"Why the fuck are you all incompetent assholes?!" Santana screamed at the dancers. Brittany and Mike were double booked today with a meeting with some producer, so Santana had told them to go and she knew the routines, so she could step in if she had to.

"You're pushing them really hard, Santana. Maybe they should take a break." Rachel said.

"There are no breaks on Broadway! I don't think you idiots understand the pressure on our shoulders right now! This musical could redefine every single one of your careers and you're all messing around like it's funny! It isn't! We open in less than two months and I have to be honest, you're shit." Santana paced on the stage. The dancers all nodded. Santana smirked and turned to Rachel. "Give me your phone." Santana said. Rachel slid it out of her pocket and handed it to Santana. She walked off the stage and began scrolling through the numbers. "Get to work!" she shouted. Kitty snorted and took over directing for her.

———————————————————————

"Thanks for coming on such short notice." Santana hugged Cassandra July.

"Well, what's a Friday if it's not spent making people cry?" Cassandra smiled.

"I've missed you, Cassie. Everything is kicking my ass lately and Britt and Mike are at some meeting so the dancers think they can all slack off. I know the routines and you should be able to pick up on any mistakes. Don't talk to the singers, I've got Mercedes on that, just focus on my dancers please. I love Britt and Mike but they're not scary like you." Santana said. Cassie reached into her bag and held out a cigarette. Santana took it and let her light it. She took a puff and sat down on the steps outside the theatre.

"You're stressed, kid. Why?" Cassandra lit her own and sat beside Santana.

"I've been given custody of my nieces. Cambria is just amazing. I adore her. She's so innocent and happy all the time. Francesca, she's on my wavelength. She gets my music taste and she's just so chilled out. Now, Matilda. She's a pain in my ass. She seems to be so angry with me over every little thing and it's not my fault her dad is a fuck up and she's got to live with me. She tries to intimidate me but I can't like flip out on her and put her in her place cause I'm scared of upsetting the other two." Santana said.

"That sounds shit, Satan. Tell you what, why don't you get someone to mind the midgets tonight and we can have a drink and relax? You could do with one. You look like utter shit." Cassie said.

"Thanks." Santana chuckled. "I would but I can't force them on Britt. It's cruel to leave her with Matilda while she's being a brat. You're more than welcome to come over and see us. Quinn's little sister, Kitty, has just moved here and she's a bitch. You'll love her." Santana flicked the ash off her cigarette.

"Can I get drunk?" Cassie asked.

"You're always drunk." Santana raised her eyebrows.

"Fair play, Satan. How old are your minions then?"

"Sixteen, thirteen and ten."

"Maybe I'm best not drinking." Cassie shrugged. Santana's phone rang with a call from Quinn. Santana answered and put it on speaker.

"Hey Quinnegan. You're on speaker. I'm with Cassie." Santana said.

"Hey Cass. Kick any puppies lately?" Quinn asked.

"Not for a while. Going to kick some once I've finished my smoke. You?" Cassie inhaled her cigarette again.

"Only my sister. How is she, by the way?" Quinn asked.

"Alive. She seems to have a knack for the whole screaming at people thing. Not that I expected anything different." Santana said.

"She has my blood. I was thinking that we could have one of our group nights in the shop tonight." Quinn said.

"Am I invited, Quinnegan?" Cassie laughed.

"Of course. Santana can bring her minions and her girlfriend, and tell her to bring Mike and Tina. Blaine and Kurt agreed, so did Rach and Mercedes. Cassie can come too and then we've got a nice group to chill with." Quinn said.

"Your karaoke better be open." Cassie said.

"Of course it is. I love a good sing song." Quinn laughed.

"What time?" Santana asked.

"About seven? It's Friday so the shop won't be busy tonight." Quinn said.

"Sounds good. See you then." Santana said.

"See ya, Satan. Thanks for this morning, by the way." Quinn ended the call. Cassie put her cigarette out and held a hand out for Santana. She took one last inhale and then put it out. She let Cassie pull her up and they went back into the theatre. The dancers all stopped as soon as they saw Santana and Cassie walking towards them. Kitty smirked and stepped to the side.

"This is Cassandra July. She teaches dance at NYADA and she isn't here to mess around. Britt and Mike have taught you guys the routines, let's see how you perform them with Cassandra July supervising." Santana said. Cassie stepped up onto the stage and smiled at Rachel.

"Nice to see you, Schwimmer. Now," she turned to the dancers, "get to work, you fucking idiots!" she shouted. They arranged themselves quickly and the music started playing. Santana watched them run through the routine probably the best they had ever done it. Cassie nodded as they finished. "The choreography deserves awards, it truly does." she looked back at Santana.

"Britt and Mike are miracle workers." Santana shrugged.

"They would be if the dancers actually bothered. Again from the top. If I catch you slipping up, you're doing two laps of the whole theatre. Be thankful it's only two because I am in a good mood." Cassie said. The dancers nodded and got back into their starting position.

"She's good." Kitty said.

"She's one of the best." Santana agreed.

———————————————————————

"Hey." Santana and Kitty greeted the three girls at the street corner.

"Hey San." Francesca said.

"Where's the nearest shop?" Kitty asked.

"There." Santana pointed at the shop over the road.

"Want anything?" Kitty asked.

"No thanks." Santana said. Kitty nodded and ran to the shop. "How was school?" Santana looked at her nieces.

"Fine." Matilda muttered.

"It was good." Francesca and Cambria said.

"Good." Santana said.

"How was work?" Cambria asked.

"It was work. Sue said I don't have to go in every day now cause she wants Holly to take over directing for a while." Santana said.

"Why?" Francesca asked.

"It's nothing bad. She does it all the time. She gives us a month each of directing before we get to the weeks right before the opening and then she goes with us. It's to give us a break." Santana said. Kitty joined them again, a strawberry lace hanging out of her mouth as she put her cigarettes in her pocket. They began walking back towards the apartment in silence.

"What are we doing tonight?" Matilda asked.

"We're going over to Quinn's coffee shop. Kitty, you might as well just come home with us. You fit in my clothes if you want to get changed." Santana said.

"Still being all dieting and stuff?" Kitty asked. Santana shot her a look.

"No." she said.

"You don't need to diet. You're skin and bones, tía." Francesca said.

"I'm not, don't worry." Santana said.

"You don't eat much at home." Cambria said.

"Are you anorexic or something?" Matilda raised her eyebrows. Santana glared at Kitty. She gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm fine. Just drop it." Santana snapped. They fell silent.

"Sorry." Kitty mumbled.

"Just shut up Kitty." Santana sighed. Kitty nodded and kept her eyes on her feet as they walked home. They got inside and Santana saw Brittany lying on the couch fiddling with some papers.

"Hey guys. How was school?" Brittany asked.

"Good." Francesca and Cambria shrugged.

"Does Santana have anorexia?" Matilda asked.

"Matilda!" Santana snapped.

"You wouldn't tell me! I deserve to know considering you preach about wellness for us!" Matilda shouted.

"Have you ever considered that maybe it's nothing to do with you at all?" Santana shouted.

"Have you ever considered that maybe you're not fit to take care of us?" Matilda threw her bag on the floor.

"If you'd rather go into foster care then be my guest! You'll all be split up, you'll probably not be able to see your sisters until you're eighteen and even then, it'll be on court orders and you'll have to see your parents so you can try and rekindle whatever bullshit relationship you had in the first place. So, if you want that, then go and tell Emma that you think I'm a fuck up and shouldn't be allowed to take care of you." Santana shouted. She huffed and stormed down the hallway to her room, slamming the door. Cambria winced and leaned into Francesca's side. Francesca glared at Matilda.

"And you couldn't have just left it alone? She doesn't need to keep us, Mat, but she does because she knows how shit it is to have a shitty family and she wants it to be better for us. You're so stuck in your head that you don't even care you're hurting other people." Francesca pulled Cambria away from her. Matilda looked at Kitty and Brittany. Kitty grabbed her cigarettes and rushed to the kitchen, climbing out onto the balcony. She slammed the window shut and plugged her headphones in. Brittany just put the papers down on the table and stood up, disappearing down the hallway to try and sort Santana out. Matilda groaned and walked to the kitchen. She climbed onto the side and opened the window, climbing out into the balcony.

"Can I have one?" she asked Kitty. Kitty pulled her headphones out and shook her head.

"No way. I might be a fuck up but there is no way I'm letting you be one too. Santana would kill me if she found out I ever let you touch a cigarette." Kitty put the packet in her bra. Matilda sighed and leaned against the railing.

"I've really upset her." Matilda said. Kitty snorted.

"Understatement. Santana is complicated, I get why you're frustrated. Family is shit but Santana is an expert in that field. Just apologise and work on being nice to her. She'll let you in and you'll get to know her better and you'll know why she's so protective over you three." Kitty said.

"Do you know why?" Matilda asked. Kitty nodded slowly, inhaling her cigarette. She breathed out slowly, the smoke blending in with the cold air around them.

"Quinn and Santana have been best friends since they were eight and I was seven. I've grown up with Santana like another sister. We've got each other's back and she'd kill me if I told you anything, but you'll understand everything when you know." Kitty said.

"Does she have anorexia?" Matilda asked.

"Not my place to tell you anything. She's always been skinny. She used to do these mad diets for cheer, master cleanses or something. That's why I asked her before if she was still doing mad diets. I've only stopped doing mine because I'm not on my cheer squad anymore since I've moved here." Kitty said. Her face gave nothing away and Matilda cursed her inability to read people.

"I was just wondering. I'm curious about her. I mean, we get taken away and get sent to live with some girl our dad only told us about once. You're bound to be curious about her, aren't you? Like, why aren't she and my dad close? Why didn't she know about us? Why was she taken off my abuela by social services? Who's this Matías guy that my dad mentioned another time he was high? I've got so many questions but she won't answer any of them." Matilda said. Kitty threw the rest of her cigarette through the gap in the railing.

"Santana is complicated. She's got layers. You need to get on her good side before even thinking about getting her to open up." Kitty said. She looked at Matilda carefully. "She loves you guys. She really does. Britt does too, even if she doesn't really show it. It's hard for everyone. I think you'd get on better with everyone if you remembered that they're in the same boat as you." Kitty climbed back into the apartment, leaving Matilda to think about her words.

———————————————————————

"Hi baby." Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana's waist. Santana leaned back into her body, her fingers clutching the photo in her hands. "Who's that?" Brittany asked, looking at the photo carefully. It was a photo of Santana when she was about six, a boy beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Santana was wearing a red dress and her hair was curled. She had a blue birthday badge on her chest. The boy was wearing a red soccer kit, his curly brown hair wild. He had a green birthday badge on his chest and he was smiling cheekily at Santana. She was laughing at him, showing she had her top two teeth missing. Brittany could see another boy in the back ground who looked similar to the younger boy.

"That is Matías." Santana sighed and put the photo down on her desk.

"Who's Matías?" Brittany asked.

"My twin brother." Santana sat on the bed. Brittany sat beside her.

"I didn't know you had a twin." Brittany said.

"There's a lot you don't know, Britt." Santana gave her a small smile.

"Where is he now?" Brittany placed a hand on Santana's knee.

"Gone." she said simply.

"I'm sorry." Brittany said.

"No, don't be. I just hate talking about all of my family problems and I'll tell you everything soon, I promise, I just can't today. Matilda just winds me up so much and she makes me so upset." Santana said. She sucked in a shaky breath. "She reminds me so much of my mamí." Santana said. Brittany stayed silent. She wrapped Santana into a hug instead.

"I'll be here whenever you want to talk about your family. I do have one question, though." Brittany said.

"Go on." Santana said.

"Are you anorexic?" Brittany asked. Santana shook her head.

"I swear I'm not. Kitty asked if I was still dieting because I'm skinny and Matilda came up with the conclusion I'm anorexic. I don't have anorexia or any other eating disorders." Santana said.

"I trust you. I just had to check." Brittany placed a hand over Santana's.

"Work keeps me busy and the girls do too now, so I guess I just burn off whatever I eat quicker." Santana said.

"I get it." Brittany smiled and kissed her gently. She pulled away and looked at Santana seriously. "Can I ask you something? Totally honest and serious." Brittany said. Santana nodded. "Have you ever suffered with food? I don't want to pressure you but I've noticed you don't eat as much when you're in a mood and you never finish a full plate, even if it's tiny. It could just be me overthinking things but my sister was anorexic when she was younger and I know what the signs are." Brittany stared into Santana's eyes. Santana almost ran from the room. She sighed and looked down for a minute to compose herself.

"I'm not going to lie to you, I have had a few issues with food. I promise, Britt, that one day I'll tell you everything. You know barely anything about anything to do with my past and I know it must frustrate you sometimes, but I can't tell you until I'm ready." Santana cupped her cheeks.

"I understand, baby. There's no rush. Obviously I'd like to know so I can support you better, but we can take it all one step at a time. I'm grateful you've even let me meet the girls." Brittany said.

"I love you." Santana whispered.

"I love you more." Brittany smiled widely. Santana stood and grabbed some jeans and a belly top from her wardrobe, changing quickly. She pulled her black Isabel Marants on and grabbed her jacket. She brushed her hair and nodded at herself. "Come on, let's go and talk to Matilda. The sooner we sort everything out and get our asses to Quinn's, the better." Brittany said.

"Okay." Santana followed her out of the room. She saw Cambria was sat on the floor in the hallway tying the shoelaces on her high top red converse. She was wearing a black tutu skirt with a red t-shirt to match. She had a black leather jacket on the ground beside her and her hair was down and free for once. "You look so cute." Santana pouted.

"Thanks! I saw a photo in the kitchen of you and Britt and you looked badass. You were wearing black and red so I thought I'd try the look. I think the skirt stops it being super badass but I like it." Cambria stood up and pulled her jacket on.

"You look amazing and super badass. Where's your sisters?" Santana asked.

"Here." Francesca walked out of her room in jeans and a Nike hoodie, a pair of trainers on her feet. She had her hair up in a messy bun and her glasses were in their usual place on her face.

"And Matilda?" Santana asked.

"She's coming. Kitty is borrowing a jacket off her. They're the same size." Francesca said.

"Right." Santana walked to the kitchen and sat at the table while they waited.

"Satan, Tillie wants to talk to you." Kitty came into the kitchen, one of Matilda's jackets under her arms.

"Okay." Santana stood and walked to Matilda's bedroom. She knocked and leaned against the wall.

"Come in." Matilda said. Santana opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind her. It only occurred to her then she hadn't seen Matilda's room since she had arrived. She had a few things stuck up on the walls and a few things piled on her desk, but it looked bare and not like home. She hasn't bought much when they went shopping to decorate their rooms, but she expected more things than what there actually was.

"You wanted me." Santana said. Matilda looked up from her place on the bed.

"Yeah. I wanted to apologise. I've been a real bitch to you and I've been so in my own head that I didn't realise I was hurting you too, and Brittany and Frankie and Cammie. I can't keep doing this to you all." Matilda looked back down at her shoelaces. Santana sighed and leaned against the wall.

"You don't know me. I don't know you. We're quite similar from what I do know, so we're bound to clash. I know you're struggling but so am I. I'm not asking you to put me before everyone else, I'd never ask that of anyone. I'm just asking that you respect we all have things going on and you can be a real bitch sometimes. I mean, so can I but I've been keeping myself in check this week." Santana said.

"I know. Papí always said I had a temper like you from what he could remember. I've just got so many questions and I need the answers. You're right, I don't know you, and you don't know me. I want to change that. I want to know my tía Santana and I want you to know the real Matilda Lopez, not the bitchy one you've had to deal with since we got here." Matilda said. Santana watched her carefully.

"I need answers too. That's why I'm going to see your papí, not because I want to see him. To be honest, if I could get the answers without actually having to see him, I would, but I need closure to be able to be a better person and give you girls the life he couldn't." Santana said.

"I get it. I'm sorry, though, for upsetting you and being so invasive." Matilda said. Santana looked down at her shoes.

"It's okay." she mumbled.

"Satan! Where's your cute ass at?" Cassie shouted. Santana looked up and noticed Matilda didn't have a jacket.

"You'll need a jacket for the walk." she said and slipped out of the room.

"Satan! Which midgets are which?" Cassie hugged her.

"Cambria is the little one and Francesca is the taller one. Matilda is coming." Santana pointed them out.

"Right. Cambria looks shockingly like you." Cassie said.

"Yeah, I know. Kitty, we're getting ready to go!" Santana waved Kitty in from the window. She held up her half smoked cigarette.

"I'll go out. You coming, Satan?" Cassie asked. Brittany looked over and watched Santana. She looked at Cambria and Francesca and then shook her head.

"Later. Hurry up cause we're gonna be late and Quinnegan is a right bitch if we're late." Santana said.

"Mike and Tina are meeting us there." Brittany put her phone away.

"Are we ready?" Santana shouted.

"Yeah!" Matilda ran into the kitchen with a jacket.

"Yes." Kitty climbed back into the kitchen. Cassie pouted and put her cigarettes away.

"Guess I'll wait. Is Quinn there?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah. Let's go!" Santana grabbed her things and walked to the door. She opened it and watched everyone file out. She locked the door and they went downstairs to the lobby.

"Goodbye Miss Lopez and co." the doorman waved at them.

"Bye, John." Santana said. They left the building and headed down the street.

"Where are we going?" Cambria asked.

"Quinn owns a coffee shop. She closes some Fridays and we all go and just eat a ton of food and do karaoke and stuff." Brittany said.

"Really?" Francesca smiled.

"Yeah. It's great when we all just need to de-stress. We usually have a big group of us going." Brittany nodded.

"Who's going tonight then?" Matilda asked.

"All of us, Quinn, Mike and his girlfriend Tina, Kurt and Blaine, and then Rachel and Mercedes I think. Quinn's probably invited everyone else, though." Santana said.

"Who's everyone else?" Cassie asked.

"Puck, Artie, Sam, Joe and Sugar, probably." Brittany said.

"He's in the airforce isn't he? Puck, I mean." Kitty asked.

"Yeah, he'll come if he's home." Brittany said.

"Did I tell you I slept with his brother?" Kitty looked at Santana.

"No and I am so dying to know every single detail but we're around children, so tell me later." Santana said. Kitty smiled up at Santana and leaned against her as they walked. Santana wrapped an arm around Kitty's shoulder and kissed her temple. "I've missed you, you big pain in my ass." Santana said.

"I've missed you more. Literally, I feel like I've gone off the rails so much since the last time you guys visited." Kitty said.

"It was like a year ago just after I started dating Britt. We came home for your mums birthday in the November." Santana said.

"Yeah I know. I went like, proper crazy. I don't even know why. I just went weird and I didn't feel normal no matter what I did. I decided to try everything and see if they made me feel normal. It didn't work and now I'm left with some habits I'm not proud of." Kitty motioned to her cigarettes. Santana sighed.

"Me too kid, me too." Santana mumbled.

"We're here." Cassie pushed the door open of the coffee shop. They all went in and saw everyone was gathered around the stage, dancing as Kurt and Blaine did a duet.

"Hey losers!" Santana shouted.

"Hey! Lock the door, you guys are the last ones!" Quinn shouted. Kitty locked the door and pulled the shutters down so nobody would see in. They joined everyone dancing on the floor, the girls mixing in with Santana's chosen family very easily. Santana saw Cambria being spun around by Mike, Tina laughing and spinning with her. Francesca was with Puck and Sam, pretending to play the guitar as they danced to the song. Matilda was dancing with Kitty, Quinn and Mercedes and looked like she was actually having fun for once.

"Hey, baby. Have fun. Everyone else is." Brittany whispered, wrapping her arms around Santana. Santana smiled and turned to face her girlfriend.

"I always have fun when I'm with you." Santana said. Brittany kissed her and then grabbed her hands, beginning to dance with her. Santana laughed and let herself have fun, losing herself in the music with the people she loved more than anyone else.