Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 61st cycle. Now cycle 62!

TOP 15 COUNTDOWN - Something I do once in a while, if you will recall, where I take my favorite characters, ships, friendships, series (from my daily stories) and put them in order, the number 1 of which gets a seven-chapter story in the end :)
Coming in at number 6: Paper Heart series

"Step Sixty-Two, Get What You Want"
(Kurt &) Brittany, Santana, B/S, (& Baby Harry)
Paper Heart series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

She'd stood in that room, changing from one outfit to the next, showing them to Santana one after the other, once she'd gotten through her moment of panic. Having Santana there, not only to encourage her but to give her feedback, she had started to feel better, and her head had gotten clearer, too, until finally she'd seen as clear as she ever could. And she made a decision. Maybe she wasn't the clearest of thinkers on some days, but when it came to her heart, she didn't need much more than what she had.

If she said nothing, did less, then she'd never know, and she might miss her chance… they all would.

So with that in mind, she had opened the door, walked out of the cabin, found Santana, and kissed her.

She had to smile, seeing how befuddled Santana looked the whole time as she took the clothes to the register and they left the store. She watched her for a while as they walked.

"Is it bad, should I have waited until we were somewhere else, or did you not want me to…" she asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she suddenly felt.

"Definitely did not… not want you to," Santana shook her head, frowning as she confused even herself.

"I need to ask you something, and I need you to tell me the truth, no matter what it is, do you swear?" Brittany stopped her, bringing her out of the foot traffic. Santana stared at her for a moment before nodding. She put her bags down, freeing her hands, which she could feel almost tremble.

She hadn't thought this through, not so much, and finding the words could work in her favor as much as it could make things worse. She had to just get it out, work through it as she went along.

"You and me, we… we've had things, we could have been one way, but we never said anything, so it's hard to tell if…" She paused, taking a breath. "There was this picture, I… I don't have it with me right now. Kurt took it at the hospital, the day Harry was born. I was holding him… Harry, not Kurt… And you were sitting with us," she smiled. "I really liked that picture… It made me cry. And it made me realize that… well… You've been a part of this family from the beginning, and I guess what I need to ask you is if you would be part of it even more, with me. I know that I love you, and that I would want us to spend our lives together, and that Harry would be lucky as hell to have a mom like you. I know it's a lot, and if you want to run away right now, I won't even stand in your way."

"Are you kidding?" Santana shook her head, smiling. Brittany had barely managed to look at her as she spoke, like she would see something that would tell her she was going down the wrong road. But she was smiling, she definitely was, which was a good thing or Brittany might have misinterpreted her tears. "Britt, I want you to stand in my way. I am not running. I love you…"

"You know I mean 'that way,' right?"

"Yes, that way," Santana smirked to herself.

"You do?" the hope in her eyes was well near too much for Santana to keep it together.

"That's what I told my parents," she nodded.

"You did?" Brittany hadn't known. "When?"

"The day Harry was born. I tried for so long to tell them, and I needed them to know before I went. I've been trying to find a way to tell you."

"Oops," Brittany smiled.

"I just thought, with the baby, those first days, first weeks, it would be too much. But you know me, if I don't do something right away, then it can take me forever," she bowed her head. "You really mean it, what you said about me… and Harry?" she asked.

"Why would I lie?" Brittany nodded. "You've always been there, for all of it, it's been the three of us getting ready for when he'd arrive. You already loved him like he was yours. I didn't want to put all of that on you, you know? It's a lot to ask."

"I said I wasn't running, didn't I?" Santana shook her head. "I'm here and I want to be, for him and for you both," she took up the blonde's hands.

"Yeah?" Brittany let out a breath, just as Santana had leaned in to steal it away with a kiss. When they'd pulled away, she looked around, recalling that they were in the middle of the mall having this talk. "Uh… Santana?" she looked back to her.

"I know," Santana looked momentarily timid, but she wasn't afraid by far. "You're not the only one who's got some moving forward to do," she reached to pick up the bags resting between them.

"Does that make me your centerpiece?" Brittany recalled their talk from inside the store and Santana smiled.

"You have no idea," she confirmed. No one was looking; it was any other day, except for the two of them. They both still had so much to figure out, with the ramifications of Brittany's declaration, with Harry, and Kurt, and everyone else involved, but for now it was still just them, only them knowing, and it made them feel like there was no one as special as the girl by their side. "Want to keep shopping?" Brittany nodded. "Then let's keep shopping."

"Santana?" she stopped her. "Can I… maybe I could hold your hand?" There was still some part of her that wanted to be terrified at something like this, and as much as she could win out against that part at times, it wasn't a clean break away. "How about your arm?" Brittany offered when she saw this. Santana appreciated the offer, but she looked around and decided that, at least for now, this moment on this day, she would aim for what she wanted instead of what she feared. She offered her hand, and her girlfriend took it.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!