November 20th 2022

Chapter 324
Our Production of Leisure

Dear Mrs. Friar,

I haven't written to you in a while though I've been meaning to. School has been so busy this year that it can get to feel sometimes like I can't even keep track of what day it is anymore. I had to set so many alarms on my phone so I wouldn't miss a class, or a shift at work, or so I wouldn't forget to do laundry, or take out the trash, or shower... It's calmer now, so that's good.

I had an experience the other day, and it made me think of you. I'm still visiting my mother, once a week, like I started to do at the end of senior year. Lately, it's been a good sort of constant, you know? Like, yeah, I'll still see my dad, but sometimes either one of us won't be able to make it, and I've got Henry and Stevie, but they are busy with their own things, too. The appointments with my mother, I know how much they mean to both of us, so I never miss them unless I really have to and then I'll go as soon as I can after.

The last few times I've gone, I've seen these sisters there. One's my age, the other is thirteen or fourteen, I think, so maybe you'll meet her someday if she goes to our school. Anyway, I guess they have the same schedule. They've been coming to see their mother, too. She was transferred recently, not a lifer like my mother, but she's still got a long time to go before she has any chance of getting out. I found this out today because I finally spoke to them. Their mother couldn't come for her visit, so they were told they had to leave. The little sister, Kinsey, she was really upset, didn't want to go, and her big sister, Tisha, was trying to calm her down, but it wasn't working.

And the next thing I knew, I stepped in, tried to talk to her. I told her I knew how it was, how my mother had been locked up since I was younger, too. I just kept talking to her, told her about what it had been like for me, even the parts where I was so mad and didn't want to see my mother... After a while, I realized it was helping. She was calmer. I was so sure she'd just tell me to leave her alone and keep raging, but she didn't. I'd just finished with my visit, and we were all a bit spent, so we left and went to have lunch, the three of us.

Kinsey just reminded me so much of me when I was her age, and even though it wasn't the same with you and me, I think when I was talking to her, I was trying to be a little like you. There would just be days, at the beginning, where my head felt like a storm, and I couldn't make sense of it, but then when I'd be in your class, and with my friends, it would be better... I could calm the storm, too. Tisha was very thankful, and we've made plans for all of us to try and keep up this routine, visiting our mothers, then having lunch... They live with their stepfather, just moved out here after their mother was moved, and it's all still sort of new for them.

I'll keep you posted if that's alright. Hope the family is well. Take care,

Cade Foster

.

Dear Cade,

I look forward to hearing more from you, always, of course. I am so happy to hear that you were able to make a connection the way you did. I have not forgotten the Cade of freshman year, and if she's anything like him, then I'm sure she'll benefit for knowing the Cade of today.

If you know what school she's going to, maybe she'll be near some kids her age that I know, if she needs a friend or two that she can trust. My youngest sister here in Austin will be starting middle school in the fall, for instance. I'm never shy about following a feeling, opening the door for friendship, as you know. Considering my tendencies used to fall more toward matchmaking for a different kind of relationship, maybe this one is less risky.

I'm relieved to know that things with you and school have gotten less hectic. It can be easy to get caught up in all of that and lose track of why you're there in the first place. So long as you feel secure in yourself and what you are doing, it will all be worth it in the end. Just don't forget to let your head come above the water every once in a while, more than once a week with your mother. Maybe now, with your new friends and your new tradition, that'll be something else to look forward to.

Take care, and say hello to your father from me?

Mrs. Maya Friar

x

By the time the Friars landed in New York, they were certain of two things. The first was that they were glad not to have had the dogs with them. The second was that they and several of the passengers were possibly very glad to see them go on their way.

On the whole, things had started off well. They got some eyes from people who were probably not fans of seeing one baby or small child on a plane, and now here they were, a couple with six of them coming along. They must have dreaded the thought that they were about to experience a very noisy and disruptive journey to New York. But Maya and Lucas were on the case, as were Sam and Cara. Unlike their older sister, they had left their respective spouses and children back in Austin, though they would be reunited before long. Dora couldn't leave right away, and Mateo had offered to wait, too, so that he could be there, along with Felix, to back her up as she traveled with Francesca and Tim. Sam might have waited to come with them, but he needed to be in New York with the others, so this would have to do.

They'd gotten a little over halfway through the flight with Mackenzie being entertained by her aunt and uncle, and Aubrey alternating being in her mother's arms and her father's, while the other four had headphones on and were mostly quiet in their enjoyment of their in-flight movie. And then they'd hit turbulence. It wasn't light enough that it barely registered, no, it was significant, and it sent more than the children into disarray. The difference here was that the adults were able to calm down a lot faster. The children were a whole other story, and there was a great cluster of noise thanks to the Friar sisters. It all made for a very miserable stretch of time, especially once a few less than kind fellow passengers demanded that they 'shut those kids up.' Both Maya and Lucas found it difficult not to lose their temper at those people, but at that moment what truly mattered was to help their daughters calm down, and they weren't helping.

Thankfully, like anything, an end finally came. They landed in New York, got off the plane. Not unlike a trip just a couple of years back, Maya would take the girls outside to get some air, see the sky, and know that they were on solid ground again, while Lucas went to collect the luggage and secure their rental. Marianne and Cara went with him while Sam followed his sister and his nieces. There were two more of them now than there had been on that other trip, though Maya had not forgotten. The triplets had some firsts on that trip, and she made sure to tell them that here. It helped to make them feel better, all of them.

In that spirit, they left the airport and went straight to the hotel, checked into their rooms, left their bags, and headed out again. They weren't looking to go sightseeing, just existing for a bit of family time out in New York City.

"Not coming in subtle, huh?" Maya asked Marianne with a smirk when she noticed that, in the few minutes they had spent up in their room, while everyone was getting to use the bathroom or get a diaper changed, she had gone and fished out her Les Misérables shirt and changed into it.

"Why would I?" Marianne asked with a bright smile.

"Attagirl, pumpkin," Lucas chuckled, tapping her shoulder as they got out of the elevator and headed out the door.

Mackenzie was not arguing the stroller for once, which was just as well, seeing as she would not have been able to convince anyone to let her walk around today. Instead, she looked good and gassed out from the flight, so she was sleeping right ahead of her baby sister. The triplets on the other hand were bursting with energy now, so they had to be kept hand in hand, one each to the three musical siblings, while Lucas had control of the stroller, under the supervision of the seven-year-old in her new shirt.

In what felt like a bit of targeted randomness, the freshly landed family's afternoon in the city was soon redirected by, of all things, a dog. Lucy was the first one to spot it, stopping so suddenly that, being the first ahead, with her mother, the others all came very close to running into her.

"Look, Mommy, a puppy!" she pointed. Maya, like the others, was ready to look and acknowledge that yes, there was a dog, out and about for some reason, but wasn't going to stop. Marianne was the first one to see it and, with a gasp, realize...

"I think it's hurt." She looked at once to her father, who exchanged a look with Maya before looking to the triplets, to Marianne...

"Stay with the stroller, alright?" She tried to protest at first, but then she agreed, so Lucas went toward the pup.

It didn't take very long for Lucas to find out several things. First, he saw that the dog was little more than a puppy, maybe months old. He recognized it, if he was not mistaken, for an Italian greyhound. He was indeed injured... and he was not alone. There were two of them, both looking fretful, lost, underfed, and he couldn't say how they'd come by their injuries, by human action or not, but they hesitated when he approached.

"Hey, it's alright, I'm here to help, yeah?"

The approach was tentative but eventually successful. Behind him, Lucas could tell that the girls had to be convinced to stay back, the triplets because they just wanted to see the puppies, and Marianne because she wanted to help very much. She was finally allowed to come forward, bringing the spare blanket from the baby bag. They'd drawn a small crowd at this point, but they paid them no mind. Marianne was soon holding one of the puppies wrapped in the blanket, while Lucas had the other in his jacket. They took off and went looking for the nearest animal hospital.

By the end of the night, they would find themselves keeping track of progress on the pair - presently nicknamed Mickey and Minnie - as they remained at the hospital. It was not the afternoon they had envisioned, but it had been as good as anything to help everyone set their turbulent flight in the past, in favor of something more familiar to them. As far as they had been able to ascertain, the pups had no one out there seeking them, so for now the Friars were gladly footing the bill and seeing to their care. Already, Maya and Lucas had a feeling like they would either experience a flight with dogs after all, or they would have to console several small girls if they went home without them. Seven dogs could seem like a lot, but then they would be pretty sad if they didn't get to keep them, too.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners