Santana walked into school the following Monday in search of a certain diva. She gave Rachel her space the day before so that she could spend the day with her grandparents. She had missed Rachel, but she knew it was important that they had own time and space. She smiled as she spotted her favorite brunette and made her way toward her. "Coffee?" she offerred. Rachel turned around with a smile.
"Hi sweetie!" she said, kissing Santana before taking the coffee. "Thanks... how was the rest of your weekend?" Rachel asked.
"Lonely." Santana answered. Rachel frowned.
"Oh San, I'm sorry. You could have said something. I totally would have skipped going to my grandparents' house." she said. Santana shook her head.
"Okay first of all, Leroy never would have let that fly. Second of all, its fine. I'm totally used to it. Except now, I have you to look forward to." she said, grinning. Rachel smiled softly and leaned in. Santana kissed her before pulling back. "I have a surprise for you." Santana said.
"I like surprises!" Rachel said. Santana grinned and reached in her bag. Setting her coffee safely in her locker, Rachel waited paitently.
"I'm sure that you probably already ate, but I saw this and figure you'd think I was adorable for doing this, so..." Santana grinned as Rachel wrapped her arms around her waist and she pulled out a individual box of Frosted Flakes. Rachel looked at the box and laughed.
"You're insane, you know that?" she asked. Santana nodded and leaned in for a kiss, which Rachel happily obliged. "Thank you, sweetie." she said. Her Latina girlfriend smiled and placed the box of cereal on the top shelf of the open locker.
"Anytime, Rach." Santana said. Her girlfriend rested her forehead on her shoulder. "So did you have fun at your grandparents' house?" Santana asked. Rachel looked up and shook her head.
"Not in the slightest. It was fine at first but then they started asking me about Finn and if I was still with him." Rachel said. Santana raised an eyebrow.
"What happened?" she asked.
FLASHBACK
Rachel, Leroy, and Hiram were sitting in the living room with Leroy's parents, Caroline and Richard Berry. Leroy and Hiram were seated on the couch and Rachel was curled up in the recliner that she always claimed as hers when they visited. Her grandmother and grandfather were seated in their own recliners. Rachel's grandparents, Leroy, and Hiram were drinking coffee and Rachel was sipping some orange juice. She wasn't really paying attention to the talk about Leroy's new business venture, so she jumped when she heard her name. "Sorry. Yes Grandma?" she said, smiling.
"How's your boyfriend, Finn? Are you still seeing him?" Caroline asked. Rachel shook her head.
"No. I broke up with Finn." she answered.
"Did you meet a new boy?" Richard asked. Rachel shook her head, but started smiling at the thought of Santana.
"There's someone else. I can tell by the way you're smiling." Caroline said.
"Well, I've recently began seeing an wonderful girl, Santana." Rachel said.
"She's a fantastic singer, Caroline." Hiram offered. Rachel smiled even wider.
"She really is. We did a brilliant rendition of Take Me or Leave Me from RENT and it was fantastic. She's so amazing. She took me on my dream date. We went to an early dinner at Breadstix and then she surprised me by taking me to the drive-in, where they were showing Funny Girl. She even brought me a rose and she made me some plain popcorn beforehand and surprised me with it so that I'd have something to eat during the movie." she said.
"Well, we can't wait to meet her. She sounds fantastic, sweetie." Caroline said.
"She's not." Leroy said.
"Daddy! Dad, will you please make him stop?" Rachel exclaimed.
"Leroy-"
"I've got this one, Hiram. Leroy Jefferson Berry-"
"Ma, I'm a grown man. You can't chastise me in front of my daughter." Leroy interrupted.
"Boy if you interrupt me again, I'm gonna send your daughter upstairs and you're gonna wish Rachel was in the room." Caroline threatened. Rachel hid her smirk behind her orange juice, but her grandmother saw it and winked at her. "Yea, you liked that idea, didn't you baby girl?" Caroline asked. Rachel avoided her daddy's eyes as she nodded. "Now, let's try this again. Leroy Jefferson Berry, you need to respect who your daughter is dating. We were very respectful when you began dating Hiram, and you know how difficult that was, especially back then. You came out in the 1970s, in a black neighborhood, and you were dating a white man. But we stood by you and defended you and we welcomed Hiram into our lives and our home. You need to do the same for Rachel and this Santana girl that your daughter obviously cares for." she said, glaring at her son.
"Grandma, its fine. He's obviously already made up his mind about Santana." Rachel said.
"And why's that?"
"Rachel's not going to tell you." he said. Rachel sighed.
"I'll tell you. Okay. When Santana first approached me with the idea of doing a duet together, I was still with Finn. The first time we rehearsed, she kissed me and I left, because I was in a relationship. We met up a few days later and we kissed again, though this time I didn't stop it. She did. She felt guilty because... well... she was trying to break Finn and I up because she said that she was bored and needed something to do. I kicked her out of my house and said I never wanted to talk to her again. However, we were forced to continue the duet and while we were rehearsing I realized that I had feelings for Santana and she told me that she had been denying her feelings for me since Nationals and she realized now that that's why she really wanted Finn and I to break up. She said she was tired of denying her feelings, but she understood if I couldn't reciprocate the feelings and if I chose to remain with Finn. I didn't, as I wanted to explore my feelings for Santana and Finn was starting to want his ex-girlfriend Quinn again-'
"Hold on. Finn and Quinn? That's really... poetic." Richard said, laughing. Rachel giggled. She'd always had a good relationship with her grandparents, but her grandfather never failed to make her laugh, even when she was talking about something serious.
"I know Grandpa. I know. Anyway. Finn was starting to want his ex-girlfriend and it was time to end it. I wanted to start dating Santana right away, but she wouldn't. She wanted to give me time to get over Finn and she said she didn't want to be a rebound, because she wants to be so much more. She's beautiful, she's funny, she cares about me... We've only been official since Friday, but these feelings have been building since the beginning of the school year, maybe even longer. Daddy met her for maybe fifteen minutes yesterday, two minutes the day before, and he's already formed an opinion. See, yesterday he and I went to the store together and I went to go get the cereal because I couldn't stand listening to him insult Santana for one more second. I couldn't reach the cereal and out of nowhere, Santana was there. She was doing some grocery shopping for her parents while they were at work. She helped me get the cereal from the top shelf-"
"She's your knight in shining armor." Caroline said, obviously in love with the story. Rachel smiled.
"In a way, yes. She is. She saved me from not being able to reach the cereal and she saved me from an awful relationship that clearly wasn't working out. She helped me see that. I realized that I was blinded by infatuation. Anyway, she helped me get the cereal from the top shelf and we were talking. I guess I didn't realize how long we'd been talking, but soon Daddy was coming to find me and he was completely rude to Santana. He greeted her with an 'Oh. Its you.' Not a 'Hello Santana. How are you?' but an 'Oh. Its you.' Santana has already apologized for the way she went about dealing with her feelings for me and I've forgiven her. I really like her and I want my fathers to like her, but just because Daddy doesn't like her doesn't mean I'm going to stop seeing her." Rachel said, looking straight at Leroy.
"She sounds like an amazing girl, sweetie. We want to meet her." Richard said. Caroline nodded and Rachel returned her gaze to them.
"Well, can I bring to Grandpa's birthday dinner next weekend?" Rachel asked.
"Of course you can." Caroline said. Rachel smiled.
"Great!" she said, looking at her dads. Hiram was smiling, but Leroy was frowning. Seeing this, Rachel's smile faltered.
END FLASHBACK
"Your grandparents want to meet me?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded.
"Can you come Friday? Its my grandfather's birthday." Rachel said.
"I don't know, Rach... I mean, I woudn't even know what to get him." Santana said.
"You don't have to get him anything."
"Its a birthday party. You don't go empty handed." Santana said. Rachel smiled.
"I'll take care of it. Just say you'll go." Rachel said, smiling hopefully. Santana stared at the beautiful face of her girlfriend and rolled her eyes adoringly.
"How can I say no to you?" Rachel squealed happily and hugged Santana tightly.
"Thank you baby!" Rachel said, kissing Santana deeply. Remembering that they were in the middle of the school hallway, Santana pulled away. She knew from experience that the teachers frowned on public displays of affection and though she didn't mind getting a detention for it as long as she could kiss her girl, but she knew Rachel didn't want to get detention and she wasn't going to be the reason for that.
"Anything for you, Rach." she said, kissing the girl on the cheek.
Santana would never admit it, but she was extremely nervous. She knew that Rachel's grandparents wanted to meet her, but she also knew that they were Leroy's parents and Leroy hated her. She wanted to make a good impression and she wanted them to like her. She and Rachel were sitting in the backseat of Leroy's car and they were about to turn onto the street that his parents lived on. Rachel looked over and grabbed her girlfriend's hand. "Hey." she whispered. Santana looked over.
"Hey." she whispered. Rachel smiled.
"Its gonna be okay, baby." she said. Santana smiled softly and nodded as they pulled into a driveway. Taking a deep breath, Santana undid her seatbelt and got out of the car. Rachel quickly made her way to Santana's side and grabbed her hand. "I'll be here the entire time, I promise." Rachel said. Santana nodded and the four walked to the front door. Leroy opened the door and walked in.
"Mom! Dad! We're here!" he called out as they stood in the front hallway. Rachel and Santana took off their jackets and Rachel wrapped her arm around Santana's waist as they walked into the living room. Soon, they were greeted by a man and woman who Santana instantly knew was Leroy's mother and father. The woman hugged Leroy and Hiram before turning her attention to the two teenagers.
"Rachel, get over here. Just because your girlfriend is here doesn't mean you're too old to give your grandparents a hug." she said, smiling. Rachel grinned, released Santana's waist and hugged her grandmother and grandfather.
"Hi Grandma. Hi Grandpa. Happy birthday." she said. Caroline glanced at Santana with a smile. Rachel turned, smiled at her girlfriend as she walked over, and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward. "Santana, this is my grandmother Caroline Berry and my grandfahter Richard Berry. Grandma, Grandpa, this is my wonderful girlfriend Santana Lopez." Rachel said, smiling.
"Your knight in shining armor." Caroline said. Rachel blushed as Santana smiled and looked at Rachel.
"I'm your knight in shining armor? she asked. Rachel shrugged.
"I told her about you helping me get the cereal at the store... and other stuff." Rachel said. Santana laughed softly at her girlfriend and kissed the side of her hair.
"You just wanna be a princess and you know it." she teased. Caroline and Richard laughed. "Its a pleasure to meet both of you. Happy birthday, Mr. Berry." Santana said.
"Now, Santana, if we're going to get along, you're going to have to call us Richard and Caroline." Richard said. Santana smiled and nodded.
"Absolutely." she said. Rachel grinned and led her to a chair.
"You sit here." she said.
"Where are you going to sit?" Santana asked. Rachel shrugged.
"On the floor." Santana shook her head.
"I'll sit on the floor." she insisted.
"Santana, just shut up and sit in the chair." Rachel said.
"Girls, the chair is big enough for the both of you." Caroline said.
"Rachel, why don't you sit down on the couch with us?" Leroy said with a scowl.
"Leroy, hush. Girls, you can share the chair." Caroline said. Rachel and Santana nodded and sat down.
"Are they always like that?" Santana whispered. Rachel nodded.
"Always." she said. Santana smiled and Rachel laid her head on Santana's shoulder, grabbing her hand and linking their fingers together.
"Santana, I hope you like salad. Last time we didn't have salad as the main course, Rachel had a heart attack." Caroline said.
"That's not true!" Rachel said. Richard laughed.
"Yes it is, sweetie, but its okay. Anyway, we grilled some chicken for the rest of us to put on our salads and we bought some dinner rolls. Just a simple dinner. Nothing big." he said. Santana smiled.
"That's fine." she said, turning to Rachel. "See, you make things difficult." she said, her tone making it very clear that she was teasing Rachel. The smile on Rachel's face was so big Santana thought it would start to hurt soon. Grinning, Santana kissed her softly. Smiling, Caroline spoke up.
"Santana, would you mind helping me in the kitchen?" she said.
"Grandma! Santana's a guest. I'll help you." Rachel said.
"Rachel, its fine. I'd love to help you, Caroline." Santana said. She'd rather be alone with Caroline than alone with Richard, Hiram, and (most importantly) Leroy. Getting up from the chair, she followed the woman into the kitchen. "What did you need help with?" Santana asked. Making sure the kitchen door was closed, Caroline took a deep breath.
"You're in love with my granddaughter.'' she said. Santana's jaw dropped.
"Well, we've only been together for about a week." she said.
"I can see it in your eyes when you look at her. She looks the same way at you. Even when she was talking about you last weekend, her eyes lit up with love." Caroline said, walking toward the kitchen door. Opening it, she watched as Rachel fell in. "Even as she listens in." she said, smiling as Santana rushed over.
"Rach, you okay?" Santana asked. Rachel nodded. "Okay. Why are you listening in?" she asked. Rachel smiled sheepishly.
"Because I know how my grandmother gets." Rachel said. Caroline smiled.
"You two are in love." she said before walking out of the room.