February 2nd 2022

Chapter 33
Our Call to Play

Dear Mrs. Friar,

You'll be happy to know that new captain Lea took care of letting us all know, former and present members alike, about your triplets being born. Specifically, she said it was twice as important that she did, being part of the family as well as the team.

You probably won't get to read this until after you're out of the hospital with your daughters and I have to admit that notion makes me glad. I've had my fill of hospitals for a lifetime and then some. It kind of sounds bad when I read that back. Sometimes I think about the people that work there. So many people hate being there because they're sick or hurt, or someone they love is sick or hurt, and we're all just scared of what might happen. Meanwhile they're just in there, doing their job, making sure that the scary things don't happen, and sometimes it can't be helped...

Every now and then I think about taking a completely different route, going back to school, to nursing school. I won't get to play forever, you know? I figure, after everything that happened, it might be healing, to get to be there for others the way they were there for me.

I stopped writing for two days. There was something else I needed to share, but I didn't know how to put it in words. I'm still not sure I can do it right. Last week, I was having a bad practice, I was feeling ill, heavy, enough that I was sent to the team doc, and she sent me to the hospital to run some tests. It was bad for a few days. I thought it was all going to start again, and maybe this time I wouldn't just lose my hair when it was over. That was really the worst of it, not being there, just the thought that I could be seeing my last days, that I wouldn't get lucky this time. I couldn't even make myself call home to my parents, thinking about what they went through last time. It turned out okay in the end. I'm still at home taking it easy for a few days before I can go back to practice. I think I need those days mostly to get my brain and my heart back down from where they went while I was in the hospital.

I haven't talked about this with anyone, and I would appreciate you not saying anything to anyone. I needed to tell someone and when Lea wrote, I thought about you, and I wanted to tell you. Thank you for being there for us, and for me especially.

Helena Zimmerman

Maya sat quietly at her desk for a few minutes, reading the letter back again, thinking of her former student, and her words, and what she could ever say in return, and finally she made up her mind that this just could not be something she did on paper. She put out a call, hoping she wouldn't have to leave a message and wait.

"Hello?" a little girl's voice answered, and Maya blinked.

"Hello," she spoke, her tone turning motherly on reflex. "Who is this?"

"Dani," the girl replied. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm Maya. I'm looking for Helena?"

"Okay," Dani spoke before pulling the phone from her ear. Maya could hear Helena's voice in the background, and she could picture the scene as she was retrieving her phone from the giggling child.

"Mrs. Friar?"

"Yes, I..."

"Sorry about that, I was in the other room, my phone was on silent..."

"No, it's alright..."

"I'm babysitting," she went on to explain, and now Maya vaguely recalled her mentioning a friend with a young daughter, when she'd been in Austin for the BC Olympics. Actually, the way she'd spoken of this friend, she'd sort of indirectly revealed something like feelings for the young woman. Whether her friend reciprocated those feelings, and whether Helena could admit them herself...

"Oh, I see," Maya nodded. "Well, if this is a bad time..."

"It's fine, Dani's got her snack and she's got her show, she's good. She's big on dinosaurs right now."

"Good," Maya chuckled. "She's what, three? Four?"

"Three, just turned."

"Listen, I'm finally tackling a... serious backlog of letters, and I just read yours, from August. I didn't feel right just responding to it in a letter, so that's why I called."

"Right," Helena replied, and Maya heard motion to suggest she'd stepped just far enough to still keep an eye on the girl while being out of earshot. "Feels like so long ago now."

"Are you doing alright? Not just health wise, I mean..."

"Yeah, no, I'm good, I... Well, as far as what happened, physically, that's all behind me, it's just like everything that happens now, even if it has nothing to do with what happened before, it all feels ten times more serious, you know?"

"I can imagine, yes."

"Had a lot of time to think it over now. Part of me is… almost glad it happened? Made it so I kind of had to face up to a few things I'd been ignoring."

"That's good, that's really good."

They spent a few minutes catching up. Maya told her about the babies, and the rest of the family. Helena spoke of her team and getting back out there after the brief illness. She spoke of Dani, and how she and her mother, Mariah, had been instrumental in her getting the rest she'd needed.

"What about this nursing school idea of yours?"

"Still thinking about it. I can hear my grandmother's voice in my head. She'd say that if I've been considering it this long then it means maybe I should really consider it for real."

"Good advice, if you ask me," Maya smiled.

"Yeah..." Helena agreed with a bittersweet tone to her voice to suggest this grandmother was no longer with them.

"Well, whatever you decide, you'll let me know?"

"I will, promise."

X

Lucas and Marianne spent the ride home playing what was easily the four-year-old's favorite car game. Anytime they passed an animal - live or pictured - and spotted it, they would call it out. It had sort of turned into a tool for teaching Marianne a few things, like left and right and front and behind, early on when they'd first played it. If nothing else, it certainly kept the girl's attention on long rides. Whether she'd find many or none at all, she'd be looking, waiting for one to show up. If they had a long stretch of nothing, Lucas or Maya would bring a bit of fantasy into the game, claiming they saw a dragon or a unicorn. Marianne would just laugh and call them on it: those weren't real, she knew that.

Today's ride was very fruitful and required no fantastical intervention. They pulled up to the house and no sooner was she on the ground that Marianne went seeking the 'pumpkin ball.' That was what she thought it was, in the beginning, and could she be blamed? Pumpkins had been everywhere around her as she grew up, and here was this big, orange, round thing... Even if she knew that it wasn't one of those anymore, the name just stuck, particularly when it was their own.

"Want to toss it to me?" Lucas asked as he approached her with a smile. Marianne nodded, sending the ball to bounce between them and fly to him until he caught it.

"Do a big jump, Daddy," she told him, pointing to the hoop.

"A big jump?" he asked.

"With lots of running, and turning," she went on, her hand moving along like she was handling the ball.

"Ah, I see," Lucas nodded and she nodded back, her smile showing anticipation. She wanted to watch him do it. "Are you going to try and stop me?"

"I can't do that, I'm too little," she pointed out.

"Well, I don't know about that," he looked down at her, standing in front of him. "You're not so small as you used to be," he poked the top of her head and she squeaked and stepped away. "Look at that, light on your feet. That's all those lessons with Miss Donna." Marianne laughed, but she wasn't deterred. She wanted to see the big jump. "Alright, alright, stand back then."

She got what she wanted, because never let it be said that Lucas Friar would not fill his baby girl's request if it was in him to do so. He imagined himself on the court, players all around, including a few between him and his target. He surpassed them all and made his jump, minding the fact that he shouldn't go too overboard if their hoop was to survive. Going by Marianne's celebration, it had been sufficiently satisfying.

"Now it's your turn," he grinned before tossing her the ball. He sent it low enough that she managed to get her hands on it before it hit the ground and without catching her in the face.

She had the ball now, not to mention a look of serious concentration toward this hoop that was significantly higher than the lower one at the Orlando house. They'd talked about doing the same here, but anytime they suggested it in Marianne's presence, she instantly refused it. It was fun at her aunt and uncle's, but here it seemed she preferred facing off with the 'real' hoop. So, that was how it stayed.

"What's it going to be? Shoulders or assist?" Lucas asked. She made a motion with her hand which he took to mean 'the second thing.' "Alright, go for it," he told her before getting into position.

The big jump request had not been solely for the fun of watching her father: it was a reference. She had been in lessons with Donna Devereaux for a long time already, enough that she was very good at observing and emulating. It wasn't a perfect imitation, but all things considered, it was very good. Marianne Friar took off with the pumpkin ball, advancing, going around phantom adversaries, making her advance on the basket. And when she reached him, Lucas lifted her up, high enough that she could make her throw and swish!

Now this was a celebration, as Lucas ran around with his daughter, hooping and hollering while she giggled and cheered, too. He pulled her close into a hug now, kissing the side of her head, and her little cheek, and she just kept on laughing, hugging her arms around his head.

"That was amazing!" she finally declared.

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" he told her, offering his hand for a high five and receiving it.

"Daddy, when can Kacey, and Remy, and Lucy play with me?"

"Basketball?" Lucas asked, setting her back on her feet.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Well, it's going to take a while... Couple of years, definitely, probably a bit more... But they'll get there eventually if they want to. In the meantime, you have the other kids... What about Winnie? Think she'd be interested? I bet you could show her a couple things."

"I don't know," Marianne shrugged.

"You can ask her on Monday," Lucas suggested, and she agreed.

They played with the ball for a little while longer. Mostly, Marianne sat on her father's shoulders and was allowed to take shots at the hoop. She got it about half the time.

"I'm hungry," she finally declared, folding her hands on top of her father's head. "Thirsty, too."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Lucas hummed, spinning the ball on his finger, knowing she liked to see it. "Tell you what, we'll grab something for that tummy of yours and then we'll see about reaching out to the fairies about the magic for your sisters and your aunts, okay?" Marianne gasped, like she'd forgotten about her request for a while and now she was remembering it all over again.

"Yeah, let's go!"

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners