Rachel followed Santana into the bedroom. Something was wrong, and she was putting it down to the fact their 18 year old daughter Eden had returned to dance college in Arizona this morning after Christmas break. Much to Rachel's disappointment, Eden didn't share her love for musical theater. She was all for dancing, and over the years there had been many jokes that Eden was actually Santana and Brittany's child, rather than Santana and Rachel's. Luckily by now, Rachel and Brittany actually got along.
After three heartbreaking miscarriages following their stillborn daughter Emilia, Rachel was about to give up on having a child of their own. Santana had made it clear in the past she didn't want to carry and "ruin her body" (though unbeknownst to Rachel she was ready to do it in a heartbeat to give Rachel a child). Perhaps they would look into adoption in future, when they'd healed. But after running tests, a doctor suggested that Rachel might try carrying Santana's egg.
Hoping for the best and expecting the worst, they decided to give it a final shot, and to their absolute delight they conceived Eden. She was their miracle baby, and she was certainly spoiled because of it.
Eden was the double of Santana, but she was every bit Rachel personality wise.
"Her attitude. God Rach, she is all you!" Santana would say.
As well as being a bit of a diva, Eden was very driven and ambitious too, which they had Rachel to thank for.
Dramatics and hypersensitivity aside; Eden was perfect in her mom's eyes. They both missed her very much when she was on the other side of the country.
"Sweetie, come on. She'll be back for spring break" Rachel assured her wife, who was tidying up Eden's bedroom. Eden was a whirlwind whenever she came back home, a trait that Rachel was sure she got from Santana.
"It's not about Eden, Rach." Santana said, picking a cushion up from the floor and placing it back on Eden's bed.
"Well then what?"
"I don't know." Santana shrugged, before looking at her wife "maybe what you said earlier was right."
"What did I say?" Rachel shook her head in confusion. She and Santana had been bickering earlier, but she couldn't remember what about. They had been married for 22 years by now, so squabbles weren't exactly uncommon.
"That it should be easier by now! Us. It should be easier. For both of us."
Rachel could hear the irritation in her wife's voice. She watched as she put her hands on her hips, observing the bed she had just made.
The smaller girl sat, patting the bed next to her, and inviting her wife to sit.
"Look, I don't think it would be worth our while if it was easy."
Santana obliged, taking a seat next to Rachel, but not letting up on her frustration.
"It's just the same thing over and over again. I don't know." she sighed.
"You know, I had a thought about that." Rachel nodded.
"About what?"
"Us being…by ourselves."
Santana's eyes widened, was Rachel seriously going to suggest seperating? Sure they were in a bit of a rough patch at the moment but…they always bounced back strong right?
"And?" Santana probed.
"It's made me realize that it's not about you and me. It's about what we are. Together."
Santana looked away in thought. She wasn't quite ready to be gooey and affectionate again yet. It could take her a while after certain arguments to let her guard fully down again. Rachel took it as her cue to continue.
"You know, it's like two puzzle pieces. You take one piece away, by itself without its match, it's useless."
Rachel was deep in thought about her analogy when she heard laughter, she turned to see her wife giggling.
"What!?" she said.
"That was just so you, Rach. So cheesy." Santana answered through her laughter.
Rachel started to laugh too.
"But I love it. I love cheesy you, babe." Santana continued, before she reached for her wife's hand, grasping it tight and intertwining their fingers.
They sure had been through a lot over the years, but they always knew they would face it together. They chose each other over every fight, disagreement and struggle, and their relationship grew stronger because of it.