A/N: The new chapter of "We Three Hearts" is now available!

September 30th 2020

Chapter 274
Their Party For One Year

They had begun this morning, one year ago to the day, in separate beds and separate houses, as had been expected of them. Now here they were, on the morning of July 2nd, a husband and wife of a year, enfolded in one another's arms, and they woke to that notion with a feeling of complete and unwavering happiness. Maya wriggled her away around until she could be facing toward instead of away from Lucas, allowing her to see his smile even as she showed him her own.

"Is it as incredible to you as it is to me that it's been a whole year?" Lucas asked.

"After the delay, that whole extra year of the engagement, yeah, little bit," Maya nodded. "Isn't that what we've always done? It took us forever to actually get together…"

"For good reasons, both things," he chimed in, and she laughed.

"Yes. What's important though is that we're here, isn't it?"

"It's very important," Lucas agreed.

"Time's always weird like that. But if it flew right by, well, that's really just that it's been a really good year, hasn't it?"

"Except for the fire…"

"Yeah, except for that…"

"… it is definitely in the top five." Though her smile had never gone so far away, it felt brightened at this, and Lucas leaned in to capture it in a kiss. When he pulled back again, he reached to stroke her cheek, looking into those eyes he so loved. "Happy anniversary."

"Happy, happy anniversary," Maya echoed. "So, I know where my bit comes in, and then ours, too, but I don't know what you're planning…" she casually traced her fingers along the back of his neck, his shoulder…

"But you will, when the time comes," he assured her.

"So I take that to mean neither one of us included breakfast in any of our plans, right?"

"Right… But knowing him, I'm pretty sure someone else did…"

He was correct. They were halfway down the stairs when they almost collided into one another, stalling as Sam was coming up the other way. He had meant to check if they were getting anywhere close to coming down to the kitchen so he could carry on with everything without it ending up cold.

"You know, if you're ever looking for a side business, you could totally be a chef," Maya told her little brother after she and Lucas had been served. "Maybe not in a restaurant, but like a food truck or something."

"I don't know that I have anything all that ground-breaking to go and do something like that," Sam pointed out, looking nonetheless honored by this vote of confidence. "Anyway, I've got other plans."

"Which you're being so sneaky about," Maya 'accused' lightheartedly. Sam had gone into his college education splitting his focus on history and journalism. What he intended to make of these when he came out on the other side, it had never been clear, but everyone around him felt they knew him enough to trust that whatever he made of his life would be… spectacular.

"Eat your food," Sam countered, smiling to his sister and brother-in-law before leaving the kitchen for them to enjoy alone.

"So, is 'your thing' happening this morning or…" Lucas inquired, bringing his wife's smile back toward him.

"Why, is yours?" she asked, giving the exchange an air of spy versus spy.

"No, I'm good until… later," he told her. She could see he had backpedaled on just what amount of information he planned to share, and it made her laugh.

"Well, so am I, so what are we doing until… later?" she imitated him.

"See, now you say that and all I can think is how we're leaving in a few days and maybe we should get a move on with packing, but that's not really what we should be doing on our anniversary, is it?" Lucas wondered.

"We'd be spending time together, wouldn't we? That's what matters," Maya replied, and on that he could not fault her logic.

"It would be productive," Lucas pitched in, and she gave him a 'there you go' nod.

So, after breakfast was through, they had spent the rest of the morning packing for their trip. They were flying off in three days, all of them, and it wasn't as though they hadn't started pulling some things together, but… yeah, it was probably a good thing they did their packing now instead of putting off any further.

Maya began to suspect that whatever Lucas' 'anniversary thing' was, it was up in the attic. She'd noticed that the trap had been shut sometime since the night before, and whenever she so much as gave a sign that she might have been heading to pull the steps down, he would come around like he wanted to stop her without letting her understand that this was what he was doing. On the other side, Lucas didn't take long to see that she was on to him. She could never resist teasing him when there was a surprise on hand, especially one like this. At least he knew that no amount of teasing and playing like she would get past him one of these times would actually end with her doing it. She did like experiencing the surprise as it was intended.

In time, patience was to be rewarded. After their morning of packing, they had gone and enjoyed lunch by the lake, followed by a walk around the area. Inevitably, this had gotten them spotted by several of their neighbors as they went, which then led to their stopping to talk a while. They were both very committed to knowing the people of the lane, to have a connection with all of them, and that was definitely what they had, after living here for the past three years. Lucas had a bit of a head start on Maya, of course, as many of those who had been here for two decades and some would have known his grandparents, and his parents, and even him, when he'd been little.

At one point, Lucas had been forced to look at the time and cut their walkabout short. They needed to get back to the house for the 'official start' of their anniversary. Lucas had figured that whatever Maya's part was going to be, whether she said it or not, would only happen after dinner, and after their 'together part,' so that left him, and his moment, right here, before they left to go to the restaurant.

He was soon dressed and ready to go, ahead of her, and so he walked into the hall, pulling the steps down to land with the usual soft thump before climbing to sit halfway up and wait.

"What are you doing up there?" Maya asked, chuckling, and he turned his head to find hers poking out of their room's doorway, hair swaying over her shoulder.

"Waiting for you," Lucas smiled, climbing down as she stepped out into the hall proper. He couldn't see what his own face looked like, but he had to guess it was the personification of his thought just then, which was that she had been as ever well worth that wait.

"We going up there?" she asked, pointing to the opening which led into the attic.

"What gave you that impression?" he asked, even as he held out his hand to lead her up.

"My eyes?" Maya replied, which in turn made him remember to tell her to close those. "Okay, but it's on you if I trip," she indulged him. There was not an ounce of worry in her; she knew he had her.

So, up they went, with Lucas leading the sightless Maya along. He was pretty sure she could have done this without his holding her hands anyway, with how often she climbed up here. The bigger risk had been to ensure she wouldn't come up once he'd started and then finished doing what he'd done for her. This had left him with no choice but to wait until she'd gone to bed the night before, rising again once she'd fallen asleep and hoping that she would not get up at any time in the night. There had been enough occasions where she'd followed some idea up to her desk, regardless of the hour…

But they'd made it up here now, and when he told her to open her eyes, he saw right away that he had achieved his surprise.

"Wha…" her voice faltered as she took in her surroundings before looking back at him.

"Well, going to the museum is kind of our biggest go-to, and it's always great, but we have been there… a lot, lately," Lucas explained, making her laugh. "And I just kind of remembered, one day, not sure when, talking about having our house someday, and having a sort of exhibit room, and I thought… maybe instead of going to the museum, I could bring the museum to you. Yours were the pieces I had on hand, and I think they look pretty good, yeah?"

It had been tricky to put it all together, to say the least. Their attic space was the biggest they had in the whole house, and while they also had the basement for this, sooner or later, they'd started storing a number of items up here, which he'd had to clear away, all before beginning his 'installation.' Drawings, paintings, photographs… He'd had to search out the pieces he'd include in his exhibit and then get hold of frames, compose and print placards… The trickiest part had been the 'walls' he had added, to really make it feel more like a museum. The end result though… Maya wasn't the only one to be impressed.

"Wait, hold on, one more thing," he moved to grab something from behind her, and by the time she turned and saw, he had already slipped the blazer on and was now buttoning it up. Maya laughed, loudly so, and Lucas cleared his throat.

"Sorry, sorry," she pulled it back in. This was a museum after all. They needed to keep their voices down.

She had to hand it to him, he had done a really good job, not just with the setup but with… well, curating his 'exhibit.' It would have been easy to just grab any of what she'd done – and she was overly prolific, some might say – and put it up, but that wasn't what he'd done. They both had enough experience, in one way or another, to grasp some notion of what made for a successful collection. By the end of their tour, she was so impressed, and possibly inspired. This would have to wait. Next stop was dinner, and then the 'couple's choice' part of their night.

"What do you want to do?" Lucas had asked, the night they'd decided on this whole 'yours, mine, and ours' approach to the anniversary. Maya had considered the question with a very concentrated sort of look about her, before finally just smiling and looking up at him.

"Let's go dancing."

That had been more than agreeable to him, and so it had been settled. Now, tonight, after dinner, and a bit of digestive walking, they had gone and danced… most of the night away. It was everything they could have wanted it to be, and they might have stayed at it until closing time, but then their night was not over. Lucas could see in Maya's face how anxious she was to get to her part, how eager she was to spring it on him. He had been curious all day, too, so he did not keep her waiting.

Off they went, back to the house, where they arrived to find Sam had cleared out for the night. In what felt just the tiniest bit like payback for earlier, Maya demanded that Lucas shut his eyes before she could lead him along. Actually, the further they went, it really felt like this sightlessness was completely unnecessary, but he could tell she was smiling the whole way, so he saw no reason to complain. He knew before they made it to the back door that she was taking him to the Hex. What they were going to be doing there, he had to admit, he didn't put together until she told him.

"Remember this?" Maya asked, as she stood at the console. At the press of a few keys, the studio was filled with the sound of her voice… and his voice…

"There's no way I could forget," Lucas smiled. It was the song she had written, almost a year ago, in Paris. When he had asked her if she would show him how to play it, she'd had conditions, more than acceptable ones.

Only if you sing it with me. We record it, just for us. The Friars, year one.

"Here," Maya handed him an envelope, which had been waiting on top of the small bookcase. He took it, and right away, before he'd gotten to open it, he saw what she'd written on the front. The Friars, year two. Today was not just about celebrating the year which had just come to a close. It was also about looking forward to the year that was about to start, the second year of their marriage. Maya chose to do so by keeping up the new tradition they had decided to start.

She had written a new song. Where the last one had been like an ode to the stars, in French no less, this one… This one felt equally personal. They were the only people to have heard the first song, and they would be the only people to hear this one, which was simply beautiful. Reading the words, actually picking up some of the melody in the notes he was able to translate in his head, he was genuinely brought to tears. This next year would be so life changing. She knew it, and he knew it. If all went well, and they trusted in this being so, by the time there was a third song to be written, they would be close to becoming parents. They would also be on tour, with Ree Forster.

"Do you think you're ready to give it a shot?" Maya asked, nodding to the booth door.

"If I'm not, I know you'll get me there," Lucas replied. "Will you sing it for me? So I can hear it?" he asked. Maybe he just really wanted to hear her sing. She would know, and she would be more than happy to oblige.

Stepping into the booth, the two of them, Maya picked up her guitar, and she sang the song for Lucas. By the end of the night, they would have it recorded, his voice and hers, his guitar and hers, to join last year's song as they looked to this new year of wedded life together.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners