Jesus and Santana only recovered enough to re-join society on Wednesday, though Brittany thought it best to keep Jesus home on Wednesday just in case. It was weird having just Jesus at home. They had never had just one of the twins before. Though it was nice to spend quality time with him, Brittany realised she was really glad they had four kids. She actually liked the noise and chaos. Having just one kid, as nice as it was, was boring.
On Thursday, Brittany took Jesus with her to the second day of her convention. They got up at 6, changed and were out of the house by 6:30.
Since the convention was a pretty big deal, Brittany couldn't just show up in sweats and a hoodie, or even in tights and a hoodie. There was going to be paparazzi, as there had been the day before, and the official photographers and videographers of the event, who were going to make videos for each session, which the convention would make available once it was over. Brittany had wanted it to be free, but her sponsors had only agreed to back her if there was at least some sense of profit. So she'd had to agree to let them charge for the videos.
All of this meant that she, and therefore Jesus, needed to look good.
"How long is this one mama?"
"Four days. Five technically, but the fifth day is more of a prize giving ceremony. Not much dancing."
Jesus nodded. "Could I do it?"
Brittany smiled down at Jesus, twirling her fingers through his short pony tail.
"No honey. This is for people who…can't afford to take dance classes or spend as much time on dancing as they would like because they need to spend as much time working as possible."
"Poor people." Jesus nodded.
"Jesus" Brittany said seriously, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder and turning him to face her. "You understand how privileged you are don't you? That the jobs mami and I have, allow us to have more than most people."
"We're rich. Yeah I know."
"It's not just about being rich." Brittany sighed.
"Mama" Jesus said. "I know. We have a lot of money, and having a lot of money means we can do things we want to do without worrying about anything. Like dance classes, or Kyler's ten different sports, and because you and mami are famous, you know a lot of people that can help us get oppo…opportunities that other kids can't. Like if we wanted to go into dance or singing or movies, we already know people that can help us, while other people don't."
Brittany smiled, relieved. For a second she'd been worried that she'd somehow raised spoiled kids, oblivious to the real world.
"How do you know all that?" Brittany asked, allowing them to keep walking.
"Before summer, some of the kids in grade eight got in trouble cause they were bullying a boy in their class. Mr Weisen said all the classes have to have a 'sensitivity' session for a whole hour the week before we went on break, and that's where we were taught about our privilege."
"They were bullying him for being poor?"
"I don't think he was poor, but he got in on academic scholarship."
"How do you know that?"
"Everybody knew. They announced it in assembly at the beginning of the year."
"Yikes" Brittany cringed. That seemed like a bad decision on the headmaster's part. No kid wanted it broadcast that they were on scholarship. Not until university, where it suddenly became a good thing.
Jesus nodded. "We also learned about race privilege. So you have more privilege than mami, even though she's more famous than you."
Brittany nodded. "Yeah love, that's true."
"And Sophia has more privilege than me and Ky, double."
"Double?"
"Yeah." Jesus took Brittany's hand as they approached a crowd. "Cause she's white, but also cause she's a pretty girl."
"They taught you about that too?"
"Yeah, gender privilege. They said that right now it might not matter to us so much, but when we start liking girls it's gonna matter, but then it was really confusing cause they said men have more privilege than women. So….I don't get what happens to make girls lose their privilege."
Brittany shook her head. This conversation warranted a time when she could really get into it. So she held onto Jesus' hand tighter, the crowd having noticed them, and dropped the topic for now.
"I wanna know more about this later okay?"
"Okay."
"Don't lose me."
Jesus nodded, focusing on not letting go of his mum's hand.
They spent twenty minutes outside doing interviews and signing autographs. Jesus loved it. He loved it when people asked him what he thought of his mum's project, he loved it when they asked him how cool she was as a mum, and he loved it when they asked him for his autograph too. His mums had been pretty strict about people taking pictures of him and his siblings pretty much since he could remember. One of the first things he'd learned was that people weren't allowed to touch him or take pictures of him. So the only thing people could use as proof that they'd met him was an autograph, which since he'd learned how to write, his parents hadn't cared so much about him giving. At first he and Kyler had spent hours trying to perfect their signature, but now he thought it was more fun to have something unique every time. So he'd started doodling. He'd draw something weird or cute and just sign J. under it. People found it amusing and it made them laugh, apparently so much that E! had done a top ten celebrity kids who own the spotlight and he'd ended up in the top 5, simply because of how much fun he had with fans.
Finally, his mum dragged him into the hotel.
Almost as soon as they'd walked through the doors to the hotel, a short Asian man came walking towards them, a huge smile on his face.
"You brought your progeny today!" He said happily, pulling his his mum into a hug.
"Yeah." She pulled Jesus into her side, her arm around his shoulders. "Jun-Ki, this is my son Jesus."
Jesus smiled up at the man, holding out his hand.
"Hi"
"It's nice to finally meet you Jesus." Jun-Ki said happily, shaking Jesus hand. "Are you exited to see how this whole show runs?" Jesus nodded. "Good."
"Jun-Ki is like….the master of the show at a circus" Brittany told him. They started to walk down the hallway. "He makes sure everything and everyone is running how it should."
"That sounds like a lot of work" Jesus said, loud enough for Jun-Ki to hear him.
Jun-Ki, who had been walking ahead of them, slowed down to walk on Jesus' other side.
"It is. Drives me crazy sometimes" he and Brittany laughed. "But the feeling I get when everything does work out, when I get to see the result, it makes up for everything."
"I could never do what he does."
"Where are you from?" Jesus asked. His curiosity had gotten the better of him. Since Jun-Ki had first spoken, Jesus had been trying to figure out where his accent was from. It was something he was actually pretty good at, but was stumped at the moment.
"Korea" Jun-Ki said proudly.
"North or South?"
"I'm from Seoul, do you know where that is?"
Jesus nodded. "Capital of South Korea."
"That's good yes." Jun-Ki turned to Brittany who was smiling proudly. "Smart kid."
"He gets it from me." Brittany said with a serious nod. Jesus giggled.
Santana woke up just after noon. She'd hoped that her nose would have cleared up properly by this morning, but it was clear, if not from the fact that she couldn't breath unless she opened her mouth, from the headache around her eyes, that while Jesus was all better, she was still quite sick.
It helped that Brittany had taken Jesus for the day. It gave her room to really rest, but it also made her realise how sick she'd really been. If she was feeling better than the last three days, but still felt too weak to cook lunch, then she had no idea how she was even alive.
Dragging a blanket to the living room, she arranged the pillows perfectly on the couch and got comfortable, flicking the tv on with every intention to stay like that all day. Of course, she hadn't even picked a movie to watch before her phone was ringing. The impulse to ignore it was strong, seeing as today was her day off, but she knew it could be one of her kids, or Brittany. So groaning, she crawled to the other end of the couch, cursing herself for dropping it so far away from her.
"What do you want Quinn?"
"Still sick." Quinn said, and Santana could picture her nodding. "Is Jesus with you?"
"No." She picked the remote and flicked through Netflix.
"Have you eaten?"
"No. What do you want?"
"That means you haven't taken any medicine. Okay see you later."
"No, no…what?" Santana sat up. "No."
"No what?" Quinn chuckled.
"Why are you coming here?"
"Because you'll never get better if you don't eat."
"I'll never get better if people don't let me rest."
"Don't worry. Tia's going to take care of you. See you lateeeer." Quinn sang.
Quinn hung up before Santana could protest any further. She sighed, dropping heavily against the pillows. It was sweet that Quinn wanted to care of her, she knew that, but she'd been excited to be alone today. She wanted to be helpless, even if it was just for one day. Park herself on the couch and moan in dramatic agony every time she had to move, or every time she had to blow her nose. Quinn coming over would mean she at least had to act like an adult.
But, she told herself, Quinn would bring her delicious food and make her take medicine, which at the end of the day would get her better faster than a day spent feeling sorry for herself. She sighed, picked the remote again and resumed her movie hunt. She'd wanted to be taken care of, and that's what she was getting. Be careful what you wish for and all that. So she settled into the couch and decided to be happy Quinn was coming.
"Mike" Jusus cheered happily, breaking into a run as soon as he saw Mike standing on the stage by his mum, Jun-Ki, Syth and four other dancers. Mike spun around, a huge smile on his face. Jesus collided with him, wrapping his arms around his waist. "I didn't know you were here."
"Yeah dude. Your mum called and I figured I'd commit this time."
"Only took what? Five years?" Brittany laughed.
"I got there in the end" Mike laughed, shoving Brittany playfully.
Music started playing, booming through the room now that it was basically empty. Seconds later, Chad came into view, walking out from behind the massive audio equipment set up in the corner of the room. He was grinning, shimmying his shoulders to the beat.
Brittany and two of the other dancers that Jesus didn't know all groaned. Jun-Ki laughed, shaking his head, while Mike and Syth had began to dance on the spot, the grins matching Chad's.
"Oh come on guys" Chad called, as two dancers began walking out, shaking their heads and laughing.
"It's been a long day" one of them called, waving her hand.
"And not all of us are 26." The other said, shaking his head as Chad moved towards them. "We'll see you guys tomorrow."
Jesus joined in, copying Mike and Syth's moves as best he could.
"Come on Britt" Chad said, a cheeky smile on his face. He held his hands out to her and wiggled his eyebrows. "You know you want to."
Brittany looked torn for all of five seconds before she took Chad's hands and allowed him to pull her to the rest of the group.
They danced to three songs before Brittany finally called it quits.
"Oh mama" Jesus whined.
"I have to agree with your mum kiddo" Mike said. He had the front of his shirt between his fingers, pulling it away from his body quickly to fan himself and cool down his chest. "Today's been epic but all good things must come to an end. Don't wanna overdo it."
Pouting, Jesus nodded. The music cut off and the production team started getting ready to leave. Syth Hugged Brittany, patted Jesus on the head and then quickly snatched his hair tie, causing his hair to tumble over his face.
"Syyytth" Jesus whined, not bothering to fix his hair. Laughing, Syth handed him the tie.
"That was so much more satisfying when his hair was longer."
"Why'd you cut it?" Mike asked.
"It was just getting too long." Jesus shrugged, looping the tie round his wrist. "It didn't even look good anymore. We looked like girls."
Mike and Chad laughed.
"What's wrong with girls?"
"Nothing. If you're a girl." Jesus stuck his tongue out cheekily, dancing away from his mum's playful slap.
"Come on cheeky, let's get going bud" she said, as she pulled him to her side by his shirt. Just like when they'd walked in, she draped her hand over his shoulders and led them out.
"Are you going to come visit us Mike? While you're here?" Jesus asked hopefully. He turned to see Mike smiling.
"Course dude." Mike gently kicked his butt, making Jesus giggle madly. "Where do you think I'm staying?"
"But where did you stay yesterday?"
"I got in late. I could only get off work from today, so I stayed at a hotel last night."
"You could have called you know" Brittany said.
"No way. It was like 2 am. There was no need to wake you guys up."
"It would have been fine." Brittany tried to assure, but Mike shook his head. "Okay" she laughed.
"Nice car" Mike said, as soon as they got to it. Brittany opened the boot for him and he lifted his suitcase and duffle bag into it.
"Thanks"
"That's a big suitcase for just five days." Jesus said. "Mama can I?" When his mum nodded, he jumped up to press the button that would shut the boot.
"Not five days man, more like 6 weeks."
"You're staying for six weeks?!" Jesus asked, eyes wide with excitement. Brittany giggled, pushing him gently to get into the car as she held the door open for him.
"No buddy. He's joining the convention for 6 weeks. They go to different states remember?"
"Oh yeah" Jesus smiled sheepishly. Brittany shut the door and she and Mike got into the car. "That's why we're going to Phoenix and Chicago." He said once the car was started.
"Oh you guys are coming?" Mike asked.
Brittany nodded. "I was gonna come alone at first, but we decided it could be a fun family trip."
"It's gonna be so fun!" Jesus said loudly. "I've never been to Phoenix before, but I remember Chicago. They have this place you can go and it's like you're flying! It was inside, and you have like helmets and stuff and you don't really go thaaaat high, like to the sky, but it was AWESOME."
Brittany and Mike cringed at the scream. "Okay love, don't scream while I'm driving please."
When they got to the house, Santana was standing by the door. Jesus quickly got out of the car, running to hug her, then the two of them walked back to Brittany's car.
"Hi baby" Santana said. She leaned in through Brittany's open window to give her a kiss.
"You look better." Brittany noticed. "How are you-"
"Mami I had the best day ever" Jesus said, pulling on her arm. Laughing, Santana allowed herself to be dragged into the house.
"Well hello Santana" Mike said, extending his hand. "Good to see you after so long."
Brittany laughed.
"Don't take it personally. She probably didn't see you. You have to give her and Jesus a few minutes."
"Weren't they hauled up in your house together all day for like three days?"
"Yup" Brittany nodded, getting out of the car. "So it's even worse."
Brittany showed Mike to the spare room he was going to be staying in, Jesus and Santana nowhere to be seen.
"They're probably upstairs." She told Mike, walking through the dining room to the spare room. Mike followed her.
Santana and Jesus came down the stairs and made their way to the kitchen.
"I am starving" she groaned. Jesus lifted himself onto the high chair at the kitchen island as Santana walked into the kitchen. "Oh I can make a sandwich, do you want one?"
"Yes please." He nodded. "How was your day?"
"It was super boring. All I did was sit around and watch tv. I took a nap."
Jesus scrunched his face in disgust.
"Why didn't you just go to the studio?"
"Cause before you can have fun with the music, you have to have boring meetings that give you permission. Do you know what a contract is?"
Jesus shook his head. "What is it?"
"It's a document you have to sign when you work for someone. So me and the label have to sign a contract that says how much money they're gonna pay me, how many concerts I have to do, how many songs and albums I have to make, those kinds of things."
"Oh. So why didn't you do that today? So you can go to the studio tomorrow?"
"I was supposed to have that meeting on Monday, but I didn't feel well enough to go in."
"Sorry mami" he pouted sympathetically.
Santana brushed her fingers over his check and shook her head. "I'm feeling a lot better now, but thank you."
"Mama has fun every day. Today was awesome."
"Oh yeah? What was your favourite part?"
Jesus looked up in thought.
"Oh! There was this one song in the hip hop class that was really funny. And the dances were really funny too."
"What song was it?"
Jesus giggled madly, covering his face.
"What?" Santana asked, giggling along. "What song was it?"
"I can't say."
Santana frowned at him, amused.
"Okay, how did it go?"
"That's what I can't say."
"Okay fine. Who sang it?
Jesus sat up, letting his hands drop from his face.
"Niki minaj and Sean….big Sean."
It took three seconds for Santana to know the song.
"Ooooh" She said, before laughing so hard she had to put down the knife she was holding.
"Do you know that song?"
"You mean…." She walked to the IPad that was always in the kitchen and opened Spotify. In no time, the song was playing.
Jesus shrieked, jumping off the high chair and joining her in the kitchen.
"You mean this song?"
"Mami!"
Santana sang along with the repetitive 'ass, ass, ass, ass, ass' making Jesus turn pink in the face from the force of his laughter.
"How were they dancing?"
Straightening, Jesus turned to her to see if she was serious. When all he saw was her playful grin, he began twerking.
It was Santana's turn to laugh hysterically now. It didn't take long for her to join him.
"Santana!"
Santana jumped, whirling around in the direction of the yell. When she saw it was Brittany she turned and paused the music, releasing a breath.
"Why do I feel like I just got caught doing something wrong by my mum or principal or something?"
"Maybe because you're dancing to a song about asses with your ten year old?"
"Hey he heard it at your dance convention first" Santana smirked. She walked back to the counter and resumed making their sandwiches as Jesus climbed back into his chair.
"I think it's great." Mike said. Santana's head snapped up. "I would have loved to have you as my mum Santana."
"Mike!" Santana quickly made her way to him, hugging him tight. "When did you get here?"
"With them?" Mike laughed.
"Wha-Really?" Santana turned to Brittany, who nodded with an amused smile. "I didn't see you."
"Yeah you were a bit preoccupied with your son."
"Sorry" Santana grinned. She turned and hugged him again before returning to the kitchen. "Did Britt show you your room?"
"Oh no!" Jesus jumped down. "I was supposed to give you the tour."
"Don't worry kiddo, your mum only showed me the guest room. I haven't seen anything else."
"Okay, come on then."
He took Mike's hand and led him out of the kitchen to the stairs.
"We'll start downstairs."
When Jesus had gone to bed, after nearly half an hour of begging, complaining and reasoning, Brittany, who had just got back from her evening session at the studio, Santana and Mike went out to the back terrace with a bottle of wine and a beer for Mike.
"So how was the first day Mike?"
"It was awesome. Britt's really done something with that convention. The energy is off the charts. Like you can really feel that everyone there just loves to dance. They're all so eager to learn, and even though there's the scholarship prize up for grabs there's no competition. Not really. Everyone's just doing their best and having fun."
"Yeah. I remember thinking that when I've been there. Dancers are honestly the best. You guys are lucky."
"Have I told you that this house is unbelievable?"
"Thanks" Brittany and Santana said together.
"I'm trying so hard not to be jealous."
Brittany laughed.
"I can't wait to come to Chicago and see your life."
"Lizzy insists you come stay with us."
"Oh yeah" Santana said. "You live in Chicago too, I forgot. Do you see Tina?"
"Not really. For a while after the reunion we texted a bit. I met her boyfriend when he came back from...I forget where he was. But after a year it just kind of died out."
"I wonder if she's gonna come to Quinn's wedding."
"Oh my gosh!" Mike put down his beer. "Oh my gosh. Quinn is getting married!"
"Yeah" Santana laughed. "Pretty unbelievable I know. And we've been here to witness it all."
"I'm really happy for her. This is what she's been wanting since like, I can remember."
"Too true" Santana said.
"I need to meet the fiancé."
"He's not what you would expect." Brittany said. "He's…"
"You'll see" Santana chuckled, when Brittany was unable to come up with an adjective to describe Theo. "He's a really good guy though. He's not what you'd expect but once you see them together you kind of wonder why you ever thought that."
"Aaw" Mike said. "I can't wait."
"I can take you to their place tomorrow after the convention. I have to drop Jesus at Noah's, but we can pass by on the way back."
"That would be nice."
"Why are you dropping Jesus at Noah's?" Santana asked.
Brittany turned to her. "He's dropping them at Owen's on Saturday."
"No, they have the sleepover. Plus, he's going to school tomorrow B, Owen's mum is just going to pick them all from school."
"Oh yeah. I forgot about the sleepover. Did you call the school?"
"Yup. It's all clear."
"Thanks babe."
"It's so weird hearing you call him Noah. I still feel like he'll punch my lights out if I called him that."
"It started as us teasing him, but once the kids started calling him Uncle Noah there was no going back."
"How are your kids by the way" Brittany asked, just remembering that she hadn't asked about them in the chaos of the day.
"They're good. As adorable as ever."
"You have two now right?"
"Yup. Briana and Christopher. He just turned two."
"Awww, can I see some pictures?"
Mike immediately pulled out his phone, opening his gallery and handing it to Brittany.
"You can just scroll."
Santana looked at the pictures over Brittany shoulder. She had to admit that Briana was an adorable little girl. Not that Christopher wasn't, but he just looked like a baby. He had a small tuft of black hair on the top of his head and plump rosy cheeks. Briana's features were softer. She had lighter wavy brown hair and light brown eyes. Unlike her brother, whose eyes were already clearly slanted, hers were slightly rounder, making her eyes look bigger. She had thick eyebrows that made the colour of her eyes stand out more, and thin pink lips. She was beautiful.
"Briana is gorgeous Mike" she said sincerely. She looked up at him to see his proud smile. "You're gonna have to watch out for the boys."
"That's what Lizzy's dad always says" Mike laughed. "Do you know she wants another one?"
"Another kid?" Brittany asked, looking up from the phone.
"Can you imagine?"
"I'm guessing you don't" Santana laughed.
"Chris is a lot" Mike chuckled. "And two is perfect. One for both of us. If we have another one we'll be outnumbered."
"Yeah and that's a real thing by the way." Brittany handed his phone back. "It gets a lot harder when there's more of them than you."
Mike groaned.
"Can I call her so you can tell her that? She won't listen. She keeps saying how we make such perfect babies and she wants another one."
Brittany glanced at Santana, giving her a look that Santana had never seen before. It worried her slightly, but before she could analyse it, Brittany had turned back to Mike.
"You do make gorgeous babies though." She said. Santana was barely paying attention, still trying to place the look Brittany had given her.
The next day Sophia and Kyler were out of their seats as soon as Jesus walked into class the next morning. Kyler reached him first, nearly tackling him to the floor before Sophia collided with his side.
"You're better!" Kyler shrieked happily.
"Yeah" Jesus was hugging him back just as tight. "I was better on Wednesday."
"I missed you so much. Yesterday Uncle Noah let Sophia pick what we watched after dinner, and she chose Blended."
Jesus groaned, turning to Sophia.
"Again?"
"What? I like it."
"We've watched it like 50 times."
Kyler grabbed Jesus' arm and tugged him into the class.
"I was worried you wouldn't make it for the sleepover." He whispered, making sure Sophia couldn't hear.
"Hey, I haven't seen him in a week either" Sophia said to her bothers' retreating backs.
"I'll come talk during recess."
"No" Kyler said quickly, stopping. "You're gonna wanna be with us. We have a lot to talk about." Then he turned to Sophia. "You never want to hang out with us anyway."
"He's my brother too Ky." Sophia crossed her arms.
"I've known him longer, and he's my twin."
With that, Kyler pulled Jesus away to join Owen, Eli and Nicholi.
Sophia sulked back to her chair.
"So Jesus is better." Kris said once Sophia had sat back down.
"Obviously." Aubrey said, rolling her eyes. She was in her chair, which was in front of Sophia's. Noticing that Sophia's mood had changed, she leaned forward, her arms resting on Sophia's desk. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Sophia shook her head. "Can we go back to what we were talking about?"
"Did your mums really say we can come to your house?" Nora asked.
"Totally" Sophia nodded. "She said you can come any time from 10, and we can hang out by the pool and have a barbeque."
"Wow cool. I wish we had a pool in my house." Grace said, pouting. "My mum keeps saying we don't have the space and my dad keeps saying that pools are a lot of work to clean and like…stuff, but-"
"Nobody cares about your small house Grace." Aubrey snapped, sitting up in her seat to throw Grace an annoyed look. Kris and Nora chuckled as Grace shrunk back. Aubrey stood up, grabbed Sophia's arm and pulled her out of the class to the hallway.
"What?" Sophia asked.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"You're my best friend Sophia…why won't you tell me what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just have stupid brothers that's all."
Aubrey frowned. "What did they do?"
"Nothing. I'm used to it."
"Good morning girls."
The two girls turned to see their teacher approaching from down the hall. They plastered on smiles.
"Good morning Mrs Akley."
"Is everything okay?" She stopped before them.
"Yeah." They nodded.
"Why are you standing outside the classroom then?"
"We uh…"
"We were waiting for you" Sophia covered, smiling sweetly. "We wanted to be the first to greet you."
"Oh." Mrs Akley's eyes widened in surprise. "That's very sweet of you girls." She smiled. "Should we go in now?"
They turned to walk back into class.
"We'll talk about this later." Aubrey whispered to Sophia. Sophia rolled her eyes but nodded.
By the end of the day Sophia wasn't even sure why she'd missed Jesus. Other than when he tried to pull her up from her seat at lunch to dance with him, he'd spent the entire day with either Kyler or his friends. He'd talked to her a bit after school, just starting to tell her about the convention the day before when Owen interrupted them, shouting that his mum was there. Jesus had ran off without even saying goodbye.
Now she was sitting in her uncle's car, staring steadfastly out the window and ignoring everything he said and trying not to get annoyed. Finally he seemed to give up, distracted by Mateo, who was all too willing to talk his ear off. Sophia found herself grateful for her younger brother for the first time in memory.
As soon as they got to the house, Sophia went to her room. Her uncle didn't have a big apartment. There were only two rooms. One was her uncle's and the other they were all supposed to share whenever they slept over. He had bought two sets of double decker beds and somehow fit them into the room, which was smaller than her one at home. Most of the time the boys slept on the pull out couch in the living room, or in Mateo's case, in their uncle's bed when he was having one of his 'sleepless nights', as their mums called them.
It wasn't until after dinner, when they were getting ready for bed, that Sophia realised she wanted her mums. She was brushing her teeth and suddenly realised that she'd be sleeping here, with her uncle and Mateo, and felt tears welling up in her eyes. She took a deep breath, to keep the tears in, and made her way to the bathroom where Mateo was getting a bath.
"Uncle Noah?"
Her uncle, whose entire front was drenched in water, turned to face her.
"What's up Soph?"
"Can I….can I use your phone?"
"You wanna call your mama?" Sophia nodded. "Sure princess. You know where it is? It should be on my bedside table."
Sophia got the phone, unlocking it with her finger print. Hers was the only one beside her uncle's that worked. Then she stared down at the phone. She wasn't really sure which of her mums to call, or what to say. She didn't have a specific reason for wanting to come home, and they could be busy. She knew how busy her mama got around the convention, and her mami had been sick all week. Even though she didn't want to sleep here anymore, she didn't want them to get mad at her.
"Are they not picking?" Her uncle yelled from the bathroom.
"No I haven't called them yet."
"Why not?" he came out of the bathroom, his shirt less soaked but wrinkled badly. Clearly he'd tried to wring out as much water as he could.
"I don't really know what to say." Sophia admitted. She'd always been able to tell her uncle the truth. He was one of the few people she just felt safe with for some reason. Sometimes more than with her mothers.
Puck looked down at the little girl in front of him, focusing on her rather than his wet and now wrinkled shirt. She looked sad, like she had all day, but he recognised that sadness. He'd felt it so many times before. He'd given her space all afternoon, letting her hide in her room and get away with one word answers, even though he'd known something was wrong with her from the second she got into the car, but now he was going to get her to talk.
"Mateo" he poked his head back into the bathroom.
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to have a little talk with your sister for a little bit, you okay to sink the enemy submarines on your own?"
Mateo's massive splash, which sent a few toys and a wave of water over the edge of the bath and onto the floor was enough of an answer, making him grateful for Quinn's advice to wrap his cast in plastic to keep it from getting wet. Puck turned back to Sophia, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and guided her to the kids' room.
"Something's been bugging you buttercup." He told her. "What is it?"
"I don't really know. Sometimes I just….feel things."
"Try."
Sophia sat down on her bed, so he sat next to her.
"Jesus came back to school today."
"Oh yeah" he nodded. "Br- uh your mama told me."
"So…yeah he came back to school, and I was really happy to see him, but then…he just spent the whole day with Kyler. Like…he seemed more happy to see Kyler again than me. And I know that's really dumb and stupid, that's why I didn't want to talk about it-" Sophia stood up, her hands gesturing wildly as she talked. Puck grabbed her flailing hand and pulled her back onto the bed.
"Sit down missy."
Sophia sighed heavily.
"I get it."
"You do?" She looked at him. Puck hated the desperation he saw in her eyes.
"Yeah, I do. Do you feel like that a lot?"
Sophia looked down at her lap and nodded.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm not really their sister" she admitted in a whisper. "They're just so close" she said desperately, trying to explain herself. "Even though they fight a lot, they love each other more than they love me, and it just sucks sometimes. Like I wish I was that close with them too."
"Relax Soph." Puck pulled her into his side, stroking her hair. With the way her voice was rising he was afraid she'd start crying, and that was the last thing he wanted. "It's probably a little hard to be the same age as them most of the time but not really be a twin. Or triplet?" he frowned in thought. "Twiplet!" Sophia giggled slightly. "Being a twin is something different, but you wanna know a secret?" Puck went on, glad he had at least managed to calm her down. She nodded. "For a really, really long time, I was super jealous of your mums."
"My mums? Why?" Sophia pulled away to look at him.
"Because they were a lot like your brothers. They went everywhere together, they were always giggling over these inside jokes that no one else ever understood, and no matter what I did I could never get your mami to like me even half as much as she liked your mama."
"But that's different. They're like…they love each other. Like they're married and stuff."
"Yeah." Puck nodded. "Exactly."
Sophia frowned. "I don't get it."
"It took me a long time, like a long time, but eventually I realised that it didn't make sense to be jealous of your mama, cause the way your mami loved her was just different. It was a kind of love she just couldn't have for me. I didn't even want that kind of love from her. When I realised that, I started seeing how much she loved me in other ways."
"So…Jesus and Kyler love each other differently than they love me?"
"Yeah. I don't know what it feels like, cause obviously I'm not a twin…or am I?"
"Uncle Noah!" Sophia laughed.
"No I'm just kidding. Of course I'm not a twin, so I don't know what it feels like to have someone in your life literally from before you were born. To share your life so closely with someone like that. Do you?" Sophia shook her head. "I bet it would make you super close with that person." She nodded again, looking sad. "But…I'd also get pretty sick of them from time to time."
"They do fight a lot." Sophia said, tilting her head.
"And I've seen them fight over you before. I've watched them do it since you came into their lives. They fight to protect you and sit next to you in the plane and stuff like that right?"
"Yeah."
"Have you ever gotten into a fight with one of them about the other?"
Sophia paused in thought.
"No."
"So I'd say, just because they love you differently, doesn't mean they don't love you as much."
"Can I tell you a secret too?"
"You know you can tell me anything."
"Promise you won't tell my mums."
Puck hesitated for a fraction of a second.
"I never tell them things they don't need to know."
Sophia nodded.
"Sometimes I think that even though they love me, they don't love me like…as much as they would if I was really their sister."
"Soph…"
"I know, I know. We're all a real family, I know that. But just sometimes…that's what I think."
Puck nodded, bending down to kiss her head.
"I get it." he told her again. "Sometimes we can't help the thoughts we have. But Sophia seriously, no one, not your brothers, mothers, grandparents, Tias or me would love you any more if you were…biologically your mums'."
Sophia didn't look convinced.
"Okay how about this. Do you love Mateo more than them?"
Sophia frowned thoughtfully. He saw the smile slowly pulling at her lips though she tried to hide it.
"No."
He nodded. "I'll tell you something I bet you didn't know."
"What?"
"My parents sucked. My dad left when I was little and only showed up every few years when he needed something, and my mum…she tried her best, but her best was shitty. She was always sad and angry, never asked me about my day or came to any of my football games."
"I'm sorry Uncle Noah." Sophia wrapped her arm around his waist, hugging him. Puck smiled.
"Thanks princess. Eventually your mums became my family. They weren't my blood, but they were there for me. They let me into their lives even though I didn't really deserve it, even when I would annoy the hell out of your mama and mess up, they stuck with me. That's what makes a family. Love. Being there for each other. Protecting each other. Not blood."
Sophia nodded, leaning her full wait on him.
"My biological parents were shitty too."
Puck wanted to chastise her for foul language, but shitty was the nicest way to describe Sophia and Mateo's birth parents, so he nodded and it let it slide.
"I'm really happy you're my family Uncle Noah."
"I'm really happy you're my family too Sophia."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, both lost in thought.
"So?" Puck said, remembering there was a six year old in the bathtub. "Are you okay to call your mamas now?"
"Yeah. Thank you."
Puck kissed Sophia's head again and stood up. He was surprised when Sophia stood up as well. She slipped her hands around his waist, resting her head on his stomach.
"I love you."
Puck, who couldn't remember the last time he'd cried, felt tears spring to his eyes, the lump of emotion forming in his throat. That was the first time Sophia had told him she loved him, and it hit him harder than he'd thought possibly. When he lifted her up, squeezing her to him, he felt a tear roll down his cheek.
"I love you too Sophia."
Santana almost ignored the call. She and Brittany had the house to themselves for the first time in what felt like a year, and they were intent on capitalizing on it. After her shower Brittany had joined her in bed, cuddling into her back and holding her like Santana had been craving all week. Now they were lying tangled in each other, watching a movie she had already forgotten the name of. She was so, so comfortable, letting her eyes lazily drift shut every few minutes as Brittany stroked her fingers through her hair, gently scratching her scalp. She felt a little like a cat at the moment, but she didn't care.
So she'd very nearly ignored her ringing phone, which was all the way on her dressing table. The only thing was that all of her children were out of the house. Two of them at a friends' house. It could be them, or, and this was the thought that got her out of bed, it could be the hospital.
"Noooo" Brittany whined, though she didn't stop Santana as she got up.
"It could be the kids." Santana groaned in response, equally as unhappy about the distraction.
"If it's not you better get back here."
"Deal."
Santana grabbed her phone, walking back to the bed as she answered.
"Which one is it?" Brittany asked.
"Hi honey."
"That doesn't help me." Brittany shook her head.
"Is everything okay?"
"So it's not Mateo."
"Right now? Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Just give me a clue." Brittany poked Santana's bare thigh.
A part of her wanted to tell Sophia they would come pick her first thing in the morning, which is what they'd started doing a few years back to teach the kids that the decisions they made mattered, actions had consequences and all that. But Sophia had never asked to be picked up from Puck's before, which was worrying. She sounded fine, and Santana would have been talking to Puck if Sophia was sick, so she figured whatever the reason was that she wanted to come home wasn't serious. Still, Santana didn't want to risk it.
"It's Sophia." Brittany said triumphantly. Santana grinned at her, nodding.
"Okay baby, we'll be there in half an hour."
She hung up, climbing back onto the bed.
"Looks like we're going to have to postpone the movie."
"What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know. She said she just wants to come home."
Brittany pouted, pausing the movie on her laptop and sitting up properly. "If she's okay, do we have to rush over?"
Santana raised her eyebrows.
"It's just...I feel like I haven't seen you all week."
"Well you've been busy..." Santana sat on her heels, playing with the comforter. "It happens sometimes."
Brittany sighed heavily. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine Brittany" Santana took her hand. "I've had times when I had to stay late at the studio. Believe me I get it."
"If it was any other week I would have been here for you this week, to take care of yo-"
"I know." Santana scooted closer, taking Brittany's other hand as well. "Sometimes we have to work, that's life."
"And sometimes we have to be good parents?" Brittany asked, looking up sadly.
Santana smiled, nodding. "I would really love to stay here with you babe, god knows we don't get to do it often enough, but I'm worried about her."
"Yeah she wouldn't leave Noah's unless something was really wrong."
"Yeah."
Squeezing her hands, Brittany took a deep breath.
"You're right. Of course. Let's go."
Santana stopped her climbing out of the bed with a hand to her chest. When Brittany frowned curiously at her, she leaned forward and kissed her.
"I love you."
Brittany smiled.
"I love you." She kissed her again. "Come on let's go get our daughter."
Santana and Brittany met Puck standing in his doorway.
"Puckerman" Santana groaned, her chest heaving. "Why are you still living in this dump?"
"What?" Puck frowned. "My place is not a dump."
"I get why you had to in the beginning, but you're making more money now."
"I like this place. It's close to work."
"You have to drive 35 minutes to the stadium." Brittany said.
"Well…it's as close to work as I can get while still being close to you guys."
"I find that hard to believe." Santana said, seeming to catch her breath.
"Rent's expensive Lopierce. You wouldn't know would you?"
"She's just upset we had to climb five flights of stairs."
"Oh…" Puck rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah the elevator broke down yesterday. They said they'll have it up and running tomorrow."
"Fuck" Santana said, clutching her side. "I need to get back into running." Brittany giggled. Santana frowned at her. "Don't mock me."
"I'm not mocking you. I just think you're cute."
Puck laughed. Santana groaned.
"Anyway, give me my child so I can leave this place."
"I uh…" Puck looked back into his apartment, pulling the door closed slightly. "I wanted to talk to you about her actually, before you go."
"Is something wrong?"
"She's struggling with some stuff. She might tell you, but just in case…"
"What wrong with her?" Brittany asked. "Is it school?"
"No. As far as I know she's still the little queen bee we knew she'd be."
"So what is it?"
"She's having thoughts about her being adopted. Like…I know it's weird cause all your kids are adopted, but I think maybe because she remembers bits and piece of her biological parents and time in the foster system, it feels more like she was added to the family than for the boys."
Brittany and Santana had identical looks on their faces. Lips pressed together, eyes narrowed in thought.
"Just…you know the boys have been with you since they were born. They don't know anything else. Mateo doesn't even know he's adopted. Sophia's the only one who knows another life, and I think she's starting to have thoughts about not really being part of the family."
"What do you mean?" Santana asked harshly. "Did she say that?"
"Okay." Puck held up his hands. "How about I just tell you about the conversation we had and you can go from there."
Brittany slid her hand into Santana's, silently telling her to calm down and nodded at Puck.
"I don't know what to do about that" Brittany said. "Jesus and Ky don't exclude her, as far as I know…I've never seen it in any case. They're just twins."
"That's what I told her."
"And she doesn't feel like we don't love her as much, thank god"
Santana nodded, taking a deep breath.
"So…what do we do?" Brittany asked.
"Maybe it's the same as with Ky." Santana said thoughtfully. "Us never talking to him about his biological parents just made it a bigger thing than it really was. Maybe Soph needs to talk about what she remembers or something."
Brittany pulled both lips into her mouth and hummed.
"We'll figure it out B." Santana turned to Puck. "Thanks for telling us Noah."
"Course."
"Is she okay?"
"Better now that she knows you're coming for her. I think she just wanted to be with her mums."
"Thank god I didn't ignore the call huh?" Santana asked Brittany.
"Yeah" Brittany chuckled.
"Come in, I'll tell her you're here."
"Where's Niki?" Brittany asked.
"Knocked out."
"Really?"
"Tiring out little boys is my specialty."
"Has he been sleeping through the night?"
"Mostly. He only woke up on Monday and yesterday."
"That's good." Santana said.
Sophia came running silently out of the kids' room. She slammed into Santana, wrapping one hand around Brittany's waist and burying her face in Santana's stomach.
"Hi baby girl" Santana cooed, rubbing Sophia's back.
"You came."
Her tone sounded so similar to when she'd just come to them and she was always afraid they'd forget her. Santana held her firmly to her body. She felt Brittany shift closer, one of her hands coming to stroke Sophia's hair.
"Of course we came love."
As Puck went into the room to get Sophia's bags, the three of them stayed as they were, Sophia gripping them both tightly. Brittany almost wanted to pick her up and hold her closer.
"Here you go" Puck said, handing Brittany the duffle bag, Sophia's school bag and her favourite little backpack.
Sophia pulled back from her mums, hugging Puck quickly and whispering a bye before tucking herself back into Santana's side. As they walked out, she took Brittany's hand, gripping it tight.
"Let's go home honey" Brittany said.
Jesus had been lying awake for about an hour, staring up at the dark ceiling. He could hear the other boys' deep breathing around him, so he knew he was the only one awake, and the tv, which they'd fallen asleep watching, was turned off, so he couldn't entertain himself by watching it. He'd hoped that staying as still as possible would bore him back to sleep, but he was as awake as ever, and now really needed the bathroom. When he couldn't take it anymore, he climbed out of the covers and carefully picked his way to the other side of the sitting room, where Kyler and Nicholi were sleeping.
"Ky" he whispered into his brother's ear. He shook his shoulder and raised his voice. "Ky."
"What?" Kyler mumbled into his pillow.
"I need to go to the bathroom."
"So?"
"I don't wanna go alone."
Kyler cracked his eye open, frowning at his brother.
"Really?"
Jesus nodded. Kyler sighed, pushing himself up and climbing out of the blanket. Nicholi stirred but didn't wake up.
"Come on" Kyler said.
The two made their way upstairs in silence, Kyler yawning every few seconds. They went to the bathroom that was opposite Owen's room. As Jesus went in, Kyler sat outside the door, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on them. He'd nearly fallen asleep again when Jesus came out. They went into Owen's room and shut the door.
"You can't sleep can you?" Kyler asked. He climbed into Owen's bed and curled into a ball.
"No" Jesus said sadly, climbing in beside him.
"How come?"
"I don't know. I fell asleep, but then I woke up."
"Did you have a nightmare or was it like the other times at home?"
"It was just like at home. Nothing happened to make we wake up, I just…can't sleep."
Kyler yawned loudly, blowing air into Jesus' face and making him giggle.
"Is it because of your ADD…AHD…ADHD?"
"Maybe. I don't know."
"You should ask mama."
"Why? What's she gonna do about it? It's not like she has a magical solution for sleeping."
"She had one for homework didn't she?" Kyler let his eyes fall shut.
Jesus bit his lip, realising that Kyler was right. He didn't know what his mum knew about ADHD, but since she had it, and he'd never heard her complaining about sleeping, it made sense that she had a way to sleep through the night. He'd make sure to ask her tomorrow.
"Ky…"
"Yeah" Kyler opened his eyes again.
"Thanks for helping me with our homework."
"Course. You have my back, I have yours right?"
Jesus smiled. "Yeah."
They both sat up as they heard Owen's mum shouting from her room down the hall. Kyler turned to Jesus with wide eyes.
"What do you think that was? Do you think she's okay?"
"Owen's dad is there…I'm su-"
Jesus was cut off as Owen's dad's voice carried down the hall, clear and angry.
Jesus jumped out of bed and ran to the door, pressing his ear against it.
"What are you doing?"
"I wanna hear what's happening."
"I don't think this is good Jesus. Remember what Sophia told us about her biological parents?"
Jesus turned to Kyler, looking worried. "Yeah. But I don't think….Owen's dad is so nice. He wouldn't do that" He returned his ear to the door.
"Chris I swear to god if you don't lower your voice!"
"Oh you can yell but I can't?"
"My voice doesn't carry round the whole freaking house. You'll wake the boys."
There was a short silence. After a while Jesus heard mumbling, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Too curious to let it go, he cracked the door open. Kyler came to stand beside him.
"Why do you always have to make it seem like I don't love him."
"What's the point of me knowing you love him if you never show him that you do?"
"Jan I came home early today. He asked me and I did. Now I have to make up the hours by going in tomorrow."
"On his birthday Chris? Are you serious? Your son is turning ten and you want to spend the day at work?"
"He's not going to care. As long as I'm there for the cake cutting in the evening. He has his friends and they'll be at the water park. I have to go to work so I can make up the money we're spending on that damn place Jan."
"Here we go." Owen's mum groaned. "Are we really going to go into this again? 10 is a big one-"
"I know that!" Owen's dad raised his voice again, making Jesus and Kyler jump.
"Lower your voice for god's sake!"
"I know 10 is a big one. That's why I agreed to the park. It's going to be special and he's going to have a great time. Which is why I'm saying he doesn't need me there."
"Of course he needs you there. Didn't you see how happy he was when he saw you were home? He idolizes you Chris. He'll be crushed if you're not there."
"All I'm going to be doing is sitting off to the side watching him."
"And just doing that will make his day."
There was another long silence.
Jesus turned to Kyler.
"Is he really not going to come?"
Kyler shrugged.
"Make up the hours some other time, or let them go and move on, but you cannot miss Owen's birthday. I don't care whether you think it's for a good reason or not, but these are the things that he'll remember when he's a teenager or when he's an adult. Do you want him to remember that his dad, who he thought the world of, never had time for him?"
Kyler shut the door, nearly slamming Jesus' face.
"Hey" Jesus hissed.
"We shouldn't be listening to this. It's not our business."
Jesus grumbled but nodded, walking back to the bed.
"I think he'll come."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because he's Owen's dad. Mums have never missed any of our birthdays and we know sometimes they're super busy."
"Yeah….I guess you're right."
"Do you think Owen would really be so sad if he didn't?"
"Course." Kyler said, climbing into bed again. "Yesterday he was talking about how he couldn't wait to go on some of the slides with his dad."
"He'll come." Jesus said seriously.
"Okay." Kyler closed his eyes.
"Hey….are you going to sleep?"
"Yeah."
"But I'm still not sleepy."
"Jesus" Kyler whined. "It's probably really late. We need to sleep so we can have energy for tomorrow."
"I know, but I won't fall asleep even if I try."
"Maybe go ask Owen's mum for her phone so you can call mums."
Jesus bit his lip nervously.
"Come with me."
Groaning, Kyler threw off the covers.
Once he had the phone Jesus went back to Owen's bedroom. Kyler left him to it and went back to the living room. Jesus climbed into the bed, tucking himself in as well as he could, and called his mum.
Brittany started awake, quickly grabbing her phone off the nightstand and climbing out of bed.
"Hello?" She croaked once she was standing in the hallway outside her room. She cleared her throat. "Jan, is everything okay?"
"Mama?"
"Hey bud…" Her sleep addled brain had no idea who she was talking to, so until she was sure she'd stick with general nicknames. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…but I can't sleep."
Jesus, she told herself. Nodding, she walked to the twins' room and lay across Jesus' bed.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"No"
"Just woke up like always huh?"
"Yeah."
Brittany knew Jesus would need to go on the ADHD medicine soon. Given how he was struggling with sleep, aggression and school, things would only get harder for him.
"Do you want me to tell you a story till you fall asleep?"
"Yes please."
Settling in, Brittany thought up a story. At first she'd been really bad at bedtime stories, because she always made them too exciting. The kids would often end up more energized by the end than when she'd started. After a while though, she'd figured out the perfect formula. Interesting enough that they didn't keep interrupting her, but boring enough that they could fall asleep.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Okay close your eyes." She waited. "Are they closed?"
"Yeah"
"Okay now remember, no talking."
"M'kay"
"Okay. So in the forests of Wendytown…."
