A/N: [July 4th 2024]

September 21st 2023

Chapter 264
We Breathe the Home Air

Returns were a lot like any trip that would have taken them away from home in the first place… mostly. The first trip, the departure from the known, was full of excitement for what was to come, but then the returns… Those would be bittersweet if they'd had a great time, or they'd feel like they couldn't be over fast enough if they'd had a bad time… This one was absolutely of the former kind. Oh, they were eager to be back home again, absolutely, but also they'd been having such an amazing time in their snowy wonderland… Why would they ever want to leave?

The flight back had been a much quieter one, the children's moods finally lifted when they found a most welcome sight as a welcoming committee, here in the form of their aunts, uncle, and cousin. Seeing them was as good as a shock to the system, reminding them that for all the love they had experienced for their trip to the snow, they would never trade in their home and the people that came with it, not for a second. They were so thrilled to be there, so ready to burst from the giddiness of it all, that Ella and Taylor had gone ahead and made their pregnancy announcement to the trio right then and there, sparing her sisters from having to tiptoe around the subject.

Once their bags had been collected and they could return home, the next boost to their happiness was the realization that they were so, so close to being reunited with their pack of dogs and one Micro of a bird. Nellie joked with her sister and brother-in-law at the fact that the girls had cried when they'd been reunited with their pets but not with her.

"Hey, so, tomorrow when you go and drop everyone off at camp, you might want to make a stop over at Phoebe's house before, or after…" she turned back to the two of them like she'd only remembered. They blinked, only for a moment, as they knew exactly what this had to mean.

"She had the baby?" Maya took hold of her sister's arm.

"Two days ago," Nellie nodded with a smile as big as her twin's. "They're back home with her now, mom and baby doing great. And she's so cute…" she recalled, smiling fondly, which got her a look from both of her sisters. "I do not have baby fever, okay, and if you even suggest that in front of Bobby…"

"I said nothing, did you say something?" Maya stated before turning to Gracie.

"Not a word," Gracie shook her head, which made them both laugh while Nellie glared at them both.

"I'm going to go play with them, they're a lot less mean," she indicated her nieces and nephew.

"Is this supposed to convince us that you don't have… you know what? Because it's not really working," Maya called after her, and Nellie pointed a finger at her. Maya raised her hand in surrender, but her smile was stuck firm. "So, how was it while we were gone? Anything else happen?"

"Not really. Nellie and I sort of traded nights for who stayed at the guys' and who was here…" Gracie nodded, and Maya was grateful that she left it there, the reasons for their split time needing no further explanation, seeing as the twins shared a room. She was having enough trouble dealing with the fact that they were about to begin their final year in school as it was without considering the two of them being on the verge of turning twenty-one and thinking about their lives after college, with their boyfriends… Really, at this point, it might have been easier to cope, as she'd seen so many of her younger siblings go through those steps, but if she hadn't learned by now that it was going to be awkward and complicated with every last one of them, then she wasn't paying attention, was she?

"Hey, Maya," Wyatt appeared on the stairs and waved for his sister to follow him, so she went up one floor, and then the other, crossing the barrier they had installed to keep Finneas from getting into the stairs. The two-year-old was up there now, in the room he shared with his father and would soon share with his sort of Uncle MJ.

It was not a massive room, neither was the twins' across the hall, but it had been more than enough for Wyatt and his young son so far. Now, adding a third person, a fully grown one at that, there'd been plenty of talk between Maya's brothers as to how they would make things work. This had led to Wyatt's single bed being traded in for a bunk bed. Wyatt would remain at ground level, for Finneas' sake, of course, while MJ would claim the top bunk. Wyatt informed Maya that the new college freshman was very excited at the prospect, and she laughed. He'd wanted one since he was a kid, so of course he'd be thrilled.

As Maya took in the other changes that had been done to the room – with Finneas now trailing alongside her – Wyatt shared some more of what had been going on while she'd been away. The Hex had been very busy, with the Hexes getting together to record almost every day. They would hang out at the house a lot, too, and Wyatt would occasionally play host to any boyfriend, girlfriend, or significant other that came tagging along. He'd notably had a lengthy video game face off with Jenny Marshall's boyfriend, Jack, who was getting to be one of his best friends as of late. The couple were both great with Finn, who thought of them both as one more aunt and uncle, titles they both accepted with honor and love for the boy.

"By the way, Haley was out here a lot, too, with Rafa?" Wyatt mentioned, and the awkward look on his face suggested plenty.

"Were they?" she asked, her tone more of a statement. Wyatt would still feel unsure about where his place was or wasn't, getting involved with her siblings from the other side as though he had any claim to tell them what they should or shouldn't do especially. From where she stood, they were all her siblings and they were as much to each other, that was how it had been for a long while, but she respected that he tried to mind the boundaries. She invited him to be frank.

"I don't know if what happened with Madelyn last year will have swayed her mind one way or the other, but… you know…"

"You're saying I should have the talk with her," Maya guessed, and he shrugged. "Not like I haven't had to do that with a sibling before… a few times…" she stated, trying not to look at her nephew as he clung to her leg as though he was the result of her failing in the exercise. "But the twins told me they already took that hit for me, so whatever comes next, it's up to Haley to decide."

"Right, yeah, definitely," Wyatt nodded. "Did they tell you she got another audition?" he added, quickly changing the subject.

"They didn't," she smiled at once. "Movie?"

"Yeah, pretty big one, too. Speaking part, stunts… I haven't heard anything about how it's going, but she'll probably want to tell you herself anyway."

"If she's not already waiting to run out here…" Maya suggested, which made them both laugh. "The way she's going, she might be the first one since Teddy not to actually move in here for college.

As she walked back down the stairs from the second floor, Maya heard what sounded like movie noises coming from the other end of the hall. Walking to the open door to the green room, she looked inside to find Marianne sitting on her bed, her travel bag set aside for the moment as she had the tablet set before her, playing what was a movie… sort of… It was a video, and she would have identified it as Haru's work without ever seeing or hearing her daughter's friend. When the video came to an end, Marianne closed it, and Maya noticed that it was clearly one of many that her daughter had been sent. She started the next one, so Maya decided to step away and leave her be with this gift she had received. It couldn't help but remind her of when she'd gone on vacation with her family and she and Lucas had exchanged letters. Now she really wished they could have managed to bring Haru along on their trip after all, so that the two of them could have spent more time together while they could, but at the same time… Marianne would cherish those videos, she was sure, just as Haru would have loved making them for her.

There was no telling whether or not Marianne had made it through all the videos by the time she went to bed that night, or if she might have decided not to go through all of them at once. Either way, morning rolled around as though they had not been gone for all this time, and while they had started their previous day in a completely different country, on another continent, this one was just like any other summer day in the Friar house, which meant getting the kids up and ready and off to camp. There was some debate about whether they'd be able to go and see Phoebe's new baby with their parents, or if their parents should wait and only go once camp was done for the day, but finally it came down that the kids would go off to camp, and Maya and Lucas would visit the Russell house. The kids would for sure get their turn at meeting the baby, but not until either later that same day or over the weekend. It would happen, and that was really what mattered.

It would not be a surprise that, when they arrived at the house, they spotted Stella's car outside. As soon as she'd returned from her honeymoon, which had been three days ago, she'd been there by her best friend's side to help with whatever she could. And the day after that, she'd been right there when Phoebe had gone into labor. She'd followed right along after Khalil had taken her to the hospital, bringing Mattie, Myles, and KJ along and keeping an eye on them along with her new husband, until at last Baby Girl Russell had come into the world.

Maya had had a sense that Phoebe had already picked a name for her daughter, though she and Khalil had been keeping it quiet. The first one who'd come to learn it beside the two of them was exactly the one they had wanted it to be. Stella Buckley-Lejeune had been the very first person other than her parents and the medical staff to have the privilege of holding Estelle Desiree Russell.

"Hey there, little star girl, look at you…" Maya felt her emotions rumble up as she held the two-day-old babe. She was as precious as her big brothers had been before her, and she already looked to have curious eyes about her, which made Maya smile. She could just imagine the girl in her class one day, inheriting the accident prone gene that had touched her mother and her uncle before her. If she ever got the chance to teach her, Maya would be right there, first aid kit at the ready. Her mother and her uncle were some of the best people she knew, and if she had gotten that quality from them, then the world was already brighter for having her in it.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners