Chapter 6

Might come to be.

"He's gorgeous. How old is he?"

"Thank you. He'll be 5 months in a week." Santana answered politely with a proud smile, pushing the shopping cart.

She had gone to the grocery store to buy all the ingredients to cook one of Brittany's favourite dinners. Been on her last month of extended maternity leave gave her a longing feeling; time seemed to fly when she was at the happiest and enjoying her own family. It was surprising that the domesticity settled so well with her.

Dominic proved once again to be the little gentleman they always thought and accompanied her without a fuss, not that he had an option anyway… He was silently cooing to himself while chewing on a plastic set of interesting keys. The other woman stepped closer and trailed her fingers through his silky blonde hair and earned a look that could be described as questioning. The baby looked at her curiously for a second before resuming his important task, safely strapped to the baby cart seat.

The woman smirked "I can see where he gets it from. Mommy's gorgeous as well," She spoke on a flirty manner looking pointedly at Santana.

Santana chuckled raising a suspicious eyebrow "Of course, he looks exactly like her. You should see them together; two peas in a pod,"

A knowing laugh left thin lips "But she's not here, is she?"

The baby boy looked at the woman when he heard the foreign sound and stopped his still uncoordinated movements. His mami turned serious and her voice rang colder. Dominic inquisitive eyes were watching the exchange as if knowing what was happening.

"She is. You're seeing a huge part of her."

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just that you two are really cute together." The woman instantly recoiled.

"It's called happiness." Santana stated with honesty lacing her voice and her stern posture left no room for refusal.

No road to turn, the woman offered them an apologetic smile before leaving on her own way "It shows. Nice to meet you, little one. You're very lucky," She shook one of Dominic's unwilling hands "Your wife sure is too." It was directed at Santana, who smiled at the term but said not a word.

Santana resumed her walk through the aisle and Dominic gurgled loudly at her, smiling the lovable toothless smile that could disarm anyone. He was pumping his legs frantically as if trying to run; the bright lights reflecting on his baby blues. His mami took her time observing him, like she always did. She traced every little feature on his angelic face and was amazed by it.

It was amazing to know that the baby boy was hers; he was someone she helped to create. He was equally Brittany's and hers. Theirs.

Your wife… The words resounded on her mind. They weren't married but she felt like a wife, she felt like the wife of that quirky blonde woman with the sparkling blue eyes and that thought alone brought the smile that stretched on her lips. She had waited too long to pop the question.

Dominic tried to eat her nose when she nuzzled his but ceased the attempts as Santana playfully bit on the apple of his rounded cheeks and his baby laugh resonated on the aisle along with her chuckles. She stopped the assault and buried her nose in his little neck, trying to inhale as much of his smell as she could; she wished she could bottle it up somehow. The baby babbled at her when she stood straight again and the little expression Dominic had on his face reminded her of Brittany when she was thinking of something important but didn't say what.

"You would be the cutest ring bearer of all time," Santana said to the boy and gave him the keys back. Dominic cooed and took them eagerly. "She'll say yes, right? What do you think?"

She laughed at herself because the thought gave her a funny feeling, in a good way. "We'll have to be sneaky and buy the right ring. And probably call an adult because here I am asking to my 4 month old baby for advice." Her steps felt lighter as she started to push the cart again but the buzzing of her mobile phone interrupted her.

Silly smitten teenage girl was an accurate description at the way Santana lighted up when she saw who was calling and with a dopey grin she answered.

"Hey baby, we were just talking about you,"

"D'aww, good things I hope," Brittany said through a smile.

Santana chuckled lightly "Of course. How's your day going?"

Some paper rustling accompanied the annoyed huff "It sucks; I miss you both so much. I hate this week."

"Britt, its Monday."

"I know and I just want to go home to my baby boy and my woman," Brittany voiced unabashed.

Smiling pouty lips dropped a kiss to an oblivious Dominic "Your woman, huh?"

Brittany reclined her seat and stared at the photo of Santana on her computer screen "That's right, my woman, no one else's. As I'm yours."

"Mine, only mine." The warm tone of her voice made Brittany want to run out of her office and into Santana. And at the same time, Santana was thinking that soon her title would change.

I've been trying to be where you are,
and I've been secretly falling apart, unseen …

"Mom, can we please just go grab something to eat? I'm starving," Brittany whined with defeated shoulders.

Her mother pursed her lips while looking around the huge mall for the right place "Good lord child, you are worse than your father. Buckle up, we're almost done,"

"That's what you said four stores ago and we're still walking."

"I just need to pick the right vase and we're-" Angela stopped herself when she saw a familiar figure passing them by a few feet away "Hey, isn't that your girlfriend?" She pointed towards Santana, who was laughing discreetly at something an elegant older woman said to her.

Brittany smiled instantly "Unfortunately she's not my girlfriend and how do you know her?" She questioned with furrowed brows.

"Well, you should hurry up darling and everybody knows her, Maddie has a million photos of the two of you. Besides, you talk about her all the time. This is why I peeked at her company's profile and maybe Google…"

"Of course you did…" The younger blonde scratched the top of her head in fake exasperated manner.

Her mother shrugged nonchalantly "Well, I needed to know about the mother of my future grandchildren."

"Mom! We're not even-"

"Oh come on, like you don't want to. Better wipe the drool of that dopey grin before we say hello. Santana!" Angela shouted with Brittany walking closely behind, embarrassment written all over her features.

Both women turned around and found the blonde pair. Santana sheepishly waved a hand at them and hooked her arm to her mother's, who was amused at the clear excitement of the woman.

With rapid steps, the women were standing together in a heartbeat. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Santana. I'm Angela, Brittany's mother," She said smiling and hugged an unexpecting Santana.

Her full lips stretched to form a genuine smile and gladly accepted the warm gesture "Nice to meet you too Mrs. Pierce. This is my mother, Maribel," The woman nodded, stretching her hand politely while Mrs. Pierce protested at the formality and insisted to be called just Angela.

"Nice to meet you, Angela. So this is the famous Brittany. I've heard so much about you." This time Maribel spoke, inspecting the tall blonde in front of her with a knowing smile.

Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink under her scrutiny "Good things I hope. So, uhm, are you shopping?" Asking the obvious was a nervous habit Brittany had and hated.

The other three laughed at her, and she directed a pout to Santana "I am, this one is just my annoyed companion. But she doesn't have the patient I require for this particular endeavor," Angela answered dramatically and explained, mainly to Maribel, what she was looking for, so Dr. Lopez offered her help and the foursome resumed the touring, leaving the younger women behind.

Brittany and Santana were mere spectators of their mothers' quick bonding over fancy crystal, wordlessly walking side by side.

"How's Camille?" Santana broke the silence with a question that brought a bitter taste.

Unfazed by the query, Brittany replied quietly "Good, I'll see her on Tuesday."

Santana knew her idiotic move had consequences because Brittany saw the woman again and it wasn't a one-time thing or as casual as she liked to believe "Wow, it's the fifth time you're going out. Planning on making it official?"

"I don't think so," The blonde had her back to Santana and couldn't see the agitation slowly creeping to the surface. She just heard Santana clearing her throat.

"But you do like going out with her,"

"It's fun." Brittany replied coolly, pretending to inspect a crystal unicorn. It was the truth, Camille Harper turned out to be quite pleasant company providing the distraction she desperately needed and wasn't afraid of been with her. She also respected her special relationship with Santana and the time Brittany dedicated to her; it was something that could never change.

Santana remained muted; she didn't have anything to say, she couldn't say what she wanted anyway. She passed by Brittany, brushing her shoulder on her back as she did so. Blue eyes trailed after her as she settled on a spot, fixating her non-existent attention on the figurines contained inside a display cabinet.

With sure steps, Brittany followed her, standing closely behind her. Too close for Santana's sanity and she felt her breath grazing a little left ear as Brittany whispered and practically leaned into her to point at nothing in particular. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Gulping audibly, Santana could do nothing but nod her response, painfully aware of the proximity and the familiar scent filling her senses. Her reaction fueled Brittany bold move and she pressed her body a even more, practically trapping Santana in between the cabinet and her.

"I won't wait forever." She murmured against her cheek. She kissed her there sweetly and stepped away. Suffice to say, Santana was stunned into place until her mother found her and informed they were having lunch with the Pierces. Keeping the distance she wanted was getting harder each time and her resolve was wavering more than ever…

That Tuesday night Brittany was lying awake on a foreign bed. The body next to her was sound asleep while her conflicted mind replayed the recent events that led her there. One moment she was having a nice dinner with Camille, next thing she knows, she's in her bedroom, stumbling onto the mattress. After all it was the next step, only in the wrong direction, with the wrong person and she felt nothing. The numbness enveloped her and with a resigned sigh, she pushed all thoughts of dark brown eyes aside and fell asleep as well.

Somehow, Santana knew. She noticed little things changed in Brittany's demeanor and she decided not to question further for her own sake. Much to her torture, Brittany kept her close but the calls and texts were not only hers. Camille was assuming a role she denied at first and the regret was starting to take its toll.

She was beyond happy when Angela called her to organize Brittany's 27 birthday party at the Pierce home. Santana was conflicted at first because she thought that was something Camille would like to do given the budding relationship they seemed to have but ultimately decided against it and felt relieved when she overheard a conversation Brittany was having with the woman that let her know she was going out of town that weekend. God still loved her, she thought.

Of course it wasn't a total surprise for the blue eyed blonde because her mother was anything but subtle and sneaky. However, she was surprised when she knew that practically everything was planned by Santana and even Maribel joined the celebration much to Brittany's pleasure. Apparently, Dr. Lopez had a lot of things in common with Angela and now was a good friend of her parents.

"That girl loves you so much. She just doesn't admit it yet."

The grave voice interrupted her thoughts and her lingering gazing upon a carefree Santana playing with Maddie and a bunch of little cousins.

Brittany smiled sadly and took a healthy swig of the beer her father offered her. The tall man sat next to her and threw an arm around her shoulders. Brittany instantly slumped into the affectionate gesture.

"Why is so difficult to accept something like that?" She exhaled heavily.

"She's scared honey. It's not easy to let someone in completely and let go. If it cuts you, cuts you deeper than you can understand and she was cut already,"

Her expression hardened "But I'm not like her father or that stupid love that left her without looking back." Brittany straightened her posture, looking into her father's eyes that weren't as blue as hers or her mother's.

"I know baby, and she does too," He dropped a kiss to a worried forehead "I think you mean more to her than those people. The woman knows everything, absolutely everything about you, every single detail I don't even know; all of this was her doing…" Arthur gestured to the beautifully decorated garden and the people in it "And that's why she's so cautious. You can break her completely."

"And if she breaks me?"

"Then, stop playing honey." And with that, the serious conversation was over and the both of them rejoined the celebratory mood but not without Brittany repeating and storing the words.

Only the closest friends and family accompanied Brittany that evening. Music and laughter filled the air and Santana was proud and satisfied with it. She took a minute to observe her surroundings leaning on the pool area security railing when she felt a gentle tug on her elbow and was enveloped in familiar arms; the scent was the one she grew accustomed to.

Brittany hugged her tightly and she was reluctant at first, but finally settled with her arms around a pale neck. "Thank you. It means the world to me." Was whispered wholeheartedly.

"It was nothing Britt." She chuckled, stepping out of the hold. Brittany just stood there, giving her the biggest of smiles. Santana cleared her throat after a minute and playfully bumped her shoulder.

"So, have you decided on a dress already? I'm still debating myself,"

Santana huffed in frustration "Same. So far I've got 3 finalists,"

"Good thing we have a week then. Should I pick you up an hour before the ceremony?" Brittany asked while stretching her arms above her head, popping some bones into place.

Santana winced both at the sound and the immediate words that came to her mind "I thought you were going with Camille. Isn't she your girlfriend?"

"There's a reason Mike didn't sent you the invitation with a plus 1."

"What makes you think I'm going with you?" She teasingly challenged, dismissing the restless feeling settling on her stomach.

Brittany patted her on the shoulder in a patronizing manner "You are. It's not up for discussion,"

"But-"

"Nu uh, no buts. We're going to Mike and Tina's wedding together and we'll have a great time." Blue eyes smiled playfully at dark brown ones, offering a strange sense of peacefulness.

Unbeknownst to her, Santana was on the verge of crumbling completely.

Sometimes, the first thing you want never comes,
and I know, the waiting is all you can do
Sometimes ...