A Little Outing.
INVOLVED: Samuel Evans & Mercedes Jones. TIME FRAME: Saturday, July 15th, 2017. LOCATION: Baby R Us; Atlanta, Georgia. NOTES: Sam and Mercedes go baby shopping.
Samuel moved around the baby store idly, his hands in his pocket as he followed the mother-to-be on their little shopping spree. It was one of many outings the two shared after his breakup with Roxanne months back.
Mercedes held her stomach as she reached for a 0-3 month blue onesie, tossing it and the matching green one into the cart, she turned to Sam. “What do think about sticking to blue for one and green for the other, just so we can tell them apart?”
Staring at nothing in particular Samuel looked to Mercedes at her question and he nodded. “Sure sounds like an affect plan” he told her with a smile. “I'm pretty onboard for whatever you want” he reminded her.
Nodding, Mercedes continued wobbling down the aisle. “You know, we still haven’t picked out the names for the twins, I know you are pretty set on what I want, but I want you to be apart of the naming process.”
Samuel picked up something and put it back before he began following her again. “I hadn't thought about that…” he trailed off slowly as he thought to himself, sliding his hands back into his pockets. “Well, we’ll have to sit down and map that all out” he told her, licking his lips again he looked her over. “Have you figured any out?” He asked her.
Grabbing the diaper genie, she chewed the inside of her bottom lip. “I have been thinking about it but not so much as I have an idea. It's a lot you know, coming up with the name that is going to be with our child for the rest of their lives…” She stopped moving and looked at the cart. “We are going to have to stop buying stuff. I barely have enough room for it now.”
“It'll come to us” Samuel said reassuringly, he placed a hand on her shoulder rubbing it gently. “Nothing to stress over really, when the fitting name comes you’ll, well, we’ll know when it hits us” he said confidently. At her statement he sighed, “yeah” he breathed pausing for a moment before he said. “I've been meaning to talk to you about that” he said seriously.
Mercedes closed her eyes as Sam rubbed her shoulders. Things between them were so much different than when they first met, she actually thought they were becoming great friends. “Okay, you are right and we still have two months to go.” She moved to one of the rockers in the middle of the store and sat down, wondering what he was about to say to her. “Oh, umm okay, I am all ears.”
Samuel watched her sit down with a smirk and he said outright “you need your own place” he told her thoughtfully. Quite frankly he wasn’t very enthusiastic about her family, or friends for that matter. He could only assume the feelings were mutual. He sighed looking to her “but that’s not realistic, because that would leave you with a shit ton of work… by yourself. However…” he trailed off. “If you moved in with me you wouldn’t be alone. You’d have full staff, a chef, anything you could think of at your disposal. And” he added “you’d have your own space, potentially your own wing” he said matter-of-factly as he smiled.
Staring at Sam, she couldn’t believe what he just suggested to her, Mercedes knew that he was right and she needed her own space, but for him to ask her to move in that was huge. “Sam, I couldn’t ask you to put me up, I know I need my own place and I know moving in with you would have its benefits, because you would be around the boys, but then what? What happens when you start dating or get engaged? Married? Right now I am relying on my savings, you and my family, but what happens when this is done? Then I am out on the street with two kids or at least by myself.”
Samuel looked to her knowingly, it were nothing more he hated about her was her paranoia. She almost second guessed everything and she was so one-sided in her thinking it irritated him to no end. “You wouldn’t be put out on the streets Mercedes, honestly. Do you think I’d do that, to you? To the kids?” he asked her trying to get her to think reasonably. “You move in and if life happens, to happen, which I highly doubt” he said just throwing it out there, he didn’t date and even if he did… he’d figure something out. He was that guy. “If I date someone it won’t change anything at the most, I’d put you up in your own place” he told her. And he stood there, waiting for the dozen or so, more questions, he knew she’d ask.
Chewing her bottom lip, Mercedes looked Sam, she knew he was right, but it scared her to be so dependant on someone. What Sam said sounded good, it was great and all and she knew that he would keep his word, but things happened. “I think that maybe if we have a plan, and I actually feel like I am doing something then maybe, but I don’t want to be a burden and I don’t want to cause problems between you and your family.” She turned completely towards him. “If you have thought this through, and you think this is a good idea, then maybe we can do it.” Normally she would have put up a bigger fight, but she needed space for her and the twins, and she really wanted Sam to be a part of their lives.
Samuel shifted on his feet and he stuck his hands back into his pockets “I am quite sure of my idea” he told her thoughtfully. “Everything will be okay” he told her. “You aren’t a burden” he breathed as he leaned against a nearby shelf.
Mercedes smiled softly. “Thank you Sam, I mean it. When I got into this I was okay doing this alone, but I am really thankful to be sharing this with you.” She held out her hand to him. “So in this house of yours, will I be sharing with the boys or do they have their own room? And does that mean we get to shop for more things?”
Samuel smiled at her words and he nodded his head simply at the thought. As she reached her hand out for him he happily helped her up out of the chair making sure she had her footing. At her questions he chuckled lightly at her “you guys will have your own rooms” he told her with a wide grin. “And if you must” he joked “you can shop for more stuff” he said cutely.
Mercedes leaned in and hugged Sam, she knew he would do anything she asked, she just didn’t like asking. “Thank you.” She said as she slowly pulled away from him, he wasn’t the most affectionate person she knew but she couldn’t help wanting to hug him at timesk. “You know I am not trying to spend all your money, and I can figure out what to do with my room, if you just want to stick with getting stuff for the boys.” Mercedes smiled checking the price for the chair she sat in. “Speaking of which that chair should really be in the nursery because its so comfortable.”
Samuel looked down at Mercedes and he hugged her back to him, it was comfortable feeling unlike before. “You couldn’t spend all of the money I possessed if you tried” he told her jokingly. “If you don’t like the way the room is set up once you get there I have no problem with changing it up a bit for you” he told her. “Oh you definitely need that chair” he told her. “When we check out I’ll make sure they add it” he said.
“Thank you Sam, for all of this, I know that you don’t have to do all this. I have never met someone as giving as you. The car, gifts, I can never thank you for this.” She placed her hair behind her ears. “I know I can’t be on my feet much longer, but I was wondering if we could stop the cribs and get those picked out? Since we agreed on the color aspect, I think the bedding will be the same. One blue one green.” Mercedes started to walk but stopped. “Wait… what will your policy be for my family and friends visiting?”
Samuel nodded his head at her and he stuck his hands back into his pockets moving behind her. “It’s not a big deal really, I don’t want you to thank me for those things” he told her. “Whatever you’d like” he told her and as he stopped short so did he. Looking to her he shrugged “they are welcomed to stop by whenever they want” he told her rubbing his neck as he did.
Moving to the cribs, Mercedes glanced at the different options. “So the ones where the side come down are out, I mean they are good for short people like me, but I have heard that they can come down if a child bangs on it. And I like the wood though, what do you think?”
“I know nothing about cribs and I honestly hadn’t done my research” he told her. Samuel looked at the selection around them and he thought to himself for a moment. “I like the wooden ones, they should be sturdy” he told her.
Mercedes nodded. “They are and they aren’t wide enough for the boy to get their head stuck. It is safer in the long run.” She looked between the two wooden ones and smiled. “I like this dark cherry wood the best. I think it will look great in their room.”
Samuel looked to her snorting lightly, he shook his head at her and closed his eyes a bit before he opened them again releasing another hearty laugh. “Heads get stuck?” he asked amused. “Is that what you think about?” he asked her. He shook his head again “I think these two will do” he chuckled again as he walked around her.
Mercedes shrugged with a smile. “Okay, yes I spend a good deal of my time thinking of what can happen to the boys on a daily basis...I am a worrier, its what we do… but it just means I am always prepared for everything.” She nodded and moved to the comforters. “I know this is a silly question, but you have a washer and dryer right? You don’t just send your clothes out to be cleaned?”
Samuel looked back to her, his arms behind his back as he walked. He walked closely behind her, eyes roaming over her before he licked his lips. “Of course” he said “my staff does my laundry but I do have that in my home” he told her.
Mercedes turned towards him. “Just how big is this staff of yours? Because I have spent my life doing my own laundry and cooking and all that good stuff. So what exactly would you need me to do if your staff does everything for you?”
“That depends on what you are asking me…” Samuel said with a wicked smirk on his face as he looked back to her.
Eyes wide she blushed at his words. “Sam Evans! I wasn’t asking that.” Mercedes turned from him and shook her head. “I meant around the house.” It wasn’t that she was against being with Sam, she just couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious.
Samuel tucked his lips away at her response “nothing, you’d have the kids. I mean my job wouldn’t be any less demanding once they get here” he told her. “And I don’t know… maybe we can find something else for you to do as well” he told her.
“So you would be at work while I am home with the kids in your big mansion… its like we are a little family then, just unconventionally.” Mercedes didn’t know why but she liked the thought of that. She turned towards him. “Oh? Can we? And what else would that be?”
“I don’t intend on being at work all the time. But work is work... “ he trailed off. “One could assume that we were a family” he said nodding his head. “Nothing wrong with being unconventional” Samuel said with a smirk. “We will cross that bridge when we get there” he told her smartly.
“I understand, you have an important job, I don’t expect you to stop being you just because you are moving me into your place.” Mercedes made her way to the checkout and sighed, she didn’t want to ask him again if he was sure about her moving in, though that was exactly what she wanted to do. “I don’t know how I feel about crossing that bridge with you Sam, who knows what you will have me doing.”
Samuel stood in line with Mercedes, he licked his lips slowly before he chuckled at her response. “Oh you think so lowly of me” he told her with a shake of his head. “What could I possibly have you do if everything else is already done to begin with?” he asked her curiously. Sam pulled his phone out and he scrolled through it a bit as they waited in line.
Catching his eyes Mercedes watched him lick his lips. “Well I don’t know how your mind works Mr. Evans but if all the jobs are being taken care of then what job is left?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know” Samuel replied back to her as he tucked his phone away, placing it in her pocket. He looked to her before he looked away.
Mercedes laughed. “Yeah I would like to know.” They moved to the front of the line and she began putting things onto the conveyor belt. “So...how soon would this whole moving in together thing take place?”
Samuel smirked a bit at her, he moved up in line and he slid around her placing things on the counter along with her. “As soon as possible” he told her as they cleared the basket and he gave her room to go around him with it, as he reached in his back pocket for his wallet. Samuel slid his card out “we don’t have much time and well, in order to get you settled and the nursery settled we should do it immediately” he told her.
Mercedes chewed her bottom lip, Sam was right, she was due in 8 weeks, less if her doctors were correct and she needed to set up the nursery and get everything prepared. “You are right, its just… this is all happening so fast, and I have to break the news to my parents and to Benji and the girls. I don’t have a lot of stuff but I have a good amount of things I would like to take with me.”
Samuel watched the cashier ring up each item, when she was finished he paid. Swiping his card he looked to Mercedes, God knows he hated hearing about Benji. “Whatever you want to do Mercedes” he said as he placed the bagged items back into the cart. He tucked his card away and his wallet thanking the woman before he pushed the cart out of the way for the next customer.
Mercedes glanced at Sam before making her way out of the store. Moving to his car she looked down to her stomach.”Some won’t be too happy but I think this might be the best choice, this way at least for now we can spend as much time with them as possible.” Reaching the car she leaned against it. “You aren’t thinking of hiring a nanny are you? Because I won’t be okay with that.”
Samuel pushed the cart to his car and he looked over at her “someone like who? Benjamin?” Samuel asked rolling his eyes. “The biggest pain in my ass I swear” he mumbled under his breath as he swiftly opened the trunk. Samuel began loading the car and at her questioned her looked to her “I didn’t plan on it” he said as he emptied the cart completely. Moving to open her door like a gentlemen should he waited for her to climb in.
“Benji is my best friend and he is just worried that I am going to get hurt. I am sure once you get to know him you guys will be best of friends.” At least Mercedes hoped they would. “Thank you.” She said as Sam opened the door for her. Climbing in slowly, she leaned over and opened his door for him, something she liked doing but took a lot of effort with her stomach. “Since we are moving in with you, I guess you can drop this stuff over there and me at home.”
Samuel moved the cart to it’s rightful place before he moved to climb into the car alongside Mercedes. “I am just letting you know right now if Benji” he said mimicking her “does anything to annoy me during this process I will most likely kill him” he told her. “He’s annoying, he oversteps boundaries, and he just gets in the way” he said as he moved to back out of the parking space. Samuel drove through the parking lot before he turned onto the road, he drove down the street before he nodded “okay” he sighed.
Mercedes stared out the window. “I don’t know how I am supposed to choose between the father of my children and my best friend? Its like there is no right choice.” She really liked how close she and Sam had become recently, but she didn’t like how he and Benji bumped heads all the time.
Samuel looked to her and he looked back to the road he didn’t know what to really offer her. He assumed once she actually became a mother and realized that not only was it impossible to please everyone, but in life some things became more important than just dwelling on what one wanted for one’s self. He licked his lips as he continued to drive “I’m sure you’ll make the right decision when the time comes” he told her.
Not wanting to argue or fight she just nodded. The right decision wasn’t always the best one. Mercedes looked over to Sam as he drove. “So when is your next free day or hour? Just trying to gather a feel for your schedule since we have more things to get now.”
“I'm free whenever you need me to be Mercedes” Samuel told her honestly. Work was important but it wasn't more important than her, or the kids for that matter.
Mercedes smiled at him, he really was such a good guy and she felt blessed that he was the one she was stuck with. “I am glad to hear that, and I promise, I will do my best to try and pay my way or make sure you know I am not taking advantage of you or your kindness.”
“You can try but I probably won't let you” Samuel told her as he continued to drive down the road. “It's fine, it's no big deal” he confessed, headed for her parents home.
Mercedes sighed. “But I have to do something and it has to be more than just being the mother of your children.”
“So you intend on fighting me on this?” Samuel asked looking over at her for a second before he looked back to the road.
“I don’t want to fight you on this, i just…nevermind.” Mercedes couldn't explain to Sam, why she felt the need to contribute, she just did. “Can I ask you something.”
“Yeah, ask whatever” Samuel told her.
Mercedes looked away from him. “I guess i am wondering what i am to you? I mean we have been hanging each other for a while, and I know i have to be more than just the mother of your twins?”
Samuel looked to her oddly at her question he turned his head back to the road as he entered her parent’s community. He didn’t know how to answer her really, yes he had to admit he loved having her close now. He’s formed this protective barrier around her and he didn’t want to let anyone in. He’d dump his girlfriend and it wasn't just for his children sake alone. Sam continued to drive in silence before he said “uh” he said softly as he pulled up to the house swiftly. “I am… we are” he said as he pulled up to the home and parked the car in the driveway. “I can be whatever you want me to be and vise versa” he told her.
Mercedes looked over to Sam, seeing his nervousness to her question. “What does that mean? Because i'm just not sure what you want from me?”
Samuel looked over at Mercedes again and he turned from looking straight ahead. “We are adults here Mercedes” he said finally turning the car off. “If our children are bringing us closer together I don’t see anything wrong with it” he rushed out quickly before he slid out of the car. Samuel moved around to her side and he opened her door helping her out of the car.
Mercedes heard his words then he was out of the car in a flash. She waited until he opened her door, her mind mulling over what he just said. When her door opened and he helped her out, she stared up at him. Their kids were bringing them closer, though in what way she wasn't sure. Walking to her front door she turned towards him. “i think, i can be okay with that.”
Samuel closed the car door and he moved with her up towards the front door of the home and he nodded. “Good, so don’t worry your pretty little head about it” he told her simply as he offered her smile. He leaned in to kiss her forehead before pulling away.
Smiling at his words, Mercedes nodded. He moved to kiss her foreheads, and deciding to test her theory, Mercedes stood on her tippy toes, kissing Sam softly, and waiting for his reaction. If he grew upset, she could blame hormones.
Looking to her as she positioned herself perfectly to kiss him, he let her. And in returned her kissed her back pulling her a little closer as he did, he deepened it even he hands sliding down against her plush arms. And he pulled away just as his hands reached her round stomach, he opened his eyes and looked to her before he said. “You should get inside and off your feet.”
Mercedes felt her eyes shut the moment he deepened the kiss. Enjoying the feel of Sam’s lips against hers. His hands moved to stomach, and she felt him pull away. She was a bit confused as to his reaction, she figured maybe he didn't enjoy it, but decided not to dwell on it. “Umm, yeah of course, i have been out longer than the doctor said I should be.” Pulling out her key, she turned to unlock the door then look back at Sam. “Thanks again for everything Sam. I will let you know tonight what day i will start the moving process.”
Samuel looked to her, he was smitten but he wouldn’t admit it. As she spoke he nodded his head “I’ll be waiting to hear from you” he told her thoughtfully. He watched her walk into the house before he turned to walk towards his car, looking back again before he climbed into the vehicle and prepared to leave.
Taking one last look to Sam, Mercedes made her way in shutting the door and sighing as she leaned against it. No matter what Sam was or wasn't feeling, Mercedes knew she was in trouble. He was dangerously close to sweeping her right off her swollen ankles and he didn't even know it.
