When Santana pulled up outside of the fun center, she wasn't sure what she had been expecting. The front of the building was purple painted brick with giant letters across the front spelling out Explorer's United Fun Center. Okay, so the name was a little odd, kinda vague, but eh, it worked. Whoever had named the place, apparently just wasn't that creative in retrospect. Turning off the jeep, Santana opened her door and climbed out. Hopefully both girls were ready to wake up. Samara had fallen asleep moments after Santana had seen her hands in the air.
"Lady bugs. Time to wake up." Santana cooed as she opened the back door. Rachel was just watching Santana fondly from the opposite side of the jeep. Both girls stirred as they were lifted from their car seats, but neither woke up.
"What are we going to do if they don't wake up right now?" Rachel asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, they will wake up once they hear all the screeching children inside. The place looks pretty full." Santana looked around the decent sized parking lot. There were at leas fifteen other cars around.
"Let's just hope they wake up in a good mood." Rachel sucked her teeth really hoping that the twins didn't wake up cranky.
Once Santana and Rachel had entered the building they were greeted by a young teenage boy with a bright purple shirt on. Really, the thing was blinding to look at. After giving the women their arm bands he directed them to one of two quiet rooms that the fun center had to offer. Turns out these quiet rooms were sound proof and offered fairly comfortable chairs for families to sit while their children just took a break if they needed it. Santana was thankful that these rooms were here, now the twins could finish out their naps before the fun was to begin.
To no one's surprise the twins did wake up cranky. However, some snuggles and a snack easily brought back around both girls happy tentative nature. It didn't take long before they were ready to go explore and see what this fun center had to offer.
The first room that the little family visited was dedicated to space. The whole room was lit with a black light making the stars, galaxies and planets strung around the room glow. It was honestly beautiful and Santana and Rachel would have stayed longer but the twins didn't take too kindly to the darkness. Immediately they moved onto the next room dedicated to the ocean. The walls were lined with aquariums filled with different fish. Sierra and Samara were quickly awed and had to be stopped from pressing their little faces right up against the glass. Santana was sure that the workers cleaned these tanks fifteen times a day with all the little nose prints that were already on the glass.
The next few rooms consisted of an outdoor enclosed rain forest that was sweltering hot, no one stayed in there long. However the girls were able to learn about different animals that lived in the rain forest so that was a plus. There was also a safari room which Sierra absolutely adored, she wanted to take the giant stuffed giraffe home with her. This place was more like a museum than anything with electronic signs that spit facts at you when you pressed the button. Rachel and Santana wished it had more things that the children could interact with, but honestly, everyone knew people came for the tumble room.
This is where Santana and Rachel now found themselves, climbing up the giant inflatable slides. They had already spent a few minutes in one of the balls pits, rolled around on some large foam wheels and climbed through several foam tunnels. The twins were attempting to make their way up the ladder of the slide at the moment, but their little feet kept slipping. Santana was half tempted to pack both of them up the ladder so they could get to the top just a little bit faster. They were just having so much fun sliding back down every time they fell. It was amusing for Santana to watch.
"I think it's about time we pack up the girls and head home, San." Rachel called out as she was putting Sierra and Samara's socks back on.
"Just a few more minutes. I am about to beat Buddy boy here in the relay race again." Santana whined and then growled at a ten year old next to her.
"Santana..you are an adult. Act like one." Rachel huffed. She was tired, the girls were tired and Santana just seemed to have endless amounts of energy today. This wasn't the first relay race she had ran with the other kids that were playing in the tumble room.
"Fineeee. Me and you next time kid." Santana gave Buddy the I am watching you hand gesture before turning around and walking over to Rachel. She knelt down next to the brunette woman and kissed her on the cheek before helping her to put the twins socks on. Both girls were officially knocked out, flat on their backs on one of the mats snoring softly. They were truly wore out. After playing on the slides for what seemed like hours, the twins had decided that they wanted to play in the bounce house and balls pits again. Santana didn't mind, she was all for getting in the inflatables with the girls so that the older kids wouldn't hurt them. Her protective mama bear stance had definitely came out.
"I had a lot of fun today." Rachel spoke quietly as she picked up Sierra's sleeping form and cradled the little girl to her chest.
"I did too. The rooms could have been better, but I think the girls liked them for the most part." Santana picked up Samara and the twins diaper bag as she and Rachel headed towards the exit doors.
"They will appreciate them more when they are older. They both went crazy over the aquariums so that was a good thing and they loved playing with us and the other kids." Rachel smiled at the worker who was holding the door open for them.
"We will have to find more fun things to do on the weekends when they move in permanently with us." Santana closed the back door of the jeep after buckling Samara into her seat.
"That sounds like a brilliant idea. Now, do we still want to cook when we get home or would you rather just stop and get something for dinner?" Rachel fidgeted in her seat so that she got comfortable.
"I vote we stop and get something. I know we had plans to make pasta, but I am tired. I forgot how much energy little kids have when they are in groups with other kids." Santana sighed as she started the jeep, letting it warm up a bit before they pulled out of the parking lot. "I can make the pasta some other time."
"That works for me. So, what do you want to eat?" Rachel really hoped that Santana already had something in mind so that she wouldn't have to pick.
"I have no idea. What do you want?" Santana asked while pulling her seat belt across her lap and chest. Rachel sighed and gently thumped her head against the window. Did everyone always have this issue? The whole, I will eat whatever you want as long as it's not one of the ten places you just named. Santana ignored Rachel's disheartened sigh, she was just messing with her. She knew exactly what she wanted.
After stopping at Rachel's favorite Thai restaurant, which she was ecstatic about, the little family continued on their way home. It was still early evening which meant that after eating they would have a bit of time to play before the girls had to get ready for bed. It was bittersweet in a way. Both women were happy that the weekend had went so well, however they were incredibly sad that the weekend was almost over. On the other hand with such a fantastic weekend they were bound to get the girls moved in permanently in the next week or so.
Santana really wanted to throw something like a welcome home party, similar to what she had done when Rachel had returned from her press tour at the beginning of the summer. The girls deserved a proper welcome into the family and this was one way to do that. All the grandparents could be there, along with Puck, Quinn, Beth and Davis. It made sense to have the people there that the girls had been around the most and actually knew. Too many people would just be incredibly overwhelming for them. If she was going to do this, she needed to talk to Rachel and work out the details, hopefully the woman would be on board, Santana would find out tonight at bed time.
"Eat, lady bug. It's noodles. You love noodles." Rachel was trying to coax Samara into eating, but the little girl just wasn't having it. She had this sad little look on her face, leaning all the way back in her high chair as far away from her plate as she could go. Rachel sighed and looked at Santana worriedly, she had no idea what was going on or how to fix it.
When they had arrived home, everyone was in a good mood. Santana had taken the dogs out for a walk, keeping them on their leashes so that she could get back inside quickly and they could all have dinner together. Sierra and Samara had ran straight into their nursery and began to play with their toys. It just seemed that the darker it got outside, the darker Samara's mood got on the inside.
"Sam! Noonoo's!" Sierra screeched and held out a handful of noodles to Samara. Rachel smiled at the generosity of the little girl. Sierra began to laugh before trying to stuff her entire fist of noodles into her mouth, kicking her feet happily.
"NO!" Samara yelled and smacked at Sierra who stopped mid bite to look at her sister horrified. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears, even though Samara's hand had came nowhere close to even touching Sierra.
"Okay..." Santana chuckled awkwardly. "I think someone is done with dinner."
"No Mami." Samara gave Santana her best angry face.
"No? You're not done with dinner?" Santana asked as she stood up from her chair and came to stand next to Samara's high chair. Samara didn't answer, just continued to scowl at Santana. "Do you want Mami to feed you?" Santana picked up Samara's fork and attempted to offer her some noodles. The tiny tot didn't respond with anything other than closing her mouth tightly. Santana sighed, should she offer Samara something different to eat? This was the first time she had ever witnessed one of the girls being this moody and picky about eating.
"Maybe, she doesn't like noodles anymore?" Rachel suggested. She kept watching Sierra out of the corner of her eye to see if the baby was actually going to cry or not. She still had tears in her eyes like her whole world had been shifted, but she was at least eating while watching her sister with rapt attention.
"Hmm. Do you want a bite of Mami's food?" Santana stepped over to her bowl and plate where she picked up her spoon with a bite of curry on it. If this was any other night she wouldn't be doing this because normally she got spicy curry, tonight though, she had wanted something different without the risk of heart burn later on. Samara watched Santana intently, debating whether or not to open her mouth. Tentatively Samara opened her mouth and tasted what her Mami had offered. She scrunched her nose up in thought before opening her mouth again, wanting another bite. Santana and Rachel both cheered silently in their heads, crisis averted. Samara just didn't like noodles anymore, problem solved.
"Me bite!" Sierra yelled looking between Santana and Rachel. It wasn't fair, she loved her noodles but she wanted whatever it was that Samara was having too! Santana laughed as she gave Sierra a bite too and watched her smack her lips happily. Every day was a new learning experience with them, it was fun to watch them try and like new foods. This was something that would never get old for a long time.
With the dinner fiasco avoided, both twins ate until their little tummies were full. The rest of the evening was spent in the same fashion as the previous. Sierra and Samara spent their time playing with the dogs and running back and forth between their play room and nursery. It was like they couldn't get enough of the puzzles, books, dolls and other toys that they had.
When it got later in the evening, Santana and Rachel once again tag teamed the twins to get them bathed and into bed at a decent hour. Thankfully the bed time routine went a little bit smoother and both girls were asleep before either of them had finished half of their sippy cups of milk. It was then that Rachel and Santana settled onto the couch, talking about the details of the welcome home party that they were going to throw for the girls. Santana was just happy that Rachel was on the same page as she was when it came to planning this thing.
Despite their heavy hearts for what was to come the next day, the women fell asleep easily, thankful that the weekend had went as well as it did. They were one step closer to becoming the full time parents of the twins. Besides their marriage and upcoming wedding this was going to be the highlight of their year and it meant more to them than anyone could ever know.