December 14th 2019

Chapter 348
Their Run Toward Peace

"So…"

Lucas turned his head as much as he would permit himself to, as he was driving. Sitting in the passenger seat, with her plant held securely in her lap, Maya was looking on ahead with a very pensive expression. This suggested many a wheel was presently turning in her head, willing more and more wheels to be set in motion, too.

"So?" he repeated, unsure what she was trying to get at.

"Your birthday is coming up," she went on after a few seconds. Even facing the road, he could spot her smile growing, out in his periphery.

"It is," Lucas confirmed with a smile and a tip of the head.

"On a Sunday, for once, not in the middle of finals."

"A miracle."

"Yeah, except we'll be in Arizona on the day, not here with our friends, and your family, so, maybe we need to make some things happen… a bit faster. Like tonight." They stopped at a red light and he turned to look at her properly.

"Did you do something?" he had to ask. She turned a smile to him.

"I'm not saying like a huge party, just you and me and the roomies… doing something together, to show our appreciation for your… overall existence," Maya insisted. "Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"No, there isn't," he admitted, sitting back to face forward.

"Plus, we're already going to have the pre-graduation grad party going next week or something, so we'll have everyone else there then."

Riley and Dylan wouldn't be back yet, as Dylan wasn't done at the café and Riley wanted to come home with him. Sophie was still working, and wouldn't be back until later that evening. And there had been a text from Rosa, saying that she and Chiara were off to get a few things for dinner, so they were under strict orders, all of them, not to ruin their appetites.

"All caps, and one, two, three… seven exclamation points," Lucas reported as he read the message. He and Maya had just gotten out of the car and started for the house.

"Is that one for each of us?" Maya laughed.

"Maybe," Lucas smiled. "So, until they get back, I guess that means it's just you and m…" he opened the door, only to find himself surrounded by some eager pups.

"Hey!" Maya crouched to scoop up Lou, who had been hopping about in front of her. The dog was at her most hyped, wiggling around so much that Maya had to work overtime to make sure she wouldn't drop her. "I am happy to see you, too," she laughed. With the dog in one hand and the plant in the other, she quickly moved to put the pot on a secure surface. "We don't eat that, alright?" she cooed to the dog, holding her in both arms now, laughing at those tickling kisses she received in return.

When she finally set her down, Maya watched as Lou trotted her way over to one of her new lounging spots, which was the now empty bottom shelf of their media storage. The unit was flanked by a couple of double box stacks, one for Maya and Lucas, the other for Riley, Dylan, and Rosa. The still occupied shelves held those items which had belonged to or been claimed by Sophie and Chiara. On the whole, having the shelf and the boxes there, one of the first things they'd see as they walked in, was like an immediate and unavoidable reminder that they were soon leaving… They could have done without that.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked, when he came up to find her very focused on her texting.

"Sending instructions to the skywriting pilot about how many hearts to do," she teased with a smile before finally slipping her phone back in her pocket and ensuring that he didn't see.

"You just love to mess with me, don't you?" he smiled back.

"Oh, so much," she nodded. "You're welcome to try and get me talking."

"Don't think I won't," Lucas approached her… only to bypass her and tumble his way over the top of the couch with a thump, as they would at times do.

"You wouldn't dare if Sophie was here," Maya told him, staring down with 'reproach.' Their roommate and resident cop would worry each time that they would either hurt themselves, or break the couch, or very likely both these at once.

"Well, she's not here, is she?" Lucas pointed out with a casual shrug.

"I am a terrible influence on you, huh?" Maya smirked before attempting a 'controlled' tumble of her own, landing herself into waiting arms.

"I wouldn't say that," Lucas insisted, kissing the top of her head.

"What would you say then?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Wow, do you have six hours?" he playfully asked, getting a nod in return to suggest she just might. He let out a breath, looking up into that face he loved. He knew what the top thing was that he wanted to tell her, but they weren't there yet, not for a couple of weeks. On some levels it got easier to hold on that secret, now that they were almost at the end its being needed, but on other levels... it just nagged and nagged at the back of his mind.

Whatever he might have started to give as his reasons to prove Maya was not in fact a 'terrible influence' on him, he didn't get to start enumerating them. All at once, the dogs had scurried back barking toward the door, which left the two of them on the couch to guess someone was coming toward the house, very possibly with enough food in tow as to draw the pups to be at the ready.

"Quick, bar the door," Maya intoned before sighing and rolling to her feet. Lucas followed her, just as the door opened to Chiara, attempting to walk in without tripping over one of the dogs crowding her feet or dropping the boxes she kept high and out of reach. Rosa, right behind her, was looking for an opening of her own, keeping her arms and her bags high. By the strained look on her face, they had to guess there was something heavy in those bags.

"Back up, hey, come on, Trix, come on, Lou…" he moved to hold the pair of them back, while Maya scooped up Peanut.

"See, this is why I wanted to call to get them in the basement before we made it back," Rosa told Chiara as they all headed into the kitchen. "I'd be all over you if you brought all this home, too."

"How many people are you expecting to feed?" Maya blinked, looking at everything they were unloading from their bags. Lucas gave her look. "I swear, it's just roomies tonight," she pressed.

"It is," Rosa chimed in.

"Well, we were out at the market, Rosa and I, and we thought that, with final exams next week, it would be easier for all of us if we had meals at the ready. We will do the cooking, and it will all be there when we need anything."

"Need some help?" Lucas asked. There was no arguing over how this evening was supposed to be an early celebration of his finals-locked birthday. If this was to be his night, his choice, then helping his roommates and friends was exactly what he'd want.

So, their post-class end evening kicked off, with four cooks, then six upon Dylan and Riley's return. By the time Sophie arrived back, too, the cooking was done, the fridge and the freezer were receiving the fruits of their labor, and the kitchen was being cleaned.

"Why does it look like I missed something out here?" she asked, breathed in… "Big dinner?" As Chiara went up to greet her return, the others had gone about explaining what they'd been up to. "I mean, I wouldn't say no to a sampler," Sophie innocently declared, as good as guaranteeing that there would be a plate in her hands within a minute.

They all ended up in the living room, piled on the couch, with the television on but mostly for background noise's sake. The roommates were more interested in one another's stories than whatever else could be provided to them. These moments with just the seven of them were going to run out before they knew it, once all but the 'Mantolensky' wives remained. They wanted to enjoy those as much as possible.

Maya told them about how, by pure chance, she had finally come to realize, now that her field work was done, a connection she had not known up to now, on the last day of class. She had learned that one of her classmates was actually the father of one of her (now former) second graders. She'd always believed he was the same age as her, but he was actually a few years ahead. He'd taken a break from his studies, both to look after his boy and also to allow his then girlfriend to accept a career opportunity which had come along. Finally, he'd gotten to return to university, and now here he was, about to graduate. When he'd finally figured out that Maya was this teacher in training his son had told him about, just the night before, around the dinner table, he knew he had to come and chat when he'd see her today.

Dylan had been fresh out of graduate cakes by the time Riley had gone to meet him at the café, which had led to something this close to trouble. Word had spread among the graduates, as it was bound to when the words 'free cake' would get thrown about. Some of his disappointed customers had taken it in stride, while others had been a bit more… persistent. In the end, Dylan had just gone ahead and treated them to some other baked good available at the café. A couple particularly insisting graduates had been treated to a pastry and beverage. Dylan hadn't been thrown in any way. This had been his idea, his project, and he was happy to do it.

Rosa had lamented the fact that she'd realized she and Joseph would not get to go to college together as they had once hoped to do. He would be graduating high school this year, starting college in the fall, staying in Houston and attending their university… but then Rosa was transferring to Austin, wasn't she? For Joseph, the whole college thing wasn't about going off to some other place. He was content in staying in his hometown, though he was exploring the possibility of finding an apartment, or living in the dorms.

"You didn't know before?" Maya sympathetically asked.

"I mean, sort of, it just never really… I don't know," Rosa shrugged, unable to put it all into words.

Sophie told the roommates about how she and her training officer had come across a guy very inexpertly attempting to rob a store. It had almost been comical, and the whole time she'd been forcing herself not to laugh, figuring she'd be reprimanded if she did. But then, after they'd dropped the guy off at the station, she'd run into her fellow rookies, Eloise and Hannah, and she'd told them the story. They'd laughed so much that Sophie couldn't help herself and joined in, until they'd all been called back and had to pull on their serious faces again before splitting off.

By the time they all started off for bed, they felt strangely taken with a sort of determination toward their review, starting the next morning. There would be time enough to mourn the end of these years they'd spent together. This last week was going to be one of the most important ones, looping the loop and shooting them off into their futures.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners