It's Christmas morning and there is only one Lopez in the Lopez household who's asleep. Maribel, who was enjoying her stay with her daughter's family, woke up early like always. She checked on Riley and when she saw her grandson was still sleeping, she went downstairs to first make herself coffee and relax before starting breakfast.
An hour or so later, Rachel woke up by hearing her son gurgling through the baby monitor. She kept her eyes closed as she listened to him entertain himself and determined that it was one her favorite ways to wake up. Rachel wasn't sure just how much time had passed since she woke up, but at some point she could tell Riley was getting restless by the change in the noises he was making. She opened her eyes and reached to put her glasses on. Then, Rachel looked to the side, her wife was in deep sleep. She smiled at how relaxed the woman next to her was and at her beauty that keeps taking her aback. She grazed the hand Santana had sprawled over her waist, then carefully moved it to the mattress. Rachel slipped her feet to the slippers and made her way to Riley's room. There, she made herself known to not scare the little boy and when he turned to smile at her, Rachel put a hand on his stomach and wished him a Merry Christmas. Riley put his hands up and Rachel didn't hesitate and pulled him to her arms; the night was enough time apart, she needed to have her son close maybe as much as the child needed her. After a couple of kisses to Riley's forehead, Rachel walked with him back to her and Santana's bedroom. She got back to bed with her son in her arms and scooted as close as she could to her sleeping wife. Riley, who figured who was laying right there, reached for his other mother; gently punching her face. Rachel chuckled and told the boy it's not good to hit, urging him to caress his mother's face and tell her to wake up to have fun with them. Even though Riley wasn't understanding what the woman was saying, his hand moved more gently across Santana's face, causing the Latina to stir. That sight caused the baby to gurgle loudly.
"Babe, stop abusing my face, your son is awake..." Santana mumbles with a voice laced with sleep and barely conscious.
"That's a sign that his Mama should be awake too." Rachel leans a bit, pecking the side of Santana's head then picks Riley up. "We need to tell her that it's Christmas time and we have a few people coming over, don't we little man?" she asks Riley whom makes a few 'Ooh' sounds as a response.
Santana opens one eye and bite her lip at the adorable view. She turns to her back and moves closer to her wife and son. "Good morning and Merry Christmas to the lights of my life." She says and props her head on her palm, then leans to peck her wife's kiss and he son's cheek.
Rachel sets Riley between them, he just looks between the two with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Riley, it's your first Christmas, how do you feel?" she asks him, Riley shakes his hands then pats his mothers' stomach.
"That can mean a lot of things, my sweet boy." Santana laughs. She won't admit, not now anyway, that it made her think of more kids. But that's just a thought, she's more than happy with her family. "I think he's happy about life in general." She says and ruffles his hair. "Are you excited as I am, babe? Cause if not, I might be losing it." She looks between the two, out of the three, biggest love of her life.
"It's one of my favorite times of the year, where the family can get together, have a big dinner, and spend time with one another." Rachel grazes Riley's stomach for a few seconds. "Plus it's little man's first Christmas, so that makes it even better!" she exclaims happily.
Santana smiles sweetly at Rachel. "We just had him... Look how big he is!" She gently squeezes Riley's leg and watches him put his hand in his mouth while making cute noises. "Don't you grow too fast, young man." She tells him, then looks back at Rachel. "I love how we became such a close family, I just love it."
Rachel sighs, feeling more than happy about how her life turned completely around since high school, some good moments, some bad, but always ending with so much going for her, and now her wife, daughter, and son. "Imagine how I feel." she says quietly, keeping a slight smile at the two.
"You're the queen of this house, of my life, and I made a promise to keep you happy and taken care off. I plan on keeping this promise until the day I leave earth." Santana says honestly as she looks deep into her wife's eyes. Listening to their child and having him between them only makes the love she feels for her family stronger.
"So..." Rachel bites her lip for a few seconds, gazing at Santana's lips for a bit. "Did your mom tell you what dinner plans are?" she asks with a raised brow.
"I could easily turned it sexual if you hadn't mentioned my mom or we didn't have our infant right here." Santana jokes. "And to answer your question, no, I don't believe she did." She says and leans closer to Riley.
"Well, originally we were going to do turkey again, but then your mom talked a bit about the food she cooked for you and Leo when you two were kids." Rachel starts to explain. "So I thought it'd be nice if this year we can have some of your side of the family recipes, is... That cool with you?"
"Am I cool with my mother making some of my favorite holiday food? Hm... Let me think..." Santana taps both hers and Riley's chin, then chuckles. "Of course I am, babe." She pulls Rachel in for a couple of peck to the woman's lips. "And Dani going to be here with Marley soon, from what I understood from our texting yesterday. Just perfect."
Rachel's smile grows some. "Good, although I wish more people were going to be here." she says in a shy tone. "I got so used to everyone being here, that it spoiled me." she explains.
Santana nods while tickling Riley. "Yeah, we became the hosts of our family." It kinds of made sense too; they were the link that brought everyone together and besides, they grown to love it so much. "And your mom is coming to and if Dani and Marley are here, I'm sure Beth is going to join as well." She tells her wife. "Is that enough people or do you need me to get more?" Santana playfully raising her brow as she looks at Rachel. She managed to keep out being too cheesy somehow.
"Yeah it's enough, more than enough actually." Rachel chuckles then turns her body a bit to where she's lying on her back. "It'll be nice to have a small gathering as opposed to the larger ones we usually have, now that I think of it." she says whilst tapping her fingers against each other. "Part of me wishes that it was… Mid-January, because I ordered something for Dani that I thought was going to be here yesterday, but due to holidays and possible weather storms, it got delayed."
"You did? What did you get her?" Santana asks curiously and watch as Riley roll to his stomach and tries to reach Rachel. It makes her giggles some, then she helps him get closer to her and he immediately grips her shirt and make a noise to get her attention.
Rachel carefully picked up Riley and placed him on her stomach, making sure he doesn't fall off. "I ordered a compact 3D Printer, since she mentioned a couple times that she wanted to expand her art." she slightly looks over at Santana. "I remembered that we had one of those in shop class, and it looked cool, in my eyes it did at least." she mumbles the last part. Riley slaps Rachel's stomach and makes a loud 'Ahh' sound which gets Rachel's attention.
"Ok, so you got her this cool as-" Santana stops herself from swearing next to their son. "-This cool gift while I got her lousy things..." Santana pouts. "Isn't having one kid that adores you enough?" She says overdramatically and let her head fall on Rachel's shoulder.
"We got her the cool gift since I made sure to put that on the gift label." Rachel smiles and gently pecks Santana's head. "Besides, it won't get here until January, so it's not like you have to worry so much." she points out.
Santana looks up and blinks a few time, then slowly smiles. "I just love you so much." She says. "And I'm sure Dani won't mind waiting, it's not that bad. I'm sure she'll be thrilled when she does get it." They smile at one another, then Santana snuggles to Rachel's side. They watch in amazement how Riley lays on his stomach and holds his head up. The mothers and baby stay like this a little longer, talking to their son and keep a casual conversation between themselves. It's only when the boy announce that he's hungry, does the women get up from the bed and actually start their day. They join Maribel in the kitchen, not really surprised that she already started to prepare for the family dinner. They wish one another Merry Christmas, then Santana makes Riley his breakfast and let Rachel feed him while she makes something for them and helps her mothers. Having the family over for Christmas to enjoy each other's company, good food and some presents, who needs more?
Now heading into the afternoon, Marley and Dani took their time with getting there, and after the night they had, it was worth the lengthy sleep in each other's arms. They got to the house, walked inside with a few gifts in hand… Well, Marley was the one taking the gifts from the car, to the Christmas tree. Dani was catching Santana on a few things they had done during their day, just letting out pure happiness during her explanations. Eventually Marley finished with the moving of the gifts, and now Santana, Maribel, Dani and Marley were sitting at the couch, waiting for Rachel and Riley to make their presence known to everyone currently there.
"I can't believe you're finally going to meet Riley." Dani is too excited. She leans into Marley and squeezes her arm.
Maribel looks from her granddaughter and her fiancée to her daughter, loving that the family is back together. "He's at a cute stage, too, it's going to be wonderful."
"He just needs a bit of time to get out of his shell, then he's going to tire you out." Santana says and chuckles.
Marley just smiles at everyone and relaxes herself in the couch, while it's not the first time she's been there, it is the first time in a while that she's been there and so much has changed since she last visited. Now there is a little person living with them, and the atmosphere changed vastly. "S-So, where is Rachel and the little guy?" she asks.
"Rachel is changing him and dressing him for dinner." Santana answers.
"Mom!" Dani calls out knowing Rachel could hear her upstairs. "Please, Riley needs to meet his future sister in-law." When she looks back from the direction of the stairs she sees the look her mother is giving her. "What? I said please... I can't wait, ma'..."
Santana shakes head, but has a small smile on her face. "This much is clear, but there is no need to yell. Your mother want to see you and Marley, she'd be down here as soon as your brother is ready."
"D, no need to rush them." Marley chuckles and wraps her arm around Dani.
Rachel took Riley with her down the stairs, upon seeing the rest of the group, Riley gasped and made a loud noise. Rachel laughed. "Well then." She says and walks with him over to Marley and Dani. "Riley, this is Marley, she's your sister's fiancée."
Marley sees the curious look on the baby's face and just smiles pretty big. "Hello, little man." She waves her fingers towards him.
"Ahh!" Riley reaches out to Marley.
"Want to hold him?" Rachel asks, Marley quickly nods as a response. She helps the other brunette with arm placement to hold the baby. "Riley, be nice."
Marley smiles and gently taps his chin. "You are so adorable." She says happily while turning a bit so Dani can also adore the baby.
Dani's heart skips a beat at the sight of her fiancée holding her brother. "Hey, little brother." She says and place a soft kiss on his forehead. Riley in response squeals and smiles. "We love Marley very much. She's strong and can play with you as long as you want." She whispers to him, like she's trying to hide it from her fiancée, then laughs. Riley turns to look at Marley, examines her face, trying to figure this new face that holds him. At seeing that her brother is comfortable being held by Marley, Dani gets up to gives her mom a hug. "Merry Christmas, mom."
"Merry Christmas, sweetie." Rachel returns the hug. "Look at you, bright aura and everything!" she compliments while looking at her daughter.
"I feel pretty great." Dani says with a bright smile on her face. "Would you mind if we take Riley to my room for some bonding playtime?" She asks and glances between all the people in the living room. "We'll look out for him while you get ready for dinner..." She grins at her moms.
Rachel shrugged and turned to face Santana. "Is that okay with you, Santana?"
"Sure." She tells her wife, then looks at the younger girls. "Just remember, he can roll now and he likes to play around and put things in his mouth, so you need to be very careful and never takes your eyes off him." Santana knows the girls can handle that and it's not Dani's first time, but they're not parents, they don't spend almost the whole day with a baby and are used to being on the lookout for anything that can go wrong. It's good to alert them.
Dani nods when her mother finish talking. "We won't let anything happens to him." She assures them and nudge Marley to get up.
"You'll stay after dinner, right?" Maribel says before they leave. "We all want to hear how were the last few months for you, Marley, and talk about you getting engaged, we hadn't had the chance yet." The Older Latina looks between the young girls, then set her eyes on the woman who'd be soon enough be officially a part of the family. They should have a nice talk tonight; Maribel knows that they most likely won't see them for the rest of Marley's stay, so this is their chance.
"Yeah, we'll be here for a while." Marley says as she stood up with the baby in arms. "Alright, little guy, let's have some fun." She suggests as she starts walking.
On their way to Dani's old room, the purple haired woman stopped by her brother's nursery to get a few toys from there. Even though it was warm in the house, they decided to put Riley on the bed and sit on either side of him in order to keep him safe. Although the baby was playing with one of his toys, his main focus was this new person.
"You should feel special, Marls, he's more into you than his toy." Dani jokes and taps her fingers along Riley's body.
"I tend to have that effect on people, I mean… That's how we ended up together." Marley points out and smirks at her fiancée for a few moments. "He is very adorable though, just like his big sister." she looks down at the baby who is trying to climb on Marley but isn't able to get on his feet easily, so he makes a noise. Marley picks him up and cradles him in her arms.
Dani almost can't take the sight in front of her. She thought of this moment a lot, Marley finally meeting her brother, but this is better than anything she could ever imagine. The eye roll she intended to give her fiancée is forgotten, instead Dani scoots closer to the two and place a kiss on both their cheeks. "He's just a perfect mix of both my moms, it's unbelievable…" She comments. "I sometimes can't believe how far we got, how much this family changed... How lucky I got." Dani sweetly smiles at Marley and cups her face with her right hand.
Marley leans slightly to peck Dani's lips. "It's because you're an angel, sent from some deity to make everyone's lives better." she says with confidence.
Blushing, Dani falls into one of her pillows and bites her lip. Apparently, that amused Riley because he's now smiling and making noises at the girl's direction. "Hey! You supposed to be on my side..." Dani pouts and put her hand on his back. "Just wait until you get hopelessly in love…" She sticks her tongue out and Riley tries to reach for it while waving his hand around, casually hitting Marley in the face and shoulder.
"Ooh, them are fighting words, huh Riley?" Marley asks playfully, Riley continues to shake his fist, making a couple grunt sounds. "Seeing him makes me think about us... You know..." She gulps. "Having kids of our own."
That's definitely catches Dani's attention. "Yeah?" She props herself on her arm and looks deep into her fiancée's eyes. She's a little nervous; Dani thought about it in the past and she has something to bring up to Marley in this regards. "If we'll be able to afford it, I'd makes me the happiest to have a big family with you." She says and bites her lip.
Marley sighs happily and nods quite a few times. "I would love to have a big family with you, well… Our own big family." she says as she looks down at the baby, seeing that he is still a little revved up. "You are just a ball of energy, aren't you?" Marley asks him, Riley makes a noise as a response.
"He won't be for long." Dani moves her hand through his growing hair. She looked out for him quite a lot, so she knows. "Babe... About our future family..." She clears her throat. "There is something I'm kinda nervous to bring up..."
"What's up?" Marley looks over at Dani with a raised brow.
Dani sits up straight and pushing her index fingers together. "It something I put a lot of thought to." Despite trying not to because Marley was away and the fear of what could happen to her. Dani isn't fully sure why she's bringing this up now, she's guessing it's been on her mind for too long with the talking about their wedding and family and Riley pushing it out of her. "When we get to the point when we're ready and capable, I would..." She takes a deep breath and glance at her brothers. "-I would like us to consider adoption." She lets out and nervously looks at Marley.
Marley's eyes shot up to look at Dani, she bites the inside of her lip and almost teared up at the idea. "U-Uhm… I would love to, I just…" she gulps. "What spawned the idea?" she asks with a slight smile.
Dani relaxes a little, though it's still difficult for her to actually talk about it; like often happens to her, on different subjects. "I know how it's like to crave the love, warmth and acceptance of a parent, what it's like to be all alone and how it feels to get a family; terrifying at first, then amazing." Therapy does help, she wouldn't have been able to say all that otherwise. "I want to give other children the chance of a good life and be the best they can. I want to give back and I know that together we have the emotional strength to do so, to give kids unconditional love they want and need." It's evident in the way she spoke how serious that she's serious and the subject is highly important to her.
Hearing this really hit home to Marley, especially since she's always had this thought in her head. Her brother, Elliot is adopted, Dani is adopted, how could she say no to this idea? Especially since Dani was indeed on point with what she said. "Let's do it, let's adopt 3 kids, maybe more." she says seriously, but is slightly exaggerating on the amount.
Marley is on board and that lights up Dani's face and replace the nervousness with joy and anticipation. She even giggles at the eagerness and can't help but lean and place a firm kiss on Marley's cheek. "Like we once said, we'll work hard to make our dreams come true. You'll come back safely and we'll have great careers, then we'll see about filling our home with kids." She laughs a bit. "Three is a good number, let's try to aim to that, then see." Three lives that they, hopefully, will save. Three souls that will get a chance at a better life, which will be her and Marley's family. That's thoughts gives Dani boost of motivation to keep doing well. "I can't... My love for you is too huge for words. Thank you for being such a good human being." Dani says and place her hand over Marley's, those who are holding her baby brother.
Marley sighs happily, looking between her future brother-in-law and her future wife just overwhelms her, and it makes her feel like she's on top of the world right now. She looks down at Riley once more, his eyes are still open but he's more snugged into Marley's arms as exhaustion takes over his tiny body. "Aw…Little guy is already tired from this excitement." she points out quietly, and then suddenly she yawns. "M-Maybe I am too…"
"There is still time until dinner, you can nap for a little while." Dani suggests, the adorable sight causing her to melt inside. "I'll stay here, watching over you."
"Okay..." Marley yawns once more then switches up the way she's holding Riley, letting him rest on the arm that's closer to the middle of the bed. After that she waits for Riley to close his eyes, which he does eventually, this sight made Marley happy, but also sleepy. She closed her eyes, making sure to hold Riley as close as she can to her person without hurting him.
Dani, who is laying right beside them, almost can't believe how wonderful Marley's week off already is. It also relaxes her; all the talks about their future, their families getting closer and how life are now in New York, Dani knows Marley will serve the time she needs to, then come back home. She pulls the blanket that's on the bed over Marley's body and checks that Riley isn't cold, then Dani just enjoys how good the present is right now.
That was one great nap, not only to baby Riley who enjoyed napping in a warm embrace, but also for the soldier who held him. Marley was the first to wake up after about 45 minutes and found Dani still right next to her, playing with her phone. They smiled at one another and Dani whispered her fiancée that her brother would probably wake up in about 15 minutes; not that Marley was complaining, but they had to go eat soon. Usually Riley would get his afternoon nap much earlier, but his mothers knew due to Christmas and the family being over, he'd stay awake longer. Just this once. They're taking his schedule very seriously. So the young couple sat there, it was like a glimpse to the future and by the look on their faces, both girls were thinking that.
Riley woke up shortly after and his timing was great; it was just when Rachel called them for dinner. Dani told her mom they were going to chance Riley's diaper and will be right there. Dani took her brother from Marley's arms, the baby's conflicted emotions about that made the girls laugh. They walked to his room and while Marley was looking around; she saw pictures of Riley from when he was born to ones that looked more recent, pictures of different family members holding him and toys and book scattered around. It's unbelievable just how much she missed in a year; now there is a five months old baby in the family. With this in mind. she turned to the changing table and saw how easily Dani was changing her brother's diaper and it hit her, for the umpteenth time, the dynamic had changed, people she knows so well have this new side in them. She'll have time for that when she'd be back for good, but for now she was happy to have the chance to see her fiancée as a loving big sister, especially after how nervous she was about it. Just another something Marley was proud of Dani for.
Before heading downstairs, Dani dressed Riley with another layer of clothes, just because it was getting cold and she didn't want to risk this baby boy getting ill. At the kitchen, Dani handed Riley to Santana and told her mothers that he and Marley bonded over a good nap. The couple then said hello to Shelby and Beth who had arrived just moments ago. Silently, Dani thanked Beth for deciding to stay with her mom last night and made her promise to tell her how her gifts exchanging with Emily went. Well, she had to promise to do the same, but got a snarky comment about keeping it G rated.
Dinner was amazing, as it always is. The food was so good that everyone took seconds and the conversation never stopped, which meant Marley took the longest to eat; she was asked about the service, the people, how she's feeling.. She focused mostly on the better side of thing, after all it is the military and she is stationed in a war zone. After the family covered everything with Marley, they moved to talk about Riley, the girls and how everyone around the table were doing. Dani didn't take it for granted even for a moment; not all families are like this and she's truly blessed to have all this love in her life. She took Marley's hand and gave it a small kiss, then shrugged when her fiancée gave her a questioning look.
Luckily, the people in the family all like to clean and having everything organized, so cleaning up after what can only be called a feast was rather easy and quick. After that, the family settled in the living room with tea and dessert, that even though they were full, no one could say no to.
Then an idea come up to play a game. They never had a family game night, but they already talked a lot and it could been fun. They tried to decide on a game for too long, until Beth said they could simply write down famous people's name or anything really, put in something and act out to a partner the name they pull out. Fun and easy. Rachel agreed that it was a great idea, but they weren't even, that's when Dani said she'd rather watch and hold Riley. A game like that, especially the first time playing it, can trigger her anxiety. She took her brother from Beth's arms and everyone got to work on preparing the game.
The teams were; Maribel and Rachel, Shelby and Santana and Beth with Marley. Dani knew it was going to be hilarious considering who the players were and the profession of some
The rules were that you have one minute to pass as many names to your partner as possible using only one word. You could act as much as you can and you can say next only once a around.
Santana and Shelby are the first team to play. Beth has the timer ready and Santana is the one acting out whatever is written on the pieces of paper. Beth counts down for them from three, then Santana pulls the first piece. "Drink." Is the word she chose to use, the proceeds with acting like she's elegantly drinking from a glass.
"Riley, look at mommy." Dani tells her little brother who is busy sucking on his pacifier and looking at Dex. "Look how funny mama is." The boy looks up and shakes his hands at the sight.
"Uh... Okay you're holding something with contents in it…" Shelby says and taps her chin a few times, trying to figure out what Santana is doing. "It has something solid?" she asks.
Santana shakes her head. She acts to sniffle the imaginary glass, then take a sip and gargle it before swallowing. She tries not to laugh at how this little act seems to entertain her son, as well as the others, Santana just winks at the boy and repeats her demonstration.
Shelby keeps thinking about what action Santana did. "Okay... Something liquidy?" She asks.
Santana nods and gestures for Shelby to continue with this line of thought.
"You're drinking something?" Shelby asks.
The Latina uses her hands to tell her mother in law to keep going, then she does the elegant move again, trying to tell the woman what it is that she's drinking.
"What drink do you sniff before..." Shelby mumbles then realizes what it is. "Drinking wine?" she guesses and hopes for the best.
"Yes!" Santana says happily and grabs another piece of paper, hurrying to get through as much as they can. Who knew a minute can pass so quickly? The two managed to get three right guesses; it wasn't a bad start, but not the greatest either. "We'll get better." Santana tells Shelby as she walks to the couch. She turns to the side where Dani is sitting with Riley and taps the boy's chin. "Are you enjoying laughing at your mama?" She chuckles, then cups Dani's face. "My two precious children."
Dani tightens her hold on her brother just a little and leans her head against his to hide the blush on her cheeks. She then clears her throat and asks who's next.
Beth quickly hops up to grab a card before Marley could even answer her fiancée, when the blonde has the card in hand, 'Playing Basketball' and then places it back and gets up to start doing the action on her card. She walked to the middle of the room, thought about how to do the specific action. "Okay." she mumbles to herself then starts doing the gestures of the thing on her card.
"Okay…" Marley leans in a bit to focus on what Beth is doing. "I got a feeling I know what this is…" she mumbles while resting her head against her hand. "You're doing MMA holds?" she asks.
Beth shakes her head then continues with some of the same gestures, switching it up to make it look like she's passing something.
The games seems to be intriguing for the whole family, not only the team that is up and Riley, who has his private comedy show; well, most of them are into the art in some way, it only make sense. A knock on the door surprises everyone and they stop the app of the clock and look at one another. There are a couple of possibilities of who is behind the door, but as far as Santana and Rachel know, the chances of them actually coming over are slim. Yet again, this is them and it won't be a shock to have someone drop over. To allow the game to continue and let Beth and Marley finish their round, Dani says she'll go answer it. She gets up with Riley secured in her arms and walks to the front door. She opens it and tilts her head at the person in front of her, a smile begin to form on her lips.
"H-Hey. I hope I'm not interrupting."
Dani chuckles and shakes her head. "Oh, on the contrary." She opens the door wider and moves to allow Emily to step in. "You're timing couldn't have been better." Dani grins, thinking how perfect that is.
Emily gets nervous seeing this look on the other girl's face. She wasn't sure if it'd be alright to come by or if they'd finished eating, but she wanted to surprise her girlfriend and spend some time with her on actual Christmas day. Though now... Emily is nervous about what is going on, and she doesn't get like this often. Then she hears a noise and realizes she didn't notice her girlfriend's nephew; weird. "I don't know what you mean," She points at Dani. "But I know that sounds mean someone is curious." Emily moves her attention to Riley. "Hey, do you remember me? We've met a couple of time, you drooled all over my shoulder." She tells him like he can actually understand the meaning of the words.
Riley looks at his sister, furrow his brows and squeals. "You don't remember her?" Dani asks and brush her thumb over his forehead. "She's nice and she cares for your aunt Beth very much." Dani explains and at the mention of his aunt's name, the boy smiles and tries to reach for Emily. The redhead was ready to take him, but Dani takes a step back. "I don't know what your reaction to what you're about to see going to be like, so it's better if he stays with me." She laughs and nudge her head towards the living room. "Come on, let us join the fun."
Confused and curious, Emily walks with Dani to the living room. First she sees a group of people on the couch, it takes her a second, but she recognizes the one sitting between Santana and Shelby as Santana's mother and relaxes; she knows everyone, that's something. Before Emily gets the chance to wonder where her girlfriend is, the blonde comes into her view, but Emily has no idea what is she doing or why. She sees that everyone is laughing, except Marley who seems to be focusing hard. 'What are they doing? Is this some kind of a weird play? Didn't know Beth was into acting…'
Dani, who keeps standing next to Emily, only clears her throat. She's waiting to see Beth reaction and decides which one of the two are cutter.
Beth slightly turns her attention towards Dani, seeing Emily standing right next to her. The blonde gasps and runs to her girlfriend, latching her arms tight around her waist. "Oh my god, I can't believe you came!" she exclaims.
Marley looks at the two and raises a brow. "Uh… Yo, it's our turn." she says.
"I was pretending to play basketball." Beth says quickly then pulls Emily with her out of the room.
Dani slightly gasps at what just happened and how fast the blonde can move, not that it's totally new to her. She looks back at her family and starts walking to the couch. "Guess it's mom's and grandma's turn." She jokes, then place a kiss on Marley's cheek. "You did great, baby."
Marley was still a little flabbergasted but she shrugged and went along with everything that transpired. "Alright." she says casually and leans back some.
Once Dani's seated, Riley opens his arms in their mama's direction. Santana happily takes him and wraps her arms around his small body in a warm embrace. "Isn't that adorable that she passed on some family time to come, surprise and spend time with her girlfriend?" Dani asks and pulls Marley into her arms.
"Yes, it's sweet." Santana nods. "I only hope she informed her parents, so they won't worry."
"I'm sure she did, mama. I've got to know her and she's very responsible." She might be looking at her mother, but the words were meant for different pair of ears.
Santana hums and starts caressing her son's back. The body lays his head on her shoulder and nuzzle into her; he wants to be a part of the group, but it was a rather active day for him and he's getting low on energy.
Rachel smiles at the sight of Santana holding Riley, she then looks over at Maribel. "I guess it's our turn?" she asks.
Shelby had watched Beth take off with Emily, and it seemed like all she was seeing was red. 'This is supposed to be a family thing, why is she here?' she thinks to herself then gets up. "I forfeit." Shelby announces then walks out of the room.
The women left in the room are not sure what's going on. Sensing that the air had shifted, Dani stand up and pulls Marley with her. "We'll be in the kitchen," She starts picking some of the mugs on the table and throws a look to her fiancée and the woman begin to pick the plates. "I'll clean these up before we leave." Dani says, then she and Marley are off to the kitchen.
Once her daughter and Marley are out of the room, Santana turns to Rachel. "Our son is done for tonight, I'll go change him, then put him in his crib." She tells her while gently securing Riley in her arms. "Maybe you should go talk to your mom, babe?" She suggests.
"You, girls, go take care of my grandson." Maribel says before Rachel has the chance to answer her wife. "I'll have a chat with Shelby."
"I guess if everyone else left the room… You pick the book and I change him?" Rachel gets up and stretches for a couple seconds.
"Yes." She gets up. "Let's go, before he dive into a heavy sleep." Santana says and the married couple walk with their sleepy son upstairs.
Going into the backyard. Maribel sees her friend pacing around. "It's good the game ended." She says to get her attention. "Beth is competitive and so smart, we never had a chance." She joke in an attempt to light the mood, or at least get the woman to share.
"Yeah..." Shelby says quietly as she walks to the handrail of the porch and leans against it. "She's very smart..."
"You still don't like Emily very much?" Maribel steps forward so she could stand in front of her friend. "From the little I've heard she's an alright girl. So is she the real reason you're getting upset?" She asks, sincerely concerned.
Shelby looks away from her friend, letting out a soft sigh and nods once. "That and I don't have a beer in hand to get over this…" she says. "It's just… That's my baby girl, she's young, but she…" Shelby struggled to talk about this, and who could blame her? Young people can do some things that others wouldn't expect, and that's why Shelby is worried. "She moved out, is in college, and she's having an adult relationship that I don't want her to have."
This reminds Maribel a few conversations she had with her daughter when Dani started dating Marley. Yet it's different; Shelby is a single parent with a child already growing faster than others, being gifted and all. "Kids grow up so fast... One day you're changing their diaper, the next they're seniors at high school and then off to live their own lives..." Maribel says softly and moves to stand next to Shelby. "She's living with family; Dani, much like her moms, is very protective. She'll take care of her." She says. "And this stage is a part of life and you know how it's like with kids; the harder you try to tell them no, they do the opposite, if only to prove you wrong." She sighs and cover Shelby's hand with her own. "You're her mom, your job is to keep her safe, just don't overdo it. Give that girl a chance, it doesn't require you to lower your guards." Maribel suggest softly, without a hint of judgment.
"I guess so…" Shelby looks at their hands and smiles a slight amount. For some reason, Maribel knows how to cheer her up, and the woman did have a great point. After all, Maribel has had two kids, she knows all too well how difficult it is to deal with your kid dating. Shelby took that thought and nodded a few times. "Thank you, Maribel…" she says calmly.
"Don't mention it." Maribel smiles and gives Shelby's hand a small squeeze. "You're an incredible parent, Shelby, and you are allowed to freak out about your little girl growing up." She reassures her while caressing her knuckles.
Shelby slightly blushes at the compliment. "I'm not that incredible…" she says with a soft chuckle.
Maribel turns her body a little bit so she look at her friend better, but still holds her hand. "You are. She might've came with good genes, but you were the one to nurture her and love her, helped her to become the person she is today. All that while working... For me, that's incredible." She says with confidence. Their eyes lock and the hint of shyness on Shelby's face makes it impossible for Maribel not to lean in. So she does and connects their lips just for a few short moments, then smiles.
Shelby slightly licks her lips in hopes that the taste of Maribel's lips remained, she bit her lip and smirked. "What are you doing on New Year's Eve?" she asks somewhat quietly.
"I suppose to fly back to Lima in a couple of days, so probably nothing much." The Latina answers
"How about this, you secretly cancel that ticket back, and we can tell the girls that I will take you to the airport, but instead I take you over to my place so we don't have to be alone on New Year's." Shelby suggests while her hands gently graze Maribel's stomach. "It could be fun, and I will buy your ticket back to Lima after New Year's… Deal?"
"Your place, huh?" Maribel laughs and turns back to lean against the handrail. "I'd love to and I'm sure we'd have fun." She happily agrees. "And you don't need to buy me the ticket, I'm just glad to have plans and with my good friend."
"Well, if I'm gonna keep ya from your home, it'd be fair to do so." Shelby says as she wraps an arm around Maribel's shoulder. "Besides, I got a lot of frequent flyer miles that I haven't used in… Almost 10 years, actually." she admits. "I wonder if they're still good." she chuckles then leans her head against Maribel's.
"That many and yet you don't come and visit your good friend in Lima..." Maribel looks at Shelby with a raised brow and shakes her head. "Maybe I will let you buy me that ticket." She chuckles.
"Good, and I'll agree to visit more." Shelby says with confidence. "Now, let's go watch a nice movie, huh?" she suggests and walks a bit towards the sliding door.
Thinking that this cheering up thing went better than expected, Maribel follows her friend back to their daughters' living room. On the way, they don't miss their granddaughter and her fiancée being too close for washing the dishes. As they pass, they make themselves known and share a laugh at the girls' reaction. This was one of their best Christmases.
While their mothers conversed at the backyard, Rachel and Santana, who carried Riley, got to their son's room. Santana had to put him on the changing table, so her wife could get him ready for bed, but it took her a couple of tries; little Riley was exhausted and clenched to his mother. Together, they gently removed him from Santana's arm while whispering to him that his mom was going to change his diaper, put him in his pjs, then read to him a story. The boy tried to reach for Rachel and his expression changed to the one he has right before crying.
Santana walks to their son's crib to get his pacifier, then quickly put it in his mouth. "Maybe we could try a song this evening instead of a story. Do you think it'd calm him down better?" She asks her wife.
"I feel bad, I don't know any kid songs." Rachel says and bites the inside of her lip. "It's possible though, but I think you should do some singing. Let our baby hear his mama's beautiful voice."
"Are you trying to trick you wife and the mother of your children?" Santana asks in a pretend shock. "I'm out of practice, my voice is terrible." She exaggerating and tries to keep the grin from her face. "You should do it, we don't want to make it worse." Santana tell Rachel while brushing their frustrated son's hair with her fingers.
"You, wifey, stop lying to me." Rachel smirks then carefully picks up Riley, cradling him in her arms. "Mama has a beautiful voice, she just doesn't like singing." she says quietly. "I remember when we were in high school, and she took part in a thing called a mash up." Rachel starts while slowly walking around the room with Riley. "And her voice was so amazing, I never admitted this to her, but I was severely jealous of her great voice, in fact, I still am."
Santana watches Rachel pacing with Riley and all she feels is love. Well, actually a light shade of pink covers her cheeks and she is thankful for her skin tone. Singing and acting are Rachel's thing, she left it behind a long time ago and apart from rare occasions, Santana doesn't sing. Sometime when she's all alone with Riley and doesn't even notice that she started to, but not really since she and Rachel dated. "Babe, a person with a voice like you shouldn't be jealous of anyone." She says honestly and goes to sit on the armchair. "I guess I can." She taps her lap. "But you're staying with me for moral support."
Rachel gaps and smiles at Santana. "You hear that?" she asks her son. "Mama is going to sing for us." she says and walks over to the chair, sitting down on Santana's lap, lifting her legs up over the other armrest.
For a woman with her level of confidence, Santana is too tensed. It's her wife and baby she's about to sing for, and maybe it's because it's them; she wants to do good. So Santana clears her throat, taking a few moments to think of a song, then opens her mouth.
"Arrorró mi niño,
arrorró mi sol,
arrorró pedazo,
de mi corazón."
She begins to softly sing while wrapping an arm around Rachel and letting the other rest over Rachel's legs. The nervousness fades when she looks at Riley's face starting to relax and let sleep take over.
"Este niño lindo
ya quiere dormir;
háganle la cuna
de rosa y jazmín.
Háganle la cama
en el toronjil,
y en la cabecera
pónganle un jazmín
que con su fragancia
me lo haga dormir."
Rachel bites her lip, feeling amazed at the sound of her wife's voice as she sang to their son. "Your voice is beautiful..." she mouths towards Santana, not wanting to interrupt the woman as she sang.
"Arrorró mi niño,
arrorró mi sol,
arrorró pedazo,
de mi corazón.
Este lindo niño
se quiere dormir.
cierra los ojitos
y los vuelve a abrir.
Arrorró mi niño,
arrorró mi sol,
duérmase pedazo,
de mi corazón."
By the time Santana finish singing, their son is in a deep slumber. She looks at his beautiful face and wish for this moment to last a little longer. Santana looks up with her lip between her lips and a tiny smile. "It was good enough to get him to sleep, hm?" She whispers.
"If it wasn't he'd still be awake." Rachel whispers back and leans in slightly to kiss the top of Santana's head. "You need to sing more often, I love hearing your voice when it's musical like that… Well… I love your voice no matter what, but… You know what I mean." she smiles then carefully gets off of Santana's lap to put Riley in his crib.
"I can do this once in a while, but there are enough musical people in our family." Santana stands up and walks over to stand behind Rachel. "But thank you, I love you." She hugs her wife and looks over her shoulder at their son; one of the advantages of being the taller one in the relationship.
Rachel smiles then turns around to wrap her arms around Santana's neck. "I love you too." she pecks Santana's lips a few times. "Did you have fun this Christmas?" she asks.
"I couldn't ask for anything better." Santana answers, enjoying looking into Rachel's eyes. "Only one thing is missing in order to make it perfect," She pulls the woman closer. "But our guests are still here, so it has to wait." Santana grins.
A soft chuckle is heard from Rachel as she bites her lip. "Y'know what we haven't done, just me and you, in a little while?" she asks in a low tone.
"What is that?"
"Take a bath together." Rachel leans up some to whisper into Santana's ear. "A nice, warm, soapy bath." she adds on some emphasis on how much she misses their special bath times.
Santana leans her forehead on Rachel's, closes her eyes and bite her lip; this is inappropriate, but she won't say a word, not until later. "I'm sure the gathering is about the end and my mom will probably head off to bed right after." She opens her eyes, but doesn't move away. "This guy is asleep and the kitchen is clean, so we can treat ourselves or each other, if we want to be accurate." Santana corrects herself and shamelessly smirks.
"Sounds fun, I'll make sure to get the lovely scented candles our daughter bought us for the occasion." Rachel places a few pecks on Santana's lips then leaves the room.
Santana didn't want to ask their guests to leave, especially not their eldest daughter, but it was getting late and Santana knew the couples surely wanted time alone. Luckily for the Latina, when she got downstairs, the other family members were putting their coats on and were getting to leave. She would've find a way to end the evening, probably using an excuse that everyone could see through, so Santana was thankful she didn't have to do that. They said their thank yous and good nights and with that Santana locked the front door. Mother and daughter made their way back up the stairs and before each went to her room, Maribel said she downloaded a book on Kindle and was going to listen to it while taking a bath and until she was going to sleep. After the door to Maribel's room closed, Santana rushed to hers and Rachel's, having a weird feeling about her mother practically saying they have a window of time in which she won't hear a thing.
Not finding her wife in the bedroom, Santana goes to the bathroom. The moment she opens the door she can smell the sweet aroma coming from the candles and feel the warmth of the room. She looks to the side, thinking she'd find Rachel getting the bath ready, but instead finding something way better. She slightly pouts due to not having seen Rachel taking her clothes off; she loves that part. "I don't know what I want more, to get in with you or watch." The weird feeling is forgotten as lust takes over.
"Well, I do love an audience, as you know." Rachel says as she relaxes some. "Although if you join me, you will feel as amazing as I do… Well, I'll make you feel more amazing." she adds on in a low tone of voice.
Santana quickly takes her clothes off and once her body is naked, she has goosebumps all over and her nipples harden; the room is quite warm, but not enough for the Latina. "Ugh, like I could pass on a chance to make love to my gorgeous wife." She says and steps towards the tub. "I hope the water is burning hot." She slowly gets inside and hums at the nice feeling.
Rachel repositions herself to where she's on her knees, and then she spreads Santana's legs and moved closer. After that, she grazes Santana's legs, loving the smooth, soft feeling of her skin. "My god… Such perfection." she lets out a soft moan then smirks towards Santana.
"And you are incredibly sexy." Santana cups Rachel's face and pulls her into a deep, passionate kiss.
"Mmm…" Rachel muffles a moan between Santana's lips as her hand grazes the woman's hip, her fingers press into Santana's skin to give this gentle graze some added emphasis. Her other hand runs against the inside of Santana's leg, but not getting close enough to the Latina's center, she wanted to make her wife feel more than amazing.
Keeping her hands on Rachel's face, Santana takes a few more moments savoring her wife's lips, then slowly breaks it. "I could kiss you forever." She says through the haze in her mind that caused by the kiss. "But kissing you making me want to do other thing." Santana looks down at her wife's body with hungry eyes. "How about you turn around, lean your back against me, so I could show you just how much I want you?" Her hands squeeze the woman's hips and her eyes still fixed on her body.
Rachel bit her bottom lip and nodded a few times, she carefully repositioned herself then scooted to Santana, leaning against the woman and lets out a soft but happy sigh.
"Your body is gorgeous." Santana wraps her arms around Rachel and husks in her ear. One of her hands begin to move up on her wife's body until it reaches the place where she can feel faint heartbeats. Santana press her hand there and hold Rachel tightly with her other arm. "And you have such a pure heart." She whispers in her ear and starts kissing her neck.
Rachel leans her head back, breathing at a soft pace from the soft kisses being left on her neck. She moves one hand up to where Santana has hers, she then interlocks their fingers. "I love you, so much…" she continues to breath softly.
"I love you too, with every fiber of my being." Santana says back, then resume to kiss and nibble on Rachel's sweet spot. Rachel taught her the true meaning of love and what they share is rare, Santana is very well aware of that. The Latina lowers her free hand to between her wife's legs and very gently starts rubbing her clit.
Rachel gently licks her lips and lets out a soft moan, her hips are wanting to move against Santana's fingers, but is able to fight it just so Santana can do the needed work. "Fuck…" she quietly speaks.
Santana untangle her other hand from Rachel's hold and move the tiny distance to her left breast. "I love every part of your body." She whispers in Rachel's ear while massaging her breast and pinching her nipple. "I love feeling what my touch does to your body." Santana softly nibbling on Rachel's lobe. "And damn, I can lose it just by watching you." With that, Santana push a finger inside her wife and start thrusting in and out. She uses her thumb to give Rachel the perfect sensation by circling her clit and kissing along her neck.
The brunette rolls her eyes due to how amazing she feels right now, Santana really does know how to work this woman to her core. Rachel starts with the hip movements, her moans continue to fill the room with each thrust that Santana does. She slightly moves some so she can reach behind her and run her hand through Santana's hair.
Feeling the wetness and warmth over her finger, Santana decides to add another finger. At first she does it very slowly and letting Rachel to get used to the way she's stretching her, and only then Santana thrusts faster, hitting hard on that very special spot. Being the loving wife she is, and not lazy at all when it comes to making love to Rachel, Santana continuing working her wife's breast and kissing every piece of skin she can reach.
"Oh god…" Rachel tries to keep her moans as quiet as possible, but she's struggling quite a bit due to the satisfaction Santana is giving her. She keeps moving her hips to Santana's fingers, her right hand grips the tub as tight as it could while she breathes in and out. "S-San… Kiss me, p-please..." she leans her head back, slightly looking towards Santana's direction and has a needing expression on her face.
Santana brings her hand up only to move the hair from Rachel's face, then returns it to the very sensitive nipple. She smiles lovingly at her wife and leans to brush their noses together before taking a deep breath and claiming Rachel's lips. The kiss starts strong, with lips mash together, then Santana lets her tongue run over her wife's lips. Being granted the permission, Santana's tongue enter Rachel's mouth and she moans when their tongues meet. The kiss doesn't distract Santana from her main goal, maybe just a bit, and she leaves Rachel's upper body. Her hand slides down to the woman's center, beginning to caress, rub and circle her swollen clit, while her fingers fuck the woman as fast as she can without hurting her.
The breathing through her nose fastens, her chest rising at a rapid pace, her eyes opened wide. To say Rachel was satisfied would definitely be an understatement, Santana was taking her to a whole new level, now her back presses against Santana's front. Rachel lets out a sharp moan in Santana's mouth as she releases.
Santana takes her fingers out, but yet to stop the external pleasure. She cups Rachel's face, deepening the kiss until she is sure Rachel rode her orgasm to the fullest. She ends the kiss by taking her wife's bottom lip between her teeth and grinning at her. Her arms drop down to be wrapped around the woman she loves and she leans her forehead on the back of Rachel's shoulder, placing soft kisses against the skin.
Rachel closes her eyes and continues her soft breathing, she reaches to Santana's hand, lifting it up to her lips and places gentle kisses on it. "Y-You rocked my world again, babe." she says quietly as she rests Santana's hand on her heart, just so Santana can feel the heartbeats.
"Always happy to please my lady." Santana says proudly. "You know what I want to do now?"
"I can take a few guesses." Rachel says while nuzzling Santana's neck. "But tell me anyways, what do you wanna do?" she asks.
"I'm predictable, huh?" She chuckles and kiss Rachel's neck. Santana doesn't really care; she loves making love with her wife and as long as Rachel wants it, it's all good. "But it's not some 'crazy' idea," She bites her lip and tightens her arm around Rachel's waist. "I just want to cuddle in bed and make out until we fall asleep." Santana says into her wife's ear, then buries her face in the crook of her neck.
Rachel smiles shyly and nods a few times. "I'd love that, very much." she says then yawns into her mouth. "In fact, that would make my Christmas complete if we did that."
"Good." Santana place a kiss on Rachel's shoulder. "I'm getting cold and you're sleepy, let's go."
"Yes, let's." Rachel says then slowly moves from Santana's hold to unblock the drain.
The couple got out of the tub, Santana helped Rachel out and would occasionally steal a few kisses. Soon after they dried off, they both got into some clothing. Rachel wanted the least amount on for either of them in case she felt rather touchy, and taking in the fact that Rachel loves skin to skin contact after they make love, Santana obliged with the request happily. Before they could get their cuddle/make out session going, they had to do a nightcap around the house. Of course they made sure to at least wear a big shirt over their person before leaving the room. Santana went to say goodnight to her mother and thanking her for the wonderful Christmas, and just simply coming out to visit them. Rachel went ahead to the kitchen and made herself a nice warm cup of tea as she usually makes before going to bed. The brunette thought about how much has changed in just a year, and it was for the better as well. After a few minutes, Santana came downstairs to give Rachel a couple kisses and thanked her for everything, this came as normal for Santana to do when she was filled with so much emotion, and she knew how much Rachel struggles daily, and how strong Rachel is but will never admit to being. Of course this moment doesn't go without Rachel expressing how amazing Santana is in return, carrying their child, being there for Rachel in her darkest of times in almost two decades, working with her through and through without giving up, it was more than obvious how amazing Santana was to Rachel. If they weren't so tired, they would continue the debate all night, but they couldn't. So the couple walk up the stairs, walked to their room, closed the door and then got in bed. Santana took Rachel's glasses off and put them on the nightstand, and proceeded to cover the two up and pull Rachel closer to her. They slowly start their partial make out session, but due to their fatigue, it was a rather sloppy make out session. Rachel was the first to fall asleep of the two, Santana groggily turned off the lamp and fell asleep shortly after Rachel.
'till next time