So it turns out that Santana did enlist. She extended her contract by three years and luckily for our favourite couple, they've been doing well.
The Latina did make it home for the birth of their child, a healthy baby boy. He's got light brown hair, with a complexion a little lighter than Santana, as well as her nose but he has Quinn's hazel eyes and her mouth shape.
Santana cried the whole way through his birth whilst Quinn handled her 18 hour labour like a champ, apart from vowing never to let Santana near her again.
Aaron Abel Lopez is just over 2 and a half years old and is a complete Mami's boy. When Santana is home, he is constantly attached to her, which makes it so much harder for Quinn when she's home alone.
Just before Aaron was born, Santana and Quinn bought a house in Westchester, just outside of the city. Santana went to Frannie and asked her to live with Quinn to help care for the baby in the beginning.
It's not the way that she planned her life being, having her wife and sister in law raise their baby whilst she was off at war, but Frannie happily obliged, ecstatic to have somewhere permanently to live for the time being, whilst also being able to re-connect with her sister and have a relationship with her nephew.
Aaron was a relatively easy new born, apart from when it came to bedtime. It was fast learning that he loved to listen to Santana sing, so before her deployments, she would sit and record herself singing a variety of songs that Quinn could play for him at night.
Quinn in herself is doing great, she has been going to therapy and has settled back into a routine well after her maternity leave. She has strengthened relationships with Maribel, Frannie, Kurt, Mercedes, Jesus, Sam and Blaine over the years and all of them jump at the chance to baby sit their godson/ grandson.
Sam left the army after their 4 years was up. He just wasn't sure it was ever really what he wanted, so he left and became a mechanic. Him and Mercedes are still together and they recently moved out and bought a flat two blocks from the apartment together. Mercedes blew up on social media with her first single 'Flippin' my hair' and she will be going on her first North American tour within the next 12 months.
Kurt and Blaine inevitably got back together when Blaine also left the front line after his 4 years. He is now a trainer for new recruits and is away Monday-Friday but returns at the weekends. Kurt works at Vogue and works alongside some of the biggest names in fashion after finally being able to get his foot in the door and his designs into the world.
"Hey baby love, how are you?" Santana asks the screen in front of her, once a clear image of her wife appears.
"I'm good Tana, how are you? Are you okay? You look exhausted." Quinn replied worriedly.
"I'm okay, I am tired but I'll get some sleep when we've finished talking."
"Make sure you do, you need to be focused." The blonde harshly stated.
"I'll be fine darling, I promise. Now where's my baby boy?"
"You better be. This is it now, the last stretch, I need you home San." Quinn pushed, unexpected, unshed tears pooling in her eyes.
"Q, baby, don't cry, please don't cry. 2 more months and I'll be home. Forever. Me, you and Aaron. We'll be together for the rest of time, I promise okay? Please don't get upset." She cooed, trying to soothe her wife through a screen was so hard when they could just have that little bit of physical reassurance.
"I know. I'm sorry. I- I just feel like I've been waiting my whole life for this. I feel like once you're home, our life will just be starting."
"That's probably true to some degree babe, it's going to be new and scary but we'll be together and that's what matters right?"
The blonde nodded along, whilst wiping the tears that had escaped from her cheeks and the corners of her eyes. Once composed, she turned in her chair, looking for their son.
"Aaron baby, come here. There's someone who wants to talk to you." She bellowed.
Within seconds there was a flash of mousy brown hair in front of the screen and Quinn felt a weight in her lap.
"Hi Mami." Aaron excitedly screamed, whilst waving his little hand in front of the camera.
"Hi baby boy. Look how big you're getting!" Santana replied, matching his enthusiasm. Nothing encouraged her more to get home than to see her beloved wife, holding their baby, they really were her world.
"Mama said I would be a big boy if I ate my veggies, so I did!" He announced whilst bouncing excitedly on his Mama's knee.
"Well I'm very proud of you! And Mama is right, you are getting big. Lean in close and I'll tell you a secret." The Latina whispered, getting closer to the screen and watching as Quinn lent Aaron forward so he could do the same, she then whispered loudly into the camera, "You should listen to Mama, because she's always right!"
Leaning back, she winked at her wife who was gazing at her adoringly.
"Always?" Aaron questioned, wide eyed with his mouth agape.
"Always." Santana reiterated. "I think it's time for you to get ready for bed now little man. I will speak to you soon, okay?"
"Yes Mami. You coming home soon?" The child asked, innocently tilting his head.
"Soon Mijo. I love you."
"Love you Mami. Night night." With that, he blew a kiss to Santana, who returned his gesture.
"Go and get yourself ready for your bath baby and I'll come up in a minute, okay?" Quinn asked, with a kiss to the top of his head.
They both watched as he scurried away and then instantly returned their attention to each other, where they just stared into the other eyes for what seemed like eternity.
"You look gorgeous Luce." Santana complimented, causing a red hue to rise on her wife's cheeks.
"I'm wearing no make up, with your hoodie and sweats."
"It doesn't matter to me. You know I love it when you're natural."
As she finished her sentence, there was some hustle and bustle behind her, signalling her bunk mates were returning for the night.
Quinn sighed, knowing their time was up, but also knowing that they were one day closer to her lovers return.
"Come back to me?"
"Always baby. I love you."
"I love you too lovebug. I'll see you soon."
Santana replied by kissing her first two fingers and gently pressing them to the camera before the screen turned black.
The Latina got herself ready for bed, whilst her wife on the other side of the world was preparing their nightly routine.
Once the infant was bathed, they lay together in his bed reading a book. Quinn could tell that his mind was elsewhere, usually Aaron giggles along and makes noises, but he was silent today. She closes the book and puts it on the nightstand before wrapping him in her arms.
"What are you thinking about?" She asks gently.
"Does Mami love us?" He quietly replies.
"What? Aaron, of course Mami loves us, why would you think she doesn't?"
"I just don't see her a lot. Is it me?"
Quinn felt her heart squeeze hearing her child allow their insecurities to flow. Aaron has always been extremely sensitive and is incredibly intelligent, he feels so deeply and she knows if Santana knew his thoughts she would be distraught.
"Aaron, listen to me, okay? Mami loves us more than anything in this world. There is nothing wrong with you. This is Mami's job, her job means that she's away from us a lot but I promise you, she's doing everything she can to come back to us. Then she will never leave again, okay? She loves us so much, she's leaving her job." Quinn tries to explain as simply as she can.
"Okay Mama. I believe you, cuz' Mami said you're always right." He muttered, snuggling himself further into Quinn's side.
Quinn giggled to herself at his comment, her wife was the best mother, even when she was 4,000 miles away. She decided that tonight they could snuggle together and sleep, she needed the comfort and that little boy was a huge piece of her Tana.
"Come home soon baby." She whispered into the air before allowing herself to drift asleep.
"Lopez?"
"Yes sir."
"Can I speak with you for a moment please?"
With that Santana excused herself from her team and followed the commander into his office.
"So yourself and your team will be moving out today. Assistance is required south, they were supposed to be evacuating a village there but for some reason there is running issues, I want your team to resolve this pronto. It should be easy enough for you, a couple of days max. Then you will return here. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
"Okay. You go and get your team together. There will be a chopper here to pick you up at 900 hours."
With that, Santana saluted her superior and swiftly left the office. She returned to the mess hall where her team were still situated and relayed the information and they all immediately lifted themselves and began heading back to their bunks to pack their belongings.
Santana checked the time for New York on her phone and decided she would try and give Quinn a quick call before heading out.
She listened to 7 dials before the answering machine cut in, sighing, she disconnected the call and put the phone on her bed whilst carrying on with her packing.
She was in silence for a few minutes before she heard familiar footsteps behind her.
"Hey."
She looked over her shoulder to check who it was, confirming that it was her best friend in here, before carrying on.
"Hey, you alright?"
"I'm good. Listen, San, can I talk to you a sec?" Alex asked nervously.
Santana felt instant dread and sat to give Alex her full attention.
"You know you can. What's going on?"
"I've been thinking and I just aren't sure that I want to reenlist if you aren't going to be here. Like who's going to watch my back if you aren't, you know?" She spoke quickly.
"Yeah I get it Al. I wouldn't want to be here without you either, you know?"
"It's just.. my other issue is I can't go back to Connecticut. There's nothing there for me. I can't go back there San."
It was then Santana saw something in her friend that she's never seen before. She watched as Alex's green eyes filled with tears and her bottom lip trembled, but tried to keep her face stoic, to maintain her facade.
"Then you don't. You come to New York with me. You can stay with us for a while and when you're back on your feet, we find you an apartment close by or in the city and you can build a life there. With our family." Santana reassured.
"Our family?"
"Yes Al. You know that you're family. Quinn absolutely adores you and as does Aaron. Mami loves you the way she loves Cedes, Kurt, Frannie, Sam, all of them. Alex, you know where your home is, it's where your family is. That's with us."
Santana didn't expect for Alex to lunge into her arms but they held on tight to each other, embracing the comfort, something they don't feel a lot away from home.
At this time, Santana's phone began to buzz behind them. They broke the hug as Santana swiped the screen to accept the call.
"Hey baby."
"Hey, are you okay? You're not supposed to call today." Quinn breathlessly asked.
Santana chuckled slightly, feeling a sense of warmth wash over her, Quinn is always so caring and it flows through her, it's when Santana knows that she made the right decision leaving the army.
"I'm fine Q, everything's fine. I'm just calling to let you know I'm moving out today for a few days so I won't be calling."
"Oh, thank god. I was so worried when I saw the missed call."
"No, no need to worry, okay? Calm yourself down. How are you?"
"I'm good, I've had a good day at work and Frannie's just taken Aaron to the park so that I could get the cleaning done. That's why I didn't hear the phone."
"That makes sense." Before she could say anything else, Alex tilted the speaker so that she could speak.
"HI QUINN." She shouted.
Quinn could be heard giggling, making Santana grin to herself, embracing the sound she loves dearly.
"Hi Alex." She replied, which Santana relayed to her friend, before watching her retreat out of the tent, inevitably to pull the last of her things together.
"That girl.." She mumbled, before carrying on with their conversation. They chatted for a few minutes before Santana checked the time and realised they needed to leave.
"I'm sorry baby, but I need to go. Remember that I love you and give Aaron a kiss for me?"
"Of course lovebug. I love you so much. Come home soon?"
"I promise. See you soon."
With that, the line went dead, Santana composed herself before walking out of her tent and finding her squad waiting for her.
"Right team, let's get this shit done."
Her team had stayed pretty consistent throughout her years in the army, Rutherford, Porter, Zizes, Hayward and of course Alex were still in her squad.
Sargent Scott had been Santana's mentor for her first 3 years in the army, she had been a guiding light, teaching her more than she would have ever learnt without her.
Santana made Sargent before Scott retired so they had separate teams, but she will forever grateful for everything the woman did for her when she first joined. It's why now when the new recruits fly in Santana does everything in her power to make them feel at home and makes time to talk to them, she's not sure she'd have loved this job as much as she does without Scott embracing her.
Scott retired 2 years ago so that she could settle down and raise her little girl properly. Her husband was always hard at work and so her being at war put a strain on their marriage, so she decided that her home life was more important.
Funnily enough, it was the last piece of advice she gave to Santana.
"Remember Lopez, once you've found your soulmate there is only two things that will be able to break that bond. You and them. Don't be one to break it. You can always get another job, but finding another family, that's not so easy. The army will find a replacement tomorrow, do you really want to risk your family for that?"
Them words were what stuck with Santana when she decided that she couldn't reenlist, her wife and her baby needed her more than the army.
Alas, Santana and her team were standing a couple hundred feet from where their transportation was landing.
"Right, quick debrief, we're going in to help with an evacuation. The commander wants this handled swiftly, in and out, job done. Are we clear?"
A chorus of 'Yes Sargent!" was heard in return.
"Great, get your asses in that chopper."
With that, the Latina stood back and watched as her team effortlessly clambered into the helicopter, savouring every last moment of doing the job that she adored, before quickly moving in after them.
She hated flying in helicopters, there was just something about the way they moved that made her uncomfortable, unsafe. It's not like she's ever had any reason not to trust them before, she's always gotten from A to B with no issues.
But it had to happen now didn't it? Right before she was about to go home and live a happy life with her wife, child, best friend and her family back in New York.
"INCOMING!" Screamed the pilot.
"TAKE COVER."
BANG!
"WE'RE GOING DOWN!"
AN: Hey everyone.
You wouldn't believe how many different versions of this chapter there are and to be honest with you, I'm still not happy with it.
Before putting this story out, I had written about 43 chapters which just flowed naturally out of me. Since then, I've found it extremely hard to continue it.
I love this story, I really really do and I hope that I can finally give it the ending that it deserves.
I hope you're all still there and will be for the final stretch, we're on the home straight now.
Let me know your thoughts x