Butterfly Effect

10: Sunday mornings

Carina's Pov

Benedetta had been staying with us for a couple of days now, and she was the amazing young woman that I've always imagined. On monday she was going back to school and I knew that she was terrified to go back there after everything, but she was trying to hide it from me and Maya.
Sunday morning I woke up early and I started to prepare coffee and breakfast for me and my two favorite girls, opting for a plate of french toast and chopped strawberries.
"Good morning" Hailee said with a yawn, sitting at the table, still with sleep in her beautiful eyes. She was just like me on this... She was not a morning person at all.
"Buongiorno Bambina" I said, giving her a plate and sitting at my usual spot with my cup of coffee.
After a couple of minutes filled with silence and small talk, Maya came into the kitchen, taking her plate and sitting next to me with a small kiss on my lips.
"When are you leaving?" Maya asked me and I held back a giggle. After years she still didn't remember the time of the sunday mass.
"I leave at half past nine" I answered and I smiled at my wife.
"Wait... Where are you going Carina?" Hailee asked anxious about the idea of one of us leaving because of her, about the idea of us not wanting her.
"I'm going to church for a couple of hours for the Sunday service, but as soon as it's over I'll be back to my favorite girls" I answered and she looked confused.
"And we don't have to come?" she questioned and I looked at Maya, not knowing what to say.
"I'm not christian like Carina, so I don't go to the mass, but if you do believe in God I'm sure that she would love to go with you to church. It's your choice" my wife explained and I looked at Hailee's surprised eyes.
She remained silent for a while, playing with a piece of strawberry on her plate... She was lost in her own head.
"Do you believe in God? Do you want to come with me?" I asked, hoping to have the chance of sharing this huge part of myself with my daughter.
"I don't know what I believe in..." she whispered "I've always been forced to go to church with all the christian foster families, and now I don't think that God is something that's part of my life. I'm so sorry Carina...".
"Bambina it's okay. I would never force you to do anything you're not comfortable with, especially not something like faith" I said and she smiled at me with doubts.
I would have loved to share with Benedetta my faith, after all she was named mainly because of it, but I would always respect her choices about it.
"You can stay here with me, it's okay..." Maya said, getting up to take her meds.
"Thank you" she answered and after that conversation we started to talk about everything else.
At nine thirty I was ready to leave, so I kissed Maya goodbye and I hugged my daughter before closing the door behind me, driving with a smile on my face toward the church.

Hailee's Pov

I was in my room rereading one of my favorite books of all times, while Maya was out running. She had asked me if I wanted her to stay with me, but I knew that she needed to run, so I said that she could go and that I would have been fine on my own.
I was lost between the pages of a book, living with the main character in her new life... That's why I loved Feyre and her story so much. She was in an abusive situation and she found a way to escape, earning a family and a home. I wanted that too... And for the first time I felt like I'd found my court of dreams. My home...
After five chapters I closed the book and I started to walk around the apartament, curious to find out something more about the two amazing people that took me into their house.
I saw a lot of pictures of the two of them together. Them with a good looking guy that was so similar to Carina. Maya and other firefighters. Their wedding...
They seemed so happy together, so I couldn't bring myself to understand why they took me in. No one had ever wanted me, not even my parents, so why did they?
I wasn't special. I wasn't incredibly smart or pretty. I had terrible social skills and a messed up mental health. I was a fucking work in progress, with no prospect to be fixed.
They would be better off without me...
I was still walking around the apartament when the door opened and a very sweaty Maya appeared in the hall.
"Hi Lia, are you looking around?" she asked, grabbing a glass of water in the kitchen and drinking it fast.
"I was looking at the pictures. I hope it's not a problem that I did that... It's just that you two look so happy in all of them" I said and she smiled at me.
"We had our ups and downs, trust me... And I hope those moments helped us realize what we both need in our relationship" she explained and I had this weird feeling that they knew what pain was and what they needed to do to avoid it.
I started to get lost inside of my head, but Maya realized it and helped me to focus on something totally different.
"I'm going to shower, but after that, do you want to watch a movie on Netflix with me?" she asked and I nodded, finally thinking about something positive.
When Maya came out of their room with wet hair, she sat next to me on the couch, taking the remote control from the coffee table and opening Netflix. We were trying to decide what to watch, when I noticed that my favorite movie of all time was there.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed and Maya looked at me confused by my reaction.
"What's wrong Lia?".
"Nothing. I just saw that my favorite movie is on here... Can we watch it? Can we watch Mamma Mia?" I asked hopeful. I just loved the feeling of comfort that the musical gave me.
"I've never seen it" she admitted and I looked at her shocked.
"How?" I exclaimed "It's the best movie ever created! How come in all of these centuries that you've been on this Earth, you've never seen Mamma Mia?".
The joke made her laugh, and at that sound I felt a familiar feeling of comfort that was always present when I was near her. She felt like coming home...
"I am not that old!" she answered, holding back a giggle "And I don't know, I've just never seen it".
"Well, we have officially found our movie of the day" I said, pressing play and looking back at the television.

Carina's Pov

Every Sunday I came home from the church feeling a little lighter than before. I liked that I had a safe place, other than my wife and my family, it made me feel a part of something bigger.
When I arrived at home, I opened the door and the sound of my wife's laugh got to my ears, bringing a smile to my face. What surprised me though, was Benedetta's wonderful voice singing along with the movie Mamma Mia.
I looked at her from the hall, admiring their carefree expressions and their wide smiles, and seeing that I felt a warm feeling in my heart. This was the life that I've always dreamt about... The one that I've always wanted.
I leaned on the doorframe and I kept looking at my family, until, while she was singing and dancing the song "Dancing Queen", Hailee turned toward me and she stopped immediately.
"Carina, you're back!" she exclaimed with a smile.
"Yes bambina, I told you that it was only for a couple of hours" I answered and I walked into the living room "What are you two doing?".
"She's making me watch her favorite movie, because, according to Lia, is such a shame that I've never seen it" my wife said with a giggle. I loved that sound with all of my heart.
"Well, she's right. This movie is fantastic" I said with a wink directed to my daughter, who started laughing at my answer.
"I've seen it so many times that now I know it by heart..." Hailee said, sitting between me and Maya on the couch.
"Why did you see it so many times, Bambina?" I asked with curiosity.
"My parents left me because I wasn't enough for them... This movie was the first thing that showed me what a mother's love should look like. It gave me the family that I wanted so badly..." she simply explained and the smile on my face faded quickly.
I've always wanted to keep her with me, but I couldn't raise her. She'd always been enough. She was more than enough...
So, in that exact moment, I decided that I was going to make it up to her for all of these years spent without a mom.

A.N. So, I wanted to say thank you to everyone because this story reached 1k readers and I can't be happier than this.
I want to clarify something about last chapter, regarding Maya's mental health. In my story Maya has Borderline personality disorder, which is something that in my opinion her character could have. I AM NOT A DOCTOR though, so everything is based on various researches that I did while writing.
Also, this chapter is kind of a filler, but I loved writing something a bit lighter before going back to the hard stuff.
Hope you liked it. Let me know.