Taylor stared at the cereal boxes, tapping her chin while making her seemingly life changing decision, while Brittany patiently waited behind her. She extended her little hand to a box but shook her head and snatched it back quickly.
"Tay, what about Fruit Loops?" Brittany suggested. "You like those.
"Yeah, but I get those for mami's house." Taylor told her. "We eat them together."
"Oh, that's right." Brittany nodded as her mind drifted to memories of her waking up to Santana and Taylor sitting in bed, sharing a bowl of Fruit Loops while watching cartoons on mute, so they didn't wake her up. Taylor always sat cuddled in Santana's lap and held the bowl with her mother's help, while they whispered and laughed quietly. Brittany was always awake anyways and would stare at her two favorite people in the world while they alternated feeding each other the cereal. Taylor would almost always miss Santana's mouth, leaving the older Latina will a trail of milk down her pajama top.
"Momma!" Taylor said a little louder.
Brittany shook the memory out of her head and kneeled down so she was level with her daughter. "What about Crunch Berries, that's what I would get as a kid, or even Cinnamon Toast Crunch." Brittany suggested while grabbing a box of cereal.
Taylor stared at the white box. "Does it taste like cinnamon?" She asked Brittany while staring at her.
"Cinnamon and sugar." Brittany told her. "It makes the milk really sweet afterwards too." Taylor leaned back into Brittany arms and examined the box while Brittany once again patiently waited for her to make a decision and hugged her loosely, resting her chin on her daughter's shoulder.
"Can we get both so I know which one I like the best?" Taylor asked her.
"Sure." Brittany nodded and stood up to look for the box of Crunch Berries to toss in the cart. "Hop back on." She motioned to her. Taylor, who was in pink tights, a blue jean skirt, and a white, pink, and yellow striped Rugby Ralph Lauren shirt nodded and hopped on the back of the cart. "Are those the new shoes your mom bought you?" Brittany asked while noticing how her daughter's white high top Converse glittered.
"Yeah." Taylor smiled excitedly while carefully lifting her foot and staring at her shoes. "She got a matching pair too, and she bought you a matching pair, so me and you can match too."
"She got me a pair?" Brittany asked with a slight frown, but quickly masked it since Taylor was staring at her.
"Yeah I told her you needed a pair so we all have the same shoes. I think she said a naughty word in Spanish, because her face scrunched up but she asked the lady at the store for your size anyways." Taylor shrugged. "You don't like them?"
"I do, honey, they are totally cool." Brittany told her with a smile. "I just didn't expect your mom to buy me a pair of shoes, but thank you for thinking of me."
"Are we going to see her at the hospital?" Taylor asked her while holding on tighter when Brittany turned the corner in the grocery store.
"Just to grab your bag, she's working so we can't stay long, and you have to start your project tonight." Brittany told her.
"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to tell you congratulations." Taylor said quickly. "Congratulations on your new job momma." She said with a big smile.
Brittany smiled at her. "Thank you, Tay." Brittany stopped the cart and went to pick up her daughter to hug her tightly. "Who told you to tell me congrats?" She asked her when she set her back down.
"Mami told me this morning." Taylor replied while smoothing out her ponytail and running her fingers over the braid Santana put in the front of her hair.
"T-this morning?" Brittany asked as Taylor hopped back on the cart.
"Yeah, she was super happy this morning, she made pancakes!" Taylor exclaimed. "She never makes pancakes during the week before school it's always just cereal." Brittany blushed at the thought of being able to provide a smile on the Latina's face when she woke up. "She said you told her last night, wasn't it late?"
Brittany coughed and grabbed a bag of oranges as they walked through the produce section. "What exactly did your mom tell you, Taylor?" Britany asked nervously hopping Santana didn't mention her stopping by last night, although she already knew Santana would never say anything to Taylor, of all people, she wanted to be sure.
"She just said you told her last night." Taylor smiled while hopping off the cart and staring at the pomegrantes.
"Go on and grab one." Brittany laughed knowing Taylor was obsessed with them. She watched as Taylor quickly picked out two and set them back in the cart carefully, she then hopped back on the cart, but this time near the front, so she was cuddled inside of Brittany's arms. Brittany kissed the top of her head and continued through the produce department picking out different items she needed at home.
When Taylor was with Santana, Brittany was content with take out and frozen pizzas while she worked late nights, since Santana was always the cook of the house when they were married, but when they split she watched a series of Youtube videos and even took a class at the Public Market so she would be able to make Taylor more than grilled cheese and macaroni for dinner.
While they continued through the store Taylor filled Brittany in on all the cool stuff she did with Santana over the past week. Brittany internally laughed knowing Taylor probably tired Santana out during the week with all the stuff she listed. Santana worked fourteen hour shifts the weeks she didn't have Taylor, so when she did have her daughter she was able to take her to school and pick her up; and with an extemely talkative and hyper daughter that didn't leave her with much time to sleep or relax.
"Anything else or are we all set for the week?" Brittany aksed her daughter while smoothing out her ponytail, as Taylor leaned back into her.
"Nope, I think we got everything." Taylor replied.
"Ok, let's check out so we can stop by the hospital." Brittany sighed wishing she could avoid Santana and reliving what happened last night.
"Dr. Lopez I've missed you."
Santana smirked and leaned her head to the side as two full lips attached themselves to her neck. "I had my daughter last week, you know that." She replied softly before turning her head and catching the lips in a kiss. "You know Taylor gets all of my attention."
"So when do I get to finally meet her?"
"You don't." Santana replied while leaning the woman back on the bed in the on call room they were in.
"We've been dating for almost six months, why not?"
"Nicki, come on baby, we've discussed this." Santana pleaded while trying to end the conversation as soon as possible. She slid her hands under the woman's scrub top and palmed her breasts. "Just kiss me, you've missed me right? And my lips…" She added with a smirk. "And my tongue."
"Am I not good enough to meet her?" Nicki asked while stilling Santana's hands.
Santana sighed and sat up. "Look, Taylor is the most important person in my life, and I don't think she needs to meet someone I'm dating just yet. She's only seven, and I don't want to confuse her or anything."
Nicki ran her finger through her long dark hair and leaned back on her elbows. "You know if it weren't for the best friend yarn bracelet you wear every day on your wrist with the letter T, or the thousands of pictures of her in your office I would think you made up the fact that you have a daughter." She stated while raising an eyebrow. "You even lock the door of her bedroom when I come over, like I'm going to be a creep and go through her stuff."
"I'm not ready for her to meet you. Besides, Brittany doesn't know about us, and she needs to meet you first before Taylor is around you." Santana sighed. "Please, we've been through this before. Just be patient with me."
Nicki leaned forward and kissed Santana before hugging her and pulling her to lie next to her, she connected their lips again and ran her thumb across Santana's now swollen bottom lip. "Ok."
"Thank you." Santana nodded before kissing her again. "I don't have her this week, so why don't you come over for dinner tonight, I'll cook."
"Sounds good." Nicki replied as Santana sat up and took her scrub top off while straddling her.
"I'm off at 8." Santana smiled as she leaned down and kissed her just as her pager went off. "Fuck."
"Yeah I wanted to." Nicki smirked. "You gotta go don't you?"
Santana read the page and smiled. "Yeah, Brittany is coming to pick up Taylor's bag." Santana hopped off the bed and put her top back on before tying her sneakers.
"So how are things between you two?" Nicki asked.
Santana froze and turned around quickly while fixing her ponytail. "W-why?" She stuttered out nervously as the memory of her pinning Brittany to her door last night popped in her head. She swallowed thickly while waiting for Nicki to answer.
"Because you came to work upset last week when you picked up Taylor, you said you two got in an argument." Nicki reminded her.
"Oh yeah, um, just typical divorce parent talk." Santana waved it off. "We still know how to press each other's buttons. It's fine."
Nicki's pager went off. "Shit, I gotta go." She jumped up and kissed Santana quickly. "I'll be over around 9 and I want pasta." She winked before running out of the room.
Santana laughed and sat on the bed; she buried her head in her hands and took a deep breath before standing up and checking herself in the mirror. She tossed some tic tacs in her mouth and grabbed her stethoscope before leaving the room.
"That's not a toy Taylor, put that down please." Santana heard Brittany tell Taylor as she approached her office.
"Mami!" Taylor said happily while speeding into Santana's arms.
"Hey mini me." She winked at her doctor while kissing her on the cheek. "How was school?"
"Good." Taylor nodded. "Having pancakes for breakfast helped."
Santana laughed. "Oh did it?"
"Look what you started." Brittany laughed. Santana mouthed a sorry when she made eye contact with Brittany before setting Taylor back down.
"I have her bag in the closet." Santana stated. "I washed her clothes before work, so everything is clean."
"Thanks." Brittany replied as Santana handed her the bag just as there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Santana called while sitting down on the couch in her office watching Taylor rummage through her backpack for something.
"Hey Brittany, good to see you again." Noah smiled.
"Same here." Brittany nodded politely.
"Dr. Puck!" Taylor smiled while instantly growing shy, since she had a small crush on him.
"Little Lopez, I didn't know you were here." Noah replied while waving at her with a wink.
"Lopez-Pierce!" She snapped. "I have both of my mommies names." She added with a glare.
"Taylor." Santana and Brittany both stated before glancing at one another.
"Whoa...I see the Lopez definitely stuck with you." Noah laughed. "San, I just wanted to see if you wanted to grab lunch, but if your family is here."
"We won't be staying long, Noah." Brittany stated.
"Right." Santana quickly agreed. "Taylor has homework and a project to start if I remember correctly. T, why don't you go with Dr. Puck and see if he can find you a sucker, so I can talk to your mom for a moment."
"Cool." Taylor nodded while jumping off the couch. "You two talk." She winked at Santana before wiggling her eyebrows and making air quotes, she then grabbed Noah's hand as he led her out of the office.
"What the hell?" Brittany laughed.
"I swear I didn't teach her that or know where that came from." Santana laughed. "Um, have a seat so we can talk for a minute."
Brittany sat down and angled her body towards Santana, she watched Santana dart her eyes around the office and bite her bottom lip while beginning to wring her wrist, a sure sign she didn't know what to say. Brittany exhaled softly and placed her hands on her ex wife's to still them. Santana eyes flickered to Brittany's at the action when she felt herself relax.
"About last night." They both spit out before laughing softly.
"You first." Brittany encouraged.
"I'm sorry." Santana responded. "I shouldn't have kissed you or pinned you to the door, or hand my hand up your skirt or..."
Brittany raised her hand. "I get it. I'm sorry as well. I kind of started it with the first kiss. I'm just used to telling you everything first that I drove straight to your house without thinking."
"Don't apologize for that. You have no idea how happy I am for you, or how proud of you I am." Santana told her honestly. "Just because we aren't married anymore." She paused and glanced at her now empty left ring finger. "Doesn't mean I don't care about you."
"I feel the same way. You always believed in me, always so I wanted to share that moment with you." Brittany smiled. "I better get going." She then added when she noticed the time.
Santana stood up and nodded. "About the kiss, it was..."
"Mami I found your picture in the hallway." Taylor smiled proudly.
"You did?" Santana answered quickly as Taylor came back in the office, Brittany quickly moved her hand off of Santana's as well as discreetly moving away from her. Taylor paused and stared and them.
"Ready to go?" Brittany asked her daughter. "Get your backpack so your mom can get back to work."
Taylor nodded and allowed Santana to help her put her backpack on. "I'll miss you tonight." She told her daughter while bending down in front of her.
"I'll miss you too." Taylor responded immediately while hugging her.
Santana sighed in her hair while hugging her tightly, even though her and Brittany have been separated for three years and officially divorced for two, leaving Taylor was still hard for her, no matter how often she had to. She kissed the top of her daughters head. "I love you, baby."
"I love you too." Taylor nodded while as a habit wiping the tear that started to stream out of Santana's eye.
"Ok, be good this week." Santana told her through a sniffle. "I'll FaceTime you before bed to say good night."
"You better." Taylor playfully glared. She kissed Santana on the cheek and accepted Brittany's waiting hand.
"Bye Santana, have a good night." Brittany waved as they began to walk to the door.
"You too." Santana replied.
"Oh and about last night, it shouldn't have happened, but I don't regret it." Brittany smiled softly before leaving the office.
Taylor poked her head back in the office. "Later gator." She smiled.
"After while crocodile." Santana replied. "I don't regret it either." She said softly.
"Bedtime." Brittany knocked on Taylor's door and stuck her head in.
"Ok." Taylor replied from her spot on her bedroom floor where she was drawing a picture.
"Did your mom call you to say good night?" Brittany asked while picking up her iPad and checking the FaceTime log.
"Yep." Taylor crawled in her bed and waited for Brittany to pull the covers over her. Brittany picked up the picture she was drawing and carried it to her bed.
"Awesome picture." She gushed while sitting on the edge of the bed.
"It's me, you, and mami." Taylor pointed out while identifying the figures on the paper.
"You only drew one house." Brittany noted while raising her eyebrow.
"It's a castle." Taylor clarified.
"Oh."
"We all live there together, like before, but I gave you and mami separate bedrooms so when you are mad at each other you can go there instead of mami moving out." Taylor shrugged.
"Tay..." Brittany sighed. "Let's talk sweetheart." She suggested while lying in the huge canopy bed next to her daughter. "What's on your mind?"
"Why can't you and mami just live together again, we have the extra bedroom." Taylor asked.
Brittany propped herself up on her elbow and smiled when Taylor mimicked her. "We've gone over this sweetheart, me and mami can't live together anymore. I know it's hard going back and forth every week but we both love you so much that we want you around us as much as we can get." Taylor stared at her blankly. "I'm not making sense am I?" Taylor shook her head. "Ok, ummm, you want mami happy right?" A nod. "And you want me happy right?" Another nod. "So in order for us to be really happy we have to live in separate houses. When mami and I lived together we weren't very happy, and we could tell that didn't make you very happy; and your happiness is the most important thing to us."
"But I would be happier if mami lived here again."
"I know you would but that wouldn't make mami and me very happy." Brittany tried to explain. "I know it's confusing but trust me, this is the best for everyone."
Taylor sighed. "Ok."
"Are you okay?" Brittany asked while trying to gauge her daughter's facial expression, but much like Santana she was able to mask her emotions at the most inopportune times.
"Yeah." Taylor nodded.
"Tay, it's hard for all of us, but this is what's best. I promise it'll get easier." Brittany tried to assure her while rubbing her side.
"Ok, I don't like it but I think I understand." Taylor told her as Brittany handed her teddy bear to her and kissed her on the forehead.
"Good night, bug." Brittany told her while kissing her on the forehead.
"Good night."
"I love you more than Popsicles." Brittany smiled.
Taylor's eyes lit up. "I love you more than cake."
"Hmmm, I love you more than chocolate cake." Brittany smirked. "With chocolate frosting."
"Whoa...you win." Taylor beamed causing Brittany to laugh.
"I won when you came into the world." Brittany smiled. "Sleep tight, I'll be in the office working if you need anything."
Brittany hopped out of the bed and laid her picture on her play table, she plugged her letter T nightlight in and closed the door behind her. Taylor popped her head up and ran to the door, listening to Brittany's footsteps fade away before running back to her bed. "Okay, Mr. Woo, phase 1." She told her teddy bear before running into her ensuite and closing the door behind her.
1am
Santana sat at the piano in the corner of her condo and played a melody on the piano while nodding her head. A pencil in her ear while staring at the lyric sheet in front of her before she started to sing.
How soon do we forget how we felt?
Dealing with emotions that never left
Playing with the hand that we were dealt in this game...
Maybe I'm the sinner, and you're the saint
Gotta stop pretending what we ain't
Why we pointing fingers, anyway?
When we're the same
She took the pencil out and scribbled more lyrics while mouthing them over and over before she started playing again and sang the words.
Break up
Make up
Total waste of time
Can we please make up our minds
And stop acting like we're blind?
'Cause if the water dries up and the moon stops shining
Stars fall, and the world goes blind,
You know, I'll be savin' my love for you, for you
She nodded her head and continued the melody she was playing before pausing for a sip of water, she scribbled more lyrics and sang them acapella.
'Cause you're the best mistake I've ever made
But we hold on, hold on
There's no pot of gold in the rainbows we chase
But we hold on, hold on
She stared at the lyrics she wrote and then glanced at her bare left hand again. She cleared her throat when a pair of arms wrapped around her neck and two lips kissed her on the neck.
"I love hearing you sing." Nicki smiled. "You should sing more, you have an amazing voice."
"It's okay." Santana shrugged. "Did I wake you? You were knocked out on the couch, so I'm assuming dinner was good?"
"Very good, and no you didn't wake me, I just noticed you weren't in my arms." Nicki told her while sitting next to her on the piano bench. "Who's the song about?"
"No one." Santana replied softly while playing the melody again.
"I'm going to bed, don't stay up too late." Nicki turned Santana's head and kissed her on the lips softly. "Good night."
Santana deepened the kiss slightly before breaking it abruptly. "Good night, I'll be in soon." Once Nicki left, Santana started playing again and sang softly to herself.
'Cause if the water dries up and the moon stops shining
Stars fall, and the world goes blind, boy
You know, I'll be savin' my love for you, for you
She sighed and stopped playing while staring at her left hand again. "We're done, I filed for divorce, we're done." She closed the piano and stood up quickly putting the lyric sheet in the bench before heading to bed.
3am
"Santana, your phone." Nicki replied while shaking the Latina awake.
Santana groaned and looked at the time before turning around quickly and grabbing her phone.
Hello?
Santana?
Brittany, what's wrong?
Taylor has a really high fever, it's 101, should I take her to the ER, she says her chest hurts or can you...
Im on my over there now, grab a cold compress for her head. Is she sweating? She asked while jumping out of bed and looking around her room for a pair of sweats and throwing on her Uggs.
She's not sweating but her head feels warm...wait yeah her head is sweating.
Ok, be there in like 10 minutes, just stay calm and keep her calm.
Ok, just use your key to get in.
Santana hung up her cell phone. "I gotta go Taylor is sick."
"Should I come, I mean I am a peds doctor." Nicki asked while sitting up.
"And I'm a fuckin surgeon." Santana snapped. She paused and glanced at her girlfriend. "I'm sorry, thanks for offering but no, it's not a good idea if you come, I have it handled." She then turned and ran out of the bedroom grabbing her medical bag on the way.
Thoughts?