February 24th 2023

Chapter 55
We Begin to Fly

They'd all sort of gone on trying to maintain the belief that it would be the three of them out there in New York, the night the musical premiered. Even as Cara's second pregnancy advanced, as its endpoint and the premiere seemed to be on a collision course with one another, the vision stayed the same. Did they all know deep down that there would be no way they'd put her on a plane, this far in? They did, they absolutely did. They just kept pretending it wouldn't be so because it made them feel better. They had all worked on this for so long that it felt completely unfair for Cara not to get to see it all reach that bewildering milestone.

"It's fine. It is," she finally told Maya and Sam, the night before the flight. They both looked at her like they were determined to hold up their position of sheer injustice for her. "No, really," she smiled at them. "I'll get to host things out here, so it's kind of perfect that way, if you think about it. And I will see it eventually... in a few months. They'll have really gotten into the rhythm of it by then, too."

She was still supremely disappointed that she wouldn't be there, she wasn't fooling anyone, but there was nothing to be done for it short of moving the premiere a few months later, and that was sadly not a viable option. The fact that she and her family had gone and lived out in New York for months to help things advance with one of them out there was not lost on her siblings as one of the major factors in her disappointment. All that was left to do now was to cling on the good things like the upcoming Austin premiere festivities, and of course her baby boy coming in a matter of weeks.

That was Cara's track settled, for her if not entirely by her. For Sam, it was easy enough. It would be him, Dora, one-year-old Tim, and six-year-old Francesca. There had been some debate about whether to bring the kids, whether it would mean getting them out of school for a few days or not, or figuring if they would even remember being there. With the Calaharts, the choice had been easy. They were going to bring them both, absolutely.

There were a few more factors to consider for the young Friars where the trip was concerned. A lot had very suddenly changed for them in the months since they had started looking forward to this trip, most of it stemming from the loss of Melinda. With Maya, it would mean a second extended absence from school in a short time, and while she might have had no concerns over it in the past, back with their former administration, now that she was under the purview of Sandra Davenport, she could just see the principal using this as the means to penalize her and her students by association. She was going to have to put her trust in those students and in her colleagues to hold the fort, and she would. They had her faith.

In Lucas' case, well, there had never been any question, of course, he would be there by his wife's side for the big night. But then his mother's passing... But then his father's grief... He wanted to trust that his grandparents would have things in hand, especially now as they were working to make the move happen. Thomas Friar had been staying in Houston for days at a time, the better to assist in the packing and the clearing out of the house. It was a project, it kept him occupied, and he could thrive through it. But it was little more than a mask, wasn't it? And Lucas would worry for him anyhow, so the thought of being far from him...

"He could come with us," Marianne suggested, once, and they didn't know how she'd known that they had been considering this situation, but here they were.

On the one hand, they supposed this was a good idea, especially thinking of it from a 'what would Melinda have done?' stance. On the other, it brought up the other part they had debated: the kids. The easy answer was 'bring them, of course.' They'd been at the heart of this, some of them, for as long as they had lived. They had accompanied them in the past, and this was The Big One, the premiere. At the same time, it wasn't as though they brought them all the time; sometimes Lucas didn't even go either. She was a teacher, a wife and mother, and of course she had now co-created a musical that was about to open on Broadway. She was also still a songwriter of some renown, which meant occasionally being invited to an event or another, to meet with artists and others in the business... How much could they include their daughters before it got too disruptive to their lives?

In the end, they had only taken a very brief moment in considering not bringing them. Of course, they had to come, daughters and granddaughter alike. Ella would be flying out on her own, a day later, and would be returning home before them, too, because of classes she couldn't get out of, but she would be there, wouldn't miss it. On top of that, Taylor would converge with them – from Indiana – to the delight of his future wife, stepdaughter, and his several small sisters in law. There was no way he couldn't be there.

If they'd at some point decided not to bring the girls, they would have ended up making a very sharp one-eighty upon being visited by Thomas Friar's delivery of a special box.

They had invited him and, under the press of several pairs of bright blue eyes, he'd had no room to refuse. So even as it meant him walking in parts of his home he hadn't approached much if at all since that February day where he'd lost his Melinda, he had started to pack for the trip. And when he'd done that, he'd found it. He'd found Melinda's gift to their daughter-in-law, to their son, and to their granddaughters, for the premiere of the musical.

"I'd completely forgotten," Thomas explained as the three of them sat together, looking at the box, at Melinda's distinct handwriting. There was just the touch of her scent to it, and it had been enough to draw out one and another of the girls, little Aubrey first of all, who'd for an instant been led to believe that her Granny Mel was back and couldn't know any better.

She ended up sat on her grandfather's lap as the box was opened and explored, even as her sisters were lured in as well. They were constantly reminded of Melinda's forethought lately, so it really shouldn't have been a surprise that she would have been prepared for the event still weeks ahead, but she was. And in the box, which had left them thinking back to a time not so long ago when they had explored a different box of treasures from a Sullivan, they found bittersweet wonders. There were a few things for Maya, to congratulate her for the premiere, naturally, and something for Lucas, who had played his own part in this, always. And there were small boxes, each identified as belonging to one of eight girls, from Ella through Aubrey and then Tori as well. Those that they had been able to open on that day had made it plainly clear that she'd envisioned them all in New York for the premiere, and so they would be.

"If anything happens while we're gone, you'll tell us, yeah?" Maya asked Wyatt, taking a moment to step out into the hall with him. He'd just brought a suitcase from upstairs and there was now a rush of small girls crowded around Lucas as he filled it because they wanted to help close it when it was done.

"I'll be fine," Wyatt insisted, but she gave him a look and he nodded.

He knew what she'd meant. Alicia was just three months off from giving birth to their baby and, while they still had no idea what would happen afterward, what they knew right now was that both Alicia and the baby were doing well. It was unknown whether they were having a boy or a girl, because she didn't want to know and Wyatt didn't mind, wanted to follow her lead. To hear him talk, to see them together, the months of this pregnancy had not nurtured any kind of sustainable romance between the two. They were never going to be a family together, but here was this child they had created of their union, and they had to focus on that before anything else. The closer they got to the month of June now, there was always this thought that surely a development would come, so being way off in New York while he'd be here...

Wyatt would keep his sister updated even as the family arrived at the airport, boarded the plane, and landed in New York. It was just a bit overdoing it, but she could sense that this was his way of messing with her and reassuring her at the same time, and she appreciated it. Now she could turn and focus on all that would come next.

She didn't feel right about leaving Lucas and his father to getting the girls settled in at the hotel without her, but there was more than one reason for her to be in New York, and that second one was waiting for her. Lucas and Thomas both insisted that she should go ahead. They'd see to things with the rest of their party, who was apparently excited to show her their unpacking when she came back. How could she refuse them that, right?

It was still a closely guarded secret that Maya was working on an album with Portia Keller. That was perfectly understandable, seeing as hardly anyone knew about Porter McNeeley's granddaughter, about Bruno and Caroline Keller's daughter. The goal of this project was by no means to shove her in the spotlight, which she didn't want. But her talent was one that Maya felt very strongly about helping others learn about, and that was something Portia wanted, so here they were.

For months now, whenever they were able to, they had been working together on these songs, fine-tuning as they went... They weren't ready to put it out there yet, but they were making progress enough now that it really felt like they had surmounted the peak and they were sailing ahead. And since they would both be in New York for the premiere, it had been all the more reason for Maya to meet the young songwriter with a gift of sorts.

She brought her three tracks she had recorded and made as 'album ready' as she could make them. The agreement had always been that they both needed to think that the songs were ready to be locked before either of them said they were.

Portia had opened up a lot, compared to when they had met for the first time. This only applied to Maya and her family, sure, but to see her joy at what they were accomplishing... It was even more so that day when Maya watched her listen to the songs. It made her think of when she had recorded the album with Ree Forster. The roles had been reversed then, and she had to think that the singer would have felt a lot of what Maya was feeling herself now, seeing Portia's reactions. It also made her realize how many things had to happen for the two of them to end up in this moment in their lives, and she couldn't get enough of it.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners