May 12th 2021

Chapter 132
Our Wonders For Bonding

The morning of the twenty-fifth began with the sunrise, with all three of the young Friars, father, mother, and daughter together, huddled in bed. They were all awake now, Maya and Lucas looking upon their smiling little pumpkin like she was all they could ever want from this day. Marianne was looking at them, too, and to see how radiant she was, how her love for them ran deep… She might not have been speaking yet, but her eyes did plenty on their own.

"Merry Christmas, Hucklebucket…" Lucas whispered as he leaned in to kiss the side of her face. As soon as he'd done this, Marianne responded by coming at him with a kiss of her own, landing somewhere about his beard, which made her squirm and laugh and in turn had both her parents laughing uncontrollably. Seeing the mystified look on her little face, Maya could only pull her close and greet her with more kisses, hers without the scratch of facial hair.

"Gotta aim for the parts without the beard there, that's the trick," she told her. "My face has a lot more of those." She didn't have to work very hard to get a good smooch, too. Marianne was very good on 'get a kiss, give a kiss' protocol. "Merry Christmas, pumpkin," Maya whispered. "Enjoy this quiet while you have it," she added, making Lucas snicker. "You know the moment your mother…" Maya looked back at him.

She didn't get to finish that sentence. Proving her point, there was a knock at the bedroom door followed by a cheerful if mildly restrained query, as Melinda Friar wondered if they were awake. They were 'busted' when Marianne, upon hearing the familiar sound of her grandmother's voice, gave an immediate squeal.

"So that's how it is, huh?" Maya squinted, though it didn't last so long, not with the smile she got from the dishevelled little blonde.

"Yes, Mom, we're awake," Lucas called to the door. "Merry Christmas," he turned his smile back to where Maya was pulling herself into a seated position and Marianne was doing the same. She would imitate people a lot lately, and they were always glad to motivate her into action.

"Merry Christmas!" Maya echoed. Marianne's response was a cheery, babbling approximation of this tone. The door opened and Melinda peered inside, already dressed and with curlers in her hair.

"Merry Christmas," she smiled at all three of them, though she naturally stalled on Marianne most of all. They couldn't even tease her about it. "Breakfast is ready, better get a move on, we can't be late."

"Us? Late? Never," Maya confidently declared as she climbed out of bed and pulled Marianne along. When she was relinquished into her grandmother's arms, both she and Melinda looked thrilled with the encounter.

After the whirlwind of breakfast, and showers, and dressing, they were finally on their way. Thomas and Melinda would be meeting them at the ranch, so Maya and Lucas took off, Marianne settled in her new dress in the back. She wasn't yet walking, but there was simply no way for her not to be a part of her Uncle Sam's wedding. All they needed was a loophole, and they had found one. It would be a surprise.

"Pretty sure my parents are starting to give us the eye again," Lucas stated as he drove. He could tell Maya was overflowing with nerves, as she looked forward to her brother's wedding. He wasn't spared those feelings, thinking of both the groom and the bride, but then they both processed their feelings in different ways, didn't they?

"The eye?" Maya looked over at him, not following. Without looking away from the road ahead, he gave her a demonstration. She laughed. "Oh, that eye," she slowly nodded, reflected. "Yeah, mine are right there, too, I think." They had been gifted with one grandchild, and now they were eager for more. "So much temptation…"

It really felt like that sometimes, didn't it? If it were as simple as that, they would absolutely be looking to have a second child by now, but it wasn't simple, was it? There was so much to consider, the impact and timeliness of another pregnancy. Right now, it was hard not to have babies and kids on the brain, with Sam and Dora, with Lucas' uncles… But no, they had to stick to the plan, knowing they had made that plan for a reason, that it was the right thing to do. When the time would be right, it would make things that much better.

Arriving at Sullivan Stables, a light snowfall had begun, almost as though the skies had finally decided to give a gift to the soon to be newlyweds. It added a frosted, magical air to the ranch, and it was perfect. Maya and Lucas shared a look, a smile. Neither one was about to jinx this with 'will this turn into a blizzard' questions.

Before the ceremony could begin, Maya and Lucas split off. Marianne was left with Zay and Nadine while her parents went off to check in on the bride and groom.

Lucas had not yet seen his cousin in her dress, so when he came to find her, all set and waiting to go, it properly hit him, like it hadn't done before. It was about the closest he'd get in a long time to what it might feel like, the day he saw his daughter about to take that walk. She was standing on her own, inspecting her reflection in the full length mirror, turning her head this way and that as she resisted the urge to fuss with her hair. Possibly, she was tipping on the edge of losing control of her nerves… and her stomach.

"Do you need me to get you anything?" Lucas asked. Dora turned to face him, and there was that feeling again. "Wow," he could only smile.

"Yeah?" Dora asked, her own smile as relieved as it was awkward. She'd always been so confident, all her life. That didn't mean there couldn't be some things that would come and rattle her some, for one reason or another. They didn't have to be bad reasons, and this one was absolutely a good reason kind of rattling. She was getting married, and the wait was getting to be too much to bear.

"When have I lied to you?" Lucas replied.

"A few times, only good reasons," Dora nodded. "Usually, to make me feel better when kids would pick on me because of my hearing aids. It always worked," she smiled again, though her thoughts were taken away after this. The way her hand hovered absently near her midsection, he knew she had to be wondering about the baby, about what the future would have in store for her and Sam's child. She was just barely showing at this point, not enough that it showed now, with the dress, and all she had to go on to know it was there was a sonogram and everything that was happening to her body. Lucas knew what that feeling was like, from when Maya had been barely pregnant with Marianne, but for Dora, who was that much younger than the two of them had been…

"Feeling alright?" he asked with a kind voice.

"I can't stand waiting out here," Dora breathed. "I'm getting hungry again, but I don't want to drop anything on myself, and with the way I'm feeling, I'm not sure I'd even keep it down," she admitted.

"Water then?" Lucas offered. His cousin nodded at once. After he brought her the glass, he reached into his pocket and unclipped his watch. "Maya and I both had the same thought, so consider this as being from both of us," he passed it to his cousin. "It'll be like we're right there with you." Dora received the watch and looked like she would start to cry. She set the water glass down and moved to hug him. Lucas held her snug in his arms, passing what relief he could to her anxious heart.

While he had gone to see Dora, Maya had gone and found her brother. The whole reason why they'd split off was from Sam's text to his sister, asking for her to meet him. Crossing paths with Abigail and James as they exited the room, Maya walked in and stopped. Her little Sammy paced the floor, only it was hard to call him that when he looked so grown up all of a sudden. She'd always known him to exude intelligence coupled with sweetly comical awkwardness, but right now it was as though someone had recalibrated him. He had been given new purpose, new focus. He was getting married today, and half a year from now he would be a father. He had always been ahead of his age, since he'd been allowed to skip grades in school, but this had nothing to do with age, just maturity. It felt very in line with who Sam was at heart.

"You flashed the big sister symbol?" she asked. He stopped his pacing and turned to look at her. There was still something of that ten-year-old boy in the back of his gaze, or maybe that was just her, unable to forget the way he'd looked, the first time she'd met him.

"I thought… Well, I just didn't know…" When he looked down, she noticed the envelope in his hands, and it made her heart skip. She knew what it was, even before she got close enough to read his name and the words printed on the envelope.

It was from their father, written years ago now and looking onward to the day when Sam would be about to get married. Kermit wasn't here with them in body, but his spirit, his words…

"Okay," Maya simply nodded. There was no need to ask what would come next. They would sit together, and Sam would have his big sister by his side as he read. He'd been there for her when she'd read her own letter, three years prior.

"It kind of feels like I'm cheating," Sam breathed when they sat down. "Like it's too early and he didn't intend it…"

"Do you see a date on there? Does it say anything like 'you must be this old' anywhere?" Maya shook her head. He was nervous about opening it. She got that, like pretty much no one else ever could. These letters, all of them written by their father, for the two of them, for Cara, and Eliza, and Wyatt, for Abigail, too… They were these small connections they still had to Kermit, and every time they opened another, he was brought back to them, but the distance felt wider, too.

"I just wish…" Sam spoke quietly, the envelope quivering in his hands. Maya put her arm around his shoulders, her head coming to rest against his. She understood that very well, felt it every time Marianne did something new that made all the grandparents happy. "I think I want to wait and read it later, after all of this," Sam finally decided.

"Sounds good," Maya smiled at him. "I'm so proud of you, you know that? As little brothers go, you're hard to beat." It made him chuckle, even as it made her shed a few tears. "See? I'm starting already."

"You won't see a thing once you're out there, will you?" Sam teased, and now she was the one laughing as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

"Think you're so funny now, wait until you see Dora," Maya told him, and she could almost see his heart do a genuine flip at the thought. His nerves would already be through the roof, just standing up there and waiting. They'd get him to come down slow with the approach of flower girl Marianne, carried along by her uncle Wyatt, but then once he saw his bride… "Hey, I almost forgot… Merry Christmas, Sammy. Did you see the snow?"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners