June 23rd 2021

Chapter 174
Our Beginnings Into Diplomas

Every once in a while, things had a way of happening right in the ideal time. A chance meeting, a work opportunity… Sam and Dora's daughter being born when she was born had been particularly fortunate where her two local aunts were concerned. Maya's students had just finished their year, which meant she herself was as near to being on vacation until September as she could get, except for some administrative bits, 'behind the blackboard stuff,' as Shawn had once called it. And of course, she had the band, and her song writing, but this in no way restrained her schedule. And Cara, she was through with her winter semester, which meant that she was in the clear until fall, too, except for her job, and the band for her as well, stepping in for Riley as she neared the birth of Baby Orlando number two. In both cases, even though they weren't completely without obligations of their own, they were suddenly a lot more available, which was kind of ideal… All the better to spend as much time as possible with their new niece.

Francesca was still only a week old, and she was not lacking in willing hands to help look after her. The Hart-Lanes had arrived just two days back and were planning to spend the summer in Austin, all the better to be around their Texan contingent, especially the new addition. Then she had the Cassidys, who were just now getting to explore their new titles, as grandparents, and uncles… And for all this, it was clear they looked with great need toward Maya and Lucas, who had been there through the journey from the start, back when hardly anyone had been aware of Dora's pregnancy. Whatever anxieties and uncertainties either one of the new parents may have had all over the past months, it had been them they'd turned to, for anything from the pertinent to the sort of embarrassing. It was no wonder they'd been appointed the girl's godparents.

Sam had been navigating these early days with the memories of Marianne's beginnings very fresh in his mind. It was kind of different when it came to his daughter, and he had to be reminded more than once that he in fact knew what he was supposed to do, that if he just stopped and breathed for a moment, it would come to him. It generally did. Dora, meanwhile, had much less experience when it came to babies. Oh, she was great with them, as could be attested from her connection to Marianne, but she'd always had the benefit of seeing her for a few hours and going home afterward. She'd never had to look after a newborn, twenty-four hours a day. She didn't want her parents or Sam's hovering about, and none of those four were staying at the apartment. Sam and Dora were looking after their daughter on their own, as was their wish. They were struggling some, but that was to be expected of any new parent. With the days going by, they were getting to adjust, and every small victory would drive them onward, show them that they would be fine.

The only thing that really lagged was the girl's surname. At birth, they'd needed to give something, but neither of her parents could say that an agreement had been reached for which name she'd take. Dora had kept the Cassidy name after the wedding, but it was sort of understood that it wouldn't stay this way, not once they decided what to do about the baby's name. So, at the moment, she was called Francesca May Cassidy Hart-Lane. It was much too much, they all agreed, but they couldn't decide.

While they were all caught up in the frenzy of the baby girl's arrival, the world called some of them back. The long-anticipated if slightly dreaded graduation ceremony for the class of 2031 had arrived. Maya and Lucas would be there, as they'd been for each class of the former's students when they closed the book on their high school days. At the very least, little Francesca's arrival acted like a cushion to the blow of her aunt's first freshmen graduating. It reminded her of how the turn of time didn't just take things away. It also brought new things. For her graduates, it would bring a new chapter in their lives, and for their teacher… new faces, new stories, new, wonderful years spent together.

As to the current class, the outgoing class, they'd had their usual end-of-year field trip to the museum, them and all those of the younger classes. It had been great, all around, as it always was, though as usual the day Maya had taken her seniors out there… Yeah, it hit differently, couldn't be helped. But they got through it, and she spent much of that evening drawing in one of her own sketchbooks, putting pencil to paper as though she could lift memories straight from her brain and immortalize them.

And now today, graduation… The faces changed, but the feeling and the mood was always the same, wasn't it? Parents and other family members, either emotional for their graduate or protesting their having to be there, dressed formally, just to sit out there and do nothing but watch kids go up and get their diplomas, listen to endless speeches… Graduates, who fell somewhere along the spectrum of disbelief to pride and excitement that they were graduating, who expressed sadness over leaving friends behind, or a deep desire to just be done with all this and hating that they had to wear a robe… Teachers, seeing some leave with bittersweet emotion if they were beloved and relief if they were less so…

"Hey, so I thought you said Kai was going to college out here," Lucas looked to Maya after they'd spotted the Avelino family and waved at them.

"He is, him and Missy," Maya confirmed.

"Are you sure?" Lucas frowned.

"Of course, why?"

"Just that I ran into his dad the other day when I went to pick up Marianne from my parents' house. He was grabbing his mail, and there was an envelope from Duke University addressed to Kai."

"What?" Maya blinked. It wasn't as though she knew every last detail of her students' lives outside the school, but it was the first she heard of this and it made no sense, not from what she had heard. He and Missy had been going on and on about plans for after graduation, and those plans were for the two of them in Austin, not…

"I don't know, it might not mean what we think, just…"

"Doesn't it?" Maya's expression faltered, discreetly indicating something up ahead. Lucas looked up, and he saw the Sandersons moving along.

At the heart of the little group, there was Missy. She wasn't crying, no, but they could just see in her eyes… she wanted to. Beyond the tears, because they both knew her as well as they did, what they saw was great conflict, the collision of emotions. On the one side, anger, deception, betrayal, but on the other… love, and something like understanding. If Kai was going away for school, breaking their plans, as upset as she was there would still be a part of her who couldn't be upset, who would only want him to succeed and chase his dreams, even if it wrecked her to realize they might not include her. Looking back to Kai, they could see there was plenty on his mind, too, and maybe they'd missed it because they didn't know him as well as they did Missy.

"I… I'll be right back," Maya told Lucas.

"Yeah," he replied softly, understanding. Maya went toward Missy, who saw her coming and quickly detached herself from her parents and grandparents. Maya led her aside, and at once the girl folded herself in her neighbor and former teacher's arms. "What happened?"

"Kai… He's going…"

"I know, I just heard."

"Guess he'd been trying to tell me for a while, finally got up the nerve today…"

"Missy, I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do?" Maya asked, rubbing her back. Missy shook her head.

"He said he wanted to try and make it work with us long distance, but… if he was able to just hide all that from me all this time, then I… No…" she shook her head again, more decisive now, thinking to herself. "I let him go. I can see where this is going, and that's not me, I'm not going to stand here and wait. If he knew me the way he thought he did, then he would have known he could tell me. I would have told him to do it, or I would have seen if I could go to school out there with him. I would have tried long distance maybe. But not like this, I can't."

"No, I don't think you should either," Maya replied honestly, spoke to her as a peer, not a teacher anymore. "Look, I know this is going to suck for a while, and you come up the road as often as you want this summer and beyond, okay? But today, you need to put it all aside, think about what's happening here. You graduated, did pretty well for yourself, too. They're going to call your name, and you're going to walk across that stage, because you did that. Got it?"

"Yeah," Missy sniffled.

"Okay?" Maya smiled, tapped at her arms, which made her laugh.

"Okay," Missy repeated. Maya took a tissue from her bag and did a quick fix on the girl's face.

"Better. Now you're ready again."

"Thanks," Missy breathed. "Hey, I don't know if this is weird, but I'm throwing a party at my house tonight, for the graduates. If you wanted to come by…"

"I don't know, am I still… eligible?" Maya wondered, knowing it'd get another smile out of her.

"You're kind of famous, you know that?" Missy pointed out.

"Oh, that," Maya slowly nodded. "I do usually try and keep all that separate from school mode," she pointed out.

"Doesn't count anymore though…"

"Yeah, don't rub it in…" Maya sighed, then, "I'll think about it. Anyway, I'm not far, am I?"

Getting back to Lucas, she found him standing, of all places, in a meet up of the Buckley and Munroe families. Stella and Phoebe's arms were locked together like they intended to stick together as long as possible, which was to say until the alphabet demanded that one go near the beginning and the other end up somewhere in the middle. Around them stood Stella's mother and father, all five of her older sisters, Taylor Munroe, and his and Phoebe's parents. It was the first time Lucas got to see them, or rather it was the first time he met Peter Munroe. With Jo, it was a reunion after many, many years, when the woman had abandoned one of his dearest friends. She knew who he was, of course, as much for his being Maya's husband, Dylan's friend, and Melinda's son. There was nothing of animosity, and she never expected there to be any, because it wasn't Lucas' style. Still, there was no way this would be anything but so very awkward.

"Hey," a voice spoke, just over her shoulder, and Maya startled. She spun around and found Dylan standing there, in his graduation best. According to Riley, she'd barely talked him out of showing up in a cap and gown of his own because 'it was clearly the dress code' and it would get a laugh out of the kids. "Sorry, sorry," he held up his hands.

"Fine, all good, what's up?" Maya played it cool, even though her heart was still chasing.

"I need a favor."

It wasn't so hard. All she had to do was catch one of the girls' eyes – she got Stella's – and get her to signal Lucas. When she did, he turned around and saw her there. She signed at him. He turned right back around and spoke to Phoebe, who soon moved away from the pack and jogged toward her.

"Hi!" she beamed, skidding to a stop in front of her.

"You would have knocked me over four years ago, wouldn't you?" Maya chuckled.

"Oh, hundred percent," Phoebe agreed with ease.

"Come here," Maya led her off, not very far, just where Dylan stood waiting, after which she left them alone. She could still see them, and she couldn't help but watch as Dylan passed his little sister a wrapped present, with a card envelope inserted under the ribbons. As brightly as she was already smiling, it only brightened her further, and she hugged with a good squeeze. It clearly meant so much to Dylan that he got to be here for this, and looking at Phoebe, it clearly meant just as much to her.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners