Chapter 63
Set the Lights and Bring the Cheer

"What's with the face?" Lucas called down from where he worked to fix the strings of colorful light bulbs along the roof of the house. Down below, Pappy Joe was unspooling the line as he went, while Maya sat on a lawn chair planted in the already melting light snowfall, observing the whole thing. With her coat, her hat, mittens, the whole thing, it was still very clear on her face that something had her upset.

"My face is just fine," she called back. "I just really wanted to get to help decorate the house, our first Christmas out here, his first Christmas," she explained, looking down to Elliott sat in her lap.

Unlike her, the six-month-old looked very happy to be outside, bundled up as they had made him. He would laugh and bat his little arms, and then it would be very hard for his mother to do anything but laugh along and cuddle him up good. She wasn't about to go and get up a ladder at sixteen weeks with their Bee in her belly, but then they wouldn't even let her help in any way, wanting her to sit and take it easy while they handled the outdoor part.

It had been three weeks now since Thanksgiving, and the big unveiling, and Nadine's surprise visit. Even though they had declared how this would be the end of revelations, it couldn't be entirely true, could it? There were still people in their lives who had yet to learn about Baby Friar Number Two, Codename Bee, and this meant a few more outbursts, a few more giddy surprises. The top prize easily went to Rosa, who had been invited over to make up for how she had been unable to join them on Thanksgiving. She had shown up in mid-morning, the better to spend as much time as possible with them.

"Hey, look at that, he's got a tooth now," she'd grinned upon seeing Elliott in his seat near the couch.

"Yeah, he earned it," Lucas had told her, thinking of the last few days. There had been nothing for them to do, no matter how much they hated to see him in pain and discomfort. And now here was his reward for it, a shiny and much chronicled new tooth.

"Hi, there, hi," Rosa had leaned in to pick him up, When she'd done so, his knitted blanket had fallen off of him, and Lucas had to resist smirking as it took Rosa way too long to see the writing on the front of the boy's onesie. She was so preoccupied with making faces at Elliott, encouraged each time by his reactions, that eventually Maya had lost her patience back in the kitchen.

"Did she see it yet?" she'd called out, making Rosa pause and look to Lucas with questions in her eyes.

"Not yet," Lucas had called back.

"She's making faces at him, isn't she?"

"You know I can hear you, right?" Rosa had called out at this point.

"Sure, but can you read?" Maya had countered.

"Read…" Rosa had looked back to Lucas, still baffled. He could only shrug and cross his arms in wait. Rosa had been left to look at Elliott again. He'd been entirely undisturbed by all this, focused instead on trying to get hold of Rosa's glasses. She was keeping her head out of his reach, so he had no luck, but he kept trying. Finally, she'd managed to get a look at what was written on his onesie. It had been a gift from his very eager Granny Mel, and both Maya and Lucas had felt a bit reluctant to put it on him, like they might be jinxing themselves, but for the occasion, it was only right. After all, he really was going to be a BIG BROTHER.

To look at her face, it really felt like her brain had taken a journey, zigzagging along as though the obvious answer couldn't possibly be true, so this either had to be a joke or she was really misinterpreting things.

"What's going on back there?" Maya had called out, clearly impatient.

"I'm not sure, honestly," Lucas had told her.

"Oh, come on…" Maya had finally come sweeping in from the kitchen, back in her 'ta-da!' dress. Rosa had turned, seeing her, seeing that growing belly, and then she'd turned again, toward Lucas.

"Could you take your son here for a minute?"

"Sure," he'd laughed. Once he'd relieved her of Elliott, Rosa had turned to Maya once again, before stepping up to her and hugging her.

"Are you sure it's not a pillow? Or a big lunch?" she'd quietly asked.

"I am, and it's not," Maya had laughed.

"You guys are so… fertile…" had been Rosa's response, and for having expected no less out of her, it still was almost too much for them to take, with how it made them laugh harder.

By now, everyone knew, which was just as well. As predicted, they were nearing Christmas and there was no way anyone would not have known that Maya was pregnant, no matter what she wore.

"How does it look?" Lucas asked, jogging over to join his wife after he'd come back down from the ladder. Elliott made a happy noise at the sight of him, and Lucas gladly scooped him up.

"Well, they're not lit yet, and it's daytime, so… they look like lightbulbs," Maya looked up at him with a self-satisfied smile. "What about the lawn… things?" she waved her arms around to indicate the empty space.

"We were at the store, and Elliott saw one of those inflatable Santas and freaked out, and you said 'it's okay, Sprout, I'll poke him dead,'" Lucas dutifully recited.

"I stand by it," Maya stood up, trailing her chair back toward the house. "There are other things, aren't there?"

"Right about now, this is usually where you get a… brilliant idea?" he challenged, stealing a look to Elliott like he was telling him 'watch this, son, it's going to be great.'

"You're going to put me on the spot, aren't you?" Maya squinted at him for a moment, but then her gaze shifted, an idea rising in her mind. "Do you think your aunt could help me make some cut-outs or something. She can take care of the wood, then I can paint them?"

"See?" Lucas smiled.

"We could put lights in them, too, so we can see them from far away at night…"

Dot was on board as soon as Maya told her what she was after. She would need a few days to get it done once Maya sent her the specifications, but after that she would be right on it. Soon, Maya was sitting on the couch, legs up, with a cushion in her lap and her sketchbook open on top, where she was now working out her order to Lucas' aunt.

"I thought you wanted to help with the decorating," Lucas asked, indicating the bare tree sitting in wait of ornamentation as he helped Elliott out of his extra layers.

"Clearly, I am," Maya showed him her book, where she'd already started tracing reindeer. "Anyway, I have a perfect view here. I can supervise. Go on, decorate," she flicked her pencil to the tree like a wand.

"This is one of those 'I get to stare' deals, isn't it?" Lucas guessed.

"You said it, not me," she 'sighed.'

"I'm starting to see how we ended up here," he replied, returning Elliott to her. She easily mastered keeping him in one arm where she could carry on drawing.

"Lights first," Maya quietly instructed, and he obliged with a smile and a slow turn. "Logging that appreciation," she promised, smiling back.

Little by little, it was all coming together. Lucas was getting the decorations on to the tree, all the while following the careful instructions of his 'supervisor' as she ensured that all the ornaments were properly spread over the branches, giving 'good coverage.' As she did this, she also sketched out the cut-outs, with all the reindeer and a jolly Saint Nick in his sleigh. Pappy Joe had been recruited to help her figure out dimensions, with the bonus of getting some time with his great grandson. By the end, it was both him and Maya telling Lucas what to put next and where to set it. And because his patience was legendary, he followed both of their guiding hands.

"So? Are we good? I think if I put one more thing on there it might actually give up and collapse," Lucas stepped back when he was done. Maya and Pappy Joe looked on, eventually getting up so they could see the whole tree.

"You know what I'm thinking?" Maya asked after a few seconds of quiet contemplation.

"No, but it's not about redoing the whole thing, right?" Lucas asked back.

"It's not, no, the tree is perfect," she quickly promised. "I was thinking how next year we might have to rethink things. Elliott will be walking around by then. What if he gets too close and the tree just falls on him?" she mimed, and Lucas swore she was looking at the tree now in the same way she'd done the inflatable Santa that made their son cry.

"We won't let it," Lucas shook his head.

"Yeah… No, you're right," she waved off the thought, like she mostly blamed herself for letting it exist in the first place. "I should scan these for Dot," she held up her sketchbook before heading off upstairs.

With the rest of the decorations installed around the living room, out on the porch, and into the kitchen, Lucas went and put away the empty boxes in the basement before climbing back up. When he got there, he had to stop and look around, capturing the whole look. It was late afternoon by now, and the light from outside was turning toward sunset. The lights were starting to stand out more, and to see it now… How many Christmases had he spent out here, with his grandparents, and then with Pappy Joe alone after his grandmother's passing…

A lot had changed by now, of course. It was his and Maya's house now, and it showed, but still, something about having all the decorations, and the tree… It reminded him of those old times, and it filled him with a warmth he had not expected. He looked to the angel on top of the tree. Susannah Friar had made that angel with her own two hands. It had been well cared for across the years. When his grandmother had passed, the angel had gone on to his father, and it had topped their trees for years, until now. His father had brought the angel over to the house last night, which was what had sent them on this decoration marathon today. It was theirs to look after now. The idea that, someday, years from now, Elliott might carry it on as an heirloom was just something he had not known he wanted to see until this moment, watching his grandfather quietly looking to his late wife's angel as he held his own boy.

"Lucas!" Maya called from upstairs, and the tone of surprise in her voice sent him sprinting up the stairs to find her.

"Where are you?" he asked, even as he turned his head and spotted her sitting on the nursery floor. "Did you fall?" he approached her at once.

"No, no," she quickly promised, all the while reaching for his hands. He thought she wanted him to help her up, until she caught hold and pulled for him to join her.

"What…" he started to ask, even as she made him come closer and finally set his hands here and there on her belly.

"I felt it," she smiled. "Little buzzing Bee."

"What?" Lucas brightened now, resettling his posture as he sat there with her, feeling for something, anything. "Are you sure?" he asked, after a few seconds had gone by.

"Yes, I'm sure, I have done this before," she reminded him. "Might not happen again for a while," she finally had to concede. It wasn't anything big, not yet, but it had definitely been something she could feel.

"I can wait," Lucas told her, shifting his hands underneath her shirt, for more direct contact, which she happily obliged.

"I had so many ideas of what our first Christmas with Elliott would be like. In all of those, I never thought we'd be here like this, with this little guy or girl… making an overture."

"Ready for an encore whenever you are," Lucas bowed his head to the increased bump of her belly and his hands over it. Maya smiled, brushing her fingers through his hair even as she looked up to the room around them.

"We're going to have to do something about this place," she stated.

"We've got time," he reminded her.

"No, I know," she agreed. "But then what happens with Elliott when the new baby comes? Do we keep both cribs in our room or do we finally move him out here? And if we do, then we can't make the transition right when the baby comes home. He might need time to adjust, we might need time, too. So, we might as well have that second crib already, then we'll have one here and one there, in case we need to bring him back in the beginning."

"We could start transitioning him in here after the holidays?" Lucas suggested.

"After my birthday?" Maya countered, which made him smile.

"Like I said, after the holidays." He looked down then, back up again a moment later to seek confirmation that he'd felt what he thought he'd felt. Maya nodded, and he looked back down. "So, we agree," he breathed.

The very next day, they had set out early after breakfast, returning just before lunch with the box carrying the new crib. Much as Pappy Joe had offered to help, Lucas had instead recruited Mitch Sanderson to help him carry the thing up into the nursery. After their neighbor from up the lane had eaten with them, he'd offered to help with the assembly but had been thanked instead and sent on his way.

"I sat out the lights on the roof because that made sense, but I can help with this part," she told Lucas, who did not argue one moment.

In what felt like little to no time, they were just about done.

"I'm concerned," Maya declared. Lucas turned back to her. "I wasn't there for the other one, and every time I've seen one of these put together, it's been on TV or in movies, and it always seems so complicated. This was easy. What if we did it wrong and it just falls to pieces with our kid inside?"

"First of all, it's more solid than that," Lucas promised. "Second, we're not going to put either Elliott or the Bee in there until we're sure it's fine. Third… I put the other one together with your dad and mine. It wasn't that hard then either, and we did pretty well, I think."

"You did, yes," Maya slowly agreed, giving an apologetic look he knew to be her 'you know how I get about these things' look. He did know, of course, and he would always respond in kind, talking her off the worried mom ledge as it was.

"What about the walls? Are you going to add to the mural?" Lucas asked now. Maya's eyes scanned their surroundings, the cheerfully painted walls…

"No, not yet," she decided. "Elliott hasn't even slept in here, really. Although… he might miss his tree… Do you think he'll notice if it's not overhead anymore?"

"Good thing we'll be testing it out ahead of time, huh?" Lucas pointed out, tipping all the credit on to her.

"Good thing," she agreed, turning her eyes to the new crib now. It was really one of those things which, for all they'd experienced up to now, since the day they'd learned of this new baby, made everything feel that much more real. They'd had another one of those moments, just the day before, when Maya had felt the baby move.

"Is it a bad thing that I really just want him or her to be here already?" Lucas asked as they stood by the new crib.

"Why would it be bad?" Maya wondered.

"Maybe not bad, but just… I love all of this, love going through all the steps with the pregnancy and you, but at the same time, it's just like…"

"We did this already?" she guessed, and he nodded. "No, I know what you mean. I feel it, too. I know I'm going to miss this part when it's over, but I also just really want to have the baby be here with us already."

"That is going to be so many more diapers…" Lucas commented, and Maya laughed.

"So many…" she whispered. "We're going to have to develop a system."

"I don't know, I think we've got things down already. Two of us, two of them, it'll be no sweat."

"Yeah, until it's not the two of us and you're back at school," Maya reminded him.

"I'll be finishing out a semester when this one comes," Lucas stated even as he realized it.

"Yeah…" she realized it, too. They might have wondered how it could have taken them this long to piece it together, knowing the baby was due in early May and how it would cross with the end of classes, and then finals…

"What if I miss it?"

"The Bee won't know if you do," she pointed out. "And I know you wouldn't be anywhere else unless you ready had to. We both do what we have to do."

It was what he needed to hear, and still she could tell he dreaded the idea of missing this birth. To see him in the last year and some, first as an expectant father and then as a father to their son, now expecting again with this second baby on the way… He had so much love in him for these children, for her, for their family, and whenever she saw it, felt it… It was like a rush of peace. She had nothing to worry about. He was here, and he loved her and their children more than anything in the world.

"So, I know Pappy Joe isn't doing the mall Santa thing these days, but do you think he'd dress up for a picture with Elliott? I'd feel weird taking him to whoever's out there now? Like we were cheating on the best Santa we know," she grinned.

"For the Sprout, I think we could get him out of retirement," Lucas chuckled, looping his arms around her.

"Less of a lineup, too," Maya stated, leaning into his hold. "I've been there with my parents more than once, it's…"

She stalled upon hearing her phone ring back across the hall, and they both passed from the nursery into their room when the noise pulled Elliott from his nap and put him in touch with his inner bullhorn. Lucas went and picked him up while Maya answered the call. It was her father, Kermit.

"Hey, Dad, we were just…"

"Maya, help!" It was not her father on the other end. Instead, she was met with the frightened voice of her little sister.

"Eliza, what's wrong?"

"Dad fell down, he won't wake up!"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners