Chapter 146
Our Fifth Heart

It never stopped feeling like the most incredible thing. Here he stood, holding this newborn babe, his own child, his and Maya's together. He remembered the people they'd been, nearly four years ago, as they'd learned of their impending parenthood. He'd been twenty-two years old, barely in college, and even with this outlook of one day getting married and becoming a father, he had not been anywhere near ready to jump on to that road. Flashforward to today and here he stood, twenty-five years old and holding his thirdborn son. Every time, when he'd first held Elliott, and then Noah, and now Jamie, his mind would go back to that Halloween night, him and Maya in the bathroom back in Houston, looking at all those positive test sticks. Their lives could have been so vastly different if those tests had been negative, yes. But he'd look into his sons' little faces each time and… He would never want anything to be different, not one breath, not one hair.

They were about to leave the hospital now, the day following Jamie's… memorable birth. Maya was getting ready, so Lucas was very happily looking after the baby in the meantime. He had dozed right off, shortly after he'd picked him up, so it was very easy to just stand there, holding him, watching him… He could do it all day.

"Is it weird that I forget sometimes that he's not in my belly anymore?" Maya asked as she walked out of the bathroom, carrying her hospital gown and her bathrobe, one to leave behind and the other to pack. Lucas turned to look at her, unsure what she meant. "Hey, I can't help it, I kind of got used to moving around with… all of this," she gestured over where her belly used to reach until the previous morning.

"All of a sudden, there's something missing?" he smiled.

"Exactly," Maya nodded, only to turn her eyes to the baby in his arms. "Ah, there it is," she quietly intoned. Lucas came and handed him over and she happily received him. "Now we have everything, let's get you home, huh? Your brothers can't wait to see you, and then there's the dogs, and the cats… We really can't keep them waiting. Just asked your Granny Mel."

Brand new as their boy was, which would be bound to make them extra cautious, this was their third go at this, so the steps were just there. They weren't afraid, or uncertain. They'd had the kitchen floor of it all, but seeing as both Maya and Jamie were completely fine, and they'd had Stella and Phoebe with them at the time, not to mention Jacob Tracey… They had nothing to fret over. They just wanted to bring their son home, to start their lives all five together.

The boys would be home right now, waiting. Specifically, they'd be in the little house behind the main house, with their great grandparents. They could have done it the other way around and have Pappy Joe and Patty come to sleep in their house, but this had felt better, it had felt… like an adventure. The rain had started again in early evening, nowhere near as heavily as it had done earlier, and rather than simply having Elliott and Noah sleep on the couch, their great grandparents had set out to build them something like a fort or a tent, right there in their living room. They would get to see the moonlight, and the rain tapping peacefully at the windows… And even without a campfire to sit around, Pappy Joe had been able to regale his great grandsons with a captivating story before they could settle in and go to sleep.

They filled their parents in with all of this shortly after they arrived and made it very clear that they would love to do it all over again in the future. All parties were more than happy to make that happen for them. They also wanted to have Jamie along with them, but for that at least they would have to wait. He was still much too little for that.

"If you want to sleep next to his crib, we can do that," Lucas offered. "It might wake you up in the middle of the night though, if he wakes up and starts to cry… and he definitely will." They would consider it. For now, they just piled on as their mother sat on the couch with the baby, climbed on either side of her the better to see him and be able to reach out and touch him.

"He doesn't have hair," Elliott remarked.

"Sure, he does," Maya laughed. "Touch it, careful, you'll see. He doesn't have a lot of it, but it's there." Elliott felt for his brother's hair and, yes, there it was. Noah did the same once he was able to reach his own small hand over, too, and at this second inspection, Jamie woke up and started to cry. Noah startled and pulled his hands back. "Oh, it's okay," Maya told him as much as the baby. "Just give him a minute, he'll be alright," she told Noah, even as her hand discreetly checked for anything other than 'I just woke up and this is still very new' to blame. It wasn't time for him to eat yet, and his diaper was fine… In no time, he had stopped crying and he just blinked. "See? All good."

"Okay, Jamie," Noah lightly touched the boy's forehead again, and there was no complain, so he doubled down with a small kiss to the same spot, receiving not even the smallest bit of fussing.

Lucas would try and be as discreet as possible, signing to Maya while the boys were distracted by their baby brother, asking her if he should see about letting the pets back upstairs so they could meet Jamie. They could leave them downstairs until the next morning if they wanted to hold off, but she gave him a quick nod. If today was about bringing Jamie into their home and their family, then that included Trix, Lou, Shadow, and Whiskey. They may not have met him yet, but they had been aware of his coming, all along Maya's pregnancy.

There was no telling how the dogs and the cats would react. On the whole, they were a well-behaved bunch, sure, but they were also very loving to their humans, and with the way they had been herded down to the basement the day before, to be allowed back into the house at large to find Maya had returned… They would find her in no time, and when they did, there'd be their new small friend.

The dogs were the first ones up, and Lucas just saw them start off in a haste, headed up the stairs. The nearer they got to the top though… they slowed down their advance. Meanwhile, the cats wove in and about his feet, so he crouched and picked them both up.

"Yeah, you two didn't have a fun day, did you? That's alright, we've got a surprise to show you," Lucas told them, giving Whiskey some appreciated scratches and leaning to kiss the top of Shadow's head, which seemed to make her very happy, too.

When the dogs had reached the top of the stairs, Maya had heard them. She didn't move. She waited until they made their way over to her. Their entire demeanor showed just how excited they were, all the while displaying restraint as they quietly approached her.

"Hi…" she whispered, reaching one hand down to pet them both in turn. "I've missed you, too, yeah…" she smiled. Their attention was drawn significantly toward the children. There were Elliott and Noah, yes, but even they were sitting there and quietly observing. This was about the baby, so she didn't keep them waiting. She brought him closer into view, and the dogs greeted him. He looked almost startled for a beat, but he didn't cry. "This is Jamie," she told them and pet them again. "That was some day, wasn't it?"

As Lucas came along to discover this scene, he ended up passing the cats down to the boys. He gave Shadow to Noah, while Elliott got Whiskey. The latter, the one they had nicknamed Madam, initially sat in the boy's arms and observed baby without doing much more than swishing her tail and tipping her head. As to their little black cat, their Sweet Girl, she soon adopted a much more direct approach in meeting the baby. She lay down in the small space between Maya and Jamie. His little hand came to rest against her furry head by chance, but they chose to see it like the cat and the boy saying hello.

They all remained mostly this way for a while, everyone on or around the couch. What finally had to break the moment was that Jamie needed to be fed… so did they all. Maya stayed on the couch with him while Lucas recruited the boys to join him in the kitchen, so they could figure out what they'd do for lunch. As they'd found out the day before, the mess of the kitchen had been seen to by Nadine and Zay. She had volunteered herself on the reasoning that, if there was anything out there that might make some people uncomfortable, well, she was studying to become a doctor, so it was no big deal to her. Zay had been a slightly less willing participant, but he had helped nonetheless, and both Maya and Lucas had been deeply thankful to them both.

As far as Lucas was concerned, while the tale of Jamie's birth would be one that they'd get to call back plenty of times over the years, he felt something… more. It was the first time he went into the kitchen since before the birth, and he found himself staring at the space, imagining it all. Now, it just felt like there was a connection to his family, right there on those tiles, a mark. It was invisible, but it was there.

The rest of the day carried on with this air of quiet over them. Maya was still recovering from the delivery, and Jamie's array of activities was presently revolving around little more than sleeping, and crying, and feeding, and changing. Determined to allow them both peace, Lucas took the boys outside to play, bringing the dogs as well, while the cats preferred to find their favored spots around the house.

They might have had any of the grandparents or aunts and uncles drop in today to see the baby, or to assist in something around the house, but they'd asked to have this day to themselves, if for no other reason than that it was both Jamie's first day at home and the eve of Elliott's start at preschool, meaning that they wanted to allow him a good, simple day at home. They also wanted to give the same to Noah, as he continued to waver between looking forward to being at home and helping his mom with the baby… and being sad that his big brother was going to school, and he wasn't.

"How much are you willing to bet that he's going to try and go with him anyway?" Lucas asked when he came back to their room after getting them to bed with a story. Maya was sitting on their bed, with Jamie held close.

"I could bet only a dollar and I'd definitely make another dollar. That boy is getting sneaky, which I realize is probably some kind of 'you reap what you sow' deal, but I was hoping your genes would at least take some of the edge off."

"He's not old enough to crawl in people's windows yet, we've got time," Lucas joked, which earned him a sarcastic but amused laugh.

"Do you know what he's talking about? Because I don't," Maya shook her head to the baby, who just lay there, blinking his little eyes like he was drifting off again. He'd been sleeping pretty well so far, though they had no delusions to think he would remain this way for very long. The best they could hope for was sufficient rest for them to see to Elliott in the morning before Lucas took him out to the school.

Maya had hoped to be there with him, too, on his first day, but it really made more sense for her to stay at home, at least for the time being. She would have been able to go if Elliott had started when he was supposed to start, but there had been a delay, pushing the first day one week later.

On the whole, they had a relatively good night. Jamie woke a few times, and so did his parents, but the big brothers either slept right through the night despite the cries or never woke enough so that they left their beds or called for their parents. When morning came, while Maya went and checked up on the baby, Lucas made his way over to the boys' room to see if they were awake yet.

They were neither one of them in their beds, which could have been the kind of thing to make him panic, except he knew his sons well enough, especially on a day like this one, to be able to take in those empty beds and speculate. The line between clever and innocent was always razor thin. He opened the closet door to find them both sitting on the ground, behind the hamper, with Elliott's green knitted blanket thrown over them until all that could be seen was a pair of blond heads and four blue eyes staring back at him.

"Good morning, fellas," he smirked.

"Shh," Noah pressed a finger to his lips.

"It's not time for hide and seek," Lucas told them. "Breakfast, remember? You wanted banana pancakes?" he appealed to Elliott though it had an effect on both him and Noah. "Come on, your mom's going to wonder where you got to, and she'll miss you." Oh, now, they couldn't have that.

Once they'd extricated themselves from their hiding place, the morning could start. Between tending to the baby and making and sharing breakfast for and with everyone – including the great grandparents crossing from their house – before Lucas and Elliott could get ready to head out… that was as hectic as they'd imagined it would be. But they had enough hands at the ready and enough habit already looking after the toddlers that, in due time, they were all set to go. They feared a tantrum but for the most part they were spared. Noah still made a last-ditch effort of trying to go with his big brother, which made Elliott hesitant about going, but Maya picked up the two-year-old in about the best mom hug she could give him, quietly reminding him of how much she'd need him today, so he finally let his father and brother go.

"You know, it's okay that you're going to miss him today. I'm going to miss him, too," Maya kept on consoling him. Sure, he could be sneaky, and all over the place, but now and then it would be as though he put all that aside, and he was just her good little bee, round on but not quite two and a half years old just yet. "You know, I have it on good authority that one or more of your grandparents will be coming around today… Grandpa Shawn might come and see us… with Alex…" Oh, he was still in cuddle mode, but his ears definitely perked up. A moment later, Jamie's cries were heard over the baby monitor.

"Jamie!" Noah lifted his head.

"Yup, duty calls. Let's roll, Chewie!"

Once it was just the two of them, Lucas' entire mission became to get his eldest off to preschool with an overall feeling that today would be a wonderful day. Elliott would be fine; he was sure of that. Once he actually got to the school and got to be with the other kids, he would remember how excited he'd been to start going there. Hopefully, he would soon make some friends and it would be even better. Noah would be okay, too, he had to trust as much. The beginnings were always the most complicated, but once they found their rhythm, their routine, they would be good to go.

"Alright, here we are," Lucas told Elliott once he'd gotten him out of his seat and on to his feet. They walked up to the building, and all the way he would point things out, drawing his attention so he could discover what the place had to offer. Oh, there was a lot for him to be drawn to. He still kept hold of his father's hand, but his eyes did the exploring, enough so that he would occasionally walk faster than him and feel the tug of their joined hands. "I'm not going to leave yet, so if you want to go ahead and check everything out, I'll be right here, okay?" Elliott hesitated, looking at the room opening out before him and then back up to his father. "Really, it's okay," Lucas reiterated, and Elliott let go of his hand and dashed off.

Once he was on his own, Lucas looked around. There were several other children going around, some of them out and about like Elliott, others still keeping close to a parent with big eyes that said clearly how they were not ready to let go. After a minute or so, the other thing he noticed was how some of the parents looked at him. He was the youngest one of them out here, noticeably so, and some of the others gave off this impression like they considered him too young. He paid them no mind. He had no interest in entertaining ideas like that. They didn't know him or his family, so what did they have to judge him on?

Others of the parents were much kinder, and he talked to a few of them. He pointed out Elliott, sharing his name, his age, and was given similar introductions to several of the other children. The other parents were curious about whether Lucas had a spouse, and he explained that yes, he had a wife, Elliott's mother, who would have been here today save for the fact that she'd given birth not quite forty-eight hours before. Oh, now, that was completely understandable! They congratulated him and her, learning about Jamie and Noah as well. He told them how sad this one was to be left behind, and a couple of the other parents chuckled, recalling similar 'woes' with some of their own.

"Okay, sprout, I have to go now. You'll be good?" Lucas crouched before his son sometime later.

"Yeah, I like it here," Elliott gave a good nod.

"That's great," Lucas smiled. "Can't wait to hear about it later. I'll come pick you up when it's time, okay?" He got another nod, and then a pouncing hug. Lucas hugged him back and finally stood up.

It was a lot harder to leave than he anticipated. It just didn't seem real that Elliott could be at this part already, but he was, and they would just have to get used to it, all of them and not just Noah. For the next little while, Lucas would be splitting his work time, doing part of it at home and part of it at the office with his father. It was a benefit of working together, the two of them, and he fully intended to use it as it had been offered. Today, he would work from the office, if only because he knew that he'd be distracted if he stayed home. Already, he knew he'd be looking at his clock much more than necessary, waiting for the time to head back and pick up Elliott, to hear about his first day and return him to his eager little brother and to Maya.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners