September 18th 2020

Chapter 262
Their Step to Finals

Climbing into his car in late afternoon, knowing he was making that drive from university to home for the last time until fall, Lucas felt just a bit lighter. It wasn't as though the exams had been particularly difficult. A lot of work, yes, but then when was it not? The thought that he would have summer ahead of him though, much more relaxed, more time at home, with his wife, his family and friends… That was enough to lift him up into this airy sensation.

With this semester done, he was now looking toward his final year of school, and he honestly could not wait. He would often waver between two states of mind, between contentment for his ongoing education and a desperate need to be done with this part of his life so that he might begin the next one. Now, with just one year left, he had a feeling he'd be going back and forth between these two, a lot more than he usually did.

The latter half, the discontent half, hardly existed outside the space of this car, this road. So long as it was contained here, he could feel it did not become anything more than it needed to be. It was almost silly anyway. He'd had this dream for his life, for so long, and he was accomplishing it. He'd always known what it would mean, and he was doing it gladly. It still didn't mean he couldn't hit certain patches of time where he would rather skip ahead and be done with this step.

The thing he never forgot… He kept those feelings in the car, yes, but even so, he would arrive back home after one of those days, wouldn't bring it up. And then, sooner or later, Maya would come along, and she'd embrace him in a way, kiss him in a way, and without saying a word either she would have telegraphed to him… I'm here, I get it. If he didn't already appreciate the hell out of his wife, he would have been reminded, every last time, just how lucky he was to have her.

After one of those days, the feelings would pass for a while, and he would be pulled to the other side once more, reminded of how genuinely happy he was to be where he was, to be headed toward his goal and being so very close to it. He wasn't just going through the day to day either, he was doing very well, and the more knowledge he gained, the more it got to feel like he'd had no idea all this time just how much he wanted to be doing what he would be doing, which was saying a lot. Those feelings, that sensation of accomplishment and excitement… It made those feelings of frustration feel so very small.

This summer, he would be splitting his time between the bookstore and the ranch in a much more balanced way than he'd done so far. This had not specifically been the plan, not until a few weeks ago, when Juliet Stapleton had called him to ask if he'd be able to work the extra time over the summer. Dr. Alvarez, who presently worked at Sullivan Stables, who Lucas had been shadowing, had to reduce his hours due to a family situation. They needed the extra help.

Lucas accepted at once, always happy to help, especially for his people, and Manny Alvarez was fast becoming one of those. The man had never treated him as though he was coming to step on his toes, that he would steal his job because his grandmother had owned the place and decided he would get this job. He had known for a time now, years sufficient to let his character show, so that by the time he started coming along to work the odd hours at the ranch, it had taken next to no time for him to show that he was truly dedicated to the work and that he would be an asset to their team. From there, they had gotten to develop a solid working relationship, which had grown to expand beyond the ranch. He had come to the house plenty of times now, with his wife, just as Lucas and Maya had been received at his house.

For that connection, it had been natural for Lucas to follow up this call from Juliet with a call to Manny, to find out what was going on. His immediate thought had been that something might have been wrong with him, but when he'd learned this wasn't the case, his thoughts had then turned to his family, and here he'd found he was correct. It was his wife. She'd taken ill, and he would need to be with her, whenever his son could not. Lucas had been sorry to hear about this. Esther was always so good to him and Maya, treating them like her own children. They had actually gone to school with Chris Alvarez, graduated same year as him. Now he was married, with a baby daughter, and as much as he would be there for his mother and father, his parents wanted him to think about his own family, too. That meant less hours at the ranch, and it meant Lucas stepping in.

"Whatever you need, you call us any time," Lucas had told Manny, and the man had thanked him, his voice heavy with emotion.

So, Lucas would be starting on this new schedule, in a few days' time. Weekends at the bookstore, four weekdays at the ranch, one weekday and a couple weeknights at the bookstore again. Even though he would have preferred this all to have happened under much different circumstances, he had to admit he was looking forward to getting started. If he needed something to give him the perspective he needed, to motivate him through one more year at school, on those downer drive days, this had to be it.

There were so many reasons to look forward to this last year at school, and really those were the only ones he needed to focus on. One more year of classes, but also growing responsibilities at his grandmother's ranch. Entering his second year of marriage, starting a family… The idea alone was carrying the bulk of his anticipation for that coming year, he couldn't deny it. He was so ready to be a father, as much as Maya was ready to be a mother. It was all a matter of timing now.

Having Maya's siblings with them for a couple weeks back in April, that had only made them that much more anxious for that step in their lives. For sure, it hadn't exactly been smooth sailing, what with the whole situation, MJ and his friend and the name calling, but they had handled it all to the best of their abilities. Weeks onward, they couldn't well say that it was all behind them. Katy and Shawn still didn't feel comfortable about sending their son to the Wingers' house, so they'd have Mikey come around theirs. But then there was still school, and as much as the boys' parents had worked to get it through their older son's head that what he'd said was wrong, he'd still cause trouble at school. But from everything they'd seen and heard, they knew at least that both MJ and Mikey had taken their families' words to heart, and their friendship was stronger than ever.

"Hey, where's your sister?" Lucas asked when he came home to find Sam and a few of his classmates sitting around the living room, reviewing for their own last finals.

"Attic," Sam pointed up, and Lucas climbed on his way to find her. She had her headphones on, sitting at the drawing desk, which had been moved nearer to the front window, the better to take in the view. She was drawing, zoned in, so he pulled out his phone.

Lucas: The message is coming from inside the house…

He watched with a smirk as her screen lit up and she just barely turned her head to read it, paused, and finally swiveled on her chair, pulling her headphones around her neck.

"Oh, hey, I know you," she smiled as he approached and bent to meet her in a kiss hello. "Permanently attached to a textbook, notebook, or computer screen?"

"Not me, not anymore, not for a while again," he assured her, basking in her shining face.

"You promise?" she asked, locking her arms around his waist.

"I can kick out those kids downstairs, I'll show you how honest I am," he teased.

"Tempting, very tempting," Maya laughed, pulling back to pause her music and set her headphones down before standing from her chair. "But see, now, I made all that food, and they're right there, and also your mother will sense my bad hostess manners if I don't feed them."

"Hey, our house, our rules?" Lucas shrugged, getting a laughing gasp in return. "Did I do it? Did I summon her?" he looked around.

"Maybe she won't have heard," Maya whispered. When Lucas' phone rang two seconds later, they both looked entirely unsure anymore. It wasn't his mother.

"Hey… Uh, I don't know, hold on," he looked to Maya after he'd answered. "It's Ramona, she wants to know if we had dinner yet, if we want to go eat somewhere with her and Ben, sort of end-of-year thing."

"Yeah, sounds great, let them have their own thing," Maya gestured in what he took to mean 'Sam and his classmates.'

"We're in," Lucas told Ramona. "Great, see you there," he hung up after she'd told him where to go. Soon, he and Maya were letting Sam know they were heading out, and they were in the car, off to the restaurant to meet their friends.

"Hey, so what's your schedule like next week again?" Maya asked as she drove.

"Mostly open. I'm not starting at the ranch until the week after this one, and my schedule at the bookstore isn't changing until then either, so I can have a breather after the end of the semester."

"Good…"

"Why? What do you need?" Lucas asked, intrigued.

"I don't know about 'need,' but I'm hoping maybe I can talk you into being my… co-host? Co-guide? For Museum Marathon? Mrs. Yang can't make it, and you have experience, and well… Going to a museum isn't nearly as fun without you, especially that museum…"

As an end of year thing, Maya had arranged to take her four groups to the museum. She would be accompanying each group on a separate day, from Monday through Thursday, and what they saw there would factor into their final projects. She'd hoped to have Mrs. Yang join her, as a surprise especially to the seniors, who would have had her for three of their four years at the school. Unfortunately, she was out of town and wouldn't be back until after the school year ended.

"I couldn't pass that up, could I?" Lucas smiled.

"Think they'd let you wear your blazer?" Maya asked, barely containing her excitement. Sure, she'd been about ninety-nine percent sure that he'd say yes, but now it was official.

"Probably not… But I can still wear a different one if you'd like me to," he laughed. He'd been sure she'd bring it up. Even after all these years, it remained her favorite thing he had ever worn, and she never lost an opportunity to bring it up. A close second, possibly a tie, would be his uniform from when he'd been working at his aunt's clinic up in Houston.

"I am liking this plan more and more," Maya declared, and it felt to Lucas as though, even if her school year was not quite over, their summer was starting, right here and now.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners