The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
You will never have to force anything that is meant to be.
This time of the year was always hectic there was so much to celebrate, Quinn and Puck had gotten married on the 14th which of course was valentines day, and they'd all celebrated their togetherness together for the past seven years, so this year was going to be no different. Then Sam and Mercy had their birthday on the 18th which everyone always stayed around for, then just after that on the 20th it was their daughter Kajah's birthday, she was only four, but she always knew something special was happening when all the family descended.
The 21st was the end of an incredibly stressful week, everyone came to their house as it was central, and they couldn't get away with having as much fun as they usually had when the house was empty. On that last day there was never any breakfast, everyone would have had too much to drink the night before to face it, so lunch was early after which everyone would leave for their respective homes while Kajah would wonder off, or stay at their home, with her godparents Rachel and Finn
This year Rachel and Finn had afforded them one night so their bags were already packed, hotel booked, and following the delivery of the usual instructions, they waved goodbye to them as if they were standing outside Rachel's home. There was no time to waste they'd got a night and maybe between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning they'd get another memorable them time. They loved their daughter wouldn't change her for anything, but from the minute she opened her eyes until the second they finally forced them shut at night she was active, there was never a second she was out of their sight that they weren't wondering what she was doing, Mercy called her their lovable nightmare, and all Kajah did was giggle at it.
Usually, they'd get a couple of nights, but the way the year had fallen this year they were lucky to get the night, Rachel had to be back in New York on Wednesday, and to be honest Finn wasn't happy about all the rallying around, but they weren't expected to understand they didn't have any children yet, Rachel was a career first kind of woman.
They'd gotten to the hotel at 4pm and paid no mind to their surroundings, after they got the key to their room, it had been a straight fortnight since they'd even got the chance to have a proper kiss let alone anything else. They started striping before the door closed, giggled as they fell onto the bed, clumsily kissing as they quickly brought the anticipated session to a close
"Fuck I needed that" Sam slammed back on the bed
"You know that's not it right?" Mercy turned to look at him laying there pleased with himself
"Can't a man just smile about getting what he needed for a second?"
"I'll give you a minute" she laughed "And then you can get to giving me what I need"
"Oh, I need it too" he laughed hugging her, they continued through the afternoon, eventually deciding they'd paid too much for the break to spend it in the bedroom they went down for dinner
They sat across the table from each other, they'd picked the table they thought would get them the perfect view of the romantic scenery, the glass fronted dining room making it seem like they were actually outside mingling with the snow topped hills, it made the place feel empty of everything except mother nature. The night made especially romantic because of the full moon shedding its light on the patches of frozen glass puddles, giving the illusion that there were spotlights all over the ground.
"You alright?" Sam asked smiling
"I'm fine, more than fine" Mercy grinned at him, rubbing her shoeless foot along his calf
"Stop that or we'll be straight back upstairs" he laughed
"I dare you" she smirked
"You do?" he laughed looking at the other couples dotted around the dining room before looking at the vaulted ceiling and massive trucks of wood crisscrossing the span of it, his eyes resting thoughtfully on the hand calved spindles in the spiral staircase.
"Beautiful aren't they?" she smiled seeing his eyes taking in the artistry of the individually carved angels wrapped around the spindles "Looks just like the picture in the brochure" she looked around
"Are we going upstairs?"
"Not yet" she giggled "More foreplay" she looked at the floor to ceiling stone fireplace with it's sturdy barn beam mantle the orange and blue flames delivering a satisfying heat and sending out the intoxicating scent of pine and, if she could name the other smell she'd have called it cosiness "But there would be nice" she nodded at it "Don't you think?"
"I actually do" he smiled at the scene "I love this place" he grabbed her hand "But tonight, all this, no matter how beautiful and majestic is insignificant, because there is only one thing more captivating than the snow outside and this characteristic slice on heaven in here, and that's those eyes you have on me right now"
"What script was that from?" she grinned at him
"The Sam and Mercy Evans enjoying the most wonderful time the year for them script"
"Babe" she grinned "Wetness activated"
"I'm bringing the romance" they looked up at the waiter coming towards them "Sorry we didn't get to the menu yet" he told him as he approached "Can we get five?"
"Of course, Sir" he walked away to give them more time
"Lobster?" Mercy asked
"Sure" he smiled "I'll have a stake and we can share"
"Okay" she watched him wave the waiter over and order their meal "I didn't get much time with Santana and Britt, I think something might be going on for them, they're usually so vocal"
"Blaine mentioned something about them being apart a lot, Santana isn't happy about it"
"That will be it then" she picked up the wine list "Oh they have Vega Sicilia, we had that on our honeymoon nearly every night remember?"
"We should bring one of those particular nights back" he smiled "Don't you think?"
"There were at least five that I'd want to relive, but we only have one night"
"Are we going to let time stop us?"
"No, never" she giggled watching the food come to the table "This looked delicious, thank you" she smiled up at the waiter
"Could we have a bottle of your Vega Sicilia 2009 please" Sam sat watching the waiter place the food in front of him "Thank you" he smiled at him "It does look good" he agreed with her cutting through his stake ready for sharing
"Okay" Mercy finally put her fork down "Did you bring your question?"
"Yes" he wiped his mouth and threw the serviette on the table "Hit me"
"So" she looked at him smiling "Explain to me in detail the first moment you knew you loved me"
"Gosh" he collapsed back in his chair "So many times for so many reasons" he sat searching his mind "I guess it was the time we'd been out, I think it was called the Lion's Den back then, we were tanked I know that much" he laughed "You were moaning about your damn shoes and I was more interested in getting us a cab, you'd put me on a promise" he laughed "Then out of nowhere you screamed at a passing cab, it stopped and you waved for me to get in" he smiled at the memory "You wouldn't get in until I got in and when you finally got in and sat on my lap, you asked me if I was alright and kissed me, and in that second I knew I loved you, because even with a tank full you thought of me first, and in that moment I knew you were my person"
"Sweet" she blew him a kiss "Hit me"
"Could we get two coffee's please?" Sam asked the waiter, who nodded acknowledgement at him and stepped off "You want my question?"
"I want a lot more than that" she giggled "But for now your question will do"
"Oh, that was quick" he looked up at the waiter coming towards them "Thank you" he smiled at him putting down the two translucent glass cups of coffee with cream and sweeteners on the side of the tray, he picked one of them up and passed it to his wife before taking the other for himself, none of them were keen on sweetener or cream
"Question?" she touched her cup, pulling away fast because it was too hot
"Tell me about the last time I made you feel appreciated?" he smiled
"You always make me feel appreciated babe" she smiled "But the last time was the other day when Kajah was doing my head in, you walked in and I don't know if it was the tears threatening to spring out my eyes or the Jones about to fly out of me at her" she laughed "But you came in kissed me, made me a coffee and took Kajah into the garden" she smiled "And I felt like you appreciated what I was going through enough to help"
"And I love helping in those moments, but I am her dad"
"I know" she wrapped her hands around her cooling cup "This is so warm it feels like I'm standing right next to the fireplace over there" she nodded to the blazing fire
"I know you went against everything you hate to book this place out here in the hills with snow for company, but it's beautiful, and I'm glad we're here, with you looking a picture as usual, I feel movement" he looked down at himself
"You always have movement" she laughed
"Whenever you're around"
"Skiing" she looked out at the snow covered mountains
"Skiing?" he looked out "Neither of us can ski" he laughed
"That was to cool you down a bit" she laughed "Getting all these innocent people heated when they sit watching us go at it like rabbits in front of that innocent fire" she looked around the room at the four other couples sat dotted around "I can feel you now" she lifted the hot drink with her two hands, closed her eyes and took a sexy sip
"You play too much" he laughed when she opened her eyes
"Foreplay babe" she grinned at him
"See you just did it again" he laughed
"What?" she looked at him shocked
"Made me remember why you're my everything" he smiled "Everything you do makes me remember that I need your love"
"Everything you say makes me feel like I need your love" she stroked his face
"We need each other's love"
"It's what keeps us steady, normal even and of course forever grateful"
"I love you" he leaned across and kissed her lips
"I love you too" she smiled when he sat back down
"Did we just acknowledge a moment?"
"I guess we did" she giggled "Told you these annual breaks were good for us" she took a sip of her drink
"Really good coffee" he held his cup up, she sat watching him, knowing what that sparkle in his eyes meant, if it was left to him they weren't going to be sitting there for much longer "What?" he smiled at catching her watching him
"I have a right to inspect what I'm getting later don't I?"
"Every right" he laughed "But I warn there are a few surprises in store" he warned
She sat watching his eyes play their game, they always got her as much as hers got him, he was horny now so his usual light green eyes had a hint of deep blue at the edges, she could see something moving and looked to the side to see snow falling. As quickly as she turned, she turned back to look at his eyes again, smiling at them reflecting the quiet storm brewing outside and making it feel like he was begging her to fall into the portal to his soul, it looked like the matrix was happening inside him and only he could see the truth.
"So, what's the surprise?" she leaned forward asking
"I knew you were going to ask me that" he laughed "It won't be one if I tell will it?"
"In other words, you're not telling me?"
"I guess you could call that response the other word"
"Evans" she giggled at him trying her nerve
"Evans" he smiled "Remember our wedding day?"
"How could I forget" she laughed "We must be the first and only couple to have ever argued at the ceremony"
"Well, you shouldn't have said you wanted to stay as just Jones to the registrar"
"As an only child I thought it was important to carry on the name"
"I'm an only child too" he laughed at her argument "And you got to keep it double barrelled"
"Excuse me" a voice intruded on their conversation "Sorry to disturb you, but my wife's…" the man pointed across the room to their table and began to blush "She's put me on a promise if I could get your autograph" he looked from one to the other
"What?" Mercy couldn't help but giggle at the situation, this strange man had rocked up to their table and told them intimate details about his relationship for the price of a signature. It wasn't something either of them did outside of their professional life, which they tried to keep as separate from their personal life as they could, but this man was going to some length to get laid "Sorry I guess…" she looked at Sam waiting for him to save her
"Yeah" Sam looked around the room seeing a piano sitting there "We could go one further than that" he looked at Mercy mischievously "We'll sing you guys a little something that should get you that little something extra" he winked at the man
"Sam" Mercy gasped, shocked at his conversation
"That would be great Mr…."
"Just call me Sam" he told the man
"Mike" he held his hand out "My wife's name is Tina"
"And my wife's name is Mercy" Sam almost mimicked the man's voice "But I guess you know that"
"Yes we do" Mike looked over at his smiling wife
"We'll think up something romantic" Sam told him watching him walk back to his table "Can you believe that?"
"I can't believe you" Mercy giggled "What the hell are we going to sing that's not going to get us in trouble?"
"We'll copy something" he whispered watching the couple getting excited about the pending performance
"Actually, I've got the perfect song" Mercy smiled at him
"Which one?"
"Surprise in store" she tapped her nose grinning, he chuckled at her giving one back to him, she always did that knowing it frustrated the hell out of him, she was the one that did shit on the fly, when he did it to her, it was always a prelude to sex "You finished?" she asked looking at the cup still in his hand
"Yep" he threw the last of it down his throat and got up following her across the room "Sorry to disturb everyone" Sam smiled as they walked "Mike and his wife Tina over there" he nodded in their direction "Are on a promise if he gets us to perform, and having seen those bedrooms it would be a shame for the man to lose out, so I'm afraid we're about to make a bit of noise" he looked at the waiter "You don't happen to have a guitar handy do you?"
"There's one by the piano Sir" he smiled
"We're dedicating our version of a song called 'Grow Old With Me' by Diane Warren, Leona Lewis & James Morrison to the happy couples in the room" Mercy turned to smile at Sam, he knew the song well, the thought of the back story brought a smile to his face as he sat to start playing the music
Mercy: Oh, oh, I know that this is crazy, I know that we just met, I know that I shouldn't say this
But I can't help myself, so I'm going to say it, grow old with me
Sam: It might be dumb to jump in, I know that this takes time, if you give all yours to me, then I give you all mine
Let's start the start of something, grow old with me
There's been so many times they'd got to the point of having sex when she'd suddenly change her mind or close up, that night they'd actually argued about her playing games he wasn't interested in anymore, he was so frustrated.
"I can't help it" she shouted at him, watching him getting dressed to leave "Don't leave"
"Mercy" he turned "I've done all I can do, I don't know how to make you feel any more relaxed, I've given everything and for that I get nothing"
"So, you're giving up on me?"
"You don't trust me"
"I trust you I just feel…"
"You're beautiful, sexy, you look amazing, and I just want to make you feel how I see you"
"I'll try I promise"
"I really want this for us"
"Me too"
Mercy: Anyone can make it maybe Both: we can Mercy: Not everyone will get this chance that Both: we have
Sam: Let's take a million pictures of the million times we've smiled, let's look back on our lifetime that started here tonight
Both: Started just from saying, grow old with me
"We're exclusive now I've told you that and I mean it" he sat back on the bed and played with her hand "You mean something to me Mercy, a lot"
"And you mean something to me too, I just.."
"I know and I also know I'm wrong to be pushing you like this, I'm sorry" he entwined her fingers with his and pulled her to him to kiss her neck "Forgive me" he moved to her cheek as he whispered in her ear
"I…" she got out before his lips were covering hers
"We're not doing anything" he assured her running his fingers through her hair before pulling her into him hungrily, his words seemed to put her at ease as she moved in to get closer to him, her leg moved to cover his legs, his mind wondering what she was saying this wasn't a Mercy move. She moved his hand that was already comfortably playing with her hardened nipple down her body and left it resting high up on her thigh.
"Wait" she gasped, sitting up to take her top fully off
"Are you sure about this?" he asked
"I'm sure" he read all the signs she was giving, went as slow as she needed and by the end of the night they were where they needed to be in their relationship, and that next level felt beautiful
Mercy: Yeah, I don't mean to rush things Both: but would it be alright
Mercy: If you could just give me the next hundred Both: years of your life Mercy: so that's all I'm saying
Both: Grow old with me, grow old with me, yeah feels so good to say it grow old with me
Anyone can make it maybe we can, not everyone will get this chance that we have
She'd always had a fear that she would give her all to someone and they would walk away leaving her vulnerable and feeling abused. There was an insecurity that came with giving your all, exposing your inner self to someone and having them rip your heart out of your chest and afterwards, if she told all, she lay expecting just that to happen
"I was playing at this before this" her turned to look at her "Somewhere in all this I kind of want you to be my person I mean not just for now, forever"
"You want to grow old with me?" she smiled
"I need to grow old with you" he smiled
"That's good, I want that too, but I was listening to the song" she pointed at the pod playing, or course he had to put that song on repeat and by the time they finally stopped it was morning and the song was firmly theirs
Sam: I know that this is crazy Both: I know that we just met Mercy: I know that I shouldn't say this
Both: But I can't help myself, so I'm going to say it, grow old with me
Grow old with me, want to hear you say it, grow old with me, come on, come on say it, grow old with me….
They smiled at each other aware they'd both just been back to the same place "I still want that" she smiled
"Me too" he kissed her, not deterred but the people in the room clapping "Do you want to go stand over by the fire?"
"Not really, we've already made enough of a spectacle of ourselves tonight, and Tina and Mike are waiting for their autograph" she looked over at the couple
"So how about a stroll in the snow?"
"Are you alright?" she looked at him strangely "You're in a funny mood, at this point you've usually attempted several times to drag me off to bed" she looked into his eyes concerned "Is something wrong?"
"No" he laughed "Everything is fine"
"You know I'm not going out in the snow babe, and definitely not to walk" she rubbed her hands together at the thought "I'm warming my damn hands up at the thought of it" she giggled making him laugh "How about we go in the opposite direction" she looked at the stairs "You just did that again" she smiled
"Yeah I know" he looked at his arm he'd just pinched "I do it to make sure I'm not dreaming that this is actually my life"
"Through thick and thin Evans, we promised" she grabbed his hand "This is real, this is us" walking across to Tina and Mike to sign whatever they needed them to, after speaking to the other couples they finally got back to themselves.
"Look at that moon" he stood in the window looking up
"Beautiful isn't it?" she leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled up at it "This is feeling a bit Déjà vu" she smiled up at him
"You caught me out" he smiled looking down into her eyes
"Hence the stalling for going upstairs?" she pulled away from him for a second "What is it this time, where are you going?"
He was still smiling at her puzzled face before he realised everyone in the room was still watching them "I was thinking about your eyes again"
"Sweet" she smiled "But that isn't it"
"I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past say two months and there's something I need to ask" he grabbed his stomach to stop it flipping "Here goes" he got down on one knee
"What are you doing?" she gasped her mind doing overtime at what he was about to confess, it was clear to everyone she was embarrassed, and he was milking it for all he could, he didn't know he'd love that look on her as much as he did "I can't believe you're doing this to me here of all places"
"It's the perfect place" he laughed "You chose it"
"But not for whatever this is" she almost snapped at him
"Anyway" he ignored her displeased face "Babe I wondered if you'd make me the happiest man in the world and…"
"He's messing about" she announced to the on-lookers "We've been married for over five years now" she giggled
"Let me finish" he pulled her hand to get her attention
"We're already married babe" she giggled
"As I was saying" he shook his head at the typical Mercy behaviour when she didn't have control of things "I wondered if you would make me the happiest man in the world and think about adding to our already manic family"
Are you crazy?" she gasped "You do come home every night to the same loveable nightmare we created, that I see?"
"But she is loveable, and we did say we didn't want her to be an only child"
"I was thinking when she was about 23 or something" Mercy laughed
"Compromise?" he looked up at her begging "Five?"
"Okay" she giggled finally answering him
He finally took her up the stairs they'd been threatening to climb all night to make a start on the addition to their family "It's sad we have to go home today" he carried the cases downstairs, happy to see that the snow had stopped last night
"Think positive, we've got upgrading out family to concentrate on"
"I guess" he smiled hugging her
"I know we say it about every other time of the year, but these days that follow those nights" she nodded up the stairs "Are the most wonderful days of the year of me"
"I love you babe" he leaned in and kissed her