December 28th 2022

Chapter 362
Our Trip Into Beginnings

With as many people and animals living in their house, it would take a lot for the Friars to actually comment on the fact that any time in their lives was particularly hectic. It would be hectic, a lot of the time, sure, but at a level that was so common, day-to-day, that they felt no need to single it out in any way. But, sometimes, that would change, and they would bring it up. If any time was going to do that for them, apparently, the run up to back to school would be part of it. This one in particular, they knew, was bound to stand out… It was the moving pieces… moving siblings.

There was still something funny about having the Hart-Lanes across the road from them. Not funny bad, not at all, only that… they would almost forget sometimes. Or not forget, but… They were still so used to them being so far away, and then suddenly they'd just stop and think 'oh, I just have to walk out the door and I'll be with them in like a minute.' It wouldn't matter if they'd seen each other just the day before, or even earlier the same day, sometimes it was like their brains hadn't quite redirected itself away from the force of habit. And it wasn't just the Friars. Sam, Cara, Teddy, Emma and Eliza… It was the same for them. It was the same for the four relocated Hart-Lanes, too. As for the kids…

"Mommy, can we go to Grandma and Grandpa?" Kacey came along, Remy and Lucy right behind her.

"Uh…" Maya trailed off as she moved to look out the window. "Alright, yeah, let's go." She'd spotted James out there, just returned and coming out of his car. Even as she opened the door and the girls dashed out, she signaled him and pointed to them. That was all she had to do, and he got the message, jogging up to help his little granddaughters cross the road. There was hardly ever any traffic, and there wasn't any at all in that moment, but they were trying to make sure that the girls understood the concept of checking before they crossed any street or road, and right here it would be so easy for them not to even think about it otherwise. But instead, they stopped at the mailbox, waited for their grandfather, and then crossed with him when he joined them. They were so happy to see him, every time, and the feeling was mutual.

A lot of things were happening today. A lot of things had been happening for them to get to this day. Earlier that summer, they'd seen Eliza and Emma graduate from college. It still felt weird to say it, when Maya could just close her eyes and see that little five-year-old face on a screen, the first time she'd met the Lizard… The last four years had just gone by, as they would, and though there had been a period of that time where the double graduation had been sort of uncertain, on the line, they had made it to the end. Also, earlier that summer, back in Tucson, they had seen Wyatt graduate high school, and it called back the same vision, only with him it was that of a toddler, a one-year-old with squishy cheeks.

The Hart-Lanes' move to Austin happening when it did had left everyone, on either side of the road, with this question of how they were going to move forward with the transition that was due to happen. Two sisters were due to move out, one brother to move in, but now the brother was already inbound, landing right across the road but still aiming to join his older sister, the way his other older siblings had done. Had he still been in Tucson over the summer, the plan would have been as before, that Eliza and Emma would stick around a while longer, moving out nearer the start of the school year than the end of the previous one, a sort of last hurrah at the Friar house. With Wyatt right there though, the impulse might have been for the swap to happen earlier rather than later, but he didn't want that to happen, and he didn't mind waiting. He'd just packed up everything when they were going to move, so this was going to give him time to sort everything out, figure out what he'd bring across the road, or leave with his parents, or toss out altogether.

Did he actually manage to do it when he said he was going to? Not at all. It wasn't that he was slacking off, he was just settling into a new city, getting ready to start college… He'd needed to find a job, and he'd gotten one… at Nando's Diner. No one had helped him directly, except that he'd gone into the diner one day, and Nando had recognized him, and started chatting with him, and then one thing had led to another, and he'd come out again with a job. One of his waiters was starting college, too, but he was leaving Texas to do it rather than coming to it, so he had an opening. Wyatt was trained by the one he was replacing, and finally he'd taken his post outright.

And then he'd met a girl. Leave it to him to make a connection so suddenly, although they hadn't known about her for a few weeks. All they had known was that he was often out of the house, out and about in his new city. He'd been here plenty of times over the years, whenever he'd visit his siblings, but he was living here now, so they hadn't thought too much of it other than he was finding his way. It wasn't until they'd gone out to the university bookstore for him to get his textbooks that they'd put the pieces together, when they'd run into the mystery girl. Laurel was about to start her freshman year, same as Wyatt, had also recently relocated to Austin for school but, unlike Wyatt, had never set foot there once, so he'd taken it upon himself to show her around. And according to him, they were just friends. That might have been true, and he might have told himself that it was all there was to this, but as far as the rest of his family was concerned… Yeah, it was only a matter of time.

The days had wound down, and now 'leg two' of his college move was approaching. Eliza and Emma had cleared out their rooms and finally gone to settle in with Ben and Dakota in their new apartment, which meant that all that stood in the way of Wyatt's crossing the road was a bit of freshening up in his future room. He had been absently living out of his boxes since late June, and that had to be dealt with.

Lucas ended up helping him do it. The rest of the Hart-Lanes had gone either to help the girls with their unpacking at the apartment or to the house to help with the rooms. Both of them had been brand new when Emma and Eliza had moved in, the attic freshly turned into the second floor, and they had been their space since then. Now one of them would be Wyatt's, who had chosen a sort of forest green, not unlike what Sam had once had when he'd lived at his sister's and much to Marianne's green-loving approval, and the other… well, they hadn't figured that one out yet. There was something to be said for the idea of giving the eldest of the in-house sisters her own room, as she would soon be eight years old and was sharing her current room with a two-year-old and a one-year-old. And maybe she would want her own room when she was a little older, but right now she was much more content remaining with her little sisters, so that was where she'd stay.

There was of course the fact that Nellie and Gracie Hunter would be seniors in high school this year and had already made overtures toward following the Hart-Lanes' example by going to live with their big sister over their college years, to follow their path as much as for their own desire to experience something they'd been too little to be aware of. So, that second empty room could be kept aside for them, but what were they going to do with it until then? It kind of felt strange to leave it empty for a whole year, and then what would happen if they changed their minds and didn't move in after all? They might decide instead to get a place with their boyfriends, and their friends… Maya could see them just as easily sharing a house, the seven of them, the way she and Lucas and their friends had done back in Houston.

Whatever they would do with the room, for now, it would stay empty. They needed to focus on getting Wyatt in, and today was the day. James, Lucas, and Wyatt would see to most of the big furniture items, bringing them out of one house, loading them into a borrowed truck, driving them across the road and up to the other house, and then bringing them up to Wyatt's room. It bordered on too funny to have the truck, and they might have gone without it except that they'd been convinced that it would be better this way and less likely to end in injury. Everyone else saw to the boxes and bags and other loose objects. Everyone from either house, right down to little Aubrey, who was entrusted with the carrying of Wyatt's pillow, even if it meant that she had to be carried while she did her own carrying, whenever they had to go up or down stairs or across the lawns and the road in between. She was doing her part, and she looked mightily proud for it.

"Pillow delivery," Maya announced, leading Aubrey into the room. She'd kept her back while everything else was being brought in, the bed reassembled, the furniture placed where it would go, the boxes stacked… "She just kept holding on to it the whole time," Maya told her brother with a smirk. "Wouldn't let any of us get near it, like we were going to take her job away," she went on, peering down to her youngest daughter. Aubrey was looking back at her now with that big smile going as far as it would go. "Go on, you can give it to him now," she pointed to Wyatt, who crouched down to get at his niece's level. Aubrey turned to look at him and squealed as she hurried forward and presented the pillow to its owner. It was almost bigger than her in every way.

"Thanks, Aubrey," Wyatt smiled at her. "Do you want to put it up there?" He got some big nods for that, and so he stood back up and lifted the girl, allowing her to drop the pillow on to the mattress where it belonged. It didn't land just right, so she pointed, and he sat her on the bed so she could crawl up and nudge the pillow in its proper position. Now she whipped her head back around to look at her uncle and her mother, springing blond curls whipping along with her. "Thanks," Wyatt told her. He went and got her back down when she started to move back over the edge, and as soon as she was on her feet, she ran off, back out of the room. Maya watched her go, making sure that the gate was in place at the stairs. She only went to look out the window; she loved this view, as her big sisters had done before her.

"Look at you, all moved in," Maya turned back to Wyatt, who had fished out the sheets for his bed and set the stack on the mattress before moving to the boxes. She resisted the urge of stating her gladness that he wasn't going to leave everything in boxes for weeks here like he'd done in his other new room.

"Yeah, getting there," Wyatt nodded, contemplating where to start.

"Hey…" she nudged his shoulder and he looked at her. His attempt at a mustache a while back had thankfully not lasted, though he'd continued to explore his 'options' with regards to facial hair, and he had landed on what felt like just enough of scruff that it kind of suited him. Maya didn't know that it would ever not feel weird to see it on him, but probably over time she'd get used to it and wouldn't even think about it. "You good?"

"Yeah," Wyatt told her, smiling but also… "I don't know, I'm just realizing how weird it is, moving here for college but then having Mom and Dad just across from your house."

"Little bit, yeah," she had to admit. "But it'll be fine, won't it?"

"I think so… hope so," he shrugged.

"Well…" Maya hummed, locking her little brother in a big squeeze of a hug. "You're in my house, now, your house for the next little bit, and I think that's kind of really awesome." Wyatt chuckled and hugged her back.

"I think so, too," he nodded when they pulled back.

"And if that's not enough, the girls are all very, very excited to have Uncle Wy in the house," Maya beamed. That was what they'd call him, when they were little and couldn't quite say his name yet. It was down to the last two on that count, though even if they could say his name now, the nickname tended to stick as soon as one of the girls said it, so with him living at the house, it could well become a permanent fixture following him around.

"I am, too," Wyatt promised with a new, more assured smile. "Marianne asked if I'd go with you guys for her back to school shopping."

"Yeah, that's our next thing today," Maya chuckled. That was always the way, wasn't it? Marianne had been the first, and her little sisters all picked it up, one after the other: if they were happy to have someone around, they wanted them involved in everything. It made for a very good welcome, in this case, to their uncle and new upstairs roommate.

They had more than Wyatt for company. Even though they'd all talked it over and Abigail and James had both agreed to give him some space and not hover by reason of proximity, there was still the fact that Maisie would soon be starting school as well, and it had been decided between her and Marianne and Tori that they would all go to get their things on the same day. They were all in different grades, but it didn't matter. If anything, that made it more fun, because all their lists were different. That made it like a scavenger hunt.

So, the Friars made for the mall along with the Hart-Lanes, there to meet up with Theo and Tori. They arrived ahead of their meeting time, the better to make a stop by the art store to pick up the year's load of sketchbooks and gold pens. Maya kind of had to laugh, seeing how excited her stepparents and younger siblings were to be there for this. They knew all about the diaries, but it had always been something beyond them and now they were right there.

"Can I do one, too?" Maisie asked her sister, teetering on the tips of her toes with excitement as she looked to the great stacks of blank sketchbooks about to be slipped into the empty boxes.

"Of course, you can," Maya smiled. "She's got one, too," she nodded over to Marianne, who nodded and smiled as well. "Do you want one just like these ones or a different one?"

"What about Tori? She might want one, too," Marianne gasped.

"True…" Maya agreed, before Marianne cut in again.

"What about the triplets?" She'd been younger still than they were when she'd started on her own, her first one. Maya let out a breath.

"Why don't you go ahead and grab a few more of those, yeah?" she told her daughter and sister, and they ran off.

"I'll go with them," Wyatt offered, already moving to keep up with them.

They came back with a stack of seven sketchbooks, which Wyatt carried. Seeing how many there were, Maya gave him a curious look. He explained that there was one each for Kacey, Remy, and Lucy, and for Tori, and for Maisie, and then one for Marianne because she wanted a different one than her main one for 'special things.'

"And the seventh?" Maya asked.

"For him," Marianne and Maisie answered together, with smiles big enough to suggest that the seven and ten-year-old girls had decided, in their infinite love for the college freshman, that he needed his own diary, same as the rest of them, with assignments and everything. Wyatt looked on board, not just humoring them.

The extra diaries were paid for and stashed, for now at least, in the spare materials box. The group went off to meet Theo and Tori – who was thrilled to hear about her new diary – and then it was off to the hunt. Most of them had little else to do except to follow with the baskets as the girls went along the aisles with their lists. Tori needed help to read hers, but she had her aunts for that. Maisie wasn't technically her aunt, or her great aunt, but what did they care of accuracy? She was Nana Maya's sister, and it had always been so that the Hunters and Hart-Lanes counted one another as one big pile of brothers and sisters through the one that linked them together. So, they were family, and Maisie was very glad to count Tori like a niece.

They got everything they were looking for. Whatever was too high for even the likes of Maisie, who like Marianne was tall for her age, Wyatt would be called upon to pull down, which he would gladly do. When they were all done, they returned to the Friar house, save for Theo, who had to go to work. Tori would be very happy, as always, to spend some extra time with her grandparents. Plus, she'd get to join in with Marianne and Maisie in getting her school things identified with her name. And after that, while Abigail and James took off to go do groceries and Wyatt went up to continue unpacking, the three girls got to join forces in helping Maya with another of their end-of-summer traditions: the preparation of the diaries. They had the boxes full of blank sketchbooks, the gold pens, the elastic bands, the lists… They were good to go. First things first, they'd get to watch as Maya identified each of their diaries' spines.

"Here you are," she passed the book marked Maisie Hart-Lane to its owner. She had been given the task of adding the gold pen, holding it in place while Tori grabbed one of the elastics and stuck it on. For the regular ones, actually meant for the students, Marianne would go on to bring it into its box. Instead, this one was left aside, where Maisie could see it. "Do you know what the first thing you have to do is?"

"The cover," Maisie replied with a smile and a nod.

"Do you know what you want it to be yet?" Maya asked curiously. Another big nod, but also a look that said plainly: I'm not telling you, so you'll have to wait and see. "Alright then," Maya sat back, respecting that, before turning to her granddaughter. "Now you, sneaky. Do you want it to say Tori or Victoria?" She was taking pleasure, as Marianne had done in the past, at poking the pile of elastic bands, but then she held up two fingers. "Ah, Miss Victoria Friar it shall be," Maya intoned, in her best 'fancy voice.' "What about you? Marianne? Annie? Sheriff? Pumpkin? Hucklebucket?" she turned to her daughter. Marianne shook her head. "None of those? You got more names I don't know about?"

"Don't write anything yet. I have to decide what it's for," she explained.

"Alright, that's fair," Maya nodded before passing her the blank book. "Let's get started before your dad gets back with the others then."

For the first time in… just about as long as she'd been a teacher, she knew none of her freshmen. Oh, there were definitely a few familiar surnames, suggesting younger siblings of former students, but she didn't know them. Up until now, every year, in about all of her groups, she'd had anything from a sibling to a cousin, whether from her family or through Lucas, or a family friend, a neighbor, something, kids that she had already known and regularly interacted with independently of school. But none of that now, not with this group. She supposed this would be norm. All this time, she'd had people because it just happened that way. She didn't mind it being the other way around now. If anything, she was kind of looking forward to it, to getting to know them all, with no expectations of any kind.

What she was not looking forward to, on the flipside, was saying goodbye to her gold star group, to her sisters and their friends… She still had a whole year with them, sure, but they were all just so wonderful to have in class every day, and now… For all you know, these new freshmen will be gold stars, too. Even if they aren't, you'll be just as glad to know them all.

When Lucas arrived back from collecting the triplets and little sisters from his parents' house, Maya and her team of helpers had gotten through one box of diaries and were starting a second. After getting them settled to play or nap, as needed, he came back around so they might get to take care of two diaries in particular. They had new exchange campers, and they would be arriving the very next morning. After what had happened this year with Matt Cullen, there had been some uncertainty about whether the program would get to carry on, but they had pulled through in the end, and now they had two new kids on their way to Austin, to the ranch, and to the high school. They didn't have to worry about how much or little they'd get to interact with the pair. For one, they were siblings, and for another, one of them was staying with the Hunters.

"Mila and Misha Makovetsky," Lucas told Maya, even as she had the names in her folder. "Misha is a junior, seventeen. He's staying with the Bailey-Ryan family." She hadn't known that the family had signed up for this, especially with the baby, but she was happy to hear it. "And Mila's going to be with your family, through MJ. Sophomore, fifteen years old. Family's moved a couple of times while the two of them were growing up, from what I heard, better part of it in France for about six years before they moved to Virginia two years ago. Both grew up riding."

The diaries were identified, including the note on the inside. She'd get to meet them both before the start of classes, and she had half a mind to bring the two books to them ahead of time, but she probably wouldn't. Better that they get a chance to settle in. They would have the advantage of having someone around them from back home, even if they wouldn't be staying in the same place. She had to wonder whether they were aware of what had happened the previous year. For their sake, she hoped that people wouldn't go tossing it around at them, as though they would have the same kinds of issues.

"There, all set," Maya passed the second book on to Maisie, who sat ready and waiting with the gold pen. Tori had an elastic, careful not to pinch her fingers… again. Diary day always made Maya look forward to the start of classes, and today was no exception. It was nearly time…

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners