October 7th 2022

Chapter 178
How Are We Doing

Lucas knew his segments were having the effect he'd hoped they would when people started recognizing and stopping him on the street to talk. It wasn't the exact first sign, no. For one, the fact that he'd now recorded four and seen them aired was already telling. The uptick in calls, and visitors, and overall clientele at the ranch did so, too. But the people… They would see him, and there'd be a moment of 'where do I know him from?' followed by realization, and right there he would see on the people's faces that they were glad to see him. Sometimes they'd just say hello, or wave, and go on with their day. Other times they would come and talk to him, sometimes briefly, sometimes for a good twenty to thirty minutes. And he really enjoyed all of those conversations.

He had a special spot for the ones who came to him who either remembered the old segments with his grandparents, or who had known his grandparents personally, had been to the ranch way back when… He loved to see how much the place and the people had meant to them and still did, if only because of the memories they'd made. They would tell him how happy they were, not only that he was doing the segments but that he was at the ranch, doing the work he was doing and following in his grandparents' footsteps. When they would tell him all this, he would turn back and thank back, explaining how much it meant to him, too. He would be prone to mentioning how he didn't know if he would be allowed to carry on doing it, that it all depended on how people responded, and several of them had told him that they would make sure to let the station know how they appreciated what he did. Going by the call he'd had today he'd venture to say that a lot if not all of them had been true to their word. They had spoken, and the station had listened.

They wanted him to do a series. A whole week, Monday to Friday, five segments. Summer was fast approaching, which meant among other things that kids would be out of school, and they wanted him to use this week with that in mind, with them as his target audience. He was a father, he could do that, couldn't he? When they'd asked him that, he'd had to smile to himself. Oh, could he ever…

Elliott was on his last days of preschool. He knew this very well, and he'd been excited about how he would get to go on to the next step, to kindergarten… right up until both he and Noah had realized what it actually meant. What had once been a matter for later was less so now. Big brother was moving on, and little brother was about to be left behind… He didn't like that at all, and it might have been a bigger issue if not for the fact that he at least still had his cousin Caitlin, who now went to his preschool, too, who was and would still be in that same place with him when fall rolled around. Noah was still upset over being split from Elliott, but he could cope with Caitlin there.

Then there was Jamie, who'd be turning two when that whole school shift happened, bewildering as it could sound. There was still no decision made as to how Maya would proceed as far as her teaching. Everything was moving along with the pregnancy these days, eternally easier now that morning sickness had stopped being an issue, but then there was no telling how she'd be doing by September. She'd be somewhere about six months along with the twins by then, so how much longer would she reasonably be able to teach? Would it be better off if she went and started her leave a little earlier than usual, and if so, would she even go in there at all before the babies? She wanted to. Barring any complications, she wanted to be in there as long as reasonably possible. She'd miss a great chunk of that year, but if she could start it and end it…

In the meantime, they were both thinking a lot about the twins. Somewhere in all these thoughts, there'd be the obvious questions, the ones they couldn't help but have, like would they try and know what they were having when it became an option? What about names, what did they have in mind? But then there'd be other questions, like suddenly juggling what were, essentially, two jobs each, maybe three if they counted the office, the riding lessons, and the segments for Lucas and then the classes, the baking club, and the bakery for Maya, on top of raising five young children, looking after five family pets… They were doing about as well, financially, as they'd ever done, but they had no delusions over the big picture. The more kids they added to the equation, it was only further reason for them to carry on the way they'd done from day one. It had rarely led them wrong, and this time… This time it was maybe more essential than ever.

On Saturday morning, as he was still contemplating what he would do on his week-long series, Lucas picked up Ava for her riding lesson. As had become the custom, he would drive up to the house and wait in his car until she came out to join him, so he took the opportunity to look through his notes, to see if he might have anything new to add to them. Concentrated as he was on this, he didn't realize Ava was coming along until he heard the passenger side door open.

He looked up just as she hoisted herself up and closed the door with just enough of force to telegraph that she was not in a good mood. As Lucas watched her buckle her seatbelt, he could see why. For as long as he'd known the ten-year-old, her auburn hair had been a sometimes frizzy but overall well-maintained head of curls, which he recognized and appreciated for having been sharing those maintenance duties with Maya for Noah's curls. This morning however... She'd done her best to control it, but the whole thing was a pouffy mass which could only mean one that it had very recently had a straightening encounter with a brush.

"Hi..." Lucas blinked. She looked at him, saw him looking at her hair, and averted her eyes again, not before her instructor caught a few angry tears welling in her eyes. "What..."

"It wasn't me," she protested, and it was about all he needed to know. It had been her mother's idea. Lucas could just picture Mrs. Nash telling her one and only daughter that she would look so much prettier with straight hair. As Ava told it, she'd tried to tell her mother that this was exactly what would happen, but she'd insisted, practically dropped her in the chair and compelled her not to move until she was done. It hadn't taken long for her to see that this would be a much bigger undertaking than she'd anticipated... so she'd given up.

"Who usually takes care of your hair?" Lucas had to wonder.

"I do," Ava proudly told him.

"Yeah?" Lucas smiled. He could see that, too. "Since when?"

"I think I was seven... No, eight," she corrected herself. "My uncle used to come over and do it for me, but... but then he couldn't anymore," she explained, voice drifting off, suggesting a longer story. Lucas didn't say a word, just let her decide whether she wanted to elaborate or move on. "He used to be my aunt," she finally stated outright. "My mom said some things... my dad sort of... went with her on it. Anyway, they didn't want him coming anymore. But then he sent me a lot of videos, so I could teach myself, said I could do it, so I did."

"He was right," Lucas complimented her skill. Ava's anger had started to ebb away, but now it hardly fixed her entire situation. She touched her hair, sighed.

"I can't ride like this..."

Lucas tapped the steering wheel, thought things over. A few options came to mind, each one dismissed until it came down to the one that could work the best for everyone involved. So, when he had the chance, Lucas sent out a text, kept an eye out when he was able to look away from the road. He smiled. At his side, Ava remained oblivious, still picking at her hair every once in a while.

"So, what's summer looking like for you right now? Lucas asked as they walked from the parking lot. Despite the fact that it was one of the warmest days they'd had so far this year, Ava was wearing the Sullivan Stables hoodie she'd bought - with her pocket money that she'd saved up - and now she had gone so far as to pull the hood over her head, tucking her hair completely out of sight.

"My parents want to send me to summer camp... in Maine," Ava frowned.

"And you don't want to go," Lucas stated, as though it needed saying. Ava confirmed it with a noise. "Why Maine though? There's camps here."

"My mom says it'll be 'an experience,'" she intoned in what Lucas recognized as a spot on impression of her mother. "I think she just wants me not to be there."

"Have you told her that you don't want to go?"

"Every day," Ava sighed. "Last time, she sent me to my room, no dinner."

Lucas frowned. He tried not to judge, but this woman was trying his patience. He couldn't just sit around and do nothing. He'd have to think of something... before it was too late and she was shipped off to camp.

"Where are we going?" Ava asked when she noticed that they weren't heading to the stables.

"We're going to do things differently today, alright? Is it okay if you stick around longer than usual?" It was. "Okay, right this way," he stepped ahead of her and opened a door. Up a hallway they went, then another door, and Ava paused, surprised.

"Wow..." she blinked, like the presence of the sink, the mirror, the chair, everything, didn't add up to where she was.

Lucas explained how, since they held events here, including weddings, they'd had this room set up, in the event that it was needed for whatever reason. She was still looking around, showing that boundless curiosity of hers, when the door opened again behind them, and Maya entered. Ava turned around, saw her, and gave a quick wave in greeting.

"Heard there was a curl emergency?" Maya asked. Ava looked to Lucas, then back to her, before pulling her hood down. "Okay..." Maya bit back the urge to gasp. "Can I?" she gestured around, indicating the sink, the chair... Ava agreed at once.

Lucas could have done it, had become adept at it thanks to Noah, but looking at the big picture, it had made more sense to bring Maya in. So, while she worked, he started telling Ava about some of what they were going to do once they were done here, for the day's lesson. The girl listened, even as she looked very aware of the woman working on her hair. By the end of it, Ava was as ready as could be to go find her horse.

"Alright, want me to spin you around to see?" Maya asked, taking hold of the back of the chair and looking around at the child's face. She'd been turned away from the mirror, the better to see Lucas as he spoke to her. Ava nodded, already able to see for herself some of spring returned to her hair. "Eyes open? Eyes closed?" she wondered. Ava reached up and covered her eyes. "Okay, here goes..." She spun her around. "You can look now."

Ava was as renewed as could be, no longer lost in a nest of brushed hair. Maya did not have to ask if she was happy with the results. She'd barely seen it, given her head a satisfying shake, that she was out of the chair and hugging her instructor's wife.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she told her, pulling back with a smile.

"You are so welcome," Maya laughed. "Should we leave it like this or tie it somehow?" Ava looked at herself.

"Leave it, I think..."

"You want to feel it bounce around for a while, huh?" Maya guessed, and Ava replied with a nod that proved the point even further. Even without looking at each other, both Maya and Lucas knew the other would be thinking the same as they were, of how Noah was the same way.

Maya stuck around to watch the rest of that day's lesson. Later, when they were home again, Lucas finally got to tell her about everything that had happened before her arrival. She was in the same position as he was, maybe more so, from her perspective as a mother.

"She doesn't want to go, she shouldn't have to go, but at the same time... A summer away from that woman... might not be a bad idea," she told Lucas, and on this he agreed.

"I want to find a way to help her, to make it so she doesn't have to go, but whatever it is, I'd have to make sure her parents wouldn't say no... Maybe if I went to her father first... He's always seemed more reasonable where she's concerned," Lucas hummed, absently feeling at the curve of her belly.

"Well, you know, I have to say... Watching you two today, while you gave your... lecture... That was really good," Maya told him, and he smiled. "She asks these questions sometimes and it's like... She's kind of fascinating, too? Hard to believe she's only ten sometimes."

"Don't I know it," Lucas chuckled.

"You two make a great team," Maya told him, and he thanked her with a nod before stalling, a thought occurring to him. He met her eyes again. "What is it?"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners