Chapter 12
Prepare For the Unexpected

TWO WEEKS LATER

When they'd returned home from Austin, the holidays now good and behind them, it felt as though they had been out there for months instead of two weeks. So much had happened, between getting engaged, telling their families and friends – those who hadn't known – about the baby and now about the wedding, seeing the house, Christmas, New Year's, dress shopping… They had walked back into the house and it just felt to most of them like all they wanted to do was sit and enjoy some brief peace and quiet before everything else started again.

It was just as well that they did try and enjoy it, because the next two weeks would prove themselves eventful, too. The first of these events came on the morning following their return, where Maya came down the stairs, believing herself to be the first one up, only to walk past the couch on her way to the kitchen… and pause… and turn back… and discover Riley and Dylan just sort of halfway sitting and halfway lying down on the couch, kissing. More than kissing, they were full on making out.

She couldn't have reacted quietly if she'd tried, the surprise had been so that she'd cried out. At once, the pair on the couch had split off and scrambled to stand. At the same time, there was a sudden rumble upstairs, bringing a barely awake Lucas down the stairs like he believed she'd fallen or something, and then in turn his noise had gone and woken up Sophie and Chiara, who also ended up coming down.

And that was how they all learned that Riley and Dylan had started. Soon, it would be dating, but at that point it was just two people who, in all the whirlwind of seeing their friends get engaged and head toward starting a family, had finally come to their senses and been open to one another. It was not the way they had intended to share this news, but what was done was done.

After that, things really hit their stride with their return to work, and with the start of the winter semester. For Lucas and Maya both, knowing that these would be the last few months they spent living in Houston, working at Coleman's, working at Isabel's restaurant, going to this school they'd been going to for a year and a half, making friends, making lives… It already felt as though they were detaching themselves from all of it, bit by bit, inch by inch. Suddenly they were just not as much a part of it as they'd been, they were just passing by, on their way to something else.

Lucas got to feeling after a few days of this like it was all sort of unbalanced, unfair, and he got to have the better half of it, because no one would know, unless they saw him with Maya, understood that they were together. But her… As one week passed and then another, and she found herself with four months of this pregnancy behind her, it really got to feel like she had not one piece of clothing left to her name that could have hidden her belly. She wasn't trying to hide anymore, of course, she was downright showing off, but it was really astounding how much difference those last few weeks had done in defining this change in her.

So, when she'd walk the halls at school, or sit in class, when she'd be working at the restaurant, she'd get the constant awareness of eyes turned to her, growing aware of her condition. She'd find herself fielding question after question, too, usually the same ones. Then, of course, she'd made her announcement to the band's followers.

She'd tried and failed to get in touch with her New York siblings, knowing that if she didn't get to tell them herself and they saw the post – and Cara would definitely see the post – then the secret would be theirs to find, not from her… not directly anyway.

Cara: OMG you're having a baby?! Why didn't you tell us?

Maya: I tried, but no one answered. I didn't want to tell you guys in a text. Call me soon?

Ten minutes later, she was on Skype with Sam and Cara. They were both still in shock over the news, by the looks of them. When she'd stood up and turned, showing them her belly, the shock had gone to amazement.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Cara asked at once.

"You can't know that yet," Sam turned to his little sister. "Remember when Mom had Wyatt?"

"Oh, yeah…"

"When are you going to have it?" Sam asked instead.

"Early to mid-June," Maya smiled. For once, she hadn't minded the questions so much. "Oh, also, Lucas and I are getting married in September," she told them. Cara gasped; Sam smiled. "I'm going to need to talk to your mother, because of course you guys have to be there."

"What about…" Sam started to ask before clamming up.

Maya still thought about the question, though she had answered it to her siblings. What about their father? What was there to say? Even as she'd come to know her siblings, either being the visitor among them or the visited by them, she had done everything in her power to minimize their interactions if not to ensure they didn't happen at all. She had tempted fate too many times, and she wouldn't do it again. And now…

It was really something she had grown to take note of, how every time she found herself feeling scared, or startled, her hand would go immediately to her belly. Her child was the size of an avocado by now, nowhere near big enough to survive outside of her, but she loved that little sprout so much already that anything… or anyone… that might come and hurt it in any way… She wasn't going to let that happen. So, the answer had been no. She wasn't going to have her birth father at her wedding.

Now her twenty-first birthday was coming up. In the midst of everything else that was happening, of school, and work, and the baby, and the wedding plans, somehow, that day was getting to feel less and less important. She didn't want a party, and she had made it very clear to the others that this was not one of those 'I'm saying I don't want something, but really I do or I will suddenly realize that I do and I'll be so glad if you do it anyway' things. She would be perfectly fine just having dinner with the rest of them, and her family when they would drive up to Houston, but no more than that.

Last year, when Lucas had turned twenty-one, they'd had a Party with a capital P. It was a big deal, twenty-one, and they had celebrated it. As far as she was concerned, for herself, she was already celebrated out. Christmas and New Year's had really been Pregnancy and Engagement, everyone making a fuss over her and the baby and Lucas. She just wanted to be able to relax, take it in… She knew it wasn't a requisite to have fun, but for some reason her not being able to drink on her twenty-first birthday felt weird. Then no one around her would dare, or they would and they would look awkward the whole time…

It wasn't all frustrations over constant questions and disinterest over milestone birthday parties, or getting back into the rhythm of juggling work and school and band and home. The two of them would make sure to stop, at least once a day, stop and really take it in. They were getting married, they were having their first child… Lucas was growing more and more confident over indulging himself when he wanted to 'talk' to the sprout. Sometimes she would just go ahead and sit on the bed whenever she had some reading to do for school, putting her headphones on and listen to music as she read along, all the while knowing that sooner or later she would feel the light pressure of his hand at her belly and she would know that he was there, talking to the baby.

More often than not, she would end up nudging her headphones away from her ear, just so she could hear him, to know what it was he would tell their child who couldn't even hear him yet. Sometimes he would be telling him or her about his day. Other times he would be talking about a movie or a book that he loved, like he couldn't wait to introduce them to it. To her vast amusement, sometimes she heard him reciting some art facts he still retained from his days as a museum guide. And sometimes he would tell stories of the two of them. He would talk about how they'd met, or how they'd put up shelves in her room that one time… Today, he was talking about the night the two of them and Zay had attempted to run away to New York.

"Now, I'm not saying that you should try that…" he insisted, lightly prodding just above her belly button with his index. She laughed, and he turned to look at her. "Aren't you supposed to be reading?" he smiled.

"Hey, a girl needs a break sometimes," she shrugged. "It's like when you pour soda in a glass and the bubbles start to rush up. You got to let those go down before they just spill over the top."

"Good point," he nodded, continuing to 'walk' his index and middle fingers along her belly.

"Itsy bitsy spider?" she asked, finally setting her book and headphones aside, propping up her head a bit more by sticking her arm under her head.

"Not really. I hated it when I was little, I was very ticklish as a kid."

"Are you suggesting you're not anymore?" Maya smirked.

"I will neither confirm nor deny," he stared at her. She laughed.

"Right, no, of course."

For a little while they remained silent, as she watched him, carrying on his trek that was not a song about a poor unfortunate spider caught in the rain. Even he couldn't have told her what he was doing exactly. All he knew was that he loved being here like this, with her, 'with' the baby…

"Can we talk about something?" she finally asked. He looked at her as she sat up, her shirt falling back over her previously exposed belly in the process. "I've been thinking a lot about that check your parents gave us." After a moment, he let out a breath and nodded.

"Me, too," he admitted.

"I just…" she sighed, "I get whey they gave it to us, and I am so thankful, for that, for the help with the dress… But I keep going back to think about when I was growing up, and how much my mother did to support me after my father left, even before. And you, your parents did the same for you. Did your grandparents pitch in that much?"

"No," Lucas shook his head.

"No, because they were taking care of us, of you and me. I know we're not as settled as we could be, but we do have money now. We're not rich, but… shouldn't we be trying to look after this little guy or girl on our own? As much as we can?"

"We have the house," he reminded her. "That was a gift, it…"

"I'm not suggesting we don't take it, that'd be foolish of us, giving it up, no… But let's think about it this way, and please, if you don't agree, tell me." He nodded. "Your parents told us to use this money in whatever way we wanted. The thing I keep thinking is with… With half of that, we could make sure that the house is ready for the three of us when we move in."

He thought about it. He was actually headed down to Austin in the morning along with Bishop and Dylan, to start going through the house, removing the things they were either donating, recycling, or throwing away, and to establish what needed replacing, what still worked well despite being old, and what they would need to add because his grandfather just didn't have it. A lot of that last category would be baby stuff, of course, like a crib, a changing table, all of that.

"Yeah, I think so," Lucas finally replied.

"Right, so… we use half for the house, and we put the rest in the bank, start a college fund. Anything else after that, we take care of it ourselves. No more handouts." He had a face like he wanted to say something, and in a second she sort of had the same one. "Yeah, I know, 'handouts' feels like the wrong word."

"We might need help sometimes, and that's fine, so long as it's our choice to ask for it," he told her. She smiled. That sounded right to her. "We're probably going to get more after the baby's born, and for the wedding…"

"College fund," she ticked the first one by tapping one index to the other, "And… rainy day fund," she tapped it to the next finger. Another agreement reached, and the subject was dropped. She set her head back down, breathing out. "Should I leave you two alone?" she asked after a few moments, feeling him slide her shirt off her belly again.

"I was in the middle of a story, it would be rude not to finish."

"Right, manners. Continue."

The next morning, after Lucas and Dylan had left to go and pick up Bishop, Maya had recruited Chiara and Riley to go on a run with her once Sophie had left them to head to work over at the bakery. It was one of the things she had set out to do regularly, as much as she could manage to be regular about it. Rosa had also started her doing yoga. She wasn't exactly hooked on it yet, but she was learning to do it right, and she guessed she didn't hate it… Rosa had already gotten Willow into it a few months back, so now it would be the three of them, or as Rosa would say it 'the five of us.'

Willow was two months ahead of her, of course, and Maya had often found herself just watching her as she progressed, like she was a test subject, telling her what she'd go through before long. It wouldn't be the same, she knew, but it couldn't be so different that it didn't compare. The two of them already hung out a lot, but since Halloween, since Maya had found out about the baby, it had become something else. They were both about to be mothers together. Their children would grow up together… near enough to growing up together anyway. In a few months, she would be with Lucas and their baby in Austin, while Willow, Lion, and their baby would be here in Houston… But it was two hours. They could and they had done that drive plenty of times. It was well worth the time.

Chiara and Riley had decided to make a detour to see Sophie at the bakery. Maya pointed out that there was little point to their running if they would just go and have cupcakes when they were done, but they declared this specifically gave them permission.

"Not falling for that logic," she shook her head. "I'll see you at home then."

About as soon as the door had shut behind her, she had made her way up the stairs and gone into the shower. Lucas may have had his 'time alone' with the sprout talking to her belly while she read, but she had this. She could relax, and breathe, feel soothed…

Once she got out of the shower, throwing on her current favorite PJs, she made quick work of detangling her hair before grabbing one of her textbooks from her room and heading down to lie on the couch and enjoy for once the peace and quiet of being the sole one of their six roommates in the house.

She had read about half a page by the time the doorbell rang. Spoke too soon, she thought, getting up with a sigh, walking barefoot over to the door and opening it to find herself standing face to face with her birth father. Kermit stood there, on the front step, with a large, hand drawn cardboard box weighted in his arms. And she just stared at him, transfixed.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners