"Santana, will you get the door?" Quinn groaned from the sofa as Santana looked up from the kitchen, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"It's right there, you're so much closer and I'm making this." She gestured to the pan of vegetables on the stove and checking the turkey in the oven.

The blonde lifted her head from the cushions, turning to stare at her wife before replying, "I am currently growing and nurturing a tiny fucking human being in my womb, which I am expected to force out of an area that previously we were both very fond of, within the next hundred and sixty eight hours, possibly causing me damage that can only be repaired surgically."

"Fine." Santana sighed, nodding her head as she picked up the toy train from the floor and placed it back on the tray of Isla's chair, crossing the living room and heading to the door as Quinn beamed from the sofa. "Although for the record, I did suggest adopting again."

"I know but I wanted one home-grown." She cooed, rubbing her rotund belly.

"I knew we shouldn't have let your mom go on vacation for the holidays." She murmured, taking a deep breath before pulling the door open, her arms already wide for the barrage of embraces that were piled upon her.

"Merry Christmas!" She shouted over the various other good wishes from her friends as they rushed into the hallway, removing hats and gloves as they did so."Happy Holidays!"

"Happy Hanukkah!" Rachel grinned as she surged past her, crossing straight to the fridge to abandon her dessert on a shelf, whilst Jesse gave her a clap on the back as he followed after her, removing his coat and taking his fiancée's.

Jess pulled her into a tight hug as she passed before hanging her coat on the peg and running into the living room to greet Quinn and cradle her bloated stomach.

"Thanks for your help!" Brittany called through as she rolled her eyes. "Here, take him." She bundled the baby across to Santana, thick snow suit and all, before unzipping her jacket and sliding it off her arms.

"Hey, Hugo!" Santana grinned, "Guess who's waiting for you in the kitchen, handsome. That's right, it's Isla. Yes, I know last time she scratched your face but we had words and that won't happen anymore."

Brittany reached out to unzip her son from his winter wear, pulling him from Santana's arms whilst leaving the suit behind. The brunette frowned, "How did you do that?" The girl didn't reply, and she folded the garment before leaving it on the hallway table.

"No Sam?" Jesse frowned as he sat down in the armchair, Rachel crossing to perch on the arm, Isla cradled on her knee.

"No, he's in Norway taking pictures of the Northern Lights." Quinn explained as Brittany placed Hugo on the carpet beside them.

Rachel tutted, "Lucky. I bet it's gorgeous."

"Does anybody want a drink?" Santana called as she moved back to the kitchen, and Jesse immediately stood up once more as the rest shouted their orders.

Quinn finally took a deep breath, pushing herself up off the sofa and crossing to retrieve various bottles and glasses, "I hope you two aren't talking about work." She warned playfully as she passed Jesse and Santana, who both shook their heads innocently.

"No, just seeing if she needed any help." The man grinned, both watching the blonde walk away before her turned back to the girl, who smirked.

"You can baste the turkey." She nodded smugly, and Jesse rolled his eyes,

"Isn't basting your area of expertise?" He interjected with a chuckle, pointing subtly to the pregnant blonde. Santana shook her head, thrusting the oven gloves into his chest.

"And to answer your question, yes, it's finished."

Jesse grinned as he lifted the tray onto the counter top, "Great, I can't wait to hear it."

"Merry Christmas to you, too." She nodded good-naturedly.

"I'm sorry!" He sighed, his shoulders hunching as he turned to face her, "I'm just so excited about this tour and trying out all this new material that you're doing such an incredible job with."

The girl chuckled, "Okay, stop blowing smoke up my ass and put that turkey back in. If we can, I'll play it for you later, but if there's uproar about working on Christmas Day then I'm blaming it on you, alright?"

"Deal." The boy nodded, slamming the oven door shut once more as Santana called through to the living room.

"Hobbit, your Gandalf manager is harassing me!"

The girl spun around from where she was bouncing Isla on her knee, "You'd better not be talking shop!"

"We're not, I promise!" Her boyfriend swore unconvincingly, holding his hands up defensively as he crossed back to the living room and accepted his drink from Brittany, murmuring to the girl, "Although she has finished the last track."

Rachel gasped excitedly, whirling around with wide eyes to beam excitedly at Santana, who scowled and made cutting motions across her neck.

"Hugo, get that out of your mouth!" Jess suddenly shouted, leaning forwards to retrieve the remote control and pull it out of her baby's grasp with a grimace, before turning back to her friends, "I know everyone says teething is a nightmare, but really?"

"Ugh, Isla was awful for it." Quinn agreed, shaking her head incredulously as Santana sat down beside her, nodding her head.

"God, remember that time in Bloomingdale's?" She chuckled, turning to look at Rachel with an apologetic wince.

The girl rolled her eyes as she peered down at the girl on her knee, "Yes, we both remember that, don't we? It was a real bonding experience."

"I don't think I've heard this story?" Jesse raised his eyebrows, and Santana and Brittany chuckled, exchanging a knowing glance.

"So we're walking through looking for evening dresses- for the Olivier's last year, I wore that green dress, you remember?" Rachel gave him a warning look to accompany her question.

The man nodded, "I remember."

"Okay, well we were walking around, just browsing, and I was carrying Isla, like this." She lifted the girl off her lap, turning her so the baby's back was pressed to her chest, earning grins and waves from the rest of the girls, "And she was kind of nibbling on my thumb, and I was just letting her, because I was more focused on the myriad of hideous dresses that those two were trying to get me to try on."

Santana sniggered as Brittany shrugged, "Well, we weren't going to pass up that opportunity."

"But then all of a sudden, with a grip that I can only imagine she inherited from her biological father, the Nile Crocodile, she clamped down on my thumb. And I mean clamped, and her bottom teeth had just started to come through." She nodded to emphasise her point as Quinn gasped, looking down at her daughter with comical horror, "And I literally just screamed."

"Boy, did she scream." Santana winced.

"And everyone turned to stare at us." Brittany added, rolling her eyes as she chuckled.

Rachel nodded, "The whole of Bloomingdale's just stared at me, and I'm pretty sure I could have let go of her and she'd have still been hanging on by her mouth."

Quinn frowned, "Reassuring child care."

"But she just would not let go. So Santana rushed over and grabbed Isla, who was still just attached to my hand. Like a dog with lock-jaw."

"I've decided you're not allowed to babysit anymore." The blonde interjected with a nod.

Jesse frowned, "So, how did you get her to let go?"

"Punched her in the back of the neck. Like a dog with lock-jaw." Brittany replied seriously, suddenly bursting out laughter as the man's face contorted into one of horrified shock, "No, she just let go a few minutes later."

He breathed a sigh of relief, clutching at his chest, as Rachel grinned down at the baby, "And that's how I learnt not to let a teething baby put my fingers in their mouth."

-o-

"That was amazing." Jess groaned from where she sat sprawled on the sofa, Hugo cradled on her chest in a light slumber. "Thank you Santana and Jesse."

"I'm pretty sure my food baby belly could rival Quinn's." Brittany chuckled beside her, shifting towards the girl and lifting her t-shirt to rub her own, rotund stomach.

"You wish." The blonde chuckled, lifting her own to compare her perfect bump with the taller girl's, "You got nothing on me, Welford."

Santana nodded from where she lay on the other, smaller couch, Isla sat between her legs bashing a toy pig painfully against her knee, "Nothing rivals that bump."

"You are bigger than we all expected." Rachel nodded, and Quinn turned to stare at her, blinking slowly.

"Do not play with mama's hormones right now, Berry."

Brittany and Jess both gave a loud, antagonising 'ooh' as Rachel grinned, lifting her head from Jesse's chest and raising an eyebrow, "You know what I mean! We all said you were going to be tiny."

"Well, I was at the start, it's only in the last two months that I've ballooned." She sighed, "Now I just can't wait to get this fucking thing out of me."

"Ah, the joys of motherhood." Jesse remarked playfully, earning a glare from the blonde.

"Carry a watermelon in your scrotum, then we'll talk."

The man frowned, "I'm not sure that's an accurate ratio-" he began, but quickly fell silent as Rachel shook her head pointedly beside him.

"Santana..." Jess groaned hopefully, "Will you play me a Christmas song while I'm feeling fat?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "I'm feeling fat, too!" She replied defensively, "Can't you wait?"

Jess pouted playfully, "It just seems like a nice moment for a sing-along."

"It would be if I didn't know that you want me to play that depressing one you made us all learn last year." She raised an eyebrow knowingly, and the other girl blushed.

"It's my favourite."

Santana shrugged, "I don't even know if I remember it."

"I thought you had an almost photographic memory for music?" Jesse frowned, earning a glare from the girl.

"I quit."

"Go on, please." Jess begged, "You know you always love it when you do."

Santana rolled her eyes, but dragged herself off the sofa, passing Isla into Rachel's waiting arms before crossing to the piano and sitting down heavily, "Well, come on then." She sighed, and Jess grinned, giggling excitedly as she stood up and crossed to the girl, passing Hugo across to Santana and hoisting herself up to sit on top of the piano, ignoring the brunette's disapproving scowl as she gently took her son back.

She began applying the slow introduction, frowning down in concentration at the keys, before taking a deep breath, "It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank. An old man said to me, 'won't see another one'." She glanced up to see Jess sitting cross-legged, the corners of her mouth twitching reluctantly as the girl grinned down at her, "And then he sang a song, The Rare Old Mountain Dew. I turned my face away, and dreamed about...you." She looked up to see Quinn waddling over to her, smiling warmly as she took a seat on the couch closest to them.

"Got on a lucky one, came in eighteen to one." Jess grinned as Brittany joined them by the piano, "I've got a feeling, this year's for me and you." The blonde wrapped her arms around the girl from behind, stroking her sleeping son's face, "So happy Christmas. I love you baby." Jess sang, turning to grin at the blonde, "I can see a better time, when all our dreams come true."

The slow chords continued as Jess beamed, taking a deep breath as the tempo changed quickly, revelling in the music as she whistled the melody,

"They've got cars big as bars, they've got rivers of gold! When the wind blows right through you, it's no place for the old!" Rachel continued, taking Jesse's hand and dragging him over to the piano, "When you first took my hand on that cold Christmas Eve, you promised me Broadway was waiting for me. You were handsome."

"You were pretty." The boy nodded, taking his cue, "Queen of New York City. When the band finished playing, they howled out for more." The boy grimaced, shaking his head desperately as the words deserted him, and Brittany chuckled as she took over.

"Sinatra was swinging. All the drunks they were singing. We kissed on the corner then danced through the night."

Jess waved her hands for everyone to sing, swaying giddily as they obliged reluctantly, "The boys of the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay. And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day."

"You're a bum, you're a punk." Santana began, swiftly cut off as Quinn piped up.

"You're an old slut on junk. Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed."

Brittany grinned, tightening her grip on her wife, "You scumbag, you maggot."

"You cheap lousy faggot." Jess retorted happily, "Happy Christmas, your arse. I pray God it's our last!"

"The boys of the NYPD choir, still singing Galway Bay. And the bells were ringing out for Christmas day."

"I could have been someone." Jesse sang dramatically as Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Well, so could anyone. You took my dreams from me when I first found you."

The boy frowned sadly, clutching a hand to his chest, "I kept them with me babe. I put them with my own. Can't make it all alone."

"I've built my dreams around you." The rest joined in, Quinn smiling tightly from the sofa as Santana sent her a cheeky wink. "The boys of the NYPD choir, still singing Galway Bay. And the bells are ringing out...for Christmas day."

Santana played the final chords with a contented sigh, before lifting her head to raise her eyebrows at Jess, "Happy now?"

"Perfectly, thank you very much." She replied with nod, "Doesn't feel like Christmas unless someone gets called a scumbag. Especially in my house." She added seriously, before chuckling.

"Woah." Quinn suddenly gurgled from the sofa, her eyes widening comically as her eyebrows shot upwards.

Brittany frowned, "Umm, guys...I don't want to alarm you or anything." Santana jaw dropped as realisation dawned, and Jess gasped slowly, "But either Quinn's incontinent...or her waters just broke."

"Holy shit." Santana half-coughed, as Rachel placed her hands on Jesse's chest, pushing him away swiftly and placing Isla in her chair.

"Okay let's go." She clapped her hands, rushing over to the key cupboard and grabbing the keys to the girl's mini-van.

Jess slid off the edge of the piano, bundling Hugo into the man's arms and making for the stairs, "I'll get the overnight bag!"

"Holy shit." Santana swallowed, sitting frozen.

"Jesse, you have to stay here and look after Isla and Hugo." Rachel instructed as the boy's face fell into a look of queasy horror, "Yeah, that's happening, you will be great. I believe in you and I love you, honey." She grinned brightly in an attempt to encourage the boy, who nodded dumbly.

"The bag's in the nursery!" Brittany shouted up the stairs as she took hold of Quinn's arm, gently pulling her to her feet. "On top of the wardrobe!"

"I can't do it." The blonde mumbled, shaking her head steadily, "I can't do it. I can't do it."

Brittany nodded, "Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. If I could do it, so can you!" She grinned brightly as Jess rushed down the stairs behind them.

"Got it!" She shouted, "Oway then. Let's get crackin'."

"I've got the keys!" Rachel held them aloft, rushing straight past Santana before whirling round on the spot, turning back to the girl, "Santana!" She raised her hand, swiftly slapping the dumbfounded girl straight across the face before grabbing her hands, "Look alive! Your wife is giving birth."

The girl paused for a second before giving a quick nod and allowing the girl to pull her to her feet, "Fuck."

"Let's get moving people!" Jess grinned, tugging the front door open, "We've got a baby to...have!"

Santana rushed to her wife's side, taking the opposite arm to Brittany as they led her out of the front door, whilst Rachel ran to the garage and climbed into the car, reversing out with a screech of tyres as soon as the electric door opened high enough.

"Okay." Jesse nodded into the silence, glancing down at Hugo before looking across to the baby girl, "...Just us then."

-o-

Six hours later, and Jess and Rachel sat side-by-side in the waiting room of the hospital, the tough plastic squeaking beneath them whenever they shifted in an attempt to reduce the painful numbness that was settling in throughout their bodies.

"I'm sure it didn't take this long when Brittany had Hugo." Jess yawned, stretching her arms out in fronting of her.

Rachel shook her head, "It did, you were just in the middle of all the drama so you didn't notice." She shrugged, blinking her scratchy eyes and rubbing her face in an attempt to wake herself up.

"Can't wait for Britts to get back." The other girl grumbled, "I am so in need of coffee right now."

"Yeah, I know." She chewed on her lip as her phone buzzed in her hand, and she glanced down to skim the text message, "Oh God, poor Jesse. Isla can't sleep so he's walking her back and forth through the bedroom." She winced sympathetically, "I really hoped he'd have an easy ride."

Jess nodded, her brow furrowing with concern, "How's Hugo? Is he managing with both of them? If not I can see if Summer will go pick him up? They've got a set of keys, it's just a bit far out."

"No, Hugo's fine." Rachel shook her head, waving a hand reassuringly, "He was out like a light hours ago apparently."

The other girl breathed a sigh of relief, nodding slowly as they blonde appeared around the corner carrying a tray of drinks, "Sorry, the queue was pretty big considering it's Christmas Day." She grimaced, "Who knew so many people had patients to visit and needed coffee?"

"Not to sound selfish," Rachel frowned as she accepted her drink and took a large slurp, "but I really hope Quinn has this baby soon."

"Is Jesse okay?" Brittany asked immediately as she sat down beside Jess, "How's Hugo?"

Jess shook her head, "Don't worry, he's fine." She chewed on her bottom lip, "Although I think I'll give it another hour or so, then go get him and just take him home. I don't want him waking up and not knowing his surroundings. He'll freak out and then Jesse'll have two screaming kids."

"Plus has Jesse actually ever looked after kids?" Brittany frowned, her mouth twisting nervously.

"Yeah, don't worry." Rachel rolled her eyes, "He has a niece who he sees all the time, he's just...maybe not used to two."

The blonde sighed, looking pained as her shoulders hunched, "Ugh, and we never gave either of them a bath, Hugo's gonna get all those weird little nasty skin things."

"I'll do it in the morning." Jess shrugged, "Otherwise he'll be gammy all day."

Rachel suddenly snorted, a small smile gracing her features as she tipped her head back to gaze at the ceiling, "I have to say. This is not how I imagined this night ending."

"Born on Christmas Day ought." Jess nodded, "It's like a fairy tale."

"I know." Brittany giggled, "And here, I thought we'd all be happily drunk - apart from Quinn - the kids would be in bed and we'd be watching awful Christmas TV before all crashing out, ready to be awoken again at four am to crying babies."

"Four am?" The tiny girl repeated, her eyes wide, "Really?"

Jess chuckled, one eyebrow raised as she turned to the girl, nodding her head, "Yeah, really. Why do you think I have bags under my eyes that are so big I have to pay extra on flights?"

"God." Rachel breathed, shaking her head incredulously, "Remember Quinn and Santana's wedding?" She grinned as the girls nodded, "We stayed up til four am. That was when the party ended for God's sakes."

"Eugh." Brittany grimaced, "How did we do it? These days if I'm not in bed by nine I hate everything the next day, dance school and all."

Jess shrugged, "Time. Age. Children." She snorted, tipping her head back and gulping down her coffee, "Changes everything."

"And soon to have another one." The tiny girl grinned widely, rubbing her hands together.

"Sooner than we think!" Brittany suddenly sat forward, pointing to the double doors in rounding of them, where Santana stood silently, clad in green scrubs with her hair tied back and covered, a white mask hanging around her neck.

The girls stood up in an instant, abandoning their take-out cups on the floor and rushing towards the girl, who held up her hands to stop them before they got too close, wiping her forearm across her brow.

"So?" Jess grinned.

Rachel stared, wide-eyed, "Is everything okay?"

"Boy or girl?" Brittany demanded excitedly.

"Is everything okay?" Rachel repeated.

"How's Quinn?" Jess interjected.

"Is everything okay!?" Rachel demanded.

Santana took a deep breath, nodding steadily as she grinned, her chest heaving as she finally murmured, "It's a boy."