Chapter 117
These Sweet Little Hearts

They had been trying to get pregnant again since the end of October. Just over three months had gone by now, with February just getting under way, and this whole time, all she'd had to go on for a feeling was hope. Twice she had been compelled to take a test, and twice they had been negative, but then deep down she'd expected as much. She had felt nothing, nothing at all that would give her cause to believe that she and Lucas had actually conceived, but circumstance had led her to check… just in case. And both times she had only been shown that she needed to trust herself to know more than circumstance.

It was February 8th, when she knew, when she actually felt a change in herself and she was sure, before ever taking a test. She would, of course, because for all she knew this was nothing but wishful thinking and a bit of food poisoning, but… No, she'd gotten very familiar with this feeling in her, from her other pregnancies, she knew.

It came to her as she was getting ready for the day. Lucas had already left by that time, as he wanted to get one more study session in before a big test that he had in his morning class. So, he wasn't there with her. So, she was left with a choice.

Suppose she went and took that test today – it was highly unlikely she'd wait, not when she knew in her gut what it would say – what would she do then? Specifically, could she keep that secret for, say, six days? Wouldn't it make the perfect Valentine's Day gift? Happy Valentine's, my Huckleberry, here, I'm growing this human we created. They'd found out about Elliott on Halloween, hadn't they? It'd be two out of three holiday surprises… sort of. Could she wait six days to take the test? No, alright, she definitely couldn't do that, but she could surprise him that day.

Unless of course their little tadpole got any ideas and got her signed up for the daily bathroom dash between now and the following week, in which case she'd have a very difficult go of saying 'oh, this is nothing and I am totally not pregnant yet, nope.' Her secret would be blown, and she wouldn't get to spring it on him… and she really wanted to spring it on him. The first time, they had found out together, a couple of spooked kids sitting in a bathroom on Halloween. The second time, with Noah, she'd been so startled at the idea of being pregnant again so quickly after they'd had Elliott, so she'd ended up more or less just coming right out with it.

This time it was different, all of it. This time they had gone into this with the intent of making this baby, and now they had… 99.9% certain. It only seemed right that it should be announced to him in an appropriate fashion.

Alright, so she was getting ahead of herself. There was that .1% chance that she was wrong, in which case getting too into this plan would only lead to disappointment. She was going to have to get that test on her way to university.

"Mommy, look!" Elliott's voice startled her out of thought. She'd been standing at the bathroom mirror, finishing up her makeup, when The Big Thought had come to her, the lipstick standing frozen in her hand, inches from her lips. She blinked and turned to look to her right and found her sons standing just outside the door. Both of them had pulled up their PJ shirts up, all the way until they were just around their necks, arms out of the sleeves and all. The collars had gone and been turned about ninety degrees, which left one sleeve dangling down their front and the other down their back. When they saw her looking, they started moving around, Elliott first and then Noah imitating him, sending the empty sleeves hopping around as they moved their arms around. For a moment, she didn't understand what they were doing, but then it came to her just before Noah spoke.

"Otto! Otto Otto!"

"Octopi!" Maya proclaimed with a laugh. The boys briefly stopped, confused. "That's what it's called when there's more than one octopus," she took the time to explain, and that was good enough for them to start getting their 'tentacles' going again. They only had the four each, but no one was about to argue with what they were. Octopi, absolutely, and the cutest ones at that. On this morning of all days, with what she was positive she'd discovered, they plunged her deeper into her inner euphoria. They were going to have another one of these little weirdos… and she couldn't wait. "Alright, come on, let's get you dressed, the world isn't ready for octopus boys just yet."

She was surprisingly calm, all things considered, as she left the boys with Pappy Joe and left the house. Not that she underestimated the man's ability to look at you like he could read your innermost thoughts, but as far as she was concerned she was pretty sure she'd kept her mind in one piece, shielding away those thoughts in her head. She kissed Elliott and Noah goodbye until the end of the day, and she was off… to get the test.

She resisted the urge to get two. She bought one, left the store. Somewhere in the walk from there back to the minivan though, her mind had time to turn things over a few times. She had her keys in her hand, ready to get back in the driver's seat, but then she stopped and sighed before turning back. She bought a second test. Just to really be sure. At least she didn't buy eight this time, right?

There was no plan about this. Would she open those boxes before class, or in between, or… She wasn't cutting it close for being on time for her first class of the day, but she didn't have a whole lot of time either, so maybe it would be better if she waited until her break… Yeah, that would be the thing to do. Except… Would she be any good in class if her brain was focused on those boxes in her bag? Would I be any better with the results? She'd have a lot on her mind regardless of what she decided, but the conclusion finally landed on the distraction being a lot more bearable if it was living with the result rather than the question.

"Where are you going?" Farah called after her. Maya had nearly been at the room when she'd made up her mind, so her friends had spotted her coming and then just as soon turning on her heel and speeding away. She'd only been vaguely aware of hearing Farah's voice and she just as quickly forgot about it in favor of getting herself to the nearest women's bathroom.

Into the stall she went. It was a bit more cramped for space than she would have liked, but she could ignore this in favor of getting the boxes open and pulling out the contents she'd need. She had done this enough times before that could get through the steps and end up picking up after herself and getting out to wash her hands as she waited on the timer. There was no one else in the bathroom for the time being, so she brought out her things and set the two sticks and her phone where she could check on them when the time would come. She still had to wait… nearly there…

Positive, on both counts. Deep down she'd known, she'd been so sure, but all the same there had been that tiny sliver of self-protection who could only go and remain doubtful until this moment, right here, the moment where she'd not only know it in her gut, but she'd also have some tangible proof.

"So… there you are… Little tadpole…" she took a deep breath. As much as she'd been sure, now that she knew for certain, it was… Oh, she'd never gotten to have this feeling before. She'd never had a pregnancy that had been planned, and hoped for, and immediately just overwhelming her with happiness instead of surprise, and apprehension later turning to joy. She had to fix her makeup before she could leave the bathroom again, and that only happened once she got the tears to stop.

The tests were wrapped in paper towels and stuck inside one of the boxes which she'd kept, stuck inside her bag. Finally, she could head out to class. She only realized as she reached the door that she would now be a few minutes late after all, and her professor looked a bit annoyed with her, called her out. On the impulse of her emotions riding high as they were, she approached the woman and whispered the reason at her ear. She changed her tune at once, smiled and told her to go sit, her tone kindly requesting she be on time next class. Maya smiled back and nodded.

"What's going on?" Diana asked as she and Farah followed Maya out of class later on. She sounded like she'd been wanting to ask ever since she'd taken her seat next to her but had not found any opportunity to quietly ask until now.

"Nothing, it's alright," Maya shrugged. She wasn't going to tell them, not yet. Lucas was going to be the first one to know… well, second, after her professor, but under the circumstances that one had been inevitable. As for her friends, now… Lucas had to come first. Deciding as much helped make things very clear for her. She was not going to wait six days. She was going to tell him today.

But how?

They were both in class most of today, and after that they were both working to closing at the mall. Not ideal, but she'd have to make it work. She made it through classes fairly well, the news possibly making her more hyperaware than anything. She had to guess that, this being the third go around, she knew what to expect enough that she could go around and be fine. She didn't run into Lucas all day, and that might have been the one thing to get her to crack, but it didn't happen, so she'd never know.

The first time they were due to see each other was when they finished their shifts and drove home. She called in one favor here, trusting that she wouldn't be questioned for it. She tracked down Dylan before the end of the day and asked if he would be able to drive the minivan back to the house for her, so she and Lucas could drive home together in his car. Dylan being Dylan, he did her one better and offered to drive her to the mall first instead of her having to take the bus from university.

Once she was at the art store, that was when she finally gave herself the room to start cooking up her plan. When she'd been in class, she'd needed to focus on her professors, and she couldn't start thinking about it in between classes or it would trickle down into her class time. Here though, she'd be helping customers, sure, but in between those she could figure out the best way to tell Lucas they were having a baby for the third time. Strange to think, this was really the first time it sunk in they would soon have three children.

The idea came to her as she took a customer call, confirming stock on a few items. Once she had that, she knew exactly what she had to do… She'd just need to get some research done first. And she'd need something else. After clocking out a half hour before closing – she'd make it up next time around – she hurried over to the store up by the food court where she bought most of the boys' clothing. She knew one of the clerks there very well.

"Hey, Amita, can I borrow your phone? Might be an hour before you get it back…"

With Amita's phone secured, she went to sit somewhere near to the bookstore and started searching with her own phone. Once she had what she needed, she also used her own phone to get in touch with Tilly, who worked in the store and had become closer to them in recent times, ever since they'd realized her boyfriend, Judd, worked at the art store with Maya.

Once Tilly assured her that Lucas was upstairs, where he'd been working lately instead of the registers below, Maya walked into the store and went to find her. She explained her plan, framing it as a fun couple prank and not a surprise reveal, and Tilly was immediately on board. She was given Amita's phone, and the information Maya had collected, and once she was told what she had to do, she was completely on board. Tilly was an aspiring actress, reminding Maya in so many ways of her own mother, and she was very good at disguising her voice, so that, coupled with a phone number Lucas wouldn't recognize when he saw it on the caller ID…

Maya went up on the elevator rather than the escalator, knowing that it was located in a corner away from view where Lucas should be, whereas the escalator would have brought her most likely directly in his line of sight. She couldn't even pretend like the sneaking around wasn't amusing her. But finally, there he was. He was finishing up with a client. As soon as he did, Maya texted Tilly. Seconds went by, half a minute, and then the phone rang over at the info desk. Lucas wasn't there to pick it up himself, but the one who did, Maeve, listened to the caller for a few seconds and just smirked to herself. Pulling her expression back under control, she called over to Lucas, asking him if he could take the call. Off he went, her unsuspecting Huckleberry.

She couldn't hear Tilly's side of the call… or Lucas' for that matter, not at first, but then she needed to do her own part, which involved being in the right place at the right moment. Her signal would be his reaction to the first title his customer asked after. It was bound to create one, and she wasn't disappointed. How could he not get an amused sort of smile when he'd be asked about something called 'Sprout Right Family Food.' The word had been more or less reset in its definition in both of their minds the moment it had become code for their Elliott, the very day they'd learned about his existence. And there it was, the smile. She approached, discreetly.

She could hear him when he repeated the second title 'not Tilly' asked him about. 'The Secret Life of Bees.' It did something to his thoughts, but even then, it was not out of the realm of possibility that it was only a very personal coincidence. After all, sprouts and bees existed independently, even if in their home and in their hearts, they were those two little blond toddlers they fortunately called their sons. Maya approached, only went as far as she dared to go without running the risk that he'd spot her, focused on the phone and the computer as he was. Because the next title… The next title was going to chase away all chance of coincidence.

He stopped short, and Maya had a feeling her face must have looked a little like that, this morning, when she'd figured it out for herself. The Mysterious Tadpole.

Now he looked up, like he knew… He saw her, and she could just feel the grin on her own face. He knew… He knew, and he was right where she'd been all day emotionally, from the moment the timer had run out.

It was a good thing she'd told Tilly the call might cut short, because immediately Lucas set the phone down and moved around the desk to get to her. He didn't even ask, didn't have to. She'd never go to this length to tell him if she wasn't sure, so all he really had to do was exactly what he wanted to do in that moment. He swept her up in his arms and embraced her just as she embraced him. This was it, the beginning, all over again. And even though they had been through this twice before, this one would be its own thing, special, just like their tadpole.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners