Thank you to my Amazing Betas KayBee 80 & Illiandyandra...This chapter was betaed by Kay while Illy caught some, 'if you wake me up before Monday, I'll shoot you', sleep. So thanks especially to Kay.

Thank you to everyone who has left a review. Thank you to all those who favorited and followed. Thank you to all of you who read and enjoyed.

Here it is y'all the last chapter of Opportunity Knocks Twice...Please read and enjoy and review.

Epilogue

Reunion/Kissimmee, FL March 28, 2030

Mercedes Jones-Evans awoke to the feel of her husband's pajama covered erection pressing into her nightgown-covered hip… his hand held onto her breast, and she felt him tweaking her nipple through the thin purple silk. His lips were pressed to her shoulder, and he gently woke her from her slumber. She turned onto her back, and Sam's lips moved to cover her lush mouth. The kiss was slow and deep, awakening Mercedes' libido as surely as Sam had awakened the rest of her. Sam reached down and found the hem of Mercedes' nighty, while simultaneously removing his own clothing; and they moved together in a dance older than time immemorial.

When they lay panting and satisfied in each other's arms, Mercedes spoke for the first time that morning, "You know, we christened this room twice last night…so what's your excuse for this morning?"

"I need an excuse to make love to my woman?" Sam teased. "Besides, I woke up in a strange bed with my wife, without any of our beautiful children having joined us in the night; I had to mark the occasion." Sam had a very valid point, because ever since the family moved –mainly in order to accommodate the quads, who'd proven different enough to each need their own space- the couple had been forced to start sleeping at least partially clothed. Their children had become rather frequent visitors in their massive bed.

Mercy's laughter filled their suite of rooms. "It's not a strange bed. It's our vacation home bed," she teased.

The Jones-Evanses, the Hummel-Rybacks, the Anderson-McGauleys, the Hudsons, Lopez-Guerreros and the Rosenburg-Puckermans had all gone in together and purchased an amazing 12 bedroom, 14 bathroom vacation home in Reunion, Florida. Santana had dubbed them the Parental ND, as they now all had children. A college-bound Beth was allowed to come and use the celebration home, by way of formal visitation with Quinn and Puck; in fact, the eighteen year old was very close to her father and all three of her mothers -including Nadia. Gordon was considered to be the oldest; and at eight, he was a very overprotective big brother/cousin. Marissa, in all her adorableness was next, followed by Gordon's little sister, Amaya…who was a whole five months older than Patrick, Pandora, Payge and Payne. The quads were always accompanied by their biological cousins Joyanna and Faith, and by Nora, Dante and Robert's twins -Julia and Judith- as well. The Auel-Koontz twins were six months younger than Henry Hummel-Ryback, and three months older than Blaine and Nathaniel's son, Tao Richardson. Tao was the youngest ND baby for a while, until Santana and Madison surprised them all by both getting pregnant by Lester Santos. Santana swore they had done it the old fashion way, but Madison refused to comment. They give birth within hours of each other and named their children Christian and Christina. Nadia had given Puck his first son, Noah, less than a month later…and to no one's surprise; those three were pretty much inseparable.

The members of the group were so very different, and yet, so many of their children had extremely similar skintones. Puck and Finn called the assembled mass of babies -a term Joyanna loved to use to describe her little cousins and her other little friends- the beige ones. They ranged in color from the dark caramel Joyanna to the mocha latte of Christian and Christina and every tone of beige and light brown in between. Marissa and Henry were the lightest, but neither of them had Kurt's alabaster skin; so after just a little bit of playing in the sun, they matched the rest of their extended family well. The quads were very easily distinguishable though. While all the kids were gorgeous, Sam and Mercedes' mouths had combined in each of their four babies to give them all pouts that could melt even the coldest of hearts. That was proven invariably, when during a visit to Lima, Sue Sylvester made a trip to the Jones' home for the specific purpose of seeing the little ones. The frightening coach had even taken time to sit and hold each one. With her usual caustic joy, Coach Sylvester said that they were evil little beings, sent here to entrap the human race into slavery; she accused the small children of utilizing their large and hypnotizing eyes to this end… however, Mercedes understood that to mean that Sue thought the children were very cute.

The vacation house was filled to and beyond capacity. All the bedrooms were taken by adults, i.e. the New Directions and their partners, the Jones, Evans, and Hummel parents, Nora, Dante, and Robert, Tamicka and Rico -who had finally gotten together the year before, subsequent to dancing around their feelings for three years. Antonio was there, as was Simon; though Antonio was in the process of training Donovan, his replacement, as he transitioned into a new position as a lead member of the DC art department. He had used the many connections, gleaned from Sam, to cultivate a relationship with the DC board of directors; so when the position had come open, he was their first choice. Donovan Reese was a tall, slender black man who was already completely enamored with Simon LaPierre. Sam and Mercedes had a bet going as to when the two men would become lovers. Sam predicted six months, but Mercedes, who had seen the way her PA looked at Sam's new PA, knew that the only reason those two weren't currently snuggle bunnies lie in the fact that Donovan was currently still in LA. While Donovan was not quite part of the family yet, one person who -while no longer an employee- had never left the clan and thus joined them for the week, was Monica Westwood. Monica was like a beloved aunt to all of the kids…especially the quads. She, Antonio and Simon shared the duties of watching over the sleeping babies, as they took over the pull out-sofa and the recliners in the living room.

While the adults were upstairs in the bedrooms, the children camped out on air mattresses and sleeping bags in the large, luxurious home's great room. This was the group's first trip to the house, and while they had done the bulk of the furnishing, Nadia was all about changing everything to make it a home away from home. When they had arrived, they had hit Target and Publix like gangbusters. They'd purchased new bedding and home goods; they'd bought throw covers and pillows. The group had also laughingly purchased all of the breakfast foods in neighboring three counties. The adults, as a whole, were determined that everyone would share the most important meal of the day at home, since they'd be eating all their other meals at the parks. Kurt also made certain that there were a large selection of wholesome snacks for later in the evenings.

This little vacation was actually a two week long birthday celebration for the quads. The entire, large dysfunctional family was spending the entire week touring the different Orlando amusement parks. They'd arrived the night before the actual birthday, and the birthday itself was to be spent in the Magic Kingdom. Mercedes and Sam knew that they would have to get up very soon to shower and get ready for the day. The girls, accompanied by Kurt and the ladies, were scheduled for the full Princess experience at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, while the boys, accompanied by Lauren and the gentlemen, would be made over into pirates at the Pirates League. After the kids were remade into the image of their favorite princess or pirate, then the family would reassemble, they would have lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table, and then spend the rest of the afternoon having a blast in the park. Thankfully, Rangeman Miami had provided them six guards so they would actually be able to do so.

Mercedes rose, showered and dressed quickly in a funky, retro look cotton linen blend maxi dress, that had been shortened to hit the diva at mid-thigh. The cute sun dress had wide straps, which allowed Mercedes to wear a more comfortable bra with wider straps. It was a gorgeous shade of gray that held just a hint of lavender to the tone, the bottom of the dress was embroidered with a swarm of lilac butterflies and purple dragonflies. She was wearing a pair of grey Stellabloom sports sandals by Merril, which gave her feet a lot of support and comfort while allowing them to breathe. She avoided makeup and simply slathered on a light moisturizer with a high SPF, and a shimmery gloss with the same.

Sam had taken a hint from his beautiful wife; he was wearing a pair of linen cotton blend khaki shorts and a cotton tee shirt that had a field of Marvel heroes versus a field of DC heroes with Wolverine and Superman leading the charges. He slid his feet into Merril Mix Master Maze Sport sandals, and headed down to help Mercedes and Tamicka get the children dressed. Payne and Patrick ended up dressed almost exactly like their father, their hair short masses of curls. The only difference was that Payne's shorts were blue and Patrick's shorts were red. They had chose, their favorite colors at three and refused to change them.

Pandora and Payge were nowhere near that easy. Payge was rocking purple plaid skater shorts and a purple tank with sparkling letters denoting her a DIVA. Pandora, however, was determined to wear a dress. It took some convincing, but eventually she agreed that a formal cocktail dress would be too much for meeting Mickey. Instead, she chose a pretty yellow gingham sundress. Both twins wore their long chocolate brown curls up in ponytails, although Payge preferred to wear hers braided, so that it wouldn't get all snarled during the day.

Mercedes carried a deep purple leather 'The Sak' totebag that had a long cross body strap for comfort. To be honest, though, she would have rather done without. Where Mercedes had once loved carrying her designer bags, baby bags -even designer ones- teach you to hate purses really quickly. However she no longer needed to carry a baby bag, into which she could stuff her wallet; therefore she needed the accessory and carried it accordingly. The diva carried largest bag she could find, because she had to carry her special SPF gloss, as well as all the various salves, balms and creams belonging to her family. The girls each had a different color SPF gloss from hers, as well as from each other. And of course, one couldn't forget the three different kinds of SPF lip balm either; because Sam, Patrick and Payne all liked different flavors. Mercedes liked stealing Patrick's apple berry the best, Payne could keep his honey-flavored abomination, and Sam's SPF cherry wasn't quite the same as the old-school version she'd grown to love as a teenager. While it was necessary for Mercedes to carry six special SPF inclusive lip moisturizers, she'd gotten lucky with the actual sunscreen. She and Sam could share her favorite, Philosophy's Hope oil-free SPF 50, SPF-Moisturizer, while the boys and the girls each had their own different kinds. Payne and Patrick only used the Hawaiian Tropic Oil Free Sensitive Skin Continuous Spray Lotion SPF 50. Mercedes didn't mind at all, 'cause getting those two to hold still long enough for her to rub in the thick Vanicream Sensitive Skin Sunscreen SPF 60 the girls loved, was a headache inducing nightmare.

Mercedes wasn't the only one with a bag full of sunscreen. Kurt managed to find SPF 100, and he had sun hats and parasols for himself and his children. Justin was willing to wear the sunscreen, but no way was he hiding from the sun completely. Rachel was just as neurotic; she had come alone, though she was still seeing Miguel. He was in Europe on tour, therefore she flew solo. However, she had as many bottles of sunscreen as Mercedes did; apparently she needed different SPFs for different body parts. Everyone else just had one, maybe two bottles of whatever their hands had fallen on in the store the night before. It took a while, but eventually everyone was fed and watered and slathered with sun protection. They made it to the park with just enough time to split up and take the kids to their appointments.

The kids weren't very happy to be separated from their siblings, and cousins. They were even less happy to get blindfolded and lead through the park…at least that was true until their parents, and older sister whipped off the blindfolds and they saw where they had been led. The screams of joy and happiness echoed through both the boutique and the League. The girls were jumping up and down and giggling and hugging in joy. The boys were slightly more circumspect…they just ran full tilt around the shop like whirling dervishes, until Sam grabbed his two and yanked them up by their tee shirts. "You'd better act like you've got some home training." He commanded sternly.

His directive settled not only his boys down; it also served to get their male cousins back into order. "Yes Sir," the multitude recited together. From experience, the group of children knew that Sam was not one to play with kids…well he was, but they knew that when he meant business, he meant business.

In the boutique, Mercedes didn't even bother being that nice. "Girls," she finally barked, when they showed no sign of stopping. It was hard to tell who hopped to faster, Pandora and Payge or Julia and Judith. They were very used to hearing that tone from Mercedes. She didn't have to use it but once in a while, but they knew that when she said something in that short, almost mean way, she meant business.

"Yes Ma'am," all the girls immediately chorused together

Once they got calmed down and into the chairs, the princess makeovers were darling. Pandora and Payge had their shoulder length, cork screw curls glittered and swept up into a darling bun. They were twin Belles, their amber eyes accented by the happy yellow of their dresses. The very different girls had argued for almost an hour about who to choose. Payge finally won, simply by the sheer fact that she was willing to argue about anything with her sister for so long. The very definition of laid back, Payge usually let Pandora have her way; but she felt too strongly about Belle to let Pandora have her pick of Aurora. Their older cousin Joyanna became a chocolate eyed Tiana, her long locs pinned up in an arrangement that made her look way more mature than her mother and her aunt were ready for. Marissa, with her father's stormswept eyes, made a darling Cinderella, while Amaya was an adorable Mulan. Christina was the perfect Jasmine, and the stuffed Raj she put into a headlock and refused to let go of afterwards was just the icing on the cuteness cake. Julia chose to be Ariel, while Judith was turned into Pocahontas; the fraternal twins somehow managed to look like both of their fathers and nothing like Nora, but they were truly adorable.

The night they were born, Mercedes looked at Sam and asked how it was that Robert and Dante daughters were both bi-racial, and yet had so many of Robert's traits. The girls were already taller than Henry and Amaya, despite being a lot younger than either. Julia was more girly than Judith, but that wasn't exactly a hard thing to be. The easiest way to describe the girl's differing personalities was to point out that Julia's hero was Santana and Judith's was Lauren. The girls thoroughly embraced their differences, so much so that didn't even try to reach an agreement on which princess to become. They knew that they didn't agree and they weren't worried about 'being all matchy matchy.' Nora never dressed her daughters alike, it wasn't something that amused her, and so she didn't bother.

The boys were all individuals and together made a merry band of brigands. Patrick was the Captain Jack of the group, and Payne took command from him as Captain Barbosa. Henry was the neatest pirate ever, and Gordon seemed to revel in being the grossest. Noah was just as chill as could be, though he did try to lift more than one little princess' dress with the plastic sword he'd received. Tao, in a very serious, almost clinical tone, kept asking the other boy if he had an overabundance of hormones or something.

As they all settled down for lunch, Mercedes couldn't help but think about all the things that had transpired in the years since the birth of her beloved children. While Sam was assisting, i.e. dominating, the filming of the Justice League movie, Mercedes was on a six month European and Pacific Rim tour. The quads, Frederico and Tamicka accompanied her, and whenever Sam had a few days off he would meet her in whatever city she was performing in that night. At five the Jones-Evans quads had already been to almost every country in the world. They had definitely visited every continent. Thanks to Tamicka and their parents, they had begun reading before they turned three. They spoke six languages, three to the point of fluency. Pandora had the toughest time with reading, because she had inherited her father's dyslexia, but she had also inherited her mother's tenacity and ability to focus. Thanks to early diagnosis and the hard work of the adults in her life, her learning disability would never affect her as severely as Sam's had.

Payne was the family shockstar, as Mercedes termed it. The boy at five was doing math problems that made both his parents ask where he had come from. He regularly worked, via his ultrabook, with a tutor from MIT that Brittany gotten him in contact with. Actually, he'd originally worked with a sophomore math major; but as he got more and more advanced, the school realized it wasn't enough. Eventually a doctorate candidate had agreed to help the prodigy.

Payge found words as easy Payne found numbers. She could read and write in twice as many languages as she could speak, and she spoke more languages than their entire extended family added together. She read at a level that would have made her sister jealous, except for the simple fact that no one had more patience with helping Panny with her reading and writing than Payge did. Pandora's gift may not have been words or numbers; however she and Patrick shared a gift for art. Sam was sure that one day Pandora would be the world's most preeminent fashion designer. She was already her Kurtsie's number one style assistant. Patrick's ability with color manifested itself differently. At five, he was already showing an ability to draw and create masterpieces that surpassed his father's on Sam's best day. Every time he brought Sam a new one of his creations, Sam's chest would swell with pride and his eyes would well with emotion. Patrick still had the ability to look into one's eyes and read their soul. If anything, the trait seemed to be growing stronger as he grew; but now he chose to take what he saw and put it onto a piece of paper or a canvas.

In the years since she'd weaned the babies, Sam's voracious desire for her had seen to it that her breasts still swelled full to the point of discomfort at least twice a day. They were still so much in love that reporters often still commented on it. Every year they took a trip for their anniversary, simply to get away and be just 'Mercy and Sammy'. They also spent at least one night of every weekend roleplaying. Mercedes always chose the costumes, and while she tended to pick comic book characters, at least she could choose the ones she knew and liked. Sam continued to surprise her every so often with an unexpected night on the town, or worse, a shocking interview where he put their love life on front street. He always managed to keep everything just this side of lurid, and to turn the interview into a 'Now You Know' life lesson for the readers. His usual point was 'if you aren't mature enough to be comfortable enough in who you are and what you want then you aren't ready yet to be having sex with a partner'.

Mercedes was happily a multiple EGOT winner. She had added three Emmys, one for the screen play of 'Dork and the Diva', one for the soundtrack, and one for her producing credit for Santana's talk show. She had added another Tony for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North, opposite Rachel's Elphaba in a revival of Wicked. Her sixth album had netted her three more Grammys, and the Soundtrack for D&tD had made every member of the 2012 & 2013 New Directions, except Kitty, Grammy award winners. She had added another Best Original Song Oscar as well, for the song she wrote for Sam's Justice League movie. She and Santana were already working on a song they would perform together for the sequel, which was scheduled to start filming that fall. Her latest album had been nominated for the 2030 Grammys as well.

As much as they could, Mercedes' family traveled with her. With the box office and critical success of Justice League and a subsequent Teen Titans movie, Sam was pretty much writing his own ticket at DC. They allowed him to work from the road whenever he wanted to, and that gave Mercedes the freedom to accept any challenge that amused her. But their love and happiness didn't just spawn joy and success in their lives. Santana swore that without meeting Oprah at Mercedes' baby shower, she wouldn't be on the fast track to being as big as the icon. Unique was a Tony award winner now as well, and she gave God and Mercedes all the glory. Sugar and Rory had reconnected and were well on the way to merging their hospitality -and gambling experience- to create a brand new, extremely hot casino chain that would eventually have branches in Monte Carlo, Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Reno and Atlantic City. And the charity galas they organized every year had raised over half a billion dollars for several different charities.

The couples that had gotten together since their marriage often told the lovebirds that they were inspiration. Watching Sam and Mercedes together made many a bride or groom believe that real, true love was possible…because they saw it in SamCedes every day. Not just the ones that had reconnected after many years, the ones who finally realized that was possible to have met 'the one' in high school…though Marley and Jake, Unique and Ryder, Sugar and Rory were all sure that they wouldn't be happily in love if not for Mercedes and Sam. But there were also the couples that met because of Sam and Mercedes' love. Nadia and Puck, Quinn and JJ. Lauren -who had tried but never really connected with Artie that way- had connected with Justin's teammate, Cory Parrish; the larger than life duo was now dating exclusively, though they didn't seem to want to be married anytime soon. Tamicka met Rico; and though it took him a very long time to convince her that no one would mind or care if they dated…eventually the pair fell deeply in love. Even Monica had met and begun to date Gregory, an architect in Stevie's firm; a connection she would never have made, had Sam and Mercedes not reconnected.

Mercedes was shaken from her reverie by the arrival of the massive cake that she and Kurt had prearranged with the staff. After the Happy Birthdays were sung, in the middle of a restaurant full of disbelieving diners who had never heard the birthday song sung in perfect harmony, the cake was consumed as though attacked by ravenous locusts…and the tribe and their bodyguards returned to their Magic Kingdom adventure. The rest of the vacation was divided amongst the other Disney parks, including Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom; as well as the other Kissimmee theme parks, like Sea World and Universal Studios. By the end of the week, the kids were all wired, the adults were all tired, and yet they all agreed that this would be their new yearly ND reunion spot.

Mercedes and Sam had been forced to purchase a much larger home in their same community not long after the quads turned three. Their new home was a fifteen bedroom, seventeen bathroom home that allowed each of the quads to have their own room without losing all the guestrooms and their offices and such. It also had an outdoor kitchen and an even more magnificent infinity pool. The new amenities were perfect for them, because Sam and Mercedes loved to entertain. Puck had actually purchased Mercedes' starter mansion, where he and Nadia now lived. It looked completely different than it had when Mercedes and Sam lived there –well, not completely. Nora had upgraded the appliances, and added a special wine refrigerator. Puck had sold Jake the small ranch house. Their business was thriving, and it now had an office in every coastal state in the continental US and in Ohio. With Jake heading the east coast branch from New York, and only spending three months of the year in LA, The Brothers Puckerman were no longer as physically close as they had been; however they were still as 'tight as skinny jeans on a fat guy'. Jake's home, for all intents and purposes, became the 'We don't want to stay in a hotel cause we have to be here for too long, ND resting spot.

As the LA ND's and their husbands and partners were flying home from the quad's birthday celebration, Sam and Mercedes wrapped up in one another's arms, talking quietly. Mercedes told him all the thoughts she had had over the week; there'd been so much going on, that they had barely had time to really breathe, yet alone talk. Sam shared his observations and musing as well. Almost as if they shared one mind, they both blurted out, "I think I want to have another baby."

They had actually been a lot louder than either of them realized; and they drew the attention of JJ where he sat holding a sleeping Quinn in front of Mercedes. Over the course of the rest of the flight, JJ spoke with the couple at length; he was concerned that Mercedes abdomen wouldn't be able to stretch enough to bring a healthy baby to term, especially if she had another set of multiples. He was also concerned that if it did manage to find the elasticity needed, she would need another tummy tuck and really she didn't like having the first one.

Sam and Mercedes heard everything he said, and his medical concerns forced them to realize that there was more to having another child than they at first thought. But they were undaunted. They wanted more children; it was something they'd both considered at length -both separately and together. Neither of them were willing to risk harming either the baby or Mercedes, so ultimately they decided to find a surrogate. The young woman they chose was actually a midwife in her late twenties; she and her husband, a soldier, already had two children. She was from a family with a history of easy pregnancies; and whenever they needed to make ends meet, the couple decided on this as their best option. Rather than providing the ovum as Kurt's surrogate did, their surrogate simply provided a uterus for the fraternal twins that were fully Sam and Mercedes natural children.

When Pandora, Payge, Payne and Patrick were six, they welcomed Penelope Michonne and Peyton Micah to the family. Nadia and Mercedes had prepared for the arrival of Mercy's twins together. Incidentally, Mercedes was very up front with the world about the fact a surrogate had given birth to her twins. In true form, she simply told the media that she wanted more children, and that her doctor thought surrogacy was the healthiest, safest option for her; she'd done so matter-of-factly, and of course the world loved her more for her candor.

While Mercedes babies' were brought to term through surrogacy, Nadia and Puck were expecting again, the old fashioned way. The Puckermans' second pregnancy resulted in a baby girl that they named Nala Mercedes. Also pregnant at the same time, though across the country, Marley and Jake had a baby girl, they named Jessica Rose. Through surrogacy, Unique and Ryder had a baby boy whom they chose to name Mercer Samuel. Rachel and Miguel were still together, but they found themselves unable to conceive. However, Rachel was very uncomfortable with surrogacy, given the interesting relationship she had with her mother. So rather than possibly put her children through a similar discord, they adopted a pair of children from Puerto Rico. They were originally going to adopt just an infant, Tobias, but when they found out that the baby also had a three year old brother named Gideon, they simply had to adopt both siblings.

Lauren surprised everyone, including herself, by giving birth to her first child while in Maine filming a film adaptation of Stephen King's final novel. She had no idea that she was even pregnant, but she gave Cory a beautiful nine and a half pound, twenty three inches long, baby boy that they chose to name Lance Marshall. While they decided that they weren't the kind of people to actually get married; the couple was together exclusively, and Lauren did wear his ring… a very nice, rather large, engagement ring. They were happy doing their thing. She and Cory had introduced Artie to Cory's sister Tricia, and both couples were deeply in love.

Tricia Parrish was a beautiful and strong black woman with a light caramel complexion; and while her curves were far subtler than Mercedes', she was a curvaceous woman none the less. Before she met Artie, she was already the single mom of a college student. Tricia had been the survivor of a brutal rape while in high school; and until the day that she met Artie, while definitely heterosexual, she had found herself unable to be intimate with any male after the very, very traumatic and violent attack. Tricia was an amazing person. She had never even considered not having or giving away the child that was the result of the attack; in fact, the baby –who was a twenty year old college student by the time Tricia met Artie- was the light of Tricia's life. Tricia was surprised when she found that she not only was easily aroused by Artie, but that he, unlike most men, never triggered a flashback to the attack. Apparently, the fact that Artie was somewhat smaller than her attacker, white, and unable to hover over her, made him easier to trust. Tricia, Aurora and Artie got along very well, and the three of them were fast becoming their own little, unusual family. Tricia was ecstatic to find out after they had been together a year, that she and Artie were to be parents as well. They had a son they named Padon, which meant redeemer.

As slow as they had taken it, eventually JJ sat Quinn down and straight out asked her if she was ever going to be ready to marry him. He told her that he knew she loved him as much as he loved her; and that he needed to choose loving him over whatever held her back from making that final commitment. Quinn replied by telling him that she was scared; she was scared of turning into her mother, and she was scared that having other children would hurt Beth. Actually, that was what she feared most of all, despite the wonderful relationships Beth had with Puck's other children. Unfortunately, JJ had no idea how to combat that fear…only one person really could. So JJ called his sister, who called Beth and Shelby. And intervention was staged; and long story short… everyone who could, met up in Vegas two days later to watch Jeffrey Rosenberg, Jr. and Lucille Quinn Fabray become man and wife. Almost 40 weeks to the day later, Quinn gave birth to a little boy she named for his father and grandfather. 59 weeks after Trey was born, Quinn gave birth to a little girl she named Kathleen.

The New Directions of Lima, Ohio had all reached a level of happiness that others only dream of…well, except of course for Kitty Wilde; she was still just an aging trophy wife of a large town's mayor.

Lima, OH July 10, 2037

Sam Evans looked around the campgrounds where the class of 2012's 25th reunion family picnic was being held. Being back there, at the Woodhaven Retreat, he couldn't help but remember that night almost thirteen years before; when it had been transformed into a Grecian garden, and he and Mercedes had celebrated finally being joined together as man and wife. He looked and saw the six beautiful children that had been spawned by their union.

The quads were twelve, and still just as different as ever. Pandora was dressed in the height of fashion, though she also managed to exude subtle elegance simultaneously. She had to dress very carefully in order to please her parents and bodyguard. She and her twin sister had definitely inherited their mother's abundant curves and their father's height, making them at twelve look closer to sixteen. With their big, almond shaped amber eyes, cute noses, and full, lush lips; Sam, Rico, Stevie, and all the men of the New Directions all kept a very close watch on them.

Pandora's already eye-catching curves were covered in a retro gold sundress with spaghetti straps and small white hearts. Her shoes were very cute gold two inch wedges. While Pandora was cute and trendy, playing up her femininity as much as the adults in her life would allow; Payge embraced different ideal of girl power. She seemed to be channeling her inner Avril Lavigne, circa 2002. She was wearing her favorite purple plaid skate shorts, and layered purple, black and white tanks. The outermost tank top read Sk8RGurl, with the words riding a metallic purple skateboard. On her feet, she wore a pair of converse all-stars, and ankle socks. The only vanity Payge allowed herself was her hair. The thick, chocolate brown curls now reached her butt and other than a little bit of layering at the front, she refused to cut them for anyone. Pandora's hair was layered and blown straight, with side bangs that covered one eye when she wanted, but were most often pinned back. Pandora and Payge had chosen Penelope's outfit and the six year old was adorable. Her lighter, but no less thick, brown curls were pulled up into high pigtails, and she wore a bold teal and black patterned short leggings and a sleeveless teal tunic with a jagged, asymmetrical hem that had aqua and jade ladybugs all over it. Her little black sandals were adorable and showed that even a six year old can have a pedicure.

On the other hand, Patrick, Payne and Peyton were all dressed nearly the same. They were each in khaki shorts, a graphic tee, Batman and Robin for Patrick, Cloak and Dagger for Payne and Kid Flash for Peyton. Patrick and Payne had gotten rather tired of combing their hair, so they'd instead gotten very low cuts; making Patrick resemble Jake just that little bit more. Peyton still had longish, shaggy curls, but Mercedes had taken the time to cornrow them down. But while they may have been dressed alike, the boys were still very different people. Patrick was very much an artist. Payne was very much a scientist. Patrick saw life from the perspective of color and texture; and chaos was beauty to him. While Payne preferred order to chaos, reason to metaphor, and logic to simile; Patrick honored everything Payne derided. Peyton was already bridging the gap between the two; the three brothers were 'secretly' working on a sci-fi adventure comic of their own. They called it their 'brother bonding project'…no girls or parents allowed.

Mercedes drew Sam's attention to her with a grumbled, "I must have been out my damn mind letting Santana convince me to come to this stupid reunion. Everyone I actually liked from high school; I actually still see all the damn time."

"Oh come on, Darlin', it won't be so bad…don't you want to know if all the Cheerios got fat?" Sam teased. His eyes took in the beauty that he was married to. Mercedes looked amazing. She had refused to dress up for these people; but at the same time, she was never one to look a hot shitty mess. In a navy and white striped, strapless tunic cotton top, and a pair of white linen shorts that stopped three inches above her knee, she looked effortlessly sexy and yet cute and casual. While the top bared her shoulders and upper chest, it hid the luscious swells of her awe-inspiring curves. Although with the way the material slid over her endowments, "hid" may have been the wrong term. Mercedes wore her hair up in a shiny, high ponytail -as all of Sue's Cheerios had been asked to wear, in honor of their dearly departed coach. Her feet were encased in a pair of four inch red espadrilles that had a red ribbon wrapping up the smooth chocolate silk of her calves. Sam wondered for a long moment whether he should indulge his wife and return to their hotel room…he wasn't opposed to some alone time, after all. But he remembered something important. "Besides, the media has started calling Santana 'our generation's Oprah' and you know how bad she wants to rub it in," he taunted. "And you have to crow about that best leading actress Oscar, I mean you won an Oscar for your portrayal of your idol…that's some major 'look at me now' shit right there."

The years had been very good to her and her friends. She had recently starred as Aretha Franklin in the big screen bio pic of Mercedes' favorite all time icon. Mercedes had played the singer from age twenty-five to age fifty; the years that had marked the height of her career. She had been so touched that everyone felt she had done right by her idol and mentor that Sam had had to help her onto the stage and read her thank yous. Mercedes had been weeping far too hard to manage it on her own. However, in that moment, Mercedes couldn't fight back a smirk. Some of these same classmates had been responsible for making her days walking the halls of McKinley High hell for her younger self. And many of them were very angry that she'd told the whole world all about them in D granted, she had changed the last names…but that was all she changed. Perhaps it was a little immature and kind of petty, but she rather enjoyed the thought of encountering a few of those people after all this time.

Just as she was finishing that thought, fourteen year old Marissa Hummel-Ryback ran up to Mercedes and gave her a quick hug before racing over to her best friend and heterosexual life partner, Pandora. Kurt strolled over at a far more leisurely pace. "Is it wrong to enjoy how far we've risen, in direct opposition to how far they have sunk?" he asked his bestie. Kurt Hummel-Ryback was the preeminent name in style. He had two television shows and an entire internet channel to prove it. He showed it in every line of his tailored linen pants and his Tina Cohen-Chang cotton linen blend shirt. His hair was perfectly coifed, though not as high as it once was… 'Aging gracefully is all about subtly'. He often told his audience. He was married to ESPN's greatest color commentator, three time super bowl quarterback Justin Ryback and had been for over 17 years. His daughter modeled during the summers, and was in extremely high demand every year. His son, Henry, had taken after Justin in looks; but other than the fact that the eleven-year-old showed no inclination towards the same gender, he was Kurt Elizabeth Hummel all over. "Oh good Gaga, would someone please tell Megan Fielding that she is 44 years old and has not aged well…short shorts are not something she should have in her house, let alone wear." He gasped.

"Lady Face, that's Megan Fielding-Johnson-Kilgore-Penn now." Santana corrected as she strode forward. She gave Kurt and Mercedes a hug, punches Sam lightly in the shoulder and smirked as her children went to talk to their friends. Christian and Christina both looked like they had stepped out of Latin Vogue. Much to the chagrin of Madison, both of their children were clothe horses; and neither gave a fudge about being intellectuals. They always had good grades, so no one could even try to call them dumb, but they preferred to dress well and laugh at others. They already had many offers for modeling positions, but Santana was very firm that while looking good was a talent, she refused to allow that to be their only talent.

"You are late, again, Santana." Kurt pointed out in a sickeningly sweet voice as he waved at Stoner Brett. The renowned pot head had eventually gotten his act together, and now made his living as a lobbyist for the still chugging 'Legalize Marijuana' campaign. Brett was married with three children who all seemed the typical, shy, slightly clingy type you'd expect from homeschooled kids. His wife was clearly a nuevo-hippy -one of the former Occupy Whereever types- wearing a long old fashioned broomstick skirt and a flowy top, no makeup and way too many eco-friendly bracelets. "And where is Madison?" he asked quickly hugging his friend. Kurt loved Santana in the way one loves a sister…you have to love them even if they annoy the dog shit out of you…his preference was devoted to her spouse.

"She's at the hotel," Santana laughed. "She isn't really the 'eat out doors' type. Maddy is a city girl through and through."

Sam laughed. "After all these years I'm still surprised we got her out here for our wedding reception."

"I know, right?" Mercedes cosigned. Madison was rather proud of the fact that the closest she had ever come to a picnic was to grab something from a street vendor on the go. She shook her head. "Oh, look…is that Phil Lipoff…damn somebody's been eating some sausages." She whispered.

"Sausages, hams, pot roasts, biscuits and gravy…small Chilean villages…what the hell? He looks like the monster that ate Phil Lipoff." Santana laughed gleefully at their classmate's weight gain.

"Wait, Santana…didn't you date him beginning of sophomore year?" Quinn said as she and JJ walked up with Nadia and Puck and their children.

Finn caught that question and came back with, "Who didn't Santana date before she came out?" he teased catching the Latina in a gentle headlock.

She got free and punched him in his gut. "You mean before you drop kicked me out of my cosy little closet?" she said snidely. Santana didn't actually care anymore, but she knew that Finn still felt guilty about it and she could and did use that fact to her advantage whenever she wanted. "Now…where is my Maya…nobody wants to see you?"

Everyone had been shocked when Finn had asked Santana, of all people to be his daughter's godmother. But when Kurt finally picked his jaw up off the floor to ask the question on everyone's lips, Finn just smiled and answered, "I want Amaya to be strong and confident. I don't ever want her to feel like she is anything less than the absolute best person in the whole world. Sunshine is all those things too, but I know that Santana will help my daughter grow up to be the best person she can possibly be."

Santana graciously accepted the honor, and she was bound and determined to make sure that she was worthy of it. For the last couple of years, once a year, she took Amaya, Pandora, Payge, Christina and Penelope for a 'girls to women' weekend. As soon as she spotted her baby goddaughter, she scooped her up, remarking that soon she'd be too big for picking up, and carried her off to grab Penny and go play games the other girls were too mature for. Her laughter trailed behind her as she walked away from the growing group.

Most of the ND's had shown up, whether it was their reunion or not; mainly because their yearly trip to the ND house in Reunion had just ended, and no one really felt like going back to their real lives just yet. As they assembled in the free area of the campground; they were all discussing the changes time had wrought to them versus those it had wrought to the rest of their class mates. "You'd never know that Boom Boom Surrette is actually a few months younger than me." Kurt said with w rather evil smirk. "I've always said that my morning and nightly rituals would keep me looking younger than the rest of the plebian masses. Now I have proof. I barely have the beginnings of crow's feet and his face looks like a veritable road map of time gone by."

"I'm not sure how much that has to do with your beauty ritual…he's married to a woman, but watching dudes like a dirty old hawk…still being that closeted this long cannot be healthy." Justin pointed out. Sure enough, a thin, severe looking blonde was holding the former footballer's hand. Justin's point was proven even further when Boom Boom's prissy looking wife hit him on the shoulder to gain his attention. He'd nearly gotten caught by her casting lecherous looks he was giving to one of the former male Cheerios; one who'd come out of the closet the second he left Lima, and much like Kurt, didn't look a day over thirty.

"Too true." Kurt sighed. He looked at his watch and groaned. "I believe that it is time for me to speak." He said with another sigh as he headed to the stage. Kurt wasn't simply sighing because he didn't really want to address the annoying masses; he was sighing over the reason he had to. "Good Afternoon, McKinley High Class of 2012. I am Kurt Hummel-Ryback, Class VP. Before we start, I'd like to have a moment of silence for our Class President, Brittany S. Pierce." As everyone bowed their heads in silent prayer or reflection for poor Brittany, the New Directions couldn't help but remember how hard her death had been.

After acting as a surrogate for Blaine and Nathaniel, the blonde choreographer had chosen to take a role in a London play. She was killed six months into the show. A patron of the London arts scene, had fostered a crush on Brittany; and she dated him as much as she did anyone. When she broke up with him to date a fellow dancer, his daughter, the man had become very belligerent. Brittany was found raped and beaten to death in her girlfriend's apartment. Unfortunately, the man had never been brought to justice. He had been tried, and found not guilty despite evidence to the contrary. But his family had been barristers for generations, and they held a seat in the House of Lords; no jury of his peer was going to convict him of killing some 'little American tart'.

Kurt shook off the very morose thoughts as he forced himself to continue. "Welcome classmates to our 'Friends and Family Reunion picnic…the kickoff for our reunion weekend. Tomorrow night at seven, we'll meet at the Wyndham for our class dinner dance…where we will give out our superlatives. Then we will release you all back to the wild on Sunday. We will return to Lima for our 35th. Today's order of business is to eat drink and be merry, get to know the people our classmates have grown up to be, get to know their families, and reconnect with old friends." He said with a flourish.

The living New Directions all embraced him when he came down the stairs; they knew how hard that had to have been on Kurt. While he and Brittany had never been super close, she was one of them and having to take her place was like ripping a scab off a barely healed wound. When others, including Jacob Ben Israel, approached the tight knit group, they closed ranks around their most vulnerable member.

While most of the NDs had had amazing professional and personal success; one had finally gained true professional success, just when her personal life was falling apart. Rachel had just won her first Grammy the year before, and returned to her New York home to find that her husband of six years had cleansed his presence from the apartment they shared with their sons. The news broke soon thereafter that he had left his family to move in with a 21 year old, second generation stripper. Rachel was humiliated. Quinn had written her prenup, however, and the infidelity clause was excessively brutal to say the least. By the time Rachel's lawyers -members of Quinn's firm, since she was far too close to the case- finished with the HipHop crooner, he didn't have a pot to piss in nor a window to throw it out of. He found out very quickly that 21 year old strippers didn't stay with 51 year old former sex symbols…at least not for long, after their ex-wife and children got 85 percent of their monthly income in spousal and child support.

The group knew that the wounds were still fresh for Rachel, so they were determined not to allow the vultures in their class to send her back into therapy. However, when the attack came, it wasn't aimed at the petite Broadway Diva. "So Jones, guess you and Evans are a shoo-in for the 'who the hell would have thought it' award." Rick 'the Stick' Nelson crowed. "I mean Evans; you could have had any chick you wanted. You dated Fabray, Lopez and Pierce…but you marry the fat black girl." He scoffed.

Puck grabbed Sam, stopping him from doing any damage. "Nelson's just trying to get you to hit him so he can sue you. He's in bankruptcy again." He said loud enough to carry to the rest of the crowd.

"That, or he's ready to come out of the closet." Quinn pointed out scathingly. "Mercedes has been hit on by some of the most powerful men in the world. The king of Jordan commissioned a statue of her for his bedroom; and the only men who don't find her attractive are gay."

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have to call bullshit on that one. Nathaniel and I are both gay…and we have a standing agreement that if Sam fucks up again, we're sharing Cedes." Blaine pointed out.

"Heard and seconded." Justin agreed.

"Well, Noah and I are both straight, and we have a similar agreement." Nadia spoke up laughing a little.

Sam spun around to look at his bro. "What? Your woman is fine, Bro…my wife and I are both secure enough in our love and marriage to acknowledge that." Puck defended.

"I personally don't think Rick's problem is with my curves." Mercedes spoke up, her eyes boring into Rick's. "What was it you used to call me when Azimio and Phil weren't around? 'Nigga bitch'…yeah that was it. Well, guess what Cracker ass …this 'Nigga bitch' has more money than you will ever in your life see with two eyes. I throw what you make in three years on the dresser every night as my pocket change. My closet is bigger than your entire sad ass apartment. I wear diamonds like you wear your genital warts; big as fuck and tons of them. I have this fine ass white man as my husband, who loves to touch and kiss and lick and suck every curvy, black inch of me. You, on the other hand, can't seem to keep a woman interested in you longer than you can afford to hire them…and given that you're still working that rent a cop job you had thirteen years ago, I'm guessing that's what? An hour? Highs school was barely the beginning for m; but for you, it's the glory days. How mutherfucking sad…"

Puck had stopped holding Sam back as they realized that Mercedes was right. However, when Rick decided to try to shut down the truth that was coming from Mercedes' mouth, it was neither of them who stopped the former hockey player with one big ass punch. Finn stood over the downed redneck shaking his hand. It had been a long time since he'd last thrown a punch, but it had been a damn fine one. "Get up and get the hell away from us. If I see you near Mercedes or any of us or our kids, and I will kill you; and I will make sure that the whole world knows exactly why. Not a jury in the world would convict me…" he growled sounding little like their normally jovial friend. Then he channeled his inner Dwayne Evans, "now get…we don't like your kind 'round here."

The rest of the picnic went off without a hitch. Afterwards the kids were all left with their respective grandparents, and the grown folks returned to their hotel rooms for some 'no chance at getting interrupted' love making. Rachel allowed Tobias and Gideon to enjoy their evening with Hiram and Leroy, and she proceeded to get very, very, very drunk. She woke up the next morning naked in bed with Jacob Ben Israel. The poor, hungover diva managed to get her things and make it back to her room without waking her former stalker or getting caught by any of the photogs that had inundated the small town once again -after they realized that the ND's would all be in attendance. Time showed her two things; one, that the infertility issues in her marriage had not been her fault -as Miguel had always subtly made her believe. And two, that infertility wasn't an issue for Rachel, even at 44 years old. Her daughter was born with a few slight developmental problems, but she had the smile of an angel, even just moments after birth…so that was the name Rachel gave her, Angel.

Into every life a little rain must fall, and the New Directions, blessed though they were, were not exempt. They had their wins and their losses but they got through them all together.

Los Angeles, CA September 3, 2043

Sam held his wife close to him as they moved together, their bodies finding their climax together. "Damn, Darlin'…how is it you can still make me cum so hard my ears ring, even after all these years." He asked when he could do more than pant.

Mercedes breathless laughter filled the room. "I do like a million pussy clenches a day, and your cock is big." She murmured against his shoulder.

Sam moaned and thrust forward allowing her demonstration to milk his dick some more. He hardened quickly, belying his age. As they were basking in the afterglow of round two, they heard a knock at the door. Well, a knock at the intercom that allowed their children in the hall to be heard in the soundproof bedroom. "Mom…Dad…you guys are too old to be doing what I know you're doing." Pandora's voice was filled with mild disgust. "We have to get moving. My move-in day is in less than three weeks, and you have four children to get ready for college." She reminded them. "This train is leaving with or without you in an hour."

"She has a point." Mercedes sighed. "We've put this off as long as we could."

"We weren't putting anything off. You had your 'intimate venue' tour, and I had the promotional tour for my graphic novel 'Raven's Heart'." Sam defended.

"And we had your Country Hall of Fame induction ceremony." She agreed.

"Besides…I don't want my babies to be going all the way across the damn country for college. What was so wrong with UCLA?" Sam groused as he stood and stretched. Sam Evans was still a fine picture of a man. His body was still ripped and toned, his dark blond hair was shot through with gray, and his face had lines from all the laughter he'd shared over the years.

Mercedes rose as well. Her body wasn't as tight as it once had been; though thanks to having her own plastic surgeon married to her soul sister, breast feeding seven over the course of ten years hadn't taken too much of a permanent toll on her curves. She had only breast fed the quads for two and a half years, the twins for just a little bit longer; but Sam had only finally been weaned from his Mercy-Milk addiction when the twins were five. Despite it all, she was quite proud to point out that she had only had the one tummy tuck and her breasts lifted. The fact that her ass was still a proud and high sitting monument to the sensuality of curves was a testament to exercise and good living. Even after having turned fifty, Mercedes Jones-Evans was still a fixture on People's Sexiest People list. "Sammy, baby, they just want a little bit of freedom. When I was their age, I was out here living with Puck trying to make my dreams come true. I know you want to protect them, but it's time for us to let them out of the nest."

"Fine. I might have to let them grow up…but I don't have to like it." Sam grumbled. His children were his world. Unlike a lot of Hollywood parents, he and Mercedes were actually parents. He and Mercy had taught them to talk and to walk. He and Mercedes…ok… so they had left a lot of the potty training to Tamicka at first, but once they found and had those flushable potties installed, they had helped with the potty training too. They soothed nightmares and comforted booboos. It had been Mercedes who taught them to tie their shoes, he who had taught them to ride their bikes. Time had flown by so quickly. To Sam it seemed like they had just come home from the hospital and now it was time to take them to college.

The Jones-Evans' parents showered and dressed, both of them taking care to be trendy, in an age appropriate way. Mercedes cherry red and white polka dot sundress was cut higher in the neckline than she would have worn when the quads were eight, and the hem ended at mid-calf. Her shoes, red two inch wedge sandals, were a nice height for her without making her seem to be trying to convey too young an image. Sam rocked the 'older gentleman' shopping look made famous by Brad Pitt…jeans, simple tee shirt, simple blazer, simple tennis shoes. Granted the 'simple' looking clothes cost what to most people seemed a fortune, but still they looked simple.

Mercedes didn't bother with too much makeup. She used just a tinted moisturizer and some very light powder, and a shiny nude gloss. Her jewelry was just as demure. One carat diamond studs, a two carat diamond pendant, a simple platinum watch and her wedding set, including the diamond and platinum infinity band Sam had given her for their tenth anniversary. Sam wore his watch and his crucifix and his wedding band. That was all a dude needed in his book and, other than cuff links when necessary, that was all he ever wore.

They headed down to the kitchen to find that Nora had already fed the kids breakfast and had sat out their customary egg white omelets and fruit salad. Nora, Dante, and Robert still worked for Mercedes and she told them the only way they were getting free of her was to retire. Granted, since she was Judith's godmother, they knew that they would never be free of her…not that they wanted to be anyway.

Sam and Mercedes ate quickly, now that they had gotten the 'woe is me, my babies are all grown up's' out of the way, it was all kind of exciting. They headed out to the garage and found Simon and Donavan trying to corral the quads into two vehicles. The problem came when trying to decide whose cars to take. Each of the quads had been gifted with a different car for their graduation gift. Pandora had chosen a cute little pink Audi coupe. That car was out of the running, because it held three people at most. Payge had picked an Acura RDX in midnight purple, aka a very dark purple with flecks of silver throughout the paint. Payne's choice was a dependable, roomy blue-black Volvo XC60 SUV, and his brother, had chosen the silver Audi Q5. Since Payne's, Payge's and Patrick's cars all sat five, they were each arguing who would drive. Mercedes just stood back and watched her young adults with pride.

With a mother's eye, she looked over her babies. Her sons were handsome, though quite different. Patrick's caramel skin making him a few shades darker than his brother and sisters. His startling green eyes further set him apart. Patrick was taller than Payne, though only by a few inches. Patrick was the same height as his grandfather Heath, though he had his grandfather Dwayne's leaner build. His mouth, even larger than his father's or his mother's, had earned him the nickname 'Aerosmith' from his beloved Auntie Snixx, and he loved to force the fiery Latina to accept his kisses to her forehead. She, in turn, claimed he was trying to suck her brain out through her pores. Patrick also had a ready smile and a flirtatious nature that seemed at war with the direct, piercing gaze that he used to assess everyone as soon as he met them. Pat-Trick, as his family called him, was wearing a pair of slightly fitted straight leg jeans, and some of his beloved Air Maxs. He and his brother had both inherited their father's love of smedium shirts and the physiques to pull them off. That day, Patrick's smeduim was a simple tee shirt that read 'The Trouble With Real Life Is That There Is No Danger Music.' Mercedes shook her head and turned her attention to the sibling he was currently going toe to toe with.

Payge looked cute, yet unconcerned with the dictates of fashion in a large, vintage tunic top in a shade of electric purple that looked incredible next to her honey brown skin. Her legs were encased in thin black leggings, and her feet clad in three strap sandals that barely kept the thin sole attached to her foot. Payge and Pandora were both taller than their mother and most of their aunts, but at only five six, they were still at least two inches shorter than their Aunt Stacey. Their beautiful amber eyes showed flecks of green and gold when they were angry or feeling passionate about something. Mercedes smiled to herself as she remembered the first time she had really noticed that the green flecks they had had at birth reappeared at times. Pandora had been trying to convince Payge to try out for the cheerleading squad with her. Payge was having none of it and as the discussion got more and more heated, more and more flecks of green and eventually gold popped into her irises. Payge still wore her hair down to the small of her back, her dark brown curls were almost never straightened. She had straightened her hair for prom. She'd worn a form fitting golden dress just shades lighter than her own skin that showed the world that yes, she and her far more fashion conscious sister were identical in every way…and not just their amber colored, almond shaped, doe eyes, full cheeks and wide, full lipped smiles.

Pandora was showing off those curves in all their glory that day, as she usually did. She wore a retro black romper that reminded Sam of something Mercedes had worn years before. The top had very thin straps, and she'd made sure to wear a thin strap black bra with it. Mercedes knew from experience that Pandora would end up cranky as hell -long before they finished their shopping- from the way the straps would eventually dig into her shoulders. The shorts showed off long and shapely legs, and she'd paired it with wedges that gave her foot a lot more coverage than her twin's but a lot less comfort. While Pandora and Payge had definitely gotten their mother's curves, their bodies were not quite as voluptuous. By their age Mercedes had already worn an E cup and was well on her way to the GG she would eventually reach after breastfeeding; but the twins were only a DD if the sizes ran small. Their hips and bottoms were subtler versions of Mercedes as well. A fact that Sam and the men who'd help him raise them were very grateful for. However, their waists were trimmer, making their curves seem just as magnificent to those boys and men who actually looked.

With a smirk, Mercedes wondered if Pandora had ever heard from that poor Wilson boy who'd tried to take her on her first date. Puck and Sam really shouldn't have tormented the poor boy so…but then again, who really want to date a guy who wet his pants when your father gave them the 'rules for dating my daughter and the consequences for breaking them' talk? Of course, Sam and Puck had no way of knowing that Payne had given the kid his own version of the talk as well. Apparently Payne's warning to the boy that his father and godfathers liked to hunt and collect swords had fallen on deaf ears, until he was confronted by the evidence in live Technicolor. Payne was the family enigma. He dressed like a Goth, spoke like a scientist, and worked out like a jock. He was taller than his father by two full inches, and had inherited his grandfather Heath's wide, muscular frame. He looked like he could bench-press Buicks. But with his preponderance of black tee shirts, wide leg jeans and vintage Doc Martins, he looked like he really ate live chickens for breakfast. For off to college shopping he was in his usual combo, though this smedium black shirt read 'Do Not Tickle A Sleeping Dragon, For You Are Crunchy And Taste Good With Ketchup'. Stevie and Mercedes had infected him very early with their love of all things Potter. When Stevie had seen the Potter word play tee shirt, he'd had to get one for his sister and nephew. Mercedes had had hers mounted in a frame; it had unfortunately been too small in the bust for her to wear.

As Mercedes was giggling at her sons tee shirts, a shrill whistle pierced the bickering. "I'm driving. This is why we have the Escalade, so that we can fit all of our kids in one car. Since Penny and PeyPey are at Kurt's while we undertake this endeavor," Truth be told the twelve year old twins didn't like the thought of their big brothers and sisters being so far away any more than their father did, so they had gone to stay with Kurt rather than watch their parents help their siblings get ready to leave them. "Simon and Donovan can accompany us, as they have all the lists of what you guys will need."

The quads had the decency to look sheepish as they realized that they had overlooked a very obvious fact in their excitement. But Mercedes Jones was never one to give up an argument, and her children were just like their mother in that regard. Rather than ending the argument, Sam's words simply shifted it to who would sit where. Finally Mercedes put them where she wanted them. Payge, Simon and Donovan in the third row, Pandora, Payne and Patrick in the second row, and Mercy took the shotgun seat. "Alright, first stop the container store. We'll have them deliver the big things, like Pandora's closet organizer or Patrick's art supply organizer. But I want to bring some of the totes to the Sam's and Target with us."

"Sam's, Target?" Pandora groaned. "Do we have to go to those places…they are soo…"

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "They are perfect. God, how the hell did I raise such a booshie child? You need toothpaste, you need pads, and you need regular stuff that usually Dante buys for you. You can let us take you to these places and get you all stocked up, or you can take what we have at the house and then have to go to places even smaller and more expensive when you're in New York."

"And speaking of New York, you are expected to have dinner at least once a week with either Blaine and Nate or Marley and Jake." Sam reminded his oldest daughter.

"I know, Daddy." Pandora gave a long suffering sigh. "Uncle Jake swears that he will stalk me on campus if they go more than two weeks without seeing me. I have no idea why you all are so worried; I'm going to Columbia, not Kazakhstan."

Sam gave her a quelling glare in the rearview mirror that made her swallow any further comment. "You are my daughter. You are choosing to move all the way across the country from me. You four somehow even managed to talk me into letting the four of you all go to different schools. I get it that you want to spread your wings and fly. But as your father, it is my right and my duty to make sure that you have some kind of safety net."

Payge spoke up from the very back. She had been reminding her twin for the last month and a half how hard this really was on their parents, but the fashionista kept forgetting that everyone wasn't as excited as she was. "Payne, Patrick and I are to try to meet up at least every month and go to Manhattan for lunch or dinner with them as well; we can stay at the small apartment if it's empty. We are to call you and Mom at least once a day for the first month and then we can back down to once every few days, and eventually get down to once a week. But texting is not calling. The AmEx is for emergencies only. If we have to use it for anything more than five hundred dollars we need to call and let you two or Simon and Donovan know. The platinum visa is for books and needs, like food…oh and tickets to go to the monthly meal with our family. The regular visa is for junk we don't need but want." She went down their list of rules for leaving home. "We have to live on campus for at least two years. Junior year if we want to get an apartment, we can only move in with people with whom we share a sexual orientation. I.E. Pandora and I can only move in with heterosexual females or homosexual males, Payne can only live with heterosexual males or homosexual females and Patrick can't have roommates because he'll do anyone who'll say yes."

"I call bullshit." Patrick groused, "Oh sorry Mom." He apologized for cursing very quickly. "Anyway, Payge is a lying liar who lies." He corrected himself before turning to his sister. "You know good and well that you are just as bisexual as I am." He said pointedly. "Or maybe it was Pandora who got caught with her hand up Jordan Previtt's skirt in detention last year."

"Eww, as if. If I were going to go lez, I would do like Auntie Snixx…I'd find a woman at least as hot as I am. Jordan Previtt is at best a four and I…and therefore Payge…are total tens." Pandora said in her own defense.

Payge leaned around her sister to whisper to her offended brother. "She was so totally worth it…that girl is sweeter than No-No's Crème Brulee."

Mercedes spoke before either Pandora or Patrick could respond. "Your father and I don't care at all what your sexual orientation is, we love you. I will say this, Payge; could you please…please try to refrain from indulging in your tendency towards exhibitionism when you are away at college? I do not want to have to fly to Atlanta to get you out of jail." She huffed. "Getting caught with your hand in that girl's cookie jar when you were in detention for getting caught making out with the Cannon boy on the quad."

Payge looked a little sheepish. She wisely refrained from pointing out that her own parents were rather well known for their own public displays of affection. They were caught on camera at the Oscars, with Sam's hands on Mercedes bottom and top curves as the couple kissed backstage. Sam had just won a golden statue for his short film documentary showing the ever growing counter culture of 'geek', and they were celebrating. That was the excuse he'd given when questioned. Of course, anyone of the NDs or the babyNDs could have told the interviewer that it was normal to walk in on those two in the clutch. They'd been caught by everyone at some point or another. Though Stevie still held the record.

"Spelman, Columbia, MIT and Princeton." Simon listed, "I'm so glad that I thought to establish a billable Fedex account for shipping things to you four…" he sighed. "You know I still remember helping your mother pick out your cribs, and now you guys are all going off to college."

"I can't believe that you two chose to stick it out with us all these years." Sam smiled.

"What can I say? The pay is great, the benefits are incredible…I mean can you tell we where else we could work that, not only doesn't care that we are together, but that has an adoption or surrogacy allowance as part of their benefits package." Donovan pointed out. "You created a day care center and allowed us and Nora and her men to send their twins there at a huge discount."

"Oh please, we had to force them to let us pay anything." Simon pointed out. He and Donovan had taken advantage of the surrogacy allowance when Penny and PeyPey were four, and were blessed with a son they gave the name Corrigan. At the time the LA NDs had so many small children, that they were all unable to find nannies who were as good as Tamicka. So they had banded together and had created a daycare center with Tamicka as its head teacher and hired her a full staff of teachers, all with early childhood education degrees…even those in the infant care center. Given the quality of the education and the elite owners and clientele; in no time at all it became the daycare center/preschool to get your children into in Holmby Hills. It had expanded over the years, and now the Baranaday School -Sam had named it and he felt the word sounded cool- had a waiting list a mile long. The institution was so renowned that people in the know attempted to get on the list, not long after they were confirmed pregnant. Best of all, it was fully self sustaining. The proceeds from the tuition paid all the needed insurance, teacher and support staff salaries, the mortgage on the grounds, and the benefits for the staff; though the pool cleaning services were comped by The Brothers Puckerman Pool Cleaners, LLC.

"We were going to have the center open anyway, why should you have to give us back money that we pay you to work for us, just to make it possible for you to come to work?" Mercedes defended. "That has never made sense to me."

Sam shrugged as well. To be honest, Sam never felt like they paid super well either. That was why he was always giving them bonuses, to make up for what he felt was an underpayment. After all they only made a little over a hundred thousand a year, but they were living in one of the most expensive places in the country. Often Donovan would remind Sam that they also lived rent free in a guest house on the property, and usually ate at least two meals a day with the family. Simon and Donovan had a nice nest egg for their retirement and had started good college funds for their son. But rather than fight an unwinnable battle, Sam's sophomore year in high school had left him very sensitive about certain things, and those who cared about him just let him have his way where he could.

"Besides, we never could find anyone else we were willing to trust with our family." Simon told them with a grin. "It's not like you'd have let us go anyway…you still hunt Monica and Antonio down if you go more than a month without hearing from them."

"That's true." Sam acknowledged. "Anyway, Pandora, Nate was able to use his alumni cred to get you into Furnald…so you'll have a single."

"Payge, you requested the 'typical college experience' which is great, cause there were like, no strings we could have pulled to get you any special treatment at Spelman; unless we, like, endowed a building or something." Mercedes joked.

"And while you conceivably could, you never would use your fame and fortune to get me or any of your kids special treatment because that would be wrong." Payge teased.

"Yes, it would be wrong…but thankfully while you don't have a single, your own academic record was good enough to get you into the Presidential Scholars program all on your own merits. So at least you are in the best of all the dorms…hopefully your roommate will be good people." Sam told her with a reassuring smile.

"I like her name Constance…that's a good, strong name." Payge assured her dad.

"Not like Reginald William Thurston, the third." Patrick groused.

Mercedes rolled her eyes. Patrick was not happy to be rooming with a Princeton legacy student. "Pat trick…give the guy a chance. There are people who come from money who are really good, kind, caring, hardworking people. Blaine comes from money; Kurt's mother came from money. Hell, you might not come from old money, but it's been a generation or two since the Joneses have felt the bite."

"Well it ain't been that long since the Evanses have; so if ole' money gets on your nerves, just remember, the Evans family can trace their family all the way back to England, and there was an Evans with General Lee at Appomattox Courthouse." Sam assured his oldest son as he pulled into the parking lot of the Container Store. There it was just like shopping for them as babies again, four of everything, but trying to search for different colors or different patterns so that they would maintain their individuality. Trash cans specially designed to be used with grocery store bags, laundry hampers with sections so that the clothes could be sorted as soon as they were removed, desk organizers meant to keep all their supplies neat and tidy and other desk accessories, hooks and closet systems, under bed storage, and stackable storage drawers. Payge and Payne both picked more organization systems, because neither of them could stand clutter or not having a place for everything and everything in its place. As they stood at the register, Simon snapped his fingers as though remembering something, and dashed off. He returned struggling with a large box that he had picked up from the 'buy online, pick up in store' window. He told them that he would explain it all when they returned to the house.

The family's next stop was a very small custom computer store. Despite the fact that only one of the quads was going to MIT, Sam decided that getting them all computers with the advanced specifications that MIT recommended wouldn't be a bad thing. However, only Payne wanted a MacBook Pro. All three of the others chose to go with high end Dells that, with just an autograph from Mercedes, the gentlemen at the computer store offered to trick out for them even further. After they left the computer store, having made arrangements to pick up the completed computers in a few days, their next stop was the big market tech store. A flash drive for each subject, an extra 2TB external hard drive for each of them to back up everything, they also got tablets and extra SD cards to download their textbook to, and for their note taking. They got two surge protectors each, and their loving father ordered them each a 24 inch plasma TV for their rooms. He got Patrick, Payge and Payne game systems and bought Pandora a special CADD desktop that she could use just for her designs. Simon made arrangements to have all of that delivered to the house when they checked out.

They drove from there to the office supply store where Mercedes forced them to get the old fashioned supplies like notebooks and pens, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners and the like. Mercedes watched giggling as her eighteen year old daughters channeled their inner three year selves when they both wanted the same automatic stapler, and there was only one left. Finally, Payne handed Payge his, which while a different color, was the same make and model. He grabbed a regular stapler, unbothered by the extra second it would take to press down and staple the papers himself. By the time they left Office Depot, they were all ready for lunch.

After much discussion as to what everyone wanted, the family adjourned to Crustacean for lunch. The Vietnamese restaurant was the only one they could all readily -all meaning the quads, Mercedes and Simon- agree on. Rico met them there and transferred much of what they had already purchased to his F150 to take it back to the house; leaving only a large storage container for each teen. They thanked him and headed into the posh restaurant. As soon as they were seated, Sam ordered enough grilled beef and chicken satays for the table and an order of rock tempura shrimp for himself and Mercedes. Everyone placed their drink orders and they settled down to wait. "So, what are you guys going to miss most about living at home?" Sam asked.

"Saturday morning cartoon cuddles." The quads answered as one.

It was a tradition that Sam and Mercedes has started when the quads were too young to actually remember a time before it. Every Saturday morning when the quads were little, the family would gather together on Sam and Mercedes' bed. As they got bigger, and definitely after Penelope and Peyton were able to join them, they would all gather on the huge couch Mercedes had had specially made for the family room in their current house. Everyone would brush their teeth, and then chill on the couch all cuddled together in their PJs. They would watch the 'good cartoons' from when Sam and Mercedes were kids. Thanks to streaming TV and Netflix, they were able to allow their children to experience original Looney Tunes, and Smurfs. They would watch Animaniacs, and Tiny Toons, the 90's Batman and early 2000's Justice League cartoons. There was no shortage of cartoons that they could enjoy together. Once they were 'too old' for cartoons, they would watch movies; but whether on the road or at home, Saturday morning meant 'cartoon cuddles'.

"Well, you guys can get up Saturday mornings, and watch them in your dorm beds; you can even call us and let us know which ones you've picked that week and we can kind of watch them together." Mercedes suggested.

"That could work…could make it worse, but we can try it and see." Payge laughed. "I'm going to miss Julia and Judith…it seems weird that they have another year in school and even then, they say they are going to stay close to home." She sighed.

"They still have plenty of time to decide, and if they choose to go back east with one of you, then we'll work with Nora, Dante and Robert to make it a reality." Sam assured her.

The server arrived with their appetizers and drinks, and took their salad and entrée orders. Mercedes gave her order first, "I would like the garlic noodles with shrimp and the warm spinach salad." She said politely.

Pandora went next, the quads always ordered girls first, oldest first. It was a fair way to make sure that they didn't argue when they were younger and it simply stuck with them. "Can I please have the kale salad and the tuna pasta?" she ordered politely. "And can you put all the dressings and sauces on the side?"

Once their waitress -who was very clearly an aspiring actress with her very large false breasts and weirdly shaped collagened lips- carefully jotted down Pandora's order, though her eyes never left Sam, Payge spoke up. "I'm going to have the Wok Noodles with Shrimp and the Pho Noodle Soup with beef."

Patrick laughed. He knew that Payge would get some beef in her meal somewhere; she'd been eating beef since before she could really chew it. No one, not even their crazy Aunt Rachel tried to get between Payge and her dead cow. "Can I have the Buddah's Delight and the prawn angel hair pasta?" Unlike his sister, he was not a big red meat eater. Much like his mother, Patrick preferred seafood to meats that used to have a face. Though Mercedes was known to still chow down on a burger every now and then; when she hit forty, she had cut herself off from almost all of her red meat consumption.

Payne looked at the menu and sighed. He always had the hardest time making up his mind. "I'll have the grilled calamari salad, please and the sautéed filet mignon, medium well." He finally said in a rush before he could change his mind again.

Simon was almost giggling. He often claimed that Payne was his spiritual child when it came to ordering food in a restaurant. He had a very hard time deciding on a single entrée as well, but rather than force himself to puzzle it out like Payne, Simon closed his eyes and pointed. "Okay, it looks like I will have the lemongrass chicken, and the…ooh and the hamachi salad." He finished happily. "Good looking out finger of mine."

Donovan was a very fast orderer. He got the same thing every time. The simplest salad possible, and the least expensive entrée, no matter who was paying it was engrained in Donovan to be frugal. "I would like the warm chicken salad and the Vietnamese crepes. Thank you."

Sam always went last. He was a protector and a provider by nature, and to him that meant making sure that everyone he cared about was seen to before him. It also had the added benefit of giving him extra time to make up his mind. Everything always looked so good to him. "Can I please have the Crab Salmon roll rather than a salad and I'll have your famous garlic noodles with shrimp as well?"

"Sure, will there be anything else?" she said the question a normal query for a waitress, it was her tone that rendered it completely unprofessional.

"Chickenhead, I know that you are not trying to flirt with my dad when you're barely older than his oldest children." Patrick said with total disdain.

"Meaning that he is literally old enough to be your father," Pandora continued for him.

"And our mother is sitting not four inches away from him." Payne pointed out.

Payge just scoffed. "He don't want your fake ass boobs…and he sure as hell don't want your fake ass lips. And you are so lucky my mother is a lady, cause if she were anything other than the First Lady of R&B, she would have snatched your bottle blonde ass bald."

Simon rolled his eyes, and signaled the matre' d. "Excuse me sir." he said politely. "I believe that we will need another waitperson. That one has offended several members of our party. Perhaps she could serve a table of unmarried gentlemen who won't feel uncomfortable with her flirtatious nature." He said sweetly.

"Madame Jones, Mister Evans. I apologize for her unprofessional behavior." He hurried to genuflect when he recognized the power couple in front of him. He took the order pad from the future botox queen. "I will put in your order myself."

The rest of their meal was uneventful. As they ate, they went over their lists with Simon. He had downloaded several general lists in addition to the school specific list each school had prepared for their first year students. Pandora had researched and found 'the girly girl's guide to packing for college, and there were a few things on that list that were not on Simon's; so he added them to his individual quad specific list. Mercedes pointed out that they wouldn't want to schlep their hairdryers and curling irons back and forth all the time so they should get a second set for their dorm rooms.

Sam pointed out that since Payne and Patrick had forced Dante to teach them how to cut their own hair, they should each buy and take a set of clippers with them to school as well. For the boys time at the barbershop had been an annoyance when Sam was taking them; the men in the shop were rather offended by the fact that Sam had taken such a 'fine black woman' from the brothas, and spoke on it…but when Mercedes would take them, the boys had absolutely hated hearing the things those men would say about her in their hearing. "You can probably find someone on campus who can cut your hair for you, but probably they won't have clippers. Plus too…you can always rake in extra bucks cutting other guys hair. Cause if you go through your allowance early, don't be callin' us." Sam laughed.

"Honey, if they go through the grand a month you're planning on giving them than we're all gonna have to have a long, long talk about fiscal responsibility." Mercedes whispered to her husband. To her children she instead said, "At the end of September, we will put enough in your accounts for you to get some winter clothes and coats. Why all of you are so determined to go to school in places where it snows just baffles me. I grew up in the snow…moved to warmer weather as soon as I could. You grew up all warm and toasty, but are running to the damn snow."

"Mom, you did a concert in Paris under the Eiffel tower in the middle of February…you do remember the seven inches of snow that came down just during your set…right?" Payne teased.

"It wasn't that much snow." She told him with a grin, "and besides, you were all very warm and toasty in my trailer. And you were all nice and safe and warm in Cannes while I was freezing my butt off in Moscow, the next stop."

"And even ten years later we still thank you for that." Pandora said with a big smile.

"Well, it wasn't just about your comfort, the political climate at the time was just returning to an even keel. I had to be there, but I sure as hell wasn't putting the rest of my family in danger." Mercedes whispered.

Sam reached out and took her hand. He knew that agreeing to perform that concert hard been really hard on Mercedes, but when the president asks you to do something as important as sealing rebuilt political relationships, there really isn't a good way to say no. Especially when you are really the only star big enough in both countries to be able to do so successfully. "You did a great job, Darlin', the kids had a great time in Cannes with Micka and Rico. You were safe, and looked absolutely amazing in that sexy ass sable cloak over those sexy thigh high boots and that turtleneck that…ummm yeah, sorry kids…anyway, we got back to them just fine." He reminded her. "I just still can't believe that Putin was foolish enough to let that Snowden guy and his legislature's dumbass stance on gay rights wreck US/Russian relations for almost two decades."

"I think he believed the hype that Obama was too nice to do shit." Donovan theorized. No one else at the table was old enough to remember the time they were discussing, and Donovan really only knew about it from the historical view point of one who studied it after the fact.

"Alright, no maudlin emo junk." Pandora interrupted. "Where are we off to next?"

Simon looked over his list. "Sam's Club is next for all the bulk items. Dante gave me a list of the household things that you'll need to take with you. Like I bet you all didn't know that you cannot…and I cannot stress this enough…you cannot use Cheer or Gain for washing your clothes. You four all picked up your grandmother Edith's allergy to those, so Tide is the best option for you. Payge you have to use the sensitive toothpaste, Pandora, you have to make sure that you don't buy Aleve, but Patrick you can't take anything but Aleve. Payne…you don't really have any issues, well except…"

"No floral scents. Clean linen scent or…hey, think I can find all unscented stuff?" He wondered aloud.

"We'll see." Donovan said making a notation on Simon's pad. "After the bulk items, which please God let there be delivery for, then we'll head to Neiman Marcus for towels and bed and bath type things. After we leave there we will have a final stop at Target for anything that was not purchased elsewhere."

Following the shopping itinerary as dictated by their despot of a PA Simon, they made their way to Sam's club. An hour and a half later, they left all of them feeling shell shocked. The size of the packages available was mind boggling to Mercedes, Sam and the Quads who hadn't really done their own shopping in a very long time…if ever. Laundry supplies would last them each at least the entire fall semester, if not the year. The pack of toothbrushes would easily last them two years, even if they traded out every three months like their dentists recommended. Toothpaste would last for a long while as well. Wandering around the supersized super store helped them to work off lunch, however, and when they arrived at Neiman Marcus they were all ready to go. They immediately found and hit the bed and bath department.

After more than a little discussion, they decided to start with the hardest decisions first. They made their way to the bedding section. Once there, Sam sent the quads off to look for their comforters. He and Mercedes quickly selected mattress pads and pillows for them. They each got two extra long twin LunaLuxe Mattress Pads. Pandora and Payge each got a The Pillow Bar side sleeper pillow and a regular king pillow as well. Their brothers, a back sleeper and a belly sleeper got two of the Pillow Bar king pillows. They also got each girl a neckroll pillow and the boys each a 'husband' pillow. They headed over to find Simon and Donovan and the quads. Payne had already found his bed sets, a twin version of the bedding that already adorned his queen sized bed in his bedroom at home. Martouk Guest House Windowpane bed linens and Marlowe sheets and pillowcases, two sets one in a shade of blue called 'sea glass' and the other a deep goldish color called 'butter'. The coverlets and bedding wear a 400 thread count Egyptian cotton. The sheets and pillow cases were 550-thread-count white cotton percale linens with a double ribbon of matching tape around the top edges.

Payge had selected two very different looks. For her first choice she went for a slightly over the top, decadent Turkish look with the Ann Gish Willow bedding set. She chose the spice and Spice and mango color palette and the Willow leaf-patterned linens were pure silk, the duvet covers and shams had gorgeous topstitched flange borders. The comforter and matching pillow shams with their French knot trim were reversible with the solid color on one side and the leaf pattern on the other. Payge even got the three-panel gathered dust skirts to match. Mercedes grabbed a selection of four of the matching cable throw blankets for her perpetually cold daughter. For her second set, she picked the Donna Karen Modern Classics duvet cover in a dark grey called black ice and sheets in a purple they called haze. The sheets were 400 thread count cotton sateen and the bedding was quilted silk. The teen danced happily with her bedding, pushing the cart she had run back to grab when she realized how big even the twin sized bedding really was.

Pandora went a little overboard. She got two sets of Sferra Annabella bedding and Elyse sheets and pillowcases, one in rose and the other in ocean. The 500-thread-count Egyptian cotton sateen Elyse sheets were made in Italy, and the floral-quilted cotton voile quilt set was accented with two pillow shams. Pandora had already grabbed several of the matching wool blankets. However, Sam and Mercedes had to put their feet down when Pandora tried to get a third full set of the Sferra Frazier bedding that reminded her of Sam and Mercedes' bedding from when she was a very little girl. "You can get a third set of bedding, if you pay for it out of your graduation gifts." Mercedes finally reasoned with her extravagant daughter. Pandora had no problem doing so. Her aunts and uncles had been far more than generous when it came to rewarding the quads for achieving the first major milestone of their education.

Patrick had also chosen the Sferra Frazier bedding, but while Pandora had chosen the bedding in ivory and gold, Patrick picked chocolate and blue. The bedding included a gathered cotton sateen dust skirts in blue, while the damask matelasse quilt sets included blue with the chocolate scroll work. The sheets were 400-thread-count Pima cotton. He got chocolate brown wool blankets from the Annabella set because the fringed blankets that were under the Frazier set were 'too girly'. He also got another set from Sferra called Marcus, but he admitted that it was because it was right next to the other set and the colors were complementary enough that he could switch them back and forth as needed.

Simon had been a very busy little bee. He'd grabbed extra sheet sets for each of the quads chosen bedding sets. He also grabbed extra pillowcases, just in case they had visitors who had to borrow a pillow. Finally satisfied that they had everything they needed from that department, he moved them on to the bath section. "Okay, now one list says three full sets of towels, the other says two. I would suggest we err on the side of caution, and go for three sets of bath towels here and then grab another set or two of the less expensive sets from Target for your accidents and such…Patrick, we will also get you a few sets of the truly cheap stuff for cleaning up after your oils and paints."

That decided the quads quickly found their favorite color in their towel set of choice. Payne chose the towels that matched his bedding and selected the Martouk Marlowe towels, two sets in 'sea glass' and one set in 'butter'. Pandora and Payge both chose the Marcus collection towels. Pandora chose pink, bronze and sky blue for her three sets while Payge got three sets all in a teal color that the company called 'Aegean'. Patrick took a longer time to decide, ultimately choosing the Missoni home collection, two were in 'Giacomo', a multicolor set that gave him a plethora of colors in every towel, and the third was called 'Kian' and for the single color set he chose to get a rich orange color. Mercedes made sure that they each had three bath sheets, three bath towels, three hand towels and three washcloths. Pandora was also responsible for getting a bathroom rug and shower curtain set. She decided upon the Abyss & Habidecor 'Frise' bath rugs in white and taupe and the Ann Gish ruffled shower curtain. Though everyone warned her against all the white, Pandora was undaunted.

"You're the one washing that every week." Mercedes finally told her and moved them onto the lighting section of the home department. "Bedside lamp and desk lamp, for each of you. They don't have to match, but please, just for my well-being when you send your Uncle Kurt pictures of your dorm rooms…let's make sure they are at least complementary?" Everyone shared a laugh, but none of them could deny the truth of her statement.

Forty-five minutes later, they had finally all chosen their lamps. Payge had finished first. She quickly found a Morrocan inspired lamp from the John-Richard collection and got two of them "Add a bit of middle-eastern allure to your decor with this Moroccan-inspired lamp. The enchanting halo of laser-cut metal surrounding its round shade echoes the arabesque quality of its scrolled metal base." She read the box to her family. "That should look awesome with the bedding I picked too." She assured her mother.

Payne found a dragon lamp that he had to have, but he didn't want two of them. The first one was white porcelain dragon on a clear Lucite base with a black shade, by Jonathan Adler. "That will be perfect on my desk." He crowed happily when he saw it. Eventually he found a simple white resin urn based lamp with a black shade and called it a day. Patrick found his lamps while Payne was deciding upon his bedside light. He picked rather masculine John-Richard hammered copper drum lamps with light beige shades, and just grabbed two of them.

Pandora, however, wanted the 'perfect' lamps. It took her the better part of an hour, but she finally settled on two 'coral' lamps one in ivory and one in gold. The ivory had a light gold shade and the gold had a very light ivory shade. She loved them, but she was unsure how they would look with the bedding she had chosen. Finally Mercedes slipped away and called Kurt and warned him that if he didn't tell his protégé that her lamps would look sublime with her bedding, she would renege on her promise to sing at Justin's next birthday party. All were very grateful that when Pandora sent him pictures of what she selected, he gave her the thumbs up.

As an extra little gift, Mercedes splurged and got each of her eldest children a tea set to keep in their room that included an electric kettle, a mug and a tea ball. Finally satisfied that they had everything they needed from that store, the family moved on to Target. At Target, Sam and Mercedes set the quads free. They gave each of them a copy of the list, with everything they already had struck through and a shopping cart and they let them go at the store. They grabbed a shopping cart of their own and went to get their children what they wanted them to have as well. Four Keurig Mini coffee brewers in platinum, purple, pink and black went in first. Then they got them each a ZeroWater 6 cup pitcher and nine months' worth of filters. Mercedes grabbed four magic bullet blenders, since all four of her quads loved smoothies. While she and Sam were doing their shopping, Simon and Donovan ordered each quad a microfridge…a mini refrigerator with a freezer and attached microwave, for their dorm rooms as well. Sam's contribution to the cart was to get each child a small tool kit. He followed that with a special artist tool kit with strippers and flat edge scrapers and the like, and an electronic's kit with very small screwdrivers and super thin needle nosed pliers. Then he took his wife and the cart to the crafts area and got each teen a sewing kit, though Pandora's was more expansive than the others. For Payge he finally created a special 'my curls ain't going anywhere' hair stuff box that had all the scrunchies and tangle proof elastics she could use in a year. Finally happy, he and Mercedes moved to the front and got each of their nestlings a wide and varied selection of gift cards for chain restaurants that would be present in all the places they would be for the next nine months. They checked out and took their purchases to the car, then returned to the store and sat in the Starbucks signing autographs and waiting on the kids to text them that they were ready to leave.

Simon found each of the quads. He seemed to appear as if by magic, just as they were ready to text their parents. He went over their carts with a fine tooth comb. He said nothing about the extraneous materials and toys they picked up, but he did make sure that they each had all the things they needed from the lists. If they didn't, he took them back and found the missing items. If they did, he made a few suggestions of things they had neglected to add that would benefit them. Only Payne was able to text Mercedes and Sam as soon as Simon finished his inspection. Only Pandora had to go back and complete her list of needs.

Finally they took everything home, and collapsed on the couch in the family room. After dinner, and the return of Penelope and Peyton, the quads took over one of the large rooms of the basement that Mercedes and Sam used for storage when needed. They each took a corner and they carefully separated their things into their assigned space. As they were doing that, they once again took their lists and cleared all the strikethroughs, making sure that they had everything they needed.

Penelope helped Payge, sighing all the while. They two sisters looked incredibly different. Penelope's eyes were the reverse of her older sisters, a startling emerald green with little flecks of amber when she got angry. Their shape was rounder and their size already a bit bigger. Penelope gave definition to the term 'wide eyed innocence'. Her nose was thinner, shaped more like Sam's than Mercedes, but it was still button cute. Penelope would eventually have a thinner face, though she had her mother's high cheek bones; when her 'baby fat' faded away, those cheekbones would be the stuff of legends. While Payge and Pandora took their height from their father's side of the family, Penelope was the shortest girl in her class. However her thinner build gave her a petite frame. Unfortunately, while she had inherited Marie and Stacey's thin frame, she had inherited Mercedes and Edith's buxom silhouette. As she neared thirteen, her cup size was the same as her mother's at that age, and larger than either of her older sisters when they were more than a year older. Sam drove the twins to school every morning and Rico picked them up every afternoon.

Thankfully, Penelope's sense of style seemed designed to down play her assets; in short, as soon as she was allowed to pick her own clothes, Penny started shopping in the same stores as Peyton. However, while Peyton tended towards the slim fit jeans, a pullover and a masculine, one color cardigan; Penelope liked graphic tees and baggy jeans. She always wore steel toe boots and had a collection of big ass watches that were useful as weapons as much as they were as time pieces. All the Jones-Evans children knew self-defense, but Penelope had gone farther than any of the others. She took taekwondo, krav maga and jujitsu. The preteen even competed in two of the art forms. Penelope was also an avid gamer, a trait she shared with her twin brother Peyton.

Peyton Jones-Evans was an interesting conundrum. He was one part jock, playing every sport he could find time in the day for. But he was also one part gamer, playing every MMRoPG his parents would allow. He was also one part tech geek. There wasn't a computer, cell phone, tablet, camera, listening device, etc. that Peyton couldn't take apart and reassemble…usually making it work better in the process. Already the same height as his father, Peyton was well on his way to being the tallest of Mercedes and Sam's six children. He was built along the same powerful lines as his grandfather Heath, already his shoulders were broad and he was incredibly strong. His smile was a precious commodity. Big, bright, and full of joy when it came, but all the more precious for its rarity. Peyton was not a taciturn individual; he carried a wry air of always being amused by his fellow man, but his smiles were usually only for his family. Large as that pool was, Peyton felt he smiled enough. Peyton wore his hair almost as long as Penelope's. After he got into it with one of the men at the barber shop when he was six for disrespecting his parents, he decided that he would instead just get trims with Penelope and Payge. He hated getting his hair cut in the first place.

For some reason, none of the Jones-Evans sons ever told their parents what was being said about them by the men at the exclusive barbershop that had come rather highly recommended by several members of Mercedes' band. They perhaps thought that they were protecting their parents 'oh so delicate' feelings. But the reality was that if they had shared what was being said, Mercedes and Sam would have put the kibosh on the background noise easily. However, while the boys never told Sam and Mercedes; Jake, who was also a customer when in LA, overheard similar comments when one of Mercedes videos came on…suffice it to say that had the boys ever gone back after that point, the climate would have been entirely different. And best of all, the ignorant souls that faced Jake's re-education were smart enough not to bother pressing charges.

The next week passed in a blur of shopping and packing and preparation. Pandora actually spent two days shopping for clothes with her mother and her Uncle Kurt…After the first day, no one else was willing to shop with her. Payge had gotten almost everything she needed on the first day. The second day of shopping, Payge spent some time with a few of her friends getting last minute things and a few things she had accidentally forgotten to buy the day before-on purpose, like a swimsuit. She knew she needed one, but she didn't feel like fighting Pandora about color and fit and type. One thing Payge desperately hoped her sister learned at college was how to remember that they were not in fact the same person, and therefore did not necessarily like the same things. Ultimately, she chose her Convocation dress, which had to be white, no matter what Pandora thought of the matter, and she picked two one piece swim suits… one in a metallic purple that seemed to change color as the light changed, one in a shade of green that was too dark to call emerald, but too light to be called forest; the green made Payge's eyes look as though they were sparking with a million tiny emeralds. Payge somehow let Jordan talk her into getting a sport cut, two piece suit that had was a daring shade of darker taupe that blended just a little too well with her skin.

Sam, Penelope and Peyton accompanied Payne and Patrick as they suffered through getting enough clothes to see them through Christmas break at the very least. The guys quickly picked out twenty pairs of jeans, seven pairs of khakis a couple pairs of dress slacks, a new suit and enough shirts to last them a month. Sam also made them get thirty new pairs of underwear and undershirts, and four big packs of any time ankle socks in addition to the black, brown and navy blue dress socks. He got them three pairs of tennis shoes, two of which were Chuck Taylors, and a pair of brown and black dress shoes. Finally, Patrick looked at his father, green eyes meeting green and laughed. "You do realize that we have clothes already."

"Yeah, but if you noticed we went up a size in everything, just in case you two decided to bulk up or gain the freshman fifteen." Sam pointed out.

"In other words, Mom and Simon came up with a list and we're getting everything on it…so just shut up and keep trying shit on." Payne joked.

"Damn skippy." Sam shot back. While they were stuck in what for them amounted to retail hell, Sam also helped Penelope and Peyton get started on their school clothes shopping as well. They would do the bulk of their shopping after they returned from helping their parents deliver their brothers and sisters to their respective colleges. "So, you guys excited? We haven't really done the whole cross country trip thing with just you two yet." Sam asked his youngest two children.

"Yeah, I guess that is the only thing that will be good about all this…we'll have you and mom pretty much to ourselves for the next six years." Peyton joked.

"Yeah, and we're old enough to remember all our alone time with you. The Old Four only have two-three years of memories without us." Penelope completed the line of reasoning. Before Sam could rebut, he had to pause to answer a fan's appeal for an autograph. That reminded them that they were in public and couldn't be as silly as they would have been in private.

By the next weekend everything was in readiness for their trip. Rather than caravan their way across country, Sam and Mercedes simply removed her tour bus from storage. With very few modifications it worked perfectly. They towed the kids' cars behind the bus on a modified car transport that fit the five vehicles inside a covered trailer. Each of the cars contained all of that particular child's belongings. Except Pandora's, who car was far too small. She also had boxes and totes in the family Escalade which rode with the quad's cars.

Mercedes US tour driver for the quad's entire lifetime, a hefty Samoan man named Joffery, who could wield a Fa'alaufa'l War Club with deadly accuracy, agreed to deliver the quads safely to their destinations. The trip had been meticulously planned and worked out. Since MIT allowed their freshmen to arrive up to two weeks early and use the time to make friends and find the perfect living situation before classes start, Payne was the family's first stop. It was a very long trip from Holmby Hills to Cambridge. They stopped overnight in Vegas, where they went to Candice's show. The former American Idol had a huge production of a show at Sugar and Rory's flagship hotel and casino, the Claddaugh. The next night was spent in a gorgeous town near the Colorado border. They spent a night with Marcus, Georgie and Faith, who would be leaving her parents with an empty nest the next year. One night was spent in upstate New York and the next day they arrived at Cambridge well rested. Payne was so very well organized that it took them very little time at all to move him in. In fact, the hardest part of moving Payne in was getting his car out of the transport. Payne's SUV had gone in first, with Payge's behind it and the family SUV behind that. Pandora's Audi was first on the top row with Patrick's after it. They actually took the time to remove all the cars and drive them back in so that Payge's and the Cadillac would be the last two in the carrier, but the Cadillac would be easily removed no matter whose car came out at the next stop.

Once everything was in Payne's assigned room, they took the advice of the RAC and did very little in the way of unpacking. Instead they did the campus tour as a family. After several orientation activities and taking a tour of all the different freshman domiciles, they returned to the room and Payne asked for their assistance in getting his room set up. "I like this location, I like the room, I even find the RAC less annoying than I thought I would…if my roommate decides he wants to change rooms then he is welcome to do so. But I'm staying here."

With that decision made, his family began helping him unpack. Dante had washed all his sheets for him, showing him and his siblings carefully how to care for their bedding and clothes before they left for the road trip. Sam, Payne and Patrick made short work of rearranging Payne's preferred side of his room, and unpacking and setting up his microfridge and Keurig. Payge made up his bed for him, set up his shower caddy and packed way his extra toiletries in his under bed storage bins; all while Pandora and Mercedes worked together to unpack and arrange all his clothes. As soon as the desk was in place, Peyton and Penelope went to work setting Payne's computer and desk up. Working together they had everything unpacked, including the laptop safe that each of the quads had received from Simon before they left LA.

When everything was organized and put away, the rest of the family headed to their hotel to shower and dress. They came back and picked Payne up. In the family Escalade, they took a driving tour of Cambridge. They helped Payne find the closest supermarket and Target. Then they spent twenty minutes arguing over what everyone wanted to have for dinner. Finally Payne suggested seafood, and everyone was in agreement. A quick search led them to LEGAL Sea Foods. One taste of the lobster bisque he'd ordered as his appetizer and Payne had a favorite 'at school' restaurant.

"Oh my god…can I please marry this crab dip." Payge moaned as she devoured her Hot Lump Crab Dip with its flavorful mix of horseradish, cheddar and cream cheese all scooped up with the restaurant's specialty 'seafood chips'.

Patrick raised his hand in Artie's praise hand. "Preach little sister." He laughed as he looked up from where he was feasting on the restaurant's signature jumbo lump crab cakes.

Mercedes and Sam weren't even talking, as they each focused completely on their shared appetizers of jumbo shrimp cocktail and fried shrimp wontons. Pandora was just as happy with her 'lite' clam chowder. Peyton and Penelope took a note from their parents' book. They ordered two different appetizers and split them. Peyton ordered the fried oysters while Penelope ordered the crispy Montauk calamari. They found their selection delicious enough that they forced all their siblings to taste theirs as well. That set off a flurry of round table taste testing of the other available choices. When their dinner plates came, everyone was looking forward with severe anticipation to seeing if their entrée was as delectable as the precursors had been.

The waiter was an older man and he consciously served the ladies first. Mercedes received her pound and a half steamed lobster with jalapeño cheddar polenta, and steamed broccoli first. Then he served Penelope her half serving of baked stuffed shrimp casserole. It was a small casserole dish filled with jumbo shrimp and a buttery crabmeat stuffing, she ordered it with a side of cole slaw and she could barely wait for the rest of the table to be served before she dug in. Pandora was served after Penelope. Her plate contained a selection of wood grilled seafood; haddock, salmon and char stood with shrimps and scallops next to steamed broccoli and seaweed salad. While Pandora had gone for the health conscious grilled and steamed selections, Payge –who had decided that the summer wasn't over yet and she would go back to being a good girl after she was alone at school- had chosen the Fisherman's Platter with its French fries and Cole slaw and fried shrimp, scallops, calamari, clams and scrod.

Once the women were served, Peyton was given his grown man sized order of fried haddock and chips. Payne was served next. He had ordered the surf and turf, happy to find that though the menu stipulated that the shrimp and scallops that accompanied his eight ounce filet mignon would be grilled, he was able to order it fried instead. He had already found the campus workout center and was confident that he would be able to work it off easily enough. Patrick's plate was actually two different plates combined together. He'd ordered a fried shrimp platter, and the wood grilled swordfish with broccoli and onion strings. Sam's order had been changed mid-sentence by one look from his wife. He'd wanted to order the fisherman's platter and also the crab cakes, but Mercedes reminded him that he was not supposed to have so much fried food with a look. So he'd instead ordered the crab cake combo. The combination plate included two of the restaurant's signature crab cakes as well as grilled shrimps and scallops. The seafood was accompanied by a seasonal salad and a ramekin of Legal Sea Food Mustard sauce.

For a change, the Evans-Jones family was not very talkative as they shared dinner. The only words that were exchanged were queried of 'Oooh, let me taste that.' And 'if you'll let me have a shrimp, I'll let you have some lobster'. By the time they finished their meals, everyone was stuffed to the gills. The manager asked, very politely, for a picture of Sam and Mercedes and after they freshened up, they were happy to fulfill his request. They decided to forgo dessert and instead stopped by the nearby Trader Joe's. Payne picked his snacks and got enough fruits and juices to keep him happily in smoothies for at least a week. They helped him get everything up to his room and told their brother and son that they would see him the next morning.

The next morning the entire family went out for breakfast together, but soon they had to leave. They had more children to deliver to the next step in their adventure. Mercedes managed not to cry in front of Payne; but as soon as they were safely back on the bus and under way to New York, Mercedes buried her face in Sam's chest and wept as though her heart were breaking. The scene replayed itself in New York. Move in, orientation activities and tours, unpacking and organizing, showering and changing, then dinner. For Pandora they suffered through all the paparazzi and fans to go to PerSe. She loved the drama and the glamour. The family spent three days in Manhattan; spending time with Jake and Marley and Unique and Ryder and their children. Then they made their way to New Jersey. Again Mercedes wept as Sam held her. If a few tears slid down his cheek as well, who was going to say a word?

The family took care of setting up Patrick's half of the room for him as he attended the 'student's only' orientation session. As they were finishing up the Thurston family arrived. It was the first time that Mercedes and Sam were able to meet one of their children's roommates. Reginald William Thurston, the Third was exactly nothing like Patrick worried he'd be. He was a strange combination of Finn and Blaine. Tall and a little goofy though he was, he also had the easygoing confidence of their bowtie-loving friend. He and Peyton discussed PeyPey's favorite MMRoPG, and they were surprised to find that they had gone on a quest together in the past. Unfortunately, while the Evans-Jones family got along well with 'please, call me Will', Will's family was definitely not as friendly. His mother, a distant relation of the Kennedys, seemed to feel that Sam and Mercedes were well trained monkeys who'd managed to achieve far more than anyone of their 'limited birth' should have been allowed. His father was slightly less offensive, but seemed to hold a rather clear disdain for Sam and Mercedes' interracial relationship.

Mercedes tried, she really did, to hold her tongue in the face of their attitude. And as the Jones-Evans family finally slid the last under bed storage bin into place, she thought had really made it. But the moment, Madame 'Wish she was from Camelot', turned her ire towards the three of Mercedes' children still in the room, "My, your daughters are certainly maturely shaped for their age. Is the little one actually only twelve? I must be sure to keep a close eye on my little William around your little Mata Haris."

"Why? Should Will and Patrick strike up a friendship, he'll know better than to even try to play around with my girls. They have far too many overprotective brothers and uncles and their even more over protective father. If Will does decide that he is willing and able to deal with all of that, and the media; and can continue to show that he is more like whoever you two paid to raise him while you were busy with your civic and social groups and businesses than he is like you two small minded bigots…than I don't see why he shouldn't eventually date Payge or Pandora…or in another twelve or so years, even Penelope." The chocolate diva said with a smirk.

Will's mother gasped in outrage, but couldn't think of anything to say to refute Mercedes' comments. They had rang through the room with a full air of truth. Fortunately for her, the boys returned…they had met in the lobby, and Will had identified Patrick from the family picture on his desk. They talked on the way up and by the time they got back to their room, they were well on the way to being friends. Mr. and Mrs. Thurston, Jr. had not done much in the way of getting Will's things unpacked, or even up to the room, but they made their excuses and left their son with a mountain of work. Their son looked both relieved and disappointed. "Yeah, yet again." Mercedes heard him mutter.

"Alright, Patrick, you managed to avoid unpacking all your stuff, so you go and help Will bring up the rest of his things. Will, if you're okay with it, we'll start getting everything together on your side for you. Then we'll go and get you two anything you need and take you both out to dinner." She said authoritatively.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly ask…"

"Boy, who on earth asked…She's telling, and when Mercy speaks, the rest of us mere mortals can only obey. Now go ahead and get your stuff up here. I'm thinking I want a nice steak for dinner." Sam told the young man.

Will's happiness at being included almost broke Sam and Mercedes hearts. Working together, they quickly had Will unpacked and organized as well. As they worked Payge made a list of all the things that Will had overlooked. He had done his shopping alone, with a list made for him by his father's overworked and underpaid secretary. Thankfully, he had his credit card, which his father paid for monthly. The only person who would know what Will had spent money on other than himself and the Evans-Jones, would be his father's accountant…who was Will's god father anyway. They hit a nearby Sam's Club, Target and Office Max and lugged everything back up to the room and put that load away as well. Then the family left the new roommates to shower and change while they made their way to their hotel and did the same.

Mercedes decided to cater to Sam's hankering for a hunk of meat and she found them Witherspoons. Will got his first taste of dealing with the media. As they were entering the restaurant, a local photog spotted them. Since the media knew they couldn't really even speak to Payge and Patrick and they couldn't even look at Peyton or Penelope, the new face was their target. The photog tried asking him the usual invasive questions, but Sam and Mercedes quickly snarled "He has no comment either" and ushered him into the restaurant.

"Whoa, that happen a lot?" Will asked once they were seated.

"It varies." Sam told him honestly. "The paps back home are well trained. They know better than to bother us when we're all together. When the quads were born we forced most of the major tabloids to sign a contract stipulating that they wouldn't harass our children."

"Some of the freelancers will still try their hand but for the most part the mags and rags will not go to press with anything that features the kids. If we're in public, usually we're only bothered by the autograph seekers. But that varies place to place. LA and New York and Atlanta, most of the people we come across are way 'too cool' to be bothered by us… that isn't to say that we don't get asked, but the ask is different." Mercedes told him.

"I think I like it best in the south when people ask Mom and Dad to sign stuff. They are always so polite and so cute." Penelope laughed.

"Man, remember that guy in New Orleans? I thought he was going to pass out. It took him three tries to get up the courage to even ask Mom for her autograph." Patrick laughed.

"Well, we were out with you four and Pey and Pen weren't even walking yet. He didn't want to be rude." Sam defended his fellow southerner.

Patrick went forward and told Will more about the event in question. By the time their waiter arrived to take their appetizer order, the two roommates were laughing at the story and some of the other things the famous family had to deal with. Sam asked that they bring out one of every appetizer and enough of the small plates for everyone be able to sample everything. Fifteen minutes later, the waiter and a server brought out fried calamari, artichoke heart francaise, four cheese spinach dip, steamed mussels in a white wine, garlic, marinara & basil sauce, crab & artichoke dip, steak tartare, oysters Rockefeller, shrimp cocktail, crab cake, and crab cocktail. Every one took a sample of the each and passed the rest to the right. They then ordered their soups, salads and entrees.

Will was surprised by the fact that the family had a very clear order of operation when it came to ordering. The matriarch was first, followed by the other ladies, then the younger gentlemen went before finishing with the family's patriarch. It stunned the young man. Things were very different from his parents. His father ordered first and then ordered for Will's mother and his sister, only then was Will allowed to order. Never did Reginald allow his wife and daughter to really eat in public; they were usually served the best salad or the least impressive chicken or pasta dish on the menu as their entrée, while Will and his father almost always had some sort of steak or large fish. These curious Evanses obviously ordered what they wanted. There were no expectations, no portraying the right image. Peyton ordered the angel hair pasta and shrimp with a side of broccoli, even though the dish came with spinach…Reginald would think that was a girly dish, and he would disdain the ordering of a vegetable in public by a male, but Will quickly realized that the Jones-Evans family children had been taught to eat a balanced diet no matter where they were. While her twin had ordered a 'girly' dish, Penelope ordered the filet mignon tips, which were a meat and potatoes 'manly' dish. She too ordered a side of Brussels sprouts, despite the fact that asparagus came with her meal. Patrick ordered Lobster risotto with both broccoli and green beans. Payge, however, really blew Will's mind. She had ordered the 16 ounce veal T-bone cooked medium well, with mashed potatoes, broccoli and pan roasted mushrooms. Will smiled to himself as Mercedes enjoyed her steak salad. He looked down at his own pan seared, herb crusted salmon, with its asparagus, shitake mushrooms and Brussels leaves and onion rings and thought that for the first time, he was really enjoying a meal in a restaurant…all because he was able to eat what he wanted, rather than what his father expected him to have. Sam's plate looked a lot like what Reginald would have ordered. The 18 ounce long bone ribeye, with baked macaroni and cheese, and broccoli; he also had the waiter add a jumbo lump crab cake to the plate as well.

Unloading and unpacking both freshmen had burned a lot of calories. So when the waiter asked if they would like dessert, Sam and Mercedes allowed their children to have one, and Will as well. Mercedes ordered the cheesecake, while Sam got the crème brulee, and they shared them between the two of them. Penelope got ice cream, as did Will. Patrick went for the mixed berry bread pudding and Payge chose the chocolate hazelnut tart. Peyton ordered his favorite, the key lime pie. After dessert, Sam and Mercedes took care of the check, giving Will a slightly scary glare when he tried to take care of his portion. They gave out autographs to those people who were kind enough to wait until they finished eating dinner, and took a picture with the restaurant's manager for his children.

They returned Will and Patrick to their dorm, after making a stop by Whole Foods to get them stocked up on snacks and fruits and juices. Patrick was a closet soda junky, so they gave him a nice stockpile of some of the Whole Foods organic sodas to try as well. The rest of the family adjourned to their hotel rooms and Will and Patrick spent the whole night talking. The next morning, the two roommates had brunch with Patrick's family before they said goodbye to the Jones-Evans clan so they could head down the road. Mercedes continued her new tradition of hugging Sam and crying as she let another of her precious ones leave the nest.

The trip from Princeton to Spelman was long enough that they decided to break it into two days. They did some shopping at their stopover, but didn't leave the tour bus other than to go out for dinner. Unlike the scheduled stops, Joffery stuck with the family and had dinner with them. The next morning he got up early and started the next portion of the drive before anyone else awoke. By the time they arrived at the school, it was nearing lunch time. They were able to park the tour bus in a nearby strip mall and take the kids out to lunch at a downtown pizzeria. Once everyone was fed and happy, they unloaded Payge's SUV and Sam and Mercedes Escalade and they drove to campus and checked her in.

They were immediately introduced to her roommate, who had arrived less than an hour before. Constance 'call me Connie' Rhodes was nothing at all like her name implied. She had been a cheerleader in high school and even before. She was from a long line of ATLiens, and looked like it. Her nails were freshly done, her weave tight. She was made up and 'moved in' wearing a sundress and a pair of six inch wedges. Her mother, Mariah, was a single mother and seemed far more pragmatic. She was well-kept but dressed in clothes that clearly showed that she was actually planning to move in and unpack. The girls quickly realized that they had very little in common. But they were ready to live and let live. Sam and Peyton were nice enough to help Mariah unload Constance's things from her car. Connie wouldn't have a vehicle on campus; in fact, Connie was scheduled to get a car as a graduation present as her mother's incentive to make her actually stick school through. Mariah apologized profusely about her daughter's attitude and behavior. "I am so sorry. I have to work, and so she was kept by my mother…my mother is a firm believer that a woman's place is to find a man to take care of her, and then go shopping. That's part of the reason I refuse to buy Connie a car before graduation. I'm afraid she will find some Morehouse Man, get married and never complete her degree…like I did. But where I learned my lesson when her father left -I went back to school and finished my degree and worked my ass off- Connie would just try to find some other man to buy her things." She explained to Mercedes, after she had gushed over the diva and gotten her autograph. "I was so happy to see that Payge isn't all about clothes and foolishness. Hopefully, she can be a good influence on Connie."

Mercedes giggled. "Payge being a good influence on anyone would be a big change. I'll warn you now, if your daughter has any bi or gay tendencies, my daughter will find those and exploit them for all they are worth. What's worse? By the end of the day, unless Connie is a very dominant personality, Payge will have begun to re-educate her."

"Hell, I can handle gay, I can handle bi…what I can't deal with is the thought of my daughter turning out to be a gold diggin' hoe." Mariah said with brutal honesty. "I've got to tell you, you and your husband look incredible…I mean most artists your age would be all…"

"Drugs age you considerably. Sam and I tend not to drink to excess and we're really happy." Mercedes admitted. "Plus, girl, I'm just gonna keep it real…enough orgasms every night and you can completely stall the aging process."

The women giggled together over that and the bond was set. Mariah and Mercedes worked together and directed Sam and Peyton as to how they wanted the room rearranged, since the girls were busy ignoring each other and the fact that they had to share the room for the next nine months. After everything was unpacked and organized, Constance and Payge were left to shower and dress so that Mercedes and Sam could take everyone out for dinner. "We're going to Bones." Peyton said definitively. "Payge, you'll have to dress up…but it is so going to be worth it. When I realized that Moma and Dad were going to take you out too…I researched their kinds of places in the ATL and this is the one. It's an old fashioned steakhouse…we have to go." The Jones-Evans family went and checked into the suite at the Four Seasons to get showered and changed, while Mariah returned to her Buckhead condo to do the same.

Sam pulled up the place on his GPS and drove the family plus Constance to the iconic Buckhead restaurant. Since the restaurant was very near her home, Mariah met them there. They were seated very quickly, despite the warning Peyton had given them about the one bad thing most reviewers had to say, i.e. the wait for a table every night of the week. But it became apparent why, when the manager asked Mercedes if they could have their artist create a caricature of her for the restaurant wall. Sam asked if they could bring a full selection of their appetizers to the table for everyone to sample them all, since it worked so very well at Witherspoon's. Shrimp cocktail with cocktail and remoulade sauce, scotch smoked salmon with onion, capers, and dill cream, kobe tenderloin carpaccio with arugula and parmesan, jumbo lump crabmeat cocktail, seared tuna loin with lime, chili oil, and cilantro, crab and lobster napoleon with chardonnay cream, and the Bones chilled seafood platter were served to the table and each diner was given a small plate. Each of the seven appetizers were amazing. Everyone had a different favorite, but Peyton insisted that he knew that they would be awesome. Mercedes insisted that everyone eat a salad, she started them off ordering the crab and avocado salad. Mariah chose the spinach and Constance picked the wedge of iceberg. Peyton followed his mother's example and chose the crab and avocado, while Penelope and Sam both decided on the Bones Salad. Payge finally decided to be daring and try something she never had before and selected the Caesar salad.

Sam and Mercedes also ordered a small bottle of house red. They each had a glass with their steaks. Peyton insisted on ordering for his parents and sisters. "My parents will have the dry aged porterhouse for two, one medium well, and the other actually well and we'd like a family serving of all the sides so we can all try everything. But we will probably need two orders of the corn pudding and the mac and cheese. My sister Payge," he gestured so that their waiter would know who to serve to, "will have the mixed grill, all well. Penelope will have the small filet mignon cooked medium well, and I will have the veal rib chop with lemon and sautéed mushrooms." He said happily.

Mariah took the initiative to order for herself and Constance. "I will have the crab cakes with corn, roasted red pepper, and ginger vinaigrette, and my daughter will have the crab stuffed trout with haricots verts and marcona almonds." Over dinner they talked, and Connie and Payge were finally able to find one point of commonality. They both actually liked the Star Trek reboot movies and Constance actually enjoyed some sci-fi. They were also both planning to minor in religious studies, Spelman's version of comparative religion. By the time they took the girls back to their dorm, just making their curfew, Connie and Payge were less adversarial. Even if they might never be friends, they'd at least reached the level of being able to be comfortable roommates.

Mercedes and Sam felt a lot better about leaving them after lunch the next day. It was strange… leaving the last of their older children was harder on Sam and Mercedes than the first three had been. The entire family was quiet and rather solemn from Atlanta to Mississippi. But Joffery understood their need for quiet. He drove them back cross country in near silence until they were ready to stop for dinner. After that they stopped so that the kids could see important sights like the Grand Canyon and create new memories there. They returned to LA just in time for them to begin junior high.

Time flies and before they knew it, all of the New Direction children were in college or grad school. Parents grew older and became grandparents. Time changes everything but one thing never changed, it only grew and that was the love they shared.

Waianae, HI August 3, 2075

Sam and Mercedes Evans-Jones were together with their six children and their spouses, their remaining friends and family, to celebrate their 51st wedding anniversary. Everyone was gathered at the home they had purchased to retire to twenty years before. Sam and Mercedes were as much in love at 80 and 79 as they had been at 30 and 29. They could often be seen walking along the beach and singing to each other. Sometimes crowds would gather, listening to their beautiful melodies. Despite their age, they made love several times a week; loving the connection of being together physically.

They were proud parents of a world renown artist, a fashion reporter turned designer, an amazing author, the foremost authorities on astrophysics and artificial intelligence, and a Tony award winning actress. Patrick was married to a lovely woman named Neecee who had blessed him with two children and understood and shared in his relationship with Will. Their marriage wasn't quite like Nora, Dante, and Robert's, but Neecee enjoyed the attentions of both men when she wanted to. Will was there as well. When his parents disowned him upon finding out that their heir liked boys and liked girls…but liked boys significantly more, Mercedes and Sam sheltered the young man. He became as close to them as their own kids. Patrick's art works were in several museums around the world, and already sold as well as most artists did after their deaths. Will was his manager and accountant. He made sure that all Pat-Trick had to do was paint, and spend time with their family.

Payge had married a young lady that the entire family knew well and had known for a very long time. Jordan Previtt and Payge had reconnected while Payge worked on her doctorate at UCLA. They had been together ever since. They had two boys, who were fathered by Noah Puckerman, Jr. through in vitro. She wrote both fiction novels and nonfiction treatises on religious theory. Jordan Previtt wrote screenplays and she had already won an Oscar for her work. Pandora had married a French investigative journalist she met during her work covering Paris Fashion week when she was twenty five, the year before she had begun to develop her own fashion house under the label 'Anesidora'. Henri was a Pulitzer Prize winner with a penchant for finding answers no one wanted found. They had just one child, though they were considering having more.

Payne had married the last person anyone would have ever imagined that he would fall in love with. He married an actress with a bigger bust line than a brain. Faye Brown was able to convey every emotion set before her, but sometimes Mercedes thought that was because the poor child was too simple to have those emotions herself. Fortunately what she lacked in intelligence, she more than made up for in kindness and sweetness. Unfortunately, Santana enjoyed picking on that poor child more than she had anyone other than Finn. Payne had left MIT with a doctorate in astrophysics. By 30 he had proven string theory and had even managed to write a paper that was now considered definitive proof that there existed life on planets outside our solar system. He was currently working with NASA, trying to develop a space shuttle capable of extra-galaxy travel. Payne and Faye had three children, one of who was adopted. Faye's sister had been killed in a car accident, so Payne and Faye had adopted her three year old nephew.

Peyton was to artificial intelligence what his older brother was to the astrophysics community. He'd created a computer that Sam swore was going to lead directly to people having to decide if they want to take the red pill or stay in the Matrix. Peyton had married and divorced early. His first wife had proven to be a gold digging ho who 'forgot' her pill and had a rather unfortunate latex allergy. She supplied the condom which broke. Nine months later and PeyPey spent his senior year of high school as a husband and father. Of course, Quinn recognized Helena for what she was and had the digger bound up in an air tight prenup. Peyton followed his big brother to MIT. And one day he returned to the apartment he and his wife shared with their daughter early due to a cancelled class to find Melody crying in her crib and Helena nowhere to be found. Helena showed up thirty minutes later reeking of weed and sex. Peyton had already called the police, and it was no problem to get full custody of Melody and divorce Helena. He transferred to Cal-Tech, and when Melody was five he met and eventually married a fellow scientist Ally Barrett-Boller, a neuro-biologist…her mapping of the human brain helped Peyton to develop the circuit network that allowed his rudimentary positronic AI 'brain' to work. They also had a son together that they named Marcellus.

Penelope had shocked them all when she decided to audition for NYADA. She was accepted and had managed to achieve a level of Broadway success that her Aunt Rachel only dreamed of. She actually married Henry Hummel-Ryback, a fact that made Kurt and Mercedes almost giddy in happiness. Henry and Penelope had two children, and Penelope was currently starring in a revival of the The Wizard of Oz. Henry and Penelope's love of music had translated into them naming their children Jonathan, well Jack, and Diane.

All the ND's and their spouses had gotten together and talked about where to retire. And when Lauren had suggested Hawaii, they all knew that they had found their new home. At one point they all lived within a mile of each other in Waianae. Unfortunately, time waits for no one and as it passes, Death comes on swift wings behind it. The New Directions had all buried all their parents. Marcus and Georgie had gone on to the great beyond within months of each other three years before the 51st anniversary. Cory had passed leaving Lauren a widow, until she joined him a year later. Mike had died as well, leaving Tina bereft and leaning on their friends. The others missed their friends, but they knew that eventually they would all be together again.

But they came together to share their joy, and there was no joy like the happiness of celebrating the love and happiness of SamCedes. Very recently a director had approached the friends to talk through their lives for a big screen bio-pic that would bring the New Directions story to the big screen. Quinn had voiced the stipulation that it would be possible, but only if Jordan handled the screenplay.

Music and friendship had brought them together, adversity had made them a unit, but they had made themselves a family and nothing, not time, not distance, not death could change that. There, in the arms of her husband and the bosom of her family, Mercedes Jones-Evans was never happier. Because when Opportunity Knocked a second time, she had answered the door.

I Might be persuaded to revisit this universe in an Oneshot or two...later, in the future after I've caught back up with the French Series.

Please leave me a review telling me what you enjoyed, or found funny, or identified with.
Favorite lines are always accepted.

Thanks for taking this ride through 'What if' with me.

TTFN
Anni