Santana

One more week of her class was just one too many, for it meant she had to see Todd again the next week. Luckily, he wasn't nearly as rude when sober. In fact, he'd tried to apologize as soon as he saw her, tried to make it right. But given all the things he didn't know about her, a second date was already out of the question. Santana was nice, but not too nice. In fact, she moved her seat, hoping he would get the message. It worked, and he did. There was someone else, someone better, who knew a lot of things about her. She was learning new things about him everyday, too. After five more days, Santana was able to finish out the class with the A that she'd worked hard for. She hurried out of the classroom on that final Friday, for she had somewhere to be. It was the last time she ever saw that guy, Todd, as he didn't dare to follow her.

A few blocks away, in another part of the campus, Artie was getting ready to take a ride through the streets, finally leaving the safety of the parking lot. Santana arrived in time to see the end of his lesson, as he was weaving his way down a few blocks and back, probably already itching for the days ahead where he would get to get on the highway. When he parked against the curb, the first thing he noticed was Santana there waiting for him.

She clapped and cheered as he got out of the car, which was adapted so smartly that Artie never even left his chair to drive it. He smiled and bowed at the waist, for his personal cheerleader.

Artie was now done for the week and headed into yet another weekend. On the days that they finished their classes at the same time, if Santana didn't immediately have a shift at Starbucks, she gave him a ride. "Pretty soon, I'll give you a ride," Artie said, with a grin, as he got into her little sporty car, which was low to the ground and perfect for his transfers.

"I can't wait," said Santana, getting in.

"So, you're done with class!" Artie said, as he hauled the pieces of the chair in and across his body, to stack them neatly in the back. "Now you can just work and help Jessa with the wedding."

There were four weeks left, and unless the babies were brought up, there was literally no other conversation over the many family dinners that Artie would prepare.

"Speaking of, let's go over there," Santana added. Over there now referred to the house that Jessa and Isaac were working on slowly moving into. They still had the apartment for the rest of the month, so they could manage the task at whatever pace they wished, although they were often interrupted with appointments to look at flowers or get fitted for a tuxedo.

When they arrived, Jessa let them in, a rather somber expression on her face. She did not at all look like the jovial pregnant person who had, as her second trimester began, found herself full of energy and able to participate in regular things like eating again. Boxes still lined the halls, and Jessa stopped to push a couple of them out of the way for Artie as he proceeded down the hall.

"Careful," he cautioned her, and Santana hurried to move one that looked heavy, so that Jessa wouldn't touch it. Jessa just nodded, still rather somber and quiet. With a heavy sigh, she finally gave them some indication for her mood.

"It's Ike," she finally said. "We just got home from seeing his doctor this morning. He's been trying to use the ReWalk that Artie loaned him all week, like when he's cleaning high places, but it gave him pressure sores on the side of his knees. Now he's supposed to be resting but I can't hardly keep him still."

Artie looked pained, at the mention of the ReWalk being what had caused his friend's problems. "That's a really weird spot for pressure sores, did he use it all day or something?"

"Please don't lecture him, Artie," Jessa begged. "He knows he's supposed to limit it to an hour, he knows he probably needs clearance from a doctor, it's just... you know how much he likes to play by the rules." And then she shrugged. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

But Santana shook her head. Out of the corner, she saw Artie get his hand stuck on a doorframe as he turned the corner to head into the master bedroom, where Isaac was resting. He played it off, but it looked like it hurt. "No, we're here to help," she said, turning to the other girl. "Show me what I can do."

Jessa showed her to the babies' bedroom, where two cribs were partially assembled and one wall needed to be painted. This she could probably manage, sure, but she was thinking of the rest of the house and wondering if they'd ever manage, just the two of them, to put the house together. Especially now that Isaac was sidelined.

Jessa settled herself next to a pile of baby clothes she was sorting, which Santana eyed curiously. "Boy clothes and girl clothes, yes," she explained. "From two different friends of mine. I have up about age 3 months for both. We don't plan to find out the genders, just because it's more fun that way..." she heaved a heavy sigh. "Maybe we should though. It's one more thing we could simplify."

Santana hopped to her feet. Whatever Artie said, she didn't care. She was just going to have to beg his forgiveness later, but this was ridiculous. Marcos and Carlos weren't even very far from here. Surely, especially now that Isaac was going to be their stepbrother, they could give of their time to help a friend in need. When she announced that she was calling her brothers, she noticed Jessa made no attempt to stop her. The other girl merely nodded and kept on folding clothes in that quiet way that probably meant she was more overwhelmed now than ever. Santana knew that, for all Ike's pride, this wasn't what he wanted.

Artie caught her in the act, as she was hanging up with Carlos, having now reached both of them and gotten affirmations that, yes, they would both come by after they got off work that day. He shook out his hand, which he'd caught on the narrow doorframe again.

"Don't murder me," she begged, for she knew that last weekend, Artie had specifically said not to call them. But she just had to, and besides being his friend, they were all going to be family soon, too. Her brothers were many things... but neither of them was completely heartless. "But my brothers will be here this evening."

But Artie was smiling. "I wasn't gonna," he said. "I already got Ike to agree to let me call in reinforcements. I'm gonna see if Mike and Sam wanna make another visit this weekend, maybe bring some other guys. What do you think?"

"I think that's a lot better than Jessa and Isaac paying for a moving service," Santana agreed, following him into the living room. She was smiling now. "Wow, Artie, why the change in heart on the help?"

Artie sighed. "Because, independence is nice, but when you need help, you need help. Ike isn't above asking, especially right now, and neither am I."

Artie

Puck's exact words were "we'll be there in an hour," but Artie gently reminded him that it took a bit longer than that and to please ensure that he didn't speed, as there was no rush. By we, Puck was referring to himself, Sam, Kurt, Mike, and Finn. Mike, Sam, and Kurt would stay at the Morales residence again. Puck and Finn had quickly arranged to stay at the home of Matt Rutherford, who had transferred to a school in Columbus last year. Matt, who barely even knew Artie, had even agreed to come and help out with the move. Throw in Santana's brothers, and they now had a team of eight guys and it looked like the move would be easily done within the next couple of days. He hung up and gave Santana the news.

"Nine guys," corrected Santana. "Including you. And ten with Ike. Artie, nobody is going to be better at arranging the kitchen, so give yourself some credit for once, will ya?"

Artie blushed. "Well, I do know my way around the kitchen," he agreed. "Totally makes up for not being able to move a couch."

Santana was really getting to know him now, better than either of them ever imagined possible, and she knew he still struggled with the embarrassment of not being able to join the others in moving all the furniture. She just placed a hand on his shoulder, as he looked up and smiled a smile that said he was trying to be at peace with it. It was then that she leaned over and brushed his lips gently with hers, right there in the middle of Isaac and Jessa's living room. His eyes fluttered open and he stared up at her in shock.

She giggled. "Which one of us gets to explain this to all of our friends and my brothers?" she asked.

Artie touched his lips and shook his head at her. "We, um, better get back to work," he said, and with a shove of his wheels, he headed into the kitchen, careful not to smash his knuckles again on the pesky doorframe that needed to go to the top of the list of home improvements, as far as he was concerned. She didn't follow him, instead going back to helping Jessa in the babies' room.

After he'd found the pots and pans and set himself to the task of organizing all the low cabinets, cutting shelf liner to fit before carefully arranging the cookware to fit. After over an hour of this, Isaac appeared and offered to fix Artie a sandwich, for it was getting close to 2:00 now, well past lunchtime.

"I thought you were resting," said Artie, looking up to see Isaac clad in sweatpants that now loosely covered the bandaged sores on the sides of his knees, where the bulky ReWalk had done the damage before. Artie was familiar enough with this particular issue to know that you didn't take your chances. Isaac knew it, too.

"Seeing as the sores are just on the sides of my knees," Isaac started in, and Artie was already shaking his head. "My knees don't touch anything, Artie!" he argued. "I'll be fine. I can't sit around and just do nothing. So, here's some lunch, okay? Eat."

Artie sighed and hoisted himself back up into his chair, for he'd been sprawled out on the floor to work on the cabinets. "Well, okay, I need a screwdriver to tighten those hinges when you get a chance to find me one." He hesistated, for the next words out of his mouth might have come straight from the lips of Charlotte Abrams herself. "And just pay attention, please, and make sure your knees don't rest on the sides of your chair."

Isaac had to groan, but after getting that out of the way, he assured Artie that he'd be careful. After bringing sandwiches to Santana and Jessa, he came back to join Artie at the kitchen table. He fixed Artie with a serious look. "I see now why you're not the biggest fan of the ReWalk."

"You'll definitely understand if you ever fall wearing it in the middle of the public library," Artie said, chewing his mouthful of sandwich and chasing it with the cold can of Pepsi Isaac had given him from the fridge. "People would think it was unappreciative of me to say this, but the fact that you go so slow when you use it, you can't use your hands, you draw all the stares... I just can't get excited about putting it on anymore."

"It's completely fine," Isaac assured him. "It doesn't make me mad to hear you say that and I don't think you're unappreciative. I think you're right in saying it draws a little too much attention. I was thinking about wearing it for my wedding, but well, I think I'll pass. I want to make sure everyone's looking at Jess, anyway, and not me."

"She's much prettier," Artie quipped.

"Much." Isaac agreed. Just then, they both heard a car door slamming outside. Artie checked his watch. There was no way Puck didn't drive like a bat out of hell to get here this fast. But, when they both headed out to greet their guests, it was Carlos and Marcos who'd arrived first. Artie hung back as he watched Isaac greet his old friends. If there was any animosity between the three, over having lost touch, well, there was no trace of the hard feelings now.

"Twins," said Marcos, who Artie knew was the older of the two. "Dude, I couldn't believe it when Santana told me. One baby was plenty, can't imagine what I'd do with two."

Carlos was the one who looked the most like Santana. Artie was going to have to make a point to ask her soon if naming two of their children after guitar legend, Carlos Santana, had been intentional. Both guys looked well equipt to move heavy furniture, plus they had each driven their pick-up trucks over for the occasion. After some discussion, it was decided for the three of them to ride over to the apartment and begin loading the truck, for the rest to help unload when they arrived.

As for Artie, he went back inside and got back to work in the kitchen. He fixed the loose hinges on the cabinets and finished loading all the pots and pans, then headed down the hallway (carefully, watching his hands) to find the girls. They were still hard at work in the babies' room. Santana was on a step stool, finishing the top trim on one wall that was painted a dark shade of teal, while the rest of the walls were a light grey. Two dark grey cribs were still leaning against the opposite walls, still disassembled, with mattresses leaning beside the beds.

Jessa was working on putting together the closet organizer. She stopped, however, and rested a hand on her bump before announcing she was going to need to take a little break. Artie and Santana both encouraged this and she obliged, heading into the master bedroom where she still just had a mattress on the floor and no bed.

"We can get these baby beds put together," Artie said, as Santana finished her paint job and stood back to inspect her work. "It looks good. Would you go grab Ike's tools from the garage and the screwdriver I left in the kitchen? We'll have these ready in no time."