AN: Charlie and Elaine did have sex, timeline wise they were about together for a while. It simply wasn't at the two week mark. I also want to be clear that in the past Charlie was having an emotional affair with Santana. As much as you're rooting for the two of them I want to be clear. Santana's beliefs about Charlie having an affair are based in some reality and passed behavior.
Look I want to be perfectly clear on something if you don't like my stories don't read them. I debate constantly to allow people to continue to send me guest reviews, I like making it easy as possible for everyone to review. However death threats are another thing entirely, the fact that you are to much of a scared child to post your name for the world to see is problematic. Even if I'm not online I make sure that I sign my penname right there. I don't even know why you've decided to threaten me, like what I did to piss you off so much or why you care so much that you have to threaten to kill me. Go away. Because quite frankly, it doesn't put me in the mood to write and I have a faberry fan up my ass as to why I haven't written faberry lately. More or less this.
It seemed like it had happened overnight, the ballooning out. She had gained so much weight in such a relative time period and it had been impossible to keep it quiet from her co-workers who were telling her to take it easy. There was a small nagging part of her that worried that somehow that she was carrying twins, the alternative was that she was carrying one super fat baby. She looked around the waiting room and glanced at her watch again. She had tried to call Charlie—tried to but it always went straight to voicemail. She had thought that the past month would lead to some—cooling off period, so they could start moving forward but still nothing. She had texted her the time of her next ultrasound, hoping that it would bridge the gap between two of them and they could figure something out. A plan or something that would help them figure it out.
Santana casually glanced around the waiting room of the office, there were quite a few people who had their partner, or someone with them. Maybe she should have sent a message to her abuela, or her mother or maybe even Rachel to tag along but she was hoping that Charlie would show up. She couldn't just expect everyone else to help her and Charlie had said that she wanted to be a part of their child's life. It wasn't just—when the baby was here she'd take an active interest. She would need to trust Charlie with their child, that she knew what to do that she had a handle on it. She exhales a bit and just waits for her name to be called, there is nothing she can do about it now and she can't have any regrets.
"Sorry I'm late," Charlie says taking a seat beside Santana whose head whipped towards her. "I got lost," she says with a shrug. It was a lie, she had spent the last ten minutes trying to get it together. To make sure that she wasn't angry. Whatever she may feel towards Santana, the hurt the anger—Santana was still and always would be the mother of her child.
Santana studies Charlie who isn't really looking at her, and she wants to say something to reach over and touch Charlie's hand something, but there's still something. "I didn't think you were going to come—" she admits, she needs to try something new anything new.
Charlie's annoyance flares. "It's my kid of course I was going to come."
Santana jaw sets at Charlie's anger, she was just going to thank her, and there was no need for Charlie to get so defensive. "Doesn't matter if we divorced, it's our children. We did this together."
Charlie looks at Santana for a moment and then snorts, "Speak for yourself, I did most of the work." It's petty and she knows it is, but she can't help it.
"You did most of the work?" Santana says testily. She was currently carrying their child, possibly children. Daring Charlie to repeat herself but Charlie doesn't and just gives her a look. Santana waits, but Charlie doesn't bite. It's the first time that Santana's spent any time looking at Charlie and not being angry, not completely and Charlie looks—well Charlie looks extremely good. Just like she had been lately, completely put together. She is quiet for a moment and bites her lip, someone needs to bridge the gap between them. "You look good," Charlie looks at her and she suddenly feels very self-conscious. She's gained a tremendous amount of weight and she had needed to spend a bit more money on maternity clothes, because of her ever expanding waistline. "I've been watching your show lately. And you look good—but I miss the old you. You were funnier."
Charlie shrugged, "They're serious issues and they deserve to be taken as such." Charlie said tapping her fingers on the arm rest of the chair. She was quiet, Dani insisted that she was doing a good thing keeping things professional and she did like the fact that she was beating Frannie at her own game. She flicks her eyes to Santana for a moment. "Since when do you watch the show?"
Santana didn't say anything right away, she had always caught the show whenever she had time. But she missed Charlie and it seemed to be the only place that she could hear her voice. "There are some concerns, so I'm basically doing desk duty until I take my maternity leave. I've finished most of my paperwork, which is a good thing, so it leaves me to catch some of your show." Charlie nods at this and turns her head away. Santana sighs, the conversation is stilted and its obvious Charlie doesn't want to really talk. She should have expected this. She needs to try again. "Charlie—"
"Santana Fabray-Lopez?" A nurse says coming to the area and looking around before resting her eyes on Santana who turns when she hears her name.
Santana looks at Charlie for a minute who had gotten up and extended a hand. It's like old times but Charlie isn't looking at her and she's sure it's just—an old habit. Santana takes the offered hand and manages to stand up. Instead of letting Charlie pull away she gently squeezes her hand and looks at her but once again Charlie refuses to look at her and tugs on her hand. Santana lets the hand fall away and she gives up on it. They weren't—it wasn't working and how were they going to raise a child if Charlie couldn't even look at her.
"Everything looks absolutely normal. Would you like to have a picture or a video?" Dr. Chin asked the two of them, she had noticed the little things. Usually most couples that came in here were—very touching and loving with each other. They were usually filled to the brim with excitement. She hadn't personally seen a couple with this much distance between them, let alone all the tension.
"Can I have a video—and a picture?" Charlie asks, it was so weird to think of another life growing inside Santana. Like it blew her mind, sure Rachel had been pregnant and she knew pregnant ladies but—still. There was a life that she had helped create growing inside Santana. She reaches for a moment to touch Santana's still exposed stomach but stops herself after a moment and looks away when Santana turns to her.
"Can we have two separate ones?" Santana asks after looking back at the doctor.
Dr. Chin nods and Charlie exhales and rubs her arm a bit, "And you're sure the baby is like five months?" Charlie asks. She ignores the wounded look Santana shoots her.
"It appear so, it'll be impossible to tell exactly when conception was, most couples like to guess though, it's a fun exercise and it helps build intimacy," Dr. Chin informed them as she wiped Santana's stomach clean.
"We're divorced," Charlie informs Dr. Chin who winces, she doesn't look at Santana when she says this. She needed to know if the child was hers. She wanted the child to be hers so badly.
Dr. Chin doesn't say anything to that, but she pulls off her gloves. "Just give me a moment and I'll go get your ultrasounds, you can get dressed Santana."
Santana nods and gets helped up and she pulls off the gown the moment Dr. Chin leaves. She looks over at Charlie who immediately turns around to give her some privacy. A part of her knows, in her head it's to do that, but there's another part of her that feels hideous. She's fat, and she's got stretch marks. Her breasts are bigger and they ache. Pregnancy was rough, no one had told her that her libido was going to be increased tenfold. "You've seen me naked before."
Charlie doesn't say anything for a moment, it was permission to look or at least she thought it was. She still didn't sneak a peek, she wasn't a teenager anymore and the whole thing was exhausting. "Yeah when we were together. When I thought that we loved each other. I don't want to be—we're not going to be that divorced couple that has sex all the time. So I don't care if you're dating or start to date—I mean I do care, but that's because the kid comes first now. But I personally don't care if you're dating anyone." She says it with conviction, a mantra that she's repeated over and over again and she's not quite sure if she's lying to herself.
It's a flash of anger and hurt and betrayal because she was tired of Charlie denying things. Of questioning whether she had cheated, of whether she was loved. "Listen to me carefully Charlie. I never cheated on you, I have never cheated on you. This child is yours. I do love you, what I couldn't love and why I wanted this divorce was because I was sick of it. You were cheating on me and maybe you didn't get to the point where you kissed someone or you put your dick into another woman but you cheated on me. We didn't talk about anything, you stopped trying so stop it. Stop treating me like I'm the bad guy in this." Santana exhales. "I want to make this work Charlie. I need to make this work, we can't fight over everything and nothing anymore. We just can't."
"This isn't nothing Santana," Charlie snaps at her. "You left, you withheld information from me and you never gave me a chance to fix it. So yes this whole mess is your fault. And I didn't cheat on you. You're the one that shut down first and you began to pick at everything. Since we met I have had this massive crush on you, and then it turned to love. I loved you Santana more than anything. I loved you and you told me that you didn't love me anymore. Every couple goes through rough patches that doesn't mean that you nuke it. It doesn't mean you hide the fact that you're pregnant from me. That's why I'm not here for you Santana. I'm here for my daughter and that's what I'm going to focus on from here on in. She's my number one priority." Charlie finishes looking at Santana and swallows. "I'll wait outside."
Santana stares as Charlie walks out, there is so much feelings and she can't even begin to sort them. Anger, hurt, devastation and loneliness crash over. Charlie no longer cared and a huge part of her just felt like she was just some vessel to carry Charlie's child. It was the only thing that was going to tie them together. This wasn't what she wanted and they needed to get past this, they needed to start again and that's what she wanted.
AN: Yes I know short chapter today, but I wanted to keep it rather focused, is it going to get better? Yes maybe. Anyway next future chapter we'll take a closer look at Charlie's feelings and Santana's and depending on how complicated I want to make this story another blonde might show up. But until then. Well enjoy a nice simple prom chapter.