viridity |•| t.s daughter (1)

quiet

♡maggie♡
age six

2002

  Another month has passed since being Maggie had been with her daddy. Linda has visited them twice now, once a month like she had promised. When Linda last came, Maggie almost told her how much she absolutely hates being here. She'd quickly changed her mind, knowing that she might have to leave her daddy if she tells the truth. Daddy isn't that bad, it's Obidiah who is the problem.

  Obidiah ended up babysitting Maggie another three times since the first time, every time worse than the last. The little girl wanted to tell her daddy, but she knew better. Telling daddy would only get her in trouble, just like the first time.

After meeting Obidiah, the little girl had admitted that she didn't like the man. That he made her feel weird, that she didn't like having him around. Daddy hasn't liked that, and so Maggie had been grounded.

The little girl couldn't help but wonder if she was being dramatic. Her mommy used to call her dramatic all the time, so maybe that's what was happening now.
 
Looking to her dad as he drives, Maggie wonders what would happen if she told him. She'd already decided that she wouldn't, though.

Daddy was driving her to the doctor right now, since Happy couldn't. Only daddy could take Maggie to her appointments, especially the ones for her neck.

The little girl was glad for this, because her daddy was letting her sit up front. This meant that she was right next to him, where she could see him better.

"Remember, Maggie, be good for the doctor," Daddy spoke up, scaring the girl slightly, he'd been quiet the whole time. Nodding her head, Maggie casts her gaze out the window as they'd arrived at a big building.

In that moment, Maggie wished for nothing more than to be able to speak. She wanted to tell her daddy that she understood, that she'd be a good girl. Maggie just wanted to make him proud.

Soon enough, Maggie hopped out of the car and followed daddy into the doctors. Upon arriving and checking in, the two had to wait for Maggie's name to be called. As they waited, Maggie sat in her chair silently and swung her feet back and forth.

The two had sat for a few moments before Maggie's name was called, a lady coming out to the waiting room to lead them to the doctors office. Maggie followed obediently, looking up at her daddy in happiness as she did so.

"The doctor will be right with you," The lady announces, leaving Maggie and her father in another room. Maggie takes her seat, going back to swinging her feet back and forth.

  Daddy had to take a phone call while they waited, so Maggie tried to her hardest to stay extra quiet. Daddy was always sure to remind her to be quiet during his phone calls, even though Maggie can't even talk. The little girl understood though, cause her daddy's phone calls were very important.

Just as her father hangs up, there's a knock on the door and a man walks in.

  "Hello Mr. Stark, and hello Margot. I hope you're both having a good day," The doctor greets, stepping into the room further and closing the door. Maggie's smile falls, realizing that her doctor was a man. She didn't feel comfortable with men anymore, they scared her.

"It's going just fine, but I do have business to attend to. So let's try and make this snappy, yeah?" Tony wastes no time in trying to charm the doctor, whilst also pushing his busy agenda. There wasn't a bone in his body that wanted to be here. Nothing was as important as work, not his work at least.

"Of course, Mr. Stark. Margot, would you mind coming up and sitting here?" The doctor gets straight to business, not ignoring the request of the man in front of him. Maggie shyly nods, getting up from her chair and climbing up onto the exam table. The paper crinkles underneath her weight, settling once she was seated. "Great, now go ahead and take that scarf off for me."

Doing as he asks, Maggie unwraps the knitted material from her neck and holds it in her lap. Carefully the doctor examines the scar, gently feeling around the area with expert hands. Maggie has to suppress her emotions, not only was she uncomfortable, but his hands also really tickled.

  "Well, the wound has healed nicely, but your daughter will most likely have a scar for the rest of her life. The wound wasn't consistent, so the scarring will be worse in some areas," The doctor explains the situation to the father, too focused on his patients neck to realize that the man was on his phone. "Other than that, I think it's safe to give your voice a try. I must warn you, it may hurt and it probably won't sound like how you remember."

Maggie tries to think of what to say. After so long, she wasn't really sure what to say. The little girls mind was running a mile a minute, trying to think of the millions of things she'd been wanting to say for so long. In the end, there was only one thing she really wanted to say.

"Daddy," Maggies voiced came out strangled, it was squeaky and followed by a quiet wheeze. The pathetic noise was still enough to get the mans attention, his head snapping up in time to see the grin on his daughters face.

"Very good, sweetie," Her daddy praises her, causing Maggie's hopes to soar high. He's gonna love me now, truly, really love me!

"Alright, it seems that everything is healing nicely," The doctor states, doing a few more massages to the girls neck. He has her talk a few more times, feeling her neck as she did so. "I'll have to suggest speech therapy, though. As it's not likely that she'll ever be able to speak normally again."

Maggie spaces off as she tries to understand what that means. The doctor and her daddy start talking, but she doesn't listen. Does he mean that she'll always sound like this? Or does he mean that it's always gonna hurt like this?

  "Cmon Maggie, lets go," Maggie looks up to see her daddy waiting for her, his hand outstretched in order to help her down from the exam table. All the thoughts are quickly wiped from her mind as she happily takes her daddy's hand, hopping down from the table.

Maggie gets to hold her daddy's hand all the way to the car, a smile present on her face the whole time. This was all she ever wanted. For her daddy to love her.

In the car, Maggie asks her daddy all of the questions shes ever wanted to ask him.

'What's your favorite color? What's your favorite food? Are you and Pepper dating? What's your job? Can I have a cat? Can we get ice cream? Did you love my mommy? Can we go to the park?'

  "Shut up, Maggie! Just be quiet, I'm tired and have a headache. When we get home you can bother Pepper all you want, but just stop talking to me," Daddy sounded mad, and annoyed. It was like how he always sounded, even when Maggie couldn't talk. All of her hopes and dreams were slowly starting to crumble, the realization coming over the little girl harder than expected.

When the two had gotten home, Maggie had quickly dashed up to her room. All the excitement of being able to talk was gone now. She didn't even want to show off her voice to Pepper, and not even Happy. All she wanted to do was cry.

  Maggie had been wrong. Her daddy was never gonna love her, but she'd always love her daddy.