I did promise I would write a second chapter of this so here you all go! I had a lot of fun writing this, mainly because I have a new craze for penguins and I think they are my new favourite animals. BUT SERIOUSLY. Look up pictures of Yellow-Eyed penguin chicks and you will just CRY IN DELIGHTFUL PAIN at how beautifully CUTE they are.
Also, I'm still madly in love with my Africa Girl. #justsayin
Enjoy! x
She doesn't quite remember how she got right here, right in this situation. But she knows that if she wasn't surrounded by the softest rise and fall of an angel's breath and if she hadn't got her palm wrapped delicately round the gentlest of wrists she'd ever felt, she'd not be feeling the bubbling anticipation of excited contentment which was wonderfully soaring right through her entire body.
Right now.
She didn't think this feeling was ever going to run through her soul.
The early Florida sun was beginning to peek through the cracks of the deep blue curtain, teasing her with the time of day and making her wiggle in her perfect comfort. The anticipation was going to kill her.
Her eyes are still closed, the excitement causing them to flutter beneath her relaxed lids. She moves her right arm to fall heavily on the angel's moving belly, tracing her fingertips barely above the skin over her hipbone. Her lips find their way to the angel's jaw, dropping butterfly kisses up to her lips. When they meet, she knows that everything will be okay.
Everything will be okay.
She thinks, as she starts pecking her angel's full lips, that she is far too lucky in this life. She thinks that if she hadn't been so scared, she would never have been so brave, and if she had never been so brave, she would never have got this moment.
She'd never have been able to kiss an angel's lips.
"Baby," Comes whispering from the angel's lips to hers. "What time is it?"
"I don't know," She replies, smiling. She giggles because she can.
"Brittany," The angel traces her hands up her back and cups the back of her neck.
"Shh," She tells the angel, taking her bottom lip in her teeth and biting down softly.
"Britt, I have work," The angel whispers. She pulls back and grins up at her.
She smiles. "Not today, beautiful."
Brittany wanted to never stop kissing her angel. Never. Not ever. Not ever never ever. She couldn't stop because she didn't know when this would all end. And until today, she always thought that it would. Because it was too perfect to keep going.
To last forever.
It was too perfect.
But today, she was going to try her hardest to change that. She wasn't sure if it would work but she didn't want to live any more of her life constantly asking, "what if?"
She remembers watching Letters To Juliet a couple months ago and it had done two powerful things simultaneously. One, it had totally made her heart melt in every way a heart can melt. But two, it had scared her more than the day Maisie nearly drowned in the ocean. Watching the body of a petite eight-year-old splashing helplessly under the enormity of a giant wave, as it crashed right on top of everything the angel had done to protect her, made her feel a panic she had never experienced before. The way her heart had pounded her forward as she drove through the tide to the girl's small frame still gave her nightmares now.
She had never held so tightly to a body in all her life.
But when she saw Letters To Juliet, that feeling had returned but almost ten times worse. It shouldn't have, but it was the way Amanda Seyfried's character had written the letter to the old lady. The way she'd written, "What and If are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together, side-by-side, and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life."
Haunt you.
Brittany didn't want to be haunted. Especially not by two words as silly as what and if. She didn't want to wake up every morning for the rest of her life, constantly asking herself what if?
What if?
She never wanted to be on death's door and regret anything in her life. Leaving Santana in the first place was already too much. She definitely did not want it to happen again. She wouldn't let it happen again. She would fight, every minute of every day, for the rest of her life, if it meant staying with Santana.
Staying with an angel.
Staying with her angel.
Forever.
"Yes, baby, I do have work." Santana says, amusingly glancing up at Brittany. "It's Monday."
Brittany smiles, taking in the way her angel's face appears so bewildered. She traces her finger, barely above the soft caramel skin, towards the cluster of freckles Santana is so shy about at the corner of her mouth. She presses the pad of her thumb so softly over them before leaning down to kiss right on top of them.
As she pulls back, her eyes glitter and she grins excitedly, remembering what today is all about.
"You get up," She starts, smirking at her girlfriend, "And get changed, showered, and whatever else it is that you do in the mornings, and I will go wake up little Mop because she's taking you out for the day."
Brittany goes to get up, still holding on to Santana's hand. When she looks back and sees the Latina frowning, she can't help but feel lucky again. They spend several moments just looking at one another before Santana cracks an amused smile.
"But I have work."
"Baby," Brittany reprimands, leaning against the door frame. "I got you the day off. You need it."
Santana raises an eyebrow.
"Honestly. Look at the time; you're already late as it is." Brittany watches as Santana grabs her iPhone and panics far too much at what it reads. When she sees her angel calm down a little, she grins at her, taking in everything about their situation and how nothing, yet everything was going to change.
"Oh, and babe?" She says, making her way out of their bedroom. "Happy Birthday."
...
You're not entirely sure what was happening when you were hurried into Rachel's awaiting Chevrolet with Maisie twenty-three minutes ago, but now that you've spent a familiar twenty-two of them cooped up with a blindfold over your eyes, and you've just parked in a space where you even recognise the dips in the ground, you're pretty sure you are still entirely unsure what is happening.
Why, on your birthday, which does only come around once every year might you add, would your best friend and your daughter take you somewhere that you go to every single damn day?
"Rachel, why are we-"
"Santana," Rachel interrupts, taking you by your wrist and leading you, still blindfolded, towards what you know is the entrance to the park. "You have absolutely no idea where you are, okay?"
You feel Maisie place both her small hands on either side of your hips from behind you, pushing you along like a supermarket trolley.
"Mami, you really need to just trust us."
You giggle because you can't recall a time when your daughter hasn't made you giggle. She made you giggle this morning when she hastily shoved watermelon and pineapple sticks down your dry throat, swiftly followed by Brittany's quenching tongue. (That part had definitely not made you giggle.) She made you giggle when she met Elijah the baby dolphin for the first time because she'd put her little hand straight into his mouth and when he closed it, tweeting his little squeaks, she'd gone, "Bad baby Elijah, you have to learn not to eat little girl's hands or else I will go all Mami Lopez on your baby butt." She made you giggle when you introduced her to Brittany, the night the blonde came back. She stood on her tiptoes and made Brittany bend right down so they were looking eye-to-eye before saying, "Yup; definitely the reason why Mami has an obsession with the ocean."
She made you giggle all of the time and you're convinced that it's your daughter who keeps you so fit and healthy.
You are so busy reliving memories of your hilarious daughter and trying your hardest to work out why the hell you are at work on your day off that you don't even notice the silence around you. And it's not just usual silence. It's not like the place is just quiet with hardly any visitors or screaming kids. It's not like you're in the staff room because even there, you have Joey and Tess going all Rachel Berry on your ass.
It's really, really quiet. Like eerily quiet. The kind of quiet where you would hear the tremor of the Earth as it spun on its axis. The kind of quiet like if someone breathed, you would jump right out of your skin. The kind of quiet where it feels like a wave has just fallen on top of you and you're rolling and rolling underneath it, waiting for the relieving sound of the beach and it's guests to envelope your ears once more.
You know it's not meant to be like this.
"Rachel, seriously, I-"
"Trust us, Mami," Comes Maisie's steely stern voice from behind. "You're gonna love this."
You realise this is a surprise but when Maisie says that, your stomach lurches right the way round. And usually, you would describe it like butterflies, or as Maisie likes to put it, dragonflies. But this is different. It lurches, but not in the floaty way butterflies do. When you gut butterflies, or dragonflies, it feels as if you are falling – kind of like you're going to crash to the ground somewhere because you have no idea whether they are fluttering because it's raining or whether they are fluttering because the brightest sun to ever have been known is rising from the farthest horizon you can really think of.
This is definitely not butterflies. And it is definitely not dragonflies.
This is penguins.
They are flying up to the surface and then spinning in thousands of circles, because they are so excited its morning. They are zipping and zapping from corner to corner and it makes you feel alive. It makes you feel magical. It makes you feel invincible.
And because of that, you know that wherever your best friend and your daughter is taking you, it's going to be a birthday surprise you could not imagine loving.
"San," Rachel whispers your name as the familiar smell of salt water comes seeping through your nose. "We're here,"
You take it you're allowed to open your eyes and when you do, you take in the deepest breath you think you've ever taken. And it fills your lungs not only with salty air and penguin fur... but with love and happiness and everything you imagine dreams were made of.
You didn't know dreams could have a smell.
Or a taste.
You giggle at your silliness.
Your giggle abruptly stops when you see for the first time exactly what is in front of you.
And more importantly, who is in front of you.
"Before you say anything, San, just take everything in."
Trust Berry to come charging in before you can say a word.
You smile because everything is so... perfect. You are standing on the edge of the penguin pool, in front of the first row audience seats, Rachel's hand in your right and Maisie's in your left. The most perfect smell is surrounding you and the morning Florida sun is shining so brightly, it was as if your earlier thoughts had been heard.
But the most perfect thing about this whole scene was the image in front of you.
Across the other side of the penguin pool stood Brittany, directly on the performance podium where you do most of your training and most of your shows. She had the sneakiest yet happiest grin on her face and you swear you have never seen her eyes glitter as brightly as they were right now. You feel as if you might faint. You really think you will when she clicks both her fingers and whistles a whistle you have been trying to teach her for nearly a year now. For a moment, you why on earth she feels the need to do that but the second you hear the quick splash of water, you can't help the bubbling tears of disbelief that pool in the rims of your eyes.
Brittany releases the most adorable giggle as Meeko and Delilah, the newest members of your penguin family, waddle obediently to her side and stand still as meercats, waiting for their next command. You gasp because last time you checked, the two chicks barely knew how to walk.
You go to say something but you can't; your mouth is dry and everything is buzzing. It feels like your nerves are going to set on fire and explode at any minute.
You watch in awe as Brittany bends down to Meeko and Delilah's level and hands them both something, giving them firm instructions which try as you might, you cannot hear, and sends them back into the coolness of the pool.
You look up at Brittany and frown questioningly at her. But she just giggles adorably again and smirks under her blush. You love that blushing smirk.
You're so busy admiring your girlfriend's beautiful face that you don't realise you have extra company down at your feet until Meeko pokes your leg with his wing. Maisie giggles when Delilah decides she wants to copy him.
Rachel and Maisie let go of your hands so you can bend down to the two baby penguins. Meeko and Delilah look up at you with mild confusion until Brittany calls an amused "now" over at them and they look at each other really guiltily, suddenly remembering what it is that they swum to you for.
They remind you of why you fell in love with penguins in the first place. They are exactly like you and Britt when you were younger – when you fell in love with her.
It makes you feel magical again.
"What have you got for me little ones?" You ask as they open their beaks. You see the shining silver and the flashing glitter before you even have a chance to comprehend what's going on and it makes your heart stop.
You swear it; your heart actually stops.
"Brittany," You murmur, taking the two rings from the penguin's tongues and studying them.
One of them is just the way you always imagined these kinds of rings – silver, with a beautiful diamond nestled comfortably on top. But the other one, you think, is much more beautiful. And much more important.
It is the first ring you ever gave Brittany that day you were four and nearly got run over by freaking Finn Hudson on his giant tricycle. It fell out of your pocket (you had been wearing your older sister's) and you'd seen it shining up at you from the muddy floor. Britttany had run over, picked you up and as a thank you, gave her the muddy mood ring from the muddy floor.
And here it was, muddy as ever, glistening right into your eyes.
You looked right up over at Brittany as she smiled at you. You smile back because you think you know what this means but you feel you need to ask.
But before you can, Brittany is stripping off into her underwear and diving into the pool herself.
"Oh my goodness, this was definitely not part of the plan!" Rachel screeched, running to the other side of the pool. "Brittany, this wasn't on my schedule!"
Maisie, behind you, was just giggling her pants off.
Your girlfriend's blue eyes splashed so delicately out of the water right into your eyes that Meeko and Delilah ran straight into your legs. You laughed and ruffled their heads, turning to Brittany and smiling.
"Hey, mermaid,"
"Hey, penguin charmer," Brittany smiled back. "Whatcha doin'?"
You grin amusingly because your girlfriend is the most perfect dork you've ever seen.
"I'm kneeling here, in front of you, thinking somehow this should be the other way around...?" You raise one eyebrow and grimace because you hope this is what you think it is.
She grins at you and you let out a sharp breath of release. She giggles before heaving herself out of the water, right into your arms, catching your lips in hers in the most graceful single movement ever. She hums into your mouth before pulling back and smiling.
"Baby," She whispers, cupping your cheek in her palm. "I'm not getting on my knee, because that's traditional, and you and me? Well. We don't really do things traditionally, hey?"
You both giggle, holding on to each other tightly, Brittany's wet skin slipping against you.
"Ever since you gave me this ring," Brittany continues, searching your eyes with hers, "You promised me something."
You from because you don't remember that.
"You promised me that at some point in both our lives, you would marry me. And that you would wait your whole life just so you could do that." Brittany bites her lip in amusement. "You didn't even have to say it, San. I just knew. And I promised you right back."
You kiss her cheek because she's being so adorable.
"And I know it took me a really long time to get back to you so we could live out our silent promise together."
She stops abruptly when you press your lips to hers, shushing her of the one thing you hate her telling you over and over again. When you pull back, you give her a stern look and she carries on.
"But I'm here now. And Meeko's holding our ring and Delilah's holding the one I'd always dreamed of giving you." She pauses to take the diamond from your hand and stretches out your ring finger, sliding it perfectly on to the soft skin there. She brings it to her lips and presses a gentle kiss, whispering that she loves you and that she's never leaving you again.
"So, Santana Lopez," Your girlfriend smirks at your last name, "Would it be totally okay if I steal you from these two little kids and make you my wife so we can share the most perfect princess fairytale with our very own baby princess? "
You bite your bottom lip and raise an eyebrow, turning to your daughter behind you. "Well this is a tough one because I'm not entirely sure if the baby Princess actually wants another Princess in the house, parading round like she's more beautiful than she-"
"Mami, are you absolutely serious? How can you say such an absurd thing? I am completely in love with Princess Brittany and I think you and her would make the most marvellous Princesses of all the land of Florida!"
"Berry," You deadpan, "Stay away from my kid. And Moo Bear, Princess Brittany is my Princess, so if you really want a Princess of your own to fall in love with, go find someone else. I'm sure Delilah would be more than happy to go on a Princess date with you."
"Mami!"
"Santana!"
"Baby!"
You giggle at your family because what you just said was totally true. Princess Brittany is all yours.
"Can I take that as a yes then?" Brittany's little voice floats into the open air.
You smile into her lips and whisper, "Baby, it's a Forever."
...
Santana.
You're my little penguin charmer.
That's the first thing that comes into my head when I think of you. You, with your beautiful raven locks scraped back into the messiest knot I've ever seen and your sexy dark aviators standing between the world and the clearest windows to the single most beautiful secret of all time; your soul.
They see inside you, penguins. And that's why I think you adore them so much – because they don't even have to try, they just see. And you let them. You let them because they are the most innocent and selfless creatures living on this planet and they could not ever judge you, even if they wanted to. And in return, you give them your whole self. You give them everything you've always wished to give to someone. You give them your soul.
So it amazes me, every single day, how incredibly giving you are to me. Because never, in my whole entire life – not even when you gave me your sister's mood ring the day we met – have I ever believed myself worthy of your soul. Your love. Yourself.
You are perfect, Santana. You take the most vulnerable creature and nurture them into one of the most powerful. You are a mother every day of your life and not just to your own, but to all the babies that are not lucky enough to have one. All the creatures that wake up to a cold world. To a mean world. To a world where there is no love and there is no comfort. No warmth. Santana, you show them that the world isn't any of those things. You teach them that the world is beautiful. That the world relies on every single one of their little tiny broken hearts to keep beating for just one more minute. You help them see that without their little flipper feelings, the world would have less love and less compassion and much less endearment.
Because that's what they are. They're endearing.
And they are just like you.
When I set about on my long journey to the sea, I thought I would catch everything that I needed to catch. I thought that it would be quick and easy and I wouldn't have to worry about anything because you never worry. But I got so lost. I got so very lost and if it wasn't for an old friend reminding me of the right direction, I really have no idea where on Earth I would be right now.
That really scares me.
But, Santana, I don't think I could ever be as proud as I am of you. Just like a penguin, you birthed and raised the most beautiful chick I have ever met. The sweetest, most innocent and endearingly selfless chick anyone could ever meet.
And you did it all by yourself.
Now, I would say sorry for that but you always give me the Snixxx snare when I do, so I won't mention that right here, right now, at our wedding. Snixxx can stay right away; I just want my penguin charmer.
Santana, you are my everything. You are the crispest winter morning and the brightest summer's day. You are the rainbow in the storm and the falling leaves in the wind. You are my angel on Earth and you are the most stinky, smelly, fishy, beautiful penguin charmer in the whole of the universe and further.
You mean to me more than words could ever possibly try and describe. You waited for me and I cannot ever repay you for that, other than give you what I, Brittany S. Peirce, have always wished in this life to give you.
I wish to give you my love; thank you so much for giving me yours.
...
You're sitting by the side of the pool, your legs dangling in the cool water, and your wetsuit pulled down to your waist. You're watching your daughter swim aimlessly round, chasing Meeko and splashing Delilah. The air is warm, the sun hot on your bare back. You breathe deeply in, savouring the salty scent that coats your lungs, content just to close your eyes and listen to the splashes of the water from the pool and your daughter's delighted squeals.
Behind you and down the stairs, you hear a hasty patter of feet, followed by an excited, "San! Moo Bear!"
You turn your burning head towards the female voice and smile when you see your wife jogging towards you, her long blonde hair tied up in loose pony, her legs looking hot in her navy rescue shorts. She lifts her arm up to shade her face from the sun as she looks directly to you, smiling right back.
When she reaches you, she bends down, rests her elbows on her thighs and leans in to kiss your lips. You hum in contentment before raising your aviators on to the top of your head.
"You're back early, babe?" You say to your wife, cocking an eyebrow and tucking her bangs behind her ear.
"That's because we got a call from a marine hospital a couple hours down south asking us to pick up a very special creature of theirs." Brittany explains, blinking from the sun.
"Oh?" You exclaim, "How come?"
"The hurricane from a couple days ago hit them really bad and a lot of the enclosures and pools have been destroyed, so in order to keep the animals as safe as can be, they've asked to transfer them to other places." Brittany tells you, picking something off of your face.
"Oh that kinda sucks but kinda rocks all at the same time," You laugh, holding Brittany's fingers on your cheek.
"It'll rock way more when you see what we've got." Brittany smirks, "Apparently, they got word that the Jacksonville World of Sea Rescue hosts very good penguin facilities and penguin experts and therefore, wanted to send their only penguin to a place in which they know she will get the greatest care."
You gape. "We've got another penguin?"
Your wife laughs as you call Maisie and rush up to check out your newest bird. You can hear them following close behind, Maisie holding a stunned looking Meeko, both of them being followed by an excited Delilah.
You reach the 'New Creatures' area and follow Brittany as she leads you to the veterinary surgery. You push past the several surgeons and marine biologists to reach the table and here a couple people asking for you and wanting to know where you are.
You feel Brittany's hand slide into yours and squeeze it when you reach the table.
You gasp.
"She's called Masquerade and she's four weeks old." Brittany informs, coming to stand beside you.
You can't explain how you feel; you've never seen this kind before.
You laugh lightly as Masquerade waddles towards you, snuggling desperately into the warmth of your caramel skin. She is beautiful. She looks up at you, a mixture of fear and hope swirling in her beautifully black eyes, the yellow flicks just above them beaming with love, trust and loyalty.
"Baby..." You whisper, blinking back tears as you glance up at your wife. Maisie comes to join you, hitching Meeko up and then Delilah to introduce themselves to the newest little one at the centre.
Brittany grins. "Happy Birthday, San. You're first every Yellow-Eyed Penguin chick; the rarest penguin in the world." The blonde leans further towards you, her lips reaching your ear. You feel her smile before she whispers so softly and so proudly,
"And you're my very own Yellow-Eyed Penguin."
If you guys are any good at making graphics, would any of you fancy creating some for any of my fics, but mainly the Goodnight one-shots? I would LOVE YOU FOR ABSOLUTELY EVER if you managed to do that! Leave a review or whatever or come say hey to me on my Tumblr! ( .com.
Thanks kids! Poppy x
