#tfcfansgive

Dammit, it looked as if she had no choice but to wake up after all, Allison realized with a bit of grumpiness as she hugged Renee's arm tighter against her belly and tilted her head up and back enough for a proper kiss. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the smile on her wife's lips, begrudgingly giving in to one of her own as their fingers entwined, before rolling onto her back with Renee leaning above her.

"It's morning," she admitted as she opened her eyes to find Renee still smiling, pink-hued hair tousled from sleep and framing her lovely face, and dark eyes sparkling. "I'm not conceding anything else right now." Not until she got at least another kiss and a couple of espressos into her.

Well used to their morning routine by then, Renee's smile deepened. The faint wrinkles around her eyes crinkled (Allison would be appalled for her, except - as with everything related to Renee - it was adorable as hell. Besides, Renee didn't give a damn about crow's feet from smiling). Allison had just managed to sneak her left hand up beneath Renee’s cotton t-shirt when there was a loud shout about ‘not fair’ (which oddly enough echoed her thoughts just then), prompting a low moan caught between amusement and frustration.

“Why did we adopt again?” she asked, her arms flopping back onto the luxury mattress even as her lips twitched into a smile. Renee gave her a slight peck on the tip of her nose before slipping from their king-sized bed (sadly not so huge because of the very enjoyable things they did in it when they had the time and energy, but because of the shared company they usually had crawling into it at all hours of the day and night).

“Ha, ha,” Renee chided as she grabbed her robe from the chaise lounge at the foot of the bed. “I’ll go see what’s causing the latest crisis while you get ready.”

“If it’s Jared fighting over pop tarts again, tell him he’s lost his internet privileges for the day,” Allison called out, although, judging from the glint in Renee’s eyes, she shouldn’t have bothered; Renee was an amazing mother, was there for their ‘brood’ 24/7 and even cut back to part-time work at the local woman’s shelter so she could take care of the two youngest kids while Allison managed to balance running a successful clothing line and have enough time for her family. Still, that didn’t mean she let any of their four kids walk all over her, even if she was better with the whole ‘affection’ thing.

Allison was doing her best, was determined to not make the same mistakes which her parents had made— her and Renee were both determined to give their kids everything that had been denied them growing up, to provide a safe, stable home where their daughters and sons could achieve their dreams without censure or abuse. Some days, though, the doubts were ever present.

And some days, the doubts vanished when she walked into the kitchen to find Jared laughing as he helped Maddy with the breakfast dishes, as Renee and Ryan sang along together to a popular tune while Hailee finished the last of her cereal. Allison hummed along as she grabbed the mug of coffee waiting for her, swooping in to give Ryan a kiss on the top of his awful bedhead and going over to tousle Jared’s bleached spikes, as always torn between joy and a slight heartache at how he looked so much like a young, carefree version of Seth. A version of Seth she was determined to ensure would have the best chances in life this time around, who would avoid all of the demons which had dragged her old boyfriend down.

Maddy laughed at Jared grimacing at the gesture of affection and smiled at Allison; she was growing lovelier each day with her long black hair, dark eyes, and sun-kissed complexion. “You two almost ready?” Allison asked. She was responsible for taking them to school on her way to work; Renee would get Ryan to preschool in a little bit and Hailee to daycare for a few hours when she went to the shelter.

“Yes,” Jared and Maddy said in unison while Maddy put away the last of the dishes and Jared hurried to dry his hands. They rushed over to give Renee a kiss ‘goodbye’ before they grabbing their backpacks and the large duffel bags which held their sports gear; Jared was on the under 10 soccer team and doing well, while Maddy wanted to (so far) ‘carry on’ the family ‘tradition’ and was into Exy.  Allison had to say that she was a damn good offensive dealer, and even Dan agreed.

It was an unexpected emotion, to feel so much joy and pride in what another person— a child at that— did, in their accomplishments, but there it was. Allison was doing a lot of new things these days, was in a lot of uncharted territory, and it was all because of Renee.

It wasn’t the fancy life she’d imagined— the endless parties and the expensive penthouse and a different city each week— but she was happy. She had a nice home in a gated community not far from downtown Los Angeles; she had a successful business, an amazing wife, and a wonderful family.

Not to mention her kick-ass custom pink Porsche Cayenne with a supped up v6 engine, which purred like a kitten and handled the highways (when there wasn’t too much traffic) like a champ— and always got her a few narrowed looks dropping off the kids. She made sure to give the other parents a big grin and a wave of manicured nails before she floored it out of the school zones on her way to work.

Once at the office, she got down to business, which was getting the winter collection ready for show even if it was early spring. She worked on a few new designs of her own and approved several others while her assistants, Emilio and Becca, ran around like the well-organized lunatics they were and helped her field the calls for new orders, interviews, production lines and so forth.

During lunch in her office, she took the time to chat with Renee, and spending the rest checking up on her Foxes, on seeing the pictures that Dan had posted of her kids (Abram was the spitting image of Matt while Tori and Davey were getting so big) and of Nicky and Erik’s recent vacation. The Foxes were off to a good start in the latest season, Matt’s team had just beaten Kevin’s, and of course there was nothing but cat pictures on Neil’s Instagram.

Seeing that his and Andrew’s team would be in LA in two weeks for a game, she fired off a message to the hopeless case that she expected the two of them to free up some time for dinner. She knew that Renee would be working on Andrew as well and figured it would be worth putting up with Andrew to get her Neil time for the night. She spent the rest of her break heaping more abuse on Kevin for his loss, which made her smile, especially when Nicky came online and joined in on the fun.

Then it was back to work, especially since she had to leave early for Maddy’s Exy game. For years, Allison had sneered at the term ‘soccer mom’, at the thought of the parents who had shown up all the time to the Exy games she’d played while in high school, who had cheered on her teammates and yelled at the coaches if they felt a call had been messed up— overbearing parents who pushed their kids too much, in her opinion, who lived through their kids’ accomplishments rather than their own.

Her parents had never come to one of her games, had never supported her while she played Exy. They might be coming around now that she had her own successful business and adored Renee, but she never forgave them for being unable to accept her for so many years, for letting her struggle on her own and stand without support. But that was the past, and she refused to repeat those same mistakes, to be like them.

When Maddy and Jared had come along, she’d realized that going to the games was important to them, to show them that she (and Renee) was there for them, to cheer them on and offer encouragement and support. Most days, Allison and Renee had split the games between them— to have Allison go to Maddy’s one day and Jared’s the next and then Renee switch off with her, but the kids were happy as long as someone was there to watch them play.

After all those years where Allison had struggled with Exy, had gotten by with sheer determination and spite, had put up with the bruises and abuse merely to prove everyone wrong… she wasn’t going to let Maddy down or go through it alone. She wasn’t going to let Jared feel that he didn’t have any support, that he didn’t have someone who believed in him (she never could convince Seth that he had at least one person who believed in him, dammit).

Traffic being the bitch that it was, she got to Maddy’s game right before it started, which meant that there weren’t any good seats left around the court. Allison shrugged and went to stand near the Plexiglas barrier, where she reached into her Chloe bag to pull out her phone so she could let Renee know that she’d made it to the game.

Already out on court, Maddy waved when she caught sight of her (the five inch Prada heels helped, and Allison refused to take them off after she caught a snide comment from one of the other mothers that ‘it’s not the division championship, what’s her deal?’, even if they would start to hurt like a bitch by half-time) and she settled in for the game. Allison filmed a few minutes of it so Renee could watch their daughter in action later, as always proud of the girl; it was the under-13 division so some of the kids were bigger than Maddy, had already hit their growth spurt and so could really shove the smaller kids around.

And, as always with Exy being a co-ed sport, you got some boys who seemed to think that girls had no right being out on their court. ‘Still, Maddy refused to be intimidated by them and stood her ground.

Allison and Renee had raised Maddy— all of their kids, really— to stand up for themselves, to know that they were worthy of respect and of being treated properly. Maddy had several ‘uncles’ who played Exy and believed that women had every right to be out on court, and had been taught she could do anything she wanted. She faced the challenges on court without fear and played with a sense of determination and skill which made Allison think that here was a Reynolds (well, Reynolds-Walker) who would take Exy all the way to the pros.

So when a backliner for the away team knocked her daughter down in a blatant foul that made Allison ready to rip open the door and go charging out onto the court, she forced herself to take a deep breath and remain calm. She knew how she’d have hated it if someone interfered when she’d been playing, if she thought that someone else had been fighting her battles. Pride swelled in her chest when Maddy got up on her feet and, after patting down her legs and letting the team nurse check her out for a couple of seconds, picked up her racquet to continue playing.

Except the Cougar’s latest coach indicated that he wanted Maddy off the court, when she was one of the team’s best dealers and clearly fit to play. Maddy frowned at that and tried to argue, but Coach Nichols didn’t listen and waved her off.

Allison caught her daughter’s eyes, giving her a reassuring smile. She watched from the stands as the Cougars lost to the Sea Lions 4-10, as the away team battered down their defense again and again. Maddy never got a chance to get back out onto the court, while Allison bided her time until the pathetic game was over.

Her feet aching and temper in shreds, she managed a smile when an upset Maddy came out of the locker room with her arms open for a hug. “I’m so sorry, mom. You came only to see us lose.”

“Hush, you were great out there,” Allison assured her as she held her daughter close. “You did your best, as always.” She gave her a quick kiss while she kept an eye on the doorway, and soon enough, Nichols finally came out into the parking lot.

Stalking forward to get the man’s attention before someone else could, Allison called out the bastard’s name. “Nichols? Mike Nichols?” When he gave her a curious look, she smiled, the expression poison-sweet. “I have a question about the game tonight.”

“I’m sure you do,” he said, his tone as sour as he glanced around. “Which kid is yours?”

“Maddy Reynolds-Walker, offensive dealer, number nine.” Maddy had been so happy to get Renee’s old number for her own.

“Right.” Now Nichols’ expression was as sour as his tone. “Look, kids are going to get roughed up in this game, if you don’t like that-”

“No, that’s not what this is about,” Allison said as Maddy crept up to stand beside her, as a few other parents and their kids stopped to watch the interaction. “I very well know that Exy is a contact sport.”

“Sure you do,” Nichols said in a patronizing manner as he pulled out his phone to look at it, as if he had a better way to spend his time than to listen to a ‘soccer mom’.

“You better damn well believe I do,” Allison snapped. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but both me and my wife happened to play Exy in college. We were on the same team as a few people you may have heard of  . . . Kevin Day, Neil Josten, Andrew Minyard, and Matt Boyd, to name a few.” She didn’t usually drop names like that, but she had an asshole to tear apart and a point to prove, and not much time to do it since Renee would have dinner ready for them soon.

As soon as she’d said ‘Kevin Day’, Nichols jerked his attention away from the phone to gawk at her, and his jaw had dropped when she got to ‘Andrew Minyard’. “Yes, I’m an ex-Fox, in case you don’t recognize me,” she told the bastard. “So I damn well know a few things about the game, and so does my daughter. You know, the girl who had helped to keep the team who went on to beat your team’s ass in check until you pulled her off the court for some stupid reason.”

“But… but… she’s just a gir- ah, a kid,” Nichols attempted to argue. “She was getting smacked around out there.”

Just as Allison had thought, another asshole who thought that women couldn’t handle playing Exy. “Maddy? Were you or weren’t you fine out there? Tell the truth.”

Maddy straightened up and nodded. “I had the wind knocked out of me, but I was fine to play. I know what Uncle Kevin and Aunt Dan told me about playing injured and I wasn’t hurt at all.”

There were a few twitters at the ‘Uncle Kevin’ part, and Allison noticed that a couple of other parents with young girls as players appeared very interested in the exchange with Nichols at the moment. “See? My daughter has had it drilled into her head to get off the court if she’s hurt and she told you she was fine to play, yet you ignored her. You took a player who’s a starter for a reason out of play because… well, the only thing I can think of is that you’re a chauvinistic asshole and that makes me rather unhappy,” Allison warned. “Unhappy enough that I’m sure my daughter can find a better team to play on with a coach who knows the value of his players.”

“Mom,” Maddy whined, but settled when Allison gave her The Look.

Meanwhile, Nichols shook his head. “It’s not like that, I just wanted to make sure that your kid didn’t get roughed up!”

“Yet you allowed boys her size to continue to play,” Allison pointed out, which made several parents raise their voices in agreement. “Something to consider, no?” Feeling that she’d proven her point, she motioned for Maddy that it was time to leave. “If I see you making a negative call against Maddy or another girl on this team again, we’ll find another team for my daughter to play on, one that truly is co-ed.”

A few of the parents joined in on that statement as Allison and Maddy made their way to the Porsche, where Maddy waited to say anything until they pulled out of the parking lot. “Really, Mom? Did you have to do that?” she asked with a pout as she folded her arms across her chest.

Allison didn’t respond until about a minute later, when she was certain her tone wouldn’t be snappish in any manner. “Look, I get it, I do. That probably was a bit embarrassing for you, but I’m not going to let some asshole get away with something like that, with belittling any of you kids and your skills.” She glanced over at Maddy and smiled, the expression a little sad. “Ask Aunt Dan one day about all the stuff she put up with for being the first female captain in the Class I division, but it’s not going to be pretty, those stories. I can’t fight all your battles for you, I don’t want to fight all of them because that’s what makes you stronger, but I’ll do what I can to get you to where you’re ready to go out there and kick ass yourself.”

Maddy stared at her with those full lips of hers pushed out in a pout, and then she smiled. “Okay, first? Mom would yell at you for all of that swearing, you know.”

Allison smiled in earnest at that. “Yeah, so do me a favor and keep it a secret between us, all right? Mani-pedi on Saturday?”

“Deal,” Maddy agreed in a rush. “And second?” Her expression softened. “Thank you, even if it really was a bit embarrassing.”

“Then I’m doing my job.” Allison laughed when her daughter groaned at that statement. “Just be thankful it was me here today, because your other mom would have handed that guy his spleen for treating you like a delicate little flower.” There was no way Renee would have just stood there and allowed some asshole to sideline their child like that.

Maddy groaned again as she tucked back a lock of hair, which had escaped the bright pink elastic she’d pulled it back with into a messy ponytail. “Oh no, I still remember what she did to Jared’s math teacher when she told him that he clearly didn’t grasp the subject just because he doesn’t speak up in class!”

Oh yes, that had been quite the takedown, one Allison was sorry she’d missed because she’d been in New York City at the time, but she’d heard enough from the kids to savor the way Renee had torn into woman – hell hath no fury like the truly righteous who knew how to kill you with a slip of paper. A truly righteous person who could hold their own against Andrew Minyard and Neil Josten at that.

Allison and Maddy spent the rest of the drive home talking about colors and styles for their ‘girls out’ morning on Saturday, and arrived just a little later than usual to find something delicious scenting the air in the kitchen and Jared setting the table with Ryan’s help. He dumped a handful of forks to come running over to give her a hug and brag about his win, which set off some teasing when Maddy had to admit that her team lost – but only because her coach was an idiot. Allison left them to their bickering to go give Renee a kiss.

“Hmm, how was your day?” Renee asked as she smiled up at Allison, lovely as always, dressed in faded jeans with an old Fox t-shirt with her hair pulled back from her face in a loose ponytail.

“Interesting.” Allison picked up Hailee and settled her youngest daughter on her hip, uncaring that her Lanvin silk dress would get wrinkled. “The restock of the fall collection is well on its way to selling out, I threatened to castrate the guy who’s handling— or mishandling, I should say— the production of our coats for the winter collection and I think he liked it a little too much,” Renee laughed at that, “and I gave a verbal beatdown to Maddy’s coach because he seems to think girls are too breakable for Exy, of all things.” She rolled her eyes at that as she bounced Hailee up and down, making her daughter laugh and grab at the long gold necklace she wore.

“Hmm.” A blank look came over Renee’s face for a moment as she stirred some more paprika into what looked to be some sort of goulash. “Well, I helped Laura sign the paperwork for her new apartment,” she said, which made her smile – Allison knew that helping the women move into a new home was one of Renee’s favorite aspects of her job – “assisted a few others with filling out some resumes and agreed that we’d co-chair a fund raiser next month.” Now her expression turned a bit rueful. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“You know I love to throw parties, and it’s a welcome change from kids’ birthdays,” Allison said as she held Hailee up above her head. “Someone didn’t want black tie for their second birthday, you heathen.”

“Black tie!” Hailee cried out with evident glee. “Higher, Mommy!”

Allison gave her a gentle toss a couple of times before she set her down on the floor, where Hailee went stumbling off toward Maddy, laughing all the while. Renee watched on with a tender smile curving her lips before she turned toward Allison, her expression suddenly much more intent.

“So . . . Maddy’s next game is Thursday.”

“Yes, I believe so,” Allison agreed as she picked up a spoon so she could taste the goulash. “Oh, that’s good.”

Renee gave her wrist a gentle swat. “It’ll be done in five minutes, you can wait that long. I was going to take Ryan to the dentist that afternoon, but I want you to swap with me.” It was clear that it wasn’t a request.

Since Allison very well knew why the love of her life wanted to switch things around, she smiled as she leaned in close. “I’ll do it for a kiss, and if you promise to tell me all the gruesome details.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.” Renee rocked up onto her toes to seal the agreement, while Jared complained that he was hungry so no more kissy stuff and Ryan ran over to hug them both, his short arms barely fitting around their hips.

won’t write-

ships: anything with the moriyamas or drake, renison, jerejean

stories centred on: moriyamas, drake, nicky, aaron (or any ships involving these people)

other things: nsfw, anything super angst-y, anything morally questionable (that’s up for discussion - i really mean pedophilia or non-con, for example)

usually write (this doesn’t mean they’re the only ones i write, just that they’re the ones i’ve done most so far)-

ships: andreil, kandreil, lailalvarez