August 29th 2022

Chapter 241
Our Exploration of Riders

Dearest Maya Penelope Friar… Hunter… Hart, my sister, my teacher… Hello!

In case you're wondering, yes, I did decide to write you a letter while watching you respond to a letter. You're watching me right now, asking what I'm up to. I think I'm going to say I'm writing to my secret admirer. It's not the truth but it's not a lie either, because I know you're always out there supporting me, so that's kind of like an admirer, right? Not a secret though, ha! At the risk of coming off very corny, and of making you cry a lot of baby hormone tears, I just wanted to write to you because I knew it would make you happy. I figured that, even though we say we love each other all the time and we show it all the time, too, there were probably things that wouldn't just be said out loud, you know? So, here goes.

I remember when we were little, Gracie and me, when you and Lucas and the others lived in Houston. I remember when we would call you in the morning and we would talk over the computer. We would so look forward to it, and I think we used to believe that you lived in the computer, or that it was a portal, or something. It was like you were magic. I don't think I stopped believing that for a long time… Maybe I still believe it sometimes.

I know you wish sometimes that we could have all grown up together, without such a big gap in age between us. I kind of did, too, but at the same time I wouldn't exchange what we did have. I got to grow up with a sister I could look up to and talk to, not the same way I could talk to my other siblings or to my parents, and that's always meant a lot to me. And I do look up to you so much, maybe not about the music, or art, or teaching, but about who you are as a person. Whenever I think about the future, and now that I'm in high school, it feels like that's what anyone thinks I should be thinking about, I think about you a lot. Like, I'll be thinking about what I want to do after high school, for a living, and then I'll think about you and everything that you do. Honestly, I don't know how you do it all, but I guess maybe it's that you've got all this passion for what you do, and that makes it easier.

Anyway, I could go on, but I think I'll stop here, that way I have more material to make you cry again later, ha ha. I'm going to mail this after I leave here. I just wish I could see the look on your face when you get this letter.

Big hugs, big kisses, for my big sister that I love! From your favorite sunny little sister,
Penelope Jane "Nellie" Hunter

.

"Hey, come here," Maya called from where she sat on her parents' couch. Nellie came, plopped down next to her, and burrowed herself gladly in the spot opened up by her sister's raised arm. "For you," Maya handed her an envelope, and Nellie laughed. "Go on, open it, read it," she invited, holding her near all the while, and there she stayed as she read.

Dear Sunny Penelope, sister of mine,

I am debating right now what exactly might be the best method to 'get you back' for coming after my emotions like that. Yes, I cried a whole lot, so much so that your five little nieces all saw fit to pile around me when they saw it, so I have decided to be lenient in my response. The best way I could think of to return the favor was in kind, by giving you a bit to cry about… or smile, that works, too. If all goes as planned, I'll be right there with you when you read this, so I'll definitely get to see for myself, huh?

Sometimes I look at my girls when we have a call on the laptop, and I'll see the way they all crowd around the screen, and it'll take me back to those morning calls, you and Gracie squeezed together there. When I had to make the decision of where I would go for college, all I could think about was what would happen if I was far away. Some of that was for Mom and Dad, of course, but most of it was for the two of you, my sweet baby sisters. You were still so little when that time was coming up, and I couldn't get out of my head, thinking about the years I was going to miss, not being in Austin with you. I was afraid I would be a stranger to you both, that we wouldn't get to be close how I wanted us to be, how we'd been while you were as little as you were. It sounds silly, thinking back on it now, doesn't it?

I know just how you feel, thinking about how we all didn't 'grow up' together. I would have dreams about it sometimes. It would be all of us, and I don't know exactly how old I'd be, maybe one or two years older than you. I had dreams the same way with my other brothers and sisters on the Hart side and it would be the same way, so that's dream logic for you, I guess. That's only ever going to be a dream though, and I have no trouble letting it stay that way, honestly, because the real life we all got has been pretty wonderful, too, and I wouldn't change most of it. The parts I would change, I think you know, but we don't need to bring them up now. I'd rather hold on to the pleasure that is having you as a sister, sunny girl. And if all goes as planned, I'm doing that holding right at this moment!

I hope you have a great, wonderful day, and countless ones after it,

Love, love, love,
Your part-time art teacher, full-time big sister,
Maya

Nellie turned that sunny face of hers up with a smile, and Maya hugged her close.

X

Maya would be awed at times about the way their life, as it was now, would continue to call back on the previous year, and Lucas kind of felt it, too. How could he not? Two years in a row they found themselves expecting a new baby girl. Mackenzie and Aubrey would be a year and a month apart, just about, so it was happening a lot lately that they would find themselves in this present moment but also think back to just a year ago. Another spring, another baby on the way… April and May, and it made him smirk to note the inverted initials, his girls' names, and their birth months…

He was thinking about it all today as he stood watching Ella riding along at the ranch. He remembered her saying how she wanted to start taking lessons, and he realized how that had been a year ago, just about. She'd wanted to take them here, specifically, even though she could just as easily find a very good place to learn out in Houston, complete with his recommendations to her and to her chosen location, thanks to the connections he had. It was all coming from a place where she wanted and needed to be in Austin as much as possible, because she was worried about her mother after the whole fainting spell incident. He'd suggested she could do it in both places, that they could get her set up in Houston easily, and as for Sullivan Stables, well… she hardly had to ask, did she? She was a Friar, and she was his daughter. She had freedom of the ranch.

Now she had been riding for a year, here and there, and she was doing very well for herself. He watched her and, as she'd asked, he recorded her doing it, which he required very little in the way of clues to assume was as much for Taylor's benefit as for her own or anyone else's. The two of them were still exploring, still discovering how best to make this long-distance relationship of theirs work. A big part of that was phone calls, texts, the old standard. The other part right now was this, taking each other into their day to day as much as possible, with videos and pictures.

"Can I see?" Ella asked as she came back up to where her father stood. He held out the phone to her and she took it, so he turned his attention to the horse, who responded to him as all of them did out here. They knew him, trusted him, and liked him very much. He was their caretaker, one of them at least. It was all about the team, and he didn't go around putting himself above anyone on title alone.

"You were doing great out there."

"Thanks," Ella smiled, the video now sent on its way to Taylor.

"Oh, I was talking about the horse," Lucas smirked, more so when he saw the look on her face. "Want to go around again?"

With the phone put away and Lucas having gone to find and mount his own horse, they set out toward the open land, not at any great speed but just going side by side, enjoying the clear day together. They went at a peaceful pace before long, the better to get to chat between themselves.

"So, how is that boyfriend of yours?" Lucas asked, and Ella snorted. "What?" he looked at her.

"Admit it, Dad, you've been waiting to break that one out for a while," she 'accused' him.

"I have six daughters and I'm expecting a seventh. Not that I would ever want to overstep, but I'm just keeping my eye out for you girls, that's all," he admitted with a smile.

"And I appreciate it," Ella assured him. "But I think you can call off the hounds on this one," she whispered. He pretended as though he was disappointed, like all he'd waited for was the opportunity to come for him, to scare off some boy from ever doing one of his girls wrong. In truth, he could be nothing but happy for them. Ella, Taylor… They deserved the happiest of ever afters.

"Is he flying out for Spring Break or are you going to Indiana again?" he asked.

"We haven't figured that out yet. It would be easiest if he just came here, yeah, but he also wants to get to show me where he's been living and will be living, until he graduates. And I want to see it, too, it's just that there's Tori to think about, and I don't want to leave her behind for a week, not when she's been so excited that we'll get to spend more time together over the break. But then I don't want to cut Theo out of this either, and if he comes with us, there's Nika to think about, and Lea, too… So, it's starting to shape up like either Taylor comes to Texas, or the five of us go to Indiana to see him."

"Wouldn't be the worst idea," Lucas slowly nodded. Would he and Maya both prefer a plan wherein they got to see more of their daughter in this week off? Of course, they would. But would they put that ahead of what was best for her and their granddaughter? Not even a little.

"Yeah, I guess not," Ella smiled, bubbling over with that same happiness they'd been privileged to see develop on her face since Valentine's Day. Whatever she decided, it would be her choice to make. Right now, all that mattered was the two of them, their horses, and the land stretching out ahead of them. They picked up a bit of speed and rode on.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners