(A/N: thank you all for the lovely reviews! My writing partner Sio and I are currently on chapter 16 so don't worry, were gonna get them together just hold onto your hats!)

Chapter Six - Dinner at Rachel's

Santana carried the sleeping Kayla out of the car, "Man, I wish I was little and could sleep anywhere." She smiled as she held the girl in her arms, she looked around the yard of the small house. She smiled when she saw the basketball net and the playscape. "It's really nice, Rachel." she watched as Rachel and Cale moved towards the house. Santana hiked her bag over her shoulder and walked behind Rachel.

"It's the best we can afford at the moment, to be honest." Rachel shrugged as she dug in her bag for the keys to the front door, "Luckily, my work as a transcriptionist can be done pretty much anywhere, or I'd have difficulties with commuting." She shifted Cale and fumbled with the keys for a moment, but managed to get the door unlocked, pushing it open with a bump of her hip. "Welcome to our home. It's not much, but we make it work."

The house was small, a place given to small rooms and narrow halls. The front door opened directly into the living room, then headed to a hall leading to the kitchen/dining room, bathroom and a surprising three bedrooms. Though, if she were honest, Rachel would admit that the only reason the third bedroom served as a bedroom and not a closet was because Cale was still so small. But he was so proud of his "big boy room" that she couldn't begrudge it of him.

"I'm just going to lay them down for a nap while I work on dinner," she added, heading down the hall towards the children's rooms, "This is Kayla's room here," she nodded at a door with a pink star with 'Kayla' written in a flowing black script on it, "Cale's is back here."

Pushing into the smallest bedroom in the house, she cradled her son to her chest as she tugged back the covers. Laying him down and pulling off his shoes, she tucked him in with a gentle kiss to his forehead to sleep for a little while until dinner was ready. "Poor little man," she whispered, sliding the coloring book out of his grip and setting it on his dresser, "all tuckered out."

Straightening and heading out of the room with it's blue train on the door, she closed the door quietly behind her and went in search of her guest and daughter. It wasn't a big house and the search didn't take long before she found them, "Are you in the mood for salad, rice or pasta tonight, Santana?"

Santana went and laid the little girl in her purple and pink bed, sitting on the side of the bed and slid the girls hooded jacket off her and her little mary janes off. She folded them and set them on the small dresser before coming out to find Rachel. "They're so sleepy." She smiled as she leaned against the doorframe. "Whatever you and the kids like. I'm easy." She shrugged, not really remembering the last time she had a homemade meal. "Would you mind if I changed?" she motioned to her tight fitting suit. "This is kind of stuffy and constricting."

Rachel rolled her eyes, teasing, "You're hardly ieasy/i, Santana, and you can use my room if you'd like. Just over there," she nodded towards the last door on the left side of the hall. "There's a bathroom with a shower if you'd like to freshen up any. You're more than welcome to use anything in the bathroom you may need."

It was nice to tease and joke, but more than that to have someone else in the house besides just her and the kids. She made her way into the kitchen, grateful she wasn't as astoundingly awkward in this final stage of pregnancy as she had been with Kayla. Now was not the time to be getting bedridden after all.

She rummaged in the fridge, pulling out what she needed for a quick vegetable stirfry. While her veganism had fallen to the wayside, she hoped Santana wouldn't mind the vegetarian meal. Perusing her herbs, she spotted the cilantro with a smile and changed the intent of the quick fried veggies from a stirfry to fajitas, reaching back into the fridge to grab the package of tortillas and swapping the snow peas for peppers. Setting up her pans and getting the rice cooking, she started prepping everything for the quick meal.

Santana pushed through Rachel's bedroom door with a quick mutter of a thank you, she grabbed her bag and started to unzip her skirt. She pulled it off and folded it before she unbuttoned her silk blouse. She folded that as well as she looked in the mirror, sighing at how tired she looked. She went in the bathroom, quickly deciding to wash her face before changing her mind and deciding to shower completely. She jumped in and quickly washed the make up and the day off before jumping out and drying off. She grabbed her low-riding boyfriend jeans and slid them on and fastened the belt before putting on a sports bra and a black long sleeved thermal top. She dried her hair and ran her fingers through it. After quickly cleaning up after herself she folded everything and headed back out to see Rachel.

"Thank you so much. I feel so much more human now." She smiled as she leaned against the fridge watching Rachel cook. "Can I do anything?"

Rachel just shook her head, "That's okay, I think I have it handled. Besides, you're my guest. It's my job to take care of you tonight." she smiled brightly - though there was still a trace of the constant pain regarding Jesse in her eyes - as she tossed the sliced peppers in with the onions and garlic, "You're certainly welcome to the use of the bathroom and anything else here. Please, make yourself at home."

Finally she turned to look at the Latina, chuckling softly as she took in her change of clothes, "Oh, now ithere/i is the Santana I remember." She smirked, teasing Santana as she picked up the wooden spoon and tossed the veggies, "I was wondering if she would ever come out from behind the fiercely attractive COO that I've been seeing lately."

She tapped the spoon on the side of the pan to knock the clinging bits free before setting it down and grabbing a jar from the cabinet, tossing a small palmful of the spice mix into the pan and moving to chop up the cilantro and squeeze the lime for the rice, "I hope you don't mind vegetarian fajitas for dinner, Santana. I finally surrendered to inevitability and gave up veganism when my little ones started craving dairy products while I was carrying them, but I'm still a fairly strict vegetarian. Allowing for dairy products and the occasional - iun/ifertilized - egg, that is."

Santana laughed softly as she watched Rachel flutter about the kitchen with the grace no heavily pregnant woman should have. "Yeah well. I'm still keepin' it real." She smirked as she moved closer at the smell of cilantro. "Question, are you just making Mexican typed food cuz I'm here? Cuz, that shit's racist."

She joked as she took over stirring the food in the pan. "I don't actually eat meat anymore." She shrugged, "My nutritionist said that meat is bad and I shouldn't eat it... this is also the same bitch that has me doing yoga in a 103 degree room. Crazy fucking hippy."

She bumped Rachel's hip as she helped, "Do the kids eat any meat? Or are they veg too?"

"For your information, I'm making fajitas because my children enjoy it, I thought you might as well, and I have all the ingredients for it and not because of your racial heritage," Rachel scoffed, holding her head high, "As if I would do that, anyway. That's terrible to even suggest, Santana."

She chuckled, coming back over to check the pan Santana was stirring, "She's right. About the meat anyway, vegetables are much more pure. Even for those who do indulge in animal flesh, it's best to limit your intake of it." She wrinkled her nose in distaste, "Commercial farms put all kinds of vile chemicals and hormones into those poor abused animals and all of that ends up in their flesh. And that's not even beginning to touch on the disgusting ways the meat is handled once they slaughter the poor beasts. Hanging up to rot for days…" she shuddered, "completely vile and nauseating."

"As for the yoga though," she gave Santana an odd look, "I have absolutely no idea why you would want to do that in sweltering heat. It sounds horribly sticky and uncomfortable. But, no, the kids eat vegetarian, as does Jesse. It's easier that way and they don't seem to mind, though of course, we don't restrict dairy products or eggs in our diet now and I'm fairly certain Jesse took Kayla out for fish on her fourth birthday. The little cheaters." She smiled fondly, shaking her head as she finished cooking.

She rolled her eyes at Rachel and chuckled. "Yes, I'm well aware the animals and fish have rights. That they are treated horribly and so on and so forth," She rolled her hand and brushed Rachel's rant off. "All I'm saying is that I really fucking want a cheeseburger sometimes." She pouted as she poked the food in the pan. "I think it's been at least 5 or 6 years for me. Tobias got annoyed when I gained like five pounds after we got married."

Santana reached up and grabbed the plates that Rachel pointed out, "That's cool, as long as they get the nutrients they need." She shrugged, "And it's organic it's all good. And the yoga, say what you will... but my ass looks amazing." She winked before walking away to put the plates on the table.

Rachel couldn't help but look at Santana's ass over her shoulder after that last line. Her eyebrows rose as she realized that she was appreciating - from a purely aesthetic point of view, of course - the play of the muscles moving under the well-cut denim stretched over her ass as the Latina walked to the table. Blushing and feeling vaguely guilty, she turned back to the food, clearing her throat subtly before speaking, "Yes, well, I'm certainly glad it's working out for you then. However, if you truly desire a cheeseburger, why not have one? I would strongly suggest going to the trouble of obtaining Kosher ground beef for it."

Without even turning around, she smirked and gave the veggies a toss, "Don't roll your eyes at me, Santana. While you may consider it just a religious bit of silliness, Kosher beef is killed quickly and cleanly and not aged in any way, which means unlike standard beef, it hasn't been left to rot for days before even being offered for sale in a butcher shop. If you must eat meat, it should at least be clean, fresh and not pumped full of chemicals."

Grabbing a trivet from beside the stove, she turned with the pan in hand and made her way to the table with the fajitas. "Could you do me a favor and wake the little ones while I finish putting things on the table? Please make sure they wash their hands too."

Santana put her hands up, "Woman, I haven't eaten meat in a long time, so I doubt I'll start now... I love my wardrobe way too much." She said as she washed her hands. When she heard Rachel's request, thought she started feeling nervous. "Uh, won't they, um, be scared of someone they don't know waking them up?" She asked, hesitant to go and scare the kids.

Rachel looked up from the fridge where she was getting the side garnishes for fajitas looking slight confused, "What? Oh, perhaps Cale might but Kayla should be fine. She likes you and is used to being woken by people other than Jesse or myself. If Cale cries, don't worry, I'll come in to reassure him that it's okay."

She stood a bit awkwardly with her armful of items, setting them on the counter and dishing things up, "it'll be fine, Santana, don't worry." She smiled reassuringly at the nervous woman as she quickly diced a tomato, "They like you after all. And we can always consider this a test run to see if you'd make a suitable babysitter if need be." She winked at Santana with a grin, pointing at her with the tip of her knife.

"Don't point that at me." She said as she walked out of the kitchen and headed to Cale's room. She knelt down next to the little boy's bed. "Cale?" She ran her hand down Cale's back and through his hair. "Sweetie, it's time to wake up." She smiled as his face scrunched up and he reached for her. "Hi buddy." She scooped him up, rocking him gently as she headed over to Kayla's room.

"Mariposa." She said, rousing the girl from her slumber. "Dinner time. Mommy made tasty food." She smiled as Kayla nodded and raised her arms in a lazy stretch. "Go wash up okay?" Kayla rolled out of her bed and headed to the bathroom.

Santana smiled and kissed Cale's cheek. "Come on little one. Wake up."

Cale grumbled quietly and buried his face into Santana's shoulder, one chubby toddler hand getting a hold on her shirt and holding on tightly. He didn't cry or scream, but didn't show any signs of truly waking up either. Kayla came out of bathroom drying her hands on a towel that probably should have stayed in the bathroom, looking the pair over with a giggle.

"Cale's a big sleepyhead," she stated with a giggle, bouncing over to reach up and tickle his bare feet. "Wakey wakey, Caaaley! Time for dindin!"

Cale grumbled more and wiggled until he had his face hidden against San's neck, his free arm curling around her neck in a half hug, half holding on move. "Dun wanna, Kay, sleepy."

Santana giggled and kissed the boy's head. "Come on baby boy. We can have dinner and watch... umm you look like a boy who likes Lion King?" she suggested, looking at Kayla for back up as she felt the boy wake up more. "Yummy dinner." She smiled, blowing a raspberry on his neck causing him to giggle sleepily.

Cale lifted his head and rubbed his eyes, blinking a few time before looking at Santana. He studied her face for a moment, trying to decide whether to scream or not. He watched her looking into her eyes for a second before laying his head back on her shoulder. "Hungry." he said quietly, as he nuzzled closer.

The latina beamed as she hugged the sleepy boy in her arms. "Come on cuties, dinnertime." She took Kayla's hand and lead them back to the kitchen, after wiping Cale's hands with a cloth. "All done." She smiled at Rachel.

Rachel looked up from where she was setting the last glass of iced tea on the table - with sippy cups for the little ones - and grinned at the tiny entourage coming down the hall. "And you thought you were going to have trouble," she chuckled softly, wiping her hands on a dish towel and coming to take Cale to put him in his high chair, "There we are, sweetie. You hungry?"

He planted a sloppy baby boy kiss on Santana's cheek before letting go so Rachel could carry him to the chair, "Yes, Mama. I very hungry. We eat now?"

"That's are we eating now, Cale," she corrected gently, kissing the top of his head, "and yes, we are. I made your favorite too."

His eyes brightened, "Feettas?"

Kayla snickered as she clambered up into the chair with a booster seat on it, "They're faaa-he-taas not Feettas, silly."

Cale promptly stuck his tongue out at his big sister. Rachel sighed with an exasperatedly fond smile, "Alright, that's enough, you two. Santana, you can sit where you like. I know you're not Jewish, so you needn't pray with us if you don't wish to."

She sat at the open space and softly sung the prayers for their food her hands reached out for her children's. After the short prayer, she nodded and started serving, "okay, everyone let's eat."

Santana watched the family with a smile, closing her eyes and bowing her head in her own silent prayer. "This looks amazing Rachel." She smiled as she put some food on her plate and looked over to the kids. "Did you sleepy-heads have a nice nap?" She asked as she leaned over without thinking and helped Cale cut his vegetables. "Rach? I may have promised a Disney movie of Cale's choosing after dinner, if that's okay." She bit her lip slightly as she realized she may have overstepped her responsibilities.

She took a small bite of her rice and made a small yummy noise. "So good!" She said excitedly, "You may have found a permanent dinner mate if you cook like this all the time."

"I merely try to provide my family with healthy and tasteful options for their meals, Santana," Rachel may have been being modest in her words but the beaming smile on her face at the compliment belied them. She took her own bite of food, chewing and swallowing before addressing the earlier question. "That's quite alright, Santana. In fact I was going to ask if you'd like to stay and join us for a movie tonight anyway."

Santana took a small sip of her drink and nodded, "That'd be great. Not like I have anything to go home to anyway." She shrugged, "Plus, I loves me some Disney. Mulan? She kicks some serious butt, Aladdin is awesome because of Jafar and Ursula was pretty killer too." She smirked.

"I'm fairly certain that Ursula is the villain of that mov..." Rachel stopped, shaking a finger at Santana with a grin, "Santana Lopez, you are a brat. But you may consider yourself to have an open invitation to our home whenever you'd like to visit. We truly do enjoy having you here, right kids?"

Kayla nodded fiercely with a bright smile, though she didn't speak until shed swallowed her food, "Uh-huh! Santi's the best, Mama. Can you visit more please, Santi?"

Cale just nodded shyly, whispering softly, "I like Santa. She's nice and gave me Batman colors."

"Awesome!" She smiled and ate some more giving a wink to Cale. "I loves me some Batman, buddy. Remind me to bring over my box set one night... it's kick butt." She continued eating, "also I'm fond of your brood Rachel so I'm excited to be around a bit more." She smiled as she finished eating. "Why don't me and Kayla do the dishes and Cale and mom go pick out the movie?" She offered knowing Rachel was beyond exhausted. "It's okay, go rest."

"It's okay, Santana, I can -" she began only to be cut off by her daughter giving her a firm glare that was almost a perfect imitation of her father's stubborn scowl. A fact that almost made her tear up because he wasn't there with them to see it.

"No. You an Caley are gonna go find a movie and Santi and I is gonna clean up together. Right, Santi?" Kayla looked up at the Latina for reassurance.

"Totally," she took Kayla's hand. "You guys do that and get snuggly and K and I will get these dishes done." She smiled as she lead the girl to the kitchen before coming to grab a stack of dirty dishes. "So, little helper. Wanna sit on the counter and rise the dishes?" She asked as she opened the dishwasher.

When Kayla nodded Santana picked her up and sat her near the sink as she showed her how to scrape the dishes into the disposal. "Good job," Kayla hummed a song as she helped and they quickly cleaned up the kitchen.

"Wanna go change into pajamas and we can go find your mom and Cale?" Santana asked after they finished and washed their hands.

"Yes, please," Kayla chirped, holding her hands out to Santana to be picked up off the counter with a bright and trusting smile. She didn't care about any past Santana had with her mom, just that she was making her mom smile and laugh again while her daddy was away and sick. "Can I shows you my room? Mama got me a bookshelf when we moved and I wanna see if I can fills it all the way up with good things to read when I learn how."

In the living room, Rachel and Cale were curled up on the sofa together talking quietly, Rachel having gotten him changed into his pajamas before going to into the living room to select a film. Santana's suggestion of Lion King earlier had strongly influenced the little boy, and the menu screen of the DVD was running on the TV as they waited for the girls to be finished with their self appointed chore. She may not have wanted to admit it, but Rachel was grateful to finally be off her feet for a while, and Cale was more than happy to have his mom available to cuddle and chat with him about whatever he wanted.

Santana smiled, helping the girl change and fold her clothing. "You're a really good helper, Kayla," she smiled helping the girl to brush her teeth and hair. "Maybe in a few weeks you want to help me throw a party for your mom? It's a secret though, she needs a baby shower and I believe we're the girls to throw it." she winked, smiling at the beaming little girl.

"Can we?" Kayla squealed happily, clapping her hands and bouncing about in delight. "I wanna make Mama happy again."

"You're my girl then," Santana laughed, leading the girl back out to the living room.

"All done," she said plopping down in the couch with Rachel and Cale. "Ok, the Lion King, good pick."

"Yes and I understand someone may have influenced my son in this direction," Rachel commented, the twinkle in her eyes as she looked over at the Latina as she sat down beside her giving away the teasing nature of her words. "Such hardship, watching Disney with some of my favorite people."

"Don't be mean, Mama," Kayla scolded, clambering up on the sofa to sit on the other side of Santana and nestle against her side, "Movie time now?"

Rachel chuckled, reaching for the controller for the DVD player, "Yes, little star, it's movie time." Once she hit play she leaned over to whisper in Santana's ear, "Normally we might have popcorn, but they just ate and I don't want them waking up in the middle of the night with upset tummies from being overfull." She started to pull away, then hesitated, deciding to explain herself, "I mean, in case you were wondering."

Santana chuckled as she heard tiny voices singing along to the songs. "No worries, I don't think my tummy can take anymore." she smirked as she rested her palm on the swell of Rachel's stomach. "I know yours can't take anymore." she teased as she wrapped her arm around Kayla.

Rachel was about to reply when she felt the distinct feeling of a tiny hand slapping against the inside of her womb under where Santana's hand was resting. She chuckled despite the mild discomfort of the feeling, "I think someone is disagreeing with you, Santana." She rubbed the side of her belly gently, "Calm down, little one, it's just Santana, no need to be distressed."

Santana looked stricken, she actually felt the baby inside her friend. She looked up and gaped with wide eyes. "I felt that! So fucking weird." she whispered, keeping her hand there to see if she felt more.

"Santana!" Rachel scolded, softly to avoid attracting the attention of the two children sitting on either side of them but seriously, "Language, please. There are children present, if you don't mind. And of course you felt it. He did slap your hand after all." She let out a soft grunt at a particularly forceful kick against Santana's hand, smiling tightly, "Little future soccer player or football kicker I think."

"Hmm. I vote soccer, more skill less brute." Santa said, turning back to watch the movie, her thumb running over where the baby kicked her. "You're like a fish tank or a snow globe." she chuckled.

"Kurt is hardly a brute and he was the kicker for the Titans for a while," Rachel chuckled, "before he left them to join the Cheerios with you and the others, that is." She sighed softly and leaned over, resting her head on Santana's shoulder, "I don't think I very much appreciate the comparison, Santana, but I'm a little too tired to argue at the moment."

"Sleep then. The kids are alright, just rest." Santana whispered. "you need to rest so the fishy inside you can grow." she teased, "I'll put the wee ones to bed before I leave."

"Please don't call my son a fish, Santana," Rachel pouted, yawning as her voice grew soft, "I wish you wouldn't go, but I know you have to." Her eyes blinked as she tried to stay awake, slowly losing the fight, "you make a," she yawned again, eyes mostly shut, "compelling argument though..."

Before she had quite managed to get the last word completely out, she slipped into sleep, leaning against Santana, head pillowed on her shoulder. It was one of the first times she'd fallen asleep before midnight and she desperately needed the sleep. A part of her felt guilty for leaving Santana to manage her children, but too much more of her clamored for her to just go to sleep and she couldn't help but follow their directives.

Santana watched Rachel for a moment before realizing that everyone had fallen asleep. She carefully put the kids to bed and tucked them in with a kiss before heading out to get Rachel. Santana carefully picked up the pregnant girl and carried get to the bedroom. After placing a kiss on her head and covering her up she laid her hand on the woman's belly. "Bye, fishy," she whispered before gathering her things and heading back to the city.