Chapter 19: Meet the Parents
Santana's POV
A little stray beam of light coming between the window and the curtains is what wakes me up. I smell the difference before I see or feel the difference. And I remember, I'm not at home in my own bed, but at Brittany's, in her bed. The smell of Brittany's apartment. The scent of whatever laundry detergent she uses and the smell of her. Her perfume and just her.
My other senses come to life. I feel the warmth from her body laying next to me. I crack an eye open and look over at her. The blonde is laying on her stomach, her arms tucked up underneath her pillow with the side of her face smashed into it, facing me.
I turn onto my side to face her. Brittany is absolutely stunning in her sleep. Content and at peace. I can't help it when I reach over with my right hand and rub my thumb across her brow. She twitches a little in her slumber but doesn't wake up.
I think back to last night. Parts of it kind of embarrassing and parts of it absolutely perfect and then there was the last part. That final part. The couch. The kissing. The roaming hands. The grinding hips. God, I'm such an idiot. It was amazing and I had to go and stop it, ruin it.
I could see the look in her eyes. Disappointment, probably, when I stopped things from go any further. But I just couldn't. I can't. It wouldn't be right. I can't do that to Brittany. I don't want to do that to her. I don't want her to be just another girl that I sleep with. I don't want her to be one of those chicks from college that I met and slept with just for the fun of it. They never meant anything. It's bad, I know. It's everything that my mom nags me about. Getting driunk and staying out all night and hooking up with random chicks.
The thing is, with Brittany, I won't let myself do that. She means more than some random hook up. I don't know how it happened. One day I walk into a bar and the next thing I know I can't stop thinking about the blonde bartender. It's scary as all fuck but I can't stop.
Brittany has been so amazing to me. I've never met anyone that has done so much for me and she hardly even knows me. It makes my heart swell. She gives me this feelings that I've never experienced before. Sure, I've had a couple of girlfriends before but I never felt half of what I feel for Brittany as I did for them. It's beyond everything else.
A smile tugs at my lips. Those feelings. Could they be.
Wait. Last night. Before I feel asleep.
I love you, Santana.
That wasn't a dream, right? That was real, wasn't it? She whispered it into my hair. I know it was real. It had to be. I could feel it not just hear it. Like her words seeped into my body through my hair and skin.
I smile and lean forward until I can kiss her on the cheek. Brittany's face scrunches up at the feeling of my lips on her skin. She's so adorable.
"Britt-Britt." I whisper against her skin.
She smashes her face further into the pillow. I scoot closer until I can wrap on arm around her back and rest my chin on her arm.
"Wakey-wakey." I breath in her ear. She groans and tries to twitch away from me but I hold her down.
"What time's it?" She mumbles.
"Don't know." I tell her. "Don't really care."
"Mmmm." She hums. "You seems very- chipper this morning." She peeks an eye open and turns her head until she can spy me.
"I feel like a million bucks." I tell her and nuzzle my cheek into her shoulder.
"Wow."
"Yeah. And I think we should get up, get dressed, and go out for breakfast." I don't know when I decided to plan the whole morning out or when I did it. But I have this whole idea for how the day should go. And I want to get up and do it with Brittany.
She raises an eyebrow. "I don't know. All this eating out is gonna make me fat."
My face falls. Christ. The room falls silent except for our breathing. I thought I was terrible with the sex jokes and the innuendo. This girl is going to kill me.
"Uh- um." I finally stutter out. It's not very intelligent or eloquent but fuck it. "I- I-"
Brittany starts laughing. "What?"
She shrugs me off of her shoulder and rolls over onto her back. I find myself immediately moving to the space at her side. She wraps her arm around me and I cuddle into her side. "Your face. It was priceless. I should make more crude jokes if I get to see that cute flabbergasted face every time."
"Brittany." I scold. It's not funny to me.
"Hmm?" She hums, her fingers tracing up and down my arm slowly.
I feel like I need to tell her and that if I don't do it right now then I don't know when I will work up enough courage to again.
"I've never really taken things slow with a girl before." I say all of a sudden. This is it. "In college it was just a bunch of fun and drunken one night stands or hook ups with chicks that I had no interest in have a relationship with."
She stills her finger movement on my arm. "Hmm." She hums.
"That's all you have to say? Hmm?" Brittany seems rather blasé about this.
"Well, no." She shrugs her shoulders the best she can. "But what do you want me to say? I kind of figure that's the way it was with you."
"Oh." I pause to think over her words. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah. Santana, I'm a bartender. I like to think of myself as any expert at reading people and seeing how they carry themselves. I can sorta predict how they are gonna behave. Humans are creatures of habit. They tend to fall into certain categories. Drunk or otherwise. People behave in certain ways and stick to certain patterns. It's simple if you think about it."
God, she's a fucking genius.
"Woah." I breathe out.
She chuckles. "Didn't mean to drop that little bomb of wisdom on you this early in the morning."
"Yeah." She's right. It's too early for that much thinking.
We lay together in silence for a few minutes after that. Me idly tracing patterns with my fingertips over the shirt covering her stomach. I think over her words and think over my own words.
"Britt?" I whisper.
"Yeah." She resumes her stroking of my arm. It's so calming and soothing I could fall asleep again.
"That might be who I am but not anymore. Not with you."
Her fingers still on my arm. "Oh." And I know she understands what I am saying.
"It's just that you are special to me and I respect you too much and want to do it right. I don't want you to be just another one night stand."
"But-"
"Let me." I press my finger to her lips to shush her. "We are friends. And I don't have a lot of really close friends. And I would hate to loose that if something happened that I wasn't ready for or you weren't ready for. As much as I want to- I think that us having sex now could jeopardize the friendship that we have recently built."
"But I-"
"Shhh." I smile. "As scary as it is, I am serious about you. About you and me. What you and I have is beyond anything. And that's scares me but I want- I want- I just want. I want you. I do. In every way. I'm so serious about you that I've never felt anything like it before."
Brittany's eyes are soft. The lightest blue I've ever seen them. "I'm not good talking about my feelings. I probably sound like a crazy person right now." I hide my face in her shoulder.
"No. That was beautiful. You are beautiful. And thank you for telling me all of that. Come here." I feel her finger under my chin and I let her lift it up. She lifts my chin up and twist her own neck around. She kisses me. Her kisses are the softest, gentlest kisses. All tender and caring. She takes my bottom lip in between hers and then alternates to my top lips and I feel like I'm flying.
She pulls away and I sigh. My eyes flickering open to see Brittany smiling up at me.
"So, about breakfast?" I ask after a few seconds of us just staring at each other and smiling like idiots.
"What about it?"
"I have this feeling that I want to show off my awesome awesome girlfriend. To everybody. Starting with breakfast and then maybe if I'm still feeling like a million bucks maybe even my parents."
Brittany's eyes go wide. "Really?" She asks me.
I nod. "My mom's probably at church this morning but maybe this afternoon we could go over there and tell her."
"I like that idea." She says and kisses me on the top of my head. "But I have an idea of my own. Maybe add to your idea."
"Yeah?"
"Mhmm. What if I call my parents up and ask if I can come over for lunch? And then we could go over there and announce our new status."
I wrap my arm tight around her waist. "I like that idea."
"And then after we can go over to your house and tell your parents." Brittany suggests.
"That sounds prefect, Britt." I hug her tight.
"But first we eat out." She giggles like a thirteen year old girl.
"You're terrible." I mumble.
"Oh, admit it, you like it."
"Maybe." I mumble into her shoulder. And I do like it.
"Okay. Now that that's settled. I'm gonna go call my mom and you can get that beautiful little body of yours dressed so we can go out to eat. Sound good?"
I can feel the heat rushing to my face and the blush, that I will deny, flushing my cheeks. I clear my suddenly dry throat. "Sounds perfect."
Brittany makes me feel like a shy little school girl. I don't know how she does it because I have never been shy when it comes to my body or sex but she just has this way of pulling it out of me.
She taps my arm and I sit up and she gets out of bed. I feel cold now that she is gone and I miss her warmth already and she isn't even out of the room yet.
She gets to the door and turns the handle. She pulls the door open and smiles at me. She gives me a little wink and is gone.
At first I don't make a move. I hear Brittany talking to Lord Tubbington first and then a few seconds after that talking to, I assume, her mom on the phone.
I smile like an idiot. Today is gonna be awesome. I can feel it.
"Alright, just follow my lead. Let me do all the talking."
"Okay." I'll admit, as we approach the front door, that I'm nervous. I've seen Brittany's parents around the bar on Friday and Saturday nights and her dad's even been in my house but this is something totally different. I'm not just meeting them as a friend or a buddy or something. I'm meeting them as Brittany's girlfriend and we are going to tell them that we are together. It's a little nerve wracking.
"I didn't tell my mom I was bringing you with though so-"
Brittany knocks on the front door. My eyes go wide at her statement.
A few seconds pass before the swings open and her mom is standing there, her mouth hanging open. "Britt, why did you kno- oh, I see." Brittany's mom looks between the two of us. "Well, come in girls." She says warmly and steps back.
"Tom." Mrs. Pierce calls through the house. "You might want to throw more meat on the grill."
Brittany turns to me and gives me a big goofy smile. It makes me laugh and I think that was her goal. To ease my nerves a little and loosen me up.
"Follow me out back girls." Mrs. Pierce instructs.
Brittany follows her mom and I follow Brittany through the kitchen and out the patio door onto the back patio. There are a number of lawn chair set up around the patio. Mr. Pierce is flipping hamburgers on the grill.
"Why do I need more meat?" He asks. His attention solely on the grill.
"Because Brittany brought a guest with her."
He spins around to face us. "Santana. We meet again." He grins wickedly.
"I guess so." I shrug.
"What brings you to our little barbeque this afternoon?"
"I brought her along dad. Is there a problem with that?" Brittany steps in.
"No. There isn't. No need to get defensive Britt."
She ducks her head. "Sorry."
"So Santana hamburgers or hot dogs. Which do you prefer?" Tom asks me.
"Hamburgers, definitely." I smile and nod.
"Brittany, how come no one around here seems to like hot dogs except for me and your mom."
"Dad." Brittany scoffs at my side. "Where is that little sister of mine?" I know it's Brittany's way of changing the subject.
"Oh, she's upstairs in her room." Mrs. Pierce informs us. "I'll get her down here."
"Okay." Brittany nods. "Let's have a seat." She says to me. I turn to one of the chairs and take a seat and Brittany is about to take the one next to me but stops.
"CHRISTI PIERCE, GET YOUR FANNY DOWN HERE. YOUR SISTER IS HERE." Brittany's mom yells. When she said she would get Brittany's sister, I assumed that she would go in the house, up to the girls room and tell her to come down, not yell at the top of her lungs for the whole neighborhood to hear.
"Mom." Brittany scolds.
She turns around towards her daughter. "What?" She even holds her arms out at her side like she didn't do anything wrong.
"The whole block probably heard you." Brittany adds and I try not to giggle. It's funny, her and her mom.
"So. They love me."
Brittany rolls her eyes and finally takes a seat next to me. She pulls her lawn chair tight to mine so that the little armrests are touching and then sits down and smiles at me. "Sorry."
"No. That was funny."
She leans over onto her armrest and whispers in my ear. "Well, I'm glad my family's antics are amusing to you."
A few minutes later a young blonde bounds out of the patio door. "Jeez, mom, I could have heard you a mile away."
"Christi, it's about time. Your sister is here and she brought-"
"Hello, who are you?" Christi cuts her mom off and walks over to stand in front of me. Her hands on her hips looking expectantly at me.
"Uhh-" I mumble and turn to my left and look to Brittany for help. I don't know if or how I am suppose to explain. I just don't know. Brittany smiles and pats my arm with her hand.
"Chirsti, this is Santana Lopez." Brittany says with a proud smile. I know what she is thinking and probably what she wants to say. This is my girlfriend, Santana. It sounds so good. It feels even better.
"Well, then. Santana. I don't know who you are or anything about you but from your initial appearance you seem ok." Christi says.
"Christi." Brittany growls low. "Stop it."
"Whatever, when is the food gonna be ready?" The teenager turns and asks her dad.
"That was rude. I'm sorry." Brittany leans in and whisper in my ear again. Her hand is still resting on my arm from when she patted at it. Her breath tickles my skin and a little involuntary shiver runs through my body.
"It's- it's okay. She just being a teenager. I was much worse than her at her age." I turn my head to look at her. Our faces are so close together that if I leaned forward just an inch I could kiss her. "Trust me." That last part comes out a little shaky with the thought of kissing Brittany running through my brain.
"I do trust you." She whispers and I know that she isn't talking about what I was just talking about.
"Alright ladies. Man, I'm the only guy here. Ah well, the foods ready." Mr. Pierce spins around from the grill with a huge plate of hamburgers (and a few hot dogs) and sets them down on the picnic table. "Let's eat."
Brittany and I get up from our lawn chairs and go sit at the table with the rest of the Pierce family. I'm about to sit down when Brittany taps me on the shoulder and point to her left. "Sit there." She mouths. I nod and sit where she says. I don't know why she wants me to sit in that specific spot though. She takes the spot on my right and her parents and her sister all sit on the other side of the picnic table.
The plate of meat gets passed around the table. I take a hamburger and pass the plate to Brittany. It's quiet while everyone fixes their hamburgers or hot dogs with condiments.
It's Mr. Pierce who breaks the silence. "So, Santana, how is that wall of yours?" His wife and his youngest daughter turn to him with questioning eyes.
"It's fine, thank you for coming to fix it."
"No problem dear, it's my job." He smiles over at me and I duck my head.
"What are you two talking about, Tom?" Susan asks her husband. "Are you saying that you have met Santana before today?"
"Well, yeah. First, I've seen her in the bar a number of times. Second, I repaired a hole in the hallway wall at her house. So, yes, we have met before today."
"Oh. I didn't know." Susan says.
"It's no big deal. I'm sure Santana doesn't want to talk about it. I'll shut my big mouth." I look up from my plate and the man is looking at me knowingly. I nod subtly and he smiles.
"Why wouldn't she want to talk about it? It's a hole in the wall, right?" Christi pipes up.
"Christi, just drop it, okay?" Brittany speaks up from my side. She knows I don't want to talk about it too.
"Why?"
"Because I said so." Brittany argues.
"Why? What happened? Is it scandalous? Did someone die?" Christi's eyes get really big with that last question.
"What? No." Brittany says at the same time her mom says Christi's name.
I turn my attention to Brittany. "It's okay." I rest my right hand on her thigh under the table. I turn back to Christi. "I lost my temper and punched a hole in the wall and broke my hand." I lift my casted hand for emphasis. "Your dad came and fixed the wall for me and I begged him to not tell Brittany, or anyone for that matter, what happened." I look to him. "And he kept his word and didn't tell."
He nods at me and I give him another thankful smile. The man has been far too nice to me and he hardly even knows me.
"Wow. Little feisty one you got there, Britt." Christi laughs and goes back to her hamburger.
I duck my head again. Shit.
Brittany squeezes my hand that's on her leg with her own. I look over at her and she is smiling like an idiot. It makes me smile too. I look up and look around the table. Everyone is too engrossed in their own meals to pay us any attention. I thought for sure one of Brittany's parents would have had something to say about Christi's little comment. But nothing. Either they didn't hear what the girl said or it didn't sound the way to them that it sounded to me.
And Brittany. I know she heard it too. That's why she is smiling at me like she just got the best birthday present ever. I get that feeling again. Like I want to shower her with kisses, all over her pretty little face. I sigh and reluctantly go back to eating my lunch. But Brittany still has a grip on my hand. I manage to turn my hand over though and hold on to her hand properly.
Lunch passes without any other incident.
After we are finished eating Brittany clears her throat and squeezes my hand at the same time. This is it.
"Mom and dad. Uh- and Christi. I have something I need to tell you guys."
I watch their reactions. Brittany's mom's eyes go wide. "Oh my god, are you pregnant?" Her mom shouts right away. "Am I going be a grandmother?" I don't know if she sounds more scandalized or excited.
Brittany's dad on the other hand is sitting there with his hands folded on top of the picnic table. A knowing smile on his face. While Brittany's mom is rambling on about a possible pregnancy I give him a smile and a little nod to tell him that he is correct.
Tom turns to his wife and puts a hand on her arm. "Susan, she isn't pregnant."
"What? Wait. How do you know? She didn't even answer my question. Brittany?" Her mother rambles.
The oldest Pierce woman turns to her daughter. "Brittany?" She repeats.
I squeeze Brittany's hand this time.
Brittany's dad speaks up. "It's okay, Britt, just tell your mom so she can quite have a mid-life crisis over here." I see her look to him and he grins at her and nods. She knows he knows.
"Okay, let me rephrase my original statement." Brittany looks over at me and smiles and I return the smile. "We have something we need to tell you guys." She lifts our joined hands out from under the table and sets them on the table top. "Mom, dad, Christ, this is my girlfriend, Santana."
"Well, shit." Christi breathes. "I didn't know you had it in you."
"For what, exactly?" Brittany questions her little sister.
Christi shrugs. "To bag a hot piece of ass like Santana here."
"Christi!" Her mom, dad and Brittany all shout at the same time.
I divert my attention to my lap. I don't think I've ever met such a straightforward, say it like it is, teenage before. And that's coming from me. The person who told people just what I thought of them, good or bad.
"Honey, that's great." Brittany mom speaks up trying to break the awkwardness in the air. I look up and she is smiling brightly at me. "Isn't that great, dear." She turns to her husband. He just nods and smirks at me and Brittany. "Wait a minute. You know something I don't." Susan asks Tom.
"Not any more." He chuckles. Susan gaps at him.
Brittany starts giggling at my side. I turn at look at her and she is watching her parents. I lean over and kiss her on the cheek to get her attention. I sit back and she looks at me with wide eyes. "What?" I ask.
"You just-"
"They all know now, so…" I shrug.
I here a scoff and see Christ standing up from her stop at the picnic table. "As fun as this has been, I'm slightly uncomfortable now. All you guys looking at each other like one could devour the other person. Now that I am done eating I am going to go back to my room and try and keep my food from coming back up at the nauseating shit that is happen at this table. I mean seriously." With that the youngest Pierce leaves the back yard.
"How rude?" Brittany says in her best Stephanie Tanner impression.
I lean back and laugh. I have to grip on to the edge of the table to keep from falling off the bench. A arm wraps around my back and holds me up. I snap my eyes open and see Brittany leaning over me. I stop laughing immediately and smile at her. "You are so awesome." I whisper.
"You know it, babe." She whispers back. Before I know it she get closer and closer. She rubs her nose back and forth over mine. "I'm gonna kiss you now."
"Okay." I try to say and it's more of just my lips moving than me actually speaking. Brittany closes the distance between our lips and presses hers into mine ever so gently and then pulls back resting her forehead against mine. A couple of seconds pass, it's just her holding me in mid-air with our foreheads pressed together. I don't even open my eyes to see if she has hers open or closed. I can't. It's too scary. I feel the her shift and her lips press to mine again. I hum as she gives me a few more pecks on the lips before pulling me up and straightening out in our seats.
I open my eyes and the back yard seems to be spinning. "Whoa." I blink a few times and take a deep breath.
"You okay?" Brittany asks gently.
I nod after I get my bearings again. "All good." I am more than good. I'm great. Fabulous. Ecstatic. The mind clears and only one thought runs through it. I love her. Brittany. I love Brittany.
"Good." She kisses me on the cheek.
"Wow." Is the next thing I know or hear. I turn to where the voice came from. Brittany's mom. "You two are absolutely adorable."
"Mom." Brittany whines.
"Thanks." I whisper and can feel the blush on my cheeks. Her mom is looking at us like- I don't know what like. She looks from me to Brittany and smiles creepily and looks back to me.
Brittany must notice it too. "We should get going. Thanks for having us for lunch but we have somewhere else we need to go."
Oh shit. That's right. My parents. I had completely forgot we were going over there. I was enjoying my afternoon with the Pierce's so much.
Brittany stands up and I join her. "Thank you for lunch. It was great. I hope we can do this again sometime soon. I had a great time." I tell them and it's all true. It feels good.
Brittany smiles at me and takes my hand. "You are welcome, Santana. And you are welcome to come over anytime you want. You are part of this family now." Susan tells me and I am so overwhelmed by her words that I can't even speak. All I can do is nod in agreement.
"I'll see you tomorrow mom." Brittany says. "Bye, dad."
"Bye, honey." Her parents say in unison.
Brittany leads me out of the back yard and through the house and out front to the car. "That went well. I just hope it goes well with your parents." Brittany says as we get in the car.
"I hope so too." I say and start the car.