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Day one of sophomore year was over, so Maya and Riley took the subway home. It was just like any other day of school, except for new lockers, new teachers, and a few new kids. Nothing earth-shattering. Well, maybe their new math classes were more difficult, but Maya would have help at home.
When they got to the second floor of their shared apartment building, Maya walked Riley to the door.
“I’ll see you and your parents for dinner tonight?” Riley asked, a bubbly smile on her face. The Hunters had officially moved into their building just a month ago, and Riley was still very excited about it.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Maya said, heading for the elevator.
Moments later, Maya approached her own apartment door. Keys in hand, she unlocked it and entered, closing the door behind her. Dropping her backpack onto the couch, she saw Shawn’s half-filled mug of tea on the coffee table, along with his laptop and notebook, but no sign of her step-dad.
“Dad?” She said, waiting for a response. She was surprised how easy it was to call him that, given she’d been calling him by his name for the first two years she’d known him. It was a nice feeling, even if she was already used to it.
Just then, she got a text.
From Daddio
‘Hey Maya. Your Mom’s closing tonight, and I’ll be back home soon, just had to stop by the studio for a bit. Do you mind checking the mail for me?’
Maya texted back; “ok, will do” before grabbing the mailbox key and heading out the door.
Shawn had a small photography business now, which operated from a studio in the city. Now that he was only writing for Hit the Road part-time — traveling on the weekends, and sometimes with his family — it was a good way to diversify his portfolio and grow something of his own from nothing.
The business was based in a relatively small studio, but he’d still managed to fit an art desk for Maya. Her work hung on the walls right next to his.
Maya made her way downstairs to the mailboxes. She knew that Shawn had ordered new camera batteries. She found the package in the mailbox, along with some bills, some ads, some coupons…and a letter.
The letter was addressed to “Maya Hart.”
She narrowed her eyes at the name. She hadn’t gone by “Hart” in a little more than a year, not after having been officially adopted. She hadn’t realized how freeing it would be to legally change her name, let alone have Shawn as her fully legal guardian. Seeing this name now was a strange reminder of the not-so-distant past.
Then she saw the name of the sender. “Bryce Hart.”
She stared blankly at it for a long moment. She felt paralyzed, unable to walk away from the fresh feeling rising in her gut. Slowly, she picked at the top of the sealed envelope and began to rip it open.
…
Shawn came home to an empty apartment. He saw Maya’s backpack on the couch and his package on the table, but there was no sign of her anywhere.
“Maya?” He said, looking around the apartment. Going to her room, he found it just as empty.
When he heard the front door open, he thought it’d be Maya. Returning to the living room, he was surprised to see Cory, a not-so-cheerful one at that.
Shawn pointed at Cory with a suspecting glare. “You know where my daughter is, don’t you?”
“Yep.” Cory answered.
“But you don’t know what happened?” Shawn continued.
“Not a clue,” Cory said. “But she came in ten minutes ago. She doesn’t look so good.”
“Is she sick?” Shawn asked. “Is she hurt?”
“No, thankfully.” Cory shook his head. “She just looked really upset. She needed to talk to someone, so she came to see Riley.” Trying to lighten the mood, even just a little, Cory looked away coyly and shrugged. “I haven’t barged in on them yet, I was waiting for you.”
Shawn sighed, nearly overwhelmed by his vague understanding of Maya's sudden distress. After a moment, he looked up at Cory, and a strong sense of purpose overrode any nervousness. He was still new to doing the serious-dad-talks, or even just the regular comforting-dad-talks, but despite any apprehension of messing up, he'd be there for Maya. Without saying a word, he walked up to the door and led them both out into the hall.
…
Riley and Maya were sitting at the bay window. Maya, feeling dejected, stared down at the letter in her hands.
“I’m sorry,” Riley said. “I don’t know what to say to make you feel better.”
“I’m just not gonna feel better,” Maya said. “Not anytime soon.”
Riley’s bedroom door opened, and Shawn stepped in.
“Hey.” He said.
Maya glanced up at him, and Shawn could see the tears in her eyes. She held on strong, unwilling to cry. He knew the feeling.
Cory poked his head in. “Riley, do you mind…”
The girls looked at each other before Riley got up to leave with her dad.
Alone with his daughter, Shawn sat next to Maya. He wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into him without protest. She sniffed and quickly swiped a hand over her eyes.
“I was ambushed.” She finally said.
“By what?” Shawn asked.
Maya looked up at him then, pulling away a bit from him to do so. She looked angry and sad all at once, restless in her uncertainty. It hurt him seeing her so visibly shaken.
She handed Shawn the letter, keeping the envelope she’d ripped open. He took it and quickly read through it. The handwriting looked young, the letters were loopy and written with a sparkly blue gel pen. The author acknowledged that she was a stranger to Maya, but wanted to know if she could ever hope to have a relationship with her big sister…
“Oh.” Shawn said.
“Oh.” Maya echoed. “I don’t…I just don’t know what to do with this. I don’t know how to feel.”
Shawn nodded. “And not knowing how to feel makes you feel even worse.”
“…Yeah.”
Shawn folded the letter in thirds and silently held out his hand to Maya, who handed him the envelope. He put the letter away and placed it to the side.
“You know, I have a half brother.” He said.
Maya was quiet for a few seconds. And then her regular snarky self shone threw when she looked up at Shawn dead in the face and judgmentally said, “What?”
“What?” Shawn said defensively, though he couldn’t keep the smile from his face.
“How did you not tell me that?” Maya said incredulously. “How do we still have more in common?”
Shawn laughed, and Maya couldn't help but smile.
"I don't know," Shawn said. "I'm thinking that life probably brought us together for a reason."
He playfully elbowed Maya's side, which she reciprocated a bit aggressively.
"So what? You're going to tell me that everything will turn out fine?" Maya said. "Because you and the brother I didn't know you had are so close and all?"
"We might not be close," Shawn said, "But yeah, everything will be alright. Me and Jack, we keep in touch every once in a while. We're not best friends, but we don't have to be. He's my brother, even if it's not in the way most people expect brothers to be."
Maya was quiet, listening intently. Shawn continued; "Family is what you make it. Like with us."
"I know." Maya sighed. "I...I don't even know if I want to talk to her. We grew up so differently. She had everything that I didn't have."
"Not everything." Shawn said, thinking of her mother, her grandmother, the Mathews.
Maya stood up. "I know, but..." She started pacing back and forth. "I thought I wasn't angry anymore. And I mean, I'm not, but it's still...I'm still...jealous, maybe, that she got to grow up with him, and I didn't. Which sucks, because I'm glad he wasn't around, it sounds like he wasn't the best person to have around at the time. It's just the way that he left, and how he moved on without us, and how we had to live with that unspoken guilt and anger for so soo long, and--"
She stopped herself. She looked at Shawn, who was still sitting there, listening to her every word. She continued, standing in one place with her arms crossed.
"Before, when I thought about my...well, my dad, and about his family, I never thought of a face, or an age, or the voice of an actual kid. And now I have this letter, and I can see her personality, I can hear her voice...and she wants to build a bridge to a place I never even thought was possible." She paused. "...She can't help being Kermit's daughter, just like I can't. And I don't want to be mad at her." Maya said. "But a part of me...is."
Shawn stood up, seeing her eyes begin to well up with tears again. He opened his arms, and she walked into his embrace. He held her, he felt her shoulders quake a little, and he almost couldn't believe how much he loved her and wanted her to feel better.
"I wish I could do more than tell you that's everything going to be alright." Shawn said.
"It's OK." Maya said. "This is more than OK."
...
"How do you think they're doing in there?" Riley asked.
She and Cory were sitting at the kitchen table eating cookies from a tin. Riley had updated her dad about Maya's current situation. Although he was sure that Shawn would be up to the task of consoling Maya, Shawn was still new to fatherhood, and Corey felt like this was an expert-level-dad-talk.
"It seems quiet." Cory said.
"Almost too quiet." Riley agreed.
Just then, they heard Riley's bedroom door open. Shawn and Maya appeared from the hall.
"Everything OK?" Riley asked.
"Maybe." Maya shrugged. "Eventually."
"For now," Shawn said, "Everything's fine."
Maya sat next to Riley at the table. "I'm going to put this letter away, just long enough to really sort out how I feel about it, and how I want to respond."
"Sounds like a good plan." Corey said. Shawn sat next to him and Cory patted him on the back, giving his approval.
Dinner went on as planned once Katy and Topanga got home. It was just like any other night between the Mathews and the Hunters, and both Maya and Shawn found themselves in a family they'd found all on their own. And there was no place they'd rather be.