There have been no more dates, not for lack of trying on Brittany's part. She's back to asking you out every single day and you're back to turning her down.
This morning though, she hasn't said much of anything. She's dressed for her a hearing regarding the lawsuit Richie brought against her. She looks nervous and you wish that you could go with her. But you have to stay here to drop off and pick up Emily from school. Quinn's out of town and bringing Emily to the courthouse is definitely out of the question. You don't want her anywhere near that asshole again.
She's biting her lip and staring at the kitchen counter when you walk in to make Emily's lunch. You're worried about her so you put your hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
She immediately nods, but you know that it's not true. She's freaking out. You lean sideways against the counter. "Hey," you say softly to get her attention. Once she's made eye contact you continue, "No matter what happens we'll be okay. I promise. We'll figure it out."
Her face is a little relieved at your words and she wraps her arms around your shoulders. You hold her around the waist and rub her back. You don't want her to be worried and you're worried about her so all thoughts of keeping a distance from her are momentarily gone.
When you pull back you offer her a smile, "C'mon I'll drop you at the courthouse on the way to drop Emily off."
She lets out a smile and thanks you. You just shrug it off and make Emily's lunch. Once you're all in the car, you pull into traffic, but keep glancing sideways at Brittany who looks like she's still freaking out. It doesn't take long before you drop her off in front of the courthouse. It takes her a little while to get out of the car, but when you take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze she walks up to the courthouse steps a little more confidently.
You glance back at the rugrat in the backseat and find her contently humming to herself. You know where her school is because you'd driven past it, but you've never been inside. When you walk her in, the school is intimidating in all its grandeur. The walls are paneled with a dark wood and the hallways are not lined with the white tiles of all the schools you went to. It's a swirled marble that makes you feel guilty for walking on it.
Emily drags you to her classroom, pointing out every bathroom and water fountain between the front door and your destination. As you continue to walk, you can see why Brittany would want to make sure that Emily got to stay here. This is a school that every parent dreams of sending their kids to.
When you get to the classroom, Emily drags you inside and shows you her desk. There are other parents and who you guess are nannies dropping their children off. A woman walks up to you with a smile, "Hi I'm Katrina, Emily's teacher." She doesn't look like any elementary school teacher that you've ever seen. She's on the younger side with light brown hair and clothes that you're sure were bought in the last year. Why didn't you go to a school like this? God knows your parents could have afforded it. You got the whole public school, older than god teachers who don't really like children anymore. And the young idealists who wore vests from second hand stores, not that you're going to name names.
You're not sure how to introduce yourself. Hi I'm Santana, I used to date Emily's mom in high school, but now we're just kinda living together. Hi I'm Santana, I'm sorta dating Emily's mom, but not really….I mean it's complicated. Right now you're close to saying, Hi I'm Santana, Emily's nanny.
Before you can spit anything out, Emily announces, "This is 'Tana."
"Tana?" the teacher asks, looking from Emily to you.
"Santana," you correct her.
A smile spreads across her face, "Oh Emily has told me so much about you."
"Oh no," you breathe and look down at the little girl grinning up at you. You're almost positive that she could get away with murder if she grinned at the jury like that.
"Oh it's all great," Katrina says, "Everything that she says about you. You're her hero."
You look questioningly down at Emily, but she's already chattering away to one of her little friends. When you meet the eyes of her teacher she's still smiling. This lady is way too friendly for you so you set Emily's lunch down on the desk next to her backpack. She gives you a long hug and you tell her that you'll pick her up after school.
When you walk out you let out a sigh. Talking to teachers never gets any easier, especially when they're nice and smiling at you.
You go home and do some laundry. You clean as best as you can because Mandy's going to be here this upcoming weekend for her International competition, which happens to coincide with Emily's birthday. She and Brittany are in charge of whatever plans to hang out together. You're just going to try to figure out how to keep her from finding out your occupation. If Brittany's mom ever got a hold of that information, any shred of hope you had for her ever being civil to you would be gone.
You get a call from Brittany as you're driving to pick up Emily. She's done for the day. The attorney said that it looks good. You can hear that she's a little shaken up. You glance at the clock and decide that you have enough time to pick up Brittany first. You don't want to risk Emily seeing Richie or the other way around. Plus, you want a chance to calm her down before you pick up Emily. Having one of them upset is bad enough. Emily picks up on Brittany's moods better than anyone.
Brittany's attorney is standing with her as you pull up to the curb. Brittany's arms are crossed and she doesn't look happy at all. Then you see why the attorney is standing with her. Richie is standing on a curb a few yards away hailing a cab. You really, really want run him over with your car two, three, or fifty times.
But before you get a chance to hit the gas, the attorney opens the door for Brittany and she gets in. With a parting smile to her attorney the door closes and you put as much distance between her and Richie as fast as you can.
"You okay?" you ask her, taking a deep breath to calm your won rapid heartbeats.
She numbly nods and you let her sit in silence to calm down on her own until you park in front of Emily's school. Then you turn in your seat to look at her and take her hand closest to you. You can feel the tiny vibrations in her hand. You look at her and you can't tell if she's mad or frightened or both. You're just really worried at this point.
"Britt, what's wrong?" you ask, holding her eyes.
She takes a deep breath and puts some of her hair behind her ear, "It's just…seeing Richie freaks me out a little. He's so different than I remember him."
You stroke her knuckles with your thumb, "We'll be okay. No matter what."
She smiles and holds your hand firmer. You feel like she's about to kiss you and you can't pull out of the stare. Until there's a tiny rapping at the back window. You turn around and see the top of Emily's head peaking over the window. With a laugh you get out and open the door for her. She tosses in her backpack that's almost bigger than her and climbs in.
"Santana."
You turn around and Katrina is looking at you holding Emily's lunch box. "Oh thanks."
"No problem," she smiles. "Have a nice afternoon."
You look at Brittany with wide eyes and she just giggles. When you slip into the car, she says, "I think she likes you."
You glance back to Emily and makes sure she's not listening when you whisper back, "Well if she liked me a little less, I'd be okay with it."
Brittany smirks, "Me too."
When you get home you get back to the domesticity of it all. You fold the laundry while Brittany does the dishes. Emily's sitting on the bed telling you about her day and about a boy at her school keeps following her around. You can see Brittany looking at you through the bedroom door with a look of warning. You roll you eyes that she knew that you were going to tell Emily to punch him in the nose.
"When are you allowed to date?" you ask her.
Emily grins up at you, "When I'm thirty."
You pat her on the head, "Perfect."
After you all finish the chores, Brittany makes dinner while you and Emily watch Aladdin on your computer. You offer to help, but Brittany refuses. She seems really concentrated and unusually quiet so you leave her to it, but keep a close eye on her.
When you finish dinner you have to wrestle Brittany out of the kitchen so that you can do the dishes. You manage to get her into the bedroom and throw her onto the bed. She pulls you down with her a smile on her face. You tumble on top of her and she locks her arms around your waist.
You start to get up, but she holds tights and rolls you onto your side. She buries her face in your neck and sighs. You run your fingers through her hair, "You okay?"
She nods, "I just…" she looks at you and lets out a small smile, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'd be fine," you assure her. Maybe even better off, but you don't add that part. You know she wouldn't like it.
She leans forward and rests her forehead against yours. Her fingertips rest against your cheek and she takes a deep breath, "I love you."
You get caught up in the moment. The one where it's just you and her and nothing else. Where she's laying next to you, caressing your cheek and holding your eyes. You bite back the 'I love you too' that's on the tip of your tongue, but instead tilt your head up and let your lips brush against her forehead.
She holds you tighter against her, your shirt balled up in her fists. You feel a soft nip at your neck and your muscles contract. When she softly kisses your neck, you sigh and pull back, "Britt."
"I know," she scrunches her mouth to one side. She studies your face and says, "I want to kiss you."
You don't know what to say that that. Your heart is hammering and you feel your lips tingle at the mere thought. You push her hair away from her face and shake your head, "Not right now okay?"
When her eyes meet yours, you see a glimmer of hope that you just ignited. Sure you didn't say no, but you didn't say yes either. You didn't give her a date and time. You didn't say never. You just can't stand to see her sad, especially right now.
She pulls close to you against and rests her head under your chin. With a heavy sigh she adds, "My parents are coming."
Your while body tenses and almost before it happens, Brittany's hand splays out on your stomach, rubbing soothing circles through the fabric. You can't believe that no one has told you yet. That seems like vital piece of information. Especially when plane tickets out of the state would have been a lot cheaper last week.
She continues because your reaction pretty much said it all, "I know I should have told you sooner, but I didn't want you to freak out and leave or something. Especially with Richie and everything. I didn't want you to be stressed out."
It takes you a minute to completely realize that she was thinking of you in all this. Her ex-boyfriend is suing her and her mom and sister are coming to town and she's worried about you. You look down at her and say, "Hey."
She looks up at you and when she meets your eyes you kiss her. It's a simple peck on the lips and probably way more than you should have done, but you don't know how else to express how much she means to you or how much her love really gets to you even though you like to pretend that it doesn't.
"Mommy?" you hear Emily call from the doorway. She's standing there in her pajamas, an obviously not matching pink top and blue bottoms.
Brittany sits up, "What baby?"
"When is Aunt Mandy coming?" she walks over and crawls up onto the bed, laying between you.
"Thursday," Brittany answers, straightening out Emily's shirt.
You stare at the ceiling. At least they're staying at the Waldorf and not here. Not like there's anywhere for them to stay anyway. You turn to Brittany, "Are you going to dinner with them on Thursday?"
"You're not going?" she asks, obviously disappointed. Then you look down at Emily and see that she's awaiting your answer at well.
You cave to the enormous pressure of the blue eyes and fall back onto you back, "Of course I am."
Brittany smiles and looks down at Emily, "Ready for bed?"
Emily nods and slides out of the bed onto the floor. You get up and follow them to Emily's room. Once Emily is under the covers and Brittany is sitting on the floor next to the bed, telling her a story, you go back into the kitchen and start washing the dishes.
You get so lost in the mindless easy of washing the dishes that you don't notices Brittany slide up next to you until you're done. When you do see her you jump and put your hand over your now racing heart. "Jesus Britt."
She just grins and slips her arms around your waist. You allow it because you're tired. You don't lean into her like you'd like to. That would send the wrong signal. Of course every single signal you send her contradicts the last. You have no idea what you're doing. You just know that you have to keep her away. You have to. Absolutely have to.
You reach into the cabinet behind you, breaking away from Brittany to get a glass. Or maybe you were getting a glass to break away from Brittany. Who really knows what you're doing or why you're doing it anymore?
"Did you get Emily anything for her birthday yet?" Brittany leans on the counter her chin cradled in her palm.
You fill up your glass as you nod, "I got her some books and one of the dolls that she wanted. Not the one that you change the diaper on it. That's disgusting. I'm not cleaning up fake baby poop."
Brittany laughs and stands up straight. She offers her pinkie to you and you look at it for a second, debating the pros and cons of doing it before staring just a little too long into her eyes and linking yours to hers. She smiles even wider and swings your hands between you as you walk into the bedroom.
In the dark after you've both changed and are in bed she asks, "Will you go on a date with me? After my family leaves?"
"No," you answer into the dark and snuggle into the pillow.
"You're going to say yes," she says and you can feel her smile radiating around the room.
You can't help, but smile, "Nope."
"Ye-es," she sings and moves around on the bed.
You can't argue with her because at some point you always lose, even if you're right so the only way to win this one is to quit.
"Are you going to drop me off at the courthouse tomorrow?"
"Of course," you answer immediately.
"Thanks San."
"No problem."
"You'll go on a date with me," she says playfully, "You know you can't resist."
You giggle at her comment and reply with, "Go to sleep Britt."
"Okay, Goodnight Santana."
"Goodnight Brittany."