A/N: See? I said it wouldn't be another 2 months and technically it's not. I deeply apologize for the wait though. I really do want to finish this fic, but my muse to write has really been shot but you don't care about that you just want more of the story. This is my favorite chapter that I wrote thus far because feels explode! At Angelica - firstly hi! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. To answer your question, Santana does think about the baby, but her main feelings center around Valerie, however, in an upcoming chapter her struggle with the baby will be brought to the light and I'll tackle that more as the story continues. Thank you guys for sticking with me and this story and it only gets more angsty but fluffy in a way as the ride continues, so hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter 9

...

West Side LA – 7:35pm

One Year: One Month: Two Weeks: Twenty-Two Hours

Brittany's Apartment

Santana knocked lightly on Brittany's bathroom door, pressing her head to the cold wood as she sighed deeply. "Brit? Brit come out, it's not that bad." As she spoke, her voice calm and reassuring, a loud explosion of thunder rumbled overhead causing the blonde inside the bathroom to tremble. Her body was pressed against the wall as she sat on the counter nearest the sink, her chin resting on her knees as she held her body close to her. There was no way she was going outside in this, no matter how cute Santana was. The writer jiggled the door handle, "Please, Brit. At least open the door."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"If I move the evil angels will get mad and stomp again."

"I don't think angels are evil, Brit."

"Then why are they stomping so loudly?" Santana opened her mouth to respond but decided against it as she jiggled the door handle once more.

"I'm going to force myself in." She declared.

"Are you Wonder Woman?"

"I, uh, no."

"Then you can't force your way in."

"Brittany."

"No, no, no." She shook her head violently and hid her face with her arms and sighed deeply into them. The two women were supposed to be enjoying their second date together; Brittany had even picked the place. Granted, it was hardly anything Santana would want to do, and she knew it but it was also what made her want to do it. She had planned an outdoor picnic in the park – she would feed the ducks her leftover bread, since she hated the crust, and her and Santana would converse about any and everything and there would be kisses and maybe even a late night stroll through the small trail, but Mother Nature was against the idea and it began to rain once Santana stepped inside Brittany's apartment. Still optimistic, Brittany offered the idea of going to a nearby restaurant instead and they would bring umbrellas and rain boots and would splash around in the puddles afterwards but once the thunder began and the lightning seemed to be increasing in brightness Brittany gave up on that dream and hid away into the bathroom. Times like these was when she wished she was back at home where her mother would hum 'Twinkle Twinkle' to her and tell her a fairytale story that she knew wasn't true but didn't care because it made her feel better, but instead she was in LA hiding away until the thunder ceased which didn't seem like it would anytime soon.

Santana remembered Brittany telling her that she was scared of thunderstorms and thought they were God's way of punishing her for something bad she did in a past life, what could Brittany have done that was so terrible it deserved punishment Santana had no idea. She was sweet and warm and caring and if that deserved punishment then Santana was sure she should be half way to hell right now. Either way she found herself on the outside of Brittany's bathroom door hoping that this "punishment" would end soon.

"There's no way I can convince you to come out?" Santana asked softly.

"No."

Santana slid her body down beside the bathroom door, "You know the food might get cold in that picnic basket you picked." She mentioned, trying to find a way of luring her out of the bathroom, "I'm sure that milk is going to go bad or something in there."

Silence answered her.

"I can protect you from the evil angels." She spoke again, "I'm pretty bad to the bone, you know? I can protect you." She heard a light giggle from inside and smiled to herself, "Ah ha! I heard that. You don't think I can protect you, do you?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you giggled. You don't believe me? I'm hurt, Brit, just hurt. I can totally protect you. I didn't mention I was a superhero? I'm no Wonder Woman, but I'm so much better."

"No, I think you forgot to tell me. Wait, better than Wonder Woman?"

"Oh yeah, she actually tried to fight me once, but I gave her a run for her money. I can't believe I forgot to tell you. Man, how could I forget to tell you that of all things? I have a cape and everything, but…" She pretended to look around the area as if anyone else could hear her and whispered softly, "That's our little secret. Can't have everyone around here knowing I'm some badass superhero, they'd want me to save everyone and anything."

"And you don't want that?"

Santana shook her head, then realizing Brittany couldn't see her responded, "Nope."

"Then what's the point of being a superhero?"

"To save beautiful women from evil angels of course." Brittany smirked with a light blush on her cheeks at Santana's words. She had noticed that as the days went by Santana became more verbal with her affection towards her and it made her feel incredibly honored. She was seeing a different side of the writer every time they sipped coffee together or just stared at one another and she loved it, it was different and refreshing. As Brittany moved slightly to get off of the counter the bathroom light clicked off and she squealed and hid herself further into her arms. Santana got up from the floor and knocked lightly.

"Brit? Brit are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She mumbled, "Fine."

"I think the evil angels knocked out the power." She stated, trying to turn on the hallway light but only getting darkness, "I'm telling you I should just fight them and get this over with."

"I don't want you hurt."

"Hello, badass superhero here." Another giggle from Brittany could be heard and Santana smiled at the harmonic sounds, "You still don't believe in my badass superhero abilities here. You've got me crying."

"I have some tissues in here for you."

"You think you're so funny, don't you?"

"No, I know I am."

"I can prove to you that I'm a badass superhero."

"Yeah? How is that?"

"Just you wait and see."

Santana moved away from the bathroom door and trailed down the hallway, feeling her way around the small apartment. She had been in Brittany's apartment a few times before that she could recall where a few things were and the one thing she needed the most was a flashlight. Trying to think like Brittany she wondered where she would put a flashlight – entering Brittany's bedroom, considering it was the closest thing from the bathroom, she looked through a few drawers but found no flashlight. She entered her bathroom and found a lot of random sexual toys, but no flashlight. She sighed to herself as she left the room and trailed back down the hallway, catching Brittany's voice as she passed by.

"How goes that superhero thing?"

Santana lightly chuckled to herself, "Going great, don't worry." She shook her head as she scanned her eyes in the darkness to get to the den, stubbing her toe on the end table and cursing under her breath as she bit her bottom lip refraining from going off on an inanimate object. Finding her way to the kitchen she went through a few of the drawers, remembering where the knife drawer was and avoiding it before she stuck her hand in, and found a flashlight in the furthest drawer. Quickly turning it on she began to walk back towards the hall closet and filled her arms with blankets upon blankets as well as pillows and dumped them all onto the den's couch.

"Let's get busy." She said to herself as another clank of thunder rumbled through the sky. Santana could feel Brittany trembling inside the small bathroom and it made her stomach tighten, which was odd. Her stomach usually tightened in a different way, but she didn't think much of it. It was probably nothing really. Ignoring her stomach she began to move the furniture around, placing two of Brittany's chairs a distance from one another as she draped unfolded blankets over it and placed pillows in certain ways so that it would look like a pillow fort. She was proud of her work, but knew Brittany wouldn't come out in the dark and so she went back to her search for candles or some form of lightning. Lucky enough she found some candles in the bottom drawer in the kitchen, which Santana was sure Brittany didn't even know was there. She placed them in certain areas of the room so that it gave light but wasn't too close to start a fire or cause any danger. Looking back at her work Santana couldn't help but smile as she went back into the kitchen and went through the picnic basket that was still sitting out on the counter. The food wasn't too cold, just room temperature, but it wasn't as if Santana could fix the issue so she placed everything out on the table deciding to put them on plates instead of eating from their hands as the lights flicked back on.

"Oh." She whispered and sighed, so much for that. Santana was ready to blow out the candles when the light click of a light switch was heard and she looked in that direction to see Brittany leaning against the wall at her with a small smile that seemed to only be heightened in the candlelight.

"What are you doing?" Brittany questioned.

"I, um, well I was going to bring the picnic to you since the rain was against us, but since the power is back…"

"No, no, I like it." Brittany walked into the den and looked at the setup, Santana watched with a small lip bite as Brittany's eyes danced around the room and smiled when she got to Santana who was frozen in the kitchen. Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana's waist, "I love it!" She squealed, kissing the girl on the lips lightly. The first few times their lips had met after the make-out session, Santana had flinched back and mentally slapped herself for doing so. She still wasn't used to the contact at that time but Brittany's lips had slowly become one of Santana's favorite things. Santana turned around so that they were facing one another, her arms wrapped around Brittany's waist perfectly and she smiled at her.

"Badass superhero." Santana muttered.

"Definitely." Brittany whispered with a tiny smile, kissing her lips once more.

...

Brittany lay on her back looking up at the blankets as Santana lay on her stomach; her feet lightly kicking behind her as she checked her emails on her phone before she felt a brush of soft lips collide with her cheek. "Are you done yet?" Brittany asked sleepily.

"Almost." Santana said, replying to her editor quickly then sliding her phone to the side and turning back to meet Brittany in her eyes. "Now, you have my full attention."

"Do I?"

"Yes, you have my entire attention."

Brittany scooted closer to the writer and ran her fingers through thick black hair and smiled down at her. Santana's eyes seemed to glow in the candlelight and it brought a smile onto the blonde's face. With her other hand she traced along Santana's jawline, fascinating herself with remembering every scar, wrinkle, and structure that made up Santana's face. She lightly caressed Santana's cheek, feeling the warmth from the candlelight collide with her skin. It was smooth and felt amazing pressed into her fingers. Santana's eyes watched Brittany's, painting her face in her mind as she too tried to remember every single twist, turn, and outline of Brittany's face. Brittany moved closer and placed a small kiss onto Santana's lips, wanting nothing more than to keep in mind what those lips tasted like. It wasn't the first time they had kissed or the first time Brittany had touched Santana's face, but it was the first time that everything around them felt paused. As if they were in their own world and nothing else mattered.

"You're so beautiful, San." Brittany whispered, Santana smiled and bit her bottom lip ready to return the compliment but Brittany hushed her with her finger, "No." She said, "Don't, you need to know this. You need to know how beautiful you are when you sleep how calm you appear and that when you're having a really good dream your body is still but when you're having a bad dream you twitch. You need to know how amazing your voice sounds when it travels through my ears and how it's the sweetest song I've ever heard. You need to know how soft your lips feel when they're pressed against mine and that no one else kisses like you. You kiss as if you're scared that I won't kiss back. That my lips won't somehow rush onto yours and then when it happens you give it everything; you give me your everything. You need to know that…" Brittany's voice trailed off and she swallowed hard, "You need to know that you are an amazing person with a beautiful badass superhero heart."

Santana giggled lightly but took in everything Brittany said, "Is it my turn to talk now?" She questioned and Brittany smiled at her and nodded, but Santana had no words. Instead she connected her lips to Brittany's and tasted the warm sensation of her lips; she opened her mouth slightly to taste Brittany's tongue and to drown herself into the feeling of her. Santana rolled over on her back as Brittany rolled on top of her, straddling her body as she continued to kiss her effortlessly. Santana sat up, not breaking the kiss as she felt her stomach tighten into that familiar cramping pain and could feel her heart pulsate through her chest and was sure Brittany could hear it too. Her body stiffened then relaxed under the blonde's weight as her chest tightened and she felt as if she couldn't breathe, she couldn't breathe for some ungodly reason. She had kissed Brittany's lips before and had tasted all there was to taste from her lips – how warm and soft they were, how they tasted mostly of something sweet rather than sour or plain, how they glided and pressed themselves perfectly against her own full lips. Their bodies had been close before, from a car to a dance floor, and at all of those moments Santana never felt how she felt now. She never felt so breathless and as Brittany's hands slowly slid down her back she began to realize just why she felt the way she did.

"What's wrong?" Brittany questioned, pulling back from the writer to look at her more clearly.

"Nothing, I…" Quick pause, "Nothing." There was no way she could tell her that her legs were weakening under her weight or that her core had become a puddle and she was sitting in her juices and was worried about getting up. This had never happened to her before, she had never experienced this wetness so suddenly and not with Brittany in this way. She would go home after their date or their time together and would get familiar with 'Maxi' – her vibrator she so comically named – and felt at ease and at peace with her miscommunicated images of Valerie and Brittany, but lately the images of Valerie seemed to disappear and were replaced with more vivid images of Brittany. She could smell her sweet shampoo and feel the arousal of her feels – everything had become so magnified lately and she was trying to figure out why.

"Did you want me to stop?" Brittany knocked her back to reality, her look of concern and worry made Santana sigh sadly.

"Do you want to stop?"

"Only if you want me to." Santana bit her bottom lip and seriously contemplated if she was truly ready for such a big step as this. She sighed to herself as she felt her insides turn and her core drip to be touched.

"I…"

"You don't have to say anything, San, really. I understand."

"Do you?" She questioned, biting her lip once more. Brittany got off of the brunette and waited for her to continue, but she never did. Brittany wasn't patient; in fact she was the most impatient person she knew not counting Rachel, and all she truly wanted to know was what was holding Santana back. Truthfully she did know what was holding her back, but she just wanted to hear it from Santana. She needed to hear it from her. The bartender considered answering the question and asking if it was about Valerie, but decided against it. She merely sighed and slipped her a smile.

"You're cute when you pout."

"You're biased."

"Maybe, but you're still cute."

Santana smiled sheepishly feeling her arousal slip away as she got more comfortable in her spot. Brittany laid back down beside Santana and turned to face her; the two women remained in that position for a while, neither knew how long they had laid there looking at one another before Santana gently grabbed Brittany's hand and intertwined them.

"What are you doing?" Brittany whispered, eying the woman who looked like she was about to perform surgery on her hand.

"Holding your hand." She said, as if it was obvious.

"I can see that, but may I ask why?"

Santana shrugged, rubbing her thumb gently on the back of Brittany's hand. Her skin was soft and smooth and it felt almost like home to the writer. "I haven't held anyone's hand in a while." She finally whispered once her inspection was complete.

"Yeah?" Brittany questioned, though she didn't find it that hard to believe, the girl had just recently stopped flinching every time she went in for a kiss. "Well, what do you make of it now?"

"Your hands are soft."

"I moisturize sometimes." Santana giggled, "Anything else?"

"I want to keep holding your hand. If… If that's alright."

Brittany smiled sweetly in the candlelight, rubbing her thumb over the brunette's, "You can hold my hand for as long as you want, Santana." Santana continued to rub Brittany's hand as well and feeling the warm, soft skin of her made her smile and yearn to kiss it but she just held it. She thought of letting go of it, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She felt as if she could just fall asleep holding her hand.

And she did.

Downtown LA – 4:29pm

One Year: One Month: Three Weeks: Eighteen Hours: Fifty-Four Minutes

Handsome Coffee Roasters

"No, I'm really excited about this one. I really think it's going to go off."

"Yeah, like a bomb."

"Santana, please, we're in public." Quinn stated, taking a sip of her coffee and ushering Mercedes to continue her conversation. Santana rolled her eyes and took a bite of her muffin nonchalantly.

"Anyway, like I was saying. I really think this idea is going to be a better success than speed dating night."

"I think it's a great idea, Mercedes."

"Are you kidding me?" Santana chimed in, much to their dismay, "There is no way in hell someone is actually going to be down with crafts night. Especially at the Starlet Lounge, have you been there? I've been there and can I just say not even worth a plastic bowl, I would, however, go there if I needed to reconnect with the homeless."

"Not to mention the bartender." Mercedes mumbled as she took a causal sip of her coffee.

"Oh bite me, Aretha."

"Oh oh, Aretha, huh? Someone's getting their bite back." Quinn observed.

"I've always had my bite, thank you."

"No, you lost that a long time ago, nice to see it's back."

"I hate you both."

"And we love you more than there are stars." Mercedes stated in a sing-song voice that made Santana roll her eyes.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure you didn't call us down here to discuss your train wreck of an idea." Now it was time for Mercedes to roll her eyes.

"No, Princess Satan, I actually wanted to tell you all something really important."

"Well?" Santana questioned.

"Well, Mike and I have been talking and well, we're going to adopt a child."

Quinn squealed with excitement and Santana let a small smile creep onto her lips.
"I'm so happy for you!" Quinn thrilled.

"What kind of child are you two adopting? Another Jackie Chan or are we looking for a Jennifer Hudson double here?"

"Seriously?" Quinn asked, Santana shrugged, "Obviously Brittany is bringing back the snark in your life."

"What are you even talking about? I keep telling you people it never left."

"Whatever."

"Anyway, hello, back to me." Mercedes stated, trying to gain the attention back to her, "Mike and I aren't looking for a specific race, Santana. It doesn't matter what the child looks like, we just… we just want a child and this is the best option."

Santana sighed, knowing that her friend was going through a rough time whenever it came to children and so she dropped her attitude and lightly rubbed Mercedes's hand.

"Whatever child you get I know they're going to love you both. You two are amazing people and will be amazing parents. I know it."

"I second what Santana said for the first time this afternoon." Santana snarled at the blonde who ignored her, "You and Mike are going to be the best parents. If anyone deserves to have children it's definitely you and him."

"What about you and Sam?" Mercedes questioned.

"What about us?"

"Do you two ever discuss children?"

Quinn leaned back in her seat and shook her head, her hands dancing around the waist of her coffee cup before she took a sip. Santana and Mercedes eyed one another and Mercedes bite her bottom lip.

"Quinn, I, I'm sorry, I forgot about…"

Quinn held up her hand to silence her, "It's fine. Sam and I don't talk about children or anything since then so, it's fine. He doesn't seem to want any more so, neither do I." She took another sip of her coffee solemnly hoping someone would change the subject which Santana did.

"So, um, Brittany and I are doing well." Santana stammered, she really hated talking about her personal life nowadays since the two women seemed to thrive on knowing every juicy detail, not that there was much to really tell.

"I'm happy for you, San. It's about time too." Mercedes responded, Santana sharply turned to eye her which Quinn sighed and forcefully kicked Mercedes in the shin who grabbed her leg in anger.

"We all can't magically hop to the next vagina when it pleases us." Santana stated angrily.

"That's not what she meant, Santana."

"Whatever."

"Look, all I meant was that it's been a little over a year and…"

"And? So what?"

"We were just worried about you, that's all, Santana."

"You two don't need to worry about me because I'm fine."

"We know that. We just…"

"Drop it. Both of you." Santana was angry and she wasn't exactly sure why. It was true, it had been a year since Valerie but didn't they know the girl still haunted her dreams? Didn't they know that the woman still spoke to her and came to her in the oddest of moments? They had no idea the pain and struggle it was just to hold onto Brittany's hand all night long and not fling it when she woke up because it wasn't the hand she was used to. No one understood her struggle or her pain and maybe she was doing better, but she couldn't even tell.

"I have to go." She finally stated, grabbing her coffee container and flinging it in the trash.

"Don't go because of us." Mercedes pleaded.

"It's not because of you two. I'm meeting with Collin." She lied, "I'll call you two later or something. Congrats on the kid, 'Cedes." Santana bit her bottom lip as she walked out of the coffee shop; it took everything in her not to cry.

Central LA – 4:15pm

One Year: Two Months: Three Days: Eighteen Hours: Forty Minutes

Elysian Park

Brittany had the day off from both of her jobs and the last thing she wanted to do was take a jog through the park with Rachel – no offense to the bubbly raven haired female she called best friend, but she was incredibly tired and all she wanted to do was sleep after the week she had. Leave it to Rachel to need to 'burn off steam'. Rachel informed her that she was losing her 'Broadway figure' and needed to gain it back – whatever that meant – but the blonde liked to think that she was just sexually frustrated and needed to do something to fill her time. If Brittany really thought about it she too should be sexually frustrated considering she was slowly getting accustomed to sleeping alone with her hands down her PJ bottoms, but she wasn't as tense as she probably should be. Which was odd.

"Rachel, how much longer are we going to be out here?" Brittany panted, bending over slightly to place her hands on her thighs in exhaustion.

"Oh come on, Brit, just a little bit longer." Rachel answered, jogging in place.

"You're not going to get your 'Broadway figure' back in a day."

"No, but I can sure as hell try." Brittany scoffed and took a seat on a nearby bench, "Come on, get up, get up."

"Rachel, I love you like a sister. You are the wind beneath my wings, but if you don't let me rest for at least five minutes I'm going to cut off your air supply."

"Fine, no need to be so dramatic. I'll just do one quick jog around and then we can leave."

The wind picked up once the Broadway protégé was gone – it cooled down Brittany's hot tempered body as she closed her eyes and relaxed into the bench a bit gaining her breathing. It was a beautiful day, but she could take advantage of such a beautiful day from inside her apartment.

"Brittany?"

Brittany leaned forward a bit and opened her eyes, looking around to figure out who had called her name. Her eyes landed on a familiar tanned female and she gave a tiny smile.

"Tiffany, hey. What are you doing here?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. I figured I take a walk or something; I needed to clear my head. Ted filed for divorce two weeks ago, I shouldn't be surprised really, but I mean still. Kind of hurt."

"Sorry to hear about that."

"Oh please, no you're not." Tiffany lightly pushed the blonde's leg with a light flirtatious giggle, "If I remember correctly you told me that you had no idea why I was with him."

"Which is true, I didn't understand it. You cheated on him a lot."

"Mostly with you."

"Mostly."

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen you around lately. What's been going on with you? You haven't been replying to my texts lately."

"Oh, yeah, I've been… busy."

"Your latest victim, huh? What's her name? Or is it a guy this time? I remember you telling me you swing for both teams."

"Victim?" Brittany furrowed her brows in hurt confusion, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't be so sensitive, Brittany. I'm just saying that I know you. Remember who has been with you the longest."

"A year affair is hardly anything to be all 'deep' about."

"Maybe, maybe not, but still you and I both know that you get bored easily and that you find solace in different people. That is, before you come right back to where it all began."

"I don't want you anymore, Tiffany." Tiffany sat down beside Brittany, much to her dismay, and closed the gap between them. She gently rubbed a finger over Brittany's bare leg in a slow, seductive circle.

"But, don't you want me, Brittany?" Brittany could feel her stomach twist and drop into her shorts. She clenched her jaw hoping the slow arousal that was building up would fade. "Say you want me, Brittany." Tiffany whispered, leaning in closer to fill Brittany's skin with the warm heat from her breath, "You know you want to."

Brittany clenched her jaw hard before moving Tiffany's hand, who gasped at the sudden movement, and stood up from the bench, "I don't and never will ever want you again, Tiffany."

Tiffany scoffed standing up, "Are they worth it, Brittany? Are all those pathetic souls you're having sex with worth it?"

Brittany stepped closer to Tiffany, their faces inches apart, "She is worth more than you will ever be."

The sudden pronoun usage threw the girl off and she stepped back, sucking her teeth with malice. "Whatever, you'll be back." She turned and walked away from her.

"Yeah, don't count on it." Brittany called after her as Rachel rounded the jogging trail, panting. She caught Brittany's sudden facial expression and stopped almost immediately.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing. I just… I just called off things with Tiffany."

"Tiffany? Back-up Tiffany? Why is that?"

She opened her mouth to vocalize it, but even she didn't know why she had broken things off with Tiffany. Or maybe she had realized it, maybe she realized it a long time ago but just couldn't figure out how to word it or even connect the dots.

"Because…I think I'm in love with Santana."