Chapter 153
The Ties Unbound

They'd spent the better part of the last three days cleaning. Maya had been the first to start, early the morning after her call with Betsy Young. Lucas had woken up to find both his wife and youngest son were absent from the bedroom, only to locate them again down in the kitchen. Maya had Jamie settled in the carrier wrapped around her and he was sleeping peacefully while she was washing some of his and his brothers' things in the sink. One look at the rest of the room and it was clear she'd come down here with a plan. He didn't have to ask what it was all for, he understood that this impending visit meant a lot, and that there were so many more implications to Betsy and her family's visit, enough that it had become so very important to her that they present their home in the best possible state. So, he joined the effort.

By the end of the morning, it was all of them, from the main house and the little house, putting in what they could. Elliott and Noah wanted to help, too, which could turn into more of a problem than assistance if not handled properly. The toddlers' definition of cleaning could turn into a bigger mess if left unchecked. But then, under the right framework, it could also be helpful, so they were recruited as very valued assistants, and that was all they needed.

Of course, it couldn't end there. Katy had given her blessing for Maya to do her searches, but she couldn't be kept out of the loop, especially with her cousin coming down to Austin in a couple of days. So, that first afternoon, Maya called her mother and caught her up. She told her about how she'd tracked down Betsy and called her. She told her how she'd found out that the Clutterbuckets were having a party the following week for their anniversary. And she told her that Betsy and her family would be coming to Austin in three days so they could talk face to face. In no time, the Hunter Hart house was pulled into its very own whirlwind, the better to make the place as clean as it had ever been. It was hardly a trait exclusive to the two of them, but it definitely made both Lucas and Shawn see the mother and daughter's similarities.

It also left the two men to understand what was going through their respective wives' heads. Did either one of them think that Betsy would look at their homes with any kind of judgment, like every surface had better shine and sparkle or else she would turn her nose at them? Not at all. Whether they knew her personally or only through stories, they knew it wouldn't be Betsy's type at all. No, the thing that was driving them, whether justified or not, was the possibility of anyone else hearing about this visit and making those same judgments. It might not have made total sense, but it was enough that it was the only way they could move forward as they awaited the arrival. So, everyone cleaned… and cleaned… and cleaned… The goal was for them to make the most of what time they had, giving it what they had but stopping on the afternoon before Betsy's arrival, culminating in a family dinner up at the young Friars' house. Rain poured outside, but inside the very clean house, the Friars – young, elder, and senior – and the Hunters were all gathered, for a much more relaxed time than they'd had in days.

"You know, this reminds me of those days before Christmas, family coming…" Lucas declared as he sat back down with Jamie in his arms after returning from changing the boy's diaper. He turned this comment over to his mother and Melinda laughed as she bowed lower in her seat, the better to get into her grandson's line of sight and get a smile out of him as she reached out and stroked his cheek.

"Yeah, I remember those, too," Maya nodded with a grin. She had her little brother in her lap. Three-year-old Alex tended to prefer sitting with someone than by himself, and when visiting someone – especially his big sister – he would always prefer to be with his hosts. He'd be at peace there. "Couldn't step anywhere, touch anything…"

"Now, it's not that bad…" Melinda persisted with a smile, though her son, daughter-in-law, husband, and father-in-law couldn't exactly back her up on this. Even her grandsons seemed baffled, like they were becoming very aware of the Granny Mel Rules, and the statement didn't feel accurate. Still, she'd been a great help, in both homes, over the past few days, so if anything, they were all thankful for her… attention to detail.

They'd all finished eating now, and when Nellie Hunter asked if they could watch a movie, it wasn't long that her twin, her little brothers, and her young nephews wanted this as well, so Maya went ahead and got them set up. One look out the window made her worry that they could end up with a power outage before long, but she chose to set that thought aside for now. The six kids were all sort of in a heap on the couch, the movie was starting, and they were happy.

She'd barely made it back to the kitchen that Elliott called for her and she stopped with a sigh. Here she'd been, forgetting her eldest's tendency to wait until right when everyone was in place before telling anyone that he had to go to the bathroom…

But this wasn't anything to do with a 'sudden emergency.' When she walked back into the living room, Elliott was at the window, Noah coming up next to him, while the little Hunters were moving to join them. Maya was about to ask what they were looking at, but she could see the telltale flare of car lights outside, so she had her answer. Someone was coming. She barely had time to reach this conclusion that the doorbell rang. Now the kids looked about to rush over there, but Maya signaled for them to stay where they were while she went and saw who it was.

Maya only vaguely registered the taxi heading back out on to the road and driving off. She was much more focused on the young woman standing on her porch, less on the fact that she was a stranger and more that she was drenched from the rain… and had enough of a belly to show she was heavily pregnant. This was enough to get Maya to quickly invite her in so she could shut the door and bring her into warmth.

"I wasn't sure I was in the right place…" the woman breathed as Maya helped her bag off her shoulder. "Think the driver was getting sick of me repeating the address in the end," she lightly laughed, just a bit out of breath. Maya's thought at first was that the slight turn of her voice reminded her of something, but she was still just focused on everything else. The kids were all just sort of standing around, watching the scene, and possibly some of the party back in the kitchen was coming around to see who had shown up so unexpectedly. "But then I saw you, and I knew it was the right one," the woman went on, pulling her hood from her head.

Her blond hair had been pulled into a hasty knot before being stuck inside the hood, so on the whole it had fared well against the storm. It was also kept well off her face, and when Maya saw it, she could only gasp. The little Hunters could hardly count, and not even the Harts out of New York to a point. It wasn't until she'd met Luna that she'd found herself stood before another grown person, a stranger to her, with so distinct of a family resemblance to her. Then there'd been her paternal grandparents… She'd never come across anyone from her mother's side of her family tree, not until this night. Her visitor was clearly related to her, and she looked so much like her mother, especially the image she had of her from when she was growing up.

"Woah…" Gracie spoke in awe, and Maya was pulled from her shock enough to remember herself.

"Here, let me take your coat," she moved to help the stranger out of the soaked thing. Nellie offered herself at once to go and bring it upstairs and she sped off with it as soon as it was given over. The woman was looking around at the all the children, and at Maya, and she was clearly overwhelmed, too, overwhelmed but fascinated more than anything. "You must be freezing, take this," Maya pulled her vest off and draped it around her shoulders. She went and took up a pair of slippers they kept near the door 'for such an occasion,' as Melinda Friar might say. "Better, huh?" Maya nodded when she saw the relief flood the woman's face. She knew enough to know that, at this point, the worse thing than shoes would be wet shoes.

"Yes," she nodded with a small laugh. They were both silent for a moment, then spoke at the same time. "This is awkward, I know."

"I'm being weird, I'm sorry." They laughed at the same time, and now Maya's shock felt a bit more balanced with the familiar stranger's. "I-I'm Maya…"

"I know, I… Betsy told me…" she explained.

"Oh? Oh!"

She hesitated now. For a split second, she'd thought 'oh, this must be her wife, early for some reason?' But then no, that wouldn't make sense, especially since the look of the woman made it clear that she'd be just as related to Betsy as she'd be to her mother… Alright, so her first instinct had been wrong, but still it explained how she'd ended up here… part of it. She was another Clutterbucket relative, and Betsy had told her about their getting in touch… Had she told anyone else? It still didn't explain what she was doing here so out of the blue, the night before Betsy was due to show up…

"She's coming… tomorrow," she said it aloud, and the woman nodded.

"I know. I told her I wanted to come, too, so she gave me the address. I didn't actually make it clear I'd get here first, or else she might have… told you… Maybe I should have waited," she frowned to herself, suddenly unsure of herself. For the first time, she looked nervous.

It had been long enough now that the party in the kitchen did finally wonder what was going on, and so Lucas came around to find his wife, baby still in arm… and so did his mother-in-law.

"Maya, who is it?" Lucas asked.

It was a miracle that the kids had been as quiet as they'd been all this time, and maybe they were just surprised, confused, enough that they simply stood there. But then Lucas and Katy came along, and the two of them and the two at the door all sort of stopped at the same time, each pair staring at the other… Maya kept looking from the stranger over to her mother and back, even as the two of them were locked in a stare, one in completely confused shock, the other looking like she might cry, as though something she'd been waiting for had finally happened.

"Mommy, that lady looks like you!" MJ cut in now, full of five-year-old fascination and nothing else, even as Nellie came back down to rejoin them. When she saw her mother, she ran over to her.

"Who is she, Mom?" she asked, not nearly as quietly as she might have gone for.

Katy had no answer for her, and how could she? One look at her made it clear that she couldn't have been born yet by the time she'd run off to New York. She'd never been home again, never been in touch with anyone over there… But they were related, they were so clearly related…

"Charlie," the woman answered the question, and they looked at her. "My name's Charlie… Well, Charlene, but you can call me Charlie," she explained with a smile and a nod to the seven-year-old. Nellie smiled back. She liked the name.

"Uh…" Maya's thoughts ran ahead of her, thinking it might be best to shrink down this audience before they carried on but also that she couldn't simply chase everyone off. "These are my sisters, Nellie and Gracie," she pointed them out in turn. "And my brothers, MJ and Alex," she pointed. They all waved when their names were called. "Over there's my husband, Lucas, and our boys, Jamie, Elliott, Noah…"

"Here, let's go back into the kitchen," Lucas came up, getting the message from her look. He worked to gather the kids and lead them out of the living room.

"The movie?" Noah asked, following his father.

"Later, bee," Lucas promised.

"I want to stay," Gracie insisted, and her siblings echoed this sentiment.

"If you come, there'll be ice cream," Lucas told them, and they had no more arguments.

For a few seconds, the three women remained standing where they'd stalled, until Charlie asked if it would be alright if they sat down, and Maya and Katy shifted to move the conversation over to the couch, where their guest ended up in the middle.

"How many weeks?" Maya asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Uh, thirty-two," Charlie replied, hands landing atop her belly. "Little boy…" she added with a smile that she shared with Maya, having just been introduced to her boys, and Maya smiled back. "We have a girl, too, three years old. Caitlin… Caity…" her smile lifted again. At this, Katy found her voice again, asking what her daughter had been wondering for several minutes already.

"Who are you? I mean, you… we…" she gestured between the two of them. Charlie nodded, understanding. Still, now that the question had been put to her, it took her a moment or two to figure out how best to respond. Here again, Maya got that sense of a lengthy anticipation fulfilled, which only made it that much more important not to mess up.

"I was born… about two years after you went away, the most… unplanned baby you could imagine but, as I was told, the most timely too, because… they were so broken up, nearly broken apart. They knew how badly they'd gotten it before, but they got another chance, and I think… They just wanted so much to get it right this time, and maybe… maybe, one day, you'd come back."

The pieces had been falling into place already, but now it was as though the rest landed all at once. Charlie looked so much like Katy, yes, and for good reason: she was her sister.

"I know this is a lot to take, and maybe I shouldn't have just shown up like this without warning, but, well, it's not like there's a soft way to drop this kind of news, and then... I've been wanting to meet you for so long, and when Betsy told me how she'd heard from you, or... from Maya," Charlie turned to look at her before returning to Katy. "I've been told I can be a bit impulsive, sometimes. I had no idea you would be here tonight, that I'd be meeting you... I've got so much I want to say, to know... And I realize I've said plenty already, and maybe it's all too much at once or at all... If you don't want me to..."

Maya's eyes had been flitting between the two of them as Charlie rambled on. Even as she was getting to feel how much her aunt... Yes, this was her aunt, even if she was only a year older than her... Even as she was getting to see how much the two sisters were as alike to one another as they were unique, she couldn't help but focus a lot more on her mother.

She just wondered so much about what had to be going through her mind at the moment. She had been an only child - as far as she'd known - for all forty-three years of her life, and suddenly she had to adjust to the knowledge that she'd been a big sister even longer than she'd been a mother. Here was this lively young woman she'd never met but was undeniably her little sister... Whatever notions she may have had of what her parents' lives had been in all this time, she now would have to realize had been all wrong, as none of them would have factored another child... and grandchildren other than Maya herself and the little Hunters.

"Charlie," Katy finally spoke, setting her hand over her sister's. "Breathe," she told her, smiling. That alone was enough to settle some of the mood in the room. Both Maya and Charlie would have felt tense, waiting to see how she would react. But they were okay, better than okay... "Hey, fella..." Katy spoke now, looking down, and Maya guessed that Charlie's baby, Katy's nephew, had just gone and kicked, where his aunt could feel it. That's my cousin... Maya smiled.

Deciding it might be best to give the sisters a chance to talk alone, she excused herself and headed toward the kitchen. If not for the rain, she could just see them all going out the back door and staying outside. Instead they had been stuck not too far from the living room, caught between trying to give the trio some privacy and trying to keep the kids quiet, and trying to keep themselves quiet. All they'd had to go on was that some young pregnant woman who looked an awful lot like Katy had shown up. They were all very curious about who she was, how could they not, but any attempt to discuss the question would only get the kids going...

From what she found now, Patty had stepped into her professor shoes and set out to entertain the kids - and the adults - with a quiet but entertaining game. This all came to a stop when they saw her, and now she had to find a way to explain what she knew, but...

"Alright, now I've got a game idea," Pappy Joe stood from his chair.

A minute later, under the cover of a couple of vests and a sweater, they could see Pappy Joe and Patty leading the little Hunters and two of the Friar brothers across the short distance to their house. Only baby Jamie remained, in his Pappy Tom's arms, allowing Maya to sit back around the table and explain what little she could to her in-laws, her father, and her husband. As she'd known it would, the news hit hardest on Shawn, who now had the look of wanting to go and be with his wife but knew that it would be best for him to stay where he was for now.

It was nearly an hour before Katy called to let them know that they could come to the living room. None of them but Maya and Lucas had seen Charlie up to that point, and they were as taken with awe as the others had been at seeing how much she resembled her big sister. Introductions were made, and everyone was very happy to get to know one another as they could clearly see that the sisters were getting along.

Charlie had had a long day with her journey out from Arkansas and she was growing tired now that she'd done the thing she'd set out to do the most. She was aiming to get a hotel room, but at once Maya and Lucas offered to put her up for the night. It would be the swiftest landing to sleep, and Charlie graciously accepted. With that, it was decided that the guests would head on home. The Hunters would be back for breakfast the next morning, all ready to greet Betsy when she'd arrive. What a surprise it would be when she'd find her young cousin had beat her to it...

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners