A/N: So, this is the fifth in the Jo/Hannah (Jonah) series. I'm not sure when the next chapter would be up, but I've kept you waiting so long for this that I felt bad and decided to upload this one anyway!
This is gonna be slightly different to the others, because it's not set in Sun Hill.
Hope you enjoy it anyway!
Special thanks to Leah for reminding me every now and then that I promised her I'd write this ;)
x
"I can't believe Freya's doing this to me." Hannah scowled at the open suitcase on the bed and threw two pairs of jeans into it with a loud huff.
On the other side of the bed, Jo chuckled, tucking a pair of boots into her own suitcase and attempting to close it. "She's getting married, Han, it's not as though she's come up with a plan about how she can annoy you most. I doubt Freya's first though when she accepted Alex's proposal was how you'd feel about it."
"You know that's not what I meant." The red-head replied, pouting petulantly. "Why does she have to drag us to the middle of nowhere for two weeks? Couldn't she just get married in London?"
"It's Wales, not the middle of a desert. She and Alex want to get married at the Church where his parents and grandparents got married." Jo reminded her gently. "Considering her parents never got married it's fair enough they're using Alex's parents as their role models."
The younger woman sniffed, still unwilling to back down and admit that her annoyance wasn't justified. "Couldn't they use us as their role models?"
"We're not married, babe, remember?"
"Yeah, well… whatever. I'm not happy."
Jo arched an eyebrow at her and moved around the room. Hannah refused to turn around and face her, prompting the brunette to put her hands on her girlfriend's hips and give them a light squeeze. "You're just pissed off because your family will be there."
"Why did she have to invite them? She doesn't even know them and yet she's invited the whole sodding lot! Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins… she's even invited our step-brother and sister. Your family are more important than them. What have our family ever done for her? What have they ever done for any of us?"
"Maybe… but Freya's invited them too." Jo reminded her as gently as she could. "No one's expecting you to suddenly play happy families, Han. Just try not to kick off for a couple of days. This is Freya and Alex's wedding… your sister needs you to be there for her."
"Fine." Hannah huffed, slamming the lid of her case down. "Fine."
Jo chuckled again and moved her suitcase to sit beside the door as Hannah struggled to close hers. She could hear Theo and Max arguing along the corridor and sighed as Molly and Caitlin's voices joined in, all four of them bickering over something or other. Watching her girlfriend punching her suitcase irritably, the older woman smiled and went to investigate.
Max, back for the summer between his second and third years at university, was rolling his eyes at whatever his fourteen-year-old nephew was accusing him of. The girls were watching them carefully, apparently happy to watch the argument without taking part. When Jo approached, Caitlin automatically reached for her hand, shoving her other thumb in her mouth. The woman smiled and swung the six-year-old onto her hip, fixing the boys with a stern frown.
"Guys, come on. Hannah's stressed enough about this without you lot arguing and making it worse." She told them with a sigh. "Are you all packed? We've got to pick up Jen in half an hour and I don't think your Mum can cope with changes to her carefully planned schedule at the moment."
"Why is she stressing so much?" Max asked with a lazy shrug, leaning in the doorway of his bedroom. "We're going on holiday."
"Because your side of our family hates Mum, duh." Theo told him as though it was a stupid question.
"They don't hate me." Jo said, rolling her eyes. "They just… don't approve of our relationship."
"Why?"
The woman looked thoughtfully at the girl in her arms who was staring at her in confusion. "Some people, especially older people, don't like things they don't understand. Things that are different from what they're used to can be scary for them."
"But Grandma and Granddad are old and they aren't scared." Cait pointed out with a confused pout, referring to Jo's parents. "And Nana Sharon isn't either."
"Grandma and Granddad have had a long time to get used to things." Jo told her carefully. She and Hannah had always been open with the children about the fact that not everyone would be complimentary about their relationship. "And Nana Sharon understands that your Mummy is happy." A scream of frustration from their bedroom made Jo wince. "Well, most of the time."
Max glanced at his watch and shrugged. "I'm gonna go and pick Rach up." He said, reaching into the pocket of his jeans for his car keys.
"You might as well come back via Ellie and Jen's and see if they're ready." Jo suggested, setting Caitlin down gently and calling after the young man as he headed down the stairs.
"I'll have to come back here anyway." He replied. "I don't know the way, so I'll have to follow you or Han."
Jo nodded quickly. "I know, but at least you can make sure they're ready to leave so Hannah doesn't have a coronary or something."
He laughed and nodded, grabbing his jacket and leaving the house to pick up his girlfriend from her parents'. Jo quickly dispatched the three remaining children to collect their things and take them downstairs so that she could load up the cars with the luggage. Going on holiday was almost like a military operation with so many people involved. For Jo, Hannah, Ellie, Max and Jen to all get the same two weeks off work had been touch and go for a while as Neil had insisted that Hannah couldn't take the whole two weeks. Finally, though, she had persuaded him to let her have it in return for taking two weeks night shift when she came back.
It was even worse when Callum had asked for time off as well to attend the wedding with Ellie. Jo and Hannah had both been wary when Ellie had told them that she was seeing the Uniform Sergeant, but they realised there was no point arguing against it; the young woman was just as stubborn as her mother and it would have done no good. So far, though, things seemed to be going well.
"Babe, did you remember–?" Hannah called, emerging from their bedroom with Fin balanced on her hip and the handle of her suitcase in her hand as she dragged it along behind her.
"To check my parents know the address of their cottage and how to get there?" Jo asked with a grin. "Course, I did."
"And did you–?"
"Check Theo packed his tie for the wedding. Yes."
Hannah smiled and leant forward to press a kiss to her lips. "Thank you, baby."
"Max has gone to pick Rach up and then he's going to get the girls and Dylan." The older woman informed her partner quickly, taking their son from her so that Hannah could concentrate on heaving her suitcase down the stairs.
Finally everyone was ready and loaded into the cars. Both Jo and Max were driving, but even fitting everyone and everything into two cars was a challenge. They had considered taking three cars, but decided against it, hoping that they would be able to manage. With Jo, Hannah, Theo, Molly, Caitlin, Dylan and Fin loaded into the seven-seater and Max, Rach, Ellie and Jen in Max's car they were finally ready to leave.
It took nearly five hours to reach their destination and, to Hannah and Jo's immense relief, the younger children had all fallen asleep not long into the journey. Theo and Molly, sitting at the back of the car, were wide awake, however and their constant bickering was driving their mothers mad.
"If you two don't stop it right now then there will be no TV for the entire two weeks we're away." Jo threatened, sensing Hannah's irritating coming off her in waves. She needed to keep her girlfriend calm if they were going to survive this holiday.
The children gasped. "But… what will we do?" Theo demanded.
Jo couldn't help a snort of amusement escaping at the genuine confusion in his tone. "Spend time with your family?"
"Why?"
"Because this is a family holiday, Theo." She reminded him, rolling her eyes and indicating to turn off the road – more of a country lane than anything else – and into the front yard of the farmhouse they had hired for the two weeks of their trip.
Max drew up behind them and they started to disembark. They were just heaving the final suitcases out of the boots of the cars when a battered Land Rover pulled into the yard and came to a shuddering halt. A large, cheerful looking woman slid from the driver's seat and rounded the front of her truck, holding out a hand to shake Jo's and then Hannah's.
"Hello, dears, you must be Jo and Hannah? I'm Gwenda, Gwenda Williams. Croeso i Fferm Rhostir." She boomed in a rich Welsh accent, propelling Jo towards the front door of the house. Chuckling good-naturedly at their confused expressions, she translated. "That means welcome to Moorland Farm to you English folks."
Pulling out a ring of keys she shoved one into the lock and turned it. The door opened with a shuddering scrape and Gwenda began showing them around the house. Shooting a slightly bewildered look at her daughter, Hannah indicated that Ellie and the others should bring the luggage inside while she and Jo followed the woman around on her whistle-stop tour.
"So if there's anything you need, dears, you just let me know. My phone number is on the fridge but if you can't get hold of me, then call the pub; the Red Lion down the road in Llandysullyn."
With a cheerful wave, Gwenda climbed back into her Land Rover and drove away, the sound of the unbelievably noisy car gradually fading into the distance.