Part Four: Homecoming
Ben's adoption had gone through rather quickly, it was the actual process of taking the child out of the country that took longer than anyone had originally expected. Finn returned home after three long weeks in Vietnam with no end in sight, not wanting to be so far away from Oscar in case of an emergency and desperately needing to get back to work. They'd been using the last of Quinn's savings to pay for legal and living expenses while about to outgrow their apartment in Lima after all.
He went right to working 12-hour days and Santana was perfectly content not hearing from him for weeks before Brittany started inviting him over for dinner on a semi-regular basis. Santana protested every time considering Brittany never cooked unless it involved a microwave and feeding him ultimately fell on her. She never minded catering to her wife's strict dietary needs, even went as far as leaving prepared meals for her every morning before work, but serving Finn anything other than their left overs was an entirely different thing. She knew for a fact the dude could fend for himself since he did most of the cooking while they were still living with Quinn and he'd be over 24/7. That was the sole reason Santana had kept from insisting he pay rent, too.
But as the months went by and Quinn's Skype calls grew more anxious, Santana put on her best friend hat and quietly accepted him into their home whenever he came over. She even indulged him a few games of Madden and would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy getting him stoned for the first time. His anxiety about the adoption was palpable and while it made Santana nervous about the whole thing, she could only imagine the stress of being away from Brittany and having several mouths to feed on her own. So when the encouraging words wouldn't come, Santana offered the next best thing: her weed. She wasn't one to share it freely with anyone other than Brittany who owned half of her shit already, meaning she hoped the incredibly kind gesture spoke louder than anything she could have possibly said with words.
Santana and Brittany's first anniversary came and went. They spent New Year's with Santana's parents in Virginia Beach and celebrated the rest of the week holed up at a bed and breakfast nearby. Santana dove head first into a grueling practice schedule following winter break and with all the commotion of almost losing Nationals to a devastating injury on her team that year, she hadn't even realized how long Quinn had really been away until she announced on Facebook that Ben was finally coming home. When Santana did the math in her head it had almost been a full eight months.
They went along with the Hummels and Quinn's mom to welcome them at the airport only after Burt extended the invitation. Even though Santana really couldn't wait to meet her nephew, she'd figured the family could use some alone time before they welcomed outside company. Nevertheless, it felt special to be included in such an intimate moment. She and Brittany mostly stood back and watched as they all huddled around the wide-eyed baby boy whose entire world up to that point had been Quinn, never mind the bunch of strangers who called themselves family from behind a computer screen suddenly clamoring for his attention all at once. Santana could just tell he wasn't having it and sure enough, not a second later he was scurrying away in his mother's arms and hiding his face from everyone behind her shoulder.
They all stood back to give him space while Quinn cooed a few words into his ear, making sure he'd calmed before beckoning Finn closer. Ben turned his little head up to find the man he'd already started calling 'Dada' hovering from higher up above than he clearly remembered. Finn reached for him and Ben went with hesitation at first, eyes wide and unblinking while sobbing back a few breaths until Finn started talking to him and he finally appeared to recognize his voice, relaxing visibly in his arms though still eyeing him closely.
Santana shifted in her spot and Ben caught the movement, suddenly seeing her there and launching himself from Finn's arms onto her unexpected ones. She reacted just in time and caught him while everyone but Finn laughed, a chorus of 'awws' simultaneously escaping Carol, Quinn and Brittany. Santana made a point to roll her eyes at them and reactively bounced the baby in her arms.
"You okay little guy?" She asked gently, even though Ben had already stuck his thumb in his mouth and cuddled close as if he'd known Santana all along.
Quinn leaned in to scratch his belly. "That's your Aunt Tana, Benny. Can you say hi?"
He looked up and Santana tried encouraging him with a little smile, drawing a shy one out of him as he closed his eyes and attempted to hide his face behind the remaining four fingers not currently in his mouth.
"Oh, he likes you," Quinn concluded happily, clapping her hands quietly to keep from disturbing the moment.
"What's not to love?" Santana smirked and winked at Ben before he ducked his head comfortably back down on her chest.
"He's so used to the female workers at the orphanage, she probably just looks more familiar..." Finn explained to no one in particular, trying and failing at not looking upset about his son clinging to someone other than him in that moment.
It occurred to Santana that this was exactly why they probably should've declined his stepfather's invitation to join them.
"Kneel," she signaled Finn while sitting down on the nearest chair, adjusting Ben on her lap to sit with his back against her.
Finn did as told and reached a hand to smooth his hair down affectionately. Ben leaned forward to grab his nose and Finn laughed, getting an amused smile back. The baby did it again and this time Santana made a honking noise, making him giggle and distracting
him enough to go with Finn when he sat all the way down on the floor and pulled him to his lap.
Brittany sat next to her then, slipping her hand into Santana's and pressing a longing kiss to her cheek.
"I can't wait to see you with our Puerto Rican babies," she confessed quietly in her ear. Santana laughed and blushed at the thought.
That car ride home had been considerably silent, Santana noticed while glancing nervously towards the passenger side where Brittany sat staring out the window thoughtfully. Her ovaries still ached from the scene at the airport and Brittany's admission wouldn't quit loudly repeating itself over and over in her head. Even though Santana still wasn't entirely ready to share Brittany's heart, the idea of sharing it with little clones of themselves was suddenly too appealing to keep postponing.
She'd been sure they were on the same wavelength as they walked back to their car, stealing smiley knowing glances at one another on the way. But the second Santana caught a frown beginning to etch across Brittany's face as they drove in unsettling silence, she found herself lacing their fingers and gripping the hand she'd been securely holding for a little reassurance.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Brittany shrugged, shaking her head. "I'm just thinking..."
Santana felt her heart race with unexpected dread as she waited for Brittany to complete her thought.
"About what?" She pushed gently when the words didn't come soon enough.
Brittany turned to look at her sadly then but quickly lowered her eyes when she saw the worry in Santana's.
"It's just that it took them so long to get a baby, San," she sighed dismally before braving another look at her. "It's gonna take us forever, isn't it?"
Santana squeezed Brittany's hand in hers. "What makes you think that?"
Brittany shrugged, dropping her eyes once again.
"We don't have to adopt, you know? I always thought you'd wanna try having our own?"
Brittany's eyes lit up a little at this and Santana felt a hopeful smile tugging at her own cheeks. "Don't you?"
"How though?"
"Well we already have the oven," Santana noted, poking at Brittany's belly playfully. "So we just need some sperm."
She made a face as she said and the other girl shrieked away giggling before poking Santana's belly right back.
"What about your oven?"
"Britt," Santana frowned, taking her eyes off the road long enough to look at her seriously. "You do know there's no coming back from these child-bearing hips, right?"
Brittany shrugged, a smirk on her face. "I think you'd look cute pregnant."
Santana smiled but stubbornly shook her head. "I bet you'd look even cuter."
"Uh huh," Brittany teased.
Santana took it to mean they were back on the same page and didn't even wait to call her dad as soon as they got home. He was a little taken back by their interest in becoming parents so soon but seemed enthused enough when he recommended they go see an old colleague of his about their best options. Dr. Wu was extremely accommodating and fit them into his busy schedule for a consult visit that same week.
"I always suggest artificial insemination first. It's going to be your easiest and cheapest route, particularly if you already have a sperm donor," he explained to them. "Otherwise we can help you find a suitable one."
"I don't care as long as it's Santana's baby," Brittany stated simply and Dr. Wu's attention automatically shifted.
"You'd like to carry the pregnancy then?"
"Uhh..." Santana pretty much froze.
Right away it was painfully obvious they hadn't much discussed how they wanted to go about this and rather than answering questions, the doctor was now posing new and important ones. An awkward beat passed between them before she turned to Brittany, who'd begun pouting a little miserably at her hesitance.
"Not really?" She ventured honestly, giving her wife an apologetic look.
"But I really want our babies to look like you," Brittany predictably whined in response. She'd already made this very clear whenever they talked about having kids together but Santana had foolishly thought she'd be willing to compromise when it really came down to it.
"Babe," she sighed impatiently, hating being put on the spot by her more than persuasive better half. "Let's just see what our options are first then we can talk about this some more in private, okay?"
"Actually," Dr. Wu interrupted her plea before returning his attention to Brittany. "It is technically possible for you to carry Santana's child."
Brittany's ears perked up with new interest and she swung her head back around. "It is?"
"In-Vitro," Santana thought out loud, mentally kicking herself for not thinking of it sooner. "Duh."
Dr. Wu smiled at her. "That's correct."
"In what?"
"He means they can put my egg in your uterus and let it grow there instead," Santana quickly explained in layman's terms.
Dr. Wu nodded in agreement and Brittany's eyes danced between them before the idea clicked, shooting a tentative smile in Santana's direction.
"I can have your baby?"
"Technically," Dr. Wu interjected again when Santana only smirked back, her mind already running wild with the thought of knocking Brittany up. "You would still need a sperm donor to fertilize but if everything else is in order, you definitely can."
He carefully laid out each step then, emphasizing the cost of the treatment before sending them home to discuss even though Brittany was pretty much set on that plan the moment he brought it up. The cost really was outrageous but thankfully they'd opted to purchase additional coverage through Santana's already generous health plan at McKinley before they married, at the time unknowingly decreasing their co-pay for specialty procedures like IVF considerably. By the time Dr. Wu had given them a ballpark figure, Santana was beyond glad to have insisted on being safer rather than sorry. If her father had instilled anything in her, it had certainly been to make sure she never drowned in medical bills.
The question then became where to go looking for sperm. Purchasing from a lab would've cost them even more money and Santana wasn't all that convinced she wanted a perfect stranger as the father of their baby. What if they picked a psychopath with seemingly good genes? Or someone with an undocumented medical history? The idea that a person they'd never get to meet could pass on something that could potentially harm their child was a little too scary for Santana. More importantly, she was really close to her dad and so was Brittany to hers. Following a late-night conversation which went on for hours before they both fell asleep, the couple concluded they would've very much hated never knowing where half of them came from and together decided it would be best to choose a donor close them.
Santana's first suggestion had been Sam because he reminded her of Brittany the most. She was sure the kid would most likely take after her if they picked him, but should his genes win out at the very least he or she would look a little bit like the other girl. Of course then she thought about the potential mouth on the poor child and immediately scratched her own suggestion off the list. Between the size of his yap and Santana's own smackers, that baby's chances at a normal face were zero to none.
Brittany's next suggestion had been Mike because they were the closest, however when Santana assured her their babies would most definitely be Asian she quickly changed her mind. They both thought of Puck after that but even though Brittany thought that baby would've been cute as hell, Santana was certain their spawn would be an absolute nightmare to raise. Honestly, she probably would've taken her chances with an anonymous donor had he been their only choice.
They were still considering their options when Quinn rang to invite them along on her and Finn's first date night since baby Ben. Santana proposed they invite them out next time instead considering it'd been even longer since their friends had any time to themselves, but Quinn insisted on paying them back for looking after Finn in her absence.
Once they'd placed their drink orders, Finn reached for Quinn's hand over the table. The couple shared a quick look before he turned back to them and cleared his throat.
"We prayed about it and decided it would be an honor," he addressed them both with a careful smile, "to donate sperm should you need it to, you know, have a baby someday."
Brittany's eyes went wide with surprise.
"If you want," he added nervously, squeezing his wife's hand. Quinn grinned proudly at him before turning back to them expectantly.
Santana's face flushed, having never given a single thought to having children with the man whose virginity she'd so mindlessly stolen when they were younger. Not that they weren't far past that but oddly it was the first thing she thought off.
"Honey," Brittany reached for her hand, shaking it gently to get her attention.
They exchanged a meaningful look and Santana knew right away that Finn Hudson was, weirdly enough, the candidate they'd been searching for all along. It probably would've never occurred to her before but he was close to them, shared some of Brittany's quirkiest traits, and was a loving father to both of his sons.
Suddenly feeling extremely comforted by the latter, Santana's eyes shifted back towards him.
"You'd have to be involved in the baby's life to some degree," she countered, her tone nervous and serious.
"Of course," Quinn replied before he could, immediately catching the concern in Santana's voice. "Whatever you guys want, we'll be there."
Santana nodded slowly and blinked her eyes, too shocked to fully process what was happening.
"Well there's a lot more to talk about, but-" she paused to glance nervously in Brittany's direction again. The other girl squeezed her hand, urging her on with an excited nod and a smile. "We'd actually really appreciate that. Yes."
Finn appeared pleasantly surprised, raising his brow and smiling wide at the same time Quinn brought a hand to her chest and pouted as if about to cry.
"Please," Santana added humbly, at once realizing the selfless magnitude of their offer.
"And thank you," Brittany's voice cracked next to her, the emotion threatening to spill from her eyes.
A lump formed in Santana's throat at the sight and she swallowed against it, willing herself to keep it together. All hope of that was lost, however, the minute Quinn sprung from her seat to squeeze them both into a hug. Their make-up was nearly ruined by the time she sat back, asking for every detail to their already fairly elaborate plan to conceive. Their friends chastised them a bit for not asking them sooner but were overall supportive and excited to take part.
As soon as they resolved to begin the process, they realized how tricky it would be to conceive this way. Testing to make sure they were both healthy took a few weeks alone. Then began the tedious part of taking fertility drugs via injection daily for two more weeks, which Dr. Wu had assured Santana would be so simple she could probably administer them herself at home. That was easier said than done considering how much she hated needles but thankfully Brittany's mom was a registered nurse and gladly volunteered to come over every night after dinner and do it for her.
Once they'd collected Santana's eggs it was finally Brittany's turn on the table. They transferred three embryos and froze the remaining two. Dr. Wu forewarned them that it could potentially take a few cycles before they were successful. Santana secretly thought they would need some time to adjust their lives to having a baby, anyway.
As luck would have it though, Brittany was pregnant just ten days later.
