Santana spent the rest of her evening unpacking boxes and putting her belongings where they belong. It didn't take her too long as to the fact that she didn't have too much. As she was putting the finishing touches on her bedroom her cell phone rings. She looks at the caller and grimaces not ready to face the onslaught of questions.
"MIJA! I just got off the phone with Quinn and she tells me that you moved. Please tell me you did not move to another state without telling your own mother!" yells Maribel, her mother.
"Mami, calm down. I was just about to call you, I just wanted to settle down." She tries desperately to keep her mother from jumping in a car and coming to interrogate her herself.
"Santana you can't just uproot your life without telling me. I am your mother I need to know these things." Her mother sighed. "I was worried when I was on the phone with Quinn. Did something happen? Do I need to beat someone up?"
Santana laughs but does not doubt her mother's willingness to come to her rescue. "No Mami, I am perfectly fine. I just wanted a change of scenery."
"Where did you move to? I want to look it up on google to make sure you are safe."
Santana could hear the rustling in the background and the sound of a computer being turned on. "It's called Wintertown and is located in Maine. Trust me Mami this place is safe. I've already met the Sheriff and she seems perfectly capable of keeping the town in order."
"She? Does this Sheriff happen to be good looking?" questions her mother.
"What! Why would you ask me that? I never said anything about her being beautiful." She splutters.
"Beautiful? She must be quite the looker to have you all twisted into knots. What's her name?" asks her mother.
"It's Brittany, and I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not twisted into knots." She crosses her arms defensively even though her mother couldn't see her.
"Okay mija, believe what you want, but I want updates about this Sheriff. I am also going to come visit as soon as I get the chance so be prepared, you never know when Mami Lopez may strike."
Santana laughed at her mother's antics and bid her a good night not commenting on her Brittany comment.
Xxxxxxx
Santana woke on Saturday refreshed and ready to explore what Wintertown had to offer. Putting on some short shorts and a V-neck t-shirt she grabs her keys and wallet and heads out to take a walk forgoing her car.
She walks by a coffee shop and grabs a to-go cup. She lives off of caffeine, her mother tells her she might as well hook up an IV and get her fix that way. She takes her coffee and walks along the beach breathing in the salty air. Up ahead she spots a small park and starts walking towards it.
Before she can reach it she finds herself on the ground looking up at the sky with a fifty pound dog licking her face.
"Oh my God! I'm am so sorry. She usually isn't like this-" the woman stops talking when she sees Santana. "Santana! Now I'm even more mortified. You've only been in town for one day and I'm already running you down." Brittany grabs her hand and pulls her to her feet, surprising Santana with her strength.
Santana herself is thoroughly embarrassed at having her ass handed to her by a dog. "It's okay Brittany, your dog has quite the jump attack." She chuckles as she wipes the grass off herself. "What's her name?"
"Lucky." Says Brittany.
"Lucky? Why Lucky?" she's curious now.
Brittany looks uncomfortable when she answers. "It's kind of a long story. Maybe one day I can tell you."
Santana was about to say something else when they get interrupted.
"Mom!" someone yells.
Running up to them are Brittany's two kids. She remembers from the diner that their names are Nate and Emily.
"Hey guys did you get tired of the playground?" Brittany bends down and picks up her little girl hugging her close.
Emily nods and tucks her head into her mother's neck. Nate looks up at his mother and grabs onto her shirt. "Can you come push me on the swing?" he pouts.
"Noooo! Mommy I want you to play in the sand with me!" begs Emily.
Santana looks at the family bemused. Everything about them screams small town family. "I can push him on the swing when you play with her." She not quite sure why she volunteered, but she isn't sorry.
Brittany looks at her quizzically and tilts her head. "I can't ask you do that. I'm sure you have better things to do then push some swings."
Nate on the other hand looks up at her hopefully. "Please Mom. I really want to swing high, and this way Emily is happy too."
Brittany sighs and switches Emily to her other hip. "As long as it doesn't bother you Santana than that would be very helpful."
"Yes!" screams Nate. He grabs Santana's hand and drags her over to the swings. He immediately sits down and motions for her to go behind him.
"You ready?" she asks.
"Yep!" Nate shouts.
Santana spends the next fifteen minutes pushing the small boy higher and higher until she couldn't feel her arms anymore. She halts her actions and takes a seat on the swing next to Nate waiting for the swing to come to a complete stop. When it does Nate has a smile on his face a mile wide.
"Thanks! My name is Nathan by the way, but everyone calls me Nate." Nate gets out of his swing and holds out his hand.
Santana stifles her chuckle at his cuteness and shakes his hand. "I'm Santana."
"Santana? That's a strange name. Can I call you Sanny?" he cocks his head to the side and awaits her answer.
Santana has never been one for nicknames but can't help but indulge this cute kid. "That sounds like an excellent nickname."
Nate smiles and grabs her hand pulling her over to his mother and Brittany. "Mom, Sanny is so cool! She pushed me super high on the swing. Even higher than you!"
Brittany looks up from the castle that she and Emily were building and smiled. "That's great Nate. Do you want to help us?"
"Yeah!" he laughs and drags Santana with him into the sand.
Santana takes a seat next to Emily and picks at the sand by her feet. Emily looks up to her and holds out her small shovel.
"Do you want to help me?" she asks tentatively.
Santana smiles and takes the shovel. "I would love too. Your name is Emily right?"
Emily nods and grabs a bucket instructing Santana to fill it with sand. Once it is filled they flip it over and continue building their castle. She and Emily are working on one side while Brittany and Nate are working on the other side. After a half hour of building the four of them stand and look proudly at their creation.
Emily grabs Santana's hand and smiles up at her. "Sanny it looks awesome. You're a really good castle builder."
Santana swings her arm and looks down. "I don't know I think all of us did a great job."
Santana just finished her sentence when Lucky tore through the castle knocking it to the ground. All of them look at their masterpiece horrified then burst out laughing.
Brittany grabs hold of Lucky and puts the leash she had in her back pocket on him. "Lucky. You know better."
Santana is surprised that the kids didn't get upset about the castle, but I guess they just liked the idea of having fun building it.
Brittany straightens back up and looks at her kids. "So who wants ice cream?"
Both kids raise their hands and start jumping up and down. Nate comes up and hugs Santana's leg. "Will you come with us?" he asks.
Santana looks down and runs her hand through his hair. "Only if it's okay with your Mom."
All three of them look at Brittany with puppy dog faces. Brittany smiles and shakes her head. "I thought I had it bad with these two, but geeze Santana will you put away the pout your killing me. Of course you can come. We would love for you to accompany us."
Both kids cheer and each grab one of Santana's hands. Brittany once again shakes her head. "What about me, am I no longer important."
Nate looks at his mother and laughs. "We love you mommy, but Sanny is sooo much cooler! And besides you have lucky." Emily is nodding her head along with her brother's words.
Brittany pretends to be offended but ends up laughing. She tugs on Lucky's leash and leads the way to the ice cream shop.
They enter the shop and immediately go up to the counter. Brittany steps up and smiles at the cashier. "Hi Sarah. How are things going?"
"Hi Sheriff. Everything is going great thanks to you." Sarah smiles shyly at Brittany and something about it rubs Santana the wrong way.
"Well that's great! Can we get our usual and whatever San wants." Brittany smiled and grabbed Santana's hand.
Santana heart jumped into her throat when Brittany called her San, but when she grabbed her hand her heart jumped out of her throat and exploded. She tore her eyes from Brittany and looked at Sarah who was staring daggers into her. "I'll just have a chocolate cone with sprinkles."
"Hey that's the same as what I get!" exclaims Brittany.
Santana chuckles and gives Brittany's hand a small squeeze. She uses her other hand to grab her wallet, but Brittany stops her. "It's on me San, as a thank you for playing with the kids."
Santana looks at Brittany before nodding her head, it would be useless arguing with Brittany. "Okay, but next time it's on me."
Brittany smiles and nods her head. "Next time."
Both are brought out of their moment by someone clearing their throat. They turn and see Sarah holding out their orders. Santana grabs the kid's orders and turns around to guide them to a table while Brittany pays. Santana slips into the booth next to Nate while Brittany comes over with their ice cream and sits next to Emily, directly across from Santana.
Throughout their dessert Brittany and Santana share glances between them while listening to Emily and Nate chat about all things important in their lives. Santana is also curious about how Brittany helped Sarah. "Hey, Brittany, earlier Sarah said everything was great because of you, what did she mean?"
Brittany swallows the bite of ice cream she had in her mouth and looks at Santana. "A couple of weeks ago the shop was experiencing some break-ins. It wasn't anything serious just some teenagers pulling some pranks for some free ice cream. I caught them in the act. You probably will see them around town doing community service."
Santana looks at her proudly. "That's awesome Brittany. I knew when we met that you were an awesome Sheriff."
Brittany smiles shyly. "It really was nothing. They weren't very sneaking about it."
The rest of their time together is spent comfortably in each other's company while the kids tried to sneak ice cream to Lucky.
By the time they were done with their ice cream it was about four in the afternoon. Without noticing Santana had spent the whole day with Brittany and the kids. It was without a doubt one of the best days of her life.
Stepping out of the shop the foursome idled by the sidewalk not knowing exactly what to say. Santana breaks the silence. "I think it's about time I head home. It's getting late."
Brittany nodded. "Yeah I better get these two munchkins home." She smiled down at her kids and ruffled each of their heads.
Santana kneeled down to say goodbye to the kids. "So guys I had a great time today, you guys are super awesome."
Emily and Nate both lunged and gave Santana a big group hug. "When can we see you again?" ask Nate.
Santana smiled. "Well, it's a small town I'm sure we will run into each other again before too long, but until then be good for your Mom."
She stood up after giving Lucky a pat on the head. She looked at Brittany not quite sure how to say goodbye. She really wants to give her a hug, but doesn't know if it was appropriate. Brittany through takes the decision out of her hands when she is enveloped in a warm embrace. It could quite possibly be the best hug that Santana has and will ever receive.
Brittany breaks the embrace and backs away, grabbing her kids' hands while Nate handles Lucky with his other free hand. "We'll see you later San."
"Bye Britt." Santana waves not realizing what she said.
Brittany smiles wider then she has all day and turned away.
Xxxxxxx
Santana arrives home not too long after and heads to her kitchen fixing herself something small for dinner. She sits quietly at her table sipping wine and eating a turkey sandwich. She contemplates calling Quinn or Kurt to talk about her day, but she isn't quite sure she is ready for what it means. She knows that she could easily fall for Brittany and that is what scares her.
Thanks for reading. I'll try to update very often. I tend to have a lot of time on my hands.
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