Home Is Where the Heart Is (Brittana)

Chapter 26

Brittany's POV

Before our daughter's second birthday, Santana and I had discussed the possibility of getting a pet. Every time we visited Jessie, Everly was obsessed with their cat and would spend a lot of time with him. I loved cats and always knew I wanted one as an adult, but Santana was a bit more hesitant.

"Not only would Everly love a cat," I argued in a teasing tone, "but I would too. And, I know you don't totally hate them either."

"It's just that a pet is a lot of work," she replied.

"It's worth it, just like all the work we do for our daughter is worth it."

"But a pet is not a child."

"I know that, but can't you just see her face in your mind when we get her a cat?"

"I guess if it would make her and you happy, we can get a cat," Santana finally relented.

"Thank you!" I was so excited. Ever since Lord Tubbington had died during my first year of college, I'd wanted another pet.

---

So, a few days before our daughter's second birthday, we brought her to Jessie's house, where she would spend time with them and their cat, while Santana and I went to the closest animal shelter to look for a cat for our daughter's present.

When we got there, we realized it would be a lot harder than we'd originally thought to pick just one cat. Even Santana could hardly resist the sad eyes of all the animals there. Eventually deciding on a kitten, we passed all the full grown cats and were brought to a litter of kittens with their mother.

"They're just about the age where they'll be separated from their mother," the man showing us around said, "so you could take one within the next few days."

"If we pick one, can we pick it up in four days?" Santana asked, seeing as our daughter's birthday was in four days.

"I'm sure that would be fine," he replied. "You can hold them... see if there are any you like."

After spending some time with the kittens, I still wasn't sure which one to pick. But, when I looked up to see Santana cuddling the only black and white one close to her chest, I knew we'd made our choice.

"We'd like that one," I said, pointing to the kitten in Santana's arms.

"Okay," the man replied. "He is all yours in four days. You can come to the front desk so we can sign some papers."

Santana looked sad to put the kitten in the man's arms as he brought him to the front desk with us.

After signing the papers, it was time to say goodbye to our kitten before going to pick up Everly from Jessie's house.

---

On the day of our daughter's second birthday, Santana and I started the day earlier than usual, with Santana starting to ice the previously home-baked cake while I made breakfast.

Our daughter came into the kitchen not long after. It still occasionally surprised us that she could get out of her toddler bed and leave her bedroom on her own. She was so grown up. We'd already seen her that day to take a picture of her sleeping the moment she'd been born two years before, but seeing her awake was just so much better.

"Is my birthday!" our daughter exclaimed, still not properly pronouncing the 'th' sound.

"That it is, Evie," I replied, picking our daughter up. "We're making special banana muffins with extra chocolate for breakfast."

"Yay!" I'd never seen a girl so excited for banana muffins before, but our daughter loved them, so it's what we knew we would be making for her special birthday breakfast.

I noticed Santana slip the freshly iced cake into the fridge so Everly wouldn't notice it before coming to join us.

"Happy birthday, Evie!" she exclaimed.

Our daughter grinned widely.

The doorbell rang as I put the muffins in the oven to bake.

"Would you like to see who's here?" Santana asked, grabbing our daughter's hand and walking with her to the front door.

"Jessie!" I heart our daughter yell, before I heard Santana and Jessie's laughter at how easily excited Everly got.

"Happy birthday, Evie!" Jessie said, holding a gift wrapped in pink wrapping paper.

"Is that mine?"

"It is, but you can't open it until later."

"We're having muffins! You can come too."

I looked up to see our daughter leading Jessie into the kitchen, Santana close behind.

We had our birthday breakfast with Jessie (which had been our plan all along), so that we would be able to go pick up the kitten without bringing Everly with us after we ate.

While Everly brought Jessie to her bedroom to show her the new stroller we'd gotten for her baby doll, we left the house to pick up the kitten. We'd already bought all the supplies the day before, which were stashed in our basement bedroom, (which was where we stored a lot of things, since our daughter didn't want to go in there) so we were all ready to bring home the newest addition to our family.

With our new kitten in a box with plenty of air holes, we made our way home. Our families would get there after lunch, but we'd wanted her to get her kitten first.

"Hey Evie; we're back with your present!" Santana called out when we got home.

Quickly, Everly was in the living room with Jessie ready for her gift.

I helped her open the box while Santana recorded the look of excitement that filled Evie's face when she opened the box.

"A kitty!" she squealed.

"Yeah, your own kitty. We were thinking we could call him either Rocky or Max," I said.

Santana and I had decided that letting Everly choose between two names we gave her would probably be better for the kitten than letting her pick whatever name she wanted. Especially since most of her stuffed animals and dolls were named after inanimate objects.

"Max!" Evie exclaimed. "Hi Max. You're so little."

We grinned, watching Everly play with her new kitten, hardly even reminding her that she needed to be careful, until it was time for lunch.

Santana and Everly made a small lunch together while Jessie and I set up Max's litter box, scratching post, and food and water dishes, showing the kitten where all the things were, so, hopefully, we wouldn't have any accidents.

After eating, our families, as well as Rachel and Finn and their kids, arrived for Everly's birthday party.

She got a lot of toys and some new clothes for her birthday, excitedly showing each new item to her kitten, even though he was far more into playing with the wrapping paper and gift bags.

She enjoyed her cake a lot more than she had at her first birthday, and we loved to see her interacting with our families and friends.

Once everyone left, though, she was overstimulated and started to get a little moody, not wanting to go to bed.

"I wanna play with Max!" she exclaimed, looking for her kitten. "Not bedtime!"

Eventually, we got her ready for bed and tucked in, closing her bedroom door so Max hopefully wouldn't disrupt her sleep.

Once Santana and I were in bed, she kissed me and said, "Happy two years of being the best mom ever day, B."

"What about you? Maybe I think you're the best mom ever," I argued back playfully.

She grinned. "I still can't believe she's already two. You know, I always wondered how true the term 'terrible twos' was, and now I guess we get to find out."

 "I guess so. But either way, I'm sure we'll enjoy them."