Kiss The Girl

[Maya Fergusson]

Maya Corby smiled as she looked at the exterior of the house she missed so much whilst away in New Zealand. She always missed home when she was not here to see it. Though she often complained about the house and the heat and her noisy brothers, the truth was more complicated. She couldn't imagine not living in Australia and she always missed the weather on the cold nights and days in New Zealand. It wasn't too bad, because the school was in the North, but it still wasn't as warm as she was used too, living all her live in the Northern Territory. Even though Maya and heat did not get along, Maya and cold didn't really do much of a better job. Which ever way she went, Maya knew that her home would always be in Australia, in Alice Springs, even if she moved away, she would always long for the place of her birth, it was entirely natural, everyone would miss home. Of course, home wasn't really the same anymore, with her mother gone. Maya and her mother had been really close. They still were as Maya liked to talk to her in her prayers. She used to write letters and burn them, as was a tradition many on her mother's side would practice, but Maya found that she didn't so much like that tradition as she felt it was taking away her mother's memories, by burning them, they were not likely to reach her in the way that wold be so much more preferable to the young girl. Prayer was better in her opinion and she was sure that her father agreed.

Maya grinned when Corey came running out to greet her, shortly followed by Daniel and then Ethan as the youngest jumped up into her arms. Maya swung her youngest brother around before placing him back on the ground. "Geez, Ethan, you're getting so heavy now!" Maya had not seen them in three months, but it felt like an eternity. The Hufflepuff common room was so quiet compared to the chaos that was her house. Looking around at her dad, Maya noted that he was looking more uncomfortable then he had when he picked her up from the airport. Maya could tell something was wrong and she just wished he would tell her already. It looked like maybe Corey already knew, because he looked just as uncomfortable as her father. Frowning, Maya picked up her bags and headed into the house, expecting to find it in ruins. She was greatly surprised when she realised that it was not only not in ruins, but it was almost completely spotless. Someone had cleaned this up that morning she was sure. It was about three hours from the airport if they had a straight run, but it had taken them five. Her father had purposely detoured and Maya was really beginning to wonder why. Stopping at her room to chuck her suitcase through the door, Maya continued on into the lounge room and flicked on the television. She wasn't going to start this conversation. That one, was on her father.​

 

[James Corby]

James Corby was happy that his little girl was finally coming home, he was, it was an amazing feeling. However, there were a great number of reasons why James could have stood to feel a lot better about her not having returned at this point. He knew she would react this way to the letter he'd sent. Normally she didn't return until later into the month, but this time, likely because of the contents of the letter, Maya had returned home early and he had barely got Melinda out of the house in time. Surely God was trying to punish him for being so stupid as to worry his precious child. Either way, when she had called him from New Zealand and told him what time her flight was getting in, James had made sure that he left Melinda with the boys and left to pick her up from Alice Springs Airport. After a ten hour flight, with only a one hour stop over in Sydney, James was sure that Maya would be tired and grumpy, so hopefully he would be able to lengthen out the time until he actually had to tell his daughter what was up. That was going to be a conversation that was going to be rather intense.

James smiled as the rest of his children ran out of the house to greet Maya. It appeared that Melinda had managed to leave from the back, so hopefully Maya would not notice. James shifted from foot to foot, wondering which of his children was going to let the cat out of the bag, ,but as of now, no one had said a word. He definitely would rather that she hear it from him, then from Corey, Daniel or Ethan. After all, they would probably not be very clear on it. Being nine, six and four, James was hoping that they would at least have enough residual awareness to at least not think it necessary to imagine and so far, he had been right. "He had a massive growth spurt, but he really missed you at his party." James told his only daughter. Even as a child, he'd always wanted a girl. He'd been really lucky when he and Carol had a girl right off the bat, and even more amazing was the fact that she basically took directly after him, she shared little looks with her mother at all. Though their personalities were not dissimilar. James picked up Ethan and followed Maya into the house, watching as she switched on the television and apparently decided that whatever he had to say, she was not going to initiate the conversation. James really wanted to just forget about it, but he had to tell her at some point. Carol certainly didn't marry him for his bravery, he had always been weak when it came to either Maya or Carol and seeing as Carol was no longer in this world, all of that fell to Maya.

James placed Ethan on the floor and gestured for the boys to go and play somewhere that wasn't the living room. He was almost positive he knew how this was going to go and he didn't want Maya to involve the boys. Whilst she couldn't see them, she would likely ignore them. Slowly he approached her and dropped onto the coffee table, sliding closer to her and placing his hands on her knees. He quickly caught her eyes with his own and breathed slowly. "Maya, honey, I have to tell you something, but I can't guarantee that you are going to be completely enamoured by it." He warned her first, so she could at least partially prepare herself. "For the last six or seven months, I've been spending a lot of time with someone, she's been really helping me with the boys and the house and after you left, she was even an even bigger help. She helped with the cooking and getting the boys off to school. You aren't at home all that long before you jump right back on a plane and fly to that magical school of yours. I was tired and worried about you all the time and I missed you." James wasn't trying to suggest anything to Maya, but rather to help her understand that he wasn't jumping into this lightly, that he had thought for a long time about it and that she wasn't responsible for him, or for her brothers. "Maya, I guess what i'm trying to say is... I'm seeing someone."
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