Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine!

Author's note: Once more unto the breach, dear friends! Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. Anyway, I meant to add at the end of the last chapter that there will be a little more angst going into this, but I'm definitely embracing the warm and fuzzy moments for now. I hope this update will make up for my long delay in posting this chapter! Please review. I really appreciate all of you who have so far and those who continue to for each chapter, and welcome to all the new readers/reviewers!

Chapter 7: "Might Be Ready For"

Christmas was fast approaching and Santana and Rachel had never been happier. At school they still had to be careful about being seen together, but on the weekends they were able to mostly be themselves. They had yet to tell their parents about one another, though they did often spend meals at one another's homes. However, the allure of having to be covert at home was starting to wear thin, which is why Rachel finally brought it up.

They were lying on the couch together at Rachel's house. Her dads were out and Santana was lying across Rachel's lap while they watched Rent. So I like Rent, so what? It's got a pretty kick-ass, slightly dark storyline, okay? Sheesh, get off my fucking back about it. Rachel leaned down to kiss Santana's lips, breaking her from her reverie. She looked down at the girl lying across her lap said, "Tana? You think we could tell our parents about us?" That definitely got the slightly sleeping Latina's attention.

"You want to tell people?"

"Not 'people,' but it would be nice if we could be ourselves around our families at least. I don't mind sneaking around at school, especially since the Glee club is so nosy. However, it does get frustrating having to sit across from you on the couch and not be able to hold your hand while we watch TV with my parents or have dinner with yours. Do you not want them to know?" Rachel got a little furrow of slight distress in her forehead.

Santana smoothed the crinkle away with her fingers as she sat up and faced Rachel. "Rach, no, I really do want to tell them. You know I told you I would tell the world right now if we both wanted to. I just want to make sure we are both prepared, okay? My brother will give us no end of shit, and your dads will never let us go into your room and close the door again. Also, I'm pretty sure sleepovers would be out. Rachel smiled slightly and sighed. "I know, but I think the benefits will outweigh what we'll lose. We don't have to tell them yet if you're not ready."

"I am ready, beautiful. I just wanted to make sure we were both on the same page. We'll tell each of our parents tonight. Do you want to do it separately or together?"

"While I would love to have you with me, I fear my fathers might get a little out of hand if they think you've been 'defiling' their little girl."

Santana smirked and flitted her eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Defiling, huh? When do we get to that part? Are there handcuffs involved? Me gusta!"

Rachel laughed and dodged out of the way of Santana's reaching hands. "Oh, no, you don't, Santana! I know you too well, querida. You keep those wandering hands to yourself!" Then she leaned forward and whispered in Santana's ear, "Or I really will have to get out those handcuffs in my nightstand, chica sucia."

Santana choked, "And you say I'm the "dirty girl?" Rachel just laughed and dodged out of the way again as Santana lunged for her. "Well, they do say it takes one to know one. I guess you could say I'm the pot, you're the kettle, and I'm calling you black." With that, she raced up the stairs with Santana in pursuit. When the taller girl caught her, Santana threw her down on the bed and started to suck on her neck. She pulled Rachel's hands above her head and held them there, then slid her thigh in between the shorter brunette's legs. As Santana slid her tongue down Rachel's neck, the latter girl moaned and arched into her, inadvertently thrusting her center into the thigh wedged between her legs. Rachel moaned louder, and pulled Santana up by her hair into a deep, bruising kiss.

When Santana was sure that Rachel would pull back and tell them to stop, the diva instead pulled back to rip off Santana's top and throw it across the room. She rolled them over and gazed down at her prize. "Definitely a chica sucia, but you're my chica sucia." She leaned down and began to suck on Santana's collarbone, one of the other girl's weaknesses that she had discovered early on in their relationship. Santana moaned and could care less that she sounded like a bitch in heat. Rachel Berry is fucking hot, and she is making me feel all kinds of amazing right now.

Santana slid her hands up Rachel's sides and slowly took her shirt with her, pulling her away just enough to get it over her head. What she saw was one of the most erotic sights she had ever seen (and she'd had sex with Brittany, who was rumored not to wear panties under her Cheerios spankies. Rumor confirmed.) Rachel was wearing a black bra, and it was not at all the type that Quinn and the other Cherrios would have guessed when they first started calling Rachel "Man-hands." This was a supportive, practical bra (Santana would have expected nothing less), but it had lace covering the front and made the Latina think of dark dance floors and sweaty sheets. Fuck, Rachel was killing her!

Rachel could not keep her eyes, or lips, off of Santana's breasts either. Her decently enhanced C-cups were encased in a red bra that was equally lacy. While she had expected nothing less from the hottest girl in school, she was still very appreciative. Rachel was currently showing this appreciation by leaving the worst (read: best) hickey on the swell of Santana's right breast. Santana moaned and arched into Rachel's lips while she gripped the back of the diva's head and cried out, "Fuck, Rach, don't stop. Jesucristo!Chúpamemás, por favor!

Rachel looked up with lust-filled eyes and whispered, "Si, of course, querida. I'll suck as hard as you want." At those words, Santana thrust her thigh up forcefully yet sensually. Rachel moaned louder than anything either of them had heard before. Her body shook and trembled for a minute or so, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she gripped Santana's upper arms. Rachel slumped forward a little and Santana had to support her. Carefully sliding the smaller girl to the side to lay down on the bed next to her, Santana propped herself up on her arm and whispered, "You okay, beautiful?"

Rachel slowly opened her eyes and said, "Yeah, I'm…really great." She looked very dazed.

Santana laughed. "I finally found a sure fire way of getting you to keep your sentences small."

Rachel rolled her eyes and turned on her side to face Santana. "I'm a little embarrassed. I didn't mean for that to happen – at least not so quickly and unexpectedly."

"Hey, you've got nothing to be embarrassed about, Rachel. The best orgasms are that way, and trust me when I say I wouldn't have been much farther behind you. It was amazing, and you are so gorgeous I couldn't take my eyes off you, then or now." Santana sealed the sentiment with a slow, gentle kiss.

Rachel asked, "Are you okay? Do you want me to try to…?"

Santana shrugged and said, "Honestly? I'm okay right now. A little worked up…" At Rachel's sidelong glance, she corrected, "Okay, a lot worked up, but I always feel like that after we make out. I know you're still not 100% comfortable with the whole sex and orgasms thing. So we'll leave it where we are for now, okay? I can wait." Rachel looked skeptical. "Hey, I'm not that much of a sex addict! Besides, I totes hear your dad's car in the driveway, and I really don't think we want them finding out about us like this."

Rachel squeaked and tried to get up quickly yet gracefully to get dressed. Nevertheless, she promptly fell off the bed. Santana couldn't stop laughing, even while Rachel threw Santana her shirt and tried to scramble into her own.

All Santana could think as she sat awkwardly waiting in her own living room was that they should have expected this. When she finally told her parents about the wonderful girl she was dating, they would of course ask for her name. She really shouldn't have been surprised that they immediately asked if Rachel's parents knew, and even less surprised when they told her to invite her girlfriend and her fathers over for Christmas dinner. When Santana pointed out that they were Jewish, her father said, "Nonsense, mija, Hiram works with me at the hospital, and I know that he mentioned that they try to celebrate both Christmas and Chanukah since Leroy was raised Christian. I'm sure they would love the invite!"

When Santana called to invite them, Leroy agreed that Christmas dinner would be lovely. Santana could definitely hear Hiram shouting in the background, "We may like her as a person. But if she hurts our little girl in any way, they'll never find the body!" She could also hear Rachel yelling, "Daddy!" at him in the background. All of this was why Santana was nervously waiting for the doorbell to ring in her own house. She really didn't want to end up on the side of the road in some ditch somewhere courtesy of Hiram Berry. When the doorbell did finally ring, she jumped so far off the couch that her older brother burst out laughing. She smacked him for it on her way to answer the door, and he yelled, "Hey, no hitting!"

"Mija, don't hit your brother. Antonio, don't bait your sister."

"He started it!"

"I don't care who started it. Now don't be rude, Santana. Go answer the door, please."

With a huff, Santana made her way to the door filled with equal portions of excitement and dread. Excited to see her girlfriend, but also terrified of seeing the Berry men now that they knew their daughter was her girlfriend. She pasted a smile on her face and was immediately swept up in a great big, vanilla-scented hug by her overly enthusiastic (no surprise there) girlfriend. "Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah, Tana!" She smiled and looked nervously at Rachel's fathers who were standing behind her. "Don't look so terrified, Santana," said Leroy. "We know you really care for our daughter, and we are happy for you both." Hiram nodded agreement. "Unless you hurt her. Then we'd have to hurt you, which is not an idle threat since you know I'm a surgeon. I could make it look like an accident." At Santana's horrified look, he burst out laughing and her own father joined in.

"Ah, Hiram, I do love your sense of humor. It takes a lot to shock my Santana, so thank you for that! Please, come in gentlemen. We'll take your coats, and we can all sit down for a nice meal."

After some shuffling around the table, with Santana and Tony pushing each other every once in awhile, they all sat down. Her parents were sitting on opposite ends of the table, with Tony next to her mom and Santana next to him, and Rachel on her other side with Hiram and Leroy on the other side of the table. The meal was going relatively well and everyone was really getting along. Leroy asked, "So, Santana, what are your plans for after high school?"

"Dad!"

"No, it's cool, Rach. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it too much until this year. I'm a Cheerio, so I always kinda thought that I would be going to college on a cheerleading scholarship."

"You're not dumb, Tana."

"No, Rach, I'm not. However, I do know what my strengths are. I am a really great cheerleader and gymnast, and I've never been afraid to use that."

Leroy paused in contemplation and then asked, "Have you considered going to college for music?"

Santana looked at him curiously and her parents perked up at this. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you have a beautiful voice, Santana. While you may not feel like Broadway is for you, you could probably do very well at Julliard for vocals and maybe pursue a career as a singer?" Leroy said encouragingly.

Rachel nodded as well. Her mom spoke up and said, "Santana, we have noticed how much you love performing and how good you are at it. It wouldn't hurt to think about."

"With Glee you would even have a chance at a scholarship if you auditioned, Tana."

Santana shook her head, "I don't know. I really don't think I could measure up to the others who would be going out for it. I mean, I'm hot shit, and I definitely gots it goin' on, but so do all the other students who apply to a place like Julliard."

Tony snorted and said, "Plus, you'd have to be committed to something for more than a month. That's really not your strong suit, sis."

Santana froze and everyone at the table got really quiet. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, come on, San. I love you, but you're not that into long-term things. You were on and off with Puck for years, then your friendship with Quinn fizzled, and I haven't see Brittany in –"

"Don't bring up things you know nothing about, Tony."

Everyone's shocked eyes were focused on Santana who was staring straight at Rachel. It was the diva who had addressed Tony, right around when Santana would have thrown herself across the table to beat the shit out of her brother. No one had ever stuck up for her like that before. Now everyone seemed to be waiting to see what would happen next, even their parents.

"Hey, I was just joking around."

"You don't know what Santana has gone through with any of those people. You don't know how she's had to defend herself at school against them, and sometimes even defend them despite their lack of support for her. I get that it was a joke, but those people are part of your sister's life, and if she didn't tell you about what happened to any of those relationships and friendships, then it really isn't your place to comment on them."

When Tony seemed frozen in shock, Santana took steps to break the ice – despite her continued feelings of hurt at the mention of her failed friendship and relationship with Brittany. "How about the stupid name of that group we challenged at Sectionals, huh? The Unitards? I mean, come on!"

With that, everyone burst out laughing, and the conversation switched over to their chances at Regionals. They debated the odds now that New Directions was back together again and spoke of how college was going for Tony. The rest of the dinner went well overall. As Santana walked Rachel to the car behind her dads, the Latina grasped her hand and pulled her to a stop. "Thanks. You know, for defending my 'honor' or whatever." She was really horrible at saying thank you. Rachel knew what she meant though, and she leaned up and kissed her on the cheek. "You're welcome, love." They both froze as that word slipped out of Rachel's mouth.

Rachel looked like a deer in the headlights, and Santana figured she probably didn't look much better. Santana's heart started to hurt and she had a little trouble breathing. Why is it so fucking hot out here? There's snow on the ground for fuck's sake! "I…I mean, you know, I had a lovely night and I care for you, and I really like being your girlfriend. I didn't mean-"

"No, I get it. Yeah…you know, me too. Lovely night."

Rachel was definitely starting to look even more freaked out and Santana couldn't blame her. When the hell do I ever say "lovely night?" Fuck, I don't even know what to say to her! Rachel just nodded slowly and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's start over. I had a great time, Santana. Thank you for having us over, and you are most welcome for anything you think you might need to thank me for. I will see you when school begins once more on Monday." Santana had never heard Rachel so stiff and formal, and she knew it was because the shorter girl was really nervous. It made her smile a little. Santana decided to let that slip of a word which definitely made her uncomfortable just pass on by, for now. She kissed the tip of Rachel's nose followed by a peck on her lips since her dads were right nearby waiting in the car. "You are most welcome," she teased. "Now go get in the car before your dads really do decide to kill me. I'll see ya Monday, 'kay?."

Rachel nodded, reassured, though they both knew that they would feel weird about this moment for at least a little while. As Rachel slid into the car and Santana turned to watch them drive away, she couldn't help feeling like the blissful introductory state of their new relationship was about to be shaken up more than they might be ready for.

Additional note: There you go! Sexy times (of a kind), family times, and a little bit of tension! Let me know how you all feel it's going. I have about 20 chapters total I think I want for this story and a basic outline, but these things always seem to evolve as I write them, so we'll see. Please review!