Neither Santana nor Brittany expect it, but Brittany gets a call from Chief Sylvester asking her to take over as interim chief of surgery. Santana doesn't know the details, but apparently she's having some sort of family crisis that is going to send her out of town indefinitely. She thinks it surprises Brittany more than anyone, given the fact that Shelby, Holly, and most of the other department heads have been there much longer than she is, but according to Sue, Brittany is the one that she wants and Santana is immensely proud of her wife.

Of course, she doesn't realize at first what a strain this is going to put on their already tight schedule. Gone are the days where Brittany and Santana go to work and leave together. Brittany ends up taking a cab to work sometimes as early as six in the morning and doesn't end up getting home some nights until after eleven. The kids miss Brittany, Brittany misses the kids, and Santana finds herself getting extremely frustrated at the entire situation. She knows she shouldn't, but she just can't help but feel irritated that she hardly gets to see her wife, all because Sue is having some kind of emergency.

She's in bed half asleep one night after having gotten up to put Liam back to bed when Brittany finally comes in from work. Santana keeps her eyes half-closed as Brittany undoes her blouse, pulls off her skirt and puts a t-shirt on over her panties. She goes in the bathroom for awhile and Santana is almost asleep again when Brittany crawls into bed and kisses her on the lips. Santana doesn't really feel like having a conversation since she's exhausted and will probably have to wake up in an hour to nurse, but Brittany is there being so sweet that she can't help herself.

"You're finally home." She murmurs, rolling over onto her side.

"I'm sorry I'm so late. Things were really hectic and I just couldn't get out."

"Did you have dinner? I saved you a plate."

"I grabbed a croissant from the cafeteria and ate it in my office. If I were to eat dinner this late, I'd never fall asleep."

"Okay."

"Are you mad?"

"I'm not mad."

Santana rolls over and falls back to sleep, trying to keep it to herself that she's really annoyed by this whole situation. When Oliver wakes up to nurse, Santana looks over at Brittany sleeping soundly. She huffs to herself and pulls down her tank top, wincing a little when Ollie bites down with his gums on her nipple. Just as he's finishing, Max wakes up and she feels like she's never going to get back to sleep. It's a lot, working full time and dealing with three kids when she gets home and she knows she shouldn't take it out on Brittany, but this wasn't in their plans when they decided to have another kid. When she finally gets to go back to sleep, she finds that she can do nothing but toss and turn, so when she hears Brittany get up in the morning, she's utterly miserable and just pretends that she's asleep.

The work day is hell. She's in surgery almost the entire day and when she finally gets to leave the hospital, her feet and her back are sore. All she wants to do is go to bed, but she has to cook dinner and bathe the boys and do bedtime all on her own. She's not used to this and she doesn't think she ever will be. When she gets home, she's snappish with her mom and tries not to be short with Liam when he has a fit about his favorite pajamas being in the laundry. It feels like every insecurity she's had about motherhood is coming to fruition and when she finally flops down on the couch with a glass of wine, she thinks that she should just scream and make herself feel better.

"Hey." Brittany comes into the living room and Santana offers her a half-hearted smile. "You're still up."

"Yeah, well, it's only ten o'clock, so you're home early."

"Santana."

"Don't Santana me like I'm being unreasonable." She snaps. "I think I'm well within my rights as your wife to be pretty fucking pissed off."

"Because I'm doing my job?"

"Because your job doesn't exactly fit in with our plan."

"Do you think it was Sue's plan for her mother to be sick?"

"To be honest, I don't really give a shit about Sue's plan. I give a shit that I'm tired and cranky and our kids haven't seen you since Sunday when you had to leave the park because there was an emergency at the damn hospital."

"I'm the acting chief of surgery. I don't exactly have a choice right now. We talked about this before I accepted Sue's offer, and now you're getting pissy with me about it?"

"Well what was I supposed to say? No, don't take the job that could actually shape the rest of your career? What kind of shitty wife would that make me?"

"So instead, you're choosing to yell at me for doing the thing we agreed I should do? That seems like the way to go about it."

"What I'm hearing is that you're calling me a shitty wife."

"You're hearing what you want to hear." Brittany huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "All I'm saying is that you're being unfair to me."

"Oh, right, I'm the bad guy. Sorry that I'd like to see my wife once in a while."

"You think I don't want that too? You think I don't miss my kids?"

"All I know is that I'm doing double duty and I'm in over my head. I could really use you around."

"Santana, you know that I can't do that right now."

"Yeah well…fine." Santana grabs the blanket from the back of the couch and pulls it around herself. "I'm sleeping down here tonight."

"The boys—"

"There are bottles in the fridge. It's your turn."

Santana refuses to say another word to Brittany, instead, she gets up to get her sleeping pill and she falls asleep on the couch. When she wakes up in the morning, her breasts feel like rocks and she can see that Brittany's shoes aren't by the door. All that does is piss her off more and she goes upstairs, waking Max up so she can get some goddamn relief. His nursing is painful and Santana almost cries at the sensation, wanting the milk out of her, but not wanting to have to suffer through the pain of making it happen.

"Mommy Noodle?" Liam comes into the bedroom rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Where's Mama?"

"Mama left for work already, Sir." She forces a smile. "But hopefully you'll see her tonight."

"You sayed that yesterday."

"You're right, I did say it yesterday. Mama's just very busy at her job. Remember, she's the big boss right now?"

"I like it when she's just a regular doccer."

"I like that too, Li, trust me."

All morning, Santana checks her phone expecting a text message from Brittany, but when none comes, she gets even more angry. At lunch, she considers going to Brittany's office, but if they're going to fight again, she doesn't want it to be in the hospital. Instead, she goes to Mercedes' office and finds her already eating a sandwich at her desk.

"So I guess you're not available for lunch today?" Santana rolled her eyes and Mercedes looked up from her meal.

"What bit your ass today?"

"Nothing, why does everyone seem to think that the problem is with me?"

"Well considering you came in here pissed off that I was eating a sandwich, I would say because it is. Does this have to do with Brittany or what?"

"Are you going to think I'm being a bitch?"

"If you are, then yes." Mercedes sucked her teeth and put her sandwich down. "You know I tell you like it is."

"What would you do if Sam was never home?"

"Would the reason Sam was never home be because he's the acting chief of surgery at a major New York hospital?"

"Why are you being so flippant about this?" Santana plopped down in one of the chairs in front of Mercedes' desk and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I'm not being flippant, I'm just saying that it's a temporary thing and you have to live with it while it lasts."

"Okay, and what about when it's not a temporary thing? Obviously Brittany is going to be the next chief of surgery at this hospital and does that mean that I'm stuck doing all the mom duty while she gets to do all the hospital stuff?"

"Do I detect a little jealously?"

"No! I'm one hundred percent not jealous of good things happening in Brittany's career. When Sue called her that night and told her she needed her to step in, I gave Brittany like…six orgasms."

"Didn't need to know that, but thanks for the information."

"I'm thrilled that she's going to be the next chief, but I just don't know what that means for me and our marriage."

"So wait, let me get this straight, you think that Brittany, who you're head over heels in love with and who's head over heels in love with you is going to have a hard time maintaining a marriage and a career?"

"Do you have to say it like I'm completely insane?"

"Okay, first of all, you know Sue Sylvester is not going to actually retire for like twenty-five years, right? That bitch is going to be working until she's in her eighties, you'll long be head of a department and your kids will be out of college. And second, it won't be her temporarily doing the job so she won't be taken by surprise by all the crap she has to do and be here constantly. You're overreacting."

"Gee thanks."

"Okay, I'm just being honest because you sound like you need it. You don't stalk into my office when things are good."

"Well it really sucks right now."

"Yeah, well, that's relationships kid."

After Santana leaves Mercedes' office, she grabs a sandwich in the cafeteria and considers going to Brittany's office. She debates with herself for a long while before finally making the decision to just talk to her. She's so not good at these conversations and she's still frustrated, but she also slept like shit and hates fighting with her wife so she goes up there and sees that the door is shut. She knocks slowly and Brittany calls out for her to come in. She's surrounded by paperwork on her desk and Santana feels a little sympathetic, realizing that she's only been thinking about how this effects her, not how it effects Brittany.

"Hey." She mumbles. "Are you busy?"

"It depends. Are you here to argue with me? Because I really don't have the time for it."

"No. I'm just…here."

"Okay, well. Sit I guess. I have to get this all done today."

"We can talk when you get home if you want."

"Santana, look, I really don't have the time for this. Just please say what you need to say or I'm going to end up sleeping on the couch here tonight. Not that it would matter, I guess, since I slept alone last night anyway."

"So you're mad at me?"

"Yes, honestly, I am." Brittany adjusts her glasses and pushes one of the papers to the side. "We had a conversation about this and you agreed that it was a good idea. Now that it's happening you're mad and I wish you would have just been honest with me from the get go."

"I already told you—"

"I know what you told me, but did you stop to think about how I would have reacted if you told me it was too much? I know you've had a lot this year and if I thought it was going to be like this, I never would have done this for Sue."

"Okay but don't you see how that makes me sound? Like a selfish bitch."

"I wouldn't have thought you were selfish if you needed me at home for your well being. Now I think it's a little selfish that you're pissed off at me when you didn't communicate your reservations to begin with."

"I didn't know it was going to be like this. I thought it would be a little more work and I'd still get to see you."

"Santana, I'm running my own department and then the entire rest of the surgical staff. This is like the job I already have times ten. I thought you were aware of that and the fact that it's only temporary."

"Okay, I get that, but we have two infants and a child at home. I'm used to having two sets of hands to manage that."

"Look, I'm sorry I haven't been home and maybe had I known what it was going to entail, I wouldn't have agreed to do it, but the point is, I did, and I could really use your support."

"I'm sorry." Santana takes a deep breath. "I didn't think about how hard this was on you."

"I miss you, I miss the kids. I need you to understand that."

"I do…it just really sucks and I wish Sue would come back."

"I'm at least learning that this isn't something I can do permanently while the kids are little."

"I'm overwhelmed at home."

"I know." Brittany nods. "You're doing double duty in the morning and at night."

"Thank God I went back to work, if I was home all day too I would probably lose my mind. Sometimes I feel like I'm not cut out to be a mom."

"I think the kids feel very differently on that."

"I hate fighting with you." Santana sighs, picking at her cuticles.

"We don't do it very often."

"I know. But when we do, I feel like I'm going to die."

"Santana." Brittany bites her lip. "It's really bad if we keep things inside. We were both frustrated, we needed to get it out."

"How can you be so cool, calm and collected all the time? When we fight I'm afraid you're going to realize you're too good for me and leave me."

"I love you, Santana, but I need you to be able to reassure yourself sometimes. Just because we had a fight doesn't mean I'm going to leave you."

"I just feel like you're too good sometimes. You never lose your patience with me."

"I'm not a saint. I've got my own things that go on in my head, but I never want it to become a thing between us."

"I don't want you to feel like you have to coddle me."

"That's not how I feel. I was upset with you today and I let you know."

"I shouldn't have slept on the couch last night, I should have had this conversation with you at home instead of coming into your office to have it."

"You're right." Brittany nods. "Look, I want to try and get home earlier tonight but I can't do that unless I get this paperwork done."

"Okay. I'll leave you do it."

"Come here, give me a kiss first."

After Santana kisses Brittany, she feels a little better than she did earlier. She goes into surgery and she doesn't feel like her head is going to explode, which is definitely a good thing. Once her day is done, she sends Brittany a text to tell her she's headed home and Brittany texts back that she'll try to be there within the next hour. She says that she wants to do bedtime tonight and Santana smiles a little, even though she knows there's a possibility it won't happen.

When Santana gets home, Max is crying. She takes a breath then takes him from her mother. The moment she gets him into her arms she can feel that he has a high fever. She's a little shocked that her mother didn't notice it, but she tries not to panic in front of Liam. Instead, she takes him upstairs and she gets him in the bathtub, trying to lower his body temperature. In her head, she knows that she should take him to the hospital, but considering she's a pediatric surgeon, she feels like she should be able to handle this on her own.

"Santana, is everything alright?" Her mother pokes her head into the bathroom when Santana keeps dribbling water over Max's chest.

"I'm just trying to get his body temperature down. How long has he felt warm?"

"These boys always feel a little warm to me, and it's warm in the house, I didn't notice anything was wrong. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"It's fine, Mom. I just need to get his fever down."

"Should I call Brittany?"

"No." Santana shakes her head. "She's busy enough as it is, I can deal with this."

"Are you—"

"I'm sure, Ma. Can you just stay and keep an eye on Liam and Oliver?"

"Of course, just call me if you need me."

Santana keeps Max in the bathtub until he begins to shiver. She takes him out and wraps him in a towel, holding him close to her chest. Going into the bathroom cabinet, she takes out the baby Tylenol and fights him to get him to take a dose of it. He's so strong willed and even as she blows on his face, he manages to spit some of it all over the towel. She sighs heavily and wishes she could get him to stop crying. It's times like this when she feels so inadequate. She's a mother and a doctor and it shouldn't be so difficult to get her son to take some damn Tylenol.

Forgoing getting dinner ready, she lays down on the bed with Max in just a diaper and wrapped in a blanket and she lets him nurse. He cries even as she does it and Santana just wishes she knew how to make it stop. She's a half hour into it when Brittany comes into the bedroom and has concern written all over her face. Santana takes a deep breath and shakes her head, telling her without words how helpless she feels. Just as she goes to say something, Max vomits milk all over her.

"Maxie, baby." Santana coos. "It's okay, Mommy's got you."

"Babe, what can I do?"

"Just get me a new shirt." She shakes her head. "He's not going to let me put him down. My mom doesn't know how long he's had a fever for."

"Do you want to take him to the hospital?"

"I don't know…we're both doctors, we should be able to handle it."

Maribel ends up staying the night with Liam and Oliver and neither Santana nor Brittany sleep. Finally, at one in the morning, after Max has thrown up for the fourth time, they get him in the car and take him to the hospital. Santana sits in the backseat holding his little hands, even though he's finally fallen into a feverish sleep.

"I was wrong." Santana sniffles. "We should have taken him earlier."

"You made a call, Santana. You didn't realize how sick he was going to get. It's probably just a stomach bug, he's going to be okay."

"What if Ollie gets it? We don't know how he'll do…"

"Let's just worry about one kid at a time, okay? We'll get Max some fluids and he'll be just fine."

"How can you be so confident?"

"How can you not?"

"Because I see sick babies all the time who don't get better. I'm fucking terrified, Brittany." Santana snaps, unable to control herself.

"I know you are, but I need you to calm down. You don't do anyone well when you're like this."

"Well I'm fucking sorry that I'm freaking out about our sick kid."

"Santana, I don't want to fight with you. I want him to be okay as much as you do, but you know that it's not good for you when you get like this."

"I don't care about me." Santana says, resigned. "I only care about him."

"I care about both of you, and you're more useful to him when you can take a breath."

They get to the hospital and Santana sees Dr. Meeks, one of the pediatric residents that she knows from transferring cases. She feels a little calmer, knowing that someone on staff is someone she's worked with before and he escorts them himself to an exam room. Santana thinks maybe of all the things she loves about being a doctor, having preferential treatment for her kids might be her favorite. Max wakes up and screams while he's examined by the doctor and Santana sits stone faced beside Brittany, wanting nothing more than to scoop him up and comfort him.

"It looks like just a bad case of the stomach virus that's going around." Meeks tells them. "He's a little dehydrated, so I want to put him on some fluids and keep him a few hours for observation."

"But he's okay?" Brittany asks, leaning over the little basinet to look at her son.

"He's going to be just fine, Dr. Pierce. We've had quite a few cases of this just this week, and each child has been back to normal in a day or so."

"Thank God." Santana murmurs, though she's not particularly religious. "It's okay, sweet boy, Mommy and Mama are here."

"I'd suggest if you could get him to nurse that would be helpful. But he may not take breast milk just now."

"I'll try. Anything I can do for him."

Santana picks up Max and Dr. Meeks was right. He refuses her breast and she doesn't breathe again until he's on IV fluids and sleeping soundly in Brittany's arms. She feels like she's not cut out for sick kids of her own, everything scares her, but Brittany is just so calm. All she wants is to ever feel a sense of peace, but with the little hospital band on Max's wrist, she knows she's far from it.

"You should go home." Santana tells Brittany finally. "I'm calling Shelby and taking the day off but you have to work."

"I'll go to work tired. I'm not leaving either of you."

"We'd be fine here. Honestly."

"I wouldn't be fine knowing I wasn't here with you. I'm not leaving."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Thank you for that. I'm just…we just."

"We have unresolved stuff right now that we both thought we'd deal with tonight, but it's not the time."

Santana offers to take Max from Brittany, but she tells her it's fine, that she wants to hold him. The two of them sleep fitfully side by side in hospital chairs and when Santana wakes up in the morning, Brittany looks like absolute hell. She has no idea how she's going to be able to work, because Santana certainly knows she couldn't do it. Brittany runs her hands through her hair and Santana watches her, really understanding for the first time how hard she's trying to balance her temporary role as chief and her permanent role as a mother. It actually pains Santana to think of what a bitch she'd been about it and she sucks in a deep breath of air as Max begins to stir.

"I really should shower before I see my first patient today." Brittany murmurs softly, transferring Max to Santana's arms so he can nurse. "I would probably kill to be able to take the day off."

"Thank you for staying with me last night. I just…It was important to me to have you here."

"I know. It was important to me too. I would never have been able to sleep at home knowing that my son was in the hospital and I wasn't there."

"I understand it, Britt, that you're doing your best. I really do, more than I said I did yesterday when we talked."

"Being a mom is the most important thing there is to me. Being a wife is a very close second. I think about before I got Liam and how I thought the best thing that would ever happen to me was becoming chief of surgery. Don't get me wrong, Santana, I still want that at some point, but it'll never compare to what I already have."

"It's been a really emotional night, you're going to make me cry." Santana adjusts Max on her breast and breathes a sigh of relief that he takes it. "He's eating."

"I'm so glad." Brittany stands and kisses Santana's head, then leans to kiss Max's. "Are you okay if I go?"

"I'm okay. I'm just going to wait for Dr. Meeks to discharge him before his shift ends and then beg my mother to stay through the day so I can bring Max into bed with me and sleep."

"I love you a lot, Santana Lopez, I hope you know that."

"I love you a lot too, baby."