"Mama, mama it's time to get up," Santana Lopez- Pierce heard through the pillow burying her head from the incessant sunlight blaring into her bedroom. She felt as if she had just said goodnight to her wife only seconds ago.
She tried to ignore the voice, to get one more minute of sleep that she was usually deprived from, but it was no use. The boy was more persistent than the alarm clock resting on her night table. Groaning, she rubbed her head against the sheets trying to shake the tiredness from her body.
"I'm up, I'm up," she repeated, cracking her eyes open to reveal her mismatched dressed son standing in front of her. She chuckled at the site, leaning her back against the headboard before opening her arms.
The adorable sandy blonde climbed his way up to his mother before snuggling into her embrace. "I dressed myself," he stated proudly, his sparkling chocolate eyes looking to his mother for approval.
"I can see that. Where's mommy, did she leave yet?" she asked, kissing his forehead.
"Yup, and she took Lily with her," he said not bothering to hide his excitement. The five-year -old loved his baby sister, but often felt she received all the positive attention, especially by his mother Brittany.
Santana rolled her eyes at the information. Ever since Lily had been born, Brittany had developed an unnatural attachment. Santana couldn't even hold her daughter without receiving some type of correction from her wife. It was unhealthy and the one thing they argued about constantly.
"Alright, let me up kiddo. We have to get you to preschool," she said, helping him on the ground before heading to her dresser.
"I'll go eat breakfast. Mommy left us muffins," the little boy said running out of the room.
"Don't eat too many Jake," Santana called, throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt which was a change from her usual business apparel. After throwing her hair into a ponytail and applying a bit of makeup, she headed for the kitchen where she knew her son was making a mess.
"Mama I like the pumpkin ones," Jake said through a mouthful of cake, crumbs covering every inch of his body and the floor.
Santana made her way to her son, lifting him into a standing position on the chair. She gently wiped the crumbs from him before lifting him up. "Sorry buddy, looks like we need to change your outfit," she said knowing Brittany would kill her if she let him leave the house looking like a crumby hobo.
"Okay," he said, crumbs flying from his mouth onto his mother's face.
Santana winced. Boys were gross.
After dropping her son off at preschool, Santana headed to her wife's bakery. She pulled into Treats For Your Sweet with a smile. The place had a decent amount of people in it for a Tuesday morning. She walked in to find a few regulars enjoying a muffin or pastry while reading the newspaper. She smiled politely before turning to her two friends who co-owned the bakery behind the counter.
"Morning San," Quinn said, handing her a cup of coffee. She looked as tired as Santana felt.
"Morning, where's Britt," she asked, waving to Rachel who was taking someone's order.
"In the back with Lily I think," Quinn said, shooting a knowing smile to Santana. Quinn was one of their best friends so of course she knew of the ongoing argument about Lily between Santana and Brittany. She continued with, "San, don't say anything. How many arguments can you have about this?"
"I just don't get it. I don't get it Quinn. She wasn't like this with Jake at all. How can I not say anything, it's affecting our marriage at this point," Santana said in a heated whisper, not wanting the entire shop to know her business.
"It's your call," Quinn stated, giving her a wink before helping Rachel put someone's order together.
"I personally think it's affecting the business as well," Rachel added, in her usual overconfident voice.
Sighing, Santana made her way to the kitchen area to find her wife working on a wedding cake. Lily was sleeping in her car seat which was place on top of the workstation. Brittany's eyes lit up at the site of her wife.
"Morning baby," she said, putting her pastry bag on the table before embracing Santana in a hug.
"Morning Britt," Santana said solemnly, returning the affection. She glanced at her daughter, before bringing her gaze back to Brittany.
Brittany saw the distraught look on her wife's face. "I thought I'd give you the day off and take Lily with me to work," she tried, hoping her wife would accept her response.
"Baby what was the point of me taking time off from work to help with the kids if you won't let me help with the kids. I turned down a major case to be able to do this babe," she said gently, not wanting to fight.
"You are helping though. Just last night you fed Lily dinner, gave her a bath, and put her to bed for me," Brittany said, breaking their embrace so she could finish up her cake and further avoid the topic of conversation Santana was about to bring up. She picked up the bag and continued her work.
"Yeah all under your watchful eye Brittany. You should have been watching TV, or taking a bath, or doing something with Jake," Santana argued, grabbing the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
Brittany rolled her eyes. "I am a good mother Santana. Don't try to make me feel that I'm not."
"Who said anything about you not being a good mother? You're too good of a mother to Lily, that's the problem," Santana said, grabbing Brittany's free hand to show her she wasn't trying to fight.
"Oh and I'm not to Jake?" Brittany said, hurt by the fact that Santana accused her of neglecting their son.
"I didn't say that. Brittany, baby you need to see things through my point of view. I can't look at, touch, or say anything about Lily without you worrying or yelling. That's a problem. Is it because of the miscarriage," Santana tried asking, wincing at the pained look on Brittany's face.
Lily was supposed to have a twin brother, but he had passed away during Brittany's delivery. Both women were devastated. Lily was nine months old now, and Santana had put up with this behavior long enough. She needed to somehow get through to Brittany, even if it meant talking about things that were a sore subject.
Brittany continued to decorate the cake, ignoring what Santana had said. She forced the tears away from her eyes, trying to concentrate on her work.
Santana let out an aggravated sigh. Once again, she was going to get nowhere on this subject.
"I guess I'm gonna go to the food store before I have to go get Jake. Are you gonna be home for dinner?" she asked, crossing her arms against her chest.
"Yeah, I have a couple more cakes to do, and then I'm gonna head out. I'm pretty tired today," she said, putting the pastry bag down.
Santana wanted to snap and tell her why she was tired, but she just smiled instead. "Alright, well I see you at home. You sure you don't want me to take Lily?" She tried, already knowing the answer.
"Nah, she's just sleeping now anyways. I'll be out of here in a couple hours. Quinn and Rachel are here so everything will run smoothly," she said, leaning in for a kiss.
Santana reciprocated, pressing her lips gently against her wife's. She walked over to her daughter, staring intently for a moment before kissing her finger and placing it against the baby's cheek.
"Oh you better bring Jake home some cookies for after school. He made sure to let me know we were out before I left this morning," Brittany laughed, knowing how much of a sweet tooth her son had. Luckily he was constantly active to keep his metabolism up.
"He's gonna turn into a cookie. We all are. I'm surprised we all aren't fat with this business of yours Britt," Santana joked, glad the mood was lightened.
"We've got killer metaphysics baby," Brittany smiled, playfully grabbing Santana's behind to prove her point.
Santana laughed, one at the fact that she understood what her wife meant from years of practice and two at how cute she was. She kissed Brittany one last time before heading out. She grabbed an assortment of cookies from the front, placing a chocolate chip one in her mouth before leaving.
"Jake, I told you to turn that down buddy. Mommy and the baby are sleeping," Santana called from the kitchen where she was preparing dinner.
"Actually we're up," Brittany said, entering from the kitchen staircase holding Lily. She placed her in her highchair before peeking over Santana at the stove. "Smells great, whatcha making?"
Santana smiled, turning her head to peck Brittany on the lips. "Just some chicken marsala," she said, swatting Brittany's hand away as she reached for a mushroom. "You're gonna burn yourself."
Santana stared at Brittany's pout for a moment before sighing. She carefully reached in the pan and grabbed a mushroom before putting it in her wife's mouth.
"Yum, you're the best cook ever," she stated happily.
"And you're the best baker ever," Santana replied, kissing her one more time before going back to her meal.
Brittany smiled, kissing Lily on the head before walking into the adjoining family room. She took a seat next to her son, wrapping an arm around him. "How was school bud," She asked, leaning down to kiss his forehead.
"Okay," he said solemnly, his eyes focused on SpongeBob. He shrugged his way out of Brittany's embrace before standing in front of her. "I'm going to wash my hands."
Brittany stared after her son, a hurt look displayed on her face. Santana saw the interaction from the kitchen. She felt sad for both her wife and son. As Jake entered the kitchen to wash his hands, Santana followed his every move. She noticed the way he looked towards Lily as he passed her, it wasn't pleasant. Brittany followed him in, leaning against the counter as if she didn't know what to do. The baby began to fuss and Brittany immediately went and picked her up.
"I got her Britt," Santana said, gesturing her eyes towards Jake. She went to take the baby from Brittany's arms but Brittany pulled back.
"She's fine, I got her," she snapped, shooting angry eyes at Santana. She turned to Jake. "Baby you wanna come with me to work tomorrow? I'm making your favorite, peanut butter cookies. You can help me," she smiled, trying to show Santana that she could do two things at once.
"Awesome!" Jake yelled, nodding his head up and down like a bobble head. He hugged his mom's side before running back into the family room.
Santana stared at her wife in shock, before rolling her eyes. "He has school tomorrow Britt," she said, clearly annoyed.
Brittany's smile turned to a frown. "Oh, well one day won't matter. It's only preschool Santana."
Santana shook her head in disbelief before going back to her meal. She violently turned the knob to the stove off before dumping the chicken onto a plate. She then took the plate and slammed it on the kitchen table, making the juices from the meal slide off. "Dinner's served."
Brittany and Lily watched Santana throw her tantrum from the side before finally joining her at the table. The meal was eaten in complete silence between the couple, them occasionally striking up conversation with their children. When Santana was finished, she practically threw her plate into the sink before grabbing Lily from her highchair and heading upstairs.
Brittany instantaneously jumped from her seat. "What are you doing?"
Santana turned from halfway up the steps. "I'm giving my daughter a bath. Why don't you finish eating and help Jake with his," she said, her eyes daring Brittany to take a step forward.
"I'll help you, I'm finished anyways. I'll help you with Lily's and then you can help me with Jake's," she tried with a look of panic across her face. She began taking deep breaths.
Both their eyes locked in a deep stare down. Brittany felt an overwhelming amount of fear and guilt while Santana just felt anger. Lily looked back and forth between her parents before reaching her arms out to Brittany and said "Ma ma". Brittany winced, knowing how much it was probably hurting Santana.
"Here, take her. I'm going out for a while," Santana said, handing her daughter off to Brittany.
Brittany took Lily and turned to Santana who was bypassing them down the stairs. "Where are you going?" she asked with almost a childlike tone.
"Out."
And with one final slam of the front door, that was all Brittany heard from her wife for the rest of the night.
"I'm so freaking pissed," Santana yelled from Quinn's living room couch. She had jumped in her car and contemplated going to a bar, but figured Quinn's house had as much liquor as one and it would be free.
Quinn smiled, carrying two Margarita glasses in from the adjoining kitchen. She handed one to Santana before sitting next to her. "San, she's obviously not doing it to hurt you. It's something much deeper than that. You know how hard she took it, losing James," Quinn said, grabbing her friends hand for comfort.
Santana scoffed. "And I didn't? Just because she carried our children doesn't mean they are not mine," she yelled, rather yell than cry because that was what she was on the verge of.
"Santana you know Brittany would never think that. She practically tells people you impregnated her when she talks about your children. I just think you're both sensitive about the subject and that is why you keep fighting. I mean after it happened, I've never heard either of you bring it up," Quinn stated.
"I try and she either avoids talking about it or blows up in my face for even mentioning it. I'm afraid if I push her too hard she might have a nervous breakdown or something," Santana admitted, slowly sipping on her drink. She wasn't really in the mood to drink anymore; she just wanted to fix things with Brittany.
"I'm afraid if you don't talk about it that might happen anyway," Quinn distressed, wincing at the painful look on her friend's face.
Before Santana could respond, Quinn's husband who she was currently separated from walked in with their kids.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "I thought I told you to knock before you come in Puck," she yelled, obviously having marriage woes of her own.
"I would have knocked Quinn if the kids didn't run ahead," Puck said frustrated, emphasizing his wife's name.
Santana stood up to greet her godchildren. "Hey you two, come give me hugs," she said smiling, trying to ease the tension between two of her best friends.
"Aunt Santana," they yelled excitedly, greeting her with hugs and kisses.
"Guys let's put your stuff in your room. I'll be right back San," Quinn said, before helping her kids put their suitcases away. She glared at Puck on her way out of the room.
Puck scratched the back of his shaved head awkwardly. "Hey San, I was just dropping the kids back to Quinn," he said, sending his friend a smile.
Santana returned the gesture before going over to hug him. She was not going to be mean to him just because Quinn and him were having problems. That would be like them having to pick sides if she and Brittany ever split up. He hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek before pulling away.
"Don't worry Puck, things will work out," Santana said trying to comfort her friend.
"Yeah, we're not you and Britt, San," he smiled, shaking his head at the vision he had in his head at their perfect marriage.
Santana shook hers as well, replaying the argument her and Brittany had had only hours ago. "Trust me, no one's marriage is perfect."
"She just doesn't get it Kurt," Brittany said through the phone, sitting against the headboard of their bed. After Santana had left Jake threw a tantrum demanding that Brittany go find his mother. It took her an hour and a half to calm him down and convince him to take a bath and go to bed.
"I know Britt," Kurt said not wanting to upset Brittany. Although Brittany was the one who usually confided in him, he knew better than to mess with estrogen. He liked to stay neutral between his friends not wanting to upset either of them.
"I mean you think she would be glad I'm taking care of Lil, the less stress on her. Once she goes back to work, that's where her focus is gonna be, where it needs to be," she said, mostly only convincing herself.
"I think you need to talk to her Britt," Kurt said, wishing he could be there to hug his friend.
"I can't talk to her," Brittany said, tears making their way down her pale cheeks. She wiped them away, refusing to cry.
"Why can't you talk to her?" Kurt asked confused.
Brittany sniffled, "Because she's gonna want to talk about," she started but shook her head, "Kurt I have to go, Lily's fussing," she said, hanging up before Kurt had a chance to answer.
Meanwhile, Lily was peacefully sleeping in her bedroom. Brittany slid down the bed, burying her head in her pillow to muffle the sobs making their way out. Whenever she was alone, she allowed herself to breakdown. She clutched her hands to her stomach as she wept.
TBC