Chapter 32

"I think you guys are stretching your luck" Quinn said, lifting her head from a laughing Kyler's stomach. She was sitting beside Santana on the floor of her living room apartment. When Santana had walked in, both boys had screamed and kicked madly from where they lay on the floor, Jesús rolling over onto his stomach and attempting to crawl to her. So far all he had managed to do was lift himself up for a few second while his legs moved frantically. They all expected Kyler to be the first to crawl, because he was getting closer to pulling himself forward, and crawling was only a step away from that. Santana had kissed Brittany as she dropped her bag and took off her shoes, and wasted no time in joining her sons on the floor.

After all the noise had died down and Kyler had agreed to be taken away from Santana by Quinn, though she kept him close to her, Santana had finally turned her attention to the adults. Brittany asked if she had been followed by any paparazzi, and when Santana had told her that there had been two cars that followed her here, they had started talking about how they were going to take the boys back home without being seen.

"What do you mean Q?" Brittany asked, looking up from her phone.

"I think, that you guys have had six months of privacy, and that's more than a lot of…in fact I think it's more than any celebrity parents get. I don't think you're going to get much more time, and it'll be horrible once they start speculating. They won't leave you alone, all of them trying to be the ones to break the story of Hollywood's favourite couple adopting kids."

Santana looked down at Jesús, who was attempting to stuff her fingers into his mouth. It wouldn't be safe for them to drive around if the media got into a frenzy like that, and she didn't want to risk it. She looked up at Brittany.

"What do you think baby?" she asked her.

Brittany shrugged. "I would want to keep them a secret for as long as possible, I don't want their pictures all over the media"

"Yeah" Santana agreed.

"But Quinn's right. We've been lucky. Maybe if we're the first ones to show them to the world it'll be less hysterical."

"Oh no" Quinn said in a baby voice as she tickled Kyler's stomach. "It'll be just as hysterical, maybe more. But that'll be from the fans. The paparazzi won't be trying to catch you hiding anything, they'll just want to take pictures. And maybe if they're sure you have kids in the car, they'll be a little less reckless."

Brittany groaned and resumed looking at her phone. Santana bent down and kissed Jesús's cheek, then got up and made to walk to the kitchen. As soon as she stood up Jesús rolled over, craning his neck to look at her.

"Ya vuelvo Jesús" she told him, but as she took a few steps away, he started crying. Brittany looked up sharply, thinking he had hurt himself. Santana came back into the room to find he had scooted himself backwards as he cried, so that he was almost at the wall. "What happened?" she asked Quinn, bending down to pick him up.

"Nothing" Quinn said, picking a pouting Kyler up and rubbing his back. "He just started crying when you walked away."

"Is it your gums mijo?" Santana asked him, but she had a feeling it wasn't. Jesús was back to being perfectly happy, banging his hands against her chest and pulling her hair.

"I don't think so" Brittany said, laughing and standing up to look at Jesús.

"He's barely cried all day" Quinn said, setting Kyler back down on the floor and handing him a toy to shake. "That's the first time he's really cried. Nearly gave me a heart attack, I thought you'd stepped on him or something."

"Jesús you naughty boy" Brittany said, petting his hair gently and kissing his head. "Why are you bullying mami so much?"

"What?" Quinn asked. "What do you mean?"

"We haven't been able to tell because Santana's always around, so we thought he was just always upset, but now, we've spent the whole day away from her." She paused and looked at Jesús. "And my suspicions have been confirmed." She said in a baby voice, kissing Jesús' cheek.

Santana frowned. "What suspicions?"

"He's fine. Maybe a little clingy, but he's fine. Give him to me for a second S." Santana handed Jesús to Brittany, still frowning. "It's why none of the teething stuff we read was supposed to help has worked, even though they worked on Kyler."

"B what are you talking about" Santana asked.

Britany looked at Jesús. He looked perfectly innocent, pulling on her hair and trying to put it into his mouth. "Where were you going?"

"Into the kitchen for some water" Santana said.

"Go ahead" Brittany said, keeping her eyes on Jesús. Santana hesitated for a moment, then walked out of the room. As she opened the door to the kitchen Jesús looked up from Brittany's hair. Brittany watched as he looked over her shoulder where Santana had been standing, then began to whine. It started as a quiet whimper, and then built into a louder shout of unintelligible syllables. "Don't come out Santana" Brittany shouted, as she heard Santana walking through the kitchen. After a few more seconds, Jesús's complaints turned into real cries, and he threw his head back and beat his hands in a tantrum. "Ok come out" she yelled, and Santana came hurrying back into the room.

"Jesús look it's mami" Brittany told him, rubbing his back. Jesús continued to cry.

"What happened?" Santana asked, now very confused. As soon as she spoke Jesús opened his eyes and looked around for her. When he saw her, he stopped his hysterical crying, and went back to his previous yells. Brittany smiled and shook her head, but didn't move.

"What happened?" Santana asked again, moving closer to Jesús. "Mijo what's wrong?" she asked, putting her hand on his back above Brittany's. Jesús stopped his complaints, and put his hands on her cheeks, babbling loudly. Santana frowned and looked at Brittany, who was laughing.

"I told you he's fine." She said, bending down and placing Jesús on the floor on his stomach. He began to kick and squeal happily, reaching for a toy that was a foot or two in front of him.

"I don't understand" Santana said, looking from her now happy son to Brittany. "What do you mean he's fine?"

"He's playing you" Quinn said, laughing as she retrieved a toy Kyler had thrown.

"He's not playing her don't say it like that Q" Brittany said, fighting to keep from smiling. "He just seems to want you to always be in his line of vision."

"I still don't understand."

"Well, he seems to be fine if you're in the room, even if you're not holding him, like now." They looked down at him and saw he had now turned onto his back. "But if you walk out, or he can't see you anymore, he becomes…a little less fine." Santana frowned at Brittany, ignoring Quinn's laughter. Brittany nodded, pressing her lips together, and Santana smiled.

"Are you telling me that our six month old son has decided that I can't go anywhere without his permission?" she asked. Brittany giggled and nodded.

"It would seem so." She said.

"He must have figured out what a softie you are" Quinn said. "Your brother is so smart Ky isn't he?" she said, rubbing her nose against Kyler's.

"He's six months old, and I'm not a softie"

"Then why doesn't he do it to Britt?" Quinn asked, looking up at her. Santana didn't have an answer. "You've always been whipped Santana, now it's just by your son"

"Fu-"

"Santana" Brittany said sharply, cutting her off. Santana stopped herself, but narrowed her eyes at Quinn, who was laughing harder.

"I rest my case" Quinn said.

"No way" Santana said, shaking her head. "He's six months old."

"Try it" Brittany said. "Jesús…Jesús bubbah look at mami" Brittany said in a sing-song voice, dropping to her knees and turning him around to look up at Santana. He smiled at her and continued shaking the toy in his hand. Santana looked at him for a few seconds, then walked backwards. Jesús' eyes followed her, tilting his head back as far as he could, then he began to whine. Santana stopped walking. Jesús took a moment to flip onto his stomach, then he stared at her. When she didn't move, he turned his attention to Brittany who was still on her knees beside him and tried to drag himself towards her. Brittany tried to distract him, shifting into his view of Santana, but he only shifted to the side as well, craning his neck every few seconds to see if she was still there. After a while, Santana took a few more steps back so that he wouldn't be able to see her unless Brittany picked him up. It took a while, but finally he noticed she wasn't there. There was a second of silence, and then he began to scream. Brittany and Quinn burst out laughing, but Santana's jaw dropped open. As Brittany picked him up, still laughing, and he saw Santana, she walked towards him, dropping to her knees as well.

"Jesús" she said in disbelief. "Pensé que éramos un equipo." She picked him from Brittany and held him so he was standing on her thighs. "Qué estás haciendo?" she asked, as he bounced up and down happily, like he just hadn't been screaming.

"He has you wrapped around his finger" Quinn said. "Even Ky is laughing at you." Brittany grinned.

"On the bright side, we don't have to worry ourselves sick about him being in pain." Brittany said. Santana wasn't looking at either of them, she was gazing at Jesús in amazement.

"Don't be so surprised Santana, he is your son after all. One of them was bound to be as manipulative as you." Quinn said, returning her attention Kyler. Brittany looked at the stunned expression on Santana's face.

"Don't worry about it baby, it just means your presence comforts him." She said.

"No I know…I know. But Quinn's right. That's something I would do. It's something I already do if you think about it B"

Brittany frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You said it yourself. I always look for you when I enter a room, and I always keep my eye on you. I always know where you are. He's doing the same thing."

"Yeah well, like Quinn said, he is your son." Santana hugged Jesús closer and clenched her jaw.

"But…how can he be so much like me when…I mean…he isn't…mine…" she said hesitantly, looking at Brittany guiltily. "I mean he is…he is I know he is I just mean-"

"I know what you mean" Brittany said, cutting off what she knew was going to be a nervous ramble. "Santana, there's more to a person than genetics. He spends almost every minute of his life around us, they both do, and something like, feeling safe around certain people isn't genetic, it's learned. Yeah, he might be only six months old, but even he can feel how much you love him. He feels it in the way you hold him, and talk to him, and sing to him. You spent three nights not sleeping so you could make sure he did, and those kind of things rub off on someone, even if they're six months old. We didn't make them, but they're our sons. The older they get the more like us they'll become because of the subconscious things we pass on to them. Think about Ashley."

Santana smiled and put Jesús down on the carpet. "Sometimes I like to think they look a little like us too" she said quietly.

"A little?" Quinn scoffed. "They have the same dimples as you Santana. When they smile it looks almost exactly like yours. And not to mention the fact that they have the same eyes. Then there's the fact that their skin is a little lighter than yours and their hair is brown littered with what I'm assuming is gonna be blonde. Christ, it's like they're a mix between the two of you." She said all of this without looking at them, pointing out each thing on Kyler as she spoke, making him laugh.

Brittany raised her eyebrows. "Really?" she asked.

"What do you mean 'really'?" Quinn asked in surprise. "You mean to tell me that you can't see it either?"

Brittany shook her head. "I know they look like Santana but…I never…" she trailed off.

"Well…there you go. Now you know. And it's not just the way they look either. They both prefer to see other people laughing than to laugh themselves. Every time they see someone smile they smile back, and the fastest way to make them laugh is to look like you're having the time of your life doing something. They're as sweet and loving as you are Britt." Brittany grinned at Santana.

"What would we do without Quinn?" she asked, bending to kiss Jesús' head.

"You'd be really lost?" Quinn suggested, standing up. "Anyway, now that we've reinforced the fact that Santana is a big ol' softie, can we go back to talking about when to announce the expansion of your family?"

Santana blinked, momentarily confused, before remembering that they had been talking about telling their fans about the twins.

"Oh yeah" Brittany said, moving back to the chair she had been sitting on. "I have an idea."

********************************************************************************

"Alright are you ready?" Quinn asked them. Santana and Brittany nodded. "Ok, I'll nod when it's recording." They nodded again. "One, two…" she nodded. Santana jumped up from where she was squatting on the floor. Quinn supressed a laugh, contenting herself with shaking her head.

"Hellooo" she said, smiling brightly and flicking her hair from her face. "Once again, my hair is a mess, but I'm just chilling, so…" she shrugged. "Bear with me now" she said, leaning forward and whispering conspiratorially. "It was Brittany's idea-"

"Hey" Brittany said from below her where she was squatting.

"Sorry B."

"Can we get on with it?" Quinn said, forgetting she was supposed to be quiet.

"Right. Ok. I'm Santana Lopez-pierce, 24 years old, gorgeous" she flipped her hair and winked at the phone Quinn was holding. "And married." Brittany jumped up beside her as she said it.

"Helllooo" Brittany said cheerfully, similar to the way Santana had done it. "I'm Brittany Lopez-Pierce" she glanced at Santana in the split second between saying Lopez and Pierce, like she always did. "24 years old, genius" she said the last word like it was obvious, "and married." She grinned at the camera. As she said married, Santana bent down and picked up one of the twins who had been lying on the floor by their feet. They had changed them out of the grey onesies they had both been wearing, and they were both now wearing red long sleeved shirts with black teddy bears on it, and black pants. They had tried to comb their hair, but it was both too soft and too curly to really be tamed. In any case, Quinn thought it was cuter shaggy as it was.

"This is… Kyler Lopez-Pierce" Santana said, with a grin to match Brittany's. "Six months and ten days, adorable" she kissed his cheeks as she held him against her chest facing the camera. Quinn was making faces at him, trying to get him to laugh, but all he did was crack a smile, craning his head back to look at Santana.

"This, is Jesús Lopez-Pierce" Brittany said, raising him up and holding him the same way Santana was holding Kyler. "Six months and ten days old, dashingly handsome" she kissed the top of his head. Jesús and Kyler were now looking at each other, Jesús was reaching for Kyler's face, and Brittany shifted them closer together. As he touched his brother's face, Jesús giggled, and Kyler babbled loudly, leaning back into Santana's chest to keep his face out of reach.

"They're twins" Santana said. "Our twins" she clarified. Quinn laughed.

"Santana and I have decided that it's time to tell you all, because you're all so awesome to us, and have shown so much love and support to Santana"

"To both of us"

"Yeah" Brittany agreed. "And we know you'll show just as much love and support to our little boys." At the perfect moment, Quinn managed to get Jesús to laugh, and the sound of his laugh triggered Kyler's own adorable giggles. They seemed to be spurring each other on, each laughing harder at the other's giggles, and it was both so adorable and infectious that Santana and Brittany started laughing as well.

"I guess they're happy to meet you" Brittany said, catching her breath.

"This is the best introduction we could have asked for." Santana said, turning Kyler around to hold him better as he wiggled around, laughing. "Bye guys"

"Bye" Brittany said, waving Jesús' hand at the phone for him.

Quinn ended the video and handed the phone to Santana, taking Kyler from her. Santana sat down on the couch while Brittany put Jesús on the floor next to where Quinn was now sitting.

"Come here" Santana said, patting the seat beside her. Brittany sat. They watched the video again and again, laughing and joking and replaying certain moments. Finally, Santana decided it was enough, and uploaded it to her Instagram story, tagging Brittany and Quinn. "There. You can upload it to yours Britt, if you want to." Brittany pulled out her phone and was lost behind it for a few minutes. "I'm going to get the water I never got to" she said, and Brittany nodded, locking her phone and crawling towards Jesús, bending over him so that her hair fell like a curtain around him. He shrieked with delight and kicked his legs frantically, unaware of Santana's exit from the room. Brittany didn't move until she felt Santana drag her fingers down her spine.

"Why is everything you guys do so sexual?" Quinn asked, dragging Jesús towards her by his leg. "Can't you tone it down in front of your infant sons?"

"They don't know anything" Santana said, smirking as she sat back down.

"And it wasn't sexual" Brittany said, joining Santana on the couch. She was blushing slightly.

"Yeah right. I bet you're all hot and bothered now" Quinn scoffed. "Your mummies are nasty and disgusting" she said, leaning over the two boys who were looking up at her. "Your mummies have too much sex-"

"Quinn!" Santana shrieked. Brittany burst out laughing.

"I thought you said they don't know anything" Quinn said, lifting her head.

"That doesn't mean you should say stuff like that to them" Santana said, annoyed.

"You curse around them all the time" Quinn protested.

Santana had no reply to this. "That doesn't…you can't…it's different" she stuttered. Then she looked at Brittany for help. Brittany pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. "I'm their mother, and I don't want you saying things like that to them." she finished, crossing her arms.

"Well said my love" Brittany said, kissing her temple. "But I think the point of this conversation, is that we're not going to continue saying any curse words like that around them. Any of us." She looked at Santana. Quinn laughed as Santana sighed in defeat.

"Yeah, I had a feeling you'd find a point like that." she said. "Anyway, you're right. They're going to start picking up words soon so it's better we start now."

"Good luck with that Santana." Quinn said. "That's half your vocabulary." They all silently watched the two boys, one eating his toy and the other pulling on Quinn's fingers. Quinn looked up and smirked at Santana. "Your becoming a mother has become my greatest source of entertainment Santana."

**********************************************************************************

Brittany woke up feeling very warm. She was sweating and uncomfortable, and the usual comforting feel of Santana's body beside her was now smothering her in a pulsing heat. She got up from the bed and walked out into the hallway to where the thermostat was positioned on the wall by the top of the stairs.

"90 degrees" she whispered to herself in horror. How the hell did it get to 90 degrees? She lowered it to 77 degrees, and then went to check on the babies. They were both sweating, wrapped in their usual fluffy blankets, their hair matted down. Brittany pulled apart their blankets and saw them both sigh, settling into a more comfortable sleep. She watched them sleep for a moment, then went back to her room. Santana was sleeping on her stomach, her hair splayed over both their pillows, and her body completely uncovered. Brittany shook her head. If she was so hot, why had she turned the heat up so high? Covering her up with the duvet, Brittany slid back into bed and wrapped herself around Santana.

The next morning, Santana woke up very early. It was still dark outside, and not even the babies were close to stirring. She lay in bed for a few minutes, watching Brittany as she hadn't been able to do for a while, then she got out of bed and made her way downstairs. As she took her first step down the stairs, she glanced at the thermostat and frowned. Why on earth was it so cold? Turning it up to 90, she nodded in satisfaction and descended the stairs. To her surprise, it was only two hours before Brittany woke up.

"Santana are you sick?" Brittany asked as she walked into the kitchen, making Santana jump.

"Babe you scared me" she said, spinning around. "Why are you up?"

"It's boiling hot. Are you sick?" Brittany asked again.

"No. I'm not sick, and I don't want the babies to be. It's freezing outside."

"Yeah…outside. Inside the house we can control how warm it is. They don't need to be extra hot to make up for the cold outside."

"I don't want to take any chances."

"Santana have you checked in on them?"

"No"

"They're sweating through their pyjamas. They'll get heat stroke if you keep turning it up so high" Santana frowned, but nodded. "Why are you up?" Brittany asked in a gentler voice.

Santana didn't answer immediately. She turned back around and continued arranging the ingredients on the counter top. Only when she had finished did she answer.

"It's New Year's eve. We have the brunch thing later, I'm getting things ready."

"You don't need to do that so early." Brittany said, pulling some chocolate syrup towards her and dribbling a little onto her finger, leaning on the kitchen island.

"I know I don't need to Brittany, but I want to. Is that ok with you?" Santana said in a cool voice. Brittany frowned and stood up, her finger halfway to her mouth.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, unless you think there is, in which case, by all means feel free to tell me."

Brittany frowned further, cocking her head and staring at Santana's back. "I don't understand."

Santana gripped the counter and took in a deep breath. "It's early. Just go back to bed, and I'll have some coffee, and when you wake up again I'll be over it."

"Over what Santana?" she didn't notice the syrup dripping of her finger onto the counter.

"Forget it Brittany just go to bed." She resumed unpacking and arranging ingredients and mixing bowls. Brittany walked around the island and stood a few feet behind her.

"Tell me what it is so we can talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about it Brittany just go to bed."

"Stop telling me to go to bed. I'm not going, so just stop." Brittany snapped.

"Fine" Santana said, clenching her jaw. She took out a measuring cup and filled it with water, then poured it into a bowl.

"Why don't you want to talk about it when it's clearly bothering you so much?"

"Because I don't want to Brittany. I'm busy."

"Stop calling me that" Brittany said, her voice raising a bit as she got angry. Santana turned around.

"What?"

"Brittany"

"That's your name"

"You're doing it to be passive aggressive." Brittany said, crossing her arms. Santana threw her hands up and turned around, aggressively mixing the water with some flour.

"Great. Why don't you give me a list of things I'm allowed to do, and I'll just follow that."

"I don't know what you're talking about Santana just spit it out. It's too early for mind games."

"Then go back to bed" Santana nearly shouted bitterly, throwing in more flour so aggressively that it spilled all over the counter. Brittany groaned, grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her around forcefully.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, keeping a tight grip on Santana's hand.

"What's wrong with me is the fact that all week all you've been doing is telling me not to do things. Don't pick him up Santana, don't feed him that Santana, don't dress him like that Santana, don't turn up the heat Sant-"

"I get it"

"Do you? Because I feel like I'm just here to help you raise our kids the way you want them to be raised. I'm not allowed to do things my own way."

"That's not true"

"Yes it is. I told you I wasn't comfortable doing that…self-soothing…let them cry themselves to sleep shit, but did you listen, no you didn't. I told you I wanted to start feeding them more of the puree stuff and less milk, but did you listen, no. I told you I don't think we're dressing them warm enough when we go out, but you didn't listen. You just keep telling me that I'm worrying too much, that they're fine."

"You are worrying too much. And it's not that I'm not listening, I just know that it's not really what you think. You just read too much about parenting on the internet and you think you have to be like that, but you don't. You have your own great instincts, if you'd just trust them."

"Let me ask you a question. When did something like me worrying, become so easy for you to brush aside?" Santana asked, narrowing her eyes. Brittany shook her head, but before she could speak, Santana cut her off. "I'm telling you, that I'm worried about the emotional scaring of leaving them to cry for who even knows how long, and you don't care. 'Oh don't listen to Santana, she's just a psycho mother. She doesn't know anything'."

"Santana don't say that. It's not true." Brittany cried, feeling tears building in her eyes. "I did the research, I talked to my mum about it. Everything I could find said the boys would be completely fine."

"I'm not talking about the boys' emotional scaring. I know they'll be fine. I'm talking about ME" Santana yelled. "We're talking about me right now Brittany. The fact that you don't listen to how I want to dress them, how I want to carry them or treat them. Of course I know they'll be fine. Unlike you I trust their other mother's ability to raise them."

"Stop…" Brittany paused and changed course. "I trust you. Of course I trust you Santana. You're an amazing mum. You didn't tell me….every time we talk about it, we talk about the boys…I didn't know it was about you." Brittany took a small step forward, her voice breaking as she finished talking. Santana looked at her and softened. She didn't even know where the anger had come from, but it left just as suddenly as it had come. She closed the gap between them, knowing Brittany wouldn't do it when she thought Santana was still mad, and put her arms loosely around Brittany's waist. Brittany didn't look up, but continued to stare at the floor. Putting a finger under her chin, Santana lifted Brittany's head.

"I thought you knew and didn't care." She said quietly. Brittany shook her head a tear falling down her cheek. "Don't cry Britt." She said, kissing the tear before it could reach her chin. Brittany looked up.

"How would I know that?" Brittany asked. "And how could you think I didn't care?"

"You've always just know" Santana said, shrugging. Brittany put her arms around Santana's neck and rested their forehead's together.

"You have to tell me. If it seems like I'm not noticing something, or I don't care about something, you have to tell me."

"I never had to tell you before" Santana said, not liking the idea of constantly having to talk about her feelings.

"We didn't have twins that kept me sleep deprived and demanded so much of my attention before" Brittany retorted. "As much as I love being able to tell what you're thinking by how you dress, or how you look at me, or the change in your voice when you say something, we have to accept that things aren't the same anymore. Having twins changed things, and maybe one day, when they're a bit older I'll be able to go back to being able to do all those things, but maybe not. We don't know. I don't want you to think that that means I don't care about you or trust you or love you."

"I know you love me" Santana said quickly, not wanting that thought to stay with Brittany for even a second longer. "I know you'll always love me."

"Good. But we need to get better at communicating. We're used to having silence and time to ourselves for us to communicate non-verbally, but we don't anymore, so you have to talk to me Santana." Santana closed her eyes and sighed. This wasn't going to be fun, but she knew Brittany was right. Now that she thought about it, it was absurd for her to think that Brittany didn't care about her feelings. It was the not talking about it, the doubt and old insecurities that had made her jump to the most negative possibility.

"You're right." She finally said.

"I'm serious" Brittany said, lifting her head and looking into Santana's eyes. Santana smiled, her eyebrows raised.

"Me too." Brittany looked at her for a few seconds, then smiled. She leaned down and kissed Santana's lips, tracing her tongue over Santana's top lip, but when Santana opened her mouth she pulled back.

"Don't start something we can't finish Lopez-Pierce." She said, stepping back and winking. Santana grinned.

"Fine, but you're the one who started it Lopez-Pierce." Santana said, turning back to her bowl and throwing everything into the bin bedside the counter.

"Why'd you throw it out?" Brittany asked, sitting on an island chair.

"I wasn't really making anything, I was just gonna take them out for later, but then I had to seem busy."

Brittany shook her head. "You can be such a handful sometimes." She said, picking the chocolate syrup and dribbling it on her finger again.

"You love me" Santana said, turning around to face her. Brittany stuck out her tongue and licked the chocolate off her finger, then grinned at Santana.

"Very much." She said. Santana swallowed thickly, her eyes on Brittany's finger.

"Damn Quinn, she was right."

"About what?" Brittany asked.

"Everything we do is so sexual"