December 31st 2022

Chapter 190
Mail Call

As October began, it brought those traditions that the young Friars and their sons had been developing and following over the past few years. This time around of course they also had Ava Nash among them, which didn't disrupt things in the slightest. If anything, it made everything more exciting because they got to include her.

It didn't take long to piece together that Ava had never really 'done Halloween.' She had certainly never been trick or treating, which had frankly not been a surprise for Lucas and Maya to hear but had been a near injustice in the eyes of Elliott and Noah. Ava's biggest involvement with the spooky season involved her mother putting her in a costume – of her choosing, to fit with her own – and bringing her to her office party, where she would have to follow her around all night, not running around with any of the other kids there and definitely not eating any candy.

This personal history with the holiday first showed signs of existing the first time they went out in the morning for the school drop-off and saw that some decorations had gone up. Ava would have this look to her that was halfway between curiosity and discomfort. Enough time had passed by now that she was getting more comfortable just living as she wanted to and less so with the restrictions put in place by her parents, her mother most of all, which in turn helped when Halloween started to come up. If not for that, she might have struggled a lot more, but instead she would look at the Friar boys, see how giddy they were getting, and she would get swept up in it.

Maya and Lucas knew their sons had properly pulled her into their way when the first Monster Hour of the year was declared, and they now had four prowling beasties to look out for. As he'd been all of a year and a month old the last time, it was really Jamie's first go at this, and he was very like himself in the way he approached the whole thing. He saw what others did, and he cranked it up another level. And then Ava… This was new to her, completely new, but she was having fun and they could see it. More than that, she was putting that clever brain of hers to work, bringing new ideas on to the table for the boys to use, things the five, four, and two-year-old could not have conceived on their own. She was also – thankfully – ensuring that they be mindful of the fact that Maya was as close to the end of her pregnancy as she was. The last thing they wanted was to scare her right into early labor.

The four kids, along with Lucas, had joined in on the decorating effort up at the ranch, and for Lucas it had brought back so many good memories of his own childhood, doing just as the boys and Ava did now. He told them all about it, making them laugh over stories of how his Grandpa Jax would try and get started on this when it wasn't even October yet, much to his grandmother's 'disapproval.' Back at the house, the decorations had come along there, too, even as the kids were pulled into a bit of baking experimentation while Maya and Charlie worked on a few special treats they wanted to get out into the bakery for Halloween. This was really their shot for trying some weird things, and there was no better meter for them to see if they had reached their 'weird quota' than the children's reactions.

Between having the four of them to see to, and school, and the bakery, Maya had quickly put the question to Elliott, Noah, Jamie, and Ava about what they would want to go as, costume wise. It was an immediately loaded question for the boys, who would think that they had a clear answer but then just as soon come up with another choice that was also The One… and another… and another… All the more reason for them to be put on the path as soon as possible. Meanwhile they had Ava, who had never picked a costume for herself in all her young life, who now faced this conundrum with a thought like 'I have to find the right one,' which was a lot harder than it sounded.

"You know, it's been my experience that if even one of them made up his mind, the others would fall in line right after," Maya told her, one evening, as she motioned for her to come and join her on the couch from where she'd been sitting, on the floor, reading her book. Ava came and climbed up next to her, which made them both laugh. "I think if we can manage to do yours, it might get them going, too."

"I don't know what I want to do though," Ava admitted with a sigh.

"That's okay, we can figure something out, you and me, can't we?" Maya smiled at her, and Ava nodded. "So, forget the finished product," she suggested. "Try and focus on what you know. Is there anything you'd like to do in particular? Any elements?" she asked. Ava considered this briefly before answering.

"I was thinking I could do something with my hair," she explained, and Maya liked where this was going.

They could definitely make her hair be a focal point in some way… She also knew that Ava had a fascination for makeup, a curiosity. A few days back, Maya had shown her pictures of some of what she'd done in the past at Halloween, like the neck art on Lucas to make it look like his head had been chopped off. Ava had been completely awestruck, and Maya knew they needed to incorporate something like this into this year's costumes, whether on Ava herself or on someone else, where she could be involved somehow. What else did she know, she knew… a thirst for knowledge…

"I think I have an idea…" she looked at Ava, and the look on her face must have been telling on her own giddiness, because the girl sat up on her knees, waiting eagerly to hear. All Maya had to do was say one name, and Ava was so on board that she could have started trying to work out how she'd get her hair transformed the way she wanted to. Maya pointed out that bedtime was all of a half hour away, so the idea was set aside until the weekend, though even as she went back to her book, Ava wore her anticipation on her face, and Maya knew just how she felt; she was pretty excited, too.

As she had hoped, once Ava's costume choice was shared with the rest of the family – with some explanation required for the boys as to who this person was – the boys didn't take very long to choose their own costumes, so Maya could get started gathering everything she needed to make it happen. The plan now was to use the coming Saturday to do some tests on hair and makeup where needed. That meant that, while they still had their regular lesson at the ranch, Lucas could see plainly that Ava was eager to get back to the house so they could get started. Well, if he wanted to say something that would draw her back on track with what they were doing, he just so happened to have the perfect one.

"Guess what," he told her after she'd climbed on to her horse. He knew by now that she would more often than not respond to that request not with a 'what' but by taking a moment and thinking things over, in case she might actually be able to 'guess' what. If it was at all possible for her to find the answer, sometimes from an impressive distance, she would do it. Today, it wasn't that long of a reach, and after a few seconds she straightened up.

"The saddle came?" she asked, and he laughed at how excited she got when he confirmed it. Kelsey had been on board as soon as the possibility had been brought up for her to get lessons along with Ava. Her parents had needed a bit more convincing. It was natural for them to be concerned, but they also wanted their daughter to chase any and all things she might want to chase, so they had listened to Lucas as he answered their questions. He'd done his research... had some of it done for him by Ava without prompt or surprise. With all of this shared, the Farrells had given the green light on Kelsey's lessons.

"We can have them at the same time, or one after the other, yeah?" Ava asked after they were done for the day. For the number of questions she'd asked him throughout the lesson, he was surprised that it had taken her that long to get to this one.

"We haven't figured out schedules yet. It might be that she won't be able to have hers on Saturday mornings like you. If that's the case, then we'll figure things out. If you want to be there when she has hers, you can come, or if you want to have yours on the same day, we can see if we can change it up. Good?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Thanks." As they went on walking, he noticed that she'd gone quiet. He lightly tapped her arm. What's up? "He didn't write this week."

Lucas didn't want it to show, but he realized now that he hadn't even noticed. She was right though. They had received no letter from Bill Nash this week. He had never missed a week yet and the stack of envelopes in Ava's desk drawer was proof of it. As many of them as of the weeks she'd spent living with them... but none for the latest one.

"It might have gotten delayed for whatever reason. Or maybe he didn't get to put it in the mailbox in time," Lucas told her, and Ava gave a nod of agreement, but it didn't feel entirely convicted.

He brought this up with Maya when they got home and Ava had gone to play with the boys, planning a new Monster Hour. She'd noticed it this morning when she'd woken up, but she hadn't known how to talk it over before they left for the ranch.

What could they do though? Really... It was the first time a letter hadn't come when expected, and it was very likely just how Lucas had said earlier, yeah? All they could do for the moment was wait for the next time they'd get their mail delivered. But in the meantime... In the meantime, they had an eleven-year-old who had gotten through all these weeks with this lifeline back to her father. This was the first time it had wobbled, and it was going to keep on messing with her head until it was steadied, all the while left to worry that it wouldn't be fixed, that it would fray and break.

It was just as well that they had their plans for this weekend, the hair and makeup tests for their Halloween costumes... They started after lunch on Saturday and worked at it through Sunday, too, and oh, were they ever looking forward to Halloween this year...

Late Monday morning, Lucas and his father were working each at their desk, Thomas on the phone with a client while Lucas looked over a document he was about to send out. Both men looked up when they saw someone come to their door out of the corner of their eyes. They'd barely recognized that this someone was Patty when she opened the door and Jamie came sprinting in, making for his father as soon as he saw him.

"Hey, Tadpole, what are you doing here?" Lucas laughed as he picked up the two-year-old and brought him on to his knee.

"Go to park," he informed his father, now playing with his tie.

"You went to the park, huh? That's fun. Wish I could go to the park," Lucas reflected, making his son laugh and his father smile into his phone.

"We just thought we'd come and say hello before going to find Joseph," Patty treated them to a genuine smile, though in her voice Lucas was almost sure there was something else, suggesting maybe they'd made this excuse to come here.

This was proven correct as, once Thomas had finished his call, Jamie hurried over to his grandfather, leaving his great-grandmother able to turn to Lucas. She pulled an envelope from her bag and placed it on his desk.

"This came this morning," Patty explained. "I didn't want to just leave it lying around, and I thought maybe you and Maya..."

It was not the same envelope they were used to receiving. This one was larger, loaded. It was still addressed in Bill's familiar hand, but it was addressed to him and Maya together, not Ava. After Patty and Jamie left, Lucas kept looking at the envelope for a moment before opening it.

X

Not long after they had both started, one a student and the other a teacher, Eliza had asked her big sister for them to have lunch together. They would only have a couple years to do it, wouldn't they? They needed to take the opportunity while they had it! Maya reasoned right back that it should be just as important that Eliza hang out with her classmates, her friends. So, they made a deal of sharing at least one meal a week, maybe two. Today was going to be one of those until Eliza had asked at the last minute if they could do it the next day instead.

With this change of plans, Maya left her class and started for the teachers' lounge. It was a timely walk, as she turned the corner and came to a stop.

"Hey..." she smiled at the sight of her husband. "This is a nice... surprise," she blinked, catching the look on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked just as he produced an envelope. Ripped at the top, addressed to them both from Bill Nash... "No..." she looked back at him. She knew, but he said it anyway.

"He left... He's gone."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners