June 17th 2023

Chapter 214
Stage Lights & String Lights

There was no telling just how vast his capabilities would be to retain memories of his children as time went on, as they all created more memories together. All he knew was that, here and now, his memories of his children felt like a deep pool, and even though he could not be aware of every single drop within it, he was connected to it all, and when he needed to, he could remember so, so much. There were big things, and little things that could have felt insignificant but were anything but that.

The last few weeks with his daughter, Lucas knew, would be with him forever, and it all went back to their filming the pilot of their series together. There had never been any doubt that it would be him and her in this. There would likely not have even been a series to begin with if not for her.

Ava had been involved every step of the way. She had wanted to be, had asked him to be, and Lucas saw no reason why his clever Sweetpea shouldn't get a seat at the table, so he had welcomed her into the process. Some of the people in the production had not thought much of this in the beginning, only sort of smiled and saw it as cute, but they soon caught on, not only to the fact that Lucas listened to what she had to say but also to the fact that the things she did have to say were worth listening to. Lucas would never forget how proud he was of his girl as he sat there and watched her address a room full of adults with all that confidence. She'd had a lot of that in her before she'd come to them, and hopefully they had contributed in helping to bring it out of her.

When the time had finally come for them to film their first episode, he'd seen her be nervous. It wasn't as though it was their first time doing anything like this, but this was different and she knew it. She just wanted to do so well, for herself, for him, for her family... He had promised her that she would do great, that she only ever had to be herself and she'd be good to go.

It hadn't been as simple a fix as that, and they'd had a rough go of starting, but finally they had found their rhythm. It was just what they always did before, except now they had more of it, more freedom to explore. A lot of what they did took place right at the ranch, but some segments would bring them elsewhere, to locations beyond Sullivan Stables, and she was particularly excited for those. She'd told Lucas how it made her feel like a special reporter, like she'd seen on television, and he'd run with that and gotten her set up with a microphone that she could hold and speak into, holding it up when they interviewed people.

The big test would be when they finally aired their first episode. How would it all look? How would people react? Would they watch and, more importantly, would they keep on watching, returning week to week?

He would remember the two of them sitting with Maya and the boys as they watched the completed pilot episode together for the first time. The house felt as though it was buzzing, between the boys' excitement and Ava's giddiness/nervousness. Maya was feeling it all, and Lucas would smile and hold her hand.

If Ava had needed anything at all to shift her squarely into giddiness with no nerves in sight, the best thing was exactly what she got, as her theme song, the one she had worked alongside her mother to create, was the first thing she heard, along with images from the ranch, of her and her father, Juliet, Donna, everyone and the horses... Maya had recorded it, at Ava's request, and HER only request was that Ava, her brothers, and all their friends back her up. They had done that, and the result was a merry tune that perfectly represented who they all were and what they were trying to do.

The perception in their own house may have been kind of biased, but honestly they all thought that it was great. They retained the spirit of their old segments on the news but they also expanded into their own thing, and they showed - at least as far as Lucas, Ava, and Maya believed - that they had a lot of room to grow, a lot of potential to explore, if they were given the means to do it. That wouldn't be up to them though. That would be up to the audience, to the station.

They were banking a lot on the fact that people already knew them, liked them, and followed them, through their news segments. They would get recognized, and people would speak to them, and they'd be happy about it every time. When the move to the series had been official, announced, they had made sure to get the word out, and as far as they'd heard, people were looking forward to it.

Finally, the premiere had come and gone, and the response was quickly positive. They expected some negativity, and they got that, but they kept it away from the kids, especially Ava, and they did all they could do. The valid critiques they took note of, and they ignored the rest. They needed to look at the big picture above all else, and what that big picture showed them was that they had the public's attention.

Right from the next day, after the first episode aired, they had people calling or visiting the ranch, their interest piqued by what they had seen. They had seen some of this back when they had started doing the segments, so they knew roughly what to expect. People would rush in, some would stick around, and the rest would go on their way, and that would be that.

It was all good for business, that couldn't be denied, but it wasn't why they did any of it, and they hoped that they succeeded in conveying that much to their audience. Again, they encountered some naysayers on that front, but they were only a very small fraction. Far outpacing them were people who were looking forward to their next episodes, so they would go and focus on them instead.

That would become part of their weekly routine now. The fact that Ava was in school did complicate things, but they knew their daughter enough to know that she'd show great maturity in managing these two aspects of her life, as they would back her up. They would never give her more to do than what she could handle, and her studies would always come before the show. They'd made that very clear with her, made sure she understood that she should tell them if it got to be too much, just as they would tell her if THEY saw that it was too much and they needed to do something about it.

They considered involving the boys from time to time. They had appeared on occasions, in the segments, and their voices were part of the mix that made their theme, but that was all for now, and doing anything more demanded some level of reflection. They knew that if they ever went to Elliott, or Noah, or Jamie, and said 'hey, do you want to do the show with Daddy and Ava, they would jump for joy and say yes, no further consideration required, but they wouldn't have the ability to take in everything else that might be involved, and it felt wrong to put them in this position where informed consent was impossible. Maybe in the long run they would re-examine the question but, for now, this would be their position. there was a strong likelihood of the boys throwing a fit if they decided they wanted to be in the show like their big sister and were told no, but that wasn't happening at the moment, and they would just have to do their best and hope it never came to that. They kept going, and the routine settled in as more episodes got to air.

They'd been out there for several weeks now, and Lucas was very glad to see that the response remained generally very positive. The viewership numbers something they had no choice but keep an eye on, and those were fluctuating, as they would, but on the whole they were gaining steam, and that was good to hear. The part they were most aware of and were even happier to see, always, was the connection with their viewers, whether this came in direct encounters or online. They were looking to be as informative to their adult viewers as they would be educational to their younger ones, and they were making it happen.

For Lucas personally, there was so much to be said for how happy it made him to see how happy it could make the people of Sullivan Stables to see the success of the series, as the weeks stacked up. They all had so much pride for what they did, all of them carrying within them the same spirit that Lucas' grandparents had had in building up the ranch, a spirit that he had inherited, too. They were all doing everything they could to let the world see that, all of them in their own ways.

Maya would always be very happy to let her husband and their daughter know how she was hearing about the show over at the middle school, from both faculty and students who of course knew that she was part of the family, that she played some part in the show existing. It wasn't as though it was going to be a big hit for everyone, especially for kids coming along into adolescence, but for those who would have those inclinations in them, where the series' subjects were involved… It certainly helped that they had this link to gain their curiosity.

The part they had been wondering about – trying not to worry about – was Ava, her classmates… Maya and Lucas both knew very well how easy it could be for some kids to see someone else have something great and exciting in their life and immediately get the urge in them to rip it away from them, to spoil it. And in her case they knew of one kid already who had for sure shown inclinations of the kind. What would Ronnie the bully have to say about all of this?

As far as they'd heard, he had tried his hand at it with little to no success. To hear Ava tell it, she and Kelsey had made a pact, deciding that they would not let themselves be played with anymore. They would have strength in numbers, even as they would look at what Ronnie and his cronies did for what it was. They would say and do anything to try and rattle them, and though some of what they'd say would manage to strike true, they'd remind themselves that it was nothing they hadn't been dealing with already. Ronnie would lose interest in them eventually, or they hoped so at least. The thing then would be knowing that he might turn his attention on someone else who'd been doing fine until now. But they wouldn't just stay back if that was the case. They would show Ronnie that none of what he did was right, and maybe someday he would understand for good.

"You want to, what, turn him good?" Maya had asked, her face showing that she didn't know whether to be concerned or proud.

"Pappy Tom said it's never too late, especially at our age," Ava had replied, and her parents could only smile. She had their complete faith.

Lucas thought about it all a lot more than he cared to admit. He thought about it now, on Saturday morning, as he and Ava had taken on the task of digging out the Halloween decorations up at the ranch. He watched her pull at the boxes, unable to keep herself from stopping and pulling each one open, to see what was inside. It was never his intention to treat her any differently from the boys, but inevitably he did, and it had nothing to do with her being adopted. It did, however, have a lot to do with the fact that she was his one and only daughter.

He loved his sons, wouldn't trade a single one, but he'd be lying if he said it hadn't been in his heart of hearts for so long now that he dreamed of having a daughter. He wouldn't have expected for her to come in this manner, but she had, and all it came down to for him was that it had simply been meant to be. He loved her so much, and he would look at her, and immediately the thought of anyone causing her any kind of harm…

"These are definitely my favorites," Ava announced with a grin, and he blinked, looking at what she'd unearthed from the boxes. It made him smile, too. It was her second Halloween with them, none of this would be new for her anymore, but then right around this time last year, that was when her birth father had up and disappeared, so while she would have to remember some of their previous Halloween with her, some things would have evaded her, either forgotten or never discovered at all. And the hunt for the hidden figurines was definitely of the latter category.

"Yeah, they were some of mine, too," Lucas declared, reaching out to take a few of them in his hands. One of these days, they would really have to try and see if any of the ones that had been lost over the years were still anywhere on the property. Some had been found, but others remained elusive as ever. "I think we might need a few new things, don't you? To make it even better?" he suggested. Her grin was all the answer he needed.

So, off they went, on an unplanned and just slightly unhinged shopping spree. They ended up with some new items for the ranch, definitely, but also things for the house, too, as well as few trinkets for Lucas' office with his father, and for Maya's classroom at the middle school. He knew before they got anywhere near home that, the moment she'd see how many things they'd bought – and the moment she heard Ava tell her all about their trip – Maya would be very eager to point out how their daughter had him eating out of the palm of her hand. As far as he was concerned, she could feed him for life.

They'd already dropped off the new additions to the ranch's decorations, as Lucas didn't want there to be any confusion over what went where. When they arrived back home, they knew that the boys had been made aware of their errand when they saw the trio perched at the window, waiting for them. They were quick to come out and demand to be handed things to carry into the house, and so they went, the four of them landing on the living room floor, where Ava showed her brothers all the things they'd bought for the house, for Dad's office and Mom's class…

"Listen, I know what you're thinking," Lucas told Maya as he joined her, looking at the children in their excitement.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Maya hummed. Lucas turned a halfway formed smirk to her, ready to challenge this, before being cut off with her response. "I was thinking that I gave it another couple of days, and it's really not getting any different, so it might be time to just… take a deep breath and admit that I am significantly late."

The smirk froze, and he blinked back at her. She slowly nodded, her face telling him he'd heard her correctly, and that he'd interpreted her correctly, too. If she was right – and somehow he didn't see her being wrong about this – then their baby boys, all of a month away from having their first birthday, would not be the babies of the family for much longer.

Stealing a look to ensure that the kids were still sufficiently distracted by the decorations – they were – Lucas pulled his wife by the hand and led her into the kitchen. He didn't know what to say, shocked as he was. It wasn't as though they had decided not to have any more babies, but after the twins they had definitely done their best not to end up giving them any little brother or sister any time soon. The thought that they could have done it after all… was shocking at first, and how could it not, but given enough time to breathe, the potential reality… some of it couldn't help but be terrifying, the idea of having to provide for yet another child, but they'd be lying if they said there wasn't a part that was happy, too.

"Should I head back out and…" Lucas gestured vaguely toward the door.

"If you wouldn't mind," Maya nodded with a deep breath.

"Heard," he nodded back, taking one step in that direction before stopping and catching her in a kiss. She returned it gladly, then nudged him back and nodded out the way he needed to go, and he agreed. There'd be no peace until they knew for certain. So, he'd make sure they got there quick.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners