Three years later...
It's a Saturday morning.
Saturday mornings in the Lopez-Hudson household generally mean being woken up at the crack of dawn by a sudden heavy weight jumping on one of their faces, followed by one of Finn's very unhealthy breakfasts and a morning of watching cartoons. Then they usually take a lunchtime stroll around the park, followed by Santana running errands while Finn takes Lily to dance class with Brittney (unless he has a random afternoon shift at the store), and then chilled out family time in the evening.
They have a routine for Saturdays. Granted they occasionally change it up a little by going to the zoo or the beach or somewhere but more often than not their Saturday's have a structured plan.
Today is not one of those Saturdays...
Lily has the grace and elegance of her father, so whenever she tries to sneak her way out of bed and into her parents room, it's always about as subtle and sneaky as someone shooting a cannonball through the door. As soon as her feet hit the floor, both parents are jolted wide-awake
...as probably are the neighbours… and the whole of China.
In that respect this morning is no different from every other Saturday, but as her little elephant daughter clambers closer to the bedroom, Santana stirs awake enough to realize that Finn is not nuzzling her neck as accustomed on these mornings, and that's when she knows today is not a normal Saturday. She doesn't have any time to consider this further however, as seconds later her beautiful little elephant is standing awkwardly at the foot of the bed.
"Mommy. Are you sleeping?"
Really only deaf people could still be sleeping after that ruckus.
"No baby. Mommy just needs a giant hug from her favorite girl to get her out of bed."
The three year old clambers up onto the bed with some help from her mother and bursts into a fit of giggles as she's rolled upside down and pulled into a bear hug Finn himself would be proud of.
This is secretly Santana's favorite part of Saturdays. And seeing as Finn is god knows where, she makes sure to give their daughter extra snuggles on his behalf.
She settles the toddler on her lap and stifles a yawn as she's presented with a folded up piece of paper.
"What's this? Did you draw something for mommy?"
"Daddy."
"You drew something for daddy?"
Great. That makes his unexplained absence even worse.
"No daddy drew for you. He said we're going on a treasure hunt!"
The excited toddler starts bouncing up and down on the bed before settling down to chew her hair – a sign of overwhelming excitement – waiting for Santana to read the note and respond.
Santana instinctively reaches out to take her child's hair out of her mouth whilst keeping her eyes attached to reading the note.
The top of the note simply reads 'check bedside' in brackets and then there are a series of cartoon drawings followed by some kind of poem at the bottom of the page and a giant question mark drawn on the back. She looks to her left and sure enough on her bedside drawer is another note with his unmistakable scrawl of handwriting on it.
Morning sugar!
Please please please please pretty please take Lily on this treasure hunt I've set up. I've been planning it for weeks and I promise it'll be worth it when you get to the end. You just have to find six little clues (Lily has the first one) and I designed it all, so obviously it won't be that difficult!
You have to do it. It's very important.
Imagine I'm jigsaw and I'm forcing you to do it!
Actually wait, don't do that that's kind of creepy.
Just
I'm waiting for you at the end so please. You won't regret it I promise!
(Plus Lily really wants to and you're a bad mother if you don't let her.)
K bye. Love you!
Oh also, if you could try and finish it before dark, that'll be great! Love you!'
She really wishes Finn would warn her before pulling stunts like this. It's impossible to say no to her daughter when she's already this excited.
Good thing pay back's a bitch…
"Well. Looks like daddy's leading us on a treasure hunt."
Lily puffs out her cheeks and gives an excited squee that's just too adorable not to laugh at, before flapping the note Finn gave her in her mom's face.
"What does this say mamma?"
"Let's have a look shall we…
Too many sandwiches, you get sick of the taste,
But oh my what a shame to put good bread to waste,
So who can we feed them too? I hear you both ask,
Well perhaps your feathered friends, down at the park,
Will help you to find (in return for a treat),
Your next clue in the hands of something light on her feet."
Okay so ducks at the park. She can handle that. That's a Saturday anyway.
Lily bursts into an overjoyed shriek that causes Santana to wince through a smile and then without warning she rockets off the bed, running as elegantly as ever towards her own bedroom. Santana shakes her head chuckling to herself before forcing her body to get itself out of bed, heading after the three year old.
"Mija what are you doing?"
She holds back a laugh as she enters her daughters room to find her stood with a toy compass and a fishing net in each hand trying to shuffle her feet into her favourite ladybug rain boots whilst still dressed in her pajamas.
She is so her father's daughter.
"We're going to the park on a treasure hunt!"
"Yes but we need to get dressed properly and have breakfast first silly. Come on. Tony the Tiger's a-waiting."
And with that she lifts her slightly deflated child out of her boots and carries her downstairs to the breakfast table...
When they get to the park it's obvious where the next clue is.
Brittney's standing in the absolute center of the field, feet together, back straight, clutching an envelope to her chest probably having taken Finn's instruction to stand there and wait for them a little too seriously.
Lily spots her Godmother as soon she gets out of the car and runs over to her at full speed. Santana shakes her head with a smile as the blonde sweeps the little brunette into her arms and tosses her in the air yelling 'you found me!"
"Of course you got roped into this." Santana jokes as she approaches her best friend.
"Aunt Brittney we're on a treasure hunt and one of the ducks has the clue so we need to give it some bread and then it will tell us where my daddy is."
"Really?" Britt asks wide-eyed and dramatically. "Well then let's get started giving the duckies their breakfast shall we?"
She sets her down and takes her hand as they walk over to the edge of the pond with Lily recklessly throwing the loaf of bread she's holding around in the air. She hits an old man in the shins and Santana knows she shouldn't laugh but she does...
It's kind of a miserable day to be at the park feeding ducks, but she hears no complaints from the other two.
The three of them spend a good half-hour throwing clumps of bread into the water - the two women crouched beside the three year old, with Santana fiercely gripping the back of the waistband on her daughter's jeans to prevent her trying to jump on the ducks like she did the first time they brought her here when she was able to walk. To be honest she's not sure which of the other two is having more fun, but when a swarm of geese arrive it's time to call it a day. (Let's just say Brittney and geese don't get on – she thinks they're too conceited.)
Lily protests slightly stating they've yet to find the duck with the clue but when Britt unzips her jacket to reveal a giant duck printed on her shirt and presents the envelope she's been holding the entire time, her daughter finally understands the riddle.
Lily takes the envelope and slumps herself down on the grass with a look of pure concentration as she begins tackling the task of opening it and Santana uses this distraction as a chance to grill Brittney a little.
"Britt, what's Finn up to?" she asks quietly taking the blonde aside.
"It's a treasure hunt. You follow the clues and get the treasure at the end."
"Yeah okay, but, where's the end?"
"I can't tell you."
"Sure you can. The game's for Lily, not me."
"No I mean I can't tell you. I don't know where the end is, i only know where you're supposed to go next. Finn just told me to take the weekend off and show up here with the letter."
"Wait. He told you to take the weekend off? What about your classes?"
"I cancelled them and closed the studio for the weekend… It's no big deal the music store's closed too."
"What?"
She's genuinely shocked. Closing the store and making Britt take the weekend off to take your daughter on a treasure hunt is a bit much, even for Finn.
"He closed the store. This is ridiculous. If they don't know already, Puck and Andy are gonna be so pis… ton heads."
(Lily's gotten into the habit of repeating words when she hears them for the first time, so Finn made her promise to stop cursing or saying bad phrases in front of their kid. She's still getting used to it.)
"They know. And they're not piston heads. We all agreed on closing for the day. At first I wasn't so sure because when he asked if I wanted to be a part of a treasure hunt all I could think of was how pirates scare me because they're like homeless people from the south but like, with swords… But then Finn promised there wouldn't be any pirates, so I was happy to volunteer!"
Santana shakes her head. This is all still a bit much.
"This treasure better be actual treasure. As in he better have won the state lottery or had a wealthy relative die or something because if we get there and the prize is a lollipop I'm going to be a complete piston head."
"I wanna be a piston head!" cries out a small voice that makes Santana do a 180.
"No you don't sweetie."
Finally paying attention to her daughter Santana realizes she's opened the letter at last and is now holding a photograph of Finn. There's more scrawled writing on the back and when Lily notices she flashes her inherited dimples and starts waving it around for her mom to take the hint.
Santana inhales deeply and gives a sarcastic "Oh great, I wonder where we're going next!"
Thankfully only Britt picks up on the tone, grinning widely as Santana rolls her eyes with a quipped eyebrow before crouching back down to read the note to her eager daughter.
"There's a song in my heart, that sings for you both,
For my two favorite girls, it does mean the most,
For S the artist comes first and for L in the middle,
At the place where I work, you will find the next riddle,
Your first clue if you've found her will provide you the key,
Search through the racks – I'd look alphabetically."
This one leaves Lily stumped, so Santana has to break it down her a little.
"Okay Lily, so where does daddy work?"
"Um… at his music shop."
"Right. And who's mommy's favorite singer?"
"Lil Wayne."
"No…"
-okay so clearly she needs to stop Finn letting his three year old pick the CD's on their car journeys.
"Okay what's your middle name? Lily…?"
"Adill."
"Close enough. So we need to go to daddy's music shop and find mommy's favorite Adele record."
Lily starts clapping and when Santana looks up, so too is Brittney.
"Well done San. Finn had to explain it to me like 5 times before I got it!"
They get to the music store and the first thing she notices is the giant 'Closed For Personal Reasons' sign attached to the door. She's really not impressed but Lily definitely is.
"I hope we find daddy soon!" she tells her mother giddily as Britt fumbles with the keys.
"Me too sweetie" Santana replies, secretly daydreaming about how she's going to inflict physical pain on her beloved irresponsible lug of a boyfriend. (In an affectionate way of course…)
Brittney lets them in the building and as they make their way to the back room to turn on all the lights, Lily grips her mother's hand is tighter than ever as they walk through the darkness. She's been scared of the dark ever since Finn let her watch 'Monster's Inc.'
(Not that she was scared of the movie, it's just Finn then started nicknaming Lily, 'Boo', because he considers their resemblances uncanny, and then Lily got confused and thought what happened in the movie was going to happen to her and…. Well it was just one giant parental screw up that meant Finn had to stay siting with her until she fell asleep for about 7 weeks.)
Once the lights are on and the three year old regains her confidence she excitedly bounces over to the 'A' section where one particular Adele record immediately stands out. There's a sticky note attached with a typical Finn Hudson cartoon drawing on it. They open the CD case and an extremely folded note falls out that says 'Open envelope, don't open bag.'
On the floor, sticking out from under the shelf is a brown paper bag clearly containing some kind of plastic box inside it and an envelope saying 'open me' placed on top.
One of the lights in the store starts to blink a little so Lily ushers her mother to hurry up reading out the next clue and Santana doesn't need asking twice to hurry this whole thing along. Inside is another photo, this time of Carole and Burt from their wedding, and the next clue that reads:
"I found my own angel in a very dark place,
Where I ended the night with my foot in a brace,
For those of you who were not there at the time,
I'll give you a hint with a much clearer rhyme,
Your favorite guy (except me) has your next link,
So go to the place Mr Mohawk likes to drink."
It's not really surprising how quickly her daughter is able to come up with the answer to this one.
Aside from Finn, Puck is in fact her favorite guy in the whole universe and she pretty much hangs on his every word. Seriously, the kid's like a sponge when she's around him, taking in and absorbing absolutely everything he says and does.
So it's really not surprising that she knows the answer to the riddle.
Surprising would definitely not be the word she's pick to sum up the scene of a three year old excitedly yelling the answer…
"Back Door Patooties!"
… Mortifying would probably be the word she'd pick.
As they pull up on the side of the street near the bar her hopes diminish as she sees he's not waiting outside for them as she'd prayed.
There's no way she's taking her baby girl into 'Back Door Patooties'. It's basically a strip joint for disgusting, sleazy guys who have nothing better to do on Saturday afternoons.
Which is obviously why Puck's waiting inside and not out…
She calls his cell and he doesn't answer so she's forced to march in there and literally drag him out by his ear.
"Ow, chillax woman!"
She eventually takes her hands off him when they get out the bar but only so she can smack him across the arm.
"You're gross you know that."
He knows exactly why she's pissed but he just thinks it's hysterical.
"Hey, I'm just doing as instructed. If I had gone anywhere else you wouldn't have found me."
"Yeah well it was my three year old who knew where to find you so your godfather privileges have officially been revoked for 3 weeks."
The smug grin slides off his face in an instant and she can't help find his distress endearing – at least on the inside.
"Hey it's not my fault. I didn't design the trail, Finn did."
"Oh don't worry. I'll be revoking all kinds of Finn's privileges when we find him. Which brings me onto my next point, where the hell is he? I've tried calling him like 10 times already and he's not answering."
"Well unless I'm mistaken I'm only clue number 3 so you've got another 3 to go to find out."
"Oh come on Puck tell me. I just want to know where we're going and how long it's going to take!"
"There's no need for you to know any of that."
"Like hell there isn't!"
"Oh really. Why. Why do you need to know?"
"Because… "
She just does.
"...Well how am I supposed to know what to do for lunch if I have no idea where we're going or how long this is going to take? We've been at this for hours already and Lily and I are starving!"
He raises a snarky, knowing eyebrow and she can only scoff.
"Well, I am! ...Oh come on Puck. Just tell me. This is Lily's game not mine!"
The eyebrow stays raised as he goes to enter the backseat of the car.
"Is it?"
And with another smug grin the sly bastard opens the car door, unleashing the full force of an excited Lily bursting to see him.
She hears him address her with a gleeful "L-Hud!" as she storms her way round the vehicle and back into the driving seat. She could never really revoke his godfather privileges. It would be more of a punishment to Lily than anything else.
Plus if she's honest she's mostly angry with Finn. Well, not angry. She's not angry she just… doesn't like not being in control.
When she gets herself comfortable back in the car, Puck's already hyped Lily up about the next clue. He opens the envelope with an ease Lily can only admire and pulls out another picture, this one of Santana. He turns it over and starts reading aloud in a dramatic fashion that's difficult not to find hilarious.
"Time's getting on and I bet bellies are rumbling,
20 bucks says your mom's started grumbling,
But fear not my bambinos because lunch is on me,
And if you finish your veggies the next clue you'll see,
So go forth to the holy land, there's only one place to go
But this time Lily Hudson no carrots will you throw!"
Breadsticks.
Okay so maybe her stomach does a little jump for joy at this one.
Free lunch at what is indeed the holy land?
Well played Hudson... well played.