Her Trauma, His Redemption

Chapter 32: Bonding with Maya

It happened quietly. No announcement. No grand moment.

Just a knock on Tiana's door one afternoon and Maya was standing there with a tray balanced in her hands and an expression that left no room for refusal.

"I brought tea, " Maya said. "And before you tell me you are fine, I've already decided you are not drinking it alone. "

Tiana blinked then smiled softly."Okay. "

They sat in the small sunroom off the west wing, light spilling in through tall windows warming the space with a softness that felt earned.

Maya poured the tea with practiced movements, her hands steady, her presence calm.

For a few minutes they talked about nothing important. The weather, the roses in the garden. A new housekeeper who had mixed up the laundry schedule and apologised three times before Maya had the chance to assure her. The conversation was easier than Tiana had thought.

And that was what startled Tiana the most. She had never had anyone she was this easy with except Jake.

She didn't know who her mother was. Mrs Finn was nice but too loud Tiana didn't feel much comfortable with her. She had spent the last three years trying to avoid people as much as she could. People would judge her if they knew the things she had been through, they would pity her, and most of all they would ask questions that Tiana wasn't ready to answer. But most importantly, Tiana couldn't bare to be touched and she hadn't wanted to find out who could touch her and who could not.

She didn't know how she would react and what people's reactions will be.

But that was until him, until Jake.

Until he touched her cheeks at the hospital.

The warmth that had washed through her had covered all the hurt. Then came more touches. Hugs. Kisses. His lap. Sleeping in his arms.

Tiana had gone from being repulsed by touches to being addicted to Jake's. Only Jake's.

But now there was Maya, soft, warm and motherly. Something she had never had. Something she wanted to have just like with Jake.

Maya studied her for a while over the rim of her tea cup. "You've been holding yourself together very carefully, " she said at last.

Tiana's fingers still around her mug, her brain clearing back to the moment. "Is it that obvious?"

Maya smiled gently. "To someone who's watched people survive the impossible things, yes."

Tiana swallowed. "I don't want to break. "

Maya set her cup down. "You don't have to. You are allowed to rest."

The words struck deeper than Tiana expected. Rest had never been something she had been offered. Rest had always been something stolen in moments of exhaustion. But even in those moments she couldn't bring herself to rest.

Her mind would work overtime thinking of ways to stay alive. Ways to escape. Ways to make sure that even if her body wouldn't survive, her mind would.

"I don't know how to rest. "

She actually didn't. It came easier with Jake around. But then Jake made everything easier that even her brain seemed to not work around him.

Maya reached across the small table and laid her hand over Tiana's. It was warm. Certain. Reassuring. Completely different from Jake's.

While Jake's was electrifying and grounding at the same time, Maya's touch was motherly.

"Then I'll show you, " she said simply.

Tiana's throat tightened.

They sat like that for a while, silence wrapping around them without pressure.

Eventually, Maya spoke again, her voice quiter. "Jake hadn't always known how to be gentle, " she said. "Life didn't teach him that first."

Tiana looked up. "But he learned. "

"He learned because he wanted to, " Maya replied. "And because you gave him something worth softening for. "

Emotions welled in Tiana's chest, swift and overwhelming. "I don't feel like I deserve that. "

Maya's gaze sharpened, Not harsh but firm. "That's where you are wrong. "

She squeezed Tiana's hands once. "You don't earn love by suffering. You deserve it because you exist. "

Tears slid down Tiana's cheeks before she could stop them. She didn't apologise. She didn't wipe them away quickly. Instead she let them flow.

Maya stood and came to her side, pulling her into a hug that was strong and steady, nothing hesitant about it.

Tiana stiffened at first, then melted into the hug the dam finally giving way.

Maya stroked her hair slowly. "You are safe here, " she murmured. "And you're not alone anymore. Not with Jake. Not with me. "

Tiana clutched at her blouse like a child might, breath hitching. "No one ever stayed, " she whispered.

Maya held her tighter. "I will. Jake will."

They stayed that way until the tears slowed, until Tiana's breathing evened out again.

Later as they sat side by side on the couch, Maya tucked a blanket around Tiana's shoulders with quiet familiarity.

"You know, " Maya said casually. "I have opinions about everything in this house. And now that you are here I plan to share them. "

Tiana laughed, a real sound spilling through her throat. "That sounds slightly terrifying. "

"It should be, " Maya replied deadpan. Then she softened. "But you'll never face anything alone against. That's a promise. "

Tiana leaned her head against Maya's shoulder the gesture natural and unguarded.

For the first time the word mother didn't feel like something that had been taken away from her. It didn't feel like abandonment.

It didn't feel like the words her father would use every day to punish her, to beat the hell out her, to make her life a living hell.

But with Maya now, that word felt like something that had found her again. Later than expected but right on time. Right when she thought she didn't need it anymore.