The first month had been hard, as Santana had predicted. She missed her family, and Quinn, and everyone. She knew Rafi did too, but the boy hadn't complained – not once. There had been a few nights when he'd come into her room and asked to sleep with her, but he had been incredibly brave about this new life they were living. There were days she would feel a cold blackness enveloping her – the same emptiness she'd felt during the divorce and custody battle – but she managed to push it away and keep focused on school and her son.
Slowly but surely, Santana had watched him make friends. It came naturally to him, thank god, and by the end of that third week he already had a best friend.
Santana was adjusting too, but she was glad for this brief break. It was something they'd talked about before they'd moved. She'd promised a trip once a month, and it was a promise she damn well intended to keep. So they'd taken a ferry across to Ireland, and were currently enjoying a nice warm day in Cork.
"Mama!"
She smiled over to where Rafi was dancing through a small swarm of butterflies. She'd brought him to the park to run off some steam after a morning of tours. "I see you, love!"
He ran over, giggling like a madman, and hugged her.
"Ready to go be a tourist again?"
"Yeah! I want chips again!"
She laughed, tweaked his nose, and walked back toward the main part of town. Sure, there were bad days, days she thought she couldn't make it, but she could and would keep going for her silly little guy.