Continuation of Chap 9

I rested on my back, taking deep breaths as an attempt to stay calm. I tried to milk every second I had left with Mercedes. I lifted my hand behind my head and looked down to watch her worship my cock.

Moving her head down my shaft, she covers it with sucking kisses. She moaned quietly when she finally engulfs the tip of my hardening cock in her warm mouth. Her lips sunk down my cock before bobbing back up.

I reached down to move her hair that blocked my view, and her beautiful eyes looked up at me. Looking into her eyes, I felt the most overwelded. I tangled my fingers in her hair. I dropped my head back as she allowed me deeper and deeper into her tight throat. I groaned, "God, Mercy." I never wanted it to stop, but God was listening that day.

Mercedes pulled away when her cellphone rang. "I have to get it," she swore, climbing out of bed.

Mercedes and I have been dating for nearly a year and a half. We talked every night. I flew to whatever city she was in when she was free. We made the long distance relationship work, and we were happy.

She rejoined me when she finished her call. "I have rehearsals soon, and you have a flight to catch," she announced, knowing our time had come to an end.

I had promised Mercedes that I would watch the American Music Awards because she was hosting. I liked a few performances, I cheered for a few awards, but I was glued to my seat when the host was on screen.

My mom sat beside me. Instead of watching the TV, she watched the door. "It's five 'til. Where is Stacy?" she grumbled.

It was the Sunday after Homecoming, and kids partied all weekend. Most didn't have curfews, but the Evans kids did.

She gave the screen no attention unless I asked her to. She eyeballed Mercedes when she was giving out the last award for the night. Being unfiltered, she said, "Mercedes looks a little more chubby." She studied the face that had grown rounder since she had last seen it in person.

My dad nodded in agreement, but tried to explain it away. "A camera adds 10 pounds." He managed to look up often while he filled out some forms for the center. When the door opened behind him, he didn't bother to turn. He was so sure it was his daughter. "Hey sweetheart."

"Hey honey," Stevie sarcastic said. He was home earlier than any of us could believe. He stood with his arms folded. He wanted one of us to ask what was wrong. "Georgia left me for Blake Davidson."

Was she the reason he asked for his own truck for his senior year? She broke up with my brother for a kid with a ride?

Stevie didn't believe in waiting for karma. "It's going to be hard to enjoy the ride home. I took his spark plug." He could be lowdown, and sometimes I was proud.

Mercedes returned to the screen and stole everyone's attention. "Congratulations to all the winners tonight." Mercedes had convinced the award planners to cancel the closing performance and give her a chance to speak. "People would ask me how I made my music. I would tell them that writing was like a river. You step into it, and the waves will take you away from every heartache and trouble of reality. That goes for every art."

Stacy stomped into the house and slammed the door. "Happy now?" she asked with an attitude.

"No, I'm not," my mom answered with the same sass. She stood, and I had to peek around her to see the TV. "You have one minute to go back out that door and come in it with a better attitude."

"When I told my friends that I had to get home before my curfew, they laughed in my face. Ma, no one has curfews any more."

"If they were your friends, then they wouldn't have laughed at you," she warned Stacy. "I was being lenient. It's a school night. I didn't have to let you-"

I couldn't hear Mercedes over their argument. "Mom, please. I want to see this," I asked, but she was too wrapped up with her daughters to hear my plea.

Stacy raged, "Stevie doesn't even have a curfew." She watched our mother's lips part and knew exactly what was going to come out. "And don't say it's because he's older! You all treat him differently because he's a boy. If-"

"Hey!" My voice boomed and silenced the room. I pulled my mom down to sit beside me. "I should have watched this at home," I thought. I focused on the last seconds of Mercedes' speech.

"I've been in front of cameras since I was in diapers. I'm thankful for the opportunities and following from everyone. I'm taking a hiatus because I want to know who I am without makeup and fancy dresses. I want to know what's beyond the lights. When I return, I will have a better view of life; a better view on the music I put out to represent me and you." She paused as the crowd cheered. "Thank you. Have a wonderful night."

Mercedes spent the next two week handling her businesses. She was making good on the contracts she had signed, and the ones she couldn't fulfill, she bought her way out of. She was hopping between cities to avoid being caught by her mother; half a day in LA, another half in New York, and two days in Atlanta. She gave a few interviews that came out after she had left the city. When she finally got to Tennessee, she was exhausted.

When she was well rested, I wanted her all to myself.

Stevie and Stacy rolled their eyes when they caught me and Mercedes on the couch with our lips smooched together; it happened more than once. They would groan, "Do you two breath through your ears?" or "Do that at your house." They would shake their heads as we parted and look at them like teenagers who were caught by their parents.

My dad sent them off. "Go upstairs and do your homework." He fell back into his chair and studied us.

It took Mercedes a while to get the silent message that my father wanted to talk to me alone. "I'm going to help your mom with dinner." She gave my hand a squeeze before leaving.

"Mercedes is a good one," he announced. "How do you feel about her?"

