Growing Up

Brittany is the one who opens the door for Sam and Dave. Her smiled lights up her face as she leads them to the dining room. Santana is cutting cards at the table. They run a kitty day-care together: Brittany and her assistants take care of the cats, and Santana takes care of the expenses and advertisements. She's going for her Masters in business now.

"School's finally over; how do you feel?" she asks Dave.

"He's teaching summer classes at Lima Community College – and taking classes for his degree," Sam explains.

"I'm about to do summer school in two weeks, too." Dave groans, and Sam gives him a kiss on his forehead.

"How are you two doing?" Sam asks.

"Santana won't let us have a baby," Brittany says bluntly.

"She refuses to move the cats to the business. Brittany couldn't be the one to get pregnant; cat litter is dangerous to fetuses! And I'm not so sure I'd want a Latino baby." She crosses her arms.

"Why not?" Dave asks.

"It would be hard enough having two moms; would you really want to add racism into that mix?" She smiles. "Any kid of mine would speak Spanish, though. Brittany's almost fluent now."

"Blaine and Kurt are having a baby," Sam says.

"Yeah, the official announcement was on Facebook last night. Apparently Rachel's pregnant."

"Oh! Wow. I guess that's what happens when you don't check Facebook."

"We both had deadlines."

"Puck was really happy," Brittany muses.

"That's another problem; we wouldn't be able to decide on a donor," Santana adds crossly.

"You could pick a white guy, so the baby would be biracial," Dave suggests.

"I'm enough of a bitch. I don't think anyone wants to see me pregnant."

"I'll still love you, Tanny," Brittany says softly. "No matter how mean or big you got."

Santana's face falls a little, but she deals the cards. "I would be a horrible mom, Brit."

"Then you can be the dad."

"What are we playing?" Sam asks.

"Go Fish," Brittany says. "It's been too long since I've played."

At home, Sam lies on top of Dave on the couch as they watch TV. Dave is twirling one finger lazily around one of Sam's brunette locks.

"Do you think I would be an okay dad?" he asks Sam.

"You'd be a great dad. You're great with teens; a lot of your students love you."

"I don't know if I'm good with little kids, though."

"Baby, I work at home. I'll take care of the kid. You know, not a lot of kids get that these days." He kisses Dave's neck. "Don't worry about that. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"But what if we don't agree on something?"

"Hey! We both want kids, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then we'll figure it out later."

Dave groans. "Sam. We can't just delegate everything until later." He sits up.

"Well I don't see the point in worrying about kids yet when we aren't even married!" Sam frowns. The light from the TV morphs his face, making the lines and colors more sinister.

"Because it's fucking important! It's not like we're a straight couple who has most of this shit handed to them!"

"You graduate next year, right? Right before the wedding. We should just wait until we get more of your student debt out of the way."

"Sam, I want to be a dad. With you – I want to have kids with you. But I am so goddamned worried about this, and you're acting like I have no reason to be."

"Will planning it out make you stop worrying?"

"Yes."

"Fine. We can do that when I'm not exhausted. You barely do any of the wedding planning..."

"I'm a teacher; my schedule is pretty full."

"Yeah, well, I'm tired of telling Kurt to postpone decisions because I have to ask you. Why can't you just be there?"

"Oh, come on, you remember college. It's just as exhausting to be a teacher."

"I want a little help. I know you're interested, but I'd like to see you put out more effort."

"How about this: every Sunday, we'll do it together. No work for you, no students or essays for me, just you and me and our future."

"You're lucky Kurt and Blaine have lazy Saturdays instead of Sundays." Sam reaches over to grab Dave's hand. "You're not really worried about a baby, are you? You'll be a great dad."

"But what if I'm not? You know how badly I've fucked up -"

"You're different now."

"I know, but having a kid changes things. What if I regress?"

"I'll make sure you won't. That's why there's two of us." Sam kisses his nose. "You'd better teach our kid how to read, though."

"Okay."

"You know," Sam adds, "it looks like the bill is going to go through. Ohio won't ban marriage equality anymore."

"What do we do if it doesn't pass?" Dave asks. "I was thinking that if it doesn't, we could just have the ceremony and the party here, maybe move to Illinois and do it in front of a judge."

"I guess." Sam frowns. The recession is officially "over," but Illinois still has poor unemployment rates. That's where Rachel and Puck are, though.

"I just... If we have a kid, I need us to have all those rights. I need both of us to be recognized as parents."

"Let's talk about that one if the bill doesn't pass, okay?"

"Okay."

"Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you're being responsible?" Dave's eyes lit up, and Sam leans forward to pull Dave's shirt off.

"No, actually, I haven't heard you say that."