Hello people! Everyone good? Good. To the reviewer known as 'Oxford', one thing I'm immediately going to clear up is that you are not being rude. Far from it. If it was like 'Where the fuck is Sam? This is supposed to fuckin' be a fuckin' Samcedes story! You are not publishing this properly!' then it would come across as rude. You explained what your problem was and yeah,we can sorta see why that would be confusing. The reason it's a Samcedes story is that Sam and Mercedes are together. Yes, Sam dies very early on but because she had such a strong connection,she finds it hard to let go;she essentially sees Jaden as a junior version of him. If you read on, there are small references as to show Sam's presence. Jaden's birthday being on the day Sam proposed, Mercedes wearing his shirt when she gives birth as well as Jaden having Sam's eyes and his middle name. And it's those reasons that Mercedes feels skeptical about starting a new relationship. People are telling her to move on and she wants to but her heart is,and always will be, attached to Sam. Sam was her first love. It's a bit like Toy Story 3; Big Baby's heart belongs to Daisy but Lotso wants him to move on and forget about her, but he never will. He can learn to move on but he'll never forget her, as like Mercedes with Sam. We hope that we've cleared that up for you and congratulations for giving us the longest author's note to date. Peace Out! TG101 :-D x
"...she's beautiful,Kurt." Mercedes gushed,smiling as Alyssa yawned with her gummy mouth,turning her head towards the young woman's chest.
"Ah,buh,buh! I don't think so,honey." she laughed, putting her finger in her god daughter's mouth. She turned to Blaine who looked shattered, dark circles under his eyes, his curls disheveled,his glasses askew and a line of stubble forming around his chin.
"Blaine honey, get some sleep,you're tired. Where's Kurt?"
"He's asleep, Alyssa's kept us up all night so we're taking shifts." Blaine mumbled,his eyes drooping slightly. "The labor alone was forty seven hours and we were up for most of it. Melissa was an hour away from having a section." he chuckled, rubbing his face.
"But wait, if she was in labour for forty seven hours, how come she was an hour away from a c-section?" Mercedes asked, not understanding the logic.
"It took thirty two hours worth of contractions until she decided that she wanted to go to hospital." Kurt shrugged,shuffling into the living room.
Blaine gave him a tired kiss as Kurt snuggled up to him, drawing his legs up to his chest "How's Alyssa?" he asked, motioning to the crying infant.
"Hungry." Blaine muttered, heading towards the kitchen "I'll feed her."
"No,I'll feed her." Kurt half heartedly insisted,rubbing his cheek on Mercedes' shoulder.
"Guys, don't worry, I'll feed her. I've been in the game long enough to know how much formula is needed." Mercedes sighed,gently getting up, making Alyssa wail lightly.
"Sorry baby girl."she whispered,placing a kiss on her forehead. Humming, she expertly prepared a bottle of formula and checked on Jaden who'd just woken up from his nap and was now sitting up in the pack crib.
"Hey there Mockingjay. Just give momma a minute,okay?" she smiled,ruffling her young son's hair.
Jaden babbled excitedly, trying to climb over the side to see his Mom "Mama." he whined, holding up his arms, wanting Mercedes to pick him up "Bainey."
"Don't worry, Uncle Bainey's here." Blaine whispered,picking Jaden up.
Blaine had recently convinced Jaden to say his name, albeit it being "Bainey" instead of Blaine, much to Mercedes' amusement.
"Ugh,you're going to be a big boy,aren't you?" he mumbled as he sat down next to Mercedes "How old is he?" he asked Mercedes who was trying to feed Alyssa but to no avail.
"He's fifteen months old now." Mercedes said, sounding proud. "Come on Alyssa, if you can't feed for me,at least feed for daddy and papa."
At that moment, Kurt couldn't help but smile a little. They really had to get used to calling themselves daddy and papa soon. Bringing himself out of his thoughts, he looked at his daughter who was now feeding contentedly,a pink flush spreading across her cheeks.
Chuckling, he stroked her cheek lightly with his little finger, making her wriggle a bit, pulling away from the bottle.
Sighing, Mercedes expertly wiped her mouth "Shh...shh it's okay sweetie. Let's get you burped."
With a swift motion, she gently sat Alyssa up, supporting her delicate frame as she applied pressure to her back. "Let's see if we can get little miss Alyssa Marlena Hummel - Anderson to burp."
After a few minutes, Alyssa let out a burp, causing Blaine to whistle a little "Wow, nice one sweetie," he praised, taking her off Mercedes "Good girl! Best be careful Kurt,I think we've got a champion burper on our hands."
"Charming." Kurt muttered dryly from the couch.
Noticing that he was being ignored, Jaden toddled over to Mercedes,before tugging on her trouser leg."Mama..."
Mercedes rolled her eyes, picking up her son "Alright Jay, Mama's here. Wanna go to Matty's?" she asked, smiling a little as Jaden nodded.
"Come on then Superman, let's get going."
Ding dong
"...I'm coming,just gimme a minute!" Matthew's voice shouted from the other side of the door.
"It's just us!" Mercedes called,walking into the kitchen,Jaden following closely behind. "Hey!" she greeted, giving Matt a quick kiss on the cheek "How you been?"
"Good...I've been good. Hey Jaden!" he grinned, tossing the toddler up into the air, making him laugh wildly "What you been up to buddy?" he asked as he handed Jaden back to Mercedes, motioning towards his eyebrow which had some steri strips on them.
"He fell in the park onto some gravel and fortunately he's okay, thank god and just escaped with a small gash. You still haven't worked out the whole running thing have you?" she chuckled wryly, placing her son down.
"Mama..." Jaden whined, burying his face in Mercedes' knee "Mama..." he screamed as a little ginger kitten came up to him, purring as it wrapped itself round Jaden's ankles "Mama!"
"Don't worry Jay, it's just Thor. Loki's around here somewhere as well." Matt reassured,kneeling down to the toddler's level.
"Oki..." Upon realising that "Thor" wasn't a threat, Jaden squealed happily, chasing after the kitten. A few seconds later, he grabbed him, squeezing him, making the kitten mewl in terror.
Upon burying his face in Thor's fur, Thor decided he had had enough and gave Jaden a scratch before running away, hissing one last time before hurrying off to find his brother.
Jaden cried out in shock,before looking at his hand,which had small droplets of blood welling up. Looking back at his hand, he sat down and began to cry, holding up his arms for Mercedes to pick him up.
"Mama!" he cried, tears running down his cheeks "Mama."
"Oh, ssh...it's okay Mockingjay, it's okay." Mercedes cooed,wrapping her arms around him.
"Is he okay?" Matthew asked,showing a hint of concern. "I'm so sorry 'bout that, I've only had them for a week and they're not exactly used to strangers just yet."
"It's okay, just a scratch." Mercedes confirmed, kissing her son's cut "Better?" she questioned, holding a tissue up to Jaden's nose, wiping it.
"Has he had a tetnus yet?"
Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, he had it yesterday after his gash. You're not doing too well are you bud?" She laughed as Jaden shook his head, mumbling "No Oki."
"Okay, no Loki. Matt, d'you mind if I put him down for a nap do you?" she turned to Matt who was standing awkwardly.
Looking up, he shrugged "Yeah, it's fine. He can have a nap in my bed if he wants to? Jaden, wanna sleep in Matty's big bed?"
Jaden blinked slowly before responding "No." making Mercedes laugh even more.
"Honey, I know you don't like naps but you need one otherwise you're just gonna be moody all afternoon. And we don't that,do we?" she asked,brushing away the hair out of his eyes.
"Tell you what Jay, if you take a nap,I'll let you borrow Chuck Norris,how's that sound?" Mattie said, trying to encourage him "Hmm? Want Chuck Norris?"
"Yeah." Jaden mumbled, holding his arms up for Mattie to carry him. Smiling, Matt took him upstairs, laying him down in his bed.
"There you go,bud."
Switching on the movie, Matt gave Mercedes a kiss on the temple, making her blush slightly
"You're so cute when you blush." he mumbled,running a hand down her back,making her shiver excitedly "What's so good about this movie anyway?" he asked, motioning to the scene on the screen.
"Ten things I hate about you? It's one of my favourites! I'm actually a secret Shakespeare fan so..."
"Oh aye? I never considered you to be a fan of Shakespeare." he mused,raising an eyebrow.
"I wouldn't exactly say a fan of his works,I'm more into the adaptations." Mercedes admitted,resting her head in the crook of his shoulder.
Her attention then wandered towards the door where Jaden was, clutching Chuck Norris "Mommy," he mumbled, toddling over towards the couch, tripping over his feet "Mommy..."
"Jay, you were supposed to be sleeping, what's up?"
"No!" Jaden whined, attempting to clamber up on the couch in between Mercedes and Matt "No."
"Jaden, this is Matty and Momma's time,not yours." Mercedes explained firmly,before putting the toddler back down,only for him to climb back up again.
"Jaden,no." Matthew said, again putting him on the floor "Come on bud, don't you want Mommy to be happy?"
"No!" Jaden giggled, chucking the stuffed toy at him "No no no no no no no!"
Mercedes shot Matt an apologetic look,giving a small shrug.
"Don't worry,he'll fall asleep soon."
"Sorry about Jaden, Matt." Mercedes whispered later that night,pulling the blanket to cover her chest.
They had been in a relationship for three months much to the surprise of everyone, making it official on Jaden's birthday.
"It's okay," Matt reassured, kissing her cheek, stroking it softly with his thumb "He's a toddler, he doesn't know any better."
"I still feel responsible." she admitted, snuggling into his chest.
"Don't be. At least you put some authority into place. I've seen some kids just run absolute riot and the parents having no control whatsoever." he added with a light chuckle.
Sighing, he switched the light off and hugged Mercedes, breathing in her scent "Night Mercy,I love you"
"I love you too." Mercedes smiled, gently closing her eyes and falling asleep.