February 24th 2024

Chapter 55
The Feeling of Music

After her very peaceful morning, Maya was very ready to get moving, to do something. If she stayed back on the couch much longer, she would just fall asleep, or she just wouldn't want to do anything at all. No one wanted that, not even the baby. As she'd told Lucas, she swore that their boy would get restless if she was inactive for very long. He'd give her one of those kicks that were more startling than exciting, or press himself somewhere uncomfortable for her… Whether he actually had this volition or not, the important part was that she did get up and sit to work on the day's batch of diaries.

She had been dipping in and out of the boxes, not necessarily going through each one from top to bottom before moving on, so she would return to this group and that one now and again. Today, her bunch was from her regular freshmen, the first of them from Miss Isla Baird, and just recognizing her art on the cover, Maya smiled. She couldn't help but be protective of her, finding traits that reminded her of past students. Lately, the image she had in her mind was a mix of Stella's wonder and imagination and Phoebe's… well, her clumsiness. From her, this would only ever be a compliment.

When the diaries were done and she sat back in her chair, she just had to sigh, feeling the couch call her back. Just seconds later, there was a good thump from the baby and her hand went to find the spot where she'd felt him.

"Hey, hey, give me a break," she laughed. "This isn't the same as when I had your sisters, I'll have you know. Your mommy's tired. But fine, okay? Fine. I know just the thing for you, little guy."

Boots and coat on, she headed out to the Hex. It wasn't the warmest place in the winter, but it wasn't so bad as to be too cold to bear, or unsafe. They had some heat, and it was just enough. Settling in at the console, Maya looked through some of what they had at their disposal before finding her choice and letting the music flow through the studio. After a morning on the couch, Baby Boy Friar would be very happy to hear the tunes, that much she was sure of. The audio was just as she needed it for him to get happy, and before long she could feel him again.

"That's better, huh? You're a pretty smart guy already if you figured that one out already," she smiled, her hand running lightly over her belly, imagining the day when she would get to do exactly this on the boy she would hold in her arms. She'd put on their latest recordings, TXNY and their contributions for the Jenny Tapes. They'd sounded great already when they'd just been recorded, untouched, but now this was the final version, the one that was on the Hexes' special album.

As much as her own band had put in some great tracks, the Hexes had really put in their best work in all the time they had existed. Listening to their part of the album, she benefited from how she knew each of the band's members very well, but even for someone who wasn't these kids' teacher, it all felt like the most personal thing they had ever done, and it was so wonderful to listen to it on repeat, to find some small detail or another that she hadn't picked up on before. She had started doing this thing where she would listen through the album and focus on a different member each time, for their singing, for their instruments… She was listening to Jenny this time, to the one this album had been made for, and oh could she hear it in her voice, this knowledge that her friends had committed themselves to this project, that they had put a lot of thought and work into it, and all in her honor, to help her reach her goal. She was giving her everything, too, and oh, she was still just so touched the entire time.

The full album wasn't actually out yet. Part of their plan for the Jenny Tapes had involved the fact that they would be releasing well into December, close to the end of the year. Why not use it? So, they had started releasing the songs, one each day. Today had seen the third release, and they would continue all the way to New Year's Eve, where the Hexes would be having a show, a big push for the album, which would release in full at midnight, January 1st.

They had put out word ahead of the first release, getting everyone aware, and eager, and the response had already been good there, but that hadn't prevented them from being so nervous. What if it didn't work out? Maya had been right there to reassure them, the rest of TXNY, too, and any of their friends and families who had been so fortunate as to get an early listen. Everyone agreed with Maya's claim that this was their best work yet.

Afraid or not, the countdown had brought them to the release of their first song off the album, and the nervous bunch had waited to see what would come of it. Knowing fairly well how they would respond to the wait for any kind of data, she had made them promise her something. They weren't going to look. They weren't going to spend that whole day glued to one screen or another, tracking listens, tracking purchases… They were going to pretend like it was just a normal day, and they would do anything else but think about the song. They could go off and do a bit of work on Ava and Kelsey's wedding plans, go look at dresses, suits, whatever they wanted to wear, or they could go and look at cakes… and they couldn't look at the numbers for the song.

They hadn't looked until the second morning, after the second song had gone up, and a few minutes after that, Maya had received a video, showing the band's reactions. It wasn't as though they had hit their goal in that one day. They hadn't made anything near that, but they had still reached five percent of their goal. Five percent. Off one song, in one day. There was no telling yet whether this would lead to a continued influx, if they would eventually just… plateau… fail… But they weren't going to think about that. Five percent was already far more than they had expected when they'd put the first one through. They were cheering, and hugging, a couple of them had cried… It had made Maya cry, too, and smile… so much…

The hope now was that they would build on that first day, through word of mouth, new people coming along, and then the addition of those new songs… They were at nearly ten percent after day two, and they'd have to see in the morning what day three had brought them, but she was confident for them.

Not everyone was confident, and time would tell what it would do to their numbers for the next day and beyond. Some people were just spilling with ire, spewing ugly words upon hearing of this album, this fundraiser, all for the sake of a trans girl seeking surgery. They had come upon it by now, and the backlash had been enough that it had made the news, as Maya came to learn. The outcome, she estimated, would be one of two things. Maybe the bad word would pull people away, stop them adding to the fund. It was a possibility, she couldn't discount it.

But she had much more hope for the other possible response, which was that the backlash would only bring more people to rally around them, or to find them in the first place and support them. She didn't love that they had gotten this attention, no, but she wasn't surprised either, was she? What was important here was that she had trust in the good of people far more than the bad. After finding out about the news report, she'd reached out to Jenny especially, to make sure she was alright, and she was. None of this was new to her, and she'd expected it, too. And she wasn't going to get slowed down.

Maya was very proud of her for this. She had the right response to it, too. She shouldn't give up, none of them should. They would have to wait until the next day to see what this one turned into, but whether they did well or not, they would keep going. They would continue to release their songs, and they would have their New Year's Eve show, their full release… And if they hadn't reached their goal after all that, then they would keep going until they got there. Maya and Lucas had already talked about that eventuality, and they knew they would want to help in what way they could. Jenny would never accept an outright gift of whatever she still needed by then, but if they held an event at the ranch…

If her gut had her in the right direction - which it usually did - then that wouldn't be necessary. Generosity-against-backlash or not, she was certain that they would do very well for themselves. Their fans were not just in Austin, they were further in the state, in the country, in the world… And as loud as the backlash was, it was just a lot of shouting. The love, the support, those spoke louder simply for existing, and it existed in masses. The band was already beloved by those in the community. They were invited every year at Pride, and it was their favorite show any time of the year, no contest. Now as the songs had been coming out, the Hexes had received so many messages about the new music, about the songs themselves, about how it made their fans feel… Some of them had gone into this with a plan to post their reactions to the songs as they came out every day, and they'd been doing it. The band would watch them all.

"This is going to be the one for tomorrow," Maya told the baby as she felt him move. "If I remember from when they recorded, you liked this one a lot, huh?" she reached over and turned up the volume a bit further, and there was the movement again. "You know, they made some Hexes onesies just for you? They figured, seeing as you're already such a big fan, it went without saying, didn't it?"

They still had two months, not quite three, before they could put him in it, and the closer they got to that point, the harder it was to keep on waiting, to not be holding him already, to not see his little face… They hadn't even picked a name for him yet, even though they had talked about the fact that they hadn't done it yet, but by now they had a plan. They had essentially made an appointment to pick their son's name. This month had been such a whirlwind, with Mackenzie's leg, Patty dying, and now Gracie's hip… They just wanted to get through it all already, and to get to stand on the other side of it, looking toward the new year, to the year where their family would reach its new complete with the birth of their baby boy, and send his name into it with hope.

"Hey, you know, I'm realizing I don't come in here enough," MJ informed his sister when he came to collect her. Off her curious look, he grinned and nodded back toward the house. "We have an idea for dinner, in the spirit of this morning, but we're going to need you for it." She smiled.

"Alright, then, Nurse Hunter, lead the way."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners