Chapter 27: Let's Cheers To Thisa/n: Hey y'all! got another update for you! It's time for Brittany's birthday. there'll be at least one more summer chapter before they go back to school. life's a bit hectic at the moment so bear with me. song is by Sleeping With Sirens.
As summer kicked into gear, Santana was in full party planner mode. She wanted to rewrite all the bad memories of Brittany's past birthdays and make a perfect one. She knew a lot about her girlfriend, but she still enlisted the help of the Pierce family. It was hard to get Brittnay gone for long, so their meetings were often aided by Mike serving as a distraction at the dance studio. Thanks to the Pierces, Santana had a ton of amazing things planned out. Although she was rewriting the past, she wanted to show Brittany's growth with a plethora of pictures and she did so, hung up outside along a clothesline. The pool was full of a rainbow of rubber ducks in all shapes, sizes and designs. She had the movie screen set up with Brittany's favorite Disney movies. She had all of Brittany's favorite snacks, foods, and drinks. Liters of pink lemonade filled the fridge and cocoa was ready for late in the evening. Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches were piled high in the freezer and they were stocked up on pancake mix. Mrs.Pierce was preparing a huge batch of her famous Mac and Cheese and the rest of the freezer at the Lopez household stocked Dino chicken nuggets. There was also plenty of fresh fruit and veggies upon Ali's insistence. The living room furniture had been rearranged to make a dance floor and Just Dance was ready to go on the game system. Santana had a 500 song playlist ready as well. Inside, unicorns and cats were plastered haphazardly amongst rainbows on the wall. Santana even had little big flags distributed amongst the house. As for Brittany's present, the Pierces informed her that Brittnay desperately wanted a friend for Lord Tubbington in his old age. She was apprehensive: she was worried LT would hurt the other cat. But with a little work, the Pierces were able to introduce him to a friend's younger cats and he was very gentle. They even brought one to their house and he shared everything but his food. Santana had an idea of a cat Brittnay wanted after sharing a cute cat Instagram with her and getting very similar pictures sent to her everyday. The second present she had was a performance and the third was a strap, strings and picks for her guitar. She'd wanted to buy her new one but her parents said Brittany's had special meaning. With all the prepping, she'd barely noticed something going on between Kelsey and Diego. For the past two days, however, Brittany had been banned from the Lopez household to make sure everything was a surprise. The night before the party as Santana was going over the guest list is when she clued in. A door slammed and she recoiled slightly as Kelsey came stomping out of Diego's room, her face red and blotchy.
"Kels is everything okay?" Santana asked, her pen hovering over the girls name on the guest list.
"What?" the girl looked to the Latina "Yeah. Diego just being an ass as usual."
"Well he IS an ass. But not to you. That's not allowed. I'll go all Lima Heights on his ass." Santana grimaced.
"Don't. It's violence that is the problem." Kelsey shook her head.
"Did that hombre puta hit you?" the younger said quickly standing.
"No, of course not. Calm down Santana." Kelsey patted the spot on the couch next to her. "It's just he's always fighting y'know? He punched a guy for looking at him wrong the other day. I had to beg the guy not to press charges. Something's really wrong. I was rearranging some stuff in his room to hang up this huge movie poster I scored when I found holes behind every poster." Kelsey sighed.
"Do you mind if I talk to him?" Santana asked.
"It can't hurt." Kelsey smiled "He really loves you y'know. He fights for you too." Santana was a bit confused but brushed it off as she walked into her cousins room where he was punching his punching bag.
"Diego!" she shouted over the loud whacks against the bag.
"Dios Mio Tana!" he turns panting, pulling off one of the gloves with his teeth. "Don't you knock?"
"No. What the hell is going on with you?" she grabs his hands as soon as they're out of the boxing gloves, gently running her thumb over his cracked knuckles with deep gashes.
"Nothing." he rips his hands from her grip "I'm just stressed about Britt's party. I want it to be perfect."
"If you wanted that you would've been more help." Santana crossed her arms "Spit it out. Don't lie to me."
"There's these guys a few towns over form the college who are starting this "Anti Gay Brigade". They've got other agendas like sending everyone "back to where they came from" but that's the main goal." Diego fell back onto his bed "Rumor has it they've got inside intel on your little club."
"So you're going around punching random white dudes?" Santana asked.
"No. Anyone with their badge wears it with pride. I'm trying to keep you safe!" Diego emphasizes.
"Then tell Ali or the cops you idiot! You can't fight a whole damn army." Santana criticizes.
"That doesn't make me any less angry. You deserve better than this shit. I caught wind that there's money on your head. Sponsored by an anonymous donor. Father Doctor is what they call him. I did some digging and I'm pretty sure it's your papi." Diego spit.
"Fucking hell. Alright. Here's what you're gonna do. Apologize to Kelsey for being an ass. Then you're going to call the cops, and then you're going to tell Ali. You, Mr.Pierce and Ali are all on security detail tomorrow." Santana instructs.
"No way in hell is Mami going to stand guard." he growls.
"She is tough Diego. Don't worry." Santana pats his shoulder as she leaves.
"So?" Kelsey asks.
"It's under control. Go back in there." Santana encourages. Kelsey gets up and Santana can tell by the soft voices that things are calming down. She keeps going over her guest list when both Kelsey and Diego join her, Diego's hands haphazardly bandaged.
"I'm not too good at this bandaging thing." Kelsey admits as one attempts to unravel.
"I've got it." Santana smiles, carefully redoing the bandages. Diego looks down the entire time, oddly quiet.
"Go Go I'm not mad." Santana says softly "I'm grateful that you've always been there for me. But I never like to see it at your expense."
"I know, but I just got a bad feeling Tana. They're gonna show up. What if we can't handle them?" he wonders.
"I'll talk to Sam and Finn as well. And Asher is trained to protect me." Santana reminds looking over to the dog who opens one eye at the sound of his name. She snaps her fingers and he trots over. She pets him gently as he rests his head on her knee.
"Okay...I just can't imagine Brittany being traumatized again." Diego pets Asher as well.
"I know." Santana says. The three of them head their separate ways as the night drags on, Santana buzzing in anticipation. Asher does his best to keep her calm, but she really wants Brittany to like everything. She eventually falls asleep but her alarm is a rude awakening. She drags herself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 7 am. Brittany will be over in two hours and she needs to head to the shelter to pick up the kitten she'd convinced them to hold for her. She puts on Brittany's favorite outfit of hers: skimpy acid washed jean shorts, a plunging v-neck black t shirt accompanied by their matching jackets. She tames her hair before topping it off with a snapback and sunglasses.
"Alright Ash, let's go pick up your new little sister." she says to the dog who tilts his head in confusion. She puts his vest on and hops into the car with Kelsey, who'd agreed to wake up early since Diego had blatantly refused.
"Do we have time for a Starbucks run chica?" Kelsey yawns as Santana buckles her seatbelt. She glances to the clock and nods.
"Yeah, let's go." the Latina says. They both get iced Americanos before making the short trip to the shelter.
"Are you ready for today?" Kelsey asks, sipping her coffee. As she turns into the shelter parking lot.
"Yeah. A bit nervous but I know she'll love it." Santana smiles. She grabs Asher from the backseat and walks into the shelter. The workers all coo over him and she smiles proudly as the lady she spoke to a week ago brings out the fluffy kitten.
"Alright, this little gal is all ready to go. We've given you a little bit of her food but you'll want to get that soon. We socialized her with other cats and dogs and she did really well." the employee says.
"Thanks for this." the latina says, handing over her debit card to pay for the vet treatments the cat had already undergone.
"Anything for Brittany. That girl is an absolute angel." the other employees nod.
"Trust me I know." she picks up the cardboard carrier and walks out. She let's Asher in the backseat before climbing into the front with the meowing carrier. Asher sniffs curiously at the box.
"Gentle boy." Santana reminds "You can meet her when we get home." Kesley drives them home and Santana takes the animals up to her room. Carefully, she opens the carrier. Slowly but surely, the cat greets Asher, who lays patiently waiting. After a while, he falls asleep out of boredom and the cat gets closer, cuddling up next to him before going to sleep as well. Santana snaps a picture and takes advantage of the nap to put the kitten's tiny collar on. She smiles, leaving them upstairs as she hears the doorbell rings. Ashers ears perk up but she relaxes him and answers as the Pierces come in.
"Happy Birthday Britty!" Santana says, kissing her girlfriend happily.
"Get a room." Diego says groggily from the hallway, Kelsey elbowing him.
"Thanks Sanny." the blonde says, rubbing noses with the brunette.
"Good morning Daniel, Whitney, take a seat I'll get you a mug of coffee." Ali says, and the Pierces gratefully take seats at the counter.
"Hi Go Go." Olivia says, skipping happily over to the boy "Who's her?" the girl asks as Diego picks the little girl up.
"This is Kelsey, she's my girlfriend. Kels, this is Livvy" Diego says, Kelsey waving hi.
"I thought I was your only girl friend." the blonde pout.
"You're my friend. She and I are like your sister and Tana." he explains.
"Okay! Can you throw me in the pool today?" Olivia moves on quickly.
"Sure thing, but how about we have some pancakes first?" he asks and Liv nods as he puts her down.
"She really likes you." Kelsey smiles, and Diego nods, listening to Olivia explain how she likes her pancakes.
"So we're starting with pancakes. You're on the right track Lopez." Brittany teases.
"These aren't just any pancakes Britt!" Santana says, bring out one that's rainbow and in the shape of a unicorn "It's pancake art. Like that YouTube video you showed me!"
"Okay, that's pretty cool, right Liv?" Brittany says, trying to play off her excitement.
"Mines in the shape of Asher. Where's my puppy anyway?" Olivia insists.
"Where'd she get the idea Asher is hers?" Santana whispers to Brittany.
"She's going through the "mine" phase...again." the older blonde groans.
"Isn't that a toddler thing?" Santana wonders.
"Yup. That's why I said again. She's 9." Brittany groans.
"Don't let it get to you. Today's your day okay?" Santana squeezes Brittany's hand.
"Yeah. Right." Brittnay smiled as she ate her pancakes. Once they were done with breakfast, Diego and Kesley did dishes while Olivia asked them all sorts of questions. Ali and the Pierces were speaking to the police about the party and Diego's worries, so Santana took Brittany up to her room.
"You think it'll be okay?" Brittany asks, peering down through Santana's blinds.
"Don't worry about it. Now I have a surprise for you." Santana says. She grabs the kitten from it's hiding spot and sets it in front of Brittany "Open!".
"Oh my God Sanny…" Brittnay days as she opens her eyes. "A kitten? They're adorable!"
"She is, just like you." The latina smirks.
"Oh you're a girl huh? Well what should we call you?" Brittany says, gently scratching the fluffy tuxedo kitten.
"Lady something for sure." Santana quips.
"Yeah...Lady Domino." Brittany smiles and Santana nods.
"Ash, what do you think?" Santana ask and he barks softly in agreement.
"How'd you know I wanted another cat?" the blonde asks.
"I have my ways. And this is just the beginning." Santana smiles "We've got a party to get started." She kisses Brittany gently, and they head downstairs where slowly all their friends begin to arrive. A small pile of gifts gathers on the kitchen table as everyone comes in, giving Brittany a hug on their way out to the pool. Brittany gasps at the sheer amount fo rubber ducks and helps Santana scoop some of them out of the water so people can actually swim. She picks a duck in a little tuxedo as her favorite.
"You're ridiculous babe…" Brittany shakes her head.
"Tia said that she didn't want real ducks in the backyard, so I had to make up for it." Santana shrugs, bluetoothing her phone to blast music through the outdoor speakers. Both her and Brittnay change into their suits and join their friends in the pool, Brittany winning an intense game of chicken on Sam's shoulders against Finn and Rachel. Quinn groans when Rachel swims over to her pouting while Brittany happily pulls Santana back into the water from where she and Quinn had sat to cheer on their girlfriends. Santana can tell that Brittany is really enjoying herself, and she mentally pats herself on the back. After a little longer in the pool, everyone takes a break and Santana puts on Beauty and The Beast while her Brittnay look over the timeline she made.
"I can't believe you went through all this trouble." Brittany says, gently rubbing her thumb along a picture of her in a Mini Cheerios uniform from middle school.
"It was no trouble, I wanted you to have a great birthday." Santana shrugs.
"Well, you've been really successful so far." Brittany smiles as they join their friends on the grass to watch the movie. As the movie comes to a close, food finds its way outside. There's at least 200 Dino nuggets and 4 large casserole dishes of Mrs.Pierce's famous Mac and Cheese. The girls can't help but laugh at how much Finn and Sam eat. Apparently they need to bulk up for football. Ali took the time to make Rachel her own vegan safe version of the food which Rachel was obnoxiously thankful for.
"So, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve?" Brittany asked as she ate.
"Well, I've got the living room all set up for dancing, but first, I'm going to perform a song for you." Santana smiles. After everyone had had their fill of food they head inside. Kelsey and Diego pass out cups of cider to everyone so Santana can do a cheers.
"Firstly, I want to thank you all for coming today. I know summer is busy, but you all came here to celebrate my beautiful girlfriend. I want to make a toast to Brittany, the most gorgeous, kind and caring woman I've ever met. When I first came to McKinley this year, I didn't know anyone. You made it a point to talk to me even though I told you not to. Thank you for that. Time after time you save me and I promise to do the same for you. You take care of everyone, and you show love to all, even when they don't deserve it. To Brittany!" Santana says lifting her glass and everyone echoes her. Brittany hugs her tightly, whispering thanks and I love yous. After a few moments, Santana gets ready to perform.
"This is for you B."
This is my lifeI've got the whole world in front of meI'm not letting go till I sayThis is my lifeDon't slip awayDon't slip away
Santana doesn't break eye contact with Brittany as she sings, Diego and Kelsey serving as a band for her.
This is my life
Santana finishes and smiles as Brittany wipes a few happy tears away. She takes advantage of everyone's attention to make an announcement.
"Dance floor in here with Just Dance, and movies outside!" she pulls Brittany into a hug "I love you babe. I've got one more thing for you." Santana leads Brittany upstairs where Lady Domino is asleep on Santana's pillow. Santana pulls a small gift box out of her closet and hands it to Brittany. Brittany opens it to find a beautiful new strap for her guitar. It's in the colors of the bi flag with her name embroidery in bold black. Underneath it are new strings and a huge bag of guitar picks in every color imaginable.
"Thank you Sanny." Brittay smiles, gently closing the box when they hear shouting.
"EVERYONE INSIDE NOW." Brittany's dad shouts.
"Crap. Britt, stay here." Santana runs downstairs, ushering people up towards her bedroom and guest room. Oliva clings to her leg as Kesley locks the doors.
"Is that everyone?" Santana asks and Kesley shakes her head.
"Finn and Sam refused to come inside. Diego and Ali are out there too." she shudders.
"I'll go make sure everyone else is still here…" Santana hoists Olivia to her hip and finds that everyone is in her room. Brittany looks up to her as she distracts everyone with the new kitten. Santana places Emmy's picture face down, setting Olivia next to Brittany.
"We should be out there helping Finn and Sam." Mike and Blaine sigh looking out th3 window.
"No. No one else is going out there." Satana says.
"She's right." Tina and Kurt echo, helping Artie back into his wheelchair after he'd been hoisted upstairs.
"Sorry Artie." Santana says.
"Unprecedented circumstances" the boy shrugs. Rachel's and Quinn are cuddled on her bean bag chair and Mercedes sits with her head in her hands.
"Sam's going to be okay Cedes." Santana promises.
"He better be…" Mercedes shakes her head. Santana goes to the window and looks out. Asher is barking angrily at the group of ten men. It seems to keep them at bay for now. She hears Sirens approaching and thanks her lucky stars as the police cars roll in. That's when an SUV pulls up behind the group of ten and 5 more men exit, one standing out.
"Papi…" Santana sinks down against the wall. She hears shouting and the boys still looking out the window groan angrily. The sharp pops of a gunshot go off and Santana hides her head between her knees. She feels like she's there forever. When she opens her eyes again, Asher is licking her face and Brittany is gently scratching her back.
"What happened?" Santana asks, noticing the empty room.
"You start screaming bloody murder and then Ali came back inside with Ash. Everyone went to the guest room." Brittany explains.
"Is everyone okay?" Santana asks.
"Yeah. Diego has a black eye and Finn and Sam are a bit scratched up. My dad and your Tia are fine." Brittany says "The gunshots were the police. The guys with your dad had knives and went after the cops."
"That man is not my father." Santana shakes her head.
"Sanny...he had a gun. He shot at your window and the cops shot him. "Why didn't your window break?"
"Ali replaced it with bulletproof glass and made it so it can't open so I wouldn't jump out of it." Santana sighs "He's dead?"
"No. He's going to jail." Brittany says.
"I hope he rots." Santana says "I'm sorry about your birthday. We were gonna go back down stairs and have cake and open your gifts."
"We still can." Brittnay kisses Santana's forehead "This is still a perfect day."
"You sure?" Santana asks.
"Yeah, let's go." Brittany helps her up and everyone nervously smiles at Santana as they head downstairs. The last to go is Quinn.
"I reacted badly too. Just differently. I understand what happened." the shorter blonde says before heading down the stairs. Brittnay and Santana follow, Asher on their heels. Santana hugs all the guys, thanking them. Kelsey smiles at her gently, holding an ice pack to Diego's eye.
"I'm sorry about what happened y'all." Santana begins "And I just want to explain really quickly. Yes, that was my father. Hopefully none of those guys will be bothering any of us again. Yes. I do have PTSD over gunshots." Santana looks at them all "Look. This is still Brittany's special day, but I understand some of y'all may just want to go home. But I'll bring the movie inside, make some popcorn and hot chocolate and whoever wants to stay can." Santana finishes Brittany squeezing her hand.
"I'd stay but I'm a bit sore." Finn said "Happy Birthday Britt."
"Same here." Sam said, rubbing at a nasty scrape on his arm "My parents are gonna flip."
"Maybe y'all should have a girls night?" Artie proposed.
"What do you think Britt-Britt?" Santana asked.
"Only if y'all want that." the blonde said.
"Actually, maybe just you four?" Mercedes said pointing to them and Rachel and Quinn "I promised my parents I'd come home tonight."
"Yeah and Mike and I have plans early tomorrow." Tina grabbed her boyfriend's hand.
"That's fine with me" Quinn said "My parents are away on vacation without me anyway."
"I'll have to ask my fathers but that sounds splendid." Rachel smiled.
"So what, we don't get to be a part of your big gay party?" Kurt crosses his arms, but Blaine leans and whispers something in his ear "On second thought, we'll be off as well."
"Alright, well maybe y'all could stick around for a slice of cake first and some presents?" Mrs.Pierce asks, pulling out the cake. Everyone agrees and they sing Brittany Happy Birthday. Artie and Finn had both opted to get her gift cards, Sam got her a hat that she'd seen him wear and begged to borrow, Kurt and Blaine together had planned her and Santana a spa day a few towns over, Rachel gave her a guitar songbook, Tina gave her a really nice long sleeve Sleeping With Sirens shirt, Mike gave her a new pair of dance shoes, Mercedes got her a few cat t-shirts and Quinn gave her a ukulele.
"You remembered I wanted one Q?" Brittany asks.
"You've wanted one for as long as I've known you. I thought it'd be a nice addition to your musical repertoire." Quinn shrugs.
"Thanks everyone." Brittany says "For this party, for the gifts. For being my friends."
"It's impossible not to like you blondie." Mercedes smiled.
"Yeah, and I might've been an ass once upon a time, but you're a great friend." Artie mentioned.
"Yeah, and you help me dance." Finn smiled dorkily "So thanks Britt."
"Well, you all have to be going now?" Santana asked.
"Yeah. See y'all soon." Sam smiled, leading the way out. Soon it was just the four of them left, Kelsey and Diego retired to his room, Ali in her office, and the Pierces off home with a pouting Liv.
"So what's the movie we were wanting to watch?" Quinn asks as she helps make popcorn with Santana while their girlfriends set up a fort.
"Well I had all of Britt's favorites ready, but she might pick something else." Santana said, shaking cinnamon onto dollops of whipped cream topping mugs of hot cocoa.
"I've never seen her NOT pick a Disney movie." Quinn smiled "That's okay though. Rachel likes those too. Don't tell her I told you that though. She likes to pretend the music isn't "sophisticated" enough for her taste."
"No problem Q." Santana leans against the counter watching their girlfriends struggle to put the roof up on their fort. "So the gunshots bothered you too…"
"Yeah, my dad's a hunter." Quinn shrugged "After he'd yell at me he'd go out to the backyard for target practice. How about you?"
"On one of our trips to Mexico we were staying with some family and there was a big shooting on their street. My abuelo got shot." Santana stirred her cocoa.
"Damn San, I'm sorry." Quinn smiled softly.
"Yeah, well, it is what it is. I used to visit his grave with my Abuela but it's in Columbus. I visited it momentarily when I went to see Emmy." the Latina shrugs "He was a good man."
"Sanny, Quinn we're ready!" Brittany shouted.
"Let's go out there then?" Quinn raised an eyebrow and Santana nodded. They all cuddled up in the fort and to no one's surprise, Brittany picked the Lion King, singing along to every song. It turned out to be a pretty great birthday after all.