January 21st 2023

Chapter 193
A Day In The Life

"Morning, fellas," Lucas whispered. His hand was warm against her belly, and Maya was more than fine by it, not just because it was a chillier day than they'd had since November had expanded through its first week. Each extra day with the twins still inside her was another gained on the side of their being as… fully baked as they could ever hope for them to be. The added bonus there, at least where Maya was concerned, was one more morning, listening in on the 'conference' between Lucas and their unborn sons. "How are my little hug-a-bears?"

Maya couldn't keep the quiver of a silent laugh from giving her away. The nickname had been born out of the way they would appear, Simon and Jackson, about every time they'd gotten to see the two of them on the screen in the doctor's office. They were always kind of curved together… like they were hugging. Everyone had noted it by now, and they would all be so enamored at the thought of them, twin brothers so close to one another.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say they're dancing right about now," Maya reported, and Lucas nodded to himself, satisfied at the thought.

"I know some people who'd hear that and be ready to put them in classes as soon as their cords got cut," he whispered, and Maya stuck her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

It was anyone's guess at this hour whether any of the kids would be awake already, but they weren't going to take any chances in case they were still curled up in their beds… especially seeing as they had a few special guests this morning.

A couple of days back, Ava had finished unpacking and decorating her room. The achievement had been capped, first, by the transfer of the last of her belongings from up in the nursery down to the basement. Once that had all happened, she was so happy, she was practically bubbling over with bouncy energy. It was the happiest they had seen her since the letters, and Maya and Lucas had wanted to double down on that. So, they'd suggested that Ava might want to have a sleepover to inaugurate her new room: she could invite Kelsey to come and stay over.

Going off the look of surprise on her face, they had a moment where they just had to stop and remember the likelihood of her ever having had one of those in the past being zero. It was enough that it had never occurred to her until they brought it up that she might have been able to do that. Could she really?

"Yeah," Maya beamed. "Go ahead and call her."

Ava didn't need to be told twice. Soon, she had her best friend on the phone, and she was telling her all about it. Obviously, this had led to the Friars and the Farrells talking this over. Kelsey had never had a sleepover before either, at least not with friends, only cousins. Her parents were all for it, and when she heard, Ava's happiness bubble indeed expanded in size.

Of course, once Kelsey was invited to the Friar house, it was impossible not to do the same for her little brother, so he might come to the same house and see his best friend. And if they had one Max, they then needed the other, too. So, they'd all been here the night before, Max and Max up in the Star Wars room with Elliott, Noah, and Jamie, while Kelsey was in the basement with Ava. They didn't have to worry about making sure that they had everything they needed and knew everything they had to know, the better to see to Kelsey's mobility needs while she was staying with them this past night, not when her mother very nearly came and handed them notes when she dropped her off. The eleven-year-old showed the patience of one who was used to this level of fretfulness out of her and didn't get embarrassed so much as she'd just try and reassure her mother, knowing it all came from a place of love and protectiveness. As to Haruna Farrell, there was evidently something sobering about being talked down by one's preteen daughter. She'd finally just smiled and wished her children a good night before heading on her way.

Lucas was much quicker on his feet these days, so he went ahead and checked on the kids while Maya got up and started on her way down to the bathroom. She watched him as he carefully opened the door and just sort of poked his head in. A second later, she was sure she heard him whisper the word 'pancakes.' He waited a few more seconds, then pulled back and shut the door.

"Everyone's still asleep," he reported in sign, and Maya bit back yet another laugh.

"But you are making pancakes, right?" she signed back, her eyes saying what her hands didn't. He'd brought it up now, so he didn't have a choice. He raised his hands, not in sign but in surrender. He would soon get started on the pancakes.

First, as he went down the stairs, he continued on over to the basement door, which he cracked open before stepping down a few steps. He'd barely started down that Sirius came trotting up, having either heard or smelled him coming. He wasn't worried about him making a noise; the big dog was good like that. As Lucas continued down, he saw that the two girls were also asleep, lying side by side in Ava's bed. It was the first time that Lucas really got to look at it and note the full effect of the work they'd all done. It wasn't a replica of Ava's old room, nor was it trying to be. It was her new room, her new haven, and even if it was still bursting with strong Ava-ness, he sort of sensed the distinction. Her old haven had been, more than anything, her safe place, her space, in a home that hardly felt like any of that to her. But here, in this house, it wasn't like that at all… and it was reflected in her new room.

Pancakes would be delivered, as promised, and all it would take would be the scent of them being made to waft through the house before the seven boys and girls above and below to find their way into the kitchen for breakfast. They had stories that morning of going to sleep and waking together, and the dreams in between. After that, it was time for everyone to go and get ready. It was Monday morning, so along with their own kids, Lucas had three more to drop off, all of them at the elementary school along with Ava and Elliott.

Maya had tried to talk Jamie into the two of them just getting on with their day at home, letting the others go, but he wouldn't have it, so they'd have to join the ranks of the school drop-offs. It was still undecided what they would do once the other kids had been left at their schools and Lucas had to go to his office, but they got Noah off to preschool, where he was gladder than ever to see his cousin Caitlin. Lately he seemed unable not to feel like Max and Max were Elliott's friends far more than his own, and it wasn't like he felt left out exactly, but he felt more than he had in a while the separation of his older brother being at another school, him and their big… their Ava, out there. He would get so close to calling her his sister, same as Elliott would, but both of them would usually hesitate as to whether that was what she was now. The only one who had no hesitation on the matter was Jamie, who would call Ava his big sister freely and happily. If he ever did so within her hearing, she'd get such a swell of joy about her that it was a wonder the other boys hadn't caught on.

The three kindergartners and two fifth graders were next left at the elementary school. Ava and Kelsey soon sped off to their usual meet up point, for mornings when they didn't arrive together, to spend what time they had left before the start of the day together. Meanwhile, Elliott and his two Max friends came upon their pre class spot like they were already falling into their school day rhythm. And all that remained, as they made their way back to the minivan were Lucas, Maya, and Jamie, who would run ahead of his parents a short distance before stopping and looking back to confirm they were coming, too.

"Where do you want to go now?" Maya asked the two-year-old, and he paused, considering the question. There were options, he was sure, but he couldn't think of them right off the top of his head. "We can go home, or the bakery, or…"

Oh, there was a reason that had been the second choice out of her when she was looking at her tadpole. All the kids at the house were getting to be budding bakers, it was almost unavoidable, but Jamie… For a good while now, he'd been fascinated by watching his mother and aunt work as much as he did the Food Network, which was always playing in the background when it was just Jamie and Maya at home, far over cartoons or other kids' shows. And if he was being offered, as one of his choices, to go to the bakery, then there was not even a question of what he'd decide. They were going to the bakery. Lucas would drop them off on his way to the office.

He told his father all about the two-year-old's big choice, and Thomas Friar gave a jovial laugh. He knew all about his grandson's curiosities and encouraged them, though not half as much as his wife did, to no one's surprise. Was she left to her own devices, Melinda Friar would set her grandson up with everything a boy his age should ever desire to nurture that budding passion, and probably many things he could not reasonably use for several years, too. As of now, Maya and Lucas were both certain there was some kind of easy bake oven type of thing hidden away at the elder Friars' house, waiting to be age appropriate.

Between meetings with clients and other work related to the office itself, Lucas also had to be in touch with the TV station to discuss his segments at the ranch. He'd done them alone for the first time in a while in recent weeks, knowing that it would not have been right to try and make Ava do them anyway. She just wasn't in the right mindset at the moment, and he'd only ever be forcing her to do it. He was never going to do that. Luckily, the station had been very understanding.

Lucas wouldn't have brought up the idea of her returning on his own without feeling like he was pushing her, but that never became an issue. Ava was the one to ask him about it, the previous afternoon, on their way to pick up Kelsey and her brother and Max McAllister. She was starting to think about it, which he was glad to hear. He'd told her that it all came down to her choice, when she'd want to go back. She suggested they might try and do one, to plan it and at least record a mock-up. That way, they could know if she was ready. That sounded like a great plan, so that was what they would do, and that was what he told the station.

"We're getting about that time, aren't we?" Thomas spoke, and it took a moment for Lucas to realize that he was speaking to him.

"What?" he asked, shaking his head in apology over the fact that he hadn't been paying attention. Thomas was smiling as he nodded to the phone.

"Every time it rings, you look about ready to leap out of your skin," he explained with a sympathetic smile, which Lucas now echoed.

"Yeah…" he admitted, sitting back with a sigh. One would think, by their fourth go, that he would be calmer, but it was impossible. Any day now, Maya could go into labor and have the twins. "I can't help it, you know, after last time…" he told his father, who nodded knowingly. It would be a family joke by now, looking at their kitchen floor, recalling, 'and this is where Jamie was born, nearly delivered by a pair of teenaged girls.' It was a joke that now had those two girls, Jamie's godmothers, Stella and Phoebe, laughing, though at the time their faces had looked nearer to mortified. Nowadays, anytime he went off to work or on some errand and he wasn't with her, he would wonder if that would be the day, if their boys would come along. He kept looking at weather forecasts, more than he realized, to see if there would be heavy showers and storms like that September day.

Well, it was a perfectly sunny day in November now, and by the end of it, Simon Edward and Jackson Milo Friar would still be swimming and hugging in their mother's belly. As to their youngest older brother, he had himself a wonderful morning at Friar & Olsen's with his mother and his aunt. All of them who worked in the kitchen and behind the counter wore aprons identified with the bakery's logo and name, and it hadn't taken long, back when they'd ordered those, for them to think of ordering a few in kids' sizes. Caitlin Olsen had hers, and though her baby brother was still very little, he had his, too. Elliott and Noah had theirs, and by now so did Ava, which had made her day when it had happened. They all had theirs, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the one who was proudest of their apron was Jamie. Whenever he would visit the bakery for anything more than picking up something on the way, he would want to hurry into the kitchen and pick up his apron and get it tied on. He wouldn't sit still until they'd done it.

Today, he got to play server for a while. Orders would come in and they would be packaged up by the pair behind the counter, and then the box or bag would be given to him, the better to walk or run around to hand it up to the customer it belonged to, much to their amusement. The best would be when they'd ask him if he was a Friar or an Olsen, and he would stick his little toddler index at the name on his apron. Friar, all the way. When he wasn't 'serving,' he'd be up on a footstool between his 'adult counterparts,' waiting eagerly. All the while, sitting at a nearby table, Maya would take a few pictures, and videos, but mostly she'd be sketching the scene. It was a good morning, and she had a mind to bring him around some more. She had a feeling that he'd jump at the chance.

They were to be picked up by Katy, to be brought back home, so she showed up at lunch time so they might eat together, the three of them, before heading out. Jamie was very happy to run out and join them, though even as they sat and ate, his eyes would flick back to the counter, like he needed to run back there to help with the customers. When they were done, the apron was hung back where it belonged, and they left. Back at the house, the television was turned on – the Food Network, naturally – and as he played around and watched from time to time, his mother sat on the couch with his grandmother. They hadn't talked much about anything beyond Jamie's activities back at the bakery, so now Maya told her mother about the previous evening and the sleepover.

The entire family, regardless of branch on the family tree, had been so welcoming to Ava already when she'd started spending nights here, and then even more so when she'd been left to Maya and Lucas for an indeterminate number of weeks. And then when the letters had come, when it had become that they would in all likelihood be raising her along with the boys from here on out… She was one of them now, and they treated her that way. They were all very respectful, not wanting to insert themselves any closer than she was ready to have them, but they also showed that they were in it all the way whenever she was ready for them. The parents and grandparents had their way for that, but then the kids… the little Hunters, and the Hart-Bretts… From eighteen-year-old Sam down to very recently turned five-year-old Alex, they had been the ones laying the groundwork, day by day, for Ava to even get anywhere near looking at Katy and Shawn, Thomas and Melinda, Abigail and Stephen, and thinking of them as her grandparents, her many lovely and loving grandparents, just by being themselves around her. She was one of them and that was all there was to it.

When it came to her mother, Maya could always see that extra layer, the one where she would look at Ava Nash and see her, see a six-year-old girl suddenly having to contend with the father she loved having abandoned her. Many years had gone by since that time, years enough for their perspectives on that time to change significantly, so with that in mind it made looking at Ava's situation much different from what it might have been without that growth. More than ever, they could grasp that Bill Nash had done the very best he could do for his daughter, even if he knew that neither one of them would come out on the other side without pain. These days though, none of that mattered quite so much as wanting to look out for Ava. Of all of them, they could see that the girl was drawn nearest of all to Katy so far as the 'grandma frontier.' And Katy took that responsibility with great heart.

"Hey, Tadpole, your dad's on the phone," Maya told Jamie, as afternoon had progressed. He looked up immediately. "He's going to pick up the other kids from school, wants to know if you want to go with him." They more or less knew the answer to that question without asking, but they also wanted to give him the option to say no, if he'd rather stay here. Today, he was particularly conflicted, like he wanted both options too much. "Or you could help me and Nana Katy to start dinner?" And 'home' won out.

So, Lucas took off from the office and headed for the preschool to collect Noah, and then to the elementary school for Ava and Elliott. It was a lot less crowded than the drop-offs had been that morning, the sleepover crowd returned to their respective families, but they still carried the happiness of the time they'd all spent together back at the house after their day at school, which should in turn make for another good evening, this one reserved to their reunited family. The one thing that might have caused a hiccup in that was Ava, though that might depend.

He saw her in the rearview mirror as they were driving home, and it wasn't the first time he caught her doing this. At first, he'd just figured that she liked looking out at the people and the streets and the buildings. She didn't read in the car if any of the boys were there, too. Every once in a while, though, her staring would focus, and she would sit up, like she'd found something, someone, and she would stay on them so long as the minivan hadn't passed them out of sight. Already by then though she would have gotten a look of discreet disappointment, and if Lucas ever managed to catch a glimpse of the people that she spied… Men, reddish hair, auburn… She was looking for her father. She didn't just do it when they were driving either. Anywhere they went, not all the time, but enough times that they'd picked up on it, she'd look for him, like maybe he'd be in the area, maybe he'd be keeping an eye on her.

None of it showed as they got to the house, and everyone headed inside. Jamie came dashing from the kitchen, his shirt sleeves rolled up and his apron on – the home one, naturally – as soon as they announced their arrival. Yes, he'd been helping his mother and grandmother, and his great grandparents, too, once they'd come to join in, but his siblings were home, and so was…

"Daddy, daddy!" he reached up and was promptly raised up.

"Hey, tadpole, you've been cooking, huh?" Lucas grinned.

"I help," he pointed back.

"Yeah, I bet you do," Lucas kissed the side of his head before putting him back on the ground. He looked around to Noah, Elliott, and Ava, motioning for all of them to follow, which they all did, if only to go and say hello to the others in the kitchen.

Soon, while Jamie was freely dismissed from dinner duty – as everything was only waiting to be finished, come dinner time – to go and play with his brothers, Ava disappeared into her room below to tackle her homework. She would usually try and do everything that she could do on her own first, keeping the parts she needed help with – if there were any – for the end. Today, she had two things held over, and she went to find Maya to help her. She would say that, by now, she knew what each of their areas of expertise were. She'd also say that there was some overlap, which they took to maybe mean that she tried to split things out evenly.

Then it was dinner time, and that meant a lot of stories out of the kids, of what they had done and seen and learned today. A new favorite, since she'd become part of the equation, would be when Ava told them all about something that she'd learned, as much for the way it brightened her to share it as for how all three boys would stare at her and listen so intently that they would forget to eat. She had a pretty good one today, they knew, because it got Noah to climb up in his chair, until he stood in a little ball, which was his way of being most captivated. When he'd do that, Jamie would do his best to imitate him, and they'd quickly be instructed to sit back down, 'butts in chairs.'

Noah would later request to hear the story again later, when Ava would be seeing to his curls as she saw to her own. It had been something for the two of them to share ever since she'd started staying with them, and it became regular once she was with them every day. In the meantime, Elliott and Jamie had their bath time, where the latter would continue his habit of copying his older siblings. At this game, Elliott would be the best to catch on to 'if I do something silly, then he'll do it, too, and it'll be funny,' which it usually was. That night, the challenge seemed to be 'how much bubble bath foam can I get on my brother's head?' They laughed enough that Jamie accidentally ate some of the soap. He did not care for it, and after that, Lucas directed them away from playing so they could get out of the tub.

After bath time, with everyone in their PJs and making the most of what time they had left before bed, Ava would usually be found in her favorite spot in the living room along with whatever book she was reading at the time. Sirius would sit with her, and she would be at peace, flying through pages for as long as she could before the call to bedtime came down. By then, the three brothers would all have ended up back in their room, tucked into their beds with a story of their own.

"Chapter check?" Lucas went to Ava, who planted her finger where she stopped to read before turning one page, then another. There was the end of her present chapter. "You go ahead and get ready for bed after that, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded, getting back to the pressed finger. Lucas watched her for a moment and decided not to bring up the hunt for potential Bills on the drive home.

As promised, Ava soon turned in, wishing both Lucas and Maya a good night before heading to the basement, Sirius at her heel. She hugged them both, took a moment to whisper goodnight to the unborn twins. It made Maya chuckle. When Ava stepped back, she looked at the two of them, and it was written there on her face, how much she'd come to realize the meaning they had in her life, now more than ever.

"I think it scares her… a little… Is that weird?" Maya looked to Lucas, later on, as they were about to turn in, too. "She's starting to look at us as her parents, but…"

"But she's still looking for her father," Lucas nodded, pondering deeply, too. It wasn't going to be the same for both of them, was it? Ava had never had a good relationship with her mother, and now here was Maya, who just exuded so much good, maternal love, but then with her father… Their relationship had not been ideal, no, but there was never any doubt how much they both loved one another. And then he'd left her, and she'd been so very upset, as angry as she was sad, but also a part of her could not let go, and they understood that. But there he was, Lucas, and he was getting to hold this place in her life that she cherished in all its uncomplicated ways, so… was it like she was giving up on Bill? She didn't want to do that, so there came the conflict.

"She just needs more time," Maya promised, and he nodded, breathing out. She walked up to stand before him where he sat on the edge of the bed, which made him smile, reaching a familiar hand to her belly. Before they knew it, they'd have these two to look after on top of everything. They weren't about to let Ava's ongoing situation fall forgotten, but they'd have keep themselves minded as best they could. Two whole babies at once, that was new. At least it wasn't triplets or quadruplets, right? They kept that joke only in their minds. Speaking it aloud would have felt like an invitation.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners