3pm
Santana shook a handful of tropical Skittles in her mouth while checking the emails on her phone. She heard the bell ring, indicating school was out, and slipped her phone back in her pocket while she scanned the playground for her five-year-old son, Tyson. She felt her cell phone vibrate with messages but ignored it when she saw her little ball of red running full speed towards her, pulling another little boy behind him.
"Mami!" Tyson yelled, his red and white Nike blazers smacking the pavement loudly. He was wearing a pair of light color motorcycle jeans, with a red and white checked Ralph Lauren polo, a white long-sleeve thermal underneath, a black Northface jacket over. He had on a black Northface winter hat, loosely on his head, his curly hair peeking out the bottom.
"Hey big guy." Santana smiled, kneeling to hug him, kissing him on the cheek.
"Can my friend come over and play?" Tyson asked quickly, pointing to the small blonde boy standing to the side, a massive smile on his face as his mother walked over and greeted him by picking him up and spinning around with him, causing Santana to smile.
"Today?" Santana asked, rubbing his back as he was leaning into her.
"Today." He nodded firmly.
"What's his name?" Santana asked.
"Cayden." Tyson stated, playing with the strings on Santana's Nike Dri fit hoodie.
Santana started to speak but noticed the blonde woman walking towards her and stood up quickly. "Hi, I'm Cayden's mom, Brittany, you must be Tyson's mom." She stated warmly.
"Yes, I am, Santana, nice to meet you." Santana smiled, shaking her hand.
Santana took note of how breathtaking and effortlessly beautiful she was. She was wearing a pair of dark color jeans, tan Uggs with the double bows on the back, and an oversized yellow sweater underneath a cream leather bomber jacket. Her hair was in loose curls, flowing down her back, with a pair of aviator sunglasses covering her eyes; she slipped them off, sliding them in her hair, her bright blue eyes now on full display.
"Whoa, your eyes." Santana smiled. "Beautiful."
"Thank you." Brittany blushed as Cayden and Tyson began to run around and play. "Cayden talks about Tyson all the time, literally all the time, apparently they swap lunches sometimes."
Santana nodded. "Yes, I've heard the lunch swapping stories, Cayden doesn't like mustard, so on Tuesday's I can't put mustard on T's sandwich." She laughed. "Cayden is welcome to come over this evening, unless you have plans, you are welcome to come too. I know our boys are friends, but we don't really know each other, so I understand if you aren't comfortable with just him coming alone."
Brittany thought for a moment. "Sure, I would love to come, should I bring anything?"
Santana shook her head. "I'm going grocery shopping now anyways, any allergies, or foods you just absolutely hate?" She asked with a smile.
"No, no allergies, Cay doesn't like green beans," Brittany laughed. "Other than that, we are pretty easy going."
"Sweet, what's your phone number, I'll drop you a pin to my address, we actually live like 5 minutes away." Santana told her. "Do you live close?"
Brittany nodded, "yeah, around the corner actually, so super close."
"Cool, well it's a little after 3pm now, how does 5 sound? The kids can play and if you don't mind, we can chat while I cook dinner, well at least prep it, I won't make anything super outlandish." She smiled.
"Sounds great." Brittany nodded with a smile. "Thanks for the invite." She blushed. "Come on Cay, let's go, honey." Brittany called after her son, "let's go finish your coloring sheet than we are gong to hang out with Tyson and his mom."
"Bye Tyson." Cayden called behind him as he began to walk home with Brittany.
"Let's head to the store, T." Santana smiled, reaching her hand out to him.
Santana lifted Tyson in the cart and handed him his Buzz Lightyear out of her purse to hold. "How was school? What did you learn today?" She asked, walking to the frozen section and grabbing a few boxes of Popsicles; Tyson smiling happily at each box as Santana handed them to them.
"Whoa, Buzz!" Tyson exclaimed happily as Santana finally handed him a box of Toy Story-themed popsicles. "We work on our colors, and numbers. Then we used playdough to make shapes. I had rectangle today."
"Busy day." Santana smiled. "I want you to point out some rectangles throughout the store, okay?"
"Okay." Tyson nodded as Santana got the idea for a mashed potato bar.
"Want potatoes today, T?" Santana asked.
"Okay." Tyson shrugged, staring at the box of Popsicles.
Santana glanced at him and ran her fingers through his curly hair before leaning down and kissing him on the top of the head. "Sit down, honey." She finally told him. "Did you take a nap today?"
"Yeah." He nodded quickly as Santana handed him three gummy worms from the bag in her purse. "Here, baby."
"Whoa...thanks." He grinned, flashing his dimples at her.
Santana laughed at his excitement. "You're welcome." She replied as her cell phone rang.
Hello
Hey babe, what's up?
Hey Q, I'm at the store with Tyson
Cool, I was going to stop by with my boys tonight; bring some pizzas and wine, so we can have some girl talk? Grant is out of town, and I'm kind of going crazy.
I wish I could, but Tyson has a friend over from school, and I invited his mom over so she feels more comfortable with him coming over.
Cute. Is this his first playdate from school?
Yeah, I can tell he's excited. Let's shoot for tomorrow, we can take the boys out to Chuck E Cheese and let them run wild and talk?
That sounds good, we can grab dinner afterwards.
Okay, give me a call tonight.
Will do.
Santana was moving to toss her phone back in her purse when her phone rang again. She sighed at her sister's name on the caller id but answered, slipping her AirPods in her ear.
Hey
Santanita, mami wants everyone at the house for dinner this weekend, surprise birthday dinner for for papi.
Santana frowned and rolled her eyes papi's birthday isn't until next month.
Si, that's why it's a surprise.
Fine, Gia.
I need to use your camera too.
Why?
I need to get my lens fixed, and I don't think it'll be ready by this weekend.
Okay, I'll give you a call tonight, I'm grocery shopping with Tyson right now.
Tell my fav little buddy I say hey
Okay, bye.
Santana tossed her phone back in her purse. "Aunt Gia said hi." She told her son, who turned to looked up at her right away, having always been smitten with Santana's sister Gia.
"She coming over to play with Cayden too?" He asked quickly.
"Not today, we'll see her this weekend at Mami and Papi Lopez house for dinner." Santana replied, glancing at her watch and picking up the pace in the store.
Brittany walked into her bedroom and laid on her couch, which was off to the side. "What a day." She yawned as she reached over to pick up her laptop off the floor, open up some reports from her patients from the day, and make some additional notes on what she needed to research the next day when she got back to work.
She was focused on a report when her grandmother, who lived with her, knocked on the bedroom door and walked in. "Brittany?"
"Hi Nana, how was your day?" She asked, sitting up and facing her grandmother.
"Good, good, how was work?" She asked, sitting next to her on the couch.
Brittany smiled, "very good, I saw a few new patients today, which is great, I'm going over resumes soon to hire another doctor and nurse."
"Busy busy." Her grandmother smiled. "So proud of you, honey."
"Thanks Nana." Brittany blushed. "Cayden has dinner playdate tonight with a friend from school, and I'm going to tag along tonight, so we won't be home for dinner."
"I'm heading out anyways, meeting my sister and some friends for dinner." Her grandmother, Marilyn Pierce, responded.
"Don't stay out too late." Brittany teased, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.
Marilyn smiled and headed back to her room where Cayden was napping in the middle of her king-size bed; she slipped his shoes off and laid down next to him, cuddling close, loving that she was able to spend so much time with him.
Brittany finished up her notes and decided to take a shower and put on fresh clothes; while she knew it was a playdate for the boys, she found herself wanting to look good for Santana. "What the hell is wrong with, she is super pretty, and seems really relaxed and chill, the conversation just kind of flowed. But she could be married for all I know." She laughed to herself before stripping down and stepping in the shower.
Santana hummed softly to herself as she walked past Tyson's bedroom before stopping and glancing in. "What are you doing?" She asked when she saw him stacking his army figurines up neatly on the floor,
He looked up at his mother before back to his toys, "these men are Cayden and these are my mine, we fighting."
Santana laughed, "okay, but remember to play nicely, okay?"
"Okay."
Santana was heading back downstairs to the kitchen when the doorbell rang; she glanced at her watch and knew it wasn't Britany yet, since they wasn't supposed to come for another 45 minutes or so, she say it was one of her sisters and rolled her eyes, since the two had been at odds recently. "Hey Vallie, what are you doing here?" She asked, stepping to the side, letting her sister in. Even though the two weren't twins and were 18 months apart, they were almost a spitting image of each other, aside from Santana having blonde in her hair and Vallie, aka Valentina, having a darker coppery color.
"Gia said to meet her here." Vallie responded, walking in deeper and sitting on the couch.
"What the fuck, I literally told her that Tyson is having a playdate this afternoon and the kids mom is coming too." Santana rolled her eyes.
Gia walked in the house as the door was closing and raised an eyebrow. "No you didn't, you just said you were shopping with Tyson."
Right on cue Tyson came running down the stairs, "Hey Aunt GiGi, hi Aunt Vallie."
"Hey sweets!" Valentina beamed, reaching in her purse and handing him a bag of Skittles after picking him up and hugging him tightly, kissing all over his face.
"Whoa, thanks!" Tyson smiled, quickly tearing the bag open and pouring a handful, before handing the bag to Santana and hugging Gia tightly.
"Go on upstairs baby, let me talk to your aunts." Santana told him with a smile, wrapping up his skittles and setting them on the table. "So what's up?" She asked while setting down on the couch.
"I'm here to get your camera." Gia shrugged.
Santana sighed, walked over to the tv console under her tv, and grabbed her camera bag and adapter. "Please take care of it." She said softly. "Vallie, you're here because?"
"I came to see what's for dinner, but you seem to be in a mood." Valentina shrugged while laughing when Gia started to laugh. "Gia, I'm following you home for dinner."
Gia laughed, "let's go out to dinner."
"Okay." Valentina replied, before turning and hugging Santana. "Bye babe."
"Bye ladies." Santana replied with a smile as Gia hugged her tightly. "Call me tomorrow."
Santana was changing into a pair of ripped black jeans, with a long sleeve denim shirt, that she had rolled up slightly, a diamond tennis bracelet on her right wrist, paired with a Cartier gold bracelet. Her left wrist had friendship bracelets from two of her nieces, and one from Tyson, with a black stainless steel Apple Watch on. She washed her hair in the shower, and put it in big curls before combing through them to tame them a little, she had a gold necklace around her neck with the letter T in diamonds, and a pair of black fur-lined Crocs on her feet. She raised an eyebrow at herself before leaving her bedroom just as the doorbell rang.
"That's Cayden!" Tyson yelled, jumping out and running past Santana, her grabbing him by the collar to keep him from running down the stairs.
"Careful, remember...no running on the stairs, mijo." Santana reminded him, picking him and kissing him on the temple.
"Lo siento." Tyson blushed, leaning more into her embrace.
"It's okay, baby." She replied, setting him down and opening the door.
Brittany was holding a bag in her right hand while holding Cayden's hand tightly in her left. "Hey, sorry we are a little early." Brittany started with a smile.
"Don't worry about it, come on in." Santana smiled, waving them in. She watched as Brittany told Cayden's red jacket off of his, and held it tightly.
"Sneakers off." Brittany told Cayden, who nodded and quickly plopped on the floor, taking off his sneakers, and putting on the black Nike slides Brittany pulled out of the bag with her.
"Play nicely." Santana yelled up the stairs as the two boys ran to Tyson's room. "So, how about a tour?" Santana suggested.
"Sure, I would love one." Brittany nodded.
"Let me grab your coat." Santana smiled, grabbing both Brittany and Cayden's jackets, hanging them in the hall closet, Brittany quickly took her Uggs off and slipped on a pair of yellow Crocs before following Santana through the house. Santana owned a three-level five-bedroom; she showed pointed out the artwork and decor she bought from various countries she had traveled to while apologizing for the random Lego or action figure that would appear in the most unexpected places.
While they didn't tour the upstairs where the bedrooms where Santana explained the layout and how she turned the master bedroom on the third floor into a den sort of while Tyson was still young, and she slept in the second master that was on the second level on the house, across the hall from his room, with plans to eventually move up to the master when he was older and she felt more comfortable. They toured the basement where Santana had a pool table, foosball table, and a home gym set up, with a Peleton bike and treadmill, with some free weights over to the side. She had a large tv on the wall and speakers mounted all over. The two finally made their way back to the living room, decorated with a navy blue couch and love seat, burgundy accent chairs facing them, a white stone fireplace underneath a 70-inch screen tv.
"Oh crap, I brought wine, I didn't know if you drank white or red, so I brought one of each." Brittany laughed.
"Wine is wine to me." Santana teased. "I typically fancy Merlot or a Cab, but whatever you brought is perfectly fine."
"You're in luck, I'm a red wine girl myself, and I brought a Cab." Brittany nodded as Santana motioned for Brittany to follow her to the kitchen.
Santana was opening the bottle after grabbing glasses when Brittany playfully sniffed the air, "I don't smell dinner."
"Busted." Santana laughed. "I got held up after coming home from grocery shopping, then my sisters dropped in unexpectedly, I was hoping you would be okay if I ordered pizza and wings?"
"Sure, I can cash app you and we can split it." Brittany shrugged.
"Not necessary," Santana shook her head, grabbing her phone off of the counter and ordering two medium pizzas, one with pepperoni and cheese for the boys and a supreme for her and Brittany. "Any toppings you don't like?"
"You're not a pineapple pizza person are you?" Brittany asked, taking a sip of her wine and raising an eyebrow.
Santana smirked, "if I was." She teased, taking a sip as well, locking eyes with Brittany. "No, I ordered us supreme, and pepperoni for the boys, bbq wings and some hot wings."
"Sounds good," Brittany nodded, staring at Santana.
Fifteen minutes later, the two sat in the living room again, having random talk until Santana finally changed the subject. "So tell me about you, what do you do for a living?"
"I'm a pediatrician, I have my own practice with my best friend from medical school, I'm from LA, went to medical school in Pennsylvania. I actually just moved here to Chicago two years ago." Brittany smiled.
"Super cool." Santana smiled. "Married, single, dating?"
"I'm a widow." Brittany replied.
"Oh shit...I'm so sorry." Santana said quickly.
"No, it's okay." Brittany laughed. "I got married at 21 in Vegas to my best friend, she had cancer, and being married was a bucket list item for her, so we got married."
Santana stared at her as tears welled in her eyes. "Whoa, that is so incredibly sweet."
"We had a honeymoon and everything." Brittany winked. "She died a few months later. While it was a kind of prank wedding, I took it seriously." She shrugged. "I haven't remarried yet. Cayden's father was a one night stand, who died the next morning in a car accident, head on collision with a drunk driver."
"Whew...I don't have enough wine for this." Santana mumbled. "So much death follows you, honey, how are you dealing with everything?"
"Well moving to Chicago was part of the reason. I never told Cayden's father's family about him, I wouldn't even know where to start to be honest." Brittany shrugged.
"Why Chicago?"
"My grandmother lives here, so I bought a house and moved her in with me, she was living by herself in an apartment, so I moved her in with us, she loves being around Cayden, and it's a free babysitter." Brittany smiled.
Santana laughed, "which is always a plus."
"I have two brothers, one is a lawyer in Atlanta, and the other a college professor at NYU, the lawyer is thinking of moving to Chicago in a few years, but we'll see." Brittany explained, "enough about me, what about you?"
"Well, I come from a family of 7 kids." Santana laughed. "I'm smack in the middle, I'm a twin, an identical twin, her name is Gia."
"So how are you the middle?" Brittany asked with a smile.
"I was the lazy baby that come out second." Santana laughed loudly, "that's what my Papi always says at least." She shrugged. "I'm an orthodontist, working at our family practice, my twin is a dentist as well, we took over my dad's practice, Golden Point Dentistry. I'm divorced, she didn't want kids...I did, so I divorced her and used a friend's sperm to have my baby boy."
"She?" Brittany raised an eyebrow.
"I'm a lesbian." Santana nodded, "is that a problem?"
"Not at all, I'm bisexual." Brittany replied, staring at Santana again.
Santana opened her mouth to speak as the doorbell rang. "T-that must b-b-be the pizza." Santana stuttered out, jumping to her feet.