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


April 15th 2022

Chapter 105
Our Introduction to Answers

There was something curious about Maya's smile when Lucas saw it. Oh, she was smiling, no doubt, and she was as happy to be surrounded by the triplets as she was to see Marianne and Winnie coming along, but at the same time… Her smile felt like a shade, the better to hide some part of her that absolutely did not feel like smiling.

She was sitting on the living room floor, with Lucy sat on her leg, one arm around her, the other ready to reach out and catch one of the twins if they needed to be caught. Kacey and Remy were both standing up by the couch, holding to the cushions and taking steps. When she spotted her big sister, Kacey let out a squeal and reached out for her, taking a couple of wobbly steps all by herself. Marianne looked tempted to step back, giving her more to go on, but in the end, she decided to simply get hold of her little sister's hands and congratulate her for what she'd done. Never to be left behind, Remy was right there, too, stepping over until there were three of them together. Even as they were all turning to her, Lucy was looking at them, and up to her mother, and back to them. Then, she saw her father, and if she'd ever needed further motivation… She pulled herself off her perch, using her mother's leg, and her arm, and her sleeve to help pull herself up on her feet. Maya moved on to her knees behind her so she could keep hold of her hands and help her forward. Lucas was right there, not far ahead with his hands offered. When Maya let her go, she barely wobbled, just went right along until she could clasp on to those hands. Now, Lucas crouched, and knelt, and embraced his bun-bun girl. They were all getting better every day, it seemed, and on today of all days…

"Hey, are you alright?" Lucas quietly asked his wife as they got up to head into the kitchen. Marianne and Winnie were now tag-teaming to get more steps out of the triplets.

"Nothing to do with you-know-what. School things, I'll tell you later," Maya told him, letting out a sigh before folding herself into his arms for a brief hug.

"Are you sure?" he had to ask as she pulled back. She nodded, gave him a bit of that smile. As if he needed more reasons to want the rest of the evening to go by as soon as possible.

At least the evening was about as straightforward as any. For tonight, it would be the two of them, four of their daughters, Winnie, and Emma, at least through dinner. Eliza was working at the moment, after which she was off on a date. Emma was heading out after dinner to go study at the library with a few classmates. She had barely left by the time Lauren Grayson came to collect her daughter, and after that it was bath time, and bedtime, first for the triplets and then Marianne. The latter wanted to help, as always, and so she did, as much with the bath as getting everyone into their PJs, and then, as always, the story that would see them off to sleep. After that, they got to start all over again for her. Once again, she made her pitch for bringing her little sisters into green group, for what was likely to be her first attempt at 'if you don't succeed with one parent, try the other.' She still had no luck, though she did get another 'I'll think about it.' Finally, she was asleep, and it was down to her parents. Maya and Lucas headed back down to the kitchen.

In that moment, there was plenty of temptation in both of them to just get on with the thing they'd been waiting to do all day, but then… there was also a very sound assumption that, so long as the 'school thing' hadn't been aired out, they wouldn't be able to concentrate on the rest the way they both wanted to.

When he heard about what Ronnie the jerk had done, on purpose to Nika and accidentally to Ava, he reacted about as well as Maya figured he would. Even without being the father to five girls, he would have been greatly upset by what had happened. It didn't matter that neither of them was strictly speaking part of their family. He knew them both well, in different circumstances, knew what they'd both gone through in the past year, and in the space of a minute or so, they had both gone through something… already horrible, but then… in light of everything else…

"What happened with that boy?" he finally asked.

"Suspended, for now," Maya sighed. "Ava ended up spending the entire period in the nurse's office with Olivia and Kelsey," she explained, with a wave to show she was more than fine by that. "And Nika came back to check on her when classes were done. I ended up calling both Theo and Owen Nash myself, figured it'd be easier if they heard what happened from me. Theo was so upset, wanted to talk to the principal, to make sure Ronnie didn't get anywhere near his sister again. And then Ava's uncle… after the last time he got called to pick her up, with another bruise…"

The day had left her so… drained, Lucas could see. He reached over, cradled the back of her head even as she leaned it to her palm, elbow planted at the table.

"You know, the one thing that's kept this entire day from feeling like it could be a wash, even if there were good parts…" she spoke, almost more to herself. After a beat, she turned her eyes back to him, smiled, and he smiled back with a nod. "Now I really hope I wasn't wrong about it." He responded to this with a confident nod, and that at least loosened a chuckle out of her. Alright… Now she was ready.

After quietly climbing up the stairs and retrieving Maya's bag from their room, they went into the bathroom and shut the door. She signed, suggesting locking the door, just in case, and Lucas nodded before turning the lock. When he turned back to her, he must have had a funny look on his face. He didn't know what it was except that she quietly laughed and came up to kiss him for a moment.

"Go sit over there, don't just stand around," Maya suggested, so he went past her while she pulled out the two boxes and opened them. Once she'd finished laying out the contents, she turned to look at him before going to the toilet, only to have to stifle another laugh. He'd gone and sat on Marianne's footstool, and she didn't know whether it was the combination of his tall frame, folded to fit the 'seat,' or the way he sat with his back so straight, watching and waiting, but it was everything and she would be drawing him later. She could have pointed out that she meant the edge of the bathtub, but… no. She'd had a long, weird day, and the laughter was good. "Close your eyes," she pointed at him.

"Why?" he frowned and smiled, gesturing toward her as though to say, 'wouldn't be the first time.'

"Yeah, well, it's one thing when I actually have to… I'm trying to do a thing here, you know? If you want to be in here, I need you to shut your eyes for a minute… or two…"

"Fine, alright, alright," Lucas closed his eyes, still smiling. After a few seconds when nothing happened… "Do you need me to talk, or…"

"Might be a good idea, yeah…"

Eventually, Maya had what she needed, and the tests were soon set on the counter, with a timer ticking down on her phone. Unsure what to do with herself, she ended up going as though debating whether to sit against the tub or on the carpet on the floor. When he saw this, Lucas reached out for her hand, lightly pulled for her to come sit in his lap.

"Are you sure that's wise? What if it collapses?" she asked with a snort as she sat down, and he locked his arms around her waist to keep her from slipping off.

"If it's fine with me, then it'll be fine with two of us," he affirmed, and she responded to this by simply looping her arms about his shoulders and enjoying the moment, because… well, why not?

"You know, I like this," she told him as they waited.

"Do you?" he asked, playing along. "Me being here for…" he pointed to the tests on the counter.

"Yeah," Maya smiled. Naturally. "I mean, sure, the whole 'surprise!' thing is good, too. It's fun… the look on your face is just gold," she recalled, prodding at his cheeks. "But this…" she gestured between the two of them, sat so comically on their daughter's footstool. "I'm really glad that it's both of us this time."

"I am, too," Lucas smiled back.

"And whether or not this turns out positive, assuming there's a next time…"

"I'll be there," he nodded, and she imitated him, until they were sitting quietly again, waiting out the seconds, feeling the drum of anxious hearts…

This was it. Either it would be a small disappointment, or it would be a start… The prologue in the book of their next child.

"What if it's multiples again?" Lucas wondered aloud, and Maya looked like she was about to smack him for even putting that into the universe when her timer quietly sounded. She'd lowered the volume, keeping in mind that their girls were sleeping, but in the closed, silent bathroom, it felt much louder. It startled them and then made them freeze, looking at each other.

"We should probably get off this stool before we…" Maya tipped her head toward the counter. He agreed, so they both carefully got up. He offered his hand for her to rise, and she turned right back around and helped him… unfold from the footstool. Now what? "You look first," she offered. He blinked. Yeah? "It's your turn," she smirked, her face growing serious again a moment later as she pointed a finger at him. "If you wake anyone up, you have to put them back to sleep." He held up his hands in surrender, agreeing to the deal.

Oh, he was feeling it now… Was it silly? Maybe, but he didn't care. This felt huge, so there was no other way for him to…

He took one look, eyes barely sweeping over the two sticks, but it was enough for him to see what they said, and he knew what they were supposed to show because she'd told him earlier, when she was setting everything up, he knew… he knew… His heart drummed harder, his arms just… shot up in the air, like his favorite team had just scored a winning point.

"They're pos…" Maya started to ask, only to find herself swallowed up in a hug that lifted her feet clean off the floor, so now she knew… Yes, they were both positive, her hunch had been right… They were having a baby, a totally unplanned but completely wanted baby. When she was set on the ground again, Maya had to take a look for herself, just to actually see it with her own eyes. "Okay…" she breathed, a little bewildered as she turned back to her husband. "Oh, hey…" she laughed, reaching up to catch the tears welling up in his eyes. He reached up, too, getting hold of her hand, keeping it in his but taking it away, the better for him to lean in and kiss her, the first time now that they knew. This was no small peck of a kiss, this was a good and loaded 'I love you so much, I love our family so much, and I can't wait for it to grow again' kiss.

"Definitely want to be here next time," he finally told her when they pulled back.

"Woah, hey, slow down, pops, let's just focus on this round before we start thinking about that, yeah?" Maya laughed, and he nodded. That's fair. "Okay, let's just wrap this up so we can get out of here."

They cleaned up so that there was nothing left. They knew better than to leave anything, because no matter how well they might think they'd hidden something, between the pumpkin and her aunties… Yeah, caution was key. Eventually, they were back down in the living room, amped up with nowhere to go. It was evening, and between their jobs and their daughters, they weren't going to be up that much later, but how were they supposed to just turn in after all that?

Oh, but now that they were out of their bathroom bubble, the rest of the world was coming back into the forefront of their minds, and for Maya it meant remembering today. It meant thinking of what had happened, and what would come from what had happened. It meant thinking about the rest of this year which had started only that same morning. She'd been so excited about going back, about finally teaching her sisters, and now she was suddenly contemplating a second incomplete year in a row… and who knew about the year after that… and…

"Wheels spinning off the track?" Lucas cut in, bringing her back around. She let out a breath, laughed, answered by showing her fingers pinched together. "Would you like me to go get you a brownie?" he asked, and her laughter redoubled.

"You do not want to leave me alone right now; you might come back to find I'm halfway through redoing the pantry or something. Oh, but you know what, I want some GiGi cookies, let's make some of those," she suggested.

"You had me at cookies," Lucas nodded for her to lead the way.

By the time Emma would return from the library, she'd find her sister and brother-in-law finishing up their post-bake clean while the scent of cooling cookies just about permeated every corner of the house. She would have missed the conversation between them, deciding their course of action, as far as calling Maya's doctor for an appointment, and when they'd tell anyone about the baby… The answer on that one was that, for the time being, there was no reason to let the secret out just yet… except to Dylan. Maya had finally confessed the fact that their friend had managed to discover what was happening, telling herself that she wouldn't have felt right keeping it to herself, not now that they knew for sure. And seeing as it would have been impossible to keep it from him… She'd just have to find a way to tell him and only him the next day at school.

"Sweet, what's the occasion?" Emma asked, when she saw the cookies. She tried to take one and was shooed off. They needed to cool properly. Maya shrugged at her.

"Sometimes, you just need cookies…"

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners