Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 49th cycle. Now cycle 50!

CYCLE 50 SPECIAL FAVORITES CHART - So I've done 'favorites' cycles before, and this is another one, but since it's cycle 50, I wanted to do something special for it. So instead of the usual top 16 with a 6-chapter Boston Britt installment for Brittany (who has always been and remains number one ;)), this is how it will be: It's shift days through the cycle. Shift B will be a 21-chapter/day Boston Britt. In shift A, after the first day's 'extra' dedicated to New Directions, there will be four Top 5 lists, working their way down (all the number 5 spots, all the number 4 spots, number 3, 2, and finishing with all the number one spots)

The Top 5's are as follows (all are my 'top 5 favorite...'):
* Top 5 Series (my series)
* Top 5 Friendships
* Top 5 Characters
* Top 5 Relationships

TODAY: Top 5 Characters: #3 - Santana

This is a double shift day. There will be one more upload today: Those Are Wooden Wings, chapter 12.

"Still Our Girl"
Santana & Maribel Lopez (Brittana)

When she had gone in to talk with them, she'd made herself feel as confident as she could, which shouldn't have been so much of a stretch, but as she was preparing to tell them she like girls… She kept fearing a surprise backlash. She wouldn't have pegged her parents for that kind of reaction, but it wasn't like she had some frame of reference on the subject and so…

She had to stay on point and focused though, take this confidence however forced and just run with it. So she had. She'd gone and done it, told her parents, and now she didn't have to be brave anymore, but she tried to hang to it, because if she didn't then her other option would be fear… and once she fell down there, she had to find her way back up.

But her parents had not tipped the road for her, she had kept her feet on the ground. They had taken it well, about as well as she could have hoped for. Somehow in her mind she'd gone and convinced herself they couldn't all be so lucky to be received like this, she wasn't sure why… either way it hadn't come to that.

After it was said and done, she'd sort of exceeded herself, retreating to her room where she could release all the pent up anxiety. She'd just been sitting there a moment when she had heard her mother's scratchy sort of knock at the door, and she'd smiled. "Come in." Her mother's face appeared, and she walked in, their eyes meeting.

"Did you want to be alone?" it had occurred to her mother suddenly.

"No, I… It's okay," she'd promised, indicating that she could sit with her. Santana wasn't too keen on heart-to-hearts most times, but she'd have to indulge in this case, she knew. She felt her mother's hand at her back, and it did feel just so nice then.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright," Maribel bowed her head.

"Yes, Mom, I'm… I'm good," she told her, and she had to pause, thinking… She was okay now, but the last few weeks had not been smooth sailing for her in the least, with the hiding, the questions, and then… that commercial, everything… She would have kept it in most times, but sitting here now, she felt she could share… should share? "Better now that I… You're not… You and Dad, you…" It wasn't coming out so well, but her mother understood just fine.

"Sweetheart, we love you," she smiled, brushing her daughter's hair back. "We love all of you, and if this is you, if this is what you want, what makes you happy… You are happy, aren't you?" she asked, and Santana couldn't help but smile.

"Getting there," she reported.

"Then that's all that matters to us."

"I love you, too," Santana sniffled, and Maribel brought her closer, kissing the side of her head. The girl closed her eyes, taking in the moment, continuing to soothe all the worries that had plagued her all this time.

"You haven't told your grandmother, have you?" the mother guessed, and her daughter shook her head. From the look on Maribel's face, Santana could see she was at least a little concerned, too. But she turned it into a cautious smile. "Well… all in time," she declared, and Santana didn't say a thing on that. She was thankful when the subject was changed. "Can I ask… how come have you been holding on to this?" Santana breathed, thinking…

"I don't know, months… I didn't wake up one morning and decide, it just sort of got to that point where I couldn't deny it anymore. But once I got there, things started to change."

"For the better, or…" Maribel asked.

"It… depended," Santana admitted. "I did want to tell you guys, I swear," she started, like she really needed to understand this. "It was just… there's no going back, and I needed… time."

"No, I know," Maribel promised. "I only wish I could have done more to help."

"You're doing it now," Santana told her, smiling, side-hugging her as she coiled her arms around her mother's. They'd sit there quietly for a moment, until a thought would occur to Maribel.

"Do you have… I mean, are you seeing anyone now?" she asked, and Santana had to smile. Her mother would need to adjust to the shift, but she was rolling with it. So Santana gave her a nod.

"Who?" Maribel asked, curious.

"Think really hard…" Santana gave her a look.

"Th… oh," it came to her, and Santana was stuck between a chuckle and an innocent face. "I didn't realize, you two were just really good friends, and…"

"We are, too," Santana told her. "But she is my girlfriend now, too."

"Girlfriend, yes," Maribel nodded. "For how long?"

"That's a complicated one, too," Santana admitted. "Officially, not that long. Unofficially… it's been a while."

She wasn't sure if she'd just indirectly telegraphed the fact that she and Brittany had been sleeping together; if that was what her mother had understood, she wasn't saying it. Her mother had known she wasn't a virgin anymore, since the day she'd walked in on her and Puck in about as compromising a position as they got. That one had earned her an hour-long speech and an embarrassing trip to talk to both a doctor and a pharmacist. Afterward she'd be more cautious in her proceedings… With passing time, things had calmed down, and her mother didn't look on the verge of flying off the handle here, so that was at least that… and if it could be called that, thinking about this half-revelation had made her feel like she had to say the other part, like it would soothe everything.

"I love her, Mom… Brittany…" she turned to her mother, earnest, fearless again. To see the smile on her mother's face then, it was just short of making her cry. She didn't have to hide herself anymore, didn't want to, because she wasn't a hiding girl, she was always right there… Maybe part of that had been her covering, still figuring herself out, but even then…

She had done this for all of them, to live in honesty, and she was proud of herself for it. There still were some things to work out, but others were falling into place and, yes, she was happy.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!