For Us

by Sam Lulpus

What happened after Brittany and Santana's vacation in lesbos? They had to return to real life eventually right? Back to New York, back to their friends, back to figuring out what being an adult means. This is basically how I see their life going (with some flashbacks to before this story starts for some flavour.) This is a long one, so buckle in ;)

17. Chapter 17

When Santana was four years old, she got into her first fight with her mother. It was not one of those cute moments where the parents watched in amusement as the child tried to prove a point, but a loud screaming match in Spanish.

Santana had wanted her mother to buy her a dress when they had been at the mall, something her mother had promised her she would do, but then she had been called into work, and they had been forced to rush out of the mall without the dress. On the drive to her abuela's house Santana had been silent. She hadn't thrown a tantrum, cried, whined, or indeed shown any sign of anger at her situation. This had troubled Maribel to no end, because in her daughter's entire life, she had never kept her emotions silent. She always proclaimed her happiness, sadness or anger loudly, making sure everyone in her life knew how she was feeling. Sometimes she would call her parents at work, or her abuela at home, or her favourite aunt who lived across the country, just to inform them of her mood. So now that Santana was silent, Maribel was worried. She watched her in the rear view mirror, silently looking out of the window with her little arms crossed over her chest. She wasn't even frowning. There was just a blank expression on her face. A very cold, blank expression, and the second they reached her mother-in-law's house, Santana unbuckled herself from her booster seat, opened the door and jumped out of the car, without looking at her mother once. Maribel called after her of course, hurrying to get out of the car and follow, but Santana didn't turn back. Alma Lopez opened the door and watched the scene in front of her with mild amusement. When Santana reached her, she picked her up and raised a hand to stop Maribel from coming further up the driveway.

"Don't worry. I have her" she said calmly. Maribel stopped.

"Santana" she said angrily, from her position a few feet away. Santana made no indication that she had heard her. She continued to look past her grandmother, at the flower bed beside the door. Alma smiled, though Santana didn't see, then she turned to look at Santana.

"Listen to me. Your mother is calling you. Do not be rude. answer her." She said sharply to Santana. Santana didn't move for a few seconds, then, as if deciding she could not risk annoying her grandmother, she turned to her mother. There was anger on her face now, and not an adorable anger. Maribel frowned at her daughter, noticing that she looked much older all of a sudden.

"Santana, you can't just run out of the car like that" she said. Santana looked at her, then looked at her grandmother, who shook her head.

"Ok" she said, still looking at Alma.

"Apologise to your mother" Alma told her gently. Santana narrowed her eyes, but tuned back to her mother.

"Sorry Mami" she said in a quiet voice. Maribel nodded, sighing deeply.

"I'll see you later Santana. I won't be long I promise." As the words left her mouth, Santana seemed to be unable to control herself any longer. Tears sprung from her eyes so suddenly that Alma was startled, looking from Santana to Maribel in utter confusion.

"Mija" Maribel said, rushing forward. Santana started screaming, squirming in Alma's arms as she tried to get away from her mother.

"Santana, what's wrong with you?" she shrieked, trying desperately to hold onto her struggling grandchild. Finally, she let her fall to the floor, and Santana ran several meters away from them. Maribel stared at her, her eyes wide and her hands shaking.

"You promise? You Promise?" Santana screamed. "You're promises don't mean anything. You always promise me things but you're a liar!"

Alma's eyes widened in shock. "Don't talk to your mother that way" she yelled, also in Spanish, walking forward. Santana didn't even flinch. She continued to glare at her mother.

"Santana, I have to work. That doesn't make me a liar. I can still buy you the dress another time."

"You promised to buy me a dress, you promised we would have a girls' day, alone, the whole day. You promised that you wouldn't go to work." Santana screamed. Her tiny four year old body seemed unable to contain the fury within her. She was shaking violently now. Maribel tried to move forward, her heart wrenching as she watched the pain take over her only child. Alma stopped in her tracks, looking back at Maribel as understanding washed over her.

"Santana, sometimes grown-ups have to change plans. You're too young to understand. But we can always do it another day." Maribel said, trying to soothe her. Santana was already shaking her head.

"I don't want to do it another day. I don't want to do it ever. I don't want to see you again. Just leave me here, I'll stay with abuela forever." She was quite hysterical now, but she stood her ground. It was like she was refusing to let her body collapse. Alma stepped closer to her, tears in her eyes.

"Don't speak to me like that Santana Marie. I am going to work, and then I'm going to come pick you up later, when you're less upset. You are four years old, and you can't make decisions like that."

Santana screamed, then coughed and choked. It was so horrible to look at that Alma actually turned away. She was shaking now too, completely unsure what to do. She took a tentative step closer to Santana, and seeing that she was not going to object, picked her up. Santana cried, sobbed, into Alma's neck, clinging to her with all her strength. Her entire body shook violently as she cried, and Alma had to use every ounce of strength within her not to cry as well. She glared at Maribel as she walked back towards her, but didn't say anything.

"Santana" Maribel said quietly, reaching out to rub her back as Alma stopped before her. Alma stepped back though, refusing to let her touch Santana.

"I hate you" Santana said. "I hate you, and I don't want you to be my mami anymore". The words seemed to burn both Alma and Maribel. They both took in sharp breaths.

"No no, my little love, don't say that. You don't mean what you're saying." Alma said, rubbing Santana's back. Santana didn't say anything, but lifted her head. She looked at her mother square in the eyes. Maribel was dumbstruck. Sure, children said they hated their parents all the time, but there was something about the way Santana said it. Everyone involved was very aware of the fact that this was not a tantrum. This was not a momentary anger that Santana was feeling, that would pass in a few hours or days. This was months, maybe years of hurt and anger, finally bubbling to the surface, and Maribel was scared that it was actually possible that Santana hated her. She stared into Santana's eyes, trying to find a trace of her little girl. Trying to find love in her daughter's eyes. After a moment, she looked at Alma.

"Go if you're going" Alma said to Maribel. Her eyes seemed to be filled with hate as she looked at her.

"Stephen will come pick her up" Maribel said. With one more look at Santana, who had not looked away, she turned and walked away.

It was three months before Santana returned to normal after that. She spent all of her time with her abuela, by Alma's own request, and when she was home, she barely spoke. Her father had come to pick her up that night, but had left without her. Alma refused to let her go with him until he had heard the whole story. When he had, he looked at Santana, who was crying again, and decided it would be best for everyone if she and Maribel were away from each other for a while. Eventually, Santana moved on and resumed talking to her mother as she had done before, but Maribel did not. She took the entire incident as a glimpse into her future, and saw many fights like those with a teenage Santana. Most of all, she saw Santana leaving. Leaving their house and leaving their lives, and never coming back. Stephen had tried to tell her to stop being so dramatic. That Santana was four, and their daughter. They loved her no matter what, and even if she had a horrible temper, she would always love them too. Maribel tried to believe him, and maybe she would have, but for the fact that every time Santana looked at her, even after she had calmed down and gone back to normal, her eyes were the same as on that afternoon in Alma's front yard. Try as she might, Maribel could not find the love in them.

Over the years, Maribel's relationship with Santana got worse and worse. She watched as Santana was raised by her husband's mother, as she started hiding her emotions, as she became steadily angrier and meaner, without being able to do anything about it. Once or twice she tried to reconnect with Santana, but it only ever ended in fights. Eventually she gave up, fearing that if she kept it up Santana would surely leave and never return. Instead, she resigned herself to the poor relationship they had, and threw herself into work. It was only when Santana was fourteen that she began to realise the huge mistake she had made.

She had gone to pick Santana up from one of her cheerleading competitions because their driver was out. Though she'd thought about calling to tell her to catch a ride with one of the other girls on the team, she hadn't seen Santana for almost a week, so instead she called in an emergency at work and drove over there, arriving early enough to see the girls be awarded the trophy. She saw Santana somewhere in the middle of the group of girls, jumping up and down, screaming and laughing, hugging her friends, and it hit her. It had been years since she saw Santana like that. So open with her emotions. So happy. And she had thought that this was just how Santana had become. That she had chosen to show utter disinterest in everything, break rules and get in trouble. Now however, she understood that it was only in front of her and her husband that Santana acted this way. That she did indeed have friends and interests. That she actually did care about things besides money and status. From her position at the back of the massive room, she watched Santana. For close to ten minutes, she did nothing but watch. She watched as Santana walked around hugging all her teammates and shaking her coach's hand, and through it all she watched as she held hands with a tall blonde girl. Never once did Santana let go of her hand, and every so often Santana would look back and smile at her. Finally, they seemed to find the people they were looking for. A small girl looking no older than 5, ran towards them and jumped into Santana's arms. Maribel was shocked by this. She stood up from the pole she was leaning against and walked closer to them. Santana kissed the little girl's cheek, who high fived the blonde girl next to Santana. Maribel assumed it was her sister. They looked very alike, aside from the colour of their eyes and hair. Maribel walked closer still, and was able to hear what they were saying.

"….beautiful." the little girl finished saying.

"Really mi gemela?" Santana asked her, smiling wider than Maribel had ever seen her smile. Her eyes widened at the Spanish nickname Santana had used. If Santana was calling her 'her twin' they must be very close. How did Maribel not have any clue who they were?

"Si" the little girl said, making Santana laugh. "I want to be a cheerleader like you when I'm big"

"You'd be a great cheerleader Ash" the blonde said, ruffling her hair.

"No don't do that" the little girl said harshly, and Maribel had to laugh. Her scowl was exactly like Santana's. Santana smiled at the girl in her arms, but was cut off from saying anything as two adults approached them.

"My girls" the man boomed, opening his arms and grinning. He walked up to them and wrapped Santana and the other girl in his long arms. Maribel waited for the explosion. She waited for the scowl to form on Santana's face, for her to harshly pull away, but it never happened. Instead, and she was astonished to see it, Santana only groaned, still smiling. When several seconds had passed and the man had not released them, Santana laughed loudly.

"Papa P!" she said, giggling. Maribel frowned, no longer amused by what she was seeing.

"Santana isn't used to all the hugging yet dad" the blonde girl said.

"Well she better get used to it fast now she's a part of this family" the woman who had approached with the man said, pulling Santana out of her husband's arms and encasing her in her own. Maribel felt a jolt of anger at her words, but it was the smile on Santana's face that forced her forward, closer still. The woman didn't hug her for as long as her husband, and was soon hugging the other girl.

"You two were simply amazing" she said warmly. "I was seriously impressed"

"Mum" the blonde girl said from her position at Santana's side once again, "you've seen us perform before"

"And every time I do I can't help but be impressed. I'm a proud mama my dear, don't try understand it"

"Honey S are you coming with us?" the man asked.

"Course" the little girl said, gripping onto Santana. "Where else would she go?"

"Her parents could be coming to pick her up" the man told the little girl, ruffling her hair. She looked at him mutinously.

"Why?" she asked, pushing away his hand. "They never picked her before. She's ours" Santana laughed, her previously uncomfortable expression disappearing. The blonde at Santana's side took her hand in hers.

"As much as we wish it" the woman said, smiling at Santana before looking back at her daughter, "she isn't."

"Uh…I don't know. My mum said the driver's not in so she'd come, but she was at work"

"So?" the man asked, frowning slightly.

"Well" Santana said, hesitating, "she's usually really busy at work. I don't know how long it'll be before she comes." Santana turned, looking away from all of them so as not to see the pity, and her eyes landed on her mother.

"Oh no need to worry, we can call her and tell her we'll take you with us" the woman said, opening her purse and looking for her phone.

Santana slowly dropped the girl in her arms, the hard, blank look Maribel was used to back on her face.

"Mami" she said shortly. Everyone around her turned to face Maribel, who blushed slightly, but walked forward.

"Santana dear. How are you?" she said, smiling.

"Good" Santana replied shortly. "Let's go." She let go of the blonde's hand and took a few steps away from the entire family. Maribel raised her hand.

"Don't be rude. Introduce us." Maribel said, still smiling. Santana rolled her eyes.

"No. let's go please"

"Santana" Maribel said sharply, no longer smiling. Santana clenched her jaw.

"This is Brittany" she said, pointing. Brittany waved with a cheery smile. "This is her little sister Ashley" Ashley didn't smile or wave, but stood by her father, frowning. "This is Mr and Mrs Pierce, their parents" she finished.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Susan" Brittany's mum said happily, moving forward to shake her hand. Maribel turned to look at her and shook her hand.

"I'm Pierce" the man said, also shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you" Maribel said. "I'm Maribel, Santana's mother."

"Obviously. I called you mami." Santana said.

Susan and Pierce frowned at Santana, never having seen her like this, and then looked uneasily back to Maribel.

"Don't start" Maribel said.

"Can we go now?" Santana said. She turned back to the Pierces, her expression softening slightly. "Bye guys. Thanks so much for uh…I mean…"

"You're welcome Santana" Susan said, pulling her into a hug. Santana hugged her stiffly, barely letting a second pas before she moved away. She waved at Brittany and Ashley quickly before turning back to her mother. She looked at her for a moment, then walked past her. Maribel stood awkwardly for a moment, not really knowing what to say.

"Sorry…she-"

"Don't apologize for her" Pierce said, his voice a little less jolly than it had been a few minutes ago. "We love Santana. She's an amazing girl."

"Yes…I…well," Maribel said, pulling herself together. "I know. She is my daughter." She placed heavy emphasis on 'my'. Susan raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together. No one said anything for a few more seconds. Finally Maribel decided to leave. "Like I said, nice to meet you."

Susan nodded but didn't say anything. Brittany waved goodbye and Maribel walked away.

For weeks after that, Maribel tried to get as much about the Pierces out of Santana as she could. It unnerved her to no end to think of Santana being pleasant and warm, emotional even, with another woman. She could not help thinking about the look of contentment on Santana's face when Susan had hugged her, or the giggle she had let out when Pierce had refused to let her go. She thought about it every time Santana refused a ride from her, every time she informed her she would be out late, or wouldn't be coming home at all.

Santana showed nothing but growing irritation with her mother's sudden interest in her life, and refused to tell her a single thing about Brittany and her family. All she said was that Brittany was her best friend. Mother and daughter clashed so often over the subject that Stephen, growing tired of all the yelling and door slamming, begged Maribel to drop the subject.

"Hounding her about it won't get you any more answers mi amor. And after all, what's so wrong with Santana having a friend who makes her happy?" he had asked her. Having no reasonable answer, Maribel agreed to let it go. It took many years however, for her to let go of her resentment towards the Pierce family.

---

Santana was not in a good mood. She was not in a good mood at all. Tired, frustrated and head aching, she felt close to screaming as Emma droned on and on in the chair in front of her. Brittany was lying on her back, her head buried in the crook of her elbow. She had a headache as well.

"…maybe about five minutes. Then you'll be able to-"

"Look Emma, don't you think we know by now? Do you really think that after all this time we'd just forget everything during the last performance?" Brittany said in an uncharacteristically agitated voice. Emma turned to look at her.

"Well, no…but it's better to go over it none the less." She said. Santana groaned, closing her eyes. She tried to picture the two newest loves of her life, drawing strength from their tiny faces. She really didn't want to ruin the magic of a final performance by fighting with Emma. They had done enough of that over the last two months. There was a long moment of silence, where Emma looked at the two exhausted women in front of her. She sighed.

"Look girls I understand. I really do. It's been a long tour, and it's been bitter sweet for you. You want it to be over, and believe me I want it for you, but that doesn't meant that you should go out there to perform just so it's over. This is the end, and everyone out there tonight is excited more than you can believe. They're expecting something special. Please don't throw that away. Make it memorable." Santana rubbed her head, pressing her finger tips hard into her temples. Emma took this to mean she had heard her, and stood up. "I'll send Eve in an hour." She said, walking out of the room.

When she had left, Santana slumped in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. After several minutes of silence she turned to look at Brittany who had not moved at all.

"She's right" Santana said resentfully. As soon as the words left her mouth, Brittany sat up and threw a pillow hard at the wall opposite her. Santana jumped, sitting up straighter in her chair. "Brittany!" she gasped. Every visible inch of Brittany's skin was red. She stood up and paced behind the couch she had just been laying on. Santana stood up too, feeling a little scared by Brittany's behaviour. Brittany turned and picked another pillow from the couch and threw it at the door, then she walked to the kitchen and picked a glass, smashing it on the floor. Santana screamed and ran towards her.

"Brittany what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm sick of this" she yelled, smashing another glass. "I'm sick of them ruling our lives, changing our plans, dictating where we have to be and when and how we're going to get there." She picked another glass and threw it at the door. "I'm sick of not being given a choice. Of having to follow all these rules, and ask permission before doing something." She moved to pick a plate, but Santana caught her hand.

"Stop" Santana said in a weak voice. "Brittany stop" she pleaded.

"I'm sick of it Santana" she yelled. Santana nodded, pulling her into a tight hug. Brittany struggled for a bit, then she relaxed, burying her head in Santana's neck.

"I know baby. I'm sick of it too. It's only for one more day though, then we're done. We won't have to do it for…" she trailed off, not sure where she was going with that. "We won't have to do it anymore."

"I'm so angry." Brittany said in a shaky voice.

"Me too" Santana said, rubbing Brittany's back. The door opened suddenly and three security guards came running in. They stopped and looked around, taking in the smashed glass and thrown pillows, then they looked at Santana and Brittany. Brittany was still leaning against Santana.

"What happened?" one of them asked in alarm. Santana shrugged.

"I have rage" she said simply. The guards looked at her, then around the room again, as if hoping to find a better explanation, finally they seemed to accept it, and walked out, closing the door.

"You could have told them it was me" Brittany said.

"I didn't tell them it was me, I just said I have rage, which is true."

Brittany raised her head and looked at Santana with a small smile. "I love you, you know."

"I know" Santana told her.

"Tomorrow, at 1" Brittany said, serious again.

"Not a second later. I don't care what reason they try give."

"I can't spend another day away from them. Emma isn't being fair."

"Emma is very rarely fair" Santana said, her headache returning to her as she clenched her jaw.

"You're doing that interview and then we're leaving"

"Straight to the airport. I don't care if we have to pack our suitcases into the car and take them with us to the interview."

Brittany looked into Santana's eyes, then nodded. "Alright" she said. It sounded like she had just made up her mind about something. She kissed Santana quickly, then pulled away and started collecting pieces of glass.

"Don't cut yourself" Santana said, walking back to the chair she was sitting on previously, collapsing onto it, feeling more exhausted than she had all day.

Emma's news that she had to a post-tour interview the next morning had spoiled her end of tour euphoria so thoroughly that she found it hard to believe she had been happy at all. She and Brittany had been prepared to leave for Brazil as soon as the concert was over. Now however, they would have to spend another 24 hours away from the twins. This, Santana thought, is what Brittany was really 'sick of'. For a month they had been told when they could or could not leave to see the twins, always having to check interview or meet and greet schedules. They had been understanding about it, but it was still irritating. This time however, they had thought they were free. The tour would be completely over. Nothing else to do, and they could go wherever they liked, whenever they wanted to. So hearing once again that their plans had to be put off for an interview was more infuriating than Emma understood. Santana fully sympathised with Brittany's desire to smash things. It reminded of her of when she was a teenager and her mother had all of a sudden started wanting to know where she was at all times, who she was with, how long she'd be out. She had felt just like she did now; controlled, annoyed and suffocated.

Santana heard Brittany move back to the couch, but didn't open her eyes. She knew it wouldn't be long before Eve showed up with orders and timelines and a whole bunch of other responsibilities, and she needed to be as calm as possible by then. She went back to thinking about the twins.

The last time she had seen them, one of them had smiled at her. The one without the beauty spot on his arm. Santana smiled just thinking about it. She and Brittany had an idea that they had discovered a difference in personality. One of the boys, the one with the beauty spot on his arm this time, was far more energetic than his brother. He was always awake when they went to the hospital, and it took a combination of Santana singing, feeding him a bottle and tracing his forehead lightly, to put him to sleep. When he was awake, he was constantly moving some part of his body, kicking his legs, waving his arms, and looking with wide eyes around the room. He loved the feel of Brittany's hair, all hair they supposed, but Brittany's in particular, because of the bright colour. He could stare at it for hours as Brittany shook it in his face and traced it along his arms. His brother, Brittany and Santana had found out that he had been born first, was more docile. He was often just as alert, but he was more content to stare up at them and listen to them talk. He fell asleep more often, and significantly more easily, though they had found out that if they kept him awake for too long he became much worse than his brother. He'd cry, squirm and kick, grabbing onto their clothes. The cry wasn't a persistent one, it was more like he was shouting. It would last no more than five minutes, then he would stop for a while. Santana liked to think that he was just doing it to remind them that he was still tired. When he would get like this, it was almost impossible to get him to sleep. He would refuse to drink, which was the fastest way to do it, Santana had read, so they had tried to rock him in a variety of different ways and sing softly, but this hadn't worked either. Finally, Brittany had stood up and walked around the entire NICU floor with him laying on her chest, humming. He seemed to like the vibrations of her chest, and the constant change of scenery. When Brittany returned with a sleeping baby, they had both agreed to never allow him to miss a nap again.

"What are you thinking about?" Brittany asked. Santana opened her eyes and smiled.

"How you had to walk round the entire NICU." She told her. Brittany grinned.

"I've been thinking about them too. It helps a lot."

"Yeah" Santana agreed.

"I can't wait until we're spending every single day and night with them."

"Yeah" Santana said again, closing her eyes. "I don't know how I'm supposed to do this concert" she admitted.

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked, sitting up and looking at her.

"I've been trying to get into the mind-set, but I can't. It's like my body just won't wake up. I can't stop feeling like it's my fault we can't be with them, and then I get really annoyed with the fans, because all of this is for them. I feel like I'm putting them above my kids, and I never want to put my work ahead of my children Britt."

Brittany nodded in understanding. She took a moment to decide what she was going to say, then an idea struck her. She took out her phone and opened twitter. Once there, it took a couple of minutes of searching, but she found what she was looking for.

"Come here" she told Santana, patting the space on the couch beside her.

Santana stood up and walked to her, dropping onto the couch. Brittany handed her the phone.

"What's this?" Santana said, scrolling through.

"Someone started a twitter page dedicated to the concert. It's a place for your fans from all over the world to post pictures of the tour, share stories about their experience at meet and greets or at a concert, talk to each other about what they're going though and offer help to other people. I was tagged in a post the other day and I was going to tell you, but then we got busy and I forgot."

Santana didn't say anything, still looking through the contents of the page.

"Santana, you are very different from your mother. You had work commitments before the twins were even born, before you knew they existed, and there was absolutely no way for you to put aside your work. It would have been completely acceptable for you so say that you couldn't see them till the end of the tour, but you didn't. You went above and beyond, flying across the world for them." Santana looked up at Brittany. "You're already an amazing mother, and I won't allow you to doubt that." Brittany told her forcefully. Santana smiled.

"As for getting into the mind-set, this is why you need to. So far, you've been an excellent mother, and an excellent role model to your fans. You've been there for them both. You have to go out there tonight, whatever mind-set you're in, but if you don't go and give 1000 per cent, you'll regret it, you'll be letting all these people down" she indicated the phone, "and you'll be putting all the blame on the twins. You'll be making it their fault that your first worldwide tour ended badly."

Santana's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to protest, but she couldn't think of any argument. It was true. Everything Brittany had said was true. She felt like a huge weight was lifted from her heart, determination now coursing through her. She smirked at Brittany.

"You really are a genius B" Santana said. Brittany winked.

"I've told you before, I'm just the world's foremost expert in the field of Santana Lopez"

---

Before they knew it, it was October. While every passing day had felt like a week, now that the time had arrived it felt like just yesterday Santana was looking at two tiny faces through a glass window in a small hospital in Brazil. The judge had only been able to see them in the second week of October, but Santana knew that was still a lot faster than was standard. Eric had been preparing them for the meeting to take place in early December, maybe even in the New Year. They'd gone to court three times, the first time to file the case and both say that they indeed did want to adopt the twins. Santana wasn't exactly sure what the second time was for, but it took less than twenty minutes. And now they were here for what she hoped would be the last time.

Santana could hardly believe the anxiety she was currently feeling. If not for the baby she was holding, she might have been vomiting relentlessly. Every muscle in her body felt tense and painful, like they were shaking from the pressure they were exerting on themselves as they tightened. Her heart was beating rapidly, and no matter what she did she could not get it to slow down. She knew it was the reason the baby hadn't been able to sleep. She was probably passing on her anxiety to him.

Brittany was not fairing any better than her wife. She was pacing up and down the long corridor, every part of her body shaking but her arms, which were steadily holding a very sleepy but still awake baby. She tried to distract herself by looking around at her surroundings, the many lights along the ceiling, the paintings on the walls, the benches outside large wooden doors, but none of it helped. All it did was make situation seem even more intimidating.

Every few minutes Santana would glance up at the clock and mentally calculate how many minutes were left before it would be their turn to go into the courtroom. When she did so, she would catch Brittany's eye and hold it for almost a minute, drawing as much strength as she could from the piercing blue. She was wholly convinced that if she didn't do his every time, she would succumb to the fear inside her and run out of the building.

Finally, twenty minutes later, their lawyer Maria, walked through the doors, a massive smile on her face.

"Good morning ladies" she greeted. "How are you today?"

Santana swallowed thickly. "We're good thank you." Brittany answered for both of them, without halting her pacing. It was like she was unable to stay still. Maria smiled.

"I know you're nervous, but there really isn't any reason to be. This is what we've been waiting for."

Santana held the baby tighter. "Exactly" she said quietly. Neither Brittany nor Maria heard her, but the baby blinked at her. She smiled. "You're lucky" she whispered to him, kissing him on the cheek. "You don't know what's going on." He smiled crookedly at her. The action had the same effect as sinking into a warm bubble bath. Santana felt suddenly calm. The idea that she had been scared or doubtful mere seconds before was laughable. This little boy in her arms was the only thing that mattered. Him and his brother. And Santana was convinced that there was nothing better for them than to have her and Brittany as mothers. She looked up and again caught Brittany's eye, smiling at her. Brittany cocked her head, pondering Santana's sudden change in attitude, and Santana just shrugged, smiling wider. Brittany looked like she was about to speak, but then the door they were waiting outside of opened and a man in a security uniform beckoned them forward, speaking in Portuguese.

"We can go in" Maria told them. "Are you ready?"

Santana and Brittany both nodded, and they walked into the courtroom.

Throughout the proceedings, Brittany found it hard to concentrate. She could hear the judge's voice as he spoke about the reason they were there and the legal things that they had gone through to get there, but her mind was moving a mile a minute. She felt like she used to in high school, whenever she was in class. She tried to focus, to sit still and listen, but she simply couldn't. It was like her mind was fighting itself, and it was all she could do to remain sitting in her chair. Maria stood up, pulling Brittany from where she had drifted off to thinking about the two sides of her brain in a wrestling match.

"Yes your honour. They have no living relatives that we could find." she said.

"I have seen the recommendation from the social worker, I assume there are no other issues in that area?"

"No your honour, everything is fully cleared."

"Very well. Mrs and Mrs Lopez-Pierce?" he gestured for them to stand up.

"Yes your honour?" Santana asked. Her voice was shaking.

"Are you prepared to care for these children like they were your own?"

"Yes your honour" they both answered quickly.

"To provide unto them all the rights awarded to them once they are taken into your custody?"

"Yes your honour" they said again. Santana was struggling to hold back tears.

"To see to their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being?"

"Yes your honour"

"Excellent. In that case, have you chosen names for the boys?"

Brittany and Santana smiled. "Yes. This is Jesus Sawyer" Brittany said.

"And this is Kyler Santiago" Santana said. They were both smiling uncontrollably.

"Very nice" the judge said, also smiling. "Then from now on, they are officially, Jesus and Kyler Lopez-Pierce. Congratulations"

Santana could no longer hold in her tears. She felt like she was taking in a breath of air after holding it for years. Happiness unlike any she had ever felt filled her entire body, making her feel like she could fly if she tried. She turned to look at Brittany. Brittany was placing several tear filled kissing on to Jesus's face. Santana looked back at the baby in her arms.

"Mijo" she said quietly, kissing his forehead gently so as not to wake him. "I love you so much mi amor, and now you're mine. I'm you're mami" she whispered, barely able to believe her own words. She was a mother. A mother of two. It was completely amazing, and completely terrifying. Brittany walked over to her, bent down and kissed Kyler, and then kissed Santana fully on her mouth. It was not a very deep kiss, but it was one of the most passion filled kisses they had ever shared. When they parted, it took a minute for Santana to remember where she was. She looked down and saw Jesus looking up at her with wide eyes, a fist firmly wrapped around Brittany's hair.

"Say hi to your mami Jesus" Brittany said quietly. Jesus blinked. Santana bent and kissed him on both cheeks. The baby smiled at her, and Santana felt her heart swell. "Aaww"

"I love you so much Jesus" she told him, gently stroking his hair. "You and your brother" she looked back at Brittany, "and your mama" Brittany smiled. "I love you all more than anything in this world." Jesus smiled again, kicking his legs gently. She stood up straight and saw Maria looking at her.

"Can we thank you now?" she asked her, laughing and wiping her tears.

"Oh all right then" she said, looking like she was not far from tears herself. Brittany hugged her first, throwing one arm around her and squeezing as hard as she could without hurting the baby in her arms.

"Thank you!" she cried. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Maria patted her back, smiling.

"Not a problem at all ladies. You are more wonderful than I could have expected people like you to be. You deserve this happiness, and these boys deserve you."

Brittany let go of her and made way for Santana to hug her. Santana couldn't find the words. How do you thank someone who has just given you your whole world? Instead of speaking she focused on infusing the hug with as much gratitude as she could. She smiled when she pulled back and saw the tear falling from Maria's face.

"I wish you all the happiness in the world" She told Santana, then she turned to Brittany. "Be happy my dears." Brittany nodded, her whole face pink with the effort to stop her tears.

"Thank you" was all Brittany could say. Maria nodded and turned to walk away.

Brittany and Santana stood for a moment, cherishing the little bubble their now four member family was in. Finally though, Santana looked away from the babies between them and sighed.

"Babe I think we should go" she told Brittany. Brittany looked up. "We can't just stand here forever" she added with a cheeky smile.

"Alright" Brittany said, looking around. They both still didn't move however, staring down at their sons. They were roused from this trance by a small whimper from Kyler, who looked about to wake up.

"Better go, we don't want him crying in here." Brittany said smiling.

Santana looked at Kyler and pursed his lips.

"No my sweet baby. We don't want that. Do we my love?"She said in a baby voice. Brittany sniggered.

"What?" Santana asked, picking her bag up and moving from behind the table they were sitting at.

"Nobody is going to believe your tough act anymore sweetie" Brittany said, picking her own bag and following Santana down the aisle.

Santana looked back down at Kyler. "Let them try mess with my babies" she said in the same baby voice. "It won't matter what voice I talk in then."

---

Eleven people waited awkwardly in the living room. Brittany and Santana's parents stood on either side of the room, avoiding each other's gazes as they had been doing since the wedding. Ashley was sitting beside Chad. He was laughing as she complained loudly about the fact that he wasn't going to school.

"My parents wouldn't allow me to drop out of school, no matter how talented a dancer I was. It's not fair! And you get to travel all around the world too" she whined loudly.

"Well..." Chad said awkwardly. "I guess I'm lucky"

A fourteen year old Ashley gaped at him. "Lucky!" she said loudly, before launching into a detailed account of the way his life was significantly better than hers.

Quinn was sitting on one of the couches beside Puck, both holding beer bottles and talking about the reason they'd all been called there.

"You think it's about the adoption stuff they want to start? Maybe they already started."

"Maybe. But why would they get everyone here at the same time just to tell them they want to start looking into adoption?" Puck asked her. Quinn shrugged, thinking. Elaine walked out of the kitchen and sat on Quinn's other side, and they quickly changed topics.

Syth was standing by the island talking to Jade, who was sitting on one of the stools.

"How come they didn't come back with you?" Syth asked

"Dunno mate. They really liked Brazil, kept going back there whenever we had a few free days."

"Yeah, but they've been gone for two months, and Brittany hasn't talked to me at all since she sent me an email saying she's taking a few months off."

"Really?" Jade asked. "What for?"

"She didn't say. Just that she'd already cleared it with the bosses, but she wanted me to hear it from her."

"When was that?"

"About two months ago."

"About a week before the tour ended Santana told us she was taking a few months off as well." Jade said, intrigued. "You think that's why they called us here?"

"Maybe"

Just then the door opened, and Eve walked in. Everyone's attention focused on her immediately, but she took no notice. She casually removed her jacket, closing the door behind her, then took a few steps into the room, fidgeting with her bag. Finally she looked up at everyone.

"I'm not going to tell you why you're all here, Santana and Brittany can do that themselves."

"Where are they?" Quinn asked, standing up.

"They're getting their things out of the car. I'd give them maybe five minutes." Everyone nodded. "I do have to ask that you don't make too much noise when they come in though." Most people frowned.

"What do you mean Eve? Why?" Susan asked.

"Just…try be as quiet as you can"

There was a knock on the door, and Eve hurried to open it. She slipped out of it, not opening it too wide, and then a few seconds later, Brittany walked into the room.

"Hi everyone" she said cheerfully. Syth and Jade, who were closest to the door, moved forward and hugged her.

"You look exhausted Brittany" Quinn said laughing.

"Yeah well...you try traveling with-"

"Britt" Santana's voice warned from the other side of the door.

"Ok why is she still outside? What's wrong with you guys?" Puck asked as Brittany absentmindedly hugged her parents.

"Well…ok, we have some very big news, and we wanted to tell all of you together, rather than having to find you all individually."

"What is it?" Maribel asked, moving forward.

"I'm sure you all know that Santana and I have been spending a lot of time in Brazil…well, it's because when we were there, we…" she broke off and turned to the slightly open door. "Santana are you sure you don't want to be in here?"

"Brittany, you know I can't, just tell them"

"Brittany please tell us" Pierce said.

"Ok…well, we've been in Brazil all this time because we've been sorting out an adoption." She rushed out. There was silence as everyone took in what she said, then her mother clasped her hands over her mouth, Maribel's mouth dropped open, and Ashley and Quinn jumped forward.

"You have a baby?" Ashley squealed.

"We have two babies. They're twins" she told her sister. Maribel started crying and Pierce clapped his hands happily as he exclaimed a loud 'HA'.

"Twins?" Puck asked, standing up now as well. "You adopted twins in Brazil?"

"Yes" Brittany said. "We thought it would be best to tell you before we brought them in. They're sleeping."

"I don't understand" Susan said, looking at Maribel. "Did you know?"

Maribel shook her head, unable to speak.

"When did you…I mean…you can't have. You went to Brazil for the first time what…three months ago?"

"Four. It happened very fast. We…uh well it's a long story really, but we adopted them officially last week.

"But Brittany-"

"Can we see them?" Maribel interrupted Susan.

"Yeah of course. Santana…" she said, pulling open the door fully.

The first thing everyone saw was the front of a green car seat, followed by Santana's hand, and then the rest of her body. There was complete silence as she walked in and placed the seat on the floor, then bent down and extracted the baby asleep in it and handed him to Brittany. She then walked back out and brought back another car seat, red this time, and did the same thing. Quinn, Maribel, Pierce and Ashley were the first ones to move to their side, silently whispering to the babies, asking to hold them, cooing about how adorable they were. Susan stood, seemingly rooted to her spot, watching as the babies were passed to her husband and Quinn.

"This is Kyler" Brittany told her dad as he settled him into his arms. "And that's Jesus" she told Quinn.

"Jesus?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. Like, hey-zeus."

"Ooh." Ashley nodded.

"Beautiful" Maribel whispered, rubbing Jesus's arm and kissing it. "They are both beautiful my love" she told Santana. They smiled at each other.

"How do you know who's who?" Puck asked, moving closer to Pierce.

"It's hard" Brittany admitted, as Santana laughed. "But there are ways"

"Mostly personality stuff" Santana added as Jade and Syth raised eyebrows in question.

"How old are they?" Stephen asked.

"Just over three months. Three and a half I guess." Santana answered.

"14 weeks. They were born on our first day in Brazil" Brittany said.

"How do you know?" Susan finally spoke. Brittany frowned at her slightly.

"Ma…what's wrong with you?"

"I just would like to know how you know anything about them." she answered, still not moving from her position. Santana looked at Brittany, then at Pierce. She smiled, seeing him completely engrossed in Kyler.

"We were there when they were born" Brittany told her mother, turning away from her.

There were many other questions, people wanting to know how it happened and how they got the adoption done so fast. Finally though, Jesus woke up, and his cries woke his brother up as well. People excused themselves after that, saying they wanted to let them get the babies settled in, but would be back on another day to see them. Eventually only Quinn, Puck, Ashley and their parents remained. They talked a bit louder now that the boys were awake, and Maribel sat very close to Santana as she fed Kyler a bottle.

"I'm so happy for you my love" she told her. "I'm so happy." Santana smiled at her warmly.

"That means a lot to me mami, thank you"

"What are their full names?" Stephen asked.

"Kyler Santiago Lopez-Pierce, and Jesus Sawyer Lopez-Pierce." Brittany told him, removing the now empty bottle from Jesus's mouth and lifting him to her shoulder.

"They're so tiny" Ashley mused, staring at them from her position on the floor.

"Yeah…twins usually are. Plus they were born early." Santana said, gently rubbing Kyler's cheek to get him to keep drinking, as he had zoned out staring at Ashley.

"Who was born first?" Quinn asked.

Brittany and Santana smirked and looked at each other.

"We're not telling" Brittany said.

"We don't want them to know, and we don't want it to inform any of your perceptions of them"

"What do you mean?" Puck asked.

"Well we read that sometimes with twins, when people know who was born first, they tend to treat the kids differently. Expecting more of the older one, or letting things slide because one's younger." Brittany explained.

"Using language like, 'your younger brother' or something like that. It'll affect them, even if it's in a small way, and we don't want that." Santana said.

"But Mija we wouldn't-"

"But you would mami. Subconsciously. And Britt and I want to minimize competition between them as much as possible. As far as everyone knows, they were born at the same time."

Everyone nodded, and there was a brief silence.

"They look exactly the same" Susan said. "It's amazing."

"I know" Brittany said.

"They weigh exactly the same too" Santana said.

"And are the same height" Brittany added.

"Do you think they're going to be really similar, personality wise?" Puck asked.

"No. They're already very different. I think the older they get, the more differences there will be."

"But I think they're going to be very close" Brittany said.

"Why's that?" Maribel asked.

"Because they sleep better when they're in the same crib, and whenever one wakes up, they're usually pretty quiet until the other one wakes up too. Then, unless they're really hungry, they'll lay there for a few minutes and just look at each other." Santana said.

"I think they're talking to each other" Brittany said. Santana grinned. "Telepathically."

"Cool" Ashley said. Then her eyes bulged open. "Wait. So I'm an aunt now?" she asked.

"Yeah you are kiddo" Santana told her with a wink. Then she looked at Quinn with a sheepish grin. "Uh…Q?"

Quinn looked up at her with a questioning look.

"Britt and I have….well we have something to ask you."

"And puck" Brittany added, smiling at him.

"Yes" Quinn said at once. "YES"

Brittany laughed at the confused expression on Puck's face.

"What…what?" he asked, looking at the three girls in turn.

"You guys are our oldest friends. You're our best friends, and you've been with us through so much."

"Britt and I trust you more than we trust anyone else…so we…"

"We wanted to ask you to be the twins' godparents. If anything happens to us, we'd want you to have them…."

"We know you'll take care of them, and you'll love them as much as we do."

"YES" Quinn said again, standing up. Puck was looking tearful and disbelieving. He stared at Brittany with wide eyes, searching her face.

"You don't mean it…." He said quietly. "You're only asking me because-"

"Don't be an idiot" Santana cut across him, lifting Kyler from her lap and handing him to Puck.

"We're asking you because you're the only person we'd trust with them. We know you'll protect them, love them, and give them everything we would want for them."

"And even if nothing happens to us, you'll still do all those things for them as their uncle Noah."

Puck was shaking his head. "But I…"

"You know what it's like to grow up with….not the best parents" Santana told him, avoiding both her parents' eyes. "And you'll do everything you can to make sure they never feel that way."

This seemed to convince Puck. He looked intently at Santana, his jaw clenching furiously, then he looked down at Kyler, taking one of his hands in his own.

"I got you little man. It's me and you now." He bumped his fist against Kyler's tiny one, and Santana and Brittany laughed. Brittany passed Jesus to Quinn, who showered his face with kisses.

"Ou I'm going to spoil you and your brother rotten kiddo" she said, as Jesus smiled at her and grabbed her hair.

Santana sat back on the couch and yawned.

"We should go" Maribel said, rubbing Santana's thigh. "You guys have had a long journey, so you should rest. We'll be back tomorrow nena"

Santana nodded numbly, her eyes falling closed, while her father bent down and kissed her head. Brittany stood up and walked everyone out, accepting long, tight hugs from both her parents and ruffling Ashley's hair just to upset her. Finally, she shut the door and turned round to see Jesus asleep on Santana's chest, both her hands holding him protectively, her chest rising and falling rhythmically as she slept.

---

Brittany sat on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands, the heel of her palms pressing into her eyes. She had never been so exhausted in her entire life. Of course there were moments after dance rehearsals or cheerios practice when her body had been in agony and her lungs burned for air, but that was different. That was a kind of tired that went away with a few hours rest, or a warm bath. This tiredness seemed to be etched into her bones. Every time she slept she seemed to wake up more tired than she was before. Her brain was working very slowly, so that it took her several minutes to decipher what anyone was saying to her. The only time her body or brain reacted quickly was when one of the babies cried, as one of them had just done. She had woken up with a jolt, launching out of bed before she remembered that Santana was already in the room, and there was no need for her to rush over. The energy that had forced her to stand drained from her body so quickly that she landed harshly on the bed, her head pounding. She wanted to cry, but even that took more energy than she had. So instead, she rubbed the sting forcefully out of her eyes and stood up, deciding to be useful and make breakfast since she was already up.

In the month since they had been home, the twins seemed to become accustomed to being constantly held, and since Brittany and Santana felt like they needed to make up for lost time, they took every opportunity to do so. At first, it had been blissful. They loved waking up to feed them, and rarely put them in their cribs, preferring to hold them as they slept. Now however, they put them down as often as they could, sleeping every time they did. Quinn and Puck had been god-sends, coming over almost every day after work, which gave Brittany and Santana two or three hours to sleep.

Kyler, they soon discovered, was able to identify who was holding him by their smell. They had found this out one day when he was crying relentlessly. Quinn had been trying to sooth him with a bottle, but in his hysteria, he had spit it all out on her shirt. Not wanting to wake up Brittany or Santana, she had snuck into their room and taken a shirt to change into. When she had picked Kyler up again, his cries had faltered. He stared up at Quinn, looking confused, but agreed to take the bottle she offered him. Brittany and Santana had been thoroughly amused by this, experimenting by getting Quinn to change shirts many times over the course of the day to see how he would react. They also sprayed some of his blankets with Santana and Brittany's perfumes, so that he now rarely woke up crying.

"Britt?" Santana called from the twin's room.

"Yeah?"

"Are you in the kitchen?"

"Yeah."

"I found another beauty spot on Jesus's stomach"

"That's four?"

"Yeah. And the birth mark on his knee."

"But Kyler has it too"

"Yeah"

"Why's he awake?" Brittany asked, moving away from the stove and turning to look at Santana as she walked into the kitchen. "Why are you awake bubbah?" she cooed at Jesus and Santana kissed her temple.

"Our little man is just full of energy" Santana said, unwrapping the blanket Jesus was in since the kitchen was pretty warm. "He refused to go back to sleep after I fed him. Isn't that right mijo?"

Jesus kicked wildly and Brittany and Santana laughed.

"Kyler?"

"He's awake, but I think he'll be asleep again in a few minutes. He was staring up at the mobile when I left him." Brittany nodded and turned back to the eggs. "You didn't have to make breakfast baby"

"I wanted to. We have a lot to do today and you can't just have coffee." Brittany turned to look at Santana sternly. Santana suppressed a smile and tried to look innocent.

"Have you apologised to her?"

"No B…and I'm not going to. I didn't do anything wrong."

"You were really mean. Like old Santana mean."

"There's no old or new Santana, there's just Santana. And I've always been mean."

"But there was no need"

Santana lifted Jesus into a standing position, ignoring Brittany and rubbing their noses together, making him laugh.

"Don't hide behind the baby"

"Britt, I don't need motherly advice from my absentee mother."

"I know that-"

"And" she said in a baby voice, as Jesus slapped her face giggling, "I don't need to hear about all the cute things I did at this age."

Brittany sighed and pulled a plate from the cupboard by her head. She had known from the second Santana's mother had said, 'I remember when you were this age' that it was not going to end well. On any day reminiscing like that would annoy Santana, but add to that the lack of sleep, and the empty stomach, and it was a doomed conversation from the start. Brittany had winced before Maribel even finished her sentence.

The front door opened and they both whirled around. Santana clutched Jesus to her chest and moved so fast around the island that she nearly tripped.

"Quinn!" Brittany shrieked, throwing the spatula she was holding at the shorter blonde as she walked in.

"What?" Quinn asked, looking alarmed. Santana scowled at her, and retook her seat.

"What the hell are you doing just walking into our house?" Brittany asked, angrily taking another spatula from a drawer.

"You gave me a key" she said distractedly, dropping her bag by the door and taking off her shoes.

"For emergencies" Santana mumbled, kissing Jesus on both cheeks as she saw the small pout forming on his mouth. "You scared Jesus" she said in a baby voice, trying to make him smile.

"I knew it was Jesus" Quinn said, washing her hands in the sink. When she was done she sat beside Santana. "You're always up first aren't you?" she cooed at him. Jesus stretched out his hands, making rapid babbling noises. "Come here baby." Quinn leaned forwards, taking him from Santana's arms.

"Are you going to tell us why you're here?" Santana asked, taking the plate Brittany was offering her.

"I wanted to see my god-children Santana" Quinn said, still in a happy baby voice, kissing Jesus's neck and blowing raspberries as he shrieked happily.

"You're going to see them later on when we go see the house."

"Yeah, but Puck will be there"

"So?" Brittany asked, placing a cup of coffee in front of Santana.

"He always hogs them"

"There are two of them. Why can't you guys share?"

"How are we supposed to share pushing a stroller?" Quinn shot at Santana, sitting Jesus down on her lap and allowing him to take both her hands.

"Ok…it's too early for me to argue with you. You're beloved god-son kept us awake for most of the night."

"Good job" Quinn said, kissing the top of Jesus's head. "His hair is getting so long"

"Yeah. Thick too." Brittany said, sitting on Santana's other side.

"You're gonna be so handsome" Quinn told him, removing one of her hands to stroke his hair. It was now all over his head, the patches at the back and middle that had been there since he was born, now covered in about an inch of curly light brown hair. "I have a present for you Jesus" she told him, "But I'll give it to you when your brother gets up."

"What did you get?" Brittany asked in amusement. Puck and Quinn had been bringing gifts with them almost every time they saw the boys. They now had so many toys and stuffed animals that Brittany and Santana had needed to buy two more boxes to supplement the two they already had.

"It's a purple rubber hammer" Quinn said, still addressing Jesus. "It has glitter and water inside, so every time you shake it the glitter floats around inside. And the rubber is really nice for them to bite on, the saleswoman said so anyway."

"Thanks Q" Santana said, draining her cup and standing up to refill it.

"So what time did you want to go over there?" Quinn asked.

"Do you want some juice or coffee or something?" Brittany asked her.

"No I'm good for now, thanks"

"We wanted to go at 10, hopefully be done by midday, then we can go to Britt's studio and she can finish things off with them."

"Sounds good. What about the paps?"

"We've been able to avoid them so far" Brittany said. "I don't know if it's the fact that we leave the house so rarely so they've stopped waiting outside, or what…but we've been lucky."

"No one knows anything?"

"No. We want to announce it when we're settled into the new house."

"I get that. So do you want me and Noah to follow you?"

"Yeah, there's not going to be a lot of room in the car." Brittany said, standing up to put her plate in the sink.

"Alright. Well, I'm gonna call Noah." Quinn informed them, lifting Jesus up from her lap and walking to her bag.

"Why? He doesn't need to be here for like…three hours" Santana said.

"Yeah…but you guys need to shower. You look horrible."

---

"Jesus please" Brittany begged over the loud whining of her soon to be five month old son. "It's cold outside my love."

"He can't understand you Britt" Puck said, laughing as he placed Kyler into his car seat and buckled him in.

Brittany narrowed her eyes at a laughing Jesus. "He can understand. That's why he's laughing"

"Britt, just put it on when we take him out, he'll be okay in the car." Santana said, getting into the driver's seat and trying not to laugh. Brittany huffed, but abandoned her attempts to put a hat on Jesus's head.

"This isn't over sir" she told him, buckling him in. As she go into the passenger seat Santana leaned towards her and kissed her cheek.

"You tell him babe" she said, turning the ignition.

---

The twenty minute car ride was filled with loud excited yells from both Jesus and Kyler, who always enjoyed car rides. Santana liked to think they were singing along to the radio, so she always turned it up louder than usual, and sang along to whatever was playing, only adding to the noise. The boys would scream and squeal whenever she would start singing, clapping enthusiastically. For anyone else the noise could be overwhelming, Quinn always preferred to drive herself any time they were going to meet somewhere for this very reason, but Brittany loved it. It reminded her of the days when the only time Santana was goofy and care-free were on their car drives to and from school. She loved hearing the happy sounds of her sons fill the car because it reminded her that it wasn't just her and Santana anymore. They had a family.

"Here we are" Santana said, pulling up outside a large wooden gate. On either side of the gate, a brick wall stretched for several miles. The gate and wall were several feet high, so that Brittany didn't think that even if she stood on the roof of the car she would be able to see over them.

"Wow" Brittany said. Santana wiggled her eyebrows and lowered her window. Sticking her hand out of the window she punched a code into the pad.

"Don't worry B" she said, bringing her hand back into the car and rolling up her window. "It's going to be voice activated when we move in, so you won't have to remember a code."

Brittany smiled at her. "I could remember a code."

"I know, but you don't have to"

Santana drove up the long driveway, finally parking just in front of the small walkway leading to the front door. She and Brittany got out of the car and unbuckled Jesus and Kyler, who didn't seem particularly interested in their location.

"You're going to live here?" Puck asked as he got out of Quinn's car and walked towards them. "This is going to be your house?"

"Yes Noah" Santana said laughing.

"It looks different" Brittany said, looking back at the gate.

"I got them to change the gate first" Santana said. "I really hated the other one"

"I liked it. It was cute."

"And small. And easily climbable"

Brittany laughed, but didn't say anything.

"This is huge Santana." Quinn said, coming to take Jesus from her arms. "What do you need all this space for?" Brittany thrust Kyler into Puck's arms and dashed to Quinn, sticking a hat down on Jesus's head and quickly tying a knot under his chin. Jesus yelled, pulling at the hat fruitlessly as Santana and Puck laughed at Brittany's triumphant fist bump.

"You showed him baby" Santana said, walking to Brittany and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Sure did" Brittany said. "Anyway, you guys follow us and we'll show you why we need such a big house"

They walked up the walkway, and then up the four steps leading to the door, and Santana turned the handle and pushed it open.

"It's not locked? Or is it fingerprint censored?" Quinn laughed. Santana rolled her eyes.

"No. they're still doing some last minute electricity stuff or something, so they haven't left yet." Brittany told them. "Okay. This is the…uh what do we call this?" she asked Santana.

"Foyer"

"The foyer."

They walked through the black door into an entryway with a large mirror hanging on the wall almost ten feet in front of the door. There was a table, black as the door, stationed underneath the mirror. A lilac vase sat in the centre of the table, but it was empty of any flowers. Quinn clicked her tongue.

"A new house and you've already cracked a vase?" she joked, looking at Brittany.

"It's not cracked" Santana said, dropping one of the baby bags on the table. Quinn frowned.

"Yeah it is. Or scratched or something" she moved towards the table and picked up the vase.

"No it's not" Brittany said. Quinn squinted at the vase and then rolled her eyes in exasperation. Santana laughed.

"Really?" Quinn said, placing the vase back on the table.

"What?" Puck asked, removing his attention from a babbling Kyler and looking at the three women around him.

"They've got Lopez-Pierce carved on the vase." Quinn said, rolling her eyes again.

"Don't be jealous Q. You wish you had your name carved into a vase" Santana said.

"Anyway" Brittany said slowly, "As you can see, there are two corridors we can go down. The one on the left leads to the living room and the stairs, the one on the right leads to….other stuff and more stairs" Brittany said, half-smiling at Santana.

"Where would you guys like to go?" Santana asked.

"Well the way Britt said 'other stuff' made it sound like there's a sex dungeon there so…" Puck said, grinning.

"Of course." Santana said, shaking her head. "To the other stuff then Britt"

They walked down the long corridor talking about how they planned to decorate the walls with paintings and pictures. When they reached the end, there was a white door in front of them, and a descending flight of stairs on their left.

"It goes down?" Quinn asked.

"What's in there?" Puck asked at the same time.

"This is a spare room, we haven't decided what we're going to make it yet."

"We thought about a play room, but we can't really see the boys needing one with all the space in the house"

"What about an office like the one in your apartment now?" Puck asked. Santana smiled and shook her head, but didn't say anything.

"A guest room?" Quinn supplied.

"Yeah, I guess it'll have to be" Brittany said, opening the door.

"Damn this is huge" Puck said, whistling as he walked into the room. It was completely empty, each wall clearly having been recently been painted white. The wall to the right of the door had a large window in the centre, with a view of the driveway.

"If this is a guest room, how big are your rooms?" Quinn asked, looking around the room with wide eyes. Brittany smirked.

"You'll see. Should we go down?" she asked.

Quinn and Puck nodded and followed Brittany out of the room, leaving Santana to close the door behind them. The stairs were covered in black carpet with small white cats on every stair.

"Britt?" Puck asked Santana, who nodded with pursed lips.

"This was the most subtle I could find. You should have seen what she tried to put before this."

There was a light on the wall halfway down the stairs that looked like a candle stick. The word 'lumier' was etched onto the side of the brass below the bulb, and again Quinn rolled her eyes.

"Why do you have to be such a downer?" Brittany asked her, laughing.

At the bottom of the stairs they found themselves in another short corridor, lined with the same black carpet that stopped in front of a door. There was a smaller brown door on their left, but Brittany didn't stop at it, merely stating that it was a storage cupboard. When they reached the door, Brittany pushed it open dramatically, and stepped aside for her friends to walk in.

Puck whistled again, and Quinn let out a low 'daaammmn'. They had walked into a massive room that looked the size of two master bedrooms, three walls lined with mirrors that stretched eight feet high. The floor was a different kind of wood than the rest of the house, and was a lighter shade of brown, almost cream. On the fourth wall there was a giant rectangular indentation that looked like the cement had all been scooped out. It was not painted the same faint yellow as the rest of the wall, in fact it was not painted at all, but looked like the builders had laid the bricks and cement and then left it like that. There was a large television in the left corner, and two speakers on the right. In the centre and seemingly fitted into the back wall of the nook was a shiny black orb.

"Nice huh" Santana said.

"I don't even dance but this place makes me want to" Quinn said, still looking around.

"Britt…is this a camera?" Puck asked, pointing at the black orb.

"Yeah" Brittany answered. "So I can record myself and then watch it back on the tv, instead of trying to use my phone like I usually do."

"Damn" Quinn said again. "This is so fucking nice. I can't believe you designed this." She walked closer to one of the walls and saw that there seemed to be little bumps under the paint, but she couldn't tell what shape they were in. "What's this?" she asked, pointing up at the wall.

"The best part" Brittany said, and she walked back to the door and flicked off the lights. There was a second when one of the babies began to protest the sudden darkness, but it was quickly silenced as the walls began to shine gold. On every wall there were tiny rainbows, unicorns, cats and stars that seemed to glow underneath the paint, and lit up the room enough for them to actually see and move around without hesitation. Puck's jaw dropped as Jesus and Kyler shrieked and laughed.

"Oh my god Britt" Quinn said. "How the hell did you manage this?"

"Don't ask me. Santana designed this room." Brittany said, winking at Santana, who smiled back.

"Santana" Puck and Quinn said together, turning to look at them. "Why?" Quinn asked.

"Cause I wanted to" Santana said, a little defensively.

"You did a banging job Santana…shit" Puck said, looking at the walls again. "It's like Brittany was made to dance in this room."

"It's so beautiful" Quinn agreed. Brittany flicked the lights back on.

"Thanks" Santana said. "I try"

"Let's go see the one I designed" Brittany said enthusiastically. They walked out of the room, a few feet down the corridor and stopped outside a black door on the opposite wall to the one Brittany's had been on. "Are you ready for pure awesome?" Brittany asked. Puck and Quinn nodded, and she pushed open the door. The first thing to notice was that the lights went on as soon as the door swung halfway. It was a dim warm light, but it worked perfectly with the blood red of the walls. The room was as large as Brittany's had been, but this one was divided in half by a thick glass wall. There were speakers in the wall directly in front of them and the one they stood beside, and the middle wall was covered in posters of famous singers, evidently the ones Santana liked the most. Michael Jackson, Amy Whinehouse, Stevie Nicks and so many more. In between the posters were records in glass cases. As Quinn and Puck looked around they realised that some of the records were Santana's. On the far left of the same wall was large writing that read, 'you inspire me' in white paint.

Quinn frowned at the writing, then looked at Brittany with a soft expression.

"Did you write this?" she asked. Brittany nodded and Quinn's eyes softened even further.

"This is so cool" Puck said, walking to the glass that divided the room and pushing open the door. On the other side was a large white mixing table with three headphones placed on top of it. There were two laptops on a wooden stand bolted into the wall just above the mixing table. In the corner of the room were three guitars on their stands, a brown one and two black ones, and beside them was a microphone stand.

"They're going to bring in the piano tomorrow" Santana informed them.

"Wow" Quinn said, staring at the wall with the posters. She moved forward and ran her hands over the speaker and shook her head. "Alright you got me…I'm jealous"

Santana and Brittany laughed.

"Britt you did this?" Puck asked, turning to look at them for the first time since walking into the room.

"Yeah…why do you sound so surprised."

"Nothing. Just….seeing the way Santana did the other room, and then…you did this…I don't know it just puts everything into perspective."

Santana frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He means" Quinn said, "that we've always known you guys are close and cute and made for each other…but this is like…I mean it's crazy. I've known you longer than Brittany and I couldn't have made this room."

"Well thank god I'm not married to you then" Santana said, trying to lighten a mood that seemed heavier than it needed to be. Quinn gave a weak laugh and turned back to the wall, bringing Jesus's head up to her lips. Santana looked at Brittany, completely confused. Brittany shrugged.

"Uh…" Santana said hesitantly. "Should we go on?" Puck nodded quickly and walked out of the room, thumping Brittany on the back.

"Nicely done Britt" he said, his voice returning to its usual light, teasing one. Santana sighed in gratitude.

They continued walking down the hall, then climbed a flight of stairs identical to the one they had come down.

"Where to from here Britt?" Santana asked. They were standing at the foot of another flight of stairs, but there was also a hallway to their left.

"Let's go up, then we can just finish down here." Brittany answered. Santana nodded, and they walked up the stairs. At the top of the stairs they stepped onto a dark grey fluffy carpet. Quinn raised her eyebrows in question.

"Well no one is going to come up here except us and the boys, so we decided we wanted to be cozy" Santana told her. "It's so soft. In fact take of your shoes. We shouldn't make it dirty."

Everyone took of their shoes and they continued walking down the hallway. There were already a few pictures of Santana, Brittany and the twins hanging on the walls, and Brittany told them that they were going to add as many as they could all over the house. Finally they reached a black door on their right. Santana opened it, and it became immediately obvious that this was their bedroom.

A large king size bed with grey and silver beddings and five pillows of different sizes stood in the middle of the room. There was a light pink wall to wall carpet underneath the bed, and two brown wooden stands on either side of the bed, each with a small silver lamp on it. Opposite the bed was a large walk in closet with sliding doors that matched the wood and colour of the bed and night stands. Under the window, which sat at eye level and stretched for the entire length of the wall opposite the door, was a grey double dresser with two mirrors, multiple drawers on either side of it, and two white chairs. A few feet to the right of the dresser was a white door with many spirals and patters carved into the wood.

"Bathroom" Santana told them. "It has a huge bathtub, a shower with a frosted glass door, double sink and a toilet. Britt got a bath mat that's yellow and has a huge duck on it. Do you wanna see?"

Puck laughed and shook his head, but Quinn walked into the bathroom to see. When they were done in that room, they walked into a room only a few feet from it on the other side.

This was the twins' room. It was painted a light green, with cartoon animals like the road runner, daffy duck and many others painted all over it, and there were two brown cribs sitting in the centre of the room. On either side of each crib, two huge drawers stood pushed against the walls. One had a black wooden J stuck to its side, the other a K. There were several boxes lining the far wall, two that looked like treasure chest, one large on in the middle that looked like a pirate ship, and two black ones that looked like barrels and said, 'Jesus' and Kyler' on each. There was a shelf next to one of the clothes drawers that was lined with dozens of books on three shelves, and stuffed animals on the top most shelf.

"This all goes to really show me how much money you have" Puck said, putting Kyler into one of the cribs and walking to the shelf. "This stuff all looks so expensive"

Santana shrugged and Brittany blushed slightly. Quinn put Jesus into the crib with his brother and went to the toy box that was a ship. She traced her hand over it, looking around at the room.

"Can you guys decorate my house when I buy one" she said seriously. Santana laughed. "This is all so cute guys."

"Thanks" both Brittany and Santana said. They continued to look around the room for a while, then they moved on to the other rooms. There were two more bedrooms, both were empty but for a bed and a dresser. There was a bathroom between them.

"What are you going to do with both the bedrooms? More guestrooms?" Puck asked.

"Maybe for a while, but Britt and I always wanted four kids so, eventually those will be theirs."

"Thinking ahead huh?" Quinn joked, starting to descend the stairs they had come up.

"We wouldn't want to have to move again when the time comes" Brittany said. "It's already killing me and we haven't even really started moving."

"Yeah but you can always just hire people to unpack everything for you."

Santana grimaced. "No we couldn't. We're going to do it ourselves like we did when we moved to San Jose in the first place."

"What's the point of being rich if you still have to unpack for yourself?" Puck asked, looking down at them from his position on the second step.

"Even if we got them to do it, we'd just end up moving everything around anyway. It'll be easier if we just do it ourselves." Brittany said, leading the way into the living room.

"Plus we'll know where everything is." Santana added. "This is a bathroom" she said, pointing to a white door on the left.

"And this is the living room." Brittany announced, as they left the hallway and entered a large open space. The entire room was brightly lit by the large amount of sunlight streaming in from the glass that made up three of the room's walls. You could see the driveway and front yard from one, the pathway around the house and small garden from another, and a large swimming pool and small field beyond it from the last.

"Holy…" Puck said, walking down the four steps that led to the living room.

"So jealous" Quinn said in a whine. "Jesus why are you so lucky?" she asked the baby, as he pulled at the hat on his head some more.

Puck slid open the door to the pool and walked outside, while Quinn turned away from the living room and walked into the kitchen. There was no wall separating the two rooms, only a low archway. The kitchen had a sliding door similar to the one in the living room, that led out into the field where Puck was currently running around with Kyler, pretending he was a football. It was much larger than the kitchen in the apartment Brittany and Santana currently lived in, but was similarly built. It had the double sink, the large kitchen island with five seats, the spice rack mounted on the wall by the hooks for pots and pans, and multiple cabinets under, beside and above the sink for dishes and cutlery. The oven, microwave and toaster were all silver, reflecting the white marble floor and kitchen counters so that the whole room seemed even lighter.

"This house is gorgeous" Puck said, walking into the kitchen. "Kyler and I have discussed, and we both agree. This house is SICK" he yelled, lifting Kyler high into the air and making him giggle loudly.

Quinn laughed, turning to walk out of the kitchen. "What's through there" she asked, walking towards another low archway.

"The dining" Brittany told her, following her in and turning on the lights. "There's two more rooms through there," she pointed at the small corridor through the open door on the other side of the room. "It was one massive one, but we put a wall up, and S and I were thinking of getting this wall knocked so we can get to the front door from here.

"What?" Puck said from behind her, screwing up his eyes as he thought. "Could you really? I don't think we're in the right place."

"No we are" Santana told him. "We looked at the blueprint when we were getting the rooms downstairs sound proofed and the glass put in down there" she pointed at the living room. "We're on the other side of the wall where the mirror is in the foyer."

"Really?" Quinn asked, frowning deeply as she too tried to make the connection based on the turns they had taken downstairs. "I don't think so"

Santana rolled her eyes and Brittany laughed. "Well if you don't think so, I guess the architects don't know shit" Santana said sarcastically as she walked out of the dining room.

"So what are you waiting for to move in?" Puck asked, taking a seat on one of the island chairs.

"They're finishing up some wiring or something, and then they can set up the heating and voice recognition for the gate. When that's done we'll be the only ones who can get in, and then we'll move in."

"But we've already started moving some stuff. A lot of the boy's toys and clothes, the ones too big for them to wear right now. Also some pictures…like you saw. But…" Brittany sighed.

"It's going to take a long time for this place to be fully moved into. It's massive, and we've been living in an apartment, so we don't have the stuff to fill it."

"And we don't want to buy things just to take up space so we're going to wait till we realise we need something, then we'll buy it."

"It'll take a couple of months we think. But for now most of the stuff in the house is going to be baby stuff."

"Especially if you guys keep up with the way you've been buying them things." Brittany said, pretending to glare at Puck and Quinn. Puck chuckled lightly and Quinn grinned.

"You know this means we'll only buy more things." Quinn said, looking at Puck and laughing.

"You said it yourself, this is a big house. We've got to fill it up" Puck said, rubbing Kyler's back as he lay his head on Puck's shoulder. "Better take this little man, before we're all subjected to a horrible tantrum." He said after a moment. Santana looked at Kyler for a few seconds, patting his head gently, then she turned to Brittany.

"I think we're in a danger zone babe, better be you."