December 29th 2019

Chapter 363
Their Ceremony of Food

The band went on playing until shortly before dinner was to be served. At this point, they had turned over the musical direction to a loaded playlist, the volume not so high as to drown the conversation of the guests. Kayla went to find Will at their table, and Rosa followed Riley over to where Dylan sat with two seats awaiting them at his side. Maya, for her part, had her space right up at the main table along with Lucas, which in turn gave them a view of most of the guests, especially their friends, kept well in view of the bride and groom.

"Did you see when my mom went and got MJ back for dinner?" Maya asked as she sat down, breathing out. After their performance, she was glad to be taking a break.

"No, why?" He'd stood up there with the twins for a while, but then he'd had to let them down, as his mother wanted to introduce him to some people, so he'd brought them over to Katy, who'd been sitting with a sleeping Haley in her lap.

"He didn't want to go, just wanted to stay where he was, almost threw a fit."

"He did look pretty comfortable," Lucas recalled with a nod.

"Isadora didn't know what to do. She didn't want to upset him, but he still had to go. Finally, my mom used her old 'shift the blame' technique." Lucas frowned, not following. "She told him that it was too bad that he wouldn't come, because his sisters missed him."

"Oh, that one," Lucas chuckled. "My mother used that one, too."

"A classic," Maya grinned. "He'll forget all about being upset once the food comes around."

The food did come, a few minutes later, and the room descended into quietly buzzing conversation. Lucas and Maya had started to tell one another about the things they had seen and heard while they'd been separated by her being on stage. From Maya's perspective, she had been able to see a whole lot more, though her attention was primarily focused on playing her songs. She'd seen a lot of people, all of their friends here, and the vast majority of their old basketball teams, friends' parents and siblings, of course, who had cared for Zay and Nadine and watched them grow over the years, too…

She had seen other things, too, though she didn't bring it up with Lucas, for fear that it might lead the conversation down a path she just couldn't steer without finding herself approaching that spot they weren't meant to approach. She had seen Joey dancing with Rebecca. Ever since they'd heard about the breakup, all they'd heard was that the two of them remained friends, which had been the kind of news they would naturally be happy to receive. And looking at them on that dance floor, anyone would have been able to confirm this was exactly what they were seeing, a former couple who still very much cared for one another, even if it was not in the same way they once done so.

But with the knowledge of the exact first blow to their relationship used as a lense… All they'd been told was that he had cheated on her. They didn't know the extent of this, and frankly, as far as Maya was concerned, she wasn't looking to find out any of the details. Anyway, it wouldn't matter. They weren't going to start picking apart some reasoning as though it changed anything. Joey had done what he'd done, and now here they were. Right now, not many people knew, and it could have come off like protection when there really shouldn't have been any, but it was just as much Rebecca's right not to have her life and her business aired out. If she didn't want people knowing, today especially, then that was how it would be. Except…

"Earlier, before your sisters asked me to pick them up so they could see you play, your mom asked me to accompany MJ to the bathroom. When we were coming up to the door, I could hear people talking, and it sounded like they were arguing. I opened the door and it was Asher and Joey in there." Maya busied herself at cutting her meat, though she tried to give off this air of 'oh yeah? I'm listening.' "They stopped right up when they saw me and your brother, but I swear, if we hadn't come right when we did, Asher was this close to throwing punches."

"Damn…" Maya mumbled.

"I don't know what's going on with them," Lucas shook his head, clearly concerned for his friends. Even from way back when they'd all been kids, he had always been much closer to Asher, but he hadn't been indifferent to Joey either, which only made this situation worse for him. And by extent, it made things more awkward for Maya, who knew the answer to the question plaguing his mind but also realized it wouldn't fix anything so much as make it worse.

"Have… have they ever fought before?" she still asked.

"Normal amounts, I guess," he had to say. He'd never had actual siblings, so he couldn't say. Even Maya wasn't really in a position to speak from experience. She'd been in her late teens by the time she'd had siblings in her life, and even so they were babies and toddlers for the most part so their relationship wouldn't be the same as those siblings who had grown up together. "Not like this." He was really worried. They were both looking at that table where the Garcia brothers sat. They were not exactly on opposite sides of the round table, which would have done nothing but force them to look at one another whenever they looked up from their plates. Instead, they were just a few seats apart from one another, and that made it so that they almost couldn't see each other, not without leaning forward or backwards in their seats at the same time. "I should try and talk to them. I tried, before, but I was with MJ and…"

"Maybe you should wait," Maya suggested, trying not to come off too urgent about it. He looked at her. "Not here, not today," she explained. He stared at her for a few beats, like his mind had gone off somewhere else. Finally, he'd just nodded, agreeing. Maya tried not to sound relieved as she breathed out. There was still a chance that Lucas would try his hand, somehow, and she didn't know how to prevent it, short of telling him the truth or…

As they were nearing the end of one course, which would mean a few minutes as the plates were cleared out and the next course would be brought in their place, Maya took her chance and texted Asher. Lucas was talking with Mr. Babineaux, sitting next to him.

Maya: I need to talk to you, it's urgent. Don't look at me. Just get up and walk out into the lobby? I'll meet you there in a minute.

She waited, trying to be as casual as possible as she watched Asher's table. She saw him take out his phone and look at it. He almost looked up at her, then stopped, and a moment later he excused himself and walked out. Lucas paused mid-conversation when he saw this, and as predicted he moved like he was about to get up and follow him. Maya touched his arm and stalled him.

"I'll go. Please?" He hesitated, but then he nodded. "Don't eat my bread," she pointed to her half-eaten roll. He held up his hands in promise. "Good. Be right back."

Maya made her way out toward the lobby, where she found Asher pacing about in wait. He looked up at the sound of her heeled shoes on the ground, clicking loudly with no subtlety in any way.

"What's wrong, what's the emergency?" he asked, a concerned friend through and through.

"You," Maya told him. Asher blinked. "You and Joey," she clarified, and his expression shifted at once.

"Lucas told you about the bathroom earlier?" he guessed.

"He did, but that's not the point… not completely. Look, Rebecca told me, about Joey…" she revealed, looking around briefly before continuing, "About how he cheated on her." If there was any doubt that this was the reason Asher was upset with his brother, it disappeared now. "I get that you're angry. I am, too. If you're trying not to have people know about it though, you're not doing it very well. Lucas knows something's up, and I'm trying not to have him find out, because I don't know how he'd react. And if you're this close to coming to blows with your brother, then…"

"I wasn't going to… I mean… I wanted to… and maybe I would have later, but I…" he sighed, shaking his head. "I can't stand to look at him right now, which is kind of unfortunate because…" he gestured at his own face, which was about 99% identical to Joey's. Maya would have laughed at the joke, which had been used in some fashion over the years, if not for the current context of it.

"Rebecca seems okay with him," she finally pointed out. "And she's trying to keep it quiet today, for Zay and Nadine's sake. Can't you at least try and act normally for all three of them, for now?"

"Rebecca… She deserves so much more than all that mess, I mean… Did she tell you how…"

"She didn't, and I don't need to know," Maya held up her hand to stop him talking. If those guys thought they could be hard hitters if they got upset, the last thing they wanted was to see New York Maya get triggered back into existence. "Just… please?" Asher stared at her for a few seconds, but finally he sighed and nodded. Maya reached out and pulled him into a friendly hug.

"I hope his show gets cancelled…" Asher grumbled. Maya held back her laugh. "That sounds so bad, I know, there's other people…"

"How about we wish he's very successful so he stays out in New York for a while?" she suggested.

"Guess that could work, too." They finally turned and started back toward the reception, Maya's arm linked with Asher's.

"I'm so glad you and Ray are coming back to Texas."

"We are, too," Asher smiled. "We liked living out in New York, but every time we'd come back to Texas it always felt better, you know?"

"I really do," Maya nodded. "And hey, Houston's good. It's no Austin, but hey… At least it's got your aunt Isabel, and the Nook, and some of Lucas' family… and Sophie and Chiara…" she hummed a bit dramatically. They were the part about moving back to Austin that she'd regret the most. It sounded so silly, they weren't going to be that far away, but they could have been a hell of a lot closer, too, and that was the thing to remember.

"You know they've offered for us to move in with them until we find a place?" Asher asked as they moved back to his table.

"No, I didn't," Maya blinked, looking over to where the two of them sat. They looked up, realizing themselves to be the topic of a conversation. "They're moving in?" she asked them, indicating Asher and Ray.

"Yeah," Sophie smiled. "Haven't worked it all out yet, not sure if they'll arrive before or after you all vacated the place."

"Please come before, please?" Maya turned back to Asher at once, tugging at his arm like a kid.

"We'll do our best," Asher smiled, more so as Maya leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered, knowing he'd understand what that was about. He quietly nodded back at her before she made her way back to the main table and her seat, where she found her next course had been delivered.

"They just brought the plates like a minute ago," Lucas told her. "What was that about?" he then asked, nodding over to their friends' table. Everyone was back in their seats, and while Asher looked anywhere but at his brother, he distinctly looked more cheerful than he'd done before.

Maya told Lucas about what she'd learned, of Asher and Ray moving in to their current home, with Sophie and Chiara, at some point before or after the rest of them moved out, as a sort of landing until they settled. Whether this would turn into a temporary situation or more of a permanent move, they couldn't say, as even the four of them wouldn't have any idea. Either way, it was good news, one more sign that they were getting closer to having all their people back in Texas… most of them anyway.

"And Asher?" Lucas asked, looking back to his old friend, who was now laughing about something Dylan was telling him.

"I think he'll be okay," Maya nodded.

"Did he tell you what's going on between Joey and him?"

She didn't want to have to lie to him, even if it was for a good cause. It was never easy if she did, whether or not she found herself more or less faced a question that begged for a lie if she didn't want to let the truth out, as opposed to moments where they were far enough from the topic that she didn't have to think about how she was withholding something from him. Right now, he had just gone and asked her something that would force her to choose: either tell him a lie right now and deal with it or you're going to have to tell him the truth and hope for the best.

"He… doesn't want to get into it here," she slowly told him. "But now he knows that he's been letting emotions get the best of him, so… he's going to keep it together. Maybe, after today, he'll be okay to talk." It was the best she could do.

Lucas knew she wasn't telling him everything. It was right there, like a puzzle that wasn't a puzzle. All the pieces were laid out, small and generally well hidden, except he knew her well enough to spot all of them, which created a whole. He could do this for her, and he knew she could do the same for him, too. Either way, they were at a point in their relationship where they saw the signs and had the presence of mind not to push when pushing was not needed or wanted. He didn't like not knowing what was going on with his friends, but they weren't going to get anywhere, not today. He had to let it go.

"For you," he changed the subject, revealing an additional roll he had stashed in wait for her, under the folded card with his name neatly printed on it. Maya gasped and received it gladly. She was a noted bread roll fiend, and they all knew it. She was also known for bringing back any leftover bread from any bread basket at restaurants, so that the perfectly good rolls wouldn't end up in the trash merely because they had already been on their table. She had picked up this trait after she'd started working at Isabel's restaurant, where it was one of their points of pride that they did their best to reduce the amount of wasted food.

"Will you think less of me for sneaking into the kitchens to find out if they bought or made these and figuring out how to get as many of them as I want?" she asked, breathing in the scent of the warm bread roll. She could have been served a plateful of these as her entire meal and she would have been happy.

"Want me to watch the door?" he asked in response, making her smile and promptly lean over to kiss him.

"Welcome to the bread roll liberation front…"

After the main course had been cleared away, Nadine had gotten up from her chair and moved along the table, to chat with those who were further away from her, while Zay did the same with the ones on other end. She stopped between Maya and Lucas, leaning in with an arm along their shoulders.

"Thank you so much for finding these guys, the food's wonderful," she told the pair of them. Tracking down a catering service that would fit Zay and Nadine's tastes and then their guests' as well had been one of the many tasks their best man and maid of honor had seen to while the bride and groom were still in Boston.

"Wait until the cake gets out," Maya told her. "You're going to want to run off, just you and Zay and that cake."

"Yeah?" Nadine chuckled.

"No, you're right, forget Zay, just grab the cake and run," Maya turned a smile toward her.

"That's more like it," Nadine gave her a small side hug before standing back up, looking out on the guests at their tables. "They seem calmer down there," she commented, nodding to the table where their friends sat. "You talked to Asher?" Maya debated if kicking the bride under the table would be appropriate.

"I did, I mean I tried."

"Yeah…" Nadine shook her head. "I tell you, if I heard about any of my sisters pulling anything like that…" she sighed. "I need to keep moving," she tapped her friends' shoulders before heading down the opposite way.

Once she was gone, Maya turned to look at Lucas, who was now looking at her. He didn't need to have it spelled out for him, he knew now that, whatever was going on between the Garcia twins, she did know the truth. She tipped her head, in a distinct sort of 'I didn't have a choice' look.

"Do I want to know?" he asked.

"Do you want to enjoy the rest of the night?" she countered. She couldn't even know what she was actually asking him. If it wasn't for what he had planned for later in the evening, he would have said to hell with it and just asked her to tell him the truth. But he had been working too long and too hard to pull off something that was now, by all accounts, no more than two or three hours away, to do anything now that might jeopardize it. He let out a breath. He wasn't going to ask. "I'll tell you tomorrow, I swear."

"Maybe wait a few days?" he suggested, without context.

"Whenever," she agreed.

The arrival of the cake had been something they had been looking forward to ever since, upon having been tasked with sampling and ordering it, Zay and Nadine had given total control. Carte blanche. Pick the flavor, pick the design, all of it. The newlyweds had never seen their cake, and when it would be rolled out into the room, they would be as surprised as the majority of their guests.

That had been a very good day, going to the bakery, trying out the cakes… Lucas suspected this had been one of the things to feed into a new sort of appreciation for baking in Maya. For as long as they had had friends who worked at a bakery back in Houston, it had been this, getting involved part of the way in the design of their friends' wedding cake, that really did it for her, leading to the now near famous success of her first attempt with GiGi's cookie recipe. After that first batch, she'd made another, bigger one, which she then went about sharing with her roommates, her friends at the university… She'd given some to Professor Robinson, who'd looked like she'd undergone the very same sort of trip far back into her childhood that the one guy in Ratatouille had experienced. In her case, it felt almost redundant to say that she had been left in a good mood for the rest of the day, but really, she'd been downright giddy. Maya had also given some to Isabel and the staff at the restaurant, and she discovered how amusing it could be to bring something unexpected to people whose entire business revolved around food.

The cake was brought out, and it had given way to a lot of camera flashes, everyone wanting to get a shot of it before it would be cut into pieces and distributed. All Lucas and Maya wanted to know was if their friends liked it. Zay was just floored by it, stunned, while Nadine was a gasp and a grin and then a lot of barely contained teetering on her feet. They loved it. There were absolutely no words to say how much.

Lucas and Maya had decided to go and have their cake at the table where their parents and siblings would be. They each of them had one of the twins in their lap as they received their plates. Nellie and Gracie, like pretty much every kid in the room, had gone up to get a closer look at the cake before it had been cut and they were both stunned that anyone would actually 'break' it, as they called it. But then they had each received their piece of it, and the smell of the cake – and the fact that it was cake – had made them forget all about the impressive structure, the better to eat every bite, every crumb, every bit of frosting left on the plate.

"I think they liked it," Tom Friar laughed when the plates were set back down almost in synch, revealing a pair of slightly cake streaked faces. The twins looked to one another, seeing the leftovers on their sister's face like they were staring in a mirror. Tiny pink tongues quickly went about attempting to salvage some of the dessert on their own faces.

"Want me to scrape you with the spoon?" Maya asked Nellie with a smirk, more so when the five-year-old presented her face at once. "Thank goodness you're weird."

There would be no face scraping, instead both Maya and Lucas would grab a napkin and go about cleaning up the small faces. They protested this, briefly, as they both saw the remains on their faces as perfectly good sugar left to be consumed, but they relented in the end when they learned that there would be another treat for them later on.

As they were eating their own cake – with the occasional bite making its way instead to the small girls with the big round eyes staring up at them – Lucas looked around the table, all these people here, his family, her family… Both his parents and hers knew that he meant to propose to Maya, though he hadn't told any of them when exactly he intended to do it. Sure, he'd told them he would do it, which went beyond what he'd meant to do in the beginning, but keeping the 'when' of it secret was his last failsafe against potentially seeing the secret come out as was so, so close to the finish line. He could just see them all now, staring at the two of them with those private smiles that didn't feel so private to him. And then later tonight, he and Maya would just disappear, and maybe they'd put two and two together. If they didn't, well, they would have something to announce them in the morning, wouldn't they? The way he saw it, this was the ideal option. They had all been so instrumental to his even getting to this point, and now they were just so very close…

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners