A/N: Repost of Brittana Week Day 1: Family/Future
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee :(
Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice
Brittany didn't often have premonitions in her dreams. But when she did, she paid attention. And she sure as hell paid attention to her future children.
She walks into her kitchen, a kitchen she's never seen before, but knows. She moves around the granite counter tops and drags her finger across the smooth surface. A rough thought enters her head, almost like a memory. She pictures Santana, her beautiful Santana, sprawled across this countertop with her legs spread and her face contorted in pleasure.
Brittany bites her lip and shakes her head. Not that she hasn't done that very thing to Santana on many occasions, but it seems strange that she remembers doing it in a house that she's never been in, yet feels like home.
"Oliver!" a familiar voice shrieks from just outside.
Brittany brightens and immediately heads for the back door that leads to a large open space with green grass and a small playground in the far corner. Her blue eyes land on Santana playfully struggling with a little boy. A little boy who, and her breath catches, looks almost exactly like her.
"Momma!" he squeals, catching sight of her as she leans against the open door.
Brittany blinks in surprise, but automatically bends down and catches the boy running towards her. She snuggles him close and he lets out an adorable giggle that makes her grin widely.
"Momma sleep well?" the little boy – Oliver – asks.
"Not so much sleeping as I recall."
Brittany lifts her eyes and takes a quick breath in at the familiar knowing look that Santana's giving her. It's the lusty I-know-you-want-me look that never fails to make her knees wobble with desire. Santana walks up to her and gives her a lingering kiss on her cheek. Brittany tries desperately to keep the moan inside. It's difficult. She hasn't had that kind of physical contact with Santana since she left for New York in February.
Wait, how much time has passed? She's pretty sure that she's in a dream or something. She'd remember having a son. She'd definitely remember the not so much sleeping the previous night too.
"Morning, wife," Santana whispers as she heads inside.
Brittany just about melts. Wife? Wife?! She's officially in the best dream ever. She squeezes the little boy in her arms and proceeds to launch into a haphazard happy dance on the deck. Oliver clearly loves the idea and claps his hands enthusiastically.
"Dance! Dance!" he chants.
Brittany steps down onto the grass so that she has more space and goes crazy – well, as crazy as she can with a three-year-old in her arms. Don't ask her how she knows that he's three. Oliver squirms to be put down and Brittany obliges. Then the magic happens. Her son – their son – starts to do his own little jiggle and Brittany doesn't think that she's ever been so happy.
"Mom!"
She freezes and looks up. An eight-year-old Santana replicate stands on the deck with her arms folded across her chest and an unamused expression on her face. She has a daughter. No…she has two daughters. Twins. Sarah and Tamlyn.
"Sugar!" Oliver says gleefully, running towards his big sister as fast as his little legs can carry him.
"Sup, squirt," Sarah greets him with a smirk exactly like Santana's that Brittany has to take a moment to appreciate her life.
So what if it's a dream. She'll take it.
"Come on, Mom. Mami's got breakfast on the table. She says we can't start without you."
Brittany grins and runs onto the deck, scooping her son into her arms and kissing her daughter's head. It's automatic. It's reactive. And she loves it.
She rounds the corner into the dining room and seats herself next to her wife – her frigging wife – and returns the kiss on the cheek that she received that morning.
"Morning, beautiful," she whispers, depositing Oliver into the chair on the other side of her.
"Oh, you remembered to greet me?" Santana teases.
"I recall greeting you several times this morning," Brittany replies in a low voice close to Santana's ear. "Perhaps we need a repeat performance to jog your memory."
Santana flushes crimson and stares at her plate, but a smile is tugging hard at her lips.
"Seriously, you guys are so uncool," Sarah sighs, grabbing the scrambled eggs and depositing some onto her plate.
Brittany scrunches her nose up at their eldest. "You love how in love we are, Sugar. You can pretend that you don't. It's ok. Your secret is safe with us."
"Where's Spice?" Santana asks.
"Upstairs the last time I checked. She was reading something," Sarah replies.
Brittany grins. She loves their misnomer nicknames for their girls. Sarah isn't the sweetest girl. She has a sharp tongue and short temper like her Mami. Tamlyn, aka Spice, is mild-mannered, artistic and keeps to herself. As different as they are, they are as close as sisters could be. With the girls at school all day and crazy busy with all their extracurriculars, their little ray of sunshine is Oliver. He keeps them on their toes, especially Santana. But Brittany loves watching them together. He brings out the Santana that she loves most – the carefree, funny, natural and loving Santana. The woman she married.
"Sugar, what's on the agenda for today?" Santana asks, leaning across Brittany to grab the toast. She lets her hand brush Britt's and both women smile.
"Soccer!" Oliver yells.
Sarah cracks a smile and ruffles her brother's curly blonde hair. "Sure, buddy. We can go and play soccer in park later. I'm meeting some of the boys there." She glances at her parents. "That's ok, right? You did say it was yesterday."
Brittany smiles. "It's totally fine, Sugar. Any idea if your sister is going with you?"
Sarah shrugs.
"Where is that girl?" Santana says with an air of irritation, putting down her fork.
Brittany immediately links her fingers with Santana's now free hand. "I got this, baby. Don't worry." She lifts her head and lets out a shrill whistle. Within ten seconds, the younger twin comes bounding down the stairs.
"Sorry!" she apologises, taking her seat next to Sarah. "My book's just getting really good."
"Which one are you on?" Brittany asks.
"The Goblet Of Fire," Tamlyn says enthusiastically. "They've just announced the champions and Harry's name was chosen and everyone was like, what? And then Dumbledore got all-"
"No one cares, Spice," Sarah cuts in, jabbing her fork into her eggs.
"Apologise," Santana says. It's all she needs to say.
Sarah sighs and rolls her eyes. Brittany almost smiles at how she remembers an eight-year-old Santana doing the same thing. But they're doing the serious parent thing, so her smile is only inward.
"Sorry, Tam."
"S'ok," Tamlyn replies easily. "One day I'll get you to read Harry Potter and then you'll be fangirling over them as much as I do."
"Fangirling?" Sarah sounds horrified at the idea.
"Yeah, you know. Fangirling. Loving something so much that you literally go 'aaaah' when something happens. And it can be anything." Brittany turns to her wife. "Remember that show, San? We used to watch it in high school. The writing was terrible, but they had that totally cute couple."
"Oh, yeah!" Santana says with a smile as she remembers. "The writing really was crap-"
"Mami!"
"Sorry," Santana says sheepishly. "Anywho, the writing was…really bad, but those two actresses just oozed chemistry. They created their own following. And we," she indicates herself and Brittany, "were mad fangirls over those two."
"But…they weren't real," Sarah says with a furrow in her brow.
Brittany gasps dramatically. "They weren't?"
It earns a delightful giggle from Tamlyn.
Santana smiles and picks up her hand that is still joined to her wife's and kisses the back of it. "We're well aware that they were a fictional couple. We were fans of what they represented."
"What was that?" Sarah wants to know.
"Acceptance, understanding. Someone to look up to. A role model."
"I'm a model," Oliver declares, sliding off his chair and walking next to the table with an exaggerated pose.
Brittany laughs delightedly. "Ollie, you look positively handsome."
He bows so low he falls over. But, like Brittany, he doesn't wallow in slight mishaps and merely laughs as he rubs his head.
"Ok, Spice. Any plans this beautiful Saturday afternoon other than diving into the Triwizard Tournament?" Santana asks, pulling Oliver onto her lap and cutting him small pieces of bacon. He uses his fingers to pop them into his mouth and Brittany just smiles as she watches them.
"Um, Sugar said she was going to the park later. I thought about taking my sketchpad and hanging around until she's done."
"Sounds perfect," Santana says, letting Oliver wrestle a piece of toast away from her. "Make sure your room is tidy and ready for inspection before we go shopping, ok?"
They nod and the rest of their breakfast is spent with idle chat about the upcoming week, Oliver adding in his brand of humour when he feels the need. Brittany collects the plates and takes them into the kitchen, scraping the scraps into the bin. She feels warm hands wrap around her waist and leans back into Santana's body.
She's missed the feeling. Even though she knows that when she went to sleep the previous night, it was in her own bed, in her parents' house in Lima, far away from Santana in New York, being in the love of her life's arms again is like home. Real home. Nothing can ever go wrong as long as she's in Santana's arms.
"Last night was amazing," Santana whispers into her neck. "I never really got a chance to thank you."
Brittany smiles. She has flickering memories, or whatever they are, of the previous night. She really wishes that she remembers the whole night. She grins at the thought of simply recreating them again that night.
"You never need to thank me for showing you how much I love you, Santana," Brittany says honestly. "It's one of the things that I love most in the world to do. You know, other than you."
Santana's fingers dig slightly into her stomach, causing Brittany to giggle. Once she's done rinsing the breakfast dishes off, she spins and rests her hands on Santana's shoulders.
"I'm so thankful every day that you came to find me," she says softly, leaning in to nuzzle Brittany's neck.
Brittany waits for the flickering memory to come and she gets a brief vision of a rain soaked younger version of herself standing outside Santana's loft in New York with her bags and Lord Tubbington. She sees Santana standing with a look of shocked happiness on her face and within a second they're kissing. Brittany can feel the emotional punch that kiss had, even now. Even in this strange dream reality.
"All of the best decisions that I have ever made have been to be with you," Brittany says lovingly. "I'm thankful that you gave me another chance."
"Oh, Britt." Santana pulls her closer so that their bodies are pressed tightly together. Brittany will never get tired of the feeling. "I was never mad at you. You always knew what was best for me, even when I didn't. I know that I got mad at you in the moment, but who knows where we'd be right now if I'd stayed in Lima."
"We'd still be together," Brittany says with complete conviction.
"You think?" Santana leans back so that she can look into her wife's eyes.
"I know. Santana, no matter which reality, which world, which time we live in, I will always find you. We're the kind of love they write about in movies and books and fanfiction and live forever in people's minds. Especially our minds. Because never in a million years could I be without you. My second senior year was bad enough."
She frowns slightly to herself, realising that she's actually technically still in her second senior year and it has, in fact, been the shittiest year in her eighteen year existence.
"Oh, baby. That was so long ago. The past doesn't matter. What does matter is that we found each other again, we're still together and so in love. We have three beautiful children and a cabinet full of Tony Awards. I never thought that I could ever be this happy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Brittany just closes the space between them and initiates an all-too-familiar kiss that makes her head spin. But in a good way. Santana's grip around her waist tightens and their kisses become just a little more heated.
Santana's kisses are even better than she remembers. Their last real kiss was back in October before Santana broke up with her. Brittany tries not to think about her most heartbreaking moment as she keeps her soulmate close and kisses the crap out of her, suddenly irrationally afraid that her dream reality can vanish any second.
She needs to make the most of whatever time she has in this world. She's going to be the best wife and mother that her family has ever seen.
"Again?" Sarah groans, descending the last few stairs.
Brittany and Santana break away, but not before Brittany kisses her nose and her cheek and whispers in her ear, "Tonight, I'm taking you on a date."
Santana looks up at her in surprise, but has a happy smile on her face. Brittany's eyes sparkle back.
"Sarah, please make sure your brother isn't getting himself covered in dirt from his sandbox," Santana instructs, her eyes never leaving Brittany's face.
Their eldest huffs her displeasure, but heads out back. Santana's look turns shy. "You wanna go on a date, Britt-Britt?"
She smiles widely and nods furiously. "I wanna take my beautiful and talented wife out on the town. I want to show her off and then bring her home and make love to her all night."
"Again?" Santana chuckles.
Brittany just leans in for a kiss. "And every night for the rest of our lives."
Santana swallows and she bites her lip. "How did I strike gold with you? You're just…so perfect," she whispers.
"I love you, Santana," she replies simply. "That makes me the best person that I can be. And it makes me perfect for you because you're my one and only."
Santana pulls her into an embrace. "I love you so much, Britt. Always."
"Always."
Brittany jerked awake, breathing hard. She knew she hadn't had a nightmare. She didn't really have nightmares. But her dreams had been intense. She wasn't exactly sure what had woken her from it, considering it was only two am. She'd been sleeping for four hours, but it felt like a lifetime.
She rested her head back on her pillow and smiled at the memory of three vibrant young faces Their three angels. Their Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice. Brittany bit her lip and closed her eyes, desperate to get back to a world where she and Santana were together. It sure as hell was better than her current reality. Trying to relax again, Brittany felt sleep pull her under again.
"Momma! I wanna be a race driver!" Oliver says enthusiastically as they head down the dreaded toy aisle at the supermarket.
Brittany smiles as she pushes the cart with her son making car noises.
"So long as you wear a helmet, young man, we'll see if we can convince your Mami."
"Convince me of what?" Santana asks, dropping three boxes of cereal into the cart. She flashes a smile at Brittany, who just feels butterflies and smiles dreamily back.
"Vroooooom," Oliver says in response, driving his imaginary car into Santana's chest.
"Oh! Racing cars, Ollie? Hmmm, we'll have to see how well you do on a go-kart circuit first. Then we'll talk."
"Yes!" Oliver cheers. He faces forward in the cart and wraps his arms around Brittany's waist. She drops a kiss to his forehead.
"Sugar and Spice?" she enquires.
Santana steps next to Brittany and rests a hand on her back and leans into her as they continue down the aisle. "They're getting milk."
"Ten bucks they'll come back with one chocolate and one strawberry milk," Brittany states.
"I'm not taking that bet," Santana chuckles.
"Why? Cos I'll win?"
"Yes!"
Brittany pouts. "How about a different prize, then?"
Santana cocks an eyebrow and, fuck, it's hot. "I'm listening."
She covers her son's ears and says quickly, "If I'm right, I get first favours in the bedroom tonight. If you win, you do. Deal?"
"But, Britt, you always get favours," Santana purrs, kissing her cheek. "But just because you're taking me on a super awesome date, I'll take a bet that I know I'm going to lose."
"You're the bestest wife ever," Brittany declares, giving her a firm kiss on the lips.
"I wonder if we'll actually ever find them not kissing," they hear Sarah grumble.
"Doubtful," Tamlyn agrees.
Brittany and Santana break away and the former drops her hands from Oliver's ears. He just grins up at her, not at all perturbed about being cut out of a conversation. Santana nudges her and she looks at the chocolate milk in Sarah's hand and the strawberry in Tamlyn's.
"Guess you won, baby," she whispers. "Can't wait for you to collect your reward." She trails her finger along the top of her jeans as she heads down the aisle with their girls. Brittany's eyes are glued firmly to her sexy ass.
"Momma, where's the fruit?" Oliver asks.
"You hungry, little man?" she says with a smile, ruffling his soft curls.
His blue eyes smile back and he nods.
"Ok, let's go get you some fruit."
They head home once the cart is full of mostly unnecessary things, but nether Santana nor Brittany have been sensible shoppers. They're impulsive, which should make them terrible with finances, but they always make it work.
"Baby, I'm gonna crash for an afternoon nap," Santana says once they've unpacked all the groceries. "Join me?"
Brittany smiles at her. "I will. I just wanna be outside for a bit."
"Sure thing." Santana gives her a sweet kiss before heading upstairs.
She heads outside as planned and almost immediately, Oliver rushes past her. Since she's outside, he has permission to be as well.
"Look, Momma, I'm a jungle man!" he shouts from his playground, swinging on the monkey bars with an adorable roar.
"The fiercest jungle man there ever was!" Brittany declares, walking over to the swing and sitting down.
Oliver crosses over to her and she picks him up, settling him on her lap securely. Her long legs let the swing sway a little.
"Momma?"
"What's up, Ollie?"
"Don't go to Mit."
"Mit?" Brittany asks in confusion.
"The clever place."
It suddenly clicks. "You…you mean MIT?"
He nods. Brittany swallows. Oliver's talking in the present. Not the past.
"If you go, then you won't get Mami back. And then I won't be born and neither will Sugar and Spice."
"It's ok, Ollie. I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere."
"You will when you wake up," he says sombrely.
"I…I won't ever forget you," is all Brittany can say.
Oliver stands in Brittany's lap and hugs her. She holds him against her with all the strength she can. She's scared. She doesn't want this to not be real. Not when it feels so real. She'll choose this over real life any day.
"Momma, can we go sleep?" Oliver asks with a yawn.
"Sure, kiddo," she whispers, taking his hand and letting him lead her inside.
She follows him upstairs and into his bedroom. He collapses onto the bottom bunk of his bunk beds and Brittany kneels to tuck him in.
"We're going to the park later?" he asks sleepily.
"Yeah, all of us. We're gonna go to the park."
"Ok," he says with a dreamy smile. "Don't fall asleep, Momma."
Brittany swallows again and watches her son quickly fall asleep. She grabs his monkey and puts it next to his pillow.
Don't fall asleep. Don't fall asleep. Is that the price for staying in this reality? She can't fall asleep? Ever? She pauses at the door to her and Santana's bedroom and peeks in at her wife curled up on her side of the bed.
Don't fall asleep.
She climbs onto bed and sits up, her back against the headboard. Flashes of tan hands gripping that headboard pass through her mind. Santana senses her, even in sleep, and turns, resting her head in Brittany's lap. She doesn't mind in the least. If she has to stay awake, then she really doesn't mind doing it staring at the most beautiful woman in the world. Santana's hand is resting on her thigh and Brittany covers it with her left hand while her right weaves through her wife's long hair.
She refuses to give this up. She can't. She won't. She has everything she ever wanted and she dreads falling asleep and heading back to her Lima reality.
What does she need to do to maintain this reality? She is desperate. She wants Santana. She wants this life. She wants to meet her in New York and propose and get married and go on a sexy honeymoon to Hawaii and get crazy excited with the news of their first baby, which will turn into a double surprise when they hear two heartbeats instead of one. She wants to fall asleep next to her every night and wake up with her every morning. She wants to see her girls grow up and kick every boys' or girls' ass that aren't good enough for them. She wants to see Ollie grow up to be whatever he wants to be. She wants to be around to see that sparkle in his eye never die
She blinks and realises that she's crying.
She's just so happy that she can't bear to lose it.
A bang caused Brittany to wake up again. She felt her cheeks, surprised that they were wet with tears. Her dream was really messing her up. She rolled over and glanced at the clock. 6am. Her dad was leaving for work. She didn't even know what day it was anymore. She was so stuck in her dreamland that she promptly closed her head to return to it.
She agreed with dream Brittany – she wouldn't want to leave her dream world either.
Santana stirs after about two hours of sleeping and Brittany smiles down affectionately at her. She's had a lot of practice watching Santana wake up – not that her wife knows about that, of course. She's kind of shy, even though you'd never guess. Watching Santana sleep was one of Brittany's favourite things in high school. She always looked peaceful.
Nothing's changed. She has a soft smile on her puffy lips as she turns her face into Brittany's jeans, readying herself to wake up.
"Morning," Brittany says softly, when Santana's sleepy brown eyes focus on her.
"Hmmm." She promptly hides her face again. It makes Brittany smile and subsequently makes her heart ache. She's going to treasure every single little thing because if she only gets one day with Santana and their family then she's definitely going to experience every second to the fullest.
"You're so beautiful," Brittany whispers, running her index finger down Santana's face. "It's heartbreaking how beautiful you are."
Santana smiles shyly and grabs Brittany's hand still resting on hers and kisses each finger softly.
"I love you, my beautiful Brittany," she whispers back.
Brittany shuffles down with Santana still in her lap and carefully brings their heads level. She wastes no time in joining their lips in a passionate kiss. Brittany knows that Santana is a little confused – she can tell from her kisses – but responds just as enthusiastically. After a few minutes of making out, Brittany breaks away and Santana immediately cradles her cheek.
"Talk to me, baby," she requests.
"I just…I was thinking about what would have happened if I hadn't chased you. If I'd done what everyone told me to do and gone to MIT. I doubt we'd have anything we do now. Maybe not even each other."
"Hey, hey," Santana coos, moving closer so that their bodies are flush. Her arm goes around Brittany and the other hand stays on her face. "Baby, listen to me. You said it yourself – we will always find a way to each other. Even if you'd spent four years or more at MIT, we would have been together again."
"How do you know that?"
Santana's quiet and Brittany's fear is confirmed. It's why she can't fall asleep. The second she falls asleep, this becomes a dream. Ok, it is already a dream, but it'll be a forgotten dream, an inaccessible dream.
"Brittany, regardless of what might have been, it didn't happen it that way. You didn't go to MIT. You came to New York and we danced on Broadway together and then I started singing and you were there with me for everything." She smiles. "The night you proposed was the happiest of my life. It felt like every bad thing that had happened was worth it because we were still in that moment. Despite everything, we got that moment."
Brittany swallows. She doesn't know what to say that doesn't sound crazy. "This is so perfect, you are so perfect. Everything we have is perfect and I'm s-so scared that I'll go to sleep and wake up back in Lima and this will all have been a dream."
"Well, you know what to do then, don't you?" Santana says with an encouraging smile.
"What?"
Santana leans in and kisses her. "You'll just have to come and find me again."
They're all sitting in the park, the four of them. Sarah is off playing with her soccer friends. Oliver has his train set and he's taking them on a perilous journey through the undiscovered lands of Prospect Park. Tamlyn has her sketchpad out and is making little squiggles until inspiration strikes. Santana is leaning against Brittany, who has her hands firmly grasping her waist, almost afraid to let go. Santana, being the amazing person she is, realises Brittany's insecurity about something and lets her be uncharacteristically clingy.
"Momma?"
Brittany looks at Tamlyn in surprise. She doesn't know how she knows, but it's been a while since either of the twins has called her that. The shortened 'Mom' took pretty quickly.
"Yes, Spice?"
"Would you walk down to the fountain with me?" she asks.
She automatically holds Santana tighter, not wanting to leave her, but Santana just sits up and turns to face her.
"I'll be right here when you get back, baby. You're not getting rid of me that easily."
Brittany eventually nods and pulls her closer for a gentle kiss that conveys everything she can't say. Santana breaks away and brushes her lips against Brittany's cheek as an acknowledgement.
"I love you."
"I love you, Brittany Pierce-Lopez."
Brittany gets up and follows her daughter to the fountain. "You didn't have to ask me to come with you, Tamlyn," she tells her once they find a vacant bench. "We trust you not to wander off or do anything reckless."
"I know, but I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?"
"About what you're going to do to ensure that this can become your reality."
"Wh…"
"Mom, you've realised by now that this isn't real," Tamlyn says seriously.
Brittany squeezes her eyes closed. She doesn't want that. She wishes more than anything that she could switch worlds. Maybe she can?
"The only way to make this real is to do what you need to."
"So, I need to go to New York?" Brittany asks.
Tamlyn nods hesitantly.
"Is there something else?" Brittany presses. "Please, I'll do anything to make this come true. Please."
"No one knows, unfortunately. Something made you go and find Mami instead of MIT. You always said that you woke up one morning and knew what you wanted. The day of graduation, you packed your bag and went to New York."
"Graduation's next week," Brittany murmurs. "And I know what I want."
Tamlyn bites her lip. "I guess you have your deadline, then."
"But what if…what if something happens differently?"
"Honestly, I don't know, Mom. No one can know. This reality is your deepest desire. And it's Mami's too. That's why you need to go to her. You need to make your deepest desires a reality."
"Can I be sure that I'll get this exact reality? I mean, what if something else happens in real life? What if my plane to New York gets delayed or something and I don't get there when I'm supposed to?"
"Momma, listen to me. This whole situation is one big 'what if'. Your first biggest step is getting to Mami and convincing her that you belong together."
"I don't think that will be a problem," Brittany says wistfully. "One thing that will never change is how Santana and I feel about each other. We'll never not be in love."
"So what are you worried about?" Tamlyn teases, giving her mom a nudge with her shoulder. "Sweep her off her feet and the rest will be history."
"Or future," Brittany adds with a smile.
"Our future."
They both nod. When they arrive back at the picnic blanket, Santana is reading to Oliver. Brittany subtly positions herself behind her wife once more, revelling in the raspy voice that she could listen to for hours without a break.
"Momma," Oliver requests, pointing to the next story.
She smiles at the boy she carried for nine months and read over Santana's shoulder. "Once upon a time…"
They get home just after six. Santana has already called their regular babysitter and the women excitedly get ready for their night out. Brittany knows that Santana will love her date because she did the last time they'd done it. She just wants everything to be perfect. She wants to remember this night with Santana for the rest of her life.
"Ready?" Santana asks, walking out of the bathroom.
Brittany is speechless. Her eyes travel from Santana's face, down her body and back up again. When she reaches the brown eyes she loves, they're shy.
"You…gorgeous," she splutters.
"Thanks," Santana murmurs, tucking her loose hair behind her ear. "You look amazing too, Britt."
They grin and Brittany jumps up, ready to get their night started. She grabs two coats from the front closet and throws them over her shoulder. Santana frowns in confusion. "Baby, it's pretty warm out. Are we gonna need those?"
"Just in case," Brittany says mysteriously, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Ok," Santana chuckles. "Babies, we're off!"
Oliver and Tamlyn come running to say goodbye, but Sarah, ever the cool cucumber, leans against the living room doorway and just sends them a wave. Eventually, after a pointed look from her momma, she steps into a bear hug with a shy smile.
Still a momma's girl, Brittany thinks proudly.
"Love you guys. Be good for Becky, ok?"
They nod and chorus a goodbye as Brittany and Santana head out to the curb where Brittany has the car waiting. She refuses to give away the location and Santana eventually gives up after hazarding some outrageous guesses. Once they reach their destination, however, she immediately remembers and grips Brittany's hand with a big smile.
"You are so beyond amazing and I love you with all my heart."
Brittany grins. "Love you too. We should get going. Paul's doing me a big favour staying open this late."
They hurry from the car and Santana squeals in excitement as they get closer to the massive multi-coloured balloon.
"Hey, Brittany," the operator greeted.
"Hi, Paul. You remember my wife, Santana?"
"Well, the last time I took you two up, you weren't wives yet," he says with a wink.
Brittany hops into the basket and holds out a hand for Santana. She eagerly takes it and steps right against Brittany in the corner of the basket.
"Bet you're glad I brought our coats now, huh?"
"You'll keep me warm anyway," Santana says lovingly. She sighs as Paul gets the balloon fired up. "I can't believe you organised this for me. And I can't believe I didn't realise where we were going."
"Baby, it was ten years ago," Brittany assures her with a soft chuckle. She runs her hands up and down Santana's arms. "It's ok if you didn't remember immediately."
"But I do remember," Santana insists, pulling back and looking into Brittany's eyes. "I remember everything about that day. My favourite part was what you said when we landed and you helped me back onto steady land."
Brittany smiles and lets Santana reminisce. "You said, 'I promised that I wouldn't let anything happen to you and that I'd protect you. This ride was kinda symbolic, I guess, because what I really want to say is that I want to protect you for always. I want to be there for you always.' And then you got down on one knee and asked me to marry you."
Santana snuggles into Brittany, who happily lets her. They look down at the glorious city below them and snack on the picnic basket that Paul always provides. Santana is indeed thankful for the jackets that Brittany brought because even with Brittany's body warmth, it is still cold. They reach ground again after about an hour and Brittany jumps down, ready to help her wife.
"My love," she says courteously, dipping low in a bow and holding out her hand.
Santana giggles and takes it, pulling her in for a deep kiss.
"Thanks, Paul," Brittany calls once they break away.
"This time I'm going to make you a promise," Santana says, holding both of Brittany's hands tightly. "I promise that no matter what happens, I will always love you. I will always want you and I will always want you to find me. I know that I can be difficult at times, but at the end of the day, I am so appreciative that I get to hold you and fall asleep with you."
Brittany blinks away rogue tears and kisses Santana. Her wife. Her goddamn wife. She'll make sure that they're in this same spot in a few years where Brittany can propose all over again.
"Baby," Santana breathes, "take me home."
Brittany obliges. Within twenty minutes, they're pulling up outside their Brooklyn home and while Brittany pays Becky, Santana heads upstairs to check on the kids.
"They're sound asleep," she reports to Brittany once they're in their bedroom. Brittany smiles and closes the door behind her.
For the next five hours, she shows Santana every way she appreciates her body, her soul, her beauty, her heart, her love, everything. And Santana does the same.
She's laying with Santana curled into her, desperately fighting her drooping eyes. She doesn't want to leave this. She inhales Santana's scent deeply. She wants to believe her kids, but what if Santana doesn't take her back?
Her wife shifts subtly and her hand moves to rest over her naked heart. Brittany swallows and takes a deep breath before closing her eyes.
Santana will always have her heart. That's how she'll know. Because she still has Santana's too.
When she opened her eyes, the sun was shining. Per chance, she glanced down where she'd just dreamed Santana was laying, curled into her. As she expected, she was just clutching her pillow for dear life. She sat straight up.
She had some serious plans to make.
Well, I guess this is a positive omen, she thought, jogging down the sidewalk, narrowly avoiding being knocked out by an umbrella.
It was pissing down with rain and she had just arrived in New York. Tubbs was not happy about getting wet in his kitty carrier. Her parents hadn't been overly happy about her turning down an early placement at MIT. And Sam hadn't been happy about being dumped a week before graduation. But even he'd admitted that he'd seen it coming. Blaine had offered to travel with her, but she'd declined, knowing that this was how it had to be. If she had any hope of meeting her Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice, she had to do everything just like her dream.
She glanced up at the building numbers as she continued down the street, breathing a sigh of relief when she found the right one. She trusted Kurt not to blab about her arrival. She'd needed to tell someone that she was coming to make sure that Santana was there and she'd needed directions. Kurt was definitely the more obvious choice over Rachel. Brittany was pretty sure that Rachel would have thrown a welcome party and that definitely went against the glimpse she had in her mind of how it was supposed to go.
She headed to the fourth floor and glanced one more time at the number. Her heart was pounding. This was it. This was the moment that would define her future. She knew that Santana had no idea. She dropped her big duffel bag and gently put Lord Tubbington down next to it. She glanced down at her drenched appearance.
Ok. Here we go.
She knocked loudly on the door twice and waited, bouncing nervously on the balls of her feet. It seemed like hours before the door slid open and the very definition of perfection stood in front of her, staring at her with a confused smile. That very same smile in Brittany's memory. It made her grin widely.
"Hi," Santana breathed,
"Hi," Brittany replied.
"What…?"
"I came to find you," Brittany said quietly, stepping closer. "I realised that nothing matters if you're not there to share them with me."
"Britt…"
"I love you, Santana. I love you more than anything or anyone in this entire world and I want us to be together. Forever," she added with a small smile.
Santana reached out and found her hand, stepping closer so that Brittany could count the faded laugh lines around her eyes. She loved those lines.
"Forever?" Santana repeated.
Brittany nodded firmly. "For as long as you want me. But I should warn you, I'm going to fight you if you try and break up with me again."
The Latina grinned and found Brittany's other hand. "Deal. How about we seal it with a kiss?"
"Or five," Brittany whispered, leaning in.