October 13th 2022

Chapter 286
Our Advance Toward Days

She'd had her day out at school, and now… Now she would have this day at home, just her and her youngest two. Mackenzie and Aubrey, Tiny and Lucky… It would be just the three of them for the next few weeks of work and school days for Lucas and the other girls. Oh, sure, they would very likely have visitors, or they would be the ones going places, but there would also be days like this one, where it would be just them, and Maya couldn't believe how much she was looking forward to it. She remembered days like these when it would just be her and Marianne, and they were some wonderful memories for her to look back on. When the triplets had been born, and up until the day before, well… They weren't about to let her handle three infants all by herself, especially in the beginning, when she was recovering from the delivery and couldn't be overly active. She had always relished those moments when it could be just them, no one else there to assist, rare as they had been for a while. Then it had been about looking after the triplets and Mackenzie, and then the four of them plus Aubrey, once they'd both come home from the hospital…

Today was going to be like the start of a new era, or maybe a return to an old one. Whatever it was, she was very happy to see it come to pass. First things first, everyone had to get up, and eat, and get ready for their day, and get on their way. She was happy for that, too.

Her favorite part had long become the 'running of the Friar Hair Salon.' One by one, the girls would come to stand before her at the bathroom mirror – on their own two feet or stood up on the small stool – and she would do their hair for the day. With four of them to tend to and not a whole lot of time to do it all, it was very important not to let things spiral out of control. It all came down to figuring out how they wanted their hair styled on any given day. By now, Marianne was very adept in figuring that out, so she would come to her with her mind already made up. Today, for instance, all she wanted was one high ponytail twisted in a bun, so that was what she got.

Now the triplets, on the other hand, that was where she needed to be strategic. It generally came down to 'this or that' questions. They were still too little and too unfamiliar with the process that she couldn't always say 'what do you want today?' They needed options, so she would give them, narrowing down the field until they had The Style. Some days, they would all want their hair done exactly the same, regardless of whether or not they had on the same clothes, and other days it would be each triplet for herself. It had never happened, not once, that two of them wanted the same thing and the third not. It was all the same or all different, no middle ground. Today was an 'all the same' day, specifically one braid at either side of their heads, so off she went, braiding and braiding until she'd done six of them over three heads. The hair was the same style, same length. The difference was in the color of the elastic bands, yellow, and orange, and purple.

As she kissed them on their way to be driven to school by their father, Maya watched them go out the door, watched those little braids flipping around along with the girls' movements. At some point, she imagined, they might want to get their hair cut. Would they all want it to be cut the same or not? She remembered how it had been such a departure, when Nellie had started to cut her hair shorter while Gracie kept it longer. Maybe it was still very early to wonder if…

There was something tugging at her shirt, and she looked down to find Mackenzie stood at her side, still gripping the fabric as she stared up at her.

"What can I do for you, Miss?" Maya smiled down at her. The sixteen-month-old reached up both her hands now and planted them on her head, sought to move her hair around… "You want me to do your hair, too?" Maya guessed, and the girl nodded at once. "By all means, step into my salon," she smiled as she picked her up and carried her up the stairs. She stopped to check on the baby, who was awake in her crib, before going back into the bathroom. "Well, this is a little low for you," Maya frowned down to the little stool. Sometimes she still had flashes of Lucas sitting rod straight on that thing… the night they had found out they were expecting this funny girl right here. Sometimes she suspected that that very night had sealed Mackenzie's comical fate.

Maya lifted her daughter to sit on the counter, facing her instead of away from her. She didn't exactly have Marianne's great length of hair, or the triplets' middling length, but she definitely had enough so that they could make something cute happen… if they were fortunate.

"I need you to sit still, okay?" Maya held her gaze, and Mackenzie gave her no more in response than a smile. "Oh, that's not fair," Maya squinted at her. "Okay, let's see, let's see…" she brushed her fingers through Mackenzie's hair, which already seemed to soothe her. "You like that, huh?" Maya chuckled and got a nod. "Do you want me to just keep doing that or do you want me to tie your hair? I will do either one." Mackenzie pointed at the box of accessories, still sitting on the counter. "Option two then. Now let's see what… Ooh, how about a couple of these little bows, huh?"

A few minutes later, Mackenzie's fine blond hair was topped by a pair of red bows, tying back a bit of her hair on either side of the separation down the center of her head. She kept trying to touch them, and Maya knew it wouldn't be long that she'd try and outright pull at them. It was very likely the bows would not survive to lunch time. They at least survived as Mackenzie teetered her way back to her parents' room, the better to try and peer into the crib and show Aubrey. Maya was right behind her, so she picked Mackenzie up and set her down on the bed before going to take up Aubrey and bringing her over.

Now she did not have nearly enough hair to do something about it, but they would make up for it in due time, to be sure. It was already a strange contemplation to think how she was three months old now. It felt like so long and also no time at all, which she was sure had to do with the memory of her birth, of… everything that had happened. Like, surely it didn't feel like very long ago at all that they'd come home, but it had been over two months, and in that time, they had traveled to France, and Greece, and Australia with this here baby girl and her sisters.

She wasn't that little thing of a person that Lucas had brought to her when she'd finally awakened, not anymore, no. She was growing, everything right where it should be. She had never been in any danger, she'd come right when she was supposed to, it was just Maya who'd had the trouble. Aubrey was just this bright little thing… Lucky… Oh, she felt that way, in so many ways, like nothing could go wrong when she was around. She'd brought that into their lives, hadn't she? Even when everything had seemed dark for a while there. She'd kept them afloat merely by existing. Maybe some of that went to the fact that she'd been a newborn babe, all tiny and sweet, but as she'd grown, it had still been there, in those eyes of hers. Of all her sisters, she looked most like the twins, which was to say she looked most like Lucas, but then they'd say that, and… Yeah, she had something of hers, too, harder to describe than to call on the shape of a nose or the color of two eyes… Whatever that little Maya factor was, she was glad to sense it in her.

"What should we do this morning, huh?" she looked from the baby over to the sixteen-month-old. Mackenzie was stuck to her side, the better to see her little sister's face and try to brush at her fine hair the way Maya had done to her. Aubrey didn't cry, but she definitely didn't care for these ministrations the same way, so it was probably a good idea to draw Mackenzie away from carrying on. She was not likely to provide an answer, especially with what limited vocabulary she had at her disposal, so again it came down to giving her options.

What it came down to was going for a walk. Both girls were settled into their stroller, and Maya took them and a couple of the dogs along the back road, moving in view of the lake, and the Sandersons' farm… They stopped over there when they ran into Missy and Cole, and the two of them soon had Mackenzie out of the stroller to go and see some of the animals, especially the goats, who were her favorites. They eventually headed back, and Maya made lunch for herself and Mackenzie. Before they knew it, nap time came, which meant Maya could get a move on with her chores. She kept Aubrey in the carrier strapped around her, and she couldn't decide if it had more to do with her wanting to be able to answer her daughter's needs as they arose or if she just wanted to keep her nearby.

A high pitched wail of a cry summoned her up from the kitchen, where she'd been preparing a few things for the evening's dinner, and she headed into the green room to find Mackenzie awake and crying, sitting up in Marianne's bed. They'd been settling her down there for her naps, a sort of test run to see if she was getting close to needing a toddler bed of her own. So far, she was doing alright, if not right now…

"Hey, hey, you're okay, what's the matter?" Maya asked in a reassuring hush as she carefully picked Mackenzie up, balancing her against her side as she minded the baby across her front. "Did you have a bad dream? Little Mac 'n Cheese?" she asked her. One red bow had disappeared, though the other still held strong.

"Mama…" Mackenzie spoke through her trembling cries, sticking her snotty little face into her mother's shoulder.

"Okay… You're okay," Maya hummed. "You want to stay here or go in the big bed with me?" That was barely a question. So, back they went to the other room. Aubrey was put back in her crib, and then Maya went and held Mackenzie as she lay with her.

As days went, it was about as uncomplicated as they came for her, and she was more than at ease with grabbing a quick nap for herself along with her daughter. As she drifted off with her, she imagined these next few weeks being a lot like this, and she knew that she would be sad when it all came to an end. Oh, Mackenzie and Aubrey would be in great hands with their grandparents and whoever else looked after them, and Maya would be so happy to go back to work, but… This… Her Tiny girl, staying true to her name as she lay curled up to her, clinging to her shirt and breathing evenly… This image she would cherish and carry with her, always.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners