Mercedes hung up from a call from her manager. The man was hounding her about how he wanted the video to be but it wasn't her style. Her grandmother didn't take her clothes off to be heard so she wouldn't either.

She rubbed her temples before throwing the phone on the bed. Ozzie yipped. "I know, Ozzie. These people are going to make my hair fall out."

Ozzie yipped again before settling down.

She scratched his head then sat on her bed beside him & her phone. "We didn't find a number today, Ozzie. But Puck's coming over tomorrow to try again. I'm trying to stay uplifted but I'm not made for this."

"Mercy?" A voice called.

She sat up. "Momma?"

"I'm going out." Rose poked her head in the door. "I have a business dinner so do you want money for takeout?"

"Yes. Tana & Quinn are coming over."

Rose nodded. "What were you thinking? Thai? Italian? Chinese? Mexican?"

Mercedes thought about it. "I think Italian. You know how Santana is about breadsticks."

"Okay. I'll leave the money in the kitchen. Don't wait up for me."

"Where's Daddy?"

"Working late."

"Okay. I'll see you in the morning."

"Bye, baby." Rose left.

Mercedes laid back flat & thought about if she could look through the file more before Santana & Quinn came. She picked up her phone & texted both girls to let them know she was ordering from Breadstix.

Santana immediately texted back five smiley faces. Quinn texted that she was okay with it.

Mercedes asked them what they wanted. Quinn wanted something simple; roasted chicken with roasted veggies & a chef's salad. Mercedes thought about it. She would go with Fettuccine Alfredo & a Greek salad.

Santana texted that she wanted spaghetti & meatballs with a garden salad.

Mercedes placed the call & they said they'd be thirty minutes. Santana had never been in her room so she hoped the highly opinionated girl would like it.

She texted her friends so they'd know before going downstairs for three glasses & a bottle of wine. She brought them upstairs & set it all on her desk then took the file from under her mattress & put it in her desk.

She went about cleaning her room since she had nothing to do then fed her dog. She came back upstairs & checked her phone. She had a few messages so she responded.

She was so involved with texting Mike something really playful but inappropriate, she didn't hear anyone in the house.

"Boo!"

Mercedes jumped. "Quinn! Why'd you do that?!"

"Because it was possible."

"I can't stand you."

"You love me."

"Prove it."

Quinn came over & sat on the bed then hugged Mercedes. "We are one."

"This is not the Lion King!"

"I'm still on calling Mal wild." Quinn grinned.

"He tormented you last night, didn't he?"

"I'm going to get him back. Don't you worry."

"I am worried. I'm very worried." The doorbell rang. "I'll get it."

"Is that wine? I'll open it." Quinn went to the desk as Mercedes made her way to the door.

The brunette opened the door to admit the driver. "Hi!"

The man smiled at her before telling her the total. "Having a party?"

"Girls thing." She went to the kitchen for the money then came back & handed him the appropriate amount. She took the change from him & pocketed it. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome!" He waved as he left.

She shut & locked the door then balanced the food in her arms all the way upstairs. She went into her room. "Food's here."

"I poured our wine. Who knows when Satan will show up." The doorbell rang. "I guess it's her."

Mercedes set the food on her spacious desk then went down the steps once more. She answered the door. "Santana."

"What's up, Aretha?" Santana stood on the stoop.

"Food's here."

"Yes! Let me in so we can do this thing!"

Mercedes stepped back & let her in. Santana headed for the den. "Where are you going?"

"The den." Santana pointed down the hallway.

"We're in my room." Mercedes pointed up the steps.

"I've never seen your room. Which is totally unfair. You've seen my room."

"You're seeing it now." Mercedes led the way.

"Look at all these pictures on the wall. Is that Quinn?!"

Mercedes looked. "No. It's her sister, Laura." She pointed to a picture. "That's Quinn."

"Why do you have pictures of her & her sister up in your house?"

"If I explain it later, will you be nice to her?"

"Sweet as pie, Wheezy."

Mercedes went in the second door on the right, which was painted purple. "I'll hold you to that."

Quinn turned around. "Hey, Santana."

"What's up?" Santana came into the room.

"Nothing."

"Want to watch a movie?" Mercedes suggested.

"Sure. Where's the grub?" Santana crossed her arms.

"Desk. I told them you were coming so they brought extra breadsticks." Mercedes wasn't even kidding.

Her eyes lit up. "Yes!" She ran over to the desk.

"Ridiculous." Quinn took a sip of wine. "So what movie did you want to see?"

"Miss Congenitally 2." Mercedes said. "Let me go get it." She left the room to get the movie from the den then returned. "Got it."

