December 1st 2022
Chapter 335
Our Pride For Curtain
All along the run up to the first performance night, everything about the musical, from fittings to rehearsals and then some, had been done in weekday evenings or over weekends, but the day of the premiere was different. Today, Marianne was expected at the theater in the morning. It was the last stretch before their premiere, and they had much to do. This could have felt daunting, but Marianne had been looking forward to all of it and she continued to. She'd be missing school today, which felt like such a big deal to the first grader, but then she had been doing just fine catching up after their week in New York, so no one was worried.
When Maya and Lucas woke up on that morning, they both had the same instance of pausing, and listening, the better to identify the sound that had caught their ears.
"Downstairs," Maya mumbled, then, even as he said it, "Cereal."
They got up, and while she went up the hall to check on Mackenzie and Aubrey, he went down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found Marianne sitting at the table with her bowl and an apple which she had cut into pieces. She had plopped a few of those pieces into her bowl and had now scooped a spoonful of cereal topped with a red-skinned apple chunk.
"Breakfast of superstars, huh?" he asked, bowing to kiss the top of her head. She giggled. "How long have you been up?" he asked, leaning his forearms on the table to look at her.
"Not long," she promised. She was practically brimming with energy, so it was no wonder how she'd ended up here so early, already eating. She needed to be ready on time, obviously.
"Alright, that's good. Would you like a toast with that?" She nodded. "Coming right up," he smiled. Yes, she could make a bowl of cereal and cut an apple by herself. She had been cautioned when it came to anything like the oven or the toaster though, so for that she had waited on them. "Got everything lined up, huh?" he asked, after starting the toaster. He could hear the girls upstairs, so they wouldn't be long to come down. He needed to get started on their breakfast, too.
"Eat, brush teeth, brush hair, get dressed. Done," Marianne recited. "I don't need to do anything else; they're going to do things over there." Lucas bit back the urge to laugh. So far, so good… There was a great part of him that was sure she would be like this all through the day and all through the night's big moment, but he still reserved a space for the possibility that at any point she would lose her cool and start to panic a little. If that happened, he would be there.
They could have easily asked any of the available grandparents or great grandparents to be out there at the theater that day, for Marianne, but it felt more like something either he or Maya needed to be there for. They had tossed it back and forth a few times before deciding that he'd be the one to go. He knew she didn't want to say it, didn't want it to sound like something it wasn't, but it was no less true. There would be people from the local news up there to talk to the cast, to promote the opening. That was one of the reasons why she had to be at the theater in the morning. There was just a thought that, if Maya was out there, it could take some of the focus away from Marianne and her cast mates, and she didn't want that. This was Marianne's day, and she deserved it.
So, Lucas would be accompanying their firstborn, all through the day. He'd keep out of the way and let her do her thing, but if at any point she needed one of her parents there for anything, he'd be on hand. They had to leave before any of the others, but he didn't have to worry about Maya and the other five girls. She had her sisters on hand, and his mother would be on her way before long to collect the youngest two for the day. Maya would drop off the triplets at preschool and head on to work.
Marianne had picked out her outfit for the day with the awareness that she might have to talk to people in it before she changed into her costume. Lucas was amused to see that, as tall and overall mature as she could seem for her age, in a lot of ways she was very much seven and showed it in her choices.
"Can I make one suggestion?" he asked with a smile. She nodded. "Remember what happened when we went shopping for your grandparents over the holidays?" She thought about this for a moment, then looked at herself. She'd overheated back then, thanks to her layers and the fact that it taken a lot longer than expected. "It's up to you, but I'm wondering, with everything you're going to be doing today, if maybe we should rethink a thing or two."
It was a slight delay, but they were still plenty early, so Marianne was able to go back into her room and switch out what needed switching. Lucas wouldn't have put it past her that she'd had this alternative already as a back-up in her mind. She was officially good to go though, so she wished each of her little sisters a great day and got some variation on the same thing in return. She got a big, big hug from her mother, whispering well wishes at her ear. Marianne responded to this by telling her that everything would be okay. Maya chuckled and thanked her for it.
Lucas was very tempted, as they drove to the theater, to record Marianne sitting there, if it could be called sitting when she could barely remain still. She'd be talking to him, telling him about what she knew they would do today, telling him about what this one or that one in the cast who had done something like this before would do before a performance and wondering whether she needed a pre-curtain routine. She sang along to the radio, danced around… She was having her best day, and it was everything for Lucas to witness it. Maybe all their worrying for today really was unnecessary.
"Oh, there you are! Come, come, we need to get you ready!"
One of the hair and makeup people was waiting in the lobby when they arrived and practically whisked Marianne away the moment they walked through the door. Lucas followed along. The day had officially begun. To him, it felt like he would have gotten overwhelmed in no time, but then it wasn't so with his pumpkin. No, Marianne Friar sat diligently and got her hair done for the interviews, as she'd been promised, and then she was taken along to join her castmates. Of course, the lead adults would get spoken to the most, but they couldn't pass up talking to the children, too, and Marianne was the most naturally animated of the lot, so they ended up talking to her maybe a lot more than they anticipated, which had Lucas and a few of the others chuckling. Next thing they knew, she had been asked to lead the reporter on a tour of the stage, with the set pieces, and then the costumes… She introduced them to some of the crew, from hair and makeup and costume over to lighting and sound, too. The reporter had given Marianne her microphone, and she handled that thing as though she'd done it all her life.
Maya may not have been there, but they still knew that she was the young performer's mother, and so they asked Marianne about her. It was a wonder that they didn't run out of time once Marianne started on about her, and she made people laugh again when she mentioned her parents were more nervous than she was for today. She finished up by getting to say hello to her mother, and all her sisters, and her best friends, and her family, and her teacher…
"Well, now, the whole town is going to want to come and see the show," Lucas grinned when the interview was over, and Marianne came running back to him. "Good job, pumpkin," he held up his hand and she high fived him back.
The activity wound down for lunch, and then sped right on again throughout the afternoon. Marianne wasn't always called on for everything, but even when she wasn't, Lucas could see her looking on, taking everything in. He kept Maya updated throughout the day with messages, some pictures… He'd recorded the whole of the interview portion as it was happening, and he'd sent that on to her, too, so he could just imagine her reaction, sitting in her classroom. She was still on detention duty with Lydia and Lamar, so she wouldn't get to leave until it was over, but she'd come and meet them as soon as she could. In the meantime, Lucas knew that his mother would go ahead and pick up Kacey, Remy, and Lucy and bring them to the Sandersons' along with the little ones. They had considered bringing them to the show that night, but then they decided to do it on a different night, not the premiere. This had put them in a complicated spot as far as finding babysitters, since most of their people were planning to be there at the theater. Missy's grandparents had taken up the charge.
"Hey, Dad!"
Lucas turned to find Ella walking to meet him, and he smiled, holding out his arm to greet her in a quick hug. She'd hit the road as soon as class had ended to get here in time, and she'd made it. Lea had dropped her off before going on to her fathers' house, so she'd come along with them and her siblings.
"Is Theo here yet? He said he was on his way…"
"Yeah, Marianne wanted to show him and Tori around," he pointed, and off Ella went to find both her daughter and her little sister. He thought of the surprise she'd get, when Marianne would show her the 'good luck' flowers Taylor had sent along. He would have flown back for this if he could, but this was pretty good, too.
Maya had definitely changed before leaving school. Now, she was in full musical premiere mode, which just nearly managed to remove the nervous mom feelings. Maybe it was that he'd been there all day, watching their girl going along, but he hardly felt anything like that anymore. He was more aligned with Marianne's side of it, thinking it was actually the best day ever.
"Mommy!" she appeared barely a minute later and came speeding toward her for a near tackle.
"Oh, hi!" Maya laughed as she hugged her back. The interview hair was gone and now looked more like it was ready for showtime. The costume would follow only after dinner. "I have been hearing all about your day here from your dad, but I want to hear it from you, too, okay?"
"Yeah, come on!" Marianne grasped her mother's hand and pulled her along. "Daddy, come on!" she called back.
"Yeah, Daddy, come on," Maya turned a look back to Lucas, topped with a pointed smirk that made him laugh.
Soon they would have to relinquish her until after the show was over, moving to gather with the others of their family and friends who'd be in attendance before finally taking their seats and waiting for curtain to be pulled, the music to come up and, in time, for Marianne to step out on that stage and give everything she had to give in her first performance as Young Cosette. It was a good thing there'd be more than one of these, because they were sure to be crying through the first… maybe even the second… and the third…
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
