November 3rd 2022

Chapter 307
Our Hands to Create

"Hey, now, how did you end up with him?" Maya smirked when she'd barely put up the painting to find the artist back in her presence, with 'Greatpa Shawn' right behind her.

"I got lucky," Shawn proclaimed with a smile. "And it was going to take a while with your mother back there," he pointed across the hall, "So I got to bring her back here," he indicated Tori, now staring up at her painting. Maya asked if she wanted to have it or if she could keep it, and Tori said it could stay here.

"Too bad the cookies are all gone," Maya teased her father, who gave the appropriate 'hold on, there were cookies?' face to make Tori giggle. She certainly had gotten over her tired spell.

Shawn was doing the rounds for the twins that night, which in turn afforded Katy a second night like this, at Haley's school, the next day. As to where Nellie and Gracie were concerned, well, Maya had little to say that he wouldn't already know, she doubted. At this point, his being there felt a lot more like a free opportunity to visit with his daughter. It wasn't as though he'd be depriving everyone else of their allotted time. They were right on schedule, so she had the time to chat.

"You know, you would think that between seeing you and Lucas going around when you were still students here, and then Gracie with Ethan, and Nellie back when she was seeing Anton, that it would stop feeling as strange to walk in on one of your kids making out with their boyfriend," Shawn shook his head, which made Maya chuckle.

She was well aware of 'the incident,' which had been his and Katy's introduction to the fact that MJ and Lamar were now together. They'd come home to find the two of them, looking like they'd been sitting up on the couch before they'd tipped sideways when their lips had come together. They'd bolted right back up as soon as they'd realized someone was there. MJ had been mortified and now regretted not having been aware of the time. Otherwise, he was happy that his parents had welcomed Lamar in this new way, more than just his friend.

"Hey, look on the bright side, you've only got one more shock to go," Maya couldn't keep from teasing him, which Shawn looked very tempted to turn back around on her and her little band of daughters and the thought that they'd someday be in this same position. It backfired on him in this case because, well, these were his granddaughters, which meant that he'd gone and played himself. So, they both abandoned the subject, moving on instead to more school talk. This was just as well, or they might have skated over the Gracie and Ethan thing, and she didn't see either of them wanting to get near that topic.

On his way out of the class, Shawn crossed paths with Malcolm McNeil, and the two of them talked very briefly. They'd already met, when MJ and Lamar had only been friends, but now that their son and stepson were boyfriends, well, it meant getting to know each other under different circumstances. It wasn't as though the two of them were locked into a track toward marriage one day, and for all they knew this relationship would be a fleeting one, but whatever it was, they would be involved.

Malcolm was a very familiar face for Maya with parent night. She'd seen him through several of those back when Rochelle was her student, though he'd shared these with his ex-wife, too. Now he had been back, as much for his son Rolly as his stepson Tre, with both of them in the same year. Maya had gotten to know the family well enough, directly, indirectly, for all these years, and she still remembered when Rochelle's younger brother, stepbrothers, and half-brothers had felt like a thing of the future, but now here she was with three of them already in her classes. It would be just under three years before she had Martin McNeil, Malcolm and Carla's son, and just under five before she had Elijah Sofer, Rochelle and Rolly's half-brother by their mother and stepfather, so she'd say that she had that to look forward to.

As to how Rolly and Tre were doing, well, it was much as she'd been able to say to all her gold stars' parents, this year and the two that had preceded it. They had all been doing wonderful as far as art class was concerned. She could only wish for groups like this, and she would be sad to see them go. She could speak of Rolly and the quiz team, could do so for more time than she had available. She still smiled when she thought of the way he had campaigned for his selection on to the team, sharing that driven streak with his older sister. Already, Maya had a feeling she'd best have her eyes peeled for a freshman in the fall, because once Captain Rolly was on the case, she would know no peace until the matter was resolved. And with Tre, well… He had plans for his future and he was going to make them happen. His drive was undeniable either, and it was one thing that made him, and his stepbrother feel most united in these halls. It had been maybe most important to him to put as much effort as he could on to the basketball team, after they'd lost Bobby and Jenny over the last couple of years. He was on track to get his own captaincy there.

With Khalil being away, as Desi's guardian, it had come to Phoebe to do parent night for her sister-in-law, and Maya had to smile, seeing how frazzled she'd been by this first experience. She was here though, and it was very important to her that she did this right. At least by the time she got to art class, like a junior, it was her last stop, so the stress was fast leaving her. She had been worried, just as Khalil was, that all the changes Desi would have experienced this year would also translate into her struggling in school, but it had thankfully not been the case. She had done about as well as any junior could hope to do. She reminded her of Amy Cullen, freshman XC Matt's mother. When the woman had called in for the video appointment from back in New York, she'd had this look like tonight would be the proof of whether or not they'd made the right call to send him off like that. But then she'd had nothing to worry about, and neither did Phoebe now. Desi was not just coping, she was thriving.

"Good, yeah, I know now, I was just…" Phoebe shook her head. Maya held up a finger, reached into her desk's drawer.

"If you see my father out there, don't tell him about this, alright?" she whispered before pressing a tin of GiGi cookies on the desk and opening it. Phoebe grinned and grabbed one.

The vast majority of the junior parents looked happy to be finishing up this night in the art classroom, and Maya got to have a bit of that in reverse, too, as the last parent she would see all night would be someone she knew beyond these walls. She got Jeannette Davis, Bobby and Ethan's mother. She had been an acquaintance to Maya outside of school, a friend to her mother and father with how the two sets of twins were either friends or boyfriend and girlfriend. Then with everything that had happened with Bobby and the accident, Maya had gotten to feel that much more connected to her, for however much she got to see of her. When she stepped into class, Maya smiled and moved to greet her. Theo had been by to collect Tori, so it was just the two of them there now, to discuss how the Davis boys were doing.

Maya knew that they were doing well in their other classes, especially Bobby, who had been determined not to let the fact that he'd not been held back a year be wasted. Things had been very different for him, especially once basketball tryouts had happened and he'd had to remind himself that he couldn't be on the team anymore, but he was making the most of things. He had started to join Rolly in his commentating duties, and he was doing great, though they couldn't help but sense that there was some amount of sorrow in how he could no longer play with his brother and their teammates. This wasn't like when Dylan had been injured, years ago, and had eventually recovered and started to play again. If ever a time came where Bobby was able to play again, it would not happen before he'd graduated high school, and playing in college would not happen either.

Ethan was doing well, too, as much as possible. The musical had always been just a him thing, never him and Bobby, but basketball definitely had been, and he seemed stuck between trying to play well for the both of them and losing some of his heart in not having his twin there like before. Maya had seen this kind of reaction too many times not to pick up on it. She'd seen it in her sisters, in her own daughters… It was like the rhythm of his life was so particular to his harmony with his brother, so when he was on his own… Everything sounded off.

As Maya told the boys' mother about the year so far and what they'd been doing, she couldn't keep from noticing that after they'd started talking Jeannette's attention had started to split. She was distracted, and Maya wasn't sure what was pulling her focus. Maybe she was tired; she was kind of in the same place by now after speaking to so many families. But that wasn't it, or… Then she noticed something.

"Jeannette, are you alright?" she asked. The woman looked at her.

"Yes, why?"

"Your hands are shaking," Maya indicated. She looked down for a moment, even as she seemed to try and consciously still her hands, or hide them… "Do you need to eat something, or…" she was already reaching for the cookie tin again.

"No, I…" Jeannette started to say, shaking her head, but then with the tin open, the scent did its thing and, when they were offered, she grabbed a cookie. She sat there for a moment, quietly contemplating the treat, taking a bite, chewing, swallowing. She let out a breath. "I keep telling myself that I can do this on my own, that I've done it before, but… that's a lie, isn't it? I had help back then, and I've had it, but this time, I just… I don't want it to look as though… as though it's his fault. It's not, I'm just…" She stopped, breathed again before looking up to her sons' teacher. "I've been sober for eighteen years… or I was, until last April," she admitted, and Maya tried not to look so stunned.

She'd had no idea, but now she could guess what had happened. The accident had hit her so hard that she'd fallen back on old habits, and they had embraced her before leaving her as she was today. Now she was here, at her sons' school, and it wasn't cookies that she was craving, as delicious as they might have been.

"Robert hasn't said a word, but I know that he knows, and he's just giving me a chance to pull myself together. Maybe it's time, but I… Bobby can't know," she shook her head.

"No, of course not," Maya promised her. "Have you been to… meetings, or…"

"I've been looking, haven't actually gotten up the nerve yet."

They left the school together that night, each in their own vehicles, Jeannette Davis in front. As agreed, Maya followed her all the way to the location she'd found, and she watched her go inside. She'd handed over the entire tin of cookies, an offering to her, to the group, whatever it needed to be. And it would stay between them.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners