It had been two weeks. Two entire weeks, and not a single word about their impending date had been mentioned. In fact, there had been no further mention of that night at all. Santana had begun to wonder if she had imagined the whole thing until Chris came into Brittany's office one day to talk to the ad executive about her current project. After noticing that she was talking to the accountant, he took Brittany's whiteboard out of her hands and sent a joking message asking Santana how the weather was over there, with over there being just across the street and a floor down from where he and Brittany stood.
So, it had officially been confirmed with the help of Chris and Santana's wall calendar that it had really been two weeks later, and Santana was still trying to regain the courage that seemed to have all but dissipated since the night of the office party. The brunette was making real progress today, however, and had even taken the time to write out a few practice messages in order to try and find the best way to bring the topic back up. She was almost done creating her foolproof plan when she noticed the blonde walk into her office.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned forward out of the reclined state her chair had been in, and she grabbed her dry erase board to send their usual good morning message, which was an crucial part of the first step in her plan: act natural.
She was almost done writing when she glanced up and noticed that something was off with the blonde. Brittany didn't carry the normal spunk she usually possessed. In fact, the girl looked so dejected that Santana could have almost sworn that there was a tiny rain cloud hanging over her head.
"Good morning, Britt-Britt," she attempted to tell the blonde but failed to get the girl's attention.
It took nearly five minutes for the blonde to look up, but when she did, Santana could tell that something wasn't right. Even from all the way across the street in her small cubicle, Santana could see the storm of conflicting emotions that was raging behind the girl's eyes. Brittany looked as if she were completely lost.
When Brittany had finally noticed the message, she felt her eyes widened in remembrance of their morning routine, which had previously gone forgotten.
Santana watched as Brittany rushed over to her desk to retrieve the whiteboard she kept in its large side drawer. As soon as she had the board in her hands, Brittany started writing down an apology to the brunette, "I am so sorry, San. I don't know where my head is at this morning. I guess it's because I'm sad panda today, and it's making me a little distracted."
"Why so glum, Chum?" the Latina sent back in an attempt to brighten the blonde's mood at least a little.
She watched as a small, almost unnoticeable, half-smile pulled at the other woman's lips, but it was gone just as soon as it had appeared when she replied, "Well, I found out that my uncle is going off his medication. He's been fighting cancer for years now, but they found out that it had reached his lungs a few months ago. Now, it's everywhere, and they don't think the treatments are helping him anymore. My mom called me this morning with the news…"
When Santana spotted the ellipsis, she knew that Brittany had a little more to say but had simply run out of room on the whiteboard, so she gave her a quick nod to tell her she had finished reading. Turning the board back towards herself, the ad exec wrote out the second part of her message, "They don't expect him to live much longer, and I guess that just makes me really sad."
"Aw, Britt. I'm so sorry that you have to go through this right now. Are you planning to go back home?"
The Latina watched as the other woman let out a long sigh, "My family knows that I am in the middle of finishing up my first big project since my promotion, and they are all encouraging me to stay here until things take a turn for the worst so that I don't have to push back the presentation date..." She gave Santana a moment to finish reading before writing out, "They keep mentioning how nothing about his condition has changed yet and that I should just try to focus on everything that I've got going on right now, but I can't help but think that I'm making the wrong decision by staying here. Like, what if I'm too late?"
It was as if a pile of bricks had been thrown onto the Latina's chest, and she wondered why something so bad had to happen to someone like Brittany. The girl's love for her uncle was undeniable. The brunette could see it in her eyes as plain as day, and Santana couldn't help but imagine him being just as kind and undeserving as his conflicted niece, who was currently on the verge of tears. The accountant felt as if she had just watched someone kick a puppy or even worse, watched the blonde watch someone kick a puppy.
Not being able to take the devastated look on her friend's face any longer, she quickly devised a way to help the blonde take her mind off of the current situation, "Hey, would you maybe like to go to the park after work? I could finally get around to teaching you how to make my super awesome paper airplanes, if you feel up to it."
Santana couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment as Brittany's expression grew a little brighter, "You mean it?"
"Yes, of course! We can even stop by the coffee shop and grab a couple of hot chocolates to help stay warm. What do you say?"
"I say that sounds like an awfully good plan right now," the blonde answered with a broad smile.
Feeling her own smile grace her face, Santana wrote back, "Well, that's what I was hoping for."
As soon as five o'clock came around, the girls left work to meet up with one another on the street below. Once they had made their way over to one another, they exchanged a quick greeting and turned to make their way towards Santana's favorite coffee shop.
After they had received their drinks, they walked over to the nearest open table so the brunette could start her paper airplane making tutorial, "Okay, you ready to see how I like to make a paper airplane?"
"Yes!" Brittany exclaimed as she clapped her hands in excitement.
Grateful that the other woman seemed to have regained at least some of the normal pep back in her step, Santana began, "Okay, the first thing you do is get a piece of paper." She reached down towards her briefcase and unzipped it so that she could grab two sheets of computer paper. Handing one over to the blonde, she started explaining the next step, "Now, fold it hotdog style. The key here is to make sure you match up the corners as much as you can."
"Like this?" Brittany asked as she held up her now folded piece of paper.
"Yeah, that's perfect. So, the next thing you need to do is unfold it and grab the top corner so you can fold it in like this," Santana instructed as she folded the corner towards the middle crease, adding, "And you'll do that for both sides."
Brittany gave a slight nod as she focus on the task at hand, and Santana couldn't help but smile at the look on the blonde's face as she sucked in her bottom lip and scrunched her eyebrows together in concentration.
Santana continued listing off steps, and once they had finished their first basic design, Santana started explaining other ways to make paper airplanes. After they had created a few using several different methods, the girls flattened them as best they could and stashed them in their purses so that they could make their way to the park around the block.
Within no time, the two women found themselves walking through an open grassy area with a few park benches sprinkled about and a large duck pond located at the center.
"I love to come here sometimes on my way home from work to watch the ducks. It's the perfect way to unwind after a stressful day," Brittany told the Latina as she kept her eyes on the small body of water.
"Yeah, I figured as much, which is why I decided to snag this from the break room before I left the office," Santana said as she began to dig in her briefcase and pulled out a slightly squashed loaf of bread.
"San, I can't feed somebody else's bread to the ducks!" the ad exec playfully scolded.
Rolling her eyes, Santana responded, "I promise I'll have their loaf replaced by tomorrow afternoon. Now, stop worrying so much. We got ducks to feed!"
The girls spent the next hour or so playing with the ducks and flying their paper creations before they finally settled down and took a seat on a nearby park bench. Santana wasn't exactly sure when it happened, but she suddenly found her arm wrapped around Brittany's shoulders. Brittany soon followed the motion by bringing herself a little closer so she could lay her head on the brunette's shoulder.
"Hey, San," the blonde suddenly whispered.
"Yeah, Britt?"
"Thank you for today."
Tightening her hold around the girl slightly, Santana responded, "Anytime, Britt-Britt."
Santana had just stepped into her apartment after walking Brittany home and quickly dug her phone out of her purse so she could send Brittany a text to let her know that she had made it home alright. Unlocking the device she found two new text messages, one from Brittany and the other from her mother, and quickly moved to open the one from the blonde first.
To San: Hey, I know I told you this right before you left in the taxi, but I just wanted to thank you again for turning my day around. I seriously don't know what I would have done if you weren't there to help cheer me up.
The Latina couldn't help but smile at Brittany's message and went to type out a response.
To Britt-Britt: Aw, I had a ton of fun with you today, so it was really no problem. By the way, I made it back safe and sound. I think I'm about to eat dinner and head to bed, so I'll talk to you in the morning. Good night, Britt.
By the time she had made it to the kitchen, she had already received a picture of Brittany and what she assumed to be Lord Tubbington cuddled up in the blonde's bed with Brittany smiling widely as she held up the cat's paw to make it look like he was waving to the camera. Underneath, Brittany had typed a message for the brunette.
To San: Alrighty. Lord Tubbington hopes you get a puuuuuuurfect night's rest. Good night, San!
Staring down at the text, Santana felt a wide grin stretch across her face before being reduced to a fit of giggles. She couldn't help it with Brittany sending her such a cute good night text, which led her to wonder what it would be like to get good night texts from the blonde every night.
"Uh, oh. Looks like somebody's got it bad," an ominous voice suddenly called out from behind the Latina.
"Holy sh-" Santana began to say as her entire body was overtaken by a jolt of surprise.
"Santana! Language!" the voice yelled out over her own. Now that her body had gotten over the initial shock, she was able to fully process what was going on and realized just who was standing in her apartment.
Spinning around, the Latina let out a frustrated groan, "Mom, what have I told you about coming over without telling me? I didn't give you a spare key just so you could come in here and scare the tar out of me. What if I had been carrying mace or something?"
"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have been able to do much of anything considering how focused you were on your phone. By the way, I sent a text to let you know that I would be in here waiting for you, but I assume that you ignored it so that you could read your lovergirl's text. So, who is she?"
"What?" Santana was completely dumbfounded by her mother's accurate assumption.
The older woman rolled her eyes, "Please, Santana. You and I both know that you are not exactly one to giggle, let alone turn into the pile of mush that you were when I walked into the room."
"Okay, yeah. I'm not talking about this with you."
"Why? Scared I'm going to embarrass you if I meet your girlfriend," her mother drug out in a teasing manner with a wide smile.
"She's not my girlfriend," Santana shot back tersely.
"Then, what is she?" her mother asked curiously.
"She's my… my… Look, I don't know what she is. I know Brittany and I are friends. You could even maybe call us best friends. I just don't know if we're talking or not talking or what. I mean, I feel like she's interested. Actually, I know she's interested, but…"
"But you don't want any kind of misinterpretation," the older woman finished.
Santana let out a long sigh, responding, "Exactly, which is why I am taking this a step at a time and also why have I haven't told you. I'd like to get an idea of what this is for myself before I start going around telling people about it."
Her mother gave an understanding look, "Alright, Santana. I'm sorry I pushed the topic. How about we just drop it for now?"
The suggestion elicited an eager nod from the accountant as she went to change the subject, "Not to sound disappointed by your visit or anything, but why exactly are you here?"
"I had some extra vacation days and decided to come see my favorite daughter since she wasn't able to come home for Christmas this year," the older woman responded.
"I'm your only daughter, and child for that matter," Santana sarcastically noted.
"Details," the woman said, waving her hand in a nonchalant manner before asking, "Would you happen to be free for lunch tomorrow? I was thinking about taking you out so we could catch up."
"Yeah, I can do lunch. I'll just have to text Britt and reschedule with her first."
Just as Santana reached out to grab her cellphone to give the blonde a heads up, the other woman firmly placed her hand on top of her daughter's, rendering her incapable of picking up the device, "Nonsense. Why don't you just invite her to join us? Lord knows I haven't met any of your friends since you moved away from home."
Santana wanted nothing more than to protest, but she knew her mother almost always found a way to win their mother/daughter arguments and didn't even bother to put up a fight. Letting out a small groan, she followed her mother's request and sent a text to Brittany.
To Britt-Britt: Hey, I know I said I was going to bed and stuff, but it turns out my mother decided to drop by for a surprise visit… Emphasis on the surprise. Anyways, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind her joining us for lunch tomorrow.
While waiting for a response for the blonde, Santana went back to finding something to eat for dinner. The accountant and her mother were both seated at the dining room table when Brittany's reply finally came.
To San: Of course she can come with us! Seriously, San, what made you even think you had to ask?
To Britt-Britt: Well, I just wanted to make sure. I honestly didn't know she was coming or else I would have given you more of a heads up.
To San: Don't worry about it. I'd love to meet your mother.
To Britt-Britt: I'll give her the okay to come then.
To San: Alright, that sounds good. See you tomorrow, San. Good night!
To Britt-Britt: Good night, Britt.
Santana relayed the Brittany's message to the older woman before getting up to take a shower so that she could finally go to bed. She figured she was going to need as much rest as she could possibly get in order to prepare her for the meeting between her mother and the blonde, and it wasn't because she didn't think they wouldn't get along. She thought quite the opposite, in fact. She was afraid they would get along a little too well, making her an easy target for embarrassment.
Santana's mother ended up meeting them the following afternoon at the same Baja taco place they had eaten at the first time they went out for lunch, which had since become a regular hang out place for the girls.
After walking up to her daughter and giving her a tight hug, Santana's mother made her way towards the ad executive, "Hi, you must be Brittany. I'm Maribel, Santana's mother."
"It's nice to meet you, Maribel. I'm glad that you could join us for lunch."
"So am I. I've always wanted to meet some of Santana's city friends, but she's a little hardheaded and likes to keep her home and city life separate. Anyways, I'm going to go get us a table." Maribel said before walking off.
"Seriously, we don't have to eat lunch with her if you don't feel up to it," Santana leaded in to whisper into Brittany's ear, hoping that the blonde would change her mind. As if knowing the brunette's true intentions, Brittany rolled her eyes and made her way over towards the older woman, leaving Santana to stand there alone until she finally made a move to follow behind the other two women.
The trio were soon sitting in a booth, looking through the menu as Maribel and Brittany got to know one another. Unfortunately for Santana, it took her mother almost no time at all to feel at liberty to disclose some of Santana's most embarrassing moments that the older woman just so happened to have witnessed. After she was finished with that topic, she began telling into story after story about how much of a troublemaker Santana was growing up.
"I swear, this one was a little heathen. Has she ever told you her middle name?" Maribel chuckled out as she pointed over to her daughter.
The blonde gave a quick nod, "Yes, we have this ongoing game of 20 Questions, and that was one of the first questions I asked her. Is Diabla supposed to be Spanish for something? She wouldn't tell me."
The younger Latina's eyes widened at this question and turned to her mother with a warning look, "Don't you dare."
"It means she-devil, Brittany. You'll be able to see why once you see her lose her temper, assuming you haven't already," the woman said, completely ignoring her daughter's empty threat.
"Mom! Callate!"
Acknowledging her daughter's previous comment, Maribel turned her head to give Santana a stern look, which Brittany immediately picked up on, "San, what did you just say?"
"Nothing," the girl grumbled.
"She told me to shut up in Spanish, Dear," Maribel informed the blonde.
Brittany gasped, "Santana! That is no way to talk to your mother!"
"But she just-"
The ad executive sent her friend a harsh glare as she cut her off, "I don't care. Apologize."
"But-"
"Apologize."
Heaving a sigh, the Latina reluctantly looked over to her mother and said in the sincerest voice she could muster, "I'm sorry."
Placing a hand on her knee briefly to get her to look at her, Brittany replied with a quiet, "Thank you," causing Santana's mood to do a complete one-eighty.
"How in the world did you do that?" Maribel questioned out of pure astonishment of the blonde's power over her daughter.
Brittany tore her gaze way from Santana to look at her new acquaintance, "It's pretty simple. I just-"
Santana covered her face with her hands and tried to speak over the blonde, "You know, I don't think you doing it is going to have quite the same effect on me, Mom." When she received no response, she repeated, "Mom?" Still being met with no reply, she uncovered her face to find the other two women still carrying on their own conversation while blatantly ignoring Santana's comments. Realizing this, Santana quietly muttered to herself, "Oh my gosh, I have never felt like more of a third-wheel in my entire life. You'd think you two were the ones who were dating with the way you're acting."
The brunette's slip up instantly caught the two women's attention as they snapped their eyes up towards her. Letting out a loud groan, Santana brought her hands up once again to rub her face in frustration, "Of course you would hear me as soon as I accidentally say the word dating. Naturally."
Brittany gently gave the girl's knee a squeeze, "Hey, it's okay, San." She then gave the girl a wide grin that Santana immediately mirrored as she stared into the blonde's eyes.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Maribel suddenly cut in, effectively snapping the two girl's out of their trance.
Not even bothering to make any further comments, Santana just settled for letting out a defeated sigh as she stood up and announced that she would be in the bathroom, though the other two women had already launched into their next topic and were once again paying her no mind.
Upon her return about five minute later, she spotted her mother handing the waiter the bill holder while the blonde attempted to protest, "Seriously, Maribel. I can pay for my meal."
"Look, there is no way I am letting you pay, so you might as well let it go," Santana's mother said with a confident smirk, knowing that she had already won.
The blonde immediately recognized the expression as one of the many she had seen Santana frequently sporting and said, "Well, at least I know where Santana gets her stubbornness from."
The pair let out a laugh, still not realizing that the other Latina had returned, and Maribel added, "Yeah, you know what they say. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
Santana gave a little cough to get their attention, and after spotting the accountant, Maribel and Brittany had a couple more laughs as they gathered their things so that they could leave.
Once they were ready, they all started to make their way towards the door. Santana turned to follow behind Brittany but was almost instantly pulled backwards by the arm. Turning around, she found her mother and gave the woman a questioning look.
"You better marry her someday, Santanita," Maribel whispered to her daughter.
"Mom! Are you fu-"the Latina started to whispered back before receiving a pointed look from her mother, who knew the exact word she was about to say. She gave a quick frustrated sigh as she corrected herself, "Are you effing kidding me right now? We're not even officially dating. We haven't even been on one real date yet, for that matter."
"And just exactly whose fault is that?" the older woman challenged. Receiving a confused expression from her daughter, she said, "Brittany told me that you had asked her on a date a couple of weeks ago but you haven't brought it up since. Poor girl looked so discouraged that I could hardly stand it."
"She did?"
"Yeah, and you need to fix it. That girl is like a ray of sunshine, and she doesn't need your cloud of stupidity preventing her from shining," Maribel said, trying to talk some sense into her daughter.
"Look, now's not the time. She's dealing with some family stuff, and I'd really like to not get in the way of that. What if I were to somehow make matters worse for her?" Santana tried to reason.
"That didn't seem to be the case when she was telling me about how excited she was. I think you just need to put on your big girl britches and grow a spine. Seriously, the Santana I used to know would have never taken this long to ask someone out," Maribel shot back.
"Yeah, well she's different," Santana shot back as she nodded towards the retreating blonde.
"I know, and that's why you shouldn't be fiddle-farting around while she just stands there waiting. She can't wait forever for you to find a way to get your head out of your behind, Santana."
"I know," Santana said as she heaved another sigh, "I'll work on it."
The older woman gave a satisfied smile, "Good girl. Oh, and about the wedding. I was thinking-"
"Okay, yeah. I think it's time to go. See you at home. Love you. Bye!" she quickly spat out as she ran to grab Brittany's arm, "Come on, Britt-Britt. Let's get out of here."
Unable to free herself from the Latina's grasp, she looked back to the older woman, yelling, "Bye, Maribel! It's was nice to meet you!"
"You, too, Brittany! Stay in touch!" Maribel called out between laughs after seeing her daughter's reaction to her teasing.
"I will!" the blonde yelled over her shoulder before facing forward so she could see where she was going.
Author's Note:
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.
Also, I know I keep saying this, but I am heading into another round of exams, so I'm not sure when Chapter 9 will be posted. I just wanted to give you all a heads up.
Anyways, I hope see you next time!
