call it magic, call it true

Chapter One

Admittedly, Chimney doesn't know much about Maddie Buckley but he does see the way his daughter's eyes light up when she hears her music and he hears the excitement in Mara's voice when she's talking about her. It's why they are here, after all, standing in an excited, loud crowd as they wait for Maddie to take the stage for the first time in six years. 

When Denny found out about his newly adopted sister's love for Maddie's music, he came up with the idea that they surprise her with tickets to her first ever concert, on the day the adoption papers were signed. It still makes Chimney smile when he thinks about it, remembering how Mara was already bursting with excitement and joy as they stood outside the courthouse, when Denny proudly handed her the tickets, he was almost sure she was about to combust. 

It's been a few months since then, months of outfit planning and learning lyrics to all of her songs, he's not sure that Mara or his seven year old daughter, Sun-hee have spoken of anything else or anyone else. Sun's bedroom is now covered in posters and various pieces of art he's been manipulated into buying as she scrolls through Etsy with a pout on her lips. It's just the two of them, that's the way it has been for so much of her life, so perhaps it's easy for him to get lost in trying to do anything he possibly can to make her feel happy. But there's also a part of him that knows that she doesn't understand the weight of a lot of Maddie's lyrics right now, but one day, she will. 

If Mara hadn't told him, he's sure he would have been able to figure it out himself, just by listening to some of the songs that have left him with a pit of devastation intermingled with pride, that resides in his chest. Maddie is a survivor of domestic violence, and he knows that Hen and Karen's little girl recognises so much of her own feelings and her own experiences in some of the words. And one day, when Sun-hee is old enough to understand, he'll have to tell her about the man who took her own mother away. A man who was trusted and loved by her, the same man who was controlling her every move and every word in a way that Chimney promises himself he will never miss the signs of ever again. 

He and Sun-hee's mother didn't work out, their relationship was short-lived, ending months before Sun came into their lives and made everything infinitely better, but they were incredible co-parents and the best of friends. He should have known that something was wrong, though somehow, over the last few months as he has allowed for Maddie's lyrics to sink into his own mind, he's found some comfort in the fact that there are some things that he could not have known, not from the outside. 

He knows that one day, he'll have to explain it all to the little girl who only knows that her mother died when she was two years old, whilst he hopes that maybe listening to these songs in a few years from now, will offer her the same level of comfort that it provides him. 

Chimney shares a look with Hen as she stands next to him, knowing that she understands more than most how deeply important today is on so many levels. Maddie and her music are important to Mara and to Sun, they have been so excited for today, and anything that they love this much, it's been easy for him, Hen and Karen to fall in love with, too. Though, he never knew how much comfort, pride and admiration he could have for another person, just through really taking in every single lyric they have written. 

She means a lot to a lot of people, even more so now after a six year long career break, taking the time that she needed to heal after going through something horrific at the hands of her husband, whilst also taking the time to focus on her own kids. So, whilst Chimney could never say he knows a lot about her, he thinks he might know the most important things... she's a survivor, she's a wonderful mother, an incredibly talented musician and lyricist and she has the most beautiful voice he has ever heard. And it is not lost on him, and he hopes itis not lost on the adults around him, that they are lucky to be here because not only could she have chosen not to come back to this life she has led since she was a teenager, but she could have died six years ago.