Beth knew something was wrong. It had been wrong for weeks. Everyone was playing nice for Thanksgiving, but she could tell. Quinn was only really talking to Aunt Abbie and Uncle Finn. Rachel was making forced conversation with Kurt and Kendrick, who looked like they'd rather not be here. Brittany and Cillian weren't there quite yet, but Beth had a feeling matters wouldn't improve. Santana was keeping to herself, looking uneasy. Beth was sick of it. She wanted her family together, and they had better be okay by the time turkey was served, or else she was going to lose it.

"Can I help?" she asked Santana, pointing at the stuffing.

"Sure, Baby B."

As she carried the dish out to the big dining room table, she thought back about the past two weeks. She was going to fix this, she just had to figure out how.

"What do you want to do today, Baby B?" Santana asked.

Beth considered the options. It was Santana's first weekend back from travel season, so she would probably be up for just about anything. "Let's go take pictures somewhere."

"Where?"

"I don't know. Someplace cool."

"That doesn't really narrow it down," Santana said, grinning and poking Beth's shoulder. "We live in New York."

"We could try for a bunch of the street performers. That would be cool."

"Okay. Go grab your camera."

"Can Quinn come too?" Beth asked. She saw something like annoyance flash across Santana's face, and was about to repeal the request. But just as quickly as it appeared, the look was gone.

"Sure," Santana said. "I'll call her while you get your photo-hunting stuff."

"Awesome!" Beth yelped, running for the stairs.

Quinn sat fiddling with her phone. She'd been talking with Abbie, but now the topic had turned to football. Much like high school, she had exactly zero interest in the sport. She scrolled through all of the text messages on her phone. She'd gotten a new one a couple of weeks ago. Most of the texts were from Beth, but there were a couple from Amanda.

She stifled a sigh with difficulty. Her ex had gotten the number from her mom this time. Judy was going through a period of being terrified that Quinn would end up single forever. Thus, despite Quinn's best efforts to make the woman understand, she was still adamant that Amanda was right for her daughter. That Quinn should give her another chance. And it was getting difficult to ignore some of the messages now. Ever since….

She glanced over at Santana, and then to Rachel, who was talking with Kurt about something. She knew there was no going back after everything that had happened, but the problem was that she didn't know how to move forward, either.

Santana poured them drinks as Beth clicked through all of the day's pictures on her laptop.

"She's going to be a world traveler, thanks to you," she said, passing Quinn a glass of lemonade.

"She's already got the picture thing. I take full responsibility."

"Yeah, that grin looks really remorseful."

"Hey, of all the things she could possibly inherit from me, a love for travel and photography is probably the safest bet," Quinn muttered.

Santana snorted.

"When's Rachel getting home?"

"In another hour or two. They open on New Year's Eve, so they're crushing it for rehearsals."

"Do you think she'd mind if I borrowed you for the evening?"

"Why?"

"We haven't had a bestie date in forever, is why," Quinn said. "There's a pub crawl I've wanted to do since I moved here. Think I could kidnap you?"

"I'll text her and see."

Seven hours later, Quinn and Santana were stumbling into a cab. They were pretty impressed with themselves - they'd nearly kept up with all the college frat boys. After the fifth bar, they'd decided to call it a night. Actually, it was Santana bursting into tears during Don't Stop Believing that had decided for them. Quinn rested her head on Santana's shoulder and tried to make the world stop spinning. After three attempts, she managed to tell the cab driver where she lived.

"S…. S….I want a puppy."

"But you *hic* have apartment, Q."

"Puppy. Christmas. Don't forget."

The rest of the car ride, Quinn waxed drunken!philosophic about why Alaskan Malamutes were God's favorite dog and should be treated with reverence and loyalty. One of the reasons that finally turned Santana into a believer was because "They're made of fluff, like clouds." By the time they pulled up in front of her apartment, the driver had tears running down his face from silent laughter.

They tumbled into the apartment, and somehow made it as far as the couch.

"I'm sleeping here," Santana grunted.

"Need water," Quinn said, not making any attempt to move from under her best friend.

Santana struggled to sit up, but only made it as far as her elbows could raise her. "Abbie'll laugh when we tell her."

"We're not...telling...eurgh...too drunk for this."

"Sorry I've been weird with you," Santana said.

"S'okay."

"Missed Beth and Rach when I was gone. Missed you too."

"I missed you more...over the last few years," Quinn mumbled.

They could blame the alcohol. They were both emotional drunks, after all. They could blame the alcohol, but in the coming weeks, neither of them would. They kissed.

Santana pulled her infamous broccoli casserole out of the oven and tried to think. Today was bound to blow up, but she hoped it wouldn't be until after everyone left.

"Hey," a quiet voice said.

"Hey."

Rachel walked over and pulled her wife into a hug. "After everyone leaves, the three of us need to talk. I'm going to send Beth home with Brittany and Cillian."

"Okay."

"Santana?" Rachel said softly.

"I need to talk to you," Santana said in a hollow voice.

"What's wrong?" Rachel said, rushing to sit next to her on the bed. "Is Beth okay?"

"Beth's fine. It's...it's about us. Me."

"Santana, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"I need to tell you something. Something...something bad. I don't…."

"Santana," Rachel said sternly, taking her hand. "Whatever it is, we'll deal with it. We'll get through it. For better or worse, remember?"

Santana's lip trembled a bit, but she took a deep breath and looked into her wife's eyes. "I kissed Quinn," she admitted quietly. When Rachel just stared at her, she looked down at her feet. "OW!" she yelped a second later when Rachel smacked her with a pillow.

"Santana Diabla Berry-Lopez! Is that all? Don't you ever scare me like that again! I thought you were about to tell me you were dying of some infectious disease or something!"

Santana sat goggle-eyed for a moment. "Did...did you hear what I said?"

"Yes, I heard," Rachel said, more quietly. "You kissed Quinn. When was this?"

"Saturday night, after the pub crawl."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I know that's not a good enough answer. We were drunk and talking about how we'd missed each other, and it just sort of...happened."

Rachel sighed. "Can I tell you something without you getting mad?"

Santana nodded, sniffling a bit.

"I can't say I'm really shocked. A little surprised, yes, but not…. When I think about it, I sort of get it."

"I don't -"

"I'm not saying I think you want to be with her or anything...it's just…. I don't know. I'm not mad, just...confused, I guess. Do you think there's something there? With either of you? I won't be mad - you can tell me."

"No," Santana said, looking up. "I...I think we were just… I don't know. It was a one time thing."

"Three."

Santana was confused for a moment, then she remembered telling Rachel about the hotel incident. "Oh...uh...yeah."

"We need to talk about this, but we're not going to do it tonight. You're upset, and I...I might be a little upset, but I need to process at the very least. I'm going to sleep in the guest room tonight."

"Rachel," Santana began, catching her hand as she stood.

"I know it was just a kiss...but you have some strong feelings for Quinn that you need to think about. And I'm the same way, just less physical. She's a part of our lives, Santana, and I can't just go off the deep end and tell you never to see her again. But I meant what I said...we'll work through this."

"I'm going to call everyone together for lunch."

Santana bit her lip and nodded. "Hey...I love you."

Rachel smiled and kissed her. "I love you too. Still, and always. So stop looking like someone just shot Cato." She laughed at Santana's scandalized expression.

"Don't even joke about that," she said dramatically. "I'd go straight to jail if anyone hurt our puppy."

"He's not exactly a puppy anymore."

"You know what I mean." Santana found herself smiling for the first time that day. Rachel was right - whatever happened would happen. Right now, she had to snap out of it.

The group assembled, and it was clear to Santana that they were all wondering what was going on. She smiled, and tried to ease the tension.

"I've wagered the house on the Cowboys losing today, so the Raiders had better come through."

Everyone laughed, and Rachel threw her a wink. In grand tradition, they went around the circle, each saying one thing they were grateful for. When Beth said "My family," and shot each of her "mothers" a glare, Santana knew that the upcoming come to Jesus talk would be taking place sooner, rather than later.

At last it was Finn's turn. He grinned at Abbie and got a nod. "I'm grateful for my wife, and the baby you'll all be meeting in about six months."

There were exactly three seconds of silence before pandemonium broke out and questions started flying.

"Can we eat now?" Beth asked over the hubbub.

"Go ahead and get us started, Beth," Rachel said.

Later that night, Quinn, Santana and Rachel sat in the living room, avoiding one another's gaze.

"We can't just sit here all night," Quinn finally said.

"No...you're right," Rachel agreed. "Okay...so what do we do now?"

"Hell if I know," Santana said.

"Is this going to be an ongoing thing?" Rachel asked.

"No," both Quinn and Santana answered.

"Are you sure? Because if you say no now, and then it does happen again, then it's going to be a problem. I'm currently at the point where I can write this off as a drunken mistake, spurred on by a known physical attraction to each other. That's fine - I can accept that. I'm even willing to accept a slightly more physical side to your relationship, because I know there used to be. I'm okay with it if there has to be cuddling or handholding, or even occasional platonic kissing. Unless, of course, you do still have feelings for each other that you need to work out."

"No," Quinn said first.

"There isn't," Santana said. "And what the hell is platonic kissing?"

Rachel tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. "What I'm guessing, or possibly hoping, this incident was. You're best friends. But if you need to be more, then tell me."

Santana and Quinn shared a glance, and both of them felt a slight weight lift from their shoulders.

"No," they both said.

"Then let's go ahead and set some physical boundaries while we're thinking about it. And I'm tired as hell, you it's your turn to lead the conversation."

Quinn let out a breath she'd been holding, hoping that they really would be okay after this.

LbN: Hope you liked the chapter. There's more to come with the aftermath of all this.