Chapter 21

Santana lay on her side, head resting on her hand as she watched Brittany sleeping. She had been doing this long before she and Brittany started dating, and now almost seven years later, she found it was a hard habit to break. She loved watching the way Brittany's chest and shoulders rose and fell with every breath, how her eyes sometimes moved like she was watching a movie behind her eyelids, and how sometimes her nose would scrunch up or twitch like a rabbit's. For almost an hour she watched Brittany, resisting the urge to lean forward and kiss her. Finally Brittany took in a deep breath and sighed the way she did every morning, and though she wasn't awake, her breathing was less shallow, and she started moving a lot more. Santana smiled, amused that Brittany woke up the same way every day. She brought her hand up to Brittany's face and tucked a hair that was hanging over her face behind her ear. Brittany stirred. Santana withdrew her hand and tucked it under her head as well, wanting to watch Brittany wake up naturally. It was in moments like these that she really took in how lucky she was to be with Brittany. Moments where she was doing what she had been for years, but this time she didn't have to pretend to be sleeping when Brittany woke up, or feel guilty for thinking she was the most gorgeous human being she had ever seen.

Brittany took another deep breath, this time squeezing her eyes. Santana smiled again.

"I love you so much" she whispered, knowing that Brittany couldn't hear her but needing to say it anyway.

"Mmhhh" Brittany hummed. For a moment Santana thought she has woken her up, but then Brittany shuffled closer to her and she saw that she was mostly asleep. She hoped that meant that the words had penetrated her subconscious.

Brittany reached out across Santana's waist and pulled her closer so their foreheads were touching. Santana grinned now, kissing Brittany's nose.

"Mhhh" Brittany hummed again, sounding more awake. Santana remained silent for a few more minutes, wanting to be sure Brittany was awake before speaking. When she registered that her breathing was now faster and her eyes were fluttering, she leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

"Morning my love" she whispered.

Brittany smiled. "Morning baby" she croaked. Santana kissed her again.

"You're so beautiful" she told her. Brittany cracked her eyes open.

"I just woke up, I doubt that very much"

"You look beautiful" Santana told her truthfully. Brittany closed her eyes for a moment then opened them fully, smiling at Santana.

"What's got you so sweet so early in the morning?" she asked.

"Well, for one, I've been watching you for about an hour and I needed to tell you" Santana said. "But also…we're getting married today" she added, grinning madly.

Brittany's eyes widened and she sat up quickly. "Santana" she said loudly, pushing herself into a kneeling position and grabbing Santana's arm with both hands as she sat up. "We're getting married today." Her voice was still very loud.

"Yeah Britt….I just said that" Santana laughed.

"No we're getting MARRIED" Brittany yelled. She stood up on the bed and jumped a few times, before jumping to the ground and pulling Santana till she was standing next to her. "We're getting married" she said again in a whisper. She stepped forward and crashed her lips against Santana's, wrapping her arms around her and spinning her around.

"We're getting married" Santana murmured against her lips once they had broken apart. "After today I'll be able to call you my wife."

Brittany squealed and pulled Santana into a tight hug. "Finally" she said as she exhaled and let Santana go.

"Let's go get ready for the rest of our lives the best way we know how." Santana said, taking Brittany's hand and leading her into the bathroom.

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Santana and Brittany's fathers stood at either end of the hall, waiting outside identical doors for the wedding planner to signal them that it was time for the brides to come out and walk down the aisle. After much argument and debate, they had finally decided that Brittany would go down the aisle first, and then wait for Santana in the gazebo they had asked to be built in front of the magic kingdom. Both girls were currently sat in the rooms assigned to them to change and do their make-up. Santana was sitting on the edge of her seat in a strapless, slim fitting mermaid wedding dress, with diamonds embedded all around the waist so that it looked like a belt. She was staring, unblinking, at the clock. So far everything had been running according to schedule, and if it continued to, that was if guests sat down fast enough, Brittany would be walking down the aisle in ten minutes.

"Mija relax" Maribel said, placing her hand on Santana's shoulder. The second she made contact though Santana flinched away and stood up, starting to pace the room. Maribel sighed and looked at Puck. Puck tried to smile at her, but ended up giving more of a grimace.

"Look maybe you should just go wait outside with her dad" Puck suggested, trying to sound as nice as possible. Maribel let her eyes travel to Santana again, a sad look on her face, then nodded slowly and walked out. When the door closed, Puck rounded on Santana.

"Ok Lopez, talk to me. What's happening?"

"Puck…I don't know man. I was sitting here thinking about everything Britt and I have been through, and I suddenly got so happy, and wanted to turn around and hear from my mum how she was so proud of me for getting through all that. You know? Like get one of the speeches that I'm sure Brittany is getting about how she watched Britt and I through high school and always knew we were something special, even if she didn't know we were in love. But-"

"She didn't" Puck interrupted her. Santana nodded, sitting back down heavily.

"Then there's my dad out there, and I can't get myself excited about the idea that he's the one who's going to walk me down the aisle. He knows even less about me than my mum does, and I feel like they don't even deserve to be here." Santana stopped, looking shocked at what she had said. "God I'm so fucked up. I thought I was over this."

"Santana, it takes a long time to fix how broken we are. The kind of damage that you, me and Quinn have is just…we need time. You and Britt are awesome together, and she's helped you a lot, but your parents haven't really made up for the part they played. It's completely natural for you to feel that disconnect on a huge day like this, so don't beat yourself up about it."

Santana nodded, feeling relieved that Puck understood what she was feeling. She looked up at the clock again, standing up and pacing when she saw there was only three minutes left.

"So what do I do?" she asked Puck. He looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled.

"I have an idea."

Brittany was standing just below the clock on the wall of her room, feeling immensely frustrated that she couldn't see Santana. She wasn't nervous in the slightest, but the sheer intensity of the emotions she was feeling was overwhelming her, and she needed Santana to ground her. A part of her wanted to throw tradition to the wind and just walk down the hall, but a much larger part of her wanted to see Santana in her dress for the first time as she walked down the aisle.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Susan asked Brittany, rubbing her back. Brittany leaned back into her touch.

"I'm okay…feeling a lot of things, but they're all good. Just a lot" Brittany told her, clasping her hands together to stop them shaking.

"All that will melt away when you see her" Susan reassured. "You two have always been that way"

"Yeah" Brittany said, smiling. "I just can't wait to see her. I bet she's so beautiful"

Susan nodded. She had not seen Santana in her dress either because after weeks of searching, Santana had finally chosen to have a dress made for her, but she was sure it would be nothing short of gorgeous. Even before Brittany told them they were dating, Susan was constantly remarking on how beautiful Santana was. A beauty that had only grown with age.

The silence they had fallen into was broken by a knock on the door. Brittany turned round from looking at the clock in alarm. She still had three minutes. Her momentary panic intensified when she saw Puck's head poke through the door.

"Don't worry everything is fine, she's fine, wedding is still a go don't worry at all." He said quickly, seeing the worried look on both women's faces. "I was just hoping I could borrow Susan for a moment."

Susan frowned. "I have to be walking down the aisle in two minutes."

"Mum go. Just go." Brittany said, pushing Susan towards the door and trying not to throw up. When her mother left the room she sat down in her chair and took deep breaths, focusing on settling her stomach.

"What's the problem?" Susan asked as she and Puck walked down the hall.

"She's having family troubles. Anger at her parents choosing the wrong time to resurface. I figured she loves your family so much, you might be able to give her the motherly advice that her mum can't give her."

Susan sighed, feeling her own anger at the Lopez's rise, but nodded. She tried to smile at Maribel and Stephen as she past them to open the door, but didn't really look them in the eye. Maribel's sad expression, Puck noticed, deepened significantly as she put the pieces together, but he too didn't look at her long.

"Santana dear" Susan said as she entered, trying not to startle her. Santana was leaning forward against the dressing table, her head dropped, taking deep breaths. When she heard Susan's voice she spun around quickly.

"What? What's wrong with Brittany?"

"Nothing sweetie I'm here for you"

"Me?" Santana asked, looking at Puck with a raised eyebrow. Puck nodded, giving her a small smile.

"Gosh you look absolutely stunning Santana" Susan said, taking in Santana's appearance.

"Thank you" Santana said quietly, feeling for the first time like she had a parent in the room.

"Brittany just can't wait to see you. Gosh I can't wait now either seeing how beautiful you are, you're going to make me cry all my make-up off"

Santana laughed, felling very close to tears herself. She hadn't even told Susan what was wrong and she was already fixing it.

"I'm just so happy for you girls. I always knew you'd end up here Santana, and I'm so proud of you for not giving up." Susan was crying now, and even she was shocked by how heavily seeing Santana was affecting her.

"Susan…" Santana said softly, stepping closer to her.

"Oh… I don't know why I'm crying" she wiped under her eyes delicately, trying not to ruin her make-up. "You just….you're so strong and so special, and you've been a part of our family since you were 14, but Pierce and I are just so happy that it's going to be official Santana. Come here" she beckoned Santana closer to her and pulled her into a fierce hug. In Susan's arms Santana felt finally at peace. She felt properly and fully accepted.

Sniffing, Santana looked up at the clock. "You should go Susan. Thank you so much for coming."

"Santana, from today…call me mum" Susan said, giving Santana a kiss and turning to walk out. She stopped when she saw Maribel standing at the door, her eyes red from crying.

"I think…" Maribel broke off and cleared her throat, "I think we need to make a change" she said

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Brittany grasped her father's arm with a vice grip, feeling like her feet wanted nothing more than to trip her.

"Dad don't let me fall" she whispered.

"Never" he whispered back, taking the first step into the aisle. All of Brittany's family was beaming at her from the left, some looking like they'd already been crying, while Santana's family, those who had come, smiled at her politely, one or two cousins waved. "Breathe honey."

Brittany nodded, taking in a deep breath and focusing on the gazebo. Soon she would be standing right there, next to Santana and nothing else would matter. She felt her dad squeeze her hand a few times and smiled, taking comfort in his small gesture, and willing herself to relax. When she reached the front, she climbed the two steps and handed her bouquet to Quinn, who was grinning madly at her.

"Where's my mum?" she whispered. Quinn shrugged. She wanted to search the crowd for her mum, but then she heard the music pick up and instead turned to face the building she had just walked out of.

Not even a minute later, though to Brittany (and her stomach) it felt like an hour, she saw Santana's parents walking towards them. She frowned slightly, looking at Quinn. She shrugged again. Next came Puck, grinning as widely as Quinn and winking at a few girls in the crowd. When he finally reached the gazebo and took his place on the same step as Quinn he did a little dance, took Brittany's hand a kissed it. A few people in the crowd laughed, Quinn and Brittany did too. Suddenly everything went quiet, and Brittany turned her attention back to the start of the aisle. Her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest, and she had to grab Quinn's hand to steady herself. The anticipation was going to kill her.

Then, her heart practically stopped. She saw Santana walk up to the aisle, her arm linked with Brittany's mum, and she was sure she had never seen anything as beautiful as her before. Her grip on Quinn's hand tightened as she fought to restrain herself from running to Santana.

'Look up baby' she whispered to herself. Santana was clearly as nerve wrecked as Brittany was, because she had her bottom lip firmly gripped between her teeth and her eyes were fixed on the flowers in her hand. Susan smiled at Brittany, who nodded her head towards Santana, tears filling her eyes the closer she got.

Susan nudged Santana's side. "Look at her" she whispered. Santana closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then lifted her eyes, instantly looking into a sky blue that made her stop walking for a fraction of a second. Brittany gave a watery smile, having let the tears fall from her eyes.

Santana felt like everything had suddenly gone mute. She could see everyone, the band playing, the guests on either side of her, but she could not hear anything but the pounding of her heart. It was hammering so hard in her chest that she thought she might throw it up at any second. How was it possible for one human being to be so beautiful? She was so focused on Brittany that it came as a shock to her when Susan kissed her cheek and murmured "I love you" against her skin. Being startled out of her eye contact with Brittany seemed to restore function to the rest of her senses, and as Puck reached out to help her up the steps she turned for the first time to where her parents were sitting. Her mother gave her a small wave, tears still falling from her eyes, and Santana noticed with a jolt of surprise, that her father too, was crying. She wasn't given long to think about it though, as she felt Brittany take her hand.

"Hey sexy" Brittany said, grinning. Santana smiled.

"Hey gorgeous" she replied, bringing Brittany's hand to her mouth as she gazed at her. For a moment they stood there, looking deeply into each other's eyes, both unable to believe that they were finally living this reality.

"Well Hola a todos" a voice said from in front of them. Brittany and Santana looked away from each other and smiled, Quinn laughing beside them.

"Shall we begin?"

"Yes, please take it away" Brittany answered.

Holly Holiday smirked. "I thought you'd never ask."