The next morning Santana awoke to something licking her face. Rachel? No..what the hell are you thinking? That's definitely not Rachel. Santana groaned and turned over, pulling the covers over top of her head. She sighed when she felt a small weight settle onto her back. Whatever in the hell it was had at least four pa-..oh..it was Dahlia. But how in the hell had Dahlia made it all the way up the stairs by herself? In Santana's sleep clouded mind she couldn't find the reasoning to conclude that Rachel, whom was sitting on the bed giggling had been the one to bring Dahlia along for a wake up call.

There were only two ways of getting out of this situation in Santana's mind. She could turn back over really fast, running the chance of propelling Dahlia either onto the bed or into the floor. No, that won't work. Santana loved her fur babies, no matter how annoying she found this little fluff ball still standing on her back to be. She could also turn back over really slowly or well, she could ask the still giggling woman to remove the animal. However, that meant that Rachel would know she was definitely awake. Huffing, Santana decided she might as well get up.

"Please remove the four legged fluff ball from my back." Santana mumbled into her pillow.

"Aww, but she just wants to tell her Momma good morning." Rachel cooed as she pet Dahlia on the head but made no move to remove her.

"If she starts eating my hair, you can clean up the mess that will cause." Well Rachel didn't want to have to deal with that, so she swiftly moved Dahlia off Santana's back and set the puppy down in her lap.

"Where's Dax?" Santana asked as she turned onto her back, holding the blanket in place. She didn't want to expose herself to the young puppy's eyes. She was much too young to be seeing stuff like that.

Rachel pointed over to Dax's bed that had remained upstairs. "I think he missed his stuffed penguin. We forgot to put it downstairs and he hasn't been able to get up here and get it with the gate closed."

Santana internally groaned. She felt bad that she had forgot to put Dax's penguin downstairs, but on the other hand Dax hadn't played with it since Dahlia came home. He hadn't even whined for it. Dahlia's novelty must be wearing off if he wanted his penguin back. "Dax, come. Bring me your baby." Santana patted the bed. She smiled as Dax grabbed his penguin and hopped up onto the bed. She couldn't help but grin when she saw how careful he was carrying it, you would think the thing was precious glass. "It's funny how gentle he is with this thing." Santana picked up the penguin, grimacing slightly when she noticed the drool on it. "But he ends up tearing his frisbees to shreds. I would have thought they would be his babies."

Noticing the penguin in Santana's hands, Dahlia began to struggle trying to get out of Rachel's lap so she could investigate. There was a new toy that she hadn't seen or played with yet! She needed to check it out, it could be a threat. Rachel watched nervously as Dahlia fell forward trying to walk over the little quilt mountains. "He..won't attack her anything will he?"

Santana shook her head, tossing the penguin closer to Dahlia. Just in case though she wrapped her arm around Dax ready to pull him back. "She's just sniffing it out Dax." She spoke as she ran her hand up and down his side. Dax watched Dahlia warily, this tiny blonde was going towards his baby. That was his baby! He couldn't really understand what his master was saying, but the fact that she had her arm around him and was rubbing his side made it a bit easier to trust that Dahlia wasn't going to hurt his baby. When Dahlia got close enough she began to sniff around the penguins head. It took five seconds for Dahlia to realize she really didn't like this black and white thing that she was sniffing. She must attack! Barking, trying to assert her dominance, Dahlia laid down on her front paws sticking her tiny tail in the air. This foreign object must die! Barking once, twice, three times Dahlia pounced onto the penguin, successfully sending herself rolling onto Santana's hand. Dax internally rolled his eyes, this little blonde had a lot to learn.


Later in the evening Santana and Rachel were hanging out together on the front porch. Santana had been working around the property all day, tending to her crops and chickens, and doing any little maintenance job she could find. Rachel had had a minor scare when Santana went into the barn to work on one of the ATV's. Rachel had never been more thankful that she had hid the ring in one of the back horse stalls.

"Are you driving into town in the morning or is Quinn coming to pick you up?" Santana asked as she pulled Rachel into her side, pushing the swing they were sitting on with her foot.

"I'm driving. My first meeting isn't until ten." Rachel laid her head down onto Santana's shoulder. This was easily one of her favorite past times. Swinging with Santana on the front porch simply enjoying the nature around them. Rachel chuckled a little to herself. She could easily see herself doing this very thing years down the road with Santana.

"What are you laughing at?" Santana pulled her head back to look down at Rachel.

"I was just imaging us doing this when we're old."

"Pffftt. I don't plan on getting old. I'm sure there is a fountain of youth somewhere on this mountain and I am going to find it." Santana responded casually like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "If you find this fountain of youth, you have to share. I don't want to grow old without you."

Santana kissed Rachel on the forehead. "Don't worry, what's mine is yours and what's yours is ours."

The women watched Dax bounce around the yard, running around and bringing his frisbee to them when he wanted it thrown. After the incident this morning with Dahlia and the penguin, when the laughter had settled, Rachel and Santana had realized that Dax hid his penguin from Dahlia. Dahlia wasn't the least bit upset, she actually looked thankful.

"I'm kind of dreading tomorrow." Rachel mumbled like they had never switched topics.

"Why? I know meetings are boring and you'll be busy all day, but is there anything more specific that's bringing about this dread?" Wow, Santana that was a super long way of simply asking why.

"Well the first meeting is with Puck and some intern writers that he feels holds a lot of promise. If they can prove themselves, he wants to hire one to write with me. So it's kind of like a large interview and I really don't want to be someone who crushes their dreams. I know what it feels like to have someone tell you that you're good, but not good enough to work with them." Rachel pouted, she had never been involved with such a huge decision as this one. Sure she had plenty of say when it came to her songs and music career, that was one thing that really made PF Productions unique. This was the first time that she would be working directly with a writer chosen for her and it was just a bit overwhelming.

"If Puck thinks they have promise, then they must all be good on some level. But, either way it's not just about their writing ability. They have to be able to write and compose songs that fit your voice. They might be a better fit with a different artist that works there. Just because you don't pick them doesn't mean someone else won't. The music industry is a tough business, hell just being an intern could open countless doors for them. I know that no matter what I say, you're still going to feel bad but I don't think Puck would just get rid of them after picking one for you. He's not the type of guy to just throw them back to the wolves, he will help in them whatever ways he can." Santana didn't know if anything she had just said would make Rachel feel better about the decision, but she hoped it did. She wasn't really well versed in situations such as this one, she knew a bit about the business, but she wasn't nearly as involved as Rachel was.

Rachel sighed, she knew Santana was right. Sometimes when a door closed, a window of opportunity opened up somewhere else. "I also have a fitting for the city premiere next week."

"Well that doesn't sound so bad. You normally love fittings. I swear Kurt thinks your his doll to dress up." Santana rolled her eyes.

Rachel giggled and lightly smacked Santana on the arm. "Don't be mean. He's been my stylist for years now, heck he was even styling me when he had no idea why you were buying clothes that day in Shuebury's."

Santana's face fell a bit. Obviously talking about the Porter's wasn't a foreign topic, especially with everything going on at the moment. But, it still made Santana's stomach flutter in the bad way whenever that part of Rachel's past was mentioned. There were so many what if's attached to that time in their life and there was nothing they could do about it. Santana tried not to dwell on it, because you would waste your life thinking about what if's, she was just happy that Rachel was here with her and that she was safe.

Noticing the change in expression on Santana's face, Rachel scooted impossibly closer to her on the swing. She knew what Santana was thinking about. The woman always felt like she should have or could have done more than she did for Rachel. "Stop thinking about it." Rachel whispered as she placed her forehead on Santana's shoulder. "Even with Conner on the run at the moment, we're still okay. We're going to be okay."

"I know, I believe you." Santana responded as she placed a kiss on the top of Rachel's head.

The two women sat in silence for a few moments before it was broken by Dax running onto the porch barking. Santana could hear something coming up the road towards the cabin, which automatically put her on the defense. It could just be Duncan or it could be someone who had broken in through the gate after taking Duncan out. Really Santana? Pull yourself together. Never the less she was relieved when she seen the black golf cart come into view. Yeah, Duncan had his own golf cart, it was more cost efficient than running his blazer up to the cabin every time he had to come up there. He could just as easily call, but to be fair Santana wasn't the best at keeping up with her phone and when Rachel was home, she didn't keep up with hers that well either. They were both in the kitchen laying on the island at the moment.

"I've tried calling you guys for twenty minutes now." Point. Proven. Duncan huffed as he climbed out of the golf cart. It was kind of funny, he was such a big muscular guy so climbing out of a standard sized golf cart wasn't a graceful situation for him.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked as she stood up and walked to the edge of the porch. At least Rachel was paying attention. Santana was too busy imagining Duncan trying to climb out of tiny spaces.

"The LAPD captured Conner a few hours ago. I would have came sooner, but I just got the call myself. He got away at the airport, but they tracked him down." Duncan was smiling now. The bastard had been caught; he was one less thing to worry about.

That broke Santana's trance just as she was thinking about how bad she felt for Duncan's mother. She not only had Duncan, but she had four other kids...all similar in size. "Huh?"

"Conner has been captured by the LAPD."

"Oh wow. I'm relieved he has been caught, but I honestly don't know how else to feel. What happens now?" Santana glanced over at Rachel who was quiet, she was probably thinking the same thing as Santana.

"Well, now we wait for an indictment for him to be sent back to New York. They are questioning him there and hopefully we will have some information about his escape soon." Duncan rubbed his hand together, he had been so happy to deliver this news. He just hoped they could get the indictment before the weekend, he would feel even better when Conner was back in prison here. Rachel was so relieved, but now they had the task of figuring out what was going on.

This wasn't the end, this was a whole new beginning.


As you can tell, Conner being captured is not the end. Like I said before there is a chance this story could go on longer than the first one. This crazy train has just barely pulled out of the station at the moment.

I want to thank everyone for all the views, reviews, follows and favorites.