"Cool." Santana said around a breadstick.

Mercedes put the disk in the DVD player. "Grab your food & sit down."

"Gladly." Santana looked through the bags for her food. "You have a really big room. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Wait til you see the closet." Quinn grinned.

"Ooh! Gots to do that!"

"We have wine!" Mercedes sang.

Santana's eyes sparkled. "Your mom know?"

"No?"

"Can she find out?"

"If I tell her."

"Why would you do that?"

"She might want to know why the bottle's missing from the fridge. I could just put another bottle in."

"Yeah! Do that! I don't want your goody goody self to get in trouble, Ms. Perfect." Santana smirked.

"I'm not perfect! Or a goody goody! Besides, why would I get in trouble?"

"Technically we're still underage. I just turned nineteen & you two are still eighteen."

"We've been drinking wine since we were toddlers." Mercedes gave her a look.

"I know you've been friends for a long time. Exactly how long & why would you drink wine as babies?"

M&MC

"Wow!" Santana gasped. "You guys are family! You're dating your brother!"

"I knew not to tell you anything!" Mercedes snapped.

"Why didn't you go into this much detail when you told me about growing up with them last time?"

"I just wanted you to know about the sex."

Santana rolled her eyes at Quinn. "You just wanted to see how it was with a girl, huh?"

"I meant a different girl." The blonde pursed her lips.

Santana chuckled. "Whatever. Why do you have so many famous people in your family?"

"We don't have any lazy people?" Mercedes shrugged.

"Does anybody else know?"

"Nope. & you can't tell anybody." Quinn glared.

"Why?"

"Because it's none of their business."

Santana shrugged. "Fine. But you know you're not the only cool people. I was born in Cuba."

"Do you have dual citizenship or a visa?" Mercedes asked.

"DC. You?"

"Visas. Student visas."

"So you could be sent back?"

"If we weren't going to school." Quinn pointed out. "But we are."

"Have you ever been to Italy?" Santana sat back amongst the cushions on the sofa in Mercedes' room.

"Yes, we have."

"England, Sweden, Germany, Japan?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes. We lived in Japan for a year."

"No way! That's so cool! Why'd you move there?"

"Papa Mike wanted all his kids to be born in Japan." Mercedes told her.

"Did you get to see your grandparents a lot?"

"No." Quinn shook her head. "We were in a different part of Japan."

"Why?"

"He didn't want to be around his parents, she didn't want to be with hers. Whatever the blowup was, it was massive. Stemmed nearly four years." Mercedes said.

"How many people do you have in your family?"

"About five thousand, give or take. It's a lot." Quinn told her.

"Five thousand?! You're your own country!"

Mercedes & Quinn smiled at each other. "More like a city."

"Little city." Mercedes agreed.

Santana finished her food & began gnawing on a breadstick. "I came over for some girl talk. Let's talk."

"Talk about what?" Quinn asked with an eye-roll.

"Let's talk about Biff." Mercedes slipped in slyly.

"What about Biff?" Quinn sat up.

"Is he really the one?"

"No!" Santana cut in. "He's nobody's the one."

Quinn cut her eyes at her friend. "He's a good man!"

"No one said he wasn't." Mercedes rushed to put in as she glared at the unrepentant Latina. "But that doesn't mean he's good for you."

"Why do I have to be alone? You have Mikey. Santana has Dani. Why do I have to be by myself?"

"Why can't you be alone?!" Santana sassed. "You always have to have a man to hang off!"

Before they could get into it, Mercedes cut in again. "You don't have to be alone. Just take a look at someone you haven't expected. You might be surprised."

"Who am I supposed to be looking at?" Quinn caught on to her sister's matchmaking ways.

"Noah."

"Puck?! No!" She denied empathically.

"Why not?! He's attractive, intelligent, you have history & a daughter with him. He has a good family & our family already knows him. You liked him enough to cheat on someone you really cared about once so why can't you pick him now?"

"I was young & stupid! I'm making good choices now!"

"He is a good choice!"

"If you like him so much, you date him!"

"Our time has passed. Just give him a chance. Please? For me?"

"I can't. I have Biff & he does not deserve for me to pull a stunt like this."

"Leaving him to be with your one true love?"

"Whoa! Who said Puck was my one true love?"

"C'mon! Your shipname is Quick. Everybody else's name sucks!"

Quinn laughed. "I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask. Remember, he knows you. He's seen you at your worst & he still likes you."

"Really?" Quinn didn't know that.

"Really, really."

