A/N: Okay, so this one is a bit shorter but it is really kind of the set up for the next part. Of course we are now departing from the girls' last real moments on the show, so everything from this point on is my own story. This is the beginning of their future.

Thanks for your favorites, follows, reviews, etc. You guys really do amaze me by reading the stuff I write! Let me know what you think, I love to hear from you all!

Chapter 21

Santana and Brittany made it back to Lima the week after Thanksgiving. Since they couldn't move into their apartment until after the first of the year, they decided to spend the Christmas and New Year's in Ohio again this year. It was a little weird spending so much time at their parents' places as a married couple. Santana felt like they shouldn't practically be living with their parents still, but it was only for a month, and it wasn't like their parents would let them get away with staying in another hotel for that long.

They enjoyed spending some final quality time with their families before they finally moved to New York. Santana loved the cute ornament the Pierces got for them to celebrate their first Christmas together as a married couple. And she appreciated the money her parents gave them to help them furnish their new apartment. Their families had been so great to them both, and Santana was beyond grateful that they were so supportive of her and Brittany's marriage.

Brittany had gotten a nice first check from Univision for "Queso por Dos." But they had gotten so many things with the wedding and over their travels and honeymoon that they decided to use the money toward stuff they would need for their place instead of buying each other elaborate Christmas presents.

Santana did end up getting Brittany a charm bracelet with a couple of charms that reminded her of her wife or their relationship. And Brittany had gotten Santana an engraved picture frame that housed a large portrait of them dancing together at their wedding. Santana saw the love between them in that picture, with her looking up at Brittany with a soft smile and the blonde smiling back lovingly as they held each other. The engraving said "I wanna dance with somebody who loves me" and had their names and the date of their wedding. Santana absolutely loved it.

After they rang in the New Year in Lima, they were headed to New York to move into their apartment. It had only taken them about a year and a half since they had first decided to move to New York, but they were finally making it happen. Brittany was upset that Lord Tubbington didn't want to go with them, and she didn't feel right about taking Lady Tubbington away from him. Santana spent most of their journey trying to cheer up the blonde about not being able to take her cats.

Thankfully, once they made it to the city, Brittany started to cheer up as the excitement of getting settled into their first real home together hit her. Santana was getting more and more excited herself as they neared their apartment, and the blonde's energy was rubbing off on her. They got to their building and got the keys from the building manager. They took the elevator up to their floor and dragged their bags to their door.

"This is it, babe," Santana said excitedly. "Home sweet home!"

Brittany grinned at her as the brunette unlocked the door and pushed it open. They walked in to their home, taking in the small yet clean kitchen area, the open living area and the small hall that they knew led back into the two bedrooms and bathroom. It wasn't posh by any standards, but it definitely wasn't a slum. It was a clean, spacious, affordable apartment in a good area and the two bedrooms allowed for a place for guests to stay.

Santana knew after living in the loft that it would be a good idea to have an extra room since they never knew what former glee member would drop by to stay for awhile. It was the perfect place for the two of them to start their married life.

"We finally made it," Brittany sighed in relief, dropping the bags she was carrying to the floor just inside the door.

Santana chuckled as she watched her wife walk to the middle of the living area and lie down on the empty floor on her back, spreading her arms and legs out as if she were making a snow angel. "Tired, BritBrit?"

Brittany lifted her head up to look at her and grinned, nodding her head. "It was a long trip, and I am glad to be home."

Santana smiled down at her before dropping her purse she was still holding next to the rest of their bags and laying down next to the other woman. She slid up to Brittany's side, and Brittany moved her arm down to her side so Santana could lie on her back with their shoulders and arms touching. Santana laced their fingers together as she turned her head to face the blonde. She found blue eyes already looking at her, sparkling with happiness and love.

"Hi," she said softly, gazing into her beautiful wife's face. She didn't think she could ever get enough of this kind of moment. That small period of time when everything is just so still and quiet and everything they ever wanted to say to each other can be seen in their eyes. These were the kind of perfect memories Santana wanted to be able to look back on when they are old and be able to pull all of those thoughts and feelings immediately to life.

"Hi," Brittany replied with a soft smile. She started caressing the back of Santana's hand with her thumb, and they were content to just lie on the floor like that, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Brittany's eyes started to droop shut after a few minutes, and Santana could feel her own eyelids getting heavy. Apparently the trip wore them both out more than she had expected.

It felt like she had barely closed her eyes before the sound of her phone ringing caused her to jerk awake. Santana looked over and saw that Brittany's face had scrunched up in annoyance at the disturbance, and she couldn't help but grin at the adorable look on the blonde's face. She placed a quick peck to her lips, making Brittany smile, before getting up to answer her still ringing phone.

She checked the caller ID and saw her mother's info on the screen as she picked up the call. "Hey, mami, what's up?"

"Santana! I thought I told you to call me once you got to your apartment," Maribel scolded.

"What? We haven't been here long," Santana replied, confused.

"Mija, your flight landed almost three hours ago!"

Santana pulled the phone away from her ear to check the time. Sure enough, they had been sleeping for nearly two hours.

"Shit," she muttered before bringing the phone back to her ear. "Sorry, we fell asleep practically right after we walked in the door. I guess we slept for longer than I thought."

Santana turned to look at Brittany who had sat up on the floor with her knees bent, feet flat on the floor. She had crossed her arms to rest on her knees and lay the side of her head on her bicep to sleepily watch Santana on the phone. A lock of hair had fallen into the blonde's face, so Santana walked over to tuck the hair back behind her wife's ear. She couldn't resist continuing to run her fingers through the blonde locks, scratching her nails lightly against Brittany's scalp. Brittany hummed at the feeling, her smile growing.

She finally realized her mother was still talking when she heard her name over the phone.

"Sorry, what?"

Maribel just laughed. "Nevermind. I just wanted to make sure you and Brittany made it safe. I'll let you get back to your wife since she obviously has you distracted."

Santana smiled sheepishly, causing Brittany to quirk an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, we made it fine. Sorry for forgetting to call."

"Just try to remember to keep in touch, mija," her mother laughed. "And tell Brittany we say hi."

"I will. Love you, mami."

"Love you, too."

Santana disconnected the call and sat down next to Brittany, wrapping her arms around her wife's shoulders, pulling her into her body. Brittany leaned up for a kiss, which Santana happily returned. They kissed softly for a moment before pulling back. Brittany laid her head on Santana's shoulder, sighing contently. Santana rested her cheek against the blonde's head and squeezed her tightly.

"So, I take it we took too long of a nap?" Brittany asked finally.

Santana laughed lightly. "It wasn't too bad. But we probably should get a move on and find somewhere to buy a bed if we don't want to spend the night on the floor, too."

Brittany pulled back slightly so she could look up into Santana's face guiltily. "Sorry, baby. I didn't really mean to make us fall asleep."

"It's not your fault, Brit. We were both more tired than we thought. I just don't think we are going to get as much done as I had hoped considering it is already after 4."

"Seriously?" Brittany asked, surprised.

Santana nodded. "Yeah, that's why my mom was calling since she hadn't heard from us yet."

"Well, come on! We need to get a move on!" Brittany exclaimed, jumping up quickly and reaching down for Santana's hands to pull her up.

Santana giggled, pulling Brittany's hands to get her to sit back down. "Babe, relax. We can just push some things back to tomorrow. It isn't a big deal."

Brittany sat down and pouted slightly. "But we were supposed to have this big day moving into our apartment and picking out all of our furniture and celebrating tonight with hot sex to break in our new bed."

Santana scrunched her nose at how adorable her wife was, and she saw Brittany's mouth twitch as she fought off a smile. She knew how that look on her face could affect her wife. It was sometimes the only defense she had against the blonde's pout. "Well, we can pick out most of the furniture and stuff tomorrow. But let's go find us a bed somewhere that can hopefully be delivered today. Then we can go grab some dinner somewhere and bring it back here so we can relax a bit and recover from our trip. How does that sound?"

Brittany started to smile then. "That sounds perfect, honey." Then she smirked. "Can we still have hot sex tonight to break in our new bed?"

Santana smiled lustfully back at her wife. "Babe, we are going to have hot sex tonight with or without a new bed," she replied, her voice deepened with desire.

Brittany grinned. "Score."

She pulled a giggling Santana in for a kiss, which deepened quickly. Santana whimpered when she felt the blonde's tongue start to play with her own. When she felt Brittany's hands start to play at the hem of her shirt, she knew she had to stop things before they went further. She would never stop wanting her wife, but if they continued what they were doing then they would definitely be sleeping on the floor that night.

She reluctantly broke the kiss, making Brittany moan in disappointment. "Sorry, Brit. As much as I would love to continue this, we really need to go find a bed. I don't think either of our backs would appreciate sleeping on a hard floor all night."

"Fine," Brittany huffed. She stood and pulled Santana up to her feet. Suddenly, her face broke into a smile. Santana looked at her questioningly, and she just shook her head as if she couldn't put what she was thinking into words. "I am just so happy, Santana. I can't wait to start making this our home."

Santana smiled back, leaning in to wrap her arms around Brittany's waist and laying her head against her wife's chest as Brittany brought her arms up around her back to hold her. "I can't wait either, Brittany."

Santana and Brittany settled into their home quickly. They enjoyed picking out their furniture together and decorating the apartment. Brittany's parents ended up making a trip out there not long after they moved in to bring them their wedding presents and other items they wanted to bring with that they couldn't bring on the plane. Before they knew it, they were fully moved in and had established a pretty normal routine in their daily lives. They couldn't have been happier.

Brittany ended up finding a job at a dance studio teaching kids. It didn't pay that great, but she loved it and it kept her passion for dance alive since she didn't have as much opportunity to use her dance skills much anymore. She took another consulting job, but this one was much shorter and she could work from home. Plus, Univision was airing "Queso por Dos" and they were still getting a decent check for the broadcast.

Santana ended up getting her job back at the diner to have something to occupy her time. Plus, she enjoyed being able to perform there and earn a paycheck. She was going to continue working there at least until they started classes at NYU in the summer. They had received their acceptance letters shortly after they moved, and Santana was excited to start back at school.

She really believed that she had found the right path for her future. She had started living her dream by marrying Brittany. Now she just needed to continue down this road and life would continue to be everything she could have ever hoped.

Santana was looking through the course offerings with Brittany so they knew what classes to register for. There were so many classes to choose from! She could take drama or music courses if she wanted, or even take some dance classes with her wife. They both wanted to take advantage of attending as many elective courses together as they could, since Brittany was going to major in mathematics.

"Hey, BritBrit, what do you think about taking a music class together?"

"Is it like learning to play an instrument? Or do we get to sing like in glee?" Brittany wasn't as musically inclined as Santana, but she did enjoy singing and performing.

"I don't know. I am sure we can find something we both want to take. I know I would like to be able to sing with you," she told the blonde.

"If we find something like that, then I definitely want to do that with you," Brittany said as she looked through her own pamphlet of course listings. "What do you think about taking like English and History classes together? You know you helped me through most of those in high school anyways, so it would help if we were in the same classes."

"Sure, babe. We can try to schedule as many of those classes together as we can."

Brittany smiled gratefully at her. "This is going to be so much better than when we were off at college on our own. We can be in classes together again, and we can meet for lunch on campus and walk to class together and stuff. And everyone will be jealous of how awesome and in love we are."

Santana laughed as Brittany became more enthusiastic as she spoke. "Of course everyone will be jealous. I have the most beautiful wife in the world."

Brittany leaned over and gave Santana a quick peck before pulling back. She got a slightly sad look her face before she next spoke. "I don't like that we won't be able to take all of our classes together, though. Like, once we get all our basics done, we won't be able to take any of the same courses at all."

Santana smiled softly at the blonde. "That's only because I'm not smart enough to take all those genius level math courses you will be acing," she teased. Brittany gave a small smile back, and Santana took her wife's hand in her own, squeezing it gently. "Brit, once we get to that point, it won't matter if we aren't in that many classes together. We will still be able to meet up on campus and we will always be coming home to one another every night. Plus, we can always do something non-school related together, like take a class at your studio or join a club or something."

Brittany truly smiled then. "That would be fun! I would love to be able to do dance classes with you. Or even do a musical or a play together!"

"That would be so much fun!"

Santana thought about how amazing that would be to be able to perform together like they did back in high school or when they were touring with Mercedes. She loved being able to perform with Brittany. It was like combining all of the things they loved in one event: singing, dancing, entertaining an audience, and each other.

"I really like the idea of us having something to do together like that, Santana," Brittany stated. "I just feel like we need to have something outside of home and school where we can spend time with each other."

"I understand, babe," Santana agreed. "Especially since we won't see each other as much once we start taking different classes. And with our jobs taking us away from each other more than we're used to, it would be nice to have something that we can do together for fun. Besides date nights, of course."

Brittany grinned, eyes twinkling at the thought of their date nights. "Of course."

Santana leaned over and bumped her shoulder with the blonde's playfully, but Brittany pulled her into her body and lay them both down on the couch. She pulled her legs up so she was lying fully on the couch, and Santana maneuvered herself so her legs were entwined with Brittany's and her torso was to the side of the dancer's. Santana lay her head on Brittany's chest, and her wife wrapped her arms around her, holding her close.

Santana sighed in happiness, settling further into the body beneath her. "I know things are going to get a little crazy over the next few years as we try to get through school. But it is all going to be worth it. And before you know it, we will be graduating and starting our careers and starting a family."

Brittany hummed in agreement. "I don't like the idea of being apart from you so much again. But I know that we can make it through anything, and it will definitely be worth it when all we have to worry about is only being away from each other for our jobs or if one of us has to take one kid to dance practice while the other has to take our other kid to a soccer game or something."

Santana couldn't help but smile at the picture her wife was creating of their future. She loved picturing having a family with Brittany. Especially since it was something she never could have even dreamed of just a few years ago. "What if both of our kids want to dance like their mommy, BritBrit?"

Santana felt Brittany's chest vibrate beneath her head with soft laughter at her attempt to plan her own future for their non-existent children. "Even better. Because then we can all be in the same place and we don't have to spend as much time apart. Especially since I know you won't want to miss anything of our kids' lives if you can help it."

Santana couldn't believe how well her wife knew her. Well, actually she could, but it amazed her that Brittany would know that she would want to be as involved in their children's lives as possible. She never wanted to miss a game, recital, performance, or conference if she could help it, unlike her and Brittany's own parents. She understood that her parents were busy and that Brittany's parents had to deal with a much younger child and left Brittany to fend for herself a lot, but she never wanted her kids to feel like they were unimportant. Brittany understood that about her, and that is why she was the perfect match for Santana.

Santana lifted her head to look into Brittany's eyes. Her wife smiled up at her lovingly, a knowing look in her eyes. Santana would never stop being thankful for being so lucky to have Brittany choose her.

"I love you, Brit. I can't wait for our future together," she said softly, conveying all of her love and hope for their life together in her eyes as she gazed down at the blonde.

"I love you, too." Brittany reached up and tangled her hand in Santana's hair in order to pull her down for a soft kiss. One peck turned into two, which morphed into a lingering meeting of their lips. Santana sighed happily before pulling away and settling back down to lay her head on Brittany's chest.

They lay there, relaxed, as Brittany caressed her hand softly up and down Santana's arm. The dancer's movements started to slow and Santana could tell that she was starting to get sleepy as her breathing started to deepened. She felt herself start to doze off, protected in her wife's arms, to dream of what happiness their life had in store for them. Santana knew this was just the start to their future.