Hey everyone,
Three chapters in 1 week - Whaaaat? There's a reason for that, A)chapter 22 was actually very short. B) chapter 23 is a bit on the shorter side as well, and C) I'm going away this weekend so no more updates until May 25th.
This is a semi fluffy chapter. No crazy memories.
Also - I hope this works - to the guest that left a comment about how they think Marley might have trouble dealing with her past because of the whole spanking issue, please please please PM me. I value all my readers opinions, and I would like to talk to you more about your thoughts. You might be right, you might have sparked something else I had in mind, or you might be able to help me enhance what I already have in mind as far as Marley's healing process goes.
I'm not sure what else needs to be said for this chapter. I wish you all a wonderful Friday, weekend, and week, and chapter 24 will be up May 25th. Please leave a review if you have time to do so. They help me to keep motivated, and as some of my readers will attest, I do contact some of you to try and draw some more inspiration out of you, so to that credit, the following people deserve credit. NayaFan, UnholyUnderBoob, Beaner008, Perhaps Glee, and Cpasq9. I'm sorry that I didn't give the last two credit sooner. :(
Be well everyone!
The next morning was much calmer. Marley woke up before Santana and decided she wanted water. Her cups had been moved to the lower cabinets so she could reach them, and if she used a chair, they figured she could pull herself up to standing at the fridge to get some water. Deciding she was thirsty, she slipped out of bed and crawled to the kitchen. It would be better than waking Santana up, besides that Santana would probably be mad if she did that. So very carefully she made her way into the kitchen, hoping to be super quiet so she didn't wake anyone. She was panting by the time she got there. She hadn't fully woken up yet, she just knew she was thirsty. She stared at the cabinets and thought for a few minutes.
"They're over here baby," Kurt had said the other day. "See, we're moving all of your cups down to this cabinet so that if you ever need to get a drink for yourself, then you'll be able to do so.
Marley took a deep breath and then decided she was too tired, so she laid down on the floor and waited for her body to come back to normal. "No spasms," she wished quietly. After a few moments, she was able to take a slow deep breath and looked toward the cabinets, trying to remember which one of them stored what she wanted. She closed her eyes and saw Kurt standing toward the fridge. He was near the fridge when he'd showed her, so she opened her eyes, crawled toward the fridge and started at the second cabinet in. She found the cups in the next drawer and pulled out the clear one with the stars. She put it by her knees and crawled over to the chair. She carefully used her knees to move the cup along toward a kitchen chair. She put the cup on the chair and then she carefully scooted it across the floor, inch by inch, pushing it with her arm and then crawling closer to it, until it was pushed up against the fridge. Once she was all set, she knew she had to pull herself to standing. She knew how, but she'd only done it with help before, so she thought for a few moments.
"All of your movement comes from your core Marley, every little bit. If you want to pick up your arm, you have to draw in your core slightly to support your ribcage that will support your shoulder, that will allow you to lift your arm up. Anything you do, I always want you to keep a tight core," Joe had told her. "I also need you to remember to exhale on movement. When you use your breath, movement becomes much easier. The first thing you do will be inhale to prepare and exhale on the movement. This is the key factor though. When you run out of exhale, you have to stop moving," he had told her. Taking a very controlled breath in, she pulled her left foot up under her and let out a long sigh. One foot down and one to go. She was very focused and so she never heard Rachel come out of the bedroom and stand there watching her.
Marley struggled a little bit and Rachel wanted desperately to rush over and help her, but she knew that wouldn't do any good, so she stood and waited. Movement caught her eye and she turned slightly to see Santana coming out of her own bedroom. She quickly walked over and wrapped her in a hug. "Just watch," she said whispered into her ear and Santana grinned.
"You're going to just let her struggle?" she asked.
"I'm letting her try, she obviously wants to," Rachel said. Santana smiled and then brought her finger to her lips and they both fell quiet watching Marley try. She was now up on her knees and had her chest on the chair, trying to push herself into a better position, but the problem was she hadn't pushed herself up to standing yet. They hadn't worked on that and now she was in an odd state. She was stuck between standing and kneeling, still thirsty and now she was bent over the chair. She felt herself fall into despair and now she didn't know what to do. Getting up was going to be easy, or so she had thought, and now getting down, she hadn't thought about. "How long do you think it'll be before she cries or calls for help," Rachel whispered.
"Not long," Santana said frowning as she waited. As soon as the words left her lips, she knew they were a lie
"That is our child, it's gonna be forever," Rachel said.
Santana elbowed Rachel gently in the ribs and continued to watch. "Come on princess," she said softly to herself. "Just call out for help." The longer they stood there, the more Santana knew it wasn't going to happen, so she disentangled herself from Rachel and spoke softly. "Go back to bed, don't let her hear you, I'm going to bed too," she said. Rachel gave her a curious look, but the two of them went back to bed and Santana called out after a moment. "Marley! Call out baby, where are you!" Santana said loudly.
Marley's heart sunk. "Kissen Mommy!" Marley called back and Santana heard the tears in her voice immediately.
"Do you need help!" Santana yelled, forcing herself to stay in bed. She was using every ounce of muscle control that she had to stay in bed, even though she wanted to get over to her baby girl as quick as humanly possible.
Marley thought for a moment. Yes meant she couldn't do anything on her own, no meant she'd be stuck, so with a lot of upset and despair, she yelled out a yes. Santana got up out of bed and went into the kitchen. "There you are monkey," she smiled and walked over, giving her a kiss and carefully helping her to stand.
"I sorry Mommy," she cried.
"Why baby?" Santana asked her genuinely.
"Cause I 'eft an' waked you, an I was juss firssy," she said lisping quite a great deal.
"Hey, hey, hey," Santana said pulling her close. "Listen to me very carefully baby girl. You didn't do anything wrong at all. I'm not mad. In fact, I'm very proud of you. I assume you were going to get a drink of water on your own. That shows a huge improvement, because yesterday and the day before, and every day before today, you laid in bed and waited. Today you realized you could get up and go get it yourself and you gave it your best effort. I'm very proud of you," Santana told her.
"Got s'uck," she pouted.
"Yeah, well, that's okay. You can't be perfect the first go around. Remember the very first time you tried to crawl?" she asked her and Marley nodded. "I remember that too. One push of your arm forward and then you moved your knee and then your body said, no thank you, and you fell down to the floor. I remember when you first tried to drink on your own way back in the beginning too. You lifted the cup by yourself and as soon as it got an inch off the surface, your hand said, no I don't want to and it fell down. I'm not mad at all baby. You're trying and you're doing so well and I am so proud of you. What I don't know is how far you got today before some part of your body said no," Santana told her kindly keeping her in a tight hug and she was grateful when she felt Marley relax into the embrace. "Will you tell Mommy what you did?" she asked.
"I got outta bed, came here, got my cup, went to da chair, pushed it here and tried to stand up," she explained, but very slowly and carefully as she felt an impending sense of doom come over her. Surely something in all of that was wrong and she was going to be punished.
"You did all that? Marley that is amazing! We have to get you a reward of some kind! I am so proud of you baby girl," Santana said cuddling her close and giving her lots of little kisses to her face, eventually drawing a little giggle out of her.
"Hey, hey, hey, no smothering my baby in kisses. You can't keep her all to yourself. I want time with her too," Rachel playfully complained and Santana rolled her eyes before passing Marley along to Rachel who also covered her in kisses. "What are we celebrating?" she asked.
"Marley crawled out of bed, to the kitchen, got her cup and then went to the get some water from the fridge, however, she got stuck."
"Stuck where?" Rachel asked Marley.
"On dat," she pouted pointing to the chair and Santana was putting back in place.
Rachel heard the frustration and fear in her voice, so she tried to combat it slightly. "Did the chair grab you and hold you hostage?" Rachel teased and Marley smiled and giggled, shaking her head. "Did it bite you?" Rachel teased and Marley giggled and looked at Rachel, mashing her teeth, pretending to bite her and Rachel pulled her closer and covered her in kisses.
"Here baby," Santana said handing her the cup of water, which Marley gratefully took with two hands and drank greedily. "So, we need to figure something out for the day. You my darling girl, need therapy with Mr. Joe. We all have to work though, so we can do one of three things. Mommy can try to get out of work today so you can do therapy at home, or Mommy can bring you to work, and you can stay with Nanny Susan and Mr. Joe and do therapy, while Mommy works, and the last option is to cancel therapy and have it be twice as long tomorrow," she said and Marley frowned, she didn't like that answer.
"No, too much Mommy," she said immediately crying. Her words were meant to be brave, but she had had such a strange day yesterday when it came to therapy, she was afraid to say no again. Rachel worked to calm her while Santana frowned. Santana stepped closer and kept Marley tight between them.
"It's alright baby, we'll work it out and I promise you my love, I'm not mad," Santana assured her and gave her several sweet kisses.
"Mine," Rachel laughed protectively, pulling Marley closer and kissing her in the same place Santana just had. She was hoping it would make Marley feel claimed and important, because one look at this poor girl and she knew that wasn't anywhere close to what she was feeling inside.
"Alright, well then let Mommy call her job and I'll see what we can work out," Santana said and she gently placed her hand on Marley's cheek. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not mad, and later today we will pick out a reward for you, so think about what you'd like okay?" she asked her gently and Marley nodded.
"Mama?" she asked once Santana left the room.
"What's up baby girl?" Rachel asked.
"You mad?" she asked timidly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"No baby, I'm not mad. I was just frustrated yesterday. Today is a brand new day okay?" Rachel told her and Marley nodded, even though she was unconvinced.
Santana had gotten permission from Beth to bring Marley to work so she could have her therapy done at the club. "Okay princess, here's the plan. You and I are going to go into the tiny play room. You'll like it, it's green carpet and white walls. It's very soft on the floor, not like at home, and we have extra crash pads as well," she smiled. "I'm going to be in the room with you for a little while and then I have to go see my client. When you are done with Mr. Joe, Nanny Susan is going to come pick you up and take you to the big nursery room so you can rest or play or both, until Mommy finishes, okay?" she asked her.
"Mommy, I s'ared," she said honestly.
"I know baby, which is why we're here early. I never want to leave you in a situation that scares you, so we came early, to get everything set up early, alright?" she asked. Marley agreed, but Santana knew she was still scared. "I'm not leaving you immediately baby. I would never do that to you. If I have to leave you in an unfamiliar place, I will always makes sure you are aware of your surroundings, and the people who will be with you," Santana promised her and she cuddled her close while they rode the elevator up to the correct floor.
The doors opened and Santana carefully lead Marley off the elevator and through the hall to a large glass door, that had a painting of several green vines and leaves, entangled through the words Eve's Garden stenciled in gold. "Pity Mommy," Marley said softly touching the letters on the door, seeming to be fixated on them.
"You like them?" Santana asked her and Marley nodded. Santana let her be for a few moments, and then ushered her inside and Marley immediately clammed up and hung on tightly to Santana. Nicole was the first person they saw and next to her was Miss Beth, going over the afternoon's schedule.
"Santana my love!" Beth smiled. "It's wonderful to see you."
"Hello Miss Beth," Santana smiled. "Can you say hello to Miss Beth and Miss Nicole sweetheart?" she encouraged Marley gently. Marley gave a cautious wave and turned to Santana, suddenly feeling overwhelmed and afraid. "You're okay baby," Santana assured her and Nicole sat watching, impressed. Little ones came through the door all the time, but none of them ever looked as fearful as Marley did now. Marley looked at Santana and her eyes held nothing but panic in them. "Shhh, you're okay, I'm right here and we're just going to go into the room you're going to have therapy in, and I'm going to show you where the room I'm going to be in is," Santana assured her.
"Mommy," she pleaded in a voice that was just above a whisper.
"I'm right here baby, you're okay. Come on, we'll go into the room together okay?" she asked her gently and Nicole calmly got up and excused herself. She went down to the nursery and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Susan called out.
"Miss Rivers is here Nanny," she said kindly while Susan worked with some little one who was currently over her lap, getting spanked, for being so fresh moments before.
"Oh yes, in the fridge please. It's all labeled. Four containers worth of juice and water," she said simply and went back to punishing the little boy over her lap, scolding him for making such a mess on the wall with his crayons. "We do not color on the walls!" Susan lectured as Nicole grabbed the four plastic water bottles out of the fridge, that were labeled for Santana and Marley. Then she brought the bottles to the small play room just to the left of her desk.
She tapped on the door frame as Santana had just got Marley into the room. "These are from Nanny Susan, she wanted me to bring them to you."
"Thanks Nicole," Santana smiled. "You can just set them on the counter please," she said and Marley hung on tighter to her, starting to shake.
Once Nicole left, Marley started to cry harder. "No, Mommy, pee, no do now, no, pee Mommy, home," Marley begged, her body going rigid and fear took over every nerve ending.
"Shhh," Santana soothed and she reached into her backpack and pulled out a pacifier and put in Marley's hand. "Shhh, I'm right here baby, I'm not leaving you right away, I'm even going to be with you for the first bit of therapy," she told her.
"No, I can't, I can't, no Mommy, pee, home, you day, we go, pee Mommy," she cried and the tears came faster and harder and Santana's heart practically broke. She also started to get concerned that Marley was going to pass out again.
"Shhh, shhh, shhh, you're okay, it's okay baby," she assured her and she pulled her as tight as she could. She managed to lift her up slightly and wasn't at all surprised when Marley tried to wrap her legs around Santana's hips. "Shhh, I'm right here baby, you're okay," Santana soothed. Santana took them over to the counter, picked up a bottle of water, and then sunk down to the floor, holding Marley in her lap. "Shhh, you're okay my love, Mommy's here, I'm not leaving you for long and I'm not leaving you just yet," Santana said.
She was just getting Marley to calm down when Beth tapped on the door frame. "Santana, Joe is here darling," she said.
"Oh, thank you, have him come in," she said and Marley cried out in fear.
"Oh sweetheart, what's wrong?" Beth asked with genuine concern and Marley wet herself.
"She's just scared. Therapy is going really well and my beautiful Marley is at a point where it's time to progress," Santana explained and Marley put a white knuckle grip on her pacifier.
"Well Miss Marley, I've heard nothing but amazing things about you. I hear how smart you are, how talented you are, and I hear that you are making fabulous progress, but for now I will leave you with your Mommy and Mr. Joe, and if you need anything at all, you don't hesitate to ask. You can ask me, or Nanny Susan, or Miss Nicole up front while Mommy is working okay?" she told her kindly and she left. As soon as she was gone, Marley shoved her pacifier into her mouth and turned inward so her face was pressed to Santana's collar bone. She was developing a headache at this point and she just wanted to be in her own house and be done with everything.
"Muma, pee Muma," she begged around her pacifier.
"Shhh, I'm right here sweetheart, and nothing bad is going to happen, and I'm not leaving just yet. Mommy's right here, I promise you baby," she assured her. Joe walked in and smiled at the girls, before setting up the 'crash mats' that had been put in the corner of the room. The room itself was pretty tiny, but exactly as Santana had described it. Green carpet, white walls, and one small bank of cabinets along a shorter wall that contained a grey granite counter top, a stainless steal sink, and brown cabinets that were mostly empty. The far left one was the one that contained extra supplies, such as vibrators, lubricants, and condoms. Santana kept that information from Marley, because first it wasn't important and secondly, there would be no reason for her or Joe to go into the cabinets at all.
Joe knelt down in front of Santana and spoke kindly. "Marley honey. It's just Mr. Joe sweetheart, and I know you're scared, but your Mommy is right here and I promise you that what we're doing, while scary, is not dangerous for you. We're just going to help strengthen your core by standing," Joe explained.
Marley simply cried and hung on tightly to Santana. "I'm right here baby, let's start therapy together. Mr. Joe came all the way out here to be with us, so we shouldn't keep him waiting," she told her gently. She stood up and had Marley stand with her. "What do we have to do?" she asked moving them to stand on the crash pads.
"I just want her to stand."
"How?" Santana asked.
"On her own two feet," he said.
"She's doing that now," Santana said with confusion.
"Well yes, but she's leaning on you to do it. I'm working on getting her to stand without leaning on anyone. It's a core strengthening exercise," he explained.
"No Mommy, no, faww down" she cried, still keeping the pacifier in her mouth. She wasn't calm, she knew it, and she wasn't going to be calm anytime soon so the pacifier was staying in her mouth.
"Look at me little girl and listen very carefully. Do you think I would ever let you fall down?" she asked. Marley didn't look, she stayed cuddling into her Mommy, but shook her head no. Somewhere deep down, she knew that Santana would never let anything bad happen to her, but she was still pretty scared. "No you don't want to look at me, or no, I wouldn't let you fall down on purpose?" she asked her gently. Marley hiccuped and simply cuddled into Santana. "We have to try baby girl," Santana encouraged her.
Joe nodded and smiled. "Shall I explain how I want to do this?" he asked kindly and Santana nodded. "Okay, so Marley 'walks' with you all at home, which is great, because that helps with her hip flexors which is good for walking. So what I eventually want to happen is for Marley to just stand there. Right now Marley leans and that's okay, but we have to pull back on the leaning a bit. Slowly, little by little," Joe explained. In normal circumstances Joe would have his patients hold on to parallel bars and use their arms to support their own weight, but with Marley, he couldn't do that.
Santana looked at Joe and nodded, before tucking her chin a little bit. "I'm not letting go baby girl. I'm not letting go at all, but we have to get you a little more on your own. You did so well this morning, you are getting very close and I am so proud of you, and we will go over your reward later at home, but we have to try now," Santana said.
Marley worked on calming down and Santana grabbed a few tissues to help her clean her face a bit. "You got this Marley, I know you do, but before we do, what does Mommy mean that you got stuck?" he asked.
"I c'aled to da kissen fer watah an' c'imbed up a seat, but den I hadda dop," she said. Her voice was soft and her speech was little girl, but it was the most Joe had ever heard her explain to him. Santana was practically beaming.
"I am so proud of you Marley," Santana told her kissing her cheek and letting her have some time to continue to compose herself.
"Okay, so you got stuck pulling yourself up to your feet yes?" Joe asked and she nodded. "Okay, so then we need to do this even more, so that you will be able to pull yourself up to standing. Now, I want you to watch this video," he said and tapped a few keys on her his phone. Marley watched the little baby on the screen and quickly shook her head.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" Santana asked.
"I nineteen, I did walk, I not tiny no more," she said.
"That is true my love, you are nineteen and you used to walk, but your muscles have been reset back to the very beginning because of how cruel Terri was to you. Terri reset your muscles, so we have help them along and you should never ever ever go from nothing to everything. It's not safe," Santana assured her.
Marley went back to the video on Joe's phone and watched the baby bob up and down slightly and fall down on his butt. "No, owie!" she protested pointing down to the baby.
"First of all. Do you really think I would be that far away from you?" Joe asked her seriously. "Secondly, we don't ever jump into anything, we work you up to it. For this, I just want to get you to the point where you can stand up on your own, with no one supporting you for three seconds," Joe said.
"Fwree?" she asked in confusion.
"Yes, three seconds. All I need you to do is trust me and your Mommy to hold you up. We will support you, but you can't hang on to us. Mommy is going to put her hands on you. One on your belly and one on your back. I will do the same. You are going to very carefully keep your feet on the floor hip distance apart. Can you set your feet to that position for me now please?" he asked her.
Marley nodded and shifted a bit. She leaned all of the right side of her body into Santana and laughed softly when her left foot sort of hung in the air while she tried to set it down. "That's how dogs pee," Santana whispered in her ear, making her giggle a little bit louder. "I'm going to help shift you sweetheart, are you ready?" Santana asked.
"No, Papa he'p," Marley said and Santana was glad to hear Marley calling for Kurt.
"Papa isn't here sweetheart. I'm just going to lean a bit and Mr. Joe is right there to make sure we don't topple over," Santana assured her. "Look baby, look how far away he is, he's practically on top of us. You don't have far to go," Santana said.
"How about this Marley. You do really well when you have something to focus on, so I'm going to ask you to look down at your foot. I want you to try and put it down right next to me, can you do that?" he asked her. She nodded and took a deep breath and then on the exhale, she lowered her leg down slowly as she pushed away from Santana. Her foot was set in place, but on the outer edge instead of the sole of her foot and she wobbled a bit. "That was fabulous Marley! I'm very proud of you, and now that that's finished, you get to lay on your back and we start a new exercise," he smiled.
"Buh I didn' do i'," she said.
"You did very well for your first try. I'm very proud of you. I know it was scary for you to even attempt that," he told her.
"Why dop?" she asked him going back to leaning on Santana, because it was more comfortable.
"Because, when you put your foot down, it wasn't the sole of your foot, it was the outer edge, so we have to train your foot to fall flat, and the way to do that is on your back. We're going to lay down and march at the same time," he said.
"You make it sound very complicated," Santana said.
"You say that about all of my exercises, instead of just trusting me. On your back please Marley," he told her and she nodded, pushing lightly on Santana's shoulder so she could be lowered to the floor.
They got down to the floor and Marley was flat on her back, her knees bent up to the ceiling, her low back just off the floor and Joe smiled. When most people laid down on their backs one of two things happened, their back touched the floor with no gap at all, which was not 'normal' posture, or there was a small curve just under them, enough to push a very small ball under neath them. When Marley was with Terri, Terri had her knees up to her shoulders most of the time, lengthening the erectors at the base of her spine, giving her a flat back. It also shortened her hip flexors which meant her legs would splay out to the side. Now that she'd been having therapy so often, the natural curve had come back. He was proud of her, but also of himself, glad to see the improvement she was making. He'd made her stronger over the last few months and while the curve was back, her knees were still falling to the side. They didn't splay out as far any more, but he had to get them a little stronger so that her feet would fall flat to the floor.
"Okay Marley, I'm going to stand over near your face so that you can watch my feet okay?" he asked her.
"Mommy," she called out.
"I'm still here baby, I'll sit on one side while Mr. Joe shows you what you're supposed to do," Santana assured her, moving into position.
"It's very easy Marley. I just want you to lift one leg and put you foot down on the floor, then we switch," he said and he stood next to her face showing her what he wanted to do. She tried it once or twice and Joe smiled.
"How many?" Santana asked.
"Thirty times each leg, two sets. March them one, one, two, two, etcetera. At the first set of thirty, you stop and take a rest. Then the second set, then we'll try to get you to stand up between Mommy and myself," he explained and with a heavy sigh, Marley set about her marching. "Wait, wait, wait, when do I ever let you start an exercise unassisted," he smiled at her. He moved to her feet. "My hands on your knees to keep your legs from falling outward," he explained. She nodded and took Santana's hand.
"Mommy, I good?" she asked.
"You my darling girl are the best," Santana said and she kissed her forehead.
Therapy went slow, as it normally did, and Marley was panting after her last set of marching. Beth went to the room and knocked on the door. "Santana my love, fifteen minutes," she said simply.
Santana nodded and turned to Marley. "Okay baby girl, take your rest and we'll talk, come on," Santana said pulling her up into her lap and cuddling her. "So, what's the thing that happens next do you remember?"
"Ana go way," she said sadly and Santana nodded, but again the warning bells were going off. Marley was in little girl world, but clearly not trusting that Santana was her Mommy. It was only very clear when Marley called them by their first names.
"Yes, Santana is going out of the room, but where exactly is she going? Do you remember that?" Santana asked.
"Down a hall," she said softly.
"Very good, do you remember how many doors?"
"Two."
"That is fabulous my baby and do you remember how long I'll be in my room for?"
"One hour," Marley whimpered.
"Yes baby girl, only one hour, and do you remember who you're going to be with after therapy?"
"Mommy pee," Marley pleaded changing back immediately. Being a big girl, even just a little bit, was too much. She didn't want to be a big girl any longer. She just wanted her Mommy to be with her and make her world okay again.
"It's alright sweetheart, you're okay and I'm still going to be in the building, just a little bit busy, like when we're at home and you play in the living room with Mama or Papa, and Mommy's in the kitchen. It's the same type deal sweetheart, I promise you. And you know Nanny Susan, and Miss Beth will be around as well, if you want her to help," Santana explained.
"Mommy day," Marley cried and the tears came fast. Santana shook her head no about to speak, but Marley interrupted her. "Ca'h Papa. Papa come," she pleaded.
"Shhh, Mommy isn't leaving you forever baby, just a little while, you're going to finish therapy and then go be with Nanny Susan, you're going to be fine my love and as soon as I finish, I'm going to come pick you up in Nanny's room and then we'll go home," she said.
"But Mommy," Marley begged and Santana waited for her to continue, but she didn't know what to say so she just cried.
Santana took a heavy sigh and cuddled her close. "Marley my girl. I love you very much. I don't know how to properly explain to you that I can't live without you. You are my little girl, whether you are nineteen months or nineteen years old, or anywhere in between, okay? I'm not leaving you forever, and I am most certainly coming back for you," Santana assured her. "And you my love, you're going to finish therapy and then go sit with Nanny Susan and I will meet you there as soon as I finish," she said.
Marley nodded and curled into Santana, needing her to hold her until she left. "We're going to cuddle until I leave then yes?" she asked and Marley nodded. "I think that's an easy request. Mr. Joe can take a rest for a moment too okay?" she asked gently. "If you go out to the desk, Nicole can tell you where the bathrooms are," she told him and Joe took the hint. "Do I need to change you before I leave sweetheart?" she asked her and Marley nodded. Santana kissed her cheek gently and made quick work of changing her little girl and then cuddled her some more.
Beth showed up at the door a little while later and smiled. "Santana five minutes," Beth said and Santana nodded.
"Marley, can I introduce you to Miss Beth a little more properly? I want you to know her a little bit better in case you need her help," she said and Marley nodded timidly, her whole body going rigid. "Shhh, it's okay sweetheart, that's why I want you to meet her, so you aren't afraid and Mommy would never, ever, ever leave you with someone you don't know. You know Mr. Joe, and you know Nanny Susan, so if I introduce you to Miss Beth, you'll know everyone who is capable of helping you," Santana told her.
Beth moved into the room and left a good distance between herself and Marley who was still cuddled with Santana. "Hi Marley, it's nice to properly meet you. Mommy tells me how wonderful you are, and what a good girl you are," Beth praised.
"Miss Beth is Mommy's boss, and she knows Dr. Martinez, that is her friend. Miss Beth, is the one who helped us to meet," Santana explained.
"Yes, I did, We have a Miss Shannon here and she knows your Mommy too, so when I was told about you, I talked to my friend Miss Shannon and she thought that Santana would be a perfect Mommy for you, and I think she was right," she said and Marley nodded, pulling Santana's arms tighter around her body.
"Okay baby girl. Mr. Joe is back and Mommy has to go to work. Do you want Miss Beth to stay with you, or do you think just you and Mr. Joe will do," Santana asked.
"Mommy day," she cried around her pacifier.
"I can't sweetheart, but you won't be here long and I will be down the hall. How about Miss Beth stays with you," she said. "Miss Beth is a wonderful lady and she will make sure you are very safe," Santana said and with one long tight hug and a kiss, Santana disentangled herself from Marley and left the room.