Home Is Where the Heart Is (Brittana)

Chapter 16

Santana's POV

On New Year's Eve, Brittany and I invited Jessie over to bring in the new year. They were such a huge part of our family; we couldn't leave them out. We also didn't want to leave Everly with a babysitter, so we decided not to go to a party. Jessie, of course, was more than excited to spend their New Year's with us.

Dressing Everly up in a gold dress (although we knew it wouldn't last long), we kept trying to make her smile. Her first real smile hadn't happened yet, but we were sure it would happen soon, since she was showing preference for the people she knew already, and we hoped one of those people would soon get a smile from her.

When Jessie rang the buzzer to be let into the apartment, I picked Everly up and brought her to see Jessie with her stuffed dolphin grasped in her little hands.

"Hi, Santana. Hi, Everly!" Jessie exclaimed when we opened the door.

And just like that Everly smiled at Jessie, reaching out to them.

"You have such a pretty smile," Jessie said, looking at me to make sure it was okay for them to take Everly before I transferred her into their arms.

"Hey, B!" I called out. "Guess what happened!"

Brittany came running. "What?" she asked.

"Jess got Everly's first real smile," I said.

"I missed it! Ever, look at Mama. Can you smile again?"

Of course, our silly daughter refused to smile again, so we made our way into the living room, hoping it would happen again sometime that evening.

We had a little photo shoot with Everly in her gold dress, the three of us acting like it was really midnight. Then, we talked for a while, Everly in Jessie's arms, until it was time for her to go to bed.

Brittany breastfed Everly in the living room before bringing her to the nursery to get her changed. Once our daughter was sleeping in the bassinet in our bedroom, Brittany came back into the living room with the baby monitor in her hands.

"That was quick," Jessie pointed out.

"Yeah, she's getting a lot better with her routine," Brittany said.

With a sleeping baby in the apartment, who would only occasionally sleep through loud noises, we couldn't be very loud until midnight.

Ringing in the new year, Brittany and I kissed. It was crazy that this was our first New Year's together. Jessie headed home soon after, since they wanted to beat the party traffic that usually started a little later. And, as soon as they left, Everly woke up crying for a feeding.

I sat beside Brittany on our bed as she breastfed Everly and put her back to sleep before we got ready for bed.

"I have to tell you something," Brittany said.

"Is everything okay?" I sat on the bed next to her.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess so." She took in a deep breath. "On Christmas, Reid, my ex... his mother called. I guess she heard about the baby and she wants to meet her."

Shocked, I didn't reply.

"She doesn't seem to know anything about Everly, so Reid probably just told her that I was pregnant and she did the math. Still, I didn't know what to say. I said I would call her back."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" I asked.

"I don't know," Brittany replied. "Reid's mother was always very kind, nothing like her son, but I don't want Reid finding us or knowing anything about us."

"Okay. Maybe we should talk about this in the morning. Sleep on it, you know?"

"Sure." Brittany pulled the blanket up to her chest. "I just thought I'd left that part of my life behind."

---

During each of Everly's night feedings, we didn't really talk about anything. I was unsure about the entire scenario, so I didn't plan on bringing it up until Brittany mentioned it.

When we were woken by our daughter's cries close to 7 o'clock, Brittany nursed her while I got up to make a special New Year's breakfast.

I took Everly into my arms to hold her while Brittany and I ate.

"So, I've been thinking," Brittany said, "that, and of course you have a say in this too, but maybe I would call Reid's mother again before making a decision."

"Yeah, I'm okay with that," I replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, good. Also, I think that if I do decide she can meet Everly, I'd rather do it over video call, at least to begin with, to make sure we trust her."

"That's smart. When do you want to do that?" I asked.

"Soon," Brittany replied, taking another bite of breakfast. "I think it's just going to stress me out until we do something."

"Okay, just let me know if you want me there."

---

After breakfast, we spent our morning entertaining our daughter. We loved playing with her, showing her books, and talking with her. She had taken a strong liking to the stuffed dolphin that Brittany had picked out for her before she was born, which Brittany loved, so we'd gotten her a few more stuffed animals to play with. I loved watching her, and it was crazy to me how much she'd already grown.

Brittany breastfed Everly before we put her down for a nap later in the morning.

I smiled at her when she came out of the nursery.

"I have something for you," I said, smiling back. "I wanted to say something first, but all I can think of right now is how nervous I am and how beautiful you are."

"Even in sweats?"

"You're always beautiful," I replied, handing her the engagement ring I'd recently bought. "I know we're already engaged, but it feels more official this way, now that we both have rings."

"Thank you, Santana. It's beautiful. Will you put it on me?" she asked.

I nodded, sliding the ring onto her finger. "I can't wait to marry you."

"Me neither."

"And I promise I'll always love you and Everly."

"Maybe you should save that for the wedding," she joked.

---

Once Everly woke up from her nap, we brought her into the living room to play with her a little more before lunch. When she tried to eat my hair, causing Brittany and me to laugh, Everly smiled at us for the first time.

We looked at each other, grinning widely, and knew that this was the best our lives had ever been.