Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I cannot believe you aren’t coming to my wedding.” 

“Well, Stinky, in all fairness, I was at the last one and look how that turned out.” Sassy’s laugh comes through the phone loud and clear and Rebecca rolls her eyes before looking out the window of the moving car. “Although, I suppose you did take Rupert for all he was worth in the divorce, so it actually turned out pretty well for you.”

Rebecca winces at her friend’s wording. Nothing about her marriage to Rupert and subsequent divorce ‘turned out pretty well’. “I didn’t get the club.” She murmurs, more to herself than anything. Old plans of revenge thwarted still rankle even now.

“What the fuck would you have done with a football club, anyway?” Sassy asks, laughter still in her voice. “Trust me, getting everything else was far better than that. Let Rupert have his stupid club.”

Rebecca doesn’t answer, just continues to look out the window. Sassy continues, “As for the wedding, maybe if you weren’t running off to America to get married on Christmas Eve in Aspen - which I still say is ridiculous - I could’ve made it.”

“It isn’t ridiculous.” Rebecca protests. “It’s romantic.”

“You say potato.” Sassy replies. “Really, Stinky, getting married in America. What’s next? Moving there?”

“John owns property in the states, so I assume we’ll spend some of our time there. Honestly, it’ll be nice to be able to get away from the press for a while. It’s not like there’s that much keeping me in England.”

“Except for your best friend and goddaughter.”

“Who aren’t coming to my wedding. Really, Sass, I’m in the car on the way to the airport now. I could swing by and pick you and Nora up. There’s plenty of room on the jet.” Rebecca hates that there is a hint of desperation in her voice, but she also cannot imagine getting married without anyone there by her side.

“Didn’t you tell me that John was flying out yesterday? Why are you only flying out today?” Sassy ignores the invitation.

“He wanted to go get things in order at the cabin and I still had meetings and board business to attend to. I actually got done early, so I’m flying out early to surprise him. He doesn’t think I’m getting there until right before the wedding.”

“Why you insist on still working when you’ve got more money than god, I’ll never understand.” Sassy says and Rebecca can just picture her, rolling her eyes. 

“I enjoy my work, Sass.” She says for what feels like the hundredth time. “You’re sure you don’t want to come? You can wear whatever you want for the ceremony.”

“Sorry, Stinky. I wish you and John all the best, but I’m not flying to America for your nuptials.”

Rebecca is disappointed, but not surprised by that answer. 

“Call me once you’re Mrs. Wingsnight. And remember, make him sign a pre-nup! No sense in him getting any of the money you took from Rupert.” 

“Your faith in the future of my marriage means the world to me.” Rebecca huffs.

“I’m just being practical, darling.” Sassy makes kissy noises over the phone. “Have a lovely wedding, Stink, really. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Rebecca says, but she sighs as she hangs up the phone.

**

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Welton, but we’re having issues and are going to have to make an emergency landing at the Kansas City International Airport.” The flight attendant tells her, after asking her to buckle in. They’re more than ten hours into the flight, but should still have about three to four more hours to go. This is not what she was planning on.

“Issues?” Rebecca tries not to panic. “What sort of issues?”

“I don’t know, ma’am. I only know that the pilot told me to tell you we’d be making the emergency landing. He’s cleared it with the tower.”

There isn’t exactly much Rebecca can say or do to that, besides lean back and wait until they land so that she can get more information.

**

“Dad!” Henry rushes out of the house, flinging himself into Ted’s already open arms. 

“Hey, big guy.” Ted laughs as he helicopters him around, then smiles up at Michelle, standing in the doorway. “Hey, Michelle.”

“Hi, Ted.”

He returns Henry to the ground and gives his hair a good ruffle. “You ready for this?”

“Yes!” Henry exclaims, running back toward the house to grab his suitcase. 

“What about you?” Ted asks as he comes to grab Michelle’s suitcase, putting it in the back of the truck. 

“Me?” Michelle laughs. “I’m not the one driving ten hours with a dog and an eleven-year-old. I’m just hopping on a plane and spending my Christmas relaxing on the beach.”

“As you well deserve.” Ted offers her a smile. “I really do appreciate ya letting me take Henry to my mom’s for Christmas.”

Michelle reaches out and gives his arm a squeeze. “Of course, Ted. I had him for Thanksgiving, you get him for Christmas. It’s only fair. Although I do still feel a little guilty, leaving my child at Christmas. Makes me sound like a terrible mother.” She rolls her eyes just a little self-deprecatingly.

“Hey now.” Ted shakes his head, his hand coming up to pat hers. “You deserve a break. And you and Hen already celebrated together last week. You ain’t being a bad mom any more than I’m being a bad dad by living and coaching three hours away from him.”

“Ted.” Michelle sighs softly. “You are not a bad dad.”

He smiles at her, but she sees the doubt lingering in his eyes. “My point exactly. I’m not a bad dad, you’re not a bad mom. We’re just two divorced parents, doing the best we can.”

“And you’re both doing great!” Henry exclaims as he comes back out of the house with his suitcase, slamming the door behind him. 

Ted points over to Henry with a smile. “See? Can’t argue with that.”

Michelle laughs. “No, I guess I can’t.”

“C’mon, you guys, let’s go!” Henry says as he climbs into the second row of the truck cab, settling in happily next to the dog already sprawled out there. “We need to get Mom dropped off at the airport so that we can get on the road, Dad. We gotta make it to the International Hubcap Museum before they close!”

“Yes, sir.” Ted says as he climbs into the driver’s seat. He makes sure everyone has their seatbelts secured before he pulls out of the driveway.

**

The pilot gives Rebecca a long, technical explanation of the problem affecting the plane, as well as the solution to it. The only thing that she really understands is that a special part is needed and will not be available for at least a day.

“Well then, I’ll just have to charter another plane to take me to Aspen. How hard can that be?” She says as she gathers her luggage and heads for the main terminal, leaving the pilot and crew to deal with the jet.

The answer, she finds out, once she makes it through the red tape of customs in this airport instead of the one in Aspen, is very hard. It doesn’t seem to matter how much she is willing to pay; she cannot find anyone who is willing to charter their private plane for her until after Christmas. 

Rebecca Welton is not one for giving up though, and she decides that she will simply have to fly commercial. She’s done the research on her phone, and a flight to Aspen is only about three and a half hours. She can handle a commercial flight for that long.

Except she quickly learns at the ticket counter that there are no more flights to Aspen or the surrounding areas any time that day, and in fact, all the ones for the next day are also fully booked. 

“I don’t think you understand.” She says, a bit of the haughty tone she has honed to perfection while married to Rupert coming out, “I am willing to pay anything.”

The lady at the ticket counter merely blinks. “As I told you already, ma’am, there are simply no flights for me to book you on, no matter how much you’re willing to pay. I could possibly get you on to something on the 23rd but -“

“No. That’s not soon enough. I need to get to Aspen. I’m getting married on Christmas Eve.” Her hands come up to rub at her temples as her brain searches for a solution. 

“Ah!” She nods happily as the thought comes to her. “I’ll simply hire a car.”

Again, the woman at the ticket counter just blinks. “Good luck with that.” She mutters.

“Excuse me?” Rebecca snaps.

“Happy holidays.” The woman replies with a fake smile before she turns to the person behind Rebecca. “Next customer, please.”

**

There are no reputable car services she can find in Kansas City that are willing to drive the ten hours to Aspen, no matter how much she is willing to pay. So, Rebecca resigns herself to renting a car and driving herself. It isn’t like she isn’t capable of driving and, if she gets a car with a built-in GPS, she should be fine.

Except that she visits every rental car kiosk in the airport and finds that none of them have any cars available.

“How are you a rental car company, yet you have no cars?” She finally snaps when she hears the same story from the last car rental company at the airport.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but everything is pre-booked for holiday travel. We may have some cars available tomorrow if you’d like to -“

“No.” She shakes her head angrily. “I need to get to Aspen today.”

In all honesty, she doesn’t, in fact, need to get to Aspen today. John isn’t expecting her until the afternoon of the 24th. But she wanted to surprise him, to start their honeymoon early, and now all of these issues are piling up and she’s finding that throwing money at the problem isn’t solving it, and it’s giving her a headache. 

“You could try the bus station?” The clerk offers with a shrug.

Rebecca walks away instead of replying.

**

“You got everything?” Ted asks as he pulls Michelle’s luggage from the back of the truck. “Purse? Carry-on? Ticket?”

“Ted.” She says calmly, her voice a reminder that he doesn’t have to do this anymore.

“Sorry.” He blushes a bit, offering her a shrug. “Force of habit.”

“It’s ok.” She gives him a soft smile. “Walk in with me, since you insisted on parking?”

“Ok, but we can’t be gone long.” He looks at the dog sleeping soundly in the backseat.

“Lilli’ll be okay for a bit, Dad.” Henry assures him. “It’s not hot and we can’t go past security anyway. We’ll be back in no time.”

“Voice of reason.” Michelle grins, throwing her arm over Henry’s shoulder as Ted secures the truck bed cover and locks up, following them toward the airport.

“Oh, Merry Christmas, my sweet boy.” Michelle hugs him tightly and kisses his forehead and both cheeks. “Have fun with Dad.”

“I will! I’ll FaceTime you.” He promises. “Have fun at the beach. Merry Christmas.”

Michelle gives him one last squeeze before she turns to Ted and leans over to hug him too. “Merry Christmas.” She whispers against his cheek.

“Merry Christmas,” he replies, hugging her tightly for just a moment before releasing her. “Safe travels.”

She nods as she pulls back. “I’ll call when I land. Safe travels to you too.”

“We’ll call when we get to Mom’s.” He assures her, and then, with one final hug and kiss for Henry, she’s off to the security line.

Ted and Henry watch her go for a minute before Henry turns to his Dad. “Ready to go, Dad?”

Ted’s smile widens. “You betcha, Big Guy.”

**

Rebecca walks outside the terminal and finds a bench to sit on to try and clear her head and collect her thoughts. It’s not as busy or as loud out here, and she breathes a little easier once she’s seated with her suitcase beside her on the ground.

She pulls out her cell phone and texts Sassy about her predicament, hoping her friend can offer some advice. As she’s waiting for a reply, a young man dressed all in black with his hood up walks by her. She doesn’t think much of it, until she watches him grab the handle of her suitcase and take off at a run.

“Hey!” She shouts, jumping up. “That’s mine!”

**

Ted and Henry are just walking out the door of the terminal when they hear a woman shout. 

“I think that guy just stole that woman’s luggage.” Henry says as he takes in the situation.

“Wait right here.” Ted says, already taking off at a run after the guy.

He brushes past the woman without even noticing her. His legs burn as he pushes himself, and he’s thankful to be a coach who practices with his team, instead of just always standing on the sidelines.

It’s obvious that the kid didn’t really have much of a plan besides grab and go, because he’s making straight for a fenced area, with no real place to run besides into airport traffic.

“Stop!” Ted yells as he gains on him and the kid seems to realize he’s not going to get away easily. 

With a glance back at Ted, who’s quickly gaining on him, and a glance forward at the fence he’s swiftly approaching, the kid seems to make a decision. With one last glance back at Ted, he tosses the suitcase to his right before banking left and cutting across traffic, just narrowly avoiding being hit by a car in the process.

Ted watches as the suitcase hits the ground and breaks open, spilling clothes all over the sidewalk. He looks to the left, but the boy is already lost in the crowd and the traffic is too heavy for him to cross and continue to give chase.

He leans forward, resting his hands on his knees and drawing in a few deep breaths before he straightens back up and heads for the mess of clothes on the sidewalk.

A tall blonde - gorgeous, he thinks for a second before shaking the thought from his head - is approaching far more quickly than he thought would be possible in the heels she’s wearing. Henry is trotting along right behind her.

Ted wants to scold him for not listening, but he’s sure that Henry only wants to help, and he can see that he’s safe and unharmed, so he swallows the words.

“Are you alright?” He asks when the woman reaches him, stopping and looking down at the suitcase. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No.” She replies as she bends down, trying to right the suitcase. “I’m fine.”

Her voice is too calm, almost hollow-sounding. Ted wonders if she’s in shock.

“Can we help you?” Henry asks, already leaning over to pick up a sweater.

The woman shakes her head as she begins to shove things back into the suitcase. “I’ve got everything under control.”

Ted doesn’t believe that for a second. Neither, apparently, does Henry, because he’s continuing to pass clothing over to her wordlessly. The woman doesn’t protest anymore and Ted leans down to help as well.

Of course, the first thing he picks up, without really looking, is a lacy black bra. The feel of it in his hands startles him and he looks down at it in surprise.

“Can you please not fondle my underwear?” The woman snaps, her accent and the way she grabs the bra out of his hands and shoves it into the suitcase catching him off-guard. “How would you feel if I fondled your underwear?”

Ted’s whole face gets hot and he’s sure he’s as red as a tomato. “I - I am so sorry. I was just trying to help. I didn’t intend to - to fondle anything.”

The woman looks over at him, as though seeing him for the first time, and her piercing gaze softens just a little.

“He really was just trying to help.” Henry pipes up, handing over a skirt. “Promise.”

The woman blinks in surprise and her face softens fully then. She gives Henry a quick nod and then looks back at Ted. He holds out a pair of high heels, not sure if it makes him look that much better than the underwear, but still trying.

“Sorry. Of course you were only trying to help. You chased down that thief for me. I just - I’m not used to -” She shakes her head as she takes the shoes, the last things left on the ground. “It hasn’t been the easiest day.”

Ted watches her flip the lid of the suitcase down over the mess of items, trying unsuccessfully to zip it up. The zipper had split upon impact, it would seem. 

“Is there anything else we can do to help?” Ted asks, stepping closer but still trying to give her some space. “Carry your suitcase to your car? Call someone for you? Give you a ride somewhere?”

She snorts at that and Ted thinks her eyes look sort of glassy, but she blinks them quickly before standing up, brushing her skirt down. She’s pulling herself together, Ted realizes, as she swallows once before speaking.

“Not unless you’re going to Aspen.”

“We’re not.” Henry shakes his head.

“I’d imagined not.” She replies with a wry twist of her lips.

“We’re going to Vail!” He grins happily up at her.

“Vail?” The woman says, her mind seeming to turn over this information. “That’s - that’s near Aspen, isn’t it?”

“‘Bout two hours northeast of it.” Ted nods.

“Oh! Could I ride with you to Vail? I can find a way to Aspen from there!” Then, before Ted can even say anything, she continues, “I’ve got money! I’ll pay for gas, food, anything you want. I’ll buy your Christmas presents!”

Ted holds up his hands, bristling just a bit at the woman practically offering to throw money at him. “Hey now. I don’t need all that. We’d be happy to help, wouldn’t we, bud?”

“Yes, sir!” Henry nods, excited by the possibility of helping.

The woman flushes just a bit. “Oh thank you! I just - I’ve tried everything to get to Aspen today and so far nothing has worked and I’m basically desperate at this point.”

“Something important waiting for you in Aspen?” Ted asks with a smile as he leans down to pick up her suitcase, careful to hold the lid down so nothing else spills out.

“My wedding. I’m getting married on Christmas Eve.”

“Well now, that sounds mighty romantic. We’d be happy to help get you there. C’mon.”

**

Rebecca follows along behind the man and his son in a bit of a daze, amazed at the turn her day has taken in the past few minutes. 

“I’m Ted, by the way. Ted Lasso. And this is my son, Henry.” The man says when they enter the parking garage of the airport. He’s still carrying her suitcase.

“I’m Rebecca Welton.” 

“Nice to meet ya, Rebecca. Although I’m sorry it’s under such… interesting circumstances.” Ted nods to her luggage in his arms before turning his attention to a black truck in the parking lot.

Rebecca takes it in with wide eyes.

“Isn’t it great?” Henry asks as he sees her looking at the truck.

“It’s… festive.” She says, as she takes in the wreath on the front grill and the strings of Christmas lights outlining the truck.

“You should see it at night when we turn it on!” Henry grins. “It looks awesome!”

“Is that legal?” She asks as she watches Ted lift the cover to put her suitcase into the bed of the truck. She notices another wreath on the tailgate, this one wrapped in Christmas lights.

“Sure is.” Ted sports a grin that matches Henry’s. “Hey, Hen, you’re gonna have to hop back with Lilli, okay? Let Rebecca sit up front.”

“Okay!” Henry agrees quickly and that’s when Rebecca notices the dog that is looking out the window at them.

“Oh. You’ve got a dog.”

“Yep! Lilli. She’s the greatest.” Henry says as he opens the door to the second row of seats and climbs in.

“That’s not a problem, is it?” Ted asks.

“Oh, no.” Rebecca shakes her head, before opening the passenger side door and climbing up. Anything that gets her to Aspen she will not complain about. And the dog does look sweet.

Ted climbs in and starts the car, but before he pulls out, he turns to look at her. “You got your phone on you?”

“Yes.” Rebecca replies, a question in her voice.

“You should take a picture of me.” Ted tells her. “Send it to your fiance.”

Rebecca blinks. “And why would I do that?”

“So that he knows who you’re traveling with. You can send him a description of the truck too. And the license plate, if that’ll make you feel better. It’s 946 -”

“Ted, I don’t need your license plate number.” She cuts him off, shaking her head at him in surprise. “I don’t need to take a picture of you and send it to anyone. That’s ridiculous.”

Henry leans up over the seat. “It’s actually not. It’s a way to help ensure your safety. If people know who you’re with and the kind of car you’re in, then if something were to happen, the police would have information about who you were with last. You should also turn on your GPS tracking in your phone, if you don’t have it on already.”

Rebecca looks between the two Lasso men who are looking at her with innocent expressions. “Are you trying to tell me you’re serial killers?” 

Ted shrugs with a smile. “Well, you did just get into a truck with a stranger named Ted.” Henry giggles. “Really though, just trying to make sure you feel safe. So, c’mon. Snap a picture of this mug and send it to someone.”

She rolls her eyes but sighs, holding up her phone and snapping a picture. “Fine. I’ll send it to my best friend back in England.” She attaches it to a text to Sassy without much thought. 

“Woah! You’re from England? Do you know The Beatles? Could you get me their autographs?” Henry asks, leaning forward once again.

“Henry, I doubt Rebecca knows The Beatles.” Ted says with a laugh, finally putting the truck into drive and pulling out of the airport. “England’s a big country.”

“Well, and two of them are -” A sharp glance over at her from Ted makes her realize that Henry is unaware of the deaths of John and George. “Just so busy.” 

She doesn’t say that she knows Sir Paul, even though it would obviously impress Henry. She doubts they’d believe her anyway.

“Well,” Henry says as he flops back against the seat, “if you do ever meet them, could you tell them I say hi?”

It’s such a charming thing for Henry to say and Rebecca finds herself smiling. “I will absolutely do that if I ever meet The Beatles, Henry.”

“Awesome!”

Rebecca’s phone buzzes then, with a response from Sassy.

‘You’re getting a ride from the Marlboro Man? Sexy! I’d like to take a ride on that moustache. Maybe you should try it out, Stink. One last fling before tying the knot, yeah?’

Rebecca rolls her eyes and clicks out of the message without replying, looking over at Ted’s profile. While she can see why Sassy referred to him as the Marlboro Man, there’s something that does seem familiar about him.

“You look familiar. Have we met before?”

Ted glances over at her. “I don’t think so. Pretty sure I’d remember meeting you.”

From anyone else, it would sound like a line, but from Ted, it sounds incredibly sincere. 

Rebecca hums softly, her mind still trying to place why he looks so familiar. The truth is, with a moustache and accent like that, she thinks she’d remember meeting him too. But something lingers in the back of her mind.

Henry lets out a boyish giggle as he passes a tablet forward to her with a video cued up. “Maybe you’ve seen this?”

“Henry,” Ted says with fond exasperation, “I’m sure that video didn’t make it all the way over to England.”

“It went viral, Dad. That means all over the world.”

Rebecca hits play on the tablet and is startled to realize that she has, in fact, seen this video before. It’s a bit hazy, but as the chants of “Go Lasso, go Lasso, go!” fill the cab, she can almost hear them echo through her empty kitchen in the house she’d won - and promptly sold - in the divorce. Thoughts of a vengeful, ill-advised plan that never actually came to fruition fill her chest with a deep ache. She tries not to think too much about that Rebecca, but she knows she’s still there, lingering under the surface. It’s insane to her though, that the man she had thought about hiring to destroy her ex-husband’s club three years ago is the same man who has come to her rescue today. 

“So?” Henry’s voice startles her back into the present. “Is this where you’d seen him before?”

“I hate to say it,” she says as she passes the tablet back to Henry, “but Henry’s right. I have seen this video.”

Henry cheers and Ted grimaces, although Rebecca is pretty sure it’s over-exaggerated for Henry’s sake. 

“Told ya, Dad!” He laughs.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Ted says, glancing in the rear-view mirror with a smile before focusing back on the road in front of them.

“I didn’t realize I was riding with a celebrity.” She says with a smirk, and the tips of Ted’s ears go pink.

“Alright, let’s change the subject. Enough about me. I think we should get to know you.” 

“Me?” Rebecca frowns. Why on earth would they want to get to know her?

“Yep. So… let’s see… oh, we’re gonna start simple. Real easy. Real easy one. We’re gonna do Favorite Christmas Present?”

Ted points his finger at her like he’s expecting a rapid-fire answer and her brain stutters. “Oh, uh -“

“LEGO Hogwarts!” Henry exclaims from the backseat. “Although,” he drawls as he leans forward, “if I get the LEGO Millennium Falcon this year, it’ll definitely be that.”

Ted laughs, but Rebecca notices the way his face shifts for just a second into a wince before the look is gone. She wonders what that’s about.

“Alright, now that Henry’s stolen your thunder, back to you, Rebecca. Favorite Christmas Present?”

She wants to refuse to answer, but seeing the way that both Ted and Henry are looking at her, as though they are truly interested in what she has to say, makes her swallow that urge. Instead, she reaches back through her memories trying to land on any present that meant anything to her, but nothing sticks out. When you’ve got more money than god - as Sassy likes to put it - you get lots of expensive things, but none of them really matter. She cannot remember a single present from Rupert that ever held anything but monetary value. And even her parents gave gifts with large price tags but little thought. She is ready to just say anything to get them to stop looking at her that way when finally something surfaces.

“I suppose it would be a dollhouse. I got it when I was a little girl, from my grandmother and grandfather. It was beautiful, crafted from real wood and hand-painted.” She smiles, remembering arriving at her grandparents’ estate to find the dollhouse in front of their large Christmas tree, wrapped in a big red bow. “It was practically bigger than I was. That was a happy Christmas. So yes,” she nods, “my dollhouse.”

Ted and Henry both wear matching smiles that light up their faces and somehow make her feel comforted and exposed all at the same time. She turns to look out the window, taking in the expansive fields. “I’d almost forgotten about that.” She whispers, more to herself than to them. Then she shakes her head and turns back to them. “Thank you for reminding me.”

Ted offers her another smile, warm and gentle, and something inside of her feels like it shifts and flutters a bit.

“What about you, Dad?” Henry asks, and the moment is gone.

“Well, any gift you’ve ever given me is my favorite, Big Guy.” Ted replies easily and again, Rebecca is struck by how honest his answer is, when, if anyone else said the same thing, it would’ve come off as smarmy and artificial. But Rebecca knows, right down to her bones, that Ted would treasure anything given to him by the little boy in the backseat. “I think first place is currently that coupon book from two years ago, though. Movie nights, game nights, barbecue dates, those were a heck of a lot of fun to cash in. Spendin’ time with my boy, what more could I want?”

Henry grins happily at that answer and beside him, Lilli lifts her head up and makes a sound that’s a cross between a whine and a bark.

“Oh, and of course you’re up there on the list, Lilli girl.” Ted is quick to assure, reaching back to rub her head gently. “My Christmas miracle pup.”

Lilli makes a contented noise and lays back down on the seat, her head disappearing from Rebecca’s view.

Ted claps his hands together, startling her a bit. “Ok, next question!”

“Oh, Ted, no, we don’t have to -“ she says, but he ignores her protests and continues on.

“Favorite Type o’ Christmas Cookie?”

“MeeMaw’s half-dipped chocolate peanut butter cookies!” Henry answers quickly. “I can’t wait to eat a whole plateful of ‘em!”

“They’re up there on my list for sure too.” Ted agrees. “But top of the list has got to be your classic Christmas gingerbread cookie. And snickerdoodles. Who doesn’t love a good snickerdoodle? I mean, just sayin’ the name alone brings joy to my mouth.”

“Sand tarts too! And Kiss cookies!” Henry continues to list off cookies.

“Kiss cookies?” Rebecca asks with a raised eyebrow.

Ted chuckles. “I think most people know ‘em as blossom cookies. The ones with a Hershey kiss in the center of ’em. My momma always called ’em kiss cookies, because she’d send a batch home with us after Christmas and tell us that she was sending kisses to us whenever we ate them.”

“Oh. That’s lovely.”

“Well, as you can see, we Lassos are pretty passionate about our cookies. What about you, Ms. Welton?”

“And please don’t say chocolate chip! That’s an all-the-time cookie, not a Christmas cookie!” Henry says, as though this is an argument he’s had many times.

Rebecca chuckles at his passion. “I haven’t had Christmas biscuits in ages, if I’m being honest.” She says, her mind suddenly filled with Rupert’s pointed reminders about watching her figure and images of biscuits being plucked from her fingers and tossed in the trash.

“Biscuits?” Henry’s voice cuts through her thoughts, pushing them away. “You guys eat biscuits for Christmas?” His nose wrinkles a bit at the thought.

Ted laughs again. “Henry, I believe that in England, they call cookies biscuits. Like how chips mean fries and crisps mean chips.”

“Yes, exactly.” Rebecca nods.

“That’s weird!” Henry laughs. “But ok! So what’s your favorite Christmas biscuit?”

Another childhood memory emerges. “My grandmother used to make shortbread biscuits at Christmas. I can still remember the smell and the taste of them. Those biscuits meant Christmas to me, for nearly all of my childhood.”

“Well now, that is a mighty fine answer.”

She turns to look back out the window, feeling the need to gather her armor back around her. They’re barely an hour into this trip and she’s sharing these private memories with two strangers. She’s got to pull herself together.

“Ooh! I’ve got one!” Henry cries. “Favorite Ornament?”

“Yes!” Ted shouts in delight. “Gotta be handprint Santa.”

“Grandpa’s tie angel.” Henry offers and Rebecca catches another look on Ted’s face, there and gone again.

“Malcolm’s cinnamon star!” Both Lassos say together, laughing. 

“What about you, Rebecca?” Henry asks and this time, Rebecca has no answer for him.

“I don’t have one.” She says simply. “Decorators have put up my Christmas trees for as long as I can remember. I don’t have any special or sentimental ornaments, I’m afraid.”

Her admission seems to put a damper over the truck, as silence settles over all of them, thick and oppressive. She considers lying - saying she remembers some ornament from her childhood that matters - but can’t bring herself to do it. As much as she hadn’t wanted to answer these silly questions, now she wishes for them to ask her another one, just so the silence will go away. 

Her wish is granted - albeit not in the way she wanted - when the silence is broken a minute later by a loud bang and the truck jerking suddenly. 

“Woah!”

“What’s happening?” She asks, clutching the door handle.

“I think we’ve got a flat.” Ted says as he steers the truck off the road. 

“A flat?”

“Don’t worry.” Henry is quick to assure her. “My dad’ll fix it.”

Rebecca turns to look at him. “Will you?”

Ted puts the truck in park and turns it off. “Sure. Got a spare, tools, and a jack in the truck bed. Shouldn’t take long to change the tire out.”

“Told ya.” Henry says, once Ted is out of the car. “My dad can do anything.”

There’s so much confidence in Henry’s voice, so much belief in his father and all he is capable of. Rebecca wonders what it would feel like to have someone believe in her that much. 

“C’mon, Lilli. Might as well take a quick bathroom break.” Henry says, putting a leash on the dog and climbing out of the truck, taking her into the field next to the road. 

Alone in the truck, Rebecca texts Sassy, updating her on the journey, although she’s not sure why. She also glances around, her eyes falling on a little yellow piece of paper with the word ‘believe’ written in blue ink, taped up on the dashboard. She wonders about it for a moment before climbing out of the truck herself and walking back to where Ted is working. He has his sleeves rolled up as he turns a lug wrench, working to remove the flat tire. Rebecca tries not to stare at his arms as his muscles move with each turn of the wrench.

“So,” Henry says, startling her by appearing by her side, seemingly out of nowhere, “you’re getting married on Christmas Eve?”

“Yes.” Rebecca nods.

“What’s his name? The guy you’re marrying?”

“John. John Wingsnight.” She replies.

“Now hold on a second.” Ted says from where he is currently switching out the flat tire for the spare. “His name’s John Wingsnight? Like at a sports bar? Like ‘Monday night’s wings night down at PJ Flatts’? Like that?”

“No.” Rebecca snaps. “Not like that!” 

Except, it is like that, really.

Ted just shrugs and focuses back on the tire.

“I think it’s a cool name.” Henry defends. “Sounds like a superhero to me. So when you marry him, you can be a superhero too. Rebecca Wingsnight. She sounds like a badass.”

“Henry.” Ted scolds, once again turning the lug wrench. Rebecca’s eyes are on his arms again. “Language. And also, you don’t know that Rebecca is gonna take his last name. Just because she’s marrying him doesn’t mean she has to change her name. That’s an antiquated notion that we don’t need to perpetuate. It’s one of many rights that women have to choose and that men should not have a say in, besides to support them in their choosing. And anyway, Rebecca Welton would be just as much of a badass superhero as Rebecca Wingsnight, if you ask me.”

Henry looks from Ted to Rebecca and back again before he nods. “That’s true. So, what’s he like?” 

“Who?” Rebecca asks, still trying to process all that Ted has said.

“John.” Henry laughs, as though it should be obvious.

“Oh!” She quickly shakes the thoughts of Ted out of her mind, bringing John to the forefront instead. “I mean, he’s a wonderful man. He’s very handsome. Successful. Not shy.” 

Ted says nothing to this description, just stands up and brushes his hands down the front of his jeans before moving to put the flat into the truck bed. Henry tilts his head as he looks at her. “Is he nice to you?”

Rebecca blinks. “What?”

“Is he nice to you? Dad always says that you should be nice to everyone, because everyone is fighting a battle, but that you should especially be nice to the people you love the most, so they always know you love them. So, is John nice to you?”

“Ah. Yes.” She nods, but the response doesn’t ring with truth the way that Ted’s responses seem to. It isn’t a lie. John is not Rupert. He isn’t cruel just because he can be. She knows that he loves her. And if he can be somewhat withdrawn or distant at times, it’s just because that’s how men are. “Yes, he is.”

Henry nods. “Good. You deserve to be with someone nice.” 

Rebecca blinks against the tears that have suddenly gathered in her eyes as she whispers, “Thank you, Henry.”

“Alright.” Ted says softly, gently breaking the moment. “We’re back in business. Ready to hit the road again?”

“Yes!” Henry exclaims, moving quickly to open the door and usher Lilli up into the backseat. 

“He’s right, you know?” Ted says to her from across the truck bed. “You deserve to be with someone who is nice to you.”

He gets back into the driver’s seat before she can respond.

**

“We should do more questions.” Henry says a few minutes later, when the silence in the truck has started to lean towards oppressive again. “What about Favorite Christmas Carol?”

Rebecca glances between the two Lassos before she holds up her phone. “Actually, Henry, I have some things I need to do, for work and in preparation for the wedding.”

Henry’s face falls for just a second before the smile is back, exactly like his father’s has done before him. “What about you, Dad?”

Ted glances over at Rebecca, then back to Henry. 

“I think maybe we should listen to some Christmas carols, instead of talk about them, huh?” He reaches over and turns up the radio, strains of Christmas music now audible.

“Ooh, yes!” Henry replies, and starts to croon along to the song on the radio. Ted focuses on the road, but begins to hum along too. 

Rebecca tries to concentrate on the emails she needs to respond to, but by the second song, Ted is also singing along and she finds herself glancing over at him more often than at her phone. He is goofy, doing voices as he sings, whatever it takes to entertain Henry and keep him smiling.

A song is just fading out, giving her a chance to focus back on her phone, when the low battery notification pops up on her screen. “Oh, damn.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My phone battery is almost dead and I’ve still got more work and wedding emails to respond to. Oh, can I plug my phone in to charge?” She gestures towards the 12V Power Socket in the dash.

“Well, ya could. But it doesn’t work.” 

“It doesn’t work?” She asks, because really, that’s just her luck.

“Nope. Not since the Great Crayon Incident of 2016.” Ted says, his eyes glancing in the rearview to take in Henry.

“I was six!” Henry protests.”How was I supposed to know you aren’t supposed to stick crayons in there?”

His indignation pulls a laugh out of Rebecca, even as her phone screen continues to mock her. “I need my phone to be charged. I’ve got things I’ve got to do for the wedding, not to mention my work.”

“I doubt it’s going to matter much longer.” Ted tells her, eyes still on the road. “You’re gonna lose reception soon.”

“I highly doubt that.” Rebecca scoffs. “There’s reception everywhere nowadays.”

Ted says nothing, just gives another little shrug, as though he’s tried to warn her and now it’s up to her to find out the truth on her own. 

“Look, I really do need my phone. Is there not somewhere we could stop for a bit, just so that I could charge it up?”

“Ollie’s isn’t too far away, is it, Dad?” Henry asks from the backseat. “You know we always have to stop to say hi! Rebecca could charge her phone there, while we get some food.”

“Oh, could we?” Rebecca asks.

“Can’t say no to Ollie’s, can I?” Ted replies. “Should be there in about half an hour.”

“Thank you, Ted.” Rebecca says, even as she looks back at her phone. 

**

Ollie’s, it turns out, is a dive-y little restaurant, attached to a motel, off the side of the road. It is not a place Rebecca would ever willingly stop at, but she doesn’t exactly have a choice at this present moment. And, although she would never admit it, if Ted and Henry both approve of the place, she trusts their judgement, crazy as that may be.

“Hey Dad, can I take Lilli for a quick walk?” Henry asks once the truck is parked, as he puts the leash back on Lilli.

“Sure, bud. Just let me get Rebecca in and settled and then I’ll come back out to join you.”

“Dad,” Henry sighs, “I meant by myself.”

“Oh.” Ted turns to look at Henry, his face in full on Dad mode. “Henry, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Da-ad.” Henry rolls his eyes. “I’m almost twelve. I can handle walking the dog by myself.”

“I know you can, bud. I just don’t like the idea of you being by yourself by the road and -”

“Ted, really.” Rebecca rolls her eyes as she waves her hand toward the window and the expanse of fields beyond it. “What’s going to happen to him here? There’s literally no other cars in the parking lot. We haven’t seen another car for miles. He’ll be fine.”

Ted looks like he still wants to protest, but he swallows the words down and gives one nod instead. “Ok. But stay in the fields, away from the road. And I’m coming out to check on you in ten minutes. No, make that five minutes.”

“Awesome!” Henry exclaims, jumping out of the truck with the leash clutched in his hand. “C’mon, Lilli!”

Lilli lets out a happy bark and follows after him. Ted watches them go with worry painted all over his face. Rebecca reaches over and gives his arm a squeeze. “They’ll be fine.”

Ted startles at the contact, but then settles into it a moment later. “I just couldn’t stand it if anything ever happened to him.”

“Nothing is going to happen.” She assures again, finally removing her hand. “Now, shall we head inside?” 

“Yeah, ok.”

They’re barely through the door before someone is rushing up to them with a delighted shout of “Ted!”. 

“Ollie, my man.” Ted returns just as happily, pulling the man into a hug. “Hey, Ollie, I’d like you to meet Rebecca. Rebecca, this is my buddy, Ollie.”

“Hello.” Rebecca offers a nod in his direction.

“Lovely to meet you.” Ollie smiles widely at her. 

“Congrats.” Ted points between them. “You both just met a cool person. Oh, say, Ollie, do you have somewhere that Rebecca could charge her phone?”

“Of course, of course.” Ollie leads them to a booth with an electric outlet in the wall near the table. 

“Thank you.” Rebecca says, already plugging her phone in.

“So, can I get you anything to drink to start?”

“You know me, Ollie. I’ll take a coffee, with enough cream and sugar so that I -”

“Don’t taste a hint of coffee.” Ollie finishes for him before looking to Rebecca. “And for you?”

“Oh, tea would be lovely.” Rebecca says, still tapping away at her phone.

“Coming right up.” Ollie nods, heading off to get their drinks.

“So, you really are British, huh? Drinkin’ that hot brown water.” Ted pulls a face to let her know exactly what he thinks of tea. 

Rebecca shakes her head at him, but doesn’t have a chance to reply, because at that moment, Henry bursts into the restaurant. “Dad!”

Ted is up and out of his seat instantly. “What? What’s wrong?” 

“Lilli ran away! She saw a rabbit and she took off after it and I couldn’t hold on to her leash.”

“Okay. It’s okay. We’ll find her.” He assures Henry, before turning back to Rebecca. “Come on, we’ve got to go look for Lilli.”

“Well, she’ll come back, won’t she?” 

“She loves to run when she gets the chance. It’s hard to tell where she’ll end up. We’ll have more luck if all of us look.”

Rebecca wants to protest, but she takes in the tears that are slipping down Henry’s cheeks, as well as the concern written all over Ted’s face, and finds that she can’t. 

“Alright.”

**

The area around Ollie’s is nothing but corn fields. Dead, cut-off stalks stick up from the ground and the dirt is more like mud under her heels, but she trudges along calling out for Lilli, her eyes scanning constantly for the dog. It is cold, bitingly so, and she wishes she’d worn warmer clothes. She can hear Ted and Henry, off in different directions, both calling out for Lilli.

After what feels like hours, but is probably closer to ten minutes of searching, they all regroup on a patch of dry, brown grass. 

“She’s lost.” Henry cries.

“We’ll find her.” Ted says, his voice firm.

“How can you be sure?” He asks, sniffling.

“I just am.” 

Rebecca looks between them and voices the question that has been on her mind since they started looking. “What happens if we don’t find her?”

“I’m not leaving here until we do.” Ted replies.

“Are you suggesting we stay here overnight?” Rebecca tosses her hands up, indicating the sun that is sinking lower in the sky.

“If we don’t find her, then yes. There’s a motel next to the restaurant. We can stay there.”

“But I need to get to Aspen!” Rebecca snaps and something about her tone snaps something inside of Ted too.

“Look, Rebecca, it’s not my fault Lilli ran away!”

Her hackles rise at the tone of his voice. “Are you blaming me?”

“Maybe I am!” Ted replies. “You’re the one that convinced me to let Henry take her out alone. You’re the one who said nothing was going to happen. Well, something happened!”

“Fine! Blame me! But I’m not staying in this godforsaken place!”

“Fine! Then use all of your money to buy your way out of here!” He shouts back at her. “Because we’re staying. I am not leaving her out here, alone.”

“Fine! I will!” She growls, spinning on her feet angrily to walk away. She’s overreacting. She knows she is. But her blood is pumping, anger coursing through her veins, and it’s a feeling she’s used to, a feeling she takes comfort in. So she wraps it around herself as she storms off, not really watching where she’s going. 

Which is exactly how she ends up walking right off the edge of a small embankment and tumbling down to the dirty field beneath.

“Rebecca!” She hears the shouts before she’s even really aware of what exactly has happened, and then Ted is beside her, carefully helping her up, his arm wrapping around her waist and holding her to his strong, solid body. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.” She responds, looking up at him.

Her clothes are covered in dirt from the fall and her hair has come out of her updo. Ted gently reaches out and brushes it back from her face. “I’m sorry about shouting at you. I’m just worried about Lilli. I know it wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have taken my worry out on you. That wasn’t fair of me.”

Rebecca blinks, her throat suddenly tight with emotion. She cannot remember a time when someone has apologized for shouting at her. “I - I’m sorry too. You’re right to be worried. We’ll stay until we find her.”

Ted offers her a smile, warm and forgiving. “For now, let’s get you in out of the cold before you freeze.”

He keeps his arm around her as he guides her back up the embankment, and she finds herself leaning closer to him, absorbing his warmth.

**

“Here we go.” Ollie says as he opens the door to a room. They walk in to see it has two beds, a television, a beat up old dresser, a foldable luggage holder under the window, and not much else. There is a bathroom at least. 

“This is all you have?” Rebecca asks.

“All of our other rooms are having renovations done.” Ollie tells her as he rolls Ted and Henry’s suitcases in. “Business has not exactly been booming lately.”

“This is just fine, Ollie. I appreciate ya.” Ted assures him as he puts Rebecca’s broken suitcase on the luggage holder under the window. 

“There’s only two beds.” Rebecca points out.

“One for you, one for Henry.” Ted replies easily, turning back to Ollie. “We can settle up in the morning?”

“Of course, Ted.”

“What about you?” Rebecca asks, her eyes still fixed on the beds.

“I’ll bunk with Hen, once I find Lilli.” 

She realizes then that he is not planning to sleep until he finds the dog. 

“If you need help in your search, Ted, I will be happy to help.” Ollie offers. 

“I appreciate that, Ollie, but I know you got the restaurant to take care of. If you could just lend me a flashlight, that’d be mighty helpful.”

“Of course. I’ll go get one now. And then I’ll bring some food and warm drinks over for you all. Hot chocolate for Henry, tea for Rebecca, and coffee in a thermos for you, my friend.”

Ted offers him another smile and a clap on the shoulder before he leaves them to get settled.

“Alright. Rebecca, why don’t you grab a warm shower, get into your pjs? Henry, you can wash up after Rebecca. Then get some food in ya, and you can have some screen time before bed, huh?”

“But Dad, I have to help you look for Lilli. It’s my fault she’s lost.” Henry protests.

“Hey now, none of that.” Ted kneels down, putting his hands on his son’s shoulders. “If she’da seen a rabbit when I was walking her, I wouldn’ta been able to hold on to her either. You know how quick and strong she is. This is not your fault. But it’s getting dark out there and I don’t want you getting lost either. I’ll find her. I promise you. You just stay here, safe and warm with Rebecca, alright?”

“With me?” Rebecca says, finally realizing that Ted intends to leave Henry with her while he goes looking for the dog. “But - but what if something happens? You hardly know me. I -“

Ted gets up from where he’s been kneeling and comes to stand in front of Rebecca instead. “Nothing’s gonna happen. I know you well enough to know you’ll take care of my boy.”

“Ted.” She whispers, her throat tight again.

“I trust you, Rebecca.” He says, so sincerely she feels tears welling in her eyes again. “Just make sure he eats and only has one hot chocolate and is in bed by 10. He’ll try to get another hot chocolate out of Ollie, and my man is a pushover when it comes to Henry.”

He moves over to drop a kiss on Henry’s head. “Be good for Rebecca. I’ll be back with Lilli soon.”

And then he’s gone, back out into the night that is progressively getting darker.

**

Ollie brings over loads of food, as well as the promised hot beverages. Rebecca does her best not to wince when she sees the Lipton tea bag hanging out of the cup. At least the water is hot.

She moves over to her purse, pulling out her wallet. “Ollie, I know Ted said he would settle up with you in the morning, but I’d like to take care of the room and food. How much do we owe you?” 

Ollie waves his hand and shakes his head. “Please, do not worry yourself about it, Rebecca.”

“Ollie, I have money. It isn’t an issue. I’d like to pay. I know that you can’t use pounds here, but my check will clear the bank, I assure you.”

“Ted and Henry, they are family.” Ollie says, glancing over at Henry who is chugging his hot chocolate with a fond smile. “Family does not pay here.”

“But I -“

“You are with them. That makes you family too. Please, no more talk of money. Eat and enjoy. Good night, Henry.”

“Night, Ollie! Thanks!” Henry calls over to him, and then he is gone, before Rebecca can argue any more.

“So, Rebecca,” Henry says as he holds up a French fry from one of the many styrofoam boxes littering his bed, “you really call these chips?”

She smiles at that and gives him a nod. “I do.”

“So weird.” He giggles again as he begins to shove the ‘chips’ into his mouth.

She excuses herself into the bathroom to check what she is working with, and is pleased to find that there is hot water and decent water pressure when she turns the shower on. She heads back into the bedroom, plugging in her dying phone, trying hard not to think about how this whole mess could’ve been avoided if she hadn’t made such a big deal about it - or if she traveled with a power bank like Nora always told her to. But what’s done is done and she can’t change it now.

Speaking of things she can’t change, she realizes, as she looks at the disaster zone that is still her suitcase, that she may not have anything to wear to bed either. At least nothing suitable to wear around an eleven-year-old boy. She’d packed for her honeymoon after all. 

With a sigh, she dumps the contents of her suitcase out onto her bed and begins to go through them, refolding and cataloging things. There isn’t actually much damage, which is pleasantly surprising, but there also isn’t anything she would consider appropriate sleepwear either.

“You okay, Rebecca?” Henry asks, around a mouthful of burger.

“Oh, yes. Just realizing that my pajamas were… ruined.” 

“Oh. Well, you can borrow something of Dad’s. He’s an overpacker.” Henry springs up from the bed and heads to Ted’s suitcase, opening it up and digging around until he pulls out two items and holds them up triumphantly. “Voila!”

“Oh, Henry, no, I couldn’t -”

“Sure you can.” He says as he pushes the clothes into her hands. “Dad won’t mind at all. Go on. Get your shower and put them on.”

She considers arguing some more, but realizes that it would probably be a losing battle. “I’ll be back shortly,” she tells Henry, but he’s staring down at his tablet while eating more chips, paying her no mind.

She allows the hot water of the shower to flow over her for a while before she finally starts to actually wash up. The heat and spray do a good job of washing away some of the worries and stress of the day, and she has to admit, even with the bumps in the road, she is lucky to have met Ted and Henry.

Once she’s done in the shower, she dries off and then inspects the clothes that Henry has picked out for her. A pair of black and yellow plaid flannel pajama pants with a strange little yellow mascot on the left thigh and a long-sleeved raglan with Shockers Football and the same mascot on the front that are both soft to the touch. She pulls them on before she can think about it too much and then heads back out to the bedroom.

“The bathroom is all yours, Henry. Go on and get cleaned up.”

Henry lets out a little groan of protest, but climbs off the bed, going over to his suitcase, putting his tablet in it and pulling out his pajamas. “I saved you some chips.” He says, as he passes her.

She looks over the various containers and finds a salad that will do nicely for her dinner, but the box of chips is right there and Henry did say he saved them for her. Who is she to turn down Henry’s offering? She pops a few into her mouth, moaning just a bit at the taste, before turning her attention to the salad. 

Henry emerges a few minutes later, his hair damp and his face a little red from the heat of the shower. He’s wearing a pair of pajama bottoms that match hers and a long-sleeved shirt that boasts ‘NCAA Division II Champions’ across it. The name Lasso is emblazoned across the back, something she sees as he turns to look out the window, his eyes searching for any sign of his father or his dog. His shoulders slump as he sees no hint of either of them.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure your dad will find her.” Rebecca tells him.

Henry turns from the window to look at her, sitting on the bed. “How do you know?” He asks as he comes over and climbs up on her bed, sitting across from her, their knees bumping.

“He just strikes me as the kind of person who isn’t going to quit until he does.” Rebecca offers him a smile, reaching out to brush his hair back from his forehead. “Besides, aren’t you the one who told me that your dad can do anything?”

“He can.” Henry affirms.

“Well, there you go. He’ll find her.”

Henry nods, but she watches as he sucks his bottom lip between his teeth, chewing on it as he continues to glance over at the windows and the darkness beyond them. 

“Why don’t you tell me a little about her, until it’s time for bed?” Rebecca suggests. “Your dad called her his Christmas miracle pup. What was that all about?”

Henry’s eyes light up at being able to tell the story. “Dad got Lilli last Christmas. It was the first Christmas after he and Mom got divorced and I was with Mom for Christmas. Dad still went to MeeMaw’s without us, but I know he was really sad about everything.”

Rebecca imagines Ted in his truck, making the drive to his mother’s house all alone. The image makes her heart ache.

“Yes,” Rebecca says, thinking about the Christmas after her own divorce, “I can imagine he would’ve been.”

Henry goes quiet for a moment and then starts speaking again, on what feels like a totally different topic. “When Dad was three, he got attacked by a dog. He doesn’t remember it, but MeeMaw says it was real scary, and after that, Dad was afraid of dogs up until he was in high school. He got better with them after that but - well, I think, after that, they kinda made him sad, instead of scared.

“Anyway, Glory - you’ll meet her when we get to Vail - she has an Australian Shepherd on her farm named Ellie. And last year, there was this stray Border Collie running around the farms near where MeeMaw and Glory live. And apparently he was a he and he and Ellie must’ve liked each other because on Christmas Eve morning, when Dad was helping Glory around the farm, he found Ellie in the barn with a litter of puppies. Dad thinks she had them real early that morning. 

“It was real cold that day and all the puppies were cuddled up to Ellie, all warm and drinking milk - except for one. It was the runt of the litter and the other pups had pushed it away from Ellie. Glory thought that it was dead, because it was laying there so still.

“But Dad - he picked her up and wrapped her up all warm in his jacket and rubbed her and finally, she let out this little whine. Dad took her right down to Dr. Lynn, the vet, and he told Dad it’d be a lot of work to take care of her and keep her alive, but Dad was determined.”

“And that was Lilli?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Henry says with a wide smile. “Dad spent the whole of his Christmas vacation taking care of her - keeping her warm, bottle-feeding her, cleaning her. He knew Glory was gonna sell the other pups and offered to give her back before he left, but Glory said absolutely not, that dog was meant to be his. 

“Dad always says that he didn’t save Lilli last Christmas. She saved him. Because he spent so much time and energy taking care of her, it pushed away some of the sadness of not being with me. And now, he’s always got her with him, even when he’s coaching in Wichita and I’m in Kansas City with Mom.”

Henry’s eyes glance back over at the window again. “If he doesn’t find her -“

Rebecca reaches over and takes Henry’s hands in hers. “He will.”

“I don’t want him to be alone, Rebecca.” He whispers as a few tears slip down his cheeks. 

Rebecca tugs gently on his hands until Henry is cradled against her in a hug. She gently rubs his back. “It’s ok, Henry. It’s going to be ok.”

Henry snuggles against her, his tears soaking into the front of his father’s shirt. She continues to rub his back and speak softly to him until the tears stop.

“How did he come up with the name Lilli?” She asks, trying to keep Henry’s thoughts positive.

“It’s after a character from Kiss Me, Kate. It’s one of his favorite musicals.” 

A slow, fond smile spreads across her face at that. Of course Ted Lasso would like musicals.

They fall into silence after that, Henry still snuggled against her, her hand still soothing over Henry’s back. It isn’t awkward or uncomfortable at all, holding this boy, caring for him. She glances over at her phone and sees the time lit up on the display. She gently shifts away from Henry.

“Alright, young man, time for bed.”

He groans, trying to snuggle back into her and there’s a part of her that wants to let him, but instead she gets up off the bed, moving to his bed and closing up the various containers of food. She moves them all over to the dresser top and then goes back to the bed, pulling down the covers for Henry.

“In you go.” 

Henry rolls off her bed and climbs into his, wiggling down under the covers. She brings the duvet up to cover him and, before she can think too much about it, leans down to kiss his forehead. “Sleep well, Henry.”

“Night, Becca,” he murmurs, before asking. “Can we turn on the TV for a little? Please?”

She should absolutely say no, but she cannot seem to say no to Henry Lasso when he looks at her like that and says please. Especially not after he’s just - seemingly without thought - called her Becca.

“Absolutely nothing scary or violent. And we’re keeping the sound low.”

“Deal.” Henry smiles and grabs the remote, turning the television on and flicking through channels before coming to a stop. “Ooh! The Muppet Christmas Carol! I love this movie!”

True to their deal, he turns the volume down, and snuggles back under the covers, closing his eyes, even as he hums along to a song about Scrooge. Rebecca turns the lights out and climbs into bed herself. By the time Marley and Marley appear, Henry is sound asleep, and Rebecca follows after him before Scrooge ever makes it to Fozziwig’s old rubber chicken factory.

**

Rebecca wakes slowly the next morning to the sun streaming in the window and falling across her face. She blinks slowly, trying to remember where she is, when her eyes catch the sight of brown eyes and a sleepy smile across from her. 

“Good morning,” Ted whispers to her and she smiles back at him.

“Morning,” she echoes, something so natural in this morning exchange, she doesn’t even recognize the strangeness. Not until another voice cuts in and reminds her exactly where she is and why.

“Dad?” Henry says as he rolls over. “Did you find -“ and then, his eyes catch sight of something at the end of the bed and he’s up like a rocket. “Lilli!”

The sleeping dog stirs and gives a happy bark before covering Henry’s face with licks.

Ted sits up in bed, looking down at the two of them with a smile. Rebecca also sits up, pulling the blankets up with her as she glances over at Ted. “You found her.”

“Yep.” He nods. “It was just about midnight when I got the idea to light up the truck, see if she’d come to something familiar.” He shakes his head fondly. “Turns out, she’d beat me to it. Was already laying underneath it, like she was just waiting for me to come get her.”

“Good girl, Lilli.” Henry says, rubbing her all over. “That’s such a good girl.” And then, as quickly as he’d jumped off the bed, he jumps back on it, flinging himself into Ted’s arms.

“Thank you for finding her. Thank you for not giving up.” He says into his neck.

Ted hugs him tightly. “Of course, Bud, of course.”

Lilli takes that opportunity to jump up onto the bed too and Rebecca watches as the three Lassos laugh and roll around together, happily reunited. She excuses herself to the bathroom, grabbing her phone as she goes, her fingers hitting John’s name before she’s even closed the door.

The phone rings for what feels like forever, and just as she thinks she’s going to get his voicemail, his voice rings through.

“Rebecca, love, good morning.”

“Good morning. I didn’t wake you, did I?” 

“It’s alright, I just had a rather late night last night. But it’s afternoon for you, so of course you’d call.”

“Right. Yes. Because I’m still in London.” 

“Everything going well there with your little charity?” John asks, and he isn’t trying to be condescending, she reminds herself.

“Yes, everything is going perfectly. We’re looking to have a record-breaking year, helping more children than we ever have.”

“Well, that’s wonderful, darling. Now, I hate to rush, but I do have so many things to do to get the cabin ready for the wedding.”

“Oh, right. Yes, of course. Well, I’ll see you soon.” She says, thinking about how it will hopefully be sooner than he expects. “I love you.”

“See you soon, love.” He replies, and then the line goes dead. She looks at her phone with a frown before shaking herself. John is still just waking up and he’s got lots to do today. That’s all.

By the time she comes out of the bathroom, the Lassos are dressed and ready for the day. There’s a mug of hot tea sitting on the dresser, as well as some new takeaway boxes.

“I ran over and grabbed us breakfast while you were in the bathroom,” Ted tells her, his eyes running quickly over her outfit before settling on her face.

She flushes, remembering that she’s wearing his clothes. “I - I’m sorry, my pajamas were -“

He waves her off with an easy smile. “It’s no problem. You should keep ‘em. I’m an overpacker.”

“Told ya.” Henry says from his spot on the bed, eating waffles from a to-go container.

“Oh! Speaking of packing - I also got you a little somethin’ at the store.” Ted turns and wheels out a suitcase. It’s light pink and bulky and absolutely nothing like she would buy or carry herself, but Ted looks so proud, yet unsure, as he rolls it towards her. “I know it probably ain’t nearly as nice or expensive as you usually use, but since your suitcase is a bit the worse for wear at the moment, I figured you could use this until you get a replacement. I already made Ollie toss it off the restaurant porch to make sure it would hold up okay, and look - not a scratch or split zipper on ‘er.”

She smiles at him, genuinely, still unable to understand how he is a real person. How he could be so kind and thoughtful to someone he had only met the day before. “Thank you, Ted,” she says, coming forward and taking hold of the handle, her hand brushing his, “this is so thoughtful of you.”

Ted shrugs. “It wasn’t anything, really. Just makin’ sure you’ve got what you need.” He looks away then, grabbing a box of food and sitting down next to Henry to give her space to get dressed and repack. “Time to get after these hashbrowns.”

She lays both the new and old suitcase on her bed, transferring toiletries and clothes over while also pondering what to wear. Her travel outfit yesterday had been stylish, but uncomfortable. She’s not used to dressing down around other people, especially not strangers, but she knows Ted and Henry certainly won’t judge her for it. With that thought in mind, she grabs the one pair of jeans she’d packed, her lowest heeled shoes, and a red cashmere sweater before heading to the bathroom. 

Thinking of the long drive ahead, she goes light on her makeup and brushes out her hair before deciding not to take the time to style it. Instead, she pulls it back into a simple ponytail. Looking at herself in the mirror, this is the most dressed-down she can remember being in ages, but she does have to admit that it’s comfortable. And when she walks out of the bathroom and both Lassos offer her up grins, she allows herself to enjoy it.

**

“Dad, what are you doing?” Henry says about an hour into their drive that morning. “You’re driving past it!”

“Past what?” Rebecca asks, glancing out the window.

“The International Hubcap Museum!” Henry exclaims.

Rebecca’s eyebrows raise.

“We lost a lot of time back there, Hen.” Ted says calmly. “I figured we could just hit it up on the way back home.”

Henry’s shoulders sag for a second, but then he looks at Rebecca and gives a nod. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Oh, no.” Rebecca shakes her head. “You cannot pass up this opportunity.”

“Rebecca, really, it’s -”

“You think I want to be the one to deprive him of an educational opportunity like that? No, I won’t have it on my conscience. We have to go.”

“Yes!” Henry shouts from the back seat, and Ted’s eyes twinkle with delight as well.

“You sure? Because we really can just stop on the way home?”

“Ah, but if you do that, then I won’t get to see it. How could I come to America and not visit the International Hubcap Museum? I don’t think they’d let me back into England if they found out.” She laughs.

“Well, alright then. International Hubcap Museum, here we come.”

**

“I got you these.” Rebecca says when she finds the Lassos in the International Hubcap Museum - which is just a large garage with hubcaps all over the walls. She hands each of them a napkin in which a fried object rests.

“What are they?” Henry asks, holding up the napkin to inspect. 

“Deep-fried Twinkies. Apparently, they are the specialty of Fanny’s Fried Foods.” Her nose wrinkles just a bit at the name of the food truck operating from the parking lot.

“Thanks!” Henry says around a mouthful of fried Twinkie.

“You’re not having one?” Ted asks.

“Oh no. I don’t eat fried food.”

He shrugs and lifts the treat to his mouth. “I do!” He takes a large bite and lets out a groan. “Wow! That sure is something. Rebecca, you gotta try this.”

“No.” She shakes her head, but Ted doesn’t listen, breaking the end off his Twinkie and holding it up to her.

“C’mon. What’s one little bite gonna hurt?”

“Ted -” She opens her mouth to protest and he quickly slips the bite between her lips. Her eyes go wide with surprise, and she has no choice but to chew. As she chews, her eyes widen again and she lets out a little moan, much like she had the night before when she’d eaten the chips.

“Bloody hell, that doesn’t have a right to taste that good.” She says and Ted looks absolutely delighted.

“I told ya.” He grins as he pops his last bite into his mouth. 

Once she swallows, she looks over at the wall of hubcaps they are standing in front of. “So, this is the International Hubcap Museum.”

“Largest collection west of the Mississippi.” Ted says. “We pass by it every time we come to my moms and we always say that we should stop but…” he looks over at Henry, who has finished his Twinkie and is back to looking at all the hubcaps, “I decided that this year we should do it. Have an adventure. Make a memory.”

She nods and allows them a few more minutes of exploring before she asks, “We almost done here?”

“Just about.” Ted says after a quick check-in with Henry. “We just need to check out this last section.” He points to one final wall display as he walks towards it, and Henry and Rebecca follow.

“Now looky there.” He says, pointing to one hubcap in particular. “That’s a beauty right there. A classic Buick.”

Rebecca glances at it and then at him. “Do you know much about hubcaps, Ted?” It would not surprise her in the least to find out that the man collects hubcaps.

He shrugs. “Well, not exactly.” 

While Ted is looking at Rebecca, Henry takes the opportunity to lean close to the hubcap, reading the information tag next to it quickly.

“But a classic is a classic. And that’s a classic.”

Behind Ted, Henry mouths the word ‘Studebaker’ to her.

“You know,” she says, fighting a smirk, “I would’ve guessed that that was a Studebaker, is all.”

“Really?” Ted’s eyebrows go up. “You know about American cars?”

Rebecca just shrugs, turning her attention back to the hubcap wall. Ted leans forward to read the tag and lets out a whistle. “Well, I’ll be. ‘52 Studebaker.”

Rebecca feels a smug smirk settle over her face, while she waits for the blustering reaction from Ted. But instead of looking angry, Ted just looks amazed.

“That’s incredible!” He laughs, pointing toward another hubcap. “What about this one?”

Rebecca blinks. “Oh, I - I don’t -”

Henry lets out a giggle as he watches Rebecca flounder. Ted glances to him, then to Rebecca, then back to Henry. “Ah. I see what’s happening here.” He points a finger between the two of them, trying to look angry, but failing miserably due to the large smile on his face, “You two were in cahoots!”

Henry laughs harder, which only serves to amp up Ted’s theatrics. He puts one hand over his heart and flings the other out to the side of his body. “Betrayed!” He cries, throwing his head back. “And by my own son!” He begins to fake-sob.

Henry continues to laugh in delight and Rebecca cannot help but smile too. “While you finish up here,” she says, rolling her eyes at Ted in a playful manner, “I’m going to revisit Fanny’s Fried Foods to get a corn dog for Lilli.”

Ted stops his theatrics and looks at her with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face. “That’s mighty kind of you, Rebecca. We’ll finish up in here and be out to join you in two shakes.”

She turns and heads for the door, not bothering to fight the smile she knows is spreading across her face.

**

When they hit the road again, Ted turns the radio back on and the Lassos begin singing Christmas songs again. Rebecca decides to check her email, but quickly finds that she has no service. 

“Something wrong?” Ted asks.

“I’ve got no service.”

He smirks a little, “Told ya,” and then goes back to singing.

She wants to be upset, but finds that she isn’t. Everything that can be done for the wedding has been done, as is everything for work. And with the Lassos for entertainment, she drops her phone down in her purse and leans back to enjoy the music and the company.

It’s a few songs later when she realizes, quite suddenly, that Ted and Henry have stopped singing. “What? What’s wrong?” She asks as she looks between the two.

“Nothin’.” Ted assures her. “Just -“

“What?”

“You were singing.” Henry tells her.

“I -“ Rebecca shakes her head, “no, I wasn’t.”

“You were.” Ted says. “It sounded real pretty.”

“Like an angel!” Henry says, leaning up excitedly. “We stopped singing so we could listen to you.”

Rebecca feels her throat and cheeks flush. “Oh, I - surely I -“

“Sing again, Becca,” Henry asks, “please.”

Rebecca swallows and Ted glances over at her before he reaches out to turn the volume knob up one tick.

“They’re singin’ deck the halls,” he sings, “but it ain’t like Christmas at all.” He points back at Henry, as if giving him an entrance cue and he quickly picks it up.

“‘Cause I remember when you were here, and all the fun we had last year.”

Both Lassos point at her then, and even as she shakes her head, she feels the words coming out of her mouth. “Pretty lights on the tree.”

“Yes!” Henry exclaims, while Ted takes up the “Christmas” echo with a wide smile.

“I’m watching ‘em shine”

“Christmas,” both Lassos sing.

“You should be here with me”

“Christmas!”

“Baby, please come home.”

The musical interlude hits and she laughs right along with Ted and Henry. By the time it is done, all three of them are singing, sometimes together, sometimes trading off parts, but somehow always instinctively knowing what the others are thinking. By the end of the song, she is cheering right along with them, genuinely having fun. 

They sing through a few more songs, the miles going by, until the truck gives a shudder and a loud bang is heard. Carefully, Ted pulls the truck over to the side of the road, popping the hood and hopping out to inspect the engine.

“Don’t worry,” Henry says, putting a leash on Lilli and wrapping it around his wrist. “Dad’ll fix it.”

Rebecca climbs from the cab and walks up to where Ted is leaning over the engine. 

“Can you fix it?”

“Yes, ma’am. Just a bad spark plug. We’ll be right as rain in no time.” Ted assures, fiddling with something in the engine. 

Lilli barks as she and Henry run around the field, and Rebecca watches them with a smile.

“Henry is a wonderful child.” She tells him and Ted’s eyes light up.

“Isn’t he the greatest?” It’s obvious how much he adores him.

“Well, he’s got a great dad.” She smiles. 

Ted blushes as he looks down, moving to put his hands into his pockets. As he does though, he hits the hood prop with his elbow, causing the hood to fall and smack his head.

“Oh my god!” Rebecca rushes forward to help him, even though he’s already pushing the hood back up and into place. “Are you okay?”

“Dad! Are you okay?” Henry and Lilli rush over at the sound of the commotion.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Ted tries to reassure them all.

“Let me see.” Rebecca says, coming closer, her hand coming up to run over the back of his head. “Oh! There’s already a bump!”

“I’m fine,” Ted says again, looking up at her, their eyes locking. 

“Are you sure?” She asks, her hand still cradling his head.

“I’m sure.” He gently moves out of her grasp. “Let me just get this spark plug changed and we can get back on the road.”

He leans back over the engine, reaching in to pull out the spark-plug wire, and gives it a jerk, his arm flying back when it releases - his elbow hitting Rebecca right in the face. 

“Oh!” She cries, her hands flying up to her face, and he spins around, looking absolutely horrified.

“Rebecca! I am so sorry! Are you alright?” He leans in and gently pulls her hands away, brushing his thumb down over her lip. He sees a bit of blood on the inside of it, probably from connecting with her teeth when his elbow had hit. “Your lip is bleeding.”

“I’m bleeding?” Rebecca says, her hand coming up to cover his. 

“Just a small cut on the inside of your lip. Hang on, here. We’ll get ya all fixed up.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handkerchief, reaching back for her lip, gently pulling it down and then pressing the hanky against the cut. “There, just hold some pressure on it for a bit and it’ll stop.” He moves her hand so that it is holding the handkerchief in place.

She presses against it and feels laughter bubble up from inside her. Everything about the last few minutes is just ridiculous and yet so par for the course of this crazy adventure that all she can do is laugh. Her laughter causes Ted to chuckle too.

“We make quite a pair.” 

“That we do.” 

“Alright, I’m going to try to fix this now. For your own protection, please step away from the vehicle.” He cautions, and she laughs again as she moves away.

Once she is out of the way, it only takes Ted a few minutes to change out the spark plug. He cleans everything up and then hops in the truck, turning it on and making sure everything is in working order, which it is. 

When they all get back into the truck, Rebecca holds the handkerchief back out to him. 

“Oh, keep it,” he says, pulling back out onto the roadway, “in case of further emergencies.”

She looks down at the handkerchief in her hands and smiles.

**

She may have dozed off for a little while, because the next thing she is aware of is the truck slowing down.

“What’s happening?”

Ted nods in front of him to an older woman along the side of the road, with the hood of her car up. “I’m gonna see if she needs help.”

He pulls to a stop next to her and rolls down the window. “Hi there. Everything okay?”

“Pretty sure my distributor’s shot.” The woman replies with a sigh, dropping the hood. 

“Well, there’s not much I can do to help with that, I’m afraid. But we can give you a ride somewhere, if you’d like?” He offers.

“That would be great.” She says. 

Rebecca opens the truck door and then unbuckles her seatbelt, sliding closer to Ted. 

“It’s too cold for car trouble.” Ted says as she climbs into the cab.

“You got that right.”

“So, where can we take you?”

“My brother lives about ten miles up the road, if you don’t mind dropping me there.”

“‘Course not. But, before we go, why don’t you go ahead and send your brother a message, letting him know you’re getting a ride from us. You can send him my picture and the license plate of the car too.”

“Oh,” the woman says, looking from Ted to Rebecca to Henry and the dog, “I really don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Trust me,” Rebecca says with a laugh, “he’s not going to go anywhere until you do it.”

“You should tell him my name too. It’s Ted.”

“Lasso,” Henry says, leaning forward, “Not Bundy.”

That startles a laugh out of the woman as she sends the text. “Well, I’m Lizzie. Allen, not Borden.”

Ted laughs at that. “Great name. That’s actually my momma’s name.”

“Lizzie Borden?” The woman asks with a laugh.

“Nah, just Liz. Liz Lasso. Always liked the alliteration of that.”

Lizzie smiles at that.

“So,” Ted says once they’re on the way, “are you going to your brother’s for Christmas?”

“Not exactly.” Lizzie laughs. “He just got a new smoker. We’re gonna put it to use with a pork butt and some macaroni and cheese.”

Ted looks delighted by this answer. Rebecca winces at the words ‘pork butt’, but says nothing. 

Henry leans forward. “So, Lizzie, what’s your favorite Christmas cookie?”

“Please don’t say chocolate chip.” Rebecca chimes in with a smile. “That’s an all-the-time cookie.”

Henry grins widely at her. 

“Well, I suppose my favorite Christmas cookie would be thumbprint cookies.”

“A fine choice.” Ted nods. “So long as you’re not using no apricot jam in those cookies.”

Lizzie laughs. “Raspberry is my preferred jam.”

“A wise woman.” 

“Mine is my MeeMaw’s half-dipped chocolate peanut butter cookies and Dad’s is gingerbread and Rebecca’s is shortbread biscuits - because she’s from England and they call cookies biscuits over there.” Henry tells her.

“All excellent choices.” She smiles at him. “Oh, that’s my brother’s lane, just up ahead. You can let me out there and I’ll walk up to the house. It’s not far at all.”

“You sure?” Ted asks. “‘Cause we don’t mind driving you up there.”

“It’s so sweet of you to offer, but I’ll be just fine.”

Ted pulls the truck over at the base of the lane and Lizzie opens the door, climbing out before turning back to them. 

“Thank you so much for the ride. You have a lovely family. It was nice spending time with people who so obviously love each other.” She smiles as she looks from Ted to Rebecca and back again.

“Oh!” Rebecca exclaims, as Ted also shakes his head, “No. We’re not - I mean, they are but we - we aren’t - we just met yesterday.”

“Really?” Lizzie raised a surprised eyebrow. “Huh. Coulda fooled me. Well, Merry Christmas to you all.”

“Merry Christmas.”

When Lizzie shuts the door, Rebecca moves quickly back over into the passenger seat, putting distance between herself and Ted. “Can you believe that she thought -” she says, laughing nervously.

“Well, it makes sense,” Henry says, “from her point of view. A man, a woman, a kid, and a dog - that’s the stereotypical American nuclear family that people have seen represented in media for years. It’s the most logical conclusion for her to come to, really.”

“Very true.” Ted nods.

“Hey Dad,” Henry changes the subject, “could we stop and get something to eat? I’m starving.”

Ted glances over at Rebecca. 

“What, you think I want your child to starve?”

“I know just the place.”

**

The place Ted knows is another little dive restaurant, this one with a retro 50s theme that includes red plastic booths, mini jukeboxes at each table, and more Christmas decorations than seem able to fit in the tiny place. It’s apparent that both Lassos know the place well and that - once again - the people there know them.

“Ted!” Their waitress, who can’t even be out of high school for how young she looks, calls out, just before throwing her arms around him in a big hug.

“Hey, Cindy.” He smiles, hugging her back happily.

“And Henry! Oh my gosh, look how big you’ve gotten! I’ve missed you!” The girl exclaims before tugging Henry into a hug as well.

Rebecca notices that the tips of Henry’s ears turn pink as he carefully wraps his arms around her. A crush, perhaps? 

“You want your usual shakes, yeah?” Cindy asks as they seat themselves in a booth, Ted and Henry on one side, Rebecca on the other. 

“You know it.” Ted gives her finger guns.

“And what about for you, miss?”

“Oh shoot! Where are my manners? Cindy, this is our friend Rebecca. Rebecca, this here is Cindy Lou Who herself.”

“Ted.” Cindy laughs as she shakes her head at him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Rebecca replied, thinking that until this trip, she’d never been introduced to anyone on the waitstaff and considered it nice to meet them. 

“Congrats!” Henry grins, looking up at Cindy with wide, bright eyes. “You both just met a cool person.”

“Well, aren’t you still just the sweetest?” Cindy coos, glancing back at Rebecca before she can notice the blush on Henry’s face. Rebecca and Ted both clock it easily. “So, Rebecca, what can I get you to drink?”

“Oh, I’d love some tea, please.”

“Hey, now, nothing against that garbage water,” Ted says, making a ‘yuck’ face, “but you can’t come here and not get a milkshake. It’s against the law. Won’t let you back into England if they find out.”

Rebecca raises an eyebrow at him and smirks. “Is that so?”

“Absolute truth.” Ted nods. 

“And exactly what kind of milkshake should I get?”

“Peanut butter cup!” Henry exclaims.

“I enjoy a chocolate-covered strawberry myself, but you also can’t go wrong with Oreo mint. Or if you’re in the holiday spirit, a little peppermint chocolate chip.”

“I’m not going to be able to fit into my wedding dress because of you two.” She says as she orders the peppermint chocolate chip. “You’re menaces. Both of you.”

Both Ted and Henry pretend to doff their caps to her. “Well, thank you kindly, ma’am.”

“We do try.” Henry laughs.

Cindy returns a few minutes later with three of the largest milkshakes Rebecca has ever seen. 

“And your usuals for lunch, too?”

Ted and Henry both nod enthusiastically as Rebecca scans the menu, trying to decide on something.

“I’ll just have the house salad with lite dressing on the side.”

“No way!” Henry shakes his head. “Becca, you’ve gotta get one of their burgers. They’re the best! Except don’t tell Ollie I said that, huh? But you’ve gotta try one!”

“Oh, Henry, I -“

“Henry,” Ted says, his voice serious but not stern, “a lady is allowed to order and eat whatever she’d like without any comment from us menfolk, huh? Which, now that I think about it, includes their drink preferences.” He winces. “Sorry about that. If you don’t want the milkshake, you absolutely do not have to -“

“Don’t think about touching this milkshake, Ted Lasso.” She warns him, grabbing it and pulling it closer to her.

He lets out a low chuckle. “Alright then. But, the principle still stands. Another choice that a woman has that men have no say in. Although,” he says, catching her eye with a soft smile, “I would hope that the lady is ordering what she wants and not what society makes her think she should order.”

Henry sighs but nods at Ted’s words. “Yeah, ok, that makes sense. Food shaming of any kind is wrong. Sorry. You can order your salad. But will you at least try some of my shoestring fries - I mean, chips?”

Rebecca looks between Ted and Henry, who are looking at her with absolutely no judgement at all, and then turns to Cindy.

“Actually, could I change that order?”

Everyone’s faces light up.

“Absolutely!”

**

Burgers and chips, as Henry insists on calling them, have been delivered all around when an older man comes out from the back to greet them.

Ted is quick to stand and hug him. “Hey, Walter!”

“Ted Lasso,” he says with a grin, “and young Henry. We missed you last year.”

“Missed y’all too!” Henry says from around a bite of burger. “Especially your burgers!”

Walter laughs and then looks over at Rebecca. “And look there - Diane Sawyer finally agree to that date, Ted?”

Ted ducks his head down and a blush similar to the one that had stained Henry’s cheeks crawls across his own face. “Now, Walt. This here is Rebecca - a new friend who we’re helping get to her wedding. On Christmas Eve.”

“Ah.” Walter says, standing up a little straighter and offering her a kind smile. “Well now, it’s nice to meet you, Rebecca. Couldn’t have asked for better help than from the Lassos, if I do say so myself.”

Rebecca smiles and nods as she pops a shoestring fry into her mouth. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“So, Ted, you gonna help me talk Cindy into going to Wichita State next year?”

“Well, sir,” Ted says as he sits down, “seems to me that that should be Cindy’s decision. Although we are gonna be in the market for a new kicker, if she’s still got that foot on her she had when she was a kid.”

He reaches up to rub his nose and Walter laughs as Cindy blushes at a story that they all clearly know. “I don’t think I’ve got what it takes, Coach.”

“See there, Walter. Can’t help ya, buddy.”

Walter laughs again and clasps Ted’s shoulder before heading back to the kitchen. “Well, you just keep doing what you’re doing, Coach. We’ll still be rootin’ for ya.”

“Go, Shockers!” Cindy cheers before she follows her father back to the kitchen.

“We are in Colorado, aren’t we? Not Kansas?” Rebecca asks once they’ve left.

“Yes, ma’am, we are. But Walter went to Wichita State. Played on the football team back then, although he was second string. I think he was more excited than me and my momma when he found out I was gonna be coaching the team.”

“Plus, since Dad took the Shockers from a garbage program all the way to their first National title in his first season as head coach, they’ve got tons of fans all over.”

“Henry.” Ted says, shaking his head.

“What? That’s what Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter said!” He grins as he takes a long drink of his milkshake.

“Is that true?” Rebecca asks.

“The program certainly wasn’t garbage, before I got there.” Ted shakes his head. “I just made some changes and things got a little better, that’s all.”

“But you did take them to the championship in your first year?”

Ted shrugs.

“And his second! And they made it to the playoffs this year, but there were some injuries that made it impossible. We’ll get it back next year though.” Henry fills in.

“That’s quite remarkable, Ted.” Rebecca tells him.

“Oh, it ain’t all that. Least not when it comes to me. Now, when it comes to my boys - they’re the ones who deserve the praise.”

“What do you do, Rebecca?” Henry asks, once he’s demolished his burger and is working his way through his fries.

“Nothing as exciting as your father, I’m afraid.” She tells him. “I’m actually on the board of a non-profit that helps underprivileged children and their families throughout the year, but especially around the holidays.”

“Well, I think that sounds mighty exciting!” Ted says. “It sounds like a wonderful organization.”

“It really is.” Rebecca nods, her eyes lighting up. “It’s been a bit of a passion project of mine for ages. And it’s been growing steadily over the years. We’re set to help a record number of families this year.”

“That’s really cool!” Henry grins. “Hey, do you guys take American money?”

Rebecca blinks. “Well, yes, we can take donations from Americans.”

“Dad,” Henry turns to him excitedly, “do you think we could donate? I could use some of my saved-up allowance.”

“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea.” Ted turns to look at Rebecca, whose eyes have gone glassy, “Ms. Welton, we’d love to make a donation, if you’ll point us in the right direction.”

“I would love nothing more.” She says, when she manages to speak past the tightness in her throat.

**

The sound of her phone ringing in her purse startles Rebecca when they’re back on the road.

“Oh! I’ve got service!” She exclaims as she grabs it, hitting ‘accept’ when she sees John’s name on the caller ID.

“Hello.”

“Rebecca.” She hears John say her name before there are some beeps and the call is dropped. 

“Oh, damn it. I lost the signal. Can you back up?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Ted shakes his head. “We’re not that far from my mother’s place. You should be able to get reception and call him back once we get there.”

Rebecca looks from her phone to Ted. “Please? I don’t think John would’ve called if it wasn’t important.”

“Rebecca, I really don’t think -”

“Please, Ted?” She says again, affecting a little pout. It’s rather ridiculous, she knows, but after their call that morning, she feels like if John is calling, she needs to speak to him. “Just a little ways back, just for a few minutes, and then we can go.”

He sighs, and slows the car to a stop, then, after checking the mirrors, puts it in reverse and begins backing up. 

“Thank you! I promise I’ll be quick.” 

“Any luck?” He asks as he continues to back up.

“One bar. A little further back. Yes! Oh, no! It’s gone again.” She cries out in frustration.

“Can you not yell?” Ted says, glancing over at her, before looking back at the road. 

“No bars. No bars.” 

A bend in the road is coming up behind them and Ted begins to slow down, ready to tell Rebecca that he’s just finishing the drive to his mother’s house and she can call John back when they get there. That’s when he hits a patch of black ice and the truck goes skidding backwards off the side of the road and down into a ditch.

“Henry, are you okay?” Ted is quick to check on him and Lilli in the backseat.

“I’m fine, Dad.” Henry assures.

Ted looks over at Rebecca. “Are you okay?” 

“Y-yes.” She nods, a bit shocked from the jolt, but otherwise fine. Her phone still shows no bars in her hand. 

Ted puts the truck into drive and attempts to drive forward, but the tires spin and he goes nowhere. He tries again, even trying to put it in reverse and go backwards to get some traction, but no luck there, either.

“What’s wrong?” Rebecca asks.

“We’re stuck.” Ted says, climbing out of the truck to see exactly what he’s dealing with. He takes in the ditch, the tires sunk into the dirt, and he knows he isn’t getting out without a tow. Still, he goes to the back of the truck and tries to give it a push. Nothing happens.

“Can you get it out, Dad?” Henry asks. 

“I don’t think so, Bud. I think we need a tow.”

“A tow?” Rebecca says, joining them outside the truck. “But we don’t have any reception to call for anyone. And we haven’t seen another car in hours.”

“My mom’s place is just a coupla miles up the road. We can walk there and then I can get Laurie to give me a tow.”

“Walk? A couple of miles?” Rebecca is incredulous. 

Ted offers her a shrug and a smile. “Think of it as one of life’s little adventures.”

“We’ll freeze to death! Not to mention that I don’t exactly have shoes that were made for walking long distances.”

“I’ve got an extra pair of sneakers and some long johns you can borrow.” Ted says, already moving toward his suitcase. “Henry, you better layer up too.”

“Okay, Dad.” He responds and then to Rebecca, “Told ya he was an over-packer.”

Ted hands the sneakers and long johns over to Rebecca. She takes them and moves towards the truck cab to put them on. Once re-dressed, she gets back out of the cab to join Ted and Henry, who are all ready to go, with their suitcases at the ready and Lilli leashed.

“Everything fit okay?” Ted asks. “You gonna be warm enough? I’ve got an extra sweatshirt if you -”

“No, thank you, Ted. I’ll be just fine.” She cannot be upset with him, not when once again, this whole mess is her fault. She holds her purse a little more securely and grabs her suitcase handle. “Let’s go have an adventure, shall we?”

Both Lassos grin as they start walking.

**

The walk, like everything else on this wild journey, ends up being rather fun. Henry and Ted are excellent company, starting in on a game of Christmas trivia not long after they set off. It mostly consists of Ted offering up questions and Henry answering them delightedly, but sometimes he’ll ask a question of Ted.

Occasionally, she sees them glance over at her, as if inviting her to participate, but she’s content to just watch and listen to them.

They’re more than halfway there - Ted assures her of this fact - when Henry starts to drag his feet a little. Ted offers to carry the boy on his back and, when he refuses, makes her the same offer. She laughs as she refuses and is surprised when he reaches over and takes her suitcase to pull along with his own.

“Figured I’d lighten your load a bit.” He smiles at her.

It’s not too long afterwards that they turn down a small dirt lane leading to a white farmhouse, fully decorated for Christmas. The front door opens almost as soon as they’re in sight, and a dark-haired woman walks out onto the porch, wrapping her cardigan tightly around herself.

“Well, there you are! I was wondering what was takin’ so long!”

“MeeMaw!” Henry shouts, rushing up the walk, confirming what Rebecca already guessed - this woman is Ted’s mother.

“Henry!” She sounds absolutely delighted as she wraps her arms around him, holding him tightly to her.

“And Theodore!” She hugs him just as tightly. 

“Theodore.” Rebecca whispers to herself with a smile.

“Oh, this is about the best Christmas present I could get! Both my boys here for Christmas!” The woman continues, kissing Ted’s cheek. “Now, where on earth is your truck?”

“Dad wrecked it trying to find phone reception for Rebecca.” Henry tells her with a smirk.

“I didn’t wreck it, Henry.” Ted is quick to say. “We just skidded off the road and got stuck a couple miles back.”

“A couple miles! Don’t tell me y’all walked all that way?”

“It wasn’t that bad, really. I figured I’d see if Laurie could give me a tow in the morning, since it’s gettin’ dark now.”

“Oh, you know she will, honey. Now, are you gonna introduce me to this young lady or are you gonna continue to make it seem like I raised you to have atrocious manners?”

Ted ducks his head for a second, looking thoroughly chastised. “Momma, this is Rebecca. Rebecca, this is my mother, Liz Lasso.”

Before Rebecca has a chance to open her mouth, Liz is wrapping her in a hug just as warm and tight as she’d given Henry and Ted. “Hello, darlin’. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please, come inside, get warm!”

Before she really knows what’s happening, Rebecca is hustled into the living room, settled down on the couch, and wrapped in a beautiful quilted blanket. Liz then heads to the kitchen, telling Ted to add some more wood to the fire already burning in the fireplace. Henry follows along behind her, asking if she’s made her Christmas cookies yet and did she know that in England they call cookies biscuits? 

“Oh, Ted, you really don’t have to do that for me.” Rebecca says as she watches Ted roll up his sleeves and reach to grab some pieces of firewood from the stack next to the fireplace.

“I may not have to for you, but my Momma told me to do it so… it gets done.” He winks. “Plus, I can’t have our guest freezin’ after making her walk for miles.”

“I’m truly not that cold.” She insists, although the blanket is comfortable and she keeps it wrapped around her shoulder. 

“Must be the long johns.” Ted quips. 

“Must be.”

“Now, here you go.” Liz says a moment later when she emerges from the kitchen, a kettle in one hand and a teacup in the other. “Some nice hot tea.”

“And biscuits!” Henry proclaims, holding up a plate of cookies. There is a whole plethora of options on the plate and Rebecca laughs at the sight of them.

“Are those all for me?”

“Well,” Henry says as he settles down next to her on the couch, “I thought maybe we could share.”

She laughs at that. “This is so kind, truly,” she says, taking the offered teacup from Liz and holding it while she pours the hot water in, “but you don’t have to go to all this trouble, honestly. I’m just going to make a couple calls and then be on my way.”

“That’s right. Theodore told me you were headin’ to get married when he texted me yesterday.”

“Yes, I am. In two days - on Christmas Eve - in Aspen.”

“Well, good luck gettin’ there.” Liz says with a bit of a laugh. “The pass is closed. Big slide. They’ve been working on clearing it for days.”

“Are you telling me that I’m stranded?” Rebecca asks with wide eyes and disbelief in her tone. 

“Oh, now, don’t you worry, darlin’. Like I said, they’ve been working on clearing it for days. I’m sure they’ll have it opened tomorrow. And until then, you are more than welcome to stay with us. We’ve got plenty of room, don’t we, Theodore?”

“Of course you’ll stay with us.” Ted nods. “And don’t worry. I’ll get Laurie to tow my truck in the morning and I’ll drive you there myself as soon as the road is clear.”

“Thank you, Ted.” She says, looking up at him with gratitude. She truly does not deserve his kindness, but she is constantly amazed by it.

“‘Course.” He says easily. “Now, I feel like there might be enough cookies here for me to get in on this action too.”

“I don’t know, Dad.” Henry says with a laugh, pulling the plate so that it’s tucked between him and Rebecca. 

“Momma, do you see this?” He says over his shoulder with a laugh.

“I don’t see anything at all.” Liz says with a smile. “But I will say that all of y’all better not spoil your dinner. It should be done in just a few minutes.”

“Did someone say somethin’ about dinner?” Another voice comes from the direction of the kitchen, and the plate of cookies is shoved onto Rebecca’s lap as Henry jumps from his seat.

“Glory!” He shouts as he rushes over to the blonde woman who is now standing in the doorway.

“Hello, sweetness.” She says, hugging Henry and kissing his head. “Oh, you’ve gotten so much taller since the last time I saw you. You’re growin’ like a weed. What are your Momma and Daddy feeding you?”

“Burgers and fries, if this trip is anything to go on,” Ted laughs.

“Teddy.” She calls out in delight. “Get on over here and give me a hug.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Ted happily does as he’s told, embracing the blonde woman with a kiss to the cheek. 

“You doin’ okay?” she asks as she pulls away, her hand on his cheek. 

“Yes, ma’am. I am fine and dandy.” 

“And how is our Lilli girl doing?” 

“See for yourself.” Ted nods to where Lilli is curled up by the fireplace, looking perfectly content. “She took off after a rabbit yesterday and had us all chasin’ after her for hours, but otherwise, she’s the perfect dog.”

“Us all, huh?” She looks over to the couch, her eyes on Rebecca. 

“Hello, Glory.” Rebecca gives her a wave. “I’m Rebecca. It’s lovely to meet you.”

At her words, everyone in the room begins to laugh. Rebecca’s brow furrows as she looks between them all. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, darlin’, not at all.” The woman says as she comes to sit next to Rebecca, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring pat. “It’s just that only Henry calls me Glory. My name is actually Laurie.”

“Oh!”

“Laurie lives on the farm next to Momma.” Ted explains, moving around behind the couch to place a hand on her shoulder. “She’s been a staple in our lives since Momma moved here.”

Liz and Laurie share a smile. “When Henry started talkin’, he called me Glory. Took us a little bit to realize he wasn’t just pronouncing my name wrong, but was actually combining ‘grandma’ and ‘Laurie’. Once we did,” a hand comes up to cover Laurie’s heart for a moment as she looks at Henry, who is snuggling up to her other side, “well, I’ve been Glory to him ever since, which suits me just fine.”

“Well then, Laurie, it’s lovely to meet you.” Rebecca amends.

“It’s lovely to meet you too, dear. Now, I believe Liz was talkin’ about dinner when I got here. Think you’ve got enough for two extra guests?”

Liz rolls her eyes. “Like I wasn’t already plannin’ on you being here. And Theodore texted me about Rebecca yesterday too, so I made plenty. The meatloaf should be ready to come out of the oven now and I’ve got the mashed potatoes in the warmer and the green beans on the stove.”

“Perfect,” Laurie says, standing up, “because I’ve got an apple crumble in the oven over at mine. Should be ready by the time we’re done with dinner.”

“Yes!” Henry says as he hops up to follow after them. 

Ted moves behind Rebecca, gently putting his hand on her shoulder and directing her towards the kitchen. “You heard them. Dinner is served.”

**

Dinner is delicious. She helps herself to everything and, when she contemplates going back for seconds, as everyone else around the table has already done, Liz adds another slice of meatloaf to her plate without any comment besides a sly wink. Laurie also serves her a larger portion of apple crumble than is probably necessary, but she eats it all, because it tastes incredible and it would be rude not to.

Even more so than the food itself, the company is delightful. Henry is the star of the show, regaling Liz and Laurie with tales of the recent happenings in his life, as well as their eventful trip. Ted has certainly heard - or lived - these stories before, but he too looks utterly taken with the boy, happy to sit back and let Henry take the spotlight.

It’s easy to be taken in by the family atmosphere at the table - the stories, the laughter, the love. It’s unlike any dinner Rebecca can ever remember having - even those with her beloved grandmother had been quieter, full of love, certainly, but not this much laughter and genuine affection. There are easy familiarities between everyone - a squeeze of a hand, a press of a kiss to a cheek, looks that communicate thoughts without words. And the Lassos - because she considers Laurie a Lasso too, no matter what her last name or relation to those around the table might be - include her easily, making her feel not just welcomed, but like she belongs there with them. Like Henry’s joy and Ted’s kindness and Liz’s laughter and Laurie’s smiles were always meant to be a part of her life. 

When they’ve finally finished eating, Ted and Henry both stand up and begin clearing the dishes in what appears to be a well-choreographed routine. Liz and Laurie both protest, but Ted ignores them entirely and Henry replies, “MeeMaw, you cooked, we clean,” as though it really is that simple. However, when Rebecca begins to stand - because she certainly did not cook - Ted waves her off. 

“You’re a guest.”

“Ted,” she tries, although rather weakly - she hasn’t done any dishes besides washing out wine glasses in she doesn’t know how long - but he just shakes his head.

“Sit. Relax. I’m bringing Momma and Laurie some coffee, I’ll make you some tea.”

“You really don’t have to do that.” 

“He will anyway.” Laurie says with a smile. “That’s our Teddy.”

“Always taking care of the people in his life.” Liz nods.

After their tea and coffee have been brought out and the dishes have all been done, Henry asks if they can go play in the snow.

“Haven’t you been outside enough today, Hen?” Ted asks with a laugh.

“Dad, that was walking, not playing in the snow!”

“The boy makes a valid point,” Liz says, with a wink in his direction.

“Are you gonna come too, MeeMaw?” Henry asks.

“Well, I have been known to throw a snowball or two in my day. What do you say, Laurie, shall we brave the elements with these boys?”

“I’ll go get my coat.” Laurie responds, looking almost as excited as Henry himself.

“Will you be joining us, Rebecca?” Ted asks with a smile.

“Oh. That sounds lovely, but I really should go try to call John.” She’d forgotten all about returning his call during dinner.

“I understand. Let me show you to your room, carry your suitcase up for you, and then we’ll let you get settled.”

“You really don’t have to -” she tries to protest, but Ted is already up and moving, her suitcase in hand as he heads for the stairs.

“Like I said,” Liz smiles, “he takes care of the people in his life.”

**

The bedroom Ted shows her to is lovely. All the furniture is made of a rich, dark wood and there’s a large sleigh bed and a connecting bathroom.

“Are you sure you aren’t giving me your mother’s room?” She asks as she looks around it.

“He is not.” Liz’s voice comes from the doorway. “Although if you’d be more comfortable there, you’re welcome to it. Bit more of a mess, I’m afraid. And comes with an old cat who thinks it belongs to him.”

While Liz has an easy smile and joking manner about her, somehow Rebecca knows that if she made any indication at all that she wanted Liz’s room, they would both be ushering her to it. “Oh, no, this is perfect.”

“Good.” Liz nods, walking into the room and holding out the blanket that Rebecca had been wrapped in earlier. “I brought this up for you, in case you need it. It can get a bit drafty sometimes and I don’t want you to feel cold.”

Rebecca takes it with a smile. “That’s so kind. Thank you.”

Henry bounds through the door a moment later. “Becca! I brought something for you.” He holds out his hand to show her a little green army man resting in it.

“I got them to help keep Dad safe when I can’t be with him. Last year, he brought some for MeeMaw and Glory too. And now this one is for you.” He moves over to place the figure on the nightstand, checking its positioning before nodding to himself.

Once again, Rebecca feels her throat tighten and moisture gather in her eyes at the absolute thoughtfulness and care of the Lassos. “Thank you, Henry.” She manages with a smile.

Henry throws his arms around her for a hug. “Night, Becca. Sleep well.” And then, just as quickly, he turns to his father and grandmother. “C’mon, let’s go! Glory and Lilli are waiting.”

He dashes back out of the room like a whirlwind, leaving Liz chuckling and Ted shaking his head fondly.

“Do you need anything else, honey?” Liz asks her.

“No, no. Go, play with Henry.”

Liz wraps her in a hug before she leaves. “Goodnight, darlin’. I’m so happy you’re here with us.”

Ted watches his mother leave before looking back over at Rebecca. “If you need anything, please let me know.”

She nods. “Thank you, Ted, truly. I-”

He shakes his head. “No thanks needed. Sleep well, Rebecca.” He doesn’t hug her, but he does give her a jaunty little salute before he leaves the room that makes her laugh and that she finds herself returning.

When she is alone, she sits down on the bed, just taking a moment to breathe, before she picks up her phone to call John. 

It’s the first time she’s even looked at it since the truck had skidded off the road earlier that day. She’s expecting to see all sorts of missed calls or texts from John, reaching out to check on her after their call disconnected so abruptly, but the only notification besides her email is a text from Sassy.

‘Shagged Marlboro Man yet?’ it says. Rebecca shakes her head and clears the notification, not responding to it. Instead she presses on John’s name in her recent calls and listens to the phone ring until his voicemail picks up.

“Hello, John, it’s me. I’m sorry our call got disconnected earlier and I haven’t been able to call back until now. I’ve just been a bit busy. Please do give me a call back if you need something.” She pauses for a moment, pulling the phone back as though to hang it up, then brings it back closer to add, “I love you,” before hanging up with a sigh.

**

She hears it - the sound of something hitting the window - as she’s about to get into bed, wearing Ted’s clothes as her pajamas again, with the little green army man keeping watch from his perch on the bedside table.

She walks over to see what’s happening, flinching back just a bit as a second snowball hits the glass. Realizing that someone is trying to get her attention, she pulls the curtain back and looks down onto the large backyard.

Lilli is running around happily playing in the snow with Liz and Laurie. Ted and Henry are standing together, each with a snowball in their hands. And there, on the little clearing of flat ground in front of them, they’ve written ‘HI REBECCA’ in the snow.

She quickly finds the small latch, flipping it and lifting the window upwards. “Hi!” she calls down to them.

Ted puts a gloved hand up to his ear. “I can’t hear you!”

“HIIIIIIII!” She shouts, hearing Henry laugh in delight as he and Ted high-five. She shakes her head and pulls the window closed again, intending to walk away, but insteads finds herself stopping to snap a picture of the scene below her with her cell phone. She looks at her phone screen, seeing ‘HI REBECCA’ immortalized on it, and smiles before closing out of the camera app.

In the yard, Ted and Henry are now in the midst of a snowball fight, which Liz and Laurie have also joined. It appears that all of them are aiming for Ted, and it makes her laugh, and feel like she should go down there and take his side. Her feet stay put though, her eyes glued on the family laughing together in the backyard. She watches them until Ted finally scoops Henry up, tossing him over his shoulder and heading for the back door, Liz and Laurie dropping their snowballs and laughing. With a fond smile and a shake of her head, she lets the curtain fall closed and heads to bed.

**

When she wakes in the morning, she doesn’t see warm brown eyes staring back at her, and she definitely doesn’t feel any disappointment about that fact. She does, however, see the green army man, still keeping watch, and it brings a smile to her face. 

With a yawn and stretch, she climbs out of bed, her eyes catching on something just outside the door as she heads for the bathroom. Changing her route, she pulls the door further open to reveal a tray sitting on the floor. On the tray is a small plate, holding three rectangular shortbread biscuits. She blinks in surprise, wondering if she’s somehow conjured them up in her mind, but even after rubbing her eyes, the tray and biscuits are still there.

Carefully, she reaches down and picks up the tray, moving back to the bed where she sits down. She lifts one of the biscuits up for a tentative bite. She is nervous, she realizes, because the smell is so much like Christmas to her, but she fears that nothing will be able to compare to her grandmother’s biscuits. She breathes deeply and takes a bite.

“Fuck me!” She exclaims to the empty room as the taste bursts on her tongue. The biscuit is perfect. So perfect, in fact, that she feels tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She quickly eats the rest of the biscuit and the other two, just to make sure that she hasn’t somehow made them out to be better than they are. But she hasn’t. They are all incredible and never once while she’s eating them does she feel even a hint of shame or guilt. She just feels safe and warm and loved. 

After finishing the biscuits, she grabs the blanket to wrap around herself and quickly heads downstairs in search of Liz, carrying the tray with the empty plate, not caring that she’s still in her pajamas. She finds her in the kitchen, preparing a breakfast that smells delicious. Henry is tucked up on the couch in the living room, doing something on his tablet, still in his pajamas as well. A black and white cat is sleeping along the top of the couch and Lilli is asleep by the fireplace.

“Good morning, darlin’!” Liz calls when she sees her. “The kettle is on for your tea and breakfast should be ready here shortly.”

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Lasso.”

“Oh no, honey, that won’t do.” Liz shakes her head and a spatula at her. “It’s Liz, please. Or even Momma or MeeMaw if you’d prefer. But not Mrs. Lasso. Makes me feel old.”

“Liz,” Rebecca says with a smile. “Thank you. And thank you so much for the delicious shortbread biscuits this morning.” She holds up the tray before setting it on the kitchen counter. “You have no idea how much they meant to me.”

Liz gives her a gentle smile. “Well, darlin’, I’d love to take credit, but I’m afraid I didn’t make any biscuits - shortbread or otherwise - last night or this morning.”

“You didn’t?” Rebecca’s brow furrows. “But if you didn’t, then who -”

Liz gives her what can only be described as a mom look. “Well, it wasn’t me.”

“And it wasn’t me!” Henry calls from the couch.

“And it wasn’t you,” Liz confirms. “Laurie went back to her place after the snowball fight. So that leaves...”

“Ted.” Rebecca whispers as the realization washes over her. “Ted made the biscuits?”

“I heard clattering around down here after I headed upstairs for the night. And Theodore does like to have something to keep him busy when he can’t fall asleep.”

“He’s really good at baking!” Henry calls helpfully.

“I can’t believe he did that for me.” She whispers. “Is he here? I need to thank him.”

“He and Laurie got an early start. Left here about daybreak to go get his truck unstuck. They’ll be back soon, I’m sure. Until then, breakfast is served!”

Henry is up off the couch like a rocket, heading for the table.

“Did someone say somethin’ about breakfast?” Laurie asks as she enters the kitchen through the back door.

“I swear, woman,” Liz laughs as she swats a tea towel toward Laurie, “It’s like you’ve got a sixth sense for food.”

“Well now, that would be the superpower I’d most want to have.” Laurie grins.

“Rebecca’s gonna have a superhero name when she gets married - if she takes her husband’s last name. Although Dad says she could already be a superhero now.”

Rebecca feels a blush spread over her cheeks at Henry’s words, and she tries to ignore the look that passes between Liz and Laurie.

“Speaking of, where is Theodore? You did get his truck towed out okay, didn’t you?”

“Sure did.” Laurie nods. “He’ll be in in a second, I’m sure. He’s just bringing somethin’ in from the truck.”

“What?” Henry asks.

“O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree,” Ted sings as the front door opens and he carries a fir tree through it.

“You got a tree!” Henry looks delighted.

“Can’t have Christmas without it.” Ted grins. “Henry, go grab the tree stand.”

“We stopped by Tom’s on the way back. Picked out a good one.” Laurie tells Liz.

“I’m sure you did.” Liz smiles.

“And Rebecca, good news. Tom says they’ll have the pass cleared by nightfall, so I can drive you to Aspen first thing in the morning.”

“Oh.” Rebecca breathes. “That’s - that’s wonderful. Thank you.”

Ted nods and then turns his attention to getting the tree into the stand that Henry has brought him. It only takes a few minutes for him to get the tree standing straight and secured.

“Can we decorate it?” Henry asks in excitement.

“After breakfast, of course.” Ted nods.

“Yes! Rebecca, you’ll help us, won’t you?” 

“That seems very much like a family thing, Henry. I don’t want to intrude.”

“Nonsense!”

“Don’t be silly!”

“You’ve got to!”

“Of course you can help!”

At their collective insistence, Rebecca throws her hands up quickly in surrender, the blanket falling from her shoulders. “Alright. Yes. I would love to help decorate the tree!”

They all smile and cheer as she bends down to pick up and fold the blanket, placing it on the couch.

“Well, now that that’s settled - let’s eat!” Liz says, bustling back to the kitchen to bring the food to the table. Henry and Laurie follow after her, but Rebecca reaches out and takes Ted’s arm, stopping him for a moment.

“Everything okay?” Ted asks her.

“I woke up this morning to find a plate of shortbread biscuits outside my door.” She says, searching his face for any hints that he may have been the one to put them there, even though she knows he was.

“Is that right?”

“They tasted just like the ones my grandmother used to bake.” She tells him and she watches as his eyes light up at that information.

“Did they now?”

“Naturally, I wanted to thank the person who made them for me, for taking the time and the care. I thought that your mother had made them, but she informed me that she didn’t.”

The corners of Ted’s mouth twitch up, just a bit. “Really?”

“And Laurie went back to her house last night and was with you this morning, so she couldn’t have done it. And Henry says that he didn’t - but that you, Ted Lasso, are really good at baking.”

“Maybe.” He drawls with a smile. 

She gives his arm a grateful squeeze and makes sure to catch his eye as she says, as sincerely as she can, “Thank you, Ted. Truly. It means - it means so much to me.”

Ted gives her another smile before he gently shrugs his shoulders in a bit of an ‘it was nothing’ gesture. “Everyone should get to eat their favorite cookies - or biscuits - at Christmas.”

They just stand there then, smiling softly at each other, until Henry’s voice comes from the dining room. “Dad! Rebecca! Come on! Breakfast is gonna get cold!”

Ted shakes his head and laughs. “We’re coming, Big Guy,” he calls as Rebecca lets go of his arm and they both turn to head to the table.

**

As they clean up from breakfast - Rebecca helping this time because she’s ignored their protests and just started picking up dishes to carry to the kitchen - Henry makes a plan of attack for decorating the tree.

“Dad, you go get the ornaments from the attic. Glory, you do the lights, because you’re the best at it. MeeMaw and I’ll work on the popcorn. And Rebecca, you can help us decorate.”

Everyone accepts their assigned tasks and Ted heads off for the attic to get the ornaments. Laurie is drying the last of the dishes while Liz heads to the pantry, looking for the popcorn. Rebecca watches Ted go and Henry watches Rebecca watch Ted.

“You like my dad, don’t you?” He asks her.

Rebecca looks over at him and gives him a smile. “I think he’s a very nice man.” She tries very hard not to think about Henry asking if John is nice to her.

“No,” Henry shakes his head, looking at her like she’s being willfully ignorant, “I mean you like like him.”

“Oh, Henry, no.” She is quick to deny, feeling her face heat up. “I - I mean he’s a wonderful person but -“

“It’s ok.” Henry assures, leaning over and doing a poor approximation of a whisper. “He likes you too.”

“He does?” Rebecca asks in surprise. Her eyes fly up to Liz, coming out of the pantry with a jar of popcorn kernels, and Laurie, putting away the last of the dishes. She waits for them to come to her rescue and deny it, say that Ted is always like this, but neither woman says anything. They do share a look though, one that Rebecca chooses to ignore for her sanity’s sake.

“Henry,” she switches tactics, not willing to confront the argument that Ted like likes her, “I’m about to get married to someone else.”

Henry shrugs and studies her for a moment. “Could be the wrong guy,” he finally says.

She doesn’t know what to say to that. All of her arguments - that he’s wealthy and age -appropriate and good-looking and not shy - seem feeble at best and while she knows what she should say - “I love John, I want to spend the rest of my life with him.” - those words don’t come out of her mouth.

“Hey! Where are y’all? This tree ain’t gonna decorate itself!” Ted’s voice calls from the living room, startling Rebecca. “And Lilli and Malcolm can’t exactly help much with their paws!”

“Comin’, Teddy.” Laurie calls back, tossing the tea towel to Liz and ruffling Henry’s hair as she walks by. 

Liz shakes the jar of kernels and Henry moves over to her. He appears to be done with the conversation, having said what he wanted to say, but Rebecca puts some distance between them by moving to the living room, just in case.

She sits on the couch, wrapping the blanket back around her, watching Laurie place the colored lights on the Christmas tree with Ted on hand to assist. Lilli comes over from her spot by the fire and drops her head in Rebecca’s lap and it’s natural for her to begin to pet her. Above her head, Malcolm the cat shifts closer to her.

She’s content to sit in this house with these people, watching them go about their lives together. She still feels like a part of things - more so than she has in a very long time, if she’s being honest - thanks to Lilli’s gentle presence and the quiet rumble of Malcolm’s purring and Ted’s glances and smiles.

It doesn’t take too long before Laurie declares that the lights are done and Liz and Henry appear less than a minute later, as though they’ve been summoned. They are both carrying large bowls of popcorn and Rebecca finds her interest piqued. 

“So is this a Lasso tradition? Eating popcorn while decorating the tree?”

They all laugh, even Henry, who has a handful of popcorn on the way to his mouth. 

“For Henry and Theodore, maybe.” Liz teases. “But for Laurie and I, it serves a more decorative purpose.”

Laurie moves over to settle beside Liz, picking up a needle with a long piece of thread attached to it and beginning to string the popcorn together. Rebecca watches in interest as the popcorn garland begins to assemble.

“You’ve never seen popcorn garlands before?” Henry sounds surprised.

“No.” Rebecca admits.

Liz laughs. “Well, honey, that just means your family could always afford real decorations.” Rebecca feels her face flush as she thinks of the years of expensive ornaments and decorations put up by people she didn’t know to make everything look perfect.

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.” Ted assures her as he reaches over to snag a handful of popcorn from Laurie’s bowl, only to be met with a gentle slap. “Just means Rebecca’s traditions are different than ours - and that we get to teach her about ours now.” He tosses a piece of popcorn up and catches it in his mouth with a wink, causing Henry to cheer as he reaches into Liz’s bowl for a handful himself.

“Theodore is absolutely right.” Liz nods, smiling at Rebecca. “When I was a girl, back in the 1800s,” Laurie reaches over and gives her shoulder a shove at that joke, “my family didn’t have a lot extra, especially around the holidays. So, we did a lot of hand-making when it came to our decorations. I always loved the popcorn garland and so I carried on making it, even after I grew up and got married. Taught Theodore how when he was a boy, and eventually Henry. And when we spent our first Christmas with Laurie, we found out it was something her family did too.”

“In the 1900s, thank you.” Laurie laughs. “Although it has also turned into a bit of a tradition for the boys to eat the popcorn while we try to string it.” She nods towards Ted and Henry, who are now trying to toss pieces into each other’s mouths. “Hence the amount we have to make.”

Lilli has left her spot by Rebecca to be on alert for any pieces that are dropped, of which many are, mostly by Henry.

“Becca, catch!” Henry calls out just as he tosses a piece her way. She’s unprepared and it bounces off her cheek and falls to the couch beside her. Malcolm perks up at this and hops down to bat at the kernel.

“Henry, you’ve gotta give her a little more warning than that.” Ted says, turning to face her, lifting a piece of popcorn up for her to see. “Ready, Rebecca?”

“Ted.” She rolls her eyes at him.

“C’mon. Open up.”

She gives a little huff, then opens her mouth. Ted takes aim and tosses the piece of popcorn. It lands squarely in her mouth. Henry cheers and she laughs as she chews it up.

“Do another one!”

Ted raises an eyebrow and she gives a little shrug, opening her mouth again. Again, he takes aim and tosses it right into her mouth. 

“Now you toss to Dad!” Henry says, coming over to drop some pieces of popcorn into her hand. 

“Oh.” Rebecca looks at them and then at Ted. He returns her little shrug from earlier, opening his mouth. 

She takes aim and tosses, but she overshoots his head by a lot, which makes Henry giggle and delights Lilli, who scurries after the fallen piece. 

“Try again.” Ted encourages. “Just a little lighter this time.”

She does and, this time, with a little maneuvering from Ted, he manages to catch it. She laughs rather delightedly as she watches him chew.

“Alright, children,” Liz calls to the three of them, “I believe these are ready to be hung.”

“I’ll help with yours, Glory.” Henry says. “Dad, you and Rebecca should put up MeeMaw’s, since she’s never done it before. And ‘cause you’re both tall.”

Ted picks up one end of the garland and looks to Rebecca. She gets up and picks up the other end. “You’ll have to help me. I’ve never done this before.” 

He smiles at her. “Easy peasy lemon squeezy. You just hold that end and help make sure we don’t get tangled.” 

Together, they hang the garland on the top portion of the tree, stepping back when finished to look at it. There are a few places where it looks a little lopsided, but the Lassos don’t seem to mind at all. In fact, Henry declares it “perfect”, before he and Laurie begin to work on the bottom portion. 

“I know it ain’t like it’d be if a decorator did it,” Ted murmurs, watching Henry and Laurie laugh as they put their strand of popcorn on the tree, “but I think it gives it some heart, not being perfect.”

“It does.” Rebecca says, looking from the tree to Ted. “It absolutely does.”

Once the garland is on the tree, they all head for the ornament keeper that Ted has carried down from the attic. It has various drawers and each person seems to know exactly what they’re looking for and exactly where it is.

“We always put our favorite ornaments on first.” Henry tells Rebecca, holding up one made from a man’s necktie. The tie has been fashioned into the dress of an angel, with a wooden head and pipe-cleaner halo attached at the top and wings made from silver ribbon behind. 

“Grandpa’s tie angel,” Rebecca says softly, remembering their conversation in the truck.

“Yeah.” Henry nods as he moves forward, putting the ornament front and center on the tree. “I never got to meet my Grandpa Lasso,” Rebecca watches as Ted and Liz exchange a look, “but this was made from one of his ties, so a part of him can still be with us at Christmas. I like that a lot.” 

There’s quiet then, when Henry moves back from the tree, as they all look at the ornament. Laurie comes behind Liz, resting her hands on her shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze. Liz’s right hand comes up to cover Laurie’s, even as her eyes stay glued to the tree. Henry slides up to Ted’s side, wrapping his arms around his middle, and Ted hugs him tightly back, his eyes shining just a bit. 

Liz is the one to break the moment, standing and holding up an ornament for Rebecca to see. It was obviously made by little hands - Ted’s, Rebecca is sure - years ago. The salt dough heart is misshapen and the rather messy red paint job has faded over the years, but Rebecca can see the imprint of two small thumbs in the center, pressed together to make a second, smaller heart, and she knows why Liz still treasures this ornament. 

“Theodore made this for me in kindergarten.” Liz says as she moves to hang it on the tree, her thumbs brushing over the tiny thumbprints. “It’s been my favorite ornament ever since.”

“Even though I’ve made her nicer-lookin’ ones since then.” Ted teases, but there’s a smile and look of pleasure on his face as Liz hangs the ornament with care.

“Oh hush.” Liz moves to his other side, gently smacking his stomach before embracing him. “This one is perfect.”

Ted kisses the side of his mother’s head and lets out a sigh of contentment to have both his mother and son in his arms.

“Teddy also made my favorite ornament, although he was a bit older when he made this one.” Laurie holds up a small yellow rectangle of poster board with the word ‘believe’ written in blue letters across it. The poster board has been laminated to keep it from curling and a blue ribbon is threaded through a hole punch at the top.

“The ‘believe’ sign is kind of Dad’s thing.” Henry explains to Rebecca. “He’s got one up in the locker room at WSU, one on his bathroom mirror, one -”

“In his truck.” She recalls.

Ted looks surprised. “You noticed that?”

“I did.” Rebecca nods, watching as Laurie looks at the ornament in her hand, her mind obviously in the past.

“This wasn’t an ornament when he made it, you know.” Laurie tells her. “It was just a little sign that showed up, taped to my bathroom mirror one day. I knew where it came from right away - had seen it on the bathroom mirror here, and above the doorway in Liz’s kitchen. And seeing it in my own bathroom, well, it made me feel like I was a part of the family.”

“You were. You are.” Ted says.

“You always have been.” Liz confirms.

“Well,” Laurie says and her voice is just a little choked with emotion, “this felt like real, tangible proof of that. So, when Christmas came, I knew it needed to go on the tree.”

Laurie moves to the tree and places the ornament near the top, smiling fondly at it.

“I made her another one for the bathroom.” Ted tells Rebecca as he untangles himself from Henry and Liz, holding up his ornament.

“Handprint Santa.” Rebecca recalls, but is surprised when she looks at it to see that the handprint used to fashion Santa is much larger than she’d expected. Unlike Ted’s thumbprints on Liz’s ornament, Henry’s hand looks nearly as large as it does now. 

“There’s so many things you think about having to split up during a divorce.” Ted says, his voice calm. “The house, the money, custody. But it’s the little things you don’t think about. Like who’ll get the Christmas ornaments your son made for your family Christmas tree, when now you have two Christmas trees instead of just that one.”

Rebecca’s heart aches. Taking whatever she could from Rupert had been her biggest goal in the divorce - hurting him in any way she could - but there hadn’t been anything like this to deal with. Twelve years of marriage but they’d had nothing that had really been theirs, nothing that had mattered to both of them. There was nothing to look back on fondly, no happy memories attached to anything. 

“So, I let Michelle have the ones Henry made, obviously. He spent Christmas with her last year and she obviously loved those little buggers a whole lot. But my boy here,” Ted turns his gaze down to Henry, smiling at him with so much love, “he knew his old man was sad about not havin’ some of those ornaments. So he made me my very own handprint Santa for our tree right here.”

Rebecca feels moisture gather in her eyes as she watches Ted move forward to place the ornament on the tree. It’s just so sweet, the love that Ted and Henry obviously share, and as she glances around the living room, she sees that Liz and Laurie are misty-eyed as well. Henry looks delighted that he could make his father happy.

Once all four ornaments are given pride of place on the tree, they dig into the ornament keeper and begin to add more. Unlike the trees she has had over the years, every ornament they put up seems to have a special meaning to one or more of them. None are just for decoration or because they look pretty. 

“C’mon, Becca, grab some ornaments.” Henry says as he picks up a Christmas tree made from LEGO.

“There is no rhyme or reason to our tree.” Liz assures her, an ornament shaped like a bottle of barbecue sauce in her hands. “As long as the ornaments get on the tree, we’re happy.”

Rebecca moves over to the top drawer of the ornament keeper, reaching in and pulling out a simple black ornament. “What exactly is this?” She asks, holding up the ornament featuring the same strange little yellow and black mascot that is embroidered on the pajama pants she’s still wearing.

“WuShock.” Ted says, carefully placing an ornament that Rebecca is fairly certain is a real dart that has been made tree-ready by wrapping some ribbon around it.

“But what’s a WuShock?” She asks as she hangs the ornament from one of the branches.

“He’s a bundle of wheat.” Laurie tells her, hanging an old clothespin that’s been painted to look like a snowman.

“A fighting bundle of wheat.” Henry adds, as he places a small rolling pin ornament on a branch.

“Your mascot is a bundle of wheat that looks like a strange man?” Rebecca asks, picking up an Iron Man ornament. 

“He is indeed.” Ted confirms as he hangs up a small wooden ornament made to look like the Playbill for Kiss Me, Kate.

“So,” Rebecca says, looking over at Henry, “where’s Malcolm’s cinnamon star?”

“You boys told her about that?” Liz huffs at them.

“Of course we did, MeeMaw. It’s one of our favorite ornaments.” Henry grins, reaching into the ornament keeper to pull out one that he holds up to show her. It was obviously once a star, but now, it has only two points - the top one the ribbon is looped through, and the bottom right one. The other three are all gone, apparently eaten, based on the marks she can see that she’s pretty sure are teeth marks.

“We made cinnamon applesauce ornaments a few years ago. Were real proud of how they turned out. Hung ’em all up on the tree. This one was towards the bottom. And our boy Malcolm over there - I guess it just smelled real good to him. So he just chomped away on it. We spent two days afraid that he was gonna get sick, but he was perfectly fine. Momma decided we shouldn’t put up the cinnamon ornaments anymore. But this one - well, Henry and I just couldn’t let it go.”

“They thought the whole thing was hilarious.” Liz rolls her eyes. “Meanwhile, I was afraid for my cat’s life. And now they insist on putting the dang thing on the tree every year.”

“It’s a memory, MeeMaw!” Henry says as he puts the ornament on the tree. 

“Speaking of memories,” Laurie moves back to the ornament keeper, pulling open another drawer. In it, Rebecca sees a bunch of pictures, all with ribbons attached. She watches as Laurie picks up one and takes it over to hang on the tree.

She’s aware that people often have photo ornaments or picture frame ornaments on their tree, but she’s never seen someone hang just the actual pictures on the tree before. 

“That’s a Laurie tradition that we adopted. Putting pictures of our loved ones or special memories on the tree. I love it.”

Soon, the pictures are filling in all the empty spaces on the tree. A man with a beard wearing a WSU hat, a pretty blonde, a man with a smile so like Ted’s he must be his father, older pictures of both Liz and Laurie’s parents, an entire college football team. And then, Henry lets out a cry. “We’ve gotta get a picture of Rebecca for the tree!”

“Oh, no, Henry, that’s not -“

“Dad, you take it,” Henry says, ignoring Rebecca’s protests as he moves over to her side. 

Ted pulls out his phone as Liz and Laurie come to stand behind her. They all crowd around as Ted holds the phone out. “Smile.” He reminds them as he snaps the picture.

Henry grabs the phone and looks at it. “Perfect.” He says, rushing up the stairs. 

He’s back only a few minutes later, the picture printed out and a ribbon attached to it. He hangs it on the tree with a nod. Rebecca’s heart squeezes as she sees herself scattered among all of these things that are important to the Lassos.

“I think we’re just about done.” Laurie says as she surveys the tree.

“I agree. We just need to put the star on.” Liz nods.

“I think Rebecca should do it.” Henry says. “Since this is her first time really decorating a tree.”

They all agree even as she tries again, unsuccessfully, to protest. Ted brings in a chair from the dining room while Liz hands the star over to her. She takes it carefully, feeling like she’s been handed a great treasure. Ted holds out a hand for her to take, helping her up onto the chair. Then, as she goes to lean forward to put the star on the top of the tree, she feels Ted’s hands settle on her waist. It’s a gentle, steadying presence, but it startles her.

“I’m sorry.” Ted is quick to apologize, pulling his hands back. “I know better than to put my hands on a lady without asking.”

“No, no.” She says, suddenly wanting the warmth and support of his hands back. “It just startled me for a moment. I can use all the help I can get to not fall into this tree.”

Carefully, Ted moves forward, placing his hands back on her waist. “I won’t let you fall.” 

She leans forwards and places the star on the top of the tree, taking a few extra seconds to make sure it is straight before she pulls back. Ted removes his hands, but holds one back up to help her down off the chair, and she takes it without hesitation. “Thank you, Ted.” She says when she’s back on the ground, her bare feet making her just a little shorter than him. 

“You’re welcome, Rebecca.”

“Turn it on!” Henry calls and Ted takes the chair back to the dining room while Laurie turns off the lights in the room and Liz moves over to where the button is on the floor to light up the tree. When Ted reenters the room, she presses the button and the tree lights up.

Rebecca takes it all in - the multi-colored lights, the popcorn garlands, the ornaments, the pictures, the star - and thinks it is the most beautiful Christmas tree she’s ever seen. It may not be perfect by decorator standards, but it radiates love from every branch, and she’s never felt more moved when looking at a tree before. It is truly special.

“What do you think, Rebecca?” Henry asks from beside her.

“I think it’s perfect, Henry.”

**

She slips back up to the bedroom to try calling John after they’ve decorated the tree, but she once again gets his voicemail. She doesn’t leave a message and spends about five minutes trying to compose a text to him, but finds she doesn’t know what to say.

Eventually, Henry’s voice carries up to her from downstairs. “Rebecca, come help us!” She tosses her phone on the bed and heads back downstairs. She is still in her pajamas, although she doesn’t think anything of it. 

“How can I be of assistance?” She asks when she enters the living room to find Henry and Ted on the couch, a laptop open on Ted’s lap.

“Show us how to donate to your charity!”

She blinks in surprise. Although they’d talked about it at the diner, she’s honestly forgotten about it and thought they had too. Clearly, she’s wrong about that.

“Rebecca has a charity?” Liz’s voice comes from the kitchen.

“Yeah! It helps kids and their families get presents and stuff at Christmas, right, Rebecca?”

“Yes. That’s the gist of it.”

“They also help the families with other things they may need as well, not just presents.” Ted adds. “And they give them money so that they have the freedom to choose how best to meet their needs.”

Rebecca glances over at him, knowing that she hadn’t told him about that part of their mission at the diner. Had he researched her charity?

“And you run this organization, honey?” Laurie asks as she comes in from the kitchen. 

“I’m on the board. I’ve been involved with it for years.”

“They’re having their best year yet, thanks to Rebecca.” Henry says.

“Not thanks to just me.” Rebecca is quick to say.

“Well, I’m sure you had a pretty big hand in it, little lady. So come on over here and show us how to toss some money your way.”

“You really don’t have to do this.” Rebecca says, even as she sits down beside Ted and brings the laptop over to her lap, typing in the correct site.

“Is this charity just in London, or is it all over the world?” Laurie asks, watching as Ted takes the laptop back and he and Henry stick their heads together, discussing amounts.

“Just London for now, although we’ve been talking about trying to expand.”

“Something like that over here would be incredible. I mean, we’ve got some local charities and the churches and the food banks but to have something like what you’re talking about… well, obviously, there are people everywhere that could use that kind of help.”

“I’d love to be able to expand to the States.” Rebecca says.

“If you do that, then you can come visit us!” Henry grins as Ted types in his credit card information.

“Well, all the more reason to do it then.” She smiles at him.

“Done.” Ted declares as he looks up. “One donation from a Mr. Henry Lasso and one from a Mr. Theodore Lasso should have just been received.”

Rebecca’s hand goes to her heart. “Thank you, truly. Both of you.”

“Now, Teddy, don’t you go shuttin’ that laptop. Bring it on over here, so I can make a donation.”

“Oh, Laurie, you don’t have to -“

“Hush now.” Laurie waves her off. “Let an old woman do as she pleases with her money.”

“Theodore,” Liz calls from the kitchen, “you’ll have to show me how to make a donation as well. And can you do it from your phone? Because I should send the wine club ladies a text if you can.”

“The wine club?” Rebecca asks with a raised eyebrow.

“It was supposed to be a book club,” Ted says with a grin, “but after half of ’em didn’t finish the book and they spent the whole meeting drinkin’ wine and gossipin’, they realized just having a wine club would be easier.”

“I’ll take care of the wine club, Liz.” Laurie calls back, holding up her phone. “Gonna send it to the Rotary ladies too.”

“You all really don’t have to do this.” Rebecca says again.

“It’s a wonderful cause.” Laurie says as she types her information in.

“Why wouldn’t we do what we can to help out and share what we have with others?” Liz asks. 

And it’s just that simple to all of them. Why wouldn’t they help someone else? Why wouldn’t they chase after a thief and offer a stranger a ride and greet everyone they meet with kindness and treat everyone with care?

“The world would be a better place if there were more people like all of you in it.” 

“Right back atcha, Rebecca.” Ted says, and she can’t believe that they think she makes anything better when she’s spent so long believing she just makes things worse. 

**

Lunch is another delightful affair and afterwards, Henry heads off with Laurie to help her around the farm.

“My, my,” Liz teases as she presses a kiss to his forehead before he heads out the door, “someone must really want to make sure they’re on the nice list this year.”

“Can’t get my LEGO Millennium Falcon if I’m not.” Henry quips as he skips out after Laurie, and Rebecca watches as Ted once again flinches at the mention of Henry’s Christmas wish.

She waits until she’s sure Henry is gone before she turns to Ted. “So, what’s the story with the LEGO?”

Liz glances over at Ted as though wondering if he’ll talk to Rebecca about it. Ted is quiet for a while, his fingers drumming on the kitchen table in an almost frantic rhythm.

“I’ve always wanted to be able to give Henry anything he wants.” Ted says finally, his voice quiet. “Michelle and I used to - well, she didn’t want us to spoil him, for him to just think he could ask for anything and we’d give it to him. And I get that, I do. I want him to have good values and an understanding of working for the things you want, of earning things, all of that. 

But he’s also my boy and I just want to give him the world. So, typically for Christmas, we’d settle on one bigger gift from the both of us, and then some other smaller things but nothin’ too outlandish or extravagant.”

Rebecca nods. “That makes sense.”

“Our last Christmas together - well, we were separated at that point, but - we got Henry the LEGO Hogwarts set. Of course, I felt real guilty about it, so I also donated to The National Center for Transgender Equality in Henry’s name. But Henry, man, he was just over the moon about getting that set. We spent days puttin’ it together, havin’ so much fun.”

Rebecca remembers the picture on the Christmas tree of the completed LEGO set, with Henry, Ted, Liz, and Laurie all gathered around it. She does not recall anyone else in the picture though. 

“Last year was the first Christmas after the divorce. We talked about gifts, of course. I knew what Michelle was getting him. She knew what I was getting him. But, well, there wasn’t a big gift from the both of us because there wasn’t an us anymore. And I couldn’t be there with my son on Christmas morning so… I got one more gift for him that I didn’t tell Michelle about.” Ted shakes his head as he remembers. “It was a drone.”

“It was an overpriced guilt gift is what it was.” Liz says, but there’s a kindness and understanding in her voice.

“It was also that.” Ted sighs. “Michelle wasn’t exactly happy with me. And I lost Henry pretty quick to playing with the drone instead of wanting to video-chat with me. Hubris, thy name is Ted. So, I told myself that I wasn’t going to do that anymore. That I would get him gifts that were reasonable. And the LEGO Millennium Falcon set, well, she ain’t exactly cheap. But more than that, she’s pretty much impossible to find anywhere, so, even if I wanted to get it for him -”

“Which you do,” Liz says, gently ruffling his hair.

“- I can’t find it anywhere. So now I’m gonna have a disappointed little boy on Christmas morning.” Ted sighs again. “And it’s all my own fault.”

“Ted, I’ve only known Henry a few days, but in that time, he has never once seemed entitled or spoiled to me - and I know what that looks like, believe me. He is kind and giving and yes, he may be a little disappointed, but if you explain to him why you couldn’t get him that gift, I think he’ll understand.” Rebecca reaches out and takes his hands while she speaks. “And if I had to hazard a guess as to why the LEGO Hogwarts set is his favorite gift, it’s because he got to build it with you. It’s probably why he wants the set this year - not for the LEGO itself, but for the time spent building it with you. You said spending time with Henry was your favorite gift. I think spending time with you is Henry’s.”

“This little lady,” Liz says, coming around the table to place her hands on Rebecca’s shoulders, “is one smart cookie.” 

Ted gives her hands a squeeze and he offers up a smile to her too. “Thank you, Rebecca.”

“You’re welcome, Ted.” She smiles back.

**

She’s upstairs in her bedroom when Henry and Laurie return, having been making some phone calls - none to John. When she hears the sound of Henry’s voice, she tosses the phone onto her bed again and heads downstairs, wanting to spend more time with the Lassos.

She readily agrees to an afternoon of games, losing at Clue - “we call it Cluedo, you know.” - to Laurie and Life to Henry and laughing when Ted flat out refuses to play Monopoly. They switch to card games after that, playing Uno until Ted and Henry leave to go make dinner. 

It is absolutely delicious and another lively and entertaining meal. Afterwards, while Liz and Laurie clean up, Ted and Henry teach her the basics of a game called Phase 10 and they all play it for hours after dinner with much teasing and gentle trash-talking until she finally comes out victorious in the end.

“And on that note,” Laurie says, tossing her cards down onto the table, “this old woman is heading home.”

She stands and moves over to Rebecca’s side and Rebecca stands up, easily falling into a hug. “Rebecca, it was a pleasure to meet you, honey. I probably won’t see you before you leave in the morning so I wish you all the best in your marriage.” She says as she presses a gentle kiss to Rebecca’s cheek. “Teddy, you make sure to get her to Aspen safely, you hear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he nods at her as he holds out her coat. 

“Thank you. It was wonderful to meet you too.” Rebecca watches her go, realizing that at this time tomorrow, she will be married to John and the Lassos will still be here, together without her. Her chest aches at that thought and she excuses herself to go up to her bedroom. She doesn’t manage to escape the warm hugs and cheek kisses from Liz and Henry as she goes, nor the gentle nod and soft “sleep well” from Ted.

**

It’s nearing midnight, but Rebecca cannot sleep. She finds herself staring at the little green army man, her mind spinning, but never really landing on anything. She tries closing her eyes, counting backwards, telling herself it’s just pre-wedding jitters, but nothing works. She gets up from the bed, deciding to head downstairs and make herself a cup of tea to see if that helps.

When she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she sees that the Christmas tree is still lit, a small fire is burning in the fireplace, and the television is on, the volume low. Her eyes track over to the couch, where Ted is lying down, his eyes on the television. As though sensing her presence or feeling her eyes land on him, he sits up and turns to look at her as she steps down onto the wooden floor. 

“Hi.” She whispers.

“Hi.” He whispers back, motioning for her to come sit on the couch with him. “Everything okay?” He asks her once she settles in beside him.

“Oh, yes. Just having some trouble falling asleep. Thought I’d come down and make myself a cuppa, see if that helps. What about you?”

“Same, I guess. Except I made myself a hot chocolate instead of that hot brown water.” He nods to an empty mug on the coffee table. 

“You know hot chocolate is also literally hot brown water?”

“Not mine.” Ted looks triumphant. “I make mine with milk.”

She laughs and their shoulders bump together. “Somehow I feel that’s worse.”

“It absolutely is not. And besides, mine is basically melted chocolate. Yours is leaf water. C’mon, I’ll make you some hot chocolate and then you try and tell me tea is better.” He gets up from the couch and heads towards the kitchen and she follows, watching as he pulls down a pan and pours milk in it. 

“Now,” Ted says, moving to the pantry and returning with a glass jar filled with brown powder, “this ain’t no Swiss Miss powder - although in a pinch that’ll do ya just fine, if you make it with milk. But this here, this is Liz Lasso’s homemade cocoa powder. A million times better than that store-bought stuff.” 

She watches him work, stirring the milk, making sure not to let it boil, then carefully measuring the cocoa powder into the mug and pouring the milk over it, using a little whisk to mix it all together. “Now,” he says when it’s all done, “do you prefer regular marshmallows, mini marshmallows, marshmallow fluff, or whipped cream?”

She blinks at the choices. “Whatever you think is best.” She finally says.

“Ah.” Ted looks as though her answer was the perfect one. “One Lasso Special comin’ right up.” 

He takes the mug and turns away from her for a few minutes before he returns it to her, whipped cream swirled high above the surface. 

She takes it from him carefully, feeling the heat of the ceramic seep into her palms, and follows him back to the living room and the couch. She takes a tentative sip and lets out a low moan. It is rich and creamy and far more delicious than it has any right to be. There is whipped cream, yes, but also some mini marshmallows floating under it and, if she’s not mistaken, a dollop of marshmallow fluff too.

“So?” He asks, but he already knows the answer, damn him.

“Fine.” She huffs as she takes another sip. “You win. This is better than tea. But,” she puts the mug on the coffee table and holds up her finger, “I absolutely could not drink this every day. So while it may win tonight, tea wins out in the long run.”

“I’ll take that win. Bein’ something special is well… special.” 

She lets her eyes fall back to the television, where It’s A Wonderful Life is playing without any sound. 

“You often watch movies with no sound?” 

He lets out a laugh. “Only when I know them by heart. This here was my father’s favorite Christmas movie. Watched it every year without fail. I had the whole dang thing memorized by the time I was eight. Used to reenact different parts of it, just to make him laugh.” 

He trails off and his eyes dim just a bit as he watches the screen without seeing anything. “It’s crazy the things you remember. After he -” his voice catches and he shakes his head, “I didn’t watch this movie for years. Henry’s first Christmas, I came downstairs one night and found Momma and Laurie sitting on the couch watching it and I just - I just turned around and walked right back out of the room. I couldn’t do it. 

“Then one Christmas, Henry was just little, maybe four at the time, and I went to check on him and he wasn’t in his bed. Well, I panicked, came rushing down the stairs, ready to call 9-1-1, and there he was, snuggled up between Momma and Laurie, watching this movie. And I - I just sat down and started to cry. And Henry just crawled into my lap and put his little hand on my cheek and said ‘Don’t cry, Daddy’ and turned around and went right back to watching the movie. And I just sat there and held him and found myself mouthing along with all the words, even after all that time.

“I still don’t watch it often but… it’s a little easier now.”

Rebecca wants to reach out, to take Ted’s hands and squeeze them, to do something to show him that she’s here with him. She may not understand everything he’s going through, but she’s here and the fact that he’s shared something else of himself with her feels like a gift. She reaches for the hot chocolate instead.

“What is it you want, Mary?” Ted says quietly, his eyes on the television. “What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.”

She finds it hard to swallow the hot chocolate she just sipped as she hears him say those words. Something in the air feels like it’s shifted.

“That was always my favorite part.” Ted turns to look at her, “Probably ’cause of the whole Lasso thing.”

She manages a noise that she hopes sounds like a laugh as she tries desperately to find something else to latch on to, to talk about. Something other than these secrets and romantic monologues that feel like far too much and also not nearly enough. 

“The truck!” She gasps finally as she sets her mug down just a little too hard and it certainly pops whatever bubble they’re in.

“What?” Ted asks, utterly confused.

“I - I was just thinking that I still haven’t seen the truck all lit up.” 

“Oh.” Ted says, the word soft and almost disappointed, before he blinks and a smile takes over his face and he’s back to being Ted again. “Well, now, that is a sight you definitely don’t want to miss.” He stands and moves toward the front door. “Grab your coat.”

She follows him out the door, relishing the bite of the cold and the way it seems to clear her head. She stands on the porch and watches as he climbs in the truck, starting the engine. A moment later, all the lights turn on and she cannot help the laugh that escapes her. The lit up truck is utterly ridiculous, yet completely charming, just like the man in the driver’s seat.

“I still don’t know how that’s legal.” She tells him when he shuts it back off and comes to meet her on the porch. “You could absolutely blind someone with all those lights.”

“It’s festive.”

She shakes her head and moves back inside. She looks back at the couch, but the moment is gone now, and Ted seems to know it too.

“You really should try to get some sleep.” He says. “Big day tomorrow and all.”

“I really should.” She nods. “Well, good night, Ted.” And then, without much thought, she leans in to kiss his cheek.

It’s only as her lips press against his skin, close to his mouth, so close that she can feel the brush of his moustache on her cheek, that she realizes what it is she’s doing. It’s just a kiss on the cheek, but she feels her heart begin to pound as Ted fills her senses. She pulls back from him, but doesn’t go far, her eyes still trained onTed’s mouth, while her tongue moves out to wet her own lips. 

She feels Ted’s gaze on her, like fire burning across her skin, as he steps closer to her. His forehead presses against her own and his nose bumps hers. She thinks how easy it would be to just tilt her head up, to press their lips together. She thinks that she wants to kiss him, wants to know what it would feel like to have his lips pressed against hers while his hands hold her hips like they’d done earlier that day.  

“Rebecca.” He whispers, his voice hoarse, sending a jolt through her body. “I can’t. I’m sorry.” He says, sounding absolutely wrecked as he steps back from her. 

She inhales sharply through her nose, reality seeping back in. She’s getting married tomorrow, to another man. Henry’s words float through her brain. Could be the wrong guy. She shakes her head. “No. No. I’m sorry. It was my fault.”

“No.” Ted shakes his head, raking his hand through his hair. “No, Rebecca. God. You have no idea how much I - it wasn’t you. It was me.”

“No, Ted,” She says, her hands coming up to her temples, “it was me. I - I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have -”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Ted assures her. 

“I’m sorry,” she says again, before she turns and hurries up the stairs.

When she gets to the bedroom, she shuts the door firmly and then falls onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling as her mind replays the last few minutes. She recalls the feel of Ted’s skin, the scent of him, the heat of his body, the sound of his voice, and mostly, she remembers just how much she wanted to kiss him. 

But she is getting married tomorrow to another man. A handsome, successful man that she loves. She is marrying John tomorrow. Whatever that was in the living room was simply a result of her tiredness and the kindness Ted has shown her and the moment they shared. That’s all.

She tells herself that over and over until she finally falls into a fitful sleep.

**

There’s a gentle knock at her door the next morning. She’s just folding and putting the last of her things into her suitcase when she hears it. She opens it to find Ted, holding a plate of biscuits and a tea cup on a small tray.

“Good morning,” he says and although she’s worried that things would be awkward after last night, he seems to be his usual charming self. “Thought maybe you’d like to start your day with some biscuits and tea.”

“Thank you, Ted.” She smiles at him genuinely. “I - uh, wanted to give these back to you.” She holds out the folded pajamas to him.

“Oh well, you’re welcome to keep ’em if -“ he starts to say, but then shakes his head, “what am I sayin’? You’re gettin’ married today. You won’t be needin’ pajamas.” He scratches at the back of his neck before taking the pajamas back. “Henry’s almost ready and then, uh, we can hit the road whenever you want.”

“Great.” She smiles, but it feels too cheery and forced. “I’ll just eat my biscuits and then be down.”

“Great.” Ted echoes and quickly leaves the room. There’s the awkwardness she was expecting.

**

Ted and Liz are waiting at the bottom of the stairs when she comes out of her room. Ted quickly comes up to take the tray from her hands, disappearing into the kitchen and then hustling back to grab her suitcase and take it out to the truck before she even manages to make it down one step. When she makes it to the bottom, Liz wraps the quilted blanket around her shoulders. “There now. Can’t have you catchin’ a cold on the way to your wedding.”

Rebecca’s hands come up to grasp the blanket that she’s come to love. “Oh, thank you, Liz. I’ll be sure to leave it with Ted for you.”

“Nonsense.” Liz waves her hand at that. “Consider it a Christmas gift. Or a wedding present.”

Rebecca swallows hard as Liz wraps her in a hug. “Thank you,” she whispers, wrapping her arms around Liz’s back and holding tight.

Liz pulls back and smiles at Rebecca. “I’m so glad you found your way into our lives. Don’t forget about us, huh?” She leans forward and presses a kiss against Rebecca’s forehead.

“I won’t.” Rebecca says. “I couldn’t.”

Ted comes back in the door, rubbing his hands together. “Everything’s all loaded up. Henry! You comin’?” He shouts up the steps.

“Be right there!” Henry calls down.

Rebecca feels a nudge against her leg and looks down to see Lilli next to her. “Oh, goodbye, Lilli. You’re such a good girl.” She pets her until Henry bounds down the stairs carrying a present in his hands.

“Ready?” Ted asks and Rebecca watches as they seem to speak without words.

“Ready.” Henry nods.

Rebecca gets another quick hug from Liz and then she’s out the front door and climbing into the truck. Unlike all the other times they’ve ridden together, this time, Henry slides in next to her, instead of getting into the backseat. She shifts closer to Ted to accommodate Henry and lifts her arm up, wrapping the blanket around him too.

Henry places the gift on her lap as Ted puts the truck in gear.

“What’s this?” She asks in surprise.

“Your Christmas gift.” Henry says. “Only, don’t open it now. You gotta wait until Christmas.”

Rebecca runs her fingers over the wrapping paper, gently touching the bright red bow stuck to it. “Thank you, Henry.”

Henry just snuggles into her, closing his eyes. Ted pulls the truck out of the driveway and Rebecca watches as Liz waves from the front porch until the house disappears from sight.

**

Unlike their other drives, this one is quiet. Henry is asleep against her almost from the minute they pull out of the driveway, and Ted just turns on the radio and hums or sings along quietly, but doesn’t engage her in conversation. The silence isn’t strained or stifling, but it also feels strange to be in this truck and not be engaged in conversation and laughter. She thinks about saying something to Ted, but doesn’t know what to say, so she just cards her fingers through Henry’s hair, taps on the present in her lap, and stays quiet. 

Once they reach Aspen, Ted asks her for the address of John’s cabin and the sound of them talking rouses Henry from sleep. He’s still blinking sleepily as Ted turns up the lane that takes them to the cabin. His eyes widen when he takes it in.

“Woah. It’s like a mansion!” 

“It’s just a cabin, Henry.” She tries to say, but even she is struck by the size of the place.

“That is not just a cabin.” Ted says softly. “That is… something else.” He parks the truck in the large roundabout in front of the cabin and turns to look at Rebecca. “Maybe we should just say goodbye here.”

Rebecca shakes her head, her chest aching at the thought of having to say goodbye to them at all. “Don’t be ridiculous. Come in. Meet John. Please?”

It’s obvious that Ted isn’t exactly thrilled with that idea, but Henry is already down and out of the cab, heading for the front door, and Rebecca had said please. He couldn’t exactly say no. He stops at the back of the truck to get out Rebecca’s suitcase and then goes into the cabin behind them.

Rebecca opens the front door, calling out for John, but there is no reply. Henry and Ted look around the huge cabin, eyes wide. “Maybe he’s still in bed,” she says, carefully putting her gift from Henry down on a table before heading down the hall. Ted does not want to see their bedroom, but Henry follows along behind Rebecca like Lilli follows along behind him. 

“Come on, Dad.” Henry motions for him to follow.

“John!” Rebecca calls as she pushes on the door to one of the bedrooms. The door opens and she freezes at the sight of John, quickly getting out of bed and pulling on a robe.

“Rebecca! Darling! What a surprise! I wasn’t expecting you until later.” He says, moving forward quickly, but Rebecca’s eyes are still on the bed, where a young woman with dark hair is holding the sheet up to her chest, her eyes wide. 

“I can see that.” Rebecca says. 

“How did you get here so early? I thought your flight wasn’t due to arrive until this afternoon?” John continues, as though the woman that Rebecca knows she’s seeing isn’t really there.

“We drove.” 

“We?” John looks behind her to see Ted and Henry standing there. “Well, who is this then?”

“Ted Lasso.” Ted says automatically. 

“And I’m Henry.” 

“Who is this?” Rebecca repeats, her voice going up an octave. “Who the hell is that?” She flings her hand toward the bed.

“That? Oh, that’s no one, darling.” 

“You’re telling me that there’s no one in your bed right now? Because it sure looks like someone to me!” She shouts before she turns on her heel and rushes out of the room. 

Ted puts his hand on Henry’s shoulder and steers him out of the room, heading in the direction that Rebecca went. They find her outside, sitting on the front steps, clutching the blanket around her tightly. Henry instantly moves back to her side, snuggling up against her and hugging her around the middle. Ted watches as tears slip down her cheeks and all he wants to do is reach out and wipe them away. 

Instead, he sits down beside her and gently rests his hand on her back. “Is there anything I can do?”

She looks over at him almost desperately. “Tell me this isn’t happening.”

“I wish I could.” Ted says, and he means it. He would give anything to be able to take away her sadness. 

She shakes her head. “I thought I came here to get married. I feel like such a fool.”

Ted reaches over and takes her hand gently. “Sometimes, life has other plans. Doesn’t make you a fool.”

The door behind them opens and John steps out. “Rebecca. Come inside. We need to talk.”

“We have nothing to talk about.” She refuses to look at him, letting go of Ted’s hand to angrily swipe at her cheeks. 

“Come now, darling. Come inside.”

Ted stands up, glancing from John to Rebecca. “You okay? You want us to give you a ride? Hop back in the truck and get the heck outta Dodge? Come on.” He holds his hand back out to her. 

She wants to take it. She wants nothing more than to just get in the truck and drive away with them, to go back to the warmth and comfort of their house, to eat dinner with them and Liz and Laurie, and pretend that none of this happened. But she cannot do that. She cannot run away from this. As much as she wants to, she knows that she can’t. She has to deal with this. And so she swallows and shakes her head. “No, you should go.”

“Rebecca.” Henry says from beside her, his protest clear in his voice, and Ted looks like he wants to say something, but his eyes are locked on her. 

“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.” She tells him, hoping he knows how true that is. “Both of you,” she hugs Henry tightly and presses a kiss to his hair before she lets him go and stands up. “But please, just go.”

Ted looks at her, his eyes begging her not to do this, but she knows that he won’t fight her, not when she’s asked him to go. She turns away and walks back up the stairs to where John is waiting. She goes inside, moving by him and not acknowledging him, refusing to look at him or to look back and watch Ted and Henry leave.

When the door closes behind John and Rebecca, Ted shakes his head and turns back to the truck. Henry follows along after him, his head down. They climb in and Ted starts the engine, looking back at the door once more, as though maybe Rebecca will come back through it. She doesn’t though, and Ted starts to drive away. 

As they reach the end of the lane, a new song begins to play. 

Christmas

The snow’s comin’ down

Christmas 

I'm watchin’ it fall

Christmas

Lots of people around

Christmas

Baby, please come home

Neither one of them sings.

**

“Darling,” John tries to placate her after he shuts the door, but Rebecca whirls on him, her eyes blazing. 

“Don’t you ‘darling’ me, you bastard.” She hisses.

“Rebecca, please, calm down. This isn’t anything to get upset about.”

She gapes at him. “You know what my last marriage was like. Everyone knows what my last marriage was like. How can you possibly think that this isn’t anything to get upset about?” 

He scoffs at that. “Come now, Rebecca. We aren’t married yet. This was merely a final… fling, as they say. Honestly, she means nothing to me. Don’t go blowing this out of proportion.” 

She turns away from him, rubbing her hands over her face. “How many others?” He doesn’t answer, so she turns back to him. “How many others?” 

“Darling, I’m not Rupert. I’m not stupid enough to flaunt my affairs for everyone to see.”

She swallows hard at that, pushing the bile back down her throat. “So there were others.”

“Rebecca.”

“Do you even love me?” She asks. “Did you ever love me?”

“Of course I do, darling. I’ve already told you, they mean nothing to me. You are the one I love.”

She shakes her head. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t be fucking someone else!”

He reaches out and takes hold of her shoulders. “Rebecca, are you really going to throw everything we have away over this little mistake? When we’re so good together?”

She stares at him in disbelief, her mind whirling. She feels tears sliding down her cheeks, but she just keeps staring at him, trying to figure out if any of it had ever been real or if it had always been a lie.

“What does my charity do?” She asks him.

“What?” He frowns.

“My work. What does the charity I’m on the board of do?”

“You help underprivileged families.” He says, sounding proud.

“How?” She pushes.

“Rebecca.”

“How do we help them?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Rebecca.” He huffs. “What is it you want?”

What is it you want? Ted’s voice echoes in her head. 

“The moon.” She murmurs, more to herself than him. 

“What? Is this - is this about the pre-nup again because I thought we agreed that -”

She laughs then. It spills out of her, nearly hysterical as she looks at him.

“Rebecca!” 

She reaches down and pulls her engagement ring off her finger, pressing it into his hand. Then she grabs her present off the table and her suitcase and walks into one of the unused rooms.

“Rebecca!” John calls again, but she just shuts the door on him.

**

Sitting down on the bed, Rebecca runs a fingernail over the red bow once again. “Sorry, Henry.” She says as she begins to pull the paper off. It isn’t Christmas yet, but she needs some Christmas cheer right about now.

The paper falls to the floor, revealing a white box. She lifts the lid to see tissue paper crumpled over-[; the contents. Carefully, she pulls off the tissue paper to reveal a picture, lying on top of more tissue paper. It’s the picture that they’d taken the day before, the one that is currently hanging on the Lassos’ tree. Liz, Laurie, Ted, and Henry, all surrounding her, smiling widely at the camera. She runs her finger over their faces, feeling tears come to her eyes.

Gently, she sets the picture aside and lifts up the next layer of tissue paper. Under it rests a small wrapped object, a small pink box, and a Ziplock bag. She lifts up the bag first, looking in to see that it contains cookies with Hershey’s Kisses in the center of them.

“Kiss cookies,” she says, Ted’s words ringing in her ears. She’d send a batch home with us after Christmas and tell us that she was sending kisses to us whenever we ate them.

Her fingers reach up and run over her lips for a moment before falling back to the baggie. She thinks of Ted’s skin under her lips and how she’d never gotten to feel his lips under hers.

With a shake of her head, she puts the bag down and reaches for the pink box. Opening it, she finds more shortbread biscuits. She lifts them to her nose and inhales, breathing in the scent of Christmas. The scent of home. She plucks one out of the box and begins to eat it, needing the comfort it provides as she reaches for the last wrapped object.

Turning it over in her hands and peeling away the tissue paper, she finds a Post-It note stuck to the mystery object. ‘A contender for your favorite ornament? A classic, at the very least.’ She pulls the note off and takes it in, laughing when she realizes what it is. For there, in her hands, is a ’52 Studebaker hubcap Christmas ornament with ‘International Hubcap Museum’ painted on the back of it. 

She holds it to her heart for a moment, then nods as she realizes what she has to do. 

**

There’s a knock on the Lassos’ front door early Christmas morning. Ted feels his heart start to beat faster as he stands and moves towards the door before anyone else has the chance.

“Now who on earth could that be?” He hears his mother ask and he knows who he hopes it is as he pulls the door open.

But it isn’t her.

Instead, it’s a man holding out a large gift-wrapped box. “Ted Lasso?”

“That’s me.” Ted replies as he takes the box.

“Merry Christmas.” The man says, turning and walking away.

Ted watches him go in confusion, then walks back into the house.

“Who was it, Theodore?”

“Someone dropping off a gift.”

“From who?” Henry asks, rushing over to look at it.

Ted notices a card taped on top and pulls it off, handing the gift to Henry. It’s almost bigger than Henry can carry. Opening the card, he reads it aloud.

“To Liz, Laurie, Henry, and Ted,

Thank you for showing me what Christmas should be. Here’s to spending time with the people you love and making more memories for your tree.

All my love,

Rebecca”

“No way!” Henry shouts as he pulls back the paper and suddenly, without even looking down, Ted knows what it is. He whispers the words as Henry shouts them. “The LEGO Millennium Falcon!” 

He holds the card tightly, wishing with everything he has that Rebecca was there right now. But instead, she’s in Aspen, possibly married to another man - a man who doesn’t deserve her. Ted tries to shake away those feelings and instead looks down at his son with a smile.

“Dad, isn’t this amazing?” Henry asks, holding up the box with wide eyes.

“It sure is.”

**

An hour later, the kitchen and dining room have been thrown into chaos. Empty boxes are scattered across the floor, Malcolm happily trying to fit in them, while numbered bags of LEGO pieces are all over the counters.

Bag Number 1 has been opened on the table, the pieces spread out in front of them, and Ted and Henry are flipping through the huge instruction manual, trying to find the start of the directions.

“Where are my readers?” Liz asks, looking down at the table. “I’m gonna have to have them on to try and sort all these little pieces.”

Laurie reaches over and pulls them down from atop Liz’s head, holding them out with a smile. 

“A-ha!” Ted cries when they finally turn the page to find the first set of instructions. “Here we go.”

Henry leans over, looking at the picture, his eyes scanning the table. “Okay, so we need -” 

A knock at the door interrupts him.

“Well, aren’t we popular today?” Liz asks as Ted heads towards the door. He swallows once and takes a deep breath, telling himself that it won’t be her, that he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

He opens the door and steps out onto the porch, stopping suddenly at the sight before him. 

“Merry Christmas.” Rebecca says with a smile.

He pulls the door shut behind him as he says, “Merry Christmas,” his eyes moving over her like he can’t believe she’s real. “What - What are you doing here?”

“Well, I broke up with my cheating fiancé, and now I’m sort of stranded.”

Ted reaches out and grabs her left hand, lifting it up to see that there is no longer a ring there. He brings her hand up and presses his lips gently to her bare ring finger.

A shiver runs through her at the feeling of his lips on her skin and she squeezes his hand, not allowing him to let go. “I - I was hoping maybe I could catch a ride back to Kansas City.” She says, glancing down at the pink suitcase next to her.

A smile spreads across Ted’s face. “By a strange coincidence, I happen to be going that way.” 

“Really?” She grins. “I guess today’s my lucky day.”

“Won’t be heading out for a couple of days though. Spending Christmas with my family.”

“As you should. Maybe someone around here has a spare room I could stay in until you’re ready to leave?”

“I may know someone. Although I think they’re knee-deep in puttin’ together a LEGO Millennium Falcon at the moment. Might rope you into helpin’.”

She smiles widely, her whole face lighting up. “Well, I’ve never put together a LEGO set before, but I’m willing to learn. There is one small problem though,” she says, moving closer to him, her free hand squeezing his shoulder. She leans over until her lips are next to his ear and whispers, “I don’t have any pajamas.”

Ted’s free hand settles on her hip as he turns to nudge her cheek with his nose as he whispers back, “Oh, I think we can rustle somethin’ up. If you need them.”

A jolt goes through her again at the sound of his voice and, this time, she does what her heart has wanted to do for days, and she kisses him. He responds instantly, his grip on her hip and hand tightening as he pulls her closer to him. Her arm leaves his shoulder and wraps around his back, holding tightly as she feels her knees begin to get just a little weak.

When he pulls back, Ted is smiling widely and, although he drops her hand, he doesn’t let go of her. “I gotta warn you,” he says, sliding his hands together at the small of her back as he drops kisses across her cheeks and nose, “it’s a long drive back to Kansas City.”

“I like road trips.” She replies, looping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for another kiss.

“There are some bad roads.” He says against her lips.

“Makes it more exciting.” She pushes her body further against his own, grinning when she feels him shiver.

His lips move down her jaw to her neck. “No cell phone reception.”

She lets out a little moan as she feels him begin to suck on her neck. She tilts her head to give him more access. “Who needs it, when the company’s good?”

“I gotta tell you,” he says, his teeth tenderly nipping her earlobe before he pulls back, “this is not how I thought I’d be spending this Christmas.”

“Me neither.” She laughs. “But as I’ve learned recently, all of life’s an adventure, if you’re with the right person.”

“Dad, who’s -” the door opens and Henry peeks out. “No way! Rebecca!” He throws his arms around her, hugging tightly. 

Rebecca lets go of Ted to wrap her arms around Henry. “Henry.” She smiles, holding him to her.

He pulls back with a smile that stretches across his face. “Rebecca, you got us the LEGO Millennium Falcon!”

She gives him a gentle nod, loving the joy on his face. “I did.” She glances over at Ted. “I hope I didn’t overstep.”

“Well, you did say you would buy our Christmas presents so…” Ted leans over and kisses her quickly. “It meant a lot to Henry and to me.”

She smiles at that.

“Theodore, Henry, who is -” Liz and Laurie appear at the door, their smiles bright when they take in the sight of her. “Well, good lord, you two, let the poor woman in before she freezes to death!”

“Liz! Laurie!” She releases Henry to hug both of them.

“Merry Christmas, honey. We’re so glad you’re back.”

“Yes, you can help us build this crazy LEGO set you sent.” 

They hustle her into the house.

“I’d love nothing more. But first, I’d like to add something to the tree, if I may?”

“Well, of course, darlin’.”

She turns and looks at Ted and he smiles at her, giving her a nod. She reaches into her purse and pulls out the hubcap ornament, holding it up for all of them to see. “My favorite ornament,” she declares as she hangs it on a branch, “and,” she says, reaching back in and pulling out a photograph with a ribbon attached, “one of my favorite Christmas memories.” 

They all move closer to see what the picture is. “Woah! You took a picture of us?” Henry asks, as he looks at the photo of all of them in the backyard, ‘HI REBECCA’ in the snow. 

She nods, smiling as she feels Ted’s arms come around her from behind. “It felt like something I’d always want to remember.” She leans back against his chest, looking at the tree and all of them, and she knows, somewhere deep inside her, that she’s finally where she belongs. “And it is. My first Christmas with all of you.”

“The first of many, I hope.” Liz says with a smile. 

“Oh, you can count on that, Momma.” Ted says, turning Rebecca in his arms and kissing her again. “So long as that’s what you want, of course,” he adds when he pulls back, smiling at her as the others cheer. “What is it you want, Rebecca? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and -”

She cuts him off by pressing a kiss to his lips. “All I want, Ted, is you. And I think I can throw a lasso around that, don’t you?”

He tightens his arms around her, lifting her up and spinning her around once before kissing her again. “I absolutely think you can.”

“All right, you two lovebirds,” Laurie teases, “we’ve gotta get Bag One put together before we can eat Christmas dinner.”

“Yeah!” Henry shouts, grabbing Rebecca’s hand. “C’mon, Rebecca!”

She grabs Ted’s hand as she follows Henry into the dining room, laughing as she goes, knowing that even though this trip hadn’t gone the way she’d planned, it has brought her to exactly where she’s supposed to be.