Something to be Thankful For
Allan looked over at Deirdre, surrounded by dozens of children. Twenty years ago, he never would have believed that one day they would be safe and happy, let alone surrounded by so many loved ones. These days, instead of cutting people's purses, Allan A' Dale cut to the quick of their emotions with the way his nimble fingers played across the strings of the lute and the way his deep baritone voice would weave with Deirdre's lighter tenor in the songs they sung every evening in their pub. Ireland had been good to them. Ruarc O'Brian had been good to them. Life had been surprisingly good to them. Their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, Deirdre's siblings, and the children of all of their friends surrounded them.
The "Great Charter," which had had given rights to those who formerly had not had them, and had curbed King John's power, had been in place now for five years. Ruarc and other lords, including Allan's father in-law, Fàelàn O'Niall, and Guy of Gisbourne, Lord of Mablethorpe of all people, had been among those in attendance at the signing. King John was no longer allowed to imprison anyone just because the mood struck him, and his will could be overturned by a committee of twenty-five barons to whom he had been forced to swear fealty. Mind, in typical King John form, he had reneged on that as soon as all the barons had left London, and many wars had followed.
Deirdre had been anxious every time the men had marched off, with Ruarc as one of the leading warriors, and Allan as his loyal second in-command. Her brothers—Tighearnán, Ríoghán, Osán, Urard, and Lochlann, as well as her brothers-in-law were also part of the fight for the rights of the people. In the last skirmish, Allan had taken a blade through his ribs which had narrowly missed his heart; Deirdre had made him promise that he would stay close to home after that. Mind, there were still skirmishes in the pub, and many a knife had narrowly missed severing various arteries—luckily, drunks usually had poor aim.
These days, Tom was blessed with more rights than Allan had ever thought possible for his son—their plan of giving him a better life had turned out well. Now Tom and his wife Annie ran the pub with himself and Deirdre. Their son Jack, a blacksmith now in the next village, had married Robin and Marian's daughter, Kate. Deirdre and Allan had seven other surviving children, and both of their sons' wives were expecting—Kate, her first baby and Annie her second baby, both due any day now.
The whole family was gathered for the wedding of the oldest A' Dale daughter, Sophia, who was marrying Will and Djaq's son, Dan. Allan's youngest daughter Brianna jumped about excitedly as she waited to strew flowers down the aisle of the small church. Brianna was much like her mother in that nothing scared her; though Allan sang and played before a packed pub every night, he was still afraid of making a mistake and looking foolish on Sophia's special day.
Just then, Deirdre came forward, leading their first-born daughter to him. He had once prayed to God to not give him a daughter as beautiful as his twin sisters-in-law, but God had a sense of humor, that was certain. Most men would kill to have the beautiful Sophia turn her gaze on them, but she had only ever had eyes for Dan, ever since the two had been children, and Dan had never looked at another girl for his part. Sophia's hair was strawberry blonde with lush curls and her eyes were the blue of the ocean on a sunny day. She had her father's eyelashes and eyebrows, as well as his generous mouth, while Deirdre had given her daughter a pert nose and lush curves. Allan was tempted to just kill Dan for the things he would later be doing with Sophia, but when he had expressed this desire to Deirdre, she had merely laughed, asking if he was so innocent as to believe the couple had not already lain together. Allan had nearly fallen off the stool when Deirdre had implied that though the young couple wanted to marry anyway, the date of the wedding had been moved up out of necessity.
Allan swallowed, then stood up straight, trying to appear calm and in control for Sophia's sake—the girl looked as sick as he had felt on his own wedding day, her full lower lip trembling until her father put his arm around her and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Allan took her arm and led her down the aisle, handing her off to Dan before stepping back and sitting next to Deirdre. He laid a hand on her once-more swollen belly, smiling broadly at the kick his new child gave him, then leaned in to kiss her later on as the priest gave Dan permission to kiss Sophia. After a bumpy start to his life, God had truly been good to him, and Allan closed his eyes, knowing that he had so very much to be thankful for.
A/N: The HEA we all want for the gang, at least my version of it. This was just a quick write for Thanksgiving—sorry I couldn't work in Much and Little John in this one, but they are at the wedding as well, with their wives and children.