I do not own Glee or any of the original characters, It all belongs to RIB and Fox. Any characters you don't recognise are my own creations.
Just a little two-shot... My other stories will be updated very, very soon!
R&R please.
Santana doesn't understand how her mom can be so patient with them everyday. Shelby takes care of them seven days a week, and is pretty chilled out. Even after having to punish them for some ridiculous stunt that they had pulled. Santana, however, doesn't seem to have the same kind of patience as Shelby. In fact, right now, she feels like she has no patience at all. Her temper is quick to flare up at the best of times, but babysitting Brittany and Quinn had ensured that her temper is close to explosion at all times. They're killing her. Like, really killing her. How on earth could two cute little girls cause such mayhem?
Santana knows that little Quinn can be challenging, but she has never seen Brittany act like this with Shelby. The youngest girl looks positively manic right now, and Santana is definitely starting to feel overwhelmed. She seriously doesn't want to call Shelby whilst she's helping Cassandra through some sort of dating crisis, but Santana doesn't know if she'll last much longer without the woman.
A glance at the clock tells Santana that it's getting close to Brittany's bedtime, and she sighs heavily. This is one battle that Santana is most definitely not looking forwards to. Brittany, who is usually as angelic as a person can get, would go to bed extremely easily when Shelby lays down the law, but Santana just knows that there is no chance in hell it will be as easy as that for her.
"Ready, aim, fire!" Santana groans loudly as a small, plastic ball hits her ass. She thought she had hidden the toy gun in a great place. Apparently not.
"Quinn, put the damn gun down!" Santana exclaims, turning to face the girl and rolling her eyes when Quinn throws herself behind the sofa. "Quinn, give me the gun," Santana states, each word said slowly and full of purpose.
"Uh..." Quinn pretends to think, "no." Santana sets her jaw, feeling herself get more irate with each passing moment. She can't believe that an eight year old has been able to get under her skin in such a way! A toddler, too. Speaking of...where the hell is Brittany anyway?! The soft toy that smacks against the back of her head soon answers her internal question.
"Alright!" Santana holds her hand up and whips around to face little Brittany. The next person that throws anything is going to bed early," Santana says as sternly as she can. Which, considering how stressed she feels, is not very stern at all. She's had three hours of this...three hours...and Santana is running out of energy. She had promised Shelby that she could handle taking care of both girls at once, but she had clearly been wrong. Quinn and Brittany must have sensed her apprehension, and they were definitely taking advantage of it.
"NO!" Santana's eyebrows almost disappear into her hair when she hears Brittany's loud yell. Santana takes a step forward, satisfied to see Brittany's defiant expression falter.
"Okay," Santana suddenly states, "then I'm calling mama." Santana is shocked by how quickly Brittany's face crumples, tears streaming from her bright blue eyes.
"No! No call mama!" Brittany sobs, slumping down onto her backside with a soft thump. "I be good!" Santana immediately feels guilty, feeling completely responsible for her little sister's distress. It's ridiculous, of course, as Brittany had been misbehaving for the last few hours, but Santana can't help it.
"You made Brittany cry!" Quinn yells at her, and it only serves to make Santana feel even worse. She closes her eyes and sucks in a deep breath, calming herself for a few seconds.
"Alright," Santana says after a moment, "Quinn, I want you to go to your bedroom and stand in the corner," she tells the eight year old, holding up her hand to cut off the argument that threatens to erupt from the girl. "Now, Quinn, or I will absolutely call mama and ask her to come home." Santana's voice is scarily calm and it seems to make Quinn see the seriousness of the situation. Santana watches as Quinn does as she is told, albeit grumpily, and walks through to her bedroom.
"Pwease," Brittany sniffles softly, "no mama." Santana doesn't respond straight away, instead just moving across the room and sitting down next to the inconsolable Brittany. Santana sighs as she tenderly rubs Brittany's back.
"Look at me, Britt," Santana eventually speaks, her tone firm. "Brittany..." her voice even firmer still as she prompts the girl again. Santana feels more in control of the situation now that she has separated her young siblings. She's pleased that Brittany listens this time, and watery blue eyes meet her brown ones.
"No mama," Brittany repeats, her voice small and pleading.
"Listen to me, Brittany," Santana begins. "If you start listening to me and behaving yourself, then I won't call mama and ask her to come home early, but..." she's cut off by Brittany throwing herself into her arms, clearly showing appreciation towards her big sister. "BUT, I won't lie to mama," Santana continues. "When mama asks me how you guys behaved, then I will tell her just how naughty you've been." Brittany's face crumples yet again. "What I'm also going to tell her, is that you guys have been punished."
"Punished?" Brittany doesn't like the sound of this. Not one little bit!
"That's right," Santana nods. "You and Quinn will both be having an early night..."
"No!" Santana is, once again, interrupted. "No bed, no mama!" The living room fills with the sound of Brittany's bitter sobs, the toddler's face turning bright red. Santana struggles to maintain her composure, too, as she fights to keep control of the situation again, and she huffs when she hears the sound of loud music coming from Quinn's bedroom. Brittany grows more and more inconsolable and Santana starts to feel like a major failure. All she had to do was take car of her little sisters for a few hours, and she hadn't even managed that.
That's it, Santana decides, I need to call her. Santana struggles to remain calm as she pulls her cell phone from her pocket, fingers fumbling as she scrolls down to her mom's number. But before she can even press the call button...
"What on earth is going on here?!" Santana doesn't think she has ever felt more relieved to see Shelby before, and she immediately rushes towards the woman. Santana opens her mouth to speak, but all that escapes is a sort of strangled sob. "Hey hey," Shelby is instantly concerned and she pulls Santana into her arms.
"Mama!" The small whimper that comes from Santana tells her that the girl has regressed into her little self.
"What on earth...?" Shelby murmurs to herself. When Shelby had left a few hours ago, she had left two happy children with her happy teenager. Now, she has two crying children, and one who seems to be holding some sort of rave in another room. Shelby knows she has to get to the bottom of this, but she has no idea where to even begin!
0-00-0
Shelby lets out a tired sigh as she leaves Brittany's bedroom, quietly closing the door behind her. The girl had been very quick to admit to misbehaving whilst Santana was looking after her, but Shelby still doesn't know the full story. Perhaps a quick chat with Quinn will help her fill in the blanks, but even then it won't tell her everything. Not with Santana now being in her five year old frame of mind.
Shelby's heart aches at the thought of her girl being so stressed and upset, that she couldn't handle being her adult self. Shelby feels guilty. She had been so unsure about leaving Santana in charge of her little sisters. Sure, Santana had babysat before, but not both of them at the same time and Shelby had thought that it would be too much, too soon. She had been right. She curses herself. Santana had sworn that it would be fine, but Shelby should not have listened to her. She should have gone with her instincts.
"Mom?" Shelby startles when she hears Quinn's voice. Big girl Quinn. "Are you okay?" Shelby frowns, realising she has been standing outside of Brittany's bedroom for a couple of minutes now.
"Yeah, kind of..." Shelby murmurs, gesturing for Quinn to follow her as she begins walking down the stairs. The teenager does so, knowing that her mom would need to talk to her about her little self today. Quinn knows she won't be told off for her little self's antics, but she can at least answer some of Shelby's questions. In truth, Quinn feels terrible about it. Today had been about pushing at the boundaries, and she and Brittany had completely smashed them.
"Mom..."
"Wait," Shelby quietly states, stopping Quinn outside the living room and glancing outside. Despite the situation, Shelby smiles at the adorable sight of Santana sprawled out on the sofa, fast asleep. The girl is exhausted, mentally more than anything, and Shelby isn't surprised. She knows just how exhausting it can be at times.
"She's cute when she's sleeping," Quinn comments, Shelby nodding her agreement. Shelby stays quiet as she leads Quinn into the kitchen, turning on the coffee machine. Shelby doesn't need to ask if Quinn wants one, too, and automatically pulls two mugs out of the cupboard. There is silence in the room as Shelby prepares the coffees, Quinn beginning to feel a little nervous as she sits at the table. She doesn't understand why, though. She doesn't have anything to worry about. Little Quinn does.
"I can almost see the cogs working in your brain," Shelby remarks as she sits down at the kitchen, smiling softly at her girl. Quinn forces a smile to her face, but Shelby can see right through it. "Talk to me, baby girl." The slight pleading tone in Shelby's statement makes Quinn relax. There's no anger in her mother's voice, merely concern.
"I feel like crap," is Quinn's blunt response.
"Why?" It's a simple question, but the answer is not, and Quinn struggles to find the correct words. "Take your time," Shelby murmurs, sliding Quinn's coffee a little closer to her.
"It's just..." Quinn sighs, "we were so awful tonight," she murmurs, blinking back tears. "Little Quinn saw an opportunity to get away with murder, and she took it. Like, really took it. Santana couldn't even handle being her adult self because we stressed her out so much. That's... that's terrible, mom." Quinn scrubs her face with her hand, her coffee warming the palm of her other hand as she grips it tightly. Her knuckles glow white, straining against her skin and Shelby reaches across to touch it, feeling the girl's hand relax underneath hers.
"Hey," Shelby states, but Quinn's eyes are trained to the table. "Hey," she repeats, her voice firmer this time. "Look at me." Hazel eyes eventually rise and Shelby stares into them. "Little girls misbehave. It happens. It's normal," Shelby tells her, her voice level. "You guys are re-doing your childhood. Acting out is a part of childhood. You guys misbehave for me all of the time, but you get punished and then we move on. You should not feel guilty for the things your little self does," Shelby explains.
"But..."
"No," Shelby interrupts. "No buts. Big girl Santana isn't going to be mad at you," Shelby promises. "She's probably a little mad with little Quinn and Brittany right now, but not with you guys. Little Santana screwed around when you took care of her, did you hold it against her older self?" Shelby questions, already knowing the answer.
"No," Quinn sighs. "I just feel so bad, though. She was so stressed out, mom."
"She was," Shelby nods, "but she isn't anymore. Santana became her little self as a way of dealing with the stress that comes with adulthood. She needs her mama right now, and that's what she's going to get. I'll take care of her. It's okay, Quinn. I promise." Shelby is so sincere that Quinn believes her. She still feels guilty, but that will go away.
"What about little Quinn?"
"Well," Shelby chuckles lightly, "she is certainly in trouble, and so is her little partner in crime. But it's not the end of the world. There will be some kind of punishment, and then there will be a clean slate. Just like always, honey."
"Okay," Quinn nods, feeling a little relieved.
"Now, tell me," Shelby smirks, "did you guys behave at all tonight? I mean, was I even out of the street before the little ones started raising unholy hell?" Shelby's smirk grows when Quinn blushes.
"It was too much for her, huh?" Quinn mumbles. Shelby's smile falters.
"Yeah, honey, it was. That's on me, though," Shelby reassures her. "I should have put more thought into this, but tomorrow is a new day." Quinn nods, chewing on her bottom lip.
"Does little Quinn need to be here tomorrow?" Quinn asks, her eyes earnest. "I'm not avoiding her punishment, I swear. I just..."
"You don't have to be little Quinn on any day that you don't want to be her," Shelby cuts her off. "You know that. I don't need a reason, sweetheart." Quinn smiles at her mom.
"I think I want to be around for little Santana tomorrow. I want to give her a good day," Quinn shyly states.
"I think that's a beautiful thought, babe," Shelby smiles. "You don't have to, though."
"I know...I want to."
To be continued... The second part will be posted sometime this week, and there will be more fun in that part. Thanks for reading. Please review.