Disclaimer: I do not own Glee :(

CHAPTER 8

Santana checked her reflection one more time in the mirror and frowned. She didn't feel normal. This wasn't something that moms wore.

"What's that look for?" Kurt queried, poking his head into her bedroom.

"I don't know," Santana mused. "Isn't this too…slutty for a mom?"

Kurt laughed loudly and Bella joined in from her spot on the bed, clapping her hands.

"Yeah, great support base you guys are," Santana quipped, winking at her daughter.

"Mama," Bella said seriously.

"Yes, baby girl?" Santana replied, kneeling down in front of her daughter.

Bella went on a rampage of mumbled baby noises with a few discernible vowels and consonants, her hands on her mother's face.

"You should listen to her," Kurt said matter-of-factly when Bella finished. "She's wise beyond her years."

"One year," Santana corrected. She smiled and nuzzled Bella's neck, causing her to squeal happily. "My baby's already one whole year old today, aren't you?"

"Mama!" Bella giggled.

"Ok, seriously," Santana said, standing up and doing a pirouette in front of her daughter. "What do you think? Can you be seen out in public with your mother looking like this?"

Bella stared at her mother with a straight face before breaking out into a smile and clapping her hands.

"The fashionista has spoken," Kurt said dramatically. "For what my two cents may be worth, I think you look stunning."

Santana blushed and smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Kurtie," she cooed. "I'm a total milf, right?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I think you could add any letter to the beginning of that word and you'd be good to go. Santana Lopez, ilf extraordinaire."

Santana laughed loudly and Bella joined in. Kurt waved and disappeared out of the bedroom.

"Mama," Bella said, waving her arms in the air. Santana bent down and picked up her daughter.

"And what about you, pretty girl? Do you like your dress? Abuela picked it out specially for you for today."

Bella smiled and placed a kiss on her mom's cheek. Well, more like slobbered on her mom's cheek. Santana chuckled and wiped the drool discreetly. Bella always seemed to get upset that her mother was wiping away her kisses.

"Look at us, baby girl," Santana said, standing with her daughter in front of the mirror. "We're a pair of hot bitches, you and me."

"Language, Santana!" Rachel called as she walked past the bedroom.

"Whoops," Santana giggled. "You're super smart though, Bella, so I know you won't use that word ever."

Bella looked perplexed and Santana saw her lips moving around to form an unfamiliar word. Her eyes widened.

"Who are you?" she asked quickly, tickling Bella with her index finger.

"Beeeewwaaa," Bella said proudly.

"That's right," Santana said. "And who am I?"

"Mama!"

"My baby, the genius," Santana chuckled. "C'mon, let's go light up the world."

She paused as she realised what she'd said. She shook it off and grabbed her coat and Bella's blanket before heading out.


"Daddy, this place is amazing," Santana said in awe once she'd got Bella settled in her baby seat at the table and had a chance to look around. "It seems a little out of my price range though."

"Mija, don't be ridiculous," Emilio said with a smile. "It's our granddaughter's first birthday and we are entitled to take her and her beautiful mother out to dinner."

"Gracias, Papi."

"Papi!" Bella said suddenly.

The look on Emilio's face was priceless. Santana just smiled. Her daughter had been saying that word because she kept hearing her mother use it when she was on the phone to her father.

"I-I-I-I…"

"It's all right, Daddy," Santana said softly, placing a hand on his arm. "It's only because that's what I call you."

"So there's no…?" Maribel queried.

"God, no!" Santana said to her mother, laughing. "That was a one time flook. It definitely won't happen again."

"And anyone else, mija?" her mother prodded gently.

Santana sighed, her eyes belaying the sudden sadness she felt at knowing she was alone. Well, not alone, but that she didn't have someone at her side to love her and care for her and take her out. She definitely missed it. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she missed a certain blonde.

"No, Mami," she replied eventually. "There's no one."

"Have you tried to get in contact with…her?"

Santana smiled sadly at her mother, who reached over and squeezed her hand. "I did. About two months ago, I decided to try and reach out, to rectify the damage I'd caused. But her number is disconnected and her parents didn't answer."

"And that's all?" Emilio asked, frowning. "Santanita, this is Brittany we're talking about. You're not going to try harder than that?"

Santana took a shaky breath and willed the tears to stay away. "This whole thing has been hard, Papi," she said replied softly. "Of course I want to see her. I want to be able to tell her how sorry I am. I want to introduce her to Bella." She ran her finger across her daughter's forehead, causing the youngest Lopez to look up and smile at her. "But I have to accept that it may be too late. I took the leap, even though Kurt and Rachel told me not to, and I didn't find her on the other end." She shrugged. "I believe, more than ever, that everything happens for a reason. If Brittany hadn't left, I wouldn't have Bella and I can't imagine my life without her."

"Are you still angry with her?"

"I don't know," Santana said honestly. "We both said some really hurtful things that night. I was angry for a long time because she came and told me that she was going. She didn't even attempt to discuss it with me. So maybe I'm still angry about that. But mostly, I think I'm just sad. I'll probably always be sad. There's no one like her."

"Ai, mija," Maribel said sympathetically. "I'm sure that someday you two might be able to work things out."

"I don't know about that, Mami. I don't know if we can ever go back to what we had. Too much has changed. But…I don't know. I guess I'd like to know if we could ever be friends again." Santana shook her head. "But the chances of that happening are so remote. I don't even know where she is."

Bella banged on the table, frowning at her mother.

"Sorry, baby girl," Santana apologised, smiling. "You're absolutely right. Today is your birthday and here we are talking about my sad history."

"Her dress looks gorgeous," Maribel said proudly.

"You have a good eye, Mami," Santana agreed. "But then again, you always did."

"And you also look lovely, Santanita," Emilio said, taking his daughter's hand and placing a gentle kiss on the back of it.

Santana blushed. "Gracias, Papi."

"Papi!" Bella said loudly.

The table laughed.


Brittany pulled her jacket around her tightly as she trudged home after a long day at the dance studio. She was exhausted, but couldn't afford to slack on her training. She had landed a gig on Dancing With The Stars as one of the professional dancers. She was due to fly out to LA in a few days.

She passed a few high-class restaurants and smirked at the lavish interiors. She hated how the high society lauded their wealth over everyone. Not that she was struggling. Her back to back world tours with Rihanna and then Madonna had blown up her bank account, but she was never home so she had no reason to spend it.

As she walked past the entrance to a particular restaurant, she happened to glance in and immediately froze. What in all the hell were the chances?

Santana walked through the restaurant, heading towards what Brittany assumed was the restroom. She passed the bar and Brittany saw her turn around when a guy had obviously made some sort of comment. Brittany smiled when she saw Santana's expression. The guy was getting a royal telling off for even thinking that he could talk to her.

God, she looked amazing. She was just as beautiful as Brittany remembered, possibly even more so. Her legs, damn. Brittany missed those muscular legs. She used to stare at them for hours. She was wearing crazy heels that just accentuated them, but Santana had always loved her heels.

Santana snapped her hand and flipped her hair as she turned away from the now blushing guy at the bar and continued toward the bathroom or wherever she was going. Brittany couldn't move. She wanted to run in and see her, see those dark eyes trained on her. She wanted to see that dimple she loved so much. She wanted to kiss Santana's gorgeous lips.

"Crap," Brittany muttered to herself. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to be over Santana. It had been almost two years, for Christ's sake.

Her eyes were drawn to the restaurant window as she saw Santana walking across the room again. Brittany allowed her eyes to travel up and down her ex-girlfriend's form, taking a sharp breath in. She was wearing red, Brittany's absolute favourite colour on her. The dress was short and tight and showed off her amazing cleavage. Brittany didn't think that there would ever be a time when she didn't find the Latina completely and utterly sexy.

Her gaze was torn from Santana when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She fished it out and looked back to the window, but Santana had disappeared. She sighed in resignation.

"Hello?" she answered her phone.

"Hey, Britt!"

"Sara," Brittany greeted, a small smile crossing her face. She turned and started walking again. "What's up?"

"I made some mac and cheese for dinner. When do you think you'll be home?"

"I'm about ten minutes away," Brittany replied.

"Ok, great. I'll dish up for you and maybe later we can have some dessert," she said suggestively.

Brittany contemplated her options. Having a fuck buddy was useful, especially considering that her libido hadn't decreased at all since high school. She could blame Santana for that.

Dammit! Stop thinking about her!

"Brittany?"

"Sure," Brittany said. "See you soon."

"I'll be waiting,' Sara said flirtatiously. "Bye."

Brittany hung up without replying and shook her head. Santana was her past. Trying to rekindle anything with her would just be a bad idea, especially since she was leaving for LA in a few days. She wouldn't go through that whole drama again.

She had to leave Santana behind. It wasn't worth the heartache.


"Ok, mija, it's time we discussed your future. Both of yours," Emilio said, polishing off the last of his wine.

"What do you mean?" Santana asked, her brow wrinkling in confusion. "We're doing fine. I just got a raise at work and my boss is trusting me with a lot more."

"Santana, we worked hard to give you everything you needed and wanted and yes, we spoiled you, but we want our granddaughter to have anything she wants."

"Daddy, I know that," Santana said wistfully. "And I appreciate that I always had what I wanted. I just can't afford to do the same for Bella, as much as I wish I could."

Emilio and Maribel looked at each other and Santana frowned. "Ok, what's going on? What are you guys conspiring now?"

"Santana, have you thought anymore about going back to school?" Emilio asked.

Santana blinked in surprise. "No," she replied. "It was never an option for me. Besides the crazy hours, I couldn't afford it by myself and still take care of Bella."

"What if we pay for your studies again and give you an allowance?" Emilio suggested.

Santana frowned. "This feels like I'm in high school again. An allowance?"

"Well, more like a monthly contribution to our girls' well being," Maribel explained. "We want you to be able to live a life where you're doing what you want to. I know that you enjoy your job, but is it something you could see yourself doing for the rest of your life? Law was that for you once upon a time."

Santana sighed. "This is a little overwhelming. Um…" She looked over at her daughter who had passed out in her chair. "I don't know. I mean, I don't know if I want to study law anymore. I don't even know if I want to study at all. I haven't thought about it since I left."

"I understand," Emilio said. "I know you want to maintain your independence and I respect that. I just want you to know that it doesn't have to be a struggle. We want to help. And before you argue, it won't be forever. As soon as you've finished studying, if that's what you want to do, then we will step back financially and you can take it from there."

"Are you serious?" Santana whispered. "Why?"

"Why?" Maribel laughed. "Because we love you! And because we need to support you now. We made a mistake and this is our way of trying to make up for it."

"But I don't expect you to make up for it," Santana replied. "I have you guys back in my life – what more could I want?"

"Better health benefits?" Emilio said firmly. Santana arched an eyebrow. "To be able to take your daughter to museums and parks and carnivals and buy her clothes and toys?"

"Of course I want that, Papi," Santana said, frowning. She felt like she was losing control again and she didn't like it. Not when it came to her daughter.

"Santana, we are not trying to take over your role as mother, provider and caregiver," Maribel said softly, seeing the look on her daughter's face. "We would never take that away from you. All we want is to help you fulfil those roles to the best of your ability."

"I need to think about this," Santana said almost to herself. She looked at her parents. "Can I…get back to you?"

"Of course, mija," Emilio said with a smile.

"Ok," Santana breathed, her mind mulling over her parents' offer.

"How about we call it a night, girls?" Emilio suggested. "Bella is already tuckered out and I know you'll want to think about things. Plus, I'm stuffed."

That elicited a giggle from Santana. How did she go from having no parents and no one to love her to this? She felt like the luckiest person in the world. Of course, if a certain blonde happened to walk past the restaurant as she walked out, that wouldn't be so bad either.