A/N: The new chapter of "We Three Hearts" is now available!
January 28th 2022
Chapter 28
Our Twists Around Peace
The first time they got to wish each other a happy November 1st this year, on the day itself, it was still very much the middle of the night. Everyone in the house may have been aware of this being a big day for them, but this did not extend all the way to the youngest residents. They still needed tending, and so they would wake, and cry, until someone came along from out across the hall.
"Happy anniversary," Lucas whispered, holding Remy and Lucy in either of his arms as he paced with them.
"Happy anniversary," Maya whispered back, cradling Kacey, as she paced the opposite way. They paused when they crossed each other, long enough so they might exchange a kiss. "Almost yawned right into that one," she admitted after a beat, her face scrunching in a smile. He laughed, then started moving again when Remy gave off a sound of waking again.
Night went on and, as it would, night came to an end, giving way to morning. It didn't take long for them to feel a definite chill in the air. November was barely starting, it wasn't even winter yet, but it did sort of feel that way. Much as they would have liked to take this in stride and enjoy a quiet bit of morning cuddles, they had some girls to go check-up on.
"Just ten seconds?" Lucas asked, arms around his little spoon of a wife and a kiss pressed to her shoulder. She chuckled, locking her hand with his before turning her head to look at him.
"Should I count us down?" she asked and oh, how she got a good look of that Huckleberry face, those eyes so full of love… He'd be getting plenty of that from her, too. All these years together, no matter how much faith they had that they would feel this way for one another all their lives, it was still wonderful to feel it, to witness the proof of it. "We should go now, right?" Maya finally had to speak, and when he nodded, she nodded with him. "Okay, let's go."
"I'll go grab Marianne, meet you back here in a minute," Lucas veered off down the hall while she went into the nursery. They both knew their daughter enough to know the odds were very low that she'd still be asleep. He'd put her back in her room himself, the first time he'd gotten up in the night, got her tucked in good and warm, left her Peabuddies within reach…
He pushed her door open this morning to find a big… bump in the blanket, roughly the shape of a small girl sitting up on her mattress, hidden beneath the colorfully knitted thing. There was a light blooming from inside, and just enough movement to suggest the occupant was aware of a presence but under the impression that she was perfectly hidden and would not be found. On quiet steps, Lucas approached, and knelt down… He reached over, poked somewhere about where he figured her arm would be. The blanket wriggled, giggled.
"What's here?" he wondered, grinning. Another poke, another reaction… Now he had a good enough idea, and he took hold of the blanket beastie, pulled her whole into his lap, giving off that sweet laugh he would keep in his heart, no matter how time changed it. "Hold on, hold on…" he went about liberating her, until the blanket fell away to reveal the little face, full of smiles and topped with a mess of dishevelled blond hair. "Morning, Sheriff," he told her as she reached up her arms around his neck. "Kind of cold this morning, huh? Let's keep that blanket around you, what do you think?"
"Yeah," Marianne agreed.
"Let's go see what your sisters are up to."
While Lucas had gone seeking one way, Maya had made her way into the haven of the cub, the kit, and the bun. Everyone here was awake, too, though by the looks of them, they wouldn't have been this way for very long. The important part was that they all looked peacefully content where they were. Maya looked and found them in their respective cribs, and the sight of each one only amplified her smile.
"Good morning, ladies," she greeted them. "Brand new month today and it's starting on the colder side, but you're alright, huh?" she asked as she picked up Lucy, then Kacey, and brought them one by one over to Remy's crib. Even if they each had their own and they spent their nights that way, whenever they'd be brought back together, oh… It was like letting out a breath of relief. Much better… "You all just hang out there a minute until your dad gets here with your big sister, yeah?" she told them, reaching in to ensure that everyone was good and comfortable. Most times she wasn't even aware of doing it, just did it on reflex, but that was fine by her. She was more than happy in her attentiveness… fretfulness, depending on who you asked. What else was she going to do with the three of them at once, right?
When the pair arrived, as promised, Marianne was passed to her mother, blanket and all, and carried across the hall to sit on the bed. It was really anyone's guess who wanted to make up for lost time the most here. They had each other, and that was pretty good.
"Still sleepy?" Maya softly asked, brushing at the four-year-old's hair, taming it back down, as Marianne had her cheek pressed to hers.
"Nuh…" she insisted.
"I don't know, not sure your voice thinks the same," Maya suggested with a smile. Right then, Lucas came along with Kacey, and maybe she'd been telling the truth, with how she pulled away and moved to sit on her knees next to her mother, the better to allow her little sister to be held. "Okay, then," Maya bit back a chuckle, especially at the confusion in Lucas' brow. "Tell you later," she whispered.
"Right," he smiled anyway. He returned to the nursery and brought the other babies, settling Lucy down before signaling Marianne that he would give her Remy. She quickly moved to put her back against the pillows, like she would whenever she held one of her sisters, and she received the baby.
"Hi, kit," she greeted her with a smile and a kiss.
"Back in a bit. You're good?" Lucas asked Maya, telegraphing without a word that he was up to something. Sure, he was working today, and Marianne had school, but whatever they would manage to do about their anniversary today, right now there was breakfast, and that would be as good of a place as any to start.
"Yeah, all good."
Much as breakfast in bed could have sounded like a great idea, it felt like a much more reasonable option to eat at the kitchen table, as usual, so they did. It didn't stop Lucas from suggesting something like a raincheck until the evening, and Maya accepted this with curious anticipation.
Soon, Lucas and Marianne were gone, Eliza and Emma as well, and Maya would have about half an hour on her own with the triplets before being joined by her father-in-law for the morning and then her father in the afternoon.
At the end of the day, Lucas headed off to pick up Marianne from preschool. They'd broken out some of her new warmer clothes – indoor and outdoor – this morning, compensating for the chill as much as the fact that she had far outgrown the previous year's gear. Oh, she'd been so excited about putting it all on, so much so that she'd asked him to take a picture. She'd gone through the routine enough times by now, whenever she got anything from a grandparent or an aunt or uncle and they wanted to see, but also, she had gotten to pick these things herself, on a shopping trip with Sam and Dora, and she was very happy with the result. When Lucas came along to get her, she looked like she wanted nothing more than to be given cause to be outside in her new clothes longer.
"We need to pick up a few things for your mom before we get home," he let her know – which was the truth – and he now had a very eager co-conspirator. "What should we get her first?" Lucas asked as he carried his daughter to the car. Marianne considered, then shrugged. She didn't know what the right thing was. "How about some flowers? You can help me pick them, you're so good with colors, like her," he suggested, smiling.
They went to Jenna's mother's shop, where Rosa's girlfriend also worked. As hoped, she was there, ready to go around and tell Marianne about this flower and that flower as she pointed them out. She congratulated her on her good matching instinct, and she also suggested that she ask her mother about doing something with the flowers, to preserve them. No doubt Maya would have some idea or two on how to do this, and if she needed ideas, Jenna would gladly pitch in.
The final arrangement came out massive enough that Lucas asked Jenna to hold on to it for now. They would circle back and pick it up after the rest of their errands were completed.
"Daddy?" Marianne asked, looking up to her father as they walked hand in hand down the street.
"Yes, pumpkin?"
"How come you and Mommy have your special day today? You had one before already, with the song," she recalled.
"We did, that's true," Lucas confirmed. She needed more than that. "The one in the summer, that's our wedding anniversary, the day we got married at the ranch, under the big tree." Yes, she knew the tree. "Today, that's the day when we became a couple, boyfriend and girlfriend, more than just friends, which was what we'd been before." Her best friend from Texas, my best friend from New York…
"Oh…" Marianne slowly nodded.
"You understand?" Lucas asked her.
"No," she shook her head, and he had to laugh a bit, seeing the immediate reversal.
"Well, it went like this… You know how your mom moved out here to Austin from New York." Yes, she knew that. "She moved here, and we met at school, we became friends. It didn't take long that we started to feel something more for each other, even if… it probably took us longer to realize it, and then to admit it to one another, than it could have." He wasn't about to get into too much detail there. It would only get in the way, and all she needed was to get enough of a picture that she'd understand. "Then, about two years after she moved here, it was Halloween…" he smiled down at her, expecting the giddiness she quickly showed. Her birthday! "We went to a haunted house, we helped to decorate it and everything. And at the end of the night, that was when we knew that we liked each other, as more than friends, that we… loved each other, and we wanted to be together. And the next morning, the first day of November, that's when it happened. And we've been together ever since. We celebrated, every year, and even after we got married, we still wanted to do something special on that day, so we do."
Alright, he'd oversimplified some of the steps, but it wasn't as though any of it was a lie. They had loved each other back then, even if they hadn't gotten to the point where they realized it and told each other yet. Either way, Marianne looked satisfied by this story, and that was what mattered.
The errands were completed, the flowers collected, and they made their way home. Marianne was very happy to see her Grandpa Shawn when they arrived, and she followed him as he carried the flowers into the house. In the meantime, Lucas went up the stairs to see what Maya was up to.
"Hey…" he whispered as he found her in their room, sitting up on the bed, with all three babies asleep in her arms. He couldn't keep from smiling, and neither could she. How long had she waited to get to hold them all at once again, no longer inside her belly but all in her embrace?
"Little butts…" she quietly chuckled, looking down to the sleeping girls. "I don't know what you've got planned for the next little while, but I don't think I'll be moving from here for a bit."
"Kind of figured that," he nodded as he sat at the edge of the bed. "Good day?"
"Surprisingly straightforward, quiet… A lot of napping, for them and me, and I'm definitely not complaining. You?"
"Good, too. I think Juliet might have schemed to make sure I didn't have too much on my plate."
"Imagine that," Maya nodded, somewhere between impressed and grateful to the owner of Sullivan Stables. "So, these plans… I can't search you for a list, but I am sitting here with our three infant daughters, which I have to think is all the incentive I could need to get you to talk…" she innocently pointed out.
"Well…" he smirked. "I was thinking we go out for a wild night of dancing…" he joked.
"And me without my dancing shoes," she drawled, matching his tone.
"But then I figure we have everything we need right here, you and me… Everything and everyone," he added, more serious this time.
"We are still kind of a packaged deal, aren't we?" Maya nodded, brushing at the girls' hair. Lucy still had the most by far, but Kacey and Remy were definitely distancing themselves from their practically bald beginnings.
"Definitely. So, I figured that if this was going to turn into you and me and our girls, then it might as well be you and me and all of our girls," he revealed and was met with a deep nod, complete agreement. In time, their children would be grown to the point where these anniversaries could belong to him and her alone, but until that time came… this was a family affair.
The only part that would be about the two of them only – until after the girls were all asleep – was dinner. As promised, they shared it up in their room alone. When it was over, Ella and Tori had arrived. Marianne guided her niece up the stairs while big sister Ella was put in charge of bringing in the bouquet of many flowers and many colors, which Marianne deemed most appropriate by pointing to the tattoo on her sister's wrist. They all piled in on the bed, Lucas, Maya, their five daughters and their little granddaughter, for a simple movie night. It would go down as one of their very favorite anniversaries.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
