March 27th 2021

Chapter 86
Our Summer of Collaboration

Lucas had always held a special appreciation for those mornings when he got to wake up before Maya did. He would get to hold his sleeping wife and feel the breath rise and fall in her, and he would see the expression on her face and wonder what dreams of epic proportion were playing through her mind. And then sometimes, it would feel like some perfect storm, as he'd wake up and find her still sleeping on a morning that was already unlike most others. That was what happened on the morning of July 2nd, the morning of their third wedding anniversary.

"You were watching me, weren't you?" he heard her mumbling, and he smiled.

"Uh-huh," Lucas confirmed, pulling her nearer even as she turned halfway toward him, eyes still working toward some agreement to open.

"Kiss," she requested, gesturing loosely toward her lips. He gladly obliged, and under his kiss she seemed to climb further and further out of slumber.

"Better?" he asked, and she nodded with a contented little smile that just made him want to kiss her some more. "Wish I could stay with you today," he breathed, while she turned to lie on her back proper and motioned for him to rest his head at her shoulder, which he did. She got to hold him now, and he got to listen to her heart, so all in all, it was a pretty good way to start the day.

"Makes two of us," Maya promised, trailing her fingers along his arm. "But hey, tonight you'll come home, and I'll make sure you won't even remember the part where you were gone."

"A lot of plans, huh?" Lucas chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, you know me."

"Thankfully, I do," he confirmed, which earned him a kiss to the forehead. "You'll be pretty busy today, too, won't you?"

"Very much so, yes. And unless Baby Boy Garcia gets any ideas to imitate his future BFF Nicky, we shouldn't get interrupted by a session of hospital waiting room sitting-in." Chiara still had a month to go and some, so really it was preferred by all parties for her not to have this baby just yet.

"Let me know how it goes with your special guest?" Lucas looked up at her.

"See, you say it like that, and it just sounds wrong," Maya smirked. "He is a seventeen-year-old boy, and you're making it sound like some secret, forbidden tryst. My… trysting days are over, Husband," she intoned, and he laughed.

"Yeah, I'm hearing it now. Okay… Let me know how it goes today… Mary Poppins?" he offered in replacement, and the burst of laughter it brought from her was as delightful to him as it was disruptive to the previously sleeping Marianne, who woke and announced her displeasure in a crying fit. Now, the day was left no choice but to begin.

After Lucas had gone off to the ranch, Maya spent what time she had left until her visitors would arrive sitting on the couch with Marianne, going over everything for today. Specifically, she looked over a pair of songs. One was for today, the other for tonight, and they both mattered in their own way.

The arrival was much more subdued here, compared to the night of the senior prom. François Lejeune, aka The Young Frank, arrived with his mother/manager alone, and it felt to Maya like she was really dealing with the boy today, more than the artist, even though they were to do music together. It presented him in another light which further convinced Maya that he was just the kind of person she would enjoy working with.

"Hello, welcome," she greeted them, and she had to figure that she was presenting herself 'off duty,' too, dressed lightly for the summer heat and carrying her daughter perched in one arm. It certainly continued to help Luce Lejeune situate Maya in her mind. It didn't take much to see how she managed her son's career with the sole determination to protect him and not let him get taken down a path away from what really drove him, which was the music. On that, everyone here was in agreement.

Now, she was welcomed into the song writer's home, and on seeing the baby girl she reflexively smiled and relaxed, greeting Marianne with sweet French words. François had the look to him like he was a kid who didn't know how to be around babies, like he'd be afraid to be asked to hold one for fear of doing something wrong. It kind of amused his mother and Maya both.

As she led them out through the house, Maya asked after this latest trip across the ocean, and how he was doing with his brief tour so far. They encountered the dogs in the kitchen, and the boy showed a more significant affinity with canines than babies all at once. Marianne was left with her great grandmother, and they moved out to the Hex.

"This is your studio?" François asked in amazement before they even got through the door. When they entered, he looked excited, eager to start, and she didn't keep him waiting. They'd been corresponding ever since the prom when they'd agreed to do this song together. She hadn't expected for it to come so soon, but she was ready, and all the back and forth between them had created something she was just eager to see brought to life.

Maya and Luce sat at the console as François prepared himself, warmed up, practiced. Maya mentioned how today was her anniversary, and how she and Lucas had spent their honeymoon in Paris. This got them off on a great conversation which finally had to end when The Young Frank was ready to give the song a first go.

They took their time, working at it, crafting it until all three of them were satisfied with the result. By the time the visitors left, they looked forward to future opportunities together. After seeing them off up the lane, Maya trailed back to the studio. One down, one to go… It kind of felt right for them to have come today of all days. Alright, fine, she could have done with them coming pretty much any other day than the anniversary, but at the same time…

It had a way of calling back the wedding, the honeymoon most of all, with this France connection. It reminded her of the very first song she and Lucas had done together, the start of this tradition between them. And it reminded her of last year's anniversary, when the tour had just so happened to have them back there, at about the right time.

When she stepped back into the Hex, she sat down and pulled up their previous anniversary songs. These were tracks no one but the two of them had ever heard and would ever hear. They had not been made for anyone else but them. Then again… She could see herself sharing these with Marianne someday, her and any other children they'd be so lucky as to have.

She was still listening to them when Lucas, upon returning home and learning where she was, came over to join her. He was greeted with the sound of their two voices, as recorded over their first anniversary together. There was one more song than there had been actual anniversaries, technically speaking, as they'd done the first of these after their honeymoon. Maya almost hit pause to silence the song before she realized it was him and she just smiled, sinking back into her chair.

"Well, if it isn't my special guest," she declared, with an arch to her eyebrow which felt as though it came right for his soul. The choice of words here was very deliberate in calling back the morning's conversation. And she'd been right, hadn't she? He'd missed her all day, but now he was back, and it was like he'd never left.

"Wouldn't that mean I'm not staying after this?" he waved his hand toward the booth.

"Yeah, no, you're not going anywhere," she agreed. "You're still definitely… very, very special."

"That I'll take," he smiled, approached, and leaned in to kiss her. "Song now or…?"

"Might be a good idea," Maya nodded. "Not like I'm trying to get it over and done with, but then this way we get to be back at the house if there's anything with Marianne once we go."

"Great," Lucas moved to sit in the second chair at the console, presenting himself sitting up straight like an attentive student. She snorted. "You know I look forward to this part every year," he told her.

"I'm starting to see that, yeah," she nodded. "And I look forward to seeing you look forward, because I do, too." He held out his hands. Song, please? Maya reached for the pages and deposited them as requested.

Of all the things that made her look forward to their yearly tradition, one of them was just to get to notice how much he was picking up from one to the other. He could read the sheet music now, and he played the guitar like someone who could really make it his own, not just follow to lessons. Even his singing was getting to be something that gave her hearts extra flutters. It was so him, so… Huckleberry. And when he'd sing to Marianne… She could practically feel his love for their daughter in his voice, and it almost had her crying a couple of times.

Every year, every song was very much a reflection of the extra year of married life they were celebrating, so each one was so easy to recognize for where it belonged, as unique as the next. Last year, of course, their lives had been propelled down this new path toward parenthood, and it showed in the song they had recorded in Paris, in the midst of the For Start tour. This year… This year and its song were both just loaded to the brim with Marianne, as it could only ever be. To not include her in this way would have been a very poor and extremely faulty depiction of what the year had meant for them. It was also very much about Lucas and her, and to put it all together… Oh, it had become one of her favorite compositions before they'd ever recorded a single note.

She knew Lucas felt the same way about it, with how she saw his face while he read the lyrics, and the melody along with them. He had tears in his eyes, and far be it for her to actually intend on making her husband cry, it got her started, too. He finished reading and took a moment more before lifting his eyes back to meet hers. He let out a shaky laugh, seeing she was in much the same shape as he was.

"It's not even nepotism anymore, you are my very favorite song writer ever," he shook his head, gathering his emotions.

"I'll take it," she nodded, brushing tears from her eyes. Lucas set the pages down on the console, reaching for the sides of her chair to roll it closer to his until he could pull her into his arms. She melted into his kiss, felt as though he might have been singing to her already. She could catch every word, and she responded to each one in kind, creating harmony with him as could only exist by their collaboration. "I think when we're done with the song, we need to let Marianne hear it, hear all of them. She does love music…"

"Now, where did she get that from?" Lucas smiled, kissing her once more.

"Both of us, naturally."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners