I'll Be Home for Christmas…Maybe
"What do you mean that it isn't going to be sent out until after Christmas?" Santana asked in disbelief into the phone. "Jessica, I have an email confirmation guaranteeing delivery by the nineteenth. It's the twenty-third and it still hasn't arrived yet!"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Lopez-Pierce, but the item is on back order and we aren't getting another shipment until four days after Christmas. You're just out of luck." Jessica said in an uncaring, monotone voice on the other side of the line.
"I placed the order over a month ago!" Santana practically yelled into the phone. She was clearly set off by Jessica's indifference. "If there was a problem with filling the order on time, I should have been called so I could make other plans. It's two days before Christmas and I have no gift for my wife!"
Jessica sighed, as if she was getting tired of talking to Santana. "I'm sorry that you are unsatisfied with your service, if you would like to fill out a complaint, I can send you an email with a link to the service department manager and you can fill out a formal complaint with him."
In a fit of frustration, Santana threw the pen that she was holding across her hotel room. "Are you being serious right now? You work in the service department. I'm making a formal complaint now."
"I understand." Jessica said. "But company policy is if I can't resolve your issue, then a written complaint has to be made to the manager and he will contact you directly."
Santana wished she had something else in her hand to throw, other than her expensive phone, because she needed to expel some of her frustration that was quickly turning into rage.
"This is absolutely ridiculous." Santana snapped. "I have an all-day meeting that I have to leave for soon, and I don't have time for this. Is there a supervisor or manager that I can talk to right now?"
"No ma'am." Jessica dismissed. "As you've pointed out, it's two days before Christmas and they are out of the office already for the holiday, but if you fill out the complaint via the link, the manager will get back to you as soon as he is able to."
"Which will be when? After New Year's?" Santana said sarcastically, but before Jessica could answer, she continued. "Send me the link. I fully intend to send the manger a complaint about the issue with my order but also your awful customer service skills. You have lost a customer and I will make sure that every person I know will be told not to use your company anymore."
"Now, let's not get carried away-" Jessica tried to placate her, but Santana didn't let her finish.
"No, I will not be using your company anymore. There are plenty of other places that I can use in the future. Now send me the link!" Santana demanded.
"Yes, Mrs. Lopez-Pierce." Jessica said and a moment later Santana heard the faint beep on her phone indicating that she had a new email.
When Santana hung up the phone, she sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose to help calm herself before she called Brittany.
Brittany loved Christmas. It was her favorite holiday and Santana always wanted to make it perfect for her. She had a few gifts for Brittany already wrapped and under their tree at home. It wasn't anything special, they were just a few small things that she knew that Brittany would like, but now with this mix up, she didn't have her big, main gift for Brittany, and to Santana, it was the most important gift, because it was something that Brittany really wanted. Brittany didn't know that Santana even knew that she wanted it, which made it even more special for Santana to give it to her. She had been dreaming about surprising Brittany, because she knew how much joy and excitement it would bring her wife, but now she would have to tell her that she wouldn't be getting her gift until after the New Year.
Santana took another few moments to let her anger at the whole situation settle before she lifted her phone and dialed Brittany's cell.
"Hey, baby!" Brittany chirped into the phone. "I miss you!"
Santana chuckled and shook her head, because she wasn't surprised that Brittany was awake and chipper at six in the morning. "I miss you too. I'm guessing that you are getting ready for work?"
"Mm-hmm, but it wasn't the same this morning without you to cuddle into and beg me for ten more minutes."
"I know; it was hard for me this morning too. You always keep me warm and it's so damn cold in New York."
"So I guess I shouldn't mention that it's sixty here right now and it's probably going to be in the high seventies today?"
Santana groaned. At that moment, she really missed L.A. "Ugh, I hate you right now."
Brittany giggled. "No you don't. You are ridiculously and insanely in love with me."
Santana couldn't help to laugh. "Okay, that's true, but I'm still jealous that you aren't stuck in the cold like I am. I just want to be home with you."
"I know, but you've worked so hard on that project for so long that you can't give up now just because of a little cold. You'll be home with me tomorrow afternoon, just in time for us to spend Christmas Eve together."
"Okay, Miss Smarty Pants. I guess you're right."
"That's Mrs. Smarty Pants, you know. I'm married now." Brittany joked.
"Oh yeah." Santana laughed. "How could I ever forget that?"
"You better not."
"I wouldn't dare."
"So, I was thinking when you get home tomorrow, if you're not too tired, we could open a present each and then watch a couple of Christmas movies before we go to bed." Brittany suggested.
Santana felt her heart drop because she knew that she would have to tell Brittany about the issue with her gift.
"Um, sure we can do that, but I wanted to talk to you about your gift."
"Okay." Brittany said.
"I ordered your gift a while ago and had it sent to Mercedes' house because I didn't want you to see it come in the mail, but it hasn't arrived yet, and when I talked to the service department this morning, they said that your gift wouldn't ship until right before New Year's. I'm so sorry Britt. I really thought that it would arrive on time, but the company I ordered it through dropped the ball and didn't tell me in enough time that your gift was going to be late."
"Aww, that's okay." Brittany said. "It doesn't matter that it's going to get here late. It's the thought behind the gift that counts."
Santana knew she should have expected that answer from Brittany, but she still felt bad. "I know, but I know how much you like opening gifts on Christmas morning."
"I'll still get to open some. I've already spotted four gifts under the tree with my name on it."
"But that's just little things." Santana said.
"So, they're from you, and that's all that matters to me." Brittany cooed. "Please don't stress over it. This is not something for you to get worked up about."
Santana half sighed and half laughed. "Okay, Britt. You win."
"I always win."
"That's true." Santana said with a smile. Brittany always knew how to calm her down and make her see past her own irrationalities.
"When's your meeting?" Brittany asked to change the subject. She already knew the answer.
"At nine-thirty. I'm meeting everyone in the lobby in a couple of minutes."
"Then you better get your stuff and get ready to go. Good luck with your presentation and give me a call when you can."
"Okay. Have a good day at work too. Love you."
"Love you too, sweetie!" Brittany said and made a kissing sound before she disconnected the call.
Santana breathed a sigh of relief. She was happy that Brittany wasn't upset about her present, which even though she was still a little mad at the situation, she was feeling better about it too. Although that didn't mean that she wasn't going to give the manager a mouthful.
Santana went over to her suitcase, put on her heels and then walked across the room to get her portfolio and her purse before she walked out of her room to the lobby to meet her co-workers. She was feeling confident that she was going to have a good day and ace her meeting, but as soon as they arrived at their client's building, trouble hit. Santana slipped on the icy sidewalk getting out of the car and she broke the stiletto of her right shoe, causing her to fall to the ground and spill the contents of her purse and her closed portfolio all over the ground.
"Damn it!" Santana growled. "Fucking ice!"
"Oh my god, Santana!" Luke and Gary, two of Santana's co-workers cried as they rushed to help her up.
"Are you okay?" Stella, another one of Santana's co-workers asked as she picked up all of Santana's things from the ground.
"Yeah. I just scraped the hell out of my hands and my knee." Santana said looking and her bloodied hands and left knee. She was so embarrassed and in a fair amount of pain.
"Do you need to see a doctor?" Gary asked. He had his phone in his hand, ready to call.
"No!" Santana yelped. "I'm not missing this meeting. I've worked too hard to miss this just because of a few scrapes."
"They're bleeding pretty badly." Stella said and started to dig into her large purse to find some tissues.
"They're not deep." Santana said holding her hands out and away from her body to keep her coat and blouse from getting blood on them. Her skirt was a different matter. She already had blood from her knee on it, but thankfully, it was black, so it wouldn't be noticeable. She knew her co-workers were going to protest her not seeking medical attention, just on the shear amount of blood coming from her wounds, but she cut them off before they could start. "Look my dad is a doctor; I learned a few things from him. These cuts aren't deep, but they do need to be cleaned. Just, let's get inside and find a first aid kit and something to fix my shoe."
"I'll go ahead and let them know what we need." Stella said taking Santana's things and running into the building.
Luke and Gary held onto Santana's arms as they helped her hobble into the building.
Santana hated that they had to help her. She was fiercely independent and never liked to project any kind of weakness in front of anyone, except Brittany, but in reality, she did need a little help at the moment, so she swallowed her pride and just let them help her.
Thankfully, the security desk in the lobby had a first aid kit and one of the guards knew how to take care of and bandage Santana's wounds, so she was patched up and her shoe was fixed before she had to meet their client.
When she and Luke arrived where their meeting was to be held, they were ten minutes later than Gary and Stella, and even though they told the client, Mr. Dyer what happened, he had a reputation of being a hard ass and unsympathetic, so he was not impressed with their tardiness.
"About time Mrs. Lopez-Pierce and Mr. Joseph. We've been waiting and I do not like to be kept waiting." Mr. Dyer said in a stern voice.
"Sorry Sir." Luke said ducking his head and took his seat beside Stella.
Santana felt her anger spike, but she had enough control over herself to not blow up at Mr. Dyer. She knew her boss would fire her for sure if she lost her temper and blew this account, so she just forced herself to fake a believable apology for the sake of her job, the team, and their project.
As Santana took her seat, she placed her bandaged and throbbing hands in her lap and wondered if her day could get any worse.
-()-()-()-()-
If Santana thought her morning was bad with the mix up with Brittany's present, getting hurt, and being late to her meeting, that was nothing compared to how bad her afternoon went. Mr. Dyer more than held up to his reputation.
"It was a fucking nightmare!" Santana cried into the phone and she slammed her purse on the bed. She winced as her hand throbbed in pain from the contact.
"What happened?" Brittany asked with a concerned voice. She knew how hard Santana and her team had worked on that project, so she wasn't expecting that response.
"He didn't like hardly anything that we presented and basically criticized and berated us the whole time." Santana grouched, still mad about it. "I swear every time Luke or I said anything, he would scowl at us because he was still offended that we were late to his meeting. I mean, we weren't even that late, only by a few minutes and it's not like it could have been helped. I was injured, by his fucking icy sidewalk I might add. Did he want me to show up at his meeting bleeding?!"
"Bleeding?!" Brittany yelped. "How did you get hurt? Are you okay? Did you go to the doctor?"
Santana cursed herself. She forgot that Brittany didn't know that she had fallen and she didn't want to upset her. "Honey, I'm okay. I just slipped on some ice as I was getting out of the car and I cut up my hands and knee on the sidewalk. It wasn't bad enough to go to the doctor, so one of the building security guards bandaged me up and fixed my shoe. The damn heel broke off as well."
"Oh baby." Brittany cooed in sympathy. "It sounds like you haven't had a good day at all. I wish I was there to help make you feel better."
Santana sighed. "I wish you were here too, but unfortunately even if you were, I wouldn't have time to spend with you. I was going to tell you earlier, but Mr. Fucker is making us comeback in the morning. He gave us a ton of suggestions to fix it to his liking, so we're going to be working all night to get them done in time for the meeting. I'm just up in my room so I can change my clothes and the bandages, and then I'm meeting everyone.
"Wait…he's making you come back tomorrow? It's Christmas Eve. Did you talk to Tony about it?" Brittany asked, slightly worried.
Tony was Santana's boss, and while she hadn't talked to Tony directly, Gary had and it didn't go the way any of them wanted.
"Yeah, and he said that he understands that it's Christmas, but he wants us to lock down the deal, so we have to stay. I'm hoping that we can get it all done before lunch, so I'm going to have to change my flight to an afternoon or evening flight instead. I may not get home early enough for us to watch Christmas movies and open a present, but I'll still be home for Christmas."
Brittany sighed. "Santana if you don't leave tomorrow morning, you're going to be stuck in New York until after Christmas because a snow storm is supposed to hit tomorrow afternoon and all the news channels are expecting the airports to close. It's supposed to dump snow for at least two days."
"Fuck, are you kidding me?" Santana spat and her heart dropped into her stomach. Of course, she knew Brittany wasn't kidding. Brittany liked to watch the weather channel because meteorology fascinated her. She always knew what was going on with the weather. "Damn it!" She growled again. "What are we going to do?"
As much as Santana liked to think that she really wanted to be with Brittany for their first Christmas as a married couple because it was Brittany's favorite holiday, in reality, Santana loved it almost as much as Brittany. She loved it all, and she didn't want to miss it.
"I don't think there is anything we can do, other than to hope that you finish your meeting in enough time to get a flight before the storm hits." Brittany said in a sad tone. "You can't just blow off this meeting. We can celebrate Christmas when you get back."
"But it won't be the same." Santana pouted.
"I know, but we can pretend. I'm good at pretending." Brittany said with a little chuckle that Santana knew was just for her sake. She knew that Brittany was disappointed. She was disappointed too.
"Okay. I can live with that, but I will do everything I can to get home tomorrow. I promise Britt."
"I know you will, San."
"Well I better go. I have a lot of work to do tonight. I'll call you before I go to bed."
"Okay. Try not to get too stressed out."
"I'll try."
"Love you!"
"Love you too, Britt-Britt."
-()-()-()-()-
The next day as Santana walked into their meeting, she was already anxious to get it over with so they could hurry back to the hotel to get their things and then make it to the airport in time for their flight. Her co-workers all felt the same way because they had spouses and kids that they wanted to spend Christmas with as well. None of them were happy to still be there, but they were professionals, so they were going to stick it out and give their Scroogey client their best.
As the meeting went on, they had made some progress and had actually please Mr. Dyer with their revisions, but it also seemed to drag and Santana started to feel queasy because she knew they were not going to make it in time. She had made it a point to watch the weather report before she left her room that morning and she knew that if they didn't make it out of their meeting before noon and to the airport for their rescheduled flight at two o'clock, there was no way they were going to make it in time before the storm hit.
By the time they broke for lunch at twelve-thirty, they still weren't finished. They still had more to present, so she knew it was a lost cause. She was not going to make it home in time. She was so mad, and upset that she wasn't going to be with Brittany for Christmas that she wanted to hit something. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't, because her hands were still sensitive.
She took out her phone from her purse and tried to call Brittany to tell her the bad news, but it went straight to voicemail. Santana thought it was odd for Brittany not to have her phone on, especially since she knew that Santana would be calling, but she just guessed that Brittany forgot to charge it and didn't realize that it had died. That was actually a common occurrence with Brittany. So, Santana just left a message, telling Brittany that she wasn't going to make her flight and then reluctantly went with her co-workers to have a quick lunch before they had to return to their meeting.
-()-()-()-()-
Later that evening, Santana arrived at her hotel with her co-workers and she brushed the snow that had fallen onto her hat and coat off. It was already snowing hard. Another couple of hours at that rate and it would make getting around the city difficult or next to impossible. That just pissed Santana off even more because she was not looking forward to being stuck in her hotel room by herself for two days.
Her co-workers had asked her if she wanted to join them for dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, but Santana declined. Despite their second meeting ending with successful results, she was in a foul mood and just wanted to go to her room, order room service, Skype with Brittany, and try to pretend that she was with her wife.
Santana trudged to the elevator, pouting and brooding the whole way up to her floor and to her room. She just hoped Brittany had noticed that her phone had died and she had recharged it. She really needed to hear her wife's voice. She knew that it would help her feel better.
As she opened the door to her room, every negative and angry thought that was going through her head vanished and she let out a yelp mixed with surprise and happiness when she saw that Brittany was sitting on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, reading a book.
"Oh my god! Britt what are you doing here?" Santana cheered and dropped all her things to the floor and practically threw herself into Brittany's arms.
"Surprising you." Brittany said with a wide smile and leaned down to give Santana a passionate kiss.
Santana practically melted into the embrace and she felt every bit of stress that she had felt over the last two days disappear.
When they parted, Brittany giggled at the look on Santana's face and she kissed her on the tip of her nose.
"You're cute when you're all flustered." Brittany giggled again.
"I'm flustered because I'm still having a hard time believing that you're really here." Santana said and ran her hands up and down Brittany's arms, just to verify that the kiss and Brittany weren't a figment of her imagination. "And not that I am complaining at all, but how are you here?"
"I flew on a plane." Brittany said, cocking her head to the side, as if she was confused as to why Santana didn't know that.
"No…" Santana chuckled and shook her head. "I figured you flew here, but you're supposed to be at our apartment in L.A., not here in New York, so how and why are you here and not at home?"
"Oooh." Brittany drawled in understanding. "I kinda figured that you weren't going to make it home, and the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want you to spend Christmas alone, snowed into your hotel, so I shipped Lord Tubbington off to Mercedes and Sam, and I bought a ticket on the five a.m. flight this morning."
Santana was so happy to have Brittany with her that she didn't even care that Brittany probably put a ridiculously expensive last minute transcontinental flight that they really couldn't afford on their credit card. She would gladly pay it though. Sometimes she just loved Brittany's impulsiveness.
"Well, I'm glad you did." Santana said and then she had a thought. "Wait, what if I did make my flight? I'd be on my way home and you'd be here."
"I thought about that. I was pretty sure that you weren't going to make it, but I knew that my flight arrived a little before one o'clock and your flight was supposed to leave at two, so I was just going to meet you at your gate so you'd know that I was here. When I landed, I had a message from you telling me that you weren't going to be coming home, so I came straight to the hotel, told them I was your wife, and they let me in your room."
Santana couldn't believe it. She had the best wife ever. "You really are a genius, Britt." Santana said and playfully pecked Brittany's lips.
Brittany blushed from the compliment. "So are you happy with your surprise?" She asked.
"Yes!" Santana said excitedly. "You are literally the best Christmas present that I've ever gotten."
"I was going to strip and strategically put a red Christmas bow around my naughty bits," Brittany joked, "but I didn't know when you were coming back."
Santana almost moaned because the thought of Brittany wearing nothing but a Christmas bow was so hot, but bow or not, nothing could make this moment any better.
"Maybe you can save that bow idea for my birthday." Santana suggested with a sly smile.
Brittany returned the lecherous smile. "I might just do that."
"Good." Santana said and leaned into Brittany, kissing her sweetly.
Brittany returned the kiss, but before it could get heated, Brittany took Santana's hand into her own, but she forgot that Santana had injured them and when she squeezed it, Santana let out a hiss and broke their kiss.
"Oh god, I forgot all about your hands." Brittany yelped and gently took both of Santana's bandaged hands into her own.
"It's okay. Santana cooed.
"Can I see them?" Brittany asked.
Santana nodded and Brittany unrolled the bandages. Brittany's face dropped at how cut up Santana's hands were.
"Oh, look at your poor hands." Brittany said lightly running her fingertips over Santana's palm. She looked to Santana's knee, but Santana had worn a pair of dress pants that day, to cover up the bandage, so she couldn't see it. "Do they hurt bad?"
"They did yesterday." Santana said. "They're starting to heal, but they're still a little sensitive."
"So I guess that means that your hands are on light duty until they get better."
Santana nodded but smirked because she caught the innuendo. "But that doesn't mean that I can't use other parts of my body to compensate. My tongue is in great shape."
Brittany just lifted an amused eyebrow. "I think that I would love to see that later, but for right now, I want to take a bath with you."
"Did you bring the bath salts?"
"Of course." Brittany said and pointed to her suitcase across the room. It was a lot bigger than was needed for a couple days of clothes. "We're going to be stuck in this room for at least two days, maybe longer if it takes us a while to get a flight back, so I came prepared."
Santana could only imagine what Brittany had in that bag. "Genius." She said in awe. "I married a genius."
Brittany just smiled and stood up from the bed. She scooped Santana into her arms and carried her into the bathroom.
-()-()-()-()-
The next morning, Santana was taken from her sleep by Brittany kissing her neck.
"Wake up sleepy head. It's Christmas." Brittany whispered into her ear. "We have presents to open."
Santana knew she shouldn't be surprised that Brittany was waking her up early. She was still tired from staying up late with Brittany the night before, and she would have thought that Brittany was too, but it was Christmas morning. Santana knew she was lucky that Brittany let her sleep past seven.
"Okay, I'm up." Santana mumbled and sat up.
When she looked around the room, she saw that Brittany had strung a strand of green lights on the door of their room, and it was in the shape of a Christmas tree. All of the presents that were under their tree at home were set up on a blanket on the floor. Even their stockings from home were hanging from the dresser, and on the TV there was a video of a yule log burning."
"I know it isn't much, but I thought it would make it feel a little more like home." Brittany said sheepishly.
"It's perfect." Santana said before she gave Brittany and soft, lingering kiss on her lips.
When they parted, Brittany smiled widely. "Let's go open presents."
"Okay." Santana returned the smile and they excitedly jumped out of bed, like two little girls, and found a spot on the blanket."
Once Santana looked over the gifts, she remember that her big gift for Brittany wasn't there, and she couldn't help but to pout. "I'm sorry that your gift isn't here."
"Honey," Brittany smiled sweetly, and took Santana's hand into her own, this time being gentle enough not to hurt them, "I don't care that it's late."
"I know, but I really wanted you to open it on Christmas because it would make it even more special for you."
"But don't you know that this Christmas is already special?" Brittany said. "A couple of days ago I didn't think that we would be together for Christmas, but now we are, so while I'm sure that I will love every gift you give me, no matter when or where it's given to me, I can tell you without a doubt there is no better gift that I could get for Christmas, than you."
Santana felt a tear form in her eye and her heart flutter in her chest. She leaned over the small pile of gifts between them and kissed Brittany deeply.
When they parted, Santana rested their foreheads together. She could hardly believe that two days ago, she was sure that this was going to be the worst Christmas that she had ever had, and now she was sure that it was one of the best.
"I love you Britt." Santana said, her voice heavy with emotion. She was trying not to cry, even if they were tears of joy.
"I love you too, San. Thanks for being my gift."
Santana chuckled as a lone tear rolled down her cheek, and she leaned in to kiss Brittany's again, but before she connected their lips, she whispered, "And thanks for being mine."
-()-()-()-()-
A/N: And there you have it! I hope y'all liked this little one-shot. Thanks so much for reading and if you get a chance please send me a little review to let me know what you thought about it. Also, if you're looking for another Brittana Christmas one-shot to read, check out my other fic 'The Sweetest Moment'. Have a safe and merry Christmas!
I'd like to thank my friend, naynay1963 for sending me this fic promt and beta-ing for me!
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Glee' or any copyrighted material or products that are mentioned in this story.