December 18th

Hey Santana, I apologize for the late reply.

I will explain why in a bit, but first I want to clear some things.

First of all, I also prefer just Brittany, Britt, B, I don't care so drop the corporal and most importantly please drop my last name.

Santana frowns in confusion at the request of not mentioning the last name and tilts her head. ''Huh, wondered what happened.'' She whispers softly to herself.

Second of all, I have no problem with your sexuality, would be a bit weird seeing I am a lesbian myself.

''Well didn't expect that.'' She mutters with a small grin moving to lay on her back more comfortably, she holds the letter above her head after moving the pictures that fell out of the envelope onto her nightstand and props her free arm up behind her head.

Now back to why I write so back so late, we were out on a mission with me, meaning Sam, Blast and I. It was supposed to be a small one and to just scoop out an area but little did we know that it was filled with traps.. Blast noticed it first but he had to warn two people, it was a bit too late for me because I told him to warn Sam first the second he is alarmed.

I am alright though, just a bit banged up and basically cuffed to the medic station until our commander tells me I'm free. That is the biggest thing that is pissing me off to be honest, thanks to the blow, my phone is crushed so I can't even kill the time listening to music or such.

Santana frowns at that and bites her lip. ''Girl is a fucking badass, no one else would exclaim they are fine after being near an exploding object.'' She whispers in amazement, she rereads the last sentence and bites her lip. ''Wonder if I am allowed to send things, gotta ask Q.''

I didn't get a chance to reply to your letter earlier, I did read it but got send out before I could even start writing. So yeah sorry for the delay, but I think it's Christmas the day this one arrives so merry Christmas Santana.

Now to answer your question, thanksgiving overseas is something else.

We do have thanksgiving dinner but well you can't really call it a fest because we are all on alert, our mission doesn't pause to let us celebrate thanksgiving but we do appreciate our higher ups for still making it possible to enjoy some turkey and good talks.

This year wasn't any different and I celebrated three thanksgivings in a row here, last year we did get to eat in peace but this year alarms went off before we had to chance to sit down and eat so we all had to leave and enjoy some cold turkey later on. So yeah that is our thanksgiving.

I am happy to hear you enjoyed your thanksgiving though, the picture of the nicely decorated living room you added is amazing by the way and your mom's turkey looks amazing. I also love the picture you added of her holding up the I assume cherry pie with a proud grin, she definitely looks like a very talented pastry chef and the turkey decorated on top looks like a real one.

I also want to thank you for the other pictures you send, your friends all look really nice and I am sure the bond you have with them is amazing. I also love the picture of the statue of liberty you added, Sam and I love to go there whenever we are home to just relax and enjoy the peacefulness it brings with it.

I did notice that it was taken from the platform on land, did you ever go to the island? If not, go there as soon as you can, I can assure you that you will love it and looking at the statue up close is amazing.

Now that you told me about your friends, I would like to tell you about my friends or well it's really just one person Sam.

Sam is a guy I met during my first year at NYU, he tried to impress me with a lame impression of Morgan Freeman and after giving him a verbal beat down he just smiled and told me he didn't mean to flirt but to just break the ice. That was during the get to know ceremony, the one before we receive the keys to our dorms.

The first thought I had about him was 'oh boy, dude has no game' now five years later he still has no game. But after he cleared up his intentions and I sorta apologized for being an ass, we received the keys to our dorms and well NYU didn't check that Sam is a unisex name because that blonde fucker became my roommate.

It took them four months to find out their mistake, during those months Sam and I became close, worked at the restaurant together, partied, did some things we both aren't proud of but hey nobody caught us so all good.

We both also realized that college is nothing for us, so after those four months we dropped out and that is also why NYU found out that I roomed with a guy. I wasn't mad though and I told them that, because thanks to them I met my best friend.

After dropping out we worked full time for Gunther for about three months, in those three months we turned his restaurant into a popular hangout for people loving all kinds of music. We just decided on themed days, Monday we had rock, Tuesday pop and Wednesday musical.

Hence the footloose mood Gunther had, we sang all kinds of musical tunes but footloose was his favorite because the day we announced it's time for footloose we managed to get every damn customer walking in that day to sing something with us. It was one of the best days for Gunther income wise.

I am curious what themes he has now though, you already mentioned classical Wednesday so I am assuming he went back to his boring themes like casual Friday, Wake up Monday and such?

If so, tell him, Sam and I beg him to change it back to how it was when we were there. To bring back, rock Monday, pop Tuesday, musical Wednesday, country Thursday, thank god it's Friday, party Saturday and lazy Sunday.

''That sounds amazing.'' Santana mutters, she reaches for her phone snapping a picture of that part of the letter and sends it Gunther after making sure nothing else of the letter is revealed.

She places her phone back down and returns back to the letter.

But enough about Gunther, I honestly thought long and hard if I should write about the next thing but I figured you wouldn't write something you don't want to talk about.

So let me start with, I am sorry for your loss.

I understand why you didn't want to write at first, I can only imagine how you feel knowing your dad passed away overseas and that you never really had the chance to spend time with him because you were so young.

I don't really know what more to say, but seeing you love music. You might like the song I'm Already there sung by Lonestar. Don't listen to it right now though, take a moment alone to really listen to the lyrics.

Now to lighten up a bit, I am sure you already found the pictures the second you opened the letter but humor me in case you already looked at them and look at them again while reading the notes underneath.

I don't have much to photograph here, but I added a few pictures of myself, Sam and Blast.

Have a nice Christmas and new years eve Santana.

Brittany.

Santana places the letter down and grabs the pictures she placed on her nightstand after telling siri to save the song to her notes, she turns them around keeping the picture of the dog on top and looks at it smiling slightly as she sees the big doggy grin.

She reads the note underneath it and chuckles. This goof goes by the name blast, he is just as goofy as his doggy grin shows.

She carefully places the picture on top of the letter and looks at the next one her eyebrows raising in surprise as she sees two soldiers wearing caps smirking at the camera pointed at them. ''Damn.'' She breaths out noticing the icy blue orbs of the girl in the picture, she looks at the guy beside her and snickers. ''Dude has damn big mouth.''

Well this is me and the big mouthed idiot beside me is Sam.

She laughs reading the note and shakes her head placing the picture down, she looks at the next one and bites her lip as she sees Brittany laying in a hospital bed a bandage around her head holding her thumbs up while Blast is sitting beside her with his snout pressed against her cheek.

Told ya, I am fine.

''Fine my ass.'' She mutters softly to herself as she places the picture down, she gasps as she sees the last picture and gulps. ''Holy fuck, she is a god damn model.'' She whispers shocked as she sees the selfie of Brittany wearing normal clothes, she looks at the background and smiles slightly as she notices the bar at Gunther's restaurant.

I know I don't need to proof you anything, but Gunther took this picture right before Sam and I left for boot camp four and a half years ago.

She smiles looking back at the picture and bites her lip as she notices the attire Brittany wears on it. ''And fit too.'' She mutters gazing at the defined abs, she shakes her head as she feels a flutter in her stomach and quickly places the picture down. ''Nope, no, no.'' She whispers. ''Not going there Santana Lopez.'' She whispers to herself.

She folds the letter up shoving it back into the envelope and opens the top drawer of her nightstand, she places it beside the other letters she received and carefully places the pictures beside the small stack.

She grabs her phone after laying down completely and reaches out to turn off the bedside lamp after grabbing her headphones, she plugs them in searching for the song she saved in her notes and taps it listening to the soft piano melody filtering through her headphones.

He called her on the road
From a lonely cold hotel room
Just to hear her say I love you one more time
But when he heard the sound
Of the kids laughing in the background
He had to wipe away a tear from his eye
A little voice came on the phone
Said "Daddy when you coming home"
He said the first thing that came to his mind

She bites her lip as she listens to the lyrics and gulps thickly remembering that her mami told her that her dad always called whenever it was possible and talked to her even though she could barely talk.

I'm already there
Take a look around
I'm the sunshine in your hair
I'm the shadow on the ground
I'm the whisper in the wind
I'm your imaginary friend
And I know I'm in your prayers
Oh I'm already there

She sniffles as the lyrics dawn in on her, knowing exactly why Brittany suggested her to listen to the song and wipes away her tears. She looks out of her window at the starry sky and sniffles. ''Te amo papi, I hope mami and I are making you proud.'' She whispers as she turns on her side.

The next morning.

Maribel walks into her daughters room after making breakfast and frowns as she sees the dried tear tracks on her face, she rushes over sitting down on the edge and gently removes the headphones from her head. ''Mija.'' She whispers softly. ''Wake up sweetheart.''

Santana grunts softly turning on her stomach and nuzzles her face in her pillow. ''Too early, five more minutes mami.''

Maribel chuckles lovingly and gently runs her hand down her daughters back. ''Breakfast is ready Santanita, care to tell me why I find you laying in bed with dried tear tracks? Do I need to kill someone?''

Santana suddenly leans up hearing the concern in her mami's voice and turns to look at her. ''No, no need to kill anyone.'' She mutters tiredly.

''What's wrong mija?'' Maribel asks softly as she sits down right beside her, she runs her hand through her dark locks as she immediately cuddles into her side and kisses the top of her head. ''Did something happen?''

Santana slowly shakes her head knowing she can't lie and sighs tiredly. ''No, nothing happened.'' She murmurs softly. ''The tears were caused by a song mami.''

''By a song?'' Maribel asks with an eyebrow raised, Santana hums reaching behind her to grab her phone and pulls her headphones out. She slowly sits up cuddling into her mami's side as she feels her arm wrap around her waist after she also sits up and turns to look at her with a sad smile.

''Remember my pen pal from the project Q started up?'' She asks softly, she unlocks her phone as she hums softly and sighs. ''We told each other about our lives and I told her about papi.'' She whispers softly. ''I explained that it might have been the reason why I didn't want to write her in the beginning, but well after I told her about him, Brittany suggested a song.''

''What song?'' Maribel asks curiously ready to know what made her daughter cry, Santana nuzzles her face against her shoulder and pushes play.

''Just listen.'' She murmurs softly.

Maribel pulls her daughter close the second the first verse filters through the speakers of the phone and sucks in her lips immediately knowing what made her daughter cry, she places her lips on the top of her head and closes her eyes.

Santana sniffles as she feels tears hit her head and tightly wraps her arms around her mami's waist. ''I miss him mami.'' She whispers sadly. ''I am sad, I don't remember him.'' She confesses brokenly.

''Oh mija.'' Maribel chokes out pulling her daughter closer. ''I sadly can't help you remember him because you were far too young, but I can assure you that he is indeed looking down with pride to see his baby girl grow up to be the beautiful woman she is now.''

She kisses her head as she hears her sniffle and glances at the picture of her husband cradling Santana to his chest in the hospital with a big proud grin. ''That grin you see on the picture.'' She whispers while pointing at it. ''Every time he was home, it was permanently edged on his face and you were glued to his hip the whole time he was home.''

''How was he like?'' Santana asks looking up at her mami knowing she asked it a lot of times before, Maribel locks eyes with her and smiles lovingly.

''Just like you are now mi corazón, your papi loved music and if he hadn't had the success he had in the army he sure would have tried his luck with music.'' She tells her softly. ''Every time he was home, he would sit behind the piano and play a melody with you in his lap. He actually taught you the keys to twinkle twinkle little star.'' She murmurs against her forehead.

''You also have his temper.'' She adds with a chuckle as she pulls back. ''I see so much from him in you Santanita, it's insane but also beautiful because even though he left us far too early I know that he will continue living in both of our hearts and minds.''

Santana hums softly and tightens her hold around her mami's waist to hug her close. ''Te amo mami.''

''I love you too baby girl.'' Maribel whispers lovingly as she rubs her back, she tilts her head down to look at her and gently taps the back of her head. ''So Brittany huh?''

Santana chuckles and rolls her eyes. ''Oh no, what are you trying to say?''

''Nothing.'' Maribel whispers softly. ''I just don't know, if I like the idea of you going through the same heartbreak I go through mija.'' She confesses.

''I barely know her mami and no romantic feelings are involved.'' Santana tells her as she leans up to lock eyes with her. ''She is my pen pal and it's surprisingly easy to write with her, I was apprehensive at first but slowly I am starting to like writing letters to her.''

''You know I love you to death mija, but you can't lie for shit.'' Maribel tells her, she smiles slightly as she sees her frown in confusion and cups her cheek. ''The second you mentioned her name and now too, you wear a little grin and that grin means that you do feel something.''

Santana shakes her head as she notices her mami immediately picking up on her emotions and groans. ''I hate it when you do that.''

''What?''

''Ready me like a god damn book.'' She grumbles, she leans over her to open the top drawer of her nightstand and grabs the pictures she received the day before. ''I have no idea what kind of feelings started up, but yeah I received some pictures yesterday and it did made me feel a bit closer to her.''

''May I see them?'' Maribel asks softly, she smiles as she just holds out the pictures for her and looks at the first one raising an eyebrow as she sees a dog. ''Oh mija, I love you but please don't fall in love with something that hairy!''

''Mami!'' Santana laughs hitting her arm softly, she shakes her head as she burst out laughing and looks at the picture. ''That is Blast, her dog there. He warns her and her partner for danger.''

''Well one of them.'' She corrects as her mami looks at the picture of Brittany sitting injured in a hospital bed. ''She was on a mission a few days after thanksgiving and got a bit banged up, her words not mine.'' She explains.

''Well that looks a bit more than just banged up.'' Maribel mutters as she watches the girl in the hospital bed with a bandage around her head and the dog beside her.

''Yep I thought the same mami, but she really sounds strong as nails.'' She points at the next picture and smiles slightly. ''That is her partner and best friend Sam, they met at NYU and also worked at the restaurant I am working at now.'' She tells her softly. ''They both decided to drop out of college and somehow decided to join the army, I don't really know the story behind that reason yet but I want to ask her that in the next letter.''

''Damn his mouth is huge.'' Maribel mutters laughing. ''You sure it's just her friend?'' She asks carefully as she sees the closeness of both blonde's on the picture.

''She just wrote in her last letter that she is a lesbian after I told her about me being gay in the last one I send her mami.'' Santana murmurs. ''So yeah I am sure that it's just her best friend, she also talks about him like I talk about Noah.''

Maribel chuckles and nods her head immediately believing her daughter knowing her daughter sees Puck like the brother she never had, she looks at the next picture and gasps softly. ''Well holy fuck.''

Santana burst out laughing and nods her head also looking at the picture. ''I agree.'' She mutters with a grin.

''That is what I call fit.'' Maribel mutters in shock, she turns to her daughter and snickers. ''You are fucked mija.''

''Shut up.'' Santana tells her laughing, she pushes her softly out of her bed and takes the pictures from her storing them back into the drawer of her nightstand. ''I thought you woke me for breakfast.''

Maribel chuckles dropping the subject as she hears her daughters friends thundering down the hall and nods her head. ''I did, come on mi corazón.'' She holds out her hand pulling her up as soon as she takes it and pulls her close to kiss her cheek. ''Feliz Navidad Santanita.''

Santana smiles and hugs her mami tightly. ''Feliz Navidad mami, te amo.''