May 29th 2023
Chapter 149
We Have Many Chairs Around
Family dinners, where their family was involved, were nothing short of a way of life. They almost didn't have a choice to be, didn't they? Lucas had grown up so close to his own, and Maya had, too, even as she'd watched it grow later than most. And once the two of them had gone and started to create a family of their own as... numerous... as it was, well... Visiting these grandparents' house or those was nothing short of a gathering, a feast, and everyone was always ready for them, as much as they looked forward to going out there, especially the children. Now, when it came to dinner at Grandpa Shawn and Nana Katy's house, family dinner also meant bringing their college girls home for a visit.
It wasn't as strange to the two of them as it had once been. Both Nellie and Gracie had felt so strange at the idea of being guests in a house that had been theirs for the whole of their lives. Nellie still had not lived down the fact that, at least three or four times in her first semester, reflexes had made her go home at the end of the day, only to end up at her parents' house instead of her sister's, where she now lived. It wasn't even as though the route was the same, but then it did cross one point that was the same, and so her mind had followed the rest of the way as she was used to, when returning from her old school. Katy and Shawn found it hilarious, and sweet. MJ and Haley would laugh until they were bent over double and red in the face, remembering the look on their older sister's face each time she'd done it.
That was all in the past now, both twins well adjusted. Nellie had some trouble getting into the rhythm of things with her classes, something Gracie did not. She had hit the ground running with her new classes, like she'd been waiting for that moment to come. She was always humble about it, never wanting her sister to feel bad about it and doing everything she could to help her instead.
"Uncle!" Aubrey squeaked merrily as the door was opened and they were greeted by MJ.
"Hello, Lady Luck!" the teen picked up his niece at once, the better to be hugged tightly. "Oh, okay, watch the earring, watch the earring," he told her, and she pulled back with a little gasp as though she might have hurt him. "All good, see?" he pointed to his ear. The lone earring dangled colorfully from its hook. He had a vast collection of them, the better to match whatever outfit he put on that day. His nieces loved to peruse the many options, the pairs coming off as more of 'one and a spare' most of the time, though he did wear one on either side if the occasion or the pair demanded it.
"Where's Haley?" Marianne asked, even as her little sisters remained crowded around their uncle. She had a folder in her arms, kept close and precious, holding something her parents could only guess she meant to share with her aunt.
MJ had a look on his face, in response to the question, which told his sister and brother in law that he had been waiting to bring this up. Before he could say a thing though, Haley's head poked into view, sitting up on the couch so she could be seen, a moment before another girl did the same, and much as it had once been an expected sight, after months without it, the surprise was more of a shock.
"Madelyn?" Maya blinked, trying to come up with something other than 'what are you doing here?'
"What, she's having dinner with us, okay?" Haley shrugged before looking to her (former?) best friend. "Come on," she told her, and the girls got up to scramble up the stairs. Marianne looked like she had to resist running after them, even as her parents looked to MJ, seeking explanations.
"Look, I don't know what it's about. Haley went to the mall, and when she came back Madelyn was with her, and now they're just acting like the last few months never happened and we're weird for thinking they did. There's definitely something else going on, I just haven't figured it out yet," he frowned before looking to Gracie, their resident detective. She raised her hands, showing that she wasn't about to get involved in this. Her brother looked disappointed, but he moved on, instead looking to his niece and her own disappointment. "What's that, Annie?" he indicated her folder. He'd hit the bullseye by using the name.
"My pictures, for the musical, for promotion," she revealed, and his delighted gasp lifted up her mood. He had to see them at once.
MJ was clearly not the only one to be surprised by Madelyn's presence that evening, especially the way both she and Haley were acting, leaving blanks unfilled wherever they went. Katy and Shawn were also taken aback, as were Tanner and Angela Clutterbucket. They expressed as much to the new arrivals with some brief, wordless looks which were very quickly forced aside by the pack of giddy girls going around to eagerly hug and be hugged by everyone, to talk to them and share everything that was lately going on in their lives, anything from something they had done at school to how Mackenzie had chased Micro for almost twenty minutes before being able to get the bird back in his cage before they left.
"He don't like it in there," she informed her grandfather with a forceful shake of the head.
"He doesn't, huh?" Shawn asked her, and she shook her head again, adding a drawn out 'no' for good measure. "Yeah, guess I wouldn't want to be in one of those either," he commented before catching the look on Maya's face, and Lucas', and even Marianne's, which made him switch gears in no time. "But then I'm not a small bird like your Micro. It's probably safer for him while you guys are gone, you know?"
"It is?" Mackenzie looked at him, and the four of Shawn's children there in the room to see him squirm, realizing he could easily make this situation even worse if he didn't choose the right words, were all trying not to laugh… some succeeding far better than others.
"Yeah, but hey, this reminds me, I got something to show you girls, come on, over here," he moved into instant granddaughter corralling mode, and thankfully – for him – it worked, as Marianne and her younger sisters trailed after him toward the kitchen. As they went, those who stayed behind just heard Mackenzie try again to inquire about her bird and what her grandfather had said, followed right along by Shawn, who reiterated that she and the others were in for a great surprise and nudged aside the bird topic like it had never been brought up at all.
"So, they just... made up?" Maya asked her mother, her sisters standing just as intrigued behind her. She wanted to think that it was that simple, but it didn't feel as though it was, and Katy evidently felt the same.
"I don't know what's going on, but there's definitely something. They came in here, acting like it was no big deal, but there's a lot of whispering going on... Whatever it is, I guess it was enough for the two of them to put aside everything else and... remember that they used to be best friends." She didn't want to get further into it, but the thoughts going through her mind were easy enough to interpret. She couldn't say for sure which of the two girls had the issues that had brought them together again, but whether it was her daughter or her daughter's friend, she was concerned for both of them.
Whatever was going on, they all generally knew better than to expect any explanations unless Haley or Madelyn wanted to give them, and trying to get it out of them would only complicate things. All they could do now was welcome Madelyn back into the fold, serve dinner, and carry on, hoping that perhaps the girls would feel ready and able to say what they had to say.
The words didn't come, although their behavior as everyone started to eat was in itself telling to some degree. Now and then they would lean to whisper to one another or give each other looks. Once, they used their phones to write something and show it to the other instead. As the meal progressed, it was becoming increasingly obvious that neither one of them was clearing her plate as the rest of them were getting close to done. They would be asked about it, but both girls would simply say that they ate too much at the mall. Whether or not that was true, it seemed to both Maya and Lucas, maybe others as well, that the thing curbing their appetite might have been something other than mall snacks, more on the side of anxiety and sympathy than a full stomach.
In the midst of all this curiosity over the soon to be high school freshmen, the rest of the table had loads to discuss, too. Marianne's musical photo shoot was brought up again, with Shawn putting on his best critical photographer act, the better to amuse his granddaughters. MJ talked about how excited everyone was for the premiere of their school musical, too, and how he believed that Ash Bell was going to knock every last sock off with their performance.
The biggest topic of the night - apart from the unspoken situation with Haley and Madelyn - was the approaching summer, and specifically everyone's plans for the season. The intention, so far as the Friars were concerned, was very much for them to go on a trip together. So much had happened in the past year, and that could have been reason enough, but that wasn't all of it, and really it shouldn't have been. Summer vacation, as a family, was always going to be, at heart, an occasion for all of them to make memories together.
"What about camp though?" Marianne asked, after the initial excitement had passed over her and her sisters and she'd been able to stop and think. "We can't miss that, can we?" she asked, and this made the triplets and little sisters stop and contemplate, looking at their parents.
"You're not going to miss all of it," Lucas promised them. "Only a little, that's all. But if you don't want to go on a trip, we don't have to..." he innocently shrugged, only to get the response that he expected. Oh, they loved camp, for sure, but they couldn't possibly say no to a great, fun trip!
After dinner, shortly before the Friars and the Hunter twins went on their way, Haley took off to see Madelyn home. She told them all that she was happy to see them again, and they let her know that the feeling was mutual.
"Maybe we're making more of this than there is, you know?" Maya told Lucas, later, after the girls had been put to bed. "Maybe they just made up, and it was as simple as that." He looked at her. "Oh, don't give me that look, I know that's not it, but I can dream, can't I?"
"Always," he nodded, coming to loop his arms around her waist. She sighed, responding by placing her arms around his neck. "In other news..." he slowly opened, holding her gaze. She blinked, not following at first, until...
"Oh!" she remembered, which made her smile. "Oh..." she repeated, and he grinned as she stretched up to kiss him. "Should we head down to the Hex?" she asked, and his reflection on the matter was very brief. He moved only so far as to be able to close the door without letting her go. "Right here it is," she agreed, soon biting back a squeal as she was lifted off her feet, the better to be carried to the bed.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
