I walked into the master bedroom in an effort to get my wife to hurry up. I was already ready to leave, but she seemed to be taking longer than usual to finish up. I saw her standing in front of the dresser mirror, working on fastening earrings in her ear. My heart fluttered as it usually did when I saw my beautiful wife.
Brittany had cut her blonde hair into a bob last year. She said it was easier for her to manage at its current chin length than the long locks she had worn for the majority of the time since I had known her. My own dark hair was just past my shoulders, and the few grey hairs that had sprouted up over the past few years made me wonder if it was time to do the same. It seemed that short hair in women seemed to be the common thing once you hit a certain age, but I wanted to fight against the norm, I guess.
She was currently wearing a dark blue dress with strappy sandals, light makeup bringing out the bright blue of her eyes. The glint of the necklace around her neck caught my attention. It was several years back when Brittany could no longer get her wedding bands on and off of her finger easily. There had been enough damage to her fingers over the years from her rheumatoid arthritis that her joints became a little deformed. Her health had stayed relatively good ever since her crisis when the twins were born, but she did have a few scares. Mostly, her myasthenia gravis was kept under control, but her arthritis took a bit of a toll.
I offered to buy her a new, larger ring, since the ring didn't fit well anymore, but Brittany didn't want to stop wearing the set that she had worn since we got married. So I came up with the idea of putting the ring on a chain, so Brittany could wear it around her neck. That way, she would still always have her wedding ring on and she didn't have to worry about not being able to get it on or off of her finger. My eyes were drawn to Brittany's hands at that thought, and I frowned as I realized that Brittany was still struggling to get her earring in her ear.
"Did you need help, sweetheart?" I asked, drawing Brittany's attention to me.
Her beautiful eyes met mine in the mirror, and she sent me a sad, but grateful smile. I walked up behind her and put my hands on her upper arms gently. She turned to face me, and I saw the hint of irritation in her eyes.
I leaned in and gave her a light peck on the lips before I drew back and looked at her. "You okay?"
She rolled her eyes in frustration. "Just my arthritis acting up. My fingers don't want to cooperate enough for me to get the earring in," she explained.
I nodded understandingly and took the earring from her. It was one of the blue diamond earrings I had gotten her years ago. The set I had bought because I thought they matched her eyes. I slid the post through the hole in her lobe and easily fastened the back to it. I picked up the other earring from the dresser and did the same to the other ear.
"There," I stated. "You look beautiful."
Brittany smiled, the lines around her eyes and mouth deepening. There was a happiness in her eyes that made my heart feel so much lighter. She always affected my emotions so strongly.
"Not as beautiful as you, baby," she complimented.
I chuckled and she cupped my face with her hands and brought her mouth to mine. Her kiss was gentle and I fought the urge to deepen it, loving the feel of her lips on mine.
"I love you," she murmured against my lips as she pulled back.
"I love you, too," I replied. "But we need to leave, otherwise we're going to be late."
Brittany nodded and picked up her small purse from the dresser. After a final glance in the mirror by both of us to make sure we still looked presentable, we made our way out of the bedroom.
"Are you guys finally ready?" Norah asked with mock exasperation from the couch in the living room.
"Your mom needed a little help with her earrings, but we are good to go now," I told her.
Our daughter's concerned grey eyes met mine, and I shook my head slightly at her to let her know that everything was okay. Her face softened, and she smiled at me and Brittany.
"Well, I already let the dog out to potty, so we can head out to the car," Norah explained, standing up and giving a pet to the Golden Retriever's head that had been sitting next to her.
We had picked the gentle female out last year, needing a dog that was not quite as active as our previous ones and one who would be good to handle with Brittany's conditions. The dog, who we named Carolina, was perfect. She was easy to train and a big sweetheart. We both absolutely fell in love with her the first time we saw her.
"Bye, Lina," Brittany called to the dog as we walked to the garage. The dog woofed softly in reply, and Brittany laughed, turning her smiling face to me. I chuckled at the silly dog and shook my head.
"I'm driving!" Norah called ahead of us as she opened the door to my SUV.
"Norah!" I tried to argue, but Brittany just squeezed my arm to stop me.
"Let her," she said softly. "She is excited. Besides, you and I won't have to worry about driving around to find a place to park now. She can drop us off and she can deal with it."
I grinned at the devious smile crossing my wife's face. "I like the way you think, Britt."
I helped her into the passenger seat since there was more room for her to stretch her long legs and I climbed into the backseat. Norah had already turned the car on and was changing the radio station to some current hits station. I rolled my eyes, feeling like an old woman at the thought of not liking my child's taste in music. I laughed at myself, and Brittany turned to look at me from the front. I shook my head at her to let her know it was nothing, and she turned back around.
"You do know where we are going, right?" Brittany asked Norah.
"Yes, mom," she sighed. "It isn't like I haven't been there before."
"Just checking," Brittany said. She settled back into her seat and I could see a little bit of relief cross her face at her being able to relax.
The ride wasn't long, but the closer we got to our destination, the more traffic we encountered. I was glad we left when we did. Otherwise we most definitely would have been late. Which would not have been a good thing at all.
"Just drop your mom and I at the front, Norah," I told our daughter. "You can meet us in the front of the stadium after you find a place to park.
"Okay," she answered and pulled to the curb in front of the building.
"Thanks, baby," Brittany told her before she opened the door.
I slid out of the back and walked around the car to meet her. I took her arm and watched Norah drive the black SUV down the road toward the parking.
"Can you believe this?" Brittany asked me in disbelief.
"Not really," I answered. "It is really making me feel old."
She laughed. "Yeah, well, imagine how I feel."
"Aww, baby," I cooed, pulling her into my body as I looked into her eyes. "No matter what, I still see you as the beautiful woman I met in a bar years ago."
"Then you know exactly what I think about you," Brittany said lovingly. "I just can't believe our babies are graduating college."
"I know. I could swear we were just celebrating their fifth birthday last week," I said with a little laugh.
"Seriously, San. How did they grow up so fast?"
"I don't know, sweetie. I don't know."
Brittany leaned her head against my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her waist. We headed toward the doors of the stadium where Ohio State was holding their graduation ceremony today. There were a lot of people around, so we slid off to the side near the entrance so we could easily see Norah come up. We didn't have to wait too much longer, which was surprising considering we figured it would take her awhile to find a place to park.
Norah caught our eyes and headed over, her light brown hair pulled up into a high ponytail and her yellow sundress complementing her coloring well. I couldn't help the fullness in my chest at how beautiful our daughter turned out.
"Ready to head in?" Norah asked cheerfully.
We nodded and made our way through the entrance and into the iconic Horseshoe stadium to find seats. I looked for Declan's shaggy dark hair in the crowd, but it was impossible with all of the graduating students milling around, their caps and gowns blending together.
The ceremony started not too long after we got our seats and, though I was prepared, it was incredibly long. There was a large graduating class since Ohio State was a large school, and it seemed to take forever. Finally, Declan's name was called and Brittany, Norah, and I cheered loudly as he crossed the stage to get his diploma.
He looked around for us, and I was worried he wouldn't see us in the large crowd. But Norah's bright dress and our frantic waving caught his attention and he grinned at us as he waved back. I fought the tears in my eyes as I watched our beautiful son look so happy on one of the biggest days of his life. I felt Brittany squeezing my hand, and I turned to see tears in her own eyes. I couldn't stop the tears from escaping once I saw how emotional my wife was. This was just such an emotional moment for us as we watched one of our babies graduate college.
Declan was graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He followed in his momma's footsteps with his scientific mind, but he liked the idea of making machines more than dealing with medical stuff. Brittany and I were incredibly proud of him. He was so smart, and we knew that he would do really well in his career.
His sister had also followed in their momma's footsteps. Though, instead of going for the engineering side of things, she decided to go the medical route. She was graduating with her Bachelors in Nursing. Her ceremony was in two weeks, and she was already freaking out about taking her licensing exams. We knew she would pass with flying colors, but it didn't mean she wasn't nervous. We were so proud of her as well. She had decided pretty early in high school, after learning more about Brittany's health conditions, that she wanted to go into nursing. Her goal was to become a Nurse Practitioner specializing in rheumatology. She was planning on getting a job after she passed her exams and enrolling immediately in an online Master's program so she would be well on the road to becoming an NP before long.
Brittany couldn't believe how much she influenced our children's plans for their futures. I, however, could. I knew pretty early on that Declan and Norah had more of an interest in science than I ever had. Brittany had gotten them a bunch of science toys as they were growing up, and they both loved the experiments that she would do with them. They both had high grades in all of their science classes throughout the years, and showed much more of an affinity for that than anything else.
I wasn't really upset that they both decided to be swayed more by Brittany's career path than mine. Being a lawyer was nice for me, but it wasn't for everyone. Norah had the personality for it, but her desire to take care of people was much stronger than her argumentative side. Declan honestly was too laid back to be a lawyer. Thinking over machine designs was definitely much more his speed. Both of our kids had a strong relationship with Brittany, who encouraged their passion for learning.
Declan had my love of reading, and Norah shared my passion for clothes. They had definitely taken attributes from both of their mothers, which pleased me and Brittany both. Our kids turned out pretty great, in my humble opinion.
The rest of the ceremony was pretty boring. We only cared about Declan. I tuned out of what was going on and rested against Brittany. She wrapped her arm around me and pulled me close to her. Norah was leaning on her other side, and I knew Brittany was pleased with having her two girls in her arms.
Finally, after hours, the commencement was over. The students had all walked across the stage and now it was time to really celebrate. We had agreed to meet Declan out in front of the stadium. So, Brittany, Norah, and I fought the crowd and headed out to the front of the building. We searched through the swarm of people for Declan. We finally spotted him shaking hands and back slaps with a group of his friends.
"Declan!" Norah shouted, grabbing his attention.
He turned and spotted us, a happy smile taking over his face and showing his dimples. He said goodbye to his friends and came over to us.
"Congratulations, D," Brittany said, pulling him into her arms first.
"Thanks, mom," he replied, hugging her tightly.
"We're so proud of you," I told him as he turned to me for a hug. I squeezed him tightly, breathing in his scent. I had missed him living at home for the past several years. No matter how old he was, he was still my baby and I never would get used to not seeing him every day.
"Thanks, mami," he murmured into my ear as he returned my hug.
"Congrats, bro," Norah said with a grin as he picked her up in an enthusiastic hug.
"It's your turn soon," he said, grinning back as he put her back down.
She laughed. "Don't remind me. It means I have to take my exams soon, and I am so not looking forward to that."
"You'll do fine," Brittany and I chorused, causing everyone to laugh.
"What they said," Declan said, indicating us with his thumb.
"Alright, we should get moving," I said, breaking the moment so we could get out of the crowd. "Your aunt and uncle and cousins are meeting us back at the house, and then we are going to meet everyone else at the restaurant."
Declan nodded.
"Can I ride with you, D?" Norah asked.
"Sure," he answered, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"No dawdling," I warned them, and they nodded before they turned to head off into the crowd toward his car.
"Norah, wait!" Brittany called, startling me. They stopped and turned around questioningly. "We need the car keys. And we need to know where you parked the truck."
I rolled my eyes at my stupidity of forgetting something that vital as Norah handed over the keys and told us where she had parked. Thankfully it didn't sound like it was too far.
"You up for a little walk?" I asked Brittany once the kids walked away.
"I'm fine, baby," Brittany promised, making the little bit of worry I had about her arthritis flare earlier go away.
"Okay."
I took her arm once again and we walked leisurely toward where Norah promised the car would be. We found it easily enough, and I helped Brittany into the passenger seat again before sliding into the driver's side. I was not looking forward to navigating this traffic on the way out of campus, but I pulled out into the slow moving traffic and started the long trip back to the interstate. I breathed a sigh of relief once I got onto the interstate and started moving at more than a crawl. I was supremely glad that we decided to go to dinner near the house instead of downtown tonight. Neither Brittany nor I would want to deal with the kind of crowds that would no doubt be downtown.
We finally reached the house after being in the car for well over an hour, and I was glad that no one else had made it yet. It gave us the chance to get inside and relax for a few minutes before the craziness all started again. I pulled into the garage and Brittany and I headed into the house.
A happy Carolina greeted us, her tail wagging enthusiastically as she gave us a doggie smile. Our cat, an orange tabby named Chester, greeted us with a 'mrrrt' before he ran off to do whatever it was cats usually did. Probably sleep in the sunlight somewhere.
Brittany and I gave the dog some love as we walked into the living room. She sat heavily on the couch, and Carolina picked up her favorite plush toy and brought it to my wife, setting it in her lap. Brittany chuckled as she picked it up and threw it down the hall for the happy dog.
I smiled as I watched the Golden Retriever run down the hallway for her toy. I sat down on the couch next to Brittany and leaned into her. I closed my eyes and sighed. It was already an emotional day, and we still had a lot of day left to get through. People would be showing up soon and we were all going out to eat to celebrate Declan's graduation. We were going to have a little party at the restaurant, and then we were going to let Declan go out to celebrate the way a typical 22-year-old new college grad would: by partying with his friends.
"How are you holding up with today?" Brittany asked.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I enquired, tilting my head back to look at her.
She looked at me with a smile. "I don't know. I'm not the one who bawled about her babies leaving her when the twins graduated high school," she teased.
"Hey, I wasn't bawling," I huffed defensively. "And besides, you were crying, too."
Brittany laughed, her blue eyes crinkling with mirth. "I did cry a little. It was a big moment," she conceded. "But you were clinging to me that night sobbing about how they grew up so fast and how we would never see them anymore."
I pouted, knowing she was right. "Don't be mean. It is hard seeing our kids becoming adults. Pretty soon they will be married with kids of their own, and I'm just not ready for that."
I could feel the emotions start to clog in my throat as I thought about our son and daughter being all grown and starting families of their own. To my dismay, tears started to pool in my eyes.
"Oh, baby," Brittany cooed, leaning down to press a kiss to my lips. "It's okay. It's a good thing that they are growing up. It doesn't mean that it is easy to handle for us as their moms, but this was what we were raising them for Santana."
I rolled my eyes, sniffling to try to stop the tears from falling. "I know. You just know how hard it is for me to let my family go away."
She gave me a sweet, understanding smile. "I do know. But you will always have me. And I will never let you go." She emphasized that with a squeeze around my shoulders. "Besides, you know how much Norah hangs around, so she will be here for awhile."
I chuckled. Norah had gone to nursing school nearby, and she lived at home throughout college. She had no plans of moving out, even after starting a job. That was perfectly okay with me, but I knew Brittany would have liked having some more alone time with just the two of us. I could see her point, but I was not ready for my baby girl to move out yet.
"Good," I said and snuggled further into Brittany's side. She just chuckled and leaned her head against the top of mine.
We sat there and watched the dog amuse herself by tossing her plush in the air over and over again. It wasn't too long before we heard a car pull up and the front door open.
"Moms, we're home!" Declan called as he and Norah walked in.
"In the living room!" I called back.
Our kids clomped their way noisily from the entryway into the living room, giving Carolina tons of pets as she danced around them.
"Are you guys just gonna cuddle and mope with each other all day?" Norah asked playfully as she sat down on the loveseat.
I sent her a glare. "No," I said like a petulant child.
Brittany tried to muffle a laugh and I sat up to smack her shoulder gently. She lifted her shoulders in a gesture of innocence.
"Your mami is just a little sad about you kids growing up so fast," Brittany said. I could hear a little bit of sadness in her voice though, and I knew she was having a hard time with it all too. "But she will be fine."
Declan looked a little guilty. "You know I still haven't landed a job yet, so I will still be around."
"And I haven't even moved out," Norah said unapologetically.
"Oh, we know," Brittany said pointedly.
I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, letting her know I wanted to explain. "I know you both aren't leaving us, but it is just hard to think about how there will be a time soon when you will be off somewhere else living your own lives and not have as much time to visit."
Declan came over and sat next to me on the couch, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Mami, we will always come visit as much as we can. We love you and mom both."
"He's right," Norah chimed in. "You're our moms."
She offered a shrug, as that explained everything. The funny thing was that it kind of did. It made me feel a lot better. Because I knew that Brittany and I had raised a loving son and daughter. They were great kids, and they had bright futures ahead of them. But they never had the desire to escape us and our home. They still loved spending time with us and going out to see a movie or going to the mall or even to go mini-golfing or something. They really were the best. And, no matter what, they would always be mine and Brittany's.
"I love you both," I said thickly.
"I love you both, too," Brittany said, her voice stronger but still full of emotion.
"And we love you," Norah said, coming over to the couch to wrap an arm around mine and Brittany's necks.
We laughed as Declan wrapped his arms around all of us, and we had a big family hug. The knock on the front door broke up the lovefest.
"That is probably your uncle," Brittany said, sitting back and wiping at the corner of her eye.
"I got it," Declan told us with a smile as he got up and hurried to the front door.
I heard the voices of my teenaged nieces, Veronica and Cecilia, proving Brittany right. Gabe and Jess's voices joined them, offering Declan congratulations on his big day. They still lived nearby, though Gabe had retired from playing years earlier. Jess still worked as a nurse and was a great source of information for Norah during her schooling. Their oldest daughter, Veronica, was going to be a senior in high school in the fall. CeCe was going to be starting high school. They were great girls.
Now that they were here, it meant that we would need to leave to meet Brittany's parents at the restaurant. They were driving down to meet us there. Bonnie and her family couldn't make it in for both ceremonies, so we were going to have a celebration when Norah graduated and they would come into town for that.
There was a mixture of pride and sadness in my heart as I thought about how much things were changing with our kids and our life. Declan and Norah were off to bigger and better things. They had so much to look forward to. My brother and his wife had great kids and we were all really close. Brittany's family loved us all and her parents spoiled all of their grandkids, of which Gabe's kids were included. Things were changing, but that wasn't a bad thing. It was just something that I had to get used to. Because that was life.
I looked at Brittany and met her eyes. She smiled lovingly at me, and any sadness in my heart completely evaporated. I had tons of reasons to be happy. My wife and I had raised amazing kids. And we were still as in love now as we were when we first met twenty-five years before. The life we had built together had been incredible. And we still had so much more to look forward to.
A/N: So this is the last one-shot for A Second Life. I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who has followed along on this incredibly long, but amazing journey. It was a huge story for me to tell, and I just couldn't let it go. But it is time! I hope you all have enjoyed it, and again, thank you so, so much!
If you haven't checked it out yet, my new AU has had its first chapter posted. It is called Worth the Risk, so give it a shot!