August 15th 2022
Chapter 227
Our Celebration of Life
For years now, he couldn't remember how many, it had been Lucas' way that he would start to plan for Maya's birthday on day one of the New Year, about as soon as the calendar page switched from December to January. That gave him two weeks to work out whatever plans he'd come up with this time around, which wasn't to say that he would always do anything so overly extravagant. Especially these last few years with the baby boom that had been the triplets coming into the world, there was a certain need to be a bit more… mindful… of their reality. That didn't stop him from finding his own way to make it very clear how grateful he was over the fact that Maya had lived a whole other year.
This year, to be sure, the start of the year and his usual planning time had been disrupted. There had been the revelation of Emma's intention to drop out of school and possibly move back to Tucson after the winter semester, and that had been… like lightning striking out of nowhere, right at the heart of their home. Everyone was a bit distraught and confused, trying to pull themselves together. Mackenzie was too little, so she didn't understand what was going on. Lucy, Kacey, Remy… They didn't exactly know what was up, but they were definitely at this point where they at least grasped that people were upset when they saw them. Then there was Marianne, and… oh…
Ever since that day at the bookstore, she'd been going around with just this edge of fear and sadness in her, and every time she'd see her aunt, she would become her shadow around the house. Emma was always more than welcoming about this, and several times already they had found Marianne sitting right by her aunt's side, leaning to her, while Emma went about doing whatever she was doing. She wasn't unaffected by this; leaving here would be difficult, with how she'd grown this attached to her young nieces, but if that was what needed to happen, then…
Deep down, Lucas told himself that it wasn't going to happen that way. Someway, somehow, Emma would not leave Austin. Would she still leave the house, maybe move in with her friends? Who was to say? But he didn't see her leaving the city. The better scenario would of course be that whatever this thing was that had been going on between Emma and Eliza would be resolved before too long. It was plain to see, as much as Emma insisted it hadn't played into her decision to drop out, that it would still be playing at her mind and possibly making her make some decisions that she wouldn't have made otherwise. If they resolved this thing between them, he was sure, other things would fall into place, too, a domino effect. Those two not being in sync felt like it just sent everything off balance.
Now, despite all of this happening back home, Lucas still had his wife's birthday to keep in mind, so he'd ended up doing most of that thinking while he was at work. It was very easy, whenever he'd be walking the land, or doing anything that didn't require his immediate and undivided focus, to let his mind wander into that space where the main concern was 'how to make Maya's birthday fun this time around.'
Naturally, just like last year, the pregnancy was going to play into things whether they liked it or not. Were there a few potentially great things he'd had to count out because of it? Sure, but that didn't mean the rest wasn't going to be fun either. The best way he could find the answer he sought was to answer another question first: What would make Maya the happiest? That question would have a different answer from year to year because it would all depend on everything else that was going on in the moment. And this year… This year, the first thing that came to his mind when he asked himself that question… gave him pause. Oh, it was a really great idea, as far as he was concerned, and it would make Maya very happy, but he couldn't pretend like there wouldn't be others who might feel differently… and what would that do for Maya's birthday?
After some thought, and being aware that, on this day, after lunch, she would be out of class, Lucas left the ranch and went to find his sister-in-law at her barista job. When Emma spotted him walking into the shop, she looked surprised, for a split second almost like she wondered if something bad had happened, but that wasn't the impression he was giving, so she smiled as he approached the counter.
"Hey, what can I get you?" she asked, like he might be any other client, with a smile that felt in tune – blood or none – with the whole of the Hart-Lane female line. He gave his order, and she fulfilled it for him, after which she let him know when she'd have her break. He didn't have to say anything for her to guess he wasn't just there for coffee and a pastry. He was nearly through eating and drinking by the time she came to join him. "Is this about Maya's birthday?" she asked with a knowing smile.
"It is, actually," Lucas nodded as he smiled back. "I, uh… I had an idea, but I think I need to run it by you first."
"Oh?" Emma asked, blinking. "What is it?"
"Surprise Sleepster," he told her, and her immediate grin said that she easily saw the merit of this idea.
The look that followed, of slow realization… It said that she saw why he'd wanted to talk to her about it. Bringing the Sleepster crew together would make Maya so very happy, they both knew that, but it would also more than likely mean that some people would be looking to her, and thinking about her own situation, which would be as much a risk of creating disruption for Maya as it would be of making Emma feel cornered.
"You should do it," she finally said, nodding at him. "Don't worry about me, I… I'll figure something out, okay? I promise I won't let it get weird on my account. Just… let me know ahead of time who's going to be there so I can talk to them if I need to?"
"I can do that," Lucas agreed, and he thanked her. It wasn't as though she'd been dodging these conversations, but it had all felt as though some people, well intentioned as they were, would talk at her rather than with her. For her sister's sake though, she was willing to pull herself together and retake control of the situation. Maybe it would be for the best, for all of them.
Now that he had Emma's approval, the plan moved forward. He knew what he needed to do, and he started to do it as soon as he made it back to the ranch. The better part of that afternoon was spent with him running names around in his head, trying to figure out who he might bring into this. It didn't take long that he had to start and write them down, if for no other reason than to make sure he wasn't forgetting anyone or counting them twice… and to keep count, because it was very quickly getting out of hand.
Oh, it started off simple enough. Him and her, all their daughters and their granddaughter: easy. The little Hunters, and all Hart-Lanes and associated branches like the Calaharts and – provided they could fly back for a few days – the Arroyos. All that, very standard fare. But then he started to look beyond that. What about Luna's girls, and Charlie's kids? They couldn't always come, but they were always invited, and for something like this, he knew they'd want to be there. And by now, especially with Lily already part of the earlier accounting of Teddy, which also meant her mother Priya, they also had to count Marianne's best friends. Winnie, Harper, June… By that same logic, especially for it being a surprise birthday situation, the definition of 'sister' had long counted others. Riley, Nadine, Sophie, Chiara, Rosa, Morgan, Isadora… What about them? Would that also mean the guys, and Jenna, and the kids? And then he thought about past Sleepsters, which made him think of the likes of Stella, and Phoebe… Desi… After all those, the next layer felt like the most peak 'surprise' vibes, if he could pull it off. Willow, Franny, and Kayla… He remembered days when Cecilia had been a staple among them…
He couldn't even get a complete number, because there were spouses and children in some corners that he might either have forgotten or that wouldn't be brought along, but by the end of that day, when he went to pick up the girls for blue group, his list, all combined, came up to forty-six people. He didn't think they'd even been that many the time they'd had their sleepover at the Zvolensky house. Where would they even put them all if they held it at their house? Had it been summer, they might have considered going the way of setting up tents, do a bit of a camping thing, but it was January, and not an overly warm one at that.
They had the green room, and the nursery. They had Eliza and Emma's rooms, and the guest room, and the floor of the art room that had once been the attic floor. They had the living room, and they had the playroom in the basement… in a pinch, they had their own room, too. Was that enough? Next thing he'd know, he'd be making some kind of floor chart, like he was figuring out seating arrangements at a wedding. Nine rooms, forty-six people… That wasn't completely impossible, was it? Fitting them all in the same room when they did anything like hang out… or eat… That would be the more difficult part. Three bathrooms between all of them, that wasn't so bad, right? Special occasion… Just this once… No guarantee they'll all be able to make it anyway… What if there's more I haven't accounted for?
He would start putting the call out that evening. Actually, he'd call on some very important assistance courtesy of his eldest, out in Houston. Ella was more than happy to make the calls in order to surprise her mother. Best of all, it would be much easier to play it cool and ensure that she suspected nothing. Ella went so far as to suggest that she wouldn't update him on her progress until the next morning, once he was out of the house, the better so that Maya wouldn't see him looking at his phone every few minutes.
"What's going on in there?" Maya asked him as they were both working to get the triplets changed for bed. All three of them had already dozed off, which left their parents to dress a trio of life-sized dolls who neither interfered nor assisted in any way in the removal and slipping on of clothing. Lucas looked at her and guessed she'd caught him thinking to himself.
"Horse… things…" he slowly told her, which made her snort.
"Horse things," she repeated. He nodded. "Right… okay…" she smirked to herself and focused back on Kacey. It wasn't going to be possible, even if he wasn't getting calls or doing any kind of searching, for her not to catch him with 'birthday brain.' That was fine, so long as she didn't know what he was thinking about, and he was certain that wasn't going to happen. Right then, he was wondering about whether everyone would have enough sleeping bags, how many guest beds they had on hand, figuring out if everyone would fit…
"I said what I said," he smiled innocently, and she squinted at him.
"You sure did, Huckleberry."
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
