Santana tapped the steering wheel impatiently while waiting for the red light to change when she sighed and made a call on her Bluetooth.

Hello?

Nicki, I'm sorry. Santana said quietly. I shouldn't have yelled at you or cursed at you, you are a peds doctor and you offering to come even though you work in a few hours was really sweet of you; and even if it didn't seem like it, I did appreciate it.

Thanks, and no apology needed. That's your baby girl, you mini me, your pride and joy, it's natural and expected for you to slightly freak out when you get a call about her in the middle of the night.

You are so understanding, thanks for being patient with me. You know I'm trying right?

I know, babe. Go check on your princess, and remember you can call me if you need a second opinion.

101 isn't bad I mean she's seven, so it's not too bad.

No, it's no too bad, you told Brittany right, try to cool her down as much as possible, if it goes any higher than yes I would advise taking her in. You got this doc. She added with a small chuckle.

Santana nodded and turned down the street she was all to familiar with. Ok, thanks Nicki, I'm pulling up, get some rest babe, I don't know when I'll be home.

I hope she feels better. I love you.

Santana slammed on the brakes since that was the first time Nicki has said those three words to her. T-thanks She quickly hung up the phone and shook her head as she pulled into the long cobble stone driveway of the five bedroom, four bathroom house she once called home. She parked her silver BMW behind Brittany's car in the driveway and dug in her purse for the spare set of keys she still owned. She quickly got of her car and grabbed her medical bag from the front seat as she ran to the front door.

"Tay!" Santana called while kicking her boots off, out of habit so she didn't scuff the marble floors in the foyer, she reached over and flicked the switch to turn on the huge crystal chandelier, which lit up the space she was in and causing the floor beneath her sparkle. She glanced around and took in the familiar sights for a moment. She looked to her left into the family room and remembered the nights they spent as a family cuddled in front of the fireplace watching movies, and the romantic nights she shared in there with Brittany; She looked at the 'picture' wall that had numerous family pictures on the wall, mainly of Taylor. She paused when she noticed Brittany still had a picture of the two of them from the night they got engaged, hanging on the wall, they were staring at each other, huge smiles on their faces. She stared at the picture and blinked as her eyes fell on another picture of the three of them from a Christmas a few years ago. She was shocked to see that Brittany still had pictures of her in the house. She tried to remember if Brittany always had the pictures up or if they were rehung recently but couldn't remember and decided to let it go.

"We are upstairs." Brittany said while leaning over the balcony at the top of the spiral staircase.

Santana nodded and ran up the long staircase. "Hey, how is she?"

"Still burning up." Brittany said quietly as Santana walked past her and practically ran down the hall and opened Taylor's door.

"Hey princess." Santana whispered while leaning down and kissing her forehead, sighing when she felt how hot she was. "Dr Mom is here to check you out." She said softly while opening her medical bag and pulling out her stethoscope and her travel blood pressure kit.

"Hi mami." Taylor said softly while opening her eyes, which were now red.

"Hi." Santana smiled while listening to various parts of her chest. "She sounds clear B, sit up for me baby." She said while helping Taylor sit up. Taylor immediately leaned into Santana's chest and exhaled softly with a smirk, that Brittany picked up immediately and raised an eyebrow at. "Deep breaths, Tay. In and out, sweetheart." Santana listened closely as she breathed in and out before nodding and helping her lie back down. "Can you get the thermometer for me, please Brittany?"

Brittany stared at her daughter, who glanced up and noticed her mother looking at her, and quickly closed her eyes against tightly. "It hurts mami." Taylor whispered. Brittany laughed to herself and went to the bathroom to grab the thermometer.

"What hurts Taylor?" Santana asked while getting her blood pressure.

"Ummmm, my throat, my chest, and just everything." Taylor replied dramatically.

Santana laughed to herself at just how much her daughter reminded her of herself. Her mind went back to a few weeks after they were married when Santana got the flu.

"Ok, I got you juice, crackers, chicken noodle soup, it's from a can because well you know." Brittany blushed. "I got cough drops, vitamin C pills, kleenex, DayQuil and Nyquil, and finally...me."

Santana, who was curled in a ball in the middle of the bed smiled weakly. "You're the best medicine ever." She replied before going into a coughing fit. Brittany quickly sat in bed and rubbed Santana's back. The Latina immediately molded her body into Brittany's and exhaled softly as she stroked her hair.

"What hurts, Santana?" Brittany asked as she grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose for her.

"Everything hurts." Santana whined.

"Sound familiar?" Brittany asked with a smile.

Santana smiled back at her. "A little." She took Taylor's temperature and raised an eyebrow at the temp but set it down. "How about you try to get some sleep, princess."

"Will you lay with me?" Taylor asked Santana while batting her eyes at her mother.

"Sure sweetheart." Santana smiled. "Brittany, I want to talk to you in a few minutes."

Brittany nodded. "I'm going to take a quick shower."

"This time of night?" Santana frowned while laying in bed while resting her arm around Taylor, as her daughter cuddled close to her and closed her eyes.

"I was working most of the night, I just came to check on her and saw she was sick." Brittany stated. "I took her temperature and saw how high it was so I called you to see if I should take her to the doctor or not."

Santana nodded. "ok."

Brittany left the room to shower so Santana rubbed Taylor's back as she drifted her sleep in her arms. "You'll be okay princess." She whispered before starting to sing.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head, and I cried

She noticed Taylor was fast asleep so she hummed softly while continuing to rub her ams and back. "Am I getting sick?" She then asked while feeling her own neck. "I'm sweating too, great." She mumbled while she slipped out of bed and moved to fluff up her pillow when she felt something hard underneath it. She carefully stuck her hand under the pillow and pulled the heating pad from underneath Taylor's head.

"No wonder she's burning up." Santana sighed. She turned it off and unplugged it before leaving her room. She went to Brittany's room and knocked, immediately feeling awkward for knocking on the door of a bedroom she once slept in for almost seven years. When she didn't get an answer she opened the door slowly. "Brittany we need to talk." She looked up and saw Brittany was naked, she stared at her body, remembering where every freckle was placed.

"Ummmm, you've seen me naked before." Brittany laughed while putting her robe on and sitting on the bed. "Do I get to see you naked now, too?" She asked while raising her eyebrow.

"What?" Santana asked as she quickly cam back to reality and cleared her throat.

"Glad you're not daydreaming anymore." Brittany replied. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah, let's go downstairs." Santana sighed while lifting the heating pad.

Brittany finished towel drying her hair and followed Santana down the stairs to the living room. "What's up?"

"Taylor isn't sick, she used a heating pad to make it look like she had a fever." Santana told her while waving it around. "Why is this even out where she can reach it?"

"I've had muscle spasms again so I've been using it." Brittany explained while grabbing it. "I used it almost everyday last week when she was gone, and after I picked her up from school today I must have forgot it was out. I'm sorry."

Santana walked behind Brittany and pressed exactly on the area she knew she always had trouble with and began to knead it for her. "Don't you go to your masseuse still?"

"No, no time." Brittany moaned as Santana began to work out the kinks in her back.

"Your back is really tight, make an appointment with your chiropractor and with your doctor." She added before stilling her hands. "We need to talk to Taylor about lying."

Taylor, who was at the top of the stairs swallowed thickly when she heard Santana's tone and ran back to her room quickly.

"Do you want to wake her up and talk about now?" Brittany suggested. "I know you need to get home to your girlfriend."

Santana's eyes widened. "I don't..."

"Santana you can't possibly be that arrogant to think I didn't know you were dating someone. I know you." Brittany snapped. "Has she been around Taylor?"

"Of course not." Santana snapped while looking towards the staircase. "I would never introduce her to Taylor without letting you know, and with our daughter's mouth you would have heard about it by now anyways."

"I need to meet her before Taylor does." Brittany added.

"Duh, why didn't I get the same respect when you dated Alex?" Santana questioned with a glare. "I walked in on the two of you after Taylor called me in the middle of the night to say you were crying with the door locked."

"I thought she was asleep!" Brittany yelled. "You know I didn't do that on purpose, I felt awful afterwards."

"Dammit Brittany, you should have!" She screamed in return. "I had to see you naked with another fuckin person! I threw up after that."

"Santana, you filed for divorce, I got home to your clothes gone and papers on the bed." Brittany replied while shaking her head. "I'm sorry you saw that, I swear to God I am, but you divorced me."

"If you didn't want the divorce then why did you sign the papers?" Santana snapped angrily as a tear slid down her throat. "It takes two people to get a divorce don't you dare try to pin this all on me."

"You were always married to your career." Brittany shrugged through a sniffle.

"Yeah, well you were cheating on me with yours." Santana huffed. "It takes two people to get a damn divorce."

"Yes it does, and now we have a third person in the balance. Someone who's innocent in all of this." Brittany told her while sitting down in the recliner. "It's not fair to her."

"The divorce was for the best, we both know that." Santana stuttered.

"Mami?" Taylor called faintly.

Santana stood up and wiped her eyes quickly while taking a deep breath. "I'm going to check on her again and then I should leave."

"It's late, just stay in her room or the guest room, unless you have to work really early." Brittany told her while wiping her face again.

Santana nodded and jogged up the stairs. "Coming Tay."

"Was it for the best?" Brittany sighed as she watched Santana head up the stairs.


6am

Brittany came in the living room when she heard Santana at the piano, singing quietly to herself.

Love don't ever mean well when you're living it alone
And everybody knows a broken heart gonna mend on its own
In life, I know anything worth having ain't easy
But that don't mean that we should make things so difficult

She leaned against the doorframe and listenedd to the song Santana wrote for her before she filed for divorce. Her final attempt at fixing the marriage with Brittany. Santana planned a romantic dinner in front of the fireplace so they could talk but Brittany got busy at work and came home late. Santana left the untouched dinner set up, the candles were burned down to nubs, a single rose was lying on Santana's laptop. When Brittany picked it up it was a video of Santana sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace singing the song. The next day, Santana moved out.

I can feel the distance between us
Standing side by side, never felt so far apart
And you ain't making it better
When it's gone, it's gone forever
I was running out of love

Brittany felt the words hit her as Santana continued to quietly sing.

White candle
White candle
White candle
Don't let our love die
Cause I don't wanna watch us burn out
Don't wanna add fuel to the flame
Is this how love turns out?
Don't let our love die
White candle
White candle
White candle
Don't let our love melt away

Brittany sat down next to Santana at the piano and started to sing the next verse, taking Santana by surprise.

Ain't gonna point fingers, cause I know it takes two
And ain't no sense in fighting cause we got nothing to prove
If it's worth it to break it, didn't mean a thing at all
Is it too late, can we make it?
Light a fire in our hearts, and let it burn

"How do you know the words?" Santana asked.

"I've watched that video of you singing over a thousand times, it's a beautiful song." Brittany said softly. "I made you a protein shake, you still drink them in the morning, right?"

Santana raised an eyebrow at her and took a sip. "Perfect as always." She smiled softly before taking another long sip and going back to singing.

Cause I can feel the distance between us
Standing side by side, never felt so far apart, baby,
And you ain't making it better
When it's gone, it's gone forever
I was running out of love

White candle
White candle
White candle
Don't let our love die
Cause I don't wanna watch us burn out
Don't wanna add fuel to the flame
Is this how love turns out?
Don't let our love die
White candle
White candle
White candle
Don't let our love melt away

Away, that's the story of our love oh yeah
Just a broken heart, trying to make it back again
Can we fix it baby?
Can we fix it babe?

"I don't really play anymore, or sing." Santana stated before taking another sip.

"Why not?"

Santana didn't answer she instead just played the melody over and over. "I've been sleeping with Nicki for about six months, we've been official for probably two months." She stated. "She's great, she um, she asks about Taylor all the time, she cooks, she cleans up around my place, she took me to Vegas one weekend for a just because trip. She's a pediatric surgeon, she black, real smooth brown skin, brown eyes, she's a little taller than you, athletic build, shoulder length hair, it's dark brown and she just got some auburn highlights." She rattled off. "She told me she loved me this morning, and I told her thank you and hung up."

"Why didn't you tell her you loved her back?" Brittany asked nervously.

"Someone else still has my heart." Santana shrugged.

Away, that's the story of our love oh yeah
Just a broken heart, trying to make it back again
Can we fix it baby?
Can we fix it babe?

"I'm sorry about last night, I shouldn't have attacked you about Nicki." Brittany told her while standing up.

"I need to get going." Santana said while covering the keys on the piano. "I don't want Taylor to know I stayed the night and confuse her. I'll come over tonight and we can talk to her after school."

"Okay." Brittany nodded. "Hey, no disrespect to Nicki, but can we have lunch today, I think we need to talk about what we are going to say to Taylor so it's united."

Santana finished her protein shake and handed the empty cup to Brittany. "Sure, 1pm okay?"

"Sounds good." Brittany agreed.

"Oh and good call on keeping that terrible hard ass bed in the guest room. I got zero sleep last night." Santana laughed.

"Well that was your idea, so your mom won't stay long, and so that Quinn won't stay over either." Brittany teased. "Came back to bite you in the ass."

"I never expected to ever sleep in the bed." Santana shrugged.

"Thanks for coming over." Brittany told her while walking her to the door.

"Anything for Taylor." Santana smiled with a small wave before leaving the house.

Brittany leaned against the door and watched Santana drive away. "Taylor! Time for school." Brittany called while running up the stairs.


"You really think going to lunch with Brittany is a good idea?" Mercedes asked while sitting on the couch in Santana's office and tossing a handful of Skittles in her mouth.

"We need to talk about Taylor lying to us." Santana replied while typing on her laptop.

"So that's why you aren't wearing scrubs?" Mercedes laughed.

"Fuck off." Santana smiled. "I had a meeting this morning, and I don't have any surgeries today, so I thought I would get dressed for once."

"Mmmmhmmmm." Mercedes laughed. "So what did Taylor did?"

"She faked a fever with a heating pad, Brittany called me in the middle of the night, so I drive over there at like 2 in the morning."

Mercedes fell over laughing. "Damn, that's a good one, but remind me to keep her away from my Dakota." She added. "Taylor is probably 75% you, a good 90% when she really puts her mind to it."

Santana raised an eyebrow. "She's my mini me."

"Yeah, that tricked you." Mercedes laughed. "So what's with you and Nicki, how are things going?"

"She told me she loved me." Santana said above a whisper.

"You didn't say it back did you?" Mercedes asked although she already knew the answer. She watched Santana shake her head as her pager went off. "I gotta go deliver a baby." She said happily. "Come to my office after lunch."

"Got it." Santana nodded as Nicki knocked on her office door and came in. "Hey Nicki, sorry about last night, I ended up just staying to check on Taylor."

"It's okay." Nicki smiled. "Your daughter comes first, I respect that." She leaned down to kiss Santana, slightly frowning when when Santana turned her head so she kissed the corner of her mouth. "How about lunch?"

"I have plans." Santana told her. "Raincheck?"

"Of course." Nicki replied. "I have a meeting, but I'll see you later."


2 hours later...

Santana rolled off of Brittany while panting to catch her breath. "Brittany..."

Brittany kissed a trail down Santana's neck before turning her ex-wife's head to kiss her again. "What did we just do?" She mumbled against Santana's lips while rubbing her back and pulling her closer.

"No talking, just kissing." Santana replied while pulling Brittany on top of her.


Thoughts?