May 22nd 2023

Chapter 142
We Collect Our Achievements

As the month of March began each year, there would for sure be this sense of rebirth around them, enough that even without it being the word on everyone's lips, it was inevitably on their minds. Spring… It would mean something different for one person and then the next, but regardless of what that definition would be, the overall theme remained the same. There was a new breath in them, whether by nature's influence or the knowledge that time was advancing. Where the high school was involved, there was no denying that there would be a lot of kids angled toward that second choice, and the thing they would be thinking of would be the approaching summer, that long break from school, from classes…

Where she was concerned, Maya would already have a long list of things that the coming of spring would inspire, and yes, some of them did have to do with the summer break approaching. This year… Oh, this year… Her brain overflowed with that springtime goodness, which she was not ashamed to say was a relief, following what last year had been like for her family. But now… High on that list, she'd go so far as to say the pinnacle, was her eldest daughter's ongoing pregnancy. They were still in early days, in the grand scheme of things, with all of a third of the progress achieved, but then everyone was so excited to be there with Ella, and Taylor, to follow along with every development both big and small. They also knew how much it had to mean to Ella herself, as she'd be remembering what her previous pregnancy had been, being that young, that lonely… Everyone who was part of her world now and who cared for her as they did would make it their personal mission to see to it that Ella would have a far, far better experience.

Maya would never forget the day when Ella had come to visit her at school, a merry glow of a smile on her face, wanting little more than to show her mother how she was developing a noticeable curve. Her response had been as genuine as it had been hoped for, and Maya knew it even without seeing the way it echoed on to her girl's face. She remembered how Ella had told her stories of her pregnancy with Tori, how panicked she'd been to find that she was starting to show, even if she could hide it well enough for a good bit of time. She'd also mentioned how much she regretted that part of her time with Tori in her belly. So much of it had been built around fear, and uncertainty, even all the way up to the day she'd been born. No matter how much she'd want to be happy about this child of hers, this child she'd be giving birth to and raising, she'd been left in this space too full of confusion… of shame… She'd confessed a brief period, not long before she'd started school and met her future mother, where she'd considered giving Tori up, thinking she would be so much better off that way.

She'd never gotten to feel even a hint of the joy that her daughter would eventually bring her, and she only wished that she could get a do-over. That wasn't possible, and this new baby wouldn't be that either. But this pregnancy would be different, every step of the way, and that was what mattered.

Maya was thinking about this a lot, even as she was finding herself elbow deep in preparations for the official first edition of the Austin Spring Festival, as hosted by Sullivan Stables, which would take place at the end of the month. It had always been the plan, ever since Lucas had brought up the idea the year before. They'd started preparing for it, they would have held it then and would now be gearing up for the second edition… but then Melinda Friar had been taken from them, and all the plans had been blown away like so many fallen petals in the wind. No one was going to blame them for cancelling. Those who'd been closest to the situation had generally forgotten it was ever going to happen until much later.

Now, here they were, one year later, and for all they had been through, in February, in November, and for how they had all been striving to rise back up since then, for all the good things that had been blooming in their lives of late… There was a push, in all of them, to make this would-be-second first festival feel twice as grand, a hundred times even… It existed throughout the ranch and beyond, with businesses both big and small, with performers from all around town and as near as their very own home thanks to the Silvan Hughes Theater's production of Annie giving its first preview of their young cast…

And it existed within school halls, several of them in the area but maybe most of all in those of the high school where Mrs. Maya Friar held class. It was hard not to feel the tiniest bit of an urge to smirk when she heard Principal Davenport announce to the school at large that the festival was on its way and that volunteers would be welcomed to participate in the preparations, in the running of the festival itself, and that she herself would encourage them all to sign up or to simply visit the ranch when the festival would be open. The urge only went on as she saw the list of volunteers grow and grow over the next day or two.

It wasn't all about the ongoing Davenport Drama, no. As best she could, Maya would try to not even think about it, which was not so hard, not with all that she already had on her plate. In just a few days, she'd be headed out of Texas along with Rochelle and Bodhi, the two former captains helping her to chaperone and advise the quiz teams at a competition, and in the meantime, she needed to do everything that could be done for those other obligations she had at the school before she'd leave them for half a week's time. Her students would have Barton Day to look after them, and she couldn't think of better hands to leave them in, but that didn't mean she could just count herself ready to step away on that alone. She had ideas for what projects to leave them and Barton with, and those needed preparations.

Then there was her squad, her cheerleaders. They'd have Betsy, and as with her classes, that fact alone was reassurance embodied. They all loved her, as Maya had known they would, and between the two of them they had really gotten their lineup further than even they would have expected of themselves. She'd also had this thought like, once they had her, once she really took her place, she – Maya – would almost become unnecessary. Betsy could coach them on her own. All she needed was to find her footing, and she had really done that. Maya wasn't planning on stepping down, not that she could have done it, not with Davenport out there, but she would give her mother's cousin as much space as she could ever want, there by her side or now on her own for the time where she'd be absent.

At every turn, she'd been worrying about leaving something, but everywhere she'd look, she would be reminded that she was surrounded by great and unwavering friends, showing her without having to say a word how she had nothing to worry about. Her classes, her squad, and after that, with the quiz teams heading out with her, all that remained was the musical. And that was well guarded. Morgan would be there, steadfast as ever. Cara had promised to step in, as had Sam, this after they'd 'lost' their substitute Muse already, as Lea was also going to be out of Texas… already was.

Maya had always said that it would only be a matter of time before one of two things happened, that if Lea herself didn't go calling on Broadway, then Broadway would come calling on her. It was not entirely clear which of those things had happened in the end, some might say it was a photo finish, too close to call, but the important part was that Lea had now flown off and it was unclear just when she'd be flying back or if she'd even manage to for a while. The whole thing had been just a bit on the sudden side, the kind where there'd been a lot of giddy shock, of uncertainty about what they were supposed to do. It had been enough of a plan, an eventuality, that the answer existed, whether they knew that it had been made or not. She would go, no doubt to it. The only thing that could ever hold her back, the only one who could decide to say no, would be Lea herself. Theo was behind her, one hundred percent. They would do the long distance thing if they had to, because he couldn't go and leave his daughter for maybe months on end, and everyone respected that, Lea most of all. If she did find herself on an extended stay – as was more than likely at this point, then they'd have to find some way to schedule some visits.

Lea kept well in touch of how things with 'their musical' was doing, not that she had anything to worry about. Maya would say that there had never been a production, aside from the one they'd put together the year that Lambert Day had passed away, where the cast and crew and really the school at large was as invested in the overall outcome as with this production of the MSC musical. This, she suspected, went in equal measures between being excited for this musical and wanting to stick it to the principal, but the end result remained the same, didn't it? Their cast was working great together, helping each other grow as they went. The crew was vast, not only doing the work but showing creativity and ingenuity all along the way. Maya could not have been prouder.

"Mommy?"

Maya looked up from where she stood, that evening, making a slow advance on her suitcase. There in the doorway stood Lucy and Aubrey, staring back at her. She almost didn't have to ask them what they wanted, not with that look on their faces. They had the big sad eyes going, and they kept looking at the open suitcase… They didn't like that she was going away, none of the girls did, but those two were probably top of their class as far as unintentional guilt trips were concerned. They were her more softspoken daughters, and when there was anything to distress them…

"Hey, come on," Maya went and scooped up Aubrey, leading Lucy over to the bed with a hand at the back of her head. She lightly dropped Aubrey to the mattress, which broke her quiet expression into giggles while her older sister was being lifted to join her. When she was set down, Lucy started to inspect her mother's suitcase and its contents. "I'm only going to be gone for a few days, and then I'll be back, and I'm going to want to hear all of your stories," Maya told her and Aubrey, who had scooted to inspect the headboard, as she and her sisters were all prone to do at one time or another.

"Do you have to?" Lucy persisted, looking up at her again. Maya put her arms around her, and Lucy leaned against her at once, the better to receive some kisses to the top of her head.

"Kind of, yeah. But I bet you're going to have such a good time with your dad and the others while I'm gone. They're going to need you, bun bun, I know they will. Okay?" She turned her eyes up to look at her, and as uncertain as she was, her mother's gaze was full of promises, and that was as good of a thing to hold on to as she had ever known.

"Okay, Mommy."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners