June 18th 2023

Chapter 169
We Swim Across the Way

They'd had as many options as there could be when it came to deciding where they'd go on family vacation that summer, but then Lea had come back to Texas to visit her fathers and her siblings, Theo and the others, and perform at home prom, and from there the seed of an idea had been planted. Eventually, they'd made up their minds: they were going to go to New York. It was not the first time they went out there by any means, but going back always felt sort of comforting in its familiarity. This time, on top of everything, they'd get to revisit the MSC musical, and they'd also get to see what Lea had been up to.

The whole thing would coincide with the young Friars' wedding anniversary, as their trips so often would from year to year. They would be married twelve years when the day came this time around, and as they had done since the summer where they had become husband and wife, they would have a song to record. Lucas had been watching her work on it, and he was very proud to say he had captured one of his favorite images of her in the process. He'd taken up her camera, sneaking the shot without her noticing. In the photo, the sun hit her hair in such a way that it sort of lit up the colors that their eldest had put in it, the better to match their firstborn, that and her smile as she scribbled at her notes with one hand, the other holding on to her guitar. They were neither of them nearly as young as they'd been when she'd penned their first anniversary song, but you wouldn't know it from seeing the spirit in her smile. Lucas had gone to his father in law, asking for Shawn to help him get the shot developed, a gift he would present Maya on their anniversary.

That day was coming up fast now. They had started off the process of packing for the trip, which very much felt appropriate to the term 'process,' with all of them to pack for. It would be two adults and six children for them, but there'd be Theo and Tori tagging along on top of that, too. There had been some uncertainty there, because despite how much they both wanted to go, to see Lea and be with her a while, Tori was concerned that she might miss the birth of her baby brother or sister, a renewed eagerness that had brought happy tears to her mother's eyes and warmth to her stepfather's heart, but they had both assured her that she would be okay to go and come back, and there'd been little to no argument after that. Ella and Taylor both were only sorry that they couldn't go with the rest of them, but Tori had promised them both that she'd take lots of pictures so she could tell them all about it when she got back.

Her first official pictures in New York – not counting the ones she'd taken on the flight – would be taken by her aunt, as Marianne got hold of her camera before they got out into the airport and very soon spotted their welcoming party of one. As happy as they knew she would be to see his cousin and his wife and daughters, there was no doubt that the look of eager anticipation on Lea's face, in her entire posture, came out of her need to see her boyfriend and his daughter. When they spotted one another, her and Tori, they let out a squeal that was practically a perfect harmony. The girl went and ran for her as soon as she could, and when she flew at her, Lea caught her and held her close, swaying with her, eyes shining with happy tears. Marianne caught that moment with the camera, as she did Theo joining them and putting his arms around them both, kissing the side of Lea's head for now, and doing the same to Tori for good measure. As complicated as it had been when those two had started seeing each other, nowadays there was absolutely nothing complicated about them at all. If anything, everyone from Ella, and Taylor, and even Tori, to Michael Sullivan and Keith Reyes, to the Friars, was now wondering how much longer it would be before an engagement happened. There were some bets – hopes maybe – that it would happen in the days to come, while they were in New York, and if not then whenever she'd be back in Texas again. There was still going to be a lot to figure out in the future, with Lea's ties to New York now, and the Tori of it all… But everyone who cared for them was certain they'd figure it out in time.

Until then, they were all here, and after taking things easy on the rest of their arrival day, they'd all gone to bed with great awareness of what was to come on the following day. It would be anniversary day, and as they'd head off to bed, Maya and Lucas would wonder if they'd managed to not bring it up enough that their daughters would not remember long enough for them to do what they'd had in mind when they woke up.

Maya woke up first, and it genuinely took all of her willpower to stay the course and work her way out from her husband's hold. If not for their plans, she could have stayed there for hours. She could have done… so many things… Going by the way he chose that moment to wake up and keep her from getting away, maybe he was thinking the same thing.

"It's actually not fair, do you know that?" Maya whispered, grinning.

"What's not fair?" Lucas whispered back, pulling her closer still.

"What it does to me, when you put your hands on me…" she replied, sparks in her eyes, and he very gladly put this to the test. "You're making it so hard for me to choose right now, okay?" Maya laughed as lightly as she possibly could.

"I never said I'd make it easy," he promised, with such a bit of Huckleberry innocence and charm that she honestly forgot herself for a few minutes, lost herself in him and all that he could make her feel. The years were all there, they could count them and remember them, but then they'd have moments like these, moments where she felt as fully and as undeniably in love with him as she had done the day they'd said their vows, the day they'd gotten engaged, that they'd become a couple, that they'd known each other at all… and her heart would feel full of love, of life, and light.

"I guess… we can do the other thing later…" she hummed, just a bit overwhelmed by the feeling of his lips at her throat, the grazing scratch of his growing beard. When the grazing stopped, she realized he'd forgotten the plan, or at least he hadn't thought of it yet, so recently awake. "It's okay, it's okay… Believe me, it is so okay," she told him. He turned his eyes up to meet hers.

"No, but I know how much you wanted to do it now, and so did I. And if we're going to do it now, then we should probably get on with it before the girls decide to burst in," he pointed out, and it would have been lying for her to say that it could wait now, because she did really want to do it this way. In her head, she'd seen it all like a prophecy.

So, she got up from the bed, making a quick stop at the door to listen out beyond for signs of any girlish voices… or scheming giggles… There was none, so the door was once again closed. Maya walked quietly to collect her guitar, as though what they were about to do wouldn't very quickly defeat the purpose of keeping the noise down. She brought it to the bed, where Lucas was now sitting up and had gotten hold of what he needed. The lyrics had been in his hands long enough for him to learn them, but he remained cautious in his musical performances, so he'd keep the sheet in hand, so focused on them to guarantee that his wife would struggle not to lose her focus while she played and sang. It was just too funny to her.

It was not the way they usually recorded these. They would generally be in a studio, their very own a lot of the time, but even as they could say that most years were unique, unusual, this one… This one had been very trying, in so many ways, and as they were nearing this anniversary, which led them each time to pause and reflect, they would think of how far they'd come since that day in November, how happy they were to have made it here, to July in New York and this anniversary, and the best way to mark the moment had become this, him and her, on a bright summer morning, sat on their hotel room bed, recording their thirteenth song together. When they told anyone of this tradition, they'd always find it strange that they would be looking back on the previous year while the song title would look to the year to follow. They were singing of their twelfth year, but this was 'The Friars, year thirteen,' and to them it made perfect sense. They were looking ahead, but to do that, the best way would be to look back, to remember where they'd just been so they would know where they wished to be, what they wished to keep in the past, and what they'd hope to carry along into the future.

"I really look forward to these, every year, you know?" Lucas smiled, when they'd made it through the recording of this newest anniversary song.

"I know," Maya smiled back, taken with the urge to reach out and play with his hair, which she did. He laughed, playing as though he wanted to pull away but really only giving her more reach to keep going.

"I'm imagining what it'll be like when we're out there doing 'The Friars, year… fifty,'" he intoned, and now that made her laugh.

"That'll be July of 2077… You're going to be seventy-six years old," she pointed out. He nodded with firm certainty. "I've seen how the men in your family age, I'm looking forward to it," she teased, knowing how it would make him jump, whenever she'd make any allusion to the fact.

Thankfully for him, this was the moment that their daughters chose to burst into the room. There was no way that they hadn't heard the guitar, or the singing, but very likely Marianne had known what it meant and she'd convinced her younger sisters to wait a while longer. The music had been over long enough now, so there they were, with presents and loud wishes. They all piled on, eager for their present to get opened next. By the time these were all revealed, what they wanted the most was to hear the story of their wedding day. None of them had been there, naturally, and while they had seen plenty of pictures, and some videos, they were still young enough, the littlest two in particular, that a reminder could feel like a brand new story all over again. There'd be a few more of these story beats throughout the day, enough to suggest that this had been something the girls had decided needed to happen. Their family was so attached to stories, all through their years, that there could be no better way to honor the anniversary than with stories. The wedding, the proposal, the honeymoon… They were all brought out and shared with the Friar girls as they enjoyed their first full day of their New York family vacation.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners