January 6, 2023 (Friday)
Mercedes slid her key into the hole of hers and Sam's condo. She'd spent a long day in Burbank, going from interview to interview over her new single. And while she hadn't minded answering the questions for various magazine companies, or sitting in a DJ's studio for a radio interview, she really was looking forward to coming home and relaxing. Her doctor-mandated bed rest was to begin from that weekend until the twins were born.
She twisted open the front door handle, only to be greeted by the sounds of Ginuwine's "Pony" blaring from the kitchen. Brows furrowed, Mercedes quietly shut the front door, slipped her purse strap from her shoulder to her elbow and walked over to the kitchen entry. Amusement colored her face as she saw Sam dancing determinedly to the 90's sex anthem. He stood in the middle of their kitchen in sweats, a V-neck and a waist apron, singing the chorus into a marinara-covered wooden spoon.
Mercedes closed her hands around her keys to prevent them giving her away as she watched her husband roll his chiseled torso and bend his knees to thrust his pelvis at the air. It was taking everything Mercedes had not to make her presence known, but as amusing as he was, she couldn't help feeling a little bit aroused by his fluid, yet aggressive moves. Her lips parted and spread into a grin that matched her feelings; the smile only grew when Sam attempted Michael Jackson's triple spin and caught sight of Mercedes, mid-spin.
He jumped, "Mercedes!" And after slamming the spoon back down on the stove beside his pot of spaghetti, he pretended to collect himself. "Hiii baby. Um, I was just…" He fumbled to cut the music but Mercedes just laughed.
"Just getting your freak on in the kitchen without me?" she suggested with an amused smirk, entering the kitchen to approach him.
He tried to play it off as if he weren't the least bit embarrassed, but his face was nearly as red as the sauce on his spoon now. With his wife standing under his nose, he knew she didn't buy his collected façade because she'd risen to her toes, kissed the corner of his lips and said, "It was funny and cute and all sorts of sexy. But you really shouldn't entertain and arouse me at the same time while I'm so damn fertile, Honey. It's cruel."
Sam's tucked in lips reappeared as he licked them and smirked, "I can't help my magical sex hips sometimes though."
"Who are you tellin'? Ahem!" Mercedes pointed to her stomach—the only thing keeping them from being as physically close as they used to be.
He followed her gaze and point and then looked back to her face. In a sultry tone he murmured, "I regret nothing."
Mercedes couldn't help her grin or her urge to roll her eyes. He pecked her lips, causing a light, "pop" sound when his lips left hers. As she moseyed over to the stove to inhale the inviting smells of rosemary and oregano, she made another suggestion, "How about you set us up a plate of that bomb-smelling spaghetti of yours, and we can watch my interview on Ellen?"
"As always, you come up with some great plans, Benz," he said half serious and half teasing. As he went to one of the overhead cabinets to take out a couple plates, Mercedes wandered back out of the kitchen to tend to the living room television.
"How did the painting go today, Honey?"
"Good," Sam replied, dishing out a heaping amount of pasta onto one plate. "It's actually done if you wanna see it later. It just needs to dry and then I can put the cribs and stuff back in."
Mercedes smiled as she eased herself onto one of the couches. It had become a second-nature habit for to rub her stomach now, whether the twins were kicking away or hardly at all. She hummed softly as she scrolled through the list of recorded programs she and Sam had saved. After finding her recently taped episode she pressed, "Play."
With impeccable timing, Sam joined her in the living room and sat down beside Mercedes, handing her a steaming plate of spaghetti with apple slices on the side.
The two ate their dinner while watching Ellen go through her routine of starting her show. Soon after came Mercedes' interview.
"Our next guest is a singer and songwriter. Last year she won her first Grammy for her song, "Here For You" and today she debuts her new single "Love Journey". Please welcome, Mercedes Jones!"
The audience clapped and cheered while her first hit single, "Hell to the No" played for her introduction. Mercedes emerged from backstage in grey, flat-soled ankle boots, black leggings and a red and grey baby doll blouse that draped over her ballooning tummy. She hadn't danced much on her way out, but she did playfully circle her fists to the beat while mouthing along to the "Whoa-oh, oh!" When she got close to Ellen, she and the T.V. legend hip-bumped a couple of times to the music and then hugged before taking their seats.
As the audience settled down, Ellen cheerfully said, "Hi!"
"Hi Ellen! Happy New Year!" Mercedes said back, smiling incessantly.
"Happy New Year! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"It has," agreed Mercedes, "I don't think I've been here since…"
"Since your second album, One Voice."
Mercedes gasped, "Are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm very serious," Ellen stoically replied.
The audience chuckled and Mercedes giggled before she sassily told her, "I need to get my butt over here more often. I've been so busy."
"So it seems," Ellen unabashedly said, causing the singer and the audience to laugh. But Ellen went on as though she hadn't inferred a thing. "Yeah, you released your fourth album in 2021, won yourself a Grammy for "Here For You", which I just love that song by the way—it's beautiful. And you've been singing at the VMAs, and now you've got a new single coming out today."
"Yesss, I'm really excited for everyone to hear this. It took longer to get it finished and released than I'd planned but I'm really proud of it and I'm glad I'm here today to talk to you before it comes out. I'd started writing it last summer when I first got inspired to write it, so it's nice that the debut is finally here." Ellen started to say something else but Mercedes interrupted as she realized, "It really has been a long time since I've been here! My husband's been here more times than me, hasn't he?" she asked, sounding a little guilty.
"Uhh, I think—yes he's been here a couple of times…Yeah he's been on here twice, because I had him here after we did Finding Nemo 2 together, and then I invited him back when he was up for an Oscar for the last Avatar movie." As she confirmed this, a candid photo of Sam appeared for the crowd to see. A large, "Woooo!" broke out among the audience from the photo of him jogging along Venice Beach in gym shorts, a baseball cap and no shirt.
Their reaction to the photo made Mercedes' grin soften as she shook her head.
"You got a good-looking man, right there," Ellen commented.
"Damn straight," Mercedes agreed without hesitation—her smile never leaving her face. "Never lettin' him go."
"And you two just got married this past year, right?"
"Yes ma'am, just this past June we had a small, Southern Glam ceremony." She looked away from Ellen as the audience broke out in a chorus of "Awww"s, followed by more applause. On the monitor ahead and the projection screen behind her, the photo of Sam jogging was replaced with one from their wedding day. Sam was slightly hunched into her with his arms around her middle and she was leaning back into him with her hands on her bouquet; with their heads turned, both were beaming blissful smiles as they looked at the camera.
"Congratulations!" Ellen said over the fading applause. "How's he doing?"
Mercedes tucked her hair behind her ear as she said, "He's doin' good. He's working hard; still making music and voice acting. Still being the silly, wonderful, southern gentleman that he is."
"Aw that's sweet. Well congratulations to both of you—you two are an adorable couple and I wish you both the best. And…" she tilted her head while staring pointedly at Mercedes' stomach, "Is there anything else I should be congratulating you on?"
The audience giggled in near-unison with the singer. "Yeees, I decided to wait until this very day and moment to confirm to the world that yes, I'm expecting." The audience clapped, whooped and laughed for her as she nodded and said over the noise to Ellen, "Yes, I swear I haven't been practicing all these months with one of those pad-things—this is the real deal. And I'm about to go on bed rest so, I thought it was time to let the cat out of the bag."
"Aw well congratulations. You know, I prepared myself for this exact moment—if you were actually pregnant and all."
Mercedes giggled, "Did you?"
"I did, I got your little guy or gal a gift but first I have to ask…boy or girl?"
The singer raised her brows—her smile growing into a grin that showed nearly all of her teeth, "Actually…" she clenched her fists gleefully, "both?"
More cheers erupted from the audience at that. Mercedes blushed—Ellen truly did have the nicest audience of any talk show she'd ever been on.
Ellen chuckled now, "You didn't sound sure of yourself there. 'Both?'" she mocked, causing the singer and the audience to laugh again. "Now you're sure it's twins right?"
"Yes!" Mercedes, "We're absolutely positive it's twins."
"Two boys? Two girls?"
"One of each."
The T.V. hostess grinned, "Perfect! Since I didn't know what you were having, or that you were even having twins, I happen to have one of each of my gift, and I have something for you and Sam."
One of her staff members came running out with a large gift bag with the signature "ellen" logo on side. Ellen reached inside and pulled out two onesies—one was pink and the other was blue and on the front of both, it read, "I love my Auntie Ellen."
Mercedes started to croon, "Awww," with the audience but she quickly burst into laughter when Ellen turned the onesies around to show that Ellen's face had been pressed on the backs.
Ellen draped the onesies over her leg, "I didn't forget about you and your husband either." This time when she reached in the bag, her hands were gripping two adult-sized onesies, identical to the infant ones. Mercedes cupped a hand to her mouth while her other hand held her stomach. She leaned forward in a belly-jiggling laugh as the audience whooped, laughed and clapped some more. When the singer was finally able to speak again, she slid her index fingers under her eyes to catch tears and said, "Thank you Auntie Ellen."
Ellen grinned and said to the cameras, "We'll be right back."
As the commercial tunes and applause started up, Mercedes rose up from her chair to hug Ellen and thank her again for the ridiculous but funny gifts.
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