July 9th 2020

Chapter 191
Their Circle Around Returns

Waking up for the first time back in their own home and their own bed, Lucas felt more relaxed than he'd done since before the wedding, which was saying something. The whole time they had been in Paris, oh… they might as well have had clouds under their feet the entire time for how relaxed they were, but this? This was a whole honeymoon and that distinct feeling of being at home, waking up next to his wife, of breathing her in, and feeling the softness of her hair brushing against his cheek… His arm was around her and he could feel the breath in her, rising, falling, at a steady pace, and even as she went on sleeping he could swear he felt the thumping of her heart speed up a tick as he trailed his fingers along her arm. Maya would say that, if it were physically possible, she could spend her whole day this way. He was right there with her.

Most mornings, they'd barely be awake that they would hear something to let them know that Sam was downstairs, getting a start on breakfast. Sam wasn't here, not this morning. He was coming back from Tucson in a couple of days. Today, it was him and Maya, their first morning back, so as much as he would have preferred to stay by her side, he carefully extricated himself from the bed and headed down the stairs.

"Alright, can't lose four whole dogs," he muttered to himself, looking around. He wouldn't notice half the time, how he'd pass through the house and be looking for the dogs, ticking off their usual hangouts one by one. Maya did it, too, and that was usually what made him catch himself in doing it the next time. This time around, he caught himself because… they were home again, and it felt good.

The four dogs were in the basement, lounging in the sunbeams streaming from the windows. They perked up when they heard him coming down the steps.

In the time they had been gone, Rosa had clearly been busy preparing the space that was to become their guest room. What had once been the band's practice space, once it had been relieved of the instruments and other materials, had become something of an unintentional dumping area for any number of items in need of storage or possible disposal. While they'd been gone, Rosa had cleared it all away, organizing it properly where she could, for the time being. There were several sticky notes on the walls. Measurements, color ideas and other notes… It took him right back to the days when the two of them worked at Coleman's Books back in Houston.

Lucas: If you want to come on back in about an hour, Maya should be up and breakfast will be ready.

After sending their temporary roommate a text, he sent another to his father, letting him know that he and Maya would drop by the house, hopefully this afternoon. That kind of vagueness would not do for his mother, but he knew at least with this bit of information his father would be able to manage.

He was putting the finishing touches to the waffle batter when he heard the telltale creak of the stairs which would bring Maya down to join him. After two years of living here, the three of them together, he could usually tell which of the Hart siblings was making his or her way down by the creak. Hart… Hunter… Friar… He smiled, thinking about the choice Maya had made. None of it was official yet, though on the plane she had told him she wanted to get the ball rolling no later than a week after their return, no more than a day or two as far as she was concerned would be more than enough. First things first, she was to become a Hunter.

"I smell food… and coffee…" she hummed, barely awake. Lucas carefully floated a cup in her reach, waiting for her to properly take hold. "Thank you," she stretched up to kiss him before taking her cup to the kitchen. The dogs, having emerged from the basement, now crowded by her chair. "Hey, everyone!" Maya bent down to pet each one in turn, a couple of times.

Never tardy, Rosa arrived just a few minutes later. She had a key, of course, though she still rang the bell before using it. Maya was quickly on her feet, the dogs trailing her, and in a flash she had her bandmate in her arms.

"Hey, you," she breathed, receiving as much as she gave. "You were missed."

"So were you," Rosa assured her as they pulled back, and in the next moment she was in a hold again, this time with her former co-worker. "How was your flight?"

"I think it might have given me standards which will make all future flights a bit of a problem if they're not like that," Maya declared, which made Rosa smile.

"Waffles in the iron?" she guessed, catching the smell.

"Yeah," Lucas hurried back, even though there was no reason to think they'd have had time to burn.

"I can't wait for us to start on the basement," Maya told Rosa as they headed to the kitchen.

"Me, too," she nodded. "Hey, I'll take care of those," she moved to Lucas, nudging him along. "Really, I insist."

"Rosa, what's going on?" he asked, sensing something that felt a lot like their friend was setting the pieces before they could fall down.

"Look, I don't know what you guys had planned for today, and not one of us wanted to have to make this your return home," she sighed, fussing with the waffle iron before turning to look at the two of them with a serious face. "GiGi Babineaux passed away four days ago… five days ago," she amended after a moment.

Even the dogs stayed silent, as the news settled over the room. It was a feeling neither of them knew how to describe. She was… She had been a hundred and six years old. In anyone's book, that was a good, long life, and she would say the same thing. It was a life filled with countless moments of joy, even as it had also been dotted with any number of painful moments, personal ones or otherwise. She had been telling them… ever since she'd turned a hundred years old… that she wasn't afraid to die, that they should not be sad to see her go, and to some degree they could look at all of that and follow that instruction.

But on the other…

Lucas had known the woman for so long that a part of his brain felt like it had rewritten that handful of years where he hadn't known her, so suddenly she had been there all along. And Maya, well, she had not known her nearly as long as he'd done, so she couldn't access that kind of rewriting, but she had known her since she was thirteen years old, and from day one she had been treated like family. Now, one way or the other, to hear that she was gone… It was not a soft blow.

"What did… How…" Lucas blinked.

"She went in her sleep, overnight," Rosa told him. "The funeral is this weekend. Nadine wanted me to tell you, whenever you're able to, to just head on to the house to see her and Zay."

'Whenever' was quickly realized. Lucas and Maya went ahead and got dressed while Rosa finished making the waffles. The three of them had a fairly quiet meal, the stories of the honeymoon and the two weeks of house sitting being shelves until later. Lucas texted his father again and told him they were going to have to reschedule their visit. He mentioned the reason why and discovered in the reply that his father was already aware of GiGi's passing. It was strange to think how they had all been out here, dealing with the news, while he and Maya were off in France on their honeymoon, entirely unaware.

The trio hit the road in record time, and both Maya and Lucas suspected Rosa had cleared out last night not just to give them some space to themselves upon their return but also in order to give them a few more hours before anyone had to come and yank them back into the real world.

They let themselves in at Zay and Nadine's house, much as Rosa had let herself into the Friar house on the lane. Right away they found Nadine sitting on the couch with her laptop. When she saw them come in, she set it aside at once and flew to embrace the returned pair. There were no words, but in the hold the conversation was endless. One side expressed regrets for the loss, while the other expressed great happiness for seeing them again, with another share of regrets, this one for the rough state of their return.

"Zay?" Lucas asked Nadine, and she nodded up the stairs. He shared a quick look with Maya before moving in search of his best friend.

"How are you doing?" Maya asked Nadine now, as the two of them and Rosa sat down.

"Mostly alright," Nadine told her. "It's been sort of non-stop since we got the call from Susanne. GiGi apparently had this whole list of things she wanted them to do for her funeral…"

"She told me once how she wanted it to be a party," Maya smiled, reminiscing.

"Yeah," Nadine laughed lightly. "Zay's been working all day, every day, to make it happen. He wanted to be in charge, so they let him. I've been helping, and the others, too," she indicated Rosa.

"Whatever you need, clock us in, okay?" Maya told her at once.

"Already done," Nadine assured her. That had not even been a question. "I am going to want to hear about your trip at some point."

"Count on it."

Upstairs, Lucas found his friend in one of the spare rooms, which for the time being had become some kind of office/storage space. Zay was browsing through the contents of a banker's box, spread over his desk.

"Hey…" Lucas announced himself, and his friend straightened up and turned at once. He had that look to him of a student gearing up for finals and getting very little sleep in the exchange. But then he saw that it was him, and he looked relieved. They met halfway in a hug. Lucas held on good, tapping at his friend's back. "I'm so sorry."

"I almost called you out there, man…" Zay admitted, sounding almost ashamed.

"You could have," Lucas told him, no question to it. It would have been easy to say he preferred not to know until they were back, but… no, these were his friends, and GiGi…

"I think she knew she was going," Zay went on. "I talked to her, the night before. She called… like she wanted to talk with me, one more time." As much as GiGi had wanted them all not to feel sad when she went, there was no way to change the fact that she occupied a space, in the hearts of all those whose lives she'd touched, and now her absence had left a hole. She might not have left a single void larger than the one she'd left in her great grandson.

"What are you looking for?" Lucas asked, nodding to the desk. Zay looked very much like someone who wanted nothing more than to have something to keep him busy, and Lucas wanted to help give him that. Right now, getting this party together was what mattered to Zay.

"I don't even know, just memories, I guess. Photos, trinkets…"

"Need a hand?"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners