You and Me… and Everything in Between
Epilogue: Only Just the Beginning
Present Day – December 15, 2016
"Ohhh, Nay… that feels soooo good," Heather moans out.
"Jesus, Heather… it's just a foot massage," I playfully retort. "If you keeping making sounds like that though, you're gonna make me wanna do very bad things to you… cosas malas."
"Well… if you keep talking like that, then I can't be held accountable for my actions," Heather replies as she suggestively wiggles her eyebrows.
"I'm married to a big goof ball," I say impishly as I shake my head at her.
"Yep… it's true," my wife proudly exclaims. "But technically, it's not my fault; the doc did say it could help…"
"Well… if this is your attempt to woo me into the bedroom, you might want to work a little on your pillow talk babe."
"But Nay Nay…" Heather whines, "I'm soooo wet..."
"W-what?!" I cough out, almost choking on absolutely nothing. My hands have completely ceased their movements on my wife's feet.
"I'm just messing with ya, babe…" Heather chuckles out. "Seriously though… it does feel a little weird down there," she says as she motions towards her nether regions.
As I glance towards the general area, my eyes widen at the sight I see.
"Oh shit… Heather, you're wet!" I gasp out. "Like seriously… you're really wet…"
Heather's eyebrows scrunch up as a look of confusion appears on her face. I'm too shocked to use actual words to explain myself so I just point to the area of the couch that has become a shade darker than the rest of the fabric. As she follows my line of sight, I see her eyes go as wide as mine currently are.
"What the…" Heather says as sits up straight and attempts to bring her legs towards her chest while moving backwards on the couch. "Is that… I mean, did my…"
"… water just break?" I complete her sentence. I look into my wife's eyes as I say, "yeah… I think so."
Heather's eyes begin to water. "We're about to become parents…"
"Yeah… we are," I reply as the biggest smile forms on my face. Heather quickly matches my facial expression. "Okay… go throw on a dry pair of pants, I'll grab the go-bag, and we'll get out of here!"
As Heather nods, I help her off of the couch and send her off to our bedroom with a quick peck to her forehead. I'm trying my best to remain calm – or at least give off that impression – but silently, I'm freaking out inside. I'm so excited but also nervous as hell, just praying that everything goes well and that Heather won't be in too much pain. As I scramble around the house and do a quick clean-up before we leave, I finally meet Heather by the door that leads to the garage.
"Do we have everything?" Heather asks me with a shaky voice.
"Yep… I've got the go-bag, a pillow, and I already called the hospital to let them know we're on the way," I answer confidently. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah… as ready as I can be," she nervously replies.
"Hey… look at me," I say to her as I grab both of her hands and lace them with mine. "I've been through a rollercoaster of emotions since you got pregnant, but the one thing I never felt was scared. You know why?" I ask. Heather shakes her head. "Because of you, Heather… You are gonna be an amazing mom; I have absolutely no doubt about that. And you and me together," I continue on as I gesture between our bodies, "… we're a perfect team; we always have been."
As I untangle one of my hands from hers, I reach up to wipe the stray tear falling from my wife's eye. I then bring her body as close to me as possible and gently place a chaste kiss on her lips. Heather releases a sigh of content as she closes her eyes. Once she opens her eyes again, I stare deeply into them.
"I love you so freaking much, Heather Elizabeth Morris-Rivera…" I smirk as the sound of our shared surname passes through my lips. "There is no one else I would want to be on this journey with."
"Sometimes I still can't believe that I get to call you my wife," Heather sincerely replies as she tries to hold back more tears. "I can't wait to start our family. I love you, Naya… so damn much."
"C'mon… let's go meet our kids," I state as I grab Heather's hand and lead her out of the doorway. She smiles and raises my hand to kiss my knuckles.
As I open the passenger side door for her and close it once I know that she's buckled in, I throw the go-bag and pillow into the back seat before climbing into the driver seat. Heather immediately grabs my hand over the center console.
"Just so you know… the only reason why I'm gonna be an amazing mom is because of you," Heather says barely above a whisper. I lean over and bring our lips back together, smiling as I pull away.
Once I make sure that my safety belt is on, I start the car and slowly pull out of the garage. As I pull onto the street and put the car in drive, I look at our house in the rear view mirror, knowing that the next time Heather and I return to this place… we'll be mothers.
Mothers…
It's so crazy to even think about that. It seems like only yesterday Heather and I were moving in together, getting engaged, and then getting married. Time has really flown by these past couple of years. Honestly though… I wouldn't change a second of it.
August 17, 2014
After much anticipation, the day of me and Heather's wedding finally arrived. It truly was one of the best days of my life. After having the most amazing time, celebrating with our closest friends and family, Heather and I escaped to Hawaii for our honeymoon for 3 incredible weeks.
I loved every minute of it. Whether it was teaching Heather how to surf or just walking along the beach hand-in-hand with my wife, every moment spent with Heather was absolutely perfect. We had endless amounts of conversation and memories to look back on, including having the honor of co-hosting the Teen Choice Awards together the week before our wedding.
Once we returned back home from our vacation, it wasn't long before we were back on the set of Glee and filming the new season. Sadly, and unbeknownst to us, this would be our very last season.
As the months past and we continued to film what would soon be the last episodes of Glee ever, Heather and I received a pleasant surprised when we were nominated and ended up winning the "Favorite On-Screen Chemistry" category at the People's Choice Awards. It was amazing to accept such an award with not only my wife, but my best friend.
May 5, 2015
In honor of our very last episode, Fox threw all the cast and crew members an epic viewing party so that we could properly say goodbye to the show that brought us all together. Our final season tied up a lot of loose ends and had some very happy endings for most of the couples on the show. Not to sound too biased, but the only relationship I was really concerned about was Brittany and Santana's. Honestly, out of all of the couples on Glee, I always felt that Brittana got the short end of the stick all of the time
I mean, seriously… let's look at the evidence.
It took 2 full seasons for Brittana to even be considered a real couple and half of Season 3 before the fans ever got to witness a real kiss between the two ladies. Then, only 4 episodes into Season 4, Brittana breaks up and Brittany ends up with Sam - who could pass as her brother… eww, gross – and fake marries him when they think the world is gonna end. Meanwhile, Kurt and Blaine break up because Blaine cheated, yet they end up hooking up at Mr. Shue's wedding. Then, Klaine ends up getting back together and get engaged!
Seriously… what the hell is going on here people?!
Luckily for me though, Ryan finally gave Heather and I the much needed storyline for our characters to showcase the type of relationship that the Brittana fans have been patiently waiting to see. I don't know if it's because Heather and I got married or because Ryan was tired of getting hate mail from our fans. Or maybe it was my constant nagging that finally wore him down. Whatever the case may be, I'm just glad that the Brittana fans finally got what they wanted and were able to see our characters get engaged on the series finale.
All I've ever wanted was for the Brittana relationship to be treated equally like the other couples on the show. I'm glad that I finally got to witness it before the end came.
And as they say… the rest is history.
After Glee ended, Heather and I went on a Caribbean cruise as a sort of second honeymoon. We had a blast and spent a lot of time in our room, if ya know what I mean. However, when we weren't occupied by ravishing each other's bodies, Heather and I had a great time hanging out with Lea, Cory, Kevin, and Vanessa, whom accompanied us on the cruise.
Once we got back on solid ground, I finished up my sophomore album – which I so aptly named Life After Glee – and prepared for the first single to be released. After the stress of completing my second album was depleted, I began to focus acting again. Shortly after, I landed a role on a movie, in which I would be playing a rookie cop that uncovers a conspiracy to commit murder plot that involves her partner, played by Ryan Reynolds. Basically, it's got the humor of Castle but the grittiness of Training Day. It was an incredible experience while filming; plus, seeing Ryan play a bad guy was pretty awesome. It was pretty flattering too, seeing that the director already had me in mind for the role after seeing my versatility from my role as Santana to my role as Vera in At the Devil's Door.
While working on that film, my lovely wife took the next step in her career by opening up her very own dance studio. From time to time, she would get an influx of the SYTYCD alumni coming in to practice or teach some of the classes. I especially enjoyed it when Twitch and Allison would stop by. I think they are super adorable as a couple. I guess with the amount of time and exposure that Heather's studio was getting from the past and present contestants of the most popular dance show on TV, it was only a matter of time before she received a call from Nigel Lythgoe, asking her if she would like to be one of the guest choreographers on the new season of So You Think You Can Dance. Heather was ecstatic and immediately agreed. She could have easily said no, given her history with the show, but Heather is a bigger person than that. Although being rejected from that show years ago must have hurt like hell, Heather told me that it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to her. Sensing my confusion, Heather further explained that being rejected by that show caused her to work harder. By sheer determination, she landed a spot as a back-up dancer for Beyoncé, which ultimately led her to a role on Glee where she met me. I've said it before, but I'll say it again; if possible, I think I fell even more in love with her on that day.
Harry also became a permanent fixture at the studio and was very helpful, especially when Heather landed the head choreographer position for Lady Gaga's tour. Once she returned home, we both got to spend some much needed quality time with each other. It was on New Year's Eve – since that seems to be our special holiday – that Heather made a statement that would indubitably change our lives forever and begin to prepare us for our next major roles… as parents.
January 1, 2016
After throwing a pretty epic New Year's Eve party at our house, Heather and I retreated to our bedroom while some of our remaining guests stayed up chatting or ended up passing out on the couch. Once we were in the privacy of our own room, things started to get a little heated between us. As clothes were shed and we exchanged passionate kisses, Heather surprised me.
As Heather threw her leg over my hips so that she was straddling my body, her lips attached to my neck. "Nay…" she whispered into my ear as I enjoyed the feeling of her hot breath on my body.
"Hmmm…" is the only response I could muster.
"I wanna…" my wife starts to say, but doesn't complete. I can tell that her breathing has picked up, but I'm not sure if it's from our current activities or something else.
"What is it babe?" I say through a breathy moan as Heather begins to suck on my pulse point.
"I wanna make a baby with you," she mumbles out as her lips are still pressed against my neck.
My eyes immediately shoot open as I cup her face to halt her movements because this isn't the pillow talk I was expecting. "What did you just say?"
"I wanna make a baby with you," Heather repeats, staring into my eyes. "That's my New Year's resolution… to start a family with you."
As I sit up, whilst bringing Heather with me so that she is now sitting on my lap, I stare back at her in awe. "You're serious?" I question.
"Of course… I mean, within the next month, we'll both be 29," Heather begins. "I know that we haven't even been married for 2 years yet, but I don't wanna be one of those couples that waits so long to have kids that they're too old and tired to run around with them when their kids are teenagers, y'know?" Heather states as she begins to twirl my hair around her fingers.
"Yeah… I know what you mean," I gently respond as I untangle her fingers from my hair and link them with mine. "I wanna have babies with you too."
"Really?" Heather bashfully replies.
"Yes, really…" I sincerely state. "Nothing would make me happier."
Heather doesn't say anything else. Instead, she crashes her lips into mine. Unlike a few minutes ago, our kisses aren't rushed with the need to make the other get off before either of us explodes. This time, our kisses are soft and sensual and filled with so much more. As Heather gently lies me back down, we spend the rest of the night making love to each other, excited about starting the next chapter in our lives.
In the days that followed our baby discussion, Heather and I decided that we wanted to have at least 2 kids, preferably a boy and a girl. Heather wanted to be the first to carry one of our children and I definitely didn't mind giving her that honor. We also talked about some possible baby names and which room we wanted to make into the nursery.
Once we got into the topic of possible sperm donors, our conversation took an interesting turn. While we discussed the many different traits that we want in a potential donor, Heather was more focused on the physical attributes, but in a good way.
"So… this may be a long shot, but I kinda want to run something by you to see what you think," Heather starts out. As I nod my head and give her the okay, she continues, taking a deep breath in the process. "I don't wanna have a baby that's half of me mixed with some random dude that we don't even know... I want our baby to be both of ours."
"Okay…" I reply, not really understanding what she's implying.
"Since modern medicine hasn't discovered a way for same-sex couples to have babies on their own yet, I had an idea…" my wife continues. "What if we asked your brother to be the donor?" Heather carefully asks, trying to gauge my response.
"Oh…" I reply, being slightly caught off guard. "Umm… I don't know; I never really thought about it. I'm not too crazy about the idea of my little brother's sperm being inside my wife though."
"I know that it sounds weird, but just hear me out… okay?" Heather pleads as she grabs my hands across the table. I concede. "So, I started thinking… you and your brother have similar DNA because you share both of your parents' DNA, right?" I nod. "So… what better way to ensure that our baby will look like both of us then having both of our DNA in them? Besides, it's not like I'm gonna be having sex with your brother," she says as she scrunches up her face in disgust. It's adorable.
"I see your point, but… what if my brother isn't cool with it?" I ponder.
"Then we'll just have to find some hot Latino stud that will give us the best chance," Heather simply replies. I smile at her as I raise our joined hands and kiss her knuckles. "It's not just about how our baby will look, although having your good genes or beautiful brown eyes wouldn't hurt…" she chuckles out. "Honestly Nay… I want our baby to have a part of your DNA so that he or she can have the best shot at having your wonderful personality, your kindness, your humor…" Heather pauses before reaching up to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear, "but most of all… I want our baby to have your enormous heart."
My eyes begin to water as I take in every single word that Heather has just spoken. I guess I never really thought much about our future baby not resembling me at all. As long as the kid looked like Heather, I would be okay with it. But now that she's raised all of these fair points, I can't help but think that she's right. I want that too. I want a baby that looks like me and Heather.
"Okay…" I whisper out. "I'll talk to my brother."
"Are you sure?" Heather questions.
"Yeah… I can't wait to make beautiful babies with you."
"Well, Mrs. Morris-Rivera…" Heather says in her best Southern accent, "… you sure do know how to make a girl weak in the knees."
I can't help but laugh at my adorkable wife. She truly is one of a kind. I can't wait to have kids that have her stunning smile and goofy personality.
"Our babies are gonna be goofy as hell…" I chuckle out.
"Goofy… but adorable," Heather says with a wink while shooting me with her finger pistol.
This is definitely going to be an interesting journey.
Back to Present Day
"Give me the drugs, give me the drugs… GIVE ME THE FUCKING DRUGS!" Heather yells out as her contractions become more painful.
Initially, Heather opted to have a natural birth. However, once she became 6 cm dilated, that plan went out the window.
"What the hell are you just standing there for?!" I ask one of the nurses incredulously. "Give my wife some fucking drugs!" I guess I must've really scared her because she disappeared at lightning speed. "It's okay baby, just breathe…" I say, trying to calm Heather down.
"That's easy for you to say; you don't have a fucking bowling ball trying to break out of your vagina!" Heather growls in response. I'm instantly taken aback by her tone and also her potty mouth. I swear… I've heard more curse words come out of my wife's mouth in the few hours we've been at the hospital than I have in all the years I've known her. I guess pregnancy really does change a person.
Noticing that I haven't responded or dared to touch her after that outburst, I think Heather finally realized that she unintentionally snapped at me.
"I'm sorry, babe… I didn't mean to yell at you," she apologizes. "I'm just in so much pain; I want this to be over already."
"It's okay sweetie… I didn't take it personally; you just scared me a little," I softly say back. She smiles back at me.
Finally, the nurse comes back and administers the epidural. Little by little, I can see Heather starting to feel better. Not long after that though, the doctor informs us that Heather is 10 cm dilated. It's time for us to meet our babies.
"Alright, Heather… I need you to start pushing," Dr. Barnes states. At those words, Heather begins to push.
As Heather struggles to push, I grab her hand and squeeze it to let her know that I'm right here. "You're doing so well baby. You're almost there."
"One more big push," Dr. Barnes exclaims as the baby's head starts to crown. "C'mon Heather… you can do it!"
"You got it, baby… I love you so much!" I try to encourage her as I feel her grip tighten on my hand. Honestly, I feel like she may have broken a bone, but I decide to suffer in silence until this process is over. Heather needs me to be her rock right now and I don't intend to let her down.
After one more big push, the baby finally comes out of Heather and into the doctor's arms.
"Looks like you have a healthy baby girl!" Dr. Barnes says excitedly.
"Oh my God… look what you made," I say in awe as I stare at our new daughter.
"Look what we made…" Heather emphasizes before placing a delicate kiss to my lips. "That's our baby."
I smile contently as I rest my forehead against Heather's sweaty one. The moment doesn't last too long though.
"Alrighty, Heather… the next one is on its way," Dr. Barnes states.
"No… I just had a baby…" Heather whines out adorably. "Leave me alone…"
I can't help but chuckle at how cute my wife is being. "C'mon baby… you're almost done," I coo into her ear. "Just a few more pushes and this will all be over with."
Heather silently nods at me and begins to push on the doctor's command. Again, she squeezes my hand to the point where I think I hear something pop. Oh well.
"Get it out of me, get it out of me, get it out of me…" Heather repeatedly screams. It seems like there is more pain present than the last time, which to me, doesn't make sense. If anything, I thought it would've been a little easier, seeing that she just had a baby pass through that area only minutes ago.
"Hey baby, look at me…" I say, gaining Heather's attention. "You are the strongest and most beautiful woman I have ever known. I can't wait to take our babies home and watch them grown into incredible little people… just like their mother."
This seems to calm Heather's nerves as she attaches her lips to mine, allowing her body to finally relax and push out our second child. Once we hear crying coming from behind us, we break apart and look up.
"Looks like this little fella is healthy too," Dr. Barnes says.
"We have a son too?" Heather questions.
"Yeah… now our family is complete," I reply as I place a chaste kiss on my wife's lips.
"Alrighty… the nurse is gonna go clean up your new babies and bring them back shortly for you to meet," Dr. Barnes states as he smiles at us before exiting the room.
"You did great, baby… I'm so proud of you," I tell Heather as I wipe away the sweat from her face.
"No more kids…" Heather says in an exasperated tone. I giggle in return.
"I'm fine with that," I reply as I give her a quick peck on the lips.
As I pull back and just stare at my beautiful wife, I can tell that her attention has drifted elsewhere. Once her eyes become wide, I follow her line of sight, seeing my pinky finger bent in a direction it really shouldn't be. "Oh my God! What happened to your finger?!" Heather says, horrified.
"Oh, that… I think that happened when you were squeezing my hand," I say gently, hoping that Heather doesn't start crying because she inadvertently hurt me. "Don't worry though… I barely feel anything."
"Babe, I'm so sorry," she says as she carefully brings my hand to her mouth and places light kisses to the inside of my palm. "Nurse… can someone help my wife out here?"
Once the nurse looks at my hand and sees what Heather is talking about, her eyes go wide too. "Oh my… you should probably come with me so that we can get that taken care of."
"I feel so terrible…" Heather solemnly states.
"It's okay, babe… I'm fine," I quickly respond. "Remember… I'm a lefty," I state with a wink. "I'm gonna go get fixed up and tell our friends and family the good news. I'll be right back."
As I gently kiss Heather's forehead, the nurse accompanies me down the hall so that I can get an X-ray and some pain meds for once my current adrenaline fades. After I talk to the doctor and they inform me that my pinky is broken, he sets up a splint and sends me on my way. Meanwhile, while Heather waits for my return, Dr. Barnes stitches her up and goes over some after-care instructions.
I then make it to the waiting room to tell all of our friends and family the good news. Everyone seems to be extremely happy, until a few of them spot the splint on my pinky.
"Hija… what happened to your hand?" my mom questions.
"Oh, Heather broke my pinky from squeezing my hand too hard while giving birth," I nonchalantly reply. "No biggie."
As my mom stands there with a befuddled expression, the rest of our friends and families laugh about the incident. They then ask what we named the babies and when they get to meet them. I simply tell them that we're waiting to meet the babies ourselves before we name them and as soon as we can, we will let them know when they can meet the newest additions to our family as well. As I turn around and begin to make my way back to Heather, my mom engulfs me in a hug and tells me that she's proud of me.
Once I make it back to Heather, I inform her that I'm fine and that the doctor said I should be as good as new in 4-6 weeks. After that, the nurse finally comes back with our babies. She hands one to Heather and the other to me. It's so amazing, holding this tiny human in my arms, knowing that for the rest of my life, I'm a mother. At some point, Heather and I both switch so we can hold our other baby.
Once the initial shock and crying dies down, we carefully rest both babies on Heather's lap so that we can look at them. As we look at our daughter – who has golden blonde hair and deep brown eyes – and our son – with dark hair and bright blue eyes – our minds begin to brainstorm until we make a final decision. After we settle on the names, one by one, our loved ones gathered inside of the room to meet our little bundles of joy.
"Everyone… we'd like for you to meet Jackson Micah Morris-Rivera…" I start off, introducing our son.
"… and Charlotte McKinley Morris-Rivera," Heather finishes. "Charlie for short."
"Oh my God… I love those names!" Mrs. Morris exclaims. "How'd you come up with them?"
"Well… their first names are just names that we really liked," Heather explains. "The middle names… well, Micah is kinda similar to Mychal…"
We chose that name for obvious reasons. We're both so grateful that my brother agreed to let us use his sperm so that we could make our babies. I am forever indebted to him.
"… and we chose McKinley because that's where our wonderful love story first began, in the fictional halls of William McKinley High School," I state happily.
"It sure did…" Heather adds on as she reaches up to kiss me softly.
"Well, can I just say that you two have the most beautiful looking babies," my mom says.
"Thanks Mom… it must be the good genes," I smugly reply as I wink at Heather.
"You done good, kiddo…" Mrs. Morris states. "We're all so proud of you!"
"Thanks Mom!" Heather replies.
As we continue to lightly chat with our friends and family, I can't believe where I am right now. Nearly 4 years ago, I was a complete mess, thinking that I would never get a chance to show Heather how much I love and care for her. And now… I'm married to the most beautiful woman on this planet, who just gave birth to our adorable little boy and girl. It seems like a fairy tale and if it is… I don't want to wake up. Fate really did lay a hand in making my life absolutely perfect.
"I love you with all of my heart," I whisper as I catch Heather's eyes.
"Good… cuz I love you with all of mine," she sweetly replies.
I take one last look at her before I bring our lips together. Life doesn't get much better than this.
Author's Note:
Holy cow!
Guys, it has been such an amazing journey and I'm so happy that I got to share it with all of you. Thanks to everyone who read, followed, reviewed, and/or added this story to their list of favorites. The feedback is truly incredible and inspires me to keep writing. I'm sorry it took so long to get this last chapter out, but I really didn't want it to end. Anyways, I have a few ideas that I've been brainstorming but before I get those out to you, I know I have to update 3rd & Lucky. Thanks again for all your continued love and support. You guys rock!
-Kris :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story and the mistakes that will eventually be fixed.