Chapter 156
Family Collision

They couldn't think on it too long. All they could really do at this point was decide who went where, who went and intercepted the arrivals and who went to alert everyone in the kitchen. This at least could easily be remedied, more or less. Maya had to be the one to talk to her mother, so that meant that Lucas would be moving to head off the incoming party. He offered to take Jamie, feeling that she'd be better off with her arms free, and once she'd passed four-month-old to him, Lucas hurried out and through the front door after grabbing a jacket, primarily to make sure and keep Jamie warm. When he looked out, he saw that the car was just starting back on the road and away from the house, leaving the passengers standing there with their bags. The three adults were standing together, the girl held in her grandmother's arms, and talking like maybe they were airing whatever they still needed to air out before they approached the door.

It was the man, Charlie's husband, David, who spotted him first and saw him climbing down the front steps with the baby. He alerted the other two… Katy's parents, Maya's grandparents… Those were his boys' great grandparents… That was all he could keep thinking about as they turned and watched him come along before eventually talking to meet him halfway.

"Baby!" the little girl squealed excitedly. Caitlin… She looked a lot like her mother, which in turn reminded Lucas of his own wife, and even their sons… Whatever features that Elliott, Noah, and Jamie had inherited from the Clutterbucket branch of their family tree, he could see some of them in the three-year-old's face. He had to think about it for a moment. She would be Maya's cousin, so then that would make her Jamie's… first cousin, once removed? Lucas knew, from chatting with Charlie while they'd made breakfast earlier, how excited her daughter was at the prospect of having a baby brother, so any baby she saw would just make her day.

"His name's Jamie," he told her. It felt important to him to start this off as gently as possible and tending to the girl's curiosity was the best way to go. And it'll give Maya time to explain things inside.

"Hi, Jamie," Caitlin beamed, keeping her toy guitar snug in one arm while she reached her other hand out. She was just near enough now that she could set her hand down on his head and brush at his hair. She was very gentle about it, a practiced gesture ahead of her brother's arrival. "Can I hold him? I know how," she vowed.

"In a little while, okay?" Lucas smiled back at her, and the girl was satisfied at this.

Of course, now, Lucas had to look to the adults, who had been quietly looking on over this brief exchange. The woman who held Caitlin, her grandmother, Maya's grandmother, was looking at the baby, too. She'd have to be noting his family resemblance, too, how could she not? Would she realize this was her great grandson or would she assume him to be her estranged daughter's child? How much did they even know, coming here today, about what they were walking into?

"I'm Lucas," he decided that he might as well introduce both himself and a few facts into the air. "Lucas Friar, and this is my son, Jamie."

"You're Maya's husband," the younger man, Charlie's husband, stated, and Lucas turned a nod to him before extending his hand for a shake. So, they knew that much at least. "David Olsen," he introduced himself. "My daughter, Caitlin," he indicated with an easy smile as he looked to her and saw how she was drawn from looking at the baby and back to him at the sound of her name. "And my in-laws, the Clutterbuckets, Tanner and Angela." Rather than say anything like 'yes, I guessed,' Lucas nodded to them both and shook their hands as well.

"We…" he started to say, unsure how to proceed, but at least they could help there.

"You weren't expecting us," Angela declared, and Lucas respectfully shook his head. "Yes, well, it's only that… When David explained to us where Charlie had gone off to so suddenly," she went on, and somewhere amid the looks exchanged within the group, Lucas got the feeling that little Caitlin may have repeated something she wasn't meant to, which had then led to her father having to fill in the blanks. "The decision was made very suddenly," Angela went on, and to Lucas it was impossible not to feel a thread of familiarity in this, between the woman he had just met and her daughter and granddaughter… "After all these years, to hear… anything…"

And there was that tremor in her voice, one that Lucas couldn't help but feel sympathy for. This woman had been in agony for nearly three decades, wondering what had become of her daughter. How could she not run the moment a possibility arose for her to find her again? Whatever she'd find when she came face to face with her, at least she would know, right? Next to her, quiet as he'd been all this time, and with so much of his expression buried beneath his great beard, there was plenty of that pain in her husband's face as well. Pain, and… regret, and fear. Maybe more than anyone, if things were as Charlie had described them, he would have held himself personally responsible for all that had happened, for Katy's running away the way she did.

"Of course," Lucas slowly nodded, even as he realized that, in their haste to make sure that this would go as smoothly as it ever could, they hadn't really been able to decide exactly how to proceed, just 'you go here, I go there.' What was he supposed to do now, keep them out here or bring them inside? Were they ready in there?

When he'd taken Jamie from her arms, Maya had felt momentarily aimless, like having her son in her arms had steadied her, and now he was gone so she might float away before she could get a grip… But then there was her mother to think about, wasn't there? This had to be about her, about protecting her, as best she could. The rest hardly mattered, did it? To her, at least… No one else in that room would be anywhere near as stricken to learn that they had even more visitors and that they were these visitors. Oh, her heart felt impossibly active just now… How was she supposed to do this?

The conversation in the kitchen had been carrying on in a very lively manner while she and Lucas had been upstairs with the baby. Katy and Betsy were sharing a story of their days out in New York, of Katy's sixteenth birthday and how Betsy had tried to make it about the sweetest sixteen the two cousins could manage. It was really the most vivid example Maya had ever seen of this time in her mother's life, those years she'd spent with Betsy… Was it any wonder the two of them were so glad to be reunited? And now she had to bring everyone back to reality…

"Mom?" she finally had to speak. Everyone turned at the sound of her voice, so Katy wasn't the only one to note the expression on her face, the one that said that something had happened or was about to happen. Katy got up from her seat and approached her daughter.

"What's the matter, where's…" This was never going to be anything but a shock, so there was very little else for her to do than to get on with it, was there?

"When we were upstairs with Jamie, Lucas saw a car arrive, a taxi," she started. To their credit, a few of the others around the table quickly got a look like they had enough to see where this might be going. Katy wasn't there yet. "The people got out of the car and we recognized them, from pictures," Maya went on, sparing a look to her new aunt. "David and Caitlin are here," she let Charlie know, and the young pregnant woman moved to rise at once, instantly eager to be reunited with them even as her older sister seemed to be thinking 'oh, is that all, this is great news.' She looked ready to go outside and meet them, as did Charlie. But then she realized that this might not have been all of it and she stalled, even as Maya found her mother's hand and took hold of it with both of hers. "And so are your parents," she told the two sisters even as her eyes were squarely locked on to her mother.

The room was brought to quiet again. Out behind the house, they could just hear Dax and Miles Young, the little Hunters, and the Friar brothers playing, caught in what seemed to be a great battle between good and evil. In the kitchen, it was a battle between courage and fear, as everyone looked to Katy. Whatever support they could lend her was set in the air to reach her, though it was hard to say if she was aware of much of anything beyond what had to be swirling through her mind at the moment.

"I… I didn't tell them, I swear," Charlie was the first to speak, and Katy turned to her, shaking her head in assurance that she didn't think she'd been responsible in the slightest.

Still, it didn't change their current predicament. It didn't change that the Clutterbuckets were right outside, and whatever choice was made next would set the next chapter of their lives in motion. Nothing from what they had been talking about earlier to what Maya could see in her mother's face just now suggested that her answer would be to turn the couple away and tell them to leave, but now that still left her with this situation where she would have to see her parents, after all these years, after she'd left the way she did, never reaching out again… How could she not be terrified of the unknown, of how it would go? Maya gave her mother's hand a new squeeze and she looked at her. You're not alone.

She was here, in her daughter's home, surrounded by people who loved her and would support her. Not only that… Those people out there, as scared as she was, didn't she know where their hearts were right now? They had come for her, they were here… for her…

She looked around for the first time, from her daughter to her husband, to her cousin and her wife, to the senior Friars… to her sister… Charlie had this look in her eyes, like she hadn't dared to admit how much it would mean to her, to have her parents and her sister all together with her. Katy turned to Pappy Joe and Patty.

"Could you… Could you stay with the kids, make sure they don't…"

"Of course," Patty assured her, already moving to rise along with her husband. They went out to join the kids, introducing themselves into their games as though everything was as it had been all along.

Charlie was the first one out the front door, and her appearance was greeted with an immediate squeal of 'Mommy!' Even as she made her way down the front steps, Caitlin had been put back on her feet and so she rushed out to her, toy guitar flailing about as she went and was finally scooped up by her mother. Lucas could see just how glad Charlie was to have her back, even more than the toddler in her arms. She could have lost herself in this small reunion, but then there was just so much more to this, and she looked out to where her husband and parents stood, along with Lucas and Jamie, and she turned back around to look at the door.

Betsy and Sasha came out next, and then Shawn, and lastly Katy and Maya, hand in hand still. Maya could feel just how much her mother's hand trembled in hers, and all she could lend her was the steadiness of contact. She was a tether, even as both of their eyes would be drawn immediately and entirely on to the couple standing between David and Lucas. Maya could not speak for what was going through any of their minds; all she had to go on was what she saw of their faces, their body language…

On her mother's side, it felt like the young Katy and the present Katy were both having to contend with what they'd known, what they remembered, and what they saw now, fishing through it all until they could make sense of everything coursing through them. Even so, the thing that seemed to rise to the surface the most was a feeling deep in her chest, like she was a small girl again and, after having had no mother or father around her for so long, as she ventured into adulthood and motherhood, she was having to acknowledge how much she had wished that things could have been different, that they could have been there with her.

Out there, on the path between the house and the road, Maya saw a couple who had been walking under a weight, a burden of their own making, as they would have felt it was their actions and inactions that had compelled their daughter to run. And today, in this moment where they only had eyes for the grown woman who had once been their baby girl, that weight felt suddenly lifted, maybe not entirely gone, but also no longer supported solely by their own shoulders. Whatever came next would determine whether the weight could be taken away altogether, and in the meantime… All they could do was look at her, and wait, and hope. What if it all turned out to be a dream after all? They'd had so many of those over the years…

Katy didn't let go of Maya's hand as she walked up toward her parents, and to Maya it felt as much about holding on to her tether as it was about needing to bring her into this moment. For a long while, Maya had been left wondering if her mother might have eventually reached out to her family or gone back to Arkansas if it hadn't been for her. She'd wondered about it, assigning this either to her mother wanting to protect her, or even… some feeling of shame at having become a mother when she did. It all sounded silly now, but at the time, when Maya had been younger… She'd shared this feeling with her mother and had been immediately reassured, and now that they were here, now that they were finally coming to this moment of reunion, Katy wanted her to know: she was one of her proudest achievements, and if she was going to face her parents for the first time in all these years, she would do so with her by her side, so they could see the amazing young woman she'd brought into the world.

"Katy…" Angela breathed, a rumble of new tears brought up at getting to say her daughter's name to her face again. The power of that one utterance was not felt by her alone. To hear her mother's voice saying her name hit Katy enough to start her crying, too. From there, the only thing that could happen was just what happened. Katy moved toward her mother and Angela moved toward her daughter, wrapping her in her arms, tighter so once that first contact had been processed. Katy had not let go of Maya's hand as this happened, and in no time Angela reached out one hand, the better to pull her granddaughter into the embrace until they all stood in a three-generation heap.

Standing on the outside, Lucas swore he could feel his wife's emotions radiating out of her and on to him. There was no telling how the rest of the day would go, but right now she was relieved. Around them, as the three women stood together, he could see Shawn, focused on his wife and daughter, Betsy and Sasha smiling… David Olsen had gone to join his wife and daughter, as a tearful Charlie stood with her phone out, capturing the moment… What Lucas couldn't help but focus on the most was Tanner Clutterbucket, just two steps from his wife, from the daughter he hadn't seen in so very long, and from the granddaughter he had never known. Lucas saw how much he wanted to reach out to them but, in his strong silent-type attitude, just didn't know how. This was not a man who would be known to show great emotion, but right here, today, might have been the event to challenge it all.

"Look how you've grown…" Angela breathed, when the embrace loosened enough for her to get a look at their faces… her Katy… and then… "Maya…" she spoke her granddaughter's name, and it brought a new smile to her face. She couldn't have known of her existence for more than twenty-four hours, but already she felt a connection to her. A great part of her couldn't help but be overwhelmed, and yet just to be here now, standing before them… They would have to talk of the past, sooner or later, but for now all that really mattered was the present, where they were all together. "I am so glad to meet you…"

"Me, too," Maya told her, sparing a look to her mother and finding her with a smile, too. She had never known how much it would mean to her, to get to introduce her mother to her daughter. Wait until they meet the others…

"And what a sweet boy you have…" Angela looked back to where Lucas stood, holding Jamie. She looked back to Katy again, like she was only realizing that her daughter was now a grandmother, when up until the day before she hadn't even known for certain that she was a mother, too.

"He is that," Maya proudly agreed. "Wait until you meet his brothers," she couldn't help but add, smiling at her grandmother's delighted surprise.

Before Angela could inquire further, both she and Maya were drawn to turn their attention to the side. Even as the matter of great grandsons was being discussed, Katy's eyes had turned to her father. Now, she had moved to stand before him, and all of them standing outside the Friar house seemed to be holding their breaths, waiting to see what would come of this encounter. For all that, no one seemed quite so nervous as the father and daughter. Katy walked like she was being led by the fifteen-year-old who'd picked up her defiance with both hands and run, while her father… The seventy-five-year-old man standing before her looked taken with a sudden frailty as he looked upon his firstborn. He looked afraid to have come all this way and have it all crumble to pieces before him. For as many as there were of them watching him, only the one stood right in front of him had noticed…

"You're crying, Dad…" Katy breathed, and when she reached up her hand and touched his face, he blinked… and he enveloped her in such a hold… She might have been no bigger to him now than she'd been when he'd held her for the first time, no bigger and no less precious… maybe even more. To feel that love coming off of him, it broke everything that could have been held back, and Katy cried with him.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners