''Ready sweetheart?'' Brittany asks softly as she adjusts her hold on Quinton, she places her hand on his shoulder as he nods his head adjusting his hold on Oliver and softly pushes the door open.
She smiles as he places Oliver down, placing Quinton right beside him on the bed and watches them crawl over to Santana's sleeping form after Nicolas climbed up the bed. She laughs softly as the three of them collapse down on Santana, snickering as she hears her tired grunt and holds up her phone as Nicolas starts singing happy birthday and laughs softly as QT and Oli start babbling.
She walks over to join them as Santana slowly wakes up, laughing as the kids take the moment she properly opened her eyes to jump on top of her and quickly reaches out as she notices QT sliding off. ''Careful boys.'' She murmurs lovingly.
She locks eyes with Santana, chuckling as she yawns and leans down to kiss her softly. ''Happy birthday love.''
''Mami, you are old now.'' Nicolas giggles out as he leans down to sloppily kiss her cheek, Brittany laughs as Santana pulls back to look at him with a frown and stands back up after picking Oli and QT up.
''Your mami needs to tickle your brother.'' She whispers chuckling. ''We will prepare mami's breakfast plate.'' She murmurs kissing their heads, she turns to her wife smiling lovingly as Nicolas's loud giggles fill the room and leans down to kiss her temple. ''Get ready for the day love, Nic will hand you your first gift.''
She leans down, kissing Nicolas's forehead and smiles. ''Will you change too?'' She asks softly. ''I will change QT and Oli.''
''I will mommy!'' She stands back up after kissing her wife's forehead and walks out of the room holding QT and Oli on her hips and crosses the hall to walk into the office they changed into a changing room for the twins, she places both boys on the changing table and grabs the button up and jeans she placed aside for them to wear.
''Let's surprise mami.'' She murmurs as she kisses their heads, she takes off their onesies making sure to check their diapers and smiles lovingly as she hears them squeak and babble while looking at each other.
She places them on the ground to play after changing them and quickly grabs the blue plaid button up she placed in their room for herself, she looks down at her white skinny jeans and turns to the boys. ''Okay?'' She asks as they both crawl over, she laughs as they just smile brightly and crouches down to kiss their head. ''Breakfast?'' She asks softly, she picks them back up as they use her knees to pull themselves up and places them on her hips.
''Let's hope mami will like our surprise.'' She whispers as she jogs down the stairs, chuckling as the boys giggle with every bounce, she slides into the kitchen on her socks and places them in their high chairs.
She climbs up on the chair, adjusting the big thirty balloon above the table and looks down as she hears the boys squeak. She smiles lovingly as they watch her with big grins, proudly showing off their two front teeth and taps their nose the second she climbed back down.
She slides behind them after grabbing their bibs off of the table and ties it around their necks. ''Mami and Nic are coming.'' She murmurs as she hears quick footsteps thunder down the stairs, she leans over them lightning up the candle with the number thirty she placed on top of the stuffed strawberry cheesecake waffles.
She places the sippy cups she filled with a mango dragon fruit lemonade in front of the boys and places a glass filled with the purple liquid beside Nicolas's plate, she turns to look at her wife after placing the salted caramel frappucino she made for them beside their plates and smiles lovingly as she walks in with Nicolas right beside her.
''Damn.'' Santana hums out after the delicious smell of freshly baked goodness hits her senses. ''It smells delicious in here.''
''Let's hope it tastes as good as it smells.'' Brittany murmurs chuckling as she wraps her arms around her waist the second she walked into her arms, Santana looks up and raises an eyebrow.
''Babe I don't think there will be a day, where whatever you cooked doesn't taste like something from a five star restaurant.'' She leans up on her tiptoes and kisses her softly. ''And thank you.'' She gently tugs on her own blue plaid button up and glances at their boys. ''I love the partner look.''
''I am glad you do.'' Brittany murmurs as she kisses her forehead, she pulls back and winks. ''Let's eat breakfast before our family blows up our phones asking where we are.'' She pulls Santana's chair back for her as she chuckles and smiles as she immediately grabs the tall glass with coffee with a soft happy gasp.
She slides into the chair beside her as Nicolas leans up in his own chair to prepare a plate for his mami and nods her head as he points at the caramel sauce, she turns to QT and Oli as he opens the bottle and leans over grabbing the plates filled with a bit of strawberry cheesecake cream and banana pancakes she cut up, she places the plates in front of them and holds out the forks for them to take.
''I can't believe how fast time is running at the moment.'' Santana whispers after watching Nicolas decorating her plate. ''Our little loves are growing up way too fast, QT and Oli want to do a lot of things alone and started crawling pretty early on.''
Brittany chuckles knowing they were both surprised the second their twin boys started rocking and moving forward on all fours shortly after they were six months and hums in agreement. ''And Nic will bring in his third championship win, and enroll into his first year of middle school.''
''Exactly, hell we are both turning thirty.'' Santana grumbles. ''I can feel the gray hairs growing.''
''Babe.'' Brittany breaths out laughing. ''Your mami just turned fifty-five and she still has no gray hairs, I don't think you have to worry about those.''
''You look even more beautiful with every year mami.'' Nicolas adds as he places the plate he decorated in front of her, he leans over it to kiss her temple and smiles brightly. ''Cumpleaños feliz mami, te amo.''
''Gracias mi corazón.'' Santana murmurs as she leans up to kiss his forehead. ''I love you too baby boy.''
''Let's eat.'' Brittany murmurs as she hands Nicolas the plate she filled for him, she leans back smiling lovingly as Quinton and Oliver both enjoy their banana pancakes and thanks Nicolas softly as he holds the chocolate sauce up for her after she grabbed a waffle for herself.
Three hours later.
''Y'all are crazy.'' Santana breaths out, shaking her head with a loving grin as she eyes the pile of gifts in front of her. ''Thank you.''
''Ready to give mami our gift?'' Brittany asks as she looks down at their little boys, she hands Nicolas the small box as he nods his head and glances at Liv. ''Liv can you take QT or Oli?'' She picks Quinton up as Liv easily picks Oliver up and turns to her wife. ''Babe we have one more gift for you.''
''Britt-Bri..''
She shakes her head and laughs. ''No don't scold me.'' She pleads. ''Just follow Nic, please.'' She places Quinton on her hip as everyone stands up and smiles as Nicolas holds his hand out for Santana, she walks into the house before anyone else does knowing Liv will follow her and turns her head to look at her. ''Let's hope she won't kick my butt.''
''She will.'' Liv laughs out. ''I will make sure you can flee.''
Brittany chuckles walking into the garage knowing Nicolas will lead Santana out of the front door and grabs the cover she used to hide her gift, she pulls it up snickering as Liv whispers lowly and looks down at Quinton as he squeaks. ''You want to sit in the car with Oli?'' She places him in one of the seats as he squeaks again and watches Liv place Oli in the seat beside his. ''Alright let's surprise mami.'' She murmurs as she hears the garage door slide open.
She pulls Liv with her leaning against the front of the red Audi cabriolet and crosses her arms, she winks as Nicolas comes in few first and ruffles his hair as he immediately sprints over giggling as they all hear his mami's soft loud gasp.
''No fucking way!''
''Curse jar!'' Everyone exclaims in unison, Brittany laughs as Santana just covers her mouth and holds up the keys Nicolas held out for her.
''Instead of stealing mine, I thought you would love to have your own.''
''Test drive mami!'' Nicolas exclaims grinning as he runs around to take his seat between his little brothers, Brittany smiles lovingly and locks eyes with Santana as she slowly walks over while eyeing the car.
She holds the keys out for her and smiles slightly. ''It has the same packages mine has.'' She murmurs. ''Just a different color, red fits you more.''
''You are so fucking crazy.'' Santana whispers as she wraps her arms around her waist, she drops her forehead against her toned shoulder and shakes her head. ''I thought we said no gifts.''
''No unnecessary gifts.'' Brittany breaths out as she pulls back. ''We can always use a car and the G wagon is slowly nearing it's end, we can try to sell it or use it for short drives and you can use this one to drive to work and other things.''
Santana slowly takes the keys from her and shakes her head with a small grin. ''You are crazy, you know that?''
''I know, that is why you love me.'' Brittany replies chuckling, she slides aside and walks to the drivers door to open it for her. ''Test drive?''
''Hell yes.''
Brittany laughs kissing her forehead after she slid into the car and smiles. ''Q will join you.'' She murmurs against the warm skin. ''I will prepare dinner with the boys and papi.'' She straightens back up as she nods her head and turns to face Q, she nods her head to the passenger side and winks. ''Jump in Q, I need your husband to prepare our dinner.''
''Won't say no to that!''
She laughs as Quinn jumps into the car, leaning over the car to kiss her sons heads and smiles. ''Have fun boys, te amo.''
''Te amo también mommy.''
She steps back as she hears the engine roar to life watching the group make space while Liv snaps pictures and smiles as Santana drives off after blowing her a kiss, she turns to the group after she drove off and runs her hand through her hair. ''Dinner?''
She follows them back into the house after Emilio nodded his head and turns to Puck. ''Noah you up to season the potatoes like we did in Ohio?'' She hands him the pot with peeled potatoes as he nods his head and crouches down to grab the ribs she marinated two days before, she grabs the smaller plate with ribs for the kids and turns to look at the girls.
''We will prepare the salads.'' Maribel breaths out as she walks over with Abi, Maria and Esmeralda.
''What can I do?'' Julia asks chuckling.
''We need a sauce, I have a recipe for a lemon mint sauce.'' Brittany breaths out as she takes out her phone. ''I grabbed all the ingredients we need, do you want to make it?''
''Are you sure?''
She nods her head handing her, her phone and smiles slightly. ''The special seasoning is in the small black pot.''
''Everyone has your seasoning?'' Tori asks in amusement, Brittany shakes her head and chuckles.
''Nah only Julia, Maribel, Liv and Q have it but they also don't know what is in it.'' She replies. ''Only San and Nic know the exact ingredients.''
''Why is it a secret?'' Tori asks curiously as they all walk out into the backyard leaving the women in the kitchen to prepare it.
''Because I use it for almost everything in my restaurant, almost all recipes are made with it.'' Brittany breaths out as she places the ribs near the grill. ''Puck never knew the exact ingredients either.''
''The grill is hot.'' Emilio breaths out, Brittany nods her head dividing the grill in two areas and places the ribs for the kids on one side.
''Those are for the kids.'' She breaths out. ''The others are for us.'' She takes the pot with potatoes Puck holds out for her and places them on top of the grid above the meat, she grabs a bottle of beer out of the cooler and pours a bit over the marinated ribs for the adults.
''Why beer?'' Amelia asks curiously.
''It tenderizes the meat even more.'' Brittany explains as she takes a sip from the bottle. ''The meat has to fall from the bone, if it continues sticking to it, it will mean that we didn't marinate it long enough.''
''How the hell did you learn all of this?'' Tori asks with an eyebrow raised.
''Trying and tasting.'' Brittany breaths out shrugging. ''I always loved to cook and tried my best to make the best meals, the ribs are the best selling item on the menu closely followed by the potatoes and the cocktails.''
''When will you open up again?'' Amelia asks softly.
''In two maybe three months.'' Brittany breaths out. ''The restaurant will be much bigger so we will be hiring more too, we just want to take this break to also come to terms with losing Kevin.'' She explains. ''We are also busy creating a few recipes to honor him, he had a few crazy things he always ate so we are trying to combine those and write them down.''
''So you will start working longer again?'' Tori asks with an eyebrow raised.
''No I will still only take care of the administrative crap, do the orders and join Marley and Kitty during the James Beard cookout.'' She breaths out. ''They will run the restaurant, I won't jump back into the kitchen.''
''My focus is on my family and on soccer, I cut back for a reason and I won't change that.'' She continues. ''I will keep my schedule like it is now, only play home matches, join away matches sometimes and focus on coaching Nic.''
''Stupid question, but why?''
She turns to Tori after flipping the ribs and sighs. ''I reached everything I wanted to reach career wise.'' She breaths out. ''I don't want to end up like the demons, I don't want to focus on my career and completely neglect my children.''
''Santana's career is demanding and she can't always take a longer break, I voluntarily cut back to be home with our children so she can continue rise up the path of fame because she has a very bright future ahead.'' She continues. ''We both appreciate the time we both spend at home and alone, we both absolutely love to watch our children grow up but we don't want to leave them with any of you for longer than a day.''
''I will turn thirty soon, I don't know how long I can keep up playing soccer.'' She adds with a shrug. ''I might quit playing in two or three years, but that doesn't mean that I will quit everything, I will just throw my focus in coaching and watch Nic have the success he will reach if he continues playing like he does now.''
''And the restaurant?'' Amelia asks as she notices Puck and Emilio just listen with loving grins playing on their lips.
''The restaurant is running and gaining popularity with each year passing.'' Brittany breaths out with a grin. ''I won't give that one up and if I drop playing soccer, I might join the crew once a week but my family will come first no matter what will happen.''
''Same goes for me.'' Puck breaths out. ''We all have steady careers and need to have a certain focus on it, but our family is the most important.''
''I don't prioritize what is on my schedule.'' Brittany murmurs as she flips the potatoes. ''I schedule my priorities.'' She breaths out turning to look at the four standing beside her. ''My priority are my kids and wife, watching Santana rise up the ladder of fame and kick ass in whatever movie or series she stars in is more important than whatever match I have to play.''
''People are finally seeing her incredible talent and the incredible voice she has, I want her to live her dream, I already live mine and thanks to her I have the family I never knew I wanted.'' She continues softly.
''My priorities are watching my boys grow up and kick ass, watch Nic be successful in his life and guiding him through it and watching out little ones grow up and enjoy their lives like Nic does.'' She explains with a grin. ''Their happiness is all I want and nothing can stop me from watching that happen, I put enough time in my career and went from four jobs to two sometimes three there will come a time where I have one and spend two days a week focusing on my restaurant too.''
''Growing up definitely made you wiser sis.'' Puck murmurs as he hugs her from behind, Brittany shakes her head and chuckles.
''No Santana made me wiser.'' She breaths out. ''She showed me that there is more in life than just my career, that my private life is more important.''
''I have never been happier than the past six years and I will be damned to ruin that.'' She adds. ''If I ever have to chose between my career and my family, I will pick my family without a second thought because they made me the woman I am now.''
''Yeah same goes for Maribel, the second she told me she was pregnant with Abi, I changed my lifestyle too.'' Emilio breaths out. ''Hearing that the love of your life is pregnant with your child, changes your mindset immediately.''
''It sure does.'' Puck agrees.
''We can replace almost everything we have, but we can't replace our wives and children.'' Brittany breaths out. ''Santana and the boys inspire me to be the best wife, mom and woman I can be because they don't deserve anything less.''
Emilio pats her back and nods his head in agreement. ''Same.'' He murmurs. ''I will be forever thankful for Maribel giving me our two daughters and watching them be successful in life and finding the same love I found in their mami, will forever be my most treasured memory.''
''I know my daughters are happy and will always be protected.'' He continues. ''And I can't thank god and two guardian angels enough for bringing you and Liv in their lives.'' He kisses her cheek and smiles as the women walk out carrying the food they prepared. ''Puck and I will grab the drinks, you need help with anything?''
Brittany shakes her head turning to look at the kitchen door as she hears Nicolas giggle and smiles lovingly as she watches her wife join them again with Quinton on her hip and Quinn slightly behind her holding Oliver. ''Nah I am almost done.''
She flips the meat again and looks down as Nicolas crashes against her hip. ''Enjoyed the ride darling?''
''It was so cool.'' Nicolas breaths out with a big smile. ''I am hungry now though.''
She laughs taking one of the ribs off of the grill and places it on the plate beside her on the table. ''Let it cool off for a bit, you can enjoy it soon.'' She murmurs, she turns her head as she feels slim arms wrap around her waist and smiles as her eyes lock on warm brown orbs.
''Thank you, mi amor.'' Santana breaths out as she kisses her shoulder. ''The car is absolutely amazing.''
''I am glad, so no ass kicking?''
''Maybe later, but not now.''
She laughs turning around to look at her and wraps her arms around her shoulders. ''How about no kicking at all?'' She dips her head as she thoughtfully taps her chin and kisses her softly. ''My birthday is a month away but I am pretty sure you have a gift hidden for me too.''
''It's scary to hear how well you know me.''
Brittany shrugs her shoulders and chuckles. ''Babe we told each other that we won't gift each other something for the past five years, when did we manage to do that?''
''Never?''
''Exactly.'' She breaths out. ''But we gift each other things we know we need or want, we don't give something that we won't use so how about we drop that rule and just enjoy every holiday and birthday?''
''That sounds perfect.'' Santana murmurs as she pecks her lips. ''Do you have a match next week?''
Brittany shakes her head and smiles. ''I am all yours.''
''Can I kidnap you to the house in Thousand Oaks?'' Santana asks softly. ''Mami and papi would love to have a grandchildren weekend and I would love to spend a weekend away with you.''
''That sounds like a plan.'' Brittany murmurs as she kisses her forehead. ''The boys and I would like to kidnap you after dinner and spend the night in the family room building a fort and watching a movie.''
Santana smiles lovingly and nods her head, she wraps her arm around Nicolas as he joins them and leans down to kiss his head. ''I can't think of a better way to end my birthday.'' She breaths out, she nuzzles her face under Brittany's chin as she feels Nicolas lean against them and turns her head smiling lovingly as she watches QT and Oli slumber in their grandparents hold.
Family is a gift that lasts forever. She thinks to herself. ''Te amo.''
''We love you too, baby.'' Brittany murmurs as she kisses the top of her head.
''To the moon and back mami.'' Nicolas adds as he enjoys their embrace with a big grin.