January 24th 2022
Chapter 24
Our Twists Around Birthdays
She'd had no plans set for this morning, neither of them did, except for the obvious. Today was October 31st. Today Marianne Christine Friar was four years old, and they would celebrate her as they'd always done: giving her the best Hallowannie even as they reflected on how fast she was growing.
But then Maya had been the first of all of them to wake that morning. Lucas still slept and, when she went to look in on them, the babies did, too. As she suspected and would be confirmed later, the former now slept after having ensured that the latter did as well. They'd both woken up when they'd heard them crying, but he'd tagged in to take this turn and so she'd gone back to sleep, long before he'd been able to finish with the girls and get back to bed.
Seeing all this, Maya had been struck with a sudden and very compelling thought, so she walked quietly down the hall to Marianne's room. After carefully opening the door, she found the birthday girl still slept, holding tight to her Peabuddies. As Maya approached though, she realized…
"Is someone pretending?" she smiled, more so as the little blonde still lacked any kind of poker face. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Maya whispered. She walked up to the bed as Marianne flopped on to her back and opened her eyes. She held a finger to her lips, a familiar signal to keep quiet, before leaning to reach under her daughter's arms and lift her up into her own.
She hadn't done this, not since before the triplets were born. She couldn't, not for so long, and if she wasn't sure that Marianne would realize what it meant that she did so now, she didn't have to worry. Her little pumpkin held on close, exuding so much love as she did so that she nearly had her mother crying.
"Happy birthday, baby girl," she breathed, pressing good few kisses to her cheek before sitting on the bed keeping her merry load in her arms. Marianne only pulled away so far as to be able to see her mother's face.
"It doesn't hurt, Mommy?" she asked, giving that good Friar stare.
"No, I'm okay," Maya promised her with a smile. "But, you know, just in case, we might need to test this out a few more times today… and tomorrow… and the day after that… and the day after that…"
"And the day after that… and the day after that…" Marianne repeated, giggling along.
"Yeah, you got it," Maya bowed her head, her smile never leaving her. "Do you know how much I love you?" she asked, forehead to forehead with her. Marianne nodded, moving both their heads together. "How much is that?" Maya quizzed her, and she pondered.
"The most!" she finally declared.
"That's a lot," Maya laughed. "Where'd you learn that?"
"Daddy said it," Marianne answered, and Maya resisted the urge to say 'of course.' "Mommy, how much is 'the most?'"
"Oh, now that…" Maya sat up a bit to think how best to explain. "See all your toys here?" she asked, indicating the room around them.
"Uh huh."
"Which one is your favorite?" Maya asked. As she would have expected, the Peabuddies were presented in answer. "Then that means that, out of all the toys in all the world, there is none you love more than these little guys, because you love them the most." Marianne considered this for a moment, and she seemed to understand, but at the same time she looked perplexed.
"If I love you the most, what about Daddy? And Ella? And the baby sisters? And Tori? And the dogs? And Nana and Grandpa? And Granny and Pappy? And…"
"Hey, slow down, slow down," Maya chuckled, kissing the top of her head. "Doesn't mean you don't love them a whole lot, too. Okay? You'll get the hang of it, I promise. Now let's see if your dad is awake."
Was there the tiniest bit of strange feeling in her as she got up and carried Marianne out into the hall? Yes, there was, although she couldn't say that it had to do with pain or any great discomfort. It was nothing bad, it was just realizing how badly she'd missed holding on to her this way. It was like something had been missing, and now it was back, and she never wanted it to go away again.
As they approached the room, Maya signed for Marianne to stay quiet, and she nodded and signed back: no problem. She looked through the door and found that Lucas was still asleep. Again, she used sign language to relay her plan and was understood. So, they went along, over to her side of the bed, where she sat down and released Marianne to go ahead and crawl her way to her father. When she settled there, it was almost automatic. Lucas turned about and put his arm around her. There was no chance that he thought it was anyone but his little daughter, it was right there in the way he held her. After a minute, he slowly opened his eyes and was treated with the sight of his girl's eyes, staring back into his.
"Good morning," he told her.
"Good morning!" she chirped, right before she was gobbled up in a two-armed hug and big kisses, and then she was a giggling mess.
"Did you sneak out here?" Lucas asked.
"No, Mommy came, and she picked me up!" Marianne informed him. He looked over now, one smile from Maya exchanged with one of his own.
"She did, huh? And she brought you here?"
"Yup!"
"That was very nice of her," Lucas stated, staying focused on their girl even as he heard his wife snort. "Hey, isn't it your birthday today?" he asked Marianne.
"Hallowannie!" she proclaimed, holding up four fingers, in case he didn't know how old she was now. He gave this the reaction it demanded, complete shock and awe.
Not to suggest they would have done any less otherwise, but it felt so important this year that they should give Marianne a day to remember. They knew the last few months had been a bit all over the place around her, and as good as she'd coped overall, there were still quiet effects, impossible to ignore.
So, after the wake up with her parents, Marianne's big day continued. The next part was for her to see how they had dressed the triplets for the occasion, or how Lucas had done so, on his last trip across the hall while everyone slept, hoping all the while that no one would have an unfortunate incident before breakfast. They weren't wearing their costumes yet; those would be for later. They were instead fully aligned on the Annie side of Hallowannie. Thanks to shopping sleuths Katy and Melinda and the intervention of Grangie the sewing wonder, Kacey was patterned in pumpkins, Remy in swans, and Lucy in turtles.
"Morning, baby girls!" Marianne gasped when she saw them. "Guess what, it's my birthday today! And it's Halloween, too. It's spooky day, but that's okay. You don't have to be scared. I'm four now, you're okay with me, I promise."
The triplets may not have been Halloween-ready just yet, but Marianne had to be put in her costume ahead of Lucas taking her to preschool, and she was very excited about this. She wanted to see her little friends and the teachers dressed up, too, and she knew, because of the two other kids who'd had their birthday since the start of the year, that there would be a cake at lunch and balloons.
"Okay, okay, not yet. We gotta have breakfast first, remember?" Maya told her when she looked about to pull off her PJs right then and there to begin her super-heroic transformation. "I think your aunts are doing... something?" she went on, putting on an air of mystery with just enough exaggeration to get the birthday girl's legs going.
Taking two and one each of the babies, Lucas and Maya followed, not going fast enough to catch up with their daughter, no, but they could easily hear her call of 'Ellaaaaa!' when she discovered her big sister and niece were in the kitchen along with Eliza and Emma. She and Tori were a burst of childish giddiness, as they would be. The room had been decorated, several balloons already floating about, garlands draped here and there, and the table all set and served with breakfast, kept warm in wait of the others. They'd timed things very well.
After breakfast, as promised, Marianne was transformed into Super Annie, or The Swan. If cuteness was a superpower, the bad guys of the world would have no chance against her. Truth be told, she had originally wanted to be a zombie, like Missy Sanderson and Uncle Dylan had been showing her. She was getting so good at her zombie walk, too. But she'd been told that it might have been 'too much' for the other kids at preschool, so they'd gone for her backup, more in tune to the softer-hearted boys and girls who did not have her fortitude when it came to 'the spookies.'
"I'll be right back here to pick you up as soon as the day is over, so you guys can be back at the house early, deal?" Lucas told Marianne as he walked her from the car to the school.
Several of her classmates were coming over to the house tonight, most of them being driven out by their parents, but one of them would be taken along with Marianne and picked up later from the house by her mother, as she couldn't have come otherwise… and she really wanted to come. Her name was Winnie Grayson, and while Marianne still played with all the other kids, too, she definitely played with Winnie more and more. It was enough that Marianne favored her diminutive these days, because both she and her little friend loved being Annie and Winnie.
"I know, Daddy," Marianne told him, looking up as they went hand in hand.
"Of course, you do," he had to smirk, hearing so much of Maya in her voice, calling him on his saying something obvious. "Hey, any chance you can bring back some of that birthday cake for me?" he whispered as he crouched before her for goodbye hugs.
"It's a little cake, Daddy," she told him.
"A little piece then. Just a crumb," he pinched his fingers together, and she laughed before reaching out to embrace him as he caught her in his arms. "Have a great day, yeah?" he kissed the side of her head, careful not to get caught up in costume or makeup.
The day was kind enough to go by fast, enough so that it seemed no time had passed before he was back again, collecting the super swan girl and her butterfly friend. From the looks of it, he hadn't come a minute too soon.
"Hey, what's the matter here?" he asked of his daughter but mostly of her little friend, who looked like she'd been crying, something no doubt due to the wing hanging limply off of her right shoulder, unlike the other, still purple and pink in all its sparkly glory.
"Adam broke her wing," Marianne informed him, the Sheriff and superhero in full accord that this had been no accident and that it had been wrong.
"He did? Let me see," he asked, and Winnie showed him. While Marianne was already looking like she'd be one of the tallest in her class, Winnie was much nearer the other extreme, all of it very evident when the two of them would stand together. "You know, I don't think it's that bad. Annie's mom will be able to fix it for you, okay?" he spoke encouragingly. The smaller girl lifted her head again, comforted at the notion. "Let's take the wings off so they don't get broken again on the way home."
"My mommy made them," Winnie informed him, with enough waver in her voice still to suggest the incident was recent.
"They're very pretty," Lucas nodded as he helped her out of them. Winnie agreed with this, too. She'd been flitting around in them all day, as the girls' teacher would tell Lucas when they spoke. "Wait until you see the house. I think you'll love it."
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
