A/N: Happy 2021 everyone! Today marks the start of my sixth year of this Lucaya Project, and the fifth within the Texas series. This year's project will be a sequel to last year's story, carrying along with the narrative of the past four years, and like previous years, there will be a new chapter every day. Hope you enjoy it!

Texas Series
1. A Hart in Texas (2017)

2. Our Brand New Years (2018)
3. Endings, Beginnings, and the Journey in Between (2019)
4. Firsts of Many (2020)
5...


(ONE DAY YOU'LL HAVE) CHILDREN OF YOUR OWN


January 1st 2021

Chapter 1
Our Return to Family

Lucas would often look at those drawings, the frames lined up on the wall, as he got ready in the morning. The two of them, the day they met, almost fourteen years ago now, in middle school. The two of them, sat in the stairs at his parents' home, eleven years ago, on a scorching summer Christmas day. The two of them, the last night of their trip to Europe after high school, eight years ago. The two of them, in their house, the night he'd proposed to her, four years ago, and then another two years after that, the day they became husband and wife. And the latest one… He'd only just hung it up the day before when Maya presented him the completed update. Him and her, sitting on a bed in a hotel right here in Austin, eating Ma Maggie's for breakfast, after weeks upon weeks away from home, with her belly rounded by twenty-nine weeks of seeing their baby girl grow… Won't be long now… Waiting for you, our Marianne…

"Alright, please cross your fingers and come zip me up?" Maya breathed, and he turned to find her there, barefoot, hair still drying, and her dress hanging in wait of being closed over her pregnant body.

"Well…" Lucas crossed his fingers and made like he was trying to do what she asked. She just pointed her finger at him, which he managed to interpret as 'do you really want us to have to make a pit-stop on our way to your cousin's wedding to get me a new dress?' "Should be fine, right?" he smiled, moving to do as asked.

"I bought it before we left, I figured we wouldn't have time to shop between the day we came back and The Day itself. Then I thought 'I could just have bought one wherever we were, and the costume people would have fixed it for me if I asked,' but I already bought this one and…" She didn't carry this line of thought any further, as she felt the zipper join up the two sides of her dress and come to a satisfying and not at all straining end. She looked down, turned to the mirror… It was fine. The fit was perfect. "Oh, good," she breathed out, then, with a shout… "Cara! Can you help with my hair?"

"Be right there!" Cara shouted back from down the hall.

"See, I couldn't do that with Sam," Maya turned back to Lucas with a grin. He laughed.

"How is it that, just two days ago, you were on stage with Ree Forster, on the end of two months and forty shows, and now you're just…" he gestured at her.

"Do you want me to boss you around like a diva? Because I can do that… probably will, the bigger I get," she looked down at herself. All Lucas had to do in response was to set his hand over her belly, and there could be nothing of concern. All was well, they were home, and life was resuming as they counted down the days to their daughter's birth. If it were any other way, they wouldn't be exactly the people they had always been.

As soft returns went, heading to a family wedding actually felt appropriate. Sure, they had seen some of their people already over the last two days, since they'd returned home, the morning after the final show. The very first they had seen was Missy Sanderson and her family, when they'd gone up the road to get the dogs back. Their young neighbor, Maya's student, had spotted the minivan as they'd driven up the road, and from the excited look on her face, they guessed she had been tempted to run up and see them right away but resisted, figuring they'd need time to settle in. They didn't even make it all the way to the farm before she came jogging over to meet them. Oh, and the dogs… They could just imagine the three of them out there, catching the scent, knowing that their people had returned. Archer was off with Sam and Dora, of course, but they still had their old Trix and Lou, and little Crowley… They could have waited to get them back, but it was as they'd known, almost as soon as they'd walked into the house. It wouldn't really feel like they were back until those three were with them, too.

After that, there had been the little Hunters. Those four had exercised the most patience, by the looks of it, in being reunited with their big sister and their brother-in-law. They had counted down the days, and at last, at last, they were back. Both Maya and Lucas understood this eagerness, of course, they did. Sure, there was the fact that they loved them, and they missed them, but on top of that, they were already dealing with how their parents were living out in Los Angeles most of the time, as Katy was filming for her role on Heal Thyself. They loved having their grandparents there with them, and they were doing great, not to be mistaken, but they needed some of that familiarity back, and now they had it.

Beyond this though, they hadn't really seen anyone else yet. Oh, they could have, sure. They were so much closer now than they had been for ages. But then the wedding was coming up, and they were all going to be there, they would see each other, so what was two more days, the better to allow them to stop, and breathe, after those wild months around the world?

Sight or none, they had at the very least been hearing a great deal from their friends near and far. Almost like they'd known they would be a distraction to her on this home stretch, the way the house itself would have been, they hadn't appeared, but they had been at the Austin show. Most of them had hoped to travel off to one show or another before this, but then the idea had come about that it would be so much better if they all went as a group, all the better to cheer on their friend once she made her grand return into their city. By the photos they'd sent along, it was clear they'd had one fantastic night, and Maya was pleased to know it. Lucas might have gotten to see them at some point but, in solidarity to her, he'd stuck it out, too.

Rosa: Can we catch a ride out to Houston with you guys?

Lucas: Sure. We can be at your apartment in an hour.

Rosa: Not at the apartment. I'm sending the address.

Kicking off the day with a bit of mystery, Lucas, Maya, and Cara got into the car and started on their way to the address Rosa had provided. It turned out to be a house, and for a moment they figured maybe this was Jenna's parents' house and Rosa and her girlfriend had just been there overnight for some reason. Instead, they were greeted at the door by the very unexpected greeting of thirteen-year-old – and soon to be middle schooler – Henry Hillard, in his suit.

"Woah," the boy blinked in surprise, taking in Maya's belly, before blinking and smiling up at his cousin Lucas. "Hi!"

"What are you doing here?" Lucas laughed, giving him a quick hug.

"I live here," Henry shrugged before turning and calling out. "Guys, they're here!" Behind him, Lucas and Maya shared a confused look.

"What do you mean you live… Hey!" Lucas asked before his face split into a new smile at the sight of his uncle and aunt coming into view. Hank and Tanya Hillard were both dressed and ready for their eldest's big day.

"Welcome back, all of you," Hank laughed, as ever the portrait of a younger Pappy Joe, as he moved to hug his nephew and his wife, pausing a moment to know if this gesture was welcomed by Maya's younger sister. Cara just shrugged and hugged him, too. He was nervous but excited for his son's wedding, and it showed in his greeting.

"Did we miss something?" Maya asked him and Tanya.

"A few things, yes," Tanya smiled, coming for her turn at hellos.

"I told you we were thinking of making some changes, didn't I?" Hank asked Lucas, and that left him startled. Yes, he sort of remembered the conversation. It was the day his uncle had told him about Joseph and Leigh getting married, actually. He'd mentioned how, with Joseph out of the house, and then Sarah and Evie heading off for college, too, it would just be him and Tanya and Henry and Maggie, and they were thinking about… Well, Lucas had never gotten to hear the rest of that thought, but now… Now he understood. They had left Houston. They lived here now, in Austin, in this house.

"But… your job, the university…" Lucas asked.

"I like driving, clears the mind," Hank nodded smoothly. Lucas could believe that. He turned to his aunt now, thinking about her job, at the clinic, where he'd worked with her for over two years.

"And I thought it was time for another shift," Tanya chimed in, like she had read his mind. She had been a professor like her husband, years ago, before she'd gone on to have her clinic. "I'm going to be working up at the animal shelter, up near the park?"

"We know it," Maya nodded, sharing a smile with Lucas, knowing he'd be thinking about the old days of the pup fund, their senior year of high school.

Finally, it was sinking in. Lucas' aunt and uncle were going to be living in Austin now. It was already such great news, starting them off on the right foot for today, as they'd head to Houston for the wedding, the three of them and their passengers…

"You're here!" they barely had the time to hear, before a raven-haired tornado brought Rosa Del Vecchio into their midst, and for how happy Maya was to find her bandmate, too, it was a wonder they both remembered not to rush at each other so hard, instead stopping and finally embracing one another. "World famous, superstar…" Rosa spoke at her ear, making her laugh.

"I am loving the suit," she declared, stepping back to get a good look at her.

"I would have braved the dress for them, but then Leigh found this instead, and I mean… come on," Rosa grinned, striking a good pose. It was always so great to see these spikes of confidence in her, the ones that came from her really feeling the most at ease in her own skin.

"From the looks of her, you might never wear anything else again," Maya teased, nodding over as Jenna came forward, too. "Hey," she laughed, hugging her.

"She does look great, doesn't she?" Jenna could only agree, smiling back to Rosa, who might have blushed just a bit, showing the old loner was still in there, beneath it all.

"Okay, I know we've seen pictures and everything, but look at you…" she distracted herself by taking in her bandmate's belly. "Last time we saw each other, you were still just kind of…" she mimed before herself, estimating at how much she'd shown back in June. "What are we going to do about Halloween, when you'll just be…"

"It's August," Lucas reminded her, but Maya waved this off at once, grinning.

"Let the woman speak," she teased.

They spent the whole ride to Houston talking about Halloween. They could have spent the whole two hours and some, strictly talking about the summer, the tour with Ree, and instead they racked their brains for some way to incorporate Maya and her belly, near full term by then. Lucas couldn't even say that he was surprised at this.

For all the weddings they had attended in recent years, beyond their own, this one felt in a class apart. It wasn't a couple of their friends anymore. This was Lucas' cousin, and even though he was only five or six years younger than them, it was like seeing a younger sibling get married. Coupled with how they were weeks away from becoming parents, Lucas and Maya both were left feeling like this was really the start of a new chapter. All of a sudden, the rules were starting to change on them… and they looked forward to every part of it.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners