Chapter 53: House Guest

Santana's POV

*Saturday 14th October 2023*

I've been awake for quite some time this morning but the same can't be said for my sister. Last night was the first night she spent with us and she seemed to go to bed early so to be honest, I thought she would be out of bed by now. I was up quite early since Xavier woke up early and needed feeding and even though I don't expect my sister to be up as early as that, I really thought she would be out of bed by this time.

"Hey, honey" Brittany says as she walks into the kitchen.

"Hey" I reply.

"I'm finished in the shower now so I can watch the kids if you want to go for a shower or something" Brittany smiles.

"I'm ok just now but thanks" I smile back.

"So, what are you up to?" she asks curiously.

"Not much, just waiting on my sister getting out of bed" I tell her.

"That's cool" Brittany nods. "So, how are my baby boys this morning?" she asks as she walks towards Jaxon.

"They're both doing well this morning. Jaxon seems content with the toy he's playing with and Xavier seems to be happy in his bouncer" I tell her.

"Can mommy play with you Jax?" Brittany asks Jaxon.

"Yeah" Jaxon replies, smiling at Brittany.

"Will mommy get another toy car and we can race each other?" Brittany asks our oldest son.

"Yeah, mommy" Jaxon smiles.

"Ok" Brittany smiles back before reaching over to get a toy car from Jaxon's box. They then start racing the little cars across the table.

"Mommy, play?" Jaxon says, looking over at me.

"Maybe later sweetheart because I will need to make us some breakfast soon" I smile at my son.

"Ok" Jaxon smiles at me.

"You and I can keep playing in the meantime" Brittany tells Jaxon.

"Ok" Jaxon nods.

"I really thought Carly would be downstairs by now" I say aloud.

"She'll come down when she's ready" Brittany shrugs as she continues to play with Jaxon.

"We can't be waiting all day for her to get up" I state.

"I'm sure she won't be long" Brittany tells me.

"You know what, I'm going to wake her because it is 9am" I state.

"No. You're not" Brittany shakes her head at me. "We said we didn't really have any rules about her living here and she can do as she pleases so, let's stick to that" she adds.

"She can't lie in bed all morning because that'll make her feel worse, being alone and lost in her thoughts" I reply.

"I know and I get that but what we don't want to do is start telling her what to do. She is going through a tough time right now so the last thing she needs is people telling her what she can and can't do. It'll make things worse so let's give her some control right now" Brittany tells me.

"I just don't think it's a good idea being in bed all this time" I say.

"Babe, she is a young woman with no children so being in bed at 9am in the morning isn't that shocking. I'm sure given the chance you and I wouldn't mind staying in bed until late but we just can't since our sons think wake up time is 6am" Brittany points out.

"I know what you're saying but I still don't like this" I state.

After debating back and forth for a few minutes about whether I should go upstairs and wake up my sister or not, we hear some movement on the stairs. We wait a moment or two to see if it is indeed Carly coming down because if it isn't, I will be going up there to get her.

"She's coming downstairs now so panic over" Brittany tells me.

"Yeah" I nod.

"Morning, how are you?" Brittany asks as Carly walks into the kitchen.

"I'm ok" Carly shrugs.

"Nice sleep?" I question.

"Santana" Brittany says seriously, giving me a warning look.

"I'm just asking?" I shrug.

"I guess I slept ok" Carly replies.

"I would have thought you slept better than ok since you were in bed until 9am" I tell her.

"I've actually been up since 5am" Carly points out. "I went for a run and when I came back, I got back into bed and spent the rest of the morning researching on my laptop."

"Oh" I say surprised.

"I still don't know what I want to do careerwise going forward but I figured I better start looking for a temporary job to pay the bills in the meantime" Carly states.

"How about you work for Britt and I until you get on your feet?" I suggest.

"I don't know" Carly says hesitantly.

"I'm not going to lie, it's nothing exciting we have for you but it might give you something to do until we figure out your next move" I explain. "Jess has been great working for us recently but I think we need someone else to take on some of the workload because between childcare and being our personal assistant, it's too much for her to do on her own."

"We'll pay you obviously" Brittany adds.

"Yeah, of course" I smile.

"It'd feel weird to get paid to look after my nephews because I can do that any day" Carly replies.

"Ok but don't think about it like that because we need help in the office as well so we'd be paying you for that" I say.

"This will give you something to do if nothing else" Brittany says.

"Ok, fine. I will work for you both but this is only until I back on my feet" Carly states.

"That's fine" I smile.

"So, do you have any plans today, Carly?" Brittany asks my sister.

"Nothing planned yet" Carly replies. "What about you both?" she asks.

"I've got a few work things I want to do today so why don't you help me. I'll work from home but Britt is going to take the day off to spend with the kids" I say.

"Ok, cool" Carly smiles.

Once we've all eaten breakfast, we go off and do what we planned to do. Brittany spends the morning with the kids and I spend it in the home office with my sister. As much as Carly and I were working, it was quite nice to spend time with her. I've been really worried about her lately so it's been good for me to spend this time with her and really see how she is feeling. I mean I'm not really a feelings type of person and Carly hasn't opened up to me as much as I'd like her to but I have been able to get a sense of how deep these issues are at the moment which is something at least.

"I think it's time for a well-deserved break and time for lunch" I tell my sister after working for a while. "I'll see if Brittany is ready for something to eat and we can all eat together" I add as we make our way to the living room where Brittany and the kids are.

"Ok" Carly smiles.

"Mommy!" Jaxon says excitedly as he runs towards me.

"Hi, buddy" I say as I lift Jaxon up and hug him tightly.

"How is work going?" Brittany asks as she stands up from her seat and walks towards me with Xavier in her arms.

"We've got quite a bit of work done which is good. I was thinking we should break for lunch though" I tell my wife.

"Xavier has already had some milk but Jaxon and I were about to have lunch so your timing couldn't be more perfect" Brittany smiles at me.

"Well, you and I are usually in sync with each other since we work together all the time so I'm not surprised we had the same idea" I say.

"Exactly" Brittany nods. "So, how about you spend a little time with the boys and I will make lunch for us all" she tells me.

"Sounds good" I smile.

"I'll help you, Brittany" Carly says as we all head to the kitchen.

"Thank you" Brittany smiles at my sister.

Once Carly and Brittany have finished making lunch, we all sit down together to eat. Even though Xavier has already had his milk, he's still spending time with us as we all eat together. I love spending time with my kids so it's nice when we can all sit together and eat but what is also just as nice is seeing my sister spend time with her nephews. They have such a cute bond so it totally melts my heart when Jaxon and Xavier get time to spend with their aunt.

"Mommy" Jaxon says looking at me intently.

"Yes sweetheart?" I smile, my heart melting at the way Jaxon is looking at me.

"Mine?" Jaxon asks as he holds up a piece of melon from my plate.

"It's mine but I want you to have it buddy" I tell him.

"Ok" Jaxon smiles again.

As soon as we all finished eating, I cleared away the lunch dishes. Brittany was going to help me but I said I would do it since she and Carly made the food. I've just finished tidying up now and Brittany is just sorting out a drink for Jaxon before we all go off and do our own thing again. Brittany is going to look after the boys for the afternoon while Carly helps me do some more work.

"You were both right, you are a lot less handsy than I thought you would be at home" Carly points out.

"Would you prefer it if we were all over each other a bit more?" Brittany asks as stops what she is doing and she wraps her arms around my waist.

"To be honest, it doesn't really bother me either way. I just thought you were a lot more affectionate than this given previous experiences" Carly shrugs.

"Ok, you won't mind me doing this then" Brittany smirks as her hands slide down my back towards my butt.

"I don't mind because I know you're only doing it to wind me up, not because you just can't control yourself" Carly shrugs again.

"Believe me, there are times when I just can't control myself around Santana because she's just too sexy" Brittany states before leaning in to peck my lips.

"Well, you better control yourself this afternoon because you have Jaxon and Xavier to look after while I help Santana" Carly states. "Also, you will be scarring them for life right now if they see you carrying on like that so I suggest you stop" she adds.

"Yeah, you should probably remove your hands babe" I laugh.

"Ok" Brittany smiles as she does as I ask.

"We'll pick this up later though, don't worry" I say while winking at my wife.

"I'll look forward to it" Brittany smirks.

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*Monday 16th October 2023*

"Good morning, my love" Brittany says as she wraps her arms around me and kisses me.

"Morning, baby" I reply as I relax into her embrace.

"You weren't in bed when I woke up" Brittany points out.

"I know. Xavier woke up early again so I fed him but instead of coming back to bed, I stayed up" I tell her.

"You should have woken me up and I would have helped you" Brittany replies.

"Honestly it was fine" I smile before kissing my wife again.

"PDA in the kitchen, watch your eyes Jess" Carly teases as she walks into the room with Jessica, who has just arrived for work.

"I would apologise but I don't want to" I shrug.

"It's fine, we're not that offended" Jessica smiles.

"So, what is today's plan?" Carly asks curiously.

"Brittany is working today and Jessica is going to help her so I'll be spending the day with the kids. It's up to you if you want to hang out with me or Brittany can find you some admin stuff to do for work" I tell my sister.

"I think I want to hang out with my sister and my nephews today" Carly smiles.

"Awesome" I smile back.

"I have quite a bit I want to get through today Jessica so I'm thinking we should get started as soon as we can" Brittany says.

"That's cool" Jessica smiles.

"Do you want some coffee or anything before we start?" Brittany asks Jessica.

"No thanks, I had some breakfast before I came over" Jessica replies.

"We'll just get started then" Brittany tells Jessica. "I will catch up with you all later, ok" she says as she leans down to kiss my cheek.

"Ok" I smile.

Brittany and Jessica go off to our office while Carly and I take the boys to the living room to hang out. I am really looking forward to today. I know I keep saying it but I am really liking all of this time with my children and my sister.

"I know I tease you and Brittany about things but you two really are so sweet together. I kinda feel jealous because I want that" Carly says as we all sit down.

"Honestly, I think you already have it with Jess" I smile.

"Do you think so?" she asks curiously.

"Oh yeah" I nod. "I've seen the looks between you both and I can say for certainty that Jess looks at you the way Britt looks at me" I smile.

"That's good to know" Carly smiles.

"I know you are struggling with some things at the moment and I won't push you to talk about it, but you are happy in your relationship with Jess, right?" I ask for clarification.

"I am" Carly nods.

"I hate to ask but you're not just settling because you don't want to be alone or single, are you?" I ask.

"No definitely not because I was always going to have Jess in my life anyway because she's my best friend so we didn't have to be in a relationship but we want to be. As I mentioned to Brittany before, the only part of my life I am sure about is my relationship. I don't have a clue about my career or anything like that right now but what I do know is Jessica makes me feel something I've never felt before. I thought I was happy with Matt at the time but I realise now that it wasn't a fraction of what I feel now" Carly admits.

"I've always liked Jess so it makes me really happy to know you're with someone like her. You know I didn't like Matt and I wasn't afraid to show it but if it came to it, I would have put my issues aside and been happy for you" I say honestly. "I'm kinda glad I don't have to though" I admit.

"Thanks, Santana. It means a lot to me to know you're happy for me" Carly smiles.

"You know I struggle to deal with feelings and emotions sometimes but you're my sister Carly so please talk to me if you need to. I won't force you to talk about things but please know I'm here if you need me" I assure her.

"I know" Carly nods.

"Or even if you don't want to talk to me then confide in Brittany because she's good like that. She is great at making everyone feel comfortable to talk about things they might not know how to talk about" I add. "I mean you guys are quite close right now, almost like sisters."

"Wait…my sister is married to my other sister? That don't sound quite right" Carly teases.

"You know what I mean" I laugh. "You have a close bond, that's all I mean" I add.

"I know and I appreciate you both anyway but right now, I just need to figure things out for myself" she replies.

"That's cool. We're here whenever you need us anyway" I smile, leaving the conversation there so she knows I'm not pushing her to talk about something uncomfortable.

XXX

Carly and I have just put the boys down for their afternoon nap. Meanwhile Brittany and Jessica are still hard at work in the office. They did take a short break earlier to eat the lunch I prepared for everyone but apart from that, I haven't seen my wife at all. Carly and I are just going to see how Jessica and Brittany are getting on because we kinda miss them and to be honest, we're bored now that Jaxon and Xavier are both napping.

"Hey" I say as I walk into our office.

"Hi" Brittany mumbles as she tries to talk and eat a mouthful of chocolate at the same time.

"How can you eat that?" I ask in disgust.

"What, chocolate?" Brittany asks me confused after she swallows the mouthful.

"Dark chocolate. I just don't know how you can like eating that" I state.

"I would say milk chocolate is my more preferred chocolate but I don't have any left. I only have some dark chocolate so that's what I'm eating. I don't mind it anyway" Brittany shrugs.

"I have a bar of milk chocolate in the pantry. I'll share with you if you want" I tell my wife.

"Santana sharing chocolate?" Carly gasps. "That never happened with me when we were kids" she states.

"Maybe Santana just didn't like you enough to share food with you. Maybe she loves me more than you" Brittany teases my sister.

"Yeah, probably" Carly laughs.

"I was only joking" Brittany states.

"I know but it's kinda true. Santana and I weren't always close when we were younger" Carly shrugs.

"Yeah, I guess we weren't but we're making up for it now since we're roommates for the moment" I smile.

"I guess we are" Carly laughs.

"So how are you two getting on anyway?" I ask my wife and Jessica.

"We've got quite a lot of work done but we're going to stop there I think because it's been quite mentally draining today plus, Jessica needs to go soon" Brittany replies.

"Oh, I thought you might have been spending time with your girlfriend tonight" I point out. Ever since Carly has been staying with us, we haven't really seen Jessica outside of work so I thought they would want some time together.

"It would be nice to since we haven't seen a whole lot of each other recently but I have a family dinner tonight that I don't want to miss. My grandparents are coming over so my parents really don't want me to miss dinner because I don't see much of my grandparents these days. They're right though, I do need to spend more time with them because it's always me who is busy doing other things so I never make appropriate time for them" Jessica explains.

"Fair enough" Brittany nods.

"Couldn't Carly not go to dinner with you though since she's your girlfriend and you can spend time with her as well?" I ask.

"Santana!" Carly says harshly, giving me a warning look.

"What?" I shrug.

"Don't put pressure on people to invite people that they might not be intending to invite" Carly states.

"Carly you can come if you want because I'd be happy to spend time together tonight. I just didn't ask because I didn't want you to feel pressured to come if you weren't feeling up to socialising with a bunch of other people" Jessica replies.

"I do want to spend time with you but I think I'd bring the atmosphere down because I'm not really in a sociable mood like you say. I'm sorry" Carly says.

"Honestly, it's fine" Jessica smiles. "We'll hang out together soon, just us" she adds.

"Cool" Carly replies.

Once Jessica left, I spent some time with Carly and Brittany while the boys were still napping. We then all had dinner together once the boys were awake again. Brittany and I spent most of the evening with Jaxon and Xavier while Carly did her own thing for a while. The kids are now in bed and hopefully going to remain settled so Brittany and I are now in the living room, intending for a quiet and relaxing night.

"Hey, we're just about to watch a movie so do you want to join us?" Brittany asks my sister as she walks into the living room.

"No, I'm good thanks. I'll leave you both to have some time on your own" Carly replies.

"Carly, you're more than welcome to hang out with us anytime. You don't need to hide out in your room all the time. If Santana and I want alone time then we can have it upstairs in our bedroom but if we're down here hanging out then join us" Brittany smiles.

"Brittany is right, you should feel comfortable doing whatever you want when you're staying with us. You really don't need to stay in your bedroom all the time" I tell her.

"Ok" Carly smiles.

"Does that mean, yes to a movie?" Brittany asks.

"Yeah" Carly nods as she gets comfortable.

"Good" I smile as I too get settled to watch the movie.

"I have picked the best one I could find to suit all of our movie tastes so hopefully it's ok for everyone" Brittany says as she sits down next to me and presses play on the movie.

We only get through about 10 minutes of the movie before I'm bored as usual. Honestly, I say it all the time but me and movies just don't mix. I can never get into them and I don't know what it is. I just get bored and lose focus really easily. Brittany and Carly don't seem to have the same problem because they're watching it without any trouble. They actually seem to be enjoying it which just confuses me because the movie is quite simply shocking.

"I think your sister is asleep" Brittany whispers to Carly.

"I'm not asleep, I'm just bored to tears" I say as I turn to face the other way.

"I think you are sleepy because your eyes are closed" Carly states.

"My eyes are closed but as I say, I'm not asleep. I am just resting them because watching the movie is physically hurting my eyes because it is so shit" I point out.

"You'll be snoring in no time; I can see it" Carly teases.

"Definitely not" I shake my head.

"Do you snore, Carly?" Brittany wonders.

"I'm not sure, I guess you'd need to ask my former partners that question or maybe Santana can answer that" Carly replies.

"I don't recall you snoring when we were younger" I shrug.

"Jessica hasn't mention it to me so maybe I don't actually snore" Carly says.

"Your sister actually snores you know, like joking aside she does really snore" Brittany tells Carly.

"Do you really, Santana?" Carly asks amused.

"No, I don't really. I think it happened once or twice but unfortunately those were the one or two times my wife decided to video me doing it" I say while playfully glaring at Brittany.

"Actually, I think I remember seeing that because Brittany put the video on Instagram" Carly laughs.

"Yes, she did and she quickly took it back down again when she realised there could be a divorce looming" I reply.

"It was super cute though" Brittany smiles at me.

"Does Jessica snore?" I ask.

"Not that I've heard but it's not like we spend every night together so she might sometimes" Carly replies.

"The kids don't snore either but there was one-time little Jax had a cold and was a little nasally so he was breathing differently through his nose so it seemed like he was snoring" Brittany says.

"As much as I felt bad for him having a cold, it was really cute when he snored" I say, smiling at the thought of my little boy.

"It was cute" Brittany agrees.

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*Thursday 19th October 2023*

Brittany and I are in the kitchen right now, preparing some milk for Xavier and making breakfast for Jaxon. We're both taking the day off work today so it'll be nice not to run around all day doing things for work. Technically I'm not supposed to be back at work yet anyway since I'm still on maternity leave but things have cropped up so I've been working a lot more than planned.

"Morning" Brittany says as Carly walks into the kitchen followed by Jessica.

"Hey" Carly replies.

"Good morning, Jessica" I smirk.

"Morning" Jessica says nervously.

"I'm not sure why you're here so early because I'm pretty sure we gave you the day off today" I tease.

"Don't embarrass her please. You know she stayed over last night with me and that she's not here right now because she thinks she's working" Carly states.

"Maybe I should have asked if it was ok to sleep over so I'm sorry about that" Jessica apologises.

"It's fine Jess, don't worry about it. I am sure you slept over at Carly's place all the time so this shouldn't be any different" Brittany smiles.

"Yeah, I'm just messing" I smile.

"Ok" Jessica smiles.

"We're all in relationships here so it's only natural we like to sleep in the same bed together as our partners" I shrug.

"Exactly so stay over as much as you wish Jess" Brittany states.

"Thank you" Jessica smiles.

"We're going to go out for breakfast so we'll be leaving soon. We just wanted to come and update you" Carly tells me.

"That's cool" I smile.

"We might do something after breakfast so we'll see you whenever we get back" Carly says.

"That's fine, have fun" I say and then Carly and Jessica leave the room again.

"It's good that she's spending time with Jess and going out for a bit" Brittany says.

"Yeah, it is" I smile. "So, what have you got planned for your day off work?" I ask my wife.

"I think I'm going to take the kids to the park for a little while. Spend some mother son bonding time together" Brittany smiles.

"Cool" I smile back.

"You can come if you want or you can take the opportunity for some well needed time to yourself since I'm taking care of the boys" she tells me.

"Quinn asked me if I wanted to go over for coffee this morning so I might do that. I can spend time with you and the boys once you get back from the park" I say.

"Sounds good" Brittany nods.

XXX

Quinn and I are just hanging out at her place right now, catching up with each other. We haven't really seen that much of one another recently because after Quinn's wedding she went straight on honeymoon for a week and I started working a bit more again. Today we are finally getting some quality best friend time while James is out and my wife is looking after our sons.

"So, you're married now" I smirk.

"Yeah, I am" Quinn replies while giving me a confused look. "Why are you smirking?"

"I'm just thinking, maybe now you're married then it's time to think about children. Are you two going to start trying for a baby now?" I ask.

"Who says we haven't started already?" Quinn teases.

"Wait…seriously?" I ask excitedly.

"No, I'm just messing" Quinn laughs.

"Seriously though, don't you want to start trying because you and I are 30 next year so we're not getting any younger" I point out.

"I guess we haven't really talked about it but maybe you're right. If we want children then we should start thinking about it soon because it takes 9 months at a time" she states.

"Exactly" I nod.

"Hey" James says walking into the kitchen.

"Hey, babe" Quinn replies. "I didn't think you would be back so soon" she adds.

"Does that mean you want me to leave again so you can continue gossiping with Santana?" James teases his wife.

"No, of course not. I was just saying" Quinn smiles.

"So, what is going on with you Santana, how are things?" James asks.

"I'm doing good as are my wife and children" I smile.

"That's good" James smiles at me.

"Do you want kids, James?" I ask.

"Santana!" Quinn says shocked at the fact I'm being so blunt about it.

"It's a simple question I'm asking" I shrug. "So…James?" I ask looking over at him.

"Yes, I do want to have children" James tells me.

"You should get started then because none of us are that young anymore" I state.

"Ok, fine" James smirks before picking Quinn up bridal style. "Let's go babe" he says as he leaves the room.

"I didn't mean right now because I'm still here and I'm not finished drinking my coffee" I point out while frowning at them.

"Well, I did mean right now so stay or leave, I don't care. Quinn and I are doing this either way" James smirks at me before heading towards the stairs, kissing Quinn as he walks.

"Jeez, wait until I leave" I say before hurriedly getting my things together.

"I guess you now know how I feel when you and Brittany suddenly burst into passion mode" Quinn laughs.

"Yeah, whatever" I say before running out the door.

I get into my car and drive home. I'm heading home earlier than I planned too, so I could stay out for an hour or so more and do something myself but I don't want to. Time to myself does sound nice but time with Brittany and my children sounds even better so that's what I'll do. I'll go home and hope my wife and children are home and will want to hang out with me for a while. As soon as I pull my car into the drive, I notice the lights on inside the house which means Brittany must be back from the park with the kids.

"Hey, it's just me" I whisper as I enter the house. It's possibly nap time for my boys so I don't want to be too loud.

"Hey" Brittany smiles as she comes to greet me.

"Are the kids napping?" I ask.

"Yeah" Brittany nods before leaning down to peck my lips. "How was your morning hanging out with Quinn?" she asks.

"It was good until James came home" I reply.

"What do you mean?" Brittany laughs. "Did he interrupt your conversation or something?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that because I like James. I just mean once he was home, we were talking about something and suddenly I had to leave abruptly" I state.

"I still don't understand" Brittany says confused.

"It was so rude Brittany. They like just started making out in front of me" I state.

"I am sure you and I have been guilty of kissing in front of our friends" Brittany points out.

"Not like this. We might have pecked in front of our friends but not made out" I shake my head.

"Uh…I think we have" she states.

"We haven't but anyway, enough about us" I say.

"Ok" Brittany laughs.


Brittany's POV

*Saturday 21st October 2023*

I'm just in the kitchen right now, heating up Xavier's bottle of milk and about to make Jaxon breakfast. The kids woke up early this morning so I've been hanging out with them for a while but now it's breakfast time. Santana is still in bed sleeping because I didn't see the sense in waking her up when I'm already up and have taken care of the kids. We've got the day off from work again today so there is no rush for her to be out of bed or anything.

"Morning" I smile at Carly as she walks into the kitchen.

"Hey" Carly replies.

"Coffee?" I ask Carly.

"Yes please" Carly says before yawning.

"Long night, was it?" I ask curiously.

"Yeah, Jess and I were up all night" she replies.

"Say no more" I smirk.

"Not like that" Carly laughs. "We were brainstorming ideas all night about my next career move. I do appreciate you two giving me something to do and keeping me in employment but I do need to find my own job" she adds.

"Have you come across anything yet that you might be interested in?" I ask.

"Not really" Carly sighs. "Any decent job out there requires a degree but stupid me decided to go straight to modelling when I finished school and not go to college" she states.

"It wasn't stupid because you were following something you were passionate about. I guarantee you would have regretted it when you left school if you didn't pursue the modelling. It's maybe not what you want now but you did used to love doing it" I tell her.

"I know but it's left me stuck now" Carly replies.

"Carly, we'll figure this out so don't panic" I assure her. "Santana is super smart so as long as she's on the case, it'll work out" I say.

"Ok" Carly nods. "Speaking of Santana, where is my sister?" Carly asks curiously.

"Still in bed. I said I would get up for the kids and she could stay in bed a little longer" I reply.

"So, she can stay in bed past 9am but I can't?" Carly replies, referencing the situation from the other day.

"It wasn't like that" I say.

"It kinda feels like it was" Carly points out.

"Santana just worries about you but she doesn't always say it in the best way. It wasn't really that she thought you were lying in bed too long. She was just concerned that you were maybe hiding out in your room not in the best headspace so she wanted to make sure you were up and about" I explain.

"I wasn't hiding out; I was being productive at the time" she replies.

"I know that now but at the time we didn't know you had been up already that morning because we didn't hear you so Santana thought you were maybe locking yourself in your room, not coming out" I say.

"I guess I do kinda get what you're saying" Carly nods.

"Honestly, stay in bed however long you want in the mornings because it's your business not ours. Just make sure you keep us in the loop about how you feel otherwise we worry and it might come across that we're annoying you when we don't mean to. We just want to make sure you're ok" I say.

"Ok, I will" Carly smiles.

XXX

It's been a quiet day all round for my family. Santana and I spent the day with the kids which was really nice getting to hang out with them and really just have quality time with them. Meanwhile Jessica came over and she and Carly hung out for a while. I then made dinner for everyone and Jessica joined us which was good because I can definitely see Carly is in a happier place when Jess is around. Jaxon and Xavier are now in bed so Santana and I are going to spend the night relaxing on the couch again. I know we do it a lot but it's a busy day parenting two little people so we'd much rather have a quiet night in.

"Are you staying the night, Jessica?" I ask curiously.

"If that's ok" Jessica replies.

"It's more than ok" I assure her. "You're Carly's girlfriend and Carly is staying here at the moment so you should spend time together" I add.

"Cool" Jessica smiles.

"So, are you two up to much on this fine Saturday evening?" Santana asks Carly and Jessica.

"I don't think so. I don't feel like I want to go out tonight" Carly shakes her head.

"I'm happy to stay in and spend time with my girlfriend watching a movie or something" Jessica says, smiling at Carly.

"Britt and I are going to watch a movie so feel free to join us again…unless you're too cool to be hanging out with us and would rather spend time alone" Santana teases her sister.

"I guess we could watch a movie" Carly shrugs.

"Yeah, I'm down for that" Jessica nods.

"Cool. I will pick out a movie for us and Brittany will make us all some popcorn" Santana says.

"Oh, will she?" I tease my wife. I don't remember saying I would do that.

"If you know what's good for you then you'll do as I say" Santana shrugs.

"Ok" I laugh. "I'll be back soon" I say as I go to the kitchen to make the snacks.

As soon as the popcorn is ready, I split it into two bowls and take it to the living room. I give one bowl to Carly and Jessica who are sitting on one of the couches and I take the other bowl over to the other couch to share with Santana. Once we're all comfortable and settled, Santana plays the movie. Santana and I are snuggled up together with our arms around one another while Carly and Jessica seem to be sitting as far apart as they can.

"You can hold my sister's hand, she won't bite" Santana says amused to Jessica.

"I know but I just feel so weird right now. Like, I work for you both and Carly is your sister Santana so apart from kissing or something, we don't usually display this much affection in front of anyone" Jessica says embarrassed.

"Surely you can't be that embarrassed when you've already spent the night here together, with us knowing about it" I point out.

"Yeah, but we didn't physically show much affection in front of you so it's different" Jessica replies.

"I've seen the heavy make out sessions before so I don't know why you suddenly care now" Santana shrugs.

"This is your home and my sometimes place of work so it feels different to me to be kissing Carly or whatever in this setting" Jessica explains.

"I mean I won't force you to show her some affection but all I'm saying is if Brittany sat that far apart from me then she might as well sleep somewhere else that night" Santana shrugs.

"That's different, you have Brittany whipped whereas Jess and I are pretty chill about stuff. We don't need to wrap ourselves around one another to show we love one another so leave Jess to do whatever she is comfortable with" Carly states.

"I agree" I nod.

"With which part?" Santana asks me questioningly.

"Relax, I didn't mean I didn't want us to lie together with our arms around one another. I meant I agree that it's up to them about whatever they want to do that makes them comfortable" I say as I pull Santana even closer to me.

"Ok, good" Santana nods.

"Look, all we're saying is do whatever you want to do but don't hold back just because you work for us Jess. I mean I work for Santana and I'm constantly displaying affection to my wife at work" I state.

"That makes no sense since your boss is your wife" Carly laughs.

"Ok, put it this way. I have sex with my boss so workplace relationships don't faze us in the slightest since we've seen it all before and then some" I state.

"Ok" Jessica laughs.

"If you're not the type of couple that likes all the affection then fair enough but I just meant, even though you work for us Jess, we still know you're my sister's girlfriend so please don't hold back because of us" Santana says.

"Exactly" I agree.

"Now everything is cleared up, can we go back to the movie" Carly says.

"Yeah" Santana nods. We all then turn our attention back to the TV screen.

"Even if they don't like PDA, your sister and Jess are quite cute together" I whisper in my wife's ear.

"They really are, it's quite sweet actually" Santana replies with a fond smile.

"Not quite as cute as you and me though, right?" I ask.

"Definitely not as cute as us babe" Santana smiles.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

*Tuesday 31st October 2023*

Today is Halloween so Santana and I are getting the kids into their costumes and then we'll get ready. We're not doing anything outrageous for Halloween this year because Jaxon is still really young so he doesn't fully understand it and this is only Xavier's first Halloween so he understands what's going on even less. My sister Grace is hosting a Halloween party at her place so that's where we'll be going soon. The party is mostly for all the kids but it doesn't mean the adults can't dress up and have a little fun.

"Xavier is the cutest grizzly bear I have ever seen" I point out as I look at my son fondly in his little creative onesie.

"He really is" Santana smiles. "Not to toot my own horn or anything but I designed his costume really well, I think" she adds.

"You definitely did babe" I smile.

"Jaxon is looking pretty damn cute in his little costume as well" Santana states.

"Yeah, he is the cutest little rabbit" I say, smiling at my other son.

"I did want him to maybe wear something a little scarier since it was Halloween but he was set on being a bunny rabbit so we went with that" Santana says.

"So, now that the boys are all sorted, we should probably get changed into our costumes and make our way to my sister's place" I say.

"Yeah, we should" Santana nods.

As soon as Santana and I are ready for the party, we head out to my car with the boys and Carly and drive off to Grace's house. Santana sorted costumes for the two of us so I'm going as Supergirl and Santana is going as wonder woman. Our intention wasn't exactly to go as superheroes but it was the best we could come up with at such short notice. I'm not going to lie; we've been so busy recently with work and parenting that Halloween come upon us sooner than we realised so our focus was on the boys' costumes and not our own. At the same time though, Santana made the costumes and she's very talented so they're great outfits.

"Ok, here we are" I say as we pull up outside of my sister's place and get the kids out of the back of the car.

"Wow, she really has gone all out on the decorations" Carly says surprised as we walk inside.

"Yeah, she really has. I actually feel a little scared walking in here" I chuckle.

"It's fine, I'll protect you" Santana says, giving me a flirtatious wink.

"Thanks" I smile at my wife.

"Hey" Grace says walking over to us.

"Hey" I reply.

"We were just saying the place looks great. You've done amazingly decorating everything" Santana says.

"Thanks" Grace smiles. "Some of the kids are already here so how about I take Jaxon and Xavier to hang out with everyone while you get yourselves a drink" she adds.

"Cool" I smile and then Grace takes the kids from us.

"I'm going to find Jess" Carly tells us.

"Ok, we'll catch up with you soon" Santana says and then Carly leaves.

"Just you and me" I smile at Santana.

"That is correct so let's go and get ourselves that drink Grace mentioned and then maybe, find a secret place to make out in. I know it's a children's party but you're looking particularly hot right now" Santana smirks at me.

"So are you, babe" I smirk back.

"I'm glad you think I look hot tonight because I was having second thoughts about this costume. It's maybe not the most appropriate thing I could have designed to wear considering I just had a baby a few months ago" she points out.

"Moms can still be sexy" I smile.

"I know and I'm not afraid to be sexy even if I am a mom. I didn't mean the costume was too sexy, I just meant it shows too many lumps and bumps. I've still got the pregnancy weight on my body so I could have perhaps made a more flattering costume" Santana explains.

"Well, I think you look amazing" I say as I wrap my arms around Santana.

"Thanks babe" she smiles as she leans forward to peck my lips.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

*Monday 6th November 2023*

Today might be Monday but no one in my house has the Monday blues because it's a special day today. Santana and I are celebrating our two-year wedding anniversary so there's a lot of happiness to be feeling. We said we wouldn't go crazy today celebrating, but we do want to mark the occasion somehow so I'm sure it'll be a fun day. To be honest, every day is a fun day with Santana because she's just amazing. I have to pinch myself sometimes to remind myself that I am so lucky to have her in my life.

"Good morning" I smile at my wife as she wakes up.

"What time is it?" Santana asks through a yawn.

"It's 8am, babe" I reply.

"Shit, the kids will be waiting on us. They never sleep this long so they'll be awake wondering where we are" she says as she sits up frantically.

"It's ok because Carly and Jessica have them. I went to check on the boys a little while ago and your sister said they had everything under control so I could go back to bed and enjoy a relaxing morning on my wedding anniversary" I explain.

"Yeah, it is our wedding anniversary, isn't it?" Santana smiles.

"Yeah, it really is" I smirk as I move from my position in bed and straddle my wife.

"Is this a bad time to mention I have to pee?" Santana states.

"Yes, it is because I had something planned" I laugh.

"I'm sorry" Santana laughs.

"Just go but hurry back" I tell her as I move again to let her leave the bed.

"Ok, I won't be a second" Santana says before running to the bathroom. She returns almost instantly which puzzles me.

"You did wash your hands, right?" I ask as Santana joins me in bed.

"Of course, I did" Santana states as she playfully hits my arm.

"You just seemed to be rather fast, that's all" I shrug.

"I just had to pee so I didn't hang around. I literally went in there and used the bathroom, washed my hands and ran back out to you" she tells me.

"Ok" I nod with a smile.

After spending way more time in bed than we meant to, we decided we should probably get up for the day. We've just finished getting freshened up and changed for the day so I'm thinking it's probably time for breakfast or at least time to leave the room since we have children that will probably need our attention.

"Shall we head downstairs now?" I ask.

"Yeah, I think we should" Santana nods. She then takes my hand and we walk downstairs together.

"Wow" I say as we walk into the kitchen.

"What is all of this?" Santana says surprised as breakfast is laid out on the table for the two of us.

"Jaxon and Xavier wanted to make you both a special anniversary breakfast" Carly smiles.

"Yeah, so Carly and I were going to help them" Jessica smiles.

"That is so cute, thank you" I say as I walk over and kiss my children on the head.

"We love you both so much" Santana says as she too kisses our children.

XXX

Santana and I are going out to dinner tonight so Jessica and Carly are going to watch the boys until we get back. Carly said she was more than happy to do it herself but we figured Jess might as well help and she can keep Carly company. I've just finished getting ready to go out and so has Santana so we're saying goodbye to our kids before we leave. This is actually kinda exciting because it's like going out for date night with my wife.

"We'll be back soon" I tell Jaxon as I lean down and hug him before Santana does the same.

"We don't want to wake up Xavier from his nap so can you give him a kiss from us if he does wake up" Santana says.

"Yeah" Carly smiles.

"Ok, we're going now. See you all later" I say and then my wife and I leave.

We get into the awaiting cab outside and head to the restaurant. I was intending to drive tonight but then we realised it is a special occasion so why shouldn't we take a cab so we can celebrate our wedding anniversary properly with a glass of wine or even push the boat out and order champagne. The journey to the restaurant didn't take long at all so we arrived and were seated in no time at all. We've now just finished looking at the menus and have ordered our food.

"Here is to another year of marriage" I say as I raise my glass in the air.

"Here's to us" Santana smiles as she raises her glass before clinking it together with mine.

"Can you believe we've been married another year?" I ask.

"Honestly, as much as we say it all the time but I feel like we should have been married for longer. It feels like we have been together a lot longer than we have. It is a good thing though" Santana smiles.

"Yeah, I know what you mean" I nod. "I feel like I have known you a lifetime because we are so close and in sync with one another. I just wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else" I smile.

"Me too" Santana says as she reaches over the table and holds my hand in hers.

As soon as we finished dinner together, Santana and I decided that since the night was still young then we might as well continue the party. We hit up a few more places and got some more drinks which was fun. We don't have nights out that often so when we do, we like to make the most of them if we can. I've got to say, I think we did make the most of it tonight because I'm starting to feel slightly drunk.

"Home, here we are" Santana says as we unlock the door and head inside.

"Hey, you're both still up?" I say as we walk into the living room to find Carly and Jessica.

"Yeah, we were just finishing the programme we were watching. We'll be going to bed soon though" Carly replies.

"Yeah, I think we're going straight upstairs now to bed because I'm feeling my age a bit, I'm exhausted" Santana jokes.

"I know the feeling" I laugh.

"It's probably not your age, it'll just be because you're always so busy with work and the kids" Jessica says.

"Probably" I nod. "How were the kids tonight?" I ask.

"They were great as usual" Jessica smiles.

"That's good" I reply. "We'll tiptoe into their rooms to kiss them goodnight before heading to bed."

"Yeah, so goodnight, guys" Santana says.

"Goodnight" I say and then Santana and I head upstairs.

Once we've went into Jaxon and Xavier's room to kiss them goodnight, we head to our own bedroom. We get ourselves changed and go through our nightly routine before slipping under the covers and into bed together.

"I had so much fun with you tonight" I tell Santana.

"It was just dinner and drinks, babe" Santana shrugs.

"I know but it was fun because it was just you and me getting to spend one on one time together" I reply.

"How about we spend even more one on one time together" Santana suggests as she turns around in bed to face me, a slight smirk across her face.

"Sounds good" I smile.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

*Tuesday 7th November 2023*

I woke up before Santana did this morning so I got up and out of bed before checking on our children. Carly was already awake so she had checked on Xavier and Jaxon for us and had fed them so I decided to head downstairs to make some coffee while the boys were settled. As soon as the coffee was made, I put it into two cups and headed back upstairs to my bedroom with it. I gently close the door behind me and make my way over to the bed.

"Morning" I whisper but Santana doesn't verbally reply, she just grunts in response. "I made you some coffee" I whisper again.

"Please stop shouting" Santana grumbles.

"Believe me, I'm not shouting" I say amused.

"Your voice is hurting my head" she states while glaring over at me.

"Will a kiss make it better?" I ask as I make my way over to her.

"I doubt it" Santana replies as she places a pillow over her eyes to shield her from the light.

"Kissing you always makes me feel better" I state.

"Yeah, I like kissing you because you're a good kisser but it won't make me feel better right now. I feel sick so kissing is the last thing I want" Santana tells me.

"I think someone has a bad hangover from last night" I point out.

"I don't know how because I didn't drink that much. I mean I wasn't even drunk" she states.

"If it's not a hangover then it can only be one other thing that's making you feel sick in the morning" I tease.

"So help me god if you say I'm pregnant I will beat your ass, Brittany Pierce" Santana states.

"I wasn't going to say that. I meant the only other thing it could be is food poisoning from our dinner last night" I tell her.

"Really?" she asks disbelievingly.

"No" I laugh. "I was teasing you about possibly being pregnant."

"Well, I'm not pregnant and if I can help it, I won't be pregnant again for a very long time" Santana says seriously.

"I understand" I smile.

"This body needs some rest right now but I will be pregnant again one day and we'll have more kids, I promise" she assures me.

"That's cool but you get the worst end of the stick when we have kids since you're the pregnant one so I'm happy to do whatever you want to do. Even if it means we don't get pregnant again" I say honestly.

"No, we will get pregnant again, just not right now" Santana states.

"Ok" I smile. "So…shall we go downstairs and get some breakfast because some food might help the hangover" I say changing the subject.

"Yeah, ok" Santana nods. We then make our way downstairs to the kitchen.

"Your sister is a little hungover so please be gentle with her this morning" I whisper to Carly as we enter the room.

"Ok" Carly nods.

"Shall I make us some breakfast, babe?" I ask my wife.

"Ok" Santana replies.

"Morning, Santana" Carly says loudly as she sits down next to Santana. I instantly curse under my breath because Carly has done the opposite of what I just said.

"You're so loud" Santana states as she rests her head on the table.

"This is just my normal talking voice" Carly states, talking just as loud as before.

"No, it's not" Santana says while glaring at her sister.

"Where are my kids?" I ask curiously.

"They're both taking a nap right now." Carly tells me.

"Thank you, I really appreciate you helping this morning" I say genuinely.

"It's no trouble at all" Carly smiles.

Once Santana and I have had something to eat, we headed to the living room to relax. We were only resting for about 15 minutes before Jessica entered the room with the kids. They had woken from their nap and Jaxon was desperate to see us. I'm not going to lie; I was desperate to see him and his brother too. Jaxon is just sitting on the floor playing with some toys while Xavier lies peacefully in my arms.

"Why did you let me drink so much last night when we have a one-year-old and a baby at home?" Santana asks annoyed.

"I'm not your boss babe, it was up to you how much you drank" I say amused.

"My head is killing me and I still feel so sick" Santana states. "Also, I love our kids so much but they're so loud right now" she says as she rubs her head.

"Honey, go back to bed. I've got this" I smile.

"No, it's not fair on you" Santana replies.

"Honestly, it's fine. Take some time to yourself and we'll all hang out later in the afternoon" I say.

"Ok but please wake me up in an hour or something because I can't be asleep all day when the kids need me" she tells me.

"Ok" I nod.