Adopted By One Direction

Chapter 22

Madison sighs just a bit saying, “I’m guessing you saw the letter.” Her back straight in confidence, yet her eyes are glossed over in hiding. She goes on as if defending herself saying, “I only found the letter last night. But I didn’t know how to tell you all, so I just left it this morning for you to find.” She starts to rip off a piece of toast, knowing we’ll ask her to eat something sooner or later.

Louis hands her a cup of tea saying, “Don’t worry about him, he won’t hurt us, and he most certainly will not hurt you.” We all nod and continue to eat. I don’t know how many times we should keep saying the same thing to her. Soon, our words are going to be nothing but words. And the lads and I all know that. We all know we can’t keep trying to get her to talk to us, we need leave her alone every now and then.

“I know,” Her voice steady and strong, “I just don’t want him to hurt you all. I wouldn’t put it past him. But, I’m not scared. I don’t know why, but I’m not.” She takes one more bite of toast and I can tell her stomach is starting to hurt. “We’ll take care of it Mads,” Niall says next to her as she tries to eat some berries, “We’ll make sure our security is on top of it and tighter than ever.” She nods in response, as usual.

Liam steps in not wanting to push her into to talking about him too much.“We’ll worry about it when we’re back in London. I don’t see the need to worry about it now. How about we all go on the beach, yeah?”

We all start to get up from the table, and Madison looks as if she can keep everything down, finally her stomach is starting to adjust to regular meals. I head back to my room to change and soon we are all on the private beach just steps away from the main house. Madison looks as if she likes the sand, the ocean on the other hand, not so much. “Yeah,” She says from beside me with a little chuckle, “I will not be going in there.” I laugh as she makes her way over to one of the beach chairs waiting for us.

 

We spend the whole day laughing a playing in the sand, a normal, undisturbed day. A day with no security, no seducale, no fans, just us. It feels so nice to have such a relaxed day with Madison. I think I have learned more about her in one day than the whole time she has been our daughter. Things that are really about her. Not events in her past, or things that give her anxiety, but happy things and quirks about her that make her who she is. For example, she hates the idea of being inside all day, she loves being in the sunlight. And her favorite colour is yellow, simply because it reminds her of the sun. She loves going on walks, and she has always dreamed of traveling. She loves to read, its her favorite thing to do in her free time. Things that I should know about her, but we have always been too wrapped up in knowing her past that we have forgotten about all of the other factors that makes her who she is.

 

And in turn, we have gotten to tell her about us. We have hardly shared anything about us, except that we love her and will protect her. Now she knows as much information as we could pack in, in only one day. But the most important thing we’ve learn today is about her heart. She is so loving, and forgiving, to this day she loves her father, no matter how much she tries not to. She thinks and worries for her mother all of time in hopes of her safey. She has been programed to see the worst in people, yet her heart sees the best. She longs to trust, and naturally wants to, but is scared of her love being taken advantage of. More and more layers of her begin to peel, and she seems to want to open up and tell us all.

 

We all sit in beach chairs under an umbrella as she looks us in the eyes telling us even more.“But the worst thing about my medical condition is my PTSD.” (Post traumatic stress disorder) She says with no fear. “My PTSD is what causes all of my nightmares and flashbacks. The doctors say it can take years for my PTSD to go away. But I think I’ve had it for much longer than they think so. I started having symptoms four months after my parents changed. Thats why I get my anxiety and panic attacks, because of my PTSD. The only thing about going on tour is the fact that I will probably get a lot of anxiety attacks and flashbacks being around all the people you all are around. Crowds freak me out, and I always know when an attack is coming on because my heart rate goes up and a feeling of panic rushes over me. Its really not that bad, I’m pretty use to it by now, but I bet some of the things on tour will be triggers for me.” She says with an unwavering voice, honest and simple. And in her words I see that beautiful warrior that she was meant to be. Her eyes have a way of capturing us in those beautiful blue seas of her’s, her hair laying perfect down her back, her smile so small yet evident. My daughter simply breath taking inside and out. And no one has been able to take that away from her, and no will start now.