Author's Note: Thank you, everyone for your wonderful reviews! I really appreciate it. This chapter was extremely difficult for me to write because it is so fluffy and I tend to be more of a sarcastic Santana type, but I hope you enjoy it!
"Girls, come say goodbye to Aunt Santana!" Quinn yelled from the doorway, shifting Harper from her right to her left hip. The barreling of young girls echoed through the hall. Lily jumped up into Santana's arms and Hannah grasped Santana around the waist. Santana kissed the top of both girls' heads.
"Bye, my Hannah-banana, bye bug," she said to the little girls.
"Sorry about your bracelet, Aunt San," Hannah said, looking up at her with bright blue eyes.
"No worries, little bean," she said tousling the girl's hair. She gently dropped Lily off on the ground. "Thanks, Q," she said, turning out the door. Quinn quickly reached out a grabbed Santana's hand.
"Don't worry, S, I'm sure it's going to be fine. Where's your next stop?"
"Well, I had a staff meeting after I left here, but I'm pretty sure I turned the office upside-down, so I guess I'm just going to head over to Paramount, I had a meeting with someone at Fox over there right before I realized my bracelet was missing."
"Ok, well, good luck, S. Try to calm down a bit. And give me a call tomorrow, ok?"
"Of course, Q. Thanks so much for being here." Santana turned and walked towards her car. She stopped halfway down the path, and walked back towards Quinn's door.
"What's up, San?" Quinn looked at her, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, and then a little suspicion, noticing Santana's smirk.
"I almost forgot," Santana said, gripping the doorframe and leaning her head into the house, "Bean, Bug, get back here!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The girls came running down the hall. "I can't believe I almost forgot," she said, placing a hand on Hannah's head, "for all your hard work, you both get extra ice cream tonight!" She lightly jogged away from the house as the little girls squealed.
"Santana Pierce-Lopez, you wait! I'm going to get you back for this," Quinn yelled as Santana hopped in her car and sped off. Surprisingly there was very little traffic on Melrose so she made it over to Paramount in record time and had no trouble getting on to the lot. She searched the room she had her meeting in, but it had been swept clean. She sat down in the parking lot and pulled out her phone.
"Puckerman! Thank god you answered your phone!"
"Two times in one day? I knew you'd come crawling back to me…you just needed to be reminded of the Puckzilla's charm with the ladies." Santana chose to ignore him. She was rapidly running out of time.
"Puck, did you see if I was wearing my charm bracelet today?"
"I didn't notice it, which makes me think you weren't wearing it. But let's be real, it's never your wrists that I'm paying attention to…"
"Ugh, Puck, you're never going to change!"
"Like you'd want me to?" Santana just hung up the phone without any sort of warning. He obviously wasn't going to be any help. She walked the path she'd been on when she ran into Puck, standing outside of his trailer.
Santana was leaving her incredibly unproductive meeting, happy to get back to the office so she could tie up some loose ends and actually get home from work early for once. She knew Brittany would be happy about that since she had been so adamant that they have dinner together tonight. As she headed towards her car, she heard a familiar voice, a voice that appeared to be flirting with a Production Assistant, some intern, probably half his age.
"As I live and breathe…" she yelled out across the lot. "Noah Puckerman." Puck looked up, and when he saw who was approaching him, still looking like a tiny teenager despite her black power suit, a huge grin broke out across his face.
"Mrs. Santana Pierce-Lopez. Goddamn it's good to see a familiar face." He pulled Santana into a tight hug.
"Rough day at work?" She asked.
"You bet. It's nice to see someone from back in the day, you know?" Santana just nodded. "You'll never guess who I ran into?" Santana just raised an eyebrow. "I went with the new PA down to the convenience store at the Water Tower, you know, she just wanted a pack of cigarettes or whatever—" Santana's smirk grew larger. "What? I was being friendly! Anyway, I go down there, and standing in line in front of me is none other than Rachel fucking Berry."
"What? Seriously?" Santana asked, actually surprised at where Puck's story went.
"I swear to God. She's in town because she's up for the film adaptation of Spring Awakening."
God, it has been forever since I've seen her," Santana said, scrunching her forehead in thought, "I don't think I've seen her since the wedding."
"That's impossible," Puck said. "That was four years ago. Even I've seen her more recently than that. I mean, we have the same hometown and she's in LA a fair amount, haven't you even seen her at any industry things?"
"No, I don't think so, Brittany and I have been so busy. Being an adult sucks."
"Truth," Puck said, nodding his head.
"Even when you're a big movie star?" Santana questioned, punching Puck in the shoulder.
"I think it might even suck worse…speaking of…" he gestured over to a skinny young man with a headset on gesturing frantically to him.
"You're needed on set, Mr. Puckerman!"
"I've got to go Santana," he said, leaning down to hug her again. "But call me, please, and if you can't get through to me, call my assistant. Let's get something to eat this week, catch up, you know the drill." With that, Puck jogged off towards the skinny teenager.
Santana shook her head. She simply couldn't believe it had been so long since she had seen Rachel Berry…or Noah Puckerman for that manner…
Imagine the sound that tires make on a wet road when they skid out of control. Add to that sound the high-pitched squeal of a pig being slaughtered. Now add a layer of infant crying and another layer of the buzz that can sometimes be heard coming off of a television. These sounds were the only way Santana could describe the sound Rachel Berry made as she came into the room as Santana, Quinn, Sasha, and Santana's sister-in-law, Theresa, were busy getting the finishing touches of their hair and makeup done in preparation for the big day. All four women whipped their heads to look at the door.
"Jesus, Berry. Was that really necessary?"
"I am just so excited, Santana!" She paused, inhaling sharply as she looked at Santana in her gown. "You look stunning. I can't wait for Brittany to see you. I can't wait for you to see Brittany. She's…breathtaking. I'm so excited to be a part of this momentous occasion. Who would have thought, back when we were a ragtag group of misfits belting out songs about our deepest hopes and fears and insecurities that we would one day find ourselves celebrating the matrimony of two of our own, having all come so far and having seen our dreams reach fruition—"
"Berry." Santana yelled, "as much as I have always loved your soliloquys, I don't need to know how hot Brittany is looking, Brits and I are always hot. Although I have to say that I'm not the least bit surprised that you've been checking us out." Santana smirked at Rachel who just rolled her eyes. "So, if you could leave us be, I need to finish getting my face on." Santana turned back to the mirror, her scowl slightly softening into a smile as she grew giddy at the thought of seeing her fiancée.
Quinn gave Rachel a soft smile. At some point their senior year at McKinley, Quinn had stopped harboring so much animosity. It was around the time Quinn stopped harboring so much animosity towards Santana and Brittany's relationship. At the time, Santana had always thought that the two events had to be related. It was sort of irrelevant now; Quinn was happily married with two children and Berry was working her way through a stream of Broadway costars. Every time she saw that endearing smile break out on Quinn's face in regards to Berry, though, she couldn't help but remember her high school suspicions. Santana shrugged it off. It was probably just lesbians thinking that everyone else must be a lesbian too. Rachel broke the silence.
"I just came in to let you ladies know that Brittany's end of the wedding party is ready to go and that most of the guests seem to have arrived. So…that means you have t-minus 15 minutes before you're expected to be getting ready to walk down the aisle!" Rachel let out one more deafening squeal before leaving the room.
"I can't believe I slept with that girl," Puck said, poking his head out from behind the privacy divider in the corner.
"Right?" Said Quinn, inspiring another eyebrow raise from Santana.
Santana at the end of a path about 10 feet to the left of the altar, holding her father's hand with the grip of a vice knowing that Brittany was on the other end, probably just as nervous. They both wanted to be walked down the aisle by their fathers and to see each other at the same time, so they opted to walk down side aisles instead of the traditional middle aisle. She looked out at the familiar faces in the crowd. Tina and Artie sat together, holding hands. Will and Emma and their three boys. Her college cheerleading friends. Quinn's husband holding their infant daughter. Finn sat with Kurt's boyfriend and Mercedes. Brittany's mother and Santana's mother on opposite side of the center aisle both looking like it was taking all they had to hold back their tears. The string quartet began the familiar opening notes of Pachelbel's Canon and Quinn's eldest daughter, Hannah, slowly skipped down the middle aisle, tossing handfuls of yellow flower petals on to the ground next to Santana's nephew, Isaac, tightly grasping the wedding rings. Next came Puck and Brittany's sister Erica, followed by Quinn and Rachel, Theresa and Kurt, and finally Sasha and one of Brittany's dancer friends, Erica. The music slowed as the wedding party settled into their places. It was time for her and Brittany to walk down the side aisles where they would meet in the middle. Her father must have sensed her nerves because he tightened the grip on her hand.
"Mija, do not be nervous, today is the first day of the rest of your life. I am so excited, and so proud for you to make Brittany, officially, a member of the Lopez family." He kissed the top of Santana's head.
"Thank you, Papi," Santana said, and they began the procession down the aisle.
It was just a few paces before Santana took sight of Brittany. She wasn't sure that she could go any further, her breath had caught in her throat and her heart raced so fast she worried that she was going to have a heart attack right then and there. Maybe Brittany was right, all those years ago, that heart attacks were just from loving too much. Brittany wore a strapless dress that fit tightly to her body until it reached her hips and flowed loosely to the ground. Her hair was down in soft curls with small flowers in it. Santana couldn't remember how she reached the altar, but all of a sudden her father was kissing her cheek as she stared into Brittany's eyes, already welling with tears. The panic in Santana faded away and her face was plastered with the biggest grin she had ever had, a grin she was unable to take off her face.
The justice of the peace had spoken, and Santana's breath caught, yet again, in her throat as she waited to for Brittany to begin her vows. Santana could sense Brittany's nerves; she reached up and gently stroked Brittany's cheek, silently reassuring her.
"You know, the big secret that Santana doesn't want anyone to know is that she's actually a big softie on the inside," Brittany smiled and Santana blushed. "I think it's what I've always loved the most about you. You keep up this exterior that is so hard, and so tough, hiding the unbelievably caring, generous, loving woman on the inside. You have always made me your number one priority; my happiness has always come before your own, my safety, and my well-being. I promise to spend the rest of my life putting you first, protecting you, even if sometimes it is from yourself, and to make sure that beautiful light that is you is always shining through." Brittany grasped both of Santana's hands. "You are my world, Santana. You are my family. I don't know what I did to deserve you and your love, but I promise to spend my life earning the privilege that I have you in it." She reached down to little Isaac for the ring and gently slipped it on Santana's finger.
"My B," Santana tightened her grasp on Brittany's hands and looked into her eyes, willing with all of her strength to hold off tears for as long as possible. "I would be lying if I didn't say that I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you that one day we'd find ourselves in this exact position. Do you remember Kindergarten?" Brittany nodded through her tears. "Everyone wanted to play house all the time, and everyone else would fight about who would be the husband and who would be the wife, but it was always simple for us, we would be wife B and wife S, and Quinn and Puck were our delinquent children." This elicited laughter from the crowd. Quinn gently nudged Puck who was standing next to her. "You have always been my best friend, you have always stood by me, even when the times were darkest and I was the last person anyone would want to be around. You always somehow managed to see the best in me, just like how you see the best in everything in this world. I promise to spend the rest of my life making sure that everything in your world has the sunshine that you bring into it. I promise to take you to see the ducks once a week. I promise to make sure our letters get to Santa on time every year." Brittany blushed and giggled at this, knowing that everyone in the crowd knew that she believed in Santa until an embarrassingly old age. "I promise to spend the rest of my life bringing you the joy you have always brought to me. I love you so much, B, I can't believe that I am so lucky to be allowed the privilege of spending the rest of my life with my best friend, lover, and my soul mate." By the time Santana finished there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Isaac handed her the second ring, which she slipped on to Brittany's hand.
"Do you, Brittany Pierce, take Santana Lopez, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"
"I DO!" Brittany squealed.
"And do you Santana Lopez—"
"Of course I do!"
"Then, by the power vested in me by the state of Ohio, I now pronounce you wife and wife! You may kiss the bride!"
"Finally," Santana said under her breath as Brittany squealed. Santana wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist and pulled her in for their first married kiss. As the kiss deepened, Brittany reached her hands up to cradle Santana's face. Finally Puck cleared his throat loudly. They broke apart and turned to see their family and friends on their feet, cheering wildly for them, as they headed down the aisle, married.
Puck nudged Quinn and leaned over whispering to her "party time!" Quinn just rolled her eyes.
If there was one thing Brittany and Santana knew how to do, it was throw a party. They hired an amazing band, had an open bar, and made sure to book a space with a massive dance floor. Their parents, Brittany's sister, Santana's brothers, Puck, and Quinn all gave moving toasts. As their friends spoke, Santana and Brittany tried their hardest to not make out, mostly failing in this endeavor. Puck and Finn sang them a song; Santana and Brittany danced, while making out. Quinn got drunk, (this was the first time she'd really been able to drink since giving birth to her second child) tried to get Rachel to dance with her, and then told Santana, Brittany, Finn, Puck and her husband the story of when she and Rachel "experimented" to find out what all the gay-panic in Glee Club was all about. While she spoke, Santana and Brittany made out (mostly, Santana tuned in for parts of this story; she knew something was going on between those two in high school). Puck got too drunk and hit on Brittany's sister, Mercedes, Santana's sister-in-law, before finding Santana's Aunt Rita. That boy still loved his cougars. Santana and Brittany didn't notice though, they were still too busy making out.
It was eleven, and most of the older generation had already gone home, while Brittany and Santana's peers seemed to be in it for the night. Finn and Mike were taking shots by the bar, Artie was spinning Tina around on his wheelchair, and Will and Emma were struggling to wrangle three sleepy boys towards the car. Santana and Brittany were in the corner, making out.
"Some things never change," Quinn said to Mercedes, gesturing to the newlyweds.
"Right?" Mercedes said, "this might as well be one of Puck's old parties. It's cute, though."
"It is," Quinn said. She got up and went over to Santana and Brittany, clearing her throat as she got close.
"Quinn!" Brittany yelped, hugging her tightly. She pulled away, placing her hand around Santana's waist, "this is my wife. My Wife!" She squealed again. Santana's grin still had not faltered from the moment she had seen Brittany at the altar. Quinn wasn't sure it was physically possible for a human to maintain a grin for this long, especially if that human is Santana Lopez.
"Everyone's pretty drunk, you guys, I think you could probably slip away, if you want. I know what your wedding night is like," Quinn winked at Santana.
"Gross, Q. No heterosexual details tonight." As hard as she tried to get her scowl, tonight it was impossible.
"Oh, shut up, Santana. Just go enjoy your wife." Santana quickly grabbed Brittany's hand and led them towards the limo they knew was waiting outside. As they went through the door, Brittany turned around and beamed at Quinn, simply mouthing "wife!"
5 hours later, Brittany was curled into Santana's shoulder on the floor of their kitchen. "I'm cold, San," Brittany murmured into Santana's shoulder.
"Maybe we should put some clothes on," Santana said, kissing the top of her wife's head. "I think we have finished christening every room in the house." Brittany giggled.
"No, I want my first night with my wife to be just like this. I think its like New Years, however you spend it is how you're destined to spend your year. I don't want to take any chances that our marriage will ever involve you in clothes."
"Never," Santana said, shaking her head, seriously.
"You did promise to do whatever you could to make sure there was always joy in my life." Santana laughed heartily at this.
"You're right, I did, B. Nudist marriage it is." They lay there for awhile longer, simply taking each other in. Brittany glanced up at the clock.
"Ugh, we have to leave for the airport in three hours."
"No point in going to sleep, then, I guess," Santana said devilishly, pulling her wife in tighter.
"No, San, wait, I want to give you something before we go!" Brittany jumped up and ran, naked into their bedroom. Santana couldn't help but smile. Brittany returned wrapped in a large, light blue sheet and handed Santana a box. Inside was a charm of a daisy.
"What's this for, Britt?"
"For our wedding. It's a daisy, those are the flowers we decorated with…and the flowers in our hair."
"I know that, B, but you must know that I am never going to forget our wedding…I mean…you already put a ring on it." Santana gestured to the new ring on her left hand.
"Duh, baby. But it's the next step in our journey, so it needed to be documented, just like every other step we've taken." Santana still looked confused. "Just promise me you'll wear it forever, just in case."
"Of course, B, you know I'll wear it forever." Brittany snuggled tighter into Santana, pulling on the sheet so that it covered both of them.
"Can we go to sleep now, S?"
"Ugh, B, it's our wedding night…" Santana protested.
"But we need to be rested! That way we can christen the limo, and the airport, and the plane, and the hotel lobby," Brittany yawned, snuggling into Santana's collarbone and placing a soft kiss on her neck.
"Ok, B," Santana smirked, "I did promise to make you happy the rest of my life." She tightened her arms around her wife. "We'll sleep." It wasn't long before Brittany was softly snoring into Santana's arms. She held up her left arm to admire both her new ring and her new charm before burying her face in her wife's hair and attempting to fall asleep herself. Santana was content; in fact, this might be perfection.
