March 13th 2021

Chapter 72
Our Wait For Time

"What is that look on your face right now?" Lucas asked Maya. He'd woken up that May morning to find that his little spoon of a wife had turned around while he slept, all the better to be face to face with him. And now she was staring at him like she had something on her mind, something to figure out.

"I guess I'm just… curious," she stated, propping up her head in the palm of her hand. He already had a feeling like she was about to make a joke here, and knowing what day it was… well, it only made it easier to get lost in a smile. His hand was left to pitter patter at the small of her back.

"Curious about what?" he finally humored her. The look on her face suggested she'd been waiting for this prompt to carry on.

"This is the last of your birthdays as a twenty-something," she informed him, as though he didn't already know.

"Uh huh," he slowly nodded, humoring her some more. It was true after all. Today was his twenty-ninth birthday.

"Well, it's just interesting, you know?"

"Not sure, but I have a feeling you do," he smiled as she drew herself closer, kissed him sweetly once, twice, and a few more times after that. She looked like she wanted to do so much more right here but had to restrain herself.

"Boggles the mind, that's all," she hummed.

"Why do I have a feeling that wasn't the way you were headed a minute ago?" Lucas asked, holding her gaze. Now she definitely looked like she was trying to hold back some fire.

"We all have things to do today, you know how it is," Maya innocently shrugged. He didn't look so convinced, but then knowing what she'd initially been thinking about, getting to mess with her about it… Now that really started to make things interesting.

"But it's my birthday," he 'complained,' which made her snort.

"I can't argue with that one, I do play that card on mine…" she reflected. "And you're always… very accommodating," she tipped her head now.

"I'm a generous man," Lucas stated. Maya made a noise to say, 'and what am I?' "You… are a gift just for being right here with me," he finally added, and she gave a slightly over-dramatic 'why thank you' expression, which had them both laughing before meeting in a kiss that kept them pressed to one another for a merry minute or two before Marianne started to cry and they stopped.

"Someone else wants to say happy birthday," Maya breathed. Lucas nodded, kissed her once more, and rose out of bed to go and find the little one in her crib.

"Morning, pumpkin girl," he lifted the six-month-old and brought her to sit comfortably in his arms.

He found on this day that it was hard not to encounter that bit of middle ground where, on the one hand, he couldn't believe how fast she was growing and was left wishing that she'd stay small forever, but then on the other hand… He just knew that in a couple years' time, she would be all up in whatever birthday shenanigans Maya would get up to, and it would fill his heart to bursting to see the both of them in this excitement. For now, he could just tell himself that the rest would come in time, and right here, today, he could happily enjoy what he had, because it was so… so very good.

"So, tonight, no staying late, no detours, you come right back, okay?" Maya requested as she sat on the bed with Marianne while he got ready for the day.

"Do I need to give you a signal when I'm almost home?" Lucas asked, smiling back at them.

"No, that shouldn't… Well, actually, that might be a good idea, yeah… Yeah, do that," she finally nodded firmly.

"Top of the lane or leaving the ranch?"

"Lane's fine, it's just going to be the five of us today… probably your parents, too, though… and maybe your grandparents… Mine might decide to show, so that'd be the little Hunters, too…" she thought out loud.

"So, leaving the ranch?" he guessed.

"Yes, please," Maya smirked, more so as she could see how Marianne was keeping a close watch on her father, her head turning this way and that wherever he went. And when he saw her and walked over, she was a giddy little thing, hands reaching out for him until he plopped down and came crawling up toward her on his elbows. Soon, she had her hands on his face while he went and peppered her cheek with kisses, which treated him and Maya both to the sweet, sweet sounds of her laughter.

"Best birthday already," he informed the pair of them. Now he could head out to the ranch for the day, with this memory in his heart and mind.

Once he was gone, Maya needed to move into action at once. She had a lot to do today. She would have gotten a lot of it done ahead of time, but then time had gotten away from her. Somehow, they had made it to the middle of May already, which meant a lot of things were happening, while others were getting closer by the day. A lot of it had to do with school, even if she was still on leave. The basketball seasons were drawing to a close, and she was eternally present for the matches, just as she was always happy to help in what way she could with events related to the teams, if they needed advice or directions to some resource or another. Then there was the quiz team, and their matches – both friendly and official – and their events. She was also doing her extra coaching thing when it was needed. And on top of that, there was the whole business of the senior trip and the grudge fund, requiring her input again. And there were the diaries… and the upcoming field trips… and in no time, she'd be looking into the upcoming fall and the new school year, her return to work…

It sounded like a lot, but it really wasn't. It wasn't all of what was keeping her occupied. Obviously, she had Lucas and Marianne, and her sister and her grandmother here, and the band (unofficially) and her other music (lowkey, very unofficially while still on leave), and being present for the rest of her family, and her friends. And there was Riley.

The baby was due… well, five days ago.

The due date had come around, and early in the morning she'd gotten a call, so she'd assumed it was The Moment. Both she and Lucas had jumped out of bed and started to hurry to get dressed… only for Maya to realize her best friend of old was merely calling her to ask if she'd come over and spend the day with her 'just in case' while Dylan was at work. Just because it was the day did not mean that it would be The Day. The Orlandos had been on alert for the last three weeks or so, on the assumption that the baby might come early. But the days had carried on, and Nicky was a no show.

Maya had spent that day with her friend, as agreed. She'd spent the day after that out with her, too. And the one after that… and the one after that… She'd spent the last five days with Riley, and still no baby. They had been fun days, not to be mistaken. They'd spent most of those either on the couch, watching television, and movies, or in the kitchen, trying new recipes, figuring that having some things ready to heat up in the days and weeks to come would not be a bad idea. They'd reminisced over old memories of childhood, and Riley had tried – and failed – to get Maya to tell her what delivery had felt like.

"You will be in a hospital, where you will get something for the pain. Trust me, you don't want my way," Maya had told her, and Riley had left it at that.

Last night, when she'd been about to leave, Riley had told her to skip coming over. It would be Lucas' birthday and she knew that being at the house with her had kept Maya from getting things done the way she wanted to, so she would get someone else to hang out with her this time.

"Who knows, maybe that'll be the thing to make it happen," she suggested.

Her smile tried to say optimism, but it mostly came out like desperation. Maya understood this very well. She'd had Marianne a couple weeks before her due date and she'd already gotten to the point where she was tired of being pregnant and needed to have the baby out of her as soon as possible. Riley had not only reached her due date she had surpassed it, and she was getting very antsy about it. She'd gotten to the point where she sought out any and all ways to get the ball rolling – within reason – but so far nothing had worked. With any luck, maybe this change in routine would bait Nicholas Orlando into being born.

"I'm going to hope for your sake that it does," Maya told her.

That was all good and fine, and she genuinely wished it for her friend, but she still had to act on the assumption that today would just be today, and she would finish it with a birthday dinner for Lucas. That meant she needed to get on with her errands, and then start preparing for the meal.

She made it as far as the turning at the end of the lane before she started to feel… something, in the back of her mind. It told her that she wanted to check on Riley. It was silly, wasn't even like she thought she'd suddenly go into labor now, but she'd been spending nearly the whole of a week with her now, and it felt weird to have stopped all of a sudden, when the baby hadn't even come yet.

"How did you know?" Riley asked when she answered the call. The tone in her voice made Maya frown even as she checked to ensure there was no one coming up behind her on the lane, as uncommon as it was.

"Honey, are you okay?" she asked.

"Oh, well, depends on how you look at it," Riley replied. She sounded on the edge of frantic, a bit out of breath, and the way it called up an image of herself sitting on her bathroom floor, Maya suddenly understood.

"Wait, right now?" she asked, blinking, even as she drove on, far enough to then turn around and head back up the lane and toward the house.

"Wasn't sure for a while, I-I thought maybe it'd be a false alarm, but I'm sure now," Riley breathed.

"You're not alone, are you?"

"No, no, my mom's here, she's working from here today, or she was… She's getting my things together and we're leaving for the hospital in a minute… I'm so glad you called…"

"Look, I was just leaving the house, I'm going back to drop off Marianne with my grandmother and then I'm meeting you out there, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Do you need me to pick anyone up on the way? Dylan…"

"He's meeting us there, too. Oh, can you get my dad?" Riley asked, the thought coming to her. Maya imagined herself, striding into school, pulling Cory Matthews out of class with the news that he was about to be a grandfather. She chuckled.

"It'll be my pleasure. See you there, okay? Deep breaths. Love you."

"Love you, too!"

They hung up just as she was able to get out of the minivan to open the back. Elizabeth was already on the porch, likely curious about her return. There was no time to lose. She quickly explained, kissed Marianne goodbye, and then she was back on the road. She put in a call to Lucas.

"Hey, I was…" he started. She cut him off, smiling to herself.

"So, birthday twist…"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners