Puck let Santana sit and stress for another thirty minutes before kicking her out.
"Why are you so eager for this date?" Santana asked as she picked her keys from the coffee table.
"She's hot." Puck shrugged.
"That's it?" Santana frowned.
"Well…she's hot and has been refusing to go out with me for ever."
"Oh so this is your one chance?"
"Pretty much"
Puck shoved her back, forcing her to the door.
"Hey"
"Just get out Lopierce. Go talk to your wife and try not to get divorced."
"Fuck you."
"Whatever. If I lose this girl because of you and your stupid made up problems I'm gonna be so pissed."
Santana rolled her eyes. "Just tell her you were with your best friend and I was crying. She'll think you're sweet and sensitive." Puck grimaced. "Girls like that crap."
"Really?"
"Yes." She grabbed the door post to keep Puck from pushing her out. "Don't tell her my name cause she'll get all star struck and that's all you'll be talking about all night."
"Not gonna be a problem" Puck chuckled.
"You know I'm famous right."
"Let's just say she's not a fan."
Santana's mouth dropped open.
"You're kidding right?" She asked. Puck shrugged. "How can she not be a fan?"
"Maybe she got over you in your six year hiatus?"
Santana's eyes narrowed as she pointed her finger at Puck.
"No megusta."
"Whatever Santana get out. I need to get ready."
"There has to be something wrong with her."
Puck pushed her, forcing her out into the hallway.
"That's a red flag that's all I'm saying. She'll turn out to be a crazy psycho stalker who shows up at your house without you telling her where you live and kills all your exes."
"Stop coming up with insane scenarios in your head or you'll turn out to be the crazy psycho. Go home."
"But who is s-"
Puck slammed the door shut.
"Rude." Santana muttered, turning and walking away.
When Santana got back home, everyone was in the middle of dinner. She kissed all her kids and baby Nathan, who she was surprised to see awake, and then hugged Sean.
"Hey Santana good to see you. I was afraid I'd miss you."
"Hey. Sorry, Noah…I uh…" She glanced at Brittany had both her lips in her mouth and eyebrows raised, waiting for her excuse. "I needed to go to Noah's quickly."
"You were at Uncle Noah's?" Sophia asked. "Did you ask him if he saw my head band? The silver and pink one?"
"No honey, you didn't tell me you'd lost it."
"I haven't. It's at Uncle Noah's. Kyler took it off my head and was refusing to give it back."
Kyler sank in his seat, staring down at his plate.
"He was proving a point." Jesus said.
"What point?" Brittany asked.
"That he's taller than her. She was refusing to admit it, so he proved it by holding the headband high up."
"That doesn't prove anything." Sophia mumbled.
"You couldn't reach it" Jesus laughed.
"She was like this" Mateo got off his chair, went on his tip toes and began reaching into the air above his head.
Jesus and Kyler laughed as he made straining faces, poking out his tongue and huffing in annoyance every few seconds.
"Ky give me back my headband" He whined. Kyler and Jesus laughed harder.
"Stop it!" Sophia yelled. "It wasn't funny. And now I left it there because of him so it's all his fault."
"Para bebe" Brittany called to Mateo, who was still acting. "Sit down."
As Mateo climbed back into his chair, Santana reached over and rubbed Sophia's arm.
"I'll ask him to look for it okay love?"
"Okay."
After dinner, which Jesus received a lot of praise for, Sean and Mercedes announced that they were leaving.
"I thought you were staying here?" Brittany asked. Santana frowned at her but was ignored.
"Sean is here for a few more days, so we're staying at a hotel. Once he leaves I'll be moving in."
"You can share my room Mercedes." Kyler said, taking her hand.
"Thanks buddy." Mercedes laughed. "But baby Nathan still sleeps with me, and I wouldn't want to disturb you."
"Mercedes is gonna take the guest room." Santana told him.
"Aww."
"Amor she's going to be in the same house" she laughed.
"Don't worry. We can always have sleepovers."
"Okay" He nodded happily.
"Alright everybody come say bye to Mercedes and Sean."
Sean was carrying a sleeping Nathan so he fist bumped everyone rather than give hugs.
"Hey Santana, Brittany" he said once the four kids were back in the house. "I was wondering if I could talk to you."
Santana and Brittany looked at each other, then at Mercedes who shrugged.
"Uh, sure." Brittany said. "We'll walk you to your car. Cedes do you mind-"
"I'll watch your mini mes."
"Thank you."
They walked out, following Sean. Santana shut the front door behind her.
"Is everything okay?" Brittany asked.
"Yeah. Of course. I just wanted to talk about Kyler."
"Kyler…." Santana repeated.
"Yes. After his second game, I've been thinking."
"About?" Brittany asked.
"I…I want to say this without offending you."
"Sean" Santana chuckled. "What is it?"
"I think you both are amazing parents. I wish my parents had introduced me to football when I was so young. I could have had longer with it, maybe even been better."
"Thanks"
"Why would that offend us?"
Sean shook his head.
"No, that's not it. Uh…" He rubbed gently over his short hair. "Okay…Kyler is amazing at football. He's quick, strong, and has the passion. He learns fast and is always eager to do better. He's amazing."
"Thank you" Santana said slowly, frowning.
"But, at both games this season he's needed you to boost his confidence. He looks for you in the stands, he looks for you when he's running or unsure of what to do. He needs to see you at every step or he loses his groove."
"What are you saying?"
"Baby" Brittany said calmly. "Let's let him talk."
"I think he may benefit from…a little distance."
"From….us?" Brittany asked.
"You want us to miss his games?" Santana gasped.
"No, no." Sean shook his head. "No of course not."
"Then what the fuck are you saying?"
"Santana"
Santana glanced at Brittany, sighing.
"Sorry just…Explain."
"I think he should get another trainer. Between you doing his unofficial training, and Noah taking on his secondary training, he's surrounded by people who coddle him. Either you two or Noah are at his team trainings so his coaches can't really…can't really toughen him up."
"Yell at him." Brittany said. Santana cocked her head, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Look." Sean sighed. "I love Kyler. I'm not saying I would be able to do it any differently. Of course we can't. He's your baby and you want to protect him. But football is a hard sport. It's rough and brutal, but aside from that, there's the mental game. The older he gets the more pressure there will be, and the more shit talk he's going to face. He's the son of a superstar. He's been famous since he was born. If he goes into high school football as sensitive as he is now, they'll eat him alive, and believe me, no teenager is going to want to need his mum to give him a kiss before every game."
Santana dropped her arms.
"I just think that teaching him to handle it now is better."
"So you think we should get him a personal trainer?"
"If that will make you feel more in control, yeah, but the team coach is pretty good too...maybe just distance yourself from his practice sessions?" he raised his eyebrows, looking fearfully at Santana. When she didn't say anything he sighed. "I really think he'd be better off. He's a talented kid, and I believe he's going to go far, but he needs to conquer his anxiety and his emotions. He can't be letting the pressure get to him. Commentators are just the tip of the iceberg."
Santana turned to Brittany, biting her bottom lip.
"Okay." Brittany said. "We'll talk about it. Thanks."
"No problem" Sean smiled.
Before they entered the house, Santana stopped Brittany at the door with a hand to her elbow.
"Do you think he's right?"
"Let's talk about it later Santana. When we can actually get into it."
Santana was still biting her bottom lip, peeling off the skin she could grip.
"He's right isn't he….?"
Brittany sighed, looking at the closed door and then at the car in their driveway that Sean was still trying to get Nathan into.
"Let's talk about it later."
They only got a moment to themselves after everyone had been put to sleep.
Brittany waited for Santana in their bed, rubbing her knuckled over her lips. She wasn't really sure what she was going to say if Santana brought up what Sean had said because she didn't really care. She wasn't affected personally if Kyler had a new personal trainer. There was the slight anxiety attached to leaving him with a stranger, but it wasn't much different to dropping him off at swimming training or even just school. It didn't matter to her if it was Santana, Puck or Kyler's coach training him, as long as he was happy and played well. Santana on the other hand, was bound to take this personally, and thanks to whatever had been bothering her earlier in the day when she went to Puck's, she was going to be annoyed by the suggestion.
Brittany didn't feel like fighting her.
When Santana walked in she dropped her hand and looked up at her.
"Let me just brush my teeth."
Brittany nodded.
"Did he go down easily?"
She heard Santana spit.
"He didn't fight me" Santana called from the bathroom. "But he isn't sleeping."
"Oh."
"I'm doing what we decided."
Santana walked out of the bathroom, leaning against the frame of the door. She brushed her teeth slowly as she smiled at Brittany. Brittany fought a smile and nodded.
"Good job honey. It's about time he learned to put himself to bed anyway."
"Mmhh" Santana hummed over her toothbrush.
"So I'll be in LA next month."
Santana held up a finger, quickly spinning back into the bathroom. A few seconds later she was walking out again, wiping the side of her mouth.
"What for?"
"I'm going to a dance studio for the week, to mentor the kids."
"Oh that's nice. Do they know you're going?"
"The choreographers know. Well…" Brittany cocked her head. "Some of the choreographers."
"The kids are gonna lose it" Santana giggled.
Brittany shook her head, a smile creeping across her face.
"I was thinking I could see which of the kids want to go with me."
"Where?"
"LA"
"What? Wait" Santana's eyebrows rose. "Our kids?"
"Yes" Brittany laughed. "Mercedes is going to be staying with us so I think I'll go with her, and I know they'll have a lot of fun with her and Nathan in LA."
"Right….you've said that twice now and you haven't talked to me about it."
Brittany held Santana's gaze and licked her lips.
"Are you going to enter bed?"
Eyes narrowing slightly, Santana pulled aside the covers on her side of the bed and climbed in.
"Do you not want Mercedes to stay here?" Brittany asked when she was settled.
"That's not the point."
"No?"
"No."
"What is the point then?"
Santana clasped her hands together over the covers and stared down at the nails of her thumbs. Brittany could sense her unease, though she didn't know its cause, so she angled her body more towards her and relaxed her back against the bedpost.
"Santana…." She spoke gently, "Mercedes is pregnant. The whole reason she's here is because Sean didn't want her alone. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you but I didn't think you'd have a problem with her staying here since we have the room and you guys are good friends."
Santana's shoulders relaxed, her hands pulling apart.
"I don't. Of course she can stay."
"Great" Brittany smiled. She ducked her head to catch Santana's eyes. "Are you going to tell me what's going on with you?"
She lifted her head again when Santana met her eyes. There was a look in them of slight panic that had Brittany frowning before Santana was shaking her head and breaking eye contact.
"Jesus wants to go on tour with me in January."
Brittany blinked.
"Y-you're going on tour?"
"Yes. The schedule isn't completely ironed out, but it's a short pre-album release tour. A couple here, one in Brazil, two in Europe."
"What did you tell him?" Brittany asked as she nodded.
"That we'd talk about it." She shrugged.
"Mmh."
"I don't see any issue with them going with you to LA. Ky has football practice on the weekend and swimming training...I think a swim meet... so he can't go, but Jesus, Soph and Mateo sure. I'll just have to make sure to keep my schedule light that week."
Brittany grimaced, letting out a strained breath that caught Santana's attention.
"What?"
"Nothing…I just don't like that?"
Santana frowned. "What?"
Brittany took a moment to appreciate the fact that she still knew Santana's frowns so well. She smiled as she ran a finger gently over the curved brow, remembering how she used to study Santana's face for hours.
Santana's hand gently circled her wrist, stopping her hand and forcing her to focus on her face again. The side of her mouth was pulled up in amusement.
"What are you doing?"
Brittany shook her head dismissively and returned to topic.
"I don't like that you have to take time off. You're going to need all the time you can get to write your new songs, and I'd promised myself I would give that to you."
"You still have to work."
"But that's why I want to go with the kids."
"Well Ky just can't be helped. He has a busy schedule too."
She recognised Santana's attempt to alleviate her guilt, and from the amused tint in her eyes realised she was being genuine about it. So Brittany took a deep breath and nodded.
"What if Puck or Quinn took him?"
Santana shrugged.
"We'll work something out."
Brittany's knuckles returned to her lips, her hand moving slowly from left to right, pushing her lips gently in each direction.
"Britt…"
Her eyes snapped to Santana's.
"Come here."
She barely had a moment to process at the request before her chin was in Santana's grip and her face was being pulled forward. Then her lips met Santana's open moist ones, her own being enveloped quickly. She shut her eyes and relaxed her body into Santana, who was pulling her closer.
When she was able to sort through her thoughts again, she was on top of Santana, only holding herself up slightly with her elbows which were perched on either side of Santana's head. The rest of her weight was resting completely on Santana.
She opened her eyes slowly, disconnecting her lips from Santana's.
Santana's eyes were always so fascinating to Brittany. They were a pretty common shade of brown, and yet when she looked into them, she was always convinced they were their own kind of brown. Sometimes she swore she could see the colour changing, deepening somehow. Like in horror movies when they zoomed in but everything seemed to be further away at the same time. Sometimes when she looked into Santana's eyes she felt like they were pulling her in. Like if she looked long enough she'd be sucked in.
Brittany loved that feeling.
So when Santana's eyes opened below her, she welcomed that feeling. She stared unblinking into the brown swirls, even when she felt Santana shift under her.
"Britt…."
"Jesus can go with you, but before he does, he needs to get his prescription."
Santana nodded.
Brittany leaned down, rubbing her nose along Santana and then over her cheek before kissing it.
"It's been 20 years." She whispered, pulling back to once again lose herself in Santana's eyes. "20 years of looking into your eyes and watching your face and kissing you."
She felt like a cat, wanting to purr in contentment as Santana wrapped her arms low around her waist and settled her even more on top of her.
"Yeah."
"How come it all still feels…It still feels as perfect."
Santana hummed, returning the kiss Brittany placed on her cheek and then nuzzling it.
"Because we are perfect. You and me baby."
Brittany nodded, sighing happily and closing her eyes. These little moments with Santana were everything to her. They gave her feelings of safety and security. Like everything in their world was or would be okay. And even though she still didn't know what was going on with her, why she needed to escape the house or why she seemed put off by Mercedes' pregnancy, this moment reminded her that it was Santana she was dealing with. The Santana who held her like this, tight and secure, and kissed her soft and loving.
Whatever was bothering her wouldn't change that.
When Jesus woke up, he thought he was the first one up, as usual. He got out of bed, picked his outfit for the day and made his bed as noisily as he could, but like every morning, Kyler remained sleeping. When there was nothing left for him to pretend to do, he made his way downstairs. The morning was always his least favourite time of the day because nobody was as awake as he was. He'd learned pretty early that the amount of energy he woke up with annoyed nearly everyone in the house. His mums were better at hiding it, but he'd heard them once talking about who was on "morning Jesus" duty so he'd figured it out. Mateo was the only one who happily matched his energy in the mornings, but given that he was having trouble sleeping lately, his mums had been letting him sleep in later. So for the past few weeks he'd spend at least thirty minutes alone in the mornings. He wasn't allowed to watch television, so he'd started making himself breakfast.
He planned on doing the same thing this morning, until he walked into the kitchen and spotted his mum and Mateo outside on the trampoline. They were both laying on their stomachs with their faces pretty close to each other, and from what he could see from the bright yellow pants Mateo was wearing, they were both still in their pyjamas. He stopped mid-stride and frowned.
It was pretty early for them to be outside, and he'd been up for at least twenty minutes before coming downstairs, so he would have heard if they had just come down. Which meant that they'd probably been out there since before he woke up. He looked around the kitchen for any sign that they had been in there, but he found no pans or cups or plates out of place.
As he watched, Mateo giggled madly, throwing his head back and then rolling onto his side. It gave Jesus an unrestricted line of sight to his mum, who was also giggling. She had a huge smile on her face as her eyes tracked Mateo's movements. Jesus walked slowly to the glass, feeling strangely annoyed when she reached out and pulled Mateo back to his previous position, their faces once again inches from each other.
He heard movement behind him but he didn't turn to look. Mateo didn't look sick or upset in any way, so he couldn't understand why his mum was out there with him so early. On a school day no less. It wasn't something they often did, in fact she rarely ever got onto the trampoline, that was usually his mama.
"Morning love."
"Morning" He mumbled.
"Whatcha looking at?"
Jesus didn't answer, knowing she would see soon enough.
"How long have they been out there?"
He shrugged.
"Okaaay" His mum drawled. "Did you already have breakfast?"
Again he watched Mateo's whole body shake with his laughter, his curly hair bouncing as he wiggled to get away from their mum, who was holding him in place this time.
"No." Finally he turned to look at her. "Did Niki sleep last night?"
He saw her confusion, but couldn't think of any explanation for the question, so he just raised his eyebrows.
"Why?" she asked.
"Just…he hasn't been sleeping right?"
"Riiiight" His mum said, eyeing suspiciously. "So?"
"So I'm just worried about my brother."
Her eyes remained narrow, so Jesus kept his innocent expression.
"No" She finally answered as she turned to get something from the fridge. "He woke up again. But don't worry honey mami and I have it."
"Maybe that's why they're out there." He thought out loud. His mum laughed.
"I don't think so bud. We're trying not to stay awake with him for too long when he wakes up. We just tuck him back in and leave. Mami wouldn't take him out to the trampoline."
Jesus turned back to the glass.
"Then why are they out there?!"
"I don't know love but I'm sure there's a reason. Do you want to help me with breakfast?"
Jesus stared for a moment longer, feeling his anger climb as his mum stood up quickly, jumping right next to Mateo's stomach and making him fly into the air. Without a word he turned and walked back into the kitchen.
Kyler woke up twenty minutes later when the alarm in their room went off. When Jesus saw him walk into the kitchen it was like something inside him snapped.
"You can't wear that!"
Kyler looked down at himself with a frown.
"What's wrong with this? The colours don't match?" He asked, rolling his eyes.
"No." Jesus spat. "I'm already wearing blue."
"Relax it's not the same shirt."
"IT'S THE SAME COLOUR."
"Jesus calm down" his mum called. "Seriously it's not that big of a deal."
"Everyone's going to say we're dressing the same cause we're twins."
"The only one who cares about what we're wearing is you. No one is even going to notice."
"Go change. I'm not kidding."
"No." Kyler walked past him to climb into one of the island chairs. "Is mami out-"
"GO CHANGE" he swung his fist.
"Jesus!" Brittany said more sternly this time, causing Jesus to take a step back from Kyler. "You don't need me to tell you that you're not allowed to hit your brother."
Without looking at her, Jesus turned on his heel and stormed out of the kitchen. He heard Kyler ask what was wrong with him but he managed to keep from turning back. He knew he'd be in more trouble if he continued to fight with him. So he went to his room.
A part of him felt bad for yelling at and hitting Kyler. He wasn't really sure why he'd done it, but in the moment he just felt so angry. Like his anger usually did, the feeling had come out of nowhere, and he wasn't really able to control it. Almost as soon as he'd walked into his room he was calm again, and like usual, he felt slightly ashamed of his outburst. He understood that it wasn't really his fault, because his mums had talked to him about ADHD and what it meant, but sometimes he felt like if he just tried a little harder he could be normal.
He sat down heavily on his bed, barely sitting for five seconds before he was shooting up and whirling round to look at it.
"NO" He yelled angrily, upon seeing that he'd messed up the sheets. He grabbed the duvet and threw it onto the floor, threw his pillow into the air and then kicked it so it slammed into the wall. He kicked the side of his bed repeatedly before collapsing on it, burying his face in his hands. He took a deep breath. He wasn't going to cry. Nothing had happened to make him cry and he could always make his bed again. He told himself over and over again that whatever he was feeling wasn't real, that it was just the ADHD, but he still felt the lump in his throat and tightness in his chest. "No, no no" He pressed his palms into his eyes as the first warm tear slipped from his eye. "Stop it, just calm down."
He heard the door open and knew it was his mama before she'd even said anything.
"Jesus…"
All it took was hearing the calm and gentle way she said his name for the last of his willpower to give way to the tears of frustration that had been building inside him. That was all it ever took. He let her pull him into her chest and run her hand over his hair. As she did so, he took deep breaths and tried to calm down like she'd taught him. After a few minutes he no longer felt like a tornado of emotions. He was still upset with himself for losing control like that, especially since he'd gone so long without an incident, but he didn't feel out of control.
"I'm sorry mama"
"Don't be. You did a great job."
"I cried."
"It's okay to cry. Crying is one of the healthiest ways to let your emotions out."
Jesus sighed, resting his head more heavily against his mum's chest.
"I hit Ky."
He felt her take in a deep breath, then her soft lips on his forehead.
"Yeah you did. What happened?"
"I don't know. I was feeling a little angry, then I saw he was wearing a blue shirt and…mama we agreed we wouldn't dress the same. We don't like the way people treat us more like the same person when we do that. We wear different colours so people don't confuse us. We agreed."
"Why were you upset before?"
"I don't know."
Jesus really wasn't sure why he was upset. Nothing had really happened, in fact he'd been awake for less than an hour. He tried to remember if he woke up feeling angry.
"Maybe I woke up in a bad mood."
"That's okay sometimes." He felt his mum nod. "But we don't take it out on other people."
"Yeah." He pulled away from her to look at her face. "I'm sorry."
With a soft smile she kissed his head again.
"I'm proud of you my baby."
"Why?"
"Because you calmed down really quickly. You named your emotion and you told me what was upsetting you. You're doing a very good job my love."
"I'll try harder. Sometimes I just get too angry. Like really angry before I even realise it's the not normal kind of angry."
It was like he was swept up in the emotion rather than feeling it, and by the time he registered what he was feeling he'd already acted out.
"What?" he asked when he saw his mum shaking her head.
"You're already doing perfectly now. Everybody gets angry, even people without ADHD. Everybody gets sad and overwhelmed or super excited. Mami is a great example of people who don't have ADHD and just have a temper." Jesus giggled, gently bumping into his mum. "Getting angry or losing your temper doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong or that something's wrong with you okay?"
He nodded. Nicholi had a temper as well. He was always getting into fights with Aubrey until the two of them were practically screaming at each other.
"So…it's okay to not be calm sometimes?"
He sighed in relief when his mum smiled at him.
"Definitely." She kissed his head for a third time, making him smile. "It's not normal to be calm all the time bud. Feeling things is what makes us human." Then her eyes widened and she leaned back, eyeing him. "Unless…" she poked him. "Are you a robot?" She poked him again, then again, then she was tickling up and down his ribs until he was breathless.
"No" he gasped, giggling and trying to fight her off, though not with much effort. "No, mama I'm not a robot."
"Are you sure?" she yelled over his laughter.
"YES"
The tickling ceased.
"Good" she stood up and placed a hand on her hip, exaggerating a frown. "Now go downstairs and apologise to your brother young man, before I attack you again."
When she lunged at him, he scrambled off his bed, narrowly avoiding her grasp and ran out of the room.
When Jesus left the room, Brittany stood up straight, surveying the disassembled room. It wasn't too bad. His tantrum seemed to have been pretty tame, for which she was grateful. The last time he'd thrown a tantrum he'd broken the lamp in her room, Santana's mascara bottle and a glass, while scattering all the contents of their dressing table across the room. It had been a nightmare to clean up.
She didn't immediately leave the room once she'd made the bed. Instead she sat on it and thought. It was becoming clearer with every day that Jesus needed medication to be able to manage his ADHD, and while Brittany had already given in to this idea, she was still hesitant. She had been on medication from their senior year in high school, and while it had helped calm her down and sharpened her focus, the side effects weren't worth it in her opinion. Had she been asked she'd have gone off them after a week. There would be times when her heart would either start to race, or slow down. It made her have to stop to catch her breath, whatever she was doing, which was aweful when dancing, cheerleading or in glee, not to mention how scary it was to feel like you were having a heart attack. Then there was the fact that she almost never slept. No matter how tired she was, she would lay in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling. And when she did finally sleep, she woke up after only a few hours, still tired, but unable to fall back asleep. But by far the worst side effect was the come down. When the medication would start to wear off, she often felt like she'd been sedated. Moody, fatigued, sluggish. It was the worst feeling she'd ever experienced.
To go from always having an abundance of energy to feeling weighed down like that had been horrible for her, so deciding to do the same thing to her son was a hard decision to make. Santana had suggested they talk to him about it to make her feel better, but she knew he wouldn't understand until he was actually on the medicine. Right now he was frustrated. She knew he would jump at the chance if he thought it would help him be normal.
Still, she had to keep reminding herself that her ADHD was mild in comparison to Jesus'. Her symptoms were ones that unless you were paying close attention, could easily go unnoticed. Of course this was because she was a girl and Jesus was a boy, and ADHD presented differently in both, but she was also just convinced that because he wasn't growing up with his symptoms being ignored or played off, they were more aware of all the things he was struggling with than she had been at his age.
She was at least grateful that she had experience going in to the appointment with Jesus' doctor, so she could make sure he didn't just drug her son to make his life easier.
When she arrived downstairs, Santana and Mateo were back inside. She and all the boys were sitting at the kitchen island eating their breakfast. She made her way to Santana, stopping to kiss Mateo's forehead, which she accessed by gently tugging the hair on the back of his head, making him tilt his head back.
"Mama" he giggled.
"Morning babe." Santana said, smiling as Brittany hugged her from behind.
"Good morning" Brittany kissed her cheek. "You were up early."
"Yeah" She nodded. "I'll tell you later."
Nodding, Brittany placed another kiss on her cheek and stood up.
"Where's the girl?"
"Still sleeping." Kyler answered.
"Really? I thought she'd be up by now."
Brittany decided to stand on the other side of the island as she ate so she could see everyone. She liked seeing them all like this in the mornings. It reminded her how much things had changed and how everyone had grown. Sometimes it made her miss the days when all the kids would sit around the small kids' table they'd gotten for them with the cutest little dining room chairs. But then again, sitting with them like this every morning, with everyone talking and laughing together was its own kind of cute.
"She woke up and got dressed." Kyler said. "But she's asleep again on the couch."
Amused, Brittany went to the sitting room. True enough, she found Sophia on the couch, wrapped in a large blanket and fast asleep.
"Hey sleepy girl" she called, sitting beside Sophia. She gently traced the baby hairs on Sophia's temple, unable to resist twirling the curls round her finger. "Sophia…."
Sophia cracked an eye open.
"Breakfast."
"I'm not hungry" she mumbled.
"Will you just try and eat something small?"
"Sophia" Santana said from the kitchen. "We talked about this already."
"Mami" Sophia sat up to look at Santana. "I'm not hungry."
"Tough" Santana said simply. "You have to eat. We're not having this argument every morning."
"Just have something small." Brittany tried, seeing the pout forming on Sophia's lips. "Some yoghurt or fruit."
"Like a banana?"
"Yes" Brittany smiled.
"Just one banana" She held up a finger.
"Sure" Brittany laughed. "Just one banana. Come on."
She and Sophia made their way into the kitchen.
"I'm gonna have a ban- one banana mami."
"That's good enough. Thank you."
"So mami and I wanted to talk to you guys about something."
All the kids stopped eating except Mateo, giving them their attention.
"Mama is going to LA next week."
"All week?" Jesus immediately asked.
"Yes." Brittany nodded. "I'm leaving on Sunday and coming back on Sa-"
"What are you going to do?"
"Jesus." Santana said calmly. "Let mama finish."
"Sorry."
"Coming back on Saturday night."
When Santana nodded, Jesus asked his question again.
"I'm working. Kaleb and I have to go to a studio and teach the kids that go there."
"Can I come with you?"
"So actually, that's what we wanted to talk to you about." Santana said. "We wanted to know if you guys wanted to go with mama."
"Yes" Jesus and Sophia said immediately.
"I wanna go too" Mateo said, raising his hand. "If I come with you can I bring my bulldozer?"
Brittany and Santana laughed, Santana brushing his hair back affectionately.
"Sure buddy" Brittany said.
"Can I wear my catboy costume every single day?"
"We'll talk about it when we're there okay? But you can carry it."
"Yes!"
"So" Brittany turned back to the others as Mateo went back to eating. "I'm going to be working, but I think we might go with Mercedes-"
"And baby Nathan too?" Jesus asked.
"Yes baby Nathan too. Will you guys mind being with Mercedes?"
"No." Sophia said. "Can we sleep over at her house too? Like for one night?"
"You'll have to ask Mercedes babe. But it should be fine."
"Can I come with you to the studio instead?" Jesus asked.
"Yeah, of course."
"Cool." Jesus grinned.
"Ky buddy….I know you have a football game on Saturday."
"And a swim meet on Wednesday." He said sadly. "Can't you go another time?"
"I can't my love." Brittany rounded the counter to stand next to him. "I'm sorry, but I promise that when you can I'll plan a trip to LA for just you and me."
"Really?" he smiled.
"Promise" She held up her pinkie. Kyler happily linked his.
"Okay."
"Alright. So I guess it's just gonna be me and Ky for the-"
"Wait" Jesus said, frowning. "You're not coming?"
"I can't. I have to work Jesus." Santana chuckled. "And I can't leave my baby here alone." She ruffled Kyler's hair, making him laugh.
"Wait." Jesus said again, standing up. "You're not coming either?"
"No. Weren't you listening? I have a swim meet and a football game."
"So skip them."
"I can't."
"What do you mean you can't? We're going to LA."
"I can't because I don't want to let my coach and my team down. And I've been training for this swim meet since school opened, and it's my first time in under 13."
"Well….Do you…"Jesus looked nervously at Brittany. "I…I don't want to go without him."
"It's okay" Kyler jumped off his chair and walked to Jesus. "I'll be here with mami."
"But what about at the game? What if you need me at the game?"
Santana saw Kyler swallow. The action reminded her of what Sean had said the previous night about Kyler's anxiety. She hated that it was so bad Jesus felt he couldn't miss the game just in case Kyler needed him.
"I'll….I'll be okay."
Jesus shook his head. "Mama…"
"Yeah"
"Is it okay if I come back early so I can be there for Kyler's game?"
Brittany looked at Santana, biting her lip.
"Veremos qué podemos hacer, amor, ¿de acuerdo?"
Jesus nodded.
Kyler jumped forward, quickly hugging Jesus before running out of the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" Brittany called after him.
"I'll be right back."
"I don't mind going without him" Sophia said, waving her banana peel to show she'd finished.
Brittany and Santana smiled at each other.
"Thanks for making sure we knew that honey."
"Mama" Mateo said. "Mami told me I'm going to Taekwondo today. She said I get to go after school so she's going to pick me up early and take me to the place and I'm going to learn how to fight."
"That's right" Brittany said with wide eyes, having completely forgotten that they'd signed him up for Taekwondo. "Are you excited?"
"Yeah." He jumped down and began kicking and punching the air. "I'm going to be like a ninja. I'm going to be able to beat up everybody." He fell from kicking a little too high, but simply rolled on the floor and jumped back up. "I remember when they were learning taekwondo on cocomelon. They had belts round their waists. Mami will you buy me a belt like that?"
"You'll get them at the school" Santana laughed as he fell again.
"So I'm going to be the only one at school waiting for Kyler to finish training?" Sophia asked.
"When Jesus started coming to the studio I told you, tienes una opción to come to the studio with me if you want."
"And now you have another option. You can go to the dojo with Mateo."
"Those aren't fun."
"Well," Brittany shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you honey."
"Why can't I go to Uncle Noah's?"
"He has work."
"But when mami was sick he picked us from school every day."
"And Kyler missed training because Uncle Noah wasn't able to come later cause he pushed his shift. He can't do that everyday honey. You had to go to Tia's for one day because Uncle Noah was out of town and she picked you the next day remember?"
Sophia nodded.
"Maybe you should pick an after school activity mija" Santana suggested.
"You could do taekwondo like me" Mateo said.
"No thanks." Sophia shook her head.
"What about art classes or something?" Brittany asked. "We could find you a tutor, and they could come here."
Sophia frowned. "Who would pick me?"
"Jessie. He'll pick you and Jesus, drop Jesus at the studio and then bring you home for your lesson."
"And he'll stay with me right?"
"Of course"
Sophia pursed her lips.
"Can I think about it?"
"Think about it and let us know okay?" Brittany said.
"Okay."
"Alright, time to go."
Jesus and Sophia jumped up to go get their bags and shoes.
"Niki are you dropping out of school?"
"No" Mateo giggled. "Mami said she's taking me today."
"Oh" Brittany looked at Santana.
"Yeah." Santana stood up, walking to stand next to Brittany. "I was thinking that maybe spending a little more time with him during the day would keep him from acting out so much at night."
Brittany nodded.
"Makes sense." She kissed Santana softly. "I'll see you later then?"
"See you later babe."
Sophia, Kyler and Jesus came back with their shoes on and their bags on their backs. They each hugged Santana as she kissed their heads. When it was Kyler's turn she realised he had changed his shirt.
"Why'd you change?"
"It was blue"
Santana frowned at Brittany.
"It was blue Santana." Brittany said like it was obvious why that was important. "Come one now."
Santana shook her head. "Alright."
"Have a good day" Brittany called, waving at them as she walked to the door with her purse and keys in her hand. "Hey" she stopped before turning the corner. "Someone didn't give me my goodbye hug and kiss."
"I think that's you amor"
Mateo giggled, running to Brittany and jumping into her arms. He kissed her and then wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed.
"Ooooh" Brittany groaned happily. "That's better." She put him down and ushered the other three out the door. "Bye baby."
"Bye mama."
"Ready to go get dressed?" Santana asked, walking towards him. Mateo nodded, his curls bouncing on his forehead. When Santana reached him she brushed it back out of his eyes. "Do you need a haircut?"
"Why can't I have long hair like my brothers?"
Santana took his hand that was not in a cast and the pair walked up the stairs.
"Because you don't know how to keep it clean yet."
"Was they good at keeping they hair clean when they was 6?"
Santana thought back. Kyler was pretty good at it, because he'd always wanted it braided or tied up. Jesus' was a different story. Still, she couldn't remember them getting mud and dirt in it as often as Mateo did.
"Yes" she answered. "They never got bugs stuck in it" she scratched his scalp playfully.
"If I gets bugs in it even when it's not long, then why can't I have it long?"
Santana had to agree his argument made sense.
"Alright." She said, letting go of his hand as they reached the top of the stairs. "You can grow your hair out if you promise not to cause a fuss when mama and I want to wash it, comb it and oil it okay?"
"Okay" He nodded happily.
Once they were both dressed, Mateo in jeans, a white t-shirt and a blue and green sleeveless jacket and Santana in a short denim dress, they quickly brushed their teeth and left the house. Santana let Mateo talk the entire ride to the school rather than playing music. The whole point of her dropping him off instead of Brittany was to spend time with him, and she knew that with is siblings around he didn't get to talk as much as he would like. So he talked right up until she was parking in front of the school.
When she used her school ID to open the main door, Mateo's hand tightened in hers.
"You're going to pick me up today right?"
"Yes mijo, for taekwondo remember."
"But….You're coming to pick me right mami? You, right?"
Santana bent down, once again brushing his hair out of his face. She'd gotten so used to his shorter hair that his long curls covering his forehead was going to take some getting used to.
"Yes. I'm going to leave the office early, pick you up and take you for taekwondo."
"Okay."
"Mrs Lopez-Pierce." Mateo's teacher greeted happily. "Good morning."
"Good morning. How are you today?"
"Good, good. Can't complain at all. Mateo, cómo estás?"
"Bien, gracias. Mrs knowell I start taekwondo today after school. My mami is going to pick me up and take me there today after school."
"Wow that sounds like a lot of fun. Will you tell us about it during today's morning discussion?"
"Yeah."
"I can't wait to hear all about it. Say bye to mum now."
Mateo hugged Santana, kissed her, and then ran into class shouting
"See you after school mami."
Santana stood up straight, smiling at the teacher.
"Have a good day Mrs Knowell."
"You too Mrs Lopez-Pierce."
"Santana"
Santana and Jade stopped talking as the door to her office opened.
"Emma, good afternoon." She smiled.
Emma smiled back, walking fully into the room. There was a man behind her who had long dreadlocks tied behind his head with a black bandana. He had two ear piercings on the same ear, one of which had a strawberry earing in it. He was dressed in tight ripped skinny jeans and a black long sleeved t-shirt with the image of a hand giving the middle finger.
She and Jade exchanged curious looks as they stood up to greet him.
"Jade, good you're here too. I wish the rest of the band was here so we could get introductions over with but I guess you can take care of that later."
"Sure." Santana nodded. "I'm still looking for a drummer anyway so…"
"Right. Well, this is Malek Sandoori, he's your new music director."
"Oh" Santana held her hand out for him to shake. "Nice to meet you Malek. I've been wondering who they'd give me."
"Nice to meet you too Santana. Jade." He shook Jade's hand as well.
"You're not from the label though."
"No" Malek shook his head. "No I am an external hire."
"Pour moi? Why?"
"I guess they decided they want the best for your comeback album."
Santana smirked.
"Cocky" Jade said, grinning. "Nice to have you on board mate."
"Good" Emma said. "I'll leave you guys to get to know each other. Santana" She dipped her head, slightly raising an eyebrow.
"What?" Santana frowned.
"Be nice."
Jade burst out laughing, as Emma left the room.
"I'm nice" Santana said to the closed door. She noticed Malek was smiling at her, clearly having her heard her muttering. "I'm nice" she said again.
"Clearly not nice enough" Jade joked.
"Nice is over rated." Malek said, dropping the bag he had slung over his shoulder on the floor. "If you ask me, you can't trust people who are nice."
"Cynical" Santana chuckled. "Anyway she was telling me not to scare you off, not to tell you I like your outfit, which I do by the way."
"Love the shirt" Jade nodded.
"Thanks. Custom."
Santana walked back to her chair, dropping into it so heavily it rolled back.
"Sandoori's an interesting name."
"My grandfather's from Pakistan."
"Mhh" Santana nodded. The clock hanging on the wall was showing 11:25, which meant she and Jade had been hauled up in her office for two hours with no results. "Maybe you can help us out."
"That's what I was hired for."
"Right. Well, I don't have a drummer."
"The previous one is retired apparently."
"Which is crazy, because he's only 30."
"He had a baby mate. He wanted to settle down. Stop the tour life."
"I had a baby. I had 4 babies"
"And took a six year maternity leave."
"And came back" Santana held up her finger. "That's the point. You don't retire when you have a baby. You take the break you need and then come back."
"What's he doing now? Is it carpentry?"
"Whatever" Santana spun herself round in her chair, lifting her legs to avoid hitting the table. "Luke wanted to go off and play Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus, fine, but-" She was cut off by Malek's loud snort of laughter. She and Jade turned to him with hints of a smile.
"What?" Jade asked.
"Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus?" Malek continued to laugh. "Because Joseph was a carpenter?"
Santana grinned.
"You're going to have to get used to the stupid things she says like that all the time. She's mental."
"Hey I live to entertain."
"Looking forward to it." Malek sat on the chair next to Jade's. "As it happens, I can help you with your drummer problem."
"Really? I'm all ears but you should know, I'm not just looking for someone who can play whatever they're told. I need someone who's going to contribute to the band. Someone who'll have ideas and be able improvise."
"And who isn't soft. She's got a razor tongue and the last thing we need is some over sensitive twat getting his feelings hurt every five seconds."
Santana nodded.
"I think it'll be fine"
"Alright. Who did you have in mind?"
"Me"
"You play the drums?" Jade asked.
"And bass, but I hear that's your job."
"Let's hear something" Santana stood up and led the other two to the recording studio with instruments. She walked straight to the microphone, Jade to the guitar in the corner and Malek to the drum set.
"What are you singing?"
Santana turned to smirk at him, winked, and faced forward again. She took a second to think of a song, counted to three in her head and began singing. Jade joined in on her fourth line with chords and then got more bold as the verse came to a close. Before they'd even reached the chorus, Malek was playing a basic beat on the drums. Santana glanced at Jade and held up one finger. They were going to sing one more verse and then stop. Jade nodded.
Santana knew Malek was her new drummer as soon as she started the second verse. He dropped the simple beat in favour of one that was faster and more up-beat. It had Santana laughing with how much energy he was putting into it and before they knew it they'd gone through the whole song with Santana jumping around the two, whipping her hair and belting into the microphone. She ended the song on her knees, breathing heavily. She stood up slowly, a huge smile on her face.
Jade was grinning just as widely as her.
"Well damn Malek" Santana said. "I guess you're my new drummer."
Unable to help themselves, the three of them continued to fool around in the studio for another hour. They kept up the element of surprise, so taking turns one of them would simply start a song, or in Malek's case, start drumming and then yell out the song for them to join in. It was exactly the kind of thing Santana had been missing for the last few years. Malek was going to be a great addition to the band. She was excited for what would happen once Lucas came back from his gig in New York. The energy was already so electric and Lucas was always the most energized one of the three of them.
"Okay, we're going to have to stop before I lose my voice." Santana laughed. "I didn't warm up."
"That was excellent." Malek stood from behind his drums. "You have an amazing voice Santana."
"Thank you."
"I'm excited to see what we're going to make."
"I already have some ideas. One thing I know for sure is that this album is gonna end up being a lot slower. It's definitely nothing like the last one I did."
"M'kay" Malek nodded. "Slow, sultry."
"Yeah."
"Heartbreak?"
Santana cringed.
"Never heartbreak" Jade laughed.
"Some of them will be sad yeah. I mean…Heartbreak is probably the best way to describe it yeah, but I don't do romance. It's sad. Well some of them. We'll see how it progresses as I churn them out."
"Sounds like a plan."