AN: Oh look another chapter


Santana rested her eyes against the steering wheel of her SUV, she was exhausted. Absolutely wrecked, the chemo was taking its toll and ravaging her body and she was exhausted, and the nausea just wouldn't quit. If she didn't have a daughter who may have a genetic disposition into addiction, she would definitely look into less legal means to get rid of the nausea.

It made her job unnecessarily harder than it needed to be, though it could be that she simply needed a better class of clients. Being a crisis manager was difficult enough, what she didn't need was clients that didn't listen to her and lied to her continuously. Or were simply stupid. The stupid clients were the worse. Taking a picture of your junk was generally a bad idea to begin with all the hacking scandals that had happened, but sending it to various women was even worse. Getting caught hadn't been the end of the world, and after a year of laying low, the twenty-four hour news cycle had forgotten the scandal. Until the idiot had done it again and gotten caught.

Fixing mistakes was easy, hell she had even fixed candidates whose public opinion polls were on life support. But she wasn't a miracle worker, she couldn't fix stupid. It was a waste of time and even though the money was good, overall it was about making sure her firm didn't look bad because of a client. She glanced in the rearview mirror and adjusted her wig, even though it was unnecessary. Most people had complimented on her new hair style which worked out in her favor and more importantly Bela hadn't noticed.

With a heavy sigh, Santana opens her car door. Going inside her house meant dealing with her daughter's recent mood swings. If Isabela thought that being a brat meant that she was going to get her way when it came to Charlie, she was sorely mistaken. She had already started taking some of her things away due to her attitude. The first big thing had been Bela's PlayStation 4. Which had led to Bela attempting to call Charlie for being unfair. She assumed that Beth had been the source of Bela's recent attitude, because her daughter had never been a diva before. The next thing she had taken away was Bela's skateboard and unlike the PlayStation she had no intention of giving it back. No instead that thing was going to meet the nearest wood-chipper. Bela was not a skateboarder, and while she was graceful naturally. She had already fallen down a few times and had forgotten to wear the damn helmet.

There was a small part of her that wanted to tell Bela about her diagnosis just so her daughter would behave herself, but that was manipulative and she couldn't do it. Bela was ten she didn't need her daughter attempting to take care of her. She was the mother, it was her job to take care of her daughter not the other way around. Santana groaned as she opened the front door to her house and heard the television playing loudly and sighed. "Bela—you had better have finished your homework! Don't you have a test this Friday? Shouldn't you be studying?"

Bela huffed and turned the volume on the television down, Beth's idea to act like a brat until her mother caved on the Charlie issue wasn't working. She didn't really like being a pain in the ass. "It's just a spelling test," Bela said scratching her head as she moved to the kitchen, she takes a seat on the island grabbing her bag so her mother can help her. "Can you test me?"

Santana nods, "Let me start making dinner for us tonight. Do you want some stir fry?" Santana asked her daughter opening the fridge to take a look at what they had. "Or do you want me to make some Enchiladas?"

Bela grinned and thought about the answer for a moment. "Can we have some Enchilada's?" Her mom's enchiladas were the best, followed closely by her abuela's. It had been awhile since she had them and she knew that she could at least take some tomorrow for school.

Santana relaxed and flashed a grin at her daughter, she glanced at the dishes in the sink for a moment and the smile faded. First she'd need a clean workspace and maybe Bela could help. It would be some nice bonding time that they hadn't really had in a while and maybe they could do this talk about something other than Charlie. She flicked the handle on the tap, for some water only to have the water gurgle for a second before spurting out a small blast of water. Santana frowned and was about to try it again when there was a loud groan that emanated from the walls.

Bela's face twisted a bit at the noise, "The ghost is back," she says mostly to her mother not at the least perturbed. The noise had used to terrify her until she realized that there was nothing scarier than her mother.

Santana frowned and tried the tap again, but this time the water spurted out a bit and looked a disgusting brown and it was followed by that deep groaning sound again. This couldn't be happening not now, she'd have to call a plumber. She closes her eyes when she feels something wet hit her face and looks up to notice there's a crack in the ceiling and there's a bubble of what she can only assume to be water and she immediately slams the tap shut and backs away. "Shit." Santana mumbles staring at it, watching as a drop of water seems to be dripping down.

Bela follows her mother's gaze for a moment and winces when she sees the bubble of water and watches as some drywall starts to crack and fall off. "Mom—maybe we should call Charlie she fixes houses right?" Bela said backing away from it.

Santana closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, "Bela. These things happen. We are not going to call Charlie to come save us. We are however going to call a damn plumber to see what we can do to fix this."

Bela crinkled her nose at this, she could hear the stubborn note in her mother's voice and she sighed. Charlie would know what to do. She played with her phone for a moment and looked at her mother, she was going to do it. Even though Charlie didn't usually pick up her calls. She glanced at her mother who was still staring at the ceiling and reached into her purse to grab her phone. She dialed the number she had memorized and had dialed million times and waited hoping that Charlie would answer the phone. She probably didn't recognize the number. She crosses her fingers hoping that Charlie would pick up.

Santana grimaces as more bits of drywall start to fall off, and visions of a bathtub falling through the ceiling fill her vision. She moves immediately wraps around Bela's shoulders and reaches for her purse. It's a surge of adrenaline as she pushes her daughter out of the house. She needed to find a plumber, a good one and that took some time. But right now she needed to keep Bela safe. "Come on grab your stuff, we need to get out of here."

Bela managed to grab her schoolbag on their way out as the phone rang for a moment more and as her heart sank that Charlie wasn't picking up the call connected. "Charlie?" Bela said hopefully.

Charlie blinked and looked at the phone, 'Uh—Bela?' Charlie questioned. 'Bela—your mom made it very clear that—'

Bela huffed at this, but she needed Charlie to come right away. "You fix houses right?" Bela asked cutting her off. She didn't quite let Charlie answer the question before she continued. "We need your help, so please help us?"

'Okay. What's wrong with your house?' Charlie asks without hesitation. She'd deal with Santana's ire at talking to Bela later.

Bela exhaled pleased with herself for securing Charlie's help. "Do you just want to talk to my mom? She doesn't think we need your help but there's water leaking from the ceiling." Bela explained quickly tugging on Santana's arm. Her mother had been busy looking up plumbers on her tablet and hadn't been paying her any mind. "Mom it's Charlie. She said she'd help. She fixes houses."

Santana turned to Bela and frowned when she noticed her phone in her hand and she groaned. She didn't need Charlie to save her, they had been down that road before and she wasn't going to go through it again. "Bela—what did I say about calling Charlie? You don't need someone to come to your rescue all the time."

Bela rolled her eyes, "Mom—she's right there and she said she'd help. So just let her help please." Bela begged.

Santana frowned and eyed the phone not quite trusting it before sighing, maybe Charlie knew a plumber that would work cheap and did good work. She took the phone away from her daughter and sighed. "There is this weird bubble in the ceiling that's dripping water and there are bits of drywall coming down from the ceiling. Look I'm just going to call a plumber to take a look at it. It's fine."

"We're outside," Bela said loudly and gave her mother a look. Her mother had practically dragged her out of the house. "We're not okay," Bela said crossing her arms over her chest.

Santana's left eye twitched a bit, she didn't need this from her daughter. The snarky response was not in the slightest helpful, and it was no longer cute. "It doesn't matter. I don't need—"

'Santana.' Charlie said quietly causing Santana to stop and she could practically hear the scowl on Santana's face. 'You're going to need to go into the basement, and turn off the main water valve. I'll walk you through it.'

Santana grumbled, "So we're clear, I don't actually need you to come and save me," Santana snapped at Charlie, irritated that she actually did.

'I know, but if there's a leak, which is highly likely, then even if you call a plumber, it might take a while and the more water build up the greater the damage.' Charlie explained. 'Plus your water bill might be incredibly high. So switching it off right now is the smart thing.'

Santana sighed, and looked at Bela. "Stay here." Santana orders and moves inside her house. "I'm going to need the name of a good plumber. You've probably worked with plumber's right?" Santana asks as she heads back into the kitchen and opens a cabinet above the fridge and pulls out a toolbox. Just in case she needed it.

'Of course.' Charlie said quietly. She'd send Puck there first thing in the morning. They were wrapping up here, and she was sure he wouldn't mind. He probably would want to check Santana out.

Santana was quiet for a moment, not quite sure how to talk to Charlie. This whole thing was awkward and she was unsure, though she was grateful that Charlie was trying her hardest to do what she asked. She decides to just keep it to herself as she makes her way down to the basement. She had spent a fortune finishing it as a guest suite so her parents could visit and be comfortable. She frowns when her foot is suddenly submersed in cold water and she freezes, and blindly reaches for the light switch and flicks it on. "No," Santana says looking at her flooded basement, and she can feel the tears prick in her eyes.

'Santana?' Charlie asks.

"I don't fucking need this," Santana said, she could feel her carefully crafted walls slowly starting to crumble and she wipes her eyes.

'Santana? What don't you need? I need you to tell me what's going on?' Charlie asks, still very confused as to what was going on. She could hear the distraught tone and was quickly packing up her things.

Santana lets out a bitter and sharp laugh. "What's going on? You want to know what's going on? Well for starters I haven't gone two days without puking my guts out. I am constantly exhausted. My damn wig itches horribly. Your daughter has decided to be a know-it-all little diva. Oh and let's not forget that the basement that I just spent thousands of dollars renovating is flooded with water," Santana says closing her eyes.

Charlie frowned at this, focusing on the flooded basement part for now, she could help with that. She knew how to fix that. She would put everything else together later. 'Santana, you're going to need to turn off the main valve.' Charlie said once more. She hears Santana moving again and begins to give her instructions on where to find the main water valve. She bites her lip and thinks for a moment, vomiting and a wig? Santana was either sick or pregnant. "You've been sick?" Charlie asks after a moment.

Santana stiffens, she hadn't meant to unload on Charlie like that. It had just been one of those days. "Food poisoning." Santana said quickly, deciding to change the subject. "I found the valve." She listens to Charlie who informs her what to do with the lever and finishes up, hoping that stops the flooding. "What am I going to do with all this water?" She asks looking at the water that is nearly up to her knees. She had to wonder how long it had been leaking to get to this point."

'I'll grab a pump and be down there in a few hours with a plumber. Don't worry Santana, you just go out with Bela and maybe have some dinner and enjoy yourself. It'll take some time for us to get down there anyway. So you don't have to worry about anything." Charlie said grabbing onto Puck and tugging him along.

Santana wanted to be petulant, she wanted to tell Charlie where to jump off but right now, she just needed some help. Ten years was a long time to be doing this by herself and she was tired, she was so fucking exhausted. "Okay."


Charlie sighed as she watched the water pump out into the storm drain. Puck was still going through the house and checking all the pipework to see what was wrong with the plumbing in the house. She was quiet for a moment and glanced up at Isabela who was watching her a huge grin on her face that was just a bit too big for her face and looked rather creepy. Charlie shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "Hey—Bela. Do you—need something?" Charlie asked.

Bela grinned her masterplan was working, "I knew you were the savior," she said brightly. Step one in Operation Praying Mantis was a go.

Santana closed her eyes and exhaled, slowly. Her stomach was feeling uncomfortable after dinner, she had taken her daughter out for some pizza and she had a few bites. "Dammit Bela, we've talked about this. Charlie isn't some knight in shining armor and I didn't need her to come and save us."

Bela rolled her eyes at her mother and crossed her arms over her chest. "If you break your arm, you see a doctor. If your car breaks down you take it to a mechanic, and they totally save the day. The ceiling was about to cave in and our basement was flooded and Charlie saved the day."

Santana stared at her daughter and narrowed her eyes a bit. "If you're this bad now, I'm taking a vacation when you hit sixteen."

Bela shook her head and moved to stand closer to Charlie who was watching their back and forth. "Fine I'll just live with Charlie then."

Santana's face fell at this, only for a split second and she looked away. That had hurt. She had been joking and she wasn't quite sure that Bela was. "We'll see," she managed to get out and looked over at Charlie who was adjusting the hose a bit. "Thanks," she says after a moment when Charlie finally meets her gaze. "I'm sure you had other things to do tonight then to come and bail me out."

Charlie watches as the water starts to slow, "No. I didn't," Charlie lies. It was just a coin, there was more important things and her daughter had needed her. Mike had understood and had informed her that it would still be there when she was ready. She shakes her head, and focuses on Santana's ruined basement. The electrical items that she had been destroyed, and would need to be replaced. The hardwood floors would need to be redone as well. She had already seen some cracking, and she didn't want mold to grow underneath the floorboards. Though she could tell that the wooden floors hadn't been done well to begin with. She wasn't quite sure what else would need to be redone, but they were going to need to get all the wet furniture out of the basement.

"Charlie?" Puck called. "We can hook up another pump might get the water out a bit faster," Puck suggested. He needed to have a talk with his boss before he told her the bad news.

Charlie approached him, "The water is slowing Puck—the pump is working, I should probably go check to see how much longer," Charlie said pointing her thumb to the hose only to frown when she noticed the look on Puck's face.

"I'm going to need to redo all the pipes in the house." Puck informs her bluntly keeping his voice down. "Three stories—we're looking at anywhere between four thousand to ten thousand dollars depending on the materials. There's some serious water damage in some places of the house. We're going to need an electrician as well, also the basement is going to need to be redone. There might be some mold growing, whoever built the house was a fucking moron. I mean I can do a patch job, but we might run into the same problem later, the pipes are being stressed and we'll be here later. Better to do everything again and do it right."

Charlie scratched her head, she ran the costs in her mind immediately, taking her time, and winced. Maybe Puck would have a different estimate, "How much?"

Puck sighed a bit, "You know it's an expensive fix Charlie. Even if we do the bare minimum the pipes and the electrics that's ten thousand dollars. That's not even taking into account the basement Charlie."

Charlie scratched her cheek and glanced back at Bela and Santana and then back at the house. "I can do the basement by myself after we get the electrics fixed." It would probably take her most of the summer, if she did it in the evenings and spent the weekends working on it. "How long do you think it'll take you to redo the pipes?"

Puck looked at the house again. "I want to do this right, I'm going to say if we get the crew in here I can finish this in about three days. Maybe a bit less if we work fast. She's probably been paying a fortune in utilities, this will slash that water bill in half, minimum. But a full crew will cost more."

Charlie flicked her eyes to Puck for a moment and then back at Santana and Bela for a moment, "Don't worry about costs, I'll pay for everything. I just—this needs to be done perfectly Puck—I don't want Santana to worry about anything. If there's mold get rid of it, my daughter lives here. Make the call for the parts, and I'll talk to the Jones' about moving their kitchen and bathroom remodel two more weeks. They're still arguing over things and the price anyway."

Puck nods and pauses for a moment nudging Charlie gently. "Look just don't—overwhelm yourself okay boss? I know she's your daughter and that's your baby-mama and you want to take care of them. But remember Santana doesn't want you to. She doesn't need you to save her."

"This isn't—it's not about saving her. Santana doesn't need to be saved." Charlie says quietly. "It's about ten years where I didn't help. It's about ten years where she had to do this alone. Santana doesn't need me to save her—I just want to do something for her." And maybe a little tiny part of her wanted to spend a bit more time with Bela and—Santana. Not to win her back, she already knew she didn't stand a chance. "It's maybe if I do this, I can say that a little part of me is in this house. Even if I didn't really do anything." Charlie shrugs. "Get the guys get what we need. I'll take care of it."

Puck sighs, he was going to ask if Charlie was just sitting on a pile of gold that he didn't know about but chose not to bother. She was the boss and if she said do it, then he was going to do it. "Alright I'll start making the calls."

Charlie nods and heads back to Santana. With her it was sometimes better to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission, and this was one of those times. She looks at Santana and bites her lip when Santana narrows her eyes slightly at her. "Puck is going to repipe your house. It'll take him three days. I'll have a full crew in here to make sure that there isn't anything out of the ordinary and to get rid of any mold if there is any. It should be a week, maybe a bit more."

Santana closed her eyes, it sounded expensive. "How much?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Charlie said taking a step back when Santana's eyes snapped open and she turned to her. Charlie swallowed and met Santana's gaze. "We want to keep the costs down, so I'll redo your basement by myself. It'll take longer—but overall it'll be cheaper and I can do quality control." Charlie said.

Santana snorted as if she was going to let Charlie swoop in and save the day, "How much?" she repeated.

Bela nudged her mom, she was going to ruin Operation Praying Mantis. Charlie would be around more which meant that her parents could fall in love. "Mom, please let Charlie do something nice for us? Why do you have to ruin it?"

Charlie gently nudged Bela gently, "Bela—it's your mom's decision." Bela looked at her a betrayed look on her face and Charlie buckled immediately, sighing as she did. "Let me try my hardest to convince her. How about you go grab my tool belt from the truck please?"

Bela huffs at this, not like being dismissed but she went to do it anyway, she was just trying to help her mom get her happy ending. It wasn't her fault that her mom was resisting. 'Fine.'

Santana watched as her daughter stormed off and turned her attention back to Charlie. "You Fabray's never change. Do you think throwing money at this problem is going to fix it?"

Charlie frowned at this, feeling a little spark of anger rise up. She had noticed that more and more these days. The anger the hurt, a whole host of emotions that made her feel—alive. "I'm not a trust fund kid anymore. I'm not throwing money at this problem, I'm doing this because Bela is my daughter. I want her to be safe and healthy. I mean no wonder you're sick the house might be infested with mold or who knows what else. So let me do this, and then after I make sure it's up to my standard you'll never have to see me again."

Santana stared at her ex-girlfriend for a few tense moments, before sighing. "Fine. Whatever." She didn't want to make a scene and if this is what it would take to never have to deal with Charlie and the rest of the damn Fabray clan again. She was going to take it and run with it. She turns to the house for a moment and looks at it, "Is it safe to go inside? I was thinking that Bela and I could spend tonight at a decent hotel."

Charlie turns to look at the house. "It's safe to go back inside and you can grab some things. You don't have to move out but the construction might be a bit loud. Though with Bela—it might be a bit safer if she's not around for a bit. If there is mold then it'll be bad for her."

Santana nodded, that made sense and with her practically non-existent immune system it would be terrible for her as well. "We'll coordinate, so you can start work?"

"Tomorrow." Charlie says firmly. "First thing in the morning."

Santana nods and watches as Bela finally comes back tugging on Charlie's heavy tool belt. "Come on Bela we're going to stay at a nice four star-hotel for the next few days. While Charlie makes this house livable." Charlie took the belt from Bela and began to put it on. "So let's go get our suitcases and go pack real quick."

"Can we get room service?" Bela asked immediately.

"You just had a pizza." Santana says pinching the bridge of her nose. She was far too much like Charlie it was disturbing. Damn Fabray genetics.

Charlie waited until they were inside before she sighed. She didn't exactly have that type of cash lying around not anymore, and getting liquid by tomorrow was hard. She pulled away from the hose and pulled out her phone going through her family members. Quinn would never give her the cash. Her mother might but she'd tell her father who would have a fit. She'd ask Rachel who would probably give her the money but she'd have to talk to Quinn, who would probably tell their father. Which left one last member of her family that she hadn't spoken to in months. She dialed the number and waited until someone picked up. "Hey—Frannie—"


AN: See you tomorrow.