Chapter 142
Houses on the Lane

"Hey, guys, come see," Maya called out toward the living room as she stood by the kitchen windows. In seconds, there was the sound of running feet as Elliott and Noah came around, immediately eager to see whatever their mother had to show them. "Okay, easy there, yeah?" Maya helped them up on to their foot stools, the better to get a better view. It didn't take them long to figure out what it was that she had to show them: the big walls were coming down, and now they could get their first proper look at their great grandparents' new home.

"Wow!" Noah exclaimed. Elliott echoed him just a second later.

"Can we go, Mommy?" he asked now.

"Soon, sprout," she promised him. "When it's time, your dad will come and get us, okay? Right now, they're clearing away all the things that could be dangerous for you."

It was almost hard to believe that the house was already done. Hadn't they just had the idea for it a minute ago? But no, they'd had the idea, and the plans had come together, and the back of their house had been a construction zone for months, the structure raised, all components installed and functional, right down to paints, wallpapers, tiles… They might have been able to take away the barrier walls once they'd gotten to that point in time, but with the little boys and the dogs and cats hanging around, it seemed more reasonable to simply wait, removing them only for 'the big reveal.'

Maya hadn't been out there, same as the boys. She could have gone, once they were done to the last phase, but she'd decided that it would be better for her to accompany her sons in ignorance and now in discovery. As far as the outside went, it was very similar to the bigger house, of course, the better to be recognized as being part of a unit. The little house had its own address, a second mailbox planted next to the first, by the road, but they were of a single property, a single family in multiple generations. Even the boys seemed to recognize that link, and they looked happy to discover it and point it out to their mother. Maya played along, thanking them for showing her.

"Daddy's coming! Daddy's coming!" Elliott grew giddy, and Maya was glad that she kept a hand on him to make sure he didn't fall off his foot stool, the same with Noah, who started calling out to his father and waved at him from his stool. Lucas couldn't hear him, but he saw him alright, and he waved back with a smile. He sped his way to the door and came in.

"Ready to go?" he asked, and he practically had to catch Noah, the way he tried to hop right off the stool and into his arms, sending the thing toppling sideways. He went so fast that Maya barely had time to let out a yelp before he was securely in his father's arms, giggling like a tiny mad man. "Alright, okay, hey, Bee, man, you can't do that," Lucas told him, sounding stern but not angry. "You could have gotten hurt," he explained. "And you made Mommy scared." Noah looked at him, then to her. Maya had her arm around Elliott now, like a seatbelt, keeping him in place. In her eyes, even a two-year-old could see the leftovers of the momentary panic she'd felt.

"Okay, Mommy?" Noah asked, taken with a beat of fear at the sight of his mother's fear.

"Yes, yes, I'm good, bee," she promised him, blinking, getting hold of herself again. She let out a breath and helped Elliott down from his stool. "Let's go see the house, yeah?" she touched her younger son's cheek, his curls, and they went.

Once outside, Noah was put back on his feet and he and Elliott advanced together while their parents followed a few steps behind, hand in hand.

"You good?" Lucas quietly had to ask.

"For a second there, I was sure that one of two things was going to happen. Either my heart was going to burst, or the tadpole would hit the eject button right then and there," Maya sighed, looking up to him with a look like she wanted to be able to laugh it off now that it was over but she'd been too genuinely spooked. It wouldn't even have been the first time either of the boys had had a scrape or done anything to activate The Fear in their parents, but that one had really gotten to her, no matter how ultimately harmless it had been.

"We'll have another talk with them later, yeah?" Lucas suggested, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Later," she agreed. For now, they put the incident aside. They had a house to see.

There was still some work to be done, specifically with the landscape now that the barrier was removed, leaving the ground in dire need of some love. They would soon see to all that. As far as today was concerned, they could ignore that part and focus on the house itself. They'd been seeing it from above, thanks to their vantage point in the attic, but it really wasn't the same once they saw it from down here, was it? It looked a lot like the big house, yes, but at the same time it just… exuded its smallness, its coziness. It looked like the perfect place for a couple in their later years to share, well within proximity of their grandchildren and great grandchildren but with their own bit of peace.

"Can we go?" Elliott turned to his parents as he and his little brother had now reached the door and stepped up to it.

"We gotta wait a little longer for Pappy Joe and Patty to get out here with their things," Lucas explained. The boys responded to this with big, eager eyes. Oh, they just wanted to see the inside of the house so much…

"I mean, there's nothing in there for them to trip over or anything," Maya whispered. "And they said it was alright."

"I'll go get the key," Lucas agreed. He headed back to the house, leaving Maya and the boys to wait for his return.

As they waited, Noah sped back to his mother and put his arms around her legs, pressing his ear to her belly. Without a word, she could guess this had less to do with wanting to feel his baby brother move and more with some awareness that he'd done something to scare his mother. Maya let out a breath, hugging him back. Never one to be left out, Elliott came over and joined them, and with all three of her boys near her and within her, the last of that tremor in her heart did fade away. She was just going to have to brace herself, wasn't she? The bigger they got, the more they wanted to explore, and that looked one way for Elliott, a lot more 'feet on the ground,' but Noah… Oh, he was definitely going to give her heart a lot to race like it did today, wasn't he?

Lucas returned with the key, and finally they were able to open the door and walk into the little house. The main area they landed in, once it would be furnished, would contain the living room, nearer to the doorway, and the kitchen and dining room. There had been a debate about whether or not they should put a wall there in between but, in the end, they had decided for this open layout, and even without any of the furnishings, right now, it felt like the right way to go. The boys definitely approved of it as they ran around the empty space. They would find out about the other rooms in time, but just now they had this, and it was more than enough.

There were three other rooms. One was Pappy Joe and Patty's bedroom, naturally, through which they would find the bathroom. The last room would be something between a library, office, and storage area. Patty had gotten rid of many things in the midst of leaving her Houston home, stored some of it at her son's home as he insisted on it, while the rest would follow her here. Pappy Joe would have plenty of space there for what he'd held on to, whatever he hadn't also left in the care of his grandson and his wife up in his former home.

"Looks like we have visitors already," his voice was heard, announcing his arrival and causing his great grandsons to abandon their running around. They zoomed off to him and Patty as they walked in, eager to tell them that they'd seen their house, as though it wasn't already obvious.

The truck was here, the cars and their helpers along with them, and so they could begin to bring everything in. Much as they insisted that they could help carry certain things, the soon-to-be-wed couple was respectfully asked to go back into the main house along with Maya and the boys while their respective sons and grandchildren got to work. There was some resistance, especially from Pappy Joe, but once Maya informed him that they had a few last details to settle for this small wedding of his, and once Patty touched his arm… Under the reasoning that he wanted to keep his grandson's wife and their boys away while everything was being brought in, he followed.

All teasing aside – and there had been plenty of cause for Maya especially to be tempted – there was something so sweet about how much Joseph Friar looked forward to having Patty Robinson as his wife. Those closest to him knew very well how deeply he had loved his Susannah, how much it had pained him to lose her. They could have had so many more years together, should have had them. He'd been without her for eighteen years already, and if life was kind to him, he would have many more years ahead of him. Up until all of three years ago, he would have been certain to spend all those years by himself, surrounded by his son and his family, his grandson and his, and he would have been satisfied. And then one day Patty Robinson had walked into his life. Maybe he hadn't foreseen living with her, becoming husband and wife, but from day one she'd struck a blow to his shell and a crack had appeared, snaked along, until finally he'd known… He knew that however many years he had left in him, he wanted to spend them with her. And she wanted the same. So even though this wedding would be small, it wouldn't just be vows and a dinner, it would be a wedding.

It was nearly dinner time by the time when the truck and the cars had been emptied and the group inside the main house was invited to walk back to the small house. Appliances and the likes had been connected, big pieces had been placed, assembled if needed, and the various boxes had been stacked up as neatly as possible, leaving the couple to see to unpacking at their leisure. For having briefly seen the place empty a few hours ago, the return felt like stepping into a whole other world, their world. There was still the unpacking to do, yes, but it felt like a home already.

Elliott and Noah were very eager to assist when they were recruited into the effort, and so they stayed with their great grandparents and Molly Robinson and her father. While they did all this, the rest of them, now including Melinda Friar and the Hunters, moved into the next phase of moving day. It wasn't just about the little house after all. The entire reason for that house to exist was so that they could keep Pappy Joe and Patty nearby, where they deserved to be, but also to attend to the fact that the young Friars were multiplying. In less than a month now the third of Lucas and Maya's son would be born, and while they would have him in their room at first, just as they'd done with both Elliott and Noah in turn, they would eventually want to move him across the hall.

Would his big brothers mind very much if there were three of them in there? Probably not, but they had to think ahead, right? And thinking ahead meant being aware of the fact that they had no intention to make their tadpole the last of their children. They weren't just going to keep cramming more of their children in that room. And as their sprout and bee were getting bigger, it felt like the right time to relocate them. Pappy Joe had now vacated the room at the end of the hall. That would be the boys' room now. They knew this already, it wasn't as though they had sent them from the house only to bring them back and say 'surprise, we took your room away, you're down the hall now.'

The room had been emptied while they'd been off on their trip to Florida, and once they'd returned, Maya had gotten started on the walls, with the help of her baking crew. Cara, Eliza, Ariel, Daphne, Stella, and Phoebe traded in their aprons for paint and brushes. It was a great afternoon spent up in that room, and thanks to all the precautions they'd taken, the spilling of any paint along the way was handled without any damage to clean up. Now, the room was ready, and the boys' things were transferred from one room to the other. There were new items to add, showing how they were growing up, just as there were older items, no longer in use, which were either packed away, set aside for donation, or thrown away. Dinner was a little later than usual, but by the time they all gathered to eat, the nursery was back in baby mode, awaiting the little tadpole, and Elliott and Noah's room was all set. They finally saw it after their guests had gone, when they had to go and prepare for bath time.

Oh, they were excited. They loved their new room so much that they had to be reminded that they would get to come back after they went and had their bath. Lucas took care of the actual bath part, while Maya saw to combing Elliott's hair and tending to Noah's curls once they were helped into their PJs. The exercise was complicated by wandering eyes, but they got through it.

"What do you think? Good?" she asked Noah, once she was done with him.

"Good, Mommy," he nodded, all smiles, and it made her laugh.

"Glad to hear it," she told him, catching his little face in her hands for a few kisses that made him laugh right back. "What about you?" she turned to Elliott, prodding his tummy, getting him squirming and laughing along. "Happy with the new things?" He nodded and looked to the beds. He loved the new bedspreads especially.

Oh, he'd seen how one of his little friends' older siblings had bunk beds, though he hadn't known what they were called, and he'd been very intrigued by the idea, but thankfully he didn't look too disappointed at the idea of still having normal beds in his and Noah's room. Someday, maybe, they could explore the notion, especially if they ended up with more children in one room than they had room for beds, but after the morning's stool incident, and her being so close to delivering her tadpole boy, Maya was really not eager to put her boys anywhere near one of those beds. Noah would want to be on the top bed, of course he would. And he'd jump off it one day, he would, no doubt.

The next morning, as invited, the four Friars made their way out the kitchen door and walked up to the small house, where they were expected for breakfast with the newly moved in Pappy Joe and Patty. They couldn't exactly receive big dinner parties around their table, and more often than not they would have these family meals back inside the main house, but this being the first morning of the Friar-Robinson home, it seemed only right for them to share their meal here.

"The place looks great," Lucas told his grandfather as Patty escorted Maya around for a brief tour. The boys were standing at the window, looking out to where they could see their new bedroom's window. They had discovered already that they could see their great grandparents' home from there, and now they were finding the opposite view.

"It feels strange, I have to say," Pappy Joe breathed, a small smile on his lips. At his grandson's curious look, he clarified. "Ever since my accident, I had my room up at Tom and Mel's, and then I had my room back there," he gestured toward Lucas and Maya's home, his and Susannah's old home. "I have always been welcome, but I haven't been in my own place," he explained, with a look that showed how he didn't want Lucas to go off on the assumption that he'd ever felt unwelcome in any way. Lucas reassured him with a look of his own. He understood, he did. "And now I am, we are, Patricia and I. We have our home, and we have all of you, one short walk away." He was right where he wanted to be.

The tour was simple enough, going around the main area of the living room, kitchen, and dining room, and the bedroom as well. But there was the last room, with its shelves, and its desk, and sunny windows, art on what parts of the walls it could occupy… With a view of the lake off in the distance, already they could foresee it as a haven, a small retreat. Maya kind of loved this part the most, and she knew her former professor did, too.

To think, not too long ago, they had been teacher and student. Now, they were family, and neither of them would ever want it any other way. For all that, there was still this tie between them, academically made. They both shared this love for art, could start off on a topic and talk for hours on end. Maya may not have finished out her studies exactly as they had started, but she'd found her way, and she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Of course, she wouldn't be teaching, not yet, not until she found herself a post, and that wouldn't happen until after the baby… But now she had her former professor, her soon-to-be… grandmother-in-law… living just here, across the garden, and standing in this room with her, she was reminded of hours in her office, at the university back in Houston. When she mentioned this, Patty laughed and tapped her arm.

"Oh, but I was thinking the same thing. Me with my desk, you with yours," she gestured. They didn't have two desks here, but that wouldn't stop them sitting here together if they so wanted. "Do you know, yesterday, while we were unpacking in here, with your boys being so helpful," she mimed now, showing how they would pick out the books from the boxes – one at a time – and hand them to her to receive thanks each time. "It brought back so many memories and it had me thinking of how you helped me with my research. Maybe it's time you and I get our brains together again." Maya smiled instantly.

"I do like the sound of that," she nodded, and Patty gave that old warm smile her former student loved so much. "First things first though, we have to get you married," Maya whispered, and the professor laughed and embraced her.

Within a week, the big day came, and Joseph Friar and Patty Robinson were united. Families and friends came together, first for the vows, and then of course for the party…

"You know, I was so sure that nothing could come close to tiny socks and tiny shoes for me, but I have to say… Toddlers in suits? That is just too cute, I can't handle it…" Maya sighed. Her head was resting against Lucas' chest as they slowly danced, both of them looking over to where Elliott and Noah were apparently receiving dance lessons from their uncles.

Zay was acting as the instructor, crouched between the boys and pointing, while Asher and Dylan demonstrated together. Going by the shawl he'd borrowed from Riley, Dylan had cast himself in the role of a female partner. They were just on this side of silly, and the boys occasionally laughed, but they also paid attention with great, curious eyes.

"Yeah, I'm seeing that," Lucas agreed, biting back a laugh when Asher went and dipped Dylan, nearly dropping him in the process but saving him in the end. "How are we doing? Do you need a break for a few minutes?" he asked, turning back to look at her.

"Getting there, but I think I have the rest of this dance in me, okay?" she bargained.

"Done," he agreed, kissing the top of her head. There was something strangely peaceful about swaying with her like this, her belly right there between them, their little tadpole… It wouldn't be long now, not long at all… "We're in the part that feels sort of… impatient, aren't we?" he thought aloud, and Maya let out a sigh and a hum. They really were. How they couldn't wait to be holding their son…

"He'll be here soon… No rush until then."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners