Santana wasn't sure how to feel or what to do. She wasn't going to rush back to L.A to see a man she'd talked to all of four times, but at the same time she couldn't help feeling like he was shot because of her. Of course she'd told Mr. Greyson that Kevin was dangerous, and if he didn't think he could handle hiding in his motel room then he could have told her no. He hadn't expressed any concern at all, and after all this was his job.

Still, if she hadn't asked him to he wouldn't have been inside the motel.

She needed to know exactly what had happened, because why had a cleaning lady been shot? That couldn't be Santana's fault too could it? Had Kevin gone crazy when he discovered someone in his room and shot everyone within distance?

A dark part of Santana couldn't help wishing he'd started with himself.

What gave her some solace though was the knowledge that when he was caught, which was bound to be soon since she'd called Eve and told her to report to the police exactly who Mr. Greyson was tailing when he was shot, Kevin would be going to jail for life. There was no way he'd be let out for parole after killing someone the first time they let him out. Also, Mr. Greyson wasn't dead, just injured. She knew from the time both Puck and Quinn had been in the hospital that the media tended to really overdramatize these kinds of things, so it was even possible that Mr. Greyson wasn't in ICU at all.

At least she could hope.

Nonetheless, aside from obsessively checking news articles for updates on the case, Santana tried to go about the rest of the day as planned. She even rode Expedition Everest one more time despite not feeling in the mood for a rollercoaster in the slightest. It wasn't until they were heading to the airport that she really began to allow herself to think of what would happen if Mr. Greyson died.

"You can't blame yourself Santana." Brittany tried to tell her. "It's Kevin's fault. He's the one who had the gun."

But the truth was that Mr. Greyson wouldn't have been anywhere near there if she hadn't hired him. Kevin would have just gone on wasting his day being high. Not hurting anyone.

If she hated Kevin before it was no comparison to how she felt now. He'd made her an accomplice to his murder. She was going to carry this guilt for the rest of her life because of him.

The plane ride was the worst of it. All the kids were pre-occupied with in-flight entertainment, which left Santana with nothing to do but think. Brittany tried her best to distract her, but it wasn't really working. Inevitably Santana's mind kept going back to the motel. She couldn't stop wondering what had happened. She couldn't stop picturing Mr. Greyson in the hospital bed. Was he married? Could his wife or his kids be sitting beside his bed, crying…praying for him to survive. Santana felt sick at the thought. She would never forget how it had felt to sit beside Brittany's hospital bed for days, or Puck's, or the fear she'd felt the night Quinn and Addie almost died.

Was she responsible for putting another family through the very same thing?

As they exited the plane and walked to baggage, Santana found herself on the verge of simply going to hospital to talk to Mr. Greyson.

"Mami?" Jesús asked, fitting himself into Santana's side and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Yeah." Santana wrenched herself out of her increasingly more morbid thoughts to focus on him.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"When are you going on tour?"

"After Tia's wedding."

"When's Tia's wedding?"

"In a month. Twenty fourth."

"Mmhh." Jesús hummed.

"Why amor?" She asked, lifting her hand so she could run her hands through his hair.

"I was just wondering…you know I'll still be on summer holiday?"

Santana smiled, catching on to where this was going.

"Uhuh…"

"And I won't really have anything to do until September."

"What about all the friends you were crying about not being able to see when we dropped you in Lima?"

"I wasn't crying."

"You might as well have been with how much you were all sulking."

He playfully stuck his tongue out at her.

"And anyway I only really cared about Ryan and Kaycee."

"Right…" Santana nodded. "Well you'll have them won't you?"

"Ryan told me they might go on tour with mama."

Santana frowned down at him.

"Mama's not going on….." She trailed off as she realised what he was talking about.

"With Halsey. She said she might go, and if she goes they'll go with her. Ryan told me."

Santana had completely forgotten about Halsey's tour and the fact that Brittany was more than likely going to be joining it.

"Or did she tell you she's not going-"

"No you're right papi. She might go."

"Yeah so Ryan and Kaycee won't be here anyway. So I might as well go with you."

"You don't want to go with them and join mama?"

"I won't get to play with mama."

"You won't get to play with me either."

Jesús looked up at her as they finally reached baggage, smirking.

"Yes I will."

This time Santana was the one to stick her tongue out at him.

"You know I will mami. It makes you proud to tell people your son is playing drums for you."

Santana chuckled. He had her there. It was the accomplishment of a lifetime to have her son on the drums, for one of her sets. It was all she could do to keep singing cause all she wanted to do was stop and cheer him on.

"Alright." She conceded. "But this is a longer tour papi. More shows, more travel, bigger crowds-"

"I'm ready. Plus you need a new drummer anyway, and you know you'll never fire me."

"Ha. Ha."

One of the body guards helped them get their bags and piled them onto a trolley.

"I'm still going to hire an actual drummer," Santana said, "but I'll talk to mama okay?"

"Okay." Jesús said happily.

As they followed their security from baggage to the exit, more and more people shouting out to Santana, they picked up the pace, not wanting to get caught up in crowds of fans wanting pictures or autographs.

Brittany hadn't brought up the Halsey tour much, which Santana now realised was weird. She knew Brittany wanted to do it because of how amazing her first tour with Halsey had been all those years ago. It was Brittany's dream to do it again so Santana knew she must be excited. Yet, she hadn't talked about it. Santana didn't even know when the tour actually was or when rehearsals would begin.

They needed to talk about it and soon, so they could plan what to do with their kids. Leaving them in Lima was a no go, if their kids' reaction to them doing it for just a week was anything to go by. There was no reason to make them miserable for several months. But Santana was going to be going all over the states for two months, and then touring Europe for another month. She wouldn't be back in L.A until late October but more likely mid November. She could take all the kids with her, but Sophia hated touring, and Santana had never taken all the kids on a tour without Brittany. Then what would they do once September rolled around and Santana was jetting to Europe while school started back up? Brittany likely still wouldn't be around. Would the kids miss a month of school?

They got to their car and all quickly got in. Santana paused for a few seconds to wave and blow kisses at the fans shouting out to her, but the flashing cameras and yelling paparazzi was too much for her to keep it up for too long, so she climbed in behind Brittany and shut the door.

Santana watched as the paparazzi tried to push forward to the car. A few managed to reach out and bang on her window.

"Can we go please?" She asked the driver, beginning to feel uneasy as the security struggled to push the paparazzi back.

"Yes ma'am." He answered, starting the car.

"Seatbelts everyone." Brittany called to the kids in the back as she pulled on her own. "Did it work?" She asked Santana.

"What?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"How insane the paparazzi are getting." She said, watching the crowd thin out as they drove away. "But before that, us both touring at the same time."

"Oh…" Brittany cocked her head. "I wasn't expecting that but okay. I guess it did work."

"What worked?"

"I sent Jesús over to distract you."

"Oooh clever!"

"Thank you." Brittany smiled.

"Did you actually tell him to distract me?"

"No I just told him to come talk to you."

"Thanks baby."

"You're welcome." Brittany scooted down in her seat, then leaned over and lay her head on Santana's shoulder. "I was thinking about the Halsey tour…"

"Yeah?"

"It'll be really hard to figure out the kids if I go."

"Yeah it will."

"So it might not be the best idea-"

"You're going B."

Santana felt Brittany sigh.

"I'm supposed to be scaling back from work. Focusing on the kids so you can reignite your career."

"It's simple then." Santana said, "They'll go on tour with you."

"What?"

"If they go with you it's like you taking them with you for the conventions. Better even, because it's not focused on you. You won't be working as much, there won't be thousands of fans demanding your attention, your schedule will be lighter than mine and the kids will be safer. You're doing what you love but also taking the pressure off me so I can do what I love."

"I guess you're right, but it'll still be hard. I've never toured with them without you. The convention is totally different cause I'm teaching, not one of the dancers and it's only for a few days at a time."

Santana turned, resting her chin on Brittany's head.

"I know, but we'll figure it out." She kissed the top of Brittany's head. "We're going to figure out how to have both our dreams and raise our kids at the same time Britt. I promise."


They barely had a few hours to rest before Quinn was showing up at their house with a screaming Addison and trunk full of presents. Santana rushed out to help Quinn carry the car seat.

"Addy!" She cooed, putting the carrier down beside the car so she could kiss Addison. "Tia missed you mama. Why are you crying?"

Addison's screams silenced into whimpers, her bottom lip jutting out in a powerful pout.

"Ooh." Santana cooed, kissing the baby again. "You're okay honey should we go inside? Do you want to see your cousins? Yeah let's go." She stood up and picked the car seat, turning to Quinn.

"Quinn no offense but what the hell are you doing here?"

"I have gifts for my boys."

Santana rolled her eyes. "You did not come here at close to ten at night because you had gifts for Jesús and Ky."

"Maybe I did." Quinn shrugged, pressing the button to close the trunk, her hands full of gifts.

Santana narrowed her eyes.

"Your baby is screaming her head off….are you going to look me in the eye and tell me that has nothing to do with why you're here?"

Quinn sighed, a smile creeping across her lips.

"Okay fine. Theo left today, he'll be back tomorrow morning but-"

"Addy's driving you mad?" Santana asked, chuckling.

"Pretty much."

"Good job little mama." Santana said, looking down at Addison and blowing her a kiss. "Good job."

They went inside. Santana wasted no time in taking Addison out of the car seat. She was still whimpering unhappily but looked around curiously, her head wobbling on her unsteady neck.

"You're getting stronger aren't you?" Santana said to her, referring to the fact that she was even holding her head up at all. "You're gonna have full control in no time huh?"

"Yeah she is. We have lots of tummy time don't we baby?"

"Shush Quinn, no one is talking to you." Santana said, not even bothering to look at her.

"Fine. I'll go find someone who wants to talk to me."

Brittany was in the kitchen, making two separate charcuterie boards, one for her and Santana and one for their kids, who were out in the back patio watching a movie with the projector. Santana followed Quinn into the kitchen, taking up her previous seat at the island with Addison.

"Hey Quinn." Brittany greeted cheerfully. "I'm so glad you're here." She rushed round the counter, pulling Quinn into a hug. "We were just going to watch survivor."

Quinn turned to Santana with a smug look.

"This is why everyone likes Brittany more than you."

Brittany laughed.

"So do I." Santana said. "But not Addy. Addy likes Tia more don't you Addy?" She was bouncing Addison gently on her knee, finally managing to get rid of her pout.

"That's not true Addy is it?" Brittany asked, bending down to be eye level with the baby. "That's not true, you like Auntie B better don't you?" She leaned forward and blew raspberries in the crook of Addison's neck. Addison giggled loudly. "Yeah you do."

"That's cheating B." Santana said, lifting Addison from her lap to her chest. "Besides you didn't get her to stop crying, I did."

"I could have gotten her to stop crying."

"But you didn't." Santana said, pointing her finger. "And that's the point."

Brittany shook her head. "We know the truth Addy, it's okay." She whispered, before walking back round the island to continue making the charcuterie boards.

"Are you going to sleep over Q?" She asked.

"Yeah I think so. I don't want to be driving back too late."

"Good idea."

"You just want to take advantage of the free help." Santana said.

"Like either of you will wake up at 2 am to feed her."

"We can," Brittany said, "if you need us to. We totally can."

"Really?" Quinn asked, looking skeptically at Santana.

Santana shrugged. "Sure. You did it for us."

"Wait are you serious?" Quinn asked, tears springing suddenly to her eyes.

"Oh god." Santana groaned, rolling her eyes. "I thought we were passed this stage of you being a hormonal mess."

"Leave her alone Santana." Brittany laughed.

"I'm just saying, I hope this isn't the new Quinn."

"You and me both." Quinn said, quickly wiping her eyes as the sliding door to the kitchen was pulled open.

"Mama, Jesús said he doesn't want any-TIA!" Sophia shouted, running and hugging Quinn.

"Hey pretty lady." Quinn said. "How are you doing?"

"Good. Come join us we're watching Jurassic park-"

"What?" Brittany asked, looking up sharply. "No you're not."

Sophia paused, eyeing Brittany warily. "Ummm"

"You're not watching Jurassic park Sophia. Niki's going to get nightmares."

"Then he can come watch in here with you. He doesn't need to be with us."

"No you all said you're going to watch a movie together, that's why we put up the screen outside."

"Mama we're already like…thirty minutes in. He isn't scared."

"It gets scarier." Santana said, remembering how she herself had nearly jumped out of her skin several times watching it when she was younger."

"Why do you even want to watch a movie that old?" Quinn asked.

"We wanted to watch something fun, and we know Niki likes dinosaurs so…" She shrugged. "We were going to watch Jurassic world, but then when we searched it showed this one, and we wanted to see."

"How is it?"

"It looks really old. What was wrong with the cameras back then?"

Santana and Quinn laughed.

"But fine, I'll go tell them to change back to Jurassic world."

"No." Brittany said. "No Jurassic anything."

"Mamaaa" Sophia whined. "If Niki's the problem why can't we just watch it without him. We've already started."

"Honey why don't you go tell your brothers Tia is here." Santana said.

Sulking, Sophia walked out.

"Honestly," Brittany muttered, shaking her head, "she doesn't like watching action movies but she wants to watch a horror." She clicked her tongue.

"It's not a horror." Quinn laughed. "It's more of a sci-fi thriller."

"The point stands."

"I hear you babe," Santana said, "and normally I'd agree, but-"

"But?" Quinn asked with raised eyebrows. "That's interesting."

Ignoring her, Santana went on. "I feel like letting them get away with stuff like this is the whole point of summer. Staying up late, eating candy after dinner and watching scary movies."

"Right and when Mateo's so scared he sleeps in our bed for several nights what then?"

Santana shrugged. "Then he sleeps in our bed for a few nights. So what? We want him to bond more with the other three right?"

"Yes…" Brittany said reluctantly.

"Well this is how. I think this is just what having older siblings does to you. You get traumatized by scary movies and listen to explicit music way earlier than you would have otherwise…."

Brittany smirked slightly. "That ship's already kind of sailed."

"No kidding." Quinn snorted.

"Tia!" Kyler came sprinting into the kitchen first, followed closely by Jesús and Mateo. They all crashed into Quinn, struggling to hug her as tight as possible.

"What are you doing here Tia?" Mateo asked.

"Are you staying over?" Jesús asked, "do you want to watch a movie with us?"

"We're watching one about DINOSAURS!" Mateo yelled.

Addison jumped, startled by Mateo's yell. She began to pout, which was all the warning Santana needed to know she was about to cry. Santana moved Addison to lie in her arms, rocking her gently.

"Q can you take them outside?"

Quinn nodded, ushering the three boys back outside.

"Have you watched Jurassic park before?" Kyler asked. "It's a really old movie. Like made all the way back in the 1900s."

Brittany and Santana frowned at each other.

"Did he just say in the 1900s?"

"Yup." Santana said, standing up to rock Addison more as she began to cry. "The disrespect is strong."

"I think this is enough right?" Brittany asked, looking down at the two boards. "Should I add more cheese?"

"No." Santana said, knowing that there was definitely too much food for either of them to finish. "I think there's enough."

"Okay."

Brittany picked up the boards and began walking to the living room.

"Beebee" Santana said, following her.

"Yeah?"

"I think we should let them watch Jurassic park."

Once again Brittany looked up sharply, but Santana held a hand out to stop her.

"Wait, hear me out."

Brittany placed one board down. "Okay…"

"He might get scared, maybe even stay scared for a few days, but it's a memory they'll have to talk about. Something that brings them closer together."

"I hear you, but they can bond over other things."

"The older they get, the more significant the four year age gap becomes. I know you…we...want to keep him our baby for ever but we have to let them figure out what their relationship looks like."

"And they're going to do that by watching a horror?"

Santana fought a smile, nodding.

"I know it's not the same, but I remember resenting my little cousins so much because of all the things Miguel and I weren't allowed to do or watch because of them. They'll watch this movie and always be talking about 'remember the time mums let us watch Jurassic park and Niki got so scared-"

"He slept in mums bed for a week."

Santana finally let the smile break through.

"Exactly." She said. "Besides, you were the one complaining he's growing up too fast. If he's sleeping in our bed you can pretend he's still our baby."

"What the hell, it's summer right?"

"Right." Santana grinned.

Brittany walked with the board she had left, out to the back patio.

"Oh yes!" Jesús cheered, taking the board from her. "Wait." His face fell. "I said I didn't want olives."

"Oh I forgot to tell mama. I got distracted."

Jesús sneered at the board.

"Just don't eat them" Kyler said, picking one and popping it into his mouth. Jesús continued to make a face. "Here." Kyler began picking all the olives, moving them all to one side of the board.

"Thanks." Jesús grinned, placing the board on the table.

"We were trying to find a new movie to watch." Kyler said, throwing a glance in Mateo's direction.

"Something that won't make baby Lopierce scared-"

"I'm not a baby!" Mateo said angrily, pushing Jesús.

"I was just kidding relax." Jesús giggled, moving to sit next to Kaycee and offering her a slice of cheese.

"What do you think we should watch mama?" Kyler asked.

Brittany looked at the pout still on Mateo's face. Being called a baby had clearly gotten to him. She looked at Quinn, who raised her eyebrow.

"You know what? If you promise to look after Niki, you can watch Jurassic park."

"Really?" Sophia asked, jumping a few times. "Can we watch Jurassic world instead."

"Yeah whichever you want. But you have to look after him if he gets scared."

"Promise." Kyler said absently as he went about finding Jurassic park on the laptop. Nicholi crouched next to him, whispering excitedly.

"Niki." Brittany said, beckoning Mateo to her. When he was close enough she pulled him into her side. "I know you like dinosaurs, but these ones are really scary okay?"

He nodded. "I won't be scared mama."

"My big boy." She said, brushing the hair off his forehead, to no effect because it simply fell over his eyes again. "But just in case you do get too scared, you can come in to the living room with me and mami and cuddle okay?"

"I won't be scared."

"Just in case." She bent and kissed him. "We're right in the living room."

"Okay."

"Okay. Q are you staying out here?"

"For a bit." Quinn nodded. "If I get scared can I come cuddle with you too?"

Brittany laughed. "Yes. Anyone who gets scared can come cuddle with me and mami. And Addy." She added as she walked back into the house.

"We won't be scared." Kyler called after her.

Santana was still rocking a now quiet Addison, smiling at Brittany as she walked in.

"How did that feel?" Santana asked.

"Not great. I hate that they're getting old enough to watch PG-13 movies. I want to go back to watching Alvin and the chipmunks."

"We might have to after they're done with their horror."

"I hope so."

"Come here." Santana said. Brittany walked up to her. "There are no rules in this house. You're not like a regular mum." She said quietly, rubbing Brittany's arm. Brittany's eyebrows pinched together in confusion then she giggled.

"I'm a cool mum?"

"There you go." Santana said, laughing as well.

"I don't think I should be taking my parenting cues from means girls."

"That's probably a good point." Santana said, nodding. "But you are a great mum, and I love you."

"I love you too."

"Can we watch survivor now?"

"Yeah let's."

They both got comfortable on the couch. Addison's eyes were drooping.