"She's amazing. I w-"

He interrupted me. "Sam, that's not what I asked. Mercedes gave up her career for you, so she feels something." He knew me as his son, but he had to learn who I was as a man. "Sex and money aside, are you serious about her?"

I loved Mercedes. I had told her plenty of times. I would tell my dad and anyone that asked. I was in deep and didn't want to be rescued.

If I woke before Mercedes, I would lose hours just watching her. I would listen to her soft snores and think they were the cutest sounds. I studied her resting face and never saw an imperfection.

When she finally woke, she pulled the covers over her face. "Every time, Sam," she groaned.

I laughed, "Yes, every time because you're beautiful." I pulled the cover dawn and stole a kiss. "The center has more than enough volunteers, so another day just for us."

Although she had hopes of getting to the center, she smiled. "I want to spend our day right here." She pulled me into a hot and passionate kiss.

While we were wrapped in each other's arms, two mothers were being ignored at my front door. Mercedes' and my mom knocked for minutes. They got into the house using the emergency key.

Mercedes' mother crashed into my bedroom, causing us to jump. "Mercedes, get your ass out of this bed."

My mom was more scared of what she thought she had walked in on. She hurried to pull Mrs. Jones out of the room. She slammed the door behind her.

When we joined them in the living room, Ms. Jones snatched her daughter to the side. "You didn't think that I'd found you?" she asked, only to receive silence. She pointed at me. "You're throwing your career away for this. All of it is gone."

"No, Momma." In a matter of seconds, Mercedes had turned into a child. She was embarrassed. "I didn't throw it away. I- I just- I need a break."

"Break?" The mother laughed at the word. "You need a break? Where was my break when I was driving you to every acting class and voice lesson? Where was my break when I was getting three hours of sleep because I had to get you to set before you four AM call time? I gave up all my time to give you what you had. I did. Not your dad. Not this white boy you're shacking up with."

"I'm thankful for that, but-"

"How long is this break supposed to last?"

"I don't know." She shrugged and took a guess. "Ten years."

"How the hell do you think you can make a comeback at thirty seven? You'd be on the brink of fourth, and we've talked about how hard it is to get a number one hit after that point."

I stepped forward. I had to stand up for Mercedes. "I think you're underestimating her. She's tal-"

She snapped and pointed, silencing me. "I was talking to my daughter. You get between her legs and think you know everything, don't you?"

Mercedes was done putting on a show for the Evans. She grabbed her mother's hand and dragged her to the kitchen. In private, Mercedes was able to match her mother's attitude.

My mom and I peeked around the corner. We couldn't hear much because the two were whispering, but we saw a lot of hand movement. We were watching and waiting for them to work it out. We didn't want to get anymore involved, but there came the point of change.

Mrs. Jones wasn't happy with her daughter's back talk. She didn't have the patience for disrespect. Like any person, she had triggers and buttons, and Mercedes was playing her like a video game. Before she knew it, she had raised her hand and brought it down across Mercedes' cheek.

My mom sprung into action. Pulling Mercedes onto her shoulder, she yelled, "She is pregnant!" She cuddled her and looked at the woman in shame. "You don't hit your kids." She led the teary eyed girl to the back.

I watched as Mrs. Jones paced in a small circle. "I think you should leave."

Ten minutes later, I was alone in the living room, trying to understand the bomb that was dropped. "Pregnant?" I asked out loud. "Pregnant?"

"Yes, she's pregnant," my mom answered. She had finally come out of the bedroom. "Mercedes is sleeping. She's at the phase where she'll fall asleep as soon as she feels a solid surface."

"How do you know she's pregnant?" I couldn't stop saying the 'p'- word.

"I had three kids. I knew it when she walked through my door, but I had to ask," she smiled. "She's a sweet girl, and she's crazy about you. Sam, you're going to be a dad- you're going to be a great dad." She had to get home to her other kids.

I wanted to let Mercedes sleep, so I focused on my comic; I had a meeting with my editor the next week, and I hadn't worked on any of her notes. With the doors opened, I could see Mercedes' feet from across the hall. I wanted to talk to her as soon as she woke up.

She entered my office and leaned against the wall. When I smiled at her, she innocently looked at me. She hesitantly accepted my invitation to sit on the couch. "I wanted to tell you when the time was right."

I stopped her before she could apologize. "We're having a baby." I had to cheer. "How far are you? How did you find out?"

"I left the Emmys early because I felt so sick. People I was around joked about a pregnancy, but I knew then." She slouched, and her arms wrapped around her stomach. "The doctor said that I wouldn't know how far along I was without an ultrasound, but we talk about all of my options."

"Options for our baby?" I sounded harsher than I intended. I knew of only one option: she has the baby, and we raise it.

Mercedes took the same tone. "Our baby that's growing in my body. Our baby that I put my career on pause for. Our baby that will be raised on my income." She could buy and sell me ten times over, but she wasn't going to support the baby alone. She took a deep breath and tried to back away from an argument.

I smiled as I reached for the box that was hidden behind my back. I didn't get the chance to open it before I was turned down.

The proposal was what started an argument.

"I just want to do what's right, Mercy."

"You're doing what's right because it's the 1940s," she sarcastically said. "You have to marry the one you knocked up." She had made a bigger deal out of my marriage offer than most would feel was needed. She kept the fight going for a while, but when remembering that she didn't have the energy, she walked away.

"Are you really leaving?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty good at it." From over her shoulder she yelled, "And don't follow me!" She continued down the hall and out the door.

I didn't sleep that night. I was hunting for Mercedes. I didn't want to believe the worst case scenario: she left the state, and I would never see her or my kid. After hours of stalking the outside of the only motel in town, I finally went in. I felt relieved to see Chad sitting behind the counter.

When asked if Mercedes was staying there, he said, "I can't tell you that. We have rules here."

I was a special case. "I know you've read what's been online about her."

Her mother leaked the news of the pregnancy as soon as she left my home. She had a devilish side that did it out of spite. From her heart, she did it to keep her daughter relevant.

"Rumors."

"No, it's the truth," I swore. "Father to father, please tell me if she's here."

He leaned in and waved me closer. In a whisper, he announced, "You're not worth my job." He straightened and shrugged. "I hope we're still cool."

I stomped out of the building without answers. I continued to call Mercedes on my ride home, but I got no answer. I had thought up a plan to lure her to my parents' home, but I was going to need my family. When I got into the house, I asked the first person I saw to call Mercedes.

"No," Stacy rejected. "If she isn't answering your calls, you must have done something."

I wasn't going to explain myself to a sixteen year old. "Mom!" I called for the only person I knew that would help me without judgement. I entered the kitchen and stopped dead in my tracks.

Mercedes had been with my family the whole time. She was filled with food and had her mind a little twisted by Stevie's horror movie marathon, but she was fine. She didn't tell my family why she needed space from me. She asked them not to tell me that she was there.

I said hi to my parents, but I was more interested in Mercedes. "Do you want to go for a ride?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Am I coming back?" she asked; horror movies were still on her mind.

"Of course." I took her hand and led her to my truck. I was reaching the end of our road when I noticed a grey car sitting across from the turn.

"Paparazzi," she warned. Pulling the hood of her coat over her head, she lowered. She advised me not to sit at the stop too long.

That was the first reporter before the swarm arrived. They stuck around for three weeks, studying my every move outside of my home. The interest died when they realized that their chocolate princess wasn't knocked up by a lowly educated hick from the backwoods- Mercedes was pregnant, but I wasn't what her mother promised.

I took Mercedes to our spot. We watched the sunset, and long after the stars started to shine, we were still silent. We had a lot of thinking to do.

She was the first to speak up. "You know that I would have never given up our kid," she said, continuing to look forward. "I have an appointment for the first ultrasound next Thursday. I know you would want to be there."

Silence returned for another ten minutes.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you when you tried to propose." She turned in her seat. "I don't want you to see me differently because of the baby. I felt that you asked me to marry you out of obligations."

I denied. "I want to marry you because of you. I would be lying if I said that I didn't think of proposing to you before this week." I bought her ring in June, and there we were in November.

She let out a long breath. "Sam, my life is confusing enough. I'm glad to have you, but I can't fit a marriage into my life."

I had to see her side. "One day," I hoped.

Years passed and kids were born before we were ready to marry. We wanted the ceremony to be small. We didn't need a lot of glamour. We wanted that day to be about us.

Mercedes peeked into my office to find me on the couch. "It's really late."

"I know," I huffed. I had been trying to break my habit of waiting until the very last minute to do things. Our wedding was three weeks away, and I was struggling to write my feelings down. "You're the love of my life, my best friend, and the mother of my two kids. I'm happy to marry you, but I can't write these vows."

"Do you remember the day we met?" she asked, earning a nod. She sat beside me and looked into my eyes. "It was the hottest, brightest day of my life. It was a sign that every day that followed was going to be great. I have never felt more beautiful and talented than when you call me perfect."

"You are," I quickly added.

"In three weeks, I will take you as my husband, and it will be another wonderful moment along our crazy journey."

"It wasn't difficult until we started to potty-train Matt," I joked making her laugh; I still loved her laugh. "Sometimes I watch just the smallest things you do and think I am the luckiest man alive. I'm thankful that you allowed me to see every part of you. I will love you until my last breath."

Mercedes looked at me with bright eyes like she did every time I complimented her. "It's not a secret that we love each other, but we say a lot of things that I would like to keep between just us," she admitted, and I agreed. "I think we should leave out our vows."

I breathed a sigh of relief and threw my pad to the side. I look at the clock that read 2:20. "Why are you up? Couldn't sleep without me beside you?"

"No, I got up to tell you it's your turn to give Joe his bottle. I'm going back to bed." From across the hall, she sang, "Good luck."

I know that I've been gone for a while, but I can explain. I had my son. He's a little angel, but baby brain is a bitch. I couldn't speak a full sentence. Writing was out of question. I'm back now and would love to know what you think.