Five years. That's a large amount of time. Five years ago, that had been exactly when Santana had said "Listen Britt, I think it's best for you if we don't talk to each other for a while..." A 'while' that had lasted five fucking years. Oh Brittany had it hard at first, obviously. Not a phone call, not a text, nothing. That had seemed incredibly unfair and nasty. But in the end, Brittany had realized that she would have never been able to move on without plumbing the depths. She had thrown everything away, the memories, Santana's phone number, all her texts and emails. She had rebuilt herself. That old pathetically in love Brittany was now ancient history, for good. In her despair she had found the greatest happiness, love. Someone willing to love her for who she was, what she was, and love her always. Finally, she was well and truly happy.

Time helping, she had ended up not thinking about Santana anymore. Only a bunch of times here and there, like a friend would think about another missing friend, nothing more. But she had no way to contact her so in front of the hard task to find a way to talk to, she had forgotten to try to give news, even just to say she was okay. However, when Brittany's boss had instructed she had a client to visit in a very specific area of New Haven, the address had rang a bell. She knew that street. That was where Santana used to live, five years ago. It was with a heavy heart that Brittany visited her client and then, when the meeting was over, she drove to the right house - if she remembered well. The house was similar, the same grey on the walls and the same white on the doors and windows. But she used to see only one car in the driveway leading to the garage, there was severals. The place seemed crowded, like on a family reunion or something. Playing with the wheel, Brittany debated if she should ring the bell nevertheless, too bad if it wasn't the family she was looking for.

Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears when she took a path to the front door. She passed in front of the mailbox and peeked, hoping to still find Santana's name on it. "Fabray", Brittany read. She frowned. She didn't know that name. She was so sad not to find the expected "Lopez" or "Lopez-something". Santana and her wife had probably moved. Shrugging, she went back to her car. After all, maybe that client wasn't the heaven sent opportunity to talk to Santana again. Right about to push the button to unlock her car, the front door opened.

A woman in a blue nurse outfit exited the house, obviously rushing. "I just forgot something in the car, Santana! I'll be right back in a sec'," she shouted through the open door in a light voice, obviously very optimistic.

Brittany stuffed her key back in her pocket. She watched the nurse from the other side of the road, the distance working very well to keep her protected from any suspicious spying. The nurse rushed to the last car in the alley, opened the trunk and looked for whatever tool she needed. She skipped back to the house and closed the door behind her. Brittany checked the street, nobody was watching. She was completely alone. Their kitchen window was tantalizingly opened. Worried and somehow curious, Brittany crawled like a cat through the street and went to peek inside.

Talk about the shock of her life. Her throat tightened when she caught sight of Santana walking around unsteadily and with swaying steps, hands riveted on her hips, looking at the ceiling and breathing deep. And mostly, her stomach looking like a balloon about to explode. She let out a deep moan, headed to the first table around to hold on to it. Quinn rushed to her side, slid her hand under her wife's shirt and rubbed her back to ease her a bit.

"Focus on the breathing sweetie, remember, a long inhalation, a small pause, a long exhalation," Quinn softly supported as her wife's breathing became erratic. She mimicked breathing with her until Santana complied. "Yeah, just like that, you're doing great..."

"Oh my god..." Brittany let out without realizing it, her hand glued to her mouth. Shocked, she kept staring.

The nurse, now very clearly taking the appearance of a midwife, hurried back from an hallway, dots of water everywhere on her gown. "The pool's ready, you can go in whenever you want!"

"You want to go now or wait a little?" Quinn inquired in her softest voice. Santana nodded, from what Brittany could see.

A car came by and Brittany was forced to peek, in case someone would witness her suspiciously spying. She ran to the side of the house, hid behind a bush. Thank goodness, since the car parked right in front of the house, Santana's mother and sister rushing out and storming inside, screaming that they were finally there to lend a hand.

Now was obviously not the moment to pay a visit, yet all she wanted was to help as well. It killed her to go back to her car but she didn't have a sea of options in front of her anyway. She sat in her car, dumbfounded by what she had just seen. She started the car and drove away, sighing once in a while to swallow the shock of Santana having a baby. Brittany was thoughtful. Her mind couldn't stop pondering the news.

- o -

Hours later, Santana's family was finally picturing the end of her ordeal. Loud moans were reaching them in the living-room, clear sign that foreplay was well and truly over. Maribel couldn't wait anymore, her heart felt too tight as the time she'd meet her very first grandchild was getting dangerously closer.

"I really want to go check on them," Maribel admitted in Judy's direction.

"Tell me about it..." Judy sighed, biting the little skins of her nails. "But if I go, I think the first thing Santana will do when she's out of the pool, is bite my head off." she barely joked.

"Why's that?!"

"Quinn said I'm making Santana stress. She forbidden me to be around her. I really don't know why she said that but anyway, orders are orders," Judy shrugged.

Maribel let out a deep breath. "You know why, I'm gonna check for both of us. Let her try biting my head off, I'm waiting for her," she laughed, already on hey way.

She tiptoed to the room and quietly pushed the ajar door open. Santana was head first on the pool's edge, grasping it for support. One of Quinn's hand was lost in the tight grip. With her unoccupied hand, the blonde was making water run on her wife's shoulder to ease her.

"How's it going in here?" she whispered to the midwife.

"He's crowning," the woman said barely audible, the hand in the water ready to catch him.

"And you don't make her push?!" Maribel started.

"She only pushes when she feels like pushing," she kindly explained, all eyes on her patient.

"But the kid won't come out alone, she should push a little, I don't know..."

The midwife sighed, a little annoyed to have to explain anatomy and body reactions when they were reaching the most critical stage of labour. "Actually, the body pushes on its own-"

"Mom, get out!" Santana shouted between vital gulps of air. Before Maribel could apologize, Santana was in for a round of pushes her own body was ordering.

"Oh, that's better like that!" Maribel let out satisfied. "I thought she'd be yelling more than that for a natural deli-"

"Get-..ugh... t-the fuck...OUT," Santana gritted her teeth out of intense effort.

"Maribel, please," Quinn insisted softly.

Apologizing with light hand gestures, she got out closing the door behind her. Judy was standing straight in the middle of the living room, hands stuck on her heart.

"So?" the blonde woman hurried.

"Sounds like I'm gonna get my head bitten off... never mind," she laughed. "She's fine. It shouldn't be long anymore," she cooed.

Judy clapped, way too happy. A loud scream, long and trembling, escaped despite the closed door.

"10 bucks that's the head," Maribel chuckled.

Without another word spoken, both mothers understood themselves very well. They walked very slowly to the room, holding each other arms.

"It hurts...." Santana quivered through the door.

Neither Quinn or the midwife said anything. The mothers listened carefully, pricking their ears. Only soft moans filtered through. They shared thoughtful looks, wondering what was going on inside. It was almost all silent. Another round of moans came to their ears, until a mess of sounds resonated. Plastic folding, water moving, Santana breathing were all left to hear.

"Hold your baby, come on!" the midwife let out all happy.

"Oh my god..." Judy whispered, jumping on the balls of her feet.

"Do we go in?" Maribel inquired, just as thrilled.

Judy shrugged. That catholic woman wasn't the type to disobey orders. "I don't know..."

Quinn laughed, with the most tender chuckles that had ever escaped her mouth. Maribel gestured in a very Mexican fashion she couldn't care less about orders. She pushed the door open again.

Had the water sounds come from the pool or the torrents of tears running down Quinn's cheeks, nobody could be sure. Wiping them with her fist like a child, she was trying to pull herself together but the task wasn't easy. Little Arthur was discovering the world, held tight against Santana's soaking wet shirt. The panting mom was lovingly cleaning him, softly putting handfuls of water on his little hair.

"Rub him a little, it's gonna make him cry," the midwife instructed around a smile.

She did as she was told, carefully stroking his tiny back. That didn't prevent his cries though. He poured his heart out against his Mama with fierce determination.

"Hello baby boy," Quinn sang, playing with his dark hair. One thing was sure considering the blonde's expression, she was taken on an enormous emotional rollercoaster, from memories of Beth leaving the hospital room all those years ago, to her son, her child, her family in front of her.

- o -

The day after felt like a hangover. A very pleasant one. Santana and Quinn were thrilled by everything. Everything sounded like an incredible adventure they were living, creating for their son. Quinn was mastering the art of making bottles in less than 2 minutes, Santana was getting introduced to a brand new extreme sport: powering through her own exhaustion. But what was cool, really cool, was the fact that they were finally on their own. No more curious mothers with righteous advices around, no more family requiring to hold their son.

Around noon, they were blessed, calm, relaxed moms chilling in their room. Santana was in a deep, peaceful sleep, while Quinn was feeding their son, softly singing in a rocking hair in a corner of their room. Could Quinn enjoy the moment any more that what she was? No. Finally, her motherhood was back and finally, she could do whatever she wanted with her son. Because this baby, nobody would ever take him away from her. Months that she, they, had been waiting for him. In her heart had raised a sort of possessiveness over him which contrasted with her inner personality. But what could she do about that... She had a history and she felt the pain of it daily. She had a really hard time tolerating anyone other than her or Santana holding their son. Even her own mother holding her son was killing her. She wanted him in her arms all the time. And the fact that Santana was completely tuckered wasn't helping her insanity at all. She was almost alone on board and she was enjoying it a little too much.

All eyes on her son, she didn't realize Santana was stretching in the bed, softly waking up. "Is he eating better than this morning?" she croaked in a husky voice.

"Oh, you're up!" Quinn almost started. "Yeah, he's half way through the bottle."

Gazing, Santana took a better position in the bed, lying on her side and tightening pillows under her head. "I could stay like that forever."

Quinn chuckled. "Forever is not enough for me..."

The doorbell broke that moment of sheer happiness. "Let them ring, I told everybody I didn't want to see anyone today," Quinn barely joked. All eyes on the baby eating, she sang, "it's just you and us today, just you and us..."

"Maybe it's an emergency...? They would have called before coming," Santana worried.

The bell rang again. Santana sat up in bed, on her way to stand up despite the fact that her body still felt sore.

"Stay in bed, hon. I'll get it," Quinn said somewhat annoyed. She took Arthur's bottle out his mouth and carefully stood up to give him to Santana. He couldn't despise the ruffle more, he was already on his way to cry.

"I know baby, we're bad parents to disturb you during your lunch," Santana cooed, taking the baby in her arms. In a flash, she plugged the bottle back in his mouth, sidetracking any more crying.

"I don't know who that is but it better be worth it," Quinn grumbled half-joking on her way to the front door.

When Quinn opened the door, all air disappeared from her lungs and her eyes widened. "Brittany?!"

"Hey!" she said lightly, carrying a bag. "I was in the neighborhood and-"

Quinn cleared her throat. "Brittany, now's not exactly the best time to come by. It's nothing against you, really. I'm sure you have a decent reason to come here after so many years but... It's just that... Santana, she's resting. We just had a baby. Yesterday," she blurted in disconnect speech.

Winking, Brittany pulled a stuffed bunny out of the bag. "Yeah I know! I brought this, I didn't know if it was a boy or girl so I took something white!"

Quinn smiled, softened by thoughts of her son. "It's a boy. White works just fine. Thanks," she said stretching her hand to catch the bag.

Brittany kept the bag close to her, willing to negotiate. "I'm bringing good news, I won't stay long."

Quinn let out a concerned breath. "I don't know, Brittany... She just woke up, she needs to rest. I'll tell her to call you," she said already pulling on the handle.

Brittany stopped her, pushing the door. "It's important. Please..." Quinn's frown didn't soften. "Five minutes, just five minutes. I promise I won't stay more than that. Plus I have to drop this off," she shook her bag.

"I'll ask her first if she wants to see you," Quinn gave up, leaving the door ajar for Brittany to follow.

They headed to the bedroom, Quinn carefully closing the door behind her, leaving Brittany in the hall way.

"Who was that?" Santana inquired, not that she really cared.

Quinn didn't really know how to spill that her long time lost ex was standing on the other side of the door. "Brittany wants to see you."

Santana straightened in the bed in a flash. "Brittany? My Brittany?"

"I can tell her to come later if you don't want to see her now..."

"No! No, it's fine. Let her in," she agreed with an urgency coloring her voice. She was looking awful, tired and sleepy. But whatever. If Brittany was knocking on her door, five years after their horrible goodbye, it was probably more than important.

Feeling an awful dread inside, Quinn opened the door looking at the ground. Brittany being around her son, during his second day of life, was the last thing Quinn wanted.

"Hey..." Brittany whispered while entering, a huge smile stuck on her face. "Congratulations..." she sang when she caught sight of the little baby finishing his bottle in her arms.

Santana giggled tenderly. "This is my son, Arthur," she pronounced, her voice full of wonder.

"Hello Arthur," Brittany came closer and stroked his cheek for a second. On the other side of the room, Quinn was gritting her teeth in disapproval but was keeping it quiet.

"How are you, Santana?"

"Tired... but happy! And you? It's been a long time..."

Naturally, Brittany went to take a seat on the chair closest to the bed, but that's the one Quinn usually sits on to rock their baby. In other words, Brittany was scoring points in the wrong category in Quinn's mind. Her patience was in a drastic decline.

Brittany obviously needed time to find her words after such a long silence between them. In the meantime, she focused on the little gift she had brought.

"Look what I got him," she put the toy on the bed around a tender smile. "Stroke it, it's super soft." Softly chuckling, Santana gestured her hands were too busy at the moment.

"Yeah sure, when he's done..."

"What's brought you here, Brittany?" she pushed.

Brittany took a deep breath. "I'm getting married and I wanted you to know."

"Oh really! Who's the lucky girl?" Santana beamed. Perhaps their friendship could have a fresh start.

"The lucky guy, actually," she admitted, looking for something else in the bag. She pulled a wedding announcement card and put it close to the stuffed bunny so she could read.

"Samuel Evans..." Santana wondered out loud if the name was recalling something. "I don't know him, where did you meet him?"

Brittany scratched her forehead, suddenly kind of embarrassed. "In my... depression support group?" she let out tentatively.

"Oh..."

"But it's fine! We aren't in it anymore, obviously. We're good, more than good. Great actually!"

Santana pursed her lips in an awkward smile. She wasn't sure how to pursue the conversation.

"You know the song, 'We found love in a hopeless place'?" Brittany joked.

"Well, finding love is the most important, right? Wherever you find it," she said glancing at Quinn standing by the door.

"Sure it is..."

Arthur filled the awkward silence, fidgeting and softly crying. He was getting annoyed. Santana put the bottle down, heaved her son. A lovely smell escaped his diaper, leaving no doubt about the nature of his whining.

"Quinn," she called. "Can you..."

The blonde left her intense watching posture to run to their rescue. She caught the pouting baby and held him close despite the nuclear explosion happening in his diaper. Love... That's what made her risk her life without a second thought.

"He's so little, it's hard to believe he's the master behind those atomic bombs," Santana kidded when Quinn left to change him.

Now they were all alone, a sort of heaviness settled in. They stared, looking for details on their features that might have changed during all these years. The damage wasn't big, Santana only had a couple more wrinkles, Brittany had darker eyes, from the one who had recovered from hell.

"I thought you'd hate me by now," Santana pierced through the silence.

"Oh no... I could never do that," Brittany admitted around a tender smile that made Santana uncomfortable.

The latter wondered if Brittany had found someone just to fill the void she had left behind. "What I did to you wasn't very nice... I'm sorry, I really am. I just didn't know how to deal with you anymore..."

Brittany giggled knowingly. "It wasn't nice indeed, but it was necessary though. Now I get it. And I wouldn't have met Sam if none of this had happened anyway, so in the end, we're all good," she winked, light and playful.

Santana scratched her head. "If you say so..."

"Santana, I'd really like for you to come to my wedding," she blurted, taking the plunge she had been trying to avoid. "You can come with Quinn and your son if you want. It'd mean a lot to me."

Santana's eyes widened. "You want... us to come?!"

"Yeah. I want to share the best day of my life with my best friend," Brittany explained with the same simplicity that had always been coloring her voice, as if those five years spent apart have been five days.

"Brittany, I don't understand... How can you come knocking on my door as if nothing had happened? I broke your heart..." A hint of guilt resonated through her words.

"You did not, I broke it myself. I decided to keep myself blind and keep hoping when everything was screaming that all we had was a game. Because that is what it was, right? A game?"

Santana sighed. "I don't know... All I know is that it wasn't working. We were a good team but we weren't meant to be, that's how I'd define it," she said softly.

"Yeah, a good team playing a game," Brittany confirmed around a smile. "But life isn't a game and I feel like it's time for our team to live in the big world. I miss my friend," Brittany admitted, opening her heart. "I miss sharing stuff with you. I'd like to share the intense happiness I have with Sam, just like I'd like to know about your happiness with your family. Like friends would."

Santana was deep in thought. She wondered if Brittany's idea was a good one, if their worlds could combine now everything was so different. They weren't the young girls playing cat and mouse anymore. They had families, spouses, jobs, bills to pay. And to be honest, Santana's mind was in the fog. She was still very much on an emotional rollercoaster from welcoming her son, she needed time to think Brittany's comeback though.

"What about if we start with a coffee before the white dress?" she offered kindly what seemed the best option.

Brittany smiled wide, satisfied. "I'd like that."

The door opened, Quinn carrying Arthur back in. "Mister's all clean!"

Santana was already stretching her arms to get him. "Look what Brittany got you, buddy!" she sang, grabbing the stuffed bunny. She stroked his cheek with it, beaming at the little baby taking his ease against her.

Brittany shrugged deeply, happy. She tapped on the armrests, motivating herself to go. "Anyway, I promised I wouldn't stay any more than five minutes and I think my time's already up," she kidded lightly standing up.

"Oh come on... what did you say to her?" Santana laughed in Quinn's direction.

"Only that you need to rest which is super true," her wife answered around a shy smile.

"Hey, I was joking," Brittany chuckled. "I'd better go anyway. I'm sure that little man would like to be cosy with his mothers," she cooed bending over the bed to stroke his cheek as a goodbye.

"Britt," Santana called with that name she hadn't used in years. She held her pinkie out. Old habits died hard, even five years later. "I call you when I have some free time again."

Beaming, Brittany grabbed her finger with her own. "Great! Take care of yourself, Santana."

"I will. I'm in good hands." Santana eyes finding Quinn's across the room.

Smiling, Brittany passed by Quinn to get out of the room, the latter following. "Oh stay there, I know the house, don't worry. Bye!"

Santana waved and the door was softly being closed. She let out a deep breath. "That... was unreal."

"What did you talk about?" Quinn inquired taking a seat in her armchair where Brittany had sat, getting control back over her land.

"She wants the three of us to attend her wedding," Santana almost chuckled.

In a world full of possibilities, Quinn going to Brittany's wedding was the very, very last thing Santana would have ever thought would be happening.

"Me as well?!" Quinn nervously burst out laughing. "Oh gosh..."

"Well, do you want me to go alone?" Quinn stopped laughing right away, throwing a death glare, speaking volumes about what leaving her wife in her ex's company for hours felt like to her.

"That's what I thought..." This time, Santana was the one laughing.

Let me know if you want me to keep writing this story! I'm a little short of plot ideas so feel free to suggest! xo