Santana always loved seeing Brittany immediately after a dance rehearsal. It was different from when she was working on choreography, because then she was drained. She'd be tired physically, but also mentally. Normally she and Santana would soak in the bath on those days, and maybe there'd be some wine involved.
When she'd been teaching a class, she was giddy. She was excited, because she loved seeing people learn something new. She loved seeing that moment when they finally landed a move they had been struggling with, and the high of that would last the entire day. She'd come home and be extra playful with the kids, she'd try teach them some dance moves, and there would be loud music playing all through bath time.
If she had been the one taking a class, she'd come home determined to master whatever it was she was learning. She'd spend more time in the studio that day, practicing until she had it.
But Santana's favourite was when Brittany had a rehearsal day. A day where she wasn't the choreographer, or the teacher, or the student. She was just Brittany, one of the dancers on the team. She'd come out of these days tired, but wired. Her hair was almost always in a messy bun that was barely holding itself together, and she'd be covered in sweat.
Today, Santana walked in to find Brittany lying on the floor in her neon green sports bra, and yoga pants. Her face was flushed pink, and her breathing was heavy. She sat up slowly, taking a water bottle being offered to her by a man Santana didn't know, and to her delight, poured some of that water over her head. Santana paused at the door, eyes fixed on how unbelievably hot Brittany looked with water dripping down her face and neck, onto her chest.
"That was really good everyone." A woman was saying. Santana had met her twice, but she could never remember her name. She was the choreographer on the project Brittany had just signed on to. "You guys have run through it perfectly since lunch, and are only now getting tired, so I'm confident in your ability to do this." she smiled at Brittany, who was now drinking from the bottle of water she had just poured on herself. Brittany nodded at her, but kept drinking. "I think we can call it a day when the great BSP is on the floor."
A couple of people laughed. The man who had given Brittany the water patted her on the back. Brittany put down the bottle and smiled. Santana frowned. Nobody called Brittany BSP since they had gotten married, since there was now an L in the mix. Santana remembered why she never committed this woman's name to memory. She was always doing her best to ignore the fact that Brittany was married. She smirked. People thought that she was a jealous person….and maybe at one time she was, but Brittany was possessive. She was very possessive, and never allowed anyone to disrespect her wife, family or marriage, even by mistake.
"I think you forgot a letter there" Brittany said in her usual innocent voice. The woman frowned at her.
"What do you mean?"
"L"
"For what?"
"Lopez" Brittany said, standing up gracefully.
"Oohh" the woman drew out, laughing. "Yea but no one calls you BSLP"
"No they don't" Brittany's voice suddenly lost its lightness, though she was still calm.
"Yeah" the woman said, sounding unsure. "Because you're-"
"Married" Brittany cut in. "People call me Lopierce, not BSP, because I'm married."
"Right." The woman looked slightly annoyed. "But your wife is known as Lopez. I don't see what the big deal is about you having a nickname of your own that doesn't include her. Your wife is-"
"Here" Santana said, not moving from her position at the door. She dropped her crossed hands. "And finds it very interesting that you are so obsessed with my name, when I can't remember yours." She made sure to be as polite as possible in her tone, very aware that this was still Brittany's boss. The woman's face hardened, as Brittany's softened, a smile breaking though.
"Lindsey" she said curtly. Not addressing the first part of Santana's sentence. Santana nodded slowly.
"Ah"
"Look, all I'm saying" Brittany said, eager to get this over with so she could spend some time with Santana, "is that I don't go by BSP anymore, since I took Santana's name" she paused to grin at Santana like they were newlyweds and she couldn't believe she'd just said that, Santana shook her head in amusement. "So I'd prefer if you didn't refer to me that way. Lopierce is fine. Lopez too" she smirked to herself like she'd just had an amazing idea. She refocused on the woman in front of her. "Whichever you'd like Linds" she said cheerfully. "I'll see you next week" she waved at a few people, got her bag from the corner of the room and made her way to Santana.
"Want to put on a shirt B?" Santana asked, giving Brittany a peck on the lips.
"Uh uh" Brittany said, pulling Santana in for a longer kiss. Santana smirked as they pulled back and linked pinkies.
"Somebody's demanding today"
"I told you I don't like pecks. There's no feeling."
"Now that's just not true" Santana said, pretending to sound offended. Brittany shook her head. "So no to that shirt then?"
"I didn't think you'd have an issue with it" Brittany smirked.
"I don't" Santana said seriously, turning to look Brittany over. "But I don't think we can question where Jesus gets it from." Brittany laughed.
"Speaking of, where are our little humans?"
"Their uncle Noah wanted to have them over for a sleep over."
Brittany raised her eyebrows. "Whatever shall we do with all our free time?"
Santana grinned, allowing her eyes to roam over Brittany's body, taking in how tight her muscles still were, how the sweat made her look like she was glowing. Unable to resist, she put her hand out, stopping Brittany, and moved to stand in front of her. With the hand already on Brittany's shoulder, she moved down, feeling Brittany's abs tighten at the contact, until she could trace the 'v' of her hips just visible above the waist of her sweats. Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet Brittany's.
"I plan on fucking you for hours."
Brittany, who had been expecting some teasing or playful banter, widened her eyes in surprise.
"I have to say that I like that plan a lot"
As soon as they got home, Santana tore off her shirt, trying to keep up with Brittany, who was pulling her into the house at practically a run.
"B slow down" she giggled, almost tripping over some toy trucks.
"I've had an idea since we got in the car, and I'm dying to try it. I don't know how I've never done it before."
"What?" Santana asked, as she was pulled up the stairs.
For the first time Brittany slowed down, looking back at her with a devilish smirk. "Oh, you'll see." Santana picked up the pace.
When they got into their room, the door had hardly slammed shut when Santana found herself being pushed down on a chair.
"What?" she asked, looking up confused. Brittany wasn't paying attention. She was carefully placing her phone on their dressing table. "Babe what are you doing?"
"Patience is a virtue Santana" Brittany sing-songed. Santana frowned, but stopped as soon as she heard the music Brittany was playing. A smirk slowly formed on her lips. As Brittany turned to face her, she winked seductively, bringing a finger to her lips as she swayed her hips to the music.
Santana leaned back in the chair, taking deep breaths and trying to control her rapidly beating heart.
As the music picked up, Brittany walked forward, placing her hands on Santana's thighs, an act that brought her face level with Santana's. Keeping her eyes locked with her wife's, she pushed Santana's legs open slowly and dropped to her knees between them. Santana swallowed thickly. Brittany rolled her body against Santana's centre, and unclothed stomach, dragging her hands up her legs from calves to thighs. As the beat dropped, she rose slowly, keeping her body in contact with Santana's and continuing to drag her hands up from thighs to stomach. Just before she reached her breasts, she pulled away slightly, hooking Santana's bra straps with a finger and pulling them down her shoulders. Santana lifted a hand to unclasp Brittany's bra, but Brittany took a step back, running her hands up her own body, one moving up her neck and tangling in her hair.
"No touching" she said. She waited for Santana to nod. "If you touch, I stop…" as Santana nodded again, she stepped back in between her legs and began to really dance. She rolled her hips, dropped down and got back up slowly, making sure her ass pushed against Santana as she did so. Santana groaned, gripping the chair tightly with both hands to resist the temptation to touch Brittany.
"So hot B" she husked, not even bothering to clear the rasp from her dry throat. Brittany smirked in reply. The next time the beat dropped, Brittany dropped herself in Santana's lap, facing away from her. She ground down hard while unclasping her bra, and as it fell off her shoulders, she took both of Santana's hands and placed them on her breasts. They both moaned. As she continued to grind, she leaned back so she was pressed against Santana's front, her head thrown back against her shoulder, neck exposed. Removing her hands from Santana's which needed no more instruction, she slid her hand up Santana's neck till she reached the back of her head, and pushed her down so Santana's mouth was on her neck. Again Santana needed no encouragement. Her tongue shot out and licked a wet line up Brittany's neck, nipping gently just below her ear.
Just as Brittany was about to turn around, their door burst open.
"Woooahhh" they heard Puck yell. Brittany dove off Santana, dropping behind their bed as her hands tried to cover her exposed chest. Santana was right behind her, trying to get a shirt from the dresser.
"Puckerman!" She yelled, finally pulling out a shirt for her and Brittany. They were tight, but they would have to do. "What they fucking hell are you do-" she broke off as she lifted her head over the bed in order to put on her shirt. One of her sons, she could not yet be sure which, was in his arms, tears streaming down his face. She shot up, forgetting the shirt altogether. "What happened?"
"He's-" turning around Puck stopped mid-sentence as he saw Santana in a bra. "Are you not going to wear clothes?" Santana ignored him, taking the still crying three year old into her arms. He tucked his head into her neck.
"Noah what happened?" she asked again, more seriously. "He's hot….and sweating" she noticed his shirt was damp as she rubbed up and down his back.
"He was complaining of a stomach ache a couple of hours ago, wouldn't eat…then he started getting hot. I took his temperature and it was 100, so I figured it was something he ate. I've been trying to call you guys, cause I had no idea what to do. All of a sudden he started screaming his head off."
"WHAT?" Brittany asked, moving to stand next to Santana. She ran her hand through his damp hair. "What do you mean? Why would he be screaming?" she demanded.
"I don't know…" Puck was sounding panicked. "I swear I don't know. He was sleeping in my room. He had just gone down for a nap and-"
"What did you give him" Santana asked.
"Nothing. I gave him some warm water, Quinn said it would help with the stomach ache. But he was refusing to eat, and then he fell asleep. I didn't-"
"There must have been something" Brittany said. Santana tried to control her worry as her son continued to cry into her neck.
"duele mama" he whimpered. Brittany lowered her head to his, kissing him repeatedly.
"I know my love." With one more kiss she straightened. "Something must have happened. Did he fall?"
Puck ran a hand over his buzz cut hair. "Nothing happened. He was asleep, and then started screaming." As he spoke, the toddler gave a loud cry. Santana felt his body convulsing, like the pain was rippling through him. Without wasting another second, she gently transferred the now sobbing child into Brittany's arms.
"We're going to the hospital" she said, as she moved around the room, looking for her hand bag. "Something is obviously wrong. He's in too much pain." Realising the bag wasn't in the room, she brushed passed Puck, her shirt in her hand. "Brittany get in the car."
Five minutes later, Brittany was sitting in the back seat of Santana's white Range rover holding their son as Santana rushed out of the front door carrying her purse and Brittany's, and one of their old cheerios duffle bags. Without a word between them, she jumped into the car, and drove out of the gate.
"Ma'am you can't park there."
"I just need to get my son to the emergency room, and then I'll move it"
"I understand miss, but you can't park it there. That's the ambulance bay."
"My son is in a lot of pain. I just need to get him to a doctor."
"I understand, but you can't-"
"Por el amor de Dios, Can you let me take my son to the hospital?"
Santana pushed passed the man blocking her way, Brittany right behind her as she ran into the emergency room. Two nurses came up to her.
"Excuse me miss are you injured?" one asked, looking her over for any injuries.
"No" Santana said quickly, reaching back and pulling Brittany in front of her. "My son….something is wrong with my son. He's in a lot of pain-"
"Oh my god you're Santana Lopez" the other nurse suddenly exclaimed. Santana, Brittany, the first nurse and the security guard who had tried to stop Santana all turned to look at her.
"Are you serious?" Brittany asked, in a deathly quiet voice. The woman, who looked to be in her early 20s, paled, her eyes widening as she realised her mistake.
"I'm sorry…" she looked frantically at the other nurse, who was frowning at her. "I'm sorry….I just…I didn't mean..."
"I don't give a fuck what you meant" Santana spat. "My son is in serious pain. Something is wrong with him, and I need an ADULT doctor, to help him."
The first nurse snapped her attention back to Brittany and the crying boy in her arms.
"What's wrong with him?"
"He was complaining of a stomach ache, and then he just…he started screaming." Brittany was struggling to stay calm. "His temperature was 100 last time it was checked, but that was at least an hour ago. He's sweating so I think it might have gone up."
"Okay" the nurse said, as a gurney was brought over for them to lay the child on. "We'll start with that." she turned to the other nurse. "Page paediatrics-"
"No way. Not her" Santana said harshly. "I don't want her anywhere near my son."
"Okay ma'am" the nurse said calmly. "I understand, I will get someone else. Please calm down."
"Don't tell me to calm down. MY SON IS IN PAIN" she yelled.
"Mami" they heard in a quiet voice. Santana's entire body language softened as she bent down over her son. She kissed his head and both his cheeks, before kissing him on the lips, brushing his hair out of his face. She could feel the heat from his skin against her lips.
"I'm here mi amor" she whispered against his head, where she left her lips.
He curled into her, reaching up to be picked up. Santana's heart broke. Looking at him now properly for the first time, she knew he was Jesus.
"My stomach" he cried into her neck as she lifted him.
"I know baby" she hushed. "I know…"
"I need to take his temperature" a different nurse said. Santana immediately liked her. She spoke in a calm but commanding voice that made her feel for the first time like someone knew what they were doing. Like there was someone in control. She breathed a sigh, placing Jesus back on the bed. "What's his name?" she asked Santana.
"Jesus."
"Hi Jesus" she said sweetly. Jesus did not acknowledge her, more focused on trying to get back into one of his mother's arms. "I just want to take your temperature okay buddy." Again Jesus didn't respond.
"Can't one of us hold him?" Brittany asked. Santana turned to face her for the first time, hearing the tears in her voice. Her heart broke even more, seeing how hard Brittany was trying to keep it together. She reached out and pulled her into her side, keeping their fingers interlocked. When she felt how badly Brittany's hands were shaking, she squeezed.
"It's gonna be okay B. They're going to help him. He's going to be okay."
"We're going to do everything we can to help him" the nurse promised. Brittany nodded, leaning closer to Santana. There were a few minutes where all they did was watch as the nurses hooked Jesus up to monitors and take tests.
"So our greatest concern right now is his temperature. It's is a bit high, but we're going to give him something to bring that down"
"Ma'am"
They all turned to find the security guard standing a few feet from them. Santana rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah okay. I'm going to go move my damn car." She brought Brittany's hand to her lips and kissed it, and bent down to kiss Jesus again. "I'll be right back okay?" she told Brittany.
An hour later, Jesus still had a fever, his temperature rising despite the medication.
"Where is the doctor?" Brittany asked in irritation. She had long since picked Jesus up, unable to watch him crying in his bed alone. Her shirt was drenched with his sweat. "We've been here forever, and he's getting worse!"
"He was with another patient, but he should be coming in the next few minutes."
"I don't understand how it could take this long to see a child in this much pain. I don't see how it's okay to keep us waiting this long, especially with his fever." Brittany burst out. "What kind of hospital-"
"Here he is" the middle aged nurse that Santana liked said, placing her hand on Brittany's shoulder. Santana and Brittany looked up to see Dr Riley walking towards them, his hair much longer than the last time they had seen him nearly two and a half years ago. His tired eyes widened in recognition.
"Santana, Brittany…hi"
"Hey" Brittany said quickly. Santana didn't respond verbally, choosing only to nod.
Switching into a more professional mode, he looked down at Jesus. "What seems to be the issue?"
As the nurses filled the doctor in on Jesus' symptoms, Brittany put him back on the bed so Dr Riley could check him out. As soon as he pressed his stomach, Jesus leaned forward towards Brittany, and threw up.
"Oh my god" Santana cried. She tried to rush forward to pick Jesus up, but was held back by a nurse.
"Okay, we need to move people" Dr Riley was saying. "It's the appendix, and if we don't move fast it's going to burst, and then we'll have real problems."
"His appendix? But how? Did something happen?" Santana asked.
"Are you sure?" Brittany asked. She was fully crying now, unable to bare Jesus' screams of pain.
"I see a lot of cases like these, I have learned to read the signs. If you would like I could run more tests, but time really is of the essence right now."
"No…" Brittany stepped back, wiping her face. "No it's okay. Take him…just…help him please."
"Ma'am" a nurse called to Santana, who had moved to the bed, holding Jesus to her chest and kissing his head. "We need to take him in to surgery."
"You're going to be okay Jesus. Te amo. Mamá and I are here. Right here. We'll be waiting for you when you wake up. Okay?"
Jesus was shaking his head, crying harder and clinging to Santana.
"Mrs Lopez-Pierce we really should go" Dr Riley said.
"Papi you have to go with the doctors. They're going to make you feel better."
"No…No mami…MAMI" Jesus continued to scream for Santana as Brittany pulled her back from his bed, and he was rushed away from them. Santana broke down crying, curling in to Brittany despite the vomit that was staining her shirt.
"He's going to be okay Santana" Brittany hushed in her ear, trying hard to stop her own tears. "They're going to help him. We should get Ky" Santana nodded against her chest. Brittany squeezed her tighter. "He's going to be okay."
"He has to be"
Half an hour later, Puck brought Kyler to the hospital. He was in as much distress as Jesus had been when they were at the house. As soon as he saw them, he ran into Brittany's arms, firing questions about how Jesus was and when he could see him.
"Soon buddy" Brittany told him. "He'll be in his room in maybe an hour, but he'll be asleep okay?"
"Is he okay?" he asked Santana.
"The doctors are helping him right now, and then he'll be okay."
"Okay" he said quietly, laying his head on Brittany's shoulder.
"Guys…I don't…he was fine…I didn't know."
"You couldn't have known Noah" Brittany said.
"You should have taken him to the hospital" Santana said angrily.
"I thought it was just a stomach ache…." Puck trailed off, rubbing his head and looking around the waiting room. They were in a private area, so they were the only ones there. "If I had thought it was anything serious I would have brought him."
"How would you know what's serious or not? He was in so much pain by the time you brought him to us. It would be better if you brought him and they said it was nothing. He could have died Puckerman" she hissed, making sure Kyler didn't hear her last sentence.
"Santana…" Brittany said quietly, raising a hand for her to take. Santana looked at it, sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Whatever…" she muttered, bending to pick up Kyler, "I'll be back in a few minutes. Text me if there are any updates." She walked out of the room.
"Fuck" Puck said loudly, plopping down into a chair. Brittany ignored his foul language. "She's never going to forgive me for this."
"She will. She's not really mad at you Puck, it's not your fault."
"He has to be okay….or I'll never forgive me for this."
"He's going to be fine" Brittany said with conviction. "It hadn't burst yet, so he's going to be fine."
"I should have brought him in sooner." Puck breathed, bending over till his head was in his lap. Brittany shrugged.
"Give her some time. She's freaking out, and she won't even really register that you're here until he's out of surgery." Puck nodded solemnly, and allowed silence to set in.
Three hours later, they were shown into Jesus' post surgery recovery room. Santana and Brittany rushed to either side of his bed, kissing his head and petting his hair.
"He's okay?" Santana asked, restraining herself from climbing into Jesus' bed.
"He's going to be fine. He can leave the day after tomorrow" Dr Riley said with a smile. "Everything went great in there, we took it out, with no complications."
"He's okay?" Santana repeated, now looking at the doctor. He nodded, taking a step towards her and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"He's okay."
"Thank you so much" Brittany said seriously, crying tears of relief as she hugged a sleeping Kyler.
Santana looked at him with eyes full of tears that refused to fall. "Thank you" she said quietly.
"No need to thank me." He smiled at them both, nodded at Puck and walked to the door. "I'll be back to check on him in a few hours, hopefully he'll be awake."
Quinn came running into the room an hour later, still wearing her chef's uniform and looking frazzled.
"Is he okay?" Oh my god what the hell happened? Noah you said he was asleep…next thing, I check my phone and he's in surgery? Did his appendix burst? What the hell happened?"
"It didn't burst but it was really infected. They took it out. He should be waking up in a bit." Brittany said.
"Thanks for coming Q" Santana told her. She was sitting on the edge of Jesus' bed, rubbing up and down his arm.
"He looks okay" Quinn said, taking a seat next to Puck. He nodded.
"Doc says he's fine. Should be able to go home the day after tomorrow."
"Thank god"
"Yeah" they all said, looking at Jesus.
"Puck" Santana said after a moment of silence. Puck shook his head.
"Nah…all good LP." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.
"Thank you for getting him to us"
Puck shrugged, a cheeky smirk crossing his lips.
"Walked in on something real interesting didn't I?"
Santana rolled her eyes, Brittany groaned.
"Let's never talk about that."
"What?" Quinn asked, intrigued.
"I do believe a young Santana Lopez-Pierce was getting a lap dance"
Quinn choked, her eyes shooting open wider. "What?"
"Shut up Puck…you don't know what was happening." Brittany said, looking down at Kyler, pretending to wipe something off his cheek.
"I'm pretty sure I know what I saw."
"You didn't see anything."
"I saw a whole lot" he wagged his eyebrows.
"Nooaaah!" Santana exclaimed, looking for something to throw at him.
"What?" he laughed. "Not my fault you didn't put on a shirt."
"Sorry that it wasn't my top priority when you had my crying son in your arms."
"Looked like a really good one too…damn Britt"
"Shut the hell up Noah" Brittany laughed, burying her face in Kyler's hair as she turned red.
"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised considering she's a dancer. Wish somebody would give me a lap dance like that for free. Santana you're so lucky you're not a guy….I'd have had real trouble getting little Puck down if I was interrupted from that."
"Like I said, seeing your hysterical son kind of puts all else out of your mind. Can we stop talking about what my hot wife and I do in the safety of our bedroom? It's gross and making me want to punch you in the face."
Puck laughed.
"Hey" Brittany said shyly, "how much did you actually like….see?" she looked down at her chest to show what she meant.
"Nothing I haven't seen before" Puck smirked. Brittany groaned. "Come to think of it…." He looked around the room at Santana then Quinn. "There's nothing in this room I haven't seen before." He burst out laughing at the appalled faces of the women around him, but was quickly silenced by a hard smack to the back of his head from Quinn, followed by a punch in the arm by Santana.
"Whoa, whoa….stop the violence"
"Fuck you Puckerman. Don't ever say that again." Santana growled, sitting back on the bed. Puck grinned, still rubbing his arm where Santana had hit him.
"I have to say woman….you have not lost your touch. That hurt like a mother" Santana smirked, laying down on the bed beside Jesus and playing with his hair. Puck frowned. "Though….maybe it's time I get some male friends"
"Good luck finding a guy who won't want to constantly beat your ass for hitting on or stealing his girls" Quinn said. Puck laughed.
"Yeah you're right. I'm probably safer with you three."
Santana and Brittany took two weeks of to be at home with Jesus while he recovered from is surgery. Dr. Riley had told them that it would take between 1 and three weeks, and that if he was still feeling pain, got a fever, or the stiches looked red and puffy they should bring him back to the hospital. Thankfully, none of that had happened. Jesus was back to running around the house as usual, jumping off everything he could climb. The only thing they had made sure to put a stop to was his wrestling with and tackling Kyler, because that was too rough and could result in him getting seriously hurt.
Now that he was better, Brittany had had the idea to have a little barbeque at their house before they went back to work. Like a party for Jesus' recovery, but with only Puck and Quinn.
On the morning of the barbeque, Santana, Brittany and Quinn went to buy everything they would need, leaving Puck at home with the twins.
"What did you just say to me?" Santana snapped, loud enough for Brittany to hear from several feet away.
"Here comes the yelling." Quinn whispered in her ear. Brittany smiled, turning to fully watch Santana.
"I bet you he cries." She giggled, as the man took a step back from Santana.
"Aren't you supposed to be trying to calm her down?"
"Why?"
"Because she's being rude"
"He's racist." She shrugged. "Plus, if she doesn't get it out every couple of weeks it builds up, and then some poor unsuspecting soul gets hit with that full blast" Quinn laughed. "Trust me, it's better off this way."
"First of all, let me educate your misogynistic, ignorant, white privileged, heteronormative ass." They heard Santana shouting. Two or three people had stopped shopping to watch the scene, while others watched as they walked past, like one does a horrific car wreck.
"She's about to break into Spanish" Brittany said quietly, looking around for a place to sit. "Do you think I could move some of the stuff in the cart around and sit in there?"
Quinn laughed, shaking her head. Brittany bent over to push their shopping aside. Quinn's hand shot out and pulled her back up, her eyes wide.
"No Britt. Are you serious?"
"We'll be here a while once she gets into-"
"And also! A person can speak more than one language and still be American. How stupid do you have to be to think that speaking anything but English makes you a foreigner?."
"Spanish" Brittany finished. Quinn sighed.
"Please Britt…just go calm her down. I don't want to be here all day, or have to bail her out of jail. You have kids, who are currently with Noah Puckerman. Think of the children!" she cried
Brittany raised an eyebrow. "Alright, fine. But if she explodes on you in a few days don't come crying to me."
She walked up to Santana slowly, pretending to be a stranger. The man looked at her like she was coming to save him.
"What exactly is the issue?" she asked, not specifying who she was talking to. The man turned to her.
"This crazy Spanish b-"
"Don't finish that sentence, and I'm not even Spanish" Santana warned.
"You have an issue with her speaking Spanish?" Brittany asked, ignoring Santana.
"Only lazy immigrants like her speak that language, am I right?" he laughed, looking at Brittany expectantly.
"No." she said, allowing her anger to bubble to the surface. As calm as she wanted to be, he was insulting her wife on so many levels, for no other reason than the language she spoke and the colour of her skin, and she could not let that go. "I do not know what you mean. You're lucky I don't condone violence, otherwise I would have shoved your head up your ass."
Santana let out a laugh, her demeanour changing. The man looked shocked, looking at her with wide eyes. Then he frowned, more from confusion than anger.
"You speak Spanish?"
"Like she said, people can speak more than one language and still be American, but even if they aren't, I advise you to stop spewing your ignorant and hateful words, before you find yourself faced with someone who doesn't have a wife unwilling to let her go to prison for permanently shutting you up."
The man paled, his eyes widening further as Brittany took Santana's hand, kissing it as she walked away.
"I had that B" Santana whined as they reached Quinn.
"I know baby," Brittany smiled, kissing Santana's temple. "Not today though okay?"
Santana huffed, exaggerating a pout, but allowed herself to be pulled along as Quinn pushed the cart. "Fine, but they better be giving us our groceries for free, or I'm asking for the manager."
"Well, well, well" Quinn said, turning to her with a smirk. "Look who's turned in to a Karen"
"Fuck off Fabray." Santana snapped, her previous anger returning. "You think you're such a smart ass but you've never had to listen to someone talking down at you, calling you all kinds of names and assuming they know shit about who you are because of your skin. So why don't you just take your fucking insensitive attitude and get the hell out of my face. When you had a baby, it was a shame. 'Oh look what happened to the intelligent white girl with so much promise'. You wrote about it for your college essay and they saw it as a statement of character that you were able to overcome that adversity. Adversity HA! If I got pregnant at 16 do you know what people would have said? 'It was only a matter of time' or 'yeah, that's typical for people like them'. You have no idea what I have to go through, and you have no idea how much I have to brush off. I am faced with this type of shit all the time, and I sure as hell am not in the mood to take shit from you about how I choose to deal with it."
Quinn stood frozen, the cart continuing to roll forward as she stared at Santana completely lost for words. Santana had turned to face her, her face was red and her eyes slightly watering as she pointed one finger threateningly at Quinn. Brittany stood a few feet in front of them both, hands in her pockets and lips pinched tightly together, shaking her head. There was a ringing silence following Santana's outburst, before Brittany finally moved towards them taking Santana's hand. Santana pulled it back violently before realising that it was Brittany and softening. She sighed heavily.
"Whatever just…don't even bother coming back to my house, we're not having the barbeque anymore." With that, she turned around and walked out of the store, yelling 'fuck you' to the clerk who was sitting just outside the automatic doors. Quinn had tears in her eyes as she turned to Brittany.
"I don't…I didn't mean…" she trailed off not even knowing what to say.
Brittany shrugged. "I warned you….and everything she just said is true." She shrugged again saying, "I'll see you later" and followed Santana out of the store. When she reached the car, she saw Santana in the driver's seat, arms over the steering wheel and head resting on it. Brittany sighed, and opened the door.
"I'm driving B" Santana muttered, not lifting her head.
"No you aren't" Brittany said quietly. For a long moment Santana didn't respond. Brittany knew she was trying to decide if she wanted to fight with her, ignore her, or break down crying, so she kept quiet and let her think. After what felt like an hour, Santana lifted herself up and jumped into the passenger seat. Brittany smiled a tiny smile. Santana had come so far, and moments like these really highlighted that. Five years ago, she would have fought Brittany, getting seriously upset about driving to the point where they would argue well into the night about it, before Santana finally conceded that she wasn't actually angry about not driving, would cry, and then talk to Brittany about how what happened at the store made her feel. Eight years ago Santana would have continued to yell at the store clerk, screaming profanities in both English and Spanish, and making a huge scene until either Brittany physically dragged her away, or security was called. In high school Santana would have punched the guy.
Brittany paused as she was about to turn on the car. Where was she going? She couldn't take Santana home like this. Their kids were there. Santana was a literal master at hiding her emotions, so as soon as they walked through the door, her mami face would come on so that she didn't scare her kids with her temper. Brittany didn't want her to have to bottle all of this anger up. Then there was Puck. He would definitely notice her mood, even if their kids didn't and he'd have many questions about where Quinn was. Finally deciding, she turned on the car and pulled out the parking lot. Twenty minutes into the drive, neither woman had said a word. They had sat in silence, since even the radio was off, Santana facing her window and Brittany stealing occasional glances at her.
"Where are we going?" Santana asked in what was practically a whisper. Brittany nearly jumped, not having expected her to talk at all.
"The park."
Santana nodded, leaning her head against the glass. A few seconds later, she reached over and took Brittany's hand off the steering wheel, holding it in one of hers and rubbing it with her thumb. Brittany felt a rush of warmth at the gesture.
When they arrived and the car was parked, she turned her body completely to face Santana.
"Do you want to talk?" she asked.
Santana sighed. "I'm sorry I freaked-"
"No don't apologise for that."
"You get it though, right? Like…I just can't…sometimes it just gets too much and I can't take it. And Quinn…"
"I get it Santana" Brittany said as Santana trailed off. "I mean I don't really get it, because I can't….but I get it. She didn't mean it, but she shouldn't have been joking about something like that. And that guy was completely out of line. You are allowed to react however you want to that okay?"
Santana nodded. "I'm sorry if I offended you though"
Brittany laughed, though it was humourless. Santana raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"
"What?"
"Stop apologising."
"I know I'm just…I said some stuff about white privilege and-"
"I'm white" Brittany finished. She took Santana's other hand in hers. "Santana, we don't talk about it like…ever, but I'm white and you're Hispanic. Your experience of the world, as much as I hate it with every fibre of my being and wish that it was different, is not the same as mine. The world is…" Brittany let out a breath, trying not to get angry. "The world right now isn't fair. There are horrible people out there that treat you badly because….because they have some idea about who you are. I hate that that's what you have to go through, I hate that that's what our sons are going to go through, and I hate that I can't do anything about it." Santana nodded, looking down at their hands. "But as much as the things that happen to you affect me too…as much as it hurts me, I can never understand what it's really like, because I will never go through it. I'm a rich, blonde, beautiful woman with blue eyes…white privilege is a given for me, and I recognise that. You pointing that out, can never and should never offend anyone, least of all me."
Santana slowly looked up, smiling slightly. "A beautiful woman huh? A little cocky?"
Brittany shrugged. "I'm just keeping it real"
Santana laughed, a few tears falling from her eyes. She wiped them away quickly, not letting go of Brittany's hand. "God…only you could make me laugh right now."
Brittany smiled, but looked down. "Sorry…I didn't meant to joke."
"Hey, it's okay. I'm glad. I needed to. I don't really want to be crying about this."
"Are you sure? It could help?"
"No it won't." Santana said seriously, and Brittany knew not to fight with her on it. They were silent for a few minutes as Santana placed Brittany's hand against her mouth and sighed. She closed her eyes. "It feels wrong, that I have to deal with racism, homophobia and sexism." Brittany nodded in agreement. "I just…how many things about me could people possibly hate? I'm going to hell because I'm gay, I'm illegal ,lazy or a drug addict because I'm Hispanic, and I'm weak because I'm a woman. Like shit. God really fucked up with me huh?"
Brittany tilted her head, shaking it. "You know none of those things are true though."
"Yeah I know that" Santana said loudly. "But what good does it do for me to know that when the rest of the world doesn't?"
"Yeah…" Brittany didn't really know what to say. It made her sick to think about all the hate in the world, and the fact that nothing was being done about it.
"Sorry B…"
"If you apologise one more time I'm gonna slap you Santana."
Santana chuckled. "I just mean…I know it isn't your fault. Usually I can ignore it, I don't know what happened today."
"You shouldn't have to ignore it." Brittany said quietly.
"No I shouldn't, but I do. Otherwise I bring that anger and hatred into our lives, into our home to our boys….and I don't want that. I want them to be innocent and believe in magic and the good in people for as long as possible. Like you."
Brittany smiled. "They will, because we'll protect them."
Santana nodded sadly, looking down again. "We'll do our best, but it doesn't even matter how well we try to protect them."
"What do you mean?"
"When I was 11 my cousin Eric, who was 17 at the time, took me and his girlfriend's sister to the park. His girlfriend's sister was 10. I hated the park back then. I mean there was nothing to do there but look at ducks and burn in the sun, but he was trying to impress his girlfriend so he told her he usually took me there on the weekend, so if her sister wanted to come along he wouldn't mind." Brittany nodded for her to continue, rubbing her knuckles. "Anyway, like I said I hated the park, so as soon as we got there, I told Amy, that was the other girl's name, I told her I knew this really fun place to play hide and seek, and when she went to hide I left her there and went to the ice cream shop."
Brittany wanted to laugh, but she had a feeling from the sad tone in Santana's eyes and the look on her face that it wasn't appropriate.
"I came back an hour later feeling so proud of myself….and saw my cousin lying face down in the dirt, his hands in the air and three cops surrounding him, pointing guns at him."
"What?" Brittany couldn't help her shock. Her hands stopped their movements.
"Yeah" Santana said, wiping another tear and letting out a wet chuckle that held no real laughter. "Apparently Amy couldn't remember the way back, and some people had found her crying alone. She told them she was lost and wanted to go home, so they called the cops. They arrived just as my cousin came running towards her. Of course he'd been looking for us the entire time as well, probably so glad to see her, and they ordered him to lay on the floor. He was arrested for kidnapping and paedophilia that day."
"What?" Brittany asked again. Her eyes were the widest they had ever been, and tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. Santana nodded slowly, like she couldn't believe it either. "What happened?"
"I was so scared, I hid in the bushes until they were gone, and then I called my mum and told her everything. She came and picked me up, dropped me at my abuela's and then went to the police station. Eric was lucky she was a lawyer, cause he used his call to try and get a hold of his girlfriend so she could come and clear everything up, but her dad picked up instead and told him he deserved what he got for trying to molest his daughter."
"Oh my god"
"I thought I'd never see my cousin again Britt. The rest of that day my abuela was so angry, all she would talk about was racist pigs and how it was so sad that this was how we were going to lose Eric. I cried myself to sleep that night, because somehow I thought it was my fault."
"No…it wasn't" Brittany said quickly.
Santana locked eyes with her. "I know B. You know how I know that?" Brittany shook her head. "When my mum got the charges dropped-"
"How?" Brittany interrupted. Santana almost smiled. "Sorry."
"The prosecutor was her friend. She called her and got her to listen to Amy, me and the girlfriend, and he advised his client to drop the charges."
"Wow"
"Yeah. He was let out of jail while I was at my abuela's, and after she got the call, she turned to me and said, 'Santanita, in this life, when you're like us, it doesn't matter what you do or what you say, unless you know someone white and powerful, the world will find a way to see you in chains."
Tears fell from Brittany's eyes as she pulled Santana into her lap, hugging her as tightly as she could. Nothing was said for half an hour, both women lost in thought. Finally Santana pulled back.
"I don't want that to be the world my kids grow up in Britt."
"It will get better"
"You don't know that"
"No…but I have to hope it. Otherwise…what's the alternative? We have two Latino boys, that's not going to change, so…I have to believe that the world will. I have to believe that we're doing better than our parents, and that our kids will do better than us."
Santana nodded, placing her head on Brittany's shoulder and sighing.
"I'm glad I have you in this world Britt. I'd be a total dark cloud without you."
"You'll always have me Santana. I'm not going anywhere" she kissed the side of Santana's head and let her lips rest there for a while. "I will do my best to protect you too baby…you know that right?" she whispered into her hair.
"I know B."
"I love you" Santana smiled and lifted her head. "What?"
"Are you going to make me apologise to Quinn?"
Brittany laughed, kissing Santana deeply, sucking one lip into her mouth and only pulling back when she felt Santana's tongue on hers.
"No way."
"Great! Then I love you too Brittany Susan." Brittany laughed again, resting her head against Santana's.
"Good. Are you ready to go home?"
"Yeah. I miss my babies" Santana jumped back over the center console and into her seat. "Can you text Noah that it's cancelled?"
"Anything you want Santana."
A/N: I forgot to add this note in the last chapter. I realised I uploaded the wrong chapter for chapter 6, but I've updated it now so if you haven't seen that, please go read the actual sixth chapter of this story lol. The story makes a lot more sense once you do. Sorry for the mix up.