April 23rd 2022
Chapter 113
Our Transformation Into Reality
She was sure that, by now, she wouldn't feel as giddy as she'd done the last two times she'd walked into school with news of a pregnancy. She'd done it before, and it was really just about letting them know the state of things, but… no, it was more than that. She knew that Lucas would be heading into Sullivan Stables today, and that Marianne would be going into preschool, and they would both be excited to finally get to tell people about the baby. It wasn't just about the news. It was about getting to share this news with people who mattered a lot to them, people who formed a great, important part of their worlds. When they'd told Marianne that she could tell her friends and her teacher about it, she'd been so bouncy and anxious to do it that she'd run back to her room. She wanted to put on different clothes for this.
She definitely had not been the only one worried about her choice of outfits that day. Maya had debated long and hard about what to wear, enough that she'd started contemplating it all the previous evening, when she'd realized that she could now and should now let the school in on their secret. It was a whole debate of whether she wanted to put on something that would accentuate her growing little bump, or at least make it a bit less… hidden under layers that left no chance of it being seen, or simply carry on as she'd done the last few weeks, the better to keep the surprise as cleanly sprung as it could be. The swiftest way for her to diffuse the feeling of tension over this decision had been to try on everything and show it to Lucas. Seeing that little awestruck spark in his eye was just so fun, wasn't it?
Finally, she'd opted for the choice in the middle. It was a good compromise and, truth be told, she just wanted to flaunt the start of this new pregnancy as much as she could. Keeping it under wraps all this time, as much as it had been what they'd wanted, had almost been made harder to keep up with, what with her experiencing not the slightest bit of morning sickness. She'd been skating through these weeks like it was the easiest thing. It only made her sit there with this secret she wanted to tell so badly, enough that it made her wonder why they were waiting in the first place. But they had done their time now, and at long last, the news would be out there!
Evidently, as good as she'd been at playing it cool, some people had already been suspecting. When she went into the admin office to see if the vice-principal was available, she caught a small smile on the secretary's face like 'ah, there it is.' And then when she was allowed in to see the vice-principal, she took one look at her and had that immediate sort of 'is this what I think it is?' look on her face.
"Does everybody know?" Maya asked with a brief laugh as she was hugged and congratulated.
"Oh, well, as far as I know, this was only Martha and I," she explained, signalling over to the secretary. "If anybody else suspects, they haven't said anything to us."
Their conversation ran long enough that by the time Maya made it to her classroom to start setting up for the seniors, the quiz team was wrapping up its pre-class session. Rolly McNeil was settling very nicely into the team, as she'd imagined he would. He was a lot like his sister but also not. She could just imagine the likes of Rochelle and Ava being on the team at the same time and the two of them butting heads, but they had none of that here.
"You look different," Ava stated when she saw her, and Maya didn't know whether to laugh or be caught off guard by her greeting.
"Come to class this afternoon and I'll tell you all about it," she finally responded, matching her student's directness. It was received with an intrigued nod as Ava followed her non senior teammates out of the room. As she went, Nika looked at her with enough in her eyes to suggest she was figuring things out for herself and wouldn't have to wait until third period to be told about it.
"Can we come to your house sometime this week?" Rosemary asked, keeping pace with her as she went to gather supplies for first period and helping her to set them out. "There's a new quiz team at my cousin's school, and I thought we could have a friendly, our team against theirs, and since Rolly is still new and he hasn't had a match of any kind yet…"
"I'll check it out and let you know as soon as I can," Maya promised with a nod.
"Thank you," Rosemary smiled. When she didn't speak again, Maya turned to look at her and caught just enough of a fleeting look on the girl's face to suggest she either had suspicions already or was suddenly piecing some things together from Ava's comment.
After a brief look around to see that no one was around, Maya gave her a smile back, and she gasped. Her entire stance screamed with a desire to run over and hug her teacher, which in effect accomplished her sentiment. But then another thought must have come to her, and this one had the potential to dash her happy feelings. She could do the math, and that math suggested that her teacher would be having her baby before the end of this school year… her last one…
"Hey, we've done this before," Maya reassured her. "We did it just last year…" she added, as she considered it further. Rosemary nodded. "I won't be far. And I'll be there to cheer you all on when you graduate. In the meantime, we'll still have the diaries, and the quiz team… Come on, tell me about your cousin's team. How's that working out?"
The news of this new baby on the way was received more or less the same way by the rest of the senior class. It bordered on bittersweet for several of them, but more so on the sweet side than the bitter. Of course, they were happy for their teacher and her family. They were well aware of her daughters as they'd seen her go from one to five in the span of their time here, and now there seemed to be something of a wager starting up, to see if she would have a sixth girl or a first boy. She would not have them putting money on this, but she would support something that did some good by the time they left this school. Cade, Henry, and Stevie, along with Rosemary, vowed to come up with something and keep an eye on it throughout the year, and Maya was fine by that. From what she gathered, of those four, Stevie and Cade were on the boy side, while Rosemary and Henry were calling girl.
It wasn't out of the ordinary for Maya to put her own art on display, to share some sketch or another that she'd done that week for her students to see. They were equally encouraged to do so if they had something they wanted to share, too. That morning, after she'd finished setting up the class with Rosemary, she'd taken out her face drawing, the one she'd done of Cody's face as she remembered it, or at least his expression. She'd hesitated for a moment about putting it up, unsure of what it would do to him when he saw it, but then… Her gut still told her that this was the overture they needed. It didn't identify him in any way, but it would be there, showing – Maya hoped – her quiet support toward him.
Once class started that day, she partially forgot she'd even put it up there. She had the seniors, and then she had colleagues coming to see her because they'd heard about the baby… Finally, it was third period with the sophomores, and she told them her news, too. Nika had indeed figured it out, and she was very happy for her, coming up with the 'excuse' that they were sort of family through Tori so she could hug her teacher once they'd all been put to the day's assignment.
As she was moving around the class, Maya happened to catch a glimpse of Cody where he sat, on the other side of the room. It wasn't hard to notice him, not when he sat there, sort of frozen, staring… His line of sight was as easy as could be to figure out. He was looking at her drawing, and his face was unreadable. He seemed to have receded deep into his mind, far enough that she doubted that he'd hear her if she called his name from here or right next to him. She let him be and the class carried on. At the end of the period, after answering a student's question, she turned around and noticed… her sketch had disappeared. She knew deep down that Cody had been the one to take it, and she worried she might have been wrong after all.
She did her best to put this to the back of her mind as the day went on. There was no point dwelling on it now, was there? Lunch went by, with more visits from colleagues. Morgan had insisted on calling for Paul to bring out an order from Ma Maggie's to celebrate, and Maya was not about to say no to that. Then there were the freshmen, and she was left to chuckle at the way her sisters were so relieved. There they'd been, keeping her secret and looking suspicious – well, mostly Nellie, who did not have the 'fortitude' of Sherlock Hunter – and it had been 'stressful.' The long break had been spent with a visit from Tanner and Angela and their great granddaughters, which somehow increased the number of times the other teachers stopped by to say hello. They couldn't get enough of the triplets.
Finally, it was down to the juniors. After a day of speculation – and possibly some additional clues thanks to the growing number of people who knew the truth – Ava came along with the answer already figured out. Her art teacher was pregnant again. When Maya confirmed it, Ava considered this for a moment, leaving Maya to 'dread' what she'd say.
"Bet the kid's happy about that," she finally stated, and Maya smiled. As much as she still had a bit of a 'I don't know what to do with this' look to her whenever Marianne would approach her, she understood that the girl clearly saw something good in her, that she liked her. So, she'd humor her as best she could.
"Oh, big time," Maya confirmed, and Ava nodded.
Olivia was thrilled to hear the news. She naturally offered her services as an official TXNY sub when needed, especially as the other sub would herself be 'maternally indisposed.' Kelsey, for her part, looked like the good news would feed her heart for the rest of the day. She sort of held on to any bit of it she got lately, whether it had to do with her mother or not… especially as it came in short supply when it had to do with her mother's condition. Anton Day had clearly found out already, which Maya suspected had been done via a slip-up from his girlfriend at the start of the afternoon.
On her way out, now that the day was done, she stopped by admin to check her inbox. She'd had her mind elsewhere all day and hadn't had time to check it since Friday. There were a few items inside the slot, most of it of little to no importance, and then… a folded piece of paper. It was the most curious item just from a quick glance through the stack, so she unfolded it first as she left the office and started out toward the parking lot exit. When she saw what it was, she momentarily froze and folded it up again before quickening her steps. She didn't stop until she sat in the driver's seat of her minivan.
It was her sketch, the face, the one Cody had snatched from her class wall that morning. Except… Except right when she'd first unfolded it, she'd seen that there was more to it, and when she unfolded it again, she saw the full extent of it. He had taken what she'd drawn, and he had done the rest, turned it from a face to a whole person. This person had long hair and was wearing a dress, the dress, the one which had inspired the expression, and had the unmistakable shape and figure of a girl.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
