Brittana future family fiction ~ this is nothing but happy fluff so it's not Steinbeck but it is sweet and fun and happy and the world could always use more Brittana

No D/D, no real angst

Unedited – All mistakes are mine / I don't own anything related to Glee / The kids are my own invention.

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Current age of the kids! Our ladies are about 36 years old.

Danielle Alexandra Lopez – 13 years old

Jason Santiago Lopez – 11 years old

Michael Rafael Lopez -7 years old

Abigail Lucia Lopez - 5 years old

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Chapter 4 How I Met Your Mother

It was late morning on Friday and Santana was working from home reviewing some contracts while Britt was at her dance studio teaching a class of senior citizens how to ballroom dance.

The Latina used to love to make fun of the old people dancing and she'd make up all kind of names for old people dance teams, her favorite was the Crypt Kickers. That was until Britt took all the fun out of it by reminding Santana she was going to be old before she knew it. It wasn't so funny anymore after that, "You sure knows how to be a killjoy!" She had huffed to her giggling blonde wife.

Her cell phone rang and it was the middle school calling, "Yes, this is Santana Lopez, I see.. Ok, I 'll be right down."

She walked into the middle school and headed for the office. With Danielle as her daughter she was more than familiar with the principal and his staff. As she got to the office, she noticed Danielle sitting in the chair outside the office looking uncharacteristically nervous. Santana just glared at her for a second before hissing in disbelief, "Seriously Danielle? It's only the frigging second week of school?" She jerked open the door and stalked into the principal's office.

Connie, an overweight blonde with a cheerful happy disposition who spoke in a sing-song voice that never failed to irritate Santana greeted her right away, "Hell-ooo Mrs. Lopez. Sooo good to see you again hon." She called everyone hon. Santana smiled though gritted teeth, "Mr. West called me in?" She said hoping to hurry this along. Principals' offices were a special kind of hell for Santana Lopez and brought back very bad memories.

"Of course, hon, just one moment while I make sure he's ready for ya!" Santana took a deep breath; she was going to kill Danielle just for making her endure this so early in the day. She felt the beginnings of an ice pick headache coming on.

Mr. West followed Connie out to the lobby and greeted Santana kindly, "Mrs. Lopez, how nice to see you again." He offered Santana his hand to shake. He was just a few years older than Santana and Brittany but he was already balding and had dark circles under his watery blue eyes. He seemed very kind; he just looked like he lost all his passion for living. Santana could relate, teenagers could do that to you. She viewed Mr. West as a cautionary tale of what would happen if she let the teenagers get the upper hand.

He said to her, "Please come on in to my office and take a seat, Connie if you would please be so kind as to ask Danielle Lopez to join us?" Mr. West said kindly, gently leading Santana into his office.

Santana and Danielle were seated side by side in the Principal's office; he settled a look of patient irritation on his face and made a steeple out of his hands on his desktop. He leaned forward and began speaking in a sorrowful tone that made both Santana and Danielle feel instantly guilty, "I'm afraid Danielle and another student, Monica Harriman were involved in a verbal altercation in the hallway that lead to, shall we say some jostling."

"I am sending both girls home for the rest of the afternoon. They are not suspended; I just wanted to let cooler heads prevail to prevent an actual fight and give both girls a chance to calm down today. It really didn't get to that point, just a lot of pushing and some inappropriate language." He said leveling a disappointed look at Danielle.

"It's not my fault she's a bitch." Danielle muttered lowly thinking no one could hear.

"Danielle Alexandra Lopez!" Santana growled in warning.

Danielle put her head down, "Sorry Mami."

Mr. West continued, "Both girls will be taking zeroes for any work missed this afternoon, but since it's so early in the year I highly doubt it will affect their grades. Mrs. Lopez, thank you for coming down in person this afternoon and Danielle, let's not make this a habit alright?"

Santana stood up pulling Dani up by the arm with her, "We are sorry for the problem Mr. West I assure you my wife and I take our children's behavior very seriously. The issue will be addressed immediately, "Danielle do you have something to say to Mr. West?"

Dani turned all the Pierce and Lopez charm combined on the principal, "I'm very sorry Mr. West it won't happen again." She fluttered her eyelashes and her dimples and looked very sorry.

Santana just rolled her eyes at the show her oldest was putting on, "Damn right it won't!" Santana growled in her daughter's ear. Santana reached over the desk and shook the man's hand and led her daughter out of the office to her car.

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Both Danielle and her Mami drove in silence, "Are you hungry Danielle?" Santana said checking her watch, "I assume you missed lunch like I did?"

Danielle looked at her Mami warily out of the corner of her eye, she didn't expect kindness right about now, lecture maybe, kindness not, "I could eat something."

"Let's go to Bettino's sub shop and grab something to take home. I could kill a meatball sub right about now. We haven't been there in a while." She failed to mention it was since Brittany had forced a major crackdown on junk food. A crackdown the brunette supported in theory if not always in practice. Each child knew they had an ally in sneaking their favorite junk food when out alone with their Mami.

Danielle agreed, "I've been craving a sub but Mom never lets us go there anymore."

"Yeah, well maybe, for privacy's sake we should just eat at Bettino's and talk about what's going on with you today." It wasn't sneaking if she didn't have to hide food wrappers in the outside garbage can under three days of old newspapers.

Danielle grinned conspiratorially with her Mami and agreed, "Good idea, that way we won't be interrupted by anyone."

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Finally seated in a back booth with a foot long, 1lb. meatball sub in front of each of them and sipping on soda Danielle broke the silence, "Are you mad at me Mami?" She said softly.

Santana looked across the table and didn't see her soon to be adult 13 year old daughter but instead saw her sweet little 2 year old baby sitting on top of the kitchen table covered head to toe in honey, her hand literally in the jar all the way up to her shoulder with her little bottom lip stuck out and her chin trembling knowing she was in trouble.

The brunette shook her head and wondered where time had gotten too, "I'm not the one you should be worried about! You know how your mom feels about fighting and about us being called down to the principal's office for bad behavior."

Danielle physically paled, "Do we have to tell her?"

Santana scoffed out loud, "I tell your mother everything."

"Oh really, even about sneaking heart attack inducing sub sandwiches?"

Santana stopped eating mid-bite, "This is your strategy for getting some help calming down your mom? Ruining the first meatball sub I've had in 6 months. I thought you were smarter than that!" The brunette scoffed at the heavy handed attempt at guilt. She was a master, Danielle still an amateur.

Danielle shut up and pouted as she ate her gloriously fat filled, dripping in gooey cheese sub in silence. The two women shared the jalapenos between them. Two peas in a pod, that is what Brittany called them.

When they were finished eating, Santana wrapped up the leftovers and took them to the garbage can, actually mourning as she tossed them away. No way could she smuggle those in the house and get away with it. She went back and sat down across from her daughter.

"You look like somebody kicked your puppy!" Danielle sassed.

"Shut it smart ass!"

Danielle lisped imitating her 5 year old sister Abby, "Oh Mami said ass!"

Santana smirked at her daughter; sometimes she could be very funny. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at her antics, "So fill me in, last I heard you and Monica Harriman were best friends, what happened today to change that?"

"We haven't been friends for awhile Mami, way to keep up with my life!"

Santana ignored the attitude and thought back, come to think of it she hadn't seen the blonde around the house in awhile, "Please I can't keep track of my own friends, let alone yours. Come on Dani don't make me pull teeth here ok, I would like the whole story before I have to go home and explain it to your mom, now spill what happened?"

"It was stupid." Danielle said looking down at the table and playing with her napkin.

Santana reached over and gently took her hand, "These kinds of arguments usually are baby, I've certainly had my share of them, so if I promise to not think you're stupid will you tell me?"

Dani shook her head yes, "You know Robbie Jensen?"

Santana thought for a minute, "Soccer stud, cute, curly hair?"

Dani blushed a dark red and Santana knew in an instant what happened between her daughter and her ex-friend, "Was she mackin on your crush?"

The teen as well as her siblings were all very aware of Santana's unique way of phrasing things, "The worst part Mami, she knew how much I liked him, she knew he asked me out and she still kissed him by the bleachers." Danielle said very close to a sob.

Santana tried not to panic at the thought of her baby liking boys or her baby liking boys enough to kiss them or her baby liking boys enough to kiss them out by the bleachers. Her daughter needed some comfort and love right now not a lecture, "Wow, totally punk bitch move on her part, you don't do that to a friend!"

Danielle looked up at her Mami in adoration having expected a lecture, "I know, right?"

"But baby, you're gonna meet girls like that all your life, the ones who pretend to be your friends and stab you in the back the minute it's turned. You can't fight them all!"

"Well what would you do if it was someone trying to steal Mom?" Dani said in desperation.

Santana got a look of panic on her beautiful face, "No fair, you can't ask me a question like that. If I tell you some BS story then you're gonna think I can't be trusted but if I tell you what I'd really do then your Mom is gonna make me sleep on that awful lumpy ass couch in the den! Besides, that would never happen, no one could steal your mom from me, I'm too freaking awesome!"

Danielle smirked, everyone knew her Mami was totally whipped by her adorable blonde wife, Aunt Q said it every time she came over for a party. Danielle thought it was so funny because every time she said it her Aunt Rachel would roll her eyes and pretend to flick a whip at Aunt Q and wink at Danielle and then put a finger to her lips to let Danielle know it was a big secret. It always made Dani giggle; she didn't think it was such a big secret.

The brunette said to her daughter, "Ok, well that was today, why hasn't she been over in a while, did you have an argument or fight before that?"

Danielle looked down uncomfortably. Santana's Mami radar pinged real loud in her head, "What aren't you telling me Dani?"

"The last time she came over she kinda made fun of Jace and embarrassed him."

Santana could feel her hackles rising on the back of her neck. Anyone picking on Jace who was as sweet as Brittany really pissed her off. She was kind of sorry that Dani hadn't really punched the little blonde witch.

"I'm sorry Mami, I shouldn't have told you." She said with tears shining in her eyes.

Santana leaned forward and put her hand on top of Danielle's, "Yes, you should have and you can tell me and your mom anything. I may freak out for a bit but I'll get over it, I promise."

"I couldn't be friends with someone who was mean to anyone in our family. I think she stole Robbie just to get even and hurt me back."

Santana nodded her head, "Probably honey, I bet she did. Just because he kissed her doesn't mean he wants her over you. It just means she was giving away something free and dudes have a hard time thinking past the words free sex."

Danielle turned a deeper shade of red and thought to herself, "please don't talk about sex, please don't talk about sex…"

Santana was sitting in her seat looking at Dani blushing and thought to herself, "please don't ask about sex, please don't ask about sex…."

After a very uncomfortable silence, Santana finally broke it, "So this Robbie kid, you like him a lot huh?"

"I don't know Mami, I thought I did but this makes everything feel so different, kinda awful inside, you know?" She looked into her Mami's dark eyes.

Santana nodded in understanding.

Dani rolled her eyes, "Why does love have to be so awful anyway? How did you know Mom was the one for you?"

Santana sat back and remembered her first meeting with the love of her life, "I got lucky, I knew when I was 5 years old, the first moment I laid eyes on Brittany S. Pierce that I was gonna marry her. It really doesn't happen like that for most people."

Danielle leaned forward eagerly; she had never heard this before. She had heard a little about high school but not kindergarten, "What happened Mami?"

Santana smiled fondly, "Me and your Aunt Q and Aunt Rach were in kindergarten together, about a month after school started your mom transferred into the school as a new person. It had rained and there was a rainbow, we were all standing outside when this big doofus came over to us. Your mom was telling us about how unicorns lived where the rainbows end. It was really sweet actually."

Dani said, "Like Abby?"

San grinned, "just like Abby, and she is a total clone of your Mom at that age and just as sweet and fanciful and innocent, unlike you, who unfortunately for you turned out just like me!"

Both of them laughed at that, Danielle could really see her Mom now if she was just like Abby, it was really cool hearing this story.

"So anyway this big jerk, Azimio Adams was his name started making fun of your mom and made her cry. I pushed him down in the mud and kicked some in his face."

Danielle wasn't surprised, her Mami was a really protective person now, of course she would have been as a kid.

"Anyway so your mom came up to me in the coat room after recess and she thanked me for not laughing at her and for looking out for her and she kissed me on my cheek. That was it, I have been in love with your mom ever since. I even told your Aunt Q walking home I was going to marry your mom. Of course, she laughed at me and said 5 year olds couldn't get married."

Danielle looked serious, "I thought she would freak back then about mom and you both being girls."

Santana scoffed, "Oh please, your Aunt Q was in love with your Aunt Rach in kindergarten, it just took her until senior year of high school to figure it out. Your Aunt Q is kind of retarded but don't tell anyone I said that ok, she is still my bestie!"

Danielle smiled, she loved her Aunt Q but she could definitely see her Mami's point, "Why did Mom start school late?"

"They were with your Mom's family in Holland and moved here after school started."

Santana leaned towards Dani, "Babe, just because your mom and I found each other early in life, it doesn't mean we didn't have our struggles or we still don't. It just means that when you find your one, and it might happen in kindergarten or it might happen when you're 90 years old; whenever you find him or her you hang on and you work for it and you struggle with them and you don't let go, ever."

Danielle smiled at her Mami, "Thanks for telling me this stuff! I bet Mom was super cute."

"She's still super cute and that my darling girl is how I met your mother and the love of my life!" Santana wiggled her eyebrows up and down as Dani just rolled her eyes. Parents, they could totally make you wanna puke sometimes.

"If Robbie is the one, then don't worry about Monica, you just keep your head up and your dignity and he will see you for the beautiful, wonderful, loving person you are and he will love you for you. This fighting over him though, you're better than that Danielle. She isn't worth getting in trouble at school or at home, is she?"

Danielle shook her head sadly, "No Mami, she is not worth it at all."

"Good, let's go home! I will handle your mom if you promise to think before you fight next time! You'll probably be grounded for the weekend but you're a Lopez, you can handle that right?"

Danielle nodded, "Can you do me a favor?" Santana raised an eyebrow at her eldest. "Don't let Jace know I defended him, I can't have the big nerd thinking I like him or something."

Santana smirked, "Of course not, like your brother? Pfffft, yuck, right?"

The brunette stopped and looked her daughter in the eye very seriously, "I'm really serious about the fighting Danielle Alexandra Lopez, next time and there better not be one, I will let your mother handle it and she really doesn't like fighting and swearing or getting called to the school. You'll be lucky to be allowed out of your room by Christmas! You're smart and you're brave and you're a great person, try and find a less stupid way to handle things. You don't have to handle everything the way I used to, I lost a lot of time being stupid! OK?"

Danielle hooked her arm in her Mami's, "I love you Mami!"

"I love you too baby and one word about my extremely delicious meatball sub and I throw you to the wolves, got it?"

"What meatball sub?" Danielle asked a look of adorable innocence on her pretty face.

Santana grinned from ear to ear, "That's my girl, I knew there was a reason I kept you!"

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