CHAPTER 18
A/N: Thanks to Berrylucky5, May1217, Olivia, kelenhermitha, Mostories and the Guest for their reviews! Keep them coming! I didn't cover 6 months in this chapter like I planned to, just 3-4 months. It picks up right where we left off in the last chapter but many things are happening. I start with Santana POV like always but at some point, I switch to Brittany POV because it worked better for some parts of the story. And then I go back to Santana POV (it's indicated when it changes). Enjoy!
A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER (MARCH) – AT HOME
We are in bed and even though I should use that time to relax, I can't stop texting Quinn about Glee. We'll get back on set next week so we are trying to advance as much as possible on the scripts for the rest of the season.
FROM "QUINN": I will send you the reworked scripts of episodes 14-17 by tomorrow afternoon.
TO "QUINN": Thanks, I'll have a look tomorrow already. I'm thinking of asking Berry to guest star later this season, what do you think? She has too much ego to say no.
FROM "QUINN": That would be really great to have Rachel and Lee will love that! Maybe that will finally get us out of his soporific meetings about ratings…
I chuckle at Quinn's last comment but I get distracted when I feel Brittany's eyes on me. I look back at her and understand very quickly what this is all about…
"Brittany… no..." I say, shaking my head. "HELL NO!"
"What?" She asks, surprised. "I haven't even said anything!"
"You don't have to!" I reply. "You think I don't know that look?"
"What look?!" She asks, even more confused.
"The 'let's have a baby' look." I say, pointing at her.
She opens her mouth in disbelief. "How did you even…"
"Because it's written all over your face!" I cut her off. Before she can say anything else, I immediately add: "I'm not putting my body through that again, Britt! No way!"
"I…" She says but stops for a second. "I was actually thinking that… I could carry it this time…" She adds timidly, raising her eyes to meet mine.
God, she has actually thought this through already… I totally blame Girl Chang for this! She has carried her pregnant belly around us and now my wife has caught her damn baby fever!
"But Britt…" I say in despair. "…Sofia is only a year and a half and you already want another one?"
"I'm not saying that we have to get pregnant right now, San… I first need to focus on the dance competition anyway. But I… I just wanted to start the baby talk because… I think it would be nice for Sofia to have a little brother or sister. And you know that it can take a while for it to happen…"
"Or it can be immediate, Britt! We also thought that it would take a while for Sofia and I got pregnant at the very first attempt!"
"It doesn't mean that it would be the same for me, honey… I haven't even taken the fertility tests… Can you just think about it?" She says, placing a soft kiss on my lips.
I sigh before replying: "Fine… I can think about it I guess…"
Between Glee, the album and Sofia, having another baby was really the LAST thing on my mind.
ONE WEEK LATER – AT PARAMOUNT
After more than three months, it feels great to finally be back on set and see everybody. Today is the first day of shooting and I cannot wait! I'm busy writing a few side notes on my script when I suddenly hear a "Hi babe!" behind me.
"Britt! That's a nice surprise!" I say as she gives me a kiss on the cheek. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was supposed to give a couple of private dance lessons this afternoon but they got cancelled last minute… and since Sofia is still at daycare, I thought that I could come see you at work. Can I watch until I go pick her up?"
"Of course, honey!" I reply. "Take a seat."
Shooting scenes in the choir room is usually difficult because they feature many people but today it's really a pain. Either someone screws up or Artie is not satisfied with the way the crew filmed the scene. It feels like we have done a million takes already.
While they all get ready for the next scene, Brittany leans towards me and whispers in my ear: "Is there something going on between Naya and Heather?"
"Huh… I don't know actually…" I reply.
The truth is that I have also noticed that they are always touching and hugging, even when cameras are not rolling! "They seem very close." I add. "But I think they both have a boyfriend."
"You and I also had boyfriends when we started fooling around with each other…" She says, winking at me.
Before I can reply, Artie screams "ACTION!", ready to shoot the next scene.
LATER THAT DAY – AT HOME
It was a long day and I'm completely exhausted. When I finally come home, Brittany is doing her stretching routine in the living room. I can't help but smile when I see that Sofia is trying to imitate her movements. They're so cute together.
I try not to move so that I can watch them a little longer without being seen but Sofia notices me.
"Mama!" She shouts, running towards me. As she raises her little arms impatiently, I lift her.
"Hola mija!" I say, giving her a kiss.
"Hola!" Sofia replies with a smile and I feel butterflies all over my stomach. It's the very first time she says a Spanish word.
Curious, I decide to push it a little, just to see how she is going to react…
"Cómo estás?" I ask.
"Bien!" She replies.
I'm so proud that I actually feel tears threatening to fill up my eyes. I quickly glance at Brittany who is looking at us in adoration.
"Honey, I think I'm going to call my dad right now… He will be over the moon!" I say.
EARLY APRIL - DANCE COMPETITION SEMIFINALS (BRITTANY POV!)
I'm adjusting my make-up backstage while Mike is stretching. We will actually be the first ones to compete today, even though the jury has already seen many participants yesterday for the first semifinal.
"Hi guys!" I suddenly hear behind us and immediately recognize Tina's voice.
How come is Tina here? They don't allow anyone backstage except participants and accredited dance coaches, which she is not. As I turn, I'm even more surprised when I see Santana standing next to her, smiling at me.
"But… how did you guys manage to get in?" I ask, hugging my wife.
"You can thank Tina, she tricked the guys at the entrance!" San says. "She managed to convince them that we were accredited coaches but that she had forgotten our badges, blaming it on her pregnancy brain. And when they got suspicious, she faked a panic attack saying that her "dancers" would fire her if she can't get in and that she couldn't afford losing a job when she was about to raise a baby on her own. Seriously, I was totally impressed!" She adds, proudly showing me her "accredited coach" badge.
"You should actually thank Santana because that was her idea!" Tina adds.
"You have got to use the perks of pregnancy!" Santana replies.
"That's true." I confirm. "When Santana was pregnant, she used to fake contractions when we had to wait in line and they always let us go in front of everyone!" I add, making them laugh.
"I can't believe you're here." I tell Santana. "I thought you had to be at Paramount this afternoon?"
"I did but I put Artie and Quinn in charge… I was not going to miss my wife's performance!" She replies. "And I'm really happy that I got to see you all dressed up, you're absolutely stunning, Britt." She adds with flirty eyes.
She always makes me feel like a million bucks.
"We better go back to our seats, San, before someone finds out that we shouldn't be here…" Tina says. "Good luck you guys!" She adds, pulling us into a group hug.
Santana's eyes flutter to my lips but she places a quick kiss on the back of my hand… "I don't want to mess up your make-up…" She says. "Go show them how it's done, babe!" She adds before walking away.
LATER THAT DAY – HALFWAY THROUGH THE DANCE COMPETITION
I'm really pleased with the way we performed, I actually think that we might have a shot at advancing to the final. As half of today's competitors have performed after us, the jury announces a break. Barely a few minutes later, Tina and Santana come see us backstage.
"Guys, you were amazing!" Tina says, hugging both of us. "Seriously, the others have nothing on you. Right, San?"
"You are definitely the best team out there, you were both incredible!" Santana adds.
"And I will never get tired of seeing you dance, Britt…" She whispers, this time giving me a soft kiss on the lips.
We chat together for a few minutes when I hear a familiar voice behind us: "Brittany! Santana!"
We both turn and I just have the time to recognize Alice's face before she crashes into me for a hug. "Oh my God, Alice!" I say, surprised. "I had no idea that you were competing!"
"I didn't know you were either! I found out when you were on stage! You were amazing, Britt!" She says. "It's so great to see you girls!" She adds, hugging a smiling Santana.
"You too!" She replies.
"Oh huh guys…" I add, turning towards Mike and Tina. "This is Alice, we were teaching dance in the same school when we were living in New York. Alice, this is Mike, my dance and business partner, and his wife Tina."
While they all shake hands, I ask her: "are you here with anyone from our New York crew?"
"Yeah! I'm teaming up with James!" She says.
Santana and I immediately exchange looks.
"He just went picking up some bottles of water, he should be back any second. Oh, talking about the devil… There he is! James!" Alice shouts, waving at him.
As I see James walking up to us, I start to feel nervous. I don't want to see him after everything that happened. And I don't know what to expect from Santana when he's around. But before I can even think this through, I feel Santana grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers. It figures that she would get territorial… I give her hand a squeeze to reassure her.
"Great to see you Brittany, you were simply astonishing!" James says. "Hi Santana." He adds, before shaking Mike's hand.
"James." Santana comments in a cold way. She's staring him down in such an intense and threatening way that I find myself unable to even say a word. The situation is just awkward and I can tell that my wife is definitely ready to go all Snix on him.
"And how is your baby girl?" Alice asks me with a huge smile.
"She's great! She's growing up so fast… and getting cuter every single day." I say, with the hope to decrease the tension. "Here!" I add, taking my phone to show her a recent picture.
"Aw... She's so beautiful!" Alice comments.
"Thanks!" I reply. "She has inherited her looks from Santana." I add, smiling at my wife.
"We should go stretch now, Alice." James suddenly says out of nowhere. "It's going to be our turn soon."
"Yeah, OK." She replies. "I hope we can speak later, girls!" She says before they both walk away.
LATER THAT NIGHT – AT HOME
Santana and I could not discuss much after the competition. As soon as we heard that we were qualified for the final, we left to pick up Sofia from daycare and drove back to Mike and Tina's house for a celebratory dinner together.
We came back home a little while ago and as soon as we got into bed, Santana engaged in some serious kissing with me…
"San…" I mumble, pulling away with difficulty… Not only I don't want to stop kissing those lips of hers but I can't really pull away when she's straddling me and holding my face with both hands like this…
"Are you OK after the whole… James thing?" I finally manage to ask.
She sighs and says: "Britt, honey… Can we please not talk about James when I'm kissing you because really, that's a huge turn off…" She says.
"I'm sorry…" I reply. "But I just want to know how you feel…" I add.
"The way I feel about him has not changed: he's a douchebag and I want to punch his face." She says. "But I also don't want to think about him right now…" She adds, trying to kiss me again but I put my hand on her chest to stop her for a second.
"But are you… OK?" I ask, searching her eyes.
"Surprisingly, yes." She says. "Don't get me wrong, I was fucking pissed when we saw him at the dance competition but at least that loser didn't make it to the final so we won't have to see him again… And I'm the one making out with you right now while he is probably crashing on one of his grandma's couch or something. So I'm good! Can we go back to us now, because you know what seeing you dance does to me and I really really want you right now." She adds with lusty eyes and I can't resist kissing her back.
MID APRIL – AT HOME
I'm in the garden practicing the choreography that Mike and I created for the upcoming competition final when I suddenly hear Santana say: "SOFIA LOPEZ-PIERCE!" from the living room. That can't be good…
Once I enter the room, I see Sofia holding a marker in her hand, ink all over her clothes while Santana is raising her arms, ranting to her in Spanish.
"Oh my God, what happened?" I say, looking around in disbelief.
"Your daughter has scribbled on our white walls with a permanent marker, Britt! I don't even know how she managed to do this, I was in the room with her! I look away for 5 seconds, just to grab the remote control, and that's all it took for her to create this… disaster! And I don't even know where she found this marker, I have never seen it before!"
"Huh… I think she took it at Mike and Tina's…" I say, recognizing the markers that they use for their board.
"So on top of this, you're stealing stuff from our friends?!" She says, looking at Sofia.
EARLY MAY – COMPETITION FINAL (BACK TO SANTANA POV)
I'm sitting on the front row, waiting for Mike and Brittany to perform on stage. This time I'm alone here because Tina was tired and the Doctor advised her to rest. Since the competition is streamed live, at least she can watch it from home.
I'm feeling nervous tonight, we are halfway through the show and the level of competition is very high. I have seen impressive stuff, but I still think that Chang and Britt have a serious shot at this. They will be the last ones to compete and I'm grateful for that because the jury will have their performance fresh in their mind before the votes.
Half an hour later, they finally come up on stage and I see Brittany's eyes locking with mine for a couple of second. I smile at her and nod in encouragement.
As soon as they start dancing, my jaw drops to the floor. I would think that I would have seen it all by now when it comes to those two dancing together but no… This is by far better than anything they have ever done before. It's… pure art.
I can't help but think that Mike and Brittany really are the perfect dance partners. They are in total sync and are dancing as if they were one single person. I would totally be jealous if she was dancing like this with anyone else but she has this whole cute brother and sister relationship with him and I kind of dig their friendship.
I'm completely obsessed with Brittany right now though. I even feel like I'm watching her in slow motion. I can't get enough of the sensual way her body moves, the confidence she exults and that damn dress… I don't know where she finds those because this one is even sexier than the one she wore at her recital. It's a sparkly azure dress that is cut on one side and the way it shows her perfect legs when she moves drives me completely crazy. Every time I see her dance, I just fall in love with her all over again.
As they finish performing, they actually get a standing ovation from the crowd. I'm jumping up and down in excitement and I'm so proud that I even find myself shouting "that's my wife!" to whoever can hear me.
If they don't win this, I'm seriously going to go all Lima Heights on the jury because they truly are the best ones among the finalists.
LATER THAT NIGHT – DANCE COMPETITION
All participants are now lining up on stage, waiting for the results. I wish Tina was here because I'm a nervous wreck right now, I'm actually biting my nails. Brittany and Mike are holding hands, obviously nervous as well. As the presenter opens the sealed envelope, I exchange a quick look with Brittany. After what feels like forever, the host finally announces the results.
"And the winners of this year's dance competition are… From the "In motion" dance school… Brittany Lopez-Pierce and Mike Chaaaaang!" He says to work up the crowd.
I immediately stand up to clap, shouting like a fan girl as I watch them accepting the award. I'm so happy for them, this is truly huge! Not only they can put their prize money to good use but this victory is definitely going to draw a lot of attention to their school, especially since they are on TV right now! And that award statue will look amazing in our house…
I'm so proud of my dance goddess.
JUNE – AT HOME
Just like we did for the pilot a year ago, my friends have come over to our house, to watch the season finale of Glee together.
"So it's already renewed for a second season?" Mercedes asks me. "I thought that they would only decide after the season finale?"
"Lee said that the ratings have increased to an average of 11.5 million of viewers, so apparently it was no brainer for the network." I reply.
"That's really amazing, guys! And the show is great, I really like it!" Sam comments.
"Thanks, Sam." Artie replies. "We're happy, especially because we truly gave it all. And the last couple of weeks have been particularly intense… Santana, Quinn and I have spent a lot of time at Paramount, we wanted the season finale to be perfect."
I have indeed had a lot of work lately and I'm completely exhausted… but it was worth it! I can't believe that my show is so successful and that we have another season to make it even greater… What an amazing year we have had, Brittany and I… But now, I'm definitely looking forward to a well-deserved break.
ONE WEEK LATER – AT HOME
Brittany is watching TV on our couch while I'm desperately trying to find some piano sheets.
"San?" Brittany suddenly says.
"Yeah, babe?" I reply, still flicking through the stack of piano sheets.
"Have you thought further about it…?" She asks.
"About what?" I ask, finally finding the sheets I was looking for.
"About… having another baby…" She replies.
I turn to her and find her looking at me expectantly. She really brings up the baby talk at complete random times. I was not thrilled at the idea when she first mentioned it but I really had no time to think about it since then with everything that was going on. I don't really know how to process this, I didn't expect that she would bring it up again so soon.
"I don't know, Britt…" I reply with an unconvinced tone.
"Why… ?" She asks with a soft voice. "Sofia is so… perfect, San! Every time I see her, I can't help but think how much I would like to have another one like that. Don't you? Imagine how cute they would be playing together, talking together behind our back..."
"Sure, Sofia is adorable but she's also a handful, Britt! Don't you remember all the crazy things she has done lately? She requires constant attention! And even though she's finally sleeping through the night, between her and Glee, I can barely manage already... So can you imagine being woken up every 2 hours by another crying baby on top of all that? We are both so busy, honey… It's going to kill us!"
She sighs before saying: "Ok look… Honestly, I expected this conversation to go this way. You reacted in the same way when we first discussed having Sofia. You kept saying that it was too early, that we were too busy… But eventually we met halfway and now we have the most amazing daughter!" She says with a smile. "So… how long would you like us to wait before trying, San?"
As I listen to her, everything suddenly becomes very clear in my mind.
"Britt…" I say.
"Six months?" She asks, cutting me off.
"Britt… I don't think that six m…" I say.
She frowns and cuts me off again: "What, a year? But San… if we wait that long, that means that Sofia will already be 4 years old by the time we actually have the baby… And that's the best case scenario, honey! It can take much longer than that!"
"Brittany!" I say louder to keep her quiet. "It's not the same as what happened for Sofia, OK? It's not a timing issue! I... I just don't want any more children!" I add in a more frustrated tone than I meant to.
A/N: Any thoughts? To explain a bit, sometimes I have dialogues popping up in my mind out of NOWHERE! Even when I'm not writing or not even thinking about this story! It's a bit of a weird thing. And a while ago, I actually heard Santana saying her last sentence in my mind, out of nowhere. I decided to go with it even though I might have shot in my own foot. Because it will inevitably lead to some major drama and I'm not sure what that actually means for their future (I haven't figured it out yet!)... Grateful if you can say what you think about the baby plot and/or any other parts of the story (the dance competition, Sofia, the little Heya reference, etc). Thank you!
