Hey everyone,
I am not going to be around tomorrow for most of the day so you are getting the update a day earlier. There aren't actually any warnings for this chapter, it's pure fluff! Marley is heavy into her little girl space and she's still with Nanny Susan and doing some exploring. If you remember what a See-n-Say is, then you are most likely as old as I am, and if you don't know, google it! :) I really wasn't sure if those toys are still around. My niece is 13 and I don't know that she's ever seen one.
Thank you all for reading. Many thanks to NayaFan, UnholyUnderBoob, and Beaner008 for their support and encouragement, and Happy Weekend to you all!
And hour later, Rachel had left and Marley was sitting on the floor with Santana and Susan, playing with a toy that Susan had found for her. "This is a See and Say Marley," she smiled. "Do you know how to work this?" she asked her and Marley shook her head no. It was a large round plastic blue circle. There was a recessed circle in the middle with a gigantic arrow that apparently spun around. There was one giant sticker on the outside that listed all the letters and had a picture next to it that was a word starting with that letter. There was also a little string on the side that when pulled, the arrow would spin around, and the voice inside would say the letter and the word. Santana wanted to use it as a practice toy once Susan explained how it worked.
"Should we practice a bit? Maybe if we practice our letters and words some more, Miss April will give you less homework," Santana told her.
"You get homework Marley?" Susan asked.
"Eff Nanny," she said softly as she fingered the little plastic ring that was meant to be pulled.
"What does Miss April make you do?" she asked her and Marley shook her head no and looked at Santana. She didn't want to share. She didn't want to think about grown up things right now. This was much nicer. She was curled up with her Mommy, she was in a place that reminded her of being like a little girl, and she felt warm and fuzzy all over. The love Santana had for her and showed her on a daily basis was what she was soaking in right now, because if she was going to be honest with herself, she wasn't sure how long it was going to last.
"Miss April asks Marley to say her letters, numbers, and simple words, so that her mouth heals better. She's doing very well, but it's not quite there yet, so we keep practicing," Santana said. "Right baby?" she asked in a gentle voice and Marley leaned back into Santana needing as much cuddle time as she could get.
"I see, well this is not a room that Nanny likes to do homework in. In this room, Nanny likes to play. Can we play with this together?" she asked Marley.
"An' Mommy?" Marley asked.
"Yes, Mommy can play too. We'll take turns. Do you want to go first, or should Nanny or Mommy go first?" she asked.
"Um, Mommy," Marley said. Santana rolled her eyes a bit, but agreed. "Let's see, Mommy picks D for, what is that?" she asked pointing to it. It looked like a little black blob that had some weird red bandana around it's middle.
"Iff dog Mommy," Marley said kindly.
"Is it?" Santana asked and she picked up the toy and stared at the picture. "That's a dog really? Where are his feet?" she asked and Marley pointed to them but Santana shook her head no. "There's only two. It's a two footed dog?" she asked.
"No," Marley giggled and she picked up Santana's hand. "Un, ooh, fee, fou'," Marley said trying to count.
"One, two," Santana said and Marley giggled again.
She picked up Santana's finger and counted again with her, moving Santana's pointer finger to each of the dog's legs. "One, ooh fee fou'," she said, her speech getting a little bit better and Santana smiled.
"I don't know if I believe you my love. I see a black blob," she said.
"Dog Mommy. 'oof," Marley giggled.
"Black blob," Santana smiled and she leaned in kissing Marley's cheek noisily.
"Dog," Marley argued with an adorable smile. She'd seen her family play fight before. The first time she didn't understand it, but after the third time, it made sense and she knew the true difference between fighting and playful bickering.
"Why don't you two crazy girls pull the string. The machine will tell you," Susan said kindly, enjoying seeing Marley smile and actually 'argue' with Santana.
"Dog, D" the machine said and then a recording of a dog played through the little speakers.
"What does he know," Santana said scowling a little bit. "I still see a black blob," she said.
"Mommy's stubborn," Susan laughed. Marley simply shifted and kissed Santana's cheek. "Alright Marley, your turn, or Nanny's turn?" she asked her and Marley handed the toy to Susan.
The machine was now set to K, but Susan decided that was too easy of a letter for Marley and if Santana truly wanted practice, then she was going to make that happen, in as calm a way as possible. "Let's see, how about Z," Nanny said and Marley immediately frowned. There were too many sounds in that word that she had trouble with. "Marley, do you know what this is?" Susan asked her showing her the toy.
"Ney ney," Marley said softly.
"Yes, you're right, that's a horse, but a very different type of horse, do you know the name of it?" Santana kept Marley tight against her and shook her head no while looking at Susan. That really was too much for Marley, but Santana was grateful that Susan let Marley say her version of the word and didn't correct her. "Let's try this, what color is this right here?" she asked pointing to one of the stripes.
"Back," she said, leaving out the L of the word.
"Very good, and what about this one?" she asked.
"Why," Marley smiled.
"Very good baby, do you know what black and white stripes make a horse become?" she asked.
"A jail bird," Santana answered and then laughed at her own joke.
"Mommy's very silly," Susan laughed. "See I don't know, so I'm going to pull the string and find out, or maybe you can pull it for me," Susan offered.
Marley smiled and pulled the string for Susan. "Zebra, Z," it said.
"Mommy still thinks it's a jail bird," Santana said and Marley giggled softly.
"Okay, Marley's turn now," Susan told her kindly and Marley carefully took the toy. She sat it on her lap and turned to look at Santana.
"What's up baby? It's your turn, you get to pick a letter," Santana said and Marley shook her head no. She picked up Santana's hand and began tapping it round to the circle to say her letters. "Oh, should we practice? Should we try to say all our ABC's?" she asked and Marley nodded her agreement. She was in a safe place, and even if she said it wrong, it would be okay, she truly believed that at the moment. "Okay baby, let's start, we'll only go around once," Santana told her.
Santana started at A and went round, while Susan listened carefully. "A, B, E, D, E, F, G, A, I, A, K, Eh, M, N, O, P, U, Ah, F, E, U, V, Duh-U, Eff, Y, Ee," Marley said saying her alphabet slowly.
Santana gave her a kiss to her temple and spoke kindly. "Do you think we can practice one of your letters baby? We have time, and Mommy brought juice for you," she said. Marley thought for a moment and nodded. "Okay, let's try the Q," Santana said and she very carefully looked at Marley. "Mommy will say it with you. We'll just keep saying it together, softly, until you can say it a little better, just like you do with Miss April. "Q," Santana said softly.
"U," Marley said.
"Good, let's slow it down a little bit. Say K, like kite," Santana coached.
"Kuh," Marley said and Santana praised her and kissed her temple again.
"Very good, now we say U," Satana said and Marley repeated it. "Very good, so we put it together slowly at first. K-eh U," she said and Marley repeated it slowly. They said that slowly twenty one times. Santana kept track and gave Marley lots of praise over that time. "That's great, now let's try to link them together. Can you say Yuh, like yo-yo?" she asked her and Marley nodded, repeated the correct sound. "Very good baby girl, that's wonderful. Now we put it together, nice and slow, Kuh-yuh-ooh," Santana said carefully and Marley whined, indicating it was too fast for her. "Calm down, we'll go slower," Santana told her kindly and she slowed down her pace. It was repeated ten times extra slow, ten times at a slightly faster pace, until they were just saying the letter Q back and forth at each other and then Santana stopped them. "You my precious girl have done so well, I am so proud of you. Now we get you juice," Santana told her.
"Fi-ah Mommy?" Marley asked hopefully.
"Yes baby, you can have your pacifier," Santana said and she reached behind herself, into the little backpack she and packed up and pulled out the green and pink pacifier and then put it in her hand, while Marley opened her mouth. "No baby, this is yours and your choice. Always your choice. I know you asked for it, but I will never put this in your mouth for you. That has never changed. You are the one in control of this, no one else," Santana reminded her kindly. "Now, come on, I have to get your juice, so we have to go over to the fridge," she told her.
Santana stood up carefully and then helped Marley up, guiding her to the little fridge in the far corner of the room. She opened the door and pulled out the juice. She didn't want Marley to see the baby bottles that were stored in there along with various sippy cups, that were all labeled for Susan's various little ones. She happened to notice a bottle marked for Hailey and smiled. "I hope you put extra 'vitamins' in Hailey's drink," she said kindly to Susan and Susan smirked.
"Did you have problems with Hailey the other day?" she asked.
"I wrote a full report," Santana said and she opened the cabinet above her head and sighed. "Ugh, Marley baby, I'm sorry, I didn't bring your cup, I wasn't thinking, so you have to make a choice okay?' she asked and Marley looked scared. She remained leaning against the little counter top and waiting for Santana to continue. "You can wait here with Nanny and I will get you a proper cup from the water cooler out front, or you can have one of the sippy cups up here," she told her and Marley started to turn and look behind her, wobbling a bit. "Let me help you turn to see baby," Santana said kindly.
She took a hold of her and Marley's head went right to her shoulder, which meant she was either tired or looking for familiar comfort because she was scared. "It's alright my love, you don't have to have these if you don't want," she said.
"Perhaps she can have one without the lid," Susan suggested.
"Oooh, that's a good idea. Do you see how smart Nanny Susan is? That's why she works with all the little ones, she loves them so much and wants to make sure they are well cared for, and you my love, are now one of those people," Santana told her.
"No id?" Marley asked.
"No, baby, not if you don't want it," Santana told her.
"And Nanny has all kind of cups for you to choose from," Susan said and she walked over to them and smiled. "Here, let's see. Nanny has colors, or ones with bubbles, or ones with shapes," she said pulling out a few different ones, but the one that caught Marley's eye was the mostly clear cup with multicolored stars all over it.
"Mama!" she said pointing to it and Santana smiled.
"Yes, I think Mama would love that cup," Santana smiled.
"Why would Mama like this sweetheart?" Susan asked her kindly.
"Mama 'ike 'are," Marley said softly pointing to one of the stars.
"Mama likes stars?" Susan asked with a smile and Marley nodded. "Well would you like to drink from this cup if reminds you of your Mama?" she asked and Marley nodded. "Alright, I will pour the juice while Mommy holds you okay?" she asked and she poured the cup three quarters full. "This is just for now sweetheart, if you want more, you let me know and I will gladly get you more," she told her and she handed her the cup.
"Two hands love," Santana said kindly. Marley used both her hands to hold the cup and brought it to her mouth, drinking most of it in one very long continuous sip. She brought it away from her lips and panted slightly. "You're too cute, and I love you very much," Santana told her.
Santana took her back to the rocking chair and sat with her for ten minutes, while Marley rested and Santana talked to Susan. Santana was able to say everything she wanted openly while she rocked with her little girl, before Marley finally wiggled and held up her hand, so she could ask a question. "What's up baby?" she asked her.
"Wha dah?" she asked pointing.
"That's the crib Nanny Susan has for all the little ones who need naps and roll around a lot," she said and Marley started to think for a moment before looking at Santana with fear in her eyes.
"No down, no down," she said with panic and Santana shushed her gently.
"Calm my love, let's calm down and we'll figure it out slowly, and if I don't get it, we'll get your blocks," she told her and Marley started to cry. This was it. This was definitely it, Santana was going to leave and Susan was going to strap Marley down into a crib and leave her there forever, just like Terri had done. Terri's crib however was just a simple twin bed with heavy belts that she wrapped over Marley's body. This was different somehow. This was a full size bed that had bars and rails all around it, but the front side was down, touching the floor. "What's down baby?" she asked her.
"No, no, no," Marley cried.
"Okay baby, okay, let's get your blocks and you spell it for me. What scares you about the crib?" she asked her. "What do you think is going to go down?" she asked and Marley hung on tightly to Santana, trying to figure out what to spell. She spelled out the first word and Santana cuddled her little girl tighter. "That crib has no straps baby. Not one, so I want to show it to you, so you can see for yourself, but I promise you little girl, you never, ever, ever have to go lay down in the crib, unless you want to," Santana assured her.
"BED," Marley spelled.
"Yes my love, it's like a bed, but at home we don't use a crib, because, well first we don't have the room for it, and secondly, I don't think you want to sleep in one," she told her and Marley cried and shook her head no. She really didn't want to sleep in one.
"Marley sweetheart," Susan said gently, "I promise you sweetheart, I will never ask you to do anything that scares you. You will never have to lay in the crib if you don't want to. The only thing I would ask is for you to do is lay on the changing table. Nanny uses it to help change all the little ones in diapers, because she has a bad back if she does it on the floor," Susan explained.
"So you see sweetheart? It's okay, and Mommy will change you before she leaves for the hour, so that you should be okay while I'm two doors down," Santana said choosing her words very carefully and Marley seemed to calm down, trying to understand, hiccuping a bit as she did so. "I'm still here baby, and I'll be here for a good hour longer. Do you want to investigate the crib and changing table? Do you want to see them better, so you know for sure that they're okay?" she offered.
Marley cried softly, but nodded her agreement, as long as Santana held her, she was willing to at least try. "Alright big girl," Santana said and she very carefully brought Marley over to the crib and let her inspect it. Santana sat down on the mattress, with Marley on her lap, twisting and turning slowly, so that Marley could see every aspect of the crib. Nothing was glaring at her. There was just a simple mattress, the rails all along the side and a bumper than ran the inner perimeter of the space, along the three sides, and then she saw velcro at the back edges of the short sides and started to cry harder, shaking against Santana. "Shhh, tell me sweetheart, try," Santana said gently and Marley cried hard while she reached her trembling hand to the corners with velcro. "Okay baby, okay," Santana soothed. "Nanny Susan, what's the velcro for?" she asked kindly.
"Of course my love, I'll have to have you stand up so I can show you," she told her and Marley shrieked as they stood up.
"Shhh, no screaming baby, it's okay," Santana assured her.
Susan pulled up the front bars of the crib, so that full thing was an enclosed space and looked like a very simple, yet oversized crib. Susan reached in and undid the velcro tabs for the bumper and then once she opened them, the bumper went all the way around the crib. "This is so the ones who move a lot don't bang their heads on the rails here," Susan explained kindly.
"See baby? It's okay sweetheart, it's for safety. At Mommy's work we are very safe, we do everything we can to make sure the people we are with trust us. We need their trust to do our jobs," Santana told her kindly. "I know you are very scared of this sweetheart, but I'm going to be close by, I promise you," Santana assured her. "Should we go back and cuddle before Mommy leaves for a bit?" she offered and Marley nodded tearfully, wanting to get back to that peaceful feeling she'd had earlier.
It had been fifty five minutes since Santana had left and so far Marley had done really well. She was sitting in the middle of the nursery watching Lady and the Tramp on the big screen television, cuddling with Panda and Teddy Bear. She only glanced at the clock twice. The first time only two minutes had passed and she pouted. Susan had caught her looking and spoke kindly from her spot behind her. "Marley baby, are you sure you want to watch this movie, we can watch a different one if you like." Susan said.
"No," she said simply and went back to watching the movie. She laid down on her side and stuffed Panda under head and held Teddy Bear tight in her arms. Susan smiled and very carefully put a pillow in Marley's vision, not saying a word, hoping Marley would take the offered pillow for her neck and not crush poor Panda. Marley very slowly wiggled into a good position that didn't hurt her body. She put her head on the pillow and tucked Panda close to her chest as well.
The movie continued and Marley got sucked into it. She was a bit concerned when the dog went to the pound, but she grabbed her pacifier, put it in her mouth and didn't think much more about it. She remembered how this movie ended. It had a happy ending, she just had to get through a little bit of sadness.
Forty minutes went by the second time and Marley realized that she was much closer to getting her Mommy back, at least she hoped she was. There was a chance, that she was going to be left with Susan and Santana would never return. Marley shut her eyes tight and tried not to think about it. Luckily for her, her body took over her thoughts and released all the liquid it was holding into her diaper. It was so powerful that Susan heard it and she let Marley be for a few moments. She didn't want to push her too fast. She would let her wait to get changed if she really had to, but leaving Marley in a wet diaper was not something she thought was a good idea.
Marley wiggled and fussed around a bit, trying to get comfortable in her now very wet diaper. Susan let her squirm for two minutes, trying to figure out the right way to approach Marley with the proposition of changing her. "Marley sweetheart, would you like Nanny to change you sweetheart? You can lay right there on the floor and continue to watch the movie," she offered. She knew it would kill her back, but at least Marley wouldn't be screaming so much.
"No pee," Marley said politely, her voice trembling slightly and she wiggled slightly for a moment, before stilling herself and while Trusty went running through the streets, sniffing, and tracking, trying to pick up the scent to help his friends, Marley stared at the clock. Time was moving forward, but she was sure it had rolled back. It seemed like the clock now said ten minutes. It said five just before, Marley was sure of it. She started to cry softly and tried very hard to keep it in. She didn't know how Susan felt about people crying. Santana, Kurt, and Rachel told her it was okay, but Susan was a different story. Her body started to tremble as she tried to hold back her tears.
"Marley baby, are you sure? Nanny can change you while we wait for Mommy, but she's going to be a couple of minutes and I don't want you to be uncomfortable any longer than you have to be. She also didn't want her to get a rash, but she thought better of mentioning that.
"No pee," Marley said again and this time, she stilled her body so forcefully that Susan swore she heard a whimper escape Marley. It was only problematic because because whimpers like that meant pain and pain meant trouble of some kind which Susan was pretty sure, Marley wasn't ready to communicate about.
"Marley honey, let Nanny change you sweetheart, you look very uncomfortable," she tried.
"NO!" Marley said quickly and she quickly crawled her way into the corner and tried to make herself very tiny behind the crib. "Mommy," she cried, over and over again, her cries getting louder and tears falling faster.
"Oh boy, Mommy is going to be very disappointed that Nanny couldn't help you," Susan said simply and she walked over toward the crib and sat down, leaving a good distance between herself and Marley. "Honey, I have to change you. If you stay in a diaper that wet for too long you'll get a rash," Susan explained.
Marley sat on the floor of the nursery. Tears were streaming down her face and she was gagging on her own breath. She was scared. She wasn't sure when she was coming back if at all. She remembered being held and talked to, and she was pretty sure it was by Santana but that was all she remembered.
Susan wanted to gather the girl tight in her arms and just hold her and show her love and affection, but Marley was a sensitive case, so it wasn't the best option at the moment, given how upset Marley was. Susan was used to "babies" who played, who wanted to be diapered, spanked, fed, humiliated even, but none of them ever acted like this. None of them were truly terrified of their surroundings or had such fear painted on their faces. So Susan sat there, trying to calm Marley in any way possible and find a way to open the lines of communication.
Susan got up, walked over to the toy chest and picked up a little doll and cradled it in her arms. She carried it over toward Marley, sat down on the floor and began rocking side to side. "Shhh, poor baby, you're okay, you're okay," she cooed, over and over, speaking slight nonsense just to have another voice in the room, to get Marley to focus on anything else. "I know baby, I know, it's okay, you're okay, just tell me what's wrong," Susan said kindly and Marley watched and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. Susan was being nice to that baby, and Marley for all intents and purposes was a baby right now. Her messy diaper proved it, but how could she admit that that was currently one of her problems. "You're okay baby," Susan cooed and she rocked the doll gently. Finally she frowned and looked up at Marley. "Marley sweetheart, this baby is so scared, do you know what happened? The baby won't tell me anything, maybe the baby will tell you, and you can tell me," Susan tried.
"She does this weird thing with referrals sometimes," Santana had said nervously. She was standing at the door to the nursery, getting ready to leave and had a last minute memory. Susan had to know about the referral thing.
"Sweetheart, I'm not going to hurt her, and yes she's going to cry, and be scared but there are a lot of babies that come through this room," Susan assured her, smiling at how much of a nervous mother Santana was.
"No, you don't understand, it's very weird. She'll tell me that Teddy Bear has a problem now. It's not her. She puts all of her issues into that bear and I can't take care of her, until we go through it with the bear. Last week she had a fever, and needed tylenol. She was miserable for half the day, because I had to prove to her that I could take care of Teddy Bear. Do you know how hard it is to check Teddy Bear's temperature?" she asked, smiling slightly as she watched Marley play with one of the musical toys on the floor.
"How did you manage?" Susan asked.
"I don't remember," Santana said honestly and sadly, "I just thought you should know she does this."
"I'm glad you told me, I'll keep it in mind," Susan said.
Marley looked skeptically at the baby, but once Susan put it down, Marley scooped it up, pulled it close, cried even harder, and began wailing for her Mommy. "Alright, I know this isn't going to be good, and you're going to scream and be even more upset, but you need to be changed, and you need some love right now. Nanny has to call the shots little girl," she said.
She stood up and then knelt down in front of Marley who didn't respond at all. "Okay Marley. You need to be changed. Baby Marley needs a new diaper and I know she misses her mommy, so Nanny is going to pick you up, and put you on the changing table and you can cry and scream all you want. As soon as you're changed though, we're going to go and sit in that rocking chair over there and Nanny is going to hold her poor frightened little girl. I know you miss Mommy, and she's coming back, but I can't allow you to stay this upset, you're going to be sick if you keep it up," she told her calmly.
She stood up straight, braced her body and lifted Marley to her feet. Marley let out a blood curdling scream and began gasping for breath once Susan put her on the changing table. She kicked and fussed and Susan simply held the thrashing girl lightly in place, letting her get it out. The more exhausted she was, the better. She did not want to use restraints on Marley. That would only make things even more stressful. Marley kicked her heels into the table and screamed herself hoarse. Her left leg cramped and she cried even harder. Susan saw the spasm and very carefully put pressure on the leg, to help ease the cramp. "Shhh, it's just Nanny baby, you're okay. Nanny's here and Mommy's coming back very soon for her little girl. Mommy Santana misses Baby Marley, so much that she was crying when she left, but Mommy Santana has a job to do, so we have to let her do it, and then she'll come back to her baby," Susan crooned sweetly, but Marley never heard her, she just laid there and screamed.
Susan felt like time was crawling by at a snail's pace. Every second seemed to take a full hour to pass by and Marley was just getting more and more worked up as time passed. Susan wished the little girl would calm down, but she knew that was asking a lot. Eventually the fight went out of her, but she had no idea how much time had passed. Her eyes were practically swollen shut and the more she tried to focus, the more of a headache she got.
She never heard the door open and never heard Rachel's voice. "Oh my goodness," Rachel said.
"She wet herself dear, and I went to change her. She's terrified, would you like to try? She's not thrashing as much as she was a moment ago," Susan explained.
"Oh Marley, you were doing so well sweetheart," Rachel crooned gently and she carefully lifted Marley's top and began slipping her sweatpants over her hips. "Shhh, nice and easy baby," she said softly. Marley was lost in the past, and when she found her voice again she began screaming, making Rachel and Susan jump a little bit when she did. Finally she felt warm hands on her bare hips and a very familiar voice started breaking through the fog of her distress. "Mama," Marley pushed out.
"Yes baby, Mama came to see you. Mama came to wait with you, till Mommy gets done with work. Mama's here, you're okay," she said, but as she said it she knew it would do no good. Fresh tears fell yet again and Rachel frowned. "Lay still my baby girl. Shhh, just breathe, very still, can you stay still while Mama changes you?" she asked her.
"Mama!" Marley pushed, gasping for air at this point.
"Yes baby, Mama's here, I'm right here Marley. Lay still. Let Mama change you," she told her and Marley continued to cry, but she didn't fight too much. Rachel made quick work of putting on the new diaper and then looked to Susan. "Is she restrained?" she asked.
"No, not at all," Susan said kindly. "I just held her there and let her tire herself out for the back thirty minutes.
"MAMA!" Marley screamed and her eyes popped wide open as fear registered over her body.
Rachel jumped at the scream but very quickly placed her open palm on Marley's cheek and sang softly, getting her to focus on her voice. "I think you should sit with her until Santana gets back darling. Just in the rocking chair over there. That's all I was going to do with her," Susan suggested and Rachel nodded her agreement.
"Oooh, my big baby girl," Rachel cooed softly. "Mama wishes you were just a little bit tinier sometimes, so we could pick you up," she told her. She guided her to the oversized rocking chair and instantly, Marley's head went to Rachel's shoulder. "Shhh, there's my baby girl, there she is. Nice and clean, nice and calm, you're okay Marley," Rachel said kindly.
"Mommy," Marley whimpered.
"Mommy's working baby. She sent Mama a text and wanted to know if I could come back to help. So I got out of work, because they didn't need me for the rest of the night and as soon as she's done, Mommy's going to come in here and you and Mommy and Mama Rae are all going to go home and see Papa," Rachel said softly.
Susan watched with a sad smile and marveled at how Marley went from complete hysteria to minor hysterics once she focused in on Rachel, although now she was begging for her Mommy, which was understandable.
"Marley baby, look what Mama has," she said brandishing one of Marley's pacifiers and Marley looked afraid. "No my love, you know better, never forced, this is always Marley's choice, but we know that it helps Marley calm down and feel safer, doesn't it?" she asked gently petting her face softly, finally getting Marley to calm down some more. Marley turned her head slightly and guided Rachel's hand to her mouth. She wanted that pacifier badly, because breathing was painful right now and she'd learned over time that breathing got easier with the pacifier in. "There's Mama's good girl," Rachel cooed softly and then began rocking gently.
"Muma," Marley cried softly around her pacifier.
"As soon as she's done little one, I promise," Rachel said kindly. It was only ten minutes later that Santana walked into the room, not saying a word.
Marley was finally asleep, pressed tightly against Rachel, her hand in a death grip on Rachel's sweatshirt. "She's out," Rachel said softly as another adult carefully tip toed into the room, went over to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of something, and then left them alone. "Who was that?"
"Casey, he's got a client who fluxes in age. As soon as we vacate here, he's bringing the person in," Santana explained.
"It may take a while, I came in and she was a mess. Her eyes were practically swollen shut," Rachel explained.
Santana frowned and moved closer, kneeling down. "Do you want to wake her up gently now, or shall we wait?" Santana asked.
"Now, or she's really going to fall asleep and have a major spasm," Rachel said nodding toward Marley's knuckles that were almost bone white from the grip she had.
Santana smiled and moved in closer, perching herself on the edge of the rocking chair. "Marley baby. Wake up love, Mommy's done, it's time to go home," she said.
"Muma," she mumbled around her pacifier.
"Yes baby, Mommy's done, we can all go home now, but you have to wake up," Santana cooed softly and Marley loosened her grip a hair to roll over and look at Santana.
"Muma," she cried, more tears flowing, but this time, tears of relief. She'd been so scared, she hadn't known entirely what was going on. "Muma," she said again.
"Yes baby, Mommy," Santana assured her and Marley practically rolled out of Rachel's lap into Santana's arms, her head going for Santana's should immediately, her arms wrapping around Santana's neck, and she whimpered. "Shhh, Mommy's here baby," she assured her.
"Owie," Marley whimpered.
"Look at Mommy sweetheart, where's owie?" she asked and Rachel smiled. Santana's mothering side was always a surprise and joy to see. Marley whined and didn't budge, the most she was saying was that she hurt, and that was it. "Come on baby," Santana said shifting them so they could stand up. "Let's say thank you and goodbye to Nanny Susan and then head home okay?"
Marley whined quietly and turned her face inward so that her eyes were hidden by Santana's chest.
"Wanky," Rachel teased and Santana shot her a look.
"If her pacifier wasn't stabbing me in the boob, that might be funny," she said.
"Come on, I'll help you get her home," Rachel said.