Santana sat down on a bar stool in Brittany's kitchen with the blonde and watched her son from her seat. He came running over to her with a frown on his face.
"What's wrong mijo?" Santana asked the little boy. He didn't respond with words, he instead tugged at the bow tie around his neck and the buttons on his shirt.
Brittany smiled at the boys subtlety as Santana climbed off the barstool to take the clothing off of her son. She took the tie off and unbuttoned his shirt, taking it and putting it on the counter, leaving him in a black tank top and his black dress pants and black socks. He ran out of the kitchen, almost slipping, and sat back on the couch to watch his show.
Brittany glanced at the little boy and snickered to herself.
"What?" Santana asked softly with a smile.
"Nothing, he's just so cute." Brittany said
"Thanks," Santana responded seeming to be getting a little shy at what Brittany said. Brittany smiled brightly at Santana noticing the girls change in demeanor.
"You know, Santana," Brittany began, "I'm really happy that you're giving this a chance."
"Sleeping over your house?" Santana asked confused.
"No, silly. I mean giving us a chance after everything. I know I didn't really leave in the most conventional way and I'm glad that you're giving me another chance. I know I hurt you, and I'm really sorry for that." Brittany continued.
"Brit, of course I'd give you another chance. There shouldn't be a question about it." Santana responded tilting her head to the side.
"I know, but you don't have to is what I'm saying. And I'm so so so soooo grateful that you did because you mean so much to me Santana and I don't know what I would do without you."
"I know Brit," Santana said quietly, "you mean a lot to me too. You always have so you'll always have a place in my heart and in my life whenever fit to be there."
Brittany leaned forward slightly and let Santana meet her the rest of the way there. "San, I-"
"Milky mommy." Alanzo whined while pulling his belt off and simultaneously trying to take his tank top off.
"Why do you only have one sock on?" Santana asked him with a raised eyebrow taking in his appearance before his demand.
He simply pointed to the living room and again stated, "milky" with a pout on his face.
"Shit." Santana said softly. "I forgot we don't have your sippy cup. Or a change of clothes for you."
Brittany got up and walked over to a cupboard and opened it taking out a Jake and the Never Land Pirates sippy cup and ripping the tag off. She quickly washed it out and poured milk in it. She then walked past Santana and grabbed Alanzo's hand and brought him into her room, she noticed Santana go to get up and she held her finger up, "stay right there, we'll be right back."
Santana sat back down and stared at the pair walking away and sighed contently. About 10 minutes later, Santana looked up to the sound of foot prints and her eyes immediately channeled in on the cutest sight she had ever witnessed.
Brittany came walking out in a pair of light blue short shorts and a tank top that had small yellow ducks on it and Alanzo came walking out in something almost exactly the same except it was a little boys version with pants and a long sleeve button down with ducks all over it.
"Oh my god, this is so cute." Santana gaped.
"Come on Ducky." Brittany said walking over to Santana and sitting him on a bar stool. She walked to the fridge and grabbed the sippy cup she poured earlier and handed it to him. She stood behind him and smiled at Santana.
"When did you get all of this stuff Brit?" Santana asked looking at her son who seemed to be completely content in his new clothes and his cup of milk.
"There's more." Brittany said letting Alanzo off the chair. She sat down in front of Santana and grabbed her hand gently, "this is one of the ways that I want to show you how serious I am about being in yours and Alanzo's lives. This is just one example." Brittany finished.
She dragged Santana into her bedroom and went to the bottom row of drawers of her dresser. She opened it and showed the latina all of the clothing that she had purchased for the little boy. There were pjs, jeans, sweats, shirts, socks, almost everything. Santana looked up at the blonde with a confused smile while thumbing through the clothing.
"I know that you like having certain clothes for him but we've always had pretty different tastes in clothing. I bought him clothes and sippy cups and stuff so that if there's ever another night like tonight," Brittany began while reaching gently for Santana's hands, "we'd be prepared and he'd have things that he needed."
Santana smiled brightly before leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on the blondes lips. She broke the kiss but didn't move away too far, just enough room so that she could talk. "Thank you for this." She whispered against the blondes lips causing Brittany to smile and pull her into another kiss.
When they walked into the living room, Alanzo was on the path of falling asleep. Even though he was watching cartoons, he had his hand up in the air and his fingers tangled in his hair with his eyes slowly dropping shut.
The girls smiled at the sight and let the little boy fall asleep. They continued on talking for about an hour longer before all heading off to bed. The trio laid down in Brittany's bed with Brittany spooning Santana and Alanzo sleeping in Santana's arms.
/
The next morning went by pretty easily. They all woke up at around 8:30 (Alanzo slept in from going to sleep later than usual). The girls got dressed and dressed the little boy so they could go out to eat. Brittany was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and her Glee sweater and a pair of black shoes. Santana was wearing a pair of leggings and Brittany's DANCE hoodie with a pair of Brittany's slides since they didn't wear the same shoe size and Santana didn't want to wear heels. Alanzo was dressed in something similar to Brittany, he was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a pair of black nikes with a black sweatshirt.
The small family went out to eat at iHop that morning.
Skillfully ignoring the paps and the endless questions that were being thrown at them, they managed to weasel into the restaurant and take their seat.
There were tons of questions that were thrown at the pair.
How long have you known each other?
Are you guys dating?
Santana, why haven't we ever heard of Alanzo's father?
Santana are you a lesbian?
What happened to your son? Were you not watching him?
Frankly, it was annoying. All she wanted to do was to sit down and eat some breakfast with her small family. That's all she wanted. But that was always too much to ask when you're famous.
They were sitting in the booth, soaking in the silence of nobody flashing cameras or questioning them. It was peacefulness. Something that was hard to come by in Santana's life.
"I never understood why people are so interested in celebrity lives." Brittany said while picking up the menu from the table.
Santana shrugged her shoulders, "I don't either. I mean, I guess it just depends."
Brittany glanced up at Santana and waited for her to continue, which she did.
"Well, I mean.. Look at how we were when we were younger B." Santana began, "You still follow Shay on like instagram and stuff?"
Brittany nodded her head.
"See, it's like that. When we were younger, she was your celeb crush so you were interested, you just wanted to make sure that she was doing good in her life." Santana concluded.
"I guess that makes sense." Brittany said while running the idea through her head, "I guess I just forgot what it was like to be on the outside of something like that. I mean, I obviously kept myself updated and stuff when we weren't close but now I'm just realizing what a privilege it actually is."
"What?" Santana giggled, arching her eyebrow while staring at the bright blue eyes in front of her.
"Well, I've known everything that's going on with you for the past two months because I've been here, I forgot what it was like to not know. I forgot what it was like to be just like a fan, to be on the outside of your life. I'm glad I'm not on the outside anymore." Brittany laughed, referring to the time when she and Santana weren't talking at all.
Santana offered a small, but genuine smile. It made her feel good knowing that Brittany still tried to keep tabs on her and what she was doing. She read through the journal, of course she did. She probably read through the journal 30 times since she found it like 5 days ago. The journal meant a lot to her, she never thought that she would know what was going through the blondes mind, so since she knew that she missed her as much as she missed the blonde, it was comforting. She would read an entry, or five, whenever she missed Brittany at night.
"I'm glad that you're not." Santana offered up, part of her lip curling up, something that always happened when Santana felt vulnerable and knew that she couldn't change the course of events- like when a conversation regarding their relationship would come up during a skype call after they broke up.
"So how's the tour going B?" Santana asked while smiling brightly into the webcam. It was the first skype call that the girls had this week that lasted more than thirty seconds, they were both busy so this was rare lately.
"It's awesome San. I love it." Brittany said enthusiastically with a genuine smile on her face.
Santana knew that the blonde would love this. That was the reason that she wasn't going to take no as an answer when Brittany didn't want to leave Santana. She knew that this was the best thing for the blonde. Brittany would always light up when she would hit the dance floor. It was second nature to her, if not first. Santana swears that Brittany was dancing before she was able to walk. The way that Brittany's body wakes up and how much she shines when she's doing what she loves, nothing would ever compare to it.
"I'm glad you love it. I knew you would." Santana responds honestly.
"It'd be better if you were here." Brittany says softly, quickly looking down before making eye contact through the camera, making Santana's breath catch in her throat.
Santana looks on with a sad smile as she softly nods her head, "I know B."
The pair was silent for a few minutes. Stealing glances at each other, lost in some memories of the past. Both wishing that there wasn't such a big gap between them because there was nothing that they wished more than to be with each other, in every way possible.
"You know," Brittany started, quickly garnishing Santana's attention, "I'm not seeing anybody new. Boy or girl."
Santana looked on at the blonde with sad yet hopeful eyes, "We've talked about this Brit. It'd be okay if you were."
She spoke so confidently, that if Brittany wasn't able to read the sad and solemn expression in her face, she would have believed her. It was another moment before Santana continued.
She softly curled her lip up and glanced back into the camera, "but I'm glad that you're not."
"Me too." Brittany responded, smiling softly.
The quiet moment was soon broken up by a loud voice from a tiny body. "I want that mommy!" Alanzo yelled excitedly while looking at the menu.
Santana looked at what the little boy was pointing at and smiled, it was a breakfast in the shape of a clown. She nodded softly and assured him he would get it before overlooking the menu herself.
/
The breakfast went smoothly.
They talked the whole time about anything and everything. It was just funny conversations, a lot of it including cartoons and toys to keep Alanzo intrigued.
But overall, it was really relaxing.
It was something that they both were able to see happening for the rest of their lives, but obviously at home. It was a nice thought to have and it was nice to know that they could both feel the positive energy. Things were starting to look up for them. Things were starting to look like they'd be falling into place soon.
After breakfast, Brittany had drove Alanzo and Santana home so that they could do whatever they needed to do that day. She had to sign some last minute papers to complete the setting up of the dance studio too, so it all kind of worked out. The studio was due to open in about two or three days, and there was still many things that needed to happen.
They parted with a soft kiss and a promise of a phone call later that night.
Santana ran up the stairs with Alanzo to get to their apartment. They ran in with smiles plastered on their faces and in overall good moods. Santana was excited to see Quinn because she was ready to pop at any day now.
"Q?" Santana called into the building, not seeing the blonde anywhere in the living room or kitchen where she would usually be, it was, afterall, going on one in the afternoon. It wasn't like Quinn to not be up and about by now, even in her largely pregnant state.
"Auntie Q!" Alanzo yelled out into the hallway, wanting to see the blonde as well.
There wasn't an answer so Santana quickly began walking towards Quinn's bedroom, worried about the blonde.
"Q!" Santana yelled, waiting for an answer.
She heard a groan and a strained scream from behind the door. Santana's protective instincts quickly kicked in. She turned around and pointed at her son with a stern look on her face, "Stay. Don't move." She told him, not completely sure why Quinn screamed but wanting to be sure Alanzo would be safe.
Alanzo nodded his small head with big confused eyes and stood still.
Santana took a deep breath and quickly opened the door, scanning the room to make sure that nothing was wrong. It was when her eyes locked onto Quinn that she felt like she was going to pass out.
"Santana!" Quinn exclaimed, relief written all over her face.
Santana ran to her side and sat down next to her, quickly grabbing her hand and squeezing it softly. Trying to find her phone with her other hand but having no luck.
"My water broke." Quinn panted out, her hands pushing on her stomach.
Santana nodded her head quickly, "Lanzo!" She yelled out causing the little boy to run in the room cautiously. "Go call uncle puck and tell him to go to the hospital."
Alanzo ran out of the room in search of the phone while Santana got off of the bed and put a pair of shoes on Quinn's feet and quickly grabbed towels out of the bathroom. She grabbed the blonde's hand and helped her out of the bed, handing her a big coat, glad that she didn't take hers or Alanzo's clothes off yet.
"Come on Q, time to get you to the hospital." Santana said softly while helping the blonde down the hall.
Quinn nodded frantically, biting her lip hard. "These contractions are killing me Santana." She growled through tight lips.
By the time that the pair got into the the living room, Alanzo was saying hi to Puck. Santana took the phone from her son and quickly told him that Quinn was in labor and they were going to the hospital to get there as soon as possible. She didn't know where her phone was or Quinn's so to not bother calling it.
He acknowledged it and told them that he would hopefully meet them there.
It seemed like time was moving slow yet incredibly fast. It was one of the worst kind of contradictions that they had ever been through. There was no way to make it hot or cold, they were stuck in a mix. It seemed like it took forever to get to the hospital, but they made it in record time.
Quinn was screaming at the top of her lungs as the contractions rippled through the blonde, she startled the three year old in the back seat, but she couldn't help it.
He eventually made a game out of it which helped calm Quinn down. He would scream whenever she would, which made her laugh and relieved her from some of the stress. Albeit, it did give Santana quite a headache.
By the time that they approached the emergency entrance of the hospital, Santana quickly parked the car and said a quick "be right back" before running off through the doors.
"My best friend is in labor and I need a wheelchair!" She screamed in a panic at the fangirling receptionist, who quickly conformed to the singers demands.
Santana quickly ran out of the building and to her car and helped the blonde get into the chair while quickly grabbing her son out of the back seat who had found her phone on the floor and was currently playing a game on it. Quinn lifted him in her lap and let Santana run them back into the building. Before they knew it, Quinn was in a back room ready to go through the pain of having a child, yet again.
Quinn's screams were quickly filling the room and were sure to leave somebody deaf. Santana had to pull out a pair of headphones and put them on her son while sitting him in the corner with her phone to drown out everything going on around them. She was sure that he wasn't supposed to be in the room at the moment, but there was no way that she was leaving and she didn't have anybody to watch him, so there he was in the corner oblivious to everything.
"Alright Quinn." A few more pushes, one of the nurses said while glancing between the blondes legs.
Quinn, covered in sweat, quickly turned to look at Santana with angry eyes, "Where the fuck is Puck?"
Santana quickly shrugged her shoulders.
"He's going to miss the birth of our baby!" She yelled before letting out a loud wail of pain.
It was seconds later when Puck came running into the room, trying to catch his breath. He quickly ran over to his fiance and cradled her hand in his own. He leaned down and kissed her head while he let her crush his hand.
"Alright Quinn, she's crowning." The nurse said, a large smile on her face. "Push. Push hard."
Quinn nodded her head and began to push. She looked at Noah and began to yell at him. No, not yell, she began to scream in a way that sounded inhumane. "You suck! You suck! You suck! You suck!"
All Santana was able to think was that Quinn was possessed. The way that her face was turning red, the screaming at the top of her lungs, it was blood curdling, it was bone chilling, it wasn't real. This wasn't the normal sweet but bitchy Quinn, no, this was bitchy Quinn on steroids on a mission.
Santana was actually terrified at the moment, she would never admit it though. She was also silently thanking the Gods that Quinn didn't have her in the room when she had Beth, she didn't think she would have been able to go through this again. It made her feel even worse for Noah.
Noah was wincing at how hard Quinn was gripping his hand and he continued nodding his head, agreeing with everything that the blonde was saying. He accepted the punishment for the pain that she was feeling, he already long accepted that Quinn was probably going to break his hand and that she wouldn't stop yelling at him until the baby was born.
It was about five minutes later when the screaming subsided and his hand was released.
It was quiet for a few moments, longer than they would have liked, longer than anybody would have liked.
The air was tense and it was hard to breathe for them all. All that was heard in the room were the small puffs of air coming out of their mouths and their erratic heartbeats. There was no crying, and that was what scared them and made the hair on their neck stand up.
Santana was looking over at the doctors who were surrounding the small and silent baby's cubicle. They were moving quickly and precisely, and that only worried the trio more. Something had to be wrong right now.
It wasn't until there was a tiny slapping noise a few minutes later followed by a loud cry that they felt the stress leave their body. All the worry that they had was gone, she was going to be okay.
A few minutes after the small burst of tears, a beautiful baby girl with a headful of dark locks and light eyes was placed in Quinn's arm in a pink towel.
Santana and Puck leaned over, in complete awe over the baby girl, over this new little life that already had them wrapped around her finger. She was so small and she was absolutely perfect. She was the opposite of what Beth was as a newborn.
"Do you have a name picked out?" The doctor asked Quinn as he watched the small family with a smile.
Quinn nodded her head softly, her eyes never leaving her new baby girl, "Eva Santana Puckerman."
"That's a beautiful name." The doctor nodded while quickly jotting the name down on the baby's cube and writing Quinn Fabray at the bottom of the card.
"Thanks." Puck said softly while looking at the baby.
It's finally happened. She was here. After waiting for so long to be a family, after waiting so long to be able to take their little girl home, it's finally happened for them. Yeah, there was the initial nine month waiting period for them to bring the baby girl into their world, but more than that, they've both been waiting for this day since they gave up Beth.
Beth was now almost 9 years old.
Noah and Quinn know that she's living a good life with the home that she's in now. They know that she's had a better nine years where she is, than what they would have been able to give her. They know deep in their hearts, no matter how much it hurts, that they did the right thing. They know that even though they wish that they didn't, giving up Beth was the right thing to do. Things were too complicated when they were younger, nothing was going right for either of them.
Yes, Noah wanted to keep Beth, he wanted them to be a family. But he wasn't ready. He wasn't fit to be a father, no matter how much he wanted to believe that he was, he just wasn't. He didn't know the first thing about little babies, sure maybe he was good at babysitting young kids, but that's a big difference. In their hearts, they knew that he wasn't ready to be waking up in the middle of the night or having to go to appointments and so much more, he wasn't ready to make that change. And it's okay.
They still see Beth every now and then, not too much though. They both are hoping that they'll be able to introduce Beth and Eva soon. They're hoping that one day when Beth gets old enough where she'll understand, they hope that they'll all be able to be a family for the first time. They hope that everything will just magically fall in place. They hope, for the first time in their lives, that things will go exactly how they plan.
"She's beautiful." Santana said softly while looking over the side of Quinn's hospital bed and down at the green eyed baby in her arms.
"She looks just like you Q." Noah said while bringing his hand down to touch the top of the baby's head.
Quinn nodded softly, still smiling at the baby in her arms. She gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead and offered her up to Puck to hold, causing him to smile like a mad man. He was so excited.
By the time that Alanzo looked up, he noticed that most of the commotion settled down, and also that there was now a baby in the room. He quickly took off the headphones and left the phone on the chair while running over to see what was going on. He tugged on Santana's pants and opened his arms to signal that he wanted to be lifted up.
When Santana picked him up, he immediately leaned over to look at the baby. He smiled at the little face and simply said "baby" softly. Santana nodded her head softly and looked between her son and Eva, hoping that they'd grow up to be close like her and Noah.
"Her name is Eva 'Lanzo." Santana said while watching him lift a finger to touch her small hand.
"Hi Eva." He said softly, still taking in everything about the little baby in front of him.
"She's gonna be coming home with us in a few days buddy." Puck said while glancing up to the little boy.
"Really?" Alanzo asked a little above a whisper.
Santana and Noah nodded their heads and the little boy smiled. He was happy to have her and that was amazing to see.
/
WELCOME BABY EVA SANTANA PUCKERMAN!
Thoughts?
Next chapter we learn a little bit about Daniel and Santana so be ready!