Rachel opened her eyes to find herself waking up on the couch in her living room. She cursed herself for falling asleep on yet another movie night with Santana, and knew she would be teased about it later. As she came to, she noted the unusual silence that filled the room; she looked over her shoulder and saw the empty space that her girlfriend had previously occupied the night before. The young starlet pouted at the absence of her Latin beauty and called out for her sleepily.
"Santana?" Rachel yawned. No answer. "Honey, are you awake?" The brunette shifted on the sofa so that she could stretch her limbs and slowly became more conscious of her surroundings. "Babe, where are you?" Upon being met with the same silence as before, she rubbed her eyes and looked around. The room stood just as they had left it the night before: an empty pizza box on the floor, an overturned DVD case on the television, a half-full can of Mountain Dew on the coffee table. But sleepy brown eyes landed on a new item on the table propped against the soda can. It was a piece of notebook paper folded in fours, tattooed with bold, beautiful cursive letters.
~Rachel~
She recognized Santana's handwriting anywhere. She picked up the note and unfolded the paper.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."
Rachel smiled as the voice of her lover narrated the letter in her mind.
"Sorry for skipping out on cuddle-time this morning. You're probably wondering where I am. Don't worry, your high-maintenance diva ways haven't pushed me to flee to Mexico. Yet."
Rachel rolled her eyes and made a mental note to pretend to be upset about the comment later.
"I have a surprise for you, but I refuse to tell you what it is in this letter. It's too special of a gift to just brush over with a scribble on scratch paper. It's a gift that you have to see to believe it. And yes, I am up to absolutely no good (in case you had to ask). You have to come find me, I'm working on it right now. I wanna make it perfect. I really hope you like it, Rach. I love you Baby. ~S"
Rachel smiled at the letter and placed it back on the table before deciding to leave the room in search for her love- and her surprise. She wandered to the kitchen, expecting her former Cheerio to be dancing around in her underwear to one of her guilty pleasure songs as she made breakfast; it was something Rachel has caught her doing countless times since they had moved in together. But the marble floor was no one's dance floor that morning.
"Sanny?" the Broadway star called out. She ignored the kiss of the cold floor on her bare feet and looked around. Something white on the sink's black marble top caught her eye.
~Rachel~
It was another note from Santana, folded and addressed just like the first. Rachel went over to the counter and unfolded the paper to read it.
"I thought you might look for me here. Sorry Rach, no vegan grub and N*SYNC ass-shaking this morning. I'll make it up to you though, 'cause I know how much you like my ass. It's pretty damn fantastic, I know."
Rachel shook her head at the Latina's cockiness and bit her lip. She wanted nothing more than to scoff at her upped ego, but the truth was, Santana did have a pretty fantastic ass. And Rachel loved it.
"But for once, this isn't about my sexy ass. I think I've had some of the greatest times of my life in this room, and it's all because of the girl reading this letter. You taught me I have a passion for cooking. I made my first cake for your celebration party when you were cast as Elphaba in Wicked three years ago. We made cupcakes for your dad's birthday and ended up having the most epic flour-fight (and cleanup day) ever! I learned why aluminum foil doesn't go in the microwave (and I love you so much for not being too mad at me for the fire). If you never came into my life, I honestly think I'd be dead by now...I couldn't boil water to save my life before we started dating. Now I love cooking, especially for you. I would slave over a hot stove for hours on end to make my baby happy and proud of me. And I will do it while in the shortest shorts I own that compliment my fabulous ass. I mean, just for you of course."
Rachel laughed and with a brief glance at the final line, began to wander elsewhere.
"I'm still waiting for you to get your surprise, babe. Come to the bedroom? ~S"
Rachel tossed the note aside and went straight to their bedroom, expecting to find her girl surrounded by mountains of books. Not a lot of people were aware of Santana's almost childlike fascination with different customs and cultures around the world, but Rachel knew her sweetheart was quite the adventurer. She did not bother calling out for Santana this time around and instead just went right in. She noticed a few piles of books and loose papers strewn across the head and foot of the bed, but there was only one title she bothered to read, and it was dead-center on the bed.
~Rachel~
She wasted no time unfolding the next piece to her puzzle. Why would Santana go through all this trouble just for a little surprise?
"If you expected me be here so that you could revel in my marvelous ass (which I know you did), you're disappointed. But don't worry, there'll be time for that later after you get your surprise. Time just seems to stop when you're in this room with me. No one else exists. Nothing else matters. Just you. You. It's always been and will forever be you, Rachel Barbara Berry. You're mine and nothing in the world makes me happier."
Rachel's heart fluttered at Santana's words and read on. She loved when she spilled her heart to her.
"I remember every precious moment we've had in this room, Rachel. Every time you've kissed me good morning, every late night you've snuggled into my chest, every giggle you've whispered in my ear, every moan you've made (and will make) when I make love to you, every deep conversation, every fight, every apology, every loving word, every loving look you've ever given me, every tear you've kissed away- goddamn everything, Rach. And I love that. And I love you. So fucking much. I am the absolute luckiest woman in the world because you chose me. Why? I don't know. But you chose me and I thank the heavens everyday that you decided to stay. You're my forever, Rach; I hope you believe that. I hope my gift gives you all the proof you or anyone else would ever need that you are. There's a green box I left on the dresser...open it. See you soon, love. ~S"
Rachel looked at their dresser and managed to pick out the box from all the clutter of combs, brushes and makeup products strewn across it. She got up and swept away some of the surrounding mess before looking at the box carefully. It wasn't very big, but it was big enough to have some kind of necklace or piece of jewelry in it, Rachel thought. She picked it up and opened it slowly. Rachel covered her mouth and gasped, almost dropping the box. Inside was a pregnancy test.
It was positive.
The little green box was soon forgotten and she looked back at the books on the bed. What to Expect When You're Expecting. Baby-Proofing the House: A Guide for First-Time Parents. So You Want a Little Monster? A Lesbian's Guide to Artificial Insemination. Mommy and Mama and Me. You're Gonna Be a Mommy.
Rachel felt like an idiot for not noticing them earlier. She ran out of the room and down the hall. She knew exactly where Santana was now. She reached a room at the end of the hall and stopped before going in. She snuck inside to find Santana painting the walls of their nursery. There were beautiful clouds behind the Eiffel Tower and colorful balloons floating throughout the street on one half of the wall with Big Ben and a yellow submarine on the other half; On the second wall was a beautiful African landscape featuring an elephant and zebra herd on one half with a stingray, three jellyfish and a turtle on the other. The third wall was currently being painted by the Latina herself. She was painting a picture of Rachel and herself holding a baby secured in a white blanket. Rachel was holding the baby and Santana was holding her from behind, both smiling down at the child.
"Santana..." Rachel breathed. Santana turned around and smiled as her lover came in.
"Hey, Baby. Come on in," Santana told her. "Don't worry about the paint- everything's not dry yet, but I can get it cleaned up by-" She was cut off by a hard kiss from a very excited Rachel.
"We're gonna have a baby?" she whispered softly. She wanted-no, she needed to hear Santana say it. The taller girl took the Broadway star in her arms lovingly smiled.
"Yes, Love. We're gonna have a baby," she whispered back, kissing her forehead. "I'm having your baby, Rach." Rachel's eyes began to water and she pressed herself against Santana tighter.
"But how? When did you decide to do this? I-I thought you didn't want to carry him?" she asked. Santana pulled back just enough to look her girl in the eyes.
"Rach, I know how much starting a family means to you," she began. "All those late night conversations we've had about our future and what we wanted out of life...yours always included being a mom. And when I saw how much it lit up your face just thinking about coming home to a little you or a little me, I knew starting a family was gonna be great for us."
"But Santana-"
"I was so happy when we made the decision to get pregnant. Everyone was. But when we went to the doctor to make sure everything was okay and he said you weren't able to have children, I saw the whole world crash around you." Rachel remembered that day clearly. It was one of the saddest moments of her life. "You were devastated, Rachel. You cried for weeks. You barely said a word for two months. I had to force you to eat the little food you did-" Santana's eyes started to tear up. "I didn't know what to do. By then I'd already lost my Baby Barbara or Santana Junior...I was afraid I might lose you too, Rach. I was terrified that one day I might wake up next to my Babygirl, but she wouldn't wake up next to me." Rachel opened her mouth to reply, but Santana continued.
"I never want to see anyone I love go through something like that, especially you. I promised I would do anything to make you happy again, and that meant doing everything to get you back to normal and being proactive in starting our family. After I got you to agree to seeing the therapist and I was satisfied that you were getting better, I asked the doctor if there was anything we could do to start our family. And I know how you feel about adoption, so that option was out. I...I knew you wanted the baby to be ours, so I went and got checked out myself. I still kept the contact information of the donor we picked and had the procedure done a few months ago."
"San, I...I don't know what to say," Rachel was trying her best to hold back her tears but it was all too much.
"Say that you're happy? Say that you're excited? Or say that you like my elephant?" Santana giggled, motioning to the painting on the wall. Rachel smiled and Santana kissed her tears away. "I love you so much, Rachel. I'm honored to be carrying our baby." the Latina said honestly.
"I love you too, San. Thank you." Rachel sighed.
"You don't have to thank me, Baby. I want to start a family as much as you do," Santana told her. Rachel shook her head.
"No, no, not just for the baby." she clarified. "For taking such good care of me. For letting me take care of you. For this-" she motioned around at the murals in their future child's room. "For us. For being mine. For the things I can't repay you for." The Latina laughed and held the tiny brunette closer.
"Trust me Rachel, you've given me so much more than you'll ever know; there's no way I could repay you." Santana smiled back. She leaned down to kiss her and Rachel happily wrapped her arms around Santana's neck to bring her closer.
"I can't believe we're having a baby," Rachel giggled. Santana let her go and took one of Rachel's hands in hers. She moved her shirt up slightly to reveal a barely noticeable baby bump and placed Rachel's hand ontop of it.
"How 'bout now?" the Latina said softly. The Ex-Cheerio couldn't help but swoon over her lover's innocent state of awe over the infant inside her. Rachel glowed with joy and grabbed Santana by the hips to pull the taller woman into her body once more.
"I love him or her already," she told Santana. Santana smiled and pressed her forehead against her diva's.
"I do, too."
"Our baby's gonna have the best mommies ever."
"Of course, Rach. Of course."
"But if it's a boy, we're not naming him Santana Junior."
My first fluffy Pezberry fic :D I think I like writing Pezberry because of the contrast of their personalities (opposites do attract, afterall lol). ANOTHER FIC FOR THE PEZBERRY ARMY! MWUAHAHAHAHA *evil thunderclap* haha ;p Please review my wonderful readers and let me know what you think. Until next time, my lovelies c: