That day at school, however, had not gone so well. That morning, the moment recess let out for the pre-K and kindergartners, Antonia had darted over to Stevie, very pleased with herself as she made her announcement.
"My mami is home! And she's lettin' me do fun stuff a lot. I don't even have to take a bath!"
Stevie moved away from her, giving her a look of disgust. "You didn't take a bath?"
Antonia nodded, proud. "Nope! I just had to wash my face and hands and do my teeth! Plus I got to watch a movie before bed and I don't get to do that mosta the time and she letted me take three stuffed animals to bed! Three!"
Stevie moved even further away, wrinkling his nose. "Did you shower this morning? How come Sam never let me do all that? He's always telling me that I need to take a bath and I always have to sleep on my bed."
Antonia shook her head, still grinning, triumphant at getting her way like this. "Nope! Mami says I gotta take a bath tonight though….I think my mami just likes me better than Sammy likes you."
Stevie's eyes widened, and he put his hands on his hip, his voice rising. "That's not true! Sammy loves me. You can't tell me different, stinky!"
"That's what I think," Antonia shrugged, not trying to be cruel, simply factual in her tone. "My mami loves me better. That's how come she's being nice to me and letting me do good stuff. Plus Sammy likes me too." But her emotions quickly flared up as Stevie called her stinky. She stomped her foot, glaring. "Am not stinky! I smell like apple soap on my hands!"
Offended, Stevie lashed out further. "Well, Sammy loves me more. I'm his brother, you're just a stinky girl who don't take showers! And I can't even smell the apple soap. I just smell poop!"
"I am not a stinky girl! I don't like showers, I take baths, you dummy! Showers get water in your eyes!" Outraged, Antonia shoved her hands in his face right under his nose. "I SMELL LIKE APPLES!"
"You are too! Stinky girl!" Stevie taunted. He made a face when she shoved her hands at him, waving his hand in front of his nose. "Eww… You stink like poopy!"
"I AM NOT A STINKY GIRL AND I DO NOT SMELL LIKE POOPY!" Antonia screamed. Furious, she reached out and shoved hard at his chest. "YOU CANNOT EVER NEVER SEE ME OR MY MAMI AGAIN YOU MEAN PEE HEAD!"
By this time, the children's screams had attracted the attention of Antonia's teacher, and within a few moments she and another teacher on duty were running towards them. Pulling Stevie and Antonia back from each other, both children received a lecture, a note to take home to their parents, and a time out from further recess time. Antonia took this all with significant pouting, but Stevie just scowled. He was really beginning to despise that Toni.
88
"I hate that girl," Stevie grumbled from the moment he got into the car after school with his brother. He slumped down in the back seat, folding his arms over his chest and scowling deeply.
"Hey, don't say that. It's not nice to say that about people," Sam chided, truly lost as to how all this transpired.
He thought that they were getting along and then today when he went to pick up Stevie from school, he was called in by the teacher. She told him that there had been an incident with Toni today and that the little girl had gotten into trouble, but so did Stevie because they were both screaming at each other.
"I don't care! I hate her. She's always so mean to me!"
"Don't make me ground you, Stevie." Sam kept his eyes on the road, but his tone was stern and he meant business.
"You love her more than me! She can never do no wrong to you. I'm always the bad one." Stevie's lips began to quiver, tears prickling behind his eyes. "I wish I had died and gone with mommy and daddy."
Hearing those words, Sam pulled up at the nearest grocery store, parking on the empty side of the lot, before turning to his brother. He could tell that he was about to cry and it broke his heart into a million pieces.
He cupped his cheeks and said, "Don't you ever say that, you hear me? You're my brother, I would die if you weren't here." Tears of his own started blurring his vision before it spilled free, dampening his cheeks. "Don't you know that you're the only reason why I'm still standing? I can't lose you, Stevie… I just can't."
He had never admitted this, but after his parents died, he went into a great depression. Stevie helped him to snap out of it. His then 2 year old brother, helped him get out from underneath the gray clouds and focus on the things that mattered most. His little brother.
"Don't cry, Sammy…" Stevie said sobbing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry."
"You can't say that you want to die, okay? I can't take hearing that. You're all I have, Stevie. I don't have anyone else here. If you died, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
"But you always act like I'm in the way. Everything I do is wrong and Toni is always right."
Sam was puzzled by this. He never thought that he favored Toni over Stevie before. Toni had always been vocal with what he wanted, while Stevie was silent. He never acted up unless something was wrong.
"You know that's not true. I love you. You're my little man. Toni could never replace that."
Stevie didn't believe this, so he shook his head and looked away.
"Stevie, you believe me, don't you?" Sam asked in a soft tone.
"No. You say that now and then later you'll yell at me for every little thing again. I don't want to get yelled at anymore. I tried to be nice to her, but she was mean to me. She said that her mommy loves her more and that you love her more too." His lips began to quiver again.
Sam understood everything now. It was like ice cold water had been splashed on his face. Stevie felt left out and that he might abandon him too.
"Stevie, I love you more than anything else in this world, you shouldn't let Toni or anyone else make you feel any differently. Toni didn't mean to hurt your feelings…"
Stevie didn't reply, he simply folded his arms and looked out the window.
"Are you not going to talk to me now?" Sam asked again a few ticks later.
Still, he got no answer.
Feeling defeated and frankly, exhausted, he started up the car and drove off the parking lot. He didn't know how he was going to fix things with Stevie or convince him that he loved him, maybe someday he would believe him. He could only hope for it to come sooner rather than later.
88
From the moment Santana started to get Antonia ready for Sam and Stevie to come over, it's been something of a battle. She had been less than thrilled by the announcement that Stevie, who was apparently, gummy bears or not, a "pee pee head," was coming too, and she had pouted and protested, especially when Santana made her get a bath and change her clothes. She was still pouting, lip stuck out, arms crossed over her chest, when the doorbell rang, and Santana ignored her to respond to it. Maybe Antonia's declaration that she wasn't talking to Stevie at all, not even one time tonight, would come true and give her a break, but she doubted it. She smiled as she opened the door, looking Sam up and down.
"Hey you…hey Stevie." To Sam she added, "Look at me, all dressed and standing on my own feet."
Things had been pretty quiet between him and Stevie after the heart they had in the car. Sam couldn't believe half the things that Stevie had said, and he wondered if the talk had helped put his brother's mind at ease, but he couldn't be sure. He loved his little brother and couldn't imagine life without him, especially now that he no longer had parents, but maybe he wasn't doing such a great job at raising him…
"Hey, you look beautiful." Sam gave her half a smile as he and Stevie entered the doorway.
"Hey," Stevie greeted Santana but didn't make a move to walk inside.
Santana had always been pretty perceptive at picking up unspoken cues, maybe to the point of paranoia. She noticed Sam's half smile and the fact that Stevie didn't come inside and seemed to be hanging back. She glanced back at Antonia to make sure she was still staying put and not wreaking havoc somewhere before turning back to them, keeping her voice light. "Hey, everything okay?"
"Stevie why don't you go inside, buddy. Go play with Toni." Sam urged.
Stevie looked at him sadly and said, "Can I sit down in the living room? I don't want to play…"
Something in his tone of voice broke Sam's heart, but he didn't want to argue or cause a scene, so he nodded, "Yeah, go do that."
Stevie walked slowly, as if it was a chore just to get inside and sat down on the sofa, quietly looking ahead of him, not making a move to even talk to Toni.
"No… But I don't want to unload on you. It's not fair to you," Sam said to Santana finally, his voice an undertone.
Santana glanced back at them again and stepped closer to Sam, lowering her voice. "If you can help me take a bath when I'm sick, I can listen to you when you're upset. What's wrong?"
"I don't know if I should, Tana. You're still recovering and I don't want to make you sick again…" Sam sighed. "Anyway, where's your kitchen? I should start cooking."
"Sam, I really doubt that you talking to me is going to make me sick, since I'm pretty sure it's germs that do that," Santana crossed her arms over her chest, an unconscious imitation of her daughter. "You're going to drive me crazy if you won't. If it's private, I get it, but if you just don't want to "burden" me then that's crap, because it won't be."
Sam walked into the kitchen, out of Stevie's earshot, before whispering. "I hurt Stevie. He thinks I don't love him and he said to me earlier that he should have just died when our parents died. I'm a bad brother, Tana. I made him feel like I don't love him."
Santana followed Sam, listening to him closely. She frowned, whispering back, "You're a wonderful brother. Not everyone would do for Stevie what you do. He's a little boy, he's hurt and confused because his family is different and he misses his parents, not because you're a bad brother or because you don't love him enough." Still, it bothered her to think of a little boy saying he should have died .She couldn't imagine how much it would hurt to hear Toni say something like that.
"Maybe you need to have some special time with him. It doesn't have to be buying him stuff or doing anything to spoil him, just…I don't know. I don't get Toni everything she wants, but I make sure I cuddle her a lot and carry her and tell her how much I love her. I know that might be strange since he's your brother, not your son, but maybe that's what he needs."
Sam listened to Santana's advice and took in everything that she said, "That's the thing. I thought that we were doing fine. I spend as much time with him as possible. He has T-Ball that I coach and then we watch TV or movies together. I don't really do the cuddling thing, but that's a guy thing. Do you think that cuddling will work? I used to cuddle with him all the time, but now that he's bigger, I find it a bit weird, you know." He rubbed the back of his head, "Maybe we should start cuddling again."
"Well, all I know is that Antonia loves cuddling, she would be upset if we stopped, and I honestly plan to keep cuddling with her for as long as she lets me. I think he probably needs that, Sam," Santana told him honestly, looking up at him. "He's only five, and he's lost his parents. Yeah, it's probably weird for you, but I bet you'll get used to it after a while. Maybe even like it."
Stevie was sitting next to Antonia, though with a good distance between them, and she shot him a look, not speaking, but suspicious. She noticed how sad he looked after a while, and couldn't help but break her vow to her mother. "What's wrong with you?"
Stevie felt like crying, he didn't know why he let Toni's words get the best of him, but he did. Maybe it was because every one of his friends had parents to love them. He didn't have that. He only had Sammy and to hear that Sammy didn't love him as much as Toni's mommy loved hers made him really sad.
"Nothing. Don't talk to me." He looked away and folded his arms
Antonia frowned, giving an impatient little grunt and scooting closer to him, peering directly into his face as much as she could with him turned away. "You are looking sad. How come you look sad? How come?"
Stevie refused to talk to Toni. She had made him sad, and he didn't want to fight with her anymore. He shook his head and folded his arms, glaring at her to get away from him before looking back to the other end of the room.
Antonia was not at all used to being ignored. She huffed louder this time, then stood up and walked around him so she was standing in front of his face again. "Didn't you hear me? I said what's wrong, I said you look sad! Why are you sad, Stevie? Why are you not talking to me? "
Stevie was getting really annoyed now. Toni didn't want to leave him alone and she was in his face. "Go away. I don't want to talk to you. You're mean. I don't want to talk to mean people." He frowned at her and once again turned his head away from her.
Offended, Antonia shook her head at him, again walking around to where his head was facing and getting in front of him. "I am not neither mean! I have not said one mean thing to you, not even ONE, and I didn't even want you to come over, so I have not been mean, I've been very very nice! So tell me how come you're sad now!"
Hearing Antonia raising her voice, Santana went to the doorway of the living room. "Antonia, what are you doing? Give Stevie some space."
Antonia looked up at her, her voice almost innocent, yet aggravated. "I am being nice to him Mami! He won't talk to me!"
Stevie folded his arms, closed his eyes and shook his head. No, he wasn't going to talk to Toni. He didn't want to get into trouble anymore and he didn't want to see Sammy cry either, so he stood his ground in not saying a word.
Santana eyed the situation, knowing there was more to it than what Antonia was reporting. She took her daughter by the hand and pulled her back from him gently, shaking her head at her.
"Toni, we've talked about giving people space. Stevie, if you need to some to relax tonight, that's okay. You can watch whatever you'd like on TV or I can get you some crayons to draw with."
She pulled Antonia into the kitchen with her and Sam, lifted her onto her hip, and looked her in the eye very seriously until Antonia's pout went away, a serious look replacing it as she noticed her mother meant business. "Toni, Stevie is our guest tonight, and that means we try to be very polite. If he is feeling bad tonight and doesn't want to talk about it, then the polite thing to do is let him be or try to do something to help him feel better. What you were doing was not helping him feel better because you were trying to get him to talk and standing too close to him."
Antonia considered this, her brow furrowing, and Santana watched her to make sure she understood before putting her back down. "You can color or watch TV with him but only if you are very nice to him and don't ask him to talk. I mean REALLY nice, Antonia."
Sam walked back into the living room and saw that Stevie had his eyes closed, ignoring everything that was going on. He walked over, knelt before Stevie and asked, "Hey buddy, are you okay?"
Santana gestured for her to go down the hallway to her bedroom when she saw that Sam was talking to Stevie. She followed her, helping her choose some coloring books and crayons and starting a playful tickle battle to delay the time it would take for them to get back to the living room, so Sam could talk if he needed to.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Stevie said simply, not really in the mood to talk. He was sad and tired of talking. Talking never resolved anything. It only made him feel bad.
Sam was at a loss for words. His attempts at talking were futile, but he couldn't give up. This was his little brother he was talking about, not some random little boy. Before things could get even worse between them, he had to act, so he picked Stevie up and put him on his lap.
"Things are not okay and you are not okay, so we need to talk… I'm sorry I made you feel bad or like I didn't care or love you more than anything else in the world. I love you, Stevie. I really do. No one could ever replace you…"
Stevie was actually a little surprised when Sam put him on his lap. His brother hadn't done that for a long time. He never complained, but sometimes he wanted some of his attention and affection because all the other little girls and boys got it from their parents. "I'm sorry too for making you sad," He said softly. "I don't want to lose you, Sammy. Sometimes I feel like I am."
"You would never lose me, buddy. That can never happen. You and I are always going to be brothers. No one can ever take that bond away from us." Sam tried to reassure his brother.
Stevie nodded and buried his face on the crook of Sam's neck. "So you don't love Toni more than me right?"
"No, I don't. I like Toni, she's a great girl, but I love you. Can you promise me something?" Sam asked, "Can you promise to be nice to each other? I really like Toni's mommy and it would be nice if you two could get along."
"I'll try, but she's so mean sometimes…" Stevie sighed, "I don't even want to fight with her, but she always say mean things to me."
"Well, if that's the case, then you walk away or don't say anything at all. There's no shame in being the bigger person. You are older than she is you know. You should set a good example," Sam said as kindly as possible.
Stevie sighed again, he didn't know if he was going to be able to do that, but for Sammy, he would. "Okay…" He sat up straighter then and asked, "I'm hungry. Can we eat now?"
Sam chuckled at this, "I have to cook first, but I'll see if Tana has some snacks you could have before dinner. Now, I need to get up, so I can feed everybody." He kissed his little brother on the cheek, sat him on his feet and stood up, heading back into the kitchen.
After Antonia had collapsed in a giggling heap on the floor, Santana further delayed with her, picking her up on her lap and sitting on her bed with her. Smoothing her hair back from her face, she smiles down at her, but her voice is serious. "I missed you while I was sick."
"I missed you too, Mami," Antonia told her, smiling. "Don't never leave again."
"I want to talk to you about Stevie," Santana said to her quietly, smoothing back her hair. "I don't want to scare you, baby, because I don't want you to worry that I'll ever leave you. I will never let that happen as long as I can help it. But Stevie's parents had to leave him. They didn't want to, and now Stevie only has Sam. Just like you don't have a daddy, Stevie doesn't have a mami OR a daddy. I want you to think about that when you feel like teasing him or being mean to him sometimes. Think how sad you would be if you didn't have your mami."
She watched as Antonia's eyes grew big and she threw her arms around her mother's neck, as though to physically prevent her from leaving her. Santana patted her, saying quietly, "I won't leave. I just want you to think about that for Stevie."
"Are you sure you won't never leave me like Stevie's mommy and daddy left him?" Antonia was worried now, anxiously searching her mother's eyes. Santana tickled her to make her giggle, then kissed both cheeks, looking her seriously in the eyes.
"Baby, I promise you I will never leave you as long as I possibly can help it if you promise you'll never leave me either."
As Antonia promised earnestly, Santana hugged her again, then stood, taking her hand. "Now remember what we talked about when we go back to see Sam and Stevie."
Still holding her hand, she lead her back into the kitchen, giving Sam a somewhat tired smile. Antonia stared at Stevie, one finger in her mouth somewhat shyly, but she didn't address him.
"Hey, do you have any snacks? Stevie's hungry. He didn't touch his afternoon snack and now he's suffering." Sam chuckled.
"Sure…Toni, why don't you show him some of our snacks," Santana looked down at her pointedly. Toni, her fingers still in her mouth, looked down, but then nodded at Stevie, going to the cabinet.
"We got chips. And fruit snacks. And juice. And apples and bananas."
Stevie didn't want to talk to Toni. His feelings were still hurt from what she said to him earlier, but he was also hungry, so he followed her to the cabinet and looked at the array of snacks she had. Then he looked at Santana and asked sweetly, "Can I please have a juice, chips and banana please?"
Sam watched the two, but didn't say a word. He could only hope that they would get along, but at this point who even knew if that was going happen. The best thing to do right now was make sure they don't kill each other.
"Yes, you can, go ahead," Santana told him with a smile, again looking to her daughter. "Can you get those for him, please, honey?"
Antonia didn't complain, but instead did what her mother asked. When her back was turned Santana turned to Sam, slipping an arm around his waist. "Think I scared her for the night."
"You think so?" Sam was still watching the both of them. So far they were not saying anything to each other and maybe that was for the best. No screaming meant no headache for him and Santana. "What did you tell her exactly?"
"I reminded her of how much she missed me for the few days she was at my mother's," Santana told him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Then I reminded her of how Stevie's mommy and daddy left him forever and told her to think of how sad she would be if I had to leave her like that. I'll be surprised if she makes it through the night without bursting into tears."
Sam nodded and wrapped an arm around Santana's mid section. Although it was a sad subject, he was glad that Santana tried to explain things to Toni. It needed to be said because the way the two was going at each other, it would be a matter of time before someone really got hurt. "Thank you, Tana." He kissed her on the forehead. "That was very nice of you. Maybe the kids will get along better now and stop fighting so much…"
"Yeah, that's me. Soooo nice." Santana rolled her eyes, but spoke still in an undertone even as she kept an eye on Antonia getting Stevie's snack. "Seriously though, I was a terrible kid and a worse teenager. I don't want her to be like I was. And I don't want her to feel like being sensitive is a bad thing. So I'm not exactly discouraging her from it."
Somehow, Sam couldn't believe that Santana was a mean person, even when she was a teenager. She was always nice to him. Sure, she teased him, but who didn't? It was only human to tease the people you like. "I don't believe you for a minute. I don't think you're mean at all and I honestly doubt that Toni will grow up to be a mean girl. She's so sweet… Just that smile alone could melt you. She's just like you, you know."
"You didn't know me then, and you really don't know me now either," Santana said quietly, not meeting his eyes. "I was voted most likely to poison people in high school, Sam. And the part about Toni being just like me? That's what scares me. I love her to death but I see the potential there."
Sam frowned at her statement. He didn't know how to respond to her admission. She didn't seem like the vindictive mean type, but then again he didn't know her. "You know what I think? I think that your past should remain in the past. You can only mold your future and you are trying to mold Toni into the little lady that she should be. You are doing a great job, so don't knock down your achievements, okay?"
"I'm trying," Santana managed a small smile, squeezing him slightly. "I'm trying. And I'm proud of her."
Antonia shuffled back to her then, looking up at her mother for approval, a pucker of worry still furrowing her brow. "Mami I gotted him a snack. Okay? I'm being very, very nice."
Santana smiled at her, reaching down to stroke her hair. "Good girl, I'm happy."
When Toni came over, Sam wanted to pull the girl over and pinch her chubby cheeks. She was being so good and not to mention, adorable too. He let the mother and daughter have their moment and called out to Stevie.
"How are you doing, Stevie?"
He got a toothy grin and a thumbs up as a reply, which had him chuckling. "I swear, I should just ply Stevie with food more often. I better start cooking. I don't know about you,but I'm getting really hungry."
"After days of not eating I'm FINALLY starting to get hungry too, so this food of yours better be good," Santana teased, patting her stomach.
She disentangled from him reluctantly to let him go cook. She, unlike Sam, saw no reason to keep from pinching Toni's chubby cheeks, so she did so lightly, ending it with a tweak to her nose. Antonia yelped and scowled at her, but Santana knew perfectly well it didn't hurt, especially when the little girl attempted to attach to her leg afterward.
"Come on, Antonita Bonita, why don't you ask Stevie what he would like to do after his snack? You don't have to do it with him, but it would be very nice of you to see what he would like to do and let him do it if he's allowed."
"Okay," Antonia agreed, going to do so, and Santana raised an eyebrow at Sam.
"I have an angel daughter. How long will this last, two minutes? Three? Thirty seconds?"
Sam gathered all the ingredients he needed to make dinner and started on it by chopping up onions and garlic. A few minutes later, he was all done and ready to start cooking when he heard Tana's remark, he laughed.
"I don't know, she's your daughter, you tell me. I hope it's longer than thirty seconds though. It's nice not to hear them squabbling all the time."
Santana remained close to Sam as he cooked, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to make sure the children were still behaving. "Normally I'd say a minute, but she's on a roll at the moment. Can I help with anything?"
"Give her the benefit of the doubt. She's being good…" Sam chuckled, "Yeah, you can help me with the vegetables. Will you chop those up for me? I'm going to start on the beef." As he spoke, he kept busy with slicking the beef into biteable portions.
Santana did as Sam suggested, starting to chop. She stayed close to him, just enjoying being with him, being able to look over at him and knowing she could touch him if she wanted. A faint smile remained on her face every time she looked his way.
When she glanced back at her daughter she sees that the little girl is sitting quietly a few feet away from Stevie, her thumb in her mouth. Snorting, Santana shook her head, whispering to Sam, "Maybe I overdid it just a little bit."
Sam looked up, eyes going straight to Toni who was looking like a cute wounded puppy if he was being honest, "She's really cute when she's like that. Must have gotten that from you too." He said kissing her on the cheek. "She'll be okay. They'll learn to communicate better now…I hope."
Santana smiled at him, then tried to pretend outrage. "I NEVER am cute and I certainly never pout like that. Lies. All lies."
As she watched though, Antonia's brow wrinkled in thought, and she gave a deep sigh. Suddenly she reached over and tapped Stevie. "Stevie? I got a question."
Stevie felt a lot better after his snack. He was even willing to play with Toni if she would ask him. "What question?" he asked when she tapped him on the shoulder.
Toni took a deep breath, eyes wide and earnest, and said, "If you share your Sammy with me I will share my mami sometimes. Okay?"
Stevie whipped his head so fast, he thought he was going to get whiplash from it. "What did you say? You want me to share Sammy with you?" He chewed on his bottom lip and concentrated really hard, "I don't know… I don't like sharing. I gotta think about it."
Antonia nodded solemly, staring up at him unblinking. "Please. Please. Please. I don't wanna share my mami but I will 'cause I love my mami very much and you don't got one and I don't got a daddy so you gotta share."
"Nuh uh… I don't wanna share." Stevie replied, adamantly shaking his head.
Antonia's eyes widened, and her lower lip started to stick out as she said with more urgency, "But you gotta. You gotta share. Sharing is nice and I said I would."
"I don't wanna share. You were mean to me. I don't share with mean people." Stevie scowled, he really didn't want to talk to Toni anymore. "You didn't even say sorry for earlier. You're not nice to me. Why should I share Sammy with you?"
Antonia's lip quivered more visibly, and her eyes filled, then overflowed. She didn't sob or make noise, she just stood in front of him with tears streaking towards her chin as she whimpered, "I was being nice. I was letting you borrow my mami if I can borrow a daddy. I'm being nice. I'm being nice…I'm sorry you don't got a mami or daddy. I don't wanna not have a mami and a daddy." Never mind that her mother is literally in the next room. At the moment she's half convinced she's going to leave at any second.
Stevie felt bad the minute he saw the tears in Toni's eyes. He didn't want to get into trouble again, so he sighed and waved his hands all around. "Stop crying. Sammy is gonna see you and think I made you cry. Your mommy is not going nowhere. My mommy and daddy left not because they wanted to. Your mommy won't leave you." He could see that she wasn't going to let up anytime soon, so he relented even though he didn't want to. "Fine. We can share. Are you happy now?" He scowled, folding his arms again.
Antonia sniffled and wiped at her cheeks, looking up at him with hope. "Really? I can borrow your Sammy and you can borrow my mami? Yay!" She smiled, dimples flashing briefly, and then leaned forward to hug Stevie.
"Yes, really. Now stop crying." Stevie rolled his eyes when Toni hugged him. "Can you stop hugging me? I can't breathe…" He whined pretending to sound as if he was being strangled.
Antonia let go, taking a few steps back, and clapped her hands. "I'm gonna tell them that Sammy is my new daddy and my mami is your new sometimes pretend mami!" That's the most she's willing to give him.
"Sammy is not your new daddy. He has to marry your mommy first and they're not married, so you can't tell anyone!" Stevie retorted smugly.
"HE IS TOO!" Antonia shouted, all peace between her and Stevie forgotten at this declaration. She puts her hands on her hips, shaking her finger at Stevie. "Take it back! He is too, you said you were gonna share so you can't be selfish now! You said so!"
Santana had completely forgotten the kids. She locked her arms around Sam's neck, pressing herself against him as she kissed him playfully. For about thirty seconds. She remembered the kids pretty fast when her daughter burst into the room, shouting indignantly.
"Mamiiiiii Stevie said he would share Sammy if I share you and now he's taking it back and says he isn't my daddy anymore when I was being so nice to him and I was SHARING!" She stopped, blinking, and tilted her head curiously. "Ew, you do kissing?"
Sam's mind was focused solely on Santana at the moment. "You are so distracting," He told her between a half groan and whisper. But all thoughts of getting any sexual relief stopped when Toni ran into the room and began shouting something about Stevie on sharing.
"He is not your daddy! Stop calling him your daddy!" Stevie shouted back indignantly. He didn't care what she said, he didn't want to share Sammy when he didn't have to. He followed her into the kitchen, scrunching up his face when he saw Sammy and Santana kissing. "Gross!"
It took every bit of self control Santana possessed not to scream in frustration. Slowly, reluctantly she pulled back a little from Sam, taking a deep breath and letting her eyes roll up to the ceiling before she paid attention to the children. She kept hold of Sam's hand regardless, giving it a squeeze as she turned to them.
"HE IS TOO! YOU SAID YOU WOULD SHARE!" Antonia bellowed, clearly put out. She stamped her foot at him. "You said so! Mami can be your sometimes mami and you share your Sammy!"
Santana had to take another breath before she responded. "Toni…did you know that people can be nice to you and fun to be with, and not have to be your family? Sometimes people can just be nice people to be with."
Antonia looked at her like she had just said the stupidest thing she ever heard. "I know that. My teacher in pre-K is not my mami. But you didn't even listen. This is about sharing and telling truth, Mami."
Sam wished that he could act up, stomp his feet and demand the kids leave him and Santana alone so that they could continue to make out, but he knew that it was not meant to be. The two were at each other's throats AGAIN! "What happened now, Stevie?" He asked his little brother, sighing.
"She said that she wants you to be her daddy and I told her that she can't have you. You're not going to marry her mommy." Stevie was so hell bent on getting his way, he didn't even think about what Sam might want. "You're not going to marry her mommy, are you, Sammy?"
Why did his brother like to put him in the spot like this? That question was something he couldn't answer. He liked Santana, and he wanted to be with her, but as for marriage? He didn't know if that was going to happen. They had only started dating after all. Besides, who's to say that Santana wanted to marry him anyway?
"I don't know, Stevie. I can't answer your question right now."
This is more than a little awkward. Her daughter just caught her making out, her daughter is STILL demanding to have Sam as a father and putting him on the spot, and now Stevie is making it obvious that he doesn't want his brother to marry her. Santana could not think of a worse possible conversation in the moment to have.
Deciding distraction was the only way to go, she reached for Antonia, taking her onto her hip, and started to dance around the room, silly as she could. Antonia wiggled and protested at first, wanting down, but Santana held on. She reached down to ruffle Stevie's hair, gesturing for him to join in, and then reached for Sam's hand to attempt clumsily to twirl him while still holding Antonia.
Sam had no clue what else to say to his little brother. This was a subject the neither he nor Santana was ready to answer. Thankfully, Santana had saved them both by pulling the kids and dancing with them. He was not much of a dancer, but if dancing meant saving them both from answering more questions, then he was going to suck it up and do it. He joined the group, dancing like a fool and forgetting all about the earlier awkward questioning.