Chapter 4

"Mami I'm hungry." Callie tells me while she and Costa are jumping on the bed. We've been staying in this motel for the past two days. It's beginning to feel cramped. I need to find an apartment for us soon.

"I know baby, just give me a second to get dressed." I let out a sigh as I struggle to get my shirt over my cast. "And you two stop jumping on the bed."

"Where's daddy?" Callie has been asking me this since we landed. Costa looks at me with a sad expression and then rushes over to give me a hug.

"How about we go to the park today?" I ask, avoiding the question once again. I know she misses him but I just can't raise another child in that home. I just can't. "Come on, we can go get breakfast and then go to the park we saw yesterday near the diner." This time, Callie gives me a big hug, then we head out.

"Be careful and make sure that mami can see you." I tell them both. "I'll be sitting right here on this bench." I plant kisses on each of their foreheads before I let them run off towards the playground.

As I sit there, I think about all the things I still need to take care of. I have to check them into school, find an apartment, find a job, and call my parents.

I'm not sure if I should do that last one though. I don't think that they'd approve of me just leaving. I'm not even sure what to say to them. Maybe I should have just went to them in the first place. No. No, that's the first place Adrian would look.

I was startled out of my thoughts by someone clearing their throat. The sound causing me to jump.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just asking if I could share the bench with you." The person said.

I turned to see a blonde woman silhouetted by the sun. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was an angel. I couldn't seem to form any coherent words so I settled with nodding and giving her what I hope was a smile. She smiled back and took a seat. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she pulls out a book and a highlighter and begins reading. Eventually she stops and turns to face me.

"Which one is yours?" She asks me, closing her book. "Mine is the blonde one in the princess costume. She'll be five in two weeks." She says with the biggest smile on her face. I can't help but smile back.

"The boy with dark, curly hair all over his head and the girl with the long, dark hair playing with your daughter actually. They're both five."

"Aww twins! I'm Quinn, by the way." She says while holding her hand out.

"Santana." I reply, shaking her hand.

"You're new around here aren't you? I've never seen you around."

"Umm yea, just got here a couple days ago."

"Your husband get transferred out here for work or something?"

"No." I answer too quickly.

"Oh, it's just many people don't just come to Lima for no reason. Hell, most of us are trying to get out of here." She laughs.

"I see. Well I just wanted to, I guess you could say, to start over."

"Well good luck." She says with a smile. "So where are the twins going to school?"

"I don't know yet. I didn't do much planning before we came here. I didn't think we actually would." I answer thankful for the change of subject.

"Well I'm sure Lima Elementary still has a few openings. I could check and let you know."

"Thank you so much. That would be great."

"Mami, can Beth come over so I can show her my princess dollies? Please please please?" Callie asks, racing towards me with Quinn's daughter.

"Maybe when we're more settled in Beth can come over. Okay Callie?" I say, preparing myself for Callie's tantrum. She tries to give me the puppy eyes but I regretfully shake my head. Then she crosses her arms, sticks out her bottom lip, and furrows her eyebrows.

"You're mean, I want daddy." She all but shouts. That hurt. Quinn must have seen the hurt flash through me because she jumps in to save the day.

"Hey Callie, how about this? You and your brother can come over to my house and Beth can show you all her toys and then next time she can go to your house. Is that okay with you?" Callie's smile returns as she nods. "Is that okay with you?" She asks again, this time directed at me. I give her a small nod and mouth 'thank you' to her. She smiles in return.

"Thanks again for inviting us over." I tell Quinn. "It's just we're still living out of a motel and I haven't really been able to go out and look for a place. And-"

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's no problem." She interrupts my rambling, placing a hand on my arm. It feels like my heart stops. My eyes dart to her hand. She notices this and immediately pulls away with a nervous chuckle. "Umm, so anyway, where are you from?" She asks changing the subject.

"Massachusetts." I reply, remembering the information that's on my fake ID.

"Oh really? I'm a Lima girl, born and raised." She rolls her eyes and I laugh. "You want anything to drink?"

"Umm, water is fine. Thank you." She disappears into the kitchen while I sit on the couch. Costa jumps into my lap while the girls run to is Beth's room.

"No running Beth!" Quinn yells from the kitchen.

"You don't want to go play mijo?" I ask Costa. He just shakes his head and wraps his arms around my neck. I wince a little because it's still a little sore and bruised. I really hope he doesn't wipe off the makeup on my neck. "What's wrong?"

"I just wanna stay with you mami." I can feel tears burning in the back of my eyes but I keep them at bay. He's been really clingy since everything happened. He barely plays with his sister and always wants to stay close to me. I'm worried that the situation affected him more than I thought.

"Baby, I'll be fine. Go play with the girls and I'll come check on you in a little bit. I'm okay. Everything is okay." I kiss the top of his head and he jumps down and heads to Beth's room.

Quinn comes back in holding two glasses of water and hands one to me.

"Thank you." I smile.

"No problem. So how did you break your arm?" She asks. I hesitate before replying so she adds, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, I f-fell down the stairs." I stutter. "Umm what are you studying? I noticed at the park that you were reading a textbook." I ask changing the subject.

"Psychology. I'm taking courses online." She replies. "It's way cheaper. Plus I still get to spend time with Beth."

Quinn's POV

"That's nice." There's a hint of sadness in her voice as she replies.

I don't know what it is about her, but she intrigues me. I think she's recently divorced with the way she shot down my suggestion about her husband being transferred. Also when Callie said that she wanted her dad, Santana looked like she wanted to break down and cry.

We continued making small talk. I learned next to nothing about her even though we spent close to an hour talking. She seemed to steer the conversation to my life every time I asked her anything about herself.

I did, however, notice that Costa, her little boy, seemed rather clingy. He came and sat in her lap, hugging her, at least three times within that hour. He barely even looks at me. He just buries his face in Santana's neck and she winces every time he does. It's hardly noticeable when she does but I noticed. Thanks to my psychology classes, I pay a lot of attention to body language.

"We should really get going. Thanks again for allowing us to come over." Santana says.

"Anytime. I'm happy to have you all over whenever you'd like." I reply. She tells the kids it's time to go. "Here, let me have your number so that I can call you about the school and maybe set up a date… to play. A playdate I mean. You know, for the kids."

I finally get myself to stop talking and we exchange numbers and she leaves.

"Did you have fun with Costa and Callie?" I ask Beth as I pick her up and carry her to the couch.

"Yes mommy. Callie is pretty like a princess and she's funny. She said her daddy is a football player like Uncle Finn but he got hurted so he doesn't play no more! I want her to come to my birthday party!" I almost forgot that I was throwing her a party. I guess now I have a reason to call Santana soon. I smile at her but it falters when I realize something.

"What about Costa sweetie? Don't you want him to come too?" I ask. She shrugs.

"He's too quiet. He didn't even wanna play with us. He just kept sitting in his mommy's lap."

"Well maybe he's just shy baby. It wouldn't be fair to invite his sister and not invite him would it?" She shakes her head in response and then runs off to her room. No matter how many times I tell her not to run, she does it anyway.

Santana's POV

"How does pizza sound for dinner?" I ask the twins as we enter the motel room. I receive eager nods from both of them so I grab the phonebook to order.

Once I place the order, I give the twins a bath so that they're ready for bed after dinner. They play with their toys while we wait. I even join in a bit and play with them.

When the pizza arrived, they put their toys away. After we finished eating, they washed their hands and faces, cleaning off the pizza that missed their mouths. Then I turn on the television and let them watch cartoons before I make them go to sleep.

They both fell asleep before whatever cartoon they were watching went off. I tucked them in and gave them both a kiss before I went to take a shower.

In the shower, I think about how fucked up my life is. Maybe I should have just stayed. I shake my head at the ridiculous thought.

I stay in the shower until I feel the water start to get cold. I put on pajamas and brush my teeth. When I open the door, I nearly trip over something. I look down and see Costa laying in front of the bathroom door.

"What's the matter mijo?"

"I had a nightmare and you weren't in bed." He says, sniffling while wrapping his arms around me. I pull him into me and hug him tight.

"Shh. It's okay. Mami is right here."

"Can I sleep with you?" He asks in a small voice.

"Of course. Of course you can." I carry him over to the pull out couch. I lay him down and turn out the lap next to it. I get into bed and pull him close to me. I cuddle him until the sniffling stops and I feel his breathing even out. I kiss his temple before letting myself drift off to sleep.