"Santana, te ves hermosa." [You look beautiful] Says your Abuela when you meet her at your favourite place to have brunch. You are wearing a black pant suit, with a white button-up shirt underneath and white sneakers, since you decided you'd be walking today and walking around Manhattan in high heels is always a struggle.

You smile softly at Alma and actually look at her for the first time in years. She is in her early eighties and she still looks amazing. Her hair is grey now, and her face is covered by soft wrinkles and expression marks, yet, in your eyes, she could still be a model. You might be biased, though, but apparently Latino women tend to age quite fine.

When you are done looking, you hug her. She still uses the same perfume. It feels like home.

You almost start crying right there right then.

With a little bit of small talk you get seated and choose and order what you will be having for brunch. You went a little overboard maybe ordering food for like seven people, but it's the reunion with the person who has meant the most to you, and who broke your heart harder, too.

You don't really know how to take the conversation towards what happened when you were a teenager, and you are starting to fidget a bit on your seat, but Abuela seems to still know you really well and she is the one to start talking.

"Look, Santana, I didn't understand." Is all she says in the beginning, and you frown because you are not sure what she is talking about. "A mí me criaron a la antigua..." [I was raised under old fashioned values] She adds. "You were very brave when you came to me and I failed you. I failed you as a confident, I failed you as tu abuela, and I failed as human being. Seeing you with Brittany...both now and back then...You are meant for each other. Ella es tu alma gemela, niña." [She is your soulmate, kid].

You start crying quietly. Soft tears are falling down your cheeks as Alma talks and you really wish she would have said that earlier, you really wish it didn't take her so long to offer you comfort, compassion and to just be there for you. But it's better late than never, you guess.

"So...You took Brittany in?" You ask, since you kind of forgot to ask Brittany about the whole living with Abuela thing.

"Sí, of course." She says scoffing. "What else could I do? Poor kid was in a bad way. She didn't know where to go. She didn't have anywhere else to go." She says, and it hurts, it hurts more than you thought it would.

"Abuela... I'm really glad that you helped Brittany out, but what about me? I was in a very dark place too, and after mom and dad... You didn't even come to the funeral." You say and now you are full on crying. You try to clean your face with the handkerchief but it's to no avail. You feel your grandmother grabbing your hand and holding on to it really tight.

"I am so, so sorry for that." She says with a soft sigh. "I know it's not enough. I know I messed up. When Brittany came to me, the first weeks I called her everything I could. I told her she was a sin, a disgusting dyke, that she had turned my beautiful, beautiful granddaughter into the devil...I said awful things to her, and she took them like a champ. Until the day I had no more stuff to say to her. Then, she raised." She keeps talking and your crying subsides a little, but you are not sure where this is going. "She had the audacity to talk back to me. The first time, I slapped her." She says and you let out a snort-laugh. Of course, slapping is a very Lopez resource. "But she kept trying. She told me awful things too, that I was bigoted, that I was narrow minded, that I had herd mentality, or however it is called. But what clicked in me was when she said that I had hurt you so deeply that you couldn't love anyone anymore..."

You stare blankly at her. Brittany said what? How dare she?

She was not wrong, though. You know it.

"Then she started rambling about how you just have a different diet and if I was going to hate on every vegetarian, too." Abuela says with a confused frown. "I love the girl dearly, but she talks a lot of nonsense. It took me a lot of time and a lot of thinking to really understand and realise how horrible I had been to you. I even realised that yout Abuelo and your Tío Tomás might both have been gay too...".

This time you laugh heartily,

"Abuela, Tío Tomás is the gayest man I have ever known." You say and she rolls her eyes while she smiles like saying 'yeah, yeah, everyone knew but me.' "But Abuelo? Really?" You ask curiously.

"Osorio loved me with all his heart." She starts with a nod. "I know he did, he showed me in so many ways. But he didn't desire me, not really. I caught him ogling at other men a lot of times but preferred not to think anything about it. Those were other times, and he was an excellent man." She finishes and you smile softly. Even if it hurts like hell, you are so, so proud of your grandmother.

"Abuela, you are the best person I have ever met." You say, and you mean it. "Todos cometemos errores. I have forgiven you." [We all make mistakes] You say, but you sigh and take your hand away from her still tight grip. "But it might take me a little time to digest all this. The wounds from then are still open, and they need to heal properly before we can be close again, I hope you understand." You say and look at her.

For a few seconds she doesn't say a word. She just looks at you. Soon, her lips are barely curling up into a faint smile.

"Of course, mi niña hermosa." [My beautiful girl] she says. "Will you at least call me sometimes?" She begs and your heart breaks.

"Claro, abuela." You answer with a grin.

Even if there was a lot of food, you manage to eat most of it, and ask for the rest to take away. You let Alma take part of it, and the rest you are planning to take to Brittany. You promised you'd go around her place at some point this afternoon, and you just realised that with all the conversation and emotions it's almost the evening.

When you check your phone, you find 2 missed calls from Brittany.

You wait with your grandmother to take a cab, though. She insists eventhough you offer her a ride, and when she is getting inside, you act without thinking.

"Abuela, espera!" You almost yell, and both Alma and the taxi driver look at you. You clear your throat awkwardly. "In two weeks I will be presenting my newest line of clothing in the most important event of the world, and I would love you to be my plus one. I will pay for your tickets and everything if you want to come." You say hurriedly, and you feel your heart stopping for the few seconds she takes to answer.

"Count me in." Is all she says before she closes the cab's door and dissapears into the traffic.

You, for the first time in a long, long time, feel complete.