Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 39th cycle. Now cycle 40!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 40 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days, starting in cycle 40!

This is a shift day [see above]. There will be another upload this afternoon: Tender Love & Care, chapter 4.

"Who Needs Paradise When I've Got You?"
[Older] Brittany/Santana, (Quinn)
Trinity series #9 (following 'Not One More Year Without')

They had all spent the New Year's first day with their guests, eventually seeing them off, and then it was just the three of them and an apartment in serious need of a clean-up. But it wasn't going to be a three-woman job.

They were going to get started when Quinn came up and handed them an envelope, with first class tickets, hotel reservations… Honeymoon in Florence, all paid and, very important to them, all vetted by Quinn. They were leaving the next morning, so they would pack and Quinn would take care of the apartment, if they promised to hold in all that pent up newlywed… desire… and wait until they were on that honeymoon.

And then they were hugging Quinn goodbye at the gate, and they boarded the plane, bound for Italy. It was finally settling, really settling, that it hadn't all been a dream, that they were married. Whenever Santana would catch Brittany staring at her ring with that smile on her face, all she could think was 'that's my wife,' and she'd get a flutter in her heart. And when, more often than not, Brittany would catch her looking, she'd lean over and kiss her, in any way she could, shoulder, or cheek, or temple, or lips… Lips were dangerous; lips made them both want more, but… they were waiting, until Florence.

They'd told Quinn about the story, the long ago plan to go to Florence, back when Santana had moved into her apartment, in Boston. On the first night they'd stayed up and somewhere in the conversations and everything in between, they had ended up deciding they would go to Italy someday, and Florence was the goal. Now it was finally happening, and it was as though they had put aside this whole other part of their lives, Trinity and all, and it was them going to Italy, those two girls out of Lima, living on their own, in Boston, and eventually New York City…

The flight had come and gone and then they were stepping out into the airport and on the street… They both reached for the other's hand at once.

One cab ride later, they were at the hotel. They had been taking in all the sights they could, down the streets and even now checking into the hotel and reaching their room. Santana could just see Brittany reaching critical mass on the giddiness scale. She'd just closed the door after the man who'd carried their baggage when she felt a breeze that was in fact Brittany dashing off and leaping on the bed, falling back with her arms out. Santana laughed.

"Why did I know you were going to do that?" Brittany gave her the crooked-fingered 'come here' signal and she approached, stopping at the edge of the bed. "Not even going to let us unpack first?"

"In a minute, come here," she patted the spot next to her. Santana didn't question it, laid at her side. "We're here…" Brittany gave something between a whisper and a song, cozying up to her, resting her head to her shoulder, both hands wrapped her arm, and suddenly it was like they were seventeen again, back in Boston… How far they'd come…

"Yeah, we are," Santana took in a breath, turning her head to look at her and falling in a pool of blue eyes. Everything had become so very quiet… "Unpacking now," she declared, getting up, and with the sound Brittany made then it was clear that wasn't what the blonde had had in mind.

"But…"

"I just want to make sure everything's fine."

"Quinn checked everything, she wouldn't have put us in a bad place," Brittany reminded her, sitting up and taking off her coat. Santana had already retrieved and reassembled her bug sweeper. "You brought tech?"

"Better safe than sorry," Santana swept.

"When did you get so paranoid?" she asked.

"December 31st, 11:59:59," Santana looked back to her wife, saw her smile was matched.

"Well when you put it like that…" Brittany nodded, folding up her coat, then pausing and smirking as she looked at it and tossed it in Santana's direction.

"This will only take a minute." Brittany took off boots and socks, laid them aside.

"Right…" she replied, peeling off the long-sleeved shirt, revealing the sleeveless underneath, and balled it up in her hands as her eyes followed Santana, still sweeping. Playing innocent, she tossed it, just as she had the coat. It didn't get her attention either. She sighed, shaking her head… maybe the pants would do it…

"I can access the security feed if I have to…"

"Do you? Have to, I mean," Brittany asked, tossing the pants… Nothing… Now this was just not right…

"Hopefully not," Santana went on while Brittany aimed the sleeveless shirt. "We're not unpacking yet, are we?" she smirked, and the shirt fell out of Brittany's hand.

"Mean…" she 'accused.' "Put your little friend away," she gestured to the sweeper.

"Optic, remember? I see all…" she turned, taken by the sight of her sitting there; she only had two more pieces to play if she was going to keep tossing clothes.

"And you call me Sneak… How about I show you why?" she baited. There was no arguing with that. "Or, you know, we could unpack," she smiled, seeing Santana ditch her coat, boots… Ensuring that their secret trade hadn't followed them may have been a priority, but now that it was taken care of there was little else on her mind than kicking off this honeymoon.

"Suitcases will still be there in… Let's not even put a time frame on this," she knelt to the bed and Brittany moves up to be at eye level with her. Santana smiled, gently moving a fringe of blonde hair out of her face before leaning in for a kiss that started out slow, the start of something they'd always remember. Already their hearts were going madly, the anticipation growing one button at a time as Brittany's fingers worked down the row.

"We could just stay here… wouldn't even need to unpack…" Brittany spoke at her ear. Santana inhaled, her shirt slipping off her shoulders.

"We've been wanting to come here for years," Santana reminded, once her brain stopped shouting 'yes, yes!'

"We do have three weeks… One day out… One day in?" she punctuated with kisses.

"One day out… two days in?" Santana countered, and a moment later she'd been swept up and landed on her back to have Brittany climb over her.

"Deal," she smiled, leaning back in.

X

They had called Quinn to confirm their arrival, but it would be a week before they called again. They hadn't left the room until the morning of day four, agreeing day one hadn't counted, having so little of it. The furthest they'd gone had been the balcony, though already the view had been captivating, at sunrise and sunset especially.

But they had gone out, walked all day and 'only got lost twice' they would tell Quinn, though it was more like four. Santana had been snapping pictures left and right, while Brittany directed her eye. There was also a fair amount of shopping, for themselves, for Quinn, families and friends… The next day had been 'inactive by reason of recovery.'

Between sightseeing and explorations in Italian dining, the time they spent alone in their room rounded off the trip in still more memorable moments.

And then out of nowhere it was their last evening before departure, which would be the next afternoon. They were going to get dressed up, go and dine out. Santana had just finished getting ready, and when she went looking for Brittany she found her standing at the balcony, a vision at sunset. Her posture alone betrayed a sort of sadness, and Santana could sympathize. "I don't want to leave either," she told her, coming to stand at her side.

"We could just get Quinn to come over, I'm sure there are lost things here, too…" she sighed. "I want to go home, but…"

"Firenze…" Santana finished, making Brittany smile. "If we don't leave it won't mean the same thing we came. Besides, we have so much left to do back there…"

"We do," Brittany bowed her head, beaming.

"Maybe sooner than you think," Santana took her hand and when she turned around she saw her eyes brimming with happiness. "He said yes, Britt… Javi said yes," she revealed. Brittany's hand went to her mouth, overtaken with surprise in the best way. "He called last week, but I waited because I knew you'd need something to cheer you up about going…" she was cut off with a kiss. "… home."

"Santana, we…" now she was the one on the verge of tears.

"I know…" she smiled back. "So let's go eat, let's go talk…"

The dinner had been filled with talk, as they'd planned. It was not talk of what they'd seen and how they'd miss it. Instead it was talk on the matter that, with Santana's cousin Javi's help, they could soon find themselves going from newlyweds to new parents…

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!