"Santana…I don't know how great my idea was anymore," Brittany said heavily, closing another window on the computer. She looked over at the brunette across from her. Santana was occupying her own computer, frowning at whatever was on the screen.
They were sitting in the New York Public Library, researching old marriage licenses — something they'd been doing for a few hours now. The coffee Brittany had had that morning was long gone, and she thought wistfully about more as she stared at her empty cup.
Santana looked away from her computer at Brittany, her frown morphing into the smile she wore only for the blonde.
"It was a genius idea, Brittany. We'll find them."
Brittany nodded, wanting to reassure Santana. She knew how important it was to find Grace, who was the biggest stepping stone to finding Maggie.
They'd been looking through different states' vital records all morning, sure that that would be the most reliable way to find official marriage licenses. So far, neither of them had had any luck. Most states didn't even have electronic copies dating prior to the '50s.
Feeling hopeless, Brittany put her head down on the cool flat surface of her study carrel. She closed her eyes, giving in for just a moment to the lethargy. Staring at a computer screen for several hours straight would do that to anyone.
After a few moments of silence, she felt warm hands on her shoulders. With her eyes still closed, she smiled when she smelled Santana's familiar perfume.
"We'll find them," Santana said again, brushing her lips against Brittany's ear as she spoke. The contact sent pleasurable tickles all the way down her spine.
The blonde nodded again, refusing to open her eyes and resume the search that felt impossible.
"You need a break?" Santana whispered, still at Brittany's ear. Her voice had taken on a very subtle, playful tone.
Brittany nodded again, wondering what Santana would come up with.
The hands on her shoulders began to travel down her arms, leaving a trail of goose bumps behind them.
"Want to make out in the reference section?"
At this, Brittany let out a surprised laugh. She sat up and turned to face Santana, whose expression was just as playful as her voice.
"Ms. Lopez!" Brittany whispered back, feigning shock. "We are in a public place!"
Brittany gestured around, indicating the other people surrounding them. Santana followed her gaze, but her facial expression didn't look as if she was bothered by them. She leaned in again and put her hands on the arms of Brittany's chair, trapping her in that perfect way.
"I didn't ask if you wanted to make out right here," she whispered, dangerously close. The probability of making out right here was getting higher and higher though.
"I'd rather just take you home," Brittany whispered back boldly. Her favorite smirk was back in place on Santana's lips. The familiar pulse between her legs was becoming more prominent. She shifted her weight in her chair to try to relieve some of the ache, and Santana's smirk broadened like she knew exactly what the blonde was doing.
Ever since the night before, when Brittany had said they should wait a little while longer, she'd been feeling an emotion strikingly similar to regret. It had been the second time Santana had wanted to have sex, if you counted the drunken encounter from months before, and it was the second time Brittany had said no. Was she certifiably crazy?
She let her eyes roam over the beautiful face in front of her and decided that the days of rejection had passed. When Santana next gave her the chance, she'd give a resounding yes.
"What are you thinking about?" Santana asked, letting her eyes roam over Brittany's pensive expression. She was still trapping Brittany in the chair and looking at her in a way reserved only for lovers.
Out of the corner of her eye, Brittany saw a few of the surrounding people starting to stare at them. If they didn't get out of here soon, the onlookers would get quite a show.
"I'm thinking we've searched enough for today and can resume the search tomorrow. There's got to be a better way of finding old marriage licenses," Brittany said, looking up into brown eyes. Santana's expression fell, as if she had been hoping for a different answer. Brittany smiled at her displeasure.
"I'm also thinking that if the search is over for today, we should probably get out of this library, because if we don't, these people are going to get to see a lot more of you than I'm comfortable with."
The returning smile she got from Santana made the ever-present butterflies in her stomach flutter even more.
"So," Brittany continued, leaning forward in her chair a bit more, "my vote is to go back to your place, make some dinner, and then see where the wind blows us this evening."
Brittany kind of hoped the wind blew her right into Santana's pants, but she'd keep that to herself for now.
In her periphery, she was still aware of the few people looking at them. She may not have wanted to give them a show, but she was certainly okay with them being a little jealous. Closing the gap, she gave Santana a chaste but sweet kiss.
Standing up and feeling better than she had been five minutes ago, Brittany extended her hand to Santana, who took it without hesitation.
"Let's get out of here," she whispered, winking at Santana and casting one last look around the room. They'd probably be back here tomorrow, but for today, their work was done.
Brittany sat down once more into the soft leather seat of Santana's black Audi. As they made their way towards Santana's condo, they rode in comfortable silence. Brittany was sure that Santana, like herself, was thinking of their search and probably hoping tomorrow would be more successful. After a few minutes of driving, Santana took one hand off the wheel and rested it on Brittany's thigh without a word or glance. She began making circles with her fingers over Brittany's jeans. The blonde halfway wondered if she even gave the action conscious thought. It made her smile.
As they neared the condo, Santana looked over with a grin when Brittany's stomach gave a huge rumble that was easily heard over the soft purr of the Audi.
"There's not really much food in my house," she said nonchalantly, as if that was perfectly normal. Brittany supposed the days of her being self-conscious of her lack of cooking skills were over.
Brittany nodded, eyebrows furrowed. "Don't you think that impedes our plans to make dinner? Just slightly?" she asked playfully.
"I was kind of hoping you could overlook that, considering I don't know how to cook."
Brittany chuckled. There was no resisting Santana when she was being cute.
"Oh fine, but you still need to learn, you know," she said with mock sternness.
"That can be our next project, after we find Maggie and Grace," Santana said happily, looking over again to wink at the blonde. She was still tracing circles over Brittany's leg.
"Our? I know how to cook," Brittany shot back, laughing again.
"Quite well, in fact," Santana responded matter-of-factly, "which means you can teach me."
"I don't know if you can afford me," Brittany replied, shooting the brunette a cocky grin.
"Oh, I think I can come up with a payment method you'll be satisfied with," she said quietly, making a wide arc with her fingers over Brittany's thigh. Her swipe brought her fingertips within inches of Brittany's center, and even through the jeans, it felt good. Unable to stop herself, Brittany gave a quiet moan.
"Mexican?" Santana asked suddenly, easily switching gears.
Brittany frowned. "Huh?" she asked, confused. Sexual frustration sure did make her dumb sometimes.
The Latina chuckled. "For dinner. Do you like Mexican? There's a good place not far from the condo."
Brittany nodded, agreeing to Santana's choice. Really, she was just hoping the woman would take another swipe across her leg.
Half an hour later, they were entering Santana's front door, Mexican food in tow. It smelled so good that Brittany's nether regions had finally decided to quit complaining and let her stomach take over for a while. Sitting down at Santana's table, she devoured her food quickly. Santana had been right; this was some of the best Mexican food she'd ever had. When she'd finally finished the rest of her rice, she set her fork down and looked at Santana, who was only about halfway done herself.
"Am I not feeding you enough?" she asked playfully, looking at Brittany's empty plate and grinning.
No, you aren't. Damn, Brittany's mind was in the gutter today.
"I was just hungry," Brittany said, grinning back sheepishly.
She waited patiently for Santana to finish while thinking about today's search strategy. If marriage licenses were stored at official state offices, then surely the best way to find one was through each state? It bugged her that they hadn't found any usable information yet. Where else would house that kind of information?
"What if Maggie's alive?" Santana asked quietly, bringing Brittany out of her daydreaming.
The blonde looked into Santana's earnest brown eyes, noting the slight glimmer of hope in them.
"Then we'll talk about what we want to do with that…but Santana, it's probably best if we go about this realistically," Brittany said slowly. She didn't want this journey to end with a massive disappointment.
"I know. I know it isn't likely. If she isn't, I just hope she was happy when she died." She looked down at her plate, her expression a little saddened.
"You really connected with her, didn't you?"
The woman looked back up solemnly and reached across the table to rest her hand on top of Brittany's. "We both experienced loss. The kind that leaves you shattered, cold, and lonely."
Brittany nodded. It still hurt her to think of all the pain Santana had experienced.
A small smile started to spread across Santana's face, though, and she squeezed Brittany's hand gently. "But I found a way back to happiness, so I do know it's possible. I just hope the same happened for Maggie."
Brittany smiled. Santana was perfect. "Me too."
"It sucks I couldn't find a link between the previous owners of this place. I thought surely since I found her diary here, it must have been left by one of her descendants."
Brittany nodded again, and like before with the idea of the marriage records, an idea seemed to form in her mind without her even being aware of what it was. Then, like before, it snapped into distinct clarity without warning.
"Santana, would ancestry websites have that kind of information?"
A broad smile pulled at Santana's lips. "I stand by what I said before. You're a genius. Come on!"
She led them to her bedroom and climbed into bed, indicating that Brittany should climb in beside her. Leaning over, she picked up a fancy-looking silver laptop off the floor and rested it on her lap.
"Hey! If you have a laptop, why did we go all the way to the library?"
Santana chuckled and typed in her password. "Because I only have one laptop, and there's two of us."
After a few more seconds, the internet browser was up and ready to go.
Surprisingly, it didn't take long. After just a few minutes of Googling, they found a website that had a decent-looking search engine with the capability to filter by year and even first names. After entering the information they knew, Santana took a deep breath. "Ready?"
Brittany nodded, feeling confident. A few seconds passed, and then, nearly 200 results were displayed on the screen. Grace and Thomas must have been very popular names back then.
"Sort by date!" Brittany said excitedly. It had to be here.
Santana did, and they scrolled slowly until they reached the June weddings.
Simultaneously, they both saw it. June 6, 1942. In a town in Georgia, Grace Wallace had married a man named Thomas Kirk. It was the only June 6 wedding there.
"There she is," Brittany said, awed. She was not at all surprised to hear herself whispering.
Santana took another deep breath. "There she is."
"Now what?" the blonde asked. They'd focused so much on just finding this one document, she'd given absolutely no thought whatsoever to what they'd do when they finally did.
Santana nodded to herself, seemingly settling on an unspoken decision.
"I thought about this," she said, looking at Brittany and halfway shutting the laptop lid. "One of my old friends — one of the ones I lost — was a private investigator before he decided to go to law school. I think it'd be pretty easy for him to find her, if we give him this information."
Brittany frowned. Santana hadn't spoken to any of her old friends in a long time.
"Are you sure? If you don't want to do that, we can figure out another way. We got this far."
Santana smiled. It was reassuring.
"I'm sure. He'd be quick and much better at getting what we need, and I already have his number. Plus, maybe…maybe it's time I got a few friends back."
Now Brittany was the one smiling. "Okay then."
The blonde waited while Santana dialed the number, then waited while she had a very awkward-sounding conversation. In the end, though, he seemed happy to hear from Santana and even agreed to find everything he could about Grace. Santana made sure he had her phone number and email before hanging up.
"Now, we wait," Santana said around a yawn. She shut down the laptop and placed it back on the floor.
After kissing Brittany's cheek, she leaned into the blonde heavily, and they both laid there in silence. Seconds turned into minutes, and Brittany felt Santana's breathing getting deeper and deeper.
The wind may not have blown them in the direction of sex tonight, but it had blown Santana right into her arms. Brittany supposed she was just fine with that.