вяσкєи нєαятѕ {raia}

C6 - Where Has He Gone?

~Ross~
"Dad, I don't want to talk about this." I say into the phone as I continue to search through the paper work on my desk.
"You will talk to me, Ross. What are you thinking? What about your children? And Maia? You've been talking about her since the day you met the girl." My mind raises and I run a hand through my hair in frustration. Does nobody understand I don't want to talk about her? I don't want to think about her, why is everybody making me do so?
"Look, I'm still at work and I have a lot to do." I groan, walking over to my filing cabinet and searching through all the files until I find what I'm looking for.
"What? Ross it's almost 10 pm." Oh really Sherlock? "You shouldn't be over working yourself."
"I'm not." Replying bluntly, I sit back in my chair and lean an elbow forward on my hand.
"You should not be at work this late! You should be with you children."
"I know I'm a shit father, but I can't help it. Maia doesn't have a job and if I get fired they have nothing." The frustration in my voice was clear, and I hoped he would finally catch on and leave me alone.
"You are not a bad father and mind your language." Shaking my head as he scolds me, I clench my hand around my phone, trying to contain my anger at myself. "Have you even called to see how they are?"
"I haven't had the time, okay?"
"Well then call them now. And make sure she's okay." With that he hangs up. After taking the phone away from my ear, I stare at it for a while, contemplating what to do.
Looking away, my eyes draw to a drawing of my family, drawn by Tommy. He gave everybody multicoloured hair, and drew a dog even though we didn't have one (he thought if we drew the dog, one would magically appear.) I'm not one to want fancy presents or prefer a gold watch. Just he little things like this, that took him a whole day, Maia said she had to buy new paint and everything because 'the old ones are icky.' He gave me this picture, framed for Christmas and filled the card he gave me with snowflake confetti.
Then there is the picture of her, the one I had turned upside down on the glossed wood. I couldn't bare looking at it anymore,really, I should have just gotten rid of it a long time ago, but I couldn't bring myself to. Slowly, I pick it up and study her features. Her wide brown eyes, the smile on her face, her dimples shelling slightly, her brown hair covering her collar bone and shoulders. The slight pinkness is her cheeks along with her long eyelashes and pink lips. Maia is beautiful. Nothing will change my view on that
I haven't seen her like this in a while, it was unlikely for her to dress up lately. She doesn't have enough time to anymore. Either way, she stills look incredible to me.
Speak of the devil. I look over my phone to see her name flashing up on the screen.
"Hello?" I pick it up. Immediately I can hear my children's sobs and screams from the over end and can even here slight tears in Maia's voice. "Woah, what's happened?"
"I can't get any of them to sleep and they won't until your here. Please, Ross I need-" As she began to speak, I could hear how desperate she was. I've never realised how hard it can be on her sometimes, she may even get less sleep than me.
"I'll be there in five minutes." Standing up from my desk whilst I hang up the phone.
---------------

"Maia?" As I walk through the door, shrugging off my damp coat, I call out her name only to be greeted by the sounds of my children's cries. "I'm so sorry." I whisper to myself before making my way to the source of the sounds.
"Ross?" Maia's voice sounds from behind me as I enter the living room. Thomas was in her arms, crying loudly and I grimace when I hear him. Quickly, I walk towards her and she looks at me confused. "You actually came?"
"Of course." I mumble, as I hold out my arms to take Tom from her. "Hey monkey."
"Where were you?" He whimpers quietly, making my heart sink. This is going to be harder than I thought. "Mommy said you weren't coming home."
"I'm here now but I won't be for a little while after this." Swallowing the lump in my throat, I try and keep my voice stable before he howls loudly and wraps his arms around my neck. "Oh Tommy." Soothing him gently, I run my hand on his back as Maia leaves to find Charlie and Jake.
"I don't want you to leave." His shoulders shake as he begins to cry.
"Hey. I'm not going far. I'll always be here when you want to see me." I whisper quietly, and he hugs me tighter. "It's okay, Tom."
"Will you read to me?"
"Of course, let's go get Charlie and Jake, okay?" I say putting him down, and head towards my other sons room. But as I passed Maia's bedroom, I saw her lying on the bed with her hands over her face, taking deep breaths.

"Maia? What's wrong!" I ask, running over to her in the school courtyard when Mollee had come to tell me she was freaking out. We were only 16.
"Can't breathe." She gasps, taking her hands trough her hair. This isn't the first time she's had a panic attack in front of me. Although it's the first she's actually had in school, making it 100x worse.
"Sit down." I gently tell her as I carefully guide her over a bench and lower her onto it, kneeling in front of her as I do so.
"Everything's going to be okay. Just take deep breaths remember." But I couldn't calm her anymore because I was being pulled back by the neck of my shirt. "What are you doing?" I ask frantically to the medic teacher as I try and get close to her again.
"We need to get her to the-"
"No, she needs to be outside or else she'll faint! Please, I know what's wrong with her and I can help her."
"I'm sorry, kid. No can do." A man I've never seen gruffly speaks, while the rest of them are standing around her and I can hear her becoming more panicked.
"Stop crowding her! Your making it worse and she's gonna faint!" Me trying to convince them does nothing and soon enough, Maia is pushing her way out of the people and crashes into my arms, tears sinking through my shirt. I hated when her panic attacks got this terrible, it always freaks her out.
"Hey, shhh. It's alright now, I'm here." Glaring at the people behind us, I gently rub my best friends arm and try to calm her, as she slowly begins to steady her breathing. Shooting a few glares at the people behind us, I dig through the bag on her shoulder and find her water bottle, opening the top and handing it to her once she can breath normally.
"Thank you." She whispers, hugging me tighter and I smile slightly.
"It's okay, Mitchell. You mean a lot to me."

She hasn't had one in a while and it lowers my ego immediately knowing that I am the cause. Deciding she deserves a break, I go to my son's nursery and lay him down in bed, before picking up a screaming Jake.
"Jakey, shhh. It's okay. It's okay." After a lot of soothing and convincing, he finally calmed down, sniffling into the crook of my neck as I continue to find my baby girl.
"Little one? Are you in here?" I ask gently, opening the door to her pink room. I find her passed out her bed, already on her pyjamas. Smiling slightly, I kneel down next to the bed and kiss her head after tucking her in.
"Daddy?" She asks quietly, her eyes fluttering open.
"Shh, baby. Go back to sleep." Charlotte nods tiredly before turning over and returning to her dream land.
After reading Tom and Jake a story, they fall asleep and I sigh slightly. This is probably my cue to leave.
"Thank you Ross." Maia thanks me quietly as I walk into the living room were she is huddled under a blanket on the couch. Damn, she looks adorable.
"No problem. I'm sorry I put you into the position." I frown, scratching the back of my head. It's been a few weeks since I left, and I can't decide how I feel yet. Everything is a blur.
"When do you want to pick them up this weekend?" I had the children every other weekend, when I wasn't working and I knew it was hard for Maia. I've never realised that she doesn't do much without them. I know Rydel and Lauren have been seeing her all the time. It's good for her. I hope.
"Is 11 okay?" She nods and looks down at the book in her lap. I smile slightly recognising it immediately.
It was her favourite, Wuthering Heighys. I could tell from the hundreds of notes around the edges and the post-it noted peeping out the sides. Even when I first met her, she could never put the book down. When she came to do it for English Literature she completely aced it, knowing every nook and cranny of story.
"I'm surprised that book hasn't fallen to pieces yet." I chuckle slightly, and she smiles genuinely. Something that has been unknown for a while.
"It's indestructible."
"Even survived the night Ryland threw it in the pool." We both laugh, probably remembering her freaking out and the two of us spending the night blow drying them. Somehow the ink never smudged. "I better get going. My Dad's been banging on about me getting more sleep."
"I'm surprised it's not your Mother." Her tone is back to its usual teasing edge and it makes my heart sore. She's becoming happy again.
"She's going on about a lot of stuff too. Don't you worry."
"Oh! I have something for you!" She remembers, hurrying over to the closet in the corner of the room. "You forgot Miss Juliet." My guitar. Well one of them. It was always my favourite. Maia got it for me.
"Thanks." I mumble, slightly confused when my stomach seems to sink. I put the case over my shoulder and try to imagine my teenage self again, with this guitar, crazily in love with the girl in front of him. Where has he gone?