"Hey Satan." Quinn hugged Santana a week after the surprise fish family.
"Hey Quinnegan." Santana sat down in the booth of Quinn's coffee shop.
"How's life as a mother?" Quinn asked.
"I'm not a mother, I'm an aunt." Santana said.
"I meant to your fish." Quinn said. Santana groaned.
"Did Britt tell everyone she brought fish home before telling me?" Santana asked.
"Yes, and that she wants me to help you find a Lego set to put in the tank?" Quinn raised her eyebrows.
"Fuck sake." Santana rolled her eyes.
"What did you call your fish family?" Quinn asked.
"Mine is called Ray, Britt called hers Ringo, Matilda called hers Pepper, Francesca called hers Salt and Cam called hers Satan, after yours truly." Santana said.
"Oh wow." Quinn laughed.
"I know." Santana said. She took a sip of her coffee.
"What lego set are you gonna put in your tank?" Quinn asked.
"I think Hogwarts. The girls had never seen Happy Potter so we binged it all week." Santana said.
"You know the set is like four hundred and thirty dollars, right?" Quinn raised her eyebrows.
"Don't remind me. Britt's going half, she transferred the money to me before." Santana groaned.
"Who's building it?" Quinn laughed.
"I got lumped with building it. Cambria said it's too complicated for her, Francesca said she'd prefer not to, Matilda just ran away and Britt has to work nights for this music video she's choreographing." Santana said.
"Wow." Quinn laughed.
"I know. Quinnegan?" Santana looked at her.
"Satan?" Quinn smiled.
"Can I talk to you, like, serious for a minute?" Santana said.
"Of course. I'm all ears." Quinn nodded. Santana's fingers tapped against the ceramic mug in front of her.
"My brother wants to see me. Like, the father of my nieces that now live with me, that brother. He wants me to go and see him and I just don't know." Santana looked down at the table.
"And you want my advice on whether you should go or not?" Quinn asked. Santana shrugged.
"I suppose. I guess I just wanted to talk to someone about it." Santana said.
"Have you not told Britt?" Quinn asked.
"No. She's been so happy this week and I didn't want to shit in her cereal." Santana said. Quinn snorted.
"Lovely. I think she'd prefer you to tell her, though." Quinn said. Santana shrugged.
"I will. Now, advice." Santana said.
"Well, you haven't seen him since you were six. Right?"
"Right. He was fifteen and he just left. Nobody told me why and whenever I asked why, I'd get told to shut up." Santana said. Quinn nodded.
"So, you want answers. You've always wanted answers, and now you've been lumped with his kids. All you really know is that he got married, had kids, became a druggie and got his kids taken off him. You're bound to want answers, Satan, it's human nature. I think you should go and get closure. You need it and it'll help you heal." Quinn said.
"I feel like I'm betraying the girls by going, though. He's their dad and he's hurt them more than he could ever hurt me. I just don't feel right about it." Santana said.
"I get why you feel like that, but how can you expect to give these girls a better life if you're still holding onto your past? You've been hurt a shit ton of times. You need closure and you need to heal. You're probably not going to get it with your parents or with Matías, but you can get it with Alejandro. Tell the girls if you're going to go and they'll understand. I can guarantee you that they want closure just as much as you do. None of you can move on if you don't get it." Quinn said. Santana nodded.
"I think I will. Thanks Quinnegan." Santana smiled.
"Anything for my bestie. Now, let's go and get Hogwarts." Quinn linked with Santana and pulled her out of the coffee shop.
"I fucking hate those fish." Santana muttered.
———————————————————————
"Hey mija." Santana looked up from the castle she was attempting to build to greet her niece.
"Hey tía. How's it coming along?" Cambria eyed the pile of Lego bags littering the table.
"To be honest, it's not." Santana snorted and grabbed another bag.
"Well, that's not good." Cambria said.
"Not really. Hey, where are your sisters?" Santana asked.
"They're in the lobby talking to a girl from school. She walked home with us. She's called Gracie and she's Matilda's friend." Cambria said.
"Oh, okay. Will you grab me a bottle of water out of the fridge please?" Santana asked.
"Sure. Can I have a snack?" Cambria asked.
"Help yourself." Santana nodded and placed another brick into place.
"Tía?" Matilda walked into the kitchen.
"Sí?" Santana mumbled, flicking the page of the instructions.
"Can I go out with my friend? She wants to show me this coffee shop." Matilda said. Santana looked up from the instructions.
"I want to meet her before I say yes." Santana said.
"Gracie!" Matilda called. Santana heard footsteps and saw a girl step into the room. She had blonde curly hair, bright green eyes and she was taller than Matilda. It reminded her of herself and Brittany.
"She looks like Britt's twin." Cambria returned with a snack and the bottle of water.
"She does." Santana nodded. Gracie shifted under their gaze, her hands flying to fiddle with the zipper of her jacket that wasn't nearly thick enough to withstand New York weather.
"So, can I go?" Matilda asked.
"Um, sure. Be back by six please, Britt's out tonight so I thought we could watch some movies." Santana said.
"Okay." Matilda nodded.
"Do you need money?" Santana stood and began looking for her bag.
"Here." Francesca threw her her bag. Santana caught it and winked at her niece.
"How much do you need? Gracie, do you have money?" Santana found her purse and opened it, looking through her notes.
"Are you rich?" Gracie blurted. Santana laughed and pulled out fifty dollars. She handed it to Matilda.
"Don't be late and you don't have to spend it all. Have fun and stay safe please." Santana said.
"Got it. Thanks tía." Matilda kissed Santana's cheek and pulled Gracie out of the apartment.
"How's Hogwarts coming along?" Francesca asked.
"I mean, it's not." Santana laughed.
"Well, that's not good. I'm going to go to my room and listen to some music." Francesca said.
"Oh, wait!" Santana ran to her room and pulled out a suitcase from under her bed. She wheeled it to the kitchen where Francesca was waiting. She unzipped it and pulled out the record player. "I've got loads of records I think you'll like." Santana grabbed the bag filled with records.
"I love it." Francesca sat down beside Santana on the floor.
"It's yours if you want it." Santana said.
"Are you sure?" Francesca asked.
"It's been in a suitcase under my bed for two years. I'm pretty sure." Santana laughed. Francesca hugged her tightly.
"Thank you, tía!" she grabbed it and ran to her room, coming back to grab the records.
"Let's finish this shit." Santana sat at the kitchen table. Cambria looked up from her homework with a smile.
"You can do it." Cambria said.
"I hope so." Santana said.
———————————————————————
"How was your coffee?" Santana greeted Matilda as she returned home.
"It was fine." Matilda shrugged.
"Did you go to Fabray's?"
"Yeah."
"And it was just fine? That's the best coffee shop around for hours, I'm not even saying that cause Quinn owns it." Santana raised her eyebrows.
"Well, yeah. Dunno what you want me to say." Matilda shrugged again.
"I was just asking." Santana said.
"Well don't!" Matilda snapped. Santana raised her eyebrows.
"I don't know who shoved a stick up your ass but please take it out before we end up arguing." Santana said. Matilda rolled her eyes and stormed to her bedroom, slamming the bedroom door.
"Tía?" Cambria shouted.
"Yeah?" Santana called.
"What's for dinner?"
"I'm ordering a pizza."
"Tillie only eats pepperoni." Francesca stepped into the doorway.
"Okay. Thanks mija." Santana sighed and grabbed her phone.
"Just ignore her. She gets snappy sometimes." Francesca said. Santana shrugged. Francesca gave her a small smile and went back to her bedroom.
———————————————————————
"Hey baby." Brittany hugged Santana the next day at work.
"Hey Britt." Santana leaned against her.
"You okay?" Brittany asked.
"Yeah. Um, my brother wants me to see him. I think I'm going to go. Emma said I can fly out in the morning, see him and then fly back all in one day. I'd have to miss a day here, but Sue said she could cover for me." Santana said.
"That sounds okay. When are you going?" Brittany asked.
"I don't know. I need to talk to the girls first, but Matilda was being a bitch last night and I didn't exactly want her to murder me if I brought him up." Santana said.
"Maybe talk to them tonight. I'll stay over so I can play mediator if I have to but I'll hide in your room while you talk to them. I don't want to intrude on family business." Brittany said. Santana sighed and kissed her softly.
"You're my family, Britt Britt." Santana whispered.
"And you're mine." Brittany smiled and kissed her between her eyebrows. Santana practically melted in her arms.
"Miss Lopez, everyone is ready and waiting for your instruction." an intern said. Santana turned to face the stage and hummed to herself.
"From the mob scene please!" she called. Everyone began arranging themselves quickly on the stage.
———————————————————————
"Hey guys. I want to talk to you all." Santana eyed her nieces as soon as they sat down in the living room after dinner.
"Okay." they said.
"So, I had to speak to Emma the other day and she said that your papí wants me to go and see him. I wanted to ask you guys what you thought before making any decisions myself." Santana said.
"He wants to see you? Why?" Francesca asked.
"I don't know. I won't know until I see him." Santana said.
"Will we go with you?" Cambria asked.
"No. I'll fly out in the morning, see him and fly back the same day. I'll be back before dinner. Brittany or Quinn will be waiting here for you after school." Santana said.
"Do you want to go?" Matilda asked. Santana nodded slowly.
"You probably won't understand, but I need to talk to him for myself. I need answers." Santana said.
"Why? Don't you believe us when we say he was horrible?" Matilda glared at her.
"Of course I believe you. I need to go and see him for myself. I need to talk to him to be able to make myself a better person. I'm asking you guys if that would be okay with you all, because you're my priority now." Santana said.
"I don't think you can learn much about being a better person from him." Francesca said. Santana closed her eyes and sucked in a quick breath. This wasn't going how she planned at all.
"I just want an answer. Do you guys mind if I go?" she said.
"No." Cambria shook her head.
"Not really." Francesca said.
"Yes. I mind. I don't get why in the world you'd want to see a monster like him. It's bullshit." Matilda stood up.
"Cammie, Frankie, go to your rooms please." Santana said. They nodded and ran off quickly. "Sit down. Now." Santana glared at Matilda. She dropped back down. "I am going to see your father because I need closure. We had a complicated relationship and if I want to be able to take care of you three, I need to be able to move on and let go of my feelings against him." Santana said. Matilda scoffed.
"Fat chance of that happening. We won't be here long. I can guarantee you that abuela will come forward and try to get us back once she finds out we're with you. She hates you." Matilda snarled. Santana felt a pang in her chest.
"Your abuela has no chance of getting custody of you three over me, believe me." Santana forced a laugh.
"Oh yeah? What if I tell Emma that we hate being here and want to live with abuela? She'll have to listen to me, right?" Matilda leaned forward to try and intimidate Santana.
"You know, it would work if it was any adult other than abuela. I'll give you points for creativity, though." Santana leaned back and began looking at her nails.
"What?" Matilda raised her eyebrows.
"I was taken off abuela by social services. They're not just going to give her three kids if she can't look after one." Santana shrugged.
"What? No you weren't." Matilda said.
"Yeah, I was. My papí was deployed at the time, so he got no say in any of it and my mamí went loca. I got taken off her by social services. I turned eighteen and moved straight here with all of my friends. My papí found out when he came home after I'd moved here, but I never went back." Santana looked up from her nails. "You're not going to go to abuela, so I suggest you suck it up and learn to love it here cause the only other option you guys have is foster care and I'd die before letting you three get split up." Santana said. Matilda glared at her and stormed to her bedroom, slamming the door behind herself. Santana groaned and sent a text to Emma saying she would go and could they arrange everything for her. She got a thumbs up text back.
"San? Baby?" Brittany walked into the living room slowly. Santana looked at her. Brittany had that look on her face, the one where she knew Santana was vulnerable and would need someone to hold her. "I heard Matilda slamming her door so I assumed it was safe for me to come out." Brittany said. Santana's bottom lip trembled and she felt her eyes beginning to fill with tears. Brittany rushed to her and enveloped Santana in her arms. Santana let out her sobs into Brittany's chest, her fingers clutching the neckline of Brittany's shirt she was wearing. "It's okay. It's okay, I've got you." Brittany whispered. She sat on the couch beside Santana and pulled her onto her lap. Santana wrapped her legs around Brittany's waist, holding them there tightly in case Brittany tried to escape. "I've got you." Brittany whispered, stroking her fingers through Santana's curls.
———————————————————————
Santana managed to control her sobs after an hour. She was left with short and raspy breaths, red cheeks and sore eyes. They stung where she had been wiping them with Brittany's shirt and her fingers were numb from clutching the shirt so tightly.
"I'm sorry." her voice was raspier than normal, like she'd just smoked a pack of twenty cigarettes in a day, which she hadn't done since she was a teenager. Brittany's face softened and her hands came up to hold Santana's cheeks.
"It's not your fault. I know this has been hard on you and it's good to let it all out. I'm more than happy to be the person who holds you while you cry." Brittany whispered. Santana leaned in and kissed her.
"I'm still sorry. I just want to be good enough for her and then she goes and freaks out like that and I feel like I'm getting nowhere. I don't get it. Why doesn't she like me?" Santana asked.
"It's all new to everyone. She's having a hard time settling in, sweetie. She's been like a mother to those girls for years and she's being told to take a backseat. Everything she's ever known is changing and she's bound to be upset and lash out. You're trying your best and that is all that matters." Brittany said. Santana sniffed and nodded. "I know what'll cheer you up." Brittany smiled. Santana felt her shuffling to the end of the couch and then stand up, keeping Santana wrapped around her body. Brittany carried her to the kitchen and plugged a phone into the speakers. She found the song she was looking for and pressed play. Songbird began playing through the apartment.
"It's our song." Santana whispered.
"I know." Brittany began swaying with her.
"Am I too heavy?" Samanta asked.
"Never." Brittany smiled and kissed her cheek. Santana buried her head in Brittany's neck, holding her tightly as they danced to their song. Brittany looked up from where she had hidden herself in Santana's hair and saw Matilda watching them from the kitchen doorway. She just watched Matilda watch them for a minute, before raising her eyebrows. She didn't want to be mean to Matilda, she was only a kid, but she had made Santana cry like Brittany had never ever seen before. It hurt her heart to see Santana in bits over Matilda and she wanted Matilda to see that she had upset Santana.
Matilda frowned as Santana lifted her head and saw Brittany's attention was somewhere else.
"Britt?" Santana whispered. Brittany's eyes drifted back to Santana's.
"Yeah baby?" Brittany whispered.
"I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before." Santana sang along to the song playing. Brittany smiled widely and kissed her.
"I love you so much." Brittany mumbled.
"I love you more." Santana buried her face back in Brittany's neck. Brittany looked up and saw Matilda give them one last look before heading to her bedroom.
———————————————————————
"Morning." Santana looked up from the Lego set the next morning.
"Tía, it's nearly done!" Cambria looked the castle over before climbing onto the island seats.
"I know. I've been up all night doing it." Santana said.
"Why?" Francesca asked.
"I couldn't sleep and I get all restless. It wasn't fair to Britt to stay in the bed so I came out here and started on this again." Santana said.
"Where's Britt?" Cambria asked.
"She's at the hospital." Santana said.
"What? Why?" Francesca dropped her fork against her plate. Santana winced at the noise.
"She's gone for a check up. It's nothing bad, don't worry. She has issues with one of her hips and has to get it checked before we start intense rehearsals for the musical." Santana said.
"Oh." Francesca sighed. Santana looked back at the Lego set once she heard Matilda coming down the hallway.
"Satan! Let me in!" Quinn banged on the front door. Santana stood and went to open it.
"Hey Quinnegan. Why are you here? And why is Kitty here?" Santana raised her eyebrows at Quinn's little sister.
"She lives with me now, even though she's twenty five and capable to live by herself." Quinn pulled Kitty into the apartment by her jacket collar. She pushed her into the kitchen. "Make yourself useful and feed the fish." Quinn said.
"I'm not a slave, I'm an adult." Kitty snorted.
"Clearly not as good as an adult as me if mum made you move into my apartment. Unless you want to go home to Ohio, I suggest you listen to me." Quinn said. Kitty rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen.
"Who the hell are these midgets?" Kitty whined.
"They're Satan's midgets so be nice!" Quinn shouted. She turned to Santana. "I am going to fucking kill her. She just turned up, on my doorstep, at two in the fucking morning. I have had no sleep trying to sort this shit out with mum. She's been like, family shamed and cut off for being a slag. Apparently Kitty didn't learn the lesson from me not to sleep around without protection!" Quinn shouted the last sentence.
"I've got more common sense than you to make them pull out!" Kitty shouted back.
"What the fuck." Santana mumbled.
"I know! I'm going to end up killing her. She's got to go somewhere. I can't stand her and she's been here for a few hours!" Quinn glared at the kitchen.
"Stop whining, you self absorbed bitch!" Kitty appeared in the doorway with a glare to rival Quinn's.
"The pair of you, shut up!" Santana shouted. They fell silent. "I made pancakes for breakfast. Kitty, get yourself a plate and sit down. Keep it quiet. Quinn, get some sleep. I'll take Kitty to work with me. She's good at shouting, she can help me direct." Santana said. Quinn groaned and leaned against Santana.
"Free anything at the cafe whenever you come by. You're doing me a solid, Satan." Quinn mumbled and dropped onto the couch. Santana covered her with a blanket and went into the kitchen.
"Hi Kitty. How was your flight?" Santana hugged her.
"It was quick, I guess. Hey, have you got a thing I can lend until I get away from the demon and buy my own?" Kitty smiled hopefully. Santana sighed.
"My room, same place as in Ohio. Only take one, I'll need them after today." Santana said. Kitty kissed her cheek and ran down the hallway.
"Who is that?" Francesca raised her eyebrows.
"Quinn's half sister, Kitty Wilde. She's twenty five." Santana said.
"Why's she living with Quinn if she's an adult?" Francesca raised her eyebrows.
"My mum doesn't think I'm independent enough." Kitty appeared, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.
"Kitty." Santana groaned. She nodded and climbed up onto the kitchen side. She opened the window and slid her legs out. She wrapped an arm around the metal bar a few inches away and pulled herself onto the balcony. She sat down on the stairs and looked back at Santana.
"I need a lighter." she said. Santana rolled her eyes and grabbed one off the top of the fridge. She threw it to Kitty and watched her light her cigarette. She inhaled and visibly relaxed, leaning back against the stairs.
"That's not healthy." Cambria said.
"There's no stopping Kitty when she wants to do something." Santana put the lighter back on top of the fridge. She passed the pancakes out to Kitty and closed the window over so the smoke wouldn't come in. She sat on the counter top and looked at her nieces. Cambria was staring at her curiously, Francesca was frowning and Matilda had one of those glares on her face. "What?" Santana said.
"Nothing." Cambria looked back at her food.
"Do you smoke?" Francesca asked.
"Nope." Santana lied.
"You just said to only take one cause you'll need them." Matilda said.
"And it's nothing to do with you, so drop it. What Kitty does is up to Kitty, cause she's an adult. Just eat your breakfast." Santana rolled her eyes. Matilda smirked again and looked down at her plate.
"Are you going to see our dad?" Francesca asked.
"Yeah. I'll tell you guys when I'm going." Santana said. Matilda looked back up at her with a glare.
"I can't believe-" Matilda started.
"Don't even start with that again. I can't listen to you flipping on me at this time in the morning after no sleep." Santana snapped.
"San, you know Quinn is dead on our couch?" Brittany walked into the room. "Hey, Kitty's here! Why is everyone so tense? Did one of the fish die?" Brittany ran to the tank.
"Matilda and Santana are arguing." Francesca said.
"Yes I know Quinn is dead on our couch. Kitty now lives with her so we can imagine how amazing that's going. The fish are fine. Kitty should've fed them." Santana said. Kitty gave a thumbs up through the window.
"Why are you guys arguing?" Brittany asked.
"Cause Matilda is angry Santana is going to see our dad." Francesca said.
"Can't we all just be friends? I get you're all going to disagree with things sometimes, it's bound to happen with how similar you guys all are, but-" Brittany stopped when she saw Kitty smoking. She turned to Santana with raised eyebrows.
"Don't even start, Britt." Santana pleased. She turned back to the girls.
"I'll take you guys to school." she said.
"I can take them. I have to take Quinnegan's minion to work with me anyway." Santana said.
"Alright." Brittany sat at the table beside Cambria.
"You were saying?" Matilda smirked. Brittany raised her eyebrows and looked at Santana. She groaned and put her head in her hands.
"I'm so done with all of this." Santana mumbled. She slid off the counter and shook herself quickly. "I'm fine. We're fine. Right. Go get your shit, we're driving to school today. Quinnegan 2.0, lets go!" Santana shouted. Kitty gave her the thumbs up and Brittany opened the window again. Kitty climbed through with her empty plate and put her cigarette out in the sink. Everyone began moving through the apartment.
"You're okay baby." Brittany kissed Santana's temple.
"Sorry about the cigarettes. I can't even explain." Santana said.
"Don't worry. I get you're stressed." Brittany said.
"Understatement." Santana muttered and went to get her own shoes on.
