Epilogue

"Brittany!"

"Brittany! Over here!"

Brittany smiled as the flashes nearly blinded her from the cameras snapping her photo. She posed as she was supposed to, showing off the light purple designer dress she was given to wear on the red carpet tonight.

"Brittany! Where's Santana?"

"Have you guys separated?"

"Is there trouble in paradise?"

Brittany gritted her teeth and forced the smile to stay on her face as she purposely ignored the pointed questions. This was the biggest drawback to her acting career. The probing and speculative questions into her personal life.

It had all started around six months after Brittany had been offered the role on the show that had been titled "Performance High," since that was what the kids who attended the school on the show called it. It became a huge hit not long after its premiere, and Brittany's character, Carly, became a fan favorite early on. Carly's relatability to the kids at the school and her fun-loving attitude endeared her to the audience, and the writers quickly realized that they needed to exploit that. So her character was given more of a storyline.

Once her popularity took off, she started getting her pictures taken and showing up in magazines or tabloids. The first time it happened, Brittany was surprised. She didn't understand why a picture of her walking out of a coffee shop was worthy of publication.

The second time it happened just pissed her off. She and Santana had been walking through the park on a fairly chilly spring day after feeding the ducks, something Santana indulged Brittany in doing. They were walking comfortably with their arms linked and Santana leaning slightly into Brittany for warmth. It had been a very good day, and, out of the blue, Santana surprised Brittany by asking her to move in with her. Brittany had been so delighted that she enthusiastically replied with a yes and sealed it with a loving, lingering kiss, cupping Santana's smiling cheeks.

She was not happy to find a picture capturing the moment the next morning on a gossip site, speculating on who the brunette she was kissing was and intimating all kinds of things about her sexuality and personal life. Santana wasn't happy either, having not wanted to be thrust into that side of the limelight after deciding on a career more behind the scenes dealing with the talent. It had caused a small argument between them, but in the end, Santana recognized that she would become famous in her own right by being with Brittany and Brittany realized that she couldn't hide everything.

Not that they had been hiding their relationship. They had never been ones for big displays of PDA, but they never had a thought to stop themselves from holding hands or give each other little pecks when not in the safety of their apartments. Once Santana officially left Carter Talent, they relaxed significantly on hiding. It got even better once Brittany didn't renew her contract with them and signed with Santana at her new agency.

Once the press had found out about them and published that picture, Santana told Brittany to use a publicist to issue a release about her relationship with Santana and her sexuality. She made it clear that she was never hiding who she was, nor was she ashamed, especially of Santana. She just wanted to have much of a private life as she could, and Santana even gave interviews as needed for support and to show a solidarity for their relationship.

At first, Brittany had been worried that Santana's former employer may go after Santana for having an improper relationship with Brittany. But Santana assured her that they had no way to prove that a relationship started before Santana left their agency. That helped ease Brittany's mind, but it didn't stop the tension that arose every time another picture of them or rumors about their relationship popped up.

The same kind of tension that Brittany was fighting to avoid snapping at the photographers who were supposed to be getting shots that had nothing to do with her personal life. She knew that the likelihood of these kind of questions was high the instant she stepped onto the red carpet alone. But there wasn't much she could do about it. She turned to give more photographers a better angle, and caught someone walking up to her out of her peripheral vision.

The arm sliding around her waist and soothing scent helped to calm her immediately. She turned to press a kiss to Santana's cheek, taking advantage of the proximity of her lips to Santana's ear to whisper over the excited calls of the photographers.

"Is everything okay?"

Santana gave her a reassuring squeeze around her waist and spoke around her smile. "Yeah, it's fine. Just some stupid last minute stuff that Jerry was freaking over," she said, naming one of her clients who had recently landed a big role. "I'm so sorry."

Brittany turned back to the photographers with a smile as she and Santana walked further down the red carpet. "It's okay. As long as everything is straightened out now."

"Absolutely," she swore. "I promise there will be no more interruptions tonight. My phone is off, like it should have been before we got into the limo."

Brittany chuckled a little, knowing how difficult it was for Santana to be hands off in any capacity of her work. Santana was always very involved with her clients, something that gossipmongers liked to talk about and they would start rumors that Santana was having an affair with one client or another. Brittany knew that nothing could be further from the truth. She just hated having to listen to the lies, and Santana couldn't stand it either.

"Well, just remember for the next red carpet," Brittany teased, sliding her hand down Santana's arm to lace their fingers together. She felt the little jump in her heart as she felt the pressure of the ring on her ring finger of her left hand. It was a miniature version of the jumping jacks her heart had done when Santana had proposed to her. It had come as a complete surprise to Brittany when, early last year, Santana had taken her out on a secluded romantic dinner at Sal's, which had been closed for the occasion, and proposed after a night of dancing on the decorated dance floor.

God, the sex they had that night had been incredible! And they were both amazingly happy. They planned a quick wedding, flew Brittany's and Santana's families and their closest friends down to Hawaii, and got married in a private ceremony.

The ruckus they came back to with the press was a bit overwhelming, but when they confirmed their marriage it died down for a bit. The timing was bad because it was just as Brittany's time on the show really started to take off, since her character had decided to try to go back out and audition for dance jobs again. It was an emotional time for her character, who had started teaching at the school after a devastating knee injury derailed her promising career. It took a lot of encouragement and motivation and struggling for her to decide to take the chance again, and just as it looked as if she would be on her way, she found out she was pregnant with the English teacher's baby. She had to turn down the role of a lifetime, to her devastation, only to have a miscarriage several weeks later. The storyline was a huge one, and the fact that Brittany and Santana had gotten married as it was airing made the public even more interested in them.

They had been married for over a year now, and things were going really well for them. Like, spectacularly well. Brittany was one of the biggest characters on "Performance High" and Santana's client list grew bigger and more star-studded after her move from Carter Talent. She had blockbuster movie stars and Broadway superstars (Rachel Berry, to be more specific), as well as in demand television actors. Santana was one of the hottest agents in New York, and the pressure was on for them both to pick up their lives and move to LA. Neither was clamoring to do so, however, as New York had become their home.

"You doing okay?" Santana's question broke Brittany from her thoughts.

Brittany smiled at her wife, still finding it hard to believe how much her life had changed since walking into Santana's office more than three years before. "I'm actually doing pretty good," she replied, giving a loving peck to Santana's lips before pulling back and smiling at her.

"You ladies are so in love!"

They turned to find one of an entertainment news show's correspondents smiling at them, and he called them over for an interview. After answering some questions about the night and their dresses and how things were with them, they moved on. The red carpets weren't Brittany's nor Santana's favorite thing, but they could actually be pretty fun. They finally reached the end and entered the building where the Primetime Emmys were being held.

They both were able to relax a bit as the press wasn't allowed inside this part of the building.

"I need to pee," Santana said, making Brittany giggle.

"I should probably go, too," she informed her wife, and they made their way into the nearest ladies room.

After taking care of their business, they double checked their hair and make-up, as so many other women were doing. They shared some pleasantries with the people they knew, accepted the compliments aimed their way, and gave compliments of their own to the well-dressed women in the room. They made their way out of the restroom and were ushered to their seats. That was when the nerves really started to hit Brittany.

"What the hell am I doing here, Santana?" Brittany asked, fiddling with the diamond necklace around her throat which was actually a present from Santana for their first anniversary.

Santana took the hand that was playing with her necklace and clasped it gently, lacing the fingers of their other hands together as she looked sincerely into her eyes. "You are here because you are incredibly talented and everybody else is finally recognizing it, Britt," Santana said honestly. "Regardless of what happens tonight, you deserve this, baby."

Brittany felt herself starting to calm, Santana's faith and pride in her giving her the confidence she needed. She had been working so hard on the show. She had even had some smaller parts in some popular movies, but she hadn't wanted to spread her time so thin between Santana and the show and everything else. The show took up so much of her time, and it had become really important to her.

She even had quite a bit of say in her character's development, putting her foot down when the writers wanted to boost ratings by giving Brittany a female love interest when she was at an off-again moment with the English teacher. Brittany didn't want to become one of those "gay for one girl" characters used to grab attention. She was perfectly fine with her sexuality and she had no problem playing a character of different sexuality, but she didn't want to be used as a gimmick. Thankfully, they listened to her and just continued to develop the gay characters they already had on the show, which actually turned out to be great storylines.

The show had hit on some really important topics and resonated with its audience. Brittany's performance had garnered a lot of attention, which was why they were where they were tonight. She had been nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress. The show had been nominated for other categories before, but she was the first specific actor from the show to be nominated for an individual award. She was excited but overwhelmed at the same time.

As the night progressed, she did her best to concentrate on the show. Santana helped by making comments and keeping her engaged in what was going on, but her wife could tell that her mind was on her upcoming category.

Brittany felt Santana's hand squeeze hers tighter when her category was finally announced. She was grateful for her acting experience as she continued to smile as her name was announced as a nominee along with the others who shared the honor. Santana's thumb was caressing the back of her hand soothingly as they waited for the presenter to announce the winner.

Brittany swore that it was the longest few seconds of her life. She pasted on a fake smile as she waited, and it wasn't until she heard Santana's delighted squeal next to her and felt her arms wrapping around her shoulders that she realized that her name had been called.

She had won.

Oh my God, she had won!

She felt the grin spread across her face as she squeezed her wife tightly. Santana was murmuring words of love and pride in her ear and Brittany was content to just bask in the joy of that moment.

It wasn't until Santana told her to go that she realized they were expecting her to go up to the stage and accept her award. She rolled her eyes at herself and chuckled, making Santana laugh through her happy tears. Brittany cupped her wife's cheeks and kissed her tenderly before she stood up and made her way to the stage accompanied by the applause of the audience.

She was so incredibly excited. It definitely was one of her top five moments of joy, and she was happy that this one was able to include Santana as well, since all of the other ones did. She stumbled up the stairs a little bit in her haste to get up them, but didn't fall. She was on a giddy high, and she didn't even care that she probably just looked like a fool.

She walked to the presenter and accepted the Emmy from him, grinning in thanks as she turned to the microphone.

"I guess I'm supposed to say something," she joked, her voice quivering as her emotions started getting to her. The audience chuckled to her relief. "I honestly don't know what I'm doing up here. I'm just a girl from Ohio who almost failed high school but graduated with honors from MIT. I had a talent for dancing and I confused a lot of people with what I said, most likely due to my unique parents. I love you, mom and dad! But I should never have been an actress."

She looked down at the award in her hand before she looked back up into the audience. "I knew I wanted more than a life of doing equations, so I took a chance and risked everything to go to New York and try my hand at acting, much to my best friend Quinn's dismay. I begged a favor from a high school friend- hi, Rachel- who referred me to her friend and agent. And it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me."

She locked eyes with Santana. Her wife's brown eyes were overflowing with tears and her hands were pressed together in a prayer position in front of her plump lips. Brittany's own tears started to fall down her cheeks as she smiled lovingly at Santana.

"Not only did this agent launch my career and help me get the role for which I am standing here tonight, but she made me realize what love truly is," her voice was choked with emotion, her eyes never wavering from her wife's as her happiness and love swelled. "I love you, Santana Lopez. This award is because of you. Thank you for giving me my career. Thank you for giving me your heart, and accepting mine in return. Thank you for marrying me. Thank you for getting pregnant with our baby."

There was a hush that fell over the audience briefly, and, at Santana's widened eyes, Brittany realized what she had let slip. The cheers and applause started, but it wasn't until Santana smiled big at her and nodded that Brittany relaxed and grinned back.

"I know I wasn't supposed to say anything, so oops!" Brittany joked. "But you just make me so, so happy and I'm sorry for letting the cat out of the box or whatever it is- why do cats love boxes so much, anyways?"

The chuckles of the audience brought her back onto task. "I just want to say, Santana, that I honestly don't know where I would be without you. This is for you. Thank you for everything."

Santana stood in the audience, in complete awe of the beautiful blonde who blew her a kiss and turned to walk off the stage while wiping at the tears on her cheeks. Her heart was swollen with love and pride for her amazing wife. She didn't agree with everything Brittany said on the stage. It was Brittany's talent and hard work that got her up on that stage. Santana was just a tool to guide her to where she needed to be in order to make everyone else see how incredible Brittany was.

She didn't even care that her wife had just announced to the world that she was pregnant in her acceptance speech. She joined in the applause honoring Brittany as the blonde exited the stage, and turned, grinning, to accept the congratulations and praise to her for Brittany's win and their pregnancy from the stars and others around her.

Santana wanted nothing more at that moment than to be with her wife instead of getting hugs from Brittany's costars, but she knew that Brittany had to do the whole press thing backstage before she would even be allowed to come back to her seat. And the fact that the awards presentation was almost over had Santana wondering if Brittany would even make it back before the show ended. Especially after the bombshell she just dropped and the questions Santana figured she would be fielding.

Since she was pretty sure she had some time, she departed her seat, mouthing 'thank yous' to people who congratulated her as she walked up the aisle to the doors. She exited and made her way quickly to the restroom, where she could relieve her crying bladder. She'd had to pee for the past hour, but she refused to risk missing Brittany's category. This kid wasn't very far along yet, but already she was peeing all of the time.

Santana caught her reflection in the mirror and cringed at her puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks. She freshened herself up and looked much more presentable before she exited the bathroom and returned to her seat. Brittany still wasn't there, so she sat anxiously awaiting the return of the blonde. All she could do was sit and think of how awesome this night turned out. Brittany had finally been rewarded for all of her hard work on her show, and she couldn't have been more deserving. Santana knew that tonight was going to be one of the best memories of their lives.

It wasn't until just before the final category that Brittany arrived back at her seat. Santana stood up and pulled her into her arms and just held the blonde, who returned her embrace just as tightly.

"I love you, so much," Brittany said quietly into her ear. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Britt," Santana murmured in reply.

Brittany pulled back from the embrace to meet Santana's eyes, and she noticed all of the love and emotion in the beautiful blues. Santana could feel how much all of this meant to Brittany and how much love she had for Santana. It made her heart swell and it felt like it could almost burst out of her chest.

Brittany pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and the teasing calls of her castmates and producers had Brittany breaking it to flip them off. Santana barked out a laugh, and then stood by in pleased contentment as she watched her wife get congratulated by those she worked with.

Once the awards were over, Brittany grasped Santana's hand and they made their way through the throng of people to the exit. Santana noticed a few people trying to catch their eyes, but they all quickly realized that Brittany and Santana wanted to be alone. They said polite goodbyes as they left the venue and got in their limo for the ride back to their hotel.

Santana leaned her head on Brittany's shoulder and the blonde wrapped her arm around her shoulders and held her. It had been a very long, very emotional day, and it was taking its toll on Santana. She started to doze, and startled awake once Brittany murmured to her with a gentle shake that they were at the hotel.

Brittany helped her out of the limo and they walked arm in arm, with Santana leaning into Brittany, into the hotel and up to their suite.

"I am so sorry for blurting that out about the baby," Brittany said once they got into the bedroom and started to remove all of the glitz and glamor they had adorned for the awards.

Santana was standing in front of the dresser mirror and locked eyes with her wife as the blonde's arms slipped around her waist from behind.

"I know we were going to wait until you really started to show to announce the pregnancy, but you are past the first trimester and I just wasn't thinking. I was so happy and excited and my mouth got ahead of my brain," Brittany rambled, an apologetic look in her eyes.

Santana just smiled softly at her. "Baby, it's okay," she said sincerely. "I know we were going to try to wait as long as possible, but I am just as happy with the way it turned out. Because I know how happy you are about the baby and it kind of got all mixed up with how happy you were at winning and it came out. Besides, I know how often your mouth blurts out things."

She scrunched her nose up teasingly at Brittany, who bit her lip on a smile. Her blue eyes were sparkling with joy, and Santana knew that it was much more than happiness at winning an Emmy.

"I can't help it," Brittany defended. "My brain works differently. And you know I've wanted to shout it to everyone from the rooftops since we found out you were pregnant, so I guess I should have known I wouldn't have been able to hold out."

Santana chuckled at Brittany's unapologetic smirk. She turned in Brittany's arms and wrapped hers around the blonde's neck as she smiled up at her. "I am pretty glad you made it as long as you did," she teased. "But you've been pretty great about everything baby related so far, so I guess I could indulge you in the way you announced it."

It was true. Ever since Santana's positive pregnancy test, Brittany was like superwife. She tried to wait on Santana hand and foot, much to Santana's amusement. She did her best to stop Brittany from going overboard, but she had to admit that she kind of liked it every once in awhile. Santana's favorite thing, however, was the way Brittany would lay her head on Santana's belly every night and talk to the baby. It started the day they found out and continued every day without fail. It just made Santana's heart melt into a big puddle.

"So does that mean we can really start shopping for some baby things now?" Brittany asked excitedly.

Santana laughed and nodded. "I guess so, blabbermouth. We don't have anything to hide anymore."

Brittany grinned and leaned down for a kiss. It started soft, but quickly turned more passionate. Santana's tongue teased Brittany's as she tangled her fingers in blonde hair. She nipped at Brittany's lips before whispering hotly against her lips, "I think we should celebrate the night's events properly."

"Oh, yeah?" Brittany murmured, her voice low with desire.

Santana started to nod again, only to be blindsided by a huge yawn. Her jaw popped with how wide her mouth opened, and Brittany looked at her in surprise before she burst out laughing.

"Alright, sexy mama," Brittany said in amusement. "I think it is bedtime for you and the baby."

Santana pouted, disappointed that Brittany wasn't going to go along with the sexy times. "But Britt," she protested.

Brittany just shook her head and gave her a teasing, but firm, look. "Come on," she began as she started to slip Santana's dress off of her. "I know you are exhausted."

Her point was proven when Santana yawned again. Santana huffed in resignation but helped Brittany in removing her clothes and her hair from the complicated updo she had it in. Brittany slipped a baggy shirt over Santana's head, which was her choice of sleepwear now that her breasts were tender from the pregnancy.

"Go wash your face and brush your teeth," Brittany demanded. "It's time to sleep. You can congratulate me properly in the morning."

Santana shuffled toward the bathroom to do as she said, throwing a sexy wink over her shoulder at her wife. She heard Brittany chuckle behind her as she entered the bathroom. Once she came back out, she found Brittany in some shorts and a tank top, all ready for bed herself. Brittany kissed Santana's cheek as she passed her on the way to the bathroom. Santana crawled into bed and sighed blissfully. As much as she loved making love with her wife, her body craved sleep more right now. She felt a little guilty about it, but Brittany wasn't too upset so she didn't feel too badly.

Santana grinned when Brittany climbed onto the bed and immediately went to lay her head on Santana's stomach. She rested her hand on Brittany's head, threading her fingers through blonde hair as her wife settled comfortably.

"Hi, baby," Brittany cooed to her still flat tummy. "I know you were with us all day today, but it was a big, big day. I won an award for my show. I couldn't believe it!"

Santana grinned at Brittany's legitimate shock at her win. She would argue with her, but she wanted to listen to Brittany talk to their baby more.

Brittany's hand rubbed gently over Santana's belly as she continued to talk. "And I accidentally told everyone that you are in your mommy's belly. It was on TV and everything. Everybody was just as excited as we are about you, so I think it turned out okay."

"Your other mommy just couldn't help herself," Santana chimed in. "But it most definitely is okay, because we are really excited."

Santana could feel Brittany's cheek bunch up in a grin against her stomach. "So it was a big day, and your mommy is really tired. And I think you are, too, little baby. So goodnight, my little love."

Brittany pressed a kiss to her stomach before she crawled up Santana's body to give her a soft, sweet goodnight kiss.

Santana cupped Brittany's cheek and caressed it gently with her thumb as they pulled apart. Brittany rested her forehead against Santana's and they looked into each other's eyes.

"Congratulations, Brittany. And thank you, for everything," Santana said, her chest tight with emotion.

Brittany knew exactly what Santana meant. She smiled lovingly at Santana. "It's a good thing we found each other, isn't it?"

Santana returned her smile, feeling exactly the same. "The best possible thing," she stated. "I love you."

"I love you, Santana."

Brittany kissed her again, a little harder but no less caring. When she pulled away this time, she settled into bed and pulled Santana into her arms. It was Santana's favorite place to be. Santana's body softened into her wife's embrace, her head upon Brittany's chest, and wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist. She was already fighting to keep her eyes open.

Once Brittany's hand started to soothingly rub her back, she gave up on the fight. This had been an amazing day. One of the best since Brittany had come into her life. And it was even that much better for Brittany. Santana couldn't help but think of how different things would have been had she not taken the risk to follow her heart. Her lips turned up into a hint of a smile as she started to drift off, safe and comfortable in Brittany's arms.

It was all definitely worth it.

A/N: So there you guys have it! This is the official end to this story. I hope you all enjoyed it and that it wasn't too much of a disappointment in the ending. I know it seemed kind of sudden, but it was really all I had for this one. Like I said, this was more of a traditional romance story so I kind of followed those rules with the flow of the plot. But anyways, I am glad you all joined me on this journey, and I appreciate all of the support and comments! :)

Having said that, I do have some news. This will be my last story. My life is seriously too busy and full of changes at the moment to continue to spend time on writing fics. I had planned on taking a long break anyways, but things in my life kind of took over and the break has had to become more of a permanent thing. I am not saying that I will NEVER write again, but as of this time I have no plans of writing anything new for quite awhile. I know some of you were hoping that I had more up my sleeve and that I had more stories coming, and I am sorry to disappoint you with this news. But I need to do what is best for me, and right now that is concentrating on myself and other priorities.

I just want to say a big, heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who have followed me through my stories. When I first wrote Dreams, I never thought anybody would ever read my stuff. I wrote it for me. Then I followed up with Dreamcatcher, and I was surprised that so many people were getting into it. A Second Life was something that I needed to write. And I absolutely was astonished by the amount of people who were enjoying the story or were touched by it. And following it up with Worth the Risk has given me that much more joy in how many people I was able to give a little bit of enjoyment to. I have loved getting to respond to your reviews and appreciated the conversations I have been able to have with many of you. Even more than that, I will cherish the friendships I have made from many of you who have taken the time to get to know me a little bit better. I honestly don't know what I would do without some of you in my life.

Writing these fics has given me something that I really needed. I accomplished a goal I had had for a very long time. And I spread knowledge and happiness, too. So I hate that I have to leave it behind. All I can say now is, maybe someday you will hear from me again. If not, it has been great! :)