This fic is based off the movie The Impossible (with Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts). It's a true story about a family that experienced first hand the 2004 tsunami's in Thialand. If you've seen the movie, you'll recognize the overall gist of this fic, but a lot of things are different, so hopefully you'll still enjoy.
I realize some of the characters might seem OOC in this first chapter, but that's done on purpose and you'll understand why as the story progresses. This fic will be full of extreme angst and heartbreak, but I promise will have a happy outcome/ending. But if you don't like to cry over fictional characters, you might not want to read ;)
The next chapter will be more fleshed out and filled in. I was mostly trying to get through the set up in this one. Depending on the response, I should have the next chapter up in a few days :D
I hope you guys enjoy reading. This is my first Brittana fic, so I'd definitely like to know what you think!
The Impossible
Chapter One
Sugar Pierce-Lopez grumbled quietly to herself as she turned up the volume on her iPod. She'd been sitting in that cramped little airline seat for nearly six hours, and if the plane ride didn't end soon, she was liable to snap. Probably not before her mom though, since Santana looked a lot worse than she herself felt. She didn't really blame her though, what with the screaming and the crying coming from just a few feet away. Sugar was only listening to music and she couldn't concentrate, she couldn't imagine how frustrated the older woman was trying to do work.
"For Pete's sake Brit! Can you please quiet them down for a few minutes!? I can barely hear myself think let alone make this trade deal!" Santana did finally snap, whipping around from her isolated seat up towards the front of the small, private jet. She glared in annoyance at her wife while plugging her ear with her finger as she tried to hear her co-worker through the phone.
Brittany had long since learned to tune Santana's shouting out. Not that it should have been a bigger concern to her in that moment than her hysterically sobbing three year old twin boys. "San, it's the pressure! It's hurting their ears!" she shouted back over the roar of the engines. For a private jet, it wasn't all that spectacular. If she herself had been paying for it, she might have thought to complain. As it were, it was Santana's money and Santana's trip. She was just along for the ride, as usual.
Digging through one of her half dozen carry on bags, the mother groaned in despair as her children's pacifiers remained elusive. They couldn't bring any pre-made bottles onto the plane, and she didn't trust either of her sons with chewing gum just yet. "Sugar, can you ask your mother where she packed their binkys?"
Sugar heard her mom but didn't answer, instead turning her music up even more and shifting in her seat so she was now facing and looking out the window. The hell she was interrupting her other mother while she was on a business call! She was stubborn, not stupid.
Realizing her oldest child wasn't going to be any help, Brittany reluctantly unbuckled her seat belt and set the twin she'd been holding into the seat. "San, can you please put that on hold for one minute and help me with the boys?" she pleaded as she walked down the isle towards her wife. She could tell by the woman's posture that she was irritated, and suddenly rethought her approach. "Or can you at least tell me where you packed the pacifiers? That was your job, remember?"
Santana could barely hear her broker at that point, due both to the shoddy reception as well as the ruckus in the cabin. "Hold on Steve, I can barely hear you." She placed her hand over the receiver and turned in her seat, frowning up at her love. "Brit, that was Sugar's job, not mine. I got Dani ready this morning. You know I don't have a clue where you keep all of the baby things in this house."
Brittany leant into the seat opposite Santana as she thought back to that morning. They'd only been living in their current six bedroom, three and a half bathroom, upscale Manhattan apartment for about two months. She knew Santana worked all sorts of crazy hours in order to afford their lifestyle, but surely the woman had to know where the damn pacifiers were! "San, just come sit with me and hold Tyler? Please? Just for a little while until their ears adjust."
Santana looked behind her, at the two blonde haired, blue eyed boys still crying and flailing about in their seats and started to unbuckle her belt, when suddenly she remembered the phone in her hand. Pressing it back to her ear, she was relieved to find that the reception had strengthened, and she could hear her co-worker again. "Brit, I'm sorry babe, but the sooner I get these calls done with, the sooner I can devote all my time to you and the kids," she explained in that way she knew Brittany didn't know how to counter.
Sighing in disappointment, Brittany was upset with herself that she even bothered to ask. Heading back to her seat, she glanced at her sixteen year old daughter in the isle next to her. "Sugar, honey, can you please hold one of your brothers for a few minutes?" As expected, the uninterested teen ignored her and continued to stare rebelliously out the window.
"I can sit with Tyler," a softer voice spoke up from behind the seats Brittany and the twins sat. Looking back between the seats, Brittany could see her twelve year old daughter starting to unbuckle her seatbelt.
"No, Daniela, sweety, just stay there okay? Please, I don't need you getting hurt trying to walk up and down the isles," Brittany insisted, oblivious to the disappointed look on her daughter's face. She'd already turned back around and was once more trying to sooth both of her sons.
This was definitely going to be a nightmare of a trip; Brittany could already feel it in her gut.
Once the plane had landed and the family was taxi'd to their destination - a luxury beach side resort that had only opened up that year - things continued to go downhill. The executive suite Santana had booked, which was on the ground floor and was the largest room they offered, was apparently already occupied. Their next best option? A normal sized two room suite all the way on the fourth floor.
Nope. Santana was definitely not having it. "You better get your manager here pronto or i'll be taking my money elsewhere!" she shouted at the young man working at the reservation desk. "We did not fly all the way to your God forsaken country just to end up in hovel on the top floor! Do you know who I am? Do you know how many people I could tell about your shitty hotel?! I demand to speak to a manager!"
Sugar hung back away from her moms and siblings, still blasting her music in her ears as she tried to ignore the scene her mother was making. This was typical Santana Pierce-Lopez, though. The family could hardly order chicken nuggets at McDonald's without the fiery woman finding at least one thing wrong. At least she was yelling at a stranger now, and no longer at her mom.
Dani was torn between staying by her mom's side and helping to hold her brother's hands, or going over to her mami's side and helping to maybe calm her down. Santana very rarely got angry with her, so maybe she could step in and smooth things over before they got kicked out completely. She didn't even know why her mami was complaining anyway, it's not like she was carrying any of their bags up the stairs herself.
If Brittany wasn't used to the display, she would have been horrified at the spectacle her wife was making. Everyone in the lobby was stopped and staring at them, and since she didn't understand Thai, she had no idea what they were saying about her and her family. This was why she hated going out in public these days.
After a good twenty minutes of screaming and threatening action, Santana finally accepted the managers offer to room them on the second floor private balcony, luxury suite. It wasn't as glamorous as the original one she'd wanted, but at least she'd be able to get some privacy in this one. That, and the girls wouldn't have to share a bedroom with the babies.
"Dani, keep ahold of Tyler's hand. We don't want you getting separated," Brittany instructed absently, ushering her daughter and son ahead of her so she could watch them head up the stairs. "Sugar, please help by grabbing a bag," she asked of her eldest, but the girl simply ignored her and walked past their pile of suitcases and up the stairs behind her siblings.
Sighing, Brittany fished in her pocket for a few bills, frowning when all she could find were US dollars. The teenage boy that was standing around looking at her didn't seem to mind once she beckoned him over and handed him the money. "Second floor, room 210," she instructed the child, who couldn't have been older than Sugar.
She rolled her eyes at the thought of Sugar ever doing a days hard work. Santana really had them all spoiled. But at what expense?
Things still hadn't quieted down, even after they'd unpacked and settled in for the evening. Sugar was upset that she didn't have her own bedroom; something Santana had apparently promised her. Or more likely, used in order to convinced the girl into going on the trip in the first place.
"Sugar, can you please start acting your age. This is where we're staying, and no you don't get to have your own room. So you can either share with your sister, or with the babies. Your choice," Brittany laid out the options, still mildly irritated herself after the day's long journey.
"Why can't Dani sleep with the babies?! I mean, she practically is one herself! She cries when it gets dark and insists we leave a light on. It's so annoying!" Sugar didn't care that her sister was standing just a few feet away from her, a distressed and embarrassed expression on her face.
It always upset Dani that her sister considered her a baby. She was only three and a half years younger than Sugar, so that wasn't a very good argument in her mind. Though in her mind, she understood what her sister was really trying to say. She hated being around her because she didn't look like them. She looked like a foreigner, and not possibly a member of their rich, upper class, white family.
Daniela was Santana's only biological child, and so it made sense that she took more after her than she did after Brittany. Except, where her mami was a lighter shade of tan, she herself was much darker. A combination of the sun, and the african american genetics her sperm donor father had passed along to her.
Normally she didn't care that she appeared so out of place within her family. Manhattan was full of people of all different ethnicities and skin types, so even though she was the odd one out inside their house, she wasn't when she was out and about with her friends. Here in Thailand however, she just knew she was going to be mistaken over and over again for a local instead of a tourist. It always happened when they went on vacation overseas.
Whatever, it was Christmas and she was off of school for the next week. And unlike most of her friends who were currently snowed in at home, she was going to be spending all of her time on the beach in the sun.
"Mom, I can sleep in the boy's room, it's not a big deal to me," Dani interrupted her mothers argument with Sugar, hoping her peacekeeping skills could come into use here. She'd also rather stay with her brothers than her big sister, but knew enough to keep quiet about that part.
"No, thank you Dani, but you and Sugar are sharing a room and that is final. You can pout and moan and stomp around all you want, Sugar, but I will not have you keep your brothers up all night with your loud music and that game of yours," Brittany insisted, going against her natural desire to be appeasing and non-disciplinarian. But since Santana didn't seem to have an opinion on the matter, she had to be the one to put her foot down.
"UGH! FINE!" Sugar shouted, stomping her feet a few more times before grabbing her bag and storming off into the middle bedroom.
"For being your kid, she sure acts like Mami a lot," Dani remarked from where she was standing next to her mom, fiddling with the straps of her backpack. She kept her voice down because she knew her sister absolutely hated being compared to their mami, even if what she said was true.
"Hush you," Brittany scolded lightly, still worked up from the argument with the other girl. She had one twin in her arms and the other clinging to her leg and both smelt like they needed to be changed. "Go unpack and get your swimsuit on. Maybe some time at the pool before dinner will do us all some good."
Brittany watched her daughter head warily into her shared bedroom before looking around for her wife. "Typical..." she sighed under her breath when the woman was nowhere to be found.
Things did eventually quiet down once Christmas morning hit, and the few presents they'd managed to take on the plane were being opened and played with. Sugar had already gotten her main present the week before - a brand new, cherry red convertible. She didn't have her license yet, so it was currently parked in a garage by Santana's office.
Brittany had been enraged at the gift, having thought she and Santana had agreed on not getting the spoiled teenager a car until she started to be more responsible around the house. The question of any of their kids working for a living was already answered by Santana's six figure salary, but that didn't mean the girl couldn't learn some basic life skills.
Daniela was easier to satisfy, with a brand new Macbook Pro. They'd managed to convince the girl to leave it in NY though, citing the differences in electrical outlets and the harm that could cause to computers, and the fact she'd probably be out side at the pool all day anyway. To tide her over, they'd gotten her an iPad like her sisters, which she was now trying to work out how to plug in using the adapter they'd also purchased.
Tyler and Ryan were even easier to please than their sister, and were both now constructing a massive battle tower out of a set of jumbo sized Lego's. That just left Santana and Brittany's presents to each other.
Brittany had already suspected that Santana was going to use this trip as her 'gift' to her wife, and so was surprised when the woman handed her a velvety box that evening after the kids had gone to bed. Opening it with shaky hands, Brittany was at first startled, and then a little let down to see what was inside.
It was the charm bracelet Santana had gotten her after she'd given birth to Sugar. Along the golden chain were the charms that represented both of them, along with the date they got married, and the two that held symbol for their daughters, as well as their date of birth. The bracelet was almost exactly the same as the last time she'd seen it, except now there was another charm along the length, and a date that was close, but not quite their sons birthday.
"I know I kept promising to have the boys added, and so I finally remembered to do it last month. Do you like?" Santana asked, taking a sip of her second glass of red wine.
Brittany cleared her throat and nodded, closing the box and setting it down on the edge of the table. She decided not to mention the inaccuracy in the date stamp, knowing it would just lead into an argument about what little Santana did actually know about her family.
"So, what did you get me?" Santana asked somewhat seductively, the wine obviously going to her head. "Is it something I can only unwrap when we're in the bedroom?" She grinned at this, already feeling her body heating up at the thought of spending the entire night with her wife on their hotel's king sized bed. They'd been too tired or busy the past few nights, and so hadn't had any physical affection yet.
"Um, not quite..." Brittany was torn. She hadn't wanted Santana to drink, needing her to be sober when she told her the news. As it were, the girl was only getting sloppier by the minute. Sighing, she decided to save what she had to tell her till the morning. At least they could get one last good nights sleep before all hell broke loose.
"You're leaving me!?" Santana exclaimed, still hungover from the wine. She couldn't believe this was happening. She thought Brittany had been reaching into her suitcase for some sort of sex toy, not for an envelope full of divorce papers. "Brit, I don't understand! You can't just throw this at me from out of nowhere without giving me the chance to... I don't know, fix whatever it is I did to upset you."
Brittany was crying, tears streaming like rivers down her cheeks as she furiously tried to wipe them away. This was exactly how she imagined this scene to go, and wished now she had waited till they were back at home to break the news. At least then they had a few extra walls to buffer their voices so their children couldn't hear.
"San, please stop yelling," she pleaded, already having her speech prepared in her head. She didn't know how she was going to get through it while still crying, but she had to try. And if all else failed, she also had a copy printed out. "The kids can hear you. Everybody can hear you."
Santana was pacing back and forth, her hands wound tightly into her hair as she tried to comprehend what her wife was telling her. She wasn't happy? Hadn't been for a long time? That she was never home and the kids thought of her as a stranger?
How was she supposed to process all of this? Brittany was the love of her life. They'd been together since Senior year of high-school. They had four kids together. How could Brittany possibly think she didn't love her anymore? "Brit, please, let's be rational about this."
"Rational San? Really? You want me to be rational, when you don't even know the correct date of our sons' birth! It's the twenty seventh! Not the twenty fifth!" Brittany shouted back, reaching over to the nightstand and opening up the box. She took out the bracelet and chucked it at her wife. "But you wouldn't know because you were on a God damn business trip that week!"
Santana recoiled as the bracelet hit her, stunned more by the woman's words than by the action. Bending down to pick it up, she smoothed her thumb over the two teddy bears that represented their boys. Had she really gotten the date wrong? "Brit, I'm sorry, I can fix it, it's not a big deal," she insisted, holding the bracelet tight in her fist.
Brittany laughed at this and placed her face in her hands, shaking her head. "That's why I am leaving you San, because you're right. Missing the birth of our sons wasn't a big deal to you. None of us are. The only thing you care about is your fancy job and your money. Me and the kids, we're just getting in the way," her voice softened at the end of her sentence, her heart splitting in two at her lovers defeated look. At least they were both on the same page now.
In the other room, Sugar had had enough of listening to her moms yelling. She'd known for a while that her mom was unhappy and planning to leave her mother, but didn't think the woman had the balls to break the news while they were halfway around the world in some poor ass foreign country. What if Santana refused to pay for their flight home? Then what?
"I'm going down to the beach," Sugar said after a while, trying not to be concerned at the sudden silence from the next room. She already had her one piece on, and pulled on a pair of jean shorts and a stylish pink top.
"Can I come with you?" Dani asked, sitting up quickly in her bed. She'd been trying to occupy herself with the preloaded Disney movie's on her iPad, but the prospect of being out of earshot all together was much more appealing. "Please? I won't bother you, I promise."
Sugar rolled her eyes and shook her head, slipping her feet into her sandals. "No, you stay here. And don't you dare tell on me," the girl warned, grabbing her sunglasses and her room key.
Dani frowned but nodded, going back to watching her movie once her sister had left the room.
Back in the master bedroom, Santana was seated on the bed with her head in her hands while Brittany stood in the bathroom and desperately tried to clean her face. They had to tell their kids what was happening. They had to figure out what they were going to do regarding custody.
Santana had more legal claims to Daniela since she was the girl's biological mother, but the last thing Brittany wanted to do was split the kids up. Even if Sugar and her fought a lot, they were still sisters, and they would need each other in their lives.
Santana was Sugar's adoptive mother, but Brittany was almost 100% certain that the teenager would refuse having to spend even weekends at her mothers. Truthfully, she wasn't sure Santana would even want the girl to.
The twins weren't up for debate. They were Brittany's babies, and just like Sugar, she wasn't even sure Santana would want the responsibility of caring for them anyway. She didn't even know why Santana was fighting this, when it was so obvious that splitting up was what was best for all of them.
There was a tiny knock at the door, and Santana quickly wiped at her eyes as she beckoned whichever child had knocked into the room. "Hey mija," she softened, ushering her daughter to sit in her lap. Hugging her close to her chest, she rested her chin on the girl's shoulder and waited for her to speak. It didn't take long.
"Are you and Mommy splitting up?" the twelve year old asked, already knowing the answer, but still hoping maybe it wasn't true. At her mother's sigh and slightly nod, she leant further back into the woman's arms. "Can I stay with you?"
Brittany felt another batch of tears coming on as she listened to her daughter ask this of her wife. The girl wasn't even upset that they were getting divorced. It was as if she'd already known it was going to happen. Had Sugar told her? She'd instructed the girl not to, but when did Sugar ever listen to her?
"Oh, baby, let's not think about that now, okay? We're still on vacation. We're still a family," Santana explained, placing a kiss to her child's temple. "How about you wake up your sister and the three of us can head down to the pool before breakfast?" she asked, knowing Brittany could hear her from the bathroom, and hoping the woman recognized the effort she was making to include the teenager when normally she didn't.
Dani bit her lip as she thought about what her sister had said. But did it really matter if the girl was mad at her if she wasn't going to live with her for much longer? "Um, Sugar already went down to the beach," she explained, twisting a strand of hair in her fingers as she waited for the inevitable explosion.
"Wait, what?!" Santana nudged the girl from her lap and stood up, turning to stare at her. "She went off by herself? How long ago? Why didn't you come tell us?" she demanded, not realizing she was scaring the child by her outburst.
Brittany came out of the bathroom then and took her wife by the shoulders, leading her away from the girl now crying on the bed. "Santana, calm down. It's not Dani's fault, you know how Sugar is." Santana did un-tense a little, but still had that hard, angry look on her face. "I'm sure she's fine. Stay here with the babies and I'll go get her."
Santana shook her head quickly. "No, no. I'll go get her," she insisted, already moving to find some shorts and a reasonably presentable top. Realizing she still had the charm bracelet clenched in her fist, she set it down on the dresser while she changed, and then, almost as an afterthought, picked it back up and shoved it into her shorts pocket.
"Please don't scream at her San, this is hard on her too," Brittany pleaded to Santana's retreating form, but the woman just ignored her as she grabbed her keycard and exited the bedroom.
"Sugar Pierce-Lopez! You stop walking right this instant!"
Sugar groaned as she heard her mother shouting at her, deciding to ignore her instructions and continue on her path towards the hot-tub. She'd seen some really cute boys her age there the night before.
Santana clenched her hands at her sides as the girl continued to walk away from her. She began to jog as best she could in her sandals, until finally she caught up with the teen. Grabbing the girl's elbow, she spun her around and fastened the hardest, most stern expression she could onto her face. "What in the God damn hell were you thinking, leaving the hotel room by yourself!? Did you want to get kidnapped and sold into slavery!?"
Sugar rolled her eyes at this and kicked at the sand with her foot. "I dunno, maybe," she retorted, knowing she was only angering the woman further by trying to be cute. "It couldn't be worse than listening to you scream at my mother all the time."
Santana was thrown by this remark, and steadied herself, trying to calm down a little. "Look, your mother and I, we have our fights, sure, but so do all couples. It doesn't mean she and I don't love each other."
"Oh please, I already knew she was leaving you. She told me ages ago, because she wanted to make sure I was okay with it," Sugar replied, brushing at a fly that was buzzing around her head absently. Was her mother really that oblivious? Or worse, did her mother really think she was that oblivious?
Santana deflated again, not sure what she'd expected from the girl, but feeling the ache in her heart at the indifference she was clearly giving off. "And are you? Okay with it?" she asked, studying her daughter's face. This was the girl she had helped raise since the day she was born. This was her daughter. How could the girl be so nonchalant about the whole thing?
Sugar could see her mother was wounded by her responses thus far, but figured she deserved it with the way she'd been yelling at her mom earlier. "Are you kidding? A chance to get away from all the fighting, for mom to be happy for once? Of course i'm okay with it. You already got me a car, and then there's all the money you'll owe in child support, it's not like our lives are going to change much in the end."
"How can you say that? Sugar, I'm your mother, I-"
"No! You're not my mother! My mother is up there crying hysterically because you had the indecency to make her feel guilty about wanting to leave! You're not my mother! You're just- you're just a walking ATM that occasionally comes home for dinner. You don't care about us! All you care about is your damn job and your damn money!" Sugar was screaming at this point, and for once she didn't care who was watching.
Santana had to take a step back, unsure what to say, or even if there was anything to say to the girl. She knew she was right. She wasn't a mother to her. Or at least she hadn't been for a long time. It's not like she had planned for things to turn out this way, they just sorta did. And once they had, she hadn't really made an effort to be the parent they truly needed.
"Sugar, I'm sorry..." Santana started, trailing off when her daughter turned and started walking away, heading now towards the beach. She watched the girl for a few moments, knowing she had to follow her, but wanting to give her some room as well.
She was just about to call her name again when a loud thundering noise rang out, seemingly enveloping the entire resort in a momentary, eerie stillness. Then, as if in slow motion, Santana turned her head to the side just as a giant wall of water became visible atop the palm trees, moving towards them at a speed she couldn't even comprehend. What the hell was happening!?
People started screaming and running, aiming for the safety of the resort. Santana, however, began running towards the wall of water. Towards her daughter. "SUGAR!" She screamed, but the girl was frozen in her spot, her head turned towards the incoming wave. "SUGAR RUN!" Santana shouted again, losing her flip flops as she bolted as fast as she could across the sand.
Everything was slowed down, faded out almost. The roar of the water as it broke through the trees, carrying the splintered palms and other debris towards them should have been deafening. But Santana couldn't hear it. All she could hear was the sound of her own heart beating as she frantically tried to get to her child.
At the last possible moment, Santana managed to reach the girl and pulled her into her arms, spinning them around so she could shield her daughter with her body. "I love-" she started to say, but was interrupted as the twenty foot high wall of water finally reached them, slamming into their bodies and causing the entire world to go black.