Chapter 25
Down This Road

It had taken all of a week, it felt, for their Austin life – still four weeks from even beginning – to start and take shape. In the nine days since the appointment with Dr. Wilkes, so many pieces had come into play.

Katy and Shawn had remained in Houston for a night, along with Tom Friar. After having worried for a time about the handing off of Maya's prenatal care from Dr. Wilkes in Houston off to Dr. Tanaka in Austin, the two women had found themselves conversing over Katy's case, which had then led to a quick rundown of Maya's progress along the way. It was then decided to get Katy back home, after which Dr. Tanaka could see to her and the baby which continued to cling to her, to everyone's relief.

Much as Maya would have liked for her to stay in Houston so that she could continue to look after her and this sibling to be, she knew it would be for the best, for her parents and for her young siblings having what they believed to be a casual sleepover at the Friar house. At least they talked every day, where they could both ask after the state of those babies growing in the other's belly.

They hadn't been apart from one another for that long, of course. The appointment had been on Wednesday, and Katy and Shawn had been in Houston into Thursday, and then on Friday afternoon Maya and Lucas were hitting the road to spend the weekend in Austin. This left only four days, nearly five, since their last time seeing one another.

That previous Friday, two days after the appointment, Maya and Lucas had attended the first of their four prenatal class sessions. Maya had still been a bit on this side of distracted, thinking about her mother, but at the same time she wanted to focus on this, on making sure she was ready for the moment when she and Lucas welcomed their baby boy into the world.

"They're going to show a birth video at some point, aren't they?" Maya had pondered as they pulled up to the building on that previous Friday, the night of their first class.

"Yeah, I think so," Lucas nodded.

"I'm getting this very vivid memory of when my mother was about to have the twins. One day, I sort of asked her what it was like."

"What'd she say?" he asked with a curious smile.

"She said 'Well I could show you, but I do want grandkids someday,'" Maya intoned in her best Katy impression. Lucas bit back a laugh. "So now I'm basically psyching myself up, reminding myself that it's a necessary part of life and humanity, all so that we might have a shot at having a bigger family someday beyond you, me, and the sprout."

"You've got this," Lucas promised her, in complete honesty. Maya Hart was the strongest person he knew, ups and downs alike. He looked so confident when he said it, and Maya just had to laugh, beaming for how she felt the love radiating off of him.

"Save the pep talks for after I witness a human coming out of another human," she sighed as they went through the door.

There had been no need to reassure her, not that first night at least. All in all, their first session had been fairly relaxed, and they had made it to the Hunter Hart house for dinner with what was a calmly optimistic demeanor. The only thing that actually had them in any way concerned was to wonder how Maya's mother might be doing since they'd seen her the previous day.

On that day, she'd mostly been drowsy from being laid out in bed, sometimes awake, sometimes asleep. Everyone was doing their best not to go around and act in any way that might alarm Nellie, Gracie, or MJ and lead them to believe anything was wrong with their mom. Katy and Shawn had told the children that Mommy was just very tired and needed some rest, which led to a number of encounters with small visitors being very sweet and attentive. Sometimes they would bring food, or a toy, to make her feel better. Other times they would climb up on the bed and nap with her. All in all, they had come in with a mission and they had succeeded beyond their own wild expectations.

"I just know that no matter what I do, it's going to stress me out for the next few weeks until we're back here for good, and with everything else going on already, with school, and the move, I don't want it to and affect things with this guy," Maya told Lucas that night, when he'd woken up to go to the bathroom and discovered she was still awake.

"I get that," he nodded, casually running his hand over her belly. "I don't know what to do, short of figuring out if we can do the rest of the semester from here and just be back already"

"Oh, that is tempting, believe me," she breathed. "But it wouldn't work out… Believe me, I checked. We're just going to have to stick it out somehow."

"Well, you'll have your water aerobics starting tomorrow," he reminded her encouragingly. "And you're still doing yoga with Rosa and Willow. And if all that doesn't get you relaxed enough, then I will take up whatever you need to get you the rest of the way. Does that work?"

With this outlook in mind, Maya had gone off to the pool the following morning, while Lucas headed out to work on the house. They had a countdown clock on moving day now, and he was determined to get as much done as possible before his very pregnant fiancée started actually living in that place, where tools and materials continued to dominate several areas.

Maya hadn't been too sure about what to expect of this class she'd be walking into. All she knew for sure was that it would be good for her and for the baby if she went and applied herself. That was easier said than done when her head was still just swirling with thoughts of school, and the move, and her mother…

"First time?" a girl asked, and Maya blinked and turned to find where it came from. "I haven't seen you out there before," the girl went on, standing a few lockers to Maya's right in the changing room. Her voice said southern, but not Texas, more like… Louisiana maybe? She didn't look more than a couple years older, though her pale freckled skin and burning ginger hair, which rivaled even Sophie's, gave her a permanently youthful appearance. Going by the size of her belly, Maya would say they were no more than weeks apart as far as due dates.

"Uh, yeah," she finally blinked and thought to reply. "My boyfriend and I live in Houston right now, but we're moving back in a few weeks, so it made sense to take classes here so I could continue after."

"Good call," the redhead smiled, showing a row of slightly crooked but still sort of charming teeth. That would continue to be the overall impression Maya would have of her: she was mystifyingly charming, always. "I'm Billie," she introduced herself. "Billie Lawson."

"Maya… Hart," Maya replied.

"Nice to meet you," Billie came forward after shutting her locker and they shook hands. "So, how far along are you?"

"Thirty weeks, give or take," Maya looked down at herself. "You?"

"Twenty-six," Billie revealed. "I've been taking the class practically from the day the stick turned pink. I was a lifeguard at our pool back in Baton Rouge for years, and a swimmer long before that, so I started working here after we moved, assisted Etta with the class. Have you met Etta?"

"The instructor, yeah, she got me signed up last week," Maya smiled. Met with Billie's rapid-fire speaking, she wasn't overwhelmed so much as invested.

"She is truly wonderful, you'll love her, you'll see."

Maya had already found herself getting along with the woman when they'd met the week before, and within minutes of the class starting she'd found herself liking her even more. She looked somewhere about her mother's age, her dark hair forced in what looked to be a very thick braid, suggesting curls. The way she moved around, Maya could just tell she was quick to pinpoint the first-time moms in her group, giving them particular attention, especially whenever they'd look like the nearing prospect of childbirth was starting to weigh on them. She'd share stories of her own experiences, from which Maya learned that she was a mother of two herself, a son called Liam and a daughter named Molly.

On her way out of class, back to get changed out of her swimsuit, Maya and Billie had run into Ainsley, who was just arriving along with Cameron for the boy's swim class. They'd all chatted a while, which had led to the three of them committing to hang out the next day after they were done at the pool.

That next class had gone on a bit longer than usual thanks to Etta taking the time to show Maya some of the things she'd promised to show her, for the rest of the week, while she was in Houston and if she got the chance to practice any of it. This made it so that, by the time she got out of the pool and went to get changed, Maya was soon joined by Ainsley and her son, who were done with their class, too. Billie had gone and waited for them in the stands when she'd been ready, and after that they'd all gone off to a nearby café to sit and talk.

Here, Maya had found out that Billie was indeed not too much older than her, twenty-four to be exact. And she had been born and raised in Baton Rouge, up until two years ago, where she'd followed her then boyfriend and now new husband back to his native Austin. His name was Jonah, and the two of them had known each other for years through various swimming competitions, some their own, others their siblings'. When they'd finally moved from friends to boyfriend and girlfriend, they had done long distance for all of three months before finally deciding that it wasn't going to work, that they needed to be in the same place. A month after that, Billie had relocated here to Austin.

In the five days since then, Maya had been able to go to the pool once, on Wednesday, which she figured was an ideal appointment for herself to carry on the habit in the weeks until they moved. She'd go early in the morning, after which she'd be off to the university for class.

She was waiting for the bus that would take her from the pool to the university when she got a call from the receptionist at Dr. Tanaka's office, asking if she'd be available to come in for her appointment the next afternoon instead of the following week's Tuesday as she'd been expecting to go. After telling the receptionist that she'd call her back, Maya had quickly called to Lucas, to decide what they should do.

"Why does she want to see you early?" he asked, like this could only mean that there was something wrong.

"I don't know, maybe since she hasn't seen me yet, she wants to see me as soon as possible. All I know is there was an opening and they want to know if I'll take it. You're at your aunt's clinic tomorrow afternoon, aren't you?"

"I'll see if I can get out of it," he'd told her. After he'd hung up, she'd waited as this phone chain carried on and finally looped back around to her. Lucas called her back a few minutes later, confirming that he was now free to accompany her the next day, and then Maya called the receptionist back and took the appointment.

They wouldn't even get to stop over and see their families on Thursday, as after the appointment they'd need to immediately get back on the road for Houston, where studying and an early bedtime awaited them. Lucas had spent the start of the afternoon at the library, studying now that he wasn't expected at the clinic, and when Maya was through with class, he'd picked her up and they'd made their way back to Austin. They were starting to get the feeling that they'd be driving back and forth many times in their final weeks before the move.

When they arrived at Dr. Tanaka's office, they settled into the waiting room. Lucas was back to rereading from one of his textbooks, while Maya had some of her notes waiting underneath the clipboard with the forms she'd been asked to fill in. As she did this, her eyes were drawn to look around the room, at the other women waiting for their turns. She'd built up so many casual acquaintances, some of them building toward friendship, over at Dr. Wilkes' office, in the months of her pregnancy. She'd seen some who were ahead of her in the beginning, eventually coming along with newborn babes, and then there'd be others so close to her own progress that they would almost be 'comparing notes.' Over time, she'd also come across future moms who were still in early days in their own pregnancies, and she'd have to stop and take it in, seeing how far she'd come.

Now all that was gone. She was the newbie all over again, except in this case she was the newbie who was only a couple months shy of reaching the end, which was almost weird. People here knew each other, a lot of them anyway, and she felt like the new kid in school all over again. It wasn't as awkward as that time, but still…

Her gaze had sort of zeroed in on a girl sitting across the room from Lucas and her. She was just showing enough for it to be noticeable under the right circumstances. That was only part of the picture. Another was that she was on her own, and bordering on flighty. And then the other thing, which only stood out due to its association with the rest of the picture, was that she looked all of sixteen, seventeen years old tops. Maya's immediate impression, in seeing the way she sat there, was that she'd come here on her own and didn't want people staring at her… but she also dreaded being by herself out here. She also had a clipboard in her hands, so it had to be her first time seeing the doctor, too.

"Here, take this," Maya whispered, slipping her pen to Lucas. He looked up from his textbook, confused. "I'll be right back."

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked, no doubt sensing that she was up to something.

"I can't help it, okay, my mommy senses are tingling," she 'defended' herself before rising from her chair and casually walking across the room toward the lonesome girl. "Hey…" she spoke quietly. The girl's eyes turned up hesitantly. "My pen kind of died halfway through this, can I borrow yours when you're done?" Maya asked, indicating the identical clipboard in the girl's hand.

"Here," the girl held out her pen after a couple seconds of awkward silence. "I can finish after," she shrugged.

"Alright, thanks," Maya told her, sitting in the next chair over before getting back to her forms. As she filled in the last of it, she could see the girl absently tugging at the frayed ends of a friendship bracelet around her wrist, like a nervous tick. Every few seconds, she'd sort of turn her head like she was sneaking a look at Maya's belly. It wasn't like she lacked in options in this room, but she'd been keeping herself from looking at the others. Maybe she figured she was allowed this time, since they'd shared a pen. Maya caught on to this and chose to use it. "It's my first time here, too," she confided.

"Oh?" the girl blinked, sitting up. "But you're…"

"I live in Houston right now, but we're moving back here in a few weeks," she explained. "Had to get a new doctor. It's not so bad though. My mother is a patient of hers, she delivered my sisters and my brother already." And another, months from now, if all goes well. "How long have you known?" Maya asked, handing the pen back. The girl slowly took it.

"Like a week," she admitted, which made Maya blink. "I mean… I thought I might be for a while, I just couldn't… I… I was hoping I'd be wrong and I wouldn't have to, but…" she looked down at herself, at the growing evidence before her. She could probably hide it for a little while longer, but after that… She turned to look at Maya now, and the way she stopped and stared at her, it was like she was just now realizing how much she'd said, and she was left to wonder why she'd said it, to a complete stranger.

"My name's Maya," she introduced herself, before the ice they'd broken could seal itself back up again. A moment's hesitation again, but finally…

"Brianna," the girl spoke, somewhere between clearly and mumbled.

After this, though it required some careful crafting in keeping her talking, Maya had started to get a better idea of who this girl was, like taking the picture she already had, in two dimensions, up to a fuller, three-dimensional environment. Brianna was sixteen at the moment, though from the glimpse she'd gotten of her form when Lucas had been so kind as to collect everything and bring it to the desk, she could calculate that she'd have her birthday before her baby was born… if…

She had not told her parents yet. As to the baby's father, Brianna clammed up, so Maya didn't push. For the time being, her plan was to see the doctor, nothing more. Once that happened, then she would decide what her next move would be.

Maya had been called in for her appointment soon after this, and by the time she and Lucas came out of the exam room, Brianna was gone. Maybe she was in the bathroom, or in another of the rooms, or she was just gone. Either way, they couldn't stick around to find out. They had to get in the car, had to start back for home.

"The doctor was nice," Lucas nodded as they were leaving the lot. "I sort of remember seeing her at the hospital when Nellie and Gracie were born." He turned to look at Maya after a few seconds of silence. She was looking out the window, in that distracted way she'd get when her thoughts had just flown away and she'd been pulled along with them. He usually could tell what the thing was that had carried her mind away, and right now he guessed it was that girl she'd been talking to before they'd been called in to the office. The best thing he could do now was to wait until she came back a little and started to talk. It took several minutes, by which point they had pulled on to that long road stretching on and on toward Houston, but she'd turned her head to look forward again.

"Do you ever think about how lucky we've been? Lately, it's like I can't stop."

"Sometimes, kind of," Lucas told her.

"I mean, for all we know, things will turn out okay for Brianna, too. But they might not. And then I think about Ainsley… and my parents when they had me…" He knew what she meant, and still he didn't know what to tell her in return. It hadn't been on his mind in the same way it had been for her, but he could understand why it would be something she'd get caught up on. "Is it selfish that I'm glad I don't have to find out what that's like?"

"If it is, it's not a bad thing. No one would want to have to experience that, not like that." Maya nodded, looking back out the window.

"I hope I see her again next time…"

The next day, it was back on the road again, as they finished their classes for the day and headed back on their way to Austin for Friday dinner, preceded by their second session of prenatal class. As they reached the building, Maya and Lucas shared a look which threatened to spill into laughter, thinking of the possibility that this might be the night where their instructor busted out the birthing video.

"I can't help it, I keep hearing the Jaws theme in my head right now," Maya told him.

"Wait," Lucas chuckled. "So, in this scenario, that makes the baby the shark, and then…"

"Yeah, don't even try and picture it."

"I won't have to, if they show the video…"

They walked into the room, finding the various parents-to-be sort of milling around the place, some of them chatting, the women pointing to one another…

"Hi, guys," one of them waved to Maya and Lucas as they approached. Her name was Samantha, they'd met the week before, had some laughs over some of the material on hand for the lessons with her and who they'd assumed to be her husband, only today she was accompanied by another guy than the one they'd met last time, Aaron. He'd been Asian, while this other guy had something about him that distinctly said 'European,' not simply from descent but from birth.

"Hey, Samantha," Maya smiled back at her, eyes darting to the stranger. "Aaron couldn't make it today?" she inquired.

"He and I agreed to split these classes," the unknown man revealed, with an accent so deeply French they could practically hear music as he spoke. "He does two, and I do two as well."

"I told them they could both come," Samantha shrugged. "It's their baby."

"Oh…" Lucas blinked, understanding. "Sorry, we didn't realize…" he gestured between the two of them in explanation when he thought his reaction might have come off differently.

"Don't worry about it," Samantha told him and Maya both. "It's just some people get weird about the surrogacy thing sometimes, so we've been playing it kind of casual, you know? This is Marius, by the way," she introduced the French man. "Aaron's husband and co-Dad to this… baby, whose gender will remain a mystery until their birth," she went on, in a way that suggested that Aaron and Marius wanted this to be a surprise but also that Samantha had at some point learned the answer and had very nearly said something that would have spoiled it.

Samantha went on to explain that she had become friends with Aaron a few years back when she'd gone looking to get in touch with her Vietnamese roots, having been adopted at birth. And when Aaron and Marius had started talking about having a child, one thing had led to another and she had offered herself as their surrogate. And now here they were.

Their conversation was cut short by the start of class, which again did not feature any birth video, though right before the day's session had ended, they had been promised they would be getting to that in the following session. Lucas had very lightly hummed the Jaws theme under his breath, and Maya had burst into giggles. They said their goodbyes until next week to Samantha, and until two weeks from now to Marius, with well wishes to Aaron who would be back for the next class.

"Don't know who you'd call the winner for being the one present or absent for that next one," Maya declared as they got in the car, getting a smirk from Lucas. After a beat of silence, remembering where they were headed next, remembering what had happened now a week and a half ago in Dr. Wilkes' office, they felt just a bit sobered. They'd had a good time in class here, and now suddenly the worries were seeping back in.

They didn't really know how long it would take, didn't know when the time would come where they could finally tell themselves that Katy would be fine, that the baby would be okay. All they knew was that they had to wait out the next four weeks of back and forth between Houston and Austin. After that… Well, a few weeks after that they would be welcoming their little sprout, and then who knew exactly what their lives would be like. But they would be in Austin, they would be near Maya's family, and whatever they needed to ensure that their boy had his young aunt or uncle to grow up with, whatever they could do, it would be as good as done.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners