Author's Note: Woohoo, another chapter! This'll be kinda long, just to let everyone know. After all, it is a Christmas story, and I wanted it to be magical for all of you reading it and being awed by the events going on in the story. I'm going to add some stuff related to Finn in here, if you don't mind. If you cry, or feel like crying, once you read this, you might need tissues. We all miss Finn and Cory Monteith, and that's understandable. This'll be our first Christmas without both of them. Rest in peace, angels! And speaking of which, here is the second chapter of Oh, Christmas Tree! Happy reading, all.
Featured Pairings: Kurtana (Kurt/Santana), Pezberry (Santana/Rachel), Martana (Marley/Santana), Karley (Kitty/Marley), Kurtcheltana (Kurt/Rachel/Santana), Faberry (Quinn/Rachel), Farley (Finn/Marley), Wildeberry (Kitty/Rachel), Marchel (Marley/Rachel), Kurttany (Kurt/Brittany), Brittana (Brittany/Santana), Klaine (Kurt/Blaine)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Glee. All of the rights to the show go to Ryan Murphy and Co., and Twentieth Century Fox.
Oh, Christmas Tree
Chapter Two
The doorbell immediately rang, which took everyone (except Kurt) off guard. Even Kitty awoke from her brief nap she was taking. Santana could be heard in the kitchen, screaming in fright. "Kurt, damn it! Didn't you try to warn me that they were here at all?"
Kurt frantically turned in Santana's direction, nearly throwing his hands up and crunching up his fingers. "Santana!" Kurt exclaimed. He gritted his teeth at her. "You have kids in the room, for Christ's sakes!" Santana shook her head slowly, and went to open the front door to the apartment.
"Ooh," Sugar sung out loud, "Momma said a curse word!"
"Momma, who is at the door?" Kitty asked, climbing off of Brittany's lap and running beside Kurt, who held her at his side.
"It's a surprise, munchkin," Santana told the little girl behind her as she crept into the hallway to greet Rachel and Marley downstairs. Kurt picked up Kitty and followed Santana downstairs. Brittany and Sugar followed behind them as well. Once they got downstairs and spotted the familiar faces, Kurt and Santana nearly cheered, and Santana raced to the door to allow Rachel and Marley to come in. "Rachel, hey!" she exclaimed.
"Santana!" Rachel called back, giving her best friend a hug after placing Marley on her feet. Rachel turned her head back and noticed how much snow she just walked in. "Goodness, it's so cold out."
"Well, come on inside." Santana beckoned the older brunette into the room, who started giving Brittany and Sugar some sweet hugs. Santana looked down by her feet and noticed Marley standing there, adorable as ever. Her cheeks looked a bit cold from the weather, but she was as cute as a button, regardless. Rachel did a good job with her on her own, Santana thought to herself as she brought her arms around the small girl before her. "There's my girl," she told Marley, hugging her tightly and placing a light kiss on her forehead. "Come on, there's snacks inside for you to have." Santana held Marley in her arms as she walked them back to the Lopez apartment.
Once Santana brought Marley into the apartment, she placed the little girl down on her feet and took her coat off for her, hanging it up in the hallway closet beside Rachel's. The tiny brunette made her way into the living room, where she met up with Kitty and given her a sweet, friendly hug. "You're so excited to see your big cousin, aren't you, Marley?" Santana asked, literally cooing at the girls hugging. "Come on, sweetie. You need to take your boots and gloves off."
Kitty walked over to her mother, placing a hand on her leg. "Momma, are Marley and Auntie Rachel staying here for the sleepover?" she asked, blue dazzling eyes gazing upon her mother.
"I'm…not really sure," Santana told Kitty as she took both of Marley's feet out of her boots. She walked over to place the wet boots on the welcome rug sitting in front of the door. "I doubt it, though. Maybe we could ask Auntie Rach if she doesn't mind us coming to her house."
"Yeah, Kitty," Marley told the blonde five-year-old, "come to our house. Mommy has the backyard so we can build snowmen."
Kitty enthusiastically nodded, making the brunette five-year-old smile with joy. Before dismissing to playing with some of her dolls with Marley, she turned back to the Christmas tree that was standing beside the couch. She remembered one Christmas when she, Santana, Brittany, and Sugar had gone to the Berry household, and gotten a glimpse of the tall, green Christmas tree standing by the fireplace. It was so tall; the star almost hit the ceiling. Kitty thought that her Auntie Rachel found a very respectable tree to place in her house, and it was just beautiful. She envied that tree. She envied a lot of things in her life, actually. She wanted to see the tree again.
"Will we get to see your Mommy's Christmas tree?" Kitty asked, almost afraid to ask the question since Santana was still standing there. Marley nodded cheerfully, making Kitty smile brightly, and the two five-year-olds headed to Kitty's room near the back of the apartment beside Santana and Brittany's home office. As much as Santana enjoyed Kitty's delight with having company, she was getting annoyed with the whole Christmas tree nonsense. Sure, she wanted Kitty to be happy, but she wasn't going to keep swapping trees every year.
"Santana," the Latina heard Rachel call from the other room. The short brunette woman beckoned Santana into the dining room, and took another sip of the homemade peppermint-flavored hot chocolate. She hummed at the taste of the Christmas-filled drink. "So delicious," she added.
As Santana made her way into the dining room with Rachel and Kurt, she noticed that Kurt had drank the entire mug filled with hot chocolate. The former cheerleader shook her head. "Tell that to the Beverage Bandit," Santana dryly teased, aiming her hand towards Kurt's direction.
"Hey!" Kurt exclaimed in defense. "You make the best peppermint-flavored hot cocoa."
"And I damn well know it," Santana replied, taking a seat beside Rachel. She then looked behind and around her to see if Sugar, Kitty, and Marley were still around so she could watch her vulgar language. Once she found out that the coast was clear, she turned back to Kurt, eyebrows inched upon her head. "Coast is clear, captain." She saluted Kurt with her left hand, and then turned to Rachel. "So, anything new, Berry? Or is it just the usual: landing roles in productions, playing around with the kid, mourning your loss –"
"Santana," Rachel warned, "I think it's best that we not touch on that topic. It's a little risky on my end." Santana held her hands up defensively, leaning back in her chair. "I'd rather focus on the…more happier things about this occasion. Like declaring the exact location for our Christmas camp-out." Kurt and Santana nodded in agreement. "I decided that we should stay at my place. Marley wanted to see the family so much, and I didn't want her to be lonely."
"Yeah, and this apartment would be too cramped with the four of us, you and Marls, and the Hummel men and their wifey-father." Santana added. At that point, Kurt leaned over so he could get a good glimpse at the former cheerleader, frowning upon her offensive remark. "Glare at me like that one more time, if you dare, Gay Hummel." Kurt sat back in his chair and folded his arms.
"So, that's decided, right?" Rachel asked, getting back on topic and folding her hands together.
"Done," Kurt replied with a nod.
At that moment, Santana and Kurt gazed at Rachel, who looked as if she wanted to say something, but didn't know how to get the words out. Kurt placed a hand on Rachel's arm, comforting her. "Rach, something on your mind?" Kurt asked sympathetically. "Is it about Finn? We could have a moment of silence for you, if you want."
Rachel chuckled at Kurt's suggestion. "No, Kurt. I'm perfectly fine." She told her best friend. "It's actually not about Finn, though I do miss him with my dear heart. It's about Quinn. I've met up with her over some coffee a few weeks ago, and since that day, she's never gotten in contact with me." Kurt and Santana suddenly grew concerned. Sure, Quinn was a really busy woman; but what drove her to be M.I.A. all of a sudden? "She had started talking about Finn, and how upset I was probably feeling at the moment, and then was giving me so much sympathetic comments and giving me my respect…" Rachel stopped for a moment to sigh. "And then, she ran out. I'm not sure where she went. She told me she needed fresh air, but she never came back."
Kurt frowned at the turn of events that Rachel explained to him and Santana. "That's pretty odd. I don't see how Quinn could do something like that…"
"Maybe the talk about Finn was too much on her," Santana told Rachel and Kurt, to which they both nodded in agreement. The Latina took one of the filled mugs of hot chocolate that hasn't been touched, and took a small sip of it. "And how is your daughter taking all of this, Rachel?" Santana asked, concerned about Marley all of a sudden.
"When she found out that Finn passed away, she was more than devastated," Rachel explained to Santana and Kurt. "She would ask me every day since…well, June…where her father had gone. I didn't have the nerve to tell Marley straight away what happened, because I didn't want her going through what I went through." Kurt nodded, tapping his fingers against his empty mug. "And then, it came the day of the funeral, and I basically told Marley what happened at funerals, and the whole process of things, because she never went to one."
"Did you tell her about Finn?" Kurt asked.
"No," Rachel answered. "I still didn't feel ready. But that was when, in the car, Marley had asked me if her father was going to be there. I didn't answer her. I just drove on to the church in Lima where his funeral was going to be. A lot of familiar people were there. It was the moment when Marley saw your son, Kurt, and your two daughters, Santana, Marley had gotten confused. They were crying to the point where their faces were drowned in tears." Rachel paused to take another breath, although a shaky one. "And then we reached the coffin."
Kurt and Santana held onto Rachel's hands for comfort, though it partially wasn't helping. The brunette felt tears come to her eyes, recalling the turn of events and seeing the heart-broken look on Marley's face. "She wouldn't stop crying after seeing him just…laying there. It basically haunted her for the rest of her life. That was the day I decided that funerals were too much for her, and I would have to call a babysitter in when I went out for them."
There was a brief silence so Rachel could get herself together. Santana and Kurt didn't like seeing her like this. All the years that they have seen Rachel, she was usually the cheerful type, ready to take on whatever the day brings her. Now that Finn passed away, she was anything but. Kurt could fully understand how Rachel felt, being that Finn was his stepbrother and all. Finn was the one to help Santana come out as a lesbian when she was in high school, even though Santana didn't feel as ready. However, she appreciated Finn's help and company. He brought everyone together with his leadership role and his friendly, goofy smile. She was definitely going to miss that.
After a final sniffle, Rachel took a deep breath and eyed her best friends. "I think I've done enough grieving for one lifetime," Rachel spoke up with a sheepish smile, making Kurt and Santana sadly giggle just a bit. "Finn would want me to be in a happier mood." She took a tissue from her pocket and dabbed her face with it just a bit, making sure she didn't remove any makeup. "So now that we've decided the location for the holiday sleepover, do any of you plan on preparing dishes for dinner?"
"Blaine is preparing his turkey and gravy at home," Kurt explained with a nod, "and I just might have a casserole or some cheesecake available."
The women before him literally gasped in amazement. "Ooh, Kurt, you make the best cheesecake," Rachel cheered in her seat.
"Always the key to happiness, is what I always say," Kurt reminded her, aiming his index finger towards his brain. "But I'm not telling you what kind it's going to be. It's a surprise."
Santana rolled her eyes and folded her arms again. "You know what, Hummel? I'm getting really tired of you hiding secret recipes in your kitchen from us," she told him, making Kurt laugh from his hot chocolate-filled belly. "No seriously, the last Christmas dinner we had, you promised you would tell us the recipe to that red velvet tree-topper Christmas cake you baked with Blaine."
"I thought you already knew," Kurt explained to Santana, "it was a few hints of cinnamon and some peppermint flavor in the frosting."
Rachel slammed her hand on the table. "Cinnamon! That's what it was." She exclaimed, slapping her hand against her forehead. Kurt nearly laughed his behind off at the sight of Rachel and Santana discussing the secret recipe Kurt cooked up the previously year.
Suddenly, the three adults heard a voice from behind them. "Cinnamon?" they heard Kitty ask from the archway leading to the apartment bedrooms. Marley timidly brought her head around the corner and spotted her mother sitting between Kurt and Santana.
"Well, hello there, sweetie pie." Rachel cooed, turning around in her chair and bringing her arms out. "Do you wanna sit with Auntie Rachel?" Kitty smiled with glee, and skipped over to the older brunette woman, making herself comfortable on Rachel's lap. "Are you excited for the sleepover this year?" Rachel asked, holding the tiny blonde tight in her arms.
"Yeah!" Kitty exclaimed, cuddling into Rachel's chest.
Rachel smirked at the five-year-old, and glanced up at Santana. "Santana, your little girl is so sweet." She cooed once again.
Santana smiled simply. "They're cute now," she told her, "but they'll eventually become handfuls."
Rachel smiled, turning her head back to the five-year-old in her lap. "Kitty, you and your mommies and older sister will be coming over to our place for the sleepover," she told her, "and you and Sugar can share sleeping space with your little cousin, Marley. That will be so much fun." Kitty clapped her hands, and started to wrap her arms around Rachel, giving her a sweet, simple hug. "Aw, Kitten, we love you, too." Rachel responded, patting the girl on her back.
She noticed Marley walk over to her, the little girl placing her hands on her mother's knee. "Mommy, when are we going to have them over?" she asked.
Rachel took a moment to think about it. "Well, if Santana and Brittany don't mind, we could get started setting up right now."
The two brunette girls turned their heads towards Santana, who shrugged in agreement. "I'm down with it," she replied. She stood up and picked Kitty up from Rachel's lap. "Come on, honey bun. We're setting up your sleeping bag and jammies." She turned her head towards Kurt. "Kurt, you help me with Sugar's stuff, and tell Brittany we're getting ready." Santana carried Kitty into her bedroom, and got her supplies ready to go. Kurt followed them, eventually making it into Sugar's room and telling Sugar and Brittany the news.
"Yay!" Marley cheered, jumping up and down with just socks on her feet. Rachel smiled at the tiny girl before her, and scooped her up from where she stood, swinging her around a bit and finally pecking her on the cheek.
It took about forty-five minutes for Kurt, Brittany, and Santana to prepare the girls for the sleepover, but they finally got things accomplished. Rachel agreed to drive the kids to her house instead of Santana and Kurt taking their individual cars. Once they got to Rachel's house, Kitty and Marley jumped around near the snow, having so much fun. Sugar ran out of the car towards Kitty, hugging her until they both fell in the snow on Rachel's lawn.
"Sugar! Kitty!" Brittany exclaimed, getting out of the car. "No horse-playing in the snow!" Behind her, she could hear Kurt giggling just a bit as he got out of the car, closing the doors behind him, and placing an arm around Brittany.
"You're doing very well with the parenting, Brittany. It's surprising, actually." Kurt told his blonde friend.
"Thanks, Kurt." Brittany dismissed with a smirk on her face. "My mom told me when I was little that I used to be like that." She pointed towards Sugar and Kitty's direction. They were both jumping around in the snow, and throwing some of it everywhere. Santana had to get into the mix and break up the snow-throwing fight, which eventually led to some of the snow getting on her coat. "I learned a lot, I guess," Brittany added with a shrug as she and Kurt followed Rachel to the house entrance.
Once they got inside, Rachel offered to hang Kurt and Brittany's coats up for them. The two took a look around. Rachel's living room looked so warm and cozy. It had an extra large window so Rachel could watch the kids play outside. The couches had the Christmas-themed pillows on them, the rug under the coffee table was red and green, complete with the embroidered tree on it. The fireplace was off when Kurt and Brittany walked in, but turned on when Rachel got the fire wood ready. The Berry family's Christmas tree stood beside the fireplace, tall and cheerful as ever. Rachel loved decorating that tree with Marley, and hiding her favorite toys under there for Christmas Day.
"You have no idea on what I'm going to do to you rascals once I get this hair dry!" Santana teased to Kitty, Sugar, and Marley as all four entered the room. They were all covered in fresh, white snow, and Santana had gotten especially wet. Kurt and Brittany couldn't help but laugh at her, taking Kitty and Marley's coats off for them. Rachel sheepishly walked over to Santana, assisting with hanging her coat in the coat closet.
Kitty's eyes wandered around the living room, and they finally set on the big Christmas tree near the fireplace. "Look, Momma!" she exclaimed, pointing to the Christmas tree. "It's so pretty." Kitty, after taking her boots off, skipped on over to the tree and sat beside it. Marley and Sugar joined her, gazing up at the tree while taking in the warmth coming from the fireplace. After playing in so much snow, they were cold and exhausted, and just wanted to relax.
"Kurt, do you want to help me get the bags and stuff out of the car?" Rachel asked.
"After I get a moment to rest, sure." Kurt told her, making his way to the couch and sitting on it. Brittany and Santana joined them, sitting beside each other in a loving manner. Brittany had her head on Santana's shoulder, and Santana leaned a bit closer to Brittany's head.
"I love the holidays," Brittany whispered to Santana, gripping onto her arm as she gazed upon the girls near the big Christmas tree. "It's that time we get to see all of our friends and family members, and we don't have to work so much."
Santana nodded in agreement. She felt lucky to have Brittany be beside her for all these years. When they first met, they were nothing but cheerleaders on the McKinley High Cheerios varsity cheerleading team, and sidekicks to their best friend and most popular girl in McKinley High, Quinn Fabray. Now, they were closer than ever. Santana couldn't really remember a time when Brittany were just best friends now that the two were married and cuddling up with each other on the couch.
Snapping out of the daze she was in, she noticed Sugar and Kitty looking at some of the ornaments hung up on the tree. Kitty took her small hand, and touched one of the big ornaments with Santa Claus's face on it. "Kitty, don't touch that!" Santana called, making the tiny blonde sit back down on the floor, saddened.
"San," Brittany pouted, "let Kitty explore. She's only five."
"Well, I'm not going to have Berry freaking out over some broken ornaments, I can tell you that." Santana told Brittany.
"Not to worry, Santana," Rachel told the Latina, "they're the non-breakable ornaments. The girls will be fine." She started to get up out of her seat and head to the coat closet to retrieve her coat. "I'm going to get the bags out of the car." Kurt started to get up and follow her, leaving Santana and Brittany to sit there with the three girls in front of the tree.
Brittany whispered in Santana's ear again. "Let them live, Santana. After all, it's Christmas break. Five more days until the big day. What could possibly go wrong?" she asked, and she place a peck on Santana's cheek.
Oh trust me; a lot can happen before Christmas Day, Santana thought in the back of her mind.
An hour and a half passed, and Blaine showed up with his and Kurt's seven and a half-year-old son, Rory. The porcelain second-grader ran through the house with just his socks on his feet, and gave Rachel a big bear hug. "Hey there, little Rory," Rachel greeted the young boy. "How are you, sweetheart?"
"I'm fine," Rory told her politely. "How are you, Auntie Rachel?"
Rachel smiled brightly at the boy's respectful manners. "I'm doing fine," she told him sweetly. "Thank you for asking." She brought her arms around the boy and hugged him, her warmth spreading around his body. As she let the boy go, he started running into the other room where Marley and the Lopez girls had been playing. That's when Rachel noticed Blaine with the bags of clothes and sleeping bags in his arms. "Oh, do you need help with that?" She took some of the bags, and carried them towards her bedroom.
"Thank you, Rachel," Blaine said, out of breath. He started gazing around the room, taking in the wonderful decorations being hung up everywhere. "I love your house. It looks so comfortable."
Rachel giggled. "Thank you. It was my original intention to make it look as so," she explained. "I'm going to get you some hot cocoa I've been saving for you guys."
Blaine held his hands up in defense. "Oh, no worries, Rachel. I'm not –"
Before he could say anything else, he noticed his husband standing in the dining room with his arms out, ready for a giant bear hug. "There he is," Kurt called, walking towards his direction. "Hey there, stranger." Kurt and Blaine got closer, eventually, and hugged each other with all their might before closing in for a kiss on the lips. At the moment of deepening the kiss they shared, they heard Santana from behind Kurt.
"Oh, God. Will you two get a room?" Santana complained, making a disgusted face at the two of them. Kurt stuck his tongue out at Santana, while Blaine chuckled sheepishly. He noticed that Rory, along with Sugar and Kitty, had been standing behind Santana, sporting giggly yet disgusted facial expressions. "Be reminded that you have kids lurking around the house, Anderson."
Blaine, a bit embarrassed, looked down at the kids standing behind the Latina. "Sorry." He told them, and he walked over and kneeled down to meet eyes with Sugar and Kitty. "You guys have grown up so fast. It's so nice to see you again." Blaine told the girls, embracing them in a hug.
"Hello, Uncle Blaine," Kitty greeted with a smile on her face.
"We missed you, Uncle Blaine," Sugar told Blaine.
"And Uncle Blaine missed you girls, too." Blaine told them, making the girls smile. "I've actually got to work figuring out your Christmas presents for this year," he added, standing up normally. He noticed the girls getting fidgety and excited, wondering what the presents were, which made Blaine smirk just a bit.
"Thank you, Uncle Blaine!" Sugar cheered. She then glanced over at Rory, who was watching the three in jealousy, and took his hand. "Come on, Rory. Let's play with Marley in the other room." With that, the two left for Marley's bedroom, leaving Kitty standing there before her uncle.
"Uncle Blaine," Kitty spoke up, "they're going under our Christmas tree?" She sounded a bit down to hear about her presents from her loving uncle being placed under their old, worn-out tree. Santana and Kurt knew where this was going.
"Yes, sweetie." Blaine answered. "Why?"
Santana immediately scooped Kitty off the floor, making their way to Marley's bedroom. "No reason, Blaine." Santana told Blaine before turning her head to Kitty. "Come on, Kitty. Everyone else is waiting in the other room."
"But Momma –" Kitty started before Santana placed a finger over her mouth without the adults watching.
"Listen," Santana warned Kitty, "we're not going to be acting up while we're over here, or you and I will be heading on home. Is that understood?" Kitty didn't say anything. She just looked up at Santana with an intimidated look before running into Marley's room once Santana placed her on the ground. Santana sighed as she watched Kitty run. She didn't want to have to do that to poor Kitty, but she felt as if she didn't have another choice. She was getting on her last nerve about the Christmas tree in their house. In fact, everyone was.
"I need a drink." Santana muttered before heading into the kitchen with the adults to grab herself some eggnog.
A while later – it had to be around seven o'clock in the evening – Santana, Brittany, Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel were having some conversation about fond memories they've had with their old glee club director, Will Schuester. Kurt could easily remember the constant times he wanted to perform with the girls when they did boys vs. girls mash-up competitions, though Will said otherwise. Santana and Brittany couldn't help but come up with a few jokes that offended Kurt, but made Blaine and Rachel laugh at the same time.
In the living room, Sugar and Marley were dancing to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and playing with some of Marley's dolls. Kitty was sitting alone by the Christmas tree, gazing up at the lights and how pretty they lit up. There were different colors, too. Gold, red, green, blue, orange – any color that would make the tree look like a triangular-shaped rainbow in the darkness.
At that moment, she felt Rory tap her on the shoulder. "Hey, you shouldn't touch Auntie Rachel's tree. One of the oar-ni-mants might break." Kitty frowned upon the older boy's bit of a speech impediment coming out.
"I'm not touching the tree; I'm just looking at it," Kitty argued in her defense, standing up in front of the brunette-haired boy. "And learn to speak, for once, Anderson!" Rory wasn't expecting that coming from Kitty. It sounded like a pretty mean remark.
"Hey, don't make fun of me, Kitty!" Rory exclaimed.
"Go back to preschool and learn words, you dumb little boy!" Kitty exclaimed in anger, folding her arms in front of her chest. At that moment, she felt Rory push Kitty, making the blonde girl feel mad. She started pushing on him, and they both fell to the floor. They both attempted to pull each other's hair out, and Sugar and Marley took notice of it. Marley started to run over and separate the two.
"Kitty, leave Rory alone!" Marley exclaimed, grabbing the blonde girl's arms.
"Marley, let go of me!" Kitty exclaimed with much anger. Kitty could feel herself pulling from Marley's tug, and she pushed the girl directly into the Christmas tree, making her fall, along with several of the ornaments that was near the bottom of the tree.
"Marley, Kitty, Rory!" the kids heard Rachel call. The older woman entered the room, looking at them in shock. Sugar had called the adults in to see what was going on. "What is wrong in here?" Rachel asked, rushing over to a hurt Marley, sitting on the floor and close to crying. She held the little girl close to her, rubbing her hand on her head.
"Rory started it!" Kitty accused, pointing her finger in Rory's direction.
"Dad, Daddy!" Rory exclaimed, pointing back at Kitty with tears in his eyes, "Kitty was making fun of me."
"Kitty, is this true?" Kurt asked, leaning over so he could catch a glimpse of the blonde girl.
"I was only looking at the Christmas tree, and he was bothering me!" Kitty explained.
At that moment, Santana and Brittany made their way further in the room. Santana couldn't help but moan in utter annoyance. Kitty's clinging onto the big Christmas tree in the room made her feel even more irritated with the little girl. "That doesn't matter, Kitty. You don't be rude to your older cousins." Santana explained. "And why are you even near that tree anyway? Look at what you did to it, and Marley." She gestured towards the five-year-old crying in Rachel's arms.
"But Momma," Kitty told Santana, "I liked looking at the tree, and I just wanted –"
At that point, Santana couldn't take it anymore. "Oh, my God. Kitty, haven't I been saying this enough?" she interrupted. "We're not getting another Christmas tree. You can look at all the trees you want on TV or other people's houses, but I am putting my foot down. Don't bother me about this petty tree talk again."
It grew silent for a few minutes before tears came to Kitty's eyes. The small blonde got up and started running towards Marley's room, crying her eyes out and hiding away from the adults.
And for the rest of the evening, tension lay in the air.
Author's Note: Aw, poor Kitty. Poor everyone, if you ask me. So…what did you all think of this chapter? I know this story is going to be a bit long, but I want to end it at around three chapters. So the next one will be the last one. Don't worry, I'll resolve this. And happy reading, all!