A/N: Sorry for the delay, computer issues :) Today's chapter coming later.

November 6th 2022

Chapter 310
Our Holidays with Colors

It was the same every time. Three times before, not too long after Marianne had been born, and then the triplets, and then Mackenzie, Lucas had gone and gotten two new tattoos. New birds, new portraits. And Maya would wait a while more, but then she'd get hers, too. There was never a set date where she'd tell herself 'alright, let's go now.' Instead, she'd know when it was the time because she'd start to draw her own portrait, of Lucas and their new daughter. And last week, she'd started to draw him and Aubrey.

He would hold her close. When she'd been a newborn, it had been one thing, but even now, when she was six months old and not so tiny and curled in on herself and much more prone to wriggle around and bat her arms about… He would hold her in both his arms and bring her up until their faces would meet, forehead to forehead, or cheek to cheek… As much as she would be an active babe, more and more, when her father would hold her that way, it would be like the whole world slowed down and it was just him and her. Their Lucky girl… She had always been special to him, even before she was born, but for that long stretch when Maya had been unconscious, something different had happened. As worried as he'd been for his wife, all he'd been able to do was hold on to that baby girl and protect her with everything he had. When they'd been able to leave the hospital, the tension had started to release, but that bond hadn't and wouldn't. That was them, forever, and that was how they'd live on Maya's arm.

"You're coming with me again?" she asked Marianne when she came and spied on her, spotting the sketch. Maya took hold of her from behind, hugged her and the side of her head, making her laugh as she nodded. "Yeah? Oh, good." After a moment, Marianne tipped her head back to look at her, a question in her eyes, and Maya was already ahead of her. "When we get back, I promise."

First things first, they were Houston bound. The drive was a mix of singing along to the radio and reminiscing on Marianne's school and their Christmas show. As soon as she'd heard they would be doing it again this year, she'd been all over it. She'd done it when she'd been in kindergarten, her first year there, and not even seeing the older kids there, too, had apparently gotten it through to her that it would be a yearly thing. But now she knew, and she couldn't wait. Not all of her classmates were looking forward to it, but even if they didn't give a particularly rousing performance, Marianne Friar would hold her own enough for several of them.

This was the second time that Maya brought her firstborn along with her for an appointment, and this time around Cheyenne was ready to give her a special experience. She had a selection of very nice temporary tattoos on hand, in a binder which she presented to Marianne for her to choose from. When she did, she got her sat in a chair, as she might have done any regular client, applying the colorful image to the seven-year-old's arm, midway between her wrist and the crook of her elbow, where her parents both had their birds. Hers wasn't a bird, no: it was a turtle. The moment she'd seen it, there'd been no other contender. When it was done, oh… She couldn't stop looking at it, so much so that she nearly missed looking on while Cheyenne started on her mother's new pieces.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, pumpkin?" Maya asked when they walked back out on to the street after she was all done.

"When can I have one that stays?" Marianne asked, looking down at her temporary turtle.

"You want that?" Maya asked her. It wasn't a surprise, not when she'd grown up seeing her parents, each with an arm that was filling up more and more with each of her sisters' births. Marianne nodded firmly. "Well…" Maya let out a breath, hoping she wouldn't be too disappointed at the answer. "I'm pretty sure you need to be eighteen, so… it's going to be a while. But until then, you can get as many turtles like that as you want… or any other thing. But that's fun, I mean, you get to switch things around, and if you get tired of it, then it's gone, easy."

"Yeah," Marianne liked the sound of that. But then again…

"You just want more turtles, don't you?" Maya guessed, and Marianne giggled.

They went and had lunch, and then it was back on the road, headed for home. About every single time that Maya looked into the rear view mirror, Marianne was looking at her arm, holding it this way and that, the better to 'wear' her temporarily tattooed look. Now she kind of wished she'd gotten a few more for the other girls back home, who would definitely want some art of their own, but they could fix that quick, and so they would. She had previously made some of her own for the girls, and now thanks to Cheyenne and the turtle, they were bound to make a return.

For today at least, Maya had it on good authority that her daughters would have a different activity on their minds than body art. Today, they were much more invested in the relocation of their smallest sister. Aubrey was going to be heading into the green room along with Marianne and Mackenzie, occupying the crib her next oldest sister had occupied until really not too long ago, so much so that it had been sitting there, empty, waiting for this moment since they'd brought in the little bed for Mackenzie. It would be a much simpler process than the last time, as the furniture was already right where it needed to be. All they'd really have to do would be to get Aubrey's things into the other room and remove the crib and anything left behind that could be taken away from the master bedroom. After that, well… There would be a new name plaque going up on the door, underneath the existing two, and a new piece of art to go behind the crib… The bird mobile would have to follow the baby girl, too, naturally. And that would just about be it. It wouldn't take long, no, but they were going to treat it as though it was a big process, that was for sure.

There had been a brief debate about her actually ending up in the green room, all because of Lucy. She had wanted to have her baby sister, her buddy, in the other room, along with her and the twins. If Aubrey was going to go anywhere, wouldn't it make more sense if she ended up with her buddy? Not that Lucy was particularly concerned with sense. She only wanted to get to share her room with her little sister, and she was upset to learn that she wouldn't be. The best they could do was point out that not only would Aubrey be just down the hall, with the others, but also this way there would be three of them in each room, and didn't she like it when everything was even and matching? They illustrated this to her by indicating the three plaques on her bedroom door and the two currently on the other door. With Aubrey, it would balance things out for Marianne and Mackenzie. They promised her everything would be just fine and, well, promises were sacred in their house, weren't they? Promises were kept.

"Daddy, where are you?" Marianne called out when they walked through the door, raising her voice like she wanted to make sure he would hear her whether he was on the second floor or down in the basement and possibly out in the Hex for some reason.

"Wow, your voice sure does carry," Maya startled a bit more than she might have expected.

"In the kitchen," Lucas called back, and Marianne ran off to find him, the better to show her shiny new turtle. "Look at that!" he gave the appropriate level of amazed gasp, holding her arm in his hands to look properly.

"It's not a real one, you have to be careful," Marianne insisted, and he nodded, understanding as ever. "Show him yours, Mommy," she turned back, and Maya happily stepped forward, performing the same sort of approach as she'd done even as Lucas received her arm in the same way he'd done their daughter's. There was her new bird, a little nightingale to go along with the one that represented him. It almost felt appropriate that they should have the same birth month and bird Aubrey and him.

The portrait, now… That was the one that truly captivated him. He hadn't seen the image, Maya's art to represent him and their youngest daughter, not until it was there on her skin, and when he did see it, he was taken with a wave of emotion. It was just as it should be, in his opinion, perfectly representing his relationship with their Lucky girl. It nearly had him in tears, and he hugged Maya, kissed the top of her head. He could see Marianne, taken by the rise of emotion in him, and he gave her a smile, in case she wasn't sure that he loved it.

The transfer of Aubrey's things and the rest of their moving day went off without a hitch. They were curious to see how it would all go overnight, the first night. Would Aubrey be puzzled when she found herself in a different room? Would Mackenzie have trouble with the baby being right there if she woke and cried? Would Marianne work overtime in her sleep not to damage her turtle? So many questions.

The most unexpected one had nothing to do with their daughters' room and everything to do instead with their own. When all was said and done, Maya and Lucas suddenly found themselves staring at the corner of their room that had been baby central for a good long while. It had been Aubrey's home for half a year already, but even before she'd arrived, not very long before, Mackenzie had lived there… The triplets had always been across the hall, but still…

Now, with Aubrey gone, it was to wonder what they would do with that corner. Yes, they had opened the door to maybe enabling themselves to have more children, but that wouldn't be for a while longer, if it happened at all. Just because they'd open the door, it wouldn't mean that a new baby would walk through. It might well be that they'd never have a crib in there again, in which case it would just be a space in their room… They couldn't very well leave it empty, could they?

"I know there was something in that space before, but I can't even picture it, or…" Maya waved vaguely at the empty floor and wall space. There were barely noticeable marks, scuffs from the furniture so recently there. It was as though it wanted them to notice even more… They could have just moved out their last baby ever.

"Trying real hard not to make a scene, aren't you?" Lucas assumed, putting his arms around her from the side. She let out a hum and he kept hold of her, which she greatly appreciated.

"Did it all just happen really, really fast? Swear it was just a minute ago…"

"They're still really small," he reminded her, to cheer her up.

"Our first one's back there, thinking about when she can get a tattoo. If this keeps up, we'll be there before we know it."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners