A/N: Things have been pretty bad in my life lately. Family members are sick. I was injured at work and now dealing with Work Comp issues so I haven't been in the best of moods to write, but alas, here is another update…It's a little longer too so I hope you all like.
Ch. 33: Before Camp Part I
"Are you going to say anything?" Amanda asks, worried that her girlfriend would be upset with her.
"That sucks," Beth states after a few minutes of silence. She scratches at her eyebrow piercing and shakes her head. "What am I supposed to do all summer? Everyone I can tolerate will be at your cheer camp. This literally blows."
Amanda cuddles into Beth. Over the last three years, she and Lucy attended cheerleading camp. It was hard, but rewording at the same time. There was a lot of training at the camp, but otherwise it was a fun and rewarding experience. Amanda wasn't sure about this year though. Sue Sylvester was running it.
"It's only a couple of months. Maybe during that time you'll find something that you'll love to do."
Beth shrugs her shoulder. "I'm not sure. What I do know is that I'm not looking forward to spending the majority of the summer with my parents."
That was the moment that Rachel had entered the house and Quinn and Lucy entering from the kitchen.
"What? Are we not cool enough?" Quinn says with a grin.
Beth raises an eyebrow. "When you say things like that, no."
Rachel looks at the faces of her family. "Why does everyone look like they're pouting?"
"Everyone is leaving me this summer," Beth responds.
Rachel pouts as well. She had forgotten that Lucy would be leaving in two weeks. "Now I'm sad," Rachel responds before pecking her wife's lips.
Lucy rolls her eyes at her family. They were all so serious that it was kind of funny. "Oh my god, I'm leaving in two weeks and only going to be for eight. You're not shipping me off to war or something."
Amanda stands up from the couch with a grin. "Then our families will have to make the next two weeks amazing."
Lucy looks at her friend in surprise. "What did you have in mind?"
Amanda just grins.
*Friend to a Stranger*
"Are you sure we can handle this?" Rachel asks as she packs the remaining items from her bed. "Spending the next week and a half with Brittany and Santana can be hard."
"Baby, it will be fine. It's great for the kids too, especially Beth."
Rachel turns to her wife.
"Is everyone forgetting the fact that Amanda and Beth are dating?"
Quinn zips up her bag and sits down on the bed. "No, this is why Lucy and Beth are staying in the same room. I'm not an idiot. Spending a week or so together will probably speed things up, but I'm not worried."
Rachel sits down next to Quinn. "I don't like thinking about this when it comes to our kids, but do you think Beth is having sexual relations."
Quinn holds in a snicker at her wife's word usage, but does respond. "No, I don't. I think that Beth has been waiting for a while for something like that to happen. She's had a tough life and I'm pretty sure she's never had a choice to wait so she's waiting."
"We need to have some deep conversations with Beth this summer don't we?"
Quinn leans her head against her wife's shoulder and sighs. "Yes, I don't want to read what happened to her through medical files and such. I want to hear it from her. Plus, I think that it will ultimately let Beth to start healing; for all of us to heal."
"I wholeheartedly agree, although, we shouldn't force her to talk about it."
"I know that," Quinn says with a sigh. "Then we need to discuss college with her."
"All of our children need to have some form of college education," Rachel says as she stands up from the bed.
Quinn watches her wife float around the room making sure they had everything they needed for the next two weeks. She shook her head and proceeded to help her wife with the rest of the packing.
*Friend to a Stranger*
"Are you sure you can be away from the restaurant for two weeks?" Brittany asks as she hands her wife a beer and sits down on the couch. Amanda was doing some last minute packing and Brittany and Santana had finished their packing over an hour ago.
Santana takes a sip of her beer and nods her head.
"It should be fine. The staff seems to be in better terms now and I think I finally have the best kitchen staff that I have ever worked with. All in all it seems good. They do have my number in case of a huge emergency, but I told them that if they can handle issues themselves that they should do it."
"I'm glad. I think Amanda's idea is kind of perfect. I can admit that things are still a little rocky with us and we are working on our marriage," Santana nods her head. "Maybe we can use this time to set up some sort of plan for our future like we used to do when we were kids."
Santana smiles softly. When they were kids, Santana and Brittany would meet on a random day with a piece of paper and a pen. On that day they would write out everything that they wanted for the next year ahead of them. They hadn't done their future plan since before Brittany left. She had to agree. Maybe her wife was right. It was time to get back to their roots and plan for the next year.
"We can do that when we get settled into the cabin. Maybe we can light the fireplace and have some wine…"
"S'mores," Brittany whispers as she leans against Santana's body on the couch. Santana grins.
"And s'mores and plan our next year."
Amanda comes into the room and sits in between her mothers. She sighs and closes her eyes. Brittany grins at her wife before speaking to her daughter.
"Do you have everything packed?"
Amanda nods her head and opens her eyes. "I leave in two weeks. I'm beginning to think that I shouldn't go."
Santana frowns at her daughter. "Why is that mija?"
Amanda looks at both of her moms and then down at her lap. "I don't want things to change. I don't want to come home and have anybody gone."
Brittany closes her eyes. It wasn't just her and Santana that needed to work things out.
"Baby, look at me please," Brittany pleads softly.
Amanda looks up at her mom with tears shinning in her eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere and I think that we need to spend some times together over the next two weeks before you leave. We should've been doing that here, but we haven't. I think it's time for some Brittany and Mandy one-on-one time together, what do you think?"
Amanda sniffs and looks at her mamí. "Is that okay with you mamí?"
Santana grins and places a kiss on her daughter's forehead.
"That sounds great."
*Friend to a Stranger*
Early the next morning, the Fabray and the Lopez households packed up their cars and made the drive to the cabin that Quinn, Rachel, Santana and Brittany bought before their kids were born. It was a few hours out of town, but the women didn't mind.
The cabin itself has three stories. The bottom floor has one complete bathroom, otherwise it was an open layout with a home entertainment system, complete with surround sound, a 60 inch flat screen TV and a Blu-ray DVD player. The second floor, which is the main floor of the cabin held 3 bedrooms, 2 of which were master bedrooms (each had their own bathrooms). It also held a smaller bathroom on the floor. There was a kitchen with top of the line appliances. There was also a sitting area near the fireplace. The last floor was basically a loft which held two beds.
"Holy crap, do you guys actually own this?" Beth asks amazed as the Fabray car drives closer up to the drive way.
"Along with Brittany and Santana, yes," Quinn replies with a smile as she packs the car, the Lopez car parks just a few seconds later.
Everyone gets out of their respective cars. Santana is first to delegate rooms.
"The parents get the two masters. Amanda, you get the other bedroom and Lucy and Beth, you get the loft. Grab your crap and get settled."
Lucy and Beth grab their bags and Lucy shows Beth the way to the loft.
"Why are we in the loft?" Beth asks as they walk upstairs.
"I personally love the loft, besides it's the only place with two beds. I love you and everything, but I refuse to share a bed with you."
Beth grimaces lightly. Lucy was correct. The only bed she wanted to share with was Amanda's.
Beth places her bag on the floor and lies down on her designated bed. Everyone had gotten on early start and she was tired, but Beth also knew that she wanted to explore more. Beth closes her eyes with a sigh.
Lucy smiles softly before walking down stairs to try and find the rest of her family.
Lucy spots her mama in the kitchen unpacking supplies.
"Where is everyone?"
Rachel turns away from the fridge with a grin. The moment that Quinn spotted the king sized bed in their designated room, her eyes closed and she was instantly in dream land.
"Your mom is sleeping. Santana is doing god knows what and Amanda and Brittany are spending some time together. Where's Beth?"
Lucy grins, "Sleeping."
Rachel grinned back. "Like mother, like daughter. Do you want to help with lunch?"
Lucy nods her head and helps her mother put everything away and get lunch started.
*Friend to a Stranger*
Brittany and Amanda decided that they were going to take a walk through the woods. Brittany wanted to take this time to try and reestablish her relationship with her daughter. It was clear from their conversation from last night that they weren't quite there yet. Amanda still had fears, but like Santana, was too afraid to admit them until their emotions boiled over. Before her mistake, Amanda and Brittany had spent a lot of time together because Santana spent so much time at the restaurant. Lately, it's been the complete opposite. Most of Amanda's free time that isn't spent with Beth, is spent with Santana at the restaurant.
"Are we just going to walk silently next to each other?"
Brittany snaps out of her thoughts and blushes sheepishly.
"I'm sorry. I've been stuck in my head lately. Amanda, I just want you to know that I'm not going to up and leave you and your mom."
"You've already done it mom. Mamí and I got messed up. I got really messed up," Amanda whispers.
"Why don't you tell me about it?"
"I was drinking a lot. Mamí wasn't ever in a good mood. Alcohol became my crutch. One night I had too much and the rest is history. I was just depressed."
"I cried every day," Brittany confesses. "I left because your mamí and I weren't Santana and Brittany anymore. We were growing apart and I got scared. Leaving was a mistake. I was busy taking dancing jobs for a certain period. Besides you, I felt like I didn't have anything else."
"What makes this time difficult?"
Brittany grins. "Basically everything. Your mamí and I are communicating. I get to see her more. My dance studio with Mike is just about finished. Teaching dance is what I want to do. My decision to leave had nothing to do with you. I want you to understand and to hear it."
Amanda was quiet with her thoughts for a while. Finally she was getting the answers she has wanted since the day that her mom had left. She could see her mom's point of view. It still hurt nonetheless.
"I get it. I'm not angry anymore, just a little bit hurt."
Brittany stops walking and turns to Amanda to face her.
"How can I lessen the hurt, Mandy?" Brittany asks, her eyes wide, waiting for an answer. Her child was still hurting and she wanted to fix it, but she knew that sometimes those things can't be fixed so easily.
"Don't ever leave again."
Brittany wraps her arms around her daughter.
"I promise that I won't leave you again."
Amanda smiles and hugs her mother tighter. Her mother never made promises that she couldn't keep. Amanda knew or rather had a gut feeling that her mother was keeping this one.
*Friend to a Stranger*
After their talk, Brittany and Amanda headed into the cabin to wake up their significant others. Rachel had told them that their lunch was just about finished.
Brittany crawled onto the bed next to her wife.
"Santana, wake up," Brittany whispers before kissing her on the forehead.
Santana grumbles and lets her eyes flutter open. Brittany smiles down at her.
"Hi."
"Hey," Santana rasps back. Santana sits up and yawns. "How was your bonding time with Mandy?"
Brittany grins widely.
"Things are going to be okay now. She was holding some things in and I think we finally were able to clear the air. I reassured her that I'm not going anywhere," Brittany looks lovingly in her wife's eyes. "Just like I'm telling you; I'm not going anywhere."
"I know B," Santana grins. "I'm glad that I am still married to you. I'm glad that we seem to be getting back on track."
Santana stands up from the bed and yawns.
"I hope you woke me up because there is food."
"There is."
Santana holds her hands out to her wife.
"Then let's go."
Brittany grabs onto the hand with a giggle. This vacation was going to be great.
*Friend to a Stranger*
"You didn't have to clean up, baby?" Rachel says as she wraps her arms around her wife from behind.
"You and Luce cooked, it was the least I could do. Besides cleaning helps me gather my thoughts," Quinn says as she rinses out her washcloth.
After everybody ate, Quinn had offered to clean the kitchen so they could all go enjoy the rest of the day. Even though she was pretty sure that nobody went outside. Santana and Brittany were giving each other bedroom eyes. And she heard the girls go downstairs.
"What were you thinking about?"
"Plans for the summer. I'm going to be pretty busy and I don't want to leave you and Beth alone all day, every day."
Rachel untangles her arms from around her wife.
"It sounds like you don't want me to spend time with our daughter," Rachel says putting emphasis on the word "our."
Quinn drops the washcloth and turns around quickly. She shook her head.
"No honey; that is not what I am saying at all. She's our daughter and of course you can spend time with her. I don't want to work as often as I did before. I know there were times when you were lonely."
Rachel raises an eyebrow.
"I also remember early on in our marriage when I was doing the exact same thing. Baby, you have nothing to worry about. It will be a transition at first, but after a while things will go back to normal. Not only that, but I'm looking forward to this summer. I want to improve my relationship with Beth and this summer it's going to happen."
"I'm overthinking things, aren't I" Quinn asks with a little blush.
Rachel grins and holds out her thumb and first finger, leaving a small open space between the two.
"Just a little bit. I still love you though."
Quinn rolls her eyes, steps forward and wraps her arms around her wife. "I love you, too. I always have and always will."
"We will figure things out Quinn. I'm just glad that you will be working again. Being a doctor is a passion of yours and you should get back to it."
Quinn kisses her wife's lips and pulls away.
"I could say the same for you."
Rachel places her hands on Quinn's waist.
"Please don't bring that up now."
With a raised eyebrow, Quinn responds, "All I am saying is that you can go back. It's not too late."
"Yes it is, but I'm okay with that. Besides, I love what I do. I couldn't understand why Will Schuester staying in Lima to run the glee club. I get it now," Rachel chuckles softly. "It's funny. All of us were in a rush to leave Lima, but eventually we all ended up back here, at least some of us."
"Home never really leaves you," Quinn states with a sigh. "But I'm glad we are raising our girls here. I never wanted them to grow up as snobs."
Rachel pecks her wife's lips and leans against the counter.
"With us as parents it wouldn't have happened, but we experienced what we wanted and we made a choice. It was a good one."
"I think so too," Quinn says with a grin. "Now that the cleaning is done, what would you like to do?"
Rachel looks at her wife shyly.
"To lay in your arms?"
Quinn holds out her hands for her wife.
"Come one, let's go cuddle."
*Friend to a Stranger*
After lunch, Beth, Lucy, and Amanda decided to head downstairs to watch a movie. Blankets and pillows scattered the floor because the girls all wanted to lie down and watch the movie. They all decided on watching The Proposal. Lucy had fallen asleep halfway through.
Beth and Amanda were cuddled next to each other, Amanda's head resting on Beth's shoulder.
"I'm going to miss you," Beth confesses.
"I'm going to miss you, too," Amanda places a kiss on the underside of Beth's jaw. "There's a part of me that doesn't want to leave. I just want to spend more time with you. The other part of me says to continue with what I have been doing the last few summers."
"Baby, you don't have to change for me. You had a life before we met. I don't expect you to your life to be wrapped around mine. Besides, we have the rest of the week to spend together and sometimes when you get back."
"I know, it just kind of sucks. Everything is changing. It's all a good change, but we literally only have two years left of school and then we're adults. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that right now."
Beth grabs onto Amanda's hand.
"I've done a lot of growing up and I was never ready for that, but the change is quick. The transitions take time, but eventually you get used to it."
Amanda sighs softly and goes back to watching the movie.
Beth couldn't concentrate on the movie anymore. Being close to Amanda made Beth feel all sorts of things. She knew her love for this girl was never going to go away. Another thought rolled into Beth's mind about the two of them and she was ready to voice it.
"I'm ready," Beth whispers.
"Ready for what?" Amanda asks not looking away from the screen.
Beth grins and places a kiss on her girlfriend's head.
"Amanda, I'm ready."
Finally understanding Beth's words, Amanda sits up and faces her with wide eyes.
"Right now?"
Beth chuckles as she sits up.
"Not right now, but I am ready. It's going to happen, Amanda Lopez, sometime this week."
Beth smiles and lays back down. Amanda continues to sit with a glazed over look in her eye. Beth grins and continues to watch the movie.
A few feet away, Lucy watches as Amanda eventually lies back down beside Beth. Lucy had overhead their conversation. While she was glad that Beth was letting Amanda into her heart deeper it didn't mean that she wanted to hear it. Lucy closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep thinking only one thing.
I really need a boyfriend.
A/N: I swore to myself that I was never going to do this, but I gave myself a twitter…only because it will be the place where my readers can see when the next updates will be up or rather basically any information regarding my stories. I'd rather use twitter then post an author's note because using AN takes more time.
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