Chapter 45: Stresses and Solutions

Santana's POV

*Monday 26th June 2023*

I'm just making my way into work right now. Brittany is already there but I stayed behind a little to get Jaxon ready and take him to my parent's house for the day. We still haven't really sorted out childcare yet so most days we either work separately while the other looks after Jaxon or he stays with one of our parents if Brittany and I both need to work at the same time. It's not a great solution at the moment but it's all we can do until we find a suitable nanny for our son.

"Good morning" I say happily to my wife as I walk through the office door.

"Is it? Is it a good morning?" Brittany replies annoyed.

"Wow…who pissed in your cheerio's at breakfast?" I say amused as I sit down behind my desk and switch my laptop on.

"I didn't have cereal for breakfast, I had fruit. You should know that since you were there" my wife tells me.

"I didn't mean it literally, it is a…you know what, never mind" I say while shaking my head. "Brittany, what is going on with you this morning because you weren't like this when we got up out of bed?" I ask. She seemed perfectly happy at home earlier.

"Why did I insist we went on vacation last week?" Brittany says with a sigh.

"That's not what I asked you Brittany. I asked you what is wrong?" I reply.

"I have a million things to do today and not enough time to do them in and I'm stressed. That is what is going on with me" she tells me.

"Come here" I say softly as I motion for her to come over to me.

"I'm fine, I just need to keep working" Brittany says with a small smile.

"I'm 36 weeks pregnant so I'm not coming to you. You'll need to come to me because it's quicker since I have just sat down and can't get up quickly so, come here" I say a second time.

"Honestly Santana…"

"I am your boss Ms Pierce so if I say something then you must do it so come over here" I reply seriously.

"Ok" Brittany sighs. She then gets out of her seat and makes her way over towards my desk.

"What are you so stressed about?" I ask as I take her hand in mine as she leans against my desk in front of me.

"It's not one thing in particular, it's everything. There just seems to be so much I need to do today now that we're back from vacation and I don't think I have enough time to do it all in" Brittany explains.

"Delegate then babe, that's what your staff members are here for" I smile.

"They've got enough to do with their own work so I can't put any more pressure on then" she tells me.

"You just need to work out what is the most important thing that needs done today and start from there. Whatever you can't get through, I will help with" I shrug.

"No, you are not doing my work for me. You have enough going on right now with your own work and the pregnancy and everything" Brittany states.

"I may be the pregnant one but that doesn't mean you need to stress yourself out like this to try and work for the both of us" I point out. "I'm going to get Jack to come here just now and we'll talk to him" I say before contacting him.

"Ok" Brittany nods.

"Hey, how are things this morning?" Jack asks as he walks into the office a minute later.

"Not too bad but I do need you to take care of a few extra things today because Brittany is going home so I'll need your help to pick up the slack" I tell him.

"Brittany isn't going home so don't worry about anything but your own work today, Jack" Brittany states while frowning at me.

"Brittany, you are taking the day off today because there is no reason for you to be stressed out today" I tell her.

"If you really insist that I need to go home then the only way I am going home is with you" Brittany tells me.

"We can't both go home and leave everyone on their own with our work to do" I point out.

"Then we'll both stay here" Brittany smiles.

"No, you go home Brittany and rest" I state.

"I'm not leaving you here on your own when you can give birth any day now. You said it yourself you are 36 weeks pregnant so I'll be by your side from here on in" she shrugs.

"Jade and I were thinking about finishing early today but why don't we stay the full day and catch up on whatever you need us to since we have the time" Jack suggests.

"No, that's not fair on you both since you planned to finish early" Brittany shakes her head.

"Honestly, it's fine. We didn't have anything special planned; it was just lunch but we can do that any day" Jack shrugs.

"Really Jack it's a nice offer but I'd feel awful going home knowing you and Jade wanted to. Even though Santana is the boss here, we can't just sweep in and take your time off away from you" Brittany states.

"How about you go home now Brittany while Jack and Jade stay but instead of them working tomorrow, they can have the full day off on us while you and I work" I suggest.

"You don't need to do that" Jack says.

"Honestly, I insist. If you and Jade stay the full day today and pick up some of our work then you can have the day off work tomorrow alongside your normal days off this week" I say.

"If you're sure" Jack smiles.

"I am so go and tell Jade, ok?" I smile back.

"Ok" Jack nods before leaving again. "Ok, back to you Britt. I really think you need to go home now because being stressed like this isn't good for anyone. We've got Jade and Jack covering for today so you should take the day off today."

"I've just told you; I am not leaving you here on your own to work. What if you go into premature labour today and I'm not here?" Brittany replies.

"If I do go into early labour today then we'll have two kids by the end of the day and not just one" I shrug.

"I'm being serious Santana; I need to be by your side all the time now" she states.

"I know you want to be here with me as much as you can but it's just not practical to do that" I point out. "Look, just go home and relax babe, you need it."

"Let's make a compromise. I will go home but not right now. I'll leave after lunch and you're going to come with me. We can pick Jaxon up from your parent's house and spend time with him at home, not thinking about work" Brittany says.

"I don't know babe" I say unsure. I did have a small mountain of work to do myself today.

"You've convinced Jack and Jade to help out more today so let's just leave early and this way we both win. I go home like you asked and I can have you near me at all times like I wanted" she smiles.

"Ok, let's do it" I smile back.

XXX

After working for a while this morning, Brittany and I are now home again. We've already picked Jaxon back up from my parents' house so he's with us again now. We're just about to have some family time in the pool to destress and just have some fun before our second child comes in a few weeks' time. Brittany is already in the pool and Jaxon is sitting at the side in his little bouncer, waiting until I get into the pool.

"Stop it Britt or I won't get in that pool" I laugh.

"Stop what?" she asks, pretending not to know what she's doing.

"You're staring at my chest and I am telling you to stop because Jaxon is right there so you need to get your mind out of the gutter" I tell her.

"I know my son is here so I'm not going to do anything but surely I can still look" Brittany shrugs.

"Ok, you can look but all I am saying is don't get any ideas because this is family time right now, not sexy time" I smile.

"I get that but can we have sexy time later maybe?" she asks with a smirk.

"Maybe" I tease.

"Ok" Brittany smiles. She then holds out her hand to me and helps me get into the pool.

"Thank you" I say before kissing her cheek.

"Ok little guy, are you ready to join mommy and I in the pool" Brittany says as she walks towards Jaxon and reaches up from the pool to lift him out of his bouncer.

"I think he is" I laugh as Jaxon wriggles around in Brittany's arms excitedly.

"You like the water, don't you buddy" Brittany says as she gently immerses his bottom half into the water.

"He is way too cute right now" I say smiling at my son.

"Just like his mom" Brittany says smiling at me.

"Come here" I say as I pull my wife towards me and kiss her. "I love kissing you" I say with a smile as we pull away again.

"I may not have been your first kiss but I'll always be your last kiss" Brittany smiles.

"Oh, what a morbid thought babe" I say laughing.

"I didn't mean it exactly like that, I just meant that the two of us won't ever kiss anyone else ever again" she shrugs.

"I know and I wouldn't want to anyway because you're the one for me" I smile.

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*Wednesday 28th June 2023*

I'm just hard at work in my office right now. Brittany is at work too but she's not in the office at this exact second. She's talking to our accounting and finance team about a few things. I mean I say she's talking to them but I would imagine she is more telling them what to do than them discussing something with her. Even though she is no longer my head of accounting and finance, she'll always be the best accountant this company has had.

I'm only working for another 10 minutes before there is a knock at my door. I frown to myself because there shouldn't be anyone knocking on the door. My employees have been instructed not to disturb me before lunch time today because I'm busy and I don't see any reason why Brittany would knock on her own office door.

"Who is it?" I ask loudly from my desk.

"Hey, it's me" Carly smiles as she walks into the office and closes the door behind her.

"Uh…hi" I say surprised to see my sister.

"Don't greet me with too much enthusiasm will you" she replies sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect to see you here today…or at all actually because you don't normally visit me at work" I say with a smile.

"Yeah, I don't like disturbing you at work but mom wanted me to bring you this" my sister says as she places the item on my desk.

"What is it?" I ask as I look at the item weirdly because I have no idea what is in the paper bag.

"It's a flask of soup. Mom says you're working too hard through your pregnancy so she wanted me to bring you this because it'll help you feel better" Carly replies.

"I'm not sick though" I say amused. "More to the point, I don't like soup."

"Santana, I am just the messenger so take it up with mom if you don't want it" Carly shrugs.

"I guess it was a sweet thought" I say as I think about it. I would hate it if Jaxon turned around one day and was ungrateful about something I made him.

"So, are you hard at work then?" Carly asks me as she takes a seat across from me.

"Yeah, I am" I nod.

"I won't keep you too long then. I just thought since I was here, I'd check in with you" she replies.

"It's cool" I smile. As much as I didn't want disturbed today, it is nice to see my sister every once in a while considering how busy we both are.

"Where's your wife?" Carly asks me.

"She's talking to some employees but I'm hoping she'll be back soon because she promised to get me something to eat on her way back" I reply.

"You've got something right there, your soup" Carly smirks at me.

"I know" I laugh. "I am grateful she's trying to help me but I've never really liked soup and I'm sure mom knows that" I add.

"I did try and put her off the idea but she was adamant she was making you soup so I just went with it in the end to save any issues" Carly replies.

"So, what about you, what are you up to today?" I ask curiously.

"I was supposed to be at another shoot modelling some swimwear but they've cancelled it" Carly tells me with a shrug.

"Yeah, I would cancel on you too, given the weight gain" I say as I look my sister up and down teasingly.

"Very funny, but they didn't cancel on me, they cancelled the whole shoot because too many people were out sick. We're hoping to try again next week. I've got another modelling gig later this week anyway so it's fine, I'm not short of work" Carly shrugs.

"I would say I have a few modelling jobs for you but I don't at the moment because you're not pregnant. We're focusing on our maternity line at the moment so Brittany thought we should use real pregnant women for the shoot so it's as authentic as possible" I explain.

"Are you the model then for the line?" she teases.

"I am actually" I say seriously.

"Oh, I was just being funny but that's great. I'm a little sad that Brittany managed to convince you to model but you always refused to do it with me" Carly points out.

"Yeah, I was never really as comfortable as you modelling but at the end of the day if I want my fashion business to keep being successful then I think I should be targeting it to real women out there and not the airbrushed magazine ones. I'm working on a maternity line right now so why shouldn't the model actually be pregnant and have gained a little weight, you know" I say.

"I totally get that; I just wish we could have modelled together because it would have been fun" she tells me.

"How about you model for my next range of clothing and maybe once I've had this baby and lost some of the pregnancy weight, I'll do some shots with you" I suggest.

"I would totally be ok with that" she says excitedly.

"Cool" I smile. "So, you're not working anymore today?" I ask for clarification.

"No, I'm not" Carly replies.

"What about tonight, what are you doing then?" I ask.

"Not much really because Matt is working" she replies.

"If you have no plans then can you maybe look after Jaxon tonight?" I ask my sister.

"Hmm…I don't know" she replies hesitantly.

"I've been through such a terrible time with the pregnancy and all the stresses in my life so I really need a date night with my wife to let our hair down and have fun" I say.

"Stop milking it, Santana. I know you just want a night for you and Brittany on your own to have sex all night or whatever" Carly says with a laugh. "Anyway, my answer is yes so yes I would love to have Jaxon for the night" she smiles.

"Thank you, you're the best sister ever" I say as I walk around the desk and hug her tightly.

"I'm your only sister but I'll take the compliment anyway" she smiles. "Speaking of my nephew, where is he?" she asks.

"He's with Brittany's parents right now but I don't want to leave him all day and night with them because it is midweek and they are working tomorrow so they need some time off too" I explain.

"Well don't worry, I am more than happy to take him tonight. In fact, I can go to Brittany's parent's house just now if you want and have Jaxon from now until you're back tonight. I really have nothing else to do today so it's win win all around because Brittany's parents can get some time together on their day off and you can get some time with Brittany" Carly suggests.

"You don't have to do that, you're doing enough" I smile.

"Honestly, I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it. If it makes it any easier for you then I can take him back to your house and look after him there instead of my place. That way when you finish work you can see him for a little while before date night" she shrugs.

"If you're sure then ok" I say gratefully.

"Of course I am so I'll head off now. Maybe you could let Brittany's parents know I'm coming though" she says.

"Yeah, I'll call them as soon as you leave and tell them the plan" I smile.

"Excellent, I will see you later then" Carly says as she makes her way to the door.

"Yeah, I'll see you later and thank you Carly, I really appreciate it" I tell her.

"It's no problem" she smiles. "Oh, hey Brittany, bye Brittany" she says as she opens the door and Brittany walks in.

"Uh…bye" Brittany says confused and then my sister leaves. "What's going on?" she asks.

"My sister was dropping off some soup for me from my mom so we were just catching up for 10 minutes. She is now going to your parent's house to get Jaxon and is taking him home to ours to look after him until we're finished here" I explain. "That is not all though, you and I are going out to dinner tonight and having a date night because Carly said she'd babysit Jax" I add.

"Sounds like a good plan to me" Brittany smiles.

"It does" I nod. "Anyway, I will catch up with you in two seconds, I need to call your mom first and just let her know Carly is on her way to get Jax" I say.

"I'll call my mom if you want because I should check in with her anyway" Brittany says.

"Ok" I smile.

XXX

Brittany and I are finally finished work for the day so we're at home about to get ready for our date night. My sister is still here and happy to babysit Jaxon tonight so everything is going to plan. Britt and I hung out with Jaxon for a while when we got home but we're now back upstairs getting ready while Carly gives Jaxon his dinner downstairs. We did feel a bit bad about leaving Jaxon but he seems more than happy with my sister so it'll be nice to have a night just the two of us.

"Babe, can you do me a favour before you get changed?" Brittany asks me as she walks towards me.

"Of course I can, what is it?" I smile at my wife.

"Can you kiss me?" she replies, smiling back at me.

"That was cute" I say before leaning in towards her to kiss her.

"I feel like we haven't kissed at all today so we were overdue" Brittany shrugs.

"Yeah, that probably was our first kiss of the day but not to worry because from now until the end of the night there is plenty time for a lot more kissing" I smirk.

"Yeah, and a lot more more than kissing" she smirks back.

"Play your cards right and that will be correct" I tease. "Anyway, I should get dressed now" I say before beginning to get changed.

As soon as Brittany and I are ready for date night, we head downstairs and say goodbye to my sister and Jaxon. We then leave for the restaurant in my car. We decided that Brittany would drive instead of us taking a cab because I can't drink anyway with the pregnancy and Brittany didn't want to have alcohol since we're still working tomorrow.

"Hi, we have a table reserved under the name Pierce" I tell the member of staff as we walk into the restaurant.

"It's right this way" the waitress smiles before leading us to the table.

"I'll get that for you" Brittany says as she pulls the chair out for me to sit down.

"Good luck pushing it back in" I laugh. I'm certainly heavier now than I was 9 months ago.

"I'll manage, don't worry" Brittany smiles before pushing my chair in and then taking a seat across from me at the table.

"I'll leave the menus here for you to look at but can I get you both a drink just now?" the waitress asks so we order some drinks and she leaves.

"You look beautiful tonight" Brittany says giving me a genuine smile.

"I think someone is really trying hard tonight to have sex with me. I mean opening doors, pulling out chairs, telling me I'm beautiful" I smirk.

"I mean it won't be unwelcomed later but that's not why I'm doing and saying these things" she smiles again.

"I know and thank you" I smile back. I can tell when Brittany is being playful and when she's being genuine. Of course I love it when she is teasing me but it is nice to hear she thinks I'm beautiful and doesn't mean anything by it other than that.

"What are you thinking about eating?" Brittany asks me as we begin perusing the menu.

"I'm actually in the mood for some pasta tonight so I might choose something like that" I reply. "What about you?" I ask.

"I'm really hungry right now so I'm going to order a burger, I think. I know it's not the heathiest option but I don't care because it's date night so we should enjoy ourselves" Brittany smiles.

"Exactly" I say in agreement.

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*Friday 30th June 2023*

I'm just about to head out the door to go to work with Brittany but we're just getting Jaxon settled first. My sister is amazing because she has agreed to look after Jaxon for the second time this week so my wife and I can start to get things wrapped up at work before we take maternity leave. I'm kinda biased because I always thought my sister was amazing but this really proves it because she's young and has her own life but is willing to give up her days off to look after Jaxon.

"I really appreciate you looking after Jaxon again, Brittany and I just couldn't reschedule this meeting and neither of our parents were available" I say honestly to my sister.

"Santana, don't worry about it" Carly smiles.

"Honestly, we're really grateful and are more than happy to repay the favour whenever you have kids or whenever you just need a favour" Brittany smiles.

"He's my only nephew so I'm really ok doing this so I don't need any favours repaid. You both know I'm not that kind of person that only does something to get something in return" Carly states.

"Ok, well thank you anyway" I tell her.

"We should go now and get this meeting over with. I don't know what time we'll be back but you've got everything there that Jaxon needs so if we're not home soon then you can feed him" Brittany says.

"That's fine, take as long as you need" Carly smiles.

As soon as Brittany and I said goodbye to Jaxon, we headed out the door to make our way to work. We managed to miss the rush hour traffic since we left a little later than usual so we got to work in no time at all. We had the meeting with all of our staff and then did a little work on our own in our office before deciding to call it a day. We're really cutting back on work at the moment due to the pregnancy and everything so it's been nice to finish early when we can.

"Are we heading straight home or shall we pick up some food for a late lunch on our way?" Brittany asks me.

"Well, we haven't eaten yet and the time we get home and make something it'll be even later so let's pick up some food on our way" I say.

"Ok" Brittany smiles.

We leave the office and head out to Brittany's car and I drive off. I stop at a little sandwich shop that we both like and Brittany runs inside to pick us up some food. We then drive off again to go home. It only takes us 10 minutes before we're walking through the front door.

"Hey, we're back and we brought lunch" Brittany says announcing her presence.

"We're in the living room" I hear my sister reply so we head there.

"Oh, hey Jessica, I didn't know you were here too" I say.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I'm here again. Carly was just helping me with a job application. Don't worry though, it was during Jaxon's nap time so she wasn't neglecting her aunt duties" Jessica replies.

"It's fine, honestly" I smile.

"I picked up enough food anyway so you can join us for lunch if you want" Brittany says as she places the food on the table and takes our son from Carly.

"Yeah, I'd like that" Jessica replies.

"So how was Jaxon?" I ask as we all start eating.

"As good as ever" Carly smiles.

"That's good" I nod.

"So, Jessica, what's the job you're applying for?" Brittany asks curiously.

"Honey don't be nosy" I laugh. "She might not want to talk about it right now" I add.

"It's ok" Jessica smiles. "It's to work in a kid's day care center because the job I have right now doesn't pay much. I need a bigger salary if I want to really put my dream into motion of running my own business so if I can get a better paid job then I have more money in the bank" she shrugs.

"Do you like working with children or is it just a job you thought you could do?" I ask curiously.

"Well, it's both. I thought I could do the job but I also do really like children so if I did get the job then it would make things easier" Jessica replies.

"I guess that makes sense and you know it's not forever the job because as soon as you make some money, you can leave and start your own business like you say" I state.

"Exactly, it's just a temporary thing" Jessica nods.

"Actually, how would you like to work for me Jessica" Brittany smiles.

"Uh…honey, not to step on your toes or anything but we're not hiring at the moment. Your team at work is more than enough" I state. "I like you Jessica and everything and I want to help you, I do, but we have enough going on at work and home without having to take time out to train another member of staff at the moment. I'm sorry" I add.

"I don't know anything about fashion anyway so don't worry" Jessica replies.

"I'm not asking you to come on as a designer, this is a unique position that I have opening up that I think could suit you" Brittany says.

"Brittany, what are you talking about?" I say confused.

"This role is sort of a made up one ok but it does pay well so would you be interested in working for me, Jessica?" Brittany replies.

"She won't know if she's interested or not until you tell us what the hell you're talking about" I say. I'm getting inpatient now with my wife because she won't just come out and say what she means.

"Jaxon kinda needs a nanny because it's not fair on him to be passed from person to person when Santana and I are working. Also, I am going to take a step back from work to be there for Santana and Jaxon when the new baby comes so I need a personal assistant. This role would be a blend of both childcare and assisting me when I need it at work" Brittany explains. "Would you be interested because it pays more than the day care you were going to work for and it'll give you some business experience when you're helping me at work" she adds.

"I mean, yeah of course I would be interested" Jessica smiles.

"Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea because apart from family, I couldn't think of anyone better to look after my son" I smile. I've known Jessica since she was a baby practically and she is my sister's best friend so I would be comfortable having her look after Jaxon.

"I have to warn you though, there will be times where I need you for just childcare so it won't always be business related every day but I will make sure I give you some experience" Brittany smiles.

"Honestly, that sounds great Brittany so I would love to do that" Jessica states.

"Since you're here now then once we finish lunch, we could go over some stuff and see what you think and then next week, you could officially start if you want" Brittany states.

"I'm definitely ok with that because I can leave my current job any time from now because they knew I wanted to leave anyway" Jessica replies.

"That's settled then. We'll come up with some sort of plan today of how to structure things and talk pay and stuff and like I say, we'll get you into the office on Monday" Brittany says.

"Sounds good" Jessica smiles.

"Are you ok Carly, you haven't said anything?" I ask my sister.

"Yeah, I mean it does sound like a great opportunity for Jessica and I want her to find a decent job but I just worry about the relationship we all have. I mean you're my sister Santana and Jessica is my best friend so what happens if this doesn't work out. I know I've modelled a couple of times for you Santana but that's different from working together full time. It's like mixing business with family and I don't know about that" Carly says hesitantly.

"Hey, I married my boss so that ship has long sailed of mixing business with pleasure so to speak" Brittany laughs.

"Look, we're all adults so if it doesn't work out then I am sure we can all agree to be mature about it. I don't see why it wouldn't though because they need someone to help them and I need a new job. I have my degree in business so I have some experience and I'm practically here all the time with Jaxon when you're here" Jessica points out.

"If you're really ok with working for Santana then fine, I'll be on board with it. I'm just saying I love my sister but she can be a tough boss" Carly says.

"Look, I've known Jessica as your best friend since you were toddlers so we know each other well enough to do this I would say. Plus, it's really Brittany that will be working with her more because I'll be at home with the kids once this baby comes" I point out.

"Ok, I'm on board with this then" Carly smiles.

"Excellent" Brittany says excitedly.

XXX

Brittany and I are now home alone with Jaxon, spending some time with him. Jessica and Carly have just left so we're spending some well needed mother-son time together. We've not really got anything too hectic planned; we're just playing with some of Jaxon's toys and we might even spend some time in the pool together because Jaxon is really enjoying the water at the moment.

"Hey I hope you don't mind that I offered Jessica a job before speaking to you about it. I just figured since you know her so well then you would be ok with it. Plus, she was right there so I thought now was as good a time as any to ask her" Brittany says.

"It was actually a really good idea to make a position like that for someone because we do need help with childcare and some tasks in the office. I'm impressed" I smile.

"I'm not as dumb as I look" she smiles back.

"Excuse me, my wife is the smartest person I know and everyone knows that" I tell her.

"Ok, whatever you say" Brittany nods.

"I'm serious, you're smarter than you think especially when it comes to our family. You know exactly what we need and you'll do anything you possibly can to take care of us" I reply.

"You are way too nice sometimes" Brittany smiles.

"Santana and nice? I don't think so" I laugh.

"Come on, everyone knows deep down how amazing you are" she says as she kisses my cheek.

"God, now I'm the one blushing at the compliment" I state.

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*Monday 3rd July 2023*

Brittany and I are just at work as usual right now and about to start off another weekly meeting. I say it all the time at the meetings but this is probably going to definitely be the last one before the baby comes along so it's an important meeting today. We've got Jaxon with us right now in the conference room but he won't be at work all day I don't think. We just want to get a few things in place at this meeting and update our employees about a few things before one of us will spend some time with Jaxon.

"Good morning to my happy employees and good morning to people that should not be here" I say as I throw my sister a confused look. I don't have the faintest idea what she's doing here because she most certainly doesn't work for me. Apart from marrying an employee, I don't mix business and family.

"Yes, good morning, everyone" Brittany says. "Ok so first things first, Santana and I have decided this is probably the last of the weekly meetings for a few weeks so we want to really get you all up to speed on some work matters because from now on we'll probably update you via email if there are any updates about anything that you all need to know instead of holding a meeting like this."

"Exactly so first thing to update you on is a new member of staff. Everyone I want to introduce you all to someone" I say. "This is Jessica and you're going to see a lot of her in the next while because she's going to be working for Brittany and I in a special role. We still haven't figured out her official title yet but she's going to be splitting her time between childcare for Jaxon and acting as Brittany's personal assistant" I explain.

"She is a business graduate so when she's not looking after my handsome son, she will be doing some work for me and I will be showing her some of the ropes of running your own business" Brittany says.

"Exactly" I smile. "So, can we all give Jessica a warm welcome after the meeting when we introduce her properly to all of the departments" I add.

"I'm sure we can" Brittany smiles.

"Just a side note, I can say for sure that she won't turn out like our last nanny" I state. "I have known Jessica since she was in diapers so she's like a sister to me and Britt's not her type anyway so we're both safe" I joke.

"It's true" Brittany laughs.

"Anyway, all joking aside, let's get onto our next order of business" I say, getting everyone's attention again.

As soon as Brittany and I discuss what we need to discuss with everyone, we wrap up the meeting. Brittany then goes around the room introducing Jessica to some of the other members of staff, particularly our head of departments. I meanwhile start tidying away my laptop and everything from the presentation we gave while looking after Jaxon.

"What are you doing here Carly?" I ask as she walks over to me.

"I just wanted to come and see if you were treating Jessica ok on her first official day at work" Carly shrugs. "She's my best friend so I'm looking out for her" she adds.

"Did you think I was going to kill her or something" I laugh.

"Don't be silly, I think you know what I mean" Carly replies seriously.

"I actually don't so you'll need to tell me" I shrug.

"You can be mean sometimes when it's about something you really care about like Jaxon or Brittany or your company so I wanted to make sure you weren't being too harsh on Jessica. I know she can stick up for herself and she took this job so she is aware of the responsibility she has but she's still my best friend Santana. She means a lot to me so I would be upset if you didn't treat her properly" Carly explains.

"It's great that you care about her and everything but this is business and this is who I am so I'm not going to change for you" I shrug again.

"I'm not asking you to change, I wouldn't do that" Carly says shaking her head at the idea. "I'm just saying, I wanted to make sure everything was ok because sometimes you are mean for no reason. Like you say it is business but it's also about family because you and I are sisters so remember that. If you intentionally do something to Jessica then you intentionally do it to me."

"I get it Carly and I wouldn't hurt Jessica on purpose because believe it or not, I do like her" I assure my sister.

"That's good" Carly smiles.

"You are starting to annoy me now though because you shouldn't be here since you don't work here so go away" I say.

"Just as we're finally getting somewhere, you go back to being as charming as ever" Carly says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes at me.

"Whatever" I say while rolling my eyes back at my sister. "Just take a hike now because we're done here" I add.

"Ok, see you tonight at mom and dad's for dinner" Carly replies.

"See you tonight, love you" I say.

"Love you too" Carly says and then finally leaves.

"Ok, this is so weird. I swear my wife and her sister were just rolling their eyes at each other and then suddenly they're saying they love each other" Brittany teases me.

"That's just how we are as sisters. We annoy each other but secretly have each other's backs" I shrug. "Just be grateful you and I are not rolling our eyes at one another and getting into a fight" I add.

"I wouldn't mind it if we were fighting right now" Brittany states.

"Why?" I say confused. Why would anyone want to intentionally be fighting with their wife?

"Because it would mean we'd either have makeup sex which can be fun or we'd continue fighting and have angry sex which is also fun" she smiles.

"I see your point, babe" I smirk.

"Anyway, we should get back to work now" Brittany says before we go over and get Jessica.

"Ok Jessica so are you ready to get started?" I ask.

"I am" Jessica nods.

"I'm going to spend some time with Jaxon just now and when he naps, I'll do some work so right now, we're going to get you to work alongside Brittany for a little bit so don't worry about the childcare aspect at the moment" I tell her.

"Sounds good" Jessica smiles.

"I think we'll just get you up to speed on some of the technology we use and then we'll go into the day to day running of the business" Brittany says.

"That's fine" Jessica nods.

XXX

We're all just finishing up work for the day. We probably spent more time at work than we meant to today but I didn't mind so much because I wasn't really doing a lot. I got to spend most of my day with Jaxon while Brittany showed Jessica the ropes. Jessica really took to the job quickly like a duck to water so I'm so glad we have someone on our team who can help us at work who is also able to help us when we need it with Jaxon.

"Any plans for this evening Jessica?" Brittany asks as the 4 of us leave the building.

"Not really" Jessica shrugs. "Carly did say you were all going to dinner tonight at your parent's house so that'll be nice" she says.

"We are so it should be fun" I smile. "Actually, do you want to come with us?" I ask.

"No, I don't want to impose" she shakes her head.

"Honestly you should come with us because you are my sister's best friend so it's not like she'll object. Plus, you work for Brittany and I and we're cool with it and we already know my parents like you" I smile.

"Plus, you get to spend some more time with Jaxon which will be good preparation for the childcare side of your new role" Brittany smiles.

"Sure, I'd love to come" Jessica smiles. "I've got a couple of errands to run first so I'll meet you there" she adds.

"Ok, we'll see you soon" I say.

Brittany and I get ourselves and Jaxon into the car while Jessica goes over to her own car. We all then head off out of the parking lot. Jessica goes and runs the errands she needs to do while we make our way to my parent's house. As soon as we arrive, Brittany parks up and we get Jaxon out of the back of the car before heading inside.

"Hey, it's just us" I say as we walk through the door.

"We're in the living room, come through" my mom replies.

"Hey it's your favourite daughter and her family" I say as I enter the living room.

"Um…their favourite daughter is already here" Carly smirks at me.

"No, their favourite child is already here" my brother Marco states as he waves at me from the couch.

"So how is everyone?" Brittany asks as we all sit down.

"We're doing good and we're so glad everyone could make it to dinner tonight" my mom replies happily. She likes it when all of her children are together in one room.

"Everyone except Matt" I say as I glance around the room and see no sign of my sister's boyfriend.

"Santana, don't start anything" my dad warns me.

"I'm just saying, not everyone is here" I shrug.

"Look, we all know Matt couldn't make it tonight and it's unfortunate but it is nice that the rest of us are here and can spend some time together" my mom states.

"Yeah, it's going to be a good night" Brittany smiles.

"Speaking of people being here, Brittany and I invited a guest to dinner, I hope that's ok" I say.

"It's fine" my mom smiles.

"I don't know, it depends who it is" Carly states.

"Trust me you'll like it" I smile at my sister.

"We invited Jessica to dinner so she'll be here soon. She just had an errand to run first" Brittany says.

"Wait…Jessica as in my best friend and your new employee?" Carly asks excitedly.

"Well, I don't know any other Jessica's, do you?" I reply smartly.

"No, I don't suppose we do" Carly states.

"Exactly so there is an upside to the lack of Matt, Jessica is here instead" I smile.

"Honey, Jessica could have still come as well as Matt being here" Brittany says frowning in confusion.

"I think what she meant was that not only was she pleased with the lack of Matt but she was even happier now because she knew having Jessica here would make her sister happy" Marco replies.

"Yeah, we'll go with that explanation" I shrug. I literally just meant I am glad Jessica is here instead of Matt because he's definitely in my bad books at the moment. He made a comment two Christmases ago about his relationship with my sister and alluded to the fact he wasn't ready to take things to the next step which really pissed me off. If you don't want marriage and kids with my sister after all of these years together then you're not good enough for her.

"I'm just going to the kitchen to check on dinner, I won't be long" my mom says as she stands up.

"I'll come with you mom" I say while getting Brittany to help me up before following my mom to the kitchen.

"So how are you at the moment, we haven't spoken as much recently" my mom says as she opens the oven to check on dinner.

"I'm doing well, really well actually" I smile.

"Are you sure because as I say, you haven't been keeping in touch as much as you sometimes do so we were worried you weren't in the best place at the moment" she says.

"Honestly, it's the opposite mom" I say honestly. "Everything is back on track now so I've just been busy with work, Jaxon and preparing for the new baby. I am sorry you were worried about me though; I didn't mean to not check in more with you" I add.

"I'm glad you're doing better then" she says. "So how are you and Brittany?" she asks me, turning around to look at me.

"Really good mom, I mean really good" I smile at the thought of my wife.

"Yeah, we really are" Brittany says as she wraps her arms around me from behind.

"Hey, where did you come from?" I ask happily.

"I heard my name so I came straight through. I've learned through the many years with you Santana that when my name is mentioned, I should go to you right away" she teases.

"You certainly look happy" my mom smiles.

"Yeah, it's sickening the way we act, isn't it?" Brittany laughs.

"It's nice to see because I like seeing all my children happy" my mom says.

"Yeah, I'm sure it is. It's just a shame…"

"Don't" Brittany whispers in my ear, interrupting me.

"What?" I ask, turning my head to look at my wife.

"Brittany and I both know you were about to say something about Matt or about Carly not being happy" my mom states. "Look, I know he's not your favourite person but he is Carly's boyfriend so try and respect that please because she has assured us everything is fine between them."

"I don't buy it because where is he. Brittany could make the effort to be here tonight for me and Marco's girlfriend Laura is here too so Matt is the only partner not here tonight" I point out.

"For your sister's sake, drop this tonight please" my mom says seriously.

"Fine" I nod.

"I'm just going to check the table is all set for all of us so I'll be back in a minute to check on the food again" my mom says.

"Can I give you a hand Maribel?" Brittany asks.

"It's fine, I can give her a hand" I say before clapping my hands together in applause.

"You're not even funny" Brittany says laughing.

"If I'm not funny then why are you laughing?" I smile.

"Ok, so you are funny" Brittany smiles. "Seriously though Maribel, can I help with anything?" she asks.

"No, it's all under control so I will be back in a second" my mom smiles before leaving the room for the dining room.

"Come here" Brittany says as she wraps her arms around me and kisses me.

"Admit it that I can be just as humorous as you even if my jokes are rather cheesy" I say wrapping my arms around Brittany's neck.

"Yeah, you are really funny" Brittany smiles.

"Funny enough that I deserve another kiss?" I ask with a wink.

"Yeah" she smiles again before leaning in to kiss me again. This time, we don't pull away as quickly.

"Come on Brittany, put her down before she goes into premature labour" Carly states, walking into the kitchen.

"You're just jealous because I have a loving partner and you don't" I say as Brittany and I pull away from each other's lips.

"Matt and I are in love" Carly tells me.

"If you're so in love then where is he tonight?" I ask.

"He had to work unexpectantly but that doesn't mean he didn't want to come to the family dinner" Carly replies.

"If you say so" I shrug.

"Santana, what did your mom and I say?" Brittany says seriously.

"Look, I know I shouldn't be involving myself in your relationship but I am worried about you Carly. Matt doesn't seem as invested as he used to be. I'm not saying he doesn't love you but you'd make the time to be there with him with his family but he can't do the same?" I state.

"It's not a big deal, he just had to work tonight" Carly replies.

"Seriously though, are you and Matt good?" I ask genuinely.

"Yeah, we're fine" Carly shrugs.

"Fine doesn't mean good, it just means fine like average" I state.

"Ok, we're good then" Carly replies.

"I just think…

"Hey, there you are?" Jessica says walking into the kitchen, interrupting me.

"I'm here" Carly smiles at her best friend. "Let's go to the other room and catch up. I've kinda had enough of what Santana had to say anyway" she adds as she walks away.

"I'm just being a good sister and looking out for you" I shrug, shouting after her.

"It's a sensitive subject for her so it's probably best no more is said right now" Brittany tells me as she kisses my cheek. "I do know what you're saying though" she adds.

"Right?" I nod.

"I'm not fond of Matt either at the moment and you know I like everyone but let's not upset Carly anymore at the moment" Brittany says.

"I'll leave it for tonight but I'm not letting it go forever" I state.

"I know and that's fine honey" Brittany smiles.


Let me know what you think.