April 7th 2021

Chapter 97
Our Turn to Release

With the days slipping away one after the other, taking them closer and closer to the start of school, to her return to work, Maya continued on her campaign to spend all the time she could with Marianne. Sometimes she worried that she might have been making things worse for her, like the girl would get so used to having her nearby in that end run, and when she wouldn't be around her all through those weekdays, it would leave her feeling anguish and confusion. What was she supposed to do though, just hide from her and let her get used to that? What would it help?

That morning, after Lucas left for Sullivan Stables, Maya settled the baby in her stroller, and they took off for a walk. She took her around the land surrounding their home, along the pumpkin patch, toward the lake, before circling around again, visiting Sanderson Farm, and starting back up the lane. Marianne was awake through about half of it before she went and dozed off for the rest of it.

As they were nearing the house, Maya spotted a car parked out front. She didn't recognize it as belonging to anyone she knew, and she'd soon realize this was because the car was a rental. She was still coming up when the driver emerged from the front. Maya smiled.

"No one was home, I was about to call you…" Ree smiled as well, coming to meet them halfway. She hugged Maya and was hugged back before pulling away to get a look into the stroller. "Oh, now, let's not wake you, little love…" she whispered, turning a fond look back to her friend and colleague.

"I didn't know you were in town… or in the country," Maya stated as they moved toward the house.

"And if anybody asks, I am not," Ree held up a finger before moving ahead and helping Maya lift the stroller on to the porch. "Bit of a surprise appearance coming up. Not telling you where or when."

"Got it," Maya laughed.

"And, well, I had time to make a detour, wasn't about to waste it…"

"Or you would have ended up with a new guitar before you went home?" Maya teased, which only made Ree laugh. She had to control herself quickly so not to wake the baby.

"You know me too well," Ree finally nodded.

"I am happy to be your… disabler," Maya promised. They moved into the kitchen, where Maya went about gathering something to drink and eat for the both of them before joining Ree at the table. Marianne was in her arms now, as she'd just woken up again, and the singer had started to hum and sing at her to keep her soothed. To this day, Ree's voice had a distinct effect on her, like recognition, a memory from so far away.

"I have to say, I had no worries that you'd come back in style after your pause, but I am really amazed. You just came bursting out again this summer, didn't you?" Maya had to laugh, not knowing how else to put it. "I'm serious!" Ree grinned. "Do you understand how big The Young Frank is back there? Oh, he's got a solid fanbase out here, but they might as well be one small cluster compared to France, and the UK. He's really coming up in Germany… That song you did with him, you've seen the charts?"

"I… yeah, I have…" Maya had to admit. Saying it was doing well would also have been an understatement. Back here, the Marvelers' song, that was really taking off, too, which Ree did not miss pointing out. And all the while, she just had that proud look going about her, filling Maya with humble, fluttering butterflies.

"I've been most excited to hear your voice on new music though," she went on, momentarily distracted by Marianne's tipping back to look at her. Ree gave her a funny face and was rewarded with laughter like melody.

"I've been really excited about that, too. Being back with the band, I mean, back on stage, and recording…" Maya nodded, providing her own bit of baby entertainment as her daughter looked at her again.

"I hear that," Ree nodded emphatically. "And the album?"

"Actually, you're not the only one with surprises today," Maya smiled, more so as she saw the curious look on the woman's face.

"You're releasing it today, aren't you? A week ahead, you sneaky thing," she finally laughed.

"In a few hours," Maya confirmed. "I can give you a sneak peek, it's only fair…"

"I did come all this way," Ree played into it, even as Maya could see… She was genuinely looking forward to hearing the new songs.

With plates and glasses emptied, they made their way out into the Hex. Ree quickly noticed a few things had been altered and Maya went on to explain the bit of lowkey baby proofing she and Lucas had worked to perform on the small studio. With Marianne crawling along as she did now, with more confidence by the day, and Maya spending more time here, bringing her along from time to time, they wanted to make sure she wouldn't accidentally hurt herself. There wasn't so much space for her to go around, but still they made sure that the booth door would be closed securely to keep her out, which was the biggest thing. Then the rest was all about spotting any and all potential dangers and dealing with them. It kind of felt better to her if she was honest. And it signalled this return as being in the new era of her life.

"No, no wandering around for you this time, pumpkin," Maya summoned her most soothing tones as Marianne was already showing that she wanted to be on the ground while her mother went and put the small headphones over her ears. "It's about to be a bit loud in here, too loud for those little ears of yours. It's a good look on you," she went on, laughing at the way her daughter tried to process this thing on her head. It wasn't the first time they'd put those on her, and still she received them each time with curiosity.

As the whole thing had been coming together, Maya couldn't stop thinking about the first time she and the rest of the band had put out an actual album full of their own songs. That was already over a decade ago, which continued to be so strange of a concept to all of them to this day. More than anything, it wasn't the number of years that tripped her up, no. But she'd be sitting here, in her little studio, her wonderful space, with the instruments, the booth, the console, all the things on the walls and in the binders on the shelves, and she would remember… Once upon a time, they'd done it all with what felt like next to nothing by comparison.

"I used to go to my cousin's house, because he had a computer where I could actually record myself singing and make CDs, unlike the ancient little thing we had at home," Ree reflected after Maya mentioned all this. "We all start somewhere," she smiled.

"Yeah," Maya breathed, looking around.

"All that matters is that wherever you are on the other end, it still makes you feel the same way it did when you were at the start." She didn't need to look again to know the answer here. She just smiled and looked back to Ree, and it was very clear that she still felt that love as she did, now more than ever. "There you are then," Ree smiled back with a nod. "Now, if you will be so kind…" she gestured to the console with one hand, all the while keeping Marianne balanced on her lap.

"Right, yeah," Maya laughed before pulling up the album to play over the studio speakers.

She didn't feel nearly as nervous as she used to feel, when she'd let someone on Ree Forster's level hear her music for the first time. As much as she remained secure in feeling the ground under her feet, she knew that in many people's eyes now she was rising up there. She might not have been so high as her, no, and if she ever got there, it wouldn't be for a number of years, but she was far enough above ground level as to be visible, knowable. If she didn't assume it, if she just kept holding herself back because she was 'just a normal person,' then how far could she really go? She knew who she was, and that was never going to change. But she was out in this other world, too, and she needed to act like it.

Was she still at least a respectable level of nervous? Oh, sure, absolutely. She still had those feelings when she let anyone listen to one of her songs for the first time. Even her parents. Even her friends. Even Lucas. Possibly, Ree saw this in her, as she returned her Marianne to hold as they listened, and it gave her that extra bit of courage she needed.

Once they actually started, Maya would find herself watching Ree's face as she listened, and her posture, too. It was always different with other singers, other musicians. They didn't listen the same way others might. Lucas, who had been learning so much in recent years, would tell her how he picked up on things now that he didn't spot before. He was so happy when he got to bring one to her attention, and Maya would just smile for how sweetly that expression settled on his face.

Ree listened to the whole thing before making any kind of comment. She'd shown some reactions along the way, tapping her feet, moving her hands almost as though playing an invisible guitar, nodding her head along a lot of the time… When the two songs they'd already released came on, she showed immediate recognition and even started to sing along, which made Maya very happy. When the last of the songs finished, Maya stopped the player and freed Marianne of her headphones. She tried to grab at them while her mother casually brushed her hair back into place.

"I have to say… I'm a little jealous about a few of those," Ree turned her finger about, as though she might be able to point to the music previously coming from the speakers. "Actually, let's not be modest here, I'm a little jealous about all of those," she amended, and Maya laughed. "I can see you in all of those songs and I love it," Ree told her. She looked so happy to be involved here, and to Maya it felt like the happy medium between what she felt when her friends accomplished something and what she felt when it was one of her students.

"I'm really glad you do," Maya told her.

"You and your girls, you just go on and keep doing things exactly as you are doing them now," Ree nodded. For knowing how so many people would still tell her or the others in the band about how they should get signed to some label, how it was somehow so important in their journey, when what was really, actually important to all of them was that they got to keep living their lives the way they were, and to keep doing their music the way they were doing it… The words meant a lot to Maya, and she said as much to her friend and fellow artist. "Good," Ree beamed. "I wish you the best of release days, darling, I do. Now, you wouldn't happen to have…" she boxed her hands in a shape that Maya understood. She laughed.

"Physical copies are there in that box," she nodded, laughing some more for the way Ree got to her feet, practically hopping off her chair.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners