February 2nd 2024

Chapter 33
The Needs of Minds

"Alright, bud, home time," Lucas told Ezra as he buckled him into his seat.

"Home time!" Ezra echoed him. That was the routine, every day he spent at the ranch. It had started when he'd been smaller, when the second he realized that they were about to leave he would start and throw a fit. Lucas knew it was natural, for a tiny boy like him, but he also knew that he would brighten all over again the moment he made it home, to his Mama, to his sisters, to the dogs… So, 'home time' became the link, and it worked.

"And I have a solid playlist for you today. Ready?"

"Yeah!" he squealed. Lucas laughed, made sure those bouncing legs and waving arms were safely inside when the door was closed.

What followed was 'the Ezra show,' as the boy, closer and closer to his second birthday by the day, did his best to sing along to the words of each song that brought him and his father on their way home. Lucas would often park his phone, camera angled toward the car seat, recording these performances for Maya. They couldn't wait to show them to Ezra when he'd be older.

And after all that, the greatest prize for the - currently - youngest Friar was to be reunited with his sisters as they were picked up from school. They would wonder sometimes about how they all perceived their baby brother's existence within their family. The little sisters, Mackenzie and Aubrey, might not recall the very important fact that their mother had not been pregnant before he arrived, might just assume it had been so and moved on. Marianne understood it all very well, and she'd only showered him with more affection for it. Somewhere in the middle, the triplets were just that, in the middle. They had to have been old enough to know that something had been missing, but they never brought it up, in such a way that their parents weren't sure that they did know, and if they didn't, then they weren't sure if they should confirm it for them. They wouldn't hide it forever, but at this point, it felt safer, for Ezra's birth parents' sake most of all, to not confirm things one way or the other. Ezra was their son, their girls' baby brother, and that was all that mattered.

With his sisters around him for the rest of the ride home, he continued to sing along - holler along - and they backed him up. When they sang with him, it was the funniest thing, sweetest thing, the way his little voice almost straightened up. He mirrored them, and did very well for it. Between this and all the stories they read him, it was no wonder how well his vocabulary was coming along.

"Mama!" Ezra merrily realized when he recognized the start of the song. He needed just two notes, even one, to know it was one of Maya's songs. Lucas had the ride very well timed, enough that he could slip in one of his wife's songs at the end of the playlists, a signal that 'home time' had reached its end… home… and Mama soon with him again.

It was dinner night with Freddie and Agnes, and Ezra had had a very active day back at Sullivan Stables, enough so that his clothes were a patchwork of dirt and grass stains, and potentially other things, enough so that his car seat was usually lined with a blanket they could remove and wash when they'd bring him home. So, when he was reunited with Maya, mother and son soon disappeared into the house, the better to get him cleaned up and changed ahead of their guests' coming.

"Quick washing, okay? I promise, very quick, and then we can pick out your clothes, yeah?" Maya told Ezra, sensing he didn't see the need for it and just wanted to play. She sat him on the bathroom counter and asked him to tell her about his day while she got the dirty clothes off him. This was as good of a tactic as they would get. Ezra Friar loved to talk, and as he did so, he didn't look aware of his mother's work, cleaning his hands… and his arms… and his legs… and brushing his hair as she made sure nothing had gotten into it enough that she'd have to wash it… He continued with his occasionally gibberish-like retelling of what he'd done at the ranch. By the time they had his new clothes picked and she was getting him dressed, Maya got to hear him sing out what he recalled of her song, and hugged him, trying not to get too emotional at this reminder that he had his second birthday right around the corner.

She wouldn't be the only one thinking about it, not where the family was concerned and especially where his birth parents were either. To look at the two of them as they were let into the house that evening, the notion had been running through their minds since they'd started getting ready to come over. Now they were here, and they saw him, all giddy because he knew them by now - as his mother's 'friends' - and it was truly a miracle that they didn't give themselves up for who they were right then and there.

The Friar girls were as good of a diversion as any, whether they realized that this was the role they played or not. They counted Freddie as something like family since he'd gone and lived with their grandparents a while. He was almost like one more uncle, except that he didn't live with them despite being in college like the other ones. And Agnes had been part of Born Curious, she'd been to the house several times, and she was always really good with them, so they thought she was fantastic. Agnes very much thought the same about them, whether or not it had anything to do with how they were such loving sisters to Ezra.

Of course, never to be left forgotten, Ezra recaptured his guests' attention by showing them how he knew his Mama's song, just as he'd shown Maya. The way it hit the two of them, bringing them right over the precipice of tears, it was a wonder that the entire world didn't immediately get the memo that they were the pair responsible for bringing that baby boy into the world before leaving him on the Friars' doorstep on a December night almost two years ago now. But they smiled through those tears, and they encouraged him to keep going, so they primarily looked like they were moved by his song on its merits alone, and for no other reason.

"You're such a good little singer already!" Agnes congratulated him, holding out her hands so that Ezra would see them and understand right away what he should do. He gave the double high five with all the energy he could.

"We sing all the time, right, EZ?" Mack went and crouched next to her brother, and he nodded. "Mommy's the best. Daddy's good, too," she added, and Maya snorted while Lucas gave his approval on this statement with a slow nod. "We all learned from them. But EZ learned from all of us."

It was an almost territorial statement, and they played it off for laughs, but it left both the couples thinking that maybe Mackenzie Friar was not only aware that her brother was not related to her by blood, but also that he was of Freddie and Agnes' blood, and their being here might have left her afraid that somehow she would lose her little brother, that they were going to take him from her.

There was little that they could do to reassure her of anything at this point, not without making a big scene of it, so the best that they could do was to continue with their evening together and somehow show her in the process that she couldn't be further from the truth as far as there being any chance of Ezra being taken from them. And was and would forever be her little brother. The kids played around with their guests while they waited for dinner to be ready, and it was a slow going campaign to bring Mackenzie around. It was hard to say whether she'd understood things or not, but by the time everyone was called to sit at the table, she was at least playing with Freddie and Agnes, too, suggesting that her brief fear had disappeared. They felt they knew it for sure by the time mention of Ezra's upcoming birthday party came into conversation and Mackenzie didn't hesitate to add her voice to that of her sisters', insisting that Freddie and Agnes should be there, too. If anything, they were the ones who were hesitating about saying yes, but there was no space for them to say no, so they didn't.

At dinner, tales ran back and forth among the diners. The big topic that night was easily the selection of Freddie Jacek as assistant coach to Dylan for the boys' basketball team. He was balancing this new post now with his mentorship at the school as well as his classes at the university. But he was very much determined in his achievements, a trait he'd had even before he'd ended up living as part of the extended Hunter family, and there was no doubt he would do very well. He was also in a mutually supportive relationship with Agnes, so even as she encouraged him with his projects, he did the same with her. She had once known exactly what she wanted to be after high school, but it was very understandable that, once she'd become pregnant, and had Ezra, and given him up, her thoughts had been left in a turmoil, enough so that she didn't know who she wanted to be anymore. Now, she was in college, yes, and so far she really enjoyed her classes, but it was unclear where they were meant to take her. She wasn't in a rush though. Not unlike her former gym teacher, patience was key.

Agnes was invited up to see the girls' rooms after dinner, with Ezra tagging along. It wasn't until later that Maya learned this had been a ploy, engineered by Marianne at Freddie's request, so the kids wouldn't be around when he asked to speak with his colleague and former teacher.

"Look, I… I don't know how to say this without it sounding weird, but have you looked at Clare Yoon lately?" he started, looking awkward, yes, but also honest, and sort of concerned.

"Looked at her how?" Maya asked, though some part of her knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I really only started noticing because of Cait being there, too, as sort of… comparison? Cait looks the same as they've always looked, as far as I can tell, but Clare… She's lost weight, she's losing weight. After I noticed it the first time, I guess I couldn't help comparing again." Now that he said it, now that the image of the twins appeared in her mind… she could see it, too. She had seen it, but maybe she'd just chalked it up as 'normal' weight loss at first, but if she really put all the pieces together, she wasn't so sure anymore. And maybe Freddie had cause for concern.

"If she's sick, no one's said anything," she told him. "Not that they should have to, but… still… And if she's not sick, then…" If they were on the right track and Clare Yoon was dealing with an eating disorder, then she wouldn't be the first that Maya had seen in her years of teaching. It didn't make it any easier, from one case to another, but if that was what it was, then she would do her best to help, as Freddie already looked ready to do, too. "We can't just jump to conclusions, okay?"

"No, I know," Freddie promised. "But what do we do?" Maya breathed, hand moving to her belly on instinct.

"I don't know… not yet…"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners