February 6th 2022
Chapter 37
We Greet Progress
Lucas wondered what she would become… their Marianne. She had expressed interest in joining him at the ranch, yes, but would she take the same path as he had, as her older sister currently was? She was only eight years old. She had so many years ahead of her, years in which to discover another calling. She might follow the musical side, like her mother, or teaching even. She had talents for both, and there was no rush for her to decide.
These days though… Ever since Truffle the horse was injured, Marianne had been determined to follow along with the care and recovery of her friend, and she came off like a budding veterinarian every time. She absorbed everything they taught her and held on to it. Of course, she loved most of all whenever her father would be the one to show her something new, and Lucas loved it right back. Neither one of them was happy that Truffle had gotten hurt. Getting to spend this time together, as father and daughter, as Friars, as Sullivans, lovers of animals… If they were already happy to head out to the ranch together, then cooperating in Truffle's care made it even better.
All their work was paying off wonderfully, and the proof of it was just there for Lucas and Maya to see. They stood together, looking on as Marianne ran and hopped around, same as Truffle did, in her own way, like she was a puppy more than a horse, and Marianne thought the same thing. She was all smiles, leading her on, and Maya was taking pictures. Lucas suspected that she'd be picking up pencils or paints later to immortalize the moment in that way as well.
"Hey..." he chuckled after she turned and snapped a couple shots of him as well.
"Hey," she grinned, checking over the results for a moment before turning her attention back to Marianne and her horse.
"Not fair, hold on, give me that," he motioned to her phone, and she made a noise like 'what for?' "Balance," he decided, which made her snort.
"Won't work if I know it's coming," she reasoned, but he kept his hand held out until she passed him her phone. She may have spent the next couple of minutes making purposefully strange faces just to tease him. It ended up catching Marianne's attention and the girl laughed before running up to the gate and hoisting herself up on it. Maya held on to her, for affection as much as protection.
"What are you doing?" Marianne had to ask.
"Oh, just messing with your dad, you know..." she displayed her array of expressions again, which had Marianne laughing before she got to imitating her and making her laugh, too.
"Yeah, well, the joke's on you now," Lucas proudly affirmed as he showed the images, he'd just captured of the two of them.
"See, now that's better," Maya smiled on, while Marianne reached out and swiped through the pictures herself. She gasped when she saw some of the ones of her and Truffle. "We can add those to your album," Maya promised, getting ahead of her. "Hey, I think someone is waiting for you," she nodded ahead, and Marianne looked back before moving to hop down and run to rejoin Truffle.
"She won't ride her yet," Lucas told his wife.
"Is she not healed enough? I thought she was," Maya wondered.
"No, she is," he assured her. "But Marianne is worried she might hurt her, you know?"
"Yeah, sounds about right... You've told her all this," she guessed.
"Few times now," Lucas nodded. "She'll just say that it's okay, and she doesn't mind waiting, and she just wants to be sure."
"It really scared her, the injury," Maya reflected. Neither of them had to say it, but they knew. Marianne felt guilty, like she had caused the accident that had hurt Truffle. It wasn't on her, and they'd tried to tell her as much, but to no avail. She'd say that she knew, and that she understood, but then they'd see it in her eyes. She still believed it. "If she just got back up there, maybe..."
"She will when she's ready. Right now, this is good," Lucas nodded to the two of them out there, playing around. It made them smile.
"Yeah, it is."
She'd gone there that afternoon to watch them together, as much because Marianne had asked if she would come as that she hoped, quietly, that her being there would motivate her daughter to literally get back in the saddle. Maybe it wouldn't happen, and, so far, it didn't seem likely, but whether this was the day or not didn't matter so much, not when Marianne looked genuinely happy just doing this.
"I need to come around like this on a group day," Maya reflected, shortly after, as they followed Marianne leading Truffle back to the stables.
"Well that sounds like a really good idea, but that's just me, you know," Lucas casually replied, earning just the smile he thought he'd get.
"Oh, of course," she went on, adopting his tone. "It sure helps that I no longer have to lead detention every afternoon."
"Sure does. I was actually thinking you might be able to help with something," Lucas told her, and her brow lifted.
"I do like to help where I can, especially if it involves you..."
"I figured you did. Well, some of the kids expressed a desire for a sort of arts and crafts period in their time here in the afternoon."
"Is 'some of the kids' code for our kids?" Maya had to wonder.
"In part, yes," Lucas revealed with a smirk. "But they're not alone. So, I figured we could test it out for a bit with a special project."
"Liking it already, go on."
"That's sort of all I have for now, but I figured we could talk it out, toss ideas around... maybe over dinner, just the two of us..."
"Lucas Thomas Friar, are you asking me out on a date?" she gave a breathy gasp.
"Sounded that way to me, yeah," he tipped his head to her.
"Good, count me in then," she turned and kissed him, only to hear someone clear their throat behind her. "Hey, pumpkin, is Truffle all set in there?" she turned around without missing a beat.
"Uh huh," Marianne nodded.
"Good, then let's go," Lucas offered his arm and she took it while Maya closed her up in between them, putting her arm around her shoulders.
"Can I babysit when you guys go out?" Marianne asked as they walked.
"So, you heard about that, huh?" Lucas asked, and she nodded. "Would we leave you alone all night?" he asked. She knew the answer to that question. It didn't stop her.
"I can look after them, I do it all the time."
"What if something goes wrong? Someone gets hurt?" Maya asked, not unkindly.
"I can call Grandma and Grandpa, they're not far," Marianne replied. It was hard not to smirk. She had all her answers ready to go.
"Your uncle will be there..."
"Not every night, he's not. He's got school, and studying, and working, and there's Alicia with the baby. He goes out whenever she calls. What if she calls the night you're not there, what happens then?" Alright, she sort of had a point there, but still they would not feel right leaving their eight-year-old in charge of five girls under the age of five.
"We can think about it, okay? We're not saying yes, so don't go and get your hopes up, please?" Lucas asked, the request somewhat undercut with the way Marianne beamed and rested her head at his arm as she looked up to him.
"Okay, Daddy," she told him, and Lucas was distracted here by the amused look on Maya's face as she mouthed words that looked a lot like 'girl dad.' "Hey, look! TV van!" Marianne pointed.
"Yeah, there's been a few of those lately," Lucas told her. These were not the kind they regularly had, the ones belonging to the production. Those they were used to at this point.
The ones that stood out were the ones that came with visiting crews, for interviews and the likes. As soon as the news had broken about the plans for the spinoff, there had been an influx of reporters. It was one of those times where they were really reminded about how popular the first series continued to be. They had fans worldwide, enough that Cristina had suggested a package for the B&B that would include a tour of the sets on the property, which were usually off limits to the guests. It was still being discussed at the moment but, going by what they'd seen already, there was no doubt that it would be popular if it ever came to be.
"Let's get out of here, alright?" Lucas suggested, and Maya nodded as they continued toward the parking lot.
"Why?" Marianne asked, clueless. Why wouldn't they want to go see what the TV people were up to?
"They've got everything in control out there, and if we do go, we'll be stuck for an hour or two," Lucas explained.
"Plus, we have to go to Pappy Tom and Granny Mel's to join your sisters, for dinner," Maya added, the true clincher. Marianne would not want to keep them waiting... especially her Granny.
The funny part in this, at least to Lucas and Maya, was how Marianne's grandmother would have reacted, had she been there to note the presence of the news crew. She would have been even faster and far more determined to go and find them, speak to them... She was always so very proud when anyone in her family did something, and even though Lucas didn't have a very direct connection to this new series that would be made, Melinda Friar would gladly situate his importance. This new series was born of the original, which itself had been brought to exist thanks to the stories that her son had collected and published. No one could forget that. She'd even asked Katy if he would get his credit as he did with the first series, and it was a good thing that Katy could confirm that he would, or else Melinda might have felt the need to go and do something about it.
They were all so excited at the prospect of the new series, not just Melinda. Maya had not been present when Stephen Brett had discovered that his youngest had landed a lead starring role on television, but he had told the story so vividly upon returning to work that she might as well have been right there in the room. And then with Stevie herself, oh... It didn't seem like so long ago that she'd been there in her class, a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior... and now she'd been out there in the world, graduated and attending college for the past two and a half years.
They had discussed it all with her of course. They didn't want to put her in the position of having to choose between her schooling and the career she yearned for. They were going to make it work, plain and simple. They would find a way for her to get her degree and lead the series. They believed in her abilities, on both sides.
"Can I be on the new show?" Marianne asked as they were driving to the elder Friars'. The question was not nearly as surprising as it might have seemed, to her parents at least. "Doesn't have to be a big thing, even just one scene," she proclaimed, which immediately sounded like she was fishing in a much larger pond than she let on.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, alright?" Maya looked in the rear view mirror, and Marianne nodded. At the red light, Maya signed to Lucas. Leave it to her to make mother's dream come true.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
