Chapter 68
Twenty-Two

It seemed like only a moment ago, they had been celebrating Maya's twenty-first birthday, and now a year had gone by. A lot had changed, but a lot felt very much the same. She was pregnant, again, and the state of her father's health weighed heavily on her. This year, even more so…

Lucas could tell just by looking at her that a part of her wasn't sure if she even wanted a party, anything more well wishes and maybe a cake. But then, it was like Christmas, just a bit. This would be their last one together, Kermit and her, and he definitely wanted to celebrate her birthday, so the party was on, over the coming weekend.

It had been a week since the appointment, where the three of them had gone to see the baby, where Lucas had accidentally discovered they were having a boy again, even though they had been meant to be surprised. Keeping it from Maya was not what he would have wanted, but he was determined to let her have the surprise at least. He might not have had that for himself, but seeing it in her… that would be enough. At the same time, it left him with a number of thoughts to sort through.

The one that kept turning over in his head felt like two separate thoughts, swirling around one another, waiting for him to bring them together. Finally, today, it had hit him, as he'd spent been on his lunch break. After he finished eating, he would usually go and browse around for a while, and more often than not he would find himself either browsing kids' books, always on the lookout for something to add to Elliott's shelves, or the pregnancy and baby books, because it was so much of his life.

Maya had extended the choice of their Bee's name out to him, as she had been the one to name Elliott. So, a lot of the time, he would find himself browsing the same book of names. They had one, back home, just like this one, but then he was here, and every time he ended up near the shelf, he would keep going to it and turn the pages again. He'd yet to find one he liked enough to say 'that's it, that's the name,' especially as he didn't know whether they'd even use it for sure up until the week before. Now, it felt more real, and when he looked at those boys' names, he could almost see this small face in his mind's eye.

Today, he was paging through the F section, and his eyes had found the name Francis. It didn't make him think 'oh, this is a good one for the maybe pile.' Instead, it made him think about Maya's father. Kermit Hart had been named in honor of his mother's late brother. His name had been Francis, but people had taken to nickname him Kermit the Frog because of his lanky frame, gangly limbs… Elizabeth Hart had passed this on to her son in tribute.

Kermit… the name… Lucas knew what he had to do now.

Maya was at her parents' house that afternoon, looking after her baby brother, which meant that, when he left the bookstore and made his way to the Hart house, Lucas could be certain that she wouldn't be around. When he came up to the door, he was let in by Maya's grandmother, who was in the midst of making dinner before her grandchildren came home from school. Kermit was sitting on the couch, watching television even as he appeared to be trying to fix one of Wyatt's toys.

"I didn't see it when I sat," he told Lucas. "Just can't get the side to snap back in place."

"Can I?" Lucas pointed to the thing, and Kermit held it out to him as he came to sit at his side.

"I didn't know you were coming over tonight, is Maya…"

"Oh, she doesn't know I'm here," Lucas explained, working at the toy still.

"Oh?" Kermit asked, just as the side of the toy clicked back into place, making him laugh. "You fixed it, thank you."

"Sure," Lucas smiled, setting the thing down on the coffee table before turning to his father-in-law. "The reason I'm here is that I wanted to talk to you about something, for the baby, about the baby." Kermit nodded, listening. After listening for a moment, confirming that Elizabeth was back in the kitchen, Lucas looked to the man. "I don't think I'm out of line to say that… we're all hoping that you'll still be with us when the baby comes, but… there's a chance… you might not be." Kermit sat quietly for a moment, and Lucas briefly wondered if he'd overstepped, but really he knew that what was going through the man's mind right now was just so much.

"I try to be positive about it, for Abby, for my mom, my sister… the kids… But I don't have any delusions for myself. Every day that goes by, every day I get to wake up again and see them… I want to hold on, for them, for that baby… But I'm not going to... I know it. I feel it."

The confession was so plain and open, and it caught Lucas just slightly off guard. At the same time, it made his idea feel that much more purposeful.

"Mr. Hart…" he started.

"Kermit," his father-in-law insisted.

"I'm going to tell you something, and it has to stay between us, okay?" Lucas smiled.

"Alright," Kermit nodded, growing curious.

"Remember last week, when we were at the clinic, you and Maya went off to find the bathrooms, and I went back in because she'd forgotten her vest?" Another nod. "The image was still on the screen, from the sonogram. And I didn't mean to see anything, but, well… I did… And I can't tell anyone, especially Maya, because we were going to be surprised. But now I do know, and since then I've been thinking about it all the time. Today I figured out why, I figured… If I hold on to it, then everyone gets surprised, sure, but also there's you. You might not get that surprise, you might never get to know, and that's not… It shouldn't be that way. I know it's going to hurt Maya to think about that."

"I wanted to look, when we were there," Kermit recalled. "I thought 'what's the harm?' I really wanted to know, too, but then I didn't want to risk spoiling it for the two of you, if I said something by accident…"

"I think you'll do okay," Lucas promised, feeling he'd made the right call more than ever as he saw the hopeful look on the man's face. "And I need you to, because that's not the only reason I'm here. Maya is leaving me the choice of the name this time around, but I got to thinking earlier today, and I think it would please us both, Maya and I, if you picked it." Kermit's face registered surprise in a way that made his resemblance to Maya so evident, or hers to him at least.

"Pick… the baby's name?" Kermit asked, making sure. Lucas nodded. "Oh…" the emotion rattled through him, enough that he might have started to cry. He took a breath.

"The two of you might never get to meet, but at least this way… there will always be a part of you with him," Lucas went on, and to see how that one small pronoun registered and expanded in the ailing grandfather's mind…

"You're having another boy," he stated, and Lucas' face was one big smile as he nodded once more. Kermit responded to this by pressing him in a quick hug. "Okay… I-I can do that, I… First and middle?"

"Yes," Lucas agreed. "You can write it down and seal it in an envelope, like the doctor did back at the clinic. Then after the baby is born, we will open it and see."

"I'll have to think about it, a name…" Kermit breathed. His face kept resetting to that smile, thinking about his future grandson again, and if there had been any need left for Lucas to convince himself this was the right call, he'd just filled it.

"Take your time," he insisted.

A few days later, the morning came for the day of Maya's birthday party. She wasn't actually turning twenty-two until a couple days later, but they were having the party on the weekend before.

Lucas had gotten pretty good at feeling out his wife's discomforts, between this pregnancy and the last, and that morning he could tell by the way she lay there next to him that her back was getting to act up, as it had done in the last few months before Elliott had come. Without prompt, he'd reached over and worked to try and relieve some of that pain.

"I wasn't sure if you were awake," Maya mumbled, letting out a breath that suggested his hands had not come a minute too soon.

"Morning," he smiled and leaned to press a kiss at her shoulder.

"I did not miss this part…" she groaned, which told him he'd found the spot most in need of relief. "The pain, I mean. Your hands right there, give me that any day."

"Happy to," Lucas promised. In time, she moved to turn herself over, the better to get a look at him. "Hey." His face turned to a smile, as did hers.

"Hey… So it's not really my birthday, but also… it's my birthday…" she stated, with a small 'cheer.'

"It is, yes," he laughed, pulling her closer until her belly would allow them no nearer. "Do you know what the best thing is about having your party birthday and your actual birthday?" She shook her head. "It means that I get to express how happy I am that you exist, not once but twice." Her laugh here came like a burst, and they both looked over to the crib on reflex, only to remember that they had put Elliott in the nursery last night.

"Like you ever need a reason to say that, Huckleberry," Maya smirked, hooking her finger at his shirt collar to pull him into a kiss.

"You caught me there," he grinned before their lips met. This lasted all of five seconds before the sound of Elliott crying floated across the hall. "And we're off," Lucas breathed as he and Maya both moved to rise and walk over to see how their boy was doing.

The transition into the nursery still wasn't entirely achieved. As of yet, they had not managed to put him there when he was awake. He wouldn't fall asleep. The only way they could put him there and expect any results was if he was already asleep by the time they set him in the new crib. Once that happened, they had to hope he would stay that way, or else they'd be back to the top of the routine. It didn't feel like they were really making progress, when they would put him down in his old crib to get him to fall asleep before carrying him across the hall.

"It's the tree, isn't it?" Maya sighed as they walked in now and Lucas lifted Elliott into his arms. "You miss your leaves," she cooed, taking her son's small hand and kissing it. "Do you think there's any way to get me up there and make him one without me falling and…" she gestured down to herself before turning her eyes back to Lucas.

"If there is, then we'll find it," he promised her, all the while brushing at Elliott's hair until it wasn't sticking up so much. This amused the boy very much, which in turn made his parents happy. "Not today though," Lucas added.

"No, of course not," Maya agreed. When he moved to hand her Elliott, she received him with an eager smile. "Today, we go party mode," she informed her son. He took this proclamation as a cue to prod his little fingers at her face. "Or that."

The party was set to take place at the Hart house. It didn't take long for them to figure out that everything was already being put in motion bright and early that day. Lucas' parents were already out there in mid-morning, and Maya's Hunter contingent soon followed, as did her friends out of Houston. Pappy Joe eventually headed out ahead of them, leaving the 'guest of honor' to call on her patience as she waited for the time when she would be cleared to join them. It was not the easiest thing to do, not on this one especially, not when she couldn't stop thinking about her father, and how this was her very last chance to have a day like this with him.

He had been here, for her birthday the previous year. It had been the first time, in so many years, but because they were both still finding their way with each other after being apart so long, it was different. So much had changed for them in this past year, and to think that it had taken his illness and ever declining health to get them here, it felt… it felt like such a cruel joke, of time, of… life… It was Christmas all over again, wasn't it? She wanted to be there, wanted the party, but she also dreaded it, somewhere deep in her heart and mind. Christmas had been good though, it had been great, and her birthday would be that, too. She had to believe it.

When the time had finally come for them to head over to the Hart house, they'd gotten in the car, where Lucas had seen to it that both his wife and son would arrive at the party feeling good, not cranky or distracted in any way, with a solid choice of tunes on the radio. If nothing else, it definitely got him some very appreciative smiles from Maya at his side.

"Well, they were waiting for us," Lucas noted, nodding over to window by the door, even as said door opened and there stood Maya's sisters, all four of them. Seeing them alone was enough to get her even more pumped up for this day. It still amazed her sometimes to see her Hart and Hunter sibling co-existing in this way. Mostly, it really warmed her heart to feel they could all be a family together.

After the rush of small hands to her belly which usually served as greeting these days, Maya headed into the house with Elliott in her arms, while Lucas brought up the usual travel load that came with taking their baby boy into the world. There was usually less of it whenever they went to the grandparents' houses, as they all had their own share of items at the ready to welcome their grandson, especially the Hunters, naturally.

More people meant more hugs, and belly feels, and questions, and well wishes for Maya's birthday being given out, as though they wouldn't happen all over again in a couple days' time. It was a lot, and it never seemed to stop, but then they just kept going, caught in the whirlwind. As ever, Maya's father had shown himself patient in ways unparalleled. She knew that this was born of how, even after the past year, he still felt that he needed acknowledge and respect the fact that he had been out of her life for so long, when he should have been in it all along. It didn't matter that she had forgiven him, through and through, didn't matter that neither one of them wanted the alternative of Sam and the other Hart kids never having been born. Kermit's reflex remained to allow everyone else to go before him.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart," he greeted her approach with a hug and a kiss to the side of her head. Maya held to him, as she tended to do now, like she was trying to make up not for the hugs she hadn't gotten before but instead the ones she wouldn't get in the future. Her father's hugs easily fell in a similar category.

"Thanks, Dad," she looked back up at him. That was another part of it, too, wasn't it? Every time he heard her call him that, she could practically see his heart balloon up. He'd earned it back, all the way, and now she wanted him to know it, whenever she got the chance. "How's it going today?" she asked.

"I took a nap earlier, did a world of good, now I'm ready to make this a birthday to remember. I might just break out a few dance moves," he revealed in hushed tones. Maya could hardly contain her laughter.

"No pressure, but I kind of want to see that now," she nodded.

"Think you'll be able to join me?" he asked, and there was that rise of energy in him. How could she ever say no?

"I will do my best to make that happen," she smiled "Back's been acting up today."

"Let's put luck on our side, come on and sit for a while, I've got something for you."

Maya would have found it so much easier to tell him that the gift she had received at Christmas could easily have covered her birthday as well – for a couple of years at the least – if she couldn't see how much it brought him to make her and her siblings happy. He went around like it was the one power he had left in the world, and he was going to use it for as long as he could.

"I wasn't sure how to do this, but I ran it by Lucas and he helped me make sure that it would all be doable. Now, if you don't want to or if you can't, I don't want you to feel obligated in any way to say yes," Kermit prefaced his gift.

"Okay," Maya chuckled, unsure what had him nervous like this.

"Okay," he echoed, reaching inside his jacket and pulling out an envelope he then presented to his firstborn. Maya turned it around in her hand before opening it. As soon as she'd lifted the flap, she could tell what was inside, and it puzzled her to see it looked like… plane tickets? Austin to New York. New York to Austin. For him, for her – with Elliott – and Lucas, too. The following week, leaving Thursday, returning Monday. Maya looked back up to her father, blinking. "I've been thinking about the things I want to do before I go, the things I need to do while I can. I would love to be back in New York, one more time, and I'd like to be there with you. Thing is, I know it would be time sensitive for the both of us. I would need to go before I get any worse, and you, well…" he tipped his head to her belly, her little Bee growing by the day.

Maya looked back down to the tickets, up to her father. She didn't know what to say. Looking across the room, she could see Lucas observing them as he stood with Sophie and Chiara, the first holding Elliott as they both entertained him with funny faces. She had no idea when this discussion had happened between them, how long he'd known about this idea, but she could tell he had been anxious for her to learn about it and to know if she'd be on board or not… She looked at the tickets again, the dates. She definitely didn't have anything on any of those days, nothing that couldn't be easily rescheduled or cancelled, like hanging out with any of her parent group.

Being in New York again… with her father… Oh, the idea of it was enough to get her smiling. She might have had more difficulty making up her mind if she didn't already know Lucas and Elliott would be there, too. She was not ready to be away from her son for days at a time, across the country, nor was she ready to force Lucas to do the same by taking Elliott and leaving him on his own here in Texas. This would mean taking a plane, and she dreaded to think how Elliott would handle that, but it was hardly a factor, was it? As much as this trip would be for her father, it would be for her, too, and she didn't want to lose this chance either.

"Then we have to go now," she smiled and nodded, and Kermit beamed with relief. She hugged him again, and he hugged her back. "Hope I can get Elliott more comfortable being away from his tree by then," she thought aloud. At her father's confused look, she explained how the attempts to relocate Elliott to the nursery, away from his old crib and the tree mini-mural had been less than successful so far. "I'm going to try and find a way to remake it for him in the nursery, even with… all this going on," she ran her hand along her belly.

"I could do that for you," Kermit spoke up at once.

"Dad…" she shook her head, the very idea of him on a ladder these days making her instantly concerned.

"No, I know I'm not the most solid some days, but it's just me, where you have my grandbaby in there," her father countered, laying his hand over hers. "I'm not half bad at drawing, and… the idea that I could leave this for Elliott, for this one and any others who might come after I'm gone…" He really had her with that perspective, and no matter how she'd try and spin it, she could never forget how much it would mean to her, for her children to have this to know their grandfather by.

"Okay, compromise?" she told him, even as the thought came to her.

"Go for it," Kermit nodded.

"You are not getting on a ladder," she started, holding up her finger and silencing him when he opened his mouth to speak. "Non-negotiable," she insisted, and he held up his hands in surrender. "My tree, in mine and Lucas' room, even if we move someday and it has to stay there to be painted over, covered, whatever, I'll be sad a bit but I'll get over it. If you go and paint yours up there and we leave… No way. I'm going to talk to Lucas' aunt, Dot, and see if she can make a cut out of some kind. You can paint that, and then we can fix it to the wall in the nursery. Then, if we did end up moving, or… when the kids would be too big to want it there anymore… we can still hold on to it. Do we have a deal?"

"Where do I sign?" Kermit nodded, smiling. Maya laughed. Suddenly, she was very glad that it had all shaped up the way it did. If she had just done the tree in the nursery back when she was smaller, steadier, they wouldn't have had this new tree in the works. Between this and the trip to New York, this birthday was shaping up to be just what she'd needed it to be. And it was only getting started.

"I think I'm ready to give dancing a try, you?" she asked her father. With a self-assured nod, Kermit stood from the couch and held out his hands to his daughter.

"All you had to do was ask."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners