June 21st 2021

Chapter 172
Our Beginnings Into Family

The morning after classes ended, Maya had it in her mind to have a slow day. She would look through the nursery and sort out any clothes Marianne had outgrown, maybe remove toys or other items she no longer used, see about what they might need to get more of as she continued to grow… She'd have her baby girl with her, as her trusted assistant, even if her greatest contribution was to follow her every footstep and grab at the items in the discard pile she'd just folded or put away, forcing her to fold them again or add them to the container once more. She wouldn't mind… might even encourage it. Exploration and discovery were good, weren't they? Then, after lunch, she'd go into the Hex. She'd been playing at this new melody in the back of her mind for something like four days, and she really needed to put it down once and for all.

Meanwhile, Lucas was driving out to Houston just after breakfast, to meet with Tracy Coleman. The ranch stories were doing very well, sales wise, back at the archive, and through the website, and also at Coleman's Books, which was so far the only physical place other than Sullivan Stables where it could be found and purchased on the spot. All along, the plan had been for them to see what the interest was like in the beginning and, from there, explore getting it in other stores as well. That was why he made his way to Houston that day, to discuss how best to go about things with his former boss and Rosa's mother. When he was done, he would take the opportunity to visit his grandparents, where he would eventually be joined by Maya and Marianne for dinner.

"Well now, pumpkin, these were some good pants, they served you well, but I'm afraid your tiny girl legs have gotten too long. They're going to have to go away," Maya folded the flowery leggings before adding them to the container on the floor.

Marianne followed their progress from her mother's hands to the growing pile and, after they'd been left there, she reached in and pulled them out again, holding them to herself so she could look down and poke her fingers at the flowers of many colors. After a few seconds, she looked back up to her mother. She didn't know what to do now.

"Think you can fold them again? Look," she crouched next to her, took the pants back and laid them on the floor. "Like this… and then like this, see? Easy. You give it a try now," she unfolded them again and waited. Marianne looked at her, then adopted a crouch like hers and attempted a fold. She made noises which Maya took to mean 'like this, and then like this, see?' It wasn't perfect, but for a twenty-month-old girl, it wasn't half bad. "Alright, pumpkin!" Maya clapped and smiled, even as Marianne picked up the pants and gave them to her again. They came undone in the process, but one discreet refold later, they were in the container. "This is going to take a few days, isn't it?" she hummed. If this was how it went, she really didn't mind.

Her phone rang from across the hall, so she moved off to answer, keeping an eye at the same time to ensure that Marianne was following behind her.

"Hello?" Maya answered, tucking the phone between ear and shoulder so she could reach out and pick up her daughter.

Her brother only had to say her name and she knew why he was calling: the baby was coming. Her Sammy was about to be a father.

"Just started?" Maya asked, shifting Marianne to her hip so she could hold her with one arm and pick up her phone in her hand.

"Yes, well, no," Sam replied, and if she were with him, she would be rubbing at his back right about now, trying to get him to breathe more. "We're at the hospital already, didn't want to call anyone until we knew for sure."

They'd gotten one of those calls… a couple of them, actually. Almost a week ago, they'd all made a mad dash for the hospital, thinking the baby was about to be born. It wasn't. Then again, two days ago, another call. Maya had been at work and, knowing that it could possibly happen this way, she had worked out a whole plan, all the better for her to be with her brother and his wife for the big moment. She wasn't going to just leave, but they would be in touch with her, helping her to figure out if she had to dash out or if she could make it through the day's classes and miss nothing. Lucas had been in resident mode, but if he'd needed to cut out, to be with his cousin and his brother-in-law, he would have done it. But in the end, another false alarm. Sam and Dora had been prudent for this next call. It was the real thing, finally.

"How's Dora, how far into it is she?" Maya asked. The phone went back between shoulder and ear so she could hold the ramp going down the stairs with Marianne.

"Early, could be hours…"

"Right, I'll be there as soon as I… Damn it…"

"What?" Sam asked. His panic button was easily pressed today, and she'd pressed it for him.

"Lucas is in Houston… It's fine, it'll be fine, he has time to make it, he'll be there, okay? I'll call him. Is your mom with you?"

"No, but she's on her way." Abigail had been in town for a week, awaiting the birth of this new grandchild. James was back in Tucson with the kids. They would have been here, too, except Eliza, Emma, and Wyatt were still in school and they couldn't just leave. They might not get to come down today, but they'd be here as soon as possible. "She was back at our place, and we were out and…"

"You guys tell me the story when I get there, alright? Just focus on Dora and the baby for now. I'll see you soon, little brother."

"Okay… Y-yeah, yeah…"

"Hey, Sam, breathe for a minute? Everything is going to be fine. I'm on my way. Love you."

"Love you, too. Thanks…"

Once she hung up, it was her turn to get hyper. She was going to be an aunt! Alright, so she already was, to the likes of Giulia and Connor, and Mia, and Nicky, but this was different. This little one – they still didn't know whether it would be a boy or girl – would be her brother's child. As unexpected as this pregnancy had been to all of them, she couldn't wait to meet this baby…

"Hey, you're not already done out there, are you?" Lucas asked when he picked up her call.

"What? Oh, no, I'm not, but what about you? How's it going with Tracy?" Maya asked, trying to sound casual. That probably wouldn't stick very long.

"Going well, we still need to look at a few things, but I should be on my way to Pappy Joe's soon, why?"

"Any chance you can wrap things up quick with Tracy and call in a rain check on the grandparents? Unless they want to come down, too…" she reflected out loud.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked.

"Sam just called. It's go time for real," Maya told him, and from the sound he made she could just about picture the look of surprise on his face. "I left Marianne with my grandmother and I'm driving to the hospital to meet them."

"Alright, I'm just going to…" Lucas started to reply, then paused. Maya could just hear the sound of Rosa's mother's voice in the background, then Lucas talking to her. Finally, he put the phone back to his ear. "Hey, I'm going to be driving in a minute. Tracy is coming to Austin with me, that way we can finish on the drive over and she gets to visit Rosa."

"Perfect, then I'll see you when you get there."

Arriving at the hospital, she found two of the future grandparents had made it already, presently Abigail and Dora's father Emmett. When her stepmother saw her, she moved to embrace Maya with a tremulous smile.

"Dot is on her way," Emmett Cassidy let her know as they embraced, too. "She went to pick up Junior and Alex."

When Maya was brought to the room, she found Sam sitting on the edge of the bed where Dora sat, her back propped up. All four of their hands were set over her belly, like one final conference with their child before he or she came into the world. It had become enough of a familiar sight in the last few months that Maya had drawn it for them, as a memory. She'd given it to them at Dora's baby shower.

"Maya…" Dora spotted her first. Her long hair had been pulled up on her head in a haste, maybe by Sam, which made it easy to notice that she'd removed her hearing aids.

"How's it going?" she signed to the future mother and father as she advanced to hug them in turn.

"Slowly," Dora replied with a sigh. Her hand remained stroking at the curve of her belly, and for having been right in that moment, one of the few before her first child was born, Maya understood what had to be going through her head. As much as the pregnancy had shaken up her world when she'd learned about it, now… Now she was so full of love for the child growing in her belly that she could barely contain herself. The child had been remarkably active, for as long as it had been big enough to be felt as it moved, and kicked… But now the moment was nearing when he or she would be revealed to them.

"So, what's the story?" Maya asked before giving Dora's hand a sympathetic squeeze as she looked to her and Sam.

The story was that Dora had been feeling restless at home. As happy as she was that her mother-in-law was there with them, waiting for this moment, and as well intentioned as Abigail was, it got to be just a bit too much. Sam had figured as much without his wife having to tell him, so he'd suggested they go take a look at some supplies for them to finish out the baby's room after the birth. They'd done a lot of it, but some parts had been left less defined, the better to be inspired by the child once they knew more, like a gender, a name… They'd been determined to be surprised, so they'd prepared with that in mind, and to this day they still didn't know whether they were about to welcome a son or daughter. Dora had done several pieces in her mother's shop which remained as of yet unadorned with colors. Those would be done by Sam, turning them into a collaborative effort of two parents for their child.

And then, as they should have expected, Dora had gone into labor. After their false alarms, they'd been doubtful to start with, but then it just wasn't stopping, and so finally they had made their way to the hospital, where they had been given the good news that the alarm had rung true. The baby would be born on this June day.

In the end, Lucas arrived to discover that he'd missed his window to see Dora or Sam before the birth. Maya was in the waiting room with the others, as off in a nearby room, his cousin and her brother were mere minutes away from becoming parents.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners