A/N: I finally have internet at my new place, and housing crisis is averted, so you should expect updates about weekly now. I'm sorry for all the delays in all of my stories, but I've signed a year lease, which means things will be stable from here on out. The lack of internet, however, may have made my chapters a little rambling and navel-gazing, so I apologize for that. I hope you enjoy!
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Pierce-Lopez." Brittany whispered into Santana's ear, her breath warm and moist as her lips grazed Santana's small ear lobe, the nape of her neck, then underneath her chin.
"Too early, Mrs. Pierce-Lopez. Way too early." Santana mumbled into her pillow, her back still pressed against her wife's front. She had been up until three helping her brothers and cousins get the Santa presents ready around the tree. Apparently, since she was a parent, it was now part of her duties to help, although, as Santana pointed out throughout the long night, her kids were too young to understand about Santa, so she really should be allowed to go to bed at a normal hour. Plus, she shouldn't be punished for their lack of planning, and they were being sexist. Why did their wives get to go to sleep? Since when was Santana the 'husband' in her marriage? Her brothers, however, as usual, took any opportunity to torture and tease their sister, so she was up until three, and she really was not ready to be waking up, despite the warm, wet, kisses Brittany was placing on her bare shoulders at the moment.
"It's Christmas," Brittany whispered, the excitement still seeping through her tired voice. "I was hoping Santana Claus had a special gift for me this year," she continued. Her voice was thick and scratchy, lower than usual.
"Well, you'll just have to wait for it downstairs," Santana said, exasperated, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Not that kind of gift," Brittany whispered, slowly running her fingers up the front of Santana's top. "A special, before the kids wake up kind of a gift," she continued, using her free hand to pull Santana's hips flush with her body. "And you should know, I've been very good this year, Santana Claus."
"Have you, Mrs. Lopez?" Santana asked, her body pressing closer to Brittany's against her will, but still unable to open her eyes. "I'd say you've been very naughty," Santana said, arching her back into Brittany's front as Brittany drew light patterns around Santana's breasts, and kissed a slow, perfectly straight path down her spine.
"Well, if that's the case, let me make it up to you, Santana Claus," Brittany said, taking advantage of Santana's newly arched position to slip her hand between her wife's thighs. Santana let out a deep, tired, groan.
"We have to be quiet, Britt, my whole family is here," Santana whispered while Brittany teased Santana, dragging her fingers like feathers up Santana's torso and down to her thighs, but careful to avoid any of the areas which mattered the most. Brittany let out a small moan, grasping tightly to her hips as Santana canted backwards toward her, grinding back in Brittany's body. Brittany slid her hand back up Santana's shirt, and gently squeezed Santana's breast, eliciting a deep moan. Santana grasped Brittany's hand, interlacing their fingers, urging her on. Brittany smiled into her wife's back.
"Don't worry, honey. We'll be like quiet little Christmas mice," she said, continuing to rub Santana's breast as she allowed her other hand to trail slowly toward Santana's shorts. "Quiet Christmas mice."
"Get up, get up, get up, get up!" Hannah, Harper, and Lily all squealed, jumping up and down on Quinn's bed.
"Please, mommy!" Harper begged, opening her blue eyes wide. "Santa came!" Harper rolled her eyes at the Santa comment, prompting a sharp glare from Quinn.
"Seriously, mom, I wants to get at them presents, and I wants at them now." Lily said.
"Oh, Jesus." Quinn finally replied.
"It is his birthday," Hannah pointed out.
"It's probably all coal," Quinn said, mostly to herself, through a tired groan. She squeezed her eyes shut as she yawned, stretching her arms over her head. When she reopened them, Harper's face had completely crumpled and tears were streaming down her cheeks and Lily was staring at her wide-eyed. Sleepy-Quinn immediately shifted into motherly-Quinn at the sight of her two daughters.
"Oh, I was just kidding, baby," Quinn said, quickly enveloping the two youngest in her arms, pulling them tightly to her as she sat up in bed. They curled up on both sides of her mother. "I'm sure Santa brought you lots of wonderful presents this year!"
"But you said…." Harper began.
"Do you think Santa heard me telling people I would go all Beverly Hills Heights on them?" Lily asked, cutting her little sister off. "Because I don't even know what that means…"
"No, baby-girl, I don't think Santa likes that you tell people that, per se, but it's certainly not an offense bad enough to bring coal."
"Good going, mom," Hannah said from the doorway she had retreated to once the waterworks began.
"Just go get your grandma, okay, Hannah?" Hannah rolled her eyes but did as she was told.
"I promise, Santa brought you tons of fun gifts. Why don't we all go downstairs, and you can help mommy make breakfast, and then we can see what Santa brought you this year?"
"You promise it's not coal?" Harper asked.
"Cross my heart," Quinn said. "Now, what are your thoughts on waffles?"
"With chocolate chips!" Lily said.
"And whipped cream!" Harper added.
"Okay," Quinn said, smiling at the easy change in demeanor. She wiped the tears off of the slightly reddened, chubby cheeks of Harper. "But only because it's Christmas." They both squealed and pulled their mother out of bed.
"Christmas is the best," Lily said to Harper, bouncing up and down on her toes from the doorway while Quinn put on a robe over her pajamas. "You get to do, like, whatever you want, even mommy. She's probably gonna make like ten pounds of bacon." Harper giggled.
"What are you two laughing about over there?" Quinn asked.
"Nothing, mommy!" They both squealed, giggling all the way down the stairs. Quinn followed the giggling pair, quickly grabbing her cell phone from her dresser on her way out of the room. She had a text from Justin.
Flight delayed. Will be in at 3.
Quinn rolled her eyes. She quickly typed out a text message as she walked down the stairs.
Lily just woke me up with "I wants at them presents, and I wants at them now". Thanks a lot Santana. Merry Christmas.
"Shut up," Santana growled toward her phone that had suddenly begun playing some electronic version of Jingle Bell Rock that she most definitely had not downloaded. "When the fuck did that happen?" Santana asked the phone, mindlessly slapping at it to get the sound off.
"Did it." Brittany said, mostly into Santana's chest.
"Dammit, Britt."
"Get in spirit, and stuff." Santana rolled her eyes, behind the closed lids, at her wife's sleepy conversation skills. The sound was still going, though, and she was forced to pry her eyes open to see what was going on.
"This is just for a text message?" She mumbled to herself. "Fucking Quinn." She was about to shut the phone when she noticed the time. "Shit, Britt, we have to get up."
"Too tired," Brittany replied into Santana's chest, snuggling impossibly closer to her body. She had already draped half of her body across Santana's, her face pressed into Santana's chest, and her leg bent at the knee and swung over Santana's leg.
"Now you're too tired," Santana said, smiling into her wife's long, blond hair, inhaling the scent after the words left her mouth and threading her fingers through the messy curls. "It's nine-thirty, everyone is going to be up already, it's Christmas." Brittany's eyes widened, apparently remembering, again, that it was Christmas morning. Santana groaned as Brittany broke away from their embrace and wiped some drool off the side of her cheek. Drool that had, most likely, also accumulated on the breast Brittany had so comfortably been sleeping upon. Brittany was rifling through their luggage for clothes, her back to Santana. She turned to lean on her elbow to watch Brittany frantically jump around the room in the nude.
"Stop, being a perv, Santana, and get up!" Brittany said, her back still to her wife.
"How did you know?" Santana asked, grinning and yawning simultaneously.
"I know everything you do, honey," Brittany said, turning around to face her.
"Oh my," Santana said, taking in Brittany's completely naked body. "I-I," Santana's eyes grazed over Brittany's long legs, the sharp jut of her hips bones, the musculature of her abs, the way her breasts fell over her small waist, the bones of her collarbone, neck, the pout of her lips, until her eyes locked with Brittany's bemused cat-eyes.
"Are you twelve?" Brittany asked, playfully throwing at sock at her wide-eyed wife.
"Sometimes you make me feel like I am," Santana said, rising and wrapping her arms around her wife, slowly kissing her collarbone and allowing her hands to stray just beneath Brittany's hipbones, quietly tickling the soft flesh. She inhaled Brittany's scent again; a mix of shampoo and body wash and sweat and arousal that drew her body closer to her wife's.
"No! Santana! Get dressed." Brittany said, pulling away and throwing clothes at Santana before quickly pulling on some underwear and a pair of jeans.
"I hate you."
"You love me," Brittany smirked, throwing more clothes at Santana. "Please get dressed, baby." Brittany smiled at Santana's obvious displeasure at the situation. She walked over to wear Santana was now sitting on the edge of the bed, and straddled her lap, allowing her wife to lightly run her hands up and down her now-clothed breasts. She threw her long blond hair over one shoulder, leaning in to whisper in Santana's ear.
"If you get up now, I promise to make it up to you tonight," she whispered, her tongue flicking out to touch Santana's ear on the hard consonants. "Right here, in your room, high school style." Santana raised her eyebrows at Brittany. "And I can promise you, Mrs. Pierce-Lopez, that you won't need a break from all the scissoring." She hopped off Santana and opened the door. "Get dressed, honey. I'll be waiting outside," Brittany said with a wink.
Santana didn't even bother to brush her hair, she just threw on clothes and walked down to the living room, hand-in-hand with Brittany who had been waiting right outside the door. They were greeted to a round-of-applause from Santana's family. Christian whistled, Carlos slow-clapped, and everyone else looked at them with a mix of amusement and confusion.
"Now that Auntie Brittany and Auntie Tana are awake, can we please open our presents?" Christian Junior, known to the family as CJ, asked his father, exasperated.
"Go ahead, mijo," Christian's wife said. At that, the throng of kids began sorting through the presents, deciding which ones belonged to whom and shreds of wrapping paper began flying through the air. With the kids preoccupied, the adults felt free to return their attention to Brittany and Santana.
"Well done, little sister," Carlos said, slowly clapping at Brittany and Santana. Brittany clung to Santana's elbow and tried to conceal her rapidly reddening cheeks in Santana's shoulder.
"Seriously, hermanita, we knew you had it in you at 18, but to do that, in our parent's house, on Christmas morning, at the age of thirty? I'm beyond impressed," Christian said.
"I had to tell my daughter that you were having a nightmare." Carlos said.
"I told my sons you were sick and Brittany was helping you. CJ said, 'it doesn't sound like she's sick. And it definitely doesn't sound like Aunt Brittany is making it any better.'"
"I am so sorry," Santana said, appalled that her nieces and nephews heard her having sex.
"Don't worry about it, Santana," Carlos' wife said. "They're just teasing you, it wasn't that bad. And the kids are none the wiser." Before Santana could respond, she was startled by Christian's youngest son, Hunter, grabbing her around the legs.
"Thank you for the Legos, Auntie Tana! Thank you Auntie Britty!"
"You're welcome, Hunter," they said in unison. Santana leaned down and hugged her nephew, glad to have been pulled out of that conversation.
"I'm glad you feel better, Auntie Tana!" Hunter added, before running off to sort through the rest of the gifts. The adults all howled with laughter.
"Oh, give it up!" Santana said, throwing her arms in the air. "Give me my children, mami, I'm going to help them open their gifts, the rest of you can act like children over here." Santana took both of her children in a huff and Brittany and the rest of the adults began to brave the presents now that the kids were preoccupied playing with the first round of opened gifts.
Quinn had finally finished her second cup of coffee, taken a shower, and gotten dressed. She walked down into the living room where her children were all pleasantly entertained for once with their new gifts. Lily was rolling idly back and forth on her skateboard, fiddling with the knobs on her new amplifier for her new electric guitar, a candy cane sticking halfway out of her mouth. It was an accident waiting to happen. She'd have to remind herself later to scold her mother for letting her eat an entire candy cane, let alone before noon. The girl was already bouncing off the walls half the time. Harper was building a Ferris Wheel with her new set of Knex, her tongue out and her forehead scrunched up, as she always looked when she was thinking. Hannah was laying on the couch reading a new book, the only of the girls who had changed out of her footie pajamas and into clothes. She really was growing up. Quinn smiled at the relative, and rare, calm in the room, and decided to let them be.
"Need any help?" She asked her mother, popping her head in the door of the kitchen.
"Quinnie! I do actually! I didn't get enough flour to make this pie and the rue. Do you think you could run out and get some more?"
"Of course, mom," Quinn said, "although I'm not sure we need this much food," Quinn added, eyeing the Christmas feast her mother was preparing.
"I know," Judy said, looking around the kitchen. She placed her hands on the counter, still holding a knife in her right hand and wiping her left hand on her Christmas apron. "It's just…all this food is tradition, Quinnie, and I guess, I guess it wouldn't really feel like Christmas if I didn't make it all, even though Frannie and her family and your father aren't here." Judy smiled sadly over at Quinn.
"It's okay, mom. I'm sure it will be delicious. I'll be back in twenty, okay?" Quinn asked, picking her mother's keys up from the counter. Her mother nodded. "Can you just pop in on the girls from time to time? You know, make sure they haven't burnt anything down?" Her mother nodded, a little confused. "Thanks," Quinn called back into the house as she grabbed her coat and walked out the door.
The house was chaos. Her nieces and nephews were running around with toy trucks and Barbies and airplanes, begging any adult in sight to install batteries into random gadgets, or decipher user manuals with vague pictures and Japanese writing. The kids had clearly moved into some kind of sugar-high frenzy; if you were over five feet tall, you were fair game to be poked and prodded into installation and construction. It looked as though the floor had exploded wrapping paper. The Pierces', other than Alexis, arrived by ten with more gifts, just adding to the chaos. Brittany and Santana sat in the corner, helping the babies tear the paper off a stacking toy, a shape sorter, a plastic drum, and foam bath toys that stick to the wall of the bathtub. Nico, however seemed perfectly content tearing the wrapping paper into little shreds and squealing as he threw it at his mothers, and Olivia only wanted to put the empty boxes on her head.
"I told you this was a waste of money, Britt," Santana said, laughing at their children, and playfully throwing a scrap of wrapping paper back at Nico, who squealed and clapped. Olivia, meanwhile, tried to decipher where the noise was coming from, craning her neck underneath the empty box of the moment. "We could have gotten them paper and empty boxes for free." Olivia knocked her hands on the sides of the box, grinning at the echo it created in her ears.
"They'll learn to love them," Brittany said. "Let's open our presents to one another! You go first." Santana carefully opened a poorly wrapped mug with 14 black doors on it.
"Thanks, Britt," Santana said, kindly kissing Brittany on the cheek.
"Wait a second," Brittany said, jumping up and returning a moment later with the coffee pot. She carefully filled the mug and slowly the doors faded away to reveal Foucault, Sappho, Andy Warhol, Tchaikovsky, Gertrude Stein, and 9 other faces.
"It's a gay mug! They're in the closet until you pour hot liquid in!" Brittany giggled blushing.
"It's hilarious, Britt," Santana said, kissing her on the lips. "I love it."
"Because you were in the closet until I put something hot in your cup!" Brittany laughed, singing the end of her sentence. Santana threw her head back with laughter, tears welling up in her eyes. Brittany fake pouted at Santana's reaction.
"It was better than trouty mouth, Santana."
"I know, baby, I know." Santana said, regaining control and placing a soft kiss on Brittany's lips. "I just can't believe you sang that song in front of all of those Glee nerds, every time I think about it, I just can't hold back." Brittany smiled.
"That was a good trip." She said.
"It was. Thanks so much, Britt. It really is perfect."
Santana got Brittany a metallic gold leotard and rainbow legwarmers, and Brittany produced a picture of the big desk she got for Santana for her new office.
"It's like the desk in the Oval Office! I designed it myself with a furniture maker, in Los Feliz," Brittany explained. "It's handmade."
"It's so beautiful, Brittany, thank you." Santana pulled Brittany in for a kiss.
After they opened the gifts from one another, they moved on to the gifts from other family members. Mitchell got Santana a brown leather legal brief portfolio with SPL engraved on the front.
"It was the first gift my father gave me when I opened my own firm," Mitchell explained, looking bashfully at the ground as he spoke."
"I love it, Mitchell," Santana reassured him.
Santana's sister-in-law got her a bucket of golf ball soaps. Santana graciously hugged her, ignoring her brother's snickering.
"You don't even play golf, do you?" She asked, later on in the evening after the wine had been flowing for sometime.
"No, I don't," Santana said apologetically. "I use soap, though…"
"Carlos is such an asshole," her sister-in-law said.
"You married him," Santana pointed out. "I was just unlucky enough to be born into this family. Besides, he talked me into thinking you desperately wanted a bread maker. Brittany tried to convince me it was just going to be one of his chauvinistic jokes, but I didn't listen."
"At least this is better than the year that he told me you had a passion for dental hygiene and he got me to get you a gift basket of dental dams…" The women made eye contact and then burst out laughing.
"I still can't believe you didn't know what they were!" Santana laughed.
Gracie got Brittany and Santana the book "Go the Fuck to Sleep", complete with the Samuel L. Jackson recording.
"I've babysat those kids. You two need it." Gracie explained. Santana and Brittany got Gracie, "How to Survive in the Real World", to many a rolled eye. Brittany also got Gracie, "Oh the Places You'll Go".
"I have one last gift for you, mija," Maria said, pulling a book-shaped gift out from behind her back, after most of the presents had been opened, well into the afternoon. "Both of you," Maria said, glancing over at Brittany who was holding Nico in one arm and had her other resting on the small of Santana's back. Santana looked at her mother, her eyes wide and questioning. She handed Olivia to her mother in exchange for the gift, gingerly opening it up at the seams. It was her old copy of Love You Forever. Santana ran her hands over the worn front cover and her childhood crayon marks.
"Mama," Santana began.
"I thought it was time you had it, mija. Now that I am moving in with you and Brittany and you have two of your own to read the story to."
"Thank you, mama," Santana said.
"Thank you, Maria," Brittany said. Maria pulled them both in for a hug.
"Okay, enough with all the sappiness, I need both of you to help me get ready for dinner!"
Quinn liked grocery stores. There was something safe about them. Grocery stores were the same no matter where she was. Coffee was always in the same aisle as cereal, cheese and yogurt were always across from beer, Chapstick and UsWeekly, and gum, and Diet Coke bottles always awaited her in the check out aisle. No matter where she was, at the grocery store, she always knew what to expect. She didn't have to think about the grocery store, and the one thing she was finding she needed a lot less of this holiday season were her thoughts.
"Quinn," a voice said as she turned the aisle. She looked up from the patterned tiles.
"Rachel!" They locked eyes and Quinn fought with her brain to form some sort of coherent sentence. "What are you doing here?" She finally stammered out.
"Getting some groceries." Rachel replied.
"No, I mean, what are you doing in Lima?"
"Well, I'm here visiting my parents for the holidays, Quinn, as I assume you are doing as well." Quinn nervously laughed.
"Of course, of course," she smiled awkwardly at Rachel. "But…you're Jewish."
"Well, Hannukah fell very close to Christmas this year, I had some time off, and I didn't want to miss the annual Hummel-Hudson glee reunion so this seemed like a fine time to make a trip."
"Of course!" Quinn said, trying to make sure that her smile looked normal and not crazy or pathetic or forced. The more she thought about it, the worse it got. She spent so much time thinking about how crazy her smile looked, that she didn't realize they'd just been sitting in silence for about thirty seconds.
"Where are the girls?" Rachel finally asked.
"With my mother." They stood awkwardly with their purchases in hand. They were snapped out of their trance by Leroy clearing his throat behind Rachel. Quinn had been too shocked to even notice that Rachel's fathers were standing behind her. Suddenly she was knocked back into the realization that she was a thirty-year-old woman, not a confused teenager, and she had some manners. Maybe even some social skills.
"I'm so sorry," Quinn said, quickly putting her Beverly Hills housewife smile on. "I'm Quinn," she said, extending her hand to Leroy and then to Hiram. "We've met a few times, I think, when Rachel and I were in the glee club together in high school."
"Of course," Hiram said, shaking Quinn's hand. "It's lovely to see you again."
"You too," Quinn smiled back. "Well, I guess I should get going," she said, pointing awkwardly at the flour in her hand. "You know, my mother is attempting to 'bake' again," she said using air quotes. The two men nodded as Quinn walked around them toward the register. Her mind was flowing a mile a minute. This was a chance for her to do something, a chance for her to maybe make something right, to try and make sure that she did not end up like her mother. Maybe, even, a chance to be a part of something special, because, at thirty and with three children, Quinn was realizing she knew much less about the world, and life, and love than she thought, but she was pretty sure that Rachel was someone special.
"Do you have plans today?" Quinn asked, swinging around just before the Berrys' turned down the next aisle. Rachel looked at her quizzically. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you have plans, just because you're not Christian…I shouldn't have assumed…"
"We don't," Leroy said, simply.
"Oh. Well, would you like to join us for dinner tonight? I'm sure the girls would love to see you, Rachel. And my mom is cooking us this enormous feast, which is absolutely ridiculous because it's just us and Justin. And he's not even here yet, he's getting in at three, you know, to be with the girls on Christmas, but I don't know what he's been doing for the last month." Quinn could feel her heart beating in her chest. Hiram looked at her quizzically as she rambled on, a slight flush forming on her cheeks.
"We'd love to!" Hiram said, grinning.
"Great!" Quinn said, ignoring Rachel's blanched face. "Why don't you come by around 5?" Hiram nodded, and Quinn grinned, heading toward the register. It wasn't until she got to her mother's car that she began to wonder what she'd gotten herself into.
"This is good," she reminded herself as she drove back to her mother's house, nervously tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. "It may be awkward, but I've done awkward before." Quinn turned up the Christmas song playing on the radio.
"Well," Hiram said, after Quinn had left. "Shall we scratch the veggie burgers and Babs marathon and get something nice to bring to the Fabray Christmas dinner?"
"I can't believe we are going to that, daddy," Rachel finally said, breaking her silence.
"What's wrong?"
"I was just looking forward to Barbra and it's just," Rachel trailed off, pretending to read the label on a box of Trix. "It's just going to be awkward."
"I'm sorry, honey, I assumed you two had become friends since graduation since you obviously know her children."
"It's not that…it's just…never mind, it's done. I have the recipe for a delicious vegan casserole, the kids love it," Rachel said, leading her fathers through the grocery store. Leroy shrugged his shoulders at Hiram and they followed their little star.
Brittany put the finishing touches on her five-layer dip in the kitchen. Santana had helped her make three this year since it always had proven so popular. Gracie approached her with an eggnog in hand.
"How many of those have you had tonight, Gracie?"
"Not enough. There are, like, twelve kids here. Kids are so not my thing."
"Maybe they will be one day. You were a pretty cute kid yourself, you know that, Gracie?" Grace just rolled her eyes. "Although maybe mom was right about not letting Santana hang around you so much when you were little, because you certainly have picked up on more of her traits than anyone in our family."
"You chose to have children with her."
"So what? They'll be fierce." Brittany replied. Gracie was distracted, however, by something in the corner of the room.
"Oh. My. God. Is Santana playing Vampirates?" Brittany followed her sister's eye line to Santana who, sure enough, was wearing an eyepatch, a scarf, a pirate hat, and had a sword in hand. She was standing on a chair, apparently giving some sort of pirate speech to her nephews and nieces.
"Did she, like, bring Vampirate stuff with her or something? That costume is pretty decked out. I think there are even handcuffs hanging from her belt."
"She probably just found our old costume stuff from High School."
"You guys still played Vampirate in High School? Like when you weren't babysitting me?" Brittany's ears turned red, but she hoped Gracie didn't notice.
"What?" Brittany said, trying to cover her tracks. "Vampirate is fun."
"Sure, sis, whatever you say. I'm going to continue to let you believe that I am the virginal littlest sister and that I have no reason to have the phrase 'let's get our sexy vampirate time on' engraved in my memory." Brittany's blush rushed to her full face now. "Besides, Britt, I'm going to go help Santana. Maybe I can be Puck?" Her sister seemed to think about this for a moment. "It's not like you were going to ever give me that recipe anyway," Gracie said as she walked away to join Santana. Gracie was right. She was never going to give this recipe away.
"Daddy!" Quinn heard Lily squeal from the other side of the house while she helped her mother in the kitchen. Quinn looked up and briefly caught her mother's eye. Judy was shooting Quinn a sympathetic look. Quinn wiped her hands on the dishtowel hanging from the door of the refrigerator and walked toward the foyer where all three of her daughters were wrapped up in Justin's arms. She smiled adoringly over at her daughters, wrapped up in their father's arms. She never understood when she was younger and parents would say they'd always love their exes for giving them their children. She understood it now. She couldn't help but look at the smiling faces of her daughters and feel some sense of affection for the man in front of her.
"Merry Christmas, Quinn," he said, pulling her in for a tight hug.
"You too, Justin." They pulled apart, awkwardly.
"Daddy, let us show you everything Santa brought us!" Lily squealed, dragging her father toward the living room. Justin winked at Judy and left to play with the girls.
Half-an-hour later, Justin showed up in the kitchen, absentmindedly popping pieces of food that lay on the counter into his mouth.
"We didn't get to say a proper hello, Judy," he said, placing his hand on the small of her back and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"We didn't," Judy smile at Justin, shooting a quick but wary look over to Quinn. "Merry Christmas, dear."
"You too, Judy."
"Did you get a chance to talk to your parents?"
"I did, they're with my sisters and my nieces and nephews, so I got to speak to everyone on the phone this morning before my flight left."
"Wonderful. Well, send them my holiday wishes."
"Of course, Judy," Justin said. "You two are cooking up a storm in here! I thought it was just going to be the six of us?" Quinn didn't look up from the celery she was chopping.
"Oh! Quinnie ran into a friend of hers from high school at the grocery store this morning and she and her family will be joining us for dinner!" Judy said, casually. Justin's eyes narrowed at Quinn, who still hadn't looked up from her chopping.
"Who's the friend, Quinnie?" Justin asked. Quinn didn't respond.
"Oh, I don't know if you've met her, they were in the glee club together, her name is Rachel Berry. I hear she has quite the burgeoning movie career! I'm not going to lie, sometimes I brag about Quinn knowing her, even though I know they weren't the closest of friends in high school."
"Oh, I know Rachel, Judy. She was at Brittany and Santana's wedding."
"That's right! They had the whole glee club there."
"If Brittany had her way all of McKinley would have been there," Quinn said, laughing to herself and attempting to change the subject.
"Yes, and Quinn and Rachel have become quite close since Rachel has moved to Los Angeles." Justin said, sarcastically.
"Well, it was nice to have someone around to help me with your children once Brittany and Santana had two of their own to deal with and I was all alone."
"Oh, I'm sure Rachel was really helpful dealing with our children, while I was off making money so you could buy that fancy dress you're wearing right now!" Justin said, snapping the strap on Quinn's dress.
"You know, it's Christmas, and I recognize that this has never been the most functional of families, but if you two are going to put on this show of marital bliss for your children, you could do it for me as well. Please, just keep it together tonight." Judy said, before the argument could escalate. Justin stormed out of the room.
The doorbell rang and Santana took off her eyepatch since no one else seemed free to go open it.
"Lexi!" Santana said, excitedly pulling her sister-in-law in for a hug. "Come in, come in!" Santana said, ushering them into the house.
"Luke," Alexis said, as they walked into the foyer of the Lopez house, "this is my sister-in-law, Santana, she's Brittany's wife, and Santana this is Luke, my boyfriend." Santana's eyes immediately narrowed. She extended her hand.
"Luke."
"It's really nice to meet you, Santana. Alexis talks about you and Brittany and your children all the time. I've seen pictures of them—they're adorable! Oh, and merry Christmas!"
"You too, Luke," she said as they walked through the house. If this guy thought he could butter her up just by complimenting her children, he was going to be in for a rude awakening. Lopez's protected their own, and Alexis might as well have been a Lopez at this point, and it was Christmas, meaning a lot of Lopez's around to defend Alexis' honor. Santana felt a little smug though when she saw his eyes widen at how crowded it was, and how silent the room got when he walked in. She walked over to stand by Brittany and picked up Nico, relieving Brittany of one child.
"Everyone, this is Luke, Luke, this is my family," Alexis said awkwardly as everyone stood in silence staring at the young man.
"It's nice to meet all of you," he said awkwardly.
"It's going to be okay," Alexis said softly to Luke after everyone resumed their conversation.
"I just need some explanation…I thought you said you had a small family."
"I do…sort of. Mom and Dad are only children, and our grandparents passed away a little while ago. We've been spending the holidays with the Lopez's for about the last ten years, or so, though. That," she said, gesturing over to a mimosa clutching blond in the corner, "is my little sister, Gracie. And over there," she gestured to Brittany and Santana, who each had a child on their hip, "is my older sister, Brittany, and you met her wife, Santana. Those are their twins, Nico and Olivia. Of course you've met my parents. Talking to my parents are Christian and Susan. Christian is Santana's brother and Susan is his wife. They have four children. Over there, on the couch, is Santana's Aunt Rita and her two children. On the loveseat is Carlos, another of Santana's older brothers. His wife and two children are here somewhere. Santana's younger brother, Daniel, is in the corner on the phone."
"The one you had a thing with in high school."
"We prefer to not acknowledge that now. It just feels too incestuous. And Santana's Aunt Gloria is probably in the kitchen with her children. And that's the family!" Alexis said, hoping her new boyfriend would take this all in stride.
"This does explain the copious amount of presents in the trunk. I thought you were just generous." Alexis laughed.
"I know, it may seem unconventional," she said, looking around the extremely crowded living room, "but there's a lot of love here, and that's what makes a family, right?" She asks, already knowing the answer. Luke doesn't respond, he simply pulls her in for a tight kiss on the lips.
"So, Miss Lily, what grade are you in?" Hiram asked the little blond sitting to the left of him.
"First," she said simply, through her mouthful of ham. "It's pretty cool."
"That's good," Hiram said. "I take it you are as good a student as your mother was?"
"Better, I think. I'm going to go to Harvard. She just went to USC. Pretty lame."
"Hey!" Quinn said. "Your dad and Aunt S went to USC too." Lily seemed to think about this for awhile.
"I guess if Aunt S went there…anyway, I think I'm a better student than mommy. I got 100% on all my spelling tests this year, except for the one after she and Rachel and Aunts S and B went to Big Bear."
"Who are S and B?" Leroy asked the table.
"Santana and Brittany," Justin clarified.
"Of course, the daffy blond and that feisty Latina girlfriend of hers."
"Wife, now, daddy," Rachel clarified. "They were married around five or six years ago. Remember, I went to the wedding?"
"That's right. High School sweethearts," Leroy said, smiling over at Hiram. "She's your lawyer now, right honey?" Hiram asked.
"She is," Rachel said, taking a sip of her wine. "They're the ones I've been spending so much time with," Rachel said.
"I never made the connection," Leroy said, taking a sip of his own wine, "between that high school lesbian couple and the ones you've been spending time with lately. Although I guess I should have."
"Mommy and Rachel and Aunt B and Aunt S totally ditched us for Big Bear one weekend." Harper said.
"I was abouts to go all Beverly Hill Heights on them cause Aunt Franny is capital C, crazy." Lily added. "Did you know that, grandma?"
"I had my suspicions," Judy said through a smirk.
"Aunt Franny took away Lily's skateboard and made her wear stupid pink dresses, and said that Aunt B and Aunt S were turning her Lebsenen—"
"It's Lebanese," Hannah said, exasperated.
"Lesbian, honey," Quinn said, softly to Hannah and Harper.
"Whatever. She said they were turning her gay and Lily cried a ton—" Harper continued, annoyed that her story had been interrupted.
"I didn't cry!"
"Yeah, you did!"
"Shut up, Harper! You're such a baby!"
"No, I'm not! You did cry, until mommy told you that Aunt S and Aunt B weren't turning you Lebanese and even if you were Lebanese, there was nothing wrong with that, and that Aunt Franny was crazy."
"Harper's crazy, Uncle Hiram," Lily said, shoving some mashed potatoes into her mouth. "I didn't cry, because I know that Aunties B and S are, like, the most super coolest ever, and they're Lebanese. I didn't get 100% on my spelling test because mommy and Rachel weren't there to help me study and Aunt Franny is dumb."
"Well, I'm sure you'll still get into Harvard." Hiram said, trying to suppress his laughter.
"I'm going to go to Julliard, like Rachel, Uncle Hiram." Hannah said, chiming in. Hiram and Leroy smiled at one another with this uncle the girls decided to put in front of their names. "She's been helping me with my school play!"
"Is that so?" Hiram asked, smiling at the little girl.
"Yeah. Rachel is the best." Hannah said, smiling at Rachel who just tousled the little girl's hair and grinned sheepishly. She caught Quinn's eyes for a second; her eyes were squinted and glinting with adoration. Neither of them noticed Justin angrily take a swig of his beer from the other side of the table.
"So," Brittany said, shifting Olivia from one hip to the other, "you're dating my sister." She said to Luke.
"Yes, yes I am."
"Why?"
"Why am I dating her?" Brittany nodded as though it were the most obvious question in the world. "Well, because she's beautiful, and funny, and smart, and we have a lot in common."
"Like what?"
"Well, we work together, in the same lab. We both have a passion for forensic science."
"That sounds boring. Your relationship is based on bones and the fact that my sister is pretty?"
"I have a great amount of respect for your sister, Brittany. Her being beautiful is an added bonus, but it's really her intelligence and her wit and that sense of innocence that drew me to her. She's a wonderful human being. I would do anything for her."
"You better. That's my little sister. You know, my wife may seem like she's all fancy and professional, and yeah, she's a lawyer now, but she's still from Lima Heights Adjacent. Have you been to Lima Heights Adjacent, Luke?" Luke shook his head, nervously. "Well, it's on the other side of the tracks. I know for a fact she still keeps razor blades all up in her weave," Brittany made eye contact with a grinning Santana over Luke's shoulder. "She has to, you know. She's the lawyer for Lil' Wayne, G-Monster, and Steal-a-ho. When those bitches get in gang shit in Compton, you know that Santana's the one who has to get them out of it. She saved L. Tubbington's ass after that shootout in Crenshaw. I wouldn't be surprised if she managed to smuggle her Baretta onto the plane and into Lima. So don't fuck with my sister." Brittany finished, covering Olivia's ears when she said "fuck". Luke looked mildly terrified. Santana, over his shoulder, struggle to bite back a laugh at all of Brittany's bullshit. She didn't know she had it in her.
"I—I would never do anything to your sister, Brittany."
"You better not. Can I trust you to hold my daughter while I go find my badass wife?"
"Of course, of course, Brittany. Go ahead." She handed Olivia to him and walked over to Santana, who had, of course, been standing behind Luke the entire time.
"Steal-A-Ho, Britt-Britt? Really?" Santana asked as she and Brittany walked back into the kitchen.
"What? He's a science nerd, I doubt he's up to date on his gangsta rappers."
"And Britt, you do know that this is Lima Heights Adjacent, right?"
"Of course," Brittany said, shrugging. "But he doesn't have to know that," she smirked.
"I love you, Brittany Pierce," Santana said, looking up at her wife.
"It's Pierce-Lopez, to you," Brittany said with a grin, popping a carrot in her mouth.
"Thanks for coming, Rachel," Quinn said as they worked on the dishes after dinner.
"Of course. It was really nice of you to invite us. We really had no plans for today and it's always hard to find something to do on Christmas, you know, being a Jew in Lima."
"I'm sure."
"Plus, it's been so long since I've seen the girls, I miss them," Rachel said, taking a wet plate from Quinn's hands and running the towel around the edges.
"They miss you," Quinn said, softly, handing Rachel another plate. "I miss you, Rachel." Rachel slammed the plate in her hands into the drying rack.
"You know, you don't just get to do that, Quinn?"
"Do what? Admit that I miss you? Admit that I want to have you in my life?"
"No! Just because it's Christmas you don't get to pretend that this summer and this fall didn't happen! That I didn't lay it on the line for you, and you rejected me. You didn't even have the decency to tell me that you left your husband! I had to hear it through the grapevine. You barely speak to me at Thanksgiving, and now you're lonely and it's Christmas and all of a sudden you miss me!"
"I always miss you, Rachel. I didn't reject you! I needed time to think! God, everything is so easy for you! You have this amazing career, and people probably banging down your door for dates, and I'm a thirty-year-old mother of three with a cheating husband, zero work experience, finally realizing that I'm attracted to women and you want me to suddenly drop everything and yell from the rooftop that I…I…"
"That you what, Quinn?" Rachel stared into Quinn's eyes, pleading her silently for an answer. "You what?" Rachel asked again. Quinn broke Rachel's gaze and stared at the ground. "You think it's so easy for me, because I have no responsibilities to the people in my life. I've worked so hard to get to where I am professionally, and as a result, I am alone." Rachel looked down at the dishes in front of her. "Do you know that feeling when you walk into Brittany and Santana's?" Quinn looked up at Rachel curiously. "I don't know the word for it…I don't know that there is a word for it. It's like…it's always bright in there, and a little noisy. They have so much stuff. I always wonder what they would do if they suddenly had to move. There's stuff on the counters and stuff on the tables and stuff in the cabinets, and I always wonder how they accumulated so many belongings. I can move everything I own, with the exception of my furniture and my piano, in a four-door sedan. There's always music playing in their house, and this smell…this very distinct smell. It's sweet and smells like Dolce & Gabbana perfume and Pledge and Herbal Essences and dust and grilled onions and sugar and hardwood floors and baby powder."
"It smells like home." Rachel made eye contact with Quinn again, allowing her deep brown eyes to stare into the hazel ones in front of her.
"I feel that with you, Quinn. I think…I think I always have. You're my…my…"
"Honey, your old dad here is tired, I think we…I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Hiram asked, suddenly feeling awkward standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
"No, daddy, it's fine, it's time we get going," Rachel said, turning to her father. "It was lovely seeing you, Quinn."
"You too, Rachel. I'll see you tomorrow at the glee reunion."
"Of course."
Hiram and Leroy listened to NPR as they drove back from the Fabray household.
"It sounds like you and Quinn have become quite close," Leroy began.
"I guess," Rachel said.
"You seem close with her children."
"I am." Hiram gave Leroy a look as if to tell him to drop it. Leroy shook his head, but they drove the rest of the way in silence.
"It pushed over bookcases, took things off the walls, and picked up his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes the mother would say, this kid is driving me crazy!" Brittany giggled from the doorway at Santana's reading voice and had to move away from the door for a second until she regained her composure. Santana was reading softly now, gently bouncing the babies on her lap. "She would pick him up and rock him, back and forth, back and forth, and sing. I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."
"Mind if I join you?" Brittany asked. "It looks like you have your hands full."
"Of course not, Britt," Santana replied looking up from the book. She moved over on the couch and handed Nico to Brittany so that she could put her arm around her. Brittany rested her head on Santana's shoulder as Santana continued reading the book to their children in the dim light of the room, now only lit with Christmas lights on the tree. Neither of them noticed when Maria and Caroline entered the room, having finally finished cleaning the dishes from Christmas dinner.
"The son walked over to the mommy, he picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth and sang. I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my mommy you'll be."
"They're beautiful," Caroline whispered to Maria. "All four of them."
"I know."
"We're lucky," Caroline whispered. Maria nodded her head. They retreated back into the kitchen, giving the girls some space. "I know this time of the year is hard, ever since…" Caroline trailed off, and then grasped Maria's hands. "You know you are always welcome at our house, we're family." Maria smiled at her and the older women hugged.
"Thank you," she replied.
"You're a fucking liar," Justin said quietly, barging into Quinn's room. Quinn didn't need to smell the beer on his breath to know that he had been drinking. Justin had a lot of faults, but anger and aggression were not among them, unless he had too much to drink.
"What are you talking about Justin?" Quinn asked nonchalantly.
"Her," he spat out. "You know exactly who I'm talking about Lucy Quinn Fabray." They stayed locked in a staring match. "Look, Quinn," Justin began, visibly calming down and rubbing his hand over his face, "I know, I have been far from the ideal of husbands." Quinn scoffed. "Don't do that, right now," he said, turning to face her. "I have had my…" he looked at the ground, scuffing his foot against her floor, "my indiscretions. I'm on the road all the time, away from my family, drinking, celebrating, sometimes things get out of control…"
"I really, really don't need to hear about your indiscretions right now."
"I know, Quinn. I know you. I love you. Everything that you are, from that girl that I met at your first college party to the woman who stands before me today. I want to make this right with you. But, we can't do that unless you're honest with me too. I know that something is going on with you and Rachel."
"You don't know anything."
"Maybe I don't in a tangible level, but Quinn, don't throw me out like the dishwater. We've been together for 12 years. I know you. I know that the way you looked at her is not the way you look at your friends. I've come clean with you, I'm asking you to come clean with me." Justin looked at Quinn, his eyes begging for some sort of response. Quinn was silent. "I will never, ever, try to justify my mistakes. I cheated. I made bad decisions and thought I could get away with them. They didn't mean anything to me. I thought, at the time, that I was fulfilling some sort of physical need, while keeping my heart secure with you. I see now that it was wrong. If you, if you have feelings for Rachel, please tell me. I'm going to fight for you, Quinn, if all you feel for her were physical desires to fill a need. But if you love her? I have to let you go." They stood in silence. Quinn's heart and Quinn's brain were moving faster than she thought possible. For the second time in three months, she was being asked to make a decision when she didn't have time to prepare for it, to weigh the pros and cons, to think about the implications of her words. She was forced to think with her feelings, which Quinn Fabray did not do best. She looked up at her husband, his eyes wide, the same way her children looked when asking her for guidance. There was something about seeing her children in her husbands eyes that made her emotionally vulnerable. She felt unable to lie to that face she had come to know so well.
"I love her, J. I'm in love with her. I think I always have been." His face crumpled at her words. He fell to his knees, his body wracked with gut wrenching sobs. She wiped his face and put her into his bed, crawling in next to him, but keeping her space. Even as he softly cried, Quinn could only think to herself. She loved Rachel Berry. She was in love with Rachel Berry. She had never admitted it out loud. But, she loved her. Tears streamed down Justin's face, and he desperately tried to avoid them. Quinn loved Rachel. They were done.