September – Chapter 12

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. All names are fictitious and appear only by coincidence.)

It was already the beginning of September and Brittany just had eight weeks to go. Rachel had eleven. Both of them were hot, uncomfortable, and waddled around like a pair of ducks.

Rachel had even made Finn switch sides of the bed with her so she would have a shorter trip to the bathroom. Baby Carolyn was pushing squarely on her bladder making sleeping through the night impossible.

When the new school term started, Brittany didn't return to her teacher's job at the pre-school. She had given up her waltz classes for bride grooms earlier and the ballet classes when she no longer resembled an elegant swan.

The only thing that kept Rachel from being so irritable was that Finn seemed to be going through a sympathetic pregnancy with her. At first she didn't believe him, but Dr, Merryweather told her that sometimes husbands do have the same symptoms as their wives.

Since his melt-down with the hot dogs back in July, he felt the urge to throw-up when he passed a hot dog vendor on the street. He had developed a distinctive round pot belly and food cravings. He devoured deep fried dill pickle chips with gobs of ranch dressing.

His ankles swelled and his lower back ached by the end of the day. The TV station manager had even noticed the weight gain, and told Finn that the camera adds ten pounds without him helping it out.

His doctor tried to explain to him that what was happening to him could be psychosomatic or hormonal, and sometimes husbands do developed symptoms that mimic their wives. His fifteen pound weight gain could also explain everything too.

Rachel had to laugh to herself when he walked around holding his back with his hands and complaining that he was hot and to crank up the AC.

-/-

Santana was winding up a big case and was lead chair for the prosecution. She had just begun her closing argument when a man silently entered the back of the court room and sat down unnoticed.

Santana was certainly at the top of her game as she paced back and forth in front of the jury box presenting her case while she damned the defendant. She was confident and imposing with fiery eyes and a deliberate stride. Her speech was eloquent and compelling. No stone was left unturned as she laid out the prosecution's case. She was born to be a prosecution attorney. The defense attorney spoke last, and his performance paled in comparison to the prosecutions.

When both attorneys had rested their cases, the judge gave the jury their instructions and then dismissed them for deliberation.

Santana was gathering up her papers when the unnoticed man approached her.

"My daughter, I have never been so proud! You are like a conductor leading a symphony orchestra." Joe Lopez hugged his daughter."

"Papa, what are you doing here?" Did Mama come with you?" Santana asked returning the embrace.

"No your mama did not make the trip. I am only here for the day. I asked at the DA's office where you were at, and I could not resist the urge to see you in action. You were magnificent! I have never been so proud!"

"Thank you Papa, but did you come all the way to New York just to see me prosecute a case?"

"No, Santana, I have come with a gift."

"But it is not my birthday; do you have time for an early lunch? The jury just left and won't be back for awhile."

"Si, for you I have all the time in the world."

After Santana and her father had finished their after lunch coffee, Santana asked again, "Why didn't Mama come with you and what is this gift?"

"Mama thought that I should do this just you and I, and the gift is not from us. It is from your grandfather, my father. Joseph Lopez Sr."

"But Grandfather is dead. You and I attended his funeral months ago."

"Si, my Papa is gone, but he left a gift for you in his will. His estate has now been settled, and he left some money for all of his grandchildren," Joe said as he handed her a bank envelope containing a check.

"Papa, I can not believe it!" Santana gasped as she read the amount. "This is enough money to make my dreams come true!"

"Does that dream include a child? Your mama told me that you would need a procedure, and you didn't have enough money to pay for it."

"Yes Papa. Are you okay with it?"

"It is not for me to say. Your grandfather left this share of his estate to you with no strings attached."

"Papa, you and Mama have always made my dreams come true. Thank you for this and thank you so much for bringing it in person. That means a lot to me."

"That is what your mama thought, which is why she didn't come. She wanted us to have some father-daughter time and to remember my father and your grandfather together."

"Thank you Papa, this money and your gesture mean more to me than you'll ever know," Santana hugged her father as she thanked her grandfather in a silent prayer.

Her cell phone rang and Santana looked down at it. "The jury is back. Would you like to come back with me and see if the jury decided to convict?"

"After your closing argument, I have no doubt that they will put that criminal away. His guilt is as plain as the nose on my face. You were brilliant; I only wish that Mama could have seen you. She would be as proud as I am of you."

Later that evening Santana arrived home late after dropping her father off at the airport.

She entered the adjoined condos and found Blaine and Kurt cleaning up their kitchen after dinner.

"Hey Santana," Blaine greeted her. "Brittany said that you would be late, but we saved a plate for you. It's in the refrigerator when you're ready to heat it up."

"Thanks Blaine," but where is Brittany? "I have some big new for all of us."

"I think the What to Expect When You're Expecting book calls it nesting. She has been cleaning and reorganizing the baby's stuff all day," Kurt told Santana as he dried the forks.

"Well I have some big news to tell you, let me go and get her," Santana turned.

"Wait I have some good new too," Blaine stopped her.
"I sold my BMW today. That should give us enough money for at least one IVF attempt."

"You sold your Z-3? You loved that car."

"You knew I was trying to sell it. Besides there wasn't room enough in it for both Kurt and I and our briefcases. Besides you've already sold your convertible."

"Can you get it back?" With my news you won't have to sell it."

"What's your news?" Blaine asked.

"Let me go and get Brittany and I'll tell all of you at one time. See if Finn and Rachel are at home, I want to tell them too."

Santana found Brittany with her head stuck in the oven scrubbing it with baking soda and a scrub pad. She was dressed in rubber gloves, snowboard goggles, a "Kiss the Cook" apron, and a surgical mask and cap.

"Brittany, that's a self-cleaning oven. You don't need to scrub the oven."

"We've lived here for three years and I've never seen this oven clean it's self."

"That's because I clean it while you're at work. You just press a few buttons, but it does make an awful smell. Wait? - Why am I telling you this? I have some big news to tell everyone. Take off the rubber gloves and come over to Blaine and Kurt's living room."

Brittany removed her gloves, and joined the other three plus Rachel and Finn. Santana was digging in her oversized red leather purse.

"I hope your swimmers are in Olympic condition, because they have a swim meet coming up," Santana smirked in Blaine's direction.

"My papa dropped by court today to bring a gift to me from my grandfather. When he died last spring, he left all of his grandchildren a share of his estate. My papa came to New York to give mine to me," Santana smiled like a Cheshire cat as she handed the check for Blaine to see.

"Santana, I don't believe it? This is enough money for three or four attempts if we don't get lucky on the first try," Blaine gasped as he counted the number of zeros on the check.

"If you still want to do this, I'll contact the clinic tomorrow. They'll have to monitor my cycle and start the fertility medication that will make me produce more one than one egg a month."

"How many do you have to produce?" Finn asked dumbfounded"

"They won't do the procedure with less than three. The fertility doctor that I spoke with said that they would like between eight and fifteen."

"Fifteen babies!" That's not humanly possible," Rachel rubbed her own swollen belly in horror.

"I once had a golden retriever who had twelve puppies," Brittany volunteered.

"There is no way that I'm going to let them put more that three embryos back in." Santana said adamantly.

"What happens to the others?" Rachel asked.

"They'll freeze them, and we can use them in the future."

"Blainetana popsicles," Finn tried to make a joke.

"You're just lucky that you and Rachel can have a fun time in the sack and not have to go through all of this," Santana scolded Finn.

The clinic started Santana on the fertility drugs the next day. She came by the clinic every day for an ultra –sound and blood tests to monitor her progress. When the fertility clinic determined that she had produced approximately ten eggs they were ready to proceed.

Blaine and Brittany went with Santana the morning of the retrieval. Santana was put to sleep and a nurse held her hand while she counted backwards from one hundred. At ninety-three, Santana was out cold.

Three hours later Santana was waking up with Brittany sitting beside her in the recovery room.

"San, it's me Britt. It's all over. You can wake up now."

"How long have I been out?" Santana said groggily fighting to wake up.

"They took you into surgery three hours ago. They recovered eight eggs. Blaine has already done his thing and has gone back to court."

"When will they know if it worked?"

"I think the doctor said two to five days. Your eggs and Blaine's swimmers are playing together in the lab right now."

"I just hope that they play nice, I don't want to go through this again," Santana rubbed her cramping abdomen.

Three days later six embryos had developed and the fertility doctor returned three to Santana's womb. The other three were frozen. They now waited to see if any of the first three embryos implanted and developed.

-/-

Until the next chapter please review. Thank you, Whistler Nights Chapter 13 "Baby On Board" is now up.

The book, What to Expect When You're Expecting was written by Heidi Mukoff and Sharon Mazel.