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Visiting family isn’t always an easy task for Gloria.
Sure, she loves her family and she is glad to have them, but going back to San Diego always brought unwanted questions and suggestions on her love life that she just doesn’t have the patience for anymore.
Add in the fact that she is taking a real life Barbie along with her and Sasha this time around and things can get really messy.
It’s been almost two months since Barbie’s moved in with them and Gloria feels like she is finally getting back on her feet.
Every aspect of her life has improved since then. She’s been promoted at work, Sasha started actually talking to her again and now she has a really good friend to talk to when she gets home from work and to have girls nights with every weekend.
It isn’t always perfect, but they’re getting along really well.
And that’s what scares her the most about taking Barbie back to meet the extended Ramirez family. They can be a bit much sometimes and she’s afraid they might get a little too excited with the fact that Gloria has brought an ‘adult friend’ along with her to meet them for the first time since she and Sasha’s father broke up.
Especially when it comes to Gloria’s mother. It doesn’t take her more than a few minutes after they arrive at her house to prove Gloria’s point.
“Gloria can stay with her friend in the guest room and Sasha will sleep with me.” Mrs. Ramirez explains, guiding her guests inside the house.
“Mama, the guest room has only one bed.” Gloria makes sure to remind her mother of the fact, though she is pretty sure the woman knows exactly what she’s doing.
“I know mija , but you two are skinny. I’m sure you can fit in that big bed!” Gloria’s mother feigns innocence, taking Sasha by the hand after one last “you go get settled now, the guests will arrive soon!” to Barbie and to her daughter.
Gloria sighs.
There’s no point in fighting a losing battle.
“I’m sorry about my mother.” She tells Barbie as they walk into the guest bedroom. The colorful flowery decoration on the walls and the sheets is the same ever since her mother moved in when Sasha was only a baby.
“Why? She seems really nice!” Barbie replies, completely unaware of how much they’ve been set up together.
“You know, because of this whole thing with making us share a bed.” Gloria explains, opening her suitcase and taking out some of her clothes to place them on the empty drawers in the room.
“I don’t mind sharing a bed with you.” The blonde says simply and, for some reason, that makes Gloria’s heart beat a bit faster.
It isn’t the first time it's happened, though.
Ever since she met Barbie, Gloria’s felt a deep connection with the former doll, but lately certain feelings have been bubbling up that have been making her question her sanity.
Maybe she’s just been so lonely for so long that any sort of human touch or proximity are making her nervous. Maybe the fact that she’d been spending too much time with Barbie has been making her imagine things that aren’t there. Or maybe that one night when Gloria was pleasuring herself alone in her room and the name that accidentally slipped out of her mouth as she came belonged to a certain blonde changed everything.
Either way, Gloria needs to keep her feelings at bay and the idea of sharing a bed with Barbie makes her tummy ache.
-
“What do you think of this dress?” Barbie asks, stepping out from the en suite bathroom after showering and Gloria loses her ability to speak when she looks at her.
The pink and orange floral dress fits perfectly, leaving just the right amount of legs and cleavage exposed to be considered appropriate for a family dinner.
“Wow, you- It looks amazing!” Gloria manages to stutter out, her gaze accidentally lingering for a bit longer than what is acceptable for a friend to stare at another woman’s chest.
The whole keeping her feelings at bay and acting normal are not really going that well for her.
“Can you help me out with the makeup? I still can’t do it quite like you do.” The blonde asks and Gloria’s hands feel clammy already.
Damn her good makeup skills.
She intently tries to focus on the task as she applies the eyeshadow and mascara, but in the past weeks that she’s been Barbie’s personal makeup artist, she came to find that applying lipstick on Barbie’s bottom lip was the hardest part.
Why does it have to look so plump and inviting?
Nope! Gloria has to tell herself, not appropriate to be thinking about your friend like this!
“Is it good?” Barbie asks when she’s finished.
“It’s perfect.” Gloria tells her, not sure exactly what she is referring to anymore as she admires the woman in front of her.
-
Barbie turns out to be a pro at mingling and chit-chatting with Gloria’s relatives at the party. Not that that’s any surprise, Barbie is good at everything.
She’s just really bad at keeping her hands to herself.
The thing is, when they’re sitting side by side and Barbie is deep into conversation with Gloria’s lesbian aunt with her hand on top of Gloria’s bare thigh, mindlessly moving her thumb up and down over it, Gloria isn’t sure how much of the heat she starts feeling inside of her body she can blame on the weather.
Throughout the night, Barbie finds herself excitedly dragging Gloria along with her around the house to taste the different foods she’s never tried before, to meet Gloria’s cousins she still hasn’t talked to and just beaming with happiness as Gloria’s mother keeps pampering her and making sure she’s liking everything.
“Barbara seems really nice, mija . I like her.” Mrs. Ramirez tells Gloria when she manages to escape from Barbie’s grip for a few minutes and goes hide in the kitchen.
“Mom, you are not going to convince me to start dating her.” She tiredly tries to explain to her mother that her dreams haven't come true yet. Gloria is still a single mother and Barbie is really just a friend (although all that talk about dating Barbie has really been messing with Gloria’s head).
“I never said anything about dating.” The older woman says, trying to hide her smirk as she adds the finishing touches to every dish of food she’s prepared to serve to her guests. “I just see that you seem really happy when she’s around and, if she makes my pequeña happy, then I’m happy.” Mrs. Ramirez gives Gloria a caring look before moving away with her serving plates and Gloria is left staring at the walls, reflecting on how happy she’s actually been ever since Barbie came into her life.
-
After dinner the party moves to the backyard, as Gloria’s more outgoing cousins grab their partners and start dancing to the music that is now blasting through the speakers.
Somehow, Barbie ends up on the makeshift dance floor, dragging Sasha along with her. Gloria watches from afar as the two move together, Sasha making up silly little dances on the spot and Barbie following her lead.
Gloria finds herself staring, mostly at the blonde, with a smile on her face.
Barbie really improved both hers and Sasha’s lives when she showed up. So much so that Gloria can’t even imagine life without her anymore. She tries not to get too deep into her feelings thinking about it, but it’s hard paying attention to anything else other than the two whom she realizes now are the most important people in her life.
“You know, I wasn’t buying this whole family gossip that you were dating Barbie,” Gloria is broken out of her thoughts when she hears her aunt’s voice. The older woman pulls out a chair to sit next to her and continues talking when Gloria’s eyes find hers, “but now I can see it very clearly.” She states, looking away where Barbie is still dancing with Sasha.
“What!?” Gloria forces out an awkward laugh to dismiss her aunt. “I’m not dating Barbie!”
“Right.” The older woman smiles sympathetically and Gloria attempts to, somehow, hide the heat that starts creeping up on her face. “I just hope you know that, whatever it is that you have with her, I love you and I support you.” Gloria’s aunt explains, placing a hand over Gloria’s that has been resting over the table between them.
Before Gloria even has the chance to process what her aunt is telling her, she feels someone taking her other hand from her lap.
“Come on Gloria, let’s dance!”
Turning her face she finds Barbie, standing in front of her with a huge smile on her face. She sounds a little out of breath already, beads of sweat around her face make a few strands of hair stick to her head, but Gloria can’t help the way her heart skips a beat at the view.
Barbie still looks incredibly beautiful to her.
Gloria lets herself be pulled up from her chair and onto the dance floor, only having time to glance at her aunt one last time. It was enough for her to be able to see the knowing look on the older woman’s face though.
When they get to the small crowd that has formed in the middle of the patio, Sasha is nowhere to be seen. The tween probably took her chance to escape Barbie’s eagerness to dance at the first chance she got.
Barbie doesn’t seem to mind though, now holding both of Gloria’s arms to dance with her.
Gloria has never been much of a dancer. She usually just sticks to hanging on the sidelines and is content enough with watching everyone else having fun. Barbie just has a way to get her to do things she never does.
They dance together for a while, the two glasses of wine and one shot of tequila Gloria’s already taken help lower her inhibitions. She can actually say she’s enjoying herself, not even caring what anyone else might think of her terrible dancing skills.
That is, until Barbie steps a little closer, hands finding Gloria’s waist to help them move together.
Gloria can pretend she’s not affected by their proximity for about two seconds before she feels her heart increasing its pace. Her hands are sweating and she doesn’t know what to do with them.
Should she hold Barbie’s waist too? Or maybe place them over Barbie’s shoulders?
Is she going crazy or is Barbie really staring down at her lips?
They’re so close Gloria can feel Barbie’s warm breath on her face, can notice Barbie’s grip on her waist getting a little more tense, can sense Barbie’s body leaning in closer to hers.
And suddenly she is too aware of where she is. Standing in the middle of her mother’s backyard. Dancing way too close to a former Barbie doll whom her relatives will all assume she’s really dating when they see them like this.
As a surge of worry hits her, she promptly breaks them apart.
“I-” Gloria stutters as a frown starts forming on Barbie’s face. “It’s late.” She says flatly.
If she didn’t know any better, Gloria would think Barbie’s facial expression was one of hurt feelings right now.
“I think I’m going back to our room for the night.” Gloria explains awkwardly.
“Did I do something wrong?” Barbie asks and it almost breaks Gloria’s heart.
“No! You did nothing wrong!” She reassures her. “I’m just really tired!” Gloria finds the best excuse she can come up with and hopes Barbie won’t take it personally.
“Okay.” The blonde doesn’t look convinced, but accepts it.
“Don’t worry about waking me up if I’m already asleep when you get to bed, though.” Gloria tells her with an apologetic look, as if this would make it up for her acting strange.
Barbie nods and Gloria runs.
She runs away until she reaches the guest room inside her mother’s house and only then, when she is away from all the prying eyes and the inescapable feeling of Barbie’s body pulling her in, she feels like she can breathe again.
Gloria leans her body back against the door and tries to make sense of what she’s feeling.
She doesn’t like what she finds though.
So she takes a very cold shower and gets ready for bed. The water helps cool her body down and put her thoughts back in place. Barbie is her friend and she should not be having inappropriate thoughts or feelings for her.
She can hear the party slowly dying down outside and, as she sits down at the edge of the bed, she hears the bedroom door opening.
“Everyone’s leaving.” The blonde explains when she walks in, as if she needed a reason to be back in the room already.
“That’s alright.” Gloria reassures her, feeling guilty again for her inability to deal with her own feelings and making it seem like Barbie was at fault for her acting strange.
Barbie seems content enough with it. She closes the door behind her and moves quietly towards her side of the drawers to get her pajamas. Gloria tries not to stare for too long at the blonde’s bare back as she strips from her dress to get changed.
She turns her face away and feels like a creep for feeling warmth going down her belly and pooling down the middle of her thighs just for imagining what Barbie’s bare front might look like.
“Is everything okay?” Barbie’s voice sounds closer as Gloria feels the bed sinking with the blonde’s weight right next to her.
She sighs.
“I’m sorry for acting weird out there.” Gloria finally turns to face Barbie then and hopes the apology will be enough to rid her of all the things she’s been feeling for the blonde lately.
“I understand if it’s hard for you to be around your family.” Barbie tells her and the seriousness in her tone surprises Gloria.
Sometimes she forgets how human Barbie actually is now. How complex her thoughts have gotten and how deep her understanding of human feelings already is.
“It’s just they have been on my back to get a new partner ever since Sasha’s dad and I broke up.” Gloria finds herself opening up to the blonde about something she didn’t even realize could be responsible for her unstable feelings lately. And it feels good to let some of that heavy weight be shared with someone else.
“Did it hurt you when he left?” Barbie’s question surprises her again. She has to really stop and think about this one.
“I think I’m the one who hurt him.” Gloria comes to the realization. “I just don’t think I was ever able to love him the way he loved me.” She confesses and starts wondering if the guilt and shame that came along with it were to blame for her being so closed off ever since.
“Is that what made you freak out out there?” Barbie asked gently. “Or was it because your family seems to be trying to get us to date each other?” She adds with a tiny smirk on her face.
Gloria’s heart stops for a second.
“You noticed that?” She asked, terrified for her family and regretting ever thinking that bringing Barbie along to meet them would be a good idea.
“It was hard not to when all your mother could talk about was what a good companion you are.” Barbie is holding back a laugh now and Gloria just wants to hide her face under a pillow. “She made really good points, though.”
Gloria is about to panic. She can’t believe her mother did that.
“I don’t mind it, though.” Barbie explains lightly. “Does it bother you?” She then asks and Gloria has to think about it for a second.
It shouldn’t bother her. Barbie is a very beautiful woman and Gloria is very single. So what is it then?
“No.” She replies simply.
Barbie’s face shows that she really doesn’t buy it, though.
“You looked pretty bothered out there when we were dancing.” The blonde states and Gloria can’t deny that she was pretty bothered then. Just maybe not for the reasons Barbie might think.
“It wasn’t that, it was just-” Gloria tries to recall what exactly she felt in that moment. “I got overwhelmed.”
Barbie nods understandingly and they stay quiet for a moment before she decides she wants to know more about it.
“Why?” Barbie’s voice is soft and not at all demanding. Gloria can answer only if she wants to.
And she wants to, she really does. It just takes her a moment to come up with the courage to do so.
“Because it seems crazy that I might actually be attracted to my real life Barbie.” Gloria confesses finally and suddenly the air gets tenser in the room.
Gloria expects Barbie to feel betrayed, repulsed by it or maybe angry. But there’s nothing on her face that shows that. The only thing on Barbie’s face is worry as she bites her lower lip in anticipation.
“What if she’s attracted to you too?” Her voice barely comes out when she says it, but it is enough to send Gloria’s soul into outer space.
Does that mean what she thinks it means?
Too many thoughts run through Gloria’s head by the second, but the only thing she can focus on is the way Barbie’s gaze falls to look at her lips again and it sends electric shockwaves down her core.
With a quick surge of bravery, Gloria holds the back of Barbie’s neck and leans in. She kisses her and as soon as their lips meet she is reminded once again that Barbie is not a doll anymore.
Barbie is a real human being, with a pulse pounding fast under the touch of Gloria’s fingertips, with her warm breath shaky as Gloria pulls away slightly only to change the angle and deepen the kiss.
She is a real human being and Gloria is allowed to love her and to want her so badly she can’t help the way her skin lights on fire as Barbie’s hands find the curve of her neck and slip under the hem of her T-shirt.
Gloria gets so lost in the kiss, she has no idea how much time has passed when she finally breaks them apart so she can breathe.
The sight of Barbie’s lips smeared with the same lipstick she helped her apply earlier sends another wave of warmth down her stomach, but this time she contains herself.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first if it was okay to kiss you.” Gloria starts, but Barbie is already giggling before she’s even finished. “What?” She asks, confused about what was so funny, but not being able to contain her own smile.
“This was my first kiss.” Barbie tells her and it suddenly downs on Gloria. She is about to make a huge deal of it when Barbie continues. “I’m glad it was with you.” The blonde seems genuinely happy and it eases Gloria’s heart.
“Me too.” She says, right before Barbie leans in again for her second kiss.