It wasn't supposed to be this way. Everything was fine...the day was going fine. How did it turn out like this?
Earlier
"Welcome home, mijo." Santana says as she grabs Benji from his carrier.
Rachel walks into the living room after putting some milk in the refrigerator. After being stuck in the hospital for the last three days, Rachel was happy to finally be in her own space. Santana is just happy they're both healthy and they can spend some time together as a family. Rachel's fathers just left after their daughter and grandson were released from the hospital, while Maribel is currently with Quinn.
"I have to admit, I never expected you to be so...nurturing." Rachel says as she watches Santana gently sits Benji in a bassinet near the couch.
"Yeah, me neither. Like, I don't know...he's loud, needy and full of drool, but...he's pretty adorable. I just realized he's almost exactly like his mother." Santana laughs lightly at her own joke as Rachel sits on the couch near him.
"Very funny." Rachel responds with a roll of her eyes.
"Honestly, I think I may be in love with him. Is that weird?" Rachel shakes her head as she leans back against the couch.
"Parental love feels like no other, at least in my opinion. I'm not sure I've ever loved anyone the way I love him and we only met three days ago." Rachel responds softly, gazing at her son lovingly.
"And I get to do it all again whenever she decides she's done cooking. Can you tell Q is kinda pissed she's overdue?"
"If her passive aggressive comments about becoming pregnant first are any indicator, then yes I would say I can definitely tell. Have they said anything about inducing?" Rachel asks.
"Q thinks it'll be better if we wait another week to give her a chance to try to escape first. I can't blame her though. I've been inside Q and believe me, if it were that easy to come back out...we wouldn't be having a baby." Santana smirks at Rachel's face of disgust.
"Honestly Santana, have some tact. There are young ears here."Santana rolls her eyes.
"He can't even see past his own damn hand. He'll be fine."
"Why did I think it would be a good idea to have a child with you?"
"Because I'm hot and now you have one of the cutest babies to grace this planet. You're welcome."
"How long is your mother supposed to be staying?" Rachel asks as Santana sits on the couch next to her.
"How the hell should I know? I'm not her keeper." Santana crosses her legs as Rachel glares at her.
"What? I seriously don't know." Rachel sighs with a nod.
"How long do you plan on staying?" She asks.
"Probably a while. Why?" Santana responds.
"I need a nap. I trust that you're capable of taking care of him while I sleep. His milk is in the refrigerator." Rachel tells her as she stands from the couch.
"Okay. We'll be around." Rachel nods as she walks to her bedroom.
Not too soon after Rachel leaves, Benji begins to cry. Picking him up, Santana cradles him in her arms, gently rocking him as she goes into the kitchen to warm his bottle. After checking the temperature of the milk, she begins to feed him as she walks back to the couch. Lying down, Santana watches the small infant in her arms.
Since Benji was a few weeks early, he was slightly underweight, weighing 5 pounds and 4 ounces but the doctors are sure he'll pick up weight in the upcoming weeks. Once he finishes his bottle, Santana grabs his burp cloth from the diaper bag, tossing it over her shoulder then gently rubbing and patting her sons back as she returns to her previous spot. After he burps, Santana wipes his mouth and lies on the couch, placing against her chest. She gently rubs his head while softly humming to him until her phone rings.
"Hello?" She answers after carefully pulling the phone from her pocket.
"Hey babe." Quinn's voice brings a smile to Santana's face.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing much, I just missed your voice. How's Benji?" Quinn asks.
In the past few days, they've hardly seen much of each other. Santana had been staying at the hospital, only seeing Quinn for the few hours she'd come to visit. Quinn would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous. She and Santana just made things official so she wants to be selfish, but she won't. Quinn knows that her time with Santana will be even more divided now that one baby is already here and the other will be soon enough.
"He's good. Hopefully he goes back to sleep so I can nap too. Is my mom annoying you yet?"
"Surprisingly no. She's actually been really good company."
"Told you she wasn't that bad."
"I guess she's like you. She has her moments." Santana laughs lightly.
"Shut up. How are you feeling?"
"Fine...I keep getting cramps every so often but I don't think it's contractions. I don't know why she just won't come out." Santana smirks to herself, remembering her comment to Rachel earlier.
"Don't rush her Q. She apparently already knows the importance of being fashionably late." Quinn laughs on the other end.
"Of course she does. Well, I'll let you go."
"Cool. Maybe if you feel up to it, we could go out? Like on a real official date."
"I'd love that. I'll see you later."
"Bye Luce."
"I would threaten you, but your mother is coming back. Don't forget you have to come home to me." Santana smirks.
"That's one of the best parts of my day."
"What are you talking about?"
"Coming home to you." Quinn can't help the blush that creeps onto her cheeks, grateful Santana can't see her.
"You can't charm your way out of this."
"We'll see about that. We both know exactly how convincing I can be." Quinn rolls her eyes at Santana's confidence.
"Bye Santana."
"Bye Baby. I'll be home in a few hours." The call ends and Santana redirects her attention to the sleeping newborn on her chest.
Rachel's nap was code for sleeping the entire day away. Santana was on her way to wake her when she finally emerged from the bedroom. After spending a couple of hours together, Santana decided Rachel could have Benji for the rest of the night. She wanted to go home to her pregnant girlfriend and sleep for the next 30 hours since Benji doesn't care that Santana needs sleep too.
"You've been a mother for all of 72 hours and you already look like you could sleep for the rest of the week." Santana's face scrunches at her mother.
"It's nice to see you too Mami." Santana rolls her eyes as Maribel laughs lightly.
"You do look like an insomniac." Quinn says, biting into the apple she's holding. Santana rolls her eyes at her too as she sits at the island, across from her.
"Would you like me to tell you what you look like?" Quinn smirks.
"I don't think you want that fight." Maribel chimes from her spot near the stove top, stirring something in a pot.
"You should listen to your mother." Quinn adds teasingly.
"Whatever. What have you two done all day."
"Nothing much, but I enjoyed our time together." Maribel sends Quinn a smile over her shoulder who returns it.
"So did I. I'm actually pretty sad you're going back to Lima soon."
"Yes, well life continues. Hopefully that little one pops out in the next three days before I have to leave." Maribel responds.
"She'll come when she's ready. Q, are you still up for that date?" Knowing how tired Santana must be, Quinn shakes her head.
"Tomorrow." She says and Santana only nods.
"Cool. I'll leave you two to do whatever you were doing before I got here. I've gotten like four hours of sleep in the last three days. If it doesn't involve a fire or a kid, don't wake me up for anything." Santana says, standing from her seat and walking over to place a kiss to Quinn's cheek.
"Goodnight Santi." Maribel says with a warm smile as she watches her daughter.
"Night mami." Santana says as she begins to leave, but she doesn't get far when Quinn calls out.
"Santana?"
"Kid or fire?" Santana playfully responds.
"Kid...I think she's ready." Santana's eyes widen as she turns on her heels.
Present
Everything happened so quickly. All Santana can remember is holding her daughter and then...the alarms and panic. She was sure she heard someone say the word hemorrhage before they rushed her out of the room, but she isn't sure. Santana barely registers the warm hand coming to rest on her shoulder.
"San?" Brittany calls to her but her voice seems distant, even though she's right next to her. Maribel sighs as she gives Brittany a sympathetic smile.
"Why don't you go get us some coffee?" Nodding, Brittany sends Santana a sad look before walking away.
"Santana..." Maribel says softly as she takes her daughter's limp hand in hers.
"Quinn is going to be fine. She's in good hands." Santana's head slowly turns towards her mother, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"But what if she isn't? What if..." Santana can't finish her sentence, her emotions overwhelming her. Maribel pulls her against her body, cradling her daughter as her body wracks with sobs and tears.