October 1st 2020

Chapter 275
Their Vacation With Takeoff

July 14th 2028 – The Friar House on the Lane

Maya always looked forward to her sessions with Ree up in the Hex, and this one – which was to be their fourth out of five – would be one of those she looked forward to the most. Already on their previous session the singer had known about how Maya and Lucas and their families were looking to take a trip together, and she had made a suggestion. It was entirely up to Maya to decide whether she would take it or not, as it might not be something she'd be able to pull off, but Ree thought it might be interesting to have her write these next songs they would record while she was out there. She firmly believed in the inspiration of one's surroundings, and her songwriter was about to find herself in a place she had never been before. Maya had told her she would think about it, and in the end she'd decided to go for it. It had been a bit of a gamble, but she felt confident enough to follow Ree's lead.

Today, she awaited Ree's arrival, with two songs burning a hole in her pocket. She'd let her know she had them when they'd landed, three days ago, meant to send her the demos she'd put together, but Ree had told her she would rather wait to hear them for the first time in person. A part of Maya was feeling very nervous at the thought, worried that for some reason Ree would hate the songs, but she didn't let it hold so much ground. If for some reason the songs didn't work, well… they'd figure something out. She knew Ree enough by now to trust that she wouldn't go and blow up on her or anything. They would either rework them or start from scratch, but they would get through the day.

"The tan looks good on you," Ree was all smiles when she arrived and the two of them embraced.

"It's kind of a miracle that I didn't burn," Maya laughed, looking at her arms.

"Yes, I'm afraid I, too, would require divine intervention on that one," Ree declared as they walked through the house and into the kitchen, there to find Lucas putting the finishing touches on breakfast.

By now, it had become part of these recording days that Ree would go ahead and join them for the meal, instead of popping up in the studio with any offerings from Ma Maggie's, just as Maya made damn sure she didn't forget about the session dates until the last second… again. Today, it was just the three of them. Sam was in Tucson with the rest of the Hart-Lanes, where he would remain for a few weeks.

"Not so lucky, was he?" Ree leaned to whisper at Maya's ear, and Maya had to cover her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing. Indeed, Lucas still wore the signs of a few sunburns.

They had a quick meal together, as Lucas was due at the ranch that day. After he'd gone away, wishing them both good day and good luck, Maya had gone to hurry and clear the table, only to find Ree stepping in to help, rinsing dishes for her. She resisted the urge to tell her it wasn't necessary, already knowing what she'd hear in response.

"So, go on, how was it?" Ree asked, giving the immediate impression that she'd been dying to hear about Maya's vacation.

X

July 5th 2028

It would remain a point of contention all through the day, just which one of them had woken up first. Maya claimed it was her, and Lucas was sure it had been him. Possibly, they had woken up at the same time, and neither of them would ever know for sure. What they would know for sure would be that Sam had beaten them both at this game. As ever, he went and put Maya's title of early bird to shame. For today at least, they could only say that the really important part was that they had all gotten up ahead of schedule, and they would not be missing their flight.

There were three parties due to meet at the airport that day, and theirs was the only one that needed to make a stop on the way. They had to go and pick up Cecilia. It would have been easier to have her stay at the house with them the previous night, but then she and her father had been visiting with family members for the fourth of July, and so it had ended up that she'd sleep at home and be picked up in the morning.

She was waiting for them, outside her house, and when they pulled up to the curb she hurried inside a moment, to say goodbye to her father, just as Sam went out to help with her bags. Once they were buckled in to the back seat, it was off to the airport. They were making excellent time, and still they were fielding messages from their respective parents, confirming that they were on their way.

With all the rush to get to the airport, to get to the point where all they had to do was wait for the call to board their plane, the first moment where it really felt like they were leaving, like they were going to be on vacation, was when the younger Friars were met with the Hunter kids, who came hurtling in to hug them, all of them showing some feeling over their getting on a plane soon. Nellie was possibly excited enough for all of them combined. Gracie gave a good show, but she was clearly concerned about the idea of flying. MJ was giving no pretense, and he absolutely did not look forward to the flight. And Haley… Well, she was about to turn four, and she showed curiosity to the point where she might have been under the impression that she would actually be flying of her own volition for all they'd actually explained to her.

"Where do I sit?" Nellie asked Katy as they went through the gate and started on their way aboard. Even without her saying it, this was as good as code for 'can I sit next to the window?'

"You and Gracie are with Maya and Lucas, and MJ and Haley are with your dad and me," Katy replied.

"Yeah, but…"

"You two are between the two of them," Katy went on, looking back to her daughter and son-in-law, right behind. She also gave a discreet look to Gracie, who kept close to Shawn's side as they went, and the message was clear. It said 'your sister needs you, and she won't want to look outside. At nearly nine years old, Nellie was still very much her twin's protector, much as Gracie was hers, and all the window seats in the world would never take precedence over her.

"Okay…" she finally told her mother, and walking behind, her big sister smiled.

They were not on a direct flight. They had to take another one, connecting them to their destination, and the fact that they would be taking not one but two planes had been received accordingly among the Hunter kids. The first flight, taking them from Texas to California, had been on the whole incident free. Nellie had spent most of the time playing a game with Gracie, which kept them both occupied and not thinking so much about being in the air. MJ had watched a movie, the better to distract him, too, while Haley, upon discovering she would not in fact sprout wings and fly of her own accord, spent much of the flight on her father's lap, looking out at the clouds through the window. The closer they got to landing, Maya and Lucas would look to one another, sharing a bit of eagerness for what would happen once they got off and their surprise passengers were found.

"What are you looking for?" Gracie asked Maya as they walked through the airport. They had sufficient time to make their connection without running or even hurrying, and still there was an obvious sense of hurry about her.

"You'll see," Maya turned a look of conspiracy to her little sister, who became at once intrigued.

"Maya," Lucas spoke up then, and when she looked at him, he nodded ahead. Both she and Gracie looked at once, and Gracie was the one to make the revelation… sort of.

"Cara!" she gasped. At this, Sam looked over from where he'd been talking with Cecilia, catching his sister's name and quickly turning his eyes from Gracie Hunter to the point where she was looking. Indeed, there was Cara, and along with her Eliza, Emma, Wyatt, Teddy, Abigail, and James with little Maisie in his arms. They were all converging to join the group of Hunters and Friars elder and younger.

Sam turned to Cecilia, who nodded before he could jog over to greet his family, all equally eager to rejoin him. Wyatt shot up ahead of the pack and almost launched himself into his big brother's arms. Sam caught him and hugged him tight. There had really been no part of him that even remotely suspected this, and if they needed proof, the tears in his eyes said plenty. Family was and always had been so very important to him, something which big sister Maya had always felt was one of the things which bonded them the most when they'd still been strangers to one another, that and art, of course.

"Why… Wait…" Sam stammered as he put Wyatt back down and was soon wrapped up in several pairs of arms, all of them belonging to three of four younger sisters. He was putting it all together now. It wasn't as though they had all come over from Tucson to say hello in passing, no. They were coming with them, on this vacation. To say that he was ecstatic did not begin to cover how he felt, and that was a boost to the rest of them in and of itself. They couldn't wait to get on that next plane, couldn't wait to reach their destination and kick off their vacation for good.

"Can I sit with you this time?" MJ came up to Lucas and Maya as they were all headed to the gate.

"Uh, well…" Lucas turned back to look at Katy and Shawn. They both gave a discreet nod. "You might have to ask your sisters," he indicated the twins. At once, MJ turned around and moved to request this switch with his sisters, nearly causing a pile up as he went but finally returning to announce that they had agreed. They would go and sit with their parents, while MJ and Haley would go with their sister and brother-in-law.

As it turned out, the reason for this swap was because the movie he had watched on the first flight had featured a lot of horses, and since MJ knew that Lucas worked at Sullivan Stables, he wanted to ask him some questions. He was very much of the type to want as much detail as possible, and so Lucas spent much of those six hours either listening or responding to MJ's various questions. It kept the six-year-old occupied and not so concerned about being in the air, so Lucas was happy to oblige.

Meanwhile, Maya was now the one whose lap Haley climbed into, and she held on to her little sister as she looked through the window with wide, curious eyes, or eventually as she dozed off and curled up in her arms. The opportunities were so rare, to go off anywhere out of the state with all of her siblings, and her parents, and Maya simply could not wait to spend this week in Hawaii with them.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners