"I had so much fun yesterday." Santana groaned as she stretched her body out. Playing with babies and hanging out with kids half your age really took a lot out of a person. After having lunch with the kids, they had finished the tour for Chloe and showed Rachel and Santana their rooms. The children's home overall was a very nice building, but it was definitely too small for the amount of children that currently lived there. The older kids rooms were pretty good size, however with at least three beds in each of them with each kids stuff, it was crowded to say the least. Santana couldn't be more excited for the children to move into their new home in a few months.
"I knowww. I can't wait to go back. I wish I could go with you today and tomorrow instead of working." Rachel who had been trying to decide what shirt to wear turned around and pouted at Santana. She sighed as she dropped the shirt she was holding in her hand and climbed back into bed laying down on top of Santana. "I don't want to go to work today." Rachel whined into Santana's neck.
"I don't care how much someone loves their job, sometimes work sucks. But you have to go if you want to stay steady working on your album. I have to work this morning before I leave. I hope I can get a painting or two done." Santana rubbed her hands up and down Rachel's back. She needed to get up soon because if Rachel got too comfortable she would fall back asleep.
"How many paintings do you officially have left to do? I know you worked on them some when we got home last night." Rachel furrowed her eyebrows as she traced her fingers along Santana's collar bone.
"Mmmm, I have four well technically five left to do. I probably have emails from Peter too, the signs are supposed to be delivered sometime this week."
"Technically five?" Rachel questioned before she began to laugh at Santana's full teeth grin.
"I have four that I haven't even primed canvas for and two that are about half way done each. So. Technically five." Santana held up her hand indicating for Rachel to give her a high five. She laughed and flipped Rachel over onto her back before kissing her deeply. "You have to go to work now." Santana whispered as she stared into Rachel's eyes.
"I can't go to work with no shirt on and my naked fiance laying on top of me."
Santana pulled her head back in fake shock and hurt. "Who said?"
"I said! Now move so I can go." Rachel playfully smacked Santana on the ass which had came uncovered when they were rolling around in the bed.
Instead of causing Santana to move, Rachel had lit a fire that wasn't going to be put out anytime soon. "Don't start something you can't finish." Santana shifted slightly so that she was now nestled right between Rachel's legs. Using what leverage she had, Rachel wrapped her legs around Santana's waist and rolled them again, successfully putting herself right in Santana's lap.
"I have to go to work. I promise we can continue this when I get home this evening." Rachel kissed Santana, sucking on her lower lip as she pulled back. She cupped her face, squishing her cheeks together before she pecked Santana on the lips once more before moving off the bed completely and grabbing her shirt. She was already running late and staying in bed with Santana would have just made it worse.
Santana groaned loudly as she tossed around in the bed kicking the covers off herself before she sighed heavily and decided to get up. The least she could do was make Rachel some coffee and breakfast to go as an apology for trying to make her later than what she already was.
Santana was tapping her fingers on the steering wheel of her jeep as she pulled into the police station parking lot. She was in the middle of working on her paintings when Chief Sylvester had called asking her to stop by when she had the chance. They had to make this meeting quick seeing as Santana was supposed to be at the children's home at two and it was now noon. Santana had hoped that Rachel would be able to meet her, but circumstances wouldn't allow Rachel to leave the studio for lunch if she wanted to make it home on time. Santana understood, it was part of having such a taxing career. Whatever Chief Sylvester had to say, Santana could fill Rachel in on it when she got home this evening.
Walking through the doors of the station, Santana was greeted with Becky's ever pleasant tone. "Go on back, she's waiting on you sand bags."
"What?" Santana asked confused as she looked down at herself. Where in the world had that nickname came from? Becky didn't respond, she just rolled her eyes and went back to doing whatever it was that Chief Sylvester had her doing all day. Okay...Santana thought to herself as she walked down the hall towards Chief Sylvester's door that was partially open already. She knocked lightly and waited for the chief to respond.
"Come in Lopez, I can smell the leather of your over priced boots from here." Santana sighed and pushed open the door.
"For your information, these boots were a gift and they weren't over priced. They're Dr. Martens which overall makes pretty good stuff. So shut it and tell me why I am here?" Santana crossed her arms and stood in front of Chief Sylvester's desk. If the woman was going to start off with insults then Santana definitely wasn't going to take the time to sit down.
"Do we need to wait on Rachel?" Sue asked as she looked towards the door as if Rachel was going to pop around the corner and yell surprise.
"No, she has to work through lunch since she wants to get home on time today."
"Well, I will make this short and sweet since I have stuff to do and I am assuming you do too." Sue shuffled some papers around on her desk.
"I am actually on my way to the children's home." Santana dragged her feet towards a chair, apparently this conversation wasn't going to be as quick as she had hoped.
"I went out there yesterday morning before my shift to see Agetha. The camera crew will be there today, well they will be if there aren't anymore incidents." Sue spoke offhandedly.
"What kind of incidents?" Santana and Rachel knew that something had happened yesterday, but no one was allowed to give any information.
"A mother showed up under the influence for a morning visit and caused a scene. Turns out that was her last chance before her parental rights were officially terminated. Now if her child or children can't be placed with relatives then they will stay at the home until some decent foster parents come along. It's a sad situation for everyone involved."
"Yeah, it really is. So, what exactly is going on that you needed to see me and Rachel?" Santana asked as she scooted forward in her chair and rested her hands on her knees.
"Right. There's not going to be a trial with Jasper, Charles, and Ronald. They are all taking plea bargains for a bit of a shorter sentence. Also, I heard some news about Conner. We already knew he was placed in isolation, but they added ten years onto his sentence and took away his possibility for parole. The closest he is ever going to get to sunshine now is in the yard." Sue looked to Santana with her hands folded neatly in front of her.
"What kind of plea bargains are Jasper, Charles and Ronald being offered?"
"That I don't know yet. All I know is that a judge approved for plea bargains to be offered. I will let you know more when I know more."
"Is that it?" Sue nodded her head. "Well, I will let Rachel know. I'm going to grab some lunch before I head to St. Lawrence. I know you said you had stuff to do, but you're more than welcome to join me if you want." Santana shrugged her shoulders, she wasn't going to admit that she would really enjoy the company. Sue would just mock her for it.
"I got my lunch right here." Sue pulled out her famous blender cup and turned it on. "Thanks for the offer though!" Sue shouted over the oddly very loud blender. How could something so small make so much noise? Santana nodded her head and waved over her shoulder as she left the station and headed for McKinley Diner, the best place in McKinley to eat, besides her own kitchen of course.
After grabbing lunch and having a quick phone conversation with Rachel, Santana now found herself sitting on the floor in the nursery reading. She quietly read the words of The Very Hungry Caterpillar before showing the toddlers the pictures. Santana smiled to herself, as a child this had been one of her favorite books.
After stopping in to visit the older children, Santana had made her way back to the nursery where the babies were just being put down for their nap. In order to get the toddlers to settle down, Santana had offered to read them a story before their nap time. Three were already down for the count and now all that remained were Sierra, Samara, and a little two year old boy named Benton.
Admittedly Santana had been worried that the twins wouldn't remember her and she would have to get them to warm up to her again, however that had not been the case. As soon as Santana had entered the nursery, Sierra and Samara had ran to her as fast as their little legs could move tripping over each other in an effort to get to Santana. It made her heart smile as she kneeled down on the floor to gather both girls into a hug. They had immediately made themselves comfortable, resting their heads on Santana's shoulders. Santana knew she was in trouble, she was quickly becoming attached to these little girls and it was apparent they were becoming attached to her.
The camera crew had been in once, but at Stephanie's request they had left telling Santana they would catch up with her later. It would just be too much of a distraction for the little ones trying to fall asleep. Finishing up the book, Santana noticed that Benton had made himself comfy leaning on her leg and was now snoring softly. She motioned for Stephanie to come and grab him so that he could rest properly in his bed. Sierra and Samara both seemed to not be interested in sleeping because they sat on either side of Santana watching her as if saying "that's it?".
Bobbing her head back and forth, Santana was trying to figure out what to try next when she noticed the glider sitting in the corner of the designated play area. That just may work, Santana thought to herself. Santana reached around Samara who was sitting on her right to put the book away before slowly standing up. Both girls began to whine at the loss of contact. Quickly shushing the girls quietly, she turned around and stood both of them up, taking their hands and leading them to the glider.
"You have both had lunch, you've had sippy cups of milk, your diapers changed and a story read to you. Now, it's time for naps." Santana said as she sat down in the chair before reaching for Sierra and Samara one at a time so that she could adjust them on her lap and rock both of them comfortably. Stephanie smiled at the interactions before gathering Sierra and Samara's favorite stuffed animals and blankets and handing them to Santana. Each girl grabbed her respected stuffed toy and settled against Santana who covered them up.
Ah yes, Samara smiled at her sister as they listened to Santana hum a lullaby. This was great. Full tummies, warm blankies, dry diaper and a lovely lady whom was now rocking them. If every day could be like this, they would have it made. Sometimes the stories were cut short because a baby woke up and rocking almost never happened unless they were super fussy. It was nice to be rocked without having to throw a fit about it. Santana watched as both girls eyes began to droop, she silently cheered in her head. The girls looked so cute snuggled up in their green and yellow with black stripes hooded jumpsuits. Santana decided she needed to get her a jumpsuit like that, they even had little pockets! Once both girls were asleep, Stephanie helped Santana move them before she quietly left the room to go hang out with the older kids. She would be back to spend more time with the babies and toddlers before she left for the evening.