April 2, 2023 (Sunday)

"Are you sure you guys are gonna be okay with both of them and Lizzie?"

Blaine cast an endearing smile with a slight tilt of his head, while coddling Ariesa to his chest. Hers and Dante's warm chestnut hair had started to curl at the ends as it grew out. Their bodies had grown to the size of an average-sized newborn by now which allowed them to start wearing the clothes that were gifted to them at the shower.

"We're sure, Mercedes," Blaine replied. "Besides it's just for one night. Kurt and I will have everything under control."

"And me!" piped up a pajama-clad Lizzie as she thrust one of the twins' pacifiers in the air.

Sam chuckled and tried to usher Mercedes to the door but she held her ground to protest, "But we came out here to see your closing night, Blaine—not to make you babysit."

"Mercedes, please," interjected Kurt as he appeared from the kitchen, holding Dante in one arm and a bottle in his other hand. "Blaine, Lizzie and I can handle these adorrrable little angels just fine. And trust me—we know you and Sam need this night away. You two did the same for us when Lizzie was a baby and we've been looking forward to returning the favor so go."

The singer pouted and let herself give in to Sam's gentle persistence. But she quickly tore away from his grip to give Dante and Ariesa another kiss goodbye. "Be good, babies," she told them—her voice dripping with sadness.

"Oh for god's sake Mercedes, it's only one night." Kurt shook his head while guiding the bottle nipple to Dante's mouth. "I know you'll be back here first thing in the morning to make sure they didn't start walking while you were away.."

She grimaced at her best friend, "Don't even joke about that."

"No need to worry, Mercedes, you've got a while before that's gonna happen. You and Sam enjoy yourselves."

"Benz, come on. Kurt and Blaine…and Lizzie know what they're doing," Sam softly urged. His pseudo niece beamed at him and he winked back at her before going on to remind her, "We won't be far."

At last, Mercedes willed herself to head out with Sam, albeit she pouted the entire way out the door.

Blaine followed them to the door to close it behind them and as he walked back towards their living room—which was now filled with the twins' Pack 'n Play, two bulging diaper bags and one small duffle filled with their clothes.

"Finally!" Kurt said, "I was two seconds away from pushing her out the door." He turned his gaze onto Dante with a wide toothless smile, "Now I can smother you in Uncle Kurt kisses without your overprotective momma smothering us!"

Blaine chuckled, "Give her a break, Babe. She and Sam are new that this, just like Finn and Quinn with Sophia. We weren't much better when Lizzie was a baby."

"I don't remember us coaching other parents on how to change a diaper, Blaine," retorted a still smiling Kurt. He watched Dante's tiny, face scrunch up before letting out a tiny sneeze.

"My goodness! Bless you DJ!"

"Uh-oh," Blaine said in an ominous sing-song voice

Kurt's voice seemed to be stuck on speaking in falsetto baby-talk as he asked, "What is it?" When he didn't get a response he glanced up to see that Blaine was staring at him with an expression that translated to, "Really? You're talking to me, here."

"Sorry," Kurt muttered in his usual tone, "What is it?"

Immediately, Blaine reverted to his own infant speak with a scrunched up nose, "I think someone has a stinky diaper."

Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled at his husband, "You better take care of it before she gets a rash."

"I'll help, Daddy! Please, can I help?"

Blaine's face remained contorted from the smell as he warily told Lizzie, "I don't know if you're gonna wanna help with this one, sweetheart."

"Yes I do! Please! I wanna help with DJ and 'Riesa!" she insisted with a slight whine.

Blaine made the mistake of staring down into her large blue eyes; he was a sucker for her pleading gaze, so he told her, "Okay you can be Daddy's helper." Look in that green diaper bag and find a new diaper for Ariesa—a diaper and wipes."

"Are you sure the green one's hers?" asked Kurt. "I thought the green one was Dante's and the brown one was Ariesa's."

"I'm pretty sure Mercedes and Sam said the green one was Ariesa's and the brown one was Dante's."

Sighing, Kurt asked to himself, "Why are they so averse to pink and blue distinctions?" HE shook his head and then said, "Lizzie can you open the green diaper bag?"

"Okay!" Right away Lizzie dashed over to the two diaper bags beside the Pack 'N Play. She pulled on the Velcro flap and lifted it open to show various white, pink, purple, lime and yellow outfits. Lizzie went ahead and opened the brown diaper bag as well which held orange, white, blue, and grey outfits. While she returned to the green bag for a diaper, Blaine laid out a blanket on the couch and carefully lay Ariesa over it on her back. Her legs cringed together and she cooed at him as he stared to undo the buttons on her onesie. His pace started slow, the closer he got to getting to the actual diaper however.

