matilda oneshots i had to get out of my head

matildamas day 1: cuddles

hellooooooo everybody!!! happy holiday season if you celebrate something and happy day if you do not! i hope everyone's doing well!

and a very warm welcome to a little thing i'm calling the twelve days of matildamas!! from today until christmas eve i'll be posting a short (ish) oneshot related to a holiday-ish theme :)) i've been working on these since around october and i'm very excited for y'all to get to see them too :))))

i did not come up with the prompts on my own also!! i borrowed them from a list i used before for my mean girls holiday fics in 2021 (also if you're not fussy about fandoms and are in the mood for some christmas stories pls feel free to read those too! please they took me so long lol) and the original list was created by @bidiboop (i hope i got that handle right!!) for that fandom and i just wiggled a few to fit this one.

anyway!! boring stuff over happy holidays or winterval or whatever you got going on and i hope you enjoy day one!!

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Jenny always takes her time waking up.

Obviously, she has an alarm to ensure she's up and ready with plenty of time for school, but she's usually awake long before. Sometimes she'll drift back off and coast into some more dreams before she has to be up. Other times she simply lies in bed, comfy in the sheets that are nice and warm after sleeping in them all night, and lets her mind wander.

Starting today, school is on winter holidays. She misses her students, but she does have to admit that it's nice having nothing to worry about until January. Her alarm is turned off, she's cozy and warm in bed while a freezing wind blusters the bare branches of the small birch trees just outside her window, and-

Hm.

The one thing she had allowed herself to splurge on when she and Matilda moved into her childhood home was a nice bed. Large, with a nice mattress that sounded like it would age well along with her aging body.

She's not used to being so cramped for space.

Furrowing her brows in confusion, she carefully tugs the blankets away from the small lump she's found herself pressed against.

And there she finds Matilda.

She's completely buried in the blanket. Her head doesn't even rest on the pillows. Her nose is pressed to Jenny's side, and the rest of her is curled into a loose ball next to her mother. Jenny's a bit confused as to why she's not asleep in bed, her own bed, where she left her last night, but she doesn't complain.

She tucks her back in, beneath her nose this time, to ensure she can breathe, and gently strokes her nails through the roots of Matilda's hair. She smiles as her nose crinkles a little in sleepy confusion, and Matilda cuddles a little bit closer.

They stay that way for a long, long while. Jenny feels the sun streaming through the window slowly shift to warm different parts of her back while she and her daughter share a cozy cuddle in the large bed. It's certainly a pleasant way to begin the morning. Jenny doesn't think either of them would complain about doing it more often.

Eventually, Matilda's eyes flutter open and she stretches herself out as far as she can before curling back in on herself and blinking at Jenny.

"Hello," Jenny murmurs softly. "Sleep well?"

Matilda nods and grumbles sleepily in the back of her throat. She presses her face against Jenny's chest and murmurs, "Good morning."

"Good morning," Jenny echoes. "You're not where I left you last night."

Matilda nods. "Your bed's nicer."

"Ah, using me for my bed, eh?" Jenny teases, gently poking Matilda in the side. Matilda squeals and jerks away.

"Hey!"

"Hey me? You've stolen my whole duvet!" Jenny says with laughter in her voice. Matilda's face falls.

"I'm sorry," she says softly. "I... I... I just wanted..."

"It's alright, lamb," Jenny says comfortingly, tipping Matilda's chin up. "You can come join me any time you fancy a cuddle. I'll never be angry with that. It's much warmer with you here, anyway. I don't even need the duvet."

"Any time?" Matilda questions softly.

"Any time," Jenny confirms with a nod.

"Then... could we stay like this the whole entire day?" Matilda asks with more of her usual pep in her voice.

"The entire day?" Jenny asks in shock.

Matilda nods. "There's no school. We haven't got anything better to do today."

Jenny considers this. There's chores to be done around the house, and billing and paperwork for the new year to be done for school. But it's only early in the holidays. They have days to get everything done. One can be sacrificed, she supposes. Especially for the greater good.

And this is most definitely the greater good.

"Well, I think we ought to have breakfast, but I don't see why not. You're right, we really don't have much we need to get done today," she says.

"Yes!" Matilda cheers, rolling onto her back and throwing her arms to the ceiling in victory. Jenny laughs and gently boops the tip of her nose.

"Come eat, then back to bed with us."

They have some oatmeal sweetened with brown sugar and cinnamon, handle the dishes, and return to bed with warm, full bellies and a copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Matilda sits in the hollow of Jenny's body with the blanket on top of her and begins to read aloud.

And it

is absolutely

perfect.

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hope you enjoyed!! see you tomorrow :DDD