A/N: The new chapter of "We Three Hearts" is now available!

August 19th 2021

Chapter 231
Our Loss of a Whole

By the time Lucas arrived back home, his uncles and the rest of the Sullivan-Reyes kids had arrived, and dinner was nearly ready. His day hadn't been a barrage of constant reminders of the tragedy, but the thought of Lambert's passing had still been with him. He thought of the boy, naturally, of all the things he'd never gotten to do or have. And he thought of his family, of his parents especially. It inserted a terrible little idea of his ever losing Marianne into his head, so much so that on at least five or six separate occasions, when he found himself with a few minutes to spare, he would call home to hear from her. She found the whole thing infinitely amusing, of course, and to hear her jolly little voice... It calmed his heart and mind again, if only for a little while.

When he'd walked into the house and she'd seen him, she'd made such a dash to get to him that she tripped up and stumbled, hitting her elbow, and sending her in a fit. Lucas had immediately gone to collect her in his arms and worked to reassure her, even as everyone else in the house, human and canine alike, came at the sound of her wails. She would spend the next hour or so, all through dinner, sat in his lap, sometimes resting her head to his chest, looking this close to sucking at her thumb. Her elbow was fine, but just to put her at ease they'd stuck a band-aid on, and she'd been reassured.

The meal was a sober affair, as was to be expected, though they all did their best to talk amongst themselves, to share any and all good things, big and small, that might have happened that day. It helped, some, though more than anything it was just better than the alternative of silence.

Finally, the meal was over, and when Michael and Keith went home with their children, Maya and Lucas looked to one another. It was time to go. Oh, they needed to go, they wanted to go, but they were also nervous about going, about stepping into that bubble of grief. It wouldn't stop them from going, no. This wasn't about them or their comfort. This was about their friends, and those boys, who'd lost a son, a brother...

"We should bring them something else, right?" Maya wondered as Lucas got into the driver's seat at her side. In her lap, on top of the box of letters and cards, she held a large tin of GiGi cookies, which she had made with the help of Summer, Lea, and Granny Lizzie upon her return from school. They had cooled down over dinner and had finally been stored to go, but now they didn't feel like enough. "Should we get them flowers? Or..."

She bowed her head, took a breath. Lucas just reached out and took her hand in his. There was nothing to be said, so this would have to do. It did. They drove on toward the Day home, talking about what parts of their time at work they hadn't already exchanged. As ever, silence seemed to roam, waiting for a space to settle in and bind them.

It got its chance as they pulled up to the house. It looked as normal as ever, not at all telling of what its occupants had to be going through, and though this was to be expected, it did strike them.

"Here, let me take those," Lucas nodded to the two boxes in Maya's arms as they walked up to the door. She didn't argue, just handed them over. With her hands loose, she could feel them needing to fidget, to do something. All she could do was ring the doorbell.

She might have suspected that the one to come and answer would be Dakota. The eldest of the brothers would have been in the best position to look after the rest of his family on a day like this. Still, he looked so broken on the inside, barely keeping it together, and when he saw his former teacher and her husband, he looked relieved, like maybe for a little while he wouldn't have to be the strong one. Maya saw that look in his eyes and she forgot all about her apprehensions.

Dakota led them into the house. It was so quiet, and there was the instant scent of flowers. As they would soon see, plenty of others had decided that sending some of those would be the thing to do. There was almost a whole garden in the dining room, though it did nothing for the spirits, like they'd had no choice to accept them and now they were stuck with this reminder.

The first ones they encountered, as they guessed Dakota had been with them before the bell rang, were Roman and Anton. The boys sat on the couch, in front of a television with its volume so low as to be barely audible. They just needed something in the background, they weren't really watching it. Roman looked so much more subdued than they'd ever seen him, while Anton... He was traumatized. Maya came and sat next to him after taking Roman's sketchbook from her bag and putting it on the coffee table with a look to tell him that she expected nothing out of him and that she was only returning it to him. He understood. Dakota sat on one of the two recliners and Lucas sat on the other.

They could imagine the scene, just before they arrived, those three boys, infinitely aware that their quartet was now and would forevermore be incomplete. They had been four brothers, for the last fourteen years, and now there were only three of them to carry on.

"I found him," Anton quietly spoke after about half a minute of heavy silence. "I went to wake him up, Mom was calling us to breakfast, told me to get him. I called him, but he didn't move. I-I decided to play a joke on him… pulled the blankets off him… pinched his ankle. He didn't move. I shook his leg, yanked at it. Then I… I looked at his face... His eyes..."

They could see it all too well, and it rattled them. To see his brothers, they guessed he'd never put the moment into words. But now he'd felt ready to say it, and it left them feeling that previous day's morning all over again. Had Anton screamed? Called for help? Had he gone running for his parents? And what would have happened once they got into his room, too? They hoped never to be able to imagine that one.

They placed the cookie tin on the coffee table. Whether they wanted any or not at the moment, it would be there when they wanted it. When asked where their parents were, Roman informed them that they were upstairs. Michelle had not gotten out of bed all day. Barton had been tending to her, even as he started the difficult process of planning their son's funeral. Last they saw of him he was in Lambert's room. Lucas signed to his wife, telling her to go on. He would look after the boys. Maya nodded, taking the box from him as she went.

As predicted, Barton was in his son's room. He appeared to be cleaning it up, removing the signs of the previous morning's frenzy, after finding him, and calling for help, before Lambert would have finally been removed. Presently, Barton stood next to the bed, frozen in place as he stared. He'd never forget this, would he? The sight of his boy, lying there...

"Bart..." Maya spoke his name and he blinked, ran his hand over his face before turning around. He looked like he didn't recognize her for a moment, but then he breathed and walked over to her. Without preamble, she put her arms around him. He hugged her back, and though he didn't cry, his whole body felt weakened and helpless. "I'm so sorry..." she was right on the edge herself, and whether it was the words or the emotion, she knew he felt it all. "I can do it. You don't have to..."

"No, no, I do," he told her as they pulled apart. She watched him, making up the bed again with shaking hands. He got through it, and that was what mattered.

"I don't want to bother Michelle if she's not ready to see anyone," she promised as they left the room and he shut the door.

"It's alright, please," Barton insisted. He led her down the hall. Their door was closed, too, and he opened it slowly. The room only had the faint glow of a bedside lamp for illumination. "Michelle, look who's here," Barton approached the bed, where his wife lay, clearly awake, sleepless.

"Maya..." the woman spoke in weak gladness. She moved to sit up at once, becoming aware of what her current state might have looked like. Maya didn't give it any mind. She went and sat on the edge of the bed and, feeling welcome to it, she embraced her, mother to mother. At a time like this, who would ever know as much as they did... She spoke her condolences and they were received.

"I have these for you," she looked from Michelle to Barton before indicating the box in her lap. "Take your time, there's no rush to go through them," she explained as Michelle opened the box and she and her husband discovered what was inside. They understood what these were, and the gesture pulled at what had to be perpetual tears, ready to emerge at a moment's notice. "Not all of them knew him all that well, but those who did cared a great deal for him. This one here," she pointed to the one she'd tucked on the side after they'd picked it up, "This one is from Taylor."

"Have you seen him?" Barton asked with concern, looking like he'd been meaning to get in touch with his son's best friend but just hadn't had the strength.

"I went to check on him when I left school. When I told him about the letters, he asked if we could come back and get one from him before we came here." Michelle took the letter from the box, held it close. One thing was for certain: Taylor Munroe would always be welcome at the Day house. He was family as far as they were concerned.

The last thing she had to give them was Lambert's diary. As soon as they spied the cover, they knew what it was. Michelle leafed through it, Barton looking from where he stood. When she reached the last entry, next to blank pages, they stayed on it. This was the work of a boy who had no idea he was on his final days, a boy who loved life and lived it well.

"You should have it," Michelle declared as she closed it again. She passed it back to Maya, who felt her heart lurch.

"Are you sure? I don't..." she tried to resist, but Michelle was very sure.

"Lambert loved your class. And I know that you... you are going to miss him, too," Michelle explained, containing her tears by a thread. Maya was right there, too, and when she took the book back, they embraced again.

Maya went down to spend a few minutes more with the boys while Lucas went up to pay his respects. As he was leaving, Anton appeared at the door, carrying the tin of GiGi cookies. He wanted his mother and father to have some, as he and Roman and Dakota had done.

Neither Maya nor Lucas could think of a thing to say on the drive back. The day had been long and heavy, and they just needed to be home again.

When they arrived, they found Cara and Mateo sat on the couch along with a wide awake Marianne in her PJs, sitting up in her aunt's lap. At the sight of her parents, she climbed down and scurried over to them. Lucas took her up without incident this time.

"Miss Friar, what are you doing up at this hour?" he smiled after he'd poked her tummy and made her laugh.

"Story time, Daddy," she declared, locking her arms around his neck.

"We tried to do it, but she wouldn't have us. Had to be you," Cara explained. Marianne nodded in total agreement.

"Daddy," she punctuated her point, squishing her cheek to his. She had no idea of what had been happening today, but she was being extra sweet, so maybe some part of her could at least pick up that people were upset, and she had the cure.

"One story, coming up. Two, even, or three," Lucas gladly committed himself to the task, and Marianne was on board.

As insistent as she could be to have her father read her bedtime story, it didn't mean that she wouldn't be glad about some Mommy stories, too, and that night they alternated between the two of them. They made it through five and a half stories before Marianne finally surrendered to sleep. Had they subconsciously had it so that they told those stories to her from the comfort of their big bed instead of her little one so that they might decide to keep her between them through the night? No. They had been very conscious, both of them. After everything they'd experienced today, they needed her here with them.

"How are we going to tell her?" Maya signed, rather than to risk waking her. Lucas looked to their daughter, her little bandaged elbow up around her pea pod.

"I'm not sure. Riley might have some ideas," he pointed out, and Maya agreed. She picked up her phone at once, sent off a text to her best friend. Once she'd done this, she remembered their dinner, and who else had almost been there. She sent off another message to her parents, and to Lucas' parents, too, showing him as she did. He nodded before suggesting they invite them all to lunch or dinner the coming weekend. It would give them a few more days to cope in their own way.

"I don't know what tomorrow is going to look like," Maya shook her head as she signed.

"We'll get through it together, like always," Lucas vowed. Maya breathed. She was worried, couldn't help it, but she would hold to his words. She couldn't help that either. She leaned across Marianne and kissed him. So long as it was the three of them, they could do anything.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners