Chapter 29

Santana was not in a good mood. She was not in a good mood at all. Tired, frustrated and head aching, she felt close to screaming as Emma droned on and on in the chair in front of her. Brittany was lying on her back, her head buried in the crook of her elbow. She had a headache as well.

"…maybe about five minutes. Then you'll be able to-"

"Look Emma, don't you think we know by now? Do you really think that after all this time we'd just forget everything during the last performance?" Brittany said in an uncharacteristically agitated voice. Emma turned to look at her.

"Well, no…but it's better to go over it none the less." She said. Santana groaned, closing her eyes. She tried to picture the two newest loves of her life, drawing strength from their tiny faces. She really didn't want to ruin the magic of a final performance by fighting with Emma. They had done enough of that over the last two months. There was a long moment of silence, where Emma looked at the two exhausted women in front of her. She sighed.

"Look girls I understand. I really do. It's been a long tour, and it's been bitter sweet for you. You want it to be over, and believe me I want it for you, but that doesn't meant that you should go out there to perform just so it's over. This is the end, and everyone out there tonight is excited more than you can believe. They're expecting something special. Please don't throw that away. Make it memorable." Santana rubbed her head, pressing her finger tips hard into her temples. Emma took this to mean she had heard her, and stood up. "I'll send Eve in an hour." She said, walking out of the room.

When she had left, Santana slumped in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. After several minutes of silence she turned to look at Brittany who had not moved at all.

"She's right" Santana said resentfully. As soon as the words left her mouth, Brittany sat up and threw a pillow hard at the wall opposite her. Santana jumped, sitting up straighter in her chair. "Brittany!" she gasped. Every visible inch of Brittany's skin was red. She stood up and paced behind the couch she had just been laying on. Santana stood up too, feeling a little scared by Brittany's behaviour. Brittany turned and picked another pillow from the couch and threw it at the door, then she walked to the kitchen and picked a glass, smashing it on the floor. Santana screamed and ran towards her.

"Brittany what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm sick of this" she yelled, smashing another glass. "I'm sick of them ruling our lives, changing our plans, dictating where we have to be and when and how we're going to get there." She picked another glass and threw it at the door. "I'm sick of not being given a choice. Of having to follow all these rules, and ask permission before doing something." She moved to pick a plate, but Santana caught her hand.

"Stop" Santana said in a weak voice. "Brittany stop" she pleaded.

"I'm sick of it Santana" she yelled. Santana nodded, pulling her into a tight hug. Brittany struggled for a bit, then she relaxed, burying her head in Santana's neck.

"I know baby. I'm sick of it too. It's only for one more day though, then we're done. We won't have to do it for…" she trailed off, not sure where she was going with that. "We won't have to do it anymore."

"I'm so angry." Brittany said in a shaky voice.

"Me too" Santana said, rubbing Brittany's back. The door opened suddenly and three security guards came running in. They stopped and looked around, taking in the smashed glass and thrown pillows, then they looked at Santana and Brittany. Brittany was still leaning against Santana.

"What happened?" one of them asked in alarm. Santana shrugged.

"I have rage" she said simply. The guards looked at her, then around the room again, as if hoping to find a better explanation, finally they seemed to accept it, and walked out, closing the door.

"You could have told them it was me" Brittany said.

"I didn't tell them it was me, I just said I have rage, which is true."

Brittany raised her head and looked at Santana with a small smile. "I love you, you know."

"I know" Santana told her.

"Tomorrow, at 1" Brittany said, serious again.

"Not a second later. I don't care what reason they try give."

"I can't spend another day away from them. Emma isn't being fair."

"Emma is very rarely fair" Santana said, her headache returning to her as she clenched her jaw.

"You're doing that interview and then we're leaving"

"Straight to the airport. I don't care if we have to pack our suitcases into the car and take them with us to the interview."

Brittany looked into Santana's eyes, then nodded. "Alright" she said. It sounded like she had just made up her mind about something. She kissed Santana quickly, then pulled away and started collecting pieces of glass.

"Don't cut yourself" Santana said, walking back to the chair she was sitting on previously, collapsing onto it, feeling more exhausted than she had all day.

Emma's news that she had to a post-tour interview the next morning had spoiled her end of tour euphoria so thoroughly that she found it hard to believe she had been happy at all. She and Brittany had been prepared to leave for Brazil as soon as the concert was over. Now however, they would have to spend another 24 hours away from the twins. This, Santana thought, is what Brittany was really 'sick of'. For a month they had been told when they could or could not leave to see the twins, always having to check interview or meet and greet schedules. They had been understanding about it, but it was still irritating. This time however, they had thought they were free. The tour would be completely over. Nothing else to do, and they could go wherever they liked, whenever they wanted to. So hearing once again that their plans had to be put off for an interview was more infuriating than Emma understood. Santana fully sympathised with Brittany's desire to smash things. It reminded of her of when she was a teenager and her mother had all of a sudden started wanting to know where she was at all times, who she was with, how long she'd be out. She had felt just like she did now; controlled, annoyed and suffocated.

Santana heard Brittany move back to the couch, but didn't open her eyes. She knew it wouldn't be long before Eve showed up with orders and timelines and a whole bunch of other responsibilities, and she needed to be as calm as possible by then. She went back to thinking about the twins.

The last time she had seen them, one of them had smiled at her. The one without the beauty spot on his arm. Santana smiled just thinking about it. She and Brittany had an idea that they had discovered a difference in personality. One of the boys, the one with the beauty spot on his arm this time, was far more energetic than his brother. He was always awake when they went to the hospital, and it took a combination of Santana singing, feeding him a bottle and tracing his forehead lightly, to put him to sleep. When he was awake, he was constantly moving some part of his body, kicking his legs, waving his arms, and looking with wide eyes around the room. He loved the feel of Brittany's hair, all hair they supposed, but Brittany's in particular, because of the bright colour. He could stare at it for hours as Brittany shook it in his face and traced it along his arms. His brother, Brittany and Santana had found out that he had been born first, was more docile. He was often just as alert, but he was more content to stare up at them and listen to them talk. He fell asleep more often, and significantly more easily, though they had found out that if they kept him awake for too long he became much worse than his brother. He'd cry, squirm and kick, grabbing onto their clothes. The cry wasn't a persistent one, it was more like he was shouting. It would last no more than five minutes, then he would stop for a while. Santana liked to think that he was just doing it to remind them that he was still tired. When he would get like this, it was almost impossible to get him to sleep. He would refuse to drink, which was the fastest way to do it, Santana had read, so they had tried to rock him in a variety of different ways and sing softly, but this hadn't worked either. Finally, Brittany had stood up and walked around the entire NICU floor with him laying on her chest, humming. He seemed to like the vibrations of her chest, and the constant change of scenery. When Brittany returned with a sleeping baby, they had both agreed to never allow him to miss a nap again.

"What are you thinking about?" Brittany asked. Santana opened her eyes and smiled.

"How you had to walk round the entire NICU." She told her. Brittany grinned.

"I've been thinking about them too. It helps a lot."

"Yeah" Santana agreed.

"I can't wait until we're spending every single day and night with them."

"Yeah" Santana said again, closing her eyes. "I don't know how I'm supposed to do this concert" she admitted.

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked, sitting up and looking at her.

"I've been trying to get into the mind-set, but I can't. It's like my body just won't wake up. I can't stop feeling like it's my fault we can't be with them, and then I get really annoyed with the fans, because all of this is for them. I feel like I'm putting them above my kids, and I never want to put my work ahead of my children Britt."

Brittany nodded in understanding. She took a moment to decide what she was going to say, then an idea struck her. She took out her phone and opened twitter. Once there, it took a couple of minutes of searching, but she found what she was looking for.

"Come here" she told Santana, patting the space on the couch beside her.

Santana stood up and walked to her, dropping onto the couch. Brittany handed her the phone.

"What's this?" Santana said, scrolling through.

"Someone started a twitter page dedicated to the concert. It's a place for your fans from all over the world to post pictures of the tour, share stories about their experience at meet and greets or at a concert, talk to each other about what they're going though and offer help to other people. I was tagged in a post the other day and I was going to tell you, but then we got busy and I forgot."

Santana didn't say anything, still looking through the contents of the page.

"Santana, you are very different from your mother. You had work commitments before the twins were even born, before you knew they existed, and there was absolutely no way for you to put aside your work. It would have been completely acceptable for you so say that you couldn't see them till the end of the tour, but you didn't. You went above and beyond, flying across the world for them." Santana looked up at Brittany. "You're already an amazing mother, and I won't allow you to doubt that." Brittany told her forcefully. Santana smiled.

"As for getting into the mind-set, this is why you need to. So far, you've been an excellent mother, and an excellent role model to your fans. You've been there for them both. You have to go out there tonight, whatever mind-set you're in, but if you don't go and give 1000 per cent, you'll regret it, you'll be letting all these people down" she indicated the phone, "and you'll be putting all the blame on the twins. You'll be making it their fault that your first worldwide tour ended badly."

Santana's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to protest, but she couldn't think of any argument. It was true. Everything Brittany had said was true. She felt like a huge weight was lifted from her heart, determination now coursing through her. She smirked at Brittany.

"You really are a genius B" Santana said. Brittany winked.

"I've told you before, I'm just the world's foremost expert in the field of Santana Lopez"

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

Before they knew it, it was October. While every passing day had felt like a week, now that the time had arrived it felt like just yesterday Santana was looking at two tiny faces through a glass window in a small hospital in Brazil. The judge had only been able to see them in the second week of October, but Santana knew that was still a lot faster than was standard. Eric had been preparing them for the meeting to take place in early December, maybe even in the New Year. They'd gone to court three times, the first time to file the case and both say that they indeed did want to adopt the twins. Santana wasn't exactly sure what the second time was for, but it took less than twenty minutes. And now they were here for what she hoped would be the last time.

Santana could hardly believe the anxiety she was currently feeling. If not for the baby she was holding, she might have been vomiting relentlessly. Every muscle in her body felt tense and painful, like they were shaking from the pressure they were exerting on themselves as they tightened. Her heart was beating rapidly, and no matter what she did she could not get it to slow down. She knew it was the reason the baby hadn't been able to sleep. She was probably passing on her anxiety to him.

Brittany was not fairing any better than her wife. She was pacing up and down the long corridor, every part of her body shaking but her arms, which were steadily holding a very sleepy but still awake baby. She tried to distract herself by looking around at her surroundings, the many lights along the ceiling, the paintings on the walls, the benches outside large wooden doors, but none of it helped. All it did was make situation seem even more intimidating.

Every few minutes Santana would glance up at the clock and mentally calculate how many minutes were left before it would be their turn to go into the courtroom. When she did so, she would catch Brittany's eye and hold it for almost a minute, drawing as much strength as she could from the piercing blue. She was wholly convinced that if she didn't do his every time, she would succumb to the fear inside her and run out of the building.

Finally, twenty minutes later, their lawyer Maria, walked through the doors, a massive smile on her face.

"Good morning ladies" she greeted. "How are you today?"

Santana swallowed thickly. "We're good thank you." Brittany answered for both of them, without halting her pacing. It was like she was unable to stay still. Maria smiled.

"I know you're nervous, but there really isn't any reason to be. This is what we've been waiting for."

Santana held the baby tighter. "Exactly" she said quietly. Neither Brittany nor Maria heard her, but the baby blinked at her. She smiled. "You're lucky" she whispered to him, kissing him on the cheek. "You don't know what's going on." He smiled crookedly at her. The action had the same effect as sinking into a warm bubble bath. Santana felt suddenly calm. The idea that she had been scared or doubtful mere seconds before was laughable. This little boy in her arms was the only thing that mattered. Him and his brother. And Santana was convinced that there was nothing better for them than to have her and Brittany as mothers. She looked up and again caught Brittany's eye, smiling at her. Brittany cocked her head, pondering Santana's sudden change in attitude, and Santana just shrugged, smiling wider. Brittany looked like she was about to speak, but then the door they were waiting outside of opened and a man in a security uniform beckoned them forward, speaking in Portuguese.

"We can go in" Maria told them. "Are you ready?"

Santana and Brittany both nodded, and they walked into the courtroom.

Throughout the proceedings, Brittany found it hard to concentrate. She could hear the judge's voice as he spoke about the reason they were there and the legal things that they had gone through to get there, but her mind was moving a mile a minute. She felt like she used to in high school, whenever she was in class. She tried to focus, to sit still and listen, but she simply couldn't. It was like her mind was fighting itself, and it was all she could do to remain sitting in her chair. Maria stood up, pulling Brittany from where she had drifted off to thinking about the two sides of her brain in a wrestling match.

"Yes your honour. They have no living relatives that we could find." she said.

"I have seen the recommendation from the social worker, I assume there are no other issues in that area?"

"No your honour, everything is fully cleared."

"Very well. Mrs and Mrs Lopez-Pierce?" he gestured for them to stand up.

"Yes your honour?" Santana asked. Her voice was shaking.

"Are you prepared to care for these children like they were your own?"

"Yes your honour" they both answered quickly.

"To provide unto them all the rights awarded to them once they are taken into your custody?"

"Yes your honour" they said again. Santana was struggling to hold back tears.

"To see to their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being?"

"Yes your honour"

"Excellent. In that case, have you chosen names for the boys?"

Brittany and Santana smiled. "Yes. This is Jesús Sawyer" Brittany said.

"And this is Kyler Santiago" Santana said. They were both smiling uncontrollably.

"Very nice" the judge said, also smiling. "Then from now on, they are officially, Jesús and Kyler Lopez-Pierce. Congratulations"

Santana could no longer hold in her tears. She felt like she was taking in a breath of air after holding it for years. Happiness unlike any she had ever felt filled her entire body, making her feel like she could fly if she tried. She turned to look at Brittany. Brittany was placing several tear filled kissing on to Jesús's face. Santana looked back at the baby in her arms.

"Mijo" she said quietly, kissing his forehead gently so as not to wake him. "I love you so much mi amor, and now you're mine. I'm you're mami" she whispered, barely able to believe her own words. She was a mother. A mother of two. It was completely amazing, and completely terrifying. Brittany walked over to her, bent down and kissed Kyler, and then kissed Santana fully on her mouth. It was not a very deep kiss, but it was one of the most passion filled kisses they had ever shared. When they parted, it took a minute for Santana to remember where she was. She looked down and saw Jesús looking up at her with wide eyes, a fist firmly wrapped around Brittany's hair.

"Say hi to your mami Jesús" Brittany said quietly. Jesús blinked. Santana bent and kissed him on both cheeks. The baby smiled at her, and Santana felt her heart swell. "Aaww"

"I love you so much Jesús" she told him, gently stroking his hair. "You and your brother" she looked back at Brittany, "and your mama" Brittany smiled. "I love you all more than anything in this world." Jesús smiled again, kicking his legs gently. She stood up straight and saw Maria looking at her.

"Can we thank you now?" she asked her, laughing and wiping her tears.

"Oh all right then" she said, looking like she was not far from tears herself. Brittany hugged her first, throwing one arm around her and squeezing as hard as she could without hurting the baby in her arms.

"Thank you!" she cried. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Maria patted her back, smiling.

"Not a problem at all ladies. You are more wonderful than I could have expected people like you to be. You deserve this happiness, and these boys deserve you."

Brittany let go of her and made way for Santana to hug her. Santana couldn't find the words. How do you thank someone who has just given you your whole world? Instead of speaking she focussed on infusing the hug with as much gratitude as she could. She smiled when she pulled back and saw the tear falling from Maria's face.

"I wish you all the happiness in the world" She told Santana, then she turned to Brittany. "Be happy my dears." Brittany nodded, her whole face pink with the effort to stop her tears.

"Thank you" was all Brittany could say. Maria nodded and turned to walk away.

Brittany and Santana stood for a moment, cherishing the little bubble their now four member family was in. Finally though, Santana looked away from the babies between them and sighed.

"Babe I think we should go" she told Brittany. Brittany looked up. "We can't just stand here forever" she added with a cheeky smile.

"Alright" Brittany said, looking around. They both still didn't move however, staring down at their sons. They were roused from this trance by a small whimper from Kyler, who looked about to wake up.

"Better go, we don't want him crying in here." Brittany said smiling.

Santana looked at Kyler and pursed his lips.

"No mi bebe dulce. Nosotras no queremos eso. Do we my love?" She said in a baby voice. Brittany sniggered.

"What?" Santana asked, picking her bag up and moving from behind the table they were sitting at.

"Nobody is going to believe your tough act anymore sweetie" Brittany said, picking her own bag and following Santana down the aisle.

Santana looked back down at Kyler. "Let them try mess with my babies" she said in the same baby voice. "It won't matter what voice I talk in then"

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Eleven people waited awkwardly in the living room. Brittany and Santana's parents stood on either side of the room, avoiding each other's gazes as they had been doing since the wedding. Ashley was sitting beside Chad. He was laughing as she complained loudly about the fact that he wasn't going to school.

"My parents wouldn't allow me to drop out of school, no matter how talented a dancer I was. It's not fair! And you get to travel all around the world too" she whined loudly.

"Well..." Chad said awkwardly. "I guess I'm lucky"

A fourteen year old Ashley gaped at him. "Lucky!" she said loudly, before launching into a detailed account of the way his life was significantly better than hers.

Quinn was sitting on one of the couches beside Puck, both holding beer bottles and talking about the reason they'd all been called there.

"You think it's about the adoption stuff they want to start? Maybe they already started."

"Maybe. But why would they get everyone here at the same time just to tell them they want to start looking into adoption?" Puck asked her. Quinn shrugged, thinking. Elaine walked out of the kitchen and sat on Quinn's other side, and they quickly changed topics.

Syth was standing by the island talking to Jade, who was sitting on one of the stools.

"How come they didn't come back with you?" Syth asked

"Dunno mate. They really liked Brazil, kept going back there whenever we had a few free days."

"Yeah, but they've been gone for two months, and Brittany hasn't talked to me at all since she sent me an email saying she's taking a few months off."

"Really?" Jade asked. "What for?"

"She didn't say. Just that she'd already cleared it with the bosses, but she wanted me to hear it from her."

"When was that?"

"About two months ago."

"About a week before the tour ended Santana told us she was taking a few months off as well." Jade said, intrigued. "You think that's why they called us here?"

"Maybe"

Just then the door opened, and Eve walked in. Everyone's attention focused on her immediately, but she took no notice. She casually removed her jacket, closing the door behind her, then took a few steps into the room, fidgeting with her bag. Finally she looked up at everyone.

"I'm not going to tell you why you're all here, Santana and Brittany can do that themselves."

"Where are they?" Quinn asked, standing up.

"They're getting their things out of the car. I'd give them maybe five minutes." Everyone nodded. "I do have to ask that you don't make too much noise when they come in though." Most people frowned.

"What do you mean Eve? Why?" Susan asked.

"Just…try be as quiet as you can"

There was a knock on the door, and Eve hurried to open it. She slipped out of it, not opening it too wide, and then a few seconds later, Brittany walked into the room.

"Hi everyone" she said cheerfully. Syth and Jade, who were closest to the door, moved forward and hugged her.

"You look exhausted Brittany" Quinn said laughing.

"Yeah well...you try traveling with-"

"Britt" Santana's voice warned from the other side of the door.

"Ok why is she still outside? What's wrong with you guys?" Puck asked as Brittany absentmindedly hugged her parents.

"Well…ok, we have some very big news, and we wanted to tell all of you together, rather than having to find you all individually."

"What is it?" Maribel asked, moving forward.

"I'm sure you all know that Santana and I have been spending a lot of time in Brazil…well, it's because when we were there, we…" she broke off and turned to the slightly open door. "Santana are you sure you don't want to be in here?"

"Brittany, you know I can't, just tell them"

"Brittany please tell us" Pierce said.

"Ok…well, we've been in Brazil all this time because we've been sorting out an adoption." She rushed out. There was silence as everyone took in what she said, then her mother clasped her hands over her mouth, Maribel's mouth dropped open, and Ashley and Quinn jumped forward.

"You have a baby?" Ashley squealed.

"We have two babies. They're twins" she told her sister. Maribel started crying and Pierce clapped his hands happily as he exclaimed a loud 'HA'.

"Twins?" Puck asked, standing up now as well. "You adopted twins in Brazil?"

"Yes" Brittany said. "We thought it would be best to tell you before we brought them in. They're sleeping."

"I don't understand" Susan said, looking at Maribel. "Did you know?"

Maribel shook her head, unable to speak.

"When did you…I mean…you can't have. You went to Brazil for the first time what…three months ago?"

"Yeah. Almost four. It happened very fast. We…uh well it's a long story really, but we adopted them officially last week.

"But Brittany-"

"Can we see them?" Maribel interrupted Susan.

"Yeah of course. Santana…" she said, pulling open the door fully.

The first thing everyone saw was the front of a green car seat, followed by Santana's hand, and then the rest of her body. There was complete silence as she walked in and placed the seat on the floor, then bent down and extracted the baby asleep in it and handed him to Brittany. She then walked back out and brought back another car seat, red this time, and did the same thing. Quinn, Maribel, Pierce and Ashley were the first ones to move to their side, silently whispering to the babies, asking to hold them, cooing about how adorable they were. Susan stood, seemingly rooted to her spot, watching as the babies were passed to her husband and Quinn.

"This is Kyler" Brittany told her dad as he settled him into his arms. "And that's Jesús" she told Quinn.

"Beautiful" Maribel whispered, rubbing Jesús's arm and kissing it. "Ambos son hermosos Mi amor" she told Santana. They smiled at each other.

"How do you know who's who?" Puck asked, moving closer to Pierce.

"It's hard" Brittany admitted, as Santana laughed. "But there are ways"

"Mostly personality stuff" Santana added as Jade and Syth raised eyebrows in question.

"How old are they?" Stephen asked.

"Just over three months" Santana answered.

"They were born on our first day in Brazil" Brittany said.

"How do you know?" Susan finally spoke. Brittany frowned at her slightly.

"Ma…what's wrong with you?"

"I just would like to know how you know anything about them." she answered, still not moving from her position. Santana looked at Brittany, then at Pierce. She smiled, seeing him completely engrossed in Kyler.

"We were there when they were born" Brittany told her mother, turning away from her.

There were many other questions, people wanting to know how it happened and how they got the adoption done so fast. Finally though, Jesús woke up, and his cries woke his brother up as well. People excused themselves after that, saying they wanted to let them get the babies settled in, but would be back on another day to see them. Eventually only Quinn, Puck, Ashley and their parents remained. They talked a bit louder now that the boys were awake, and Maribel sat very close to Santana as she fed Kyler a bottle.

"I'm so happy for you my love" she told her. "I'm so happy." Santana smiled at her warmly.

"That means a lot to me mami, thank you"

"What are their full names?" Stephen asked.

"Kyler Santiago Lopez-Pierce, and Jesús Sawyer Lopez-Pierce." Brittany told him, removing the now empty bottle from Jesús's mouth and lifting him to her shoulder.

"They're so tiny" Ashley mused, staring at them from her position on the floor.

"Yeah…twins usually are. Plus they were born early." Santana said, gently rubbing Kyler's cheek to get him to keep drinking, as he had zoned out staring at Ashley.

"Who was born first?" Quinn asked.

Brittany and Santana smirked and looked at each other.

"We're not telling" Brittany said.

"We don't want them to know, and we don't want it to inform any of your perceptions of them"

"What do you mean?" Puck asked.

"Well we read that sometimes with twins, when people know who was born first, they tend to treat the kids differently. Expecting more of the older one, or letting things slide because one's younger." Brittany explained.

"Using language like, 'your younger brother' or something like that. It'll affect them, even if it's in a small way, and we don't want that." Santana said.

"But Mija we wouldn't-"

"But you would mami. Subconsciously. And Britt and I want to minimize competition between them as much as possible. As far as everyone knows, they were born at the same time."

Everyone nodded, and there was a brief silence.

"They look exactly the same" Susan said. "It's amazing."

"I know" Brittany said.

"They weigh exactly the same too" Santana said.

"And are the same height" Brittany added.

"Do you think they're going to be really similar, personality wise?" Puck asked.

"No. They're already very different. I think the older they get, the more differences there will be."

"But I think they're going to be very close" Brittany said.

"Why's that?" Maribel asked.

"Because they sleep better when they're in the same crib, and whenever one wakes up, they're usually pretty quiet until the other one wakes up too. Then, unless they're really hungry, they'll lay there for a few minutes and just look at each other." Santana said.

"I think they're talking to each other" Brittany said. Santana grinned. "Telepathically."

"Cool" Ashley said. Then her eyes bulged open. "Wait. So I'm an aunt now?" she asked.

"Yeah you are kiddo" Santana told her with a wink. Then she looked at Quinn with a sheepish grin. "Uh…Q?"

Quinn looked up at her with a questioning look.

"Britt and I have….well we have something to ask you."

"And puck" Brittany added, smiling at him.

"Yes" Quinn said at once. "YES"

Brittany laughed at the confused expression on Puck's face.

"What…what?" he asked, looking at the three girls in turn.

"You guys are our oldest friends. You're our best friends, and you've been with us through so much."

"Britt and I trust you more than we trust anyone else…so we…"

"We wanted to ask you to be the twins' godparents. If anything happens to us, we'd want you to have them…."

"We know you'll take care of them, and you'll love them as much as we do."

"YES" Quinn said again, standing up. Puck was looking tearful and disbelieving. He stared at Brittany with wide eyes, searching her face.

"You don't mean it…." He said quietly. "You're only asking me because-"

"Don't be an idiot" Santana cut across him, lifting Kyler from her lap and handing him to Puck.

"We're asking you because you're the only person we'd trust with them. We know you'll protect them, love them, and give them everything we would want for them."

"And even if nothing happens to us, you'll still do all those things for them as their uncle Noah."

Puck was shaking his head. "But I…"

"You know what it's like to grow up with….not the best parents" Santana told him, avoiding both her parents' eyes. "And you'll do everything you can to make sure they never feel that way."

This seemed to convince Puck. He looked intently at Santana, his jaw clenching furiously, then he looked down at Kyler, taking one of his hands in his own.

"I got you little man. It's me and you now." He bumped his fist against Kyler's tiny one, and Santana and Brittany laughed. Brittany passed Jesús to Quinn, who showered his face with kisses.

"Ou I'm going to spoil you and your brother rotten kiddo" she said, as Jesús smiled at her and grabbed her hair.

Santana sat back on the couch and yawned.

"We should go" Maribel said, rubbing Santana's thigh. "You guys have had a long journey, so you should rest. We'll be back tomorrow nena"

Santana nodded numbly, her eyes falling closed, while her father bent down and kissed her head. Brittany stood up and walked everyone out, accepting long, tight hugs from both her parents and ruffling Ashley's hair just to upset her. Finally, she shut the door and turned round to see Jesús asleep on Santana's chest, both her hands holding him protectively, her chest rising and falling rhythmically as she slept.