AN: I honestly have no idea how I managed to write a 10,000 word babysitting fic, but here it is. This takes place in about December of season 2 because season 2 Santana is my very favorite. Beth is about 6 - 7 months and Santana is already super in love with Brittany but not quite ready to admit it. For the sake of the story, can we just pretend Britt's not dating Artie? Okay, thanks. (I mean, she could be, I guess, but I like the tone of it better when it's read with both of them single.) Also, obviously Quinn and Puck kept Beth, but, let's be real, that's just a plot device to give Brittana a babysitting job.
"Hi Santana! I have question."
Brittany spun up as Santana pulled books out of her locker. She appraised her best friend, not needing more than a moment to decide that her expression meant trouble.
"What, Britt?" Santana asked carefully.
"We're going to hang out this weekend, right?" Brittany asked, her tone far too innocent.
"Yeah?" Her response sounded more like a question, but years of friendship had made her wary.
"Great!" Brittany exclaimed. "Because I told Quinn we'd watch Beth this weekend. Okay, bye!"
Santana grabbed her arm before Brittany could waltz down the hallway. "You told her what?"
"That we would watch Beth. Puck's taking Quinn to Chicago for the weekend so she can get a break. Who even knows where Judy is and I said that we could babysit." Brittany's explanation came out in a quick rush of words.
"That is not happening." She said the statement with as much conviction possible, but knew she would never be able to hold out against the pout that was creeping across Brittany's face.
"Please, Santana. It'll be so much more fun with you."
"Poop and screaming are not fun. I'm not wasting a perfectly good weekend."
"What else are you going to do?"
Santana rolled her eyes. If anyone else had asked her that, she would have chewed them out for the implication. But this was Brittany, so instead she responded with, "I don't know. Sleep? Shop?"
The bell rang, warning them that they had two minutes to get to class. English was on the other side of the building and she would barely make it in time if she left now.
Brittany knew this too, and she quickly jumped on her last chance. "Please? You can still sleep and I'm sure Quinn will let us take Beth to the mall on Saturday."
"Brittany…."
Any resolve that she was desperately holding onto was gone the moment that Brittany leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "And we can have sex on Quinn's bed."
With a wink, Brittany pulled away flounced down the hallway towards her next class. Santana could only stare at the pleats of her skirt as they teased across the top of her thighs.
Shit.
"So here's the formula and baby food. Take my car if you're going anywhere – installing the car seat is harder than it looks. She'll probably cry when you put her down for the night, but she always stops after a while. I am missing anything?" Quinn asked, shifting Beth in her arms so she had a hand free to run through her hair.
As much as she hated to admit it, Quinn was a frazzled mess and Santana could see that she needed a break.
"Nope," Brittany assured her. "We've got this. Plus my mom said that she'll be around if we need any help."
"And we have this nice novel you wrote for us," Santana added, flipping through the pages of instructions written out in Quinn's careful script.
"Okay. But promise you'll call if you have a question."
"Quinn, we will. Don't worry." Brittany gave Quinn a confident smile.
Any further concerns from Quinn were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"That'll be Puck," Quinn pointed out, nodding for Santana to get the door as Brittany reached over to take Beth.
"You're watching my kid, Lopez?" Puck said immediately when Santana opened the door.
"Hello to you too," she muttered, stepping out of the way so that he could come inside.
"No, Santana is helping. Brittany's watching her," Quinn clarified. As an afterthought she added, "No offense."
Santana shrugged; it was true. Puck looked like he was going to comment on the selection of Brittany, but Santana raised an eyebrow, daring him to say a word. He rolled his eyes instead and walked over to kiss Beth on top of her head.
"Okay, we're out," Quinn said, bending down in front of Brittany to flutter kisses across Beth's cheeks, making the baby scrunch her nose and giggle.
After a series of goodbyes, Quinn and Puck headed out the door, shutting it and leaving Santana alone with Brittany and a baby for the entire weekend.
"I know Quinn said we can eat anything in the house, but this food sucks. Want to order pizza?" Santana asked as she closed the fridge in defeat.
Brittany giggled as she buckled Beth into her highchair. "Quinn said you'd say that. She left money on the end counter."
Finding it easily, Santana noted, "Nice! This is like a hundred bucks."
"I want pepperoni and pineapple!"
Santana made a face. "As long as the pineapple stays on your side."
"No promises. You know pineapples can be very sneaky," she responded seriously. "You want to order the pizza or feed Beth?"
Santana raised an eyebrow.
"The baby then?" Brittany giggled.
"Ha." She pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contacts for the place they usually ordered from, and stepping into the other room to make the call.
Less than five minutes later, Santana came back into the kitchen. Though her eyes were first drawn to Brittany's ass, for once encased in tight jeans and on display as she stood on the countertop to dig for something in the back of a tall cupboard, it only took a moment for her to take in the site of Beth.
"Oh my god! Brittany!"
"What?" Brittany turned quickly, losing her balance, and Santana darted over to her, placing steadying hands on her hips before she could fall.
"Whoops, I didn't think she could reach that," Brittany said quietly as they both took in the site of Beth, who was humming happily to herself as she smeared whatever bright orange mashed vegetable that had been intended for her dinner across her hair, her shirt, her face.
Less than an hour into the weekend and their charge was already an unrecognizable orange mess. Santana sighed and let her head rest against Brittany's thigh in defeat.
"Well, shit."
Brittany swatted the top of her head. "Don't say that in front of the baby."
"Okay, okay. But look at her!" Santana gestured towards the high chair frantically.
Brittany looked, biting her bottom lip for a moment and then starting to laugh hysterically.
Beth looked up at the sound, a smile covering her orange face, and pounded her palm against the tray, proclaiming, "Ba!" and sending specks of orange flying.
"This is not funny, Brittany! We are the ones cleaning this up!" Santana pointed out.
"It's a little funny. You think it's funny, don't you, Beth?" she asked the baby across the room.
Beth's face crinkled into a smile, showing off her two teeth.
"Calm down, San," Brittany instructed, scratching fingers across her scalp. "We'll clean her up. Help me down."
Though she was certain Brittany was fully capable of getting down from the counter, Santana obediently held out her arms and let Brittany cling onto her like a baby monkey. She staggered backwards a couple steps as she took Brittany's full weight, but stayed upright until long legs slid down to the floor.
Brittany didn't step back right away and instead of focusing on the fact that she was close enough to kiss, Santana asked, "What were you doing up there?"
Blue eyes twinkled with mischief. "Looking for Quinn's secret candy stash."
Santana snorted. "Did you find it?"
"Not yet. But I haven't given up!" Brittany said brightly, before spinning out of her arms and focusing on Beth. "Look what a mess you made, Miss Beth. You're earned yourself some bath time."
"Britts, you may as well finish feeding her first," Santana pointed out.
"True. See, this is why you are here," Brittany said, grinning at Santana over her shoulder. "Can you get out another jar of her food?"
Santana nodded, muttering, "Maybe not the orange stuff this time, I don't think we need a repeat performance."
Though she still maintained that the situation was not funny, Santana may have snapped a couple pictures of Brittany and the orange baby on her phone. Maybe.
The pizza boy didn't flirt with Brittany as he usually did when she answered the door. Likely due to the baby on her hip that most closely resembled a rainbow of mashed vegetables. The peas had gone over only slightly better than the squash. It made Santana want to hire Beth as permanent protection against all skinny, pimple-faced Lima Losers who thought they had a chance with someone as hot as Brittany.
Brittany paid, but they left the pizza on the counter in favor of giving Beth her bath.
"You can go eat, San," Brittany told her as she filled the tub with warm water. "The pizza is going to get cold."
Santana shook her head, waiting on dinner in favor of hovering around the tub and handing Brittany things as she asked for them. Beth looked small and fragile as she splashed happily in the bath, and Santana felt her hands fluttering nearby, staying close and ready to reach in if Beth showed any sign of slipping. She was somewhat reassured by Brittany, who seemed totally at ease, rinsing shampoo out of Beth's curls without letting any suds near her eyes, all while narrating a complex story about a rubber duck who worked at a naval shipyard with a purple octopus .
Beth was vegetable free by the time Brittany lifted her out of the tub, and Santana laid a towel across her knees and accepted the wet baby onto her lap.
"Ba-da!" Beth protested, squirming as Santana's dried her off, resulting in a damp spot across the front of her shirt.
"She's probably worried about how the octopus will support his family after the duck fired him," Brittany noted sagely as she drained the tub and rinsed bubbles off the bath toys.
"Undoubtedly," Santana agreed, wrapping the towel around a mostly-dry Beth to keep her warm.
They dressed Beth in fuzzy yellow pajamas and brought her downstairs, their voices instinctively dropping to a lower register as they ate their pizza and Beth took a bottle, her eyes starting to look droopy as it approached her bedtime.
"I'm going to take her upstairs," Brittany whispered, setting down the empty bottle and shifting the sleepy baby to rest against her shoulder.
Santana nodded and gestured to their plates and the pizza box. "I'll clean up down here and be right there."
Though she wasn't proud to admit it, when Santana heard crying coming from upstairs as she was washing out the empty bottle, she slowed down, lingering on the job, making sure that her sponge covered each square inch of plastic. That sound grated in her ears in a way that she couldn't explain and she hoped that if she waited long enough, Brittany would take care of it and she could dodge the full volume cry.
After a couple minutes, once she had washed the bottle at least four times over, Santana admitted defeat. With a heavy sigh, she placed the bottle on the drying rack and guilt dragged her up the stairs to the nursery.
She leaned against the door-jam as she let her eyes adjust to the dim room. Brittany had the baby in her arms and looked perfectly relaxed despite the harsh sound of crying, walking around the room in a smooth, graceful arch as she rocked Beth.
"Is she okay?" Santana asked softly.
Brittany nodded, her voice soothing as she explained, "She's just a little fussy."
If this screaming constituted 'a little fussy' to Brittany, Santana was certain there was no way she would be able to handle full-blown upset.
"Can I help?" Santana heard herself ask, her brain immediately scolding her for not going with 'it looks like you've got this. I'll be downstairs.'
"Do you want to rock her?" Brittany asked, coming closer.
Santana instinctively rocked back on her heels, and shifted so her body was mostly outside of the room. "No." After a pause she added doubtfully, "I could sing or something?"
A soft smile flooded Brittany's face, drawing Santana half a step into the nursery.
"But I don't really know any songs for babies," Santana added after a beat.
"That's okay," Brittany assured her. "This is Quinn's baby. She probably would be insulted by the lack of fornication."
"What?" Santana drew a complete blank for a moment, before guessing, "Sophistication?"
"Something like that. Sing her a song from glee," Brittany suggested.
Because it had been in her head so much recently, Santana went for a subdued, slowed down version of Valerie. Brittany seemed to approve of the selection, meeting her eyes over Beth's head, and shifting her movements into something that could only be called a dance.
As Santana sang and Brittany danced, Beth started to quiet down. For a second, Santana let herself imagine. Imagine that this was her life. To picture Brittany as her wife and a baby that would melt her heart from the moment she saw their blue eyes. She saw white dresses, promises, birthday parties, and first days of school. It only lasted for a moment before she clamped down hard on the thought, shutting it out entirely, but it was enough to cause her heart to leap to her throat in anticipation of something she hadn't fully realized that she wanted.
She managed to get through the end of the song, concentrating only on the music. The last note faded away, leaving only the sound of their breathing to fill the dim room.
"I think she's asleep," Britany murmured after a pause.
Santana stepped close, looking down at Beth who was curled against Brittany's chest, her slow breaths confirming Brittany's assessment.
"Can you put her down without waking her?" Santana whispered, lightly touching one of Beth's tight curls.
Brittany bit her lip, but nodded. Santana held her breath as Brittany started to lower the sleeping baby into her crib and didn't let it back out until they managed to sneak out of the nursery.
In the hallway, Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and pressed her against the wall, her body impacting the plaster with a light thud. Her face was covered with wet kisses until Brittany found her lips and parted them easily with an insistent tongue. Santana's balanced wavered, and she steadied herself with flat palms against the wall.
"We're a good team," Brittany mumbled against her mouth.
Santana panted in agreement, accepting Brittany's tongue into her mouth as she moved her hands from the wall to start pulling Brittany's shirt off.
It didn't take long for them both to lose their bras and Santana started sucking on the pale skin around Brittany's nipples, admiring the way she could leave a string of tiny bruises simply by pulling the skin between her teeth for a moment. Brittany responded wildly to being marked, bucking her hips and tugging on Santana's hair.
"We should move," Brittany moaned when Santana unbuttoned her jeans.
"Where?" Santana asked, leaning up to paint kisses across Brittany's lips and chin.
"Quinn's bed?" Brittany suggested. "I did promise you."
"Fuck yes," Santana agreed, letting Brittany drag her down the hall, pulling at each other's clothing and not bothering to turn on the lights as they entered the bedroom.
The rest of their clothes came off before they hit the bed and Brittany landed on top of her, sucking kisses into her neck and pressing a thigh up between her legs. Santana moaned and arched her back, ready for more, but instead Brittany slowed down. The pressure of her thigh eased up and she leaned down for a long, deep kiss, reaching out with her tongue, but not particularly searching.
Santana was panting when they broke apart, but Brittany continued on calmly, carefully kissing down Santana's neck, across her clavicle, down towards her breasts. It felt like something that Santana was too scared to name.
Brittany's mouth was fluttering over her nipple when Santana pushed her away, with firm instructions of, "Don't. Just fuck me, okay?"
Brittany looked up at her, pouting.
Pushing away any feelings of guilt, Santana continued to insist, "I'm really horny. Come on."
Though the attention to her breasts did not stop, Brittany's hand slipped downwards and for a few minutes Santana could close her eyes tight and concentrate on nothing but the sensations as her body raced towards release.
Even though it she had cut the foreplay short, Santana still came fast and she came hard. It always happened that way with Brittany and that never failed to scare Santana to her very core. But it was this same fact that made her fall into bed with Brittany over and over again.
"Mmmm," Brittany hummed in satisfaction, braced on one arm and hovering over Santana as she brought her fingers directly up to her mouth, sucking them in deeply, her eyes bright in the darkness. Santana felt heat rush between her legs and she was immediately so turned on that only the heaviness in her limbs reminded her that she had just had an orgasm.
"You taste really good," Brittany whispered naughtily in her ear and it made Santana want to do things that she had previously deemed 'way too gay.' She pushed the images away and tried not to think about the fact that exchanging kisses with her best friend who was naked and on top of her was already pretty gay.
For a second, Santana considered rolling over and feigning sleep to escape her buzzing thoughts. But Brittany kisses were ripe with expectation and she was wet against Santana's thigh, and Santana couldn't bring herself to be that mean.
Instead she closed her eyes and buried her face into Brittany's neck, vision unnecessary for her hand to find its way to the familiar spot between Brittany's legs. She was so warm and so wet and she immediately started to make these little noises that had Santana's pulse pounding in her clit.
"More, San," Brittany whined, her forehead falling against Santana's shoulder, scattering blonde hair across her torso.
Santana complied, tracing through the well-mapped area to find Brittany's clit, pressing against it firmly. It made Brittany moan loudly, her breath hot against Santana's neck. Encouraged, Santana twisted her hand so that she could keep pressure at that spot and have a finger free to slip inside. Brittany's hips slammed downward in response, and Santana moved her right hand to her waist to keep her steady.
"Santana," Brittany mumbled, her lips ghosting across Santana's neck and jaw until their mouths met in a sloppy kiss.
Her thumb fluttered against Brittany's clit as they kissed, the rest of her hand steadied against her upper thigh as Brittany moved up and down, riding her fingers. It was mesmerizing and Santana couldn't help the way her eyes were constantly opening to sneak a peek at the way Brittany could move.
When Brittany panted, "so close", Santana added a little more pressure with her thumb and slipped her tongue into Brittany's mouth. Brittany's breaths kept catching in her throat and Santana could feel the desperation in her movements. She opened her eyes again to look, but instead was captured by bright eyes, wide open and inches from her own.
As soon as she realized what was happening, Santana slammed her eyes shut to break the stare.
"San," Brittany moaned, and it sounded like a protest, but it was soon overpowered by a sharp intake of breath and Brittany's muscles going tense. Blindly, Santana continued to touch her for a few moments, pushing her fingers in as deep as they could go, and not pulling out until Brittany's body was collapsed, heavy against her.
She could feel the sticky wetness coating her fingers, and she wished she could be bold enough to find out what Brittany tasted like. Instead, she wiped them against the top of Brittany's thigh, curling her hand underneath the curve of her ass, the other sliding from Brittany's waist to the small of her back so that Santana essentially had her in a loose embrace. Santana took a deep breath and tried to curb her own arousal, that had been growing since Brittany's had pulled that damn move with her fingers and had started raging at the feeling of getting Brittany off.
Her heart was beginning to pound a little less forcefully when Brittany shifted, dragging their naked bodies across one another and putting Santana right back where she had been to start. But she realized that was a good placed to be, when Brittany, her eyes shining with mischief and excitement, asked, "Again?"
When the cry woke Santana, it took her a minute to register her surroundings. She was naked and draped across an equally naked Brittany. That was nothing new but the bed was unfamiliar and the room was far too dark to be either of their bedrooms, hers always bathed in the dim glow of the streetlight outside her window and Brittany's with the nightlight that had been plugged into the corner for as long as Santana could remember.
The crying continued and Santana was able to remember. She moaned, poking at Brittany.
"Britt," she hissed. "Brittany, Beth's crying."
Brittany murmured something incoherent, rolling closer until her cheek was pillowed against Santana's upper arm.
Rolling her eyes, Santana braced herself for the cold that she knew would hit her as soon as she left the cocoon of blankets surrounding them. Brittany moaned a bit when Santana's body heat moved away, shifting into the warm spot and curling into a ball. It was an automatic reaction to tuck the blankets around her before feeling around in the dark for the bag with her clothes.
After managing to find a soft long-sleeve shirt and some shorts, Santana stumbled down the hallway to Beth's room. Her eyes had adjusted enough to find the crib without turning on the light, Beth a dark shape clinging on the bars as she cried.
"You're supposed to be sleeping, you know," Santana said softly and Beth reached her arms up at the sound of her voice.
Santana scooped the baby into her arms and the smell the met her nose immediately told her what the problem was. She sighed and crossed the room to flip on the light, squinting hard against the brightness. Beth whined and hid her face in the folds of Santana's shirt, but most of her crying had stopped now that someone was there to fix her problem.
Santana laid her down on the changing table, unsnapping her pajamas and gathering the necessary supplies, trying to breathe through her mouth as she opened the diaper.
"Santana?" a sleepy voice asked.
Santana spared a glance at Brittany, who padded into the room with bleary eyes and bare feet, wearing only a large t-shirt and panties, before returning her full attention to the task at hand.
"What are you doing?" Brittany asked again.
"Poop," Santana said shortly with a grimace, balling up the dirty diaper and dropping it into the waste-bin before grabbing a generous handful of baby wipes to finish tackling the situation.
Once Beth was secure in a clean diaper and her pajamas fastened back up, Santana passed her into Brittany's arms.
"I'm going to go, like, bleach my hands or something," Santana said, looking at Brittany's spacey gaze and asking, "You're not going to fall asleep and drop her, right?"
Brittany yawned and shook her head.
"Okay. I'll be right back."
Though she did not resort to bleach, Santana did scrub her hands under the hottest water she could stand for much longer than the usual routine that she passed off as hand washing. She returned to the hallway to find Brittany already exiting the room, sans Beth.
"She's sleeping already?" Santana was shocked, after the extended crying routine they had experienced only hours before.
Brittany nodded, still looking half-asleep, and she took Santana by the hand, pulling her back into Quinn's room. The feel of a mattress under her back and the still-warm sheets made Santana release a content sigh and she pulled the covers over her shoulders, about to curl onto her side when Brittany tugged her arm insistently, mumbling, "cuddles." Too sleepy to protest, Santana pliantly let Brittany arrange their bodies and snuggled into the warmth of her best friend, easily drifting back to sleep.
"Fuck this fucking piece of shit!" Santana exclaimed, swiftly kicking the stroller she was trying to fold up and then cursing again when the force reverberated in her toe.
"Santana!" Brittany scolded, covering Beth's ears.
Beth only giggled and continued to chew on the toy in her hand as Brittany strapped her into her car seat and Santana wasn't too worry about corrupting her. Many in a year when her vocabulary consisted of more than 'ba', 'da', and screaming.
Regardless, she muttered, "Sorry" before going on to explain, "I could kill whoever designed this thing. Pull and fold my ass."
Brittany scowled at her again. "I'll come help in a second."
While she waited for Brittany to get Beth into her car seat, Santana glared at the stroller, wondering how something made for stressed parents could be so difficult to operate. It was already an hour past the time they had intended on leaving for the mall – morning routines take much longer when there is a baby to consider – and Santana was ready to accomplish some serious shopping.
Even with the two of them working on it, they got no closer to figuring out how to get the stroller folded up. Santana was not willing to take Beth to the mall if it meant that one of them had to carry her around the whole time, but before she could express that, Brittany chimed in.
"I have an idea!"
"You okay back there, Britt?" Santana asked hesitantly, glancing at her in the rearview mirror as she backed out of the driveway.
"Awesome!" came the reply from behind a mass of plastic.
After they had thoroughly failed to fold the stroller up so that it could fit into the trunk, Brittany had suggested simply shoving the entire thing in the backseat. With some finagling, they had managed to get it to fit, but it had been precariously close to Beth's head in her car seat. Brittany had somehow wedged herself into the backseat between all the baby gear so that she could hold the stroller and prevent anything from falling on top of Beth as they drove. Santana was unconvinced that they would be able to get home after all of this, but if they had to be stranded somewhere, the mall wasn't the worst place so she was willing to risk it.
Dressing rooms with Brittany were not nearly as fun when Santana could feel observant baby eyes tracking her every move. Although they were in the largest dressing room, it was still a tight fit with both of them and the stroller. Brittany was close and her arms kept bumping against Santana's torso as they pulled clothing on and off. It was hard not to push her up against the wall like usual, but Beth never stopped staring at them from her seat in the stroller.
"What do you think?" Brittany asked, striking a pose in a wild, multi-print skirt.
Gesturing for her to turn, Santana took in the view from behind, admiring the way the bright fabric curved tightly over Brittany ass, perhaps for a bit longer than necessary.
"Super hot," Santana declared.
"Really?" Brittany asked, sounding a little doubtful.
"Yes," Santana confirmed. "You look entirely fuckable."
Brittany twisted her body to see the back of the skirt in the mirror. "You don't think it's too much?"
Santana chuckled, pulling off a sleeveless top. "Britt, everything you wear is too much. That's like your thing."
"I guess," Brittany shrugged.
Reaching around her to get another shirt to try on, Santana couldn't resist lightly swatting her ass as she said, "Buy it."
Brittany nodded, tugging the tight fabric down. Santana stopping midway through pulling a shirt on, staring as the skirt attempted to drag off Brittany's panties and exposed the top half off her ass.
"Are you stuck?" Brittany asked, tossing the skirt in her 'yes' pile and readjusting her panties. "That happens to me all the time." Still pants-less, Brittany stepped close, her fingers brushing against Santana's stomach as she helped to pull the shirt the rest of the way over Santana's head.
"Nice!" Blue eyes immediately fell to the generous cleavage the shirt exposed.
Brittany hadn't moved out of her personal space and their bodies brushed against each other as Santana stepped around her to get a view in the mirror. The shirt certainly did show off her assets nicely and would probably be enough to get some of the football players panting at the next house party. She still hadn't found anybody to replace Puck since he had decided to become a responsible parent and loyal boyfriend to Quinn and she needed to get on that soon. Santana Lopez was not meant to be single for this long.
"I like," Brittany reiterated, stepping behind Santana and tucking her head onto her shoulder. Their eyes met in the mirror as Brittany reached up to trace a finger lightly along the edge of the shirt. It would have tickled if it didn't make her shiver so much.
"Stop it!" Santana said after letting Brittany touch the skin of her chest for several heavy moments. She broke their gaze and swatted away the wandering hand.
Brittany giggled but obeyed, turning to drop a fluttering kiss into the crease of her neck and shoulder and then spinning Santana's body to press a firmer one against her lips.
"Britt!" Santana scolded her again. "Beth's in here."
"So? She's not going to tell anyone. Isn't that right, my little Beth-Beth?" Santana watched as Brittany squatted down next to the stroller, making Beth smile, her starfish hand reaching out to squish Brittany's nose.
"Whatever," Santana responded, ignoring the way Brittany's interactions with the baby made her heart melt every damn time. "I'm gonna get this. Are you done trying on?"
"Yep," Brittany affirmed, standing up and digging her pants out from under the pile of rejected clothing and tugging them back on.
"Lunch?" Santana suggested as she organized the items she intended to purchase. "I'll buy."
Brittany's grin was the only answer she needed.
The bulky stroller proved convenient for the first time, in that the basket underneath gave them a place to stash their bags and Santana's hands didn't have the familiar ache of plastic digging into her palms as they walked towards the food court.
Beth fussed from her stroller before they got there and Brittany stopped, pulling them to the side of the walkway to lift her out.
"Aw, don't be a grumpy-pants, Beth. Shopping is fun," Brittany soothed her in sing-song voice.
Beth smiled up at her, wrapping a chubby fist around long blonde hair and settling in Brittany's arms. Wordlessly, Santana took over pushing the stroller and Brittany continued to ramble to Beth as they started walking. However, it was quickly apparent that Brittany lacked the ability to walk in a straight line when she while she was distracted and after she nearly plowed down the third person, Santana shifted her grip so she could push the stroller with one hand, her other on the small of Brittany's back to guide her along and protect innocent patrons of the mall.
"Well, my, my. Isn't this the cutest shopping trip?"
Santana rolled her eyes at the familiar voice, her hand automatically dropping from Brittany's back to grip the stroller tightly with both hands.
"Oh, look, it's Porcelain in his natural habitat," Santana shot back, despite the fact that it was kind of a nice surprise to see him. She would never admit it, but the choir room had seemed a bit empty since his transfer to Dalton.
"I resent that implication. A mall is Ohio cannot come close to fulfilling my fashion needs," Kurt responded.
"Hi Kurt! Hi Mercedes!" Brittany said enthusiastically, and then to Beth added, "See, I told you malls were good places. You get to see friends here without even planning."
Santana didn't get the chance to clarify that glee club membership did not automatically make them friends, before Mercedes asked, "Where's Q?"
"Chicago," Santana answered briefly.
"Chicago?" Kurt asked, confused. "I have the entire mall inventoried and I can assure you that there is no store here with that name."
"Chicago the city, genius," Santana shot back.
"Quinn went to Chicago the city and left you two with her baby?" Mercedes clarified, her face an expression of disbelief.
"We're her best friends," Brittany answered.
Angry at with what Mercedes seemed to be implying, Santana added, "Britt's awesome with kids. She has a little sister and cousins and an endless attention span when it comes to peekaboo."
Mercedes shrugged, and it occurred to Santana that she was maybe feeling a little slighted that Quinn had asked them first. "It's not a glamorous job," Santana pointed out, feeling generous. "She's not very cute when she's screaming in the middle of the night."
"Aw," Brittany cooed. "She was still cute. This one even did a 3 am diaper change." She gestured to Santana was the arm not supporting Beth.
"Britt," Santana hissed, not wanting the fact that she could be willing to do such a thing advertised.
Brittany reached over to pinch Santana's cheek. "You were pretty cute too."
Santana shrugged her off with a glare, but Brittany continued brightly, "We were going to get some food. You guys want to come?"
Somehow Santana had never before imagined herself sharing a meal with this particular group. They sat on cheap plastic chairs around a table that wobbled on uneven legs every time someone took a bite of their lunch and it was so narrow that her knees kept bumping into Brittany's long legs across from her.
In front of her was a rather wilted excuse for a salad, her attempt at obedience to Coach Sylvester's diet regimen. The pizza last night had been cheating and while she had a kick-ass metabolism for now, surely that couldn't last forever and there was no way in hell that she was going to risk her position on the Cheerios over a few carbs. However, that didn't mean that she didn't steal one of Brittany's French fries every time the other girl leaned over to give Beth a spoonful of baby food.
"So did you ladies find anything good?" Kurt asked, leaning his face onto his hand to look at them and jostling the entire table.
"We got a few things," Santana answered vaguely.
Brittany chimed in with, "Santana got a new shirt that will make everyone want to touch her boobs." She paused and gave Kurt an appraising glance. "Maybe not you." She finished with a 'your loss' kind of shrug and leaned back down to where Beth sat in her stroller to give her another bite of food.
Santana stole another fry.
"Brittany, girl, Satan is going to eat all of your fries if you don't stop her," Mercedes commented.
Fuming, Santana shot her a glare and rapidly swallowed the evidence in her mouth, choking violently on the half-chewed potato. She could feel three sets of eyes watching her with concern as she coughed and Brittany wordlessly held out her coke. Santana gratefully took a sip, the cool liquid easing the food down her throat.
Once Santana was breathing regularly, Mercedes smirked. "Like I said, she's eating your fries."
"Oh, that's okay," Brittany assured her. "I always order extra. She pretends to be all healthy but never likes what she ends up with."
Santana wanted to protest, but the picked-at salad sitting in front of her wouldn't do much to support her cause. With a scoff, she resolutely stabbed a forkful of lettuce.
She stayed quiet as they continued to eat, pretending not to care as Mercedes filled them in on the gossip of their fellow glee club members and Kurt caught them up on his adjustment to Dalton. Instead she watched as Brittany finished feeding Beth and took her out of the stroller, easily eating her own lunch even with the baby on her lap.
They were just finishing up when Brittany looked at from under her lashes and asked sweetly, "Santana?"
Santana didn't need her to finish the request.
"Yep," she responded, getting up from the table and returning a few minutes later with a cardboard bowl filled with two generous scoops of peanut-butter, chocolate chip ice cream, one spoon stabbed into the frozen treat.
Brittany's face lit up when Santana set in down on the table in front of her. She lifted Beth out of her lap and passed her over to Kurt, whose eyes widened as he awkwardly held her. Brittany didn't seem to notice and instead took the biggest bite of ice cream ever.
"Yum!" Brittany mumbled around a mouthful of ice cream. "You always pick the best flavors."
Santana smiled and handed her a napkin for the dribbles that were starting to escape out of the corner of her mouth.
She looked out of the corner of her eye to see Kurt and Mercedes watching their interactions with a sort of confused fascination.
"What?" she asked them harshly.
"Nothing," Kurt said immediately, his attention turning to Beth who was attempting to suck on the lapel of his designer jacket.
Mercedes was a little bolder. "You two are weird."
Not fazed, Santana shrugged, probably confirming Mercedes observation when a spoonful of ice cream was waved in front of her face and she opened her mouth to let Brittany feed it to her.
They hit up a couple more stores before leaving the mall and Santana found a new pair of sunglasses, which she bought despite Brittany's concern that 'it's bad luck to buy sunglasses in the winter.' In the parking lot, her last-ditch attempt actually succeeded in collapsing the stroller down to a size that would fit in the trunk. She had some concerns that she may have broken it a tiny bit, but hopefully Quinn wouldn't notice for a while.
The ride home was much more comfortable when they could both sit in the front seat and no one was at risk of being crushed. Brittany drove while Santana thumbed through Quinn's iPod, silently judging her music taste and playing songs that she knew would make Brittany laugh.
Beth was sound asleep by the time they pulled into the driveway, and Santana carried in all of their bags, watching nervously as Brittany picked up the sleeping baby.
"Did you wake her up?" Santana asked urgently, unlocking the front door and holding it opened for Brittany.
Brittany shook her head and walked in the house, settling Beth into the playpen set up in the living room and tugging off her tiny pink coat. Santana followed, peeking over the edge to watch Beth settle with a sleepy baby sigh.
"You are fucking amazing," she whispered to Brittany.
Brittany shrugged, removing her own outerwear and curling up on the couch. "Yeah, I'm pretty awesome."
She glanced at Beth one more time to confirm the Brittany had indeed gotten her into the house without waking her and that they did not have to spend the afternoon dealing with a cranky baby.
"Lion King!" Brittany squealed. "It's just starting." She patted the seat beside her eagerly.
Santana dropped her coat over the back of an armchair and obediently padded over to watch the movie with Brittany.
Despite her excitement, Brittany was asleep before Hakuna Matata, snoring lightly against Santana's shoulder, her even breaths tickly and warm against the skin of her neck. Santana didn't bother to reach for the remote to change the channel and finished watching the rest of Simba's adventure on her own.
With their charge sound asleep and Brittany's warm body curled close, it occurred to Santana that this babysitting gig was not all that bad.
Babysitting Beth was as bad as she ever imagined. Worse, even, because she would never be able to conjure up such shrill cries in her head.
Their evening had started out pleasant after a sleepy afternoon. Santana had whipped up a fairly successful chicken stir-fry and feeding Beth had gone without a hitch. Maybe this was punishment for her overconfidence because after that everything had gone to hell.
Beth started to get fussy shortly after dinner and Brittany best attempts at distracting her hadn't stopped the progression to a full-blown cry. It had been going on for almost half an hour now and Beth was too worked up to take the bottle they had prepared for her and Santana didn't see how the screaming baby would ever calm down enough to go to sleep. The singing and dancing routine that had gone so well the night before seemed to have made Beth even angrier.
Santana watched as the red-faced baby spit out the bottle Brittany offered to her once again.
"Do you think she's sick or something?" Santana asked, desperate for some solution.
Brittany hesitated, but shook her head. "She doesn't feel like she has a fever and she was fine earlier. Quinn said she's been crying at night."
"Crying, sure. But this is murderous screaming," Santana pointed out with frustration. "There must be something wrong with her." She stepped over to feel Beth's forehead, but had to agree with Brittany's assessment that her temperature seemed fine.
"Babies cry, Santana." Brittany propped Beth up against her shoulder and swayed back and forth.
"Should we call Quinn?" Santana suggested, reaching over to her purse to find her phone.
"What's she going to do?" Brittany asked with raised eyebrows.
"Um, I don't know," Santana said with more sarcasm than she usually used with Brittany. "Come home and save us?"
"That's ridiculous," Brittany pointed out. "They're four hours away and she'll be sound asleep by the time they get here."
"Not at this rate," Santana cried. "She'll be screaming until our ears bleed."
"She'll calm down, give it time. Babies - "
"I know babies fucking cry!" Santana cut in harshly. "You know what? I didn't sign up for this. I knew this would happen and that's why I told you 'no'. I don't know why I let you talk me into these things!" Santana ran a frustrated hand through her hair.
Brittany gave her a sad look, but had no response.
Santana made a snap decision, declaring, "I'm can't take this torture any longer! I'll see you later."
Filled with inexplicable anger and frustration, Santana stomped her way over to the front door and it was all she could do not to slam it on her way out.
"Mija? Santanita, is that you?"
"Yeah, Mami," Santana replied, kicking off her shoes and darting towards the stairs, hoping to escape to her room before her mother came out of the kitchen.
No such luck. Maribel caught her while she was still on the second step, asking, "I thought you were going to be babysitting until tomorrow."
Santana shrugged, feeling no need to respond when her mother hadn't actually asked a question.
"Did something happen with the baby? Is Quinn back early?" A look of concern crossed her mother's face.
"No," Santana scuffed her socked toe against the wooden banister. "Babies aren't really my thing, you know? Britt's handling it."
"Santana Marie, I hope that you aren't planning on leaving her alone there overnight. What if something happens to that baby? I don't even like the idea of the two of you watching her all night, but Brittany's too young to do that alone," she lectured.
The guilt that had been plaguing her since the moment she walked out the door rose easily to the surface, but Santana still replied with a scoff and commented, "She's two months older than Beth's mother. And don't even get me started on Puck's mental age."
Maribel sighed. "If you're not going back there for the night, then I will."
"Mami," Santana whined.
"I'm quite serious."
"God, okay," Santana finally agreed. "I'll sleep over there, but for now I need a couple hours of quiet!"
She only managed about 40 minutes of quiet.
Laying down on her bed to rest had only allowed for all her thoughts and guilt to rise to the surface and she could tell right away that she would never be able to nap. She felt guilt about snapping at Brittany like that, guilt about storming out. She rarely lost her temper like that when Brittany was involved, but everything had been going so well all day and she had started to let the fantasy of one day, somewhere far away from Lima, parenting with Brittany. Beth's meltdown had brought her right back to reality and reminded her that dreams like that do not come true.
Despite being unable to nap, she stayed in her bed as long as she could stand it, flicking through her phone for something that would occupy her mind, constantly checking to see if Brittany would text and ask her to come back. But she got nothing. It wasn't long before her guilt had her dragging herself out of bed.
"You're leaving so soon?" her mother asked as she went down the stairs.
Santana ignored the knowing tone, instead shoving her feet into her shoes and grabbing her jacket.
"Yep, I'll be back some time tomorrow."
Maribel came over and gave her a tight hug. "Babies can be stressful. You girls call me if you need anything and I'll come right over."
Santana squirmed out of her grip and dug her keys out of a deep coat pocket. "We'll be fine."
"Alright. Te amo, mija."
Santana smiled back at her mother as she opened the door. "Yeah, me too."
The drive back to Quinn's went far too fast and suddenly Santana was outside the door, wringing her gloved hands together nervously as she waited for Brittany to answer.
The door opened, and Brittany's face peeked around it. "Santana? Did you forget something?"
"No." Santana tried to keep her voice as causal as possible as she explained, "My ears have recovered enough so I'm back to help you or whatever."
Brittany's face lit up with a bright smile and she opened the door the rest of the way so Santana could come inside. As soon as the door was closed and locked behind her, Brittany wrapped her up in a hug and pressed a long kiss against her mouth.
"I'm glad you're back. I missed you!" Brittany exclaimed.
Still tingling a bit from the unexpected kiss, Santana shucked off her winter gear. "I was gone like an hour, Britt. But, um, I hope everything was okay. Sorry I kinda ditched you. And yelled." She twisted her hands again as she stumbled through an awkward apology.
Brittany kept smiling, grabbing her hands to still them and assuring her, "It's above the bridge."
"Water under the bridge," Santana corrected automatically.
Brittany's face contorted in confusion. "That makes no sense. Why even build a bridge if there's no water? The stuff above it is what doesn't matter."
It only took a moment of pondering for Santana to agree with a shrug.
"So where's Beth?" Santana asked. "I don't hear any screaming."
"She's asleep," Brittany responded. "I told you she'd calm down."
Santana shifted awkwardly with guilt. She should have listened to Brittany. She should always listen to Brittany; it would likely greatly reduce the number of stupid decisions she makes.
She was spared from responding when Brittany tugged her towards the couch in the living room, explaining, "I'm learning about how carpets are made. It's really interesting, but I don't think Beth liked it much because she cried more and then fell asleep."
Santana let Brittany pull her onto the couch, her body landing mostly on the other girl's lap. Seemingly satisfied with that position, Brittany held her fast when Santana tried to shift away. After her behavior earlier, Santana felt like she owed Brittany this much so she relaxed into her, letting Brittany's arm wrap around her waist.
She didn't do much better than Beth at learning how carpet was made, but that was because after a few minutes of cuddling Brittany slipped a hand under her skirt and she was easily distracted by the shapes that were being traced onto her thigh.
"Britt," she whined after a couple minutes, squirming away as her body began to grow uncomfortably warm.
"What?" Brittany asked innocently, her hand traveling further up Santana's leg as she moved.
"What are you doing?"
"Watching this show," Brittany deadpanned. "Shhh, this is interesting." She leaned forward, her eyes entirely focused on the industrial sized vat of dye on the TV screen, even as her mouth quirked and her hand started to stroke along the hem of Santana's panties that ran along the crease of her inner thigh.
"Doesn't feel like it," Santana muttered, giving into her instincts and relaxing back against Brittany's chest.
"Hmm, maybe not," Brittany responded.
A glimpse of Brittany's profile out of the corner of her eye was all that Santana needed to see that the other girl was quite pleased with herself. Brittany's free hand worked Santana's skirt further up her legs to give her hand more room and she nudged Santana to lift up her butt so that the skirt could be bunched up around her waist.
Immediately taking advantage of the new access, Brittany's fingers slid inward and traced softly across Santana's panties, though her eyes remained resolutely focused on the TV. To her embarrassment, Santana could feel that the area under Brittany's fingertips was already growing damp even through the fabric. The pad of one finger put pressure against her clit and Santana couldn't hold back a moan.
Brittany's gaze was now on her – Santana didn't even have to see her face to know that with certainty. She could feel Brittany watching as one long finger slid carefully under the fabric and brushed along her slit. Biting back another moan, Santana pressed her chin against her shoulder so that her face was tilted away from Brittany. Brittany merely kissed the skin of her neck as she eased a single finger inside.
Santana couldn't stop her body from rocking into the touch. She was about to let Brittany finger her on the Fabray's living room couch and she couldn't care less.
"Would I be a good interior designer?" Brittany asked suddenly, stilling the movements of her hand.
"What?" Santana asked, completely confused, as her hips bucked in protest.
Brittany nodded towards the TV and Santana looked up for long enough to see the show was reaching its conclusion and there was a montage scene of newly made carpets being laid down in various homes and offices.
"Um, sure, Britt. You can be whatever you want," she managed to respond, holding back her instincts which were screaming at her to beg Brittany to stop watching the damn show and to give her more.
Seemly pleased with that answer, Brittany pulled her hand away and reached for the remote to turn off the TV. Before Santana's mouth could fall open in protest, Brittany was tugging Santana's panties down her legs and then pulling Santana more fully into her lap.
Her mouth fell open for a different reason as Brittany spread her thighs and her fingers found their way right back to the spot where they had been touching earlier.
The room seemed suddenly silent without the TV buzzing in the background and Santana could hear the pace of her own breathing pick up as Brittany teasingly flicked her clit and then pressed two fingers deep inside. She thrust them deep twice and then pulled out, smearing the copious wetness she had found there across the rest of the area. Not that it was really necessary; Santana was sure that there was no way that this would end without her dripping onto Brittany's leg. At least that would spare the couch.
"Britt," Santana moaned, stooping to begging as Brittany continued to toy with her clit and refused to thrust back inside.
"You don't like this?" Brittany teased, deliberately pinching her clit between her slippery fingers.
Santana squeaked and her hips rutted forward harshly.
Brittany giggled. "Seems like you do." She started rubbing in tight circles, distracting Santana as her other hand crossed over Santana's hip to plunge two fingers back inside.
The dual stimulation was wonderful to the point of overwhelming and Santana's head fell uselessly back against Brittany's shoulder. She tried not to make a fool of herself and appear overly desperate but it became nearly impossible as her orgasm rapidly approached. Brittany's fingers curled inside of her to hit the perfect spot and Santana couldn't stop herself from letting out a long, low moan that caused Brittany to suck harshly against her neck.
"Fuck," Santana muttered at the feeling of a warm mouth against her sensitive skin. Brittany's only response was to pressed open-mouthed kisses up to the angle of her jaw.
"You're so hot," Brittany mumbled back, pressing hard with her fingers.
"God, fuck," Santana sputtered before waves of heat started washing over her and she collapsed further into Brittany's arms with the spasms that followed. Brittany's fingers were soft and sure as she brought Santana back down.
She was still recovering her breath when Brittany asked in a low, seductive tone, "You ready to go to bed?"
Heat rushed to her face and Santana only stopped to find her panties on the floor before following Brittany up the stairs.
Flipping another pancake, Santana admired the perfect golden brown color she had achieved once again. After a minute, she scooped it onto a plate and poured out more batter, watching it bubble in the hot pan.
"Santana!" a panicked voice called.
Her heart started racing and she flipped off the burner and sprinted to the other room.
"Santana! I'm stuck!" Brittany cried.
Santana paused on the threshold of the room to take in the scene. It would have been her smile if adrenaline wasn't still racing through her system. Despite the unnecessary panic, it was too cute for Santana to get angry.
Somehow Brittany had managed to wedge herself underneath the heavy oak coffee table and couldn't wiggle back out from the narrow space. Beth was on all fours, her head tilted to the side as she watched her playmate curiously.
"If you got under there, you should be able to get back out," Santana pointed out, crossing the room and lightly rapping her knuckles against the wood over Brittany's head.
"It's not funny. I can't get out. I might suffocate!" Brittany exclaimed, tossing her back and forth as she tried to squirm free and sending blonde hair spilling across the floor.
Santana chuckled and didn't bother to argue the point. Instead she asked, "What are you doing down there?"
"I was trying to teach Beth how to play hide and seek. But I'm stuck! Help me, Santana!" The note of panic was still in Brittany's voice.
Taking pity, Santana bent her knees a bit and braced herself to lift the table. She pulled one end off of the floor just far enough for Brittany to have room to roll out. As soon as Brittany was out of the way, Santana eased the table back to the floor, resisting the urge to let the heavy piece of furniture drop.
"You saved me," Brittany panted dramatically.
"Uh-huh," Santana responded, standing above her, one foot on either side of narrow hips. "You owe me big. Now come on, breakfast is almost ready, though you made me turn off the burner so not my fault if the last pancakes suck."
She reached out a hand to help Brittany to her feet, but instead Brittany tugged her sharply forward. Startled, Santana lost her balance and fell, landing with her legs straddling Brittany's waist and her palms flat on the floor; her arms fully extended and holding most of her weight.
"Got you," Brittany teased, her arms curling over Santana's shoulder and guiding her downwards so that their lips could meet. Santana returned the kiss without hesitation, sinking into it willingly.
It may have gone further, if not for Beth, who crawled her way over to them and placed a tiny palm on Brittany's forehead to remind them of her presence.
Laughing they broke apart and Santana crawled off of Brittany. She climbed to her feet and swept Beth up into her arms.
"Beth and I are going to get breakfast. I'm not helping you up, but you are welcome to join us for some food," Santana informed Brittany.
"Pancakes!" Brittany exclaimed, leaping to her feet and running past Santana into the kitchen, her socked feet sliding across the hardwood floor.
"Guess she wants breakfast," Santana commented to Beth.
"Be-be," Beth agreed seriously.
"That's right," Santana responded, unable to explain the feeling of perfect contentment that washed over her as she settled Beth into her highchair and started serving up homemade pancakes to a very enthusiastic Brittany.
Santana frowned at the two columns of variables she had neatly copied on the top of her equation set, the organization not particularly helping her to solve the problem.
"When the fuck will I ever need to know this?" she muttered to herself, cursing her algebra teacher who should probably be fired along with half the staff at McKinley for not bothering to actually teach during their classes.
Following breakfast, they had continued to have a lazy Sunday morning and now it was past noon and they were all still in their pajamas. Quinn had texted a while ago that they were getting ready to leave, so Santana was of the mind that there was no reason for any of them to get dressed for at least another three hours.
Shifting on the floor, Santana stretched her legs out more fully under the coffee table and turned around to glance at Brittany for probably the hundredth time in the last five minutes. Brittany was stretched across the couch, sound asleep, and Beth was snoozing on her stomach. Though Santana would never admit it, it was probably the cutest thing she had ever seen. When she had found them both sleeping, Santana had added another picture to her phone and then parked herself on the floor directly in front of Beth so that if the baby rolled, she would hit the back of Santana's head instead of the floor.
Turning back to her homework, Santana tried again to copy the example that the teacher had scrawled on the board during class. She managed to get an answer that seemed halfway reasonable and went with it. Maybe she'd get to check with someone else in the morning. Maybe. More likely it would be like every other day, where she'd pulled into Brittany's driveway at 7:20 am to find her half-dressed and in a flighty panic as she struggled to find everything she needed for the day. Santana would go inside and help locate the missing pieces of her uniform and convince her that Tubbs would be happier left at home, rather than spending the day in a backpack. They'd roll up to school halfway through homeroom, where Brittany would admit that she had either forgotten to do her homework or left it at home during her struggle to get ready. She'd pout at Santana and ask for her 'best friend copy privileges' and Santana can't help but give in every damn time.
With a sigh, Santana completed the rest of her homework, or rather, her and Brittany's homework, by the same method, hoping that they would not be getting every single problem wrong.
She was just starting the reading for history when she felt someone starting at her. She turned around, expecting to see clear blue eyes, but instead was met by a serious brown-eyed gaze.
"You're awake already?" Santana whispered, kneeling and carefully lifting Beth off of Brittany's body.
Brittany gave a sleepy whine at the loss of the weight on her chest and rolled over partially onto her side. Santana soothed her gently, running fingers lightly across her forehead. Brittany sighed softly, turning the rest of her way onto her stomach and settling back into her nap. Santana stroked a hand down her spine and sat back down, placing Beth on her thighs and turning her attention to the baby.
"I hope that short nap doesn't make you cranky," Santana said to Beth. "Or if it does, please wait for another few hours and be cranky once Britts and I are gone."
Beth gurgled and Santana took that as agreement.
Santana regarded Beth who was on her lap and content to play with her own hands. "You know, Beth, for a baby, you're not so bad," Santana admitted. Her voice dropped as she confessed, "You make me think I could maybe handle having kids someday." She couldn't stop herself from glancing back at the girl sprawled out on the couch behind her and added, "If I had someone to help me."
She about jumped out of her skin when she heard a sleepy mumble of, "I could be your helper."
Santana jerked her body around, nearly upsetting Beth from her lap, to look closely at Brittany's face. Though Santana was certain Brittany had spoken hardly a moment before, she appeared to be asleep. Past experience had shown that Brittany was terrible at faking sleep so it was probably real. Santana watched her for almost a full minute more, but could detect none of the usual tells.
Assured that Brittany was truly sleeping, Santana turned back around and admitted to Beth in her tiniest whisper, "I think I'd like that."
"So, how did everything go?" Quinn asked once she had stopped hugging Beth. It was kind of sweet to see how much she had missed her baby. If nothing else, this weekend had given Santana a new appreciation for what Quinn did every single day and she couldn't help but admire her a little for it.
"It was awesome," Brittany declared. "Beth is the best baby ever."
Quinn flushed with pride and Santana decided to hold back her comments about Beth's knack for ear-drum shattering crying.
"How was Chicago?" Santana said instead.
"Sweet," Puck told her. "That city is so alive."
"And so cultured," Quinn added. "They have museums that are actually worth visiting."
Santana smirked. Despite having a baby in early high school, Quinn and Puck were both ambitious enough (or crazy enough) that she never thought that they'd stay Lima Losers forever. Maybe they had found their next stop.
"Good to know," Santana responded, shouldering her overnight bag to subtly show that she was done with the small talk and ready to go.
"Here, we wanted to give you guys this." Puck pulled some green bills out of his pocket. "You did us a solid this weekend."
Santana found herself hesitating and she glanced at Brittany out of the corner of her eye. Brittany's head inclined almost imperceptibly in agreement and Santana pushed away the pile of cash Puck was holding out to them, saying, "It's no big. You keep it."
"Seriously?" Puck asked. "You watched her all weekend."
Shrugging, Santana tried to minimize the fact that she was uncharacteristically turning down money. "Whatever. Slushie Jew-fro for us or something instead. My dad's credit card can't buy entertainment like that."
"Thank you," Quinn responded a bit too genuinely for Santana's comfort. "We really appreciate this."
Santana quickly brushed her off when Quinn handed Beth to Puck so that she could hug both of them and said, "We'd better go, right Britt?"
"Yep!" Brittany agreed easily. "Bye guys. Bye Beth." She leaned in and tickled Beth.
Santana waved back to all of them and followed Brittany out the door.
Outside, Santana separated from Brittany as they walked towards their respective cars. Her car doors unlocked with a click and Santana tossed her duffle and backpack into the backseat. She shut the door and started to walk around to the driver's side when Brittany came out of nowhere to body-slammed her against the car in a tight hug.
"Thanks, Santana," Brittany said with a bright smile. "I had so much fun with you this weekend."
"Yeah, I guess it was more okay than I thought it would be," Santana admitted, her arms wrapping around Brittany's waist of their own accord.
Warm lips pressed against for cheek for a fraction of a second. "I'll see you Monday."
"Bye, Britt."
Her body felt cold when Brittany pulled away and Santana didn't move to climb into her car, instead watching as Brittany walked over to her own car. After so much time with Brittany, it seemed hard to separate.
Brittany was about to get into her car, when Santana called out to her. "Hey, Britt!"
"Yeah?" Brittany paused and looked over at her.
"Do you think your parents would maybe let you sleep over tonight?"
When Brittany's face lit up with a grin, Santana couldn't help but return it with a smile of her own.