Six months later

Flashback:

''Babe?'' Brittany asks as she walks into the bedroom after helping learn for his test the next day and sits down on the bed as Santana hums looking up from the script in her hand. ''The boys asleep?''

''Yeah I think playing around after dinner powered them out, they didn't even make it through the story.'' Santana places the scrips in her hand down and raises an eyebrow as she notices Brittany fiddle with her hands. ''What's going on Britt-Britt?''

She nods her head to her hands as she looks up at her in confusion and smiles slightly. ''You are fidgeting Britt, you always do whenever you don't know how to start talking about whatever you have going through your head.''

''It's so fucking scary to hear how well you know me.''

''Babe we are together for almost seven years, married for almost two, what kind of wife would I be if I couldn't read you like a book?''

''A pretty bad one.'' Brittany muses, Santana nods her head in agreement and scoots closer.

''Exactly, so talk to me, mi amor.''

Brittany sighs dropping down on her back and nuzzles her face against her thigh. ''I got a call from Jill, she asked me if I want to join the cup one last time.''

''How long and where?''

''Starting August 20th till October 3rd and this year it's in Mexico.'' Brittany looks up at her and bites her lip. ''It will be my goodbye tournament before my goodbye match against Orlando October 4th.''

''And you are really sure that you want to stop playing?'' Santana asks softly as she runs her fingers through her soft blonde locks, Brittany nods her head and smiles sadly.

''Yeah I am slowly starting to notice that my body can't keep up with all of it, what took me just an hour to get over a few years ago takes more than two days now.'' She murmurs. ''I want to call it quits before I get injured and forced to take it even slower then now, I will focus on our family, on coaching Nic and on the restaurant while still working out and doing whatever.''

''Go.'' Santana whispers, she chuckles as surprised blue orbs snap up to look at her and shrugs. ''You have god knows how many fans babe, I know you want to do this tournament and I know the second word gets out that it will be your last everyone will fly after you and watch you kick ass.''

''But what about you and the boys?'' Brittany asks softly. ''I will be gone for over a month babe.''

''It will be hard.'' Santana breaths out with a slight nod. ''But I am not alone here mi amor, the biggest problem will be the distance and knowing that we can't fly down to watch you live, we will follow the matches on TV though.''

''Nic also has his tournament.'' Brittany murmurs with a frown.

''Yeah and Ames can take over and lead them to their win with your tactic.'' Santana points out. ''I took time off to go with him and I know Liv and Abi will join every match too so I have their help there too.''

She sits up tugging Brittany with her and smiles as she nuzzles her face in her abs, she rakes her nails through her hair and dips down to kiss her temple. ''I know you want to do it mi amor and that you are trying to point out everything that might stress me out, but I have our familia here, the boys and I will be fine and we will love to watch you kick ass during the cup.''

''Are you really sure?''

''I am.'' She confirms with a grin. ''But I think it will be a bit hard to take the whole week to concentrate and train for it.''

''Why?'' Brittany asks curiously with an eyebrow raised. ''I can go jogging and train while Nic is at school and QT and Oli are at daycare.''

''Well yeah, but I would love to have you as my plus one the day before you leave.'' Santana murmurs, she chuckles as Brittany frowns in confusion and holds out her phone for her after opening the chat with Abi. ''For this.''

She watches her read the text, biting her lip with a shy grin as she watches the confusion on her face turn into one filled with pride and grunts out a laugh as she suddenly tackles her in a tight hug with a soft squeal.

''Babe that's amazing!'' Brittany breaths out smiling proudly. ''It's about damn time people start to recognize your talent!''

''It's just a nomination Britt-Britt.'' Santana giggles out.

''So?'' Brittany asks the smile never wavering. ''It's a damn easy win too, besides it's not just a nomination, it's also a live performance.'' She leans her chin on her chest and smiles proudly. ''What song do you have to sing?''

''A song I sang on The New Directions.'' Santana murmurs with a grin. ''They loved the performance on screen and asked Ab's if I can do it live.''

''And you will right?''

She nods her head and smiles lovingly. ''I will yes.'' She murmurs. ''Will you join me?''

''Of course I will.''

''What about..'' Brittany shakes her head immediately cutting her off and cups her cheek.

''Nothing can stop me from joining you babe.'' She breaths out with a loving smile. ''I will absolutely love watching you kill it on stage, I can train whenever I want but this is an amazing jump in your career and I will be right there with you.''

Santana smiles cupping the back of her neck and pulls her down. ''I love you.''

Brittany pecks her lips and smiles. ''I love you too San and I am so fucking proud of you.'' She leans their foreheads together and gazes into sparkling brown orbs. ''I can't wait to watch you up on that stage, that night will be the turning point in your career love.''

End of flashback

''There she is.'' Liv murmurs nudging Brittany as she watches her sister in law walk out onto the stage after Kelly Clarkson the host of the evening announced her and smiles proudly.

''She looks amazing.'' Abi breaths out with a proud grin as she watches the white mid thigh dress hug her little sisters curves and her wavy hair bounce with every step she takes.

''She does.'' Brittany agrees softly as she watches Santana accept the microphone Kelly holds out for her, she folds her hands in her lap and tilts her head as she watches her step beside Kelly after waving at the cheering and clapping audience.

''Santana I am so glad to finally meet you in person! How are you doing?''

''Oh I am doing just fine, I am honored to stand up here with you.'' Santana replies with a grin. ''How are you?''

''Good, good.'' Kelly breaths out as she places her hand on her shoulder. ''One question before your performance?''

Santana laughs and nods her head. ''You can ask whatever you want.''

''Who did you bring with you?'' Kelly asks as she mentions her hand to the four seats, one left empty.

''My wife, sister and sister in law.'' Santana replies with a grin. ''But my best friend and her husband.'' She mentions her hand to Quinn and Puck sitting behind them and smiles. ''Joined us too, Quinn received her own invite and her husband is her plus one.''

''No children?''

She shakes her head and smiles. ''It's too late for them to still be up, well for the twins it's too late.'' She replies. ''They are spending the day with their grandparents and I am pretty sure Nic is watching it with his little brothers cuddled into him, they will join us when they are a bit older.''

''That makes sense.'' Kelly breaths out. ''So you are here to perform right?'' She turns to her as the audience cheers loudly the second she hummed and smiles. ''And what are you performing for us today?''

''The song Brave that I performed on The New Directions.'' Santana answers with a smile. ''The invite included the request and I just couldn't say no.''

''Why is that?''

''I sang the song on the show to show my fans that my character also named Santana on the show is still the strong person she was before, due to my hiatus we had to think of a story line that explained the season I didn't star in and we came up with the coming out gone wrong.'' Santana explains. ''The song is about my character showing everyone that she still has the fight, she had before, but that isn't the reason I managed to sing it with such passion though.''

''Not?'' Kelly asks in surprise hearing the surprised murmur around her. ''What was the reason?''

''Myself and my wife.''

''Care to elaborate?'' She asks with an eyebrow raised.

''Well Britt and I both went through a major loss.'' Santana starts with a sad smile. ''I lost the first love on my life and Britt lost her little sister at a young age, on top of that Britt also lost contact to the one person she calls her brother so she dropped into a very dark place at the age of sixteen.''

''After meeting Brittany my life started to look up.'' She continues. ''And I had the honor to watch her go from a workaholic to the best mommy I could have wished for, for our boys.'' She locks eyes with Brittany and smiles lovingly. ''She pulled herself out of the dark place she fell in and she fought hard for the success she had now, in a month she will have two goodbye matches to say farewell to playing soccer and to focus on coaching our eldest and his team.''

''So yeah.'' She breaths out. ''The emotions in my voice during the song, is the pride I feel because I can see how far we've come.''

''Understandable.'' Kelly breaths out with a grin. ''Well the stage is yours Santana.''

''Thank you.'' Santana murmurs, she takes the microphone stand from one of the stagehands as Kelly introduces her once again and places the microphone in it. She locks eyes with Brittany as the instrumental of the songs start up and smiles lovingly as she notices Abi and Liv both holding her hand and Quinn and Puck having placed a hand on her shoulder.

I love you She mouths, she licks her lips with a grin as the audience coos the second Brittany mouths it back instantly knowing that the camera's are focused on the both of them and grabs the microphone as her cue comes.

Spent my time trying to begin
Change my life, change my sparkle within
Echoing to the sound of my sin
Holding my tears, now I won't give in

She looks around grinning as she notices several people raising their phones with the flashlight on and licks her lips, she locks eyes with Brittany and winks as she sees the pride in her eyes.

Chasing for years to find my strength
Pushing through these fears
To find my voice again

''She is amazing.'' Abi whispers proudly, Brittany nods her head in agreement and licks her lips ignoring the sting in her eyes from the tears wanting to escape.

''She really is.'' She smiles proudly as she watches Santana own the stage, hearing the full confidence in her voice and gulps thickly. ''Now it comes.'' She murmurs.

I'll be brave
I'll be brave
No hiding who I am
I've found my strength
No more hiding who I am
Cause I am brave

She follows the audience lead, standing up as Santana holds the high note and claps in her hand not able to suppress her proud smile, she turns her head as she feels four hands on her back and smiles as she notices the pride in their family's eyes. ''She killed it.''

''She sure did.'' Liv agrees. ''The pride is so clear to see for everyone B.''

''I can't be anything but proud.'' Brittany murmurs as they all sit back down knowing Santana will join them again after a short talk with Kelly. ''Not only did she finally sing on live TV and showed everyone her talent, she also got nominated.'' She breaths out. ''People are finally recognizing her talent.''

She smiles as they all hum in agreement and turns back to the stage, she smiles as she immediately locks eyes with Santana and winks. She sits back down knowing she will join her soon and accepts the glass of champagne Puck holds out for her, she crosses her legs squeezing Liv's hand as she feels it cover her own and watches her wife walking off of the stage oozing confidence.

Two hours later.

''Santana Lopez!''

Santana's jaw drops as she hears her name echo through the building after Anna introduced the last award of the evening and yelps as she feels four bodies tackle her in a hug, Brittany laughs softly as she watches Quinn hanging half over Santana's seat and half onto her back and shakes her head. ''Someday she will break her fucking leg.'' She whispers to herself.

She tilts her head as she watches everyone pull out of the hug the second she locks eyes with her wife and opens her arms, she cups her face in her hands as soon as she is near her and tugs her closer. ''I am so proud of you Santana.'' She whispers softly as she kisses her forehead ignoring everyone around her and the coos reaching her ears, she leans their foreheads together, gazing into sparkling brown orbs and smiles lovingly. ''This is the first of many baby.'' She whispers promisingly. ''Go down and accept your award.''

''Gracias mi amor, te amo.''

''I love you too.'' She watches her jog down the steps smiling as the audience explodes in cheers and leans back into Puck's arms as she feels him wrap them around her shoulders from behind, she watches Santana walk onto the stage, thanking Anna with a big hug and smiles lovingly as she takes the microphone Anna holds out for her.

''Oh wow.'' Santana starts with a grin as she looks down at the award in her hand. ''Thank you.'' She breaths out. ''Thank you for believing in me, for voting for me and supporting me throughout my whole career.''

''I wouldn't be standing up here without my fans, my fans that come up with the most amazing questions, make the most beautiful fan art and accept every change I went through from the beginning of my career till now.''

''I would also like to thank my parents and my big sister now my agent.'' She continues. ''I want to thank the three of them for always believing in me like the rest of our family did, for kicking my butt and forcing me to stop doubting me and for their undying support while I chased after the success and tried to raise Nic on my own.''

''I also want to thank my guardian angel, my best friends and my sister in law.'' She adds as she looks up with a small grin. ''I want to thank Marcus for giving me the last push into the direction of my dreams and for supporting me wherever he could.'' She croaks out, she turns to the audience and locks eyes with Quinn. ''And I want to thank Quinn for joining me on this amazing ride and for all the movies we recorded together.''

''Just like I mentioned before I would also like to thank my sister in law and Puck, they entered my life by dating the two most important girls in my life but they quickly entered my heart and caught me whenever I felt down, cheered me up whenever I needed it and also kicked my butt whenever I started doubting myself.'' She holds her award up and smiles. ''Before I thank the four most important people in my life, I want to thank all of you first. Thank you and I love you.''

She pauses as everyone claps and locks eyes with Brittany. ''And last but not least.'' She starts. ''I would like to thank my wife and our children.'' She breaths out. ''Without our boys I would never find the joy and power to go through ten hour days filled with acting, but coming home and telling them all about my day will always be my highlight and they absolutely love hearing about everyone I met.''

She mentions her hand to Anna and chuckles. ''I think meeting Anna and Brittany was Nic's most favorite moment because he met Jay and he absolutely loves their little firecracker.'' She cracks a grin as Anna laughs and locks eyes with her wife. ''I don't know where to start with thanking you mi amor.''

''How about you don't?''

She shakes her head as the audience laughs the second they hear Brittany's reply and winks. ''No can do Britt-Britt, but I really don't know where to start.'' She breaths out with a small grin.

''If I have to start with thanking you for drastically throwing your life around to be home with our children while I chase my dreams, with thanking you for going through lines with me every night before a difficult scene or for holding me and supporting whenever I had a down day or the paparazzi chased me and I needed your arms to feel home and get rid of that scare.''

She licks her lips as everyone coos and locks eyes with Brittany. ''I could thank you for every single thing you did the past almost seven years, but if I did we would be sitting here till tomorrow night.''

She smiles as everyone chuckles and shrugs. ''So I just want to thank you for believing in me and for being the biggest support someone could have asked for, I want to thank you for everything you did to make all of this possible because without you I would have never dreamed to stand up here.''

''But most of all I want to thank you for being the amazing wife, best friend and the best mother for our boys.'' She breaths out. ''We love you Britt-Britt and it's hard to describe how much.''

She lifts her award and smiles lovingly. ''Thank you everyone.''

Brittany joins the audience as they all stand up to clap for her wife and smiles lovingly as she jogs up the steps after hugging Anna once again, she wraps her up in her hugs the second she jogs into them and kisses her head. ''I am so insanely proud of you.'' She whispers kissing her temple. ''Congratulations love.''

''Gracias mi amor.'' Santana murmurs as she drops her forehead against her shoulder. ''Can we go home now?''

Abi shakes her head in amusement as Brittany laughs and glances at the exit noticing several celebrities already leaving. ''No after party?''

''A different kind of after party.'' Santana replies softly. ''I need mi familia and I want to spend the last few hours with my wife before she flies off to kick ass.''

''You girls mind if we decide to stay?'' Puck asks with a sheepish grin, Brittany shakes her head and chuckles.

''Not at all.'' She murmurs as she hugs the both of them. ''Have fun.'' She grabs Santana's purse as she also hugs them and wraps her arm around her waist after they all wished Quinn and Puck a nice party, she leads her up the steps smiling as Liv and Abi slide up beside them after telling Santana's bodyguards that they are leaving and walks out of the building into the chilly night air.

''He's fast.'' Liv muses as their driver immediately pulls up front, she thanks Dave as he opens the door and slides in after Brittany and Santana did. ''So familia night before the tournament?''

Brittany nods her head and smiles. ''Yeah if I don't have a family night, I will go stir crazy the next month and a half.'' She smiles slightly as they all chuckle and shrugs. ''Let's hope mami and papi placed the boys on the couch in the family room, I don't want to wake them carrying them over.''

She rubs Santana's arm as she cuddles into her side and kisses her head as she notices her looking at her award. ''Penny for your thoughts?''

''I can't believe I reached this point in my career.'' Santana muses softly. ''It feels like a fucking dream.''

''Many more will follow love, people finally start to recognize your talent and your amazing voice.'' She whispers softly against the top of her head, she taps her award and smiles. ''Nic and I need to build a bigger trophy showcase or clear a few out to make place for you, now that you received the first one, your second one will follow soon after.''

She smiles as she feels her yawn and chuckles. ''Adrenalin wearing off?'' She tugs her closer as she hums and looks up as the car comes to a halt. ''Let's enjoy a night with your parents and sisters babe.''

She slides out of the car, holding her hand out for Santana and helps her step out. She wraps her arm back around her waist and leads her up to the front door, chuckling as it immediately opens revealing Maribel and Emilio smiling proudly.

She slips past them as Santana immediately walks into their hug and raises an eyebrow as she notices the kids aside from QT and Oli sitting on the couch wide awake. ''Abuelo and Abuela allowed it?'' She chuckles as Nicolas nods his head with a sheepish grin and opens her arms. ''It's alright.'' She murmurs kissing his head as he bounces over to hug her. ''I am sure your mami needs a hug, go ahead little love.''

She walks into the makeshift family room knowing they will all crash down there to be close to each other, she smiles lovingly as she watches them sleeping peacefully under the covers and leans down to kiss their heads knowing nothing will wake them up from their slumber. ''Sleep tight Angels.'' She murmurs softly. ''I love you.''

She walks out of the room after grabbing her phone and smiles lovingly as her eyes land on her wife and son cuddled up on the couch with their family sitting around them, she walks over chuckling as their eyes light up the second she nears them and drops down on Nicolas's other side.

''It looks so much cooler than our trophy's mommy.'' Nicolas breaths out giggling, Brittany laughs looking at the award and nods her head in agreement.

''It does but that is what eleven years of hard work looks like sweetheart, your mami worked really hard to receive this and it's about damn time she got it.'' She murmurs kissing his head.

''True, I am so proud mami.'' He leans back against his mommy and smiles. ''We all are.''

''We sure are.'' Maribel agrees as Liv and Abi just hum with their arms wrapped around Sophia while Beth is cuddled between Emilio and Maribel.

''I love you all.'' Santana whispers as she cuddles into Brittany's side smiling lovingly as Nicolas immediately adjusts his position to cuddle into the both of them, she intertwines their hands on his stomach and tilts her head up to kiss the underside of her jaw after kissing his head. ''Thank you for all the years of support.''

''Anytime Hermana.'' Abi breaths out with a grin. ''We love you too.''

Brittany kisses her temple and smiles lovingly as Nicolas kisses her cheek at the same time. ''To the moon and back, love.''