A/N: Back in the day (a rather long time ago) you could get jewelry that you purchased at Walmart engraved at Walmart. I do not know if Target actually offers this service but … my story, my rules.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Chapter 48

Brittany POV

Tuesday, Grams realized they'd forgotten essential items the day before: school supplies. So, back to Target they went. They had finished in the stationery department and Grams was mumbling about duffle bags or suitcases or something when they walked by the jewelry counter and something caught Brittany's eye. She pulled Santana with her to get a closer look (not even noticing that Grams had kept going).

"San, look!" She pointed to a small silver ring with an infinity symbol. Inside each loop of the infinity sign was a heart.

"Oh, wow, that is really pretty."

"We should see if they have them in our sizes." Brittany grinned hopefully at Santana. She really wanted these.

Santana smiled softly and shook her head. "As if I could say no."

Brittany squealed and did a little hop, gaining the attention of the young clerk. "Hi! Do you have those infinity heart rings in a … wait … should get them for our middle fingers? Or maybe our pinkies? I, um, I mean … the right hand ring finger is for promise rings, right?" Brittany blushed as she stammered. She didn't want Santana to think she was promising to propose; not that she didn't want to, she just didn't think they were at that point yet and she didn't want to freak Santana out.

Santana bit her lip and ducked her head. "Middle fingers are fine, Britt."

The clerk measured their fingers and pulled out the appropriate sizes.

"Oh. Um, can we get them engraved? Do you do that here?"

"Yes, we can do that. What would you like it to say?" The pretty brunette, whose name tag said Gina, asked them as she grabbed a slip of paper.

"S & B Always" Brittany told the girl.

The girl wrote it down and had Brittany check to make sure it was correct. Once Brittany okayed the engraving the woman told them it would take just a moment. True to her word, less than five minutes later, the engraving was finished. She polished both rings, carefully smoothing out the rough etching, before handing them to Brittany to examine. Brittany grinned and nodded, handing over her debit card.

"Let me pay for half, Britt."

Brittany just shook her head. "No, I want to do this, San."

Santana grinned. "Okay. But you know Grams is going to have something to say about you spending your own money."

Brittany turned to meet Santana's gaze. "Yeah, but this isn't something I want my dad to pay for, you know?"

Santana softened and nodded. "I get it."

Gina smiled and handed Brittany the receipt to sign. She was getting ready to put the rings in boxes when Brittany stopped her. "We'll wear them now." She picked up Santana's ring and gently took the Latina's right hand, sliding the ring onto the middle finger. Santana smiled and picked up Brittany's ring, repeating the action on the blonde's finger.

They stood there smiling goofily at each other for a moment.

"Girls! There you are! I was in the middle of the … hello?" Grams approached them.

"Hi, Grams." She grinned. "Sorry, something caught my eye and San and I got distracted." She held up their hands and showed Grams the rings.

"Oh, those are beautiful!" She gave Brittany a suspicious look. "How did you pay for them?"

"I used my money. No," she shook her head, stopping her grandmother from objecting, "I didn't want to use dad's money for this."

Grams nodded in understanding. "Okay, well, if you're done, I think I've solved the dilemma of how we're transporting all your new things back to campus. In all our shopping we failed to figure out how we were getting everything back and into your rooms."

Brittany shrugged. "In the shopping bags?"

Grams shook her head. "There's no way everything is going to fit back in those bags once they're washed. And I will be washing them before we head back; I don't want you girls to have to worry about going to the laundromat with all of the new things. Come on," she led them away from the jewelry counter.

"Miss? Your receipt?" Gina was waving a small plastic bag.

Brittany blushed and walked back over to the counter, procuring the bag with the boxes and receipt inside. "Thank you," she mumbled sheepishly.

The clerk chuckled. "You two are adorable," her tone was wistful.

"Thanks," Brittany bit her lower lip and glanced over at Santana, "you'll find yours. Believe it."

Gina grinned broadly at her and Brittany hop-skipped back over to where Grams and Santana were waiting.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

When they exited Target it had started to snow rather heavily. It was a heavy, wet snow so they decided to forgo any sightseeing they may have been able to do and just get off the roads and head home.

When they got in the house, Grams set them to the task of removing all the tags and stickers from the new stuff while she made them a lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup. The wind was howling and the snow was getting heavier so Grams turned the fireplace on to warm up the living room and, while their clothes, towels, sheets, and whatnot were being washed, they started putting together a jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table.

Grams' solution to their laundry transport problem was to buy several collapsible laundry hampers and, as things came out of the dryer, they folded them and put them in the hampers.

Sometime between the fourth and fifth load, Santana stretched out on her stomach, head cradled in her arms, in front of the fireplace and fell asleep. Brittany grabbed a small throw blanket off the back of the couch and covered her with it.

She and Grams worked quietly on the puzzle, soft music playing in the background, and Brittany remembered a lot of snowy and rainy days doing just this with her Grams.

"Grams?"

"Hmm?" Grams was focused on finding a particularly elusive piece.

"Not that I'm complaining about it or anything … but why did I spend so much time here as a kid?"

Grams gave her a soft smile. "Oh, honey."

"Don't try to spare my feelings, Grams."

"When you were born, your father was over the moon. 'I have a daughter! She's so beautiful! She's amazing!'. He couldn't have been happier or prouder. Your grandfather and I were thrilled beyond belief." She paused in contemplation. "I don't want to assume anything. Your mother …"

"Incubator or Susan." Brittany interrupted sharply.

Grams nodded sympathetically in understanding. "Susan … I don't know if it was genuine postpartum or if she was … I don't know." She shook her head. "But your father wasn't comfortable leaving you alone with her. He wasn't convinced she'd feed you or change you or care for you at all. She seemed to be depressed and he tried to get her to seek help but she refused. Your father worked from home or, rather, from here for the first six months of your life. He then started working partial days at the office and partial days from here. He'd bring you with him when he came here in the morning and, when either your Gramps or I got home from work, he'd go into the office. Until you were ready for pre-K, that's what we did. Once you were in pre-K, things got a little easier. He brought you here because he didn't trust Susan or her parents alone with you." Grams shrugged apologetically. "I can't say I'm not happy with how things worked out. Your Gramps and I got to build a strong bond with you. I know your father often felt guilty leaving you here with us but, honey, those are some of the best days of my life. Teaching you how to play Go Fish and put together puzzles. Watching you learn new things and being excited over budding flowers and buzzing bees." She smiled affectionately. "You are truly our greatest joy."

Brittany blushed. "I remember spilling glitter on mom's carpet … she was so mad. Why was I home that day?"

"I remember David telling us about that." She laughed. "He thought it was one of the funniest things he'd ever seen; walking into the living room and there you were, covered in glitter that seemed to have exploded in the room." She shook her head. "It was a Sunday afternoon. I remember because Gramps and I had tickets to the Bills' game. That's why you were home instead of here. You spent almost every weekend here with us because your father didn't want you to be subjected to their fighting. Anyway, that's why you spent so much time here. Why did you ask?"

Brittany glanced at Santana. "Santana asked me about it. Told me to ask dad. I guess she kind of figured it was something like that. She was trying to … she didn't want me to give Susan any power." Her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. "I guess she wanted me to realize that the fault lies within Susan, not me." She shrugged and a single tear dripped down her face, splattering on the coffee table.

As if she knew Brittany was in distress, Santana turned over and nuzzled her head into Brittany's hip, her arm thrown over Brittany's thighs. Brittany stroked long fingers through the soft brunette locks and Santana let out a contented sigh.

Grams smiled fondly at the Latina. "She's right. Susan is incapable of caring about anyone but herself, honey. That girl, right there, she knows. Knows what rejection feels like, knows the thoughts that are probably dancing around your brain. She also loves you, unconditionally. That's a pretty rare thing, you know. Most people can't do that. There's always a catch, a condition, a deal-breaker. You, however, seem to inspire it; your father, Gramps, myself," she nodded at Santana, "Santana. All of us would do anything for you. We love you no matter what." She reached out and wiped away the tears sliding down her granddaughter's face and gently cupped her chin, forcing Brittany to meet her gaze. "You bring us so much joy. I can't imagine how empty and boring and black and white my world would be without you. You bring technicolor joy into the lives you intersect with. Never doubt that, my sweet girl. You're a unicorn in a world of one horned goats."

Brittany laughed at that. "Are there a lot of one horned goats in the world?"

Grams chuckled. "The world is FULL of one horned goats who THINK they're unicorns. You're a unicorn who doesn't know she's a unicorn. A rare and wondrous creature, oft desired and dreamt about but rarely encountered."

Brittany smiled and shook her head. "Thanks Grams."

"Anytime, my darling. Anytime."