One Year Later
Artie
He pulled up to the small house with the black "wheelchair dad van", as Ike called it, parked in the driveway. There was fresh snow on the ground, but Carlos and Marcos had stopped by to shovel the walkway and driveway for the party, to ensure no one would slip. Artie knew Ike liked snow about as much as he did (meaning: not at all), most of the time, but that changed, he supposed, when you had two one-year-olds who were experiencing the white blanket of powder for the first time.
"Artie's here!" Isaac greeted him at the door, moving back so Artie could come in. The place didn't look much different than the last time he'd been over, which had been during a brief visit last summer. The six-month old twins had been adorable then, but today was their first birthday and Artie couldn't believe how much they had grown, for Ike still had them bothin his lap, although it was getting more and more crowded. They'd been small for their age, up until recently, when Henry had hit a growth spurt. Beside him, Hallie was pretty and petite, her wisps of hair pulled into tiny pigtails.
"Hey!" Artie grinned. "I'll take one of those. Want to ride with me, Henry?" Little Henry, well-accustomed to rides in his daddy's chair by now, obliged and climbed into Artie's lap instead. "Whoa, he's big."
Jessa was busy putting the finishing touches on a birthday party for the twins with Elmo and Cookie Monster cakes and decorations. She turned when she saw Artie and quickly crossed the room to embrace him. "I'm having flashbacks of you coming over on New Years' Eve with me big as a house!" she exclaimed. "Henry, get down so uncle Artie can get his jacket off."
One-year-olds were smart, it seemed, and understood more than they could say. Henry obeyed his mother's command, and Artie marveled at how he toddled across the room for a few paces before grabbing onto the coffee table. "Wow, he's walking already!" Artie exclaimed, with a laugh. "Good for you, Henry!"
"Hallie here is more of a talker than a walker," Isaac added, coming up behind Artie as they headed into the livingroom. Jessa followed after she had hung up Artie's coat and took the gift bag he'd had hanging on the back of his chair that contained his gift for the twins. "She usually wants to sit in Daddy's lap or have Mommy carry her, but she's saying all kinds of words. Dada, Mama, Hyou-wee for Henry..."
"Cornell?" Jessa had been the first to notice Artie's new red hoodie after he'd removed his jacket. "Artie, does that mean what I think it does?"
"I've been accepted!" he announced, proudly. "Yeah, Cornell. It was kind of a hard decision, but I think I'm going." Jessa squealed and jumped up and down, surprising Henry who cried a little at this sudden outburst. He let Artie hold him again, perfectly content to return to his lap.
"You think...?" Isaac began, but he didn't have time to ask further questions right then, for the front door opened at that moment, to reveal Santana letting herself inside. More hugs and greetings followed. Artie hung back a moment. They last time they'd all been together like this was when she'd kissed him at midnight, even though they were broken up.
"Ike, Jess, you officially have toddlers," she said, laughing and scooping up Henry, who had toddled towards her. Artie knew Santana visited her family often, especially to see her niece and nephew, when she wasn't busy in Kentucky cheering for football season or basketball season.
It was then that she noticed Artie. A moment passed where neither knew what to say. "Artie..." she approached him for a long embrace. "It's so good to see you."
"You too," he said. "It's been way too long."
"What do you mean, you think you're going to Cornell?" Isaac still wanted to know. Santana fixed him with a curious expression, as she borrowed Hallie from Isaac and took a seat on the couch by Jessa, seating the pigtailed toddler on one knee and her brother on the other.
"Just what I said," he shrugged. "It's just a hard decision. I applied to Brown, only because Tina did, and we both got in, but I have no clue what I'd even do or want to study there."
"And you do know what you want to do at Cornell?" asked Jessa.
"Biomedical engineering," Artie replied, and he knew this surprised people, as it wasn't directing. It wasn't that he didn't love directing and performance art in general, but Artie had been interested in this particular field ever since he'd started paying more and more attention to the advances in spinal cord research. But why just watch for the sidelines, Artie figured, why not be involved? He was perfectly positioned to make a difference in a very real way.
"That makes me really proud to hear, Artie," Isaac interjected. "That's a really good choice." He already knew Artie had been considering Cornell, of course, for he receiving Artie's chronicals in the form of e-mails, and the occasional lettter for old time's sake.
"I'm not a believer in following your high school sweetheart off to college," Santana added, then let that statement lead her into her next point. "And not just because it's Tina, who still doesn't deserve you." At that, Artie laughed and so did she, easing then slight amount of tension that still hung in there whenever they were together.
"I'd be five hours from Brown though," Artie said. He and Tina had been dating for all of senior year, and they were currently trying not to let the fact that they were locked in battle for the title of valedictorian get in the way of their happiness. Or the fact that they might be separated soon. There was plenty else to think about at the moment - regionals, prom, hopefully nationals again... "I'm still trying to sell her on Ithaca College. It's a strong liberal arts college near Cornell."
"Whatever happens, with all of that, you know we support you," said Isaac, clapping a hand on Artie's shoulder, as he went to answer the knock at the door.
Both sets of grandparents had arrived, along with Jessa's sister, and the party guests were now all accounted for. They split several pizzas while Hallie and Henry opened their gifts, with Henry getting distracted after opening the Fisher Price Corn Popper toy. He ran off to play with it while Hallie continued pulling tissue paper after tissue paper out of the bags, opening both hers and Henry's, until she had opened every present.
Next came the cakes. Each twin had a small cake to smash all over themselves. Jessa had undressed them down to their diapers, for soon their tummies and hair and faces were covered in buttercream. Isaac took picture after picture of the sticky mess. At one point, Hallie climbed up into his lap, getting icing all over her daddy. Not to be outdone, Henry managed to then climb on Artie and smear icing on his shirt before Jessa grabbed a hold of each twin, hoisting them onto her hips.
"Artie, I'll wash that for you before you go," said Jessa, who then hauled the twins off to the master bathroom for a bath.
Artie took off the sweatshirt, since he was wearing a plain grey shirt underneath. Santana, never one to miss an opportunity, whistled at him. "Whoa, Artie, I see you haven't stopped working out."
Santana
Artie's response to her little comment about his physique wasn't exactly what she'd been hoping for. He got embarrassed by that, of course, and pretty soon he'd stopped really acknowledging her during the rest of the party.
They were both staying over at Teresa's tonight, on New Years' Eve, a couple of boring people with no plans except hanging out with Santana's dad and stepmother. It was far less exciting than last year, what with the babies and the midnight kiss in an empty waiting room. But, if a fleeting moment of excitement was going to make for an uncomfortable moment, this year had to be different.
It turned out that Miguel and Teresa's New Years' Eve plans included going to bed around 11:00. Santana found herself looking for Artie at midnight, and after realizing he wasn't even inside, she headed outside to find him bundled up again, sitting on the snow-covered back porch, chair abandoned, legs stretched out in front of him, leaning back on his arms and looking straight up, staring at a full moon. He didn't seem to mind when Santana settled down beside him, giving her a small smile, then returning his gaze to the sky.
"You should go for it," Santana said, quietly. "I believe in you, Artie, you're so smart. You're going to do something amazing, like... like come up with a new treatment for cancer. Or figure out how to grow new organs for people. Or... or even be a part of a new and better solution for people one like yourself someday."
"I'd be happy if I could just make enough money to afford five or six kids and a big ass house and LASIK for myself," said Artie, laughing and shrugging it off. "It's an idea. A new dream, I guess, but it feels like it's larger than life. I keep thinking maybe I should scale it back a little? It would also be a lot easier to at least be someplace closer to home for maybe the first couple of years, then see what I want."
"Don't," Santana shook her head. "I know you, Artie, you can do this if it's what you really want. One of the best things about you is that you finally quit giving up so easily. Don't look back now."
Artie nodded. "Um, is it... is it midnight?"
"I think it already passed us by," said Santana, tucking her head onto his shoulder. "Don't worry, I didn't come out here to kiss you. You're in a committed relationship now. I know better."
"And what about you?"
"I? Am committed to being a cheerleader for the next three and a half years, then we'll see," she laughed it off. Santana knew she hadn't been taking herself, or anything, too seriously right now but it worked for her. "Not a lot of possibilities for me with male cheerleaders, although some of the football players do know me." She tucked her knees up to her chin, curling herself into a ball, for it was cold but, given that Artie was probably moving someplace even colder and snowier than Ohio, he was going to have to get used to that. As for Santana, she wouldn't mind living someplace where it never snowed. "Maybe I'll... marry a pro football player, or maybe I won't, maybe I'll just come back here and teach at the high school with Ike and Jess. Nothing wrong with that."
Artie smiled. "I know one thing," he said. "And that's that I won't forget you, Santana. And how you told me to stop letting everyone take what was mine all the time. I think you might have compared me to a kicked puppy."
"That was me being nice," said Santana, cackling a bit. "But look where it got you. Valedictorian, or saluditorian, whatever the case may be. Ivy League. And buff as hell." Santana gave his bicep a squeeze. "And you have me to thank for all of it!"
Artie took an opportunity to use the snowball he'd been hiding in his glove now, promptly smacking her over the head with it. "Hey now!" he said, as she hurried to retaliate. "Careful, I'll get hypothermia!" But she was already hitting him with snowballs. He fell playfull down into the snow. For a split second, Santana looked like she might crash down on top of him, maybe start making out with him like old times. He wasn't sure if that was wishful thinking or what. But she didn't. Instead, she grabbed his legs, one at a time, and started moving them back and forth. Getting the idea, Artie chuckled and moved his arms.
"Nice teamwork," he said, sitting up and admiring his snow angel. He dusted off all the snow, careful not to let it melt all over him and get him soaked. Then he climbed back into his chair.
"But, hey, seriously? Santana?" he rolled a pace closer, looking down at her, still seated on the porch and dusting the snow off her own jacket as well. She paused to look up at Artie. "You know, I feel like if it was Glee club, we'd sing something right about now. And Rachel would probably insist that this duet was better suited for her and Quinn, but, here goes..."
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But, because I knew you.
I have been changed good.
Santana smiled. "Seriously, the most underappreciated song from Wicked," she said. She reached for his gloved hand, tucking it in hers. "Thanks, Artie. Me too."