September 27th 2022

Chapter 270
Our Season of Parks & Museums

"Chien! Chien!" Kacey pointed excitedly, immediately drawing her sisters to whip around in search of the spotted dog.

"Some things don't change, do they?" Lucas leaned to whisper, and Maya bit back a laugh. No matter where in the world they were, seeing a dog would always make their days a little better.

They were on day four of the first leg of their trip, and for all the places they had gone and the things they had seen and done, the biggest takeaway remained the language. Right from day one, the triplets had taken to pointing at one thing or another before consulting their parents for the French word that went with it. Sometimes they would be helped by some person who saw them and, finding it all very cute, encouraged the small girls with new words and small sentences. Their biggest tool was one word: Quoi? What? If they pointed to something and said the word, someone would tell them. They would repeat it over and over, not even realizing that they were helping themselves remember in the process. It was a simple game and they enjoyed playing it. They would see something previously identified and, remembering the word, would name it in French, their parents' 'secret voice,' not so secret anymore. They couldn't even be upset at losing this tool, bit by bit. If they could pick up the language, more power to them, and they would encourage it even after returning to Austin.

"We have to be quiet here, remember?" Marianne told the triplets as they approached the museum. Oh, yes, they knew the museum rules very well.

"That means no French practice in there. If you want to, you have to whisper it," Maya added. They would do their best.

It had felt potentially far beyond their capabilities, to fly off to a foreign country, three of those by the end of their vacation, with all their girls as young as they were. Family trips had always been something that they hoped would become tradition for them, but with the youngest among them not two months yet, the next one barely a year... The last trip of the kind that they'd taken, the triplets had not even been walking, and they'd gotten through that, sure, but that was two kids ago, and being that they were just over a month shy of their third birthday, Remy, Lucy, and Kacey were still bringing other challenges into these travels. They could have decided to stay much closer to home this year, but again, there was that draw, to dive into the world and live in it, and so they'd flown off, all of them together. They had no regrets.

They were back once again in the hotel where they'd stayed, nine years ago. As they'd arrived, on their first day, Maya had just seen a thought flicker across Lucas' face and she'd known what he was thinking about, what he was looking forward to. They'd gone inside, and there had been the statue, just as they remembered it, as they had photographed it, and as she had sketched it. Lucas had not been disappointed. As soon as she had seen it, Marianne's face had lit up and she'd pointed to the statue. She knew it well, had seen the picture, the drawings... and now she stood before the real thing. Even the triplets recognized it; they wanted to touch it.

They hadn't done it, but oh how they kept looking at it every time they walked by. The funniest thing that had come of this constant observation was the concierge noticing. When Maya and Lucas explained why they were so attached to it, how they had been there, the two of them on their honeymoon, he had been delighted. He insisted that he remembered them, and they hadn't been sure if this was true, until he recalled that they had paired up with another couple, the young man being an artist as she was.

The more they looked at him, they sort of remembered him, too. His hair had gone to gray since, but the mustache was iconic. Maya was sure she had a sketch of him in her honeymoon sketchbook back home, and he asked if she might send him a picture of it when she was home. She did him one better and reached out to her sisters back at the house. Emma found it quickly and sent it. The man was all smiles to receive it, and he had been their secret weapon every day since, coming up with ideas of where they might go, things he could get for them and their room for the girls especially. He had been especially helpful in the French vocabulary for the triplets.

"He reminds me of Carson," Ella had commented to her parents, and they'd both agreed.

Every day, for a little while, their group would shrink down to just Maya, Lucas, their six little daughters, Nika, and their granddaughter. It had been planned that way, and they gladly encouraged it, giving Ella and Taylor some time to themselves, the same with Theo and Lea. Where they went and what they did in this time was all up to them, just as it was up to them what they did and didn't share of that time once they were reunited with the rest of the family.

It was very rare by now, especially for the older girls, that the Friar sisters got to visit a brand new museum that they had never been to before, and the older they got, visiting those same local places, they would remember them, and they would become familiar to them. But now they were in a whole other city, other country, and the museums they went to were brand new, and impressive to the point where they had little to no trouble keeping quiet as asked. The only ones who struggled in any way were Aubrey - though this only if something got her crying - and Mackenzie. Their funny Macaroni was still 'getting her museum legs,' so Lucas would take extra care of keeping her close, and talking to her, all in an effort to keep her from making a scene.

That all worked fine until she saw a painting that spooked her, and her cries started to echo across the room. With barely a moment to consider options, Lucas signaled to Maya that he would take her aside, maybe go outside for a couple of minutes, so she could carry on. Marianne also detached from the group and chose to follow her father and sister. The triplets watched them go and looked about to chase after, but instead they followed the rest of the group and continued their tour.

"Too bad it's summer," Nika commented when she fell in step with her teacher and the stroller.

"What do you mean?" Maya asked.

"Well, just that I could probably have done so many things in class from the places we've gone and will go to by the time we go home," she explained, hugging her sketchbook close. It had been a gift from Maya, her very own travel diary, and she had been making steady use of it every day since they had arrived. She had counted the pages and added tabs to indicate their three locations, the better to be mindful with her sketches. She wanted to fill every page, just this one book.

"Hey, you know me, I'm flexible. If you want to use this trip for something, either come up with an idea and present to me or, if you'd prefer, we can discuss options. That should make your senior year special, shouldn't it?" Maya smiled, trying not to sink into that nostalgia space.

"Okay," Nika smiled brightly. After a moment, she looked back to where her brother walked, holding Lea's hand, before turning again to Maya. "I think I would like to go to art school, after this year," she shared. This was news to Maya, but also wonderful. "Kind of got myself set on London, I just don't know, between the money, and being out on my own, but... it feels right, too."

"Then that's going to be our project, too," Maya vowed with great assurance. "Whatever I can do to get you out there, we will make it happen." Nika took a breath, looking like her heart might have ramped up. She knew her art teacher did not do things halfway, ever, so if she said she'd help...

Lucas ended up taking Mackenzie and Marianne outside, and there he sat with the one-year-old wrapped up in his arms while her big sister sat next to him where she could see her face. She started quietly singing the French lullaby their mother had shown her upon request. Mackenzie may not have been in the realm the triplets were with their vocabulary games, barely getting around to 'Mama' and 'Dada,' but she was just as responsive to the new language. Now, sitting outside the museum, she sat in her father's arms, fixated on her sister's face and her voice, and she calmed down.

"There, you're okay now," Marianne smiled, reaching for the hand that was stretched out to her.

Lucas never ceased to be proud of his firstborn, of the girl she was growing into. A lot of it revolved around having all these little sisters roaming about, looking to her, but beyond that, too. She'd always been their little empath, but more and more what they recognized was just how deeply kind she was, with her family first and foremost, with the people she knew, and people she interacted with. Thankfully, she was also very smart about being safe, never wandering off with strangers for any reason.

"That was really nice," he complimented with a smile, feeling how Mackenzie seemed to be sailing right past calm toward sleep. He let her doze off.

"I like that song," Marianne smiled back.

"You should sing it for the others tonight when it's time for bed," Lucas suggested, and she liked this. He wanted her sisters to hear it, but also Maya. It always hit differently for her to see their girl's growing musical affinities, while he would only ever smile and say that she'd gotten it from her mother. "Time to go back inside?" he asked.

"In a minute?" Marianne asked, eyes busy taking in her surroundings, like she might never forget.

"Sure," he replied, and together they observed their surroundings. "You know, I've been here before, years ago with your mom."

"I know," Marianne nodded. "There's a picture, in the album." She said it like the words might have been capitalized. The Album, the one from their honeymoon, where they had challenged themselves to only take a certain number of shots every day. She'd looked through it so many times now. Sometimes they'd find her sitting there on the floor with the book in her lap, carefully turning the pages.

"That's right," Lucas smiled and, when they finally got up to return inside, he told her exactly why they had taken that one picture when they did. Suddenly it was dawning on her that there could be stories attached to all those pictures, and it was really too bad that the album was so very far from them at the moment, or she would have run to get it, to ask after the stories. "How about, after we get home, I can tell you one of those stories every night until they run out."

"That's not long," Marianne reflected.

"True... Well, what do you suggest? Every other day? Week? Month? Year?" he intoned, which made her laugh. "You'll be a grown woman by the time we're done if we do that..."

"What about once a month?" she asked, which he took to mean 'how long would that take?'

"About two years," he told her, and she considered it before nodding.

"But on the last day," she held up her finger, and he smirked, squinted.

"That's funny... That would mean a story on your birthday a couple of times..." Oh, she knew. "Well, we'll have to make sure they're really good ones then."

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners