March 3rd 2025

Chapter 237
On Our Way Back to the World

It really hadn't been all that hard to slip back into the rhythm of living at home, the process made that much easier for the fact that they were still in the middle of summer holidays. The kids spent the better part of their days either at home or elsewhere with friends and family members surrounding them. There hadn't been one day since their return to Texas where they hadn't touched base with this group or that one, either all together or split off in five different directions. It was all just fine, especially as they had been separated from the rest of their world for so long. All that really mattered was that everyone was happy, and that every day started, and every night ended, with all of them under the roof that sheltered the place they called home.

Lucas had gotten to check back in with his riding students at the ranch, those of them who hadn't gone off to a camp or to visit family members out of the country… He was very proud of his handful of young riders, from Ava and Kelsey to Nellie Hunter and Bobby Davis, and everyone in between. Leaving them behind all those weeks, in prime time thanks to the school year being over, he'd trusted that they'd be in good hands, sure, but still… And now that he was back, he would take the time they had left before the new year began, those of them he could, but he also had to stop and consider a few things, now that he found himself on the other side of certain conversations between him and Maya.

He fully supported whatever she would do in her pursuit of a music career, he meant that now as he'd done when they'd gone to the studio together and talked about that bright new future opening ahead of her. That was all good and fine, but the longer time went on and he was able to think about it all, he could see the questions he'd have to answer, sooner or later. His job with his father, at the office, would for the most part be unaffected, as far as he could tell. He could take that job with him if he found himself having to travel, and if he absolutely had to be in Austin for any of it, then he would find a way. As for the series, he and his production partner had already had lengthy discussions about their future before this had even become an issue.

Over bowls of ice cream, he and Ava had pitched many ideas, which she had meticulously scribbled down in her show notes, and one of those ideas which she had felt very passionate about had been location shoots, outside of the city, outside of the state, maybe even in other countries. So, if they should find themselves… relocated… for any length of time, especially now that their series was spreading its wings further and further away from home, then the solution would be simple. They would explore new locations and share it with their growing audience.

His riders wouldn't have that same luxury. They were Austin bound, and so was Sullivan Stables. He had long ago made his peace with the fact that the career he had long pictured for himself would not be the one he followed after all, and he was genuinely happy where he was in the work he was doing. But faced with this potential change brought on by Maya's decision, he in turn was left to realize what it meant to him to have even that small piece of the ranch to call his own. It was legacy, it was part of his family, part of him, and he knew that it was very important to him that he never let it go completely.

The series would forever be linked to the ranch, because that was where it had started, and the same could be said of him. His mother would recall the story time and time again, usually somewhere around his birthday, of how he had almost been born at Sullivan Stables, as she and Thomas had gone out there to visit her mother and stepfather, on what would end up being the evening before his birthday. She'd been so uncomfortable, late into her pregnancy, and she was looking at another night of troubled sleep, so it had been suggested that they go for a walk that would either tire her out and bring on sleep… or bring about labor instead. Thomas had been so nervous, awaiting the birth of their first and ultimately only child, and all he ever wanted was to aid his wife in the last stretch of these months. They could have just walked around their neighborhood, but instead Melinda had wanted to go and be at the ranch, figuring that it would be the best place for her and for their unborn baby boy.

She could still remember the circuit that they had all taken together, the four of them, and she would recount it, down to the last turn, including the point where she began to feel what she'd believed to be genuine labor, only to later be told it had not been so. They'd all been so sure that it was the real thing, and they'd been so excited to finally meet baby Lucas, that the disappointment – and the activity that evening – had carried them through a good night's sleep. It was a small miracle that would soon bring them the reward of the actual birth, the actual first meeting, when he would come crying into the world. After they'd left the hospital, the ranch was the first place they'd brought him to, because to them it was only right that they start him off there. It would be a very important place to him, they knew it.

He had not become a veterinarian like he'd told his grandmother he would, as a child, but that wouldn't keep him back. Sullivan Stables was part of him and part of his family, from his first day and forevermore.

X

Maya had slipped right back into life at home, into looking after the children, the house, and looking forward to her return to school. There was 'the other thing,' too, but she couldn't seem to find a moment to think about it too long, not just yet. She knew enough to be sure that it wouldn't simply happen from one day to the next, and it would for sure happen far beyond the start of the new school year, which would take precedent for her on too many fronts for her to be able to ignore it. She had four kids going into school, including one moving into a new school, her school, and she had new classes to prepare for, some students moving up a grade, the others brand new to her art room, same as her daughter. Seeing as they were of an age with Ava, she had at the least gotten to know several of them already, and that idea would only make it just a bit strange to now become their teacher…

When she'd received her student lists, it had been as thrilling as ever to look at all those names, maybe more so for seeing Ava's name among them, and Kelsey's… But then just as she'd been lifted to the peak of that feeling, she'd felt something else, felt a sort of anguish take hold. She wanted to make this shift, she would do it. Whatever she was feeling, at the heart of it was a determination unlike any she'd felt before. But that only took her so far, because if she trickled back down from that high, the next level she'd hit would be the privilege she'd been granted, the one to be an art teacher at her former school, and though she wanted to tell herself that there was a possibility for her to do both, to carry on teaching and become a singer and songwriter, her time in California had shown her all the ways in which it just wouldn't be possible.

She'd have to choose, and her heart had done that for her. It just hadn't taken away the other feelings or made her into someone who wouldn't care about what it would mean to step away from this place. She'd fought so hard to even make it here, to see to it that the kids that came through this school to pursue some love or even some mild interest in art would not be left in hands such as those of her predecessor. And after that fight had been won, she'd set herself to making the most of the fact that she would be shaping their creative minds. Of all the things that could make her doubt her plan…

Nothing had been set in stone yet, nothing had been declared. She was going back to teach her groups in a matter of weeks, and that was that. She was excited, she had so many ideas of what they would all do, both group to group and across the board. And Ava… Her Sweetpea would be one of her students… She was as excited as she was at the prospect, so much so that when the lists had come along, Maya had sped off to show Ava, and they'd been merrily silly together for a while. For her part, Ava could not stop beaming when she saw Kelsey's name right above hers. It was just one of those tiny perks of the new surname that she'd gained in her adoption, to now follow the Farrell girl in most alphabetical school lists.

The closer they got to the end of August, the more the subject of back-to-school shopping became unavoidable. They needed new clothes, and a couple of them needed a new bag, or a new lunch box, and everyone had supply lists that slowly but surely gained a mythic quality. They had to go and gather everything on their lists before it was too late! What if they went and their favorite colors were gone? What if they showed up on day one and they didn't have all their items and their teacher didn't let them in?

"Bee, that's not going to happen," Maya promised Noah, trying very hard not to laugh at the panicked look on his face. "I promise," she told him, holding his gaze with unwavering certainty and a pair of loving hands to cup his face and drive the point home. That did help, though not so far as to diminish the drive for all of them to go to the mall, so the outing was planned, and soon they set off as a family.

The twins were the only ones not yet in school, obviously, but try and tell them that… The clothes shopping part hadn't been so bad, because they didn't really care about any of it, but once they had made it to the part where the lists came out, and their older siblings got to pick out pencils, and folders, and whatever other supplies they would need for the year… They wanted to be just like the rest of them, and never let it be said that their family wasn't accommodating. Here and there, Maya or Lucas would point the boys toward something and ask them which one they'd want, so they would spring to make their choices. Their siblings never forgot to include them either, and by the end of the trip, Simon and Jackson were very excited for their brand-new – and very early – school supplies.

"We can bring them around with them wherever they end up spending the day, yeah?" Lucas suggested, once they got home and the kids went off to play, leaving the sorting and identifying up to their parents. The table had been overrun with everything, six piles growing as they tried to remember who had taken this notebook or those pens.

"Yeah, for sure," Maya nodded, inspecting a stack of sticky notes she did not remember. She showed them to Lucas and he gave her a look as though to ask 'think about it for a second.' They were shaped like cupcakes. "Right," she breathed out and smiled before adding them to Jamie's things. They were already both very aware that they now had several kids in school, but the addition of the twins' piles only made it feel like they'd slipped down some kind of time tunnel. Two seconds ago, they were taking Elliott to preschool, and now they were bringing three of their boys to elementary school in September, while their big girl began middle school.

"Summer's not over yet," he pointed out, with a touch of denial in his voice that invited further denial from her.

"Right? Right," Maya nodded along. "So they're not that big yet," she gestured around the table.

"No, exactly, they're small," he nodded. Maya pointed at herself. "They get that from you," he agreed, and she breathed out. They paused, basking in the absurdity for a moment before she moved toward him and he closed his arms around her. "Want to go watch some old baby videos?" he whispered at her ear, and she smiled up at him like she just might start to cry for real.

"Could we?"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you next week! - mooners