You Know Me Better
Title: You Know Me Better
Author: kalexico
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,007
Summary: Santana and Quinn combine running a law firm with raising a son. Alessandro's first day of school isn't as easy for his mothers as one might think.
_______
Santana yawns as she finally closes the last window on her computer. She smiles at the background - the Fabray/Lopez logo. Who would ever have thought that they'd be leading a law firm together? She stretches and then reaches for Quinn, who is already asleep. She pulls her closer and presses a kiss to her temple before wrapping her arms around her and spooning her.
_______
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Quinn says softly in a sing-song voice, a teasing smile gracing her lips.
"Don' wanna," Santana mumbles, crawling deeper into the covers.
Quinn knows exactly what buttons to push. "Tell you what," she whispers. "If you get up now, we can have a quickie before Alessandro wakes up."
Santana's eyes fly open and she's on top of Quinn within the second. Quinn smirks. She can always rely on her wife's libido.
_______
"Are you excited for school?" Quinn asks their son as he's happily eating his cereal.
He shrugs and doesn't answer. Just like his mami, he's not a morning person. Quinn sighs and shakes her head. That little dude across the table means so much to her. She feels two arms slip around her waist and a familiar pair of lips kissing her behind her ear. She nearly purrs. As Santana takes a seat, Quinn realises that her entire world is gathered in this room. Having breakfast. It doesn't get much more domestic than this.
She nearly snorts at the thought. Santana quirks an eyebrow, but Quinn just shakes her head, telling her it's nothing. Santana gives her an amused grin and then goes back to nursing her much-needed cup of coffee.
Having finished his bowl of cereal, Alessandro gets up and goes over to his mami. Not caring about the cup of coffee in her hands, he crawls on her lap and wraps his arms around her neck.
"What's up, little man?" Santana asks, reaching around her son for the coffee.
Anyone else coming between Santana and her coffee would face a slow and torturous death, but Alessandro is forgiven instantly. Santana just doesn't have it in her to be angry at him, and even if she really is, he just has to give her those sad, big eyes and she loses the battle.
"Wanna stay home," he pouts. "Don' wanna go to school."
Santana smiles. "We met your teacher, Ms. Brittany. Do you remember her? The tall, blonde lady. She's very nice and very pretty. I'm sure you'll have so much fun."
"I don' like other kids," Alessandro pouts.
"I'm sure the other kids will be awesome," Santana says reassuringly. "Now you gotta go and get ready, bro. Show them you're the best. Show them you're your mami's son!"
Alessandro grins and Quinn rolls her eyes. Just another typical situation in the Fabray-Lopez household.
_______
Quinn pulls up on the school's parking lot. Without looking at her, she grabs her wife's hand and squeezes it comfortingly. If she knows Santana as well as she think she does, Santana is just about dying of anxiety.
Quinn gets out and grabs Alessandro's bag from the trunk as Santana helps their son out of the car. As Quinn comes around the car, she sees Santana holding out her arms to carry Alessandro. Alessandro rolls his eyes and says: "I can walk, mami. Don't be silly."
Quinn laughs at the baffled look on Santana's face and takes her wife's hand. "Come on."
_______
"So you have my number, right?" Santana asks for the tenth time.
Ms. Brittany smiles - she's used to worried parents. "Yes. And yes, I remember who your son is."
"Can you repeat it for me?" Santana pushes.
Ms. Brittany sighs. "Alessandro Fabray-Lopez, the kid right over there, and his parents are Santana Fabray-Lopez and Quinn Fabray-Lopez, who I can reach at these four numbers at all times. And if you don't pick up, I can call Tina Cohen-Chang, Sam Evans or Sugar Motta in that order, although you'd prefer me not to call Sugar Motta and for me to only use that number in case of an emergency and once I've tried all the other numbers three times."
"Okay," Santana breathes out. "We really won't mind if you call us."
"He'll be fine," Ms. Brittany smiles. "Looks like he's already made a friend."
Santana immediately turns to look at her son, who is smiling shyly at a slightly taller blonde girl. He's blushing a bit and has his hands folded behind his back as he keeps shuffling one foot.
Santana narrows her eyes. "Make sure that girl over there doesn't seduce him, Ms Pierce."
Quinn rolls her eyes. "For heaven's sake, Tana, they're three."
"Hm," Santana grunts before thanking Ms. Brittany and saying one final goodbye to her son.
_______
As they enter the silent house - which is such a weird feeling, as they're used to their son's blabbering - Quinn grabs Santana's shoulders. "It's okay to cry, you know," she reassures her wife.
"I am not crying," Santana tries to sound indignant, but the lump in her throat doesn't help at all. And the fact that her eyes are stinging is such a foreign feeling as well.
"Well," Quinn tries, putting the car keys in the drawer. "You do have a tradition to maintain."
"What do you mean?" Santana asks, settling down on a stool in the kitchen.
"You've cried at every big moment of his life so far. His birth, first words, first steps... this is his first day ever of school. You have every right -"
"I miss him so much," Santana interrupts Quinn, sobbing. "I know we've only dropped him off half an hour ago but I miss him."
Quinn walks over to Santana and wraps her arms around her. "Shh, it'll be okay, Tana. He'll do just fine. He's a strong little man,
just like his mami."
"But what will we do with his play corner at the firm? I don't think I can take it to see it empty tomorrow. I just want him with me."
"We'll keep the play corner, obviously. He'll still come with us during the school holidays. And why don't we go in early tomorrow, before anyone else arrives? Gives you some time to deal with it on your own."
"The house feels so empty without him," Santana confesses. "Maybe we shouldn't have taken the day off. Maybe we should have just gone to work, to get our minds off things."
"I know you, Santana Fabray-Lopez. You wouldn't have been able to concentrate and you'd have been circling my office like a vulture for a moment of my time. We'll just relax together, clean out the TiVo and before you know it, it'll be time to pick him up. Then we can go have pizza and ice cream like we promised him."
Santana nods. "Yeah. You're right." After a short silence, she adds: "I love you."
Quinn grins. Santana doesn't say it often, so it's always nice to hear. "He's just like you, you know," she smiles. "He doesn't like other kids because he's so damn scared nobody will notice him if he's got competition."
"I'm not like that," Santana huffs. "I'm awesome enough to know that I'd beat any competition without even trying."
"You'd really think you were the one giving birth to Alessandro," Quinn says. "He's so much like you. I bet he's telling that girl we saw at school all about his toy car collection by now."
"As he should. He's got some pretty rare pieces, Quinn. You don't understand."
"Of course I don't," Quinn admits, just to get Santana to not go on a rant about the specifics. "Why don't we go out for a walk and lunch? Then we can spend the afternoon on the couch."
"Having sex?" Santana asks hopefully.
"If you must," Quinn sighs in fake annoyance.
_______
"Shouldn't we get ready to leave?" Santana asks, licking her lips as she shifts her body from lying between Quinn's legs.
"School only lets out in two and a half hours, Santana."
"But you never know, with traffic... I don't want him to think we forgot him, you know."
"I'm sure he's too busy with his new friend to even think about that."
"Oh God. I really hope Ms. Brittany keeps an eye on those two. I don't like her."
"Santana, you've barely caught a glimpse of the kid. How can you know you don't like her?"
"I don't know. There was something in her eyes I didn't like."
"You were standing across the room."
Santana kisses Quinn's navel and sighs. "I'm a mother, Quinn. I feel these things."
"Right."
_______
"Mami, can' bweathe," Alessandro says, his voice muffled as Santana hugs him tightly.
"Sorry, kiddo," Santana smiles as she puts him down. "How was your day?"
"Good. Um. I wanted to ask you and mom... we're having pizza and ice cream, right?"
Santana nods enthusiastically. "Your favourites."
"Can my friend Dianna come?" Alessandro asks, pointing at the blushing girl behind him. "Her parents called Ms. Brittany."
"Um," Santana says, looking questioningly at Quinn. "Just a second, bro."
Santana nods at Quinn and Quinn goes over to Ms. Brittany, who is standing at the school gate. "Hi, I'm Quinn - Alessandro's mom?"
"Yeah," Ms. Brittany grins. "Your wife is the... very worried one?"
Quinn blushes. "Yeah. Sorry about that. She can be a bit overbearing. Anyway, what I wanted to ask is - our son asked us if his friend Dianna could come with us and said that her parents called you. What's that about?"
"Oh, yeah. Her parents are both surgeons and they're stuck in the hospital. They can't make it, so I was just going to stay with her until they got out."
"You must be so tired. We can take her with us - maybe you can give us her parents' number and we'll let them know?"
"Oh, that'd be great," Ms. Brittany smiles, relieved. "The first day of school is always exhausting - the kids are still in the holidays mindset. Let me grab you the number."
_______
That night, Santana tells Alessandro a story she made up herself before bed, tucking him in. She presses a kiss to his front when she's finished. "So, did you have a good day, buddy?"
Alessandro nods sleepily. "Yeah. Dianna is nice. She's very pretty."
"You like her, huh?"
Alessandro smiles shyly. "She's okay."
"Of course," Santana winks. "Now it's time for sleep, little man. You want to look good for Dianna tomorrow, don't you? Can't do that if you don't get enough sleep."
"Okay. Night mami. Give mommy a kiss."
Santana laughs. "I will."
Oh boy, will I give her a kiss, she thinks to herself as she closes the door and walks back to the living room and her lovely wife.