Oh How the Years Go By

July 2nd, 2024

Rachel stood backstage and watched Brittany dance. She'd been there for every show of the tour's second half, watching in the wings. "Proud" didn't even begin to describe what she was feeling. When the blonde had come home in April, announcing that she'd been picked for the Aidene McCall summer tour, Rachel had nearly fainted.

Aidene McCall was that year's biggest pop star. 16, with shoulder length red hair, the girl had a genuinely amazing voice. Brittany loved her music and had signed up for auditions as soon as they were announced. She'd come home after two days of auditions with a bigger smile than anything the other three had ever seen. Three weeks later, she had boarded the tour bus—officially a backup dancer.

It had been hard, for the first month and a half. They'd Skyped every night, sometimes more, but Brittany still missed them. Rachel's show ended halfway through June, so she'd flown out to Nevada to see the Vegas show.

"I missed you so much!" Brittany squealed, pulling Rachel into a hug. They were in the dancers' dressing room, but Brittany and one other girl were the only two there. They had the day off, and most people weren't hanging around the venue. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I wanted to surprise you!" Rachel said.

"Hey Joanie!" Brittany called. "This is my wife, Rachel."

"Oh my god, Rachel Berry?" the other dancer squeaked, finally looking up. "I loved you in We Will Rock You. It's so nice to meet you."

"Thanks! It's nice to meet you too."

"Brittany? Joanie? Are you guys in here?" a voice called.

"Yeah, Aidene!"

The singer walked in and stopped. "Oh. My. God."

"She's a fan," Brittany explained, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you," Rachel said.

"Oh my god," Aidene repeated, bouncing up and down. "It's nice to meet you too. Brittany, why didn't you warn me? I look like hell today!"

"You do not, silly," Brittany said. "And I'm just as surprised as you are."

"You're coming to the show tomorrow, right?" Aidene asked Rachel.

"Of course! I'm excited to see you guys."

"Oh god, I'm so nervous now," the teen said, grinning from ear to ear. "Do you guys want to go to lunch?"

"Sure!" Brittany said. "Rachel?"

"That would be lovely."

By the end of lunch, Aidene was even more in love with Rachel than before—which was saying something. She'd offered for the older woman to stay on tour with them, knowing how much Brittany had missed her. So Rachel had.

The show this afternoon was their second to last stop before heading home, and Rachel was glad. She missed Quinn and Santana, and she knew Brittany did too. Plus she was worried about the state of their apartment. She and Brittany had been gone for a month—who knew what they'd come back to.

The dancers came rushing off of stage as Aidene performed her last song by herself. One of them, Jimmy, ran over to the "family section" where Rachel and a few other people were sitting.

"Hey, have you guys all met my wife?" he asked. "This is Melanie, and our son Cassius."

Introductions were made, and Rachel stood by Brittany as the blonde played with the baby. She knew that look—Brittany got it anytime a child under the age of three was nearby…. "Don't get any ideas," she said, smiling.

"Too late for that," Brittany said.

Santana entered their apartment and leaned against the doorframe. Apparently it was "shit on the new kid" day at her firm. She was tired. All she wanted was pizza, a glass of wine, and a movie with Quinn. Well, actually, she wanted more than that. She wanted her other two wives back as well. With a deep sigh, she walked into the kitchen and marked another day off of the calendar. Less than a week until Rachel and Brittany came home. She spotted Quinn asleep on the couch and smiled. The blonde had fallen asleep with her laptop balanced on her stomach. Santana walked over and gently picked it up, trying not to wake the blonde. As she set it down on the table, her finger hit one of the keys and the screen came back to life.

"US adoption methods?" Santana said.

"Tana?" Quinn muttered sleepily.

"Hey you," Santana said, kissing her. "How were the urchins today?"

"They were—" Quinn stopped, seeing her laptop on the table. "Fine. Uh, I can explain that," she said, nodding to her laptop.

Santana smiled and kissed her again. "Let me go change and then we'll talk." She tried to contain her excitement.

Quinn wanted kids!

It was something they didn't really talk about. There were way too many worries about the nature of their relationship to want to bring it up, but Santana knew they all wanted children. She changed clothes quickly and went out to sit with Quinn. "How long have you been looking at this stuff?"

"All day."

"And before today?"

Quinn shrugged. "I'd done a couple of searches, but nothing in depth. Do you want kids, Santana?"

"You know I do."

"We should talk about it more when Britt and Rae get back," Quinn said, smiling.

Santana's phone buzzed then. "Speak of the devil." She opened the text message and promptly started laughing.

"What?" Quinn asked as Santana handed her the phone.

Fr. Rae: Brittany's got baby envy. Looks like we'll be discussing children when we get back.

"Talk about timing," Santana said, snuggling closer to Quinn.

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