Chapter Three

Santana had to admit that working for Rachel Berry definitely had its perks. For instance, there was hassle-free air travel. Rachel just sent out her private jet and had them en route to New York. Then Figgins had been waiting for them to arrive at the private airstrip before whisking them across town to Rachel's Manhattan apartment.

As soon as the family entered Rachel's house, Kitty thrust a manila envelope into Santana's hands. "Rachel wants you to narrow the list down to ten," she said.

"Hello to you, too," Santana greeted her.

When Santana had taken back her job as Rachel's publicist, Kitty's job description shifted to more of a personal assistant capacity. They were both relieved to separate the two things finally. Surprisingly, they worked pretty well in tandem. It was especially evident when Kurt was around as well, but the wedding had consumed his every thought and action for the last few weeks.

"Hi," Kitty said without much change in expression. She did perk up just a little when welcoming the kids, though.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Rachel Berry," Kitty answered. "She wants me to go out and put an ear to the ground about possible wedding dates."

"So you're on this, too?"

"That and…" Kitty retrieved the list and read aloud, "locate that delicious cannoli I got from that little bakery in Brooklyn in 2006. Do not buy, pin the address in my Google map. Create a Google Map. Find a copy of Barbra Streisand's album Guilty on cassette tape and memorize all the Barry Gibb parts. Record yourself singing only those parts and post it in response to any Barbra Streisand fanmade tribute video online. And last," Kitty cleared her throat, "buy a birthday gift for my strictly biological, but still fairly involved mother. Return the gift and then go somewhere else and buy another gift for no less than 30% more than the first gift. Get it gift wrapped professionally, but handwrite the card in my handwriting. Use my personal calligrapher if needed."

Brittany was stunned into silence.

"Let it go," Santana advised. "That sounds like she's at a Level Eight, though. Anything else going on I should know about?"

"She's out right now, probably harassing some young Hollywood stud," Kitty said. She pointed upstairs, "But your suite is ready and Elliott is waiting in the Master Closet for Max's final fitting."

Another good thing about being connected to Rachel Berry is that she could get anyone to come to her for just about anything. She actually got Elliott Gilbert, the internationally famous designer of Starchild Clothing for Star Children, to custom make Max's tux for the wedding.

"Stand still," Brittany told the boy as Elliott pulled checked the length of his suit jacket.

"He's fine," Elliott said. "Almost done, Max."

Brittany watched just a second longer before doing a quick check of Charlie who was sandwiched between her moms. "Doing alright there, Charlie?"

Charlie had brought along her Pony Princess coloring book, so she was just fine.

When sure of it, Brittany returned to the various emails that had flooded her inbox in the last day or so.

Santana was busy with work herself as she casually leafed through the bio pages that Rachel gathered. "She's got actual royalty on this list."

"I'm not surprised," Brittany said. "Although, probably a little late notice at this stage."

"Why can't she be normal and just call a friend up and ask if they'd like to go to a wedding?"

Brittany laughed at the simplicity. "First, there'd have to be a friend. Second, that's too easy."

"I can't narrow this list down to ten," Santana was obviously frustrated. "I can't even narrow this list down to twenty. It's that ludicrous."

"Whatcha gonna do?" Brittany asked. Then quickly added, "Act a fool!"

Santana stared for a second, "You done?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know." Santana closed the envelope and set it aside.

The action prompted her daughter to climb up on her lap. "Ready go."

"Just a little bit longer," Santana told her. "We have to make sure Max's suit fits just right."

"You know who you should call, right?"

"Absolutely not."

"I'm telling you, San, the two of them were deeply in love."

"With the career perks of being tabloid fodder," Santana said. "Not with each other."

"She hasn't even dated anybody since then."

"Not true," Santana argued. "She was dating Backspace Bill for a while."

"Online. For a week and a half until she realized Backspace Bill wasn't MySpace Tom."

"Ouch!" Santana reacted to Charlie trying to steal her engagement ring off her finger. She had recently become wholly fascinated with any kind of jewelry. It was trait that Santana could fully appreciate.

"Hey now, girlie," Santana pulled her hand back. "You can't have that."

"It's pretty!" Charlie told her, still admiring its shininess.

"I know."

Charlie held out her hand in expectation. It was something that worked about 75% of the time.

"No, Charlie," Santana shook her head and curled the little girl's fingers back into her palm. "You can't have Momma's ring."

"Peas?"

"No."

Charlie squinted her dark eyes at Santana, completely pissed off that her momma refused to give into her whims.

"Not gonna work," Santana told her. "I invented that look. That's signature Santana, kid."

"Peas?"

"Your Mommy is spoiling you."

"Am not," Brittany said. "She's naturally spoiled."

"By you."

Brittany smiled at their daughter, "She's so cute, though."

"Uh huh," Santana rolled her eyes. "Wrapped around her finger."

Charlie pulled at Santana's hand again. "Peas, Momma!"

"It's not a toy, Charlotte."

"She likes diamonds," Brittany noted. "Sounds like someone else in the room."

"This," Santana let Charlotte take her hand, "is a very special gift your Mommy gave me."

"Why?" Max asked from his position in front of Rachel's full-length mirror. He was watching the action in the reflection.

"Because I loved her more than anything else in the whole world and wanted us to be together forever," Brittany answered. "And have babies and an air hockey table."

"Aww," Elliott fawned. "That's cute."

"You gave it to her so she'd marry you?" Max asked.

"I hoped she would."

"Yep, she gave it to me when she asked me to marry her." The smile on Santana's face was always immediate when reliving that day in the frozen food aisle at their nearby grocery store.

"And it cost Mommy a whole lot of money because Momma didn't want no brokedown, dollar store looking, knock off kinda bling."

"I never said that!"

"You implied it," Brittany said, clicking a few buttons on her phone. "More than once."

"My moms got married a really long time ago," Max told Elliott seriously. "Before I was even born."

"Wow!" Elliott humored him. "It must be cool to have two moms, huh?"

"I like having two moms," he said. His voice lowered just a fraction, "But sometimes not the sister."

"Max!" Brittany scolded him. "Be nice."

"I said 'sometimes.'"

"He did say 'sometimes,' Santana nodded. "Qualified and everything."

The shrill ding of Brittany's text notification interrupted them. The box on the screen flashed 'Pamela Lansbury: Should I schedule a trip to Los Angeles?'

Brittany glanced at Santana, who had already read the message by the look on her face.

"Go ahead," Santana shrugged.

"It's just to talk about locations," Brittany assured her. "Nothing has been decided."

"Okay, Moms," Elliott stood. He presented Max to them in his tuxedo. "He's grown a bit. I'm going to have to take the pants out just a little."

"Seems like he's getting bigger everyday," Santana said proudly.

# # # # #

"It's a lot of competition for a fairly small company," Brittany reminded her wife. "New York was my first option, you know this."

"Not so little anymore and with a lot of success," Santana said as she carried Charlie on her hip.

Brittany and Santana were still considering New Directions future expansion as they strolled through New York City on the way to Tony's, Santana's favorite pizza place.

"I got a whole lot of resistance within the ranks," Brittany told her.

"I know, I know," Santana sighed. "And I'm totally in support of New Directions spreading its wings…"

"I know you are, baby," Brittany said. "You just don't want to move."

"Me either!" Max said as he rode piggyback on Brittany's back.

"We wouldn't be moving forever, Max," Brittany told her son. "And maybe not at all. I'd just have to make a few trips to wherever we decide to set up the new office."

"There's no reason for you to worry about all that yet," Santana said to Max. "Mommy and I will get it all figured out."

"Santana? Santana Lopez?" a voice drifted through the crowd.

Brittany seemed to recognize the voice before Santana. It was evident with the tight-lipped smile that passed over her features. "That didn't take long," she muttered.

Santana looked around both directions and until landing on the source of the voice. "Seriously?" she whispered to Brittany.

"Santana! It is you!"

"Hi Quinn," she said during a half-hearted wave, which was the best she could do with Charlie hanging off her neck.

"I figured I'd run into you at the wedding, but this is very unexpected."

"Unexpected," Brittany said flatly. "Very surprising. You bet."

"When did you get home?"

Santana's first instinct was to say she wasn't home, which was strange even to her. She didn't bother, though. "Today."

"It's been a while," Quinn went about making small talk. "These must be your babies?"

"What gave it away?" Santana asked. She waited a beat before introducing her children. In doing so, she patted her son's knee. "The guy growing off Britt's back is Max."

"Hi, Max," Quinn stuck out her hand.

Max, being the standup gentleman that he was, shook the offered hand even if it meant knocking his bony elbow against his Mommy's shoulder. "Max Lopez, ma'am. I'm six years old. I like chocolate chip cookies and rock climbing."

"He's never been rock climbing," Santana rolled her eyes at her son's antics.

"I would if my moms would let me," Max assured Quinn.

"I'm sure you would," Quinn smiled. "And this little one?"

"Charlotte," Santana answered. "Charlie to her friends. You can call her Charlotte."

Quinn seemed to mull that over before moving on to Brittany, "Hi, Brittany."

"Quinn," Brittany acknowledged her. "Still divorced?"

"Engaged actually," Quinn wiggled a shiny diamond at them.

"Pretty!" Charlie yelled when she saw. She held out her hand, "Peas?"

"Congratulations," Santana offered. It was then, the aforementioned fiancé showed, looking like the smug assface he'd always been. Santana just knew. The coupling made all the sense in the world.

"Lopez," Noah Puckerman chuckled as he slid his slimy arm around Quinn's waist. "Long time, no see."

"Not nearly long enough."

"You've multiplied," he said referring to the kiddos. He winked at Brittany while adding, "And married up."

Max leaned closer to stare at Puck's head, "Why is your hair like that?"

"His decision making skills are lacking, son."

"You like?" Puck asked the boy as he skimmed over his head with his free hand. "It's a mohawk."

"He doesn't," Santana answered for him. She then turned to Brittany, "Britt, this is Noah Puckerman."

"Hi," Brittany greeted him.

"Noah Puckerman," Santana said again. "Paparazzi. Mohawk. Calls in the middle of the night."

"Oh, oh!" Brittany smiled widely. "You're Noah Puckerman?"

Noah looked between the two women, "Uh…yeah."

"Wow, it's really great to meet you then," Brittany said. "You're everything that Santana said you would be."

"Well, thanks Lopez."

"Don't thank me. It's never been favorable," Santana said. "I still think you're a bootlicking bottom feeder, but you're kind of the reason I met my wife. So thanks for that." She then grandly gestured to her left, "This is Brittany."

"She's always had great taste," Puck said with a slimy wink.

"Yeah." Brittany instinctively took a step back. "San…"

"Well," Santana nodded, picking up what the wife was laying down. "Congrats again, Quinn…Puck, you're as nasty as ever. So, points for consistency, I guess."

"Thanks!" Puck said like he'd just been complimented. "Nice to see ya, Lopez."

"We're headed to Tony's, so…"

"You still love Tony's?" Quinn asked with a knowing smile.

"She does," Brittany said, mildly annoyed by the implied familiarity. "We all love Tony's. That's where we're going. Family dinner…"

"I guess we'll see all of you at the wedding, then."

"Of course."

"And I hear you've got a starring role, Max," Quinn said to Max.

Max nodded happily.

"See you," Brittany stepped away.

"Bye bye," Charlie waved.

"Bye," Quinn waved back.

"Bye Mohawk guy," Max said. He waited until they were several feet away before saying, "Can I get a haircut like that?"

"Absolutely not," both Santana and Brittany answered at once.

# # # # #

"Mom, will you take those off," Max pointed to the peppers on his pizza. "I don't like 'em."

"You haven't even tried them," Santana said. She was already picking them off anyway.

"I just know, Mom."

"You just know?"

"Yep," he answered. As soon as the peppers were removed, he started stuffing the pizza in his mouth.

Santana watched for a moment before turning to her wife. "So…"

"So?" Brittany asked as she cut Charlie's pizza into tiny bite size pieces.

"What was that about?"

"What?" Brittany asked innocently.

"You couldn't get away from Quinn fast enough," Santana pointed out.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Brittany said sarcastically.

"Hm."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"She annoys me."

"I know."

"Then why did you bring it up?"

"Because." Santana winked at her wife across the booth. "I'll admit that it's a little fun to see you jealous."

"Not jealous."

"Then what?"

"Annoyed, which is different," Brittany said. "I don't necessarily want to shoot the breeze with your ex."

Max's eyes widened a bit with that statement. "What's that mean?" he asked with his mouth open.

"Mouth closed," Brittany said to him. "Shoot the breeze? Means talking."

"Ex?" Max asked, still chewing.

"It's means somebody that you used to be friends with."

"Oh," Max accepted that. "Like Jack before he moved. Now he lives in Texas, so he's my ex?"

"Not quite," Santana said. "It's somebody who used to be your very best friend."

Max nodded, "Jack was my very best friend."

"More like a girlfriend or boyfriend, Max," Brittany explained.

"I have bo-friend!" Charlie announced.

"Is it Mr. Bear?" Brittany teased.

Charlie howled by that correct answer before she put a piece of pizza in her mouth.

Max, however, had stopped eating. "So that lady was your girlfriend?"

They could tell by the inflection of his voice that Max's mind was blown by this information.

"She was," Santana said. "Before I met Mommy."

"A really long time ago, bud," Brittany tried to minimize it as much as possible.

Santana leaned over and gave her son a quick kiss on the head, "So long ago, I barely remember it. I barely remember anything before I met your mommy."

"Did you have a girlfriend before Mom?" Max asked Brittany.

Brittany chewed slowly, trying to construct an answer for her very expectant son. Charlie bought her a few minutes when she suddenly darted toward Brittany's drink and she had to help the little girl to a drink of her water. Once Charlie was settled, she looked to see Max still patiently waiting.

"I did," she said simply.

"Who?"

"Nobody you know," Brittany said. "Just some people I liked to hang out with."

"Okay," Max said. He picked up his pizza, "Is Mom your favorite girlfriend?"

Brittany laughed out loud, "Max, she's my favorite everything…besides you and Charlie girl."

"Good answer," Santana said. "Good answer."

# # # # #

"Well, isn't that the most handsome family." Kurt announced his presence at the door to their suite at Rachel's later that evening.

"Uncle Kurt!" Max squealed as he hopped off the bed and hit the ground running. He took a flying leap into his favorite uncle's arms.

Kurt returned the hug and replaced the little guy on his feet. "How's it going, Max?"

"It's okay," Max said. "Moms brought me to be in your wedding."

"I know," Kurt said. "I'm so glad, too." He smiled brightly at Santana and Brittany, "Thanks moms!"

"You're very welcome," Brittany replied. "I'm confused, though. Should I bow in front of you now."

"Don't be silly," Kurt laughed. "Not until after the wedding."

"Of course," Santana said.

Kurt skipped over to the bed and planted himself between the two women. He tapped Charlie's arm. "Hi there, little lady."

Charlie yawned, "Hi Unkurt."

"You're pretty as ever."

"Tank you," she said politely as her eyes drifted closed.

Max had followed Kurt and returned to his Brittany's side where he anticipated that his mommy would give him a good night back scratch.

"How's my favorite family?" Kurt asked.

"Awesome," Santana smiled. "How's the first family?"

"Stoic," Kurt said peculiarly. "They're all business as usual. I'm stressed as hell."

"I bet," Brittany said. "Our wedding was stressful enough, I can't imagine having all the added public pressure."

"Then there's Rachel trying to take over."

"Surely you have enough resources at your disposal to get her to stand down," Santana said.

"You would think," Kurt mused. "Seems she's got a lot of fans in high places."

"And Sebastian?"

"What about him?" Kurt asked.

"Uh…" Santana caught Brittany's eye. "How is he?"

"Oh," Kurt shrugged. "He's fine."

"Excited about the wedding?"

"Sebastian? Yeah, he seems excited," Kurt nodded. "He's working on a new play right now, so he's been otherwise engaged."

"He's working?" Santana seemed surprised.

"Of course," Kurt answered.

"Plans all squared away?"

"Mostly," Kurt said with his natural flair. "Just a few things I need to take care of. Which reminds me, I have to make a phone call. You'll forgive me for dropping in and taking off so quickly?"

"Go," Santana said. "You're a bride. We totally understand."

"Thanks, dear," Kurt kissed her cheek before doing the same to Brittany before getting off the bed. He ruffled Max's hair, "He got an expensive haircut, didn't he?"

"Told you he'd notice," Santana said to Brittany.

"Tell him I'll be back to see him tomorrow."

"We will," Brittany said. "He's been excited about this for months. He can't wait."

"I'm really glad you're here," Kurt said sincerely. "Couldn't do it without you...all of you."

"Hey, Kurt," Santana stopped him just before he left. "...Congratulations. Nobody deserves happiness more than you."

Kurt looked surprised by the declaration. "Thank you, Santana."

When he had disappeared, Brittany smacked her lips loudly. "It's not fair to tell him now."

"I know."

"Or maybe it's not fair not to tell him now...or not..." Brittany linked a pinky with her wife. "Something to think about."