May 11th 2021

Chapter 131
Our Wonders For Family

"She's awake…" Maya mumbled, eyes barely opening.

"It's morning," Lucas mumbled back, drawing her nearer and smiling as he felt her let out a contented breath for the hold.

"Already?"

"Afraid so. But it's Christmas Eve…"

"All the more reason to get to sleep in a while longer," Maya reasoned.

"Try and tell her that," Lucas pointed out. It made Maya grumble and he responded by kissing her shoulder, advancing with his lips finding her neck, her throat, her chin, and finally her lips as she had moved to turn herself and meet this kiss. He was delighted with her laughter as she came further and further awake, arms snaked around him as she kissed him back.

"Very convincing, Friar," she declared.

"All a matter of knowing what works for a person in a given situation," Lucas tipped his head with humility.

"Uh huh," Maya smirked. "I'd be curious to know what you'd do if you needed a big favor, but I'm not sure the little elf over there will be patient for much longer." They both looked to the crib as one, finding as predicted that their daughter, in her elfin PJs – as gifted by Pappy Joe and Patty – was standing up and holding the rail as she stared back at them. Now that they were looking, too, she squealed and gave them her version of a wave, which involved closing and opening her fingers at them. "See?" Maya looked back to Lucas. He kissed her once more before climbing out of bed and almost jogging to the crib, swooping Marianne up, much to the one-year-old's giddiness.

"How can I resist that face?" he beamed, pressing several kisses to her cheek. "Going to eat it," he 'threatened' as he carried her back to the bed.

"I think you can keep it together until breakfast," Maya laughed. Rather than carrying her all the way, Lucas set Marianne down at the foot of the mattress, and at once she set herself to crawling toward her mother's open arms, there to be taken up into her embrace. "Morning, pumpkin," Maya brushed blond hair from the girl's face. "Mommy and Daddy are tired this morning, yes, but don't worry. It's Christmas Eve, and we're here together. Suddenly, we're very awake."

They had been up until nearly three in the morning, putting finishing touches on the preparations for Sam and Dora's wedding. It wasn't until the next day, no, but they had gone into this past month with the intent of having Christmas Eve to themselves, as they would any year, before heading into the next day and all that it would involve. For that to happen, they needed to finish everything on the eve of the eve, didn't they?

They had been up very late, but the same wasn't so for the rest of the household, and so when they headed down to the kitchen, they were enticed onward by the scent of sweet things and salty ones, of enough great food that it left their stomachs to growl with hunger. They could hear voices, too, many more than there should have been when there should only have been the one. Cara had spent the night at Mateo's. She had invited him to be with her at her brother's wedding and at Christmas by association, and so he had invited her to spend the eve with him and his family.

Rather than finding only Granny Lizzie in the kitchen, Maya, Lucas, and Marianne came upon Katy, Shawn, the little Hunters, and the Clutterbucket grandparents along with Elizabeth.

"You're awake!" MJ was the first to spot them and he immediately hurried to greet his sister.

"Hey!" Maya laughed, hugging him good. "Wasn't expecting you guys out here this morning, we would have…"

"Well, I saw how late you two stayed up last night, so it didn't look likely you'd be up all bright eyed, so a change of plans sounded reasonable," Granny Lizzie explained while the Hunter girls crowded around along with their brother. Lucas eventually relinquished Marianne into the arms of eleven-year-old Aunt Gracie, so he might go and wish a merry eve to his in-laws.

"Yeah, it was a night," Maya gave a tired chuckle.

She smiled, seeing her siblings so eager around their niece, before moving into her mother's waiting embrace. She and Shawn had only arrived back from Los Angeles a couple days ago, after the cast party, and this was the first time she got to see them since then. Much as she was their child, too, she had deferred this title in favor of letting her young siblings get as much time with their mother and father as possible. They would have missed them both that much more, wouldn't they? But now they were here and… Oh, she was so relieved to have them back for a little while.

"Worth it though?" Katy asked, giving her daughter a sympathetic squeeze at the shoulder.

"Everything's all set, so now it just needs to be tomorrow and…"

"Can we eat now?" Haley cut in. The six-year-old was generally patient when she was given a valid reason to be, but it was getting harder to stay that way when she could smell all the food, and no one could fault her for it when they smelled it, too.

"Yeah, sounds good," Shawn poked at the top of her head, making her squeak and dodge before hurrying to her seat giggling. He made as though he'd come back at her, presenting his outstretched finger and everything, and she tried to make herself small, pressing both her hands over her head. Her grin said enough to suggest to anyone that this was a game the two of them enjoyed repeatedly, and it was.

Both Shawn and Katy could see too well that the separation brought on by Katy's job would weigh on the children, and they both made certain to have their own things with their young daughters and son, a routine, or a joke, a hobby… It was as needed as it was appreciated, on both sides of the divide.

Breakfast gave way to presents, another concession to their schedule as it was, with the wedding the following day. They found no complaints whatsoever, from the children especially. This included a visit from Santa Claus himself, and Haley Hunter would do her very best to get the jolly man to stay longer once he was ready to depart. He'd come right when Lucas had been forced to go off on an errand, and he should get to be there while Santa was around, too, shouldn't he? Unfortunately, he needed to go. He'd made a special detour for them, but he would soon be going on his great circuit around the world, and he had a lot to do.

So, after leaving the youngest Hunter with a great big hug and a message to poor unfortunate Lucas, Santa departed out the front door, at which point Haley's parents would go ahead and observe these new presents of their daughter's closely with her. A minute later, Nellie and Gracie would spy their brother-in-law sneaking in through the back door, in the kitchen. He carried a bundle of hat and coat, while the gold-rimmed glasses sat on top of his sprayed hair, which matched his beard. The girls stifled their laughter as best they could, while Lucas held a finger to his lips. They kept guard as he snuck down to the basement.

Several minutes later, returned to his previous outfit and with the white spray washed away from his hair and beard, Lucas snuck from the basement, back out the kitchen door, and arrived through the front door again, bag in hand.

"Sorry, that took longer than I thought it would," he told everyone, coming off out of breath. Seconds later, he was nearly knocked down with the immediate intervention of his sister-in-law. She had a message from Santa.

"This is probably going to be the last year for her, isn't it?" Maya breathed, later on, after their guests had gone on their way and they were allowed a few minutes' breather. They were heading to the elder Friars' tonight. They would see them all the next day again, of course, but never would Melinda Friar pass up a chance to host.

"Last year?" Lucas asked, not following.

"Haley, believing in… you know who," Maya explained, hesitating as she looked to Marianne, sitting peacefully in her lap, and leaned to kiss the top of her head. What could she understand at this point?

"Yeah, probably," Lucas nodded as he understood. Reflexively, he scratched at his beard, looked at his fingers. He always expected to find some residue of the paint. It made Maya smirk and reach to do the same. "Not sure how long I'll keep it," he told her.

"Hey, as long as you want to," she teased.

"Didn't imagine you'd argue against that," Lucas smiled. "And for Haley, well, it had to happen sooner or later. Now we've got her," he looked to Marianne, who had turned her head to look at him now. She had on the little hat which was a gift from Uncle MJ. The pointed ears were a bit big on her, but they worked very well.

"Santa is real," Maya leaned in to whisper at her with a smile of her own.

The better to make the most of their time, they would be spending the night at Thomas and Melinda's, so that they could spend more time with them and save some in the morning. When they arrived, Marianne and her hat were well received and became a big hit among the grandparents and great grandparents, uncles, and cousins. There was a minor incident as Duke the dog got hold of the hat and ran off with it, sending its bearer in a fit of tears while the Sullivan-Reyes girls went on a chase. The hat was thankfully retrieved intact and soon returned to sit atop the blond head. Poor Duke was left to realize he'd done something wrong and spent the rest of the evening sitting near wherever Marianne sat, as though attempting to gain her forgiveness. He didn't have to work hard for it. By the end of the evening, the girl was lying asleep on the floor, huddled with her grandparents' dog.

The big takeaway of the evening – beyond Duke and the elf hat – was the news they got out of Michael and Keith. Lucas' uncles had been giving every indication as of late that they were considering another adoption. When they stood now with the look of making an announcement, Maya and Lucas both figured this would be it. It had to do with children, yes, but not exactly adoption. They were looking to become foster parents. Whether this would at any time lead to an adoption, there was no telling, but they felt very strongly that this was the next step for them, and everyone else could see it as a great direction, too. Lea, Lara, and Lydia were as surprised as they were looking forward to what the future would bring into their family and their home.

Before turning in for the night, Maya and Lucas checked in with both Sam and Dora. The former was spending the night at the apartment while the latter would be at her parents' home. The next time they would see each other would be as they stood before Lucas and said their vows. They were a pack of nerves, each of them in their own ways, but when it came down to it, the nerves were nothing next to how much they just wanted to be married. Dora had promised to text Sam in the morning, to let him know all was well. He'd been so good with her when the sickness would come.

"My baby brother is getting married…" Maya sighed as she settled at Lucas' side that night, in his old room. They had Marianne in between them, something they decided would be a good Christmas morning tradition to have, for however many years their daughter would lend herself to it.

"Breathe," Lucas told his wife as he smiled down to their baby girl, sleeping soundly. Maya gave him a squint like he was making fun of her. "Hey, my cousin is getting married, too," he 'reminded' her. She hummed, brushing at Marianne's hair.

"They grow up so fast…"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners