Chapter Nine: Six

Married life took off to an exciting start. They went on a month-long honeymoon to the Bahamas, courtesy of Sue, before returning home to Lima just in time for Christmas. In January of 2015, they finally made the move to New York together, renting a loft apartment in Brooklyn. It was small, but it was cosy, and it was theirs.

Santana's father had given them a generous amount of money as a wedding present, an apology for his earlier doubts on their marriage, so they were fairly comfortable. But they didn't want to just rely on that and run short, so they both got jobs before starting school in the fall. Brittany got in touch with her dance friend again and was able to go back to teaching classes, while Santana got a job in a coffee shop.

In the fall they started at Columbia, and Santana had been right, going back to school together again was a lot of fun. Brittany had majored in Dance, deciding that even though she was a mathematical genius, the academic stuff just wasn't for her. Santana, on the other hand, had turned her hand back to the books and majored in Business. Brittany was so proud of her, she always knew deep down that Santana's talks of fame were all for bravado, and that what she really wanted was to be a successful career woman. She was intelligent and academic, and always had been, she had just lost her way for a while.

By the time their sixth wedding anniversary rolled around on 17th November 2020, they had bought their first brownstone in New York, and they were not only wives, soulmates and best friends, they were business partners too. After graduating in June 2018, they had set their plans in motion to open their own performing arts school together, and in August 2019, that dream had become a reality.

Santana predominantly took care of the business side of things, the logistics and the running of the school, while Brittany was more hands on, Santana stepping in on the practical side of things occasionally. Brittany had just got back from a busy day teaching to find Santana cooking their dinner.

"Happy anniversary sweetheart" Brittany leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on her wife's lips as she handed her the large bouquet of lilies and roses.

"Brittany" Santana sighed happily, smiling into the kiss "You already gave me my gift this morning"

"I know" Brittany shrugged, dropping her dance bag "But it's our six-year anniversary, and six years is a long time, so I wanted to get you an extra treat"

"Thank you baby, I love them" said Santana, moving in to give Brittany another peck, before rushing to find a vase to put the flowers in.

When dinner was ready, they sat down just the two of them, the way the liked it best. Santana had cooked and carefully prepared Brittany's favourite meal, Chilli Con Carne. Perfect, for the cold November chill.

"This is delicious baby, thank you" Brittany smiled appreciatively in between mouthfuls.

"Only the best for my wife on our sixth wedding anniversary"

"I can't believe it's been six years" Brittany shook her head

"Me neither" Santana replied wistfully "Happiest six years of my life"

And Brittany smiled, her eyes growing wide, as she nodded her head to silently agree with Santana.

That night as they lay in bed together, content from their evening of home-cooked food, great wine, their favourite rom-com and lots of six-year anniversary sex and cuddles, Brittany turned to her wife.

"San?"

"Yeah Brit?" Santana smiled.

"I…I wanna talk to you about our future"

"Okay…" Santana chuckled, confused as to where Brittany was heading with this.

"It's just…us being together for six years has made me do a lot of thinking. You're right, it's been the happiest six years of our lives, and we've done so much. The past year in particular we've become so settled and stable, what with the business. I just…I don't know, I know we've always said we'd like kids but, I guess I'm wondering…when do you wanna make a start on all that?"

Santana was taken aback a bit, she hadn't seen the question coming. Truthfully, she could take or leave kids, but Brittany had always wanted them, so they had always been part of the plan, no questions.

Santana knew that if she objected to having them, Brittany would be fine with it, but she knew how Brittany had always yearned to be her a mother, so she'd never do that to her. Besides, she wasn't opposed to having kids, she was just indifferent.

"I don't know sweetheart; I've never really thought about it" Santana admitted honestly "when did you want to start?"

"Well…" Brittany paused carefully "We'll be turning 27 next year…there's no rush but, I guess… we've had a great six years, I hoped they'd be a part of the next six…"

And that's when Santana realised that Brittany was dying to start their family, she had just been putting off the conversation in fear it wasn't what Santana wanted. It all made sense now, the way she was every time she saw a baby, not to mention how obsessed she was with Quinn and Puck's son Charlie. She had always been a sucker for kids, but in the past six months she'd become even softer. And with that in mind, Santana aired her thoughts.

"Why not start now?" she smiled, and the flicker of light in her wife's eyes did not go amiss.

"What? Really? You wanna start trying now?" Brittany said hopefully, and Santana laughed and nodded.

"I mean, it's not going to be an overnight process. We need to find a sperm donor and look into how we're going to do this but…why not? We're ready. We're stable, we love each other. We could give our baby a loving home"

And Brittany bit her lip to stifle her tears, because hearing Santana say the words "our baby" had really done something to her.

And as Santana gently lifted Brittany's head to say her next words, Brittany had melted even more.

"I can't wait to start a family with you, Mrs Lopez-Pierce"