Chapter 11 – The new Christmas

Brittany…

When Christmas was just around the corner, Brittany realized that her new life had become her regular life. For the first time she wasn't going to celebrate Christmas with her mother in their apartment. For the first time they weren't going to exchange gifts on Christmas morning.

Christmas now meant something completely different. It meant sharing a pizza from the freezer with aunt Patty and going to bed early instead of staying up till late at night with her mom. It meant reading in a book alone instead of watching Home Alone all cuddled up together under a blanket.

She didn't know this new Christmas and she was pretty sure she wasn't going to like it but what choice did she have? This was life now. This was reality. She wasn't living with her mom anymore and probably never going to again.

So when Brittany, Santana and Quinn all said goodbye to each other on the last day of school before the holiday, she felt her heart becoming heavy. She had no idea what she was going to do with her free time. Dancing behind the trailer wasn't that much fun anymore now that it was cold and neither was driving around in Patty's truck.

Whenever aunt Patty wasn't working, Brittany felt like she had to be in her own room so she wouldn't disturb her aunt. Other than listening to music, there wasn't much she could do in there. She could have studied for some upcoming tests but Brittany hated that more than anything.

She was very thankful for every shift they gave her at the shop but they weren't going to be a lot. There would still be hours to kill.

"Wait up!"

Brittany turned around in surprise when she had already reached her bike and was ready to drive home. Santana was waving at her and came running over. Did Brittany forget something? They said goodbye only minutes ago.

Santana's cheeks were slightly red from running when she came to a halt. She had a grin on her face.

"What is it?" Brittany asked curiously.

Santana gasped for air when she put her hand to her probably aching side.

"I didn't want to ask when Quinn was still there but I was thinking we could bake cookies together?"

Brittany stared at Santana's happy face. She definitely wasn't expecting something like that. In fact she had never baked cookies in her life before. At least she couldn't remember. Maybe she and her mom used to do that when Brittany was little.

"My abuela always invites me and my brothers over to make cookies before Christmas. They're the best… we could bring some to Quinn as a surprise. I know her Dad won't let her come."

"Oh well…"

"I mean, we don't have to. I just thought that maybe you'd like to do something since you-"

"I'd love to." Brittany quickly said when she saw Santana's insecurity. She couldn't think of a better way to learn how to bake cookies. Santana was probably just as good at it as she was at knitting.

The brunette smiled at her happily.

"Great" She said when she looked over her shoulder. "I have to be at Schuester's in a couple minutes so I better run. But you can come over on Monday if that works."

"Works perfectly. Can I bring something? Ingredients from the shop maybe?"

Santana shook her head.

"Abuela has everything."

"Alright. See you on Monday then."

"Yeah. See you then."

They said goodbye with another smile and Brittany drove off shortly after. She had something to look forward to now. She didn't even mind that she was going to eat lasagna for the third time in a row that night. Her spirits had lifted immediately at the thought of spending time with Santana during the holiday.

/

The next days went by faster than expected. She worked two shifts at the shop and helped aunt Patty with a couple things such as cleaning out her closet and buying some new clothes. It came very unexpectedly when Patty asked her to go with her. She needed advice about what would look good on her.

On the ride to the clothing shop she explained that she had met a gentleman and that he invited her for dinner but she had nothing nice to wear anymore. Brittany found herself getting excited for aunt Patty. They had never talked about anything private before and then suddenly they were trying out dresses for her new date.

"Is there a boy in your life, too?" Aunt Patty wondered when they drove back home after a successful shopping session.

Brittany shook her head.

"No… they're all kind of stupid." Aunt Patty chuckled at those words.

"Yeah, I remember that from high school, too. What about that Anderson boy? Don't you always go to his place?"

"Oh… yeah. But no – we're just friends."

"Ok. What a pity. He's very handsome."

Brittany thought about it for a moment.

"Yes. He is. What did you feel when you met that man you're having dinner with? When you saw him for the first time?"

Brittany eagerly waited for aunt Patty's response because she had that smirk on her face, her eyes trained on the road.

"I felt it in my chest. It was exciting." Brittany narrowed her eyes, not sure what to do with that information. "He took my hand and said that he'd love to see me again. In that moment I felt like I mattered." Aunt Patty shrugged. "It felt good. And a little arousing."

Brittany's eyes widened and her jaw nearly dropped. She didn't know if she really wanted to hear that but at the same time she was curious. A mix between 'too much information' and 'what happened after that?'

"Because he took your hand?"

Aunt Patty laughed.

"You wanted to hear how it felt. That's how I felt. It was very special."

Brittany thought for a while. She and Blaine had held hands a few times when dancing in his basement. It was always in a funny way. And a little sweaty.

For the rest of the ride they didn't speak much more. Brittany appreciated the fact that for once they had talked about something a little more intimate than the weather or the different types of frozen food. She didn't want to strain the fresh bond they were building so she kept quiet and listened to the songs on the radio instead.

/

When it was finally Monday afternoon and Brittany found herself in the tiny kitchen of Abuela Lopez, she regretted having said yes to the whole cookie thing. It wasn't because of the sticky dough that seemed to be everywhere on her clothes or because of the too sweet, buttery smell that fogged her senses. It also wasn't because of Santana's brother Tony who kept talking about his silly computer games. It was because of her other brother.

Iker…

Brittany always thought he was so cute whenever she saw him for just a couple seconds. But now that she had spent the past hour with him in a small kitchen – she realized that it was an optical illusion. He had a cute face. And a funny laugh. But he was talking all the time. And he kept throwing things at Brittany whenever Santana or her abuela weren't looking. Then he giggled like a tiny idiot or shrieked unexpectedly.

She couldn't believe he was nine years old. He was so tiny and so silly. Brittany "fell for all his tricks" that he had learned at school and it made him laugh hysterically. Santana kept telling him to leave Brittany alone but she was also busy following her abuela's strict orders so Brittany was on her own at taking countermeasures.

At one point Iker attacked her with an icing bag and since Brittany was not having that, she dropped the spoon she had been holding and ran after the boy. He screamed when he realized that Brittany was no longer tolerating his acts of terror in silence. He ran as fast as he could but didn't get much further than the living room where Brittany grabbed his wrist, neatly snatched the icing bag out of his hand and then picked the boy up. He weighed pretty much nothing.

"We need the icing bag!" Santana yelled from the kitchen.

"Ok listen smartass, we both know you won't stand a chance if we take this outside and handle it like real… men." Brittany muttered under her breath. Iker stared at her with big eyes. Intimidated and interested at the same time. "So I'll wait until you're old enough to really fight me. It's going to be ugly… epic, even. People will cheer for us. But for now you do one thing." Brittany gave him a meaningful look. Then she grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulled it over his head so he couldn't see anymore and lifted him up over her shoulder. "You stay quiet and do what your sister says."

Santana stared at her when Brittany returned with the desired item in her left hand and Iker on her her right shoulder.

"How did you… make him shut up?" She asked stunned and took the icing bag that Brittany handed her. She watched how Brittany put Iker down on a table and pulled his shirt back down to reveal his face.

"We had a little… chat, didn't we?" Brittany wanted to know and gave the boy another intent gaze. Iker nodded knowingly.

"Ok well, I need you to go get me some eggs from the chicken coop, Iker. And Brittany, can you take a look at what Tony is practicing with the dough over there? It looks like he's forming his cookies into the shapes of boobs…"

Brittany chuckled with a nod. She watched how Iker got up and left the kitchen. When he turned around once more Brittany whispered: "Leave now, young warrior. Our time will come."

He grinned at her mischievously and that's when he had her again. There was no way she could ever hurt his cute face. But it was fun to pretend.

When Brittany eventually stepped back to the kitchen counter and next to Santana, the two of them silently did what abuela told them to do. She could tell from the corner of her eye that the brunette was smiling at her thankfully.

She couldn't think of a better way to spend the day before Christmas.

/

Early on Christmas morning Santana came to pick Brittany up with two huge boxes of cookies in her hands. One was for Brittany and aunt Patty and the other one they carried over to Quinn's house. Brittany also brought along a Teddy bear she bought for Quinn at the shop. Or for the baby… she saw it and thought it would be a cute gift so instead of buying herself a new music tape, she bought the bear.

It was too cold to ride their bikes so they walked all the way and once again talked a bit about their plans after high school. Brittany told her about how she would love to dance professionally and learned that Santana wanted to go to college but had no idea if it was ever going to be possible.

"At least I've got another year to think about it. Maybe I'll just work for Will for the rest of my life. I can't wait to watch you on TV though." She smiled but Brittany could see the hint of sadness in her eyes.

"I'm not gonna leave you behind", Brittany mumbled when they approached the Fabrays' house. "Me, you and Quinn… we can all make it out of here together."

Santana glanced at her when she raised her hand to ring the doorbell. The warmth in her face made Brittany's heart ache for a second. Or maybe it was the thought of actually leaving them behind one day.

Santana's lips parted in order to say something but then the door opened.

"Oh my God! What are you guys doing here?" Quinn squealed when she saw the two of them. She fell around Santana's neck and nearly caused her to drop the box of cookies. Then she also hugged Brittany and squeezed her tightly. Brittany could feel her small baby bump which was mind-blowing.

"I wish I could ask you inside but my mom is in her crazy mode. Everything needs to be perfect for tonight so she can't take any unexpected visitors or anything unexpected at all."

Santana quickly waved it off.

"I know, I know. We're just here to drop off some self-made cookies. We made your favourite ones."

"And a teddy bear. For you or the baby." Brittany added and gave Quinn the stuffed animal.

The fact that Quinn had immediate tears in her eyes almost made Brittany tear up, too but she contained herself when they heard Quinn's mom yelling in the background.

"I'm so sorry" Quinn cried and laughed at the same time. "I have to go back. I can't believe you guys came over with these gifts. I love you." She took both of them in for a hug at the same time. They all laughed at their utterly short but heartfelt reunion when Santana handed Quinn the cookies and then waved at her before the blonde closed the door.

Brittany and Santana walked away both empty handed now but Brittany definitely felt good inside.

"That was worth it." Santana mumbled and basically spoke Brittany's thoughts.

"I know right? I'm glad we went over. When Quinn hugged me and I felt her bump, I realized that next Christmas there's going to be a little kid running around. Can you believe it?"

Brittany heard Santana laughing so she looked at her confusedly. The brunette poked her with the elbow.

"Brittany, the baby needs to be born in a couple months first. I don't think it'll be able to run by then."

Brittany joined her laughter when she realized that Santana was probably right.

"It's not impossible though." She defended herself. "Some babies do walk super early. My mom told me that I was already dancing on the changing table."

She could hear Santana's amused giggle while she adjusted her scarf that kept falling off her shoulder. When she dropped her hand again, it bumped against Santana's.

For no reason at all and pretty much automatically she took Santana's hand into hers.

It was just for a couple seconds because she quickly realized what she was doing. It was a connection that somehow felt special.

When she let go, she could sense Santana's glimpse on her cheek. She kept looking to the ground because she didn't know what else to do. Two heartbeats later she felt the hand again.

Brittany swallowed dryly when they walked down the road in silence, holding hands for a longer time now. Her chest doing all kinds of weird things.

Their hands felt warm. Not sticky warm. Just warm.

They did that until they came across some people standing outside a house, talking animatedly. They both let go at the same time and neither tried to do it again until they reached Santana's home.

Santana's abuela arrived right at the same time, probably to help prepare a nice Christmas dinner. She waved at Brittany and Santana and a second later Iker came running from the backyard to jump at her excitedly.

"Christmas gets him all jumpy and crazy. Just like baking cookies." Santana explained. Brittany chuckled and watched how the boy now came running towards them.

He grabbed Santana from behind and hugged her middle tightly.

"When do I get my present?" He asked happily.

"Present?" Santana wondered. "What present? I didn't know you wanted one."

Iker started pushing Santana towards the house so Brittany knew this was time to wish each other a Merry Christmas and say goodbye.

"I'll see you at school then. Or maybe at Blaine's New Year's party."

Santana nodded.

"Yeah, I'll have to see if I can make it. My Dad didn't exactly say no but then again he didn't say anything at all so… maybe."

Brittany nodded understandingly. She was lucky that she didn't have to ask aunt Patty about these things.

"Right. Well uh… I hope you guys have a wonderful evening. Merry Christmas."

Santana looked up into Brittany's eyes while Iker kept pulling at her.

"Merry Christmas to you, too." She said. Brittany really would have given a lot to keep walking with Santana for a bit instead of going home to celebrate a weird new Christmas.

With one last look they both turned around to go into the opposite direction.

Brittany took a deep breath of cold air.

This was new, too. And interesting.

But it definitely wasn't bad.

/

Hours later Brittany still thought about that walk back from Quinn's house. When she was sitting next to aunt Patty on their tiny couch. They watched an old movie on TV and it was surprisingly funny. Aunt Patty had even put up some Christmas lights and for a change they cooked something together. Nothing from the freezer but actual mashed potatoes with chicken. It turned out to be pretty good. Later in front of the TV they ate the delicious cookies that Brittany had baked at the Lopez house and chuckled from time to time at the movie.

The new Christmas wasn't so bad. It actually felt kind of light.

But from time to time her mind went back to the morning. When she and Santana both hugged Quinn at the same time. Or when they held hands while walking down the street.

Brittany didn't really know what to think about it. At the same time it didn't scare her that she didn't know.

Maybe it was because it was Christmas and at Christmas sometimes unexpected things happened.