Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I don't own glee or this story
Tuesday 7pm
Brittany stuck her pen in her ear and typed a few more words on her laptop before standing up and going to the stove, she picked up the pot of boiling pasta and poured it into the strainer in the sink, waving the steam away, she turned the cold water and ran it over the pasta to cool it down quickly. She then added more Italian seasoning and a little more oregano to her sauce that was simmering and checked her meatballs. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm and placed the tray of garlic bread in the oven to toast it.
"Taylor!" She yelled, before going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle to warm up for Skylar. She took the small skillet with chicken breast chunks that she made the baby and cut them smaller for her.
"Taylor!"
"Yes momma?" Taylor asked, peeping her head in the kitchen.
"Set the table please, sweetheart." Brittany told her.
"Is mami coming down for dinner?" Taylor asked. "She didn't yesterday."
Brittany glanced up at her. "I think she feels a little better today, why don't you go ask her. Let her know we are having spaghetti and meatballs." She watched Taylor run down the hall and went to the living room to get Skylar, who was sitting in her playpen, holding a teddy bear staring at the cartoon she was watching with Taylor. "Hey Sky." She smiled when her daughter immediately reached her arms to get picked up. "Want some chicken for dinner?" She asked her when she rested on her chest. Skylar was sitting a little under the weather with her bad cough, her fever was gone but she was still a little quiet and didn't play as much from her sore throat. Skylar began to cough so Brittany rubbed her back and kissed her on the temple before sitting her in her highchair.
"Mami is asleep." Taylor replied as she ran in the kitchen.
"Okay, just set out plates for you and me then." Brittany told her. "I'll take her some soup or pasta later." She handed two plates to Taylor and watched as she set out the silverware. "Knife on the other side, Tay." She told her softly as she set a few chunks of chicken on the highchair table with some lasagne noodles, covered in a little sauce, for Skylar to munch on. She ran her fingers through Skylar's hair when she picked up the noodle and took a small bite. "You like the pasta?" She asked her, when she smiled and took another bite.
"Why does Sky get different pasta?" Taylor asked as she watched Brittany put spaghetti pasta on a plate, adding three meatballs and covering it in sauce.
"Because I don't want Skylar to choke on this pasta." Brittany explained. "Lasagne noodles are easier for her and she likes them."
"So she can feed herself?" Taylor asked as Brittany set down a glass of milk for her.
"Exactly." She smiled, she opened the oven and pulled the bread out, setting a piece on Taylor's plate. "It's hot, Tay, so wait a few minutes before biting into it. I'm going to go check on your mom, keep an eye on Sky for me. I'll be right back."
Taylor smiled at Skylar, who now had sauce all over her face, and waved at her. "Momma makes good spaghetti." She told her sister, who was busily taking another before staring at the pasta while she chewed.
Brittany walked into the master bedroom and heard Santana in the bathroom, she picked up all of the used tissues on her wife's side of the bed, and on the floor and threw them out, getting hand sanitizer on her hands right away after. She then went to the basket of clean linen she washed and folded earlier and quickly changed the pillow cases on the bed, spraying a little Lysol down.
"Don't spray too much, it'll irritate my nose." Santana coughed, walking back in the bedroom.
"I didn't spray a lot." Brittany assured her. "How are you feeling?"
Santana shrugged and laid back down slowly. "I can't go to work today."
"I already called in for you, you're off the remainder of the week." Brittany replied, fixing the cover over her, running her hand over Santana's neck and cupping her cheek to check for a fever. "You're warm again."
"I feel like such crap, B." Santana whined, moving over to rest her head on Brittany's lap.
"I hate that you're so sick, baby." Brittany sighed sympathetically as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Let me get the girls settled for the night and I'll give you a hot bath and massage, we can see if that helps."
"It won't help my fever." Santana shook her head.
"I know, but it'll relax you so you sleep better tonight." Brittany told her, leaning down to press her lips to Santana's temple. "They are eating dinner, so I want to go check on Sky, we are having spaghetti, do you want a little?"
Santana shook her head. "Just some tea I think." She coughed again and groaned.
"You need to eat." Brittany told her.
"No appetite...I'll force the tea down."
"Okay." Brittany stood up and went to the bathroom and got a cold towel and ran it over Santana's head. "I'll be back."
"Good night, Taylor." Brittany smiled at her and closed her bedroom door, she peeped in on Skylar and saw she was fast asleep and sighed happily. She went to the master bedroom and saw Santana sitting up drinking a mug of tea.
"Are the girls asleep?" Santana rasped.
"Yep, they are both in bed." Brittany told her. "I'm going to run a hot bath for you."
"Will you get in with me?" Santana asked her.
Brittany smiled. "Sure, baby." She nodded as she disappeared into the bathroom. She ran a hot bath in their huge tub and inflated a bath pillow for them. She tossed in a bath bomb and made sure it was full of bubbles. She grabbed the box of candles from the closet and lit a few, positioning them around the bathroom so it gave the lavender and gray room a nice soft glow. She got towels ready for when they got out and set them on the toilet, and hung their softest terry cloth robes on the rack in the corner.
She then poked her head in the bedroom. "Come on, San."
Santana finished her tea and stood up, clearing her throat, she walked in the bathroom and looked around with a big smile. "You didn't have to do all this B."
Brittany, who was naked, stood up from the side of the tub and started to undress Santana, tossing her henley and pajama pants in the hamper. "I'm taking care of you, so you can get back to taking care of people at work."
Brittany sat down in the water first and reached her hand out to help Santana in, settling her between her legs. Santana relaxed into Brittany's body and melted when Brittany placed a series of soft kisses on her neck while hugging her tightly.
"How was work today?" Santana asked as Brittany took a wash cloth and ran the hot water over her chest. "Is it hard to work from home?"
"Working from home is interesting." Brittany told her. "I won't say harder but it's a little bit of a challenge in terms of having some resources, Sky is a handful during the day too, I didn't realize how active she was in the morning, she really enjoys playing early." She laughed.
"Go back to work tomorrow." Santana told her. "You have the Pepsi campaign and ..."
"And my wife is still sick." Brittany stated. "You can't take care of a one year old as sick as you are right now."
"I'm not contagious anymore, I'm past that stage." Santana added before coughing slightly.
Brittany ran her hands up and down Santana's sides. "I know you're not contagious, that's not my issue. I just want you to get better and get back to your old self."
Santana smiled and looked up at Brittany. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Brittany replied and kissed her on the forehead.
They stayed in the bathtub for another thirty minutes, talking about the girls and making plans for the weekend before finally getting out, Brittany wrapping Santana in a towel right away. "Go lie down and I'll drain the tub and blow out the candles, take some medicine and I'll give you a rub down." Santana nodded and went to the bedroom and took some medicine and finished the bottle of water next to the bed before lying down.
Brittany came into the bedroom, wrapped in her robe with a bottle of oil. "Lie on your stomach." She told her, as she dimmed the lamp and crawled in bed on Santana's thighs. She squirted the oil in her hands and began to massage Santana's shoulders slowly.
"That feels good." Santana moaned as Brittany worked out the kinks in her shoulders.
"You're so tense." Brittany whispered.
She worked her way down Santana's back, making sure she hit every inch of skin, placing soft kisses as she went. She reached her butt and massaged there, controlling her urge to lick and bite her wife as she stared at her but now shiny with the massage oil. She reached her thighs and worked on them slowly, knowing that was a major stress spot for Santana, who would limp when she was stressed from her thigh muscles tightening on her. She worked down her calves and finally massaged and rubbed her feet. By the time she was done with the hour-long massage Santana was fast asleep, snoring softly into the pillow. Brittany climbed out of bed, grabbing her lower back, which was now a little stiff from bending over Santana for so long, and went to the dresser. She grabbed out a pair of fleece pajama pants and t-shirt, she managed to get Santana dressed before taking an aspirin for her back and slipping on pajamas for herself.
Brittany then slowly got back in bed and exhaled slowly from the pain in her back, she turned on her side, so she was off of her back and debated getting up to grab the heating pad. Santana coughed and stirred, waking up slightly, before turning over and wiggling closer to Brittany, she instinctively cuddled in Brittany's chest, placing her hand on her wife's back. Brittany blushed at the simple action and kissed Santana softly on the lips. "Good night Santana."
1pm
"Next time won't you sing with me!" Brittany sang to Skylar with a big smile while clapping. She was sitting in the living room with the baby in her lap, her laptop off to the side of her, following along to a conference email meeting. The pair was watching Sesame Street, Skylar completely engrossed in the show, holding her Elmo doll tightly, a big smile on her face in between yawns and coughs. Brittany rubbed her little legs with one hand, while adding her input, typing as fast as she could with her right hand.
"Mama!" Skylar screeched when Elmo began to dance and laugh on the screen, before coughing a few more times.
"He's funny isn't he?" Brittany told her, cupping her cheek and stroking it with her thumb, glancing up at the screen quickly. Skylar leaned back into Brittany's embrace and began to laugh at the screen, kicking her chubby legs excitedly. Brittany glanced at her and tickled her stomach, reading the screen again.
"Mami!" Skylar laughed before coughing.
Brittany rubbed her chest and kissed the top of her head. "She's asleep Sky Sky." Brittany said softly, staring at her laptop again. "You need more medicine." She then stated when Skylar began to cough again. Brittany sat her up and patted her back gently as she continued to cough. "It's nap time soon, sweetheart." She added when she saw her yawn, she stared at the screen again, reading a reply from a coworker when she heard a new song start on the screen and grabbed Skylar's hands again and began to rock side to side with her while clapping her hands. Skylar bounced happily in her lap, babbling as she tried to sing along to the song.
"Mami!" She laughed again.
"She's asleep, babygirl, we can see her later." Brittany repeated. "After nap time, you can see mami."
"Mami!" Skylar continued to laugh while pointing. Brittany finally followed her point and saw Santana, standing to the side dancing around and smiling at Skylar, she turned and coughed into her arm before waving to her daughter and wiggling her fingers to get her to come over. Brittany smiled at her wife, who was still in her pajamas and a robe and stood Skylar up, laughing when she ran as fast as her little legs could go, falling down half way there, to Santana, who kneeled down and opened her arms to her.
"Hey you." Brittany smiled at her wife.
"Hey my Sky Sky." Santana smiled while hugging her daughter. "Hey Brit, how's your back?"
Brittany raised an eyebrow. "How..."
"You gave me a full body massage last night." Santana smiled. "I know your back stiffened on you." She added sitting in the recliner with Skylar in her lap, she turned her to cuddle in her chest and began to rock her to sleep for her nap when she saw how tired her eyes were and checked the time.
"It's okay." Brittany told her. "I took some aspirin right away, and I used the heating pad this morning."
Santana stared at her. "Do you want to get another acupuncture treatment?"
"Maybe." Brittany replied, looking back at her laptop when it beeped that she had a message. She stared at the screen and quickly picked up the legal pad next to her flipping through pages. Santana stared at her while humming to Skylar, who was falling asleep, but determined to look around and kept moving. "How are you feeling this afternoon?" Brittany asked as she typed quickly in reply, staring at her notes.
"A lot better, that bath and massage did help a lot." She replied, turning her head to cough. "I just need to get rid of this dry cough."
"You sound a lot clearer." Brittany smiled, jotting down a few notes on her legal pad, she then closed her laptop and stretched a little before standing up, she walked over and sat next to Santana on the two seater recliner and wrapped her arm around her wife, she pressed her lips to her temple. "You aren't as warm either." She added as she ran her fingers Skylar's curls, smiling as her little brown eyes began to droop and finally close from Santana's soft humming.
"Thank you for taking care of me this week." Santana looked up and told Brittany. "I know with work it's hard for you."
"You don't have to thank me for that." Brittany smiled, kissing her on the top of her head.
"I just need some energy." Santana yawned. "I woke up again an hour ago, and I'm still tired." She added, wiggling to cuddle closer to Brittany and resting her head in the crook of her neck, she adjusted Skylar to straddle her, laughing when she sighed and buried her face deeper in Santana's robe in her sleep.
Brittany leaned them back in the recliner and grabbed a blanket from the side of the recliner and covered them up. "Your body needs to rest, baby." She stated, rubbing Skylar's back. "You're overworked and getting over a bad cold, sleep as much as you need, I have everything covered here."
Santana nodded. "I'm trying to help more around the house." "You do plenty." Brittany replied. "Take a nap with Sky." "Just a little one." Santana mumbled, closing her eyes.
Brittany grabbed the remote from the end table and turned off of PBS and turned to a movie, she wiggled back to get more comfortable. She lifted Skylar from Santana's arms and rested her high on her own chest, her little head on her shoulder so she could recline them back some more. Santana cuddled closer to her and wrapped her arm around Brittany's waist.
"What are you watching?" Santana asked, opening her eyes.
"Doesn't matter." Brittany replied. "Anything specifically that you want to watch."
Santana shook her head and covered her mouth to cough again. "Doesn't matter."
Santana sat in the living room, wrapped in a blanket with Taylor next to her on the couch, as she watched her daughter do her homework. After falling asleep again earlier in the day in Brittany's arms with Skylar she felt more like herself and even made a sandwich for herself when Brittany went to pick Taylor up from school. She gave Skylar more medicine and the two of them played in the living room until Taylor and Brittany returned home. Santana knew Brittany needed to get some work done so she kept the girls busy while she took a conference call until Brittany started to prepare dinner, and Santana watched Taylor do her homework, as Skylar played with a play mat full of extra large puzzle pieces at their feet.
"That's the wrong answer, Tay." Santana told her softly, turning her head to cough.
"No, it's not." Taylor shook her head and stared at the paper.
"Dallas isn't the capital of Texas." Santana stated clearing her throat, just as Brittany walked in and set a mug of tea down for her. "Thanks B."
Brittany smiled and nodded. "Dinner will be done soon." She added before turning to leave the living room.
"It's a big city." Taylor defended her answer.
Santana lifted her mug and nodded while taking a small sip, thankful that Brittany knew exactly how she liked her tea and coffee. "Just because a city is big doesn't make it the capitol." She stated as Skylar stood up and stared at them.
"Mami." Skylar giggled and handed her a puzzle piece.
"Thank you, Sky." Santana smiled and grabbed the puzzle piece, setting it in her lap as Skylar nodded with her and went back to playing.
"Tay!" She then screeched and handed her sister a piece as well. "Cool, thanks Sky!" Taylor beamed, matching her sister's excitement.
"Think of the state capitals." Santana stated redirecting her back to her homework.
Taylor stared at Skylar, who was busy trying to fit the pieces into the correct holes, but was failing miserably. She laughed at the scowl on her face but went back to her worksheet. "But Dallas is a popular city."
Santana cleared her throat softly and raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "That doesn't mean it's the capitol, Taylor, come on and focus baby."
Taylor moved closer to Santana, who wrapped her arm around Taylor. "Oh...it's Austin."
"Good job, baby, you just have to focus when you do your homework. You know the right answers, don't always rush to get done, take your time, I know you want to play with Sky, but your studies come first." Santana told her gently but sternly.
"I know mami." Taylor nodded while erasing her answer and writing down the correct one. "I want to be super smart like you and momma."
"You already are." Santana told her. "Try this piece Sky." She told her daughter, tapping her with the puzzle piece. Skylar looked up quickly and smiled, grabbing it from her mother and kneeled back down, trying her hardest to put the piece in.
Thirty minutes later, Taylor's homework was done and the family was gathered around the kitchen table, Skylar in her highchair next to Brittany, happily eating her green bean and pieces of salmon that Brittany cut up for her to pick up. Santana had a bigger appetite and joined the family for dinner, which Taylor was excited about.
"This is really good, B." Santana told Brittany as she ate another forkful of the salmon. "Did you buy this fresh?"
"We went to the fish store today after school." Taylor stated excitedly. "It smelled bad there."
Santana laughed as Brittany nodded. "I stopped at the fish market not far from Tay's school and bought salmon. I bought some scallops for tomorrow's dinner. I know you love scallops and we haven't had them in a while."
"Thanks, baby." Santana blushed. "You are being so sweet this week."
"I'm always sweet." Brittany laughed.
Santana raised her eyebrow and nodded. "Yes, you are."
"Skylar likes the salmon too." Taylor pointed out as Skylar picked up a chunk of fish and ate it happily.
"She's a good eater." Santana stated, eating a forkful of rice.
"I like that you are having dinner with us, mami." Taylor told Santana. "I like when we are all together and eating, but it doesn't happen cuz you work at night."
Brittany glanced at Santana, who's face softened. "I love when we are all together too, sweetheart." Santana told her. "I know I miss a lot by working nights, but it won't last forever, okay?"
Taylor nodded and picked her fork up to eat again.
"I hate being away from you and Sky at night, but I have to work, sweetheart." Santana added.
"Can you work in the daytime?" Taylor countered. "Momma works during the daytime."
Brittany cleared her throat and spoke up. "Well, mami's job is different from mine, I don't have to work overnight but mami always has people to help, so if she has to miss a dinner or two with us to save someone's life, that's okay, right?"
Taylor nodded. "Yeah, since she's helping people, but I just like when she's home too."
"I do too." Santana told her. "How about after dinner momma and I play a game with you?"
"Can we play Sorry?" Taylor asked, her eyes lighting up.'
"Of course." Brittany told her, adding a handful more of green beans to Skylar's table for her.
Midnight
Santana woke up from the soft clicks of Brittany typing on her laptop, after dinner they kept their promise and played a game with Taylor, before giving Skylar a bath and reading her a bedtime story, Santana took more medicine and talked to Mercedes on the phone, checking on some of her patients in her absence, she then took a long hot shower and cuddling closer to Brittany, who was working on the powerpoint part of her presentation. Santana eventually fell asleep after an hour or so. Brittany noticed she was asleep on her shoulder and slid her down so she was lying flat. She then continued to work while Santana slept, using only the light she attached to the top of her laptop.
"Brit, come to sleep." Santana rasped sleepily, as she stared at her.
"You okay?" Brittany asked, glancing down at her.
"Yes, you've been up all day, working and taking care of all of us...come to bed." Santana repeated. "Please."
Brittany nodded and closed her laptop, setting her papers and files on top and set it on the floor, she turned out the lamp and slid down to cuddle close to Santana, she pressed her lips to the Latina's, slowly deepening the kiss.
"I'm sick, baby." Santana smiled into the kiss.
"You aren't contagious anymore." Brittany told her, hugging her tightly. "I miss your lips."
Santana blushed and kissed Brittany back deeply, slipping her tongue in her wife's mouth. "My lips missed you too." She winked when the kiss broke.
"Date night this weekend?"
"Definitely." Brittany smiled.
8am
"Good job, Sky." Santana smiled and clapped when Skylar was able to put a puzzle piece into the correct spot.
Brittany walked in the living room, after dropping Taylor off at school and smiled at Santana and Skylar as they worked on the puzzle on the floor.
"She's getting good with her motor skills."
"Yes, she is." Santana smiled. "Hey can we talk?"
"Sure." Brittany bent down and kissed Skylar. She then noticed the seriousness in Santana's tone and sat on the couch. "Come talk to me."
Santana rubbed Skylar's back and stood up to sit next to Brittany. "I was thinking about what Taylor said at dinner last night, and what if we put Skylar in daycare? Maybe at the hospital just like two days a week, I can work my schedule around it, so the days I work mornings she'll be at daycare and I can still check on her and everything."
"Is that what you want?" Brittany asked.
"I want to be home more in the evening, and help Tay with homework, cook dinner with you, eat as a family, and read Sky bedtime stories." Santana shrugged.
"I want that too." Brittany smiled. "I know how much you want to be hands on with Sky, so are you sure?"
"Yeah I am." Santana nodded, turning her head to cough.
Brittany smiled. "Well then, let's set up an appointment with the daycare and go look at it, then see what you can do about your schedule."
"Okay." Santana replied, she leaned forward to kiss Brittany quickly.
Thoughts?
