A/N: The new chapter of "We Three Hearts" is now available!


March 18th 2022

Chapter 77
Our Bonds With Art

Throughout the following school day, the students would be able to go into the gym and get a look at everyone's work. They would be watched, always, because for as much as they trusted and wanted to trust them, their teachers knew from experience that some would not be above vandalizing someone's piece. Maya would spend all of her free periods that day on watch duty, which would make it so that she spent nearly the entire day in the gym. She took all four of her classes back there rather than to sit in class. For one thing, they'd get to see their work on display, and their classmates' work, and the work of the other groups above and below their grade. It felt very important to her that they take this moment to stop, and step back, and take it all in, especially for how hard they'd worked, those of them who'd participated. Maya loved that she got to watch them as they walked around, too, that she got to see the pride in so many of them as they stood before their pieces.

After this day for the students and the teachers, they finally arrived at the evening, the auction itself. Maya had not even had the chance to head home in between, but she'd known that would be the case, so she'd brought along everything she needed to go 'teacher next level' for the evening they had in store. She knew it meant that she wouldn't get to see the triplets awake until the next morning, and she knew it was for a good reason, but still a part of her just really didn't want to…

"Mommy!"

She looked up from where she'd just been arranging the bidding clipboards – which would be handled by various volunteers roaming their given areas that evening – to discover she had visitors. Here was Marianne, in her 'special day best' (a nice dress, her locket, and a different hairstyle than the one she'd done on her that morning), accompanied by Granny Mel, who was presently leading along the triple stroller and its occupants. One look at the girls and it was easy to see that Melinda Friar had jumped at the chance of putting her littlest granddaughters in their special day best, too.

No lockets for them – not yet – but they were in matching dresses, a not so common practice which really felt like it only happened for an actual purpose instead of just because. They'd all gotten so attached to giving them all their individual colors and patterns that it would be the norm. It wasn't even just about the one color and animal they'd had associated with them anymore. Over the months, they had expanded. Suns for Kacey, moons for Lucy, stars for Remy… Striped, checkered, polka dotted… Pink, blue, red… Bees, butterflies, ladybugs… So, when they'd dress them all the same, they'd always be on the lookout for outfits that would sort of combine something from each of them. Today, this was translated into purple dresses with vast amounts of yellow polka dots.

"Hi!" Maya beamed with surprise, setting the clipboards aside before moving to join them. Oh, they were all just as happy to see her as she was to see them… She crouched by the stroller, kissing her baby girls in turn even as their big sister had her arms around her neck. She hadn't been expecting them, they all knew it, and Maya just loved the giddiness in Marianne, showing she'd known this would be a surprise. "You're not at the ranch with your dad today, huh?" As far as she'd known, the two of them were supposed to come and join her after their time with the green group. Marianne shook her head with a smile that was so like Lucas… She needed to be here more, that was what it said. "And you left your star behind?" Maya noticed. "No Sheriff Annie at the auction, huh?" Again, another shake of the head. "Alright then, Miss Friar, welcome. Want to help me again?" Oh, yes, very much, said the nod. "Great," Maya beamed as she stood again and looked to her mother-in-law. "Thanks for bringing them," she told her.

"Oh, you know me, I am a patron of the arts," Melinda reminded her with a casual smile.

"Now I see where your son gets it," Maya teased.

The gym would not fill up until a couple hours later. People were getting home from work, or school, maybe getting changed, definitely having dinner… Maya's little group ate in the art room, which was something like a treat for some of them. It was an early dinner for them, as they then had to go back to the gym, to finish with the last minute preparations. Soon, people would start to arrive, and the evening would begin. It wouldn't be until later, when the bulk of their attendees would start coming along, that they'd consider the auction properly open and in progress. Bid takers were on hand, teachers for the most part, packs of young artists here and there, looking on, sometimes with their parents… sometimes trying not to be with their parents because they were embarrassing… Maya was in charge, roaming the room, looking in case anyone needed to call on her…

She spotted Lucas when he arrived, wanted to get to him but had to deal with one situation, so all she could do was wave when he saw her, then point over to where his mother and the girls would be.

"Hey, Mrs. Friar, is there any way to just buy something? To be sure?" Aliana Moore was asking. The exchange camper had her phone held against her chest, suggesting she was on the line with someone.

"Well, it is an auction, that's kind of how it works," Maya smiled.

"No, I know, it's just that my parents would like to buy one of Rosemary's pieces, sort of a thank you for her and her family hosting me…" Yeah, that would make sense, wouldn't it?

"I will see what I can do, okay? Not making any promises," Maya told her, and the girl grinned. "Which one is it?" she asked. Rosemary Adewumi had done four sketches, all of them even more finely detailed than what they'd known from her. Aliana made her selection, pointing out her second choice, too, in case they couldn't get the first. "Okay," Maya made a note.

"She's coming out to my house for the summer," Aliana excitedly revealed. The two of them had really bonded in the time since she'd landed in Austin, which felt to both Maya and Lucas like a bonus side-effect to her getting to be at the ranch and learn from them.

Maya left Aliana when she spotted Morgan waving at her to come and join her. When she reached her, she barely got to ask her what she needed before being presented with one of the sheets in her clipboard. It wasn't hard to figure out what she needed to notice. She let out a small squeak of surprise at the amount.

"Is this for real?" she asked, working very hard to keep her voice from reaching a weird height. With a bid like that, they might as well shut the whole evening down. They'd have enough for this year's slate of diaries… and maybe the next eight to ten years, too. This had to be a prank someone was pulling on them, or…

"It's real," Morgan assured her. "That's not why I called you over." She made her look to see which of their pieces had been the recipient of such a generous offer.

Stevie Brett… Maya started to understand. Now, Stevie had some talent, yes, and her piece was wonderful, but even the likes of Rosemary or Nika – who were far and away some of the best they had on hand – were pulling such a small fraction compared to this. All it could suggest to them then was that it had a whole lot less to do with the art and a lot more with the artist. The show… The show had a great following, naturally, and the cast as a whole had one, too, but especially with the younger audience, Stevie Brett was the breakaway star… and sometimes not just the younger audience. It had not led to anything overly disturbing, but for working with the girl's father, Maya knew he definitely worried about anyone showing too much affection for his teenaged daughter. Now with this bid, they had to wonder if this was something along that line.

"Who was it, do you see them?" Maya asked, and Morgan discreetly pointed out the man. When Maya turned and spotted him, she was at once surprised and relieved. "That is Gemma's personal assistant," she whispered to Morgan.

"Stella's mom? The…" Morgan gestured, and Maya nodded. Gemma was out of town this week, she vaguely recalled her mother mentioning it, but the auction was tonight, and it seemed she'd set out to support the young actress and her school. "What do we do?"

"What we said we'd do, I guess. Whatever we have after we reach our goal goes to charity," Maya nodded. "I know which ones she's close to, we'll make it work." They could have easily taken this donation and stopped doing the auction for however many years it would take before they ran out, but it wasn't just about the money, was it? It was them, the kids…

"Should we tell her?" Morgan wondered. Stevie… Maya scanned the room, found her walking around with Henry and Cade. She still hadn't worked out her dilemma about college, but she didn't look so stuck as she'd done before, so the answer felt easy.

"No," Maya shook her head. "Not the amount anyway, but I'm sure she'll be glad to hear who got it," she smiled.

"One thing's for sure," Morgan shrugged and made a note on the paper. "She won the auction pool."

"Mrs. Friar?" a voice redirected her once again away from finding Lucas. This time, it was Ava Nash. She looked about as uncertain as Maya had ever seen her, at least in any overt way.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Not wrong, no, more like… I don't know…" Ava frowned, seeking a word she couldn't find satisfying enough.

"Okay, well, I'm listening."

"It's about the band thing," Ava started, and for a moment Maya was sure she was about to say that she'd changed her mind about letting them do her songs. They actually hadn't done it yet, as far as she was aware. Olivia had brought Kelsey along to visit the Hex for the first time, which had made them all realize they'd – gladly – need to adjust a few things to allow her and her chair safe passage, but they hadn't tried to record anything yet, least of all Ava's lyrics. "I think… I had an idea, for another member."

"Oh…" Maya blinked, once again given to relief. "Okay, so what's the…"

Ava discreetly indicated for her to look over, and it took her a moment to figure out exactly who she was referring to, but when she saw her, it felt like… Yes, of course. On the whole, Ava was still not the most sociable of people, and that was fine, truly, because when it came right down to it, there were the people she genuinely cared about, and those she was getting just a bit more at ease with acknowledging in her own Ava way. She had Kelsey and Olivia, her station mates, her friends, and she had the quiz team… her family. You never saw her so protective as with all of them, and here she had the one who'd needed the most protection this year… Nika.

"I've… never actually heard her sing…" Maya quietly stated.

"I have," Ava told her, drawing her teacher's surprise again. "It was a while ago… before she had…" Ah. She'd been singing to her baby, which suggested…

"You overheard," Maya guessed, and Ava nodded.

"I don't know if she'd be interested, I mean it's one thing to sing like that, and then…" This was so beyond her comfort zone, and she was struggling to explain herself, but she cared, that much was clear, so Maya touched her arm. It's okay, I got this. "Don't make it sound like this is a pity ask or something," Ava insisted, and Maya held back a smile.

"I won't. Thank you for the idea, Ava."

"Yeah, sure," she shrugged and walked off without another word. Maya watched her go, smiling to herself as she felt deep in her arms that she could have hugged the girl.

When she finally made it over to Lucas, she found him and all five of their girls, along with their eldest's best friends. Ella, Lea, and Taylor were each holding one of the triplets, who looked just about ready to tap out for the night. It had already been arranged so that, when they wanted to get them out of there for the night, Granny Mel would take them home and put them into their aunts' care.

"Look away, children," Maya cut past the trio and its trio, the better to give a short greeting kiss to her husband. His smile was enough to tell he'd been aware of how much she'd wanted to come over all this time. "Evening," she told him.

"Evening," he repeated, tipping his non-existing hat to her. Marianne was just starting her way toward sleepy, as became evident by the way she came clinging at her mother's legs. Maya lifted her up and soon had a possum on her hands.

"How are you three doing?" she turned back to Ella and her friends.

"Great," Lea smiled, and her whole expression suggested something like 'crisis averted,' so Maya looked to the others. Ella and Taylor definitely looked like they'd had a weight lifted from them, too, so knowing what had been bothering her a few days ago…

"Looking forward to your trip?" she asked them all, rather than air out Ella's previous concerns that they might not get to go at all.

"Yeah," Taylor nodded and smiled before turning his attention back to Remy, who had his collar gripped in her sleep and was tugging at it to the point of nearly tearing it away. He was careful in getting her to redirect this to one of his fingers instead.

"Glad to hear it," Maya nodded, especially to her daughter. Ella looked most relieved of all. There would be plenty to discuss and organize, too, but there would be time for that. The important part was that the trip would happen, taking the soon-to-be graduates on their own European adventure.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners