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


August 19th 2022

Chapter 231
Our Celebration of Lucky

If it wasn't for the nature of this latest sleepover, they might have managed to work it out so that the gathering coincided with her appointment. Not that they would have shown up, nearly fifty of them, in that small room, but they would all still have been in town when Maya and Lucas found out whether they'd have a seventh daughter or a first son, and that would have been a bonus bit of fun. But, of course, Maya would have had to know about the surprise sleepover ahead of time, for when she made the appointment, and that would have just defeated the purpose, wouldn't it? That was alright though. Their friends and family, whether near or far, would be just as happy to find out about it whenever they would be told.

The sleepover had been a whole day together after that first night, which had been a whole lot of silly and random fun, once the kids had been folded back into the mix. From what Maya heard, as she hadn't been privy to the plans, there was another sleepover happening elsewhere, with Dylan, and Zay, and Asher and Ray, and Lion, and all the children, all those who couldn't have been counted without pushing this surprise Sleepster far beyond capacity. They would have gladly had them all over, too, but with all of them spread out as they were across the Friar house like this… All of them who'd been involved in the planning had worked hard to make it so that this other sleepover would feel very special in its own rights, so the smaller children especially would not wonder why they weren't at the Friars' with their friends and with their mothers. It was a middling success, but any pouts and huffs they encountered when returning home were quickly resolved as though they had never happened.

On the second night, the name of the game was once again stories, although one suggestion as they had all turned in on the first night – where Maya and Lucas had been joined in their room by some of their oldest friends, taking up residence on inflated mattresses on their floor – had given them an idea they couldn't pass up. When it had come time for everyone to start turning in as the kids had done earlier, they had made it so that the teens would have cleared out, and some of the adults, too, if they were just too tired to stay up, the better to let this story swap get a bit more… eighteen and over. Suddenly the prompts had been for tales of first times, and strangest locations, and nearly getting caught, and actually getting caught, and other most memorable times… Details shared were left to the teller's discretion, to be given as much or as little as they wanted. It was a wonder they didn't wake anyone up with the way they laughed at this story or that one…

"How am I going to look those guys in the face now and not giggle like a kid?" Maya had whispered to Lucas when they'd settled down to sleep, and he'd buried his own laughter in her neck. He was having a different issue in that all these stories had put him in that mood, which was impossible to service with present company on the floor. She was right there with him on that, but all she could promise him was that the next night, when they would be alone, they would most definitely find a way to make up for that. And oh, did they ever…

Before all that, of course, on Sunday, the sleepover culminated in Maya's birthday party, which was held at Sullivan Stables and brought together their lot of forty-six plus about that many of those who hadn't been at the house. It was an excellent day, even as it had to end with so many goodbyes, with loved ones getting back on planes to take them to Arizona, and Illinois, and Sweden, and Australia… They left behind such memories that Maya and Lucas and the others would long hold on to.

And now, days later, another big day had arrived. Today was the day when they'd find out about their Lucky. Weeks ago, Marianne had asked to be there on the day, for her and all her sisters to be there, too. She had been promised that her parents would do their best to make it happen, though she had to contend with the possibility that it wouldn't work out. It was one thing for Maya to take part of the day off work, and for Lucas to do the same, but then Marianne was in kindergarten now, not to mention that there was Ella, out in Houston… But they weren't about to give up without having tried at all first, were they? Lucas and Maya had put their heads together to figure out what were the points in all of their schedules that would make it so that the stars aligned. Ella and Marianne, those were the parts that they had to focus on the most. And somehow, they made it work.

They hadn't told Marianne any of it. As far as she knew, the appointment hadn't been made yet. But then on Friday afternoon, one week after the Sleepster surprise, she was the one to receive a visit from Lucas at school as he came to pick her up early. There would be no blue group for either of them today: they were going to what she'd come to call 'the baby doctor' and they were going to find out if she was getting a brother or sister. It was really a good thing that when he told her, even though she hadn't spotted her mother waiting out in the minivan, Maya could see the two of them, so she got to see the look of complete giddy glee on her daughter's face.

Lucas had already picked Maya up, and the triplets, and Mackenzie, so once they had Marianne, they were good to go. Ella, as they reassured the pumpkin, would meet them at the clinic. Actually, she arrived a few minutes ahead of them, so when they pulled up, she and Tori were sitting in her car, having a bit of radio singalong to pass the time. It was just as the girls had hoped and, frankly, just as their parents had hoped, too. They would never pass up a chance to share something with their girls.

They were quite a sight as they went into the office, all of them together. When she'd made the appointment, Maya had made sure that it wouldn't be a problem for her to bring all of them with her. The last thing they needed was to show up and be told no and have to tell the girls. But her doctor was all for it, being very familiar with the Friars from seeing Maya through her previous pregnancies, and she had the receptionist on her side, too, even before she'd started having her son in her class. He was one of her gold star sophomores this year.

When it was time to go in for the scan, the girls were led inside the room. It was too amusing to see the way they all reacted to everything that they saw. The triplets would have been too little to grasp much more than that they were in a doctor's office. They'd been in those before, but theirs had colors, and toys and books, while this one had a lot of things that they were asked not to touch. In no time, they just decided to crowd around their father's legs, or to grip on to their mother's hand once she'd gone up to sit on the big chair. Tori had been told by her mother roughly what to expect, so she stood quietly next to her as Ella held baby Mackenzie, who was fading fast into napping against her big sister's shoulder rather than paying attention to what was going on.

Marianne was the most anxious of the bunch. She'd been asking loads of questions, and she'd seen appointments like these on television, like on her Nana's show, when Tilly's character was going to have a baby. Now that she was there, in the room, she was even more curious. She watched with great interest as the gel was put on to her mother's belly, and the screen soon lit up with the images, and the sound… the heartbeat… Her hands were squeezed together at her chin, overwhelmed with giddiness as she was.

"That's Lucky's heart," she turned to the triplets, who were all puzzled at the sound even as they stared up at the screen like it might have been a TV show. The doctor smiled, indicated right where the heart was. The triplets were still perplexed, looking from one thing to another, but in time they did understand… There was a baby in their mother's belly, they knew that, but now they got to see this strange sort of thing, moving around on the screen and that was that same baby!

"Wow…" Kacey spoke their collective sentiment, and the others laughed.

Everything was looking great. Both Maya and the baby were right where they would be expected to be at this point, and that was all they wanted to hear… Well, maybe not all… They were still looking to find out one more thing, which had been the whole reason for the mass of guests in the room that day, and it all came down to the doctor and to the baby being in the right position for her to see, which was not immediately the case, but finally, the woman had a telling smile that let at least four or five of them guess that she'd determined the sought-out answer.

It was not a question of whether or not they wanted to know this time. They very clearly were awaiting the revelation with near bated breath. So, she turned back to look at them all and, catching the discreet tip of the head from both Maya and Lucas, she addressed herself directly to Miss Marianne Friar, and let her know that the streak remained as yet unbroken, because she was going to have a new sister.

Ella had recorded the scene, which was just as well, as her parents might have missed some of the small girls' reactions as they were given the news that their Lucky was not just 'Lucky Seven' but their Lucky seventh daughter. For days, they had been discussing between themselves and debating what they thought it would be, not necessarily taking bets but mostly curious to know if, as the doctor had said, the streak would carry on, or if it would be broken. Both options would have been met with equal excitement, but that didn't mean they couldn't be intrigued over the unknown.

Now it was no longer unknown. They were having one more girl. Would she be the last of their children or only the seventh, who was to say at this point? That felt like an after discussion, one for when this baby was finally out in the world. In the meantime, it was beautiful pandemonium in the doctor's office, as Marianne responded with a hopping cheer that was picked up by her niece, and then by the triplets. Ella couldn't do the same because she had the baby – who'd been awakened by the cheering – but she had enough of a smile on her face that they counted her among their celebration. Lucas came up to his wife's side, feeling like they could hit mute on everything around them for a moment as they looked to one another and thought of their Lucky girl and how much they couldn't wait to meet her. They kissed, after which the bubble of silence was popped and they found themselves once again surrounded by happy daughters, excited for their future sister.

"We're not going to be able to keep this one a secret, are we?" Lucas asked as they finally left the clinic. Ahead of them, with Marianne and Tori stood on either side like a couple of toddler minders, Kacey, Remy, and Lucy were all walking along and calling out a cheerful cry of 'sister!' every once in a while. There was no way, even after the initial excitement wore down, that they wouldn't sooner or later say it around someone else that they knew, like their grandparents. The secret would not be sustained.

"We're really not," Maya agreed, her own smile as stuck on as ever. She was really glad they'd done this, that they'd all been together when they'd found out. They decided to celebrate by going to Ma Maggie's for dinner, and there was not a single vote against it. And, yes, every single person who served them in any way that evening learned that the Friars were having another girl.

"What's her name going to be?" Marianne asked as soon as they'd made their order. The triplets were very focused on their crayons and their place mat, but their big sister had a very important question on her mind and her own crayons could wait. As for her parents, they were caught between being startled and amused.

"We don't know yet, pumpkin," Lucas told her. Sure, they'd be lying if they said they hadn't been quietly pondering options, same as always, but seeing as they were going to find out what they were having this time, they'd decided to have that talk after they knew. Apparently, that time had come.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Maya smiled at her.

Marianne's eyes bugged out just a bit at the realization that she might have a say in it, and then she got her thinking face on. She looked to her little sisters, and they could more or less see the journey of her thoughts. She knew the significance of her name, and of all their names, so now what about their new sister? She had to have some significance somewhere. Both she and the triplets had their first and middle names that meant something, and Mackenzie may not have come from someone in their lives, but her middle name, Abigail, had. All of them had the name of one of their great grandmothers, or of a grandmother, and they'd kind of run out of those, but then again…

"I got one!" she sat up.

"Yeah? First or middle?" Lucas asked her, with active curiosity. Marianne held up two fingers. "Middle name?" Yes. "Alright, what is it?"

"Juliet," Marianne beamed, and her parents' smiles said it all. Oh, she'd hit it right out of the park with that one. If they had to pick a person in their life who'd had such an impact as to name one of their children in their honor… Yeah, she would be the one. Lucas and Maya exchanged a look, and a nod.

"Done," they agreed together. Marianne wiggled in her chair. She'd done it!

"Now what about first name?" Maya asked her. Oh… that was going to take more time. She would get back to them on that. "Take your time," Maya chuckled.

It didn't take that much time in the end. They had their dinner, after which Ella dropped Tori off at Theo's for the weekend before getting back on the road for Houston. The rest of them headed home and soon started into the evening routine of baths, and PJs, and stories, and sleep for the sisters. The whole time, Marianne was thinking, and thinking. The flash came as Maya was combing her hair, and it was a miracle that she didn't just rush out running from out under the comb. Instead, she waited, her antsy feet staying in place until it was done, and then she sprinted out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, where Maya could see her looking through her bookshelf and finally taking the book she was looking for. Maya recognized it by the spine; it was one of her favorites, reread at least once every month or two. She'd opened it to a full page illustration, to a colorful action pose of her favorite character. Brave, and kind, and funny, and magical, a normal girl as far as most people assumed, but secretly a powerful little witch named Aubrey.

Would she have had it in her to tell her daughter's bright face no if she'd presented her with a name too strange or silly? Of course, even if she'd have had to thread carefully. But she'd known where this was going as soon as she'd seen the book, and as the name echoed in her mind, she got that same feeling she'd had five times before, that feeling of rightness. Lucas had it, too, when Marianne went and showed him the book. He was at the tub, seeing to the triplets, but he took one look at the page, then Marianne, then Maya, and he knew. Aubrey Juliet Friar… Lucky Seventh…

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners