Chapter 171
Happy Birthday Mama

The thought had been a constant of her life as a mother, from the moment that Elliott Lucas Friar had been pulled crying from her and placed into her arms, but some days she felt it more than ever. She'd be going along, doing something or sometimes just existing without doing anything at all, and suddenly it would hit her again, like a great heap of bricks… She was going to miss this time in her boys' lives, this time where they were small as they were now.

It was not even because of how small they were just now, physically, with all the cuteness that came with cherub faces and tiny hands and feet, fingers and toes… It was more than anything about the people they were, as small children. They would not be these people again, not once they grew out of this period in their lives, and that was normal, yes, and those next periods would be as wonderful and cherished as this one in their own rights, lamented when they would end, but this one… This one was always going to be different. Already they'd grown out of infancy, each one in turn, already they had evolved, but one day… one day her precious boys would be nothing but memory.

The thing that sent her spiraling this time happened a couple days prior. Maya and Lucas had dropped off the boys to stay with their aunt and uncle at the bakery while they went on a few errands. She wasn't sure when it had started coming together for her, but she'd quickly figured out that there was more to this entire scenario, especially once Lucas had started suggesting some additional stops… He was stalling, lengthening the time it would take before they were back to pick up their sons… from the bakery… when her birthday was right around the corner.

She could imagine them in that kitchen, with their Aunt Charlie, and their young cousins, helping for a 'very special cake.' She could see them, and it got the 'premature nostalgia' going. All she could do at that point was go along with the charade, let it show to her husband and sons that their master plan was undisturbed. Oh, Lucas would be on to her before long, but playing along with the narrative as it was laid out by their children was just how things worked for them now, wasn't it? Just because they both knew about a surprise, it didn't mean it was spoiled, not so long as he knew, and she knew, but they didn't 'know' it out loud, together. No, all was just as it was meant to be, no one the wiser.

This year, her birthday landed on a Saturday, and as glad as Maya was for this, she knew the boys were just as excited if not more. They had this whole day figured out, as she'd soon find out.

It had all started coming together on New Year's Day. Both Lucas and Maya had slept in that morning, as they'd only made it back home barely two hours before Elliott, Noah, and Jamie usually woke up. Pappy Joe and Patty had come in from their house so they would be there to see the boys out of bed and through breakfast before taking them outside to play while their parents slept on. After they had gotten up, Maya had gone to the bakery so she and Charlie could work on a few things ahead of the following day's first fully open business day. This had left Lucas at home with the boys, where he could then point out that their mother's birthday was just two weeks away.

Oh, how they had jumped at the chance to make a special day for her. And it was on the weekend, so that would mean no preschool, no work… They could do everything they wanted all day long! Showing themselves for how they had taken up habits from their mother when she went into planning mode, the first order of business was for Elliott to track down some paper and a pen, which he'd brought to his father. He had become the official note taker, on the merit of… well, being the only one among the four of them there that day who could write more than their own name and some random letters, maybe a few other words. As Lucas would tell it, he did his best to not intervene, letting the boys decide and only guiding with suggestions when he could see them seeking under furrowed brows.

They wanted flowers, lots of flowers, and balloons, lots of those, too. They wanted cake, and cookies, and music. They wanted make a big card, almost as big as them, because they knew how much their mother loved art and she'd told them how she loved theirs the best so of course they needed to do that for her when it was her birthday. What about a party? Did they need a party? Oh, yes, of course they did! So what did they need for that? Well, they'd need all those things they'd already said, that was for sure, and then they'd need people there, important people… They'd need more food then, too, and then what else… Presents! They needed presents!

For the next two weeks then they had working toward this day in secret. Lucas had continued to play conductor through these proceedings, enabling his sons while shielding his wife from the surprise. Honestly, it had been really good for him. It helped him focus on all this good, maintaining the good start they'd had on this year and not letting himself sink back into worries and insecurities over his ranch conundrum. He knew now more than ever that he needed to be patient in this, not to try and force it but instead just… let it happen. He would find his way, find what he was supposed to do for Sullivan Stables that wasn't being a vet. He still intended to be a trainer, but he knew that wouldn't be enough, that he wanted to do more, and he would… someday. In the meantime, he had so much to do already, good things, wonderful things, none more wonderful than his wife and sons.

Finally, the morning came when Maya would wake to see that the twenty-sixth year of her life had been brought to a close. She was twenty-six… Just a number, but it didn't hit her the way she might have believed. It made her look at her life, with all its twists and turns, and it reminded her of how the unexpected turns, becoming a wife and mother at twenty and twenty-one respectively may not have been what she'd seen for herself, but then it had brought her here. Now she had Lucas, and their three boys, here in this house. She was a teacher, and one half of a new and thriving bakery. With all that in mind, twenty-six got to feel pretty good…

"Where's my present, huh?" she whispered after turning around to face him, and Lucas grinned, leaning to capture her in a kiss, and then more than a kiss…

That was something else that had been going on since the year had started. At first, it was just about the two of them grabbing at whatever chances for intimacy they might have been able to get, in the middle of everything that came with being working parents to three children under the age of five. There was something undeniably appealing to stealing away moments for them to be together, and this had never been so true as now. So far, there was only the one time where Elliott had had the misfortune of walking in on them, and they'd had to try and explain what he'd seen as discreetly as possible. They didn't want any repeats of that.

But as the new year had started, those secret escapes became about more than following urges. They'd discussed it all after she'd been hired on as a teacher. They wanted more children. They wanted them, and while they wanted them to be close enough in age, they had also agreed to make sure that Maya had a whole year with her students before any thoughts of having to be away on leave came into the picture. Well, now that first year was moving along nicely, and Maya was back with them for that back half, and were she to become pregnant in the near future, she would definitely be able to finish this year, so… Was it time? Should they start trying again?

It had taken little more than the thought coming to them for them to know… Yes, they were ready, she was ready… So, now all they had to do was try and make it happen… and that was always exciting…

"I'm just saying… It's my birthday, so…" Maya hummed, still waiting for her heart rate to steady and her breath to do the same.

"The universe owes you a present?" Lucas suggested, in the same state.

"A big one… Well, not too big, just about like… this big," she mimed the rough shape of a newborn.

"Yeah, I hear those take months to ship," he smiled, more so when she laughed. He knew this entire exchange could have spun far out of control with metaphors, but then they could just hear it… steps… small people coming. They looked at each other; they needed to get dressed again.

In one of the many ways in which time never seemed to slow down, Jamie Friar was already sixteen months old. He still slept in his crib, now across the hall instead of back in his parents' room as it had been as a newborn and for many months after that, but he was getting oh so close to transitioning out of there. For that reason, his parents had been willing to accept his older brothers' request for him to get to stay with them on this night. It would be all three boys sharing Elliott's bed, with the smallest of them in the middle and fenced in by the bigger two. The look on all their faces as they'd climbed in at bedtime had been priceless, especially with Jamie, who seemed to be telling himself 'alright, I'm a big boy now, like them, so I have to do just what they do.'

This brotherly sleepover, as fun as it had been, had the bonus purpose of putting them all in one place and making it easier for them to sneak on over to their parents' room to surprise their mother with her giant card. As they would find, the one saving grace that prevented Elliott, Noah, or Jamie to walk in while their parents scrambled to make themselves presentable was that they'd all wanted to help carry the card, and so they went in a sort of lockstep, which they struggled to maintain, on the journey up the hall. Finally, they reached the door and worked to open it.

Jamie had been in the middle as they walked, but once the door opened, he ducked under the card and passed into the room first, there to find like his brothers did that their father was up and awake, and so was their mother…

"Mama!" he ran to her, and Maya scooped him up for some good hugs and kisses, even as Elliott and Noah approached, giant card in the air.

"Hi! Oh! Wow!" Maya gasped, her reaction unexaggerated in the slightest. She crouched and then sat on the floor outright, her youngest still clinging to her as her elder two stepped forward, one hand on the card, the other coming around for a hug with their mother and little brother. "You guys, that is a huge birthday card, I love it!" she told them, dropping kisses left, right, and center atop each blond head. "Thank you so much!"

"Look, see, I did that," Noah pointed to one section of the cover.

"That's a big dog," Maya nodded, noting the one that sat next to what would have to be Trix, Lou, and the cats, Shadow and Whiskey. Noah agreed with the statement, all the while with the edge of a smile in him to suggest this was part of a master plan for a new dog…

"I did this," Elliott pointed to another part. "And Jamie did that," he pointed again. At hearing his name, Jamie perked up, touching his part of the card and looking to his mother.

"Me!" he said, with a proud smile full of little teeth.

"I recognized your style," she complimented him, treating him to a forehead press, knowing how he loved when their eyes would get all crossed for being near. After a few seconds, he would pull back and giggle, pressing his hands at his face. "And that's a really great portrait, Sprout," she told Elliott, and he grinned before pointing to what her portrait self was holding. "Puppy?" Maya asked, and he nodded. "Cute," she tipped her head to him, even as she could hear Lucas losing what precious little control he had left on his composure at seeing all this.

He hadn't been allowed to see the cover either, only the inside, where he'd helped them write their message, and now here they were. He knew as well as Maya did that it wasn't even as though the boys were trying to make a request. They just both had this idea playing at the back of their minds, so when they had gone to make their mother a card, this was what had come out.

"I think that's actually a dog, too," Maya reflected, later on, as she and Lucas looked at the card some more. It had been placed up on the dresser, in all its majesty, and she had been staring at Jamie's doodle for a while.

"Yeah, I see it," Lucas concurred. "I have been thinking about something," he admitted. "We could foster some?" Maya looked at him. Yes, that could be interesting… "The one thing I don't know is how they would feel about that, about the part where they would leave and we wouldn't get to keep them."

"Right…" Maya nodded. She knew how easy it was for the boys to get attached, and if they weren't careful, then they'd be setting them up for disappointment. "We could try and ease them into it. Take them to the shelter, let them understand what we'd be doing."

"We could do that," Lucas smiled approvingly. Maya pointed at herself.

"It's the new year, I'm now older and wiser," she informed him, and he laughed, locking his arms her and kissing her through her own laughter.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners