That evening Santana and Rachel were sitting in the living room of their apartment with Noah and Lucy. They'd ordered in from a restaraunt down the street from the apartment and Santana had picked up a cake from a nearby bakery while Rachel was at rehearsal. A pile of presents were stacked in the corner of the room and Lucy had even allowed Rachel to pick from her collection of children's movies. Noah was sitting in the recliner with the little girl sitting in his lap and Santana was sitting on the couch with Rachel sitting between her legs.
Honestly, Santana had been more than furious with that morning's events. She had wanted nothing more than to track Nicki down and punch her in the face, but she wasn't going to ruin Rachel's birthday. Around lunchtime, the perfect way to get back at Nicki came to her mind, even if Nicki would never find out. As long as it effected Rachel, then it worked for Santana. Thinking of her plan, Santana leaned down and whispered in the Broadway star's ear. "So... I saw you trying to peek at my present when I was getting dinner set up." she teased. Rachel looked up at her girlfriend with a guilty smile.
"Maybe..." she whispered. Santana grinned and kissed her softly.
"Its only part of your present, babe. Just so you know." she said, eyebrow raised suggestively. She smiled as she felt Rachel shiver and Santana turned her attention back to the movie, which was Beauty and the Beast.
"I want to know." Rachel whispered. Santana smiled and shook her head.
"Sorry sweetness. You're going to have to wait." she said. Lucy looked over from her spot.
"Mommy?" Santana looked over with a smile.
"Yes baby girl?" she asked.
"Can we open presents now?" Lucy asked. Santana raised an eyebrow.
"Lu, you do know that only Rachel gets to open presents, right? Because its her birthday." she said. Lucy nodded and it clicked in Santana's mind. She had told Lucy that they had to wait to eat cake until after the presents were opened. Santana smiled and shook her head in amusement. "Ask Rachel, baby girl." Santana said. Lucy looked at the smaller woman.
"Can we Rachel? Can we?" Lucy asked. Rachel laughed and nodded.
"Sure Lucy. We can open presents now." she said, sitting up from her previous position. Santana missed the contact, but crossed her legs Indian style on the couch as Noah brought the presents and set them on the coffee table.
"You should probably open that present first." Santana whispered, nodding at the gift that Lucy was holding. She knew what it was, because she'd helped Lucy pick it out. Rachel nodded, knowing that it would please the four year old.
"Lucy, come here." Rachel said with a smile. The girl walked over and Rachel pulled her into her lap. "Do you want to help me open it?" Rachel asked. Lucy eagerly nodded and together the two opened the present. Gasping, Rachel looked at Santana. "How did you find this?" she asked, holding up a DVD copy of Funny Girl, signed by Barbra Streisand. Santana smiled.
"Hey don't look at me. That's Lucy's present." she said, handing Rachel the card. She opened it to see a note that had obviously been written by Santana, as it was in her handwriting and Rachel knew that Lucy didn't know how to write.
"Mommy had to write it." Lucy said, frowning.
"Why are you frowning?" Rachel asked.
"She wanted to write it herself, but she can't." Santana explained. Rachel nodded. "But she told me what to write on the card." Santana offered. Rachel nodded and read it.
Rachel,
Happy birthday! I really like that you and Mommy like each other and I like that you came to Disney World with us. Mommy said that we're gonna watch you on stage soon and that you're gonna be awesome. I wanna go. Can I?
Love, Lucy
Rachel smiled and kissed the four year old's cheek. "Of course you can go, Lucy." she said. Lucy looked up.
"Do you like it?" she asked. Rachel nodded.
"I love it. Thank you for having your mommy write that. It means a lot." she said, allowing the girl to crawl into her mother's lap. Santana hugged her daughter and kissed the top of her head.
"Quinn, Finn, and Beth sent you presents and there were some from your dads, Kurt, my parents, and someone named Shelby Corcoran." Santana said. Rachel's head snapped to the side.
"Shelby sent me a present?" she asked. Santana nodded.
"Who's Shelby?" Lucy asked. Santana raised an eyebrow, wondering the same thing.
"She's my mother..." Rachel said. Santana picked up on her girlfriend's uncomfort and decided to put a stop to it.
"Lu, let's just concentrate on the presents, okay? Then we'll eat cake." Santana suggested. Lucy nodded and Rachel picked up the present from Shelby. Opening it, she smiled as she saw the framed pictures of the two of them. On one side of the frame was a picture of Shelby and baby Rachel. On the other side was a picture of Shelby and Rachel at her graduation.
Rachel,
Happy birthday, sweetie. You're growing up on me!
Love, Shelby
"Are you okay, Rach?" Santana asked softly. Rachel looked over and nodded.
"I'm great." she said as she picked up the present from Quinn, Finn, and Beth. They had sent her a scrapbook full of pictures from their Disney World trip. There were to notes. The first one was from Beth
Rachel,
Thanks so much for coming to Disney World with us! You were really cool and I liked having you around. Happy Birthday!
Beth
P.S. Mom and Finn said we can come see your show!
The second was from Quinn and Finn
Rachel,
Here's the copies of the pictures you wanted! Sorry, but I didn't want to send you just pictures for your birthday and I actually had fun making the book. Happy Birthday!
Quinn and Finn
P.S. We're bringing Beth to see your show!
"I had asked Quinn for copies so I could make a scrapbook... she took care of that for me." she said, laughing as she grabbed the present from her dads, which were a few CDs, along with a DVD copy of Santana's movie. Santana and Rachel shared a look and laughed. Rachel had told her dads that the relationship was initially fake and that they had really met at the premire. There was a post-it note on the case that read,
Sweetheart,
Since you were too busy to see it at the premiere, we thought we'd buy it for you. :) Our baby's all grown up. Happy Birthday, Rachel!
Love, Dad and Daddy
"Wow..." was all Santana could say as Rachel reached for the present from Kurt, which was a scarf that Rachel had been wanting to buy.
Rachel,
Happy birthday to my favorite diva!
Love, Kurt
She grabbed the present from Santana's parents and read the note.
Rachel,
These are videos of Santana and Noah's performances from when they were in Glee Club in high school and when Santana's competitions from when she was a cheerleader. We knew that Santana would never show you these herself and we wanted you to see them. We can't wait to meet you! Happy birthday!
Jose and Lena Lopez
Santana and Noah groaned in unison. "You don't have to watch those." Santana said.
"We can watch them while we eat cake." Rachel said, smiling. Santana sighed. "Its my birthday." Rachel said in a sing song voice.
"Only for a few more hours." Santana said in the same tone before smiling at the other woman. Rachel laughed and picked up the present from Noah, but hesitated before opening it.
"This is kid friendly, right Noah?" Rachel asked. Santana cracked up and Noah rolled his eyes.
"Yes its kid friendly, Rachel." he said, smiling. Rachel laughed and opened the present.
"Oh wow." Rachel said, laughing. Noah had gotten the poster of Santana's movie framed. It was autographed by the entire cast. Rachel ran a finger over the 'Introducing Santana Lopez.' and smiled as she read the card.
Rachel,
In case you don't get enough of Santana as it is... :) Happy birthday.
Puck/Noah
"Thank you so much, Noah." Rachel said. Santana stared at it in confusion.
"Where'd you get that? You never asked me to sign a poster." she said.
"Well duh, that would have been stupid. I saw it at some convention thing I went to a few weeks ago and I bought it. I figured Rachel would like it, considering it is her girlfriend's movie." he said.
"Why would you get her a poster of my movie?" Santana asked.
"I figured she'd want a picture of her girlfriend around so she could see you." he said.
"First of all, we live together. She sees me all the time. Second of all, there's pictures of us all around this place." Santana said. Rachel interrupted..
"I love it, Noah. Thank you." she said. Noah smiled at the diva and stuck his tongue out at Santana.
"Real mature." she said, looking at the poster. "I guess it is kind of cool." she admitted. Rachel smiled and grabbed one of Santana's presents. "Okay, just so you know, Puck and I didn't tell each other what we were getting you for your birthday." Santana said as Rachel opened it. She was staring at a framed poster of her debut Broadway play. She smiled as she ran a finger over the 'Introducing Rachel Berry.'
"Where did you find this, San?" she whispered.
"I'm not going to lie. I had no idea what your debut play was until I googled you. I found out what theater you had debuted in and I went there to see if they still had the poster, which they did. I asked if I could buy it and they let me. I thought you'd like it." Santana said.
"This is the actual poster that was hung up outside the theater?" Rachel asked. Santana nodded. "Thank you so much, San." Rachel said.
"No problem, babe." Santana said as Rachel grabbed the second present, which was a jewelry box. Inside was a necklace with Rachel's name between two gold stars. "I know you have a thing for gold stars." Santana said, smiling.
"I love it." Rachel said, grabbing the final present, which was a card.
"Don't read that out loud." Santana said, blushing. Rachel smiled and nodded as she opened the card.
Rachel,
Happy birthday, sweetness. I can already tell you that this card is totally going to ruin my reputation as a badass, but I can't help but grow mushy and sound like a lovesick teenager when I talk, write, or even think about you. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met and I can't believe that someone had to force us to pretend to start dating, although I am eternally grateful for being thrown into 'Pezberry,' because it led to something completely and utterly wonderful. I love you with all my heart, Rachel, and you've taught me so much. Most importantly, you taught me to love again, after being hurt so bad by Brittany. Aside from my daughter, you are the most important person in my life. You and Lucy are my world and I would never know what to do without either one of you. I'm so glad that you came to the premier of my movie and our managers caught us looking at each other and introduced us. I never would have had the courage to talk to you myself and I'm so glad that you gave me a chance. A real chance. I love you more than life itself and I hope you love me just as much. I never want to be without you, my love, and I hope that I never have to be. I love you more than you can ever imagine and I'll spend the rest of my life proving that to you, if you'll let me. Happy birthday, my love. I hope its as amazing as you are.
Love, Santana
Rachel looked up with tears in her eyes. Santana bit her lip. "Are those happy tears?" she asked softly. Rachel smiled and nodded, wiping her eyes as she looked at the picture Santana had put in the card. It was of the two of them at the DVD release party for Last Friday Night. Turning it over, Rachel saw that Santana had wrote a note on the back.
Rach,
I like real Pezberry a lot better than fake Pezberry! :)
xoxo, San
Rachel looked up and laughed. "I do too." she said, referring to the note. Santana grinned and motioned for Lucy to go back to Rachel while she got the cake. As the sang Happy Birthday, Santana and Rachel flirted with their eyes, knowing that the other was extremely turned on. As Santana cut the cake, Rachel instructed Noah to put in the DVD that Santana's parents had sent. She was amazed by how talented Santana and Noah were. Soon, Noah was carrying a sleeping Lucy out of the apartment.
"Make sure you have everything." Santana growled out. She loved her daughter, but she didn't want to be interrupted again. Not when she was this turned on. Noah laughed.
"We have everything. Good night ladies." he said teasingly. Rachel rolled her eyes. "Happy birthday, Rachel." he said, hugging the girl.
"Good night, Noah." she said, closing and locking the door. "So where's the last part of my present?" she asked. Santana smiled and kissed her. It took all of her strength to pull away, knowing that her surprise would make up for it.
"If you'll clean up in here, I'll go get it ready." she whispered, walking away. She wasn't sure if Rachel would like it a second time, but she grabbed her Cheerios uniform, along with the few minor changes she was making. She knew that this was the perfect revenge for Nicki, because if all went well, Santana would have Rachel even more than she already did and if (God forbid) Nicki were to try to steal Rachel from her, all Rachel would have to do was think of this moment and she'd run straight to Santana. The Latina woman couldn't bear to think of losing Rachel. The thought honestly pained her. She thought about how far they'd come as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. She was brought out of her thoughts as she heard a knock. "Show time." she whispered before opening the bathroom door.
"San are you... You're wearing you cheerleading uniform." Rachel observed. Santana cocked an eyebrow in a sexy manner and nodded. Rachel's eyes looked her up and down. "With a few changes I see."
"For the better, don't worry. Now, I couldn't help but notice just how turned on you were earlier." Santana said. Rachel nodded. "And well... your cheerleader ex-girlfriend visited this morning..."
"Is that what this is?" Rachel asked.
"Oh no. Sex was always on the agenda for tonight. But see, I figured, you've made out with her in a cheerleading uniform. You've made out with me in this cheerleading uniform, but you've probably never made out with someone in a cheerleading uniform like this." she said teasingly. Rachel raised an eyebrow.
"What? While wearing stilettos?" she asked, eyeing the red ones that were on Santana's feet. Santana grinned and leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"Let's just say I'm not wearing spanx this time." she breathed, kissing the girl's ear. Rachel shivered and her eyes went black.
"Oh god." she whispered, kissing Santana with passion.
"Whoa, hold up diva. I'm running the show... at least the first round. This is my present to you." Santana said, leading the girl to the bed. Rachel grinned as she was kissed again.