A week and a half later, Brittany and Santana are preparing to make the trip up to Santana's parents' house. Back from vacation, her parents wanted to come down to see them, but Santana told them no, that she wanted to come home for a few days. Really, she just needs a change of pace, but one that will still allow her to spend a lot of time sleeping. She is definitely feeling better, but still not 100% yet. While Brittany packs everything, Santana takes a nap. Santana almost protests when Brittany gets into the driver's seat but decides she doesn't really have the energy to drive anyways.

As they get closer to the city, Brittany starts to panic a little bit, but she holds her own and does remarkably well, in Santana's opinion, for her first drive into the city. As soon as they reach Santana's neighborhood, she sees signs advertising the neighborhood festival hanging over the streets. They will be here for that. She always thought it was super lame when she was younger, but now that she is older, she guesses it's kind of cool. Plus, Brittany will love it. They have fireworks and games and everything.

Maribel is waiting outside when they pull up, which is extremely unusual. Santana gets it, though; she's been worried. She just hopes it doesn't cause her mom to be too overbearing, because that can get annoying. Brittany pulls into the driveway, and before she even turns off the car, Maribel is already opening Santana's door and pulling her out of the car. "Mami, my seat belt! Calm down." Of course, Maribel doesn't (nobody actually thought she would). She hugs and kisses Santana a hundred times before she does the same to Brittany, who is now thankfully at Santana's side, carrying their bag.

Maribel tells them to go inside and get out of the heat. As she turns to help Santana, she sees that Brittany already has her arm around her and is supporting her up the walkway and into the house. It has taken a little while for her to get used to someone else caring for one of her babies in her presence, but it is heartwarming to watch. Witnessing this also reaffirms the decision Antonio made to not come home from vacation early, because he was positive that Brittany would take good care of their daughter. While Maribel agreed, she still felt slightly guilty. However, watching Brittany care so tenderly for Santana now erases that guilt

Break is slow and sweet, filled with family dinners and leisure time in the backyard. All of Santana's brothers come to visit at least once. The day of the neighborhood festival, Santana is feeling significantly better. "Hey Britt, there's this thing tonight. I don't know if you saw the signs around. The neighborhood festival? It's this silly thing, kind of like a fair. There's rides, food, fireworks—"

"Can we go?!" Brittany cuts in excitedly. "Wait, only if you're feeling up to it. I don't want you to do anything you're not ready for."

"I think I'm feeling up to it. My mami and papi are probably going to, and you'll get to meet more of my family. My aunt and uncle and their kids will be there."

Beaming, Brittany hugs Santana. "I'm excited."

During the early evening, as they are getting ready, Santana is, as usual, struck by Brittany's effortless beauty. It still happens sometimes, that she can't believe Brittany is hers. Each time it sneaks up on her, she's reminded of how lucky she is. They head over to the street that is blocked off for the festival, walking slowly, but nobody minds. Santana is feeling much better, but weeks of lying around and not eating much definitely took a toll on her body. When they get there, Brittany is instantly overtaken by the excitement. She went to an amusement park twice while in school, but this is nothing like that. It is smaller, closer together, and somehow brighter. Santana can't help but smile at the look on Brittany's face. She knew Brittany would love it. As always, she loves just being part of the reason for that look.

They spend the first hour walking around, saying hello to people Santana recognizes, and just seeing everything that the fair offers. Brittany declares that she wants to eat every single thing they pass (and Santana believes she probably could). She makes Santana promise to ride just one ride with her: the ferris wheel. Still a little weak, Santana is grateful that Brittany doesn't ask her to ride more, since she isn't feeling up to it. However, she's excited for the ferris wheel with her girlfriend.

After walking around for some time, they meet up with Santana's aunt and uncle and their three kids. After initial hugs and kisses, the Latina pulls Brittany forward. "Aunt Nina, Uncle John, this is Brittany, my girlfriend."

Brittany waves shyly, but Nina jumps forward and pulls her into her arms. "We've heard so much about you! Oh my gosh, Maribel, she is just as pretty as you said!" Brittany blushes and whispers thank you.

"Britt, these are my snotty little cousins JJ, Lena, and Tony." Santana gestures to the three young children standing excitedly in the center of the adults.

"We're not snotty, Tana!" the little girl yells back, making the blonde laugh.

Brittany kneels down so that she's looking into the little girl's eyes. "I bet you're not snotty. I'm Brittany." She sticks out her hand to the little girl, who grabs and shakes it enthusiastically. "How old are all of you?"

"Lana and I are eight, because we're twins. Tony's a baby. He's six."

"I'm NOT a baby!"

"You don't look like a baby," Brittany cuts in. Tony toes the ground with his shoe and blushes.

"Somebody has a little crush on your woman, Tana," Nina jokingly whispers to her.

"Can we ride rides now?" Lena asks. "I want to sit with Brittany!"

"I don't know if Brittany wants to ride any of the rides, sweetie," John answers her.

"Of course I do!" Brittany exclaims and laughs. Santana loves every single meeting Brittany has had with her family and how easily she always fits in, and this is no exception. She is meant to be here. They resume walking around the fair and ride every ride the kids want to. All three of them fight over who gets to sit with Brittany, and honestly, Santana can't blame them. After some time, they take a break to eat way too much food, and Santana is once again amazed at how much Brittany can eat while looking the way she does. For her part, Brittany is having an amazing time playing with the kids, devouring delicious food, and spending time with Santana and her family. She really hopes they can come back for this every year.

After a few more rides, they settle on the grass to watch the fireworks. Brittany sits next to Santana for a total of three minutes before the kids are pulling her up to play again. As Santana sits with her mom, she watches Brittany play and thinks about the future, because it is hard not to in moments like these. Beautiful Brittany, happy children, perfect life. Lost in her thoughts, she jumps when her mom leans over and whispers, "Like looking into the future, Mija?" in her ear.

Initially, she feels that same panic she always feels when her mom brings up the future or children, but this time, it disappears after less than a second. Santana has thought about it too much recently to be surprised that someone else is thinking about it too. "Yeah." She doesn't know if now is a good time to bring up something she's thought about recently, but she goes for it anyways. "I've been thinking about..." She takes a deep breath. "Engagement rings. Not now, but maybe someday...soon."

Maribel nods and fights to hold back a wide smile. She isn't surprised, not even a little bit. Really, she is trying to hold back the urge to scream and dance and start talking about locations and dresses. After taking a second to calm herself, she tries the logical route. "Well, maybe you should move some money from your savings account, just in case. You want to be prepared."

Santana's heart starts to pound harder. She thought for sure her mami would say something about being too young and waiting until after graduation, but honestly, she doesn't think she can wait that long. As far as she can tell, Maribel saying this means that she is essentially giving her blessing, even telling Santana to do it. "Yeah. Prepared" is all she can come up with as a response.

As soon as the fireworks start, Brittany comes running back to Santana, jumping up and down in excitement. Although it looks like Brittany is going to sit down next to her, Santana quickly takes her hand and pulls her down to sit between her legs. She really needs to hold her right now. As soon as Brittany lays back against her chest, looking up at the fireworks, Santana whispers "I love you" into her ear and presses a kiss there.

"Love you too. So much."

They watch the rest of the fireworks. Kind of. Smiling to herself, Santana mostly watches Brittany. After the fireworks, the kids start to get tired, but they haven't ridden the ferris wheel yet, so Nina and John promise them one more ride before they leave. As usual, the kids fight over who gets to sit next to Brittany, but she ends the argument pretty quickly. "Sorry guys, Santana promised to sit with me on this one." Disappointed, they whine a little bit, but they get over it pretty quickly as soon as they get in line and start fighting over who gets to sit in the middle.

As they settle into their seats, Santana puts her arm around Brittany's shoulders. "Did you have fun today, Britt?"

"The most. I want to come back again."

"We can come every year if you want."

"Really?"

"Of course. My parents will probably never leave this area, so we'll always be allowed to come with them." Brittany nods, smiling. Santana swallows thickly, a little nervous for her next statement. "We could even bring our kids here, you know."

The blonde looks at her, eyes shining, face split into a wide smile. "I think that would be amazing." Brittany leans in to kiss her, and that's how they spend the rest of the ride.


The next morning, they pack their things and get ready to head back to New Jersey. Quinn is getting back from Rachel's this evening, and Santana promises to pick her up from the train station. Brittany also needs to get back to teaching her weekend dance classes. After promising Santana's parents that they will come back to visit for a few days before school starts again, and after a million hugs and kisses and a huge bag full of leftovers, they leave. As Santana is driving down the street, she thinks of something. "Do you mind if we stop at the bank really quick? I just need to run in and check on something." Brittany shakes her head no.

They pull into the parking lot of the bank, and Santana runs in, leaving Brittany in the car still looking for a song on her iPod.

"Hello, miss. Can I help you?"

"Yeah. I just need to, uh, transfer some money from my savings account."

"No problem. I just need your ID and your account number." Santana provides both, then waits for a moment, tapping on the counter. "Thank you, Miss Lopez. How much money would you like me to transfer?"

"I…let's do $8000, I think."

"$8000? Are you planning a big purchase?" the teller asks, making idle conversation while she taps away at the computer.

"The biggest," Santana responds seriously. Looking up, the teller smiles at her and hands her a statement slip. Taking it, Santana thanks her and runs back out to the car, where Brittany is having a solo dance party in the front seat. The Latina takes a moment to simply watch and smile. Then, she slips into the driver's side and leans over, kissing Brittany fully on the lips, taking her by surprise.

Soon, her surprise fades, and her hands come up to cup Santana's face as she deepens the kiss. When they pull apart, they are both gasping for air. "What was that for?"

"I just love you."

"I love you too," Brittany responds sweetly.

Taking her hand, Santana starts to drive back home, with Brittany and the biggest purchase she will ever make on her mind.