Quinn smiled to herself as warm feelings invaded her chest. "I'll still have to give Biff a shot."

"Of course!" Mercedes agreed immediately.

"Of course!" Santana mocked. "If that suit knew anything about the real Quinn, he'd run for the hills!"

Mercedes facepalmed as Quinn turned with evil eyes to Santana. "Excuse me?! If Dani knew the psycho she was with, she'd leave in a hurry!"

"I'm not worse than you! Although I have had my eye on somebody. Somebody I never expected."

Mercedes looked her at askance. "Are you kidding me?! It better not be Brittany!"

"It's not!" Santana defended herself. "You'd never guess! But it ain't about all that. I'm happy with Dani."

Mercedes smiled. "Good. No more cheating you two."

"Nerve of you!" Quinn giggled.

"I know! I know! I cheated, too! But I won't cheat on Mikey."

"He's crazy. He might kill him."

Mercedes laughed. "Not nice!"

"But true. You know how protective he is over you."

"Is he now?" Santana raised a brow.

"Mikey's always been quiet & shy but when it comes to us, he's all ready to fight." Quinn warmed up to her story. "This one time, this guy touched Mercy's butt & he went off on him. He beat him up & refused to apologize for it."

"How old were you?" Santana was thinking it happened in high school.

"We were what? Sixth, seventh graders?" Quinn looked to Mercedes.

"About that." Mercedes nodded.

"Chang got it like that?!" Santana laughed. "We've got to test that!"

"No!" Mercedes waved her hands. "He's really serious about men disrespecting women."

"All the better!" Santana found it funny. "We just need a guy to cop a feel. Shouldn't be too hard with that delicious ass you got."

"I'm going to assume that's the wine talking, dirty girl."

"Assume away!"

Quinn finished off her wine. "I think we need another bottle if we are going to talk about putting Mikey in jail."

Santana hooted. "He's that serious?!"

M&MC

"It was awful! Santana wanted to set him up so that he'd beat some guy up for disrespecting me!" Mercedes moaned.

Puck laughed. "Satan's crazy."

"That she is! It took all night to convince her not to do it. But on the bright side, Quinn is going to give you a chance. I suggest you bring your A game. Biff's getting a chance, too."

Puck shrugged. "Thanks. I got this. You will be proud."

"I know I'm going to be the maid of honor at your wedding but I want to be off the hook for a gift."

He grinned. "No gift. Got it." He flipped a page & got excited. "Hey, I got a number!"

Mercedes looked over. "That's the phone number! Puck, you're a genius!"

He felt good about that. "Yeah."

She took the paper from him & dialed the number. "I wonder who I'll speak to."

He shrugged again. "Will they speak Italian?"

"I don't know. By these papers, I assume so." Someone picked up. "Hello? Hi, I'm looking for a Marceline Anne Jones. Uh huh. It is? You can? Thank you so much. Let me get a pen." She looked over her bed for a pen but found none.

"Just use my phone." He unlocked it & gave it to her.

She smiled her thanks & went to the contacts. "I'm ready. 611-3453-7638. Thank you. Bye." She hung up. "I got a number to call for somebody who might know where she is."

"Who?"

"Apparently the convent is closed. It's been like that for a year."

"What?!" His brows drew together. "So where the hell is your sister?"

"I don't know. The convent's nurse is supposedly in contact with her. That's the number I got."

"Well call her."

She dialed the number & waited for it to ring. She put it on speaker & looked to him. "I hope this works."

"Hello?" A low voice said over the line.

"Hi! My name is Mercedes Catherine Jones & as I understand it, you were the nurse over at the convent?"

"Yes. Yes, I was."

"My sister was there last year. Marceline Anne? We've been looking for her-"

"Marceline Anne?" The woman interrupted.

"Yes! Do you know her?"

"I do. I have her contact information."

"Yes!" Mercedes high-fived Puck. "Can I have it please? We've been looking for her for so long."

"I can do that." The woman rattled off an address that Mercedes got on Puck's phone. "I haven't written to her in a month. Tell her I still think of her."

"I will." Mercedes promised. "Thank you so much!"

"You are welcome. Goodbye."

"Bye." Mercedes hung up.

"I can't believe this worked!" Puck was surprised.

"Me either! I just have to send her a letter!" Mercedes was in awe.

"What are you going to say?"

That hadn't occurred to her. "I don't know."

"What do you want her to know?"

"First & foremost, how much I care about her. But I want her to come home. I'm going to send her a letter asking her to come home. We'll be out of school next month. Maybe she can come by then & we'll all be home together. Marc's graduating this year. She shouldn't miss that."

"I'm glad you got this, Mama."

"Thanks, Puck." She copied the information down to her phone. "This is an Italian address! In Milan! Where my grandparents stay!"

"Do you think she's with them?"

"I don't know!"

"Why didn't she come home? You said after she got kicked out of all her schools, she always came home. Why didn't she come home after the convent closed?"

"A very good question."

"& why didn't your parents know? Shouldn't that place have called them?"

"Another good question. I'm going to ask Marcy when she gets in touch." She laid down against her pillows. "Want something to drink?"

"Like what?" He was already laid back.

"We have juice, water, tea, soda, wine & beer. There's liquor but it's still the morning."

"You drink wine & beer? In front your parents, I mean."

"Yes. I see I'm going to have to explain that we've been given alcohol from an early age. It's a European thing."

"So if you take one of your dad's beers, he won't say anything?"

"I rarely drink beer but I've been able to since I turned fifteen. The rules states; wine in baby bottle with a lot of water, wine coolers at age three, wine at age eight, hard liquor was never paid attention to. That's probably not the best thing but they never did. Beer & coffee at age fifteen. So no, he won't say anything unless you take the last one."

"Why couldn't I be born into your family?!" He groaned as he laid back more comfortable.

"We can't have soda."

"What?" He sat up.

"Yeah, soda was a big no-no until we got older then it was a treat. I didn't have my first soda until we went to that party freshman year."

Puck grinned. "You mean the one where we made out in front of everybody?"

"I mean the one that Mikey knows nothing about & won't or you won't be able to have any more kids."

"Ooh! Think he'll be jealous?"

She slapped his chest. "I know he will be. He'd lose his mind."

"I'll keep it in my back pocket."

"You better." She pointed at him. "So what do you want?"

"What kind of beer do you have?"

"I don't know. Some imported stuff."

He wrinkled his nose. "I don't know how that'll taste."

"I'll just bring you one." She got out the bed & went downstairs & to the kitchen. She went to the fridge & looked through it until she found a blue bottle.

She set it on the island counter before going back to the fridge & looking for a bottle of white wine. They drank all the red the night before & she'd had to replace it.

She found the bottle & took it out to pour a generous amount in a wine glass. She returned the bottle to the fridge & picked up the glass & bottle of beer & went back upstairs.

She walked through her door & handed him the bottle. "I don't know German so I don't know what this says."

He took it & turned it over. The foreign letters confused him. "It's in German?"

"Yeah. I never learned how to speak it but Daddy loves his home brand."

"How many languages can you speak?"

Mercedes thought about it. "I think seven or eight."

"Whoa! I know two. I feel stupid."

"You're not stupid." She climbed into bed.

"What are you drinking?" He ignored that.

"Wine. Barnes Best. It's our family brand."

"You all like it, huh?"

"No. It's really our brand. It's been in our family for generations."

His jaw dropped. "Really?!"

"Yeah. It's why Grandmom was able to be a singer. They were able to afford lessons & things for her & her siblings. They're all in artistic careers. She was an opera singer when she was younger but when she turned eighteen, she wanted to come to America so she could sing soul.

She met Aretha Franklin & they've been best friends ever since. Ms. Aretha is really nice. Grandmom went on tour & met Granddad in New York. They got married & finished her tour; she came back to Italy & had my aunt Marigold.

She started on a new label that understood what she wanted & she put out her first Italian album as an adult at the same time she had my mom."

"That's kinda cool." He frowned as he thought about it. "Her career was taking off while she had two kids? I can't get a career & I gave my one baby up."

"Will you stop it?!" She slapped his arm. "You will have a career. I promise. How about this? If you can't find you something you like, call me. We'll start a band. Would you like that?"

"I'm not a baby." His lips twisted. "But I would. You'd really start a band with me? What about your career? You're starting up right now."

"I'll need a guitar player either way. Besides I'll always be here for you. No matter what."

"You know how I feel about you, right? You rock, Mama."

Mercedes smiled. "I got you, baby."

M&MC

Quinn called Mercedes, sniffling. "Merce? Please pick up! I need you!"

"Hey, Q!" Mercedes voice came over the line.

"Merce, it was awful!" Quinn cried.

"What? Honey, what's wrong?"

"Can you come over?"

"Uh… sure. Let me walk over."

"Thanks." Quinn hung up & went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine & two wineglasses. She didn't care what kind she grabbed but she just knew she needed it.

She went up to her room & sat to wait for Mercedes. Ten minutes later, there was a knock on her bedroom door. Mercedes snuck her head in. "Hey?"

Quinn turned with red eyes. "Hi."

Mercedes noticed her glass. "It's bad, isn't it? You're drinking white. Tell me what's wrong."

"He broke up with me, Mercy!" She wailed.

"Biff?!" Mercedes came in & sat on the bed.

"Yes!" Quinn wrapped her arms around her sister's waist. "I told him about my past because that stupid Santana swore up & down he'd leave me & she was right!"

Mercedes hugged her close. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him about you & Mikey. I told him about my tattoos. I told him about Lucy. I told him about Beth."

"& he left after that?!" Mercedes was offended. "That jerk!"

"He said I had too much baggage & that I wasn't the wife of a future senator."

"I was right. He wasn't the one for you. & that's okay."

Quinn sniffled. "I knew he wasn't. I just thought he was what I needed & I wanted someone steady."

"Like when you dissed Puck for Finn when you were pregnant?"

Quinn sat back. "What? No! Is this about being with Puck now? Why are you pushing this so hard? You were the one in love with him!"

"Hey! That was a long time ago! I love Mikey & I just want you to be happy. He's seen all of you & he's not running. He's not perfect but I think he's perfect for you."

"I won't get the life I want with him."

"Want another life. The life you want now isn't who you are. I know you better than you know, Fabray & you would have never been happy with Biff."

"Never?"

"Never. Besides, he seems like the type to cheat with a hooker on your five anniversary."

Quinn giggled. "Thanks a lot!"

"You're welcome."

Quinn sighed heavily. "So you really think Puck's the one for me?"

"I think you could be really happy together."

Quinn relaxed. "We have to go on a double date."

"For your first date? No way!"

"Yes way! We've never gone out before & I know he'll be on his best behavior around you."

"You act like I have the superpower to make him be good."

"You do."

Mercedes laughed. "Fine. I'll ask Mike."

"He'll say yes. He doesn't tell us no." It was the number two reason why she loved him.

Mercedes smiled. "He doesn't, does he?"

"He's the smartest guy I know." Quinn finally gave her a glass of wine. "So what were you doing when I called you?"

Mercedes took a sip. "I was with Puck."

"Was he getting you to get me to give him a chance?"

"No!" Mercedes giggled. "We were actually finding out where Marcy was."

Quinn choked on her wine. "What?! Really?! How?!"

"I stole the file about the convent from Momma's & Daddy's office-"

"What?! You don't do stuff like that!"

"I know! I know! But I had to know about her!"

"Well what'd you find?!"

"A file about the convent. I couldn't read it right then & there because Momma came home but the next day, Puck came over & we went through it-"

"Puck?! So he knows?"

"Yes. He's the one who found the page today with the number to the convent on it."

"Did you get to talk to her?!" Quinn shook her.

"No! Would you let me speak?!"

Quinn grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"We called but the people who answered said that the building was being used for something else. The convent closed last year & all the nuns were split up but if anyone knew where Marcy was, it would be the nurse. So they gave me the number for her & we called her. She answered & gave me an address! I can write Marcy a letter!"

Quinn screamed. "That's amazing! What are you going to say?"

"Puck asked me the same thing. In fact, he asked a few questions that were good. He wanted to know why Momma & Daddy didn't know that the convent closed & why didn't Marcy come home. I figured I'd ask her whenever she gets in contact with me."

"This is so amazing." Quinn sighed to herself. "I really miss that demon."

"Me too but you know what?" Mercedes laid back on the bed. "We'll hear from her soon."

"So where is she? The address is where?"

"You'll never believe it! Milan!"

M&MC

"I know you're disappointed but this just might be for the best. You never know what opportunities might open up for you now." Mike wiped another tear from Mercedes's face.

"Thank you." She sniffled. She'd just cut ties with her label & didn't know what to do with herself. "I don't know what I'm going to do now."

"Whatever you do, make sure it's the right thing for you. You'll make it but only if you're true to yourself. You're amazing the way you are & don't have to degrade yourself to make a name for yourself."

She leaned into his hug. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Just this morning when you were begging me to go on this double date with Quinn & Puck." He grinned.

"Well it's still true."

"I know." He kissed her hair. "I'm always here for you, Mercy. I hope you know that."

"I do."

First & foremost, don't call that number! I swear I made it up & you might get a phone bill from Venezuela. Second, I didn't remember the dude's name so I just gave him a name I didn't like. UPDATE: I got the reviews telling me his name so I changed it. If you've read it, if not ignore this. I also don't remember all of the Stevie Wonder episode so I was majorly paraphrasing.

NJPNJPNJP