"Ohhh, Sierra. Where are you lady bug?" Santana called casually as she came down the stairs and into the kitchen. She smiled to herself when she heard the little girl giggle from the other side of the island. It was nap time in the Berry-Lopez household and Santana had ran upstairs to get Sierra's giraffe that she had left in the loft that morning after some morning snuggles upstairs with her Mama, Mami and sister. Samara had passed out on Rachel in the living room just a few minutes ago, but Sierra wasn't having any of it. She wasn't sleepy at all, or so she claimed by chanting no sweep. "Hmm, I know I heard her, but I just can't seem to find her." Santana was walking slowly, Mr. Giraffe swinging from her hand. "I guess, I will just have to go take a nap with Mr. Giraffe here." Santana snuggled the stuffed animal to her chest and let out a fake yawn.
At the thought of someone else napping with Mr. Giraffe, Sierra hopped out from behind the island with her little hand out telling Santana to stop. "No Mami. Me 'raffe!" Her little eyebrows were furrowed with toddler fury.
"You better come get him then little miss sassy pants. We have Mama's work dinner in a little while and there are going to be people there fussing over you and your sister. You need some sleep before then." Santana said as she picked the little girl up in her arms and carried her into the living room.
"Din din?" Sierra asked with a confused frown on her face.
"Yes, Mama's work dinner. Uncle Puck, Aunt Quinn and your cousins Beth and Davis will be there. Beth is going to go crazy over you two." Santana settled onto the couch next to Rachel who was curled up underneath a blanket, reading a book with Samara resting on her chest.
"Do you think our family is going to be upset that everyone at the studio will know before they do?" Rachel bit her lip in thought.
"It's supposed to be a surprise and your work dinner is first." Santana shrugged her shoulders. "I'm pretty sure they all probably know anyway. When Mami called earlier she heard Samara crying over the baby doll that Sierra was playing with."
Rachel began silently laughing trying not to disturb Sierra who was still trying to go to sleep. The little girl was sat across Santana's lap leaning into the Latina's left arm with Mr. Giraffe snuggled into her chest. "Our first time witnessing what I am sure is one of many sibling fights bound to happen."
"Oh you know it." Santana laughed lightly while nodding. Sierra blinked her eyes open and glared at her Mami. She couldn't sleep if Mami was moving so much.
Rachel nodded her head towards Sierra. "Sorry lady bug." Santana apologized and kissed the little girl on the head, this seemed to satisfy Sierra as she began to once again drift off into dream land.
Santana was a little nervous as she and Rachel pulled into the studio parking lot with the twins. This would be the first time that everyone Rachel worked with would be officially meeting the girls. Their first real introduction as the complete little family of Berry-Lopezes. It was exciting yet a little overwhelming all at the same time. There was no going back now though, they had made it to the studio and that was honestly a challenge within itself.
After their naps the twins were wide awake and ready to go. It had taken much longer than anticipated for the little family of four to get dressed and out of the door on time. This was something Rachel and Santana were going to have to work on. It wasn't just them anymore and even though they had done well in the past, they knew that there were going to be days that things just didn't go according to plan and today just had to be one of those days. Rachel's black sweater that she had wanted to wear somehow had a hole in it and began to unravel, while Sierra had to have different boots put on since one of the new ones she was supposed to wear was already missing, despite having just been taken out of the box. What in the hell that child done with her boot, Santana and Rachel may never know but they were determined to find it once they got home. Samara had a melt down on the way out of the door because she couldn't find her pacifier that was in the diaper bag, where she had put it. It was just an all around mess trying to get out of the door, but alas they were successful and everyone seemed to be in great spirits now that the chaos had settled.
"Are you okay?" Rachel asked Santana with concern in her voice. She had been watching the woman go pale ever since they pulled into the studio parking lot.
"A little nervous." Santana squeaked out. She cleared her throat hoping that wouldn't happen again.
"Aww San." Rachel cooed with a smile. "It's okay, you know everyone I work with is like extended family. Before the dinner is over they all will be referring to themselves as aunts and uncles, that's how they are with all the kids whose parents work here."
"I know...I just...I don't know, I'm being crazy. I feel like this night has to be perfect in some way." Santana wrung her hands together.
"It's going to be perfect in the aspect that we're out together with our girls at this lovely dinner that Puck planned." Rachel squeezed Santana's knee through her black dress pants reassuringly before giving her a kiss on the lips. "Can we go eat please? I'm starving."
"Bite bites!" Sierra yelled from her car seat. Santana shook her head as she laughed. Her girls...always the ones to bring the comedy and know just how to difuse a momentary lapse of panic.
As Rachel and Santana walked hand in hand with one twin on each side of them, Santana felt her nerves lessen ever so slightly. Like Rachel had said these people were basically extended family, they were loving, they were accepting and just all around great people. It didn't matter if somehow tonight didn't go perfectly like Santana hoped, as long as they were together that was all that matter.
"Do you want to go in first and tell Puck that we have a surprise?" Santana asked as they approached the cafeteria doors. Everyone must be already inside because so far the building had been empty, minus the security guards out front.
Rachel nodded her head as she released Samara's hand into Santana's. "Mama will be right back."
Puck sat at the head of the very large table that the catering company had put together. Looking around, he was sure that almost everyone was here now except for Rachel and a few others. Quinn sat to his right, Davis asleep in her arms, Beth was sitting next to her reading some new book that she and her little friends had became interested in. To his left was the empty seats reserved for Rachel and Santana, where in the hell were they?
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Puck looked up to see Rachel taking quick strides across the cafeteria. Puck furrowed his brows in confusion. Did Santana not come? "Where's San?" Puck asked as soon as Rachel was at his side.
"She's out in the hallway, listen..we have a bit of a surprise and well we don't want everyone to go nuts." Rachel explained, hunched over a bit.
"What kind of surprise? Because you know they like to get loud." Puck chuckled.
"Uhm..let's call it a surprise like meeting Davis and other babies." Rachel immediately knew that Puck and Quinn knew exactly what she was talking about.
"You have them?! They're here with you?!" Quinn looked like she was about to cry.
"We do...permanently. So you can't say anything and neither can anyone else after we leave. We haven't even told our parents yet because we want to surprise them too." Rachel could feel herself starting to get giddy with anticipation. She couldn't wait for everyone to meet the girls.
"I will tell them. Go get San and the girls." Puck hugged Rachel quickly as the woman took off back across the cafeteria to get Santana and the twins. When Rachel stepped back into the hallway she could hear Puck telling everyone that she had a special surprise and to keep the noise at an appropriate level.
Santana was sitting on a bench against the wall with a twin on each side of her while looking in the diaper bag for something. Well, she was trying to look in the diaper bag, but Sierra kept sticking her hand in trying to find whatever she wanted herself. "What are you looking for San?" Rachel asked as she walked closer and picked Samara up.
"Bebe!" Sierra cheered when she pulled out her favorite purple pacifier.
"That's what I was looking for." Santana huffed before sliding the diaper bag off her lap and zipping it back up. Sierra stuffed her pacifier into her mouth before shuffling closer and resting her head on Santana's shoulder as if to apologize for being impatient. Santana couldn't contain her smile at the cuteness. Placing a kiss on Sierra's head, Santana stood up and lifted the little girl into her arms. "Are we ready to go in yet?"
"Yep, we are all set." Rachel said as she took a deep breath and prepared to open the door. This was it, their first official moment.
All heads turned to face the door when they heard it open. Okay that wasn't intimidating at all, Santana thought in her head. There were at least one hundred faces staring at them, on the plus side they all had huge smiles on their faces. Santana was running through all of the possible things in her head that she could say, but Rachel beat her to it.
"Hi everyone. As you can see and as Puck explained, we have a surprise. I wanted to officially introduce all of you to the newest Berry-Lopezes. This here is Samara." Rachel lifted her arm a little indicating that she was talking about the twin that she was holding before looking over to Santana. "That is Sierra. They officially became ours two days ago, so they are now honorary members of Puckerman - Fabray Productions. I know you all have been waiting on us and a few others, so for right now we are going to take our seats. Don't worry, we will make sure everyone gets to meet the twins properly at some point tonight." The twins hid their faces in their mothers necks, not really wanting to be part of all the attention. Unexpectedly, everyone began to stand and clap quietly as Rachel and Santana made their way down the table towards Puck who was also standing and clapping. As they passed each person, they were offered many congratulations on the adoption. It was an amazing feeling to have everyone be so supportive, which Rachel never doubted that they wouldn't be anyway.
Once the women reached their seats, they sat their stuff down under the table and placed the twins in their laps. They didn't know that Puck had asked for two more chairs until someone from the catering company brought two wooden high chairs over. Rachel was a little shocked, what kind of company had things like that just hanging around? Once they were settled Puck stood up and tapped on his glass signaling that they were ready to begin.
"I know we're all ready to eat so I promise to make this quick. First off, how about another warm welcome for our two newest little family members?" Puck waited until the clapping died down before speaking again. "Thank you all for making it today. I know many of you have flights to catch after this so you can head home to your real families for tomorrow." Everyone chuckled at the ones who nodded their heads. "We have had a great year, the studio is honestly doing better than it ever has been. I am thankful for all of the hard work that you all put in each and every day and I truly appreciate it. With that said, we still have two full weeks of work before Christmas break so no slacking. But, I have a surprise myself for everyone. In appreciation for all of the hard work that you all do, how about we hand out Christmas bonuses early?" Rachel and Santana covered the girls ears as the table erupted into cheers, Quinn cradled Davis' head to her chest doing to the same. "I knew that would get you going. Make sure you see me before you leave. Before I sit down, in all seriousness, this business wouldn't be what it is without you all. I could stand up here and thank you each individually for what you do, but that would take forever and you all don't want me to talk that long. Let's end this holiday season on a good note and I look forward to working with you all again next year. For now, let's eat!"