Home Is Where the Heart Is (Brittana)

Chapter 13

TW: Mentions of disordered eating behavior

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Brittany's POV

Adjusting to life with a newborn baby was hard. Waking up every two hours to feed her proved to be exhausting, but I loved spending time with her, knowing that she'd grow up way too fast. Santana woke up with me at night as well, and we grew a lot closer through that.

My six week postpartum appointment was scheduled for two days before Halloween. Despite giving birth at home, we still had our doctor involved in almost everything, and I was happy to be cleared. As exhausted as I was, knowing that I could dance if I wanted to, or have sex (once Santana was ready, of course) made me feel a lot better.

For Halloween, we decided not to bring Everly trick-or-treating, since she was still so tiny, and there was no point to it. Plus, we were still very cautious about who she was exposed to. Instead, we dressed her up and took some photos before going to bed early, too tired to think of anything but our comfortable bed.

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When Thanksgiving came around, our sweet baby girl was buckled into the backseat of our car to drive to Lima for the first time in her two months of life. I was very excited to be celebrating the holidays with both our families and our baby girl for the first time, but Santana was practically shaking with nerves. It was our first time leaving our little bubble we'd created with our baby, and she was so cautious while driving, that I could not help but laugh.

"Why are you laughing at me?" Santana asked, in a mock angry voice.

"Because you're driving like an old grandma," I replied, laughing.

"I'm just worried about the baby," she retorted. "Besides, you haven't been in the car with my abuela driving. She breaks almost every rule there is."

I laughed again. "You have no reason to be nervous. Aren't you excited to see your family?"

"Of course I'm excited to see our families."

"Then, let's enjoy this," I said.

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After what was quite possibly the longest drive to Lima ever, we finally arrived at my parents' house. Immediately, my family took Everly from us to spend time with her.

Santana's parents showed up soon after we did. At first we'd been unsure about how Thanksgiving would work with both our families, so having everyone in the same house made the holiday a lot easier.

"Would you like some help, Mom?" I asked my mother who was cooking in the kitchen.

"That would be great, Brittany," she replied, handing me the potato peeler.

I got to work, Santana and her mother soon joining us. Once the baby fell asleep and was placed in her pack'n'play, our fathers and my sister came to help us cook as well. The kitchen was overcrowded with all of us, but it felt like family, and we were happy.

"So, Brittany, do you have plans to return to work?" my sister asked once we were eating at the table.

"I'm thinking about it," I replied, "but I want to wait a little longer, since Everly is still so young."

"That's a good idea," my mother said. "Babies grow up so fast."

"And Santana, you're going back to work soon?" her mother asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'm going to miss being home with Brittany and Everly, but I'm also excited to go back." Santana, I noticed, was eating incredibly slowly, but I knew that talking about it in front of everyone wouldn't end well. Besides, I trusted her to tell me if something was wrong.