March 17th 2025

Chapter 239
On the Road Again

Just before the back to school fever had spread through the Friar house, the family had come together for another event, this one entirely more personal to them. They had celebrated a day that had become doubly special one year prior. It would always have been Ava Nash Friar's thirteenth birthday, but now on top of that it had also become the first anniversary of the day when she had been adopted and officially become a Friar.

To her brothers, it was an extra happy day, and they had banded together, those silly boys, to make their big sister's day extra special for it. They had worked on a great big piece of art for her, with pictures - thanks to their mother who had made copies and to their father who had cut them as the boys wanted - and paint, and she'd been deeply touched to receive it. Her present now sat in her room, in full view.

To her parents, it was also the best, best day, even as it instilled in them a feeling of nostalgia and astonishment. They had been feeling the acceleration of time ever since they had become parents, absolutely, but it never stopped feeling like the most unforgiving of adversaries. Now here they were, and they could not believe that already they'd had their daughter officially their daughter for a whole year. It had never felt so right for this day to coincide with her birthday, and they would merrily celebrate that double anniversary through all the years of her life.

Now with this one, it was getting to feel like more than a double. Birthday, adoption day… and she was thirteen years old. A shiny new teenager in their household, and they were less concerned with the fact that they were 'already there' with any of their kids, much more with what it might entail for the years to follow. They would try and reassure themselves that they would be alright, that they had been teenagers themselves not so long ago, but even as they'd say this they would know that this… proximity… would only take them so far. Although, for her part, Maya was thinking of how she'd dealt with a lot of dad issues when she was thirteen, not exactly the same as Ava's issues with Bill but still close enough that it made her worry for her girl.

Bill Nash had at least been consistent with his letters to Ava since their return to Austin. The book had been sent on, and the two of them had been reading their copies, communicating about it, back and forth… Whenever a new envelope came, every few days, she would disappear down into the basement, only to emerge an hour or two later, with a new envelope and an announcement that she was off to the mailbox. There was no talk of their meeting in person as of yet, but Ava seemed more than happy to carry things on in this manner for the time being. She wanted Bill - and she had started to call him by his given name, Maya and Lucas had noticed - to get better, and she felt that she was helping him in this. She was very transparent in this process, sharing Bill's letters and her own replies with her parents.

Their buddy read was getting closer and closer to being done, and she'd expressed just days ago on her birthday how she wished it wouldn't go by so fast, that it had all been so much fun. Now, on the morning of the kids' return to school, her parents had the eager pleasure of presenting her with an intentionally belated birthday present. It had come with a request that it should double up into a 'happy middle school day' present. They would wait to give it to her, as they had agreed together, until after they'd dropped the boys off.

It was a very delicate procedure for them to leave the twins behind, with their great grandparents. They would have loved to tag along, for sure, but it would all be much easier if they kept it to the four who were due in their respective classes. They could always count on Pappy Joe and Patty to be expert distraction artists, and they came prepared that morning, ready for a day of tending to their new little resident, Elfy the pup. Simon and Jack were all for this… as were their older brothers and sister, enough that the plan nearly backfired. At least with them, they had a shot at reasoning that they needed to leave Elfy for those few hours to go to school, and then they would be back with her again, with stories about their days. Jamie needed a bit more convincing, but then he was reminded of the cookies they had made for Miss Alma and his class, and he was so looking forward to passing them out.

"See you later, Elfy," he leaned to give her a gentle pat. "I'll be back, promise."

He looked a little bummed out as he was helped into his seat, still, but he was handed the box of cookies and he held it in his lap, hands at the ready to make sure they made it to preschool. When his siblings started to perk up, to sing and move along to the music in the minivan, he looked caught between his 'duty' and the need to join in. Ava offered to take over holding the box to give him a chance, but he wouldn't do it. He would make it, even if he could only focus on one task at a time and had to sit and listen.

This only made his siblings determined to put on a good show for him. Noah could count on Ava to be a great duet partner, and they made for a funny pair all the way to preschool.

"Alright, hold on to that box," Lucas picked Jamie up from his seat and carried him down until his feet touched the ground. As soon as he was there, he was giddy to go. "Hey, hey, hey, easy there, Tadpole," Lucas chuckled, stopping him before he dashed away. "We're coming with you, yeah?"

They'd all come through this place, the Friar kids, even Ava when she'd been little, and Lucas before her, even if he'd preceded Miss Alma's time. It would be a sad day when she wasn't there anymore to send the young kids of the area into the world, but for now she was here, and when she saw Jamie Friar come along with his box of cookies, her smile was like a summons to her former pupils, all of them eager to say hello, to mention how they were going into this grade, and that grade, and especially how they had found Elfy the day before and had been looking after her. Jamie went with her, talking on about Elfy, and how they'd made cookies, him and his mom, including the mega cookie they'd all split together.

The rest of them headed back to the minivan and it was off to the elementary school to drop off Elliott and Noah. When they arrived, Ava had this look to her like she was only now realizing that this wasn't her school anymore, and she might actually miss it. She saw her parents looking at her and quickly brushed the thought away, focusing on her little brothers. They looked a bit sad for a second, too, like they were realizing she wouldn't be here with them anymore. They always loved when they got to run into her in the middle of the day, and the feeling was mutual.

They all stayed together until it was time for the boys to run off and find their friends and classmates. Lucas and Maya could see that they would want to stay together as long as they could, and it reminded them of early days, when they'd been babies and toddlers together, not so long ago but then again maybe not, seeing how much they had grown since then. Simon and Jack might have been nicknamed the Hugabears in their household, but then Elliott and Noah were in many ways the original Friar Hugabears, and their parents would be more than happy to see them carry on that relationship for all their years to come.

Once it was just the three of them, on their way to the middle school, the attention shifted to Ava. She was still confident about her outfit choice, in no small part because Kelsey had helped her pick it and had been adamant that it would be the best choice. Maya and Lucas could both see it in the way she would get distracted, brushing at this detail, that fabric… That little smile on her face was making them smile right back.

It only got brighter when they arrived and found Kelsey already waiting at the bottom of the steps, by the wheelchair ramp. Ava was ready to run over to join her at once, but she turned to her parents, to her father especially, so she might hug him goodbye before she and her mother headed inside.

"Maybe I should get a job out here, too," Lucas joked. "Not fair, you two get to hang out without me."

"It's called work," Maya squinted at him. "And… school," she turned to Ava with a smile.

"You know, I think I heard about that?" Lucas played along, pointing to his wife and daughter. "Well, fine, I guess. But before you go…" he turned to Maya and she smiled, reaching into her bag, in the front seat.

"This is for you," she passed the wrapped present over. Ava beamed.

"You didn't have to get me anything," she insisted.

"Jury's out on that one," Maya argued. "But we'll call this one a draw, because it's not from us. We're just following instructions here."

Ava looked puzzled for a moment, but once the object landed in her hands, it must have felt 'book-like,' and from there, she had a thought about who this mystery benefactor could be. Her entire posture shifted, like her heart had started beating faster in anticipation. Bill… He had sent her a book. After all of three seconds, she made quick work of pulling the wrapping paper apart to reveal what was inside. When she saw the cover, she smiled.

"I told him about this one, in one of my letters," she looked up to her parents, and they nodded. They remembered. They had almost bought it for her. "I almost got it the other day. I thought… maybe we could do it next…" she explained, a thought running through her mind. There was only the book in there, but if she opened the front cover… Another smile. "He got one, too. Says I got him our first book, so it was his turn." There were already ideas flashing through her head, wanting to have their next pick figured out as soon as possible.

"Hey, hey, Avid Reader, you still have the other one to finish," Maya got her attention after she started turning to page one. Ava snapped the book shut again and looked at her with a smile. "Also, someone's waiting for you over there, remember?"

"Remember!" Ava gasped. She quickly hugged her mother, hugged her father harder - so it'd last longer, until they'd see each other again - and she bolted over to where Kelsey was waiting, staring back at them with curiosity.

"Should we turn around? Pretend we don't see them?" Lucas asked as he and Maya watched Ava head toward her girlfriend. They looked to each other and turned around a moment later, laughing. "How about you? Back to school…" Lucas asked, reaching for one of her hands and then the other, holding them in his own.

"Honestly, kind of nervous," she admitted. "Not even because of her," she nodded in Ava's general direction. "Just started to wonder… Well, what if it's the last year that I…" She trailed off, like she was concerned someone might overhear. He understood just fine.

If she carried on her plan to pursue her music in a big way, enough that she stopped teaching, then the students she'd meet today, the ones she'd go back to… They could be the last ones she counted as hers. And as much as she wanted to do this music thing so much, she also loved those kids, and it was going to hurt to leave them behind. If that wasn't enough, Lucas knew Maya would end up thinking about the kids she might have taught after them, too.

"Alright, deep breaths?" he urged her on, and she squinted at him, but she gave him a good deep breath in, deep breath out, before pulling him closer for a kiss.

"Yes, Mr. Friar, sir," she told him. "I know I shouldn't let it get to my head, but…"

"But it's you," he nodded. "You know, I'm sure we can figure something out for whenever you do… you know…" he nodded, letting her fill in the unspoken 'secret.' "And we'll do that, just not… right here, right now."

"Are you sure? I might be coming around to this idea of yours, about coming to middle school with Ava and I?" she grinned. Now he was the one to pull her near for a kiss.

"I do have a couple little guys back home, promised I'd take them to the office today, see their Pappy Tom…"

"Yeah, can't let them down," Maya hummed. "Alright then, we put a pin in this, compare stories tonight?"

"Good plan, Mrs. Friar."

Maya grabbed her bag, grabbed the cookies that Jamie had insisted she bring for all her students. Ava and Kelsey were still deep in conversation, but they saw her coming and they both hurried over to take some of the cookie boxes and lighten her load.

"Are you sure you want to go in there and have everyone know your mom's a teacher here right off the bat?" Maya asked Ava with a sneaky smile.

"Yeah, I kind of do," Ava replied with a smile of her own, radiating with pride for her mother that came very close to starting her crying.

"Do you see that?" she looked to Kelsey instead. "Sucking up to a teacher on the first day," she whispered, and Kelsey laughed as Ava let out a snort. "Alright, Morning Makers, let's get in there."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners