Chapter 1: Boo! Baby!
July 15th, 2024
One month before her due date. That's when Santana's water broke. One month before anyone was ready or prepared. Neither of their mothers had flown in yet. There were no arrangements to take care of their soon to be three year olds. The hospital bag wasn't fully packed, and Brittany's maternity leave from the studio hadn't begun, let alone Santana's, though she at least worked from home most of the time.
"Fuck, it's too soon Britt, we're not ready, she's not ready!" Santana gestured to her stomach.
"Honey, it's okay, I know this is scary and I know it's early, but we were just at the doctor last week. She's big, she's strong, and she is well along in her development. She's going to be okay." Brittany said, squeezing Santana's hand and kissing the baby bump and she threw anything she could think of into the hospital bag.
"No, no, what if she can't breathe or her brain isn't done and…" Santana sat down, her head in her hands "I messed it all up Britt."
"You've done absolutely nothing wrong this entire pregnancy. Please, just breathe. I'm going to get you to the car, I'm going to keep timing those contractions, and our baby girl will be perfect. Understood?" Brittany said, kneeling in front of Santana.
"Yeah…yeah okay." Santana nodded. Brittany grabbed the hospital bag and took it down to the car. Kurt and Blaine were on their way with Kylie to watch the twins, and they should be arriving any minute. As Brittany came back upstairs, they arrived and after a rushed goodbye to the twins, who weren't entirely grasping the situation, Brittany helped Santana to the car and drove to the hospital. On the way, Santana managed to call both their mothers who booked the next flight to New York. Luckily, both of them managed to keep their calm, understanding that Santana was likely already overwhelmed enough.
They arrived at the hospital and were quickly checked in. Santana was just happy that there wasn't any problems with Brittany coming back to the room with her, remembering the fight, due to pandemic rules, when Britt had the twins. Usually, there'd have been no problem, but some bigot at reception hadn't been able to figure out the whole two mother situation. They got comfortable in the room, and rather then doing any of the suggested exercises to move labor along, Santana was sat still as a stone. Hoping it was some crazy peed her pants Braxton Hicks situation, despite the nurse having checked her dilated at 3cm upon arrival.
"It'll be easier if you just help it along." Brittany said "I know your scared, but she's coming one way or another."
"What if five minutes makes a difference? Or an hour?" Santana insisted.
"It's likely to be very small." their OBGYN said as she came into the room, checking Santana's chart for the stats that had been taken upon check-in. "Brittany is right, and with how far along you are, there's little worry left. There could be some minor complications, but nothing I'm worried about long term. Certainly nothing that's going to change in less than a day."
"And if there are complications? What will they be? Are you sure there'll be no long term consequences? How long will she have to stay in the NICU?" Santana quizzed.
"She might need supplemental oxygen or have a little trouble gaining weight. She may be jaundiced. At the same time, none of this could also be true and she could be a perfectly healthy baby girl and need no time in the NICU. If she does need time, I don't predict more than a week." the doctor said checking her dilation. "Hmm, 5 cm, moving along nicely. Look, the best thing you can do right now is relax. Panicking helps no one. Okay?"
"It's hard after my past, doc."
"I know. But I promise, everything is looking good, baby girl is the right position and her development looks really good." the doctor said .I'll check on you later. Keep an eye on her, Brittany." their doctor winked and Brittany saluted as she exited the room.
"I'm still not doing the exercises." Santana insisted.
"What, you enjoy contractions?" Brittany raised an eyebrow.
"No, but I still rather just let things progress on their own." Santana shrugged.
"Okay, whatever keeps you calm." Brittany sighed, pressing a kiss to her wife's forehead.
Baby girl Lopez-Pierce made her entrance into the world at 11 pm that night. She was a wailer, and honestly, hearing the sound of that settled Santana so much because she knew the girl had some strong lungs on her. There were no immediate risks to her health, so Santana was able to hold her before they took her to the NICU for monitoring. For the most part, she was perfectly fine, they just wanted to keep her under observation to make sure she gained weight normally and give her a bit of light therapy for some jaundice. Overall, it was nothing to worry over too much. The last hurdle was the name.
"I still really like Harmony." Santana said looking at their list on her phone.
"It definitely fits her, the way she came out singing." Brittany chuckled, "What about a middle name though?"
"See, that's harder. It was some easy with Nick, and Hannah Marie was just too cute and reminiscent of Maribel and Mary, your grandma, to pass up." Santana tapped her chin.
"Hmm, who else deserves the honor of being in one of our kids' names?"
"Certainly not my Abuela Lopez." Santana huffed.
"What about on your mom's side?" Brittany questioned.
"I never knew my mom's mother." Santana shook her head. "And from what Mami has said, it's for the best."
"Oh…okay. Well, there's always Elizabeth, that was my great grandma's name." Brittnay suggested "And she was literally at Stonewall."
"Harmony Elizabeth. I like it. Agreed?" Santana asked.
"It does sound really pretty. Yeah, let's make it official." Brittany smiled.
One week later
Santana and Harmony were both cleared to leave the hospital. Their moms had been watching the twins, and had brought them once to meet Harmony briefly, but this was going to be the first time that either grandmother held her. It would be the twins first night with a new sister in the house. And soon, all the honorary aunts and uncles would be bound to make an appearance to meet the newest New Direction.
"She's so beautiful." Maribel said as she flattened the baby hair on her head. Harmony had raven black hair like Santana but her eyes were definitely going to match Brittany's baby blues, even if they were a bit lighter at the moment. Her skin was also a bit dark, making her eyes stand out beautifully. She even had some freckles.
"She really is." Whitney agreed "Those eyes, I mean, they're just mesmerizing aren't they?"
"We make beautiful babies." Santana smiled, snuggled with Brittany on the seat opposite their mothers.
The next few months were a whirlwind. Presents for the new baby arrived constantly, leaving the wives scrambling to make sure their older kids didn't feel left out as their 3rd birthday fast approached. A week before the twins birthday, they banned all new baby gifts and new baby attention that wasn't shared equally or two-fold with the twins. As much as Nicky and Hannah loved their new baby sister, they deserved to be spoiled too, especially on their third birthday. Luckily, the message got across clearly enough, and while some of their friends fawned over baby Harmony more than was necessary, Nicky and Hannah had an amazing birthday at the zoo. Plus, it gave them an amazing idea for their family costume that year. Okay, amazing was maybe a stretch, but Brittany thought it was genius. Kangaroos, so carrying the baby around was basically part of the costume. Santana just agreed, it wasn't like she'd want to wear anything sexy that year anyway. A kangaroo suit seemed perfect, especially with the way the twins would be bouncing after their first real chance to go trick-or-treating. They were going to make their first trip back to Ohio, not terribly impressed by how trick or treating looked in the city. Plus, Harmony would be 3 months by the time they took flight, an age they felt was appropriate for the first time on a plane. They had experience keeping baby's quiet, and Harmony had been a really easy baby. When she cried, she cried loudly, but it was very rare. Hopefully it boded well for the plane. No matter what, they were just enamored with their growing family, and they couldn't wait to celebrate the holidays as a family of five.