January 31st 2022

Chapter 31
We Gather Without Them

The idea had started as a bit of a running joke among the extended group of friends, fellow parents for the most part. Many of them had been friends long enough that sleepovers had been a staple of their connection, and in time this had evolved toward grand Sleepster traditions. All of this was good and wonderful, yes, but… well… it would also lean toward chaotic, with so many children underfoot, until they essentially took the spotlight.

Always to be counted on for spontaneously engaging ideas, Riley had been the one to get the ball rolling, once suggesting that they all go ahead and have themselves a childless sleepover. They might have called it a parents' sleepover, but then not all of them were parents. Either way, they understood the idea, and it would make them laugh. As funny as they'd find the thought, they'd never actually gone through with it. But then, of all people, Rosa had been the one to turn the idea into reality.

"Let's just do it," she said, at the weekly dinner, this time a lunch as the Minkus family had driven in from Dallas.

She was about two months off from delivering, and it was anyone's guess, from day to day, what she felt about the advancing pregnancy. She did not regret her choice to be a surrogate, and on the whole, she was enjoying the experience. Of course, the nearer she got to the end, the more her discomforts would rise, and her friends, those who had been pregnant themselves most of all, had known roughly what to expect from her. She would be inhabited with many moods, but one above all others: she would look to the approaching delivery as something closer to her own personal deliverance.

With the idea set there before them, the friends had initially looked at it like one more iteration of their shared joke. This had earned them a pointed look from Rosa that felt imbued with extra 'baby power.' No joke this time.

They couldn't very well tell her no then, could they? Besides, the more they'd gotten to talk about it, they'd realized how much they both needed and wanted it. They had lengthy talks about when they would have it, and for how long, and where, what they would do, and of course who would look after all the kids.

"I'll do it," Wyatt volunteered as soon as they told him about the plans. Maya and Lucas didn't want to insinuate anything by exchanging a look, but it couldn't be helped, could it? He'd know what they'd be thinking about anyway.

They'd been giving him about all the space he could ask for since the day the news had knocked him over like a ton of bricks, knowing that he'd come to them if he needed to… hopefully. But it had stayed that way since the day of Eliza and Ben's engagement party, more or less, and they were concerned.

"You want to babysit the six of them by yourself?" Maya asked her brother, and she could feel her sisterly affections dipping into some maternal zone. She could see him, every day, trying to put on a normal face but not quite pulling it off, and if she could see it, then others had to have seen it, too, have wondered and worried about it, too, like the rest of the siblings… and their parents. But they remained in the dark about Wyatt's secret, all of them.

"Yeah, why not? Please? I want to do it, for you guys, for the girls… It'll be great." There was no doubt that all six little Friars would love a special no-parent night with their Uncle Wy, so they said yes, trusting on a visit/assist from Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Maisie from across the road if needed.

They were sure there were more reasons for this offer of help, and whichever way it shaped up, it all went back to the fact that Wyatt was – as far as they knew – about to become a father, right there in his first year of college. Was this baby actually going to come into the world? Would Wyatt get to be part of their life? They had no idea. All they could assume for certain was that, with no other reasonable alternative, Wyatt had been left to go along with the possibility that he'd be responsible for a little human's life and needs in a few all too short months. They had no idea how he was feeling about it. Terrified right now, yes, for how astronomically unplanned it had been. But time had passed, enough of it that he would have let his fears retreat… a little. Of course, that still left the other fear, the 'oh, I'm going to be someone's parent' fear, and that one would stay with him, wouldn't it? If… If…

"Maybe it'll give him the chance to realize… he needs to tell them what's going on…" Maya sighed as Lucas drove the two of them out to Houston. They had decided to hold this childless sleepover up at Sophie and Chiara's house, 'for nostalgia's sake,' but also for practicality's, as it would shorten the distance the Minkus couple would have to travel.

"He's your kid brother," Lucas replied. "You always hate having to keep secrets like that and when it's family…"

"It sucks," she summarized her agreement, letting out a heavy sigh. After a beat, she swivelled her head to look at him, very much in careful driver mode but still sharing in her concerns. It brought a small smile back to her face, and she knew he'd seen it for how he got one, too. "Weekend," she declared, nodded. "Sleepover." That was what they'd try and focus on for now. It would be easier once they arrived in Houston… hopefully.

It was always funny to think of the two neighboring houses. The twin worlds of Sophie and Chiara's home and Asher and Ray's home across the street, both of these the homes of Giulia Choi, Connor Garcia, Han-jae Zvolensky, and Valentina and Santiago Mantovani… and soon a new baby brother or sister along with them. The children had their rooms with their mothers as they also had them with their fathers, and on the whole the correspondence between the two was right there, easy to see. But the rooms were different, too. The eldest of the bunch had especially embraced this for themselves, even as with their younger siblings this had happened by the choices of their parents on either side. They'd alternate, day to day, one night here and one night there. It had been this way all their lives, so it was not strange for them at all.

The only times when they'd change the order, spending more than one night in the same house in a row, would be if it was one parent or another's birthday, or fathers' and mothers' days… The kids would always make such a fuss of those days because they'd be special 'topsy turvy days,' an expression taught to them by their papa, Asher, and much beloved in either household. Even if the days in question landed when they were already in the target home, they would stay two nights, because it 'made sense.'

Today, the kids were spending the night at Nana Zvolensky's house, which would be a treat in and of itself. From what Maya and Lucas had heard, their friends were taking advantage of the morning ahead of everyone's arrival to do some work on the two nurseries, shuttling from one house to the other as they did so. Even as they pulled up, the Friars could see Asher looking out one open window, Chiara doing the same across the street, while Ray and Sophie were down on the sidewalk, looking from one to the other as they held a pair of bins. They looked about ready to split off and bring the loads where they'd belong when Chiara pointed to the approaching minivan. Ray said something to Sophie and she argued back what they took to mean 'no, I'll do it,' as Ray stacked his bin on top of hers and she carried both over to the guys' house, leaving him to greet the arrivals.

"How's it going with the rooms?" Maya asked as she got out and hugged him. He had that all too familiar impending fatherhood look to him, which was always doubly funny when it would be him and Asher both fretting as one.

"Not far," Ray revealed. "We're waiting on the decorator," he informed her, which instantly made her chuckle and feel her heart warmed. Of course, Rosa would use her skills to pave the way for the baby she was carrying for them.

When she did arrive along with Jenna, it was just as it had been over the past several months. Whenever she'd be back in their midst, the four parents would be caught up in wanting to see to her and their unborn child even as they'd try and resist being too close, not wanting to overwhelm her.

"Is everyone else here yet?" Rosa asked as she allowed them to follow the kicks she'd felt. She would always talk when it happened, like maybe she needed to disconnect herself from the moment. If she let herself feel it too much, would it make it harder to hand the baby over once it was born?

"No, still waiting on…" Sophie started to say, but Rosa had heard all that she'd needed to hear.

"Good, let's go. Which room first?"

She had been slowed down a little as the pregnancy progressed but not so much that she couldn't lead them on and show what she'd had in mind. Her work was always excellent, but they had to say, right alongside her own home with Jenna, this felt like her biggest passion project ever.

She finally had to step back as the rest of the group arrived in quick succession. The excitement that soon settled in among them felt so much like the old days, like the time when they'd all just been friends, none of them parents yet, that it was as though not one minute went by without at least one of them laughing about something.

They had joked, in planning for this weekend, that they wouldn't last long before some of them would want to call and check in on the kids, even though they knew that, if they were needed, someone would call them. Rosa was the one to invent the 'challenge.' If… when one of them would be caught thinking of or flat out trying to call them, they'd get a mark put to their tab, which would all come to be paid up in the evening, as they settled properly in their childless sleepover. They were exempted once, naturally, as wherever their kids were spending their nights, they'd get a call, a story, a song, a wish for a good night. When this would be done, that would be 'pay time.'

"Alright, hit me," Zay nodded firmly. Rosa looked to her phone before holding up three fingers. "That's not bad," he decided, but Nadine responded by clearing her throat and signalling to Rosa to go higher. "Hey, you're supposed to be on my side!" he 'complained' to his wife.

"I am, definitely," Nadine casually assured him before letting out her grin. "But it's so funny to think of what's about to happen. Gotta do the time, Babineaux." Zay reflected on this before turning to Rosa.

"How many does she have?" he asked. Rosa held up two fingers. "Lies!" he turned to Nadine now with a winning grin. "I counted at least four. Pay up, little Z," he challenged back.

"Ooh, busted," Nadine whispered before settling the matter with a kiss.

"What about me? How'd I do?" Dylan asked. When Rosa said six, he informed her that he believed it had been seven, getting a laugh from his friends and a grin from his wife for his easy honesty.

To some surprise, the biggest count was awarded to Isadora. She insisted that she couldn't help herself, as Bertie had a bad night and was being seen to along with big sister Ada by their neighbors. The Minkus boy had been sick enough that they'd almost cancelled. She would gladly bear her 'punishment' as imposed by Rosa for that, as they all would, making for a fun night among friends.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners