Home Is Where the Heart Is (Brittana)

Chapter 27

Santana's POV

After Everly's birthday, I came home from work every day to see her cuddled up with her kitten, waiting for me to come home, Brittany usually in the kitchen or on the phone with her parents. The second I stepped in the door, I was bombarded with hugs from Evie and Brittany and licks from Max.

With Jessie into their second year of residency at the hospital where I worked, we saw each other regularly, but they didn't have as much time to watch Everly now that the short break was over. This meant that Brittany and I had less time with just the two of us together.

We were busy keeping up with Everly, beginning to potty train her, and watching Max become more sure of himself in our house, so much so that we had to leave Everly's bedroom door open overnight or else he'd scratch it up. Many mornings, we found him curled up on Everly's bed with her, and we knew that we'd picked the right kitten for her.

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Brittany's POV

While Santana was at work one day in October on a day she'd meant to have off (but she can't control when women go into labor), I took Everly out to play on the backyard swing.

After over an hour of pushing her on the swing, I could tell she was starting to get tired, and it was her nap time.

"Hey, Evie, it's time to go inside for your nap," I said, no longer pushing the swing but letting it slow down without me stopping it abruptly.

"No!" she squealed.

"Yes, Evie."

"No, Evie!" I saw her pout and really wanted to cave, but I knew that she needed boundaries.

"Yes. Would you like to go inside to see your kitty?"

"No! Swing more!"

"Can I pick you up?"

"No!" Clearly, she had a favorite word.

"Evie," I said, trying to stay calm, "it's time for your nap. Either we go inside and nap now, or in five more minutes."

"Not now!"

"Okay, we can wait five more minutes, but I'm not going to push the swing anymore."

"Push swing, Mama!" she exclaimed, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried rocking the swing herself, not really moving at all.

When I didn't push the swing, she eventually gave up, her body slowing down in the swing.

"Now, are you ready for your nap?" I asked.

She shrugged.

"Can I pick you up?"

"Okay," she cried.

I lifted her out of the swing and hugged her close to me to try to comfort her.

"Would you like to pet the kitty before your nap?" I asked.

I felt her nod against my shoulder.

"Okay, let's go inside then."

Inside the house, I let her pet her kitty who was sleeping on the couch before bringing her up to her bedroom to get her ready for her nap.

"I don't wanna nap," she said quietly.

"Why not?"

She shrugged.

"Do you feel tired?"

She shrugged again.

"Okay, well can you try to nap today?"

She nodded against my chest.

"Okay. How about we read a book first?"

"Can we read the llama book?"

"Of course."

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After many days with Everly complaining about napping, Santana and I talked about having her no longer nap. She was only two years old, but she stayed up later in the evenings and said she wasn't tired every time she had to nap. We decided to try having her not nap the next day to see how it would go.

We played outside with Everly past the time her nap would usually start before going inside to have a snack.

"Are you tired?" I asked her during her snack.

She shook her head.

"Okay."

We still weren't quite sure about her not napping, but we decided that she could tell us if she needed a nap, or we could put her down for a nap if she seemed extra tired.

That evening, she fell asleep faster than usual, not complaining at all about going to bed. That was when we knew we'd made the right decision.

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On the days Santana was at work, Everly and I would play a lot. Sometimes, I almost forgot how to talk to adults until Santana came home.

In the evenings, after Everly was asleep, Santana and I would research everything there possibly was to know about having a baby as two women in Ohio. We knew we weren't going to be able to start immediately, so we wanted to at least find a place as soon as possible.

"I really want to avoid the people I work with," was Santana's top request, since we could have chosen the hospital, but she did not want to get that personal with her co-workers, and I completely understood.

So, we continued to spend as much time as we could with each other and with Everly, knowing that, hopefully, Santana would be trying to get pregnant soon, and then we'd have a lot less time to do those things.

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A/N:

Well, I don't love this chapter, but whatever; it's the last one before the 8-9 month time skip. I will be taking a week or two off from posting new chapters before then, but then I'll be back.

Thank you so much for reading this story!