Brittana- Invisible String

Chapter 37

AN: Alright guys, I realise I've left you all hanging and waiting around long enough. Santana and Brittany have been through the mill in this story, and so have all you reading it, but it's all been building up to this week...

It's Christmaaaaas, so I'm gonna be posting an update every day in the lead up to the day itself. Now what I will say is there's gonna be a lot of drama, we've got a lot to uncover. But you know what they say...after the rain comes a rainbow.

In the spirit of Christmas giving, Christmas day might just be that rainbow.

I hope you enjoy the week ahead! :)

It's gonna be a ride.

Halloween was one of Santana's favourite holidays. She had always loved it as a child, and now she had a child of her own she loved it even more. Taking Mila pumpkin picking, finding co-ordinating outfits for them both within the same theme; something that Santana was sure Mila would grow out of next year since she was starting middle school so she was clinging onto that tradition that had been started by Brittany back in 2014, as hard as she could. For that reason, Santana had wanted Halloween to be special this year, because if Mila was anything like she was in middle school she'd be ditching that "totally uncool Halloween with mom" for trick-or-treating with newfound friends next year.

But all those plans for Halloween had gone out of the window when she found out her beloved Papi had passed away while he was travelling around Europe. It was a heart attack that had ended his life prematurely. It could have been caused by stress, with all the work and long hours he'd put in over the years finally taking its toll. It could have been genetic, just one of those things that couldn't be foreseen or prevented. They didn't yet know. Maribel had found comfort in the fact it was so quick, and she assured her son and daughter he wasn't in any pain, but this barely scratched the surface on providing any sort of relief to Santana. She felt bitter with the irony that her dad had worked so hard all of his life, pushing back his own dreams to be a father and a husband, to bring money into the family and make sure they wanted for nothing. Then the minute he had got to a point where he could retire, where he could live life for himself, it had been taken from him. It had been the hardest most blurry two weeks of Santana's life, and she could barely remember what day it was, let alone the date.

As they all stood in her tía's living room waiting for the cars to arrive that would take them to the funeral for the final goodbye to the stern but loving man her father was, it was only then that Santana registered it was 3 days before Halloween, when she heard her cousin Antonio talking about his plans. Everyone was trying to hold conversations like that in between sharing memories about George, filled with small talk, in a bid to ease the swirling sadness in the air when silence landed upon them. But Santana stayed inside her own heard, pensive and reflective as she squeezed Mila's hand, not letting her out of her sight today. It saddened her that her daughter was having to attend her first funeral so young. The loss of a grandparent was always a tough one, and she remembered how her abuelo was the first person she had lost too, at the age of 13. She thought about how much her abuela had struggled with her grief at losing her husband, and worried for her mom, knowing this was going to be her reality now. Alma was always tough, but losing her husband made her somewhat harsher. Still it didn't stop Santana growing even closer to her, making sure to go around for dinner often so that she didn't feel lonely. They were almost inseparable, until 2014 when Santana bravely came out to her. After that, they didn't speak for 3 years, but over the last 2 years their relationship had improved. Alma made it clear she didn't agree with the way Santana was living her life, and she didn't think it was right for two women to be together, but she also said that she loved Santana and she missed being a part of her granddaughter's and her great granddaughter's life. Her relationship with Maribel had suffered also, when she had shunned Santana the way she did, and she realised when she heard about Santana buying her first home from Antonio that she was missing out on too much. So they made their peace, and Santana watched her grandmother, who would be turning 80 next year, comforting her mother. Life had a funny way of screwing her at times, but she was glad that was one thing that had been rectified. Dani was even included on last years Christmas card, so it was a vast improvement.