Co-writing with Nephewsnixx.
During June, Santana's and Rachel's parents told them to have the second weekend of July open because they rented a beach house in Los Angeles and they're all going for short vacation. It took the parents a few calls to convince their girls they're happy to pay before they finally agreed. Rachel and Santana sat Dani down and told her the good news. Dani was very excited; for her it'd be the first time going out of New York, being on a plane and spend a weekend in a beach house. Part of her wasn't that happy to be apart from Marley for three days, but her moms let them spend a lot of time together before the flight and encourage in their own different ways. On the other hand, Rachel and Santana couldn't wait for that weekend to arrive. They wanted to spend time with their family, get away for a little while and relax from all the stress in their life. Almost closing the deal on the house, Rachel getting ready to start working on her show and Santana's clubs getting more popular, a vacation is something they needed.
The morning of the flight finally here and the older women are busy packing the last things they need, while at Dani's room the pink haired girl and her girlfriend using all the time they have left to be close to each other.
Dani got ready and now they just lying in bed, Marley's hands around Dani's waist, "I'm going to miss you so much.." Dani says quietly.
Marley slowly nodded, then frowned a bit more. "I'm gonna miss you too, babe.." she furrowed her eyebrows, and then brushed her nose against Dani's. "I want you to have lots of fun, for the both of us."
Dani nods. "But I'm going to call you and I want you to have fun too." She looks up at Marley and pushes herself closer to her girlfriend.
"We have Skype at least.." Marley places a gentle kiss on Dani's lips. "So it won't be so bad, we can talk for as long as we can, maybe watch each other fall asleep.. You know, like the typical long distant dates." She smiles a slight amount.
"I couldn't survive that kind of relationship," Dani admits and blushes, "I need you with me.."
"Yeah.." Marley nods, then wraps her arms around Dani's waist to pull her as close as possible. "Did.. Did I tell you what happened that one time I stayed over? When my mom was sick?"
"W-Wh.. No.." Dani puts some distance between them, "Did they say something, again? Marls, I thought we agreed that we tell each other everything.." She pouts.
"I talked to Santana about that blonde girl, and then let out my feelings for you.. Afterwards I fell asleep on her." Marley admits.
"Oh.. That's why she's nicer towards you?" Dani moves her hand along Marley's face, "I'm glad you got along.. And you have nothing to worry about; I trust you and you trust me, neither of us is going to break that trust, right?" It's not like Dani doesn't know the answer, but it'd make her feel better to hear Marley say it.
"Right as rain." Marley gently pokes Dani's nose. "I need to be more honest with you.. I did have a girlfriend before you.. She was 16 at the time.. But it was over because she wanted to kiss me, and I wasn't sure if I could."
To say Dani is happy to hear it is a lie, but there it's in the past and now they're together, "Thank you for telling me and I'm glad you didn't do anything with her." She says and leans her head on Marley's shoulder, "We all have a past and that's exactly where that girl is and whatever feelings you had for her." She explains, "Now we have one another and you don't have to do anything you don't want to." Dani smiles. She's not a very jealous person and in this case there is nothing for her to get jealous over, she only wants Marley to be calm.
Marley returns the smile, and then leans towards her a bit just to be closer to Dani. "You make it hard to not love you more, you know that? Not that I would try, or anything." She playfully stuck her tongue out at Dani.
"I'm adorable and you love my kisses," Dani brushes their noses together, "I've got you, Rose." She states and giggles.
Kurt came to take the group to the airport, Marley insisted on going with them to the airport despite them knowing Marley would go home depressed, she felt that she needed to be there to see her girlfriend off. As much as stone as Santana was, she couldn't help but gush at the consistent dedication the two had for each other, hell, neither could Rachel. When they got to the airport, the older couple started to get things out of the car and onto a cart to push the luggage; Marley and Dani could not keep their hands away from each other. Eventually they made it past security and were awaiting the flight to LA, Rachel and Santana relaxed at talked a bit about the location Rachel found, and how she wants that to be the home where they have their family raised at. Kurt agreed for the most part, and they found a house close by for him and Blaine to move into, Santana demanded Kurt to take up on the offer so she could have free food whenever she wants, which that alone made Kurt growl angrily at them. When it came time to board they gathered for a tight group hug, Marley held Dani a few moments longer then watched as they got on the plane. It was hard seeing New York go smaller and smaller in Dani's eyes, knowing that she would be away from Marley for a few days scares her, but she had family she's seeing, people that love her as much as Marley does but in very different ways were awaiting her presence. Rachel and Santana were cuddled up, Santana wanted to be in the middle of her two girls while they were in the air. Rachel reading one of her mystery novels to Santana while she would occasionally fall asleep when it got boring. Dani was playing Rachel's Nintendo DS to kill time, muttering various swears at the game whenever she died, and even though Rachel heard them, she didn't bother telling Dani to knock it off because she knew how irritating playing the said game was. They arrived in Los Angeles, when they got off the plane and got out of the airport with their belongings, there was Hiram, LeRoy, and Maribel all dressed up for summer. The family took some time to hug each other and idly chat before getting everything in the SUV that Maribel had rented for the weekend. Now reacquainted, the Lopez-Berry family made their way to a secluded beach area that only people who rented the area were allowed to go, meaning for three days Rachel, Santana, and Dani had their own beach to swim at.
The family found themselves a nice place to sit; not too close to the water and under a couple of parasols. They place the coolers that contain some food and drinks and the bags next to them. Santana is the first to get her tank top and short jeans off; the woman loves the beach and even more, she loves to tan. She adjusts her bathing suit and goes to grab a towel to lie on.
"Honey, you all need to put sunscreen on before you do anything." Maribel reminds her daughter and gesture towards Dani.
"Si, mama.. In a sec.." Santana answers. "Dani, you heard your abuela." She tells the young girl while arranging her little area.
Dani finish texting Marley and puts her phone on her chair, "Yes, mama." She walks and grabs the sunscreen, then walks to Rachel, "Mom, can you help me?" She asks with a shy smile.
"You need sunscreen, dear?" Rachel places her book on the towel beside her then scooted up on the chair. "Hand it over." She demands while returning a smile.
Dani gives Rachel the bottle and take her T shirt off. Her moms told her she can get any bathing suit she wanted, well from what they picked up for her.. The girl decided to get a bikini one and a full one, which she's wearing now.
"Rach, you too, babe." Santana says and grabs a beer from the cooler. She pulls her hair up in a lazy ponytail, puts her sunglasses and lies down in the sun.
Rachel applied the sunscreen along Dani's arms, and then shifted to her back. "How's Marley doing?" She asks, Rachel did feel a bit obligated to ask since she was the one who told them that she couldn't tag along for the trip.
"She's fine.. A little bored, but she and Elliot might do something later.. So that's good.." Dani answers. She knows Rachel is still having a hard time with her girlfriend, but she tries. She just wished she'd try harder, like Santana does. "T-Thanks, mom. Can I go in the water now?"
Rachel chuckled, "Sure, sweetie." she says as she finishes with the sun screen. "See if Abuela will join you." She suggests, and then gets up from the chair, moving past Dani to walk over to where Santana is at. "I'm gonna need your help applying this thing, you know." Rachel kneels beside Santana, giving her a lip bitten smile.
Santana turns her head to the side and moves her sunglasses up. She looks at Rachel with a raised eyebrow, "You know that's teasing, yeah? How do you expect me to control my hands?" She asks in a quiet tone, but takes the bottle from Rachel anyway.
"Because we are within eye distance of our parents and daughter, that's how." Rachel responds in a quiet tone. "But if you don't want to I guess I will go back to my lonely spot on the lawn, by that tree over there." She frowns a bit.
"Shut up.." Santana chuckles and shakes her head. She starts applying the sunscreen on Rachel's arms and shoulders. "You don't want to get in? Dani and my mom seem like they're having fun."
"Part of me does, but I kinda want to relax, I've had three weeks of doing a ton of exciting scenes.. I need the rest." Rachel slightly leans against Santana. "Good news is we are already almost done with the season." She looks over at Santana with a smile on her face.
"I'm very glad to hear that." Santana pecks Rachel's lips and smiles. She moves her hands in her girlfriend's back, but tries to do it fast because it's getting difficult for her. "We have the whole weekend; you can swim whenever you want." She places a kiss on Rachel's shoulder and takes a few sips from her beer.
Rachel shifts her body to lie on her stomach, she moves a bit so Santana has room on the towel. "Lay with me?" She asks.
"I did plan on working on my tan before you and that beautiful body of yours came here." Santana says playfully and lay on her back.
"I can't help it, I love being close to you." Rachel smirks as her hand carefully runs up and down Santana's stomach, having the thought of Santana one day being pregnant on the brain. "You know.. No matter whom we choose as a donor, in the future.. Simply because of you, the baby will come out beautiful."
Santana is struck by Rachel's words. She always has thoughts on being pregnant and raising a big family with Rachel, but to actually talk about it with Rachel gives her goosebumps. And Rachel's timing only makes her more excited. "I love you." She caresses her girlfriend's hand for a few seconds, "They'll be so lucky to have a mother like you and a sister like Dani."
"And grandparents like ours.. And an Auntie like Kurt." Rachel chuckles at the last comment. "I love you too though.. So.. Frick.. Fracking.. Much." she keeps her smile for a little bit longer. "You know, our daughter and your mom are awfully quiet.."
Maribel looked to make sure Rachel and Santana were distracted by each other; she then looked at Dani with a smile. "Okay, mija.. Remember, quietly step around then we get them." She winks.
Dani bites her lips hard to prevent herself from laughing and nods. She steps as quietly and carefully in the hot sand. Dani walks around her moms and looks at them being the usual cheesy couple they are. "Mom, Mama..?" She asks with her best innocent voice and her face match it.
Once the couple sat up, Maribel quietly tiptoed over to where they were at. She readied the pail of water she had in hand, then with one thrust she drenches both Rachel and Santana. Maribel quickly walked to Dani, putting an arm around her then starts to chuckle at how they look, drenched and all.
Rachel let out a deep sigh; she blew some water off her lips, and then looked up at her future mother-in-law and the daughter of Santana and her. "Dani.. You are in deep... Deep trouble." She starts chuckling in a low tone. "I hope you can swim fast.."
"Vamos, vamos!" Maribel starts running, taking Dani with her in the process.
"I can't fucking believe they did that!" Santana takes her sunglasses off and wipes her face, "Those two.." She shakes her head, and then looks in their direction. Luckily, it's hot so her towel will get dry fast. "My mom is a bad influence on our child, we need to ground both of them and keep them apart." Santana jokes and lays back down.
"Oh, I am getting them back." Rachel stands up and starts chasing them. "Hey! Get back here!" She yells playfully.
Maribel sets Dani by the shore. "Swim, Danielle, Swim!" She chuckles.
Dani can barely stand because she's laughing too hard. She gets in the water and tries her best to get away from her mom. "Remember, mom, you love me and it was only a joke." She says loudly and swims farther from the shore.
"Dani! Be careful, don't go too far." Santana yells to her daughter. She's watching her family playing around and laughs from her place. She glances at Rachel's parents and shakes her head, "See what I have to deal with?" She chuckles.
Rachel tries to move past Maribel, but the older woman grabs Rachel and starts tickling her sides. "Ah-ah, mija." She giggles.
Rachel was doing her best to not burst out laughing; she squirms for a few seconds. "Okay, okay, I give." She says in hopes that Maribel would let go of her, which she does. Rachel raises up a bit, pecks Maribel's cheek, and then dashes past her before she could do anything. The brunette quietly moves towards Dani, swimming for a few moments, she is close, very close behind Dani, then. "Got you!" She hooks her arms around Dani's waist.
The young girl gasps and tries to untangle herself from her mother's hold, but can't. "No! I'm your daughter, you can't!" Dani keeps laughing, "Abuela! Mama! Help!"
"Nothing can save you now, bwahaha" Rachel smirks, and then gently moves her fingers across Dani's side. "Say uncle." She playfully demands.
"Never!" Dani states and hit the water around her, trying to splash her Rachel. When nothing she did work, Dani got no choice and surrender, "Ok, fine, uncle!"
"Now, get me and mama another beer, since your little prank watered down the one mama had." Rachel pecks Dani's cheeks a few times. "Then check in with your grandpas' if dinner is ready." She lets go of Dani.
Dani pouts; she wants to protest, but decides against it. She swims to shore and first takes a towel to dry her face, then goes to do what Rachel told her. "Here, mama." She hands Santana two bottles, "It's for you and mom."
Santana smiles and kiss Dani before taking the beers from her. "Now you know to never prank your mom." Santana giggles "Go on, baby."
Dani nods and walks to find her grandparents. Rachel told her to ask about dinner, but she would've done it anyway; swimming and running took all her energy so she's hungry and tired.
Rachel steps out of the water, she moved some hair back while walking towards Santana. "I lied a little about relaxing, it seems." She jokes as she sits by Santana, wrapping her arm over her girlfriend's shoulder.
"You looked like a goddess, getting out if the water and walking here." Santana smiles and gives Rachel her bottle of beer, "And you can sleep in tomorrow." She brushes her nose on Rachel's.
Rachel pecks Santana's lips a couple times. "You look like a goddess all the time." she compliments before opening her bottle. "Do you think.. Our future baby, will love the new house?" She asks.
"Of course they will," Santana answers and puts one arm around Rachel's body, "By the time they get here, we'll make it a home. We'll be ready for them in all aspects."
"God.. Remind me I need to get some boxes, and then we need to start packing." Rachel points out, feeling exhausted from the thought of it. "Oh, the moving process is going to kick our asses, more ways than one." She lies back, looking up at the sky.
"We'll get through this. We're going to kill ourselves for some time, but then, we'll have the house of our dreams." Santana turns on her side and lay half of her body on Rachel, "But none of that now, let's use this time to actually get some rest and have fun." She tells her girlfriend and kisses up from her jaw to her lips, then pecks them a few times.
"Alright." Rachel couldn't argue with the logic Santana had, especially the kissing part of her explanation.
Rachel's parents took over the kitchen; they told the others that they have it under control and sent them to get ready. The women all got in their rooms; they only ones sharing are, of course, Rachel and Santana. Thankfully, there are several bathrooms in the house so getting in the shower wasn't an issue. They agreed on dressing up; make the dinner even more special than it already was going to be. Dani took the longest to get ready and that's because she spent most of the time talking to Marley. When Maribel was finished, she went to help set the table; that's the only thing Rachel's dads allowed her to do. Rachel let Santana shower first, after being the logical one and telling Santana they can't go together because then they'd missed the dinner. Both women put on dresses, let their hair down and applied some make up. That they need to fix because Santana pulled Rachel into a breathtaking kiss.
When Santana, Rachel and Dani enter the dining room, they gasp. On the table there are homemade bread, different kinds of salads and dips, pastas, steaks and vegetarian Casseroles. The three girls look at each other, while taking a seat around the table and breathing in the aroma.
"I don't know what to say," Santana looks at Rachel's parents, "You certainly outdid yourselves. T-Thank you so much."
LeRoy smiles and hugs his husband, "It's nothing dear, we just wanted to make our family vacation special."
Hiram pecked his husband's cheek, and then looked at the women. "What? We don't have a ritual for eating, dig in!" He happily exclaimed.
Rachel smiles and makes her way to the table, nervously smiling at the parents. "The food looks amazing, dads." She compliments as she sits down.
'It does, now you only need to eat it..' Santana thinks and sighs. Rachel improved a lot since she started therapy, but it doesn't stopped Santana from making sure she's eating every single meal. Santana also glances to Dani's plate and she smiles to see all kinds of food on it. Only then, Santana gets up to put food for herself and starts eating.
"It also tastes amazing, mom!" Dani says with her mouth full. "Thank you, grandpas."
"Dani.." Santana warns; no matter how many times they tell the girl not to talk with her mouth open, she does it anyways.
Dani swallows the food and looks a bit nervous at her mom, "Sorry, mama.." She turns slowly back to her plate and resumes eating.
Rachel takes a few bites of the food that she portioned on her plate, "Mmm." A happy noise releases from Rachel as she eats. On occasion her eyes meet Santana's, she always admired how adorable Santana looks when she eats her food. Before she could compliment at how the food tasted, a knock was heard at the door.
"I'll get it." Hiram got up to walk to the front door; he opened the door and smiled. "Shelby, hi!" He greets the older brunette.
"Hello, Hiram." Shelby nodded then picked up her bag, she nodded towards the door to signal someone. "C'mere Beth, help with the bags." She says.
"Okay, mom!"
Santana's and Dani's heads turn to look at the front door; Dani only recognized one of the voices, but that was enough to ruin her appetite. She turns to her moms with a lower lip between her lips and a nervous expression on her face.
Santana clenches her fists; she doesn't want to make a scene and, for example, beat the shit out of the woman who insulted her daughter. Instead, Santana turns her eyes towards Rachel and raise her eyebrow, "What the fuck, Rachel?! I thought we agreed." She tries to keep herself calm and quiet, but it came out as a hiss.
"Yeah we did agree." Rachel glared at Santana, stood up then walked away from the table angrily. She makes it to the room that they are staying in, slamming the door behind her.
Hiram looked at the interaction of the two, and then looked at Santana. "Agreed to what?" He asks curiously.
Shelby let out a sigh, "It's sorta a long story I think.." She explains somewhat. "Thank you both for inviting me.. Beth come.. Beth?" She looks around and sees Beth standing right next to Dani.
"Mom... Her hair is so cool!" Beth happily points out. "I so want hair like that." She says in amazement.
Dani was very emotional up until this young girl came to her and starts playing with her hair. "Hm.. Thank you." She heard about Beth and it's a little weird for her that someone that supposed to be her aunt is younger than her. "My auntie did it to me."
Santana looks at her daughter and doesn't understand how someone can't be in love with such an amazing girl. That reminded her, she's furious about the mother of the young girl playing with her daughter's hair. Santana stands up and glare at Shelby, "How dare you come here? And don't give me the 'They invited me.' because we both know you're smarter than that." She steps closer to the woman, and then shakes her head, "On second thought, my girlfriend is rather upset and that's way more important than your excuses." She gives the woman a once over and runs after Rachel. When Santana gets to their room, she enters and closed the door behind her. "Honey, I'm sorry for how I reacted." She steps closer to Rachel and wraps her arms around her.
"No big deal.." Rachel shrugs, slowly moves out of Santana's grasp. "Help me out of this dress, please.." She tries to reach for the zipper of her dress.
"No." Santana says and cross her arms, "You can't let her ruin our vacation. Please, Rachel.."
"She won't, I will go back to eat, I just want to be in something different." She explains as she points to the set of clothes she has laid out. "It's fine." Rachel turns to Santana with a slight smile on her face.
"Why?" Santana's facial expression softens and she takes Rachel's hand in hers, "You look beautiful," She brings Rachel's hand to her lips and kiss it, "And I already have plans to what will happen once I take it off and it's not the time for that yet."
Rachel rolls her eyes, and then moves close to Santana. "Well.. Fine." She sighs and smiles a bit more.
"Good." Santana smiles, "I love you. Now let's go back there and be the mama bears we're."
"Kiss first." Rachel sticks out her bottom lip a slight amount, giving the needing eyes that she loves giving Santana.
"Only because I have to," Santana cups Rachel's face, "Not because you have the most amazing lips and I'm crazy about you." She giggles and crushes her lips on Rachel's. Santana sucks on Rachel's bottom lip then push her tongue into her girlfriend's mouth. Before Rachel has time to really react, Santana pulls away and peck her cheek.
Rachel took a few breaths before she held on to Santana, her forehead rested against her girlfriend's. "Seriously.. I can't get enough of your lips.." She smiles while her hand grazes Santana's waist. "Let's go.. Before I get hungry for some sweet Latina lips." She smirks as she presses herself against Santana. "And I am not talking about those lips." Rachel gently taps her finger against Santana's lips.
"Ugh, you'd be the death of me, woman.." Santana bites her lip. She lowers her hands to Rachel's ass and squeeze in, "It's highly inappropriate for me to go in there now, thinking of what I'm going to do to you, thank you." Santana puts some distance between their bodies, "Let's go get this over with.."
Rachel takes Santana's hand and walks out of the room with her, when they get back to the kitchen they see that the food is put up except for Rachel and Santana's plates; the family was in the living room watching TV, well everyone except for Shelby. "Well.. At least we can eat together." She softly chuckles
Santana leans close to Rachel's ear, "We didn't have to leave the room for that." She whispers and laughs. She looks to make sure Dani is alright, and then pulls the chair for Rachel to sit.
Rachel bites her lip as she sits down, she looks up at Santana, "Why must you tease me so much?" She asks, but isn't able to sound upset by it since she actually loved the teasing.
"Me? I believe you started it, miss innocent." Santana chuckles and sits next to her girlfriend, "And what can I do, you taste better than anything on my plate." Santana smirks and run her hand on Rachel thigh. She then turns her attention to the real food on the table and starts eating. Santana loves their games, but now she's happier that Rachel's mood is good again. Yes, she has it so bad for Rachel and she loves it.
Rachel blushed from Santana's actions; she was always competitive in any regard, especially with Santana, and especially in a sexual sense with Santana. She casually moved her hand up her girlfriend's thigh, she moves her hand a bit more towards the middle to feel a familiar spot of Santana's, rubbing it a few times.
Santana coughs a few times, and then take a few sips from her soda to stop herself from moaning. She looks at Rachel with a raised eyebrow and recognizes that side of her girlfriend. "Be careful, sweetie." She whispers with a smirk, "I'm not above doing you right here." She leans closer, "But I won't let you finish." Santana kiss Rachel's neck, then moves so she could look in her girlfriend's eyes.
"Maybe we should take this to the room once more." Rachel suggests with a slight smirk on her face, she went back to eating her food. She only had a few bites left before the main entree which consisted of Santana on the bed, naked and some body rubbing.
Santana finishes the food on her plate and looks at Rachel with hungry eyes while she drinks. "I'm so ready for dessert." She licks her lips, "We just need to take care of something before.." Santana stands up and grab their plate, "Take the glasses, we'll put it in the kitchen and go get it over with.." She rolls her eyes. She doesn't like Shelby that much and now the woman is the cause she can't just take Rachel and ravish her. It definitely doesn't get her good points, but that relationship is a lost cause anyway; after how she treated her girls, Shelby is dead for Santana and would have to work really hard if she'd ever want to fix it.
Santana finishes the food on her plate and looks at Rachel with hungry eyes while she drinks. "I'm so ready for dessert." She licks her lips, "We just need to take care of something before.." Santana stands up and grab their plate, "Take the glasses, we'll put it in the kitchen and go get it over with.." She rolls her eyes. She doesn't like Shelby that much and now the woman is the cause she can't just take Rachel and ravish her. It definitely doesn't get her good points, but that relationship is a lost cause anyway; after how she treated her girls, Shelby is dead for Santana and would have to work really hard if she'd ever want to fix it.
"Yeah.." Rachel knew what Santana was talking about almost instantly, she would rather just go to their room and relax, but she needed to for their family. She'd never admit this if asked, but she wants Shelby involved in Dani's life as much as her dads' are, as much as Maribel is, Dani deserved a great big family. Rachel places the glasses in the sink, she looks over at the group watching TV, she almost gushes at the sight of Beth lying on top of Dani's back, and Dani looked comfortable with it. Why couldn't Dani and Shelby have a nice bond, this was something that needed to be talked about. Rachel and Santana made it to Shelby's door, Rachel felt sick to her stomach at the thought of doing this. "I may not speak a hell of a lot.. My mom has an instant line to my 'pissed off' bone.."
"I'm right next to you, mi amor." Santana squeezes Rachel's hand, "For support and for speaking up, I've got you."
Rachel knocked on the door a couple times. "We need to talk, now." She calmly demands.
"Just a second.." Shelby lets out. She places her book on her nightstand, and then quickly got up to walk over to the door to her room; she readjusts her tank top before answering the door. "Hey.. What's.. Uh.. What's up?" She asks.
Rachel moves past Shelby. "It's about Dani.."
Shelby let out a sigh, "What about her this time?" She asks, not in the greatest of moods to talk about the young girl.
Santana needs to remind herself that this woman, obnoxious as she is, is the mother of her girlfriend. She tells herself to not go to that dark place she left behind years ago, that Dani is not far from them and that punching the woman won't solve anything. Oh, but she wished she could. "Miss Corcoran, I'm not going to try and convince you that the girl your daughter seems to bond instantly with has a pure heart and that you'll regret not knowing her." Santana does her best to stay polite, "But she's our child and we won't have you treat her in less than a respectable manner. If you can't act like that, at least stay away from her, we don't need someone to give her hard time."
"All I said was that she wasn't my granddaughter, I never said anything bad about her." Shelby looked at Rachel with a mean glare. "Is that what you've been telling people? That I was degrading her?" She asks feeling rather irritated. "Santana, you should know how much of a tendency Rachel has to overdo it, and jump to any conclusions she has in her head. She brings up that young woman to a coffee shop and instantly expects me to be a grandmother to her." She explains.
"I honestly only said she was your granddaughter because she's mine and Santana's daughter, what are you going to do when Santana has a birth child?" Rachel asks. "Are you going to deny that child too?" She continues.
Shelby crosses her arms. "Do I even get a chance? Do I get to bond with this child or are you both going deny me of a chance to do even that?" She asks with a raised brow. "I really don't recall either of you giving me a chance to discover on my own how your kid is like, but yet you're going to get pissed at me for saying that?"
Rachel kept a game face on, "When Maribel found out, she was happy, when my dads found out, they were happy.. So why can't you?" The younger brunette's eyes started to water. "What can I fucking do to make my own mother proud of me for once?"
"Look Rachel, I never sai-"
"Shut up.. I don't.. I don't want you near our daughter, or our family.." Rachel turns away. "Tomorrow.. Leave." She demands as she leaves the room.
Santana stays behind; she will go comfort her girlfriend, but she had things she must say before she can leave. "You had 26 years of chances and I'm ending it right now, you're not going to make her feel bad for trying her best and not meeting your expectations. She has enough on her plate without her own mother pulling her back." Santana glares at the woman, "If you'd been an active part of her life you'd have known how outstanding your daughter is, you'd have known about us dating, about Dani.. Where were you, huh? You're her mother; you should be the one trying all the damn time!" Santana takes a deep breath, "I'm not going to make a scene, we came here to take a break from all the stress and have fun with our family. Right now, you're ruining it for us." Santana says, "If you don't want to be a part of this family, in a positive, active, supporting way.. Then you're not really family and we rather not have you take away the only time we have to actually rest." Santana turns around to leave, "Take some time to reflect.. You're going to lose her forever, is that really what you want?" Santana shakes her head and shrugs as she makes her way to her and Rachel's room
The rest of the night was uneventful for everyone staying at the beach house. Santana and Rachel were in their room, while the other enjoyed some movies and fruits before going to bed. Shelby also stayed in her room; she had things to think about and a book to keep reading. Before it got too later, Dani left the living room to go to her room, getting ready for bed and Skype Marley; she told her about Shelby, but mostly focused on the fun parts and how much she misses her. Who fall asleep first isn't clear, but the girls did end up sleeping while the call was still on. Hours later, Dani wakes up feeling thirsty. She smiles at seeing Marley sleeping on her screen, then gets up and walks to the kitchen. She rubs her eyes all the way there while making sure she won't take a tumble. When the tired girl gets there she sees Shelby eating a bowl of cereal; she considers turns around and go back to her room, but she's too thirsty. She glares at the woman for a few second, then goes to take a glass. Her mind starts to work and first she thinks why is she eating cereal in the middle of the night, it moves to why is she here and finally, Dani thinks of what Shelby told her at the coffee place. As much as Dani tried to forget it ever happened, she couldn't and every now and then it's surprising her and she can't shake it away. She can't understand why Rachel's mom reacted to her differently, why she wouldn't want to accept her and be a part of her life like every other family member did. Dani drinks her water and gets frustrated with each sip she takes. Somehow, she finds herself standing in front of the woman, feeling upset and confident. Maybe it's the lack of sleep or the feeling of injustice, probably both and much more, but Dani can't keep it inside any longer.
"Do you know how Rachel found me?" Dani asks, but doesn't wait for an answer, "My biological parents were abusive and eventually threw me out, and I was on the streets for a very long time.. Until one night, like an angel, Rachel bumped into me. I tried to leave, get away from her, but she insisted on taking care of me; she brought me food and gave me shelter." Her heart pounding fast, but Dani is determined on telling their story, "It was so hard at the beginning, for the three of us; I was scared to death of everything, Rachel didn't know what to do and Santana.." Dani chuckles, "Me being there opened up a new world for her and she was scared too." Dani sighs, "We've been through so much together, Santana and Rachel almost lost each other.. But Rachel has never given up; she opened Santana's eyes, she gave me a new life, a new family and love." She smiles a bit, "Rachel and Santana balance each other, they're soul mates and I saw it from the first moment. They both my mothers; they take care of me, they love me and they go crazy when they get scared or when something happens.. We're a family; we have take-out nights, we tease each other, they cuddle me when I get scared, they give me advices and a shoulder to cry on when I need. Maybe it's not by blood, but I've learned that family is the people that love you no matter what and are there for you for everything. Think what you want, consider me your family or don't, it's your call. I have my family and nothing can break us apart." She tears up a bit, but stays strong until she speaks her last words. Dani exhale and turns to leave to go back to bed.
"Dani.." Shelby called out in a calm tone of voice, and then looked over at Dani. "Come here.. Please."
The young girl raises her eyebrow, but does as the woman asks; she steps closer to her while nervously tapping with her finger on her legs.
"I.." She gulps and looks down at the young girl. "I'm not used to this apologizing thing.. When I see kids your age, I never think about any of them being my granddaughter.." Shelby nervously admits.
"But I am and we can be a family, Beth and you can be a part of it.." Dani says a bit more gently, "But it's on you now and asking for forgiveness is the first step, and not only from me.."
"In due time, I guess." Shelby shrugs. "I was a coach for a glee club, one of the best in the world.." She places her bowl on the counter then shrugs once more. "I was generally harsh on kids your age, that's how I became the best.. I am.. Barely used to being a mom, so you can guess how I'd be as a grandma.. Yeah, Beth, I have been told I'm great with.." She mumbles the last bit. "I guess I am always scared of failing like I failed with Rachel.."
"We'd never know how you'd be as a grandma if you won't try.." Dani's tone is softer. She's not the type of person to confront others or be mean, so even though she got hurt by the older woman and her mom as well, Dani can't be totally cold towards her. "You have a chance, probably the last one, to make it right.. Mom has a big heart and she can forgive, but you'll have to prove yourself worthy. Like mama told me once, use the fear to your advantage.. Prove yourself wrong and mom will see it; you'll have a family and Beth will get to know her big sister and all of us." She says with a light blush on her cheeks, "Or you can leave tomorrow and we'll go our separate ways.. Like I said, it's on you."
A smirk appears on the older woman, she just nods a few times in agreement. It was hard for Shelby to argue that statement, to ignore how right she thought her granddaughter was.. Her granddaughter.. Dani. Shelby slowly opened her arms, giving Dani a sad look.
Dani looks at Shelby for a long moment, then smiles and nods. She takes a couple of small steps forward and hugs Shelby. They started on the wrong foot, but maybe it can change and she'll earn two more family members. The young girl is proud of herself for defending her family. Her moms were right; there is a place and a way to speak up, but it's important to do so.
Shelby wrapped her arms around the young girl, feeling a slight amount weight lifted off her shoulders. "I am sorry." She softly whispers while she holds Dani.
'till next time.