Chapter 115
Jolly Holidays

"What are you doing?"

"Manifesting."

"Manifesting?"

"That's right."

"How's that going for you?"

"Well, I guess we'll see."

Maya woke up on Christmas morning to a feeling she hadn't felt in going on two years by now. Lucas' hand was resting low at her stomach, and there was his thumb, trailing slowly just below her belly button. The last time she'd caught him doing this was when she'd been pregnant with Noah. It was a gesture she'd felt throughout both of her pregnancies, especially in the morning, when she'd wake up in the middle of a 'conversation' between her husband and their unborn sons. It always brought her more joy than she knew to express, and it brought back many memories today, but then she wasn't pregnant at the moment, was she?

Manifesting. Did she think it would magically happen thanks to some belly strokes? No, not exactly, but it was like Lucas said… They would see.

By now, they were both at a point where they weren't nearly as concerned as they had been in the beginning about it taking some time. It was easy to wonder why it took so long when they'd had two babies already, but then they supposed they could consider how many times their sleeping together had not produced a child since they'd first become active with one another. They were determined not to go down the path of excessive calculations and tricks to ensure they'd succeed. They knew enough to put chances on their side, so it was just a matter of things happening when they would happen. Were they ignoring 'windows' and just enjoying closeness for closeness' sake along the way? Oh, absolutely. The time would come, and until it did, then… No stress, no disappointment, only love.

Without a doubt though, if they ended up with a positive test somewhere in February, he would never let her forget he'd done what he'd promised.

"Do you think they're awake in there?" Lucas whispered as they left their room and approached the boys' bedroom door.

"When are they not?" Maya replied, holding a finger to her lips. "At this point, they've probably been in there for like an hour… plotting." This made Lucas laugh, and Maya whipped around at once, pressing her hand over his mouth and shushing him. "Dude!" she whispered, 'warning' him, before turning to the door again.

They'd had some lights leftover… somehow… and they had hung these around the three bedroom doorframes, plunging the hallway in colorful splashes of light mixed with the early morning sunshine from out of their room. There were more of these inside the boys' room, and with how they both had been mesmerized with the addition, Maya and Lucas both foresaw some protests when the time would come to remove them again after the holidays were over. At least they would be the only recent modification to the room that would go away again. The second little bed was staying.

It had been purchased the day after the lights and the tree had gone up, the day of the 'photo shoot' with Grandpa Shawn. Maya and Lucas had told him and Katy about Noah's escape from the crib, and how he'd slept next to Elliott in the bed last night. All had gone well, and while they weren't about to get that second bed and install it after one night like that, after talking it over with Maya's parents, they came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to have it in the house. They could then swap it out with the crib when they were good and ready.

This had happened about a week later, after sharing the one bed had become a perfectly functioning routine. As Elliott and Noah looked on – with their great grandfather there to ensure they didn't go and get their hands caught up where they didn't belong, the crib had been taken away and joined to the other in the basement. The boys had watched the whole thing happen, looking just a bit confused by the hole it left, but then in the time when there was nothing in that space they were able to run up and touch the trunk of the tree their late grandfather had painted. Then, the new bed came, and when it was assembled, they placed Noah's blanket over it, and Tum-Tum Teddy, his early Christmas present of the Tommy the Turtle plush from the aquarium, to match Elliott's Otto the Octopus, and it was clear. This was his bed.

Did it mean that they both stayed in their own beds at night and didn't join up sooner or later? They had never expected it out of Nellie and Gracie back at the Hunter Hart house, so why would they expect it from the Friar boys? Sometimes, those two were about as good as twins with how they behaved when they were together and apart.

This morning, when Maya opened the door, they were sitting on Noah's bed, both of them, staring up at the lights fixed to their ceiling. Lucas had made very certain that they would be secured and in no way reachable by either of the toddlers. But to see how they stared in awe it was possible that neither Elliott nor Noah realized that those were objects they could have touched instead of magical colors.

"Plotting?" Lucas whispered, standing behind his wife. Maya just smiled and advanced on their sons as they finally noticed them and scooted to rise and hurry to them. The whole thing looked like a great family huddle.

"Merry Christmas, guys!" Maya told them. All she could think about in that moment was Christmas morning, just a few years back now, when her sisters had been Elliott's age and they were really starting to get a grasp on things that had been too complex for them before. She was so excited to get to share this moment with them, and it was the same here with her sons but also that much bigger, too. All she wanted for today was to give them the kind of Christmas they would remember if they ever could.

There had been some debate about how they would go about the part of presents, and Santa… Well, as far as Santa it wasn't so hard to decide. In no time, it became like a house myth that maybe – just maybe – their great grandfather was Santa Claus. Not in the 'Pappy Joe dresses as Santa and used to work at the mall over the holidays and now he just does it on special occasions' way, no. They believed, or Elliott believed while Noah echoed him, that Joseph Friar was in fact the Santa Claus. And because he put a lot of importance in this one part of his life, Pappy Joe never ever contradicted them. Actually, he fed into the belief. Of course, he was Santa, but it was very important that they tell no one. It was a secret.

Now as for presents, well… They would see the rest of the family – the Hunters, the Harts, and the Friars – in just a couple of hours at the most, and when they did there would be presents from everyone and it would be a big, almost chaotic sort of thing. That'd be that, but before they ever got there, they were home, and it was Christmas morning with the boys. It was the first time they got to have one of those, one where they really started to take them both into 'the lore.' It was the first time they got to await the passage of Santa, complete with cookies and milk… and carrots for the reindeer, naturally. They'd had plenty of help in telling Elliott and Noah about what would happen and what needed to be done. Anyone from the grandparents, the great grandparents, and the young uncles and aunts, on to the parent group and the aunts and uncles of a friendly nature.

All around, there was a lot of information, but as young as they were, Elliott was at least able to retain some important elements. The biggest one, it seemed, was the all-important snack for Santa. He had told his mom and dad as much, with all the gravitas of his two and a half years, and it was a wonder they'd been able to keep a straight face. They needed cookies. When asked what kind of cookies they should leave, Elliott had stood there a moment, considering, before turning to Pappy Joe for an answer. The man had given his answer, complete with a 'discreet' wink, and then Elliott had turned around and passed the request. The carrots had for their part been a suggestion from Lucas because they simply couldn't forget those reindeer. Santa wouldn't get very far if they were hungry.

To further add to the house myth, Pappy Joe had left the house just as the boys were about to be put to bed for the night. He wouldn't say where he was going, but he would turn a knowing look to his great grandsons, who had no idea he was just going up the road to Sanderson Farm. He'd returned a few hours later, at which point he settled in with his cookies and milk while the presents were brought down to sit under the tree.

It was the first year when they really had to think about what they would give their sons. They knew better than to assume that their grandparents would exercise any amount of self-control. For their own part, well, they didn't want to overdo it – nor could they – but they still wanted to make these mornings special. Elliott would be alright to unwrap his presents… possibly would find equal amusement in playing with the discarded paper… while Noah would need some assistance but would overall get by very well, too.

"I'm starting to get a whole different perspective of Christmas mornings when I was little now," Lucas told Maya as they got the boys in the minivan so they could head out to the Hunter Hart house. This would be the place today, for all of them to enjoy the holiday together. Her families, and his, and the Matthews, and any number of their friends and their families were to spend some or most of the day out there. It would be chaos, and they couldn't wait.

"Yeah, me too," Maya told him. Their versions of Christmas morning with the family would have varied wildly, yes, and they both recognized it as much as they didn't dwell on it. In whatever shape they'd come, those mornings had meant a lot to each of them.

"Are we all set for the… S-a-n-t-a drop?" Lucas asked as they drove off from the house. Maya bit back a laugh, for what good it did with him next to her. "What?" he asked.

"Just the first time I've heard you do the spelling move on them," she nodded to the backseat, where the boys were much too busy jiggling their belled slippers to care. The noise was fine now, though there was every possibility that it would get old very quick. "Do you ever get those moments where you do something for the first time because of them, or they do something for the first time, and then you sit there like 'wow, we are parents?'"

"Yeah…" Lucas chuckled. "How long do you think that's going to keep happening?" he wondered.

"We've still got plenty of firsts to get through," Maya smiled. Good. "And about your question, yes, all set. Let's roll, Huckleberry C-l-a-u-s."

They would end up at the Hunter Hart house, yes, but before they could go there, they had a few stops to make, the better to clear up part of the trunk of some of its load. First, they stopped at Garrett's apartment, then Diana and Farah's, and then Carmen's. None of them were home, all of them out of state to spend the holidays with their families, but for each they either had a key or a neighbor 'recruited' ahead of time for the effort of deploying their presents. Those would be found or received once their parties returned home only, but it had been important for them to deliver these on Christmas day.

The next stop was the Su house. The parents had been notified ahead of time, so they wouldn't wonder about the package they'd find on their doorstep after someone rang the bell and left it there. They'd also know to ever casually ask their daughter to go and get it herself. As they drove off, Maya looked back to find Ariel opening the door and finding the present. She was still in her PJs and slippers, and even as they were getting further, Maya could see her smile when she saw the tag stuck on top.

After this, they made their way to the Buckley house. Again, she had let Stella's parents know about the plan, and they had been all for it. They hadn't been shy in sharing how her sessions with their daughter had been the talk of the house ever since they started. Stella would rejoice them in sharing what she'd done, what she'd seen, what she'd learned, and what she'd been inspired to do as her next projects. When they pulled up, Maya hopped out of the passenger seat. She already had the present, as she'd brought it to sit in her lap after the stop at the Su house. She set it on the front step, rang the bell, and started back for the minivan.

"Merry Christmas!"

Maya startled and turned, frowned, then looked up. There was Stella, leaning at an open window and waving at her with her small smile. She must have gone to look out when she'd heard the bell.

"Well, you caught me," Maya smirked as she called back. "Merry Christmas!" she pointed over to the door and Stella nodded. "I'll see you in a few days."

"Thank you!" Stella called again as she was walking back to the minivan, and Maya whirled around again to wave.

"There, that's handled…" she breathed as she sat next to Lucas and they pulled back on to the road, on to her parents' house.

"Now we know how he feels," he told her. She laughed. It kind of was like that, wasn't it? On a much… much smaller scale.

Their last gifts to distribute would be out at the Hunter Hart house, naturally. Their families would be there, and their friends. They'd done Secret Santa, a couple of times, once with all their parents and grandparents, once with their friends, and then they had something for each of the kids of course. This included Daphne and Stevie Brett, who would be in attendance along with their father. It was absolutely a big step, Abigail bringing her new boyfriend and his daughters to Christmas, but then it was already something to have her there in the first place, and really at this point it had been over a year and a half since Kermit's passing, and if she had met someone who made her happy, there was nothing they could say.

And she was happy, just as he was. Much of that happiness was born of the fact that their children all got along very well. Whatever awkwardness there had been in the beginning on either side, from Sam and Wyatt, or Stevie, who hadn't been part of 'the plan,' that was gone now. They were all gelling very well, and every occasion where the Bretts were included felt like another tick in the positive column. If things kept going down this way, they just might end up seeing a lot more of Stephen and his girls.

"And we didn't even get any cookies," she whispered.

"Trust me, there will be cookies out there," Lucas reminded her, and again she laughed.

"Alright, fair enough."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners