Chapter 140
Summer Sun & Little Sons

"Hey, where'd Mommy go?" Lucas asked when he looked up to the porch and found the boys stood there but no Maya. Hadn't she been there seconds ago, ready to get in and take off? Elliott and Noah both shrugged, the former pointing into the house, causing the latter to imitate him.

When Maya appeared again a few minutes later, Lucas was just finishing up having settled the two boys into their seats. It would have been fair to say he'd wrangled them, as they'd gotten it in their heads to chase one another around the lawn before deciding that it was even more fun to have their father try and catch them. Sooner or later, they would be old enough to figure out that he could run a lot faster than he let on and that he slowed himself done for the sole purpose of getting to hear them laugh and squeal with great, giddy delight.

"I'm getting the idea that going on a road trip these days might not be the best idea?" Maya informed her husband with a semi-exasperated sigh as she started down toward him after shutting the door and climbing down the steps. "Our little tadpole in here is playing tricks with my bladder…"

"Well, then it's a good thing we have a bathroom coming along with us," Lucas smirked, more so at the look of curious uncertainty his words produced as she tipped her head to look past him.

This was a joint graduation gift, from his parents and hers. They hadn't bought the RV, but it was theirs for the span of this summer family vacation, just him and her and their boys. It was the ideal time for them to go, now that they'd finished school and before this third pregnancy reached its inevitable conclusion in about two months' time.

So, finally, they hit the road. All things considered, they were all very excited at the idea of this particular trip. Maya had previously recounted a summer where she'd gone on an RV trip with the Matthews. She'd been nine, and beyond the hilarity of hearing Riley's parents argue over the driving of the vehicle, she'd just felt like the whole thing was some big adventure, much more interesting than going on a plane, or a train, or being stuck in a normal car for hours on end. And then Lucas, he'd had a similar experience, only in that Asher's family had had one when the boys had been growing up, and he and the rest of the turtle friends had constantly gone in it, not while it was in motion but parked out by the Garcia house. It had been their secret lair. When they'd finally sold it off, the boys had snuck in for one last session… and to salvage all their hidden treasures.

When the RV had been brought out to the house, they had to admit, they'd both felt like a couple of kids all over again at the thought of going inside and seeing what it had to offer. It only made it better that they could watch Elliott and Noah discover it, too. Stepping through the door, it seemed to have blown their little toddler minds… They would have spent the previous night in there already if they'd been allowed. Instead, they'd been convinced to sleep back inside the house, just that one night, on the promise that they would be taking off the next morning, and then they'd get to spend several nights sleeping in there. They agreed, though they were not so happy to hear that they'd be leaving their pets behind. The dogs had been taken by the Hunters, the cats by Missy Sanderson.

The first stretch of their long drive went by relatively fast, all things considered. Maya had always been very confident in that she and Lucas could be counted on to keep children entertained through the most sluggish of drives, and they had long proven this to be true. Even if they were not allowed to just run around while they were driving, they still had an excellent view from where they sat, and the Friar boys were led in a rousing game of 'what do you see?' Maya would take each thing they provided her and weave it into a narrative of her own making, each new addition taking this story down a new and increasingly silly path to make her boys laugh. Every once in a while, Lucas would call back with a suggestive prompt from the driver's seat, and Maya would gladly integrate that, too. By the time they stopped for lunch, their quaint, down to Earth tale had kicked off for outer space.

"Alright, no one tell Granny Mel about this, yeah?" Lucas smirked as he returned from the restaurant with a large bag and a tray of drinks. The boys grew instantly curious, stretching up on the bench until Maya gently pulled for them to sit back down before they could fall.

"Hey, she was the one who kept saying we earned this vacation," she pointed out with an innocent shrug. "It's not like we're not going to use the kitchen, just… not now." Melinda Friar had been in here for the better part of the previous afternoon, investigating and testing out the various components of the RV's kitchen, the better to send them off with an idea of how it all worked. They had food in the small refrigerator… for later.

For the time being, they got to sit around the table, the four of them, and enjoy their lunch as a family. Lucas could see, as he'd expected, that he and Maya were likely going to spend the entire trip exchanging looks and trying not to get the giggles about being in the RV. It was like whenever they got to spend any night in a hotel room, only better somehow. Getting to be here with the boys, too, well… That really took it to the next level. They didn't know what the extent would be, of their being able to take their sons out on vacation like this in years to come, but it was their intention to try and make it a tradition if they could, the better to make memories together.

The drive resumed after lunch, and a brief, digestive walk, the better to ensure that Elliott and Noah would go down for a nap for a while. This was achieved, with greater success still, as Maya dozed off with them, stretched out on the big bed. When she woke up again, it was nearly dinner time. They'd stopped, and she could smell food… cooking. The boys were still sleeping, showing signs of waking at any moment. After resettling the blanket – Elliott's green 'sprout' one – over them, Maya got up and moved out to see what Lucas was up to.

"Here, let me take over," she motioned for him to go and sit.

"It's alright, I got it," he promised.

"And you've been driving how long? Huckleberry?" she poked at his arm, willing him to move. He chuckled. The nickname was as good as telling him 'don't be a hero, dork, I'm not bedridden.' So, he relented, and he went to sit down while she took his place. "Did we make it to…"

"Yeah, we're here," he confirmed, nodding out the window. They were stopped for the rest of the day, would spend the night before continuing on for the final stretch on their way to Florida. "Do you want me to…" he moved to rise, only to be encouraged to sit back down with a quick noise out of Maya.

If he kept this up, she'd talk at him in her best drawl all night, just to hammer in the fact that he needed to turn down his Huckleberry tendencies. It almost made him want to make sure she would do that, just because it made the boys laugh… and it made him smile. Lately, Elliott had been trying to imitate her, whenever she did it. According to her, the further along she got into her pregnancy, the more often it ended up becoming necessary.

"How was the bed?" he finally asked her, the better to help him keep from standing again.

"Very good, surprisingly, although there were all these legs and arms knocking into me, don't know what we can do about that," she joked.

"Not sure either," Lucas smirked. "I can go and have a look."

"Maybe hold off a bit, until this is ready. The 'problem' might solve itself…"

As it turned out, after a whole day on the road, and a quiet evening in the RV, they were all very contented with their bed, extra limbs or no. The next morning, they took off soon after breakfast, the better to reach their destination by early afternoon. Today, they set aside their wild travel story making in favor of the tried-and-true sing along. Maya loved putting on the most exaggerated bit of lip-synching for the benefit of Elliott and Noah. They would watch her like there was absolutely nothing better in the world, and when prompted, they would do their best to do as she did whenever any of their more familiar songs came on. Of the two of them, Noah was showing himself to be far more expressive, though Elliott was really very good, too.

"I'll be back soon, okay? I'll just go and grab some…" Lucas moved to exit, only to be stopped by a couple of eager voices. The boys wanted to go with him, wherever he was going. They'd already had their nap, to ensure they could head out and spend as much time as possible beyond the RV instead of staying for the rest of this second day 'at home.' Lucas turned a look toward Maya, asking with his eyes.

"Yeah, you go on ahead, I'm just going to see what it's like back there… all by myself," she ended with a smirk to him. No extra limbs it said, and he chuckled.

So, they took off, the Friar guys, all three together, Elliott holding on to his father's hand, while Noah was up balanced in his other arm. They could generally count on the boys holding one another's hand, with Noah holding their father's or mother's. But being that they were far from Austin, Lucas couldn't help but want to ensure he had a grip on both boys at all times, so they wouldn't wander off out of sight. When they got to the store, he put them both in a basket, and they were good to go.

"Alright, you two stay right in front of me, yeah? No running?" Lucas told them after they left the store and curiosity made them want to keep walking around. They'd been in the RV for most of this day and the one before, and they were in a city they had never seen before, and they were little boys, with a lot of their mother in them and a father at the mercy of wanting his sons to put in as much 'exploring' as they could.

"Okay, Daddy," Elliott nodded, reaching to grab his little brother's hand at once. He wouldn't let him go so soon.

They ended up in a souvenir shop, which was potentially the most mesmerizing place for the boys to end up right about now. They'd been told not so long ago about when their parents and their friends had gone on their Europe trip after high school, they'd seen some of the old shirts, and some trinkets here and there in their house. Now, they were in this store, and they understood that was what these things were. They wanted everyone to have shirts, so Lucas went about helping them pick out shirts in their sizes, plus one for him, and one for Maya.

"Ell-i-ott. Elliott! Daddy, look!" Elliott pointed up at the display of small nameplates.

"Yeah, that's your name, Sprout," Lucas grinned.

"Where's mine?" Noah scanned the rack, unable to tell if any of them bore his own name.

"Can you find it?" Lucas asked Elliott, who quickly set himself to the task. While he was looking, Lucas grabbed one of the Elliott plates and held on to it.

"That one! No-ah!" the boy pointed and hopped around, while his brother looked where he pointed.

"Good job," Lucas nodded. "Can you find Mommy's?" The search resumed, and a Noah plate was pulled from the rack.

Elliott found a 'Maya,' and when prompted he also found a 'Lucas' one. It was a wonder they'd all been available, no one finding their name hadn't been represented. They were nearly set to depart, with their shirts, and their nameplates, and a few other things, but then surprise of all surprises, Lucas spotted another important name, right there… It felt like the universe was throwing them a favor. He took one, making sure the boys wouldn't see, especially Elliott, who might have managed to read what it said.

"Mommy!" Noah came running up to the bed, startling her out of half-slumber under the green, knitted blanket. She blinked and lifted her head.

"Hey, you're back," she smiled. "Did you guys find everything you…" she started to ask, only to be presented with a small rectangle. "What's that?"

"It's for you!" Noah informed her.

"For… Oh! Do you know what this says?" Maya asked, turning it back around for him to see the four letters on the front. Noah looked at it for a second, then back to her.

"Mommy!" he proclaimed.

"… yeah, that's exactly what it says," she agreed. "Thanks, Bee. Where's your brother?" A moment later, she got her answer as Elliott 'jumped' into the room, showing his brand-new shirt as he now wore it. Maya laughed. "You look great!" she told him as he came up to her while she sat up.

"We all got one," he told her with a nod.

"Me, too?" she asked him, indicating her belly. "A big one?" The boys nodded.

Later, after an evening out and about, wearing their new shirts, they returned to the RV, where the boys promptly fell into heavy sleep, back in the bed, while their parents sat outside. Here at last, Lucas revealed his secret purchase, and Maya gasped from delighted surprise.

"I can't believe you found everyone's," she shook her head, holding the nameplate in her hands.

"Yeah, couldn't believe it either, had to take them for that," Lucas reasoned.

"Definitely," Maya agreed. She thought about the other four plates, stuck to the refrigerator door. Oh, how she wanted to add this fifth one… She would do it, on their own fridge back home, in two months. He may not have been born yet, but like with graduation, he had been there, on this trip.

They would spend three full days in Florida before starting up on their journey back toward Austin, for a total of seven days away. They made it their mission to spend as little time as possible back at the RV in those three days. They had their museum and theme park day, and after how the boys loved their time at the beach on the second day, they ended up repeating on their last day. Maya spent most of those two days sitting on her chair in the sand, in the shade, and that was really fine by her. She got to relax, got to watch Lucas play around with the boys, who were having the best time… She even got to break in the new sketchbook Lucas had gotten her for the trip. Several pages were filled with images of her husband and their sons, others of total strangers who inspired her hand. A couple of pages had words on them… The call to songwriting had a way of creeping up on her out of nowhere, and she would do her best not to squander what it offered her. She really wanted to get back to performing if she got the chance.

On day three, knowing it was their last day, Lucas set out with the goal of teaming up with the boys – with Maya's artistic input nearby – and build the greatest and tallest sandcastle they could put together. You could not find two more devoted boys in gathering and packing up buckets of sand, bringing them back to their father.

"Look at that, Bee, come here, right here," Lucas waved Noah over. "Careful," he told him as he came to stand next to him, next to the castle, which was now officially about the same height as him.

"Woah!" Noah blinked, reaching out his hand to touch it but then deciding against it. Elliott stood next to him, inspecting the work in progress, just a few inches away from being as tall as him, too.

"Yeah, you next, Sprout," Lucas promised him.

"We're not staying until it's as tall as you, are we?" Maya joked.

"I mean, I would," Lucas smiled back at her. "I'll build you an art room."

"Okay, alright, just, you know, leave some sand for the other dads, yeah?"

As on previous nights, the boys were good and tuckered out by the time they did make it back to the RV, and in return, Maya and Lucas got to enjoy one of their favorite things about this trip, the quiet hours under the stars before they turned in, too.

"You know, if it wasn't that I'm pregnant out to here and only getting bigger by the day, I'd say let's just keep going… Drive around the country, the four of us together… for weeks and weeks," Maya hummed, her head resting about as comfortable as it was going to get, with his shoulder as a pillow.

"I'd be on board for that," Lucas agreed. His hand sat at her belly, catching the occasional movement from the baby here and there. "Next summer, we could do it… maybe?"

"A four-year-old, three-year-old, and a… ten-month-old…" Maya estimated. They quietly considered it for a moment or two before exchanging a look. Maybe not next summer, more like the one after that, unless they were expecting again by that time, who knew?

"Someday, definitely," Lucas offered.

"Someday," Maya echoed. It might take two years, or three, or five, or ten, but they would do it. Them, their children, an RV, and the country… It would happen. For now, they had two more days on the road ahead of them, with stories and songs, and they would enjoy every minute, all the while feeling the call of home. That could be even more powerful than the novelty of their home away from home.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners