Prompt: Santana babysits Taylor for the first time.
"No." Dani scoffed with a shake of her head, tossing her guitar on the bed as she turned to face her girlfriend of a month. "There’s no possible way I’m doing it, Santana. I can’t. I just…I can’t. Not yet.”
"Dani, you’re going to be late if you don’t leave now!" Santana reminded her as she followed the blonde into her bedroom, crossing her arms over her chest. "It’ll be for like fifteen minutes, it’s not that big of a deal."
"It may not be to you, but it is to me." Dani argued as she huffed slightly, balling her hands into fists. "We’ve only been dating a month, Santana. How am I supposed to trust that you can watch my daughter?”
"Because I can, Dani." Santana scoffed as she threw her arms up. "It’s not like I’m going to run off with her or something, she’ll be perfectly safe. Believe it or not, I actually do know how to take care of a child."
"Santana, she’s my baby." Dani whispered as her stoned expression morphed into a softer look, her lower lip proturding slowly. "I trust Jessica with her because she’s one of my best friends, I know that she’ll take care of her."
"And I will too, D. I swear." Santana assured the woman as she approached her, resting her hands on her shoulders and squeezing lightly. "It’ll only be for a little bit, just till Jessica gets here and I’ll text you the second she walks in the door."
"I don’t know..." Dani sighed as she looked up at her girlfriend with a nervous expression, drawing her lower lip into her mouth for a moment before catching the loving look that shone in Santana’s gaze. "Okay. Fine."
Santana grinned widely before she leaned down to press a firm kiss to Dani’s lips causing the blonde to giggle as she drew away with an adoring look, a soft breath leaving her mouth as she stared up at the other woman.
"Take care of my baby, Santana Lopez. If I find one hair out of place on her beautiful little head then I swear I will make your life a living hell." Dani warned with a glare causing the younger woman to chuckle. "I’m serious."
Santana sobered slightly at Dani’s tone before drawing away from the older woman and nodding in understanding, the blonde narrowing her eyes slightly as she grabbed her guitar before moving towards the living room.
Watching closely, Santana watched as Dani wondered over to her four-year-old daughter who was busy building blocks and knocking them down with a plastic dinosaur set that Rachel had given her.
"Sweetie, can I talk to you?" Dani asked in a soft voice, the woman scooping Taylor into her arms when she recieved a nod. "Tay, mommy has to go to work but Jess is running a little bit late so Santana is going to stay with you."
"Tana?" Taylor repeated with a slight scowl.
"Yeah, but just for a little bit." Dani assured her with a nod of her head, Taylor puffing her cheeks out for a moment before giving a slow nod of her acceptance. "Are you sure you’re okay with it?"
"Uh-huh, I like Tana." Taylor beamed as she turned her head to look at said Latina, extending her arms towards the woman who chuckled before stepping forward to take the four-year-old in her arms. "Wanna play dinos with me?"
"Of course, silly girl. You know I’m always up for some good ‘ol dinosaur time." Santana replied with a scrunched nose as she carefully lowered herself to the ground, Taylor easily settling in her lap. "Do I get to be the T-Rex this time?"
"Have I ever let you be the T-Rex?" Taylor asked with a raise of her brow, grabbing the said dinosaur as she watched Santana pout before shaking her head. "Then no, you can’t be the T-Rex. Maybe next time."
"That’s what you said last time." Santana whined.
Dani rolled her eyes before chuckling as she leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Santana’s head before reaching out to ruffle Taylor’s as she whispered a soft goodbye and quietly left the apartment.
The second the door closed behind Dani, Santana felt Taylor stiffen in her lap before the four-year-old quickly scrambled her way free and moved to prop herself on her knees so she was turned looking at the dark-haired woman.
"Do you love my mommy?"
The question caused Santana to choke on her saliva as her eyes widened in shock, her gaze lingering on the expression that Taylor wore, an expression that Santana had gotten use to over the last month since she had seen it worn so many times by Dani.
"Whoa, kiddo, I’ve only been dating your mom for like a month," Santana scoffed as she held her hands up, Taylor glaring a little bit harder as she stared at the woman. "Taylor, I can’t really answer that right now."
Taylor huffed loudly before clinching her jaw subtly, “How come you kiss my mommy if you don’t love her? And why do I hear her make funny noises when you have slumber parties? And why does she call you baby? I’m her baby.”
Santana could feel her cheeks heating up as each question was spit her way, her heart thudding heavily in her chest as she opened and closed her mouth a few times in a desperate attempt to find an answer for the child.
"Taylor, I-I uh I don’t really know how to answer those questions." Santana confessed as she reached up to rub at the back of her head. "I mean, I kiss your mommy because I like her and eventually I could love her but not right now."
Taylor hummed lightly and Santana couldn’t help but be amazed how intelligent the four-year-old was, it terrified her to realize how in tune Taylor was when it came to everything that happened with Dani.
She supposed that was what happened when you were raised by a single mother who had never bothered to introduce her daughter to anyone that she had dated previously; Santana figured Taylor was terrified of the intrusion on her little life.
Of course she knew that Taylor adored her and loved to spend time with her, but it must have been a shock to suddenly have her mother deciding that sometimes she wanted to spend time with Santana and not her.
"Look, Taylor, I care about your mommy. A lot." Santana assured the little girl watching as brown eyes brightened at her confession. "And I care about you, a lot. You two are very special to me, okay?"
"Okay." Taylor nodded with a hesitant expression on her face before she scooped up her T-Rex, extending it to the Latina with a shy expression on her face. "Would you like to be the T-Rex now, Tana?"
Santana accepted the toy and shook her head in amazement at how fast the four-year-old could flip her emotions; suddenly, she decided, that kids were definitely not in the cards for her, there was no way she’d be able to handle the mood swings.
