A/N: So, here we go! Here's the next chapter. I'm already working on the chapter following this one. So it should be up by the end of next week. No promises though. Finals are right around the corner from me and I have a lot of studying and extra credit assignments to do.

Riley was sitting in her history class nervous about her presentation on the American Civil War. She was prepared, but not as well as she usually is.

Then she feels her phone buzz in her pocket, she hides it under her desk and sees that it's from Taylor:

Taylor:

Did your mom seem off today during your daily mother/daughter lunch time?

Sent: Friday, January 19th 2:37pm

Riley thought back to their lunch time. Her mom did seem a little off, but she dismissed it like it was nothing. She knew that the English teacher was stressed, but she knew that her mom would never admit to the stress.

Taylor:

Yeah, she did seem kind of off today. Why?

Sent: Friday, January 19th 2:40pm

She sat up straighter and acted like she was actually paying attention to the presentation in front of her.

Taylor:

She just seems off and pale.

Sent: Friday, January 19th 2:41pm

She smiled because she knew her girlfriend loved her mom so much to worry about her, so she just sent a encouraging text back.

Taylor:

It's cute that you love my mom so much.

Sent: Friday, January 19th 2:42pm

She put her phone back in her pocket of her Lincoln Prep uniform and stood up it was her turn for her presentation or so she thought.

Vice Principal Brown came into the classroom.

"Vice Principal Brown," the teacher said. "How can I help you?"

"Is Riley Evans in this classroom?"

"I'm right here." Riley said with a confused look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to come with me."

"Is everything okay?"

"Just please come with me."

"Okay, uhm, Mr. Edwards, my presentation-"

"You can do it on Monday." The teacher said. "Whatever this is looks important."

"Thank you."

The teenager walked out with the vice principal and repeated her question.

"What's wrong?"

"Your mother's water broke. She needs to go to the hospital. My assistant is calling Santana."

"What? She's at six months."

"It's normal for twins to be born early." The vice principal reassured. "Especially with all the stress she's been under recently." Riley took a shaky breath as they reached the English teacher's classroom. "You ready?" The vice principal asked when she saw how nervous the teenager looked.

Vice Principal Makayla Brown was a close family friend to both Riley and Brittany. There have been many occasions that the vice principal had found Riley hiding in an empty part of campus with Taylor as the soccer player was calming down the recovering depressive girl.

"I don't know, but I rather not keep my mom waiting."

As the teenager opened the door, the vice principal placed her hand on the girl's lower back.

"Mom?" Riley said walking closer to her mother, who was sitting on a chair with Taylor close by, the rest of the class of seniors were just dismissed early.

"Hi baby girl."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm in a lot of pain." Brittany said. "C'mere though." She said gesturing her to come sit in the empty chair next to her.

The English teacher knew that she hadn't been spending a lot of time with her daughter and things were about to change. Two new lives were hours from arriving in the Lopez-Evans household and the last thing she wanted was for her daughter to fall into a relapse.

Riley went over to her mom and basically curled into her.

"I'm always going to be here for you, baby girl." Brittany whispered after a few moments. "I'm not leaving you, but I need you to just let out the emotions right now."

Riley started to cry. Not because she didn't want two new siblings, but because she was just as afraid that she might relapse in the time where her mom and Santana needed her the most.

Little did she know, she wasn't the only one that felt that way.

Santana and Zach were enjoying the two burgers in silence when Santana's phone rang.

"Yeah?"

"Hi Santana, I have an administrator from Lincoln Prep on the line."

"Put them through."

"What's going on?" Zach whispered.

"Someone from Lincoln Prep is calling." She whispered back.

"I obviously didn't do it." Zach joked, knowing that his freshman year she got a lot of these phone calls.

"Hi, is this Santana Lopez?" The music producer heard on the other line.

"Yes?"

"I'm calling on behalf of Vice Principal Makayla Brown who was asked by Principal Carlson to call you about your wife, Brittany."

"Is everything okay?"

"Her water broke in the middle of her fifth period class."

"What?"

"Your wife's water-"

"No, no, I heard you, but how? Why?"

"I don't know, but I've been told to call you to tell you to come to Lincoln Prep. It's time."

"My son and I are on our way."

"Drive safely, please."

Santana all, but slammed the phone down.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Brittany's water broke." She said slowly.

"Okay. Do we need to go to Lincoln Prep?" Santana nodded. "Do you want me to drive?" Santana nodded. "I'll go tell Uncle Puck." Santana nodded again still frozen in place.

Zach got up and went into the waiting room of the offices.

"Uncle Puck!" Zach voiced boomed through the offices.

"What's up?"

"Brittany's water broke-"

"What?" Everyone in the waiting room said, including Brittany's younger sister, Sarah.

"We need to get to Lincoln Prep. I'm driving my mom." He continued.

"Definitely. Get out of here." Puck said.

Zach walked back into his mom's office and saw the music producer in a frantic state.

"Mom, calm down." Zach said approaching his mother. "Mom!" He said as he placed his hands on her shoulders when she didn't stop. Santana looked up at her son with tears in her eyes. "Oh Mama." He embraced her. "It's okay, it's okay. I got you. I got you."

Santana just stood there and cried in her son's embrace. It was the beginning of the continual recovery.

Riley had fallen asleep in her mom's lap, Brittany was running her fingers through the girl's hair. Taylor was standing at the window looking out. She had stayed with Brittany and Riley because Principal Carlson told her too.

"You alright, sweetie?" Brittany asked. Taylor turned around and nodded her head. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Come on, I've known you since you were six. I know better."

"I called you 'mom' and you didn't even freak out." She whispered.

"You know I've always considered you just like my daughter."

"You have?"

"Yeah. Ever since Riley's first day of kindergarten. You've been there with her through everything. The divorce, the being held back a grade, the remarriage. I've always considered myself a mother of two girls."

"I don't know what to say."

"C'mere honey." Brittany said opening her other arm up for her daughter's girlfriend.

Taylor walked over a curled into Brittany and that's how Brittany sat with two of her girls curled into her.

Zach pulled up to the visitor's parking lot about twenty minutes later. It took a good ten to calm his mom down and get out the door.

As the two approached the administration office to get guest passes to be on campus, Ethan and Jahna were already approaching them.

"Here are your guys' guest passes." Ethan said, practically throwing them at the pair. "Now, let's go!"

Everyone started going, but Santana was stalling.

"Mom, what are you-" Zach turned around and saw his mom almost in another freak out session. "Mom, Mom. Come on. You can't freak out right now, your wife needs you."

At the sound of hearing that her wife needs her, Santana snapped out of it and caught up with the trio that was a couple hundred yards in front of her.

The four of them practically ran across campus to Brittany's classroom.

When they arrived, they saw both Riley and Taylor curled into Brittany, Riley still asleep and Brittany sitting there trying to do some deep breaths.

"I'll get Riley." Taylor said seeing the four people standing in the doorway.

"Britt-Britt," Santana breathed.

"Hey baby- ohh." Brittany said going through another contraction.

Santana immediately went to her wife and crouched in front of her and grabbed her hand.

"Hey, hey, I'm here Mi Amor. I'm here."

Zach smiled his pep talk in the car on the way there obviously helped.

Flashback (A half an hour before)

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"What if I screw up these two little ones lives like I did yours?" She said softly.

"Should I take offense to that?" Zach said through a chuckle.

"You remember freshman year, how you would always get in trouble?"

"Yeah because you took me away from my friends at John Adams Prep and New York and everyone here thought I was nerdy and weird. They didn't understand me. You didn't screw up with me."

"Aunt Rachel and Uncle Kurt basically-"

"Raised me. I know, but you raised me too, Mom. Maybe not in the way you saw it, but you still raised me. I got in trouble at John Adams because I was hoping you'd come get me, not Aunt Rachel. Yeah, you were are working single mom. I only held it against you because I needed you, but I don't hold it against you anymore because I understand. Look I get that you're having doubts right now, but Brittany needs you. I know you're slowly slipping into another phase of depression and even if I have to help you get through it, I will. I love you." He said placing his hand on his mother's thigh. "But right now, I'm going to have a blunt moment with you, I need to pull yourself together for the sake of your wife." He smiled as he looked over at her. "And yes, this is my poor ass version of a pep talk."

"Thanks mijo. I needed it." She said wiping a tear away.

The mother/son duo continued their drive in silence. Zach continued to hold his mom's hand because he knew that it oddly comforted her.

Flashback Ended

"I'm here, Amor. I'm not leaving your side."

"The contractions are getting closer together." Brittany said with tears of pain in her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Zach and I are going to help you to the car, okay?" Brittany nodded. "Mijo..."

"I'm on it." Zach said stepping next to Brittany. "Hey Britt," he said with a soft voice. "We're going to slowly get you up, okay? Let me know if you need to go slower. You got this."

As he slowly got Brittany up, Santana looked at how soft her son was with her wife. The same son that a year ago was faking how much he loved her, now genuinely loves the English teacher.

The music producer felt Riley stand next to her.

"Do you want me to do anything?" The teenager asked her stepmom.

"No, thanks though kiddo." She said wrapping her arm around the teenager. "Just meet us at the hospital, okay?" Riley nodded. "I love you, kid." She kissed her stepdaughter's forehead as she let go.

"I love you too, Tana."

Santana and Zach helped Brittany out of the room as Riley took a deep breath.

"You alright, sweetie?" Jahna asked her niece.

"I'm not too sure." She responded to her aunt.

"Taylor, why don't you go with her?" Jahna said.

"Um, are you sure?"

"This was your last class, am I wrong?"

"I guess I can use one of my unexcused absences on the community college side."

"Thank you." Riley said, softly.

"You're welcome baby." Taylor said, kissing her forehead. "Do you want me to go with you in your car or do you want me to follow you?"

"C-can you drive me there?" Riley asked.

"Of course, baby."

"I'll let campus police know that you're coming back for your car later." Ethan said to Riley.

"Thanks Uncle Ethan." Riley whispered.

The young couple walked out of the classroom headed towards the hospital.

"Breathe, baby. Just breathe." Santana whispered in her ear.

They were in the hospital room and Brittany was at six centimeters.

"It hurts so fucking bad, San."

"I know, I know baby." Santana said wiping the sweat off of her wife's brow. "Dr. Montgomery should be back any minute to check the progress. The epidural option still maybe up for grabs."

"No baby, it'll just stall the process. I can do this."

"Okay. You're right, you're my beautiful, strong wife. You got this."

"Where are the kids?" Brittany asked to get her mind off the pain. "I thought we talked about them being in here for this. So we can have our first family moment together."

"Zach is making calls to the rest of the family for me, so I can stay by your side. And Riley is calming herself down. They'll be in here any minute."

As soon as she said that, Zach slipped into the delivery room.

"Hey babe." Brittany said as he came closer.

"Hey Britt, I know this is a stupid question, but how's it going?"

"Okay, in a lot of pain, but it'll be worth it." Zach nodded and kissed his stepmother's forehead. "Where's Riley?"

"Pacing the waiting room. She's still in a freak out session."

"I'll go talk to her." Santana said. "Are you going to be okay with Zach in here?" Brittany nodded. "Okay, I'll be back." She kissed her wife's forehead on her way out.

Santana walked into the waiting room and saw her stepdaughter pacing in the waiting room.

"Hey kid, what's going on?" Riley kept pacing, she had earphones in her ear. "Riley." She said trying to get her attention again. "Sweetheart." Santana said placing her hands firmly on her stepdaughter's shoulders.

Riley locked eyes with her stepmother and the music producer saw the tears in the teenager's eyes.

"Tana." The teenager breathed.

Santana pulled Riley in for a tight hug.

"What's going on, sweetheart? Talk to me."

"I can't go in there." She breathed.

"Okay, why not?"

"It's selfish, stupid even."

"Talk to me anyway."

"It's just I've always wanted another younger sibling, but now I just feel like you and my mom are going to just give up on my recovery because you have two lives that are going to need your full attention. I told you, selfish."

"Oh, Ri..." Santana said with tears in her own eyes pulling the girl closer. "She's not going anywhere and neither am I."

"I understand if you did."

"Why would we give up on you?" Santana asked. "You've come so far already. I mean other than today, you've been solid with going to your therapy sessions."

"That was an awkward phone call to make to Dr. Matthews." Riley mumbled into her stepmother's shoulder.

"Yeah?" Santana chuckled. "I'm sure she understood though."

"She did. She told me to just come in tomorrow." Riley mumbled again. "I'm sorry my insecurity is taking over."

"It's not just you. My insecurity has been taking over a lot too."

"Yeah?" Santana nodded. "Well, I guess we need to keep each other accountable then."

"Definitely." They stood there for a moment. "We should get in there." She whispered. "You ready?"

"Yeah, she needs us." Riley whispered back.

Santana smiled because she didn't know who needed Riley and even Zach more.

Brittany or her.

"Alright Brittany," Dr. Montgomery said. "I'm going to need you to push for me, okay?"

"I can't do this." Brittany breathed. "I'm way too tired."

"Just a couple more pushes." Dr. Montgomery added.

"You hear that, baby? Just a couple more pushes." Santana encouraged. "You can do this." She wiped the sweat off her wife's brow with her free hand. "Let me meet my babies, Britt-Britt."

"You're doing good, Brittany." the doctor encouraged. "One more push and we'll have the babies first crowning."

"You're doing so good, Mom." Riley said on the other side holding her mother's other hand.

"You got this, Britt." Zach said from beside his mom.

"We have a crowning!" Dr. Montgomery all, but yelled through the delivery room. "One more big push then we'll have the first baby."

Brittany's yell roared through the ten count.

"We have a baby boy!" Dr. Montgomery said. "And we're a few more minutes away from your baby girl."

"I can't do another one, San." Brittany whispered.

"You got this, honey." Brittany said. "Let me meet my daughter."

"We have another crowning," Dr. Montgomery said. "Just a few more big pushes. Can you do that for me, Brittany?"

Another roar ripped through another ten count and just three minutes after their baby boy was born their baby girl was born too.

And when their baby boy was placed in Brittany's arms as their baby girl was being washed up, the pain that was there was suddenly forgotten.

The nurse handed Santana their baby girl; both at a healthy six pounds four ounces.

Or so they thought.

An hour later, Santana was pacing around Brittany's recovery room. Since the twins were born three months early, they were whisked away for some tests.

Zach had left about twenty minutes before to get to work and Riley was in the fetal position next to the bed.

"San," Brittany said groggily. "You're making me dizzy with all the pacing."

"Sorry, Mi Amor. Just nervous."

"I know, c'mere though. Come cuddle with me?"

"Of course."

Santana walked over the bed and wrapped her arm around Brittany. The couple looked over at Riley who was in the fetal position.

"You alright baby girl?" Brittany asked, placing her hand gently on her oldest daughter's head.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You wanna come cuddle into the other side of me?" Brittany asked.

"I mean, if it's okay."

"Of course, baby girl. C'mere." Riley climbed in the bed to cuddle with her mom. Brittany hummed at being held by her wife and holding her daughter. "This is nice."

Santana and Riley chuckled.

A few minutes later, Dr. Montgomery walked in and saw the three of them cuddled up next to each other.

"This is cute," the doctor commented.

Santana all, but just up towards the doctor.

"How are they?"

"Your son is surprisingly fine." She said. "Your daughter on the other hand, um, we detected a respiratory infection."

"So, what's next?" Santana asked.

"We're going to put her on antibiotics and see what happens. Infants have overcome this. It isn't impossible. I'm going to be here every step of the way. I'm in it for the long haul." Santana took a deep breath. "It's a lot to digest, but everything's going to be okay."

"Okay. Thank you, Doctor. Can we at least see our son?"

"Yes, I'll have a nurse come in and bring him. You can see your daughter in a few hours. How are you doing, Brittany?"

"I'm doing better. I had a nap a little while ago."

"Good. Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do."

Just as Dr. Montgomery left the room, Santana's brother, Carlos showed up at the door. They were at the USC Medical Center, somehow it was the closest hospital to Lincoln Prep.

"Hi Monkey."

"Big brother," she breathed and practically ran to him as he hugged her.

"I got your text." He whispered.

Santana chuckled as her big brother just hugged her tightly.

"Thank you for coming on your break."

"You know I'd do anything for you." He released his sister and looked over at his sister-in-law. "Hey Britty." He said. "How are you holding up?"

"Doing better." She said with a soft smile, running her fingers through her daughter's hair. Riley was still curled into her, she had fallen asleep right as Carlos came into the room. It was almost midnight and the teenager had pulled close to an all-nighter the night before getting about an hour of sleep. "How are you?"

"Eh, couldn't be better. I'm an uncle again." He said with a smile. "An uncle twice over."

"It's a little surreal for us." Santana said getting back in the bed to hold her wife. "We've been at this since the night Zach graduated high school. We never thought it'd actually happen."

"You didn't." Brittany smiled. "You were also the one that freaked out at every doctor's appointment."

"Yeah well, sometimes it felt too surreal for me." Santana said burying her face into her wife's shoulder.

"Where are they now?" Carlos asked.

"Um, Brandon should be in here any minute. Kayla on the other hand, has a respiratory infection. So, she's up in the ICU, I guess." Santana answered her big brother.

Carlos softly smiled at his little sister.

"The ICU here is the best in the state of California, if not the country. She's in good hands. Especially with Dr. Montgomery."

"Thanks big brother." Santana whispered. "Oh speaking of Brandon." The brunette said as the little boy was brought in by the nurse. "Hi baby boy."

"Here you go, Mama." The nurse said handing the boy to Santana.

"Hey mijo." She whispered, kissing his forehead. "I'm your Mama." Brittany smiled as she watched her wife talk to their son. Brandon started fussing a little. "Hey, hey. It's okay. Mama's got you." She stood up and started swaying around the room. He calmed down. "Yeah, your sister is going to be okay. We'll protect her. Yeah. You're her big brother. Even if there is only three minutes between you two." She kissed his head again. "We're going to get out of here soon. I know it."

Carlos smiled at how maternal his little sister actually is. He walked behind her to see his nephew.

"If only mami y papi could see you now." He whispered. "You're an amazing mother. I could tell with Zach and I can already tell with Brandon."

"Thanks big brother." She said with a small smile. "I needed to hear that today."

"You're welcome monkey." He smiled. "I have to get back to work now, but I'll be back down on my next break." He kissed the top of her head and walked over to Brittany who was still holding a sleeping Riley and kissed her forehead. "He's beautiful and I can't wait to meet my niece." Brittany smiled up at her brother-in-law. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Okay, thanks for coming down Carlos."

"You're welcome. Your kids are in good hands Britt."

Brittany looked over at her wife, swaying with their son, and smiled.

"I know."

Carlos left to do the next round of his shift. Santana stared out at the Los Angeles city lights while holding her and Brittany's newborn son.

Quinn walked into Logan's Diner, where Zach worked towards the end of his shift.

"So, congratulations." She said to her godson.

"What for?" He asked wiping a table down.

"You're a big brother, twice over. At least that's the word around Lincoln Prep."

"Oh right."

Quinn sensed some apprehensiveness within the boy.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, of course." He lied.

"You're a horrible liar." She said pulling his hand for him to slide into the booth with her. "The diner isn't busy. Sit with me, sweetie."

"I can't. I'm still on the clock."

"Zach, honey. I think sitting down for a few minutes to talk with me isn't going to hurt. Come on."

"I can't, okay? What can I get you?" He said changing the subject to take her order.

"I came in for the famous Logan burger."

"Okay. How do you want that cooked?"

"Well done." She said.

"What do you want to drink?"

"Iced tea. Unsweetened."

"Okay. I'll be back." He said while walking away.

Quinn took a deep breath, she knew she'd get it out of him eventually.

He came back, a few minutes later, with her iced tea. He took a deep breath and sat down across from her.

"Can you talk to me please, honey?"

"About what?"

"Why aren't you happy with your mom and Brittany's becoming parents and you and Riley becoming older siblings?"

"I never said I wasn't happy."

"Then what's your deal? You forgot they were born."

"I didn't become a big brother again."

"Yeah, you did. Twice over."

"No, I didn't." Zach stared at his godmother dead in the eyes. "Because if I did, I would have had felt something more than what I felt when we had our first family moment before they whisked the twins away for tests."

"Sometimes you won't feel anything, sweetheart."

"And I have this feeling that I never will."

"Why's that?"

"I just don't think I ever will." Zach said standing up. "I have another half an hour of my shift. Your food should be out shortly."

Zach walked away to tend to his other table. Quinn saw how he put on a fake mask to serve the other table. She softly shook her head.

Santana woke up in one of the two cots that the nurses set up for her and Riley. She looked up at the hospital bed and saw that Brittany was peacefully, dead asleep and she looked over at Riley who was not peacefully asleep. In fact, she wasn't asleep at all. Taylor had slipped in some time in the middle of the night and she was holding Riley. Riley's eyes were open and it had been evident that she had been awake for awhile.

"Hey kiddo." Santana said, slowly approaching her stepdaughter. "You okay?"

"Hey Tana." The teenager whispered. "I'm okay. Just had a tiny nightmare."

"Do you wanna come here? Cuddle with Tana for awhile?"

"Yeah." Riley moved from her girlfriend to her stepmom. When she settled into the music producer's embrace, she chuckled a little.

"What's up?" Santana asked.

"You act tough, but you're such a big teddy bear."

"Yeah, I know." She said and kissed the top of the teenager's head. "When did Taylor get here? And like how?"

"Dr. Montgomery is her aunt. So, I'm sure when she came back from her night class, she had her aunt let her in."

"Oh, no wonder you and Dr. Montgomery seemed pretty close."

"Yeah. She helped me through a post-nightmare episode one night when I was over there. She's really cool."

"Do you know what causes these nightmares?" Santana asked beginning to run her fingers through the teenager's hair, knowing that it calms her down.

"It's mainly my insecurity." She began, relaxing into her stepmother's embrace. "For the longest time, I hated you. Almost with a passion. Sorry."

"No, it's okay. Go on."

"It mainly was because I wanted my folks back together." She said turning to face her stepmom. "I didn't know the real reason why my parents got a divorce." Tears were developing in her eyes. "I thought it was my fault for the longest time. Then when you came into the picture, my mom was completely infatuated with you. I thought I did something wrong. She was either with you, texting you or calling you. It was all about Santana and I felt replaced." Tears started flowing freely down the teenager's face; Santana just pulled her closer. "Then when I met you, you were so soft and amazing. Minus that one time where you applied that I was stupid."

"Which you're not." Santana quickly said.

"I know Tana." The teenager then kissed the music producer's cheek. "And I know you love me. I love you too. Just I'm getting used to your being on my side, you know? I'm getting used to my mom being back on my side." Riley then buried her face in Santana's chest.

"I'm so sorry that it took us over a year to get here."

"It's alright, Tana. You're here now."

Santana wrapped her arms tighter around her stepdaughter and they both fell into a peaceful sleep.

Santana pushed Brittany's wheelchair up to the ICU a few hours later. The brunette slowly helped the blonde up from the chair.

"You didn't have to push me up here love." Brittany said, kissing her wife softly.

"I wanted to, makes me feel like I've accomplished at least something today."

"We'll get through this. Even if you end up back in therapy afterwards. We'll get through this."

"What do you mean?"

"I know your anxiety is back and I know your depression is slowly creeping back in. You haven't hid it very well."

"Sorry." Santana mumbled.

"It's okay. Just pull yourself together when Rachel and Kurt get here."

Zach had called the entire Glee club, minus Sam, to tell them the somewhat good news. They were all coming into town if they already didn't live in town. Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, Mike, Tina, Artie, Mercedes, and Finn were coming in from various different parts of the country and Puck and Quinn were waiting for the rest of the old Glee club members to arrive to help Santana, Brittany, Zach, and Riley welcome in to new members of the Lopez-Evans family. The Glee family.

"I am pulling myself together, baby." Santana said caressing her wife's cheek.

"When is the Glee club getting here?" Brittany asked.

"Zach text me this morning and said that they all said they'd be here some time this afternoon."

"Where is that boy? I thought he had today off."

"Something about studying for a test or something. He wasn't too clear with his text. He and Puck are going to be taxi drivers for the Glee club though."

"Zach was weird before he left for work yesterday. Almost like you disowned him or something."

"I don't know what's going on with him. I'll talk with him when he gets here with Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine."

"Alright." Brittany said softly kissing the brunette.

"Let's go see our daughter." Santana whispered against her wife's lips before kissing her once more.

The couple walked into the room and saw there daughter hooked up to tubes to help her breathing. Santana placed her hand on the lower part of Brittany's back.

They both took a deep breath and looked down at their little girl knowing that they too were in this for the long haul.

Puck showed up with Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine an hour later while Santana was trying to catch her breath walking around the hospital.

"Hey Rach." Santana said when she saw Rachel.

"Hey San. How are you?"

"Oh you know, I'm great." Rachel rose her eyebrow at her. "I've been trying to pull myself together. I'm not doing good."

Rachel pulled her in for a tight hug.

"We'll be here as long as you need us to be."

"Thank you."

The two brunettes got close when they lived together in New York, Rachel was there for a great deal of Santana's recovery and was the one who pushed her to pursue her dreams.

"Now, where's my little man?" Rachel asked referring to Zach.

"Wait, he didn't pick you up from the airport?" Santana's eyes went wide.

"No, Puck did."

"Puck is supposed to be in a session with Maxwell Paulson right now." Santana said going towards the entrance where Puck was checking in with the receptionist.

"Why aren't you at the studio?"

"Because Maxwell had to take a day to pull himself together and your son left these three hanging at the airport for like a half hour." Santana's eyes went wide again. "What's wrong?"

"Give me a second." Santana walked out of the hospital to call Zach.

"Hello?" A groggy Zach answered his phone.

"Oh good, you're okay."

"Mom?"

"Yeah. You were supposed to pick up your aunt and uncles at the airport an hour and a half ago."

"Not possible. I only laid my head down like ten minutes ago. It's only 8:30."

"No mijo," she said looking at her watch, "it's 11:45."

"Oh. Damn it. Do they still need to be picked up?"

"No, thank your Uncle Puck when you get here."

"I probably won't be coming for awhile."

"Why not?" Santana asked. "You know this family needs you."

"What family?"

"Brittany, your sisters, your brother, hell me."

"Out of all those people, you're the only one that is family, Mom."

"What? Where is this coming from?"

"Yesterday, when we were having our first legit 'family' moment. I didn't feel anything for them and I have this feeling I never will."

"I'm sorry, who are you and what have you done with my son?"

"It doesn't matter, now does it?"

"Mijo-"

"No. Look, I can't just drop everything right now. I have homework to do, tests to study for. You're not paying for my education, remember? You're not under the same damn pressure I am."

"What pressure?"

"That wasn't my point."

"Then what was, mijo?"

"My point was I probably should've chosen NYU over USC."

"What?"

"I should've let you just start over with Brittany."

"Mijo." Santana said with tears in her eyes. "You were just the one giving me the poor ass excuse of a pep talk yesterday."

"Yeah and?"

"What's wrong, mijo?"

"I told you. I didn't feel anything during that first family moment."

"That's not an excuse, Zachary Santiago."

"I have a lot on my plate right now, Mom. I have to go. I just picked up another shift at the diner."

"Don't you dare hang up, Zach! Zach? Zach? Zachary Santiago!"

The line went dead. Something was wrong with him, but she just couldn't put her finger on what actually was going on.

When she hung up, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes to see Quinn standing right in front of her.

"Hey Q." She said softly.

"If it means anything, when I talked to him early this morning, he gave me the same distant answer."

"Maybe when Finn gets here he can talk to him. He always listens to his Uncle Finn. I know he has a lot on his plate right now, but he can't expect to keep acting like this. He just regretted not going to NYU. Like what the fuck? Are you serious right now? My oldest kid practically hates me while my youngest is fighting for her life. I can't do this Quinn." Santana said with tears in her eyes.

"Oh babe," Quinn said pulling her best friend into her chest for a hug. "It's okay. Everything is going to work out."

So there they stood. In front of the USC Medical Center: Quinn holding together a somewhat broken Santana and Santana trying to pull herself together.

End Note: Alright, I feel like I have so explaining to do with Zach's change of attitude in this chapter. All I'm going to say without giving much of it up is it'll be handled in the next chapter. Yes, Finn will be talking to him. No, I didn't kill Finn off. Yes, I know Zach is being completely selfish. And yes, it will be dealt with. There will be a Santana/Zach scene in the next chapter dealing with it all. Please hang out, it'll all be fixed.

I felt the need to explain myself before all the negative reviews came in because I'm not in a place right now to read/deal with them.