Chapter 26
Disclaimer: I don't own glee or this story
"You look refreshed this morning." Brittany smiled as Santana walked into the living room portion of the suite after her shower. She allowed the Latina to sleep later than usual, not wanting to wake her that morning when she woke up since she was sleeping so peacefully. She instead went for a long walk, taking Skylar, who was awake, with her to spend some time with the baby. She walked as slow as Skylar needed her to while she pointed out different flowers, colors, shapes, and buildings. Skylar looked around happily, her big brown eyes taking in everything around her while she held her stuffed dolphin tightly and would try to mimic the items Brittany was pointing out. When Skylar started to slow all the way down, time from her walk, Brittany picked her up and hugged her tightly while practicing her ABCs.
"I'm very refreshed, I slept really well last night." Santana replied as she got closer to Brittany and kissed her quickly on the lips before sitting in her lap, Brittany hugging her tightly and kissing her bare shoulder a few times, rubbing the Latina's stomach under her shirt, so she could feel her wife's skin.
"Good, I could tell, you were sleeping so peacefully this morning, that I just left you. Sky Sky and I went for a walk to explore a little." Brittany smiled. "I know you've had a rough few nights, so you needed that extra couple hours, Taylor was asleep too so I left her a note."
"Sounds fun." Santana relaxed more into Brittany's embrace while glancing at her daughters who were on the floor watching TV. Skylar sat close to Taylor, looking up at her big sister every time she would laugh, and would giggle herself. "I don't get a good morning?" Santana asked loudly to get her daughters' attention.
Skylar glanced at her mother and smiled, shaking her head quickly as she held her teddy bear and began to laugh before she turned to stare at the TV again. "Good morning, mami." Taylor jumped up right away and ran over to her, Santana cupping her face and kissing her on the forehead.
"Good morning, Tay. Did you sleep okay?" Santana asked since her daughter didn't come wake them up or slip in bed with them like she expected her to, as Skylar stood up and ran over as well. Santana slid off of Brittany's lap, and sat next to her so she could pick up Skylar, who cuddled in her chest right away. Santana kissed all over her face before turning her around in her lap so Skylar could lean back on her chest as she began to exchange funny faces with Brittany.
"Yeah, I woke up because I thought I heard something, but I think it was just in my head, like a memory from the other night." Taylor nodded as she walked over to stand between Brittany's legs, the blonde rubbing her daughter's back right away. "So I just hugged Skylar to make sure she was okay, she's super cuddly at night. She just turned and hugged me back, didn't even wake up at all or anything."
Santana glanced at Brittany as Skylar started to play with her wedding ring on her finger. "Do you think you maybe want to talk to someone about what happened the other night, Tay?" Santana asked carefully.
"What do you mean?" Taylor furrowed her eyebrows.
"Your mom and I think you should talk to a counselor about the break in." Brittany explained. "Sometimes when scary things like that happen it helps if you talk to someone about them. You don't want to keep waking up from the memories, you know?"
"Pancake." Skylar said suddenly, tilting her head to look up at Santana. "Sky wants pancake." She stated, glaring at her mother.
"Si, mami will get you some pancakes for breakfast." Santana nodded to her, before she focused back on Taylor. "Your mom and I will be right there with you, if you want or need us to be. I think it'll really help, and I'm going to talk to a counselor about what happened as well when we get back to New York. I'm still a little shaken up by the break up, I get jittery at night and stuff, probably like you do."
Taylor chewed on her bottom lip, leaning deeper into Brittany's embrace. She stared at Skylar, who wiggled out of Santana's arms, and ran back over to the TV when the Latina set her back on the floor and began to play with the blocks that were spread out.
"How many times do I have to go talk?" Taylor asked.
"As many as you want, baby." Brittany replied.
"So if I'm all fixed, I only have to go one time?" Taylor asked quietly.
"Come here Tay." Santana angled her body more towards her daughter and shook her head while she opened her arms. Taylor walked into them right away as Santana sighed. "There's nothing to fix with you, honey. It's just that sometimes things happen in our lives that require us to get a little extra help to deal with them. It doesn't mean you are broken or need to be fixed. You are just getting a little extra help. Kind of like how you have your math tutor? They are just helping you with your homework."
Taylor thought for a minute before looking up at Brittany, who nodded in agreement with Santana. "You'll stay in the room?"
"Yes." Brittany replied quickly.
"Okay, I'll go talk to someone." Taylor smiled.
"Cool." Santana hugged her. "How about we all head out to breakfast so we can get Miss Busy Body over there some pancakes, then we can head to Butterfly Wonderland."
After breakfast at a cafe right up the street from the hotel, Brittany and Santana took the girls to Butterfly Wonderland, allowing Taylor to hold Skylar's hand and lead her sister around, while they walked behind them talking quietly about the move.
"One of my new coworkers emailed me a list of available houses and locations." Brittany told Santana, swinging their hands between them. "I was thinking that we could drive around some residential areas, take a look at some houses?"
Santana glanced up at her and nodded. "Sure, sounds good. Do we know how much we want to spend on a house?"
"Well, for what we pay at home for the four bedroom house in New York, we could probably get a mansion down here." Brittany laughed.
Santana smiled at her and nodded in agreement. "We can definitely go look at places still, but I think we need to talk about a price range. Given what your job is giving you for the move and to help with the down payment of the house, we are in good shape, but I don't want to go too, too crazy. We still have our house back in New York to think about, we need to do a quick sale otherwise we are paying three mortgages, which is unnecessary, baby."
"I agree." Brittany lifted her camera and took a few pictures of the girls, smiling at Skylar's laughter as Taylor pointed out a few colorful butterflies to her.
"Butt fly." Skylar screeched loudly, jumping up and down excitedly when one flew right across her face.
"Si, it's pretty cool, right?" Taylor asked, bending down to pick up her sister, she kissed her on the cheek as Skylar hugged her neck tightly, and began to point out more butterflies to her.
"I want to be able to give them the world." Santana smiled as she used her phone to take a few quick pictures to send to their parents. "They deserve the absolute best in life. We put Tay through so much with the divorce, and now that we are back together, better than ever and moving forward in life, I want to just make sure they have the world."
"Yes they do." Brittany agreed. "We are going to give them the very best, baby. You know I completely agree with that."
"Mami, butt fly." Skylar smiled at Santana before clapping.
Santana walked over to her and grabbed her out of Taylor's arms, since she was reaching for her. "Can you show mami some colors?" She asked, waiting for Skylar to point out some colors, which the baby did happily, loving the praise Santana showed her after each correct color.
Brittany smiled as Taylor walked over to her and wrapped her arm around her mother's waist. "What's going on kiddo?" Brittany asked, wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders.
"This is so cool, New York needs a place like this." Taylor told her. "Sky Sky would want to go all the time." She added while laughing at Santana tickling Skylar and set her down on the railing, reading a sign to Skylar, who wasn't paying attention at all, and was instead staring at the butterflies flying next to her.
"You know, Phoenix has a lot of pretty cool stuff down here." Brittany shrugged. "Too bad we can't see it this weekend."
"Maybe we can come visit again the next time you have to work here." Taylor smiled.
"That's a thought." Brittany smiled. "Is there anything else you want to see or do this weekend?"
"I was on my iPad earlier and saw it's a carnival and a festival of lights both this weekend." Taylor shrugged, "either one of those would be cool, Sky would like both."
Brittany laughed at Santana and Skylar, Skylar was now pulling Santana as she ran quickly down an aisle, laughing loudly. "I love how you always think of what Sky might like, but what do you want to do this weekend, Tay?"
Taylor looked up and smiled. "I think the carnival would be fun."
"Okay, then carnival it is." Brittany nodded.
"We can go for a few hours later."
"Cool."
Brittany and Taylor caught up to Skylar and Santana, who were laughing loudly at a butterfly that landed on Skylar's finger, causing her big brown eyes to widen in excitement. Brittany carefully lifted the camera to take a few pictures, being sure to catch Skylar's big smile in the picture before the butterfly flew away.
"Momma butt fly!" Skylar screeched, jumping up and down excitedly while she pointed at it.
"Soooooo pretty." Brittany agreed.
"Sky, take pictures?" Skylar reached for the camera so Brittany kneeled down and wrapped her arms around Skylar, letting her help hold the camera.
"Take it off me and mami." Taylor suggested, kneeling close to Santana, who hugged her tightly and began to playfully kiss all over her face, Taylor laughing loudly. Brittany noticed a group of butterflies flying over their heads and angled the camera to capture the moment perfectly.
"Press the button, Sky Sky." Brittany told her, placing her little finger on the shutter.
Skylar pressed the shutter numerous times, taking several pictures of Taylor and Santana, who began to look at the different butterflies flying above them, trying to catch them on their fingers, but unsuccessful.
"You are doing so good, Sky." Brittany praised her as Skylar continued to take pictures.
Santana noticed the camera and began to dance around with Taylor, who fell right into rhythm with her mother and smiled brightly as Santana twirled Taylor around.
"Nice moves, Tay." Santana laughed, noticing how well Taylor was able to keep up with her.
"I got the moves." Taylor nodded while winking at her mother, Brittany nodding proudly in agreement.
"Yeah you do." Brittany laughed as Skylar ran over to them and hugged Santana's leg, the Latina grabbed the baby's hand, while Taylor grabbed her other hand and the three of them danced around, Brittany being sure to capture the moment.
Santana slipped out from her daughters and kissed Brittany on the cheek before nodding for her to dance with the girls as she started to take pictures of them, completely oblivious to everyone around them. She watched Brittany's face closely to see if she was in any pain as she tossed Skylar in the air and lifted Taylor in the air to dance with her too.
They spent the rest of the visit taking a ton of pictures, which Santana kept her word to her parents and Brittany's to send them more pictures of the girls, so she sent over a ton of pictures and videos to both, getting immediate replies of praise.
After spending another or so at the Butterfly Wonderland, Brittany and Santana drove through some residential areas to try to narrow down the area they wanted to move to, Santana discreetly took a number of pictures of houses she saw for sale, with the real estate info so she could call later and look up the locations on the internet to see some pictures. They took note of different school zones, shopping centers, and hospitals, Taylor and Skylar both fast asleep in the backseat. They then relaxed in the hotel for a while, Brittany played with the girls while Santana called Quinn to invite her over for dinner when they got back to the city. After a long talk Brittany and Santana agreed that they wanted Taylor finish her semester at school before moving, and wanted to see if Quinn would be able to keep her during the week for a few weeks while Santana traveled back and forth on the weekend to visit her and stay in New York, tying up loose ends on the move, while staying in Phoenix with Brittany during the week to help her get the house set up.
They decided to go to the carnival Taylor found online for the evening, and would ride through the festival of lights if the girls were still awake after they left later that evening. They started off by getting on a few rides, Brittany and Santana taking turns riding with Taylor, while Skylar watched happily from their arms. They bought the girls a few small toys before finally deciding to get dinner. Santana and Skylar settled for hotdogs and grabbed a table while Brittany and Taylor looked around to find something they really wanted.
"More." Skylar said loudly, tugging on Santana's arm.
Santana took another bite of her hotdog and looked down at her daughter, who was sitting next to her, holding a corndog herself. "What do you want more of?" She frowned.
"More." Skylar pointed to a little girl that was eating a big pink puff of cotton candy.
"Oh no, we aren't getting cotton candy." Santana shook her head. "You can share some ice cream with me later, but no cotton candy, that's pure sugar." Skylar frowned at her and sadly took a bite of her corndog, glaring up at Santana as she chewed slowly.
Brittany walked over to the bench they were at and sat down with Taylor, carrying nachos, a steak sandwich, and curly fries. Taylor was carrying a burger herself and a small basket of onion rings, with a soda. "I got your nachos, San."
"Peppers?" Santana asked, handing Skylar her sippy cup after she poured some water in it, Skylar watching her closely.
"Plain water?" Brittany asked Santana. "And yes, I got extra peppers for you."
"No it's flavored, so I didn't give her a lot." Santana shook her head. "Did you get everything you wanted Tay?"
"Yeah, we are getting some fried stuff later, momma said." Taylor nodded, taking a big bite of her burger.
"Hmmm." Santana nodded as Skylar stared at Brittany and reached for the fry
that she held out to her. "You two can try all the weird stuff you want, me and Sky will play it safe." She laughed as she finished her hotdog and began to eat her nachos,
"Momma." Skylar glanced at Santana before staring at Brittany, waiting for her to look at her.
"Yes, baby." Brittany replied, taking another bite of her burger before passing it to Santana who was reaching for it.
"More." Skylar pointed to the little girl with the cotton candy again.
"You want some cotton candy?" Brittany asked with a smile.
"Already told her no." Santana chimed in quickly. "That's pure sugar, B."
Brittany locked eyes with Santana, while the two had a silent conversation, Santana rolling her eyes and shaking her head at the end. Brittany opened her mouth to say something to Skylar, who was happily eating an onion ring from Taylor, when a couple with two girls walked over to their table.
"Brittany?"
"Lance." Brittany smiled as she stood up quickly. "Santana, this is Lance Nelson, one of the consultants I've been working with. Lance, this is my wife, Dr. Santana Lopez-Pierce."
Santana quickly wiped her hands and stood up to shake his hand with a warm smile. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Lance nodded with a smile.
"This is my wife, Allison, and our daughter, Katie and Emily."
"This is Taylor and Skylar." Brittany replied nodding to her daughters, Skylar staring at the family, and continuing to eat her corndog, and Taylor waving with a smile.
"Lopez-Pierce?" Allison repeated. "In New York at Mercy Grace?"
"Yes." Santana nodded.
Allison suddenly lunged forward and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Brittany raised an eyebrow at the exchange as Santana awkwardly hugged her back and stepped out of her arms. "You're welcome?"
"You saved my brother's life three years ago. You're a cardiac surgeon, right?" Allison smiled, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Yes I am." Santana nodded as she tried to recall the surgery.
"He was in a bad skiing accident and he was taken to your hospital." Allison explained. "You were off duty but I remember they said they would call you in, it was a big snow storm and you came!"
Santana thought and dropped her jaw when she remembered. "Yes, I remember that night and that surgery. That was one of the most intense surgeries in my career, his survival was nothing short of a miracle." She added softly. "How's he doing?"
"Good, back on the slopes." Allison smiled. "I'm forever indebted to you for saving his life."
"You don't have to thank me for that, and you don't owe me anything." Santana shook her head as Katie and Emily sat next to Taylor and began to talk. Brittany picked up Skylar and kissed her on the cheek as she continued to eat slowly, staring at the new people in her presence.
"Well I know you two are relocating." Allison said quietly. "I know a number of people that work in hospitals down here, including my father who sits on the board at St. Martin's in Scottsdale, I would be more than happy to pass along the words, any hospital would be happy to have you."
"Thank you." Santana nodded. "We are still figuring things out, but I will definitely keep that in mind."
"Are you all just getting here?" Brittany asked as Skylar leaned on her chest and coughed. Santana glanced at her and patted her on the back before she grabbed her sippy cup to hand to her, taking the corndog out of her hand.
"We are actually headed out, we've been here for a few hours." Lance answered. "Enjoy the rest of the carnival."
Once they left Santana lifted Skylar in her lap and held her while she ate an onion ring, looking around at everyone. "That was unexpected."
"You make an impact, Santana." Brittany smiled. "So proud of you."
"Why don't we get on the Ferris Wheel and then get some ice cream before we head back to the hotel, it's been a long day." Brittany suggested.
"You gotta sit still, Sky." Taylor told her sister as the family piled into the cabin.
Skylar scooted close to Santana's open arm, which she wrapped around her daughter tightly, the baby leaning into her embrace. Brittany sat next to Taylor and wrapped her arm around her as well as the attendant close the gate and they began to ascend in the air. Skylar sat up and looked around before glancing up at Santana, and wiggling closer. Brittany took a few pictures of the girls, smiling at Skylar to get her to smile back before putting her phone back in her purse.
"Look Sky." Santana pointed to the Phoenix skyline that was lit up with lights and Christmas colors.
Skylar leaned on Santana's thigh to look before smiling and cuddling back close, not liking how high up they were. "Pretty." She said quietly after a few moments.
"So Tay, your mom and I need to talk to you about something." Brittany started, glancing at Santana, who nodded in agreement. Taylor looked between her mothers and swallowed thickly. "Am I in trouble?"
"No." Santana shook her head.
"Do you know why your mom and I keep asking if you like Phoenix?"Brittany asked as Skylar moved to climb in Santana's lap and straddled her mother, Santana kissing the top of her head and rubbing her back, knowing Skylar was getting tired and would fall asleep soon.
Taylor shook her head as Brittany took her sweater off and tossed it on Skylar's back, wrapping her in it when she saw her eyes start to flutter. "I got a new job, and it's here in Phoenix."
Taylor's eyes widened, she quickly looked to Santana, who nodded that Brittany was telling the truth. "So you have to move here?"
"We are all moving here as a family." Santana told her. "We aren't breaking up the family, I know you are thinking that, so relax." She assured her daughter. "After the holiday season your mom starts work here right away, so she's going to move here first then after a week I'm going to come down here with Skylar, so we can get our new house set up and I can get you enrolled in a new school, and Sky in a new daycare, and I can find a new job."
"What about me?" Taylor asked quickly. "You didn't mention me."
"Well, we are going to talk to Quinn and see if you can stay with her..."
"So I have to live with Aunt Quinn now?" Taylor asked softly, looking between her mothers.
"Just for a few weeks, while you finish the semester and we get the house all set up down here." Brittany told her, hugging her tightly as Taylor leaned more into her embrace.
"I'm going to fly home every Friday afternoon and spend the weekend with you and come back Sunday afternoon." Santana stated. "And momma is going to come the first weekend with me too."
"What about Sky?" Taylor asked as a few tears pooled in her eyes.
"She'll come too." Santana told her, wiping the tears that slid down Taylor's cheek. "If you aren't okay with that, Tay, I'll stay in New York with you and we'll find a way to make all of this work with the house and everything." Santana suggested, glancing at Brittany, who nodded in agreement.
Taylor bit her bottom lip when it began to quiver and sighed. "You're not going to leave me there forever are you? I like Aunt Quinn and everything but..."
"No." Santana said quickly and firmly. "We are not moving here and leaving you in New York, you're stuck with us kiddo, you have to live with us when you're 40 years old still." She smiled as she winked at Taylor, who tried to smile but instead hid her face in her hands as she tried not to cry.
"Taylor, this is your call, sweetheart." Brittany told her. "If you want your mom to stay in New York with you, she will."
Taylor took a deep breath. "Can I think about it?"
"Yeah, you don't have to decide right now." Santana told her.
"What about Berkeley?" Taylor asked suddenly. "She's my best friend."
Santana knew Berkeley would be a tipping point since her and Taylor were so close. "Well, we can talk to Berkeley's mom about letting her come visit for a few days, and we'll see if you can go visit her for a few days. You can use the computer to talk to her on Skype, and you can write her letters and emails."
"Like a pen pal?" Taylor asked. "I have one in Africa."
"Just like Maddy in Africa." Brittany smiled.
"Is that the pen pal's name?" Santana leaned over and whispered, Brittany nodding yes right away.
Taylor sighed and stared at her sister, she leaned onto Brittany's chest and exhaled. Brittany wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly
Midnight
"This house is nice." Santana pointed to her iPad screen, Brittany looked up from her own screen and nodded.
"It's nice, whoa look at the master bedroom." Brittany exclaimed, noticing the huge attached balcony.
Santana tossed the iPad on the floor and moved to straddle Brittany. "Imagine a warm night, the girls are in bed, it's raining, not like crazy hurricane rain, but a nice night shower, we have some candles light, soft music playing."
Brittany grabbed Santana's hips and smiled, kissing the Latina on the collarbone. "We are relaxing on the couch..."
Santana nodded and took her shirt off, tossing it on the bed behind her as she leaned forward and kissed Brittany. "Making love in the rain is on our bucket list."
"Yeah it is." Brittany whispered. "I'm excited, but worried about how Taylor will handle this."
"We can deal with that when we get back to New York." Santana moaned as Brittany moved her hands to massage her breasts. "Let's just enjoy the last day here." She pressed their lips together just as there was a knock on the door.
"I hear kissing but talking too, so I don't know if I should come in." Taylor stated from behind the door.
Santana groaned softly and put her shirt back on before moving off of Brittany. "Come in Tay."
The door swung open, revealing Taylor holding a sleeping Skylar. "I can't sleep.
"Come get in bed with us." Brittany told her, standing up to grab Skylar and hand her to Santana, who laid the baby down close to her, hoping she wouldn't wake up.
Once Taylor climbed in bed and cuddled close to Brittany, she fell asleep almost instantly. "We got played." Santana laughed as Brittany turned the lamp off.
"Yeah, but I don't mind, do you?" Brittany laughed.
"I love this set up, so no." She shook her head. "Good night, B."
"Good night, Santana." Brittany replied as she leaned over and kissed her deeply.
Thoughts?
