Mrs. Lopez found Brittany and Santana sitting quietly at the kitchen island.
"Okay girls, let's get some basic house rules out of the way, shall we?" Maribel began. "We're treating Sundays through Thursdays as school nights for Brittany, as long as Summer School is in session. Curfew is 10pm. Not that there's any reason for you to be out on a school night Brittany. But if you were at Quinn's studying, for example, you're expected home no later than 10. Okay?"
Brittany nodded, "That's fair."
Maribel nodded back, "Good."
"Weekends?" Santana asked.
"Use your judgment," Maribel answered.
Santana looked at Brittany and smirked. Brittany smiled back.
"You're both 18 and will be on your own soon enough. We're letting you use your own judgment on that. However, abuse that privilege with poor judgment, and there will be a curfew on weekends. Are we clear?"
Brittany and Santana both gave their "we'll be good, we promise" enthusiastic nods.
Brittany raised her hand.
Maribel chuckled and called on her, "Yes Brittany?"
"Um…how could we abuse it?"
"Don't you dare wake me up in the middle of the night, or we'll be making some adjustments," Maribel explained.
"You mean you'll be making some adjustments," Santana grumbled under her breath.
Mrs. Lopez ignored her.
"Next; chores. Lord Tubbington is all yours Brittany. And, like Santana you're responsible for keeping your room clean and reasonably tidy."
Brittany raised her hand again.
"Yes Brittany?"
"Define 'reasonably tidy'."
"You should be able to see your bed and the floor. There's a laundry basket in your room for a reason. Use it. You're also responsible for vacuuming it once a week."
"K, I can do that," Brittany complied.
"You and Santana are also responsible for the hall bathroom. Keep it disaster-free and clean it once a week as well," Maribel continued. "That's it for standard chores."
Santana and Brittany both scrunched their noses at bathroom duty, but agreed to the terms.
"Now, as for other house rules," Maribel continued. "Contrary to what you may think, I'm not the sex police."
Santana covered her face and groaned. That was blunt, she thought. It was still uncomfortable hearing her mother say the word 'sex'. She squirmed a little thinking back to the time they had been caught, or rather nearly caught at the beginning of the year. It didn't matter that her mother knew they've been having sex for longer than Santana cared to think. Santana hearing the word 'sex' come out of her mother's mouth made her a little nauseous and uneasy. But, that didn't stop her from feeling a little indignation over her mother's words.
"So the 'Open Door policy' that we've had for the past six months isn't 'policing'?" Santana argued.
Maribel gave her daughter a pointed look. "As parents, it's our job to set basic rules of behavior and politeness in our home. Or is that suddenly news to you?"
Santana dropped her gaze to her hands and pushed on her cuticles.
"Look," Maribel let out a breath of frustration and to steady herself. "You two were minors and in high school. Those were the rules. We're adjusting those rules."
Santana's fingers stilled. Brittany raised an eyebrow with curiosity.
"You will be sleeping in your own rooms, in your own beds."
"But…" Santana protested.
"I don't want to know about it," Maribel explained. "How would you like it if your father and I…"
"Oh my God don't finish that sentence!" Santana interrupted.
Brittany stifled a laugh, while Santana wished brain bleach was real.
"Just because I know about you two, doesn't mean I want to know," Mrs. Lopez continued. "Just please, be respectful and discreet."
Santana looked over at her mother with a questioning look.
"Yes, I'm treating you like the adults you are…well, sort of are. At least I'm trying. Respectful and discreet. That's all I'm asking, okay?"
Santana nodded slowly, "Thanks Mama…I think?"
Brittany raised her hand.
"You don't have to raise you hand Brittany," Mrs. Lopez smiled. "And to answer the question I know you have, let's keep it simple: not when I'm in the house."
"Got it," Brittany said with finality and a smile. She really wanted this conversation to be over.
Santana sat up a little. "So just let me get this straight. Clean rooms and bathroom, curfews are at 10 and 'don't wake you up', and don't give you a chance to walk in on us."
Mrs. Lopez nodded, her lips tight. This conversation needed to be over for her too.
Santana's mind started mapping out 'Mama-Free House time' in her head and let a small, relieved smile cross her lips. "I'm pretty sure we can handle that, right Britt?" Santana looked to Brittany for agreement.
"Sure," Brittany agreed with a shrug.
"Brittany, my work schedule is on the fridge, with my office number," Mariblel pointed out.
Brittany got up to inspect it. "9-3? Those are kind of weird hours Mrs. L."
"I negotiated them when Santana started school, and I've kept them ever since," Maribel explained.
"That's nice," Brittany smiled and nudged Santana.
"Santana didn't always think so, did you?" Maribel teased, her eyes turned toward her daughter.
Santana smiled and nodded. "You being home every day I got home from school? Totally cramped my style Mama."
Maribel walked over and gave her a hug then hugged Brittany. "That's my job," she cheerfully said.
Santana rolled her eyes, "Is that it? Are we done?"
"One more thing," Maribel stated, pulling a notepad from a kitchen drawer. "Grocery list and budget. We're going shopping tomorrow. First grown-up lesson of the summer," Maribel informed them. "Then you're free the rest of the day. Promise."
Brittany furrowed her brow, "This involves Math, doesn't it."
"Nothing more than addition and subtraction, you'll be fine Brittany," Maribel comforted. "Now let's get this done."
The three of them talked about dinner menus for the week. Took inventory of the refrigerator and pantry, made a list and discussed a weekly food budget. After two hours of this, Santana had enough.
"We're good. We got it. I'm so done with this," she complained.
"Me too, my head hurts," Brittany sighed.
"It'll get easier, I promise," Maribel said. "Okay, that's it. You're free. I release you!"
Santana and Brittany didn't blink. They got up and rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to Brittany's new room.
Brittany fell onto her bed, arms spread wide. Santana closed the door and slide onto the bed next to her.
"Aren't we supposed to keep the door open?" Brittany asked, turning her head toward Santana.
"Those were the old rules. They weren't carried over to the new rules. At least, I didn't hear that, did you?" Santana ask, her eyebrows raised and teasing.
"No but I don't want to piss your Mom off when I haven't been here one day," Britt whined.
"She loves you. Look, it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Plus, it makes up for the 'school night' curfew. I mean, you're 18. You can decide when you go to bed and get up for school," Santana complained.
"Actually…I agreed to that time with my Mom before she left. These aren't all your Mom's rules, their mine too. And, well, it's really, really important that I do well in school this summer, so I thought it was good to have some limits, so I concentrated on my work and got enough sleep," Brittany explained.
Santana stared at Brittany blankly for a second then composed herself and smiled. "I knew you'd take school seriously, but, wow. I mean…wow."
"Of course I take it seriously silly," Brittany smiled. "It's about you and me and us. So I'm going to do well in these two classes, and I've got a couple of job opportunities lined up for New York and looked into some dance classes and I checked out a school with work study, but I'm not sure I want to go to school full time, and…"
"Wait, you already have two jobs lined up?" Santana sat up.
Brittany sat up with her. "Well yeah, I talked to Coach and asked for help, and she knew an alum that needed an assistant, and I asked Charlie over at the Humane Society for help and he knows a guy at a no-kill shelter there, so I still have to make some calls, send some emails and stuff, but it looks good."
Santana opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Was it fear? Jealousy? She signed up for acting and voice lessons, but her job prospects were hazy. She didn't want to rely solely on the money her Mom gave her. That was to help with rent and save it for emergencies.
"Santana? Earth to Santanaaaa," Brittany teased.
"Sorry," Santana snapped out of funk. "That's great Britt. Sounds like you've got some solid plans. So dance school? You're going to blow them away, you're so awesome."
Brittany blushed, "You're biased Santana. I'm all right. But it's something. I'm not sure what I want to do for a career. I know I like dancing and animals, so I'm going to take dance classes and hopefully work at the shelter, and see which one works out…for now. I dunno…"
"Hey, Britt," Santana comforted, cupping Brittany's face with her hand. "You don't have to know what you want to do for the rest of your life. The fact that you have a couple ideas is great."
"Yeah?"
Santana nodded with a smile, "Definitely."
"And you? You told me about your classes. What about a job?"
"Work in progress," Santana replied with a forced smile.
Brittany raised her eyebrows, searching for further information. Santana ignored her silent ask.
"Well, let me know if you want any help with that," Brittany replied.
Santana's phone buzzed inside her pants pocket.
"Hello?"
"Please save me from my mother."
"Door's open Q."
Santana hung up the phone and looked over at Brittany.
"What did Quinn want?"
"Sanctuary. Apparently Judy is driving her nuts," Santana chuckled. "Come on. Let's go warn Mama."