Chapter 107
Once More Around the Track

Waking up on the first day of school, back when they'd been living at home, used to be a bit strange, though nothing more. Sure, after a summer of playing with friends, maybe having more time working once they had jobs, but it would be something almost in a whole other world. And then they'd wake up and they'd know they were due back to school, to the rhythm of life which really took up the majority of their years, so after two months of running off the track they'd have to jump back on like they'd never left. They'd be in a new grade, with new classes, new books, sometimes new teachers and classmates, but on the whole it would be more of the same, continuing. They'd face a bit of 'did you pack everything in your bag?' and 'is this what you're wearing today?' and 'do you want me to drive you?' and then they'd be off. They'd reunite with their friends – the ones they'd probably seen the day before and all through summer, and those they had likely not seen or spoken to since the end of the previous year – and the cycle would begin again.

Once they moved to Houston, for college, the track changed, expanded. They weren't kids anymore, and in their case they were also living on their own for the first time, except not on their own. They'd be living with a few of their friends, and to say mornings like the first day of class could be chaotic… They'd been only children, both of them, for most of their elementary, middle, and high school days, but they imagined this would be what it would look like if they'd grown up in a house with multiple children… Now they could imagine their house would look like that when their own children were of a school age.

Because of course the Houston days had been cut short due to the unexpected detour down parenthood road. There were a couple of years right there, where they weren't so much on a track but an obstacle course of deviations. Lucas had taken a small hop from Houston to Austin but remained on the whole with the same end in sight… up until the plans had changed and he'd needed to leave that old goal behind, to jump on to a brand new one instead. Starting out there, it had felt a bit as though his feet had been too trained for the old way, that he couldn't manage this new one, but now… Now he felt like he had adapted, and the goal was within his reach.

And then Maya, well… She'd had to keep tighter to parenthood road for a while, first looking after one newborn and then almost too quickly finding herself expecting another. For a while, it had felt like she'd never return to the track, that she was too far from it. But she had Lucas Friar by her side, and if she'd expected anything else in having him for a husband than a hand who would help guide her back… Her new track wasn't so different from her old one, was it? She was still on her way to teaching art, only she'd be aiming toward middle school rather than high school. That small switch had been inspired out of her interactions with the likes of Ariel Su and Daphne Brett, and then with Stella Buckley, and it was absolutely the right way to go, she knew it more than ever.

Waking up on the first day back to school in the Friar house on the lane… Maya, and Lucas, and Pappy Joe, and Elliott and Noah, and Trix and Lou, and Whiskey and Shadow…

It wasn't nearly as hectic as it could seem to someone who'd only hear of their having to tend to two toddlers and four animals. Yes, it was a lot, and on some mornings even more so than others, but it was only an issue if they didn't know how to handle it all, and they could handle it just fine. As far as the boys were concerned, the only difference between today and the end of the previous semester was that Noah could walk now. The boy had had all the makings of someone who'd make full use of this new skill when he had it, his parents had known it, so they'd been prepared for it. Pappy Joe was very helpful to have around, but he was hardly equipped to deal with both a two-year-old and one-year-old when 'let's race each other' was their new favorite game.

So, from now, he'd have backup. A lot of the time, it would be in the form of Shawn Hunter, as he didn't have an office to go to. He would just bring Alex over to hang out with his nephews, which was an arrangement favored by all involved. Elliott, Noah, and Alex were as good as a pack of brothers already, and their respective parents were always looking to bring them together as much as possible. Then, on those days when Shawn needed to go anywhere on an assignment, it would be Pappy Joe, the three boys, and Melinda Friar. And if she couldn't be there – which was to say if she couldn't cancel her plans and be where she preferred to be, with her grandsons – then Pappy Joe would have anyone from the Oswalds, to the Sandersons to help him look after the trio of toddlers.

Also diminishing from the expected chaos of this day was how their plan about the nursery move and the introduction of the cats had worked out exactly as they'd hoped. Elliott and Noah were doing just fine in their shared room and new sleeping arrangements, and Whiskey and Shadow were fully integrated into their family unit, getting along splendidly with the dogs and the small boys, whether these were the two sharing the same roof or the one who'd be coming along to join them in the daytime. For having seen them interact with him a few times already, Maya and Lucas both had nothing but love for the way the cats interacted with the blind boy, and the way the boy would look so happy when he could feel the young cats near him, when he could pet them.

And for all that, when they woke up on the first day of classes, both Maya and Lucas were left feeling almost hesitant. Maybe that wasn't the right word. They wanted to go, but, well… they also kind of loved what the last little while had been like for them at home. Not so much the part where Maya had gotten hurt from her fall, no, but the rest, with their children and their pets… Starting today, a lot would be forced to change, as they would have classes to go to, and studying to do, assignments to work on… Oh, they were excellent at juggling everything, now more than ever, but there would always be room for error, for one thing being inadvertently neglected… So long as they were still here, that couldn't happen, right?

"Going to be nice to the other kids and make friends today?" Maya asked Lucas when she felt his hold around her shift, showing that he was awake.

"I'll try," he promised, kissing her shoulder. She remained this way for a few beats, just enjoying the way he kept her near, before finally moving to turn around and face him. He welcomed this turn with a kiss which she returned wholeheartedly. "Check us out, our last fall semester," Lucas stated with a small smile. She returned it, knowing what he meant.

For all the deviations on their road, they now stood to finish college at the same time, after this semester and the next. They were only one year off from their original graduation date, which, all things considered, was not bad at all. Just last spring, they had been able to attend many of their friends' graduation, back in Houston, and it could have felt bittersweet to think they should have been there with them, but what did they have to be sad for when they had these beautiful, happy boys? Plus, that graduation meant something wonderful to them. It meant many happy returns.

Riley, Dylan, and Rosa were all back in Austin now, sharing an apartment. And after being away from them for all this time, they would get to call the latter two their schoolmates again, as they would be attending their university. Dylan had finally found the purpose he'd been waiting for, he was going to school to become a gym teacher, and Rosa, after starting with no idea of what she meant to become, had discovered her own calling, and so here she was. Meanwhile, Sophie and Chiara were still living in the house in Houston, the newlyweds having their own home for all of a couple weeks before they got themselves a couple new roomies. Asher and Ray were returning to Texas from New York, and they would be settling down in Houston. That they should move in with the girls had not so much been any one person's plan but a collective thought that they pieced together as a group.

Now here they were, the old group all in Texas once again, with only a two-hour drive splitting some of them. It was like a renaissance for them, even if they were none of them the same people they'd been four years ago. Oh, they were still enough of who they'd been that their friendship thrived as ever, but now there were careers, and spouses, and children to think about. The biggest proof of this change was in this sort of unspoken question hanging about, regarding the defunct TXNY. They were back in Austin now, weren't they? It might be feasible for them to bring it back to life? Maya was doing music again, performing at the occasional open mic at Chubbie's, and she was writing songs again… So, couldn't they consider rebooting the band?

No one had actually said it, but it was clearly right there in the forefront of their minds, like they wanted to ask it whenever they saw her or spoke to her but then would stop themselves. On the other side, on Maya's side… She didn't really want them to ask and maybe they could tell. It wasn't as though she didn't want to get to have the band back, because if it was only about that she would say yes in a heartbeat. But then if she considered everything else then… then she couldn't say yes. How could that possibly work? She had two children, and if everything worked in their favor, she and Lucas would be expecting a third in a matter of months. She was studying to become a teacher, and she was performing at Chubbie's now and then, yes, but entirely in her control. If she couldn't do it for a while for some reason then she wasn't letting anyone down. She got to hold on to her music, and all the while none of her responsibilities suffered, nor did her relationships. She couldn't remake the band, wouldn't. If they wanted to do it, they could and should, with her blessing. But that was in the past for her.

For all the anticipation and the questions brought on by The First Day, it would generally be the case – as it was this time as well – that in the end the whole thing would go by quickly and reveal itself to be not so different from any other day at school. Sure, a lot of the professors didn't keep them for the whole allotted period, and only some of them made a genuine start of the material, but then it would be over, and they'd be back home, waiting to do it all over again the next day.

Lucas had kicked off his fall semester with his wife's words in mind. Make friends. That had been his concern last year, hadn't it? He'd come to this university and made friends right away, had them a while, still had them really, but then he'd shifted into his business studies, so his friends were no longer his classmates. He'd met new people, befriended some of them as well, but then they were on the tail end of their studies, and they'd graduated, while he had one year to go. He wasn't planning to just sit around on his own all year, but he wasn't going to walk out there and approach someone at random and ask them to be his friend. He knew the others, they knew him, and they would speak, hang out at times, but as far as people who would become mainstays for him… Those would come when they came, wouldn't they?

They came on day three. Or at least one of them had been there already while the other made her first appearance ever.

"Hey, Lucas, wait up!" He stopped and turned to find one of his classmates jogging to catch up to him.

He'd known Garrett Holmes since he'd started in his new degree. He worked at the university bookstore and the two of them would chat a while whenever they'd run into each other out there. He also worked at the café, so they would see each other there, too. And to top it off, he worked at the shoe store that was just across from the bookstore where Lucas worked at the mall. When he'd realized how many jobs the guy had, Lucas had been surprised, naturally. In response, Garrett had just laughed like he heard this all the time. It wasn't that he needed the extra money that working three jobs would get him. Instead, his reasoning went that he didn't do well with free time, especially in the midst of studying for his degree. He already did so much reading for class, so he didn't read much for leisure, and if he sat down and watched movies, television, his mind would only wander back to his classwork. Working simply allowed him exactly what he needed to occupy his time and mind in the right amounts. When he was at work, he was relaxing. And he got paid to do it.

"Hey, you doing alright?" Lucas asked, curious after that look in his eyes, like he'd been rattled but in a good way.

"What? Oh, yeah… yeah… You know that girl back in class, the one who sat next to you?" he asked. Lucas thought back, drawing forth the image of the girl who'd spoken to him.

"Carmen, yeah, what about her?"

"Carmen," Garrett repeated to himself. "Is she new? I don't remember seeing her last year."

"She just moved to Texas, finishing out her degree," Lucas confirmed. "Why?"

Garrett stood there a moment, like he'd meant to respond but found no words there to speak, and now he had no idea where to go. That was alright though. Just seeing his response was enough for Lucas to know exactly what it was about. He'd seen this girl, and his heart had flipped. It happened every day, all around the world, no doubt, but just maybe it had never happened to him before.

"You know, she's supposed to be in my next class, too. Where are you headed next?" Lucas asked him. Garrett was also in that class, with Lucas, with Carmen.

They ended up spending their break together, chatting about what they'd done over the summer. Garrett had spent his holidays doing an internship in Cambodia. He'd had every intention of taking the break and enjoying his time off the way most people would, and then the opportunity had come up and there'd been no way for him to let it go by. As he explained now, it had been a near lifelong goal of his to return to the place where he'd been born, where he'd spent the first two years of his life before he was adopted by the Holmes family. It had been very fulfilling to him, in so many ways.

Finally, they headed to their next classroom, and right as they approached they spotted the new girl. Carmen Acosta, previously of Ohio. She'd been in Austin for all of two days due to some delays with her new apartment and some family things back home, so she hadn't even really gotten to take in the city or the university the way she would have liked. When she'd walked into their previous class, she'd dropped into the seat next to Lucas with the look of someone who'd been certain she'd never reach her destination for how turned around she'd been before miraculously finding she'd arrived. It had drawn his attention, and when she'd found him looking she had expressed exactly what he'd surmised on his own. Introductions had been made, after which Lucas had done his best to give her directions to a few places, including this class here. So, when she saw him arriving, she smiled and walked toward him and Garrett.

"Made it, huh?" Lucas tipped his head to her. Carmen responded to this with an energized huff mixed with a laugh.

"Yes, thanks to you. I'm usually able to find my way better than most, but I don't know what it is about this place that I just get turned around this way," she explained, with that same energy she'd displayed back in class earlier.

Standing next to him, Garrett was giving something of a repeat of his earlier stunned expression. He wasn't necessarily a quiet guy but compared to Carmen he might as well have been a mouse. When class would be in session, from what Lucas had seen, she was supremely focused, attentive, as though she went about life always with her hand on the dial, turning it down only when needed and spinning it back to her preferred setting at the earliest convenience. He could see how someone like this would both draw and mystify the likes of Garrett Holmes. The dark-skinned girl had a spray of braids running down her back, and they would sway along as she spoke and moved, giving the impression that she might have been a dancer.

"Do you still need to go to the bookstore?" Lucas asked her, and she nodded, while the usually bright Garrett needed a whole extra five seconds to realize what he was doing. "You know, Garrett here works at the bookstore. I'm sure he'd be a big help with whatever you need." Carmen turned to Garrett. She hadn't been ignoring him, but he'd been so quiet that she'd barely had time to acknowledge him up to now. But she saw him, this offered assistance to textbook salvation, and she smiled warmly. As he watched them introduce themselves to one another, Lucas thought he just might have found his people.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners