June 5th 2022

Chapter 156
Our Love of Possibilities

They never wanted to let the fact that there were three of them mean that the triplets couldn't be allowed to wander. When Marianne had been their age, able to walk and run as they did, and they would take her into stores, they'd let her go on her own two feet whenever it felt right, so she could take in her surroundings how she was drawn to them while they kept her in their sights. But now here they were, at that same point, with Kacey, Remy, and Lucy. Letting one small girl on her feet was one thing; letting three go at once was a whole other, with more chances that they'd all head in opposite directions and one or more of them would evade sight.

So, for a little while now, they had introduced the idea of a buddy system, of sticking together. They didn't want to make it so that their daughters felt forced to stay with each other their entire lives, shaping their choices to fit with their sisters'. But while they were very small, they at least wanted them to try and make sure that, wherever they went, they wouldn't forget the other two. So far, it was definitely looking like it worked.

"Ka-cey!" Remy stretched out her hand toward her twin, and the girl turned her head away from where she'd been enthralled by a flowery display before running over to join her. Lucas, holding a clingy Lucy in his arms, had been keeping an eye on the twins, with Marianne to back him up, and now the five-year-old shadowed the reunited pair as they moved forward. They would not get away from her so fast, which was good… now Lucas just had to make sure they wouldn't get away from him either.

They were on a mission on this day. Their guests would be descending upon the Friar house today, the better to start this newest Sleepster, and they needed supplies (candy, mostly) for these coming two nights, so they had taken up the task. There was the tiniest potential for disaster in bringing the triplets into this, but as of yet they mostly just seemed to like looking at all the different packaging, the colors, or they liked poking some of them, especially if they were squishy or they crinkled. Those things they saw and recognized as things they'd been able to eat in the past, now, well, they didn't miss those. Lucas could work with that.

After putting the call out, they now found themselves with a guest list maybe not as filled out as they would have had it, but all things considered, that might have been for the best. Abigail and James were on their way with Wyatt and Maisie, but they were the only ones from out of state that would be making the trip. No Chens, no Olsens. They wanted to come, all of them, but it just wasn't possible, not this time around. They would make up for it in time, as they so often did. So, they would have a full complement of Hart-Lanes, Calaharts, Arroyos, and Hunters, along with Marianne's friends. That was more than enough for a great, hectic weekend, especially considering…

He wasn't opposed to this sleepover, he really wasn't. Did he feel just a bit uncertain at this thought of filling their house up with people, with more activity than they needed, when Maya was so close to giving birth to their new son or daughter? Absolutely. Maybe it was the ghost of that fainting episode that had kicked off her maternity leave back in February, but on that he couldn't feel any guilt over his concerns. There hadn't been any further issues, no, and reasonably whether the baby was born today or on its due date – four days away now – there shouldn't be much of a change, but… he couldn't forget it.

The best way he knew to get past those thoughts, to erase them from his mind, was really for him to look to his wife, to trust her choice. No one would know better than she did. He'd known her long enough, nearly twenty years of their lives, known her as friend, as girlfriend, and wife, and now most importantly as mother, whether the child in question was outside her body or still inside it. If she said she was good to go and she wanted this, that others needed this, then he would back her up.

If he could set aside those reactionary concerns and just focus on the present, the very near future… They were nearly there. The baby was just days away from its due date, days away from being born… He still remembered that day, Maya and him in the bathroom, waiting on test results, sat very straight up on that small footstool together… That was months ago now, and since then there had been the faint, yes, but there had also been sharing the news, and weekly pictures, scans, heartbeats, flutters and kicks, and The Inevitable Question.

He was glad that they had waited to find out this time, he was. He had told Maya how he didn't need to know before, how he would be thrilled no matter what, and he meant it. If he didn't know that independently, he would be brought to realize it whenever he ran into 'those people.' They were the ones who would see him out and about with the girls and, upon learning that he and Maya were expecting again, would feed him one of those 'oh, I bet you're hoping for a boy this time,' or anything to that effect. They made it sound as though he was stuck, being the only man in a house full of women and girls, as though he was being deprived of something and must be feeling that lack. Once upon a time, he might have simply brushed off the notion, but now it actually really kind of upset him whenever they'd say it. He'd be respectful, as always, but he would also do his very best to get his point across. What they said, he didn't agree with it, not at all.

The people in his life, whether it was Maya, or their families, friends, colleagues, would go and call him 'girl dad,' and each time he would know this as the complete opposite to those others who lamented his lack of sons. The people who knew him would know how proud he was of all his daughters, of getting to be their father and watching them grow, whether that was from tiny beans in their mother's belly or from a teenaged girl in need of a supportive family when she had none. Would he be happy to have a son, to have one, or two, or more? Of course. They would be his boys and, much as he had his girls right now, he would love them and support them and eagerly watch them grow. That was all he ever needed or wanted to do. The rest, well, it all had to do with who his children were as people. They showed him the way.

His girls were some of the best people he knew, and that went from his grown girl to his little sheriff, all the way down to those three still learning to talk. He was privileged to get to be part of their lives even as they were a part of his. He would gladly take another to join their pack. He'd take one more, he'd take two… He'd take however many they were fortunate to have, and if none of those children were boys, then it wouldn't matter. He'd have his merry band of daughters.

"Dada, down," Lucy tapped his chest. She'd been growing less and less clingy as their trip through the store progressed, until she was sat up in his arm, taking in her surroundings, watching her sisters just ahead of them… Now she wanted to be with them.

"You want to walk around, bun?" She nodded. "Alright, sounds good," he kissed her cheek and put her on her feet.

"Wait!" Lucy called, and the twins stopped and looked around. Lucy moved to stand with them, and they advanced together like a roving triangle. It was always funny to see them go like that. They had started doing it all on their own, and no one was about to argue with it when it meant that they were going to be all together in one spot, easy to keep track of. They'd scatter a bit after a while, but for now they went along and explored.

"What do you think? Should we take some of those?" Lucas looked to Marianne, as they came upon the next aisle. She looked at all the boxes, so many of them, so many flavors…

"Not that one… not that one… not that one…" she ticked them off with a finger as she trailed the display. She stopped, turning a frustrated look to her father. "They all got strawberry."

"You love strawberries," Lucas smiled, not following.

"Harper has an allergy," Marianne told him, looking like she'd been worried that she might have forgotten the word for a moment.

"Oh!" Lucas blinked in surprise before coming closer to inspect the boxes, too. Yeah, that wouldn't work for her. "Is this new?" he wondered. He hadn't heard about this from her parents, and with how often their girls were at one another's homes, any allergies or other potential issues had long been put on the table, like how June was lactose intolerant, or Winnie was allergic to cats.

"Uh huh," Marianne gave him a nod. He'd have to check with Harper's parents when they brought her over.

"Well, these right here should be fine. For the others, well… if you wanted one with strawberries for later…" he slowly suggested, and she did not leave this in the air. She grabbed one box here, one box there… They were good to go.

The triplets were kept well in check when it came time to go and pay for their purchases and leave the store. They were not easy to forget at their regular store, so many of the employees there would recognize them and be known to them. Their favorite activity now was to be handed items from the basket so they could lift them on to the counter themselves, which they did, one after the other in turn. Actually, Remy's favorite part might have been when the things would get scanned and she'd hear the 'boop!' Then she'd just laugh and hop around.

"One, two, three, buckled in, and four…" Lucas turned to Marianne with an expectant smile. She showed him that she had done it for herself and that everything was secured. "Alright, now my turn," Lucas nodded. He shut the door, went around to the driver's seat, and got in. "Home now?" he turned to look in the back. The girls all spoke over one another, the triplets following their big sister's lead. "Okay, home now," Lucas faced forward again with a smile.

Driving on toward home, with Marianne singing along to the radio and the triplets doing their best to join her, Lucas thought again of the baby and 'the question.' He thought about Marianne and her predictions. As curious and happy as she'd been to predict the outcome for the Mantovani twins, she had not pronounced herself with regards to her new sibling. If anyone asked her what she wanted, she'd look puzzled and shrug. If they asked her what she thought it would be, it would be the same thing. It just didn't matter to her whether she'd get a brother or a new sister. She was just looking forward to a new baby in the house, a new sibling. He liked to think that she'd seen how he and Maya went along and decided, like them, that there were more important things to look forward to without taking a side.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners