Just Us

by Sam Lulpus

Part three of the 'For Us' story. A lot can happen in six years. Just when Brittany and Santana think they've got everything all figured out, life throws a spanner in the works. With four demanding kids and the fast-paced, time consuming careers that they went into, they're about to find out just how important putting each other first is - if they want to stay married that is...

1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hola! Welcome to part three of this story. I never planned to do this, but it was requested, then I got to thinking, so here it is! It's going to be a bit different from the other two...wait for it...the kids POV. Not all the time, it'll switch from the kids to Santana and Brittany. Crazy, I know, but as the Lopez-Pierce kid are so much older in this story, I thought it would be interested to also see what goes on in their lives you know?

Of course this is still a Brittany and Santana story, don't worry. They are the focus of this story, as always. But let me know what you think of this idea, and of course, of the story in general.

That's it for now...enjoy!

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"Muuuum"

Kyler stood outside his parents' door, patiently waiting for one of them to open it.

"Muuuum!" There was no reply. "Stop it" he rounded on Jesus, who had been standing so close to him he could feel his breath on the back of his neck and parts of his ear. Deciding his mothers were probably not in the room, he made his way downstairs. Jesus continued to stick as close to him as possible. "Stop following me"

"I'm just walking, you can't tell me where to walk."

"Why do you have to walk so close to me?"

"I can walk wherever I want."

"Muuum!"

"Which one are you looking for exactly?" Sophia asked. She was lying on her stomach on the couch with her legs in the air, her sketchbook in front of her. She didn't look up.

"Either. I can't find my mouth guard-STOP IT" he thrust his elbow back powerfully, catching Jesus in the stomach. Jesus groaned, falling to the floor, but he was giggling. He quickly got up and tackled Kyler, both of them falling to the floor. Sophia pushed herself up to see over the couch as her brothers wrestled on the floor between the kitchen and living room. She shook her head when they showed no signs of stopping and returned to her drawing.

Nearly ten minutes later, the two boys returned from the dining room, where they'd chased each other in the course of their fight, both their hair tousled wildly.

"Muuum"

"Mami's outside with Niki, and mama's in her dance studio."

Kyler stood thinking for a few seconds, then headed to the sliding door.

"Why mami?" Jesus asked.

"Mama's busy, I don't want to disturb her."

"But you want to disturb mami?"

"Mami's not working, so it won't really be disturbing her. Why is this locked?" he asked Sofia, referring to the door.

"There was a bee" she shrugged.

"Oh"

Outside, he found Santana and Mateo by the pool. Mateo was in nothing but his briefs, sitting on the glass table between the pool chairs while Santana bent over his knee. It wasn't until they rounded the table that they saw why.

"Wooaaah" Jesus said loudly. Kyler grimaced. "What happened?"

"I jumped off the swing" Mateo answered.

"Nice!" Jesus held out his hand, which Mateo high fived with a grin.

"Not nice" Santana said, looking up at Jesus with a frown. "He's scraped off the skin on his knee and elbow. Not to mention the growing bump on his head."

"Does it hurt?" Kyler gently pushed Santana's hand away so he could properly see the full graze. Jesus leaned closer to see better. It was the worst graze he had ever seen. There was no skin for at least a three inch radius, blood was dripping down Mateo's shin from all over the injury, which was pink and raw.

"Yeah" Mateo nodded, though he didn't seem to be in much pain.

"That's so cool" Jesus breathed, finally stepping back to Kyler's side. Santana, having finished cleaning all the dirt from the wound, covered it in a bandage like she had done with the elbow, and then stood up straighter.

"Okay, let's see this one"

She pushed his mop of curly white-blonde hair away from his forehead and inspected his head.

"Woah" Jesus said again, smiling madly.

Santana cringed. Mateo's head was a deep red, already swelling just above his left eyebrow. She shook her head.

"Well….it's not a cut so…" she sighed heavily. "You don't need a bandage."

"Yaay"

She helped him jump down onto the floor.

"You're going to need to put some ice on it though."

"Noo" he ducked round Santana, avoiding her reaching hand, and ran towards the house.

"Hey" Kyler grabbed Mateo round the waist just as he was making it through the door. "You know what will happen if you don't put ice?" Mateo stopped squirming in his arms and tilted his head back to look at him.

"What?"

Kyler let go of him. "Your head will keep swelling, and swelling and swelling until-"

"POW" Jesus, who had crept up behind Mateo, clapped his hands together forcefully, making him jump.

"Your head will explode, just like a balloon."

Screaming, Mateo ran into Santana's arms.

"Mami the ice! I need the ice now!"

Supressing a laugh, Santana carried the six year old into the kitchen, seating him on the counter.

"Mami, I can't find my mouth guard, do you know where it is?"

"Did you check the laundry room?"

She took out some ice from the freezer and poured it into a zip-lock bag. After crushing it, she wrapped the bag in a dishcloth and handed it to Mateo.

"Yeah I did. Twice. It's not there."

"Keep this on your head, like this" she positioned his hand over the bump.

"Okay"

Santana then moved to the medicine cabinet and took out some ibuprofen.

"Open up." When he did, she poured the pain relief medicine into his mouth. He was sure to be in pain from the actual wounds, but what she was really worried about was a headache from banging his head on the ground. "Good job."

She carried him into the living room, dropping him on the couch next to Sophia. Sophia's eyes moved first to his bandaged knee, then raked up his body, looking for any other injuries. When she saw him holding the ice to his head, she sighed heavily, dropped her pencil and sat up.

"What did you do this time?"

"I jumped off the swing."

"Why?" she asked in a tired voice.

"Because I wanted to see if I could fly. Like Peter Pan."

Sophia shook her head, looking at Santana in exasperation.

"When are you going to stop doing stupid things?"

"Hey! Soph…" Santana warned. Sophia glanced at her quickly, but Mateo talking caused her to refocus on him.

"It wasn't stupid."

"Look at your head. Do you just like having bruises and bumps all of the time?"

"No, I like having fun. At least I don't do boring things like read books and draw all the time."

"Drawing is fun!"

Santana shook her head, deciding that this was one of those sibling arguments that had to happen, and left them to it.

"Mami."

"Mhh" She hummed. As she turned to head upstairs, she noticed Jesus flipping on the trampoline. She poked her head out of the door. "Jesus, be careful amor okay? That can be dangerous if you land badly."

"Okay!"

"Mami"

"Yes" Santana stopped and looked down at Kyler. "Sorry love, what's up?"

"My mouth guard?"

"Oh." Santana nodded. She licked her lips as she thought. "You're sure it's not in the laundry room?"

"Yes"

"Okay…have you checked your room? I think I might have put it in your sports drawer or…" she squinted as she thought. "I remember seeing it in your room."

"Okay, I'll go check."

"Why do you need your mouth guard Ky?" she called after him as he ran up the stairs.

"For my game."

Santana's eyes widened, her heart practically stopping. She ran into the kitchen, crouching down to look at Kyler's calendar. At a certain point she and Brittany had realised that having all of the kids' various activities put into their calendars alongside all their work engagements was not feasible. So they had printed out personalised calendars for each of them, which they were in charge of keeping track of. Sure enough, right there in his untidy handwriting, was 'First game of the season 11 AM'. It was even circled in red.

"Crap!" she cursed loudly.

"Don't let mama hear you" Sophia shouted from the living room.

"Hey Soph? I need you to quickly go and get ready please."

"For what?"

Sophia tuned to look at her.

"Your brother's football game."

"Okay."

"What about me mami?"

"You stay there and keep the ice on your head. I'll bring your clothes down."

"Okay" he turned back to the tv.

"JESUS"

Jesus, who was halfway through the basketball hoop, dropped his head to look at Santana upside down.

"Come here"

He pulled is legs out of the net and then dropped onto to the trampoline, jumping a few times.

"Quickly please!"

"Yes?" he asked when he was standing before her.

"Go get ready."

He nodded and ran off. Of course he knew what he needed to get ready for, he had a photographic memory. The fact that he hadn't felt the need to remind her comforted Santana slightly. At least her kids hadn't picked up on the fact that she had completely forgotten.

She ran downstairs and opened the door to Brittany's studio without knocking.

"Britt"

"One sec" Brittany breathed, not breaking stride as she danced around the room.

"Britt"

"One sec" she said louder this time. Santana hated interrupting Brittany when she was like this, but as she looked down at her watch she was reminded that they had thirty minutes to be across town.

"Brittany"

Brittany stumbled to a stop, cursed under her breath and paused the music. "What is it?"

"Kyler's game."

It took a few seconds for Brittany's brain to catch on, but when it did she jerked forward, then ran back to grab her phone and switch off the music system.

"Let's go" She pushed Santana out of the room and up the stairs. "What time is it?"

"10:32"

"Fish sticks! I have to shower."

"Better be the fastest shower of your life."

Nodding, Brittany galloped up the stairs. Santana followed her at a slower pace and went into Mateo's room. She picked out the black football shirt they'd all got with the number 17, Kyler's number, and some grey shorts and headed downstairs. She met Sophia on the way, who was wearing the same black football shirt and light blue denim shorts.

"Looking good honey"

"Thanks. You're not ready."

"I just need to change Niki and I will be."

"We're going to be late."

"Okay, you take this and go change Niki then" she thrust the clothes into Sophia's hands. "Thank you my lovely daughter" she said quickly, and before Sophia could refuse, dashed into her room.

She put on the same black shirt, decided on denim shorts as well, though hers were black, and a black cap.

Brittany came out of the bathroom frantically towelling herself dry, and was ready in five minutes. She wore the shirt with blue tights.

"Ready?"

"Yes let's go"

They met Kyler at the bottom of the stairs, standing by the door with his duffel bag.

"We're gonna be late" he whined.

"Sorry buddy" Brittany apologised. "Put your stuff in the car, we're coming out now."

He nodded and left. Sophia followed him out with her small shimmering purple, pink and green bag with her name on it on her back.

"Jesus, Niki" Santana yelled. The two boys came running into the house from outside. "You're not dirty, thank god. To the car please."

"Hey" Brittany stopped Niki, bending to look at his arm and knee. "What happened?" she asked alarmed.

"He jumped off the swing, it was awful, can we do this in the car?"

A look at her watch told her thy now had ten minutes.

"Right…yeah sorry."

The universe seemed to be on their side, because there was no traffic the entire way, and they only had to stop at one red light. Kyler was bouncing his leg nervously, urging all the cars to move out of their way as he stared out the window. Santana was thankful when they pulled into the parking lot with 2 minutes to spare.

Kyler wasted no time in grabbing the bag at his feet and jumping out of the car. Without saying a word, he ran straight to the changing rooms.

"We made it" Brittany sighed. She took Mateo's hand to keep him running on the road. "Jesus, you okay buddy?"

He was fidgeting with his hands like he always did when he was nervous. Brittany wasn't sure if he'd picked it up from Santana, or if it was something he did naturally. He nodded absently, staring after Kyler.

"I'm just gonna go see…" he pointed in the direction Kyler had just gone, and with a nod from Brittany, ran off.

"Is uncle Noah gonna be here?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah, I think so. He said he would be." Santana answered.

"And Tia, Tia Ashley and Mercedes and Sean."

"And Jade."

"Is Theo going to come with Tia too?"

"I don't know honey. Probably."

They quickly made their way to the stands, scanning the crowd for their people.

"There's Quinn" Brittany pointed, somewhere in the middle of the stands.

"Ladies and gentlemen," came a loud voice on the speaker. "Welcome to the first game of the season."

"We've had a nice long break, but I'm sure the kids are happy to be back" another voice said.

"Come on, let's sit down quickly, I think it's about to start."

"Where the hell have you guys been?" Quinn asked angrily as she moved things from the bench that she'd been using to save space for them.

"We forgot" Santana whispered to her.

"How?" Quinn whispered back.

"I seriously don't even know."

This game had been in their minds for a month. Kyler had been talking about nothing else, and Puck had spent every single day running drills with Kyler, getting him ready for it. She really had no idea how she had woken up today and just forgotten.

Quinn hugged Sophia fiercely, and then picked up Mateo and placed him on her knee.

"What happened to you little man?" she asked, looking at his swollen head.

"He jumped off the swing" Sophia said, rolling her eyes as she made her way back from saying hi to Theo, Ashley and Jade.

"Is Mercedes here?" Brittany asked.

"She went to the bathroom or…to get snacks or something. She'll be back."

"Sean and Noah are down with the coach" Theo said, pointing down to the field.

"Of course" Santana laughed. "Sorry Theo, I didn't even say hi."

"No worries. I'm just glad you made it, we were worried."

Brittany and Santana both shook their heads. It had been close.

"Alright! And here come the teams!"

The commentators named every player as they ran onto the field, giving a brief history if they were on the team the year before, or an introduction if they were new.

"Next, number 17, our new running back. Kyler…" the commentator paused. "Am I reading this right?"

"Kyler Lopez-Pierce. Yeah you are"

The two laughed. Kyler ran out onto the pitch to join his teammates.

"Wow. We have a star on our team everybody. Number 17, 10 year old, Kyler Lopez-Pierce. You might know his mother, Santana Lopez-Pierce, or just Lopez as most people know her."

"The famous, grammy winning singer. Or his other mother, Brittany Lopez-Pierce, if you're more into dance."

"Wow" The first commentator said again. "I mean gosh, I hope the boy can play, cause we all know what some will think if he can't"

"For sure, I think he'll have a lot to prove going in. More than anyone else on the team, like it or not."

"Anyway, next, number 45…."

Santana ground her teeth together. These were the kind of things that reinforced her belief that her kids should be in private school. There was none of this pressure on them to be better than everyone else because she and Brittany were famous. It annoyed her even more that some parents were nodding along, and even more than that, that he had said it into the microphone for Kyler to hear.

"Calm down" Sophia placed her hand on Santana's thigh. It made Santana giggle, despite her anger. When she looked up, Brittany was giving her the same look. The 'don't cause a scene' look.

"Hey, I'm not the one you should be worried about" she defended. "It's Jade."

Jade opened her mouth to respond, then smiled and nodded.

"Yeah you're probably right"

"Before the whistle, we have to remind all the parents that this is a kids' game. Please refrain from yelling at or physically assaulting the refs, coaches, other parents or the kids. If you do, you shall be removed from the premises."

"And remember, there are no scouts in this, or any other games. The kids just want to have fun."

Santana turned to Quinn with raised eyebrows. She shrugged.

"The fact that they needed to announce that" Ashley laughed.

"Have people really physically assaulted each other?" Brittany asked in shock. "That's crazy?"

"Oh yeah" the parent seated on the row below them turned around. "Some parents take this waay too seriously." He said, shaking his head. "You'd think it was the NFL."

"It's kids' NFL," another dad said, "and if you believe that there are no scouts here you're a fool."

"Wow" Quinn mused.

Mercedes came jogging quickly up the steps to their row with her hands full of nachos.

"The line was hella long" She said, before sitting down between Ashley and Quinn. Ashley tapped her feet happily as she was handed one of the nachos. "Girl, where the hell were you?" She leaned forward to ask Santana.

"Long story" Santana said, looking meaningfully at Sophia, who had moved to sit next to Mercedes. Mercedes nodded in understanding.

"You want some nachos honey?"

Sophia eyed the nachos, then nodded.

"Can we share?"

"Sure bean. What about you Spiderman?"

"He's Peter pan now" Sophia informed her.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup. Tried to fly that's why you see all the bandages and his massive head."

"It's not massive, your head's massive."

"Okay honey" Brittany pulled him from Quinn's lap onto hers. "Come sit with mama."

"Sophia said I have a massive head."

"He does" Sophia whispered to Mercedes.

"Stop it" Santana told her seriously.

"Looks like Jesus will be sitting with the rest of the team" Quinn said. Santana craned her head to see, and sure enough, he was sitting on the bench.

"That's nice" she said. "I'm glad he at least has friends even if he doesn't want to play all the time."

"Jesus has friends everywhere" Sophia mumbled. Santana chose not to engage with her, knowing it would only lead to more sulking.

"Shhh it's starting" Jade said, standing up and then sitting down quickly.

"Look who's gotten into American football."

"Cause I love my baby, and for no other reason. I still think he was better at real football, but hey" she shrugged. "Now shut up!"

"He's not even playing" Brittany giggled.

Kyler's team had lost the kick-off, so the coach had brought on the defensive team. Less than ten minutes in however, they managed to win the ball, and the offence was brought on.

"Okay here we go" Santana breathed. She gripped Brittany's hand and barely took in a breath as the play started.

Kyler dropped the ball as soon as it was thrown to him, but managed to get on top of it before the other team picked it up.

"It's okay" Santana called as the play was reset. "Shake it off baby"

It was unlikely Kyler could hear her from where she was sitting, but she needed to say it anyway.

Two fumbled plays later, Santana was really beginning to panic. Brittany was squeezing her hand so tight it was cramping, and Sophia was covering her eyes.

"Looks like number 17 isn't having such a good start."

"What's going on?" Quinn whispered. Santana was staring at Kyler, who was walking back to his position with his head down.

"He's crying" Brittany noted.

"Looks like kid Hollywood got in based on anything but talent" A parent behind them said loudly. Santana shot up.

"No mami don't" Sophia grabbed her arm.

"Cool it Satan" Mercedes said, shaking her head.

"Get him mami" Mateo whispered with a thumbs up. Santana smiled at him, ruffling his hair.

"Thanks, but you can all relax. I'm going to Ky."

She made her way quickly down the stands, jogging up to the field.

"PUCK" she shouted when she was close enough. "Get him to call a time out."

Puck frowned at her. She ran faster. "Do it!"

By the time she was getting to the fence and jumping it, the time out had been called. As the team walked to the coach, Santana pulled Kyler aside. He removed his helmet, and sure enough, he was crying.

"Oh…baby" Santana wiped his tears and cupped his cheeks. "Listen to me my love." He looked into her eyes. "It's okay."

"I'm playing so badly."

"It happens sometimes honey. Right? We've watched the interviews together, where players say it wasn't their day." He nodded, wiping more tears.

"But everyone-"

"No, no, no." she moved closer to him, kneeling down. "Forget about everyone." Even as she said it, she heard the commentators talking about how Santana Lopez was on the field. "Are you playing for them?" he shook his head and sniffed. "No. Who are you playing for?"

"Me."

"Exactly. You're playing because you love to play. You've been playing since you were three okay? So it's okay to have an off day, but not because of other people. They don't matter. What do I always tell you?"

"The only people that matter are the ones you let matter."

"So who matters to you?"

He sniffed again, wiped his nose and looked into the stands. "Family."

"Family matter. And we'll all be proud of you no matter how you play, as long as you did your best, and had fun." He nodded again.

"Okay."

"Okay." Santana wiped the rest of his tears. "Give me a hug"

It broke her heart how tightly he squeezed as he buried his head in her neck. She wanted to ask him if he wanted to go home, and she very nearly did. The words were almost out of her mouth. But then she stopped herself. It wasn't the right lesson to teach him, and if she wanted him to be resilient and learn how to pick himself back up, she would have to let him fall.

Eventually, the ref was telling the coach that time was up, and Santana had to let Kyler go. He seemed as reluctant to part as she was, but she forced herself to pull apart and stand up.

"You're gonna be okay amor. Hold your head up and remember why you play. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Give me a kiss."

"It looks like we're having a substitution people."

"Coming right out of the first time out of the game, a substitution for the left guard, coming in is number 71, and 17's twin brother, Jesus Lopez-Pierce."

"I don't know what to make of this. We haven't seen much from the Lopez-Pierce already on field, so it's hard to know what bringing on another will do."

Santana swivelled round to see Jesus running up from the bench, fully dressed in his gear. Kyler stared at him with a huge smile.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Subbing in."

"I thought you didn't want to play?"

Jesus shrugged. "You need me, and I always have your back."

Santana couldn't remember a time she smiled so widely before. She bent and kissed Jesus' head, wished them both good luck and jogged off the field to stand with Puck and Sean.

"What it do LP."

"Hey Puck" they hugged, but neither took their eyes off the field as the boys took positions once again.

"You think you got to him?" Sean asked.

"I hope so"

"It's nerves, we all get them"

Santana heard Sean, but couldn't respond. She had her hands clasped together, pressed up against her mouth. She watched Kyler pull away from Jesus, who had been talking to him with an arm over his shoulder. Thy knocked their heads together, he jump a few times, and then got into his crouched position.

"I really hope so." She repeated.

The ball was snapped, the quarter back took the ball and fell back, looking for Kyler. In the last play, Kyler hadn't been fast enough, and allowed himself to be tackled. This time, as soon as the ball snapped, he took off, dodging three different kids and jumping over another. When he got to a good enough distance, he turned to receive the ball. The quarter back threw, and then Kyler spotted a boy running full speed at him. He had enough time to run out of the way, but the ball was already in the air, and if he moved he would miss it. He decided to take the hit, praying he'd be able to get the ball before contact.

Santana wanted to screw her eyes shut.

"He's gonna take the hit" Sean said gravely.

The kid coming at him wasn't small, and it was probably going to hurt.

"Looks like he's going to take the hit people. But the question on all our minds is will he catch it?"

"It looks a bit high from where I'm sitting. Young Kyler doesn't look like he has the height on him. I think it's gonna go out"

Kyler jumped, snatching the ball out of the air and braced for impact. The boy should have smashed into him before he even landed on the ground, but he didn't.

"What a block by number 71, and what a catch by number 17, displaying some skill we haven't seen from him all game."

A look around told Kyler he was free to run all the way to the end-zone. He looked quickly at the bench where everyone was staring wide eyed, unable to believe he'd caught it.

"Run" Puck shouted first. Then the coach and his team and the rest of the stands started shouting for him to run as well. The players on the field seemed to be snapped out of their revere, with tackles and guards coming at him all at once. Kyler took off at a sprint.

"I don't believe it" one commentator was shouting over the roar of the crowd.

"He may be the fastest kid we've had on this team Fletch, look at him go."

"I think I can say no one is going to get him Rick. He's miles away and still going."

"And with 71 keeping pace to block for him, even if anyone could catch him, they'd be taken down."

"It's gonna be our first touchdown ladies and gents!"

The crowd went wild as Kyler crossed the line, throwing the ball down. Jesus smashed into him, hugging him fiercely, both having thrown their helmets off. Then, before the rest of his team could get to him, Kyler ran to the bench and jumped into Santana's arms.

Santana was crying as she lifted Kyler up, letting him wrap his legs around her waist. She cradled his head as he cried into her neck and kissed the side of his face she could reach. Finally, he pulled back.

"I did it mami."

"You did it my baby. You did so well."

"You made a touchdown!" Puck roared, picking Kyler out of Santana's arms and throwing him in the air.

When he put him down, Sean high fived him.

"Nice run little man."

"Thank you."

Santana brushed the hair out of his face.

"I'm so proud of you mijo. Now go do it again."

Kyler nodded, put his helmet back on and ran onto the field.

Santana stayed at the bench for three more plays, making absolutely sure that Kyler didn't need her anymore, and then headed back up to where Brittany and the rest were.

"He's doing so good" Brittany said, the second she sat down. Santana nodded.

"What was up?" Jade asked.

"The stupid commentators were getting to him."

"Bloody hell. Someone should go talk to them. They were talking about this not being the NFL, then why are they commentating like it is?"

"But he's doing amazing now. Three touchdowns in three plays" Mercedes said. "Look at Sean, he's ecstatic.

"Yeah. He's doing great."

They lost the ball to the other team though, when the quarter back got sacked and dropped the ball before he could throw it to the WD. So the coach switched to the defensive team, and Kyler got to sit for a bit.

Santana took that opportunity to go get some snacks. Mateo was becoming whiney and fidgety, meaning he was hungry, and she herself was about to snap and punch the man behind her who kept mouthing off about all the kids.

When she returned, it was to a tense atmosphere.

"What did I miss?"

"They scored three touchdowns and two conversions" Quinn told her. "But Kyler's team managed to get the ball back."

"There's only two minutes on the clock, and they need 8 points to win." Jade added.

"Crap" Santana handed Mateo a hot dog. "So they need a touchdown."

All the women nodded. "And they're on the other end of the pitch" Ashley said gravely.

Santana stood up again, noticing that Kyler was back near the bench, this time Sean was the one kneeling next to him, pointing at the field. Kyler was breathing heavily, nodding along. A minute later, Sean was standing up. He tapped Kyler's helmet twice and Kyler ran back to his coach. The whistle blew, and the team lined up on the 10 yard line.

"Even if he gets the ball, do they have enough time to play to the end zone?" Mercedes asked quietly. Santana and Brittany looked at each other. Sure, Kyler was fast, and the QB was good, but 2 minutes wasn't a long time, that was a far distance to get the ball across, and they would have people trying to attack him every step of the way.

"This is going to be the last play of the day folks. There isn't time for another one, so it will be the decider. Who will win?"

"The fate of the game is in number 23's hands, the QB. If he can get the ball to number 8, the wide receiver, or to number 17, the running back, then the little eagles may have a chance of winning this."

"But remember, there's only 2 minutes left. Number 8 or 17, whoever gets it, is going to have to run like crazy to get to the end zone for the touchdown needed to win this."

"Let's see Rick."

"Please god" Santana whispered. Brittany was once again squeezing her hand. "Please."

Jesus, who hadn't re-joined the game after the defence came off, was standing on the bench, watching intently. All the kids were watching intently. In fact, all the parents were as well. It was strangely tense for a kids' game, but then, this was as professional as it got in Youth football.

It was deathly silent as the players took positions, everyone crouching down and the QB calling the play. As soon as the ball snapped, the ball was handed off to Kyler.

There was an explosion of 'WHAT!' from all over the stands, even Santana and Mercedes.

"How do they expect him to make it to the end zone sprinting all the way from the 10?" Ashley asked incredulously. He was doing a fine job of it so far. The part of the stands with little eagles supporters were cheering him on loudly. They all gasped as he was almost taken down by the same right outside line-backer that Jesus had tackled that first play. He stumbled and had reached out to support himself with one hand, but gained his balance quickly and kept running. That was the closest anyone got to him. He side stepped a few other players, and then sprinted faster than Santana had ever seen him run.

"Look at that run people."

"You thought you saw 17 run before, that was nothing. This kid is a bullet."

Kyler kept on running. The clock kept ticking. Two minutes seemed a decade all of a sudden, because in less than one, Kyler had crossed the line into the end zone. The stands and his teammates erupted in thunderous cheers. Santana was crying again, and so was Brittany. Kyler had never looked happier. His coach called him over, patting him repeatedly on the back and ruffling his hair, Sean and Puck threw him around as they cheered, and then the kicker took the field, sending the ball safely through the poles for the two point conversion. After that, the coach switched to defence, wanting to just wait out the clock. He had the QB throw to the WR, who caught it and tucked it under his arm as he was tackled. Then the whistle blew.

"They won!" Mercedes cheered. "Oh my god they actually won."

"Yeah, that was looking dicey." Theo laughed, exhaling loudly.

"It wouldn't have been if 17 had played properly in the beginning."

Santana clenched her jaw, locking eyes with Brittany who mouthed 'ignore them'

"What's your problem exactly?" Jade rounded on the woman behind them.

"Oh nothing. Just that he's clearly too soft for this level of the game. If he needs his mama to give him a kiss before he can play well."

"Does it matter if he got 4 touchdowns? Did your kid even play or were they warming the bench?" Quinn asked. Santana's eyebrows shot up, sharing an amused look with Brittany.

"He played, he's a defensive tackle."

"Oh you mean the group that let three touchdowns go in less than 10 minutes?"

The woman's eyes narrowed dangerously. The man next to her, who had been mouthing off the whole game, stepped forward.

"Our kids actually have talent though. Anyone can pretend to play well when they have a professional NFL player as a coach" he pointed to the field, where Sean and Puck had Jesus and Kyler on their shoulders, running around the field and shouting. "But talent always wins in the end. All those fancy tricks he's got won't help him against tougher teams who study their opponent's plays, then we'll see."

"Oh yes, it was such a trick the way he sprinted down the field" Jade rolled her eyes. "A trick of the light maybe? Or is he a magician who fooled us all into thinking he was running when really he was flying?"

Sophia laughed.

"You just better make sure you're there for all his games" the woman said, sneering at Santana. "Otherwise he might fall apart and lose all our games."

"You just better make sure your kids understands their job"

"What do you know about American football anyway red coat?" the man snarled.

"More than your kids, clearly."

"Okay" Ashley looped her arm through Jade's and began pulling her away.

"What's their problem?" Mercedes asked, as they made their way down to the field. "Aren't we on the same team? Shouldn't they be happy they won?"

"Everyone here pretty much wants their kid to shine and their kid alone. Some parents are gonna be pissed that the commentators focused so heavily on 17." The dad who was sitting in front of them turned and said. "You get used to it."

"You don't seem too upset."

"If my kid's not upset, then I see no reason to be."

"Who's your kid?" Brittany asked.

"The Quarter back."

"Oh wow. He was really great today."

"Thanks" he beamed. "He's been playing for a while."

"How long?"

"We joined the youth league when he was six."

"Wow" all the women said together.

"Yeah" he laughed.

"Well it shows" Santana said.

The group made their way onto the pitch.

"Kyler?" Santana and Brittany nodded. "He's amazing. Don't worry about the thing at the start. The first few games are always hard. The pressure, and the commentators, man, they can be brutal. But he came back like a champ, and that's what matters."

"Thanks" Santana said.

"Yeah, he'll get used to it." Brittany agreed.

"Mum!" Kyler ran up to them, wrapping his arms around both their waists. They bent to kiss his head and then Brittany hugged him tight.

"I'm so proud of you honey!"

"You won!" Ashley cheered, high fiving him. "Way to go buddy."

"Wicked" Jade agreed, nodding profusely.

Mercedes tickled him until he was collapsing on the floor.

"That's what winners get" she laughed.

Jesus came up to them next, he was just in his under shirt and tights. "We won!" He cheered as he ran straight into Ashley. She stumbled.

"You did! And you even played. How come?"

"Well…" he looked shyly at the ground. "Kyler was really nervous and…I could just feel like…he needed me." Kyler nodded. "So…even though I didn't want to play, I didn't mind if I was doing it to make sure he was okay"

"That's really good of you" Quinn told him seriously. "Come here and give Tia a hug." He did.

When she let him go, Kyler pulled him into a hug as well. "Thank you" they all heard him whisper.

"Hi" A short plump woman with straight dark brown hair in a big football jersey and tights came up to them. They made space for her in their circle.

"Hi" Brittany beamed.

"I'm Regina, Wesley's mum."

"Wesley?" Santana asked.

"The quarter back."

"Oh! We were just talking to your husband." Brittany said happily.

"Ex."

"Oh." Brittany turned slightly red.

"Uh, I'm Santana," Santana said to break the awkward silence. "This is my wife Brittany" Brittany smiled, clearly still embarrassed, "her sister Ashley, and our friends Mercedes, Jade, Quinn, and Quinn's fiancé Theo."

"Nice to meet you all. Will we be seeing all your faces at the games?"

"No" Quinn said. "I don't think so. This one was just too special to miss."

Regina nodded. "Yeah, first game of the season is always great. How did you guys find it? First time parents in the stands?"

"A mixed bag. The energy was awesome, but then there were some parents who you just want to-" Santana balled up her fists.

Regina laughed.

"Yeah. Some parents, especially the ones of the defence players I've realised, get pretty angry."

"Noted." Santana laughed.

"You're free to sit with us. I have two other kids so they're a bit much sometimes, but if you don't mind."

"Well we have two other kids too, so it all works out."

"Great!"

"Are you ready to go?" the man they had previously been talking to returned.

"Oh. Yeah." She turned to leave, then turned back. "Hey, we're taking Wes and some of the other boys out for celebratory pizza and ice cream, if yours want to come along too…"

Santana looked down at Kyler, who was nodding. Jesus had already gone back to the other players on the team who hadn't left.

"I'm gonna assume that's a yes" she pointed at him and laughed.

"You wanna go bud?" Brittany asked Kyler.

"Yes please!"

"Your other kids can come too" the man said, looking at Sophia and Mateo. "We have a daughter around his age. 5?"

"6" Brittany told him.

"Ours is five."

"You wanna go Niki?"

"Yes" he jumped up.

"Soph?"

Sophia shook her head. "No"

"Okay."

"Will you text us where you're going?"

"Sure" Regina handed her phone to Brittany, who put in her number.

"And we'll come pick them up later."

"We can drop them" the man said quickly. "No need to come out all the way and we're the ones that took them"

Santana looked unsure.

"Were dropping all the others" Regina assured.

"Okay then. We'll text you our address then." Santana said.

With goodbye hugs, Kyler and Mateo left with Regina. Jesus ran up to them and hugged them all quickly when he was told the plan and then they left.

Sean and Puck were already at the gate with the coach, so they got to say bye to them there. By the time Santana and the rest got to there, the coach had gone.

"That was amazing." Sean said.

"Absolutely." Santana agreed.

---

"Ah here he is!"

Jesus frowned, pausing mid step as the loud shout greeted him the second he walked into the swimming pool.

"Perfect timing dude"

Seeing his brother sitting on the table a few metres away, surrounded by a small group of their friends, he made his way there. Nicholi was sitting on Kyler's right, looking down at his phone.

Josiah and Mark met him halfway. Mark grabbed his shoulder and jumped. They both looked way too excited just to see him.

"What's up?" he asked curiously.

"Why'd you decide to come here?" Mark asked in a hushed voice.

"Did you feel your brother calling out to you? Or did he tell you telepathically."

Jesus frowned, turning his confused eyes on Kyler.

"No sé" Kyler shrugged. His hair was still wet and dripping down his back, even though it was tied in a now lose bun.

"He obviously knew Kyler wanted him somehow. What are the coincidences he just wandered in here?" Another boy with big red glasses, Luca, said. He paused to consider if he'd used the word coincidence right, nodded to himself and turned expectantly to Jesus

"Kyler has the same swimming training every Friday. I know what time it ends."

The group was silent, some looking disappointed.

"Okay but, when one of you gets hurt, does the other feel it?"

"No" they said at the same time. Jesus jumped onto the table to sit on Kyler's left. They both leaned into each other, knocking the side of their heads together, then Jesus extended his hand and bumped Nicholi's fist.

Mickey, the worst swimmer on the team, rushed forward and punched Jesus in the arm.

"Ow!" he jumped off the table and shoved Mickey. Kyler was by his side, having jumped at the same time. He stepped in front of Jesus slightly, to keep him from advancing anymore.

"What the hell Mick?"

"Did you feel that?"

"Zey already told you zey don't feel each ozers pain. Are you stupid?"

Nicholi's accent was still present, but not as strong as it was when they were in pre-K.

With a final glare, Kyler turned to Jesus, looking at his arm. "You okay?"

Jesus nodded. They both jumped back into the table.

"So none of that twin stuff is real? You guys can't read each other's minds or, feel each other's pain or like…have a secret language or something?"

Jesus and Kyler looked at each other briefly.

"You do!" Mark shouted, pointing at them.

"Don't be stupid." Jesus said, laughing at the idea.

It was a lie of course. They did have their own language, though it was only a few years ago that they realised they weren't speaking English, and it was not something they could control. It happened mostly when one of them was in an overly emotional state, like Jesus' tantrums, which had now turned into a temper. Kyler was usually the one that used it, to calm him down or get them to listen. The day they realised no one else could understand them was when Kyler had been tackled in a soccer game when they were 7, and had completely lost it, screaming at the boy who had obviously fouled him. Jesus had run from his position as keeper to calm Kyler down, and one of the boys on their team had asked them what language that was.

They did not need other people knowing this though. Everyone was already so intrigued by their being identical, it would only get much worse if they knew that they had a twin language, or that sometimes they did feel what the other was feeling.

One time, on Mateo's 5th birthday, Jesus had tripped down the stairs and sprained his wrist. Kyler, who was in the pool with the other kids and Brittany, had begun screaming his head off about a pain in his hand. It was so bad that he couldn't swim, and lasted until Jesus had been given pain meds in the emergency room. Then there was the emotional stuff, like just last weekend when Jesus had nearly thrown up because of Kyler's nerves at his first real football game, and how he had just known that by going out onto the field, he would be able to calm him down.

They didn't need to know any of that.

"Have you guys ever duped your parents? Like tricked them into thinking you were…" Mickey gestured his hands wildly between them.

"We tried" Kyler laughed. "But it didn't work. Our mums know us."

"How?" Luca asked, amazed. "You look the same to me. If you wore the same clothes and did your hair the same, I wouldn't know who was who."

"I've known zem for like….years, and I still can't tell sometimes."

Kyler and Jesus shrugged.

"They're our mums" Jesus said.

"Does your mum…the famous one, know you better?"

They both frowned.

"Both zeir mums is famous."

"No…one's a dancer and one's a famous singer right?"

"She's a famous dancer too." Jesus pointed out.

"Yeah but you know what he meant." Mark said, shaking his head. "Everyone knows your mum."

"Does it ever get confusing which one you're talking about cause both of them are mum?" Josiah asked.

"No." Kyler shook his head, but didn't elaborate.

"Well…Anyway, does she know you better?"

"Why would she know us better?" Kyler asked.

"Cause she's your real mum."

Jesus and Kyler frowned.

"Isn't she?"

"They're both our mums."

"Well yeah but…like she gave birth to you right?"

"What do you know about giving birth Luca" Mickey laughed, shoving Luca.

"More than I should. My dad had the talk with me cause my brother was getting it. He said he only wanted to do it once." Luca shivered, stuck his tongue out and shook his head. "Girls are gross."

Kyler frowned, looking at Jesus. He knew where babies came from, his mums had explained it to them and Sophia when they were talking about adoption, but nothing she'd said had been gross. Shocking, sure, but not gross.

"Why, what did your dad tell you?"

"No, no, no!" Mark clapped his hands over his ears. "Don't talk about that stuff."

All the boys laughed as Nicholi tried to pull Mark's hands from his ears for a few minutes.

"What I was saying though" Luca said after they all calmed down, "is that only one of them could have given birth to you, even if they're both women, and that's the one that knows you better."

"That's not true" Jesus shook his head.

"It is" Mark said. "My mum knows me better than my dad. I swear she can read my mind."

"Zat's not cause she gave birth to you, zat's cause she pays attention."

"And you're a bad liar" Mickey laughed.

"My pa knows me like zat, you say you're mum knows you. Sometimes he tells me not to do something just when I'm sinking about doing it. Are you saying he gave birth to me?"

The boys all guffawed.

"No dude." Luca laughed. "Course not."

"Exactly" Jesus said. "So stop talking stupid."

After 20 more minutes of chatting, in which they discussed the latest video game they had all been playing online, they decided to get a few minutes of swimming in before their parents arrived to pick them up.

Kyler stayed behind with Jesus as the others jumped in.

"We don't know"

"What?"

"Who gave birth to us."

Jesus turned to Kyler. "So?"

"So…don't you want to?"

"Why?"

"Because….she's our mum."

Jesus frowned heavily, scooting a few inches away so he could turn to properly face his brother.

"No she's not. She's not our anything, why would you say that?"

Kyler was looking down at his feet, still wrinkly from his time in the pool.

"Don't think like Luca, he's stupid. We already have 2 mums. Why would you want another one?"

Jesus jumped off the table and went to sit with his feet in the pool.

---

Brittany arrived at Mount Cedar Crest middle school at a quarter to 5. She had her ID in the glove compartment at all times, because the process of getting another one was too tedious to go through losing it again. Even though the guards at the gate knew her well, her kids having gone there for four years now, they had still refused to let her in without calling the office for the entire week her parent's ID had been lost. Trying to get into this school was like trying to get into the white house.

There weren't many cars in the lot as she parked. It was nearly two hours after school had ended, and most kids had been picked before 4. Only the kids on the sports teams would be left, and Kyler was usually the last one out because he liked to train when the rest had gone.

More than once she'd considered coming to pick the others at 3 and then sending Jessie to pick Kyler, and Jesus whenever he felt like staying, but she'd decided against it. Chad had actually been the one to convince her. He'd said that he and his sister were close because of how much time they were forced to spend together. They had more memories together as children because of all the times she'd been stuck waiting with his at dance auditions and classes, and all the spelling bees and Girl Scout activities he'd had to go with her to. So, though she felt sorry for Sophia specifically, she resolved to pick them all at the same time.

The guard at the gate to the swimming pool waved at her as she approached, then disappeared behind the door. A few seconds later the door opened and he ushered her in.

"Hey Tyrone"

"Hey Mrs Lopez-Pierce."

"How are you? Did your cold let up?"

"Yeah it did" he grinned at her. "Yesterday. All clear now."

"I'm glad. You were looking awful." Brittany laughed.

"He's looking good" Tyrone pointed at the pool, where Kyler was still doing laps. "Beat his time today."

"Wow" Brittany gasped. "Really?"

"Yeah. Coach is really excited for the meet next weekend. She says he's sure to win."

"Wow" she said again, turning to smile at Kyler. "I'm so proud of him."

"You should be. Those are some good kids you got."

"Thank you Tyrone. Do you mind going to find Sophia for me?"

Tyrone nodded and walked out, leaving Brittany to make her way to the pool bleachers. Kyler swam up to the edge and threw his hand over to keep himself steady.

"Hi mama"

"Hey love. How was it?"

"Really good"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I was faster today, coach said she thinks I should move up to competing with 12 to 15."

"Really?" Brittany's eyes went wide. "How do you feel about that?"

Kyler shrugged. "It's not as fun when it's so easy."

'Cocky' Brittany thought. "Did mami tell you that?"

"Yeah. She said there's not point being good at something if you never push yourself to be better."

Brittany wasn't even surprised. She supposed in the greatest scheme of things, Santana teaching their kids to always be the best they can was not a bad thing, even if it did mean they sometimes came off as arrogant. It was definitely better then Jesus' phase of saying 'I'm a Lopierce' as answer to anyone asking him why he did something.

"So are you going to be training with the older kids now?"

Before Kyler could respond, Sophia came running in with Jesus right behind her, carrying Mateo on his back. Blood was completely covering Mateo's mouth, and trickling down his chin.

"What happened?" Brittany asked alarmed. Kyler lifted himself out of the pool, splashing her slightly with water, but she barely noticed. When they were in front of her, Mateo slid off Jesus back and ran to Brittany. "What happened Mateo?" she asked again as she crouched down to see his mouth better.

"I fell."

"Where?"

With her thumb, Brittany pulled down Mateo's bottom lip, inspecting his teeth and gums. The blood seemed to be coming from the base of his two front teeth and his bottom lip, which had a cut along the inside. She then lifted his top lip, but the top teeth didn't seem to be bleeding. She shook her head and looked at Sophia and Jesus.

"Where did he fall?"

"I don't know" Sophia said, as Jesus shook his head. Both their eyes were so wide and filled with fear that it forced Brittany to calm down. She realised they were probably terrified by how much blood was pooling around his teeth and her freaking out wouldn't help anything.

She stood up straight, lifting Mateo in

to her arms.

"Let's go. Ky, get changed please and let's go."

Kyler nodded quickly and ran off to the changing room.

---

By the time they got home, Mateo's gums had stopped bleeding, and he had passed out in his booster seat. Brittany carried him to the living room and laid him down on the couch.

"Homework" she called to the three kids who were making their way upstairs.

"Can I do mine in my room?" Jesus asked.

Brittany paused in taking off Mateo's shoes and looked up at Jesus.

"Why bud?"

Jesus shrugged.

Mateo woke up, reaching his arms up for Brittany and beginning to cry.

"Sure" Brittany said dismissively, as she picked Mateo up again and let him cry into her neck.

"What's wrong honey?"

He didn't answer her.

An hour later when Kyler had finished with his homework, Brittany still had Mateo cuddled into her, squeezing her tighter when she tried to move. As a result she had barely checked Sophia and Kyler's homework beyond a glance over, and hadn't been able to go and check on Jesus. They stayed that way until Santana got home, nearly two hours after they had. Mateo went to her easily, keeping the same strong grip on her neck as he had on Brittany.

"How's it going Jesus?" Brittany asked as she walked into his and Kyler's room. Kyler was on his bed with a comic book, but closed it slightly and looked up when Brittany entered. Jesus was sitting cross-legged on his bed with his school books spread out in front of him. He glanced sideways at Kyler before answering her.

"Fine."

Brittany looked over at Kyler too.

"Mami's home Ky, you wanna go say hi to her?"

Kyler nodded, scooting off his bed and dropping the comic onto it. When the door closed behind him, Brittany pushed aside one of Jesus' books and sat opposite him on the bed.

"Talk to me honey"

Jesus remained quiet, twirling his pencil in his hands.

Brittany looked down at his books. He seemed to be doing history. From Sophia and Kyler she knew they were supposed to be writing a one page essay on some topic from something they'd learned today. She hadn't read either of their work so she didn't know what they were supposed to be about, but she'd never been a big fan of history when she was in school.

Jesus had only one paragraph of about 6 lines written down. Brittany sighed.

"Are you having trouble with your homework?"

"I always have trouble with my homework" Jesus said angrily. He dropped his pencil and hung his head in his hands, his fingers tangling in the hair that would have fallen over his face.

"I can help you baby, it's not a big deal."

Jesus took a deep breath.

"Sophia and Ky don't need help with their homework. Even Niki can do all his homework without help. I'm just stupid!"

"Hey!" Brittany moved closer to him, removing his hands from his face and forcing him to look at her. "You are not stupid Jesus."

Tears were forming in Jesus' eyes now. He shook his head, sniffling.

"Then why can't I understand anything?"

Brittany pouted, moving closer still.

"Remember when mami and I talked to you about something called ADHD?" He nodded. "Your brain just works differently honey. It's harder for you to sit still and pay attention in class, and if you can't pay attention when a teacher is teaching, how can you expect to understand your homework?"

He was full on crying now, and it broke Brittany's heart.

"I wish my brain didn't have to be different."

"I know love" she let him fall forward into her chest and brushed her hand over his head. "I know."

It was about ten minutes before Jesus calmed down and pulled away from Brittany. He wiped his nose on his shirt and looked down at his books.

"I have it too, did I ever tell you that?"

Jesus' eyes snapped to hers. He shook his head.

"ADHD?"

"Yeah" Brittany nodded. "I didn't know I had it until I was in high school."

"Did you find school hard too?"

"Oh yeah" Brittany said seriously. "I hated school so much. I used to beg gammy to let me stay home. She had to help me with my homework every day and you know what?"

"What?" Jesus asked, wiping his nose again.

"I used to cry a lot too, cause everyone always called me stupid in school." Jesus pouted slightly. "Are kids in school being mean to you?"

"No" he looked down again. "I can just see that other kids don't…find it as hard as me."

"Is that why you wanted to do your homework upstairs?"

He nodded. "It's embarrassing. And Sophia always finishes first and asks me why I'm taking so long. Sometimes she looks at my work and tells me I'm doing it wrong. I promise I try mama, but sometimes homework takes so long, and it's so boring and I just start thinking about other things." He glanced fleetingly at Brittany. "Sometimes I even forget I'm doing my homework and start doing something else." He added quietly.

Brittany placed a hand on his knee.

"It's okay Jesus. It's really not your fault. I'll talk to Sophia okay?" He nodded. "But you shouldn't be embarrassed. It's normal for that to happen to you, it's how your brain works, and if it didn't work like that then you wouldn't be my Jesus."

He smiled at that, and Brittany felt a little better.

"Was school always hard for you?"

Brittany wanted to lie to him, just so he wouldn't look at her the way he was right now; With so much defeat already in his eyes.

"It got easier, but I always had to remember that things that worked for everyone else, didn't work for me. If I forgot, then yeah, it was hard."

"What made it easier?"

Brittany shook her head.

"Let's talk about this later okay? All you need to know is that I know exactly how you are feeling right now, but lucky for you, I've been there, so I know how to help you." Jesus nodded. "I promise I'll do everything I can to make things better for you okay?"

"Okay"

"Can I help you with your homework?"

Jesus sighed heavily, but nodded.

Brittany brushed his hair out of his face and kissed his forehead, then she left the room, returning with sticky notes and different coloured highlighters.

"First, I'm going to teach you the best way to study so your brain doesn't get bored and start thinking about other things."

It took them nearly another hour, but Brittany managed to get Jesus through history and geography without having to explain too much to him. His mood picked up considerably when he realised that he could actually understand the homework as long as he focused the entire time, and when Brittany declared they were done and stood up from the bed, he launched himself at her, hugging her tight.

"You're the best mama"

---

Everyone had already had dinner by the time they were going downstairs. Santana had taken Mateo to shower and get ready for bed, and Sophia and Kyler were watching tv together in the living room, so Brittany and Jesus had dinner together.

They talked about their days, argued about whether Spiderman could beat captain America in a fight and made a deal that Jesus could miss one day of school next week to come to the first day of Brittany's dance convention if he promised to catch up on his work during the weekend.

"Alright buddy, time for bed."

"Aww" Jesus whined. "Can't my bedtime be 10?"

Brittany smiled.

"Your bedtime can be 10 when you're thirteen, we talked about this."

"But I didn't even get to watch any tv."

This was true, Brittany realised. He had taken two hours longer than everyone else to finish his homework, and spent 20 minutes after dinner talking to her instead of watching. It hardly seemed fair to punish him for either of those things.

"Okay…" she stood up and made her way to the living room.

"Soph, have you showered?"

Sophia turned to face her and shook her head.

"Ky?"

"Yeah" He called, without turning.

"Alright, Jesus, how about this, while Sophia is showering and Ky goes to brush his teeth, you can watch some tv."

"Okay!"

Sophia had continued her trend of not causing a fuss when it came to showering or getting in to bed from when she was 4, so without Brittany needing to tell her, she stood up and made her way upstairs.

"Ky" Brittany called.

"But I don't have to brush my teeth now." Kyler said, finally turning around. "Can't I brush when Jesus is brushing?"

"Okay" Brittany allowed. "But you've watched more than enough tv. You're only allowed an hour on school days, and I'm sure you've had more than that."

Sulking, Kyler marched out of the room and up the stairs.

Brittany took a deep breath, deciding to let the attitude go and turned to Jesus.

"I'll come down when your time's up."

"Okay" Jesus said happily.

She found Santana in their room, seemingly having just come out of the shower. Her hair was wet and tied up in a bun, dripping water down her back.

"Hi" Santana smiled when Brittany walked in.

"Hey. Sorry I didn't-" Santana waved her hand, brushing off her apology. "How's Niki?"

"Ugh" Santana shook her head and crawled into bed. "God."

"I know"

"He's fine. Both teeth are shaking. Thank god they are still baby teeth. He told me you hadn't given him any meds…" she trailed off, raising an eyebrow. Brittany nodded. "So I gave him some, just in case. You know he isn't so good at saying when he's in pain."

"Yeah. Good call."

Settled into bed, Santana pulled the sheets up to her chest and crossed her arms over them.

"How are you?"

Brittany sighed. She dropped onto the bed and let her head fall into Santana's lap.

"I'm exhausted."

"Oh" Santana stuck her bottom lip out sympathetically. "I'm sorry love. Long day?"

Brittany nodded. "I had to fire a dancer today…"

"Ooooh" Santana groaned. "Fun."

"I felt so bad."

"Why were you firing them?"

"They're always late to rehearsals and then it's super clear they haven't practiced at all. They're always messing up and slowing everyone down."

"Oh, well then they deserved it. You shouldn't feel bad."

"I know…I just hate having to tell someone they're out of a job. Like I imagine how I would feel if that was me."

"That's cause you're a nice person. Besides, you could never be fired you know why?"

"Why?" Brittany asked smiling.

"Cause not only are you the most talented dancer ever, you're also a professional. You're like the dancing equivalent of a nerd."

Brittany giggled.

"At the end of the day, you did what was right for the whole team" Santana said more seriously. "And that makes you a good leader."

"Thanks. How was your day?"

"Good" Santana smirked. "Really good."

"Yeah? That's good. How's Quinn?"

Santana's smile broadened.

"You really need to make some time to go see her."

"I know" Brittany sighed. "I know. I've just been really busy."

"Still. Even if it's just like…stopping by the restaurant for half an hour."

Brittany frowned and lifted her head.

"Why?"

"She really needs to see you."

"Why?"

"Just go see her" Santana laughed.

"Why do I feel like you're not telling me something though?"

Santana pursed her lips and shrugged. There was a knock at their door.

"Mum"

They both turned to see Sophia opening the door.

"Yeah mija?"

"I'm done getting ready for bed. Are you going to come say goodnight?"

"Of course" Santana answered.

Brittany got up, allowing Santana to flip open the covers.

"We'll be right there okay?"

Nodding, Sophia left.

Brittany turned seriously to Santana.

"We need to revisit the conversation about Jesus going on ADHD meds. More seriously this time."

Santana frowned before her face fell. She rubbed her forehead.

"Is he struggling?"

"He cried in my arms today."

Santana's eyes fell shut. "No"

"I know I was the one who said I didn't want him on the meds, because of how they made me feel, but…he's…I think he needs them. It would be better for him to have them, and be able to cope better, and then we look into alternative options when he's older."

Santana nodded, touching her hand to Brittany's.

"We'll talk about it."

---

Santana woke up in complete darkness. It took her a few minutes to realise that the glowing green things on the walls were the glow in the dark stickers Mateo had all over his room. She sat up slowly, gently pulling her arm from under his head so she didn't wake him.

For the fifth night this week, Mateo had woken up in the middle of the night, apparently done sleeping. She and Brittany were taking turns spending the night with him, reading books and telling him bedtime stories until he fell back to sleep. It was still dark outside, which meant that thankfully, it was not time to get up and ready.

She was surprised to see the lights on in the stairwell when she left Mateo's room. Assuming one of the kids had forgotten to switch them off after going to the bathroom or something, she moved to the end of the hall where the switch was, only to see the lights on downstairs as well.

Santana groaned. It would be the first thing she brought up the next morning, she thought to herself.

"Britt?"

Brittany, who was sitting at the kitchen island, turned to face her.

"Hey"

"What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep. I have a headache."

"Oh…sorry love" Santana moved fully into the kitchen and kissed Brittany's head tenderly. "How long have you been up for?"

"Since I woke up and you weren't in bed." Brittany smiled faintly, rubbing her temple.

"I was with Mateo."

"Yeah I guessed."

"Have you taken anything?" Santana rubbed Brittany's back.

"Some water, if it's still hurting in the morning I'll take something."

"I'll do drop off tomorrow okay? So you can rest."

"I'll be fine."

"Britt, you've been doing a lot lately. Teaching, dancing, choreographing, and your convention is starting in a few days….that's why you have a headache."

"Don't you have a meeting tomorrow to discuss your new contract?"

"If there's a new contract, I'm still not sure. I can postpone it." Brittany sighed, closing her eyes. "It's not a big deal."

Brittany groaned, dropping her head onto her arm on the counter.

"Fine."

After watching her for a bit, Santana left, needing as much sleep as possible if she was now doing the drop off.

---

When her alarm went off, Santana was already awake. She wasn't fully awake, like lying with her eyes open, but she was on the brink of consciousness, so when it rang, it felt like she'd just been waiting for it. She shut it off before it woke Brittany up, and headed to her closet.

Santana had a lot of clothes. She wasn't great at throwing things out unless they were torn or didn't fit anymore, which meant that at some point they'd had to expand their closet. It also meant, that she took way too long to get ready. With so many options to choose from, it would take her at least twenty minutes, on a good day, to just decide what she wanted to wear. Add in the dilemma of dressing solely for school drop off, and it usually took closer to forty five minutes.

Deciding to at least be productive while she thought, Santana went to wake up the kids. She started with Sophia, who she knew she'd have to come back to, then woke the twins. Mateo wouldn't be a problem to wake up, but he always put up a fight when it came to getting ready, so she would need to be ready herself before getting to him.

As she was standing in the kitchen, taking out the ingredients for pancakes, an idea for an outfit came to her. She stopped by Sophia's room to wake her up again, and then dashed into her closet to change.

A simple strapless, little black dress with a plunging neckline, and a gold belt with a large circular buckle. It wasn't dressed up, which Jean had accused her of in the past, with some support from Brittany. Yet she still looked good. She'd be fine getting caught by paparazzi in this outfit, and more importantly, she would definitely look better than all the other mums.

"Damn, I'm still so hot." She told her reflection.

Now more relaxed, Santana made her way back to the kitchen. There she found Jesus and Kyler sitting on the counter, talking.

"Morning amores."

"Morning mami" they both answered.

"How did you boys sleep?"

"Good" Kyler answered.

"I had a weird dream." Jesus frowned slightly. Santana smiled, remembering the mornings they spent together when he was little with him recounting his dreams in detail. "There was a giant slug"

"Gross" Santana laughed. Kyler wasn't as amused. He shoved Jesus hard, nearly unseating him. Jesus just laughed. "Mama told me you're going to be training with under thirteen's papi" Kyler nodded. "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you" he grinned.

"What about you Jesus, are you gonna join swimming this season?"

"No way" Jesus rolled his eyes. "That team is full of idiots"

"Excuse me?" Santana gasped.

"It is…" Jesus shrugged, looking apologetic.

"And just what makes you say that?" She folded her arms over her chest. Kyler mimicked her.

"So yesterday this boy called Luca-"

"No don't" Kyler snapped. Santana frowned.

"You don't want me to tell her cause you know it's stupid."

"Jesus-"

"Let him tell me." Santana cut in, now intrigued more than annoyed. "What did Luca do?"

Tearing away from the glaring contest with Kyler, Jesus turned back to Santana, and with an air of superiority said, "He said that you know us better because you gave birth to us. So you know us better than mama."

Santana's hands dropped slowly to her side.

She had not been expecting that at all. They had already had the adoption talk with the twins two years ago, when Sophia had started having nightmares again. It was a hard conversation to have, specifically with the twins, because Sophia already had memories, even if they were blurry, of a life before them. The twins on the other hand, had no reason to think they were not Santana's and Brittany's biologically. They didn't know that there had to be a man involved, or that there even was a thing like biological and non-biological. It was nearly a two hour talk, that left her and Brittany more emotionally drained than they had been in a decade.

Now Santana could see another difficult conversation on the horizon. The conversation about what actually happened to their birth mother.

"Yeah…" she mumbled angrily. "That is stupid."

"See" Jesus turned to Kyler, crossing his arms as well. "I don't know why you care. Even mami says it's stupid."

"I don't care!"

"Ky" Santana walked round the counter. "What does he mean?"

"Kyler-"

"I'm asking him"

Kyler was looking down at his hands in his lap. "I didn't say I care."

"It's okay honey" Santana ran her hand over his hair. "What did you say?"

"I just said that we don't actually know who…who our-"

"She's not-"

"Who gave birth to us then, jeez." Kyler said in frustration.

"Oh" Santana exhaled.

This wasn't supposed to be happening now. The boys were supposed to be teenagers and she and Brittany were supposed to have talked to a child psychologist about the best way to tell them the truth. They were all supposed to be prepared and ready. Not ten years old and confused because of a stupid comment made by a stupid child.

Sophia came down the stairs fully dressed with her eyes barely open and a blanket round her shoulders. Instead of coming into the kitchen, she went to the living room and lay down on the couch.

Santana couldn't deal with this now. She needed Brittany to be awake and at least one cup of coffee. Taking a deep breath, she rounded the counter and resumed her task of making pancakes.

---

Jesus watched his mother as she made them breakfast. She didn't play any music, which she always did, or sing or hum, or make conversation. She just stared down at what she was doing, a deep look in her eyes that truthfully made her look kind of scary. It was like instead of brown, her eyes were turning black, like there was a shadow behind them.

Angry, he jumped off the high stool he was sitting on, pulled Kyler off his, and dragged him to the living room.

"Look what you did!"

"You're the one who told her!" Kyler shot back.

"That's not what made her upset. She's upset because you told her you don't love her."

"No I didn't!" Kyler stomped his foot. "I never said that, I love mami."

"Then why do you care who the woman is that gave birth to us Ky? She didn't want us, and if she had, we wouldn't have mami. So you're saying that you'd rather have her than mami."

"No. NO. I don't want her to be my mum, I just…I didn't even say I care. All I said is that we don't know who she is, which is true."

"I'm trying to sleep here"

"Shut up Sophia" Kyler snapped.

"Don't yell at her." Jesus jumped at Kyler, tackling him to the ground.

"Guys stop it" Sophia shouted, flipping off her blanket. "It's too early in the morning for this seriously guys. Jesus!" When the two continued to roll around on the floor, pulling each other's hair and trying to punch the other's face, Sophia shook her head. "Mami!"

Santana ran into the room and pulled the two apart. She had to lift Jesus in the air to get him off Kyler.

"Hey! What the hell is going on?" she asked once she had them separated.

"If you want to go on thinking of a woman we've never met, who has never cared about us, as your mother, fine!" Jesus yelled. "But I won't let you keep hurting my real mother."

As Jesus stormed out he caught sight of Sophia and Santana's stunned and confused faces, and realised that he hadn't spoken in English. He'd slipped into Espiarish, which was what they'd named their twin language, probably as a result of his heightened emotional state.

"Kyler what was that about?"

"Nothing" A sulking Kyler replied.

Santana turned to Sophia. She shrugged.

"I was trying to sleep."

Shaking her head, Santana went back into the kitchen. Then a few seconds later, she ran out muttering 'crap, crap'.

"Ky, finish those pancakes please." She called as she ran up the stairs.

Sophia followed Kyler up the stairs and into the kitchen.

"What?" he snapped as he picked up the bowl with the pancake mix. Sophia cocked her head.

"I heard what you were arguing about."

"Good for you" he muttered. He had to put down the bowl to wipe a tear.

"Ky, I get it. You're curious."

"I'm just…I'm not saying I love her."

"I know…but I remember some things about my birth parents." She shook her head. "They aren't good things. Maybe it's better that you don't know her." Kyler's shoulders slumped. "We have awesome parents. They're fun, and we know they're fun because we actually like spending time with them. If you keep thinking about her, whoever she is, you'll only hurt them."

"I don't want to hurt them." More tears fell.

"Then Jesus is right, don't think about it."

With that, Sophia went back to the living room.

---

Jesus didn't talk to Kyler for the entire day. In fact he avoided him, which wasn't hard. Other than Nicholi, Jesus wasn't really friends with Kyler friends. As much as he would usually spend recess with them, he had other friends he was just as happy playing with. It wouldn't have mattered either way though, because instead of going out for recess, Kyler stayed inside, his head on his hands.

He felt awful for what happened that morning. All he could think about was the look on his mother's face, and it made his eyes sting with tears.

As everyone played outside, he thought about his parents. He thought about everything they'd done for him, like how his mum had helped him through his first real football game just a week ago. He loved both his mums so much, and definitely did not want any other, biological or not, yet there was a feeling he couldn't shake. Sophia thought it was curiosity, and Jesus had made it clear that it was betrayal, but Kyler wasn't so sure.

He did know that feeling whatever it was made him a terrible son.

"Kyler" his teacher called. He lifted his head slowly. "Are you feeling alright?" He nodded. "You don't look okay. Why aren't you playing outside?"

"I-I" His voice broke, and then the dam broke, and tears streamed down his face.

"Oh" his teacher looked alarmed.

"I'm okay" he put his head back on his arms, hiding his face.

"Is it one of the other kids? Did they say something mean?"

"No. I'm okay."

He heard her footsteps leaving and raised his head to look. Jesus was running up to her, Sophia walking a meter or so behind him. When they were both in front of her, she bent down, talking. Kyler saw both of them turn and look through the window right at him. He slammed his head back down.

Nothing came. His teacher didn't come back to talk to him and neither did his siblings. Eventually, he drifted to sleep.

She woke him up when recess was over, but he could barely focus on any of his classes. He completely ignored Nicholi, telling him he had a headache so he would stop talking to him and asking what was wrong. It wasn't a complete lie, he did have a headache, but he assumed that was from the crying earlier, and the overthinking.

When lunch came, he once again remained in class. This time Sophia stayed with him. Jesus sent him a glare as he left the class with a group of his friends. Kyler let his body fall onto his desk. He felt awful, didn't Jesus know that? He felt like the worst son in the world. The more he thought about it the more he realised that his mum probably hated him now. She thought he didn't love her, so she stopped loving him too.

At that thought, the tears started with a vengeance.

All he could do was imagine all the things he wasn't going to be able to do with her anymore. She probably wouldn't come to any more of his swim meets or football games, unless Jesus changed his mind and joined the team or played in the same game. Maybe he'd be forced to stay in his room while she cooked, because she wouldn't want a son who doesn't love her to be dancing and singing with her. Would she watch games with him? Would he be allowed at family movie night?

Then the worst thought yet crossed his mind, and he really began to panic. If she didn't love him anymore, then she wouldn't tuck him in at night. No goodnight kisses, hugs or stories. No snuggles when he wasn't feeling well, or when he was just feeling clingy. No building forts together or random tickle attacks.

"Take deep breaths for me Kyler" his teacher's voice cut through the hurricane in his mind. "Take a deep breath in and count to five okay?"

He did what she said.

Slowly, the room around him became clearer. He realised that his teacher's hand was on his shoulder. She was standing right in front of him, Sophia beside her. She looked scared.

"I've called your mum" His teacher said once he was calm. "She's going to come pick you up. I don't think you should be in school today."

He didn't have the energy to object. At this point he was convinced she wouldn't even show up.

Sophia walked him to the principal's office to wait for their mum. It took what felt like all day, but finally, the secretary told him she was here. He couldn't even raise his eyes to meet her as the door opened.

"Ky, what happened bud are you okay?"

Tears sprung to Kyler's eyes for the third time.

---

Brittany was almost glad to get the call from Cedar Crest. She was in what was truthfully a very boring meeting, and any excuse to leave was appreciated. This was why she never accepted Syth's continued offers of a promotion. Where she was at now she was a choreographer, with hours that still allowed her to dance. If she moved up, to executive jazz choreographer, then she was in charge of the entire department, and had to sit in budget meetings, strategy meetings, progress meetings and so many other kinds of meetings. She would have less time to dance, and wouldn't even do the day to day choreography. She'd only be called in on big projects, which she would mostly oversee anyway. The pay raise was definitely not worth it.

"Sorry, this is my kids' school, I have to take it."

All the executives in fancy looking suits nodded in understanding. Syth shot her a semi-worried, semi-knowing look, which she returned with a smile.

Brittany wasn't sure what to make of the call. She had a base level anxiety, because being called to school to pick up your child was never anything good, but the teacher had been super vague. She wasn't sure if Kyler was hurt, if something had happened to him or if he was sick.

She texted Santana that she was on her way to pick him, and hoped in her car.

When she saw him, her anxiety rose. He didn't look sick, but he looked tortured. He'd definitely been crying.

"Ky, what happened bud? Are you okay?"

"Mrs Lopez-Pierce, if I can just speak with you before you take Kyler home?"

Brittany noticed Mrs Akley, the kids' teacher, sitting on the opposite end of the room.

She brushed her fingers over Kyler's cheek.

"I'll be right back love."

He barely nodded.

Mrs Akley took her out into the hall.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I'm not sure. He was having a panic attack, which is why I called you."

Brittany frowned.

"A panic attack? Why?" She tried not to get too annoyed by the teacher's constant head shaking. "Something must have happened."

"He hasn't said anything. I noticed he has been down today. He didn't go out during recess, and he was crying, but he told me he was okay. I spoke with Jesus and Sophia, and they told me he was fine. Then the same thing during lunch. All of a sudden he started hyperventilating."

"He hasn't said anything? What about Nicholi? If other kids did something to him he would know."

"I spoke with Nicholi. He said Kyler has barely talked all day. He hasn't spoken to any other kids."

Brittany was confused. If nothing had happened at school, and Sophia and Jesus both said he was okay, then why were his eyes red and swollen from crying.

"Okay" she pulled out her phone and called Santana. Seeing that they were done, Mrs Akley went back into the principal's office.

"Hey, I just saw your message. What happened, is he okay?"

"I don't know. He's been crying all day. Apparently he had a panic attack."

"What? Why? What happened?"

"They don't know. Mrs Akley said he's not speaking to anyone."

"But something must have happened."

"That's why I said."

"I'm coming. I saw they tried to call me, but I was in that contract meeting, my phone was on silent. I just got out to go to the bathroom and was reading your message when you called."

"No don't come. There's no need, I'm already here. You can meet up with us when you're done."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I promise we'll be okay."

Brittany heard Santana sigh heavily.

"You're not being a bad mother. You're not putting your career before your kids."

Santana chuckled. "You know me so well."

"Yes I do. Go finish your meeting, we'll meet you later."

"Okay. Tell him I love him."

"Goodbye Santana" Brittany smiled.

With the phone hung up, Brittany went back into the office.

Sophia was sitting with her hands under her thighs, staring down at the floor. Kyler had his head in his hands, hiding his face.

Brittany took a deep breath.

"Hey Soph."

"Hi mama" Sophia smiled.

"How's school so far?"

She shrugged. "Same as yesterday"

Brittany smiled.

"You can go back to class now honey. I got him form here."

Sophia nodded and jumped off her chair. Before leaving she leaned into Kyler, whispered something in his ear, which he didn't react to, then left. Mrs Akley followed Sophia out, smiling kindly at Brittany.

Brittany knelt in front of Kyler, feeling a sense of de ja vu. She'd been in an almost identical situation last night with Jesus. All Kyler needed was the hair falling over his hands and gripped between his fingers.

"Please talk to me baby."

He shook his head, taking in a shuddering breath.

"I'm okay."

Brittany's heart broke. Sometimes she hated how like Santana her kids could be. This stubbornness Kyler had, Brittany thought it probably came from having an over-emotional twin, which meant he in turn over-stifled his own emotions, but she liked to believe he got it from Santana.

"You're not okay Kyler."

He didn't reply, but she could tell from the deep breaths he was taking that he was trying to calm himself down.

As annoying as it was for Brittany, at least she knew how to deal with this emotionally closed off performance. Trying to push him to talk now would likely only result in him closing up even more and pushing her away.

"Okay" Brittany stood up. "Let's go home then."

---

A/N: A nice long chapter for you guys. See you next week! ; )