A/N: You guys are so awesome! Thank you for all of the comments you left on the last chapter. :)
Maya POV
Maggie seemed to really love riding her horse. She rode it for a good 30 minutes after we got there. After about 40 minutes I noticed she was sitting in the pasture with her sketch book. I decided this might be a great time to have a conversation with her or at least to attempt to have one. I stood up off the chair and Lucas looked up at me with a look on his face. I could tell he was wondering what I was doing.
"I'm going to walk over and see Maggie." I said to him.
He smiled "Do you want me to go with you?" he asked me.
"No. Let me go on my own. I promise I'll be okay." I said before leaning down and kissing him softly.
"She's got this Lucas." Diana replied then she turned to look at me "Let me know how it goes."
"I sure will." I said with a smile.
I made my way off the porch and over to Lucas truck where I had a bag of things. Lucas didn't know but I had packed my own sketch books. One of them was from when I was 5 years old after my parents split up. I like to keep all my drawings and I wanted to bring this book for a reason. When I'm around beautiful scenery like this it inspires me to draw so I also brought my current sketch book. I grabbed my bag of things and supplies before making my way over to Maggie. I watched as she stared intently at her horse then looked back down at her sketch pad. She was drawing her horse and I couldn't help but smile. I walked over and sat down beside her.
"You're drawing is really good." I said breaking the silence between us. She hadn't noticed I was there until I spoke up.
"Thanks." she mumbled.
"I love to draw too. Do you mind if I join you?" I asked I asked as I sat down beside her.
"No, I don't mind." she replied and I couldn't help but notice she seemed more down today.
I was surprised she was actually speaking to me. Maybe Diana did get through to her a little bit. I grabbed my older sketch book to look through some of the drawings. I didn't want to get right into the discussion with her about whats going on so I figured I would ease into it.
"Great! I think I might draw the barn. Its beautiful." I said as I placed my sketchbook on my lap and grabbed a pencil so that I could begin to draw the beautiful barn scenery.
"Mhmhm." she replied.
We sat in silence for a minute and I continued to draw. I glanced over and saw her watching me. The two of us continued to sit there and draw. I figured instead of sitting here in complete silence the whole time that I would speak up.
"I'll show you some of my old drawings." I said to her with a smile.
"Okay." she replied.
I grabbed my old sketchbook and placed it on my lap. I began looking through the pages of them and couldn't help but laugh at some of them. There was one in particular I was looking for that I drew and it was of my Mom, Shawn, my dad, and I. It showed my mom and Shawn were happy while my dad and I were off on the side together.
"I drew this when I was 6 years old. This is my mom, Shawn, my real Dad and I." I said as I pointed to each person.
"Oh." Maggie replied.
"You and I have a lot more in common than you realize." I said to her as I brushed my hand along the drawing. "My Dad left my mom and I when I was 5. I didn't understand why and it broke me into a million pieces. A couple months later my mom met Shawn. I didn't like him at first and wanted to be a family with my mom and Dad. Mom had clearly moved on and that hurt me so much." I said to Maggie as I looked over at her.
"Did your Dad come back?" Maggie asked.
"Nope but I gained a new Dad in Shawn. Believe it or not I warmed up to him and now I call him Dad." I said with a smile.
"Well I'm not going to call you Mom." Maggie replied.
"I know that. I don't expect you to. But I do hope you will give me a chance." I replied.
"Nanny said that I should." she replied.
I put the book down and grabbed my other book. I flipped to a more recent drawing I had done. I smiled when I saw it. I was proud of this drawing.
"This is a more recent drawing." I said as I showed Maggie the picture.
"Is that Dad?" she asked me.
"Yes. I drew it when he wasn't looking. You know he cares about you a lot?" I said to her.
"If he does then why won't he be with Mom again?" she asked me.
"Because honey he has to think of himself too. Can I ask you something?" I replied.
"Do you want your Dad to be happy?" I asked her.
"Yes" she answered."
"Good. I'm glad to hear that. You know I always wondered if my mom cared about me so much why didn't she go to find my Dad? As I got older I realized my mom didn't go after him because she felt if he left once he'd do it again. She didn't want to be with someone who would leave us. She wanted someone who would love us, stay, and never ever leave. She wanted stability for me." I replied. "And I also came to realize that believe it or not Shawn made her really really happy. "
I watched as Maggie's eyes welled up with tears. I immediately got worried that I had said something to upset her.
"Why does no one care about me being happy?" she said to me and my heart broke.
I reached out and wiped her tears away. "We do care about you, sweet girl. It's hard to understand. I get it because I felt the same way."
Maggie started crying "Mom says he doesn't."
"Can I hug you?" I asked her.
Maggie nodded "yeah." she replied as tears continued to flow down her cheeks.
I pulled Maggie into a hug and pulled her hair out of her face as she cried on my chest. "It sucks now but I promise everything is going to be okay."
I continued to hug Maggie as she cried in my arms. I felt so bad for this little girl. I hadn't even heard Lucas walk up to us.
"Mom says he doesn't care." She sniffled.
"You're mom is wrong Maggie. She shouldn't be telling you those kinds of things. I love you more than words can say. I just want you to be happy and while I know you want me back with your Mom because that would make you happy, I really do hope you would give Maya a chance here. She's really trying and in no way is she looking to take over as your Mom."
Maggie let go of me and I watched as she crawled into her Dads lap. I couldn't help but smile at the little breakthrough we had with her today.
"I love you Dad." she said as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"I love you too Maggie Jo. Everything is going to be okay. How about we go get some lunch? I think Nanny made your favorite chicken noodle soup and sandwiches."
"Okay that sounds good." she replied.
Maggie got up off Lucas lap and I watched as she walked towards the house. I couldn't help but smile at what took place today. I was so happy I got some where with her. Riley was right when she said to tell her about my story. I looked over at Lucas and he was smiling at me.
"You okay?" he asked.
I smiled back at him "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."
"Good." he replied.
I grabbed a fist full of Lucas shirt and pulled him to me. I placed my lips on his and kissed him softly. He gave in like any other time and I could feel him smiling into my mouth. I pulled away and looked at him.
"I love you. I told you we got this." I grinned.
"Mhmm." he said before leaning in and kissing me once more.
Lucas and I made out for a few minutes then made our way back to the house. I put my things back in his truck and together we walked hand in hand to get some lunch. I was so proud of myself for how I handled this situation. Hopefully we are on the right track to getting Maggie to come around.