Chapter 89
Three Weeks at the Mall

August 2024

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Maya asked Lucas as she finished dressing Noah. He would get so worked up when she did this now, almost like he knew he was going somewhere, and he was excited. The quality was not too far off from Elliott's leanings for 'adventure,' which had both his parents thinking it was only a matter of Noah getting his walking legs under control before those two went and joined forces… however that shaped up.

"Yeah, I figure I might as well use the time to get some things done around here, without checking that this guy isn't getting his fingers where they shouldn't go," he declared, as he held Elliott and worked to get his shoes on, which was easier said than done when the boy was laughing and moving his feet around like it was all a game. "Or without worrying that the noise will freak that guy out," he nodded over to their three-month-old son, now up in Maya's arms again. "Anyway, I figure it'll be better, for Ariel, if it's just you and her and the boys and her mother."

"Yeah…" she nodded, seeing his point very well. This whole exercise was for the girl more than anyone, wasn't it? Preserving some of that… stability… which would be disrupted by Dr. Eisley's going away. It wasn't like she believed that Ariel would lose her balance so much for not seeing the doctor for a few weeks, and certainly if she was so in need of it as this, the doctor would have known enough to do something about it herself, right? All Maya could hope to do was just what she was doing, just… create a soft cushion to maintain the shape left by this gap… just in case.

She was getting pretty good at managing solo travels with both boys by now. Getting them into their seats, then out of those and into the stroller, had been so much more of an ordeal in the beginning. Maya would be left feeling liker her motherly mask would have to be forced to an opacity beyond measure so not to show the frustration underneath, especially whenever she'd be anywhere people could watch her. Much as she would tell herself not to worry over what people might think or assume, how could she not, at least a little?

"Mr. Friar, your bunny," she smiled, passing Elliott his Opie as he was good and settled now, before moving around to get a look of Noah, who had only momentarily fussed from his sleep upon transfer but was now back residing in whatever dream had taken over his baby mind on the car ride from the house to the mall. "Sleep well, Mr. Friar," she whispered, checking the minivan doors before starting off toward the bookstore.

She didn't have to search long for the Su mother and daughter. She spotted Ariel at the new releases table, reading the back of one book, while her mother was over at one of the café tables, turning the pages of a cooking magazine. Maya waved to Nadia when she happened to look up. The woman smiled, even as her daughter spotted the arriving Friars, too, and put the book down before hurrying over. They converged, meeting up at the table.

"Have you two been here long?" Maya asked, hoping she hadn't gotten the time wrong.

"Only minutes," Nadia promised. "This one would have been here at opening hours if she had her way," she laughed, indicating her daughter.

"She usually stays down here while I go around," Ariel informed Maya, a look of mutual understanding passing between her and her mother which seemed to say something along the lines of 'we've been through this dance enough times to accept one another's tendencies.'

"Okay, well…" Maya looked to the girl, then to her mother, to confirm she was okay with her wandering off with her thirteen-year-old daughter. Nadia nodded. "Lead the way," Maya turned back to Ariel, who brightened at once, like a jolt had sent her in motion.

They took off now, getting on the elevator to head to the next floor up with the stroller. Elliott gave a big squeal as the glass-walled box travelled up, which made Ariel laugh and crouch to look at him. He had only seen her a few times before, but he was definitely growing familiar, and he looked happy to see her. This would easily be the most time they got to spend together in one go, the same true for Maya and Ariel as well. Those precious few minutes – if they got a whole minute at all – every week didn't seem like a lot, but to them it had been enough to put down groundwork for something with potential. Maybe Ariel wasn't the only one who'd benefit from these next few weeks.

"Do you go to school?" Ariel asked when they got off the elevator. The way she asked, Maya guessed she wasn't sure how old she was, didn't know if she was still in school, and if so what kind. There was no judgment to it, just curiosity.

"Well, I was just starting my second year of college when I got pregnant with Elliott," she explained, watching for her older son to turn his head at the sound of his name and smirking when she saw him do it. "I barely managed to finish it before he was born. And then, he was just a few months old when we found out we were having Noah, or else I would have been back by now. I'm starting again in January though," she nodded. She'd been left wondering about her future for so long, wondering if she'd get to do much of anything close to what she'd first set out to do. Would it be too weird to tell this young girl at her side how she'd helped set her back on track?

"What are you studying?" Ariel followed this explanation in stride, making Maya laugh.

"Art, to be a teacher," she told her. "I was going to do high school, but now I'm looking more for middle school if I can get it."

"I love art class," Ariel stated, genuinely so.

"Yeah?" Maya asked, and she got a big nod in response. "You're starting middle school this year, aren't you?"

"Yeah…" Ariel sighed.

"That bad, huh?"

"I don't know," the girl shrugged, pushing her behind her shoulders as they approached a display with more new releases. Maya got the sense that she was here often enough that she'd have a solid idea what was already in the store, so anything new would take priority. "There's going people from my old school, and people I don't know, and it won't be the same as before. That's not a bad thing, not necessarily… Some kids were jerks before," she added, her tone escaping with her thoughts enough that Maya thought better than to push on the subject. "I don't know what it's going to be like." The not knowing was clearly the thing that kept coming back, the thing that worried her most of all, and for what little Maya knew of her and what she'd gone through lately, it painted enough of a picture for her.

"Did I tell you how I came from New York?" she asked. Ariel shook her head, even as her face showed a new light, the kind that said 'I'd do anything to see a Broadway show' or something to that effect. "I actually moved to Texas when I was your age, and starting middle school, too. I knew exactly one person in Austin, and that was my mother."

"Wow…" Ariel blinked, considering this.

"Yeah," Maya laughed. "Anyway, I know exactly how terrifying it can be, going in there the first day. Doesn't have to stay that way."

"What happened on your first day?" Ariel asked. Maya smirked, looking to the stroller. Noah still slept, while Elliott's head swiveled this way and that, where he sat, on the other side.

"Met their dad," she nodded to her sons, then, turning back to Ariel. "No pressure." The girl laughed.

There was so much more to that first day, those first weeks and months, and as they walked around together, she found herself sharing a lot of it with Ariel, more than she had anticipated herself doing. There were just some things you didn't see yourself telling someone you'd hardly shared much more than bits of conversations with before, but then once in a while there would just be people who seemed to carry the keys to those parts usually locked off from new acquaintances, even some people you'd consider close friends. She didn't know what it was about her, but she accessed a level of honesty with Ariel that defied age, and the girl looked glad for it. For Maya's part, if she could help her walk into middle school with a sturdier bit of confidence, well, it would be another point on the side of honesty.

X

Before parting ways, the week before, Ariel had asked Maya where she wanted them to meet at their next meet up. Her reasoning went that they had gone to her favorite place on the first one, so they should go to Maya's on the second one.

"Alright," Maya had grinned. "Then meet me at the art supply store."

She didn't bring the boys this time. For one, she wanted to allow Lucas to have his 'boys' days' as much as he could, ahead of his return to school in a few weeks' time. Once this started, she'd either be bringing Elliott and Noah with her to her sessions or leaving them with any available grandparents. It was probably for the best. At the bookstore, she'd mostly followed her young friend, who would peruse the shelves, picking up this book or that one and show it to her, so she could remain with the stroller. Going into the art store would absolutely be more hands on.

Maya was the first to arrive this time around, and walking in, she realized she hadn't been here since before… Before Noah's birth, before… The thought was just so sly, the kind you wouldn't see coming, and then… boom… direct hit. She didn't think it would get to her the way it did, and she just had to stop right there, just had to breathe, in and out, in again, out… She'd been sent drifting, but that was alright, that was just… All she had to do was get her feet back on the ground, remember where she was, that she was okay, she was good.

It wasn't like she'd stayed away from here on purpose, right? A lot had happened, and she'd been so busy, with the immediate aftermath of her father's passing, and then Noah's arrival, and then everything that had led to her starting to go see Dr. Eisley… She had been to the mall with the boys, just like she'd told Ariel, but then in dealing with a one-year-old and a baby, she just hadn't come out this way yet, so… yeah… She hadn't been in here in about four months. She hadn't done anything, art wise, except her 'Elliott and Noah logging,' adding to their sketchbooks. Now… Now she wanted to start something, a project for no one but herself, to stretch out those muscles she'd left unattended all this time.

By the time Ariel and Nadia found her, which couldn't have been more than ten minutes later, she was finishing up with one of the girls, who had been so glad to see her return and was now carrying a very large canvas toward the front of the store, for when she'd be ready to checkout.

"What's that going to be for?" Ariel asked, blinking as she watched the salesgirl carry the thing off. It was almost as tall as her. Maya turned, only now realizing they had arrived.

"Hey!" she beamed. "Uh… I haven't decided yet, actually," she admitted. "But I'll know it when it comes." Maya had come far enough now in her sessions with Dr. Eisley to find that line in between 'this is good' and 'I'm better.' Sometimes, finding something good was all she could ask for, and in time… she'd find her way to better. She wasn't there yet, today, but between the promise of a project and now of spending some time with the two of them here, she could feel herself moving in that direction.

For all she'd thought to herself about honesty before, she set out on this small excursion with Ariel and her mother through the familiar aisles of the art store, never coming anywhere near any suggestion of her brush with panic earlier, before they'd come around. She went and picked up some supplies she'd need for this painting, eternally thankful to the many gift cards her parents had given her, their 'covert' way of helping her out, knowing a lot of these things here would fall by the way of 'we have two small children to provide for, and we can't afford this.' Ariel would ask her questions, about what this kind of paint did versus that kind, and the same with brushes, and anything else Maya looked into. She liked to learn about things she didn't know; that much Maya picked up on, and she gladly fed into.

It wasn't all about her and her painting, of course. Ariel was really getting into knitting, since Maya had shown her about it, in the waiting room. Nadia was doing it, too, and she was improving, but Ariel had already gone leaps and bounds beyond her in this very short time. The week before, she'd told Maya how she'd been getting more into audiobooks since she'd started to knit. She would get to make something even as she enjoyed a new book, and the bonus was that she wasn't adding another volume to her already struggling shelves. So, today, they explored the section in the art store, coming away with a few items there. This time around, Ariel was the one sharing her knowledge, and Maya would simply smile and listen, as though she didn't already know herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nadia looking on, smiling, too, at her daughter's enthusiasm.

"I'm sorry," Ariel told Maya, a little later, as they moved to get something to eat before splitting off. Nadia had volunteered herself to go get the food – her treat for all, she insisted – while Maya and Ariel stayed with the bags and the giant canvas.

"About what?" Maya asked the girl, not following.

"I almost didn't come today," Ariel admitted. "I… I was in a… weird space, in my head, and I didn't know if I could pull myself together. I thought it would happen. Something about the second week. It was like that when I started to go and see Dr. Eisley, too. Almost had my mom call you last night, but then I didn't, and… this morning was kind of better, I guess."

"Hey…" Maya smiled sympathetically.

"That's not… I'm not sorry about that," Ariel shook her head. "No, I just… I was so focused on myself, I didn't think… maybe you'd hit the week two slump, too."

Maya didn't speak at first, and the way Ariel looked at her now, there was pretending like she didn't know exactly what she meant. It just made her chuckle to herself for a moment, before finally nodding, slowly.

"I don't know if it's the week's fault, more that I hadn't gone in there since before… everything. My father, and the baby, and the sessions… Then I realized it, and…" she mimed some kind of short-circuiting in her head, as best she could. Ariel only nodded, showing she understood. A moment later, she turned her eyes to the canvas, sitting there like their own private wall. "Yeah…" Maya simply confirmed. That had been the reason for the big project.

"Where are you going to put it?" Ariel asked. Maya laughed.

"I have no idea…"

As it turned out, bringing home that great big canvas was not something so easy to do. It took some ingenuity – and Ariel and Nadia's help – to get it in the minivan. Then, once they'd thankfully gotten everything secured and ready to go, it had to be taken out again, from the minivan and into the house and… where was she going to work on it?

Lucas and Pappy Joe were both outside with the boys when she drove up, which was just as well. As soon as she hopped out and moved to try and get the canvas out, Lucas turned to make sure Pappy Joe kept watch of Elliott, presently sat on a blanket on the porch, before moving to help his wife.

"Wow, that is a…" he stared into the back of the vehicle and then over to Maya. She let out a breath.

"Right, so, got to the store, walked in… I hadn't been there since about… late March, early April," she shook her head to herself, counting it out. Lucas took this in, then…

"Basement?" he asked, and she smiled.

"Basement sounds good."

X

Two days after the canvas had found its 'home' in the basement, Maya had been said to start visiting it. She would go down there, usually with one of the boys along for the ride, and then she would sit there and look at it. Even she would say it was silly, that the image wouldn't just present itself that way, and whatever the 'right thing' was, it would come in its own time. But then she could also argue that, on that reasoning, the canvas could sit there for months, and years, untouched, and how would that be any better? So she'd sit there, hoping maybe to find inspiration responsive to this challenge.

When she'd take Noah down, it'd often be time to feed him, and so she would sit there with him, in the peace and quiet. For that time alone, for those moments with him, she could almost wish that she didn't find an idea for some time. Meanwhile, when she'd take Elliott down, well… Her boy, forever growing, would just be all over the place… Adventure mode… He wasn't used to the basement as much as the rest of the house, and so it was as good as having provided him with a whole new location to explore. What more could he want? So, being down there with him would be about a lot of following him around, ready to pull him back if necessary, until she could just stop and hold him. Then, he'd just cling to her, the happiest of fellas, and she'd smile, rocking him lightly, kissing the top of his blond head… And she'd look at her canvas.

It had been a week now, which meant another trip to the mall, the last of these. Dr. Eisley would be back the following week, and then they would be back to meeting in her waiting room. It wasn't to say they would stop meeting outside that setting all of a sudden. She certainly didn't want that, and she knew Ariel would feel the same, and so would her mother.

"Would you guys maybe want to come for dinner sometime? At the house?" she finally asked them when they met up that day. She lost nothing for asking, right? "I get to meet your dad, you get to meet Pappy Joe," she smiled to Ariel.

The girl had gone on and on about him last week, when they'd been in the knitting section. The way she told it, she had gotten it in her head to knit mittens for herself, her mother, and her father by the start of winter, and her father had volunteered to 'hand model' for her. From there, the conversation had expanded, painting a picture of a very close relationship between Mr. Su and his daughter. And then, the week before that, Maya had been telling Ariel all about Lucas' grandfather and how he lived with them, how he would watch television with Elliott since he was just a tiny baby. He still did, now with Elliott and Noah, too.

Ariel looked instantly interested, and she turned to her mother with 'can we?' eyes. Maya briefly hoped she hadn't put Nadia on the spot, but even as Ariel was turning to her, Mrs. Su already had her smile going, and she accepted the invitation, only on the insistence that she would handle the dessert. So, that was decided. Now, they could go about their last stroll through the mall. Today, both Maya and Ariel had agreed that it would be Nadia's turn to 'drive,' after the two of them had gotten their turns. Recalling what Ariel had said when Maya first suggested the mall sessions, it was no surprise that they ended up just in Nadia's favored spots.

"This place is always so weird," Ariel whispered to Maya as they entered the soap shop.

"How?" Maya asked, whispering back.

"It smells so much of everything at the same time, how can you really know what you're smelling? Half the time, it's not what she remembers from when we were here and she's kind of disappointed," Ariel explained. Now Maya had to resist chuckling. She could sort of see what Ariel meant, actually. The scent was definitely pronounced, the combination of everything. She remembered expressing similar notions to Riley, years ago, when she had been obsessed with one of these stores, back in New York. She had a vivid memory of asking one of the salesgirls if she could smell anything else anymore.

"Well, we can't stay in here too long, can we?" Maya offered.

"She was in here for an hour once," Ariel revealed, and Maya hesitated. They couldn't try and get them out of here, could she? Today was supposed to be Nadia's day. So what were they supposed to do?

"Hey, so do you have all your things for school next week?" Maya asked Ariel, at regular volume, pressing on a pointed look while they had the luxury of Nadia looking away from them. Thankfully, Ariel understood precisely what she was meant to do here, and while she had gone shopping for her things already – of course – she expressed how she was concerned about missing a few things.

It didn't take very long that one thing led to another, and Diana finished out her transaction at the soap shop, the better for them to go on a hunt for the missing school supplies. They would make very quick work of it, so it could be Nadia's day again, and they went along now to look at some 'home stuff.' Nadia was particularly eager to show Maya a few things she thought she might like, what with the boys and all. That was definitely more their speed.

"I'm really glad we came here, the last couple weeks," Ariel told Maya, when they were about to go on home.

"Yeah, I am, too," Maya smiled. When Ariel followed this up by hugging her, Maya was surprised for a moment, but then she got back to her smile, returning the embrace. "Next week, at Dr. Eisley's, you're going to tell me how your first day of middle school went, yeah?"

"I will," Ariel promised. "See you on Saturday!" she called as she moved to follow her mother, once Nadia had said goodbye to Maya, too, taking the proffered address.

"See you then!" Maya called back, taking a deep breath as she watched them go. Saturday… Now what were they going to do?

If that wasn't enough to occupy her thoughts, there were other things to consider, weren't there? August was ending, and with September would come hers and Lucas' first wedding anniversary, even as he would go and start a new semester. How much had changed in a year…

She also thought about her sessions with Dr. Eisley. If she ever thought 'I can stop now,' last week's trigger showed otherwise, or at least she hadn't explored everything near as deep as she would have imagined. And then Ariel… The two of them were getting to be friends, more and more, and she did not take lightly the position she had started to hold in the young girl's life all of a sudden. Saturday… Saturday would be good. She might not have had any say in it, but she chose it anyway. These weeks had taught her so much, about the Su girl as much as herself, and as different as they were, in some ways they were a lot more similar than not.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners