After the discovery that they were having triplets, Brittany had been seeing her doctor every two weeks and Santana went with her every time. Brittany's mom often went with them as well. Brittany was taking all of these extra supplements and sensing the growth inside of her. Now she finally understood why she had such intense symptoms for so long. It brought a sense of calm to her knowing that there was a reason why she had been feeling so out of sorts the whole time.
Brittany was also retaining a lot of water in her ankles and feet, especially at the end of each day, and that was becoming painful for her. She could still go about her day as normal but she had to take plenty of breaks because it wasn't as easy to move around anymore. They were stocking up on an endless supply of diapers ahead of time. She and Santana probably had a year's supply of them at this rate but Whitney had reassured them that it would come in handy.
They were nearing the dead of winter and even Santana's ever cheerful, bubbly fiancée seemed to be affected by the doom and gloom of all of the never-ending gray skies despite being the type who always looked for something fun about every season.
It was so bitter cold that Santana instantly wrapped a visibly shivering Brittany up in a tight embrace when the blonde got into her car that day. She felt so bad about Brittany having to spend any time out in the freezing weather at all.
"Mm, I'm so glad you're here." Brittany instantly sighed into her neck, squeezing her eyes shut after she had tossed her things into the backseat and shrugged off her light pink, fluffy jacket. She was already more bright-eyed now that she was back in Santana's company and could finally relax.
Even the familiar mess of Santana's car with the many shoes, clothes and food wrappers she had thrown into the backseats was comforting to her. Brittany just needed to be held by her fiancée after what felt like the longest day of quizzes and lectures. Santana kissed the crown of her head, laughing happily as she brushed snowflakes off of her.
"Happy to see you too, Babe," Santana grinned. "If I had my way, you wouldn't have to go back to this shitty place at all. You should be resting at home, living the life of luxury forever."
Brittany leaned up to kiss her lips gratefully but then groaned when she thought about school again.
"Such a hard day. So many tests and teachers yelling at us. I'm so hungry now."
"I know, I'm sorry, Baby. Oh, Britt. What do you feel like eating? I'll get anything you want."
"Fast food. Please?" Brittany pleaded with soft blue eyes. "I just really need something salty and greasy and covered in chocolate right now."
"Of course." Santana smiled softly and kissed her fiancée's cheek. It was no surprise that Brittany was asking for fast food again. Their Lopez babies were certainly making her crave anything salty, greasy, sugary, and high in calories but Santana was more than happy to give her love whatever she wanted.
Santana never realized that her putting a baby - or in this case, three - in Brittany would turn her into a junk food addict.
She was thrilled that Brittany hadn't taken off her ring the entire time since she'd first put it on and even now the blonde was gazing at the shiny pink stone again adoringly, as if mesmerized. It made Santana so proud that Brittany was openly telling everyone they were engaged. Brittany just seemed so ecstatic about it. It made Santana feel even more confident that this was the right decision for them, even if they were so young still.
Even months before she could never quite imagine the day when she herself would get married but now, it just seemed so right.
Santana laughed as Brittany practically climbed into her lap because she wanted to order for herself this time when they got to the drive through window. There weren't exactly many restaurant options in Lima. Brittany and Santana were also infamous for being troublesome customers.
Anytime they ordered in the drive through, Brittany would ask for all kinds of confusing and random things, confusing the poor workers meanwhile Santana would jump in to defend her lover and threaten to go all Lima Heights on them when Brittany became upset.
This time was no different. Except this time, all Santana saw was the blonde's sexy, round ass in her lap and couldn't resist giving it a playful pinch then a gentle slap or two, earning a surprised squeak from the girl. Brittany had the sexiest ass in the world. She kept fondling Brittany's ass so much that the blonde eventually whined when she finally got off at her after making her order and lay back in the passenger seat.
"You're so horny," She chided, in a quiet voice but her blue eyes were swimming with mischief now as well. "Now I'm horny too but I'm too hungry to do it with you now. Give me some calories first."
"You got it," Santana laughed again as she took a sip from Brittany's chocolate milkshake, wincing at how sweet it was and handed her the rest of their food. "I really need to cook for you properly sometime."
"Mm hmm." Brittany hummed and they both laughed, knowing how disastrous they both were in the kitchen because Santana had no patience for it and Brittany's creative culinary experiments were way too crazy for consumption.
That same night, Brittany seemed more distressed than normal even after getting her sugar fix.
"What's wrong?" Santana asked, noticing Brittany's face crumple when she reached down to go through notes from her backpack. "Is there another test this week?"
Santana knew Brittany had the tendency to panic now whenever she had any kind of assignment or test for school, more than she ever had at any time in her life. It was the first time Brittany was really taking academics so seriously.
She wasn't as bad as she had been during the first couple of weeks of Santana living with the Pierces but she was so paranoid about failing and letting everyone down that was always an undercurrent of anxiety to the blonde, whenever she was reminded of school.
It made Santana hate the entire school system. She wished she could abolish all tests and assignments for good so that Brittany wouldn't be made to feel like an idiot or a failure.
"It's just that if my babies are due in just a few months, I won't be able to take finals," Brittany finally explained tearfully. "We don't have much time left. I barely have enough time left to study even. I don't know what to do. I tried really hard but what if after all this time they fail me again and then I'm the one to fail high school twice?"
Santana winced, realizing that the blonde was right about one thing. Their babies were due sometime around the middle of May and with multiples, it was highly likely that they'd be very premature anyway. The doctor warned them that there was a strong chance that they would arrive into the world before thirty-seven weeks.
Brittany was spiraling pretty badly now though and Santana knew she had to cut in to comfort her.
"Whoa, one thing at a time, okay? Shh," Santana held her in her arms as the blonde broke down. "Don't worry, we can make arrangements with the school. I'm sure there's some way to get them rescheduled for you, Britt. It's not like you have any control over when the babies are born and everyone knows that. They're not gonna expect a student who's about to give birth to sit exams."
"I know, I just hope I'll be able to finally graduate," Brittany whimpered in despair. "Suppose I just fail all over again, like a complete dunce? Then I'd be the only nineteen year old mom who failed high school twice. That would be so pathetic."
The blonde looked and sounded as if she was on the verge of a full on panic attack. Santana's heart ached for her. Brittany usually didn't care about what other people thought of her but this was an exception because her being "stupid" was the blonde's deepest insecurity. Santana rubbed her back gently.
"Since when do you care about school and being smart and all that? We always said that's for nerds and geeks. Not for hot people like us."
"I don't know. I just do. It didn't feel like it mattered before but now everything changed so fast and it kind of does."
"Hey, don't cry. C'mere," Santana took her into her arms the second she saw Brittany's lower lip wobble and the taller girl began to sob into her neck again. "I know you can be a perfectionist sometimes. You could never be pathetic. Especially not to me. You know you'll always be perfect to me. You're worrying too much and working yourself up. It doesn't matter to me even if you never pass those worthless exams. I know you've been working your cute ass off this whole time, Britt. You've more than proven yourself but I don't care if you fail ten times. I don't know if this is about trying to impress me but you should know I literally don't care if you never graduate as long as you're happy. Your family feels the same. You're beautiful to me as you are. Hey, you know I always loved you just the way you are."
Santana always had a way of calming her down and Brittany eventually relaxed in her arms, thinking over her words as Santana stroked her back rhythmically.
"Thank you." She whispered gratefully, kissing the skin of Santana's neck softly. It felt so grounding to be held by Santana and she inhaled deeply, that family musky, rich scent calming her mind like nothing else would ever be able to. "You're the only one who keeps me grounded. Which is saying a lot, since I'm an air sign."
Santana chuckled. It had taken a lot to convince Brittany that Aquarius was really an air sign instead of a water sign but now Brittany liked the thought of it.
Santana wasn't much of an astrology person - in fact she would have never thought of it were it not for the blonde but Brittany loved it and she loved indulging her fiancée.
Brittany had been leaning on Santana for emotional support more than ever these days, which was almost a reversal of how they had been when they were younger but Santana found that it was a welcome distraction from her own personal issues. Santana also loved feeling needed by Brittany.
"Let's just make a plan to talk to Schue and Emma. I'll go with you if you want . It can't be the first time they've had a situation like this with students."
"Okay. You're right." Brittany sighed in relief as her racing thoughts finally began to slow down when they came up with a plan. Santana kept whispering sweet things until she finally stopped crying and cheered up a little.
"Don't you worry about anything anymore, okay? I'm here for you. You and our babies are the most important things to me. I could care less about anything else."
Santana could see that something else was worrying Brittany but it took a while for her to find the courage to say it. The darker-haired girl stroked her lover's back softly, trying to convey the message that she was there to support her.
"What is it, Britt? You know you can tell me anything."
"Suppose…" She hesitated, taking a deep breath, and didn't even want to say what she was really thinking because it felt like saying it out loud made it more real. "Suppose our babies are stupid like I am," Brittany whimpered. She couldn't help but feel incredibly insecure sometimes about that aspect of herself. She had never been academic in the slightest. "It'll be my fault if they can never do well at school. You know I even have dyslexia and dyscalculia too. I read that those are genetic. It'll be all my fault if they fail everything too."
Santana took her into her arms again, pulling her into a loving embrace.
"Hey, don't panic. Don't do this to yourself. You're worrying for nothing."
"I know, I'm sorry, I'm just starting to freak out. Everything is so scary and I feel like I'm a bad mom if they end up being just like me."
"So what if they're all those things? That's just how you are and I love you. We will love our babies no matter how smart they are. They'll be perfect because you're their mommy. They'll be beautiful, tall, and amazing dancers just like you. They'll be funny and charming like you. I hope they get your creativity. They'll have your stunning blue eyes. I hope they see the world as beautifully as you do. I'm gonna love them just the same however they turn out."
Brittany fell into a stunned silence, flattered and soothed by what Santana had said. It never failed to make her feel all warm inside when Santana would compliment her and mean every word of it so genuinely.
No one loved her the way Santana did. No one else ever would. Brittany knew there was no one else she would ever want to marry and spend forever with.
"You're so lovely to me. I love you so much," Brittany finally spoke up breathlessly, wiping away her tears. "I've loved every second of being pregnant with your babies too."
Santana gazed into her light blue eyes, taking in every tiny spark in them, all of the little splashes of vibrant colour that made them so beautiful, then her long blonde eyelashes and every other little detail of Brittany's pale face she had memorized for so long. She couldn't help but bring her lips to Brittany's, capturing her lower lip with hers and kissing her with all of the passion she had.
By the time she pulled away, Brittany's chest was heaving and she lay back on her bed, watching Santana expectantly. She trailed her fingertips over Santana's bare bicep then down her toned arm seductively.
"I think I'm gonna need some more stress relief with you." Brittany playfully fluttered her eyelashes, pouting and putting on an innocent good girl act they could both see right through.
Santana swallowed hard, heat rising in her body. She helped the blonde strip out of her pink and red heart-patterned pajamas, taking off every article of clothing she herself had on as well then encouraged Brittany to roll over onto her side and got behind her, taking hold of her small waist as she slipped her hand between pale thighs and thrusted into tight warmth. It was such a relief when they were both nude and their bare skin was sliding together. It made Santana feel like she was coming home to where she belonged.
Brittany was so wet and swollen without them even needing foreplay. All it took was the feeling of Santana's bare body moving against her. As soon as she felt Santana's fingers curling deep inside then her full lips on the back of her neck, Brittany made this soft, needy little whimper that never failed to make Santana aware of the heat building between her own legs. She kept her other hand on the front of Brittany's body, trailing it over her breast to her lower stomach to cup her growing baby bump for a moment and then between her legs.
She found the tiny, swollen nub and stroked it with tight circles with her thumb, knowing exactly how Brittany enjoyed being touched. It wasn't long before Brittany was shivering in her arms in ecstasy and Santana brought her lips up to hers, grinding her own core up against Brittany's ass until she came as well without even needing to be touched.
In the afterglow, Brittany began softly singing that one song again that got them into this "mess" in the first place and this time it really made Santana laugh. Brittany was so cute and silly.
All you hear is mm mm mm mm mm mm
Gonna button my lip
So the truth don't slip
Mm mm mm mm mm mm
Gotta beep out
What I really wanna shout
Whoops! Did I say it out loud? (Mm mm mm mm mm mm)
Did you find out?
I wanna have your babies
Get serious like crazy
"You're definitely having three of my babies, Britt. Should I be worried that you're planning for the future?"
"Mm, maybe." Brittany winked playfully, pulling Santana on top of her and cupping her face to encourage her to kiss her again. Santana happily gave in to her desire, reaching down and pulling Brittany's sheets up over them both to keep the blonde warm.
Brittany was relieved when Mr. Schue helped her make arrangements to delay her sitting her final exams until late that year in the fall. It was one less major thing to worry about for now. She was going to continue to study and it would still be anxiety-inducing enough when the time came around but she'd definitely have to drop out of school completely very soon.
Santana and Brittany had started a ritual every night of Britt laying back on her bed while Santana kissed her growing bump lazily, humming softly or singing to their babies. Brittany would often sing along with her. The combination of Santana's hazy, rougher voice and Brittany's clear poppy voice made their duets so pretty.
Santana had gradually become used to the idea of having multiples. It was starting to feel more natural than ever instead of this overwhelming idea. It was just going to take a lot more planning and effort but being with Brittany made it all worth it.
They had read that babies responded to music and it seemed to soothe them whenever their moms sang or played music for them. Sometimes they would dance to music gently, or even to no music at all, although Santana was worried about Brittany moving around too much these days.
"We're so good at this. I wonder if they'll be good at singing and dancing like us." Brittany mused after Santana had just sang to them again. Santana grinned.
"With our genetics, they're bound to be."
One thing was for sure, Brittany and Santana's babies were bound to be musically inclined.
Now that winter was in full swing and Brittany was getting close to the six month mark that February, she was bigger than ever.
The blonde loved how Santana was always touching and pressing kisses to her belly at every chance she got. Brittany was getting stretch marks now and she wondered how her lover would react but Santana even loved those parts of her still.
Since she was fired from her job at what she called the "trashy clothing store," Santana was now working at a call center, much to her fury. If Santana at a store was bad, Santana at a call center was unlike anything the small town had seen. At least every new job she got taught her more about what she didn't want her career to end up being.
Santana was relieved when Brittany's doctor advised her to stop attending classes. Brittany was so heavy with her pregnancy and exhausted all the time. It didn't make sense for her to continue if she was having multiples. After all, she could be giving birth any day now. Santana kept assuring her that the best thing for her to do was get as much rest as she could. The last thing she wanted was for Brittany or their babies to be hurt.
Santana wasn't having such a great work day but one thing that instantly cheered her up was seeing her fiancée standing in front of her with a huge grin on her face one night when she returned from her job.
"Baby, I want to show you something." Brittany was beaming at her with a playful twinkle in her blue eyes.
"Oh, I'm sure you do, Querida," Santana grinned slyly, her thoughts becoming lustful as her gaze dropped to the curves of Brittany's body then to the area between her legs. Her blood was running hot already just thinking about it. "Can't wait. Can never get enough of seeing it. Let's take this to your room because I really don't think you want your family walking in on us."
Whitney had already walked in on them accidentally several times since they began sleeping together as teenagers and it never failed to make both of them mortified just remembering it even if Brittany's mom had never made a big deal out of it.
"Not that, Lovergirl," Brittany just laughed, rolling her eyes fondly and pushing at Santana's shoulder softly although the offer was enticing. "At least, not right this minute. I can show you that later though. It's something else."
Santana noticed that Brittany was holding her bump and her face lit up.
"Oh! Are they kicking again?"
"Just look. Like I said, we have something special to show you."
Brittany lifted up her shirt, showing Santana how she'd written, "We love you, Mami" in pink lettering, with a big heart beside it.
Santana just about melted at the cuteness, forgetting all about how awful work was as she went over to pull Brittany into a deep kiss, placing her palms on her round belly and holding it gently.
"I love you too. All four of you."
"Aw, they sense their other mommy." Brittany smiled when they both felt the flutters. The triplets were always more active when Santana was around or they heard Santana's voice, as if they could sense who their other parent was.
Valentine's Day was fast approaching, meaning that Brittany's birthday was also around the corner. At six months, Brittany was, in her own words, massive. Santana still thought she was gorgeous in every way. She had about a million pictures and videos of a very pregnant Brittany saved on her phone. She was still mainly skinny all over except for her bump and in Santana's eyes, she was beyond adorable.
Even after their breakup, neither of them had ever been able to delete any of the million pictures and videos they saved of each other from before even if it hurt so much to look at them.
When Santana came down for breakfast one early, bitter cold February morning, Brittany's eyebrows were pulled together in a frown, her head tilted to the side and she was biting down on her lip, looking like she was deep in thought about something.
"What's up?" Santana laughed, wondering what deep philosophical idea Brittany would have, knowing how the blonde was.
"Shouldn't I have twenty-seven months of pregnancy instead of nine?"
Santana almost choked on her mocha when she heard this.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It's nine months for each baby then you multiply it by three."
"Actually, I don't think that's how the whole thing works, Babe," Santana laughed hard. It took a while for Santana's brain to try to process what Brittany was saying and she had stared at her blankly for ages. They were both still getting used to the idea of triplets and neither of them was all that good at math. "If it was, I don't think you'd ever want to get pregnant again after that experience."
"I know, sorry. I just wanted to make you smile." Brittany admitted with a soft chuckle and bright eyes that warmed Santana's heart.
Santana kept wondering what she could do to make Brittany's birthday extra fun for her. She knew Brittany wasn't expecting anything much and they already had so much on their minds. The tall blonde would probably be content with a simple funfetti cake made from the box and a few pink balloons. She wouldn't expect anything from Santana at all but that only made Santana want to celebrate her birthday even more.
She ended up doing those exact things but also cooking a romantic dinner for Brittany while Whitney and Pierce had kindly offered to go out with Stacy for most of the night to give the couple their space. She was trying to sneakily encourage Brittany to eat healthier, much to the blonde's protests, but even Brittany couldn't refuse a steak dinner.
Santana had nearly burnt the house down in her impatience but at least they had a meal by the end of it and Brittany was so thrilled about Santana cooking for her. So thrilled in fact that they were all over each other in bed by the end of the night.
Brittany sat up on the other side of the bed, watching Santana closely. Santana was breathing hard and red in the face but pretty much on cloud nine.
"San, I think we should just do it."
Santana blinked and was distracted by Brittany's nude body.
"Again? Sure, Babe. Just give me a minute, it's a little embarrassing to admit but I'm kind of winded here."
"Someone has a one track mind like always," Brittany giggled, knowing Santana too well. "We can do that too of course but what I meant is, I think we should just get married and have our wedding soon. Why wait?"
Santana's mind raced, thinking about how much preparation and planning a wedding would involve. Especially if she wanted a really wonderful wedding for herself and Brittany, which she did. She could use the money from her inheritance to afford pretty much as big of a wedding as Brittany wanted but then there was also the fact that Brittany was so tired and not herself these days because of the babies. Brittany was in discomfort a lot and drained. Many times at night Brittany would wake up, feeling uncomfortable and wouldn't be able to sleep until Santana massaged her.
Her mother had wanted Santana to marry Brittany because she thought it was the right thing to do but at this rate, would Maribel or any of Santana's family even attend the wedding? Santana was worried about Brittany being so hurt to her core if the Lopez side of the family shunned them and didn't show their support.
Then there was also the matter of their friends and anyone else who attended making assumptions about Brittany's pregnancy. Santana couldn't bear the idea of their special day being ruined and Brittany's feelings being hurt because people were being ignorant, invasive, and annoying.
"Are you sure? You know I'd love to have you as my wife right away if I could but I don't want you to feel like we need to rush into this just because I proposed."
"I want to be your wife before we have little Lopez babies. It feels right somehow," Then seeing Santana's face, she reassured her. "You know, it doesn't have to be a big wedding. We can have a cozy little one. It's just about the two of us."
Santana bit her lip, thinking about this idea. She really wanted to marry her but Brittany was just so big with her pregnancy at the moment and in discomfort a lot.
"You're right about all of that. I was just worried about you and the babies being stressed."
Santana thought about some of the other couples among their peers. She just knew Rachel Berry would be the type of woman to want a massive white wedding in a synagogue with all the pomp and ceremony but her and Brittany weren't the types to want all of that. Nor were they as traditional, formal, or dramatic as Rachel was in their taste. Berry would probably want to sing some Celine Dion song and have hundreds of guests. Tina was undoubtedly going to go for some intense, gothic-themed wedding if Mike Chang ever actually proposed to her.
Brittany's taste was very different to the others. Her taste was adorable, as Santana saw it, even if it was very quirky and unconventional.
Regardless of what happened with the wedding, both of them had the feeling that this Honeymoon phase they were in was never going to end.
"We'll have whatever you like and you can spend as much as you'd like." Santana announced. She couldn't help but give in when she saw how excited Brittany was about planning their wedding and she allowed her lover to have complete control over how their wedding would go. She could tell it meant everything to Brittany. The blonde was practically crying happy tears.
"Really?"
"Of course. Nothing makes me happier than spoiling you." The dark-haired woman admitted, pulling her into a warm, loving embrace.