When Santana finally managed to roll out of bed, she'd woken up so late that even Sophia was up. She dragged herself to the living space to see her family all there, already having eaten breakfast.
"Morning sleeping beauty" Brittany called, as Santana walked to the kitchen to get coffee.
"Morning"
"Mami, are you sick?" Sophia asked, appearing by her side.
"No babe"
"Oh okay" she lifted her hands asking to be lifted. Santana complied, getting a kiss seconds later.
"How did you sleep?"
"Good."
"Mami" Jesus came running in, stopping in front of her. "Can I have Sophia's pancake?" Santana frowned, looking at Sophia.
"You don't want it?" Sophia shook her head. "Por qué?"
"They have nuts"
Santana nodded in understanding. "Sure papi, you can eat it then"
"Yaay!" Jesus hugged her round one leg, squeezing tight, then ran into the living room with the pancake.
"Jesus!" Santana heard Brittany say angrily.
"Mami said I could have it" Jesus whined. Seconds later Brittany appeared in the kitchen with the pancake in her hand, frowning.
"I already said no"
Santana cringed, realising what had just happened. "Sorry" she whispered. Brittany shrugged her off, then leaned in and kissed her thrice on the lips. Jesus interrupted them.
"Mama thas no fair"
"You can have fruit, or yoghurt or rice crispies."
Jesus stomped his foot, pouting heavily and Santana knew what was coming. She quickly put Sophia down and knelt in front of Jesus.
"Papi ¿De que hablamos?" his lip trembled, but he took a deep breath and looked up at Brittany.
"I don't like that mama"
"Why don't you like it Jesus?" Brittany asked.
"Because I wanted to have another pancake"
"How many pancakes did you have?" Santana asked. He held up two fingers. "How many pancakes did Kyler have?" he held up two fingers again.
"So what's not fair?"
Jesus looked at her, trying to find something to argue about, then not finding anything, he looked at Brittany again.
"Do you want to eat it mama?"
"Maybe, but that's not the point buddy. The rule was that everyone has two right?" he nodded. "So just because Sophia didn't finish hers, doesn't mean you get more than two does it?"
"No" He looked at the floor for a second, then moved to Brittany and hugged her round the waist, which he could barely reach. "Sorry mama"
"It's okay Jesus. Thank you for not throwing a tantrum"
He smiled up at her as she patted his head.
"Very good job" Santana agreed. His smile widened, then he climbed onto a chair, picked an apple from the bowl on the counter and ran off. Santana stood up.
"That was good" Brittany said excitedly. She pulled Santana into her, though she was facing sideways so her arms was pressed into her stomach. "That was really good Santana."
"Yeah it was"
"I think it's working."
"Let's give it a while, it's only been a week"
"Yeah but…it looks like it's working right?"
Santana smiled, turning to face Brittany.
"Yeah. It does."
Like she had done with Kyler's swimming training, Santana had refused to let an ADHD coach work directly with Jesus. Instead, she'd called one and talked with him for almost three hours while he explained what exactly was going on with Jesus, and she explained the symptoms he had so far. They went over examples of his behaviour, and then he posed hypothetical scenarios and asked Santana to explain how Jesus was likely to act, and then how she and Brittany would react. They talked about his dynamics in class and at home, and his relationship with Kyler. Then they talked about how his behaviour had been since Sophia and Mateo. To Santana's dismay, it seemed that his increase in tantrums and acting out was a direct result of the two new kids. He was adjusting to a new dynamic, and undoubtedly less attention from both his parents and his brother. It had broken Santana's heart to be told that, but it at least gave her something concrete to work with.
At the end of their conversation, he had given Santana a list of things to try that could help Jesus calm down and channel his emotions in a healthier way. One of them was simply getting him to say what he was feeling, without the fear of getting in trouble. Just being able to tell them that he was angry at them gave him some control, which was what tantrums were usually about. So far, like Brittany said, it seemed to be working.
"Are you feeling okay?" Brittany asked.
"Yeah. Just tired. What time is it?"
"Just past eleven"
"What?" Santana asked incredulously. Brittany giggled, nodding. "Oh my god. So we have to go?"
"Yeah pretty much."
"Urgh" she grabbed her coffee cup, which was now full of steaming hot coffee, and pulled away from Brittany. "Okay."
"Mami"
"Yes my love"
"Can I wear a dress today?"
"Of course. What colour?" Santana took Sophia's hand and led her to the kids' room.
Brittany followed with the other three.
Sophia seemed unable to decide what she wanted to wear. She kept shaking her head at every dress Santana held up for her, until they were all on the floor in a pile. Jesus and Kyler were both already dressed, in a rare turn of events, in almost exactly the same thing. They were in matching black long sleeved shirts which had a star in the centre, and wearing white sneakers. The only thing that was different were the shorts they were wearing. Jesus was in baby pink shorts and Kyler was in baby blue. Both had their hair up in a bun.
"That's all the dresses baby" Santana said. Brittany smiled. She could hear the irritation in Santana's voice, but only by the way she was trying so hard not to let it show, so her voice sounded whiny.
"We have to go get it then. We left it!"
"Which one?"
"I don't know yet. But it's not here"
"What if" Kyler said, walking to the wardrobe "What if you wear this?" he pulled out some pink overalls. "That way you'll be matching with Jesus."
Sophia snatched the overalls from him and grinned.
"This one mami!" she squealed.
"Okay, okay" Santana laughed.
While she got dressed, Brittany went to pack their bags.
"Did you call your parents?" she asked Santana when they were finally all ready.
"Of course I did. I don't expect them to just be lounging around the house."
"Mhhh" Brittany nodded, ushering the kids down the hotel hallway. Jessie met them by the elevators. "We're late again"
"Wonder what Rachel will have to say about that" Santana rolled her eyes.
"Mama are we going to the arc?" Kyler asked.
"Arcade" Jesus corrected. He was standing at the back of the elevator gripping the bar and trying to jump high enough to see himself in the mirror.
"That's right Jesus. Good job" Santana said.
"No buddy we're not going to the arcade today."
"Where are we going then?" Kyler asked.
"We're going to see mami's old house"
"And abuela?" Jesus squealed, spinning around as the doors opened.
"Yup, and abuela"
"Abuela told me my Spanish was muy Bueno."
"It is very good papi" Santana agreed. Her hand found the back of his neck as it often did lately. She didn't even know when she'd developed the habit, but they both really liked it, so she kept doing it.
"She also told me I was very clever. She said she bets I'll find school super easy and then I'll be a doctor"
"You love school don't you?" Santana asked, ignoring the part about being a doctor.
Jesus nodded. "If I ask her do you think she'll tell me another story about when she was young?"
Santana cocked her head, applying a little pressure to his neck so he'd stop. He turned to look at her.
"What kind of stories?"
"Um…Mostly things about bisabuela. Like one time bisabuela tried to make her run away from abuelo cause she said she didn't know how to cook Mofongo"
"What's mofongo?" Kyler asked. Jesus shrugged.
Brittany, who had been walking slightly ahead with Sophia, turned around, noticing Santana had stopped walking.
"Santana, what are you doing? Let's go"
Santana blinked and continued walking, but her mind was far. Her mother was telling her kids stories about her abuela. Her abuela who hadn't talked to her in ten years because she was a lesbian. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.
They dropped the four kids off at Santana's house, not even having time to go inside. Maribel opened the door, hugging all the kids, and once Santana was sure they were all okay, she dragged Brittany back to the car.
"I'm really not in the mood for another Berry lecture." She groaned as she reversed out of her driveway.
"It's only twenty minutes"
"Now. It's another ten to school remember?"
"Oh yeah" Brittany grinned.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just so weird to be driving to school with you" she laughed. "So much has changed since we used to do this"
Santana smiled. "Yeah it really has."
They sang along to the radio until they got to the school, and then, because Santana flat out refused to run, they speed walked to the auditorium.
It was surreal, walking the hallways of Mckinely again. It was so familiar, yet so foreign. The building itself looked the same, but when they peeped into the classrooms, they looked different. Newer. They had to pause and think about which way the auditorium was, and Santana had to drag Brittany away from the janitor's closet that had seen more action than any other part of the school she was sure. It was where she and Brittany had always snuck off to make out.
"Maybe later" she whispered when Brittany pouted.
Finally, they reached the doors to the auditorium. They could hear singing.
"Oh no" Brittany said, turning to Santana with wide eyes. "You don't think we were supposed to prepare a number do you?"
Santana wanted to say no, but knowing Rachel, it was entirely possible they were.
"I can't perform. I don't sing anymore."
"You're the one who read the email, did it say anything about a performance in there?"
Brittany bit her lip. "I can't remember. I only read it once."
"Well…okay. I mean Quinn would have said something right? If we were supposed to. She would have told us."
"Yeah"
"And she didn't so I think we're safe."
"Then that means either Rachel is doing an impromptu performance, or the glee kids are singing."
"And we'll be interrupting."
Brittany pursed her lips. "We can't stay out here. We don't know how many performances there are."
"Let's just sneak in and sit at the back. We can move up when they're done."
Brittany nodded, took Santana's hand, and opened the door. It didn't creak, thankfully, and there was so much light on the stage that the light they let in from the hallways was barely noticeable.
Santana let Brittany lead her to some seats as she watched the performance. The kids looked so young. She didn't feel like she'd ever looked that young. They also looked as socially diverse as their own glee club had been. She couldn't tell if there were any cheerleaders because they were all in costumes, but some definitely looked geekier than others. There was one boy who looked as goth as Tina had in their sophomore year, like he would turn into a bat at any moment.
They didn't sound bad. Not great, but not bad. As a talent recruiter, she'd trained her ear to find a good sound, and she could definitely hear the potential the group held. They just sounded so…forced. They sounded like a group of many voices, instead of blended voices that brought out melodies and harmonies. It was something that could be fixed. She wasn't surprised that they all sounded like they were trying to out-do each other, since Rachel was their choir director. Team wasn't a word Santana remembered being in her vocabulary.
The performance, which was a medley of a bunch of songs Santana had never heard before, lasted for far too long. Eventually Brittany got bored, and started whispering her thoughts to Santana. It started off as her thoughts on the performance, or the glee club, but it ended up drifting into her thoughts in general. Ideas that popped into her head or random stray thoughts about food or ducks. Santana was grateful for the distraction.
The lights went on, making Brittany jump and pull her head from Santana's neck, where she had been whispering a joke she'd just come up with. Santana quickly raised her hands and clapped, realising that she and Brittany were the only two not doing so. The noise made a few heads turn. She noticed Mercedes and Kurt sitting together a few rows in front of them. They smiled at each other. She didn't get the chance to notice anyone else because there was suddenly loud screaming.
"Shut up! Shut UP! She can hear you"
A tall, skinny black girl moved behind a shorter red-head girl with long hair and clamped her hand over her mouth, muffling the screams. Santana supressed a laugh, side-eyeing Brittany, then stood up and put on her 'I'm meeting the fans' smile. It wasn't fake, but it wasn't completely genuine either. She genuinely did like meeting fans, but her go to would not be a smile. Smiling all the time like that was creepy to her. But Emma had insisted she do it, so that she doesn't come off as unapproachable. She'd agreed when Quinn pointed out that she had a resting bitch face.
She walked right up to the stage and waved at everyone. They were looking at her in awe, some looking close to tears, others in actual tears, like the red-head. She heard someone whisper 'Oh my god'.
Before she could speak, Rachel was up on the stage.
"That was very good guys. "Mitch" she hissed, a psychotic looking smile on her face. A boy somewhere in the back with long jet- black hair and a lanky frame straightened slightly, eyes snapping to Rachel. "How many times have I told you that you have to act out the emotion? You have to bring it to life on the stage and force it through your body, so that there is no doubt in the audience's mind what the song is about. When you said you understood I expected some facial expressions, or improvised hand movements that would move me."
Santana frowned into the crowd, finding Quinn's puzzled expression and Puck trying to hide his laughter.
"S-sorry Mrs Rachel"
Rachel sighed, shaking her head, then turned to the audience.
"Well guys, what did you think?"
There was a moment of silence, then Finn stood up.
"That was brilliant Rachel. They're really, really good."
"Yeah" Mercedes said, standing up as well. "Well done guys"
"I think I speak for us all" Blaine said, "when I say that we're really excited to be working with you all."
Rachel beamed and Santana just had to roll her eyes. It was clear that Rachel had taken that as a personal complement.
"Well" she clapped her hands, and this time Santana had to laugh as Brittany made a sound in the back of her throat that Santana knew meant she was struggling to hold back laughter. Rachel was clearly trying very hard to be Mr Schue. Rachel frowned in their direction but continued talking. "I think we can get into the introductions. There are more mentees than mentors so…I think we'll start with the mentors. Alphabetical order will be the most efficient way I think"
Santana turned to Quinn again, glad she wasn't the only one who had no idea what order that would be.
"Artie" Rachel said, rolling her eyes at her friends' silence. "You'll start obviously."
"Um…okay." Artie rolled forward so he could be seen better. "I'm Artie Abrams."
"What do you do Artie?" Rachel asked encouragingly. Santana felt like this was one of those ice breaker exercises teachers made you do on the first day of school or camp or something. It was very awkward.
"I'm a film editor"
"Very nice. Blaine?"
"Why don't we just go down the line from Artie?" Santana asked. Rachel frowned at her, but Sam had already started talking so she didn't interrupt.
"I'm Sam Evans, I'm a model"
"I'm Tina Cohen-Chang. I'm a lawyer and part-time actor."
"I'm Blaine Hummel-Anderson, and I'm a Broadway actor." There was a low murmur among the kids at this. Santana noticed some looked impressed.
"I'm Finn Hudson, I'm uh…I'm kind of…well I want to be an actor"
Santana pressed her lips tight together, not even allowing a smile to peak through as she heard Quinn's stifled laughter and the giggles from the kids on stage. She'd been famous long enough to know that people were always watching her. Now wasn't a good time to mock Finn. The kids would see her do it and would copy, and then it would spiral into making fun of everyone, looking for her approval. Such was the power of her influence.
"I'm Mercedes Jones. A musician baby"
The laughter that met her words and finger snap was out of genuine amusement, Santana noticed. She smiled.
"Kurt Hummel-Anderson. Fabulous designer" a little more giggling.
"Mike Chang, I'm a dancer and choreographer." He waved sweetly, and Santana had to giggle at the blush on some of the girls' faces.
"Quinn Fabray. Chef and assistant manager of a restaurant."
"Puck, and I don't think I'm allowed to talk about what I do with all you kids here." He winked. Santana laughed and shook her head.
Suddenly there was pin-drop silence and she realised it was her turn to speak.
"Santana Lopez-Pierce. I'm a-"
"Awesome" someone screamed.
"Hot" Someone else said
When everyone stopped laughing, she ran a hand through her hair.
"I'm also a musician and sound engineer." There was more laughter and very loud clapping.
"Hi guys. I'm Brittany S. Lopez-Pierce" the clapping intensified, and there were even some cheers. "I'm a dancer and choreographer."
"And hot"
She blushed, leaning slightly into Santana.
"Aww thank you"
"I believe that's everyone. Obviously you all already know who I am." Rachel said when the noise died down. "Instead of doing introductions for you guys, I'm gonna just call out your names as I tell you who you're assigned to. When you hear your name, tell us what grade you're in."
Santana paid close attention, wanting to remember the kids' names. Rachel seemed to be assigning in the order they had introduced themselves, so there wasn't really anticipation in it, but she listened anyway. There were no seniors, and only three juniors. Two of whom went to Finn, both boys. She wondered how Rachel matched them with their mentees. Like did she put any genuine thought into personality and areas of strength, or did she do it randomly?
"Roderick and Sly, you'll be with Santana"
Santana was relieved that there was no screaming. A shy looking boy with headphones round his neck and clothes that were too big for him, despite being on the larger side himself, stepped out of the group of five remaining kids, his eyes trained on the floor. A few seconds later, a girl who bore striking resemblance to Kitty stepped forward, smirking. She was short and had dark blonde hair tied in a low pony tail. Something about her just screamed cheerleader.
"Hi, I'm Sly Knight. I'm 16 years old, so a sophomore."
Santana smiled at her. "Hi Sly." Then she looked at Roderick. He shifted uncomfortably, and cleared his throat. Santana saw his mouth move but didn't hear anything he said. She'd been about to ask him to repeat when one of the boys Finn got spoke up.
"So she can hear you fat ass"
There was a snigger from another part of the auditorium, somewhere around Mercedes, but Santana couldn't tell who had laughed. Licking her lips, she looked back at Roderick, who looked like he was about to run from the room.
"Hey, why don't you come over here" she called to him. "They all don't need to know who you are anyway, right? We can keep that information between us elite's. What do you think?"
Roderick looked up, his hands wringing together in front of him. For a second she thought he would refuse, but then he nodded, a small smile forming on his lips and then walked forward. Sly followed him. When he reached Santana, she held out her hand for a fist bump.
"Thanks Mrs Lopez-Pierce"
"Oh god" she laughed, shaking her head. "I'm not as freaky as Rachel who I now realise has a serious control fetish. I'm not your teacher Roderick, call me Santana"
He smiled as Sly giggled. At her raised eyebrow they both nodded. "So are you going to tell me who you are? Or do I have to just guess things about you as we go along?"
"I'm Roderick McGuire."
"Scottish" Brittany exclaimed happily. Roderick looked down, embarrassed.
"Yeah"
"Do you speak Scottish too?" Brittany asked.
Sly laughed, Santana smiled and shook her head as Roderick looked up confused. Brittany dropped her serious face and grinned at him. He laughed.
"Brittany if you could please pay attention" Rachel said, clearly annoyed.
"Sorry Rach"
"You get Nina and Megon"
Nina was the black girl who'd clasped her hands over her screaming friend. Megon was the Asian who looked like he'd gotten his outfit straight from Tina circa 2009. Santana tried not to laugh, because the irony was just too great. Tina had really scared Brittany when she was in her goth phase. Especially when Brittany had heard that principle Figgins thought she was a vampire. It would be interesting to see how she'd mentor this male Tina 2.0.
"Super cool" Brittany said happily, grinning at the kids who'd just introduced themselves and waving them over excitedly. They practically ran over.
"So Natasha you're with me…."
Sly leaned closer to Santana. "Natasha's basically Rachel personal fan club. She's like some Broadway geek, and apparently loved the show Rachel was in" Santana turned to her slightly, not facing her but enough to show she was listening. She raised her eyebrows to show she was intrigued. Sly nodded. "She knows Blaine too. Nearly cried when she heard he was coming. Now she follows Rachel around like some fucking lovesick puppy"
"I bet Rachel loves that" Santana scoffed.
"She gets all the solos"
Santana frowned. If there was one thing she was not going to allow to happen in this glee club, it was favouritism. She had experienced enough of that with Mr Schue and Rachel, and it was only when he stopped that they became an actual glee club. Kids shouldn't have to fight so hard to show their teachers they were good enough to get some attention. She'd be damned if Rachel did the same thing.
As Rachel began to talk about schedules and glee rehearsals, Santana walked to the row Mercedes was in and sat next to her. Mercedes immediately turned to her.
"This is going to be so much fun"
"Really?" Santana asked, "seems to me it's going to be incredibly annoying with that one in charge"
"Oh yeah, it'll definitely be annoying, but it'll be fun to see her trying to pretend you're not more famous than her"
Santana frowned.
"Didn't you see how she was looking at you when you introduced yourself and the whole place went wild?" Kurt asked, leaning over Mercedes.
"Can't say I spend a lot of time looking at Rachel honestly."
Kurt grinned. "Yeah" Mercedes said. "But she spends a lot of time looking at you."
"It's true" Sly said, leaning forward from the row behind them. "When she told us we were getting mentors, she always used to try talk a lot of shit about you. She used to tell us that your career success was due to more than talent, like looks and connections and stuff, plus the fact that you're a lesbian"
"And that being famous in LA wasn't as hard as Broadway" Roderick added quietly.
"She used to argue with Shondra all the time" Nina piped in.
"Shondra?" Mercedes asked. Nina pointed at the red-headed girl who'd screamed when she noticed Santana. "She's my best friend. She's a really huge fan of yours, like she knows everything about you. Both of you" She said, looking at Brittany.
"Their arguments were legendary" Megon agreed, smiling like he was imagining one of those arguments at that moment. Brittany narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, then looked away.
"It was pretty pathetically obvious that she was jealous though" Sly finished, leaning back in her chair. Mercedes smirked as she slowly faced Santana. Kurt was laughing.
"Do you think she arranged this just to get attention?" Brittany asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised" Kurt said, looking sour.
Unable to take it anymore, Santana leaned over Mercedes so she could whisper to Kurt.
"What's up with you and her anyway? Weren't you guys like…gay besties?"
"A story for a time when I can have a glass of wine"
Santana sat back, eyebrows raised. Mercedes shrugged. "You better be spilling the tea later though" she said. Santana laughed.
When Rachel finally stopped talking, stopped by the school bell, Santana remained in her seat. She didn't want to walk out into a crowded corridor. Who knew how many of the students were her fans, and she didn't really feel up to signing autographs and taking pictures. Not in her old school where popularity had been all she cared about, to the point where she almost didn't date Brittany. It felt too much like she was back to being that version of herself, despite all the work she'd put into growing up. It felt wrong. Brittany didn't get up either. Mercedes and Kurt stood up, but noticing that Santana and Brittany were still sitting, they sat back down.
"So when do we get to meet your fabulous babies?" Mercedes asked.
"I did not think you were going to be the first one with kids Satan." Kurt said, smiling as he shook his head.
"Me neither" Santana laughed.
"Sooo" Mercedes pushed. "When can we meet them?"
Santana looked at Brittany. "Today" Brittany said, grinning.
"Really?" Kurt squealed.
"Really?" Santana repeated.
"Well…yeah. It's not like we're all super busy, unless there's some new stuff to do in Lima that I don't know about"
"Nope. Same old Lima" Kurt sighed.
"Great. Then why not today?"
Mercedes looked at Santana with raised eyebrows. Santana shrugged.
"Yayy" Kurt said. "I have some clothes for them"
Santana's eyes widened as Brittany clapped excitedly.
"What?" she asked, completely shocked.
"Yeah. I was thinking of doing some kids clothes for my line, but then I decided to hold off for a while to let the actual line pick up. So now I just have all these kids' clothes lying around, and it's not like I know a lot of kids to give them to. So When Rachel said you were coming, I brought them with."
Santana blinked, not knowing what to say.
"That's super cool of you Kurt. Oh yay, they love getting new clothes, Jesus will be so excited." Brittany said, pulling him into an awkward hug over both Mercedes and Santana.
"Can I see some pictures?" Mercedes asked, smiling at Brittany. Without hesitation, Brittany pulled out her phone.
"Totally. I have loads."
Santana watched her toy with her phone until she got the photo album. Clicking on it, Brittany handed the phone to Mercedes.
There were many awws and 'how cutes', and despite herself Santana couldn't help but smile. Mercedes and Kurt talked excitedly about each picture, asking questions for background or context, and it kind of confused Santana. It was strange to her how happy they were for her.
"Ou girl!" Mercedes said, turning the phone. Santana would have gone red if it weren't for her skin tone. The picture was one of her in their kids' play corner, with Mateo curled into her stomach and the other three sprawled on some part of her body. They were all fast asleep. That alone was embarrassing enough for Santana, but the fact that she was in just a t-shirt, with her underwear-clad ass in full view was too much. Brittany giggled when she saw the picture.
"You're so cuuute" Kurt said, pressing his hands together.
"Yeah, yeah"
Mercedes was in stiches beside her. Finally, she recovered, wiping a fake tear from the corner of her eyes.
"You're kids are too adorable"
"They are" Santana agreed, leaning over so she could see the pictures as Mercedes scrolled. She hadn't seen some of them before, and she had to agree, though she hated the word, she was cute in the ones she was in. Her smile was so pure and happy, her eyes were soft and full of love. It was incredibly obvious how much she loved her kids. "Oh!" she exclaimed, pulling out her phone.
"What?" Mercedes asked.
Santana smirked, thumbing through her phone.
"What?" Kurt asked.
Santana continued to focus on her phone, clearly looking for something.
"What are you doing?" Brittany asked, though she sounded like she already knew. Santana's smirk widened.
"Ah here it is…."
"Santana!"
She handed the phone to Mercedes before Brittany could snatch it, grinning. A second passed, then the auditorium was filled with loud cackling as Mercedes threw her head back in laughter.
"Please tell me that's water" Kurt said, grimacing.
"Nope!" Santana said happily.
"Oh my god Brittany" he said. Mercedes' laughter intensified.
Brittany tried to scowl at Santana, but there was a smile trying to break free. "I can't believe you showed them that."
"Payback baby" Santana shrugged.
In the picture Brittany was in a pants suit that had mud all over it, her pony tail was coming undone, and there was mud in her hair as well. There was a wet stain on her chest, and some liquid dripping down her face. A naked Mateo was in her arms, looking perfectly normal save for the mud all over him as well, and Kyler was by her feet covered from head to toe in mud so that you could barely see any skin.
"What the hell happened?" Kurt asked, finally looking up from the phone.
"I was changing his diaper-"
"Which she didn't have to do. I said I'd do it cause she was on her way to a meeting"
"Oh no" Kurt breathed
"Hence the suit" Mercedes nodded.
"Yeah"
"Such a gorgeous suit" Kurt pined.
"Well I wanted to do it. Anyway, I'd just finished, I was about to put the cream on, when Kyler came running in. I didn't know he was covered in mud, so when he jumped on my back I didn't think much of it. I only noticed when I pulled him over my shoulder and he was hanging upside down in my arms."
Kurt was shaking his head. Mercedes was now wiping real tears from her eyes.
"It gets better" Santana laughed. "I walked in at that point, and got Kyler from her. Again, I told her I could finish with Nikki, but she refused."
"Nikki?" Mercedes asked, looking a bit confused.
"Our baby. We call him Nikki"
"Ohhh"
"The second Santana had Kyler, he peed on me" Brittany said, like she wanted the story to be over.
"It's on your face" Kurt pointed out unnecessarily.
"Yeah. I had to take another shower, so to top it all off I was late for my meeting."
"Oh my god." Mercedes finally stopped laughing, handing Santana her phone back. "You guys have changed so much, but also not at all"
Kurt nodded. "It's like you're still yourselves but all grown up now"
Santana smiled. She liked that they had noticed. It gave her hope that this time they could stay friends.
Brittany's phone rang as they were in the middle of talking about how different their lives were, and as she walked away to answer it, Santana realised that the bell for class had probably already rang. It was quieter.
"Well" Mercedes said, "I'm having lunch with my fiancé so I better go get ready." Santana smiled as they all stood up, remembering when she too took every opportunity to call Brittany her fiancé.
"What about you Kurt, any plans with the hubby?" she asked. Kurt shook his head.
"He's gone to do something with Sam and Tina"
She and Mercedes shared a look.
"So you coming with us then?" she asked, to cover up the awkwardness.
"Wait…no fair. He's going to meet your kids before me?"
Santana laughed. "Life's not fair Cedes"
"Fine. But then he doesn't get to be there when I meet them"
"I'm not a part of this" Santana said, opening the door to the auditorium and walking towards Brittany who was standing at the end of the corridor. "Sort it out between yourselves and let me know what's happening."
She could heard Kurt and Mercedes arguing as she approached Brittany, who was just hanging up the phone.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, just Syth checking in, asking about my leg." Santana nodded. "You know it's not his fault right?"
"Debatable. As far as I'm concerned, he's on probation in my books"
"It was an accident Santana. Accidents happen in dancing, can you just let it go?"
"Brittany, do you remember the fear you felt when your knee hit the floor? Do you remember how scared you were as you were getting the x-ray done, cause you were convinced it was broken?" Brittany nodded, her lips pressed together. "I was there every step of the way. I watched your face go from calm to terrified, I saw how shocked everyone else was that it had happened at all. This wasn't a mistake. I've seen you fall before. I've seen you dropped. This wasn't that. This was reckless. This was like a doctor cutting off the wrong leg and saying oops…I made a mistake."
"That's dramatic"
"If you don't want to make a big deal out if this, fine. I for one am going to do everything I can to make sure Syth thinks thrice about who he pairs you with in the future."
Brittany shook her head, but chose not to speak. Kurt was running up to them. He looped his arm through hers when he reached them.
"Mercedes said she'll come by when she's done with lunch, so I'll meet you then. Cocktail hour"
"Okay" Santana said.
"See you then Kurt" Brittany said, smiling. Kurt hugged her, waved at Santana, and walked off.
Just as the kids were waking up from their afternoon nap, the hotel phone rang. Santana answered it.
"Good evening Mrs Lopez-Pierce, this is the reception."
"Hi?"
"There is a…" there was some mumbling that she couldn't hear. "There is a Mrs Mercedes Jones and Mr Kurt Hummel claiming they are here to see you"
"Oh!" Santana said, looking around their messy hotel room with toys and pillows all over the place.
"Are you not expecting them?"
"No, no we are. I just forgot. You can send them up."
"Okay. Have a good day."
"Thanks, you too"
As soon as she hung up, she sprinted round the room, picking toys and throwing pillows.
"Brittany" she called. Brittany emerged from the bedroom carrying Sophia. Kyler and Jesus trailed behind her, walking behind a crawling Mateo.
"Yes?"
"They're here"
"Who?" Brittany asked, watching her try and arrange the pillows in amusement.
"Mercedes and Kurt. Jesus put on your shirt."
"Oh" Brittany sat on the edge of one of the couches. "Okay?"
"This place is a mess"
Brittany looked around. "Okay? I'm confused. Why does that matter? We have four kids."
"Yeah but…" Santana disappeared into the room with her arms full of toys, and came back empty handed. "That doesn't mean we should let other people see how chaotic they are"
"Why? They should know, so that they don't have any illusions about what's waiting for them."
Santana jumped, nearly dropping a toy truck when there was loud knocking on the door. Brittany burst out laughing, making all the kids laugh as well.
"It's not funny" Santana mumbled.
"Okay Soph, you remember mami and I told you some friends were coming?"
Sophia nodded, looking at the door apprehensively.
"They went to school with you right mama?" Kyler asked. He was sitting cross-legged playing with Mateo.
"Yes they did."
"That's a long time ago." Jesus said. His voice was muffled as his head was stuck in his shirt.
"Yeah it is" Santana laughed. She reached over and pulled the shirt down for him.
"They're good right?" Sophia asked, still eying the door.
"They're very nice." Brittany said.
"Promise?"
"Promise" Brittany said, linking their pinkies. It was something they had started doing after neither Brittany nor Santana knew how to reassure her that Syth wasn't a bad man. Brittany had been the one to explain to her what a pinkie promise was, making a lot more magical than Santana would have, and after that Sophia immediately trusted whatever they said if it was pinkie promised.
"Okay" she nodded. Santana moved to the door and opened it.
"Girl" Mercedes said immediately. "They got guards out here like you're the president or something."
Santana laughed, stepping aside to let them in.
"You should have seen how the receptionist looked at us when we said you were here to see you."
"How?"
"Like we were the worst liars in the world, and he would rather lose his foot than believe us. It took us nearly twenty minutes to convince him to at least call you."
"That's hilarious" Santana said, leading them to Brittany after waving at the guard by her door.
"What's hilarious?" Brittany asked, standing up.
"The receptionist gave them a hard time" Santana answered.
"He has our IDs right now."
"Woah" Brittany said, pulling back from hugging them both. "They weren't even that strict with my mum in LA"
"Yeah well she looks like y-"
"Oh my gooood" Mercedes cooed, bending down as Jesus walked up to her.
"My name is Jesus Sawyer Lopez-Pierce" he said, extending his hand. Mercedes looked up at Santana with wide eyes then took his hand and shook it.
"Nice to meet you Jesus. My name is Mercedes"
"Like the car?"
The grown-ups laughed. "Yes like the car."
Jesus nodded, turning to Kurt and staring at him.
"Hi, I'm Kurt."
Jesus cocked his head, still staring, then he nodded and walked back to where Sophia was sitting by Kyler on the floor, and stared up at the TV.
"Jesus, what did mama tell you?"
"Mama tells me a lot of things" Jesus answered, looking at Santana. Ignoring Mercedes and Kurt's horribly concealed laughter, Santana pointed at the tv.
"About sitting so close to the tv"
"Oh" he stood up and climbed onto the couch. "She said it will make me go blind."
"Do you want to be blind?" Brittany asked.
"No" Jesus said, pouting slightly.
"So where will you sit?"
"On the couch"
"Good boy" Santana said.
Mercedes was smirking so widely Santana could almost see her back teeth. Kurt was biting both his lips, nose flaring as he tried to keep from laughing.
"Don't start" Santana said, though she too was smiling.
"Ky, come say hi to my friends" Brittany said. Kyler stood slowly, making sure not to step on Mateo's fingers, and walked to Brittany. Mateo crawled after him.
He stood beside Brittany and looked up at the two guests, like he was thinking, then he walked to Santana and raised his arms, asking to be picked. When Santana had positioned him on her hip, he whispered in her ear.
"Do we like them mami?"
Santana smiled, nodding her head.
"Yeah. We like them"
Brittany smiled. Kyler extended his hand just like Jesus had.
"Hi, I'm Kyler Santiago Lopez-Pierce. I'm 4."
"Hi Kyler." Mercedes said, shaking his hand.
"Very nice to meet you" Kurt said.
Brittany picked up Mateo, who was pulling at Santana's pants, and waved his tiny hand at Mercedes and Kurt.
"Oh my god. He's so precious" Kurt said.
"Not as blessed with Lopez-Pierce gorgeous locks though" Mercedes laughed, referring to Mateo's still bald head.
"Not yet" Brittany corrected, kissing his head. "It took a while for Ky and Jesus' to grow as well, now look at them."
"Seriously the most beautiful hair I've ever seen in my life" Kurt agreed. Kyler's hair was in a low ponytail, while Jesus was open, some of it falling over his face.
"It's so much" Mercedes pointed out. "It never looks that much in the pictures."
"That's cause in the pictures we have tamed it" Santana laughed. She put Kyler down. "Soph, come say hi mami"
Sophia reluctantly stood up, walking slowly to Santana with her eyes to the floor. Santana picked her up as soon as she was close enough.
"This is Sophia. Sophia, these are my friends Kurt and Mercedes." Sophia waved at them, burying her face in Santana's neck.
"Aww" Mercedes said. "Hi Sophia. You just had your birthday didn't you?" Sophia nodded, lifting her head. "I wasn't there, so can I wish you happy birthday now?"
"Yeah" Sophia smiled.
"Happy birthday!"
"Thank you. I'm 4"
"You're very pretty for a 4 year old" Kurt said. "Are you sure you're not 16?" Sophia giggled.
"No. I'm 4. Right mami?"
Santana nodded. "That's right mija."
"Like my brothers"
"Exactly"
"Well, if you're sure. I have some gifts for you and your brothers"
"What gifts?" Kyler asked, moving closer to Kurt so he could see the bag he was carrying.
"Some clothes"
"Oh yay" Jesus said, jumping off the couch.
"Do you have dresses?" Kyler asked. Kurt's eyebrows raised so high Santana and Brittany burst out laughing.
"Uh…yes, I have dresses."
"Good. Sophia likes dresses"
"Oh" Kurt nodded, rolling his eyes at Santana who was still laughing.
They all sat down, and then Kurt began taking the clothes out of the bag and giving them to whichever kid liked them most. Santana intervened here and there, making sure the kids didn't fight or get upset. Thirty minutes later, the adults were all sitting in the living room, Mateo playing on the floor, while Jesus, Kyler and Sophia played in one of the rooms.
"Your kids are adorable" Mercedes said, taking the glass of wine Santana handed her.
"Thank you"
"I really cannot believe that you guys have four kids" Kurt said, shaking his head. "I never would have guessed it."
"I never imagined you guys with kids either" Mercedes said. "I kind of figured you'd be the couple that travelled all over the place and partied all the time."
Santana and Brittany laughed.
"I think we had enough partying the year before we got married." Brittany said.
"Oh my god yeah." Santana laughed. "We went crazy."
"You and Puck went crazy. Quinn and I were just along for the ride."
"Oh please. Who's the one who gave Puck a black eye when he tried to get her off a table at a bar?"
Brittany turned slightly red. "Fine. But who's the one who gave me the alcohol I needed to get to that point?"
"Touche. We do travel a lot though" Santana said to Mercedes.
"Lucky bitch"
"Speaking of your wedding" Kurt said, putting down his wine glass.
"I knew this was going to come up." Santana said, rolling her eyes.
"Did our invitations get lost in the mail?" Kurt continued.
"Did ours?" Santana shot back.
"Let's not start guys" Brittany said, rubbing Santana's thigh. "I'm sorry we didn't invite you, but we were different people. We moved away so we could just…grow up, you know? You guys weren't letting us do that. So we didn't invite you to our wedding."
"You have to admit the vibes were off" Santana said. "It was time we all went our own way. It just felt kind of forced and…co-dependent. And see how much better off we all are for it?"
"Yeah. Fair point. It's why I moved to LA" Mercedes said. "After you guys left it just felt awkward."
"Soon enough it was just me, Blaine and Rachel. Before Finn showed up."
"Heeey" Mercedes said, sitting up. "What is happening there?"
"Where?" Kurt asked, picking his wine glass.
"Where to begin" Santana said, tapping her chin with a finger. "How about with you and Blaine warbler"
Kurt laughed. "Oh my god, I haven't heard him being called warbler in so long."
Santana shrugged. "Stop changing the topic."
"What's going on with you guys?" Mercedes asked. "Cause I love you Kurt, but you two are not behaving like newlyweds."
"Not happy ones anyway" Brittany said.
Kurt sighed, draining his glass. "Can I have some more?"
Santana got up and filled his glass with the bottle on the stand below the tv, placing it on the coffee table, then sat back down. Kurt drank half of it, then put it down.
"After you guys left, Blaine and I broke up. Like a few months or so after."
Santana and Brittany frowned. "What happened" Brittany asked.
"A lot of things. He was in his last year at NYADA, so he was super busy, and I was struggling to find any work, so that was a bummer, plus we were still living with Rachel, which wasn't great for our sex life."
"Knowing Rachel isn't good for anyone's sex life" Santana said. There was light laughter as Kurt shook his head.
"Anyway, it all just kind of blew up one day when he went off for a weekend with Sam and Tina, cause I felt like…we never spent time together since he was always so busy, but he has time to go off with his best friends?"
"Yeah" Mercedes said. "It wasn't cool. I even asked Tina why she went when she must have known it would be a sore spot for Kurt, but she just said Blaine needed to have some fun."
Kurt scoffed. "That's what he told me too. So I asked him why we were even dating if his idea of a fun time was being away from me. He tried to back-peddle, but I was pretty pissed off, and I was tired of fighting for a relationship that didn't seem to make either of us happy. So we broke up."
Santana and Brittany looked at each other as Kurt took another sip of wine. They couldn't really imagine just giving up on their relationship like that, but they also couldn't imagine not making each other happy.
"We got back together around almost two years later or something, around when Finn came and proposed to Rachel. Blaine was at the engagement party Rachel threw, Sam invited him. We got drunk and hooked up, and were back together by the end of the week."
"We all got super drunk at that party. It was the only way for any of us to pretend like their engagement wasn't completely crazy" Mercedes said. "I was so drunk I hooked up with Sam."
"What?" Santana asked, her eyes bugging. "But I thought…I thought you wanted to wait."
"I did" Mercedes said, looking down. "I regretted it so much the next day I cried. I cried for hours, and took so many showers, but it didn't help. Then I realised I didn't have anyone to talk to about it. Kurt was going through his own stuff, and other than that, I didn't really trust any of those guys. I had some friends in LA, but I wasn't sure about moving. So I called Quinn, and she told me to do whatever was best for me, not what was best for everyone else. That's how I ended up moving."
"Wow" Brittany said, taking her first sip of wine.
"Yeah. Anyway, I'm just saying, that party was where a lot of things changed for most of us. Tina was already gone, you guys had gone, and Artie barely hung out with us after Tina left. They had a pretty big fight and he felt like we all took her side, and now Finn and Rachel were getting married. It didn't feel like we were a family anymore…it felt like we were holding on to something from the past."
"That's basically what Blaine said when we had coffee two days after hooking up. He said that he hadn't been prioritising our relationship, but Rachel and Finn's engagement made him realise that I was it for him. That it was time to stop living in the past and think about the future, and when he got married one day, he wanted it to be to me. So we talked it over, and got back together."
"And you've been together since?" Santana asked.
"Yeah. He proposed in 2018."
"But…you got married this month?"
"November 2nd yeah."
"That's the day after Sophia's birthday" Brittany exclaimed. Santana turned to her, shaking her head slightly. "Sorry"
"Why was the engagement so long?" Santana asked.
"We just kept postponing. We set a year for planning, but then we kept pushing the day because Blaine had work."
"Oh"
"Wait. Why aren't you guys on honeymoon?" Mercedes asked.
"We're planning on going after we finish this mentorship stuff." Santana, Brittany and Mercedes frowned. "I know. I know. But you guys don't have to deal with Rachel. She called us every day for weeks complaining about you guys not answering her emails or calls, or Tina hanging up on her, or not knowing how to reach Mercedes. She bugged us for hours into the night with questions about how to plan this stupid thing. She even came to stay with us for a week. We couldn't exactly say we weren't going to come."
"You could have just said you were gonna come three weeks late. Your honeymoon is important Kurt" Brittany said.
"It's just a holiday."
"It's not" Santana said.
"It's time away from everyone and everything. Work, and friends and family, so you can spend quality time together. So you can let it sink in that you're married, and make all these cute promises to each other."
Kurt shrugged.
"Is that why Blaine's mad at you?" Mercedes asked.
"No. He's mad he has to be here instead of working. He hadn't really wanted to go on a honeymoon, but he'd finally agreed. We planned for it to be 2 weeks, because he had a show in…I don't even remember where, and rehearsals were starting on the 17th. Then Rachel sent us this invite and he had to cancel."
"So he's bummed about the show, not your honeymoon?" Santana asked for clarification.
"He wouldn't say that if you asked him, but pretty much."
"Kurt" Mercedes said, putting down her wine.
"Can I ask you a question?" Brittany asked.
"Why not" Kurt drained his wine, and filled it up again.
"Do you feel good about your marriage?"
Kurt looked down, biting his lip.
"I love Blaine"
"That's not what she asked" Mercedes said. "Kurt marriage is for life."
"Exactly. Marriage is for life, and I decided to marry him. I agreed because I wanted to be with him forever. Because I love him. So it doesn't matter if it's not all rainbows and sunshine right now. What am I going to do? Divorce him?"
Everybody was silent. Santana had a lot more she wanted to say, but she didn't. She wasn't friends with Kurt. They used to be friends, and were trying to be friends again, but they weren't there yet. She didn't really have a right to say anything.
"Well, obviously it's up to you in the end" Mercedes said, "but I think you should at least talk to him about it, instead of you both just being angry with each other."
Santana and Brittany nodded.
"Yeah, you're probably right"
To lighten the mood, Brittany asked if either Kurt of Mercedes knew how they were going to go about mentoring the kids they were given.
"Mine are so annoying" Mercedes said. "I got one stupid jock who thinks he's so hot."
"Puck?" Santana asked.
"Exactly like Puck, except without the charm Puck sometimes had."
"Gross"
"Mine are fine. Nothing special about them" Kurt said. "But I don't know what I'm supposed to tell them."
"I like mine" Santana said, sipping from Brittany's glass. "They seem like cool kids, but I have the same issue as you Kurt. Am I supposed to teach them singing techniques? Or how to survive with Rachel as a teacher, cause honestly, I had to run away from Rachel to survive."
Everyone laughed.
"I guess we'll see. They're not little kids right? So we can just ask them where they need help."
"That's true" Kurt said.
"This is going to be something" Brittany said. "But this time, people better listen to me about dance"
"I don't think you'll have any trouble there B" Santana laughed. "Rachel's small, all you have to do is stand up when you suggest something and she'll have to agree out of sheer intimidation."
Everyone laughed again. Santana stood up, walking in the direction of the room the kids were playing in.
"Let me just check on them real-" She was cut off by a loud scream. "Quick" she walked into the room.
"How did she know?" Mercedes asked. Brittany shrugged.
"Santana's an awesome mother"
"So crazy" Kurt said, shaking his head.
