Butterfly Effect

37: Home visit

Hailee's Pov

It has been a week since Rowan's birth, and we were all chilling at home when someone knocked on the door.
"Can you get the door, Bambina?" Carina asked as she kept nursing my little brother and Maya was somewhere on the phone with her therapist, trying to schedule a new appointment for next week.
"Yeah, I'll go..." I answered, walking toward the door, opening it in a swift motion and finding a guy that I've never seen before on the doorstep.
I was still a little scared of people that I didn't know, so I took a small step back, staring awkwardly at his big blue eyes.
"Hi... I'm sorry to disturb you, but... Is Maya Bishop here? I need to talk to her" the guy asked, and I connected the dots about who he was pretty instantly.
"Mom!?" I called her and his eyes widened at the sound of the word that came out of my lips.
"What is it, Sunshine?" she asked, coming in my direction with Rowan in her arms, trying to make him fall asleep in her arms. When she saw who was at the door, she stopped and she turned pale like a ghost.
"Mason..." she whispered "What are you doing here?".
"You look tired, sis" he pointed out, never actually answering her question.
"I had a son a week ago" she responded bitterly "This little man is waking me and my wife up every couple of hours. Of course I look tired, Mason".
His eyebrows crinkled up at the sound of the nickname that Maya used for Rowan.
"You call her Sunshine..." he said, pointing to me with his finger "And you call him little man...".
My mom looked furious at her brother, but I knew pretty well that she was doing everything in her power to keep herself calm during that conversation.
"I've always loved when mom called us like that... It was sweet" she explained to her brother with no expression in her voice. Her shoulders were tense though, and on her face there was a small frown.
"Don't you call her kiddo? You know, like dad loved to call you..." he pushed back with a grin on his face.
"Cut the crap, Mason. Why did you come here? Why are you bothering me and my family on a Saturday morning? Don't you have someone else to disturb?" she ignored his question coldly.
"I realized that I've been... Unfair to you when we saw each other. I judged you too quickly, so I wanted to... Apologize to you" he answered.
My mom looked conflicted. I knew that she loved her little brother very much, but after how devastated she was the last time, I didn't know if he was someone I wanted around our family.
He looked like chaos...
"Maya, your..." he looked at me and my mom followed his gaze.
"Daughter" she said "My daughter Mase. It's not a bad word and you're no longer a kid. You can say 'my daughter' without sounding disgusted by the idea".
"Right, sorry... It's just that your daughter is looking at me like she wants to kill me..." he said and I turned to look at my mom with my best smile.
"She saw me right after the park, and how devastated I was..." Maya explained and in Mason's eyes I could read something similar to regret.
"Hey Lia, can you bring him to your mamma? He's asleep and I have to talk with my little brother alone for a moment..." she asked and I walked to her, taking Rowan in my arms and holding him carefully.
"Thank you Sunshine. I love you" she said again as I started to walk away, leaving her with her brother at the doorstep.
"You say 'I love you' to your kids?" Mason asked surprised as I entered the living room. I didn't know how to explain why, but that question pissed me off.
How could he say something like that to my mom?
"Bambina, chi era alla porta? (Bambina, who was at the door?)" Carina asked as I passed a sleepy Rowan to her, sitting next to her on the couch right after.
"Mom's brother" I answered "I don't like him. Ha detto che vuole chiederle scusa (He said that he wants to ask for her forgiveness) but he's pushing her about their dad...".
I didn't even realize my mix of languages, probably caused by frustration or worry, but mamma did and smiled through her worried expression.
"I just hope that everything will be alright. Maya loves him with all of her heart, but she learned not to break herself for other people's sake" she said, giving me a tender look.
I really hoped that too. My mom deserved to be happy...

Maya's Pov

"Yes Mason. I say that I love my kids everyday, and when I can't say it because I'm at work, I call Hailee's phone and say it in a call and even once more when I get home from my shift" I explained "And I do it, because after years of repressed anger and pain, a lot of scars from my past, a nervous breakdown, a psych hold, an uncountable number of therapy sessions and a fucking diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, I'm trying to break those patterns that Lane used on me. Used on us. Both of us... Because even if I was his golden child and I wasn't emotionally neglected like you were, Mase, I was still abused... And I don't want my children, the apples of my eyes, to go through any of that shit. Hailee has already been suffering too much in just sixteen years of her life...".
My brother was being quieter than before, almost pensive, and at a loss of words after my speech.
"I didn't... I didn't know... A psych hold? A nervous breakdown? Maya that's..." he tried to formulate a sentence, but he couldn't.
"No you didn't Mason, and do you know why?" I started, letting the words escape my mouth before I could even stop and think about them "Because since the moment we ran into each other in the park, you have done nothing but profile me without even knowing who I was! You didn't even consider the possibility that maybe I had changed during all this time... You didn't think it was possible for me to learn from his mistakes?".
Mason stared at me, his blue eyes wet from tears that he was letting fall...
"I'm sorry Maya. I truly am. I came here to apologize, and I did everything but that" he said with a shaky voice "I want to be a part of your life, and I'm willing to do anything to earn your trust... Gain your kids and your wife's trust. I wanna be an uncle, but I know that I have a lot to make up for...".
I stared at him for a while, thinking about his words and even more about his actions.
I wasn't going to forgive and forget that easily. I wanted to have him in my life, he was my little brother after all, but he would have to work his ass off to prove that he had realized his mistakes.
"I'm not going to forget what you said to me, but I'm not the person that holds grudges anymore, so I'll forgive you, eventually. But the moment you say something bad about me, my wife and our family, I won't have a problem kicking your ass and shut you out of my life" I warned him and he nodded, understanding my point.
He was aware that I wasn't kidding...
"I get it, Maya. You're right..." he said "I'll make it up to all of you. I'll be the brother that I should have been from that day in the park".
I looked at him, not really knowing what to do.
"Can I give you my number? Then I'll leave you to your family. I already stole too much time from you" he asked and I nodded, handing him my phone.
He smiled when he saw my lockscreen and that brought a smile to my face as well. It was a picture of Lia nose to nose with Rowan as she held him in her arms.
"I love that picture..." I whispered as he gave me back my phone.
"It's really beautiful. Very sweet..." he commented without knowing what to say next, letting a heavy silence fill the space between us. Neither one of us knew what to do...
I was going to say something, but he beated me to it.
"I... I should get going" he started "I'm sorry again for everything and I'll wait for you to call or text me".
"Oh... Okay. Goodbye Mase" I answered.
"Bye Maya" he said, walking away as I stared at his back that was quickly fading down the hallway.