January 25th 2022

Chapter 25
Our Twists Around Games

"Stay with your uncle!" Maya called as she climbed down the porch steps, watching the trio of little girls dash off toward MJ Hunter. Super Annie the Swan not only had Tori with her - in the guise of Queen Cupcake - but Winnie the Sparkling Butterfly, too, once again with two wings in working order.

Maya had only just finished her 'operation' on the crushed wing, with the four-year-old owner looking on like a parent. She hadn't been able to take care of them until after dinner and the family party for Marianne, but Winnie had shown remarkable patience, aided as she was by her friend the Sheriff. It might as well have been both their birthdays with how Marianne included her, and it left her parents to consider just how much good it was doing her to have the Grayson girl in her life, when she was still adjusting to the new dynamics of the triplets being part of their family.

"You know that, between all of us spread out there, they'll have eyes on them no matter where they go," Lucas spoke as he came out of the house, too.

"Suggesting you won't be following her wherever she goes?" she challenged. It was hard not to look at him without feeling the urge to grin. It may have been Marianne's idea for them to be superheroes this year, but, oh, were the results ever so wonderful to look at... especially where her Dockleberry was concerned.

"What kind of a hero would I be if I didn't?" he smirked, giving her a bit of a pose. One look in his eyes and it was clear that her costume wasn't leaving him indifferent either, and factoring in the fact that she'd just given birth to three whole humans not quite two and a half months ago... The guy may have genuinely been of the 'I would find you the most beautiful in a paper bag' type, but it still warmed her heart to see it.

"Mm mm," she squinted at him. "How are..."

"Your grandfather has things handled," he assured her. "He looks very at ease with our three and Megan, his evening is set."

Maya had to appreciate the image of Tanner Clutterbucket, so tall and sedate, his great mustache and brows occupying so much of his face but hiding none of his affection for his great granddaughters, holding one, or two, even three of those baby girls at once, not all four, no matter how long his arms were...

"Fine, okay..." she finally relented. "I'll get out there." Their whole mission was to keep on making this a great day for their daughter, wasn't it? And now they had all their guests for the annual festivities... "You go first," she gestured ahead with a grin. Lucas moved ahead of her down the steps before turning back around, enfolding her in his great cape and hushing her laughter in a kiss. He whispered at her ear before moving on, letting his cape float back out. Would it be asking too much that he wear that thing more often? No? Maybe? Tomorrow... Tomorrow could work... November 1st...

Lucas made his rounds, always keeping the little girls in sight, even if he trusted that MJ would have things handled just fine. He watched as they collected their candy, getting their first bit of it, the big lot, from the one stall, handled by Nellie Hunter and Anton Day. After that, they started going around the games. They always had it that, at completion of some game or another, the visitors would receive a new treat to add to their candy haul. While they did have games for the smaller children, it wasn't to say that they couldn't participate in the other games, too. It was the first year that Marianne really explored those in earnest, and she looked so excited to go to each one, especially with Tori and Winnie.

"Mama, look!" Tori called out, and Lucas turned to find Ella had returned. She had gone off with Lea and Lara Sullivan-Reyes to pick up some more candy, ahead of what they predicted to be one of their busiest years yet. They always managed to run out, didn't they?

After having gone to watch her daughter and her little sister take a few shots of a small ball and be rewarded with a chocolate each, Ella moved back toward her father.

"So, I just go around and rate them?" she asked. She had been appointed as one of their costume-contest judges this year.

"Well, you watch them... You can ask them questions if you feel it will inform your score... I know you'll do great."

"Yeah..." Ella breathed out, looking around. Lucas followed her line of sight and was not surprised to find her looking to where he'd already spotted Nika Petrelis.

She was signed up for the contest, here along with the rest of the quiz team. They wouldn't have kept her from coming. Still... They didn't expect her to go up to Tori and introduce herself as her aunt, but she had spotted her playing with Marianne and Winnie by now. She looked like she was trying not to look but simply could not help herself.

"Like I said, trust your judgment," Lucas told her. She turned back to him and nodded. She would do her best.

Doing her bit of covert watching, Maya had spotted the Petrelis girl, too, though for her part her attention held on her teammate, the last to hold the freshman mantle before her.

It had been a few weeks now since that night when Stella had brought Ava to the house. In that time, they had all been doing their best, all of them who cared for Ava as they did, to support her without imposing beyond her comfort levels. She was going through a lot, enough that it would be a lot to handle for anyone, especially a teenager. Add to it that she was that teenager, she who had never been at ease airing any genuine emotion, keeping herself behind a mask of disdain...

But she'd been displaced. Despite her wishes, she had been living with her uncle since that night. She had only seen her father a few times, never on her own, as far as they were aware. To Maya, what she felt coming off of the girl, from the few times she'd seen her in person or discovered new entries to her diary, and from tonight, at the Halloween games... It reminded her of... Me... In particular, it reminded her of when she'd first come to Texas. In those first weeks, she'd felt pulled from her world and dropped into a new one, making her feel like she didn't know who she was anymore, not exactly. In the end, she had retained some of the old, integrated a lot of the new, and become this new version of herself.

It wasn't the same where Ava was concerned, sure, but some of it... Ever since her home had shrunk down from little sister, big brothers, Mom and Dad, to just her and her father, her life had become centered around this one thing she felt she had to do, to carry on... with the one piece of her family she had left, as much as her love for him came at a cost. But now she'd been pulled from that. Owen Nash's home was as good as being dropped into a new world, and she was still figuring things out. From what Maya had heard out of her colleagues, her behavior had been somewhere between same-old-Ava and this other, halfway closed off version of her. Tonight, between her and Nika, the other half of the quiz team seemed unsure of whether or not they would stay at the house all that long.

There was however... The diary... the music... Maya hadn't been sure how her response to those lyrics would be received. She'd put that note in Olivia's diary and she had wondered if she might have gotten ahead of herself. She hadn't mentioned Ava by name, so when her bandmate had called and asked about this potential songwriter, Maya had decided to go the way of 'let me look into it more first, keep it to yourself for now.' It was just as well, as she hadn't heard any mention of the song at all, not for a couple of weeks. In that time, any contact with Ava made it seem like the whole thing had never happened.

It wasn't until just this weekend that Ava made another move. Another song... The last one had been mostly neat, only a few signs of editing, like it had come from her mind fast and true. This one had so many edits in it, and signs of frustration... She'd worked hard on this, wanted to get it absolutely right, and... she had not been satisfied. The whole thing was scribbled over until it was a wonder that she could still read any part. On the underside of the page, done in clear haste, was the week's intended assignment. Maya had responded to it with words this time. Keep going. Ava would have gotten her diary back just this morning.

"Hey, Mrs. Friar," a voice drew her attention away from the girls and she turned to find that it belonged to Cade Foster.

"Hi!" Maya smiled at once, even more so for the way he smiled, too.

It never stopped being such an impact to see one of her students start off with a face seemingly opposed to the entire activity of smiling for one reason or another come to a point where they found their smile. It would change their entire face in such a way... Cade was absolutely one of those. The first time she'd seen a smile like that from him... Oh, it had not been so long ago at all, and knowing what the last couple of years had been for him...

"This... This isn't Star Wars... Is it?" Maya had to ask, looking his costume over, unable to hide that she genuinely wasn't sure. She could only get so many of the references.

"Oh..." Cade looked down at himself and back again, still smiling. "No, actually it's Star Trek," he revealed. "We thought it'd be funny, go 'the other way' like Henry said. We've been doing it their way for a couple years, and it's great, it is, but... I grew up watching all the series with my grandparents, and my aunts. My dad was never into it, my mom either..."

"Got it," Maya nodded. "Well... if you feel like showing me more of it in your diary..."

"I can do that, sure," Cade nodded. The idea intrigued him, and that was just the kind of spirit she liked to inspire. It tended to produce wonders.

Just as Cade went to rejoin Henry and Stevie, who'd gone for a trip through the hay maze, Lucas appeared at her side, Marianne on his shoulders and Winnie in one arm.

"Where's Tori?" Maya blinked.

"Fell asleep, MJ took her up to your grandfather. Look..." Lucas nodded over to Ella before moving along, taking the girls to the toddler games.

Maya spotted their eldest easy. She was standing with Nika Petrelis, the two of them talking. She didn't think it had anything to do with the costume contest. Nika appeared agitated, and Ella was talking back, looking like she didn't know whether to stay or run off. She still didn't know how to act around her ex-boyfriend's little sister.

She might have been all of a second away from bolting, but then Nika said something and... Oh, whatever it was, it stopped Ella in her tracks. She started again, looking the other girl in the eye for the first time. A moment later, she guided her back toward the house and they went inside. Maya figured they would have a long-awaited talk, away from any number of eyes and ears, and she turned to go and see what Lucas and the girls were up to.

"Mom..." Ella's voice stopped her, and she turned to see her stood in the doorway. "Can you come in here for a minute?"

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners