"Dead?!" Santana said loudly. "Are you sure?"
Brittany held up the phone, showing Santana the newspaper screenshot that Felicity texted her. "Felicity texted me, it's from the news. Brent is a well known businessman so it's not a shock that it's being reported on."
Santana scanned the article before turning on the tv and seeing the breaking news story that Brent was identified as the victim of a fatal armed robbery at an ATM. She glanced at Brittany, who was staring blankly at the tv, before her legs buckled and she sank into the bed. She jumped up quickly to catch Brittany, rubbing her back as Brittany was still in her daze. "Brittany..." She whispered. "Are you, are you okay?"
"I'm free..." she whispered. "I'm finally free."
Raising an eyebrow Santana opened and closed her mouth a frew times, tripping over getting her words out. "Free?"
Brittany jumped up and began to pace the bedroom, "for years I've been living in fear that Brent would find me, see Kenadee and try to take her away from me, but now I'm finally free." She beamed, a huge smile crossing her face.
Santana was unsure of what to say or do, and just nodded slowly. "Okay..."
Brittany ran over and picked Santana up, spinning her around. "I'm free!" She giggledc. "I mean, it's awful he was murdered, no one deserves to have their life cut short by someone else, I wouldn't wish that on anyone...but I'm free."
"I think you're in a bit of shock, honey." Santana told her truthfully. "I get that you have this weight lifted off of your shoulders...but."
Raising an eyebrow Brittany stared at her, "I guess I am being a little silly and selfish."
"No, no...that's not what I mean at all." Santana replied quickly. "I just think you're in a big of shock, that's all. I mean, at one point in your life, this is someone that you loved, he's a part of Kenadee...and he's a part of the woman you are today." She grabbed Brittany's hands, and gently rubbed her knuckles to relax her. "You probably just have a lot of emotions right now, and it's overwhelming, I feel a lot of emotions right now, and I don't know him. There's no wrong way for you to react." She assured her. "Why don't we take a long hot shower together and relax in bed?" She then suggested.
"Okay, I would like that." Brittany nodded with a small smile. "I'm going to check on Kenadee quick."
"I'll get the shower ready."
A few minutes later Brittany came back to the room, noticing the soft lighting Santana now had in the bedroom, she undressed and walked in the bathroom, which now had candles light and soft jazz music playing. Santana heard the footsteps and opened the door, reaching her hand out to Brittany. Once the blonde stepped in, Santana immedaitely wrapped her arms around her neck, hugging her tightly. Brittany hugged her around the waist, the two standing like that under the water for several minutes, connecting in a way they hadn't before.
Santana saw Brittany's walls begin to fall down with each passing moment as the blonde began to clutch to her and hold her tighter, a few minutes later Brittany was shaking with tears as she sobbed into Santana's neck. "I got you." Santana assured her, pressing soft kisses to her shoulder, hoping to relax her even the slightest. 5 minutes later Santana was leading them back to the bedroom, she wrapped a big fuzzy towel around Brittany to help dry her off before the two changed into pajamas. Brittany climbed in bed and snuggled under the sheets right away. Santana walked around to her side of the bed and kissed Brittany softly on the temple. "I'm going to take these wine glasses to the kitchen, babe."
"Okay." Brittany nodded as Santana ran her fingers through her hair gently while smiling at her.
Santana gathered the glasses and poured them out, before chugging a bottle of water, she wiped down the sink before leaving the kitchen. She stopped in Kenadee's room and smiled a the mini blonde before carefully picking her up and caring her to sleep with them. Brittany was now sitting up, watching tv when Santana walked in with her daughter, she initially raised an eyebrow, wondering if Kenadee was sick, but smiled when she realized Santana just brought her to be close to them.
"I thought you might need her close tonight." Santana smiled, laying Kenadee down next to her.
Brittany glanced down at her daughter and rubbed her back, smiling at how she cuddled into Brittany's thigh immediately. "Thank you."
Santana cuddled into Brittany's side, "what are we watching?"
6am
Brittany woke up to Kenadee squirming in her arms while quietly singing a nursery rhyme that Santana taught her earlier that week. "Good morning." She whispered to her daughter, kissing downt he side of her face, causing the little blonde to blush.
"Good morning." Kenadee blushed. "We play now?"
"Hmmm, why don't we make Sanny for breakfast, and then we can play?" Brittany suggested.
"She like pancakes." Kenadee smiled happily.
"Awesome." Brittany laughed, setting Kenadee on the floor and slipping out bed herself before scooping her daughter in her arms. "Let's go brush your teeth and wash your face."
Santana sighed her sleep as she turned over and reached out for Brittany, expecting to wiggle closer to her, but was instead met with an empty bed, she opened her eyes briefly and scanned the space in front of her. She realized Brittany and Kenadee were both out of the room and wiggled to get comfortable, closing her eyes again before forcing them open, wondering if Brittany left. Since she was no longer worried about running into Brent, she might feel more comfortable navigating the city again. A slight panic washed over her forcing her to jump out of bed and run out of the room.
"Brit! Brit! Brittany!" Santana called out frantically as she slid into the kitchen.
Kenadee, who was sitting on the counter holding a banana, looked up quickly. "Hi Sanny!" She smiled brightly while waving.
Brittany turned around quickly, "are you okay?"
"I thought...I, um...yeah I'm fine." Santana stuttered out, before walking over to Kenadee and hugging her, kissing her on the forehead. "Good morning, sweetheart."
"Santana..." Brittany stated, cocking her head to the side, "you look flushed, feeling okay?" She asked, looking her girlfriend up and down before turning to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water out. She walked it over to her and ran the bottle over her forehead slowly.
"I thought maybe you left." Santana stated sheepishly.
Brittany frowned, "why would you think that?"
"It's silly..." Santana shook her head. "I thought that maybe last night gave you an out...or, I don't know."
Brittany's eyes widened, "hey K, do you remember how to open the banana?" She asked her daughter. Kenadee stared at it and nodded quickly, "can you open those three?"
"Okay."
"Don't wiggle too much, be careful up there okay, I need to talk to Sanny over here for a minute." Brittany told her, walking over and sliding Kenadee back further onto the counter, so her whole body was now on there, and her legs no longer dangling off. She grabbed Santana's hand and led her over to the large windows that overlooked the city. "I love you more than anything, more than I ever loved Brent...I love you...and I'm not going anywhere."
"I just thought maybe now that Brent is gone, you would be feel more free or comfortable, like you don't need to be here with me anymore." Santana replied. "I'm panicking and being silly."
"No, you're not." Brittany shook her head. "Hey, I was weird last night too, remember the mechanical laughing, then the sobbing." She laughed softly. "I'm not going anywhere, you are stuck with me and K forever."
"Forever?" Santana blushed.
"Forever." Brittany winked, leaning forward and kissing her softly before standing back up. "Good job, K." She said to her daughter, who finally had peeled one of the bananas and carefully set it down, picking up the next one.
Santana swallowed thickly, "Brittany I love you. You've made me accept myself more, you were my first, in a lot of ways. You're patient, caring, intelligent, and one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen." She bent down on one knee and cleared her throat again, as her hands began to shake. "I can't imagine my life without you or Kenadee, I love that little girl so much, so, so much. I want to spend forever and a day with you. Will you marry me? I know I don't have a ring yet, and this is definitely not how I imagined proposing to you, and probably not how you imagined being proposed to...but everything about us is so unconventional, and..."
Brittany leaned forward and kissed Santana to stop her from rambling. "Yes...yes I want to marry you."
"Yeah?" Santana's eyes widened because she shrieked happily.
"Yes." Brittany laughed.
"Oh my God! I promise to get you a ring today." Santana laughed excitedly before running to the kitchen and rummaging through a drawer, finding two black rubber bands. She tickled Kenadee quickly before running back over and blushing when Brittany proudly held out her hand so Santana could slip the rubber band on her ring finger, Brittany doing the same.
"I love you." Brittany told her once again, pulling her close and hugging her tightly. "K! Sanny and I have something to talk to you about."
4pm
Brittany sat in the living room scrolling pictures on Pinterest when Santana walked in the living room. "Can we talk for a minute?"
"Sure." Brittany nodded. "Thank you again for the ring, you know I didn't need it, the rubber band was perfectly fine with me."
"I know," Santana laughed, "you deserve the amazingly gorgeous diamond rock on your finger." She beamed, glancing down at her own ring. "Today was a lot at the jewelry store, the NDA, and all the hiding. I don't want to do that anymore...I don't want to hide with you. I want to go on dates and out to dinner, and hold your hand in public."
"What are you saying?" Brittany asked.
"I'm ready to come out." Santana told her softly.
One more chapter left
