Chapter 28

When they entered the office, a very bored looking woman, a little older than Santana and Brittany, told them to have a seat without even looking at them. They had barely sat down however, when a middle aged woman emerged from a dark brown door on the left, looking determinately around the room. When her eyes landed on Santana, a huge smile crossed her face, crinkling her eyes so that they barely looked open.

"Santana Lopez" she said in a very heavy accent, brandishing her arms wide. Santana stood up quickly and moved towards her, though she stopped just out of her reach. She smiled.

"Lopez-Pierce" she said, looking back at Brittany, who was standing a few feet from her. The woman looked startled for only a split second, then she was smiling even wider and nodded. Her assistant, or secretary, or receptionist, whatever that woman's position was, had stood up, her eyes wide.

"Of course! Please forgive me. Misses Lopez-Pierce" she pushed open her door and stepped asides so there was room for Santana to walk past. "I hope you didn't have to wait too long?" she glared at her assistant who shook her head quickly.

"No we only just got here. Thank you" Brittany said, walking in behind Santana. They heard her say something to the other woman, then she was walking in and closing the door.

"The social worker, her name is Sara, she will be joining us in a few minutes" Brittany and Santana nodded. "But I think we shall start without her. If that's okay with you."

"Yeah. Okay" Santana said.

"How are you both?" she asked warmly.

"We're ok" Santana answered. She looked at Brittany. "A little nervous truthfully, but excited to get the whole thing moving."

"No need to be nervous. I know, because you have your own lawyer, something I completely understand, that it may feel to you like I am working against you, for the state. It isn't like this. I am essentially working for you. It will be me handling the adoption, though your lawyer has definitely done a lot, I won't deny. He has made my job a lot easier. That's why this meeting is happening so soon"

Santana felt considerably more relaxed, and smiled genuinely for the first time.

"I also cannot pretend that I don't know who are, and when I heard the story of how you came to know the boys you want to adopt, I knew I had to take this case."

Her confession was followed by silence. Neither Brittany nor Santana knew what they were supposed to say to this. It was far from awkward though, the lawyer seemed completely content to just stare at Santana. After a few seconds Santana glanced at Brittany.

"Uh…" She said hesitantly, still not sure what to say. This seemed sufficient enough to stop the lawyer's scrutinous gaze though, as she looked away from Santana and down at a file.

"Well, I have all the information I need about how you crossed paths with the children so that's fine. We've done an extensive search for any family or close friends of either parents, but we haven't found any. We had enough of a job tracking down who the father was, and when we did, we discovered that his parents died in an accident when he was very young. He has no siblings. We haven't found anyone who is willing to say anything about any of them, though this does not surprise me, considering the violent ways they both died."

"What if a best friend or something shows up later in the process, claiming the twins or something?" Santana asked. The lawyer shook her head quickly.

"They wouldn't have any more of a claim than you do, since there are no wills, or any other way to prove that either parent would have preferred that they have them. What's more is that the judge will be very hesitant to allow the twins to be taken back to the favela that has now claimed the lives of both their parents and one set of their grandparents as far as we can tell."

Santana nodded, feeling calmer still. Brittany took her hand.

"So, really what I need from you is a detailed explanation of your lives. Your jobs, your home life, your friends, your neighbourhood," she stopped here, as if trying not to laugh, "any criminal records, things like that. This you will give as soon as the social worker gets here, since she needs the same information."

Brittany and Santana nodded.

"That's all?" Brittany asked in surprise.

"Well, more or less. I need more information, but like I said, your lawyer is very thorough. I have transcripts of your years in school, proof of your achievements, character reports, a current police check, and your financial statements. Even…" she said with great amusement, "The sign in sheet of the hospital NICU, showing how often you visited the twins."

Santana smiled.

"Mostly I wanted us to have this meeting so that I could speak with you myself. I found it odd to be working on a case, recommending adoption for people I had never met."

"That makes sense." Brittany said.

There was another silence, and again the lawyer stared at Santana. Thankfully though, it was interrupted by loud knocking on the door, which opened only seconds after.

"She's here" the harassed looking woman from the front desk said. The lawyer thanked her and told her they were ready. A woman who looked even older than the lawyer, but a lot kinder, (Santana was reminded of a sweet grandma) walked into the room. She spoke in rapid Portuguese to the lawyer, who stood up and shook her hand, then she turned to face Brittany and Santana.

"Hello Misses Lopez-Pierce" she said warmly, and Brittany's mouth actually dropped open. She was speaking in a very thick Australian accent. Santana frowned, but recovered quickly.

"Hi, very nice to meet you"

"You're Australian?" Brittany asked, trying to make it sound conversational. The nudge in her side from Santana told her she had not succeeded. The woman kept smiling though.

"Yes I am. Can't get rid of the accent as hard as I try, but it doesn't usually matter. I speak Portuguese most of the time." She told them, chuckling lightly and sitting down.

Brittany bobbed her head, impressed. The lawyer took this time to explain to the social worker what the plan was.

"Great" she said, still smiling. Santana decided she liked her. "I'll just listen then, and then if I have any questions, we'll get to them after."

"Sounds good" Santana said.

"Ok then please begin with telling us about both of your careers."

An hour later, Brittany and Santana felt like every aspect of their lives had been put on display. Both women in front of them had been silently taking notes as they spoke, but they remained listening intently, nodding where appropriate, smiling occasionally. Finally when they finished, there was a silence in which the two professionals looked over their notes.

"You sound like you lead very interesting lives" the social worker finally said. The lawyer seemed to beam at this, momentarily confusing Santana.

"Fairly interesting. There are boring days" Brittany said, forcing her eyes away from the odd way the lawyer was looking at them. The social worker gave a polite chuckle.

"My only concern," she said slowly, and Santana refocused on her instantly. "Is where the twins will fit into all of this"

Santana frowned. "What do you mean?"

The social worker hesitated for a moment, choosing her words. "I mean that, you are both very successful in your respective fields, fields which demand very many hours of your day, am I wrong?"

There was no denying it, so Santana nodded.

"Indeed, and this is not a criticism at all" she said quickly, Santana's frown deepened as Brittany's grip on her hand tightened. "You are in the middle of an adoption, and you are not even able to be fully present."

"That's because I planned the tour before I had the boys in my life. We made it as tight as we could so we could get more done, and it wasn't a problem at the time because I didn't have any other responsibilities. Since we met the twins that's already changed we've spent every minute we could with them"

"And that meant flying across the world" Brittany added.

"From now on though, all planning will be based around them and what they need. My contract ends in two weeks, and I've already talked to my lawyer about the potential ways we'll need to change it. Brittany has too, since she's not on any contract right now."

"What about tours though? Are you planning on taking them with you? Hiring nannies? Leaving them with family?"

"We've talked about it" Santana said slowly.

"We decided that we would not be touring anymore. Maybe local ones, so we could drive or fly there and be back within the day, but that would be much later on when the boys are much older."

The social worker smiled, and Brittany felt some of her nervousness fall away.

"Have you had much interaction with kids?"

"My sister is ten years younger than me, so we babysat her all the time from the time she was four, but otherwise no. Not really."

"Are you prepared in any way? Having twins is a lot different from having one child."

Brittany smirked and looked at Santana. Since leaving Brazil, Santana had read what had to be every article there ever was on raising twins and raising boys. She was now about three books into a growing pile of books she kept buying online.

"That depends on what you mean by 'any way'" Santana said. "We're reading as much as we can on raising twins, we've got a cart full of clothes, bottles, cribs, diapers, mats, blankets, carriers all those things, just waiting to be ordered when it's official, we've been thinking of names and we've started looking at bigger houses with more space for them to play and stuff when they get older."

Even the lawyer seemed impressed by this. She smiled wider and scribbled something down. Brittany squeezed Santana's arm affectionately.

"Are you planning on telling the boys where they are from?"

"Definitely." Brittany said. "When they ask questions, we'll answer them as honestly as we can."

"We'll wait until they're at least teenagers to tell them the really…upsetting stuff" Santana said. The social worker nodded in understanding.

"Have you told anyone about your intention to adopt?" The lawyer asked this time.

"No" Santana said. "We told Quinn and Noah, the friends who wrote the character witnesses, that we were starting to think about having kids and stuff, and that we'd gotten a lawyer to help us get started, so we'd be ready when we got back home. The only people who know are the two bodyguards who were with us when we found their mother, my manager and my assistant."

"And we've had them sign a contract, so they can't say anything. We don't think they would, but we are not taking any risks"

"Why's that? Why not have everyone know, it's a good thing right?" The social worker asked.

"An amazing thing yes. But if it were to get out in the media, especially so soon after the hype and craze of the tour, I don't think the boys would have much peace. I fully believe that fans and paparazzi would follow us to the hospital, some might try get in and see them."

"And we thought about getting body guards, since we're going to have one for them when we get back home, but our lawyer said we can't do that until they're officially ours." Brittany said, and she sounded slightly resentful.

The social worker's eyes widened. "You plan on getting body guards?"

"For sure" Santana said. "There are rules already about the paparazzi and children, so they're pretty safe, but like Britt and I said, we aren't taking any chances. You know how people always go to touch or pick up kids they think are cute" she grimaced at the thought, "No me gusta. I won't be having any of that."

The social worker laughed and dropped her pen.

"What?" Brittany asked, slightly alarmed.

"I don't need to write anymore. You two are already those boys' parents. You've thought of everything, you've made arrangements to drastically change your lives without even batting an eye, you've spent thousands of dollars to fly across the world to see them, sometimes only for a few hours of one day, and you're concerned about things like strangers touching your babies. You are already so protective of them that there is nothing else to call it but maternal. I will be making my recommendation for adoption by the end of the day tomorrow."

The lawyer gasped, then flipped quickly through her calendar.

"This will be very quick" she said. "If the recommendation from the social worker is in by tomorrow, I can get us in front of a judge in…" she paused and flipped some more. "A month" she said, looking up at Brittany and Santana.

"A month?" Santana asked aghast. They had been told to expect three to four months to be allowed to take the wins out of the country, and seven to eight for the entire adoption. Yet now here they were, two months later, being told it would only be another month. Brittany felt her heart rate increase. It all seemed too good to be true.

"Yes. I work with this judge often. He likes to keep his plate clean, and like I told you, I've taken a keen interest to this case. I'll tell him that this is a quick case, everything we could ever possibly need is in this file" she patted the black file in front of her. "He'll be pleased to not have to schedule it for months away."

Brittany felt close to tears. "Oh my god" Santana said in a whisper. "So by September…."

"You should have two two-and-a-half month old dashing boys sharing your last name" the social worker said.

Santana's head dropped to her lap into her open palms. Brittany rubbed at her eyes, trying to keep from crying. They were in a state of shock that rendered them completely speechless. Santana was trying hard to absorb this information into her brain, while simultaneously reminding herself to breathe. In a month, just one month, her entire world would change.

Of course her world had already changed. From the second she had laid eyes on both of those boys in the hospital, something had shifted inside of her. Every moment from then on was filled with thoughts of them. How they were, how much they'd grown, if they were sleeping, if they were happy. No matter what she was doing, she was thinking of them. On top of that, was the horrible feeling of being away from them. The closest she could come to describing it was how she had felt when she had gone to Louisville and Brittany had stayed in Lima. The feeling of leaving your heart behind. The difference though, was that when she had left Brittany, she had felt sad. She missed Brittany terribly every day, she cried, she lashed out at the people around her. She was miserable. But now, she not only missed the twins, but she felt unsettled. It was like living with constant anxiety, as if there was something she was supposed to be doing but she couldn't remember what it was. Her stomach would give great sudden lurches and drag her attention away from what she was doing as she worried about the boys. She knew of course, that they were perfectly safe in the hospital, but she couldn't help but feel like they would be safer if she was with them. All in all, the feeling was terrible, and now she was sitting in an office, being told that she was only going to have to endure it for one more month. Two weeks of which she knew would pass in a blur, much as the last month had, as she toured the US.

She sat up and looked to her side. Brittany was looking up at the ceiling, her hands clasped tightly together and tears streaming down her face. She was murmuring so quietly that it didn't even sound like any words were coming out at all, merely a long quiet, hiss. Santana prised Brittany's hands apart and took them in her own. The action made her go quiet, and close her eyes, then after a few minutes, she looked at Santana, no longer crying. They looked at each other, silently communicating as they often did, then with a small smile, Brittany turned to the social worker.

"I don't even know how we can thank you." She turned to the lawyer. "Both of you" she added. The lawyer smiled toothily.

"Don't thank us yet. We can celebrate once you have them with you."

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When Santana was four years old, she got into her first fight with her mother. It was not one of those cute moments where the parents watched in amusement as the child tried to prove a point, but a loud screaming match in Spanish.

Santana had wanted her mother to buy her a dress when they had been at the mall, something her mother had promised her she would do, but then she had been called into work, and they had been forced to rush out of the mall without the dress. On the drive to her abuela's house Santana had been silent. She hadn't thrown a tantrum, cried, whined, or indeed shown any sign of anger at her situation. This had troubled Maribel to no end, because in her daughter's entire life, she had never kept her emotions silent. She always proclaimed her happiness, sadness or anger loudly, making sure everyone in her life knew how she was feeling. Sometimes she would call her parents at work, or her abuela at home, or her favourite aunt who lived across the country, just to inform them of her mood. So now that Santana was silent, Maribel was worried. She watched her in the rear view mirror, silently looking out of the window with her little arms crossed over her chest. She wasn't even frowning. There was just a blank expression on her face. A very cold, blank expression, and the second they reached her mother-in-law's house, Santana unbuckled herself from her booster seat, opened the door and jumped out of the car, without looking at her mother once. Maribel called after her of course, hurrying to get out of the car and follow, but Santana didn't turn back. Alma Lopez opened the door and watched the scene in front of her with mild amusement. When Santana reached her, she picked her up and raised a hand to stop Maribel from coming further up the driveway.

"No se preocupe. Yo la tengo" she said calmly. Maribel stopped.

"Santana" she said angrily, from her position a few feet away. Santana made no indication that she had heard her. She continued to look past her grandmother, at the flower bed beside the door. Alma smiled, though Santana didn't see, then she turned to look at Santana.

"Escúchame. Tu madre te está llamando. No seas grosero. Contestarle." She said sharply to Santana. Santana didn't move for a few seconds, then, as if deciding she could not risk annoying her grandmother, she turned to her mother. There was anger on her face now, and not an adorable anger. Maribel frowned at her daughter, noticing that she looked much older all of a sudden.

"Santana, you can't just run out of the car like that" she said. Santana looked at her, then looked at her grandmother, who shook her head.

"Ok" she said, still looking at Alma.

"Disculpa a tu madre" Alma told her gently. Santana narrowed her eyes, but tuned back to her mother.

"Sorry Mami" she said in a quiet voice. Maribel nodded, sighing deeply.

"I'll see you later Santana. I won't be long I promise." As the words left her mouth, Santana seemed to be unable to control herself any longer. Tears sprung from her eyes so suddenly that Alma was startled, looking from Santana to Maribel in utter confusion.

"Mija" Maribel said, rushing forward. Santana started screaming, squirming in Alma's arms as she tried to get away from her mother.

"Santana, ¿qué te pasa?" she shrieked, trying desperately to hold onto her struggling grandchild. Finally, she let her fall to the floor, and Santana ran several meters away from them. Maribel stared at her, her eyes wide and her hands shaking.

"You promise? You Promise?" Santana screamed in Spanish. "You're promises don't mean anything. You always promise me things but you're a liar!"

Alma's eyes widened in shock. "Don't talk to your mother that way" she yelled, also in Spanish, walking forward. Santana didn't even flinch. She continued to glare at her mother.

"Santana, I have to work. That doesn't make me a liar. I can still buy you the dress another time."

"You promised to buy me a dress, you promised we would have a girls' day, alone, the whole day. You promised that you wouldn't go to work." Santana screamed. Her tiny four year old body seemed unable to contain the fury within her. She was shaking violently now. Maribel tried to move forward, her heart wrenching as she watched the pain take over her only child. Alma stopped in her tracks, looking back at Maribel as understanding washed over her.

"Santana, sometimes grown-ups have to change plans. You're too young to understand. But we can always do it another day." Maribel said, trying to soothe her. Santana was already shaking her head.

"I don't want to do it another day. I don't want to do it ever. I don't want to see you again. Just leave me here, I'll stay with abuela forever." She was quite hysterical now, but she stood her ground. It was like she was refusing to let her body collapse. Alma stepped closer to her, tears in her eyes.

"Don't speak to me like that Santana Marie. I am going to work, and then I'm going to come pick you up later, when you're less upset. You are four years old, and you can't make decisions like that."

Santana screamed, then coughed and choked. It was so horrible to look at that Alma actually turned away. She was shaking now too, completely unsure what to do. She took a tentative step closer to Santana, and seeing that she was not going to object, picked her up. Santana cried, sobbed, into Alma's neck, clinging to her with all her strength. Her entire body shook violently as she cried, and Alma had to use every ounce of strength within her not to cry as well. She glared at Maribel as she walked back towards her, but didn't say anything.

"Santana" Maribel said quietly, reaching out to rub her back as Alma stopped before her. Alma stepped back though, refusing to let her touch Santana.

"I hate you" Santana said, in English now. "I hate you, and I don't want you to be my mami anymore". She said the last sentence in Spanish, and the words seemed to burn both Alma and Maribel. They both took in sharp breaths.

"No no, mi pequeño amor, no digas eso. No quieres decir lo que estás diciendo." Alma said, rubbing Santana's back. Santana didn't say anything, but lifted her head. She looked at her mother square in the eyes. Maribel was dumbstruck. Sure, children said they hated their parents all the time, but there was something about the way Santana said it. Everyone involved was very aware of the fact that this was not a tantrum. This was not a momentary anger that Santana was feeling, that would pass in a few hours or days. This was months, maybe years of hurt and anger, finally bubbling to the surface, and Maribel was scared that it was actually possible that Santana hated her. She stared into Santana's eyes, trying to find a trace of her little girl. Trying to find love in her daughter's eyes. After a moment, she looked at Alma.

"Go if you're going" Alma said. Her eyes seemed to be filled with hate as she looked at Maribel.

"Stephen will come pick her up" Maribel said. With one more look at Santana, who had not looked away, she turned and walked away.

It was three months before Santana returned to normal after that. She spent all of her time with her abuela, by Alma's own request, and when she was home, she barely spoke. Her father had come to pick her up that night, but had left without her. Alma refused to let her go with him until he had heard the whole story. When he had, he looked at Santana, who was crying again, and decided it would be best for everyone if she and Maribel were away from each other for a while. Eventually, Santana moved on and resumed talking to her mother as she had done before, but Maribel did not. She took the entire incident as a glimpse into her future, and saw many fights like those with a teenage Santana. Most of all, she saw Santana leaving. Leaving their house and leaving their lives, and never coming back. Stephen had tried to tell her to stop being so dramatic. That Santana was four, and their daughter. They loved her no matter what, and even if she had a horrible temper, she would always love them too. Maribel tried to believe him, and maybe she would have, but for the fact that every time Santana looked at her, even after she had calmed down and gone back to normal, her eyes were the same as on that afternoon in Alma's front yard. Try as she might, Maribel could not find the love in them.

Over the years, Maribel's relationship with Santana got worse and worse. She watched as Santana was raised by her husband's mother, as she started hiding her emotions, as she became steadily angrier and meaner, without being able to do anything about it. Once or twice she tried to reconnect with Santana, but it only ever ended in fights. Eventually she gave up, fearing that if she kept it up Santana would surely leave and never return. Instead, she resigned herself to the poor relationship they had, and threw herself into work. It was only when Santana was fourteen that she began to realise the huge mistake she had made.

She had gone to pick Santana up from one of her cheerleading competitions because their driver was out. Though she'd thought about calling to tell her to catch a ride with one of the other girls on the team, she hadn't seen Santana for almost a week, so instead she called in an emergency at work and drove over there, arriving early enough to see the girls be awarded the trophy. She saw Santana somewhere in the middle of the group of girls, jumping up and down, screaming and laughing, hugging her friends, and it hit her. It had been years since she saw Santana like that. So open with her emotions. So happy. And she had thought that this was just how Santana had become. That she had chosen to show utter disinterest in everything, break rules and get in trouble. Now however, she understood that it was only in front of her and her husband that Santana acted this way. That she did indeed have friends and interests. That she actually did care about things besides money and status. From her position at the back of the massive room, she watched Santana. For close to ten minutes, she did nothing but watch. She watched as Santana walked around hugging all her teammates and shaking her coach's hand, and through it all she watched as she held hands with a tall blonde girl. Never once did Santana let go of her hand, and every so often Santana would look back and smile at her. Finally, they seemed to find the people they were looking for. A small girl looking no older than 5, ran towards them and jumped into Santana's arms. Maribel was shocked by this. She stood up from the pole she was leaning against and walked closer to them. Santana kissed the little girl's cheek, who high fived the blonde girl next to Santana. Maribel assumed it was her sister. They looked very alike, aside from the colour of their eyes and hair. Maribel walked closer still, and was able to hear what they were saying.

"….beautiful." the little girl finished saying.

"Really mi gemela?" Santana asked her, smiling wider than Maribel had ever seen her smile. Her eyes widened at the Spanish nickname Santana had used. If Santana was calling her 'her twin' they must be very close. How did Maribel not have any clue who they were?

"Si" the little girl said, making Santana laugh. "I want to be a cheerleader like you when I'm big"

"You'd be a great cheerleader Ash" the blonde said, ruffling her hair.

"No don't do that" the little girl said harshly, and Maribel had to laugh. Her scowl was exactly like Santana's. Santana smiled at the girl in her arms, but was cut off from saying anything as two adults approached them.

"My girls" the man boomed, opening his arms and grinning. He walked up to them and wrapped Santana and the other girl in his long arms. Maribel waited for the explosion. She waited for the scowl to form on Santana's face, for her to harshly pull away, but it never happened. Instead, and she was astonished to see it, Santana only groaned, still smiling. When several seconds had passed and the man had not released them, Santana laughed loudly.

"Papa P!" she said, giggling. Maribel frowned, no longer amused by what she was seeing.

"Santana isn't used to all the hugging yet dad" the blonde girl said.

"Well she better get used to it fast now she's a part of this family" the woman who had approached with the man said, pulling Santana out of her husband's arms and encasing her in her own. Maribel felt a jolt of anger at her words, but it was the smile on Santana's face that forced her forward, closer still. The woman didn't hug her for as long as her husband, and was soon hugging the other girl.

"You two were simply amazing" she said warmly. "I was seriously impressed"

"Mum" the blonde girl said from her position at Santana's side once again, "you've seen us perform before"

"And every time I do I can't help but be impressed. I'm a proud mama my dear, don't try understand it"

"Honey S are you coming with us?" the man asked.

"Course" the little girl said, gripping onto Santana. "Where else would she go?"

"Her parents could be coming to pick her up" the man told the little girl, ruffling her hair. She looked at him mutinously.

"Why?" she asked, pushing away his hand. "They never picked her before. She's ours" Santana laughed, her previously uncomfortable expression disappearing. The blonde at Santana's side took her hand in hers.

"As much as we wish it" the woman said, smiling at Santana before looking back at her daughter, "she isn't."

"Uh…I don't know. My mum said the driver's not in so she'd come, but she was at work"

"So?" the man asked, frowning slightly.

"Well" Santana said, hesitating, "she's usually really busy at work. I don't know how long it'll be before she comes." Santana turned, looking away from all of them so as not to see the pity, and her eyes landed on her mother.

"Oh no need to worry, we can call her and tell her we'll take you with us" the woman said, opening her purse and looking for her phone.

Santana slowly dropped the girl in her arms, the hard, blank look Maribel was used to back on her face.

"Mami" she said shortly. Everyone around her turned to face Maribel, who blushed slightly, but walked forward.

"Santana querida. ¿cómo estás?" she said, smiling.

"Bien" Santana replied shortly. "Vamonos." She let go of the blonde's hand and took a few steps away from the entire family. Maribel raised her hand.

"No seas grosero. Introducenos" Maribel said, still smiling. Santana rolled her eyes.

"No. vámonos por favour"

"Santana" Maribel said sharply, no longer smiling. Santana clenched her jaw.

"This is Brittany" she said, pointing. Brittany waved with a cheery smile. "This is her little sister Ashley" Ashley didn't smile or wave, but stood by her father, frowning. "This is Mr and Mrs Pierce, their parents" she finished.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Susan" Brittany's mum said happily, moving forward to shake her hand. Maribel turned to look at her and shook her hand.

"I'm Pierce" the man said, also shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you" Maribel said. "I'm Maribel, Santana's mother."

"Obviously. I called you mami." Santana said.

Susan and Pierce frowned at Santana, never having seen her like this, and then looked uneasily back to Maribel.

"No Haga" Maribel said.

"¿Podemos ir ahora?" Santana said. She turned back to the Pierces, her expression softening slightly. "Bye guys. Thanks so much for uh…I mean…"

"You're welcome Santana" Susan said, pulling her into a hug. Santana hugged her stiffly, barely letting a second pas before she moved away. She waved at Brittany and Ashley quickly before turning back to her mother. She looked at her for a moment, then walked past her. Maribel stood awkwardly for a moment, not really knowing what to say.

"Sorry…she-"

"Don't apologize for her" Pierce said, his voice a little less jolly than it had been a few minutes ago. "We love Santana. She's an amazing girl."

"Yes…I…well," Maribel said, pulling herself together. "I know. She is my daughter." She placed heavy emphasis on 'my'. Susan raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together. No one said anything for a few more seconds. Finally Maribel decided to leave. "Like I said, nice to meet you."

Susan nodded but didn't say anything. Brittany waved goodbye and Maribel walked away.

For weeks after that, Maribel tried to get as much about the Pierces out of Santana as she could. It unnerved her to no end to think of Santana being pleasant and warm, emotional even, with another woman. She could not help thinking about the look of contentment on Santana's face when Susan had hugged her, or the giggle she had let out when Pierce had refused to let her go. She thought about it every time Santana refused a ride from her, every time she informed her she would be out late, or wouldn't be coming home at all.

Santana showed nothing but growing irritation with her mother's sudden interest in her life, and refused to tell her a single thing about Brittany and her family. All she said was that Brittany was her best friend. Mother and daughter clashed so often over the subject that Stephen, growing tired of all the yelling and door slamming, begged Maribel to drop the subject.

"Hounding her about it won't get you any more answers mi amor. And after all, what's so wrong with Santana having a friend who makes her happy?" he had asked her. Having no reasonable answer, Maribel agreed to let it go. It took many years however, for her to let go of her resentment towards the Pierce family.