"Guys, I have a question." Santana looked at her nieces as they ate their Chinese food that night.
"Go on." Francesca said.
"So, you know Brittany is my girlfriend, right?" Santana said.
"Yeah." they nodded.
"Do you guys mind if she stays over some nights? She only stays about three times a week cause of work and stuff but we both agreed that we didn't want to just have her here if it wasn't okay with you three. You guys come first now and I wanted to talk to you before we go back to our usual routine." Santana said.
"I like Brittany. I don't mind." Cambria shrugged.
"Me too." Francesca said.
"Matilda?" Santana looked at her. She shrugged.
"Yeah, I don't mind. She seems nice." Matilda said.
"Okay. Thanks guys." Santana smiled and took another bite of her food.
"How long have you guys been together?" Francesca asked.
"Just over a year now." Santana said.
"Have you met her family?" Matilda asked. Santana shook her head.
"Not in person, but we've spoke over FaceTime a ton of times. They travel a lot for work. They go to third world countries and teach kids. Britt has a little sister, Caitlin, who lives in California. She's in college." Santana said.
"Has she met your family?" Cambria smiled. Santana shook her head slowly.
"She's met you three." Santana said.
"Not your mamí?" Francesca asked.
"My mamí isn't my best friend, shall we say." Santana said.
"Your papí?" Cambria asked.
"My papí isn't here." Santana said.
"He died, dipshit." Matilda hissed.
"Sorry, Tana." Cambria looked at her.
"It's not your fault, Cam. Don't worry about it." Santana mumbled. She stood up and threw her food into the bin. "I'm going to go and finish some work. Once you've finished, get yourselves settled for the night. Don't open the door for anyone please." Santana walked to her bedroom. She changed into her pyjamas and settled herself on her bed.
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"Santana?" Santana stirred from her sleep. "Tana?" the whisper came again. Santana forced her eyes open and sat herself up in bed. Her alarm clock said it was 3:26am. "Tana?" the whisper became a sob. She turned her lamp on and blinked through the glare. Cambria was standing in the bathroom doorway, her fingers clutching the shirt she was wearing.
"Cam? What's wrong?" Santana yawned.
"I had a nightmare and," Cambria broke down into louder sobs, "I had an accident. I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!" Cambria gasped. Santana slid out of the bed and walked over slowly, holding her arms out.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you, I won't hurt you. It's okay." Santana whispered. Cambria jumped into her arms, wrapping her arms around Santana's neck. Santana lifted her and carried her into the bathroom. "It's okay." Santana sat her down on the toilet and flicked one of the lights on. She turned the shower on and yawned, looking at herself in the mirror. She grabbed a bobble and threw her hair up. "Let's get you into a shower." Santana said. Cambria let Santana pull her clothes off and help her into the shower. Cambria showered and Santana went to her room to grab her some underwear. She gave up on finding pyjamas, considering Cambria had rearranged her drawers and it was too late for a search party. Cambria could just wear one of her shirts. She went to her room and found one of her big shirts, taking it back to the bathroom with her.
"Santana?" Matilda whispered, poking her head into the room.
"Hey Mat. Cam's just had a little accident, so we're getting her all cleaned up." Santana whispered.
"Did she have a nightmare?" Matilda whispered.
"Yeah. She didn't say what about but she did say to please not hurt her when she woke me up." Santana looked at Matilda. She looked down at her feet.
"Mamí and papí would get angry sometimes and they'd hurt us. It was never bad, a few smacks here and there. I got it worse out of all of us, and it was barely abuse, but Cammie just got too scared." Matilda mumbled. Santana sighed and pulled her into a hug.
"Go and get Francesca. You're all getting in my bed tonight. I think Cam could use a little bit of family time." Santana said. Matilda nodded and left the bathroom. Cambria turned the shower off and stepped out. Santana helped dry her off and get her dressed. They turned the lights off and went back to Santana's room. They climbed in her bed and Santana held her arms out for Cambria. She curled up against Santana's chest, closing her eyes.
"Santana?" Cambria whispered.
"Cammie?" Santana whispered back.
"Can I call you tía?" Cambria asked. Santana kissed her temple.
"I'd love you to call me tía. Hey, here." Santana grabbed her elephant teddy from under her pillow. She placed her in Cambria's arms. "This is Ellie-Belly. My papí got me her when I was a baby and I've kept her for the whole of my life. I was going to give her to my baby if I had one, but I think you need her more. She always protects me from nightmares and she keeps me safe from anything that scares me and I know she'll do the same to you." Santana explained. Cambria leaned up and kissed Santana's cheek.
"Thank you, tía. I love her." Cambria said. She looked at Ellie-Belly for a minute. "I love you. Thank you for saving us." Cambria whispered. Santana squeezed her gently.
"I love you more. I'd save you three any day." Santana whispered. Her bedroom door opened and Matilda and Francesca walked in. Francesca got behind Santana and Matilda lay beside her and Cambria. "Night girls." Santana said.
"Night tía." Cambria said.
"Night tía." Francesca mumbled. Santana looked at Matilda. She looked back at Santana and gave her a small smile.
"Night tía." Matilda whispered. Santana smiled back and closed her eyes, letting herself fall back to sleep.
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"So, the girls are enrolled in school?" Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana's waist as they watched the actors run through a scene.
"Yeah. I'm just happy Sue agreed to move performances back to the day time cause I can't leave the girls alone at night." Santana said.
"Me too." Brittany said.
"They agreed about you staying, by the way. We might have a visitor a few times though." Santana said.
"Ellie-Belly?" Brittany smiled.
"Cambria. She had a nightmare last night and got in with me. All three of them did. And they called me tía. And Cambria told me she loved me and she said thank you for saving them." Santana turned to look at her. Brittany wipes a stray tear.
"I'm happy it's all working out for you guys. They deserve the best life and I know you can give it to them." Brittany kissed her gently.
"Matilda told me that sometimes Ale and Camila would hit them. She said it wasn't bad, she took most of the beatings, but Cambria seemed pretty shaken up about it." Santana said. Brittany's face dropped.
"What are you going to do about it?" Brittany asked.
"I rang Emma on my way here. What she does with it is up to her, but I thought she needed to know. I loved Ale but my brother wouldn't hurt his children or ruin their lives the way he has." Santana said. Brittany kissed her again.
"I'm sorry." Brittany said.
"It isn't your fault, Britt. I just hope they have a good first day at school." Santana said.
"Are you picking them up?" Brittany asked.
"Apparently it's lame if your family picks you up from school, so I'm meeting them around the corner." Santana rolled her eyes playfully. Brittany laughed.
"Satan! Is this okay?" Holly called. Santana turned and watched the number.
"No! You're all turning different ways! I get it's a fight scene but we need to have some unity in it! Rachel, you're not convincing me as love sick either!" Santana shouted. Brittany laughed and ran onto the stage to fix the mistakes.
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"So, school?" Santana asked the girls once they got to the apartment.
"It was good. I made loads of friends." Cambria kicked her shoes off.
"Me too." Francesca said.
"Matilda?" Santana looked at her.
"Yeah, it was fine. I made this friend, Emerson, but everyone calls her Emmy. She said Matilda was too long and she's started calling me Mattie." Matilda said.
"Mattie." Santana tried it.
"I prefer Tillie." Francesca shrugged.
"I'd be Cammie." Cambria said.
"Frankie." Francesca said.
"I don't think I'd have one. I can't be Sannie, can I?" Santana laughed.
"You're Satan." Francesca said.
"Only to my work friends." Santana said.
"What would you be?" Matilda hummed.
"Tía. She'd be tía." Cambria hugged her.
"I would be. Now, do any homework you guys have and get yourselves ready for movie night. My friends, Kurt, Blaine, Rachel and Quinn are coming over." Santana said.
"Okay!" Cambria ran down the hallway.
"Rachel, as in the one in your musical?" Francesca asked.
"The very one. We've been friends since high school." Santana said.
"She doesn't seem like your type of person." Matilda said.
"She isn't. It's a weird friendship." Santana shrugged.
"She seems high maintenance. What about Kurt and Blaine?" Francesca asked.
"You have no idea. Kurt is a fashion designer and an actor and he's playing the candelabra. Blaine is his husband and he is actually a music teacher in a private school around here. You know Quinn already." Santana said.
"Are most of your friends gay?" Matilda asked.
"There's only three gays out of all of us! Quinn has a boyfriend, Mercedes has a boyfriend, Rachel is single because why would she have a boyfriend, but she's straight." Santana said. Matilda laughed and went to her room. Francesca went to hers, leaving Santana alone to tidy up the living room.
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"I'm bored of movies." Rachel paused Aladdin.
"Can we play Satan's jenga?" Quinn asked.
"Oh my god, yes!" Kurt said.
"What is Satan's jenga?" Matilda raised her eyebrows.
"It's Santana's jenga. We have a different version of it." Blaine said. Santana reached under the table she was sat by and pulled out the box of boardgames.
"Monopoly, Cluedo, Trivial Persuit, Twister, Jenga!" Santana pulled it out of the box. She pushed everything off the coffee table and everyone sat around it.
"I don't get it. Why's it special?" Francesca asked. Kurt gasped and took the box, beginning to set it up.
"Each brick has something written on it. It's either a statement you have to assign to someone or a question. This is the clean version. So," Santana grabbed one, "this says that this person had a xylophone thrown at them in high school by Becky Jackson. We have to guess who it belongs to." Santana places it on the tower Kurt was building.
"So, it's jenga but you get to know people better as well?" Francesca asked.
"Basically." Brittany said.
"It's family friendly and perfect for tonight." Quinn said.
"Okay. We're ready. Matilda, you start and we'll go clockwise." Kurt said.
"Okay." Matilda pulled one out. "It says that this person came out when they were fourteen accidentally after wearing a controversial outfit in front of their father." Matilda said.
"Do we all guess or just Tillie?" Francesca asked.
"Just Matilda." Quinn said.
"Blaine." Matilda said.
"No." Blaine said.
"What happens if you get it wrong?" Cambria asked.
"Well, that's funny." Quinn said.
"Quinn, we can't. They're kids." Santana said.
"What?" Cambria asked.
"We would usually throw eggs at the person who got it wrong, but it's wrong to do that to kids, apparently. We can just pass the question, so they don't find out the answer." Quinn said.
"Sounds good." Brittany nodded. Matilda put the brick on top of the pyramid.
———————————————————————
"This person went as uncle Jesse for Halloween when they were nine. They grew out their hair so it was business in the front, party in the back." Blaine said. He smirked at Santana. "It was Satan. I've seen the photos." he said.
"Oh my god!" Matilda groaned.
"Can we see them?" Cambria asked.
"They're framed in my house, babes, I'll bring them round." Kurt laughed.
"I have them too!" Rachel said.
"Me too!" Quinn laughed.
"Oh my god!" Brittany laughed.
"Hey, Warbler, you went as Princess Diana for Halloween last year!" Santana slapped his arm.
"She's a legend." Blaine shrugged.
"She's dead, mate." Matilda said. He clutched his heart with a fake gasp.
"I never knew." he said.
"Hey, San, Sue's calling." Brittany handed Santana her phone.
"Thanks." Santana took her phone and went to the kitchen. "Hey Sue." Santana said.
"Hey Lopez. I was just wondering how things are going with your nieces." Sue said.
"They're good, yeah. They get on well with everyone and they seem to be settling in, so they're good." Santana said. Matilda looked over with curious eyes.
"That's good. I wanted to just confirm that everything is going god with the musical." Sue said.
"Yeah, it's going fine. Britt and Mike are doing the dances, Kurt is doing the costumes, Rachel's spray tan isn't horrendous and nobody has quit in two weeks." Santana said.
"A new record! Well done. I think we're really going to have a masterpiece on our hands. With you directing it, me funding it and all your minions working it, we're going to recreate broadway." Sue said.
"I hope so." Santana laughed.
"I believe in you. Now, Robyn and I will be around to watch rehearsals tomorrow morning so I'd warn everyone to be at their best or our new record will be broken." Sue said.
"Believe me, they've been at their best since we started." Santana said.
"That's my girl. Okay, I've got to go. Robyn and Becky are fighting over the remote. Bye, Lopez." Sue hung up. Santana smiled slightly and joined everyone at the table. The tower had been knocked down and Rachel looked defeated.
"You ruined it?" Santana asked.
"Yes." Rachel groaned.
"What was that about?" Brittany asked.
"Just telling me she's coming in tomorrow to watch with Robyn. This is her daughter's favourite musical, so we can't ruin it. We need to be excellent." Santana said. Everyone nodded.
"Got it, boss." Rachel said. Santana winked and began rebuilding the tower.
——————————————————————
"Santana, we would like you to come down to the office as soon as possible please. Thanks, Emma." Santana listened to the voicemail. She looked across the dinner table at Cambria, who was doing her homework, Francesca, who was drawing something in her sketchbook, and Matilda, who was highlighting things in a textbook.
"Honey, I'm home!" Brittany called.
"In the kitchen!" Santana said. Brittany walked in and kissed her quickly, ruffling Cambria's curls as she walked to the sink.
"So, I know you said we couldn't get a pet." Brittany said.
"Britt, no. What did you buy?" Santana groaned.
"A fish!" Brittany turned to look at her, holding a baggie up. It held five fish.
"Or five." Matilda laughed.
"Britt, why would you buy us fish? I thought we agreed we would buy a cat once we've finished Beauty and the Beast. We can't have fish and a cat, it'll kill them." Santana said.
"Well, I wanted fish for dinner, but then I remembered you don't like cooking fish cause it smells. So I got pet fish. And when they die, I can cook them for dinner." Brittany turned and began opening the baggie.
"Have you even got a tank for them?" Francesca asked.
"Yes." Brittany put the bag in the sink and ran to the hallway, returning with a glass tank.
"And where is that going?" Santana asked.
"Here." Brittany motioned to the gap between the top row of cupboards and the bottom row opposite the oven.
"You're feeding them and cleaning the tank." Santana said.
"I got us all one each. You'll have to name yours before you pass any responsibility onto me." Brittany began prepping the tank.
"I want the blue one." Santana looked into the sink at the fish.
"I thought you would." Brittany said.
"I'll call it Ray." Santana said.
"Ray it is. Girls, come name yours." Brittany said. They walked to the sink and began talking about which one they wanted.
"Britt, I've got to run out for a bit. Will you watch the girls please?" Santana asked.
"Yeah, we're going to set the tank up and I'll help them with their homework." Brittany smiled.
"You're a life saver. I'll text you when I'm on my way home. Girls, I'll be back soon." Santana grabbed her shoes from under the table and began pulling them on.
"Where are you going?" Cambria asked.
"My boss wants me to meet her for work stuff really quick." Santana lied.
"Okay." Francesca and Matilda shrugged.
"Be safe!" Cambria smiled.
"I will. Be good for Britt please." Santana said.
"We always are." Cambria said.
"Te amo." Santana grabbed her things and left the apartment.
———————————————————————
"Hey Santana. How's everything with the girls?" Emma greeted Santana.
"It's good. They're all enrolled in school, they're enjoying it too which is good. They seem to like me and my friends too, which is good as well." Santana said.
"That's good. It's really great that you took them in." Emma said.
"They're my family." Santana shrugged.
"Mentioning family, we've spoken to your brother." Emma sat down in the office they first met in.
"About what?" Santana sat next to her.
"You taking the girls in. He's requested you go and see him as soon as possible." Emma said. Santana froze.
"I can't just up and go at his beck and call. I have my job, it'll disrupt the girls if they have to see him or I have to bring them to Ohio, and I have fish now, Emma, fish. Who's going to feed my fish while I'm in Ohio?" Santana rushed out. Emma laughed, her hand flying to cover her mouth.
"I'm so sorry." she took a minute to compose herself. "It's been a long day. We have spoken to him about your job and the girls and he's agreed to wait a few weeks before you decide anything. He just wants to see you. Now, you could take the girls with you, or you could go one day while they're in school and have someone pick them up and keep hold of them until you get home. It's only an hour and a half to fly there and his prison is twenty minutes from the airport. We can make a special appointment and you'll be in and out as quick as you'd like to be. It'll all be done in one day and you don't even have to tell the girls, but I would recommend you do in case it upsets them." Emma said. Santana bit her lip.
"I don't know. He's my brother and all but what he's done to those girls, I can't forgive him for that." Santana said.
"Nobody expects you to forgive him. I doubt he does. I think he just wants a chance to explain. You can take as long as you want to decide about what to do, okay? There's no rush." Emma placed a hand on Santana's hand. Santana nodded. "And I wanted to discuss the future too." Emma said.
"The tense?" Santana raised her eyebrows.
"Of the girls." Emma said.
"Ahh." Santana said.
"Well, right now you're their legal guardian. That means that you're basically a foster parent for them. From here, you could adopt them, continue fostering them or we could move them if it's not going well." Emma said.
"They don't need moving. Foster care is horrible, they're not going. But adoption? I've known them less than a week. I know they're family and everything but this is a big step. I'm twenty six." Santana frowned.
"We know. You don't have to make a decision until the trial, which is still unconfirmed. You have time to think about your options." Emma said. Santana nodded and stood up.
"I've got to get back to the girls. I said I'd only be a while." Santana said.
"Are they alone?" Emma frowned.
"No. They're with my girlfriend." Santana said.
"Have a nice night." Emma said.
"You too." Santana said and rushed out of the office.
———————————————————————
"How was work?" Cambria hugged Santana once she stepped through the door.
"It was fine, Cam. How are the fish?" Santana asked.
"They're good! Come look!" Cambria grabbed her hand and pulled her to the kitchen. The tank was set up on her countertop that she never really used opposite the oven. It was bare, only the fish and a filter inside to clean the water.
"It's a bit bare." Santana said.
"Cause Britt's looking for designs to decorate it with." Francesca said.
"Like, Lego ones. She's going to buy them and build them and put them in the tank. She's been sat on the Lego website for half an hour." Matilda said.
"Oh Lord Jesus help me." Santana mumbled.
"San! You hate Harry Potter don't you?" Brittany called.
"No, that's Rachel!" Santana called back.
"Come and help me!" Brittany shouted. Santana kicked her shoes off and went to the couch, sitting beside Brittany. She scrolled on the iPad, the screen showing on the tv. "I hooked it up so we could decide together. Girls! Get your butts in here!" Brittany called. The girls ran in. Cambria climbed on the couch with Brittany and Santana and curled up against Santana, while Francesca and Matilda sat on the floor in front of them, leaning back against their legs.
"I like that one." Francesca pointed at a submarine set.
"It's very typical." Brittany said. Santana rolled her eyes playfully and pulled Cambria tighter against her.
"Tía?" Cambria whispered.
"Yeah?" Santana whispered back.
"I called my fish Satan, after you." she smiled up at Santana. Santana laughed and kissed her temple.
"Thank you, mija." Santana said. Cambria smiled wider and turned back to the tv.
