a/n: Hello all you beautiful people! Sorry this took so long. This chapter spans several weeks, and the baby will be here soon, so the story will be more a/u from here on out. Thanks for Starsareametophor for beta-ing this. Go check out her stories, I beta'd "Dyslexic Heart" for her, and it's awesome! Please review! xoxo

Senior year had not started out the way Santana had ever imagined it would. She was sure she would have been captain of the Cheerios, ruling the school, getting lots of good mileage out of her boob job, and modeling her fierceness after her numero uno Latina- Paula Abdul. Instead, she felt disgustingly huge, her back hurt, she waddled when she walked, she had cankles, her belly button was now an outie, as thankful as she was to feel the baby moving inside her, the jabs and kicks had become quite painful, and to top it off she was a Glee loser. It didn't help that everyone stared at her, and not for the reasons they used to. The worst of it all, because of the flesh-eating staph infection that was making its rounds with the football team, Sam wasn't there. They Skyped so he could sing to the baby, and they often fell asleep talking to each other on the phone. They also texted constantly and he insisted she send him a new picture of her bump every day. She felt stupid doing it, but it was important to him, and he assured her that she was beautiful and glowing. She wasn't so sure though. For the first time in her life she wished she was invisible, but with her ever expanding mid-section, she very obviously wasn't.

Glee club was still the highlight of her day; it was pretty much the only highlight of her day anymore. As much as most of those people annoyed her at times, they were the only people in the entire school that had her back, and since they already got to see how big she had gotten at the pool party, none of them really stared at her. Except for Brittany; and Puck too because her "jugs were fucking massive!" Still, she wished Sam was there, or at least Quinn. They were the only two people that had any idea what she was going through and no one had seen Quinn. School had already been in session for four days and the pink haired girl hadn't graced her two former best friends with her presence yet. After the food fight that smelled so awful Santana had serious difficulties not vomiting, she and Brittany chose to eat lunch on the bleachers, which turned out to be Quinn's new favorite hang-out.

"Well, well, if it isn't my two favorite sheep," the pink haired girl snickered.

"Quinn, look, this is our senior year and frankly, being in the Glee club is not the same without you," Santana confessed.

"You guys are such suckers for going back to Mr. Schue after his blatant favoritism of the hobbit," Quinn scoffed.

"Come on! Screw him, this is for us!" Santana spat. "We could win Nationals this year. We joined the Cheerios together, we joined the Glee club together and we all slept with Puckerman the same year. We're like besties for life."

"Yeah, come on Quinn," Brittany added. "We used to be the Three Musketeers, and now Santana and I are like Almond Joy, and you're like a Jolly Rancher that fell in the ashtray."

"You guys never understood the pressure I was under," Quinn growled. "It sucked. I'm not interested in the ridicule, or the slushies, or the cheesy show tunes."

"Look, I've got a bar of soap and a bottle of peroxide in my locker with your name on it. Come on Quinn, you can't break up the Unholy Trinity, and honestly, I need you. You're the only person who has any idea what I'm going through," Santana pleaded.

"People grow apart," Quinn said coldly. "Deal with it. I have new friends now, and they accept me for who I am. Enjoy your enormous bowl of disgusting creamy pasta." She rolled her eyes as she lit a cigarette, intentionally blew the smoke in Santana's face, and then walked away.

"Well, that was uncalled for," Brittany said, trying to wave the smoke away. "Is the baby okay?"

"She's fine, Britt-Britt," Santana assured her, smiling at her friend's sweetness. "Here, have some of my alfredo. I can't eat as much as I used too, the baby takes up too much space," she said, taking a forkful and handing it to Brittany. While she was thrilled to find out that Breadstix delivered, her eyes were definitely bigger than her stomach these days.

That afternoon Santana was feeling sorry for herself, and in a hormonal rage, she quit the Glee club. It didn't last long though because her days after school sucked. The only contact she could have with Sam was over the phone or online, Brittany was still in the club, and Quinn was still being weird.

Most nights she actually spent her evenings doing homework, researching what to expect after her baby's surgery, and helping her mom put the finishing touches on the nursery. It was pretty and pink, and girly, and a stark contrast to the black walls in her room, especially since the door connecting the two rooms had been knocked down. She ran her hand along the frame of the mahogany sleigh crib and reached in to pick up the stuffed unicorn that Brittany had given them. She clutched it to her chest, sat down in the matching glider, and looked around the room. She glanced at the changing table, the flowing curtains and the blossoming cherry tree that a local artist had painted on the wall and burst into tears. It was beautiful, and it terrified her. Her baby girl would be here in a matter of weeks, and she didn't think she'd ever be ready. It wasn't like she'd forget that she was pregnant if she didn't have to look at it, but for now, she needed a distraction from the seriousness of her near future. So, barely a week after she quit, she ran back to the Glee club. She needed them, and smiled to herself when she heard that Quinn had re-joined too.

"You're late!" Mr. Schuester scolded when Mercedes arrived to Booty Camp less than a minute after Santana did.

"I know, I overslept," she said apologetically.

"It's 4:30 in the afternoon", a now blonde Quinn said, rolling her eyes.

"My alarm clock went off thirty minutes late this morning. Kind of shifted my whole schedule, anyway Santana just got here too, I saw her waddle in."

"She was feeling light-headed and had to eat before she came," explained Mr. Schue.

"Why are you babying her?" Mercedes whined.

Mr. Schuester rubbed his temples, "She's pregnant, it's a little different. Anyway, are you ready?"

After no more than thirty seconds of dancing, Mercedes noticed that Santana was sitting off to the side clutching her belly, and in a moment of annoyance and jealousy, ran to the trash can holding her stomach.

"My stomach hurts, I think I'm going to be sick too." she whimpered.

"Sectionals are coming up, and we've got to give it our all," Mr. Schuester said sternly.

"I'm doing my best!"

"No, it's not about doing your best anymore, it's about doing better!"

"I don't feel good," she argued.

"You're fine."

"No, I'm not!"

"Mercedes, I want you to be the best you can be. Did you even practice this?"

"Stop picking on me!" She yelled. "You're always singling me out, making me look bad."

"That's crazy," Mr. Schuester said, shaking his head.

"No, you're crazy, for not letting me shine! Why isn't Santana dancing? She's over there sitting on her ass!"

"She's about to push a human out of her…" Brittany started, defending her best friend and forming her hands into a circle, obviously getting ready to perform some type of interesting, completely unnecessary, and no doubt highly inaccurate demonstration on childbirth.

"No one asked you, Brittany! Everyone knows Santana is your favorite now," she added, turning to Mr. Schue.

"That's not true," Mr. Schuester tried to explain.

"No, it's true! You give that knocked up slut everything, just because she can't keep her legs together, and everyone is still terrified of her wrath. Before that it was Rachel, and for two years I took it. But not anymore, I'm done!" She hissed, pushing past them and purposely knocking over the stand with the sheet music. "You know, I've outgrown you. I've outgrown all of you!"

"Mercedes! You walk out that door, you're out of Glee club," Mr. Schue warned, but Mercedes ignored him and kept walking.

The next few weeks Glee was pleasant, surprisingly drama-free, and Santana had to admit that she liked all the solos she was getting with Mercedes gone. She had even gotten a few duets with Rachel, and as much as the shorter girl annoyed her, she had to admit their voices sounded amazing together. Maybe even better than she and Mercedes sounded together. One Friday, though, things seemed to change and everyone was acting really weird. She couldn't find any of the Glee kids during lunch, and they weren't replying to her texts, not even Brittany. So, she sat with the Cheerios and they asked her obnoxious questions like how long would she wait after popping the kid out before she'd start back on the Sue Sylvester Master Cleanse, if she'd ever deafened anyone with the sound of her stretch marks rubbing together, and if she was worried that the silicone would get into her breast milk and poison the baby or turn it into a mutant or something. When she asked who put them up to those questions and Becky told her that Coach Sylvester said she wasn't at liberty to say, Santana wasn't surprised at all. She sat with them for the duration of lunch only because she was too insecure to be seen sitting by herself. Last year, she'd been the undisputed top bitch at that school, and even though she was miserable, she couldn't leave.

She got through her next two classes, but they were awkward and boring, and she really had to pee. Tina, Quinn, Mike, and Artie were in them, and they ignored her. It was the strangest thing, but they had Glee after school, and she knew they'd have to talk to her there. She should have put two and two together, but she didn't, so when she walked into the choir room and saw it decorated with pink streamers, paper storks, a cake, and giant pile of presents, she burst into tears.

"Saaan, don't cry," Brittany pleaded, rushing over and wrapping the pregnant girl in a hug. "I felt bad for hanging the storks from the ceiling too, but Tina assured me that they're fake and didn't feel it."

"That's not why I'm crying," she explained, wiping her eyes and laughing a little bit. "I can't believe you guys did this for us. I thought you were avoiding me because I'm such a bitch."

"Well, you are," Puck started, and then received a glare from Mr. Schuester. "I mean you are awesome, and it's for the kid too."

"So this is why you weren't replying to my texts," she said to her best friend.

"Well, Quinn took my phone away," Brittany explained. "She said it had a virus, and if I texted you back, you'd get it and get sick and the baby would like, never grow hair."

"Do you want some cake?" Quinn asked, changing the subject and handing Brittany's phone back after being reminded that she still had it. "I remember I was always hungry when I was pregnant."

Santana nodded enthusiastically and Tina and Rachel led her to a seat in the circle of chairs while Quinn started serving the cake. Then it was time for games. They were cheesy, and awkward, and slightly embarrassing, and she just knew that Berry had come up with them. She forced a smile while everyone guessed how much toilet paper it would take to go around her waist, and played "guess the baby food", which was disgusting and she immediately felt bad that her baby would have to eat it. She hated it, but she had to be nice because because they were giving her presents, and when that was done, it was finally time to open them.

"Open this one first," Puck said, dropping a heavy rectangular box on her lap. "I wrapped it myself."

"I can see that," she laughed, taking note of the pictures pin-up girls on the paper, and ripping it to shreds. She totally didn't need to be reminded that she didn't have a hot body anymore. "Tequila, Puckerman? Really?" Santana scoffed as she opened the box.

"It's for after you pop the kid out, obviously," he explained. "I know it's your favorite, and you're gonna need it to deal with all the crying and diapers, and Sam's clueless-ness."

"I'll take that," Mr. Schuester said, intercepting the bottle and glaring at the mohawked boy who, if he remembered correctly, was still on probation. Not to mention under age.

"I'm sure you will, Count Boozy Von-Drunk-A-Ton," Santana snickered, recalling his humiliating drunk dial during that crazy week almost nine months ago.

"Okay, let's move on, shall we?" Rachel said cheerily, wanting to avoid any awkward moments. "Why don't you open mine next?" She handed over a medium sized square box covered in glitter and sequins and an obscene amount of ribbons and bows.

"Um, thanks Rachel," Santana said, blushing when she saw what she had gotten.

"Little baby megaphones for your future Cheerio, how cute!" Brittany shrieked, snatching the box from Santana's hands and showing it to everyone else.

"Uh, Britt, that's a breast pump," Santana whispered.

"Why does the baby need that? Just because you had to inflate your boobs, doesn't mean the baby will have to. Hers might be big enough on their own."

"No, Britt, that's not what it's for. I'll explain later," Santana said. She was sufficiently mortified now. Everyone was laughing, Puck and Artie were practically hyperventilating, Finn was looking around at everyone's reactions with a dopey look on his face, and Mr. Schue's face had gone bright red.

"The lady in the store highly recommended it," Rachel said. "It's supposed to be the most effective one in its price range, and very comfortable on your nipples. It even came with a three month supply of cream that's supposed to prevent chaf-"

"Thanks Rachel!" Santana said quickly in an effort to shut her up. She did appreciate it, she knew they were pretty expensive, especially for someone in high school to buy, and it would come in handy. She had decided over the summer that she was going try breastfeeding after Sam's mom had shown her an article on all the benefits, and when they got the baby's diagnosis, she was determined to make it work. The idea of it still made her a little uncomfortable, and she wasn't sure if her implants would harm the baby, or if the surgery would diminish her chances of success, but Dr. Wu assured her that she would likely be able to do it, and it would still be the best thing for both of them. And with the baby having to stay in the hospital for several weeks and Santana's eventual return to school, she knew she'd have to pump. Still, opening something like that in front of your male friends and teacher was horrifying.

"Mine next," Finn said handing over a weirdly shaped package awkwardly wrapped in newspaper.

"By the way, I had nothing to do with Rachel's present," he grinned, a slight blush appearing over his cheeks.

"Wow, miniature drums, thanks Finn. Thanks a lot!" she laughed, and pretended to be annoyed. "That's a toy that can stay at Uncle Finn's house!"

"I had nothing to do with Finn's present either," Rachel clarified. "Why don't you open this one next? I think Mercedes' mom delivered it."

On the brightly wrapped package was a card from Mrs. Jones. Santana smiled as she opened it to discover what was inside; it was an assortment of onesies and bibs that said things like "diva", "princess", "daddy's girl", and "If you think I'm cute, you should see my mom". It was very sweet that her mother thought to do that for the girl, but it just made everyone sad that Mercedes wasn't there. She may have been a diva, and she may have had an attitude problem, but they were a family.

Next was a CD of swing music for babies along with some saddle shoes from Tina and Mike, several coordinated outfits from Blaine and Kurt, a designer diaper bag from Quinn, a variety of diapers in different sizes from Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsbury, duck themed bath supplies from Brittany, and a play mat from Artie.

"I did some research and they say that those blanket things help babies increase their upper body strength," Artie said proudly. "And it also helps their fine and gross motor skills. She'll be sitting up and then crawling in no time!"

Santana chewed her lip as she held the brightly colored fabric close to her chest. "I sure hope so," she murmured. "That's the goal, I guess."

Rachel saw how uncomfortable the other girl was becoming and quickly interrupted the conversation, "Santana? Here's the very last gift!" she enthused. "Mrs. Evans dropped this rather large box off earlier. She said that Sam sends his love and wishes he could be here."

Santana rubbed her lower back as she walked toward the brightly wrapped package that was hiding behind the piano. Her eyes got wide as she tried to guess what the box contained.

"Wow! I can't even imagine what she'd get!" Santana replied with a hitch in her voice. "She's done so much for us already, I mean, letting me live with them when I needed a place to stay."

She tentatively took the pastel ribbon off the top of the box then delicately removed the paper before she opened it, revealing a beautiful pink quilt with a cherry tree design stitched into it. It matched the nursery perfectly, so her mother must have sent pictures, and she wondered how Mary found the time to do this. As much as she didn't want to, she burst into tears again. She and Sam had fucked up big time, forever changing the lives of both of their families, and they had shown her nothing but generosity and love. She knew she definitely didn't deserve it, but her baby did. The baby was completely innocent in all of this, and Santana was thankful that everyone seemed to understand that. Even her own parents had seemed to be over their disappointment as they had bought her all the big ticket items their grandchild would need, and they all loved the baby already. She was going to have amazing grandparents.

"So, I know this is like totally lame, but whatever," Santana said, looking down at her bump and drawing invisible patterns with her fingers as the other girls finished cleaning up from the shower. "Do you guys want to come over and have a girls' night? We can organize the nursery, paint our nails, and my mom can order pizza. I mean, you guys probably have other plans, and I'm sort of a bitch sometimes, but this is probably like the last time I'll be able to do this, and.." she continued, nervously playing with the zipper on her sweater.

"Only if we order from Breadstix," Rachel started, "they're the only place in town that has a decent vegan pepperoni and dairy free cheese."

Quinn glared at her and was about to say something when Santana cut in.

"It's fine, we only go there anyways," Santana laughed.

"Well then, I'd love to. I've always wanted to see where you live, and Finn is having a family dinner."

"Mike's meeting with his chemistry tutor, so I don't have anything going on tonight," Tina admitted.

"I was going to film a new episode of Fondue For Two, but Lord Tubbington stopped pooping candy bars, and isn't very talkative these days. I think he's constipated. Plus I'm mad at him, even though he's still so hot. Those poops were crispy and delicious," Brittany shrugged. "I'll be there."

"Quinn?" Santana asked cautiously, noticing that the blonde had gotten quiet about half-way through opening presents. "Are you coming? It wouldn't be the same without you."

"Yeah, sure," she said quietly. "Let's get these presents out to your car."

They arrived at the Lopez's house, gushed over the nursery, and Skyped with Sam until Santana could tell that Quinn was becoming even more uncomfortable talking about baby stuff and hanging out in the delicate pink room. She thought to her herself how beautiful it was, and exactly how she would have wanted Beth's nursery to look if she had gotten to keep her, but it just reminded her of what she had to give up. Her parents had taken even longer to come around than Santana's had, and there was no way she was going to raise a baby with a sixteen year old Puck.

"Pizza should be here any minute, let's go downstairs," Santana said, squeezing Quinn's hand and giving her a sympathetic look.

Dinner was pleasant, but Cece had to leave the room when it occurred to her that she was seeing her daughter being a kid for what could be the last time. It was hard, and she didn't want to break down in front of them. It also warmed her heart to see that she had such supportive, non-judgmental friends. Santana enjoyed herself too, and even helped Rachel put a serious dent in the vegan pizza because she found meat disgusting ever since the thirty-second week of her pregnancy when she got sick after eating her mother's beef stroganoff, which she used to love. She had to admit, it wasn't bad, and neither was Rachel, actually.

"Why don't you girls go get in your pajamas?" Cece said upon returning. "I'll clean up and pop some popcorn, and I rented Bridesmaids."

"Thanks Mrs. Lopez, I really appreciate you having us over and ordering this delicious pizza. Your house is beautiful and I'm so glad you're back in Santana's life. I'm going to hug you now," Rachel said as the other girls headed upstairs, wrapping her arms around the middle-aged woman.

"You're welcome, dear," she laughed as she hugged her back. "Thank you for being there for my girl. I am grateful she has such good friends, although I'm surprised you've never been over before."

"Santana and I haven't always been particularly close, different social circles. She is very popular, and I'm not," Rachel explained without going any further. She wasn't about to explain that this woman's daughter had made her life hell for the past three years. Cece didn't need to know that, and Santana had definely become softer since she got pregnant, so things were better.

"I better go change," she said, realizing that it had been several minutes and the other girls were probably ready. "I'll be back down in a minute."

"Are you ready yet?" Brittany asked as she tapped on the bathroom door. They were all in their pajamas waiting on her. "The popcorn is going to get cold."

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute," Santana replied, trying to pull her top down to cover her bump. The size small maternity pajamas left a small section of her belly exposed now, as she had gotten bigger, and she was very self-conscious about it. She had been sleeping alone for a couple of months now, so it didn't really matter, and even though it was the end of October and getting cold at night, she got too hot for her other pajamas.

"You look so cute," Brittany gushed when the girl finally emerged, and reached a hand out to touch her belly.

"Ugh, I look disgusting, nothing fits," the pregnant girl whined and moved to cover herself with her hands.

"No, you really do look good," Quinn reassured her. "By the time I was that far along with Beth, my stretch marks were so bad, I wouldn't show any of my belly. You don't even have any."

"Actually, I have one," Santana admitted, pulling her top up and revealing the tiny pink line just below her belly button. It was barely a centimeter long, but when it appeared the week before, she cried about it to her mom for an hour, before eventually realizing how silly she was being. She'd caught a glimpse of Quinn changing into her Cheerios uniform last year, and she knew she was lucky in that respect.

"That's nothing," Quinn assured her, "That'll disappear in no time, all my small ones did."

The movie was funny, Santana was sure she would have enjoyed it more if she hadn't had to get up every fifteen minutes too pee, though. They offered to pause it whenever she got up, but she promised them it was okay. She was secretly texting Sam every time she left the room, and was having a hard time keeping it together. Although she was having fun with her friends, she missed him. She missed talking to him until they fell asleep, even if it was just over the phone, and she especially missed the physical contact. Even though she felt huge, and uncomfortable, and not her most beautiful in her opinion, she still had needs. She didn't care so much that she hadn't had sex since the night of the pool party, because that encounter had been really awkward with her belly. Plus they were worried about Santana's parents coming home, and Sam kept asking if "little Sam" was hurting the baby. Really though, she just missed him holding her and telling her everything would be alright, and that she was beautiful. She was trying to forget about that and enjoy herself though. These girls had been so good to her, and who knew if she was ever going to be able to do this again.

"Santana?" Quinn asked when the movie was over. "Would you like me to paint your toes? I know how hard it was to reach mine toward the end, and I would have killed to have someone do that for me," she explained sweetly.

"I'd love that," she said, trying not to cry over the gesture, and the gravity of her near future. Damn hormones.