Chapter 25

"I don't know if I should have left Liam with Abuela. I know his fever was gone and he was sleeping soundly. Which isn't a surprise since he cried almost the entire night long." Santana didn't take her eyes off the road as spoke to Brittany. They were in Santana's vehicle following Maribel to look at Alma and her late husband Nicolas' house. Alma and Nicolas had lived in the house for over 40 years. After Nicolas died from cancer six years ago, Alma lived there until three years ago when she sold it. The man who bought the house recently had put it up for sale with the realtor Maribel worked for part time. Brittany saw the house online and immediately felt a connection to it before she even knew it was where Santana's grandparents had lived for the majority of their marriage.

Brittany reached over from the passenger seat and put her hand on Santana's leg. "I know you're worried about him. I'm worried too. Unfortunately, all babies have go through teething and some have a more difficult time than others do. His bottom gum in the front was really red and swollen last night and he must have been in a lot of pain and discomfort. You gave him some children's pain killer and fever reducer plus it seemed to make him more comfortable when he was sucking on his teething ring. Alma will call if she needs anything."

"I know and we are only going to be about 15 minutes away from my parent's house. I just don't like seeing Liam in any type of pain or discomfort. It breaks my heart. I wish I could bear the pain for him. Plus, I really wanted to bring him with us. I know he wouldn't even understood what we were doing but I wanted to show him the house I have so many good memories of as child. I spent so much time at my grandparents' house when I was growing up. I wanted to share that with Liam."

Brittany couldn't resist it so she leaned over and kissed Santana on the cheek. "You are such a wonderful mother. It's one of the many reasons I love you."

Santana looked at Brittany giving her a smile briefly before looking back at the road. "You were up all night with Liam and me making sure we both were ok. I love you so much and I know Liam loves you too even though he can't say the words yet."

There were a few seconds of silence in the car as Brittany looked around the streets they were going down. It was her first time seeing this part of Columbus. "We didn't get a chance to talk about it before we left the house, how did Alma take it when your mother told her that her old house was up for sale?" Brittany had been taking a shower a when Santana, Maribel, and Alma talked about the house being for sale.

"Abuela didn't say much about it which isn't like her. She thanked my mother for telling her the house was up for sale. I told her you and I were going to look at this morning and her only response was 'that's nice'. I thought maybe she'd be excited we were going to look at the house but there was no emotion at all in her reaction."

"Maybe hearing her old house was up for sale and that we were going to look at it was a bit of a shock to her." Brittany stated hoping it was the reason.

"I guess so and she does have other things on her mind with Paul arriving this afternoon. I still can't believe he's driving all of the way from Chicago to Columbus by himself. It would've been much quicker and easier for him to fly."

Brittany shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe he prefers to drive, some people do. It will be good to see Paul again."

"I know my abuela will be happy to see him. I love seeing them together they make such a cute couple, although abuela hates when I call them cute. Well, here we are." Santana turned right into the driveway and parked her vehicle behind her mother's vehicle. Before getting out of the car Santana looked at the house and couldn't help but get a warm feeling in her heart because the house looked exactly the same. The previous owner hadn't made any changes on the outside. Her abuela's roses were in full bloom. Santana made a mental note to herself to cut a couple of roses to take home with them.

Brittany got out of the car and looked around. There was a big two car garage at the end of the driveway. The house was two stories, although, it wasn't a huge house. Brittany noticed the beautiful roses growing and just knew that Alma had planted them years ago.

Maribel stood looking at the house for a few minutes too. She was feeling emotional because this house held so many memories for her and Carlos. She suddenly shook herself from her trip down memory lane, "Are two ready to go inside?"

Santana and Brittany walked up to the front door and waited while Maribel unlocked it. Maribel opened the door and walked in the house and as she did the familiar feeling of home hit immediately. Santana walked through the door next and Brittany right behind her. When Santana walked into the house she too was immediately hit with the feeling of home. Santana looked at her mother who was trying to keep her emotions in check. Santana reached down and squeezed her mother's hand. Maribel looked at Santana and gave her smile. Both women knew what the other one was feeling in that moment.

Brittany noticed the exchange between Santana and Maribel, and could only imagine how it felt for them being back in the house. Brittany looked around and from the front door you could see the living room to the left, a dining room to the right, and stairs that led to the upstairs facing the front door just a little to right. Maribel walked into the living room followed by Santana and Brittany.

Santana took ahold of Brittany's hand and laced their fingers together. "I can still see the Christmas tree standing in front of the picture window here in the living room. The couch used to be right there. My abuelo's favorite worn out recliner was right here with a perfect viewing angle of the TV." Brittany didn't say a word she just let Santana give her a tour while going down memory lane.

Maribel had disappeared into what Brittany thought probably was the kitchen. Santana stopped and opened a door on the right as they walked out of the living room. It was a small bathroom. There was a toilet, a sink, and a shower stall. "That's new, the shower. It's a great addition actually."

Santana led Brittany to the kitchen where Maribel was opening the cupboards which were all empty. The kitchen was completely empty. When Santana looked at the kitchen counter a vision came into her mind. "The counter right there is where abuela taught me how to cook and bake but it was more than just teaching me to cook and bake. During those times I learned just what a wonderful woman my abuela was and how she was strong and caring."

Maribel walked over and opened a door. "I spent many hours in this laundry room washing and folding clothes. When Carlos and I first got married we didn't have a washer and dryer in our tiny apartment so I would come here once a week to do laundry. It was during that time and our weekly talks Alma and I became more than daughter and mother-in-law, we became friends."

Santana led Brittany to the laundry and looked inside it was a spacious room and looked even bigger since the owner had removed the washer and dryer. They then followed Maribel into the dining room which was conveniently right off from the kitchen. It was a good size room with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling where it would be over the center of a dining table if there was one in the room. Brittany could tell by the look in Santana and Maribel's eyes they were once again remembering the many dinner they had in this room over the years.

"Let's check out the upstairs." Maribel led the way upstairs. There were four bedrooms upstairs. One large bedroom which was the master bedroom and three smaller bedrooms. There was a full bathroom upstairs that wasn't connected to any of the bedrooms. No one said much of anything as they looked at the rooms upstairs. It was a calm and comfortable silence though.

Finally, the three women went out to the garage. It was surprising how large the garage was since the house wasn't very big. There was a work area all along the backside of the garage. "I spent so much time out here with abuelo when he was working on whatever he was working on. He taught me how to change a tire and even change my own oil in this garage. I remember after I had told the family I was gay, I was scared to death to come out here because I was afraid he wouldn't love me anymore. When I did find the courage to come out here when he was working at first he didn't say a word to me and I was about to break down in tears when he said to me 'are you just going to sit there or are you going to come over here and help me.' It was then I knew he still loved me and nothing had changed between us." Santana had tears running down her face remembering her abuelo. Brittany squeezed her hand and kissed her on the cheek.

When they left the garage they looked at the backyard which was also quite large. There was a small patio on the back side of house. "I'm going to leave you two to talk. Make sure you locked up when you leave." Maribel handed the key to Santana and then placed a kiss her cheek and then on Brittany's cheek before leaving them alone.

Santana and Brittany went back into the house and sat on the bottom step of the stairs. "Britt, you haven't said a word since we walked into the house. What do you think about the house?"

Brittany turned to look at Santana, "I watched the emotions you and your mother went through every time we entered a room. I don't have any previous memories about this house but for some reason from the minute I looked at this house from the outside when we arrived I've felt emotional. This just isn't a house it's a home and just the few minutes we've been here it feels like home to me. It's difficult for me to describe how I feel. When you said you could still see the Christmas tree in the picture window in the living room, I pictured in my mind our first Christmas together with Liam and our tree standing there. I would love to for this to be our home."

"Me too. My apartment in Chicago was so luxurious but I was never happy there. I know I would be happy living here in this house because it's a home to me too. There's a difference." Santana sighed deeply. "There's just one problem I don't feel comfortable buying a house until I have a job and I haven't had any luck finding a job where I won't need to work long hours and travel. Working long hours and traveling is part of being a corporate attorney. It was ok before but now I don't want to be away from Liam more than I have to be. I've been lucky I've had saving and investments I've been living off from since Elsa left us plus I also have the money I got from selling the apartment. I just wish I didn't have to…"

Brittany waited for Santana to finish but when she didn't Brittany finished the sentence for her because Brittany knew what Santana was going to say. "You just wish you didn't have to work, right?" Santana nodded her head yet. "You don't have to work honey. I've got new job I'm starting next week and the pay is fantastic. We can apply for a loan together for the house or I can apply for the loan on my own. If you want to spend more time at home with Liam before going back to work than I think you should do that. We can live off from my salary for weekly expenses and I can pay the house loan."

"I can't do that Britt. I've got to work. I can't ask you to take on all of that financial responsibility without helping out. I'm paying for both my and Liam's health insurance, my car insurance, my life insurance, groceries, diapers, cell phone, and all of the other little expenses that add up. I don't want to use all of my saving and investments and not have something for the future. No as much as I'd like to be a stay at home mom right now I just can't do it. There's no way possible."

The two were quiet for a couple of minutes until Brittany blurted out, "Marry me." Santana looked at Brittany and could tell by the look on her face she was serious. "We both know some day we will get married so why not get married now. If we were married, you and Liam would be covered by health insurance and we could combine all of our other expenses too."

"No, I don't want us to get married just because it's convenient. We can't do that besides for Liam to be covered under your health insurance you would have to adopt him so that wouldn't work anyway."

Brittany suddenly felt like she got punched in the stomach. How could Santana say it would be a marriage of convenience when they loved each other and had already talked about getting married someday. Did Santana not want Brittany to adopt Liam now? Or did she not want her to adopt ever? Brittany stood up from the steps and walked out the front door. Before Santana realized what was going on Brittany was sitting in the passenger side of the vehicle waiting for her. Santana shut the front door and locked it.

Santana got in the car and looked at Brittany who was looking out the passenger door window. "Britt, talk to me."

"I'm exhausted and I know you are too from being up all night with Liam. I don't want us to say anything we may regret later. Let's go check on Liam."

Santana knew now wasn't the time to talk to Brittany so she started the vehicle and drove to her parents' house. The drive was in complete silence.

TBC