January 22nd 2020

Chapter 22
Their Haunting in October

It felt as though the month had gone by them in a flash. Sure, they'd all been kept busy by any number of things in their lives, but then it was like they'd just turned around and all of a sudden Halloween was coming, which meant Maya had a party to plan… and Lucas had an anniversary to plan.

"What are we going to do after the wedding?" he'd asked out of the blue one day. Maya had looked at him, eyebrow raised in curiosity as to what he was actually referring to. "I mean with the anniversary," he'd laughed. "Are we going to have two anniversaries? November 1st and… whenever we end up getting married?"

"Why not?" she'd smiled. "We have to celebrate that new one, definitely, but I also don't know what I'd do if I didn't have that day after Halloween to look forward to…" she'd innocently declared, like she didn't know exactly the effect she'd have on him for that.

"Then I guess we'll just have to have two anniversaries," he'd smiled. "Am I going to be planning that one, too, or…"

"Let's focus on actually getting ourselves wed before whatever we'll do a year after that."

Of the many things they'd all had to focus on, all those things which made time slip by in a rush, the first had been the performance for the fundraiser. Maya had finished the new song, as predicted, over the weekend, and it had been an easy decision for the band to get it ready in time for the fundraiser. They'd taken it a step further, setting things up so that the song would then be available for purchase, with all the funds accumulated being added as contribution to the organization.

The days leading up to the show had also seen Maya finally decide to go forward on that second car. One evening, Lucas had come to get her from the theater at the end of the day, and as they'd been making their way home she'd been left to think about the upcoming gig, and any other gig that may have followed in the future. Back in Houston, they had transported their instruments whenever needed by virtue of Tracy Coleman's truck, which they'd borrow at need. And before, when it had been Maya and Riley and Nadine – and sometimes Isadora – back here in Austin, they had alternated getting rides from one parent or another with a sizable vehicle.

But they weren't kids anymore, and they really needed to be self-sufficient as they went forward with the band. They'd definitely committed to that when they'd turned down the record deal. And right now none of them who had cars had anything that would accommodate drums, a keyboard, a guitar, a bass, and a violin, and five girls to boot. If she could solve two problems in one go…

So, she was now the proud owner of a cherry red minivan. She'd named it Sparkles.

"Okay…" Lucas had blinked when she'd told him this, a big old grin on her face. "Why?"

"Hell if I know, but that's the first thing I thought of and I like it."

"Sparkles it is," he could only nod.

It had been a life changer. Gigs aside, the whole reason they'd wanted it was because they needed it. They loved their house, but it was far enough out of the way to make things complicated once he took off with the car, as they'd already established. And now that Maya had her job at the theater, and now that said job regularly required her to go from place to place to talk to people, to make purchases… She'd always been deeply at ease with public transport, but it just wasn't enough anymore.

"Can I try it?" Sam had asked when he'd seen the minivan. They'd been discussing giving him driving lessons on and off for a few weeks. He had never so much as gotten behind the wheel before. He might have tried it already, if not that he had been so focused on his impending move from Arizona to Texas, but now he was going to be sixteen before long, and it was definitely becoming more of a thing.

"Maybe start with something smaller," Maya had nodded to Lucas' car, parked next to Sparkles.

"You, me, next weekend," Lucas had vowed, extending his hand to the boy to shake on the deal. Sam clasped his hand, gladly. "I'm going to be strict," he warned, which Maya was sure was the same thing Mr. Friar had told him when he'd had his first lessons, though at the same time she could see very well how this may have tied back to him and her and that accident years ago.

The following Saturday, Lucas and Sam had taken off together, using those early morning hours before Lucas was due at the bookstore for the day. As was getting to be habit, whenever she'd be alone at home, she'd ended up spending the start of her day off up in the attic, sitting at her desk. She'd been fairly engrossed in her work, but as tended to be the case in the quiet of the lane, she heard the sounds when the car came back and she walked across the attic floor to stand at the front window and look below. She'd just made it in time to see her brother walking back toward the house, and the mood could definitely be described as 'frustrated.' Lucas had looked up then, like he knew she'd be there. He'd made a gesture which didn't have to be sign language for her to interpret as 'that didn't go so well.'

"Hey, Sammy!" she'd called down the open trap door as she heard him coming up to the second floor. The response had been the sound of a door shutting, down the hall.

Both Maya and Lucas had been uncertain as to what this would mean for the future of Sam's desire for lessons. But then, the next morning, they'd come downstairs to find breakfast was ready, leaving their 'in-house chef' to wait for them while reading through the driver's manual Lucas had gotten him from the store a week before. He was as good as reset to the mood he'd been in the previous morning, eager to get started. So, they'd gone out again. It had been better. Just barely, but the improvement was enough to warrant optimism.

They had been going through this as often as they could manage, and though the progress wasn't so quick to come as they might have wanted it, Sam wasn't giving up. Maya would relay the tales of her brother's adventures in driving back to his mother, out in Tucson, for which Abigail was so very grateful.

Lucas had been enjoying these lessons with his brother. It was something he could easily see himself doing if he'd had a little brother before, or a little sister, which he now did, and so many of them, between the Harts and the Hunters. But having Sam living with them had set them with the opportunity, and he had taken it. He had watched Sam have ups and downs as he experimented with this thing that was brand new to him. He had regretted the failures much less than he'd championed the small victories. He would get there in the end, and that was what mattered.

They had a routine now, day to day, the three of them at the house. It more or less had to be that they would have him and his schedule, either at university or at work, leading a lot of how they ended up doing things. This went in particular to those four days where he'd be off at the university, and to the time he'd end up back home each day. They'd been committed to having dinner together, even if it meant eating later on some nights than on others. They made a thing of it, and it made them all happy for their own reasons.

Then on the days where Lucas was working at the bookstore, the routine was very different. There would be the weekends, where Maya wasn't working and Sam wasn't in school, and the brother and sister would get to spend time together. Part of that time would be devoted to chores and errands, yes, but also any other thing they might have felt like doing, which was one of the great highlights for the siblings who had not grown up together. Maya had always loved bringing her siblings to her favorite museums whenever they'd be in Texas with her, and it would be great. Now, when it was just her and Sam, it felt different, a brand new experience they both enjoyed greatly. Other times, of course, Sam would be off with his friends, Maya with her own, with her family, with the Friars, too…

On those weekend days like on Mondays, Lucas would be home at a more regular hour, or at least he would finish at a regular hour. A lot of those dinners would be at one's parents' house or the other's, or at Zay and Nadine's, at the apartment with Riley, Dylan, and Rosa… Sometimes they'd be the hosts…

And Mondays may have become a bit of a standout in that, because they were both working, not too far from one another, Lucas would head off on his lunch hour, pick up an order on the way, and end up at the theater, where he and Maya would eat together in her office. Whether or not they managed to go out on a date from time to time, they could always count on their standing Monday lunch date.

"Do you ever just stop and look around sometimes?" Maya asked him one morning, when he moved and she knew he was awake. He made a curious sound in reply, sending his breath to tickle at the back of her neck and make her laugh. She turned around so she could see his face.

"Hey…" he smiled sleepily. "What am I looking around for?"

"Just… Looking, and seeing… It feels like we got engaged like a minute ago, but it's been months now, and we've been living here for a while, too. Do you ever stop and think 'it's all happening…'"

"I do, sometimes," he confirmed, and she smiled, leaning in to kiss him. He'd wrapped his arms closer around her, keeping her close, making her laugh into the kiss. And I never want to stop seeing it all.

Now, here they were. Midway through October… Lucas came home from work on Saturday to find Maya standing near the mailbox, looking toward the house in what felt like great concentration. The dogs were resting at her feet, though they sat up when his car came rolling up, tails wagging in excitement. That was what finally broke Maya's concentration, and she looked at Trix and Lou before turning and spotting him coming even as he slowed to a stop next to her.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked as she came and leaned against the open window with a smile.

"Halloween ground work," she informed him, showing the sketchpad she'd had locked in her arms. Now he could see a faint sort of outline of the house, with the door, and the windows, the porch… Over this and across the grounds leading up to the house she'd started to put in a number standing decorations, and hanging decorations… "If we're going to make a statement that we're here… Hey!" she stood back up now, seeing Sam walking up from the direction of the bus stop.

When he just kept going past his sister and the car and right on to the house, Maya looked back to Lucas, who shrugged. He didn't have any more idea what that was about than she did, though he was as concerned as she was. He looked upset. Lucas gave her a nod, telling her to go on ahead and after her brother while he drove up to park. The dogs chased after Maya, who caught up to Sam as he was climbing the stairs.

"Hey, are you okay?" she touched his arm. He stalled, looking at her but not looking at her. "Okay, not okay… What's up?"

"You were right, okay?" he sighed. "I should have asked her…"

"Dora?" Maya guessed, like it could have been anybody else.

"She's been going out with a guy from her school. She's got a boyfriend now."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners