Author's Notes: The following are random notes, thoughts, explanations, etc. from yours truly. I tried to go back through each chapter and think about if there were things I forgot to explain or if there were things that could have/should have been elaborated on a little more. So I'll kind of be jumping around with a list of things some of you may or may not want to know about this fic—details that pertain to what's already been written, as well as what was never written.
-First off, I just want to say, THANK YOU! To each and every single one of you who have been reading this fic, liking my update posts about it on Tumblr, signing up for Author & Story Alerts, "Favorite"-ing this fic and messaging me about it. One thing that I can never fully write out is my extensive gratitude for the feedback I receive on my writing. And I truly to mean it when I say that your reviews mean a lot to me. They lift my spirits and encourage me to keep on writing, and it really bummed me out to see how many people were sad to see this come to an end. But at the same time, it made me smile to know that this fic gained so many loyal readers/supporters!
-Second, I know that there was at least one person who was disappointed by the lack of smut in this fic & the fact that I rated the fic "M" for mature. I do want to explain myself a little bit on this. First of all, Flash Forward was the very first multi-chapter fanfic I had ever written. "On My Way" wasn't intended to have 2 parts, and "Bella Notte" is a one-shot. But when I started writing Flash Forward, I checked the ratings on and here's what it says for the "M" rating: "Contains content suitable for mature teens and older". At the time, I didn't know that the "MA" rating wasn't an option to choose for fanfics, so I went with "M", thinking that if I did dive into heavy topics or sexual fic writing, I would have my bases covered.
I had no idea that it was going to end up being nearly 40 chapters with nearly 100,000 words. I also had no idea how long/far I was going to follow Sam and Mercedes' future lives but there were some key things that I wanted to get to: their marriage, their families (parents and siblings), their sustained friendships, and their early parenthood time. Now for them to become parents like I wanted, they were, of course, going to have sex. I love and respect that there's all sorts of ways to convey a plot and make things happen in a story. But for me personally, I know that I don't do well writing smut for Samcedes. I over-think things and get frustrated and end up scrapping it, 9 times out of 10. There's more reasons why I don't write smut for them often, if ever, but what I said before is the main reason. And going back to the rating, the way I see it, yes I suppose I could have rated it "T" but my "M" rating of this fic was appropriate.
-Also, I sincerely apologize for any and all errors (spelling, grammatical, etc.) throughout "Flash Forward". I'm usually pretty anal when it comes to those things, but more often than not, I would get really excited about publishing the next chapter for you all to read, and I wouldn't thoroughly read through to make sure that everything was as it should be. So I'm very sorry everyone!
-Now, here come the random notes and whatnot:
-In the anniversary chapter, Stevie delivers a present from Dwight and Mary Evans but I forgot to mention what it was; it was a gold antique mantel clock. First anniversaries are the "paper" anniversary but the gift-giving is gold (jewelry, etc.). I was inspired by an old-fashioned clock my parents got for their first anniversary and tied it into the fic. But then I, of course, forgot to show Sam and Mercedes opening it. Woops!
-Many of the events of Sam and Mercedes' wedding were a fusion of what I remember from my older brother's own wedding, and what I envision my dream wedding to be. The use of Prince's song "Kiss" after jumping the broom, and the dip kiss were both direct events from my brother's wedding. Shout out to my brother for his 2 cents on his wedding plans and that adorable impromptu dip kiss! ;)
-The 8th(?) chapter, "In Joy & Sorrow" was by far, the most difficult chapter for me to write for this fanfic. I hate writing sad or angsty drama (as you probably can tell from the overload of fluff in this fic). But many of you understand why I did it, as the story progressed.
-Rachel and Jesse's first born is/will be a boy—Lionel Andrew St. James. Lionel, after Lionel Richie, whose song they first sang together ("Hello"), and Andrew after acclaimed Broadway producer, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
-Also! Rachel and Jesse had a discreet marriage upon Rachel's request. While it was Jesse's first time getting married, Rachel let superstitions of re-living a spectacle out of her wedding get in the way. So she and Jesse agreed to a small ceremony with only their parents as witnesses/guests.
-Finn and Quinn's story is continued/explored in my spin-off fanfic "Future Fuinn Fabrudson". I have no idea how long I'll keep going with that fic either, but right now (June 1 2012, real time) I'm at their wedding! :)
-Puck and Zizes—as you read—are still going strong. After Puck finishes his activity in the Marines, he rents out a small place in San Diego but moves up to LA to live with Lauren. And as you saw in the epilogue, while they aren't moving towards marriage, they are talking about settling down to have a family.
-Mike and Tina continue to live a happy life in San Francisco. Mike has started a blu-ray visual edition of Kidz Bop, teaching young children simple choreography to hit pop and hip-hop songs. Mikey/Mach 3 and Sawyer make cameos.
-Artie found a new girlfriend—a young nurse who's part of a team researching a safe procedure to possibly help him—and others like him—walk again.
-Brittany and Santana still live in Ohio. Brittany quit teaching after a few years and instead opened up a day care close to home. Santana is currently campaigning to be the youngest governor of Ohio
-Kurt, Blaine, Lizzie and Preston still live in New York. Kurt's event planning business has sky-rocketed, sealing him the title of the modern day David Tutera. And after earning a couple more Tonys, Blaine has taken some time off Broadway to be a full time dad. Lizzie continues to be quite the charmer and entertainer to all who she meets, and she adores being a big sister to Preston.
-Esther Puckerman and Stevie Evans did first meet at a 4th of July BBQ at the Evans' estate in Lexington, the previous year. Esther drove from Lima after Puck told her he was there & gave her directions. She spent the day there but, like Stevie, was too shy to speak to him. They tried again to speak to each other at Sam and Mercedes' house-warming party.
-Bobby Jones (Mercedes and Marcus' biological father) is in jail for violating his restraining order and two counts of assault. Two Thanksgivings ago, he barged in at Jeremy and Viola's home. His intrusion led to a fight between him, Marcus and Sam which resulted in Bobby Jones' arrest and five-year sentence.
-The night of Sam and Mercedes' first anniversary, Mercedes had some new lingerie in her duffle bag which is why she told him to stay out of her bag. As a surprise, she put it on later that night and finished what they started that morning.
-When they came back from their overnight hotel anniversary trip, Sam, Mercedes, Stevie and Stacy gathered up all the balloons Sam got, stood out in the carport of their condo and released them in the sky; Mercedes helped Sam gather up all the rose petals once they started drying up.
-Mercedes' former manager, Trisha, had been on hiatus and eventually was fired after being discovered for embezzling funds from the label as well as Mercedes' direct profit. Lauren Zizes was then made her manager, permanently.
Mercedes' titled her fifth album, "Story of M.E." playing off of her legal initials, Mercedes Evans. Her sixth album was titled, "Feels Like Home" and many of the tracks held a soulful, gospel appeal to them. As of 2029, she racked up three more Grammys and has recently taken a break from recording, touring and collaborating to spend time with her family and friends for a while. It's the first lengthy break she has declared since the year she and Sam got engaged; this time she intends to actually relax.
-As of late, Sam has lessened his involvement in music composure and voice acting. In addition to his commitment to his family and their new ranch, he has begun working on the illustrations and story board to an original animated series—as he was telling Jesse and Rachel. The series will be dedicated to his own kids, with constant references to them and the silly things that they do/have done.
-Dwight and Mary Evans are still going strong. Early in 2029, Mary had another cancer scare, but was cleared just one week before the house-warming. She and Dwight were one of my favorite couples to write about (particularly when Sam and Mercedes go to Kentucky to visit & when Sam has his moment with them on his wedding day) & write for. I wish I had written them into the fic a little more, especially after Dante and Ariesa were born.
-Initially, I was going to have Stevie sprout a relationship with one of Mercedes' twin cousins (Justine or Vanessa, who would also be 26 by the year 2029), but I scrapped the idea when I remembered that Puck had a little sister.
-Jeremy and Viola have remained happily married and visit their grandkids as often as possible. I really enjoyed writing out Viola's sass and showing where Mercedes gets it from.
-For those of you who hated Aunt Cassie, or could relate to having an Aunt Cassie? Trust me, I hated her too and I'm sure a lot of families out there have an Aunt Cassie. Hopefully you all have a Viola too, to put her in her place! Haha.
-Dante's first words were "Ba-ba" and Ariesa's was "No." Callie's not quite the Daddy's girl that Ariesa is, but "Da-Da" was her first word.
-Sam and Mercedes named Puck the godfather to Dante and Kurt and Blaine are Ariesa's godparents. Callie's godparents are Finn and Quinn.
-Dante and Ariesa grow up to be a lot like their parents. Dante inherited more of Mercedes' outspokenness and likeability from everyone he meets. Ariesa has a slightly more lax personality than her brother, making her resemble Sam a bit more. She is witty and has an affinity for impersonations (as you learned in the epilogue with her citation) and animated entertainment. Both twins enjoy performing and are taking guitar lessons; they love putting on little recitals from their parents. Both twins enjoy learning new things, but hate reading—mostly because they struggle with it. Sam and Mercedes are both patient parents and work with them, reading Dr. Seuss, Arthur, and Bearenstain Bears books with them every night. And as dynamic as their personalities often are, Dante and Ariesa still look out for each other on the playground and are fiercely protective of their little sister.
-Despite Sam and Mercedes going back and forth with their playful "If"s at the end of the epilogue, Mercedes is indeed pregnant. Mike and Tina will be the godparents to that baby.
-I may or may not come back to this fic somewhere down the road. If I do, it will be under a different title, to avoid confusing people with post-epilogue/author's note chapters. For now, I do think it's time for me to move on and work on other Glee fics I have going on ("Three's Company", "The Joe Evans Adventure", "Future Fuinn Fabrudson" & one that is a secret/surprise and currently a collaboration are in the works!). However, I would like to once again thank every single person who took the time to read this fanfic—whether you've been reading along since I started it or whether you just found it a few days ago, I'm extremely thankful to all of you for your love and support! I hope you'll keep following along with some of my other fanfics! And if you ever have any questions about this fic or any my other fanfics, or if you want to see something become a fic, my PM is always available and I would love to hear some possible ideas! Things inspire me out of the blue, and other times, I'm given great ideas directly. ("Flash Forward" started as an out-of-the-blue inspiration). But I thank you all, a thousand times over!