Dani leaned forward against the counter, her brow furrowed and coated in sweat. She picked up the spoon to the side of the stove and placed it in the boiling soup before beginning to stir it gently. The smell of potatoes, chicken, and various vegetables permeated into the kitchen and Dani removed the spoon as she leaned backwards to attempt to relieve her back some. The weight gained from pregnancy was already doing its work on her after four and half months.
The blonde checked her watch. It was five forty-six. Santana would be home in approximately ten to fifteen minutes if Dani knew her schedule well. She quickly turned the burner down so the soup would stop boiling but stay warm and began setting the table with the ceramic bowls Santana's mother had purchased for them. In the refrigerator, two yogurt parfaits, topped with granola and blueberries (Santana's with strawberries as well – Dani couldn't stand the red fruit). Both of them knew that Dani had to eat healthy while she was pregnant.
Dani sliced the French bread waiting patiently on the counter quickly and placed them on the sides of the bowls before breaking out the soup spoons and placing them on the napkins next to the bowls. She filled a pitcher with water and placed it on the table with two glasses that had also been a gift from Santana's mother.
As the stove continued to hum, Dani ran her fingers through her hair and admired her handiwork. She had never been much of a chef, but she knew that Santana would appreciate her work regardless. Ever since the pair had discovered that Santana tragically couldn't have children, Dani had been doing her best to make her girlfriend feel love.
"Babe!" Dani heard a familiar voice call into the apartment. "I'm home!"
Dani beamed and nearly skipped over to Santana in the foyer. "Hey, love." She planted a quick kiss on Santana's cheek and grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her to the kitchen.
"Whoa, Dani!" Santana exclaimed and removed her hand from the shorter girl's grip. "I still need to get my coat off!" Santana quickly removed her coat and placed it on the rack neatly before grabbing Dani's hand again. "What is it, babe?"
Dani smiled at her girlfriend. "Guess what!" She said excitedly and jumped up and down in a manner that reminded Santana vaguely of a puppy.
Santana threw her hands up in the air dramatically. "I don't know, babe, what?"
"I cooked dinner!"
Santana giggled as a small smile cracked her face. "Dani, honey, you didn't need to do that," she said as she walked towards the kitchen, the smell of soup now heavy in the air. "Mmm," she said as she sniffed the air. "It smells good, though, what are we having?"
"I made soup from scratch. I even cooked the chicken and chopped the vegetables!"
"Sounds great, babe," Santana commented before she began pulling out her chair.
Dani rushed next to her. "No, no," she said quickly before pulling the chair out for her girlfriend. "I want to treat you well tonight."
"You don't ever treat me badly," Santana said, perplexed.
Dani bit her lip as she avoided Santana's eyes and walked over to turn off the stove and gather the soup from it. She pulled the ladle from a drawer and began spooning the soup into both of their bowls. "I mean, just since, you got that bad news, and I, um…"
Santana sighed and pressed her napkin against her lap. "Dani, honey, it's okay. You know I'm just happy to be with you as you have our child."
Dani smiled sadly and returned the soup to the stove before she turned the burner on softly again. "Okay," she responded before she sat down across from Santana.
"You know you're glowing?"
Dani laughed and flipped her hair before she patted her stomach. "I've been told. Oh!" She exclaimed as random thought passed through her mind. "I made your favorite yogurt parfaits for desert."
"Strawberries?" Santana asked excitedly.
"Of course!" Dani replied. "Just not on mine. I don't understand how you like those things. Damn devil fruit."
The brunette rolled her eyes. "You are such a drama queen. Mmm, Dani, this is really good," she said her mouth full a piece of bread soaking with soup.
Dani smiled widely. "Thank you!"
The pair continued to chat casually at the table. Santana told Dani about how there was a new assistant at the studio who was doing positively nothing other than making people's lives incredibly difficult. "Even if you get your own coffee," Santana remembered. "He somehow finds a way to screw it up."
Dani told Santana about her OB-GYN appointment earlier that day. "I'm so, so, so, sorry I couldn't be there," Santana had said. The blonde told Santana that she could hear the fetal heartbeat and that she knew what the gender was but she didn't know if Santana wanted to know.
Santana had shrugged. "Tell me!"
"It's a girl," Dani said quickly and Santana beamed, her eyes glassy as she walked around the table to kiss her girlfriend's forehead. "Are you happy?"
Santana simply nodded and let a single tear fall from her eye. "Babe, I couldn't be happier as long as I'm with you."
With that, Dani stood up suddenly and bolted from the table and closed the bathroom door behind her. Santana was struck dumbfounded and her eyes widened as she jogged to the bathroom to hear retching noises coming from behind the door.
"Dani, babe, are you okay?"
Dani opened the door a crack, her face pale and nodded slowly. "Shit, I'm sorry, Santana. You didn't say anything. They should really just call it 'general pregnancy sickness.'"
Santana nodded and laughed quietly. "Let me in, babe?"
Dani cautiously opened the door and Santana noticed an off-colored streak down the front of her shirt. "I, um, missed the toilet a tiny bit," she said sheepishly.
The darker girl just smiled and pressed a chaste kiss to Dani's lip before recoiling. "Damn, morning sickness doesn't taste any different than normal barf."
Dani's eyes lit up. "What did you think it would taste like? Mint? You kind of had that coming to you."
"Whatever," Santana rolled her eyes and she stepped to the side towards the bathtub. "I'm going to run you a bath. Bubbles or no bubbles, my lady?"
"Bubbles!" Dani exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Okay," Santana said as she turned the knob on the bathtub before she poured a sizeable amount of pink liquid into the tub. "I'll go clean up while you're in the bath."
Dani frowned and she pulled of her shirt. "No…" she protested. "I want you in there with me."
Santana smirked. "Well….If you insist."
The blonde smiled and nodded. "I do insist," she proclaimed before she finished stripping and placed herself in the tub. As soon as she was seated, she motioned for Santana to do the same and as she did, Santana stepped into the tub half-full of warm water and situated herself so that Dani was the big spoon.
Dani kissed the top of her girlfriend's head. "You're my favorite."
"I hope so," Santana said quietly.
Dani and Santana stayed in the bath longer until the water had gone cold and the bubbles had dissolved. Santana tightened her grip continually on Dani's hand as they remained in the bath longer. As the water gradually became colder and colder, Santana finally got up and grabbed Dani's hands to help pull her out and dried her off before drying herself off and grabbing both of them sweatpants and t-shirts for pajamas.
"I love you," Santana said as she pulled a t-shirt over Dani's head before doing her own. "Go lay down, babe," she said before she pulled her own bedtime outfit and grabbed a bottle of Dani's favorite lavender-scented lotion off of the bathroom counter.
Santana retreated into the bedroom where Dani was reading The Great Gatsby, a book she had read five times before and claimed that she could read a thousand more times. Santana smiled at the peaceful sight before she hopped up on their bed and pulled Dani's shirt up.
"San, what are you doing?" Dani said nervously. "I read somewhere that it's not good for the baby when you have sex when you're pregnant."
The taller girl laughed. "First of all, I don't know what tripped up books you're reading, babe, besides Fitzgerald's only known work, but no. Also, I wasn't coming onto you." She pulled the bottle of lotion from out from behind her back and squirted some onto her fingers before she rubbed it gently into Dani's stomach.
"Mmm," Dani said quietly as Santana's warm fingers worked against her belly with the perfect amount of pressure. "That feels so good, love. And I bet the baby likes it too."
Santana smiled. "I'm sure she does." She worked her fingers in firmly and placed more lotion on Dani's stomach and sniffed it closely before she rubbed it in again. "What do you think about Katelyn?"
"Hm?" Dani questioned, her eyes closed. "Oh, names, right. That's nice."
"Or Harper? Like your last name?"
Dani blushed. "No…" she trailed off. "That's embarrassing. What about…Serafina? You know…kind of exotic sounding, maybe?"
Santana rolled her eyes and took her hands away as soon as all of the lotion was rubbed in. "I can tell we're going to have a hard time with this, aren't we?"
"Maybe," Dani said vaguely and she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes tiredly. "You still promised to clean the kitchen."
"Eh, fuck it until the morning," Santana dismissed it quickly as she rolled over to face Dani. "You were so lovely to me tonight."
Dani smiled before she yawned widely. "It's mutual," she replied.
"If you're feeling down or weak, you can count on me. I will always pick you up. Nothing's ever gonna change. Nothing's getting in my way. I will always hold you up. Anything, come what may, don't look back. Forget yesterday. It's not where you come from, it's where you belong. Nothing would I trade. I wouldn't have it any other way. You're surrounded by love and you're wanted, so never feel alone. You are home with me. Right where you belong."
Santana's singing voice trailed off and Dani was already fast asleep on top of the covers. Santana pressed a kiss to her cheek before she got up to grab a blanket from the linen closet so she wouldn't wake Dani by picking up the covers.
"Good night, Dani, love. Good night, baby girl."
