A/N: The end of this chapter always makes me smile.
Do you think JJ is capable of more than she showed in London?
Absolutely. JJ is one of the rare gymnasts in the States who has been so well paced in her training that I don't think we've seen the greatest of what she can do just yet. We know she's always capable of more on beam, we know she's upgrading her vault, and I'm sure she can do more on her other two events, especially floor. Maybe she's not Simone level of powerful in tumbling, but she's still pretty powerful by normal standards! I think she can go for more difficulty in her tumbling, which I'm sure she's going to do this year, but we'll have to see what she's going to bring out. Whatever she does, I'm just excited to see what happens.
Could JJ have won all-around silver in Nanning?
Yes. She would have had she not slipped off the bars too. It was a little disappointing to see her have that fall, especially considering she's been fighting an ongoing battle with the apparatus her entire career, but the fact she still got bronze shows how strong she was across the other three events. I'm hoping she gets it together on bars this year, because while I don't think she can challenge Simone for gold, she can definitely come closer than most others.
Of the current crop of US elites, who are your personal favourites? And for those girls, which Olympic eligible juniors do you think will challenge them the most?
Everyone knows I love JJ. She's clean, has beautiful form and artistry, and continues to defy everyone's doubts, which cracks me up. Not only is she an incredible gymnast (seriously, if she wins the beam title at Worlds this year, it's starting to verge on ridiculous), but she's down to earth and lovely to talk to. She's the kind of person you feel could be friends with anyone. Aside from JJ, I also love Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Mykayla Skinner. Simone is just incredible in everything she does, and her infectious laughter really lends to her personality. Aly is one of the greatest team captains the US has ever had, and her consistency and work ethic under pressure are unparalleled. And Skinner has incredible difficulty and keeps working to put herself in contention for teams despite not being chosen as regularly as girls like JJ, Kyla, and Simone.
Slowly waking beneath the warm cocoon of blankets she had burrowed into during the night, Aly groggily rubbed her eyes and yawned.
Looking over to her left, she was surprised to find the bed beside her empty. Pushing herself up onto her elbows, she stretched over to look towards where she knew Will was sleeping, and smiled when she found both JJ and Will cuddled up on the single mattress, both still fast asleep. A little further away, Clayton was sprawled on his back on his own mattress, his mouth open in a silent snore.
Taking the throw from the end of JJ's bed and wrapping it around her shoulders, she quietly got up and crept out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her before heading down the stairs. The house was quiet, most of its occupants still sleeping, but someone was showering. Probably her mom; she was an early riser.
In the kitchen, she found Sandy perusing a magazine while sipping a cup of coffee. The older woman looked up as she came in, breaking into a smile.
"Morning Aly. Merry Christmas," she said softly, straightening up.
"Merry Christmas," Aly replied with a smile, sliding onto the counter stool.
"Coffee?" Sandy asked knowingly. Aly grinned.
"Yes please," she chuckled.
"The lovebirds still sleeping?" Sandy asked as she set about making Aly a cup of coffee.
Aly giggled. "Yep. When I fell asleep last night, JJ was right next to me. When I woke up just now, she was on the mattress with Will. It doesn't look very comfortable"
Sandy rolled her eyes, before laughing with Aly.
"They're hopeless, but they're happy, that's all I can say," she said, lifting the jug of coffee from the machine and pouring it into a mug. Setting it in front of Aly, she picked up the milk and the sugar bowl, and placed them down beside the mug.
"Thank you," Aly said warmly, quickly mixing in her desired amount of milk and sugar before taking a long sip. "Mmm... that's good coffee"
Sandy grinned. "So, are there any boys on your horizons? Anyone who takes the fancy of the great Aly Raisman?"
Aly laughed. "No, not at the moment. I keep telling JJ that until I have more medals than she does, I have no time for men. She's on seventeen, I'm on six, so I've got a long way to go"
Sandy had to laugh. "You two are just trouble"
"I think that more applies to JJ and Will, to be honest. They were stirring me up to no end last night," Aly chuckled.
"Doesn't surprise me," Sandy said dryly, getting more laughter out of Aly.
"Morning all," came Lynn's voice as she entered the kitchen. "Merry Christmas"
Smiling, Aly turned.
"Hi Mom," she said happily as Lynn kissed the top of her head before heading straight to the coffee machine.
"What's the hot topic of the morning?" Lynn asked as she made herself a cup of coffee.
"Men, medals, and my troublesome daughter," Sandy said with a grin.
"Me? Troublesome? Never," came JJ's voice as she joined the growing group in the kitchen, having clearly just woke up.
"Not yet anyway," Aly giggled. "Just wait until your first pregnancy scare"
Sandy nearly choked on her coffee as the two girls laughed. Behind her, Lynn looked surprised, not quite sure how to react to her daughter's statement.
"Just you wait, Aly, just you wait," JJ laughed. "We're gonna take this outside, your medals will mean nothing, it'll just be you, me, and the snow"
True to JJ's word, after they had been through the Christmas formality of presents and breakfast, which had been loud, crowded, and incredibly fun, everyone traipsed outside into the snow for winter entertainment.
While Janine, Sandy, Lisa and Lynn chose to remain under the porch clutching mugs of hot chocolate, the others had wasted no time in starting a snowball fight. Before too long, the backyard was nothing more than a white flurry as snowballs were flung in every possible direction, exploding against snow jackets in white clouds. Laughter rang out through the cold wintry air, and it truly was a sight that warmed the heart.
The two youngest Raismans and Clayton were the first to bow out, just as JJ and her dad were busy completing a snow wall to hide behind, Rick and Aly following suit.
"I'm in No Man's Land!" Will yelled out from where he stood in the open ground between the barriers, flinging himself down to the ground as a snowball whizzed past his head with frightening speed. "Bloody hell JJ, you need to take up baseball!"
JJ laughed, popping up momentarily just in time to get a face full of snow from Aly.
"YEAH!" Aly cheered.
"One of you is going to put out a shoulder, and Marta Karolyi will have my head on a platter!" Sandy called out from the porch.
Fearing he would become the first person to ever sustain serious injuries from a snowball, Will bowed out, deciding to join the others on the porch and film the hilarity on his phone instead. By now, only JJ, Michael, Aly, Rick, and Brett remained on the battlefield.
"I'm gonna beat you Jareau! No mercy!" Aly yelled, hurling a snowball in JJ's direction and accidentally hitting Michael. "Sorry Michael!"
"Not if I beat you first!" JJ yelled back, her snowball already flying back through the air towards Aly, who ducked just in time for it to hit the porch railing instead, making Sandy and Lynn leap back, hot chocolate sloshing over the sides of their cups onto the wooden surface.
"JJ!" Sandy exclaimed scoldingly, but even she couldn't fight back the smile.
Minutes later, the snow was flying through the air with relentless speed, barely a second in between each one. Laughter and good natured jibes filled the air, as did the mockery and teasing that was a given with JJ and Aly.
Will had already captured a portion of the action and uploaded it to his Instagram, grinning the entire time.
Never let two Olympic gymnasts snowball fight each other... someone is going to die *laughing face*
In a hasty attempt, JJ leapt up from behind the snow barrier.
"It ends HERE!" she cried, hurdling over the snow barrier straight from her hiding position. She was almost clear, the snowball leaving her hand in Aly's direction, when her boot clipped the top of the snowbank, toppling it down and sending JJ crashing face first into the snow.
The reaction was instantaneous. Everyone started to laugh as JJ rolled over in defeat, brushing snow from her pink face as a grin fought its way through.
"That was pretty spectacular," Michael laughed, holding out a hand to help her up. "Your gold medals make so much sense now"
"I meant to do that," JJ giggled, turning as Aly trudged up to them.
"Oh my god that was so funny. I hope Will filmed that so I can show Simone," she was saying through her laughter.
"You better not!" JJ exclaimed as the remaining four headed back towards the porch.
"You give her crap about the bee, she gives you crap about the face dive... you'll be even," Aly chuckled, throwing an arm around her friend's shoulders.
Crazy, family Christmas.
Just how it should be.