AN: I liked this movie for far to long considering my age. Anyway Song is Fixer Upper, obviously I don't own it. I don't even know who does. Anyone excited for the new Disney Princess movie? Just me? Okay.
We aren't saying you can change him
'Cause people don't really change
We're only saying that love's a force that's powerful and strange
People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed
But throw a little love their way, and you'll bring out their best
True love brings out the best
Santana covered her head with her pillow grumbling as she did so, wondering if she should just go into her daughter's room and toss out whatever device was playing that infernal song on a loop. Her daughter took passive aggressive to a whole new level. She wasn't even subtle about it. She doubted that Bela understood what the word subtle meant.
Santana sighed, what made the entire situation worse was that Bela wasn't exactly wrong. Charlie needed a fixing up, just like her basement, which Charlie had all but finished. She had been surprised at how good it looked now. Charlie had even put in some upgrades to make the place even better. She had also done a lot of other things around the house, fixing her cabinets, Bela was talking about painting her room a different color—it was like Charlie was trying to fix everything in the world except herself. So she was going to fix her, she was going to fix Charlie up. It was of course in the best interest of Isabela. "Bela! Will you turn that racket off?" She yelled at her daughter.
It took a moment before the music was switched off, causing her to let out a sigh of relief. But it was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps and her door opening a crack. "Mom?" Bela asked as she poked her head into the room. Seeing that her mother looked to be awake she opened the door and walked in and made her way to her mother's spacious bed and climbed in so she cuddle with her. "What were you thinking about?"
"That damn song that you kept playing over and over again," Santana snipes gently at her daughter who grins and curls up beside her. With a sigh Santana puts an arm around her pulling her close. After being bedridden for the past couple of days Bela had been attached at her hip as of late.
"We should watch Frozen!" Bela grinned when her mom gave her a look. "Come on mom—I don't see what the problem is. Why is it so hard to try and believe?"
"I'd rather put my faith in modern medicine than Charlie's lips," Santana responds as she turns on her television. "She was never that great of a kisser anyway." A lie, a big one but Bela doesn't seem to notice. "Bela, have you actually thought this through. If anything does happen to me, the courts will place you with Charlie and if it doesn't work you're going to blame her for not being the love of my life. Charlie and I broke up for a very good reason and you do need to respect that. Besides Charlie doesn't love me anymore."
"Yes she does, I asked her and she told me she does. She doesn't lie to me." Bela pulled away from her mother so she could look at her carefully, and she could swear that she saw something flicker across Santana's face. "I've seen the way you look at her."
Santana closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, of course Charlie still loved her, but there were different types of love. It was an idea that seemed to be above Bela. Charlie wasn't the same person that she remembered and she knew that ten years had changed her quite a bit. "Bela, I need you to understand that to be truly in love with someone, you need to know them. You need to understand them, you need to trust them with every fiber of your being. It doesn't happen in a couple of days, it doesn't happen in a couple of weeks. And you need to know that we both love you very much, I know Charlie's only known you for a few months but she loves you probably as much as I do. But having a child together isn't a reason to be together in that sense. It is a reason to be friends though, and that's what we are. More or less. I do care deeply for Charlie, I will always care deeply for her and I know she feels the same way."
"You and Charlie spend a lot of time together—" Bela begins trying to convince her mother.
"I spend a lot of time with your aunt Brittany as well. She takes me to all of my chemotherapy sessions, and stays there with me. She comes to work with me sometimes Bela, I love her and care for her deeply as well. That doesn't mean that we're supposed to be together." Santana cuts her daughter off.
Bela huffed and flopped onto the bed. She wasn't going to give up, if she needed to lock her parents in a room together she would until they admitted that they loved each other. She tries to grab the remote from her mom who immediately holds it out of her reach and she lets out a soft whine. "I want to watch Frozen!"
"No! No more shows where they solve every god damn problem with a kiss. It's completely unrealistic and it warps your sense of reality. We're going to watch Ellen, and you're going to sit there and laugh at all her jokes." Santana said watching as her daughter whined. She smirked, it was time to get her Ellen on whether Bela liked it or not.
Charlie tossed her tools into her truck and stretched as she pulled off her gloves, she had finished building the garden for Santana, now all she needed to do was grab some fresh fertilizer and Santana and Bela could start planting. Then she'd ask if Santana needed anything else done before she finished up with the basement. It was only after three which meant she had plenty of time. She was about to head to the hose to wash her hands when she noticed Santana standing on the porch a scowl on her face. It was just the two of them today Bela had gone to a friend's house to play, but she had kept mostly to herself and let her ex-girlfriend rest. "Santana?"
Santana waved a piece of paper at Charlie who approached her cautiously. "Your daughter won't give up. Telling me to smile because you like my damned smile." Santana said shoving the paper into Charlie's chest angrily. "I blame myself, Disney is not what any parent should be raising their goddamn kids on. I thought hey what's the harm in watching princess movies? I've fucking learned my lesson."
Charlie took the paper and glanced at it. "She's been doing this to you too?" Charlie asks. "She gives me lectures all the time about how to be the savior."
"I should have sent her to summer camp," Santana said grumbling. "Let the mosquitos get her." She sighed and looked at Charlie who was covered in a white powder, "What are you doing?"
"I finished building you a place where you and Bela could garden, she mentioned that you had made plans to garden with her this year, but you know—" Charlie trails off and rubs the back of her neck.
Santana blinked, it was far more work than she was going to do. She had been content to just let Charlie do what she thought was best and needed to be fixed around the house. It was one thing she couldn't deal with and having Charlie deal with it seemed like a good idea. "I was just going to dig in the dirt and plant crap," Santana admits and watches as a crooked smile appears on Charlie's face. Santana shifts for a momenta and glances down at the paper in Charlie's hand and then back at Charlie. Her daughter was a little shit. "Now back to the problem at hand—your daughter. You need to get a girlfriend, that way she can finally leave me alone about kissing you. Like that's going to magically solve all my problems."
Charlie stared at Santana, she was getting worked up again and she shifts ready to catch her if she felt faint. "No?"
"What do you mean no?" Santana hisses at Charlie who takes a step back. She closes her eyes and exhales. "Okay Brittany is available—"
Charlie's nose crinkles. "The crazy cat lady who I'm allergic to?"
Santana grimaces, "You're right, but we need to find you someone. Let's go online and set you up a profile on a popular dating website. E-Harmony? They have all those ads on television."
"Santana—I'm not—I don't want to have an online profile. I'm not really good at dating." Charlie said holding her hands up.
"Bullshit." Santana said immediately. "You were charming and witty and you weren't terrible to look at, you had girls all over you and you know it. You're still not terrible to look at, I've seen your arms, just flex those and the ladies will swoon. We just need to remind you of the other two parts. But you're going to need to wear something other than what you're wearing. Do you still have those suits of yours?"
"I don't—think so? I mean even if I did, I don't think they'd fit." Charlie points out and Santana looks at her causing her to shift.
"Right, so it's been eight years. You're going to need some practice. Maybe a decent haircut, definitely some clothes. You know all the stuff you used to do to get women all over you." Santana informs Charlie bluntly. "Do you have anything that doesn't that doesn't have paint on it?" Santana asks.
"No?"
Santana stops and looks at Charlie and then crinkles her nose. "Okay that's a problem, we'll start with the clothes. Let's go shopping. My treat—don't argue. It's the least I can do for all the work you've put into the house. Then we'll go to dinner and we can do a pretend date. So I can see what I'm working with. So I'll fix that and then we'll put you up on E-harmony." She holds her hands up, "You can't argue with me I'm sick."
"You're going to milk that whole sick thing aren't you?"
"Damn straight I am," Santana said. "Let me go grab my purse, and don't you dare think about running."
AN: See you tomorrow.
