March 24th 2024

Chapter 84
The Love in Family Stories

Mackenzie Abigail Friar was known within the family as their Funny Macaroni, and for good reason. When she was happy, she was funny, no need to try. When she was a grumpy little thing on the other hand… Maybe they still found her funny, but they would do their best not to show it. Now after many weeks with a cast on her leg, she was the most grumpy little six-year-old. It was coming off soon, they had reminded her, but to her it was definitely not soon enough, and they could empathize very much.

She was able to get herself around with assistance by now, though they had to keep reminding her to be careful unless she wanted to end up needing to keep the cast on longer. That morning, Grumpy Mack got herself up the hall and into her parents' room before either of them had woken up, though they finally stirred as she attempted to pull herself on to the bed. She was right behind Lucas, and he turned to help her up, doing his best not to make it look as though he was pulling her up instead of just lending a hand to her own efforts.

"Hey there, what's up?" he asked as she made it on to the bed and around him, as Maya had turned and sat up to welcome their daughter. Mackenzie took this invitation and settled at her mother's side, where she was soon embraced.

"I want it off," Mackenzie grumbled, no need to ask what she was referring to.

"It's not time yet, Mack Attack…" Maya reminded her as kindly as she could. She had been restless like this at the end of her own cast experience, and that had been on her arm. It would have been worse on her leg. "You're almost there, I promise."

"I want it off!" she complained again, and Maya kissed the top of her head, hugged her nearer.

"Hey, do you remember what today is?" Lucas asked, opting for distraction. Mackenzie looked up at him, nodded. Of course she knew. Today was the day that his new book was being released. "I have a lot of things going on today, with the release, and I could really use some help. I need an assistant," he told her in a quiet, conspiratorial tone. "What do you think? Would you like to go out there with me today, help me with the release?" he asked. Oh, she was intrigued now. She looked from him to her mother and back, making sure this was for real. Her mother was smiling down at her, flashing a look that said 'wow, that sounds like so much fun!'

"Can Mommy come, too?" Mackenzie asked, pointing at her, and they chuckled.

"Yeah, of course she can," Lucas nodded, as though that hadn't already been part of the plan.

"And Ezra?"

"He can be your assistant," Maya suggested, and oh, yes, that sounded like a good idea.

Lucas may not have planned for this 'posting,' but now that he had it, he was genuinely glad for it. Having his wife, one of their daughters, and their son along for the ride would help to steady him on the path through this release day. As much as he loved the work that he had done for the ranch story, loved everything that had come from it, this book was that much more personal, and it felt so important that he had been able to piece it together, to put it out there. He wanted to get to share that with people, and now he would. Whenever he thought about it though, a part of him would start and feel a flare of panic. This was the most he'd put himself out there, writing wise. He had never set out to be an author of any kind, and yet here he was, and his new book was out there, people would be able to buy it today… He didn't see himself losing faith in how important it was for him that he saw this through if it didn't sell that well, but it would definitely affect him one way or another to find just how people responded to his family's story, because he was the one who had chosen to take it on.

"You've got that face," Maya prodded at his brow, making him flinch out of his thoughts, as they were getting dressed for the day. He looked down at himself just as she nudged his hands away from his collar and set herself to fixing it for him.

"What face is that?" he asked, trying and failing not to smile back at her in his most Huckleberry way.

"The very focused one you definitely passed on to some of her girls. The twins especially," she tacked on before imitating him. He laughed. "I know you're worried. Not sure why you should be, but I can see it."

"I don't know, feels like a healthy response to me."

"Oh, sure, but then again, so is confidence… Humble confidence," she declared.

"Right," he nodded, mouthing the words again.

"You really think I would tell you this if I didn't believe it?" she fixed him with a look that some of their girls had also inherited. It was a powerful tool to have.

"Not for a second," he confirmed.

"Damn right I wouldn't, silly Dockleberry," she shook her head, going back to work on his collar, as she spoke in her most 'kids' bedtime story' tone. He thanked her with the press of a kiss at the top of her head, and she leaned to his chest, breathing out as she hugged him and he hugged her back. They would call at a baby sandwich, especially as they'd reach this late stage in her pregnancies. It never got old, though their sandwich days would soon be behind them for good, so it was more important than ever that they stop and enjoy it while they still could.

The other kids were all headed to school, much as there had been a lot of pleading for all of them to get to go with their parents like Mackenzie and Ezra would get to go. They could usually be counted on to understand if given honest explanations, and they would get there here, too, they would. It would just take them a bit longer to get over the disappointment, and they were all given space to get there, enough so that, right when they were all expected to start heading out to the minivan, there was a mad rush from up the stairs, as they had almost left without giving their father the present they had put together for him, in honor of his book release. But they had gotten it, they had it! They had entrusted Marianne to carry the bag down the stairs, and when she held it out to him, the others all cheered along.

"What's this?" Lucas laughed, moving to open the bag and peek inside, only to be stopped by the girls all speaking over one another and reaching to stop him. "Not supposed to open it yet?" he guessed, and here the girls were in harmony. No, he wasn't supposed to open it until later.

"We can't be there with you until later, so you have to look at it when you're at the ranch, okay?" Kacey explained.

"Yeah, and she'll tell you when," Remy pointed to Mackenzie, who grinned with the pride of her task.

"Not a minute before, not a second!" Mackenzie exclaimed, and for a girl who sadly had very little direct memories of her Granny Mel, she sounded so much like her in the moment that it knocked the breath from his father in a very good way.

"Alright, then you make the call," Lucas told her, and she nodded, very serious, as the task demanded.

Maya might have taken the kids to school and met him at the ranch, but this far in her pregnancy, with memories of the last birth just as present in her mind as in her husband's, it just didn't feel like something she should do. Instead, Wyatt volunteered himself, so he would take five nieces along with his son and drop them off where they needed to be. MJ would tag along, the better to help the girls feel better about not getting to accompany the others to the ranch, he told them. The fact that he got to have a lift was just a bonus.

"You know, most times we're out there bragging about being her brothers, but today we might need to brag about being his brothers-in-law," MJ declared with a little grin that made his big sister roll her eyes while Lucas laughed.

"Do not encourage him," Maya squinted at her husband.

"Hey, the guy has taste, hush," MJ put his hand in her face and she flinched and made a noise, barring his advance in the best brother/sister face-off.

When they were gone, it was down to the Hunter twins, who had retreated to the couch in their 'shared circumstances,' as they would call it. On the one hand, they had Nellie, who was a few weeks behind her big sister in her pregnancy, but was already at a point where she'd made arrangements with those of her professors who would make those arrangements and allow her to compensate for missing class, or else she might just not be able to make it to the end of the semester. Already, her April due date would complicate matters, but they had already been dealing with that.

This was her last year of college, last semester now, same as Bobby's, same as their twins', and heading into finals with a newborn at home, regardless of the level of support they'd all have was going to be tricky. But they would do everything to make it happen. They were already doing it, and no one was worried about whether Nellie Hunter would have the drive to get there, baby or no. By now, she and Bobby were a package deal, and he was never away from her at night as he might have been in the past.

On the other side, that morning, there was Gracie, who had hit a rough patch in her recovery in recent days, enough that Nellie might have been there with her if she hadn't been pregnant at all. Just the same, as she and Bobby were always there together now, the same went for Gracie and Ethan. They would both have been right there with their twins even without the surgery. The four of them up in that room had for sure been living out a bit of a silly scenario, sharing that small space with everything that had brought them together, but at the same time it really did them all a lot of good.

Gracie had told her big sister already how much living in the Friar house could sometimes feel as though they had all fallen asleep, fallen into a crazy, wonderful dream. Maya knew just what she meant, truly, and it only made her happier that she could provide this to her, to all her siblings. Their entire story, as brothers and sisters, was in and of itself so very silly, or unfortunate, depending which side they were looking at it from, and by now they just embraced everything they had together.

"Come here, EZ, come, come," Gracie waved at the boy, and Nellie did the same, guaranteeing that Ezra would dash to his aunts. Nellie helped him a bit, but he did most of the work by himself, looking very proud of himself for his efforts.

"Do you want to stay here?" Lucas asked him, smiling. "With your aunts?"

"Do you want to stay with us?" Gracie asked, looking down at him. Oh, he was just a bit conflicted, looking from his aunts to his parents and sister. He wanted both, they guessed, and that was the hang up. "How about you hang with us for a while, then when the guys get back from class, we'll all go out to the ranch together?" That had promise. Ezra looked to his parents, checking. They chuckled.

"You have a good morning taking it easy with your aunties, bud," Maya told him, and he moved to stand on the couch, holding his arms out in full request for a hug. Maya wasn't about to deny him that. She went and hugged her little guy, basking in the feeling of those thin little arms reaching as far around as they could go, in the scent of soap from last night's bath time… "They're lucky," she told him, eyes on her sisters, who smiled in all silliness. Strange as it might sound, it really seemed as though they were relieved that they were both going through something and it was allowing them to have moments like this, leaning to one another in their respective circumstances.

"Have a good release there, Lucas," Nellie told him as they finally got to leave. He thanked her, matching for genuine feeling. They had become siblings long before he had married her sister, and in times like these she was right there to remind him.

When they arrived at the ranch, they quickly saw that everything was in motion ahead of the release party, and the brightness in Mackenzie's eyes was only further reason for Lucas to have 'hired' her as his assistant for the day. Maya saw it, too, and she innocently made herself scarce after they got out and started walking away from the parking lot, to give them some time together. Mackenzie was too busy looking around at first to even notice.

"What do I do now, Dad?" she asked instead, with a new bit of focus about her. He didn't sure what she meant at first, and she looked at him, ready to set him straight. "I'm your assistant?" she reminded him.

"Yes, yes, you are," he nodded. "Well…" he considered the question. "You… assist…" he started. "What? You do," he laughed at the look she gave him. "You're pretty observant, sometimes you don't even realize it. So you can look for the things that need to happen and make sure they do. Give it a shot. Look around. What do you see?"

Mackenzie did as told and she looked around the ranch property as it appeared before her, the activity expanded by the presence of the ranch team, the event staff… She was still only six, though she would be seven a lot sooner than they would be ready to admit. And right in line with being the Funny Macaroni, she might not be expected to be the most focused of the Friar children, and on the whole she wasn't. But when she was, as she was here, she was a force to be reckoned with.

"Where's your books, Dad?" she finally asked, and he smiled.

"Let's go see. You want to check out the display?" he guessed. She did. "Alright, good start. Let's go."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners