Santana walked into her room with a sleepy Mateo in her arms, his head resting on her chest. Brittany was lying on the bed, still under the covers, scrolling through her phone. She looked up at Santana's entrance.

"Someone's in a great mood huh?" she giggled, as Santana lay Mateo down on the bed. Santana smiled.

"You saw it?"

"Yeah"

Just seconds ago, Santana had posted a video of Jesus singing in the bathroom. He was wearing his pyjama pants and no shirt, his hair barely being held in a ponytail. Santana had been looking for him to get him changed, and had heard him singing. Her phone had come out almost immediately. It was a last minute decision to post it, but lately she'd been finding it extremely hard not to show her family off. Especially when she had such a large fan-base who never stopped begging her to post more of her kids.

"I don't know if this is because I'm about to get my period…but our children are literally so cute I could die."

Brittany smiled, leaning down to kiss Mateo, who was craning his neck to see her. She scooped him up and placed him beside her in the bed. He snuggled into her.

"Have you made his bottle? I think I could get him to sleep" Santana shook her head. Brittany sat up, gaining some protests from the baby. "I know Niki, I'm going to get it now."

"I'm going to shower so take him with you."

"Okay" Brittany picked him up and the crying ceased. He rubbed his head on her chest, then lifted his hands and rubbed his eyes furiously. "Aww…my baby. Come on let's go get some milk."

"While you're down there" Santana yelled from the bathroom, "Please give Sophia and Ky a snack"

"A snack? It's 9 am."

"Yeah. They didn't eat so well."

"Hmmm….okay"

"Thanks baby"


On her way down, Brittany ran into Jesus, who seemed to have been running to their room. She was immensely surprised to see him wearing his own clothes, and was almost immediately shocked by how good he looked. Had the thought that her kids were very cute crossed her mind? Once or twice. Had she bought some probably unnecessarily expensive designer clothes to make sure her kids always looked awesome? Definitely. But for some reason, seeing Jesus in his light brown leather jacket, a plain white tee and black jeans was like seeing him for the first time. He wasn't her adorable baby who ran around without a shirt, he was an extremely good looking toddler, who she wouldn't be surprised to hear was a model.

"Hey handsome boy"

"Monin mama" Jesus threw himself against her legs, holding tight. "I dressed myself today."

"I see. You look very, very good baby" Jesus beamed. Brittany noticed that his hair was tied back up, though in a lose ponytail.

"I wanna show mami"

Brittany reached out and lightly grasped the back of his collar just as he was about to run off, making him giggle.

"Mami's showering. You can show her when she gets out."

"Okay"

The two made their way down the stairs, and by the time they got to the bottom-it took a while since Jesus could still only take one step at a time, Mateo was asleep. Brittany put him on his carrier, which was on the kitchen island, and made a snack for Kyler and Sophia.

"Do you want anything Jesus?" Jesus shook his head, standing on his stool beside her. "Okay, will you please go call your brother and sister? They need to eat so we can get ready and go."

"Sure mama"

Jesus ran off into the backyard, where Kyler was kicking around a football and Sophia was supposed to try and get it from him. She never really could, but every few tries Kyler would let her get it, just so she wouldn't feel bad. Brittany watched Jesus run up to them, talk for a while, and then grab Kyler's hand and pull him in. Sophia walked behind them laughing. Just before they entered the house Kyler managed to pull his hand free from Jesus. He ran up to Brittany and she picked him up.

"Morning my love"

"Monin mama" Kyler said, hugging her neck tightly. She kissed his cheek and he kissed hers, then she dropped him to the floor and picked Sophia.

"Morning princess" she said after kissing Sophia.

"Moning mama" Sophia said sweetly. She turned to a sleeping Mateo, leaning over. Brittany lowered her till she could reach his forehead, which she kissed gently. "Moning Niki."

Brittany smiled. "¿Es hora de irse?" Kyler asked, stepping onto Jesus' stool.

"That's mine!" Jesus shouted, roughly pulling the back of Kyler's shirt. Kyler would have fallen, but Brittany caught him, steading him before lifting him to sit on the counter. She put Sophia next to him, then turned and knelt down facing Jesus. He was frowning heavily.

"Jesus, don't ever do that again okay?"

"He has his own…this is mine!"

"I know it's yours, but remember we talked about sharing?"

Jesus crossed his arms. "I hate sharing."

"But you have to. Good boys share."

For a moment Brittany thought Jesus would say that he didn't care about being a good boy. The way he was frowning right now, with his crossed arms and pouting lip, he looked so much like Santana that Brittany half expected him to say something like 'a Lopez never shares'. It's what Santana would have said. Instead, he did the most Santana-like thing he could have possibly done. He began screaming in Spanish.

Brittany sighed, allowing him to go on for a few minutes, until his tears became hysterical, then she scooped him into her arms and held him tight as he cried into her neck. These kind of tantrums were happening more and more frequently, and Brittany hated it. She knew it wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. The doctor had told them to expect things like this to start cropping up as they figured out the balance of his diet and activity. It was supposed to help manage the symptoms of ADHD, which Brittany was now 90 percent sure Jesus had, but it wouldn't happen overnight. For now all she could do was hold him and calm him down. Five minutes later, Jesus finally stopped crying. He lay limp in her arms, breathing ragged, but otherwise quiet. Brittany rubbed his back in soothing circles.

"Are you better?" she asked him. He nodded.

Kyler spoke in what to Brittany sounded like gibberish, but Jesus lifted his head and looked at him. This didn't happen often, but it had a few times before. Enough for Brittany to know that Jesus had understood whatever Kyler had just said. They stared at each other for a few second, and Brittany wondered if that was what she and Santana looked like when they had their silent conversations. Finally, Jesus squirmed, asking to be put down. Brittany complied.

"Mama, can you help me get down please?" Kyler asked. Brittany lifted him off the counter and onto the floor. He immediately took Jesus hand, and the two of them disappeared into the backyard. Brittany watched them walk almost to the fence, then sit down. Kyler sat with his legs straight out, and Jesus lay his head in his lap. Brittany smiled, turning to Sophia, who was also watching them.

"Well honey…would you like some yoghurt?"


When Santana was done with her shower, she came down to find Mateo still asleep, though his carrier had now been moved to the floor in the living room. Sophia was lying on her stomach beside him, colouring, and Brittany was sitting on the couch watching tv.

"Where are the boys?" she asked.

"Outside." Santana turned to see Kyler sitting with Jesus' head on his lap.

"Uh…"

"Jesus had another tantrum." Brittany told her.

"He didi wanu sare" Sophia added seriously. Santana raised her eyebrows, turning to look at the boys again.

"How is he?"

"He's okay…this one was bad babe."

Santana sighed. "I'll see if we can get another doctor's opinion."

Brittany nodded. "You look nice" she said after a moment, noticing for the first time what Santana was wearing. Santana smiled shyly.

"Thanks B"

She was wearing a black tee, a black leather jacket, black jeans, and had tied a black and white checked shirt around her waist. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a white baseball cap.

"Jesus definitely gets his fashion sense from you."

"What makes you say that?" Santana laughed, looking out to see what Jesus was wearing. She couldn't tell from so far away and the way he was lying down.

"The dark colours, the simple but on point swag."

"Swag?" Santana laughed. Brittany giggled. "I mean you have swag too."

"Yeah, in the sense that I can make anything work. Kyler gets it from me. We love mixing colours and being bold and bright. We mash up weird combinations of clothes and annoy Jesus with how little the colours match. We look good, but in a cute way. You and Jesus look hot."

"Well…I guess it was bound to happen that way right? One of them takes after you the other after me."

"Yeah. It's so cool. We both wanted mini-me of each other as kids, and we both got them"

Santana grinned at her, kneeling to the floor then lying down next to Sophia. "What about you mija. Are you going to be like me or mama?"

"I'm Sophia" she answered, without looking up from her colouring. Brittany and Santana burst out laughing.

"Yes you are baby" Brittany said, standing up. "Yes you are."

"You going to get ready?" Santana asked. Brittany nodded, walking out the door.

"I'll take Ky with me."

"Cool" Santana said. She picked Mateo's carrier with one hand. "Come on Soph, time to get dressed."

Sophia hopped up immediately, taking Santana's free hand to help her up the stairs.

"Mami, can I wear a dress?"

"Of course you can baby. Which dress would you like to wear?"

"Purple!" Sophia squealed. Santana giggled.

"Purple it is love."


An hour later they were all finally ready to leave. Sophia was in a knee length purple denim dress and pink sandals. Her hair was in two French braids that let out at the bottom so her hair flowed open down her back. Kyler was in maroon sweat shorts and a grey polo shirt. He had a yellow jacket tied around his waist like Santana, because in short sleeves and shorts he was bound to get cold. Unable to help herself, Santana had given him a yellow beanie, just so that something could match. Brittany had chosen to wear an army green jumpsuit with pink sneakers and just to annoy Santana, a yellow tennis cap. Jesus had begged her to take it off so much he almost cried, so she promised she'd only wear it for half their ride. Kyler liked that they were almost matching. Mateo was wearing a blue jumpsuit with a white shirt inside, and a black jacket to keep him warm. They all thought he looked the cutest.

"Do you have the bags?" Brittany asked as she finished packing up the food.

"I have them all lined up by the door." Santana answered.

"Which ones?"

"Our suitcases, the kids' suitcases-"

"How many are those?"

"Britt you know how many they are"

"Yeah, but it'll help us know if we've forgotten anything."

Santana clenched her jaw in irritation. Her day had started so early, and even though it was only slightly past ten, they were already running behind schedule. She couldn't help feeling like it was all well and good for Brittany to want to do 300 checklists, when she had been able to sleep in till almost nine.

"Do you want me to tell you what is packed in every bag as well?"

"Oh yeah" Brittany said, walking out of the kitchen to where Santana was standing. She ignored Santana's sarcasm. "That would be good."

"You and I have a suitcase each. They just have our clothes. The kids have two suitcases. One with Jesus and Kyler's stuff, one with Sophia and Mateo's. We've carried two packs of diapers and one pack of pull-ups. They're in another suitcase with toys and shoes."

"Okay" Brittany said, counting on her hand and looking deep in thought.

"We also have a duffle bag. It has basically all the first aid stuff you could need."

"I should go check that, but okay. Go on."

"The kids all have backpacks, which have drawing books, snacks, water, juice etc." Brittany nodded. "And then Mateo's diaper bag"

"I already checked that one."

"Lastly we have our handbags, and laptop bags. Mine has my laptop, the ipads, chargers and three headphones. I don't know what's in yours."

"My laptop, two Bluetooth speakers, a pair of headphones and the chargers."

"Okay. Well that's everything then. Have we forgotten anything?"

Brittany closed her eyes, thinking hard. "No…" she said after a long pause. "I don't think so."

"Great. So can we go? We were supposed to leave thirty minutes ago."

"Yes, let me pack these into the kids' backpacks, and then we can go."

As Brittany did that, Santana started loading the other suitcases into the car. Jessie, who had arrived thirty minutes ago, got out of his car and helped her.

"Hey Jessie"

"Mrs Lop-" he grinned at the look Santana shot him, "Just kidding. How are you Santana?"

"A little stressed, but I'll be fine once we leave."

"The little rascals a handful today?"

"Not particularly. I've just been up for a long time. And I didn't get to go on my run."

Jessie pursed his lips sympathetically as Brittany came out lugging a huge suitcase. He rushed to help her.

"J man!"

"Hey Brittany."

"How are you? We haven't seen you in a while."

It was true. Aside from when they introduced him to Sophia, they hadn't really been going out with Jessie anymore.

"Yeah. I missed you guys"

"We missed you to"

That being the last suitcase, Brittany went back in to get the kids.

"Babes it's time to go" she yelled. Seconds later, all three kids were running towards her.

"Mama, can we watch monsters inc in the car?" Kyler asked.

"Why don't we watch a new movie Ky?"

"Nooo I wanna watch monsters inc."

"I wanna watch lion king" Jesus said.

"Or….we can watch something new?"

They both shook their heads. Brittany laughed. "You might like it."

"No" Kyler said, pouting. Brittany shook her head.

"Let's talk about it in the car. Mami is waiting for us."

As the kids ran to Santana, Brittany did one more sweep of the house. She and Santana hadn't been on a plane yet since Sophia and Mateo. From her experience with the twins, you did not want to forget anything, so with four kids she couldn't imagine. Satisfied that they had everything, she put on her sunglasses, which had been on the top of her head, and walked out of the house, locking the door.

She found Santana talking to Jessie about which route they were going to take, as she strapped in all the kids.

"Everybody good?" Santana asked, tugging on the straps of Mateo's car seat to make sure it was secure. The three other kids nodded. Jesus and Sophia were sitting in the back, Mateo and Kyler in the middle. "Perfect. You ready babe?"

"Yeah" Brittany said, dropping her purse onto the passenger seat and her laptop bag in the space between her seat and Mateo's. Santana's phone rang.

"Quinn" Santana answered, balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder as she picked up each of the backpacks and handed them to their owners. "Put it on the floor mija" she whispered. "Uh...one second Q. Jesus don't open it. If you want anything from there ask me or mama. Blankets B"

Brittany's eyes widened. She dashed back into the house.

"Sorry, what are you saying?"

"I'm coming over."

"No you're not."

"I'm five minutes from your house."

"No Q we're leaving."

"Where are you going?"

"LA"

"What? Since when?" I thought the kids were starting school."

"Brittany has her dance convention thing remember?"

"Oh shit. Was that this week? Holy…I totally forgot. So you're going for three weeks?"

"No. The kids will go to school the first week of October so we're just going for a week. Britt's going to be like a guest teacher instead of joining the actual faculty."

"Why?"

"Cause they move states every week, and with the kids we can't do that. She's really just doing this as a favour to her friend."

"Damn okay. I guess I'll turn around. Call me when you land."

Brittany returned with three blankets. One was red with a black dinosaur, it was Jesus', one was green with Mike Wazowski and Sully on it, it was Kyler's and the other was gold and brown with Belle and the beast on it. It was Sophia's.

"Cool. We gotta go Q." Santana said, hanging up. She got into the car, just as Brittany did.

"Ready" Brittany said. Santana nodded, turning on the car.


It was the worst plane ride of Santana's life. Sophia had been sick from the second the plane took off, and now thirty minutes into it, she was still in the bathroom with Brittany, throwing up.

"Is she okay?" Kyler ask, climbing off his chair into Santana's.

"She's feeling a little bit sick mijo, but mama is helping her." Kyler nodded, settling into Santana's lap.

"Can I watch monsters inc now?"

"Yes." Santana bent over to get her laptop bag, removing one of the Ipads. She set up the movie for him, and then lifted him onto his seat. "I'll be right back mi amor. I want to go check on mama and Soph okay?" Kyler nodded, curling in under his blanket to watch the movie.

As she made her way to the bathroom, Santana checked on Jesus. He was sitting on the window seat head against the glass and ipad hanging from his limp arm, fast asleep. She covered him with his blanket, which had fallen off, and put a pillow under his head. It was strange that he was asleep, but she would take the small blessing. Dealing with his over activeness while Sophia was sick would not have been fun. Mateo was asleep again, his car seat was strapped into the seat by the window on Santana's row.

Finally she got to the bathroom. She didn't even need to open it to know how they were doing. She could hear Sophia gagging. Pushing the door open, she saw Brittany kneeling on the floor, sitting on her heels as she held Sophia in her arms. Sophia was crying.

Brittany looked up at her entrance, a look of immense relief washing over her face.

"There's nothing else in her stomach, so she's just dry heaving now."

Santana shook her head, running her hand through her hair. "What do we do? Should we give her one of your meds?"

"They're really strong, so I want to say no, but…." Brittany trailed off, looking down at a whimpering Sophia.

"We can cut it in half or something." Santana suggested.

Brittany didn't answer biting her bottom lip. Suddenly Sophia pushed off Brittany, gagging powerfully. Santana saw that her nose was running, and her ears, cheeks and forehead were red. When she stopped and collapsed heavily against Brittany, Brittany looked up at Santana.

"Yeah. I think we should."

Santana nodded, rushing out.

After taking the pill, Sophia was incredibly subdued. She looked like she was on the brink of sleep, but never actually fell asleep. She just sat on Brittany's lap for the remainder of the trip, and when they landed, she couldn't even walk. Brittany had to carry her to the car. Mateo woke up on landing, screaming his head off, so Santana had to carry him, which meant Jesus had to be woken up so he could walk.

On the drive to their hotel, Sophia finally fell asleep, taking away 80 percent of Brittany's stress. Apart from talking to Jesus and Kyler, Brittany and Santana hardly spoke. When they arrived, Santana took Sophia to bed while Brittany tried to feed a fussy Mateo.

"Okay" Santana sighed, emerging from the room. She had changed from her traveling clothes into a baggy t-shirt and boxer shorts and was currently trying to tie her hair up. It looked messy, and though Brittany maintained that Santana could never look bad, she didn't look good. She looked tired and worn out and stressed.

"I can stay today"

"No" Santana said immediately. "We came here so you could get to do this B. You're not staying."

Brittany sighed. One of the very few things she hated about Santana was when she got like this. When she was exhausted and worried, which she was for Sophia, and hungry, since neither of them had eaten since last night, she got short and dismissive. Brittany hated it because it meant that nothing she said was going to be heard.

"We've had a rough day, and I don't feel comfortable leaving you with them like this."

Santana didn't speak for a while. Jesus was rolling around on the floor, balancing on a soccer ball, and Kyler was sitting on the couch next to Brittany, watching the TV lazily. Finally, Santana turned away, walking to the kitchen.

"No. You're going to go."

Brittany frowned, standing up and following Santana.

"I said I didn't want to. Why is that hard to understand?"

"I understand what you're saying, it just isn't going to happen"

"Permission to object to your ruling your honour?"

Santana turned to face her, her eyes narrowing.

"Cute"

"I try" Brittany shrugged.

"You need to go to work. The reason we came today was because you said…YOU said, that the first day of registration is important so you can connect with all the dancers."

"I can do that tomorrow."

"Then why did we come today?" Santana asked in exasperation.

"Life happens."

"You have to go. Otherwise we're going to sit here all day and I'm going to get pissed off."

"More than you are now?"

"Okay when you tone down the sass, come find me."

Santana stormed out, the coffee she had been making long forgotten.


Brittany inevitably left for work because she couldn't take the tension in the hotel, and because after thirty minutes she realised that she really wasn't needed. Sophia was asleep, Kyler and Jesus were entertaining each other, and Santana was sitting with Mateo on her lap, watching some baby cartoon. Staying wouldn't really make much of a difference, so she left.

When she got to the building the convention was being held at, she couldn't help being impressed. It was a hotel, a fancy hotel by the look of it, though Brittany had never been there. There were signs and posters all over the place, some had balloons next to them, and there were many, many people. It was exactly Brittany's kind of scene. As she followed the arrows to registration, she began to really get excited. Finally she found herself in a massive ballroom looking room.

"Hi!" One of the girls at the registration desk greeted. Her voice was loud and very enthusiastic, but it didn't seem forced. Brittany smiled.

"Hi, how are you?"

"I'm very good thank you, how are you today?"

"Had a long day already but I'm excited." Brittany replied honestly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Hopefully your time here will fix that." The girl smiled and Brittany did too.

"I'm sure it will."

"Okaaay, if you just give me your ID and registration number I can get you all set up."

"Oh…" Brittany frowned as she opened her handbag to look for her wallet. "I don't have a registration number" she handed the girl her ID.

"Um, I'm sure you do. If you open up the email sent to you after you registered, it shows your registration number."

"No I didn't register online." The feeling that she had somehow done something wrong started to creep up inside her.

"Oh. Then I'm really sorry but you can't participate in this convention. But don't worry uh…" she looked down at Brittany's ID for the first time and her eyes widened. "Brittany?"

"Yes?" Brittany asked tentatively. She was imagining going back to Santana and telling her they had just endured the plane ride from hell for nothing.

"You're Brittany S. Pierce?" the girl was now looking at her like she was about to die. Before Brittany could respond she launched out of her chair. "Oh my god what am I saying, of course you are. Fuck, how didn't I recognise you? Holy shit. Holy shit. I knew you were coming but I didn't…." she came round the table and engulfed Brittany in a hug. "You're amazing. You are seriously awesome in every sense of the word. I've watched like all the videos you're in."

"Wow. Thank you" Brittany beamed.

"I can't believe you're actually here and I get to talk to you. I have so many things I've thought about saying if I ever got the chance to meet you. Your Halsey tour was…oh my god, I was at one of the concerts and you were just FANTASTIC."

"Thank you" Brittany said again. She was completely thrown by the girl's eagerness to talk to her. Usually people recognised her as Santana Lopez's wife, which she didn't mind at all, and they would fire questions at her about what Santana was really like and stuff like that. She'd never actually had a fan get this excited to talk to her about her dancing. It was different.

"And you choreographed all the dance numbers for roll with it and beat the streets right?"

"Yes I did."

"Even the ballroom?"

"Yeah even the ballroom, but I had help with that one."

"I knew it! It was beautiful choreography. I learned it all."

"The ballroom?"

"Yeah. I'm a ballroom dancer."

"Oh wow. That's really cool, what's your specialty?"

"Fox trot and Salsa." Brittany nodded, instinctively looking the girl up and down to asses her physique and posture. Most dancers she met who specialised in ballroom carried themselves a certain way. The good ones anyway. She could see a hint of that in this girl, but not a lot.

"How long have you been at it?" she asked. She didn't want to come to the conclusion that the girl wasn't good. Maybe she had just started out. Having been in the dance world for so long, it became essential for her to be able to pick out the good dancers from the mediocre. At first it was so she could tell the competition right off the bat, but in later years it was so that she could move through auditions faster. Having to sit through hundreds of auditions in a day was not something she had ever had to do thanks to her skill.

"Three years" the girl answered her. Brittany tried to hide her disappointment. In dancing, three years was a long time. That meant the girl before her, who she truly did like, wasn't a very good dancer. "But I mostly teach myself."

Brittany cocked her head. "Why's that?"

"I can't really afford dance classes. I have a two year old who I'm supporting on my own so I work a lot, and all my money goes to her." Brittany nodded sadly. "But when I come to work for conventions like these, I get to attend some of the classes for free. So I try learn as much as I can, and then practice on my own."

Brittany digested this information silently, as the girl continued to talk her ear off. She'd never thought about it, but now she realised that she had been incredibly privileged. Her parents always supported her dance dreams. When she was four they signed her up for dance classes, and drove her all around the state for competitions until she turned 16. They paid for all her trips around the country with her dance school, which definitely could not have been cheap, and then paid for her to study dance at university. Aside from dance, they indulged in all of her other interests as well, no matter how brief they were. Art classes, voice lessons, gymnastics, motocross…it didn't matter what she could possibly want to take, she had always known she would be able to.

It struck her particularly hard then, to hear that there were people out there who no matter how much they wanted to, could not pursue their dreams. Something horrible settled in her stomach at the thought.

"Totally" she responded absentmindedly. She was wrenched from her thoughts by a loud ear-piercing scream.

"Thank you! Thank you! I have the music on my phone."

Brittany blinked a few times, feeling disoriented. She had just agreed to something, she knew that, but what it was she had no idea.

"Uh, I just realised I never asked your name" she said, deciding that whatever she had agreed to couldn't be that bad.

"Marley"

"Oh! I had a friend in high school called Marley. She was really sweet. It must be a name thing."

Marley blushed. "You don't happen to have speakers do you?"

"I do actually" Brittany dropped her duffle bag on the floor and pulled out one of her Bluetooth speakers. She handed it to Marley, who took it like she was holding a new born baby. A few seconds later, a song started playing. Brittany smiled.

After rehearsing to this song for nearly two months, there was no way she wouldn't remember it. It had been her first movie appearance.

"So who are you playing then?" she asked Marley, taking off her shoes and hoodie and pulling the legs of her tracksuit pants up to her knees.

"Jenna."

Brittany nodded, having expected that. "Okay, then you'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit sloppy. I've never danced the lead part."

"We can do one you're more comfortable with…"

"No, no. This is good. I can see how good I really am" she winked playfully at Marley, who blushed and turned away quickly to place her phone down. Brittany did a quick warm up, not wanting to get a muscle cramp today of all days, and then stood up. "You ready?"

Marley nodded, looking ecstatic. Just before taking her position, Brittany paused. "I'm going to touch you now" she said, her hands hovering right over Marley's waist. "Please don't pass out." Marley laughed, but Brittany was completely serious. She had seen it happen many times with Santana.

"I won't"

"Okay. Can someone press play?" She called out. Three people rushed to the table to the table where Marley's phone was. She was about to speak when she heard the music start. Instead she smiled at the boy who had managed to do it.

As they danced, a large crowd began to form around them, many of them taking videos. Brittany didn't notice. She was focusing intensely on not just remembering the choreography, but remembering what her partner had been doing. She barely noticed the cheering or clapping, or when the music was transferred to the surround sound speakers. It was only when she'd successfully performed the lift just before the end of the dance that she took a breath and relaxed enough to notice the commotion around her.

There was a camera crew filming them, the official camera crew for the convention, and what looked like all the registrants and staff standing around her. She blushed slightly, but smiled. There were few times where she felt proud of herself for dancing. To her it felt like being proud of herself for walking, since dancing was just as natural to her. But this time, in this moment where she was dipping Marley close to the floor, completing the routine, she felt proud. No it wasn't a flawlessly executed dance, but considering she had never, not even once during rehearsals, performed that dance as the lead, just being able to do that boosted her ego significantly. As soon as she could she was going to call Chad to brag.

The applause that met the end of their dance was tumultuous. People screamed their heads off, almost everyone had their phones out and there were many hands pulling Brittany left and right. In that moment, she realised that she had fans. Not fans through Santana, who loved her because she and Santana had a cute family, and had only seen her dance with Santana. Fans of her own. True dance fans. She liked it.

"What a way to start the day huh?" a voice boomed through the speakers. More cheers erupted. "That's what happens when you have Brittany S. Pierce in the house!" the voice said excitedly. There was some laughter, and still more applause. "Woman knows how to make an entrance. HOWEVER…" he yelled over the ruckus that was erupting, "we still have a lot to do before the dancing can begin so please show some love to Brittany for that wonderful preview of what is to come and…." He was drowned out by the screams. A good five minutes later, the noise finally died down. "Let's please get down to work."

Slowly, very slowly, the crowd dispersed, and the room began to resemble what it had looked like when Brittany walked in. A tall thin man with short dark brown hair came up to Brittany. He was shaking his head but grinning from ear to ear.

"Brittany, Brittany, Brittany."

"Sev" Brittany said happily, skipping towards him. He opened his arms for a hug, and she complied.

"Still can't help drawing a crowd I see" he said, pulling out of the hug. Brittany smiled, shrugging. "It's what I was counting on when I practically begged you to join."

"If this had started a few months later I would have been here for the whole thing. You know that."

Brittany nudged him in the arm while Marley came up to her with her speaker and duffle bag. "Thank you."

"Nah I'm just playing around. We don't talk that often but believe me I am fully aware of the chaos that is your life."

The pair began walking out of the room.

"Oh yeah? How is that?"

"Please girly. You and your hot tamale are constantly all over the tabloids." Brittany rolled her eyes. Five years into it and she still hated the paparazzi as much as the first day they followed her. Sev laughed. "Oh yeah, I bet the life of fame and fortune is really hard."

"It was easier when it was just me and Santana."

"Oh…you have kids, I forgot. I can't imagine Britty with kids." Brittany smiled.

"I know. I can't either."

"How are they?"

"Adorable, flawless, sassy, brilliant, funny as hell, tiny little geniuses that are definitely going to rule the world, and about 80 percent Santana. Which is great."

Sev laughed. "I have to meet this Santana. When I left you, you said you were joining me in LA in no more than a year. Then you meet this girl and bam, 15 years later."

Brittany couldn't help but grin. She didn't have a lot of friends from middle school because from the day she joined Mckinely high school her previous life sort of drained away, but last year Sev had reached out to her on Instagram, and they had reconnected.

Sev had been in the grade above her, but halfway through the third grade he had joined her dance class, and they had become best friends. It was actually him who gave Brittany the idea to forget about high school and get a head-start in LA. She had helped him record about half a dozen audition tapes (her parents had just bought her a video recorder) and they had spent hours sending them out to recruiters. The last time they'd talked, Brittany had called to tell him that she was going to stay in school, sometime in the winter of 2009. They'd fought in that conversation, Brittany had cried, and that was that. She'd never heard anything about him again.

"You really should, she's great."

"I don't doubt it. She flew out here so you could do this with me so I already owe her."

"Don't tell her that. She'll hold you to it."

They both laughed, but Brittany's jaw opened as she walked into a new room. It was massive, with slightly dimmed lights. Projectors, which Brittany could not see, were showing the 'Heat convention' logo on all four walls and one on the floor in the centre of the room. There were squares on the floor, marked by masking tape (Brittany assumed) which were the spaces each dancer was going to have to dance in. The one projector Britany could see, was hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the room, projecting onto the large wall at the front of the room. It was currently showing the empty stage, but she assumed that would change when an instructor began their session.

"Not bad huh?" Sev asked.

"No, this is really good. I can't believe you're finally here."

A mean look came over Sev's face. "Yeah, took me a while I know. But not all of us can be the great Brittany S. Pierce."

Brittany paused, taken aback by the venom in his voice. "Is something wrong?" she asked. He shook his head.

"No just…we've wasted enough time as it is. I have a shit tone of things to do so just go get settled in over there" he pointed to the corner of the room where Brittany saw a door. "And I'll come find you later." He walked off before Brittany could say anything.

"Ookay then…"she murmured, walking in that directions. Suddenly she didn't feel quite as enthusiastic about her reunion with her childhood friend. Years of being best friends with Santana and Quinn, and having to deal with the Cheerios all through high school had taught her how to spot jealousy and ill-intent. There was definitely some of both hanging in the air.


When the convention ended, Brittany's feelings about the entire situation had only gotten worse. As she talked to the dancers, she realised that all of them were in schools like Julliard or NYU, or else taking classes held by some of the best dancers in LA in highly impressive studios. The pool of people were all basically the same, and that was boring. It was exactly the kind of atmosphere she had wanted to leave in New York, and something about helping to foster it not just in LA but all around the country didn't seem right to her.

She stayed for as long as her conscience would permit, but left as soon as she could. She already didn't feel great about leaving Santana at the hotel all day with four kids, and now she wasn't even enjoying herself the way she had expected. Nothing was keeping her there.

"Are you leaving?" One of the other instructors asked, seeing Brittany picking her things from the backroom.

"Yeah, I've had a super long day so I think I will."

"You'll be here tomorrow though right?"

"She has to be. She signed a contract" Sev entered the room. "Unless she wants to give us a big ol' paycheck she'll be here bright and early, ain't that right BSP?"

"I'll be here" she answered the other instructor. Turning to Sev she plastered a smile on her face. "Today was awesome."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." He said, smiling as well.

"Totally. You've made something so awesome here Sev."

His smile widened. "Thanks Britt. I'll see you tomorrow." He pulled her into a hug, which she pulled out of the second it wouldn't be considered rude."

"Yeah" she waved at the other instructor and hurried out.


"Babe!" Brittany yelled as she entered their hotel suite. The second the sound left her mouth though, she stopped dead in her tracks and cringed. The chastising thought that she should know better than to shout like that came seconds before Mateo's piercing scream. Sighing heavily, she dropped her duffle bag by the door and slid down it. If things between her and Santana had improved at all since her departure, they were right back to where they started now. Twenty minutes later, she heard Santana leaving their room where Mateo was sleeping, and slowly she got up.

"I'm so, so, sorry Santana." She said the second Santana was in sight. Santana pulled the band from her loose hair and tied it up again, this time in a high bun.

"It's fine"

She sounded so tired that Brittany immediately felt ten times worse. "I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have come in like that. I didn't think. I swear-"

"Brittany can you please drop it?" Santana sighed, leaning heavily against the counter as she made a cup of coffee. "I don't want to talk about it because I don't want to fight with you. I said it's fine so just…" she sighed again, brushing her hand over her hair.

It didn't escape Brittany's notice that Santana hadn't snapped at her for using the word stupid to describe herself. It was the first time ever.

"Yeah okay."

There was a long silence. Santana was sitting with her head resting on her arms, which were crossed on the table. Brittany was standing awkwardly in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. When the coffee was done, Santana got up and poured it into her cup.

"You're not stupid" Santana said, looking at Brittany for the first time. The lump that had formed in Brittany's throat dissolved. "Would you like some?"

"No thanks"

Santana nodded, siting back down. "So how was it?"

Brittany went to sit next to her. "Fine. It started off really great, but then just kept getting worse. It's not what I thought it was."

"What did you think it was?"

Brittany sighed, removing the band from her hair and combing her fingers through it.

"I don't know. I guess I kind of thought the crowd would be mixed. Like all types of people from all over, and that I'd just be teaching and having fun. Showing people how to really enjoy dance, not just learn the moves."

"And instead?"

"It's basically a competition. Everyone wants to outdo each other, and there are prizes and eliminations….I don't know. If I knew I wouldn't have agreed to come."

"That's probably why he didn't tell you."

"Who?"

"Sev" Santana answered casually, taking a large sip of her coffee.

"You think he was trying to manipulate me into coming on?"

Santana licked her lips, and Brittany knew she was deciding what not to say.

"I don't know him at all. You've never talked about him and I've never met him, so I may be wrong."

"But…"

Brittany trusted Santana's gut feeling about people more than anyone else she knew. Yes, she was cynical and hated basically everyone, but when she took the time to actually warn Brittany about someone she was rarely wrong.

"But I think he's using you for your fame and your fans. Like to boost his project."

Brittany thought for a moment. "Why do you think that?"

Santana took another big sip and closed her eyes for almost a full minute.

"You guys haven't talked in years, and all he talked about for the first two weeks of reconnecting with you was about your career. Not his, or your family, or the things you were up to since you last talked like a normal person. Then you didn't talk for like 5 months, and then boom, all of a sudden he simply can't wait even one extra month to meet you. And would you look at that, he just so happens to have a dance convention in LA where you can meet up. It's just all a bit weird."

"Hmmm"

"Plus I remember some of your conversations, and he feels a bit passive aggressive."

Brittany's mind was made up. If Santana had picked up on the negative vibe just through text, then there was definitely something there. Brittany neither had the time nor energy to deal with such things, least of all from someone she wasn't invested in at all.

"I'm not going back" she said after a while. Santana's eyes snapped to hers.

"What?"

"I already don't like the….message or whatever, and now I'm being used. At least if I was having fun I wouldn't mind. Or if it was for charity or something. But nah, I'm not doing this."

Santana surveyed her, wondering what to say, but after a moment, decided she supported whatever Brittany wanted to do. She wouldn't force her to do something that was making her unhappy.

"What about the contract?"

I don't know. I'll call the lawyer and ask her what I can do."

"You'll probably have to buy out."

Brittany shrugged, not wanting to think about it. Santana pursed her lips, then put her coffee down and scooted her chair closer to Brittany. She pulled Brittany into her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry baby." She whispered, kissing the top of Brittany's head.

"Thanks" Brittany whispered back. "For having my back."

Santana smiled, kissing her head again and rubbing her arms soothingly.

"Always B."


It turned out that getting out of the contract was a lot easier than Brittany or Santana had anticipated, but the reason why was definitely not worth it.

Just as Santana was getting into bed, she was stopped by a screaming Sophia. She rushed to the room the kids were sleeping in and found them all awake and all crying. Sophia was just the loudest. Immediately knowing something was wrong by how much Sophia and Jesus were sweating, she woke Brittany up.

An hour later Brittany called the paediatrician in a panic, because both kids were throwing up and had fevers of 102. After describing their symptoms, he said they most likely had a stomach bug. There really wasn't much for them to do but wait it out and give the kids lots of fluids.

Jesus cried on and off throughout the night, but Sophia quieted after a while. They both threw up everything in their stomachs and refused to drink more than a sip of water every few minutes. Even when they fell asleep, Santana and Brittany stayed awake, monitoring their fevers and worrying over them. Kyler seemed to be fine, which was strange, and Mateo as well, which was a godsend. A sick toddler was one thing. A sick infant was quite another.

Hours later Britany walked into the bathroom at the end of the corridor, having just gone to feed Mateo. Santana was sitting in the bathtub with a still awake Jesus lying against her chest. Her head was bent backwards and she looked like she was asleep.

"Niki's back down" Brittany said, sitting on the floor by the bath.

"That's good."

"What are you doing?"

"He still has a fever, and I read that putting him in lukewarm water may help bring it down so…." She shrugged. "Maybe if it goes down he'll be able to sleep properly."

Brittany nodded, dropping one of her hands into the water and moving it slowly from left to right. "Sophia's clothes were damp again, so I removed them. She's just in her diaper now."

"Her fever's back?" Santana asked desperately. She sounded on the verge of tears. Brittany understood. Yesterday they had both been up at 5, so they were now definitely going on 24 hours without sleep, and it wasn't like they had spent those 24 hours bumming around the house. They had travelled, which with four kids was no easy task, then Brittany had gone to dance for 5 hours while Santana stayed at the hotel with their one sick daughter, two overly energetic sons and fussy infant. The only thing keeping either of them awake and functioning at that moment was the parental instinct to take care of their kids. But that could only last for so long.

"I haven't checked, but I'm willing to bet." Brittany replied. Santana sighed heavily. "I'll give it a few minutes so she can sleep a bit more and then I'll hop in here with you."

"How many hours ago did we give them ibuprofen?" Brittany silently watched the ripples in the water. "B?"

"I don't know. What time did Kyler go to sleep?" Santana slowly shook her head. "If you had to guess."

"Babe I don't even know what time it is now."

"Yeah….neither do I. I think last I checked it was 4."

"Oh my god" Santana said, releasing a heavy breath. "When was that?"

"Uh….around when we fed Mateo the first time."

Santana opened her eyes and lifted her head, panic written all over her face.

"He sleeps for at least three hours at a time B." Brittany nodded solemnly. "So it's at least 6 in the morning?"

Brittany lay her head on the edge of the tub, her hand stilling in the water. "I'm so tired Santana" she whined.

Santana stared up at the ceiling for several minutes, trying to wake herself up.

"Okay, get up and take Jesus." Brittany complied and Santana got out of the bath, stripping her wet clothes. "You and I need to get at least three hours of sleep if we are going to survive this day."

"I agree."

"Kyler will be up in those three hours, so we are going to sleep now."

"Okay!" Brittany was not going to argue. She wanted to sleep so badly. "What's the plan?"

"The plan is…we get Jesus and Soph out of their clothes, and give them another dose of the ibuprofen then we put them in the bed with us."

"Okay. Sounds good but before we do that, can we call Dr. Riley?"

"Absolutely."


At 11 am, the entire situation got exponentially worse. After two hours of Brittany trying to convince Santana that she was unwell, she finally got her to take her temperature. It was at 103.5.

"Fuck" Santana groaned. She had been steadily getting weaker as the day went on, and though at first they thought it was because she was exhausted, Brittany noticed that she was looking pale and had started sweating.

"You definitely have it."

"What the fuck are we going to do?"

Brittany sat on the couch, completely defeated. "I know I should be stepping up now, and taking care of you and the kids like I know you would…."

"No you don't"

"But I'm so freaking tired baby. I'm sorry."

"Stop. Come here" Santana opened her arms for Brittany to fall into. Brittany hesitated for a moment, then leaned down until her body was pressed against Santana's.

"I can't handle this on my own Santana" she didn't want to say, but she wasn't feeling so good herself. Suddenly everything was just too much to handle. She felt tears begin to trickle from her eyes.

"Shh don't cry mi amor. You don't need to handle it on your own. We'll get help."

"How? We can't ask Quinn or Puck to just drop everything and rush over here"

"Even though I'm pretty sure they would, they don't have to. I know someone who can."


The day was without a doubt the worst Santana had ever experienced. The time she didn't spend on the floor by the toilet, was spent cradling a whiny and clingy Jesus, or a half awake Sophia who was so weak she could barely walk. Kyler was a complete angel. Brittany and Santana were slightly surprised that he stayed by Sophia's side the entire time. He asked about Jesus a lot, but he seemed to feel that Sophia needed him more.

Mateo on the other hand, took an opposite approach. He also had picked up on the fact that something was wrong, but it made him want to be comforted almost constantly.

By five PM, Santana was completely out for the count. Brittany had forced her to take some pretty strong medicine, which she had called reception to ask for, and within minutes she was unconscious. The fight had not been easy, but after a couple cups of coffee, Brittany could not bring herself to let Santana continue to torture herself. Despite the fact that her own strength was rapidly depleting, she was significantly better off than Santana, and the lack of rest was only making her fever spike. So, when the medicine arrived, she gave some to Santana, and a kids' one to Sophia and Jesus.

They were all asleep in one bed when the room phone rang.

"Hello?" Brittany asked, rocking Mateo gently. She had been trying to get him to sleep for almost an hour, but he wasn't interested.

"Mrs Lopez-Pierce, this is the reception, sorry to disturb you."

"How can I help you?"

"There is a Susan Pierce at the desk, we wanted to confirm that you are expecting her."

"Yes!" Brittany breathed in relief. "Yes, please send her up."

"Okay."

"Thank you"

As she hung up the phone, Brittany began to cry again, which made Mateo cry and Kyler rush into her room to wake up Santana. Before she could stop him, Santana was walking out of the room groggily, dragging herself towards Brittany.

"Wha happen?" Santana mumbled.

"Nothing honey, go back to sleep."

There was a knock on the door. Brittany rushed to answer it.

"GAMMY" Kyler yelled, rushing to Susan.

"Hi my handsome little man. Gosh you've gotten so big." Susan gushed as she picked Kyler up. She looked at her two daughters and shook her head with a pout. "Poor girls. Santana, you look like a corpse rising from the dead, what have you taken?" her voice was caring but firm, like a strict nurse at the hospital.

"I gave her….um…a medicine a few minutes ago. She was passed out but Ky woke her" Brittany answered.

"Good, good. Get back to bed then."

Santana nodded, her eyes already closing, and walked off.

"Get down my prince" Susan told Kyler. He jumped down and immediately followed Santana into the room. Susan took Mateo from Brittany. "Take whatever you gave Santana, and don't bother waking up for at least 8 hours."

"Hi mum." Brittany said, feeling tears rising in her eyes. Susan gripped her shoulder, then pulled her into a hug as tight as she could manage without squeezing the baby..

"I missed you my sweet girl."

"I'm so sorry mum."

"For what honey?" Susan pulled back, wiping the stray tears from Brittany's cheeks.

"For getting so mad and shutting you out-"

"Oh hush Britt-Bee. You were protecting your babies. I understand that more than anything." She smiled lovingly, allowing Brittany to relax.

"Is dad?-"

"He gets it too. You've been around Santana for longer than you've been without her. You were bound to pick up her temper sooner or later."

Brittany sniffed, groaning slightly as her head pounded at the action.

"We're okay honey. We're going to be okay."

Brittany nodded.

"Now. Go off and join your wife before you collapse. Take whatever she took and sleep this bug off."

Brittany nodded, and with one small smile, walked into the room and shut the door.

"Now little man" Susan addressed a whimpering Mateo. "Your gammy is here now…and I do believe you are the cutest little thing I ever saw."