January 17th 2022
Chapter 17
Our Connection to Family
Lucas collected Marianne and Tori, got them dressed for outside, and led them and the dogs off for a bit of playing around out on the lawn. With fall progressing as it did, there was plenty to entertain all parties involved, especially when it came to the leaves on the ground. With the little girls, the consensus was 'the crunchier, the better,' while the dogs went along the lines of 'big piles, big jump.' It all worked as well as they could want it, keeping them out here while Maya and Ella spoke inside.
It didn't take a genius, if they were in the girl's life enough to know her situation, to put the pieces together. What could have upset her so? Not what, who... And while it could have been others, like her older sister, or any of Tori's estranged biological grandparents, turning up out of the blue, Maya only had to look at her daughter to know just what face had appeared out of the past. It had only been a matter of time before it happened, right?
"You saw Theo," Maya stated, starting the conversation to help Ella into it. She nodded. "At the mall?"
"He was in a store, with Nika. I saw them through the window."
"And they saw you, too?"
"Not at first. I didn't know what to do, but Dad talked it out with me, and... I decided to go and see them. I was going to have to, right?" she turned those bright eyes at her mother, and Maya quietly nodded.
For a few moments they sat there in silence, looking on to the triplets in their bassinet. They were asleep now, and to see the way they stuck together... it was about as close to instant comfort as they could want, even if it couldn't fix every last thing, like the emotions bubbling up in their sister's heart and mind just now.
"When he saw me... when I saw him seeing me... it brought back a lot," Ella finally spoke again, slowly stroking some of Kacey's hair back into place. "I hated him. I loved him, and then he abandoned us, and even if part of me understood why... eventually... In the moment, and for a long time, I hated him, more than anyone. Whatever my parents did, deep down, I think I expected it. Anyway, it wasn't the same. They'd always been mine, but Theo... We found each other, chose each other. I trusted him with everything, and then he..." She paused, sniffed like her emotions demanded that she catch her breath. "Even after I came around to... not to forgive but just... to move on, to see it from his point of view, it was just... It could never be the way it was before, not anymore."
"And then you saw him," Maya quietly nudged the 'but' that she'd seen right on her daughter's face. Ella looked ready to start and cry again.
"I don't want to be with him again, not like that, that's... I don't feel that way about him anymore," she assured her mother with confidence, and Maya believed her. "But he was my friend, too... before he was anything else, I mean, we grew up together. And I saw him today, and there was everything else, yeah, the pregnancy, the abandonment, the old hate... But the thing that got me the most, it was all those memories that came back from seeing him, and I... I missed my friend..." she finally confessed, the new tears at last spilling over. Maya put her arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer.
"How did it all end up?" she asked after a few moments of silence, when Ella sat back, tried to dry her face.
"He wants to see Tori, says he'll wait until I'm ready, and I believe that, I just... I don't know when I'll be ready. I do want him to be in her life, if he can, but if he's in hers then he's in mine, and it's a lot."
"I know," Maya nodded.
"But I gave him my number and I took his," Ella went on. "I sent him a few things, photos and videos of Tori... He looked so happy, him and Nika, to see her..." she told her mother with a small smile. Part of her looked like it was relieved by the outcome of the encounter, but it all was brought up in the face of all those other feelings coursing through her, and those had been in charge for too long not to carry a lot of power, almost too much of it.
"I don't know what's going to happen from here on out, with you and him, and Tori, and Nika, but however it goes, we've got you," Maya vowed. Ella's smile said it all. She knew, and she loved them for it. "How did the rest of your morning go? Did you get everything you needed?"
"We did," Ella nodded. "We… I guess we dropped it all off at the apartment on the way here," she added, sounding like she was only realizing it now. She'd been so lost in her own head on the way back, but now that she played it all over… Khalil and Phoebe must have helped Lucas… "I know I said I'd stick around, but is it okay if Tori and I go back home?"
"Send us pictures when the room's all transformed?" Maya answered the question with another, and Ella smiled and nodded.
They would not lack for company throughout the day once Ella and Tori were gone. Already, they had been expecting the whole of the Austin contingent of the Hart-Lanes, them, and their people, whether they bore the name or not. Sam and Dora would be here, along with their Francesca, as would Cara and Mateo, and of course Eliza, and Emma, along with another of their most recent transplants, Teddy.
Maya and Lucas already had one weekly dinner with their friends, and the same could generally be said of their respective parents, as it was rare that a week would go by when they didn't spontaneously end up sharing a meal. Nowadays, this was especially so, due to the fact that any one or more of the grandparents and great grandparents would be at the house, to help Maya with the babies. But now, on top of all that, they also had a weekly dinner in the books, between all of them siblings and their families. With the sort of complicated situation of their reconstituted family tree, and the geography of their homes up to now, it meant the world that they all got to be here, to share this, to drop in on one another so randomly. Eliza and Emma had not lived in the same city, the same state as their older brothers, in so many years, eight years just for Sam… Now, they were just minutes away. It still didn't feel real sometimes.
"Uncle! Uncle Teddy!" Marianne bolted up to him when he came through the door, and he did not disappoint. He caught her up, gave her that big, rattling sort of hug he would give her. It would get her giggling and squealing every time, so much so that she would hold on tight once he'd stop, and she would refuse to let him go. Sam would joke, whenever he'd see this, that his brother was trying to steal his spot. Teddy would play into this, though only ever with the full knowledge in his eyes and his smirk that it would never be possible, not in a million years. If they wanted proof, they only had to see how quick she was to go over to her godfather when she'd be back on her feet again.
"Hey, little brother," Maya smiled, when she got her opportunity at hugging him. It was an easy joke, but Teddy laughed each time. He wouldn't even have to say anything. He towered over her, as he'd done since he'd hit his last growth spurt, so he would put his hand on top of her head, and it would be the end of that. "You're early."
"I know," he nodded.
"Not that I mind, hey," Maya cut in. "I just thought you said you wouldn't be here until…"
"Oh, yeah… yeah, no, I finished early," Teddy explained.
"You finished… early…" Maya repeated, sensing this was barely one line of a whole story and opening the door for him to share the rest… if he should feel so inclined. He hesitated for a moment, reflected, giving off that energy of a younger brother, standing before his big sister, as he contemplated sharing a confidence.
"You know that girl I told you about? The store across the street from work?"
"Yes, I remember," Maya smirked at once. He'd told her about how this girl started her work shift just as he was finishing his, and the two of them would notice one another as they came and went, and they would wave… and smile… The more time had gone on, even as neither knew the other's name, had never spoken a word to one another… it had become the best part of his days.
"Right, so, one of the guys at the store, he was going to be late today, so I offered to stick around and work his spot until he showed up. I had this whole idea about putting a sign in the window, to ask her out, or just… start a conversation…"
"Very nice," Maya approved, trying not to laugh. "So, what happened? Did you do it?"
"No, no, I… My guy showed up after all, and she didn't show up for work today, so there was no reason for me to stay," he motioned at himself. And here I am.
"You're going to try again next time, right?" Maya asked, trying not to sound overly excited. It wasn't like her reputation as a… mild… romantic encourager wasn't known, was it?
"If I can pull it off…" Teddy shrugged.
"Pull it… Just go over there, talk to her… Unless the window thing works out, I mean, it sounds sweet… memorable." He had always been 'the cool brother' – Sam's words, not his sisters' – but just here he looked just on this side of awkward, like he might have blushed.
"I'll do my best."
"Sammy's here! Mommy, can I open the door now?" Marianne came up to them, rescuing her uncle from what might have been some extra sisterly teasing.
"Yeah, alright, just watch for the dogs, okay?" Maya told her, and at once she was gone again, to open the door and wait for her uncle to come along, hopping in place until he reached her and picked her up.
"Stay, Jax!" Marianne pointed down when the dog appeared and stood on his back legs. He sat back down at her command.
Teddy was spared any further discussions of him and 'the girl' as the siblings gathered around the dinner table. As they ate, the subject of the hour soon turned to Cara and Mateo and whether they had started to make any substantial plans for their wedding. They'd been engaged a good while already, and they had intended to have the actual ceremony after Cara graduated college. This had happened a few months ago, so naturally, her brothers and sisters were very curious.
It would be this coming summer if all worked out as they hoped. They weren't looking to have a big wedding. Mateo's family definitely had different ideas than Mateo himself, or Cara, but the young couple was determined to stick to their vision. They didn't want to get lost in the madness of plans, and this thing, or that thing, until they were so stressed that the wedding would lose its meaning. The one thing they seemed to be in agreement on, the couple and the family of the groom, was their desire to have the whole thing take place at Sullivan Stables, and Lucas assured them that this would be as good as a done deal. They were family, both of them.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
