Chapter 18
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Annabelle Torres asked her daughter softly then reached over and grabbed her hand and held it in her own.
"Nothing." Aria mumbled, her face buried into the massage table she was on.
"Aria." her mother spoke, clearly unconvinced.
Aria sighed before turning over and facing her mother who was on the massage table beside her with a knowing smile on her face.
"I'm fine. Really."
"Did you forget who you're talking to Arianna Torres?"
"No." she mumbled, "It's just-" Annabelle leaned in a bit closer as her daughter spoke softly, "-I feel like I can never compete." she admitted softly.
Annabelle Torres studied her daughter carefully, watching a few stray tears fall down her similar olive skin. She sat up on the massage table and crossed over to her daughter, quickly pulling her up and gathering her in her arms. Aria easily found solace in her mother's arms and began to cry harder into the elder woman's shoulder.
"Oh, my sweet," Anna rocked her daughter gently, pushing back the hair that had fallen over her face, "What do you mean you can't compete?"
Aria sniffled a few times before she raised her head from her mother's shoulder and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "I feel like Santana just-" she choked up a bit at her next words, "-doesn't need me anymore."
"Aria," Anna said softly and cupped her daughter's cheek, "You're her mother, she's always going to need you-"
"I know that. I do." Aria interrupted, "But I can't help but feel like maybe it might be better for Santana to go and stay with Callie. She seems to be doing a much better job with her than I ever could."
"Aria. Nobody ever said being a mother was easy. If being a mother was easy, God wouldn't have created grandmothers." she said with a slight chuckled as she reached for her daughter's hands and clasped them tightly in her own, "Sometimes, we have to be the bad guys. Even if we don't want to." Anna told her daughter, "But that doesn't mean we're not the good guys sometimes too."
"I just don't want her to hate me. I'm afraid of disappointing her." Aria admitted softly. "Like I disappointed you." she added, her voice barely a whisper.
Annabelle was stunned at her daughter's words and moved her hand to cover her mouth in shock. "Aria-what-"
"Calliope's pregnancy, mother." she answered simply.
Tears sprung to Annabelle's eyes as she watched the guilt pass over her daughter. She placed a hand on the side of Aria's face, turning her so they were eye to eye. "No." Her voice cracked, but firm. "That was no one's fault. Not you or your sister. Do you hear me? You did not disappoint me in or father in any way, Arianna." She told her wiping the tears from her cheeks.
Aria looked into her mother's eyes and shook her head, "But-her abortion-"
"Was her choice." Anna finished for her, "Calliope chose. And you supported her when no one else would. You gave her the life she wanted, Aria. That's all. You were just being her big sister." She said with a smile which Aria tearfully returned.
"And now," Aria started and leaned her head atop her mother's shoulder, "she hates me."
Anna chuckled quietly patting her daughter's head, "She doesn't hate you, mija. She loves you. Misses you, too. She told me."
Aria's head shot up and she looked at her mother surprised, "She did?"
Annabelle nodded with a smile, "Of course she did." she told her, "She feels guilty because she thinks she forced you to help her. She calls me every week to ask about you."
Aria smiled sadly and wrapped her arms around her mother, laying her head back on her shoulder, "I miss her too."
"I know, mija. I know."
"What do you think about this color?" Santana asked as she leant over the armrest of her chair to show Callie deep purple nail polish.
Callie lowered the magazines she's reading and smiled, "Pretty."
Santana studied the polish once more before nodding decidingly and giving it to the pedicurist while she slipped her feet into the heated water tub.
"Are you excited to go back to school?" Callie asked glancing over at Santana who had picked up a magazine of her own and had started flipping through it.
Santana shrugged, "Eh. Not really."
"Liar." Callie shot back.
"Ugh. Fine. Yes." Santana grumbled and stuck her tongue out at Callie, who laughed and tapped her nose playfully. "Maybe. It'll be nice to be on top again. Me and Puck are gonna rule that school this year."
"What about your friend? Linn?"
"Quinn." Santana corrected with a grimace. "And we're not exactly friends. Frenemies is more accurate."
Callie rolled her eyes then turned another page while both pedicurists sat in the little chairs at the end of the massage chairs and began the girls' pedicures. "Oh. I'm gonna go with this one." she handed the woman a dark blue color bottle of polish before turning back to Santana, "What about her? You used to call and complain to me all the time about her being McKinley's Queen B as you so eloquently put it."
Santana laughed to herself as she thought about all the things that Quinn's been going through lately. She's practically losing Finn to the Hobbit in Glee club and Sue's been on her case about not focusing enough on the Cheerios. Plus, Santana has Puck now, like officially. So yeah, she'd say she's winning in this 'Queen B' competition. "I don't think she's gonna be a problem."
Callie quirked an eyebrow at her niece's gleeful smile but smiled nonetheless. She leaned back into the comfy chair and let it massage her in all the right places. "So. Was it just me or was I still sensing some tension between you and your mother?"
Santana sighed and leaned her head back against her massage chair, "I don't know, Aunt Callie. She just doesn't get me. Not the way I need her to anyway."
"What do you mean she doesn't get you?" Callie asked.
"It's just-" Santana groaned and threw her hands up in exasperation, "I can't talk to her about anything! Nothing. Zip. "
"Well," Callie drawled out, "Have you tried?" Santana started to answer but Callie cut her off, "I mean really tried. No yelling. No getting upset and threatening to go 'all lima heights on her ass' - yeah Puck told me about that little saying of yours, which is just horrible by the way given the fact that you live in one of the most wealthy areas in Lima/" Santana rolled her eyes as Callie continued, "Anyway, I think you guys just need to sit down and have a calm, peaceful, talk. Just the two of you."
"Calm? Peaceful? When have I ever been calm and peaceful, Aunt Callie?" Santana asked incredulously. "Besides, there's no way we would even be able to pull that off."
"Well, there's a first for everything." Callie smiled brightly at her, obviously winning this battle.
Santana pursed her lips, a trait Callie knew all too well, and groaned. "I hate you." she grumbled.
"You love me." Callie leaned over and kissed her niece on the cheek causing Santana to burst out laughing, trying to push her away.
"So," Santana looked over at her aunt, "What do you think the guys are doing right about now?
"What. The. Hell. Was. That?!" Puck panted as he kneeled over resting his palms on his knees and tried to catch his breath.
Mark, who was beside him in the same position, wiped his forehead, which was drenched in sweat, answered breathlessly. "I have never done anything that difficult in my entire life."
Both men collapsed on the floor, laying flat on their backs, breathing heavily.
"Oh come on now boys, haven't you ever played squash before?" Both men groaned at Mr. Torres' voice as they turned their heads toward him and Antonio.
"When you said we were going to play Squash," Puck started, using his hand to cover his eyes from the harsh sun, "I thought you meant we were gonna actually squish things." He admitted. "I didn't think that the thing that we were squashing would be every bone in my body."
Hector and Antonio both burst into laughter then walked over to the two men sprawled out on the floor and helped them up.
Hector helped Mark up and clapped him on his shoulder, "Come on. I'll buy you a drink."
"A drink sounds great actually." Puck piped in. The three elder men turned around quickly to face him, each wearing the same incredulous look. "Or not." he mumbled cowering away from their glares.
Mark laughed loudly as he swung an arm around his nephew. "Aw. It's okay Pucky." he cooed. "Maybe they have apple cider on the kids menu. I'll even ask if they can put it in a sippy cup for you."
Puck narrowed his eyes at his uncle and punched him in his ribs while they all started laughing at him. "Shut up." he grumbled.
After getting their mani pedis done, Callie and Santana switched off and went to get their massages done. They talked about school some more. Santana told Callie more about the Glee club and the people in it. She told her how even though she didn't show it, Glee club was really the best part about her day. Callie continued to remind her that if she wanted to do something, anything, that the she would be behind her the entire way. They talked about the hospital. The latest gossip on the Gizzie situation. Or, the lack thereof actually.
When one o'clock finally came around, the four Torres women gathered around a round table in the hotel restaurant, each feeling equally pampered and relaxed. Annabelle and Aria had already been there when Callie and Santana walked in, arm in arm.
Callie did not miss the look on Aria's face when they strolled in but decided to ignore it as she and Santana came up to the table.
"Girls." Annabelle gestured them to sit, "Did you two enjoy yourselves?"
Santana nodded eagerly while placing the cloth napkin in her lap. "Definitely. That was exactly what I needed. Now I can go back to school feeling amazing and ready to take my place as head cheerleader."
"Head cheerleader?" Aria questioned her, obviously surprised.
Santana nodded while opening up her menu. "Yeah. Coach Sue told me before break started that I would be taking Q's place as head cheerleader."
Aria tilted her head at her daughter and smiled slightly, "That's amazing, sweetie. I'm very proud of you."
Santana looked up from her menu and smiled warmly at her mother. "Thanks, mom."
Callie and Annabelle shared a look before their waiter appeared ready to take their order. Each latina ordered their lunch accordingly and thanked their waiter, who nodded and disappeared to put their order in.
"So this glee club," Aria started, "is it like, a class?"
Santana eyes lit up immediately as she started to explain what glee was to everyone at the table. She told them about the different people that were in it: Jocks, losers, loners, and of course, cheerleaders. She told them Mr. Shue and his obsession with sweater vests. She told them about the different songs they got to perform and the competitions they competed in. Each Torres woman listened intently as the youngest Torres talked on and on about Glee club. They couldn't help but gaze at Santana with adoration as she smiled as she talked.
Aria was fixated with her daughter at this point. She watched adoringly as Santana laughed and smiled while talking about Glee club. She couldn't believe that she had let such a huge part of her daughter's life almost pass by without her even knowing about it. Her daughter was perfect. She doesn't know how she had spent so much time out of her life. She did know one thing though. Everything was going to change when it came to her daughter's happiness.
None of them had ever seen Santana speak about something with so much passion before.
It was nice.
"Oh my gosh." Santana gasped looking around at all their faces, "I'm rambling aren't I? I'll just stop talking now."
The three elder Torres women shook their heads immediately.
"No mija." Annabelle told her, "Continue. We want to hear more."
"Really?"
"Really." Aria and Callie answered together. They looked at each other quickly and shared a slight smile before returning their attention to Santana.
She was talking about how Rachel was always getting the solos and how her and Britt were kind of just in the background for most of the songs, when their food arrived.
The waiter served their food and each woman thanked him before Annabelle spoke to her, "Just be patient, sweetheart. You'll get your chance to shine."
Santana smiled sadly at her grandmother before digging into her pasta dish that she ordered.
The rest of lunch was light and fun. Memories were shared. Memories were made. By the time they settled up the bill, each woman was perfectly content.
While waiting at the vallet for their car, Aria turned to her mother and said, "Thank you, mother. Today was amazing."
"Yeah, gram. Today was totally awesome. Thank you so much." Santana said as she hugged her grandmother.
Callie smiled and nodded, "I agree. Today was perfect. Thanks for thinking of this, mom."
Annabelle looked around at each of her girls and smiled warmly at each of them. "Anything for you three."
"Group hug!" Santana shouted hugging her grandmother again. Aria and Callie looked at each other and shrugged before joining in on the hug.
When they pulled away, their car was being pulled up the driveway and Annabelle said, "Come on now girls, we should get back. I'm sure Papa has worked each of your men to a pulp. I'm sure they could each use some saving right about now."
All three girls' faces dropped as they hurried into the car, eager to see what had gone on in their absence.