October 5th 2020

Chapter 279
Their Vacation With Breezes

July 14th 2028 – The Hex

"I have to say, hearing all of these new songs of yours, just like this, just you and that guitar… I cannot wait for next summer," Ree declared, after hearing the last of them. Maya laughed, entirely grateful and also just humbled.

"Neither can I," she admitted. "Sometimes I wish I could tell other people, it's all just… so much," she tried to gesture in some way that might have expressed even a fraction of what she felt.

"It usually is," Ree nodded. "You'll only have to keep it that way for a few months more."

"I know, and I will," Maya told her. "I can already imagine how some of my friends will react, and my family, which helps to keep me patient but also makes me impatient? Is that weird?"

"No, not at all," Ree chuckled. "It comes with the territory, I'm afraid. But also, I couldn't imagine I would be half as invested, half as happy, if the thought of it all didn't get my mind all twisted about like that. Wouldn't be that good of a show either."

Maya breathed out as she stood from her stool to go and set her guitar in its place before turning back exit the booth and head to the console, where Ree followed so that they might get on with their recording day. Thinking of those songs she had just performed for her, she knew that wherever each of those seven ended up, with Ree, with TXNY, with other artists… to her, they would always feel like a unit, the fruit of this trip with her family, with all the ups and downs it had seen.

X

July 10th 2028 – Honolulu, Hawaii

Every morning they had woken up here, in their big hotel room bed, it had been impossible not to feel how they were not at home, back in their own, familiar bed. This wasn't by any means a bad thing, of course not, far from it. Like when they had been off on their honeymoon, they couldn't help but be aware of how fortunate they were to be in this place, if only for a little while. Each city had its own spirit, readily available in the ambiance of the room, and this one… Oh, it really felt like paradise, like they could have stayed here for weeks, months, years… so, really, they were going to enjoy those few days they had.

The quiet of the room wasn't absolute, no. There was the light breeze of open windows, which felt like a call to remain just as they were, cozy in their bed, in each other's arms… Up above, there was occasionally the low sound of Nellie and Gracie, whispering to one another so no one would know they were awake… When Maya and Lucas would awaken to this faint soundtrack, even as they'd know they were both awake, it would be so easy to give no other sign that this was the case than to have him pull her closer or to have her twine her fingers with his, on the hand around her middle. If it wasn't for the girls upstairs…

Today, there was an additional factor, wasn't there? Not so far off, if they lifted their heads, they would see Sam, off on the couch. Maya turned herself over after doing so, resting now with her face toward her husband's.

"Hi," he mouthed the word, smiling, and she did the same, leaning in to share a brief but weighted kiss. One of the most wonderful things she had found, and him as well, was just how much seeing the other's love for them could make their own love feel as though it had the power to expand in their chests. It could make the whole of the world beyond the two of them disappear. They couldn't do that, not now, not when they had this… situation unfolding beyond their island within an island.

Maya had told Lucas about what little Sam had gone ahead and shared with her the night before, about how he believed Cecilia may have broken up with him. He'd been just as saddened at the idea that this might be true, just as he'd remained steadfast in the belief that all hope was not lost. They knew how devastating it could be, especially on a first major relationship. They each remembered so well the fight which had caused a momentary split between them, over several days. They remembered how it had affected them, the confusion, the heartache, the fear… It had all been flipped around after Pappy Joe had taken that fall down the stairs, after Maya had misunderstood something she'd overheard and assumed that Lucas was the one who lay in the hospital.

Sam and Cecilia would not have anything like that to come and shock them to their senses, at least they had to hope so, but clearly something was going to have to happen, if they had any hopes of fixing whatever had pulled them apart. Neither Maya nor Lucas knew exactly what that was just yet, though they could have their suspicions. All they had to go on was hope, trust that it would be sorted out. Of course, they couldn't pretend as though there wasn't also this other possibility…

"What if they don't get back together? What if they really break up?" Maya whispered so quietly. Lucas let out a breath, grazing her cheek. He didn't know. He'd asked himself the same question, but there was no easy answer, was there? Their relationship was their own, and naturally so different from Sam and Cecilia's, but still the very idea that anything should ever pull them apart left them sufficiently sympathetic to the two teenagers.

Mornings at the hotel usually kicked off with the twins standing up at the loft rail and looking down, confirming that their sister and brother-in-law were awake before demanding when they'd go down to breakfast, because they were hungry. Today was no different, although both Nellie and Gracie, especially the latter, looked just a bit hesitant at announcing themselves, and the reason was easy to understand. They knew Sam was down there, and even though they had no idea what had brought him out here last night, they knew it probably wasn't good. Maya could see them up there, curious little things, and she waved for them to come down, as Lucas got out of bed to go and check on their guest.

As the twins had hurried down and hopped into the bed with their big sister, Lucas had come to find Sam was awake, though his mind still appeared very far away. He didn't notice Lucas coming until he was right in front of him. He looked like he hadn't slept much, if at all.

"Are you going to be good to come down to eat?" Lucas quietly asked. Sam took a couple of seconds to process the question, and once he did, it seemed as though the first place his mind went to was 'breakfast means morning, morning means Cecilia.' He sat up on the couch.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll…" He looked down at himself, still in his clothes from the day before, while the rest of his things were back in the room he and Cecilia shared with the elder Friars. He couldn't go out there without seeing Cecilia, and he looked unsure as to whether or not it would be a good thing for him to go out there like this.

"Hey, I'll get dressed and go grab you something to change into, alright?" Lucas suggested, and after a beat Sam agreed with a nod.

Lucas' parents' room was far down the hall from his and Maya's. They'd tried to all end up in neighboring rooms, but this was the best they could do, with two groups on this floor, the Hunters on the next one up, and the Hart-Lanes another two floors up from them. Coming up to his parents' door, Lucas gave it a knock and waited.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Mom," Lucas spoke, and the door opened to present him with 'vacation Mel' in all her glory. Thomas would say she was stunning in every way, no matter where she was, and his son couldn't help but agree. She might have looked best right here.

"Good morning," she smiled, as she would, although there was still a bit of hesitation on her face, and Lucas knew where it would come from. He signalled for her to step out into the hall, and she did, shutting the door first. "How's Sam doing?"

"Miserable," Lucas sighed. "Cecilia?"

"Poor girl sat outside half the night. I think she didn't want us to hear her crying," Melinda explained. "She's asleep now. I'm not sure we should wake her. I'll stay with her, the rest of you go on ahead and I'll just have room service send up breakfast."

"We can wait a bit longer maybe? We don't have to go just yet, it's still early…" Lucas pointed out, thinking of the sleeping girl as the boy sitting sleepless back on that couch.

"I think it might be best if you all went on ahead," Melinda shook her head apologetically. It was one of those moments where his mother was so far from the exuberant persona they all knew and expected. When this more subdued Melinda would emerge, it would always feel like they couldn't ignore the importance of the moment. Right here, she was acting in Cecilia's best interest, as she had no parents here with her to do it for her, and it was just who Melinda was, in her quiet moments as much as the loud ones.

Having been provided with clothes for Sam, Lucas was forced to return to his brother now, knowing he wouldn't be bringing back the best of news. All he could allow himself to say was that Cecilia would not be joining them to breakfast, and neither would his mother. He didn't mention the crying, as already the news that his girlfriend wouldn't be at breakfast had been enough to crush Sam. Now what was he supposed to do?

"I think I might stay up here, too, if that's okay," he told Lucas. "I'm not that hungry."

"Sure," Lucas replied. He wasn't going to fight him on it. "If you do get hungry though, just order something, put it on our room."

Breakfast in the dining room that morning was still jolly enough, as it would be, with all the kids there especially, but there was definitely something missing, there had to be, with three of their group absent. Not only were they absent, but then most of them knew why they weren't around, and that was just difficult to ignore.

When they went back upstairs, to check on Sam and see if he wanted to go out with the rest of them, Maya and Lucas found he wasn't in the room, but Melinda Friar was.

"Mom? Where's Sam?" Lucas asked, surprising her from where she'd been reading her beach book on the balcony. There was a tray at her side, suggesting she'd had her breakfast here.

"Down the hall," she revealed, gesturing down that way. Neither Maya nor Lucas needed to be told what this meant, but she went on anyway. "He showed up at my door about a half an hour ago. I was going to turn him away, but it turned out that Cecilia had texted him so he'd come over. I left them to talk, not sure how it's going," she sighed, clearly concerned for the both of them.

By the time they got to see the two of them come from the other room, there was really no telling how the conversation had gone or what the result turned out to be. Had they broken up? Had they made up? They weren't pronouncing themselves either way, but it was clear that they had no intent to share one way or the other, not now. All they showed was a desire to get back to this vacation, with everyone. As hard as it was not to know, there was nothing else for them to do than to respect the choice.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners