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December 4, 2011
Their overnight flight being over, Santana and Brittany make their way through the standard procedures, collect their bags and head out to the front of the 'domestic flights' building. They are waiting for Dr. Lopez to pick them up.
True to his word fifteen minutes later as Santana stays by the stuff and Brittany catches snowflakes, a black limousine pulls up directly in front of them. It catches Brittany's attention, but what's more interesting is the man who steps out of the vehicle to greet his daughter; they are a spitting image of each other. Dr. Lopez is tall and handsome; no wonder where her girlfriend got her looks. Brittany stops trying to photograph the snowflakes, and walks towards Santana. She's conversing with her father when Brittany joins them, surprising Dr. Lopez with a hug. Santana stands up even stiffer, if that's even possible in this weather, hoping upon hope her father won't be unimpressed by her girlfriend. It was awkward enough that she was in a lesbian relationship, it'd be worse if her father shunned Brittany.
Santana doesn't have to hold her breath for long as to her surprise; her dad wraps his coat covered arms around her girlfriend and returns the hug.
"Can never get enough hugs in this weather," he smiles at Brittany, "my daughter used to give them to me all the time." He winks at Santana. She grins back, not wanting to ruin the moment with a retelling of why they never interact physically anymore.
Dr. Lopez has his driver put the girl's bags in the trunk while the three of them duck into the plush car. Santana and Brittany sit on one side of the leather decked interior while Dr. Lopez occupies the opposite seat. When the driver gets in, Dr. Lopez orders him to take them to the resort before pressing a button to close off the compartment.
Its awkward for Santana, sitting like this with her girlfriend snuggled into her on one side and her father sporting an amused look on the opposite side.
When she came out to him last year he barely reacted, he was barely even there. In reality, of course he was physically present but his mind was somewhere else. Ever since his career kicked off and she as left behind with an overbearing socialite mother, it seemed like he couldn't care less if his daughter was the captain of the Cheerio's or not, didn't bat an eye if she was drinking every weekend and maybe sneaking some on a school night, he had not interest in the fact that she liked girls and not guys. The only things he seemed to pay attention to were her grades and giving her money to buy anything she wanted, so long as she was on a straight path to an Ivy League University where maybe she would study to be a lawyer or a doctor or something equally impressive; so long as she made him proud.
It's a little difficult to get personal with a person whom you've seen twice a year for the last ten years of your life. If Santana counted, she'd come up with approximately twenty – twenty days of her relevant life that she shared with the man sitting across from her who was her father. Santana wishes her girlfriend would spontaneously break the silence the way she does so innocently, and then as if Brittany could read her mind,
"Dr. Lopez thanks so much for letting us come, I mean me…San's already allowed to come but thanks for letting me come too. I've never been to Colorado."
"You're quite welcome Brittany, I'm glad you came too otherwise Santana would have been stuck with me, waiting for my meetings to end; I'm sure she wouldn't call that a fun vacation."
It's too easy, why can't her relationship be like this, why can't she just forgive her father? The more her dad and her girlfriend talk, the more she wants to throw the past out the window and be that girl again; the one who asked to hear stories from his work, the girl who hugged her dad on instinct whenever she saw him, the girl who started arguments over silly things just so her dad would laugh and indulge her till he gave up and let her win.
"You've never been out here? Well you're in for a surprise. I'd let you girls tour the state but I don't think you girls will have time for the resort and sight-seeing; maybe another time…" His voice trails off like he can't promise when he'll see his daughter again; he's going to try if Santana will let him.
It's no secret within the Lopez family that Dr. and Mrs. Lopez have been on the rocks lately; Santana has heard her mother throw around 'divorce' as if it were some household word, which it has become ironically. And if Mrs. Lopez is neglecting to be a mother to Santana lately then Dr. Lopez feels it's his responsibility to give his daughter that much more attention and start being a father; his marriage doesn't matter as much to him as his daughter, that's what this trip is about. He's giving Santana a hint that he's trying.
"Oh, really Dr. Lopez I'm sure Santana and I will have tons of fun at the ski resort. I read the brochure, and they have so many activities."
She catches her breath and keeps talking.
"Will you join us too? Like when you're not busy being Dr. Lopez to all the important people in your meeting, will you come and do fun stuff with us?"
The doctor chuckles at the rambling wonderment that is Brittany, he sometimes questions how Brittany and his daughter ended up in a relationship when he knows Santana is not the patient listening type.
"Well, I'm not in a meeting now so you can call me Martin. Dr. Lopez is boring; I hear it all the time."
"But you're a doctor, so shouldn't I call you doctor; or do I only do that when you're in the white clothes? Plus I want to be respectful because you're my girlfriend's dad and everything…"
"Brittany!" that last part was a little excessive.
Dr. Lopez smiles at his daughter's uneasiness to talk about the gay thing. He never had a problem with it but he guesses the edginess comes from his lack of support. It's just that he doesn't see it as a big deal which apparently to his daughter it is. He reminds himself again that he'd have known how to handle it better if he was around.
"Well, since I'm 'your girlfriends father' we are practically family Brittany, and besides you've known me almost your whole life. You don't have to worry about titles and Surnames anymore."
Santana really doesn't understand what's happened to her father, why everything seems so normal like she and Brittany aren't gay or anything. She determines to give her father another chance just on the fact that he's absolutely taken by her girlfriend.
Checking in is no hassle as her father instructs the bell boys to get everything while he shows them what room they'll be staying in. The property from what Santana has seen is impressively huge; the hotel itself is a beautiful work of snow white architecture. The frozen lake spread in front of the entrance is bigger than what she imagined from the picture.
They enter the suite on the seventh floor, where Brittany and she will be staying for two nights; Santana approves, it lives up to the splendor portrayed in other parts of the hotel. It has two rooms, two bathrooms, a living area, a kitchenette and lastly a fantastic view of the snow packed mountains dotted here and there with patches of evergreen trees. While she is awestruck, Brittany is ecstatic.
Santana seeks her father who is standing at the door looking pleased with the girl's reactions.
"This is really nice, uh… where are you staying?"
"Just two floors up in suite 04, if you need anything just come up; though you'll probably have better luck reaching me on my phone," He pulls out a black berry and jiggles it back and forth, "I'll probably be in the meeting most of the day but I'll take your call at all times, except maybe if I'm closing an important point; I'll call you back."
"Sure," all of a sudden it's like they are in business mode, she hates it when he gets like that with her, "I just a…could I have your pin? It'd be convenient…"
"Hey," Martin is not about to let this become one of 'those' conversations. This is his daughter; he reminds himself she shouldn't have to feel wary of asking anything of him.
"You don't need an excuse mija, you're my daughter that's reason enough." They exchange pins and type a few messages back and forth to see that everything is working.
Dr. Martin Lopez: My mija no's how 2 chuze her fonez
Santa(na) baby ;-p: omg dad where did u lrn 2 txt lk that?
Dr. Martin Lopez: LOL I deal w/ the Y gen all the time
Dr. Martin Lopez: took me long nuff 2 undrstnd
Santa(na) baby ;-p: wld'v got ur pin a long time ago if I knew
Santa(na) baby ;-p: BTW ur LOL is fake cuz I can see ur not laffin not cool dad.
Martin has his tongue sticking out, enjoying the back and forth texting with his daughter when his phone rings and ends the fun.
"Sorry got to get this."
Santana mouths that it's ok and heads off to find Brittany, feeling very good about the whole trip. It's going better than expected. She finds her girlfriend dragging both their bags into the bigger room with the bigger bed. Apparently Brittany has no intention of sleeping separately which is perfectly fine by Santana. They hardly ever sleep apart anymore at home. Santana gives Brittany a hand with unpacking and storing their clothes in the spacious closet.
"San, did you see the bathroom?" Strange question.
"Yeah, sure."
"Did you see what's 'in' the bathroom?" And it dawns on Santana what her girlfriend is really talking about.
"I know, doesn't the sink look awesome? I mean who thinks of putting the soap bar on a slide."
Brittany doesn't answer, just looks at her girlfriend pointedly like "really, you go into the way too many function bathroom that doesn't even look like a bathroom for all the crazy stuff in it and you comment on the sink?"
Santana sidles up to Brittany, places her hands on Brittany's hips and holds her close.
"The hot tub," Santana kisses Brittany lightly. "I bet it does more things than I can imagine, we should totally try it sometime."
There is a swift knock at the door as the two girls jump slightly apart.
"Sorry wasn't trying to interrupt," Martin looks like he did something terribly wrong walking in on his daughter doing something personal with her girlfriend. "Just wanted to say that I have a meeting at 11:00 which is in ten minutes so I have to go, but I will call you every few hours to make sure everything's good. But don't hesitate to call me if something happens."
"sure thing Dr. Lo…err..Dr. Ma….err Martin." Brittany rushes in to give him a hug like she did at the airport. It warms his heart a little bit.
"umm…yeah…will do dad…just a, I just want to say thanks for everything. It's amazing."
"Come here Tanny."
Santana goes to hug him. She hates that name and he knows it but she doesn't want to ruin the moment by calling him out.
Martin takes his leave instructing the hotel staff to cater to the girls needs in every way. Santana hears the door close. Now that they are all alone, Brittany leaps onto the bed and starts bouncing away, happy for the springs that make her flip extra high.
Santana watches with a huge smile, while covertly sending a message on her phone.
Santa(na) baby ;-p: Dn't think ur getin 'way w/ that
A few seconds later her phone buzzes
Dr. Martin Lopez: I C U rmembr
Dr. Martin Lopez: but I ges u go by Santa baby now huh?
Santa(na) baby ;-p: Brittz, she also wnt'd a 3 or :-*
Dr. Martin Lopez: either is bettr thn that signature face of urz
Half-way through a forward flip, Brittany calls for Santana to join her.
Santa(na) baby ;-p: gtg, but this is not over
Dr. Martin Lopez: K, 3 cya later :-*
Santana can't believe she's texting her dad, and neither can Brittany when she juts her face into the screen to see why Santana is grinning like a fool.
"Your dad's cool, he likes my hearts and kissy faces"
This could be really bad, if her dad and girlfriend decide to gang up on her; Santana will be fighting a losing battle.
"No, he thinks they're silly that's why he's using them to tease me."
"Well, it's working so I still like him."
Santana gives up, if they are going to be buddies and plot against her well there's nothing she can do about it.
The girls jump into the bed which is soft and has so many pillows it's hard to choose which to keep and which to kick out. As they lie there with their choice pillows, Santana asks Brittany if there's anything she wants to do in the afternoon. Brittany says she wants to ice skate so it's settled, but her girlfriend makes her promise to eat first so she'll have energy. They change into more comfortable sweat pants and hoodies before heading to the rink.
Santana decides to stop and get few pastries from the bakery on Martins credit card. They eat quickly so they can get on the ice faster. While at it, Brittany gets a photo of Santana looking like a chipmunk with her cheeks stuffed with a Danish Blueberry tart. Santana takes it a step further by smearing crème from Brittany's éclair onto her mouth and nose before taking several pictures of Brittany trying to lick it off with her tongue and making other goofy faces.
Outside the sun is shining bright but not scolding, it adds a touch of warmth to the cold weather.
The girls get their skates from the staff in charge, store their belongings in a locker, and take to the ice. The first thing Brittany does is slip, pulling Santana who was holding her hand down with her.
"This is why you let me lead Britt. Come on, get up." They struggle a bit but soon find their feet again.
"Ok, so ice skating is just like roller-skating; remember that ring Mr. Shuester took us to, April's one?"
"I remember you falling all over the place, yes."
Santana rolls her eyes, "Well you certainly aren't doing a good job of keeping us up; just trust me on this one."
Truth is together the girls are a hot mess. It comes as a surprise since they're masters at balancing – they are on the fuckin' cheerios and can stand one legged on a shaky hand five meters in the air – they shouldn't be sucking so much at this.
"like I said Britt, bend and slide with the right then again with the left." The girls move forward all but two meters before falling in a heap again.
"That's the fourth time Britts!"
"Why is it my fault? We were supposed to go left and then you went right!"
"Ok," Santana thinks of a way to solve this ice mopping dilemma, "lets skate separately, maybe it'll help us balance better."
"You first," Brittany slides her knees together and sits back to watch her girlfriend try it alone.
Santana feels like Brittany is pressuring her to succeed since Santana was sure she could do it. But she doesn't do well under pressure, sometimes she forgets her locker combo when Brittany is staring at her which is what her girlfriend is doing now.
Slip.
"Good try San!" Brittany gets up and skates towards her fallen girlfriend.
"How did you do that so easily Britt? Wait; since when do you know how to skate? Don't tell me you were using me for entertainment."
Brittany stalls, "not really."
"So you were a little bit?" Santana is not amused at her girlfriend's antics; she's embarrassed herself to all the bystanders.
"San, I slipped once because I hadn't adjusted to the ice yet. But you wanted to lead so bad that I just let you, I didn't want you to get mad. It was a tiny bit funny?"
The fallen girl crosses her arms in defiance. "Fine, let's see what you can do."
Brittany shrugs her shoulders and takes off effortlessly. First she skates circles around Santana, then decides to do the same thing but backwards. Santana is already in awe. After a while she skates to a spot two feet in front of her girlfriend and begins to do pirouettes. Fuckin' pirouettes on the ice! Not only that, Brittany does them standing and squatting, never slowing down her spin. Finally she tries something Santana is totally not prepared for, Brittany skates towards her at full speed and just when Santana thinks her girlfriend has gone mad, Brittany does a flip over her and lands perfectly, ending in a statuesque pose.
Brittany comes skating back to her girlfriend and sits with her on the ice. Santana just eyes Brittany unbelievingly as she's lost for words.
"I'm trying very hard to be mad at you right now Britts," the dumbstruck girl finally finds her voice, "but you just blew me away, you're amazing."
"Thanks San, I wasn't trying to make fun of you though. I promise it's just that you're stubborn so I have to let you do what you want."
Her girlfriend knows her way too well, and if she wasn't such an ass she wouldn't have made a flopping spectacle of herself.
"Could you maybe.."
"Help you out?" Brittany also knows her girlfriend has a huge ego and doesn't like that to get hurt either.
"yeah."
Brittany helps Santana get up, and when they are standing she shows Santana how to move her legs slowly and in a steady rhythm. Left slide, lift right, slide, lift left, slide. She holds onto Santana the whole time and saves them from a few falls. After about half an hour of Brittany's instruction, Santana gets the hang of it and can skate by herself, she's a little bit shaky without her girlfriends support but she's doing it; Brittany couldn't be more proud.
They skate for a little while longer, Brittany doing tricks every now and then to impress her girlfriend. When she slips on a double spin jump, Santana laughs at her girlfriend sprawled out on the ice a little dazed by her fall.
"Hey baby, need a hand?" Brittany extends her arm for Santana to grab, and when she does Brittany pulls her down to the ice.
"What the fu…" Brittany is tickling her playfully, not really hitting any spot through the thick sweater. Santana tries to get back at her and they end up rolling around on the ice in a play fight. Santana finds herself on top of Brittany when they've exhausted their energy.
"Hello." She leans down and takes Brittany's bottom lip, sucking for a few seconds.
Hello. Brittany returns licking playfully at Santana's full pout but not making a move to go further.
"Did you have fun?" The bottom girl asks. She surely did, it was so liberating letting loose on the ice and dancing her heart away.
"It was very fun the last hour when I wasn't practicing belly diving and knee scraping."
Again Santana tries to initiate a kiss by nudging her nose against Brittany's and brushing their lips together.
This time Brittany yields; they start slowly putting meaning into every kiss. Santana licks Brittany's teeth and then asks for entrance which Brittany gladly allows, letting Santana's tongue slide over and underneath her tongue. Brittany lifts her head slightly so she can get her tongue in deeper as the kiss becomes more passionate. To help the other girl, Santana brings her hands up to hold Brittany's neck in its elevated position. She moans loudly when Brittany bites down on her bottom lip and nips her top lip with short kisses.
"I think we should take this somewhere else," Brittany states when they come up for air. A group of small children have gotten to the edge of the ice and although they are too far away to see what's happening, they try to spy anyways.
"We don't want that audience to see us get our mack on," Santana agrees, getting up and pulling Brittany with her.
The girls get off the ice and trade their skates for their regular boots before going to get their stuff out of the locker.
Santana sees a series of messages on her phone when she checks it
Dr. Martin Lopez: Santana, I'd like you to have dinner with me tonight along with some young people you'll find interesting to meet.
Dr. Martin Lopez: Bring Brittany too of course. Please dress nicely – no overalls. Joking.
Dr. Martin Lopez: Some nice tailors here rent out tuxedos and dresses.
Dr. Martin Lopez: Please get whatever you and Brittany want. Dinner 7:30 sharp. Main dining hall.
With that the messages end. It doesn't look like they have a choice but to do as her dad says. Dinner with her dad is fine. Young people? Not good news, probably some overachieving jerks who are hiding their ultra jerkiness behind their fancy accents and minor success stories.
Santana tells Brittany as much and she agrees they have no choice but to go. They decide head back up to their rooms for showers and then going shopping.
SBSBSBSB
"Do you like this one San?" Brittany is wearing a flowing flamingo pink dress that falls stylishly to her feet on the right, and just covers her knee on the left. It's strapless and dents in the middle, showing off a bit of cleavage. They've been at this for at least an hour and none of the other dresses have made Brittany look as captivating as this one.
"I love it baby, you look gorgeous. Just wait till we do your hair. Those young doctors will fuckin' do anything you ask them to."
"That is if I can compete with you in that red dress, I'll probably end up having to punch them for drooling over my girlfriend."
"Although you're probably right, I haven't even tried this on yet so save the applause for after."
Brittany waits on the provided couch while Santana goes behind the curtain to change. She's nonchalantly whispering a tune when she looks up into a mirror and sees the reflection. Brittany turns her head so she can see the real thing.
"Santana, I'm sorry you can't wear that. It's illegal." Santana looks at her girl questioningly trying to see if Brittany is being serious or just making a brilliant comment. But Brittany is just staring at her like she's never seen her before. Of course she looks hot; red is her colour and this dress is just glorious.
It's a spaghetti strapped dress, bare backed with criss crossing red strings that barely cover anything. It fits around her figure nicely showing off her abundant bosom and accentuating her hips; finally it covers her thighs and ends at the top of her knees.
"uhummmm… drooling." Brittany snaps out of her dreaming and wipes the edge of mouth just in case.
"So what do you think?"
"I'm thinking about how I'm going to fight all the boys and girls who will try to get a piece of you."
"So I take it that you approve?"
"1,000,000 percent."
SBSBSBSBSB
When both girls arrive at the main dining hall, they are immediately the center of attention. Earlier the girls had gone back and done their hair. Brittany's is all moved to one side and curled in big waves; a portion of the bangs cover her forehead to give her that bashful, innocent look. Santana is quite the contrast, with her somewhat revealing dress and her hair straightened to a ruler, she's the image of elegance.
The first thing Santana does is eye each one at the table with a judgmental glare. Her dad sees this as one of Santana's defense mechanisms and discreetly whispers into her ear that if she behaves, he'll give her a surprise she'll love after the meal.
Santana and Brittany decide to go along and join Martin for dinner. They are introduced to the group of young bachelors who are exactly like Santana expected; cocky, obnoxious, and singers of their own praise. They do manage to talk about a variety of other topics where they use their big words and try to out explain each other.
It's interesting at first but soon it bores Santana. She's becoming less and less tolerant of the eyes some of the boys are giving her girlfriend. Brittany on the other hand, in all naivety is ignoring the discourse, the looks, and the boys all together as she eats her food and holds her girlfriends hand under the table squeezing it whenever Santana says something remarkably sharp and intellectual.
The full course dinner comes to an end and Martin thanks everyone for joining him; also telling them that he's going to have a personal meeting with a few close friends. Before leaving, he hands Santana two fake ID's.
"There's a bar on the underground floor, have fun. But make sure you take care of Brittany and get back to your room safely. If you have any problems or if you need me call ok?"
Santana has never loved her dad more, its' just what they need after that stupid formal dinner.
The girls go back to their room where they change into party clothes and redo each other's makeup and hair. They hit the bar at exactly ten o'clock. After that the evening is a blur of sights and sounds and groping and screaming and punching and swearing. What really happens that night neither Santana nor Brittany remembers when they are carried back to their room by two of Martins assistances.
Well, maybe they don't remember - yet.