I Know You Want Me - Chapter Twenty-Seven

[thelastpen]

Title: I Know You Want Me
Author: Sio & Maura
Rating: Hard NC-17
Length: 146,534
Spoilers: This is AU. No Beth. No Lucy. Puck/Rachel lasted for a few months instead of a week and Jesse is a bigger ass than canon. Also Santana's promiscuity implied in the canon is not in effect for this fic for reasons that will be made evident.
Pairing: Rachel/Santana, Puck/Quinn
Summary: Rachel's longed after someone since the first day they met, but will a big secret bring them together or destroy them?
Warnings (highlight to read): Gender Identity Disorder, pregnancy, angst, topping, language, voyeurism, dub-con, non-con, anal, oral, vaginal, public, fisting, size-kink, and talk of self harm

Chapter 27

Despite the late - or rather early - hour they'd gotten to bed, habit still got Rachel up at six in the morning, just in time to slip a starting to stir AJ away from his mami's embrace and climb out of bed to cross to the room's chair. Settling in the chair, she let him have a breast instead of going all the way downstairs to get a bottle and just watched Santana as she slept. The other girl almost always looked her most peaceful when she was sleeping or when she was with her son and Rachel loved to see the calm on her lover's often troubled face.

When AJ was finished, she cleaned him up and helped him burp up a little air he'd managed to gulp down with his breakfast before standing and walking about a bit to help him settle back down. She hummed softly as she walked, the soothing vibrations of her chest and voice lulling him back to sleep. Once he was limp in her arms, she gently laid him back on his mami's chest, wrapping Santana's limp arm over his back to hold him in place and smiling at the quiet sigh the girl issued in her sleep as she tightened her grip slightly.

Picking up her robe and sliding it on, she made her way down the stairs with a yawn. Rummaging in the refrigerator, she smiled to find enough ingredients to make a veggie hash. Biting her lip, she pulled out the eggs and small rasher of bacon at the last minute. She couldn't eat it herself and each egg she cracked and strip of bacon fried were going to scream like the poor dying animals they came from in her mind, but it was Christmas and after what happened - what she could still feel - last night, she wanted to make a special breakfast for her fiancee and future father-in-law.

As she got out the pans she needed and set a pot of coffee to brewing and a kettle of water on for tea, she caught a glimpse of the red stocking hung on the mantle for Santana and felt a little thrill of nervousness. It was the morning she'd been waiting for since she saw the item in the box hidden in the toe of the stocking in a pawn shop window two months earlier. She sliced onions and peppers with a tiny smile as she worked, trying to be as quiet as she could - and carefully keeping to the kashrut by habit even though she was mainly cooking for Catholics - to make breakfast for her family on Christmas morning.

The faint waft of food smells caused Santana's stomach to growl before she even woke up. When her eyes fluttered open, she smiled at the soft snoring of her son on her chest. She sat up carefully and laid him on his back on the bed while Santana got up and washed her face. She carefully pulled her hair into a lengthy braid that hung over her shoulder and she went and pulled on a bra and her boxers before putting on a new pair of sleep pants and a red thermal top. She smiled when she heard Aaron gurgling on the bed.

"Hi, baby boy, merry Christmas," she smiled as she pressed kisses over his face. "I want you to have the best first Christmas ever," She stated as she rubbed his stomach before moving to change his diaper and put him in a set of pajamas that Quinn had bought on a whim. It was a red and white sleep suit with a black colored patch around the waist that was to look like a belt. She pulled a tiny red Santa cap over his curly hair and smiled. She grabbed her phone and snapped a few pictures of him and sent them to Quinn, Puck and Andre before throwing her phone back on the bed and scooping him up. She carefully traversed the stairs, cuddling him in her arms as she walked and following her nose into the kitchen to watch Rachel cooking.

"Merry Christmas, Mommy!" She exclaimed as she held the boy dressed as Santa up so he was waving at his mom.

Rachel was busy carefully turning the eggs and checking the bacon before putting the lid back over it to avoid splattering grease all over everything, so it was a moment before she turned around and she found herself laughing when she saw the Santa-dressed baby. "Oh my gosh, Santana. Wherever did you get that?" She reached for baby and mom, looking for hugs.

"Quinn and Puck found it," she giggled and kissed her girlfriend. "She said every baby needs embarrassing first Christmas photos." She held Aaron up so he could give his mommy wet baby kisses."Merry Christmas, Rachel." Santana smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Santana," Rachel wrapped an arm around Santana's waist and gave her a quick hug. "I'm almost done with breakfast, but there's coffee - or water for tea if you'd prefer that - already ready. And," she reached over and picked up the tiny bowl of pureed banana and tiny bit of breast milk, offering it to Santana with a tiny spoon, "if you'd like to give our son something special. I fed him earlier so he might not be hungry yet."

"Special yummy times, Aaron!" She smiled, "It smells really good, Rae." Santana stopped for a moment and looked at the stove, "Oh dios... are you making bacon and eggs?" She looked up excitedly, "My dad is going to love you so much more now! But you don't do pork, you didn't have to make that."

"Well, yes, but I don't have to eat it," Rachel smiled shyly up at Santana as she worked, "and it's Christmas. I can make a special breakfast for the people I love every now and then - even if the eggs do scream murderer at me as they cook. It's a special day and, well, after last night you deserve to be treated as special as you are. So bacon and eggs. Because I love you and I know you like them."

"Hmm." She smiled. "You're amazing," she said softly as she looked at the pans. She turned off the bacon because it was nearly burnt but she bit her lip and smiled, "You seriously make me so happy..." She kissed her head and hopped up on the counter so Aaron and she could watch. "How are you today? Sore like you thought?"

"I didn't mess up the bacon did I?" Rachel looked a little anxious as she flicked off the heat to the slightly over-done eggs, not really wanting to make another batch and hoping her work hadn't gone to waste. "And," she blushed, "yes. You are exceedingly memorable, love. But," she bit her lip glancing up shyly, "is it wrong of me to say I like it more," she reached over and took one of Santana's hands, bringing it to her lips to kiss her fingers, "when these are stretching me?"

"I prefer it too, honestly," Santana whispered softly. "The bacon is fine I just wanted to make sure it didn't get too crispy." She hugged her son and watched her lover. "I just... I thought it's what you wanted..."

"I just want to be with you, Santana. In whatever way makes you happiest," she smiled up at her lover, "I'll not deny that I enjoy our times where we're together in a more traditional manner, because I love being able to feel your hands and mouth on other parts of me while I'm connected with you. I love when you control me while we're together. But, I must admit, the feeling is so much more... intense when we're together without it." She leaned up and kissed Santana softly, "You're so amazing with those lips and very good with your hands after all."

"I just don't think I can double penetrate you again..." She looked down, "I made me feel weird and I would prefer to just do the stuff we've done and experiment from that angle." She shrugged, "I just would prefer to not to that again."

"To be honest?" Rachel murmured, turning back to the hash, "I needed your fingers to remember it was you in me like that... can we just... only use your fingers if we're together like that again? It... reminded me of things." She nibbled on her lip nervously, "I know I said you could, but... I don't know if I can with, you know... again."

"I'd be okay with that," she whispered. "I just want to make you happy... and I didn't feel like that made any of us happy."

"Maybe," Rachel switched off the heat to the hash, coming over to press a kiss to AJ's head before leaning up to kiss his mom. "But it's good that we talk about these things like this. When I do things you don't like, it doesn't make me happy, Santana. If doing something makes you uncomfortable, I promise you it won't make me happy. So tell me, please. I'm happy when you're happy and if you're not at least comfortable with what we're doing, you're not happy."

"I didn't even realize until after... It just felt like something a boy would do and I don't like feeling like that if I can avoid it." She shrugged, "It just kinda hurts my feelings or my pride or whatever to feel that dude-like feelings." She sighed and rested her head on her son's.

"That's okay." Rachel reached up and ran her fingers through Santana's hair, "I didn't know how it would make me feel either. But if there's ever anything I can do for you to make you feel more comfortable or to make you happy, I want you to tell me. Okay? Whatever it is, I'm willing to try for you." She leaned over to try and catch Santana's eyes and smiled softly, "Alright?"

"Okay." She nodded as she watched Aaron reach up and try to tug on Rachel's hair. "But no more talk of that... more Christmas talk and presents and hot cocoa and stuff." She smiled brightly.

Santana loved Christmas. It always felt special because it had traditionally been when Santana and her dad got really dressed up for church then came home to pig out and watch movies all night. He always got her the presents she actually wanted, like Barbies and ballet shoes when she was little unlike her mother who had always given her strictly boy things.

"Ah, yes. Presents," Rachel teased, reaching up to lightly bop Santana on the tip of her nose. "I'm certain they can wait until everyone's fed and your father is awake, don't you?"

Santana pouted, "Fine," She sighed and carried Aaron over so she could make a cup of coffee. She picked up the bowl on her way by of bananas and once she finished with her coffee she sat down with him and started to feed him small bites of the smashed fruit.

"Don't pout, Santana, it's unbecoming and besides, it's not like you don't have anything with your name on it out there," Rachel teased as she made up a plate of bacon, eggs and veggie hash for her lover. "How's he liking that? I know Dr Cleary said it might be a little longer until he was really ready, but he was reaching for the banana you were eating yesterday and I thought he might like to try a little."

Aaron's face was scrunched up as if he was trying to figure out what was going on in his mouth. He opened and closed it several times and looked up at his mami. "I think he's confused. I mean nothing is as tasty as boob, in my opinion." She laughed as she wiped off his face when he spat it out of his mouth.

"He might just not be hungry," Miguel suggested as he came into the room. "Rachel, that smells delicious, but what are you girls doing up at nearly," he looked at the clock, "eight in the morning?"

Rachel laughed, "Good morning, Mr Lopez, I'm used to getting up around six for Aaron's morning feeding, actually. And since it's Christmas, I decided to feed everyone. There's coffee or water for tea if you'd like it."

He smiled, pouring a cup of coffee. "Gracias, Rachel. I'm still not used to waking up to the smell of cooking food despite having you in my home for nearly six months." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, "Merry Christmas, my dear."

Santana pushed the bananas away and cleaned off her baby and turned him around and fixed his hat. "Morning Papi." She smiled brightly as she played with her son's hands.
Miguel shook his head with a laugh at his daughter's obliviousness while she had her son in her arms. "Good morning, Sanny," he leaned down and kissed her cheek and the top of AJ's hat covered head before taking a seat at the table near her, "and little Aaron. How's our boy doing on his first Christmas, mom?"

"I don't know," Rachel teased, bringing over plates of food for Santana and Miguel, "other than feeding him, someone has been hording my son all morning." She smiled fondly at Santana before going back to get her own plate and a cup of coffee for Santana having already poured herself a glass of orange juice that was sitting at the table. "Eat up, everyone. I know it's not exactly in my normal culinary repertoire, but I hope it's not too terrible."

"Thanks Rachel." Santana smiled, "And I let you horde him all eight nights of Hanukkah. My religious holiday." She pouted as she snuggled her son and took a bite of the bacon. "Dad, did you let the creepy church ladies manhandle my son last night after I left?" she asked as she eat a bit of the eggs.

"Yes, mija. They made lots and we auctioned him off to the highest bidder," Miguel rolled his eyes, eating some of his eggs. "No, the creepy church ladies didn't touch him though I did have to sit with old Mrs. Galvanek and let her coo over him before I was allowed to leave." He chuckled, shaking his head, "I don't know how you did it, but that boy seems to thrive on attention."

"He likes people. He likes faces and hands." She smiled letting her son play with her fingers on her hands. "He likes to see new things I guess. Rachel and I take him for walks lots so he likes to see whats going on around him." She shrugged and continued eating, "He's a curious little dude."

"That's good. Rachel, this is very tasty," he added, nodding at a forkful of hash, "you should let me know the recipe before you girls head back home."

Rachel smiled, blushing slightly and ducking her head, "It's fairly simple, sir. Just whatever vegetables you have available diced up and fried in a vegetable oil with shredded potatoes and a little oregano, thyme and salt and pepper for flavor." She took a couple more bites before glancing towards Santana, "How is it? I know you want to get to your presents," she teased.

"I like presents." She shrugged, "But it's really good baby, thank you so much." She said as she continued to eat she took a few more bites before AJ started getting snuggly again. He yawned and lifted his own arms and put the on the table, Santana smiled and kissed his head and continued to eat.

Rachel watched him move about on Santana's lap as she ate. "I think we'll have to look into getting him a high chair before too much longer, Santana. You're going to have a difficult time holding him and feeding both of you once he starts eating solids more." She rarely ever held their child as they ate unless he was feeding, since Santana enjoyed it as much as she did.

"It's not as impossible as it appears, Rachel," Miguel pointed out, finishing his food, "I did it with Santana quite a few times. Just takes a little getting used to. So, girls, ready for your presents?"

"Mr. Lopez, I really don't need anything," Rachel looked slightly uncomfortable at the idea of receiving a gift in celebration of a holiday she didn't really believe in, "I truly hope you didn't put yourself out on my account. You really can't give me any greater gift than having your daughter in my life after all."

"Suck up." Santana stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend and hoisted her son up in her arms as she stood up. "But yes, daddy, I want Aaron to enjoy Christmas." She smiled, so excited that it was his first Christmas.

Rachel rolled her eyes as she finished eating, getting up to clean everything up. "Yes, dear. And I'm excited that it's Aaron's first Christmas as well." She leaned up and kissed Santana gently before whispering in her ear, "I just really am not comfortable accepting gifts for myself today." She leaned back down with a slightly anxious look before smoothing it away and heading to the counter with a load of plates.

"Even from Aaron?" She raised the baby up and pouted beside him. "Aaron got his mommy a present and he'd be sad if he couldn't give it to you." She made her lip quiver slightly as her father laughed and walked into the next room after refilling his and Santana's coffee.

"Santana," Rachel murmured, setting the plates in the sink and starting to fill it up, her heart aching at being put in this position. "I'm Jewish. You know I'm Jewish. I appreciate the pomp and ceremony of Christmas and I want our son to enjoy it, but it's not my holiday. I truly don't want anything and I wish you hadn't," she blinked, looking down at the soapy water and starting to wash things up.

"Please stop being sad, I was just playing," she sighed like she did something wrong. "I just... I just wanted to share this with you and the baby." She looked down, "If you don't want to it's fine and we can just not do Christmas again if it makes you unhappy... but I get gifts for people I love and I love you and I love our son and our son loves you... so he picked you out a gift."

Rachel sighed, turning from the sink and drying her hands on a towel before wrapping her arms around Santana's waist, AJ gurgling as he was slightly squished between them. "No, don't do that. You love this holiday and I want Aaron to love it just as much. And I love that you want to share it with me. I'm simply not comfortable receiving gifts on it because I don't actually celebrate it." She moved to try and catch Santana's eyes, "Maybe I could open the gifts from you and Aaron tomorrow?" She tried a smile, "It can be our special day. Just us. No religion involved. How does that sound?"

"Christmas eve is religious... Rachel, Christmas eve is religious... but Christmas? This time? This is just family... this is family loving each other." Santana sighed, "It's not religious, I wouldn't do it with you if it was... it's just a stupid tradition."

She sighed and pushed down her discomfort with celebrating the birth of a man she didn't believe was her saviour and smiled. "Okay, Santana," she whispered, not happy but hiding it to make the woman she loved happy, "okay. I'll accept the gifts. I want you and Aaron to have the best Christmas and it's about family, right? So I'll accept them."

"No, Rachel.. just.. just do what you want okay? I know you're just sucking it up and that's shitty because it's not about Jesus or fucking anything like that for us. It's just a damn holiday and I wanted it to be special for you and Aaron," Santana huffed before scuffling her feet. "I didn't care when you were doing your religious stuff, I love that Aaron has both, but unlike your holidays Christmas is not about anything concrete. It's about a fat ass white man bringing our baby presents!"

Rachel tensed and pulled away when Santana started snapping at her. "Fine," she breathed, "I...I got you something. I wanted you to have it today because I thought today was important to you. I didn't want to mess things up. I'm sorry." She wrapped her arms around herself protectively, feeling like she had messed everything up by being Jewish in a Catholic family.

"Today is important to me. I just want you to be happy and enjoy spending time with me and our son! God why... why does it have to be a big deal?" She whispered, "It's not a big thing, okay? It's just... it's just a day where we get presents and give presents. I'm not going to make you convert or believe in anything... it's just something I wanted to experience... with you!"

"I'm trying, Santana," Rachel whispered. "I'm just...this is the first time in years that anyone wanted to do something like this with me. It's...it's disconcerting and I feel out of place because I...I'm not like everyone in your life. This day has been one that I spend alone since I was thirteen. I'm just uncomfortable..." She shrugged, looking at the floor, "It's not something I know how to react to. I got things for Aaron and you and your father. I just am not quite comfortable with everything yet..."

"It's really chill... Rachel, my dad and I.. we're just freaking be lazy and sit in pajamas and play Xbox all day," She sighed. "It's like Sunday with me and Puck! But with presents!" She cracked her neck, "I don't want to fight, I really don't. I just wanna be with my family."

"I just want to be with you too," Rachel admitted, looking up at Santana with a shy smile. "Can't I just be with you and give presents and open ones to me tomorrow or after midnight this year? I'll try to be better by next year..."

"Can you just open Aaron's?" she sighed not really caring about her own gifts to the girl. "Please." She was trying to not be offended or annoyed that Rachel was getting her way. "I don't care about the rest." she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Just open Aaron's."

Rachel chewed on her lip, her gaze shifting towards the living room. "Can I...can I wait until you're done? I'll open everything if I can just wait until after you..."

"You might be the strangest person I ever met," Santana conceded. "Fine, yeah." She picked up AJ and walked over to Rachel and kissed her cheek. "I love you." she stepped back and headed into the living room. "Come in and join the rest of the family."

Relieved, if still discomforted from a religious standpoint, Rachel smiled. "Give me five minutes to get these pans rinsed and soaking and I'll be out. Don't start without me, okay?"

"You don't have to do the dishes," she called as she settled onto the floor near the tree. She held Aaron between er legs and stood him up on his little legs and held him under his arms as he bounced. "You're perfect, Aaron," She smiled and kissed his nose.

"I know that," Rachel responded a couple of minutes later when she came back out, drying her hands on a towel, "but that doesn't mean I have to leave a mess either. They'll be easier to clean later this way." She sat down beside Santana, leaning over to kiss her softly. "So...how does this work?"

"Daddy picks a present for the youngest which is Aaron, then Aaron picks for someone else and so on." She smiled and looked up and saw her dad with a box in hand already.

"Alright, young man." He smiled and sat down with the girls, "This is for you from me." He smiled. AJ hit his hands against it and giggled, "How bout I help you?" He asked as he unwrapped it, revealing a new mobile for his crib with had a mixture of birds and clouds.

"Dad, it's amazing." Santana beamed, "Did you make this?" she asked as she ran her fingers over the well figures.

"Yeah," He smiled and pressed a kiss to his grandson's head.

"Wow," Rachel murmured as she looked at it. "This is very impressive, Mr Lopez. I'm sure if he could talk, Aaron would be thanking you profusely." She reached over, her fingers gently brushing the carved and polished wood. "Even after he's too old for it," she looked at Santana with a shy smile, "we'll save it so he can give it to his children when he's grown."

"I wanted him to have something special... I made San one when she was an infant but I couldn't find it when we moved." he shrugged, "I thought something to keep his head in the clouds would be fitting."

"Thank you dad." Santana beamed and carefully set it back into the box. "Okay. I think Dad is next." She handed him the gift from Rachel to Miguel.

Rachel watched anxiously as the man unwrapped the neatly wrapped package. When he ran his hand over the linen cover instead of opening it, she bit her lip uncertainly. The cover crackled softly as he lifted the cover to peer inside.

"Oh my... Rachel, is this?" He turned the pages slowly for a moment before looking up at the girl.

She nodded with a shy smile. "You didn't get to see him get so big, but I didn't want you to miss out."

He nodded, turning back to the book and slowly turning through the pages full of photo after photo of AJ as he grew older in his first six months of life. When he reached the last page he almost laughed out loud. The final picture almost completely filled the page. AJ slept peacefully nestled in the protective arms of his mother who was also sound asleep, early morning light filtering in through blinds seeping over their faces.

Rachel smiled softly as she looked at the picture over his shoulder. "That's my favorite," she murmured. "They look perfect like that to me."

Santana's face scrunched up, "Hey..." She said softly as she looked at the picture, "No sleeping photos!" She laughed softly, "God knows what else you do to me when I'm sleeping." She whispered before looking at AJ looking at the book and trying to chew on it.

"Rachel, it's beautiful, thank you so much." He smiled and held it to his heart. "I love it." He held it on his lap as he leaned over and grabbed a gift for his daughter. "Santana," he smiled as he handed the box to her.

Santana shook the box and raised an eyebrow. She carefully opened the small box and carefully took out it's contents. It was a ivory and ebony rosary with a silver crucifix on the end and a pendent of the Virgin Mary.

"That, Mija," He smiled, "Is your great grandmother's rosary." He laid it out , "It was your grandmother's too. She told me once that when a woman in our family has a child they get given this by their family, so I'm giving it to you."

"Santana," Rachel breathed, too awed to even try and touch it. "It's...that's beautiful..."

"Gracias, Papi." Santana blinked as she looked at the token. "Gracias."

Reaching over and picking up a fairly small box, she handed it to Santana, "If you don't mind me interrupting your turn, this is from me to our son."

She sat back as Santana helped the boy tear at the loosely wrapped paper, exposing the open topped box and the small somewhat awkwardly crafted stuffed cat. Rachel blushed as Santana examined the cat, noting the awkward and at times sloppy stitches. "So, I'm not the best seamstress in the world. But I tried my best and considering I'd never really sewed anything before and I went through far more material than I'd expected and the directions were entirely difficult to understand and...and, well," she trailed off, fiddling with her hands, "I know it's not very good, but I didn't want to just go and buy a stuffed animal for him like the men who raised me did..."

"I love it." she smiled and handed it to AJ who squealed in delight and he hugged it and started chewing on its ear. "Look at that, he loves it too. It's amazing... so this is what you do when I'm at work," Santana teased.

"I do a lot of things while you're at work, but that took up far more time than I thought it would." Rachel pouted, looking discomfited.

Miguel stifled a laugh, "Alright, how about we see what Santa brought?" He got to his feet, deliberately ignoring the couple of small things labeled for Rachel as Santana had been doing, taking his cue from his daughter's behavior. "Here's Aaron's," he handed down the small green stocking for the boy, "and Santana's," he handed hers to her, "And...well, this was supposed to be Rachel's but it seems to have something with my name on it now?"

Rachel blushed and ducked her head, having not realized the older man wouldn't have a stocking when she'd put things in it.

Santana laid her stocking down and helped Aaron with his. "Santa got confused obviously." She smiled and winked at her fiancee. She carefully unwrapped the book of the month subscription for Aaron, a few new teething rings, some bibs and a pair of baby converse Santana had put in there for a few months from now. She showed Rachel with a broad smile.

"What the hell?" Miguel looked down at the envelope which contained one of his gifts from Santana. Registration to an online dating site, "Santana..."

"What? Daddy, you needs to get laid." She said with a giggle.

Rachel covered her face with her hand trying to hide the furious blush spreading across her cheeks, "Oh my God, Santana, I can't believe you said that to your dad!"

"What? It's true! It's been like thirteen years! Thirteen years, Rachel! Shit's not healthy," she explained before looking at her father who couldn't decide whether it was totally inappropriate or very sweet of his daughter.

"Um... never say that again and thank you," he said before folding the paper up. Santana just giggled and occupied her son with a new teething ring so she could dig in her stocking. Some new hair clips, nail polish, a couple of T-shirts and then Santana's fingers hit a small velvet box.

"Whats this?" she said as she pulled it out.

Rachel's breath caught in her throat as she saw Santana pull out the box she'd been nervously anticipating since sliding it in there the night before.

Miguel shrugged. "I don't know. It's not from me. Why don't you open it and find out?"

There was a letter neatly wrapped around the outside. When Santana opened it all she could see was the neat handwriting of her lover.

Santana,

I know you don't expect this, but when I saw it I knew I had to get it for you. Every girl dreams of the day the person she loves will ask her to marry them. I'm sure you're no exception. I wanted a grand gesture, something to tell you how much I love you and beg you on one knee in a crowded restaurant to marry me, but I realized for all your bravado, you're much too private for that. So instead I'm asking you today, on the holiday I've listened to you speak of with such happiness for the last few months, like this.

Santana Lopez, will you do me the incredibly great honor of accepting my ring and allowing me to pledge my troth to you and make you my wife?

All of my love forever,
Rachel

Santana read the note over once, twice, then a third time. "R-rachel." she stumbled, she opened the box and saw the small ring with a chip of a diamond and two amethyst chips around it. "It's... it's amazing." she leaned over and kissed her tenderly, "I thought I already asked you though?" she whispered.

Rachel smiled lopsidedly, "You did. But no one asked you and I couldn't let that happen to the girl I love the most. Every girl deserves to be asked. Which means you deserve to be asked. So," she reached over and gently slipped the box from Santana's hands, "I'm asking. Will you make me the happiest woman alive and be my bride?"

"Yes." she whispered, not trusting her voice any louder as she let Rachel put the ring on her hand.

Rachel smiled brightly as she slid the ring onto Santana's finger - even more pleased that it fit since getting a ring size for the girl had been far more difficult than she'd realized. She raised the hand to her lips and kissed the ring, the smile never leaving her lips. "You make me so incredibly happy, Santana," she whispered, "I love you and our son more than anything in this world."

"I love you too," Santana whispered simply, pulling Rachel into a hug but were soon interrupted by their son. "He wants in," she laughed, bringing him in the middle of the hug and smiled.

Rachel laughed, "He is in!" She leaned against Santana resting her head on her fiancee's shoulder and looked over at Miguel with a shy smile. "Do you approve, sir? I hope my proposal was tendered in a manner that was worthy of your baby girl in your eyes."

"It was beautiful," he smiled and wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. "I'm really happy for you two," he said as he reached out and took AJ in his arms and hugged him.

"It was what she deserved," Rachel whispered, smiling up at Santana. "Besides," she teased, "now those louts she calls patrons will know she is well and truly taken and that they'd better keep their hands off what is mine." She hugged the girl possessively, leaning up to kiss her cheek.

"You know there's only one dude who flirts with me," she laughed, wrapping her arms around Rachel, "though I like possessive you."

"Well, you're mine and I don't like it when he flirts with you like that," Rachel pouted for a second before smiling up at Santana again. "Am I forgiven for being weird and wanting to wait until after you opened your gifts now?"

"Yes," She said softly before reaching under the tree and grabbing the box from AJ. "As promised, the gift from Aaron." She smiled and handed it over to Rachel.

Rachel smirked wryly up at Santana, still not entirely comfortable with the idea of accepting gifts on Christmas, but she'd promised. She eased her fingers under the tape, carefully releasing it from the paper and unfolding the paper from the rectangular package. It was heavy for the size, ruling out a book, but she took her time opening it anyway, not rushing to find out what it was. Perhaps Santana had purchased it, but it was the first gift she would ever receive from her son and she wanted to savor it.

Santana took AJ from her dad and sat him on her lap as they watched Rachel open it. She had made the clay mold one morning at the church Quinn and Santana went to. They had been doing a mommy and baby class and Santana jumped in and they had made a press of AJ's hands and feet. She wanted to give it to Rachel because she knew their son was likely to be their only biological child and he would always be the most important thing in both of their lives.

Rachel blinked down at the reddish clay tablet with a lopsided smile. "It..." she caught her lip between her teeth as her words caught in her throat, brushing her fingers lightly over the tiny indents in the shape of their son's hands and feet, his name more or less neatly inscribed on the bottom with the date of his birth. "It's beautiful," she finally managed to get out in a low, emotion-choked whisper.

"It was your son's idea." She smiled and held him up. "He told me that mommy needed a kickass present to commemorate my awesomeness." Santana nodded and kissed his head.

"Santana," Rachel whispered, leaning over to kiss her before whispering in her ear, "is it bad that I find it a considerable turn on when you use polysyllabic words so adroitly?" She leaned back with a smirk before smiling down at the present again, "I love it. I'm keeping this always as a reminder of how little our boy was today."

"His giant ass baby growth has made him even bigger now look!" She pressed his feet to the cast and they were slightly too big now. "I made that two weeks ago and he's already Gigantor." She smiled before blowing a raspberry into her son's neck causing him to burst out in giggles. "And I'll have to remember that thing about big words," she winked before handing the boy to his other mom. "Baby cuddles?"

"Always," she reached out to take her son, cuddling him to her chest, his little arms curling around her neck in a baby hug. "I love you so much, Aaron," she whispered against his neck. "You make your mami and I so happy, little man."

Santana watched them for a moment before laying back and resting her head in her dad's lap with a smile. "I like family times."

"I do too," he smiled down at his daughter and ran his fingers through her hair. "You've made me so proud, baby girl," he murmured. "I'm so glad you found your family."

"Daddy," she said softly. "Move closer?" she asked as she looked up at him, "I want Aaron to have you in his life always and I need my dad and Rachel and I need parents. Fuck... Puck, Quinn, Rachel and I need a parental figure and I want my dad close to me."

Miguel chuckled softly, "Would you believe me if I told you I had almost this same conversation with your girl last night? I'm looking into it, mija. There are things I'd have to put into order before I could. You know that."

"I know..." She said softly, "I just... I don't have a mom...and Rachel's dads suck." She sighed, "I just wish that you could be there to see the baby grow up and stuff all the time."

"Mmm, me too, mija. And speaking of Rachel's fathers," he glanced over at where Rachel was playing with AJ, "she's calling herself an orphan. What's going on?"

"She went to their house when we were at church and they were home... fuck they were in the church with us... they haven't been home on a holiday since she was like 13 and she thinks they stayed away because of her." She sighed, "I just... I don't get it." She growled and looked up. "She deserves better, I don't even think they know she had Aaron."

His lips thinned and he sighed. "I don't know, mija. They've always been private people. I didn't know she'd been alone that long or I'd have invited her to share the holiday in our company. But, they are Rachel's fathers. How she chooses to handle their behaviours is her decision. But I want you to be ready to catch her, baby girl. Your lady love is not so strong as she wants everyone to think, I believe."

Santana sighed, "I know, dad, I know." She looked over at where Rachel was lying on the ground with AJ on her chest and she was talking to him softly. "I'll try to make everything better."

"I know you will, mija," he leaned down to kiss her head, "but don't forget about yourself either."