One week later.
Santana's heels tap loudly on the ground, echoing through the hallway of her building, as she steps out of the elevator, making her way toward her apartment door after a lengthy day of rehearsals and meetings. She roots through her purse in search of her keys when she sees her standing outside of her best friend's apartment, frozen in her spot despite having her first raised, ready to knock on the door.
"Tina?"
Too lost in her all-consuming thoughts, Tina jumps in surprise at the presence of the former cheerleader. "Um, hey, Santana."
Santana quirks an eyebrow at the sight of Tina, trying desperately (and failing) to act nonchalant and cool about being caught waiting outside Mike's apartment. "Mike is finishing up a class right now. He should be home in a little," Santana informs her.
"Oh, okay, I guess I could come back later…" Tina supposes and she prays that Santana doesn't notice the way her hands shake with anxiousness as she starts to make her way back to the elevator.
But it's Santana and she's always been very perceptive so, before Tina could even make it past her, Santana steps in front of her, blocking her way, and offers, "Or I could let you inside and wait with you."
"You don't mind?"
"No, I was gonna hang out at his place anyways – Britt doesn't get home until much later," Santana explains with a shrug before pulling out her spare key to Mike's apartment and unlocking the door for them.
Tina cautiously follows Santana inside Mike's place and watches in amusement as Santana scours through his kitchen, ransacking his cupboards for something to eat. She settles on a bag of chips that Mike had hidden away at the very back and she snickers at his failed attempt of hiding it from her.
Santana grabs a large bowl, pouring the bag of chips inside, before heading towards Mike's living room, signalling with her head for Tina to follow her. They both take a seat on the couch before Santana places the bowl of chips in between them and turns on his television, flipping through his channels as she shovels a few chips into her mouth.
"You seem so comfortable here," Tina observes while Santana selects a movie for them to watch.
Santana doesn't let the comment affront her, instead, she just smirks at Tina. "Like you didn't get pretty comfortable here too."
Tina's eyes widen in shock, gasping slightly. "Mike told you?"
"Not willingly. I mean, I live across the hall – you really should be more discreet," Santana elaborates as she stands up to go through Mike's fridge, looking for something to drink. She pulls out two cans of coke, handing one to Tina, before plopping back down on the couch and taking a sip. "Who knows what those gossip sites would be spreading about you if someone other than me caught you out there?"
"Then, I'm glad that it was you who caught me," Tina comments, opening her can of coke and taking a long sip. She goes silent for a second, choosing to play with the droplets of condensation on her can. "Aren't you going to ask why I'm here?"
"I'll find out from Mike later anyways," Santana shrugs before taking a bite of another chip.
"It's nice that you two are still closer than ever," Tina remarks, a slight wistfulness in her voice.
"Are you jealous?" Santana jokes with a laugh.
"Honestly? A little," Tina admits, staring blankly at the television in front of her.
"Mike and I are friends," Santana reminds her slowly and almost teasingly.
"I know," Tina says, rolling her eyes, before shrugging. "But still, all this time has gone by and you're still in each other's lives… You don't even have to try that hard."
"Mike can't get rid of me that easily," Santana says with a flip of her hair before giving Tina a pointed look. "And I know for a fact that he would never want to get rid of you."
Tina is about to open her mouth to question Santana but she is interrupted by the sound of keys jiggling in the front door.
"Santana, how many times have I told you not to hang out at my apartment when I'm not home? Your place is across the hall! And you always ruin my Netflix recommendations —" Mike launches into his rant upon entry into his apartment, having heard the sound of the tv from outside his door. He has lost track of how many times he has given it at this point but his words die from his lips when he finally sees exactly who was inside his home. "Tina?"
Tina immediately sits up and stares at him, wide-eyed. "Hi," is all she can bring herself to say.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone," Santana declares, getting up from the couch with a slap on her knees, bowl of chips in hand. "Thanks for reminding me that I live across the hall – I always forget." Mike rolls his eyes as Santana makes her way out of his apartment, bickering with each other in whispers.
Then, it's just him and Tina and for a moment, they just stay there frozen in silence. Mike can hear his heart pounding in his ears and he's afraid that it might be so loud that Tina is able to hear it but he doesn't know that her own is pounding just as loud.
His mind races with the different possibilities as to why she's here at his apartment. He never thought that he would even see her again yet here she is right in front of him. Did she leave Artie? Is she finally choosing to be with him?
He can't handle the suspense anymore so he breaks the silence and asks, "What are you doing here?"
There is so much hope in his voice that it actually makes Tina's heart ache a little. She releases a shaky breath as she stands up from the couch and approaches him. "I think I'm pregnant."
Mike tries to maintain his breathing as he feels an overwhelming amount of joy and excitement consume him at the thought of starting a family with Tina. But judging from her expression, the possibility isn't as exciting for her, so he does his best to contain his emotions. "You're pregnant?"
"I think? I don't know for sure," Tina says, running her fingers through her hair and Mike recognizes the faraway look in her eyes. It's the look she gets when she has too many thoughts running through her mind. "I haven't taken a test yet but my period is late which never happens. My period always comes on time – it's a point of pride for me! And I've been feeling nauseous lately… I don't know. It's just a feeling but I want to be sure and I didn't want to do it alone."
Mike nods his head in understanding as he fights the urge to wrap her in his arms and try to ease her nerves. "What if it's Artie's?" The thought alone fills Mike with dread but he instantly feels relief at the sight of Tina shaking her head dejectedly even though he probably shouldn't.
"He's been away in London the entire time… If I am pregnant, it would be yours," she confirms. "I brought some pregnancy tests over so that we can find out for sure together."
Tina dumps out the contents of her purse onto Mike's kitchen counter, revealing two packages each of four different brands of pregnancy tests. Mike raises an eyebrow at her, biting back a smirk. "Really?"
"You can't be too sure," she responds, looking at him sheepishly in return and he smiles at her endearingly.
Mike gathers the eight packages of pregnancy tests in his arms before nodding his head towards his bathroom, signalling for her to follow him. She feels some tension leave her body as she trails behind him, thinking about how if she has to do this with someone, she's glad it's with Mike. It might be a tough situation and the status of their relationship is even worse but Mike always manages to somehow make her feel better with his presence alone.
Tina goes inside the bathroom to take all the tests while Mike waits outside the door, giving her the privacy that she needs. After what feels like hours, she opens the door and lets him inside. She shuts the toilet cover and sits down, taking a deep breath. "And now we wait."
Mike takes a seat on the edge of his bathtub and reaches out to hold her hand. "Tina—" he begins, hoping to say something to make her feel better but she shushes him.
"I'd actually prefer it if we could just sit in silence while we wait," Tina snaps, tightly squeezing her eyes shut.
"Okay, that's fine," Mike concedes, defeated. He starts pulling his hand away but Tina grabs it once more before he could let go, clutching it tightly.
Mike stares at their intertwined hands for a moment, dumbfounded, and then back at Tina, who still has her eyes shut. He lightly squeezes her hand and they stay in their positions for the next five minutes, waiting for the timer to go off.
When it finally does, Tina jumps up from the toilet seat, immediately dropping Mike's hand in the process and he tries to ignore the way it feels like he's floating into nothingness by it. She rushes to check every pregnancy test while he peers over her shoulder to see the results.
A single line flashes back at them.
Mike's heart drops to his stomach in disappointment while Tina releases a breath of relief. "Oh, thank God," Tina whispers. "That would've been really difficult."
Mike simply nods his head in response, his mouth drawn in a tight line. He moves past her and outside of his bathroom, feeling like there isn't enough air in that confined space.
He knows that she's right to feel relieved. They are in no place to have a baby right now. Especially given the fact that they just ended their months-long affair because she chose to go back to her fiancé.
But, he can't help but think, maybe, it wouldn't have been so bad.
Sure, it would've been messy – incredibly messy – dealing with the aftermath of it all, with Artie and their friends and family and God – all the press. But he has always wanted to be with Tina and have children with her. So, if this was how it was going to happen, then, he's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
But she isn't pregnant with his baby. And she isn't starting a family with him. Instead, she is getting ready to start a family with another man and there is nothing he can do about it.
Tina slowly follows him out of the bathroom, stopping by the kitchen to grab her purse from the counter. "Well, I guess that's it," Tina says as she makes her way toward his door.
She has one hand on the doorknob, ready to open it and walk out of his life when his voice cuts through before he can even stop himself from doing so. "I would've taken care of it you know…" he affirms causing Tina to pause and slowly look over her shoulder at him. "Even if it wasn't mine… Even if it was Artie's, or anyone else's. I would've taken care of it and you because it would be yours and I love you and I'd love anyone that came from you."
"Mike, don't," she pleads, squeezing her eyes shut, willing herself to not start crying.
"Don't you think this is a sign that we should give this another shot?" He approaches her and spins her around to face him, bending down to meet her eyes and grasping her by the biceps, shaking her lightly. "You might not be pregnant but you were brought here for a reason."
Tina just shakes her head at him and shakes his arms off of her. "Actually, I think it's the opposite," she says firmly, looking him straight in the eye and trying her best to not yield. "I'm not pregnant. I'm not having your baby. There is nothing tying us together. That is all the confirmation I need that it's time for both of us to go on with our lives."
Mike attempts to protest but Tina is shaking herself out of his grasp and walking out of his apartment before he could say anything more. He curses to himself in frustration and rests his elbows against his kitchen island, burying his head in his hands.
It isn't long until his front door is opening once again. "Here's your bowl back," Santana announces, placing the dish in his kitchen sink before taking a seat across from Mike.
"Were you seriously waiting by your door until Tina left just so you can pester me for details?" Mike grumbles, not bothering to look up at her.
"Don't ask questions you already know the answers to," she retorts, trying to lighten the mood after sensing the air of conflict surrounding Mike. "So, what happened?"
Mike pushes one of the negative pregnancy tests in between them. Santana gasps slightly at the sight of the test, eyebrows raised in surprise, and she watches Mike carefully as he stows in sadness.
"Her rack was looking really good today."
"Santana," Mike scolds.
"What? I know you noticed it, too," she justifies, crossing her arms defensively.
Mike rolls his eyes exasperatedly. "Well, it's not because she's pregnant."
"Yeah, I know what the one line means," Santana quips before pausing for a moment. "Did you want her to be?"
Mike sighs deeply as he chews on his bottom lip and stares at his hands before looking back up at her. "Is it bad if I say yes?"
"I wouldn't say it's bad… It isn't good either… It's just… Honest," she replies.
"For a second there, I thought that I could actually have it all – my dream career with my dream girl and our family – but no. All it did was push her and Artie closer together," Mike vents, his eyes welling with tears in frustration.
"You don't want to have a kid with her like this," Santana points out.
"Yeah, I guess not," Mike supposes. "But she doesn't even want to give us another try."
"I think she'll come around," she responds, patting his shoulder lightly as he groans.
"You don't know that," he mumbles miserably.
"Yes, I do. I can sense these kinds of things with my psychic Mexican third eye," Santana jokes, tapping her forehead to show where her third eye would be. She smiles softly at him and squeezes his shoulders, comfortingly. "You told me once to just be patient and that my time with her will come… And now I'm going to tell you the same thing."
Two days later, Tina has finally wrapped filming her big high-profile movie and decides to meet Blaine at his apartment for lunch before she has to catch her flight back to Los Angeles. Tina sits at the dining table beside Blaine's one-year-old daughter and plays with her tiny hand that is currently wrapped around her finger as Blaine prepares their meal.
"You know, Hepburn is going to miss her Auntie Tina, aren't you, baby?" Blaine mentions pointedly as he places their plates on the table.
Tina rolls her eyes at his attempt to convince her to stay in New York indefinitely but smiles at him endearingly. "I'm going to miss Hepburn, too," she responds, lightly squeezing the baby's chubby cheek with her fingers, before looking back at her best friend sternly. "But, you know I can't stay here." She loves being a short distance away from them but since she's wrapped her film, there isn't much keeping her in the city right now.
"I know… Quinn probably already has a line-up of new projects for you to work on over in LA since you're a big movie star now. But, I just like having you around," Blaine whines with a pout. Tina places her hand on top of Blaine's and squeezes it appreciatively.
Their sweet moment is interrupted when Hepburn splatters her food all over her face causing the two best friends to laugh about how cute she is. But as Tina watches Blaine clean his daughter's face, the laughter starts to die from her lips and she sighs. The sudden change in her demeanour does not go unnoticed by Blaine. "There's something you're not telling me."
"I just started my period," Tina tries to deflect and keeps her eyes focused on the plate in front of her.
"Isn't it a little late?" Blaine wonders and Tina immediately looks back up at him, her face a mixture of surprise and concern. "You've always been so proud of how regular your period is!"
Tina releases a shaky breath, hesitating to explain because all she wants is to put it past her but it's Blaine – clearly, she can't hide things from him and she doesn't really want to. "I thought I was pregnant – I'm not – but I thought I was."
Blaine's jaw drops slightly at her revelation. "Did you tell Mike? I mean, it would have been his, right? Artie's been in London for a while."
"Yeah, I went to his place the other day and we took a bunch of tests," Tina elaborates as she pokes at her food.
"And what did he say?" Blaine probes as he feeds his daughter a spoonful of apple sauce.
"He asked me to give us another shot."
"And why don't you?" Blaine inquires, his tone incredulous, before leaning across the table and placing a warm hand on hers, looking her straight in the eye. "Tee, answer me honestly. If you were pregnant right now, would you want it to be Mike's?"
Tina shakes her head, tearing her eyes away from Blaine, silently cursing his ability to see right through her. "That doesn't matter."
"I think it does," he insists.
"No, it doesn't. Because I'm with Artie. I love him and we're getting married and I'm supposed to start a family with him," she reasons, her voice cracking as her eyes well with tears. "It's a huge relief that I'm not pregnant."
Blaine raises an eyebrow at her skeptically. "Then, why are you so sad?"
Tina shrugs, tears slipping down her face. "I don't know…" she mumbles as she looks back at Hepburn who gives her a wide grin that Tina can't help but reciprocate despite her tears. "Maybe because after you spend more time with cute babies like Hepburn, you start thinking that having one of your own isn't so bad. So, as much as I'll miss this little cutie… maybe it's okay that we spend some time apart."
It's almost midnight when Tina lands back in Los Angeles and arrives at her shared home with Artie who also finished filming his movie in London a few days ago. After having dinner together, Tina claims the bathroom first, wanting nothing more than to change into her pyjamas and go to bed after a long day.
When she finishes brushing her teeth and washing her face, she stares at herself in the mirror and takes a deep breath. She runs her hand along her flat stomach, unable to stop herself from thinking about what it would be like if she was pregnant. She shuts her eyes and envisions herself with a swollen belly. Then, she sees Mike beaming with excitement as he gently rubs her bump, placing a soft kiss on it, before planting another kiss on her lips.
With a gasp, her eyes burst open and she shakes her head in an attempt to rid the images from her mind. "Hey, babe, are you done in here? I wanted to brush my teeth," Artie asks, rolling inside the bathroom beside her, oblivious to her shaken manner.
"Yeah, I'm just about finished here," Tina responds, giving him a nervous smile as she starts to walk out of the bathroom and towards their bedroom. "I'm gonna start heading to bed. I'm exhausted."
"Yeah, go to bed, I'll be with you in a little," Artie says, smiling softly at her. "We definitely need to rest up because now that we're back home, we can focus more on planning our wedding."