Chapter 90
Here's to the Light

September 2024

"Do you ever wish we could have had a bigger wedding?" Lucas asked, the morning of September 3rd, the morning of their first anniversary as husband and wife. They'd had about as close to a perfect night – as perfect as a night could get while looking after two children under the age of two – leading into this morning. Both Maya and Lucas would wake up to this realization that felt a lot like the breath you let out after removing a great swath of clutter, if that clutter here was the pervasive feeling of sleeplessness. That, coupled with the awareness of what this day was, inspired a need for closeness they hadn't given themselves in some time, enough that they felt on the whole unable to ignore. So, they didn't. Now, here they were, breathing peacefully, enjoy precious warmth, and quiet…

"I think…" Maya considered, trying not to get so distracted at the sensation of him holding her as he did, of hands still on her, of light kisses at her neck. "Can't think a lot right now…" she acknowledged, and his laughter tickled at her skin. "But basically, it's like… Maybe if things had happened differently, if we'd done things differently, if we'd had 'the big wedding,'" she air-quoted with little more than the raising and crooking of her fingers without moving her hands or arms in any way that might disrupt his hold. "If that had happened, and I'd looked at one like ours in comparison… I would have picked ours, not because it was bigger, but because it was ours… That's the part that mattered more than anything. You, and me, husband and wife… father and mother," she added with a new smile, and she knew he was smiling, too. "So, no. I am happy with things exactly as they were. Wouldn't trade a single thing."

When she turned her head to see him, she found in his eyes as good as confirmation that he was of the same mind, sealed in a kiss that demanded more, and as it got what it required, the rest of them could only follow, until they were getting very close to a repeat when they were brought back to reconnect with the world around them. Noah awoke with cries they knew very well as his 'I'm hungry' signal.

"And time…" Maya breathed, slipping away and grabbing a robe as she walked across the room to the crib. "It's alright, we're right here, hey," she smiled, lifting the baby from his crib.

Four months tomorrow… Time had never seen fit to spare any of them, had it? What she wouldn't give to get to keep them at their smallest, just a little longer… She'd endure all the sleeplessness for it. But at the same time… She looked at Noah now, and his features were that much more defined than they'd been back in May. There was no doubt whatsoever that he and Elliott were brothers, looking at the two of them side by side. They had the same eyes, similar smiles, though from there the variations emerged. Then, of course, Noah had more curl to his hair than Elliott, and he was taller than his older brother had been at four months.

While she had gone to get the baby, Lucas had gotten up, too, pulling pants on before crossing the hall to see what Elliott was up to. He was awake by now, just barely by the looks of those droopy eyes. He rallied some more when he saw his father, whimpering and reaching out one hand while the other held to one of Opie's ears.

"Morning, Sprout," Lucas pulled him up, bunny and all. Elliott set his head to his father's shoulder at once, like now that he was with him, he might consider going back to sleep. Lucas brought him back and joined Maya and Noah on the bed. There was something special, every time they found themselves sat here, him and her and their boys, and on the morning of their anniversary, what more could they want as a start?

"So, what's the plan for today?" Maya asked, her voice quiet as her attention remained on the baby. It was Tuesday, so he had class, sure. But at this point, they had never delayed things unless they felt they really had to wait for the weekend. He didn't have class until after lunch the next day, so they wouldn't be constrained by an early turn in, and they weren't about to waste this stroke of luck.

"Depends, I guess," Lucas replied, checking to find Elliott had not gone back to sleep after all, though he looked content to remain just as he was, so there he remained. "I sort of made two different plans, and then I'm leaving it up to you to decide."

"Would this be like… capital P Plan and lowercase p plan?" Maya smirked.

"You could say that," Lucas confirmed, making a face at Elliott when he turned those blue eyes up to him. The boy laughed, reaching out his hand to poke at his father's face. "Latter involving a couple of… tag alongs."

"Now is that any way to speak of our sons, Huckleberry?" she teased. "And… I think it could be nice, seeing how we do with some one-on-one time," she went on, using her free hand to point at him without looking, just in case he was about to make the joke of 'isn't that what we were doing before?' She caught that barely stalled laugh coming from him, and it was as good as confirmation of his intentions.

"So, activate the grandparent signal?" Lucas asked instead.

"Take your pick," she nodded.

"Right. So, then, can you be ready by the time I get back from school?"

Pappy Joe would be picked up by Melinda, along with the boys, in mid-afternoon, leaving Maya able to 'get to work,' the better to be ready by the time Lucas returned, as he'd requested. After the last few months of feeling more than at ease staying in 'Mom mode,' she wasn't going to pass up the chance to change things up a bit, was she?

Earlier, in the morning, she'd gone on and replied to messages from friends, wishing her and Lucas a happy anniversary. She thanked them all, one after the other, not exactly copying and pasting, but still just saying some version of 'thank you very much.' When she got to the one for Sophie though, she paused. She had a thought.

Maya: Still got that closet full of dresses back at your mom's?

Sophie: I haven't lived there in three years, but she keeps adding to it anyway. Feel free to raid it, keep anything you like.

So, she'd gone out there, just after lunch, where she and the boys were let in by Mrs. Carlton. The woman had been helping around the Zvolensky house, had looked after Sophie, since even before Diana Zvolensky had found herself widowed. She welcomed the opportunity to look after Elliott and Noah while Maya went digging through Sophie's closet, and there was no doubt that the boys would be well tended to with her.

Sophie hadn't been kidding when she said that her mother had gone on adding to her selection of dresses and any other type of clothing. Maya had seen stores with smaller selections. She didn't spend hours at it, though she really could have. It wasn't as though Lucas was picky when it came to seeing her in slightly more formal wear. She could easily find a couple handful of perfect options, so if she managed to find three or four, she'd be in business. She packed up the ones she selected, confirming that they were going to fit her returning figure, and she and the boys were homebound.

Now, here she was, testing out her selection for Pappy Joe, who sat in his room at the end of the hall, with Noah in the upstairs bassinet and Elliott in his lap. She'd come to stand in the doorway, turn about… He'd give her a nod that said 'good, good, now show me the next one,' which felt like a very Friar trait. She tried each dress in turn, and once she reached the last one, Pappy Joe sat in brief consideration.

"Which one was your favorite?" he asked her. Maya breathed out, recalling each one again. She didn't actually know what they would do tonight, but she knew Lucas enough to guess that, if there had been any specification beyond 'formal,' like 'dance worthy,' or 'more proper the better,' he would have said it. So it would have to come down to which one left her feeling more comfortable… with a dash of 'wait until he sees me in this.'

"I'd say maybe the first one," she admitted. "You?"

"I think the first one, too," Pappy Joe nodded.

"Because I picked it?" Maya smirked.

"Well, yes. You had all those dresses and that was the one you reached for first. That tells me that was the one you wanted the most."

"You couldn't have told me that four dresses ago?" she teased, and his laughter was heard as she headed back to slip the first dress on again. The others would be hidden in the closet, for future occasions. If there was any way – other than money she didn't have – she would have to repay Sophie for this…

Melinda arrived to pick up the trio in the backroom even as Maya had swapped out her dresses again, and her mother-in-law had her own bit of reaction at the sight of her, complimenting the look and inquiring on what she intended to do next. Before she knew it, rather than leaving to let her do everything herself, Lucas' mother went about fixing up Maya's hair. From there, she promised she could do her makeup by herself. She loved her mother-in-law, and her own makeup was impeccable as ever, but it never felt quite right when she would do someone else's, or maybe that was just her own preference.

So, Melinda went with her father-in-law and grandsons, while Maya finished getting ready. She still had a little while to go before Lucas would show up, which left her feeling the tiniest bit silly, sitting at home in a sparkly dress and more makeup than she'd worn in months. When she finally got a message from Lucas to say he would be home soon, she went and stood at the window, trying not to look too much like an eager pup. When she spotted his car coming, she smiled and moved to climb the stairs, stopping once she reached the top.

"Maya?" she heard, after the door.

"Up here!" she called back, casual as ever. She heard him coming around, and when he started coming up, he raised his head, and he stopped at once, blinking. She resisted the laugh, instead turning to give him the whole experience. "Friends, high places," she gestured at herself.

"We've got those, yeah," he agreed, climbing the rest of the way.

"Now you go do the thing," she pointed off to their room. "You're not sufficiently dressed for… all this." He didn't have to be told twice, and he took off at once.

When he was 'at her level,' he got what could only be a very deserved kiss. They went and got in his car, and they were off, to whatever place he intended to take her, which, firstly, turned out to be the theater. They had tickets to a play. Maya could see this as his elevated version of going to the movies, and she appreciated it very much. When they got out of there, they were talking about the performance on the whole ride to the restaurant and through the short time they had to wait before they got their table. It wasn't until then that she kind of had to smile and take note of how different this night was from what their lives had been as of late. This was a good thing, absolutely, even as it had them both reflect on how very content they were with this new normal of theirs, with a still budding marriage and with their boys. There was little more for them to want to realize on this day of all days.

"So, I have a present for you… sort of," Lucas stated, after they finished their dessert.

"Sort of…" Maya repeated, intrigued, and he smiled.

"It's not something I could give you in a box, wrapped in paper, although I do have this," he pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket. "Like a proof of concept, or… an I-O-U, I guess." She took the envelope, intrigue rising.

"Okay… Can I open it now?" she checked, and he nodded.

The envelope held a few sheets of paper, folded together. When Maya opened the stack, she blinked for a moment, until she pieced together what this was for, and then she gasped.

"Wait, but… Okay, I have so many questions, just… How are we going to afford…"

"Parental loan," Lucas nodded. "I'll pay it all back."

"We will," she insisted. It was for the house, their house. Gallant cowboy or no, she'd have to insist, so he nodded. "When are we going to have it done though, I mean how long does it take to get an attic on a house that doesn't have one? I know snow isn't a guarantee when winter comes, but it's not unlikely either, and what are we going to do about the boys, and… school… and…"

"I checked everything," Lucas cut in, before she went and rolled herself right into an oversized frenzy. "We can have it done by December, and if we start as soon as possible then that increases our chances. As for what we'll do, we have options. I talked to everyone. Your parents would be happy to have us stay over as long as we need, so would mine, so would Abigail. Personally, just on the logic of adding five lodgers into a household, I'd say we go to my parents, but we can go wherever, really."

She didn't have to ask herself whether or not he would have thought of everything, did she? That was what he did.

"I think that's the best choice, yeah," she smiled. She could see so many reasons for going to stay with her parents, or with Abigail, but then she knew they all came from a personal view, and they would not be reasonable.

Now, she could look at the plans again, and the prospect of the added floor was very interesting indeed. They had thought about it, back when they'd been preparing the house to move in, but she'd been about to give birth to Elliott back then, and the construction aspect had been instantly nixed. Then, there just hadn't been any chance to consider it again later on, because they'd gone and gotten pregnant with Noah so quick. If they could have it done before the start of the new year, before she went back to school… I could definitely put that giant canvas up there.

For Lucas, finding a present to offer her on their first wedding anniversary had been a long process. Truth be told, it had been occupying his mind since the days following Kermit's passing. The idea of the attic had reached him, he guessed, out of some crossing of that loss, and then the photo of Annabeth, his father's little sister. Pappy Joe had been intending to put an attic up, too, and then… then he'd lost his little girl, and the attic had never happened. Making it happen now, well… It felt right, for all of them. On this anniversary, it was a symbol of sorts, a promise for the future, their future and their family's.

X

Living with your in-laws, Maya found, was a mixed bag. On the whole, she would say that the majority tipped toward the good times. The boys loved their grandparents and were loved by them, as each was able to show at their respective ages. That they all got to spend more time together was truly wonderful.

But then would Maya or Lucas be able to say that there was nothing of the other side? They knew exactly what they were getting themselves into here, and if not that the circumstances demanded it, they would not necessarily have chosen this. It all came from a place of love, yes, but then it was still a load of extra parental advice that left them feeling just a bit like they were not trusted to know how to raise their own sons, that they were too young. Maybe they were overreacting, or maybe it was that it came from a subconscious place for Thomas and Melinda. Either way, they only had to see how Pappy Joe noticed it, too, he who never made them feel that way, and it would be clear.

"Are we ungrateful?" Maya whispered, last night, as they were settling into Lucas' old room. They had the bassinet at Maya's bedside for Noah, while they kept Elliott in the bed, between them. It was all working great so far, though they did worry that it would develop a habit they would struggle to break him out of once they went back home.

"No, not at all," Lucas whispered back, as the two of them quietly kept a hand in contact with their eldest son. That, combined with their speaking voices, would do the trick in keeping him asleep. "They'll come around eventually," he went on, with an unspoken 'I hope.'

They had been two weeks at it now, since the weekend following their anniversary. The days leading up to the temporary relocation and the start of the work on the attic had been busy, to say the least. They had to pack up what they wanted and needed to bring with them, minding that they would be with the elder Friars for a couple of months. They also had to move a load of things, in anticipation of what would have to be done to the existing structure to build the attic. They had a lot of help there, as they had anywhere, and still it had felt like frenzy, for Maya and Pappy Joe especially.

Some unexpected but very much appreciated help came from the Su family.

The first session back with Dr. Eisley felt like a return to form, although it wasn't the first time they'd seen each other since their last mall day. That was the dinner, with Ariel and her parents joining them. The evening had been a great one, and it only continued to tighten the bond between the two families.

So, when Maya went into the waiting room, the first time after the anniversary, and she told Nadia about the gift, and what it would require of them, just to get started... Ariel hadn't even come from the office that it was already settled. Nadia would come and help at the house, as would her husband and daughter when the trio wasn't at work or school.

Maya thought about Ariel a lot these days. With all the lead up to her starting middle school, and the worries she'd shared, Maya really needed to know that she was going to be okay with this change of environment. In her head, she wished for her a life changing encounter of her own. It didn't have to be 'the great love of her life,' did it? Maya had met Lucas that first day of her seventh grade in Texas, but she'd also met Zay, and Nadine, and Asher and Dylan, and here they all were now, almost a decade later and holding strong. Not even the distance between Austin and either of Houston or New York, where some of them presently lived, could get in the way of that.

Ariel had promised to call her after that first day, and she'd held her word. Just going off of her voice, Maya was reassured that things had gone well. She couldn't say that they had been vastly beyond that, but they hadn't been bad at all, and that was really what they had all strived for.

The next time they saw each other, a few days later, at Dr. Eisley's, Ariel proudly announced that she'd made friends with a girl called Daphne Brett. As seemed very telling, they had bonded over a book. Ariel had seen Daphne sitting in the cafeteria, by herself with a brick of a book, deeply invested, and this, to Ariel, was the mark of 'her kind of people.' She actually had her own copy of that same book now, as the girls had already decided to form their very own book club. Even if it was just the two of them, that would be great. Daphne was kind of shy, and Ariel kind of preferred this to too big of a group for now. It was less complicated, more orderly.

Maya would meet the girl in time. A couple of days ago, she'd gone to visit Lucas at the bookstore, bringing the boys for some quality time while Lucas worked the whole of Saturday. Ariel spotted the four of them as she was coming up the escalator, and she moved to say hello, her friend and classmate at her side. Ariel must have told young Daphne all about her friend Maya - she called her that, and it made Maya smile - as one of the first things Daphne said was that her father was also a teacher. Sure, Maya wasn't a teacher yet, but she could accept the title as an eventuality. He taught science, at their old high school, and Maya asked back if she'd ever met the History teacher. Daphne and Ariel both were amused to learn her connection to Cory Matthews, even if Ariel herself wouldn't meet him for another two years.

The girls were at the store in search of their next book club selection, as they had already finished with the first, and they wanted to choose a brand new one together. Lucas was happy to direct them to the people who would know best to give suggestions for their chosen genre of sci-fi. They headed off, after a brief introduction of Daphne to the boys in the stroller.

"I think I'll be seeing a lot of those two from now on," Lucas smiled, and Maya agreed, laughing as she crouched to see how Elliott and Noah were doing.

"I really hope that you do."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners