CHAPTER 4
A/N: Thank you so much to DarkSouls3777, Berrylucky5 and faeslayer for their reviews, it's really nice and interesting to read your comments! And I'm glad you liked Abuela, I had so much fun writing those bits ha ha! In this chapter, I'll actually cover both Brittany and Santana's points of view. Starting with Brittany's.
1:00 AM – AT THE HOSPITAL – BRITTANY POV
"Brittany?" I hear behind me.
"Quinn… thank God…" I say, throwing myself at her for a much needed hug.
She hugs me tight and whispers: "Sorry, I got here as soon as I could… How is Santana doing? And the baby?"
"I don't know… they took her for some tests an hour ago and every time I ask, they just answer that she's still in the exam room… They won't tell me anything. Quinn… I'm really freaking out here…"
She holds both of my hands in hers. "Britt, I know it's easy to say but let's not worry until we have to, OK? Maybe it's nothing serious. You did good to bring her immediately to the hospital. She's in good hands, they will take good care of them!" She replies, doing her best to comfort me.
I just nod because I feel too distressed to say anything. It breaks my heart to know that Santana is alone right now... I wanted to go in with her but they didn't allow it.
"Come on, let's sit down, we may be here for a while" Quinn adds, pointing to the chairs in the waiting room.
We both sit next to each other, not saying a word for a few minutes. Quinn is not letting go of my hand and I'm just grateful for her presence. I was going out of my mind, alone in that waiting room. I wish our families were here too but they are all thousands of miles away. I haven't even called any of them yet because I don't want to alarm them when I don't even know what's going on.
"Thank you so much for rushing here, Quinn" I whisper.
"Of course, Britt… what are friends for?" she says with a smile. "And I'm not going anywhere until we know that everything is fine."
We fall back into silence for a while before I speak up: "I should have known better… Santana is always mocking me for being over-protective since she got pregnant but in the last few months, I have had this constant bad feeling in my guts, as if I was watching an accident happening in a slow motion, you know?"
She nods and gives my hand a squeeze. "But you told me that her last visit to the Doctor was good, right?"
"Yes, it was… The Doctor said that everything was fine. But I don't know... Santana has been so busy lately and I kept trying to convince her to slow down but…"
"She was her stubborn self?" Quinn asks.
"Of course, she was…" I sigh. "And since she had a whole period where she was constantly irritated over the smallest things, I… I didn't want to fight with her over her schedule… God I'm so stupid, I should have never let this happen! And tonight she just… she had pain out of nowhere, Quinn…I felt so helpless…"
Before I can continue, a nurse interrupts us: "Mrs Lopez-Pierce?"
"Yes" I reply, immediately getting up, trying to read her face but I can't tell anything from it.
"Your wife was brought back to her room, you can see her now. The Doctor will come shortly to discuss the test results. Please follow me."
I take my jacket and my purse before glancing at Quinn.
"I will be waiting here, give her a hug for me?" she says.
I nod in gratitude and follow the nurse through a long hall. This feels unreal… We were supposed to go to the hospital when it was the right time to welcome our baby girl and become mommies… not because something is wrong.
The nurse stops in front of a room and invites me to go in. The door is open and I see Santana sitting in a bed, wearing a hospital gown and nervously playing with her hands on her lap. She looks OK but also very worried.
"Hi…" I say, walking up to her bed.
"Hi…" she whispers, raising her worried eyes to meet mine as I sit on the edge of her bed. I hug her carefully and I can feel her pregnant belly against my body. I feel like crying… I want both of my girls to be OK.
"How are you feeling?" I ask, pulling away from our hug to look into her eyes, holding her hands in mine.
"I… I don't know… the pain has stopped but they made me do all those tests and they wouldn't tell me anything… Do you know anything at all?"
"No… they just said that the Doctor will come to your room to discuss the test results. I guess we have to wait…" I reply, rubbing my thumb on the back of her hand.
She looks uneasy. Santana has never been patient for anything so I know that it's killing her to be forced to wait. Even if I'm a more patient person, I'm not good at waiting in such situations either, we don't even know if something is wrong with our baby. Just that thought terrifies me but I can't look scared in front of San, I have to keep it together so that I don't make her more stressed.
"I called Quinn, I hope it's alright…" I say, to distract her. "I needed... someone there with me. She is in the waiting room."
"Of course that's alright… I'm glad that she kept you company." She says with a timid smile that fades away almost immediately. She is definitely preoccupied.
The door suddenly opens and the Doctor comes in.
SANTANA POV
"How are you feeling, Santana? Any more contractions?" Doctor Montgomery asks me.
"Hum… I'm feeling OK for now… and… no, no more contractions." I reply.
"I have your test results here. The good news is that your baby is fine."
Brittany and I look at each other and we both sigh in relief as she gives my hand a squeeze.
"But your blood pressure is a little high" the Doctor adds. "Have you been under stress recently?"
"Huh, I…" I mumble.
"She's been working a lot" Brittany says, cutting me off. "She has really long days and… she doesn't rest much."
"I see" Doctor Montgomery says, adjusting her glasses. "If you work too much in your condition, it can put your body under stress. That could explain your high blood pressure and also the contractions you have experienced. Fortunately, your tests show that there is no immediate danger. But a high blood pressure or early contractions can lead to a number of serious complications, both for yourself and your baby. You have to rest and take it easy, Santana, to keep it from escalating further."
"We'll make sure of that, Doctor." Brittany says. "Can I take her home or she has to stay here…?"
I let Brittany do the talking while I'm still trying to process what the Doctor just said.
"I would like to keep Santana in observation for a couple of hours, to monitor her blood pressure. If it doesn't increase, you can take her home. But Santana…" she says, looking at me. "You will need to check your blood pressure every day".
She then turns to Brittany and continues: "You can rent a blood pressure monitor downstairs, it's very easy to use. If the result indicated by the device exceeds this number…" she says, pointing on a document "…you need to bring her back here. And of course, if there are any more contractions, come back to the hospital."
"Thank you so much, Doctor." Brittany replies.
The Doctor leaves the room, leaving the two of us alone. I search Brittany's eyes but she's not looking at me. It even feels like she's avoiding my gaze. That can't be good… But I can't blame her for being mad at me. After all, tonight's events proved that she was right all along, I have worked too much in the past few weeks.
"Britt…" I say timidly, to get her attention.
"Don't, Santana…" She replies in a calm but unusually cold tone.
She's using my full name… I'm definitely in trouble.
She shakes her head before looking at me with pleading eyes: "I have been asking you to slow down for weeks… I told you that you were working too much…"
"I know…" I whisper. "But Britt… I never thought that something would happen, I was really feeling fine… at least until tonight..."
"Well, this incident is your wake-up call, Santana!" She says more firmly. "That baby needs a few more weeks before she's ready to come into this world. And I'm done walking on eggshells around you, letting you do whatever you want and just praying that you'll finally slow down. So here is what's going to happen: as soon as the clock hits 8:00 AM on the dot, I'm calling D'Shon to say that you are not recording any more back vocals until after the birth. And then I will also call your label to put this whole promo business on hold. Either they postpone the release date or they use the footage you have already shot - I actually don't care - but you're not doing this anymore".
I don't say anything because she has this determined look in her eyes and anyway, I know that she's right… Since I have to take it easy, I might as well stop with the back vocals and the promo for a few months.
"And Artie is going to handle the Glee casting process on his own." She adds.
"What?" I ask but she doesn't even react.
I didn't expect that she would make me give up on the casting process and I'm definitely not OK with that! What does she want exactly, lock me up at home until I deliver the baby?
"Britt… I know you got scared, I get it. I was terrified myself…" I reply. "And clearly, you were right: I took too much on my shoulders. So yes, I will rest and drop the back vocals and the promo but let's not go overboard here, OK? Doctor Montgomery did NOT put me on bed rest!" I argue.
She completely ignores my plea and just says: "I'm going to go find Quinn to reassure her and rent the blood pressure monitor". She's about to get out of the room but stops when I continue speaking.
"Brittany, this TV show is probably THE biggest project of my career. And it's much more than a work project, you of all people know how much this means to me! I can't leave the casting up to Wheels, I have worked my ass off and put my heart and soul in this for months. This show is … it's my baby!" I argue.
As I see the angry look on her face, I immediately regret using that word.
"Except that it's not, Santana!" she raises her voice.
She sits on the edge of my bed and places her hand on my belly. "THIS is your baby…" she says. "There is an actual little girl growing inside you! And she needs you to keep her safe. I cannot do that for you… you're the one carrying her! The only thing I can do is taking care of you. So as your wife, I'm telling you: you have to slow down. And if you don't, I swear to God that I will call your Abuela, invite her to stay with us until the baby is born so that she can keep an eye on you 24/7!".
Fuck… She wouldn't do that, right? I try to read her face to see if she's bluffing but she looks dead serious.
"You can't do this to me anymore, San…" she says. "I can't keep worrying like this the whole time… So please, please promise me that you will be careful" she adds with tears filling her eyes.
I hug her to calm her down. "OK…" I sigh. "I will be careful, Britt. I promise…"
I break our embrace to look into her eyes: "I'm really sorry that we went through this… but… let's just breathe for a minute… I am OK… and the baby is fine. And I promise you that I will do everything in my power to keep it that way."
TWO DAYS LATER – AT HOME
It's Saturday 14:00 and I'm at home, literally doing nothing. Quinn is here and I know it's because Brittany asked her to babysit me while she's at the dance school for her summer class.
Britt did exactly what she announced at the hospital: she cancelled my back vocals, put my album promo on hold and she told Artie that he was fully in charge of the casting process. I want to discuss this with her again, but I'm waiting for the right time.
"You know, I can hear the gears clicking in your brain from here" Quinn says as she's flipping through a magazine and not even looking at me.
"Don't you have somewhere to be, Fabray?" I ask, irritated. "No naughty business planned with private Puckerman?"
"Puck is on a mission for a few weeks." She replies. "So… I have all the time in the world, Santana."
I sigh loudly. She's enjoying this way too much.
"Look Q, if you really must stay here, then you should at least help me."
"I am helping you, San. I have taken your blood pressure, I brought you lunch, a bunch of movies and magazines and…"
"I'm not talking about all that shit" I cut her off. "You have to help me convince Brittany to let me be part of the casting process."
"And why would I do that? You need to rest and Artie is perfectly competent to select the right actors for the roles. And you know it. I hate to break it to you, San, but he doesn't need you."
"Look, I trust Wheels enough to know that he won't take bad people but it's not just a matter of finding competent actors, it has to be the right ones. I want an outstanding cast! This show is about all of us, Q! It has to be real and reflect our group dynamics" I reply. "Please… help me talk to Brittany. Maybe she will listen to you. I can look at audition videos from home, even from my damn bed if that's what she wants but I have to be involved!"
"Besides…" I continue. "… If I stay at home doing nothing for the next few weeks, I'm going to go crazy… which I'm sure is bad for my blood pressure!" I add, raising my arms. "I will definitely murder someone, Fabray! And considering that I will not kill my wife, I'll take down whoever else is around… like you for instance!"
"Whatever you say, Lopez" Quinn replies, still flipping through the magazine in some sort of bourgeois way, not at all impressed by what I just said. I hate this about her, she's the only one that has never been scared of my threats.
"Assuming that I side with you on this…" she adds. "…I suppose that we could ask Artie to go through the audition tapes… maybe he could do a first selection and write down his recommendations for you. That would already reduce the number of tapes for you to watch, and true… you could actually watch them from home."
"See, exactly! Ok, great! So when Britt gets back home, you can just explain her that and th-"
"I'm not done, San." She replies.
Great… one more bossy blonde to deal with. Just what I need.
"It's not just about working from home" Quinn adds. "The issue was also the number of hours you were doing. So you'll have to come up with a reasonable schedule. Because I also know how you can get when you're obsessed with something. You are capable to start at 6:00 AM and continue that whole thing until midnight."
"Fine" I sigh, rolling my eyes.
LATER THAT DAY - AT HOME
Brittany came home and is now listening to Quinn detailing how I can work on Glee without compromising my health or the baby's. Quinn actually ordered me not to say a word during her little "presentation" so I'm just sitting there while they are discussing about what I can and cannot do. It really sucks to see them talking about me as if I was not even there. Quinn came up with a schedule and said that not only Artie would preselect the audition tapes before I get them but that she would also get involved, to rework the latest scripts I drafted. I was skeptical when she first suggested it but after all, she graduated from Yale School of Drama, she also knows this stuff. And with Puck out of town, I'm pretty sure that she's actually excited to have this to keep her busy.
As soon as Quinn is done talking, Brittany looks at me and we enter into a silent staring contest.
She sighs and says: "Fine… let's give it a try. But I'm warning you, San… you have to stick to that schedule and the minute your blood pressure goes higher, I'll shut this thing down faster than you can imagine."
I nod, trying to keep a straight face but deep down I'm really excited.
ON THE NEXT DAY - AT HOME
Quinn went earlier to Paramount to meet up with Artie and explain him our new way of working. As Britt is at the dance school, I'm stuck alone at home, reading the Big Book of Baby names. I'm still not inspired by any of them so I try to read them out loud, hoping that the little one will give me a kick if there is one she likes but nothing. Of course when I want to sleep she kicks like crazy but when I need her to help me, there is no one there!
"Fine, baby girl, don't help me... but don't you complain later if you end up being called "Peanut Lopez-Pierce" I say to my belly. A text puts me out of my misery.
FROM "WHEELS": Hey San, I hope you're feeling alright! Just wanted to tell you that this Rivera kid is definitely the best Santana Lopez among the candidates we have. Are you sure you guys are not related? This resemblance is uncanny! I also think I have found our Rachel. Will send you their videos this afternoon but they both have my vote.
A/N: Comments on this chapter? It was a little scare but I didn't want anything bad to happen to San or the baby ;-) What do you think about Britt in this chapter? She rarely gets angry but I figured that she would get mad about this. As always, feel free to tell me in your reviews because it's always nice to have people's opinion!
