DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GLEE BUT THIS STORY I DO!

Chanel Jones-Martin: Melanie Liburd

Erik Martin: Williams H. Bryant Jr.

Sabrina Evans: Hannah Gordon

Emily Garner: Maury Morgan

Mercedes had locked the door to her car, stepping onto the sidewalk with the gift bag in her hand as she started to make her way to crowd that was in the park. She couldn't believe that she had let herself get so sidetracked that she'd forget her party. Hoping that she could sneak so she wouldn't draw attention, she was spotted by the birthday girl, who dropped the gifts in her hand and started to run to her.

"CEDES!"

"Hi Poppy." Mercedes smiled when she reached her, picking the running girl up. She hugged her as she swung her around, her laughter and squeals filling the cool Oakland air. She stopped and stared at her with a smile, "Happy Birthday, my sweet girl. I'm so sorry I'm late."

"That's okay. I didn't want to eat cake without you."

Mercedes pressed a kiss to her cheek and sat her back down to her feet, grabbing ahold of her hand as they walked back toward the crowd, "I can't believe you're eight. You have your cousin feeling old."

Poppy giggled at her as she shook her head, "You're not old, Cedes."

"I feel like it." She smiled at her as she pinched her cheek, coming to a stop at the table, speaking to everyone once she did. She made her way to one of the empty tables where she saw Chanel's stuff.

Chanel broke away from the parents, picking up two plates of already cut cakes before beelining to Mercedes, opening her mouth to say something.

"I'm sorry, I got caught up."

Chanel huffed before handing one plate to her daughter then the other to Mercedes, "We sung already. She wouldn't eat her cake until you got here."

Mercedes finally took a seat, Poppy deciding to sit on her hip, mumbling, "Your Mommy scares me sometimes."

"Me too."

Chanel rolled her eyes when they both starting laughing, but a smile spread on her lips as she stared at them, her next words directed to Mercedes, "Heard you got a familiar face back in the gym."

Mercedes rolled her eyes, not wanting a reminder of her sour mood today as she placed a piece of cake in her mouth.

"Guess that explains earlier."

Mercedes ignored her as she turned and placed the bag on the table, poking Poopy's shoulder, "I hope you like it."

Poppy sat her plate back down and pulled the tissue paper from the bag, eyes going wide with a big smile on her face as she stood, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh."

Chanel watched as she pulled out the box, showcasing the pair of platform converses she has been begging for forever.

"They're so pretty, thank you Cedes, thank you so much." Poppy leaned over and hugged the woman one more time, smiling ear to ear.

"You're welcome, sweet girl." She watched as she pick up the box and ran back over to her friends, showing them what she got.

Chanel's husband, Erik, walked over with their five month old baby boy in his arms, smiling when he saw the woman, "Hey there stranger."

"Hi E." Mercedes got up from the bench , giving the man a side hug before looking down at the baby with a smile, "Hey there handsome."

"Diaper change, babe."

"Of course you'll leave that for me." Chanel mumbled before taking the baby and making her way to the restrooms, calling behind her, "Don't let Mercedes slide out."

"I won't."

Mercedes rolled her eyes at both of them before making her way over to fix a plate. When she got what she wanted, she headed back to sit on the bench, putting some mustard on her bun as Erik spoke.

"I thought you wasn't eating pork no more."

"Today's an exception." Mercedes responded in defense of her polish sausage, smiling over at Poppy when she waved at her, waving back.

Erik looked at her for a moment then back to the little girl. Something has been heavy on his heart for a minute. He tugged with whether or not he wanted to bring it up, not telling wife either, but he knew in this moment he had to, "You ever going to tell her?"

"No." Mercedes answered honestly as she looked at him, knowing exactly what he was referring to. She had a feeling that he was going to bring this up. She didn't know why, she just did.

"Why?"

"What exactly am I suppose to say. 'Oh, by the way Poppy, I'm not your cousin, I'm your mom. I made such an irresponsible decision at a young age and you were the result of it. I didn't want to have an abortion but I didn't want you either, so I gave you away?'"

Erik was silent for a moment. He loved his Mercedes like she was his own blood and he was grateful that she did bless them with Poppy. He understand where she was coming from but he didn't like some of what she said, "You wouldn't ruin anything, Merce and I know for a fact that if you kept her, you would've been a great mom. You two have such a special bond already..."

"I don't want her to know, E. Point blank. And you want to know why? I don't want her to think that I didn't love her. I just couldn't be the mother she deserved and she deserved the best. And she got that. I couldn't ask for anyone better than you two and I'm damn sure not going to ruin that."

Before Erik can say anything else, Poppy had came over to where they were with a smile on her face, "Daddy, can you please fix me another hot dog?"

"Sure baby."

Poppy smiled before she went and sat beside Mercedes. When she turned to her, she kept the smile on her face but Mercedes couldn't help but scan it entirely. She looked like her a lot and had her three B's: big brown eyes, brown skin and button nose. Her baby girl. She was young, but Poppy wasn't a mistake, she just wasn't prepared. Because of it, she didn't want kids in the future because the guilt she would feel in taking care of them when she gave her first born away. Even though she gave Poppy to family, it still would feel that way.

"Cedes, are you okay?"

Mercedes came out of her thoughts and nodded, "I'm fine. I'm just waiting on your slow poke Dad to finish the Ribs."

"Hey, it's coming. You can't rush deliciousness." Erik responded when he heard the chuckles coming from them both. He placed the hot dog on the plate and sat it in front of his daughter, leaning down and kissing her forehead.

Mercedes watched the interaction and smiled. She looked up at Erik when he looked at her pleading, only prompting her to shake her head for him to know that she was serious. Seeing the defeated but understanding nod, he raised his hands and went back to the grill.

Sam turned off his truck once he pulled into the driveway, opening up his door to get out. After everything that has been going on these past couple of weeks, he needed to get away for a moment and find solace. So after a four hour drive to Reno, Nevada, he was now standing and knocking on the house door, stepping back to wait for an answer.

"What a surprise." The woman smiled once she opened the door, going to hug him tightly and kissing his left cheek, "It's so good to see you."

"You too, Ma." Sam hugged the older woman back before letting go, following her inside the house while closing the door behind him.

"You should've told me you was coming, I would've prepared the guest room."

"I wish I could but I'm not staying. I have a mandatory meeting tomorrow. I just needed to come spend some time with you guys. I missed you."

"We've missed you too." Emily smiled as she placed her hands over her heart. Emily is Sam's mother. The older woman left Oakland with her daughter, Sabrina, after Sam graduated from high school, deciding to divorce her kids dad and move, him not knowing where, to get a fresh start. She had begged Sam to come with them, but he declined, saying he wanted to establish his career. Reno was nothing but a blessing to her and Sabrina. Working as a dental hygienist and having a peaceful mind was something that Oakland couldn't give her, "I just finished, let me go set up. Your sister is in her room."

Sam headed for the stairs, pulling his phone from his pocket as he walked up the steps, seeing that it was Ally texting and asking where he was. He rolled his eyes when he saw some images of houses come through next. She was so adamant about this, it was starting to get on his nerves. Ignoring it by putting his phone back in his pocket, he stopped at the first opened door on the right, knocking on it.

Sabrina had lifted her head from focusing on the paper in front of her, seeing that it was her brother, she rolled her eyes and went back to what she was doing.

Sam, taken aback back the greeting, entered her room, "Wow, what's wrong with you?"

"Wow, I'm still in disbelief you got the bitch pregnant." Sabrina responded with a frown. It was all over social media due to the attention seeker he was shacking with, "Now she's never going to leave."

Sam watched as she put her headphones on before going back to drawing. He took a peek at her work and just stared in amazement. She was so talented, more talented than he was, and he hoped that she did something with that talent. He leaned over and pulled the headphones off her head, triggering more annoyance, "You really can't be mad at me for that."

Sabrina glared at him as she snatched her headphones for his hands before getting off her bed, "She's a conniving bitch, Sam. She's no good and I've been telling you this every since you've introduce us to her. She reminds me of him."

"Sabrina..."

"Why are you even with her? It's not love and you can get sex from anyone." She said seriously, seeing the shock look on his face, "Don't let her being pregnant be a reason to feel obligated to stay with her. You're my brother and I love you, but you can be such a stubborn, naive dumbass sometimes."

Gone was the little girl in the tutus and pigtails, who always gasped when a bad word was said, now replaced with an eighteen year old, who's a spitting image of him in the attitude department. What in the hell. He watched as she went into her bathroom, prompting him to leave out and head to find their mother. He found her in dining room, sitting the picture of tea down on the table.

Emily looked up at him and gave a smile as she sat, seeing the frustration on his face, "Sissy's giving you a hard time?"

"When did she become..."

"You? Believe me, it's not as bad as it seems." The woman chuckled as she took a sip of her drink, watching as he sat down and begin to fix him something to eat, "So, I'm going to be a grandma huh?"

"Looks like it and before you ask, she wasn't lying." Sam poured him some of the sweet tea in his cup, picking up his fork after he was done, "I just...I don't know when it comes to her."

"The question is do you really love her, Sam? Seriously, because I've said from the beginning I didn't trust that girl."

"Mom."

"No, listen. Soon as you can, you need to get a DNA test. If that child is yours, then you need to take the right steps immediately to protect yourself. I'm not trying to be mean, but I've seen women like that ruin lives, and I'll be damn if I let somebody try to ruin your life again."

"Can we please change the subject?"

"Not talking about it isn't going to help but okay." She crossed her arms and legs, leaning back in her seat, "How is it being back with Henry?"

"It's good. I'm happier than I have been, despite the little downs." He responded as he looked up, remembering something, "Speaking of, Mercedes told me to tell you and Sabrina that she asked about you."

"Aww, how sweet." Emily said, watching as her son grunted before going back to his food, "You two still at each other's throats?"

"Yes." He responded honestly, listening to her chuckle, "But this time, it was on me apparently but it doesn't change the fact that she's a brat and not a spoiled one, but the type that doesn't want to listen."

Emily raised a brow at him as she looked on, taking in his features, she was about to ask what was going on between them but stopped when he spoke again.

"I just want her to be okay, that's all."

"That's sweet." Emily watched when he rolled his eyes, hiding her smile cause she knew he hated being called that and for another reason that she wasn't going to bring up just yet, "Maybe you should tell her that then."

Sam placed another piece of roasted chicken in his mouth, "Ma."

"Sam."

Sam eyes left hers after not commenting, seeing the broody teenager come in and take a seat at the table, "Are you going to ignore me the whole visit?"

"Until you decide that trash is only using you, yes I am." Sabrina moved her dark brown hair behind her ears as she turned to the side, "Mom, can you pass the rolls please."

"Sure baby." Emily picked up the basket and handed it to her, turning back to her son and giving him a knowing look before she picked up her fork, "An exact replica."

Sam just continue to enjoy his meal and his time with them, despite being ignored by one, he was happy to spend this time with them. He understood their concerns, he did, but it was a reason he couldn't let go.

A/N. So...leave your thoughts babes because there were so many surprises dropped :)