Last week
"San, this Christmas is going to be awesome, its gonna be our first Christmas as an official couple!" Brittany squeals with uncontainable delight.
"Sure," Santana replies, not looking up from her texting.
"You're not happy about it?" Brittany pouts and Santana can see it on the window's reflection.
"I am Britt," She places her hand on top of the one her girl is using to change gears. "I want it to be just as special as you do, for us."
Santana knows she's not the best at putting her feelings into words; that's why it took so long to finally get the girl she was in love with. But she's good at making things happen and she has a plan to let Brittany know just how special she is and how much she wants this holiday to be the most awesome one they've ever had.
"I have an idea, starting December 1st next week; we'll do something special every day."
Brittany brightens up at my suggestion, "do you mean it San? because usually the holidays are your 'hibernation time', you never want to do anything but be a bear in your cave."
"Well, then things are going to have to change. You know why? Because my girlfriend loves Christmas and I love my girlfriend."
Brittany leans over the dash and gives Santana a peck on her cheek and she blushes; it happens every time Santana tells Brittany she loves her like it'll never become natural to say.
But now Santana has a problem, she has to think of twenty four ways to make Christmas special.
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Chapter 1 - On the first day of Christmas Santana gave to me...
December 1st, 2011
"Morning grumpy!" Brittany bounces on the bed beside Santana the second she shuts off the alarm. Santana doesn't even remember why it's set since school's been out for weeks.
"What is it Britt?" Santana is still mumbling from her half conscious state of sleep.
"It's today! The first of December!"
"And you're telling me this because…?" She knows exactly why Brittany is doing flips on the bed this early in the morning.
"You forgot didn't you, I knew you would," Brittany says with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Santana feels the bed go still.
"No I didn't baby," She reaches out blindly, managing to grab Brittany's leg but instead of pulling Brittany towards her she scoots her head to lie on the sulking girls lap. Brittany replaces her frown with a smile, she can't be mad for long especially when Santana calls her 'baby' or other words of endearment.
Santana gently tucks the hair in behind Brittany's ears to get a good view of the girl she's glad to wake up to almost every morning. She leans up to give Brittany a kiss on the lips, "Good morning." Brittany replies with the same words.
"So what are we doing today?" Brittany asks eagerly.
"I had something planned but it's for tonight so I guess today we can do whatever you want. But please let me sleep for just a little bit more, it's not fair you're never tired the morning after." Brittany laughs softly and bends down to kiss Santana on her forehead.
"Ok, you sleep some more and I'll go make us breakfast."
"Thank you… you're the best baby" the words fade before Brittany is out of the room, signifying that Santana has fallen back to sleep.
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Santana wakes up two hours later feeling much more rested. The bed is cold so Brittany never came back. She takes a quick shower and throws on a large Cheerio T-Shirt from Brittany's closet not caring to have anything but underwear on underneath.
Downstairs she smells the sweetness of chocolate chip pancakes, and hot pineapple sauce boiling on the stove.
"I might have to marry you just to wake up to this every day." Santana hugs Brittany from behind as her girlfriend concentrates on not burning their breakfast.
"You know my mom did all this, and if these pancakes go black it's not my fault. You are not helping." Santana is distracting her with kisses that tingle down her neck.
"uh umm," Abigail clears her throat to let the teenage girls know she's back. Santana stops her assault immediately, not that Brittany's mom has a problem with them being girlfriends but it's a little inappropriate to be doing that stuff in front of Mrs. Pierce, and in her kitchen.
"uh, good morning Mrs. P" She steps away from Brittany and looks around for something to keep her fidgeting hands busy, settling on stirring the pot of Pineapple jam.
"Good morning Santana, breakfast is almost done, why don't you girls go wait in the dining room while I finish up."
The girls take that as their queue to leave. And Mrs. Pierce notices how quickly their hands find each other on the way out.
"So have you thought about what you want to do today?" Santana asks casually while she lounges on the sofa with Brittany sitting on her lap.
"uhuh, I want to go see Santa and watch the kids sing Christmas songs. They always do that at the mall on the first day of December."
"Sounds, like a plan." Santana has nothing better to do anyways, so she's fine with waiting in a long line and trying not to get too annoyed with kids singing as long as she's spending her day with Brittany.
Breakfast with the Pierces is so normal Santana sometimes thinks it's weird. She's not complaining because it's great to get along with your girlfriends family, but the Pierce household is so drama free compared to her home that she wonders if things are actually too good to be true; she's never had anything good in her life and that freaks her out a little.
Mrs. Pierce is an excellent cook who is on the receiving end of Santana's compliments perhaps more often than necessary. Brittany and Santana do the dishes and clean the table while filling Abigail in on the days plans. She doesn't object, just smiles the way mothers do when they are proud of something; it's no secret she adores Santana. For all her teenage flaws, Abigail knows Santana has got her daughters best interest at heart and knows Santana loves Brittany fervently the way she loves her husband.
Upstairs, Brittany and Santana dress quickly; Brittany because she's excited to see Santa Claus and Santana because she wants to get there before the line is too long. It takes the giggling girls ten minutes to finish and run to the car leaving the neglected room announcing 'teen zone, mothers enter at risk of grueling workout'.
The mall has just opened as Santana pulls into an empty slot in the rapidly filling lot. There's a good chance their visit to the overweight, red wrapped ho-ho man would be over within the hour.
Every year Brittany comes to see Santa, last year the glee club members had the mistaken notion that she actually believed in him. It's crazy because Santana knows otherwise.
"The magic of Christmas," Santana thinks it's why Brittany stands patiently in line every year for the two minutes on Santa's lap.
Santana despises people who think her girlfriend is stupid, because she's not. Brittany knows Santa isn't real;' "at least not the guy in the red furry coat, because duh he could never fit down the chimney" in Britt's own words. But Brittany believes in the magic of Santa; anyone who tries to make other peoples wishes come true is Santa.
The man in the clad in red, with the white beard and the loud laugh is only the symbol - to remind kids of the magic of believing until those kids grow up and understand for themselves that believing in themselves, and not a man in a red suit, is the only magic they'll need to get the things they want. It's just Brittany's tradition to see the man who inspires that magic, and plus who doesn't want to be a kid for a day?
"You're up next," This year's not so short elf shows Brittany through to Santa. She's all smiles whispering in Santa's ear and sending a few smiles Santana's way. Then it's her turn, she used to be embarrassed when Brittany made her sit on Santa's laps, but doing it year after year made her care less even if she was growing older and older for it.
"So Santa, what did Brittany want?" Santana asks the red man every year. "You can tell me, I'm her girlfriend."
"Only if you tell me what you want first," he makes a deal.
"Fine, I want Brittany to never regret being with me," It's more of a side note to herself to not let Brittany down.
"Anything else?"
"Some new bling would be good too. Now spill."
"Ok, that girl over there," Santa pointed to Brittany who was smiling contently, "she wants an iphone."
"Are you sure?" Santana isn't questioning his hearing, but the fact that Brittany can't stand technology that is unnecessarily complicated; like the iphone.
"Yeah, she wants to be able to capture memories of her happy life with the person she loves the most, obviously you. And apparently the iphone has all the right things for that so… I'd get her one."
"Noted; anyways thanks big man, you are rockin' the red. Enjoy your moment of stardom."
Santana joins Brittany outside the red carpeted area.
"Don't you just love talking to Santa, he's the best! Like the whole listening ear thing; I totally get it."
"Sure Britt, you know the kids are performing now, want to grab seats?"
Brittany grabs Santana's hand and leads them to the third row, because the first and second are already occupied by proud fathers and anticipating mothers.
On stage a hardly applaud worthy medley of mediocre Christmas songs play, but the children seem to be having fun screwing up the performance every few minutes. Santana doesn't care much for the staged entertainment; rather her interest is in watching Brittany watch them perform. Santana can never get enough of how Brittany's eyes shine with happiness because she isn't watching a bad performance, but instead she's seeing the final products of some kids' months of laboring.
Half way through the show, Santana tells Brittany she's got a call and needs to get away from the noise. It's not entirely untrue; she did call someone who just now called her back.
"Hey Quinn," Santana says when she's gotten far enough away to hear what the other girl is saying.
"What is it? Did you accidently call me?"
"Sorry I've been out of touch ever since school break started but it's not a personal thing, really."
"Well at least Brittany still calls; anyway you don't have to apologize, just tell me what you want."
"So I hate to bring this up, but I thought maybe you could help me." Santana hesitates knowing it's a touchy subject for Quinn.
"Spit it already."
"Do you know of any orphanages not too far away? Just, you know, with the whole Beth thing, I thought you could direct me to one, preferably in the city and not more than fifteen miles from my house."
"So now I'm the information service? But you're a smart girl Lopez getting two things done at once."
"Quinn, I didn't mean to bring Beth up ok?" Santana is a bitch but not as much as Quinn Fabray, she's not looking to tear anyone down for no reason.
"About twenty blocks from School to the west, there's an orphanage." Quinn relays the information like an answering machine.
"Thanks Quinn, and yeah I won't ask you next time; actually, you probably won't be hearing from me until school opens again, bye." Santana hangs up and the time on her blackberry says she has about twenty minutes till the show is over. Quickly she dashes through the crowds to get to the apple store, and lucky for her there aren't too many customers waiting. The store is well stocked up for the Christmas season and Santana is able to leave sooner than expected, carrying a brand new iphone and a few accessories she knows Brittany will like.
By the time she gets back to her seat, she's already gotten to know most of the buttons and functions. Santana store's the phone in her jacket pocket just in time for the final bow and she stands up alongside Brittany to give the kids a standing ovation.
"I love it when kids perform," Brittany says to no one in particular, "they are so cute."
"Do you know who else is cute? You when you watch and make those adorable faces."
Brittany nudges her in the shoulder not so subtly "someone should actually pay more attention to the show."
"I watch what I want." Santana completes the banter.
"Hey, is there anything else you wanted to do because I have an idea."
"Nope, let's hear it."
"Well I thought we could maybe be Santa for a day. You know, at an orphanage. We could ask the kids what toys they want for Christmas and stuff."
Brittany has never heard Santana suggest anything like this, and is rendered speechless for approximately nine minutes as Santana tries to read the emotions changing like a slide over her face.
"Wow, San, I'd love to! I just never thought you'd want to do something like that."
"My dad does stuff like this all the time, I figured you might want like the idea since you love kids so much." Santana was kind of surprised at herself for suggesting it, but it's because she's under Brittany's influence and doing good for a change is a good change right? Besides she's doing it to make today special for Brittany just as much as for the kids.
The girls get into the car after Brittany insists on buying Christmas hats for the both of them, so the kids won't be too confused when a couple of skinny Santa's not dressed in red show up to get their Christmas wishes.
At the Orphanage Santana and Brittany are met by Sister Claire Anne who shows them to a room of four and five year olds. The Orphanage itself is new and not very big, currently housing only fifty kids. The room they are lead into holds only ten kids, of various ethnicities.
Santana talks with Sister Claire Anne about her and Brittany's plan to get the kids toys for Christmas, to which the kind sister approves. She then watches as Brittany slips into her role of Santa Claus, taking the kids on her lap one by one and listing down the wishes, giggling with the kids the entire time.
Santana can't help but fall in love with her even more; she can't believe that God gave her an angel for a girlfriend. When did she get so lucky? She took out the iphone that she planned to give to Brittany and took a few pictures of the orphans sitting on a fake Santa's lap, looking so happy like for a moment they weren't motherless and fatherless.
Before leaving Santana set up a shot for all the orphans to surround Brittany, producing the iphone from behind her back to take the picture. Brittany called for Santana to jump in the shot even though she said no at first, she finally gave in and let Sister Claire Anne take a picture for them; all smiles and happy faces.
When they were done they waved goodbye to the kids and promised to let 'the real' Santa know all about their wishes. They thanked Sister Claire Anne for being so accommodating and Santana set up a date for them to deliver the presents.
As they walked in the snow from the main building to the car, Santana handed Brittany the iphone she kept hidden under her jacket.
"How, when did you get this?" Brittany asks more out of shock than inquisitiveness.
"Phone call? I blackmailed mall Santa to tell me what you wanted."
"You really didn't have to San; it was just a silly wish."
"No its not, after seeing you so happy today with the orphans and being able to capture those moments with this handy little thing," Santana points to the present "I don't think you could have had a better wish."
"Thank you," Brittany says sincerely, "I'm going to use it to record every special moment I have with you." She spins around in the snow and brings our cold lips together for a heartwarming kiss.
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It's five thirty in the evening when both girls wake up from a nap. Earlier, they got back and had leftover pancakes for lunch, too lazy to make or order anything, then took a quick shower and cuddled till they fell asleep.
It was Santana who set the alarm this time because they had places to be at seven-thirty.
They leave the house in a hurry once again, Santana barely stopping to tell Abigail that they'll be back by ten.
Brittany doesn't expect dinner at breadsticks, when they come here it's for special occasions only, but Santana loves to eat here and the food is delicious so she's not complaining.
"Is this today's special thing? Are we on a date San?"
"Do I need a reason to bring you to the best restaurant on the planet? But, yes this is a date and it's not over after dinner, the surprise is coming up."
Brittany is a sucker for surprises and Santana can see her trying to chew just a little bit faster. Santana doesn't eat much, she enjoys the look of delight on Brittany's face more than the food tonight, and that's saying a lot since this is Breadsticks. When Brittany finishes, Santana can see her trying not to bounce in her seat so she pays for the food even though hers is only half eaten and Brittany says she can wait but Santana knows she'll only last for five minutes.
They get in the car, and Santana starts driving again down the dark, familiar streets of Lima. She won't tell Brittany where they are going even though she's making pouty faces and pleading in her most sugar coated voice. It's good they've arrived at their destination otherwise Santana might have spoiled the surprise.
"We're watching a movie here? I didn't know you knew about this place." Its true Santana prefers the complex theater, her reasons are that it's more sanitary there and if the movie is boring they can always just slip out to do shopping or go to the game arcade. Local theaters creep her out; the houses and shops in the surrounding area remind her of a place she frequently stays away from by sleeping over at Brittany's whenever she can.
"I got news through facebook that the AV club got sponsored to play old Christmas films here every week night. And according to the schedule tonight is one of your favorite Christmas movies so that's why we're here."
"Are you going to stay? Because you really don't like my favorite Christmas movie."
"Of course I am Britt's, we're doing special things together right?"
"Yeah, I'm just saying if you want to leave at certain parts or for the whole movie basically its fine."
"Brittany I've seen it before! And I've survived the whole film so don't worry."
"Well you could always like snuggle in shoulder if you get scared." Brittany offers one more time.
"Thanks Britt's,"
The two get popcorn from the low-lit vending shop managed by a lanky red-head teenager who doesn't get a hint that Brittany is actually on a date. After Santana gives him a piece of her mind, the girls leave to settle down right in the middle of the half filled theater, most of the seats are occupied by families and couples past their prime.
Santana doesn't hate 'A Christmas Carol', well not really, maybe she did the first time she watched it which was when she was ten and got so spooked by the ghost of Jacob Marley; she spent most of the movie chatting with Brittany to avoid focusing on the screen. Brittany on the other hand loved it because of the ghosts. 'A Christmas Carol' became her favorite Christmas movie combined her two favorite things Christmas and other worldly creatures.
Like every time Brittany watches something she likes, her eyes are glued to the screen, shifting every so often as the mood of the story changes. And every time Santana is uninterested in something she chooses to focus her attention on Brittany, taking note of all the little nose scrunches, head wrinkles and the growing and falling of her smile. The movie is done none too soon.
The credits roll and Santana gets up to stretch her legs, feeling proud of herself for sitting through the whole film even though she fell asleep on Brittany's shoulder for the whole second half.
"Wait," Brittany pulls her down from her standing position but instead of falling back into her seat she loses balance and lands on Brittany's lap.
"Well' I'm sorry but not sorry for ending up in your cozy lap," Santana chuckles and looks around to make sure no one is paying attention to them before giving Brittany a quick kiss. "But as much as I like it here, we need to leave before this place is deserted and I have to defend you against the popcorn boy again."
"Don't be silly San, Ben is sweet. Can we take a picture before we leave?" Santana rolls her eyes but poses, her puckered up lips press into Brittany's cheek and her eyes stare comically at the camera as Brittany puts on her brightest smile and takes the picture on her iphone.
"Wait how do you know ginger muffin?"
"Ben's in geography with us remember? You even made a joke about his freckles numbering more than all the States in America."
"That was true though, boy's got them bad. But let's go, I'm still not ruining my evening beating him up for hitting on my girl." Brittany takes Santana's hand and squeezes reassuringly; she loves it when Santana is protective of her.
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Back at the Pierce house in the comfort of PJ's and Brittany's bed the girls cuddle like they do every night, it's familiar but never tiring.
"So, was today special enough for you?" Santana's voice breaks the silence.
"It was awesome San, thank you for everything; spending the day with me, the iphone, the visit to the homeless kids, dinner at breadsticks, the movie - best girlfriend in the whole world." Pause. "But what are we doing tomorrow?"
"It won't be a surprise if I tell you Britt, now sleep so you can find out."
Brittany kisses Santana goodnight and falls asleep with her head tucked into Santana's shoulder, hoping for tomorrow to come sooner.
AN:
So, should I continue this? What do you guys think? I have a lot of school to do and it's going to take a lot of time but I'm willing to commit to the story if people are interested in reading.