"Santana do you really think it's wise to let Harper watch the fight?" Judy asked, shifting her gaze so she could look at her granddaughter and then back to Santana.
Santana looked over at Harper who was busy running around the table where there was a huge spread of goodies out for the entire family, as they had all gathered to watch Charlie's pay-per-view at the Fabray's place. Quinn and Rachel would be arriving soon, as would Dani and Marley. "Yes, Charlie already takes Harper to the gym with her at least once a week. All the alpha's love her, and she's seen Charlie spar. She probably won't pay attention until it's Charlie's turn anyway," Santana said with a shrug. She personally doubted that Harper would remember this in a few years, but Charlie had wanted Harper to see the fight and since Mack had given her permission for Harper to remain with them until her pregnancy was over and they found a new and bigger place to live, now was the perfect time to have Harper watch Charlie fight. One day they would be able to go and watch her in person, which had been the plan until Mack had cancelled on them. Harper was far too young to sit and watch fights, and Charlie really didn't need to be distracted by Harper.
"So, is she any good at this?" Russell asked, looking at his phone. "Like if I were to put a bet down I'd get a return on my investment?"
"Russell," Judy admonished. "We've talked about this, you can't just—"
"Don't tell Charlie but I put ten thousand down," Santana admitted. It was nearly half of her savings, but Charlie had never let her down before, and with the odds being what they were she could walk away with nearly a hundred thousand dollars. It was a gamble, but if she did win, she would split that money. Half would go into Harper's college fund, that Charlie had started and the rest would go into their house fund. They weren't quite ready to buy a place together just yet, but this would help give them financial security.
Russell let out a laugh, and looked over at Judy who looked like she had licked a lemon. "I'll put a 100 grand down then. I knew I liked her."
"Santana you shouldn't encourage him," Judy sighed.
Santana let out a laugh, which seems to cause Harper's attention to shift towards her and she immediately heads over to the couch trying to balance three massive chocolate chip cookies in her hands. Santana smiles at her and helps her onto the couch. "Is one of those for me?" Harper blinks and looks down at her cookies and then back at Santana like she's grown another head, and it's so very reminiscent of Charlie that Santana can't help but pull Harper closer to her. "Your ma would share with me."
Harper thought about what she said for a second,before picking up a cookie and licking it, before offering it to Santana. "Here you go!"
Santana looked to the ceiling, she was going to have a very long conversation with Charlie about what she was teaching Harper. Because Charlie had done the exact same thing multiple times when she didn't want to share her treats. "You know what, why don't you have it," Santana shook her head as both Russell and Judy laughed. She rolls her eyes.
"So, Santana," Judy said, deciding to change the subject. "Rachel and Quinn have announced that they aren't going to have anymore children, but you and Charlie—"
"Charlie and I aren't going to have that conversation until she mates with me. And even then, we're going to wait until we think Harper wants to have a sibling. Mack I think ruined it for Harper, she hates her half-brother."
"Well when are you going to mate?"
Santana shrugged, they had been supposed to do it after Charlie's next fight, but her fight had gotten pushed up till tonight, and it wasn't a topic that they discussed frequently. They would mate when Charlie was ready and not a moment sooner. She would definitely ask once Charlie came home.
~ O ~
"Do you remember the plan," David asked as he handed Charlie her mouth guard.
"Win, go home and mate with Santana," Charlie answered, placing the mouth guard in her mouth before holding out her hands so that they could get taped up.
David rolled his eyes, "And how are you going to win this fight?"
"Hit them until they stop moving."
David inhaled sharply before narrowing his eyes when Charlie flashed him a smile. Her mouth guard was showing. "I'm being serious. Lauren Zizes is no joke Charlie, she's a future champion, and this was supposed to be a number one contenders match, I mean theoretically it still is, which is good for us. Her wrestling game is on point and her reach is longer than yours. You will get taken down repeatedly." Charlie did have a decent ground game, but it was obvious that she rather stood and throw absolute bombs against her opponent. There wasn't any footage of Charlie on the ground, which meant that they did have an advantage. "So what's the strategy?"
"Body shots." Charlie said, "Zizes has a steel chin, but if you aren't breathing your body begins to work against you so I need to hurt her ribs, I need to hurt her abdomen so breathing hurts, it takes away her weapons on the ground and it means that she won't be throwing bombs back at me."
"Good. Remember that, this fight is going to be long Charlie you aren't going to knock her out like you've knocked out everyone else. But as long as you keep your calm, and breathe you'll be fine." Charlie nods and turns so they can start putting a bit of vaseline on her face. It was meant as a way to prevent cuts that could stop the action.
~ O ~
Santana held her breath, this had been the longest fight of Charlie's professional career and she was beginning to rethink letting Harper watch this, but it was far too late and both Harper and Beth were currently sitting in front of the television, their eyes wide as they watched the absolute bloodbath that this fight had become. Both Charlie and Lauren were exhausted, and Charlie was covered in blood. A nasty elbow in the second round had sliced open the old wound just above Charlie's eye and she was certain that Charlie was still bleeding. They had one more round after this, and Charlie looked absolutely exhausted. Her usual bounce when she fought had disappeared after the third round and if this went to the judges she was certain that Charlie would lose on points. "She needs to end this," Santana mumbled mostly to herself, as Charlie got caught once again by Lauren before she was thrown across the ring. It was probably the first time that Charlie had ever been manhandled like this and she watches as Charlie back crashes into the mat.
Her body bounces with a sick thud, but Charlie somehow manages to roll through and quickly gets to her feet before Lauren can finish her off.
Judy had her hands covering her eyes, she couldn't watch the fight anymore, and she had needed to excuse herself several times to compose herself. Her baby was hurting. "I thought you said she was good at this."
"She is, but she took this fight last minute because I thought it would get her to where she wanted to be faster," Santana admits. She was never going to push Charlie to take a last minute fight again. In fact she was going to insist that Charlie think about hanging up her gloves and focusing on—
The two of them start to exchange heavy blows, before Lauren shoots for another takedown. The moment that she does, Charlie shifts to the side and wraps her arm tightly around Lauren's neck, immediately trapping her as she locks her hands together and begins to squeeze as Lauren tries to force Charlie off her. But Charlie doesn't let go as she's brought to the mat again, she shifts her grip ever so slightly and suddenly Lauren's body goes limp from where she's laying ontop of Charlie and the referee waves his arms and immediately moves to break up the hold, indicating that the fight is over.
"What just happened?" Rachel asks as Lauren suddenly snaps back to life and tries to punch Charlie in the face, the moment that Charlie releases the hold at the instruction of the referee, who immediately pushes his body between them to forcibly separate them.
"Did she win?" Russell asks looking up at Santana. Charlie was basically lying motionless on the ground. It takes a moment before Charlie hops to her feet, and bows in Lauren's general direction before she stumbles and drags herself back to her corner as David and the rest of her cornermen swarm her, looks of surprise and happiness written all over their faces. "She won?"
"She won," Santana said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Harper your ma won," Santana said with a laugh as she glances at her phone and spots that her father had sent her a text. She relaxes immediately and closes her eyes and breathes a sigh of relief. "She's the number one contender."
~ O ~
Santana hummed as she checked the oven, looking at the bacon that was sizzling away, before going back to the batter that she had made as she checked the waffle iron. She had already finished dicing the strawberries, and she was going to start working on the little sausages that her mate liked. Harper was currently with Quinn and Rachel who had whisked her away with them last night and told her that they would bring her back later today. She had tried to argue with them but they had pointed out that realistically Charlie would probably need some care and some time to decompress, which she agreed with but Charlie loved being around Harper. Still it would give them some alone time, and she wanted to make sure her alpha was well-fed.
The sound of the key in the door causes Santana to look up and immediately go to poke her head out of the kitchen so she could greet her mate coming in. She inhales sharply at the terrible stitch job that Charlie had on her forehead, she would need to fix it so it wouldn't leave a scar, but her mate was currently holding a bouquet of roses and had a sheepish almost nervous look on her face.
"Hey," Charlie greets and frowns at how basic her greeting was, but she couldn't help how nervous she was. "I won."
"You won," Santana said looking at the flowers. "Did you bring me back roses?"
"I saw them and I thought that you might like them," Charlie answers, offering them to her.
Santana takes them from Charlie studying her closely for a moment, "What did your terrible doctor say?"
"I have a concussion," Charlie admits, wincing when Santana inhales sharply. "He said it was mild, which is good right?"
"I mean no concussion is better than a concussion, Charlie," Santana shakes her head as she grabs a vase and begins to fill it with water. "Breakfast is almost ready I thought I had at least twenty more minutes before—"
"It can wait."
"It can wait?" Santana repeats looking at Charlie.
Charlie nods and swallows, looking at Santana. "I had this plan that if I won last night's fight, I would mate with you which is why I told Quinn and Rachel to take Harper and bring her back after dinner today."
Santana drops the roses in shock, "What?"
"I said after my next fight, and I can think of a million reasons to keep putting it off. I'm still scared that you're going to reject the bond, but I want to start trying Santana. I need us to be a family and—" Santana's lips come crashing against hers and Charlie kisses back just as hungrily. "We should switch off the oven," She murmurs to Santana.
"Right, of course," Santana said, keeping a hand on Charlie's shirt and reaching over so she can switch off the oven. It would be wise to take the bacon out of the oven but she would worry about that later right now she needed to make sure that she and Charlie were mated as soon as possible.
~ O ~
"You ready?" Charlie asks, swallowing nervously as she looks down at her mate, as she struggles to control her breathing.
Santana lets out a laugh and traces an X at the base of her neck. "X-marks the spot," she says trying to push Charlie along gently. This hadn't been Charlie's best work, but she was willing to forgive her mate because it was obvious that she was nervous. She reaches up and touches Charlie's cheek. "I'm seeing this through because I have a feeling if I don't I'll never get this chance again," she informs Charlie. It didn't matter what she saw, or felt. She had been ready since the first day she had met Charlie and even through all the shit that they had gone through together, she just wanted to be with her mate.
Charlie lets out a deep breath and leans in, she was already connected to Santana and she needed to lock Santana down before she came to her senses. "I love you," she mumbles before she bites Santana's neck, starting the process of them mating.
It was like a sharp pinch, and before she can hiss in pain she feels Charlie starting to move her hips quickly again, before her orgasm hits, which triggers her own orgasm. It hits her like a rocket, and she wasn't sure what she expected, Charlie always seemed reserved. She had expected what had happened to Charlie to hit her like a ton of bricks, but she doesn't feel it, she just sees it in her mind's eye, and she can feel her anger at what had happened to her alpha turn into rage, before just like that it's gone, and she's just hit with all of Charlie's feelings at once.
She had already suspected that Charlie felt guilty about quite a few things but as she gets flashes of Charlie's memories, she can feel the emotions that come with them. The day that Mack handed her Harper, she can feel the panic that Charlie feels. The day they met for the first time she can see that Charlie had trusted her from day one, but she also felt the self-loathing that Charlie had. It was there in nearly every single memory that she saw, and it breaks her heart that Charlie doesn't think she's good enough. Her eyes burn as the mating process slowly winds down and Charlie pulls back and looks at her, searching her face as the bond starts to solidify. She can see how desperate Charlie felt when she had heard that she had been with other people. The self-loathing comes back as Charlie snaps back to reality and she is hit with the horror of what she had done.
"Are you—"
Santana doesn't hesitate to kiss her mate, and unlike every other time she had kissed Charlie in the past she can certainly feel the fireworks, as their bond roars to life and she can feel Charlie stiffen underneath her. "I love you. I fucking love you and I need you to know that you're good enough. There is no other person on this planet that I want to spend the rest of my life with. You need to know that and you need to understand that," she informed her mate forcefully. "Nod your head if you understand."
Charlie nods wordlessly and Santana lets go of her cheek and flops back down on the bed. It takes her a moment to realize what had just happened and that she has someone in her head, that she can just feel Santana completely. The bond had been successful. She and Santana were mates. Every little thing that she had worried about and felt seemingly disappears as it hits her that someone had chosen her. Someone had chosen her and they had stayed, and immediately she's overcome with emotion and longing for the woman who was to be her mate for the rest of her life.
It wasn't magic by any stretch of the imagination, but she can feel her sex-drive which had been relatively low for an alpha's come roaring back to life and she can't help but look at her mate in a different light. She had always known that Santana was gorgeous, but now she felt like she could appreciate it. Santana was her mate, and she needed to show her just how much she adored and loved her.
~ O ~
"You okay there Santana?" Tina asked, looking at her, she was walking a bit funny and she immediately flinched at the withering glare that Santana shot her way. She's about to walk back her comments when she gets a whiff of Santana and blinks, she smelt different. Her nose wasn't anywhere as good as an alpha's nose, but even she could tell that Santana scent was different, and it didn't smell like a new shampoo or body wash. "You're mated!"
Santana grumbled, as she tried to keep the smile off her face, slightly delighted that people could tell. "It happened back after Charlie's fight, she was feeling high off her win and it happened," Santana said in a pleased tone.
Tina nodded grinning at the story, "So how was it?"
"The mating was fine, it was about what I expected. Except now that we're mated it seems that Charlie's entered a rut," Santana complained.
"Isn't she a bit old to be entering a rut?" Tina asked, it generally happened to teenagers who were still going through puberty.
"I mean yes, but it's not unheard of for older alpha's to enter a rut, especially if they have an omega like me," Santana retorted haughtily. Truthfully it was due to Charlie's lack of healthy sexual experiences, and the fact that Charlie hadn't really been huge on sex prior to them getting together. "She's trying to kill me through sex Tina."
"Or you just can't keep up with her Santana, I mean I saw her in that suit, and she goes to the gym all the time, when was the last time you worked out?"
Santana scowled, she didn't need to hear that from Tina of all people, she had a child at home, and an alpha who was a hazard in the kitchen. Sure she'd gained a few pounds since she'd met Charlie but it's not like she was completely out of shape either, she walked everywhere in the hospital. "I'm ignoring you now," Santana informed Tina before walking away. Maybe she should try and find time to hit the gym, she would ask Charlie for help but she was certain that her mate would take it as an invitation to try and get her naked. Not that she minded, it was nice to feel wanted and she was happy that Charlie wanted her, and that even if she was in a rut she had retained the same work ethic in the bedroom making sure that she was in pure bliss before seeking out her own pleasure. She'd never been with such a generous lover and tonight because she really didn't think it was wise to have sex again, she'd give her mate a little reward for being so generous.
