May 27th 2023

Chapter 211
From This Day Forevermore

There was really no such thing as going to sleep at night and staying that way straight on to morning, not in their house, not anymore, at least for the two of them as parents. Their interrupted nights were something they'd come to get used to by now, as they would tend to babies, or check in on toddlers… If they could get their kids to sleep soundly through the night, they'd count that as a job well done and carry on.

On the night just ahead of Ava's twelfth birthday, of the day where she would officially become a Friar, as much as they were still on that wavelength, there was also a noted air of sleeplessness by reason of anticipation. Maya couldn't stay asleep so long as to know that she'd slept at all unless she took a look at the time, which she did, enough to make it so that Lucas would wake up, too. He would know without having to ask why she was awake, and he'd know the reason of it wasn't any of their smaller children, not this time. And because they were both awake at the same time, they were both able to hear noise from beyond their room, noise they realized in time to be the television, down in the living room. It wasn't on very loud but, in the quiet of night, it was enough, especially because they recognized it from where they were.

Ava hadn't been super into movies or television when she'd first come to them, and they knew that a lot of it came from how she'd grown up, back with her first family. Then when she'd first come to stay with them, occasionally at first and then permanently, things had started to change. Her eventual little brothers and adoptive parents had a different way of doing things, and she was suddenly introduced to so many titles, which in turn allowed her to discover something else: instant favorites. She had three of them at the moment, and she would have them on as often as she could. The sounds they heard now, coming from downstairs, were therefore deeply familiar to Maya and Lucas both, enough that, as they recognized it and smiled at each other, they briefly lay there, staring at each other and mouthing the dialogue they couldn't even make out all that well. Finally, they decided to get up and go see what their girl was up to.

They found her curled up on the couch, eyes focused on the book she held open before her with one hand, the other keeping the flashlight aimed at the page. She was not watching the movie outright, only mostly had it on in the background, though when the scene changed she did pause her reading and turn her eyes to look at the screen, and it was in doing so that she discovered that she had been 'busted.' She scrambled to sit up and close both book and light, but both Maya and Lucas had the same reflex of holding up their hand, signaling that it wasn't necessary. She hesitated, but finally she rested back, still sort of unsure what to do about her book now that they were there. As they came down to join her, she went ahead and set it down along with the light before reaching to pause the movie.

"No, hey, the best part's coming up," Maya stalled her there again, and Ava smiled, because yes, she did have a point about that. She sat down, after which Lucas moved in, smirking as he made to sit on the other end, which forced her to scoot into the middle, the better to be captured by her mother. "Actually, scratch that, I think this one might be it," Maya told her with a light squeeze, which made her smile so, so brightly.

"Couldn't sleep?" Lucas asked. Ava shrugged. "Didn't want to?" he next guessed, and that was more like it. She wanted to experience as much of the day as possible, and that was just like her, wasn't it? "You're going to fall asleep and miss all the big moments if you don't go to bed now," he pointed out, and he was very certain that his clever girl realized this… but she still couldn't help herself. He only had to see the look on her face to know that she had been restless, down in her room, and she couldn't have gotten herself to fall asleep if she tried. Of course, now, she was in her mother's arms, and Maya was a pro when it came to getting stubbornly wakeful children to fall asleep. Under her very adept hands, Ava was already losing ground, eyes getting small.

"Mama?" she mumbled, all of a finger's grip or two away from falling completely asleep.

"Right here, Sweetpea," Maya quietly promised, leaning to kiss the top of her head. "Sweet dreams, yeah?"

"Mkay…" Ava faintly nodded, and she was asleep.

Looking at her there, they could feel how deeply safe she felt right there, and for having been on this long and complicated journey with her since she'd come into their lives, as they now were mere hours away from completing her adoption, it was only a shame that she was not awake to take in the love emanating from her parents as they sat with her. This day they were about to share together, it would mean so much to her, but also to them, and to their boys, to their entire family at large…

Lucas would carry her down to the basement, to her room and back in her bed once a few minutes had gone by without her stirring. Maya followed him down, the better to look on, and to make sure along with Lucas that she had everything she needed. The book and light were returned to their spot on her nightstand.

Ava had been born at 6:55 in the morning, and she had reminded everyone of this enough times that they would not forget it, making it that much easier then for everyone else to decide that the logical thing to do would be to go and be with her at that exact moment. The boys wanted this maybe more than anyone, and telling time was maybe not all of their forte, but luckily Elliott had enough of a handle on it that he could be counted on by his younger brothers to know when the time would arrive. Their parents were already up, seeing to the twins, but they could hear sounds from the room down the hall for a while, which painted enough of a picture for their parents to have them work very hard to bite back their laughter. About two minutes before The Time, they heard a rise of activity and knew that the trio was coming their way. They collected Simon and Jackson before they arrived, talking all at once with a single message: they had to go find Ava, it was her birthday, it was going to be her for real birthday.

"Okay, come on, let's go, but no running down the stairs, yeah? Just because it's someone's birthday, it doesn't mean we have to end up in a hospital," Maya informed her young sons, to her husband's amusement, which in turn made one and then both of their baby boys laugh. "I mean it," she mock scolded Simon in her arms, but his smile pulled her apart in all of a second. "Not fair," she peppered his face with kisses as they went and followed the others.

There was no telling whether she'd been awake already or not – probably yes – but with the noise of their approach, if she hadn't been awake, then that had done it. When they climbed down the basement steps, they found her still in her bed but very much awake, and whether by pure chance or excellent time management, they made it to the bottom, all of them, just as the alarm clock next to Ava's bed turned to 6:55 in the morning. She was finally, officially, twelve years old, and all her brothers and their parents were there to celebrate this with her. Elliott, Noah, and Jamie all did so by going at a run to climb on to her bed and wish her a happy birthday, either jumping around or pouncing to hug her. Never to be outdone when sensing a good sibling time, the nine-month-old twins made a fuss of reaching toward the rest of them, so they were brought over and deposited where their big sister could get a hold of them. They didn't know what today was, but she did, and oh how glad she was to have them be a part of it.

There was a very strong impulse in them to hurry up and get everyone ready, to go out and make sure they would be on time, but either for remembering that this day was already important before they signed any papers, or realizing that they had more than enough time to sit and have a normal breakfast, they would do exactly that. Not normal… The great grandparents came over, and the grandparents joined them in no time, young aunts and uncles along for the ride… It was a very crowded, very loaded table, and it was just what this day required. Ava might not have stopped smiling for a second throughout.

Finally, it was time for the Friars to get ready, putting on the clothes they had all picked out ahead of time… Maya did Ava's hair, as she would have done regardless, but then as they'd stood together in the bathroom, she saw a smile on the birthday girl's face and had to know where it had come from.

"I just thought about when you fixed my hair, that day, at the ranch? After it was all messed up." The memory alone was enough to make Maya smile along with her, but if that wasn't enough… "That's the first time I really got to know you, and I remember… I wished you were my mom." The words hit Maya right at the heart, a flash of warmth, and she paused in her work to lightly hug Ava from behind. It was a wonder she didn't start crying and got back to work.

But she did finish and, with departure as imminent as it was, Melinda Friar still insisted on taking a few pictures of the family together, in front of the house, of Lucas, Maya, and all their children, with Ava at the heart of the group. Once they were done – as decreed by Melinda – it was off for the long-awaited moment. The drive, as it could only be on a day like this, was full of songs, which was just as well. Deep down, Maya, Lucas, and Ava, too, were all so anxious for what was to come, their nerves were all in knots. But in the cacophony of voices, little by little, knot by knot, they loosened, and nothing would get in the way.

They were hard to miss, all of them coming along together, and they couldn't have asked for more. It was a constant reminder, all along as they waited and as they finally went up and had their moment, that they were all right where they were supposed to be. Ava was not a part of their lives that they had seen coming, but then up until a few years ago, they could have said that of every single one of their children. They had not seen themselves marrying and popping out babies so early in their lives together, but that had happened and, because of that entire sequence of events, they had been in a position to be the family that their girl needed and deserved. Could they have said the same thing if they hadn't had Elliott when they'd done? Would their paths have still crossed? Would she still have been theirs, and if she hadn't, then who would she have become? Would she have been alright?

They would never have to find out. Instead, as of that day, she would be known to one and all as their daughter, as Ava N. Friar. Now, the day she had started out her life would also be the day when she and her parents had stood together, starting their lives together, for always.

"I have a present for you," Ava grinned to Lucas when they all arrived back at the house. He gave her a curious smirk, which made her laugh.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" he asked, pointing to himself. She shrugged. "Alright, fine," he turned to face her properly and held out his hands toward her. "Hit me."

"Wait, I need Mama," she told him before taking off at a run, up the stairs to where Maya had gone to check on the twins' diapers with Katy.

Guests would soon arrive for the double birthday/adoption party, but this clearly could not wait, and anyway Ava seemed to think that this needed to be a more intimate offering, so it would just be the eight of them Friars together plus the Hunters and elder and senior Friars, sitting around the living room while Maya brought out her guitar and sat with her daughter. Ava looked nervous, which would be normal, seeing as she was about to do something she would never have dreamed of doing under normal circumstances, which was to sing on her own, not 'with the radio' singing like in the car but 'all eyes on me' singing.

She had been working with her mother though, working on her abilities as much as on her confidence, and though she was by no means a pristine singer now, she held her own enough to get through this small performance for her father and her gathered family. With Maya accompanying her, playing the melody she'd added to her words, Ava shared their collaboration, the proposed theme for their upcoming series, grown out of their news segments. It was a brief little tune, but she was proud of it, and she had right to be. The smiles she found on her family's faces were anything but put upon, her father's least of all. No, Lucas' smile, brimmed with proud tears, was fixed on her, and it told her everything she needed to know, told her how much he loved her and the fact that this day had happened. When she was done, everyone clapped, and as he opened his arms to her, Ava rushed up to hug him.

"Thank you for that, Sweetpea, thank you so much. You wrote it?"

"Mama did the music," Ava informed him.

"Yeah, I figured she did," Lucas chuckled, turning his eyes to his wife, who treated him to a great bow that made their sons laugh.

"Do you think they're going to let us use it?" Ava had to know.

"I think you and your mother are going to be on high demand after this one. You make a great team."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners