A/N: Next week's chapter will go up on Thursday, December 31st, instead of Wednesday as usual, following the end of the week block and the year on "Firsts of Many," and falling in line with the week blocks for the 2021 story as it rolls out! :)

Chapter 85
All of Us & You

"Oh, no! Oh, no! The humanity! Lord, help me! I'm too young! I'm too pretty! Save me from the beast! Save me!" Zay gave a very controlled wail, even as he rolled on his back, keeping 'the beast' aloft and giggling over the many twists and turns his face traveled. Finally, he hugged Elliott close, announcing that "I am defeated! What tragedy is this? I die… I die!" His arms flopped to the ground, head turned, tongue lolled. Elliott still laughed, possibly more than before, all the while tapping at his godfather's face.

"I think that means he wants more," Lucas looked down on the scene with a smirk.

"Man, I'm dead here," Zay muttered.

"No, you're not, I… brought you back to life," Lucas decided with a tip of the head.

"Work on your game here, we've got an audience, I'm just saying," Zay pointed out quietly, under the continued summons of Elliott Friar. At last, he gasped, sending his limbs flopping and making the boy squeal. "I live! I live! Oh thank you, great invisible wizard, surely the next time I meet death, you will have found your wand… And it won't be a minute too soon, the beast found me again!" he hoisted up the boy, starting off a new round.

The sound of crying from the baby monitor forced the 'wizard' to leave the scene and head back upstairs, into his room. Pappy Joe was off visiting friends today, and Maya had gone with her mother earlier, so Lucas had called Zay to see if he might come and hang with him and the boys for a while. He'd arrived twenty minutes later.

"Hey, hey, what's going on here?" Lucas asked, picking up the crying Noah. "And that's a diaper," he nodded to himself and brought the baby to the changing table. "You know, your brother's birthday is coming up soon. We're going to have to do something, aren't we? We have a few ideas, but we're not sure if they're good or we were just really tired so they felt that way." He continued to lay out their plans as he worked to change Noah's diaper. He usually calmed down a lot faster if he could hear his voice or Maya's, which had led her to suggest they should record themselves reading something, or just talking… Then they'd have those at the ready, and they wouldn't lose their voices just trying to keep up.

After he'd gotten Noah changed, Lucas couldn't bring himself to leave him up here again, so he carried him down the stairs to see who'd won this next round, either Zay or Elliott.

"Did you two make up?" Lucas asked, finding Zay now sat upright, with Elliott on his feet in front of him.

"Looking to see if the kid's got any moves in him," Zay reported, leading his best friend's son into a very wiggly 'dance.' "You know, if you guys want a night off, I would be happy to take him off your hands. Just, you know, don't go getting any ideas about starting a third one going."

"If Maya was here, she'd smack you and tell you to be quiet because you'd be jinxing us," Lucas laughed. "There won't be a third one for a while, alright?"

They had decided, months ago, or at least they had stated what they saw for themselves in the future. Four, maybe five… Then there had been his 'seven tall sons' joke, which seemed to come up again and again as though they both needed to counter jinx themselves by saying it too many times. All this aside, they may not have been aiming so high as seven, but they definitely had been open to a third and fourth, maybe a fifth. Even without having discussed it again since then, he couldn't see number three coming along for a good two to three years, by which time they would both have been able to finish school… hopefully.

"Alright, alright, but I'm not kidding, you know. Nadine and me, we could take him for a night… two nights even. Itty Bitty, too," Zay nodded back to him.

"Maybe you're the ones getting some ideas right now?" Lucas chuckled.

"What?" Zay looked again, then, understanding what he was getting at, "Oh, man, no, we are really not there yet. Don't get me wrong, your little dudes are some of my favorite people, but we… I mean…"

"Relax, breathe," Lucas laughed on. "Anyway, it's really nice of you to offer, but we'll be alright."

"Good… Yeah," Zay nodded as he turned back to get Elliott dancing.

Now Lucas was left to wonder what had brought on the offer. Sure, his friends were really nice, and it wouldn't be beyond them to suggest something like this, but right now it felt more like maybe there was another motive. In the three weeks since Noah was born, it hadn't been difficult for anyone remotely close to him and Maya to realize how much they were struggling through these early times now, with the boys and with Maya's loss, and his studies in the very beginning…

Maya was off for her second session with Dr. Eisley today, but it was still a fairly guarded fact. Only the grandparents and Sam even knew about it. They hadn't told their friends, in Austin or Houston or New York, none of them. It wasn't for shame, on either of their parts, but Maya wanted it this way, and so it was this way. She didn't want to draw so much attention to herself, especially if it would ever turn to anything remotely like pity and coddling. It wasn't to say that either of them expected this from their friends, but… She wanted to keep it private, end of story.

X

She'd taken her knitting kit along with her, for the wait until her appointment started. It was the best way she could think of to both work out her nerves and also keep her focused enough that she wouldn't drop off into a random chair nap like last time. She was going to have to come up with something else pretty soon, she knew. June was coming on fast, and it was already getting way too hot outside, so going around with yarn was getting to feel impractical, although so long as she was somewhere with AC, like home, like here… Anyway, it was helping her in many more ways, so she could easily spend most of this summer knitting and knitting.

"What are you making?" She looked up, and there was Ariel's mother, watching her from over her magazine and appearing genuinely curious.

"Oh, uh… It's a jumper… or it's going to be," Maya looked to the piece she had going so far. "I figure it'll fit him by the time it's not as hot anymore, so I can take my time with it."

"How old is your son?" the woman asked, earning points for not saying brother, as some had done.

"I have two, actually. First one is going to be a year old next week, the second is just three weeks," Maya told her, feeling something of maternal pride in her as she saw the woman smile the way she did.

"You know, I tried to learn and do that when my daughter was a baby. I could never get the hang of it. I've been told I lack the patience."

"Maybe your patience's improved since then," Maya offered, and the woman took this with reflection, maybe thinking she'd give knitting another try sometime. First, she presented her hand from across the waiting space.

"Nadia Su," she introduced herself and Maya responded in kind as they shook hands.

"Maya Friar." There was a beat of hesitation between the two of them now, minding where they were. Maya wouldn't ask Nadia why her daughter was seeing Dr. Eisley, and at the same time Nadia would not ask Maya why she was seeing her either.

Before either of them could try and come up with something to say instead, Dr. Eisley and Ariel had emerged from the office.

"Thanks for… the motivation," Nadia decided, indicating the jumper in progress.

"Sure," Maya nodded before resuming her work, figuring it would be some time more before the mother finished speaking with the doctor and she'd get called in for her own appointment. In the meantime, Ariel came and sat down as she'd done the week before. When Maya happened to get a look at the book she'd brought this time, she couldn't help but note how it was a different one from last time. "Finished the other one?" she asked, and the girl looked at her, nodding. "Fast reader, that's impressive."

"My mom said I better discover 'the wonders of the library' because she couldn't afford to pay for or store all the books I read in a year… or a month," Ariel informed her, and Maya decided she liked this kid already.

"You must be excited for summer then. More time to read."

"I know!" Ariel declared, like Maya had just read her mind. She spied the knitting now and, like her mother, she asked about what it would be.

"Making a jumper for my son," Maya told her, showing the image of the completed pattern. Ariel set her book aside now and came up to have a look at both the pattern and the part of the jumper that was already done. "What do you think? Looks alright?" Maya asked. Ariel nodded with confidence. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Ariel smiled, then, "How old is he?"

"Right now, three weeks, but by the time he gets to wear it, probably about four or five months," Maya briefly counted before replying.

"You had a baby three weeks ago?" Ariel looked stunned, which made her laugh. "What's his name?"

"Noah," Maya smiled. "Got another one, too, Elliott. He's turning one next week," she added, possibly with the knowledge that it would make the girl surprised again, which it did.

Nadia soon came from the doctor's office, collecting her daughter and wishing Maya a good rest of the day, the wish reciprocated on to the mother and daughter. It might have been that she now looked forward to the following week's appointment and the continuation of these exchanges.

Of course, chatter with Nadia and Ariel Su was not the purpose of her visits here, and once they were gone she was left to follow Dr. Eisley into her office. This was… Well, she wouldn't feel right in calling it the worse part, as it might make it sound bad. It wasn't bad when she sat in there, talking with Mallory Eisley, but it demanded that she not only present her scars but pull them apart and let the woman pick at them. Some had not even had time to heal over yet, they were still raw and wide open, but then they were the ones which had brought her here in the first place, so there was no choice, was there? The first time hadn't been too in depth, mostly getting the lay of the land, but now… now she didn't know what to expect she'd look like once she walked out of this place.

It had been harder, absolutely, but Maya could just start to see how they were advancing toward that open wound, just… clearing their way forward. It wouldn't have done for them to just sit there and Dr. Eisley to come at her with no preamble, jumping right to the way that she'd lost her father…

How had she missed it? A month had gone by already, passed days ago and gone unnoted. No one had said anything… There was no way no one had noticed, was there? Or was it that they hadn't brought it up, figuring maybe they shouldn't, not with her, not now…

X

Zay had left for work before lunch time. Both boys were napping upstairs by then, and Lucas might have joined them if not for the fact that he knew others were coming and would be here before long. Specifically, Shawn was bringing out the little Hunters so they might be here when Maya and Katy returned, the better to spend much of the day here with them.

"Alright, guys, it's quiet time," Shawn told the trio coming up at his side on the way into the house. In his arms, little Alex looked barely awake after the car ride, but the twins and MJ were very familiar with the concept of 'quiet time,' so they nodded. Whether they'd succeed in keeping quiet remained to be seen, but on the whole they usually did very well. Still, they were small children, and it wouldn't take much to get them going. And there was a new baby in the family.

"Can we see him?" Nellie came whispering at Lucas, her sister and brother on her heel like a chorus of nods.

"You can, but you have to…" Lucas smiled, more so as the kids held their fingers to their lips, imitating their parents. "Alright, come on," he swept up MJ and carried him along while Nellie and Gracie led the way up the stairs.

"I'll go and get lunch started before Katy gets back with Maya," Shawn told him and Lucas stopped on the stairs.

"Alright, I'll come down and help in a minute."

"No, no, don't worry about it, I got it," Shawn insisted. Lucas wasn't sure if this was about sparing him the extra work when he was exhausted or if there was more to it, wanting to do this for his daughter as she'd be coming back from Dr. Eisley's office. He knew Maya had been concerned before she left this morning, so certain as she was that this time would be harder than the last, talking about Kermit and…

It wasn't until they stood looking in on Noah in his crib and his eyes swept over the leaves, finding his, that Lucas realized it. Kermit had been gone a month already. He hadn't thought about it, and there was no way Maya had thought it either, but today… Was this why the Hunters were here today? Because they figured she'd notice today? Lucas let out a breath. How had he not…

"Hi, baby!" Nellie whispered.

"Hi, Noah!" Gracie whispered. They could both see him through the crib bars, while up in Lucas' arms MJ would stretch and look down from above.

"He's so little," he remarked quietly, and Lucas looked to his son. He still had the feel of a newborn to him, though he was definitely starting to grow, too, and it was always wonderful when they'd notice any of those little changes.

"He is, yeah," Lucas told his wife's little brother.

"Was I small like that?" Nellie pointed to the baby.

"You were even smaller at first, both of you," Lucas told her, nodding to Gracie as well.

"Alex, he was smaller, too," she chimed in.

"He was," Lucas confirmed, and the way the girls looked at him now, he was almost sure they were thinking 'wait, wait, were you that small?' Sure, they understood about babies, mostly, but somehow this did not extend to the idea that those who were not children like them now could have been that, once. "We all were," he told them. "Your parents, too." Their eyes went wide, because surely that was not possible.

Thus, when Maya and Katy returned to the house on the lane, they were immediately accosted by the twins – and MJ, who followed them everywhere just because – as they asked if they were really tiny babies, too.

This question was received with laughter at first, had to be, but though the kids would not necessarily see it that way, it sent different ripples through their big sister and their mother. Even as she was confirming that yes, she had been a baby once upon a time, Maya knew her mother would be thinking about her childhood in Arkansas, her parents, her family… She had left them all when she'd been all of fifteen, with little in the way of mementos of her own childhood and infancy, at least as far as Maya herself had seen. She'd wonder sometimes whether her mother thought much of them, if she ever considered reaching out.

And then Maya herself… Sure, she could show plenty of evidence of when she had been as small as her sons, but this came hand in hand with memories of an old life, with her mother, and with her father… They'd spoken about him a lot today, her and Doctor Eisley. Maya still chose to call her that, though she'd been permitted to be more informal with her. She couldn't do it, not yet anyway. Right now she kind of needed that separation. She was allowing herself to speak out things she rarely talked about, if ever, and keeping the woman in her imposed position felt necessary. Maybe someday she'd evolve to a Doc, or even just Mallory, but not now, not yet.

"Hey…" Lucas greeted her return with a hug and she knew he'd had the same realization she did, the missed milestone that was both so small in the long run but just now felt huge. "Doing alright?" he quietly asked.

"Comes and goes," Maya replied in kind.

Having family over these days didn't mean the same as it had done in the days before Noah was born. All these extra hands were not ones for them to waste, and it would usually mean that family time became 'Lucas and Maya sleep now.' When they'd be awake again, it would be as good as ever, impossible to be anything but. They could have had any of them here with them all day, every day, and it would have been perfect, wouldn't it?

Once they were gone, it was back to reality, and tonight, it was about catching up, relaying Maya's second meeting with her therapist. It was also about Kermit, gone a month and some.

When Lucas came back from getting Elliott down in the nursery, he found Maya sitting cross-legged on the bed, with Noah in her arms and her laptop on the mattress in front of her. She looked like she'd been waiting for him. He sat with her and when he saw the screen, the open folder showing a list of videos, he knew what the wait had been for. She hadn't watched any of these since before her father had died, but she'd been meaning to. Now, it felt like it should be the time, but she didn't know how it would affect her. She needed him next to her, and she needed their Bee in her arms. And here they were.

"Are you sure about this?" the eighteen-year-old Katy appeared on the screen, holding her baby daughter much as her grown self now held her own baby son. Right there, it was just that much easier to see the ways in which she and Maya resembled one another. "What if you drop her? She could fall…"

"I won't let her, I promise," the eighteen-year-old Kermit vowed, stepping into the shot, from where he must have started the camera recording. He had his guitar in hand.

"You did this before, didn't you?" Katy sat up, giving a flare of the personality they knew today.

"And it went great. She loved it," Kermit promised with a smile. He sat next to Katy, who still looked at him with raging mom doubts, absently brushing at the hair on the back of baby Maya's head. By the date in the video's name, they knew she would have been all of a month old at this point. It was impossible to say for sure, but right then she looked very close in size to be an echo of her future son on this very night. "Please?" Kermit asked Katy as he positioned his guitar before him.

After a few more seconds of uncertainty, Katy had lifted up the baby and carefully laid her down along the curve of the instrument. Little Maya, in her white onesie peppered in pink and red hearts, barely fussed at all, convincing her mother to sit back as her father smiled, looking down at her. He started to play, giving great care not to be so loud.

The tune, light as it was here, could definitely be recognized for the bare bones it shared with the eventual lullaby Kermit would hum and play for his daughter before she went and found words to lay over it, the better to share with Elliott, now with Noah, too. He'd told Maya how he had never managed to come up with the right words, and they could see him trying it here, testing out a potential verse for the baby. When she'd faced the challenge of composing the lyrics herself, Maya had tried to look through the videos of her father, with many attempts captured here and there, like the videos had chronicled his journey as much as her early days. To Maya now, it felt very much like their relationship. He'd tried, and he'd tried, but it had taken until this past year for this song to fully reach its potential.

"Okay, that was actually sweet," Katy smiled when Kermit stopped playing.

"Yeah?" Kermit smiled back, leaning to kiss his daughter's head.

"Still terrified she'll fall, but I liked the song."

"Still working on it, but I think it's coming together. I got the perfect title for it, too. 'We Three Hearts.' Get it?" Kermit grinned like a kid. He looked so much like Sam right then.

"Hearts like a heart or Harts like us?" Katy asked.

"Both. That's why it's perfect," Kermit smiled. "It's us, but it's anyone, too, you know? Anyone that becomes a family like this."

There was so much pride in him, so much love, for Katy, for their little girl. It would have been easy for people to see this and not catch the layers underneath. He loved them both so very much, and he believed in their life together, but he was scared, too. He'd been tossed into the world, ripped from support he'd terribly needed. All these videos, as a whole, showed pockets of happy moments, like this was Kermit's way of pulling him away from the times when he was afraid.

"I love that…" Katy smiled back at Kermit. "Can I please take her back now? I think she's waking up." The video ended almost as it started, with the baby in Katy's arms as Kermit stood with his guitar and went to turn the camera off.

In the returned silence, Lucas looked to Maya at his side. She'd set her head at his shoulder almost as soon as the video had started, and she remained there, Noah held against her, his head almost to her shoulder, too. Lucas could hear them both breathing. Noah's breath came quiet, even, as he slept. Maya's felt just a bit erratic, seeking steadiness, doing all it could to go the way of the sleeping babe's instead of the opposite, where a break was imminent.

"Hey…" Lucas whispered, his hand at her back, gentle and loving. "Think you're able to sing it now? For him… and him?" he asked, indicating Noah in her arms first, then the screen, frozen on the image of young Kermit's face.

The question brought her alongside something like focus for a moment, and she held to it, blinking, breathing. She gave a tentative nod: she would try.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners