The woman's face lit up with a dazzling smile.

"It's so good to finally meet you!" she wrapped Kerry up in her arms the same way she had her daughter.

"It's good to finally meet you too, Mrs. Lopez."

"Please, call me Pilar," she released Kerry from the crushing hug and held her at arms length, giving her the once over. "Sandy talks about you on the phone all the time. You've become quite a legend here. And you are just as lovely as she described!"

Kerry blushed and glanced over at Sandy, who was grinning from ear to ear, a look of pure pride on her face.

"I told you she'd love you."

Stepping back inside the porch, Pilar held the door open and ushered the two women in.

"Come in, come in!" she sang, then in a louder, harsher tone "Luis! Sandy and Kerry are here!"

Entering the porch, Kerry was quickly escorted through another door into a rather spacious living room. While Pilar took their coats, Kerry glanced around. The first thing she noticed was the attractive color scheme around the room. The walls were divided in two with an elegant chair-rail about a third of the way up. The top half was painted a rich cream color, while the bottom half was covered in burgundy wainscoting, which was accented by dark green trim. She made a mental note to remember the scheme should she ever want to redo a room at home.

"Please, sit down, make yourselves comfortable," Pilar instructed. "I'll just go get us some drinks and find out what's keeping your father. What would you girls like? I have lemonade, Coke, Cherry Kool-aid, and water."

"I'll have some Coke," Sandy replied.

"Kerry, Hun, what about you?"

"Coke is fine for me too." Kerry smiled taking a place next to Sandy on the rust colored love-seat.

"Alright then, I'll be right back." with that Pilar disappeared through yet another door.

Once she was gone, Sandy pressed her forehead to Kerry's.

"How are you doing, Chica?" Kerry just smirked. Sandy gave her a light kiss. "At least you made it through the first round unharmed. One down, about ten to go."

"Ten?" Kerry raised her eyebrows. "I thought it was just your parents."

"Of course not," Sandy smiled. "I brought you up here to show you off to all my family. You have to meet all three of my big brothers, their wives and girlfriends, my sister and her husband, my dad and Gramps..."

She could see the panic set in as Kerry digested the information.

"Don't worry babe, my mother is the hardest one to impress. If she likes you, which she really seemed to, then everyone else will adore you as well. The only possible exception is Gramps."

Kerry sighed. True, Pilar had been very friendly, more so then Kerry could have imagined, but she was still uneasy. She had created a few unpleasant scenarios in her head these past few days. In each one she was disliked immediately by this family, which caused Sandy to turn on her. One of her biggest fears was that they would dislike her and convince their daughter to leave her. If that were to happen, Kerry didn't know what she would do. Sandy was everything to her, and losing her would just be too much.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the thunder of several feet coming their way. A second later Pilar appeared followed by an older gentleman who one could easily guess was Sandy's father. He was short, well-built, with a dark complexion and a head of thick black hair that showed only slight traces of silver.

"How's my little Cassandra!" he asked as he stepped into the room and beckoned Sandy to him. She lifted herself off the couch and flew at him.

"Hey Papa!" Once again she was treated to a big bear hug. "I'm great, how are you doing?"

"Can't complain," he replied, then released her. "You've been gone so long, we've missed you around here. You look great," he complimented, holding her face in his hands. Spying the red headed woman just over Sandy's shoulder, he let go of his daughter and approached the love seat. "You must be Kerry." His smile was big, and he thrust his hand out to her. She stood up and shook it firmly.

"It's Nice to meet you, Mr. Lopez."

"Mr. Lopez is my father, you can just call me Luis," he let go of her hand and cocked his head to the side. "We were beginning to wonder whether you really existed or not. We thought maybe Cassandra just made you up in order to appease her mother, whose always nagging her about settling down." He laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's about time we got to meet the one who reined in our little girl."

Kerry could see the warmth in his eyes and felt her self relax. Her partner always had that effect on her, and it was oddly reassuring that it seemed to be a family trait. The acceptance she had received by these two souls was overwhelming, and she suddenly felt invincible.

"I'm very luck to have caught her, though I think she did some reining of her own," Kerry smiled right back at him, and then glanced over at Sandy, who blushed. Over the firefighter's shoulder, standing in the doorway, was an old man, who Kerry assumed was Oton, the grandfather. He stood there for only a moment before turning around and walking away. Kerry felt her stomach drop. She had known from the start that Oton would possibly have problems with her, but it still hurt to actually experience his rejection. The happiness she had been feeling only moments ago had suddenly dissipated, and she frowned slightly.

Sandy immediately noticed the change in Kerry's demeanor. She turned and looked in the direction her partner had and caught just a glimpse of her grandfather's back before he disappeared into his bedroom, his door closed firmly behind him. Sandy could feel the anger build up inside of her. How could he be so rude? If he loved her as much as he claimed to, how could he bring such a frosty reception to her and her loved one. She was going to have to have a talk with him later, she vowed.

End Part Seven