A/N: This is probably going to be another long chapter covering most of their time in Lima in short "vignettes".
I ended up splitting it into two chapters because of the length.
Also, I decided to steal another author's idea and, instead of using actual Spanish, anything in Bold Italic will be Spanish.
(I think it was Sam Lulpus I stole it from. If you haven't read their stuff … go. Read. - um, finish this first, though, please.)
xoxoxoxoxo
Chapter 31 - November/Thanksgiving in Lima
They stopped at BreadstiX for dinner; stalling before seeing the Pierce family.
It was just after seven when they finally pulled into the Pierce driveway.
Brittany took a deep breath.
"You okay, babe?"
"Yeah. My parents probably didn't even realize I was gone, you know? I mean, I was at MIT for about four months. They've never really been … hands on. I just … I don't know."
Santana took her hand and interlaced their fingers. "Your parents love you. You're right, they weren't super attentive but they were always supportive. They just … I think you were too smart and they just didn't understand you so they just … left you to your own devices." She shrugged. "But they love you. It'll be fine."
Brittany smiled at her and nodded. "Let's do this."
They got out of the car, grabbing just their overnight bags, and walked up the porch stairs and through the door.
"Mom? Dad? Court?"
A blonde blur launched itself at Brittany and Brittany dropped her bag, deftly catching her younger sister in a hug. "Hey squirt."
"I got all your postcards! You've been EVERYWHERE! What was your favorite? What did you see? Do you have pictures?" Courtney babbled at her sister.
Brittany laughed. "We had a lot of fun but missed you." Brittany set her down.
"What? No love for me?" Santana pouted.
"TANA!" Courtney wrapped her arms around Santana's waist. "I didn't even see you!"
Santana laughed and hugged the smaller girl (though, Santana thought ruefully, Courtney wasn't much shorter than Santana anymore.).
Whitney came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "Brittany! Yeasty! You're here! Did you tell me you were coming?" Whitney looked confused. "Never mind. Courtney let them into the house. Are you girls hungry? How long are you home for?"
Brittany shook her head as they left their bags in the hall and walked into the kitchen. "No, mom, we ate. We're home until January if that's okay."
"Of course it is! Oh, goodness! We'll be able to do all our fun traditions! Do you want a drink?"
Brittany grinned. "Just some ice tea, mom."
"So," Whitney said as she puttered about getting the drinks, "Courtney loved getting those post cards. We've missed you around here. Let's go into the living room and get comfortable and you can tell me all about your travels." She led them into the living room. "Oh, we put all those boxes you sent into the spare room. Santana, honey, you're staying here, right?"
Santana nodded as they got comfortable. "If that's okay, Mama P. I can always go to a hotel …"
"What?"
"No!"
Whitney and Courtney interrupted.
"Don't be silly! Of course you'll stay here." Whitney's tone was decisive and brooked no argument.
"Thank you." Santana blushed.
Whitney waved it off. "You're family, yeasty."
"Where's dad?"
"He's …"
"Did I hear my Britty-bear?" Pierce wandered into the living room.
Brittany jumped up and hugged her father.
"I sure did! Britty! Where have you been? It's been forever!" Pierce smiled at his daughter before glancing at the couch. "Who's your friend?" He grinned and winked at Santana.
"Daddy … you know Santana."
"Ohhhh, riiight. Saaantaaanaaaa."
Santana stood up and hugged him. "Hi, Papa P."
"Hi, sweetie. Good to see you again."
"So … girls … tell us everything!"
They all settled down again and Santana and Brittany filled them in on their adventures.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
It was midnight by the time Santana and Brittany made their way down the hall to Brittany's bedroom.
"I love my family but, damn, they can be exhausting." Brittany dropped her bag just inside the door and collapsed on the bed.
Santana giggled and lied down next her, snuggling into her side. "They're not that bad."
"No, I know. Sometimes, they're just a bit much to take all at once."
"Come on, let's get ready for bed."
They got up and changed, brushed their teeth, and climbed into the bed.
Brittany sighed softly.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Just a little tired."
"You sure?"
Brittany rolled over to face Santana. "I guess I just forgot how Lima feels. Like, the air is different or something. I feel …"
"It doesn't feel like home anymore?"
Brittany nodded. "Yeah. I mean … home is wherever you are but Lima just feels so limiting, I guess. I'm just wondering if maybe I made a mistake. Maybe we should have stayed in Europe until Christmas." She felt the tears forming in her eyes.
"Oh, honey." Santana pulled her close. "I think … maybe you're just tired and your parents and Courtney were a little overwhelming and clingy because they missed you and …" Santana frowned in thought. "We were on our own for five months, doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Now, there are other people to consider; they have plans and ideas and we can't just pick up and go or even just sit down and stay. It kind of feels like we're back in high school and following other people's agendas."
Brittany nodded. "Maybe that's it. Maybe I just need a good night's sleep. It's nice that they missed me." She smiled softly.
"I told you, baby, they love you. They just don't know how to parent. We might want to talk to Courtney on her own; check in, make sure she's doing okay."
"Mmm," Brittany hummed.
"Sleep now, honey. We'll figure things out tomorrow. Love you."
"Love you, too."
xoxoxoxoxo
"Santana."
"Brittany."
Brittany sighed. "Call your mother. We've been back for almost a week, Thanksgiving is in a couple of days. Babe … you can't avoid her for over a month. She loves you, she'd want to know you're home and she'd want to see you."
"I know. I do. I just don't want to deal with my father and my abuela. I …"
Brittany pulled Santana toward her and ran her hands up and down Santana's arms. "Hey, I know. It's hard and it sucks but your mom isn't your father or your abuela. She loves me and she's happy for you and for us. Call her. See if she wants to have dinner tomorrow."
Santana sighed and nodded. She knew Brittany was right; she was just afraid of what had happened in the almost five months they were in Europe. Maybe her mother had changed her mind? Maybe she didn't want to see Santana either. Maybe her father and abuela had convinced Maribel that Santana was wrong. She started to feel a tightness in her chest.
"Hey …" Brittany's voice cut into her thoughts, "where'd you go? Come back to me; whatever you're thinking isn't true."
Santana looked at Brittany and she couldn't stop the tears from slipping free.
"Oh, honey …" Brittany pulled Santana into her arms and held her.
"What if she's changed her mind, Britt? What if she doesn't love me anymore … like my father and my abuela? I … I don't know if I can handle that." Santana whispered her fears against Brittany's neck.
Brittany held her until she calmed down then pulled back without letting her go.
"If she has, then she's not the woman we thought she was. Stop working yourself up and just call her. As long as you don't call her she's Schrodinger's cat."
Santana frowned. "She's dead and alive?"
Brittany laughed. "No, silly. She both accepts you and she doesn't. You can't know for sure until you actually call her … you know … open the box."
Santana sighs and picks up her phone.
Xoxoxoxoxoxo
Mirabel POV
Maribel walked into BreadstiX and saw her girls sitting at a booth talking quietly.
"Mijas!" She called out and smiled as they looked up and grinned at her. Oh, her Santanita looked so healthy and happy! Brittany is so good for her.
They stood up and she hugged them both tightly for several minutes before they all slid back into the booth.
"It is so good to see you both! I got your postcards. Thank you. I was so happy to hear from you and know you were both doing well. So, tell me all about your trip."
Santana had called her mother the day before and asked to go to dinner tonight. Maribel had been thrilled to hear from her. They had talked for awhile; Maribel was a little sad that it had taken Santana nearly a week to call but … she understood.
Maribel listened to the girls as they tag-teamed telling her all about their travels.
"Mami, you have to go to Spain. I mean, I know we're Mexican and Puerto Rican but Spain is incredible."
They continued to chatter throughout dinner and dessert and second cups of coffee. When they left, they made plans to meet up the following week for a day of Christmas shopping. Maribel declined Brittany's invitation to Thanksgiving dinner; she would, unfortunately, be going to Raphael's mother's house.
She noted Santana's dropped shoulders and pulled her in for a hug.
"It won't always be this way, mija. Your papi misses you; he's just being stubborn. He doesn't want to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong." She pulled back and kissed Santana on the forehead. "He's getting there, mija. Her? Bah." Maribel waved it off. "Stubborn old bitch."
"Mami!"
"Well. She is." Maribel was unapologetic. Alma had pissed her off by rejecting Santana in the first place but the fact that she continued to ignore Santana's very existence gnawed at her. If she could have, she would have gone to the Pierce's for Thanksgiving but she didn't want to alienate Raphael. She loved him … even if he was a pig-headed fool. He, at least, didn't ignore Santana's existence; he just continued to think this was a phase and Santana would eventually 'come around'.
Santana smiled at her. "I love you, ma."
"I love you, too, my beautiful girl." She looked at Brittany. "My beautiful girls. I am so, so very happy to see the two of you looking so happy and at ease." She felt the tears prick her eyes. She pulled Brittany into their hug. "So happy."
xoxoxoxoxo
When they got back to the house after dinner with Maribel, they decided to tackle the boxes in the spare room.
"Britt? I don't remember sending this many boxes home."
"We didn't. There are boxes over here from Tours, Voyages, et Bibelots."
"What?" Santana walked over to where Brittany was looking at five boxes from the French company. "Well, let's open them up."
They quickly opened the boxes and discovered t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, soup mugs, keychains, bookmarks, magnets, postcards, and tote bags – all with Brittany's design on them.
"Britt, this is amazing!" Santana couldn't believe all the swag the company had sent. "I have an idea."
Brittany listened and grinned at Santana's idea. She readily agreed and they got to work.
xoxoxoxoxo
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday passed in a whirlwind of Pierce Family Fun.
Santana had always enjoyed this time of year with the Pierces. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving the Pierces held a big open house; people coming and going from eight in the morning until midnight. There was food, drink, music, and laughter all day long. People came to celebrate and share another year of blessings to be thankful for. Everyone who came brought food or drink to share and stayed to catch up with people they hadn't seen in awhile.
"Santana!"
Santana turned and her face split into a grin as she was enveloped in a hug by Quinn.
"Quinn! Oh my god, it's so good to see you!"
Quinn pulled back and smiled. "I'd slap you for being out of the country for so long but I'd like to think we've matured."
Santana laughed. "It would be nice. How are you? How's Yale? How's Puck?"
Quinn's blush told her everything she needed to know about Puck.
"I'm good. Really good. Yale is amazing. I'm … I can't even believe how much better things are now. Better than high school, better than my freshman year. Puck's been so great. He's actually matured. We see each other about once a month and talk and Skype as often as we can. He's great. He really is."
Santana grinned. "I'm happy for you, Quinn. You finally seem genuinely happy."
Quinn blushed again. "What about you? Where's Britt? How was Europe?"
"QUINN!" Quinn was suddenly enveloped in a tight hug by a very excited Brittany.
Quinn laughed as she hugged Brittany back. "I just asked Santana where you were."
Brittany pulled back and dragged Quinn back to her bedroom. Santana laughed and grabbed some drinks and a small platter of food to share before following them down the hall to Britt's room.
They spent the next several hours eating, drinking, and catching up. There was a lot of laughter and, for once, very few tears.
Before Quinn left Santana handed her a "swag bag".
"This is really cool. I assume you got it in Paris?"
Santana grinned. "You have in your hand a swag bag designed by Brittany."
Quinn just looked at her.
"Go ahead … look inside."
Quinn pulled out the items inside and got more and more confused as each item had the same design on it.
"Wait … Brittany … this is your work?"
"Yeah. I took pictures of the Eiffel Tower. One picture an hour for twenty-four hours. Then I took the ones I thought made the best kind of 'time lapse' thing. A French company saw the finished photo collage and contacted me." Brittany shrugged, embarrassed.
Santana grinned. "They bought a two year exclusive license and Britt gets ten percent on every sale. Then they sent her all this great stuff. So we thought we'd share it with our friends and family. Don't let anyone see it when you leave; we're surprising Britt's family tomorrow."
Quinn hugged Brittany tight. "Britt, this is amazing. Congratulations!"
"Thanks, Quinn." Brittany smiled.
The girls hugged goodbye and promised to get together again when Quinn came home at Christmas.
Xoxoxoxoxo
Thanksgiving was more low key after the chaos of the day before.
Brittany's grandparents joined them for the day. Pierce and Sondra Pierce, Sr., and David and Susan Janssen came in around eight a.m. and Brittney leapt off the couch to greet them.
"Moni! Boji! Grams! Gramps!" Brittany tried to hug all four of her grandparents at once and had to laugh as she stumbled over herself.
They hugged and laughed and then went to sit in the living room.
"You all remember my girlfriend, Santana?"
There was a chorus of "of course" and "how are you" and "good to see you" while everyone got comfortable to chat for awhile during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade before splitting up to perform their Thanksgiving Day tasks.
Sondra and David went into the kitchen to help Whitney with dinner preparations while Pierce, Sr., and Susan helped Pierce, Jr., Brittany, Santana, and Courtney get all of the Christmas decorations from the attic and the basement moved into the garage for the "Pierce Family Decorating Extravaganza" on Friday.
Xoxoxoxoxo
After dinner, they all moved back into the living room to let their food settle before having dessert and coffee.
"Okay, while you're all here, Britt has a surprise for you. We'll be right back."
"San …"
Santana ignored her embarrassment and dragged her bag to the spare room. She had initially loved the idea but then became self-conscious; she felt like she was showing off or bragging or something. They came back carrying seven tote bags and handed them out.
"There's a story behind these and Britt's too embarrassed to tell you but I'm not." Santana grinned.
"The design on the bag and all the stuff inside is Britt's. She took photos of the Eiffel Tower; twenty four pictures, one every hour. Then she culled them down and created the design. She posted it online and a French company saw it and liked it; they paid for a two year exclusive licensing fee and she makes ten percent commission on every sale."
"Brittany! That's wonderful!" Susan got up and hugged her granddaughter.
The others soon followed and then took their gifts out of their bags.
"Courtney is the only one who got the t-shirt and hoodie but if any of you want one, we have plenty." Santana said. "We just weren't sure if anyone but Court would enjoy them."
Sondra spoke up. "I would love a hoodie! It gets so cold in the house and that looks so cozy."
The others also voiced interest in the hoodies so Santana ran back and grabbed them. After distributing them, she offered to start the coffee and excused herself to the kitchen to give Brittany time to soak up the praise.
She was waiting for the coffee to brew when Susan joined her in the kitchen.
"I was hoping to have a moment alone with you."
"Oh?" Santana swallowed and fidgeted with her hands.
Susan smiled at her. "I wanted to say how happy David and I are that you and Brittany found your way back to one another." She shook her head. "I've never seen her as happy as she is right now."
Susan sat down at the table and motioned for Santana to join her.
Susan sighed. "I love my daughter. I do. She always wanted to be a mother but I don't think she ever really understood what that meant." She shook her head. "Whitney is a little self-absorbed."
Santana bit back a snort causing Susan to chuckle.
"I know. She loves her daughters but she wants to be more their friend than their mother." Susan grew thoughtful. "You were the first person to recognize that Brittany's 'difference' wasn't a disability. You gave her the confidence to start believing in herself. Whitney didn't have the first idea what to do with Brittany. I have often wondered, if we had lived closer, if we could have made a difference."
She shook her head. "Brittany shines when you're around. That Artie boy treated her like a child or like arm candy. He was nice enough but he never really respected her intelligence. He didn't even recognize it when she helped them win that brainiac thing. And Sam, again, was nice enough but … not the brightest crayon in the box and thought Brittany was in the same box.
"You were the first … the only one to take the time to understand her. To help show her that she was more than a beautiful body and face. So, thank you, Santana. You helped her grow into the woman she is. She loves you and I can see how much you love her. So I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you and tell you how happy we are that you've reconnected."
Santana smiled. "I do love her. She's … everything. I'm so glad you and Gramps approve. It means so much to me."
"Oh, we approve whole-heartedly, sweetie."
Santana stood up to get the coffee that had finished. She turned back toward Susan. "I'm not letting her go this time. I'm going to, sooner rather than later, marry her."
Susan beamed at her as she helped Santana put the sugar, creamer, coffee pot, mugs, and spoons on a tray. "That makes me incredibly happy to hear. Now, let's get the coffee out before …"
Brittany came in just then. "Everything okay?" She looked nervously between Santana and her grandmother.
"Everything's great, Britt. Grams and I were just talking while the coffee brewed. It's time for pie, coffee, and 'The Grinch'." Santana grinned at her girlfriend.
Brittany smiled back at her and took the tray from her. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
xoxoxoxoxo
"What did you and Grams talk about? You seemed happy but serious."
They were getting ready for bed and Santana smiled at her.
"She just wanted to let me know that she and Gramps were happy that we got back together."
Brittany grinned. "Really?"
Santana nodded. "Yeah. We talked about your mom and stuff and … it was a really nice chat." She walked over and drew Brittany into her arms.
"I'm glad." Brittany leaned down and kissed Santana softly. She sighed. "Bedtime. Six is going to come really early."
Santana laughed and let Brittany guide her to the bed.
Xoxoxoxoxo
The Friday after Thanksgiving was the official "Pierce Family Decorating Extravaganza" day. The grandparents stayed over on Thanksgiving and everyone was up early. Courtney, Brittany, and Santana were a little grumbly. Courtney more so because "at least you two get to have coffee".
Santana let Courtney sneak a sip of her coffee and Courtney made a face.
"How do you drink that stuff?"
"Santana doesn't use enough sugar," Brittany whispered, sliding her cup over to Courtney.
Courtney grinned and took a sip of Britt's.
"That's a little better."
"That's because your sister uses more creamer and sugar than coffee. Of course, Britt doesn't really need a caffeine jolt to get going." Santana laughed. "Give her half an hour and she'll be wide awake."
Courtney laughed and they all got handed their "assignments" for the day.
They sighed and headed for the garage to start sorting through the decorations.
Xoxoxoxoxo
By five p.m. everything was done; garland and lights adorned the banister, the lights were up outside along with the nativity scene and the Santa sleigh, a fake tree was set up in the corner of the living room near the fireplace. A real tree would be cut down between December 10th and December 15th and put in pride of place in front of the big bay window. Pierce always argued that they couldn't go almost three weeks with no tree which is why there was a fake one in the corner.
The place looked like a (slightly) classier version of the Griswold's in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
Pizza was ordered and everyone collapsed in the living room. The grandparents would spend another night before heading back to Columbus.
Xoxoxoxoxo
The Saturday after Thanksgiving was a "free day" so Santana and Brittany made plans to meet up with Mercedes at the Lima Bean.
When they got there, Mercedes was already sitting at a table in the back. They waved and Santana walked over to her while Brittany went to the counter to get their drinks.
"Wheezy!" Santana hugged Mercedes tightly.
Mercedes laughed. "Good to see you, too, Satan."
Santana grinned and handed Mercedes a tote bag.
"What's this?"
"So you know how we were going to Lesbos and then to Hawaii?"
"Yeah …"
"Didn't quite work out that way."
Santana launched into the story of the adventures in Europe with Brittany interjecting here and there once she joined them.
"Oh my God! Only you two could turn a four week vacation into five months! I was wondering why I hadn't heard from you at all." She laughed.
"We're going to Hawaii after the holiday for another four or so." Santana grinned. "We just figured, we're young and we have no responsibilities so," she shrugged, "why not?"
"So, back to the swag bag," Santana grinned.
"Saaaan …"
Santana laughed. "Britt's embarrassed but she shouldn't be. I'm so proud of her! The design on the bag, and everything in the bag, is Brittany's." Santana proudly told Mercedes the story as Brittany flushed a bright crimson.
"Brittany! That's awesome! Congratulations!"
"Thanks, Mercedes. Santana's been bragging for days."
"Because you won't. And you should."
"She's right. You should be proud. This is great."
Brittany smiled and shook her head. "Thanks."
So what's the plan? When do you leave for Hawaii?"
"January second. We don't have anything to do or anywhere to be until April twenty-fourth. I promised Rachel I'd be at opening night."
Brittany's face fell a bit.
"What's going on?"
Brittany looked at Santana and they had a silent conversation with their eyes before Santana nodded.
"Okay, so, the plan is for us to go to New York together. Britt's going to stay with a dancer friend. I'm not sure where I'm staying because the loft is too crowded. Thing is," she hesitated for a moment, "Britt doesn't want anyone to know she's in New York."
Mercedes looked at Brittany. "Why?"
Brittany sighed. "I really don't want to be on the 'let's stroke Rachel's ego express' and … honestly, other than you and Quinn, and maybe Mike and Puck, I am so over the whole 'New Directions Family'. The way they treat Santana kind of pisses me off. And then there's all the drama that follows them everywhere. Or that they constantly create. I … just don't want to deal with it."
Mercedes nodded. "So you won't be staying together?"
"No, Britt's friend offered and we'd love it but if the others found out where I lived …"
"They'd figure out Brittany's in New York and they'll be hurt."
"Right. I don't want to hurt anyone," Brittany shook her head, "I just don't want to deal with them."
"I get it. It was a bit much in high school but aren't we supposed to grow out of all that drama nonsense?"
"That's just it. You, Quinn, Mike, Santana, even Puck managed to grow up at least a little. But they don't seem to have and … they don't recognize that Santana has and that just pisses me off."
Mercedes nodded.
"Well, I may have a solution for you."
Santana and Brittany looked at her.
"The label wants me to move to New York early next year to get a more … I don't know … East Coast, Harlem, New York vibe, I guess. So … I've got a townhouse with two extra bedrooms. You can have one of them, if you want?"
"Really? Oh, my God, 'Cedes! You're a lifesaver!" Santana launched herself from her chair and grabbed Mercedes in a tight hug. "Seriously. Life. Saver."
Mercedes laughed and hugged her back. "I take it you want the room?"
"Yeah, I do!"
"Um … and could you just keep it to yourself that I'm in New York?"
"Of course. And I'll cover for the two of you if need be."
"Thank you, Mercedes." Brittany smiled brightly.
Mercedes waved it off. "TroubleTones for life, right?" She grinned.
"Right!" The other two chimed in.
They sat there talking for several hours before parting ways and making plans to meet up around Christmas.
xoxoxoxoxo
A/N: This chapter REALLY got away from me. I thought I'd only have one chapter of Lima but … the girls had other (better?) plans. So next chapter: December in Lima.