Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Now that you have checked out your new room, what do you say to a nap before supper?” Amanda asked.

“Wuddle wit me?” Hannah pleaded, and Amanda was only too happy to oblige.

“Of course, sweetheart.”  As both got on the queen bed and found a good position, Amanda began to sing. She'd never been one for lullabies, so she went with the first song that came to mind.

"Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows, fair is the lily of the valley, clear is the water that flows from the Boyne, but my love is fairer than any,"  she sang softly, and before long her  baby was asleep, safe in her arms after all these years. 

Both of the heavy sleepers were awoken by the smell of steamed cauliflower and broccoli.

“You ready for supper, little one?”

“Yes.” Hannah cuddled into Amanda’s side, and had to be nudged to sit up, but then she definitely looked ready.

I'm just glad she's no longer little, at least I don't have to help explain that to Tish and Amma.

“Let's go down and see about supper, shall we?” 

“Yes, please. I'm starving.”

“HI, starving. Nice to meet you, I'm Amanda.”

This got the desired giggle out of Hannah, and after some ginger movements both were able to make their way downstairs.

As they entered the kitchen Hannah and Amanda saw Glennon preparing the vegetables that were obviously going to be paired with a main dish that was nowhere in sight.

“Anything you are allergic to or don't like food wise, Hannah?”

“Well, if I'm eating cauliflower or broccoli I prefer ranch on the side.”

“Ranch? Really?”

“Yes, really Ranch goes great with vegetables and-”

“And pizza. Ranch also is good with pizza.” Glennon said.

***

As Abby came back inside with the girls, she repeated what she had said earlier, 

“Now remember girls, we're having a guest over, they are a guest of Aunt Amanda, so treat them with respect alright? Well, let's go.” 

“ Mama, I hear a voice. I'm going to say, hi. No one turns down pizza.”

“Okay, but then wash your hands, please.” 

“ Yes , mother.” 

What is with the sass in this family today. She's lucky she's not older.

“ Hannah, this is our daughter Tish. Tish likes writing music and playing guitar, and ranch on pizza." 

“ Go wash your hands, please Tish?” Glennon put in before the teen could forget.

“ Now that the pizza is here, we can all eat supper together.”

As they all sat down to their meal, Tish struck up a conversation with Hannah. Abby had been unsure what kind of pizza Hannah would eat, so now she and Hannah were perusing the boxes - one pepperoni and cheese, one half-supreme, half-vegetarian delight..

“What, no fish?” Hannah joked.

“”You like anchovy pizza?” Tish looked surprised.

“Well, I haven’t tried it, but you know the Italians and Greeks put anchovies on pizza, if you don’t like that, what about other fish?" Hannah looked thoughtful. “I wonder how tuna would go on pizza?”

"I'd be willing to try that. Oooh, we could make homemade pizzas? Hey, cauliflower, cauliflower crust?" Tish suggested. “Tobs does a killer cauliflower pizza crust.”

Amma looked up, wrinkling her nose. "You guys are.... different."

“So, do you play any instruments Hannah?” Tish asked, letting her sister’s remark go.

Hannah wrinkled her nose. “I took piano lessons, and recorder, when I was younger. Because I had to be a proper lady,” she rolled her eyes. “I was never any good at recorder, I sounded like an asthmatic seagull. I was okay at piano, but I’ve always wanted to try guitar or something cool like that though.”

Tish ignored her aunt Amanda stifling laughter behind them. “I could teach you, maybe starting tomorrow.”

“ I'd like that. Thank you very much.”

“No problem.”

That night, for the first time in a long time, Hannah Cardwell went to sleep with a full stomach and joy in her heart and her life.

****

Glennon had just poured her first cup of coffee the next morning when she heard three pairs of overzealous feet running right for the kitchen. 

“ Can we leave soon please? I want to get there before all the good ones are gone.” Tish asked.

Seeing the confused expression that Hannah wore, Glennon clarified, “The Christmas tree lot.”

Hannah’s eyes widened in surprise. “A real Christmas tree?” she squeaked. Her grandmother had never let one in the mansion - too untidy, not to mention pagan, of course, Hannah thought sarcastically.

“Yes, a real Christmas tree. And you can even help pick it out.”

“I can?” Hannah asked skeptically.

“ Yes, you're not intruding, you're family.”

Hannah looked to Tish and Amma, as if to confirm what their mother was saying.

Before she couldn’t utter her next rebuttal however, something she never would have expected to happen, happened.

All at once four separate voices called out, “No.” “Nope.” “Uh uh.” “Not this year.”

Confused, and frankly scared by the voices behind her, Hannah looked back to see Abby in an ugly Christmas sweater.

Seeing her confusion, Abby took a moment to explain, “You see Hannah, every year the girls bicker over which tree we should take home and then it spills over into the other two brats taking sides, and I'm left to choose. So, a few years ago, I started choosing by the tree that looked closest to the one on my sweater, different sweater, different tree every year. But this sweater is from the first time, I ran out of new ones. What I imagine Amma means is why go through that when you can help pick. Believe me everyone is okay with you having a voice, especially after last year.”

Hannah tilted her head to one side. “What happened last year?”

“Daddy ended up breaking the tie,” Amma grumbled.

“Oh?” Hannah asked.

Amanda rolled her eyes. “Yes. Craig said since we couldn’t stop bickering , he’d choose the ugliest tree on the lot, on purpose.”

He has his moments, thought Abby. Though there's always other alternatives as well. Let's just hope this year, I don't need to utilize them.

“At least he paid for it?” Glennon shrugged.

“Well then, you won't have to worry about that this year.” Should we get going then?” Hannah replied with a smile.

“Yes, let’s, honey.” Amanda smiled warmly. “I’m so glad you’re coming with us. Have you ever been Christmas tree shopping before?”

Hannah shook her head. “Grandmother wouldn’t have them in the house. She said they were untidy and pagan. But I always wanted one.” Hannah’s smile faded. “She didn’t like decorations unless they were ‘proper’. But I like decorations.”

Ah, that explains why our exuberant little Christmas elf got so excited about decorating the most random corners at work, Amanda thought with a pang. “Well, now you’ll have one, Hannah. Let’s go.”

Amanda made sure that Hannah had put her coat on, and they left the house with Abby, Glennon, Tish and Amma. Craig was going to meet them at the cut-your-own Christmas tree farm not too far away.

How do pine trees, fir trees, whatever they are manage in Southern California anyway? Hannah wondered to herself as she was bundled into the back seat of the van with Amanda next to her. Amanda, it was clear, wasn’t letting Hannah out of her sight anytime soon but Hannah didn’t seem to mind.

When Abby started the drive down to the Christmas tree farm, Hannah watched out the window. Big palm trees, little palm trees, I wonder if that one grows coconuts, she thought with a giggle.

“What’s so funny, Hannah?” Amanda asked.

“Just wondering if there’s coconut trees, would you have to decorate one of those.”

“Don’t worry sweetie, it’ll be a real, proper Christmas tree,” Glennon assured her from the front seat. “You’ll see.”

LA traffic was horrendous, even or maybe especially as Christmas drew nearer, but Abby knew all the backroads; it didn’t take them too terribly long to reach the cut-your-own Christmas tree farm, and it was early enough in the day that it hadn’t been swarmed with people yet. Still, Craig was already there with Chase, waiting for them.

Almost as soon as Abby parked, Tish and Amma bolted from the car, running to hug their father and brother.

Hannah was more careful, waiting until Abby actually parked before getting out with Amanda by her side. 

Hannah looked up, just mesmerized by all the different sizes and shapes of the trees.

“It's amazing, isn't it?”

Just as Hannah turned to Amanda to respond to her, the two, plus Abby, already heard bickering and all three could easily guess what was probably happening.

As the trio moved toward the commotion, they were unsurprised to see that each younger Doyle was standing at opposite sides of the lot, looking at completely different trees, Glennon already on the side of her youngest. Despite wanting to be near Hannah, Amanda couldn't resist heading in Tish’s direction. Meanwhile, however, Hannah noticed the same thing that apparently Craig, Chase, and Abby had noticed before her.

Further directly in front of them, that the sisters had apparently not noticed, was arguably a tree that put both of the other trees to shame. 

The other three turned to Hannah and gestured for her to say something.

“Me? Why would- oh.” They figured both pairs of sisters would probably think Abby and Craig are making them view a crappy tree and that Chase might have his own selfish choice, but they might listen to me.

“I think this one’s pretty,” Hannah ventured shyly, pointing to the tree she’d noticed. “Is…is that all right?” She looked at the rest of the family anxiously. “Tish?” she appealed. “Amma?”

“How did w-”

“We miss this.” “It's perfect!” “Jinx.” “No, you jinx.”

“I'm glad you like it.” Hannah said.

“Like it? We love it!” Tish replied.

“Yes, thank you!” Amma said.

Both girls rushed to hug the person who finally made this an easy, dare they even say fun experience this year. 

Not to be outdone by his younger sisters, Chase decided to join in calling out, “ Family group hug!”

Hannah found herself squished between Tish and Amanda. It felt…surprisingly cozy. 

As Craig and Glennon saw to paying for their selected tree, and cutting it down, Abby came over to check on Hannah. “Alright there little one?” she asked. “You picked out just the right tree, I’d say.”

Hannah nodded shyly, but before she could say more, she heard a voice that made Abby’s head turn, calling from a few trees down the row.

“Maman! Why didn’t you tell us you were going to be here?”

“Who’s that?” Hannah peeked up at Abby.

“My eldest,” Abby rolled her eyes in fond exasperation. “Well, by choice anyway, but I’ll introduce you later, okay sweetie?”

“We're already here. What's the worse that can happen, you tell me it's Tobin Heath and Christen Press?”

“Well actually, I'd say it's them, plus Alyssa Thompson?” Abby ventured warily.

“I was joking,” Hannah protested anxiously.

“She’s not.”

The newcomer proved to be the one who’d called over to Abby a few moments ago. And while Hannah had never got to see her play, she knew who Tobin Heath was, of course.

“Hey,” Tobin said as Hannah gaped at her. “It’s alright little one, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“But, but you’re Tobin Heath.”

Might as well rip off the bandage now. Tobin beckoned and Christen joined them with Alyssa. “Yeah, and this is Christen, and Alyssa, though our family and friends call her AT, for short.”

Hannah’s eyes got even rounder and she looked like she might either make a run for it or could faint at any moment, and she couldn’t decide which would be worse.

Amanda wrapped her arms around Hannah, steadying her. “It’s alright Hannah,” she soothed, “this is your cousin Tobin, and Christen and Alyssa. You don’t have to worry, they’re family just like you are.”

Tobin raised an eyebrow at Abby. “ And I was going to be told about this, when?” she asked in French, deliberately.

“It was a surprise to the rest of us, too,” Hannah spoke up in the same language, shocking Tobin, before reverting to English. “What? My grandmother made me learn it, and anyway you shouldn’t speak in foreign languages to hide things from people just because you think they can’t understand you, cousin Tobin.” She huffed in irritation.

Abby hid a smirk. “I’ve been trying to teach her that, thank you for illustrating my point.”

AT had been standing wrapped in Christen’s arms as her Mama Tobin talked with Grandmere Abby, but now she turned to Hannah with interest. “You know French?”

“I’m fluent, Grandmother insisted that ‘proper young ladies’ needed to know it,” Hannah sighed in irritation.

“I know a little, but I should probably learn more, especially if…” AT paused and looked back at the single blonde figure in their family group busily cutting down their chosen tree. She looked as though she felt the need to murder something.

“What is it?” Hannah asked.

“Sofia,” AT said quietly. “She shouldn’t even really be here, Sweden still have a match to play, but Mama Tobin promised to put Sofia on the plane back to Malaga herself if she had to. She just…well…”

Christen rolled her eyes. “She didn’t exactly run away, she got leave to come back for a couple of days, but she wouldn’t ordinarily be here.”

Suddenly it clicked. “Wait…that’s…Sofia Jakobsson.”

“Uh huh,” AT nodded.

“Like…the Swedish Sofia Jakobsson. Like the Sweden that…um…did the thing in the World Cup.” Hannah faltered. “Am I going to make you all mad with me by mentioning it?”

“No,” Tobin said quietly. “Sweden did ‘do the thing’ in the World Cup, yes. But now they’ve lost in the Nations League, and lost any chance of going to Paris next summer.”

Hannah’s eyes widened. “Oh. And she still has to go back and play a match anyways?”

AT nodded. “And she’s my big sister and I don’t like it that she’s hurting. She said she might feel better if she got to kill something, so Mama Christen said as long as it was a tree it would be okay.”

Hannah giggled. 

“Something funny?” Tobin asked, eyebrow raised.

“I- I'm- I'm sorry. I'm just remembering that video of the animated tree with the decorations video, then Sofia killing it….” Tish had been watching it avidly on her laptop last night before the girls bunked down.

Tobin chuckled. The ‘Do You Like My Decorations?’ video was a hit with the Preaths as well, even though (or maybe because) the singing tree was a little creepy. “Anyway, are we still on for the Christmas meal, Maman?”

“Of course,” Abby said promptly. “But don’t forget, we all also have Beverly’s on the 22nd, for Winter Solstice, and the Carrascos have invited us to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.”

“That’s Abuela Gloria, Tia Vivian, Tia Alex, and Tio Servo,” AT explained to Hannah, as though that explained everything. “Alex Morgan,” she added as an afterthought.

“ The Alex Morgan?!”

“I’m sure she’d have told us if she was some other Alex Morgan,” AT said with an air of puzzlement.

Tobin snorted in amusement. “Behave, little love. Yes, the Alex Morgan,” she confirmed with a nod. “Who is, as I’m sure you’ve heard about Maman, Mama Glennon, me, Christen and AT already, just as human as the rest of us.”

“Are you sure?”

That comment came from Sofia, as she joined the others. She’d worked out her energies (for now) on the tree, and it was being tied up for the trip back to the Preath residence. “Oh, hello there,” she said, noticing Hannah and offering as natural a smile as she could muster. 

“Hi.” was the meek response from Hannah at meeting yet another footballer, just while picking out a Christmas tree.

“Storasyster, this is Hannah, she’s Mama Tobin’s new cousin.”

Sofia blinked at AT’s summation of the new information. “Oh, well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Hannah.” She managed a warmer smile this time. “I’m glad you were able to come pick out a tree with the family.”

Ring ring “One second. Hello? Uh huh, uh oh. Okay, we'll be there as soon as possible.”

“What's the matter, Sof?”

“That was Rachel. All I heard was “emergency, NOT hurt. That could be anything, but I'm sorry to say we kinda need to leave now? It was nice meeting you, Hannah. We'll see you soon.”

“Oh…I hope everything works out,” Hannah offered quietly. “See you soon, I guess.” 

Much to her surprise, AT hugged her tightly.

“You will. And it’s gonna be okay. When Grandmere Abby and Grandma Glennon make someone their family, they’re family,” she promised. 

Tobin nodded firmly. “Alright then, Maman, we’ll keep you posted,” she promised. “See you all soon. And you three - four,” she corrected, glancing at Hannah. “Behave and try not to make trouble.”

“You’re a funny one to talk, Tobs,” Tish bantered back. “But really, hope everything’s okay. We’ll see you later.” 

With a nod, Tobin shepherded her little family away. Abby watched them go worriedly, but turned back to Hannah and the others, trying to keep up a cheerful demeanor. 

“Well, we have a tree, and it’s just about time to start getting lunch together. Nothing we can do about the emergency until Sofia finds out more, so what do you say we get home and wait for news?”

“Yes Abby,” Glennon and Amanda said, both trying not to worry.

“So long as I get to man the grill,” Craig put in. 

Abby rolled her eyes. “Remember which one of the grills is for vegan stuff and we’re golden. Let’s get going.”

Craig ensured their tree was strapped into the bed of his pickup truck. “Meltons, in,” he ordered, and Chase, Tish, and Amma got into their father’s truck obediently, leaving Hannah to return to Abby’s car with Abby, Glennon, and Amanda. Together, they all made the drive back to the Wambach-Doyle residence.

After they had lunch together, Amma decided to take a nap, the cousins had something to bond over learning the guitar.

“Okay, so put one hand and one here. Now, let's play something simple, easy to learn.” Tish rummaged in her closet and found her practice guitar, the one she’d learned on before saving up enough to buy a new one. Carefully, she ensured the guitar was in tune before placing it on Hannah’s lap.

Tish started teaching Hannah how to play simple chords, then began playing ‘Jingle Bells’ on her own guitar, slowly and carefully. 

“Is that-”

“Let’s just say we've heard you're a fan of it. Aunt Amanda talks about you a lot, you know.”

“It’s one of the Christmas songs Grandmother would allow that wasn’t strictly religious, because it was traditional,” Hannah explained. She followed Tish’s playing as best she could, and while she wasn’t perfect on her first try, it was clear Hannah had an eye for the finger positions of the chords and could pick it up quickly. 

They practiced for a bit longer, though Tish kept glancing sideways at Hannah when she thought Hannah wasn’t looking, and when Tish thought Hannah had the hang of it she let Hannah try on her own. “Let’s see what you can do.”

Slowly, Hannah picked out the first few chords of ‘Jingle Bells’ - there were a couple of wrong notes, but nothing disastrous.

“That was pretty good,” Tish smiled warmly. “But you’ve probably had enough for right now, otherwise we’ll be accused of waking Amma up from her nap.”

Hannah nodded, yawning a bit herself. Tish wasn’t surprised.

“Tired? Aunt Amanda said you might be, it’s been an exciting day. Why don’t we get some rest too?”

Nodding gratefully, Hannah put the guitar away and lay down on Tish’s bed, glad when the other girl joined her. It was good not to be alone, after such an exciting day.

Soon both girls were sound asleep. They were drained (especially Hannah) after the life changing secrets being revealed, and the hectic morning. Tish had been pulling late nights (and secretly some all-nighters) writing her music lately, so it wasn’t surprising that exhaustion had finally hit. They slept straight through to dinner time, and had to be woken, still groggy as Abby brought them warmed leftover pizza. 

“You two feeling alright, petites?”

“Tired,” Hannah yawned, but she obediently ate her slice of pizza as Tish did the same, accepting wet wipes to clean their hands.

“Then you should go back to sleep, I won’t insist on normal bedtime routine tonight if you’re not feeling well. But as for you, Morticia--”

“Tish,” Tish grumbled. Mama Abby just liked to call her that when she was in trouble, since ‘Tish’ didn’t sound ‘in trouble’ enough. 

“Morticia Glennon,” Abby added, and Tish tried not to huff in displeasure. She was too tired anyway. “If I find out that you’ve been pulling all-nighters again…”

“What are you gonna do, spank me?” Tish snorted.

“You're not far from 18. I could, and probably will, just keep track for when the time does come, because it will come. Don't test me, little girl. You really are your mother's daughter, aren't you?”

“Well I hope so,” Tish yawned. “I think Mom would have told me if I wasn’t, Mama.”

“That's not what I meant and you know it. In any case, sleep good, the both of you. I'll see you in the morning.”

“Night, Mama,” Tish yawned again, and she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Hannah looked at Abby. “Goodnight,” she said quietly. “And…thank you. For everything.”

She snuggled up to Tish, and was asleep within moments.