November 26th 2020

Chapter 331
Their Story of April

It came to Maya, the very morning of the anniversary, that it had been five years since her father had died. No, she'd known before, she had, but it wasn't until that morning that it really got to feel real, weighted. Five years… She got out of bed, even as Lucas went on sleeping, went down into the kitchen to find Sam was up and in breakfast mode, as usual, and with little preamble she embraced her younger brother, and because he felt it, too, he set down his wooden spoon among the eggs and turned to hug her back. Not too long after, they called to the Hart-Lane house, to check in with Abigail and the other kids.

So much of this year already felt like a turning point, like one chapter ending, making way for another, and this was almost like that, too. Far above, naturally, there was the Hunters' chapter, too, as her parents were preparing to make that part-time move to Los Angeles, all the while seeing to the eventual arrival of Katy's parents and, more than anything, the preparation of the children as they would soon find themselves without their mother and father here with them every day.

It had been tricky, explaining it all to them, hoping that they didn't get too upset, though they would have understood if they were. On the whole, it had gone a lot better than they'd expected, though they also imagined that, the closer they'd come to the move, the departure, the more it would start to sink in what they were headed into, for Haley and MJ especially. The twins had the benefit of not only being the oldest of the four Hunter kids but also having each other to turn to, as they were told about their mother's role and what it would mean. And they did look forward to having their grandparents here, though it would still be hard on them. In time, they had seen this all as a time for them, as the eldest, to ensure that their little brother and sister would be alright.

Katy and Shawn had found what was to be their home away from home, in Los Angeles, which had involved the eight of them, Katy, Shawn, the little Hunters, Maya, and Lucas to head up there for a weekend, to see it for themselves. It was their hope that, in keeping the kids involved, to show them this place that would be theirs as much as their parents'. Whether or not it was any sign of their being on board for the move and the changes it would bring, or whether it was simply the wonder of novelty, of taking in the new space, finding where their room would be and picturing where their beds would be, and their dressers, their toys, and oh what they'd put on the walls… It would be just as they wanted it, Katy and Shawn would see to it, all the while knowing the large room would rarely be used and that what it would really be most of the time would be a monument to their children, all the way back in Texas as they missed them every day.

The day Katy let Siobhan know about the role, and what it would mean for her place at the theater, the woman who had brought the mother and daughter from New York to Texas all those years ago about immediately went and called Maya. Katy had been with the theater for nearly fourteen years, and if she was to leave them, then she deserved a proper send-off. It was a no brainer, and Maya was on board for a bit of secret party planning.

Now, it was out in the world that Katy Hunter was to return as a regular cast member in the upcoming season of Heal Thyself. So, naturally, because there had to be reporters out there worth their salt, the connection was discovered between the actress coming upon the scene and the songwriter and musician collaborating and soon touring with Ree Forster. It was possibly the wildest, most surreal moment in all this, thinking of their journey from being a failed actress and struggling single mother with a young daughter, the two of them making their own way in the world, getting by as best they could, eventually finding themselves here… with the world turning its eyes upon them.

"Remember once, we were at the diner, after closing," Katy recalled, when Maya had brought this up to her one day. "You would stand up in one of the booths by the window, and you'd just look at the stars in the sky. I'd watch you there, and I'd wonder… Maybe she's making wishes. I definitely made a lot of those… Never thought they'd actually come true."

"I remember," Maya had smiled, though she couldn't say that she remembered what she'd been thinking, or what compelled her to go up there except that the stars were pretty, bright, and far… so far away. Right now, she liked her mother's version better.

And if everything with her family's shift in circumstances wasn't enough to keep her caught up in the motion of time and constant changes abounding, well, she had school for that, too. Her lightspeed second year was getting closer and closer to its end. Soon, another group of seniors would be going on its way. It wasn't nearly as difficult as the first year, but it was still hard to see them go. Every additional year she got to know those kids, it would only make the goodbyes grow heavier, wouldn't it? Looking at it from this side, from having watched her first group of kids go off into the world, it actually left her with something like optimism, and if she remembered that, then she'd be alright. She'd done her part, little as it was on the whole. Now it was all in their hands.

"Hello?" Lucas called as he arrived home from university that night. "Anyone?"

"Up here, hang on!" he finally heard Maya's voice. Seconds later, she came bounding down the stairs. "Hey," she smiled, coming to a stop just in front of him and rising up to kiss him. "Sorry, I was in the attic," she gestured back up.

"Hey," he echoed. "Sam?"

"Study group," Maya replied. "He'll be back late. I was thinking maybe we could just go out to eat somewhere, little… impromptu lowercase date."

"Sounds good to me," Lucas nodded. "I'll just go change," he looked down and pointed to a pair of stains on his shirt and pants.

"Lunch or…"

"Or."

"Oh…" Maya stepped back, making him laugh.

"Be right back," he nodded, grabbing his bag back up and climbing up to their room.

Unfortunate stains aside, he didn't actually mind so much that he'd ended up in any situation that led to his having those on him for the rest of the day. It was and would be part of those things that came with the profession he'd chosen, and if he lost it when something like that happened then he wouldn't get very far, would he? He remembered very well how some among his class had struggled in the beginning with the more hands-on portion of their classes, though in time they'd all more or less gotten around to where they barely batted an eye.

Of his friends, he had to say, the least squeamish of them by a mile – much to their surprise – had been Josie. She had come a long way since the Houston days, but this was something they'd known about her even when she'd been the one they referred to as Voldemort. If there was ever anything to suggest the possibility that there was so much more to the girl than the way she behaved back then, it was how very matter-of-fact and sure of hand she'd always been. It had been so easy then to reconcile this with who they'd come to know her to be when she'd let the mask fall away and she'd let them see who she was underneath.

They were all so close to the end now, graduation was just a couple months off, and he wouldn't have thought that the staining incident of the day would have fit in as a memory of 'the good days' he would look back on in the future, but it actually did, to him anyway. They'd laughed… the kind of laughter where it only got harder to stop the more you tried to be quiet. It was a good thing that their professor was not the type without any sense of humor, though by the end she was starting to give them looks that said 'alright, stop it.'

Thinking back on it now, as he finished dressing back up again and gathered his clothes for the wash, he also remembered how the incident had cost him just about everything he'd had in his pencil case. The cause fell squarely in the 'better left unsaid' category, and it sufficed to say that he now found himself in dire need of replacement materials.

"Keep that far away from me," Maya declared with a vaguely accusing finger pointed in the direction of the clothes in his hand as he came down again. "Don't know where that came from, and I'm not sure I want to find out, especially before dinner."

"I really don't think you do," Lucas had to agree, moving to quickly head down the stairs and drop the pile in with the wash before climbing up again, passing his wife once more to head up to the second floor.

"Where are you going now?" she called after him.

"I just need to take care of something real quick before I forget," he explained, stopping at the top of the stairs and turning to go back down enough to see her. "Do you still have some of those pens you bought last month? You know the 'these are the best pens ever' pens?"

"It's a possibility, yeah," Maya declared, leaning to the bottom of the rail and staring back at him like they were in the middle of working out a shady deal. "Why?"

"I would like to take one of them, please?" he chuckled. "I'm all out, as of today."

"Because of…" she gestured to his clothes, tacking on a scrunched-up face, recalling the non-descript stains. He nodded. "Alright, but they're going to cost you a pretty penny. What do you have to offer?" His response was to stand there, very much in his most Huckleberry pose. "Well… Call me crazy, but I'll let you have two of my very good pens, if you're willing to toss that into the mix."

"You are most generous," he tipped his head as she laughed. "Where are they exactly?"

"Uh…" she thought for a moment, "Attic, second drawer… first? I kind of need to clean up in there," she admitted.

"I'll find them," he went back up.

"The ones in the box!" she called after him. "Haven't started those."

Lucas went up the attic steps and over to the desk, covered with a few recent drawings. Opening the first drawer, then the second, he saw what Maya meant about her needing to clean up. She was very orderly on the whole, but there was something about those drawers that invited complete and chaotic disorder.

"Wait, no, that's not where they are!" he heard Maya's voice float up from below, suggesting she was headed to join him up here, too, just as he opened the third drawer.

"Found them!" he called, spotting the box and picking it up before opening it to fish out a pair of pens. He'd probably go and buy her another box or two in thanks, she was almost out and there didn't seem to be another…

Just as he went to put the box back, Lucas noticed a strange sort of bundle lying further in the drawer. It wasn't so closed up though that he couldn't see what sat inside the hand towel. Two sticks… Two… Familiar… And both of them positive.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners