August 6th 2020

Chapter 219
Their Blaze of December

The day Maya had left school knowing she wouldn't see her students again until classes started up again after the New Year, she was left in awe to realize that she had already been through half of her first school year. Alright, technically that wasn't true, and the part starting in January was longer than the one ending in December, but it was hard not to see it as one half here and one there, with the holidays in between. Either way, she had reached this point and this being her first year, it was kind of amazing.

"What's with the face?" Lucas had asked when he'd come back from work and found her plopped down there on the couch with a bit of a pouty frown. He'd already finished his semester days ago, and he was now working just about full time for the duration of his break, splitting his time between the bookstore and the stables.

"I miss my kids?" Maya stared up innocently.

"You've got one of them up the road," Lucas reminded her in an attempt to cheer her up. The way she'd blinked, he almost felt the urge to warn Missy Sanderson to run before Maya went up there and tried to get her to paint something for her. Luckily, she'd just burst out laughing a moment later, motioning for him to come and sit with her, which he did.

"I'll be fine," she'd told him. "A couple weeks of less of them and more of you? I could get used to it." He'd laughed and nodded, kissing her until Sam came bounding down the stairs and they split apart, rather than to hear any complaining out of him. "So," Maya cleared her throat. "How was the store tonight? Everyone running around on mad gift hunts?" she asked, giving her best impression.

"Oh, big time," Lucas laughed. "This season really brings out the best and the worst out of people."

"Yeah, no kidding," Maya nodded.

She had dealt with her fair share of 'stage parents' over the last couple of years of Stage Ready, especially when the camp had come along. Maya was not really concerned. She could handle them like she'd been doing it all her life, which went a long way with the kids as much as the parents. It didn't have to be Christmas for her to see 'the best and the worst.' Now with the holiday rush camp kicking off on Monday, she expected to see it all come to a head.

"I saw a couple of your kids out there tonight," Lucas remembered, and she was intrigued to hear at once, as though she hadn't seen them a few hours prior.

"Who'd you see? What'd they need? Did you help them? Were you a very courteous clerk?" she asked, one question after the other. It was hard not to be excited with her.

"The brother and sister, the seniors?"

"Tony and Milena?" she provided at once.

"Yeah, them and their father. He was shopping for them, and then Milena was shopping for him. Her brother was just kind of tagging along with her. She saw me and remembered me from the festival, so she came to ask if I'd help their father because he was 'hopeless unless it's with a motor.'" Maya laughed. She'd heard this as well, when Milena had laid out a similar warning the day of her first parent-teacher night. She'd been pretty nervous going in, not knowing how it would all go, if she'd just come off as a newbie. The prospect of encountering the 'hopeless' Mr. Janacek had helped reset some of her expectations.

"You know how I told you about the mom, she was an artist?" Maya asked Lucas, who nodded. "I knew the name sounded familiar. There's that small frame, on Patty's wall, the pencil sketch?"

"That was her?" Lucas blinked. He had seen it plenty of times, whenever he'd visit his grandparents. "How did you…"

"The last project I had everyone do before the break, I suggested to Tony he might want to do it on his mother. He looked so happy about it," she smiled, recalling it. He was not exactly sullen on the whole, but compared to his sister, he definitely came off as the broody big brother. He always looked so different when he mentioned his mother, or did something that clearly reminded him of her. They had been so very close, which wasn't to say that Milena had not been close to her mother, but Tony… He would have proudly announced himself a mama's boy. "He included some photos of some of her work. The one Patty has, it wasn't one of those, but there was her signature, and just the style of it… It all came together in a flash. I need to ask her about it, next time we see her."

"That'll be Christmas," Lucas nodded, and Maya gave a happy clap of her hands, making him laugh.

"I was thinking, we should put your new music skills on display that day, maybe you and I can play some songs while everyone's here, some nice carols…"

"Why is this giving me flashbacks to when Zay and I were little, and he'd try to get me to 'put on a show' for our parents?" Lucas asked, with an uncertain look to him.

"Please, this will be nothing like that," Maya shook her head.

"How do you know that?" Lucas wondered.

"Because you're brilliant, of course," she shook her head, pulling his face toward hers for another kiss. Apparently this was just the moment when Sam had finished making his snack and come out of the kitchen, going by the noise they heard. Maya stretched out one hand without breaking the kiss and signed 'you want to pay rent?' A few seconds later, they heard hurried steps heading back upstairs, and with a happy smile, they allowed themselves to get just a bit lost together.

"Oh, guys, come on, can we just…" They sat back up and apart, startled to find Rosa standing on the other side of the couch.

"H-Hey, when'd you get here, you… Did you just get back?" Maya asked, trying to play it casual, running a hand through her hair.

"Yes, I did just get back, Mom," Rosa teased. "Was hanging out with Jenna, but look, made it back for curfew. Maybe you guys should move all this upstairs? You know, to your room?" With a smirk, she moved off to the basement door, Peanut and Lupescu scampering in from the kitchen to go with her.

"Man, these kids are really stepping on our game," Lucas whispered, and Maya had to clamp her hand to her mouth not to burst out laughing. "Here we are, being all good and hospitable, and this is the thanks we get?"

"We should really kick them out on their butts, huh?" Maya chimed in on this line of faux indignation.

"We'll give them a pass until the new year, and then they're out," Lucas suggested, slipping his arms around his wife once again.

"I really like this plan," she breathed in the space before their lips were reunited.

This new kiss barely had time to gain traction that it was interrupted by the sound of Lucas' phone ringing in his back pocket.

"Would it be rude… if I said… to ignore it?" Maya asked, never breaking the embrace for much more than those tiny seconds in order to speak.

"Check who it is," Lucas requested, equally determined not to let the moment go to waste unless he really had to. Maya blindly fished around him until she was able to pull the phone from his pocket and angle it so she could see the screen. When she did, she sighed and pulled back.

"Your dad," she breathed. Lucas frowned, wondering why he would be calling at this hour. He and Maya both sat back on the couch as he answered the call.

"Hey, Dad, sorry it took a while to answer, I just got home from work and my phone was just…"

"No, it's alright, don't worry about it," Thomas Friar replied. There was something strange, sort of distracted in his voice, which quickly drew his son's attention. "Listen, I need you to do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?" he asked. Maya could see the look on his face, and now she was signing, asking what was going on. He shrugged, didn't know yet.

"Alright, first things first, your mother and I are fine, everything is… mostly fine," Thomas stated, which was really not as reassuring as he might have tried to make it sound.

"Why wouldn't you be fine?" he asked, sitting up. Maya looked instantly concerned as well.

"There was a fire at the house," Thomas revealed, and Lucas' hand went up at once, spelling out F-I-R-E. Immediately, Maya got up from the couch and sped off down the stairs to the basement to find Rosa. As Lucas went on talking with his father, standing from the couch to pace after a few seconds, she would reappear and sprint up to go and find Sam, too. "The firefighters came, managed to contain it, but the kitchen is pretty gutted, didn't spread out much further than that, though they'll be checking the structure. I'll need to make some calls in the morning, nothing's open now…" The way he spoke, it almost sounded like how his wife did, too, when there was too much going on and she needed to keep talking or else she'd stop and then it would get worse.

"Where are you now?" Lucas asked. Rosa had come up from the basement now, stood there listening on and looking worried.

"The ER," Thomas told his son, and Lucas' knees felt like they were made of jelly. "We just got out. Your mother is mostly shaken up, I had some minor burns, really nothing serious. The problem now is we need to get out of here, and we can't go home…"

"I'm on my way," Lucas told him at once. There was absolutely no other response to give. "As soon as I can, getting in the car in a minute."

"Please, take your time, alright? Last thing we need is you kids hurrying and getting hurt for it."

"We'll be careful, I promise. Tell Mom I love her?"

"Of course, son."

"And I love you, too, Dad."

"I love you, too, Lucas," Thomas replied, sounding just a bit more relaxed than he'd done a moment before, and Lucas took a breath as he hung up. When he turned around, there they all here, Maya, Sam, Rosa, staring back at him.

"Hey," Maya stepped up, putting her arms around him. "What did he say?"

"I-I have to go get them, we… They can't go back to the house, Mom's freaked out, and my father's got some burns, he…"

"Okay, okay," Maya spoke soothingly. "We'll get them. You should let me drive." He didn't argue.

"I'll call Jenna, see if I can crash at her place tonight, maybe a little while. Your parents can have the basement," Rosa told Lucas. He tried to tell her she didn't have to, but she was already gone to pack a bag.

"What can I do?" Sam asked, a little frazzled, too.

"I don't know if they'll just want to go to sleep or if they'll want to stay up a while, maybe eat something…" Maya suggested, as Lucas was already heading out the door to get to the car.

"Right, I'll figure it out," Sam told his sister, who spared herself the moment to hug him close for a few seconds, kissing the side of his head before hurrying off after her husband. She climbed into the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition as she looked to Lucas, sitting there, knees almost jumping from worrying. It was really a good thing she didn't have to convince him to let her take the wheel.

"They're okay, remember?" Maya quietly told him. He looked at her, took a breath.

"I know," he assured her as they drove out on to the road and on their way to the hospital.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners