a/n: here's chapter 19! Is anyone still reading? Lol. I don't know if there was a problem with this site, or if everyone's lost interest in this story. I actually thought the last chapter was one my best, but barely anyone read it and I didn't get any reviews for weeks after I posted it. Maybe people didn't get notifications or maybe y'all are mad at me for taking so long to update, or maybe this story has run its course. That's fine too. This was my first story, and I've had a blast writing it, and getting feedback, and seeing my writing improve over the last few chapters. Thanks for joining me, and let me know if you care whether I continue or not, or if I should wrap it up in the next couple of chapters. Once again, thanks to Starsareametaphor for beta'ing this for me and so much more. Go check her stories out, they're amazing!

Sam received a clean bill of health just in time. Santana was thirty seven weeks pregnant, and her scheduled c-section was just one week away. She'd been having semi-weekly ultrasounds since she entered her second trimester, and so far the baby was handling everything just fine, but they didn't want to wait any longer. She was considered full-term now, and scheduling it insured that the team of specialists would be there to assist the baby right away. She was ecstatic to be around him again, even though they weren't in any of the same classes this year, and she couldn't count the times that she had craved a crisp pickle but couldn't find anyone to suck the lid off the jar. Yes, she was very much a pregnancy cliché, but she had accepted that about herself. It had been over eight weeks since she had been able to see him in person, hold his hand in the halls at school, and roll her eyes and pretend to be annoyed when he spoke Na'vi to her belly. Really, though, she thought it was adorable and with her out of control hormones, it was all she could do to keep from tearing up. Most of all, she was relieved that his infection had cleared before the baby was born. As hard as this was going to be with his his physical presence and support, the thought of him not being around for the first few weeks was unbearable.

"Going for baby number two already, are we?" Quinn joked as she approached them getting their mack on in front of Sam's locker. Hers was right next to his, and although she had accepted that her ex-boyfriend was dating and having a baby with her best frenemy, she still hadn't gotten used to it being in her face all the time.

"Fuck you, Quinn," Santana said playfully as she broke contact with her boyfriend.

"Lovely. Are you going to kiss your baby with that mouth?" Quinn purred as she smirked.

This time Santana didn't say anything, and instead showed Quinn a certain finger before turning back to Sam and seeing the look on his face. It was as if he was wondering if that could actually happen, not that he thought kissing directly lead to pregnancy. She knew he was smarter than that at least.

"Sam. I'm still pregnant, it can't happen," she laughed. He blushed as she gave him a wink. Sam began to cringe as if she could tell what he was thinking. He could be as naïve as Brittany sometimes, and every bit as adorable. It certainly couldn't be argued that Santana didn't have a type.

"Of course, I knew that," he assured her, but she wasn't convinced. "Can I walk you to your car before practice?" he asked.

"No, its fine, you're going to be late. I'll see you afterward."

He reluctantly agreed, and kissed her one more time before rushing to the locker room. He'd been out since the last week of summer, and he really needed to condition as much as possible because this weekend was going to be huge. The scout for Ohio State would be at Saturday's game, and Sam desperately needed a scholarship. So, between that, and West Side Story opening the night before, they were able to convince Dr. Wu to move the c-section to the following Monday.

Santana sighed loudly as she walked to her car. All of the other New Directions were in West Side Story, and since it was the last week before it opened, the daily rehearsals were long. They'd invited her to sit in on them, but honestly, the thought of it was a little too difficult. She knew she was born to play Anita but since she was pregnant, the role had gone to Tina. She was happy for her friends and was going to support them on opening night, but she just couldn't watch that every day. As soon as she got home, she got started on her school work. She was going to have to take the rest of the semester off and finish the rest of her curriculum at home. She knew it would be even harder to get it done once she had a baby, so she buckled down and got quite a bit of it out of the way.

The week seemed to fly by and drag on all at the same time. Santana and Sam were thrilled to be around each other again and they were incredibly busy preparing, but they were also very anxious and nervous. Of course they were excited about becoming parents by now, and they couldn't wait to meet their daughter, but they were nervous about the birth, nervous about the baby's health and all the surgeries she would face, and especially about taking this on at such a young age. Most of all they wanted to see her and hold her, and see exactly what they would be dealing with. Friday evening finally came, and Santana took Sam's breath away when he came to pick her up for their last pre-baby date.

"You look beautiful," he beamed, unable to hide the goofy smile that spread across his face.

"Thanks," she blushed. This time she didn't argue. With the way Sam was looking at her, she knew he was being sincere. The pregnancy had made her self-conscious about her looks for the first time ever, but she was sick of feeling like that. She was only going to be pregnant for the next seventy-two hours so she was going to make the best of it. Yes, she was incredibly young, but her body was doing a beautiful thing, and to be honest, she'd never felt more feminine. She'd spent an hour perfecting her hair and make-up, and earlier, she and Brittany had gone for pedicures, and the crimson maternity dress flattered her in all the right places. Red was definitely her color, and yes, she felt beautiful.

"Why aren't you eating? Are you feeling okay?" Sam asked when he noticed that he was half finished with his pasta and Santana had barely touched hers. On their last date, over the summer, she had cleared her plate and started helping herself to his in record time.

"I'm fine Sam," she sighed, but he wasn't convinced. "The baby is just pushing on everything and there's nowhere for the food to go. That's all. What is it with people giving me flack for not eating more?"

"Is that really all?" he asked.

"I'm nervous about the c-section," she admitted quietly, looking down at her plate. "It's major surgery, and what if I'm in so much pain I can't be with her when she's in the NICU? Or what if I don't get to hold her before her surgery and something, you know?" she said brokenly.

"I won't let that happen," he cut her off, reaching for her hand and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "I'll make sure we get to hold her and tell her we love her before they do anything. And she's going to be fine, nothing's going to happen. I promise. Babies are born with spina bifida all the time. It's scary but she's going to be okay. Y'know my mom had a c-section with Stacey. I was only eleven when she was born, but I remember it, and it didn't seem like she felt that bad after. Stacey was born early too so she spent a few days in the NICU, and my mom was there all the time."

"I hope so", she sighed. "I was reading a message board how a lot of parents had their babies baptized right after birth…. just in case," she added with a shaky voice. "I know they have Chaplains on-call but I was thinking your mom could ask Father O'Brien if he would come and do it, please?"

"You bet," he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze for reassurance, for the both of them. He was trying to be strong her for, but he was just as scared that their daughter wouldn't be okay. "She won't need it, but if it'll make you feel better, we'll do it," he added, trying to hold back his own tears.

"My back hurts, too," she added after a few moments, trying to change the subject when she saw how torn up he looked about it too. She reached back and rubbed it when a particularly bad pain hit.

"Do you want to go home?" He asked, becoming slightly concerned. "I can set you up with a heating pad, or," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "since your parents are out of town for the night, run you a bath and then give you a full body massage. Are your boobs still sore too?" He added, trying to lighten the mood.

"It's fine," she assured him, laughing slightly at his last question. He was such a guy. "The back pain comes and goes, and I really want to see the show. But after it's over, I have no problems with a full body massage. Or a bath, if you join me," she whispered huskily.

"How much longer until this thing starts?" he asked eagerly, looking at his watch.

"Relax Trouty, it doesn't start for another hour. If you're a very good boy I promise to make it worth the wait," she purred, and did her best flash him a sexy smile. Santana felt so physically uncomfortable and clumsy but she knew this would be the last time, for according the the books she had read, at least six weeks that they would have any sort of intimacy. Unfortunately, since she lived with parents who liked to hover ever since she moved back home, she knew it would likely be much longer. The near future was going to be difficult in a lot of ways but she was trying to make the best of it. What she was trying to focus on was Sam; she really just wanted him to hold her tonight. She broke eye contact with her boyfriend just long enough to notice several people around them looking at her.

"Maybe we should go soon, everyone is staring," she said, suddenly feeling self-conscious again.

"They're just staring because you're gorgeous," Sam murmured, giving her hand another squeeze.

"No they're not," she said, trying to fight the tears that were once again threatening to spill out. Sam knew she was probably right, although he wasn't about to say it. It's not that he didn't find her gorgeous. He really did, more gorgeous than ever, but they were seventeen and eighteen, and looked it, even though Santana's dress was intended for someone a bit older. Lima was a very conservative mid-western town, and they both knew what everyone was thinking when they saw them.

Sam paid the tab while Santana clumsily made her way to the bathroom. She would definitely be thankful when she no longer had to pee every thirty minutes, and also looked forward to the the day when she could go to a restaurant without having to make a conscious effort to not knock anyone's drink or breadsticks off their table with her belly. Okay, so it wasn't that big, but she felt like it took on a life of its' own and sometimes misjudged how far it stuck out.

Sam grasped his girlfriend's hand and led her carefully as they walked to the backstage area of the theatre. He gave her a wink and whispered reassuring words into her ear.

"It's gonna be okay," he said quietly. "Let's just go see our friends and focus on that for now. I don't want to think any further than tonight. You don't need the stress."

Santana nodded as they approached their friends. Tina waved and Santana gave her a quick hug.

"You guys were amazing! I mean, from what I saw in between pee breaks," Santana said as she smiled genuinely at her friends. "Especially you, girl Chang. I have to say, I was a little bitter that I'm too pregnant to be Anita, but you were the perfect choice."

"Thanks Santana, that means a lot coming from you. You would have been great too. Maybe there will be another musical in the spring?" Tina said hopefully.

"Yeah," Santana sighed. She doubted she'd ever have free time again, but it would have been fun. What bothered her most what that she never got involved in the arts before now. She always knew she was a good singer, but before joining the Glee club, she'd never sang in front of anyone else, so she didn't know how great she really was.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked, when she noticed Santana wincing and grabbing the same spot for second time since she'd joined them backstage only a few minutes before.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Santana assured her a few seconds later. She tried to rub the lingering pain away when she had finally caught her breath, that last twinge had been the worst pain so far. "My back has been hurting today but it comes and goes. I'm just getting too big to move comfortably lately, it really sucks."

"Uh, Santana, have you heard about back labor?" the blonde whispered. "I didn't have it with Beth, but I remember reading about it, how the back pains come and go every few minutes like contractions…"

"Oh crap," Santana muttered when she realized that she was in labor, and had been for hours.