Hello everyone,
Bonus chapter, because I'm in a good mood. I'm mainly in a good mood because it's a beautiful day out, and I was given extra inspiration for this story. I was starting to get worried, because I'd hit a wall.
Warnings for this chapter: Marley is going to work with Santana. She's going to be in an adult nursery. Everything is oversized. Some people get weirded out by this. You've been warned.
As always, thanks to NayaFan, UnholyUnderBoob, and Beaner008 for their encouragement and support.
Lastly, I'm BEGGING for review now. I can't help it. I know it gets read, but I don't know if you're all actually reading the whole thing and I know this is a touchy subject, so please leave me some type of review somehow. Even if you want to do so by PM. I know it's not professional and I know it comes off needy, but you all know that I was not so sure I should post this in the first place.
Thank you all and happy Thursday!
Marley had decided that she would rather stay with Kurt while Santana went for her refresher course. He was easier to deal with than Nanny Susan, and she had been relatively well behaved. She had deserved a time out only once, but Kurt didn't have the heart to give it to her, she missed out on one. Other than that, she had been an angel for the ninety minutes that Santana was gone.
Today, however, four days later, had been a particularly rough day for everyone. Marley had four tantrums and was now taking her fourth nap of the day while Rachel was watching tv. Rachel leaned back on the couch to look over when the door opened and smiled when Santana walked in, corset cinched tight into place and her hair pulled back into a tight bun. Santana didn't wait, she walked over to Rachel and stretched out against her, her head lying in Rachel's lap. Rachel smiled and unlaced the first three rows of corset tie. Then she undid the bun and worked her fingers through her dark hair, combing it out and Santana purred happily.
"Rough day?" Rachel asked kindly.
"I had to see Hailey. That tiny little creep thinks it's fun to be the naughtiest thing you've ever seen."
"I can assure you, you were not the only one dealing with a naughty girl today," Rachel told her and Santana pouted. She did not want that as a report on Marley's behavior. "You go first, though, I think your day was worse than mine," Rachel grinned, smirking a little bit.
"That little brat does everything she can to misbehave and push my buttons and after dealing with Marley, it got to be a little too much for me, so I had to have Miss Mercy finish the session."
"Doesn't she pay like two grand a session though?"
"Two and a half," Santana said.
"It's a good pay day Santana, I'm proud of you," Rachel told her.
"How did therapy go today?" Santana asked not wanting to talk about her day anymore.
"Not good and fabulous all at the same time," she said and Santana frowned. "She's sleeping now, but we had a break through today. Guess who is mobile now?" Rachel beamed and Santana turned quickly to keep her head on Rachel's lap and look up at her with shock. "And I have this for you," she said pulling her phone up off the couch and pulling up a video.
She tapped a few keys and Santana felt tears sting her eyes. Marley was on the floor, covered in sweat and Joe was down on the floor in front of her and talking kindly to her although Santana couldn't hear it. "You got it Marley!" Rachel's voice called off camera.
"Yes you do Marley. See your Mama Rae right over there? She's right there and not that far and ready to get you and pull you close and give you the very best hug she can," Joe encouraged and Marley shook her head no.
"Come on Marley," Santana hissed softly as she watched the video.
"Marley. I know this sucks, and I know that you want to quit right now, but the second you quit, that means that Terri won and Terri was a very mean lady who doesn't deserve to win. You are a beautiful, special, talented, strong little girl, and I promise you as soon as you take five little crawls to your Mama Rae, you'll be done with today's session," he said.
"Five?" Santana asked in shock. She watched while holding her breath and then the smile began to grow on her face as her baby took five very slow, and painful crawls across the floor and Rachel exploded with praise and pride and Santana felt tears roll down her cheeks.
"She hasn't said it, but I know she did it for you Santana. Everything she does, she does for you, to make you happy. You are her Mommy and she wants to please you more than anything," Rachel said brushing away Santana's tears kindly. "She did however have a tantrum today, several actually. She's trying to crawl a lot, to practice for you, but it's making her tired, and then she sort of falls down on her belly and throws a tantrum and falls to sleep," Rachel explained. "Kurt and I put her in bed before he left, I read her two stories, sang three lullabies and then assured her countless times that you would be home after her nap and we would all eat dinner together," Rachel said.
"Thank you," Santana said and she sat up and gave Rachel a sweet and loving kiss to her cheek.
Rachel grinned, returned the kiss and then helped Santana to lie back down. Once she was settled Rachel covered her with a blanket and made her rest for the next hour. Marley woke up during that time and moved off of her bed and started to crawl toward the living room. Rachel looked up and smiled, but said nothing. Then she looked down and saw Santana was asleep.
Marley crawled over to the couch and Rachel smiled. "Look at you my little love, you did so well, should we wake Mommy up and show her?" Rachel smiled. Marley shook her head no, she laid down on her belly, not wanting Santana to see how much work it had taken her. She was already sweaty from the short crawl. Rachel said nothing, but tapped Santana gently to help wake her a bit. Marley laid down on the floor and five minutes later, goose bumps covered her skin. Ten minutes later, her bowels released themselves, along with her bladder, and ten seconds after that, she was lying in hysterical sobs.
Santana carefully stood up and very carefully pulled her little girl up to her feet. "It's just Mommy baby, come on, time for a bath," she soothed and Rachel looked on.
"Do you want help?" she offered.
"Only if I yell," Santana smiled. "In the mean time, dinner please?" she asked.
Rachel nodded and went to make dinner while Santana wrestled with Marley in the bathroom and Marley screamed bloody murder the entire time. Rachel tried to drown out the noise, but it was very difficult. She moved to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass to help her feelings. Listening to Marley scream like that was just too upsetting and she was hoping the wine would help calm her nerves.
"Let's calm down baby girl," Santana said once she had Marley seated in the bath with her and was combing her wet hair gently, smiling and kissing her temple with wet lips against wet skin, causing a small squeaky noise. "What happened sweetheart? What made you so upset?" she asked her.
"Pain Mommy," she cried.
"Okay sweetheart, that's good communication, I'm very proud of you. Where do you have the most pain?" she asked her and Marley laid her hand on her own calf and then on her stomach.
"Okay sweetheart, Mommy has to know, is this muscular or are you having trouble with going to the bathroom?" Santana asked laying her hand gently on Marley's stomach. Marley shrugged, she honestly wasn't sure. "Do you want to talk to Nanny Susan and see if she can help you decipher? We won't give you an enema unless you absolutely need one," Santana assured her and again Marley shrugged. "Okay, well you think about it some more, and let me know," Santana told her. "However, I am so very proud of you, you crawled from the bedroom all the way to be with us, which means you are gaining your independence, as you should," Santana told her. "Are you still in pain?" she asked.
"Eff, a itta bit," she said.
"Only a little bit means you, my darling girl, need to have something with potassium or calcium, or magnesium, some nutrient to help your muscles, and water. We can't let you get dehydrated," Santana told her.
"Um, banana pee," she smiled.
"So polite," Santana grinned and she gave her a kiss and nodded her agreement. "Okay, let's get out, dried, dressed, and then get you a banana," she told her.
A week later Santana was having a problem. Originally she had plans to do her own session with a client, who had a very basic punishment session, and Miss Beth had assured her she would be able to handle it. Santana felt confident she could handle it too, and the plan was for Marley to stay home with Rachel. Kurt was having an overnight shift at the diner and he had a cattle call audition as soon as the shift was over. The problem was that Rachel had been called in to do an emergency rehearsal that same day. The director had decided that the reviews were not to his liking and decided to pull three scenes, have them rewritten, and then rehearsed over the weekend.
"Hey, we have a problem," Rachel told Santana softly and explained the problem to her.
"So, guess who's coming to work with Mommy," Santana said.
"Can you do that?" Rachel asked.
"I can ask," Santana said and she cleared her throat quickly as Marley crawled her way, near the girls but headed to the bathroom. "Hey munchkin, do you need help?" she asked.
"Mommy, pee-pee," she called to her.
"Alright, I'm on my way," Santana told her and then followed her into the bathroom. "I am so proud of you baby girl. You knew when you had wet. Do you know that means we're getting closer to no more diapers," Santana told her helping her up onto the toilet. "Yaaaay," she cheered for her and Marley looked confused. "Don't look so upset my love. I thought you wanted to be out of diapers," Santana told her.
"Peepee," she said looking down at her diaper that was soaked in urine, she'd known it, but wasn't able to hold it, and her bladder released the contents into her diaper.
"I know, but it's okay. Remember how we do everything in small steps? This is just one of those steps, and I know you are probably very frustrated, but remember you are in a safe place and very much loved okay?"
"Baby g'uh," Marley asked her.
"Yes, you can still be a baby girl, even without diapers. Mommy is twenty three and so is Mama, and our parents still call us baby girl, so that will never stop. Only if you want it to, okay?" Santana asked and Marley nodded. Santana finished changing her, and then helped her stand up and get back down onto the floor. "Okay love bug, you and Mommy have to talk about something a little bit serious, do you think you can handle that right now?" she asked her.
"Fi-ah," Marley said quietly.
"Oh yes, pacifier, teddy bear, blanket, panda, whatever you want baby. I know you might get scared of this conversation and I really don't want that, so you get anything you want to help you feel comfortable."
"Ho'd me?" Marley asked blushing as she spoke. Even after all this time, she was still embarrassed to have to ask for things. The difference was, at least she got to ask for them, nothing was ever really forced upon her, and she was grateful for that.
"Yes my love. Let's go back, gather what you like, and then we will sit and cuddle and talk," Santana told her. They gathered Marley's two stuffed animals and her pacifier, before moving to cuddle on the couch. "Okay my sweet girl, we have to talk about tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going to go out together. See Mommy has to go to work and so does Papa and Mama, so you are going to come to work with Mommy. While Mommy does her job, you're going to be in the same building with Nanny Susan. We're going to go very early. We're going to pack your toys from home to bring with you, and you're going to get very comfortable in the room with Mommy before she goes to take care of her customer," Santana explained.
Marley fell deadly quiet and Santana frowned. Rachel joined them and took Marley's hand gently. "Would you like to comment on any of what Mommy just said?" she offered. Marley didn't know what to think though. She'd panicked any time they left her, but now they were taking her with them. Out into the world. People were in the world. People like Terri. Marley didn't know what to think. She shook her head no and curled tightly into Santana. "Maybe our baby girl, needs a lullaby," Rachel suggested and the two women sang Marley a song to keep her calm.
After the song was finished, Marley seemed a little bit calmer. "Do you have any questions at all sweetheart?" Santana asked her. Marley didn't answer so Rachel raised her hand and waited for Santana to acknowledge her.
"Where am I going?" Rachel asked.
"You got called into your job, because you have a stinky boss who thinks his way is the only way, and we will not get me started on him, because he will make me very angry," she said simply.
"What about you, where are you going while Marley is in with Nanny Susan?" Rachel asked.
"I am going to be in a room that is two doors away from the room Marley and Nanny Susan are in. I'm going to be in that room for an hour and then I'm going to clean up and go into the room that Marley is in and I will cuddle her as tightly as I can, because I love her so very much," she said cuddling her little one as tightly as she could.
"Well I think that sounds doable. It means Marley is going to be in a new place, but she's going to be with people she knows and has learned to trust, and I hope that she comes home to tell us all about it," Rachel told her.
The next day Santana got Marley dressed, and was very concerned as Marley still wasn't talking. She didn't even shake her head, or blink her eyes, or try to spell with her blocks. She just stayed next to Santana, mostly underfoot as she crawled right next to her, leaning her left side against Santana's leg. Kurt had tried to pull her away and engage her in the Simon game, but she wasn't having any of it. She cried when he left, afraid she would never see him again, and got herself so worked up, she threw up her breakfast. Kurt decided he would take the time to clean her up and assure her, he would see her later and give her many hugs, cuddles, and kisses. "I love you so much Marley and Mommy is going to make sure our little girl has a lovely time today and maybe you will tell me all about it okay?" he asked her gently and she didn't respond. "Can I give you hugs and kisses now?" he asked and she simply leaned into him. She wasn't ready to start communicating in any way yet.
As the day wore on Santana was getting more and more concerned, texting Susan that her little girl was being mute today. Rachel didn't have to go in until later, but decided that she was going to go in with Santana and Marley. "Rachel," Santana said seriously.
"If Marley can go, surely I can go too. She needs support, more than just you, so I'm hoping that Marley having her Mama and her Mommy with her, should help," Rachel said.
"You couldn't handle a simple discussion, in our kitchen, about sodomy, and I'm bringing her to what is essentially a grown up nursery, are you sure?" Santana asked, slightly demanding her answer rather than asking a question.
"I wish you wouldn't growl, and yes I'm sure," Rachel said seriously. "Look, she's sleeping now, and you have to get her up and bring her to the club, on the bus, once you walk down to the first floor. Meanwhile, she hasn't left this house since she arrived however long ago it was. Are you sure you want to handle that by yourself?" Rachel asked seriously and Santana sighed. She didn't like that Rachel was right.
"We leave in two hours, on the dot, make sure you're ready," Santana barked.
"You are a woman, not a dog!" Rachel barked back and went into her bedroom to pack. She put her bag together and then went over a check list in her mind. "Okay, I have all my supplies ready, what is the most important thing you need help with?"
"Communication," Santana sighed.
"Okay, second most important thing," Rachel smiled.
"I really don't know. I need to make sure she has her bag packed, snacks, and some juice, because I don't think the club has any juice there. Maybe apple, but she throws that up," Santana said.
"Wait, really? Since when?"
"Yesterday," Santana said pulling out an extra change of clothes to pack. "She took four sips and that was it. Apple juice everywhere. It looked like something out of the exorcist," she said.
"She drinks other juices though."
"She drinks 'fruit punch' and cranberry juice," Santana laughed. "It's good that you're trying, and I really appreciate it, but I'm giving you one last chance. Are you sure you want to be at the club?" she asked.
"Yes, I do. Marley needs to know that she is not alone. She freaks out when Kurt and I leave the house. When you leave, it's ten times worse. You're bringing her to a place, that she claims to have want to been in, yet was tortured in. Do you really think bringing her there, by yourself and then leaving is a good thing? You and I both know she's nineteen, but when she's in her younger state of mind, anything goes," Rachel said moving around the bedroom. "Pack this too. It's cold outside," she said giving her a pink sweater.
Santana took the sweater and placed it in the backpack. "Okay, let's go wake the princess," she said.
"It hasn't been two hours," Rachel noted.
"We start now, so we can leave by the two hour mark," Santana told her.
"What time is your session?"
"Six?"
"Whoa! You built it," Rachel said pausing to try and do the math.
"Four extra hours," Santana told her, smirking when Rachel shot her a look. Rachel had been a straight A student, but when it came to math, it always took her a little bit longer, while Santana, also a straight A student, had no issues with math at all.
"One word out of you, just one, and I'm telling your supervisor you were going to risk doing this by yourself. You won't be able to sit for a week!" Rachel told her seriously.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, come on," she said.
It was ridiculously easy to wake Marley, get her downstairs, to the bus stop, onto the bus, and up to the club. Susan met them at the front door and smiled. "Rachel dear, I'm happy to finally meet you," she smiled, shaking hands with her. "Santana tells us how wonderful you and Kurt are," she praised and Rachel smiled.
"Be nice if she said that to us once in a while," Rachel teased and Santana simply rolled her eyes. Rachel giggled and blew her a kiss before turning to see Susan. "It's nice to meet you too Nanny Susan," she said.
"Santana my dear, always a pleasure," Susan grinned. Santana put most of Marley's weight into Rachel and hugged Susan tightly. "Is she talking yet?" Susan whispered.
"Not even a whimper," she said, sounding upset about this.
Susan broke the hug and smiled. "Hi Marley. It is so nice of you to come visit me, while Mommy goes to work for a little while, but I hear we're going to be together for a good long while before she does that. Tell me sweetheart, have you ever been in an elevator?" she asked and Marley simply looked at her. "Well today, we're all going to ride in the special elevator in this building. It takes us right up to the hallway, that is behind my room. It's like a secret entrance. No one else knows about it. Can you keep it a secret?" she asked her, trying to sound hopeful in her voice. She was hoping that if she could engage Marley in some sort of younger mind set, a 'top secret' discussion, a you're-the-only-one-who-knows-about-this type mission, it would help the process. She knew that as far as Marley was concerned, Susan was the person who gave her enemas, and she was pretty sure that Marley didn't want another one of those.
"Come on love. You, me, Nanny Susan and Mama, we'll all go together. Mommy is not leaving this building without you. Mama will leave in a little while to go to her job, but right now, we are all here together. So we're going to very carefully make our way up to Nanny Susan's room," Santana explained. "And do you remember baby girl? Do you remember how Mommy told you there were lots of baby things in this room?" she asked and Marley turned her head to look at her, but she didn't blink, or say anything, she just showed her that she was paying attention. "Well I just want you to remember what we talked about. I want you to be comfortable and I want you to remember that nothing will be forced upon you," Santana reminded her.
The four of them stepped into the elevator and rode it up to the third floor. Susan held the door and she watched as Santana and Rachel carefully lead her off the elevator and she noticed that Marley was trying to walk, but also dragging her feet. She was glad to see progress though. They all stopped just outside the door and Susan opened it first. "Okay, let's go in," she said kindly.
She opened the door to reveal a fully intact nursery, for very large babies, and Rachel had to swallow her own confusion, wonderment, and slightly fearful feelings, in order to help keep Marley calm. "Marley baby, this is the room Nanny is in a lot when little ones come to visit and most of Nanny's little ones are as young as ten month to five years old. If anyone wants to be older than five, they usually want much more than what Nanny can give them, so they go see other people," Susan explained trying to engage Marley in conversation, or at least explain everything to her. "Do you want to know what my favorite place in this room is? It's that rocking chair right over there," Susan smiled pointing to it. It was an ivory white, oversized, plush rocking chair, that actually looked pretty comfortable and there was a matching odd shaped ottoman in front of it. "Nanny sits in that chair and holds whatever little boy or girl who wants to be held, because one of the great things about being a little one is that you get a lot of cuddles. Maybe Mommy will cuddle you in that chair," she suggested.
Marley looked to Santana with a mix of hope and confusion. "Do you want to baby? We can," Santana told her and Marley turned to look at Rachel. "Do you think Mama should join us? I think that chair is big enough for all of us to fit," Santana crooned gently. Marley turned a little bit and carefully wrapped herself around Santana. She rested her head on Santana's shoulder and looked toward Rachel.
"Now Mommy can't see your pretty face," Rachel smiled leaning in and kissing her gently. "I can though. What do you say princess, should we all go sit in the big rocking chair together? Mama doesn't have to leave for at least an hour," Rachel smiled and she saw Marley nod, while Santana felt it against her shoulder. They really wished she would go back to talking, but being that this was a lot of new, forced upon her, all at once, Santana wasn't going to push her luck. The three of them sat in the chair together. Rachel and Santana were seated hip to hip and Marley laid between and across them, some part of her touching each of them.
The two girls started to sing a soft lullaby to Marley and when they finished she shifted a bit to look at Santana. "Mommy," she said softly.
"Yes my love?" she asked and inside, she was screaming with delight, at least Marley was talking to them again.
"Wha' dah?" she asked pointing to the ridiculously oversized high chair in the far left corner of the room.
"I'm not sure my love, maybe we should ask Nanny Susan, do you want to ask her?" Santana cooed softly while Rachel played with Marley's long dark locks. Both Santana and Rachel were very happy to see Marley regress. She was now thinking around a three or four year old level, very curious about her surroundings. Marley nodded and then fell quiet. "You have to say words my love, Nanny Susan isn't a mind reader," Santana teased her and Marley shook her head no and looked at Santana hard.
"Mommy," she said.
"Mommy has to ask? Why does Mommy have to ask?" Santana questioned, carefully petting Marley's face and arms, knowing that there were certain spots on Marley's skin that helped her stay calm and relaxed. Marley didn't say anything at all, she just waited for Santana to ask. "Manners my baby girl," Santana told her kindly.
"Mommy aff pee," she said softly.
Santana fixed the three of them a bit and leaned in to kiss Marley's temple. "I am so proud of you my love, that was so polite," Santana praised. "Nanny Susan, Marley would like to know what that object over there is," Santana said pointing to it.
"I would love to explain that to you. Marley baby do you want to have a little tour? We can all walk around the room and whatever you want explained, I will explain to you," Susan told her and after a moment of thought, Marley nodded and started to wiggle around trying to get up so they could all go explore. Santana got up with her and Rachel followed close behind. The two girls guided Marley over to the high chair so she could see it. "This is a high chair sweetheart, can you say that?" Susan asked, expecting no response at all.
"Eye-air," Marley said.
"That was beautiful sweetheart, you said that so well," Susan praised. Marley was regressing further and further, feeling safe in her little girl self and Susan was going to encourage every bit of that, to help her stay calm and relaxed in a safe and comfortable space while Santana went to have her session. "Yes, this is the high chair. Nanny puts all of her messy eaters in here, so that if they make any major messes, it's easy to clean up," she explained.
"Me?" Marley asked with concern, holding tight to Santana and trembling already.
"No baby, I've talked to Mommy and you are a very neat eater, you don't need a high chair. If you ever want to sit in it, you can, but it is definitely not necessary. Nanny is talking about very messy eaters. Mostly babies who have trouble feeding themselves and miss their mouths," she said. Nanny had a little boy yesterday who is only fifteen months old and has very poor motor skills. He picked up a meatball, covered in sauce, put it to his mouth, and missed. The meatball crumbled all over the tray top here and he had sauce all over his face, by the time he finished eating," Susan explained.
Marley wrinkled her face in disgust. The first time she missed her mouth while feeding herself, she had a total meltdown. Terri had force fed her a lot and she usually ended up very messy, mostly because the food was too hot and burning her face, and Terri never cared. "Any other questions baby?" Susan asked and Marley hung on tight to Santana, very carefully turning herself around so she could see the room a little better. She stumbled a little bit and Rachel helped her to get rebalanced. Once she was set, Marley reached for Rachel holding on tight and resting her head on Rachel's shoulder.
"You know what princess? If we crawled it might be easier than standing. It'll help keep your muscles working," Rachel suggested, falling slightly under the pressure Marley was applying. Marley was still under weight as far as her family was concerned, but she had gained a lot of grip strength over time and used a lot of that to help her along the way. Marley looked afraid and Rachel rubbed her back to help soothe her. "It's alright, you don't have to baby, it's just a suggestion my love," she assured her and Marley cautiously looked to Santana.
"You can if you want to love. We can tell Mr. Joe you crawled extra and maybe he won't give you as much homework this week," Santana told her kindly, petting her hair and her face, which Marley seemed to like.
Marley looked directly at Santana and then pointed to a near corner. "Ney ney," she said.
"You see a horse?" Santana smiled.
"That is Nanny's very special rocking horse. I actually think you sitting on that horse might help your hips, but it's completely up to you sweetheart, I will not push you ever," Susan told her.
"Ney ney Mommy," Marley said.
"Manners little girl," Santana told her seriously and Marley frowned. "I know, you don't like me scolding you, but you my love need to have manners. You can be little or big, or anywhere in between, but you must always be polite my love," she explained to her.
"Pee Mommy, Ney ney," she told her softly.
"Very good my baby girl, very good," Santana praised and she and Rachel brought Marley over to the rocking horse. Santana very carefully looked back at Susan and shot her a questioning look. She knew there was an extra piece to the horse, that she didn't see, and she was sure that Marley would freak out if she saw it.
Susan smiled and walked on Santana's other side. "It's all been hidden," she assured her.
"Are you going to sit on it, or just look at it sweetheart?" Santana asked her gently. Marley looked unsure.
Rachel had her arms wrapped around Marley and was carefully petting her hair and kissing her temple. "You know what baby? When Mama was a little girl, she had a horse just like this. I called him horsie," Rachel said.
"Very original," Santana said dryly.
"No one asked you," Rachel told her poking her tongue out and then focusing in on Marley again. "I used to pet him very gently and tell him whatever secrets I thought he should know. Maybe you can pet the horse carefully so you know it's safe," Rachel suggested and every one watched as Marley reached out her hand, her body trembling, while she attempted to 'pet' the horse. She didn't know what would happen. "Should Mama pet Ney ney first?" Rachel asked her gently.
"Rachel dear are you sure it's only Broadway that you're interested in?" Susan asked kindly.
"Told ya," Santana grinned triumphantly.
"The only thing I'm interested in is Broadway, but thank you," Rachel smiled. "Look baby, let's pet Ney ney together," she told Marley kindly and she pet the horse first, eventually having Marley join her and she smiled when Marley smiled. "Very good baby, what do you think, what does Ney ney feel like?" she asked.
"Soff," Marley said quietly as she pet the furry mane of the wooden horse.
"Yes, he has very soft hair. What about his body, what does that feel like?" Rachel asked her. Marley furrowed her brow and ran her hand along the wooden horse very carefully. "Is it soft baby?" she asked her and Marley shook her head no. "Is it hard then?" Rachel asked and Santana bit her lip to keep from laughing. Sometimes she had the mind of a horny twelve year old boy. Marley again shook her head no. She didn't know what it felt like, but she knew she didn't hate it.
"Mommy?" Marley asked softly. "I go?" Marley asked pointing to the seat, asking permission to sit on the wooden rocking horse.
"You can baby, but you don't have to. It's totally up to you," Santana assured her and Marley nodded and reached carefully for Santana. Santana snuck in close and rubbed Marley's back once she had her in her arms.
"He'p pee?" she asked.
"Help what baby? Do you want to sit on Ney ney?" she asked her and with some hesitation Marley nodded her consent.
"Marley honey, Mommy and Mama have to be on either side of you sweetheart. Your feet won't touch the floor and I don't want you falling over and getting hurt," Susan warned her. Rachel and Santana nodded and with a bit of effort and a two whimpers from Marley as she stretched her leg and then sat on the horse, she was rocking slowly, leaning into Santana who was on her left side. "You look beautiful Marley. You have a delicious smile, I'm glad I get to see it," Susan told her.
"What do you say to Nanny Susan love?" Santana coached kindly.
"Fank-oo Nanny," Marley said softly.
Marley rocked for about five minutes before she decided she was bored of this, and her hips were starting to hurt. "Mommy," she said leaning further into her. "Done, off pee," she said.
"Alright, hold on to my shoulders and Mama will help get your leg over. You're going to slide off this way," Santana explained to her. With several whimpers of sharp quick pain, the girls got Marley off the rocking horse and onto the ground.
Rachel checked her watch and looked at Santana. "Twenty," she told her and Santana nodded, looking around the room to find the clock. It was just above the front door and according to the disney characters, Santana still had three hours with her baby until she had to go to her session.
"Marley, should we sit and cuddle, or should we play with Simon," she said.
"You brought toys?" Susan asked kindly. "Can Nanny see them?" she asked. "Nanny has a bunch of toys of her own but if you have a good one, then maybe I can buy it for the other little ones who come to play here. They love new toys," Susan said.
"Mommy bean eye an eddy an panda," she said and Susan gave a smile. It was the most Marley had said in one sentence ever, which was a good sign. It meant, she was feeling more comfortable in her little girl headspace, in an actually little girl surrounding. "You said that so fast, Nanny wasn't listening, I'm sorry baby. Can you tell me the first one again?"
"Eye," Marley said and she opened and closed her palm in rapid succession to sign the word light. With her speech still improving, Marley learned to sign a few words.
"Can you say the light toy's other name princess?" Santana asked purposefully signing the word light when she said it, to help Susan put two and two together.
"Um... 'i-mom," she said.
"That was beautiful baby," Santana praised her. "Yes, we brought Simon and Teddy Bear, and Panda," she smiled and Marley moved closer to her, putting her head on Santana's shoulder, but still standing so she could see Susan and interact with her. She was beginning to think that maybe Nanny Susan was a nice person she could trust.