Brittany woke up first, being the lighter sleeper but also having slept more than Santana. The night before had been a rude reminder of what it meant to have a baby, and a massive wake up call for both her and Santana. They had been sorely underestimating how hard having four kids would be. There seemed to be a never ending amount of things to be done, everywhere they looked there were children, and having three toddlers made it difficult to keep track of Niki, since he was so quiet. It had only been one afternoon, but come night time, Brittany was fighting a breakdown.
By midnight, none of the kids were sleeping, but were of course exhausted. Jesus cried every time he was put down, and Kyler was throwing a tantrum every five minutes. Sophia was curled up on the couch in the living room watching tv and Niki was staring up at the mobile they had attached to his carrier. Santana sat on the chairs in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee, as Brittany went to burn off some stress in her dance studio in the basement. Finally, at close to one she and Santana had regrouped, taking each child upstairs and getting them to sleep one by one. By two, they had three out of four kids asleep. Brittany had gone to bed at that point, while Santana stayed up with Niki. She went to bed at four.
Brittany shot up as another scream filled the house. The alarm clock read 5. Her eyes stung with sleep and her head felt heavy with fog as she scrambled out of bed before the screaming woke up Niki, who was sleeping in the crib in their room. She rushed into Kyler and Jesus' room where Sophia was huddled in the corner of Jesus' bed, hiding under the covers and crying hysterically. Since they didn't have a bed for her, or anything for her really, she was sleeping in Jesus' bed, while Jesus and Kyler shared. Brittany untangled her from the covers as fast as she could, hushing and cooing and comforting her as much as she could, but the crying continued. Not wanting to wake up the boys, she carried Sophia downstairs to the living room.
"Sophia honey, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
She got no response from Sophia, except persistent crying. An hour later, she was still crying, and Brittany had run out of ideas. She had walked round the house, sang, rocked her, tried to give her warm milk, water, juice and even a pain killer in case she had a headache or stomach ache or any other kind of ache, but nothing had worked. Sophia was still crying.
"Santana" Brittany whispered, shaking her sleeping wife. Santana woke with a start, looking wildly around.
"What happened? What's wrong?" she asked groggily, trying to wake up. "Why are you crying Soph?"
"I've tried everything Santana. Everything. She won't stop."
Santana nodded, yawning and getting out of bed. "How long have you been awake?"
"An hour and a half maybe"
Checking the time, Santana took Sophia from Brittany. "Get some sleep B. I don't know how long Niki's gonna be asleep for, but if he wakes up and Sophia's back asleep I'll deal with it."
"Him."
"Him…right…"
"No it's okay. I can. You were up late with him."
"Yeah. But Jesus might be up soon as well, and I'd rather be on baby duty than just-woken-up-Jesus duty."
Brittany nodded, too sleepy to argue and wanting to lay down as soon as possible to get rid of her headache.
"Don't drink anymore coffee" she mumbled.
"Ha" Santana barked, walking out of the room.
Having no idea what to do to calm Sophia down, Santana walked to the backyard, grabbing a blanket from the living room on her way. She wracked her exhausted brain for a song, any song that could possibly calm her down, and all she could come up with was an old Spanish song her abuela used to sing her. It wouldn't have been her first choice, considering it was about a mother who lost all of her five children one by one, getting more and more depressed as the song went on, and of course there was the fact that she hated any and all reminders of her grandmother, but she didn't seem able to come up with anything else.
"I'm going to sing you a song now Sophia okay? You and I are going to lie here, cuddled in this blanket together, and I'm going to sing you a song until you feel better."
Sophia didn't respond, but Santana hadn't been expecting her to. She settled herself onto one of the poolside chairs, covered them both in the blanket and began to sing. She got halfway through the song when she realised she couldn't remember the words, so she improvised. Sophia's crying slowed down just as she finished the song, so without missing a beat, she began again. She sang the song four more times before Sophia had finally stopped crying completely, and sang it once more just to make sure she wouldn't start again. When she was done, she closed her eyes, content to lay there all day with Sophia if she had to, in order to keep her happy. Sophia was lying with her legs on either side of Santana's waist, head resting against her chest. Her erratic breathing had slowed down to deep breaths and the only sound she was making was the occasional sniffing of her nose.
They lay there for so long that Santana heard Niki wake up, and then Jesus. She heard them all come downstairs, saw as Jesus entered the living room and Brittany went into the kitchen with a crying Niki, and then as Brittany returned to the living room to sit with Jesus as she fed the baby his bottle. She had no idea how much time had passed, but when she saw Brittany get up and then return with a sleepy Kyler, she knew it had been more than three hours. Finally, Sophia lifted her head slightly to look at Santana.
"Mami"
"Yes baby girl?"
Nothing was said though. She simply placed her head back on Santana's chest.
"Sophia?"
"Yes?"
"Why were you crying?"
Sophia lifted her head again, tears springing to her eyes.
"I sorry. I was seeping it was a misake. I didin wannu."
"What didn't you mean to do?"
A tear fell from her eye. "Pee pee. I didi wannu pee pee mami I pomis."
Before she could start crying again, Santana wrapped her up in her arms again, hushing into her ear.
"Baby, you're wearing a diaper. It's okay to go pee pee in a diaper, that's why you wear them."
"No" Sophia said, shaking her head. "Daddy say I no spose to pee pee in my bed. Daddy say ony naughty girls pee pee in zey bed. I don wanna spankin mami. I pomis I didin wannu. I sorry." Sophia cried.
"Sophia" Santana said, pulling the little girl back so she could look into her eyes. "You are not in trouble okay? You haven't done anything wrong." Sophia was still looking scared, but she had stopped crying. "Mami is not going to spank you okay? Mami and mama will never spank you. I know your mummy and daddy used to beat you a lot right?"
Sophia nodded her head.
"I was naughty."
"No. No you weren't. You're a very good and perfect little princess Sophia, and you're with me and mama now. Your mummy and daddy aren't here and they're never going to come back. So don't be scared anymore."
"What if somun comes an take me back to Juwia?"
"No one is ever going to take you away from us. No one. Jesus and Kyler told you we live together because we're a family right?" Sophia nodded. "Family means we always stay together. Always."
Sophia blinked a few times, trying to understand.
"So, you my mummy?"
"Mama and I are your mummies now yes."
Sophia frowned. "And daddy?"
"No daddy. Just you, me, mama, Jesus and Kyler."
"Two mummies"
"Yes."
"No daddy?"
"No daddy."
"An I can pee pee in my bed?"
"Yes. You're wearing a diaper see…" Santana lifted Sophia slightly and pulled down her pyjama pants, which were Kyler's, and showed her the diaper. "It makes sure that if you pee pee by mistake nothing else gets wet. So you can pee pee anywhere."
"Okay"
"Can you say diaper?"
"Daper"
"Exactly."
"Mami?"
"Yes my love?"
"My owd mummy was no a good mummy. That wat Juwia say." Santana took a moment to think, completely taken back.
"No honey…she wasn't a good mummy."
Sophia seemed to be deep in thought.
"Why?"
Santana's heart broke at the innocence of the question, hating that a three year old was asking it.
"I don't know baby. But I do know that you are my little girl, and mama and I love you very, very much."
"Are you a good mummy?"
"I think so" Santana said with a smile. "What do you think?"
"I fink so. My old daddy use a say mummy shodant hug me cuz it make me cry more. But you an mama hug me and Jesus and Kywer all of da time. I wike hugs."
"I will give you all of the hugs you want. Any time you want a hug, go to me or mama and we'll give you the biggest, longest hug you ever had." Santana said, tickling Sophia's stomach. She giggled cutely, fighting against Santana.
"Mami…mami no stop. Stoooop"
Santana stopped, letting her catch her breath, then pulled Sophia into her chest and hugged her as tightly as she could stand. She felt Sophia sigh.
"I love you Sophia." She said. Sophia nodded. "Are you ready to go in? We haven't eaten breakfast yet." Sophia nodded, though hesitantly. "Come on, let's go see what mama made."
After breakfast, Santana and Brittany took turns showering, then they all left the house to do some shopping for Sophia. They started off with clothes, buying her a whole wardrobe, then they went to IKEA and let her pick out her bed, drawer, toy boxes and anything else she wanted to decorate her room with. At lunch, they met up with Quinn and Puck.
"Jesus mi amor, come back please?" Santana called, just as Jesus was about to crawl under a table.
"Here look at this" Brittany said, holding up a spider man colouring book. Jesus' eyes went wide.
"Yaaaay" he squealed, running back to their table. Santana lifted him back into his seat.
"Mama, can I have some more ketchup?" Kyler asked. Brittany nodded, pouring some more onto the side of his plate.
"Sophia…how are your chips honey?"
Sophia only ordered a plate of chips, and as far as Brittany could tell she had eaten less than five.
"Good" Sophia replied happily, nibbling on the same chip she had been eating for the past ten minutes.
"Good" Brittany said, looking at Santana. Santana pursed her lips, slightly worried. Sophia hadn't finished the one pancake Brittany had given her for breakfast, and now it was pretty clear that she wasn't going to finish her handful of fries. They were going to have to find a way to get some food in her.
"Quinn just texted" Brittany said, interrupting Santana's thoughts.
"Oh yeah?"
"They're just finding parking."
"Cool. Let me get the cheque then."
"I'll get it."
Santana smiled as she wiped Kyler's ketchup smeared face.
"Sure baby. Thank you" Brittany grinned, digging in her purse for her wallet. It amused Santana to no end when Brittany insisted on paying, because they had a joint account. The money was coming from the same place regardless of who paid, yet Brittany would sometimes act like she was 'getting it'. Santana let her, since it made her so happy.
Five minutes later, Quinn and Puck walked into the restaurant. Jesus was immediately out of his chair, running across the room. Puck scooped him up, throwing him in the air and assaulting him with tickles then passing him to Quinn. Kyler soon followed his brother, attempting to tackle Puck, who dodged him and then picked him up, dangling him upside down.
"Careful with my babies" Santana called, as Quinn bent down to give her a hug. Puck laughed, walking to their table.
"Come on Lopierce, your babies are safe and sound."
Quinn, who had just given Brittany a hug and was now cooing over a sleeping Niki, set Jesus down.
"Ky? Are you going to give Tia a hug?" Kyler struggled in Puck's arms until he was finally put down, then ran to Quinn and lifted his arms. "Finally" Quinn said exaggeratedly, squeezing tight.
Brittany turned to Sophia, intent on introducing her to Quinn and Puck, only then realising that she was in tears.
Santana could have slapped herself. Julia had told them that Sophia was basically afraid of all men, and after the morning they had just had, she should have taken that more seriously. It just hadn't occurred to her that she could be scared of Puck.
"Sophia don't cry" Jesus said, rushing to Brittany who was holding her.
"What happened?" Kyler asked.
Sophia continued crying, looking at Puck fearfully as she leaned closer to the twins.
"She's a little scared of Uncle Noah." Brittany told them.
Jesus and Kyler frowned heavily, then turned to Puck with suspicious looks. Puck looked shocked, staring at Brittany with wide eyes.
"No you didn't do anything Puck, she just….she's been through a lot." Santana told him.
"With men" Brittany added.
"She doesn't like you uncle Noah" Kyler told him apologetically, moving to stand in front of her. Jesus tilted his head to the side, then turned back to Sophia.
"Why don't you like Uncle Noah?" Sophia shook her head. "Uncle Noah is part of our second family. He doesn't live with us, but he always comes to visit." Jesus told her. Sophia stopped crying, listening to him intently. Kyler remained in between her and Puck. "He taught us how to play football and basketball, and he always lets us have more ice cream when we're at his house."
"Daddy" Sophia whimpered.
Jesus shook his head. "No Sophia. We don't have a daddy, we told you yesterday remember. Only mama and mami." Sophia frowned, then looked up at Puck. He waved at her, smiling warmly. She continued to frown, but didn't cry like Santana expected. "And that's Tia."
Quinn waved at her as well. "Hi Sophia. It's very nice to meet you."
"Tia?" Sophia asked Jesus.
"Yeah Tia Quinn but we call her Tia. She's second family too. She works at a restant….like this one. And sometimes when mama and mami have to go to work, me and Ky go there, and we get to sit on the really high chairs and eat cookies or cake or drink milkshakes. She cooks really, really good."
Sophia turned back to Quinn, surveying her. After a few seconds she lifted her hand in a tiny wave.
All the adults beamed, Brittany bending to kiss her head over her significantly more tamed hair. Sophia smiled at the gesture and the look on Santana's face, obviously not really knowing what she did, but feeling proud of herself.
"Okay, I think she'll take a while Noah, but she'll eventually come around." Brittany told him, standing up.
"No rush princess" Puck told Sophia, winking at her. She giggled, making Puck grin. "You're the boss right?"
"Boss?" she asked.
"Yeah. See, you're probably the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" He whispered, taking a step closer to her.
"Really?"
"Oh of course!" Puck said, taking another step closer. "You see your mami?" Sophia looked at Santana then nodded. "She's pretty right?"
"Yeah"
"I knew her when she was a little girl like you." Sophia's eyes widened, and she looked at Santana again, who smiled widely and nodded. "And you know what?"
"What?"
"She was never as pretty as you are." Sophia's smile was wider than Santana had seen it all day as she giggled. "So, someone as pretty as you has to be the boss right?"
"Right" Sophia agreed. Santana and Brittany laughed, knowing that she still had no idea what a boss was.
"Right. Can I get a high five boss?" Puck asked, raising his hand. Sophia nodded, much to everyone's surprise, and raised her hand. Puck dodged her hand three times, making all the kids laugh loudly, before finally allowing her hand to connect with his. "Woah." He said, shaking his hand in the air. "That was a hard one." Sophia giggled.
"Sorry unk Noah"
"I should have told you that the boss is always super strong." Sophia giggled again, nodding.
"I be careful now."
Puck winked at her. "Alright LP" he said to Santana, who was still sitting. "Are you going to sit there all day, or are we going to get the boss some toys?"
"TOYS" Jesus and Kyler screamed, waking up Niki. Santana scowled at Puck as she picked a wailing Niki from his carrier.
"Thanks. Thanks a lot." Puck shrugged, rubbing the back of his head guiltily. "Here Niki, go to Tia."
Quinn gladly took the little boy, whose cries were already quietening, and the group left the restaurant.
Santana's alarm woke her up like it had been doing every day. She quickly rolled over and switched it off before it woke Brittany and the baby. Cracking one eye open, she stared at the time. She knew what it would say, since she woke up at the same time every day, but actually seeing 6 am displayed on the clock helped her wake up faster. It reminded her that she didn't have long before Jesus woke up, and once he woke up she would have no time to do what she needed to do. Groaning, she rolled out of bed, stretching her arms up to the sky and yawning widely.
As quietly as she could, she changed from her pyjamas to her jogging tights and sports bra, grabbed her wireless earphones and left the house.
Around a month after Niki and Sophia had come to live with them, Santana realised that she would need some time to herself if she was going to survive. It couldn't be at night because by that time she was too exhausted to do anything but sleep. It couldn't be during the day because that would mean leaving Brittany alone with three toddlers and a baby, and she couldn't bring herself to. Eventually she and Brittany had decided on early in the morning, before any of the kids woke up. That way, Santana could get herself set herself up for the day. After many long hours thinking, she also finally decided on what her 'Santana' time would be. Running. She needed to stay fit, because unlike Brittany she didn't naturally burn through all her calories, so running would kill two birds with one stone. It would also mean she wasn't drinking coffee from the minute she woke up, which Brittany appreciated greatly.
So Santana had been waking up at 6 every day and running for an hour and a half, so that she was back just after Jesus woke up.
Breathing heavily, Santana let herself into the house. She could immediately hear the tv, which Jesus must have been watching, so she headed in that direction.
Predictably, she found him lying on the couch directly opposite the television, wrapped up in a blanket and cuddling with his life sized Mufasa stuffed toy. She could barely see his head over the massive mane. Jumping down the stairs, she plopped on the couch next to him, scooping him into her lap and hugging him tightly.
"Hi mami" he said, kissing her sweetly. She smiled.
"Hi my baby. How did you sleep?"
"Good. I had a dream about aliens."
"Really?" Santana exclaimed, settling into the couch comfortably and listening to Jesus' crazy dream like she did every day. Sometimes she wished Brittany was awake in the early mornings with them, because Jesus was so different then. He was still tired so he wasn't his usual hurricane self, and he spent most of it coming up with crazier and crazier things to put his dream characters through.
He was in a cuddly mood, and gave lots of kisses, like he just couldn't get enough of Santana. She'd told Brittany to wake up a few times, but the first time she tried had over-excited Jesus so much that she hadn't been able to see it. After that, she'd told Santana that it was fine, that was just Jesus and mami time, like she and Kyler had their time in the basement dance studio more days than not. It wouldn't work if Santana was there, so Brittany wouldn't be there in the morning.
As she listened to how Jesus had saved the moon from a giant alien that was trying to turn it into cheese, she realised that she and Brittany didn't have Sophia time. She frowned slightly. It didn't seem fair, so she made a mental note to carve out some time that she would spend with just her daughter.
"And then I opened my mouth and swallowed it!"
"What? How didn't you explode?"
"I was a superhero mami. Superheroes don't explode."
"You're right. Wow papi. So you saved everyone?"
"Yeah" Jesus said, looking proud.
"What about the aliens?"
"I made for them another planet."
"Oh" Santana raised her eyebrows. She hadn't known that Jesus knew what a planet was.
"Yeah. It was nice, and not so far so they could visit us sometimes."
"That's good"
"Yeah. But not in our solar system"
"Jesus" Santana laughed. "How do you know about the solar system?"
"It was on hey Duggie."
Santana nodded. Of all the shows her kids watched, 'hey Duggie' was her favourite. It was more educational than she thought a lot of shows needed to be when targeted at toddlers, but it managed to be subtle enough about it that the kids absorbed the information without realising it. For Jesus, who had an iron tight memory, this meant he was a lot smarter than Santana knew was normal. She and Brittany were becoming increasingly careful about the information they let him hear because of this.
"Ohh, will you tell me about it?"
"What?"
"The solar system."
Jesus nodded, silent for a few minutes, like he was deciding how best to start, then jumped off Santana's lap to one of the toy boxes they kept in the living room, and began removing multiple round toys. Santana laughed, already knowing she was about to get a visual presentation.
An hour later, Kyler woke up, and an hour after that, Brittany came down with the baby.
His schedule and general health had improved significantly in the month they'd had him. He was still sleeping very late, but he would also then sleep in. He was taking the bottle regularly now, and as they were about to start introducing solid foods, Santana and Brittany were optimistic about his diet. Everybody was still calling him Niki, and Santana was pretty sure that would stick, but she and Brittany had picked out a name for him. Their adoption hearing was in a few weeks, and though Owen wasn't a horrible name, it didn't feel right to them. Brittany said it reminded her of her least favourite Grey's anatomy character, and Santana said she'd never met an Owen she liked. As such, they were going to name him Mateo Sebastian. It kept in line with their 'we all have names starting with S' theme, and their, one 'white' one Hispanic name theme. It had been between Mateo and Miles, and when put to a family vote, all their kids had preferred Mateo.
Sophia, was being named Maria. Santana's family had a tradition of naming their first daughters after themselves, but in a way that they were still their own person.
Santana's maternal abuela was called Maribela, so Santana's mum was Maribel, and Santana was Marie. Even though Brittany was named after her mother, she didn't really feel the need to continue the tradition, and it meant a lot to Santana, who was barely in contact with her paternal side of the family since her abuela disowned her.
Their daughter was therefore about to become Sophia Maria Lopez-Pierce. Kyler had pointed out that she would have the same initials as Santana who was Santana Marie Lopez-Pierce, and Sophia had basically been walking on clouds for the rest of the week.
When Brittany decided it was time for breakfast, Santana made her way upstairs to retrieve her daughter. Sophia, like a young Santana, loved her sleep. She could sleep through the morning if she was left alone, something not one of her brothers could do. Granted, she usually slept really late, but for Jesus it wouldn't matter what time he slept, the latest he had ever woken up was 8.
Quietly, Santana entered Sophia's room. Over the past few months, Sophia's room had transformed so drastically that it seemed she had been living there for years. It was almost as full as Jesus and Kyler's room, which was a huge feat considering they shared a room and she was alone.
Brittany and Santana's parents played a huge part in this, because the minute they found out about Sophia and Mateo, dozens of packages started arriving at their door. Things from Amazon like clothes and toys, furniture that Brittany's dad thought every little girl should have, stuffed animals and princess dolls, a doll house- that they weren't allowed to assemble. Pierce wanted to do it himself. An endless amount of stuff that Sophia had never seen before.
Santana couldn't complain. She loved that her family was treating Sophia just like they treated Jesus and Kyler. Like she was the greatest thing to ever happen to them, even though they'd never met her.
Besides the abundance of things, Sophia's room had been painted. Brittany had the idea that letting her pick a different colour for the room would help her feel like it was hers. So, one day they went to a store and asked her what she wanted. As was bound to happen when giving a three year old a choice like that, she chose the rainbow. After minutes of trying to dissuade her, Santana and Brittany finally accepted that they were going to have to paint her room the colours of the rainbow.
As it turned out, it wasn't too bad. Santana hired a professional, and when they came back home in the evening, all four walls of the room were painted brilliantly. At the very top was red, going down in the order of the rainbow until violet just before the floor. Brittany loved it. Santana couldn't deny it was cute, though she hoped Sophia would get bored of it and pick something like pink in a few weeks.
Quinn and Puck had laughed themselves silly when they saw the room. Apparently they should have predicted that one of the rooms in their house would look exactly like the gay flag. Quinn almost sent a picture to Kurt, but the death glade Santana sent her had stopped her.
Smiling at the wild white-blonde hair splayed all over the unicorn pillow, Santana thought that the image of the tiny girl in her purple onesie, half hanging off her bed, one arm loosely clutching her faithful unicorn, which she named Bowie- "short for rainbow mama" was one of the cutest things she'd ever seen.
In moments like these, Santana thought about the day they had found out about Sophia. How she had felt. How close she and Brittany were to not adopting her, and she always sent an eternal thank you to the universe that she had changed her mind. Sophia brought a balance to their family that she didn't even know they needed. Apparently they had previously been living in chaos. Since Sophia hated meeting new people and was afraid of men, Brittany and Santana had become more serious with their schedules. They no longer just up and went places, or shuffled the kids here and there. They made plans days in advance in order to prepare her. People also called before dropping by their house, which Santana was shocked to realize, happened a lot. She had never really paid attention to how many people came by their house.
Sophia also balanced out the twins. They fought less, which was a huge relief to Santana and Brittany, and they got up to less trouble. She seemed to have some kind of control over them both, because they never liked to upset her and always listened to what she told them. Brittany always told Santana how any boy who tried to date Sophia in the future would really have their work cut out for them because Jesus and Kyler were extremely protective of her. If they went to the park they hardly let anyone talk to or play with her unless she allowed it. A queen B in the making, Quinn had said. Santana loved it. The Sophia they were seeing now was a thriving, happy, confident girl, even though she still had her fears. It gave her hope that she and Brittany may actually be able to undo the trauma Sophia had gone through with her birth parents.
Surfacing from her thoughts, Santana climbed into Sophia's bed, pulling her into her and kissing her head. She whispered that it was time to wake up, combed her fingers through her hair, and hummed a random tune. Slowly, Sophia began to wake up. Just as Santana was thinking that she could make a song with the tune she was humming, Sophia turned in her arms. Her eyes were still closed, but she pursed her lips and tilted her head back, asking for a kiss. Santana smiled.
This was something that Sophia had started doing a few days ago. She had been staring at Santana and Brittany after they had kissed, her eyes were wide and slightly confused, just as they had been on the day they met her, when she'd seen Santana kiss Jesus' head. This time, Santana asked.
"What's up Soph?"
"Why you do dat?"
"What honey?" Brittany had asked
She pursed her lips and pulled Jesus into her, kissing him. Jesus pulled back, wiping his lips and sulking as everyone laughed.
"Kiss" Kyler told her. She nodded.
"We kiss because we love each other" Santana told her.
"You kiss my brovers too"
"Yes we do" Brittany said. "We love them too"
Sophia frowned, evidently deep in thought. "So…" she paused, looking unsure. "Kiss means wove?"
Santana and Brittany smiled. "Exactly." Santana confirmed. Sophia was still frowning. After a few minutes, where she looked like she was about to cry, Brittany picked her up and hugged her close to her chest.
"Tell me what you're thinking my love"
"Was wove?"
Brittany turned to look at Santana sadly. They had never had to explain what love was to Jesus or Kyler, and she were pretty sure that nobody really ever had to explain that to their kids. Just another example of how sad Sophia's first few years had been.
"Love" Brittany began, "is when you have someone in your life that you care very much about. You like being with them and you want to take care of them and protect them and keep them safe and happy."
"When mama and I say we love you, we mean that we will always take care of you, and always be there for you, and that nothing you do or say can ever change that." Santana added.
"Why?" Sophia asked.
"Because we're your mamas" Brittany told her, kissing her head.
"So…" Sophia paused again.
"So what baby?"
"When you kiss me, you means you wove me?"
"Yes" Brittany and Santana said together.
"Fover?"
"Forever" Brittany said.
"And ever" Santana said. Sophia smiled, hugging Brittany.
From that day Sophia had been kissing everyone. She kissed them when she woke up and every time she left the room and then just before she went to sleep. Jesus and Kyler hated it at first, but eventually had gotten used to it. Since Sophia never said 'I love you' kissing had become her way to say it, and every time Santana got a kiss from her, her heart swelled with so much happiness.
When Sophia had gotten her good morning kiss, she raised her hands, eyes still closed, for Santana to pick her up. Santana complied easily. She loved that there was another person in the house that wasn't a morning person.
The sad thing was that years of being with Brittany, and then her sons, meant she was now a morning person. It was by force and most definitely not a voluntary decision, but there it was. Santana Lopez was a morning person. She blamed the addition of Pierce to her name. She was the first to wake up every day, unless Brittany had an early morning video shoot or something, and not only that, but she enjoyed it. She didn't wake up moaning and bitching like she would have in high school, she woke up energised and…it hurt her to think it, chipper.
Sophia, was a young Santana Lopez. It took her ages to actually open her eyes, and even longer to talk to anyone. It was usually only after an hour of her getting out of bed that she actually woke up. At first, Brittany and the boys had tried to get her to perk up faster, but Santana had put a stop to that. If she couldn't be anti-mornings because she had to be a good mother, then by Jove, somebody deserved to be. If Sophia wanted to be that person, she was behind her one hundred percent.
She settled Sophia on the couch in the living room, and then joined Brittany in the kitchen. Jesus and Kyler where standing in their kitchen stools, each wearing massive mittens that went up to their elbows. Jesus, who was still in the phase of wearing Santana's clothes, (Santana half hoped it was a phase half didn't) was wearing one of her sleep shirts. It was purple and said 'proceed with caution'. She loved that he somehow managed to only pick the clothes she had had since high school. The shirt fell a few niches below his knees, and Brittany had folded up the sleeves to just above his elbow. Santana guessed he wasn't wearing pants. Kyler, was wearing finding Nemo pyjamas. It was a grey muscle shirt with the 'finding Nemo' logo on the front and orange and grey pants with all the characters all over them. Mateo was in his high chair, babbling madly and banging a spatula on his table. There was music playing, as there always was at breakfast time, and Brittany was dancing in place as she cooked.
"Hey my loves."
"MAMI" Jesus shouted immediately. "Do you want some coffee?"
"Yes please mijo"
Jesus smiled at her, nodded, and turned back around to the coffee machine.
"Mami!" Kyler said, much quieter but still excitedly.
"Ky?"
"I cooked"
"What did you cook?"
"Scambled eggs and susage."
"Woow" Santana said as she sat down next to Mateo. She kissed his head multiple times. By six months old, Jesus and Kyler already had a lot of hair. It wasn't evenly spread or very thick, but it was a lot, especially in the front. Mateo still had none. Not a single one. But Santana loved his little bald head. It was lovely to kiss. "Can I have some?"
"When evething's ready."
"Oh there's more?"
"Ya" Jesus said, turning to face her. "Sophia's toast, mama's smoothie and pancakes for me."
"Oh…you don't want eggs?" Jesus shook his head. "What about sausage?" he shook his head again. Santana frowned. Brittany turned to her after piling another pancake onto the plate.
"I already tried. He threw a tantrum."
Santana sighed. Jesus' tantrums were becoming too frequent for her liking. "I hope you didn't put any sugar"
"Of course I did" Brittany said, throwing a glance at Jesus. Santana nodded, understanding that she was telling her she really hadn't. She and Brittany had decided a few weeks ago to make Jesus' diet healthier. They already ate pretty healthily, but at this point Santana was pretty much convinced that Jesus' energy levels were not normal, so removing sugar and processed foods from his diet was an attempt to combat this. To be fair they changed Kyler's diet as well, but they weren't as strict with his.
"Cool" she said. "So what am I eating?"
"Eggs and susages mami. Like me and mama" Kyler told her.
"Excellent."
"What kind of coffee do you want mami?"
"The dark red one papi"
While everything finished cooking and was plated, Santana sang along to the music, took some pictures of Brittany and her sons cooking-she posted a video on Instagram just because she liked hearing how cute her family was, and then went to get Sophia. Fifteen minutes later, the Lopez-pierce family was finally all seated at the dining table, digging in to their food. Brittany and Santana watched with so much happiness as Sophia wolfed down her toast. It had taken them nearly an entire month to get here, but after a lot of research they finally had her eating a handful of things.
Breakfast was relatively uneventful, but the kind of mornings Brittany loved. Slow mornings where she got to hang with her kids and marvel at the awesomeness that was her life. After breakfast, everyone went up to get changed. Just as Brittany was about to shut the door to their room, Jesus ran in wearing just his underwear. She wasn't surprised. He made his way straight to their closet, where Santana was.
"What's it going to be today Jesus?" she heard Santana asking.
"White"
Seconds later, Jesus emerged in a white shirt. It was a crop top that hung off one of his shoulders, and looked ripped up at the bottom. There were paint stains all over it. Brittany remembered it fondly. She had made that shirt in art class for Santana in their senior year. It was an old white shirt of hers that she'd tried to cut with some scissors, given up half way and just torn the rest of the way. She'd nearly cried when she'd seen the outcome, completely sure that Santana would hate it, but she hadn't. In fact she had worn it to school the next day in place of her cheerios shirt, and gotten suicides as punishment from Coach Sue. Brittany had run them with her, too happy to care.
"I can't believe you still have that" she laughed, as Jesus ran out to get pants.
Santana poked her head out of the closet, and Brittany was struck by how lucky she was. Santana really was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. Some of her long curly hair was falling over her face, the rest of it falling to the ground, her nose was scrunched up adorably and her skin was just such a perfect colour that made her look not just stunning, but delicious.
"Of course I still have it B. That's my favourite shirt."
"No it's not" Brittany laughed, pulling off her sleep shirt.
"It's one of my favourite shirts" Santana replied, disappearing into the closet again.
"You just like it cause I made it"
Santana poked her head out again, cocking an eyebrow. She shrugged. "I don't understand."
Brittany laughed. "You don't really like the shirt. You just don't want to hurt my feelings by throwing it away. I could do it for you."
Santana emerged fully. She was wearing red leather pants and a black bra. Brittany was momentarily distracted. Santana smirked.
"Baby" she said, crossing her arms. Brittany's eyes snapped to her. She smiled sheepishly.
"I'm not sorry."
Santana shook her head, smiling. "Brittany, are you crazy? I love that shirt because you made it for me. I would kill you if you ever tried to throw it out," Brittany laughed. "And then I'd have to kill myself because ain't no way I'm living without you." Brittany shook her head. "So if you try throw it out, you're orphaning our kids."
"Okay…okay" Brittany laughed. "I get it. You love that shirt."
"Mama." Sophia said, walking slowly into the room. It was hard for Brittany to wrap her head around Sophia's gentleness. She was used to the chaos and aggression and loudness that was the twins, and having Sophia, who never raised her voice was jarring.
"Yes baby" she said, kneeling so she was at eye level.
"I need help."
"How can I help you?"
"I dunno whato wear"
"Oh" Brittany smiled, standing up and picking her up. "Let's go see what we can find."
"Brittany we have to go" Santana yelled from the foyer. She was tying Kyler's shoelaces. "Do you have your backpack?"
Kyler nodded. In doing so, some of his hair got into his face. "Mami"
"I got it buddy" Santana said, pulling off her hairband and tying his hair up in a bun. "BRITTANY"
"MAMA" Jesus yelled, as he made his return from the end of the corridor. "We have to go!" he made his way down the corridor at a sprint again. Santana sighed.
"I'm coming." Brittany called back down the stairs.
"Jesus, for just three seconds, please stop running." Santana begged. She hadn't tied his shoelaces. Jesus stopped immediately, nearly tripping over. "Thank you my love. Come here."
Jesus walked slowly, his eyes trained on his shoes to make sure he didn't trip. Santana smiled, shaking her head. Why would he be careful when he was walking, but not when he was running?
"MAMA" he screamed. Sophia flinched, covering her ears. Kyler didn't even react, more used to his brother's behaviour.
"Stop shouting babe" even as she said it, she knew she was being hypocritical. Jesus and Kyler were basically her shadows. Jesus more than Kyler. He copied everything she did, parroted everything she said. "There. I'm done." Jesus wasted no time in sprinting right to Kyler, tackling him around his waist. The two landed hard on the floor, and the second they did, Jesus was up again.
This time, Kyler was hot on his heels. Santana smiled, relaxing when she saw Kyler was okay. As different as Jesus and Kyler were, they loved each other more than Santana had ever seen any two people love each other. No matter how many times they fought, or how much Jesus got on Kyler's nerves, they were still each other's people. It was a connection Santana couldn't understand, because even though she and Brittany loved each other more than anyone else, they didn't get on each other's nerves, and she didn't have a sibling.
"S" Brittany called, descending the stairs.
"Yeah?"
"What did we need to do today?"
"We have Soph's appointment in like, twenty minutes, which is why we really need to go."
"I'm here" Brittany said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Let's go"
Santana took Sophia's hand and walked out of the house. Shortly after, Jesus and Kyler came running past her.
"We also need to go buy a new car, and then we have Jesus' appointment at 2 and Niki's at 3:30."
"Why did we book the day so heavily?" Brittany groaned, carrying Mateo's carrier in one hand, her handbag, Mateo's baby bag and Jesus' backpack in the other.
"It's easier to get all the kid's appointment done on the same day. I suppose that if you really wanted to, we could get the car another day." Santana was strapping in Sophia and Kyler. Jesus was still playing.
"No" Brittany said, unlocking her car. "I don't like having to drive everywhere in two cars."
Santana nodded, completely understanding.
"MAMA WE HAVE TO-"
"Are you okay baby?" Brittany asked, rushing to Jesus. He had been looking at her as he ran, so had ended up running into her car.
"What happened?" Santana asked, appearing beside her. Jesus wasn't crying, but Brittany could see a red bruise forming on his head.
"I hit the car" Jesus said, sounding dazed. Santana let out a sigh as Brittany picked Jesus up. Her heart was racing.
"I guess we can add a trip to the ER to the list of things to do today." Jesus lay his head on Brittany's shoulder, his eyes drooping.
"He should stay awake B. He probably has a concussion." Brittany nodded, cradling his head.
"Hey bud, do you wanna tell me a story?" Jesus barely nodded. "Okay, why don't you tell me about dragons?"
"There's one…that can…fly." There were long pauses in between his words. Brittany stared wide eyed at Santana, fear gripping her.
"We have to go now" Brittany whispered. Santana was torn. They had Sophia's appointment with a nutrition specialist in what was now ten minutes. It had been incredibly difficult to get an appointment with him. On the other hand, if Jesus really was concussed, she wanted to make sure it wasn't too bad.
"Get in the car" she said decisively. Brittany frowned, but complied. As Jesus continued to tell her about dragons, she strapped him into the car seat, then finished strapping in Mateo's car seat. Santana got into her car, already on Google searching up how to tell if your kid has a concussion. As Brittany got into the driver's seat, Santana called her.
"You go to the ER, cause from what I'm seeing the internet basically says to take your kid there immediately if they sustain a severe head injury."
"Okay. So you'll go to Dr Gregory's?"
"Yeah. If he gets cleared then you can join us. If not, we'll come to you."
"Okay. See you later then."
"I love you"
"I love you too."
As it turned out, Jesus did not have a concussion. He was given some pain killers, and Brittany was told to watch him closely for any other symptoms, but by the time they were catching up with Santana after Sophia's appointment he was back to his regular self. Kyler had cried the entire drive to the nutrition specialist's office, finally telling Santana that his head was aching. She made a mental note to file this away as one of those twin phenomenon things.
Sophia's appointment had yielded the results that Sophia was reacting to basically everything she was being given. They had taken blood samples from her a week ago to test for allergens, and apparently everything you could think of, she was allergic to. Or at least, reacting badly to. Wheat, oats, eggs, milk, rice, potatoes and certain legumes. It was no wonder she never ate anything.
The doctor suggested that they remove all those things from her diet, and then re-introduce them one by one. After hearing her history and seeing her medical results, it was clear to him that she was malnutritioned. Her body was rejecting food like it would a foreign substance. He was optimistic though, that since she was now in a safe and stable home with responsible parents, she would be able to get her diet back to normal. He prescribed her some medicine that was supposed to line her stomach before she ate so it didn't hurt and a tea that she was supposed to drink instead of water to control her stomach's acidity.
Niki, was doing perfectly. His paediatrician was extremely pleased with his growth and development. He had nearly tripled in weight, putting him just slightly underweight, and he had hit all of his developmental markers, which he had not been expecting, putting him on track to begin crawling in the next two months.
Jesus' was the only one that was slightly disappointing. They had finally made the decision to get him tested for ADHD, and the results had been non-committal. He had a 70 percent likelihood of having it, but it wouldn't really be possible to diagnose until he was at least 7. For now, his doctor advised that they treat him like he did have it, because that would be far less harmful than proceeding as if he didn't, only to find out that he did. He put them in touch with a specialist who would help them with his diet, and advise them on how best to deal with his behavioural challenges, but for now that was all they could do.
Overall, though the day started off rough, it had ended pretty well. Santana would have liked a bit more clarity on what was going on with Jesus, but having a plan made her feel like she was doing something, so in that sense she was better off than when the day started.
By the end of the day, when all the kids were asleep, she was completely wiped out. As Brittany went to spend a few minutes in her dance studio, which she did every night, Santana lay motionless on the couch, staring at the black screen of the still off television, and willing her head to stop aching. Slowly, her eyes began to drift shut.
"Baby" Brittany whispered, softly stroking Santana's face.
"Mmhh"
"Are you feeling okay?"
Santana opened her eyes. "Yeah. Just a little tired."
Brittany nodded in understanding. It had been a long day. Since Sophia and Mateo, they hadn't really been leaving the house, and when they did it was for short bursts of time. Leaving the house with four kids under the age of 5 was not something either of them were used to yet. Then there was the fact that the day had been filled with a lot of emotionally heavy conversations.
Talking about how Jesus was most likely going to struggle the way she had in school had been harder for her than she had anticipated. It had been a long time since she thought about school. Her life now was so amazing. She had her dream job, was married to the love of her life and creating the family they had fantasized about as teenagers. There wasn't ever a moment where she felt stupid or ignorant, where she was ridiculed or talked down to, so the memories of what that felt like had kind of been buried. When she was sitting in that office forty five minutes from her house, listening to a doctor or psychiatrist or whatever that woman was, listing all the ways her son would likely struggle both in school and at home, all those memories came rushing back. She pictured Jesus feeling so frustrated that he couldn't understand his homework because he hadn't been able to pay attention in class that he cried in her arms like she had in her mother's. She imagined him being picked on, called names and laughed at by other kids when they realised that he wasn't like them. She hated it. And that was just the tip of the emotional iceberg she and Santana were currently drifting on.
There was the constant worry they carried over Sophia's diet and Mateo's possible developmental issues as he grew up. There were so many unknowns in their lives at the moment, it was really no wonder Santana had a headache every night. Just as she was about to suggest they go to bed, even though it was only ten o'clock, Santana's phone rang.
"Nooooo" Santana whined, burying her face in a pillow. Brittany rubbed her back sympathetically and answered her phone.
"Hey….yeah she's here. Okay one sec."
"Santana?"
Santana mumbled into the pillow.
"She's asking what you want."
"Has she checked her email?"
Santana shook her head.
"No"
"I'm guessing you haven't either, cause if you had, you'd have called."
"We've kind of had a long day, so if you wouldn't mind getting to the point at some point in this lifetime Fabray." Santana snapped.
"Check your email."
"For what?" Brittany asked.
"You'll know when you see it."
Quinn hung up, leaving Santana and Brittany staring at each other. Unable to bare the curiosity, Brittany stood up, getting her phone from her bag, which was in the kitchen. Santana was already checking hers.
There was a few minutes of silence as both women checked their phones, then Santana groaned. Brittany gasped a few seconds later.
"Oh my god."
"No" Santana said, shaking her head. Brittany just stared at her, wide eyed. "No way in hell."
Brittany looked back down at her phone, reading the email again.
Glee club 10 year reunion
She sighed. This was coming at literally the worst time ever. She and Santana were two months away from adopting two children, they were getting into a routine that didn't make them want to pull their hair out at every turn, and she was just about to go back to work. It was not the time for them to make a trip to Lima, least of all to deal with a group of people they hadn't seen in almost a decade. She was not prepared, and she understood Santana's reaction completely.
But then, there was that nagging voice in the back of her mind. Her own voice at the end of Junior year just after they had come back from New York. She had said they were family. That they would be there for each other's milestones. And yes, she hadn't invited any of them to her wedding, but she had loved them once. A small part of her wanted to see if she still did. She looked back at Santana.
Santana had leaned back against the couch, her arm draped over her eyes. She was going through a similar inner monologue as Brittany. She did not want to have to deal with the glee club. A part of her had hoped she would never have to deal with them again. She was mentally and physically exhausted, and only had energy for her kids. Her kids, who thought the world of her. Her kids who saw her as the coolest human being on the planet, and the epitome of amazing. Her kids who made her feel like a superhero who could do no wrong. If she was being honest, she didn't want to go back to Lima, because she was terrified that in doing so, her kids would somehow see her as most of the people in Lima did. Rude, mean, bitchy, irrational, dramatic, conniving, manipulative….the list was endless. She was scared that if she went back, she would become those things again. As if she would wake up and realise that her parenting so far had been a fluke, or a well-played act, and that actually she was a horrible mother who was cruel to her kids.
Rationally, she knew that wasn't possible, but just the fact that she was having such thoughts scared her. If the mere idea of heading to Lima could awaken such insecurities in her, what would actually flying there do?
"We're not going" Brittany said after a few minutes. Santana was shocked. She had been expecting Brittany to be the one trying to convince her that they should go. She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to ask me why not?"
"You're not going to get any argument from me babe." Santana said. She let her phone drop from her hands onto the couch and closed her eyes.
"It's just going to be a lot of drama that we can't handle right now. We have kids who need us."
"I agree"
"We have a lot going on with us right?"
"Yup"
"And our kids are the most important thing"
"Definitely."
"So…they'll understand that right?"
"I don't really care so much about that."
Brittany sighed. "Santana…"
Santana opened her eyes, frowning. She looked into Brittany's eyes and could see the indecision. "We need to get our family under control. Right now we're just surviving, and every day is stressful and chaotic. We need to get everything settled, and focus on the adoption."
"Right…" Brittany nodded.
"Plus, Sophia would have a heart attack. We had a plan on how we were going to introduce her to our families so that she doesn't freak out. You need to call and make up with your parents and tell them about Soph and Niki...We're not throwing that out the window just so Berry can have her stupid reunion."
"Yeah" Brittany was looking more convinced.
"And who does she think she is anyway? Sending us an invite two months prior. We are busy people. She doesn't know what our lives look like. It's just her typical arrogance and disregard for others, which means she hasn't changed at all, which means we'll just be walking right back into the 'Rachel show' that we decided to leave in the first place."
Brittany nodded. "Yes. You're right. We're not going." Santana nodded once and stood up.
"Can we please go to bed-"
Brittany's phone rang. She answered and put it on speaker.
"Are we going?"
"I don't know about you guys, but we aren't."
"Okay" Quinn answered. "Let me tell Noah"
"You two can go if you want" Santana said. Quinn scoffed.
"Like I'd set foot in Lima without you two."
Santana and Brittany smiled at each other. "You're really okay not going?" Brittany asked.
"I was having a hard time deciding, so I'm happy to go with whatever you two do."
"What about Noah?"
"Can we talk about this tomorrow?" Santana cut in. "Like I told you when you called the first time, B and I have had a long day."
"Yeah of course. Sorry S. I'll come by tomorrow."
Santana hung up the phone without saying goodbye, ignoring the reproachful look Brittany was giving her.
"I'm going to bed. We have a long day tomorrow, and I need to not be as tired as I was today."
Brittany nodded, standing up as well. Even though she and Santana seemed to be on the same page about this glee reunion, she couldn't help thinking that the conversation was far from over.
