Archive of Our Own ^beta

Christmas at the Brooks-Reed house was always chaotic, but everyone loved it. It was a time of year where everyone got to see each other, and this one was extra special. Snow danced from the sky illuminating the ground with a sleek white coat. Perfect weather for a white Christmas 

Abigail, Sophia, and baby TJ all watched the snow with pure enjoyment and satisfaction, they could tell this year would be special

Tom peeked his head over the kitchen entrance to see his kids entranced by the snow “What are you bugs doing? Come on, I need some helpers for the Christmas cookies!” 

The kids all cheered, especially Abigail. She loved Christmas so much. Not just because of the pretty lights, or delicious food, but because she loved her family so much. She picked up TJ and started to make her way to the kitchen, but was interrupted by the doorbell ringing

“I’ll get it! Are you coming with me TJ?” The baby just babbled happily “I’ll take that as a yes”

She went to the door to see Jackie standing there with mountains of gifts in her hands “Hey, sweetie!”

“Nana!” She moved so that the presents wouldn’t fall on her, since Jackie was about to drop them with how many there were. Tom noticed his mother and rushed to help “Mom! What’s with all the presents?”

“Can’t I spoil my family once in a while?”

“Yeah, but don’t kill yourself while doing it”

“Nonsense. Now, where’s my big nana hug?” Abigail lunged into her nana’s arms as TJ babbled happily, clearly loving all the love given

“I know we’re not as exciting, but we’re here too”

The door opens to reveal Tony, Eesha, and Riya standing in the doorway, food and presents filling their bags

“Nonsense, hah! Bring it in, little bro!” Tom ruffled his brother’s hair before pulling him into a big hug

“Oh, and you’ve met my girlfriend, but here she is!” Tony said, pointing towards Eesha

“Absolute pleasure to see you again Tom!” Eesha replied, shaking Tom’s hand

“You too! How’ve you and Tony been doing?”

“Amazing! Tony here knows how much I love Christmas, so he’s been spoiling me as much as possible”

Tony blushed “Well, spoiling is a big word”

“I know, but it’s true!”

Suddenly, Aiden joined with Sophia and saw Riya standing behind her sister “Hey, Riya”

“Aiden, hi”

They both exchange a hug. They’ve gone a long way since the DC days, more forgiveness and way less bloodshed

“Aw, no Connor?”

“He’s busy hosting a Christmas party for his co-workers, but he sends his love!”

As Sophia watches all these boring adult conversations, she sees her grandparents, Aka Aiden’s parents, walk in “Sophia! Hello sweetie!”

“Gwandma!” Sophia lunged toward her Grandma for a big hug. Her grandpa suddenly interjected “Hey! What about my hugs?”

“Matthew, you’ll get your affection, don’t worry”

“Now that you’we hewe, can we open pwesents?”

“As long as it’s okay with you dads, then yes!

“Yay!”

•••

The entire family had gathered around the giant Christmas tree in the living room. Gifts rounded the edges, practically begging to be opened

Abigail had appointed herself to pass out all the presents. So the system was that Aiden would say the name, and Abigail would pass it out 

“To Tony, from Jackie!” Abigail grabbed the present and gave it to her uncle "This is from Nana!”

“Thank you Abigail!” He unwrapped the present to reveal an apron, but not just any apron “Wow! “World’s Best Chef”! Thanks, mom!”

Tom butted in with his own gift, saying “Hey, I thought I was the world’s best chef!” Causing the room to burst with laughter

“Oh, you both are”

“To Eesha, from Tony!”

“Really?! Wow! Thanks, babe!” She unwrapped the present to reveal a beautiful Opal necklace, causing her jaw to drop “Baby! This is incredible! Thank you so much!”

“No problem, sweetie!”

As more presents continued to be passed, more grateful people's praises continued to be sung 

Sophia got a donut themed sled from Jackie, Tony got some reading material from Tom, Aiden got some new earrings from his parents, and the presents just kept coming

The final present was extra special though “To Abigail, from her loving dads”

“Oh! That's me! Thanks dads!”

She tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a beautiful American girl doll that looked a lot like her. Black hair, green eyes, and even a similar bow “Wow! I love her! I'm gonna name her… Natalie!”

Sophia then suddenly shouted “Chwistmas Snow Day!” Her little brother then babbled with agreement

•••

“Let me introduce you to my family, Natalie! I just know you’re gonna love them as much as I do!” Abigail excitedly explained to the doll, but the doll just stared back

“But first, we have to put on our snow gear, it’s very cold outside if you don’t” She then puts on her hat, mittens, coat, and she is ready to go! But, she hears some noise coming from the kitchen 

“Little bro, are you sure you can handle the turkey?”

“Read the apron, Thomas”

“Ooh! My uncle and daddy are there! You should meet them first!” She walks into the kitchen to see Tony hard at work while Tom is bouncing TJ in his lap, since he’s too young to play in the snow

“Uncle Tony, this is Natalie! It’s her first Brooks-Reed Christmas!” 

“Nice to meet you, Natalie” He shakes her hand “Welcome to the family” 

“Don’t let the turkey explode”

“You’re just jealous that I’m the one doing it”

Abigail giggles “Oh, that’s just my dad, he’s really funny” She walked up to her dad and brother, with Tj already making grabby hands “And this is my baby brother! He’s-”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence before TJ grabbed a chunk of Natalie’s hair, giggling as he pulled “Ah! No TJ!” Abigail struggled against his tiny grip, but he still managed to pull out a big wad of her hair

“Abigail! I’m so sorry! Is she gonna be okay?” Tom asked, concerned 

“Um, don’t worry, TJ is just a baby, he meant no harm!” Abigail smiled, but she did kinda wish that the doll was still in mint condition. Nevertheless, they had other family to meet! So she took the doll outside to see their snowy adventures 

The first thing Abigail noticed on arrival was her Nana playing with her sister. Jackie was using the sled that Sophia had gotten earlier as a train of sorts “Come along, Sophia! You’re gonna be late for work!”

“AH! I have to eat bweakfast!” Abigail walked up to Sophia while she was pretending to eat breakfast “Natalie, this is my little sister, Sophia”

“Hi, Natalie. Sowwy, I’m late for wowk”

“Train is about to leave~”

“No! I’m late!” She goes into a panic of getting ready, basically doing a speedrun of getting ready for work

Just as she was about to exit, Jackie chimed in “Don’t forget lipstick!”

“Wight! Lipstick!” As she pretended to smear the lipstick, Jackie chimed in again “Attention oncoming passengers, the train is leaving!”

Sophia squealed and rushed on the sled just in time “Yes! You made it! Good work, Sophia!”

“Hooway!”

Abigail giggled off to the side “They’re a bit busy. Let’s go see what my papa is doing”

We see Aiden sipping hot cocoa, sitting down near a fireplace that Tom made for him. Abigail walks up to him “Papa, this is Natalie! It’s her first Brooks-Reed Christmas”

“Welcome Natalie! Are you having a good time?”

“Well she did get some of her hair pulled out, but I think she’s-”

Just then, Tom did a sneak attack on Aiden, giving him a tight bear hug. Aiden laughed like crazy at the gesture

“Babe! What are you doing?” 

“Being cute, you know you love it”

“The flirting never stops, doesn’t it?”

“Never”

As Abigail watched the scene unfold, she noticed something on Natalie: A brown stain on her dress. She must’ve gotten it from Aiden cocoa when Tom surprise hugged him. She grumbled a bit in frustration “It’s fine, let’s just see what my grandparents are up to”

She and Natalie walked further in the snow to see Aiden's parent's building something out of snow. 

“What are you guys?”

“Abigail! No peeking!” 

“What?”

Matthew laughed “We're making a surprise for you and the others, but you can't see it yet”

“What?! I mean, can you at least say hi to Natalie?”

“Oh, of course!” Her grandma got down on one knee to shake the doll's hand “Nice to meet you, Natalie!”

Meanwhile, little Abigail tried to take a peek of what her grandparents were making, It looked like some kind of snowfort, with pillars and walls being carefully placed

Matthew noticed and got an idea. He made a snowball, nothing too big, but he could throw it, and yelled “No peeking!”

He meant to throw the snowball at Abigail, but it instead landed directly on Natalie, causing her to go flying out of Abigail's hands and directly into the snow

“NOOO!” Abigail screeched. She rushed to check on the doll as her grandparents stood behind 

“Oh my goodness! Abby, I am so sorry!”

“Is she gonna make it, sweetie?”

Abigail picked up the doll and examined in closely “She's a bit wet and her arm is a bit loose, but she looks fine otherwise”

“You wanna go inside and find a towel for her?”

“Yes please, Grandma”

She took hold of Abby’s hand and began to lead her back to the house “Real smooth, Matthew”

“I said I was sorry!”

•••

Back at the house, Eesha was getting some more hot cocoa ready, and Riya was desperate to help with something, anything really

“Are you sure you don’t need help? I’m ready whenever”

“Don’t worry, big sis. Just relax!”

Suddenly, both of the Abigails walked in “Excuse me, does anyone have a towel for my granddaughter by chance?”

“There’s your chance to help someone, Riya”

“Y-yes! I’ll go get one!” 

“Thank you. Stay here with Riya, okay sweetie?”

“Okay…”

Abigail walked back to her husband while Riya went to go get a towel “Natalie, I’m sorry my family is a bit rough with you. I promise they aren’t usually like that! They’re nice once you get to know them!”

The doll stared back blankly “You don’t talk much, do you?”

“I have the towel!” Riya walked in, towel in hand, and wrapped the doll in it “Now, how did all of this happen?”

“Well, TJ pulled a chunk of her hair out, then Daddy spilled his cocoa, then Grandpa threw a snowball at her”

“Oh, goodness, well you sure had an eventful afternoon” Riya began to shake the doll to get it dry, causing Abigail to panic and snatch it away “No!”

“What? Did I do something wrong?”

“She has a broken arm!”

“Abby, I am so sorry, I didn't know” 

Abigail stroked the doll’s hair “You’re fine, I just… need a moment” She ran away to the living room, doll in hand. Riya tried to say something, but she felt too bad to say anything, it was a repeat of everything all over again

The moment was suddenly interrupted by Aiden barging in “Hey guys! I have my sister on the phone if you want to meet her!”

•••

“Tony, dude, are you sure you know how to handle the turkey?”

“Read. The. APRON!” The entire group laughed. Matthew picked up the tablet they were calling Amelia on “Oh, Melly, we wish you were here”

“I know, dad, me too. But I couldn't miss out on a trip to the mountains!”

Abigail suddenly came into view “Hey, which friend invited you again?”

“Oh! Um…Well, uh… Hey! Where’s Abby? Haven’t seen her in a while!”

Meanwhile, back in the living room, Abigail was brushing out Natalie’s hair, mainly just as a distraction to get away from everyone. She purposely avoided the chunk taken out of it by TJ, to avoid more hair from falling out

“I’m sorry Riya did that to you. I really hope you’re still having a good time” She put the doll up to her ear to try and hear her talk back “...What?”

“Psst, Abby” Aiden peeked out from behind the door “Look who it is!” He passed the tablet to his daughter and walked out 

“Auntie Melly!”

“Hi, Abby! Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas to you too!”

“Who’s that you got there?”

“This is Natalie! It’s her first Brooks-Reed Christmas!”

“Cool! How’s it going?”

“Not very good. She got a chunk of her hair pulled out, then cocoa spilled on her, then she broke her arm, and then Riya jiggled it all about”

“Oof”

“She wants to go home, she says she’s having a bad time”

“Sorry to hear about that, Natalie”

“Hey, Melly. Who are you talking to?”

“Oh, one second, sweetie!”

She turned off the camera, but forgot to mute it, leaving Abigail to listen in on the conversation and this mysterious woman

“I’m just talking to my family, Chris”

“That’s cool, what’s going on?”

“My niece is just having some problems that I’m trying to help with. My family is just being a little crazy, haha”

“Now I see where you get it from”

“Hey!”

“Hehe… can I try talking to her?”

“Really? You sure?”

“Yeah, I think I know how I can help”

“If you say so”

Some light rustling can be heard in the background before the camera turns back on to reveal none other then the one and only Chrissy Cunningham 

“Um, hello”

“Huh? Who are you?”

“I’m a friend of your aunt’s. And that means I’m also kinda new to this family too”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and let me tell you-”

“LET'S BUILD A SNOWMAN RIGHT NOW!”

Chrissy chuckles, before lowering her voice and saying “They’re a bit crazy”

“Hey! I heard that!”

Abigail giggled 

“But, in my experience, if you take the time to really get to know them, you’re gonna realize something”

Amelia walks up behind her and gives her a side hug “They’re full of love. You just have to open your heart to find it”

Abigail smiled. This was the magic she was hoping for all day. It was at that moment she realized the real magic wasn’t just loving her family, but appreciating them. And she never appreciated them more in that moment 

•••

The rest of the night was spent trying to recreate as much magic as possible. The family felt really bad for wrecking Natalie so bad, so they all tried in their own way to make it up to her

Aiden put her in a chair next to him by the fire while he played with TJ. He made sure to give the doll her own cup of cocoa and keep TJ as far away from her

Natalie then joined Jackie and Sophia for some Yoga and Martial Arts lessons, helping Sophia learn proper positioning and posture, making Jackie very proud

Then, Matthew and Abigail took their time cleaning up the doll to make up for Matthew’s mishap earlier. Giving her a fresh change of clothes (TJ’s old clothes) and fixing up her arm

Tony then got to read Eesha one of the books he got earlier. Natalie joined their reading of “The Song of Achilles” while Eesha cuddled in his lap

Finally, right before dinner, Natalie got to join the kitchen staff in preparation for the dinner. Riya got to prepare some of her family's classics from back home, while Tony finally got done with that turkey 

“I mean, the way it humanizes the characters is just fascinating” While Tony was rambling about the book he got, Tom snuck a piece of the turkey 

“Oh, Tony! This turkey!”

“Wait, really?!”

Eventually, the food all got passed out, sitting in the bar area for anyone to grab. There was no fighting over “World's Best Chef” (Since Riya claimed that title all on her own), no excessive wildness, just pure familial bliss

Abigail, Sophia, and even TJ in his high chair were all eating together on the couch, dining on Mac and Cheese and Rolls without a care in the world, and Natalie was right by their side

Suddenly, Tom walked up behind them “Hey, sweetie. How's Natalie doing? Is she gonna stick around for next year?”

Abigail paused before lifting the doll's hand for a thumbs up