A/N: Here's the rewrite. Enjoy!

-ToM

Chapter 1

"SANTANA!" His booming voice shocks me out of my trance. I immediately run downstairs not wanting to keep him waiting for too long.

"Y-yes?" I answered nervously, scared to know what he's so angry about. It takes a lot for me to not just curl up in a corner whenever he yells at me.

"Why aren't the children bathed and ready?! I told you we were meeting my parents for dinner at 7! What time is it?"

I open my mouth to answer but not fast enough so he asks again, this time angrier.

"WHAT TIME IS IT?!"

"It's 6:03." I mutter keeping my head down. I don't want to make him madder so I immediately apologize and turn to go get the kids ready. "I'm s-sorry, I'll go and g-"

Before I can get to the bottom of the stairs he grabs my arm hard and squeezes. "We better not be late." He says it so eerily calm that I pale instantly and my eyes begin to water.

"Mami I want candy!" I quickly wipe my eyes as I hear Callie yell running towards me.

"No mija. We have to get you and your brother ready to see bunic and bunica." I say as I pick her up and carry her to the bathroom. "Costa, sweetie, come on it's time to get dressed." I call over to Callie's twin brother who is sitting in the middle of the room playing with his toys.

They are my little angels. Costica and Callista, my sweet babies. They are the only reason I haven't given up. I'm going to get them out of here. I just have to wait until football season starts. He plays for the Miami Dolphins. I figured I'd leave while he's at one of his away games. I've been saving up a little money here and there in small amounts so Adrian doesn't notice. If he ever found out, he'd probably kill me. I also have the trust funds that my abuela left for me and the kids before she died. I don't have access to it until my 25th birthday which is next year. Adrian doesn't know about the trust funds and I'm so glad he doesn't.

"Mami is daddy mad at you?" Costa asks quietly, looking at me through his dark hair with his piercing green eyes, as I bathe them both. He's always worrying about me. I swear he knows what's going on in my head sometimes. It's scary.

"No baby. He's just excited to see his mom and dad."

"Will bunic give me candy?! He always has candy mami!" Callie exclaims.

"I don't know sweetheart. If he does have candy you'll have to ask daddy first if you can eat it." I tell her even though Adrian hardly ever tells either of the kids no. Especially not to Callie. He can never say no to her big brown eyes.

"Okay." She says with a big smile on her face knowing that she's going to get candy.

I finish getting the twins dressed and hurry down the stairs with them trailing behind me. I check the time to see that it is 6:41. Adrian is waiting at the door with a blank expression on his face. We make our way to the car and I silently pray that we get there on time.

When we arrive at his parents' home I immediately glance at the clock on the dashboard. It's 7:01. We're late. I take a chance and look over at Adrian and I can see in his eyes that he is angry. I swallow the lump in my throat and blink away the tears that are forming. He gets out of the car and slams the door, leaving me to get the twins.

I take a deep breath and get the kids. We head inside and the twins run to their grandparents. Florina and Vladimir Dumitrescu are some of the sweetest people I have ever met. It baffles me that their son is such a monster.

"Sorry we're late. Santana here just seems to take forever to get ready. I swear she changed her outfit at least four times." Adrian says while smiling at me like he adores me. He puts on this act any time we're in public. He should have become an actor instead of a football player. "She looked great in all of them in my opinion but you know sometimes she's a bit picky. Right baby?"

"Umm y-yeah, I just couldn't decide." I answer quickly with a nervous smile.

"Oh nonsense Adrian. We don't have to start at exactly 7:00 and sweetheart you look just as gorgeous as always." Florina says to me with her thick Romanian accent.

"Yeah, I mean if I wasn't married I'd defi-", Vladimir starts before he's cut off by his wife.

"Vlad!" She yells while playfully swatting at him.

"Ouch! I was kidding Flo. You know you're the only woman for me." He says while he winking at me. Flo hits him again, mumbling something in Romanian and I can't help but smile in aww at how sweet and playful their relationship is.

"Bunic! Do you have candy?" Callie asks.

"Callie, sweetie, ask daddy first." I remind her.

"Daddy can I please have candy? Pleeeaaassseeee?" She begs.

"Hmm I don't know. Maybe if you give me a biiiiiiig kiss." Adrian says. He's so nice to the children it still surprises me after 5 years.

She happily obliges. "Now can I have candy?" Adrian nods his head and she practically tackles Vlad when he pulls some candy out of his pocket. He holds out a piece for Costa as well.

"Do you need any help with dinner?" I ask Flo as she heads into the kitchen.

"Sure dear. I always accept free help." She laughs. "So the twins are starting school this year right?"

"Yep. They start kindergarten next month in August."

"You're going to have so much free time you won't know what to do with yourself. Have you thought about working?" She asks.

"I know. It's going to be so lonely with the kids at school." I sadly reply. I was going to answer her question but as soon as I opened my mouth, Adrian's voice makes me snap it shut.

"No she hasn't thought about working ma. We've been talking about having another baby." I almost dropped the plate I was holding when those words came out of his mouth. I turned around to busy myself with silverware so Flo couldn't see the shocked look on my face.

"Oh my goodness! That's wonderful!" Flo states. "I've always wanted a bunch of grandchildren. Oh what if you have twins again? That would be amazing!"

She keeps rambling as we finish making the rest of the plates. We bring the food to the table and begin eating. Adrian and his father are sitting at opposite ends of the table. Flo is to Vlad's left while Costa is on his right next to me. Callie is on Adrian's right, directly in front of me.

I eat quietly, only speaking when spoken to. My mind is racing. I'm still stuck on what Adrian said to his mother. I can't bring another child into this world with him. I just can't.

Once dinner was finished, I helped wash and put the dishes away. Adrian and I said our goodbyes and headed home.

When we pull up in our driveway and I remember that I made us late. I don't even try to look at Adrian. I know he's angry. I reach for the door handle and he grabs my forearm and squeezes it hard.

"You will put the kids to bed and then you'll meet me in the basement. Make it quick. You know I don't want to wait long." He says. Unlike earlier, I can hear the anger in his voice this time. I nod quickly and get out.

I get the kids and put them to bed. They were already asleep in the car so I just had to change them into their pajamas and tuck them in. I do it as fast as possible and make my way to the basement.

As I walk down the stairs to the basement, I see him standing in the middle of the room with his arms cross and an angry look on his face. I mentally prepare myself for what I know is coming next.

"So do you want to explain to me why the kids weren't ready to go when they should have been?" He asks.

"I-I took too long in the shower." I lie while staring at the ground. I couldn't tell him I was thinking about how I was going to get me and the kids out of here for obvious reasons. "But your parents didn't mind that we were a little late."

I regretted my words as soon as they came out of my mouth. His nostrils flared and his eyes bulged as he walked towards me. He backhanded me. I fell to the ground clutching my face.

"You stupid bitch! My parents didn't mind?! It isn't about them minding! It's about being punctual and fucking polite!"

He pulled me up by my hair and threw me against the wall. I laid there and he walked over and kicked me. Then he grabbed me and punched me in the stomach.

"Now get cleaned up and meet me in the bedroom. I meant what I said earlier. You are not going to work." He says calmly as if we were just having a civil conversation. He walks out and leaves me lying on the floor.

I lay there in pain for a bit before I go take a shower. Luckily he has a shower installed in the basement because he doesn't want the kids to see me after he hits me.

As I'm showering I finally let my tears fall. I think about how I ended up in this situation.

Flashback

"Fuck." I mutter under my breath. I have no idea where I am and this map isn't making any sense.

I'm walking around staring at this map trying to find the mathematics building. It's my first day at Arizona State and I'm already late to my first class. I'm still walking with my face in the campus map when I walk into something big and solid.

"What the fu-"

"Sorry are you alright?" I looked up to see green eyes studying me.

"Yeah sorry about that, I was trying to find the math building using this seemingly useless map." I answered.

"No problem. You're actually pretty close. I can show you where it is if you'd like." The green eyed boy said to me. "I'm Adrian by the way." He smiled.

"I'm Santana." I replied with a shy smile.

After he showed me to my class, which I passed twice on my journey, we exchanged numbers and eventually started dating. He was a senior and one of the best offensive linemen in the country and was double majoring in Business and Sports Medicine. I was studying to get my bachelor's degree in Mathematics.

Toward the end of my freshman year, I realized that our relationship wasn't going anywhere so I was going to end things with him. Then I found out I was pregnant. I wasn't sure what to do. I called my parents and told them the news. They weren't too thrilled at first but became excited at the idea of being grandparents. I told them that I wanted to break up with Adrian but they weren't having it. They didn't want me to have to raise a child on my own. They told me that I needed to tell him and that we needed to get married. I would not be an unwed mother. Oddly enough, Adrian was on board with the idea of marriage. He wanted to marry me as soon as possible.

We got married when I was 3 months pregnant. Adrian graduated and was drafted to the Miami Dolphins. We moved to Miami shortly after his graduation. During one of the training camps, he tore the PCL in his left knee and couldn't play anymore. Then he became very angry and controlling. He used his degrees to get an internship with a sports agent, before venturing out to open his own, very successful agency. He told me I was done with school. 'You don't need a degree to take care of my children.' Those were his exact words. I wasn't allowed to go anywhere without him. Except for the grocery store and the bathroom, which quickly became my sanctuary. It was the only place I had to myself for however long I was able to hide out in there. He would get very angry sometimes but he had never laid a hand on me while I was pregnant.

The first time he hit me was a few months after the twins were born. He wanted to have sex but I wasn't in the mood so I told him I wasn't feeling well. He slapped me and slammed me on the bed and had his way with me. I knew he was drunk because I smelled the alcohol on his breath. I just tried to close my eyes until it was over but he was too rough. The pain was too much and I eventually passed out.

I woke up sore the next morning. Adrian made me breakfast and apologized to me. He moved in to give me a kiss on my temple and I froze. As soon as I was done with breakfast, I ran upstairs to the bathroom and locked the door. I leaned against it and slid down to the floor. I sat there and cried until I heard Adrian leave for work.

Translations

Bunic/bunica – grandpa/grandma