This chapter is a continuation of the last. Thank you for all the support!
Shelby smiled and ruffled Brittany's messy hair lovingly, "peanut butter on toast?" she suggested knowing it was the toddlers favourite breakfast. Brittany nodded, "mmm nummy!" she agreed impatiently rocking on her feet as she watched her Mama make her toast.
"Don't you want to be little today too San?" Shelby asked curiously, Santana always jumped at every chance to be little.
"No, I'm spending the day with little Britt" she replied with a small smile, she wasn't sure how she was going to stay big all day but she knew she had to try. Shelby nodded, knowing Santana must be trying to make up for whatever her and Brittany's little fight had been about.
Brittany tugged on Santana's sweatpants and reached her arms up, wanting to be held, "come here you" Santana said sweetly and lifted the girl into her arms sitting down at the table with her on her lap. Santana sighed happily and rested her head on top of Brittanys, breathing in the slight smell of baby shampoo. She forgot how much she loved seeing little Britt and little Quinn, they were adorable and she loved the cute things they did.
"What do you say Bee?" Shelby reminded as she set the cut up peanut butter toast down in front of Brittany.
"Tanks Mama!" she squealed happily, picking up a piece of toast and wiggling on Santana's lap, revelling in the rare treat of not having to sit in her booster seat.
"Make sure you don't leave Q out today babe" Shelby whispered to Santana so the girls couldn't hear, she knew today was about San making it up to Brittany but she didn't want Quinn feeling left out if she didn't get the same attention from Santana.
"I won't Mami" she agreed with a reassuring smile, she knew it wouldn't be fair for her to give all her attention to Brittany, plus Quinn was absolutely adorable, there was no way she would purposely leave her out.
"Jeez Qbear how much toast did you eat?" Santana laughed as she looked across the table and saw her little sister's jam covered face and hands. Quinn giggled cheekily and held up 3 fingers, Santana shook her head and chuckled, god knows where Quinn put all the food she eats.
Brittany turned in Santana's lap and held up a bitesize piece of toast to her mouth, Santana tried to disguise her grimace and held back her snarky comment when she saw the slobber covering the toast and Brittany's hand.
"No baby, you've gotta eat that so you can be strong" she explained gently, not wanting to upset the toddler. She took the toast from Brittany and swirled it towards her mouth whilst making airplane noises, something she knew the girl loved. Brittany giggled at the action and opened her mouth letting Santana feed her.
"What are we gonna do today Mommy?" Quinn asked curiously as Shelby wiped her hands and face after she finished her toast.
"We're just going to have a relaxing day baby, you and Britt can play with your toys and play in the yard and watch movies" she said, already knowing the girls were going to be upset that they had no fun plans.
"But that's boring Mama we wanna have fun!" Quinn said followed by Brittany's whiny "yeah Mommy that's borin!". Shelby sighed and ran her hand through her hair, "I'm sorry babies but Mommy has work meetings on her computer today so we have to stay home" she explained, clearing away the breakfast things.
"I'm sure San will play with you both though" she added, thankful that big San was out today, three little girls would have been hard to juggle with her work meetings.
"I'm pretty sure there's a carnival in town Mom, I could take them so you don't have any interruptions" Santana offered kindly, knowing how hard it was for Shelby to get anything done with Quinn and Brittany around.
"I don't know babe, they're a handful" Shelby said skeptically, ignoring the two little girls excited begging. In all honestly she would have loved for Santana to take the girls out for the day but she had never looked after both of them by herself before and Shelby didn't want it to be too much pressure for her. Not to mention that trouble always occurred when Quinn and Brittany were together.
Santana smiled, "Mom I can handle it, honestly. I'm good with them". Shelby thought for a moment, it wasn't that she didn't trust her, it was that none of the girls little selves had ever left the house without their Mama. But she had a lot of confidence in Santana, she was mature, responsible and the girls loved her so after a little more begging from them, she agreed.
"Quinnie go brush your teeth and get dressed, I'll fix your hair after I help Bee get ready honey" Shelby said laughing as Quinn nodded and quickly ran towards the nursery. Brittany pouted when she saw Quinn leave the table, she wanted to get ready to go to the carnival too! She wiggled and started to climb down from Santana's lap, huffing when her sister wrapped her arms around her tighter to stop her from leaving.
"Where do you think you're going missy? You still have some toast left" Santana said settling the antsy toddler back on her lap and holding up her toast.
Brittany whined and pushed the toast away, "nooo I not want it!". Shelby sighed but stayed back and continued cleaning the kitchen, she wanted to see how Santana would handle the situation herself and see if she was really ready to take care of them all day.
"Yes you do baby, the carnival isn't going anywhere" Santana said gently, knowing that Brittany was only claiming to not want her breakfast so she could leave the table. She didn't want a grumpy, hungry Brittany on her hands this morning, "eat up princess" she said hoping Brittany would comply. Unfortunately for her Brittany's chin wobbled as little tears rolled down her face and she turned to bury herself in Santana's chest.
"Oh honey it's okay" Santana soothed, patting her pull up padded bottom and kissing blonde hair, "just three more bites and you can be done okay?" she asked.
"The sooner you eat the sooner we can go to the carnival."
She gently patted Brittany's back when she coughed from all the crying and smiled when the girl pulled her head from Santana's chest.
"That's my good girl" she praised as Brittany ate the last bite, albeit with a frown.
After having her face and hands cleaned Shelby lead Brittany to the nursery to get her pull up changed and dressed. Santana walked down the hallway towards hers and Britt's bedroom to get herself ready for the day ahead, as she passed the bathroom she heard Quinn calling out, "Mommy I need help!" not knowing that Shelby was busy with Brittany and hadn't heard her.
Santana knocked on the bathroom door, "hey Quinnie, it's Sanna. What do you need help with?" she asked gently opening the door and stifling a laugh when she saw Quinn standing with her pants and underwear around her ankles. Quinn turned around and lowered her head shyly, "I-I went poop in the potty but I need help and..um, Mama usually help me" she whispered, wringing her hands not wanting her cool older sister to make fun of her or think she was a baby.
Santana smiled reassuringly and grabbed the wipes from the cabinet below the sink where Shelby kept the diapers and pull ups, "it's okay mi amor, I'll get you cleaned up".
Santana would rather be doing literally anything else but she cleaned Quinn up and reassured her that even big girls needed help sometimes. Santana knew she would be changing Britt's dirty pull ups all day so she may as well get used to it she thought.
"Thanks Tana" Quinn said gratefully, wrapping her arms around Santana's waist and resting her head on her stomach, hugging her tight.
"No problem stinky butt" she teased with a wink, as she flushed the toilet and washed her hands whilst Quinn clumsily pulled up her panties and shorts. Santana lead her out of the bathroom and sent her back to Shelby and Brittany in the nursery to get her hair fixed before going into her and Brittany's shared room to get ready herself.
"We're so excited Sanna!" Quinn squealed when she saw her coming down the stairs a little while later. She was sitting on the floor in the living room putting her shoes on with Brittany sitting next to her engrossed in the TV whilst Shelby put her socks and sneakers on for her.
"Me too babygirl! We're gonna have so much fun" Santana replied before going into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water, "are you girlies ready to go?" she asked as she came back into the room and saw both of them standing impatiently by the front door and chatting to each other excitedly.
"Yep, they're all ready" Shelby answered handing Santana the diaper bag and explaining everything that was in there.
"So there's a bottle of milk for Britt and a sippy of apple juice for Q, their blankies and Quinn's stuffed lamb, a few snacks, wipes, pull ups and a change of clothes each. Britt might get a little grumpy at around 1pm because that's her nap time-" Santana laughed and gently cut her off, "Mom stop worrying so much. I got it I promise" she swore with a reassuringly hug.
Shelby laughed and blushed lightly, "sorry honey, I know you're more than capable. I just haven't let them go out with anyone except me" she explained nervously. This just made Santana laugh even more, "Mom it's not like I'm a stranger. I'm their sister, I spend everyday with them and know them like the back of my hand" she argued, slightly put out that Shelby didn't trust her. "Plus, you deserve a break Mami, you do so much for us" she added as Shelby kissed her forehead.
"Thank you babe" she said sincerely, she definitely needed some time to herself to get her work done...and a nap wouldn't go a miss if she had time.
"Quinnie did you go potty?" Santana asked, not wanting to have to stop within 10 minutes for the girl to pee, Quinn nodded "yep!"
"How about you Bee? Is your pull up dry before we leave?" Brittany nodded her head up and down quickly, "uh huh! All dry Tana" she agreed patting her butt cutely.
"Good girls" San praised watching as Shelby held out some money to her, "here babe, that should cover lunch and the tickets" she said trying to put the money into the diaper bag on San's shoulder. Santana stepped back so Shelby couldn't reach and shook her head, "no Mom, I got it. This is my treat" she said with a shy smile, being sweet still felt so weird to her but she was gradually getting used to it. Shelby rolled her eyes but put the money back in her purse, she knew there was no way she would win against someone as stubborn as Santana.
"Stay in here with Mommy for just a few more minutes" Santana told Quinn and Brittany who looked like they were about to burst from excitement, their heads dropped and they both pouted up at her with wide eyes.
"Oh put the pouts away sillies, I just need to move your car seats from Mama's car to mine" she explained before slipping her shoes on and going out to the drive. Shelby came out with the girls a few minutes later, getting Brittany strapped into her car seat and settled with her blankie and pacifier, whilst Quinn ran over to Santana and held her arms up so she could be lifted into her car seat too.
"Okay girls, best behaviour yes?" Shelby warned gently, "you do everything Tana tells you to do and stay close to her at all times. I don't want to hear of any tantrums or naughty behaviour when you get back". Both girls nodded and promised their Mama that they would behave and do everything Santana told them to, they didn't want a spanking!
"Bye bye Mommy!" they called out of the car windows, waving and smiling as Santana backed out of the driveway.
"Tana we has music pease?" Brittany asked politely around her paci not even 10 minutes down the road, Santana glanced at her in the rear view mirror and nodded, "sure princess". She used her iPod connected to her car to play the playlist of kid suitable music she had made last time they were in the car.
The car ride was around 40 minutes, 20 of which was spent listening to Quinn and Brittany sing along to the music, making cute babbling noises during the parts where they didn't know the words. Brittany fell asleep in her car seat for the last 20 minutes, tired from all the excitement.
With Quinn still occupied by the music and fiddling with her stuffed lamb, Santana's thoughts wandered as she drove the last few minutes to the carnival. She thought about the future, how far her and Brittany had come over the past few years and how she wasn't scared to fully commit herself to Brittany anymore. She loved the family they had created with Shelby and Quinn, she felt truly happy and at peace. For the first time in forever, she couldn't wait to see what life held for her and she knew that as long as Brittany, Shelby and Quinn were by her side, anything was possible.