May 5th 2022
Chapter 125
Our Development of Possibilities
"Alright, off you go," Lucas turned to his passengers, one at his side and the other behind, as they opened the doors to hop out.
"Thanks, Mr. Friar," Johnny Talbot tipped his head to him as he climbed out of the back after returning the high five offered to him by Marianne with a grin.
"Thanks, Mr. Friar," Carina Mendoza told him after turning from the front passenger seat to wave at the five-year-old. She followed her fellow exchange camper and hurried up toward the high school, where they were expected to rejoin the workshop for their Sunday session.
With one of them a part of their small backstage crew and the other taking up a trio of minor roles where needed, they had both taken the morning off while the others were back at work with Maya and her siblings so they could be at the ranch. No one would have taken issue with them spending the entire weekend with the workshop, not Lucas, not Juliet, but they had both set out to spend a couple of hours out there on Saturday and Sunday morning. The entire reason why they were in Austin this year was because of Sullivan Stables and this opportunity they were being given. They couldn't just not go when they had the weekend ahead of them. So, both days, they headed out to the ranch from the Day and Marshall homes. Yesterday, they'd taken the bus to go to the school, but today Lucas was taking Marianne in for her dance class with Donna Devereaux, so afterward he offered to drive Johnny and Carina.
"What do you want to do now? Should we go get the girls from Nana and Grandpa's?" Lucas turned to look at Marianne. For this, he was treated to about the most Maya-like look he had ever gotten from his daughter, one that plainly wondered if he was being serious. "Oh, you want to go in there? Yeah?" he played along, indicating the school. Marianne gave a hearty nod. "I mean, if you insist…"
"I insist," Marianne repeated, reaching down to work her seatbelt open. After a beat, she looked back up. "What's 'insist,' Daddy?"
Sometimes, Lucas wondered just what Marianne thought when she walked through this building. She knew it was a school, sure, knew it was where her mother worked, but she'd been coming here… since before she could remember, since she was just a tiny babe. This place was as familiar to her as the ranch was, the staff knew her just as well in both places and regarded her with the same loving care. She went around sometimes like no door was forbidden to her, and that was generally true. The thought that in ten years' time she would be a student here… What would that be like for her?
As they approached the auditorium, with most of the building devoid of students or active classes, the music was impossible to miss. It gave Marianne's feet wings and she dashed off toward the big doors, leaving Lucas to hurry after her if he wanted to catch up. He got there and signed for her to keep quiet as they went in. She nodded. Quiet… She could be quiet.
Lucas opened the door to let her through and followed behind, the two of them immediately swallowed up into the heart of what was one of the musical's biggest songs currently being sung up on stage. It had the kind of energy that could easily turn it into a signature number, and to witness it performed by all those voices at once instead of those of Maya, Sam, Cara, and Teddy… Marianne stopped short, immediately enthralled, and Lucas had to be very careful not to run into her. They remained where they stood until the song was done, and Marianne took it as her being given permission to clap and cheer for the group out on stage. If no one knew they were there before, they definitely knew now. They looked out, smiling, some of them waving… Maya stood from her seat in the front row when she recognized her daughter's cheering, and Marianne hurried to meet her.
Until they stopped for lunch – a great stack of pizzas delivered and consumed in the empty cafeteria – Lucas sat by his wife's side as she looked on, with their girl snug in her lap, and as she intervened where needed. When they did stop, the three of them took a table as a family for a brief moment where they could talk about their mornings as they'd seen them. Marianne had to be talked into staying in her seat and eating her pizza instead of showing her parents what she'd learned to do with Donna. She would show them when they got home later.
With the better part of this weekend behind them, Maya was just buzzing with excitement over everything that they'd already accomplished, how she and Sam and Cara had already been discussing ideas they'd gotten for changes, improvements. Most of all, the thing she couldn't stop talking about was how everyone had been performing. Some of them had never been on stage before, like Nellie and Bobby, or Johnny Talbot, but Maya had felt confident in recruiting them, and it had been good to see them. Johnny in particular was showing he could have easily been given a much bigger role, but oh was he ever a trooper, playing triple duty with minor characters. Then there was Nellie, who was on par with her twin, skill wise, though it was easy to see why only one of them had chosen to audition for the school's production. The same went for the Davis boys, though Bobby definitely struggled more with not looking like a deer in headlights if he ever had to sing in anything but harmony.
With those who didn't struggle up there, oh… They definitely had Maya and Cara blaming hormones for how often they started tearing up to hear them perform their songs, which left Sam having to bank on 'allergies' for his misty eyes. One thing was for certain, if this show ever made it to Broadway, there was no way anyone was ever going to be better in their eyes for the lead female role than Lea Sullivan-Reyes. She just had it, and her performance was a revelation, which was saying something when they all knew how good she was.
Marianne left her parents to go and join her big sister, bringing her pizza first and then returning to carry her drink with no chance of spilling. She cherished any chance she got of hanging out with Ella these days, and as a bonus, Maya and Lucas got to have themselves a bit of a lowercase d date. It took a lot for them not to just make jokes the whole time, thinking of all those days when they'd had lunch in this room when they were students.
"Alright, alright, pulling it together," Maya breathed, resettling in her seat. "Tell me about the ranch, how was it out there?" Lucas smiled, turned his head to spot Carina wherever she was right then. He spotted her sitting over with Echo, Nika, Johnny, and Anton.
"Actually… Had an idea I wanted to run by you, about Carina."
"Yeah?" Maya asked, listening eagerly.
Ever since she'd arrived in Austin, she had definitely been doing everything to show she deserved her spot as an exchange camper, but she continued to struggle. She'd had this problem they'd been aware of all along, but the more they got to know her, the more they understood the consequences of this problem. She wasn't allowing herself to bond with any of the horses. She interacted with them, but there was always a disconnect between them and the girl.
"I want to introduce her to Turtle."
The words alone were enough to bring Maya in line with his idea. The horse had been doing very well, living up at Sanderson Farm. It was just the place for him to get stronger, to just live a good life, a better life than the one he'd had before coming to the ranch. He still could not have stayed out there with the others, not like this, and he still needed the support of the people around him, the Sandersons, the Friars… He could always use more friends, and he could be pretty friendly, too, to a teenage girl with more love in her than she was willing to show.
"How are you going to pull her into this? She's going to see right through you," Maya told him, speaking with the confidence of someone who'd been interacting with the girl in question on a near daily basis since September.
"Well, I wouldn't be lying if I said the Sandersons could use the help. And Ella, too," Lucas pointed out, and Maya nodded.
Of course, their daughter had been greatly involved in looking after the horse until her move to Houston. She still kept up with him, how he was doing, and she'd visit whenever she was in town, but beyond that, her absence was felt. Everyone was happy to fill in for her where it was needed, but there had been talk of bringing someone on specifically to look after Turtle, so… why not Carina, at least while she was in Austin? And as far as getting her to do it…
"All… issues aside… I would still look to her as someone suited to the job," Lucas declared, and his confidence was very strong. It made Maya smile.
"Well, then, I think you've got a good idea on your hands. I say go for it."
"I'll talk to her tomorrow when she comes out to the ranch," Lucas sat back, feeling his plan like a breath of relief, just as Maya sat forward, catching his hand. "Hey, what…" he started to ask, only to find his hand brought to rest flat over the curve of her belly. His attention shifted into focus, waiting… knowing… Right there… "Oh, hi…" he laughed, feeling his heart drum faster. Maya's smile grew at this. She'd been mostly sure that he'd be able to feel that kick, but she'd had to check.
"Was feeling it on and off all this morning, and yesterday… This one definitely likes the music…" she reported, and Lucas chuckled. Wonder where they get that from…
Managing to get Marianne and Ella back around to feel for their little brother or sister had required something like a chain, passing the message along the closest table and letting the news travel. What this primarily achieved was to bring several curious hands wanting to get a feel at the newest little Friar's motions. With how close she was to all of them here that weekend and just the thrill of knowing that others could feel what she'd been feeling, Maya was more than happy to let them go at it. In no time she had several hands trying their luck at once, and she had to laugh at how many of them were bunched together.
As curious as they were, they would step aside when the two big sisters managed to reach their mother. Marianne and Ella got their hands on while the others drifted back to their pizzas. There didn't seem to be anything happening anymore, like the baby had become aware of the sheer number of people crowded over and had become shy. Lucas recalled Maya's comment of how the baby seemed to like the music, and as soon as she was equipped with this information, Marianne started singing at her mother's belly, calling on her sister to join her on a Granny Lizzie classic. If it didn't work, it would still make for a pretty wonderful memory to look back on but, luckily for the Friar sisters, it did work. The baby shifted around once again and made themself known to their sisters.
"It worked!" Marianne was thrilled.
"You know, I'm wondering if it's all music or just some…" Maya suggested, inviting what would be several more 'experiments' in musical summoning between her young daughter and her unborn sibling.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
