This is my first fic, so please be kind (though constructive criticism is welcome). I know this isn't everybody's thing but if you don't like, don't read. This story contains non-sexual age play, so none of the girls will be having sex. There will probably not be an update schedule but once I finish exams in a couple weeks, the updates should be more frequent. You don't have to but I would appreciate some reviews so I know whether to continue this story or not. Feel free to suggest anything you want to see and I may include it. Lastly, I don't own Glee or any of the characters. Hope you enjoy!
Shelby sighs as she looks around the almost empty apartment. There are so many memories here. This was her first proper home away from her parents. This was where she learned how to be independent, how to cook actual meals, just be an adult in her own right. This was the first place her girls had felt at home, safe, and loved. She smiles when she thinks of the girls in the early days of them living here. The first few weeks after they had approached Shelby at school and tried age play for the first time. They were all so nervous and didn't want to fully let go and be themselves, but Shelby saw right through their nerves and knew she wanted these girls to be her daughters. She hadn't known how they knew she had dabbled in age play therapy before, but when they said they saw her name on the website for her old job, she knew the girls were desperate to try this and simply embrace their younger selves.
The first session they had was when Shelby had to try and figure out how old each girl was. Quinn and Brittany seemed to be close in age and quite a bit older than Santana. Brittany had wanted to read books and watch movies the whole session, Quinn had split her time between playing games with Santana and mothering a stuffed bear, and Santana had spent all her time playing with toys and crashing toy cars together. After observing the first session, Shelby had asked each girl how old they were and they replied that Brittany was ten, Quinn was eight, and Santana was three. After the first few sessions, Shelby had asked the girls if they wanted to live with her as her daughters and they had lived happily as family for a year now.
"Brittany that's my box, you can't put your stuff in there!"
"Well I don't have anymore space, so you'll have to deal!"
The sounds of Quinn and Brittany bickering shake Shelby from her thoughts. She knew moving house would be difficult especially with three kids, but Quinn and Brittany had been arguing constantly, making things a bit more difficult than they needed to be. Shelby hopes that when they move into the new house, the bickering will die down as Quinn and Brittany won't have to share a room anymore. Shaking her head at the continued arguing, Shelby wanders down the hall to the bedroom.
"What's going on in here?" She asks when she walks into the room that is littered with boxes.
"Brittany keeps putting her stuff in my box!" Quinn yells, angrily staring at Brittany.
"I don't have any room left in my box, Mama, I need to use her box," Brittany says pleadingly.
Shelby sighs as she thinks of how to solve this issue. "Quinn, you don't need to yell at your sister, and Brittany, I have room in some of my boxes so you can put your stuff in there. Okay?" Shelby smiles when she sees both girls nod. "We're leaving very early tomorrow morning so you guys need to finish packing tonight, alright."
"Yes, Mama," the girls say at the same time.
Satisfied, Shelby leaves the room to check how Santana is getting along with sorting her toys. When she enters Santana's room, she spots the girl sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by toys and empty boxes. "Santana, I thought you were packing your toys not unpacking them."
"I am, Mama. I jus' hafta play with dem all firs'," she says innocently, looking at her Mama with puppy dog eyes.
Shelby sighs and sinks down onto the floor next to Santana, the girl instantly cuddling into her side. "I know you want to play with them, but we need to have everything packed so you don't leave anything behind. You don't want to leave any toys here do you?"
Santana gasps and looks up at Shelby with wide eyes, "Nuh uh!"
"Okay, so let's put them in these boxes." Shelby stands up and begins putting toys in the empty box in the middle of the room, gesturing for Santana to do the same. Santana begins to gently put toys into the box, kissing each one before laying them down.
-x-x-x-
Shelby watches Santana with a smile as she bathes her. The girl is repeatedly filling up a plastic Elmo cup with water and dumping it on her head, giggling wildly every time. It pleases Shelby to see Santana acting so care free and independent. Though she is three years old, which isn't very old to begin with, Santana has a tendency to regress when her life gets stressful. She goes from speaking in full sentences with some lisping to speaking one or two words at a time, from pull-ups to diapers, and sippy cups to bottles. Seeing Santana acting as her normal three year old self lets Shelby know that the move is not making Santana stressed.
Moving house was something that Shelby had been thinking about for a while but never looked into. The girls and her had been living in the apartment for a year and it was pretty cramped. Brittany and Quinn had to share a room, Santana had a tiny room, and Shelby's room wasn't much bigger; there was also only one bathroom. They needed more space but Shelby didn't know where to start looking, so when she got a call from her parents saying that her grandparents were being moved to a nursing home and leaving behind their five bedroom, three bathroom house far from the city, Shelby knew this was what she was looking for. The house is situated on a large property two hours from the city and six hours from where they live now. Shelby's excitement about finally having enough space for the girls and having enough privacy that the girls don't have to hide themselves is off the charts.
"Mama?" Brittany calls from down the hallway.
"In here, babe." Shelby turns to see Brittany walking into the bathroom with a packet of cookies in her hand.
"Hey Mama, can me and Quinn have some cookies?" Brittany asks sweetly.
"Oh, I want cookies too!" Santana shouts from the bath.
Shelby cocks her head to the side in thought; it's close to Santana's bed time and she doesn't want the little Latina to get a sugar rush but if she says yes to the other girls, she'll have to say yes to Santana. "Alright, you can have one cookie each and only because it's our last night here."
"Yes!" Santana squeals, standing up in the bath to try and get a cookie from her big sister.
Shelby grabs onto the girl's arm and gently leads her to sit back down. "Just be patient, angel, you can have your cookie when you're finished in the bath."
Santana pouts heavily but nods and starts playing with a rubber frog. Brittany says a quiet 'thank you' before heading off to give Quinn her cookie.
"Are you all clean, baby girl?" Shelby asks Santana.
Santana nods vigorously. "Uh huh!" She holds her arms out to her Mama who lifts her from the tub and wraps her in her purple fluffy towel. Shelby dries her and sends Santana off to her room to get her pyjamas. They keep Santana's pull-ups in the bathroom so it is usually easier to get her dressed in there after a bath; it also gives Santana a sense of independence to go and get her own pyjamas. "I gots dem, Mama," Santana announces as she skips back into the bathroom.
"Very good. Which ones did you pick out, darling?" Shelby asks as she grabs a pull-up from the bathroom cabinet under the sink.
"De ones wif da puppies!" Santana holds the pair of pyjamas up to Shelby's face so she can see the pattern of the puppies on the shorts.
"Wow! Good choice. C'mere so we can quickly get you dressed and then you can have your cookie." Shelby holds the pull-up out for Santana to step into and then tugs it up her legs, repeating the process with her pyjama shorts. Once her shirt is on, Santana scrambles out of the bathroom and into the kitchen to get her cookie that Brittany had left on the counter for her.
Brittany and Quinn are sitting on the couch watching Disney's Mulan when Santana and Shelby walk in. Shelby sits next to Brittany and Santana sprawls out on the floor, still eating her cookie.
"Is everyone ready to move house tomorrow?" Shelby asks.
"Yeah, I'm super excited to get my own room and have pink walls!" Quinn calls out.
"Yes, that will be exciting. Your room is going to be pink everywhere isn't it?"
"Yep!"
"How about you Brittany, are you excited?" Shelby turns to look at Brittany.
Brittany looks a bit apprehensive but she smiles and nods. "I wanna see the chickens and ride my bike in the big grass field."
"Chickens?" Santana asks from the floor, eyes wide.
"Yes Santana, there will be some chickens at our new house. We'll have to look after them and collect the eggs that they lay," Shelby explains.
"Woah," the little Latina breathes. "Mama, I'm 'cited ta drive my trucks in da mud!"
Shelby chuckles, of course she is. Living on a farm type property may be an unwise choice when she has a toddler who loves to get dirty. "We'll see about that, angel. Now, it's bed time for any little girls whose name starts with San and ends with Tana."
Santana groans and puts on her best puppy dog eyes, "Please can I stays up a lil bit longer?" She pleads.
"No, sweetie, we're leaving very early tomorrow and I want three well rested little girls. Now go brush your teeth and I'll come put you to bed in a minute."
Santana drags her feet the whole way out of the room and down the hallway. Shelby chuckles at the girl's antics and turns to face Brittany. She was worried about the apprehensive look on Brittany's face but couldn't ask without worrying Santana. The last thing she needs is Santana to be anxious. "Are you nervous about moving, sweetie?" Shelby asks in a whisper.
Brittany pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and nervously chews on it. "A little bit," she admits softly.
"What are you nervous about, baby?"
"Just being in a new place. I like living here, what if I don't like the new house?"
"I'm sure you will like the new house, even if it takes some time to get used to. I'll be there and Quinn and Santana. You can ride your bike, play with the chickens, even swim in the lake," Shelby reassures.
"Yeah Britt, it's gonna be heaps of fun," Quinn adds with an excited grin.
"See, even your sister thinks so. You are my big, brave ten year old and even if you are nervous, I know you'll be okay." Shelby pulls Brittany into a tight hug and squeezes her lovingly. Quinn jumps up and joins the hug, giggling as Shelby tickles her.
"Thanks, Mama and thanks, Quinnie." Brittany sighs and leans back into the couch, enjoying the rest of the movie.
"Mama, I ready!" Santana calls down the hall.
Shelby gives Brittany one final squeeze before making her way down to Santana's room. Santana is sitting cross legged on her bed when Shelby walks in. "Good girl. Did you brush your teeth?"
"Uh huh!" She grins.
"Good girl. Hop under the blankets now, it's time for bed." Shelby lifts the duvet and Santana crawls under, laying her head on the pillow. Shelby gives her a kiss on the forehead and turns on her night light before saying goodnight and leaving the room.
-x-x-x-
The next morning, Quinn wakes up first. The sun is only just coming up, but she knows that they're leaving early. Creeping into her Mama's room, Quinn quietly climbs onto the bed and snuggles in tight with Shelby. Shelby stirs and opens her eyes to see Quinn staring at her with a massive grin on her face. "Time to move house, Mama," she says.
"Yes, today is moving day, but I think it's a little bit too early to move house right now," Shelby whispers, rubbing sleep from her eyes. It's barely five o'clock but she knows that if they want to get on the road by eight, she should probably start getting the girls ready soon. "But, thank you for waking me up, Quinnie, you wanna start getting ready?"
Quinn nods her head excitedly, "Yep!"
"Okay, let's have a special Quinnie and Mama breakfast and then wake up your sisters."
After a breakfast of pancakes and milk, Shelby sends Quinn to wake Brittany and gather their remaining boxes and put them by the door, while she goes to wake Santana up. Santana is sound asleep laying on her stomach clinging to her blanky in one hand and her favorite stuffed toy in the other when Shelby comes in. Instead of waking her up straight away, Shelby decides to open the curtains and start packing the last items of clothing from Santana's closet into a bag. The sunlight and Shelby's general movement gradually wakes Santana up and she sits up in her bed rubbing her eyes with her blanky and cuddling her stuffed zebra 'Mr Stripey'.
"Good morning, angel. Did you have a good sleep?" Shelby asks, perching herself on the edge of Santana's bed. Santana leans into her Mama's chest and nods. Santana is never vocal in the morning; it always takes a good half an hour for the girl to fully wake up and begin her endless stream of chatter for the day. Fluttering her eyes closed again, Santana cuddles into her Mama and sighs sleepily. "Shall we get dressed so we can move house?" Santana nods again.
Shelby grabs some sweat pants and a colorful T-shirt for Santana before helping her stand up and stripping her of her clothes. Noting that Santana's pull-up is wet, Shelby inches it down the Latina's legs and cleans her up with some wipes before helping her into panties, her sweat pants, and her shirt. It's not uncommon for Santana's pull-ups to be wet in the morning as the girl is a very deep sleeper and will not wake up if she needs to go to the toilet. "Are you ready for breakfast, baby girl?"
"Mhm, pancakes," she mutters. Of course Santana's first word of the morning would be 'pancakes'.
After the pancakes were consumed messily by both Brittany and Santana while Quinn read a Geronimo Stilton book, Shelby got the girls to pack up their things. The removalist truck was arriving after they left, so Shelby and the girls only needed to bring their essentials in the car, while all the furniture and boxes would be packed up in the truck. Shelby put the bags holding the contents of each girl's wardrobe in the trunk of her SUV then a box of, in Santana's opinion 'very 'portant toys', before making sandwiches and packing a lunch bag for each girl to eat on the journey.
All the girls are playing in the lounge room with the one toy they are allowed to have in the car for the trip. Brittany has a stuffed unicorn named 'Sparkles', Quinn has a stuffed bear that wears a tutu named 'Penny' that she loves to mother, and Santana has 'Mr Stripey'. They all have backpacks that hold, snacks, their lunch, a water bottle, a juice box, and then individual items for each girl. An ipod touch for Brittany, a few books for Quinn, and some toy cars, a spare pair of panties, and a blanky for Santana.
Once Shelby had finished packing the car, searching the house for any last minute items that wouldn't be taken by the removalists, and making sure each of her daughters had gone to the bathroom, she ushers them out to the car. "Say goodbye to our apartment, girls," Shelby says, waving to her very first apartment.
"Bye bye 'partment," Santana shouts, waving her hand.
"I'm gonna miss this home," Brittany says, Quinn nodding her head in agreement.
"Me too, baby, but we are going to make so many new memories in the new house," Shelby reassures her, giving her a quick one armed hug. "Okay girls, into the car." Brittany gets into the front passenger seat while Quinn sits behind her and Shelby helps strap Santana into her car seat behind the driver's seat. She attaches Santana's seat belt pillow because she knows the girl will fall asleep at some point, it is a six hour drive after all, then jumps into the driver's seat and starts the car. "Okay, is everyone ready?" Her question is met with a chorus of yeses and she turns to check on each girl before they drive away. Brittany has her headphones in and is leaning against the window, Quinn is already reading a book, and Santana is leaning her head on the seat belt pillow and holding her blanky up to her mouth.
"Alright, let's go." Shelby pulls out onto the main road and turns on a Kidzbop CD mainly for Santana to enjoy. "To the new house," she calls as they merge onto the highway.