January 23rd 2022
Chapter 23
Our Twists Around Acrobats
It finally felt as though big family dinners were becoming manageable, as the triplets were coming on two months. This wasn't to say that they hadn't had the friend group dinners, Friar dinners, various Hart branches dinners, or – like on this evening – the Hunter and Clutterbucket dinners, or that they had all been chaotic nightmares, not at all. Some of them had been great, even if others had left Maya and Lucas glad to be able to revert to having just the two of them, the kids, and the Hart-Lane sisters at the end of the visits. But there would always be this layer of… complicatedness in the background, whether they knew or wanted to say it. For one thing, these dinners would always end up taking place at their house, because the thought of traveling with a toddler, three babies, and everything they needed to bring for all of them, was not something they felt ready for, if their trips out to doctors' appointments were any indication.
But now the girls were coming up on two months old, which felt nearly impossible in so many ways, yes, the least of which being how small they were compared to two-month-old Megan Orlando or big sister Marianne when she'd reached two months. For all that, it was starting to feel like… maybe they did have this figured out, and all they had to do was give it a shot. Make a plan, follow it, and then maybe they would succeed. If any two people could tackle something like this, it would be them, yes, they were sure of it. So, they put their money where their mouths were, and they asked if they might have dinner, the whole family, over at the Hunter-Hart house.
"Daddy, can I help?" Marianne appeared as he was working to get Kacey dressed. Lucas turned to look at her, keeping a hand on the baby as he did.
"You want to help dress them up?" he asked, and Marianne nodded. He looked down to Kacey again for a moment. She was still coming off from nap time, as her sisters were, too, and like the others she was being very calm about the entire process just now. "Okay, but you know you have to be careful, right?"
"I know," Marianne nodded.
"Alright, just let me finish with her and then we'll do the next ones together, okay?"
"Okay," she agreed before moving up to the crib where Remy and Lucy waited, making small noises but being overall relaxed. Marianne reached in as best she could, touching one each of their feet so they would know that she was there with them.
Once he was done with Kacey, Lucas took her back to the crib. After pulling up Marianne's footstool to the changing table, he brought Remy over. Everything he'd need for each of the girls had already been laid out next to him, in three piles, so they started on the second one. Marianne wanted to do everything, so Lucas let her do it, instructing her all the while and only pitching in otherwise when it would be clear to both of them that she needed assistance. She did very well, all things considered, and she looked very proud of herself. Lucas was, too. Remy was returned to her twin, and then it was Lucy's turn. Now that she'd done it once, Marianne did it better than before. When they were all done, she couldn't wait to go and tell her mother.
"You did all that, huh?" Maya smiled, even as she continued looking through the bags, making sure they weren't missing anything.
"Daddy helped," Marianne nodded.
"Yeah, he does that a lot, huh?" Maya chuckled, more so when her daughter giggled. Now she wanted to help her mother, too, and Maya wasn't about to deny her. Marianne loved to go and collect things to bring them back. They would lovingly imply that she got this from spending so much time with her canine friends, and she took it like a badge of honor.
After a very satisfactory time that did not feel like they were running against a clock, the minivan was loaded. Emma and Eliza would have loved to come, but one was working and the other had a big paper to complete. So, it would be Maya and Lucas, all five of their girls and their little granddaughter, off to see Katy and Shawn, the little Hunters, and the Clutterbuckets. Once they pulled up to the house, they had plenty of hands both on the sides of hosts and guests to bring in the babies and what could only be referred to as their luggage. They all seemed to find the procession kind of funny, which made it feel a lot less overwhelming.
Even before they'd made it into the house, both Maya and Lucas had clocked the excitement levels radiating off of Haley. She had something to share, and she would wait for her moment, yes, but oh, couldn't it come already? Finally, once they'd made it into the house and the eager family had the babies well seen to, Haley turned to her big sister and brother-in-law and motioned for them to step aside with her.
"You look like you're going to explode," Maya told the nine-year-old, giving her exaggerated big eyes and making her snort. "So, come on, what's going on?"
What was going on was that Haley Hunter would finally get to achieve her greatest wish, at least the one she'd been cultivating since she had learned it was something she could do and wanted to do. She would get to attend classes for circus arts! She'd hoped to get into the program, which ran from September to June, but she'd missed the deadline. It had been disappointing to her, of course. To her parents, it was less disappointing, more bordering on… worrisome. Knowing their youngest, Shawn and Katy fully expected her to take things in her own hands. Hoping to keep the chances of broken limbs to a minimum, they had made sure to get her on a wait list, in the event that a spot opened up and they would still let her in. Their efforts had paid off, just as Haley's had done. Only the fact that she essentially had the beginner stuff already under her belt made it so that they would consider her when a spot did open.
"You got in?" Maya gasped, feeling her sister's excitement reverberated back on to her.
"Yeah!" Haley was almost hopping. "I missed like a month, but it's fine. I start tomorrow, after school!"
"That's amazing," Lucas laughed, holding out a hand to his little sister-in-law for a high five she immediately returned. "Good thing we're here then, huh? We can celebrate."
"That's what Grangie said," Haley nodded. "She said it was up to me to decide what we were having for dinner."
"Vegan chili time?" Maya guessed and got another nod.
What had started with a seven-year-old Gracie refusing to carry on eating meat and eventually turning to veganism with ever-supportive dad Shawn doing the same had led to the family doing their best to attend everyone's chosen diet. This meant some meals having both options on the table, and some being completely vegan. Having grown up with these distinctions since they were very little, MJ and Haley had always been used to it, but where MJ went by what he wanted, one way or the other, from meal to meal, Haley had gone the way of her sister and father. It had been something for them to share and bond over ever since. The chili had been Haley's favorite for longer than she could remember, especially when she and Shawn and Gracie made it together. Nowadays, having it made by Grangie was like having another version of your favorite thing… She could not have been asked to pick one over the other.
"Madelyn's mom got her put on wait, too, but maybe it'll be really late… if a spot opens up at all," Haley stated, with a disappointed frown. She and her best friend had this idea of becoming some great double act, and either at Haley's or Madelyn's, even at their school, they would go about with that mentality.
At home, they would practice the things they already knew, or try to learn new ones, and they would go around as though they were ready to hit the stage at any second, giving great, flourishing motions, as though they'd just been presented, to the great clamor of their 'audience.' When they were at school, they'd go around sometimes in an effort to practice their synchronicity. And when they'd have gym class, oh… That'd just be an invitation for them to practice some more of their tricks, and jumps… Their gym teacher would generally leave them be unless it was time for them to participate in the activity of the day… or they were getting dangerously close to hurting themselves or someone else. And recess… that was a perfect time for figuring out what they'd do next.
"I'm sure it'll work out somehow," Lucas spoke as encouragingly as he could. Haley nodded, even as her thoughts went on exploring other avenues.
"I could show her…" she stated.
"Not to be the party pooper here, but I'm not sure how that would go with Mom and Dad, or Madelyn's parents," Maya cut in, knowing how quickly her little sister's mind could spin this new scenario. Next thing they'd know, there'd simply be no turning back. This got her a look which she'd come to refer to as Haley's 'I know you're a grown up, but you're my big sister, can't you be on my side?' look. "Trust that it's going to happen, okay?" Maya pleaded, giving her 'I see where you're coming from, but the thing is that I am a grown up, not to mention a mother, and it is what it is' look. "You know, you go in there, and you show them how amazing you are… and if you happen to mention that you are part of a package deal, and there's another girl that's as great as you, well, who knows…" Now that was a thought she could go with. She would campaign the hell out of her best friend, and then they'd have no choice!
"Okay," she smiled, and she hugged her sister before moving over and doing the same with her brother-in-law. "Wait, I gotta show you what I'll wear," she told them both, and then she was off like an arrow, up the stairs and to her room.
"What do you think, how badly is our Hucklebucket going to want a spot, too?" Lucas quietly asked, leaning at his wife's ear. Maya couldn't help but snicker at this, but only briefly, as she imagined her tiny pumpkin dangling along on silks…
"She has her dance lessons with Donna, let's just hope she sticks with those. When she's Haley's age, if she wants to give it a go, too, well… That's a decision for five-years-from-now us."
To look at the way Marianne would emulate her young aunts and uncle already, Lucas' suggestion was really not so far off from reality. More and more they would see her picking up new skills, both big and small. They would become a part of her, and she would grow to seek out more of the things she liked the best. This had proved to be a very successful tactic for the likes of Donna Devereaux to use in her dance studio. All she would have to do, the moment Lucas brought his little girl through her door would be to tell her that she had something new to show her today, something wonderful, and she would be on board. It was like her diary, whenever they looked back through some of the videos Donna had been recording and sharing with them. They could see her go from a teetering beginner, mostly just hopping and jumping around, to becoming a genuine little dancer. Between her and Haley with her circus arts, and MJ with Stage Ready… They all brought together so many different aspects of performance as a family, and they couldn't wait to see what would come next.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
