A/N: All I can say is I am So Sorry for taking so long to update. Writers block. Hopefully that doesn't happen again until the story's over.

Sorry people!

Enjoy ;)

So far camping wasn't so bad, Santana had to admit. It had only been eight hours, so there was plenty of time for it to go downhill, but as Santana sat in the folding chair, snacking on a bag of chips while her kids tried to make a fire under Pierce's guidance, she couldn't say she was having a bad time.

Looking away from her kids for a moment, Santana turned to Puck and Jade. She'd been watching them all day, baffled by how cute they actually were. She'd never seen Puck like this, walking around with a goofy smile, following Jade around like a puppy dog, always finding a reason to touch her in some way or another like he couldn't get enough of her.

Brittany was no fun, refusing to participate in Santana's teasing. Santana had never missed Quinn more. Currently, Puck and Jade were at the grill, clearly not paying any attention to the food they were supposed to be cooking. Jade had her arms around Puck's shoulders, having to lift up slightly on her toes so she could reach, while Puck had wrapped his arms around her waist. This was what Santana couldn't process. Puck's hands were around Jade's waist, not inching towards her ass, not pulling her against his body. He was looking at her with a soft smile, nodding along to whatever she was saying, clearly listening, and Santana had never seen Puck pay attention to anything a girl was saying when they were that close to him.

It was like Puck had become a completely different person.

"Still obsessed with Noah and Jade I see." Brittany said, dropping into the folding chair next to Santana.

Santana barely glanced at her.

"He's not even looking at her boobs."

"His first grown up relationship." Brittany said, looking at Puck as well. "I'm proud of him."

"It's weird." Santana frowned. "It's like he's not even Puck anymore."

"Oh he's Puck again now?" Brittany laughed.

"I'm just saying." Santana mumbled, fighting a smile.

"Here." Brittany handed her a cup with some of the pre-mixed cocktails they'd packed. "I'm sure he felt the same way when you and I got serious, and Quinn found Theo. We all changed too."

"I guess." Santana took a sip of the cocktail. "But Noah being Noah was one of those things you could always count on you know?"

"Yeah well." Brittany shrugged. "I for one like him better like this."

"I suppose if it had to be someone, I'm glad it's Jade."

"Imagine if they get married!" Brittany said excitedly. "And have little British babies."

"Oh my god." Santana laughed, finally looking away from Puck and Jade. "Don't you think there are enough babies for now babe?"

Brittany grinned. "They're not ours so what do I care?"

Santana shook her head in amusement.

It took nearly half an hour, but the kids finally managed to start the fire. Puck and Jade focused enough to finish the food and Santana began playing music from one of the many speakers she had brought. It was a nice feeling, being out here with her family, singing loudly to the music, playing charades and broken telephone. Like they'd gone into this bubble where nothing and no one existed but them, and they could all just be as free and silly as they wanted.

Her kids were clearly having a blast. Santana wasn't sure any of them had stopped smiling since they'd arrived. There was no fighting or arguing, just laughter and squeals of excitement. It had a feeling of warmth and contentment settling over Santana, a feeling that being here was all she needed in life. The adults got tired long before the kids, and when her parents decided to call it a night, Santana realised that it was past midnight. Considering the time they'd woken up she couldn't understand how her kids were still chasing each other round the fire like they hadn't been awake for almost twenty four hours.

"Time for bed." She said, standing up and stretching her back.

"No mami." Mateo whined.

"We've had a long day bud." Brittany said, standing as well.

"But I'm not tired."

"You would be if you sat down for five minutes." Santana said.

"But I don't want to sit down."

"Niki we have all week, it's not like we're going home tomorrow, what more do you even want to do?"

"A lot." He whined even louder, his voice reaching that high pitch that foretold tears.

"Okay how about this." Brittany said, walking forward. "Mami and I are gonna count to ten, you guys run. When we catch you, you go to bed."

Mateo's expression changed quickly, from sulking to excitement.

"Okay." He said, already walking away. "But you have to close your eyes."

"Hide and seek in the dark!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Yes!" Jesús screamed.

Santana could tell that hadn't been Brittany's initial plan, but she nodded nonetheless.

"Alright, are you guys ready?"

All the kids nodded eagerly. Brittany turned to Santana.

"Ready?"

"Yup."

They closed their eyes at the same time. Counting down to the sound of the kids scrambling in different directions. Tired as she was, Santana couldn't help feeling really stupidly happy.

Sooner than Santana could belive, they were packing everything up again, driving the two hours back home. She left all her luggage in the foyer, unable to muster the energy to carry it upstairs to try and unpack. She collapsed face first on the bed, letting out a long, low groan.

"So what do you say we make that an annual trip?" Brittany said cheerfully, sitting on the edge of the bed beside Santana. Santana turned, frowning heavily, to find her grinning. "Kidding." She said with a small chuckle.

"Not funny."

"It wasn't that bad. Tiring, but it was nice being outside with the kids all day, watching them explore."

"Yeah." Santana turned onto her back, propping herself up on her elbows. "But that's cause we have awesome children, not because nature is awesome."

Britany cocked her head. "What about when we went to for a walk and watched the sunrise from that hill."

"I was freezing."

Brittany raised her eyebrow.

"Okay that was really romantic." Santana admitted, sitting up. "But that's cause of you, not nature."

A slight blush crept up Brittany's neck as she smiled.

"You're determined not to give nature any credit huh?"

"That's right." Santana nodded. "There's a reason we evolved out of the damn woods."

"Okay." Brittany giggled.

"Are you telling me you want to do that again?"

Brittany pursed her lips, thinking, and for a second Santana was afraid she might actually say yes, but then she was shaking her head.

"No. It was a nice experience, but no need to repeat it."

"Exactly." Santana nodded victoriously. "If the kids want to go camping again they can go with your dad. He clearly loved it."

"Yeah." Brittany dropped onto her back, a deep look coming over her face. "Did you feel like he was…" She trailed off, as if unable to think of a word.

"What?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Tired….like getting tired more often."

Santana had in fact noticed that Pierce didn't have the usual energy that let him keep up with the kids. He spent a lot of time sitting, watching them, rather than chasing them around like he normal would, but she hadn't thought much of it. She herself was so tired by the end of each day she fell asleep as soon as they got into the tent, and the kids were even more energized than usual.

"Yeah." She said, "but he's getting up there in age."

"He's only fifty eight."

"Exactly." Santana said, lying on her side so she could face Brittany. "That's not young. It makes sense that he's slowing down."

"Mmmh." Brittany hummed, staring up at the ceiling. Santana could see the worry etched on her face.

"Hey." She put her hands over Brittany's, which were resting on her stomach. "What are you thinking?"

"It's just weird." Brittany said quietly. "Thinking of my dad getting old, realising he won't be…..him. You know forever…"

"Of course he'll always be him-"

"You know what I mean." Brittany turned to face her, a sad look in her eyes.

"Yeah." Santana nodded, scooting closer and placing a kiss on Brittany's forehead. "But we have him now, he's still him."

"But one day-"

"Don't think about one day." Santana said gently. "Not when you don't need to. For now he's still him, and our kids get to grow up with him being the best play mate in the world."

Brittany cracked a small smile. "Yeah you're right." She took a deep breath and sat up. "I think I'm gonna go down and see what I can help unpack."

Santana knew what Brittany was really saying was that she needed to go spend time with her dad to help her feel better, so she didn't bring up the fact that Brittany had already declared herself too tired to unpack.

"Okay." She said, sitting up as well and rubbing Brittany's arm. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No that's okay. I want you well rested."

"For what?" Santana asked, confused. Brittany leaned forward, stopping millimetres from her lips.

"We're back in our own bed now." She husked. "With a door that locks."

Santana's eyebrows shot up as understanding dawned on her. She'd barely started smirking before Brittany was crashing their lips together.

"MAMI!"

Reluctantly, Santana pulled away, keeping her eyes closed for a few seconds to convince herself not to ignore her son and press Brittany to the bed. She heard Brittany giggle, as a wheight lifted from the bed.

"Don't laugh at me." She protested, her eyes popping open.

"I'm not." Brittany said, shaking her head quickly. "We're in the same boat."

"It's awful wet in this boat isn't it-"

"Santana!"

"MAMI!"

Feeling immensely proud of herself for the flush in Brittany's cheeks, Santana stood up and walked to the door, pulling it open.

"Yeah? Stop yelling, vena qui."

Mateo came running up the stairs.

"What's up?" She asked him.

"Eve is here."

"Oh. Okay. Tell her I'll be right down."

"Okay." He nodded and ran back down the stairs. Santana had barely shut the door again before Eve was calling up to her.

"Santana, actually do you mind if I come up?"

Frowning, Santana walked out into the hallway, Brittany right behind her. "Sure."

She waited until she could see Eve before asking,

"Is everything okay?"

Eve glanced behind her. "Can we…" she pointed into their room.

Nodding, Santana led them all back into the room.

"Hi Eve." Brittany said politely, with only a hint of confusion.

"Hi Brittany." Eve smiled, then she turned to Santana. "I've been trying to reach you for two days."

"Sorry." Santana said half-heartedly. She'd already told Eve that once they got out there she'd basically be off the grid. Her phone had died at some point and she hadn't bothered to charge it, since she wouldn't get service anyway. "What did you need to talk to me about."

Eve looked nervously between her and Brittany, swallowed, then seeming to steel her nerves, looked Santana straight in the eye.

"Kevin wants to see you."

Santana heard the words, but her brain was refusing to process them. She blinked a few times, willing herself to make sense of what Eve was saying, but she may as well have spoken another language for all the good it did Santana.

"What?" She asked.

"Kevin." Eve said again. "He wants to see you."

Still, Santana couldn't understand. This man who she had never thought would be in her life, a man she never in a million years thought she would have to deal with, seemed to be a constant in her life now. She couldn't get rid of him, always somewhere in the back of her mind, a threat lingering just out of sight and now he wanted to see her? For what? Santana had seen a picture of him once, seven years ago, when Julia had showed them Sopha's file. There had been pictures of both him and Nancy, their birth mother, but she'd done her best to erase the images from her mind. She hated the pair of them, with a burning passion that made her feel like she could shake apart from its intensity. She'd decided long ago to forget them, as best she could, and focus on her beautiful children.

Now here Kevin was, forcing her to try and conjure the image of the small passport sized photo that had been stuck to the corner of the page in Sophia's file in her mind once more. It was blurry, it having been years since she thought about it, but she could just vaguely recall what he looked like.

There was also an itch in the back of her mind, like there was something she was forgetting, something familiar about the blurry face that her memory was struggling to bring into focus.

"No." Brittany said, her voice cold. "For what?" She shook her head. "Why would we…No."

"He says he has some things he wants-"

"I don't give a damn what he wants." Brittany snapped. "He doesn't have a right to want anything, and…Jesus…" She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm actually tired of hearing about him. You know our position on this. You know how we feel, why did you even come here!? You didn't need to tell us this."

Santana could hear that Brittany was working herself up into anger, but she couldn't bring herself out of her thoughts to do anything about it. The nagging itch was insessant, and she was afraid that if she broke concentration, whatever it was her mind was searching for would slip out of her grasp. She squinted her eyes, focusing hard on the image in her head. There was short blonde hair, not as blonde as Sophia and Mateo's, but still very blonde. Or wait, was it long? She was pretty sure the man's hair had been short in the picture, but Santana couldn't help feeling like she'd seen the same face, with longer, unkempt hair. But where?

"Julia feels it's best to give you all the information and let you decide for yourselves what to do."

"You know that's another thing." Brittany said, pointing at Eve. "I appreciate Julia letting us know that he's out, but frankly none of this is any of her business. Our children aren't in the system anymore, so they're not any of her concern."

Eve plainly didn't know what to say to this. She opened her mouth, closed it, and let out a shallow breath, turning to Santana.

Santana's eyes were squinted so hard they might as well have been shut. There seemed to be two images now, which was confusing her. She'd only seen Kevin once, in one single picture. Was she confusing him with someone else? Someone skinnier? Or was he also skinny? She shouldn't know his weight, since she'd only seen a headshot cut off at his shoulders, and yet….

Brittany spoke again before Eve thought of something to say.

"Call her back and tell her thanks, but to kindly stay out of our lives. I honestly never want to hear from that woman again."

Looking reluctant, Eve nodded.

"Okay."

"And then call Kevin's parole officer, I'm sure you can get the number from Julia, they seem to always be in contact."

Now Eve looked downright nervous.

"And tell them what?"

"That hell will freeze over before I let that criminal anywhere near MY children."

"He doesn't want to see them." Eve rushed out, her hands coming out to placate Brittany. "He wants to see you."

"And for us to bring our kids along I'm sure."

"No." Eve shook her head. "He specifically requested that you don't bring them."

"Why is he making requests?!" Brittany spun to face Santana. "Why does he think he can ask anything of us? Tell us what to do?"

"I don't think that's what-"

"He's nobody. Nobody." Brittany emphasized, cutting Eve off. "He's acting like we're just watching his kids, like we're their guardians. They're our kids, not his. What he wants doesn't matter."

Santana had closed her eyes fully now, the images becoming sharper in her mind. One was the picture in the file, a blonde man with short blonde hair, brown eyes and a square jaw. Then there was another image, of a tall, unnaturally skinny man, with shaggy blonde hair tucked behind his ears, and stubble littering his chin. But where she had conjured that second image from Santana still couldn't place.

"He's never going to leave us alone is he?" Brittany began to pace. "It's always going to be like this. It starts with requests to see us, then he'll start sending letters and ask us to let the kids read them, then he'll want to see them."

Brittany was speaking fast now, her hands gesturing with jerky movements.

"He's harassing us, that's what he's doing."

Eve licked her lips, taking a cautious step towards Brittany.

"Julia said…" She paused as Brittany flinched, but braved on. "She said that there are some things he wants to say to you, and then he'll never bother you again. You or the kids."

Brittany scoffed, casting a look at Santana once again.

"And we're supposed to trust him? He's a criminal!" Brittany practically screamed, throwing her hands up. "A murderer."

Eve pressed her lips together nodding.

"Okay." She said. "Alright. I will tell them that your answer is no and not to contact you again."

"We don't need to hear anything from him ever again. Right?"

For the first time Brittany sounded unsure as she turned to Santana.

"Santana?"

Santana pressed her hands to her eyes, willing herself to remember.

"Where have I seen you before…" She whispered to herself, tapping her knuckles against her forehead.

"Santana?" Brittany asked, seeming to realise that Santana hadn't spoken since Eve's announcement. "Santana what's wrong?"

And then Mateo popped into her head, struggling to carry a stack of containers filled with chocolate covered pretzels. "Cute kid."

Santana's eyes popped open as Brittany touched her arm.

"Babe what's wrong?"

Santana felt her chest tighten, her breathing turning laboured as she focused on Brittany.

"I've seen him before," she said, her voice hoarse.

"What?" Brittany stepped closer.

"I've…" she cleared her throat. "I've seen him before."

"Kevin?"

"Yeah."

Brittany frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen him Brittany. I've met him."

Brittany's eyes went wide, her hand tightening on Santana's arm.

She swallowed hard before she spoke. "Were you with any of the kids?"

Slowly, Santana nodded.

Brittany felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. She couldn't think of anything to say, even though the look in Santana's eyes was begging her to. They were supposed to be safe. Her kids were supposed to be safe. This wasn't supposed to be able to happen. They'd taken so many precautions, the security company had assured them that the body guards had been properly prepped to identify Kevin from miles away.

Yet truthfully, Brittany had never really believed Kevin would try and approach their kids. Deep down she'd felt that he wouldn't dare, especially after receiving the restraining order. So she and Santana hadn't gone back to look at his picture. She hadn't thought that she'd actually need to recognize him, because he wouldn't dare seek them out, and otherwise when would their paths ever cross?

"Where?" Was the only thing Brittany could say.

"At the store….oh my god." Santana clutched her head, backing away. "How could I not recognize him?"

Brittany would be asking the same question, if not for the fact that she wasn't sure she could recognize Kevin herself.

"It's not your fau-"

"Of course it is!" Santana dropped her hands. "He talked to me…to Mateo! Oh god." She pressed her hands to her stomach like she was suddenly afraid she'd throw up. "Oh god he talked to Mateo."

"Okay, Santana, listen to me." Brittany rushed forward, wrapping her arms around Santana and forcing her to sit on the bed. "I wouldn't have recognized him either, and Mateo's fine, he didn't know who that was."

"I could've been with Sophia." Santana said in a shaky voice.

"But you weren't. And he didn't know who you were, did he?"

"I don't know." Santana shook her head helplessly. "He might have." Then her eyes widened. "What if he followed us home?"

A stab of fear shot through Brittany at the thought. What if he'd been watching them? What if he'd spent weeks outside their house, watching them.

"He can't come here anyway." Eve said, walking closer to them both. "You took out a restraining order, and your residence was one of the places he isn't allowed anywhere near right? If he came anywhere near here he'd be right back to jail."

"Wait." Santana's head snapped up. "We took out a restraining order."

"Yeah." Brittany nodded. "A lot of good that did."

"No." Santana shook her head. "We took out a restraining order and I've met him." She stood up, looking around the room. "Where in the hell is my-ah shit!"

"What?" Brittany asked, puzzled.

"My phone's dead." Santana said. "Can I use yours?"

"Mine's dead too."

"Crap." Santana cursed quietly. "Eve, do you have our lawyers number?"

"Our lawyer?" Brittany stood up as well. "Santana what's…why do you want to call our lawyer?"

"Because I'm pretty sure we specified in that restraining order that Kevin couldn't come within one hundred feet of Sophia or Mateo. Not just our house and their school. So when he saw us in the shop-"

"He was violating the restraining order." Brittany said, catching on.

"Here." Eve said, handing Santana her phone. "It's dialing."

Santana quickly lifted the phone to her ear.

"But did he recognize you?" Eve asked. "Because if he doesn't know who you are…."

"Hello." Santana said abruptly, interrupting Eve. "This is Santana Lopez-Pierce…yes hi how are you?"

Brittany bit her lip nervously as Santana talked to the lawyer, exchanging pleasantries, explaining why she wasn't using her own phone, and then finally telling him what had happened with Kevin. Then she went quiet for a long time.

"What's he saying?" Brittany whispered.

Santana simply shook her head, which Brittany wasn't sure how to interpret.

After what felt like an hour, Santana finally spoke.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "It doesn't feel like….I don't think we can…." She let out a heavy sigh. "Best case scenario, yes, but what about the worst?...No we trust you…Okay." She nodded, reaching out for Brittany's hand. Brittany let her take it. "We'll set it up."

It wasn't long before the call ended after that.

"What did he say?" Brittany asked again.

"That if Kevin does know who we are, then legally he should have left the store second he saw me. So if we can get him to admit he knows me then we can prove he willingly violated the restraining order, and he'll almost certainly go back to jail."

"Okay." Brittany said, releasing a short breath. "Okay, that's good. So how do we prove it?"

Santana looked pained as she turned to Eve.

"We agree to meet with him, and record him admitting to recognizing me in the store."

Brittany's stomach dropped. Every fiber of her being rejecting the suggestion.

"No." She said.

"Britt." Santana squeezed the hand she was still holding. "I hate it too, but you were right, he's just going to keep harassing us unless we-"

"No." Brittany pulled her hand from Santana's, feeling panic settle deep in her gut. "We're not going to open that door for him. I'm not going to let him think he can summon us whenever he wants."

"Okay." Santana said, holding her hands out. "But don't we want him locked up again?"

Brittany shook her head. "We'll find another way."

Though she expected her to, Santana didn't argue any further. She was looking intently at Brittany, like she was reading something on her face, and though Brittany didn't know what, she couldn't bring herself to care. She hadn't realised until this very moment, when the possibility of actually facing Kevin was brought to the table, just how scared of him she actually was. Getting him thrown back in jail would be great, but Brittany couldn't do it. She wanted to stay as far away from him as possible and make sure he understood that he would have no access at all to her kids.

"Santana…" she said, voice soft, begging her to understand.

Santana retook her hand, pulling her into a hug. "Okay B," she said, "we'll find another way."

It was a good thing Santana didn't have much to do in the following weeks, because she couldn't stop thinking about Kevin, and Brittany's reaction to him. She herself was not a fan of Kevin, and truthfully she'd been slightly shaken by the realization that she'd stood feet from him, that he'd talked to her and more importantly to Mateo, but that had just made her angry. It made her want to do everything she could to keep that from ever happening again. So if meeting him was the only way to do that, she was ready.

Brittany on the other hand had been scared. Santana had seen it in her eyes, the same wild panic that she'd had in Brazil the day the twins were born, and Santana had tried to tell her they couldn't adopt them. It wasn't a rational fear, which is why Santana hadn't even bothered trying to convince her to go along with the plan, but Santana couldn't see how to deal with Kevin without talking to him. She spent a lot of time thinking about it, trying to come up with something Brittany would be okay with, but nothing came to mind. As much as she understood Brittany's fear, Santana hated that they were doing nothing.

As they moved into June, Santana felt like she was in a constant state of anxiety. She started asking Jessie to join them whenever they left the house, which was often, now that the kids were settling into the summer holidays. Brittany seemed happy not to talk about it, throwing herself into preparing for Ryan and Kaycee's competition in France. Santana let her, since it wasn't like she had a solution to present anyway, but Kevin was always in the back of her mind.

Even now as she tried to talk to her grandmother, her subconscious was stuck on Kevin.

"Santana are you there?"

"Si." Santana sat up, trying to refocus.

Her conversations with her grandmother had continued to go well since reconnecting at Mateo's birthday. She didn't seem upset that she hadn't been allowed to talk to the kids, in fact she seemed to understand that she'd have to prove herself, to Brittany specifically, before she got that privilege. She asked Santana frequently about all the kids and their interests, and then asked to speak to Brittany. Most of the time Brittany would refuse, which Santana didn't really blame her for. She was beginning to understand that when Brittany had told her she hated her abuela all those years ago, she hadn't been joking. She'd underestimated just how angry Brittany actually was, but now that she knew, she appreciated the few times Brittany agreed to speak to her abuela. It would take time, but as Santana had told her abuela, Brittany was the most important person in her life, except her kids, so she'd need to get on her good side if she wanted to be in Santana's life. Her abuela had said she would keep trying, no matter how long it took.

"What are you planning?"

"Disney world."

"Que?"

Santana chuckled lightly.

"It's a giant theme park in Florida, with roller coasters and a bunch of rides…"

"Ah si." Her abuela said, catching on. "Where you had your wedding."

Santana froze, feeling stunned.

"My wedding?" She repeatedly stupidly.

"Si…or is that not where you had it?"

"No it is….but how did you know?"

There was a short pause, in which Santana could only hear her grandmother breathing, and then she spoke softly, like her mind was elsewhere.

"I am sorry I wasn't there."

"Abuela…" Santana sighed. They'd already decided to stop with the constant apologies. Much as Santana knew her grandmother should apologise, she had quickly gotten tired of hearing it. She just wanted to focus on rebuilding their relationship.

"Santana I have to apologize for that."

"I didn't invite you anyway."

"Because you knew I wouldn't come." Her grandmother let out a heavy sigh, sounding so disappointed in herself. "I will regret that for the rest of my life. I had dreamed about your wedding since you were little…"

"I remember." Santana said quietly, thinking of all the times she and her abuela had sat together, planning her wedding. Her heart ached slightly as she imagined her abuela at her wedding, sitting beside her parents as she walked down the aisle. Would she have cried like her father? Would she have told her how beautiful she looked and kissed her cheeks?

"I should have been there."

"Yeah." Santana had to admit. On the day, Santana had refused to think about all the people who weren't at her wedding. She'd focused on the fact that she was finally marrying Brittany, that her parents were there, her other's side of the family, and she was surrounded by friends who had become family. But now she allowed herself to feel the absence of her grandmother, and all her Tias and Miguel. "Yeah you should have," she said, "but there's nothing we can do about that now."

"Si. But I will say, you were very beautiful nieta."

"You've seen pictures?" Santana asked.

"Yes. I asked your father to share some with me. I printed them for my home."

Santana felt a lump form in her throat. "You have pictures of my wedding in your house?"

"Of course. Next to your graduation picture."

It shocked her how quickly something she hadn't even known she'd needed to hear could bring her to tears. Her grandmother had many pictures in her house, of all her kids and grandkids. After she'd been kicked out and disowned, Santana had assumed her pictures were taken down, maybe even thrown out knowing her abuela. It was healing to hear that her pictures were there, that her wedding was as important to her abuela as anyone else's in the family.

"Thanks abuela." She croaked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Ah don't thank me nieta. You belong there." She sounded almost annoyed, which made Santana smile. "So you are taking them to Disney… Cómo se llama…Disney world?"

"Yeah." Santana sniffed, pulling herself together. "They've been begging to go for years so we're going to surprise them."

"When is their birthday?"

"20th."

"Ah soon. Will you…is there a party?"

Santana was still trying to get used to this nervous, apprehensive version of her grandmother. She hoped with time she would relax back into some version of the grandmother she'd grown up with, without the insults and cruelty, because that was after all, the grandmother she loved.

"Yes. We'll throw something at the house."

"Mmhh."

A silence. Santana knew what her abuela was thinking, and she considered just extending an invitation, but Brittany said it was good to let her ask for what she wanted, to remind her that she wasn't entitled to anything. So because she wanted to do this in a way that made Brittany comfortable, and though it was hard, Santana kept her mouth shut and waited for her grandmother to work up to asking.

"I don't want to presume…" Her grandmother finally said.

"Presume what?"

"That I am welcome."

"Ah." Santana nodded, feeling very awkward, the words, 'of course you are welcome' on the tip of her tongue.

"I…would like to come…if I am allowed."

And there it was. The fact that she couldn't automatically agree was almost painful.

"Abuela…" She started, "I am so happy that you want to come, it really does mean a lot to me." And it really did. How many years had Santana spent wishing for her grandmother to care even a little bit about her life? "Brittany and I will talk about it and let you know okay?"

"Oh…" There was hurt in her abuela's voice, though she tried to hide it. Santana gritted her teeth against the guilt, reminding herself that these were the consequences of her abuela's actions, not her fault. The last thing she wanted was to put Brittany in a situation like on Mateo's birthday where she felt out of control or like she didn't have a say. Especially with all the Kevin drama they were currently caught up in. It wouldn't go well for anyone. "Si, let me know."

"We will."

"Is Brittany there?"

Santana looked around the living room, where she was sitting quite alone, and shook her head.

"No she's at work."

"Y tú?"

"I don't really have much to do. I released the album in April, so I've been doing a few performances in L.A, a bit of pre-tour press-"

"Ay! Wait! ¿De qué habla este niño?"

Santana stopped abruptly.

"¿Qué?"

"You will have to go slow for your old abuelita."

"Sorry." Santana laughed.

"You have a new album?"

"Yeah…" Santana said hesitantly, not particularly wanting to talk much about the album she wrote entirely about her feelings towards her grandmother. She was aware that it was probably thanks to the catharsis of the entire process of writing each song, crying in the studio, venting into the mic, that allowed her to get to this place where she could talk to her abuela on the phone, neither was she ashamed of her songs by any means. She just didn't want to rub it in her grandmother's face. Brittany, Quinn and Puck thought it would be good for her grandmother to hear the songs, and experience for herself the pain and anger she'd put Santana through. Santana wasn't so sure. Her grandmother was old, after all, and already so remorseful. Some of the things Santana said in her songs were pretty hurtful, even if they were true, and Santana was worried they'd be too much for her abuela to take.

"I saw them talking about you on the tv." Her abuela said, bringing Santana out of her thoughts. "Talking about a great comeback."

Santana smiled. "Did they say great comeback?" She'd been asked a lot about her comeback in every interview she'd done so far, but she hadn't heard it being referred to as great.

"Si. The comeback everyone has been waiting for."

She couldn't help but feel proud. This album had been the most stressful of any in her career, so it was nice to have people love it already.

"I said to myself, but what did they expect of my Santanita."

Santana's smile widened.

"Thanks abuela."

"So now you are waiting for what?"

"I'm going on tour next month, so between now and then I'm doing a few appearances, to get people excited for the tour."

"Ah I see. Where have you been?"

"They're usually all in L.A and New York. Brittany and I are going to France in a week, so I'll do a few there and I might also make a stop in England."

"Where can I watch all your…eh…appearances?"

A warmth spread through Santana's, raising a lump in her throat for a second time as tears prickled behind her eyes. She had to swallow and clear her throat before she could speak.

"I'll tell papi to show you okay?"

"Bueno. Then I can brag to all my friends, my nieta is on tv. That's more impressive than being in an ad." She sniggered. "Escuchar Santana! Last Sunday, dios, listen to this. Ana, you remember Ana, she always sits with me at church."

Santana, who had lost the fight against her tears could only manage to hum in response.

"She was bragging about her grandson, saying he was some big shot actor. Lucia and I thought he was in a movie the way Ana was talking. Come Monday night, I'm watching the house of flowers, an ad comes on and who do I see?"

"Ana's grandson?" Santana said, voice thick as she gently brushed her thumb over her cheek to wipe away the tears.

"SI!" Her abuela exclaimed laughing. "In an ad for cough syrup or something like that…."

Santana gladly listened to her grandmother bad mouth Ana and her grandson's bad acting for several minutes, feeling so content in the familiarity of gossiping with her that she could picture the look of disdain on her abuela's face.

Things were still complicated between them, and her grandmother still had a long way to go in earning Brittany's trust, but moments like these were reassuring to Santana. At the start of the year she never would have imagined chatting like this, about something as unimportant as her grandmother's friend's grandson being in a commercial. This time last year she never would have imagined talking to her grandmother at all. Things would keep getting better, she could trust that, and for now this was more than enough.

"Mama, can we go see Tia?"

Brittany looked down at Kyler. "Aren't you tired?"

"No." He shook his head.

Brittany shook her head, placing her hand on his back and guiding him to keep walking to the car. She shouldn't have asked. Her sons were never tired, not even after spending the entire morning playing baseball. Brittany was tired, but that was because she'd woken up at five and then spent the entire morning socializing with her kids' friends' parents. Not that she hadn't enjoyed herself, but she really wanted to go home and become a couch potato.

"I'm hungry." Mateo complained.

"Yeah me too." Jesús agreed.

"We can eat at Tia's." Kyler tried to reason. "And you know she'll make something yummy."

"No," Brittany shook her finger, "we're not going to go there just so you can make Tia cook for you."

"Not just for that."

"I thought you said Tia was better?" Jesús asked.

"She is, but she's still taking care of a newborn, she doesn't need you rugrats making her more tired." She ruffled Jesús hair.

"Hey!"

"Tia says we're her babies too." Mateo said. "So she won't mind."

Brittany pressed her lips together, stopping herself from pointing out that they weren't actually Quinn's kids. That was a bond she didn't need to break.

"Alright." She said. "We can go see Tia-"

"YES!" Kyler cheered.

"But I'm serious about not making her cook. Find something in the fridge or cook for yourself."

Kyler and Mateo both turned to Jesús expectantly.

"What?" He frowned.

"You'll cook for us right?"

"No." He scowled, pulling open the car door. "You're not my children, I don't care if you starve."

Brittany had to laugh at the look of indignation on both Kyler and Mateo's faces. Kyler looked to her, then to Mateo, and shook his head.

"I guess I'll have to do it." He grumbled as he climbed into the car.

Brittany tried not to be offended by the insinuation that he would rather cook for himself than ask her to do it. It's not like she wanted to cook anyway.

On the drive to Quinn's she listened to her kids talk about the baseball practice they'd just had, and all the other kids on the team. From what she picked up, there were several birthday parties coming up, one of which she would need to buy superhero outfits for.

"Wait when is that?" She asked, as they got to Quinn's apartment.

"16th." Jesús told her.

"Oh buddy, we're not gonna be here." She pulled into a parking space and turned to face them in the backseat. They were all wearing identical pouts.

"Why not?" Mateo asked.

"Because mami and I are going to France remember?"

"But we're not going with you." Kyler whined.

"Or are we?" Jesús asked, perking up.

"No." Brittany chuckled. "I already told you."

Jesús went back to pouting.

"So why won't we be here?" Kyler asked.

"Because Gammy asked if you can go stay with her while we're away."

"The whole time?" Mateo asked.

"It's just a week."

"But why?"

Brittany got out of the car and waited for the three boys to do the same before responding to Jesús.

"What do you mean why?"

"We just saw her on Niki's birthday."

"And it's summer mama." Kyler said. "We're supposed to be relaxing and having fun."

"And doing whatever we want." Mateo added.

Brittany frowned slightly. "And you don't want to go visit your grandmother."

Kyler and Jesús picked up on the potentially dangerous turn the conversation was taking, but a blissfully ignorant Mateo simply shook his head.

"No." He said.

Brittany crossed her arms over her chest, trying not to get angry.

"We love gammy and poppy." Jesús said quickly.

"But?" Brittany asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Lima is just…Lima is boring." He said, clearly trying to choose his words carefully. "We don't have any friends there."

"But you have family."

"Yes…" Kyler said. "But we don't know them very well."

"And also there's still nothing to do in Lima." Jesús said.

"And we want to go to our friends-"

"Shut up!" Both Jesús and Kyler hissed.

"Don't tell him to shut up." Brittany snapped, as Mateo shrunk back.

After a short silence, Kyler looked up at her.

"Can't Gammy and Poppy come here?"

Brittany considered the three boys, thinking. She could remember wanting to spend all her time with Santana, or before that, at the dance studio. She'd never been thrilled when her plans were arbitrarily changed by her parents, so she didn't want to do that her to her kids, but at the same time she wanted them to understand that family was important. The older they got, the more it would be up to them to make time for the family that didn't live in San Jose.

"We'll talk about it later." She said, ushering them towards the building.

Despite Brittany's best efforts to stop it, Quinn did end up cooking lunch, which is how she ended up sitting on the kitchen counter watching Quinn cook.

"You spoil them too much."

"That's not new." Quinn scoffed.

"I'm serious. I told them they'd have to cook for themselves."

"Not in my house."

"Quinn." Brittany giggled, reaching her foot out to poke Quinn.

Quinn laughed, dancing out of Brittany's reach.

"They're my babies, what do you want me to say?"

"It makes my life hard. I can't even parent them cause they just run to you."

"What do I have to with you parenting them?" Quinn asked, turning to look at her.

Brittany raised an eyebrow.

"Santana and I tell them they have to do their chores or we won't take them-"

"I didn't know they weren't allowed to go to the water park, I told you!" Quinn pointed a finger to stop Brittany. "I thought you guys just didn't have time to take them."

"We tell them they can't have sugar after six," Brittany continued as if Quinn hadn't interrupted, "I find out you've been giving them milkshakes with dinner. I tell you bedtime is eight thirty, they sleep at ten when they're with you. You should have seen Santana's face the day Sophia said, 'but we sleep at ten at Tia's house.'"

"Yeah well, when they ask what am I supposed to say?"

Brittany laughed, shaking her head.

"You just wait. I can finally get my sweet, sweet revenge with Addy."

Quinn smiled, peeping out the door to the living room where Theo, Addison and Brittany's kids were.

Brittany had noticed the subtle change in Quinn's interactions with her kids. The way she'd been going more and more out of her way to see them or call them, the way she gave them basically anything they asked for. She'd been trying to figure out a way to bring it up, but then Quinn had almost died and spent over a month in the hospital and Brittany had completely forgotten about it. But now as she watched Quinn, still walking just a little gingerly, like she didn't quite trust her feet not to give out at any moment, standing over a stove cooking unnecessarily, she was reminded.

Now was as good a time as any to raise her concerns that Quinn was doing it for much deeper reasons than she realised.

"Q?"

"Mmhh?" Quinn looked at her.

Not really knowing how to put it, Brittany decided to just come out and say it.

"You know you don't have to spoil them to make up for having your own kid right?"

Quinn frowned, turning back to the stove. She pushed the chicken strips around aimlessly in the pan, and for a second the only sound was the soft sizzling before she spoke.

"You caught that huh?"

Brittany cocked her head. "You're always saying how well you know me and Santana. Did you forget we know you too?"

Quinn let out a short breath, like she wanted to laugh but couldn't quite get herself to.

"Fair enough."

"Do you wanna tell me what's going on or are you going to make me work it out for myself?"

"Every day you become more and more like Santana."

"Thanks."

"That's not a compliment."

Brittany smiled, but refused to comment, knowing Quinn was trying to side-track her.

Realising that Brittany wasn't taking the bait, Quinn sighed.

"I thought Beth and I…." She swallowed. "I don't know, maybe it was stupid."

"What?"

She shrugged one shoulder. "I thought after Christmas that we'd talk more I guess. I thought it'd finally feel like I got her back….or was getting her back or something."

She shook her head, giving a self-deprecating chuckle.

"I get that." Brittany said. "But…You never really had her you know?"

"Oh I know." Quinn muttered.

"No I…" Brittany jumped off the counter, taking a step towards Quinn. "I just meant that, you never had a relationship to go back to. You're building it from scratch."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Quinn abandoned the chicken, facing Brittany but avoiding her eyes. "Anyway, I just don't want your kids to feel like I forgot them or like I don't love them as much anymore cause I had Addy."

"Quinn…." Brittany walked close enough to take Quinn's hands. "My kids know you love them."

"I know, but they were like my first kids. I got to do everything with them that I never got to with Beth, and sometimes…" She tried to turn away from Brittany, but Brittany refused to let her go.

"Sometimes what?"

Licking her lips, Quinn glanced up at Brittany, like she was afraid to hold eye contact.

"Sometimes I'd pretend they were mine. When we'd stay over and take turns feeding the twins at night so you guys could sleep, I pretended they were mine."

Brittany pressed her lips together, feeling oddly emotional.

"I love them so much Britt, and I have to deal with other feelings of guilt about using them to replace Beth-"

"You didn't-"

"I know." Quinn shook her head quickly. "I'm just saying that's how much I love them, and I don't want them to feel like…like as soon as I got my own I didn't need them anymore."

"There's no way they could ever feel that Quinn. Come here." She pulled Quinn into a hug. "You are more family to them than my own sister." Quinn let out a soft chuckle. "But you know…" She pulled back to look at Quinn, "they'll understand. You love them a lot, just differently from how you love Addy. Just like they love me and Santana differently from you and Noah."

Quinn nodded, not looking fully convinced but like she was trying to believe it.

"Me and Santana though…I'm not so sure."

"What?" Quinn frowned.

"You had a baby and all of a sudden stopped caring about us."

"What?" This time it came out as a laugh. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Do you know how annoyingly high maintenance you are?" Brittany asked, giving Quinn a soft squeeze before letting go and hoping back up onto the counter. "Before Addy you were calling me everyday, now I'm lucky if I hear from you all week. You just replaced us."

Quinn rolled her eyes, refocusing on the chicken.

"Make yourself useful and take out the tortilla wraps."

Brittany once again hopped off the counter. "All I'm saying is that you've only known this girl for like….two months. You've known me for 20 years. So…." She shrugged, dropping the two packs of tortilla wraps dramatically on the counter.

Quinn snorted, shaking her head.

"You're an idiot." She accused fondly. "Here." She handed Brittany the spatula. "You can plate. I'm going to sit down."

Brittany smiled to herself, glad that she'd at least had some effect on Quinn, even if she knew it wouldn't last.

"Hey Noah." Brittany said cheerfully into the phone, holding back a laugh as Santana held up two thumbs in encouragement.

"Hi…" Puck said hesitantly.

"How are you?"

There was a short pause, in which Brittany could perfectly picture Puck narrowing his eyes.

"Fine." He finally said.

"Great!" Brittany said peppily.

'Ask him.' Santana mouthed.

Brittany pulled the phone from her ear, pressing it into her chest.

"Don't you think it'll be weird if I just ask out of the blue?" She whispered.

"Sssshh" Santana hissed, pointing aggressively at the phone.

Brittany rolled her eyes, putting the phone back to her ear.

"So what have you been up to?"

"Same old same old. I haven't really done much since our gig in L.A last week."

"Mmmh." Brittany nodded. "You never really told me about that. How was it?"

"Pretty good. It was a nice turnout. I think it could be a regular gig."

"Awesome!" Brittany said, genuinely happy for Puck. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there."

"Nah it's all good. I know you would have been if you could."

"Definitely. Was…Jade there?" Brittany tried to ask as casually as possible. Santana nodded eagerly.

"Yeah she was." Puck said. "She went down with us."

"Oh she's a groupie now." It came out before Brittany could stop herself, and the snort of laughter that Santana let out told her that it sounded as rude as she thought. "I didn't mean it like…that." She cringed.

But Puck was laughing. "She said the same thing."

Brittany let out a relieved sigh.

"She said she likes being backstage for a change."

"Really? I thought she loved performing?"

"She does," Puck said, "but I guess it's just a nice change."

"Mmh" Brittany said thoughtfully. "I guess it's like how I feel watching Santana." Then she realised what she'd just said. "Wow. She really likes you."

Santana frowned, sitting on the couch beside Brittany so she could whisper in her free ear.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Brittany didn't answer her.

"Well you know…" Puck was saying, sounding uncomfortable. "We've been dating for a while…I mean…this is the longest relationship I've ever been in."

Brittany couldn't help but smile.

"I know," she said, "is that your way of saying that you really like her too?"

Puck let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah I guess so."

"Just ask him Brittany, what are you waiting for?" Santana whispered.

"I'm not waiting for anything, I'm talking to him." Brittany whispered back.

"We called him to ask him, so ask him."

"I will, when I'm ready."

"Is that Santana?" Puck asked. "What does she want?"

Brittany narrowed her eyes at Santana.

"She just wants to say hi."

Santana shook her head quickly, standing up.

"No he'll say no if I ask him."

"Put her on, I know she wants something."

Raising an amused eyebrow, Brittany held the phone out to Santana.

"He wants to talk to you."

"No." Santana hissed. "We agreed you'll do it."

"Just take the phone."

"No." Santana took another step back.

Shaking her head, Brittany put the phone back to her ear.

"Noah?"

"What doesn't she want to ask me?"

"I don't know why she's being weird. We just wanted to have lunch."

"Lunch? Today?"

"Tomorrow."

"Sure." Puck said. "I can come by at one."

"Actually it's not at our place."

"Oh are you taking me somewhere fancy?" Puck mocked. "As long as you're paying."

"No, it's at Quinn's."

"Cool."

"Great. So we'll see you guys there."

"Yeah at one….wait."

Brittany cringed. She'd been hoping to be subtle enough that Puck didn't pick up on what she'd said.

"What do you mean you guys?"

It seemed he'd picked up on it.

"Well Santana and I will be there, Quinn and Theo, so you should bring Jade."

"No." Puck said immediately.

"Oh come on Noah-"

"No." He insisted. "I'm not going to subject myself, or Jade, to a grilling by Santana and Quinn."

"They're not going to grill you."

Santana raised her eyebrows as Puck scoffed.

"Yeah you're right. They'll just abuse me all night."

"I don't get it, you came on the camping trip together."

"I can handle Santana alone, or Quinn alone, but together…"

"They're your best friends."

"So I know exactly what they'll do."

"What's he saying?" Santana asked. Brittany shook her head. Santana let out a disappointed sigh. "Put him on speaker."

Brittany took the phone from her ear and put it on speaker.

"Jade's not coming but I'll be there."

"Noah." Brittany said seriously. "I know it'll be uncomfortable, but if you're serious about Jade, then you're going to have to get used to being a couple around us. They'll tease you for a bit, but eventually they'll get used to it. The more you hide it the worse it'll be."

"I don't know…."

"Don't forget that Jade's our friend too. We could just call and invite her."

"Then why didn't you?"

"We wanted to give you a chance to be a man." Santana said.

"Oh shut up Santana, you think I don't know you guys?"

"You can't keep hiding from us Noah. In the beginning I get it, but now….Jade can handle us, like Britt said, she's our friend. Quinn and I both had to take it from you and we could handle it. If you can't, then maybe the problem isn't us."

Puck was silent for a while, Brittany and Santana waited, both staring at the phone. Finally, Puck let out a long groan.

"Alright fine." He said. "I know I'm going to regret this, but we'll both come."

"Yes!" Brittany cheered, as Santana fist pumped the air. "I promise it won't be as bad as you're expecting."

"Oh it will…but Santana's right, we can't keep hiding."

"See you tomorrow Noah." Santana called, malicious glee evident in her voice. "I can't wait."

"Oh man." Puck sighed, before hanging up.

Brittany grinned up at Santana. "Was all that really necessary?"

"Absolutely." Santana nodded, retaking her seat next to Brittany. "He had to believe it."

Brittany shook her head, burrowing back under the blanket she'd been cuddled under before they'd called Puck.

"Text Quinn and let her know we're all set, then come join me under here. We only have two hours before we have to pick the kids and I wanna watch a movie."