From a Distance

Hold Tight

Riley and Maya come home from school and walk through the whispering to each other and giggling, passing the phone that you and Cory got her back in sixth grade.

"What's going on, you two?" you ask wanting to know what they're looking at.

"Mom and Shawn sent some photos from Fiji," Maya happily tells you handing you the phone so you can see for yourself.

You take the phone into your hands and swipe through all the photos of their honeymoon. They're mostly gorgeous photos of Katy and the island, probably due to Shawn's love of taking photos.

But as you continue to swipe, you do see a few photos of the two of them together having a good time.

You can't help but smile as you see the smiles on their faces. 

You've known Shawn almost his whole life and you've never seen him this happy. And Katy, the young mother who moved into the building with her daughter so many years ago, looked equally as ecstatic as Shawn. You look at them together and something in your gut just tells you they're going to make it.

"Are you alright, mom?" Riley asks making you realize you had started to tear up looking at the photos.

"I'm fine," you say wiping tears of happiness from your eyes.

"They look so happy," Maya says, her eyes gleaming with hope, something you rarely saw due to the series of disappointments the girl unfortunately seemed to experience throughout her life.

"Yeah, they do," you honestly agree with her.

"What do you girls want for dinner?" You ask snapping back to reality. "Your father and August are on a camping trip."

"Why don't we go out?" Riley suggests.

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" You ask.

"How about the diner?" Maya asks.

Maya is referencing the NightHawk Diner where her mother would be working currently if she wasn't on her honeymoon.

"Are you missing your mom?" You ask putting your arm over Maya's shoulders.

"No," she blushes. "Maybe a little."

"Don't worry, Peaches," Riley says. "We can go there, I'd love to share a tuna melt with you."

You smile at their tradition of splitting a tuna melt and each eating half.

"Alright," you say grabbing your jacket. "Let's get going then."

You start heading toward the subway station, but Maya tells you it would actually be faster to walk and that she knows a quick way to get there.

You nod your head, trusting Maya since she's been walking there ever since she was little.

While walking along the sidewalk, a huge gust of wind picks up. You and the girls don't think much of it until you see a baby blanket flying around in front of you and a young woman pushing a stroller frantically trying to catch it.

The three of you run along the sidewalk and through the street, jumping up and reaching for it until Maya suddenly yells, "I got it."

The young mother quickly pushes the stroller to you and Maya hands her the small blanket.

"Thank you so much," she says out of breath. "The wind blew it right out of Sophie's hands."

"It was no problem," Maya says also slightly out of breath. "Your daughter's really cute," she says peering into the stroller at the baby giggling baby inside.

"How old is she?" Topanga asks.

"Fifteen months," the woman responds.

"Did you find it?" A man asks running up to his wife and baby.

"This young girl caught it," the woman told him.

"Thank you," he says.

"We're on our way to dinner and have to get going," Maya says. "Goodbye, Sophie," she says waving to the baby.

"Goodbye," You wave to the young couple.

"She was so adorable!" Riley shouts, looking like she's about to burst from a cute overload. 

You arrive at the diner and order your dinners. You order a salad while Riley orders her and Maya their signature tuna melt.

The food arrives and you eat your salad as Riley splits the sandwich in half and gives one part to Maya and keeps the other for herself.

When dinner is done and it's time to go home, Maya has only taken two bites out of her half which concerns you because it's her favorite thing to get here.

You think it might be because she is missing her mother, a theory that you believe is confirmed when Maya quickly makes her way into Riley's room to call Katy when the three of you get back to the apartment.

When Maya slams the door shut in her haste, you go to make sure she's okay but the door is locked. She locked you out.

"Maya, open this door," You calmly say.

She doesn't answer. After two more attempts to get her to unlock the door, you realize your only option is to wait outside the door until she decides to let you in. 

"Mom?" You hear her speak into the phone shakily.

"Baby girl, what's wrong?" Katy asks sensing the panic in her voice.

Maya breaks down crying on the phone with her mother while trying to explain why she's upset. Riley hears the commotion and comes out of the bathroom to see what's going on.

"Maya, it's me," she says knocking on the door. "It's Riley."

The door slightly cracks open and Riley walks in, then it closes and clicks, locked again.

"What's wrong?" You hear both Katy and Riley trying to ask Maya.

"I saw him. I saw him and his wife and his daughter," Maya says sobbing.

"What do you mean?" Riley asks.

"Who?" Katy similarly asks through the phone.

"Kermit," Maya says. "And his perfect new family," she says hurt and in tears.

Your heart breaks. You had no idea, and judging by the way she reacted to the woman and her baby, you don't think Maya knew either until she saw the man that must've been her father.

"Maya, please let me in," you try one last time.

After waiting a moment, you lose hope, until the door opens slightly revealing the blonde teen with a reddened face and tears on her cheeks, breath erratic.

You're expecting the teen to turn away any affection you try to offer her in consolation but, instead, she looks to you and throws her arms around you, crying into your shirt.

All you can do at this point is hold her tight in your arms and tell her everything will be alright.

================================================================================

Don't forget to vote and comment if you like this chapter!