Halloween was finally here! Rachel and Santana were waiting outside of McKinley's Diner, Alison was due to show up with the girls at any moment now. She had called and let them know when they were heading this way so that they could meet up on time. Their plans for the evening included having dinner and then going over to the studio to get the girls and themselves changed for the night. The back of the jeep was already decorated in numerous spooky decorations, there were just a few more finishing touches that they had to add once they were set up. Rachel bounced on her toes trying to stay warm. It was much cooler out tonight than they had initially planned. At least the girls would be warm in their Batman and Robin costumes.
"What's taking her so long?" Santana huffed.
"Honey, she'll be here in a minute. We did kind of rush out of the door right after she called, knowing it takes at least forty-five minutes to get here from St. Lawrence." Rachel smiled and rolled her eyes. Santana was always the impatient one.
"I just want to see my girls." Santana whined. To be fair, Santana had seen the girls yesterday when they went to visit the home and check out the party that the older kids were setting up for. They hadn't been able to talk to Chloe and Agetha at the new home because they never showed. Later on during the week when they called to ask if the children had any Halloween plans, they found out that Chloe and Agetha had an emergency situation at the current home that they had had to take care of on Sunday. No one at the home itself was hurt, but there were two children, a brother and a sister, that needed immediate placement and the St. Lawrence Children's Home was the only place that had available beds at the moment. Whenever situations like that occur, Chloe and Agetha are always the first ones to respond. It's one of the many reasons that St. Lawrence is such a highly respected home. They are honestly the best of the best during a crappy situation.
The worst part about the situation? The whole town of St. Lawrence knew because the children belonged to the mayor. Santana couldn't imagine ever being thrown into a media shit storm like that. At least there was a shining light at the end of the tunnel for the children. Their grandmother, who lived out of state, had been trying to get authorities involved for the longest time, but every time she called, the mayor was cleared immediately. Wonder how that happened? The children are fine, they would tell her, clearly those children were going through hell and now everyone knew about it. Luckily the woman has some property in St. Lawrence and as soon as they have an emergency hearing on Monday, the children will most likely be released into her care. It was going to be an uphill battle from here, but hopefully she would be granted full custody and be able to take them home with her. Santana truly wished her and the children the best of luck.
"There she is!" Rachel exclaimed as Alison pulled up in her white Nissan. Both women immediately made their way over to the car smiling along the way. Impatiently they waited for Alison to step out and open the back doors where they could see the girls in their car seats.
"You can get them out." Alison waved her hand towards the girls. She appreciated Rachel and Santana not ripping open her doors as soon as she pulled up. The women wasted no time in getting each girl out of the back of the car. Santana opened the door she was standing at while Rachel walked around the other side of the car.
"Hi babies." Santana greeted as she fussed with Sierra's straps.
"Mami! Mama! Mami! Mama!" Sierra and Samara cheered at the same time as they kicked their legs and clapped their hands in excitement.
"They've been yelling for you the whole way here after I told who we were coming to see." Alison smiled as she watched the women interact with the girls.
"You look so cute and festive today ladies." Rachel tickled Samara under her chin causing the baby to flail her head around as she giggled. She loved whoever had dressed the girls today. Both were wearing stone washed jeans and Halloween related long sleeve shirts. Sierra's was purple with a cat dressed up like a witch and Samara's was orange with a cute little pumpkin on the front. Both were wearing little work boots, courtesy of Santana. She had delivered them yesterday when they went to visit the girls.
"Are you girls hungry? We're going to have dinner then go get some candy!" Santana carried Sierra on her hip into the diner.
"Candy!" Sierra and Samara cheered at the same time. Rachel shook her head in amusement.
"Table for five please." Santana told the hostess as they now stood in the doorway of the diner.
"Actually." Alison cut in. "A table for four and one."
"You're not eating with us?" Rachel asked before glancing over at Santana who had the same confused look on her face. They had both assumed that Alison would be joining them. They honestly didn't mind, they wanted to pick her brain about the girls since she had known them the longest.
"This is your day. We had all of our fun this morning." Alison shrugged her shoulders. "Go, enjoy dinner with each other, as a family." The woman shooed Rachel and Santana in the opposite direction that a waiter was leading her.
"Are you sure?" Rachel asked, still a little hesitant.
"I'm positive. I will be right over here if you need me, which I doubt you will." Alison pointed to a table more towards the back of the diner before giving the women a little wave.
Santana and Rachel were getting their first dose of how hard it could be to get yourself and two children dressed and ready to go at the same time. Add in the fact that they were trying to get dressed for Halloween and well you had a disaster in the making. The two women had decided to take turns, while Rachel got dressed up in her Harley Quinn outfit, Santana had started getting Sierra dressed in her Batman costume. Apparently Sierra didn't want to deal with this at all. She wanted no part in this silliness of putting on a costume. Samara on the other hand was walking around holding her Robin outfit waiting patiently for her turn to get dressed.
At least one thing had gone smoothly tonight, dinner had been amazing. Both girls sat in their booster seats and ate happily never making a fuss. Both girls even patiently waited for Santana and Rachel to decorate the jeep after they arrived at the studio. Alison was outside finishing up the last little details, that she had so kindly offered to do so that Rachel and Santana could get the girls dressed.
Santana felt like she was at her wits end. Watching Sierra sitting in the middle of one of the bathrooms at the studio crying with her fist in her mouth made Santana want to cry too. What was she doing wrong? Sierra wouldn't even let Santana touch her at the moment because she thought Santana was going to try and put the rest of her costume on her. To be fair the only thing left was the cape and the mask, which she didn't even have to wear if she didn't want to, but in her little head she didn't understand that.
"Mami." Samara giggled as she leaned into Santana's shoulder, rubbing her nose against Santana's cheek. The Latina woman couldn't help but smile. Samara was coming out of her shell day by day. She was showing complete signs of being the perfect charmer.
"Yes baby?" Santana turned her head and kissed Samara on the nose.
"Me now?" Samara swung her costume back and forth on her little finger that she was holding up high. An instruction given to her by her Mama so that she wouldn't get her costume dirty.
"Rachel are you about done?" Santana called out towards the stall where she knew Rachel was changing in.
"Yeah babe." Rachel answered back.
"Mama is going to get you dressed in just a minute okay?" Santana nodded her head, Samara done the same probably having no idea as to what she was agreeing to. It didn't really matter that much anyway, she seemed satisfied with the answer that Santana had given to her as she started her routine of walking around the bathroom once again. "Sierrrrraaaa." Santana sing songed to the little girl, hoping to quiet her down. "Look, Mami doesn't have the mask or cape anymore. Will you come sit with me a minute?" Santana patted her lap, hoping the little girl would come to her.
Sierra quieted down as she heard her Mami sing her name. She looked around at Santana's hands suspiciously before slowly crawling over to the woman and making herself comfy in Santana's lap. She sighed happily as Santana began to rub circles on her back. It was obvious the little girl was tired and ready for a quick nap. Santana began to hum, not really any particular song just making noise more or less. She should have known that all Sierra needed was some snuggles and she would be okay. It may have taken her a moment, but she figured it out and that was a feat within itself.
"Uh oh, someone is going to sleep and may miss the trunk or treating." Rachel pouted while looking at Sierra who was already on her way to dream land.
"That's okay. We can get candy for her. I'm just glad she isn't pissed at me anymore." Santana sniffled a little as she looked down at the sleeping girl in her arms.
"Hey." Rachel squatted down onto the balls of her feet, careful not to rip her tights. "It's okay. She wasn't pissed at you, she was just cranky at the whole situation. She's a baby, she doesn't even understand what being pissed at you means." Rachel began to rub Santana's shoulders with one hand while she balanced herself with the other.
"Pithed!" Samara screeched as she ran full speed at Rachel and Santana. The little girl laughed at the expression on her mother's faces.
"Did she just?" Rachel asked flabbergasted.
"Say her first curse word?" Santana was just as shocked when Rachel nodded her head. "Alison is going to kill us." Santana groaned.
Thankfully, Alison didn't kill Rachel and Santana. As it turns out when they told her what Samara had said, Alison informed them that one of the older kids at the home had actually taught the word to the little girl. They thought it would be hilarious, Stephanie did not when she heard Samara say it for the first time in the nursery. Now it was to the point that the little girl only said it when she heard someone else say it. Santana was curious as to why she and Rachel didn't know about this, but to be fair why bring up something like that that had already been taken care of. At least now Santana knew to better watch what she said in front of both girls. They were getting older and everything they heard would be absorbed like a sponge.
"Are you ladies ready to go trunk or treating?" Santana was bent over looking at both girls sitting in their strollers. It was a little before six and the kids had already started pouring into the studio parking lot. Alison had volunteered to give out candy at the jeep while Rachel and Santana took the girls around to the other cars. Rachel, at the moment, was actually helping Alison hand out candy to the first little swarm of kids that had surrounded the jeep. Santana smiled as she watched a witch, a pirate and a Buzz Light Year walk away chatting happily about the candy they had just received.
Sierra and Samara both cheered happily. Santana was glad that after her little nap Sierra was more than willing to wear the full Batman costume including the mask. Both girls just looked so darn cute, Rachel had already taken multiple pictures and Alison made sure to even snap a family photo. The first one of many, many more to come.
"We need to go San. Alison has to have the girls back before eight, so she has to leave at seven." Rachel said as she walked around the jeep.
"Let's roll ladies." Santana stood up and grabbed the handles on Sierra's stroller while Rachel grabbed Samara's. They took off walking, stopping and visiting with each car. Halfway through both girls decided they would like to walk around instead of riding in their strollers. Rachel and Santana paid no attention if anyone gave them questioning glances about the twins. Several papers had already ran stories about the adoption, however no one was willing to confirm anything for now. Someone had even tried to shop some pictures around of Rachel and Santana with the twins, but Tina was shutting them down left and right as quickly as she could.
The time spent with the twins felt like it had flown by. After the girls had finished trunk or treating, Santana and Rachel took them back to the jeep were they hung out for next thirty or so minutes giving out candy and greeting everyone that stopped by. They had seen tons of kids from the home along with Stephanie, Nicky and Rich. Now it was seven and Alison was loading up all the treats the girls had gotten. One of the best things about the trunk or treat at the studio was that the kids got more than just candy. Sierra and Samara had gathered two large candy sacks, a couple of little Halloween stuffed animals, some coloring books and a few sticker books. The people here were really very generous.
Santana sighed sadly as she strapped Samara into her car seat. Leaving the girls in anyway never got any easier, but it was something that she knew they had to do. Alison stood off to the side after closing her trunk so that she could give the women some privacy. It was bittersweet to watch. She was happy that she had been able to give Santana and Rachel some time with the girls, but she was saddened that she was also the one taking them away. She honestly couldn't wait until the moment when she could leave the girls with Santana and Rachel for good. Everyone would be much happier at that point.
Rachel waved to Alison as she pulled out of the parking lot. The twins were already dozing off as soon as they were in the car. They had been entertaining people in the back of jeep after they finished trunk or treating. They danced and sang and even helped give out candy, which really was more of them throwing it than anything. It was still cute none the less. Sitting down in the tail gate of the jeep, Rachel rested her head on Santana's shoulder.
"I really love that picture." Rachel pointed to Santana's phone as the woman flipped through all the pictures they had taken tonight. It was a picture of Beth, Davis, Sierra and Samara sitting on the tailgate of Pucks truck. Beth was in the middle, dressed as a football player, with Davis in her lap who was dressed as a football and on each side of them stood one of the twins. Santana had made it her phone background as soon as she snapped it.
"I do too." Santana smiled and then yawned. "I'm beat."
"I am too. Let's finish up here and then pack up and head home. We're about out of candy anyway and we have a long few days coming up. Especially tomorrow." Rachel stood up and yawned herself. Yawning really was contagious.
"That's right. It's moving day for the home tomorrow." Santana couldn't contain her excitement. Moving day was finally here. It had definitely been a long time coming and all of their hard work was finally about to shown off.
To the guest reviewer, I apologize that the previous chapters have come off as all fillers. I didn't intend for them to be perceived that way. I've just been writing to tie up loose ends so we could move on to this chapter, move in day, the adoption, wedding and Christmas. To be fair, I'm not as bad with fillers as I used to be. I think in the first part of this story I had one day span the length of four or five chapters. At least in this story most of the time each chapter is a new day, haha.
Thank you for the views, reviews, favorites and follows. They are greatly appreciated. I also want to say thank you all for being so accepting of the new upload on every fourth day schedule. With work the new schedule has given me such a more relaxed state to write in and I just can't tell you how much better it makes me feel, so thank you again.