"I do kind of miss watching you with a baby." Brittany said, smiling as Santana repositioned Addison across her lap so she wouldn't bother her every time she needed her hands. As Addison began to fuss Santana rubbed soothing circles over her stomach, which quieted her quickly. "You're so good at it."

Santana shrugged. "Lot's of practice."

"No." Brittany said. "You're amazing Santana."

"I try. But..." She hesitated

"What?"

"Just so we're still on the same page, you're not saying you might potentially want to have another baby-"

"No." Brittany laughed, "I'm saying I like how good you are with babies, but that doesn't mean I want one around all the time. Now we have Addy for that."

"Good." Santana sighed. "Just checking."


Kevin still hadn't been caught by the time they were waking up the next morning, but Santana knew it was only a matter of time, so she refused to get worked up about it. They had a light day today, which she was grateful for. It felt like for the past month all their schedules had just been go, go go, barely landing before taking off again. All they had to do today was drop Nicholi, Ryan and Kaycee back home, and then they could relax, which Santana fully intended to do. Unfortunately, her plans were already being ruined.

"Brittany, rock paper scissors." Santana said as she walked into the living room where Brittany was buried under their fluffiest blanket, Addy asleep on the cushion next to her.

"For what?" Brittany asked.

Santana smirked. "Play and find out."

"No." Brittany said suspiciously. "I need to know the stakes."

"I just spoke to Jean, he says he wants to take Nicholi to some kind of fair at the park."

"Fair?" Brittany sat up slightly.

"Yeah. Like a pop-up thing. There's stalls with food, there's candy, games…"

"Like a carnival?"

"Yeah."

"That sounds like fun." Brittany sat up fully, careful not to jostle Addison. "What does that have to do with rock paper scissors?"

"Well, he thought Ky would enjoy going with him."

"Oh…" Brittany nodded in understanding. "So we're playing for which of us is going to go with him?"

"Yup."

Santana held her hand out, fist clenched. "Best of three."

"Five." Brittany said quickly, moving onto her knees and holding her hand out as well.

"Fine." Santana said, narrowing her eyes. "On scissors. Ready?"

Brittany nodded.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Brittany's rock crushed Santana's scissors.

"Rock, paper scissors!"

Again, Brittany's rock crushed Santana's scissors.

"Agh! Come on!" Santana complained.

"Maybe we should just do best of three." Brittany giggled.

"No take backs." Santana said, pointing at her.

"Rock, paper, sciss-"

"Mum!" Sophia yelled. They heard her running quickly down the stairs. Santana and Brittany turned to her. "Aubrey is gong to the park later today, she put it in the group chat that her mum's taking her and her little sister for a fair there. Then Kris said she'll go join her and now everyone is going. Please can I go too? Please?"

Santana and Brittany looked at each other, their shoulders sagging.

"Please!" Sophia continued to beg. "I already missed the sleepover when I was in Lima, which I'm okay with," she added quickly, "but now if I miss this too, it'll be worse cause I'll have missed TWO group hang outs and I won't know any of the stories when we get back to school. I'll be left out and everything will be awful."

"Alright Soph." Santana said, holding back a laugh. "Nicholi and Kyler are going as well, so maybe we'll make it a family outing."

Sophia frowned, looking on the verge of protesting, but then she seemed to realise this meant she'd get to see her friends because she smiled.

"Okay." She said happily. "Thanks mums!"

She ran back upstairs.

"I remember when I used to think missing a social gathering meant the end of my life." Santana said.

Brittany laughed. "There's hope for Sophia to grow out of it then."

"There might be."

"So we're all going the park?"

Santana sighed. "Looks like it." She looked longingly at the TV. "I really wanted to stay in today. Maybe even take a nap."

"I can take them" Brittany said. "I don't mind."

"No let's all go. Maybe I'll win you another stuffed animal."

Brittany's eyes widened. "AH!" She gasped excitedly, jumping off the couch. "Do you think they have some?"

"Probably."

"Oh my god, let's go right now!"

Like Sophia, Brittany ran upstairs, leaving Santana smiling after her.

"How about you Addy?" She asked, looking at the baby who was staring up at her. "Do you want to go to the park?"


"Why didn't I think there'd be so many people here?" Brittany said, as they drove into the park.

"Me neither." Santana said.

"Do you think we should call Jessie?"

Santana looked around at the crowds of people. There were definitely more kids than adults, but that ratio wasn't always a good thing.

"We can call him-"

"But how long is it going to take him to get here?" Mateo asked, already out of his seat, staring wide-eyed at the fair.

"Maybe thirty minutes." Brittany told him.

"Well can we wait for him in there?"

With just her four kids, Santana may have agreed. She and Brittany could each hold one of their hands, but with Ryan and Kaycee who they had not yet dropped home, and Nicholi, there were more kids than they had hands. The thought of walking into that crowd gave her anxiety, bringing up the memory of a three year old Jesús and Kyler being swallowed by a crowd in Australia.

"No, we're gonna wait for Jessie." She said, taking out her phone to call him.

Jean arrived before Jessie did, meeting them at their car. Santana found it very amusing to watch Antoine, Nicholi's older brother who had just turned sixteen, pretend he wasn't happy to see Nicholi. He grabbed him into a headlock, tousling his hair aggressively, then he shoved him away and stuffed his hands in his pockets, asking nonchalantly how Disney world was.

"What are we waiting for?" Jean asked after five minutes had passed and Santana and Brittany had made no move to go into the park.

"Our body guard." Kyler told him.

"Oh…" Jean looked at the crowds in the park. "Fair enough. Zese are a lot of kids to keep track of."

"Yeah and I personally would not be able to relax." Santana said.

"He should be here soon." Brittany said.

"I wish he'd hurry up." Sophia whined. "I still have to go find Aubrey."

"He'll be here."

"But he's taking so long. Aubrey said she would wait by the ice cream truck. That's not even in the middle of the park I can see it from here."

"Soph, five minutes babe." Brittany said.

"What if she gets bored waiting and goes back in?"

"Then we'll find her inside."

"Can't I just go look inside-"

"No." Santana said. "Mama has already told you no Sophia, why are you arguing with her?"

Sophia huffed, leaning heavily against the car.

Jesús , Ryan and Kaycee stood slightly apart from the group. Santana couldn't hear what they were talking about, but every so often they would giggle loudly, covering their mouths to keep from being too loud. She smiled. It was so interesting to see Jesús be this way. All his life he'd drifted between friend groups, hanging out with Kyler's friends, or really whoever was in his proximity and around his age. Now with Ryan and Kaycee, she could tell he was more comfortable, which was saying a lot because she wouldn't have said he was uncomfortable before. He just seemed so relaxed and happy whenever they were around. Like they were his favourite people.

She watched as Kayce squealed, jumping away from Ryan, which put her behind Jesús , then as Ryan tried to get at her, she jumped onto Jesús' back. Jesús didn't seem to be prepared for this, but caught her nonetheless, and promptly began dodging Ryan.

Santana was so busy watching them that she didn't even notice Jessie walking up to them until Mateo ran to him.

"Oh!" She smiled and hugged him. "Hey."

"I was going to scare you, if Mateo didn't give me away." Jessie said.

"Thank god he did then." She laughed.

Sophia grabbed Jessie's hand, dragging him away from the car.

"Come on let's go!"


Though it hadn't been what she planned to do, Santana ended up really enjoying the fair. Kyler went with Jean, Antoine and Nicholi, but they kept bumping in to each other. Jesús kept challenging her at different stalls, to see who could win the bigger prize, and once they had found Aubrey, who was with Sophia's other friends Kris and Nora, Sophia finally relaxed enough to have fun. Mateo, Santana and Brittany had eaten so many giant pretzels and ice cream that Santana was pretty sure she wouldn't need to eat for at least two days. It was a better afternoon than she would have had at home, and probably the kind of summer day her kids had been wanting for weeks.

As Mateo, Jesús, Ryan and Kaycee ran ahead to line up for what looked like a house of horrors, Santana took Brittany's hand, lacing their fingers together. Brittany smiled at her.

"So when do you start rehearsals?" Santana asked.

"Hm?" Brittany frowned.

"For Halsey."

"Oh…" Brittany shook her head. "Santana I don't think I should do it."

"Okay." Santana shrugged. "Give me your phone."

Though clearly confused, Brittany pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to Santana. Seconds later Santana lifted her phone to her ear.

"Who are you calling?" Brittany asked. Santana shrugged again. "Santana-"

"Hi! Sorry no this isn't Brittany, it's Santana. Her wife…..Yes! I know, I know, since the record release," Santana laughed, "yeah that's my bad. Totally my fault, we've just been trying to make the most of the few months I have off before my tour." She was silent for a while, nodding, humming sometimes in response to whatever the person on the other end was saying. "When does it start again? Oh mid-August. So soon. When do rehearsals start? I was asking Brittany earlier but she didn't seem sure….Oh hasn't she?" Santana turned, smirking, to Brittany.

"Who are talking to?" Brittany asked more urgently.

"Well I'm not sure why she hasn't called. She has a bad memory, but I can confirm with you now that she'll be there."

Brittany caught on, her mouth dropping open.

"Yes absolutely. I mean we'll need to figure out the logistics of our kids-" Santana was cut off, whatever Halsey was saying making her smile wide. "That would be excellent, thank you so much. Oh really? They'll be there too? Well that's even more excellent. Look how that works out." She laughed. "What have you guys been doing over the summer?"

They talked for nearly ten minutes, before Santana ended the call under the excuse of being next in line for the house of horrors and with a promise for them to talk more often. She handed Brittany back her phone, clearly extremely proud of herself.

"I can't believe you just did that." Brittany grumbled.

"Britt." Santana said seriously. "I understand that it would be easier for you to just stay home with the kids, but it's not necessary, and I won't allow you to sideline your career for no reason."

"I'm not sidelining my career. I am still teaching at the studio, and I'm mentoring Ryan and Kaycee, I still have the convention once a year and…" she shrugged, "who knows, maybe I'll finally take that promotion they keep offering me."

"A desk job?"

"It's not a desk job-"

"I've been listening to you call it a desk job for over a year. Every time they ask you to take it you say you won't, simply because of all the paperwork. Now you want to convince me you've suddenly changed your mind?"

"Not suddenly….I've been thinking about it for a while."

"Well I'm not going to hear any of it. You always said you'd love to tour with Halsey again, and here's your chance. She's asked for you personally, and now you'll be the lead choreographer. Plus she said she'll make all the accommodations for our kids that you need, whatever you ask for, cause her kids will be with her too and she knows how hard it can be."

Brittany bit her lip. "Her kids will be there?"

Santana nodded.

"I don't know…"

"Well you don't really have a choice, cause I've already told her you'll be there."

"I could tell her I'm injured."

"If you do that I'll divorce you."

Brittany snorted, doubling over as she laugh.

"I'm serious." Santana said, fighting a smile.

"Okay." Brittany said. "Alright fine. Fine. I'll call her and make proper plans."

"Yes!" Santana pulled her closer, giving her a quick peck on the lips. "Now let's go get scared by some tacky clowns-"

There was a loud scream several feet from where they were that drew both their attention. They couldn't see who had screamed, though Santana was pretty sure it was Sophia. She'd just found Sophia in the crowd, standing beside Jessie, when all of a sudden Sophia took off running, screaming once again.

"What's going on?" Brittany asked, beginning to walk in that direction.

"Mama we're so close! We're next." Jesús said, pointing at the house of horrors.

As Brittany turned back to talk to Jesús, Santana spotted a man running in the same direction Sophia had gone, and it was definitely not Jessie. He was skinny, very skinny, and he was blonde.


A/N: Two more chapters to the end of this story ; )