CHAPTER 5
A/N: Thanks again for your nice review Berrylucky5, it makes my day! This chapter is a little bit shorter, but the timeline accelerates. It's Santana POV for the whole chapter.
ONE MONTH LATER – AT HOME
I just got dressed and I'm looking at myself in the mirror. Or rather looking at my belly. Sometimes I really wonder if there is only one baby in there. Is she coming with a stroller included or what?
As Brittany passes behind me, she stops to hug me from behind, placing her hands on the sides of my belly, and her chin on my shoulder while we're looking at our reflection.
"You're beautiful" she says.
I know that she means it because she has those "heart eyes"... even though it's impossible for me to agree with her right now.
"Well… I surely don't feel beautiful. I feel fat" I sigh. "You are just biased because I'm carrying your child."
"Nope… Even if I put aside the fact that you're my baby mama, I still stand my ground: definitely beautiful" she replies with a smile, before kissing my cheek.
This whole thing still feels surreal. Very soon, we will be three.
"You're ready?" Brittany asks.
"Yeah… let's go!" I reply, grabbing her hand.
We are driving to Paramount today so that I can meet Quinn and Artie. I want to see where we stand for the casting. Now that my blood pressure is stable, I can drop by the studios from time to time.
LATER THAT DAY AT PARAMOUNT
"So now that you have met her, what do you think?" Artie asks me.
"Well, Artie… I must admit that you have a good eye" I say. "That girl is definitely the perfect one for the job. Her audition tape was very good but now that I have spent half an hour with her, I can tell without a doubt in my mind that she's actually even more annoying than the real Rachel. I didn't even know that that was possible! Plus, she's short enough to play her!"
"Ok, so she's confirmed." He says, writing it down on his notepad.
"What about Finn's part, can we confirm the guy too?" Quinn asks.
"I actually like the actor that you recommended" I reply. "But I want to do justice to our late friend Finn. And let's face it: the only one who can judge that is Berry. So I sent her his tape last night and… it's her call. I will let you know once she gives me her feedback… Now, about Trouty mouth… Sorry guys but you need to look for more candidates, I need more lips!"
"OK, will do" Artie comments. "But now we need to make a choice for our dancers."
"Yeah about that, Wheels…" I say. "I showed the dancers' tapes you preselected to Mike and Brittany. They both agree that this guy was the best one" I say pointing one of the CVs. So he should play Mike's character."
Artie writes it down as I continue: "As for Britt's part, they liked those three girls here. They are apparently equally talented but I personally have a preference for the middle one."
Quinn lets out a chuckle.
"Something funny, Fabray?" I ask, crossing my arms.
"Well… it's just that of course you would go for the blond one with the hottest body and the blue eyes. You definitely have a type, San." She says, laughing.
"Should I remind you that whoever we pick is going to play my wife on TV? I told you that it has to be real! So of course it can only be a hot girl! And that one was dancing sexy, just like my Britt. But she also has this sweetness in her face and that is what makes her the right one."
"Alright, noted." Artie says. "Can we confirm Naya to play the fabulous Santana Lopez?" he adds, to tease me. "You never made your decision on that, San."
"That's because I was waiting to cast Brittany's part before making my decision. If they are going to carry our love story on screen, I first need to see if they have chemistry." I say.
"What do you want to do then?" Artie asks.
"We're going to make them spend time together." I reply. "Artie, have them learn and rehearse together the choreography for "I say a little prayer", in front of the camera. And I don't just want to see the dancing parts, Wheels. Keep the camera rolling in between takes, I want to see them interacting together. And interview them together too, just tell them it's for some future bonus videos or something."
Just as I say this, my phone beeps.
FROM "GAY BERRY": "Hi Santana, how are you? Is your blood pressure still under control? I watched the video you sent me and I think that you have found the perfect Finn. That actor has such a great rock voice, and he's cute! Thank you for bringing him back to life through your show, it means a lot."
ONE WEEK LATER – AT HOME – MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
I have been in bed for hours and I still can't fucking sleep. I try to change position but it's not like I have many options with that huge belly of mine. I let out a loud and frustrated sigh, whispering some Spanish curse words.
"What's wrong, babe?" Brittany asks, looking at me. I guess I woke her up but I'm just too cranky to apologize to anyone right now, even to her.
"Your daughter won't stop kicking, that's what!" I complain.
I address my belly: "It's 2:00 AM, it's past your bed time, little missy! What are you even doing in there, throwing a party? Because I'm pretty sure that you're underaged!"
"So is this how it's going to be?" Brittany asks. "Every time she does something annoying, it's going to be my daughter?" She laughs.
"Well that's pretty much your fault, Britt. You spent my whole pregnancy teaching her how to dance and now she's actually doing it… in my womb!"
"Or maybe… it's just because you are almost at full term? It's probably getting a little tight for her in there, San" she says.
"She has my full blessing if she wants to get out! I'm more than happy to get my body back!" I reply.
She smiles and adds: "Wait… I will try to calm her down…" She gets her face close to my belly and rubs it carefully. "Hey peanut… it's time to sleep now, your mama is tired and you know how cranky she can get…" she says while I roll my eyes.
To my surprise, Brittany suddenly starts singing. I forgot how wonderful her voice is! She doesn't sing that often anymore, and that's a shame really because that voice is so sweet and soothing.
The kicking slows down until it eventually stops.
"See, I got her to sleep!" She says proudly, her hand still on my belly.
"Seems like it…" I say, more relaxed. "I hope that this trick also works once she's here, it would come in handy."
She smiles and kisses my lips.
"She's so lucky to have you as her mom" I add. "You're always so calm and sweet, and you have a solution for everything. You will even out my bad temper... maybe with you around she has a chance not to be fucked up."
"You will be an amazing mom, San. I know it. Despite your little temper - which is part of your charm - you have the biggest heart. You have everyone's back! And you're strong and brave… And so talented… I hope you pass on all that to her."
ON THE NEXT AFTERNOON – AT HOME
"But Brittany… you like it. I like it. That's actually the only baby name we agree on, so that has to be the one!" I say.
"Not necessarily" she replies.
I frown, confused.
"I just want to wait until she's here" she adds. "To see if that name suits her, you know?"
"And if it doesn't, what do we do then?" I ask.
"Let's just wait until we finally meet her."
LATER THAT NIGHT – AT HOME
We went to bed early but I was not sleepy yet so I decided to watch the rehearsal videos of "I say a little prayer" that Artie sent me. Even though Britt was busy reading her book, she was too curious and started watching it with me.
"Oooh, they are even wearing the Cheerios uniforms!" Brittany says.
"God I so could not fit into that thing right now" I laugh.
We watch the two actresses singing and dancing together. I'm pretty impressed I must say. And apparently so is Britt as she comments: "Wow… they sound great! And they are in perfect sync!"
After seeing them performing for a few minutes, we start watching some of the background footage I asked Artie to capture. The girls are smiling when talking together, joking around and laughing out loud. I carefully observe their interactions and their body language.
"It seems that they are getting along!" Brittany says. "It's cute!"
"Yeah... it is." I reply. I'm actually pretty satisfied with what I saw so I quickly take my phone to text Artie.
TO "WHEELS": I confirm both Naya Rivera and Heather Morris.
FROM "WHEELS": Finally! It was a good idea to film them in between takes. Looks like they instantly became best friends!
TWO WEEKS LATER – AT PARAMOUNT
As the Glee cast is now finally complete, we have asked all the actors to come in so that they could get to know each other and do a table read.
"OK everyone, thank you for being here. I just want to officially announce that you are our Glee cast, congratulations!" I say, under enthusiastic applause.
"We have a pretty busy day ahead of us. We are going to do our very first table read for the pilot episode, even though we won't actually shoot it for a few weeks. The sets are not yet fully built and… as you can see by yourselves, there is a private project that needs to be finalised first" I say, pointing to my belly.
"As you know, each of you is going to play one of my closest friends in the world" I continue. "People without whom I simply wouldn't be here right now. And we actually have an amazing guest of honour with us for a few days, please welcome Mr Will Shuester!" I say as Mr Schue bows in front of the cast, under their applause.
"Mr Schue is definitely the best person to explain you what Glee club is all about: a place where everyone loves you no matter what and where everyone accepts you for who you are." I add.
"The real Glee members have agreed to meet you and discuss with you so that you can understand better the characters that you will play on screen. They won't all come on the same day but today, we are lucky enough to have a few of them with us. You obviously already know me, Artie and Quinn. This is Tina Cohen-Chang" I add, pointing to Tina. "And we also have our wonderful dancers: Mike Chang and my lovely wife, Brittany." I add
"Naya, Heather… " I say, looking at them. "Since Britt and I will both take a few weeks off to take care of our baby, we will also spend some time with just the two of you today."
A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER – AT HOME
"What's the name of the book again?" I ask.
"Feel the beat" Brittany replies.
"Are you sure that that it's here, babe?"
"No, I'm not completely sure… it could also be at the dance school, in my office... but the last time I remember seeing it was in the house. I need to find it, San, I promised to lend it to one of my students." She says.
It's the third time that I'm checking our bookcase but I still can't spot this damn book that she's talking about. While I keep searching, Brittany is checking our bedroom at the same time.
"Britt!" I shout from the living room.
She quickly returns to me and asks: "did you find it?"
I inhale deeply before saying: "My water just broke."
A/N: Comments, reactions? Ready to meet their baby girl in the next chapter?
