MERCEDES P.O.V

I stare at the pregnancy test I've been holding in my hand for the past thirty minutes just hoping and praying that it would turn into a positive. Every month I find myself in this exact position, optimistic that I would finally be pregnant only to be let down. My wife and I have been trying for almost a year to get pregnant and it feels as if we have not gotten any closer to turning our dreams into a reality. This time I was certain that finally I would get a positive results but once again I was wrong. I even planned this romantic dinner for my wife to tell her the good news. A candlelit dinner and a relaxing bubble bath for later but there will be no celebration for us tonight. Only tears, sadness, and frustration. I've been doing everything I can to make sure my body was the perfect home for a baby. Taking my vitamins every morning, eating a healthy diet, exercising, I even lost thirty pounds. Still here I am once again with the same results from the previous months. I'm going to have to disappoint my wife yet again with the sad news. She tries to be strong for the both of us but I know she is just as heart broken as I am. I greatly appreciate how strong she is for me because right now that is exactly what I needed. I throw the pregnancy test in the trash bin, walk down to the kitchen to check on the food. I take the food out of the oven and set the table for the both of us, I even take out a bottle of wine since I could definitely use a drink right now. I get a text from my wife telling me that she would be home in ten minutes, so I pour myself a glass of wine while I wait. In exactly ten minutes I hear the front door open and in walks my beautiful wife of fours years Santana Lopez.

"Wow babe what's all of this for?" Santana and I have known each other since high school but we didn't develop romantic feelings for each other until one year after we graduated high school. Santana and I begin spending so much time together in California that we began to fall in love. Fast forward three years later Santana proposes to me and a year later we get married. Being with Santana has made me the happiest I've ever been. She is my best friend and the love of my life and we have an amazing life together. The only thing we are missing is a family.

"I just wanted us to have a romantic evening, both of us have been working really hard and we haven't spent a lot of quality time together."I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her neck. It wasn't the whole truth but it wasn't entirely a lie either.

"After the day I had, I could definitely use some quality time with you." Santana leans in and kisses me on my lips. We stand by the counter kissing for a little then I break away from the kiss.

"Come sit down babe." I take her hand and lead her over to the table. She sits down in the chair and I pour her a glass of wine and I pour a glass for myself.

"Baby what are you doing, you can't drink wine you might be pregnant." Santana says to me with concern look on her face. I hate that I have to tell her that I'm not pregnant.

"Unless you already know your not pregnant." Santana says, the smile dropping from her face. All the tears I was holding in comes pouring down my face.

"Oh Cedes, come here." She pulls me down into her lap and cradles me in her arms.

"I took a test like forty-five minutes ago and it was negative, I just knew it was going to be positive this time." I sob into her shoulder as she rubs my back.

"I'm so sorry Cedes, we will keep trying."

"I just feel like it's never going to happen for us, it's been almost a year and nothing."

"I know baby but remember Dr. Schultz said that if we try for a full year without getting pregnant then we can come see him about our fertility. It's only been eleven months so we can try one more month and if nothing happens then we will go see the doctor."

"I just feel like something is wrong with me." I answer honestly. I've been feeling like this for a while, like something was wrong with my body.

"Or maybe it's me, maybe my soldiers don't march as strong as I think. And if something is medically wrong with either of us then the doctor will tell us. Then we can figure out what we need to do to increase your chances of getting pregnant. No matter what we have to do we are going to have the family we always wanted." This is why I love Santana so much she was always being strong for me and reassuring me that everything was going to be alright. I wouldn't want to go through this with anyone other than her. By the way I should probably explain that Santana has fully functioning male genitals. She was born this way and doctors still don't understand how or why. She is one hundred percent a woman in every way except for what she has below the waist.

"You always know what to say to put my mind at ease."

"That's why I'm here, I love you so much Cedes."

"I love you too San." I lean in and give her a lingering kiss on the lips.

"Now how about I take you upstairs and we get a head start on this baby making." Santana gives me this mischievous grin and I immediately take her hand and we race upstairs. We spend the rest of the night making love for hours, only stopping for water and bathroom breaks. By the time we were done we were both completely exhausted.

"Oh my god San, I don't think I can walk." I lay sprawl out on the bed, tired and sweating from all the different positions Santana put me in. Even after all these years I was still blown away by the way Santana made me feel each time we made love.

"Santana Lopez aims to please."Santana gives her cocky response, I lay my head on her naked chest.

We lay in silence only listening to the sound of our breathes. Tonight with Santana was amazing but I couldn't get the thought of us never having a baby out of my head.

"San."

"Yes babe."

"I have to ask you something and I want you to be completely honest with me."

"Always babe."

I take a deep breath before I speak."Would you still love me if I couldn't give you children?"

Santana props herself up on her elbows."Baby of course I would, I will always love you no matter what. Don't you even think for a second that I wouldn't."

Santana grabs me by the chin and lifts up my head. "Cedes look at me, I told you we will get through anything together and I meant that. I am going to love you until I take my last breath and nothing is going to change that." Santana doesn't give me a chance to respond before grabbing me by the back of my neck and bringing me in for a deep passionate kiss. Santana wipes away all my fears and doubts, I believed every word she said to me.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too Cedes."

THE NEXT MORNING

SANTANA POV

I wake up to an empty bed, I assume Mercedes must be downstairs. Last night was really rough for me even though I held it all in. I had to be strong for Mercedes even though I was hurting inside. I want so desperately to start raising a family with Mercedes. Everything else in our life was going exactly like we planned it. Both of us excelling in our careers, me as the youngest Police Sergeant in the state and Mercedes as a the head trauma nurse at her hospital. The only thing missing from our lives was a baby and the chance for us to start a family together. When Mercedes first talked to me about wanting to have kids at first I was very insecure about the whole thing. I didn't know if I would be a good mom but now it's all I want. I want the family that you see in movies, a child of our own to love and make memories with. I'm not a very religious person but I believe God, whoever he or she is should see the good in Mercedes heart and bless her with a child. I know I'm not supposed to dwell on things like that. Maybe one day when we least expect it, our prayers will be answered.

I grab my gym bag and police bag then head downstairs to the kitchen where I knew Mercedes would be. I enter the kitchen and Mercedes is standing behind the counter packing lunches for the both of us.

"Good morning babe." I walk over and give her a quick kiss on the lips before grabbing a water from the refrigerator and banana out of the bowl.

"Morning baby, I packed the food from last night so you could have it for lunch today."

"Thanks babe." I sit down at the kitchen bar stool. Mercedes comes over in between my legs and wraps her arms around my neck.

"I know you were being there for me last night but I want to know how you are holding up. I know this is taking a toll on you too every month." I place my hands on Mercedes hips bringing her closer to me.

"I'm not going to lie I was hurt last night, but I'm still optimistic everything is going to work out. It may not be the way we want it but I know we are going to be great mom's one day even if we have to take another route."

"You mean like adoption?"

"Adoption, a surrogate, or maybe even a sperm donor. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to have a beautiful family with my beautiful wife." I give her a quick kiss. "But we don't even have to think about those options until we go see Dr. Schultz."

"Your right San, I just hope it's soon."

"Me too, now give me some lovin before I have to go the next nine hours without you." Mercedes smiles at me before leaning down and pressing her lips against mine.

"I will see you tonight baby, text me."

"I always do." Mercedes always wanted me to text her when I was out on patrols so she knew that I was safe. She was always paranoid that one day it would be me coming in the hospital on a stretcher. So I made sure I text her throughout the day to put her mind at ease.

"I know, I love you."

"I love you too, have a great day at work and saves some lives." I give my wife one last kiss before grabbing my bags and heading out the door.

I go to the gym first just to get in a quick workout before I head to the station. Being a cop I made sure my body was always in its best shape, plus working out gave me a chance to clear my mind. After I workout I shower change into my uniform then I drive down to the station. The first thing I do is get a quick debriefing from the overnight Sergeant. Then I gather all my paperwork for my eight o'clock briefing with my patrol unit, on the activities from the night before. After that I spend an hour going over reports before heading out on patrol with my partner and best friend Quinn Fabray. Quinn and I have been best friends since we were thirteen years old. She joined the police force one year after I did and now has been my partner for the last two years. We've seen some crazy shit and survived close calls together, I couldn't ask for a better partner.

"So Mercedes pregnancy test came out negative again this month." I tell Quinn as we drive downtown patrolling the streets.

"Aww I'm sorry Santana." Quinn says empathetically from the passenger side of the patrol car.

"Yeah it sucks, I just feel bad for Mercedes she really wants to have a baby. I mean don't get me wrong I do too but Mercedes takes it so personal, she always thinks she is the one to blame."

"I understand that but the two of you haven't been trying for that long, I heard it takes most couples over a year before they get pregnant."

"That's what I tried to explain to Mercedes but she really wants to have a kid. I just hope we can make something happen soon before she starts to get depressed over all of this."

"I'm sure you guys are going to have a beautiful family soon. Good things come to those who wait."

"Thanks Q."

"No problem."

We ride down King Street which is a known drug area, I make it my business to patrol this area whenever I could. As we ride down the road I notice a black lexus stopped at a known drug house and as soon as they see us behind them they pull off. I turn on my blue lights to get the car to pull over and to my surprise the car obeys and pulls over to the side of the road. Quinn and I get out of our patrol car, I walk up to the drivers side and Quinn on the passenger side. The windows of the car are tinted out so I couldn't see who was inside. I tap on the window to get the driver to roll the window down which they do. As the window is being rolled down I instantly get hit with a big aroma of marijuana smoke. The driver was a white teen probably eighteen years old and a group of teens in the back of the car all about the same age.

"How's it going today gentleman?" I ask once the driver rolls the window all the way down. The car of teens all look very nervous.

"Doing alright. " The driver answers fidgeting his hands on the steering wheel.

"Can I get your driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance please." Quinn stands on the passenger side watching the occupants in the back closely. The driver reaches over and gets the documents out of the glove compartment.

"Now, who do you know at that house you just pulled off from?" I take a quick look at the driver's license to get his name. I hand the documents over to Quinn for her to check and pull up information in the patrol car. Quinn walks back to our car and begins running the drivers information.

"Uhm I was just visiting a friend of mine."

"And what's the name of your friend?"

"It's uh Tyrek." The driver answers and I knew he was lying.

"Well Mr. Damon do you know that the house you just left from is a drug house and this is a well known drug area?"

"No I didn't know that ma'am."

"Really because as soon as you rolled your window down I got a strong smell of marijuana coming from your car."

"I smoked in here yesterday that's probably why."

"Okay Mr. Damon let's stop playing games with each other. I know you just bought weed from that house because I have made dozens of arrest at that house. The smell of marijuana is so strong that it's no way in hell it's from what you smoked yesterday. So why don't you cut the bs and stop with the lies."

"I'm not lying I was in the neighborhood so I decided to stop by and visit my friend. I didn't buy any weed I swear." Well he doesn't want to tell me the truth then playtime is over.

"Why don't you go ahead and step out the car for me, slowly." The driver sighs and rolls his eyes, slowly exiting the car just as Quinn comes back over from the patrol car.

"Everything checks out except he lives forty five minutes away from here and shouldn't be anywhere near this neighborhood." Quinn tells me as she puts the documents on the hood of the car.

"Sounds about right, can you detain the passengers." Quinn nods her head and gets the two passengers out of the car, puts them in handcuffs and makes them sit down on the curb. I do the same thing to the driver who was starting to get more nervous now.

"Listen up, none of you are being arrested yet you are however being detained until we conclude our investigation. I am going to search your car because I have reason to believe that you are hiding marijuana inside. Does everyone understand what I just explained?"

"Yes." They all say in unison.

Quinn and I search the car looking in the usual places that suspects normally hide their drugs. Like in the glove compartment, between the seats, under the seats, and sometimes they keep it in a hidden compartment. I reach in the hidden compartment behind the radio and jackpot, I pull out an ounce of weed.

"So who's ounce of marijuana is this?" I hold up the ounce I found and immediately the driver's head drops to the ground. It really didn't matter who the drugs belong to, the driver of the car was the owner of the vehicle so he would be the one arrested. Quinn and I search both the driver and his passengers and find nothing on them so we let the passengers go free. We get another patrol car on the scene to take the driver to jail then we continue on our patrol.

"I can't believe how far people will go with their lie, he had to know we were going to find the drugs." Quinn speaks as we continue our drive patrolling the streets.

"I know it's crazy, I will never understand it." In the seven years I've been a cop, you wouldn't believe all the lies people have told me to get out of trouble.

Dispatch: 213 do you copy?

I pick up the radio to respond to the dispatcher.

"This is 213."

Dispatch: We have a possible 10-52A at 250 Oakwood Drive. Neighbors called saying they heard lots of yelling and fighting from across the street. They also report hearing a young child screaming for help.

"Received, 213 responding."

I turn on my blue lights and sirens, turning my patrol car around and speeding down the highway to the domestic dispute call. Calls like this always got my blood rushing because you never know what you are walking into. I always respond to every domestic dispute with caution because if not it could cost you your life. I speed through traffic rushing to get to the address as fast as I could, especially since it was a child involved. We get to the house in about six minutes, quickly parking the squad car and hoping out. Both Quinn and I approach the house with caution, which looks as if it hadn't been maintained in years. The grass came up to my knees and there was junk scattered all over the yard and porch. I can still hear the couple arguing and fighting inside the home. I walk up to the front door and bang my fist against the door as hard as I could.

"Its the police come to the door now!" I yell and the arguing in the house cease. I hear big footsteps coming towards the door, the door opens and a male in his early thirties, husky build and of Latino descent opens the door with an angry scowl on his face.

"What the hell do you want we didn't call no cops!"

"Sir we got calls from several neighbors complaining of arguing going on and we want to make sure everyone here is safe and figure out what's going on here." I explain to the husky man.

"There is nothing going on here, my wife and I were just having a disagreement."

The Latino man steps onto the porch and I notice he has blood on his shirt and knuckles. I could also smell whiskey on his breath and the way he could barely stand up straight told me everything I needed to know. I then hear what sounds like a child's voice calling for help inside the house.

"Sir turn around and put your hands behind your back." I grab him by the arm and push him up against the house, quickly putting him in handcuffs. I didn't know what exactly happened but I knew by his appearance and the sound of the child voice that it wasn't good.

"Ma'am step outside for me please." Quinn tells the woman waiting at the screen door, I assume is either his wife or girlfriend.

An African American woman who looks to also be in her thirties comes stumbling out of the house. She was in no better shape and seemed to be high out of her mind.

"What the hell do you want barbie! I will beat the shit out of you." The woman stumbles toward Quinn, Quinn grabs the aggressive woman puts her on the ground and throws a pair of handcuffs on her. At this time two squad cars pull up to the home so I walk into the house to find the child who was calling for help.

I walk into the house and see all kinds of liquor bottles and drug paraphernalia on the tables and floors. It doesn't take long before I find the voice of the child who was calling out for help. He is a small boy maybe eight or nine years old with beautiful hazel green eyes and dark black hair, hiding under the kitchen table with his knees up against his chest. I bend down so that I could be at eye level with the scared boy.

"Hey buddy, I'm a police officer and I'm here to help you. Will you come out from under the table for me." I can see in his eyes he is afraid to trust me but he also wants desperately for someone to help him.

"You promise you won't hurt me." That one sentence broke my heart, this little kid obviously has been through alot in his short life.

"I promise I won't hurt you, I'm here to help you and make sure no one ever hurts you again." He sits there for a moment, reading my eyes to see if I was actually someone he can trust.

"Okay." He slowly crawls out from under the table and I reach my hand out for him to grab.

"Thank you, now what's your name?"

"Julian."

"Julian I love that name, my name is Santana. I'm going to ask you some questions you think you can answer them for me." He just shakes his head up and down.

"Okay good, are those people out there your mom and dad."

"Yes."

"Do they fight a lot?"

"Yes."

"Do they ever hit each other?"

"Daddy hits mommy and me when he gets angry or drunk." My blood boils hearing this, how could someone hit a defenseless child.

"When he hits you does it ever leave a bruise." He doesn't say anything at first he just looks down at the ground. I give him a chance to get his thoughts together before I say anything. Instead of saying anything Julian lifts up his shirt and exposes the bruises all over his chest and stomach. Some of the bruising are old and some as new as today. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and it made me sick to my stomach. I want nothing more than to go beat the shit out of that bastard but that wouldn't solve anything and Julian didn't need to see anymore violence than he already has.

"I'm so sorry he did this to you, I'm going to take you to the hospital so they can look at these bruises and make sure you are okay." He nods his head once again in understanding.

"Alright let's go buddy." I pick him up and cradle him gently in my arms carrying him out the door. Once I step outside I see that Quinn must have taken the father to jail in another patrol car because she was no longer on the scene.

"Sergeant, Fabray went ahead and took the father to jail he has several warrants. I'm going to take the mother in now, she has a warrant as well." Officer Jackson comes up and informs me.

"That's fine I'm going to take the son to the hospital he's got bruises on his body. Also get Child Protective Services to meet me at the hospital so we can find the closest relative to take care of this little boy."

"You got it Sergeant." Officer Jackson runs back over to the female suspect who was arguing with other officers on the scene.

I take Julian to my car and put him in the back seat, making sure to put a seatbelt across him. I drive to the hospital and we arrive in twenty minutes. I take him to the emergency department and they bring us straight to the back where the doctors and nurses could look over him. I lay him on the hospital bed and wait for someone to come check on the him.

"Santana what are you doing here?" In walks my wife in her scrubs and stethoscope around her neck.

"Hey baby, I'm here with this handsome little guy." Julian looks up at me and a small smile appears on his face.

"Well you are handsome." Mercedes stands in front of Julian.

"My name is nurse Mercedes, what's your name?"

"Julian." He answers softly.

"Nice to meet you Julian, do you mind if I take off your shirt so I can do a quick examination." Mercedes asks politely taking the stethoscope off from around her neck.

"Okay."

"Okay let's see here." Mercedes lifts Julians shirt off above his head. Mercedes was just as shocked as I was by the amount of bruises that surround his little body. She runs her hand over his body and begins to put slight pressure on his torso, feeling around for anything out of place. I back away a little while Mercedes does her examination on Julian. It takes her about ten minutes to finish her examination then the doctor comes in and does his own exam.

"So how is he?" I step outside the room with Mercedes leaving the door slightly open.

"The good news is he doesn't have any broken bones, just a lot of bruising. All he need is some pain killers and compression wrapping around his torso." I breathe a sigh of relief.

"That's good to hear, so he will be fine?"

"Yes, in two weeks the bruising and swelling will be gone."

"Great."

"So what's the story with this kid?"

"His parents are drunks and junkies and when the father gets drunk he likes to beat the crap out of him."

"God that's terrible, what's going to happen to him now?"

"CPS is meeting me here later and hopefully they will be able to find a relative for him to live with."

"Santana." I hear Julian call my name from the hospital bed. I walk over to the bed were Julian is lying.

"Yeah buddy."

"Can I have something to eat please." Julian asks me and at the same time I hear his stomach start to growl.

"Of course, what would you like to eat?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm just really hungry."

"How about I go down to the cafeteria and see what they have."

"Okay thank you Santana."

"Your welcome, I'll be back."

I walk outside and down to the cafeteria. I get Julian a ham and cheese sandwich and a apple juice. I carry it back upstairs and his eyes light up when I walk back into the room. Mercedes is sitting on the edge of Julian's bed.

"Here you go Julian, I got you a sandwich and apple juice." I lay the tray down on the bed and Julian wastes no time grabbing the sandwich off the tray. He quickly bites into the sandwich, swallowing down the sandwich as if it was his first meal in a long time.

"Slow down handsome, the food isn't going anywhere." Mercedes jokes with Julian.

"Sorry I haven't ate in a while." Julian explains.

"When is the last time you ate?" I question.

"Two days ago." Julian confesses. I can't believe what I'm hearing, what type of parent abuses and starves their own child. This poor little kid having to go through so much at such a young age, it's such a shame.

"Well you won't have to worry about that anymore and if you want another sandwich I will go down to the cafeteria and get you another one." I reassure Julian.

"Thank you Santana." Julian tells me sweetly then he goes right back to eating what what's on his plate. I smile at the handsome boy sitting on the bed.

My cell phone goes off in my pocket, I take it out and see its a call from Quinn.

"Yeah what's up."

"Are you still at the hospital?"

"Yeah I am, I don't want to leave until CPS gets here and I know this kid is in good hands."

"You're the boss, I'm going back on patrol. Call me when you're done at the hospital."

"I will, be safe."

"I will, bye Santana."

"Bye Q." I hang up, the phone and walk back over to Julian and Mercedes.

Mercedes has to go back to work on her other patients but I stay in the room with Julian. Once Julian was discharged from the hospital, we wait in the waiting room for CPS to arrive. CPS took so long to arrive that Julian and I fell asleep in the waiting room. I'm finally awaken by someone tapping me on the shoulder.

"Sergeant Lopez." I look up to see a woman in a business suit and eyeglasses resting on top of her head staring down at me.

"Yes." I stand up from my seat beside Julian rubbing my eyes to wake myself up.

"Hi I'm Jessica Carter from Child Protective Services, your department contacted us about a child abuse case."

"Yes this is the boy who we found in the home after I was called there about a domestic dispute. I found him huddled under a table with dark bruises all over his torso and I just learned that his parents didn't feed him for two days." I inform her of everything she needed to know to conduct her investigation.

"Thank you for your help, I'm going to talk to Julian alone now just to ask him some questions about what's been going on with his parents."

"Yeah sure." I bend down to wake Julian up from his sleep.

"Julian. Julian." It takes me a couple times but I get him to wake up.

"Julian, this nice lady is going to ask you a few questions okay." Julian yawns then gets out of the chair.

"Will you be here waiting for me?"

"Yes I will, I'll stay right here until you get done."

"Alright." Julian shrugs his shoulder.

"Hey Julian let's go right in this room and talk for a second." Ms. Carter takes ahold of Julian's hand, walks with him into the office that was used for conference calls. He looks back at me as she takes him into the room, I give him a thumbs up to reassure him that everything was going to be okay, then they disappear into the room.

I wait in the waiting room for what seemed like hours for the interview to be over. I paced back and forth thinking about who Julian was going to go live with next. If they were going to treat him right and if they even wanted to have Julian in there home. So many questions running through my mind but the one thing that kept nagging at me was this feeling that I meet this kid for a reason. Wherever he was heading to next I didn't want him to go, I wanted him right here with me. Finally I see the doors open and I see Julian running out towards me, he hugs my knees with tears running down his face.

"Please Santana don't let her take me! I don't want to go!" What was going on, why didn't he want to live with one of his relatives. I put my arms around the crying boy to comfort him, Ms. Carter comes running out the room.

"I'm sorry, he doesn't want to go with me to foster care."

"Foster care? Why isn't his relatives coming to get him?"

"None of them want to take him in, I have no other choice but to put him in foster care for now."

"Santana please don't make me go!" Julian cries and it breaks my heart, this poor kid has already been through enough.

"I'll take him home with me, I'll be his foster parent." I blurt out without even thinking about it.

"Sergeant Lopez I-."

"I want to take him home with me and I'll do whatever paperwork I have to do to become his foster parent."

"Santana it's not that simple."

"Please Ms. Carter, you know I already have everything needed to take care of him. I have a room for him, my wife and I make more than enough money to financially take care of him. I already have all the training that foster parents are required to obtain. I'm the perfect person to take care of him right now.

"Officer Lopez are you sure you want to do this, there is a lot that goes into becoming a foster parent."

"Whatever it takes I'm willing to do it, just please let me take him home with me."

"Okay I will let him go home with you tonight but you need to come to my office first thing tomorrow morning so we can get the paperwork started." Mrs. Carter reaches inside her purse and pulls out a card with her information on it.

"Call me if you have any questions, I will see you first thing tomorrow morning."

"I will be there, thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, see you tomorrow." Mrs. Carter waves goodbye to Julian before walking out the hospital.

"Am I going home with you Santana?" Julian finally let's go of me once he saw that Mrs. Carter was gone.

"Yes buddy I'm taking you home." I bend down so that I would be at eye level with him.

"Thank you Santana, I'll be good I promise." He says sweetly then wraps his little arms around my neck. I hug him gently, I don't know what was going to happen next but all I know is I will make sure no one ever hurts this little boy again.

"You ready to go?" I ask Julian.

"Yes please."

I stand up and take Julian by the hand, walking him out the emergency room doors. In twenty four hours so much has taken place and now here I am about to be the foster parent for a child I just met. I'm not complaining because he needs me and in a way I feel that I need him too. Now all I have to do is explain all of this to Mercedes, I wonder how she will take it when she finds out I just agreed to be a foster parent.