A/N: Oooh two weeks without an update. So sorry my faithful readers. Life has a way of getting in the way of writing Mama Lopez love. But she's back! Thanks again for all your reading, reviewing, PMs, favoriting and alerting. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Give yourself a big Mama Lopez-sized hug!
The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when Maribel awoke. She slid her feet into her worn, comfortable slippers, and pulled on her robe. As she walked down the hallway, she saw a sliver of light under Brittany's door. Maribel pressed her ear against the door and heard nothing. She knocked lightly. There was no response. Mrs. Lopez carefully turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open. Her daughter was still in the same position she had left her last night. Santana was still dressed, curled up next to Brittany in a deep sleep. Her fist full of Brittany's crumpled shirt rose and fell with Brittany's sleepy breaths. Brittany had fallen asleep with her copy of MacBeth sloppily closed with crumpled pages at her side.
Santana stirred as Maribel closed the door. She heard her mother's faint footsteps descend the stairs as she stretched her cramped hand over Brittany's chest. Santana smiled to herself, despite the pain in her neck and the drool she wiped from her chin. She watched Brittany sleep, half sitting up in the awkward position she had fallen asleep in. Brittany's steady heart beat under Santana's palm. Santana sat up, hand still pressed lightly on Brittany's chest, careful not to disturb her girlfriend. Brittany's arm fell from Santana's waist, and Santana gently placed it over Brittany's rising and falling stomach.
These moments are like church to Santana. Rather, what church is supposed to be like, to the faithful. No worrying about moving or jobs or apartments. There isn't a doubt in her mind. There isn't even a thought in her mind. Watching Brittany sleep, with a soft palm over her heart is like Zen meditation for Santana. It's a rare moment, since Brittany is almost always up before her. But on this rare occasion Santana feels as light as air. Feels at peace with everything in the world. Feels so in love with Brittany.
Santana would've been content to stay there for another hour, but worked called, as did the coffee she could smell wafting up from the kitchen. Santana changed her clothes, freshened up and found her mother packing her lunch in the kitchen.
"You don't have to do that for us you know," Santana smiled.
Maribel shrugged. "Just because I don't have to, doesn't mean I don't want to."
"You been talking to Judy too much, haven't you?" Santana's lips curled into a smirk as she sipped her coffee.
Maribel just rolled her eyes and shook her head lightly, "Of course we talk. We've always talked."
Santana raised her eyebrow, "Since when?"
"Since forever. Since you started Cheerios with Quinn, and her divorce and Beth and the accident and she called just the other week talking about how good you and Brittany were with Quinn and her scars," Maribel smiled.
"It was nothing," Santana slightly shrugged.
"Well it was something to Quinn and especially Judy, so there," Mrs. Lopez asserted.
Santana heard the shower turn on upstairs. "Britt's up," Santana said to herself, as she moved to the fridge and retrieved the carton of eggs.
"You didn't think to make me breakfast while we were talking and I was packing your lunch?" Maribel teased.
"I just finished one cup of coffee Mama, give me a break," Santana shook her head.
"Uh huh," Maribel smiled.
"Shut up," Santana smiled back and began making omelets.
Santana could hear the squeal of the power saw behind the store, as she continued moving and organizing the sections of books. Aside from the carpentry, it was quiet today without Quinn there. Jill was manning the counter, but there were hardly any customers. Santana wiped the sweat from her brow and checked her phone for the time.
"Thank god for lunch," Santana breathed, standing up and brushing off her pants.
"Oh. My. God," she heard from behind her. There was no mistaking that exasperated high-pitched tone.
"What's the matter Prancy," Santana said not turning around.
"You're wearing cargo pants," Kurt squealed in horror.
Santana put her hands on her hips and turned around. Kurt noticed her eyebrow was arched dangerously high.
"I'm working."
"But you actually…paid money for them. Like, went to the store, tried a few pairs on and when you found ones that fit, actually paid money for them. And to top it all off, you're wearing them."
"Look Tim Gunn, I bought these a couple years ago. Britt asked me to come with her when she got that volunteer job at the animal shelter. And this job means getting dusty and sweaty," Santana explained, wiping her hands on her pant legs again. "So it's these or jeans."
"It's just so…so…butch chic," Kurt was almost at a loss for words.
"Did you just call me butch?" Santana cocked her head and moved so close to Kurt, she almost stepped on his toes.
"I believe I said 'chic'," Kurt smiled back at Santana and right through her show of intimidation.
"Watch yourself Lady Lips, or I'll smack that smirk off your pretty pony face," Santana threatened, then let a smile slowly cross her lips.
"I'd hug you if you weren't all sweaty," Kurt said, stepping back.
"Like I'd let you," Santana laughed dismissively. "So," Santana began as she grabbed her lunch. "What brings you to the bookstore. Shouldn't you be at the tire shop? Or is it spa day?"
"I talked to April," Kurt said, dusting off a café chair and sitting down.
"And?" Santana smiled as she pulled out her sandwich.
"I got the job doing costume work for an off-off Broadway theatre!" Kurt gushed.
"I'm happy for you Kurt," Santana smiled, but forced her enthusiasm. "Congratulations," she nodded.
"I'm also here to tell you to call April. She has a job opening that she wasn't sure you were right for, but I'm going to call her right now and tell her you are," Kurt said, pulling out his phone.
Santana dropped her sandwich and put her hand on Kurt's arm. "Wait, what job?"
"They're renovating a theatre, there's a lot of construction going on and they need an assistant." Kurt explained.
"Assistant what?" Santana asked.
"To the guy running it. Overseeing it."
"Be vaguer Kurt."
"I don't know the specifics. She didn't think you could handle getting dirty, but obviously, you've got some cargo pants and Timberlands to go with, so you'll be fine," Kurt winked.
"Quit it with the cargo pants or I'll hack your Facebook and post about how excited you are for the new Sophia Vergara line at K-Mart."
Kurt gasped. "You wouldn't."
"One more word Hummel and find out," Santana glared.
"That's…that's like a hate crime," Kurt complained.
"Not. Another. Word," Santana threatened.
"I love Sophia, but…" Kurt whispered and shuddered to himself.
Santana took a few more bites of her lunch and asked, "So you've got the job lined up. Got an apartment yet?"
"No," Kurt sighed. "I'm flying out next week to look at some places that I doubt I can afford even with the full-time job and savings."
"Britts and me are going next week too. She's got some time off of summer school for 4th of July."
"Apartment hunting?" Kurt asked.
Santana nodded. "And job interviews. Britt's got two lined up. And after I talk to April, I'll hopefully have one too," Santana smiled.
"Two?, what's Brittany's secret?" Kurt asked.
Santana shrugged and grinned, "She's Britt."
"Well I've got to get back to the tire shop," Kurt said standing up to leave. "You want to compare apartment lists before we go to New York? I mean, maybe we could meet up there?"
Santana simply smiled and nodded.
Kurt grinned and paused. He looked like he wanted to give Santana a hug. Santana didn't move. She just looked expectantly at him. He opted to pat her on the shoulder as he walked away. Santana turned back to her lunch and smiled, then looked back at Kurt and shook her head. For all the shit she's given him, she really did admire Kurt. Santana admired his strength and truth. She envied him sometimes; that ability to just know and be and live like she couldn't for so long. She had resolved to make up for that. She teased him now like she would a brother. As that last thought crossed her mind, Pete walked into the store through the back door.
"Hey Santana," Pete greeted.
Santana looked up and took in his sawdust-covered, sweat-stained clothes.
"Hey Pete," Santana replied. "Come in to cool off?"
"Yeah," he smiled and walked to get the iced coffee Jill placed at the end of the counter for him. He returned and stood by Santana's table. "You think you can give me a hand when you're done with lunch?"
"Um, sure," Santana replied. "But why me? You've got Rich out there, don't you?"
Pete shook his head. "He took another job, so I'm finishing this one up."
"It's not because…" Santana started; worried Rich was so offended by her gayness he left.
"Oh no. Nothing like that," Pete smiled with reassurance. "He might be a jerk, but he's not a complete asshole. No, he got a long term, better paying job over at the Motta's. They're putting in like, a real library in their house," Pete said, shaking his head at the extravagance. "I'll go help him after I'm done here today."
"You're almost finished?" Santana asked. She looked over at the work she completed and thought it paled in comparison to building new shelves and fixing all the old ones.
"Yep. Just need your help to flip over the last bookcase, so I can finish staining it. Then it's all yours," Pete grinned.
Santana followed Pete out back and took in his worksite. All the sawdust had been swept, a clean mobile workbench sat nearby with a can of wood stain on top, and a half-finished bookcase sat on two collapsible saw horses.
"Ready?" Pete asked, grabbing one end of the bookcase.
Santana nodded and picked up the opposite end. They flipped it easily, if not awkwardly over, placing it gently on the soft padded rails of the sawhorses. Santana ran her fingers of the foam padding.
"So the wood doesn't get marked," Pete explained.
Santana nodded.
"Um, this might be out of line or whatever," Pete said quietly pulling out a paintbrush from his back pocket. "But I'm sorry about the ad. That shouldn't happen to anyone. Ever."
Santana sucked her lip into her mouth and nodded, not lifting her eyes from the bookcase. A little smile crept across her lips. "Thanks," she said, looking up at Pete, nodding again.
Pete gave Santana a little smile, then his face broke out into a big grin.
"Hey honey," Brittany whispered in her ear, as she wrapped her arms around Santana's waist.
The soft warm breath tickling her ear put the sweetest smile on her face. Pete just smiled at them and started staining the bookcase.
"Hey, I didn't think you were coming by," Santana replied, turning in Brittany's embrace to face her.
"School's out. Studying with Quinn. You know, like every other day," Brittany said rolling her eyes.
"Quinn had physical therapy today. She's home. Probably waiting for you," Santana smirked.
"Oops," Brittany whispered, biting her lip.
"You knew that didn't you," Santana said. "You just wanted to come see me," she smiled, tickling at her girlfriend's waist.
Brittany giggled, "Noooo…okay yes, yes. Stop!"
Brittany had her hands on Santana's stilling them at her waist. She looked over Santana's shoulder.
"Hi!" Brittany grinned.
"Hi," Pete waved back with the paintbrush in hand.
"Oh Pete, this is Brittany. Britt, this is Pete," Santana stepped back to introduce them.
"Nice to meet you. Sorry, I can't hang. I have a date with Chemistry and Quinn," Brittany said, pulling Santana in for a hug.
"See you for dinner?" Santana asked, pulling back from the hug.
"Of course," Brittany smiled and gave Santana a quick kiss on the lips.
Pete watched Brittany walk back into the store.
"She's cute," Pete commented.
"And taken," Santana said, turning to face him.
Pete chuckled and shook his head, "Yeah, I got that."
Santana went back inside to finish her work. She spent the rest of the afternoon sorting and stacking and moving and quietly cursing under her breath. Jill brought over the plans for how they're reorganizing the new sections with the new bookcases. It was a nice break for Santana. Plus, it was the planning part she liked. Jill returned to the front of the store to help a customer, and Santana returned to the mountain of books.
Pete poked his head in the back door, "What, you're not finished yet?" he grinned.
Santana slammed down a big stack of books on the floor and looked up to make sure Jill had gone back to the register. She had. Santana raised her middle finger at him.
"Kiss my ass Weasley."
"Ok, it is a nice ass," he happily replied, stepping into the rear of the store.
Santana laughed. "Stop it!" she said, shooing him away.
"Hey, I was just letting you guys know I gotta go. Can you tell Jill I'll come by tomorrow to finish up the paperwork? She'll know what I'm talking about," Pete said.
"Sure thing. Nice meeting you Pete," Santana said, extending her hand.
Pete readily shook it. "It's always nice meeting family," Pete said as he turned and left.
"Brittany!" Mrs. Lopez yelled from the kitchen.
"Yes?" Brittany called back from upstairs.
"Can you set the table please?"
Brittany bounced down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"How's school going?" Maribel asked, closing the oven door.
Brittany shrugged, "It's okay."
"You lie worse than Santana," Maribel teased.
Brittany sighed. "It's okay. It's just, chemistry really made my brain hurt today. Quinn and I have been reviewing, but…"
"Getting more intense?"
"Very intense," Brittany sighed. "I don't know if I'm going to keep the B average I started with."
"Funny thing about school and life," Maribel said.
"What's that?"
"School is always about getting good grades and working hard to learn all sorts of subjects. It's good to learn all those things, don't get me wrong. But that's not life. Life isn't about getting A's or B's or C's. It's pass or fail. That's it," Maribel explained.
"I wish my classes were pass-fail," Brittany pouted as she set the table.
Maribel chuckled, "I bet. Problem is Brittany, if you fail in life, you can't always just retake it like you're doing with Chemistry or Lit. Life's pass-fail because it's harder. Even though, right now, it's Chemistry giving you all the headaches."
Brittany straightened a fork on the placemat and frowned. "But Chemistry is really hard."
"And so is life," Maribel said, putting a hand on her shoulder, turning Brittany to face her. "But here's the secret no one really tells you. It's a rare, rare thing for life to throw you something you can't handle."
Santana slammed the front door shut with a bang.
"Really Santana?" Maribel complained.
"Sorry," Santana apologized. "My arms are practically numb after today. I'm gonna take a shower."
Santana gave a quick tired smile to Brittany and went upstairs.
"I mean really Brittany. You are dating my daughter, and planning to live with her in New York. You think Chemistry is hard? The periodic table's got nothing on our Santana, now does it?" Maribel smiled.
"Well, maybe raising her was tough for you, but loving her is as easy as breathing," Brittany stated plainly.
Maribel pulled Brittany into a hug and sighed. "Yes, you're right about that Brittany. Loving her is easy."
Santana came down and found Maribel still hugging Brittany.
"What happened? What's wrong? Britt?" Santana rushed to uncover Brittany's face from her mother's shoulder.
Brittany smiled at Santana. "I'm fine, silly."
Santana breathed out a sigh of relief. "Then what's with the love fest?"
"Do I need a reason to love Brittany?" Maribel asked.
"I could give you a million," Santana replied with a smile.
"Seriously Britt, what was with all the Mama Lopez love down there?" Santana asked, picking at the frayed hem of her pajama shorts.
"Chemistry kicked my ass today," Brittany sighed as she flopped down on Santana's bed.
"I thought it was going well? You got a B on your test," Santana reminded her.
"I know, but it's just getting harder. My head is just so full of all these equations and rules and formulas. It's getting all mixed up in there and it just…I don't have extra time Santana. It's a compressed schedule. I have to get it right or else."
Santana sat down next to Brittany and wiped a frustrated tear that snuck out the corner of Brittany's eye.
"It's okay to be scared," Santana whispered. "Being scared just means you really, really want it. And that's a good thing, right?"
Brittany sniffed and nodded. "But you've been scared about New York too, and I wanted to not be for you, you know?"
"I'm not scared," Santana said looking over at the window. "Just…worried about the apartment, and you know…life stuff. Paying the bills. Not getting the heat turned off in January."
Brittany put her hand up to Santana's cheek and guided her eyes to her own. "And the job? You were scared about not getting a job."
"Kurt came into the bookstore today. He talked to April. I'm calling her tomorrow. Looks like she might have a job for me after all," Santana grinned.
Brittany pulled Santana on top of her and gave her a big hug. "Oh honey, that's so great! Congratulations. I'm so proud of you," she cooed in Santana's ear.
"And I'm proud of you," Santana replied, rubbing her nose against the shell of Brittany's ear. "You're working so, so hard. I know you're scared, and that's okay. It is. Just talk to Quinn tomorrow. Tell her. You two will figure it out together."
"But what if I fail?" Brittany whined.
"Then we'll deal with that together," Santana whispered, giving Brittany another squeeze. "I already told you, I'm not going anywhere without you."
"And I'm not going anywhere without you," Brittany replied.
Santana sat up and tucked a stray hair behind Brittany's ear. "Well that's settled then. We're stuck with each other. Pass, fail, homeless," she chuckled. "We'll do it together."