This ended up way longer than I planned. I got the basic idea and started researching some Christmas traditions in Tudor era England and Spain and it just spiraled into this
This one features the song Ríu Ríu Chíu, so I highly recommend you go look it up and listen to it! If you came from Tumblr, I included a link in the post. It's a Spanish Christmas carol from around the 15th-16th century
Fandom: Bill (Gabrian)
Day 3 prompt: Traditions
In the time she had spent living with Bill and his family (and Ian, of course), Gabriel had taught them a lot about her home country. Ian just loved learning anything and everything about her, Bill often found it inspiring, and Anne was simply pleased that Gabriel wanted to share things with them.
The most curious among them, though, were the children. They took every chance to ask her questions. Did people in Spain do plays, too? What stories did they tell? What did their music sound like? What did their food taste like? They would ask her the Spanish word for every little thing they could think of, then Judith and Hamnet would inevitably point at random items and shout out their Spanish names wherever they went. Gabriel laughed and praised them every time they got it right, and gently corrected them if not. She once caught Susanna just sitting in her room, trying to figure out how to roll her 'R's, and sat down beside her to help until she finally got it.
She was glad that they were so interested in her home and culture, but it did make her miss Spain even more. And it didn't help to think that her first Christmas in England was fast approaching. Not to say she wasn't excited to celebrate with them, she was very much looking forward to it, but it was just... different.
The family were arranging a few decorations and such around the house when Ian noticed how down she looked. He placed a hand on her shoulder and took her off to one side.
"Is something wrong?"
She shook her head, "It's nothing."
"You're allowed to feel homesick, you know," he tried to look her in the eyes but she wouldn't quite meet his gaze, "We wouldn't blame you. It's a big change. And a sudden one, you didn't know you'd had your last Christmas in Spain."
She sighed, but she didn't answer just yet. She glanced up at him briefly, then shrugged.
"What can I do? I don't expect I will be able to attend Midnight Mass in a Catholic church come Christmas Eve. So many of my traditions just wouldn't be possible here," she gave him an appreciative smile and took his face in her hands, "But I am glad to be a part of yours, mi amor."
"Ooh...!" Bill's teasing tone cut right through their conversation before they could get any closer and they both turned to look at him. He grinned right back, "Sounds like just the right moment to be hanging the kissing bough, eh?"
His eyes darted upwards to the bough covered in evergreen leaves and a sprig of mistletoe that he and Anne had just hung up nearby, and he wiggled his eyebrows at them. Ian dropped his gaze to the floor as his face turned red, while Gabriel rolled her eyes affectionately at her friend.
"If you don't mind, William, we were trying to have a serious discussion."
"Fair enough," Bill shrugged and turned back to Anne for a kiss under the bough themselves.
Hamnet, who was holding a bundle of ivy for Susanna as she twisted it around the banister, piped up, "Why can't you go to Midnight Mass here?"
Susanna shushed him under her breath but Gabriel smiled and lightly patted Hamnet's head, "It's alright. I cannot go because people here don't exactly trust Catholics to gather together like that. I was already part of a Catholic plot, I will not be accused of another. It might have made me feel a bit more at home if I could, but it would be too much of a risk."
Judith, waiting beside her brother with the holly to hang next, looked up at Gabriel with wide eyes, "Don't you feel at home with us?"
"Of course I do, chiquita," Gabriel gave her cheek a quick pinch, making her giggle, "You all make me feel so much better."
That seemed to satisfy them, for now, at least, and they finished hanging the decorations.
As they often did, the children soon grew curious about more of Spain's customs around Christmas. All throughout the town, people could be heard singing and laughing and playing music and the twins would dance around in circles together, whether they were walking through the square, or at home. Eventually, after watching them for some time, Susanna turned to Gabriel.
"Did you sing carols like this in Spain?"
"Well, of course."
Judith and Hamnet shot over in an instant, grinning excitedly.
"Would you sing us a Spanish Christmas carol?"
"Please?"
She gave an awkward laugh, "No, no, I couldn't..."
But Bill, Anne and Ian had also overheard and when she hesitated, they only urged her on.
"I don't think I've ever really heard you sing," Bill noted.
"Haven't you? You don't remember the pitch for your very first play? To King Phillip?"
He waved his hand, "That hardly counts!"
He very quickly got the children cheering and applauding for her to sing, but what finally convinced her was the look on Ian's face. His eyes were shining with hope, so eager to listen.
"I'd love to hear you."
Gabriel bit her lip but couldn't hold back her smile, and she gave in.
"Fine. I'll sing something for you."
"Something for Christmas?" Hamnet asked and she nodded.
The children cheered, then there was a pause as she took a breath, and they all waited in anticipation.
"Ríu, ríu Chíu, la guarda ribera,
Dios guardó el lobo de nuestra cordera,
Dios guardó el lobo de nuestra cordera."
She was surprised by the smiles that broke out across their faces, and it only encouraged her to raise her voice.
"El lobo rabioso la quiso morder,
Mas, Dios poderoso la supo defender,
Quísole hacer que no pudiese pecar,
Ni aun original esta Virgen no tuviera.
Ríu, ríu Chíu, la guarda ribera,
Dios guardó el lobo de nuestra cordera,
Dios guardó el lobo de nuestra cordera."
Judith and Hamnet had joined hands and started dancing around, only for Susanna to cut in and pull them over to encircle Gabriel as she sang and Bill, Anne and Ian clapped and laughed along.
"Este aquí es nacido es el gran monarca,
Cristo patriarca de carne vestido,
Ya nos redimido con se hacer chiquito,
Aunque infinito, finito se hiciera."
As she came back to the chorus, the twins joined in as best they could.
"Ríu, ríu Chíu, la guarda ribera,
Dios guardó el lobo de nuestra cordera,
Dios guardó el lobo de nuestra cordera."
By the end of it, she was clapping for them as well. Susanna, Judith and Hamnet let go of each other's hands and set themselves off spinning around the room. With them out of the way, Ian came to stand before Gabriel.
"You have a beautiful singing voice," he said and took her hand to kiss it. Though normally she wouldn't be fazed by such a gesture, this time, she blushed.
"Thank you."
She looked into his eyes and was about to lean in that little bit closer when-
"Auntie Gabby?"
She felt a small hand tugging at her skirt and stepped back from Ian to find the twins had returned.
"Yes?"
"Will you teach us the words, please?" Judith asked.
She couldn't say no to those faces. She shot Ian an apologetic look, and he let her go.
On the night of Christmas Eve, the family was gathered to watch the Yule log burn and as the youngest in the household, the twins were given the shared role of lighting it. Gabriel watched from her place by Ian's side as the three children screwed their eyes shut tight to make their wishes.
"Wishing for some nice presents for the new year, are you?" Anne teased, leaning down towards them, and they shushed her.
"We can't tell you!"
"Or it won't come true!"
She stood up again and held up her hands in defeat, "Fine, keep your secrets, then!"
Gabriel laughed along with Ian and Bill, then a thought occurred to her and she walked over to join Anne beside them.
"You know, in Spain," she began and immediately caught the children's attention, "The children wait until the Twelfth Night to receive their gifts."
"Why?" three voiced asked together.
"Because that is the night before Día de los Reyes Magos, the day when the three Kings visited Jesus and brought him gifts."
While Judith and Hamnet continued with more and more questions, prompting Gabriel to tell them stories of her own childhood celebrations, Susanna was only half listening. She was crafting a plan in her head, and she'd have twelve days to complete it. With a little bit of help from her brother and sister and, perhaps, from Ian.
Before then, however, the three of them had already agreed on another plan, for that night. It was almost midnight, and the children silently crept from their bed and down the stairs to the kitchen. Hamnet broke off a small piece of bread from the loaf made that morning, and Susanna pulled a stool over so she could reach the top shelf of the cupboard, where she knew her father had put the wine gifted to him by the Earl of Southampton. She carefully poured some into a small cup and returned it to the cupboard, then they made their way quietly back upstairs and to Gabriel and Ian's room.
Susanna slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. They were both asleep, and she beckoned for Judith and Hamnet to follow her in. They approached Gabriel's side of the bed and Susanna gently shook her arm after handing the cup of wine to Judith.
"Auntie Gabby?" she whispered.
Gabriel stirred and blinked, furrowing her brow when she saw them, "What are you all doing in here?" she whispered back, quickly checking that they hadn't woken Ian up as well.
"It's midnight," Susanna said, "We wanted to bring you these to make up for you missing Midnight Mass."
The twins held out the cup and bread to her and she sat up.
"It's not like a proper communion," Judith said, slowly sounding out 'communion', as Gabriel took the cup from her, "But you can pretend."
Touched, Gabriel smiled at them, "Thank you," she took a bite from the bread Hamnet gave her then a sip from the cup, and muttered a prayer in Spanish to herself, then she shot the children a sly look, "Did you steal your father's wine for me?"
"Only a little bit!"
Gabriel narrowed her eyes, still smiling, "Alright then. I won't say a word to him," she softened and reached out to place a hand on Susanna's cheek, "This is very thoughtful of you." She patted Hamnet and Judith on the head and they beamed back at her.
"Do you feel less homesick now?" Hamnet asked.
"Yes, I do."
She sent them off back to bed and nestled into Ian's chest once again with a warm glow in her heart.
Christmas and New Year's Day came and went with all the merriment that was expected, and soon the fifth of January rolled around – Twelfth Night, the end of the seasonal celebrations. Gabriel had surprisingly seen quite little of the children, and, even stranger, of Ian in that time. And when she did see them, they were begging to hear more stories of celebrations in Spain. She asked Ian once or twice where he kept disappearing off to, and he would simply tell her that the children had asked for his help with something. She was growing increasingly suspicious. When he lay down to sleep that night, Gabriel jabbed a finger into his chest.
"You are up to something. You and those children," her tone was light and playful, and there was a gleam in her eye, "You are planning something together. And I know it is for me."
"What makes you say that?"
"The fact that they have done nothing else for the past two weeks! All the questions and stories and kind gestures. And it isn't over yet. Because I know you have some part it in, still."
"You'll just have to wait and see what happens, won't you?" he kissed her, lay down and closed his eyes, "Goodnight, my love."
Gabriel huffed, "Goodnight."
When morning came, the children burst into the room to wake her up, all talking at once, urging her to follow them. She could barely make out what they were saying, but the word "kings" certainly stood out.
Ian was already gone and when they dragged Gabriel down the stairs, she found him helping Anne with breakfast. They wouldn't let her stop to greet him, though, and he just watched them go by with a knowing smile. She responded with an affectionate scowl.
They stopped in front of the fireplace and pointed to a small parcel wrapped in brown paper lying there. Something long and thin, and almost box-shaped. Gabriel looked at each of the children's smiling faces in turn, then back at Ian, who was paying more attention to her now than he was to his work. Anne didn't seem to mind. She turned back to Judith, Hamnet and Susanna.
"This is a gift for me?" she asked and they all nodded, "From the three Kings?"
Susanna shrugged innocently, "It must be. It's Día de los Reyes Magos."
Her pronunciation was so close to perfect, that alone made Gabriel smile back at her. She picked up the parcel and unwrapped the paper to find a fan. She unfolded it, revealing the hand painted design of flowers against a soft green background, clearly done by the children, and lined in darker shades with a steadier, more experienced hand. She could easily guess that was Ian's doing.
"Do you like it?" Judith asked and Gabriel finally looked away from the fan. She bent down to pull them all into a hug.
"I love it. Thank you."
Three little "you're welcome"s were said before Anne called the children over, and Gabriel looked up as Ian approached, already reaching out to her.
"And thank you, as well," she smirked as he kissed her hand. When he went to lean down to capture her lips though, she stopped him with a hand to his chest. She pushed him backwards, just a couple of steps, then pointed up at the bough hanging above them. He chuckled when he saw it and pulled her closer as she wrapped her arms around his neck.