Little Man

Mercedes didn’t mind him scooting closer to her. She had always been affectionate with her son giving him hugs and kisses, always allowing him to snuggle into her side if he had a bad dream. He was her baby boy and though she couldn’t always get him everything he wanted, she could always give her love. Under typical circumstances Joel’s serious face made her laugh. But something about this caught her off about this. He had the same look on his face that her brother had on his face when he said he had finally left the crazy baby mother to be with Sonja. “Well the next time you see Daddy, you tell him I am fine okay?” His next question suddenly brought back memories of her high school days discussing their futures. Sam always wanted to save and protect people and the fact he was still doing that blew her mind. Nodding her head adamantly she continued, “Daddy does save people. He also protects them when they’re scared. Your dad’s one of the good guys Jay. I promise.” 

JOEL:

Checking her watch, Mercedes knew that it was time to check on her son. He had drifted off to sleep after an early dinner and while she knew that he would be up later in the night, she didn’t mind. She was thankful for Santana, Melanie, and Brody but she didn’t wish to burden them any further. The girls had stayed up with her the night before and had spent a majority of the day out with Joel. They were all tired, Mercedes could see it in their eyes and movements. But never once did she hear a complaint from their lips.

 Opening the door she was surprised to find her son sitting up, a thoughtful look on his face. God, if he didn’t look like his father. The same glint in his eye, his hair right thrown haphazardly in his eyes, and his lips slightly parted, a small Sam Evans. The sight made her stop in her tracks and just watch him. She wondered what was on his mind. Was he thinking about his dad? Was he wondering why she seemed so sad during parts of the day? Or was he just thinking about trying to watch Finding Nemo again? 

"Jay? Hey little man," crossing the threshold she spoke again, "Joel, you there?"

Joel:

Joel had always loved staying over with his Uncle Brody. It was kind of like having his daddy, even though he hadn't been around his dad that much. It had been a really fun day playing at the beach with his aunties, and Aunt Mel always snuck him candy. He'd been really hyper the whole day and when they'd finally gotten back to his aunt's and uncle's house he'd crashed, hard.

He'd had a really weird dream during his nap though, not the kinds of dreams he usually had with turtles and fishies. His daddy had been there but not here. He was with his daddy in Egypt the place far away where daddy was helping take care of people. He blinked a couple of times and pushed his long locks out of his face, dark eyes looking up at his mom.