Imagining Tigers

Chapter 16:

A.N.: To that guest who asked me about the tattoos, i'm sorry but i don't have tumblr and i don't even have those drawings anymore. But there's this great poster that someone made on tumblr and it can give you an idea about the flower and the tiger. You can find it here: ohvalerievalerie tumblr com/post/88281632253/brittana-imagining-tigers-x

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

It was Tuesday and I was in my office on my lunch break. Maribel just called to tell me that the house was on sale and it cost one hundred and something thousand. I had some money from bonuses and allowances, so the money that we had went to two hundred and fifty thousand with the money from the house in Puerto Rico too. We still needed another fifty thousand.

What was bothering me the most though wasn't the money. It was the fact that I couldn't go to Lima because I might become a target but my mother was living there, in the same house as my father. Wasn't she in danger too? But by the end of this week they would be moving in New York anyway. The realtor wouldn't advertise that the house was on sale. So, they only had to be discreet about the moving out. I still wanted to be there for them, I felt like I was leaving them alone.

I groaned at my own thoughts and grabbed the phone to call the only person who could make me forget about it for a while. Brittany. I couldn't control myself around the blonde and the night before was another confirmation of that for me. We had been kissing for a while but it felt only seconds to me. When my hands started to wander, she stopped me saying that we should take it slow. And I agreed. I totally did. But she was right in front of me, willing to kiss me. How could I ignore that?

I was brought out of my thoughts when someone answered the phone but no one spoke.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi!" Someone giggled and I chuckled. I mentally scolded myself. How could I forget that little Alice could take my mind off of my problems too?

"What's up, Ali girl?" I asked her. I wondered if Brittany knew that her daughter answered her phone.

"Mommy's gonna be sooooooo mad I pressed the beep." She giggled again and I shook my head trying not to laugh. Apparently Brittany didn't know. "When are you coming Tana?" She asked me then.

"I don't know, sweetheart." I told her softly. "I'll talk with your mommy, ok?"

"Ok, soon!" She squealed loudly. "Oh no!" She whispered then and I heard some shuffling before Brittany's muffled voice came over the speaker.

"No TV for you today then." She said to her daughter. I could imagine little Alice pouting and Brittany's sexy stern face. I knew it was inappropriate thinking that she was sexy when she was scolding her daughter. But I couldn't help it, especially now that I got to kiss that face. "San?" Brittany called, her voice now more clear over the phone.

"Your daughter is something else, Britt." I told her chuckling and I could imagine her rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, sometimes I wonder if sneakiness is hereditary." She said and I chuckled.

"I'm sure you're very sneaky." I told her sarcastically and she huffed.

"I can be if I want to." She protested and I snorted.

"I don't think you want to though." I said pointedly. But then I thought better about it. "But you were so serious when I first met you. And that coming from me is a pretty big deal. I'm a lawyer, I work with serious people all day. So I guess yeah, maybe you're kinda right. You can be playful." I finished smiling.

"You do that to me. You make it so easy being carefree around you." She said quietly causing me to drop my smile and swallow thickly at her admission. I felt proud but also special because beside Alice, who was her daughter, no one else but me could affect her in that way. "So, what's up?" She asked me after a few seconds of silence. "Do you know about the money?"

"Yeah." I breathed. "We still want fifty thousand." I shrugged and pushed my glasses that fell low on my nose back up again. I had an appointment with the ophthalmologist and I had to not wear my contact lenses for two days.

"What would you say if told you I can give you that money?" She asked me and I frowned standing up.

"I would say no." I said and went to stare at the traffic out the window in my office. I took a deep breath. "I would also say that I want to see you." I added nervously and she sighed.

"Santana, please." She said.

"Do you two want to come over my house in the afternoon? Little Ali keeps asking when we're gonna see each other." I said, ignoring her plead. "We could watch a movie or something?" I asked hesitantly. I was nervous about it but I didn't know why. It wasn't like she would say no. Was it?

"Ok, then." Brittany said after a while making me sigh relieved. "I'll bug you face to face." She added and I rolled my eyes. "Revenge is a plate best served cold, my friend." She said teasingly and I frowned. Both because I realized how annoying I was when I wanted to represent her at the court and because she said 'friend'.

"I'm not your friend, Britt." I said.

"I know." She said quietly and I wondered if we weren't friends then what were we? But I let it go. I wouldn't pressure her to put a label on us. It was enough for me that Brittany admitted she liked me back and was opening up to me.

"Hey, I have to get back to work but I'll see you later?" I asked her and went to sit on my chair again.

"Yeah. Text me your address." She answered and then we said our goodbyes. I immediately texted her my address and went back to work. I couldn't wait until the afternoon to see my two favorite blondes.

…

I was in a hurry to go home and clean up the apartment before Brittany and Alice arrive. I wasn't spending much time in my apartment but it was still messy. When I got out of my office I ran into Sugar. When she saw me she narrowed her eyes at me and I frowned.

"You." She said and pointed at me while walking towards me. I arched an eyebrow at her. "You lied to me." She accused me and I arched both eyebrows.

"When did I lie to you?" I asked her and she rolled her eyes when she was in front of me.

"About you and Brittany dating. You were all over each other last night. I was drunk, not blind." She said quietly and looked at me pointedly. I tried my hardest not to groan. That was my business. And Brittany's. But when I actually thought about it I didn't even know myself if we were dating. But I didn't really care at that moment. I got to spend time with Brittany and Sugar was preventing me from it.

"Last time I checked Brittany didn't like it when people were all over her business." I said arching an eyebrow and looked around to see if anyone was listening to the conversation but everybody was minding their own business. I was expecting Sugar to let it go but she didn't.

"I asked her too, you know." She shrugged and I side-eyed her.

"Yeah? And what did she say?" I asked, wanting to know what Brittany thought that was going on between us.

"Uh.." Sugar looked around and then back at me. "She ignored me actually." She said defeated and I chuckled. Of course. What was I thinking? Brittany wouldn't answer that question to Sugar. She probably didn't know the answer herself, like me.

"Well, I think you should just forget about it." I shrugged and forced a smile. I patted her on the shoulder when she huffed and I passed by her to leave the firm and go home.

When I arrived home I changed from my work clothes into jeans and a tank top. I checked if I could see without my glasses but once again I reminded myself that I was actually blind without them. So I put them back on and got over it. Brittany would see them eventually anyway.

I started cleaning the apartment only to realize how dangerous it would be for little Alice to get hurt on the corners of that coffee table or trip over her feet and hit the furniture that the TV was on. I started panicking and regreted inviting them to come over just in time to hear the bell ringing. My eyes widened and I quickly gathered all the sheets that were on the coffee table, bills, leaflets, bank statements, and threw them in a drawer of the coffee table and stood up. I ran my clammy hands down my thighs and tried to calm down.

I went to the door, took a deep breath and opened it. Before I could realize what was going on I felt something hitting my legs with force. I looked down to see Alice hugging me, effectively causing my panic to vanish. I would be watching her the whole time so she wouldn't get hurt.

"Hey, Ali girl." I said and ran my hand through her blonde hair and she glanced up smiling brightly at me, causing me to smile too.

"Tana!" She squealed and extended her arms. I bent down and picked up the little tiger and then turned to see the mother tiger. God, Brittany was so beautiful.

"Hey." I said smiling softly and she smiled back. I stepped to the side to let her in. She squeezed my arm that was holding her daughter when she passed by me as a greeting and once again I felt dizzy from her touch and her scent. I closed the door and turned to see Brittany having an eyebrow arched at me.

"What?" I asked her as little Alice started playing with my hair.

"And I'm the nerd?" She asked and sucked her lips, probably trying not to laugh. I frowned at her.

"I don't understand." I told her but then Alice tried to take my glasses off and I realized what Brittany was talking about. "What's up with you and all these stereotypes lately?" I asked her back frowning and she snorted. "You are a nerd. You're a mathematician." I said pointedly in a high-pitched voice and pushed my glasses back up on my nose with my free hand. "I'm just not allowed to wear contacts for two days." I shrugged and went to sit on the couch with Alice on my lap. Brittany narrowed her eyes at me.

"Yeah, whatever." She said and sat next to me. "You're still hot." She whispered and I arched an eyebrow at her but little Alice, that was now straddling my legs and facing me, cupped my cheeks and turned my head to look at her. She squeezed my face, making me look like a fish and she giggled. My full lips being pushed like that were probably an amusing sight for her.

"So, what did you do today?" I asked the little blonde, my words muffled because she still had her tiny hands on my cheeks. But when I asked she dropped them and pouted.

"Nothing cause mommy got mad." The little blonde frowned and turned to glare at Brittany. But it didn't bother the tall blonde that much. She just relaxed on the couch and crossed her arms and legs, arching an eyebrow at her daughter and her tongue started playing with the piercing on her bottom lip.

"Oh, she does that a lot." I said teasingly looking at the tall blonde and she rolled her eyes before glaring at me. I got the message. "But, I'm sure she had a good reason?" I more asked than said and Brittany nodded approvingly at me. Yeah, I saved it. I turned to look at Alice again and found her pouting. I poked her tummy to make her laugh and she giggled, grabbing my finger to stop me.

"Ali." Brittany said then and the little blonde turned to look at her mother and swallowed nervously. But Brittany smiled softly at her. "I think it's time for San's gift." She said and I frowned as little Alice clapped her hands giggling and hopped off my lap. She sat on the floor and took off her backpack that only now I realized she wore. She started rummaging through it as Brittany shuffled closer to me on the couch and put her arm behind me on the back of the couch. "Santa came early this year." She whispered at me and I turned to look at her frowning.

"It's still May." I said pointedly and she shrugged like she didn't care. And she probably didn't. She turned to see her daughter and winked at her as little Alice stood up and came to stand in front of me, holding three different white envelopes in her tiny hands.

"Ok." The little blonde said and took a deep breath, like she was preparing herself for a rehearsed speech. "You have to dance." She started but then she winced and looked at Brittany. "No, no." She shook her head.

"Baby, it's ok." Her mother said softly and nodded encouragingly. The little blonde nodded too and turned to me again. I was still frowning in confusion as to what was happening.

"You promised to dance with me but you have to take these first." She said and gave me the envelopes but she shook her head again before I could take them and groaned. "You have to take them and then you have to dance with me." She whined and her bottom lip started trembling like she was about to cry. My eyes widened. I had no idea what was happening but I definitely didn't want the little blonde to start crying. Especially because of me. "You have to take them." She said again and gave me the envelopes. I took them and frowned at them. "You have to." She repeated.

"Hey look, I took them and we're gonna dance, I promised." I said softly, still not understanding what the problem was. The little blonde nodded at me and I turned to Brittany to see her expressionless face. Didn't she care that her daughter was about to cry for no reason? Little Alice sniffled and I turned back to her. "What's wrong?" I asked and she sniffled again but her eyes didn't fill with tears.

"Mommy said that you have to take them if you want to dance with me." She said pouting and I frowned. I looked at the tall blonde again who was nodding at her daughter but stopped when I looked at her.

"Britt." I said warningly.

"Just open them." Brittany, who was still really close to me, whispered in my ear. I narrowed my eyes at her but she ignored me and picked up her daughter, kissing her cheek and sitting her on her lap. "Go on." She said again and I sighed. I opened the first envelope to find a check of ten thousand dollars. My eyes widen and I looked at her in surprise.

"Britt-" I started and went to give her the envelopes but she covered my hands with her free one.

"Open them." She said again and I sighed. I opened all of them to find two checks of ten thousand dollars and one of thirty thousand dollars. All three of them from three different bank accounts, none of them were Brittany's.

"What are these?" I asked and gestured towards the checks.

"My tickets." Alice squealed and I arched an eyebrow at her happy mood. When she realized it she pouted again. "You have to dance with me." She added quietly and I turned to Brittany narrowing my eyes.

"You can't be serious." I told her. Was she seriously using her daughter to get me to accept the checks?

"Do you enjoy seeing my baby pouting?" She asked and hugged her daughter closer to her. I groaned.

"I can't believe you." I said and shook my head. "I can't believe that the only time that I want you to be serious you're being like that." I said and went to give her the checks again.

"Ok, ok." She said and pushed the checks back in my hands. She put her daughter down on the floor, who apparently got bored of us because she went to her backpack and got out a painting book and put it on the coffee table before starting to paint. Brittany turned to me again. "You don't have to worry about the money, San. You have it all." She said and grabbed my hand that wasn't holding the checks and brought it on her lap. "All you have to worry about is for your parents to come to New York safely." She shrugged and bit her bottom lip.

"That's a lot of money." I said pointedly, my hand was still in her lap, between both of hers.

"I won't miss them, I promise." She shrugged again and I arched an eyebrow at her. "I'll just be obliged to some people." She said and I frowned.

"What do you mean 'obliged'?" I asked her and she sighed.

"It's called web advertising." She said pointedly and I narrowed my eyes at her. "It's complicated, I'll explain another time." She shrugged and I groaned. But she ignored me. "Do you want to send Matt to bring your parents to New York?" She asked me and I frowned.

"Who's Matt?" I wondered.

"He's a guy that'll make sure your dad stays safe from now on." She said and I sighed.

"I don't know. We'll see." I told her and she nodded at me. She tugged my hand to get us closer so she could whisper in my ear. Her one hand was still holding mine and she put her other arm on the back of the couch and started playing with my hair at the nape of my neck.

"I want to kiss you but my daughter is right there." She said whispering, her breath hitting my skin and causing me to shiver and close my eyes.

"Brittany." I sighed, still amazed by the effect she had on me. I definitely wanted to kiss her too but not in front of little Alice. I didn't trust myself not to lose control once my lips touch Brittany's. I opened my eyes to glance at her pierced pink lips and then at the beautiful blue eyes that I was falling for.

"Mommy, are we gonna watch Nemo now?" Alice asked, interrupting our moment and Brittany pulled away from me to look at her daughter.

"You have to ask Santana, sweetie." She answered and the little blonde turned to me.

"Tana?" She asked.

"We can do whatever you want, little Ali." I said softly and she smiled brightly at me.

"Really?" She asked and I nodded smiling at her. "Dankeschön." She said cheerfully and I blinked a few times shaking my head.

"What?" I asked but little Alice was busy, apparently looking for Nemo in her backpack. I turned to Brittany frowning to see that her eyes widened and she was staring at her daughter.

"She said thank you politely." She told me and turned to look at me.

"She did?" I frowned and she nodded.

"Yeah, in German." She said not looking at me and I arched my eyebrows.

"You're German?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"No. I mean yes but half." She said, still not looking at me. "But I don't speak German. I mean I do but I don't." She told me quietly and shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

"Britt, you're not making any sense." I said frowning and she swallowed thickly.

"I'm half German, and I know German but I haven't spoken it for years so I don't know where she learnt that from. Probably Anna." She frowned looking at her daughter who came and stood in front of her.

"So, one of your parents is German?" I asked her and she nodded, taking the DVD case from her daughter.

"My mom." She said and tried to hide her now sad face by giving me the case.

"What's wrong?" I asked her taking the case and she shrugged.

"I'll tell you once this whole thing with your dad is over. There's no reason to put that in your head too. It's nothing really." She shrugged again and I arched an eyebrow at her, not believing her that it was nothing. But she smiled reassuringly at me so I just nodded slowly, letting it go for now.

…

After we had eaten the pizza that we ordered, little Alice immediately fell asleep between Brittany and I. We were halfway through Nemo when Brittany took off her daughter's shoes and picked her up. She lay her on the other couch and put the throw pillows on the side of the couch, so the little blonde wouldn't fall off.

"Isn't it early for her to sleep?" I asked when I saw that the time was only eight.

"She always falls asleep just after she eats." She shrugged and came to sit on the couch again. "Do you want to watch that?" She asked and gestured towards the TV, where Nemo was still playing.

"Of course." I frowned and she arched an eyebrow at me.

"Ok then." She said challengingly and crossed her legs. I rolled my eyes and turned off the TV before turning to her. "You're so easy." She said seriously and I huffed.

"You're so annoying." I said back and she smirked. She turned to make sure that her daughter was asleep before turning back to me. She took my glasses off and put them on the coffee table.

Brittany put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to her body, her other hand on my thigh. I immediately cupped her cheeks and brought our lips together, causing her to breath sharply through her nose. My heartbeats increased to that familiar pace they got whenever Brittany was around. I sucked her pierced bottom lip, causing her to moan. I had never heard a sexier sound in my life, if you go with how wet it made me. I noticed that she liked it whenever I sucked her piercing and I wondered what it would feel like to have someone sucking a piercing that I would have on my lip.

But Brittany's hands tugging me so I was straddling her brought me back to what was happening. I settled on her lap, my hands that were on her cheeks went in her hair and angled her head to deepen the kiss. I felt her tongue on my upper lip, asking for entrance and I opened my mouth, welcoming her perfect tongue. Her hands went on my waist and she straightened up, bringing our bodies flushed and causing me to moan too. The feeling of her breasts against mine and her tongue fighting with mine for dominance, her hands going up and down my sides and occasionally sliding on my lower back bringing our hips together, caused me to get even more wet.

The only things that were heard in the room were the moans and heavy breathing that Brittany and I were creating. Until my phone started to buzz. I reluctantly pulled back from Brittany and went to get up from her but she grabbed the back of my thighs and pulled me closer to her again. Her lips went straight on my neck, causing me to gasp both in surprise and at the feeling of Brittany's tongue licking my pulse point. I put my hands on her shoulders with difficulty and pushed her away from me. She whined and I smirked at her before getting up and grabbing my phone. When I saw who was calling me I gulped and looked at Brittany with wide eyes. She frowned questioningly at me, trying to calm down her heavy breathing but I ignored it and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Santana." Came the deep and raspy voice of my father. I immediately knew something was wrong because he was breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?" I asked and there was a brief silence.

"Your mami's been shot."