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


July 1st 2022

Chapter 182
Our Days of Youth

One would think that even with how many of them lived in this house, the quiet of morning would be a blessing. Everyone either asleep or peacefully awake in their rooms, leaving stillness. And yet…

Lucas woke to the soft sounds of Mackenzie lying awake in her crib, which made him smile. He got up, careful not to wake Maya, and walked over to pick her up. He held her close, looked into that little face… The debate was still going about who she looked like the most. Right now, the thought was definitely that she had a general quality from each of them so that there could be no doubt whose daughter she was, but beyond that, the jury was still out.

As he stood there with the baby, he started to get this feeling. He couldn't describe it, just an undefined sensation of… disturbance. He needed to get to the bottom of it so, with a kiss to her forehead, he put Mackenzie back in her crib and walked out into the hall. He looked into the triplets' room. One, two, and three, everyone in their own bed and sleeping, though Kacey was definitely looking like she was this close to waking up. Alright, this was fine. He went down the hall, looked into Marianne's room.

She wasn't there. Not the bed, not the room… Lucas spun on his heel and checked the bathroom, but nothing there either and there was the feeling again. Where is she?

"Lucas?" Maya's voice floated out to him as he was coming back up the hall and he stopped in the doorway to find her sitting up, propped up on one hand as the other rubbed at her eyes. "What's…"

"Probably nothing, go back to sleep," he insisted. He could think of too many options for where their girl could be right now, so he wasn't about to worry her for no reason. Was that going to fly? Of course not, but he didn't wait. He climbed down the stairs to see if she might have gone down into the living room, maybe the kitchen, or the basement, and if not then he'd have to go back up to the second floor without making it look like he was searching, which was going to be…

The front door was open. He discovered in that moment how deeply his mind could make the effort of spinning a 'safe' reason for this, even as the rest of him felt anchored to a weight sinking in him. It carried him right down the rest of the stairs with such haste that he nearly tripped over his feet when he went on out the door, on to the porch, and looked around, seeking… seeking…

If not for the panic that had been slowly and then rapidly building up in him, he might have told himself, when he spotted her, to keep his cool and approach at a normal pace. But the moment he spotted her and recognized that she was entirely safe and unbothered, it felt like all his self reassurances dropped away to let him recognize that brief terror he'd lived. He took off at a run and called her name, which made her freeze and turn back to him even as he reached her and lifted her quick into his arms.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked her, fear shaking in his voice. "I thought you were… You could have been…" he scolded her, only to be brought back down by the feeling of her holding him back, spooked by his voice. He pulled away until he could see her face, tears spilling from her eyes. He balanced her in one arm so he could try and dry her face with his fingers. "You scared me, okay?" he told her, and she nodded. "You can't just come out here like this without telling us, what were you…"

"Marianne…"

Maya was out the door and hurrying over to them, and Lucas looked from her back to Marianne, noticing here that the five-year-old was looking at the two of them but also beyond them, across the road into the Oswalds' land. Her attention was brought back when Maya arrived and put her arm around her back, the look in her eyes telling them just how fast her heart was beating in that moment.

"What are you…" she started to ask.

"Mommy, I gotta get Tabitha," Marianne pointed across the road. Maya and Lucas exchanged a look before turning back to their daughter. Who? "I saw her out my window, she got away from the farm. I tried to find her, but I can't see her anymore. I can't go there by myself," she pointed to the road.

It was hard not to still feel so wired from the fear she'd given them, but at the same time here she was, showing that she very much remembered the rules… most of them. They tried to focus on this side for now.

"Who's Tab…" Maya asked, just as it clicked for Lucas.

"The goats… the kids, at Sanderson farm," he told her, and Marianne nodded.

"I saw her, over there," she pointed.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked, and she gave a hearty nod.

"Daddy, we gotta find her. She could get hurt!" Oh, those worried eyes…

"Okay, it's okay, we'll look for her, alright?" he put her back on her feet.

"I… I should go back, the baby, the triplets…" Maya blinked. She was torn between going back and wanting to stay where she could see Marianne with her own eyes.

"Go, it's okay," he assured her. "I've got her," he nodded, and she let out a breath.

"Yeah, okay," she started off, paused, turned back to him. "Go get your shoes at least?" she pointed to his bare feet… and her own… and Marianne's.

Two pairs of shoes retrieved and quickly slipped on later, the goat search resumed, now with Lucas to assist and widen the area they could travel. Marianne's instincts proved true, as they crossed the road and walked over the Oswalds' land and soon spotted the goat kid looking fretful and lost. Marianne looked back at her father, and he gave her a nod, so she ran over and carefully picked up little Tabitha. The goat did not struggle. If anything, she looked immediately reassured in the child's hold, like finally here was something she recognized.

"She doesn't look hurt, just a little spooked, that's all," Lucas stated after crouching to get a look at the animal. "That's going around this morning," he sighed. Marianne clearly knew now that she'd done something wrong, and she'd upset them. "Look, if something like this happens again, just come and tell us first, okay?"

"I promise," she nodded.

"Alright, then let's get Tabitha home."

If it wasn't for it still being early morning, with most people either still asleep or just getting up in most houses, there might have been some people out to witness their procession up the road. Here he was, in pants and shoes, escorting his daughter in her PJs and sneakers, hair in disarray, holding the small goat in both her arms, as they made their way from their house to the Sandersons'. From the look of it, they'd been up already, but whatever they'd gotten done up to now it must not have involved looking in on the goats yet, because when they spotted their neighbors coming along and saw Tabitha, they all looked confused.

While her mother and grandfather went to investigate how the kid could have gotten out, Missy Sanderson came up and received Tabitha along with the story of how she'd been seen and retrieved. They sort of skipped over the whole 'she scared the hell out of us chasing after that goat' part. Missy was just thankful that Tabitha had been found safe and sound. She thanked Marianne for looking after her, and it made her smile.

Lucas and Marianne walked back home, hand in hand now, and the way she clung to his arm, head resting against it, all he could feel was how deeply she knew that she'd done something to upset him, and she felt horrible about it. Their little empath…

"It's behind us now, okay?" he told her, and she turned her eyes up to him. "Not saying Mommy and I won't be a little weird about it for a day or two, but we learned something, all of us," he went on. Yes, she knew what he meant. "Hey, so, you know how I didn't tell Missy about some of what happened back there?" She did. "We're going to do that again later when we see Nana and Grandpa and the others, okay?"

If it wasn't for the fact that they were expected at the Hunter Hart house not just for a normal family dinner but per Haley's request, they might have cancelled and stayed home that day. Oh, Maya was doing her best to act naturally, but it was like Lucas had warned Marianne about. They were going to be a bit weird today. With Maya, Lucas had to think there had been this added thought of their family's… tendencies… Marianne had a teenage runaway for a grandmother, and her mother had gone and climbed through some stranger's window when she wasn't much older than she was now. They weren't worried about her doing any of that here or now, but it was going to stir up some thoughts in Maya's mind, like it or not.

They had to go to this lunch, and they did. Haley had called herself and asked them to come over yesterday afternoon, and she hadn't told them what was up, but she clearly had something that she was excited to tell them about in person. They couldn't cancel on her, not without a valid reason, and they'd already decided to keep the morning's adventures edited down to a version that was cute, not worrisome. So, after breakfast, they all got ready and headed out to the Hunter Hart house.

"Mommy, wait," Marianne moved to Maya before she could be helped into the minivan, threw her arms around and hugged her. One more, before we go, it seemed to say, and Maya took it and reciprocated it. Of course, now that they'd had a go, the triplets wanted one, too, but they were already strapped into their seats. That didn't stop Maya, and she went to give each of them a good kiss on the cheek. At this point, she appreciated the affection boost, but either way, she wasn't about to say no.

If they needed something to shove the morning's events out of their minds, they could ask no better than Haley Hunter. When they arrived, she looked like she was going to burst from having to wait to say whatever she'd been waiting to say. That wasn't new to them, sure. Haley was well-known for how she loved to share any and all news she deemed exciting, but this was different. Today, it felt like the entire household was holding on to something massive. It manifested in many different ways, true to each person, but it was there, and it was enough that the Friars arrived, saw all their faces, and were automatically too curious to be kept waiting much longer.

Haley tried to tell them the story, but she was so excited that she couldn't get the words out properly, so she turned and looked at her parents for assistance. Shawn and Katy would alternate in telling the story, but this was what it boiled down to: Haley had been cast in a movie.

As they told it, at her most recent showcase with her circus arts class, a woman had been there to see her perform, her in particular. She had been involved in Katy's previous big TV production, Heal Thyself, and she was currently in charge of finding young talent, acrobats, for an upcoming project. When she'd come upon this girl in Austin and realized she was Katy Hunter's daughter, she'd made the trip to see her in action. Evidently, she'd liked what she'd seen, and a few days later she'd reached out to Katy to discuss the opportunity before they could put it to Haley whether she would be interested or not.

Katy had known what she'd say. She'd told Shawn about the call, and he'd known what their youngest daughter would say. With that in mind, they'd recorded the reveal, the better to be able to look back on it later and show it to the rest of the family. Oh, how she'd jumped at the chance. It wasn't just 'yes,' it was 'what's the movie, what's the role, what do they need me to do, when does it start, where do I go?' If it had been up to her, she would have packed her bags and left immediately rather than risk being late. Maya chuckled, imagining Shawn telling her to hit the brakes.

"I'm going in three weeks," Haley finally found her voice. "I'm going to miss school for a while, so I'm going to have a tutor," she informed her sister and brother-in-law, sounding like she was almost just as excited about this as she was about doing the movie. It wouldn't be a speaking role, but she would be prominently featured as a performer. Had she sought this out? No, but her family knew that it was something of a deep down wish, kicked off on the trip to Los Angeles that had even gotten her looking into circus arts in the first place. It would have felt like it was too good to be true if it hadn't happened the way it did.

"That's so cool," Marianne declared, deeply in awe.

"I know!" Haley laughed. She could hardly sit still in her chair. If it wasn't enough, they were filming in New York! She would be accompanied there by both parents and the twins and MJ. They would stay there until the other kids needed to head home for school. Katy would go with them while Shawn would remain in New York with Haley until she was done and could come home. It was bringing back memories to the days when Katy would be away for weeks, of the time when she and Shawn had lived in Los Angeles while the kids were home with their grandparents. It was still too early to tell whether this would become a habit for the littlest Hunter. For now, it was just this one opportunity, and if there would be anything after it, they would find out when it came along.

"You guys could come along, couldn't you?" MJ asked his big sister, realizing after a second that maybe he should not have asked this directly in front of his nieces. Maya and Lucas exchanged a look. Could they go? They'd have to look into it, wouldn't they?

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners