December 29th 2020

Chapter 237
Their Moment of Support

For Start Tour – Day 44 – Show 26 – Montreal, Quebec, Canada

"Here, this should be better, I think," Lucas pointed ahead before turning to look back at Maya and… "Where'd they go?" he blinked, scanning through the crowded street for Cara and Shae.

"Pretty sure I heard them say something about grabbing some stickers for the sign," Maya informed him, eyes drawn elsewhere. "Hey, can you use those long arms of yours and take a picture of the street all that way?" she pointed as she turned again and passed him her phone. Lucas took one look at the old buildings stretching past them. They were what had even drawn them this way in the first place, as they had opted to go for a stroll after landing from their flight out of Mexico. But then they hadn't gone that far at all before they got to see how much of the ground ahead of them was cobbled, and suddenly it was like they'd jumped back to three days ago, back in Brazil.

Lucas had gone out in search of a couple bags of these chips they'd had and loved, for their flight to Mexico. He had probably gotten enough for the majority of the crew to grab some along the way, either that or they'd be stocked for their quartet alone, through Mexico and the whole of their four-show trek across Canada.

When he'd returned to the hotel, going up to their floor, the elevator doors had opened to show him Cara and Shae standing in the hall, outside his and Maya's room door. They both looked kind of spooked, and Lucas swore his stomach dropped as fast as his load of chips. He hurried over to them, and they looked up as one, pointing into the room. Lucas moved into the room and there was Maya sitting on the edge of the bed while Dr. Jill, on a chair she'd pulled up to face her, was wrapping a long bandage over her hand and past her wrist.

"It's okay," Maya told him at once, though her voice was shaky as all hell, like she'd had the fright of her life.

"What… What happened?" he sat by her, putting his arm around her shoulders and tipping his head to hers.

"I just… I don't know, I tripped, so I went to break my fall, didn't want to…" she slowly told him, her good arm very much wrapped around her front. "Didn't fall, but then…" she nodded to the bandage.

"She's just shaken up," Dr. Jill told Lucas. "Nothing's broken, she's good to travel. Once we get to Mexico, we'll see how it goes, alright?" If they had learned one thing about the woman in the time they'd known her, it was that they could trust that she knew what she was doing, and she wouldn't keep anything from them, ever. So, if she could sound this calm about it all, then they could take their cue from her and start to breathe, too. Maya had reached out for his hand, brought it to her belly so he could feel what she'd felt. Their girl was moving around, not a care in the world.

And Dr. Jill had been right. There was nothing for them to worry over. Once the shock had worn off, the most Maya had to deal with was some minimal pain in her wrist. It had to be that arm again, the one she'd injured in the accident back in high school. She'd slept through most of their flight, and the next night she was on stage in Mexico, none the wiser.

Still, she had been just a bit unsteady on her feet these days, which they'd been assured was not abnormal in any way, so the cobbled streets hadn't been the best idea. Soon, with the pictures taken and the girls retrieved, they'd continued on their way. By the time they made it back to the hotel for the night, Maya had several more pictures in her arsenal. In a perfect world, there would have been so many places, at each stop on the tour, where she would have loved nothing more than to stop, break out her sketchbook and pencils, and get drawing. With their minimal time though, the best she could do was get some pictures, really try and capture the whole vibe, and later, either at the hotel, or on the plane, or at the venues, or possibly back home after the tour, and go on about doing those sketches from a combination of memories and photos. The photo printer from their honeymoon had made a much lauded return into her life, her album already getting to feel massive, between the 'to sketch' shots and the 'Marianne Friar was here!' ones along with them.

"Lucas, isn't that your mom?" Cara asked all of a sudden, and both he and Maya looked up at once.

She was already making her way toward them, even as her husband was rising from the bench where they'd been sitting, outside the hotel. Maya only had to get one look at the expression on her face to line up a possible sequence of events.

"You told her, didn't you?" she whispered, looking to Lucas, who was caught between an apologetic sigh and a surge of gladness. What else could he feel after seeing his mother and father for the first time in nearly a month and a half?

"It might have come up…" he admitted.

"What exactly did you tell her? I…"

"Just that you hurt your wrist, I swear, I… Mom, you're here! I didn't know you…" Lucas barely got to say before his mother quickly embraced him, squeezed him tight, then released him and turned to Maya, her gaze traveling from her arm, to her belly, and her arm again, and her belly again…

"I tried to call your hotel in Mexico, figured we could get down to you in no time, but you'd already left, so we booked the first flight up here and… oh…" she hugged her daughter-in-law now, with a mix of gentleness and urgency.

"Mom, I'm fine, so's she," Maya breathed, even as she couldn't help but feel comfort wash over her as Melinda Friar held her. "I'm really happy you're here."

X

For Start Tour, Day 46 – Traveling day – Toronto to Edmonton

"You know what this reminds me of?" Lucas whispered.

"When we lived in Houston and we'd go back to Austin over the holidays, so we'd be staying in our old rooms at our parents' houses and we'd try and be so quiet in the morning?" Maya whispered back.

"Yeah, exactly like that, except… well, you know…" he nodded, and she matched the gesture.

"Except… my sister… and Shae… and…" she turned her eyes down to her belly, the baby as good as sitting between them like a barrier.

"All that, yes," Lucas hummed, and she tried not to laugh.

They were flying again today, and there was almost no doubt in their minds that they would once again be joined by his parents once they reached their next stop. They had followed them from Montreal out to Toronto already, hadn't they? And even though they had both been assured, many times over, that Maya and the baby were perfectly fine, even though Thomas had been convinced, there was Melinda, and she said she believed them, yes, but… Well, they just knew it came from a good place, so what could they really do?

The one thing they had done, because they could just foresee the elder Friars finding some reason to bunk on whatever couch or pull-out bed their room might have had. Lucas had made an appeal to Cara and Shae, convincing them to very graciously offer their own room to Thomas and Melinda, while the two of them would bunk in his and Maya's room. It was the best way to keep the whole thing contained, especially as his mother's manners would prevent her from saying anything but 'oh, thank you, that is so generous of you.' Just how long they were going to have to pull this charade however…

"You know, I wouldn't put it past her to want to stick with us for the rest of the tour. She won't even have to try that hard, Ree will probably offer to put them up, no sweat."

"I could just tell them to go back to Texas," Lucas suggested, and Maya gave him a look. "Yeah, no, I don't know why I said that." He paused. "You do it."

"See, I'd feel affronted that you think I could do it and you wouldn't, but you're not entirely wrong. But you're appealing to New York Maya here, and I haven't been her in a very long time. Texas Maya is queen now, and she's not letting go of that tiara, it matches her boots, you know?"

"I… no?"

"Yeah, that one kind of got away from me…" Maya admitted.

"You would look good in a tiara…"

"Of course, I would, but we're taking a sharp turn away from the subject here, stay with me."

"Okay," Lucas let out a breath, starting from a blank slate again. "We love them. We're happy to see them."

"Thumbs up, both statements."

"We'd be even happier if they'd just sort… relaxed about…" Lucas started and, to finish his point, Maya lifted her still bandaged hand. "That, yes."

"And how do you suppose we do that? We've got three weeks to go, and if she keeps popping up out of nowhere like she's been doing since…" She paused, checked to make sure her mother-in-law hadn't materialized in the room.

"I don't think either one of us is going to be able to do that part," Lucas shook his head.

"Not even her sweet baby Luke?" Maya teased, and he made a face, making her laugh.

"Where do you think I picked up all my tricks?" he asked, and Maya nodded approvingly. "Should I… Now?"

"Yes, go, go, before we have to pack up and head for the airport."

So, off Lucas went, to the room as reallocated to his parents. Rather than knocking, he texted his father and asked him to come into the hall. Clearly, Thomas Friar had seen something to this effect coming up. Lucas assured him that they didn't want Melinda and him to just leave. All they wanted was, well… They wanted the normal Thomas and Melinda, not the constantly fretting duo they'd gotten in their place.

"Alright, that might be fair," Thomas had conceded. "I'll talk to your mother. Not making any promises."

"Maya wants me to tell you she believes in you, and then she did just… thumbs up," Lucas replicated the gesture and his father chuckled.

"Well, then, I should be fine."

There had been something like a tense beat as they'd made their way down to the dining room for a quick breakfast before their flight. What if it didn't go well? What if they just upset his mother?

But then the elder Friars had come along, grabbing plates of their own as they went along the buffet line. As they'd all ended up at a table together, the four of them and the girls, Lucas and Maya were relieved to notice a noted change in the future grandparents.

"You know, I just need to let Ree know and I can get you guys into the show once we get to Edmonton? Or Vancouver after that… Or both," Maya shrugged innocently, turning her eyes over to her in-laws.

"It's really good. Seen it twenty-seven times, not to brag," Lucas added with a smile. Cara and Shae both had to hide their giggles in their glasses of juice.

"Why don't we go with the one time for a start?" Melinda Friar looked to her son and daughter-in-law. They might just have managed to get through this visit after all.

X

For Start Tour – Day 49 – Traveling day – Canada to USA

"Do you remember, senior year, we had to read that giant novel?" Lucas asked, holding his thumb and index finger at about the distance he felt would measure up to the spine of the book in question. "Can't think of the title right now."

"Damn… I know which one you mean but I can't think of it either," Maya frowned as she was left to shuffle through her memories. "I mean, I remember how much we all got so annoyed about it because it took ages to get through, there were just… eight-hundred-something pages I think."

"Yeah, exactly. Remember when Zay got past the eight-hundredth page?" Lucas smiled, more so as it made her laugh.

"Locked that digit!" she imitated their friend as quietly as she could. Lucas laughed back at this, looking out the bus window. He couldn't have gotten this better if he'd actually timed it.

"Check it out," he pointed out the window, coming up ahead. Maya sat up in her seat. "We're about to lock a second digit. First, North America. And now…"

Now, they were approaching the border, and very soon they would be rolling through their own country for the first time in nearly fifty days.

This wasn't even the first big step to signal the tour was indeed on its last leg. This morning they had left their hotel in Vancouver and boarded this great big bus, which was to take them through the remainder of their destinations. No more planes for them, and really none of their group would be sad about that. As travel entertainment went, if movies, books, games, or conversation weren't to their liking, well, they could always look out the windows and see what their surroundings had to offer.

"Do you know what, I'm not even tired anymore," Maya was beaming from ear to ear now as the bus finally started back again in earnest, on their way to Seattle and the next night's show. She was really better made for ground travel than air, and Lucas was definitely of the same mind set there, so he could see how she'd be more prone to stay awake right then.

"Going to sleep at the hotel?" he asked.

"I can only promise to try," she sighed, settling back in her seat, and he reached to hold her good hand.

She'd tossed and turned most of last night. It had nothing to do with the Vancouver show. It had gone great, just as the one in Edmonton the night before. She just couldn't seem to get comfortable, which wasn't aided with how the baby seemed to have discovered some spots she loved to kick her little legs at. After a while, not wanting to wake Lucas up… again… she'd just gotten up and started pacing the room, hoping maybe to tire herself out enough that sleep would come. When this hadn't worked and he'd sat up in bed to find her making another pass along the length of the floor, the big question had become: what do we do now?

"I want to be optimistic and say I won't regret this, but I really need to get some sleep before tomorrow… or later today, I should say," she'd sighed.

"You want me to…" Lucas asked, getting up.

"If you wouldn't mind," she bowed her head in tired defeat.

Lucas had had very little trust in not causing a momentary panic by knocking at his parents' hotel room at two in the morning, but all in all it hadn't been so bad. His father had answered the door, naturally, as there was no way his mother would have gone, but she materialized once she knew it was him. Lucas told her how Maya couldn't get to sleep and she wanted her, and he didn't know that he'd seen her so happy since the day she'd found out the baby was a girl to be named after her mother.

For being considered a generally intense and wakeful sort of person, Melinda had worked wonders in getting her daughter-in-law to settle down and eventually fall asleep.

"Thanks, Mom," Lucas had breathed, sitting on his side of the bed again.

"If she needs me again, you just come and get me, alright?" Melinda smiled.

"I will," he promised. "You know, she'd probably kill me for saying it, but she's really glad you're here right now. I mean, more than for the obvious reasons. The further along she gets, the closer we are to being home again… She knows her mother won't be there, and it kind of scares her, but she knows you'll be there and… and that helps."

Maya didn't know exactly why her mother-in-law had hugged her as she did that morning when they left the hotel and started toward Seattle, but she'd appreciated it nonetheless.

By the time they arrived at the hotel, as promised, Maya grabbed that nap to make up for those lost hours of sleep the night before. Before she'd gone though, she'd checked in with Katy and Shawn, and she had been thrilled to learn that in two days' time, when the tour would roll into Los Angeles, they would once again be reunited – briefly so – with the Hunters and the Clutterbuckets, as Katy's parents would be bringing the kids over to visit, all the better to celebrate Nellie and Gracie's tenth birthday, the whole family together.

At dinner, Thomas and Melinda announced that they would be headed back to Texas the next day. They'd been following the tour along for a week, and they believed it was time they stepped back and let them carry on.

"Maybe you could catch up with us again on the home stretch," Maya suggested. "Meet us in Louisiana?" The elder Friars graciously accepted.

X

For Start Tour – Day 50 – Show 30 – Seattle, Washington

Maya lightly flexed her bandaged wrist as she stood backstage, waiting for her cue. She breathed deep and slow, gripping the microphone in her other hand as she listened to the music. By now, she could have done this part with her eyes closed, which could have sounded bad, like she was tired of it, but this couldn't have been further from the truth. Oh, to be sure, she'd be glad when the tour was over and she was home again, counting down the days until she held her baby daughter. If it wasn't for the pregnancy though, she might well have been ready to go on a while more, and that was a weirdly invigorating notion.

They'd be seventy-five percent of the way through the tour after this night. Thirty shows down, ten to go. She could still remember when she'd stood backstage for their very first show, her nerves through the roof, just begging to send her quaking. But she'd made it through just fine, and she'd done it again, and again, and soon thirty times already.

They were so much closer to home now than they'd been in a while, and still they would be coming closer only to go further away. But then… then they'd loop back around and there'd be no stopping them. Their fortieth and final show would be in Austin, and they would sleep one last night in a hotel, and the morning after that…

She wasn't thinking that far ahead. Right about now, all she was thinking about was Los Angeles, tomorrow. There had been a thought, briefly entertained, that they would just rent a car and drive out after this evening's show, ahead of the rest of the tour, so they could spend more time with the Hunters, but all that would really get them would be a lot of road weary people who'd barely slept. Ree had assured them they would head on the road bright and early the next morning, and that would have to do.

The closer they were getting to the end of the tour, Maya and Lucas both got to wonder what it would be like, to go back to their normal lives after having been on the road, traveling as they had, for two months. Then again, the lives they were going back to wouldn't be exactly like the ones they'd left, would they? Lucas had left as a recent university graduate, finishing out a second four-year stint as a bookstore clerk. He would be going back as a part of the Sullivan Stables team, more or less full time, looking ahead to residency and his eventual position at his grandmother's ranch. And Maya… She'd left, having just finished her second year of teaching high school art, having had another, much smaller scale sort of tour with TXNY… She would be returning, a teacher still but on maternity leave, awaiting the day their daughter would be born. Oh, she would still be involved with the band, but in a much-diminished role for some time, the same for her involvement with the school, her students…

It would be about so much more than adjusting to not fly or ride to a new country or city every day or two, about checking in and out of hotels just as often. It was probably a very good thing then that all the members of their household would have been out on this tour. It would be something like their own private club.

"Are you ready?" Maya looked to the side, the smile on her face now being one almost of mischief. It was mirrored on the face of her twelve-year-old accomplice.

"Ready," Christina Sutcliffe nodded.

Today was Ree Forster's birthday. Oh, the tour crew had a big lunch for her earlier, with presents and everything – mostly tacky souvenirs they'd picked up along the way, which Ree had found absolutely hilarious. But there was simply no chance that, after all this time on the tour together, they were going to let this night go by without any sort of special treat, especially when they had a show on that exact day.

So, when Ree gave the very familiar introduction, calling for Maya to join her on stage, Maya walked out, giving her customary letter signs, with just a bit of difficulty with the state of her hand, but going for it regardless. And on her heels, out came Ree's mini-me of a daughter, in her favorite dress and carrying a cupcake topped with a candle Maya had helped her light.

"Good evening, Seattle!" Maya spoke into the microphone. The crowd responded loudly. "Before we go any further, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Christina Sutcliffe. She needs your help to wish her mother a happy birthday, can she count on you?" Going by the sound of the crowd's cheers, they most definitely could.

Ree had somehow not suspected a thing, and she was all smiles as Christina came along with the cupcake. Maya held the microphone so she could speak into it. She was on the whole so much quieter than her mother, but sometimes, occasions demanded a little more, and she channeled her best Ree Forster as she addressed the audience.

"Right then, you know how the song goes?" she asked, making her mother crouch down as she burst out laughing.

Soon, the however many hundreds of voices joined together, singing the familiar birthday tune, while Christina led them like she might have had a baton to lead her choir. As she led them in an extended tag of 'and many moooooore!' she held up the cupcake, Ree made her wish, and she blew out the candle, to many more cheers. Now… Now they could start their thirtieth performance.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners