Home Is Where the Heart Is (Brittana)

Chapter 17

Brittany's POV

A few days into the new year was the date Reid's mother and I had agreed on for a video call.

"Could you stay with Everly for the first bit," I told Santana while she was trying to help me with my nerves. "I just want to talk to her alone first."

"Of course," Santana replied. "Maybe I'll finally get a laugh out of her."

It had become somewhat of a competition between us since New Year's Eve, who would make Everly laugh first, and Santana was intent on winning.

"I'm not sure about that," I said.

"Well, good luck. We'll be here when you're ready."

I nodded and left the nursery where Everly was still taking her afternoon nap.

"Hello Brittany," Reid's mother, Miranda, greeted when I signed on to the video call.

"Hello," I replied, still nervous.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"You know, not much besides taking care of Everly."

"Her name is Everly?" Miranda asked.

"Yeah. Sorry that I wanted to do this with just you first. I've just been a little wary since Reid and I broke up."

"I completely understand. And I also understand and respect that you don't want to be with Reid."

"Thank you." I smiled. "Would you like to see Everly now?"

"As long as you want me to," she replied.

"I do. I'll just go get her and be right back." I stood and went to the nursery.

"Hey," Santana greeted. She was holding a sleepy but awake Everly.

"Hey. I'm going to let Miranda see Everly. She seems sincere."

"Okay." Santana passed Everly into my arms. "Good luck."

The rest of our video call went well, and I was glad Miranda could see Everly, despite how unsure I'd been at first.

That night, Everly slept through the night for the first time, and Santana and I woke up feeling more relaxed than we had in a long time.

---

On January 29th, I woke up feeling nostalgic. It was hard to believe it had been a year since I'd found out I was pregnant with Everly and left Reid.

I climbed out of bed at 5 in the morning as quietly as possible to not wake Santana, picking Everly up out of her bassinet, and heading into the living room to just sit and hold her.

I woke up again to Santana standing next to the couch holding Everly.

"I fell asleep?" I was surprised, since I hadn't felt tired when bringing Everly to the living room.

"I guess so. When did you come out here?" she asked.

"Around 5."

"Everly just woke up," Santana said. "I'm sure she's ready for her breakfast."

I smiled and took Everly back from Santana to feed her.

"I got called into work," she continued. "One of my patients went into labor."

"Okay, I'll see you when I can," I said. Often when Santana had to attend a birth, she was gone for long periods of time, sometimes even more than twenty-four hours.

After kissing Santana goodbye, I got myself and Everly dressed and ready for the day.

We listened to music with Everly in her swing while I cleaned up the apartment a bit. I loved spending the days while Santana was at work alone with Everly, but sometimes I wished I had more people I could talk to in Columbus besides Jessie and the people I lived with.

It was cold and snowy outside, so if Everly and I left the apartment, it required bundling her up in layers upon layers of warm clothes. Needless to say, we rarely went outside.

One day, though, Santana came home from work with a small wooden sleigh that had a cover on it, designed for young children.

"I was thinking," Santana said when I asked why she'd brought it home, "that we could take Everly for a walk outside. I know she hasn't been outside much this winter, and this way, the wind won't bother her."

So, after that, we would sometimes take Everly outside. She loved the snow, well more like she loved the sleigh rides, and I loved to make her happy.

---

"Happy Valentine's Day, B," Santana said when we woke up to Everly's crying a few hours after midnight.

I smiled. "And happy anniversary." I turned away from her to lift Everly out of the bassinet so I could breastfeed her.

"It feels incredibly cheesy that our anniversary is on Valentine's Day," Santana replied.

"Yeah, but I like cheesy. Besides, when we get married, we'll have a second wedding anniversary, which will be on a different day."

Once Everly was done breastfeeding and Santana had changed her diaper, we lay her back down to sleep.

"See you in a few hours," I said before pulling the covers up to my chin.

---

Since Everly was born, waking up at six o'clock became a new normal, since she always woke up to eat at that time, and that morning was no exception.

I breastfed Everly while Santana picked out her outfit, a special one for Valentine's Day. And once she was ready, we got dressed as well before getting into the car.

We'd decided to go out for breakfast with Everly (for the first time ever), and while Santana was a little nervous, I was antsy with excitement. Thankfully, we didn't have any issues, besides Everly trying to grab everything, but we just found that adorable.

We hadn't been able to find anyone to take Everly on Valentine's Day, so we spent the whole day with our daughter, taking a few moments to be romantic while she was napping.

We'd decided against gifts, deciding that the money we would have spent should be put into savings so that one day, hopefully, we could move into a house.

---

We brought Everly outside the next day in her massive snowsuit. She babbled happily while rocking in the snow (we assumed she'd be able to roll over soon).

"Hey Ever," I said, trying to get her attention by tickling her.

I gasped, feeling snow hit the back of my neck. "Santana!"

"Sorry," she said, clearly not sorry at all. "I couldn't resist."

I grabbed a handful of snow and threw it back at her, missing. She grinned and walked a little closer to us, and I laughed at the look of shock on her face when I finally hit her.

"Got you back!" I exclaimed, raising my arms in victory.

"Help me Everly!" Santana laughed coming beside us.

Then, Santana and I gasped at the giggle that came out of Everly's mouth. We'd been a little concerned since it had been taking her so long to giggle for the first time, but the wait was worth it; her giggle was the sweetest thing I'd ever heard.

"You know," Santana said. "I never would have thought hearing a baby giggle would make me this happy."

"Yeah," I replied. "I guess our daughter is just magical."