October 28th 2022

Chapter 181
One Day in July

Maya had considered delaying the appointment, or at least to find a different one. Lucas always came with her when he could, which she didn't see as necessary but did appreciate every time. Sometimes he didn't get to come with her for whatever reason, and that was fine. But there were a couple of them where having him there meant more than the others, like the first one when they would hear their babies' heartbeats, and this one, when they would very likely be given the option of learning what they were having.

There had been a date, but then because of a few things getting in the way, Maya had called to see if she might push the date a few days. She was given a new date and had taken it before finding out that Lucas would be unable to make it. Now there was conflict. She really wanted him to be there, but...

In the end, they'd come up with the best compromise they could. Maya went without him, though she did have Riley with her. And when the time came where the screen lit up with the images of the twins inside her, she kept her eyes closed and listened as the doctor examined her and them. She could only think of when they'd had this day with Elliott and she'd figured it out on her own... She wasn't going to know, not on her own. The doctor confirmed she'd seen enough to have an answer, so she wrote it down and sealed it in an envelope. Maya would have this and the video, and once she and Lucas were together again, they could find out together.

That envelope was going to burn a hole in her pocket until that moment came, she knew, but she would just have to do her best and carry on. She had so much more to do today. Next stop after the clinic was the bakery.

The Hart-Brett wedding was to take place in mid-August. The reasoning here had been that they could then have their honeymoon in the next week, and used the week after that to handle the big move, and then the kids would be starting school again. This made it so that the entire summer was going to be very busy for the family - singular, that was important to them, not two families but one - so it was all hands on deck.

There had been a whole lot of consideration about the matter of where they would all live. The options and the associated arguments were very much as they had been imagined, but a choice still needed to be made. What was it going to be? Hart house, Brett house, new house? They'd asked the kids what they all thought, wanting to be aware of their honest opinions so they could be considered. Getting a whole new house, especially on short notice, would be trickier, not just for getting it and fixing it up and moving in, but then also having to sell both previous houses, leaving them...

They had finally decided to move into the Brett house. As much as the Harts loved their new home in Austin, they didn't have the history with it that the Bretts had with theirs. The Hart kids had been the ones to make this choice in the end, because they remembered what it had felt like to leave their home in New York, and they didn't want that for their new stepsisters. On the flipside, the Brett girls had gone around for days, figuring out where their new stepbrothers and sisters could have their rooms in their house. They had separate rooms, but they didn't mind either combining or having Cara and Eliza join one and the other. That left the boys, and that was fine, because their father had his home office which he never used... Stephen Brett 'graciously' gave it up for his stepsons to be. Granny Lizzie was back in Tucson with Luna, and there she would remain.

All house combining aside, there was the wedding, and of the many tasks that she was involved in, like dress shopping for the wedding party, her most dedicated one was naturally the cake. There could not have been anyone else doing it. They would also have a whole array of desserts from Friar & Olsen's, in honor of how the place had factored in the couple's reunion. Maya was still figuring out what that menu would look like, how much of everything they'd need. And she was designing options for the cake, which she would be presenting to the bride and groom for selection.

"How did it go?" Charlie asked when she arrived. "Did they see if..."

"They did," Maya confirmed, tapping the pocket where she kept the envelope. Her aunt had a sympathetic look, showing she understood her eagerness to look. "You know, I wasn't even sure if I was going to ask to find out the first time, but then I saw it for myself. Then the second time, with Noah, the plan was that we'd be surprised, and I definitely was, but Lucas found out by accident, so the third time with Jamie we figured we'd just find out on purpose."

"We didn't want to know with Caitlin, wanted to be surprised, but everyone else wanted to know so bad. We held our ground, we got our surprise, but the second time, with Harry, we figured let's just find out, so we did. It doesn't really matter in the end, does it? Either you find out today or in a few months, it won't change the answer and, years from now, months won't matter, will they?"

"Yeah..." Maya nodded. "Right now I guess it would be more... practical? If we knew?" Charlie nodded back. "Might be just a... small part... that just really wants to know now," Maya went on with a sheepish smile that made her aunt laugh.

"Hey, Maya?" They looked back to see Andie, one of their front people, poking her head into the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"There's a girl here asking for you. She sounds upset."

Maya and Charlie both got the same sort of curious furrow in their brow as they moved to go see what this was about. Of all the things she might have imagined, Maya had not guessed who it would be she'd discover, standing almost in the very center of the bakery, catching her breath like she'd run very fast or very long. Her eyes were open and seeking; she'd run here with a need, and that need was to find Maya. Her hands were pulled together in front of her, and Maya could see one of the bakery's business cards held firmly in one of them.

"Ava? Are you okay? What..." Maya hurried her step once she saw her, and when the girl saw her back, she moved to her, too.

"I... I..." she tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come.

"Hey... It's okay, take your time, breathe..." she gave her shoulders a light squeeze, tried to calm her down. When she felt this, Ava's response was to fold herself against the woman and hold on to her. Whether as a maternal reflex or just a human one, Maya's response was to wrap her in a protective hug, rubbing at her back and just holding her, letting her feel and remember that she was safe here. "I got you..." she promised the ten-year-old.

Neither of them moved for nearly two minutes if not longer. In that time, Charlie, Andie, none of them knew what to do, so they just let them be. Maya looked to her aunt and mouthed the words 'call Lucas,' which Charlie understood and went to do in the kitchen. Hopefully he would be done soon and be able to come out here. Until then, Maya would have things handled.

She was able to coax Ava into letting go, following her to sit at a table. Charlie brought out water for her at first, which Ava quietly drank, before asking her if she wanted anything else, anything at all from the displays. She just shook her head, so that was that.

"Did you run all the way here?" Maya asked. From what she knew of where the Nash family lived, in relation to the bakery and factoring the age and size of the runner... It wasn't impossible, but it still felt like a long way. Ava just nodded. She had run the whole way. "What happened?" Maya asked.

Ava didn't say it at first. She sat there, playing with her card, turning it over and over on the table. It looked worn, like she might have held on to it before. Maya didn't want to push, but she also knew that sooner or later they'd have to call her parents. But then Ava did speak, and now the problem was that the situation already had to do with them.

"My... My mom... she left," she revealed, a quiver in her voice that yanked deep into Maya's heart. Ava could not have run to anyone who'd understand her emotions better in this instant. She didn't push her for details, knew they would be forthcoming only if or when Ava was ready to share them.

"Your father, is he at home now?" she still asked. Ava said nothing out loud, but even her face didn't seem to have an answer for this. So now, for the time being, neither parent was an option. Then she's got us until this can be sorted out.

They had moved into the kitchen by the time Lucas arrived. Maya had mentioned how she was working on a few things for her stepmother's wedding and asked if Ava wanted to join her. So, they'd gone back there, and Maya had shown the girl her many sketches for the cake. It had helped to get her talking again after a while. She didn't know a thing about baking, but she was a sponge when it came to learning, and after a while Maya was reminded of how she'd be in her ranch segments with Lucas. She recognized that bit of 'home is a mess, I want to discover what's out there beyond' feeling she'd once carried, and this only motivated her to give her more.

"Hey..." Lucas spoke when he came in to find his wife and his student. Ava saw him and quickly ran to him. She'd been looking for him in coming here, naturally, and now that he was here, everything came spilling out.

Her parents had been fighting for so long that she didn't remember a time when they didn't. Her mother was the way she was, and her father... well, the story went that he'd never been the same following an accident on the job. Nowadays, he would rarely leave the house, and he'd more often than not have a beer in his hand.

The fighting had been getting worse. The whole reason why Ava had gotten her riding lessons, they could guess, had been some last ditch effort to pull themselves together. But it hadn't been enough. It had all come to a head that morning, when it was discovered that Mrs. Nash had been planning her exit, solo, for weeks already. Mr. Nash, usually so quiet, had finally let some things off his chest that he'd been holding on to, primarily that, even drunk off his head, he would be a much better parent than SHE was when sober. Mrs. Nash had just scoffed and told him that they were about to find out.

"She didn't even say goodbye, I... I... I begged her to stay. She never..." Ava sobbed, and Lucas held her, whispering what reassurances he could.

When he looked back up, he and Maya looked to one another, and it was really not a question of what they would do… They were in this now, and they had to do something. The first step, the only one they had at this point, was reaching out to Ava's father and telling him that his daughter was safe, here with them.

Phone calls were not working out. Home phone, cell phone, nothing. Maya was back in the bakery kitchen with Ava now, keeping her busy while he tried to get a hold of Mr. Nash. Was he at home? Was he out somewhere, looking for Ava? Wherever he was, he wasn't picking up.

Lucas: I'm going to her house. Back as soon as I can.

Maya: OK

He kept trying the phone as he went, hoping that at some point he'd get an answer, but there was nothing. He made it to the house, went up, rang the bell, waited. He tried again after half a minute had gone by, repeated this a few more times before deciding to go around, look through windows where he could. He saw nothing, no one. There was still a chance that he'd gone out, but even so, what was he going to do? Stay here all day? He was readying himself to sit on the front step and wait when the door finally opened and he found himself face to face with Mr. Nash.

Ava had his eyes, his hair… Or she must have done, in easier times. These eyes had none of her brightness, and his curls had not known care in a long time if ever. He was also very clearly drunk. He squinted at him for a few moments, like he was staring through blurry vision and maybe some annoyance at whoever was ringing his bell and calling him. But then he recognized the man stood before him. Here was his daughter's riding instructor. After another beat, he nodded to himself, like he was putting pieces together.

"Did she… She's with you?" he slowly asked.

"She's with my wife, at her bakery," Lucas told him. Mr. Nash nodded, rubbed his hand across his face before stepping back, allowing his visitor in before making his way back to the living room, and the couch. Lucas followed him, realizing now that he'd very likely been kept out of sight for how low he sat on the tall-backed seat.

"I'm not… I…" Mr. Nash gestured at himself. He looked as though he was trying to pull himself from his present state, as difficult as it was. "Is she okay?"

"She's upset."

"Has a right to…" Mr. Nash admitted. His hand navigated his surroundings, seeking. Lucas could see an open can behind him… and a few more nearby… but he didn't attempt to find which one wasn't empty for him. "Listen… listen… I can't… I'm not…" He stopped, sighed. "I never want her to see me like this. She's a tough little thing, more than… any one of us… but this…" He was tearing up, and whether it was due to his current state or not, Lucas couldn't help but recognize it as coming from somewhere real. He loved his daughter very much… but his problems got in the way.

"Ava told us about your wife, how she left," Lucas explained, and the man bowed his head, quietly scoffed. "If there's anything at all that I can do to help you and Ava out, I will," he promised. "Would it be alright if she came to stay at my house for the night?" Lucas offered. "It'd give you a chance to… clear your head. Then, tomorrow, I can bring her back around and… we can figure something out." Mr. Nash looked at him.

"Alright… Yeah… You do that."

"Are you sure? You might not remember in the morning…"

"You got paper? A pen?" Mr. Nash asked. He did. "Hand it over." Very slowly, and in surprisingly clean handwriting, all things considered, wrote out some words before signing at the bottom. When he handed it back, Lucas read to himself. Lucas Friar, please look after my daughter, Ava Nash. "Now, if I forgot all this, you got that to prove it." He didn't ask it outright, but the suggestion here was that he was eager to be alone again.

"Would it be alright if I went up to her room, grabbed a few things for her?"

"Sure," Mr. Nash told him. He might have already forgotten that he was there.

So, Lucas went up the stairs, seeking the right room. It wasn't hard to find, and when he found it, he came upon a space that looked as though it had long been curated as being in every way hers. One bookcase that was so beyond capacity that it was surrounded by a few more piles. There were novels plenty, but also enough biographies, and reference books, that he could have questioned whether or not this was her room if he didn't recall her telling him once how she had been going to used bookstores, and book sales at the library, grabbing everything she saw that she thought could be interesting or good to have. It was likely she had not read several of these yet, but she planned to.

There was her desk, very neatly kept but also showing that, even though it was summer now, she still sat here and did research. She would find something she was interested in and she would just get digging. She'd previously treated him to several 'lectures' of the kind, usually on the rides to and from the ranch. On a low bookcase by her window were a pair of plants; she'd told him about those, too, how she'd been growing them from nothing. She was very proud of them. On the shelves under those plants was her rock collection, all of them in partitioned, boxes, identified by name. In the corner, next to the small bookcase, a multitude of teddy bears of different sizes and colors, which met the nightstand on the other side. Bed neatly made, and one more – much more love-worn – teddy bear sitting in vigil.

He could see it. Whatever was going on in the rest of her house, she could come here and be alright. Just shut the door, block it out… learn something new.

Hoping she wouldn't mind him going through her things, Lucas collected what he thought she might need for the night… maybe a couple more days, just to be on the safe side. He found a bag, put it all in there, with the worn bear sitting on top. Last of all, he worked to transport the two plants; these could not be left here with no one to look after them, just like their owner.

Mr. Nash was asleep on the couch by the time Lucas came back down, and he didn't wake him up. The bag and the plants were set down in his car, and he took off back toward the bakery. When he arrived, he found what felt like an odd parallel to what he'd left. Ava was no longer in the kitchen. Instead, she was laid out sleeping on a couple of chairs in the corner. Maya was sitting at the table, working at her cake sketches, but she quickly looked up when she saw him.

"What happened?" she signed in case Ava woke up.

"She's coming home with us for now. I'll tell you the rest later."

Even without having said a word, he must have worn how much the trip to the Nash house weighed on him, there in his face, in his posture, in the way he looked at the sleeping girl… Maya sat up all of a sudden, like she was remembering something, and she got up from the table, pulled her husband aside before reaching in her pocket. When she held up the envelope, he remembered something, too. With all that had happened since he'd first been alerted to the fact that Ava had shown up at the bakery in distress, he'd completely forgotten about the appointment that morning, the one he'd been unable to attend and what would have been discovered… right there in that envelope. Maya gave him a look. What do you think, should we look now?

It might have felt like the strangest time to find out what their twins would be, considering… everything else… But it was far from that. If anything, learning that their Nugget and their Peanut were to be two more sons felt like just the burst they needed to lift them and help them get through the rest of this day with Ava and… whatever else might come next. They quietly embraced, and he kissed the top of her head, once, twice, and three times – one each for her and the twins – never letting show on the outside the great joy that bubbled on the inside.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners