A/N: Please note that the next chapter will be a day later than usual, on Tuesday, December 31st along with the last chapter of the main timeline's story for 2019. Moving onward, the chapters of this story will be going up on Tuesdays to coincide once again with the week blocks for the main story in 2020!

Chapter 33
The Friars From Up the Lane

To their knowledge, they had never gotten so clear of a drive as they got that day. Not the slightest bit of traffic stalling them, no stops except those required by signs or lights. It was like they were being ushered through as promptly as one could, either to make the process as painless as possible or to get them to the good part as soon as they could. Either way, maybe because of the dogs, or all those landmarks they had gotten to know over the last two years, it felt as though they'd blinked and then they were in Austin, and getting closer to home before they had time to process it.

"I think those two are getting as restless as I am," Maya turned and reached out to give the dogs a scratch, which they happily received.

"We're almost there," Lucas told her.

"Good, because I have… business to attend to when we arrive," she took a breath.

"How about we stop at Ma Maggie's on the way, grab lunch. You can take care of that business now and when we arrive at the house you can actually enjoy it." He turned to look at her and found her smiling brightly back at him. "Yes?" he smirked.

"Please," she tipped her head.

Maya sent a text out to Joseph, letting him know about the detour, leaving it up to him and Hank whether they preferred to follow them there or carry on toward the house. If they did go on, they had to promise not to go and start unloading until Maya and Lucas arrived, too. This was what they chose.

"Lucas Friar, look at you!" He had quickly been greeted by one of the waitresses, Holly, as he walked in. Maya had already made a beeline for the bathroom, or else she would have been accosted, too. For now, Lucas welcomed the friendly hug he got from the woman. She had been working here for years, had known him since he used to come in as a kid. She had actually gone to school with his parents, and so even though he hadn't seen or spoken to her since last fall, she knew... "About to be a daddy, aren't you? Or are you already?" she looked around, seeking either a very pregnant woman or one with a stroller.

"Just a few weeks to go," he nodded, his chest filling with the inevitable joy that came with his thinking about that day, coming ever closer. "She had to go," he pointed off toward the ladies' room, and Holly gave a knowing nod. "We're actually moving back today, up at my grandfather's old place."

"Then we should be seeing much more of you," Holly pressed her hands together like this was the best news she'd heard all week. "And the little one..."

"You will," he promised.

He had made the order and was now waiting for it to be ready by the time Maya emerged again, looking entirely more at ease. When Lucas caught her eye, he gave a tip of the head toward Holly, signing for her to go say hello. When the woman turned and saw her, she let out a happy little cry before hugging her as well, stepping back a moment later to get a good look at her. Maya would say how she couldn't believe she had believed herself to be that big a couple months back, when by now she was just reaching levels of roundness just so far beyond.

"So, you're just not going to wait until we get home, huh?" Lucas asked when he climbed back into the car and found that Maya had already gotten the container with her lunch opened.

"Nope," she laughed, tearing off a bit of pancake and eating it. She also had a baggie filled with doggy treats, also from Ma Maggie's. She pulled one out and quickly had a pair of eager customers trying to squeeze in between the seats. "One at a time, hey, sit," she told Trix and Lou, and they sat. She gave Lou the first one, knowing Mama Trix to be generally more patient, or at least that she would want to see little Lou fed. A second treat was given, and this one went to Trix. Maya gave the dog's head a scratch before turning back around and holding her lunch up for Lucas to get a bit.

"Thanks," he smiled, getting a bit of pancake before starting them on their way to the house.

"I liked that, by the way."

"What?"

"You asked if I was going to wait until we were home... Like we'd been there already," she explained. "I mean, I know we have, for renovations and all, but it's the first time that we're actually going... home."

"We are," he agreed as they drove on from the restaurant.

The stop had really gotten them both about as pumped as they could get about going into their home for the first time, as residents at the very least. With some relief and also with the food they had yearned for from a distance for two years, they were headed home.

It was no surprise that, as they drove down the lane and toward the house, they could see a number of cars already parked in wait. Along with Hank and Joseph, Maya's parents were here, and so were Lucas' parents, and his grandfather, too. The Matthews were also on hand, and it made Maya beam, thinking of Riley. She might have been back in Houston, where she would remain for the next two years at the least, but there was absolutely a part of her in Austin.

Their friends, their 'parental circle,' were due to make an appearance later that day. For now, it was a family affair, and all they could think about was just how lucky their boy would be to have these people in his life, to love him, to show him the way…

When he had pulled the car to a stop, Lucas reached into the back and got the door open, which was all the signal the dogs needed to just shoot off and go running around. As soon as they spotted them, Nellie and Gracie Hunter squealed and went chasing after them, which in turn pulled their father to follow, making sure they didn't wander off where they shouldn't go.

"See, this is why I ate on the way," Maya told Lucas. "Your stuff's going to be cold."

"Bit hard to eat, drive, and not crash," he countered.

"Right… Want me to make them leave?" she asked, beaming. He did not. "Alright, then… You eat, I'll entertain," she gave her belly a small tap before climbing out of the car. He laughed, vaguely hearing her say something about 'this bleeping weather' as she marched off.

She wasn't going to go through that door, not until Lucas was there to go in with her. He might have liked to carry her over the threshold, but at this point it just would not have been safe. Anyway, they had the wedding for that…

"We didn't keep you waiting, did we? I had to go to the bathroom real bad, and then he promised me food, so what was I going to do, say no?" Maya told her mother as she went up to her. Katy smiled, closing her arms around her eldest, her baby girl, who was finally back, living in the same city as her if not in the same house.

"A bit too hot for my taste, but it's alright, your father saw to it that we wouldn't boil," she joked. Maya pulled back now, looking down, and it was beyond surreal to see her own… vastness… and then right there before her, she would see the now noticeable swell in her mother's belly. She was beyond happy to see it.

When Lucas came up and joined them, Maya looked at him, and her eyes seemed to ask if he had just shovelled all that food in his mouth in two minutes flat. He couldn't really answer, mostly because he still had his last bite mid-chew. Maya came this close to tricking him in revealing this, but instead she kept talking to her mother, allowing him to swallow and be done with it.

"Welcome home! Welcome!" Melinda Friar came burrowing through until she could reach her son, hugging him and pressing one kiss to each cheek once, and twice, and then hugging him until he could hardly stay on his feet. Maya warned him that he'd just eaten, like a minute ago, and she let him go, for which he looked eternally grateful. She would be much more careful as she moved this greeting over to her future daughter-in-law and her grandson just weeks from being born… "Oh, there is so much I have been dying for us to do all year," she told Maya with an emotional smile.

"Mom," Lucas nodded past her, where Melinda now found others who wanted to say hello.

"Yes, sorry, please," she stepped back, allowing her husband to step forward.

When everyone had remembered that it was ridiculously hot – as though anyone could forget – they had decided to leave conversation off for later, once they'd gone into the house, where one of the last things to be done had been to install air conditioning. The longer they stood outside, the harder it would be to motivate themselves to start emptying the truck and the car. So, Maya and Lucas made their way up to the door together.

It still felt surreal. As life-changing as the discovery of their having conceived a child together was bound to be, especially for where they both were in their lives, they continued to be aware of how fortunate they had been, especially where it came to this house here. It had been given to them, even before the baby. They were aware of what a home could cost, especially one like this. And with much generosity… so much generosity… from their families and friends, they found themselves here, as homeowners, as soon-to-be parents, soon-to-be newlyweds… He'd had to transfer schools, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't find his education interrupted in another way at some time or another. And she… She'd had to put her studies on hold, had to give up the band… They both made those choices gladly, for the sake of this child they'd made, but they also knew and recognized just how fortunate they were, to stand here, in this moment.

"I don't get why I'm nervous, I know what it looks like in there," Maya whispered, as Lucas took out his keys.

That much was true, they did both know what would await them through that door. Even then, as it swung open and they looked in, swept with the cooled air of the AC system, they were just… happy, contented. They were home. They had worked for months to make the place their own, and there was still work to be done, objects and furniture to place, boxes to open and unload… but it still felt like their place. And that was a wonderful feeling.

As before, in Houston, Maya had been made to keep out of the way as everything was unloaded from the truck and the car. She didn't mind this one bit. Sitting on the couch, no longer sweating it up outside, she had no intent or desire to move. Actually, after a while, she dozed off.

When she woke up again, it took her a moment to realize where she was, to remember what day it was and where they were going to be on said day. It was quiet around her. All she could hear was the familiar shuffle of the dogs, and what she guessed to be someone typing on a phone. Opening her eyes, she discovered she'd been right on all accounts. Trix and Lou were trailing after one another, looking just a bit surprised but overall at ease with their new environment. Next to her, there sat Lucas, typing away.

"Where is everyone?" Maya asked.

"Home, or on their way there. They just left about ten minutes ago," he revealed.

"They did? What time…" she pulled out her own phone to discover it was now late afternoon, almost dinner time. "Why didn't you wake me?" she asked, rubbing sleep from her face.

"I don't know if you've seen yourself when you're asleep, but it's hard to disturb. Plus, with the heat outside, we all figured it'd be best to let you stay as you were." She still looked disappointed over not getting to spend more time with them, but then Lucas said more or less what she'd thought in that moment. "It's okay. You'll see them again tomorrow, or the day after that, or whenever you want… We're back." It returned a smile to her face and she nodded in agreement.

"You got everything…"

"The furniture can be moved; we'll figure it out. The boxes, we tried to stack them where they wouldn't be in the way, so they might be jumbled. But it's all here." We'll figure it out.

"Oh, when are Ainsley and the others…"

"I was just writing them now, to ask if we could reschedule to tomorrow. It's getting late, and I was thinking we could spend our first night here together on our own," Lucas smiled. Trix barked. "She knows what I mean," he turned to look at her, pointing to Maya, who laughed.

"I want to go see, down here, upstairs…" He stood at once, offering his hands to help her up. "When I moved out here with my mom, it took me a while to really feel at home," Maya recalled as they took their tour. Stopping in the kitchen, she could see that someone had gone grocery shopping for them, stocking the pantry and the refrigerator and freezer.

"I remember you telling me," Lucas nodded.

"I mean, it was different. I was upset, I didn't want to be out here. It didn't matter that our old apartment had a lot left to be desired, and that our little house was almost a palace by comparison. If anything, that made it worse. It wasn't my home, and I didn't feel like I belonged there. And then when I moved again, it was to go to Houston, with you, with Riley, and Dylan, and Sophie. That was different, too, in its own way. I was excited to be there, just like I am to be here. It still took me a while to get used to it."

"So, you're not used to this place yet," Lucas gathered.

"Right," she nodded. "I still need to sort of… dig myself into it, you know? We both do. Then it'll really be ours. The sounds will be ours, the scents, the feel of… everything around us, in the house, and outside… Getting around the area, knowing the neighbors some more… I'm looking forward to us having all that figured out."

They climbed the stairs up to the second floor. When they got there, they paused for a moment, looking at the spot in the ceiling, the place where Pappy Joe had once meant to lay a door into an expansion on the house, an attic. Seeing it there, recalling the reason why they'd never created that attic, the loss of little Annabeth Friar, Pappy Joe's younger child and Tom's sister, Lucas' aunt… The mark in the ceiling sat there like a feeling of dread, an omen… They didn't like it, not with their child soon coming into the world. They'd ignored it all these months, because everything they'd been doing had been for one purpose, and one purpose only, which was to get the place ready to welcome them and their boy. But now that they were finally moving in, living here, it was becoming something they couldn't help but see.

"What do you think we should do?" Maya asked.

"I don't know," Lucas admitted. "We're not about to tear the roof off this house, not when we're about to bring a newborn to live under it."

"I don't know if I can keep seeing that there, thinking about…" she shook her head, didn't want to say it. Her hands had adopted the now almost default position of laying one on top and one under her belly, wanting to protect their sprout.

"We'll do something," he promised her. She could trust his word on that, didn't even have to wonder.

Moving past the spot in the ceiling, they stopped in the middle of the hall, with a door at either side of them. On one side was the door to the nursery. Looking inside, even though there was still the walls to attend to, with the mural Maya had been planning for months, actively or subconsciously… the room still kind of took their breath away. They imagined so many hours, days and weeks and months… years… with their baby boy growing and evolving…

"Do you know where Tracy's box ended up?" Maya looked to Lucas, who was way ahead of her and already had the closet door open. There sat the box, along loads of other items stored away.

"I had a feeling we'd end up here," he told her.

"We can sort it out in our room," she went out into the hall and straight into their room, carrying a smile on her lips all along.

Lucas brought the box across the hall, finding that Maya had already kicked off her shoes and sat on the edge of their bed. Her face had gone contemplative.

"Maybe I shouldn't sit here, I could fall asleep again." They both recalled just how comfortable the new mattress was, so that was a definite possibility.

"I'll keep an eye on you," Lucas assured her. She laughed, but she took him up on that offer, pulling herself to sit on the bed, legs and all. He came and helped to prop her up with pillows, and once she was comfortable, he brought the box to where she could see it and reach into it, and he opened it up again, revealing once more the note from Tracy Coleman and the covering layer of cardboard. They stared in at the loads of books.

"Want to make a bet on how many there are in here?" Maya looked up at him.

"What's the wager?" he inquired. She considered this.

"I mean I could play the whole 'I'm having your baby, isn't that enough?' card, but if I did then I would always win and it wouldn't be any fun."

"Agreed," Lucas nodded, making her smile again.

"So, whoever is the furthest away from the actual number has to… uh…" Maya frowned. She was having trouble coming up with a 'punishment' they could both do in the near future, in the event that she lost. Lucas would know better than to go and let her win, so she had to be able to do it, regardless of being 'way out to here with child.' It wasn't like she couldn't do anything, she was in pretty good shape, but she was very aware of her limits, and she didn't want to surpass any of them. "I've got nothing," she finally whispered, slightly defeated.

"If I happen to win, I will make it so that you don't have to do your part for like… three months?" Lucas offered. "It'll be right around the wedding," he pointed out, which made her laugh. Like she didn't remember.

"Alright then," she declared. "Loser buys breakfast every Saturday morning for a year," she announced with her chin high in the air.

"Wow, okay, we're playing rough," he rubbed his hands together. Maya smirked. "Not to twist anything in, but if you lose how are you going to hold up your end of the bargain?"

"What, because I don't have a job and I'll be home with the baby so I won't be working for a while?" she suggested. He tipped his head as though to say 'well, yeah.' In response, she pulled out her phone and turned it over to him after pulling up a page, which looked like a grid, a ledger.

"What's this?" he thought aloud.

"This is all the pieces I have sold so far." He was aware that her project to put some of her artwork for sale had started to pull in customers, but he hadn't realized there were this many. Some items, he saw, had prices in triple digits… When he pointed this out, she nodded. "Paintings. I figure I can get started on those in the next few weeks, before I'm up in diaper land. And Professor Robinson offered to take me on look over a manuscript of hers, paying for my time… So, if I lose, which is a big if, you don't have to worry about me, I'm good for it."

"Oh, I love you, marry me and have my baby," he declared, borrowing her often used dramatic tone. She burst out laughing. "Okay, come on, hey," he tapped her arm. "The books," he pointed back to the box. "No counting. We look for… five seconds, and then we say our numbers, yeah?"

"Okay, okay, let me just pull myself together," she sat up straight, taking a deep breath and another. "I'm ready."

"On three, five seconds," he told her. They both sat in silence for a moment, making sure they knew what he meant. Finally, she nodded. "Right. One, two, three!" They looked inside the box. Five, four, three, two, one… Lucas put the top back on the box and they stared at each other.

"Fifty-eight!" Maya declared.

"Fi…" Lucas sat up. "Wow…"

"Why, what's your number?"

"I was going to say forty-five," he revealed.

"Alright, then. Fifty-eight versus forty-five. Let's see who buys breakfast next week. And the week after that… and every other week until next year… No! Better. Until he is one," she set her hand on her belly. He lay his hand over hers. Deal.

As one eager pair, they began looking through the box, pulling out book after book after book and making piles of this bounty they had been granted, thanks to Rosa's mother and Coleman Books.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners