February 4th 2019

Chapter 35
Their Reach to Pups

Every other week, for a while now, they had set out another routine, just the two of them. As ever, their weekend mornings were filled with chores, errands, and whatever school work required their attention at the time, but every other Sunday morning, they would ensure that they had nothing at all to do, leaving them all the time in the world – until they had to clock in to their respective jobs of course – to just hang out, to do whatever they pleased.

Now here they were, that Sunday after their flight to New York, after their friends' wedding, and it was their Sunday morning… and it was snowing. Actually, it was snowing a lot.

It might not have felt like a lot to people living in other places, but around here, to see actual coverage… or any snow at all… was absolutely noteworthy.

Maya certainly noted it. From the moment she woke up, she could swear there was a slight chill in the air, a scent, and it set her skin to tingling. She'd only had to turn her head, to look out the window, and she saw it, on the branches of the tree out there… snow. She had every so carefully moved out of Lucas' arms and out of bed. The dogs, awake but still in their beds, had trotted up to meet her at once.

"Hey, guys, let's keep quiet, okay?" she whispered, crouching briefly to pet them before moving to stand at the window. When she looked, when she saw it, she just broke into a smile… and then into a grin… and then she was leaping, landing smoothly on to the bed without crushing or hitting, waking her boyfriend with a start even as she sat up with a triumphant look.

"What's happening? Is the house on fire?" he groaned, looking around in a daze.

"No, no, no, my Huckleberry friend," she leaned over her him, kissing him. This, at least, he could comprehend and appreciate, unlike the rest of this abrupt wake up call. "No catastrophes here, just the opposite," she declared, before sitting eye to eye with him. "It snowed. It's snowing," she informed him.

"For real?" he turned around, looked out the window as she'd done. "Dylan said it would, but I thought he was joking."

"There probably won't be enough for a snowman, at least not one without grass and dirt mixed into it, but there would be enough to see how those two will react," Maya tipped her head to the dogs. Trix and Lou were both fretting near the window, looking up – even though they couldn't reach high enough to see – and then back to their people on the bed as though saying 'what's going on, something's going on, isn't it?' with a giddy swish of tails.

So, they had gotten dressed. In time they would get around to actually having breakfast, but for now… For now, the call of snow was stronger than that of hunger. They broke out their boots, pulled on their coats – which proved very much appreciated, for the noted chill in the air – and they headed downstairs with Trix and Lou. They didn't believe any of the others were awake yet; someone would have reacted over the snow if they were.

When they opened the back door ahead of them, like always, the dogs were good and ready to go, like racers waiting for the signal to run. The moment the path would be open for them to go, they would take off, Trix first and Lou right on her tail. Today was no different, except… Within seconds, the dogs both realized something was different. Maya had pulled out her phone even as they were coming down, ready to record, and then Lucas had done the same, better for each of them to focus on one of the dogs… This was going to be good.

It was hard not to laugh, and certainly they could both be heard in the videos, laughing as they observed how both animals dealt with this discovery.

Trix had been off like an arrow, in that shuffle she had mastered which managed to counter any issue born of her shorter paw, leaving a sweeping, zigzagging sort of trail in the fresh snow, the giddiness of the unknown showing in the frenzy of her movements. After several seconds of this run, to both Maya and Lucas' amusement, they'd watched the pale dog as she lay down, twisting and rolling around, dragging herself around, discovering and feeling the cold wet stuff. She just kept going and going. There was more of it falling from the sky, she learned, and she tried to eat it.

Little Lou, for her part, had not taken off at a run, no. She was much too fascinated, too confused, with what she found under her paws. She kept rising on her hind legs and then thumping forward again, breaking and rejoining with the unfamiliar stuff. She started to dig about, like she was searching for the stuff she usually found out here, uncovering one patch, and then another, and another, from the stone path surrounding the door, the patio table and chairs… only to become intrigued by the mounds she'd created and diving on to them.

"We're going to need some towels on them before we can let them back in," Maya pointed out, once the phones had gone back in their pockets. Looking at the dogs, covered in snow the pair of them, Lucas had nodded and headed back in to get what they'd need to ensure Trix and Lou didn't 'redecorate' the house once they went back inside.

The sound of barking might have been the cause for the others waking. Whether or not it was, when Lucas had gone inside, he'd crossed paths with both Riley and Sophie coming down the stairs, dressed just as he was, which told him they'd seen the snow, too. Soon, they were out in the yard with Maya and the dogs. A few minutes later, Dylan was there, too, their third, human sized pup.

By the time they had convinced the dogs to prepare to return into the house – which involved a do-over for both of them as they'd skittered off all over again – and made it there, the delay on breakfast had gone on long enough. And since it was their Sunday, they'd decided to head off into the snowy morning in order to get their meal.

They didn't have Ma Maggie's here, and it was sorely missed, but they did have the Nook, and it was a close second to fill the gap of their favorite spot back in Austin.

"I need to go to the store to pick up a canvas on the way back," she told him as they slid into their booth and she reached back to wrestle her mane of blond hair into a ponytail.

"The wedding gift?" Lucas guessed, nodding.

"Yep," she confirmed. "I figure if I start now, I might have a shot of getting it done and shipped off in time for Christmas."

Even as she said the word, and even though in this case it related to her gift more than anything else, the mention alone, as it had done as soon as decorations and other signs began to creep up, he saw a smile slide on to his girlfriend's face, and not so much about the holiday itself but about what its approach signalled.

Her new sibling, set to make his or her arrival at the end of the month.

It had been an obvious curiosity, to know whether the baby would meet its due date – the 23rd – or if it would hold to the spot and be a Christmas baby, or a Christmas Eve baby even.

"So long as it doesn't aim for New Year's Eve, we're cool," her mother had commented once, making her chuckle. She may not have any personal concept of what one more week after full term would feel like, but her mother's tone had made it clear it was not something she was yearning for.

Despite the fact that they would be spending the holidays back in Austin with their families, it hadn't been long that, as December had made its start, the Houston house began to show signs that the jolly season was upon them. They'd set up the tree in the living room just the day before, well aware of how it would pull the attention of Trix and Lou, even as they did their best to minimize the risks of anything or anyone being in trouble, once tree and dogs met.

They'd strung up enough twinkling lights around the place to make other lighting feel almost redundant, decorations sprouting here and there, too. It was their first Christmas in Houston, first Christmas living away from home, and, again, though they would actually be with their families for the holidays themselves, it had been sort of important for all of them to raise that spirit under the roof they shared. This involved equal parts bringing along decorations from their own homes, their own trees, to mingle together here, and to share in the process of acquiring any other elements required, in order to get the decorating done. The result had been pretty stellar, if you asked them, and others would tend to agree.

"We can swing past the book store on the way, so you can see Rosa's Christmas window," Lucas suggested, and Maya beamed, sitting up at once.

"Yeah, definitely," she promised.

Just as their food had arrived, Maya had gotten an e-mail from Isadora, discovering it contained what might have been considered a veritable treasure trove. She had taken all of their pre-existing songs and gone back to adjust the music, weaving in Willow's various instrumental offerings, the better for them to get a sense of what might or might not work.

"Damn… Married life sure doesn't slow her down," Maya joked, showing Lucas what she'd been sent, what they'd all been sent, seeing the e-mail had also gone out to the rest of the band, present and retired.

They had spent the best part of their meal, their walk to the art supply store and detour to Coleman's before returning toward home, with shared earbuds allowing them to listen together to Isadora's work. Though it would of course be up to the whole band to decide together which way they'd go, they would listen and debate together which versions were best. The one time they had paused this exploration had been when they had actually come to stand at the window, taking in Rosa's handiwork. She really had a talent for making her displays draw the eye. With the snowfall around them, they really could not have asked for more.

When they had arrived back at the house, while they still had some time to themselves, they knew they also needed to start thinking about when they'd have to head out again, him back to the bookstore and her on to the restaurant, for their respective shifts. So, as soon as they'd arrived, she'd hopped into the shower, while Lucas went in search of Trix and Lou to see if they'd gotten over the snow yet.

Finding the pair of them parked near the back door, he got his answer. They saw him walk toward them and instantly looked giddy, like they believed he was about to open the door and let them out to play some more.

"You liked it out there, huh?" he smiled, crouching and then sitting on the ground with them, as Lou came up and clambered into his lap. Trix remained by the door, looking at it, turning to him, looking at it again, then him… "Not now, Trix," he had to tell her, though she only tilted her head and kept on staring at him. "Later, promise."

Maya was stuck in much the same dilemma when, after she'd finished getting ready, she'd come down and ended up taking his place while he went and had his go at the shower. She'd probably been all of ten seconds away from caving in, too, when he'd come in, changed and ready to go whenever the time came. She gave him a look, holding to that dilemma boiling over in her head.

"I know," he assured her. He'd been feeling it, too. It was near impossible not to feel that excitement radiating off the pups, not want to give in to it. She had Trix in her arms now, petting the cream-colored dog, much to both their contentment, while Lou had taken up the post of Door Watcher. "Dylan will probably take them out later," Lucas reminded her. The mention of their roommate and friend made her grin, recalling how he'd been all too happy to roll around with the pair of them earlier that morning.

"Can't we call in a snow day or something?" she turned her eyes up to him, in what felt like a look inspired by the pups themselves.

"In Texas?" he smiled.

"What, the roads could be treacherous, they won't know how to deal with it. I'm just being cautious, you know?"

"Your New York is showing," he teased her and she squinted at him.

"Sorry, ladies, I tried," she looked down to Trix and Lou with an over dramatic sigh.

"You poor thing."

Whether they liked it or not, soon they had to leave the dogs to the care of Riley – the only one of them not working that afternoon – and head out. Lucas had driven Maya, dropping her off at the restaurant 'without incident,' as he pointed out, making her chuckle before leaning over the seat to kiss him.

"See you tonight," she told him before getting out of the car. After shutting the door, she tapped at the window and he rolled it down. "When we do get back, we take the dogs out for a walk, deal?"

"If you still feel like being on your feet."

"Oh, it will sustain me," she insisted, making him laugh as he drove off. The roads were not nearly as 'perilous' as she would have attempted to convince him they were. Still, he couldn't help but notice that, while it came and went, the snow was still falling, light but persistent. In all his life he had rarely seen it get to the point where it would actually be much of a problem if any at all. It had always been quite the opposite, really. It was the kind of thing to make any day instantaneously and one hundred percent better. It certainly had been that way today, for them, for their friends, and for their dogs.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners