June 6th 2022

Chapter 157
Our Love of Gathering

Maya was never so aware and grateful for the home that she had as when she and Lucas would find themselves playing host to so many guests at once, which they did on a semi-regular basis. She may not have lived there for nearly two decades, but she still remembered her apartment back in New York, when it was just her and her mother. They weren't exactly squeezed in together, but they could never have done this, not by a long shot. On the one hand, really more than the other, she was glad to know her children got to have this space to grow up in, that they never even had to consider any other way. And yet there was just a bit on the other side, the one that remembered the past and had been built by it, that considered the merit of having that awareness in one's heart and mind.

The guests were received out on the porch when they arrived. Maya was sitting out there as she waited for them, with one of the diary boxes that Stella had left for her when she'd brought the whole load inside not too long ago. They'd sat together briefly, her substitute catching her up on the last week at school before she had gone on her way. She and François were going to have dinner with Phoebe and Desi. They had been out there, backing up their friends that much more since Khalil had left for training.

Stowing away the sketchbook she'd been looking at back in the box as quickly as she could, Maya opened her arms at the ready and closed them again after the introduction of her littlest sister. Maisie Hart-Lane had zoomed right up to her as soon as she'd gotten out of the rental car, showing as much eagerness to see her big sister as she was receiving in return. The seven-year-old – who missed no opportunity to remind that she would be eight very, very soon – always had so much to say after the trip from Tucson to Austin, and Maya was very happy to listen to every word. In the meantime, Maisie's brother and parents took their time in unloading their bags and making their way up to join the sisters, like they knew they could have zero hope of getting a word in edgewise until the girl was done.

"I'm so happy you're here right now," Maya hummed when she was finally able to get her arms around her little brother. Little… He was of an age now that he could be one of her students, a sophomore in high school, and she still couldn't wrap her head around it, but here he was. In a little over two years' time, it would be his turn to go to college… if he decided to go… and already there was an unspoken question in the air, wondering if he would follow in his older siblings' footsteps. They had all done their time in this house, so what about him? There was still time for him to decide one way or the other, and they weren't going to push him either way.

"Me, too," Wyatt told her as he pulled back, and it was just one of those days where his resemblance both to Sam and to their father felt as though it could not have been stronger. To Maya, right then, it felt like a sign, like her brothers stood here as a piece of Kermit Hart, here amongst the living to witness the birth of his new grandchild.

It was a very silly notion, she could admit that, though seeing as she didn't speak it aloud, admission was unnecessary. The notion still stayed with her as she got to welcome her stepparents, and then the little Hunters as they arrived all together, as Ella arrived with Tori, and Lucas and the little girls returned, and Harper and June were dropped off, and finally Teddy arrived with Priya and Lily, just ahead of the Calaharts and Arroyos. Eliza and Emma, who'd been upstairs and getting a few things done while they had the chance before the guests started to arrive, were taking it upon themselves to get everyone's bags, talking about what they'd do tonight, and the next day and night… They wanted to make the most of these next two days with the whole family, and…

I don't want them to go yet… They should be here when the baby comes… Wyatt, Sam… Dad…

She tried to talk herself out of bringing it up at first. Sure, if the baby came when it was expected, that would only be asking them to stay a few more days, but already that would mean changing plans for the Hart-Lanes, with jobs, and schools, and everything else in their lives… As much as she wanted to tell herself that, under the circumstances, it was a valid reason, she was shy at the thought of suggesting it.

In the meantime, Sleepster was in full swing. It was hard not to remember the last one of these they'd had, and that kept Kermit in Maya's mind, too. The last time had been another family gathering, for all of them to commemorate ten years since they'd lost him. As wonderful as it had been in the end, for all of them to get together and remember him, it had been a heavy time, more about standing still and looking back. This weekend was so far from that… The last one had been about taking a moment for a life ended; this one was about life as it was, present and future both, and they wanted it to feel that way.

The one downside to having this sleepover at this point in time, much as it had been her idea and her desire, was that Maya couldn't participate a whole lot, not all the time. They spent the better part of that Friday evening outside, still out front before dinner, and then in the back after they'd eaten. The kids would be running around all over the place – and most of the adults with them – making the most of this time together before turning in for night one.

Saturday morning started with… a start… or what they briefly thought to be one. Maya experienced some false labor, which sent everyone scrambling to head to the hospital and brought others who had not been in attendance at the sleepover to try and hurry to do the same. Some of them were still on the road by the time the call went out to tell them, with great apology, that they could turn around. The baby was not coming yet.

"This one was definitely on me…" Maya hummed as she and Lucas walked back to the minivan, hand in hand. "I think some part of me was so determined that they all be here when the time came that it tried to make me think it would happen."

"Sounds plausible," Lucas told her, giving her shoulder the lightest bump, enough to make her smile. He would say that, would back her up. "Couldn't they do it? Couple more days?" She gave him a look, and he nodded to himself as he understood she'd been wrestling with that question already. There was no way of knowing, was there? They could ask the Hart-Lanes to stick around through Tuesday, the due date, and the baby could end up deciding to stay right where it was, leaving their visitors to have extended their trip for nothing, only for the real labor to start about as soon as their plane left the ground… Wouldn't it be easier to cut their losses now, stick to the plan?

With the thought set aside a second time, and the hectic morning ended, the gathered group became determined – guided by Maya's own insistence – to make the most of this day and night, after which the Hart-Lanes would be due to fly home. This included Haley showing the pack of younger girls, from Maisie on down to Tori, how to do a few tricks, nothing beyond their own abilities. She was very good as an instructor, and whether or not she got any successes out of her 'class,' even failures were met with a proud 'did you see what I did?' from the girls. It was enough to convince some of the others around them to try their hand at it, too, the results being surprise here and laughter there, and at least one fall which thankfully resulted in nothing more than a small bruise on Sam's leg. It convinced them to slow it down for a while after that, especially as the nearly four-year-old Francesca insisted on playing nurse to her father and then refused to leave his side.

The whole weekend had started off as inspired by Winnie Grayson's wish for sisters, and while there was an inevitable detour into baby land, especially after Saturday morning, the main mission continued. To look at her along with Marianne, and Lily, and Harper and June, and Francesca, and with Maisie, too… They had fulfilled their goal, showing the five-year-old that she may not have had any sisters by blood or marriage, but she had sisters by friendship. It could well be that, in the future, she would have sisters of the other kind, just as it was possible that any of her group here would drift away with the years, but for here and now… They had each other.

"Oh, there you are now…" Abigail smiled as she sat at Maya's side with her hand at her stepdaughter's belly. "Doing somersaults or something?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Maya chuckled. "Maybe tried to listen in when Haley was showing the others earlier," she joked, and Abigail laughed with her before letting out a sigh. Even without her saying it out loud, it felt like the meaning was all there. She wished she could be there for the birth, too. Maya tried not to show herself too in line with this, much as she was, so not to sway things when she'd already been reminding herself of how it couldn't work, and… and… And shouldn't we at least try? "I might be asking a lot, but I was wondering…"

"If we were to stay in Austin a few more days…" Abigail spoke almost at the same time as she did, and they both stopped, smiling at one another as they saw that they'd both wanted to say it and they had finally done it as one.

"I would really like that," Maya nodded, hearing the emotion in her voice now like a signal of just how badly she'd wanted it. Abigail leaned forward and embraced her, showing, as ever, how much she had taken her on as one of her own.

"We are going to get a room at the hotel," she told her, and Maya tried to argue this, but Abigail insisted. She and James had been discussing this all along, even before they'd flown in on the day before, and it had already been part of their weekend, about as good as guaranteed. Looking back on it now, Maya didn't know why she'd assumed anything else. If the roles were reversed and her daughter was out there, in another city, state, country, anything, about to have a baby, whether the first child or sixth… She'd want to be right there with her if she could, and it would take a whole lot to make it so that she couldn't. So, Abigail was here, and James was here, and Wyatt and Maisie's schools were already aware of the likelihood of their absence…

"I keep looking at Wyatt, and I see Dad…" Maya admitted, knowing Abigail would understand. "Like he's here with us, for this one…" she looked to her belly. Abigail gave a misty eyed nod. "All this to say… I'm really glad you're all staying." And hopefully, you won't have to wait long…

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners