya have it." While she cleaned the gel off of the transducer and Mercedes' stomach she said, "Now as I understand it, you two live in California?" When she received confirmation, Dr. Stone went on, "I'll draft up a report on the computer and send it to your doctor in Beverly Hills. Also, I'm recommending you two set up an appointment with him as soon as you get back home so you can get all your prenatal vitamins and discuss your health history so he can best navigate you through the remainder of your pregnancy."
Neither Sam nor Mercedes could voice their happiness. They nodded to the instructions Dr. Stone gave them and when she congratulated them on their way out, they both smiled more than before.
The remainder of the week had both Sam and Mercedes in agreement that this had been their best visit to Kentucky yet. Hours after they came back from the clinic, Mike called them to report that Sawyer had been born. "7 lbs., 6 oz., 17 inches long. Lots of hair on his head. Tina's doing great!"
They decided not to tell any of their friends just yet about their own baby news; both of them agreed to enjoy the confirmation with their families for a while first. Mercedes called her mother to tell her; she of course, was over the moon about becoming a grandma. "Can they call me Nana Vi?" she'd asked.
Before leaving Kentucky, Mr. and Mrs. Evans happily claimed the title of Grandpa and Grandma while Mercedes' mom and stepdad took Nana Vi and Papa.
April 11, 2022 (Monday)
During their flight back to LA, Mercedes was wishing she could be the one to take Dramamine. Her reason for being unable to excited her enough to endure the queasy feeling that hit her halfway through the flight however. When they arrived at their Beverly Hills condo, Sam unpacked their things while Mercedes fixed them a chicken and rice dinner. Following dinner, the couple wandered into their living room, cuddled up on the couch and watched a recently rebooted film adaptation of Carmen while Mercedes finished the last of her favorite chocolate-dipped oatmeal raisin cookies. Unable to help herself, Mercedes derailed her attention from the movie and asked, "What are we gonna name him or her?"
Sam peered down at her skeptically. "Names? Don't you think it's a little early to think about names?"
Mercedes shrugged, "No. Besides, who cares? We might change our minds before the baby even gets here. Come on, we haven't talked about baby names in a long time."
He chuckled and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling, "Um…I like Xander. With an "X"."
"Xander?"
"Yeah, you know like Alexander? It's a cool name."
Mercedes' face soured, "What else do you like?"
He playfully scowled at her, "Quentin."
Mercedes sat up so she could look at him fully. "Why Quentin?"
Sam shrugged this time, "Quentin Tarantino."
His fiancée scoffed and he protested, "What? What's wrong with that? He directed some of my favorite movies!" He counted off on his fingers while listing, "Pulp Fiction, all the Kill Bill movies, Reservoir Dogs, & Inglorious Basterds!"
The singer pursed her lips and after a long, judgmental stare she said, "Alright. It's a contender. What about girl's names? And Sam I swear if you say Neytiri, I'm gonna throw a pillow at your face."
Sam grinned and shrugged innocently, "Lily?"
"…Lily Evans?"
He earned himself a smack in the face with the nearest couch pillow anyway. His response was a shameless peal of laughs. "I was kidding!"
With a tempered smirk, Mercedes asked, "If you hadn't gotten me so sucked into Harry Potter, I probably wouldn't have caught that one."
"Some fictional character's name out there is gonna end up on our child's birth certificate." He grinned and shifted to lay his head in her lap so she could play with his messy blond locks. "But I like Annette Evans. It's my mom's middle name."
"Annette's a pretty name," agreed Mercedes as her fingers lightly combed through his hair. "Annette or Quentin Evans." She smiled softly at the sound of each possible name while Sam closed his eyes at her calm touch.
"What about you? What do you like?"
"I dunno yet. I just wanted to hear suggestions."
Sam opened his eyes again. "Hold the hell on," he said in a very Mercedes-esque tone. He sat up again while asking, "So I get pestered and pillowed in the face over names and you're not even gonna give me one of yours?"
Mercedes shifted on the couch defensively. She saw Sam's expression on his face change and knew where this was going. As she edged toward the end of the couch her eyes hadn't left his. After cracking an obviously guilty smile she answered, "Maybe?"
As quickly as possible, she sprinted from the couch and took off grinning and squealing down the hallway with Sam right on her heels. His arm hooked around her middle and he scooped her up, bridal style before she reached their bedroom. Mercedes laughed incessantly as he nestled his face into her neck, purposely tickling her face with his five o'clock shadow.
"Sam! Sam stoooop!" She begged after being caged on their bed by his body and limbs. He tickled her sides and when he thought she couldn't take it anymore, his hands wove between hers, holding them against the pillows above her head. Keeping his head close, his eyes stared in hers right up until he planted a warm, tender kiss on her lips.
Mercedes arched her back to press herself closer to him while she returned the kiss. When she relaxed her back, Sam pulled his lips away. He pecked her pair a few more times, and then each corner before saying, "We should probably get to bed. Got an early appointment with Dr. Bourdon tomorrow."
With no qualms, Mercedes waited for her hands to be freed before she playfully pushed her fiancé to the side and got up to grab her pajamas. Sam rolled off their bed and followed suit. They both soon returned to their bed, cuddled back into each other's arms feeling ready for the day ahead.
April 12, 2022
Sam stood beside Mercedes while they waited in the exam room. He slipped his hands into his pockets while frequently smirking down at his fiancée.
Mercedes lay back in the exam chair with her hands resting patiently over her stomach. She started to ask Sam when they should plan to go up to San Francisco to meet the Chang's new baby, when three knocks on the door stopped her.
"So I hear you're engaged and expecting. It's not a shotgun wedding, is it?" joked her doctor as he entered and closed the door behind him.
Sam chuckled once and shook the doctor's hand while Mercedes dipped her chin, keeping her eyes on her gynecologist with an un-amused smirk. "Yeah right. Dr. Bourdon, you know me better than that."
He laughed softly, "Hey, I don't have a problem with that. But it's good to see you both looking really happy, and if anyone can handle a wedding and a baby, it's you Mercedes." His eyes went down to the papers in his hand, "Now I have the doctor's report here from the clinic in Lexington. It says you're about 10 weeks along. I'll prescribe you some prenatal vitamins and talk to you both about pregnancy dos and don'ts and what to expect, but I'd like to do a sonogram first."
Mercedes nodded, "Okay."
After lifting her shirt and adjusting her jeans, Mercedes raised her hand in search of Sam's. He took hold and gently squeezed her hand while the doctor prepared the machine.
"Dr. Bourdon, how soon can we find out the sex of the baby?" asked Mercedes.
While squeezing gel on her lower abdomen, her doctor replied, "Depending on the position of the baby you should be able to know in about two more months." He abruptly apologized for the coolness of the gel and then lowered the transducer device below her belly button. Seconds later, a familiar silhouette appeared on the black and white screen. After identifying the head and the body, he asked "Do you want picture? If you didn't already get it in Kentucky, it'll be your baby's first picture."
"Yes!" Mercedes answered right away, casting a dazzling smile up at her fiancé.
Sam smiled back at her and then looked to the doctor, "Hey, can we hear the heartbeat too?" As he asked, he recalled how unbelievably enthralled he and Mercedes were by the galloping pulse produced by such a tiny being—their tiny being.
Dr. Bourdon took in their excited gazes and smiled, "Sure. I don't usually give full ultrasound checks when you've had appointments so close together—you'll usually come see me once a month—but for you two I'll make an exception today."
Keeping the cable-bound device on her stomach, the gynecologist turned to adjust the sound. He twisted the transducer back and forth in the same area but the only sound to join the sonogram was the low, monotonous buzzing of the machine. Mercedes' eyes bore stubbornly into the ultrasound screen as though her persistent stare could produce the thrumming sound they were looking to hear.
Dr. Bourdon's face was tense; after a few more seconds of adjusting, he lifted the probe from Mercedes' pelvis. Through a strained calm he told them, "I can't get a heartbeat."
Somewhere far away, Mercedes heard Sam say, "That can't be. Can you check again?"
The doctor said something else as he brought the transducer back to the singer's stomach. Mercedes had no idea what he said after that; she was hearing everything from underwater. She didn't turn to see anyone's faces or speak on anything that might have been said to her because her eyes were stuck on the silent, unchanging sonogram.
April 13, 2022
Mercedes hardly spoke after the appointment. She nodded, shook her head or didn't respond to any of Sam's questions. He offered to fix dinner that evening but neither of them ate. The next morning was just the same. Both of them were usually up early, but the singer remained in bed after a sleepless night. Sam fixed them both a cup of coffee but Mercedes wordlessly rejected it by remaining under the covers. It wasn't until the afternoon when he reminded her that he had to go to a meeting but offered to stay, that she finally spoke.
"No. Go," was her response.
She pushed the covers back and briskly left the bed for the bathroom. Sam reached out to her but she brushed past and closed the bathroom door behind her. Seconds later, he heard the shower come on; with nothing left to say or do, he picked up his keys and sunglasses and walked away.
All of the singer's actions from that moment on were mechanical in the most literal sense of the word. She bathed, dressed, made the bed, and cleaned every surface of the condo—all with the same silent, lifeless energy.
By the time Sam came home he looked around the condo, noticing right away that it smelled of cleaning product and screamed with silence. He toed his shoes off and wandered into the kitchen to set down one of his gifts for his fiancée—a small bag of chocolate-dipped oatmeal raisin cookies. In his other hand was a bouquet of pink and yellow tulips; Mercedes' second-favorite flower. He checked the bedroom and then wandered into the living room and out onto the patio where he found his fiancée. She was sitting at the outdoor table, staring stoically at the Beverly Hills scenery; it all would have been beautiful had she not looked heartbreakingly dismal.
Sam set the bouquet of flowers down in front of her; he saw Mercedes glance at them then looked back out at the skyline. After placing a gentle kiss on her cheek, Sam asked, "Have you eaten dinner?"
Her head shook.
"What do you want for dinner?"
She shrugged.
Sam softly sighed, "Well, I'm gonna order a pizza or something."
Mercedes nodded apathetically, and then picked up the bouquet as she stood. She carried the flowers at her side while returning indoors to find a vase. Sam followed after her, unsure of what to make of her current actions.
"Pepperoni and olives okay?"
She shrugged again, occupying herself with removing the cellophane.
Sam pulled out his cell phone to call Domino's. He placed the order, all the while watching Mercedes fill a vase with water and slip the flowers inside. By the time he hung up, Mercedes back was to him and she was leaning in front of the kitchen sink.
"How could he not find a heartbeat?" she quietly asked—too low for Sam to hear.
"What?"
"How could he not find a heartbeat?" she asked again between clenched teeth.
Sam stepped close to her, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know." He wasn't sure what to say, except for the one thing that remained a recurring thought for him over the past day. Without a smile or the intent to be remotely cheerful, Sam muttered, "Life's not fair."
"Death's not fair!" Mercedes shouted back.
He flinched but soon followed Mercedes as she plowed on while storming to the bedroom.
"Why us?... Why us, Sam?... Why would God give us a baby and take it away right when we fall in love with it?... Why are we the ones to lose our ba…?" Mercedes throat closed before she could finish her banter.
Sam was rooted where he stood. He had seen Mercedes upset before, but never had she projected angst to God before. And with all of her questions, he had no answers because he had been privately wondering the same things. After less than a week of getting excited and making new plans and falling in love with his and Mercedes' greatest bond, he felt cheated. All of the hurt and confusion and anger and sadness that was hardening on Mercedes' face, was also piercing his core.
It wasn't until he saw his fiancée sink to her hands and knees that he found the ability to move again.
Her natural hair bounced in front of her bowed head like a curly curtain. Her round shoulders slumped, and then shuddered with every heavy sob that suddenly burst out of her. Her fingers curled into the carpet until she had her fists full, but she released one and brought her hand to her mouth. "Oh my God, Sam," she whimpered.
The pain in Sam's chest was growing tighter by the second. In the back of his mind he felt certain it would tear him apart without warning before the night was over. But the majority of him was fighting just to make it to Mercedes' side. All he wanted to do was be screaming out and echoing his fiancée's inquiries, but he couldn't. He couldn't do it, even as flashbacks from the doctor's office to now were beating him repeatedly over the head. He lowered himself beside Mercedes and pulled her into his lap.
Right away, Mercedes buried her face into the crook of his neck and held onto him with everything she had. Her cries came harder, which made it difficult for her to continuously ask, "Why?" yet she managed to do so, while becoming vaguely aware of the moisture trickling onto her own shoulder.
Helpless to each other, they did nothing but clutch one another and cry.
Please leave reviews! This is by far the hardest chapter I've had to write so far. But I hope I don't keep any of you from wanting to read on. More is to come!