Day 2/
"We look like we just escaped an insane asylum." Maya's voice was monotoned, her face matching it.
Lucas huffed. "No we don't."
She stopped dead in her tracks, crossing her skinny arms across her chest. "Lucas. We're pushing a fake baby around in a stroller. In Central Park. In broad daylight. How much loonier could it get?"
"We could be pushing a fake baby in a stroller on the streets at night time." Lucas continued their trek, leaning over the stroller to peer at baby Rick.
Maya slapped his arm. "Would you stop checking on it like it's real?" She could feel the stares from bystanders.
"Would you lighten up a little? This is supposed to be fun." Lucas nudged her arm, a huge grin plastered across his face. And the annoying part was, it wasn't fake.
Maya rolled her eyes, kicking a rock as she strolled along. "I'm with you, how am I supposed to have fun?" She teased him, a smile cracking at the edge of her lips.
He knew she was joking, but as she said it, Lucas felt his stomach drop, and was sure not to let it show in his face. "Oh, come on. You're telling me you came all the way here, just to have a lousy time? Admit it. You like hanging out with me. Admit it. Admit it." He was poking her in the stomach, causing her to use every ounce of strength to stifle her giggles. He knew that was her ticklish spot.
Her arms flailed as she swatted at him like a bee, gasping for air as she gave into her chuckles. "Fine, fine, okay!" He stopped, cracking up at her squirming. "I guess you're not the worst person to spend time with." Maya avoided eye contact, directing her gaze at the sky or the ground.
Lucas clutched his heart, guiding the stroller with one hand. "Aw, now was that so hard, Pancakes?"
"I've never been in so much pain as I was while speaking that sentence." Maya's face turned sour, her soft pink lips puckered and frowning.
"Stop being a brat. You're worse than the baby." Lucas shoved her playfully, gesturing to their infant they were still pushing.
"Speaking of." Maya circled around to the front of the stroller, lifting the baby from it's buckles in the seat. "Time for lunch."
—
The two found an empty bench and parked themselves. Maya sat with her legs crossed and baby in hand, trying everything to make it stop whining. "Cowboy, where's the bottle?"
"Coming right up." He opened the storage compartment at the bottom of the stroller, retrieving a small blue diaper bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Without looking, he reached into the side compartment and grabbed the bottle, placing it in Maya's hand before taking his spot next to her.
She glared at him, then at the bag, then at him again. "I hate myself for knowing you." She slipped the pretend bottle into the baby's mouth, activating the tiny sensor that recorded when it was fed.
Lucas just continued beaming his infectious smile,stretching his arm across the bench behind Maya's head. She was so small in comparison to him. Sitting, she fit perfectly into his side. She could tilt her blonde head and be resting comfortably on his shoulder. There was no space between them, which allowed for his entire left side to be warmed by her right. It was comforting, he mused, and the thought of her began warming his entire body, not just his left. He only snapped out of it when she spoke.
"You really take this fake parenting stuff seriously, huh?" She questioned, keeping the bottle tilted into the baby's mouth.
Lucas blinked, not realizing his gaze had been directed at her until hers was directed at him. "Uh yeah, I guess. I really want kids, so, I figure it's practice." He pried his eyes away from hers and peered at the ground, regaining his composure.
"You seem like the kind of guy who's excited about having kids." Maya nodded, fixating on his profile as he stared at the grass in front of them. His jawline was sharper than any of her kitchen knifes, but his cheeks made him look softer than any pillow she'd ever laid her head on.
Lucas turned to face her. "I take it you don't feel the same?" He raised his dark brows and tilted his head, genuinely intrigued by what she had to say.
Maya shrugged. "I just think I'd suck at it. Parents are supposed to be selfless, and understanding, and cheery. They always know what to say. I'm not like that." She kept her eyes locked on his, setting the baby bottle beside her on the other side of the bench.
Appalled, Lucas sighed, dropping his head. "Maya Hart, are you kidding me?" He used her whole name, which meant business. "You would make an excellent parent. You're all of those things. Okay, maybe not cheery, but you're fun. That's so much better." He paused, patting her knee, then leaving his hand there. "And you're so good at knowing what to say. I've never seen you not know what to say. Which is annoying, but good."
Maya's face had softened, her eyes smiling along with her mouth. "Aw, shucks Hee Haw." She melted into his side, her head fitting into the crook of his neck like a puzzle piece.
He removed his hand from the bench, rubbing her shoulder and resting his on the top of hers for a second. "Don't make me regret it, Short Stack."
She sat up straight, removing herself from his side. "Nobody can know we just had a serious moment, got it? I have a reputation to uphold."
"A reputation that centers around being mean to me?" Lucas enquired, peeling his hand away from her leg.
Maya stood up, placing both of her hands on her delicate hips. "Precisely." She tucked the baby bottle back into the bag and buckled Rick the II back into the stroller. "I'm in the mood for ice cream."
Lucas rose to his feet, taking his place to man the stroller. "To get your icy heart back to normal?"
"I hate you." Was all she mustered up, blowing a strand of hair off of her porcelain face.
"The line between love and hate is a thin one." Lucas stated, pointing a finger at her.
Maya directed a finger back at him, only it wasn't her index one.
—
"One double scoop chocolate for the lady." Lucas delivered Maya's ice cream cone to her. She was perched at a small table outside of the shop, rocking baby Rick back and forth. The sun was setting, threatening darkness noon.
"Thanks, Huckleberry." She took the cone from him and immediately started licking away at it.
Lucas sat across from her eating his choice of vanilla, watching her multi task with the baby and the treat. "The baby isn't even crying, why are you holding it?"
Maya placed Rick back in the stroller beside her, lounging her arms on the table between them. "I found out how entertaining it could be to stare at strangers while holding a fake baby." She seemed so pleased with herself. "Turns out very."
Lucas chuckled, resting his arms next to hers, almost closing the gap of distance between them. "Like I said, an excellent parent."
Maya licked the excess chocolate off of her small pout, sending Lucas into a mental frenzy he quickly dismissed. "Speaking of, you've never told me about your family. What are they like?"
"You've never told me about yours either." Lucas replied, made uneasy by her request. Talking about his family wasn't exactly his favorite thing.
Maya took another long lick from her cone before responding. Chocolate ice cream demanded to be savored. "You basically know everything from Riley. And besides, I asked first."
Lucas saved a melting drop from falling onto his free hand. "Well, I live with my mom here. My dad still lives in Texas, but my parents aren't separated. I mean, technically they're separated, but only distance wise, they're not divorced." He was rambling, this wasn't good. "Um, I'm an only child. My dad is in some oil business thing, I try not to get too involved." He was tapping his foot nervously, hoping she didn't ask any deeper questions.
"Wow, aren't you just an open book?" She taunted, but didn't dig any further. She sensed his restlessness, and was slightly honored that he'd shared that much. "Seriously, coming from someone who has nowhere near close to a perfect home life, I get it."
Lucas turned his lips into a faint, thankful smile before proceeding to bit into his cone. Finishing the cold dessert was proving to be difficult as the sunlight grew weaker, and he caught Maya shivering a bit as she took her last bite. Impulsively, he reached behind him, before remembering who he was with. "Do you want my jacket?"
Maya couldn't help but giggle at his manners. "Are you serious, Ranger Rick?" She dragged her hands across her bare arms, secretly desperate for warmth, although she'd never tell him that.
He rose from his chair, traveling the short distance to her and wrapping his hoodie around her shoulders. "Yes ma'am I am. Can't have the mother of my child freezing to death."
"This is so cliche I think I'm going to actually be sick." Maya's face scrunched up, but she didn't refuse the immediate relief the jacket brought, slipping her arms into its huge sleeves.
Lucas cracked up. "Oh my god, that's hysterical. You look like an actual toddler in that thing!" He was doubled over laughing.
"Ha ha, hilarious." Maya stuck her tongue out at him, fake pouting.
"Oh, it is." He whipped his phone out of his back pocket and snapped a picture before she could protest. "Should I tag you in this?"
"Texas, I swear to god if you post that anywhere-"
"You'll what? Cry? Kick? Scream? I'll just put you in time out." He noted how fun it was to have the upper hand.
"Hey, don't underestimate me. The life of your first born rests in my hands." She yanked Rick up, hoisting him over her head as if she was going to throw him across the street.
Lucas gasped. "You wouldn't."
"I think we both know I would."
"That's our grade, Maya!"
"One F won't kill me, I'm a solid D student. You, on the other hand…"
Lucas lunged at her, forcing her to tuck the baby under Lucas's hoodie and crouch forward. "Give me the baby and nobody gets hurt!"
Maya attempted to elbow him away. "Are you saying you'd hurt me, Lucas Manners Friar?"
"I'm saying I'll tickle you to death, yes." Lucas picked her up and shook her. It was comical how easy it was for him.
Maya screeched. "Fine, you can have it! I just want out of this with my brain in tact." She let him lower her to the ground before handing over Rick.
Lucas grabbed him, returning him to the stroller. "You're a monster." He hovered over Maya's small stature. From this close, he could count her hundreds of perfectly curled eyelashes and smell the strawberry shampoo in her hair.
"Says the person who just threatened to kill me." Maya crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one foot. She could feel his breath on her face, and wondered what it would feel like on her neck.
"With tickles!" Lucas said in an exasperated tone. "You're exhausting." He watched her bit her lip, and subconsciously did the same himself, creating an unwelcome moment of sexual tension.
"I know." She poked his chest and sauntered away. "I've got a curfew, Cowboy."
—
He insisted on walking her home from the subway station, even though "the sun isn't even completely down yet" and "her neighborhood isn't even scary". The walk was filled with yawns and baby cries, along with the occasional stumble into the other's pathway. Turns out they really were exhausting each other.
When Maya approached her building, she stopped on the first step, almost becoming the same height as Lucas. "I assume you're taking Rick with you?" She was not going through a night with the little devil child.
Lucas nodded. "I am. Only because I'm sure you'd stuff him into some box or something."
Maya chuckled. It was so gentle, and genuine, and it brought a blush to his cheeks unlike any heat ever could. "You're probably right. I need my beauty sleep after a day with you." She shoved his strapping shoulder, barely nudging him.
"You need your beauty sleep every day." His voice was hoarse and deeper somehow. It was soothing, and made her even sleepier.
She let that one slide. Had to give him a victory at least every once in a while. "Goodnight, Ranger Rick." She pivoted to face her building and climbed the short staircase to the entrance.
Lucas watched her walk away, already missing her annoying face, and annoying voice, but admiring her annoying hair as it swayed with every step. "Hey, Maya." He called out as she swung open the door.
Her annoying hair whirled around with her annoying petite body. "What, loser?" She was expecting another insult.
"Maybe, one day, you can tell me about your family?" His smile was more sincere than any letter ever written.
Taken aback, her demeanor tenderized. She glanced at the ground, letting the slightest laugh escape her lips. She found his eyes again with ease, even in the darkness. "Maybe."
