April 26th 2021

Chapter 116
Our Spooks For Birthdays

Maya only wished that Lucas could have seen her before she had to become flesh and blood again, shedding her 'stony' persona. But then they were on a bit of a clock, weren't they? She had to get home and get changed before his mother brought Marianne home so she could get started on the setup in and outside the house, and, well, she wasn't sure how her little pumpkin would react to seeing her all ghostly white that way. Better not to take any chances.

At least she did manage to get a kick out of her grandmother's reaction. It had to be quite an image already to anyone who would have happened to see her minivan as she drove from the school. Sitting at the wheel in statue mode, they probably wouldn't have known what to make of her. And then when she arrived and retrieved the box from the back, she walked up and into the house and nearly startled Elizabeth Hart out of her skin.

"Forgot about the…" Maya gestured at herself with one hand. She had told her grandmother about her costume before, of course, and she was really glad she'd done that now.

"Yes, looks like I did," Elizabeth breathed. "It is very effective as a costume," she complimented.

"Thanks, Gran," Maya chuckled. She carried her box to the side table, the better to grasp and pull away the object within: the swan pumpkin. "Can you take the box?" she asked her grandmother, and she came at once to do so. As Maya set the pumpkin down, she reached in to light the light once more.

"Where did you…" Elizabeth asked in awe.

"My students made it," Maya explained with a proud smile. "Now, I need to get all me again," she declared before hurrying up the stairs. She surprised a couple of dogs as she went, but they calmed down once they realized it was her.

Lucas had been lucky to have his schedule work out the way it did today, not only allowing him to see the ranch on Halloween but also to be home at the right time so that he wouldn't miss a minute of their inaugural Hallowannie fest. He walked into the house not a half hour after Maya did.

The very first thing he noticed when he came through the door was a new pumpkin on the side table. He saw the swans, and they reminded him so of the one on his arm, the one both he and Maya had added to their owl and nightingale, to represent their October-born daughter. Had she made this for her? It was really nicely done, but at the same time he sort of knew it wasn't hers. She'd been carving enough pumpkins over the last few years for him to know what her style looked like. This wasn't it, but it also reminded him of other things he'd seen so… Her students maybe? He'd see those diaries from time to time and it felt like he could almost pinpoint the artist.

"Hello?" he called up and looked around.

"Upstairs!" Maya's voice reached him. "Gran's at the Oswalds' and your mother's on the way with…" The bell rang. "Or they're here!" Maya finished her statement while Lucas was already moving back to the door and finding indeed…

"Look who it is!" Melinda Friar intoned for the excited girl in her arms. Lucas caught her up and pulled her into his arms.

"What happened to the pumpkin suit?" he asked, noticing she was in regular clothes now. She still had the tights and the little hat, but then she wore a dress covered in pumpkin and black cat print.

"Lunch happened," his mother apologized, holding up a bag. "I should have taken her out of it, I don't know what I was thinking, she was just so sweet in it and then… I got it washed, but it needed to dry on its own and it's not there yet."

"Hey, that's alright," Lucas assured her. "Solves our debate for later, and this is perfect for her birthday," he decided, straightening up the dress as he smiled. Marianne had set her hands to his face.

The swan pumpkin was a big hit with the new arrivals as well, just as it would be for everyone else who saw it over the course of the afternoon and evening. While he left his mother to bring in a few things from her car, Lucas carried Marianne up the stairs, all the better to reunite her with her mother, who would have to be just as eager for it. He was led to the bathroom by the sound of the hair drier and he found Maya there, a towel around her and her hair thrown forward while she worked through it with her brush. It was back to gold and, for having seen pictures of her statue costume, it was a wonder she'd gotten all the paint and makeup out.

"Hey!" she stopped the drier when she spotted his feet. There was definitely an intended flourish in the way she stood back upright and tossed her hair back, all the better to amuse him. As a bonus, she was surprised right back to discover Marianne was there, too. "And hello!" she laughed, taking her when Lucas passed her over. There was no one quite as giddy as the birthday girl in seeing the people she loved, especially her parents, and they only wished she knew how much good she did them when she reacted the way she did. "Did you have too much fun at Granny Mel's?" she observed with a smile, noticing the dress.

"Something like that," Lucas confirmed.

"Alright then, we'll just have to do something about that. But not just yet. We've got something else first, don't we?"

The rush for transformations would not happen for a little while more, and it would definitely be a rush, if they wanted to be ready before the kids started to arrive for the games and the maze and the candy. But then they weren't about to let the other big event of the day get overshadowed, were they?

"So, what, did you forget all about me now?" Maya teased Sam when he came along. Her brother had barely stepped through the doorway and said hello that he had already relieved her of her daughter. Maya couldn't exactly refuse him, could she, when Marianne herself was over the moon to see her uncle.

"Is it your birthday?" Sam teased right back.

"Yeah, do you need me to rewind to last January and jog your memory?"

"Sorry, I'm busy," he gestured to Marianne as though to say, 'you understand, right?' Maya chuckled and hugged her brother.

Not everyone would get to make it in time for this part. Some would still be on the road from Houston, while others wouldn't have gotten off work yet or would have made a detour to drop off a child with grandparents or neighbors. But the ones that remained would absolutely be here to share in a small birthday celebration with the one-year-old, complete with gifts, and dinner, and cake. In among friends were aunts and uncles – the little Hunters and Sam and Cara – and grandparents – the Friars and Shawn and Katy, who had managed to make it back to Texas for the occasion – and great grandparents who'd then retreat to the Hunter Hart house for the evening.

"Living up to that name more and more every day, aren't you, pumpkin?" Shawn inquired of his granddaughter as he held her and observed her outfit.

There would be times when Maya worried that Marianne would not get to form a proper bond to her grandparents out in Los Angeles, for how little she got to actually see them in person. Shawn would travel out at least once a month to see them all, and that would be great, but then there'd be all those weeks in between, wouldn't there? And Katy… Her role on Heal Thyself had only been getting bigger as time went on, so as long as they were filming, her chances to travel out were minimal at best. And then when they had been on hiatus, in between seasons, she had been able to return to Austin for more extended periods, but eventually she'd be gone again. In the middle of all this, Marianne was still just so small that it was hard to expect for her to retain much of an impression, unlike with those people she got to see on a more regular basis.

But then even if they couldn't see each other, they would call one another, and they'd get to see each other across screens. It wasn't ideal, but it worked a lot better than nothing at all, and when those two would come on the screen, oh, how she would squeal. Sometimes, it was difficult to know if she understood that these were her grandparents and not just a couple of very nice people on something that could have been the television, who also knew her name. If they wanted to see how well she did recognize them, reunions like these were all they'd ever need. Her grandfather had her in his arms, and she was ecstatic.

"She's really loving that beard," Katy declared, looking as though just being in the same room as her daughter and granddaughter was already lifting her spirits in ways she couldn't put into words.

"Between him and her other grandpa, and her great grandfathers, it's no wonder," Maya chuckled, all the while stealing a look to her husband.

Lucas did not miss the message, not with her practically flashing neon lights at him. With Halloween upon them, and the start of their barreling down toward Christmas in next to no time, the matter of whether he'd let his own facial hair grow out again, for Santa purposes, was now being raised into the spotlight.

"You just want me to grow out the beard again because you like it, don't you?" he whispered at her ear when he got the chance. It made her smirk as she looked back to him.

"No one's denying anything here," she innocently shook her head. "For example, I could say that you like seeing me like the beard, in whatever way I choose to express it."

"No one's denying," he echoed, sealing the exchange with a kiss.

The dinner was such a lively event, one would have thought it was Thanksgiving, or Christmas… The presence of several of their guests already in full costume only added a layer of amusement around the crowded kitchen. Already on its first iteration, Hallowannie had the promise of being an even better day than they'd anticipated. They already couldn't wait for the next one.

The whole thing ended with the cake, and the birthday girl finished up her party within a party with cake and frosting well along her face, and her hands, and her arms…

"Well, now, Miss Marianne, I had no idea you wanted to go as a birthday cake for Halloween this year," Lucas informed his sticky and smiling daughter as he carried her up the stairs. Maya was already setting up to get started with everyone's makeup where it was required. Everyone who was ready and able would head outside ahead of the first trick-or-treaters' arrival, and the others would follow as they'd be ready to go. "Later, you and me and your mom, we'll go walk through the maze. You're a little too small for the games, but then we'll have some music, and dancing… You like the dancing, don't you? Now, the candy… Well, your mom and I will be more than happy to look after that for you."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners