HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE!
Where I live, today is Mother's Day, so to all the Moms out there Happy Mother's Day to you!
I'm glad to know you are all enjoying the story so far. I'm going to play it safe and say that the warnings for this chapter are only as vivid as your imagination is. Previous chapters have described Terri's torment, but this time, you just see Marley struggle with things and have a few tantrums. I didn't actually tell you what she was remembering.
Also I have to clarify this now because I've read over the chapter myself and there is one part that just didn't come out quite right, but I don't know how else to describe it. Marley is "bounced" by Santana. She's not ACTUALLY bounced though. People do this all the time. If you are holding something in your arms and it's either bulky or heavy, you start to lose your grip, so you heft it upward a bit and then readjust so you can hold it better. The ONLY word I could come up with for that was bounce. Hopefully this makes more sense when you get to that section of the chapter.
I wish you all a wonderful day and as always if you have any questions feel free to PM me, and I'll do my best to answer them.
Many thanks to NayaFan, UnholyUnderBoob, and Beaner008 for their encouragement and assistance along the way.
Happy reading!
Two weeks later, Marley was crawling all over the house and had gotten back all of her letters, which was great, but she had developed a terrible stubborn streak and had gotten very fresh over the last two days. Now her tantrums were confined to eating and sleeping. She didn't want to do either of them when she was told, and when she had to be doing therapy she would beg and plead to take a nap and skip lessons. At the current moment, she was arguing about breakfast, which was already two hours later than Santana liked it to be.
"No I'm not eating it!" she yelled at Santana.
"Excuse me little girl?" Santana asked her firmly. Marley had been slipping in and out of her younger state a lot more now, testing her boundaries and seeing how far she could go and get away with things.
"I'm not eating," she said firmly.
"Yes you are, because you asked me to make it, so I did, and you my darling girl need to eat. Whether you eat it now or later is a different story, but you do not get to talk to me like that," Santana scolded her.
Kurt and Rachel were in the kitchen and Kurt leaned in close. "Marley could be her actual child with that attitude," he said and Rachel struggled to hold back her laughter.
"I want toast," she said angrily.
"Not now. You asked me for chicken and rice. That is what you are eating. Now do you want to sit quietly and eat like a good girl, or would you rather sit in time out?" Santana asked her and both Kurt and Rachel watched in surprise as Marley raised an eyebrow in question and as a challenge.
"I WANT TOAST!" Marley screamed.
"Then you can go to the corner and sit there for ten minutes. You are being far too stubborn and rude right now," Santana said.
"I'm not going!" Marley yelled and Kurt and Rachel froze. If anyone in the club had pulled a move like that, it would have resulted in a spanking, but there was no way Santana would do that to Marley.
Instead of reacting quickly, Santana calmly walked over to Marley and grabbed her tightly. Fortunately for Santana and unfortunately for Marley, Marley was still severely underweight and easily accessible. Santana lifted her up a bit, and Marley shrieked when she was "bounced" slightly so Santana could lift her higher and not drag her across the floor.
"NO NO NO!" Marley screamed.
"Stop screaming," Santana said kindly and she set her to her feet and Marley tried to plant them in place so that she wouldn't be moved to the corner, but she was so weak, she couldn't. "Listen to me very closely little girl. If you don't pick up your feet, I'm going to end up dragging you to the corner and that is not safe for you or me, so either go on your own, or I'm taking you, which is it?"
"No corner!" Marley whined and Santana almost felt the shift in her body from stubborn teenager to stubborn little girl.
"Yes corner. You do not get to yell at Mommy without punishment. You know much better than that," Santana said seriously and she started to walk and Marley let her feet move with her, until she was in the corner. "Sit," Santana told her and Marley pouted and stood there angrily and pouting. "Fine, stand, but you do not leave this corner until I tell you and every time I have to bring you back, we start all over again, do you understand?" she asked her.
"I don't wanna!" Marley whined. Santana simply pet her hair gently and left her in the corner. Santana walked over to the kitchen table and watched Marley carefully and while she had been protesting severely, she hadn't actually left the corner and Santana was keeping an eye on the clock to time the ten minutes.
"That is your child, all the way," Rachel teased her, kissed Santana's cheek, then Kurt's and headed out the door.
"MAMA!" Marley screamed when she saw her starting to leave.
"Stay," Rachel said kindly. "Stay there honey, so you don't have to redo your corner time. I have to go to work baby, I'll be back later," she explained.
"No, stay, don't go, I'm a good girl," she cried.
"Go, I'll explain it," Santana said and once Rachel left, Marley sunk to the floor in hysterical sobs, terrified that Rachel had left her, because she'd misbehaved. On top of falling into hysterics, she wet her diaper and was hit with a muscle cramp in her thigh, and she fell to her side, screaming in pain. Santana sighed and looked at Kurt. "Do we have any bananas?" she asked him.
"You two shared the last one, last night. I can fix her some oatmeal or we have almonds and peanuts."
"Almonds, only like six or so. I want her to eat the chicken, it will get more protein into her," Santana sighed and she got up and went over to her screaming little girl, who was now a flood of tears, crying for her Mama. "Oh my baby, Terri really messed you up," she sighed and pulled Marley into her arms and rocked her gently, slowly, back and forth, hushing her quietly, waiting for her to calm.
"Mama," Marley finally whined, trying to get out of Santana's arms and back into the corner. She was sure that being out of the corner, was going to cause her more trouble. That's how things worked, wasn't it?
"Mama went to work baby, she'll be back," Santana told her softly, giving her several kisses to her temple as she spoke, knowing it was a tension point. If you were able to gently touch Marley's temple, ankle, or wrist, she would start to calm down. "It's okay my sweet girl, you're alright, Mommy's here and Papa's here and we're going to feed you some almonds and then we're going to sit down and you're going to eat what is now your lunch," Santana informed her.
"Mama home, Mama home," Marley begged still wriggling around to get back into the corner. If she got back into the corner, Rachel would come home, she was convinced of it. "I good girl, Mama come home," she cried.
"Shhh, stop and listen Marley," Santana said strongly. "Listen to Mommy. Mama went to work. You are finishing your corner time with me now and then we are going to get up and sit down and eat. You are not going to scream at Mommy any more and if you do, then you will be back in the corner," Santana told her.
"No, I good, I good, Mama home, let go, I'll stay," she said still trying to fight to get into the corner.
"You're a very good girl sweetheart and that is not why Mama left. You know that my love. Mama had to go to work. She works in a new show, so she had to go to rehearsal, she'll be back tonight," Santana told her.
"No, I good, Mama come home," she pleaded.
"Shhhh, take a breath my love. Breathe with Mommy, and then we're going to have some almonds and your lunch," Santana told her and Marley yelped when another cramp hit her leg and she writhed a little bit on the floor. Kurt came over quickly and looked at Marley.
"Look at me baby, you need pressure to help the cramp. I'm going to do what Mr. Joe told us will work," he said. "It's just like when you sit on our lap," he said and she nodded that she understood and continued to whimper. Kurt straddled her leg and sat down. It eased the cramp immediately, but she was still upset. "Here baby, have the almond, it will help," he told her gently feeding it to her and she leaned back against Santana, exhausted and afraid.
"Mommy, I good, I sorry," she said sadly.
"What are you sorry for my love?" Santana asked her gently.
"For being bad girl," she said softly.
"Okay, now look at me," Santana said kindly and she waited an impossibly long minute for Marley to even think about lifting her gaze and then she finally did it. "What you did was definitely naughty. Screaming at me, or anyone, like that, is a big no no and you know this, but you are still a good girl," Santana told her.
"No, bad baby, no good," Marley cried.
"Who said?" Santana asked her and Marley looked stunned. No one had ever asked her that before. She was just told what she was; by Terri and by the slew of men Terri had introduced to her. Even when she was with Santana, they never asked her what she thought, they just told her what she was. The main difference was Terri used every possible word she could to knock Marley down and Santana, Rachel, and Kurt, used everything they could to build her up.
"Look at me baby. You are a good girl Marley and I accept your apology. No more tantrums, and in a few minutes, Papa will get off of your leg and we'll go eat together," Santana told her.
"Mama home," Marley pleaded.
"When Mama finishes work, she will come home, I promise you," Santana told her and she cuddled her carefully while Kurt continued to sit on Marley's leg.
"It doesn't hurt now Papa," Marley told him softly.
"Very good baby," he smiled and got off of her leg and he and Santana helped her to sit at the kitchen table. "Take a tiny bite sweetheart, if it's not warm enough, I'll heat it for you," he told her.
"I can eat it like this," she said.
"Don't be silly my love, if it's not warm enough, it won't taste good," he told her and stood next to her, waiting for her to take a bite. Instead, she sat there staring at it and Kurt reached behind him and lightly slapped Santana's back to get her attention.
She turned around and spoke kindly. "Marley my love, it's Papa's night to cook dinner. Do you want to help?" Santana asked, trying to distract her. However Marley was really far into her head, reliving some memory, so Santana moved in front of her and knelt down. She carefully reached up and touched her cheek. "Come back to Mommy sweetheart, come on," she cooed gently and Marley blinked a few times, whimpered and then began panting. "There you are," Santana smiled.
"I sorry, I sorry," she said on the verge of tears.
"Shhh, you're okay, you have nothing to be sorry for baby. You haven't done anything wrong. Papa just wants to know if the food is warm enough, and I don't think it is. Here, we'll check together okay?" she asked and she picked up a small forkful of rice with a bit of chicken on it and blew on it, just to be sure, before feeding it to Marley and then taking a similar bite for herself. "Mommy thinks it could be a little bit warmer," Santana said.
"No, it's okay," Marley said quickly and Santana remained patient.
"Are you sure sweetheart? Just a little bit warmer maybe? We can put it in the microwave for about thirty seconds, just to warm it up some," Santana tried.
"No, it's fine, I eat," Marley said and she shoveled a large forkful into her mouth, in panic, and started to choke on it. Santana patted her on her back, helping her to clear her lungs and cough up something if she needed to while handing the plate to Kurt.
"Heat it up. Just a little though," Santana said handing Kurt the plate and Marley burst screams, trying to grab the plate back to eat it, afraid she wouldn't get any more food for the day. Marley was so frantic, she was actually jumping and slamming into things. Santana grabbed her and held her tight, guiding her head to her shoulder. "Shhh, it's Mommy Santana baby, you're safe," she told her and Marley didn't know how to respond, so she just kicked and reached, trying to get to the food before they took it away forever.
"No, I good, I eat!" she screamed and she reached as hard as she could, nearly knocking Santana over, so Santana gripped her tighter and let her scream while she braced her own back against the kitchen sink. Talking was doing no good. Marley wasn't focused at all and the only way to get her to focus was to wait for her to come back to them. Santana was afraid if she didn't restrain her Marley would reach too hard, too fast, and injure herself. The microwave beeped and Kurt went to take the plate out, but Santana stopped him.
"Wait," Santana said seriously.
"Really?" he asked.
"I just don't want her crashing into anything, like you, or the floor," Santana told him and she gripped Marley as tight as she could. "Marley Rose, I need you to listen to Mommy very carefully," she told her seriously, speaking directly into her ear, at a soft tone to get her attention. Marley trembled but finally did calm down and Santana sighed in relief. "Now, we're going to sit down, and Papa will bring the plate over, but Mommy is going to feed you to start. You can help, but Mommy is in charge. We will go slow and controlled so you do not choke, understood?" she asked as she carefully guided the distraught girl to the kitchen table and helped her to sit back down. Santana sat on her left side and watched Marley eye the fork carefully, tension building in her body. "Ah, ah, ah, you will get to eat Marley, I'm not taking it away, but we are not animals. You can pick up the fork, but calmly," Santana said seriously.
Marley reached for it and Kurt waited for his cue from Santana. Marley was shaking, why he wasn't sure, but it broke his heart to see her so upset about food. First she was being difficult about eating what she'd asked for, and then she'd had a panic attack about eating it as it was. He hated to even think about what Terri must have done to the poor girl. He did know that her relationship with food was not a good one and they were very lucky if they could get her to even eat half of a plate they made for her. He moved to the table with the plate and Marley went to grab the food as fast as she could. "Stop," Kurt told her, taking her hand. "Slow baby, slow and controlled, it's very hot, you must blow on it to cool it off a little bit," he told her seriously and she started to cry.
"Shhh, you can eat it sweetheart, but slow," Santana told her and she guided Marley's hand. "Look baby, too much steam, blow on it a little bit, then eat it," Santana coached, but Marley was too afraid they were going to take it away again, so she put the whole hot bite in her mouth and winced as it burned her tongue and then simply swallowed it whole, not even bothering to chew it. "Marely Rose!" Santana scolded. "Are you trying to make yourself sick?" she asked her sternly and Marley shrunk.
"Hey, cool it," Kurt told Santana seriously. The last thing they needed was another outburst. "Okay Marley Rose, if you aren't going to eat like a good girl, then Papa is going to feed you, to show you how. Maybe you forgot," he said calmly and she started to cry harder. "Calm down baby, calm down." He took her fork, put on a decent sized bite, brought it to his lips, blew on it a bit and then fed it to her. She ate it, but again didn't chew it, just swallowed it whole and Kurt sighed. "Marley baby, look at Papa," he said kindly and he picked up another forkful and spoke kindly. "Mommy is right, if you do not chew it up, you are going to get sick, so take this bite and make sure you chew up the chicken, before you swallow it. I want to see your jaw go up and down," he warned her and fed her the second bite. Her jaw moved twice and then she swallowed. "Well that's some improvement, can we go for five this time?" he asked her feeding her another bite. After ten tries, she still wasn't chewing and finally she shut her mouth and turned her head, whining in protest.
"Alright, all done," Santana said and Marley let out a noise somewhere between a scream and a wail and allowed Santana to do whatever she wanted with her. She was too tired to care anymore. "I know baby, I know, I'm sorry," Santana said holding her tight and rubbing her back. "I don't know why you woke up on the wrong side of the bed sweetheart, but I think that my little girl needs a nap," she said rubbing her back in gentle strokes. "Shhh, calm down baby. You're not in trouble, you're just tired, or something," Santana said kindly and she took Marley into the bedroom.
Santana came out of the bedroom half an hour later and flopped down on the couch. She had a lot to think about now. Marley was improving, but she was also still so stuck in between worlds of right and wrong that she didn't know how to act sometimes and Santana had to be very careful in how she handled her little girl. Spanking was out of the question, but when Marley was so out of it, she wished she could give her a light tap to her bottom just to startle her enough into paying attention. However, it terrified her that she could potentially scare Marley even further.
She was lost in her head when Kurt stopped what he was doing and sat down to join her. "You're looking very deep," he told her.
"Thanks," she said on a half laugh.
"I guess full tummies make for sleepy babies," he said thoughtfully.
Santana nodded and then sighed, turning to look at him. "I'm just very confused, because she's very confused, and I don't really know how to handle it. She is very stuck inside her brain, she lives between two worlds I think. One where being a little girl is completely safe, she knows her 'parents' love her, even when she isn't the best behaved and she doesn't consider herself a freak," Santana said.
"What's the other world?" Kurt asked kindly.
"The one where all that exists is her being a freak and because she is, people will be mean to her all the time, just because they can be," Santana said.
"And is there a way to get rid of that world?"
"Probably."
"Do you know what it is?"
"Not a clue," Santana sighed.
"Well I wouldn't worry too long, because I'm sure, at some point, Aunty Tana will figure it out. She usually does," he said. "What time is your session today?"
"One, and I know I always tell you this, but," she started.
"Santana, I promise, I won't let her get away with murder or hurt herself, or let her get so worked up that she gets sick and/or injured. She's my little girl too," he said and his voice held a tone to it, Santana hadn't heard yet.
"Thank you for loving us," she told him with a smile. He nodded, and she patted his knee before standing up and moving to the kitchen to figure out what to make for dinner while Marley slept.
An hour later, Marley was awake and crying. "No Mommy, I'm good, I'm good, don't go," she said.
"I'm not leaving because you did anything wrong baby," Santana assured her and without warning, Marley had crawled her way to Santana and wrapped herself around Santana's leg, sitting on her foot. Santana smiled sadly and reached down. "You know you can't stay there all day baby girl," she said.
"Mommy, don't go, I'm good, don't go," she pleaded.
"Hey, listen to me," Santana said squatting down carefully so she didn't accidentally bang Marley in the face with her knee. "Listen to me baby girl. I will never leave you because you did something naughty. You are a very good girl. You are sometimes naughty, but all little girls are, even big girls are sometimes. I'm not leaving because you did anything wrong, I'm leaving because I have to go to work," Santana said.
"No, Mommy, I good, you stay home," she begged and her voice started to slip a little bit, a small lisp coming out of a much softer and slightly higher pitched voice.
"Yes Marley, you are a very good girl," Santana told her, but Marley just held on and cried. "Come on love bug, let's go see Papa," she said.
"No, Mommy," Marley wailed and Santana couldn't fault her for being so scared. She had no idea what Terri had done to her exactly, but it was clear even to total strangers that Marley had abandonment issues.
"Yes, baby, let's go see Papa. I bet he would love to cuddle you and play games with you and watch movies with you," Santana tried, lifting Marley to her feet and Marley hung on tightly, her entire body trembling from the grip strength she was applying. "You're okay baby, you're okay, let's sit and cuddle before Mommy leaves," she said gently. She sat down and pulled Marley into her lap, cuddling her close. "Shhh, you're okay baby girl, you're okay. Look, see, Papa's here and he has cookies for you," Santana said.
"I do. I made my baby girl's favorite sugar cookies," Kurt said offering her a cookie. Santana wasn't thrilled that she was eating them because of all the sugar, however, Kurt was a really good cook and had managed to figure out how to get nutritious ingredients into the cookies, such as beets, and carrots, and apples.
"Mommy stay," Marley whimpered, but she took the offered cookie and even fed some to Santana after she took her own very small bite.
"You know what baby? Maybe you and Papa can cook something together, by the time we finish, Mommy will be back. You won't even know she's gone," Kurt tried.
"No, Papa, I good, Mommy stay, Mama home," she said getting worked up.
"Shhh, you are a very good girl Marley," Kurt assured her, "and I promise you that Mommy and Mama will be home around the same time today. We all love you so much sweetheart," he assured her.
Santana cuddled Marley tighter and spoke very softly and gently. "Should Mommy change you before I leave? Would that help a little bit?" she offered and Marley whimpered but nodded. Santana gave Kurt a look and he knew to leave. He got up, left them alone, and went to the bathroom himself. "Come on sweetheart, nice and quick, it's just you and me right now," Santana told her.
Marley cried throughout the entire change, but the only reason she was crying was because she didn't want Santana to leave at all. Once she was changed, Santana had her sit next to her on the couch and of course Marley wiggled and struggled wanting to in her Mommy's lap. "Alright princess, Papa is out of the bathroom, you're in good hands and Mama and I will be back in a little while, and then we'll all sit down together to dinner and watch a movie, because Papa doesn't have to work tonight," Santana told her.
Kurt sat next to Marley and she cried when Santana kissed her cheek, told her how much she loved her, promised to return later and then left. "Papa!" Marley wailed and threw herself at Kurt, holding on tight and trembling.
"You're okay baby girl, Papa's here," he told her and he gathered her close, rubbed her back, and rocked slowly back and forth. He leaned over and picked up the half eaten sugar cookie and held it in his hand. "Marley baby, as soon as you calm down, we can finish your cookie, and then we can start preparing dinner, or we can play with your toys," he told her. She didn't answer, she just cuddled in tighter to him so he began to sing softly to her. It was their go to, the thing that they could all do, and make her feel calm and comfortable. He was only slightly surprised when Marley turned her head inward and curled against him. She'd never done that with him before. She did it with Santana and Rachel all the time and he had thought it was because she didn't want to see things. However when he felt her breathing in deeply against him, he realized she was taking in his scent, trying to find something familiar in him to help her calm down. "We love you so much baby girl, we will never be able to properly explain it to you," he told her gently.
It took some time, but eventually she did calm down and Kurt was able to coax her into helping him cook dinner. It was going to be a simple dinner of pasta, garlic bread, and a salad. Marley however had slipped into her little girl space and decided that she was going to sit at Kurt's feet. He looked down at her and smiled, because she'd managed to pull out some storage container and turn it into a drum. "That sounds so pretty baby, what's that song?" he asked her.
"Um," Marley said suddenly not sure of the answer.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me, but you now have a very important job," he said and was grateful when she smiled and looked up at him hopefully. She looked so young and innocent, so he took a chance and treated her like the three year old she was acting as. "Okay, this is super important, are you ready?" he asked and she nodded eagerly. "You have to play your little song for me, while I cook. It will help me concentrate, do you think you can do that?" he asked her and she thought for a moment and then nodded, going back to banging on her 'drum' while Kurt cooked up dinner.
Once dinner was all prepared, Marley decided she was done with her drumming session. Her hands were starting to bother her a little bit. "Papa," she said pausing to show him her hands. "Owie," she told him and in that instant he knew she was definitely in little girl world, because had she been older, it would have been a full sentence.
"Should I kiss them better?" he asked her gently and she gave a bashful smile. "Come on my beautiful princess, the handsome King will take away your owies, and then we will sit on the couch and wait for the queens to arrive home, so that we can all have dinner together," he smiled. He gently kissed each of her palms and she giggled when he finished. "Better?" he asked her.
"Uh huh, thank you," she smiled at him.
"You are very welcome and very adorable and you did such a good job helping me with dinner that I think we should reward ourselves with a break until the Queens come home," he said. She nodded and lifted her arms up toward the ceiling. "Really? You don't want to crawl? You're getting so good at it," he tried. She defiantly shook her head and lifted her arms up again. "Alright munchkin, nice and slow," he told her. "First, you have to get on all fours, so you can get up on to your knees," he said. "Can you show Papa your knees?" he asked. She pointed to them and then smiled at him. "Very smart," he said leaning in and giving her a kiss to her forehead. "Now can you get up on them, like Papa is?" he asked her and with some struggle she did. "Very good baby, now, left first, bring your left foot forward, just like Papa has," he said and she pouted. This part she hated, this was the part that would make her start to have a spasm. "I know sweetheart, but if you put your right first, you'll topple to the left and I really don't want to deal with Mommy if she finds out you fell over on my watch. Do you remember what the Queen in Alice says?"
"Off wif dere heads," Marley giggled.
"Yes," Kurt laughed. "And Papa will most certainly lose his head if Mommy finds out you fell down on your side, because of something I did. So nice and slow and just drag this foot up until it's planted on the floor. He waited patiently for her and encouraged her with his words and gently guided her with his hands in the very last moment. "Yay Marley," he praised. "Now, I'm going to stand up and then you okay?" he said gently pressing his hands on the top portion of her foot to make sure the sole of her foot was completely on the ground. If it wasn't they were both going down. It had happened once with Santana and twice with Rachel so far, and he wanted a clean record if he could manage it. He stood up, put his arms under hers and spoke kindly. "On three, you push your foot down into the floor and Papa will lift you, ready?" he asked.
She nodded and held her breath for a second. "One, two, three," he said and she let out a long exhale and wobbled furiously as Kurt lifted her up to her feet, but she let her right foot down rather quickly and stopped wobbling as much. Kurt balanced both of them and she leaned in to hug him.
"I good Papa?" she asked.
"Yes my baby girl, you are very good," he assured her and then he carefully guided her to the couch where they watched jeopardy while they waited for Santana and Rachel to come home.
Santana and Rachel arrived home around the same time and walked in to find a very young Marley, playing a game with her Papa, and acting quite happy. "Please let this last," Santana whispered quietly and Rachel nodded her agreement.
"Where's Marley's tongue?" he asked and she stuck it out at him. "Where are Marley's eyes?" he asked and she carefully pointed to the corners of her eyes. "Very good and what about your fingers?" he asked and she wiggled them at him. He kissed two of them and she giggled happily.
"Hey guys," Rachel smiled.
"Mama!" Marley cried happily.
"Hi baby girl," she smiled and pulled her into her a hug, as she moved closer. "I missed you today baby, did you have a good day?" she asked engaging her into conversation while Santana got out of her work outfit and changed into sweats and a tank top, glad to be rid of her constrictive clothes. "What did you and Papa do today?" she asked her.
"Papa maded dinner," she said in a very soft and high pitched voice.
"He did? Is it yummy? Did you help?" Rachel asked her taking a seat at the kitchen table and Marley sunk to the floor between Rachel's legs, to be lower and so she could rest her head on Rachel's lap. She liked doing that a lot.
"Uh huh, I helped," Marley said.
"Oh I bet dinner is fabulous then, should we all get ready to eat?" Rachel asked and Marley nodded her agreement, sighing softly and happily as Rachel played with her hair.
"Hey baby girl," Santana said coming over to them.
"MOMMY!" Marley cried happily and she scrambled to stand to hug Santana tightly.
"Ooooh, my sweet baby girl, I missed you so much today," Santana told her and Marley just hugged her as tightly as she could. "My best girl," Santana cooed gently. "Should we go get you changed before dinner?" Santana offered.
"Bath?" Marley asked.
"No, just your diaper. We can take a bath after dinner" Santana whispered gently and Marley nodded her agreement.