October 8th 2020

Chapter 282
Their Celebration of Anticipation

"Are you okay?" Lucas came bounding down the steps. He'd been upstairs, looking through the various suits hanging from a rack in the attic, when he heard a short crashing noise followed by a yelp and barking. It was near to impossible to see what was going on, what with the tall stacks of chairs, and the folded tables, all of them having invaded the living room. "Maya?"

"Down here!" she raised her hand, and he could barely see her fingertips. Unsure what he'd find, Lucas hurried down the rest of the way and eventually found her. She was fine, by the looks of it. She was crouched next to a toppled box of centerpieces, working to check each one before putting them back with the others. "I think we're good, only a couple of them broke and we have spares." With the last of the centerpieces dealt with, she moved to look under the couch, with what little space she had. "Hey, come here… Come here," she encouraged, reaching under and finally pulling Archer into view. The dog had the look of one who had been spooked. "Everything's fine," she promised, sitting down and setting him in her lap before looking up to Lucas. "This place is a danger zone for the canine population," Maya declared, and he tried not to laugh as he went and sat with her.

"Did he try and grab one of those?" Lucas guessed, pointing to the centerpieces.

"I saw him, I just didn't get to him in time, and as soon as the box fell, he went hiding like he had superspeed. Poor, scaredy pup," she scratched at his head and leaned down to kiss him. Archer looked up at her, looking much more at ease again. "I will be… so glad when this is all out of here," she gestured around their overloaded living room.

"It had to rain today, huh?" Lucas tried to sound cheerful, but Maya just squinted at him.

Tomorrow morning, Riley Matthews and Dylan Orlando would be wed, right across the lane, on the Oswalds' land. It was starting to get dark outside, and though the rain had stopped just around dinner time, looking through the living room windows – if they could actually get there – they would see nothing. That was to say, they would see the land, but nothing more. No tents, no flowers, no tables or chairs… They were supposed to have put it all out there today, and what pieces they had to keep for the reception would be stored outside the house. And then the rain had happened.

Maya had spent most of the day reassuring her best friend that this was not 'yet another sign' that she and Dylan were not going to get to be married for some reason. After their original venue had fallen through, and Juliet had regrettably informed them that they had no opening at the ranch that might have accommodated them, and none of the other venues they'd looked into had panned out, holding the wedding here, at their friends' house, appeared like a godsend, a much needed fix. So to have this issue come up just twenty-four hours before the wedding…

"We checked… every last weather forecast we could find for tomorrow, and they all say it's going to be a beautiful, sunny day," Lucas reminded his wife, as she went on playing with the dog, adding to his calm. "Tomorrow morning, we'll get out there early, make sure the ground is dry, and then we'll start setting up for the ceremony, we'll clear… all of this," he looked around. Right now, he was coming to think that it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to go and sit somewhere else. The stacks were making him feel as close to claustrophobic as he could ever claim to have felt. He was sure something would happen and they'd get buried under all those chairs. Maybe thinking the same thing, Maya moved to rise and Lucas joined her. "Let's go upstairs, it's less of a chaos labyrinth there," he suggested.

"Chaos labyrinth," Maya chuckled as they went. "That's giving me ideas for Halloween this year."

"I should have kept my mouth shut, huh?" Lucas asked.

"It might have been a thought."

Riley and Dylan hadn't been the only ones to be concerned when the rain had come along. All their friends and family members were looking forward to this day, were crossing their fingers for them to have the best day, something for them to remember fondly for all the years of their lives. Right here, Maya and Lucas had been double checking, triple, quadruple checking that they had everything ready for the next day. They counted everything, they looked over the floor plans and the seating charts, they had earlier confirmed the caterers and wait staff would be there. They had confirmed also that their out of town guests had arrived and were comfortable in whatever hotel or home they were staying. Nothing would fall through the cracks. The wedding, the party, all of it would go off as it was supposed to.

"You know, we could still go out there," Lucas told Maya. "We should."

"We need to be here in the morning, like we said, to set things up," Maya replied, trying to sound more upbeat at the thought than she actually felt. Right now, Riley was at her parents' house, along with some of the girls, while Dylan was back at their house, with some of the guys. Maya and Lucas were supposed to be out there, too, much as their friends had been with them the night before their wedding. If not the rain forcing this curveball on them, they would have gone, but now they had taken on this responsibility by electing to hold the ceremony and reception out here, hadn't they?

"There's nothing that says we wouldn't be able to drive out here and get it done like we said," Lucas told her, shaking his head.

"Isn't there though? We already hit so many bumps in the road, tomorrow is not the time to hit another one. Anyway, she's got Nadine, and Kayla, and Rosa… I had Sophie and Chiara. The important part is they're out there, keeping her from climbing the walls.

"A huge task," Lucas nodded, and Maya laughed.

"The biggest. She's a lot of work," she smirked fondly.

The last few weeks had gone by so fast. Between the trip and the end run to this wedding, they'd barely seen the days go by. Before they'd know it, Lucas would be starting his last year of school, while Maya would be kicking off her second one as a teacher. Of the two, they both had plenty to be excited about, but it was hard to top Maya's. New students… and returning students… There was no wrong way to go, was there?

Between all the wedding woes, they'd had plenty other ups and downs… ups and sideways… On the one hand, Sam had returned from Tucson, as promised, the day before the twins' birthday party. They had cornered him, right at the start of their time in Hawaii, once they'd discovered that he was headed to see his family in Arizona. They wanted to make sure he would be at their birthday. He vowed to be there, and also that he would give them something to make up for it if he wasn't. That had really put Nellie and Gracie in a place of indecision. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he missed it, right? Family was important and all that.

It had done Sam some good to be with his parents and younger siblings for a few days out at their house. When he'd come back to Austin, back to Maya and Lucas' house, he'd looked so cheerful, maybe too much so. Neither one of them could be fooled by this, but then they weren't sure how to confront him about it. Not once, on the first days after his return did Cecilia's name come up. Not once. For a guy who had been going around for nearly three years somehow bringing her up at least once a day, it was about as transparent as if he'd gone and walked around with a sign on his forehead that said they were no longer together. He hadn't confirmed it, and neither had she, though she had accepted the offer to come by to dinner a couple of times while Sam had been away.

She hadn't come around since he'd returned, naturally, but nothing had stopped Maya or Lucas from understanding that the break had happened. Until one or both of them said something, they didn't know that they could intervene in any way. Maya especially didn't want Cecilia to be under the impression that, if she and Sam were no longer together, she was no longer welcome or that she could no longer call on her for any one thing or another that she'd need her for.

The one time they'd heard her mentioned since Sam's return, of all places, was at the Hunter house, the day of the twins' birthday party. When Maya and Lucas had arrived to greet the newly 'upgraded' nine-year-olds, they had been shown the presents Cecilia had dropped off the day before, with apologies for not being able to make the party as she'd been meant to. Neither Nellie nor Gracie seemed particularly aware of the underlying situation, and it left their big sister to think that whatever Sam and Cecilia had discussed that one morning in the elder Friars' hotel room, this had been part of it. They would keep this secret for a while, so not to ruin the vacation, but also the girls' party, and maybe even the wedding. As far as they'd heard, Cecilia was supposed to be there tomorrow. Was this the last hurdle? Would they share the news after that?

Relationship troubles aside, the birthday party had been a colorfully messy and wonderful day. Zay had practically been holding court, much to the kids' amusement. The twins and their classmates would all be in the fourth grade this fall, which meant many of them would find themselves in Mr. Babineaux' class. It was the perfect occasion for him to get to know his future students, even though Nadine and Maya both would point out that he wasn't 'on the clock.' Even if he'd played it cool, it probably would have ended up the same way. He had such a way with these kids, and once the twins had told their friends all about how they'd known the fourth grade teacher their whole lives, they had been inevitably curious.

"Let's maybe bring the dogs up here with us and shut the door tonight?" Maya turned to Lucas, after she'd caught Archer and kept him from skittering off. "Last thing we need is any of them putting their noses and their little paws where they could get hurt… or break something," she spoke directly at the dog in a cajoling tone. Archer played innocent, like he'd completely forgotten about the earlier incident.

"Probably a good idea," Lucas had to agree.

They would be turning in early, some might say ridiculously so. But then they couldn't think of a worthier reason. The earlier they slept, the earlier they'd rise, and then they'd be getting the ball rolling for Riley and Dylan.

When they were finally lying down, Maya found that she really had butterflies in her stomach. It wasn't even her wedding, but then she guessed she'd feel the same whenever any of her siblings would get married. Riley… She had been her very first sister, before any of the others, and she would not forget it, not now of all times. And then Lucas… He had some other thoughts swirling through his head. Of all things, he thought about Dylan's mother, his birth mother. He wondered if his friend would feel her absence tomorrow, as he stood before his family and friends. Whatever came, he'd have to know that his friends would all be there around him, all of them filled with so much love for him, maybe enough to fill the void.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners