Kyle was pissed when he found out that he couldn't go to the school anymore. He had his work cut out for him now that Antonia had a bodyguard following her around. He found a small loophole though, in the form of her dance class. She had it every Wednesday and he knew for a fact that she would be alone. He felt smug as he walked towards the class that day, no one was going to stop him, this was going to be a good day. He waited outside for a few minutes and when the class was starting to get full, he entered the room. He scanned the room and found Antonia right away, but his plan was foiled when he saw that Maribel was standing next to Antonia.
"What is that old hag doing here?"
Maribel had come up to stay with her daughter and her family only the day before, and she had been more than happy to admire their new home and city. When Antonia had reminded her mother that she had her tap dance lesson today, a fact that had slipped Santana's mind, Maribel had offered to take her, eager to watch her granddaughter's "super awesome moves." Santana had let her, figuring it would give her and Sam time to spend alone with Stevie, something the boy deserved but didn't get much from both at once.
Maribel had watched her granddaughter with a smile, blowing a kiss occasionally when Toni turned around eagerly for her approval. The little girl was trying so hard her tongue was often sticking out, along with her backside as she followed her instructor's directions and movements the best she could. Santana had told her about Kyle, and she recognized him even before he spoke, though he had made himself scarce while dating her daughter. She turned, keeping her voice low and level as she addressed him, so as not to make a scene.
"Watching the child that's been entrusted into my care. Something you missed the boat on four years ago. I suggest you leave now, before another vehicle of sorts comes to claim you."
Kyle rolled his eyes at the older woman. She shouldn't even be talking to him. "I'm not doing anything to hurt or harm her. You can't tell me where I can or cannot be… You don't own this studio. Now I suggest you mind your own business and stop worrying about me, old lady."
For now Toni still wasn't paying attention, concentrating on her steps, but that might change if this continued, and Maribel knew it. Stepping closer to Kyle, she lowered her voice further, but not losing its intensity. "You are harming her. You are confusing and scaring her and making her life entirely too stressful for a four year old child. That child is my business, and is no longer yours. I may not own this studio but I do know that the lady who does will not take kindly to a strange man coming in to watch a little girl who doesn't belong to him."
"I am doing no such thing. Your daughter is a liar. She lied to Antonia about who I am. Now she has the girl calling another man daddy?" Kyle scoffed, keeping his tone down, so that he wasn't disturbing the peace. "If anyone is harming and scaring her, it's your daughter. She's the problem in all this. Not me." Maribel was trying to threaten him and one thing that Kyle didn't take lightly to was threats, "I am her father. If they try to throw me out, I will sue them."
Maribel's eyes blazed, and her expression was mother bear fierce now as she rounded on Kyle. It was one thing for him to make vague threats, but for him to directly discredit her daughter was something else. "My daughter has done everything she could to love and protect her child the best she could and no one could have done a better job. You lost your right to that little girl the moment you called my daughter a liar and implied she was a whore who didn't know the father of her child. You lost your right to her the moment you told my daughter that she should get rid of that precious little girl that you wouldn't claim to be yours. You have no rights to that child. You cannot walk out of her life before it even existed and then come back four years later on a whim. She has a life now and you are not a part of it. What is it that you truly want here, young man? Attention? Petty vengeance? Or my daughter's money? That would be my bet here, because it certainly isn't that child."
Kyle was fed up with this old hag. All he heard was her yapping his ears off and he was in no mood to hear her. He was Antonia's biological father and there was no way that he would let her or Santana push him away.
"Lady, you need to stop talking to me and even if you money is being offered to me, you are not the one who is going to pay me, so why do you care? You can't tell me that I can't see my own child. You have no proof that I am harming her. I on the other hand, can go to court and sue for custody." He tapped his chin and smiled deviously. "That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm bringing this to the courts. Antonia is my daughter too and I have the right to see her and have her present in my life." Kyle felt so smart then. He thought that he had everything figured out.
"I care because she is my own grandchild, and her mother is my child, a child I actually raised and loved and cared for, as you refused to do the for Antonia," Maribel hissed, barely remember to suppress her voice as she stepped closer to Kyle,drawing herself up to her full but not very impressive height. "No court in this world would choose you to parent her, given your history. You are doing this to hurt Santana and get yourself something, this isn't and never has been about Antonia!"
Kyle wasn't at all impressed or worried by this woman. He knew his rights and he was going to use it to get what he wanted. Her yelling only made him laugh. "Now, who's making the scene now? I should ask them to kick you out of here…" He said scoffing at her. "Stop talking about the past, old woman. I'm here now and I can assure you that I will win if I fight this. I have a job, I have no records and I have my own place. Why would the courts deny me my rights?" He lowered his head, so that he could hiss at the woman, "Don't pretend to act as if you know me. You don't. All I want from this is my daughter."
Maribel took a breath, gathering her temper. Her eyes rolled up as though she were praying for patience before she looked Kyle in the eye, speaking evenly. "You are a selfish person, and moreover, you are still a child, mucking about in the life of someone who actually still has the right to be a child. If you truly want what is best for Antonia, then you will leave, or at the very least you will prove that you are worth being in her life. And this is not the way to do it."
"Why should I leave?" Kyle asked cockily, his arms folded in defiance. "I did nothing wrong. Stop telling me what to do and talking about my intentions. You don't know me. I don't know you. Stop judging me." He rolled his eyes.
At this point, they have finally caught the attention of Antonia, who had looked over to see if her grandmother was watching her. Seeing Kyle, her eyes grew wide, and she stopped dancing, pointing as she called out in a loud whisper. "'Buela, that's the man Mami said I can't talk to! The one who won't be my daddy!" Most of the other little girls looked up curiously.
Kyle didn't want to make a scene, not today. But their heated argument had caught the attention of Antonia and she was pointing at him, making him feel like he was a villain. He shook his head and scowled at Maribel. "This isn't over. Tell your precious daughter that I'm going to fight this and I won't stop until I've won."
After saying those words, he walked out of the dance class. Kyle was more determined now to make Santana pay, and he was going to make sure that she paid in the biggest way…
Now frowning, frightened and concerned, Antonia abandoned the line of children before the mirror, running with loud clapping of her tap shoes over to Maribel. Looking up at her anxiously, she held onto her wrists, saying, "'Buela, Mami says I can't talk to him. Mami says he's not nice. How come he keeps comin' to see me?"
Exhaling, straightening her face out the best that she could, Maribel lifted Antonia to her hip and smoothed back her hair, keeping her voice low so the other children wouldn't overhear. "Mi nieta, there is nothing for you to worry about, you do what your mami tells you and we will always keep you safe. Go back and do your dancing now, carina, I want to see." She kissed Antonia's forehead and watched the little girl look back at her worriedly before joining the other children, trying to suppress her anger and concern. Not just for Antonia, but for Santana.
88
Texts
Santana: God, I'm so tired. I swear all I want to do this week is sleep.
Sam: You've been saying that all week. I'm worried about you, Tana. Maybe you should see the doctor.
Santana: It's fine. I'm just kind of tired and achy. It will wear off soon. It better anyway.
Sam: You're young, Tana. You shouldn't have aches and pains yet. I'm just scared that it's something else. Something bad…
Santana: We have two little kids, babe. They come home with snotty noses and tummy aches all the time, they probably just carried something home to me. If I still feel weird tomorrow I'll take a day off.
Santana: Scared I'm gonna infect you?
Sam: Not funny. I can't lose you. I don't know what I'd do if something bad were to happen to you.
Santana: Nothing bad is going to happen to me. Jeez, it's not like someone poisoned me.
Santana: No one did, right? I did get kind of nauseous when Toni was waving her tuna fish sandwich around.
Sam: Don't even joke about that.
Sam: No, the kids are fine. Wait, you got nauseous from her sandwich? That's weird… When did you start hating tuna?
Santana: Fine, fine, sorry.
Santana: I don't know, it just smelled nasty to me. Like it was bad. I told her not to eat it but she said it tasted okay. She didn't get sick.
Sam: There is something going on with you and we need to find out what it is. I don't have to be anywhere tomorrow. I'll take you to the clinic and don't try to argue with me. You're going.
Santana: Whatever. Can I put Stevie to bed tonight? He's calmer and he doesn't beg for ten thousand stories, you can have Toni.
Sam: Fine, I guess I can put Princess to bed tonight, but you owe me…
Santan: Oh, you love putting her to bed. You love Toni snuggles and how she rubs her eyes all pouty saying she's not sleepy when she's yawning with every breath.
Sam: Hardly. She's the hardest one to put to bed. I'd rather put Stevie to bed. He just goes to sleep, no muss no fuss. I do love her though even if she's a pain like her mama.
Santana: Hey! I know when it's sleep time. I have no problem with sleep.
Sam: Yes, you do, but you're fussy with other stuff and you know it too. I bet you were just like Toni when you were a little girl.
Santana: I was not.
Santana: I was worse.
Sam: Ha! I knew it.
Santana: Well how could I help it? I was around my abuela as much as my mami, she was a bad influence.
Sam: Oh sure… Blame the poor old woman. I know the truth.
Sam: I bet you were a cute little girl.
Santana: Obviously I was. And if you think my abuela is a poor old woman, you obviously never met her. Woman knows more insults than a truck driver.
Sam: Oh wow, maybe I shouldn't meet her then. She sounds scary.
Santana: She kinda was. I never backtalked her. I bet even Toni wouldn't.
Sam: I only knew my grandparents on my mom's side. They live in Florida now. My dad's parents passed away when I was 2. They had him late…
Santana: I don't know my grandfathers. Just my abuela really. She's not real thrilled with me, what with the bi thing.
Santana: That's too bad for her. You can't be anyone but yourself, so I'm glad that you stuck through to your principles.
Santana: She's never met Toni.
Sam: Is she even still alive?
Santana: Yeah. I ask Mami sometimes. She is. She won't talk to Mami much either, but she is.
Sam: Oh… So she's not talking to your mom too? She's one mean woman…
Santana: Mami stuck up for me. She never liked Mami anyway. My father was her son.
Sam: And what happened to your father?
Santana: When I got pregnant, he and my abuela disowned me. Mami was so mad at him she left him,and he hasn't talked to me since. He hasn't met Toni but one time and it was by accident, I ran into him in public.
Sam:Are you serious?
Sam: He's a dumbass, and that's his loss… I would never disown our children for getting pregnant. That would be dumb.
Santana: I would never do that to my children. Ever.
88
After her semi realization with Antonia, Santana waited the next morning until the children had been taken to school and they had arrived back home before her appointment with the doctor before approaching Sam. Taking a deep breath, much more nervous than she had expected to be, she reached for his hand as they walked through the front door.
"Sam, I need to tell you something."
Sam had just placed the keys on the coffee table when he heard Tana. He sat down, bringing her along with him before asking, "What's wrong, babe? Are you sick again?" He places the back of his hand against her forehead and fusses over her. She wasn't warm or anything, so it couldn't be a fever. He wondered now if something was really wrong with her.
"No, I'm okay."
Although it was true that she had thrown up in the morning after smelling the cranberry juice she had thought she wanted for breakfast. She leaned into his touch, trying to take comfort from it, to convince herself that Sam wasn't going to be mad at her. Still, a part of her was afraid that he was going to be, illogical as it was, and she took another breath before saying, "All this stuff I've been feeling lately, it happened before. Before Toni." She met his eyes, letting him take a moment to make the connection on his own.
"Okay…" Sam frowned. This was the oddest thing. How could she be sick one minute and not the other? "What do you mean by that?" He asked even more confused than ever. Was he missing something crucial?
Santana had to resist a smile. Sam's stubborn face was entirely adorable. She took pity, spelling it out. "I mean that I think it's pretty possible I'm pregnant, babe."
"You're pregnant?" Sam's eyes bugged out. He was shocked by this. Could Santana really be carrying his child? He should be scared, but right now, he wasn't. It excited him more than anything.
Santana frowned, her heart skipping a beat at his expression. She gripped his hand tightly, biting her lip. "I don't know yet for sure. I just think…maybe."
"You have to be. I think that you are. You're pregnant, Tana. You have to be!" Sam was almost bouncing up and down now. The idea of becoming a dad, and having a child with Santana was exciting. "Oh my God, we have to childproof this place. There's so many hazards around here." He said this panicking even though he wasn't sure if she was really pregnant.
Santana blinked, staring at him, and then slowly started to smile. "So…you're not upset? It's okay if I am?"
"Upset? Why should I be upset?" Sam asked this, looking at Tana strangely. Then it hit him. Kyle. He probably acted like a jackass in the past. Well, he wasn't Kyle and he didn't want Tana thinking that he would ever be like the other man. "I'm not Kyle. I love you and I would love you even more if were pregnant." He told her sincerely before placing a kiss on her soft lips.
Santana's body almost melted with her relief, and her arms came around him tightly then, pulling him to her in a fierce embrace. She was surprised to realize tears were in her eyes, and she blinked them back before looking up again and giving him a second kiss. "This is going to change so much."
Sam hugged Santana to him, smiling at the thought of being a father and having another little one running around. Sure, he was young, but they were also financially stable to welcome a child into their lives. Things were going to be just fine, he suspected. "What is?"
"Everything. You'll have a child, Sam. Your child. I'll have a child with you. We're a family already, I know, but this will be like…I don't know, our bridge? And we'll have to tell the kids, and my mother is going to lose her shit, you know she's gonna practically hyperventilate with joy…it's a baby. A whole other person. It will just be different."
Sam actually laughed out loud. Santana was going on and on. "You're excited too, aren't you? This is going to be great, babe. We're going to have a baby!"
She hadn't been excited until this moment. Mostly she had been nervous and afraid. But now that Sam was not only accepting it but happy, she was starting to feel it herself. "We don't know YET, babe. Wait until the doctor says it before you start blowing up balloons."
"Oh, I know you are. You're sick for no reason and you said you were sick like this with Toni too. We're pregnant, babe. You have to be." He told her confidently.
Santana just smiled, hiding her face again. After a few moments she lifted it up, looking to him. "Do you want a boy or girl? If we are."
"I don't care. Either one is fine by me." Sam's eyes lit up. "Ooh… What if it's twins? You could be carrying two babies right now."
Santana's eyes widened with no small amount of horror at this, and her hands flew to protectively cover her stomach. "Don't even say that!"
Sam laughed, the look on Santana's face was priceless. "Okay… Okay… No twins, but you know I wouldn't mind that. Two babies at once. That's a dream come true."
"Oh hell no, it's a nightmare. Sam, you ain't the one having your stomach stretched out like a planet and you're not the one squeezing a giant cantelope head out your privates, and you never had to wake up six times in one night because Miss Cranky Pants was hungry or bored or had an ear ache or was teething. No, no two babies, never." Santana shook her head for emphasis.
"Hey, with money, we could get help. But okay, no twins. I don't want you to have to be uncomfortable." He said before kissing her on the cheek.
"Help?" Santana was uncomfortable with that idea. Other than her mother sometimes, no one had ever helped her with Antonia. "I'm not having someone else raise my child."
"They don't have to raise the baby, they can help out when you need to go out or sleep or something. That's what rich people do, I'm guessing…" Sam stated, correcting Santana.
"I know, but I should raise my own baby. I should do everything. I did that with Toni." Santana was firm on this. In her mind, not being with her child like she had with Toni would mean she didn't parent her as well or love her as much.
"Okay, you need to calm down. If you want to do it all on your own, then I'm not going to force you to. I just thought you might want some help…"
Santana stepped back from him slightly, looking up at him as she explained. "I gave all of me to Toni. I was her world and I did everything she needed. I don't want to not do that for my second child. It wouldn't be fair. How could I know I didn't give as much, it would be like I didn't love it the same." It wasn't entirely logical, but this was what she was worried about.
"Tana, you're freaking out, I need you to slow down and not freak out. It was a suggestion. I didn't mean to rile you up." Sam said, walking over and reaching out to her. "It's okay. You can take care of our baby just like you took care of Toni. I'm sorry I upset you." He told her this in a soothing tone while stroking back her hair.
Santana took a breath again when Sam comforted her, letting him pet her. She leaned into him again, softening her tone. "This is just…last time, this was so scary, Sam. I know it's different now. I'm older and I know I can be a mom, and I'm not alone. I know. But it still makes me think of last time and last time I didn't know what I was doing at all."
"You don't have to be scared. You have me now. I'll be here with you. I can't help you carry our baby, but I'll be here to make runs to the store when you're having a craving. I'll be here to hold your hair if you feel sick and I'll be here to love you. Don't worry about being alone, okay? You have experience this time and most importantly, you have me." Sam reassured his fiancée gently.
"I do. I do," Santana murmurred, as much to reassure herself as to respond to Sam. She squeezed him back, then stepped away slightly, looking up at him again. "How long do you think we should wait to tell the kids?"
Sam was glad that he was able to help calm Santana down. He didn't want her freaking out or worrying over nothing. "We can wait for however long you want or we can tell them right away. But first, we have to make sure that you're pregnant. We can decide after your doctor's appointment."
"Oh…right." Santana glanced up towards the clock on the wall. "We should get going soon then."
Sam looked at the time and his eyes widened, "Oh crap, I almost forgot that we have to go. Come on, babe. Let's worry about the rest later. Right now, we need to get you to the clinic."