I wake up to the rays of sunlight that are barely shining through my bedroom window. As I open my eyes I can see Santana's clothes sitting on my dresser and that is when the events of the previous night flood my mind. I roll over in my bed to find that it is empty. The sheets are cold like she was never there. How long had Santana been gone?
I groan and get out of bed, heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get a shower. It feels nice for the steaming water to pour down my back and for my finger to gently massage my scalp. It feels so therapeutic.
After I am done with my shower, I get out and dry my hair and body before I put on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen. I see my dad sitting there with the morning newspaper in his left hand and a cup of coffee in his right. Across from him, Santana is sitting with a cup of coffee and her phone.
She looks like she is texting someone. Her fingers are quickly tapping at the screen and her eyes are occasionally moving back and forth across the phone screen. I smile at her cuteness and make my way over to the coffee machine. I pour myself a cup of coffee and add some sugar and creamer.
"Good Morning," I say to the both of them before I walk into the living room and turn on the television to watch the morning news, trying to get an idea about what the weather will be like today.
Santana walks into the living room and sits down on the recliner next to the couch that I was sitting on. I continue watching the news until it gets to the weather. After the weather finishes, I turn off the tv and turn to Santana.
"Did you sleep well?" It's a small attempt I make to fill in some of the awkward silence. Santana nods her head before asking "did you sleep well?"
"I actually slept very well," I say, hoping that we can somehow get a smoothly flowing conversation going. Before I can speak again, Santana speaks.
"Are you still wanting to do something with Madelynn today?" Santana stares at me waiting for me to respond. I take a while because I'm shocked that Santana remembers that much about our conversation from last night.
"I would love to take you and Madelynn out today if you are still wanting to?" I ask Santana this because I really don't want her to feel like I'm forcing her or Madelynn to spend that day with me.
"I am cool with it and I'm sure Madelynn would love to do something today. She never says no to getting out of the house." Santana says with a small chuckle. "I am going to pick her up from my brother's house around 11 and then we are going to go home to unpack her bags and eat lunch. So anytime after 1 would be good," she informs me.
"Awesome. Well, I already have an idea of where I would like to take you guys but it would be better if it's later on in the day. Is it cool if I pick you guys up around 4? I'll take you guys to dinner and then we can do the best part of the date."
"That sounds good. So me and Madelynn will be ready around 4 this afternoon."
"Perfect." Santana then reaches over to the couch and grabs the remote, turning on the tv and changing it to the morning cartoons. There is an episode of scooby doo and I can't help the goofy grin that spreads across my face when I see my favorite cartoon tv show.
Santana and I spend the rest of the morning watching cartoons and making small talk between us before it is time for her to go pick up Madelynn from her brothers. I wave goodbye to her as she gets in her car and drives away.
The rest of the day goes by pretty slowly and that is probably from all of the excitement I have in me because I finally get to meet and hang out with my daughter today. The next thing I know, it's 3 pm, and I still haven't gotten dressed to go out yet. I sent a text to Santana's number, which she gave me this morning. Then, I walk upstairs to my bedroom and put on some different clothes and light make-up before I walk out of the house and to my new car.
I never had to worry about buying a car because I always had the typical black Town Car to drive me around. I always wanted a Ford Mustang and for a second I almost bought it. That is until I looked across the street and saw the perfect vehicle. It was a black Jeep Grand Cherokee and it made me think about driving across the country with a family. I wanted nothing more than to be able to do that. So I bought the Jeep.
I pull up outside of the house of the address that Santana gave me. It's the exact house me and her always talked about buying when we were older. It's a two-story craftsman style house. The outside is light gray with white trimming and it has a light blue front door. The front of the house has a wrap-around driveway with a fountain in the middle.
I drive around to the front of the house and park my car before getting out and walking up to the front door. I ring the doorbell once and wait patiently for someone to open the door. The person to open the door is Santana. She has on black ripped jeans, a white crop top, and a light blue jean jacket over that. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun and her make-up is barely there but perfect.
"Hello," I say with a smile, "are you guys about ready to go?" Santana nods at me before she steps aside allowing me to walk inside. I follow her into the living room where she motions towards the couch for me to sit down.
"Give me 5 minutes to help Madelynn finish getting ready and well be ready to go." I nod my head and Santana walks out of the living room and up the staircase. I take this chance to look around the living room at the pictures that she has hanging up. A lot of them are of her and Madelynn out at football or baseball games and some are just them sitting at home.
Just like Santana said, in 5 minutes Santana and Madelynn come down the stairs hand in hand. I stand up and ask "Ready to go?" and they both nod at the same time which was adorable. Santana opens the front door and I walk out of it and to my car. After Santana locks the front door I open the passenger door and the back door. I strap Madelynn into her booster seat and head walk around to the driver's side.
After I buckle my seat belt, I turn to look at Santana and Madelynn before I start the car and begin to drive to the restaurant. It's not a long drive and instead of spending the time in silence we listen to the radio and sing our hearts out when Beyoncé comes on.
After about 20 minutes of driving, we arrive at a small Italian restaurant named Georgios. We all sit down in a booth and look at the menus before signaling the waiter over to take our order. I order a dish of Baked spaghetti, Santana gets a dish of chicken alfredo, and Madelynn gets a small pepperoni pizza.
We sit in silence until Santana decides to break it. "Sweetie, tell Brittany about yourself. I'm sure she would love to get to know you."
Madelynn stops eating and looks over at me. "What would you like to know about me?"
"I want to know everything, but let's start with the basics. What's your favorite color? Favorite animal? Favorite ice cream flavor? Favorite Movie?"
Madelynn lets out a small giggle and I briefly glance over to Santana to see she has a smile on her face as she watches Madelynn. "My favorite color is purple. My favorite animal is a panda. My favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate and my favorite movie is Matilda," She says before she stuffs more pizza in her mouth.
"Well do you have any hobbies?" I am genuinely curious about her hobbies because I would like to know what Madelynn does as entertainment.
"I like to paint, read, and I love to write in my journal about my life." I nod my head, happy that Madelynn has found a personal interest and has something she likes to do that is relaxing.
Madelynn speaks up again before I have the chance to ask another question. "My momma always tells me that you should find something that you love and surround yourself with it. For me that is books. And music!"
"Well, you have the best momma in the world. She is the smartest and most beautiful person on the planet. Don't you agree?" Madelynn nods her head eagerly before replying "I think my momma is the prettiest momma in the world. You are really pretty too." I smile at Madelynn because she is just so cute without even realizing it.
We chat animatedly throughout dinner talking about Madelynn and Santana. I love getting to know everything about Madelynn and I can tell by the way she talks about 'her momma', that Santana really is an awesome mom. I can see it in the way she looks at Madelynn; So caring and loving, like she would go to the moon and back for her 1000x.
After dinner, I pay the bill and escort Santana and Madelynn back to the car, where we begin the trip to the next destination of our evening together.
After driving for 30 more minutes, I can see our destination up ahead, and I'm pretty sure Madelynn can see it too because I hear her let out a small squeal. I can see Santana out of the corner of my eye and she has a smile on her face about the destination.
I figured Madelynn would like this surprise, but I'm blown away by just how much she does. When we pull into the parking lot, Madelynn doesn't even wait for Santana to help her unbuckle before she is out of the car and bouncing up and down like a rabbit.
Santana holds out one of her hands for Madelynn to take and then Madelynn holds out her other hand for me to take. I look up at Santana, silently asking my question, and she nods her head in approval before I gently grab Madelynn's other hand.
We walk through the front gates, and I take the time to watch the colorful lights and the sheer screams of joy coming from children and adults. What catches my eye is the huge Ferris wheel sitting at the back of the carnival.
I feel Madelynn squeeze my hand before she asks, "can we all get on the Ferris wheel later tonight?" I look at Santana who is nodding her head to Madelynn's question.
The next thing I know, the three of us are taking our seats on a ride. The teacups, where you spin the wheel to make it turn. Madelynn sits in between me and Santana and throughout the entire ride, I can hear her let out giggles and screams. I know I did a good job of picking something fun for Madelynn because of this.
We spend a couple of hours, walking around the carnival and riding rides before we end up at the Ferris wheel. A lot of people have left so it doesn't take us long to make it to the front of the line and be assigned a cart to get in.
When we first step in, Madelynn is a little nervous about how high it goes up, but me and Santana reassure her that we will be with her the whole time.
Madelynn sits in between me and Santana and clings to her as the Ferris wheel begins to rise to the top. Santana takes the time to stroke her fingers through Madelynn's hair while whispering soothing words in her ear.
When we reach the top, the Ferris wheel stops and Madelynn lets out a small screech. I look around at the carnival lights and just how pretty they are in the night air. Then, out of nowhere a loud boom goes off in the sky.
I look up in the sky and see red, blue, purple, and white fireworks. Some big, and some small, but they are beautiful nonetheless. I look over to Madelynn and see her clinging to Santana more now than she was just a few seconds ago. I slide over towards her and run soothing circles on her back "Hey, Maddie. It's alright, It's just fireworks. I promise nothing bad is going to happen to you. I can slowly feel her back muscles relax before her head slowly turns to look in my direction.
"You Promise?" She says in a small voice that almost breaks my heart. "I promise, me and your momma are here for you and we would never let anything happen to you." I say while holding out my pinky for her to take. She raises her pink to mine and interlocks them with a small squeeze. I squeeze back.
I outstretch my hand for her to take, which she does after a little hesitancy. I look down at our hands and my heart melts. I hardly know Madelynn, but I really am proud of her facing her fears with me and Santana by her side.
She slowly tilts her head to the side of the cart and looks down at all of the carnival lights. Then, she looks up at the fireworks. I see the twinkle in her eyes, the same twinkle I saw in Santana's eyes when she gets really happy. A smile appears on my face because Madelynn is just like Santana.
"You were right Brittany, these lights are really pretty!" She says excitedly. "But I am still scared of heights like what if the Ferris wheel breaks and we fall down?" She says with a frown. I chuckle at her question before responding.
"The probability of that happening is really low sweetie," I say before I freeze. I didn't mean to use a term of endearment. I don't want Santana to feel like I'm pushing myself too far into Madelynns life. I want us to go at Santana's pace, not mine. I look over to Santana and mouth a 'Im sorry' but she just shakes her head and mouths a 'it is fine' back at me.
We spend the rest of the time on the Ferris wheel looking at the fireworks and the carnival lights. I can see Madelynn is really happy and Santana is too. Santana is holding Madelynns hand while she uses the other to point at the fireworks in the sky. I feel very content being with the two of them.
After we get off of the ride, we go to a mini-game stand, the one where you shoot water at the hole for the thing to rise up. Madelynn gets on and she wins her first time going. She picks out a purple teddy bear as her prize and squeezes it tightly to her chest. Then, we go to a cotton candy stand and get two blue cotton candies for me and Santana and a pink one for Madelynn.
We walk and talk while eating our cotton candies before we start to head back in the direction of my car because it is getting kind of late. Santana buckles Madelynn in before getting in the front seat herself. We begin the 45 min drive back to her house and it is around 9 pm right now.
About 15 minutes down the road I look into the rearview and see that Madelynn is fast asleep, so I decide to speak to Santana. "I just wanted to say thank you for tonight. It really means a lot to me that you are willing to give me a chance to be in Madelynns life right now. I know I wasn't here for her first 8 years, but I would really love to be a part of her life, even if it's just as a close family friend. Whatever you decide to do, I respect your decision through it 100%."
Santana lets out a small sigh, "I really enjoyed tonight Brittany. I love seeing Madelynn happy, and I would do anything for her to continue being happy. She's been scared of heights for so long and she's never had the courage to battle that fear like she did tonight so thank you for that," She says with a smile. "I need time to think about what is best for Madelynn. I would only decide to keep you away from her entirely if you were a bad influence, but I can see you sincerely want to be in her life and that you would change for her to have a better future and that's all I ask."
"I completely understand. Take all the time you need. I will be in town for a while anyway and I'm only a phone call away if you need anything." I look over to her and see her nod her head before looking out of the window. I focus back on the road so I can get them back to Santana's house Safely.
After another 30n minutes of driving, I finally pull into the driveway of their house and unbuckle my seatbelt. "Were here," I say, but I get no response and I hear no movement from inside the car. I look to my right and see that Santana had fallen asleep during the drive too.
I grab the keys to her house and open the back door to my car. I unbuckle Madelynn from her car seat and pick her up in my arms. She wraps her arms around my neck, while she's still asleep and I carry her into the house.
I walk up the steps and I see a door that has a nameplate on it saying 'Madelynn' with rainbows and sunshine on the frame. I walk into the room and lay Madelynn down in her bed. I walk over to her dresser and pull out a set of pajamas before I wake her up. I shake her lightly "Hey Madelynn, I got you some pj's right here you need to put them on and then you can go back to sleep, okay?" She nods her head before she walks to the bathroom to change. When she finishes, I tuck her in bed before I say goodnight and close the door.
I walk back downstairs and to my car. I open Santana's door and see that she is still asleep. I have to carry her a different way since she is a little heavier. I throw her arm around my neck and scoop my arm under her legs, with one under her back. I walk up the stairs and to the master bedroom. I gently lay Santana down on the bed before I grab her some pajamas as well. "Hey Santana," I whisper while shaking her lightly. "I got you some Pajamas to put on. I already brought Madelynn inside and she is already in bed, okay?" Santana nods her head before she starts to strip out of her shirt. I feel the heat start to creep up on my cheeks so I turn around and walk towards her bedroom door.
"Goodnight Santana. I will see you around soon okay." Just before I shut the bedroom door I hear Santana mumble "Britt." I turn around to face her to see that she is already changed and beginning to lay down.
"Yes?" I ask, replying to why she called me. "Are you going all the way home tonight?" She asks.
"Yea. I only live like 15 minutes away, so it's not that far of a drive."
"You don't have to go. You can stay here, in the guest room if you would like."
I shake my head at her suggestion. "I wouldn't want to intrude on you guys. I'll be fine. Have a good night and sweet dreams," I say with a small smile.
"Goodnight Britt."
I walk downstairs and to my car. I drive home in silence, only being able to hear the hum of the engine or the sound of the wind that is flowing through the small crack I have in my window. When I get home I go straight to my room and climb under the covers. As my eyes begin to shut, I can't help but think about the perfect evening I got to spend with the two most perfect ladies in all of the universe.