A/N: Here is a new chapter :) Sorry about the mistakes.
Disclaimer: Once again, I owe nothing.
"Santana!" Quinn launched herself from the stairs into the brunette's arms.
"Hi, Quinn, it's nice to see you too," Santana smiled sweetly at her friend.
"I though you weren't coming."
"Told you I was."
"Well, I'm glad! I missed you," Quinn pulled back from the hug and looked at Santana's car. "Huh, San? Is she going to come out?"
"Yeah, Elle is sulking since we left home," she rolled her eyes at her teenage daughter. "Whatever. Come on, let's say hi to everyone."
"Satan! Long time no see!" Mercedes smiled before wrapping her arms around Santana who was chuckling upon hearing her high school nickname.
"I knew you'd miss me," Santana said pulling back and turning to hug the person closest to her, which happened to be Tina.
They parted and she hesitated a little when she gazed into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Luckily for her, Brittany smiled and took a step towards her with arms open and they embraced. The simple hug brought back so many memories and feeling that were now swirling inside the brunette's chest. Sadness, hurt, regret, but at the same time comfort and a little spark of happiness.
"Hi," Brittany said softly, pulling back from the embrace.
"Hi," the brunette replied, trying to keep her emotions in check. She forced a smile to appear on her face. "You look good." And she really did. The blonde looked as beautiful as ever.
"You look great too, Santana," Brittany smiled warmly and then added to relieve the tension a little, "So, who is that in the car?"
"Oh, she's my daughter. I'll go get her."
"Satan has offspring, this oughta be good," Santana heard Mercedes in the background as walked from the porch to her car. Elle was giving her a terrible headache since she was told she had to come with her to Lima. She opened the passenger door and looked at her daughter, who was listening to her iPod and avoiding her mother's gaze.
"Elle?" Santana called her daughter and sighed when the teen didn't acknowledge her. "Elle?" She tried again a little louder, only to receive the same response.
"Elle!"
"What?" The younger brunette finally looked at her mother with challenging eyes.
"Can you please go up there and greet people?" Santana asked calmly, but she was starting to boil on the inside.
"No, I don't think so. I don't care about the granny reunion, in case you didn't notice."
"Yeah, I've noticed, but in case you didn't notice you're stuck here so try and be nice, if not to me at least be nice to them."
"That's the thing; I don't even want to be here!" Elle said rising her voice.
"But you are, and I'm sorry to tell you that you're not going anywhere for the next couple of weeks. Like it or not, I'm still your mother, therefore you'll do as I say, so get your ass out of that seat, go over there, and say hello to everyone!" Santana said in a harsh whisper.
"Fine! God, how annoying…"
"Too bad, I don't care as long as you're not rude to the others." Santana was seeing red. Of course she cared, her only daughter hated her. It hurt, bad.
They didn't have the best of relationships. When Santana had moved to New York, heartbroken, she was lost and hadn't a clue about what to do with her life. She was a mess, and after a while, she dropped out of college, which meant she needed to get a job if she didn't want to sleep on the streets. Shortly after, she found a job working as bartender where she had met her husband. Well, now ex-husband. They started dating, but Santana never loved him. Her heart was always with someone else, far away from her. But it didn't matter, her father was happy that she had found a good man, and that's all that mattered at the time.
One day she saw a horde of military jeeps and for some crazy reason she set her mind in joining the army. So she did. John, her still boyfriend at the time, wasn't pleased with her decision at all, but she didn't care. It meant more time away from him and a better chance to get killed. She was living a miserable life that she didn't think was worth living anymore.
Then, in one of her trips home, she felt obligated to perform her girlfriend duties and ended up pregnant. Her father, in order to avoid the scandal in his perfect, Christian family, had made her marry John as fast as possible. She didn't really have a choice, and she knew John didn't want to marry either, but Mr. Lopez could persuade anyone with his powerful and frightening presence.
When Elle was born, she was the most beautiful thing Santana had ever seen and her heart was filled with love and happiness for the little one lying in her arms for the first time in a long time. When her maternity license was over, she had no choice but to rejoin the army. Due to her great effort and performance as a soldier, her superiors always assigned her to several international missions that kept her away from home, having to leave Elle alone with John. She didn't came home often, so she missed her daughter grow and a chance to have a proper relation of mother and daughter. She didn't know her daughter at all; she'd missed out on all the important steps in Elle's life. There was nothing in her life that she regretted more. But now, 17 years later, her daughter didn't even see her has her mother; she was just the woman who gave birth to her.
Her marriage was always a sham, so when John had told her that she had found someone else and wanted a divorce, Santana happily sign the papers. Her only sadness was seeing her daughter choose John over her. She was already expecting that, but it didn't mean that it hurt any less.
A couple years ago, due to an injury on her right shoulder when she was leading her team through a mission in Lebanon, Colonel Santana Lopez was officially discharged from her military service. She'd been so mad at the time. Not only had she been shot, the bullet causing her bone to scatter into several pieces, having to have an emergency surgery to remove the bullet and restore the top of her humerus and part of her shoulder blade, but her superiors had hinted pretty hard that, with her kind of injury, her arm would take a while to heal, and at her age, the best she'd do was retire early from disability. She was not that old. Santana was only 40 and had just landed the rank of Colonel. It was like nothing good would persist in her life, no matter how hard she worked.
And that's how she ended living alone in an empty apartment, afforded by her large paychecks and not so small disability pension, even though her shoulder had healed nicely and she felt in perfect shape to return to the army.
So, when John had called and announced that she had to take Elle in for a couple of weeks because he was going abroad to celebrate his fifth wedding anniversary, she knew her daughter would not be pleased. At all. Santana decided to come to Quinn's because she figured her daughter would have a better time if she had other people around her instead of seeing her mother's face all the time. And who knows? Maybe they 'd get the chance to know each other a bit.
Santana looked up and saw Elle say hi and give a quick wave at everybody before leaning against one pillar of the porch with her arms crossed. She sighed and followed the moping teenager, figuring it was the best she was going to get from her daughter.
"So, now that we're all here, let me give you the tour of your house for this lovely reunion," Quinn told everyone with a beaming smile on her face, picking Abby up.
"Actually, can I go lay down the kids for a nap? They're getting kind of grumpy," Tina asked, looking at her twins that were starting to fight with each other.
"Yeah sure, we can start with the rooms and then and we go from there."
They entered the house and just the hall was the most beautiful thing ever. The walls were white and adorned with tasteful pieces of art. A weird, tangled kind of lamp hanged from the ceiling, an expensive looking carpet laid beneath their feet, and in front of them, was imposing polished staircase that led to the superior floors. They got up the first set of stairs and Quinn showed them various guest rooms, a bathroom, some of her younger kids' room and Quinn's own room. They were told that the adults were to stay here on the first floor along with the younger kids.
Tina chose a room and laid Carson and Connor on the bed, but they wouldn't stop fidgeting.
"Go ahead guys, it's going to take a while," Tina's said as her head appeared at the door.
"Okay, I'm also going to lay down Abby real quick and then we can continue," Quinn said while looking at a now sleeping Abby in her arms.
When Quinn returned, she led them all to another set of stairs to the second floor. There were just as many rooms as the floor below. This was where Quinn's older kids slept and where she'd plan for all the teenagers to stay. Brittany thought that is was crazy that Quinn's house had, in fact, rooms for everyone. They then went down to the ground floor and Brittany was amazed once more. It had a huge and completely beautiful living room with a flat screen on the wall, comfy looking couches, a fireplace and shelves full of books, CD's and DVD's that occupied the entire wall on the right side of the room. The walls were all colored white, adorned with modern paintings and other pieces of art, big windows on the left side, which went from the ground to the ceiling and had an amazing view of the backyard.
They passed on to the next room and it was all kids' paradise. It was a playroom that was sort of divided in two. One side had every imaginable game and toys, and had a coloring table with several sets of crayons, markers and colored pencils. The other side had more grown up stuff. It had a pool table, a TV surrounded with beanbags and armchairs, along with a shelf filled with lots of videogames and more DVD's, and finally, a karaoke machine. The walls were covered with the cutest drawings and collages from the five Fabray-Roberts kids, mixed with a candid photo of them here and there.
Brittany let out a chuckle at all the kids' enthusiastic faces. Even Aaron in her arms was looking with wide eyes at all the colors in the bright room.
"Mom, can we play?" Eleanor asked, tugging at her mom's sleeve.
"I don't know, you have to ask Quinn," Rachel laughed at her daughters face.
"Quinn, can we play, please?"
Quinn smile at the adorable little girl. "Sure, you can stay and play if you want."
"Awesome!"
Eleanor, Sebastian and Tori stayed back at the playroom while the others continued their tour.
Next stop, the kitchen. Like the rest of the house, it was huge and classy, with a huge dining table, surrounded by expensive looking chairs, and above their heads, hanged a huge, modern lamp. Afterwards, was the backyard. When they stepped outside, everybody was exhaling excitement. In front of their eyes were a massive heated pool with an adjacent jacuzzi, circled by lawn chairs that stood in a massive turf. There was also a barbecue, a picnic table and a playground completed with a little three house, swings, a slide, monkey bars and a sand box.
Brittany looked sideways at Santana, and saw her look at her daughter, who was a little behind the group, but had a happier expression on her face. Well, with a place like this who wouldn't? They went back inside and were headed to the kitchen when Brittany heard her younger daughter speak.
"What's down there?" Lily asked with a curious voice, making Brittany look at the stairs that she was pointing at.
"Oh, I almost forgot! That's my lab and where I work. Do you want to see it?" Quinn asked Lily, who nodded her head furiously. Brittany rolled her eyes. Of course she wanted to see it; Lily was the nosiest kid she had ever met.
They heard a loud noise come from the playroom upstairs and Mercedes sighed.
"You guys go ahead, I'll go check on them and then I'll make us something to eat," Mercedes said before going back upstairs.
"Let's go then, but please, try to be careful everyone. There are a lot of us and it's not that big of a room."
They all went into Quinn's lab and Brittany thought it was something out of a movie. Many test-tubes with different colored substances were resting on the tables. The walls had shelves with samples and cabinets that were filled with more flasks that she could count, a freezer and an oven, scales, a high tech computer, and numerous other things that Brittany had no idea what they were or what they did. Quinn wasn't kidding when she said that she worked for the government. Everything looked pretty official and expensive. Brittany wondered what kind of research the other blonde was doing, what kind of things they would work on. Cures for diseases? Maybe. Quinn said she worked with DNA, maybe she…
Brittany was brought back from her thoughts when she heard a loud crash. She looked down and was terrified when she didn't see Lily. If it's trouble, Lily's in it. She looked around and saw her younger daughter looking incredibly guilty before a white fog start to fill the room. It smelt weird and was so thick that obscured their view. Seconds later, the fog dissipated leaving them with a light coating of humidity on their skin that quickly dried off, leaving their skin a little sticky.
"Lily!" Brittany turned to her daughter. "How many times do I have to tell you to not touch anything?"
"I'm sorry!" Lily said looking at her mom with tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I didn't mean to! I was walking backwards and looking up to the shelves, and I knocked the table and the tubes smashed, and…"
"It's okay, sweetie," Quinn said to Lily while observing the damage. "But we have to go and take a shower very quickly, just to be on the safe side. It's starting to itch."
Everyone nodded and went up the stairs to the available showers while Quinn stayed back and cleaned the mess. There weren't enough bathrooms for everyone, so Brittany handed Aaron to Hailey and waited with the adults downstairs.
They went to the kitchen, and found Mercedes and Tina making sandwiches for everyone.
"What happened? You all look gross and sticky," Mercedes stated bluntly.
"You left out itchy as hell," Santana said while scratching her arm. "I don't really know what happened, but Brittany's kid busted some shi… stuff at Quinn's lab…"
Brittany zoned out of the conversation. She pulled one of the chairs and looked around the table. Elle was sitting across from her, scratching her neck with one hand and devouring a sandwich Mercedes had placed in front of her with the other. She resembled Santana so much. The same long, dark hair, same tanned skin, same prominent cheek bones... Even the sassy side seemed to be there too. Only the eyes were lighter.
Next to her were Quinn's twins. Matt was inhaling his sandwich, and Mallory was looking at him with a grossed out expression while taking small bites of hers. Johanna was sitting next to them, eating quietly. She looked up at Brittany and their eyes met. The older blonde smiled at her, but the girl just looked back down to her sandwich. Well, she certainly was different from her siblings that were now bickering loudly with each other, earning the occasional glance of annoyance from Elle.
"Here," Brittany looked up and saw Santana extending her arm, offering her a sandwich.
"Thanks," Brittany smiled at the brunette who smiled back at her, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. They stared at each other until Lily's loud voice made her turn her head.
"Mommy, Mommy! You can go now, the bathtub is huge!"
Brittany let out a chuckle at her daughter's enthusiasm.
"Yeah, it's fun to play in a big bathtub when it's your sister that cleans the mess afterwards," said an annoyed Hailey, entering the kitchen with Aaron in her arms.
"You can go now mom, I'll watch them."
"That was quick, thanks honey." Brittany got up and planted a kiss on her daughter's cheek before leaving the room.
Hailey pulled a chair and had just sat down with Aaron on her lap, when the rest of the kids entered the kitchen. Lily was already running to Zoey and they sat next to each other, chatting about god knows what and eating their sandwiches. Next to them, Zack and Jaden were doing the same, talking about some video game that, apparently, was the most awesome thing ever.
"Here, you must be hungry," the blonde teenage looked up and saw Mallory extending her a sandwich.
"Thanks," Hailey said with a shy smile.
"Well, I'd like to stay and chat but this itch is killing me. We'll have plenty of time for that later anyways. See you," Mallory flashed a bright smile before going upstairs.
One of her mom's friends, Santana, she thought, went to shower as well, followed by the other twin, Matt, then Johanna and Elle.
As Hailey finished her sandwich, her mom came back from the showers.
"Honey, it's time to feed Aaron, could you please go upstairs to my bag and get the bottle while I heat up the water?" The older blonde asked her.
"Sure."
Hailey went up the stairs absentmindedly until she felt something collide with her, making her lose her balance and land on the floor.
"I'm so sorry," Mallory said, extending her hand for Hailey to grab.
"No problem, I was distracted," Hailey looked up and felt her cheeks burn up immediately. Mallory was standing before her with only a towel covering her lean body, and her light brown hair dripping wet.
"It's okay. I forgot to bring my clothes," Mallory explained and chuckled at herself. "Hey, meet us at the playroom later. We're going to hang out, feel free to join us," she added when Hailey didn't respond and just stood there all flushed.
"Y- Yeah, sure. That'll be great," Hailey finally let out, showing a hesitant smile.
"Great, I'll see you then."
Mallory went to her room, leaving Hailey staring at the perfect, slightly muscular lines of her back. God, she has a sexy back. What? Hailey snapped out of her thoughts and practically ran to get the bottle for her brother. When she got back at the kitchen, her mom was already waiting.
"Took you long enough."
"Sorry, got distracted," the younger blonde mumbled.
"Distracted, eh? And what got you so distracted that you took ten minutes to get the bottle?" Brittany teased her daughter.
"Er, nothing," Hailey blushed. "I'm going to the playroom, we're going to hang out." With that she sped out of the kitchen to escape more teasing from her mom that she knew was coming if she didn't got out of there in time.
When she entered the playroom Matt was already there, playing some video game, Johanna was sitting in a beanbag reading a book, and Elle was sitting in one of the armchairs, typing away on her phone. Matt looked back when he heard someone at the door.
"Finally! Do you want to play? I could use some sort of competition," he smiled warmly at her and she found herself smiling back.
"Sure, I'm always ready to kick ass."
Hailey sat next to him and he handled her one controller.
"Is Mario Kart okay?"
"More than okay, get ready to be devastated," she smiled at him.
Ten minutes later, Matt was losing monumentally and Hailey was chucking at his moping expression.
"What's got you pouting, lil' bro?"
They all turned around at the voice. Mallory was entering the room with some of the younger ones on her tail. Zoey, Lily, Eleanor, and Tori went straight to the coloring table, while Mallory dropped in one beanbag.
"Well, he's getting his assed kicked, that's why he's pouting," Hailey said and saw Johanna smile a little behind her book.
"Seems that you found another challenging opponent," Mallory said to her brother.
"Another? Who is the other? You? Because if it is, I'm sorry to tell you that you're sadly mistaken."
"Oh, shut up. I can beat you with my eyes closed."
"As if…"
"Hey, I've got to go to the bathroom. Play for me," Hailey said, passing the controller to Mallory.
When she came back, the twins were playing out of their seats and wriggling their bodies around. It was highly amusing seeing them so competitive, so Hailey sat in the corner next to Johanna and watched them for a while. They were so alike. Mallory had long light brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She must be the sporty one out of the two, because Hailey could see the toned arm muscles clenching and unclenching as the girl pressed the buttons. Matt seemed more of a free spirit. He had the same green eyes and light brown hair, which was styled in dreadlocks that reached his middle back and had a nose ring. Both had beautiful smiles and a kind expression on their faces. She looked at the other Quinn's kids in the room. While Zoey was totally a mini Mallory, Johanna was a little different. She had the same green eyes, but her hair was blonde instead of light brown, and seemed more shy and reserved than the rest of her siblings. One thing was for sure, the Fabray-Roberts' were damn good looking kids.
Brittany popped her head in the playroom and smiled at the sight of all the kids getting along. Well, almost. Elle was sitting alone typing on her phone, looking bored out of her mind.
"Kids, dinner's ready," she announced to the room.
"Thank god, I'm starving," a famished Matt said, putting down the controller.
"I'd be surprised if you weren't," Mallory rolled her eyes at her brother.
"I'm a man, I gotta eat." With that he passed Brittany and practically ran to the kitchen.
Dinner was full of animated conversation, laughter and amazing food. Brittany learnt a lot about her former fellow Glee clubbers. She discovered that Mercedes had married a guy she'd met in New York. She was a chef, and was responsible for the mouthwatering food they were eating. Tina was a doctor, and lived with Mike Chang and their three kids in Chicago. Rachel she did know about. She had read many articles about the great Broadway star, Rachel Barbra Berry, and was very happy that her friend had achieved all her dreams. Santana didn't talk much. She just said that she did military service, and was divorced. Brittany never imagined Santana to be in the army. And did the brunette say that she 'did military service'? Did that meant she didn't anymore? She knew that the brunette had dreamed of becoming a performer, and anyone that knew Santana a little bit could tell that she always fought for the things she wanted. So Brittany didn't understand what made her change her mind, but she wasn't going to ask, either. There was still a weird tension lingering between them and she felt like it wasn't a think that Santana wished to discuss further.
After dinner, much to the kids' insistence, everybody gathered around the living room for a movie session. Quickly the little kids were all falling asleep in various places and positions on the couch, so they decided to call it a night, because tomorrow they were planning on having a field day.
A/N: Hope it didn't suck that much :) Thanks for reading.
