Trouble Follows

Ch. 1

Mercedes Jones sang to Harmony, who trilled back. She continued to dance around her cage like a complete loon while the 18 year old still had the energy.

Sometimes her strength zapped out of her like a superpower draining. It was so annoying. So she counted her blessings when she was able to move.

Since graduation she'd been to plenty more doctor's appointments and found out she was having a girl. Quinn and Santana were so excited that they were right. Since Marcy let her name Mally his middle name, Mercedes let Marcy name her baby.

She really loved the name Ivy so whatever she chose would have to go with that. Marcy ended up picking Raven. Mercedes really liked it so the baby's name would be Raven Ivy Puckerman. She didn't want her to have so many names like they did growing up so she was just a Puckerman.

They'd gone shopping for toys so much that Mercedes' room looked like the mall. Laura, Marc, Maddie and Nic were at camp again with Stevie and Stacie but Laura had been online shopping something fierce and Mercedes got packages nearly every day.

The friends were all excited. Rory had to go back home but everyone else still there was doing some major planning.

Kurt, Tina and Brittany wanted Raven to be a fashionista, Santana wanted her to rule the sandbox, Artie wanted to teach her about computers, Finn wanted to teach her drumming, Blaine wanted to teach her how to box, Joe wanted to teach her bible verses and how to play the guitar and Sugar just liked going shopping while Sam wanted to teach her all about comic books.

Even Ellen and Lauren (who was going to Florida State) were going bananas. Ellen wanted to teach her how to shoot a camera while Lauren wanted to teach her how to wrestle.

Mercedes thought her friends were a mess.

But her family was even moreso. Mike had completely gotten over his anger about this pregnancy and was saying how he's going to win Greatest Uncle again. Marc and Mal took exception to that but he stood by it.

Laura, Quinn and Maddie were all about being Best Aunt. They fought about it daily. Even their parents were nuts. Now that Beth had started calling Jeanette, Judy and Nadine "Gram", they were pressing the twins to talk and were eager for Mercedes to have her baby so she could talk and call them Gram.

The only sane people were Marcy and Puck's grandmother, Bubbie Ruth. Ruth continuously asked after Mercedes and tried to make sure she was fine. She kept on Puck to make sure he was "taking care of" her.

As for Marcy, she just didn't care. She barely cared about baby talk that involved the twins. She didn't put up with Mercedes' moods or her cravings. If Mercedes got overwhelmed by her feelings, Marcy would call Puck and have him come over because she said she was "not about to be bothered with" Mercedes.

It was crazy to think Mercedes appreciated that. Someone who wouldn't treat her like spun glass? Puck broke his neck trying to anticipate her every desire.

Even Beth was ecstatic about this. Quinn explained how Mercedes was going to have a baby and that it was a girl. So now when Beth saw Mercedes, she rubbed her belly and yelled, "Sissy!". It was super cute though.

The only person not excited was Mercedes. She always thought she'd be so happy when she got pregnant. Then again she always thought she'd be in her late twenties.

It didn't seem fair. She'd always practiced safe sex. Why was this happening to her?

Her dreams were put on hold for the foreseeable future and she felt like crumbling into a mass of tears and bitter regret. She loved Puck, la knew she did but she kind of resented him.