It was nearing 8pm by the time Santana and Brittany arrived back in Lima. It would have made sense to drive straight for Mila, but they wanted to keep the suspense up and surprise her with the fact Brittany was here, and moving in for good. They unloaded the car and dropped their bags inside first, the feeling of this being their shared home now, felt overwhelming.
"Welcome home, baby" Santana smiled shyly, and Brittany's eyes lit up at the statement.
"Come here" Brittany said, pulling Santana in to kiss her slowly, cupping her girlfriend's face with her hands before sliding them down her neck as their tongues danced rhythmically together.
Reluctantly pulling away when she realised she really needed to go get her daughter because she was already undoubtedly going to be up past her bedtime with all the excitement when she found out about Brittany, Santana rest her forehead against Brittany's.
"Ugh, I don't want to leave you" she whined.
"You'll only be gone for 30 minutes, if that" Brittany laughed lightly "then you get to come home to me, forever."
Santana sighed lovingly, she loved the way that sounded. Brittany was right, this definitely wasn't their hardest goodbye, so she snuck one last peck from her girlfriend before pulling away to retrieve her car keys.
"I won't be long then" Santana smiled, as she headed out the door.
"Drive safe baby" Brittany reminded her, blowing her a kiss as she walked out the door, before settling back on the couch with a contented sigh in her new home.
Santana had called Dani in the car to let her know that she was on her way to collect Mila, hoping that Dani would have all her stuff packed together so she could get back to Brittany as soon as possible. She really couldn't wait for Mila to find out and to see her reaction, and she she was itching to start their new life together, but she also knew she'd have to be polite and make small talk with Dani considering she'd watched her daughter all weekend.
She knocked on the door and patiently waited; excited to see Mila. Even though it had only been a couple of nights away and she was used to Mila spending the weekend with Puck, she always missed her, and she was apprehensive to see how her weekend with Dani had gone. Of course she had spoken to them both over the phone and it seemed to go without problem, Dani had assured her everything was fine, and Mila sounded happy and like she was having a great time, but Santana knew she wouldn't be completely satisfied until she had her daughter back and could see for herself that everything was good and that she'd made the right decision in letting Mila stay there.
'Hi" Dani smiled, opening the door to let Santana in "how was your trip?"
"Yeah it was really, really nice thank you" Santana smiled politely, following Dani through her apartment "I'm tired now though from all the travelling."
"Yeah I'm not surprised, really takes it out of you doesn't it? Even if it's just a short flight."
Santana nodded enthusiastically, as she glanced around for her daughter's whereabouts.
"Mila is just in the bathroom with Bella" said Dani, clearly she had noticed Santana's unease "she just helped me give her a bath."
Santana watched as Dani walked over towards the hallway.
"Mila, your Mama is here!" Dani called, before turning her attention towards the kitchen "Can I get you a drink or anything?"
"No, I'm fine thank you, I drank a lot on the plane" Santana explained, she really didn't want to stay for longer than necessary, but still she took a seat while she waited for Mila. "So she was well-behaved? No problems?"
"Yep, just like I said on the phone, she was as good as gold. And no nightmares either" Dani smiled.
Santana was relieved. One thing that worried her about being apart from Mila was the bad dreams she was frequently getting, and not being there to comfort her. She had told Dani about them because she knew she needed to make her aware, but she was glad to hear that Mila had slept well and seemed to have had a great weekend.
Sure enough moments later, her daughter bounded out chasing the wet Yorkshire Terrier, looking happy and excitable.
"I can't catch her! She's just going crazy!" Mila said, as she attempted to catch her breath.
"She does that when she's had a bath Moosh. It gets her all excited" Dani laughed, ruffling Mila's hair "And remember! We're not supposed to be running".
Dani averted her eyes to Santana as she said that, hoping that Santana was aware she had been making sure Mila took it easy on her ankle still, and that she was entirely capable of looking after her. Of course Mila was a child with lots of energy, so sometimes this was easier said than done. Following Dani's stare, Mila glanced over and noticed her mom sitting there, she had been too caught up playing with Bella to even realise before.
"Mama!" She shouted, running towards her, once again ignoring all rules to take it steady. Santana was too happy to see her to shout.
"Hi princess" she beamed, taking the girl into a hug "I missed you"
"Missed you too Mama" Mila smiled as she pulled out from the hug and rest her nose against Santana's, who rubbed her nose against her daughter's in return. Eskimo kissing had been their thing since Mila was tiny, and they still had the little ritual even now, with Santana never wanting it to stop.
"I'll go get Mila's things" Dani smiled, observing the moment between them and not wanting to intrude too much.
Santana placed a kiss on Mila's forehead and pulled back to study her with a smile, a smile that was so quickly replaced with a frown when she saw the shine of silver. She tilted Mila's jaw to get a proper look.
Sure enough, her daughter's previously un-pierced ears were now adorned with a single pair of silver studs.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Santana said, as Mila looked on sheepishly. She felt the rage building inside of her. There she was feeling calm and happy in her decision, only to find that Dani had taken her daughter to get her ears pierced behind her back. Who was Dani to make such a decision like that?
She stood up off the sofa just in time for Dani to walk back in.
"Are you serious right now!? You better have a good explanation for this!" Santana shouted, gesturing behind at her daughter as Dani frowned in confusion.
"Santana what's wrong? I…"
"Whats wrong!? What's wrong is that you've gone behind my back and got my daughter's ears pierced, without MY permission. Who do you think you are to make such a decision like this on MY daughter's body!? I seriously can't believe you'd even think this is okay!"
Suddenly Santana's rant was broken by laughter. Dani was laughing right at her, and this only fuelled her rage even further. What's more, is that Mila seemed to be laughing too. She was just about to go all Lima Heights when Dani spoke out.
"Mila, I told you not to do it" Dani continued to laugh as she shook her head.
Santana felt her pulse rising. Was she seriously blaming her 11-year-old for this? Did she really think she was going to believe that a child was capable of getting her ears pierced without consent from an adult? That adult clearly being Dani.
"They're not real Santana" Dani continued, as she walked over to Mila and removed one of the earrings "they're just clip-on, look!"
Sensing that Santana was still doubtful, Dani walked over and placed the earring in Santana's hand, so Santana could observe for herself. Santana toyed with the fake jewellery in her hand feeling semi relieved, and a little stupid for her overreaction.
"You really think I would get your daughter's ears pierced without your permission? I don't have a death wish" Dani laughed, trying to ease the tension. "She did try her luck and ask me if she could have them pierced, but I said that was a decision only you could make, and got her these instead. I guess she knows just how to make you mad, because it was her idea to prank you, I told her not to because I was sure you'd have a heart attack. I was right, you can relax now, they're not real."
Santana looked over at her prankster daughter who was stifling a laugh.
"Sorry Mama, I didn't mean to scare you so much, just thought it was funny."
At that, Santana burst out laughing too, she could never be mad at her daughter for too long.
"Well you really had me going there, I'll give you that" said Santana, accepting Mila's hug "It looks like you've had a great time with Dani though."
"I have! I've had the best time!" Mila said enthusiastically, as she ran over to give Dani a hug.
Santana couldn't help but smile at them, she let them have their moment before glancing at the clock, deciding they should probably make a move.
"Well Moo, we should probably get going now and get you to bed, you have school in the morning."
At that Mile pouted and clung even tighter to Dani.
"I don't want to go" she sighed.
"Would it help if I said I had a big surprise waiting for you back at home?".
"A surprise?" Mila raised her eyebrows, her curiosity piqued.
"Mm-hm" Santana smiled.
"What kind of surprise?"
"Well if I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise would it?" Santana teased.
"Will I get to see you again soon?" Mila asked, turning back to Dani, who in turn glanced at Santana.
"I think that's a great idea, maybe you two could go out for ice cream or something next week" Santana answered for Dani, as she handed Mila her coat "Thank you for taking such good care of her this weekend, Dani."
"It was my absolute pleasure" Dani smiled, Mila beaming at the side of her, both happy in the knowledge they'd be able to continue their relationship.
"Mama?" Mila asked, 5 minutes into their journey home.
"Hmm?" Santana hummed distractedly, as she kept her focus on the road.
"Can I get my ears pierced for real?"
Santana sighed to herself. Her instant thought process was to say no, because she felt it was symbolic of Mila growing up, something she was trying her best to avoid. Then she remembered what Brittany had said about how she needed to embrace Mila growing up, because it was going to happen either way. There were children in Mila's class who'd had their ears pierced way younger, so she'd done well to escape the question as long as she had.
"I'll think about it" Santana replied.
Mila raised her eyebrows in surprise, it was better than the immediate no she had expected. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Santana's nerves and excitement threatening to bubble over, when Mila spoke again.
"Mamaaaaa?"
"Yes Moo?" Santana eyed her daughter suspiciously, bracing herself for whatever she was about to ask.
"Can we get a dog?"
Now there was a question that Santana had definitely expected, off the back of Mila spending her whole weekend with Dani's dog Bella. Mila had always loved animals and begged for a pet, but Santana felt it was too cruel to get one when she was out of the house all day at work. It was hard enough being a single-parent and getting help when she needed someone to watch Mila, let alone having someone to take care of a pet too, but maybe now Brittany was living with them it would be easier. Still, they needed time to settle into their new family dynamic of 3 first, before adding to their family.
"I don't know baby, you know what I've always said about pets. They're a big responsibility, and it wouldn't be fair to have one alone all the time, when we're both out of the house all day at school and work".
"So I guess my surprise isn't a puppy then?" Mila sighed.
"Nope" Santana replied.
She watched in the rear view mirror as Mila pouted and crossed her arms, a twinkle in her eye as she said her next words.
"But it's even better than a puppy, I promise you'll like it so much more".
When they arrived outside their house 10 minutes later, Santana had an idea.
"Stay in the car just for two minutes while I sort something out for your surprise"
Mila nodded curiously and watched as Santana grabbed Mila's bags from the car and ran inside, locking the car behind her.
When she got through the door, Santana's heart melted at the sight of Brittany sat on the couch with her legs tucked up, watching TV. It made her feel so giddy inside to see Brittany there doing the most mundane of things, waiting for her to get home.
"Where is she?" Brittany said excitedly, wringing her hands together as she she stood up from the couch. Clearly they were both just as nervous and excited to surprise Mila with this.
"I told her to wait in the car for a minute, I have an idea. When she comes in, don't say anything". said Santana, as she grabbed a scarf from the coat stand by the door, and headed back out to the car.
She unlocked the doors and wiggled the scarf in front of Mila, gesturing for her to get out of the car.
"Okay, I'm going to need to blindfold you" she said, as Mila frowned in confusion.
"What is going on?" She laughed.
"Well…you're about to find out" Santana smirked, as she tied the scarf securely around Mila's head so she couldn't see. She realised she was being just a little extra about this, but this was a big moment for them.
"Did you do something to the house?" Mila asked curiously, as Santana began to lead her inside..
"Well you could say that. There's definitely something different about it, a new addition that I know you will love".
"Is it a treehouse?"
"Nope"
Santana opened the front door and navigated them through the house to the living room where Brittany was waiting, as Mila continued to ask questions. She was never good at being patient with surprises, and Santana knew she had got that quality from her. When she got to Brittany she gestured for her to take her, and Brittany pulled her down on to her lap.
Mila adjusted to her surroundings and wrinkled her nose in confusion.
"Why am I sitting on your lap Mama?"
"You're not sitting on my lap…" Santana began, raising her eyebrows at her girlfriend.
"You're sitting on mine instead" said Brittany, poking Mila playfully in the ribs.
At the sound of Brittany's voice, Mila instantly gasped and ripped the blindfold off.
"Aunty Brit! What are you doing here!?" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms tightly around the blonde, who in turn peppered her head with kisses.
"See, didn't I tell you it was better than a puppy?" said Santana with a laugh.
Mila nodded emphatically, eyes closed as she enjoyed Brittany's embrace, as the blonde frowned in confusion.
"I'll explain later" Santana laughed.
"How long are you staying for?" Mila asked, pulling out from the embrace.
Brittany simply smiled and booped her nose, because here came the good part.
"Well…how does forever sound?"
"Forever?" Mila questioned, looking between both Brittany and Santana.
"That's right" Santana cut in "Aunty Brit isn't going to be living in New York anymore, she's going to be living right here with us, in our house. So that means no more tears, no more goodbyes, just lots and lots of happy memories."
Mila gasped, hardly able to believe the news.
"Is that okay with you?" Brittany checked.
"It's more than okay!" Mila exclaimed, throwing her arms around Brittany once more "It's the best news ever!"
Santana couldn't resist but pull out her cell phone to take a photograph of the moment. This was it, the start of life together.
It was gone 10pm by the time an excitable Mila was finally settled in bed. Understandably, the news had her emotions running high, and she probably would have stayed up all night if Santana and Brittany had let her. Santana had already tucked her into bed once, only for her to come down moments later and state she "simply couldn't sleep without having Aunty Brit tuck her in too". Now Brittany had finally come back downstairs again to find Santana in the kitchen.
"She's finally asleep".
"Ugh, she's going to be a nightmare to get out of bed for school in the morning" Santana groaned.
"I've no doubt about that; but at least we can do it together. I can do the school run with you, maybe that way she'll be more willing to go" Brittany offered "If I had my car here I'd take her and let you have a last lie in before you go back to work Tuesday. It's going to be weird not driving all month. I guess I didn't really think this whole car thing through."
Santana cupped Brittany's face gently. Just because she could. Just because she was here.
"Tomorrow morning I'll get you added on my car insurance, and we can share mine until you get yours over here. We're going to be doing a lot more sharing now we live together, so from now on, what's mine is yours".
Brittany smiled widely as she placed her hand over Santana's, which was still resting on her cheek.
"We can take her to school together though, she'd like that, and I don't want to waste my morning in bed. I want to be doing things with you, turning my house into our home. We need to go to IKEA and get some more storage for your things, and I wanna change things up a bit, you know? Add some Brittany touches to the place. And then I think we should convert the spare room into our main bedroom, I know you've slept in my room loads of times before, but it doesn't feel right you moving in to a room that I once shared with my ex-girlfriend. A fresh start would be best".
Santana was just so glad she had booked Monday off work to "sort the house and laundry out after her trip". Really, that was just an internal excuse to herself. She hadn't even been gone for that long to warrant a full day doing laundry, but she knew she'd be upset after leaving Brittany and needed that extra day to recover. Now, in the best turn of events, she was using that day off to buy house plants and build flat pack furniture with her girlfriend.
Brittany watched as Santana excitedly talked about their plans for tomorrow, her eyes twinkling in excitement. She could barely stop herself any longer and she leaned forward and cut her off with a kiss.
"You are so adorable. Do you know that?"
Santana simply sighed contentedly.
"Did I ever tell you that I love you?"
"Tell me again" Brittany whispered teasingly.
"I love you" Santana purred.
"I love you."
Santana brought Brittany in for another chaste kiss, before pulling her in for a hug, the two of them swaying in the embrace in their kitchen.
"Baby?" Santana lulled a few moments later.
"Hmm?"
"Do your parents know about you moving back here?" she asked cautiously. The subject of Brittany's parents was still a very sensitive one.
"Nope. But let's not talk about that tonight" Brittany swallowed, pulling away from the Latina and heading to the cupboard to pull out two glasses "This is a night of celebration."
Santana watched as Brittany strolled into the living room to retrieve her bag, returning moments later and digging around in the bag until she found what she was looking for. She pulled a bottle of Veuve Clicquot out and showed it to Santana with a smile.
"Wow, you really were prepared." the Latina laughed.
"Well, we have to toast our first night living together in style." Brittany winked.
Santana watched adoringly as Brittany popped the cork and filled their glasses with the champagne. She took the glass from her girlfriend once it was filled, and the two of them clinked their glasses together with a smile.
"Cheers baby, here's to the first night in our home." said Brittany.
"Here's to first night in our home, and the start of forever." Santana added, as Brittany slipped her arm protectively around her.
The next day was filled with domesticated bliss just as they had hoped. They had breakfast together as a family of three, before dropping a tired but happy Mila off at school. She was still excited over the fact Brittany got to live with them now, and not even the thought of school and less sleep than she usually had, could ruin that.
Then Brittany and Santana had gone to IKEA and bought one too many house plants at Brittany's request, along with other bits of furniture, including a new bed to fully make their bedroom their own. Converting the spare room into the master bedroom was the first thing they had done when they had got in, with Santana making remarks on how she couldn't wait to christen their new bed, causing Brittany to almost abandon building the new chest of drawers she was assembling, in favour of throwing Santana on their new bed there and then.
It was a long and tiring day, with Santana losing her cool over "instructions that made no fucking sense" and Brittany taking over and doing pretty much all of the flat pack building, causing Santana to pout and say she wanted to help too and asking Brittany if she was a poor excuse for a lesbian since she didn't adhere to the stereotype of being good at DIY.
Brittany reminded her she barely followed any lesbian stereotypes, and gestured to her long manicured nails, joking that she'd be filing them down for later. Santana remarked that it wasn't her fault she had gotten them manicured in New York yesterday before they left for the flight as a birthday treat, on thinking that it was her last day with Brittany, and playfully scolded her for not stopping her getting the manicure instead of paying for the privilege. Brittany raised her eyebrows and told Santana that she knows her better to know she'd never ruin a surprise, and that it was okay, they could just resort to other methods tonight.
That type of playful banter had lasted all day, and it was a day filled with constant laughter, but by 2pm they were well and truly exhausted. Santana in particular was feeling the burn, even though Brittany had technically done most of the work, so Brittany encouraged Santana to stay at home and put her feet up while she went out for groceries and to pick Mila up from school. Santana was still feeling very much in a bubble and wanted to come with Brittany, she didn't want to be apart from her for even a minute, especially when she had yearned to do all the "boring" things like grocery shopping with her girlfriend for so long. But in the end, Brittany had convinced Santana to stay and rest, since they had the rest of their lives to do all the mundane tasks together now, and it gave them a chance to miss each other.
With Brittany gone, Santana decided she should actually attempt to get through hers and Mila's laundry from over the weekend, and she smiled at the thought of her doing laundry at home while Brittany picked up Mila from school and shopped for groceries. She was just in the midst of sorting her lights and darks when her phone started ringing, and assuming it was Brittany telling her the store had ran out of something on their grocery list, she answered without even looking at the display.
"Hey baby"
"Hey Santana- it's me."
Blushing at her mistake, Santana stopped what she was doing to listen properly. Of course Santana knew the voice, but she wasn't used to hearing the voice sounding so shaken.
"Hi Q, sorry about that, I was expecting you to be Britt. Is everything okay?"
"Uhm…not really no. You're at home today right? You're not back at work until tomorrow?"
"Mm-hm" Santana nodded, feeling nervous about what Quinn wasn't telling her "Quinn- what is it?"
"I'm near your house. Can I come over?"
Santana's heart broke a little as she noticed Quinn's voice break a little at the end. Never had she heard her best friend sound like this before. Quinn was always so strong.
"Of course Q, I'm unlocking the door for you right now. Just come right in when you're here, okay?"
"Okay, see you in a few minutes."
"Bye babe." Santana said softly, hanging up the phone and abandoning the laundry to unlock the door as promised, and wait for Quinn.
She couldn't help but feel anxious, she knew it had to be something big though, because for the first time in their almost 12 years of friendship, Quinn had sounded vulnerable.
Minutes later, there was a small knock on the door, followed by the handle turning to reveal a pale and fragile looking Quinn. Santana had never seen the blonde looking so small, and she immediately rushed over to her, which caused Quinn to break down into tears.
"Hey, hey, hey" Santana soothed "I'm here Q. Tell me what's going on?"
She walked Quinn over to the couch and continued to hold her, stroking her hair to comfort her, as she waited for her to talk.
"You're okay" Santana hushed "It's gonna be okay."
Only she didn't know if it was going to be okay, because she had no idea what had gotten her in such a state, but she tried to push her own worries aside for the sake of her best friend.
"I'm sorry, I'm such a mess." Quinn began, wiping her eyes with her sleeve as she pulled out of Santana's embrace.
"Hey don't apologise! I'm your best friend. That's what I'm here for. Just talk to me Q, you're scaring me a little now…"
Santana watched as Quinn took a deep breath, bracing herself for whatever Quinn was about to tell her. She didn't think it was going to be about Finn, because she never knew her best friend to get so upset about a guy, even though she was into him considerably more than anyone else she had previously dated. Was one of her family members sick? Was she sick herself?
Then Santana had an all encompassing thought that sent a chill running down her spine and made her feel sick to her stomach. What if Brittany and Mila were hurt, and Quinn had been sent to deliver the news? She felt her pulse quicken and the bile rise to her throat, when Quinn suddenly croaked out two words.
"I'm pregnant."
The relief that flooded through Santana was immense, but she tried not to let it show. Clearly Quinn was still shocked and upset, and she needed her support.
"Okay" Santana nodded assuringly, taking hold of Quinn's hand and squeezing tightly "and…is that such a terrible thing?"
She broached the question sensitively and carefully. She didn't want to invalidate Quinn's feelings, she of all knew people the fear of finding out you were unexpectedly pregnant, but she wanted Quinn to open up on her thoughts about this.
"I don't know" Quinn shrugged, sniffling in the process "I just…I don't know how this happened. We were being careful…"
Santana couldn't help but think of how much this paralleled the first time she had ever met Quinn, in her parents pharmacy almost 12 years ago. The roles were of course reversed, and she was the one stricken with fear, while a smug Quinn had explained that contraception and Plan B was never 100% effective. She had no idea in that moment that the blonde who appeared slightly stuck up, would become one of her lifelong best friends, and a crucial element of her support network. Now it was Santana's turn to do the same for Quinn.
"Well, sometimes things don't always work out the way we plan them." Santana offered gently, stroking Quinn's hand with her thumb, knowing that Quinn would get the double meaning behind her words. She of course knew that Santana herself had been in this same predicament before.
The blonde sucked her breath in, as Santana continued to ask questions.
"And I take it Finn's the father?"
Quinn nodded and bit her lip to prevent further tears from escaping, though it didn't quite work. She wasn't mad at Santana for checking. It wasn't like she had been with Finn for long, and she knew her being in a committed relationship was unusual for herself to grasp, never mind her friends.
"And you're definitely sure?"
"I've taken 5 tests. All positive." Quinn shrugged.
"Does anybody else know except me?"
"Just you so far."
"Okay." Santana nodded to collect her thoughts, now she had asked all the standard questions, she could proceed with the next course of action "Okay, tell me what's upsetting you so much Q. Is it the shock of it all? Is it the fact you're not sure you want this? Whatever it is, your feelings are valid, but I just want to get inside your head so I can try to help you."
"It's…I don't know. It's everything really. The shock, yeah, I'm definitely shocked. But I've never really thought about having kids, you know? I always figured I'd live this fun, single, independent life, and I guess Finn tipped that on it's head a bit but…kids? That's a whole different ball game. Finn and I, we've never even had the chance to discuss any of this. We've only been dating for the shortest time, I don't even know how he's going to react to this. I don't even know if he wants kids either…"
Santana pursed her lips thoughtfully, as she thought about the boy she went to high school with.
"I don't know Finn extremely well. But I know enough of him to know, he's not a jerk. He's a decent guy, and I really think if you opened up to him about this, he'd be really supportive. I know you're scared Q. I know commitment is this big alien thing for you, and the thought of being tied down with a baby is a massive deal. Having a baby is a big deal for anyone, especially when it comes as a shock like this, so it's okay to feel scared like you are now. It's completely normal. But sometimes…these surprises in life that we don't expect, can be the best thing that ever happened to us."
"But I'm not like you Santana. I've watched you raise Mila from birth, and it's like you were made to be a mom. I'm good at a lot of things, but not that. Not things that are that precious. I'd screw it up."
Santana took Quinn firmly by the shoulders, making sure she had her full eye contact.
"What are you talking about? You're a great person. You're kind, hard-working, you've got an amazing job, nice home, stable relationship. You've got more than most people could offer a child. More than I ever had when I had Mila, but she turned out pretty awesome. The point is, babies just need love. Nobody ever knows what they're doing, we just figure it out along the way. Hell I'm 11 years in, and I'm still figuring it out. So don't let doubts like that plague you, because believe me, everyone gets scared."
"You really think I could actually do this?" Quinn asked hesitantly through her tears.
"I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever. I asked you to be a godmother to my own baby, and still now you're one of the only people I fully trust with her, and you know how irrational I can be. Doesn't that say it all?"
Quinn let out a small smile at that. She loved the fact Santana had always trusted her with her most precious thing. She had faith in her, even if she didn't always have faith in herself.
"But Quinn, you have to know," Santana began "you do have options here. Just because I said all those things about you having the perfect set up for a child, doesn't mean you have to go through with it. This is your body, and your choice to make, and you'll have my support in whatever you decide to do."
"I knew I could trust you." Quinn sighed "I know some people would be judging me so hard right now for crying over this. It's not like I'm a scared, vulnerable teenager like you were. I'm 30 years old and considered stable in life. Society deems me the perfect stereotype to be a mom, but that doesn't make it any less scary."
"Fuck society." Santana scoffed "There is no perfect mom, and there's no right or wrong reaction to this. It's a decision that's literally life changing, and it's not like you planned it, of course your emotions are going to be all over the place."
Quinn sat with her thoughts for a few moments, as Santana wrapped her arm around her, stroking her arm soothingly.
"What if I'm not ready?"
"I don't think anyone's ever fully ready, Q." Santana let out a small smile "But trust me on this. If you decide to do this, you have a full support system around you, and I know you'll be amazing. If you decide to take another route, that's absolutely okay too, you just have to do what's best for you babe. But listen, you're still in shock, you need some time to think about things. Do you have any idea how far along you are?"
"The stick said 5-6 weeks. So it's still early."
"Okay that's good. That gives us some time. I think you need to sleep on it, consider your options, maybe give it a couple of days and then maybe you could speak to Finn? Things will become a lot clearer when they've had chance to settle in a bit, and I'm right here ready to support you in whatever you choose to do next."
Quinn nodded her agreement, as Santana opened her arms for Quinn to fall into.
"You're not on your own, okay?" she whispered, pressing a small kiss against Quinn's cheek.
"I know. Thank you San. You're such an amazing person, and a top class friend."
"Well now I know you're emotional, because you're being extra nice." Santana added playfully, trying to lighten the mood.
To Santana's relief, Quinn let out a small laugh also.
When she felt ready, Quinn pulled out from the hug and caught sight of the clock on Santana's living room wall.
"Shit, I didn't realise the time! Is your mom getting Mila from school?"
Santana was about to answer, but as if on cue, Mila burst through the door.
"Mama, we're home!"
Following behind her, was Brittany, carrying the grocery bags.
"Hi Brit! I didn't know you were in town!" Quinn said, standing up from the couch to greet the two of them.
Mila crushed Quinn with a hug as Brittany carried the bags through.
"I'm cooking tonight, Lasagne at Miss Mila's request." said Brittany, shaking the bags lightly "Why don't you stay for dinner and Santana and I will explain everything."
Quinn looked at Santana hesitantly before turning back to Brittany with a nod.
"Okay. Sounds great."
"Perfect! I'll pour us some wine and make a start on the cooking."
"Quinn and I decided to do a detox today. Too much good but bad for you New York food has got us on a bit of a health kick, at least on weekdays. Just juice is fine for us babe." said Santana without missing a beat, walking over to give her girlfriend a chaste kiss.
"Okay. Two juices, coming right up." Brittany wrinkled her nose adorably.
Santana walked back over to Quinn and wrapped an arm around her.
"Don't worry," she whispered "your secret is safe with me."
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