August 20th 2020

Chapter 233
Their Record of Time

"Do you think she even slept last night? Like, did she just stay up all night to cook?" Maya wondered aloud as she turned her head to Lucas as he drove. He chuckled.

"I talked to my dad earlier, she definitely slept, but she set the alarm at five thirty this morning, let him sleep for another hour, then went up and got him to come down and help because it would be good for his hands."

"So, things are back to normal," Maya summarized.

"Just about," Lucas smiled.

The goal to get the elder Friars back home by the end of January had been overshot just a bit so that they'd left the house on the lane about a week into February. As was to be expected, the departure had not happened without some emotional tugging at everyone's hearts, now that they had sort of gotten used to cohabiting after all this time. Even more expected had been how it had been hardest for Melinda Friar for her to leave 'the kids' and go back to the old way, even if she was genuinely so happy to return home. It had been a few days now since they'd gone back and Maya, Lucas, and Sam were once again on their own, and now they were on their way out there, the first guests hosted in Thomas and Melinda's brand new kitchen.

Lucas was nothing if not so, so proud of his mother. He'd seen it as much as the others did, back in the beginning, the way she'd been so apprehensive about doing much of anything herself in her son's kitchen, too afraid that something would go wrong as it had done back in her own. She'd been coaxed back into it though, and a lot of the merit there went to Sam, with his early morning breakfast making. They'd lost count of how many mornings any of them had come into the kitchen to find the two of them working like chef and sous-chef, a well-oiled machine before long.

She had even started meeting with Riley, who had been more than happy to speak with her in a professional capacity, as Melinda had conceded she might need help but couldn't bear to air out her affairs to a stranger. Airing them out to her son's friend, a girl she'd known since she was in middle school, was the easiest compromise she'd made. And, really, it had been helping, to the point where Melinda would just sing her praises. She intended to keep on seeing her.

But tonight was the big night, the 'inaugural dinner.' Lucas' father would joke, saying how even though they had of course been eating in the kitchen ever since their return home, none of them had apparently counted in his wife's book.

It felt as though they had just seen the start of 2028, and now already they were into its second month. But then, wasn't that always the way? Lucas was busy with school still, finding himself so very close to finishing this year and starting his very last one in the following fall season. Rather than to feel worn out by it, the surprise of sorts was just how he felt energized by it all, with the goal post feeling more and more tangible on the horizon. There was just so much for him to look forward to, the closer he got to it, from him and Maya finally trying for a baby to his taking his place up at Sullivan Stables, just as he had been looking to do for so, so long.

As for Maya, well, she was perpetually occupied, as she had always been, as she generally preferred to be. The band, the songs, the theater, the school, all of them jockeying for the time she did not devote to Lucas, to Sam, and to the rest of her vastly extended family and friends. Ree was coming over the following weekend for her second session at the Hex, and Stage Ready was spreading further and further away in new theaters. TXNY had a showcase coming up, and as for school, Maya was soon to chaperone her first school dance, which she was beyond excited about.

"Do chaperones get to bring a date? Maybe I can sign you up to be one, too, then I definitely get to dance with you," Maya had stated, when Lucas had come home that day.

"Either way, I would be happy to," he'd replied with a smile, watching her sway about like she was already on the dance floor.

"We could have a repeat of the time we went and danced outside the school, sort of… ten, closer to eleven-year anniversary type deal, and wow…" she'd blinked, just realizing how long it had been.

"Aren't chaperones supposed to be where the kids are, so they can keep watch?" Lucas had to point out, getting himself a look back from his wife like she didn't want him ruining her fantasy. "Doesn't mean we can't have both," Lucas had carried on. "We can watch them, and at the end of the night, we can have our… ten-almost-eleven-year dance outside anniversary."

"See, you're always coming up with bright ideas," Maya had smiled at once.

As she continued to advance through her first teaching year, Maya was reminded again and again, in big and small ways, just how much it meant to her that she was finally here. To see her kids every day, and week by week to watch what they all would produce in her class, to see how they came to embrace art in their own ways, those were the things she had gone in expecting. But then there was the rest. The way they grew to respond to her, to rely on her as their teacher…

She had been watching as Phoebe Munroe transformed, in the last several weeks, since their return from holiday break. The dance lessons had carried on, a near daily activity almost like a boost of energy at midday, and for all the uncertainty she'd had about whether or not they would actually do what they were meant to do… Phoebe was improving, beyond any expectations. She still had moments where her clumsiness would manifest, enough that she continued to attend school with her kit in her bag in case of emergencies. But the incidents felt fewer and further in between. The bigger takeaway here was how much she'd picked up on the dancing, and how much she had taken to it. She would show up, Stella in tow, with that look on her face asking when they could start.

As transformations went though, they really could not beat the one August Matthews went through in the last few weeks. Could they even really call it a transformation when this was on the whole the exact person he had always been on the inside, so long as he wasn't at school?

The first sign of his turn had come right on the day after Maya had gone to the Matthews to back August up as he spoke to his parents. It wasn't as though he'd burst through the halls greeting everyone, making jokes, like someone had flipped a switch. But then he'd been walking through this school with a semi-permanent slouch to his shoulders for the better part of the last four years, so to suddenly see him walk around with a proper posture made a world of difference. The same went for how he'd look up more, speak up more. And then, in first period, when he and the rest of the seniors had been in her class, he'd acknowledged the fact that they knew one another and had done so for the whole of his life, since way back when they all lived in New York. From there, the August she had known all along started to make himself seen, more and more each day.

He hadn't come out of the whole revelation unscathed, and neither he nor Maya had expected that he would. While both Cory and Topanga were of a mind that, now that the boys had graduated and moved on with their lives, there was no sense in tanking August, especially so close to his own high school diploma. As far as the school was concerned, it would remain a secret shared between the Matthews family and the younger Friars. Still, for all the reasons, August had done something wrong, something that would easily have gotten him expelled if it had gotten out. He not only expected punishment but felt deep down that he deserved it, nothing insignificant either. He was nearing eighteen at this point, so the old standards like grounding him or taking his allowance didn't work so easily.

But he'd surrendered his car, which he would not get to use again until after graduation, and he'd been made to quit his job, which largely took away whatever money he was setting aside for when he started college in the fall. He was going to have to keep living at home for a while, and this would come with conditions. He would spend his weekends at home, looking after his little brother, same as his evenings in the week. He took it all; he felt he could have gotten much worse.

Maya, Lucas and Sam stopped off on the way to the elder Friars' to pick up some wine, as showing up empty handed, especially on this occasion, would have felt disrespectful of their hostess. When Maya's phone rang, she gave Lucas a look that said 'your mother knows we're running late.' He chuckled, though when Maya looked at her screen and reached back to touch his arm, he guessed it wasn't his mother after all.

"You are calling me at a very weird time to just call me instead of texting, which tells me this is either a butt dial or you have something to say which is better said with actual words out of your mouth. How am I doing so far?" Maya asked.

"Switch to video, please?" Sophie laughed. The edge of giddiness in her voice already said enough, but Maya humored her, pulling her phone from her ear. Soon, she had it turned sideways, with Lucas and Sam standing close at either side of her as they all looked back at the quartet staring at them from Sophie's phone. They all had some variant on 'sharing something huge but also trying to keep it in until after it's actually been shared and failing so hard at it.'

"Evening," Ray waved.

"Where are you guys?" Asher asked, attempting to see around them.

"We're headed to my parents' for dinner, we stopped for wine," Lucas explained.

"So…" Maya cut back in, as though she was the only one here who remembered that there was something important hanging in the air. Sophie, Chiara, Asher, and Ray all looked to one another for a moment before everyone finally turned to Chiara, allowing her to be the one to say it, which really just made sense. She held up a small print out of what was instantly recognizable as a sonogram.

"Say hello," she beamed, her voice an accented melody full of joy. There was a barely contained bit of celebrating in the middle of the store, as the trio reacted to the news as it well deserved. To see the four of them now, back in the girls' home in Houston, it was easy to see that they had already known for some time, and still it came off with all the excitement they must have had upon confirming that everything had worked out. Already this little human growing inside Chiara had four parents so in love with it, and now it was gaining on aunts and uncles, too. They would all have so much to say to one another when they had a proper chance to speak. They would be driving up to Austin the next day, the better to tell the future grandparents.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners