***SPOILER ALERT*** For anyone who is reading my spin-off fanfic "Future Fuinn Fabrudson" you may not want to read this epilogue just yet. You've been warned! ;)

6 Years Later…

July 7, 2029 (Saturday)

Mercedes stood in the kitchen, sprinkling a little extra pepper on the potato salad she made that day. Even though it was about 2 years late, she and Sam were holding a house-warming party for their newly built Northern California ranch house. After buying the property, Sam, his father and a hired contractor got to re-modeling the land. Sam and Dwight Evans primarily focused on constructing a stable barn and staging the majority of the land for horses. Simultaneously, the contractor and his team worked closely with Mercedes to build hers and Sam's 6-bedroom, 4 bathroom dream home from the ground up. At the time, she was writing for her sixth album and stayed in Beverly Hills with their kids, but she still managed to be heavily involved in the planning.

Things got a bit hectic for a while—between their careers, commuting up and down the state for house work, and tending to their young children, Sam and Mercedes grew stressed and overwhelmed. Their mothers took turns, flying out for extensive visits to help take care of their grandchildren while their children tried to lighten their loads.

Eventually, things smoothed out; Sam and Mercedes wrapped up their work projects just as their new home was move-in ready. Decorating the home was another lengthy process but it too eventually was completed. As planned, the Evans couple blended the nostalgic charm of Sam's Tennessee memories with some modern alterations. The two-story estate donned a plantation home style; the front had a wide porch, complete with swing; tall, white first story pillars to support the second story balconies, and beautiful greet trees and shrubs. The backyard had a wide deck, extending from the rear of the house with a small number of steps at its end that led to the open field and horse stables. On the deck was a raise fire pit, Jacuzzi tub and outdoor kitchen—all of which were requests from Mercedes. And in the last year, they had purchased several Thoroughbred horses—the first couple, being a present to Sam from his wife, and the others were Christmas presents to the young Evans children.

Mercedes thought back to that Christmas as she stood in the kitchen, pulling open a drawer to find a serving spoon for the potato salad dish. She stuck in a wooden spoon and started to lift it off the counter but a nauseating pain in her stomach had her setting the large bowl back down. Her stomach had been bothering her all morning but she was doing her best to ignore it; the backyard was buzzing with the voices of her nearest and dearest, and she wasn't going to let her stomach keep her from enjoying their company.

As she started looking for saltines to nibble on, she heard two distinct sets of footsteps approaching. One was heavier and slower, compared to the quick tapping cadence that preceded them.

"Momma! Momma! Up!" demanded a sweet, dimple-cheeked two-year old. Callie Evans was the youngest of Sam and Mercedes' children; she had caramel-colored skin like her older siblings and a head of curls that bounced as she ran directly for her mother. Following behind her was her Grandpa Dwight.

"Aww you beat me, kiddo!" he said to Callie with false disappointment.

Mercedes had lifted the little girl off the ground and held her to her hip, long enough to kiss her cheek. "Were you racing grandpa?"

Callie nodded and giggled. "I win! I win!"

Mercedes and Dwight laughed but Dwight's laughs came to an abrupt end when he eyed the bowl on the counter. "Ooo…that wouldn't happen to be your tasty potato salad, would it, Mercedes?"

She smiled, "Why yes it would, Mr. Evans. Would you take it outside with the rest of the food for me?"

He sidled up to the counter and grabbed the bowl happily. "Don't mind if I do, m'dear. Oh, and Sam's lookin' for ya out back."

"Thanks," she said, following him out of the kitchen, through the family room and out to the deck. Out in the open field, not terribly far in the distance, she could see her eldest children—Dante and Ariesa—running around, playing tag with their cousins, Sophia and Sawyer, all the while being watched over by Burt Hummel and Jeremy Owens. Her eyes went to her left, towards the horse stables where Lizzie Anderson and Mach 3, both now 11 years old, were riding two of the horses along with Puck, Marcus and Finn. The rest of their family and friends were scattered on the deck and inside the house.

Mercedes set Callie down and watched the little girl rundown the deck's steps to try and join her siblings and cousins. Meanwhile, the singer wandered over to her husband who was manning the outdoor kitchen's grill. His hair was cropped short, save the top which was styled much like how he had worn it the entirety of his high school year back at McKinley. He had also grown fond of a light five o'clock shadow and had been maintaining it—along with his athletic physique—for a while now.

He was just finishing up, flipping some burgers when he looked up and smiled at his wife. "Hey baby. Feels like I haven't seen you since we got out of bed this morning." He bent his head to peck her lips and felt her return the gesture.

"Mm, I know. We've both just been so busy with the party. But I think after we get everyone fed, things will chill out." Another unsettling churn of her stomach had her holding it while her face contorted.

Sam noticed and reached out to rub her arm in a soothing manner. "You alright?"

She nodded, "Yeah. My stomach's just been giving me trouble today. Probably just hungry or something."

"Well…" he opened the grill lid again, "the hot dogs are done and the first round of burgers are almost there. You want a hot dog?"

Mercedes shook her head, "It's okay. I wanna eat when everyone else does. I'll just get a water or something for now." She tried to reassure his concerned expression with a smile and playful poke of his cheeks. "Thank you, babe. I love you."

"I love you too, Benz."

She went for one of the coolers but before she could lift the lid, she heard the door bell ring. "I got it!" she called out, making her way back through the house. Her hand smoothed down her zebra-printed dolman top before she reached the door and when she opened it, her stomach nausea was forgotten and a wide smile spread across her face.

"Rachel! Jesse—hi!"

Both Broadway vets smiled and returned the greeting as they took turns hugging Mercedes. Rachel had her hair back in a loose braid and was sporting an obvious baby bump, while Jesse had grown his hair out, a lot like how it had been when they all first met.

"Mercedes, this house is gorgeous! Really, you and Sam did a great job!" gushed Rachel.

Mercedes giggled, "Girl, you're barely in the door. Why don't you come and see the rest of it, and then you can tell me what you think."

"Ooookaaay," Rachel replied, giggling also. She grabbed Jesse's hand and stepped inside but the two didn't make it far inside.

"Uh…hold up, Rachel." Mercedes brows were high on her forehead while gaze was locked on Rachel's left hand. "Is that an engagement ring?"

"Actually, Mercedes, it's a wedding ring," corrected Jesse with a proud smirk.

Mercedes' eyes bugged. "What? When?"

Rachel grinned, "A couple weeks ago. We wanted to surprise everyone, but…Jesse and I got married in New York."

"And where was my invitation to the ceremony?"

Rachel quickly frowned, "I'm sorry Mercedes! Really, we would've had a bigger ceremony but—"

"But we really only invited our parents.

Mercedes' features were confused and slightly wary but she told them both, "Well..congratulations you two." She smoothed out her features, saving more questions on their quiet marriage for later. "How are you feeling these days though, Rachel?"

"I'm good. Being pregnant hasn't been too bad so far."

"Do you guys know what you're having yet?"

Jesse smiled, "Not yet. We're gonna be surprised."

"But," added Rachel, "I think it's a girl."

Mercedes smiled, "Awww a mini Rachel? I don't think the world's ready for that!"

The three laughed softly and then Mercedes said, "Everyone's…everywhere at the moment but we're gonna eat soon. Rachel, I tried to get some vegan-friendly stuff for you, but—"

"Oh it's okay, Mercedes. Until this little boy or girl is born, I've been sticking to more of a vegetarian diet. It was hard for me to keep me and the baby properly nourished when I wasn't eating any meat or dairy."

Before Mercedes had a chance to show them around the house, or to the yard at least, her mother, Viola came hurrying into the room.

"Is that Ms. Rachel Berry, I hear?"

Rachel turned around and smiled. "Hi Ms. Jones. Actually it's Mrs. St. James now."

Mercedes' mom had the same reaction she did, but she quickly made to hug her daughter's old friend. "Congratulations, baby!"

She swept Rachel away, into the living room where Mary Evans, Stacy Evans, Tina Chang, Carole Hummel, and Brittany S. Pierce were gathered. Meanwhile Mercedes offered to show Jesse to the backyard.

"There's beer, water and soda in the coolers and the rest of the food's being put on the counter next to Sam. Help yourself to whatever you like, and thanks again for coming, Jesse."

He nodded with a courteous smile, "Thanks for having me, Mercedes. Your house is…impressive."

She smiled back and he went over towards Sam while she wandered over to converse with Santana, Blaine, Lauren and Artie—all of whom were gathered near the Jacuzzi with drinks. Sitting in Blaine's lap was Kurt and in Kurt's lap was their nine month-old son, Preston Burt Anderson. They had recently finished up finalizing his adoption from Nigeria, and like Lizzie when she was an infant, they hardly ever put him down.

"You're crazy!"

"Nope. I'm in love."

"What am I walking in on?" asked Mercedes as she sat down.

Santana jumped the gun to explain, "Your manager over here said she'd procreate with Puckerman." Her face was a look of disgust.

Mercedes laughed at Santana's expression, "So what? They're practically married and they'd be good parents."

"Thank you, Mercedes!" said Lauren, throwing her hands up.

"I'm curious though…what happened to strictly being Auntie Lauren?"

Lauren shrugged, "A girl can change her mind, can't she? Besides, time's a 'ticking and my biological clock will be up soon."

"I dunno," said Blaine casually. "A lot of women are having children later in life nowadays."

Lauren shook her head, "Not this one. We're all in our mid-30's which is plenty ripe enough for me. I'm not trying to be the mom that picks up my kid from kindergarten with a walker and Depends—thank you very much."

The group of friends laughed.

"How come you and Brittany aren't having any kids, Santana?" asked Artie as he took a swig of beer.

"We don't want any," she replied in a matter-of-factly tone. "I don't want a bubble belly and tearing up my vag to push a kid out isn't happening. And Britts is plenty happy with the kids she gets paid to take care of. But we'd be glad to babysit any of your rugrats once they're old enough to know how to wipe their own butts and not stick forks in sockets."

Kurt was only half attentive to the conversation as he bounced Preston on his knee, but he asked, "Where's Quinn at?"

Mercedes pointed up towards the second story, "In one of the guest rooms taking a nap with Cole."

"Not anymore."

Their heads all turned as Quinn emerged from the sliding back door, holding the hand of her three year-old son, Cole Christopher Hudson. He had fine, pale brown hair and a face that was nearly identical to Finn's, but half of it was covered as he rubbed his eyes.

"Hi Coley!" said Mercedes with her arms spread open.

Cole let go of his mom's hand and let his short legs carry him over to the singer. "Hi Aunt 'Cedes," he replied in his tiny, toddler tone. He feebly returned the hug and then hopped off her lap to quickly return to his mother.

"Food's up!" called Sam.

Gradually everyone made their way over to the right half of the deck, forming a line to go through the buffet of potato salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, green salad, hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, potato chips, and raw veggies. The parents all got their children's plates taken care of first, and then they made their own plates, taking seats at the table set up on the deck and the ones on the field near it. In between bites, everyone was buzzing with their own conversations, talking about the past, the present and possibilities for their futures.

Sam was sitting next to Callie, making sure she ate some fruit and veggies with her hot dog. Unlike her siblings, she hated vegetables, but that day, Sam secretly bribed her with a promise of a popsicle later if she ate all the celery and carrots on her plate. Callie was reluctant at first, but after she saw Sam eating his, she warily chanced a few nibbles of her carrots.

"Eat, Daddy!" she said, thrusting a celery stick in his face.

Sam shook his head, "You eat it, Baby Girl. I have mine, see?" He picked up a piece of celery from his plate to show her and she pouted at him, tossing it down on her plate and picking up another carrot instead.

He smiled and shook his head at her and went back to eating while keeping a close eye on her.

"So you're really loving being a dad, Sam?" asked Jesse from across the table.

Sam's smile softened, "I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Your kids seem pretty well behaved—even if your little one there's rejecting celery."

Callie noticed Jesse staring, amused by her, and she buried her face shyly into Sam's side.

Sam laughed softly, "Well they aren't always on their best behavior—trust me."

"Oh really?" chimed in a curious Rachel.

"Really. Actually…on DJ and Ariesa's first day of kindergarten, Ariesa got sent home with a citation."

Sam caught Ariesa staring at her dad from one of the nearby tables with reddening cheeks.

Rachel's amusement changed to confusion, "A citation? What for?"

"For doing impressions of her teacher, Miss Price."

Jesse laughed lowly while Rachel's lips spread, "Well, well…sounds like someone's becoming just like her daddy, isn't she?" She looked to Jesse and said, "When we were in high school, Sam did all sorts of impressions. He even tried impressing Santana and Quinn with them a few times but…well, needless to say, Mercedes was the one who he got the most laughs out of with them.

Now Sam's cheeks were pink like both of his daughters'. "They were gonna work on someone. It just took me a few times to find the right someone."

"So that's what got you into doing voice-overs?" asked Jesse.

Sam nodded, "Yeah. But I'm kind of taking a break from things right now. Working on a project of my own for a little while."

"Oooo, can you tell us about it?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, um…I'm creating my own cartoon series for kids. It's in really really early stages right now, but I've been trying to get the characters and stuff together. Just something to do for the kids to really appreciate, y'know?"

"That's amazing!"

"Seriously," agreed Jesse. "I'm sure whatever you come up with will be a new favorite kids' show. And hey, if you ever do a musical episode, you know who to call for vocals."

He winked and Sam and Rachel laughed, "I'll definitely give you guys a call. I kind of thought about doing a couple music-filled episodes so don't take your offer off the table."

"Really, Sam?" Rachel's face lit up. "I've always thought voice acting would be so much fun! I mean you get to portray a character without being seen so there's a real challenge in that style of acting, I think. I for one would love that opportunity if you got your cartoon show going."

"If all goes well," said Sam, picking up his celery stick again, "consider it a done deal."

After dinner, fruit tarts, Jell-o and popsicles were brought out for dessert. Everyone was scattered about, enjoying the cooler weather and refreshing desserts as the sun started to set. Sam was sitting on the deck steps with Ariesa, Sophia, Finn, Cole, and Puck. Sam noticed Puck was giving a hard stare at his little sister, and Sam's younger brother, Stevie.

"Um…you okay there, man?" he asked nudging the Marine vet with his knee.

Puck shook his head, "My sister and your brother are looking real cozy over there by the stables, don't you think?"

Sam followed Puck's gaze to the stables. He saw his twenty-five year-old brother, Stevie leaning on the fence with Puck's little sister, twenty-six year-old Esther Puckerman smiling at him. He chuckled, "So they're getting to know each other—big deal. And Esther came to San Diego to visit you. Her being here today and meeting my kid brother was just a coincidence. What—you don't trust my brother?"

"No, that's not it," muttered Puck. "Your brother's cool."

Sam raised his brows, "Then…you don't trust your sister?"

"That's not…Ugh!" Flustered, Puck threw his hands up and nearly lost his popsicle. "She's my little sister! I'm being robbed of crazy protective big brother duties!"

The blond male shook his head, "Man when Stacy and her boyfriend made it past the six month mark, I stopped with the crazy protective brother act. So give yourself give more months and maybe you'll start cooling off."

Puck grumbled under his breath and Sam watched his brother and Puck's sister in amusement until Callie came running over to him.

"Daddy where Momma?" she asked, tugging on his tan Bermuda shorts.

Sam lowered his Jell-o laden spoon from his mouth and looked around. He spotted just about everyone—either at the stables or nearby—except for his wife. "That's…a good question, Baby Girl. I'm gonna go look. Wanna come?"

Callie shook her head, "No."

He chuckled, rolling his eyes, "Okay. I'll go find her." His gaze then went to Finn and Puck, "Can you guys keep an eye on her?"

"Sure thing dude," replied Finn. "There's plenty of us out here—she'll be fine."

Sam smirked, "Thanks," and headed inside. Aside from the living room T.V. being left on, it was quiet inside the house. He wandered into the kitchen but it was empty. "Mercedes?"

He checked the dining room and his office, and then chanced the two guest rooms—all of which were empty. Sam grew slightly worried as he climbed the stairs. He checked all of the kids' rooms and the third guest room before ending at their bedroom.

"Mercedes?"

He heard a series of coughs from the bathroom and took quicker strides until he pushed the door open and saw his wife hunched over a toilet, holding her hair to the nape of her neck with one hand. Quickly, Sam knelt by her side and held her hair for her while his other hand rubbed her back.

"Hey, are you okay?" he quietly asked—his voice full of concern.

"I don't know," she croaked.

Sam reached up to flush the toilet and then helped her to her feet. He stayed close while she rinsed her mouth out with water, and then mouth wash.

"Do you think you're sick?"

"I hope not."

He bit his lip and after several seconds of silence, he whispered, "Do you think you're pregnant?"

Mercedes was in the middle of drying her mouth off on a towel but her hands stopped. She looked at him and then slowly lowered the towel away. "I…"

He could see her staring up while loosely mouthing numbers or days of the week.

"You could be," he finally said. "I mean we have been kinda…"

"…Frisky?" she suggested.

He chuckled and blushed, "Yeah. Frisky."

"But if I'm not, I wonder what it could be…"

Sam shrugged, "Food poisoning? Nervousness?"

"Nervousness?"

"Yeah. From hosting this party. I mean when's the last time we had a party this big?"

"Uh…last year?" she said with a tone of obviousness. "For Callie's first birthday?"

"Yeah but that was at Happy Hollow. We didn't have to do much entertaining when the entertainment was all around the zoo."

Mercedes started walking back into their bedroom and sat down on their bed with a sigh. She reached inside her side table drawer and pulled out a small photo album. Sam sat down next to her while she started slowly turning through it. The first picture was from their wedding reception, and after that was a photo of them in St. Lucia for their honeymoon. She smiled at the photos of them in New York for Halloween later that year, and giggled, "Remember you were supposed to wear tights that year?"

"Yeeah but that wasn't happening. The sweats were good enough."

Mercedes giggled again and continued on, through Christmas and up to the twins' birth. There was a photo of Sam holding Dante; Sam was sleeping in the hospital chair and Dante was sleeping on his chest with his lips stretched in a tiny "O" for a yawn. A few more candid photos followed up to Dante and Ariesa's first birthday, which was super hero/super villain-themed. Sam was dressed up like Captain America and Mercedes was Vixen; they dressed Dante like The Riddler and Ariesa was Ms. Marvel.

Sam laughed, "Ah man they hated their masks."

As Mercedes kept on flipping through photos of their family, he looked at her face and asked, "If you are pregnant again…is that something you're ready for?"

Ironically, she stopped on a photo Sam had taken of her when she was very pregnant with Callie. She was smiling with her tongue sticking out at him. Her eyes lingered on the photo while she felt Sam's eyes still on her.

"Four kids under the age of ten…" she realized.

"I know," sighed Sam. "We're on our way to be the next Brad and Angelina."

Mercedes shoved him playfully but she also smiled.

"We wanted a big family. We've said that for a long time, babe so if I am pregnant then I'm ready."

Sam wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her close and kissed her temple.

"Are you going to be ready?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah. I'm just hoping for a boy this time—Dante and I getting outvoted for the T.V. is starting to get a little old."

Mercedes laughed and pinched his side. "Don't act like you don't love our girly shows."

"If I'm acting, I want my Oscar in the mail, pronto!"

He smirked at her peal of laughs and stood up, taking the photo album from her hand to set it on the bed to leave it behind. His arm remained around her shoulders and her hand hugged him from the back as they continued on with their "If" statements.

"If I'm pregnant, we wait until we know for sure before we tell anyone."

"If you're pregnant, then I agree."

"And if I'm pregnant, we're going to have to turn one of the guest rooms up here into a bedroom."

"If you're pregnant, we can definitely do that. And if you're pregnant, we're going to have to choose names again."

"If I'm pregnant, and we'll have to choose names again, I think we'll be able to come up with a name we both love, like always."

"If you're having a boy, I'm campaigning for R2D2 Evans."

Mercedes stopped, right as they reached the sliding door. "If you push that name for our baby, you're sleeping in the stables with the horses."

Sam lost his composure and started laughing. He moved to stand in front of the door with his back to the glass and faced his wife. One of his hands reached up to a curly lock of her weave from her face and after his hand lowered to his side, he spent a moment just exchanging adoring gazes with his wife. "If you're sick, I'll be here to help you get better. And if our family's growing, we'll take things one day at a time, like we always do."

Mercedes nodded—her plump, heart-shaped lips smiling up at him. She reached up to gently tug on his shirt collar and when he understood her intent, she stood on her toes to meet his lips. They shared a sweet, lasting kiss and then slowly pulled apart.

"I love you, Evans."

"And I love you, Benz."

Fin.

Please, please, please leave me reviews! This is the final official chapter of Flash Forward. I will be adding a "chapter" of Author's Notes very soon. This will mostly consist of things I realized I didn't mention in previous chapters, as well as background info and little future "glimpses" of where our Glee alums & co. go from here.