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


September 2nd 2022

Chapter 245
Our Exploration of Peace

Dear Mrs. Friar,

I think I've been waiting to write to you since before I ever graduated. But then I told myself I should wait a while, so I would actually have things to share. At first, I figured I'd wait until about a month or two into my first year here, but then it was all so busy, and I got sort of carried away with my studies, and work, and friends, so I never got around to it. Then today, I decided to go ahead and do it, so here I am, finally writing to you.

The first thing I wanted to say was that I am really glad that I ended up taking art with you after all. I remember how, in the beginning, I didn't think it was necessary, because I could already draw. Now, I'm realizing how much it wasn't just about that, your class. I used to be so content with just going to class and doing the work. It's not like I had nothing else going for me, but so many people had pushed me aside over time, being that I was smaller than the rest of them or that I maybe came off as a know-it-all, and after a while I kind of stopped trying to make friends. Then you and Ella found me, and you brought me into the quiz team, and it was such a wonderful experience from the start so, after that, I decided to take your class. Truth be told now, I mostly took it because of you more than the class itself, but that was only at the start. It didn't take long before that changed, though I'm not sure I realized exactly how until very recently.

I would draw before, but only because it was practical. I was very good at reproducing what I saw, so I could take better notes for school. That was all it was. But in your class, I got to draw for myself, for the pleasure of it. There were assignments, sure, but I could always discover new things, about art, and the world, and myself. And now that I'm here, I know that I'm so much more open to everything and everyone around me, not focused so much on function and more on life, in all the ways it manifests. I think I am more of a person now than I would have been before, without you and your class.

It was hard, in the beginning, to get used to a new school and new people, to start all over again, but I didn't mind that so much. It was a challenge and an opportunity. And I have made friends here, great friends. We have a quiz team of our own and I've been thinking about maybe finding a way to connect with similar teams in schools around here, to help advise kids. It started with a woman who owns a small café near school where I often go to study. She has a ten-year-old daughter, and she spends a lot of time at the café with her.

For weeks, I would see her watching me, and finally she started talking to me. Her mother would say that she shouldn't bother me while I was studying, but I didn't mind. I could see that she was like me, always curious for something new to learn. She is so clever about recalling small details. I told her once about our quiz team, and since then, she's been coming along with questions to ask me, to see if I would know the answers. Then I started to ask her questions back, and she really loves that I do. Nowadays, when I go in and study, she'll come automatically and sit with me and do her homework. I think about how having a team like I did could be great for her.

I heard from Ava that you are having a baby again. From what she told me, you should be nearing the end by now, or at least going on maternity leave very soon. I hope you are doing well and that your whole family is doing well, too. I miss coming to your house and seeing your little girls. Will you say hi to them for me?

With love,
Rosemary Adewumi

.

Dear Rosemary,

As the end of your letter assumed, yes, I am nearing the end of another pregnancy, though if all goes well, I still have about two months to go before this little one comes along. Actually, as I'm writing to you, it is the eve of my last day at school until after the baby, so until the start of the next school year. After the last time, even though it was a very little hiccup, all things considered, we decided to go on the side of caution and have me start this leave now instead of somewhere in April or early May. I have to admit though, there are some moments where it feels so strange to find myself here again, same as I was last year around this time. In the end though, all that matters is getting to the other side, where our lucky seventh is out here with us.

There are no words to express how much it meant to me to read what my class meant to you. I think I've told you before about why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place. A lot of it was exactly this, a chance to make a difference in kids' lives, when others had done the same for me. And now to see how you are taking this into the world… It makes me about as proud as I could be. Please let me know if you have any questions about resources and the likes for your project. I would be happy to help.

Everyone is well here. If you've spoken to Ava, you might know that the subject of the next quiz Olympics has been brought up. You all have a year to prepare for it, but I'm sure you will be fine. Maybe your young friend can help you prepare. Lucas is busy as ever at the ranch, especially now that the dog retreat has opened, though as you can expect his focus is turning more and more to the baby coming up. Marianne is doing well in kindergarten, already looking forward to first grade, if you can believe it. And as hard as it is to imagine, it's even more so to think that Lucy, Kacey, and Remy will be three years old this summer and going into preschool in the fall. I keep running into those moments of being excited for their progress at the same time that I feel sad to see this period of their lives being traded out. For that, I'm looking forward to starting my leave, so I can spend more time with them while they're still home with their little sister. Mackenzie is finally getting a hang of walking, though for the most part only with some support. On her own, she still struggles, but then what she does is that she'll reach out her hands to any one of us because she knows that, with our help, she can take steps. She is as ever our funny little Macaroni.

I hope to hear from you again, about your project or anything else you might want to talk about. My mailbox is always open,
Take care,
Mrs. Maya Friar

X

She woke up energized that day. Some people may have looked to their last day of work before a long pause as something they just wanted to get over with already, but that wasn't her. Maya looked forward to this day and could have seen it last longer. She knew why she was stopping when she was stopping, but she still wanted to stay. She would be leaving that afternoon with boxes full of diaries to look through over the weekend, and because her students already knew that she was going to be gone after today, several of them had been giving her this impression like they wanted to make sure to send her off with something fun to discover in their sketchbooks.

She also woke up with something of an audience. Lucas had apparently found his conference taken over by the morning show, as the triplets had all gotten up out of their beds and walked into their parents' room. They'd walked around the bed and now stood next to their mother, with their small hands having found their way under her shirt so they could touch her belly. There was no kick to greet them at the moment, but they were still there, talking to their baby sister. It wasn't hard to figure out where they'd picked up the habit.

"Morning, little butts," Maya smirked when they all stood back, startled to find themselves discovered. But she was smiling, and so they came back close again, now closer to her face than her belly, so she could reach out to touch their cheeks in turn.

"Mama, we go to the park?" Remy asked.

"Granny can take you, sure," Maya told her, but the look on her daughter's face suggested she'd meant them and her, not Melinda. "I still have to work today, it's the last one, remember?" She'd gotten the days mixed up. She thought yesterday had been the last day and today she was in the clear... and she was disappointed.

Maya and Lucas exchanged a look. It lasted all of two seconds but counted an entire conversation that came down to a choice. Was it a potentially chaotic choice? Without a doubt. But this was the last day before her leave, so why should things go as planned?

Melinda Friar would get the pleasure of spending this day with her - currently - youngest granddaughter alone. As for the triplets, they would experience their first day of high school many years ahead of time. When she told them this, they were ecstatic, like they'd woken up to a surprise, bonus Christmas morning, and Santa had visited them again.

Maya dressed them in their basketball shirts, the ones they wore to their father's games. They had the team logo on the front, and on the back, each had the number 3 and her name printed out. She figured it would be helpful to everyone in class to be able to identify them. Oh, they were so excited to go to school!

Lucas dropped them all off at the high school, and in they went. Maya had Lucy's hand on one side, and Remy's on the other, one because she'd want to and one because she might need to. Kacey held her twin's hand almost for that same purpose. As she had not planned to bring them today, everyone they crossed on their way to class had the same sort of happy surprise look on their face. The girls were already loving this day.

"Hey!" Nika was the first to see them arrive, along with the rest of the quiz team in the midst of their morning session. They got up from their station even as the trio of two and a half-year-old girls rushed in to greet them. They knew these four, they were the quizzies! That was what they called them, at least, and they took the name gladly.

"How come they're all here?" Ava rightly wondered, even as Lucy had taken hold of one of her hands with both of hers. When Ava looked down at her, Lucy gave her biggest smile, like an echo of her mother's. It made the senior chuckle.

"It's my last day before I hand you all over to Mr. Day, so I thought why not... Also, they thought today was tomorrow, and I just..." Maya gestured, and the kids grasped her meaning.

The quiz team was in the habit of helping her set up the room for the seniors, but today they were denied this task, on account that the Friar sisters were present and wanted to help their mother, so they did. Maya may have silently redirected her plans for the day to ensure that the materials would be the easiest for the girls to help her distribute across the stations.

All day long, the trio's presence was nothing short of an added brightness among the students. While Maya would address the class, the three of them would stand next to her, watching her... and the students... and the art on the walls... and the sky outside the windows... and some runner late for class... It was a mild distraction, but it had everyone smiling. Then, once everyone would be set to the day's assignment, they would be sat at the desk for some artwork of their own. The exception was with the sophomores, as was to be expected.

For one, Nellie and Gracie had heard through the halls that Maya had brought the triplets, so they hurried over as soon as they could, there to be received with a mountain of hugs and babbling. And when class started, they got to have their staple: a portrait session. The girls didn't know exactly what they were meant to do, so Maya got an idea and put on some music. That got them dancing, and they were set. By the end of the period, they got to see what everyone had done, and they were in awe.

They went into the cafeteria for lunch, which was a new and intriguing experience for the girls, and a highlight for the lunch ladies, who received these new clients with vast interest. They were a funny sight, sitting at a table with their mother and their aunts and their friends.

In the afternoon, after their period with the freshmen, they got to join their mother for a familiar part of all their days, as their grandmother came along with little sister Mackenzie. Oh, did they all have stories to tell... And they got to go to the park for a bit! Maya thought that maybe they would prefer to go with Melinda after this, but no. They wanted to finish the day with her, one more class. Plus, they had another class to prepare, and another box to fill. At the end of each period, they'd stood there with the empty box as the students came and handed over their diaries. They all had the presence of mind to alternate, giving one to each girl in turn. When the last one would be in, the next in line would close the box and give it a light tap. There, all done.

As the last period came and went, they waited for Lucas to come and get them. They waited back in the class and Maya did her last check before she could leave. It had been a great day, better yet than it would have been before they'd ended up with the triplets. Looking at them as they stood looking at their portraits from that morning, Maya smiled. Now, she was ready to be home with them, waiting for their sister to be born.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners