Chapter 116
One Cake For You

For as long as he had shared a bed with her, Lucas knew he had to be careful if he intended to get up without waking her when morning came. It wasn't impossible, no, but it still demanded some overall awareness of what could or wouldn't cause her to wake up. Since they had become parents to one and then two boys one after the other, the difficulty level had been cranked up to the extreme. It was like she slept constantly with one ear left activated at all times, like a watcher on a wall, ready to sound the bell and wake everyone to action.

But he could do it… if he was very… very careful.

The next part was going to be harder. It was one thing to get himself out of that bed free and clear – which he did – but now it would be something else entirely for him to go across the hall and collect Elliott and Noah without either one of them making a noise that would travel to the watcher ear of their sleeping mother. Maybe on that day someone was looking out for them, knowing it would be for a good cause. As he walked into the other room, he discovered one boy quietly awake and the other apparently just barely coming around to wakefulness.

"Hey, good morning, fellas, hey…" Lucas whispered as he silently shut the door again. He looked to Elliott, awake and staring back at him, and he held a finger to his lips. They had managed to instill the understanding in him that this meant he had to stay quiet. It didn't always work, but in circumstances like this, when he'd already been quiet, in the low light and the stillness of morning, he would push his own finger to his lips and he would do as asked. In the other bed, with a two-arm lock on Tum-Tum Teddy, Noah's little blue eyes were still only halfway awake, but when he found his father looking down at him, he reached out one hand and then the other, leaving the friendly toy to roll next to him. "Morning, bee," Lucas lifted him up and brought him close, the curly head resting at his shoulder at once. "Elliott, we have to stay quiet, okay?" he turned to the other boy as he got up to follow.

Out of the room they went, like a pack of spies, and they started down the stairs. Lucas opened the gate at the top and Elliott started slowly down on his own while his father passed in front of him. When they reached the kitchen, it felt like he'd been holding his breath, and now he could let it go.

"Okay, alright," Lucas spoke to both of the boys. Noah was still in clingy mode, so he didn't seek to put him down just yet. He could manage one-handed for a bit. "Do you guys know what today is?" he asked them. Noah had nothing to give, but Elliott moved at once to stand under the brand-new calendar they'd hung on the wall just a couple weeks back, at the turn of the year. He pointed up and looked to his father.

On today's date, they had drawn a little cake, with candles and all, to indicate Maya's birthday. Actually, Lucas had been the one to draw it, much to her amusement, and he had told the boys. That's Mommy's birthday. And every day, he had told them how many days there were left, crossing out the one that had ended. Whatever they did or didn't understand, it built up anticipation until finally, today, it was their mother's birthday, and they knew it was a special day.

"Yeah, you got it, sprout," Lucas grinned. Elliott celebrated this with a squeak, and Lucas quickly pushed his finger to his lips again, which caused the boy to gasp and do the same. For a few moments, Lucas tried to listen, to see if he heard any movement from upstairs. It was unlikely she would be making that much noise from just waking up, but still… He'd just have to assume that they hadn't awakened her. "Right, check this out."

With all three of his and the boys' birthdays in the same month, it was at this point only fair to make Maya's birthday feel extra special. Or maybe that was just him… pulling a Huckleberry, as she'd say. If that was the case, then he was going to go all in.

The last two days, when they would open the refrigerator door, they would find a box, very hard to miss and sitting there on the top shelf. It had a note stuck on both the top and the front, both of these with the same message in his handwriting. Don't even think about it, Maya. 365.

He had to put Noah down to remove the box, so he set him on his feet, next to his big brother. He was properly awake now, so he got to observe his father like Elliott did, with equal curiosity. Lucas got the box out now, careful not to drop it as he carried it to the counter. The boys followed him. They couldn't see that high, but they waited, teetering on their feet, chins raised…

"Hang in there, I'll show you in a second," Lucas smiled at them before getting the box open. He pulled out the contents and laid them out on the counter.

He'd prepared the frosting two days ago, after coming home on a break between classes. It sat by its lonesome in that big box, the better not to reveal anything he was up to. The cake, both layers, were baked the night before, when Maya was at work. He might have done the frosting then, too, but he needed all the time he could get, to get everything right… and to make the decorations. How many times had he seen her do this? He'd helped her, many times, though his tasks usually involved very direct instructions and nothing overly… artistic. That was her domain, all the way. Given the time though, Lucas could do pretty well for himself, as he decided, once he looked at all those components laid out before him. All he had left to do was assembling, and then it would be ready.

They wouldn't eat it until tonight, after dinner – which he would cook, naturally – but he wanted to have it ready, to surprise her this morning and send her off on her day of class with that extra cheer in her.

"Right, okay, come here," he guided the boys to the table. Noah was lifted on to his chair and secured, then Elliott was helped up to sit in his place. They looked on as he carried everything over. "Hands to yourself, okay?" he laughed, seeing the instant brightness on their faces. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to show them all this, knowing they couldn't have any until much later, but he wanted to involve them, to make it a collaborative effort.

Then again, they had sat in audience of their mother doing all this on a regular basis, and to see them now as they watched him start to assemble the cake, their patience was kind of remarkable.

"Alright, now I'm going to need your help right here," Lucas informed his sons as the cake sat neatly frosted and primed for decorating.

Elliott's squeak had not awakened her, but in time Maya did start to wake up. When she did, she quickly noticed that Lucas wasn't there next to her, and it left her wishing that he were. His intermittent habit of 'manifesting' had become a morning routine and she kind of missed it. She might also have started to put some belief of her own in it, so would they be throwing off their chances if they missed one? Alright, that was silly, but at this point she didn't mind being silly if it meant feeling that new life in her. Wouldn't actually mind those seven tall sons. Just don't tell him that or he'll never let me hear the end of it.

The door was closed, and still she knew that the boys were not across the hall. She didn't know how she knew, but she was sure of it. So what were they all up to, those three? Was she supposed to stay up here and wait? She lay there, considering by herself, drumming her fingers on either side of the blanket over her.

It was her birthday today… She was twenty-four years old. Was she exactly where she thought she would be? Not at all, no, but then that answer varied depending on where she started out from. If she were to consider it from the perspective of the girl she'd been before moving to Texas, some parts would have rung further from what she imagined, compared to what she might have foreseen back in high school, or even in college, before that Halloween surprise.

From where she sat now though, she had learned to appreciate the unexpected. It hadn't been easy the whole way, and there could still be surprises down the line, but still… She was in a better place now than she could have guessed she would have been when she and Lucas learned they would be parents for the first time.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the familiar sound of steps on the stairs. She considered pretending that she was still asleep, but she changed her mind as the door opened. She could just picture part of the scene outside, as Lucas' hand was just visible retreating, suggesting he stood behind the boys but reached past them to turn the handle. Elliott was the first to enter, pushing the door and looking straight to her, sitting on the bed. In a flash, his smiling little face was on its way to her as he came running.

"Mommy! Morning!" he tried to hoist himself on to the mattress. Maya laughed and reached over to take his hands and pull him up to her. Noah was right on his heels and she barely caught hold of one of his hands before she was tackled under the weight of his brother and started to laugh. Thankfully, Noah was able to scramble and join them, her little monkeybee.

"Now, hey, what are you up to, huh?" Maya asked, one boy wrapped in each arm, one head to either one of her shoulders. She kissed their foreheads and they smelled like sugar.

"Happy birthday, Mommy," Elliott turned his eyes up to her, and she very nearly did cry, more so when Noah chimed in with his best attempt at repeating his brother's words.

"Thank you," she kissed Elliott again. "And thank you," she kissed Noah, too. "I'm handing out kisses and cuddles here, Friar, are you going to keep creeping out there?"

"Be with you in a…" Lucas replied, and it sounded like he'd cursed under his breath.

"You alright back there?" she laughed, making a funny face for the boys when they looked at her. They laughed along, and she regaled herself in continuing to cuddle them good. She'd be off to school soon, and she was going to store up as much of this good stuff as she could until then.

"Yep," Lucas replied, and he finally came along, carrying… a cake, with four lit candles planted in its top. She was already smiling so much, but now this… "Realizing now that this might not be the best idea. Maybe you should come over here to blow these out."

"But…" she 'pouted,' indicating their sons. "I give you permission to make a wish and blow for me," she now told him, giving a smirk to show they both knew what that wish would be. That was not telling, right?

"We'll keep the singing for later," Lucas nodded after blowing out the candles.

"Sounds good. Let me see what we have here…" Maya sat up, just a little, so she didn't have to loosen herself away from Elliott or Noah too much but could see the cake.

"Mommy, we did it!" Elliott told her. Noah nodded.

"Daddy, Elliott, Noah," he spoke with all of his twenty-month-old pride.

"You did?" Maya asked, with appropriate levels of amazement. "It's perfect, thank you…" She could tell just by looking it which parts they had been responsible for and which parts had likely been Lucas' doing, and… yeah… Her heart had been alive a whole other year, and right here in this moment, it had never been quite this happy. The man she loved, the boys that love had created… She couldn't have asked for more.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners