Sorry for being gone for so long. It won't happen again! Enjoy!
Dani's POV
"Dani! Guess what momma helped me pick out for you as a birthday gift? You're never gonna guess 'cause I got it from your favorite place ever to shop! You go there every Saturday!" Lydi or munchkin, as I call her, yells over the soft classical punk rock music playing, while we're all sitting in my living room. Child innocence is so cute, well on this 6 year old it is. She never fails to brighten my day or keep me going from day to day. Well that and the fact that she lives next door, conveniently her room is directly next to mine. It's quite amusing and calming to hear the ridiculous requests she asks Santana. Not that Santana can say no, Lydia has free range to do and say anything she wants with those green-brown orbs of hers.
"Mija you're gonna ruin the surprise!" Santana says laughing knowing that Lydi can't keep a secret even if she had knife held to her throat. She had a bit of blabber mouth, it almost sounds like someone I know.
Santana comes to join me on the couch, dropping down between me and Rachel, who is sitting about as far away from me as Florida and California. She hasn't said a word to me since everyone sung happy birthday, I doubt that she's still bitter about me telling her not to call me Danielle. At least I don't think so. It's really none of my concern, I mean it's my fucking birthday I can cry if I want to. Well in this case quietly demand her not to say something. There are about three more open seats and Santana chose to sit next me. Imagine the beat of my heart!
"So Dan are we going out the strip club tonight?" she says loud enough for my mother to hear and have a heart attack.
I giggle quietly knowing that my mother will pop her head in to disagree. My mother is against all things provocative and violent. Total opposite of me. She still doesn't even know that I'm a lesbian, neither do I plan on telling her. The fact that I'm 23 years old and I don't have the balls to tell my mother, who can no longer tell me what to do, that I'm gay is completely stupid. She adores Santana, so I have no way of seeing how she would react to me having feelings for her, I mean the lady loves Ellen!
"Santana Lopez! No daughter of mine is going to a strip club. I don't care how old you get Danielle!" My mom yells from the kitchen. The lady has ears like a hawk. You can't even sneeze in peace without her muttering a 'bless you'. I'm about to yell back at her not to call me Danielle but it will be useless because she'll ignore it like she usually does.
"Momma, what's a strip club? Can I go with you and Dani since it's her birthday?" says Lydia excitedly to Santana.
"Not until you're 18" we both say. It's quite amusing how we think the same. We've known each other for give or take 3 to 4 years now and it's almost like we've know each other our whole lives. Call me crazy in love but I want to know and be with her for the rest of our lives. Not that I'll ever get to be with her, it's not like she's gay or anything. No one wants to hear the sob story of a girl who is hopelessly in love with another girl who turns out to be straight. So I'll save you the 'I want her but she doesn't want me' story. It's cliché and tiredly overstated. One day I hope to tell Santana that she owns my heart and is the constant reminder of why I have sleep insomnia. Of course that day will be when were both lying on our death beds, with a mask over our faces uttering out last breaths. But until then, I'll put on my big girl shoes and be the heterosexual my mother wants me to be.
I hear my mother call out for Lydi's help in the kitchen. This is nothing new, one day I predict that Lydia will be as wide as the width of my kitchen door because of all the food she consumes under the mercy of my mom. I feel Santana lean her head on my shoulder and sigh. Good sigh or bad sigh, I'll never know nor ask. She always does little things like this. That touchy-feely type stuff and I love it and hate it at the same time, I'm barely figuring out my feelings for her. I'll never admit that out loud because I would one, be an idiot and two, I can at lease create a little fantasy in my head about how we're together and she's leaning her head on my shoulder because it's a sign that she's ready to leave and go home to make sweet love. Well in my head this all sounds good.
"What sounds good D?" Santana asks. I feel my cheeks blush and I'm about to mutter a stupid answer when Rachel stands up and starts to speak. Nothing new.
"Well as fun as this…silent yet calming birthday celebration is Dani, I have somewhere to be, so I will see you guys soon. Don't forget to call if you need a ride to the diner and open my birthday present." Well I guess she wasn't all hung up on the earlier interaction. I watch her walk towards the kitchen to say goodbye to my mother and Lydia.
"So it's just you and me Dan? You know I'm starting to think the universe is telling me something". What the hell could the universe be telling her?, besides the fact that being my friend was a decision gone wrong since I hardly leave the confines of my bedroom, I don't have any type of mirror or reflection type of device of any sort in my apartment and I'm a total "mood killer".
"What could the universe be telling you Santana?"
"You know you're the only person to call me Santana even though we've known each other for years now? It's okay to call me San or whatever nickname you want". She's so cute, she thinks I don't have any special nicknames that I call her. I have nicknames for her, just names that I could never utter out of my mouth. I'm saved when Rachel walks towards the door to leave with Lydia trailing behind her. She walks up to the arm of the couch Santana and I are sitting on.
"I decided I'm going to the strip club with you and momma Dani". This kid is hilarious. The dull tone at the end of that was intentional.
"Oh yeah and how and why did you decide this?" Santana asks.
"Well Rachel said-"
"Bye you guys! Have a great rest of your birthday Dani". She briskly walks out of the door. Well there goes my suspicion about Rachel having anything to do with Lydia wanting to go to the strip club. My mom comes out the kitchen drying her hands. She's leaving.
"Okay Danielle, I'm leaving, your grandmother will be arriving at the airport soon so I want to get there before she exits the wrong way. Call me in the morning and I love you". She says while giving kisses on the cheek to everyone and me last, before making her way out the door. Well two down, two more to go. I get up to turn off the music playing and I turn on the TV to entertain Lydi. I take a glance at my living room to see that it doesn't even seem like a birthday celebration was even hear. Partially because I had to remind my mother and Rachel not to decorate my house in colorful balloons or any type of shit like that. This proved to be physically challenging for Rachel, as she never liked to do things half way. Bless the future off spring she produces. Well, there is a plus side to all of this, less cleaning up for me to do.
"Hellooo earth to Dani!" I hear Santana say. How long was I spaced out?
"For about five minutes missy, which is rude considering I'm guest". Haha, she's not guest. She hasn't been a guest since the day she knocked on my door at 3:14 in the morning asking if I had any milk that I could spare because her 2 year old baby would not stop crying. I remember everything about that day. I remember how stressed out Santana was-
"Ummm why are you referring to me in third person and telling me this?" she asks. Am I really saying all of my thoughts out loud?
"Yes you are weirdo. You've been doing it all night. Did you sniff a little something before I came over Dan? Ohh you naughty girl! What ever will momma Harper think?" she smirks while sauntering over towards me. Is it called sauntering when you walk slowly while strutting? Because that's what she's doing…right now. I gulp loudly and start to speak but of course I get interrupted.
"Dan dan, when are you gonna open your presents? You didn't even open them when everybody was here, that's what your 'posed to do at birthday parties" I look over towards the gift table, which is really just my bed side table with a cloth over it. There are five presents on it. Two from my mom, one from Rachel, one from Lydia and one from Santana, which I'll open last because I just want to.
"When would you like for me to open them munchkin?"
"Now! Open 'em now!" Santana and I walk towards the table carrying two gifts each back to the couch.
Two hideous sweaters that will never see daylight from the darkness of my closet and 50 dollar gift card to old navy later, I pick up all the wrappings and garbage to throw them away. Well the presents weren't all the disappointing. I'm able to return two of them and splurge on one. I look at the fourth present sitting the table. Wrapped in pink wrapping with a bow sloppily settled near the side of the square shaped box, I reach towards it and shake.
"Momma told me you would do that I stuffed the box with wrapping paper!" the kid is too smart for her own good. I giggle loudly, while glancing out the side of my eye to see Santana smiling at me. She would do that. She knows how nosey I am. I turn to look at her while sticking out my tongue. The comfort level has risen.