I've done my best to make sure everything that is in Spanish is explained or easy to figure out by context clues but if something confuses you just ask =)

-Part 3-

Santana was at Rachel's house promptly at five o'clock the next day. She said hello to Rachel's fathers and made small talk with them while Rachel finished getting ready. Santana smiled when she saw the other brunette descend the staircase from her room and Rachel kissed each of her father's cheeks before Santana took her arm and led her to the car.

"Okay," Santana said when they were buckled in and ready to go. "Okay. It's going to be fine."

"What?" Rachel arched her eyebrow. Santana backed out of the Berry's driveway.

"I'm just a little…like…mi familia está loco y estoy nervioso y-"

"Santana," Rachel cut her off. She reached over and took the Latina's hand in her own. "You really need to stop sporadically rambling in Spanish. While I did take two years of it and I brushed up today in order to try and keep up at least a little tonight, I am not anywhere close to fluent."

"Sorry," Santana mumbled. "I'm just nervous. My family is kind of crazy. I didn't really think about it until last night after I dropped you off and Mami was talking about everyone that's going to be there and none of them really have filters between their brains and their mouths."

"Which you inherited."

Santana scowled. "I'm getting better."

"You are. I apologize for interrupting. Continue."

Santana shook her head. "They're just all loud and they're probably going to tell really embarrassing stories. And then there's Nana…Imagine a little seventy-year-old version of me, okay? That's her. Like, she's not a bitch or anything. She's just really kind of…blunt."

"Stop worrying," Rachel said brightly. "My years of theater training have prepared me to expect the unexpected."

Santana nodded and kept driving. The house that she had left almost empty now had several cars parked out front. She opened Rachel's car door for her and linked arms with the girl to walk her to the front door. Santana paused before she opened the door and looked nervously at her girlfriend.

"I might not see you for a little while when we get inside, just so you know. They're going to drag you away from me. I'll try to follow and translate but…it's kind of like a swarm of bees."

Rachel blinked. "O-okay."

Santana took a deep breath and pushed open the front door, the pair was met with the aroma of spices and loud chattering. As soon as the door slammed shut all eyes were on the girls. Santana gripped hard onto Rachel's hand. Rachel smiled her signature Rachel Berry smile. Santana's mother, Estella, pushed through the crowd and greeted Rachel with a hug.

"Buenas tardes, Señora López. ¿Cómo está Usted ?"

Santana's mother grinned like she always did when Rachel greeted her in Spanish. "Muy bien, Rachel." Mrs. Lopez wrapped her arm around Rachel's shoulders and pulled her toward the crowd of people that had gathered in the living room. "Come, come in and meet the family!"

Santana followed close behind while introductions to the aunts, uncles, and older cousins were made. She stuck close behind as best she could but was eventually separated from her girlfriend as the mass of her relatives encircled Rachel and offered her baskets of chips that were being passed around.

"Tell Rachel I'll be in the kitchen," Santana said to her Aunt Cecilia.

The woman smiled and tousled Santana's hair.

The young Latina made her way to the kitchen and saw her Nana where she always was for family dinners, standing at the stove stirring pots and checking the trays full of food in the oven.

"Nana, do you need help?"

"¡Santana! ¿Cómo estás, mi'ja?"

"I'm good, Nana. What can I do to help?"

"Nothing, mi'ja. Shouldn't you be taking care of your guest? " Santana's grandmother lifted one of the lids to a huge pot, checking on the tamales.

"Everyone kind of surrounded her. I don't even want to imagine what kind of things they're telling her about me." Santana picked up a spoon and stirred the pot of rice a few times before her grandmother smacked her hand away.

"If you marry her she will find things out, mi'ja. Might as well get it out of the way now."

"Nana! We just started dating! You're going to scare her away if you say things like that." Santana crossed her arms over her chest and nervously shifted her weight.

Nana chuckled.

Rachel appeared in the kitchen doorway, escorted by Carlos and Santana immediately went to her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist, Rachel slipped her arms around Santana's neck and smiled.

"Good luck," Carlos whispered before he went back to the living room.

"You survived," Santana said. "Did they tell you anything…embarrassing?"

Rachel shook her head. "Mostly just introductions and questions. Carlos was translating for me at first but after my first answer your mother smacked him and translated for me."

Santana growled. "I'll smack him again later."

Rachel glanced around Santana to look at Santana's grandmother who had begun humming while she stirred a pot of sauce on the stove. Santana looked back over her shoulder, took a deep breath and swallowed hard. The young Latina took Rachel's hand and slowly pulled her towards her grandmother.

"Nana…"

"Mi'ja." The old woman raised her eyebrows and smiled.

Santana squeezed Rachel's hand. "Nana, se presento mi novia-"

Rachel cut Santana off, Santana recognized Rachel's "I want to impress someone" face when the short brunette introduced herself. "Me llamo Rachel. Mucho gusto, Señora…"

"No, no," the old woman smiled and gripped onto Rachel's shoulders, "no 'señora'! ¡Eres familía! Llámame Nana. ¡Vamos!"

Rachel looked over at Santana.

"She says you're family and you should call her Nana."

Rachel nodded.

"Nana," Santana said, turning to her grandmother, "en inglés, por favor."

The old woman nodded and pulled Rachel away from Santana toward the stove. Rachel looked back at her girlfriend, eyes wide and jaw slightly open.

"Look here," the old woman said, lifting the lid on the tamales. "Next time you come early, I teach you!"

Rachel nodded.

"Now," Santana's grandmother turned Rachel to her, the two were at eye level in terms of height, and she settled her hands on Rachel's shoulders. She looked up and down Rachel, the brunette shifted nervously until the woman smiled. "You are good to my little Santana?"

"Nana!"

"¡Ayuda tu madre! Estoy hablando con Rachel."

"Nana, no diga cosas embarazosas, por favor."

The woman scoffed and shooed Santana out of the kitchen. Rachel looked around, completely confused. Once Santana was gone Nana turned back to Rachel and smiled

"She is afraid I embarrass her! I send her to help her mother so we can talk." Nana raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Now, you are good to Santana?"

"Well…yes, I-I am," Rachel stammered. "I try to be."

"She took you to ice skating yesterday, no?"

Rachel's eyes lit up. "Yes, we had a wonderful time! I thoroughly enjoyed myself."

"Good! That Dutch girl," Santana's grandmother turned back to the stove and looked into the oven, "she make Santana stop to do that cheering. I did not like it. She was good, so good! Medals and trophies all the time! She could have been to the Olympics like her cousin!"

"Medals and trophies?"

"Sí! She went all over to do it and she won all the time! I was so proud of my little Santana. You, you like it though? The skating?"

"Yes, I love it. I'm not good at it, my creative training has mostly dealt with vocal studies but Santana's offered to teach me."

"Santana tells me that! She said you are gifted with the singing! 'Nana,' she says to me, 'Rachel has the voice of an angel. She will be famous'. She tells me that first time she talks about you."

"She said that?"

"Sí! She says all the time that you will go to Julliard and be famous. Come here, look at enchiladas!"

Rachel peered into the oven at the pans full of food. "They look delicious."

"You see, when the top is like that, with the bubbles, they are done! You go tell Santana and the rest to get ready."

Rachel nodded and shuffled out of the kitchen to the dining room where Santana was setting out plates with her mother.

"Nana says that everything is almost done," Rachel informed the pair. Santana smiled and pulled Rachel in for a kiss.

"So what all did your learn about me that's going to send you running?"

"That I have the voice of an angel." Rachel smirked. "And you should be in the Olympics."

"Nana!" Santana growled. "I swear that…"

Rachel cut Santana off with a kiss, Santana's hands went to Rachel's hips and Santana's mother cleared her throat. Rachel pulled away and blushed and Santana tugged her to the living room to let all of the adults know the dinner was ready and she pulled Rachel down to the basement. There were about a dozen children running around shouting and laughing. Rachel smiled.

"¡Niños!" Santana yelled over the commotion. "¿Quieren comida?"

There was a collective gasp and the herd of children ran toward the steps and yelled about food, Santana pulled Rachel out of the way just in time to avoid getting run over by the stampede.

"I can't believe Nana is nagging me to add to that," Santana said, rolling her eyes.

Rachel nodded.

Santana pulled the shorter girl in and settled her hands back on Rachel's hips. "It's going to be a while before we can get to the kitchen since the rugrats get their food before it goes on the table," the Latina said, smirking. "Want to kill some time?"

Rachel glanced up at the stairs and then back to Santana and nodded with a grin. Santana pulled her to the couch and sat down, Rachel straddled her lap, Santana's hands went back to her hips and Rachel threaded her fingers through Santana's hair and hungrily attacked her lips.

It wasn't until they heard a giggle come from the direction of the staircase that the pair realized exactly how long they had been in the basement. Rachel scrambled up off of the couch and Santana lunged for the staircase.

The young boy was too fast for her and he dashed up the stairs screaming, "Tana and that girl was kissing! I saw 'em use their tongues! It was so gross!"

Santana groaned when she heard him yell and repeat that to everyone again once he got upstairs.

"Ay dios mío," Santana groaned. "That's Isias. And I'm going to kill him."

The pair straightened out their appearances before heading up the stairs, both bright red. When they passed the table set up in the living room for the kids they were met with giggles and kissing noises. Santana only mumbled under her breath and hastily pulled Rachel toward the dining room. The reaction there wasn't much better, the adults snickered and Santana's mother shook her head. Santana tried to take the empty place next to her grandmother who was at the head of the table but the old woman swiped at her and pointed at the second chair down and Santana moved down to let Rachel take the seat.

"It's okay, bonita," Nana said, patting Rachel's hand when the brunette sat down. "I understand young love. You do not want to keep your hands away, hm? As long as you are safe!"

Santana choked on her water and Rachel immediately reached over and rubbed the girl's back while she sputtered. Santana smiled appreciatively and Rachel handed her a napkin to wipe her chin with.

When the food was passed around Rachel took what she thought were appropriate portions of what she was offered but when she handed the dish to Nana the old woman would spoon an extra helping onto her plate and smile. Rachel was glad she'd listened to Santana and worn a skirt that was a little bit loose around the waist. After Nana blessed their food the roar of the conversation (mostly in Spanish) filled the room. Santana saw the look on Rachel's face that said she was incredibly confused and trying desperately to keep up. The Latina just nudged her and motioned to Rachel's plate, encouraging her to eat. Rachel took a fork full of enchilada and Santana started in on her tamales.

Santana was focused on listening to a conversation her mother and her Aunt Cecelia were having when her cousin Diana nudged her and gestured to Rachel.

"Is she okay, San?"

Santana glanced over at her girlfriend who was bright red and a sweat had broken out on her forehead.

"Rachel?"

Rachel turned to look at her girlfriend, tears in her eyes and with a small smile. "I'm fine," she squeaked.

Santana quickly took a forkful of enchilada and groaned. "Nana! I told you to tone it down on the enchiladas! Rachel isn't used to spicy food!"

Santana reached for Rachel's water glass and held it to the singer's mouth and put her other hand on the back of Rachel's neck. Rachel drank like she'd been deprived of water for days. When she finished off her glass Santana handed hers over and Rachel got about halfway through it before she signaled she was okay.

"¡Hice! ¡Quité la mayoría de las semillas de jalapeño!" Nana said insistently.

Rachel raised her eyebrow.

"She said she took out most of the jalapeno seeds," Santana sighed. "You probably bit down on one."

"When it wasn't searing my tongue it was delicious," Rachel assured Santana's grandmother.

The old woman smiled. "You get used to it, bonita."

Santana watched as Rachel carefully picked through the rest of her food to pull out anymore jalapeño seeds. The shorter brunette was still slightly red from the other spices but she never let on aside from drinking almost an entire pitcher of water by herself.

"So San," Carlos said from across the table. "You should come by the rink more now, yeah? Since this one won't make you quit."

"Carlos, come on. I don't want to get into this."

"She was good," Diana, said. "If she'd stuck with it she would have been better than me. Half that case of trophies is hers. Sabas que, she went to junior nationals when she was twelve. Took sixth."

"I was unaware of that," Rachel said, eyebrows raised.

"Tía Estella, we should get out the videos!" Carlos smirked at Santana and the Latina groaned.

"No, Mami, don't."

"I'd love to see them," Rachel said with a bright smile. Santana snapped her head and glared at her girlfriend.

"No way."

"I'll see them eventually. And you saw mine."

"I saw yours against my will."

"Santana! You be nice to your Rachel!" Nana snapped.

Rachel beamed and Nana patted her shoulder.

"Sí, Nana," Santana mumbled. She picked at her enchiladas and Rachel leaned over and pecked her cheek.

"We don't have to watch them," Rachel said. "It's fine."

"Nonsense!" Nana said. "You see how good my little dancer was!"

An hour later the entire family was gathered in the living room and Carlos had the remote and pushed in one of the videos. The screen was fuzzy for a few seconds before a young Santana Lopez came into focus standing perfectly still in the middle of an ice rink. Rachel watched in amazement as she twirled and jumped and landed Axels and Lutzes and the crowd went wild.

"She was twelve," Diana said. "I coached her for months on this routine even though she had it perfect the first time she did it. Natural talent."

"I did not like it when she quit," Nana sighed. "It made you so happy, mi'ja."

"Nana I had a lot of other stuff to do."

"Your Rachel would not mind it if you skated again. She likes to watch, she told me."

Rachel smiled and nudged Santana. The Latina crossed her arms over her chest and grumbled, Rachel just shook her head and pried one of Santana's hands out and kissed it. There was a collective "aww" from the room and both girls blushed. Rachel settled her head on Santana's shoulder for the remainder of the routine. When the video was done Rachel pecked her girlfriend on the cheek and Santana sighed and wrapped her arm around Rachel's shoulders and the pair stayed cuddled while the rest of the adults started talking again and the children went back down to the basement.

"If you wanted to take it up again…"

"We're leaving in a couple months, it'd be kind of pointless now."

"There are ice rinks in New York. We can skate at Rockefeller Center in the winter."

"For fun, yeah. But doing it competitively might get in the way of my plans for taking over the world."

Rachel shook her head and snuggled in a little closer.

Little by little the family started leaving with rounds of hugs and Santana let out a relieved sigh that the night had gone much better than she expected and she hadn't been humiliated too much. She and Rachel went back to cuddling on the couch after Carlos left and Nana smiled at them from her armchair.

"Did you have a good time?" Santana asked.

"I did."

Santana felt the blood rush to her cheeks when Rachel looked into her eyes and smiled her famous 'Rachel Berry' smile.

"You're not going to never return my calls again or anything, are you?"

"I didn't find out anything too incriminating. Maybe after next week?" Rachel winked and Santana shook her head with a smile and kissed Rachel's forehead.

"Santana," Nana said as she stood from her armchair. "Go help your mother."

Santana nodded and got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen. She stood by the door and peeked out and watched Nana settled herself next to Rachel and take the singer's hands into hers. Rachel straightened her shoulders and sat up attentively.

"You are in love," Nana said. Santana stopped breathing.

Rachel was rendered speechless and Santana knew if she could see her girlfriend's face it would be one of absolute shock.

"I…" Rachel gasped. "Santana…is a wonderful girl…but we haven't been together that long."

"I know, bonita. But you look at my Santana with love. It is in your eyes. You will see." Nana patted her hands and smiled. "She looks at you the same. Even right now while she listens. She is curious what I am saying, aren't you mi'ja?"

Santana squeaked and jumped away from the door. She took a few deep breaths and walked back into the living room and dropped down to the couch.

"I will go help in the kitchen. You talk." Nana stood and kissed each girl on the top of the head and cackled before she disappeared through the door. Rachel scooted closer to Santana and dropped her head down onto the Latina's shoulder.

"So apparently we're in love," Rachel said.

Santana shifted uncomfortably. "I heard."

"What do you have to say on the subject?"

"Uh…Okay, so…Nana is kind of known for uh…knowing things. Like what the babies will be before they're born."

Rachel perked up. "She has a sixth sense? Like me?"

"Sure."

"Do you think she's right?"

"She's never been wrong. She told me when B and I started…you know…Well, she never actually told me anything but I could tell she didn't really like her. She never said she'd teach B anything in the kitchen and she never talked to her. She likes you. A lot."

"She's a very interesting woman."

"She is."

"We've only been dating a month," Rachel noted. "It would be absurd to think that after all the time we hated each other that…"

"I think she's right," Santana cut Rachel off. Never one to not trust her grandmother she knew in her heart that Rachel was unique and what they had wasn't a high school fling.

"Me too," Rachel whispered. "I just wasn't sure if you…I mean, given our history…"

Santana turned her head to look at her girlfriend and rolled her eyes. "Shut up and kiss me, Berry."

Rachel grinned and leaned in, Santana met her halfway and took Rachel's bottom lip between her teeth and tugged. Rachel whimpered and darted her tongue out to meet Santana's and a chuckle at the kitchen door broke them apart. Rachel turned red and buried her head into Santana's neck.

"Nana! Can I please make out with my girlfriend in peace?!"

Rachel groaned. Nana laughed harder.

"Oh, mi'ja, you will have plenty of time for that! She's not going anywhere. Your mother asks if you will take me home."

"Of course, Nana. I have to take Rachel home anyway."

Santana helped Rachel off the couch and out to her car, Nana followed close behind. Santana and Rachel both argued that the woman should sit up front but Nana was stubborn and dropped into the back seat with a smirk.

"You sit with your Rachel," she said.

Santana groaned and slid into the driver seat, Rachel smiled appreciatively and took Santana's hand for the drive to Nana's house. Rachel enthusiastically volunteered to walk the old woman to the door.

"Bienvenido a la familia, bonita," Nana said with a smile after Rachel hugged her.

Rachel blushed. "Gracías," she said, grinning.

When Nana was safely inside Rachel skipped back to the car where Santana was waiting with her door open. Rachel rewarded her with a kiss and a smack to the backside. Santana squealed and Rachel giggled and quickly ducked into the car before the Latina had a chance to return the gesture. The quick drive to Rachel's house was spent with the shorter girl as close to her girlfriend as she could get with her head on Santana's shoulder and their fingers laced together on the center console.

Santana walked Rachel to her front door and dipped down to kiss the shorter brunette but Rachel backed away and nervously clutched her lower lip between her teeth.

"You really meant it, right? About believing your grandmother?"

Santana nodded. "I did."

"So you really do? Love me?"

"Yeah, I guess I kinda do." Santana smiled and pushed Rachel's hair back.

"Okay," Rachel said with a nod. "Good. That's good. Because…I guess I kind of love you, too."

Santana dipped down and kissed her girlfriend goodnight, Rachel wrapped her arms around the Latina's neck and held on until the porch lights flickered and they heard laughter from inside.

"I'll call you before I go to bed," Rachel said, turning and putting one hand on the doorknob.

Santana smiled and kissed Rachel's cheek and had to try really hard not to skip like a little girl back to her car. When Rachel called her that night there was a pause before they hung up the phone and Santana took a deep breath. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Rachel who Santana could hear was smiling her signature Rachel Berry smile.

"Te amo," Rachel whispered.

Santana was fairly glad she was alone because the smile on her face would have ruined her bitch reputation immediately.

"Te amo mi estrella de oro."

"Huh?"

Santana giggled. "Estrella de oro. Gold star."

"Oh…should I come up with a name for you? I…I hadn't really thought about…"

Santana resisted the urge to call Rachel a nerd or a geek and just clenched her jaw shut. "Rach, calm down. You don't have to, okay? Get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow."

"You, too. Goodnight, Santana."

After she hung up the phone Santana put her hands behind her head and stared up at her bedroom ceiling at the glow-in-the-dark stars that had been there since she was seven. A particularly large one was right over her head and she arched her eyebrow at it and smiled. She jumped off her bed and dug through her nail polish box before she found her glittering gold and she stood up on her bed and pulled the star down. She took her time painting it, making sure it was absolutely perfect. So it was a little cheesy and meant she was kind of whipped by Rachel Berry but it didn't matter because she was most definitely kind of a little bit in love with her and so she was allowed to be a little cheesy. She stuck the star back up on her ceiling as soon as it dried and stared at it.

Three weeks later, when Santana and Rachel were snuggled up next to each other in Santana's bed after their graduation ceremony Rachel looked up at the star and giggled when Santana tried to give an explanation that wouldn't make her sound like a total dork. Santana silenced her with a kiss and made her forget about the star on the ceiling by making the brunette see her own stars and Santana decided that if her Nana was right and Rachel was going to be around for a long time that she definitely wouldn't mind it, especially with afternoons like these.