Thank you for your patience! I appreciate you; I am working on updates; I am just slow lately, but I am here. so Enjoy!
Carol frowned, walking down the stairs as Blaine and Sam walked in. Looking at them, Sma frowned. "What's wrong? Is Mercedes okay?"
"She will be once you marry her."
Sam's jaw fell as he looked at Carol. "What?"
"Sam, you need to suck it up and marry her," Carol said, looking at him.
"I can't; she and I have an agreement; I am her, Manny."
"No anymore. Preston wants her to sell her company and pay him twenty million dollars. She's going to sell her business, her home; she's going to get rid of everything so that she can keep Faith. I don't care about losing my job, but if she loses her business."
Sam frowned. "At least she will have her daughter."
"Will she? She's giving him everything she has, which means she won't have money or a house. That means he can take Faith and all of her money from her."
"Is he really that big of a bastard?" Sam asked.
Blaine ran his hand through his hair. "You need to talk to my husband." Pulling out his phone, he video-chatted with Sebastian, blushing when the man appeared on the screen shirtless.
"Where are you? I am going to get started without you."
"Bas! Put some clothes on! This is serious."
Sebastian sighed, grabbing his shirt. "What happened?"
"Preston happened. Come to the main house."
Blaine hung up and walked to the kitchen. He pulled out a pan of cheesecake and ice cream and then a tray. Within minutes, Sebastian walked inside the house.
"Where is she? And what happened?"
Carole frowned. "She's in her room; Preston went to her office today and told her to give him her company for him to sell or twenty million dollars. Or was he going to take Faith from her? She's willing to sell everything, Sebastian, and you know what that means."
Sam sighed. "Do you really think he will take her money than her daughter,"
Sebastian laughed humorlessly. "When Mercedes caught him cheating, she offered him two million and their home. He took it, then took her to court to make her pay spousal support. He wanted Ten Thousand a month, but we got it down to twenty-five hundred. He wasn't satisfied and tried every underhanded thing he could to take all her money."
Sam frowned. "But he didn't…end up taking it, did he?"
"No, he proceeded to badmouth her, costing her a few deals and scripts. It took everything she had to pull herself up from what he did, and now he is back trying to take everything from her."
Sam frowned. "What did she do to make him so petty?"
Blaine, Sebastian, and Carol looked at each other, shaking their heads, before Sebastian shrugged. "She didn't stay married to him. He felt he could cheat, and she should stay with him."
"What a bastard." Sam spat.
"He is a huge bastard, which is why you need to marry her," Carol said. Sam, you and Mercedes had chemistry, your kids get along, and you would be saving her like she did you."
"I know all of that! But-"
"I know you are attracted to her," Blaine said, wagging his eyebrows at him and giving him a knowing look.
Sam closed his eyes. "I like her; I like her so much that if I marry her, I won't divorce her. She is wonderful, smart, and talented; my siblings loved her from the moment she smiled at them. She offered me help, she gave me a home and a job, and now you want me to marry her and then have to give her up in a year."
Carole looked at him and smiled. "Just because a contract says you can divorce in a year doesn't mean you will. Because we both know she will love you just as much as you would love her. So be with her, ask her to marry you, and then we can work on getting rid of Preston's dumb ass."
Sam looked into Blaine, Sebastian, and Carol's hopeful faces and sighed, grabbing the tray of Hot chocolate and cheesecake. "I will talk to her and see what we decide."
Three faces smiled at him as he took the tray upstairs and knocked on her door. Hearing a muffled 'Come in,' he opened the door.
Sam walked in and saw Mercedes sitting in front of her fireplace. It was clear that she had been crying. He placed the tray on the table behind her and moved to sit next to her.
"Are you okay?"
Mercedes exhaled deeply, closing her eyes for a long moment before she spoke. "I have worked hard my entire life to get to where I am. It is nothing but the grace of God that has gotten me to this point. And I am thankful to be where I am and grateful to all those who helped me and built me up when people like my ex wanted to bring me down."
She opened her eyes, staring at the fire. "But none of this matters more to me than my daughter. And I know people will be out of jobs, and in the end, I may lose everything, but I have to do what I have to do to protect my little girl."
A tear fell from her eye, and Sam used his thumb to wipe it away. His heart broke for her because he knew what it meant to give up everything you worked for to take care of your siblings. He'd do anything for them, including this.
"Mercedes…"
She sniffed. "I know I just hired you, and I promise I will give you a glowing recommendation and find a way to make sure you and the twins don't go without."
Sam reached out and hugged her, holding her close as he did, not wanting to let her go just yet. How she could be worried about him and his siblings, and everyone else, ontop of the fact that she was struggling, it moved him. As they sat in front of the fireplace, Sam held her close, a protective urge filling him; all the reasons he told himself he couldn't marry her were out the window.
"Marry me." He whispered.
He felt her body freeze, unable to move. After a moment of silence, she pulled away from him. "What?"
"Marry me, Mercedes. I know that I turned you down before, but it was because you scare me, marrying you would be the hardest thing I could do because I wouldn't want to let you go."
Mercedes blinked. "You'd want want a real marriage?"
Sam nodded. "I would, so what if we made an addendum?"
She wiped her eyes, looking at him. "What do you mean?"
"Date me, let's make this really work and see where we end up in a year from now. If in that year we want this, then we have a real wedding."
Mercedes wiped her eyes. "Sam…I don't want your pity; I know how much you didn't want this."
Sam lifted her face to his. "Mercedes, listen to me. You terrify me because you are the woman I always saw marrying. You are the woman of my dreams, and I know I could fall in love with you. Marry me."
"What about the kids?"
"What about them? Once we get married, they will be our kids."
Mercedes sniffed. "Sam, I would want to adopt them. I would want to care for them like I do Faith."
Sam beamed, shaking his head. "I always wanted to adopt my siblings. As of right now, I have temporary custody. Does that mean you'd let me adopt Faith?"
Mercedes smiled. "If we can get Preston, take him down, and make him give up his rights…then yes…"
Sam leaned in and kissed her soundly. "Wait right here…" Sam stood and walked to his room, searching through his things and for a box. Pulling it down, he searched through it and smiled as he found what he was looking for.
Walking back into Mercedes's room, he smiled. "I was given this after the funeral; it was my mom's and her mom's. I want you to have it."
Mercedes gasped as she stared down at the 2-carat diamond ring in front of her. "Sam…no, don't you want to save that for Stacey?"
Sam took the ring and gently placed it on Mercedes' finger, surprised that it fit perfectly. "Should Stacey ever get married, then we will give it to her, and then I am sure I will have bought you the perfect ring."
Mercedes shook her head, tears in her eyes. "Why would I need the perfect ring? I have the perfect guy. Besides this ring, it is everything."
Sam pulled her up to him, kissing her softly as her hands ran through his hair. A soft moan left her lips. "Sam..." She moaned out.
Sam ran her hands down her body. "So when do you wanna do this? May I suggest as soon as possible?"
There was a knock on the door, and they pulled apart, turning to see Blaine, Sebastian, and Carol.
"Forgive us for listening and, well, interrupting, but since you have that court appearance on Friday, we wonder if you want to get married here tomorrow." Carol smiled.
Mercedes raised an eyebrow. "Tomorrow?
Can we really do this in one day?
"I am ordained and can get a marriage license, and then I can marry you two," Sebastian said, smiling.
"And I can call the girls and make sure you look good. We can let it slip to TMZ that you married your long-time boyfriend in a private ceremony to protect the kids' privacy." Blaine said.
"Do you really think people will believe Sam and I are together?" Mercedes asked before she heard yelling from the front door. "Santana and Quinn are here, " she said as the two walked into her room.
"So this is where the party is, girl. You can't marry Biff; if you do, people will label you a cheater!"
Mercedes stood confused. "Ok, Um, I'm not marrying that bastard. I'll explain later, but why?"
Quinn handed her a phone, and Mercedes exhaled, shaking her head. "I knew I saw a flash!"
"What do you mean?" Sam asked as she handed him the phone. "Superstar Mercedes Jones broke her privacy rule, as she escorted her boyfriend and his daughter to the ER. They can be seen here in an embrace. Sources say her man looks like an Hemsworth, and clearly loves her."
"So if you were to marry Biff, it would look like you are cheating because there is no mistaking the two," Quinn said. But uh...we obviously missed something."
Blaine smiled. "Long story short, Biff was an ass, and Sam asked Mercedes to marry him."
Quinn's eyes lit up, and Santana smiled, pulling out her phone. "How long do we have?"
Sebastian checked his watch. "If we do the ceremony tomorrow afternoon, we have about 18 hours."
"I am already getting the seamstress. Carol, can you start measuring the men?" Santana said.
"I am on it," Carol said, leaving the room.
Mercedes looked over to Sam with a smile. "Last time to call it off."
Sam took her hand, "We are in it now. So let's do this."
"We look like princesses in these dresses. Are you and Sammy really getting married?" Stacey asked, twirling in the white flower girl dress.
Mercedes nodded as she let Unique finish pinning her hair. "Yes, I am going to marry Sam."
"Does that mean I get to call you mom?"
Mercedes turned to her and smiled. "Only if you really want to. For now, you can call me whatever you want."
"Does that mean Stacey and I are sisters?" Faith asked excitedly, wearing the same dress as Stacey.
Mercedes smiled as she felt Unique pinned her veil to her head. She wasn't going to wear it for the ceremony, but it pulled the outfit together for the photos. Standing, she stared at herself in the tall mirror, smiling as the silky material clung to her curves, flowing down her body to a trumpet train.
The delicate beading on her bodice brought an elegance that, for a last-minute dress, didn't seem last minute at all. The straps fell off her shoulders, and her hair was in a high ponytail with pinned-up curls.
Santana walked in wearing her deep red spaghetti-strapped bridesmaid dress that she and the girls picked out. She was followed by Blaine, who wore a black tux with a matching red vest.
"I swear you wouldn't know this was thrown together in a matter of hours." Mercedes laughed.
"Chica, you are gorgeous. And we know money can give you whatever you need. Besides, we all called in some favors. Including guess who is gonna sing while you walk down the aisle and at the small reception?"
Mercedes raised an eyebrow. "I am almost afraid to ask. But who?"
"Me." Came a voice from behind Santana and Omarion walked in.
Mercedes squealed happily, seeing one of her old friends. The two met some years ago when they worked on a song together.
"Omarion! What are you doing here!?"
"I came back for a family thing, and I'm happy I did. You're getting married!?"
She hugged him. "I am."
"Well, he is a lucky man. He better be lucky I am not in the running; I might have to take you from him. Because damn, you look good."
Mercedes smiled. "Shut up! I am so glad you can do this. It means a lot to me."
He kissed her forehead as Faith walked towards him. "Uncle Mar!"
He bent down and hugged her as Stacey moved behind Mercedes. "Faith, how is my favorite girl?"
"I am great! I got a daddy, a new sister, and a brother. This is Stacey, my new sister."
Omarion smiled. "Hi, Stacey, my new sister. It's nice to meet you. What happened to your arm?"
"I fell off the monkey bars," Stacey said softly.
"Well, I hope you gave that monkey bar a good talking, too?"
Faith smiled. "We hate them now. But Stevie still likes them…"
"I am with you girls, monkey bars."
Mercedes smiled at Blaine. "So everything is set up?"
"Yes, Sebastian is Ordained, so he is going to marry you two. Then, because of what's going on tomorrow, Roz will just take the kids for the night.
Omarion frowned. "What's going on?"
Mercedes shook her head. "Oh, no, I don't want you to get involved."
"Is Preston giving you trouble?"
Mercedes sighed, moving closer to him. "He's taking me to court. He wants me to sell my label and give him the money, or he will take Faith from me."
"The hell? No. I can write up a character letter or something for you, and then I can get some of our other friends to show that you are an amazing mom."
Mercedes sniffed, and Unique wiped her eyes with a tissue. "Omarion honey, I have loved you since your B2K days, but I swear I will kill you if you mess up my masterpiece; I will kill you."
"Omario smiled. "Look, I will make a few calls, and we will help you and your new husband. We won't let you or Faith be dragged into his mess."
Mercedes smiled. "You are amazing; with Sam and all my friends by my side, Preston doesn't stand a chance."
Santana looked down at her phone and smiled. "News is already spreading, and you aren't married yet. Look."
Mercedes glanced at the phone and shook her head. Santana had posted a photo of Mercedes in her dress and tagged it #herecomesthebride.
Within moments, a video call came in, and Mercedes rolled her eyes, hitting ignore. The caller was persistent, so Mercedes closed her eyes with a sickening, sweet smile before answering it.
"Preston, what do you want?"
"I can't believe this, " he spat. I saw the photo and just knew it was a fake. You are just trying to do this before I destroy you in court tomorrow. We both know you aren't in love with him and are marrying this loser just to spite me."
He was baiting her, she could tell, and she was not about to fall for it. "Preston, today is my wedding day, a day you knew was coming for a few months, which is probably why you put the hearing for tomorrow to cut my honeymoon short. But I won't let you ruin it."
"Liar! She's. I mean, you are a liar. Admit this is fake, and I'll cancel the hearing tomorrow. Give you a few more weeks with Faith."
Mercedes could hear the desperation in his voice; it was pathetic, she sighed. "Okay, Preston, you are right. The truth is, you are pathetic; you should be calling me to see how your daughter is doing, but instead, you want to spread stupid lies, and I don't have time for it. Now I have a wedding to get to, so you have a good day, Preston. I know I will."
After hanging up, Mercedes closed her eyes and took a breath before turning to everyone. "Are we ready?"
With a nod, they walked out to the backyard, where Sebastian and Sam stood at the front, with Jacob, Aiden, and Stevie sitting in their tuxes. Everyone wore the same as Blaine: black tuxes and red vests.
For last-minute rentals, they did a great job. Mike helped Aiden with his bow tie as Omarion walked to the front, high-fiving Sebastian and all the kids. Sugar stood next to Quinn and Jane while a few of her musicians started playing.
Roz stood next to her as everyone else got into position. "I can't believe you are doing this, but I am glad you picked Sam; he's a good one."
"He is, and he's doing me a solid." Mercedes said.
"Yeah, the way he's undressing you with his eyes, I bet he is doing you a solid; you better be glad I am watching the kids tonight, or they would hear some animalistic sounds they are not ready for."
"Roz!" Mercedes said, smiling. "We are going to have a respectable night."
"The lies you tell…just tell me this…was I right about the Magnum condoms?"
Mercedes snorted as Omarion started to sing. "Will you walk me down the aisle already, please?"
Roz linked her arms with Mercedes and smiled at the photographer as they moved to the front. She grinned, making a funny face at the girl's, as Faith helped Stacey with her strap.
As they reached the front, Sam smiled, taking her hand. He didn't think he would be as affected by her as he was. "Wow…you looked breathtaking."
Mercedes blushed as she stepped closer to him. "And you look dashing."
Sebastian stood in front of them and smiled. "We are gathered here tougher to celebrate the union of Sam Evans and Mercedes Jones. Marriage is more than two people committing to each other; it's a promise that you will be there for each other, whether good or bad, sickness or health. Today symbolizes the start of something wonderful for you and these adorable munchkins. If anyone can show just cause for these two not to be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."
"I object! They can't get married! I won't allow it!"