Chapter 4

Maia had never seen anything so wonderful. They rode through a couple of little towns that sold all kinds of different clothing, sweets, baked goods, jewelry, fresh produce, and hot meals. She wanted to stop at every single one but decided not to mention it.

As she looked away from the town, she saw where they were headed. It was so grand she couldn’t process it. The building was so large and had so many different sections. It was made of brick and had plenty of windows so whoever lived there would have plenty of natural light. It was guarded by a large black gate and some guards in uniform, fully armed.

Once they made it through the gate, she saw a large lake to her right with a nice wooden bench under a large tree so she could sit and watch the water. There were dirt paths that lead to different areas. One went to the lake, one went to the garden on the left and the other went to different areas.

The garden was something she had never even dreamt of. Flowers bloomed everywhere, fresh produce growing tall and strong. People were out tending to the garden, watering and weeding and planting and fertilizing. All of it was too much for Maia to take in.

This was all nothing compared to what she was going to see once she went through the large doors that led inside. It was solid oak, with handles made from solid gold. Guards stood everywhere outside and once the car had parked someone dressed in all black immediately opened the door and held out his hand to help her out.

“Madam.” He said with a slight bow to his head. He looked no older than she was, and Maia was overtaken by joy as a gust of wind blew past, tossing her hair everywhere.

Pulling her hair out of her face, she looked around with a large smile.

“I live here now?” she asked Mr. Sween.

“Yes, sweetheart,” he responded, watching her enjoy being outside.

She stepped off the paved driveway and stepped into the perfectly green grass. The wind blew her hair and the sun burned her eyes but she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Would you like to come inside and see where you’re sleeping?” Mr. Sween motioned to the castle. A million different emotions swept over Maia. She was instantly brought back into the attic, lying on the cold wood, all alone. She simply nodded and followed Mr. Sween into a side door.

She prepared herself for what she was about to walk into. Would it be another attic? They started walking down a flight of stairs and Maia’s heart rate quickened. They were going into the basement.

The stairs led to two separate rooms.

“Mine and my wife’s room is here on the left. Yours is on the right.” Mr. Sween said, opening the door to her room.

Maia took a deep breath and walked in behind him.

There was a bed with warm and soft blankets and a couple of pillows to her left and the right, there was a vanity complete with a mirror and stool to her right. On the back wall was a simple wooden dresser. For it to have dark stone walls, the room was surprisingly bright.

Maia slowly walked over to the bed and sat down. It was much comfier than the one from the orphanage and the blankets were so soft. She watched as Mr. Sween unpacked her things from the suitcase and placed them all in the dresser.

“You get yourself comfortable. I’ll come to get you when it’s time for supper and I’ll be out in the garden if you need me.” he stepped out of the room and started to close the door.

“Wait.” Maia heard herself call out. Mr. Sween reentered the room.

“Yes?”

“Why did you adopt me?”

“Because you deserve better, Maia. And I knew I could give you the life you deserve.”

“But why me? And how do you know I deserve better? You don’t know what I’ve been through.” Maia could feel herself getting emotional and Mr. Sween stepped more into the room and shut the door behind him.

“I read your file back at the orphanage. It had a summary of your past. I knew right then that I was going to adopt you.”

“Why were you adopting anyway?” tears were fighting in Maia’s eyes but she pushed them away.

Mr. Sween sat down next to Maia, placing a hand on her leg and looking directly at her.

“Maia, my wife, she wanted kids so badly but she can’t carry them. So, after some discussion, we chose to adopt.”

“But you never really answered why you chose me. If you read my file or whatever, big deal. You should have chosen anyone else there.” the tears were fighting stronger now but she continued to fight them as she crossed her arms and took a deep breath.

“We wanted to adopt you.”

Maia looked up at Mr. Sween whose eyes had only become more kind.

“We want you, Maia. I know your past father was... something. We won’t discuss that right now.” the tears were freefalling now. “But I want you to know that me and Marie, my wife, want you. We chose you. You will never have to live in fear of being treated that way ever again.” Mr. Sween reached out and gently kissed the top of her head, causing Maia to lose control and break down in tears.

“Would you like some alone time?” he gently asked, placing his hand on her back for emotional support.

Maia just nodded yes and with one more breath, Mr. Sween stood and quietly left Maia alone.

She lay on the bed, hugging her legs close to her just like she used to do when she was in the attic. But this time was different. She wasn’t alone. She had a family. But for some reason, she still felt pain in her heart. She felt empty.

After she had calmed down, she gathered herself and walked out to the garden, looking for her new father.

“Mr. Sween?”

“Yes, dear?” he called out as she walked over.

“I want to go for a walk. But I don’t want to go alone.”

“I can ask for a servant to go with you?” he offered, standing up off his knees.

“Yes, please,” she said quietly.

Mr. Sween immediately went to call for a servant, who arrived faster than Maia was expecting. The servant walked over and she couldn’t help but notice it was the same man who opened the car door for her.

“You wanted to go for a walk, madam?” he asked. His voice was light and airy, his eyes a nice shade of blue, standing out against his dark brown hair.

Maia nodded and with that, they walked all over the fields. All over the garden, the lake, the woods, everywhere that she was permitted, Maia went. She wanted to feel what freedom felt like.

“Your name is Maia, right?” the man asked, trying to make conversation so they weren’t walking in silence.

“Yes, what is yours?” she asked.

“My name is Oliver. How old are you?”

“Sixteen. And yourself?”

“Really? You look much younger. You act it too. I’m 18.”

Maia didn’t respond. Was that a compliment? It was the closest thing she’s ever gotten to one.

“You know, you’re actually kinda pretty,” Oliver said, looking at the ground.

“What’s that mean?” she stopped, looking up at him. She’d never been called pretty before. Unless ‘pretty fucking useless’ counted.

“You don’t know what pretty means?”

Maia shook her head as she waited for an explanation.

“Well, it means you look nice. Sometimes, when people call you pretty, it means they’re attracted to you,” he explained simply.

“Are you attracted to me?” Maia asked straight, not used to conversations like this.

There was a short silence.

“Yeah, I am,” he said, looking down at her and smiling. His smile was kind, even though he was missing a tooth in the back. “Are you... attracted to me?” he asked awkwardly.

“Yes, I think you’re pretty,” she said as she turned and continued walking.

“Wait!” he called as he ran to catch up.

“Will you give me a chance then?” he asked, throwing it all out in the open now.

“Give you a chance to do what?”

“Oh for Christ’s sake! I want to be your boyfriend,” he called out, looking at her with desperation. A gust of wind blew and her hair blew everywhere, she fixed it the best she could and looked back at him.

“I mean, if you want to, you can. I want that too,” she said, nodding.

The two stood looking at each other for a few moments as Maia tried to figure out what just happened.

“Can I hug you?” he offered, seeing the range of emotions Maia was feeling. He held his arms out.

Maia nodded as she held hers out. He brought her into a tight embrace which made her feel something weird in her chest. She’d never been touched and talked to like this before.