April 27th 2022
Chapter 117
Our Transformation Into Five
Halloween morning began with the creaking of the hallway floor, small steps drawing nearer, and nearer, until the door was slowly nudged open. A few more steps, tentative, observing… then someone climbing up at the foot of the bed, crawling, stopping, observing some more… Where would she introduce herself?
"Hey, Hucklebucket, come here…" Maya whispered, and the scurrying little beastie came at once, sliding under her mother's waiting arm, which came to hug her close at once. "Mmm… there it is…" Maya smiled, pressing kiss upon kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Sleep alright?" she asked, and Marianne nodded. "Good… Happy birthday!" she smiled down at her. When those little blue eyes turned up to look at her, it was a good grab at the heart. She still remembered the first time she'd seen those eyes… five years ago this day… "I love you so much…"
"How much?" Marianne whispered back.
"The most," Maya replied with a squinting smile as she recalled a very similar conversation the two of them had had, one year ago, on her fourth birthday. Marianne's face showed she remembered it, too, and she had the same concern now as she did then, the fact that this absolute would exclude all others. "You know, there are times when 'the most' doesn't have to mean just one thing, or one person… You, and your sisters, and your future brother or sister here… All of you, and your dad, all together…"
"The most," Marianne repeated, and Maya nodded and peppered her cheek with more kisses, getting her giggling. "And Tori, too?"
"Oh, of course, Tori, too."
"And the dogs?"
"Respectfully, I love those little weirdoes with all my heart, but we might have to put them just… just a little below. Fair?"
"Yeah…"
"Good. Now, do me a favor? Very carefully climb over me and tell your dad it's not nice to play asleep and not participate?" Maya whispered at her ear, and Marianne climbed up over her, landing in a pouncing hug that forced Lucas to reveal himself as fully awake in order to catch her. "Well, I'm going to go see what the escape artists are doing out there. You two carry on."
"Hey, I can't help it if you guys were having a cute moment. Didn't want to interrupt," Lucas turned his head back to follow her out of the room with his eyes.
"Uh huh," Maya laughed.
"You believe me, right?" Lucas turned his head back to Marianne, who broke into new giggles. "Here I thought I had an honest face…" he sighed, then smiled. "Happy birthday, pumpkin girl," he wished her, brushing hair from her face. "How old are you again?" She very helpfully held up her hand and showed him all five fingers. "Oh, that's right, that's right… And you're getting cake today," he 'reflected,' making her smile. She knew this, too. "Two cakes. One at preschool, and one back here, tonight, with everyone else… Did I ever tell you about when my grandmother would make cakes for my birthday?" he asked, pulling her to come and rest at his side, her head at his shoulder and his arm around her.
"Marianne the first?" she asked, and he nodded. She was very familiar with her legacy, the name she'd inherited and the woman she'd inherited it from.
"She would do Granny Mel and Uncle Mike's cakes when they were little, and then she did them for me, too, when I was about your age. She would let us get whatever we wanted. The colors, the flavors, everything. One time, I got a blue cake that tasted like mint. On the outside, there were yellow stripes, and stars. The candles were all different colors. Another time, it was one layer orange, and another one yellow, with caramel in the middle, and the top looked a little like your room, with lots of pictures of animals all around."
"Wow…" Marianne breathed with awe.
"You know, I bet if we asked your granny, she would love to make you a cake like that," Lucas told her with a confident smile. "What would you like if you had an anything cake?"
Oh, that was a big question. She thought about it as they got up and headed downstairs for breakfast, and then back upstairs to get everyone dressed for the day… As Maya was finishing up getting her hair done, turning her fine blond hair in braids she could pin around her head, the better to land the hat for her apple costume on top, Marianne finally had her answer. Predictable as it could be to her parents, who knew her habits too well not to guess, she wanted a green cake. Green ingredients, green decorations. That was what she wanted. When they went off for the day, with Maya driving Marianne to preschool, Lucas called his mother and let her know about the promise he'd made to the birthday girl. Did she mind the short notice? Not at all. She didn't even mind the fact that she'd already made her granddaughter's cake. This one had green touches to it, naturally, but it was far from the triumph of greenness that Marianne had in mind.
"Two cakes, on a fifth birthday, why not?" Melinda laughed. "How was the birthday girl this morning?"
"Oh, just the bounciest little apple you ever saw…"
It was as true now as it had been for the past five years that they had always loved Halloween, but they loved Hallowannie even more. While he was at the ranch, seeing all those decorations they'd handled personally on deco day, Lucas felt like Marianne might as well have been right with him the entire time, and it showed in his energy as he went about his daily duties. It wasn't a green group day, so she wouldn't be coming over in the afternoon as she'd done yesterday or would do tomorrow. This fact rang with utter disappointment for the team of Sullivan Stables, as it meant that they wouldn't get to see the birthday girl. They all loved her, had known her since she was born in most cases, and they never forgot her on her birthdays, which meant that Lucas' car would be loaded with gifts big and small, to be passed on to Marianne.
Meanwhile, Maya was feeling a lot of that Hallowannie spirit at the high school, too. It had been one of if not her favorite day of the year, even before having Marianne, and since she had come along, well… It was like she had a surplus of Halloween… spooks… in her, and she was going to share them out with her students, her colleagues… How successful she would be generally depended on how responsive the groups as a whole would be. How many of them showed up in costumes, how many walked around like they could just roll their eyes at the ones who did… the ratio would tell her what she'd be up against. Not that it was always stable. This year, for instance, for the very first time, she was treated to Ava Nash walking into school with a costume.
Oh, Maya had no doubt that she'd done it for the sole purpose of cheering up Kelsey. She'd always loved Halloween, going out trick or treating with her brother… Her parents had fostered that love in her, working together to create costumes for her that included her wheelchair. It was the first year for as long as she could remember that they hadn't done it. Mrs. Farrell simply didn't have it in her, while Mr. Farrell was just swamped, as he balanced working and looking after his wife and kids. Kelsey might have decided to let this year go by, but instead Ava, Olivia, and Nika had teamed up and taken up the task. One look at her face as she went around school that day and anyone would know how much it meant to Kelsey that they'd done that for her.
In all her years of teaching, all the Halloweens she'd had in class, Maya would say she'd never had a group make her hit peak Halloween quite the way her new freshmen did this year. With the way they'd been going since September, she wasn't surprised. They were her most committed group, across the board, and that included this day, as every single one of them showed up in costume. It turned the period into something like a speed round of class model, with everyone getting a turn at posing for sketches, action poses turning into comedy poses. By the end, it was a wonder that anyone managed to draw anything recognizable with the way they'd laugh.
As eager as Maya was for the day to end, so she could move into proper Hallowannie mode, she had one more thing on her mind, and that was Cody Marshall. She had been thinking a lot about what this day might turn into for him, with all she'd learned of him, but as it turned out he wasn't there at all. His mother had called that morning to say he'd be out sick today. There was nothing to suggest that this was a lie except for what Maya's gut told her. What little truth she knew of what was going on with the sophomore was truth the rest of the school's staff didn't have, but she suspected that, with everything already going on in his life these days, he just hadn't wanted to be here for it.
There was no point getting caught up in that particular mind spiral, not that day. Once the last class was done, she had to get out of there, had to head home and start final preparations for Marianne's birthday dinner, and then the games outside the house, and the party… At least she was already wearing this year's Annie-inspired costume. She could have done what she usually did and worn the previous year's home costume at school this year, but that would have required adjustments to account for her growing belly, and she really didn't feel like it, so now she was just good to go. When Melinda arrived with the triplets, after having watched them all day, she got to 'harvest' her little strawberry, and her lemon, and her grapes… They were all about as cute as one could imagine. The real miracle here was how much they all coped with the costumes and didn't fuss one bit, not even Lucy, who was always to be counted on to share her discomforts. They were taken from their seats one by one, passed into her arms for hellos before being set on their feet, and they just ran around after one another, like so many giddy fruits.
"Two cakes?" Maya turned back to her mother-in-law in surprise before remembering that morning, and the tale of Marianne Sullivan's cakes. "How green is it?" she smirked.
"Oh, the greenest," Melinda replied confidently.
"Halloween teeth for everyone, perfect."
The timing was such that Lucas came home with Marianne all of two minutes after Ella and Tori arrived from Houston, which allowed the birthday girl to find her big sister and her niece and the costumes she'd yet to see, and it really was the cherry on top of an already great day for her… or the peach on top. And when she saw the 'greenest of cakes,' now… If Marianne Sullivan's spirit was in any way able to see the joy it brought her great granddaughter and namesake, she would be very glad to know her cakes continued to have the effect they'd done decades back with her own children.
"Did you make a wish, baby girl?" Katy asked her granddaughter after she'd blown out her candles. Marianne nodded, then grinned when she saw her grandfather's signal: don't tell what it is. She responded by pressing her hands over her mouth. She wasn't going to tell. Whatever she'd wished, she wanted it to come true and she wasn't about to jinx it.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
