Hey everyone! Thanks for your comments :) So to answer some things, YES we'll find out who Sophia's dad is soon, and stay with me, the Brittana reunion will happen any day now ;)

Weeks had passed, and it was now Friday, 1 pm and they were leaving for Lima in 2 hours. Santana had decided to take Sophia with her and leave her at Maribel's house for the weekend. Her mom was always badgering her that she didn't get to see her granddaughter as much as she hoped, so Santana knew this was the perfect opportunity. Her suitcase was already by the door, but she was running around picking up Sophia's stuff while hollering at her daughter. "Sophia you better be down here in exactly 10 seconds with your backpack or you won't be going to Bita's house!" A muffled scream came from the top of the stairs, and Sophia's head peeked out the corner. "No mami! Give me 20 ok? I can't find Humphrey!" She rushed back to her room as Santana rolled her eyes. That fucking elephant… She put the toys back down and climbed the stairs towards her daughter's room. Sophia was face down under the bed calling Humphrey's name. "Humphrey come outtttttt we need to go or mom will go all Lima Heights on us!" Santana chuckled from the door and she watched Sophia freeze and slowly back away and look up at her, blushing slightly.

"And what exactly does go all Lima Heights mean to you, mija?" Santana walked over and sat on the floor next to her daughter, who straightened up and bit her lip.

"Um, dunno, something bad I guess? I hear you say it to tía Rachel or tía Cedes sometimes when you get mad." Santana put her arm around her daughter, who wiggled closer to her mom.

"Well, you don't have to worry about it, ok? You know I don't get mad at you that way. Your tías sometimes get on my nerves and I say that, but both you and Humphrey are safe."

Sophia nodded. "Ok mommy. Can you help me find him?"

Santana sighed and stood up. "Sure, mi amor. Do you remember where you last left him?"

Sophia frowned and bit her lip. "Ummm, I think after I woke up I took him with me to – " She gasped and brought both hands to her mouth before running out the door.

"What the hell?" Santana walked to the door and peered out. Sophia was running back up the stairs with Humphrey in her hands and a satisfied smirk on her face.

"He was in the kitchen, mom! I took him down for breakfast."

Santana smiled at her daughter. "Well, now that you found him, please put on your shoes, brush your teeth and bring Humphrey and your backpack down to the living room so we can go ok?"

Sophia ran into her room and placed her stuffed pink elephant on her bed carefully before going to the bathroom. Santana shook her head and smiled as she remembered her daughter's excitement when she first got Humphrey. It had been two Christmases ago, at the Fabray-Berry's household.

December 26 was their joined Christmukah celebration. It was a way for all of them to get together and celebrate the holidays without taking the actual date away from their individual families. The Christmas tree glistened in the corner filled with sparkling lights, ornaments and little Menorahs Rachel insisted on hanging. There were all sorts of aromas wafting from the kitchen that made everyone sniff with excitement and curiosity. Under the tree there were mountains of presents scattered in a half circle; scattered but organized, because Rachel had insisted upon them using special wrapping paper so they'd know which presents where from whom. Santana had scoffed at the idea, but after Quinn had appeared at her house with a box filled with her designated red and black wrapping paper, she had given in. She knew her best friend was whipped and she found it endearing. Sometimes. Sometimes it was just plain annoying.

The three kids were in a playpen to the side, playing with blocks and puzzles under the watchful eye of Leroy Berry, who just fawned over his grandchildren. Santana, Sam, Quinn, Puck and Hiram all sat around the living room drinking Hiram's famous egg nog and sharing stories of Christmases past. Mercedes and Rachel had rejected all help and were in the kitchen getting dinner ready. At 6 pm precisely, Rachel walked into the living room, an old school apron with pink stars draped around her, and clapped her hands. "Dinner is served everyone!" They all made approving noises and stood up. Santana walked over to Rachel and eyed her over. "Wow, Berry, who knew you were such a 50s housewife!" She winked to take the edge off her comment and Rachel blushed while looking over Santana's shoulder at Quinn who was just beaming with love.

After they feasted on mashed potatoes, various salads, green beans, wild rice, a basted turkey and a tofurkey Rachel insisted was delicious but no one else really ate, they decided it was time to open the presents. The little ones were excited because even though Santa had come to their houses the day before, they knew these presents were special, too. As everyone gathered around the tree, Rachel and Quinn donned matching Santa hats and started handing out presents. Quinn picked up a small parcel and read the label: "Ok, this one says 'From your best diva, to Satan'" They all laughed as Quinn passed it on to Mercedes who handed it to Santana with a smirk.

"You know it's true."

Santana rolled her eyes. "Please, as if, Wheezy." She took the present as they all smiled and watched her open it. Santana's eyes grew wider as she pulled out the picture frame from the green wrapping paper. It was a picture of the first day she had brought Sophia home. She was sitting in her couch holding the little Latina as Mercedes, Quinn and Rachel cooed over her, all with wide smiles on their faces looking adoringly at the little bundle. Santana choked back tears and looked up at Mercedes. "This – wow, Cedes. It's beautiful!"

Mercedes shrugged. "Sam took it without us knowing, and I knew I needed to frame it for you. Merry Christmas San." Santana wiped a tear, set the picture frame carefully down and walked up to hug Mercedes. Leroy and Hiram awwwed and cheered as the two girls hugged. Rachel clapped along before turning around and grabbing a box wrapped in pink and golden stars. "So let's continue with the Lopez girls, and this one is for Miss Sophia, from your – mmm" Rachel cleared her throat, determined to get this right. "Madrrrinas." She looked around at Santana for confirmation. Santana smirked and nodded. Rachel let out a breath. "Phew, I've been practicing on that all day!" She laughed as she handed the box to Sophia, who was eagerly looking up at her from the middle of the floor. Santana bent down and helped her daughter open the box. When she got it open, Sophia let out a squeal as she took out a big pink elephant in a top hat from the box. She hugged him tightly to her. "Mine!"

Santana laughed and stroked her daughter's back. "Yes, mija, that's yours! From tía Rachel and tía Quinn. What do you say?" Sophia looked up at her aunts who were both smiling at her. Her mouth broke into a wide grin. "Gracias tía Rachel, gracias tía Quinn." She stood up and wobbled over to her aunts, who hugged her tightly. Rachel placed a kiss on the Latina's cheek. "You're welcome sweetheart! Now you have to think of a name for your elephant."

Sophia looked down at her stuffed elephant with a serious look on her face. "Is it a boy elephant or a girl elephant?"

Quinn sat back and crossed her arms, amused at her goddaughter's question. "What do you think, Sophie?"

Sophia furrowed her brow and stuck out the tip of her tongue as she thought. Santana's heart almost exploded with love for her little mini me. "I think it's a boy elephant."

Luke stood up and snatched the elephant from Sophie's hands. "But it's PINK! And pink is for GIRLS!"

Sophia was jumping up and down, and snatched her elephant back, just as Rachel made a move to stand up and take it from him. Quinn grabbed her wife's hand and pulled her back. "Let Sophia defend herself", she whispered to Rachel, who reluctantly sat back. Sophia looked at Luke while holding her elephant tightly. "Pink can be for boys, too! Tío Sam wears a pink shirt on teevee sometimes, and he's a BOY. And Grandpa Hiram has a pink tie too, so you SHUSH!" She brought her elephant up to Luke's face. "He's a boy and he is pink, and HE LOVES IT." And with that she turned around, walked over to where her mom was covering her mouth and biting into her palm to cover her laugh and sat down in a huff, clutching her pink elephant and staring at Luke. Luke bit his lip, looked at her mom who raised her eyebrow at him, and then spoke up. "Ok Sophia, pink can be for boys, too." Then he sat back down and started twirling a building block. Sophia just "hmmmphed" which caused Santana to choke. Hiram cleared his throat trying to break the silence. He sat next to Luke and put his arm around him, before turning towards Sophia.

"So, now that we established that it's a boy elephant, what are you going to name him, sweetheart?"

Sophia looked at her elephant, then at her mom and finally at Rachel. "He looks like the boy in the movie with the funny hat, tía Rachel. What was his name?"

Rachel looked confused. "What movie, Sophe?"

"The one with no colors we watched at our last girls night, the one about the house."

Rachel chuckled. "Ohhhh, you mean Casablanca!"

Santana's eyebrows shot up. "Hold up, you made my 2 year old daughter watch a 3 hour long movie about a nazi invasion, Berry?!"

Rachel squirmed in her seat. "Well, first off, it's NOT about a nazi invasion, it's a classical love story which so happens to take place during a nazi invasion of northern Africa. And I didn't make her watch it, she saw the dvd and thought it looked fun and so we watched it. I skipped over all the violent parts, just so you know." She finished and let out a breath. Santana shook her head and took a deep breath. Before she could say anything else, Sophia spoke up. "So what was his name, tía? The boy with the hat in the picture."

Rachel darted between Santana and Sophia, before taking the courage to speak up. "His name was Rick, Sophia."

Sophia looked at her elephant and made a face. "No, that's not his name…"

Leroy spoke up. "The boy's name was Humphrey, sweetheart. Is that better?"

Sophia's face lit up as she turned towards Leroy and hugged him. "That's perfect! That's his name. This is Humphrey!" She showed everyone her elephant proudly, and they all smiled and clapped at her decision.

A hand tugged at Santana's hem, bringing her back to reality. "Mooooom, I'm ready!" She looked down and saw Sophia with her backpack on and Humphrey tucked under one arm. She exhaled and took her daughter's hand. "Ok baby, here we go!" And with that, she loaded the car with her suitcases, buckled Sophia in her booster seat and set off towards Mercedes' house.

When she got there, Sophia immediately sprinted towards the back yard and got on the swing set. Sam helped Santana take the luggage out of her trunk and set it by the front door along with their own 2 suitcases. As Sam was putting down the third and final suitcase by the door, he groaned. "God, Santana. We're only going for three days, how much stuff do you need?"

She looked at him and smirked. "I like to have options." He massaged his shoulder as he groaned again and walked towards the kitchen.

Santana took off her pumps and followed Sam to the kitchen, where he was gulping down a Gatorade as Mercedes sat on the kitchen table clicking away on her phone. Santana sat opposite her friend and put her feet up on the table. "So, we're here, where are the Fagays?" Mercedes chuckled as she slapped Santana's feet off the table.

"Quinn just texted to say Rachel's dads arrived and they were leaving soon."

Santana glanced at her watch. "But it's almost 3, won't we be late for our flight?"

Mercedes wiggled her eyebrows. "You let me worry about that, mmkay? Where's my niece?"

Santana pointed over her shoulder. "On the swings, where else?"

They laughed.

15 minutes later, Quinn and Rachel showed up, each pulling on a carry-on bag. Sophia rushed forward to hug her aunts before running back out towards the swings.

Quinn watched her go with a smile. "Still obsessed over those swings, huh?"

Mercedes nodded. "Yeah, all she wants to do is go out there and see how far she can jump off the swings."

"Yeah, she'll never break my record though," Sam winked as Mercedes rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You're such a kid, babe." She playfully pushed him.

Santana walked over, arms stretched out. "SO, now that the golden gay duo is here, are we leaving or what?"

Mercedes checked her phone. "Yeah, our transport should be here in 5 minutes."

5 minutes later, there was a buzz in the intercom, and Mercedes pushed a button to open the gates. "All right troops, we're OUTTA HERE!" They all grabbed their bags and Sam opened the door to reveal a stretch white limo waiting. Sophia gasped, Quinn muttered "Jesus…", Rachel clapped her hands "perfect!" and Santana groaned "such a diva move". Mercedes leaned forward and whispered to Santana. "And you ain't seen nothing yet!" And she bounced forward to greet the driver, who politely asked to take over their luggage and started filling the trunk as the group marched into the limo. Sophia scooted over to the very front of the seats and looked over the small mini bar that was in the corner.

"Mommy, look! There are snacks here!" Santana sat next to her daughter and pulled her close so she could buckle her seatbelt. Sophia wiggled in her seat and looked up at her mom. "Can I have a snack mom, please?" Santana sighed and shot daggers at Mercedes. "Sure honey, I'll grab you some pretzels." She stretched out towards the mini bar, grabbed a small bag of pretzels and opened it for her daughter, who started munching contentedly and swinging her legs. When the driver closed the trunk and started the car again, Mercedes popped open a bottle of champagne and started pouring out glasses. She handed a ginger ale plastic cup to Sophia, so she could toast too.

"Now that we're on our way, I wanted to make a toast. To going back home to celebrate the Shuesters, who helped us ALL to go out and chase our dreams, and to having a fine old time in Lima!" They all cheered and clinked glasses, Sophia never fully understanding what was happening, but mommy was smiling and laughing, so it must be good. She was happy she got to be with the adults and share some adult time. Luke and Chris weren't here and she missed them, but she was secretly glad that she was the only one that was allowed to share the pretty car and the fancy snacks with her mommy and her aunts and uncle.

When they arrived at JFK, the limo pulled up to a part of the airport Santana wasn't familiar with. They drove right up to a hangar and Santana hoped this wasn't what she thought it was. But then she saw it: The small white plane, the staircase leading up and a small red carpet under the staircase. She groaned again and looked at Mercedes who just shrugged and mouthed "sorry". When the limo stopped and they all got out and saw where they were, there were shocked cries and claps from Rachel. Sophia tugged at her mom's hand and shouted: "Look, mommy! Look at the pretty plane!" Mercedes walked in front of them, arms outstretched and a satisfied smile on her face. "We're flying in style today!"

Quinn shook her head. "Cedes, this is crazy! Whose plane is this?"

"I rented it. When I got Mr. Shue's invitation, something inside me felt… I don't know, old. I couldn't believe they had gotten married 10 years ago, that we were in high school 10 years ago! So I thought we could glam it up a bit." Mercedes finished with a shrug.

Rachel took a step forward and clasped Mercedes' hand. "Well, I for one couldn't be happier. This is so freaking cool!" She jumped excitedly and hugged Mercedes. The limo driver was busy loading all the suitcases in the plane, so Sam hurried over to help him. Quinn took Sophia's hand and walked her along with Rachel towards the plane, talking animatedly. Santana walked over to Mercedes and turned her around, her face serious.

"You should've told me about this, Cedes."

Mercedes sighed. "Look, if I had told you, you would've told me not to do it, so I didn't say anything!"

"I've been working for months to stop these rumors about you being such a diva and spending money like crazy, and you go and rent a plane so we can fly to fucking Lima? Are you trying to kill me, Wheezy?"

Mercedes took her friend by the shoulders. "I know you better than to tell you to relax, so I'm going to ask you something." Santana looked at the diva and exhaled. "Please don't be my publicist for the next three days, can you do that? I just want to splurge on my friends, have a great time in my hometown with them, dance and sing the night away and not think about a time when we couldn't afford any of this and we spent my birthday in your dorm room eating ramen noodles and candy corn because we were too broke to go anywhere and it was freezing outside." Santana smiled at the memories and conceded.

"Okay, you win, I will try to switch off my PR brain and enjoy this trip with my friend and not my overspending and impulsive client who will be the death of me." Santana finished dramatically and Mercedes laughed as she put her arm around the Latina and guided her towards the plane. Sophia was already seated in a big plush beige sofa, her seatbelt fastened and her eyes glued to a Frozen coloring book in front of her. Rachel and Quinn were sitting next to each other holding hands and giggling furiously while whispering in each other's ears. Sam was next to Sophia coloring on a Tinkerbell coloring book, stealing glances at Sophia and making her giggle. Santana took it all in and smiled. My Sophia is incredible. And I love this bunch of idiots so fucking much.

She decided not to interrupt Sophia and Sam, who always colored together and had their own little world, and sat instead next to Mercedes in the front. A stewardess promptly showed up and offered everyone a drink before take-off. They ordered white wine and sipped as the plane taxied on the runway and took off. Santana finished her wine and settled back to talk to her friend.

After what seemed like only minutes, the plane was slowly descending until finally landing smoothly in Lima, Ohio. Sophia had fallen asleep from all the excitement and Santana snapped a picture of her daughter half sprawled over Sam's lap, both of them clutching green crayons and an open coloring book in her lap with a half-finished picture of Tinkerbell. She reluctantly walked over to unbuckle her daughter's seatbelt and carry her off the plane. She softly shook Sam awake too, who rushed to help with the luggage. Santana walked down the steps carefully while holding Sophia, who only cuddled closer to her mom's chest and put her arms around her mom's neck. There was another limo waiting for them when they got off the plane, and Santana only rolled her eyes before getting in and carefully laying Sophia down on one of the seats. She took her phone out of her purse and called her mom.

Aló?

Ma, it's me, we just landed.

Maribel let out a gasp.

Qué bueno, mi amor, I lit a candle for you both to make it safely… How soon can I see my Sophia?

Jeez mom, way to make me feel welcome, too!

Santana…

Sorry, sorry, just joking. Um, I can ask them to drop us off before going to the hotel, so we'll be there in 30 minutes or so. Is that ok?

Claro, mija, I'll be waiting for you. Have you eaten?

I have dinner plans, but Sophia had some pretzels on the plane.

She could hear her mom scoffing and laughed.

Bah, that's not food, Santana! I'll whip up some dinner.

It wasn't so much a question, it was more of a statement and Santana knew enough not to argue with her mother over food.

Gracias ma, see you in a bit.

She clicked her phone and turned to give the driver directions. He nodded and set course towards the Lopez' household.

"Cedes, do you guys mind taking my luggage? I'll call a cab and meet you guys in the hotel later."

Mercedes nodded. "Sure, just don't take too long cause we have late dinner reservations at 8:30!"

Quinn looked at Mercedes and raised an eyebrow. "We do?"

"Sure thang Miss Blonde Fabray-Berry! Now I want everyone ready to leave the hotel at 8:15, no exceptions. That means you, Rachel!" Rachel gaped at Mercedes, and then at Quinn who just gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I resent that!"

"C'mon honey, we all know you take forever to get ready." Rachel looked at her wife in mock hurt, but when Quinn placed a kiss on her lips, she just shrugged and snuggled closer to her wife and muttered "whatever."

When the limo dropped Santana off, she took Sophia's hand and slung her backpack over her shoulder before walking over and opening the door to her childhood home. It smelled exactly the same as it always did, always a hint of cinnamon and rice in the air, mingled with her mom's perfume and the apple cinnamon candles she was so fond of. Sophia dropped the backpack by the door and looked around.

"Ma? Llegamos!"

Maribel walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a towel with a big smile on her face. As soon as she saw her, Sophia screamed and let go of her mom's hand to rush into Maribel's embrace.

"Bita!"

"Mi pequeña!" They embraced and Maribel peppered kisses all over her granddaughter, who giggled furiously. When she straightened up, she pulled her daughter over and hugged her tightly.

"Hola Tanita, I missed you."

"I missed you too, mom. How are you?"

Maribel let her daughter go and cupped her cheek. "Some days are better than others, mija, but today is a very good day." She smiled as she placed a kiss on each of her daughter's cheeks. Her eyes locked on Sophia's backpack by the door, and her smile disappeared. Santana followed her gaze and she bit her lip. Maribel looked from the backpack to Santana, and then raised an eyebrow. Santana didn't want to sell her daughter out, but she couldn't help her eyes darting towards the little bouncy Latina next to her.

"Sophia…" Sophia immediately stopped bouncing around.

"Si, Bita?"

"What is your backpack doing on the floor?"

Sophia looked back at her backpack and bit her lip, imitating her mom. Thankfully, Maribel wasn't looking at her, or she would have faltered. "I – I dropped it there."

"And do we put our backpacks on the floor in this house, Sophia?"

Sophia looked at her shoes and swayed from side to side. "No, Bita."

"Where do we put them?"

Sophia exhaled, dejected. "In our rooms."

Maribel nodded as Santana concentrated on the very interesting coffee table next to her. "So please take your backpack upstairs to your room, Sophia."

Sophia nodded and walked slowly. "Si, Bita."

"Thank you, mi amor."

Sophia took her backpack and very slowly walked up the stairs, stopping midway to look at her mom, who just looked at her and jerked her head up towards the second floor. Sophia sighed dramatically and continued her slow climb upstairs. Maribel winked at her daughter and guided her to the kitchen.

Santana sat down on the kitchen table and immediately snatched a grape from the fruit bowl in the middle. "Wow, ma, I think I'll leave her with you when she hits puberty…"

Maribel went back to check on her various pots and shook her head. "Oh no, Santana, that crazy ride is all yours… You know she is exactly like you, right?"

Santana sighed. "Yeah, I know, that's what I'm afraid of!" She chuckled.

"Para nada, mija, you were a handful, yes, but you were never out of control."

"Only cause I was too damn scared of you and papi bringing the wrath of God unto me!"

Maribel laughed and shook her head. "You'll see mija, you will be frustrated and want to scream, but you'll do fine. You are great with your daughter, and don't you doubt that."

Santana stood up to hug her mom from behind. "Thanks mami, means a lot to hear you say that." Maribel patted her daughter's hand as Santana rested her head on her mom's shoulders.

"I'm sure papá would be thinking the same thing if he were here." They stayed wrapped up in their own memories for a while, Maribel caressing her daughter's hands firmly clasped around her waist, and Santana resting her head on her mom's shoulders with her eyes closed.

Santana then murmured: "Do you really think he's proud of me?"

Maribel turned around and brought her hands up to her daughter's cheeks. Santana looked like a child again, her eyes pleading and waiting to hear words of encouragement from her dad who now only spoke through Maribel and through their memories. "Of course he is, mi amor. I know he didn't tell you this often, but he was very proud of you. He was beaming when you went to college and he told everyone that his daughter was in NYU and she would be the best damn anything she wanted." Santana's eyes filled with tears, trying to reconcile this image with the silent brooding image she had of her father. Maribel sensed her hesitation and continued. "Papá was not a man of many words, Tanita, but he loved you very much and you know what he always used to say about you?" Santana shook her head, not sure if she wanted to hear this or not. "Whenever we talked about you, which was very often, he would always say: 'we did good with her, Mari. Our Tanita is something else.' And then he would smile and pat my hand." Santana saw the tears pooling in her mother's eyes and couldn't hold back her own. The two women hugged and silently cried. Then, a small voice came from behind them. "Mom? Bita?" The two women tried to hide their tears as they turned to find Sophia by the door holding Humphrey.

"Hi, mija, did you put everything away in your room?"

Sophia nodded and stared at her mom. "Why are you crying mommy? Are you sad?" Santana shook her head as she went to sit and cradle her daughter in her lap. Maribel turned around, wiped her eyes, took a deep breath and sat opposite her daughter.

"No, Sophie, I'm not sad. I was crying because I was thinking about your Lito, and it made me miss him."

"Oh…" Sophia looked from her mom to her grandmother, and hugged her mom closer. "Lito used to sing to me."

Santana looked at her daughter, surprised. How did she remember? "He did?"

"Uh huh, he taught me the song about maderos." Santana wiped her tears again as the memory flooded back…

Eduardo Lopez was a big, muscular man. His cropped dark hair was sprinkled with gray and curled a little at the bottom. He had a thick mustache and a permanent frown on his face. Except when he was playing with his granddaughter. This particular summer, Santana had flown back to Lima with Sophia to spend some time with her parents while her house was being renovated. She didn't want to stay in a hotel with a toddler, so she decided to go to her parents' house for the two months the renovation was supposed to take, and work from home. She had left Lina in charge and she trusted her implicitly. During those hot afternoons, Santana would often take walks with her abuela or go visit Finn at the tire shop or stop by Coach Sylvester's Cheerios practice. Maribel and Eduardo were happy to stay with Sophia, and they also understood Santana's need for some time alone. Every time she got back home, she could see from the large living room window her dad and her daughter on the rocking chair, laughing. She would sneak inside and sit on the stairway and listen to his dad's voice and his daughter's laughter. It made her heart overflow with love and happiness, even if just for a moment. She could see her dad cradling little Sophia, one hand behind her head and the other on her back as he rocked them back and forth, singing softly:

Aserrín, aserrán, los maderos de San Juan,

Piden pan, no les dan

Piden queso, menos eso

Piden ají, eso sí!

And then he would tickle little Sophia, who would dissolve in a giggling fit. And they would do this day in and day out, Eduardo had moved into private practice a few years before, so he was always home at 4 and he would immediately sweep Sophia from her playpen, turn on the sports channel and cradle his granddaughter for hours, singing and playing with her.

He had died from a massive stroke in his sleep just two weeks after that blissful summer. Santana at least found comfort in knowing that they had been able to spend the last 2 months of his life together, with Sophia.

Maribel wiped her eyes as she moved closer to her daughter. "He used to sing that song to your mom, too."

"He did?" Sophia asked, turning to Maribel, who nodded.

"Yes, it was your mom's favorite when she was little."

Santana hugged her daughter as she remembered an almost exact scene, only this time it was her on her daddy's lap. Daddy… Thank you for giving that memory to Sophia.

There was a 'ding!' from the oven and Maribel snapped out of her reverie and stood up.

"Ay, Dios, la torta!" She opened the oven door and a sweet smell enveloped them. Maribel took the pineapple cake from the oven and set it next to the window to cool.

Santana sniffed and closed her eyes. "I love that cake, ma…"

Sophia nodded vigorously. "Me too, Bita!"

Maribel laughed. "I know, my girls, that's why I make it every time you come! Santana, can you stay for a bite of cake?"

Santana looked at the time and saw it was almost 7:30. "Shoot, no ma, sorry, Mercedes would kill me if I'm late for her super-secret dinner! I'm gonna call a cab." She gave her daughter a kiss and set her on a chair before walking out of the kitchen to make the call. Maribel put a piece of cake in front of her granddaughter.

"Careful Sophia, está caliente." Sophia nodded at her grandma and hesitantly took a small bite. She smiled and continued eating while dancing in her seat and humming to herself. Maribel shook her head and chuckled. "Mi Dios, you are just like your mother."

They sat in silence in the kitchen for a while, until a car honked outside. Santana peppered her daughter with kisses, telling her to be good and listen to her Bita and then she gave her mom a hug, before walking towards the front door.

"Just call me if you need anything mom, ok?"

"Relax Tanita, I can take care of my granddaughter! I'll give you a call when I'm putting her to bed so you can say good night."

"Thanks ma, I love you!"

"Love you too, mija."

And with that, Santana got in the cab and got to the hotel a little before 8. She went up to her room, changed and was down in the lobby by 8:13. Mercedes and Quinn were already there, so she walked up to them and sat down.

"Where are Sam and Rachel?"

Mercedes waved to a fan that walked by before answering: "Sam is out with Finn and Puck, something about guys' night, and we are currently betting on how much longer it's gonna take Ms. Rachel to grace us with her presence."

Santana stood up. "Oh, hell no, I rushed over here and got ready in under 15 fucking minutes, I'm sure 2 hours was enough for the troll to put on her face. I'm going to drag her ass down here."

Quinn just shook her head and cried after Santana. "Room 809!" Then she turned to a surprised Mercedes. "What? She's gonna yell at her anyway, so she might as well do it far away from me…"

Santana pushed the elevator button, crossed her arms and tapped her foot waiting for the elevator to come. She was muttering to herself, something about trolls, makeup and face masks. When the elevator dinged, She almost ran head first into Rachel, who jumped back.

"Santana! You scared me!"

"Good! About freaking time you showed, too!" She grabbed the tiny brunette by the wrist and all but dragged her towards the others, oblivious to her complaints about how she was a Broadway star and she couldn't really run in those heels.

Mercedes and Quinn stood up when they saw Santana approaching with a reluctant Rachel behind her.

"Got her in time, who wins the bet?" Rachel was huffing and smoothing her dress. Quinn walked over to her wife and stroked her arm, while listening to a litany of complaints coming out of Rachel at top speed. "No babe, she just pulled me, I had no control, what if someone saw? Worse, what if I had fallen down? People know who I am, they could have taken pictures of me flat in my face!" Quinn just leaned closer to her. "I know love, but you didn't fall ok? You're fine, now let's just go to dinner and enjoy ourselves." She pecked Rachel on the cheek and turned towards Mercedes. "Are we going or what?"

Mercedes nodded and linked her arm with Santana, marching towards the front door and into the waiting car. When they settled in, Santana in the front, Mercedes clapped her hands. "Ok girls! Since we're back home and all, and we haven't been back here together in over 4 years, I thought it was appropriate to go to… Breadstix!" The other girls gasped and laughed, talking about their favorite Breadstix memories, Santana focusing only on memories that didn't include the other blonde.

When they got to Breadstix they were seated in their favorite booth, right in the middle. As they slid in, they looked around and marveled at how little it had changed.

"Wow, this place still looks exactly the same…", Santana said.

Quinn grabbed the menu from the table. "I know, but somehow it looks… smaller." The other girls agreed with Quinn's observation. They placed their order and started talking about that Homecoming 5 years ago, when Mercedes and Rachel had performed at McKinley and they had all come to Breadstix for dinner afterwards.

Mercedes chuckled. "I remember Stacy hated us because we put all these tables together to fit all the former New Directions."

Rachel covered her face with her hands. "Oh God, I remember that! Everyone came back that year, even Matt!"

Santana couldn't stop herself from saying softly: "Not everyone…"

The girls' smiles fell. Quinn reached out to stroke the Latina's leg. Brittany's presence loomed over them and they didn't know how to continue. Luckily, Stacy came by with their food and they all welcomed the distraction and started eating forkfuls of pasta, commenting on how good it was. Santana pushed her spaghetti al pesto around, hating herself for remembering that was what she ordered when she and Brittany went out with Finn on that stupid date mandated by Sue. Food didn't seem at all important, but she didn't want the others to see her like this, so she forced herself to eat and push the food down her dry throat. The girls visibly relaxed when they saw Santana eat, and they tentatively started talking again, painfully aware how pretty much every good, happy memory from high school they wanted to conjure up that involved Santana, involved Brittany, too. They were saved by a hurricane in the form of Kurt and Blaine, who waltzed into Breadstix, saw the girls and ran to join them.

"Oh my Godddd girls! It's so good to see you!" Kurt hugged each girl in turn as Blaine pulled some chairs over.

"Porcelain and bowtie! What a surprise!" Santana's voice dripped with sarcasm, but the boys chose to ignore it.

"Wellllll, we arrived early for the Shuester's anniversary extravaganza, and we decided to take a stroll down memory lane and voila!" Kurt sat down and kissed Blaine chastely on the cheek.

Mercedes rushed to talk before Santana, because she knew the Latina was about to drop a smartass comment. "That's basically what we did, too! We flew in this afternoon… How long are you guys staying?"

Blaine looked at Kurt and closed the menu before answering. "We decided to make this a vacation, so we are staying for the week!"

Stacy came back to take the boys' order and asked if there were gonna be any other "glee kids" joining them. They all laughed and assured her they weren't expecting anyone else. They ate and laughed and talked, Santana drawing back more and more into herself, into her memories. God, why hadn't she thought about this before? Coming back and being around everyone else from school was obviously always going to remind her of Brittany. She had been so caught up in flying with her friends and letting Sophia spend the weekend with her grandmother, that she'd forgotten – or was it she hadn't allowed herself – to think of… of the Brittany of it all. Wait. What if she comes to the party tomorrow? Santana felt her heart start beating faster, completely sure it was going to come out of her throat. She stood up abruptly, mumbled something about peeing and dashed into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She splashed water on her face and gripped the sink with both hands, willing her heart to slow down and allow her to breathe. After a few minutes of deep breathing, she felt her heart calm down. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the same scared seventeen year old who had watched her girlfriend drive off and out of her life. No. Stop it Lopez. That was ten years ago, you are NOT the same girl and you need to get your shit together. There was no way Brittany was coming back. Right? I mean, she was touring the world right now, dancing for Nicki Minaj, or Beyoncé or someone, she didn't remember because she didn't want to remember. She had made it her mission to know as little as she possibly could about Brittany's life, because it hurt too much. The little information she had was from what Quinn or Mercedes let slip from time to time, or from that one time she overheard Rachel talking on the phone with Brittany: "Oh my Gosh, Britt, that's amazing! I can't believe you're touring with her, I love her music!" That was all she needed to hear. She had backed away and forced herself not to ask Rachel the million questions that were racing through her head. Where was she? Was she happy? Who was she touring for? Was she happy? Did she still live in Sidney? Was she happy? Because above all else – and Santana hated herself for this – she wanted Brittany to be happy. After all, that's why she had left, right? That's why she had left her.

There was a soft knock on the door that pulled Santana back to the present. She quickly checked her makeup and unlocked the door. The other blonde walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Hey…" Quinn was looking at Santana and scrutinizing her friend, trying to read her mood.

Santana straightened herself up. "Hey, sorry, guess I'm not used to this small town food." She tried to smile, but Quinn saw it didn't reach her eyes. She nodded slowly.

"Don't insult our friendship, San."

Santana was taken aback. "I don't –"

Quinn took a step forward and raised a hand. "You're lying to me, and I can see that, and that's you insulting our friendship, thinking I don't know what's going on. I saw you check out of the conversation after you remembered that Homecoming and how Britt wasn't here."

Santana didn't know what to say. It was true, Quinn knew her too well to be tricked. The Latina just looked at her friend and shrugged helplessly. Quinn took another step forward and embraced her friend.

"Oh, San… I thought these attacks had stopped."

Santana squeezed her friend tight, holding on to something that felt real. "Yeah, me too. Guess they didn't."

Quinn stroked the Latina's hair and held her until she felt Santana calmed down. When they parted, Santana's eyes were filled with tears, which Quinn wiped away with her thumb.

"I figured this weekend would be hard for you. But I'm here, we're all here for you. So if it gets to be too much just let me know and we'll leave, ok?"

Santana bit her lip and nodded. "What if she's there?" Her voice was barely a whisper; she didn't dare say it louder, in case the universe heard it and tried to mess with her.

Quinn exhaled softly and fixed Santana's hair. "I don't think she will be, San, but if she is, we'll deal with it when it happens." It was the best she could say. Truth was, Quinn wanted Brittany to be there, so that her friends would finally be forced to deal with whatever happened between them, since neither of them had ever spoken about it. It was the one topic Santana never discussed, and whenever she mentioned it to Brittany, Brittany just closed up and usually hung up the phone or stopped texting her for days. Eventually Quinn learned not to pry anymore, hoping that one of her friends would one day open up to her, or to anyone, for that matter.

Santana splashed more water on her face and looked at Quinn over the mirror. "I can't go back out there now, Q. I wouldn't know how to explain this."

Quinn fished her phone out of her dress pocket and clicked furiously. "Done. I told Rachel you weren't feeling well and that we were going back to the hotel."

Santana smiled a sad smile. "Thanks, Q. But I don't think I want to go back to the hotel and be in that room alone."

Quinn walked up and put her arm around her friend. "No problem, we'll just go wherever you want."

Santana nodded, took a breath and they sneaked out the back alley door. Quinn linked her arm to the Latina's and let her lead the way. They walked in silence, Santana not really sure where she was heading, but just enjoying the chilly spring air and the lazy breeze that floated by. Pretty soon, they came up to a familiar building. Quinn smiled. "This place sure looks old now, huh?"

Santana glanced over at the brick building, looking towards the right where the football field stood. She walked in that direction and she sat with Quinn on the bleachers right at the 50 yard line. If she closed her eyes, she could still hear Coach Sue's voice over the megaphone yelling that they were all sloppy babies. She chuckled and rested her head on Quinn's shoulder.

"This is where we met…" Santana's voice was just above a whisper. But this time, her tears flowed freely, and she didn't care.

Quinn felt the wetness on her shoulder, but pretended she didn't. "Tryouts. God, those were grueling. You know, I heard that a few years back some girl actually threw up all over Sue during the second hour. Man, the rest of the Cheerios froze and Sue just walked straight past the girl and went to the locker room and when she came back, she had that girl's regular clothes with her, and she actually wiped the puke off of her with the girl's clothes."

Santana gasped, then chuckled. "That is such a Sue move."

Quinn laughed. "Yeah, you gotta admire her spunk. She was and still is a hard-ass. But we were tougher for it."

"She made my life a living hell. But yeah, I see what you mean."

Silence fell once again, and the girls were lost in their own thoughts. Santana kept on crying silently, and Quinn put her arm around her, and still pretended not to notice. After almost 20 minutes, Santana felt better and sat up again, wiping her eyes. "Can you believe we actually made it out of this place?"

Quinn rested back on her elbows. "I actually can… You know, we all knew Rachel was made for Broadway and Mercedes was going to be a singing superstar," She grinned, "but I had no doubt in my mind that we – you and I – would make something of ourselves, far away from here. But I always thought you'd be a singer too, so guess I was wrong on that one!" She nudged her friend, who laughed.

"Yeah, I tried, but it didn't pan out. I found my voice though, helping and bossing people around, trying to get my way… I love my job." Santana smiled and mimicked Quinn's position. "You know Q, I see Mercedes' crazy schedule and how she's always going from one place to the other, working crazy hours, and now, with Sophia, I just can't imagine doing that. I love being able to pick my daughter up from school and be there when she goes to sleep. And I know Rachel works like crazy, too, but she's mostly here, stationary, so it's not the same as going on tour all the time or promoting albums across the country. I love making that happen for them, I really do. And then I love getting to go home to my baby girl."

Quinn looked at Santana and for the first time all night, she saw her light up. She always did that when she talked about Sophia, and it made her happy to see her friend hadn't settled – as she had feared – but was just chasing after a different dream.