May 31st 2023

Chapter 151
We Have Friends to Counsel

With a bit more time to herself, to consider the principal's move and what it could all mean down the line, Maya found it infinitely more difficult not to feel a bit restless, like she actually needed to do something as soon as possible. Deep down she knew that her first instinct had been the correct one, that if she acted now, it would be rash and little more. It wouldn't help. All she could do was try and carry on with everything else. That wasn't difficult, not with a household as loaded as hers was. She had plenty to do, had a husband, many young daughters, siblings, a nephew, five dogs and a bird, a house, one main job and another alongside it, a band, family, friends… Her brain ran over with things to prevent her from getting lost in Davenport hell. Of course, this morning, as they were expecting their friends over for lunch, Lucas had up and decided that the rest of them would handle things without her, which was a wonderful thought… and also the means to stop the wheels turning the right way and threaten to run the other way.

"She's here! I found her!" a familiar little voice pulled her from her focus, and she smiled, continuing to draw as she sat at her desk on the second floor, pretending as though she hadn't heard the shout – impossible – until she felt small hands pressing at her arm and turned to find a pair of blue eyes peering at her.

"Hey, cub," she whispered, leaning to press a kiss at the top of Kacey's head. This made her happily bounce on her heels even as her sisters came pounding up the steps to join them.

"Mommy, there you are!" Remy proclaimed, with those same eyes as her twin, their father's eyes.

"Oh, you found me, huh?" Maya asked her. They all crowded around, the taller of them, if they could see that high, looking at what she'd been working on with great curiosity. "What can I do for you, ladies?"

"Dad needs you," Marianne informed her.

"I thought you guys were taking care of everything today," Maya pointed out, imitating the confident look that Lucas had given her earlier, which made the girls giggle in recognition.

"We were, but something was wrong with the oven, so he said we had to change the plan," Marianne explained, just as the doorbell rang from below. The girls scrambled to the window at once, then hurried right back to descend the stairs without a word. There was no need to ask what this meant. Guests were arriving and, apparently, they were much further from ready than anticipated, so Maya left her art behind and hurried after her daughters.

First to appear that day, as was frankly the norm, was the collective unit of the Mantovani-Zvolensky and Garcia-Choi family. They were not unlike the Friars in that, with six small children to pack away in their cars, they usually ended up aiming to leave very early, the better for them to work around any potential delays and detours. That day, the reward for their promptness was reaped by their friends, as they were granted with several more willing hands to help prepare for the many, many guests in the process of converging on the Friar house. The kids helped if and where they could, and those who could or would not were happily sent off to play.

It hardly felt possible that the twins, Valentina and Santiago, were already a solid four years old, even more so that their baby sister Violet had already celebrated her first birthday, that she was up and running all over the place. That girl had so much energy in her that everyone else was left to make a choice between keeping up or falling behind, but then more often than not they would get one look at that pink-cheeked little smile of hers and the only choice left to them would just be to pick up the pace and see what she had in mind.

They were off to a good start but still far from done by the time they were joined by the Babineaux family, who had followed the collectively recognized signal hanging inside the front door and walked around the house to find everyone working and playing along. It was really the ideal place for these crowded meals, so whenever weather permitted it, that was exactly where they would be gathering. The extra tables had already been settled into place and were in the process of being furnished, so the new arrivals joined in. Mia, Isaiah, and Gigi loved when it would be their turn to host, because it would remind them of their family party, in August… and this was sort of like that, too.

The news of what was brewing up at the high school didn't take long to surface among the friends, especially once Zay had arrived. Sure, he taught fourth grade, never had to deal with Sandra Davenport himself, but he would see it as a courtesy of both profession and friendship to be incensed along with these friends who'd been part of his life for so, so many years. That sympathetic feeling only became more pronounced once Dylan arrived along with Riley and their children.

He had been feeling the most caught in the middle about the whole thing, as his position at the school put him right in the middle of it all. He was both gym teacher and basketball coach, but now, as they'd discovered the day after the announcement, the principal had essentially put him at the head of their school's entire athletics department, including the new additions she had announced. It should have been great news, and to some degree it was. But then Dylan was Dylan, and he was one of the best people they all knew, and he couldn't help but feel bad about being given that position.

None of them were upset with him in the slightest, not his friends and fellow teachers at the school, not his father in law who also taught there... All issues aside, this was a great opportunity for him, and they would not let him see himself as a pawn in Sandra Davenport's games. They believed he could be to this new wave as Maya had been for the cheer squad, unexpectedly assigned but also exactly the person those kids needed. By now, being given extra footing felt like the potential for their principal to orchestrate her very own unmaking. As with the rest, they would have to see what the future held.

There were a lot of thoughts floating around with regards to the announcement. Davenport had her supporters, then the innocently oblivious. There were those, like Maya, wanting to hold their breath and see what would come next without acting rashly. Then there were those who saw exactly where this was bound to go, as the previous group did, and felt an immediate and overwhelming urge to act immediately. Rosa easily belonged to that last category, as she reiterated when she and Jenna arrived, and if she actually had a kid who went out there, oh... The principal wouldn't know what hit her.

She had an easy ally there when it came to Morgan. When she and Paul arrived, it was clear that they had still been talking about the entire thing on the way over. She wore it on her face, a grumbling sort of frown, while he had that big protective husband energy going. To hear him tell it, as he had already shared with both Maya and Lucas and the others, there was this feeling like, one way or another, this move would spell the end of Morgan's time at the school. Either she would fight back and get herself fired, or she would not know any other way to prevent that than by resigning.

None of them wanted that, not her colleagues, not her friends, and they were sure that, if they were asked, the students would say the same. So, they had made a vow, then and there, promising that whatever it took or however long it took, they would get on the other side of this. And when they got there, they knew with certainty that they would need the likes of Music with Morgan. The title had been delivered in all its silliness, which had made her snicker and begrudgingly agree to power through, 'just for them and the kids.'

"Oh, hey, Mama, look at you," Dylan called out when he spotted their last arrivals for the day's gathering. At the sound, everyone looked up, the Friars and Orlandos first of all. There they were, Tori hurrying over to find her grandparents, just ahead of Taylor, walking hand in hand with Ella, who had indeed just bloomed in her pregnancy in recent weeks. She was six months along now, facing down the home stretch before the baby was born. And no one was as happy for the experience as she was just now, her and Taylor together, obviously, although several others tied for a close second.

"Is it kicking? Can I feel?" Marianne excitedly asked her big sister.

"All quiet right now, but I'll let you know, okay?" Ella smiled at her.

"I could sing, that might do it. Mom said I used to do that when I heard Auntie Ree's music."

"We can try that later," Ella agreed, and Marianne was satisfied, leaving room for her parents, the impending grandparents, to get their hugs in with their eldest and her husband.

Try as they might not to delve back into the subject of Sandra Davenport's plans for the school, it was like a nagging fly, zooming over their heads, refusing to be ignored. They tried anyway, at first, but it only made the conversation stilted, awkward, and finally they just went ahead and jumped in.

They didn't want to overreact, even if nearly two years with the woman had taught them that there was no such thing when she was involved. It all felt like bait and nothing more. She hadn't said that the new additions would subtract from the art department. They knew it would, all of them, and Davenport for sure knew that they knew, even if no one was bringing it up. Possibly, she was counting on it. All they could do was come up with plans, with contingencies to safeguard the things their principal sought to tear down. Once the meal had ended and the kids went off to play, those ideas very quickly started to get just a bit silly and unhinged, which had them all laughing. If nothing else, this part would be a good kind of memorable, right?

"Dad..." Ella spoke, and when Lucas turned to her, she smiled and tipped her head down to her belly. He smiled back and reached over to set his hand where she indicated. It was not the first time he'd felt his grandchild move, but it still never got old.

"Still won't tell us, huh?" he looked up to his daughter.

"What makes you think that we know?" Ella argued with a laugh. "We decided we weren't going to find out, and we're going to wait. Three more months, alright?"

"Yeah, you better," he addressed the unborn babe and received a kick for his troubles, which made him bow his head. "You know your Pappy Luke already, huh? What about names? Anything?" he turned back to Ella. Her smile told him all he would get. They had thoughts, yes, but they would not reveal them until the baby was there to be joined to their pick.

"You know, you could end up with your grandchild in one arm and your child in the other," she pointed out instead.

"Yeah, I thought about that," Lucas chuckled. "I better go get your sisters. If they find out they missed some kicking, I might be the one to get kicked."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners