Happy Sunday Everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. This story is frustrating me, as I am still a bit stuck. I know where end game is, I just don't know how to get there, and that makes it a bit of a challenge. I also feel that this chapter may bore some of you as reading over it, it feels very repetitive, however I personally feel that in this specific situation, or ones similar, some people get stuck in repetitive patterns and Marley is DEFINITELY one of those people. I am getting her help, I swear!
Warnings: There are NO graphic warnings for this chapter. There aren't any hints at a graphic situation. Talk of two graphic actions, but they are just two words, mentioned one time each. Nothing descriptive. You all know these words already. We'll go with a mix of angst and fluff for this chapter, how's that?
As always, thank you to, NayaFan, UnholyUnderBoob, and Beaner008 for their inspiration and encouragement. Thank you to all my readers, followers and reviewers for the reviews you leave and the private messages you send me. Some days, they are the best little pick me up, that I'm looking for. I LOVE hearing from all of you, so please keep it up.
What you also might be interested in, is that I'm working on a new story as well. I WILL ABSOLUTELY FINISH THIS STORY first, but just know that a happier, fluffier, one, that is age play centric, is coming.
I wish you all a happy day and please review if you have the time!
Be well my friends.
Santana roamed the streets of New York, visiting various stores, looking for different things for Marley. She knew her birthday was in eight days and she had to find something special for her baby. It had to be unique and have meaning. She wanted something that would represent both Marley's big girl side and the baby girl side. It had to be important and have duality to it, and as Santana roamed and roamed, she became more distraught. Nothing was standing out to her.
She continued to wander and then checked her watch. Marley should hopefully still be sleeping, so she decided to call in and check. "Hey," Rachel said softly as she answered her phone.
"Hey, I need a status update," she said and Rachel heard it in Santana's voice. She sounded very sad and lost.
"Noah, Quinn, and Kurt are sleeping," Rachel said.
"Marley's up?" she asked, immediately going on alert.
"Not quite. She had a nightmare, she's in my lap cuddled up tight," Rachel said. "You want to talk to Mommy baby?" Marley shook her head no. She wasn't ready for talking. "Are you sure baby? I know Mommy would love to talk to her beautiful sweet Marley," Rachel said. "Sorry, Mommy, not now," Rachel said after a few moments.
"I'll be back shortly," she told her.
"Just be," Rachel started and then she yelped softly. "Ow, Baby, it's okay, just don't pull so hard on Mama's necklace okay?" she asked her gently releasing Marley's death grip.
"I'll be back sooner than shortly," Santana said. They disconnected and Santana jumped on the train that took her back to the closest point to the hospital. Once she was on the train, she heard a little boy talking to his father.
"Daddy, is Mom gonna like it maybe?" he asked.
"I'm sure she will bud. Mom loves the necklaces we've gotten her in the past, and this is even more special, because it has your name as well as your brother's name on it," he said and Santana was suddenly struck with an idea.
"Excuse me. Where did you get your necklace?" she asked them.
"Oh at Macy's it's for my mom, for mother's day," the little boy said.
"Thank you very much. You've just helped me a great deal," she smiled and at the next stop, she got off the train and walked as fast as she could to the hospital. Turning into the room, she saw Kurt holding Marley, rather than Rachel and she gave him a look of confusion, but decided to talk to Marley instead. "Hey baby girl," she smiled.
Marley didn't speak, she simply let her body roll off of Kurt's lap and fall into Santana's body and hung on tightly. "Oooh, my baby girl. I missed you," Santana said gently giving her a kiss to her temple. "Where's Mama?" she asked her kindly and Marley simply pointed to the bathroom. "Oh I see. Well when I talked to Mama before, she said you had a bad dream, are you okay now?" she asked her and Marley shook her head no, hung on tight and started crying. She was so frustrated and despite what people kept telling her, she felt solely responsible for Noah being abused and tortured for the past two and a half months. She knew exactly how much damage could be done in two and a half months. "Talk to me baby girl, I will try and help," Santana said.
"You put me in time out," she whimpered.
"For talking to me?" Santana asked her gently.
"Fer sayin' is my faw," she whimpered a few more tears falling down her cheeks.
"Shhh, okay, Mommy promises, no time out. I need you to talk to me though sweetheart," Santana told her. "Whatever you want to tell me, I want to know," she said.
"I run'd way. Terri mean. Hurt'd me," she hiccuped and Kurt brought her a cup of water, putting it gently in her hands and she paused to take a small sip. "I run'd buh her foun' Noah, an' juss hurt'd him," she cried. "So mad at me, so mean, my faw, he didn' need it. If I day'd, he would no be hurt," she said and then she hung on tighter to Santana.
"And you'd be dead," Santana thought to herself, but she simply cuddled her baby tight to her body, gathering her words, before speaking. "Marley baby, look at me sweetheart," she told her gently. "What Terri did to you and to Noah was pure abuse. Terri is a very sick individual and is now in jail, paying the price for what she did to the two of you. I want you to think about something though okay?" she asked and waited for Marley to respond. "You know what addictions are right?" Santana asked and Marley nodded. "There are good addictions and bad ones. Mama is addicted to Broadway. Not my addiction of choice, but she is absolutely, one hundred percent, addicted. All she ever wants to do is be on Broadway. That is a good addiction. There are not so good addictions as well, drugs, and alcohol come to mind. Those are only not so good, because if you want to, you can recover from them. You have to want it and fight though, but as long as you do, then you can kick that addiction and develop a good one. After that, there are bad addictions. Bad addictions are things like rapists and serial killers."
"Dems pee-pa Mommy," Marley said, her face etched with confusion.
"Yes baby, that's true, they are. But what they do, the rape and the killing, some people are truly addicted to it. It gives them that same great feeling that Mama gets when she gets a new part in a show," Santana explained and Marley looked confused and distressed about this. No one had ever explained it to her like this before. "Terri might be one of those people. I personally think she is and it's very wrong. For some reason, causing pain to the two of you made her deliriously happy, even though her causing pain is wrong. You ran away and saved yourself, which I am so very proud of. We don't yet know why Noah went to meet Terri at the coffee shop, and maybe when he's ready he'll tell us, but he did not get hurt because of you. If it wasn't you, or Noah, it would have been anyone else. She has a very bad addiction and nothing you could have done would have changed that. People with addictions like that, they have something different in their brain and nothing can be done," she explained and then took a pause to have it all sink in.
"Do you understand everything Mommy just told you about Marley?" Kurt asked her kindly and she nodded that she did. "Do you think you can try to believe that?" he offered her. He knew there was a difference and he also knew that Marley still had a lot of guilt over Noah. The fact that he had compromised vision, simply made it worse.
"It looks like my faw, but I tie Papa," she told him softly.
"Thank you for trying sweetheart, I'm very proud of you," Kurt told her and he leaned in and gave her loving kiss.
Two hours later, Santana was getting ready to gather her household and go home, leaving Quinn with Noah. She wanted to give the two of them proper time to bond. "Come on love, let's say goodbye to Noah and Quinn," she told Marley kindly.
"Where we go?" Marley asked. She was currently lying on the bed, next to Noah and the two were watching reruns of FRIENDS.
"We're going home silly," Santana smiled.
"No," Marley said looking panicked and concerned all of a sudden.
"No?" Santana asked.
"No," Marley said seriously. "We can't leave," she told her.
"Really? And why is that?" Santana asked kindly as she placed Teddy Bear and Panda into the back pack, so they could take everything home that they'd brought with them.
"Noah, no be awone," she said softly.
"What's Auntie Quinn then? A statue?" Santana asked with a smile.
"No," Marley said looking scared that she had done or said something wrong.
"Calm down honey, I just want to know why you don't want to leave?" Santana told her.
"You can go Mar-ree. I be ay-ff," Noah told her.
"Buh you awone," she told him.
"Kin here. Her p'otect me. Her promi'd me," he explained and she looked over at Quinn.
"You will?" Marley asked, not having moved an inch. She was afraid to leave Noah. What if Terri came back. What if Quinn couldn't really be trusted. What if it was all an act and they were leaving Noah with another terrible person. Marley wouldn't be able to handle that. It would be all her fault again, because she didn't fight hard enough.
Quinn seemed to sense that Marley was playing the what if game, so she moved a little closer, pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. "Alright lady bug," Quinn smiled. "I can still call you that right?" she asked and Marley nodded. She did like the nickname. "Alright, well you ask me any question for any type of scenario you want and I will answer it for you," Quinn told her and Marley seemed to get quiet and think about it.
"You gonna leave him?" she asked softly, but her voice dripped with venom.
"Watch your tone Marley," Santana told her. She was angry, Santana could see it in her eyes, and she was fine with Marley being angry, she just didn't want her to lash out at Quinn, or anyone for that matter, for no reason.
"She's fine," Quinn said kindly to Santana. "And yes, I will leave him later tonight. There is a security guard here on duty. I am not allowed to stay. Miss Beth asked already and they denied me, just like they denied Santana when she came to visit you when you were here," Quinn said.
"NO! Mommy!" Marley snapped.
"Marley Rose, this is your last warning. You can ask your questions, but Quinn has done nothing wrong, so calm down, and stop yelling at her, or we are leaving without your questions getting answered," Santana said.
"I'm not staying up half the night with you," Rachel hissed in Santana's ear. Santana rolled her eyes and looked at Marley. She was dangerously close to losing it and Santana wasn't entirely sure how to pull her back to a calm state, but one thing was for certain, Marley was not going to get away with being rude. If she was going to be forced to leave and be up half the night crying and screaming then so be it. Actions had consequences.
"How long you be here?" she asked.
"For another three hours. Noah and I have to work on our communication skills and talk to a police officer, and then he is going to go to sleep and I'm coming back to your house," Quinn explained.
Marley looked down at her hands and thought for a moment. She had to know that Quinn was safe, but she didn't know how to do that. So far, everything had been okay and earlier in the day, Quinn even supported her body while she sat on the bed. "Mama?" she asked looking up and past Quinn to the doorway. "Noah has you phone to call for he'p, if he nee's it,' she said.
"I can't give him my phone baby. I need my phone for work. I'm waiting for my agent to call with my audition schedule next week," Rachel told her kindly and before Marley could ask anyone else, Quinn pulled out her phone.
"I'll give him mine when I leave Marley. Will that make you feel better?" Quinn asked.
"How I know you not lie?" she asked her calmly and honestly and Santana wanted to scold her, but didn't. She was being calm, so there was no need to yell.
"Do you remember how many hours I said I was leaving in?" Quinn asked.
"Fwee," she said softly.
"That's right, so, in three hours, I will call Mommy and you can talk to Noah on the phone, to make sure I haven't lied, until I show up at your house. This way, he has the phone with him and you know I wasn't lying," Quinn told her.
Marley thought about this for a moment and decided this was a good plan, but then something struck her. She remembered. Miss Beth had been sitting on the bed. She'd woken them up, so Marley could go tell her story, because Terri was in Bushwick. Terri had been looking for her. What she didn't know was if Terri was looking for Santana, Kurt, and Rachel too. "Terri know you?' she asked softly.
"I don't think so," Quinn said honestly.
"She shouldn't baby," Santana said from the door.
"She knowed you!" Marley challenged.
"Calm," Santana warned her. "Yes, she did, but she came to Mommy's work that's how she found me. Terri is officially in jail and staying there for quite some time, so she doesn't know Quinn," Santana explained.
"You has phone?" she asked Quinn.
Quinn thought for a moment and then smiled. "Actually," she said, "earlier Mommy gave me her phone so I could talk to Miss Beth, while you took a nap, so I will give Noah my phone and I will bring home Mommy's phone, so that you know we are both safe, does that sound alright?" she bargained and in that moment, she realized she was dealing with a very smart, very tall, very concerned, toddler like, young lady.
Marley nodded and then looked at Noah. "You sure you kay?" she asked him with great concern and he got lost in her eyes for a moment. She was still a blur, but to him, she was the most gorgeous blur, he'd ever seen.
"I be okay. Kin is nye," he told her.
"Kay, I gives you hugs. I be soff," she told him and waited for him to agree before she began to wiggle. Her feet, very ungracefully slung over the bed as she rolled onto her belly, her feet touching the floor and she carefully pressed her body into his and then tried to wiggled herself back to standing.
Santana moved in and spoke kindly. "I'm right behind you Marley. I'll help you stand up," Santana told her. With help, she stood up and the four of them started to leave. "Call us as you're coming home please," Santana told her and then the four were gone.
They made it home half an hour later and Marley dropped to her knees and crawled over to her toy box. She pulled out all of her blocks and then started to get frustrated. She started saying her alphabet and setting up her blocks, to make sure she had all of them. Rachel wanted to say something, but decided against it and simply walked over to Kurt and wrapped him in a hug. "What is she doing?" she whispered to him.
"She told me she wants to give Noah her blocks to help him with communication," he told her and she smiled.
"I am so proud of her," Rachel smiled and they both watched her count her blocks while Santana put a snack together for her. After a moment, Rachel moved to the phone and pressed play on the machine. It let out a beep and Marley looked up in shock. "It's just the messages baby," Rachel told her kindly and Marley went back to digging out all twenty six blocks.
"As soon as your done baby, snack time," Santana called to her.
"Kay," she said and started to whine softly when she couldn't find all the blocks to bring to Noah the next day.
"It's alright baby, we'll look for them in the morning. Come have your snack please," Santana told her.
"No, Mommy, he needs them, I gotta fine dem," she said and the tears started to build up in her eyes.
"Marley honey, it's okay, let's have your snack now and then I'll help you look for them," she said.
"I can't do anything right!" Marley screamed and she hurled two blocks across the room, having them crash into the bookcase and Santana put on her sternest, look.
"Not okay! Not by a long shot! Into the corner now!" she said.
"NO! I gotta help Noah and I can't do anything right!" she screamed.
"Into the corner by yourself for five minutes, or I will help you there and you'll stay for seven minutes!" Santana told her.
"NO!" she screamed. "I GOTTA HE'P HIM. I GOTTA!" she screamed.
"Stop screaming," Santana said sharply and Marley beat her fists on her thighs while drumming her heels into the floor, in pure frustration. "You can finish your tantrum in the corner little lady," Santana said and Marley looked up at her and screamed again.
"Is she dying?" Kurt called from his room.
"No!" Santana called back and Rachel simply stood in the doorway and watched. Then she went into her room to do some research about the bruises she was sure Marley was going to have from her little tantrum. "Corner Marley, right now!" Santana said and Marley ignored her and continued her tantrum, so Santana waited for her to finish. Once she finished, Santana knelt in front of her. "Last chance little girl. By yourself to calm down and think about why throwing things is wrong, or with my help and you'll think longer!" Santana warned her.
"I can't do anything!" Marley wailed and Santana took a deep breath and helped Marley to stand and guided her to the corner, but Marley was basically a rag doll at this point. All she knew was that she was doing everything she could to help and nothing was working right. She'd had a time out with Noah because she told him he had to call Quinn his Mommy. She threw up when he was honest and told her a part of his story, and now she was having another time out because she'd had a tantrum and threw blocks. She only threw the blocks out of frustration, because in her mind, if she didn't get all the blocks together tonight, she was going to stall everyone in the morning. She was trying to be perfect. She was trying to be a big girl too fast and it was just too much for her to handle mentally. Terri had been right after all, she was nothing but a lazy baby slut and that's all she'd ever be. Marley curled up into herself, sending her legs into spasm, and cried in the corner, for the entire seven minutes that Santana wanted her there as well as an additional ten minutes while Santana held her and tried to calm her down.
"Rachel!" Santana called out and Rachel went running. It was rare for Santana to use her real name, so it had to be important. "We need Teddy Bear and or Panda, a pacifier, and my cell phone please," she said. Rachel frowned but gathered all the items and handed them to Santana. "Stay here please," she said and Rachel gave her a curious look, but stayed with them, while Santana rocked slowly and dialed a number into her phone. "Yes, hi, this is Santana, I need to speak with Doctor Isabelle, please," she said and Marley started shrieking. She heard doctor and as far as she was concerned that meant they were sending her away.
"Crap. Kurt!" Rachel called and she pulled Marley into her arms and held her tight. Kurt showed up and they took her into the living room while Santana went to the kitchen, and cuddled her on the couch. "Shhh, calm down baby, you're okay. Mama and Papa have you and Mommy will be right here and then we are going to have your snack and all go to bed," Rachel said kindly.
"Yes hi, this is Santana Lopez, I'm calling to set up an appointment for Marley Rose, I believe Beth Harris said you'd be expecting my call," she said kindly.
"Ah yes, my dear cousin was very insistent that you get this number directly and from what I can hear in the background, I think I understand the reason why. When would you like your appointment Santana?" she asked kindly.
"No," Santana said. "I mean, yes, but, I called to get information first. What kind of therapist are you?" she asked calmly.
"A psychotherapist. Beth wants me to talk to Marley and help her understand that the lifestyle she thinks she wants, no matter how in depth she wants to go, is not wrong, as well as to help her learn that everything Terri told her is pure crap," Isabelle said.
"We will take your very first opening," Santana said and Isabelle could hear the relief in her voice.
"Can I text this number?" Isabelle asked and Santana said yes. "Go be with Marley now and I will text you the availability for the week in the morning and we'll take it from there," Isabelle said kindly. "Have a good night and know that I will do everything in my power to help Marley, but it isn't going to be easy and what you hear now, may happen as we peel back the layers of the onion," Isabelle said kindly and then she hung up.
Santana hung up and looked at her phone, making a face. "I hate onions," she said to the phone. Then she took a deep breath and walked over to the couch. "Come here princess," she said kindly and she pulled Marley up into her arms and Marley didn't even hesitate to wrap her legs around Santana's waist and simply cry. She held on tight and trembled violently. "I know, I know, shhh, come on. Bath time first, then snack, then bed," she told her gently and turned to move, but Kurt quickly stood up. Rachel followed suit and the two of them very carefully moved Santana and Marley into the bathroom.
An hour later, Santana was on the couch, holding Marley tight in her arms, feeding her the blackberries she should have eaten the hour before. Luckily it wasn't too far off her eating schedule. Marley ate them without complaint and drank her water in whatever cup they gave her, doing her best to be neat about it all. If she spilled a drop they were going to beat her, she was sure of it. It was at that moment that Santana noticed, no one had really said anything to her since they came out of the bathroom and Marley was completely rigid.
"What if Papa picked out a movie for everyone to watch," Santana suggested and Marley simply nodded slowly. "Or, maybe we can sing a song?" she asked and Marley nodded again. Marley didn't care. Whatever Santana said she would do, she just didn't want to be sent away, but it was too late. She'd done too many wrong things, and now they were giving her to Dr. Isabelle, probably to have her committed to a mental hospital.
"I think a movie is a good idea," Kurt said kindly, because he could see Marley fighting sleep, even though she was eating her snack without complaint. "What do you think baby girl, should we watch Sleeping Beauty or Brave?" he asked her and she simply started to cry, but she was trying to hold it in.
"Mommy picks Brave," Santana said and she nudged Rachel's foot with her own and she shifted Marley around in her lap, so they were chest to chest, but this time, Marley didn't put her head on Santana's shoulder. She just sat there rigid, stone still, and was forcefully holding back her tears, because that was going to get her a spanking.
"Mama does too," Rachel said and Kurt nodded. He put on the movie and then moved to sit down. During the opening credits, Santana turned Marley back around and shifted herself slightly, so that Marley could put her feet up on the couch. Kurt picked them up and began to massage them, but it wasn't relaxing her and finally, there was so much tension in her body, that Marley's bladder and bowels released, without her even trying. She burst into hysterical sobs and Santana sighed.
"Cuddle party in the living room. You two go clean her up and I will get everything ready out here," Kurt said.
"Shhh, it's okay Marley, calm down baby," Rachel told her. "Do we know what kicked this off? She's been fine all day," Rachel commented.
"No clue," Santana said kindly. "Lift her legs for me, so I can get a new diaper on her," Santana said, because they both knew there was no way Marley was doing anything on her own. She was both a rag doll and extremely rigid all at the same time. It also seemed that she was afraid of her family and Santana was very concerned about that fact.
"Come on sweetie, let Mama help," Rachel said struggling slightly to lift Marley's legs up and back. "You're okay baby girl, you're okay. Mama's here and Mommy's here. We're just going to help you change and then we're all having a cuddle party in the living room. Papa is getting it all set up," she said, but Marley simply cried. She didn't even seem to register that anyone was talking to her.
"She's off in her head, and I don't think we're going to get her back any time soon," Santana said.
"I don't buy that at all," Rachel said and once Marley was taped into a new diaper, she helped Marley up and into Santana's lap. "Hold her tight," she said kindly and Rachel rubbed her back before she began to sing softly in Marley's ear. "Do you ever feel, like a paper bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?" she sang softly and eventually Santana joined in. They kept it soft and slow, until finally Marley's wall broke and she cried hard, holding on tight to Santana.
"No sen' me way Mommy," she begged, her words holding nothing but heartbreak inside them. There was no other emotion. Rachel had thought there might be a desire to stay expressed as well, but she didn't hear desire, all she heard was fear.
"That's never going to happen baby. Mommy Santana, Mama Rae and Papa Kurt, love you far too much, to ever voluntarily send you away. If you go on your own, that is something very different," she explained and Marley snuggled in closer to Santana, her head going straight to her shoulder and Santana kept her close and waited a few moments. "Cuddle party in the living room my little love. Everyone. You, me, Mama, and Papa," Santana said. "Mama is going to help you to stand and then we will lead you to the living room, helping you to walk carefully," Santana told her.
They made it out and Kurt set up all the blankets as well as the movie Despicable Me. Marley seemed to like that movie and stay calm with it. She was nearly asleep when the phone rang and Rachel quickly grabbed it. Marley had jumped in her sleep, but didn't wake up and snuggled back into Santana. "Hello?" Rachel asked.
"Hey, it's me, is Marley ready to talk to Noah?" Quinn asked.
"Marley had a melt down and is nearly asleep. So, no," Rachel said with a slight smile. "How's Noah?"
"Well he's nearly asleep too. I was going to wake him up, but if she's falling asleep, I'm not going to do that now," Quinn said.
"No, of course. Let him sleep. Do you want someone on the phone with you, while you come back here?" Rachel asked.
"Sure, I'll walk and you can tell me all about the latest meltdown or tantrum, or whatever it was she had," Quinn said.
"Hold on," Rachel said and she carefully stood up and went into the kitchen to talk to Quinn while she walked back to the house. She heard Quinn check out with the security guard and then she heard the guard explain how the night would go to Quinn. He'd explained that Nurse Helen wasn't on duty tonight, but would be back in the morning and he was going to be there all night. Quinn thanked him and headed off.
"Okay, ready when you are," Quinn smiled into the phone.
Quinn walked into the apartment and found Rachel pacing slowly. "Oh, you're here, good," Rachel smiled and she hung up her phone.
"Why is it so tense in here?" Quinn asked.
"Really? I'm actually feeling pretty calm down," Rachel said and then she shrugged. "What you feel is probably Marley or Santana," Rachel explained.
"Was it really that bad?" Quinn asked.
"We are this close to potty training. She's getting so much better. She feels it better now. She tells us when she has to go and we sit with her for as long as it takes and she goes. Usually within a few minutes. Tonight, she had an accident. We didn't yell at her for it or anything, but Kurt is convinced, she is stressing about something big and that's what made her mess herself. She also begged Santana not to send her away and all I heard in her voice was pure fear," Rachel explained.
"Well for the little bit that I've witnessed, you should all be really proud of yourselves. That's a lot of accomplishment in two months," Quinn said. "I look at Noah and I wonder what Miss Beth was thinking, but now that he sort of trusts me, at least a little bit, and I have you three to turn to with questions, I think it might be okay," Quinn continued.
"Cheater! I had no one," Santana teased coming over from her spot on the couch. Rachel rolled her eyes and got everyone a glass of iced tea.
"You had Kurt and Rachel!" Quinn said.
"I did, and I still do, and I got very lucky that they took to Marley and she took to them, but over all, none of us had a clue as to what the hell we were doing," Santana said calmly.
"As much as I hate to agree with her, and I do hate it a lot, it's really true. We didn't know what we were doing and we just take every day, one at a time," Rachel said and Santana let out a little laugh.
"Sometimes, one minute at a time," Santana said.
"You've still managed to take wonderful care of Marley and surely even a stubborn, Lima Heights, sassy ex cheerleader can see that," Quinn said making a face at her friend.
"If I had done a better job, she wouldn't be having these melt downs, begging me to let her stay, swearing to be a good girl, and sounding more fearful than I've ever heard her sound before," Santana said seriously.
"Okay, think about it this way. You taught her communication and I know this for sure, because I saw her try to teach Noah. You've done a very good job Santana," Quinn told her.
"And that's coming from Quinn, so I don't want to hear, I don't know what I'm talking about!" Rachel said with a very satisfied smile on her face.
Santana snapped her jaw at Rachel and Rachel snapped back, before they were interrupted by whimpering from the couch. "I'm not sure I can go another round," Santana sighed, dropping her head on the table.
"I'll get her," Rachel said kindly and she walked over to the couch, to find Marley awake and looking around.
"Mama," she whimpered.
"Hey baby girl," she smiled kneeling in front of her and petting her face. "Did you have a good rest?" Rachel asked and Marley nodded but started looking around the room. "Papa is still sleeping, but Quinn is back and all the girls are having iced tea at the table, would you like to join us?" Rachel offered.
"Mommy," Marley whimpered.
"She's at the table, I'll take you to her," Rachel offered and she held out her arms to Marley, who sort of fell into them. "My best girl, come on," Rachel cooed as she pulled Marley to her and then stood the two of them up and helped Marley into the kitchen.
"There's my sweet Marley," Santana said with a happy smile.
"Mommy," Marley cried and she fell into Santana's lap, bursting into tears, and holding on tightly.
Santana took a deep breath and gathered her little girl close. "Shhh, you're okay good girl. Mommy has you, you're safe," Santana told her. It took some doing but eventually Marley calmed down and curled herself around Santana's body, putting her head on Santana's shoulder. Her back was to Quinn, and she could see Rachel, but above all, she heard Santana's heart beat and right now, that was the thing that was keeping her sane.
Rachel poured more iced tea for everyone and everyone fell quiet. "So tell us, how was Noah when you left?" Rachel asked.
"Very tired," Quinn said. "He did have a message for Marley though," Quinn said and Marley wiggled a bit, but she wasn't leaving Santana's embrace if she could help it.
"Do you want to turn and look at Quinn?" Santana asked.
"No Auntie?" Marley asked softly.
"She can be Auntie Quinn if you want her to be, but you have to make that decision sweetheart. When you met Quinn, the very first moment, you were our little girl, and it was appropriate at the time. It's also because Quinn went to school with all of us, we know for a fact she is safe, so that is why I said Auntie Quinn."
"She also did it as practice Marley. I work the same place as Mommy does and I'm training with Nanny Susan. Nanny Quinn, just didn't sound right to me though, so all the little ones who come to the club with call me Auntie Quinn," Quinn explained.
"Wha' Noah say?" she asked softly.
"Manners," Santana scolded gently, "turn to look at Auntie Quinn please," Santana told her and she sighed, but shifted and moved around, softly repeating her question. "Good girl," Santana praised kissing the top of her head.
Quinn smiled. "Noah said that when I saw you, he wanted me to tell you that he wished you sweet dreams," Quinn said and Marley shook her head no. Quinn was absolutely lying. Noah couldn't say those words, not with his mouth the way it was. Even after the one day, Marley knew that.
"Liar!" she cried and fresh tears came to her eyes. "Mommy! Liar. Lie. Can't. No. Pain," she said tears flowing from her eyes. Santana was not thrilled with the outburst, but at least she hadn't run away and for that Santana was extremely grateful.
"Okay, stop," Santana said working to keep her cool. "Calm down, we're going to breathe and we're going to talk and you will apologize to Auntie Quinn. No exceptions," she told her. "First though, we breathe," she said and Marley worked hard to calm her breathing. It took five minutes before Marley got her breath under control and looked at Santana with fear in her eyes. "Don't be scared Marley. I'm not happy that you yelled at Quinn, but you are going to apologize and explain why," Santana told her, reading her mind and Marley leaned in and hugged her tightly.
It took a few more minutes, but finally, Santana turned Marley around and while crying pushed out her words carefully. "Eee cah ay dat. Owies," she whimpered.
Quinn took a deep breath and carefully moved forward. "Shhh, she said kindly and she moved to kneel in front of Marley. "I know you're trying sweetheart and I'm so proud of you. I like that you're sticking up for Noah. I don't like that you think I lied, but we're going to try and fix that. Let's try again honey, nice and slow, can you say it again? Why do you think I lied?" Quinn asked gently, looking up at Marley. Quinn believed in giving frightened little ones a height advantage because in one of her psychology classes, they'd done several exercises and while it was something so minor, it could have a huge impact. Quinn had been paired with one classmate and it was a simple task. They were to ask one question. "How was your day?" They were to ask it three times. The first time, the askee was to be lying on the floor with the asker standing over them. The second time was for both parties to be seated in a chair. The third was for the askee to be seated in the chair and the asker to be sitting on the floor looking up at them. In a class of one hundred students, fifty couples found option three the most comfortable and twenty five of them found option two comfortable. No one liked option one. They'd been too intimidated and right now, Quinn had to give Marley a perceived upper hand. The poor girl was too tense.
"Eee, cah, ay dat. Owies," Marley said again, only slower this time. Her words were true, but also garbled with tears, so it made it a little more difficult.
"Alright Marley, alright, I'll try okay. I know you're frustrated, but I'm going to try. Are you talking about Noah?" Quinn asked and Marley nodded. "He's in pain you say?" she asked and Marley nodded again. "I just don't understand the middle bit. I know you think I'm lying and that's okay, but I can't work out why, can you try again?" Quinn asked. "Maybe you can use different words for me," Quinn tried.
"No, S, no dra. Owies," Marley cried.
"Oh I see," Quinn said putting it all together. "Noah couldn't say sweet dreams to you because his mouth hurts?" she asked and Marley nodded but went back to crying. "Shhh, shhh, okay, that's actually very smart lady bug. You paid very close attention today, and I'm very proud of you for doing so," Quinn told her. "I know you think I lied, and I know you think that because you paid close attention today, but he did say that. Now it didn't sound the same as when I say it, but he did wish them to you," Quinn said and Santana could feel Marley fighting sleep. Her body was getting heavier and heavier with each passing second.
"Now, will you please tell Auntie Quinn you are sorry for yelling at her," Santana said.
"I sorry," she cried and she snuggled closer into Santana who gave her a kiss.
"I'm very proud of you sweetheart, why don't we go into the living room and all cuddle and watch your movie again. Maybe with some real rest you'll feel better in the morning," Santana suggested.