A/N: The new chapter of "We Three Hearts" is now available!

May 27th 2023

Chapter 147
We Collect The Spring

Any time Sullivan Stables went through some kind of transformation, for a holiday, or a ranch-wide event, the Friar girls would inform their parents that it was so wonderful that way, the very best they had seen, and they never wanted it to go back to the normal way. They would act as though nothing could ever top it and everything that had come before had to be lower by comparison. They would probably say the same thing this time around, and the next one after that, but from their parents' point of view... The very first Spring Festival would forever be a standout.

The big day, opening day, certainly won points on the girls' side when they had finished getting dressed and were presented with their crowns, complete with flowers thanks to their parents' work. When they saw their respective crowns, designed specifically for them, they were beside themselves, and they couldn't wait to have them on their heads. Nellie and Gracie were right on the case, taking picture after picture of each reveal, reaction, and coronation. This could have been all they did that day, and everyone would have been satisfied, especially once everyone, parents included, had been adorned. But it was only the beginning and now... now they were all set to head to the festival.

The minivan was loud with excited voices, talking on and on to the point where they couldn't have heard a single thing coming from the radio. It was a familiar cacophony, and unless they were having a particularly trying day, no one was bothered by it in the slightest. Right about now, the excitement was simply palpable, and Lucas and Maya were so aware that it would only get better the moment the ranch came within sight. By now, they all knew exactly when they would begin to see it in the distance, and today, with everything installed and up and running...

"No way!" Marianne was the first to see anything, and as soon as she spoke, the noise stopped, everyone trying to see, too, to discover...

The noise resumed, exploded, as the sisters saw more and more, Sullivan Stables looming into view ahead of them. They would call out what they saw, as though trying to tell the others about it, but with everyone going on at once, it would have been impossible for them to hear anyway. There would be time enough for them to take it all in once they arrived.

There had been a vision for what this event could be like, even when it had been little more than an idea. The fall festival had been happening for years, for decades now, going back beyond Lucas' entire lifetime and even back when his parents had been young. In the archive, there were records of the ranch and its involvement back when the event had been brand new, which was fascinating to consider now that they had their own festival.

For all that, it was a completely different kind of festival, the spring spirit rather than the fall. As they were finally able to get everyone out of the minivan, with the girls each made to hold hands with their buddy - Lucy and Aubrey with Maya, Kacey and Remy with Lucas, and Mackenzie with Marianne - that was one of the first things they took notice of. It brought up the thought of what it might be like to have festivals like this in summer and winter, too. For now, they would go about focusing on this very first celebration of spring.

They would have a whole week of this, many more occasions for everyone to spend many more hours in every corner of Sullivan Stables, and yet to look at the pack of crowned sisters, one would think that the entire thing would go and disappear in a cloud of smoke if they stopped looking for even a second. They had to see everything, they had to do everything... Some of them would soon get this look to them like they were getting overwhelmed, trying to keep track of all of it. But then they'd be directed to look and find something else, and all would be well once again… most of the time.

Reason had a way of going entirely out of the window where their smallest children were involved, and that was a reality they had been familiar with since the days of their very first foray into raising a toddler, a handful and some years ago, so by now they knew not to meet their distress with any of their own. They would get things under control; they only needed to find patience and use it.

Most prone not to handle disappointment well was Remy Friar. They had known this since she was a baby and learned even more of it by the time when she'd become a toddler. She was five now, five and a half, as she would remind anyone if they looked to have forgotten that very important fraction and the fact that she was not as small as her little sisters. Her 'maturity' was starting to show itself for what it might become, which was that Remy Susannah Friar would always and very ardently stand up for herself. This wasn't a bad thing, it was a very good thing at heart, but put in the hands of a small child, whether she saw herself this way or not, it often boiled down to her not realizing one thing: just because she wanted something, it didn't always mean that she could get it right when she wanted it, if at all.

There were so many things to look forward to at the spring festival and, seeing as she was part of the family, with a direct line of information, Remy - like her sisters - knew to expect the various activities, performers, food stalls and trucks... It just so happened that one of those that she'd most looked forward to wouldn't be there until the next day, and that disappointment sent her swaying. She wanted it now, finally, and no matter how much they tried and explained that they couldn't just summon it into starting early for her, she would not be appeased. She grew surly to the point where Lucas went ahead and took her aside, telling the others to go on ahead without them.

"Are you going to be grumpy all day? Really?" Lucas asked his daughter with care. The frown was locked on strong, twisting those features that were so like his own to show the five and a half-year-old's heavy disappointment. "Come on, kit, it's just one more day," he told her, giving her arm a playful rattle as he held her hand, walking alongside him.

She tipped her head all the way back to look at him, still frowning. He almost counted on that because it set him up to pull out his magic power… It wasn't too complicated, and it was surprisingly effective. He just matched her expression, head tilt and all, giving fully into the dramatics of his kitty cat of a girl, and within seconds… a giggle escaped. He lifted his head back up and looked down at her, a curious lift to his brow, and she gasped, hiding her face into his arm so he wouldn't see that she was trying not to laugh or smile. Oh, he had her now…

"Huh… would you look at that…" he stopped walking. It took Remy a second or so more before she realized he'd stopped and she did, too, but once she did, the curiosity was just stronger than her resolve to act as though she was still as upset as she'd been not too long ago. According to her father, there was something worth looking at, worth stopping all at once for. But…

"Look at what, Daddy?" she asked, shaking her head, baffled, before looking up at him and… she gasped, yes, dramatically, pointing up to him. "That was a trick! You did a trick!" she accused.

"Me?" Lucas asked, playing innocent, and she nodded so much that her well lodged crown nearly slipped off her head and she quickly reached to stabilize it. "Well?" he asked, and she looked confused. He smirked. "Did it work?" She didn't look like she understood what he was getting at, not at first, but then despite herself she started to smile, and laugh a little, and when he put his arms around her, she hugged him back, her face pressed to him. Even without seeing it, he was certain that she was beaming, all conflict left behind. He didn't go on assuming that it would solve everything and keep it that way, but they had surpassed one battle. They would worry about the next one if or when it came.

They'd never seen the ranch quite this crowded. Not even during competitions, not even the Grand. It was enough that they had to keep an eye on just how many there were and look forward to having to turn away or hold in wait anyone who would come along once they hit their limit. Their extra security since November was coming in very handy, all hands on deck to ensure that everyone had a wonderful time at the festival. From everything they got to see, this was exactly what was happening, and to the Friars that meant so much more than they could express. They had not forgotten the way that people had pulled away after the incident, especially parents and their kids in the after school program. They understood why they'd felt the need to do so, but it was still so unfortunate for all of them.

But then the spring festival was happening, and by the end of it and the days that would follow, they would begin to get calls, parents wanting to re-enroll their children into the program, others wanting to register them in the first place in the fall but wanting to know if they could begin now, even as close as they were to the end of the year. Lucas would tell them all the same thing. They were welcome at any time.

The big highlight of the festival – and there were so, so many of them, really – where the Friars were concerned, could only be the main stage, where twice across the event, once on opening day and once on the close, the cast of the Silvan Hughes Theater's production of Annie, starring Marianne Friar, would be performing. The nine-year-old and her (temporary) red hair would finally go and sing her heart out along with the other child performers on this day for their rendition of It's the Hard-Knock Life, while on closing day they would fittingly be joined by the rest of the cast to present their finale piece. Marianne had been beside herself, waiting for the moment, and when she was summoned to go and get changed, she was off and running in the blink of an eye.

It never ceased to be the most astounding thing, to watch their child, their baby girl, standing up there, a fully realized human being and growing by the day, singing, and moving on that stage like she'd been born for it. She'd always said that she wanted to work at the ranch, like her father did, like her big sister would do, too, but to see her there, they had to wonder if she might not change her mind in the end, if she might not decide that the place she belonged was on a stage. Whatever she decided, they would support her every step of the way, like they always did.

A lot of their day out at the ranch felt like going from one thing to another, joining one person and then another, switching here, there… It was hectic, but it was also perfect, at least it was to them. They could not have asked for a better beginning to this new and hopefully long lived tradition of theirs. Near the end of it all, Maya found herself on her own with Mackenzie, leading her to an encounter that was as unexpected as it should have, perhaps, been at least mildly expected… so far as it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to expect any parents with children, young ones especially, to consider visiting the Sullivan Stables Spring Festival. It went one step further though as, while the two of them stood waiting in line for one final treat that night, Mackenzie suddenly became very giddy. Maya was familiar enough with the signs of an impending runner that she'd already gotten hold of the nearly four-year-old girl, lifting her up into her arms.

"Mommy, Mommy, Alia's there!" she pointed, wriggling in her arms as she waved her arms toward the source of her excitement.

Maya was very familiar with the name, though she had never actually met the girl it belonged to. For one, she was in the same preschool class as Mackenzie, and for another, her father was Alistair Song, vice-principal to Maya's school. The man in question was just now striding toward them, his mini-me of a daughter perched on his shoulders and looking just as glad to have spotted the familiar face of her classmate. To look at the pair, the small girls might have been best friends the whole of their short lives, when they had only known each other for a few months and played together on occasion. As they would be set back on their feet in turn though, they would go around together in such a way that one might imagine they would be very dear friends, starting right now. While this all was going on, the pair's parents, colleagues in their day to day, were left to join up. They weren't forced, no, but it was difficult for them not to feel overly aware of unspoken situations between them. All of them sooner or later circled over to Sandra Davenport, like water pulled to drain.

"For the record," Alistair spoke, after they'd drifted into silence, waiting in line together and watching the pair of preschoolers play together. Maya looked at him. "I've tried to speak in your favor, with…"

"I'm sure you have," Maya promised him. They'd always gotten along from day one, even as there was clearly the issue of the principal and her… her crusade… but it all still felt like a bit of opposing camps, her here and him there, whether they liked it or not. The two of them meeting here, as unplanned as it had all been, felt like opposing soldiers meeting on neutral ground. She could see it, and she had a feeling like he did, too. He looked at her, and she could sense the need in him… to speak up, to acknowledge a few things, as he'd barely touched on already… "She's planning something, isn't she?" Maya finally decided to ask, point blank. Alistair didn't speak, but he looked to her. She blinked. It wasn't just that she was planning something; it was happening, wheels in motion already. "When?"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners