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


May 6th 2022

Chapter 126
Our Development of a Sound

It hadn't been their intention to do so this soon, but the following Friday, they had a full run through of the musical, start to end. It was actually so far out of their plans that it had been a surprise, sprung on to them by their workshop cast and crew. Unbeknownst to Maya, Sam, and Cara, they had all been communicating between themselves throughout the week that followed their first big weekend, all of them figuring out if they could make this happen. And they could, so they did.

Maya had been suspecting… something. Did she actually know what they were going to do or what it was about? No, she didn't, but… well, it was her, so if she couldn't spot scheming when she saw it then what was even the point, right? She had enough presence of mind to recognize that this was not a bad or harmful scheme, just a bit of mischief, and clearly, she was intended as being on the receiving end, judging by how they went out of their way to keep her out of it.

Where her curiosity veered off from its place of respectful distance was when she started to realize that this secrecy existed in her own house. Lucas knew. Oh, that Huckleberry husband of hers could keep some secrets, sure, but few and far in between were those he managed to keep from her. Well, more to the point, he could keep the secret, but she would still know that there was a secret being kept. The one time he'd really fooled her was when he had been working to fix up the house ahead of his marriage proposal. The way she saw it, he didn't mind her knowing that there was something going on; it was half the fun to watch the one in the dark try and figure out what was going on, and it had been that way for them since way back when they'd been about to go on their first date.

And now there was a secret in the air, one that involved both her husband and her workshop kids… What was that? Maybe a baby shower? No, it was much too soon for anything like that, although it definitely would be a surprise if they did it now instead of in the spring…

Then Friday came, and there was definitely something different in the air. This was the day. Whatever they had been plotting, this was when they'd finally let her in on it. It had never occurred to her that this surprise was for Sam and Cara as much as for her, an easy omission when they weren't at school with most of their cast and crew like she was. The more the day advanced, nothing happened yet, but the air of frenzy was only rising with each period. By the time they got to last period, with the juniors, she was sure that whatever was going to happen would happen after classes were over, so she just went on with everything like it was business as usual and waited…

Whatever she'd imagined would happen when the bell rang, it wasn't what actually came to pass. She'd been sure that Olivia, Kelsey, Ava, maybe Anton and Johnny, too, would hang back, conspicuous in their inconspicuousness, but that didn't happen. No, all of them, like their classmates, collected their things, left their diaries in the box, wished her a good weekend, and went on their way. She watched them go with a suspicious eye for a moment before letting out a breath and going about her usual end of week clean up before she could head out.

"Need a hand?" Lucas' voice sounded from behind her, and she slowly turned to look at him, squinting.

"I don't know, do I?" she asked. He laughed, stepping through the threshold proper and pointing to the stack of boxes sitting on the grandpa cart and waiting to be taken to her minivan. "Aren't you supposed to be picking up Marianne from preschool for green group?"

"Juliet offered to go and get her," Lucas informed her.

"How nice of her…" Maya continued with her mock investigative tone.

"She's a nice person," Lucas agreed.

"Oh, very. And what are you, Lucas Thomas Friar?" He nearly snorted at this.

"Duty bound," he pressed his thumb and index to a hat he did not wear and tipped it to her.

"Mm mm… Fine, do what you gotta do, I surrender."

Once she was done with her class, she followed Lucas and the cart out to the parking lot. The boxes were loaded into her minivan as she noted that his car wasn't here. Had someone dropped him off? Maybe Juliet, on her way to get Marianne…

"Here, why don't I drive?" Lucas 'offered,' holding his hand out for the keys. She let these jangle in her hands as she looked at him for a moment before finally offering them out and walking to the passenger side, keeping his eye for as long as she could, showing that she was 'on to him.'

They didn't have too long a way to go before they reached their 'mystery destination.' They didn't even need to get all the way there for Maya to start piecing things together. All she really needed was to observe where they were heading, and then the options dwindled, and dwindled, and… the theater? By the time they got there, she more or less had it all figured out. She figured, with how the workshop kids were involved, that it would have something to do with the musical, and with the people she found when they got there, that felt even more likely. The one thing she couldn't have pieced together was exactly what about the musical… It wasn't until she ended up sitting there with Sam and Cara and Lucas' co-conspirators Dora and Mateo, and the crew of Ava, Echo, Carina, Ella, and Phoebe came up on the stage, that the full surprise was unveiled.

Oh, it wasn't a completely raised production. They had no sets, only some borrowed stage pieces and props, self-provided costumes… The one thing that might have been done for them was hair and makeup, and she knew who to look to for that. It didn't matter. If anything, the bare bones made the experience exactly what it needed to be. What really mattered was their cast. The previous weekend, when they'd done the songs, they had not gone so far as getting everyone to treat it as they might in a proper musical performance. Sure, some of them could not help themselves and got into it enough that motion followed, which sometimes inspired others to try and keep up, but that was all.

Whatever they had been up to this week, with some of them at the same school, others not, and some not in school at all or even in the same city, they had put together everything they had at their disposal, everything they had done already, and they had brought it to a new level. It wouldn't matter that the musical as they knew it now would not stay this way. They put together and presented to its creators the original version, bringing their work of several interrupted years to life.

It had already been emotional to sit in audience to the workshop the previous weekend, but this was so much more. There were tears as before, though thankfully they did not augment as the impact did. They were simply touched by the way the workshop cast had taken some ownership of their roles and really showed how all their work, patience, and collaboration had led to this. They had made a musical. It was all real... They would have the recording to show for it, in weeks and years to come: the debut of the MSC team.

For an audience of six, they gave a round of applause worthy of a packed house when it was all over. Cast and crew took a well deserved bow, with such smiles on their faces... Even the likes of Ava Nash gave more than they had ever given, which Maya partially credited to the production but maybe in equal or higher measure to how happy Kelsey looked, there among the cast. The last week or so had been some of the best days she'd had in a while, and this knowledge was appreciated by more than Kelsey herself.

Maya, Lucas, Sam, Dora, Cara, and Mateo all went and congratulated the group on stage, thanked them for all they had accomplished, bringing the musical to the theater as they'd done. They would have brought them all out to dinner to celebrate, but many of them had other obligations and had to head off, including Ella and Lea, who had to start again for Houston. So, it came down to the six of them the siblings and their spouses.

They made their way toward the Friar house, there to find Marianne had been brought home along with Winnie and now was hanging out with her little sisters and cousin Francesca, all of them under the watchful eye of Donna Devereaux. Eliza and Emma were both working that evening. The old woman hardly seemed to mind. Instead, she was leading what seemed to be a rousing dance class with the six small girls as her students.

Marianne, Winnie, and Francesca had all been given the Devereaux treatment before, and they loved to show what they could do as much as they loved learning more. Meanwhile, the triplets were really 'attending class' for the first time, but they were all showing how much they were enjoying themselves already, much to Donna's delight. She could never have enough little Friars in her class, and she'd been waiting for the day when these three had their turn. The impromptu babysitting gig had provided just the opportunity she needed.

"So, how did it go?" Lucas asked with a grin while Maya and the others moved in to greet the girls.

"Oh, now, they are as alike as they're unique, these girls of yours," Donna declared with a satisfied laugh. "Miss Kacey is very steady on her feet, also enjoys a good hop... Now Miss Remy seems to think there's no better move than a twirl or a spin... Girl after my own heart. And Miss Lucy, oh, she reminds me of you when you were that small," Donna reached up and touched Lucas' chin with a grin. "Always following whatever rhythm was in your head or your heart. I can't wait to see what they'll do now."

Even after Donna was gone, driven home by Cara and Mateo when they went, the dancing had not stopped. Winnie was spending the night at the house, and after they'd gotten their PJs on, they came into the nursery as Maya and Lucas were in the process of getting the triplets changed for their delayed bedtime. This was already harder than usual as they kept moving around while their parents worked to get clothes off and on them, but once the other girls appeared and joined into the 'dance party,' it became even more hectic of a task. They thankfully got there in the end, and the triplets were given their bedtime tale, courtesy of the Annie and Winnie show.

Once all small girls had been settled in sleep, Maya and Lucas retreated to their room, where the former climbed at once to lay on the mattress, fully aware that she'd regret it when she had to get back up and change but caring very little in that instant, as she felt long sought relief in her back.

"I'm not falling asleep, for the record."

"Just resting your eyes?" Lucas asked

"That's exactly what I'm doing, and I can hear your smile," she pointed out.

"I hope you can," he countered as he sat next to her. Soon, she would feel the light touch of his fingers lingering just under the hem of her shirt.

He had a good idea by now of where to feel in case the baby got to kicking or moving. He even started to hum, and Maya smiled as she recognized the tune as being what he had been calling the unsung hero of the MSC musical. After a few seconds of this probing, she opened her eyes and stuck her arm under her head to prop it up so she could watch the scene set before her. Once he noticed this, Lucas doubled down and sang out the lyrics, not so loud that he'd wake up the girls but enough that he would be heard clearly. Oh, if reaching for her phone didn't mean breaking the moment...

"Think Tiny's asleep in there..." Maya finally declared after the song yielded no results. Lucas let out a disappointed sigh but lay a kiss at her belly anyway, which made her laugh. "But the song was good," she promised, brushing her fingers through his hair while he stayed there, in quiet conference with their unborn child.

"I do what I can," he eventually stated as he reset her shirt over her belly and moved up to rest nearer to eye level with her.

"Yeah, you do," she told him. She managed to keep a straight face for a few seconds and then it couldn't be helped, the... less clean reflection rising like a devilish smile over her face.

"Didn't you say you wanted to start on the diaries a bit tonight?" Lucas reminded her, and she gasped, remembering. She had said that. But... oh, she also wanted to just get changed, and climb under the blankets... but that would mean more work over the next two days and...

"Fine, but you have to do it, too," she raised her chin.

"Done," Lucas agreed, stretching to kiss her before moving to rise. "Any preference?" he asked of the boxes he'd brought up while she sat and fixed up her pillows for her back.

"Surprise me," she requested. After a short reflection, Lucas selected a box and brought it over. It was the freshmen. "Oh, good," Maya gave a glad smile. "You passed."

"What happened to 'surprise me'?" Lucas asked as he sat with her.

"Hey, it's more fun if there's no pressure to succeed," she teased, returning his earlier kiss with a peck to the cheek.

"It's the weekend, Mrs. Friar," he reminded her.

"You kept secrets, let me have this... or you get detention."

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners