A/N: With just a single day to fill chapters, they might be a little short. Santana thinks a lot in this one though, and those were probably my favorite parts to write so far. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 5: The Christmas Song (4 days until Christmas/ Dec.21)
The girls slept in that morning, exhausted from performing for the first time since high school and grabbing food at the diner afterward as was tradition. They'd also had their own celebration in the early hours of the morning, so rolling out of bed at a quarter to noon seemed reasonable. When they got downstairs, the house was a bustle, Beverly in the kitchen baking cookies for themselves and Santa, tucked away in his office wrapping gifts, and Ashley hanging stockings on the mantle. Beverly smiled as they came down the stairs in their Christmas pajamas and sat them down at the counter in the kitchen.
"You two were absolutely SUPERB last night. Santana, I know you hate the cold and walking but I'm begging" the woman slid fresh french toast onto each girl's plate, Santana's favorite breakfast "please agree to go caroling!"
"You don't have to bribe me, Mama Pierce, of course, I'm going caroling with you guys." she smiled "I always opened the door at my house despite Mami and Papi's protests."
"We, however, very much appreciate the french toast bribe," Brittany stuffed a huge bite in her mouth.
"Well good. I'm glad to have that settled. Finish up your breakfast, we need to make sure we have enough carolers and songbooks for all of them." Beverly turned back to the oven and the mixer. Some of the cookies they were baking were to give away to the houses they caroled at. When they were done baking, it would be the girl's job to decorate. When they had finished their breakfast, they joined Ashley on the couch, Elf playing on the TV, while they checked in with the carolers and counted songbooks. By the time they'd finished, Beverly needed them in the kitchen to decorate cookies. Brittany and Ashley slid on their customized elf aprons and sat down and got to work. Santana wasn't really sure what decorating cookies entailed- she'd never been allowed to before- but she definitely needed an apron.
"Mama P?" she asked and the woman smiled "Is there an apron I can wear?"
"Ah, yes, it's a bit early for a present but" she handed Santana a bag "Go ahead and open this one now." Santana pulled out an apron that resembled Brittany and Ashley's. She threw her arms around Beverly's shoulders.
"Thank you for making me part of the family," Santana whispered. Beverly just patted her back and shooed her to her spot at the counter. Armed with frosting, sprinkles, and icing, each girl had their own approach to decorating the cookies. Ashley spread white frosting on them and decorated them with color appropriate sprinkles. Brittany made most of her cookies rainbow, arguing that every color of icing had a different flavor. Santana, however, had a methodical and delicate approach. When presented with a Santa, she carefully iced on a perfect suit and beard. When presented with gingerbread men she made them classically with little red buttons down their fronts. Despite being incredibly detailed and careful, Santana's approach took nearly equal time to the other girls, who competed to see who could fit the most sprinkles on a cookie. Santana laughed along as they argued over who had one, and broke out into a fit of giggles when they smashed the cookies into each other's faces. She regretted this decision when an equally sticky cookie was smashed on her face. She wiped it off her eyes and sent Brittany a glare before allowing the blonde to kiss the frosting off her cheek, whispering "Wanky".
After the cookies were decorated, they let them dry so they could put them in tins for their neighbors. In the meantime, Santana and Brittany managed to get a shower, washing remnants of frosting out of their hair. When they got back downstairs, Adam and Beverly dragged Brittany and Santana, respectively, into their offices. They'd set everything up with their friends but needed to make sure the girls didn't mess anything up. They also wanted to see the rings. In Adam's office, he was going over Santana's plan again, making sure she had a speech for his little girl prepared, and absolutely gushing over the ring. Both girls had used every cent they made that hadn't been spent on groceries or rent to buy the perfect ring for each other. Despite not consulting each other, the rings were similar, with twisted bands and small but impressive diamonds. The one major difference was Brittany's band was silver and Santana's was gold. Beverly had a bit more explaining to do to Brittany, convincing her to sing on the walk over to the choir room. She insisted it would be adorable, and Brittany had to admit, she loved a good dancing walk. With their plans solidified, the girls were released to help Ashley with tin filling duty. They felt they hadn't gotten a rest all day, but they knew the smiles on their neighbor's faces would be worth it. Almost everyone in Lima knew Pierce's Caroling Party, and the fact that it was going to be rather large this year was exciting. While they'd never managed it in high school, they had convinced Puck, Quinn, Sam, and Mercedes to join. They'd asked the others, but they had turned down the offer but promised to open the door when they came knocking. The best news about the boys joining was that they'd play guitar, instead of relying on jingle bells as the only instrument other than their voices.
After the cookies were tinned, there was finally a lull in the bustle of the Pierce house, and they decided to properly watch Elf, which would end shortly before they had to go caroling. Santana and Brittany were just thankful they'd made time earlier in the week to do their Christmas shopping, otherwise, the next few days would be a catastrophe. They had yet to wrap, but it was in both of their natures to procrastinate. Sitting on the couch to watch a ridiculous Christmas movie was all they could do at that moment, and so they did. Buddy reminded Santana a bit of Brittany back before the world turned its cruel truth on her. How carefree and magical she was, innocent and unfortunately naive and gullible. Santana felt a lot like the little sister, desperate to believe, but also protective of Brittany. She wished the world had been kinder to both of them, but especially Brittany. She hadn't done anything to deserve the way she'd been bullied, simply for believing in magic and good. That's what Brittany had taught Santana, ever since they were kids, she's taught her how to see the magic in the world, how to find good in a bad situation. Santana found all of that in Brittany, magic and pure kindness radiated from her and the rest of the Pierce's. She only hoped Brittany saw magic in her too.
"What are you thinking about?" Brittany whispered to Santana, who shrugged nonchalantly, but Brittany nudged her insistently.
"How much you remind me of Buddy. In a good way of course, and how I wish you could still be carefree and how I wish he could stay carefree." Santana admitted.
"Santana, if I'd never grown up, all my magic would've been stolen by some dark person. But instead, I had you, to protect that magical spark in me. And to share my magic with. Love is the strongest source of magic love, and honey, we're the most magical of all." Brittany smiled and kissed Santana gently. The rest of the Pierce awed at them, and Santana rolled her eyes. They'd be putty when she got down on her knee in a few days.
Their friends arrived, ready to carol, just as Beverly had the promised dinner ready. Sam and Puck's eyes got huge at the massive amount of food on the table, and their girlfriends gave them both a look that said it all. Those boys were whipped, but so was Santana, letting Brittany hold her hand all through dinner. She couldn't wait until there was a ring on the pale fingers intertwined through her own. She knew it would be different, but all the more perfect. While Santana kept quiet and thought throughout dinner about a future with the blonde, her girlfriend chatted amicably with her friends, gently tracing the back of Santana's hand with her thumb the entire time. She knew Brittany was worried about her, she was trying to comfort her. She smiled when the blonde took a moment to look at her, assuring her in the smallest way that she was fine. Brittany knew better than to probe Santana's thoughts twice in a day and nodded, accepting that sometimes the Latina's happiness was shown in silence. After they'd finished dinner, they all got dressed in the warmest clothing and set off into the bitter cold to sing carols. Luckily, it wasn't snowing and was oddly warm for winter in Ohio. It was still below freezing, but they could at least sing without their lips turning blue. Everyone was armed with a thermos of hot cocoa or tee and they set off, going house to house.
Along their caroling route, they came across nearly all their friends. They indulged the Berry's by singing Hanukkah songs and allowing Rachel to join in, overwhelming all the other voices. They were glad Rachel's nightly routine kept her from joining them for the rest of the night. The next stop was Sam's house, where his little siblings were ecstatic to see him, so much so that he had to bribe them with the tin of cookies so that he could continue caroling. They visited the Jone's and Puck's mom shortly before they got to the Chang house. Mike and Tina were having dinner with his parents that night and danced happily along to the Christmas songs. They even stopped by Coach Sue's house, singing The Chipmunk Song until she came out and threatened to not let Sam graduate. That scared them enough to keep going. The next two houses were Santana's empty house, and Quinn's house next door.
"Are you sure Judy will appreciate Carol's Quinn?" Santana asked as they passed by her old house, the black curtains still drawn on her old room.
"Oh, she'll probably hate it but she has been asking to see you and Brit. So, she'll have to make a sacrifice." Quinn jokes. Judy was surprisingly welcoming, and even greeted Puck cordially and offered for them to stay at the Fabray residence for the remainder of their stay in Ohio. Quinn gladly took her up, though Puck would have to sleep in the guest room. They left a tin of cookies with her and chatted with her shortly before continuing. They sang to the Hummel-Hudson household and even saw the newbie glee clubbers along their route. Their very last stop was 's house. He was more than happy to see his former students singing together still and even hugged them, happy to see how well they were doing for themselves. At this point, the thermoses were empty, the noses were red and the voices were tired. Pleased to have gotten to every house on the route they all headed back to the Pierce house. The old friends stayed up hanging out after Mr. and headed to bed, as well as Ashley. It felt good to reminisce about the good and bad days of high school altogether. None of them knew the next time they'd all be together, and they cherished every moment. Whether Santana was calling Sam "Trouty Mouth" or Puck was bragging about how he was still the "Puckasaurus" they loved each other. They promised to see each other once more before they all left Lima to head back to their real lives.
After their friends departed, Santana and Brittany were laying in bed, staring at the glow in the dark stars stuck to her ceiling. Santana broke the silence and asked, "Do you think we'll all stay friends for the foreseeable future?"
"I think that, if we all put in the effort to check in with each other and make plans together, anything is possible. I mean, we see Mike weekly, and now that we have a more stable income we can try to visit Q and Puck. And it's not like we don't see Kurt and Rachel more than you're willing to admit." Brittany smiled "The bond we all share is unbreakable. Even if we aren't talking often, or only seeing each other once or twice a year, I think we will always be part of each other's lives."
Once again, Santana saw how magical Brittany was. Brittany believed in happily ever after, and Santana had to admit, she was starting to think that it was out there for them. That they really were always going to have the friends they made in high school. It happened for so few people, but Brittany was right. And even Rachel had been right. There was something special about Glee club, and that made them all special, even in the smallest ways. The connections and trust they'd built over the years, through all the drama and all the fighting, weren't going to disappear overnight. Yes, their relationships had to be cultivated and helped to grow as they did, but the foundation was laid. One day, Santana knew she'd see Mike and Brittany dancing together on Broadway. One day, she knew Sam and Mercedes would walk the red carpet at the Grammy's together. One day, much sooner, she knew she'd see all her friends by their sides as they tied the knot. Now all she had to do was propose, and after being reminded of how magical Brittany was, she knew the moment would be perfect in the most imperfect ways. Just as things always were for them. As she fell asleep, the lyrics from her favorite carol of the night played in her head.
So, I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you
A/N: Christmas really is magic.