February 12th 2024

Chapter 43
The Trouble With Fairy Dust

As if the excitement hadn't already been palpable among the Friars over the last few days of November, it so happened that the last day of that month and the first of the next landed on a Saturday and Sunday this year. This made it so that, by the time November 30th rolled around, the house was buzzing for the coming of the fairies and the transformation of their house from its regular and still very much beloved state into the second of its peak states. One of those had come and passed them by a month ago, with Halloween, but now they were about to burst with Christmas cheer, and oh, were they ever ready.

Last year, Ezra had barely been big enough to sort of understand what was about to happen, and clearly, for as much as his sisters had talked at him in those excited voices, he hadn't really grasped what was about to happen. All he'd really known was that his sisters were making him giddy (which hadn't been difficult) and then for some reason the next morning the house looked completely different! This year, they had been explaining it again, and he looked like he got it. He was never ready for bed so fast that he almost shoved his PJs into the nearest family member's hands so they could help him change and go to sleep already.

It was only him, Finneas, and Aubrey now on the outside of the big fairy secret. They were the only kids in the house who still believed in Santa, the only ones who still believed that there were fairies coming to the house to decorate in the night before the first day of December. The triplets had all caught on by now, of course, at eight years old, and Mackenzie had figured it out thanks to some unfortunate snooping. Her reaction had been one of such shock and near betrayal that they'd come very close to the younger Friars and Finn figuring it out. She'd calmed down over time, especially as she realized this meant she got to be a 'fairy' with her parents and her sisters, that she'd get to be one of those who set the surprise and got to see the others react. That was good. Lucas had also taken her to the store so she might pick a new thing for this year, and that made it best of all.

All of Saturday, she'd been simmering with anticipation for that night, for her first fairy night. She had figured out what she wanted to do, and every chance she'd get, she would talk about it with her parents, or Marianne, or Ella when she and Taylor came with the girls, who would all be spending the night. That meant they also had Sunny and Melly to add to the list of those about to be surprised, and once again she had to be watched so not a single bean would be spilled. She was so excited, and though they suggested she take it easy, to maybe even rest, so she'd be able to make it through the night, she hadn't been able to.

She fell asleep before the little kids were tucked in for the night. She looked so peaceful, so deep in her sleep that her parents knew from experience the version of their Mack Attack they would get if they woke her up again. That version of her would absolutely not be feeling as she'd been feeling all day, and as disappointed as they knew she would be, they carried her up to bed and let her sleep.

The team this year counted the whole Friar household as it now stood - save for the sleeping ones - of Maya and Lucas, Marianne and the triplets, Nellie and Gracie, MJ, and Wyatt, along with the Davis twins, and Ella and Taylor, and Tori, and Maisie once she came running over from across the road. They split into Team Outside, Team Downstairs, and Team Upstairs, and they got to work. The funniest thing - to their parents most of all - was how the triplets split themselves up across all three teams, which Maya and Lucas both knew was for the sole purpose of having one of them in every location, the better to later go and tell each other what had happened in the places they hadn't been. Lucy was upstairs, as she was the most quiet among them and able to work around the sleeping kids without waking them, Kacey was outside because if they were ever going to trust any of them most of all near a ladder, it would be her, and Remy was inside because… well, she was not as quiet as Lucy, and there was a feeling that maybe her and ladders was not a good idea… She didn't mind, she got to decorate the tree.

She also got to be part of the conversation that developed between her mother and her two eldest sisters as Marianne mentioned videos she'd been seeing, of fun sort of games that families would play around the holidays. She wanted to explore the possibility of all of them doing something similar, and Maya and Ella both thought it was a great idea. The possibilities were discussed among them, and then with the other teams once they had finished their parts and joined them. It had the potential to make for a great holiday season, greater than they could yet imagine.

Maya and Lucas were awakened after this busy night by the arrival of a pouncing and pouting six-year-old. Mackenzie came climbing into their bed, not thinking or really caring that they might still have been asleep as she did. She planted herself between them with the big mad all over her face because one second she'd been excited for fairy night, and the next she woke up… in a magically and beautifully transformed space, sure, but in a magically and beautifully transformed space she'd had nothing to do with! And there was the new thing she and her dad had gotten for her room with Marianne and Aubrey, and for the triplets' room, and upstairs where Finny slept, and here in this room, next to Ezra's little bed. He wasn't in it now, as they'd started having nights where he got to be 'babysat' by Marianne, but it was her personal touch and she hadn't gotten to install it…

They explained to her, in the best 'look, we get that you're upset, but we're your parents and we did what was best for you' tone they could, why they hadn't woken her up, and they were sure that deep down - later, maybe - she would understand, but for now it still felt ruined. Lucas came up with the best solution there could be. Everyone else was still asleep, so he would take her around and let her see it all before the others did. If nothing else, she would get to play surprised like the rest of them, and that'd be something, too. By the time Maya saw her again, she could still see the remnants of the frustration, where they would remain for a while, but she was also looking forward to Aubrey and Ezra seeing it all, so she sped back to her room and her bed before they could wake up.

She barely made it, and if Marianne hadn't insisted that they had to install some means of recording the moment, to make sure they wouldn't miss the reactions she got to see over the last few years, they might have missed it again. Later, watching the video back, they would wonder why they had never done it before.

Their birthday boy was awakened by his sisters starting to wake up. Seeing him move around and start to open his eyes, it would grab at their hearts to think… He was two years old. How far they'd come from the baby boy, barely born, who had been left for them, in a blanket, in a box, a note giving nothing more than the name that had been given to him by his parents. It had been his name which ultimately confirmed his mother's identity, as it was given to him in honor of her beloved grandfather. One day, they knew, they would have to explain it to him, and it would be a big conversation, but already they were working to keep steady in his growing mind the knowledge that he had not grown like his sisters in their mother's belly, but that like his big big sister Ella, they loved him and would love him just like every one of his siblings. And now, on this day, that morning, as he climbed up to stand on his feet, on the bed, by Marianne's side, and looked around, there was no doubt in Lucas and Maya's minds that he was getting to grasp the magic and the wonder that came with being part of this family of his.

For the two of them, in the moment of that December 1st morning itself, their time with their boy began with the sound of hurried little feet and a repeated chant of 'oh wow, oh wow, oh wow…' like he just couldn't wait to get to them. Lucas had returned to his 'original spot,' too, and he and Maya couldn't stop themselves grinning. If Ezra noticed as he came dashing into the room, he didn't point it out. Instead, he came up to the edge of the bed and hopped in place, looking up at them both before sputtering out several words which took a few turns like he forgot what formative grammar he'd so far caught up on in his excitement. The gist of it was still clear: the fairies had come, they'd actually come!

So, they got out of bed, and as Lucas hoisted up the birthday boy and he got to kiss him and wish him the happiest birthday, Maya doing the same after coming around the bed, the only thing they could do now was simple. They had to go and explore what else the fairies had done to their house.

It was a grand old tour, especially as the other girls joined them, as well as the others from upstairs. Knowing that there were far more of them who knew about all this than there were who didn't, it was a wonder that they didn't give anything away that day, breaking the secret for that handful who still were of a mind that fairies had visited the house and left it in this state. In more than a few cases, it really only came down to the fact that the children were small enough not to catch on how bad the 'performance' was.

"Mommy…" Aubrey came up to Maya, later on, as she came to find her in the kitchen.

"Hey, Lucky girl, do you need something? You thirsty?" Maya asked, brushing at her baby girl's hair after she'd stopped to stand in front of her and reach up to touch her belly. It was the first time she'd gotten to see her mother pregnant, of course, apart from photos and videos, and she had been so fascinated with the knowledge the whole time. Her hands were never far when they were in the same room.

"Okay," Aubrey nodded, never looking away, which made Maya laugh. She couldn't really get her anything to drink without breaking contact, so she gave her a few more seconds before moving toward the fridge. "Is he really magic, Mommy?" Aubrey asked, and Maya paused.

"Is who magic?"

"Ezra, because of the fairies? Is he really like… like Peter Pan?" It wasn't like they didn't know that they'd have to give them a different story sooner or later, that what they'd told their youngest daughters, in an effort not to have them accidentally reveal exactly how Ezra had come to be part of their family, would have to be replaced with something closer to the truth as they got older. But this almost felt as bad as when, one by one, they'd come to know that Santa was just a story. She closed the refrigerator door now and looked back at her. Aubrey was still staring up at her, inquisitive eyes set in wait.

"What do you think?" Maya asked her. Aubrey shrugged. She sort of had this thought like something didn't add up, but she didn't know what it actually meant.

Maya was saved from having to have this talk now when Marianne, Tori, and Maisie came to get Aubrey and incited her to return to play, but she knew that this was only temporary. They'd have to figure something out soon.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners