Hello everyone. This is a bonus update. I had a lot of good things and happy things happen to me today.
A) Frozen was released today
B) It's Glee's 100th
C) I'm in the process of starting up my own business
D) I got a really nice text from a friend to encourage me to have a good day &
E) One of my favorite authors updated one of their stories that I love so much.
As always, I'm very grateful to see that so many of you are reading and following the story. I am going to be a pain in the tucas and ask for reviews. The last few chapters had 5 or less reviews, and honestly that makes me think you aren't really that interested in it. So please review, tell me what you like, what you hate, what you notice that I may have skipped over and not noticed on my own.
Warnings for this story are still trust issues and the use of a pacifier for it's intended purpose of having a calming effect.
Proper credit as always to Beaner008, NayaFan, & UnholyUnderBoob.
ENJOY!
Santana woke up two hours later and looked down at her chest to find Marley still sleeping and Teddy Bear was tucked next to her. There was also a post it on her back and she wrinkled her brow and looked at it. "It's 3:30. Went to gym. Graveyard shift tonight for me. See you both tomorrow - Kurt/Papa" "Lovely," Santana said. She was now trapped under Marley and she had to get up. Her bladder is what woke her up to begin with. "Okay baby girl, nice and slow," she said to herself and she began breathing deeply, to get Marley used to the small movements. After a minute, Santana moved Marley off of her body, using her breath, only moving Marley on the exhale, and then rubbed her back for a minute before leaving her alone and running to the bathroom. She didn't shut the door all the way, and prayed that Marley wouldn't wake up with the sound of the flushing toilet, or running water. Luckily, everything worked out well and she was able to return to from the bathroom, un-missed.
Santana paced the kitchen for a while, trying to decide what she should make to eat for dinner for herself and Marley. They'd learned that Marley could and would eat spinach as long as it was wilted and cooked, something that only Kurt could handle. "We need cooking lessons or something," Santana thought, and she pulled out some bread, cheese, and a can of tomato soup. Once it was all thoroughly cooked, she set it all aside and went to check on Marley, who was just waking up. "Hey there sweetheart," she smiled.
"Mommy," Marley said with a soft smile.
"Hi Baby. Did you sleep well?" she asked and Marley nodded, but her eyes immediately filled with tears. "Do you hurt?" she asked. Marley shook her head no. "Can you say the word?" Again Marley shook her head. "Ugh, my love, we need to teach you to sign, or get you better faster, so communication is easier. Okay, are you hungry?" A long blink. "Are you wet?" A fast blink. Santana smiled. "We need a sign for potty," she smiled and helped Marley into the bathroom. "I'm going to bend down sweetheart, hold my shoulders," she said and as she bent down she brought down Marley's sweatpants. She untaped her diaper and had her sit down on the toilet. "Can you sit here while I get your things?" she asked her.
Marley looked concerned that Santana would leave her sitting there and she started to whimper in fear. "Mommy" she whimpered.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay sweetheart, I'm not going to leave you here for long, but all your things to change are in our room. I have to go get them," Santana explained petting her face gently.
"Mama?" Marley asked and worked her jaw a bit, the sores inside her mouth, causing her some pain since they'd dried out during her nap.
"Mama Rae isn't home yet baby. It's just you and me," she said.
"Mommy," Marley said reaching her arms out, needing Santana told hold her, even as she sat on the toilet.
"You're okay sweetheart, I promise," Santana said gently and Marley just cried. "You can't stay naked forever sweetheart, we need to get you cleaned up and into new underwear," she said. Marley shook her head no and held tighter. Santana rubbed her back and spoke kindly to her. "You don't want to stay on the toilet forever do you?" Santana asked after a few moments and Marley shook her head no. "Alright then, so Mommy is going to go to the bedroom, get what we need, and then come straight back okay?" Santana asked and Marley shook her head no again. "I will make it fast baby girl. I will sing, so you hear my voice the whole time," Santana bargained. "What songs does my baby like? How about what Mama Rae sings all the time. "Don't tell me not to live, just sit and putter," Santana started and she belted the entire song from the second she stepped out of the bathroom until she got back, which was one whole verse.
"Marley my love, I will always come back for you sweetheart. Always. Until one day you decide you don't want me to, and even then, I might be a pain in the neck and still come back to you," she smiled and Marley gave a very soft and tearful laugh. Santana got her changed and into clean clothes. Once she was set, the two girls went back to the living room and Santana set Marley on the couch. Marley rolled onto her back and took a breath.
"I wish you could tell me when this moving around business was going to get easier," she thought to herself. She carefully rolled onto her belly and let her hand hang off the couch. She looked at her little pile of blocks not paying too much attention to where Santana was in the room. She could see her legs over by the television so she spelled her word while calling out for Santana, trying to make it clear that she needed to tell her something. "Mommy," she called out, realizing that she needed help.
"Yes baby?" Santana asked, not moving away from the television just yet.
"Mommy," Marley said again.
"I'm right here sweetheart, I'm just setting up a movie for us," she told her and then returned to the couch to see Marley on her belly and the word juice spelled out in her blocks. Santana smiled and picked up two blocks showing them to Marley. "Fruit punch?" she asked showing her the J, "or water?" she asked showing her the U block. Marley pushed the J block carefully back to Santana and Santana gave her a kiss to her temple.
Santana returned a few moments later with the cup of juice and looked at her "Do you want to do it, or do you want Mommy to help you?" she offered her.
"Mommy," Marley said.
"Alright, we'll do it together," she said. She set the cup on the coffee table, readjusted Marley to a seated position, got on her left side, and helped her drink her juice. "Very good my sweet girl," she praised once the juice was finished. "Okay, so my lovely girl, we have some options here. I have Mary Poppins all set up in the DVD player for you and no matter what happens you get to watch it, but I wanted to talk to you about the box and the three pacifiers inside it," she said and Marley went tense, but cuddled into Santana's side.
"I know, it's not a topic you want to talk about, but I kind of have to. Miss April gave me instructions and some websites to show you," Santana said. "You see sweetheart, Miss April actually wants you to use a pacifier, whenever you want, as well as when you sleep," she explained and Marley didn't seem tense any more, she just seemed confused. Why would her speech therapist want her to use something that would impede her speech. Wasn't the entire point of speech therapy to get better?
"So, this is the website," Santana said pulling it up on her phone. Most of the information was about how pacifiers helped clam anxiety and Marley would have been the first person to admit that she was anxious a lot of the time now. It was all Terri's brainwashing, she knew that, but it didn't help matters that the memories still lived with her and haunted her, on her road to recovery.
"And now, I will give you the run down. You have to open the box. You don't have to use the pacifiers, but you have to open them, and look at them. Do you understand why I want that?" she asked and Marley shook her head. "See baby, Terri was a very mean woman, and she made non scary things very scary for you. You have to claim them back as just normal things. If you never want to use a pacifier, you never have to. I don't care if Miss April doesn't like that answer, but that's the truth. I'm not going to force you to use it, but you do have to at least look at one, hold one, understand that it's just a thing, with no real power over you," Santana said.
Marley seemed to think about this and then nodded her agreement. "Beyond that, I want you to understand, that if you ever choose to go back to using pacifiers, that they aren't a bad thing. Nothing will be coated on them, unless you do it yourself," and Marley looked at Santana curiously, taking hold of Santana's hand. "Mommy once heard a story about a lady who poked a hole in her pacifier with a syringe. She filled the nipple with some sort of peppermint schnopps serum thing, and then froze it. She took it out of the freezer, hours later and the woman was sucking peppermint schnopps out of her pacifier when she went to an expo," Santana said and Marley looked at her with even more confusion.
"The point is my love, you are in charge of those pacifiers. You and only you, control when a pacifier goes into your mouth and only your mouth. We will never tease you, or make fun of you," Santana promised. "So what do you say my love, are you ready to take them out of the box?" she asked and with hesitation and a heavy sigh, Marley nodded her agreement.
Marley cuddled into Santana, gathered up all her courage and lifted out all three at once. The one on the far left had a blue plate with a red ring, more like a boy's pacifier, but she liked the shade of blue and touched it carefully. "Does it feel like anything specific baby?" Santana asked her. Marley shook her head no and handed it to Santana so she could feel it. "Feels like plastic, but it stays outside your mouth, should you choose to use it, so that one seems safe," she said and Marley nodded her agreement. The second one had a pink guard with a green ring and Santana smiled. "Mama Rae is going to tell you that one is Wicked, or a Watermelon, I can guarantee it," she told her with a smile. The third one had a yellow plate with a purple ring and a tiny little picture of tinkerbell on the front of it. "Is that a fairy?" Santana asked and Marley nodded. "Did you know that I called Papa a fairy in high school? A lot actually," she said and Marley looked shocked. "Relax sweetheart, Papa knew I was doing it, and he knew I didn't mean harm by it. I just didn't have a nickname for him," she said honestly and Marley thought for a moment realizing he wasn't around.
"Papa?" she asked.
"Papa had to go to work tonight, it's just you and me, until Mama Rae gets home, and you and I might be asleep by then," she said.
"Moo?" Marley asked.
"Moo? That's a new word baby. I'm proud of you for saying a new word, but I don't know what it means," Santana said honestly. "Can you spell it out for me?" Santana asked and Marley nodded. Santana lifted the two of them to the floor and pet Marley's hair letting her take her time. M...O...V...I...E," Marley spelled.
"Yes, we can watch the movie now," Santana smiled.
It had been a week since Marley opened the infamous box. She had yet to use the pacifiers and April had of course told Santana off for not getting her to actually use them. Rachel was in the back bedroom with Marley, helping her change into a clean shirt, since she spilled juice all over the one she'd been wearing.
"Mama? Bah?" she asked pointing to her chest.
"No sweetheart, you are not bad. You didn't do anything wrong. Your hands fumbled and you dropped your juice, that's all. As soon as we change your shirt, we'll go back out there and you can have your lesson with miss April," Rachel told her kindly. Marley pouted and Rachel laughed. "It's okay, your Mommy makes those same faces when she has to do something she doesn't want to as well," she told her giving her a kiss to her forehead.
In the other room, Santana and April were having words. "I asked you to get her to use them."
"And I told you, I'm not forcing her. If she wants to use it, then fine, but it is her choice. I got her to see them, hold them, look at them, that's the best I can do. I will not force her," Santana said strongly.
"Santana, I don't know how else to make you understand this. I'm not the evil person here. Terri was the evil person. She is the one who tortured your little girl. She tortured the person who calls you Mommy. Marley calls you that for a reason. She calls you that, because she trusts you. I'm asking you to trust me. I know you don't. I don't know why you don't, but I promise you, I'm doing everything I can to help her. My job is to get her to heal her mouth, with the pacifiers at night, so that she can eventually start speaking full sentences," April lectured and Santana felt like she was back in high school in geography class, or in the choir room with Rachel giving some random odd lecture about performance techniques.
"She's afraid, I can't make her do something that scares her," Santana scared her.
"That is most definitely not true. She didn't do a lot before you showed up. She talks for you, she moves for you, she gives her absolute best effort all for you. Before you showed up, we didn't think she was capable of any of the things that she does now. She didn't even cry or scream when they changed her, before you showed up," April said and Santana's eyes flashed with surprise. "You didn't know?" April asked in shock. "Okay, listen to me very carefully Santana. Marley sees you as her mom, the one who is in charge and makes the rules and is safe. I want her to heal. My way, will work. You have to talk to her and back me up on this," April said.
Santana and April had started softly, but their voices were rising and in the bedroom, Marley heard her. "Mommy?" Marley asked Rachel as Rachel helped her straighten her shirt out and got some lotion to put on her hands.
"Yes baby, I hear Mommy too. She's a Mommy Bear right now, and she's protecting her cub. Do you know who her cub is?" Rachel asked with a smile and Marley nodded proudly. "Papa says he only likes Mommy as a bear when she's defending us," Rachel said and Marley let out a little giggle. "Come on big girl, let's go and have your lesson. The faster we do it, the faster it's over," she said and Marley gave a sigh, but nodded. She carefully swung her legs over the bed and let Rachel help her to her feet. Rachel caught her weight before she fell back down to the bed and moved in quickly behind her. They laced their hands together and Marley locked out her knees. Rachel carefully pushed her own knee into the back of Marley's and bend by bend, they shuffled out of the room and into the main living space.
April was seated at the kitchen table and Rachel put Marley in the chair next to Santana. Santana was already seated on the left. Marley leaned into her and Santana kissed her temple. "Marley, I asked Mommy to stay with us for this lesson okay?" April asked and Marley nodded. "So, today is very simple, we're just going to say the alphabet. I know there are some letters that cause you lots of pain still, so for now we are going to skip them. I want to tell you though, that I know how to help heal the sores on the linings of your cheeks," she said.
Marley looked at her hopefully and then looked toward Santana who seemed far away somehow. "Mommy?" she asked softly. If Santana wasn't paying attention, or didn't trust April, then there was no way in hell Marley was going to trust April.
"I'm not leaving you baby, I'm here. Let's listen to what Miss April has to say," Santana said and Marley nodded.
"Thank you," April smiled at Santana. "See Marley, I've talked to a friend of mine and he's a dentist. The reason you wake up in pain in the morning is because the sores are drying out while you sleep. During the day, you are constantly swallowing or drinking, keeping your mouth lubricated naturally. At night, when you sleep, you stop all of that. The way to keep it going is to suck on something. Now I would never suggest you sleep with something that you could swallow in your mouth. That could be very dangerous and I have a feeling that if your Mommy even thought I might suggest that, she would have me out the door faster than anyone could ever imagine," April lectured kindly and Marley nodded her agreement.
"Mommy, Ayff," she said.
"Yes, your Mommy is very safe, especially when it comes to you. Now I know that before this big mess, you wanted to be someone's baby, and some babies, even some toddlers, use pacifiers. I truly believe that if you used a pacifier at night, only while you sleep, it would help your mouth heal faster, and I really think you want that," April told her.
Marley thought for a moment and nodded her agreement. "Thank you," April told her. "Now, I want you to keep that thought in your head and try tonight to at least start. Even if you start slow. One hour minimum, and then work up to all night. I know that Terri was a very mean lady who made non scary things absolutely terrifying for you, and for that I'm sorry, but in this house, with your Mommy, who is very safe, it's okay to try those things again, especially if it's going to help you get better faster," she said.
Marley gave the same sigh as Santana and from the kitchen stove Rachel covered her mouth, so as not to laugh at how alike "mother and daughter" actually were. "Now that that's over, I want to go over today's lesson. Can we try your alphabet please?" she asked and Marley agreed. "Can I look at your tongue first so I can update my notes?" she asked. Marley opened up her mouth and stuck out her tongue. The tip was covered in tiny little blisters all around the edge, her lips looked chapped, and April could see the two large sores at the back of her mouth, on her cheeks, one on either side. "The big blister on the top of your tongue is all healed up Marley, that's wonderful news. The little ones around the edge are getting smaller, from when I saw you two days ago, so that is wonderful news. Do your cheeks still hurt?" she asked with genuine concern.
Marley nodded yes. "Can you tell me how much they hurt? On a scale of one to ten? One means, only when you go to eat or talk, and ten means all the time, even when you just have your mouth closed," April said. Marley thought for a few moments and held up six fingers. "Six?" April asked and Marley nodded. "Okay, well I've set up your blocks and based on what I see, I'm going to take away the letters that I know will hurt your tongue and mouth even more, okay?" she asked.
Marley and Santana both watched with curiosity as April carefully picked off the letters. She had all twenty six set up, but one by one, she pulled them out. C, D, L, N, Q, S, T, V, W, X and Z. "Okay Marley I took away eleven letters. That means you are about sixty percent healed and for that I am so proud of you. Do you know that I work with people who at this point in the game still only say vowels? I'm really proud of you," April said. "Let's go slow okay. You say the letters that I point to, and we'll make sure that nothing in here hurts you okay?" she asked and Marley thought for a moment and then took Santana's hand. She could do it if she had full support.
Two hours later, Marley was finished with her lesson and sitting on the floor of the living room, in Santana's lap, holding her teddy bear as she watched tv and Rachel stood in the kitchen cooking, singing the ABC song. Marley looked over at Santana and giggled, cuddling into her. "What's so funny baby?"
"Mama Rae," she said.
"Why is Mama Rae funny?" Marley reached for her blocks and spelled out the word sing. Santana listened and started to laugh herself. She had to admit that it was pretty funny that Rachel was the one singing the ABC song. "Mama Rae was very good in school. Maybe she's trying to do your homework for you," Santana teased. Marley smiled and leaned into Santana letting out a long loud yawn. "Are you tired my love?" she asked her and Marley nodded.
"Alright well how about you take a little nap," she suggested.
"Mommy?" she asked.
"Yes baby?"
"Mouf?' she asked.
"Your mouth? Does it hurt?" Marley nodded that it did and Santana looked concerned about this. "Maybe it was all your exercises today. Shall we try eating a banana to help the muscles, and then maybe a nap?" Santana suggested. Marley thought about it for a moment and then agreed. She kept quiet about the fact that maybe she was ready to try the pacifier.
Santana cuddled her for an hour, getting her to eat three quarters of the banana, which was an improvement, and she drank an entire glass of juice by herself, which was also a huge improvement. "I am so proud of you Marley, you are making such great progress, and I want you to remember something. For as long as you wish, I will be your Mommy. If you ever want that to stop," she said and Marley quickly looked at her and shook her head no, curling in tight to her side and wrapping her arms around Santana's waist as best she could. "You don't have to baby, but know that you always have that option, should you want it," she said.
"Mommy?" she asked and Santana looked at her kindly waiting for her to continue. "I go," she said and then she threw her hands in the other direction. Santana took a moment to figure it out and smiled.
"Do you want to go somewhere else?" she asked and Marley shook her head no. "Then you do not need to worry my lovely girl. You can stay here as long as you want to," Santana told her.
Marley was sound asleep ten minutes later and very carefully Santana removed herself and let Marley lay down on the couch. She got up and went into the bedroom, to go over some emails that her clients at the club had sent her. Most of them knew that she was out of business for a while, due to personal complications, and a majority of them, still emailed her their transgressions for the week. She would come up with the proper 'punishments' for them and then send a copy of her orders to the club. Santana would be paid on her training pay schedule and any tips that she acquired were saved up and mailed to her at the end of the week. One client even added a hand written note that they hoped she got everything straightened out with ease, because she was greatly missed.
One of the emails was from Susan and Santana read over it carefully, to be sure she understood.
"Hello my darling Santana,
We have been getting lots of requests for you to come out of your hiatus. Miss Beth and I have talked about all the pros and cons of such a decision. None of the clients are walking. They want to wait for you. Miss Beth and I are slightly concerned about how long Marley's recovery will keep you out though. In order to strike some sort of compromise I am offering my services as a babysitter for Marley. I will meet her with you, spend as much time with her as I can while you are around, and then we will slowly move to having me with Marley and you with your clients. The reason I am offering this, is because she can be here at the club with you. I have the nursery setting and the playroom setting, she'll also be close to you. I would like for you to simply consider this option. We are not pushing you or Marley in any way. Just know that it is available to you. Wishing you, Marley, Rachel, and Kurt all the best.
Susan."
"Yeah, that's not awkward at all," she sighed. She scrubbed at her face and then went over the email three more times, to be sure she truly understood what was being asked of her. She was about to go over it a fourth time, but Rachel's scales in the bathroom, brought her out of her thoughts. She decided to check on Marley first. Marley was completely out, her chest rising and falling evenly as she took a much deserved rest. For a brief moment, Santana wondered if she should put Marley on a nap schedule. She quickly shook that thought from her head and squashed it. There really was no need for it. Marley did the best she could to communicate at all times, unless she was terrified about something.
Santana waited for Rachel to come out of the bathroom and they began discussing the idea of babysitting. They had been talking things out for the past hour and no one heard Marley wake up. Marley heard them, but tuned them out. She focused on the box that was just on the other side of the coffee table. That box held her pacifiers, and she was starting to think that maybe it might help. Maybe April did know what she was talking about after all. Marley took a deep breath and reached outward. Her arm didn't quite make it, so she wiggled her fingers, trying to inch closer, but still wasn't close enough. She let out a little muffled grunt of frustration. She took a deep breath in and on her exhale she reached a little further, except she reached too far, leaned a bit too much and fell off the couch, alerting Santana and Rachel that A) she was awake and B) she was probably in pain now.
It didn't take long for Marley to catch her breath from the shock of the fall and for tears to start flowing. She was angry at herself now for crying, and she was angry that she had put herself in pain, so she just laid there and cried. Rachel and Santana were with Marley quickly, trying to calm her down and getting her to still herself so they could check her for injuries.
"What happened love?" Rachel asked.
"She went pole vaulting!" Santana replied with nothing but snark in her voice.
"She knows what I meant," Rachel said and carefully pulled Marley into her arms and cuddled her. "I'll hold you and Mommy can check you over to make sure nothing needs serious medical attention," she said and Marley agreed. Her gaze was very relaxed and Santana wasn't sure she liked that.
Rachel brushed away her tears and kissed the top of her head and Santana ran her hands carefully over Marley's body. Her gaze seemed far off and Santana was trying to gage Marley's current state of mind. She seemed to be staring off to the right at something, but it wasn't an intense stare, just a gaze in that direction. She wasn't sure if she should say something or not, so she carefully snapped her fingers over on Marley's left. "Marley baby, are you okay? Do you hurt somewhere else?" she asked trying to get her attention.
Marley looked at her and Santana smiled. "Hi baby. Are you okay, do you hurt somewhere else?" she asked and Marley shook her head no. She wasn't completely focused, she was having a stand off with the box. Right now it held all the power and she didn't like that. She wanted to take back her power. She wanted to do something that would make her better, she wanted to try, but she couldn't move so well. She sat against Rachel feeling warm and comfortable for a moment, until her belly rumbled the famous rumble that meant she needed the bathroom. Rachel and Santana carefully helped her to stand and lead her into the bathroom. They sat her on the toilet and her body erupted, making her scream in pain.
She sobbed heavily as Rachel and Santana carefully cleaned her up. There was still one sore on her bottom that was raw enough to open up every so often and leak small traces of blood. "I'm so sorry baby," Santana told her and she grabbed one of the warm cleaning cloths and pressed it to Marley's wound. She applied gentle pressure and looked at Rachel. "Let's get her ready for a bath," Santana said.
Rachel nodded and began filling up the tub. "What are you doing?" Santana asked.
"Running the bath," Rachel pointed out.
"Before I rinse her down? Do you want her sitting in her own filth?" Santana asked angrily.
"Hey, back off, I've never run a bath before for her."
"Yes you have!"
"No! Actually, I haven't," Rachel said and the two continued to squabble, not realizing how upset it was making Marley. They had done this all the time. They would fight and things would blow up, and the next day, everything would be fine, because the "blow up" would absolve all the tension between them. They actually hadn't had a fight in a really long time and this was the first time in front of Marley.
Marley screamed again and both Rachel and Santana jumped. "Oh for the love of," Santana said trailing off and she carefully guided Rachel's hands onto Marley's body and got the shower ready so she could rinse Marley off before letting her soak in a bath. Marley was holding on to Rachel tightly now and trembling, almost violently.
"Santana," Rachel said calmly and there was something in her voice that tipped Santana off that something was not right at all. She turned to see her little girl, trembling with tears streaming down her face.
"Stay with her," Santana said softly. "Marley honey. Look at Mommy baby, it's okay, you're okay," she said and Marley shook her head no, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Shhh, okay, let's communicate baby, we do that very well, don't we?" she asked her kindly and the softness and kindness in her voice only made Marley cry harder. She hugged Rachel tightly, buried her face in Rachel's neck, trying to get smaller and shook.
"No baby, look at Mommy," Rachel coached gently and Marley shrieked softly when Rachel tried to guide her into a different position. "Ah, ah, ah, no," Rachel told her. "Look at Mommy baby. Something is very wrong and Mommy and Mama Rae will help you, but we can only do that when you communicate and hiding against me is not going to accomplish that," she lectured. Marley simply cried and Santana frowned.
"Okay," she sighed. "So we try something else," she said and she carefully stripped down to her underwear. Rachel's eyes went wide. "I'll hold her, you rinse off her bottom. Just be careful. You can't let the flow hit her wounds directly. Start at her low back and let it roll down on it's own," she said.
"She's going to scream again, isn't she?" Rachel said as they carefully got her settled into a stable standing position, something that Marley seemed dead set against.
"Probably," Santana said. Rachel set the sprayer to light and started at Marley's back and Marley screamed. It was the scream that Santana had learned well. Marley was scared, but she wasn't saying of what. "Do not cry on me Berry," Santana said firmly.
"Stop telling me what to do," Rachel said and she didn't look up. She couldn't watch Santana, otherwise, she really would lose it. She was trying to keep it together for Marley, but it was increasingly difficult with each passing second.
Marley finally leaned on to Santana fully and just cried as hard as her body would let her. "Okay, she's clean, and it's all been washed down the drain. Does she like apple or bubble gum bubbles better?" Rachel asked holding up the bottles.
"Apples are usually preferred," Santana said calmly and she watched Rachel start to add the bubbles. Then she moved over to doorway and Santana called her. "Rae, thank you for your help," she told her.
"For you, I will do a lot, for Marley I will do anything," she said with a slight smirk and Santana laughed, watching her leave the room and shut the door behind her, to keep the heat in.
"Alright baby girl, let's sit in the bath. You and Mommy, you're okay," Santana soothed. She lowered the two of them down and Marley shook, not cuddling into Santana at all, which was highly unusual. "We need to talk baby girl. You have to tell me what has you so upset, or at least try, so that I can help fix it," she tried. Marley shook and Santana sighed. This was all on her, no blocks, no real words, just her and Marley. "Alright sweetheart, let's try. You screamed before and I know that scream. Are you scared?" she asked and Marley nodded weakly, tear flowing freely once again. "Alright my love, what has you so scared?" she asked trying to recall what'd happened just recently. It took her some time and then she realized. "Did Mommy scare you?" she asked and Marley burst into heavy sobs. She was going to be beaten now, she was sure of it. Santana felt her heart break and thought a while longer, trying to hold Marley close, but she was too scared to lean in. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry love," she called kindly and she carefully covered Marley's ear. "RAE!" she yelled, making sure she would be heard.
"WAIT!" Rachel called back and appeared a minute later in the doorway. "What's up?" she asked.
"Come sit please, I figured out what's wrong," she said and worry crossed Rachel's features, but she sat down just outside the tub, resting her chin on her hands, on the ledge of the tub. "I did it, I'm the one who scared Marley," she said honestly and Marley started crying again.
"How? She loves you."
"When I snapped at you earlier. She doesn't know we do that a lot," Santana said.
"It's not a crazy amount of a lot though," Rachel said gently.
"It's the first time Marley's seen it," she pointed out and Rachel frowned.
"Is that what freaked you out baby? That Mommy and I were fighting?" Rachel asked kindly. Marley just cried, afraid to move it seemed. "Honey listen to Mama Rae very carefully. Mommy and I have been fighting and calling each other names for years! We have a very strange love/hate relationship. Mommy has a temper and when it flares up she yells and snaps and growls a lot. She's like a Mama Bear protecting her cubs. The other thing is that right now you are her cub and she loves you a great deal. She was concerned that I wasn't going to take good care of you. That's why she yelled, but we're still friends and she still loves you very much."
"I love Mama Rae too," Santana said softly. She knew Rachel wouldn't make that statement, but it had to be said because Marley needed to hear it. It was also true and Santana knew Rachel had to hear it too.
"See honey? It's okay. It just sometimes things get a little loud between us. We're both very stubborn women, although neither one of us like to admit that," she said honestly.
Marley looked unsure and Rachel smiled kindly at her. "How about you and Mommy finish your bath. As soon as your done, I'll take you into the kitchen and we'll have a small snack and Mommy can take a proper rinse off or shower, because right now, she's in her underwear and I don't think that's how she wants to stay," Rachel said.
"What do you say love? Does that sound like a good plan?" Santana asked gently.
"Kay," Marley said softly.
"Good. Finish up sweetheart and call me when you're ready okay?" Rachel said and she leaned in and gave Marley a kiss to her forehead and then kissed Santana's cheek before leaving.
"Can we cuddle while we sit in this nice warm bubble water?" Santana asked gently once Rachel had left. Marley didn't move and Santana frowned. "Okay sweetheart, we'll sit here till your ready to either cuddle or get out. I leave it totally up to you," Santana said.
Again, please Read & Review, so I know that there is actual interest in it.