Enjoy lovebugs ;)

ONE YEAR LATER:

Mercedes Jones Evans stared at the large rock adorning her ring finger and back at her husband. Never in a million years did she think her life would have turned out like this. After leaving D.C. and spending a week in Nevis, she and Sam decided that they wanted to travel the world. So they headed to Europe, where Sam proposed to her in front of Big Ben. Mercedes and Sam had both agreed that they didn't want a large massive wedding. A small, simple one would do the trick. So they decided to fly out their friends and family, which included Dwight and Mary Evans (who were elated to finally meet Mercedes), Deion and Francine (who got along great with the Evans), Artie, Sugar Adam, Harris, Santana, Quinn, and Sebastian. The destination they decided would be Santorini. A small beach wedding with a small reception was exactly what the couple wanted. As they continued to travel the world, they both realized that their copious amounts of sex without protection landed them with a baby currently baking. This all explained how Mercedes was currently seven months pregnant, and they were heading back to their home state. They did some more traveling before Mercedes had to get on her last flight back to America. She was happy, and more importantly, they were both happy.

"I still can not believe you got me knocked up and married me in a single year," Mercedes explained as Sam kept the car on the steady private road to their new home.

"Well, I still can't believe it either, but here we are." Sam joked as he made a right turn.

"What do you think we are going to have?" She questioned.

Sam shrugged, "Honestly, I am not sure. I am just hoping that he or she is super duper-healthy. Now, if it is a girl, my father, your father, and I are going to have to invest in a lot of weapons to make sure that she is safe."

Mercedes rolled her eyes, "You all are insane." Sam chuckled as he drove and smiled at how Mercedes was cradling the baby. He knew this wasn't how they were supposed to end their year-long break, but he was sure that he was happy. He was also glad this pregnancy disallowed Mercedes from going straight back to work. Secretly, he didn't want her to work anymore after the whole Sean incident, but he knew forcing her to stop working would only make her work even more. So he was grateful that the pregnancy gave her an excuse to stop for some more time. However, that didn't mean that Mercedes and Associates was closed. Currently, Artie, Sugar, and Harris are all working there except for clients after Mercedes said it was okay. Santana wouldn't be working anytime soon as she and Quinn were on a six-month-long honeymoon on some island since they had gotten married a week ago.

Sam had pulled into the driveway of the Mid-Century, two-story, six-bedroom home along with six and a half baths. He and Mercedes bought the home shortly after she found out she was pregnant, and luckily, with a couple of phone calls and Zoom meetings, they had fallen in love with the home. However, they needed to go furniture shopping soon since all they had was their bed, TV, and, of course, the baby crib. He gently nudged Mercedes awake.

"How do you manage to fall asleep that quick?" Sam chuckled.

Mercedes rolled her eyes, "Ask your damn kid." Sam laughed some more, hopped out of the car, and helped Mercedes. He walked her to the bedroom and helped her get comfortable before he headed to the car, grabbing their luggage and some of the groceries and toiletries that they picked up on their way home. Once everything was put away, and got into bed with Mercedes and drifted off to sleep behind her.

Sam was woken up out of his sleep when he heard intense vomiting coming from the connecting bathroom. He jumped from the bed and rushed into the bathroom and saw Mercedes vomiting and slumped over the toilet. Immediately, he crouched down with her, pulled her hair back, and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"Baby, what's wrong? talk to me." Sam insisted.

"I don't know. I just woke up, and I felt clammy, and I had to throw-up, but Sammy, my vision is spotty. It's blurry." Mercedes cried out. Sam immediately jumped into action. He helped Mercedes up and got her cleaned off before he got them both in the car, and he started speeding down to the nearest hospital. Mercedes cried as she felt pain all over her, while Sam just kept telling her to hold. When he made it to the hospital, he picked Mercedes out of the car and rushed inside.

"Help! Someone, my wife, needs help, please!" Sam shouted. Soon, a few nurses came with a gurney, and Sam placed her on top of it as he rushed down the hall with them.

"She was complaining of feeling clammy, and she says her vision was blurry, and she was vomiting real badly." Sam rushed out as they pushed the gurney into a room. The nurses started pulling machines everywhere as Mercedes's breathing started to slow. She looked up at Sam and placed her hand on his face so he could look at her.

"It hurts, Sam." She whined.

"I know, baby, I know, just stay strong ok," Sam whispered back.

"We are going to have to take the baby," The nurse spoke to the couple. Sam's head snapped to the nurse.

"No, they are too young, can't you put her on mandatory bedrest so the baby can develop some more," Sam begged.

"No sir, your wife is suffering from extreme pre-eclampsia. If we don't take the baby now, then we could risk losing the child." The nurse spoke. Mercedes started sobbing as Sam nodded his head and let them know that it was okay. They separated the couple to get them both prepped. When they were both in the room, Sam immediately walked over to his wife, and she grabbed his hand.

"I love you so much. Everything is going to be okay," Sam assured her. They kept their eyes on each other, and their hands locked as the nurses pulled the baby. One of them announced that it was a baby girl, and the couple was pulled away from themselves when Sam noticed that the baby wasn't crying.

"Why isn't my daughter crying!" Sam boomed.

"S-Sam, something doesn't feel right," Mercedes whispered before she passed out on the table.

"Mercedes! Baby!" Sam screamed as he shook the bed, trying to get her to come back. In a flash, though, he was being pulled out of the room by a couple of male nurses, and he wasn't even sure where they had come from. He was pacing the hallway in tears as he waited, and it had been hours since he had seen his wife and child. At some point, he had called both of their parents, letting them know the circumstances of the situation. Francine and Deion would be on their way, while Mary and Dwight were getting on the first flight to Washington. He was on the floor sobbing to himself, hoping and praying for a miracle as the hours started to grow longer.

"Sam baby, where are they!" Francine asked as she found her son-in-law on the floor with his bloodshot eyes.

Sam shook his head, "I don't know. We got home, and everything was fine, and then she woke up, and she started throwing up, and she said her vision was blurry. So we got here, and they said they had to take the baby because she had pre-eclampsia, and then she wasn't crying, and then Mercedes had passed out. No one has come for me since."

Deion dropped down to Sam and forced him to look at him, "Listen, Sam, I know you love my daughter more than anything, and I know my program has prepared you for everything except this. But son, I need you to be strong for my grandbaby and for her, and once we all get on the other side of this, then you can let your emotions show. But Sam, I need you to be the strong person that I know you are." Sam nodded his head and wiped his face before standing, he was about to look for a nurse when one of them found the small family first.

"Mr. Evans, my name is Melodie Forrest. I was one of the nurses to work on you and your wife. Mercedes had suffered from pre-eclampsia, and unfortunately, it wasn't caught in time. Now, as far as the baby, she is just fine, and she is going to make a full recovery. Surprisingly, she beat the odds and was more developed than we all initially believed. The reason she wasn't crying was because her lungs were still developing a little bit. So she is currently in the NICU and being fed. As for you're wife, the loss of blood and the high blood pressure caused her to pass out, and at this moment, it is touch and go. If she wakes up in the next twenty-four hours, then all should be well, but if she doesn't, Mr. Evans, then we'll have to start looking at other options. I am sorry. If you would like to see either of them, I have written their room numbers down so you can visit them." Melodie gave Deion the notes as he reached out for it, and Sam just stood there numb.

"Sam, look at me. Go be with Mercedes and Francine, and I will go with the baby." Deion insisted. Sam nodded his head and looked at the piece of paper before going to the room. He walked in, and his wife's vibrant face was now ashen. There was a steady beat on the heart monitor, and luckily, Mercedes was breathing.

"Hey, baby, you are scaring me a little bit, Mercedes. I know you are strong, and I know you are going to bounce back from this. I am just hoping that it will be sooner than later. Our baby girl is fine, with a little underdeveloped lungs, but the nurses say is going to make a full recovery, Francine and Deion are with her right now. Look, baby, I know you want to meet her, and so I need you to wake up really soon, ok. Don't leave me on this earth without you, I can't bear that kind of pain Merce. I love you so so so much."