April 9th 2022

Chapter 99
Our Introduction to Beginnings

It had become part of how their lives went that, when the first day of school rolled around, they would wake up as though they had never hit pause for summer. Maybe it was that they had several small children to tend to, but early mornings were very rarely a choice for them. Already before then, Maya had always been an early bird, and Lucas had sort of developed into one, even before sharing a home and a bed with her. Still, when they'd be within the bounds of the school year, where Maya had to be up and out the door when she did, both she and Lucas would be following that steady schedule they had adopted.

That morning, he wasn't sure why, Lucas thought his wife might have woken late. Maybe she would have had trouble sleeping, with whatever had happened at the mall the day before, the thing she couldn't tell him about. Maybe she wouldn't have dozed off until later, and so would struggle to just roll on into the day as she usually did. So, when he woke up and saw her sitting there next to him, seemingly far off in her mind, he thought he'd been right on target. He sat up, setting his hand at her back, which made her jump in surprise before looking at him.

"Sorry," he whispered. "Didn't mean to startle you." He didn't know what it was about her expression, but he now wasn't so sure that he'd interpreted the moment for what it actually was. "Maya?"

"I think I might be pregnant…" she quietly spoke, and at once it felt as though she'd seized his face with both hands… maybe his heart, too. His momentary speechlessness allowed her to carry on. "I might be wrong, but I don't think I'm wrong, I'm maybe… ninety-nine point nine… nine… nine… sure…"

They had not planned for this. They had tried for Marianne, they had tried – and exceeded expectations – for Kacey, Remy, and Lucy. Did they both project to eventually try for another baby, even more than one more baby? Yes, absolutely. All along, they had seen themselves with a large family, no numbers, just seeing where their lives took them… But then the triplets had only just turned a year old, so they were not even thinking about another baby, not yet. They hadn't had the conversation, but if they did, they'd find themselves agreeing that they might want to wait another year before trying but… maybe now they'd need to reorganize their plan, if it turned out that Maya's feeling was right.

Well, now it was out there between them, and potentially another little Friar was growing inside her… unplanned, yes, but then if they just got over the initial shock… A baby… their baby… oh… Lucas' face looked like it was ready to burst wide open with happiness, and Maya's was about ready to go the same way, but then she held up her hand to his chest before he could think of leaning further and kissing her.

"We don't know for sure," she reminded him. "I might be wrong. We've had a few of those, remember?" How could he forget?

"What do you want to do?" he asked, absolutely open with his giddiness, even if they weren't sure. It made her chuckle, but at the same time she could understand the feeling. Both times previously, she'd gone through this moment and then the subsequent discovery on her own. He'd only come into it after she'd taken tests and was one visit to the doctor's short of absolute confirmation. Now, he would get to be part of that previous step, and she wanted him to be, which was the entire reason why she'd told him about her suspicion. She wanted him sitting there with her as time counted down.

"School!" she blinked, as she remembered quite suddenly what day it was. She squeezed her eyes shut, pressed her palms against them. It all came back. Her sisters and their friends were starting today. Dylan would be announced officially as the new boys' basketball coach. Cody… All this was already going on and now, on top of it, she had to try and see if she might be pregnant for the third time… for her fifth baby… sixth child… It was really the surprise that had her spun around more than the number.

"School…" Lucas breathed out, as he remembered, too.

"Okay… Okay," Maya sat up a bit to consider things properly. They needed a plan, and she could do plans. She didn't get by juggling four classes of students, a quiz team, a musical, a side career as a songwriter… and musical creator… and band member… and a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend… without being organized. "Can you take Marianne to preschool this morning? I'll go pick up a couple of tests on the way to school…" She paused now, like something else had occurred to her, and she didn't have to say a word for Lucas to know she'd just thought of Ella, and the fact that she would no longer be picking her up in the morning on the way to school.

"I will," Lucas pulled her back on track. "The tests, are you…"

"I won't take them without you," she assured him, and his smile returned, which in turn made her smile and allowed them both to take a moment, even without assurances of any kind, to be happy. It could turn out that she had been mistaken and they weren't expecting, but right now, they could be, and the feeling demanded that they reach out to embrace one another and share a kiss so full of love. "We'll keep in touch," Maya eventually went on. "Maybe we can meet up at lunch… or this afternoon on my break… If that doesn't work out, then tonight for sure."

"Okay," Lucas agreed with a nod. Looking at each other, they both knew the other was feeling the same thing they were. Waiting through the day was going to be more difficult than they could put into words, but they would just have to get on with it. Knowing what the day had in store for them, they were fairly certain that they'd get lost in the swing of things sooner or later.

With that in mind, they now had to set out and start their day, which in the Friar house first meant tending to their daughters. Did they have that extra thought playing at the back of their heads the whole time that they could have another child in this house by the following spring? Naturally. Here Maya had been thinking about getting to do this first year with her sisters from start to finish, only to contemplate having to hand over the reins and step back again. And then what about the cribs, at home… The triplets' escapades climbing out of their cribs had not been a one time thing, but were they ready to get them settled into little beds? Not at all. What about by the time this possible little sibling came along? Would they need to get a fourth crib into the house? It'd have to go in their room, the way they'd had Marianne when she'd been born… They'd never done that with the triplets, because of how much space it would have taken up, but now it would definitely work in their favor to have this one with them… What about when this child was old enough that they wanted to move him or her out of their room… Oh, but in time, Eliza and Emma would have finished college and left the house, and even if Wyatt ended up moving in with them like his older siblings had done, they'd have one room open upstairs, maybe Marianne would like to take one of those, and the triplets…

Alright, they were getting ahead of themselves, but it was hard not to when it was all new like this, even if they didn't actually know for sure… But Maya was so sure, and whether because she was or because it was just true, Lucas had been watching her as they went through the morning routine and she did sort of have that look about her, the one he'd seen in her, when she'd been in her early pregnancies before… By tonight. By tonight, they would know, and then they could start and address all those questions that had been zooming through their minds.

What if this one's a boy?

They tried not to keep thinking too much, but the questions and the possibilities kept on coming. The thought that they could have a son was hard to ignore. It wasn't even as though the thought of having one more girl would have been a disappointment, oh, far from that. Every time they would think of the Friar sisters as a unit, descending upon the world and leaving their mark on it, they were the proudest of parents. Of course, on the flipside, they couldn't pretend that having a boy after so many girls would be anything but a thrill. They could imagine that small boy, surrounded and watched over by a mass of protective older sisters, and it would make them smile just as much.

"Daddy, how come Mommy didn't bring me?" Marianne asked as they got out of the car and started toward the preschool, hand in hand.

"She had to go somewhere before going to work, so she asked if I could take you. You don't mind, do you?" he leaned down with a teasing smile, and Marianne laughed and shook her head.

"Noooo," she stretched out the word and made him laugh right back.

"Good," Lucas swept her up into his arms, tossing her up just enough that she was out of his hold for a beat before he caught her again, knowing she loved when he did that. His mother always yelped if she saw him do that, like he might drop her granddaughter, but he never did. "Are you excited to be back?" he asked, as though Marianne hadn't been talking about coming back to preschool for days, or as though she hadn't painstakingly gone about choosing her outfit for the day. She nodded now, sending the braids on either side of her head flying around. "And what about this afternoon? Back to green group…" he reminded her, again, needlessly. She had her bandana tied around her head like a headband.

"Don't be late, okay?" she asked him, and he made a face like a gasp, at the very idea that he'd be late. Marianne giggled at this, even as he shifted his hold so he could put her back down.

"I'll be right back here when it's time to go," he promised, crouching to give her a goodbye kiss and receive one in return. "Have a good day, pumpkin."

"Have a good day, Daddy!" she told him before dashing off to join Winnie where she'd spotted her.

Lucas watched her go, heart full of fatherly love. If she was happy now, oh… she was going to flip out at the thought of a new baby. Would their finding out that night – if they were actually expecting – mean that she'd find out about it that night, too? Probably not, if they planned to wait before telling others. But they would know, him and Maya, and they would be able to be happy for her. The triplets, well, they'd still be too young to understand, though by the time this baby would come, they would be nearly two, so… maybe… Oh, but Ella… Ella would be happy, too, out in Houston… As though they weren't already glad enough that she'd chosen to go to college in Texas… Tonight… First, they had to go through the day.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners