Sam couldn't wipe the smile on his face. He couldn't believe what just happened. His agent called to tell him that everything was set. He was now a Yankee with a startup salary of 2 million dollars! He was so excited that he let out a whoop and fist pump the air. This was great news and one that he couldn't wait to share with Santana. After hanging up, he went back into the kitchen, wrapped his arms around Santana and kissed her softly.
"That was my agent," he began to say, "He has some really bad news for me…"
He was in a playful mood, so he dropped his head and pretended to be sad. "Looks like our home is going to be abandoned for a while." He looked back up, "Because we're going to New York City! I'm a Yankee, babe! We're moving to New York!"
Santana, who had been loading the dishwasher after making Antonia a bed time cup of milk and some crackers, because it was getting dark out and near her time to settle for sleep. She looked up, eyebrows raised, when she heard Sam whooping, thinking that he was probably wrestling the kids and stirring them up so they'd be even harder to get to sleep. When he came up to her, grinning, and hugged and kissed her, she was a bit confused, but waited for an explanation. His sad act really did have her concerned for a moment, and it took a few more seconds for his second statement to sink in. Then she whooped too, giving a little hop of excitement and clapping her hands for him before throwing her arms around his neck, lifting her feet off the ground.
"Oh my god, that's so amazing! I'm so damn proud of you, babe! You're so awesome!" And then a new thought came. "How rich are we now?!"
Sam, feeling excited, lifted Santana up and spun her around. "We're moving to New York, babe, we're moving to New York!" He announced excitedly. Feeling a little dizzy from all the spinning, he stopped his actions and kissed Santana again. Her question had him smiling. He answered her with a big grin, "We are 2 million dollars rich. You are going to be spoiled. I will spoil the kids and you too."
Santana laughed, her arms tightening around Sam's neck, giddy with excitement and exhilaration. She kissed him again, wrapping her legs around his waist, and then slapped his ass, unable to stop her breathless laughing. "God…two million dollars, you are fucking kidding me, no way! Two million dollars! God, I used to stress out about paying for Toni's shoes when she outgrew them, and rent, and the dentist and doctor…now you're getting two million dollars in one YEAR?!" She kissed Sam again, fast, urgent, still laughing into it.
Hearing all the commotion going on, Antonia wandered into the kitchen, standing in the doorway with wide eyes. She was wearing pajamas with My Little Pony across the chest, and she stared at Sam with some apprehension. "What's goin' on? Do I not gotta have bed time tonight? 'Cause you are very loud and sound scary, so I should probably watch TV."
"I'm not kidding. We're that rich!" Sam laughed. He loved the reaction that he was getting from Santana and knowing that they no longer had to worry about money was amazing. "You don't ever have to worry about that anymore. I'm here now and I will take care of you and Toni." He promised, returning her kiss.
As if Toni knew that they were talking about her, she came in a few short seconds later. He swooped the little girl up and held her against him. "I'm sorry, Princess. Mommy and I were talking…" He stopped before he could go further, not knowing if he should break the news to Toni right then. Then, he looked at Tana and said, "Babe, you want to tell Toni what's going on?"
Stevie was just starting to drift off when he heard a commotion coming from the kitchen. He grumbled and ran out of his room to check out what was going on. Sammy, Santana and Toni were all in the kitchen. "Hey. What's going on?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. "Why is everyone in here? Are you eating cookies without me?"
Antonia frowned, starting to get worried at the mention of news. Her eyes darted between Sam and Santana, and she clutched Sam around the neck, her expression apprehensive. "Tell Toni! Mami, tell me! What is it, is it bad?"
As Stevie came into the kitchen as well, Santana smiled down at him, reaching to pull her against her side. With her arm around him, she reached for Antonia's hand as well, giving it a little squeeze as she tried to calm her voice enough to explain.
"Your brother, Stevie, and your daddy, Antonia, is so talented and so amazing that he gets to play baseball for really important people who know just how good he is, and they're going to pay him a lot of money to play for them. We were just really excited." She paused, then said more carefully, knowing this part might not go over as well, "So he has to move to New York so he can."
Antonia's face crumpled, and she buried her face in Sam's neck, giving a cry of genuine grief. "Nooooo! No, Mami, I don't want him to leave me! No! You are mean to go away!"
"Hey, hey, no, no, it's okay," Santana said hurriedly, moving her hand to Antonia's back and rubbing it. "No, baby, we're moving with him. We're moving too. He's not leaving us behind."
Slightly mollified, Antonia lifted her head, regarding her mother a little warily before mumbling, "Oh…oh, okay."
Stevie was still confused, his brother wasn't explaining things to him, so when Santana pulled him to stand close to her, he looked at his brother and asked, "What's going on, Sammy?"
Sam let Santana take the reigns. He would have ended up screwing it up and making Toni cry or something. That was something he didn't ever want to do. "Wait for Santana to explain okay, buddy?" He smiled at his little brother and ruffled his hair.
Stevie than listened with a frown. He got his answers a few minutes later and started to smile. "We're moving to New York? Are you going to play baseball in New York, Sammy?" Feeling excited, he let go of Santana to hug his brother's legs. "I knew you could do it!"
"Thank you, buddy." Sam was smiling on for Stevie, but his heart broke for Toni. This was going to be another move for her. He knew how hard it was for her to adjust the first time. This one was going to be just as bad, if not worse. "Is my princess sad?" He asked, cupping the little girl's cheeks.
"That's right. Your brother is really awesome, isn't he, Stevie?" Santana reached to ruffle the boy's hair as he hugged Sam, smiling down at him. "We'll be able to get somewhere really nice, you can still have your own room and decorate it how you want."
"I do. I have the awesomest brother in the whole wide world." Stevie bragged. "Not many kids can say that their brother plays baseball. I can…"
She looked at her daughter with a little more concern, knowing how difficult major change was for her. But Sam was already addressing her, taking her face into his hands. She smiled slightly at the sight of Toni's little chipmunk cheeks, barely filling his hands, and watched, keeping one hand on Stevie.
Antonia nodded solemnly at Sam, her eyes dark and troubled, before she tried to burrow her face into him again. "I don't know New York. I like this house. I wanna stay here in this house. What about my purple room? What about my playhouse? What about 'Buela? I wanna stay here. I already moved. I like THIS house."
Sam's heart was breaking for his little girl. He felt guilty in a way because he was doing this to her. "Princess, I know you don't want to go. I know that I'm taking you away from your Abuela and your home here, but wouldn't you be happier being in New York with mommy, me and Stevie? We'd miss you terribly if you weren't there."
Sensing that Toni was really upset, Stevie piped in. "You get to have a bigger home, a bigger room with lots of toys. That's good you know. Most kids don't get that. We're lucky to have Sammy and Tana… Don't cry. It's sad…" He sighed. Although he was the first to pick on Toni, he really didn't like it when she was upset. It made him sad too.
"You do," Santana told him, but she was quieter, watching Sam and Santana. "You definitely do. And you're a pretty awesome brother too."
Antonia continued to frown worriedly, thinking this over. No, she didn't want to leave her mami or Sam or even Stevie. She gripped Sam tighter, as though someone might try to snatch her away, and her lower lip stuck out as she struggled between her desire to stay and her knowing how she couldn't.
It was Stevie's words that really made her think, though. It was good to have a big room with toys. And Stevie was even being nice to her. She rubbed at her eyes, reaching for Santana. She wanted both of them to hold her, even though that wasn't really possible, and Santana, understanding this without her saying it, stepped a little closer and petted her hair.
"Stevie and Sam are right, Antonita chicita. We really want you with us and you will love your new big room. Knowing your abuela, I'm certain she'll visit you lots and probably buy herself a second home up there or something, she misses her granddaughter way too much to let her get too far away. It's going to be good, you'll see. But you need to come get ready for bed now, both of you. We can talk and have question time tomorrow, but you need to be able to calm down and have good dreams tonight, so it's time to get tucked in."
Stevie could only offer Santana half a smile. He worried that Toni wouldn't want to go. If she didn't go that meant that their family couldn't be together. He didn't know when it happened, but after living together with Toni and Santana, he had grown to see them as a part of his family. Families always stay together, so he didn't want them to not be together because Toni was scared.
"Come on, Toni, it'll be fun. We'll get to go to a new school and make new friends. We'll go to all the different places with Sammy and Tana. It will be so much fun. I'll even protect you if you promise to go." Stevie tried urging. He yawned again, nodding at Santana's suggestion. "I am tired. I wanna go to bed."
Sam was so proud of Stevie. He was helping, instead of making things more difficult. He didn't know what Toni's answer was going to be, and for now, he wasn't going to push her for an answer. "Alright, let's get the two of you to bed. Come on buddy, we'll tuck you in first." With Toni still in his arm, he reached for his little brother's hand and together, they headed to Stevie's bedroom first.
Santana followed after them, wanting to help Sam tuck them in. She reached to take Antonia from Sam as they supervised Stevie getting into bed, setting her on the floor beside her. Antonia stayed close, but didn't clamor to be picked up again immediately. Santana came forward and smoothed Stevie's hair back from his forehead, kissing the spot revealed, and whispered in his ear.
"Thank you so much for being so nice to Toni, sweetheart. She's going to feel so much better with a wonderful boy like you looking out for her and helping her. You're a good boy and a brave boy and I'm so glad we can live with you."
She kissed his forehead again and then backed up for Sam to say good night, lifting Antonia to her hip.
Stevie was already half asleep when he was led back to his room. He rubbed his eyes as he was climbing into his bed and smiled at his brother, "Goodnight, Sammy. I love you. I can't wait to move to New York City with you."
Sam kissed his little brother on the forehead and replied, "I love you too, buddy. I'm glad you're excited. I know we're going to have a great time there."
Stevie nodded, smiling at Santana, "She's younger. I need to take care of her. Sammy says it's what older brothers do…" He nodded again, drifting off this time. Before he finally drift off, he said, "I love you, Tana…Goo-nigh."
"You can't take care of me, you're only little," Antonia informed him, but her tone is gentle for once. "Mami and Daddy Sammy are the ones who gotta take care of me."
Santana gave her an Eskimo kiss, smiling at her. "We take care of Stevie, but he's your big brother now, and he takes care of you too. That doesn't mean he's your boss, but it does mean he looks out for you."
Her heart melted when Stevie told her he loved her, and she said softly back to him, "Oh, I love you too, sweet boy. Good night."
As they backed out of the room, with Santana still carrying Antonia, Antonia didn't seem jealous of the affection Stevie just received from Santana so much as thoughtful. She sucked on her fingers lightly, looking up at her.
"Do you really love Stevie, Mami?"
"Yes, I do," Santana said to her calmly. She prepared for a fuss, but Antonia simply frowned as they entered the bedroom and Santana lay her on her bed.
"Do you love him more than me?"
"I love you both very much, but I love you both differently, because you are different people. I love Stevie like Stevie and I love my Toni like my Toni." Santana punctuated this with a tickle to Antonia's belly and then under her chin until she giggled. "So many worries in one little girl's head, do I have to tickle all those worries out?"
"Noooo! Mami, no!" Antonia giggled, but she let her tickle her, squirming.
Sam was a little taken aback by Stevie's words. He has never told anyone aside from him and their uncle Jared that he loved them. He had always suspected that he cared a lot about Santana, but this confession and coming so quickly was very much unexpected. Nevertheless, he was glad that his brother was adjusting and accepting of not only Santana but Toni as well.
"I love you, buddy…" He said gently, kissing his little brother on the forehead. Then, he pulled up the blanket, to cover Stevie up and left the room, following Toni and Santana.
He simply stood back and let Santana have her moment, loving the interaction between his girls. A smile crept up on his face when he thought of those words, his girls. Who would have thought that this was even a possibility a few months back? He had been contented with his life back then, but now, now he was truly happy.
"Alright, no more tickling. It's time to put my little princess to bed." He told them, stopping Santana from tickling Toni further. He kissed Toni on the forehead and whispered, "Goodnight, Toni. Daddy loves you."
"Ha. Daddy saved me from your tickle monster," Antonia said to Santana, still grinning. She reached up for Sam to hug her, and when he obeyed, leaned in to kiss his forehead back. She missed a little, getting closer to his eyebrow, then lay back down, yawning.
As they backed out of the room, switching on her nightlight, Santana reached for Sam's hand. She contained herself until they were in their own room and then wrapped herself around him, squeezing hard. "I am so damn happy. I can't believe any of this. Stevie loves me, he's sweet to Toni, Toni didn't throw a fit over me loving him, you are an amazing ball player and the best father and brother and boyfriend ever, and we're gonna be fucking RICH!" She laughed, stretching up to kiss him. "I can't even believe our life right now.
"He sure did." Sam smile before tucking Toni in again. He kissed her on the forehead one more time, then headed out of the room with Santana. They made sure that they didn't make any kind of noise until they were further away from the kids bedrooms. He smiled wide as he witnessed Santana's little cheer. "You know, you're going to wake the kids up if you don't stop that…" He teased her, wrapping his arms around her before placing a kiss on her lips. "I'm glad you're happy. That's all I want for you… I want to see that smile forever etched on your beautiful face and I'm glad that I could make it happen."
Santana kissed him back, sliding her hands down his back, and then squeezed his ass playfully, laughing aloud. "Oh, if I was gonna wake them up I'd find a more exciting way to try…I am happy, babe. So happy." She kissed him again, more deeply this time, reaching to twine her fingers through his hair and lightly scratching at his scalp. "I can't believe this is my life now. I never thought I'd even want to be with another guy."
Sam laughed and playfully swatted Santana on the ass. "Now you're just trying to make me excited…" He wiggled his brows and let out another laugh. His features grew soft at hearing that Santana was happy. "I'm happy that you're happy. Seeing you happy makes me very happy. You better get used to having this life because I don't intend to change that at all from now on. I don't blame you for thinking that way. If I were put in your shoes and had to deal with your ex, I wouldn't want to be with another guy either. But lucky for you, I'm not him. I'll always support you, Tana. Always."
Santana laughed, keeping her arms loosely around him. Resting her head against his chest, she leaned close, enjoying the feeling of their moment together, of his promise to her. She nodded softly, repeating his words back to him just under her breath, and let herself rest in the comfort and excitement of knowing her man would always keep his word.
88
When Antonia awoke the next morning, the sun was just barely beginning to rise over the sky. She yawned, rubbing at her eyes, and looked carefully around her room for any potential monsters lurking before taking her favorite stuffed animal, a hippo named Hannah, and padded down the hallway. She peeked into Santana and Sam's room, but hearing the faint noise of Santana snoring, she crept past them to Stevie. She opened his door, peeking inside, and then moved forward to his bedside. Hugging Hannah, standing beside his bed with her face only inches away, she breathed out his name. "Stevie. Stevie….are you awake yet?"
"Get me all those cookies. They are mine…" Stevie demanded atop of his throne, waiting for his loyal subjects to fetch the cookies for him. The cookies were scattered about in the field and his loyal subjects were all busy getting them. When all had been collected, he watched as they plated them before the guy in the red weird looking hat came up to present him. Stevie was just about to reach for a cookie when he heard a voice, that distinct little voice that never failed to annoy him. He ignored it and tried to get the cookie but before that could happen, he was awoken from his wonderful dream. Rubbing his eyes, Stevie grumbled, "I was having a dream… Why'd you have to wake me up for?"
: "Cause I'm up and it's morning and I wanna talk," Antonia said simply, like this was more than enough reason that he should yield to her desires. She pulled at his blanket. "Can you move over? My feet are cold. I wanna get under the covers too."
"But I don't wanna talk. Why do I gotta talk so early in the morning? People sleep in the morning." Stevie said and then pulled the covers over his head. "Go back to your room and use your own blanket. This one's mine…"
Antonia's lower lip stuck out, and she shook her head, tugging at the blanket again. "No, I wanna talk now. Mami and Daddy are asleep. Come on, it's nice to share. We're supposed to be nice and share, right?"
Stevie sighed, he didn't want to talk, not when it's so early in the morning, but he didn't want to make Toni cry either, so he pulled the covers away from his face. "Fine, we can talk. What do you want to talk about?"
Antonia pulled at the blanket again, wiggling in beside him. She didn't seem to mind that she was crowding him in the small twin bed with her shoulder and arm and leg up against his. She frowned, seeming to be thinking deeply, and then said, "Are you really, really sure we get a nice big house with lots of toys? 'Cause at my old house I didn't get that. I got scary people in the hall that said weird things and looked mean. And people that fighted at night and yelled loud. And scary noises so I couldn't go out and play. Are you super sure?"
Stevie really didn't like being crowded by anyone. It made him hot and when he gets hot, he gets really cranky. Toni was doing exactly that right that minute. He wanted to push her off, but then he remembered that they were moving to New York and it would make Sammy really sad if Toni and Santana didn't come with them, so he sighed and answered her question, "I'm super sure! You like our house here right? It's beautiful and big and you have toys? Well, if you move to New York, you're going to have an even bigger room with more toys!" He sat up a little, smiling with his arms folded in front of him. "Sammy is rich now. He can buy us toys and lots of cookies for me."
Completely oblivious to Stevie's discomfort, Toni shifted closer, frowning. "Okay….I like that. But I wanna have a playhouse. Can I get another playhouse?" She paused, then looked over at him, curious. "How come you're nice to me now? Is it 'cause my mami loves you? 'Cause I'm still her daughter, you know. She's my mami. Is she gonna be your mami too?"
Stevie scooted back further, grumbling this time, "Can you not come so close. It's hot…" He sighed after hearing all those questions and answered, "I'm sure you will get your playhouse. Sammy said we're rich now. He'll take care of us." He couldn't explain why he was being nice to Toni, so he shrugged his shoulders. "You're my sister now and big brothers take care of their little sisters." He smiled, "Tana can't be my mommy. If she marries Sammy, she'll be my sister in law."
"Aw but my feets are cold," Toni whined, sticking them directly against Stevie's bare shins. "See?" She listened carefully to Stevie, still keeping her feet against him. "Ooh your feets are warm….but what if you want Mami to be your mami? Can't she be your mami and Sam be your brother? She's too old to be your sister. She don't got brothers or sisters just like I don't. How come I gotta be your sister if Mami is your sister, that don't make sense. You made that up."
Stevie squirmed, backing his legs away. "Hey! Don't do that. Your feet's cold! Go put on a sock or something…" He scowled, not happy at what Toni had done. His head hurts with all the questions and so he replied with, "Why you gotta ask so many questions? Sisters can't be mommies. Brothers can't be daddies. You will be like my sister because you're younger. You want me to be your uncle? I can you know. I can totally be your uncle and boss you around." He laughed at the thought.
"I don't wanna. I wanna stay in bed," Toni pouted, pulling her feet away only reluctantly. She kicked them around to try to warm them up. "Are you sure? That don't sound right. I think my mami wants to be your mami too. 'Cause your brother is my daddy. He said so. And you are not so my uncle 'cause you are not my boss. Mami said so."
"You can't stay in my bed. Go back to your own bed." Stevie was losing his patience. Between the questions and having to share his bed, he was getting more irritated by the minute. "Just cause Sammy is your daddy now, it don't make Santana my mommy. I love her okay, but I already got a mommy and she's up in heaven with my daddy. No one can replace them." He felt a little sad, thinking about his parents, so he tried not to think about them. Besides, right now Toni was really irritating him. "I am your uncle. It's how it works. I'm the boss of you now." He laughed.
"But I don't wanna," Antonia repeated, stubborn now, and digging in her heels. It's still her thought process, as much as Santana doesn't give her her way, that if she protests enough, people will give in. "You can have two mamis though I think. You don't want my mami to be your second mami? Hey, do you think I got a daddy in heaven? 'Cause I didn't have a daddy before Sammy." At Stevie's comment on being her boss, she scowled, giving him a kick. "You are not! My mami said so! You're not my boss, I know lots more stuff than you!"
"I don't want 2 mommies, I already have 1 in heaven. Stop telling me what I can and can't do and get out of my bed." Stevie was too mad now. Toni won't leave him alone and she kicked him! "I am too your boss, now get out of my bed! Or I will push you out."
"You will not! You can't push me, you're s'posed to look out after me and that means you can't push me!" Toni half hollered back. She kicked her foot again, this time on the mattress instead of Stevie, just to make her point.
"I can to! This is my bed and I want you out of it! Get up, Toni. Get out of my bed!" Stevie screamed, no longer caring that he might wake the whole house.
"YOU ARE BEING VERY MEAN TO ME!" Antonia shrieked back, equally not caring who might hear or what the consequences might be. "YOU ARE NOT BEING A NICE BIG BROTHER WHEN I ASK YOU VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS!"
Sam, startled awake. He heard the commotion coming from Stevie's room, jumped out of bed and ran towards his brother's room. "Stevie, what's wrong? Is anyone hurt?" He asked the questions, quickly, his eyes blinking rapidly as they tried to adjust to abruptly waking up.
"I don't care! You need to get out of my room now!" Stevie folded his arms and scowled at Toni. His brother's sudden appearance startled him, "Sammy, you scared me. I'm okay, but Toni won't get out of my room. Make her get out of my room, Sammy."
Now with an audience, Antonia sat up on her elbows, announcing with wide eyes to Sam. "He is being very mean to me, Daddy! He's saying he's my boss and he dont' want Mami to be his mami and he yelled at me and he won't share!" In her eyes, this is exactly how the whole scenario went down.
Sam blinked his eyes, already he could feel a headache coming. The two kids would forever be a mess to handle. "Alright, you two need to leave each other alone." He picked Toni up, separating the two. "How about some breakfast? I could use some help in the kitchen, Stevie. You could show me how you made pancakes the other day."
Stevie wasn't even trying to listen to Toni now. She wanted him out of her room and out of his space. "Get her away." He scowled, feeling relieved that Sammy had taken Toni off his bed. His interest pique when he heard pancakes being mentioned. "Ooh… I can help! I can help!" He said, jumping out of bed.
Toni was still pouting as she wrapped her arms around Sam's neck, snuggling down against him. To her, he's as good as agreed with her side by picking her up so she kept vying for sympathy. "He isn't neither my boss. Is he? He is not neither. I could beat him up if I wanted to. Me and Hannah." She nodded to the pet hippo clutched under her arm. She smiled at the mention of pancakes too, nodding. "I want pancakes…Daddy, Stevie said his mami and daddy are in heaven. Is that where my daddy was before you?"
Sam didn't need to nor did he want to be caught in the middle of this tiff. He hadn't planned on saying a word, at least not until Toni talked about beating up Stevie. "That's not nice, Toni. Hitting is never the answer. If you disagree on something, use your words. Only words can settle disagreements, not hitting." He told her this with a straight face and stern voice while he continued to walk down the hallway towards the kitchen.
He sighed a few seconds later. How would he explain things about her father in child friendly terms? "Stevie's right, our parents are in heaven. I don't know about yours Toni, you would have to ask your mommy."
Stevie who chose to concentrate on the pancakes, simply rolled his eyes at Toni's threats. His focus is wholly on the delicious breakfast that he was going help to make and later on devour.
Santana, having heard the screaming, was simply pretending to be sleeping to avoid dealing with any of the fall out. She rolled over, pulling her blanket over her head, relived when the yelling stopped.
Antonia pouted a little when Sam scolded her, hiding her face against his neck. She doesn't like when he gets upset with her, so she was quiet for a few minutes as he answered. "I don't like heaven. It makes people die. I don't wanna go there. And my mami don't talk about my other daddy. Don't I have one?"
"That's what happens, sweetheart. Heaven are for dead people. But let's not talk about that, okay?" Sam said softly, running his hands through her soft locks. "You have me as a daddy. Am I not enough for you?" He asked, sounding a little bit sad.
Stevie, tugged on his brother's leg when they reached the kitchen, "Sammy, I'm hungry. Can we please make the pancakes now? Please…."
Antonia frowned, thinking about this. "I don't like dead people. Dead is bad." With Sam's question, her eyes widened, and she shook her head emphatically, hugging him around his neck. "No, you're my bestest daddy ever. You are my daddy right, not my uncle or my brother? Are you sure?" She ignored Stevie.
Sam smiled, he could feel his spirits lifting. "Thank you, my princess. You're the best daughter ever…" He hugged her tightly and pulled back so that he could look her in the eyes, "No, I'm your daddy, not your uncle or brother." He heard Stevie grumbling for pancakes and shook his head, "Okay… Okay… We'll get you some pancakes. Come on, Princess, let's help Stevie make pancakes for breakfast."