"Not One More Year Without"

9pm to 10pm

As the door swung open, Santana was envisioning just walking into an empty room. So instead to come up against two people, to begin with, was startling. To find it was a man and woman locked in an embrace added 'awkward' to the mix, but it took recognizing them to complete the emotional blast with shock. Of all the people for her to find in this situation, this was about the worst.

On one side, there was her dear sister Catalina, and on the other there stood the eternally odd Winger.

"Woah, hey!" Santana wasn't sure where to look, but then the two heard the voice and looked up. They startled too when they saw her. Catalina had a sheepish smile… Winger looked absolutely horrified, like Santana's eyes could well have been a rifle aimed at his crotch.

"Hey, Tana…" Catalina beamed. "How's it going?" she asked innocently. Winger, utterly flustered, just shook his head, afraid that any word would set off 'Optic.' Catalina Lopez may not have been aware of her big sister's activities, but he sure was, and he knew he'd pay for it dearly if they weren't careful.

Santana just took her sister by the arm, leading her away while Winger just stood there, hearing their voices retreating and wishing he'd stuck out his Spanish lessons.

"Vamos Catalina, ¿que estás pensando?"

"¿Que tiene de mal este?"

"Son… son demasiadas cosas."

"Nombra una."

"Sigue caminando."

Santana had returned to the room, still not letting her sister out of her sight, thoughts of the sewing kit completely gone from her mind. Thankfully some time during her absence they had gotten their hands on one via June. Mrs. Lopez and Rachel were already hard at work as Santana got in, pointing for Catalina to sit where she could see her.

"I'm not a kid anymore, what are you going to do, ground me?" Catalina frowned.

"What did you do?" Mrs. Lopez asked, still working on the dress.

"Nothing, Mom," she replied before turning back to her sister. "Simon's my age, I don't see why…" Santana froze, looking back at her, and Catalina knew why. Santana would remember, on her last visit, how Catalina had met this 'sweet guy' named Simon. Santana had known that was his first name, right? She must have, but she only ever associated 'Winger' with him, nothing more. But now she remembered, and now this meant they had known each other for… months… Had they kept in touch, or… "Please, Tana, I really like him."

Santana wanted to just be the good sister, say 'go for it,' but she knew 'Simon' a lot more than Catalina did; she knew what he did for a living. The thought of letting her little sister walk into that world, risk getting hurt… It was almost how Quinn would say she felt about taking her chance with Spencer, and now Santana understood it a lot more.

"Can this wait? Can't deal with this right now…" she begged, her voice kinder.

"Right… No problem," Catalina nodded. "Need help with the dress?" she tried a smile.

"Please," Santana smiled back.

In the kitchen, most of the cake crew had returned. Some had been lost to dress and baby duties, so they recruited a few more who got to work with frosting and decorating. Quinn went through the living room and up toward her room to check in on the situation with Tina. Even approaching the room she could hear her, so she assumed they were still not out of the woods. She was quick to enter and shut the door behind her, not wanting random guests heading to the bathroom to peek in.

"How are we doing? Need anything?" she asked Claudia. Lucas stood by, ready to assist if need be. Tina was holding on to Mike's hand, face sweaty with effort.

"I think we're good," Claudia called over her shoulder. "Won't be long now," she turned those words to the parent-to-be.

"Wedding's still on, right?" Tina panted, suddenly aware of her presence.

"Wedding's still on," Quinn promised, moving to her other side, taking her hand. Tina accepted it gratefully.

"Okay, push!" Claudia commanded, and Tina did, grasping the hands of the two on either side of her.

In another room, Brittany stood in her dress. She'd asked Hattie and June to step out. Her dress hadn't needed any altering, none at all… It was perfect, and beautiful, and she knew it would make her mother cry. For the moment though it had gotten to be hectic with just the pair of friends, and it had all made the length of the day come into focus. She needed this moment on her own to regroup.

Down on the street, Noah had gotten the car ready to go, cleared snow off and around it, and now he waited, trying to ignore the snow, the cold. As used as he was to it now, standing around in a cold storm was bracing for anyone. And then all of a sudden there was a guy coming out of the building, carrying what he would soon see to be a cup of coffee. "Here," the man told him, handing it over.

"Thanks," Noah accepted and drank it without restraint. "Noah," he presented himself, not knowing who he was.

"Spencer," the man nodded. "You're a friend of Quinn's, yes?" he asked.

"You're the Scottish guy," he finally caught on to the accent.

"What gave it away?" Spencer laughed. "You've known each other a while, right?" Noah hesitated, using a gulp of coffee as a reason to stretch the silence. He didn't know much about this guy, only what he'd heard from Santana and Brittany, but from what he got Quinn was into him. He doubted hearing 'I've known her since we were in high school… also we had a baby when we were sixteen that we gave up' would make him feel too… amorous.

"High school," he kept it at that.

"Oh, were you in that, uh, what do you call it…" he gestured, trying to remember.

"Glee Club," Noah filled in, nodding in confirmation. "Bunch of us are here, Santana and Brittany, obviously, and Rachel, and Mike and Tina, they're the ones having the baby."

"Heard it was getting close," he relayed the information, looking to the skies. "Storm might clear just yet." Noah looked up as well.

"Good. Those two deserve it."

"That's what I keep hearing. It is pretty amazing that you all did what you did today."

"Well, Glee Club we were pretty good at eleventh hour saves," Noah shrugged. So he wasn't going to tell this guy about his past with Quinn. But it had happened, and he still cared for her as a friend, so he had to say something, because he wasn't blind. "You like her, don't you?" Spencer looked over.

"I do," he bowed his head.

"Then be careful with her. She's been through a lot… she deserves to be happy, too." There was silence for a beat, as Noah drank his coffee. But then Spencer replied.

"I'll do my best."

Up in her room, Quinn's voice was giving encouragements, same as Mike, same as both Claudia and Lucas, as Tina got closer and closer, until somewhere from within all those voices a new one was born to join in. The room held its breath, as they took in the sight of the newborn girl. Encouragement turned to a burst of joy, happy tears. "Is she okay?" both Tina and Mike asked at once. The cord cut, Claudia examined the baby with gentleness and care, smiling at her.

"December 31st, hours to midnight, skies giving all they've got to close the year with a bang… and she's perfect," she spoke as she wrapped her up in a blanket and handed her to Tina.

"Hey, Violet…" she cried happily, looking back to Mike who was right on the same track. Quinn looked on, letting out a breath as she thanked any and all who would listen that the baby girl had been born without a problem, after the 'luck' they'd had today… Maybe this was a sign of good things for the future, and for the brides to be… the wedding… She'd almost forgotten about it, and now she needed to go back and check in on things.

"I'll be back, okay?" she smiled, getting up. She mouthed a 'thank you' to Claudia, who nodded with a smile. Getting back in the hall, she stopped in with the kitchen group. The cake was coming together nicely, especially since Hattie and June had joined in. "Weren't you helping Brittany?"

"She kicked us out," June explained, taking a spoonful of frosting to eat. Quinn frowned, moving back to the rooms and going to Santana's.

"Hey, I think you need to go talk to your fiancée in th…" She stopped, as Santana turned and Quinn saw her dress. "Wow…" she smiled. Santana laughed, but then paused.

"What's wrong with Brittany?"

"I don't know, Hattie and June said she kicked them out." Santana looked at herself, then grabbed her robe, throwing it over her dress. As they got into the hall, they could hear the guests had grown louder. "Guess the energy isn't going down," Quinn spoke as Santana stopped at the door to the room that held Brittany. She knocked and waited.

"Come in," Brittany's voice was heard.

"Are you sure?" Santana asked, smiling… couldn't help it. There was a moment, probably as Brittany reached for a robe as well.

"Yes," she finally answered. Santana looked to Quinn before going in and closing the door. A moment later, Claudia got out of Quinn's room, Lucas following.

"Is the baby really okay?"

"Couldn't be better if she tried," Claudia promised. "Tina insists on staying through the wedding if she can. I don't see any reason why she couldn't, so at the very least we can pop over to the hospital after the ceremony. Definitely want her to keep resting though. She's supposed to walk down the aisle with us, yes?" Quinn nodded. "Got a wheelchair handy?" Quinn had to bite back a smirk, as her mind of course went to Artie, sadly missed on that day.

"We'll work something out. Guess I'll get Puck back inside," she moved to grab her coat, slipping it over her dress and heading down to the street, careful not to slip as she stepped out in shoes. She looked around and found an odd sight… Puck and Spencer, talking… Her ex, and her… well, that was still to be determined. "Hey, guys?" she called out and they turned around. "You can come in, we don't have to go to the hospital," she told them.

She didn't wait for them, started back up toward their floor, and there she discovered someone else had been doing some waiting… waiting for her.

TO BE CONTINUED