Kurt watched him while he fed a bottle to Dante. "Oh my god, Blaine just open it."

"I will!" He said, though still obviously fearful to do so. After Lizzie handed him the diaper and wipes, Blaine held up Ariesa's ankles with one hand and pulled the tiny winged straps apart. Instant regret hit him after he pulled the front part of the diaper down.

"EWWWW!" Lizzie shrieked, cupping her hands to her nose and diving to the floor.

"It's not that b—never mind." Blaine cringed and turned his head to bury his nose in his sleeve.

Kurt slowly approached, "Come on—all she and Dante eat is cereal and mil—dear god, that smell is an assault on my nose!" He backed away quickly with a look of disgust, "We've obviously forgotten this part of infancy. Hurry up and change her so we can get rid of that smell!"

Ariesa started to fuss, as her ankles were still suspended by Blaine's hand. He drew in a breath and held it while quickly wiping her clean and exchanging the soiled diaper for a fresh one. After letting the held breath go, he closed up the dirty diaper with a wrinkled nose and said, "That…was just—ugh."

After quickly snapping Ariesa's onesie shut, Blaine carried her outside with him to toss the diaper and when he returned, Kurt was seated on the couch, burping Dante and Lizzie was sitting beside him, swaying from side-to-side as she sang to Dante.

"Yeah I tell you something I think you understand….yeah I tell you something. I wanna hold your haaand. I wanna hold your haaaaand. I wanna hold your hand…"

Kurt shut his eyes, humming along and smiling as Lizzie did her best with the lyrics. He would often sing this song to her as a lullaby, from the first night he and Blaine brought her home, to now—whenever Lizzie got hurt and needed cheering up.

Blaine smiled at the sight and carried Ariesa into the kitchen to prepare her a bottle but found that Kurt had already done so. When he returned to the living room to feed the young girl, he sat beside his husband and joined their daughter in singing the classic Beatles number.

Sam finished running a hot bubble bath for himself and Mercedes. He had stripped down to his underwear, just before leaving the bathroom to get her. When he returned to their suite room however, he found his wife sitting at the end of the bed with her back turned, hunched over in a robe and sniffling. Sam grimaced as he picked up on her quiet sobs and wandered over to sit beside her.

Mercedes glanced up as he sat down at her left side but she quickly lowered her head.

"You miss them, don't you?" Sam lowly asked.

"And you don't?" she questioned—her frown deepening.

"Of course I do," answered Sam as he reached up to dry her eyes. He then brought his arm around her shoulders and said, "But I also have been looking forward to a little alone time for us."

Leaning into him, Mercedes told him, "I know this will be good for us but it's so hard being away from them."

Sam pursed his lips and then leaned over to kiss the side of her head. "We'll be back with them tomorrow, Baby." Intent on making her smile, he quirked his lips up and joked, "I think those two are turning you into a softy."

She snorted and rolled her eyes, "Oh shut it."

"Aaand she's back, ladies and gents." He grinned at her and moved his hands to massage her shoulders. "Now…I have a nice hot bath waiting for us…you gonna let it go to waste?"

Mercedes, whose eyes had rolled shut, smirked, "Only if you keep massaging my shoulders because damn it feels amazing." Her head lolled to one side and then rolled forward as Sam slipped his hands beneath her robe collar. Soon his lips were at her neck and ear, grazing along her smooth skin. Mercedes let out a soft groan and licked her lips. "This isn't gonna get me to that bath any faster, you know."

Sam mocked her groan, "Mmm, you're right. And I guess I could continue this there, couldn't I?"

"Yep," Mercedes replied with a soft grin. Before she could stand, she felt Sam's hands leave the inside of her collar and come around her middle to undo the robe belt. She let it fall from her shoulders and slipped her arms out when she stood. Her hand found Sam's and she followed him into the hotel room's bathroom, which now smelled entirely of a sugary vanilla scent.

Sam stepped inside the Jacuzzi tub first and kept his hand in hers as joined him. They sat down in the water, back-to-chest once Sam tucked an arm under his wife's voluptuous chest and pulled her close. Mercedes tilted her head back to rest it on his shoulder and he lowered his chin onto hers to resume teasing at her ear. When his teeth released her lobe, he told her, "You know…as much as I love when you wear your hair down, I kinda like when you have it up too."

She chuckled softly, "You do?"

"Mhm. I think the first time I saw you wear it up was at senior prom."

"Well that was a special occasion—for a few reasons."

Sam grinned while still speaking softly against her skin, "Yeah. None of those reasons having to do with dinosaurs."

"Ohh lord, I forgot about that!"

"How could you forget?" Sam asked. He raised his chin up but continued holding her close. "Brittany had the cheerios dancing in dinosaur heads and she came out looking like Pebbles from the Flintstones."

"Yeah and you and the guys did your little boy band number," she added with a growing smile.

The water sloshed slightly as Sam shrugged, "It's not prom without a pop anthem or two. I still can't believe they tried to get Mike to perform it at the reunion last summer…"

Mercedes laughed one short laugh, "What?" With several shakes of her head, "Poor Mike."

"I know. Oh, remember at the prom how there was a 'no hair gel' rule? Blaine's hair looked so…"

"Untamed?" she finished for him.

Both laughed at that but Mercedes' faded sooner than Sam's.

"Which prom did you like more—our first or second prom together?"

Sam's lips puckered towards one corner of his mouth. He really thought out his response before giving it. "Our first."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You sound surprised."

"I am, a little. I thought for sure you were gonna say our second."

His brows rose slightly, "Why's that?"

It was Mercedes' turn to shrug, "You just seemed a lot more carefree at it than our first one."

"Well..I was. For one, I wasn't homeless while trying to impress two dates for prom. And I wasn't fighting to get you back anymore that year—I won you back and it was high time I got to celebrate that with you."

Mercedes smiled, hearing the happiness in his voice as he made recollections. "So why did you pick the first one then?"

He held her a little bit tighter, "Because you made that night a lot more carefree for me than things had been for me at that time. It sucked having everyone on my case about those dumb rumors the week before. On top of that, it didn't change anything for the better with my family's situation and…for a moment, after I'd agreed to do the prom on a budget thing with you and Rachel, I almost backed out."

Now, she shifted to look into his eyes, "…You've never told me that before. Why?"

Sam licked his lips, "I was nervous. Rachel had already asked me to prom before then and I'd told her 'no'. It was mostly because I couldn't afford to but also because he intensity in Glee club kinda freaked me out from time to time. But on top of that, I didn't know you very well then. I mean, I always thought you were pretty, and an amazing singer but we hadn't really talked much. I thought prom was gonna end up being awkward for both of us and you'd be mad about having a bad time with me."

Her smile returned and Sam imitated it as he went on to explain.

"But when Rachel, Jesse and I went to pick you up, you just…blew me away. I'd been wanting to tell you since I saw you that night that you looked really beautiful but…like I said, I was nervous."

"I'm sorry I made you nervous."

Sam chuckled incredulously, "You're apologizing for something that happened almost eleven years ago?" When she didn't answer, he told her, "It's okay. Trust me, I never blamed you and even if I did, I've long since forgiven you for stunning me like you did. Anyway, I realized at Breadstix how cool you were to be around and until Jesse'd brought it up, I'd forgotten about my problems. I'd forgotten them again later that night though when I finally grew a pair and asked you to dance."

Mercedes giggled, "And the rest is history."

He kissed her cheek, "Got that right. But that's why our first prom together is my favorite of the two. Dinosaurs were cool, I guess. And I'll never forget how stunning you were in your dress, but our first prom was the real jumpstart to our relationship and we didn't even know it then."

"All these years and we've never had this conversation before. I mean, we've talked about bits and pieces but never all of this." Smiling still, Mercedes softly told him, "Prom was pretty magical wasn't it?"

"You could say that," answered Sam. He kissed her cheek and kept his lips close to her skin again as his hand moved from supporting her chest to resuming the massage on the bed. "You know what?"

Already falling prey to his spellbinding hands, Mercedes merely replied with, "Hm?"

She felt him grin near her ear, "It's been six weeks."

"And?"

He fought the urge to roll his eyes at her cluelessness, "And, there's two parts to tonight."

With a feeble amount of sass, Mercedes replied, "So part one is you buttering me up with this bath and massage?"

"Well if you wanna suck all the romance out of it, yeah." He saw her smirk and then he added, "I'll keep my massages going."

She could pick up the coaxing tone of his voice; without opening her now closed eyes she raised her brows, "This shoulder rub's only gonna carry you for so long, Evans."

"Who said I'd keep going with just your shoulders?"

She opened her eyes at that, and couldn't fight the urge to grin. It was clear her man had needs, especially after months of deprivation. But those needs weren't one-sided and she was starting to gather that he was all-too aware of this. Sustaining her grin she told him, "I'm all yours tonight, Babe."

Please leave reviews! I love the reviews that have been given so far! I'm hoping to give everyone at least one more appearance before I wrap this fic up! More is coming in the few chapters that are left!
Special thanks to smilin4love for the prom references/flashback idea! Hope I did your suggestion justice!