A/N: Happy 2022 everyone! Today marks the start of my seventh year of this Lucaya Project, and the sixth 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 five 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 (2021)
6...

January 1st 2022

Chapter 1
Our Life With Newborns

"Hey, look at that… It's 8:14. You're a week old, down to the minute," Lucas spoke softly. Turning his eyes back down to the small babe rested against his chest, held securely with his left arm, he smiled as he noticed a few things. For one, Ms. Kacey Friar was awake, after having been sleeping quietly for the past hour. And for another, this being what made her father smile, her little hand was presently rested against that of her young sister, she the junior of the pair by five minutes.

Ms. Lucy Friar was also awake, herself held with her father's right arm. Could they actually see each other and understand anything? Lucas doubted it, but regardless… They had spent the last several months growing together in their mother's belly, and now that they were out… Oh, they definitely understood something. Everyone had seen proof of it, whenever they'd separated any of them or brought them back together again. When they were all side by side, that was really when they were at their most calm.

"Has it really been… Wow…" Maya hummed. Lucas looked over at her, sitting just across from him and holding the last but not the least of their triplets, Ms. Remy Friar. She was staring down at her, and Lucas might have tried to draw her attention to what the others were doing, but it would have meant pulling her away from that sheer fascination she had for the babe presently in her arms.

He still remembered how deeply it had affected her, when she'd finally gotten to hold their little girls for the first time, one by one. That first night after the delivery, she hadn't felt up to trying it yet, didn't feel solid enough. What if she dropped one of them? After a night's rest, as spotty as it had been for her, she'd finally felt that it was time, and so they had gone out to find them. They had gotten through their first night very well on the whole, which had been about the only thing their parents hoped to hear. Emboldened by this, Maya had decided to start off in the order that they'd been born. One by one, she'd gotten to hold Kacey, and Remy, and Lucy. With each one, there would be this feeling in her eyes, like relief… She'd missed them. Since then, she had continued this rotation whenever she got the chance. None of them liked having to decide when each turn had to end, but for the time being that was just how it had to be. Three of the girls and two of them, one of them still recovering from the birth as she would continue to do so for several weeks…

"8:16," Lucas whispered when the time clicked by on the clock.

"One week for you," Maya smiled, cradling the blond-fuzzed head of the middleborn triplet.

"Is she awake?" Lucas asked, unable to see from his vantage point. He didn't want to move and disrupt the other two.

"Oh, yeah," Maya reported. "I don't think I've ever seen her stay asleep when Kacey is awake. Same with her."

"Yeah, now that you mention it…" They allowed the next three minutes to lapse in silence, enjoying this peace with the babies, until the clock struck 8:19. "And one week for you, Luce," Lucas carefully leaned his head to kiss the top of their smallest babe's head, garnished with more hair than the identical twins combined. They'd all been growing, day by day, whether or not it was entirely noticeable, but even if she managed to catch up to her older sisters in height, she'd likely always feel like the smallest in their hearts. Seven days had been enough to start showing a quieter temperament in little Lucy than in Kacey and Remy.

It was hard to believe it had actually been a whole week, but at the same time they were aware of the days going by, weren't they? Each one had felt like a victory of sorts, additional weight on the side of self-assurance. They were doing remarkably well, all three of them, and so was Maya. By all accounts, they would be released from the hospital and allowed to return home before the girls celebrated a second week, which they were told was very good. That was reassuring, too, even if there was a part of them that was very apprehensive at the thought. Sure, they'd had them for a week, but all this time they had been here, with nurses, and doctors, all this support around them… What would it look like when they were back at the house?

One of the nurses came up to them just now, quietly indicating that they had visitors waiting to come and see them and the girls. They'd been expecting these visitors, and they were both eager to see them, one in particular. As excited as they were, neither Maya nor Lucas would claim to be near as excited as she was to see them. It was all she'd been able to talk about… They'd kept her waiting so long already, but now the moment had come, as promised. Marianne Friar would be allowed to hold her baby sisters.

"You ready?" Lucas asked as he approached her. He'd carefully set Kacey and Lucy down before approaching her. Talk about time flying by… He was never so aware of the fact that she was two months shy of four years old until he'd consider her and the babies together.

"Yeah," Marianne nodded when she looked up at him. From the moment Ella had walked her in, holding her hand, her eyes had been squarely drawn to their mother, sitting across the room, and to the place where she knew her little sisters would be.

They'd all done their best to be truthful and to explain properly why this thing had to be one way or why that thing couldn't be some other way. She understood for instance that her mother was not able to pick her up for the time being, and that was alright. She'd adjusted and compensated, and it had warmed Maya's heart like she couldn't believe. And she'd also come to understand that a little time had needed to go by before this moment could arrive. Now that it had arrived… Oh, she very much wanted to get started.

"Okay, come here," Lucas picked her up and carried her over to his chair. "All the way back, yeah?" he told her, and she nodded as she scooted until she could rest her back against the tall chair's back, leaving her feet dangling over the edge of the seat. She gripped the armrests as she looked over to her mother, and Maya chuckled. She was so giddy, but at the same time she was remembering what she'd been told about when she'd get to hold the babies, so she was keeping that giddiness reined in.

"Do you know who this is?" Maya asked her while Lucas brought over the first of them. Marianne craned her neck and followed the advance until she could get a good look.

"That's Kacey Angela," she dutifully affirmed. She would do this often, referring to her little sisters with both their first and middle names. She had already informed the infants that she was their big sister, Marianne Christine.

"Nailed it," Lucas confirmed before carefully settling the eldest of the trio in her arms. She would be fine, they'd seen to it, but still he remained crouched there, ready to reach over if needed.

Behind them, Ella was already recording the moment. She'd been allowed to hold her new baby sisters for the first time a few days ago, and they had that moment immortalized, too, but oh, this one… Marianne had been making the most of what she had in the last week as far as being in contact with her little sisters. Sure, she hadn't been able to hold them yet, but she'd seen them, held this one's hand, that one's foot, lightly touched this one's head… When she finally got to hold one of them, it lit up her face like this was the absolute best thing she'd ever experienced. And she held her like a pro. Tiny as she was, there could not have been a safer place than right where she was. Kacey dozed off while her big sister quietly spoke to her, about anything and everything she could think, from what she'd done the night before, to what she'd had for breakfast, to sharing some story of one of the dogs.

She'd been spending the past week with her grandparents, half the time with the Friars, half with the Hunters, same as Ella and Tori, who'd followed along, all the better for her not to feel as though she was on her own, even if she was always very happy to spend the night at her grandparents'. It had been Ella's initiative, in support to her little sister and for no other reason. To hear it from Marianne, it was like they were both having their own version of Sleepster, and it was like an adventure, Friar girls united.

"Next one now?" Lucas asked after a few minutes. Marianne looked unsure about letting Kacey go, but she was reminded that she could only have one of them at a time, and she did want to get a turn with each of the babies, so Kacey was put back down. By now, Maya had done her own trade, holding Lucy, so the next one to be passed into the toddler's hold would be…

"Remy Susannah," Marianne stated before the girl was placed in her arms.

She told her about how she was going to see their Aunt Riley that afternoon, and she reminded her – as though she'd never done it before – that she had been named for her, with her first name being drawn from their mother's best friend's initials, same as Kacey had been from their grandmother Katy's name. She would get to play with Nicky, and Emily, and their baby sister Megan, herself two weeks old already. She never stopped being amazed at the size difference between the youngest Orlando and the triplets, right from the beginning. They'd explained how that was because Megan had spent the normal amount of time in her mother's belly, whereas her sisters had needed to come earlier, and as much or little as she understood this, she was fascinated.

"And who's this?" Lucas asked, a little while later, when the next switch was made, the youngest of the sisters passed from mother to daughter. Marianne brightened again, as she'd done with Kacey, and with Remy, too.

"Lucy Elizabeth," she nodded. If she had a particular affinity with any of the three so far, it could be said she had one with this one, the 'singleton' of the triplets, the quiet one. This in no way diminished her affection for the twins, not at all, but the difference, slim as it was, was sufficient to be noted. She told her about how she was named after their father, and how all of them were also named after their great grandmothers, their mom and dad's grandmothers.

To hear her go on especially about Elizabeth Hart, Lucy's own namesake, sharing small memories she had of her… It caught up Maya and Lucas and Ella, too, thinking of Granny Lizzie, gone these past few months but far from forgotten. They had already vowed to do their best to make sure that Marianne would not forget her as she grew up, and in turn it looked as though she would do her part, telling her little sisters about the woman they'd never known.

"You did so good, baby girl," Maya smiled, putting her arm around her shoulders when she came to stand next to her chair.

"Mommy, when do we go home?" Marianne looked up at her, not fretful, just curious and eager.

"Soon," Maya promised her. "Gotta wait a few more days, yeah?" She nodded. Home… All the apprehension in the world couldn't make them feel anything but anticipation for that day to come.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners