Chapter One
New York City, NY September 3, 2037
"Mami, this is so not fair!" whined Sugar to her mother as she angrily threw clothes into a suitcase lying open on her bed. "I've had the concert tickets for months. I even asked Mom's permission before I bought them."
"Mija, I'm going to say this one more time. Stop the complaining or there will be consequences I know you won't like," replied Santana, eyes narrowing dangerously. Sugar knew better than to argue with her mother when she decided to lay down the law.
"All I was saying is—"
"All you were saying is what sweetie?" asked Brittany who had just entered the bedroom.
"She was saying that she wants to ditch Labor Day weekend with her grandparents to go to that concert with Madison," replied Santana.
"Sugar, it's a family tradition. We always visit our parents before school starts. They aren't getting any younger," said Brittany gently.
"I know, but Mom, you were the one who told me I could go to the concert, and the tickets weren't cheap, and I already arranged everything with Madison and her sister to take us, and I can always go to Lima next year, and—"
"Sugar Lopez-Pierce, I said that's enough. We're going to see your grandparents. End of discussion," said Santana.
"But Mom—"
"Sweetie, I'm with your mother on this one. There will be other concerts. Family comes first," said Brittany.
"Ugh, Madison, I know." groaned Sugar flopping down on her bed next to her half-packed suitcase, her cell-phone pressed between her ear and shoulder. "It's totally unfair. I don't want to spend the last days of my summer in Suck-Hio with my grandparents. We're going to do the same stupid things as every year. Go to stupid Breadstix for the stupid annual Lopez-Pierce family dinner, feed the stupid ducks at the stupid park, and visit stupid McKinley High School so Mom and Mami can relive their not-so-glorious glory days. Believe me; I'd rather be at the concert with you and Megan." She could hear her moms speaking in hushed tones down the hall. She wondered if they were talking about her. "Hey, Mads, I gotta go. I guess I'll see you at school. Ugh, school. Okay, bye."
Sugar tossed her phone to the end of her bed, rolled over, and stood up. She glanced over at her half-finished packing job and considering finishing for a second, but she was more interested in what her moms were talking about so secretively in their bedroom. She padded down the hallway in her fuzzy socks to her parents' room. The door was opened just enough that she could see her moms sitting on their bed. Brittany was lying on her stomach. Santana was stretched out next to her playing with her blonde hair that was down and blocking Brittany's face from view. Sugar had never gotten used to the way Santana looked at Brittany. When Sugar was a little girl, she just assumed that everyone's parents were as much in love as hers, but as she grew up she began to realize that her moms were special. When they were alone together, they only had eyes for each other. Santana's eyes would crinkle in a certain way that was only for Brittany and Brittany who was touchy feely with everyone had a special way of touching that was just for Santana. Sugar knew that they had known each other since they were little girls and that they grew up doing everything together. She also knew that they had kind of a rocky relationship in high school. Her moms didn't like to talk about their relationship pre-senior year because when they were in high school gay couples were seen as different, even wrong. Sugar had grown up in a world where every type of relationship was embraced. Gay, straight, black, white, it didn't matter. She had always wondered what her moms were like in high school. She knew they were cheerleaders and they sang in a glee club, but that was pretty much it.
The sound of her name drifted from the bedroom bringing Sugar back to reality.
"Britt, I just don't understand what's going through Sugar's head," said Santana still running her fingers through Brittany's hair.
"She's a teenager. Of course she's going to be rebellious," replied Brittany, fingers trailing down Santana's forearm to her inner wrist.
"But when did we give her the idea that asking to skip a family trip, a trip that's a tradition no less, for a concert is acceptable?" said Santana.
"Is it really such a big issue? She asked, we said no and that was the end of it," said Brittany sliding her legs over to tangle her feet with Santana's.
"I don't know. I think maybe… I think it maybe hurt my feelings. I want Sugar towant to go, I don't want to force her. I just want her to be our little girl and think it's fun to visit her grandparents and feed the ducks and adventure around Lima," said Santana quietly.
"Aw, San. She's still our little girl. She may be our big fifteen year old little girl, but she's still ours. Don't you remember us at fifteen? I'm glad Sugar is more sensible than we were our sophomore year of high school. I mean we were—"
"Yes, Britt. I remember what we were doing. Very vividly unfortunately," said Santana with discomfort creeping into her voice. Half a second later, her eyes widened a bit. "Britt, you don't think she's—"
"No, no. I don't think so. Our baby? No," said Brittany sitting up and sliding her fingers between Santana's. "San, just breathe. She's a smart girl. She's going to be just fine." Brittany leaned over and kissed Santana's temple. "I'm tired though. We have to get up early if we want to make good time tomorrow." She crawled under the covers and snuggled towards her wife. Santana sighed and climbed under the covers and slid up against Brittany.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too. Sug's going to be okay. Promise," whispered Brittany back.
Sugar took that as her cue to go back to her room and finish packing. The exchange between her moms left her with a lot to think about. What were they doing their sophomore year that they so desperately didn't want her doing?
