Brittany is tired. It's two o'clock in the morning and the plane has just landed in New York. All she wants to do now is close her eyes and go to sleep, but she knows that she can't do that because her journey isn't over yet. She has still got a forty minute drive back to her apartment, but fortunately for her, Sugar is waiting outside the airport to drive her and Cassidy back home and she couldn't be more thankful.

"Are you ready to go?" Santana's question snaps Brittany out of her daze and she turns her head to the left to look at the Latina.

Santana was supposed to have stayed in Lima for three more days, but when she had found out that Brittany was leaving before her, she changed her flight so that they were flying together. When asked about why she had changed flights, Santana had said it was because Jessica needed her back in New York, but Brittany knew better. She knew that despite willingly giving all of her work and home contact details to Santana, the brunette was worried that she would never see Cassidy again.

"Yeah, we're ready." Brittany nods her head in reply when most of the other passengers have already gotten off the plane. She grabs her travel bag and then turns to her daughter who is peacefully sleeping and picks her up gently, being careful not to wake her up as she secures the youngster to her hip.

Santana leads the way and the two women walk in silence until they reach luggage collection. Their whole journey has pretty much been in silence due to the fact that Cassidy had fallen asleep before they had even gotten on the plane, and that neither Santana or Brittany knew what to say to one another. Their time apart and the revelation of Cassidy inevitably changed their relationship, and neither of them knew how to act around one another. It was as if they were scared to cross the unspoken boundary lines.

"Do you need help carrying your bag?" Santana asks when she picks up her suitcase and watches Brittany struggle to do the same. However, it is as if her words fall upon deaf ears because in a matter of seconds Brittany has their sleeping daughter on one hip, their travel bag over her shoulder and her suitcase handle in her other hand. The Latina doesn't know how she does it.

"Is Jessica coming to pick you up?" Brittany questions whilst they begin to walk towards the exit of the airport. She's not asking because she's bitter about the fact that Jessica is probably the one that will be picking Santana up (well maybe she is a little bit). She's asking because if Jessica isn't picking her up, the blonde was going to offer to drive Santana home. Of course she wants to get home as soon as possible, but she doesn't like the idea of the brunette getting a taxi at this hour all on her own.

"She should be." Santana shrugs, not really knowing the answer for herself. She had called Jessica earlier to let her know that she was coming home early, but as it was a Friday night, the Latina had a feeling that her girlfriend would probably be out drinking with her friends and would be in no state to drive to the airport. She wasn't going to let Brittany know that though.

"Mama, we home yet?" Cassidy interrupts with a yawn as she opens her eyes, blinking a few times so that they adjust to the bright lights surrounding them. "I wanna sleep in our house."

"We'll be home soon." The blonde chuckles, pressing a kiss into the head of hair in front of her. "Sugar is waiting to drive us on home so we have to look out for her, okay?"

Santana knows that she shouldn't let something as small as this get to her, but she can't help but feel slightly hurt and jealous when Cassidy perks up at the mention of Sugar. It's not fair. She's glad that they are all finally back in New York now because after hearing about Sugar non-stop for the past week, Santana can't wait to meet her and see what she's really like.

As soon as Cassidy spots Sugar standing on her own, she struggles out of Brittany's hold and runs over and into Sugar's awaiting arms. As the airport is quiet and there is barely anyone around, Brittany watches with a smile on her face as her two favourite girls are reunited and she even laughs when Sugar picks her daughter up and spins her around dramatically. She reluctantly tears her gaze away from them and scans the people in the surrounding area to search for Jessica (she's seen enough Facebook pictures to know what she looks like) and frowns when she doesn't spot her.

"Is Jessica running late?" Brittany muses out loud, turning to face Santana. However when she does, she notices that Santana is no longer there and she looks towards the exit just in time to see the brunette running out of it.

Everything clicks into place and the blonde realises that due to Sugar and Cassidy's reunion and the fact that Jessica didn't show up, Santana is currently feeling lonelier than ever and Brittany feels a little bit guilty about that. She wants to go and run after the mother of her child and convince her to stay, but she can't. Santana is an adult and they are no longer together. Santana can do what she wants and she made her decision to leave, so instead Brittany accepts that decision and makes her way over to Cassidy and Sugar and joins them in a family hug.


When the car finally comes to a stop, Brittany opens her eyes and lazily brings her hands up to rub the sleep away from them. Before she can even get out of the car, Sugar has already got out and picked Cassidy up out of her car seat and is protectively shielding her from the cold winter air. She didn't mean to fall asleep and Brittany feels bad for leaving her best fried to drive for an hour in silence, but as soon as the car started to drive away from the airport, sleep took over her body and she was too tired to fight it.

"Hurry up, Britt!" Sugar playfully calls as she makes her way up to their house. "Just leave the suitcase in the car." She calls over her shoulder. "We can get it tomorrow."

The idea of finally being back home causes a surge of energy to flow through Brittany and she jumps out of the car and follows Sugar up the steps and pathway to their house. As soon as they are inside, the warmth envelops them and the blonde kicks off her shoes and goes straight into the kitchen and flicks the kettle on to make two cups of hot chocolate whilst Sugar settles Cassidy in her bed.

Whilst waiting for the water in the kettle to boil, Brittany surveys the kitchen to see how much damage Sugar has done to it, but to her surprise it isn't as untidy as she thought it would be. She smiles to herself, knowing that her best friend has done her best to keep on top of the housework despite the fact that tidying the house is the blonde's job.

"I've missed you so much." Sugar breaks the silence as she enters the kitchen and leans up against the kitchen island. "You and Cassidy can never leave me again. The house was too quiet, I almost burned it down, and I got really lonely."

"Don't worry babe, I don't plan on going back there without you." The blonde smiles reassuringly as she crosses the kitchen and wraps her arms around Sugar's waist, pulling the woman into her body.

Sugar returns the hug and buries her face in the crook of Brittany's neck, due to the height difference. She never thought that not seeing her best friend for an entire week would have taken a toll on her, but after living with Brittany and Cassidy for four and a half years and then suddenly being without them made her realise just how big of a part they played in her life.

"Was it that bad?" The brunette mumbles into Brittany's shoulder before pulling slightly out of the embrace to look at the pair of ocean blue eyes in front of her.

"No." She shakes her head in response. "It made me realise just how much I actually missed her."


After paying the taxi driver and telling him to keep the change, Santana grabs her suitcase and drags it up the stairs to her one bed-roomed apartment. She's surprised to find the front door unlocked when she tries it, and then gets excited at the possibility of Jessica still being awake. Despite the fact that they haven't spoken for the entire week that she's been away, Santana really wants to see her girlfriend because right now, all she wants is for someone to hold her and tell her that everything is going to be ok.

When she enters the apartment, Santana immediately freezes in the hallway. It's freezing cold and the usually tidy floor is cluttered with various high heeled shoes. With a sigh, the Latina dumps her suitcase down beside them and wraps her arms around her body in order to shield herself from the cold air, and begins her search for Jessica.

Another sigh escapes her lips when she walks through to the living room to find the tv on but her girlfriend nowhere in sight. She looks around the room to find various clothes, take-out boxes and cans and bottles of drink scattered around the room, and huffs in frustration as she knows that she'll be the one cleaning it all in the morning.

"Jess, are you home?" Santana calls out loud, her voice echoing through the small building. She finds it strange that all the lights and electronic appliances are on, but she can't find her girlfriend anywhere. When she gets no response, the brunette switches the tv off and exits the living room, heading straight towards the bedroom.

"Babe, are yo-" Santana cuts herself off when she comes to an abrupt halt in the doorway of her bedroom. Lying sprawled out in the middle of the bed is Jessica. She's still wearing her clothes from her night out and her curly blonde hair is masking her face, but Santana suspects that her girlfriend was so drunk when she got home that she probably never even took her make up off. She also suspects that like almost every night out, Jessica will more than likely have a killer hangover in the morning, so she makes a mental note to make sure there's aspirin in the medicine cupboard for her.

Santana doesn't really know how to feel about the state of her girlfriend as she stands there staring at her. She's upset since she didn't come to pick her up from the airport, but she's also really frustrated at the way the apartment has been left whilst she has been away. Admittedly, out of the pair of them Santana does all the cleaning, but she thought that Jessica would have at least tidied up after herself throughout the week. Not wanting to make herself even more annoyed at the situation, Santana retreats from the bedroom, grabbing a few extra blankets on her way out, and goes back into the living room and lies down on the couch. With a shiver, she turns on her side so that she's facing the television and turns it back on because she knows that it's highly unlikely that she'll get any sleep when she's freezing cold, upset, and lying on one of the most uncomfortable couches in the world.


When Brittany wakes up in the morning the first thing she feels is the weight and heat of two bodies pressed up against either side of her, and she smiles when she opens her eyes to find Sugar curled up into her left side and Cassidy curled up to her right. The both of them are sleeping soundly and the blonde begins to wonder how and when they were both successfully able to slip into her bed during the night without waking her. However, she quickly comes to the conclusion that she doesn't want to know how they did it because knowing Sugar, she probably had an elaborate plan set out.

Glancing at the time on the alarm clock lying on the bedside table, Brittany inaudibly groans when she sees that it is quarter to twelve. She had a feeling that everyone would sleep in a little bit due to the previous events, but she never thought that it would be until that late. Deciding that there's no point in waking Cassidy or Sugar up until she's decided on what they're going to do today, Brittany carefully maneuvers herself out of bed and quickly makes her way downstairs and into the kitchen so that she can start making breakfast for the three of them.

Whilst grabbing the ingredients from the cupboards and fridge to make pancakes, Brittany also checks to see whether or not she'll have to go food shopping. She quickly discovers the lack of food, indicating that Sugar hasn't been shopping at all this week, and she makes a mental note to herself to make a list of food they need after they're all finished breakfast. Aside from shopping and giving the house a little clean, Brittany decides that there's nothing else important for them to do today and she lets out a breath or relief, knowing that she'll be able to spend the rest of the day relaxing.

There's still no sign of Sugar or Cassidy when Brittany finishes making breakfast, so she piles the two plates of pancakes and three cups of orange juice on a tray and takes it back upstairs to her bedroom. As she gets closer to the door, she begins to hear the faint sound of her daughter's laughter and she lightly kicks it open to find Sugar and Cassidy having a pillow fight.

"Put the pillows down and park your butts, I have breakfast." Brittany orders with enough authority to get both of the girls to listen to her. She carefully perches on the side of the bed and place the tray of food in the middle of Cassidy and Sugar before pulling her daughter onto her lap.

Immediately, all three of them dig in, sharing both the plates of pancakes and Brittany takes this opportunity to grab her phone from under her pillow and check it. She isn't surprised to find a text from Maribel asking her how her flight was, and she quickly replies to tell her that it was fine before sifting through the rest of her unread texts. Her last message is from Santana, and she pause for a moment as she reads over it once again and thinks of a reply.

Incoming from Santana (10:38AM): "Do you and Cassidy want to go out for lunch today?"

The question takes Brittany by surprise because at the airport the Latina left without saying anything to her or Cassidy, but she doesn't want something as small as that to get between them, so she decides to let it slide. It's a little too late for lunch now as she and Cassidy have just finished breakfast, but she is willing to compromise with Santana. It's the least that she can do.

Sending to Santana: "Sorry, woke up late and only just read your text. Cass is just eating her breakfast so I don't think lunch is a good idea. How about you and Jessica come over here for dinner tonight?"

She presses send and then drops the phone down beside her. She doesn't really want to invite Jessica, but she feels obliged to. After all, she is Santana's girlfriend and if Cassidy is going to be spending time over at their apartment she would like to meet her. She wants to make sure that she isn't a murderer or anything, and with Sugar also being there, Brittany knows that her best friend will have fun acting as an interrogator during dinner.

Incoming from Santana: "It's ok, don't worry about it. Dinner is fine, but Jessica can't make it. Do you mind if Quinn comes instead?"

A sense of relief washes over Brittany for a number or reasons, the main one being that Jessica won't be stepping foot in her house tonight. She can deal with Quinn because she knows that if her former friend starts anything, Sugar will call her out on it. She forgot that Quinn, Rachel, Kurt and Blaine all flew back from Lima earlier than she did because of work commitments but she's glad that Santana will have someone to help her feel more at ease during dinner.

Sending to Santana: "Quinn is welcome to join us too. Dinner is at 6:30, it's your job to bring dessert :P"

Keeping the text lighthearted and not questioning why Jessica can't come (not that she actually cares too much), Brittany presses send and turns her attention back to Sugar and Cassidy who are just finishing off the last of the pancakes. Today wasn't supposed to be stressful in the slightest, but she can already feel the pressure begin to build as she thinks about cooking dinner for five people. Especially when she knows that both Quinn and Santana will be judging her throughout it all. However, she doesn't mind doing it because by doing so, it will help strengthen the relationship between Cassidy and Santana.

"Sugar, do you want to go shopping or tidy the house today?" Brittany asks as she lies back down on her bed, pulling Cassidy down onto her chest at the same time. "Don't bother saying that you don't want to do either of them because Santana and Quinn are coming over for dinner tonight so I need you to help me out."

"What?!" Sugar exclaims, swallowing a mouthful of orange juice. "Santana and the loser who slapped you are coming over for dinner tonight and you're just telling me about it now? Nothing like a bit of short notice, Britt." She jokes, grinning at her blonde best friend. "Little Baby Pierce and I will go shopping, if you make a list."

"So you're leaving me to clean up your mess from the past week? I see how it is Miss Motta!" Brittany banters back, playfully rolling her eyes at Sugar. "I'll definitely make a list, I don't want a repeat of what happened last time!"


It's six o'clock and after a long day of tidying up and running out to the store for some food and ingredients to bake a cake for dessert, Santana is finally getting ready for dinner at Brittany's. She's glad that Quinn is coming with her too because she honestly doesn't know what she would do without her best friend. Back in Lima everything was easy because it was only her, Brittany and Cassidy, and they didn't have to worry about anything else. However, being back in New York is causing the Latina to slowly realise that working on her relationship with Cassidy and Brittany will probably be a lot harder than she initially thought it was going to be due to other distractions and commitments.

After pulling on a fresh pair of compression shorts and a pair of black jeans, Santana smooths down the white shirt that she is wearing and fixes her hair in the mirror. It may sound silly as she saw them less than twenty four hours ago, but she is already missing Cassidy and Brittany and she can 't wait to see them again.

Once she is finished getting ready, Santana leaves the bathroom and makes her way through to the living room so that she can wait for Quinn to come and pick her up. She glares at the couch as she sits down (her back is killing her from sleeping on it) and turns the television on in an attempt to kill some time, although she has a feeling that the next fifteen minutes were going to drag by no matter what.

"Santana whose cake is this?" Jessica calls from the kitchen, breaking Santana out of her thoughts and causing her to jump. Jessica hadn't left their room all day as she claimed that she wasn't feeling well so Santana hadn't thought that she'd see her before she left.

Before she can even open her mouth to reply, Jessica appears in the doorway of the living room with the cake in her hand. Santana hasn't told Jessica about her going out for dinner (mainly because she was still asleep when it was arranged) and in all honesty, she was hoping that she wouldn't need to because she didn't know how her girlfriend would take it. She had told Jessica about Cassidy the same day that she found out about her, and it had resulted in an argument over the phone and they hadn't spoken about it since. Obviously it was something that would have to be discussed sooner or later, but the Latina was hoping for later because right now just didn't seem like the best time.

"Quinn and I are going to have dinner with Brittany and Cassidy." She eventually states with a sigh, deciding that honesty is the best way to go about it. "Brittany is cooking so it's only polite that I bring dessert."

She takes her attention away from the television to look at Jessica whose facial expression changes from being confused to angry in a matter of seconds. Santana knows that they're going to have another argument and she hopes that Quinn gets to her apartment just in time to stop it. She can understand why Jessica is upset with the news that she already has a child with another woman, but it's not as if she was dishonest with her from the start of their relationship. She never knew about Cassidy up until she went back to Lima, so it's not her fault.

"Are you serious?" Jessica scoffs. "Your ex girlfriend invited you for dinner and you weren't going to tell me about it?" She challenges, taking a few steps into the room so that she's standing in front of Santana, blocking her view of the television. Not that she was watching it anyway.

"You were sleeping when the plans were arranged." Santana explains in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "I text Brittany in the morning asking her if she and Cassidy wanted to come to lunch with me, but she was busy and offered for Quinn and I to come to dinner instead."

So maybe the last part was a tiny lie since Brittany did invite Jessica, but Santana doesn't want her to know that. It's not that she doesn't want Jessica to meet her daughter, because she does. However before that happens, Santana wants to make sure that Jessica is okay with the fact that she already has a daughter and won't be bitter about it, and that Cassidy and Brittany are both comfortable around her before she introduces them to Jessica. She wants to do this right, she doesn't want to rush anything.

"So she invited you but not me?" Jessica narrows her eyes at the brunette sitting on the couch, "Are you serious right now? I've been your girlfriend for three and a half years, Santana! Do you not think that I have the right to meet your child?"

Santana opens her mouth to speak, but quickly closes it again. She doesn't know how to answer the question without offending the woman in front of her and causing an even bigger argument. "Look, we can talk about this when I get home from dinner. I'm not getting into this right now because I'll be leaving in a minute. I've been shopping since there was nothing in the apartment so you should be able to find something to eat. There's also money on the kitchen table if you want to order take-out. I shouldn't be longer than a couple of hours, okay?"

Jessica stares at Santana for a minute, her mouth hanging slightly open. "Fuck you, Santana." She hisses, dropping the cake on the ground before storming out the room. "You're acting like a bitch!"

"I'm the bitch?" Santana retorts, raising her voice so that Jessica will hear her. "You're the one that's acting like an immature little bitch!"

The sound of Quinn's car horn breaks the tension in the household and Santana stands up from the couch, dodging past the cake and storming out the apartment, slamming the door behind her.


This is part 1/2. I've started on part 2 and I decided to cut it as the dinner will be a key scene (with a lot of Sugar action). I just thought it was important to show the contrast of both Brittany and Santana's lives.

I know that I haven't updated in a while due to many different things, so I don't know how many people are actually still interested in this story. So please leave a review if you are because if I don't get many I think I'll probably just not continue it. I don't mean to sound big headed when I say that, but it's nice to know (and I'm sure other fic writers will agree) that I'm writing for people who enjoy it.

Also, I know that I don't usually reply to reviews publicly, but I have to with this one because it hit home a little bit. To whoever wrote the review saying: "this wouldve been better if it was a boy instead of a daughter. honestly its cutter when both mamas have a boy. whatever. oh and also can you please stop writing cassidy like shes a retard! because its getting really frustrating when she says IS instead if ARE. and i also reeeaaally hat quinn in this fic. and can u please include some faberry in here cause i love rachel. oohh and some karley too!"

"Mental retardation (MR), general learning disability or intellectual disability is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviours." I have a cousin who I'm very close to who is mentally retarded which is why I take it to heart when people use that term in the wrong way. Cassidy is 3 and 1/2. She is not fully developed yet which is why phrases with is and are get mixed up. My parents own a nursery and I help out there and I'm surrounded by kids in that age group and it's very common for it to happen. Please think before using the term, that's all I'm asking.