The honeymoon was amazing, all they could have wished for. The bonus was that they had been sharing so much about their lives with one another and really falling more and more in love every day. They had relaxed at the resort, taken in the sights, and most of all started to feel like a couple on the verge of starting their lives together.
Before they packed and ordered their breakfast, they enjoyed watching the sunrise on the beach on more time before leaving. It had been quite a special honeymoon, and they could think of no better way to spend the final moments of their holiday than watching the sun rise, just as they had watched it set there the night before.
The ladies returned to their room, enjoyed a beautiful breakfast and gathered their bags by the door. They laughed as they remembered the highlights of their trip and the farewell luau they attended the night before, the women pulling them up to dance and Brittany swaying to the music, Santana unable to keep her eyes off of her wife for too long. They ate and drank and danced too much, and then made love that was so intense both of them lay gasping for air and drifting off to sleep afterwards without speaking a single word. They had spoken so much that words had become unnecessary more often now, a simple smile or glance or even a touch conveying so much more.
This was going to be a little bit of a longer trip back. They had a stopover in San Francisco that was almost five hours long. Santana apologized profusely that it was such a long stopover, however, she had used her frequent flyer miles to book their round trip tickets and had little choice in the matter. Brittany could appreciate Santana saving money by using her frequent flyer miles for their honeymoon so how could she complain?
Free round trip flights for two to Maui? Score!
So when they arrived in San Francisco Santana had an idea to waste some time. Catch a cab to somewhere near the airport and catch a movie or something. Their luggage was secure at the airport and they had their purses and that's it. Brittany was up for it. She initially thought they would grab a little airport dinner but dinner and a movie in San Francisco sounded like fun.
Santana checked her phone and found somewhere for them to go. They jumped in a cab and Santana gave the driver an address. About 30 minutes later they pulled up to what looked like a fair near the water. Brittany was confused.
"Ummm Santana, where is the movie theater?"
"Oh I thought we would stop here for dinner first, Britt."
"It's a little early, San, I thought we would go after the movie."
"That's ok. I read about a really great restaurant near here I thought we could try. Didn't expect that there would be a fair going on. Why don't we take a walk through the fair first and then work up an appetite? It's an Italian restaurant, and you know how I loves my breadsticks."
Brittany laughs. "Ok San, sounds like more fun than a movie, we just have to keep track of the time."
Santana grabs a map of the fair and seems to be leading Brittany through rather quickly. Whenever Brittany seems like she wants to stop for a moment and lingers a little Santana just takes her hand and keeps walking. It seems like she's looking for something on the map They're almost up on it before Brittany sees it. Santana had suggested they go sit by the water and relax a moment when Brittany's eyes fell on the most beautiful sight.
Amongst the ships and boats at the dock was a 15 and a half ton inflatable duck. Her name was Mama duck. She s 61 feet high, 69 feet wide and 79 feet long. She weighs 31,000 pounds and even though she's a rubber duck she's not waterproof. Right next to her was a 10 foot tall baby duck named Timmy.
The sign said "World's Largest rubber duck". Brittany squealed. She jumped and squealed and clapped her hands and pulled Santana into a kiss.
Santana freaking loves when she does that!
Santana unzipped her jacket, the jacket that she was sweating in and denying the heat, to reveal a shirt that said. "I'm ducking sorry for being a bad girl." It had a picture of Santana on it making a pouty face with both of her hands gently cupping a rubber duck. She had the shirt made in a screen printing shop when they were shopping on the big island. Brittany squeezed her wife's cheeks and laughed.
And then the pictures started. And the trinket shopping. And anything you can possibly do to admire the awesomeness of some big ol' rubber ducks. Santana purchased Brittany a shirt that said "I Like Big Ducks and I Cannot Lie" .She purchased that shirt in 3 different colors. Then there was the duck hat and the duck shorts with the matching bag.
It was ducking ridiculous, and they loved it.
After about an hour handling duck business and buying her wife a stuffed duck for the road, they headed back through the fair, stopping for a ride on the ferris wheel so they could get some cool shots of the ducks from above. Apparently even though the Italian restaurant was an excuse to go see the ducks, they actually stumbled upon a pretty nice one on the waterfront, and Brittany thought her wife deserved extra breadsticks after pulling off the perfect finale surprise to their honeymoon. Santana explained over dinner how she was researching duck themed stuff to surprise her wife with when planning the wedding and she stumbled upon the rubber duck that was at the fair in San Francisco. So she thought that she would arrange their return flight so they would have enough time to go and see it.
Brittany was in love with the fact that her wife didn't find her love of ducks childish. She loved how she embraced the things that made Brittany happy. After dinner they headed back to the airport and had about an hour before their flight left. They got back to their gate and grabbed some coffee to enjoy as they waited. They just sat mostly quietly with the slightest hints of smiles on their faces, reveling in the joy of their love.
Once they arrived back in New York and settled in, Santana only had a couple of days before she returned to work. They would both be returning to work on the same day, and their life together had officially begun.
Those couple of days after returning they had gotten their wedding photos and videos, and loved the albums they received. They opened their gifts and wrote thank you notes. They had dinner with Quinn, Mike, Joe and Tina at their place.
The three couples chatted about the wedding and just enjoyed one another. This was a new phase of their lives, a grownup phase, a healing phase. Quinn heard the parents discussing taking a cruise together, and it was amazing how everyone was just bonding. Abuela was going to visit Brittany's grandparents in Bethel, at which everyone laughed as Santana declared they better not hook her abuela up with some shady old Julio Iglesias look alike. It was really a dream come true the way everyone enjoyed one another.
During the first months of their marriage they talked about so many things, including when they thought they might want to start a family. They decided they wanted to have one another to themselves for at least the next five years. They didn't know for sure if they wanted to adopt or have the babies themselves, but they had an idea how it would ideally go.
Santana really wants a little Brittany S. Pierce Lopez running around the apartment. Brittany admitted to her wife some of her deepest fears. She didn't want a biological child that thought the way she did, that would have to endure the way people treated her because she thought differently, while Santana thought that they would be lucky if their child was like her. Santana couldn't think of anything that would make this world a better place more than another person with Brittany's spirit.
Still, they were taking the time to love, and grow, and learn together. Their communication has been great ever since they developed their tools, and both Santana and Brittany decided to go to individual therapy, not only to work on anything that may be bothering them from their past, but to make sure that they can be the best and healthiest parents for their children when that time comes. They were planning for the future, and one of those plans was how to continue working when they had children. Brittany wanted to dance a few more years, and Santana still wanted to be the youngest and first female chief of Cardiology at St. Raphael's. They had dreams they wanted to achieve, and did not want to cheat their family out of their presence.
Brittany and Santana had been married for 8 months when they got the news that Quinn and Joe would be moving in together. This was a big deal for Quinn, who had become a good friend to Brittany over the past few months as well. Santana was ecstatic.
As Santana and Brittany's one year anniversary approached they wanted to make sure they had some time to get away. Work had kept both of them quite busy in their first year of marriage and they were going to make time to spend their anniversary in the Poconos house. Santana wanted to talk to Brittany about maybe starting to hunt for a bigger place so that they would not be waiting until the last minute when they got married. Still, she was attached to her apartment, and she didn't want to get rid of it. She wanted to invest in a new place but keep the other as an investment. She had to discuss it with her wife, as she made sure to discuss finances openly with her.
When the day came for them to drive to the Poconos in anticipation of their first anniversary, the ladies left for the mountains early in the morning, wanting to make the most of their rare 3 day weekend together. The ride to the Poconos was a short two hours, and the biggest hassle was making it through the Lincoln tunnel into New Jersey. Once they accomplished that it was an easy ride. It was a warm May morning and so Santana had the top down on the car enjoying a game of sing along to the radio with her wife. Once they reached town they purchased a few things and headed towards the house. The view always took Brittany's breath away. She loved it in the mountains, so peaceful, and that's exactly what they both needed.
They wanted a restful night, so that they could spend their anniversary the next day just relishing in their growth together as a couple. That morning Brittany got up early and surprised Santana with an awesome breakfast with a lot of coffee just as she likes it. She often liked to get up early and make breakfast for Santana as a show of affection, and Santana always said food tasted better when Brittany prepared it for her. Brittany had somehow gotten flowers there for Santana, and since the first year anniversary is the paper anniversary the ladies had written love letters to one another as well as created photo albums of their favorite pictures of their first year together. Once they exchanged their gifts, which aside from the letters and photos the had agreed upon included a watch to Santana from Brittany and a charm bracelet from Santana for her wife, they decided to go for a walk before preparing to have a simple dinner delivered. They just embraced the peace that time had brought them. Over the past year they had come face to face with the worst traumas from their pasts, recognizing that their love for one another was a healing presence in their lives. They had learned to trust, to let their guards down. If anything, they were celebrating that most of all.
That evening, as Brittany playfully gave Santana her final gift and wore a nurse's outfit for her, as brief as it was, they lay together after making love. They did what they often did these days, they talked. Brittany rolled over on her side, hair wet with sweat, and began to speak.
"You know honey, one of my favorite memories of us will always be that day you and I just stared at each other behind that curtain. My family was there just a few feet away but all I saw was you. I just kept thinking that I think I feel something for this woman, but that can't be, because I just met her. Sure, you were beautiful, but there are a lot of beautiful women in the world. I needed to know what it all meant, I needed to know what you were thinking when you looked at me that way. I never asked you before. What were you thinking in that moment?"
Santana looked at her wife and smiled. She didn't hesitate to answer.
"That you could have my heart, if it wasn't already broken."