May 25th 2022
Chapter 145
Our Joy For Mornings
Part of her had been uncertain about this sleepover, but not for the reason that could have been expected. It might have been that she didn't think it was a good idea to get several small girls into the house at once – several more than the four in permanent residence – running around and potentially overwhelming things when she was meant to be taking things easy. That wasn't it, or at least not from that angle. Her feeling had instead been that she wasn't sure that she'd be able to restrain herself. There they would be, Marianne, Tori, Winnie, Harper, June, Lily… and she would want to do something. She would want to play with them, or make something with them, for them… Yes, it wasn't as though she couldn't do anything, as she so often felt she had to remind some (well-intentioned and loving) people, but… But then sometimes she was the one who'd feel those doubts, whether she expressed them aloud or not.
The whole point of this weekend was Marianne… It was to help reset a few things that had been disrupted along the last few days, take away the thought of how she'd very briefly had to go to the hospital. They had to focus her on to the fact that she was just on leave, because the baby was getting close to being born and it was the reasonable thing to do. By that logic, it felt in their best interest for her not to push their luck, right?
Marianne and her friends did just fine without her getting overly involved. They definitely had Ella there to help with some of that, and then Eliza and Emma when they weren't off at work, and of course Lucas… the Great Sleepover Ringmaster. His 'contribution' alone was enough to make sitting back and watching a very acceptable alternative for Maya. He was ridiculously good with that pack of girls, which should have been a given, as he'd by now more than earned his 'girl dad' badge. She told him as much that night as they went to bed, and the guy looked so proud to hear it that she had to laugh.
He slept lightly that night, she knew, as she herself was awakened a few times, either by discomfort or a need to head to the bathroom. Lucas was ready to get up and head down the hall himself, but to the room across from there, to their daughter's room and sleepover central, if anything happened that required assistance… possibly to prevent her from feeling the need to get up, too, as though that would work for very long. Thankfully, he was never called to act. Everyone slept very well, no incidents of any kind.
"I think you're up…" Maya whispered. Lucas gave what might have been perceived as a snore by someone who'd never heard a genuine snore before. It made her laugh. "I didn't mean 'awake,' because you've been that for a while already, I know. I mean they're awake, too… and wandering out into the hall as we speak." He sprang up at once, and she was careful not to laugh too loud, though she really wanted to right then as she turned and watched him go to intercept the group. Several high little voices were soon heard greeting him and talking over one another in halfway successful whispers.
Lucas was able to corral most of the group to march past their door and simply wave at her when they saw her on the way down toward the stairs, though the same could not be said of Marianne, of course, who doubled back and came climbing on to the bed. Maya welcomed her gladly, opening out her arms at the ready to pull her close.
"Morning, pumpkin," she told her, kissing the top of her head, brushing at her hair when she tipped her face up to look at her. "Did you have a good night back there?" she asked, and Marianne nodded. "That's great," Maya smiled. "You can tell me all about it after they're gone, yeah? You should go back with them, I'm sure your dad's got these big ideas for breakfast right now," she pointed out, with the appropriate level of big, impressed eyes. It got a giggle out of Marianne, and she scooted her way back until she could let her legs dangle off the edge of the bed in search of the floor. Maya kept hold of her hand as she went, even though she didn't need to.
When she was safely on the ground, she headed off to catch up with the others, while Maya pulled herself up to sit and let her feet go and find the floor. She sat there for a few beats, breathing calmly, hand following the curve of her belly up, and down, and up, and down… They weren't there yet, two more months still, and already she couldn't wait. Did the early start to her leave increase this restlessness? Sure, but it was no different than how she'd felt the other two times. Stranger still would be this sort of awestruck feeling she'd get, as she'd consider the fact that this was the third time already, that she was carrying the fifth child she would give birth to. As though it wasn't enough to see the time fly by when she'd look to her daughters and see how fast they were growing. This little Friar wasn't even born yet, but the awe was there already.
Up she went now, reminding herself as she walked that, apart from that one incident, she felt fine, and she needed to keep remembering that, instead of letting worry fester in her. That would be worse. She went and she opened the door into the nursery. There, she found that, while the triplets were all wide awake by now, they had all climbed in together into Lucy's little bed, there to babble together as they so often did. More and more recognizable words would be caught by listeners, enough so that what had once been gibberish was starting to feel like a genuine conversation. That alone seemed to encourage the girls to talk some more. Was it still a bit all over the place? More than a bit. But it was speech, and the fact that they had one another went a long way to get them to expand their vocabularies. It was really something to see. Both Maya and Lucas could easily imagine Kacey, Lucy, and Remy developing their own bit of triplet language, and they looked forward to it.
"Good morning…" Maya smiled as her arrival brought the conversation to a pause. The girls soon moved to sit or stand on the bed, or climb out of it outright, until they were all crowded around her, six small hands landing at her belly like a belt around her front. "You three had your own sleepover, huh?" she asked. She couldn't say that they understood the word 'sleepover' just yet, but they all nodded anyway. "Oh, well, maybe we should have gotten just the one bed if you don't need the others," she joked, and they just stared at her now, not following. "Never mind," Maya laughed. "Come on, breakfast, you know what that is?" Yeah, they definitely knew breakfast.
Ella arrived just in time from upstairs, likely awakened by the sleepover crew's rise, and she helped her mother guide the triplets down from the first floor. What they came upon was really what they should have expected, and still it caught them by surprise and made them smile. Lucas had several young assistants on hand for the preparation of breakfast, and they were all doing their part, all of them stood around the table like they were working at some science experiment together. Both June and Lily were sitting on their knees on a couple of the chairs, Harper and Winnie stood on the opposite side to where Lucas was, flanked by Marianne and Tori, looking like they were waiting to go and fetch something if asked. It may not have been their kitchen, but they felt confident they'd find their way.
"Mommy!" Tori perked up when she spotted Ella. She scrambled from her spot to go and see her. "We're making waffles!" Even though she was nowhere near the waffle maker, she brought her arms close to herself as soon as she was done hugging her mother. She may not have ever burned herself – because she knew to keep her hands to herself when told – but she had seen when her grandfather, careful as he always was, had burned one of his fingers a few months back, and that had been enough to instill some extra caution in her.
"Yeah, I see that," Ella smiled. "Can I help?" Tori considered this and looked back to the others for a moment before deciding.
"No, we're going to do it." Yes, that sounded like a good plan, she seemed to think to herself as she nodded and ran back to stand by Lucas.
"Fine, I'll just go and keep her out of trouble," Ella declared, and Maya gave an appropriate sound like 'hey, hold on there.' It amused the kids, and that was what mattered. The triplets may have still been too small to help much or at all, depending on the task, but that didn't stop them from joining the other girls around the table. Marianne's friends were all very good with the triplets, always liked to have them around… well, unless one or more of them was being difficult, but that didn't happen so much.
It was a beautiful February morning, so Maya and Ella went outside with the dogs while the kitchen was in full activity. They sat on the porch and watched the five of them, Crowley, Artie, Squeak, Jax, Honey Bee… Whether it was because of the baby coming or that it had been some time since their last new one, there would be the occasional temptation to stop by the shelter and see if they might be able to provide a good home for any other pups in need of a family. They'd had the occasional very brief foster, maybe they'd all be better off focusing their attention on doing that, though they did realize that bringing any new animals in the house could end up leading to attachment and the breaking of tiny hearts when they went away… Maybe by now they'd be just old enough to understand why this was worth it?
"Hey…" Maya smiled when she felt Ella's head tip and come to rest at her shoulder. She already had her arm looped around hers, and now she was drawing closer…
She didn't have to say what this was about: She'd been worried about her mother, the last few days. Maya let out a breath. She understood what it must have been like for her, stuck between where she was, what she needed to do, and what she wanted to do. If it was up to her, she'd just stay right here to help, but what good would it really do? She had school, work, her life in Houston… and Maya was okay. She kissed the top of her daughter's raven-haired head and felt how she drew herself even nearer for it, like she'd realized her thoughts had been discovered and she might as well go all in.
"Tell me about school," Maya suggested, allowing them to stay close but also finding a new topic, easier for conversation and exchange. "Going alright?"
"Yeah, it's great," Ella earnestly replied. "Professor Hillard came to give a lecture. He's my favorite."
"Yeah, he would be," Maya laughed, even as she rode the wave of that blast from the past, thinking of when Lucas had first met his uncle, when he'd been his professor. He may have relocated to Austin, but it didn't stop him from going out there, sharing his knowledge. "Too bad Tanya's not at the clinic out there anymore, I'm sure she would have taken you on…"
"Professor Hillard said they could still help work something out for me," Ella informed her, and again Maya smiled. How she loved to see her girl's progress as she went and followed in her father's footsteps…
"Nana! Mommy! Breakfast!" Tori appeared at the door.
"We're going to have to get the dogs…" Maya hummed 'pensively.' "If only we had help…"
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
