July 24th 2021

Chapter 205
Our Party For Costumes

Marianne Friar was not a particularly grumpy child, but she had definitely been expressing her disappointment toward her parents over recent days. Lucas and Maya found it difficult to respond to this in any other way than to find their daughter adorable, but at the same time, this 'mood' was very much of their own making. They always believed in keeping their word, with her as with anyone, and they had not broken their word, not exactly, they had just been prevented from doing so by circumstances.

By 'Grandpa Jax' rule their home should have been a haven of Halloween – or Hallowannie – bursting with decorations. They should have gone up, on those very last days of September, like he would have wanted it, and they had been planning to do so. They'd started taking up the boxes and everything, and Marianne had been very curious at once. She had some vague notion of Halloween the year before, her birthday, but then she'd been a year old, so that was already something. Where her own memories might fail, she could count on plenty of people, family, friends, to remind her about the spooky season and how she was connected to it. Shawn had taken up the charge in finding the 'least traumatizing' movies of the genre, to see how she might respond to them, and so far, she had been loving each one. Possibly, it might have had more to do with getting to sit in her grandfather's lap, but who was to say?

They had started taking up the boxes, the better to get started over the weekend, but then they'd figured that they would do the house on the same day as Lucas was able to do Sullivan Stables. So, when he wasn't able to do that part yet, they'd easily agreed to hold off on doing the house, too. That was fine by them. They were adults and decorating for Halloween in October would be more than okay, too. Marianne, clearly, was of a different mind. After they'd found her stalking those boxes, and trying to open the lids, and sometimes achieving it and digging through, they'd finally had to put the boxes away again, to her further disappointment.

"Hey, Pumpkin, good morning," Lucas smiled when he lifted his head and spotted the small blonde walking from her little bed over to his side of the big one, clearly barely awake but compelled toward Dad hugs. When she got close enough, he reached down and pulled her up, and she at once adopted him for her new mattress. "I don't think Mommy's awake, so let's be really quiet, yeah?" he asked her, and she nodded her dishevelled head against his chest. "Did you sleep okay?" Another nod. "That's good," he smiled, brushing her hair back and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Hey, guess what we're going to do today?" Sleepy or no, she still lifted her head up to look at him.

"What?" she asked with blinking eyes.

"Well, I'll be at the ranch, and we're going to decorate there, so you and your mom and the others here, you're going to do the same, but I think first you're going to be shopping for costumes…" Oh, now that got her attention.

To compensate for their hold on the decorations, they had at the very least started to discuss what their costumes would be. This involved letting Summer in on the yearly traditions in the Friar house with regards to the holiday and sharing the tale of Marianne's birth. Maya made sure to point out the fact that kids from the school would regularly drop in for the outdoor portion of the night, with the games, and sometimes they'd get to come into the house party, too. If they did, for either part, they'd likely see her, maybe Tori, too. They of course wanted her to be part of this day with them, but it was all entirely up to her. Summer explained that, while she was coming around to the idea that she shouldn't feel the need to hide Tori, she didn't want to get into it on that particular night, especially if it might cause drama in the middle of their daughter's birthday.

She did want to be part of their night, but Tori was still very small, and she wasn't sure how she'd do with the noise. Lucas suggested that his parents would be all too happy to babysit her, taking her to their house after the birthday dinner that would kick off the night, and Summer agreed. She knew Thomas and Melinda would take excellent care of her baby girl. Plus, Maya had been encouraging her to enjoy herself a bit, get a night to herself. A Halloween party would more than fit the bill, and it would start with costumes.

"I don't know," she'd shrugged when asked what she would want to be. "Something with a mask, I guess." She didn't want to be recognized.

"Oh, she can do you up that way with makeup," Lucas had indicated Maya, who was already grinning at the prospect.

"Have you ever worn contacts? We might need to get you some colored ones. No amount of makeup could make yours unrecognizable."

"So, I've been told," Summer had smiled.

"Do you want a costume for school, too? Something less… transforming?" Maya had asked.

Summer had found it difficult in the beginning to allow her teacher and her husband to pay for all that they'd put in for her beyond groceries. Maya had taken her shopping for clothes, seeing how little she'd been able to bring with her from home or her sister's, most importantly a jacket for fall, which she didn't have. Granny Lizzie had taken her to the mall and insisted that she get whatever she might need and hadn't permitted herself before. Summer knew by now the story of Kermit Hart and what had happened to him when his parents, including Elizabeth herself, had learned of his impending fatherhood. She knew the pain that the old woman had carried, the shame and the regret. To have the young mother and her child in the house meant a great deal to her. It wouldn't fix the past, but it would be something.

"I don't know, maybe not…"

"You have 'although' face," Cara had pointed out.

"I just… I guess I figured that, if they saw me in one costume at school, then they might realize even less that it was me if you did my face up like you said."

"Done," Maya had smiled at once.

While they'd left Summer to consider what those two costumes would be, the question had turned to what the rest of them would do. Cara was bound for a college party with Mateo and her friends, but she would of course be at Marianne's dinner, and some of the games. She would be doing her own thing. As for Granny Lizzie, she would clear out after the dinner and likely go spend the evening at the Oswalds' or the Sandersons'.

So, this left Maya, Lucas, and their birthday girl. Maya would be keeping up her routine of bringing back the previous year's party costume for her time at school, so she would be the revamped Sun once again. As to the home, family costumes, well… They'd asked Marianne what they should be, out of curiosity over what she might say. She'd sat there for several minutes, picking at her breakfast with her hands and eating along, a furrow of deep toddler concentration on her face. Everyone else had done their best not to disturb her, minding their own meals. Finally, by chance… or the fundamental truth that glitter got everywhere, no matter what you did… a stroke of genius had found the small girl.

"Mommy! Magic!" Marianne had gasped, dropping her bit of scrambled egg back in her plate before poking at the table and holding up her hand to show the red sparkly grain.

"Magic, yes… Red magic… Don't remember the last time I used red magic…" Maya had mumbled to herself, which had made both Cara and Summer laugh.

From there, the idea had come about and been accepted with ease. Wouldn't Marianne look so sweet as a tiny fairy? Her response had been one of uncertainty. The magic was supposed to be a secret, wasn't it? Her mother had told her so! Summer had taken up the charge on this one, pointing out to Marianne that Halloween was a special day, and the fairies could come out and be themselves. No one would know because everyone was dressed up anyway. That had settled it. Marianne would be a fairy, an orange and green one, of course, because pumpkins. And Maya would be one, too, naturally. She'd asked Marianne what colors she should use, and, with much consideration, she had said blue… and purple… and yellow. She loved colors, and she was extremely good at picking them out and matching them already. Everyone would tease Maya and say this was 'that artist DNA' of hers coming in.

To her, it was just pride, and memories of sitting with her from a baby and up to now as she'd look after her students' work or create some of her own. In the past few weeks, it had been her going through her boxes of diaries while Marianne sat nearby, filling in a new page of 'her book.' She would look over and ask 'Mommy, what do I do now?' and Maya might say 'How about Artie?' He'd usually be nearby, him and the other dogs, and Marianne would look at him and nod to herself, reaching out her hand and calling to him. He would come over and sit next to her and she would pet him and get to work. It wasn't exactly a close portrait, not even a little, but this was her interpretation, and that was what mattered. When she'd be done, she'd show her mother. Maya would inscribe at the bottom of the page the date and the 'assignment.'

Today, at long last, they were going to be getting what they needed to put the costumes together, from the two fairies to Lucas' costume, which… Oh, if he wasn't just putty in his baby girl's hands. When she'd asked if there were 'boy fairies,' Cara had pointed out how she knew one guy who hung out with fairies a lot, guy by the name of Peter Pan. The look on her face had been pure Hart mischief, and Maya had to work so hard to hold in her laughter, especially when Marianne turned an eager smile toward her father. Granny Lizzie had read that book to her, she'd seen the animated movie, and she loved 'Tinky.' He was stuck now. Maya had lasted all of twenty minutes before she couldn't take it anymore and had to draw up the image, down to the green tights and little shoes.

"It's going to ruin him for me forever," she'd whispered at Lucas once Marianne had run off with the drawing to show Summer.

"So, what you're saying is I should keep the costume for the anniversary?" he'd challenged, which had left Maya looking mildly conflicted and just on this side of traumatized.

"Yeah, no, better not, I'm not going to… No, no, back as yourself, please," she'd told him, and Lucas had laughed, pulling her into a hug so he might whisper something at her ear. She'd gasped and backed up, trying not to laugh. "I should take money out of the Huckleberry Jar for that one," she'd pointed at him. "Penalty, sir, penalty."

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners