Finding Him

The Party

Maya's P.O.V.
I opened my eyes and stretched. The clock said that its 4:25. Good, so I didn't miss 10:00. I walked down the hallway to try to find Sawyer and Ben. They're both sitting outside talking. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop on what they were saying, but I heard what they were saying so I decided to listen in on the conversation.

"When Maya and I lost our parents, it caused me to grow up really fast. But I don't regret having to raise her. It was either I raise her because I was of legal age, or she ends up in a foster home, and there no way that I would ever do that to my own sister. But what Maya doesn't know is that, when mom and dad left that night of the crash, my dad, right before he left out the door, he told me specifically, "if anything ever happens to your mother and I, I put you in charge of your sister. Make sure that she knows how much mom and I love her. I'm trusting you to take care of her. Don't let anything get to her that could hurt her. Don't cry around her. Your strong son. Be strong for her. I love you son."

I didn't know that was said. I didn't realize that I had tears coming down my cheeks. "D-daddy." I whispered.

"I'm so sorry Ben." Sawyer said.

"If I wouldn't have left, she would have never been hurt by Justin, or be pregnant with his kid." Ben replied with a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Ben, this isn't your fault. There's nothing you could've done. You have to stop blaming yourself." Sawyer said trying to calm Ben down.

"Thanks Sawyer. But I need to thank you for saving her. I know where she would be if you came any later than you did."

"W-where would she be?" Sawyer asked.

"She'd be dead. She never talked to me about it. But I was cleaning her room one day while she was at school, and I found her diary. I snooped through it, even though I know I shouldn't have, and she talked about wanting to die, and wanting to be back with mom and dad." Ben said.

He-he went through the my diary? How could he?

"Wow. I never knew about this. She never spoke to me about that." Sawyer said shocked.

"But then you met her, and Sawyer I don't say this lightly, but I truly believe, that you are the only man who could've saved her." Ben said.

"Thank you Ben. I appreciate that. I love your sister more than any words can express. She makes me happy." Sawyer replied to Ben.

"I'm glad. Should we go inside and check on Maya?"

"Yeah, we should." Sawyer replied.

They got up from they're chairs and I dove into the kitchen to act like I didn't hear anything that they were saying.

"Oh Maya, I didn't know you were awake." Ben said coming into the kitchen.

"Sorry. I woke up about five minutes ago." I replied acting normal.

"You ready for your party?"

"Yup. I'm excited." I replied.

The doorbell rang and to get out of the conversation, I ran to answer it.

There stood Mariah, Marcus, Kirsten, Carl, Aric, and Skylar.

"Happy birthday!" Aric said.

"Thank you!" I replied.

He hugged me tight and then handed me a present from him.

"Happy birthday girl." Skylar said and handed me a gift bag that was very heavy.

"Thank you." I replied hugging him and he gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey you." Carl said.

"Hey!" I replied hugging him.

"Here's a little something from me and mom." He said.

"Awe thank you." I replied.

"Here you go Maya!" Mariah said looking up at me and holding a bag.

"Awe Mariah! Thank you so much baby." I said and kissed her head and hugged her.

"It's from me and Marcus." She replied.

"I'm sure I'll love it." I said.

"And here's a little something from your big brother." Ben said coming up from behind me.

"Awe Ben! You didn't need to. You coming to see me was more than enough." I replied.

"Trust me, it's not completely from me." He said walking away.

I'm so confused now. What does that mean?

"You'll have my present last." Sawyer said from behind me hugging me.

"Yeah?" I asked turning around to face him.

"Happy birthday baby." He said.

"Thank you Sawyer, for all of this. It doesn't go unseen." I replied.

"I know it doesn't. I love you Maya." He said.

"I love you too." I replied.

He leaned in to kiss me and I closed the gap.

"Hey! There are kids in the room!" Aric said killing the moment.

Me and Sawyer let go and just glared at Aric. But it couldn't last long, we just ended up laughing.

"Okay, so me and Sawyer brought steak and potatoes for dinner." Ben said.

"When did you do that?" I asked Sawyer.

"When you were asleep." He replied. I nodded my head and went into the living room to see the kids and Aric, Kirsten,  and Carl.

"So, do you feel 17?" Aric asked me.

"No, not yet." I replied.

"Well it's not 10:13 yet, so we'll see then." Kirsten said.

"How do you know what time I was born?" I asked her.

"Oh, Sawyer told me." She replied.

"Oh. That makes sense." I said.

"Okay. Steaks are on the grill." Sawyer said coming in the living room.

He came and sat next to me while Ben sat next to the kids.

"Hi." Mariah said to Ben.

"Hey, I'm Ben. Sawyer has told me so much about you and Marcus."

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Maya's big brother." Ben responded.

"Whoa! I didn't know that Maya has a brother!" She said.

"She does. I've been gone, that's why I've ever met you." Ben said.

"Where were you?"

"I was at war." He said interestingly.

"You got to shoot guns?" Mariah asked intrigued.

"Lots of them." Ben replied.

"Cool! Well thank you for doing that for us." Mariah said.

"It was a pleasure, I've missed Maya." He said.

"So, now your here to stay with the family right?" Mariah asked.

"Yes, I'm not leaving any time soon." Ben replied to her.

"Okay." She said and watched Marcus while she talked more with Ben.

"Look at this." Sawyer whispered in my ear.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want it any other way." I responded looking at our family.

"You forgot one." He said looking at my stomach.

"Your right." I said rubbing my stomach.

"Wanna make a bet?" He asked me.

"Sure."

"I bet you it's a boy. If I'm right, you owe me five bucks."

"Okay. And if it's a girl, you change the first dirty diaper." I said.

"Deal." Sawyer said and we shook hands on it.