A fond expression fell across Damon's face as another laugh filtered through the patio doors and into the kitchen. Maggie had taken Maya out onto the terrace to help her work through some of the exercises the healer had recommended. Enzo had taken it upon himself to join in and had been making Maya laugh with his exaggerated versions of the exercises she was supposed to be doing ever since. Maggie's scolding had been half-hearted at best, too pleased that Maya was relaxing enough to laugh at Enzo, to really tell him off.

"It's a lovely sound." Stefan commented, entering the kitchen.

"Yeah."

It was a lovely sound, it was just a pity that it was a rare one, what he wouldn't give to go back in time and sweep Maya away from the Dursley's before they'd ever laid a hand on her. Or even better force Jasmine to move to America with Maya where he could have protected them both. Damon thought he'd succeeded at holding back his melancholy sigh, but he'd obviously failed given what Stefan's next words were.

"Rome wasn't built in a day, Damon." Stefan glanced out at the trio on the terrace, "She's laughing, take it as the good thing it is."

Damon rolled his eyes and pouted at Stefan.

"You know, you can be positively annoying sometimes, little brother."

"Only sometimes? I'll have to up my game."

Damon chuckled and glanced at his two best friends and his goddaughter. Maggie and Maya were both laughing now. Hedwig had joined them on the terrace and was chasing Enzo across the stones, screeching, and flapping at him in a stern manner. Enzo ran out of space when he reached the fence and, seeing that his wife and Maya were too busy laughing to rescue him, dashed inside with vampire speed and took refuge behind a visibly amused Stefan.

"Never thought I'd see the day when the great Lorenzo St John ran from a little bird."

"That bird is not little, mate, and are we completely sure it is just a bird? She seems way too intelligent for that."

Damon looked back at Hedwig who was now perched on top of the fence watching Maya and Maggie go through the exercises without any distractions. Apparently sensing Damons gaze upon her, Hedwig looked over at him and ruffled her feathers hooting softly. Damon could almost swear she was communicating, telling him 'laughter is good, but this is important to' he turned back to Stefan and Enzo.

"I'm pretty sure Hedwig is just an owl."

"Pretty sure, isn't a hundred percent."

Enzo pulled a face and shrugged lightly as he hopped up onto one of the bar stools across from Damon, apparently satisfied that he no longer needed Stefan to protect him from Hedwig's wrath. Or more likely, satisfied he no longer needed to use Stefan as a vampire shield.

"How was the tour of the school, yesterday?" Stefan asked as he also took a seat.

"Good. Maya really loved it. It was good to see her excited enough about something to start coming out of her shell."

"What did you think of it?"

"I think if it wasn't keeping a low profile because of certain parts of its curriculum, then it would be considered one of the best private schools in the country if not the world."

Enzo let out a low whistle and Stefan raised an eyebrow.

"Is it as good as it looked in the brochure?"

"The brochure didn't at all do it justice, the whole place was stunning. I think Maya could really thrive there."

"Maggie spoke with some of her colleagues at the hospital, they had nothing but praise for the Academy and it's approach to educating young supernatural's."

"I'm going to see the headmistress in a few days to enrol Maya for the new school year. Then Maya will have to undergo some tests so that they can evaluate her abilities and knowledge and help devise a study programme that suits her. Professor Aradia supplied us with a list of courses that Maya's year level can choose from. I'm allowing her to decide what classes she wants to take outside of the compulsory ones."

"So school is pretty much sorted, what about everything else?"

Stefan had been gone for a few days, packing up his apartment in Brooklyn and arranging to rent it out, so he wasn't yet up to date on the discussions they'd had with Maya and the decisions that had been made. He was back permanently now, having decided, with Damon's permission, that he was going to move into the townhouse and live with them full time.

"The rules went down okay, she seemed to relax a bit once we'd gone through them and the related punishments for breaking them actually, so I guess Maggie was right."

"My wife usually is."

Damon and Stefan exchanged an amused eye roll at Enzo's boastful tone.

"Well, we wrote them all down and made copies for everyone, another one of Maggie's suggestions. Maggie has a copy for the two of you, and I left a couple in your room Stef, one for you and one for Lexi."

"What about chores?"

Damon felt a flash of rage as he recalled Maya's words about chores. He had only had to mention the word and she had instantly rattled off a long list of tasks she could do. With each new revelation, he grew more furious at the Dursleys for abusing her so horribly. He wished he could find them and make them suffer, using all the torture techniques he had learned at the hands of Augustine. But no matter what he did, it would never be enough to erase the pain they had caused her.

He had come very close to losing control, but Maggie had stopped him with a tight grip on his arm, telling him without words that he had to keep his cool and listen to Maya or she might never feel safe enough to tell him anything again. Maya had told them that she had started doing chores for the Dursleys when she was five or six, maybe even younger. It had been how she'd earnt her keep and repaid them for the years when she'd been nothing more than an unwanted burden on her hardworking relatives. Maya's tone had been dulling and lifeless when she'd said those words, as if she had been echoing something she had heard with such frequency that it had been drilled into her head.

The grimace on Enzo's face told Damon that Maggie must have told him some of what Maya had revealed during their conversation.

"I've made arrangements for my usual cleaning service to increase their visits to three times a week, so I don't think Maya really needs to do chores. But" Damon stressed the word, sensing that Stefan was about to interrupt. "I listened to Maggie and after a very long discussion I eventually managed to convince Maya that the only chores she's required to do, is keep her room tidy, and help set the table before dinner. I did have to promise to revisit the conversation about her helping with the cooking at a later date though."

"Help with the cooking? She's twelve!"

Stefan had a look on his face that said he would probably help Damon carry out his hunt down and torture the Dursley's plan if Damon ever asked him to. Which said a lot, coming from the person who frequently tried to persuade Damon to adopt his "vegan vampire" diet, despite the fact that Damon never killed any of the people he fed upon.

"Apparently, she's been cooking for those people since she was six years old. She felt the need to assure me that she is an "adequate cook" and that she's learnt lots of different recipes."

"Damon, just say the word and I'll give Lexi the go ahead to hunt down the Dursley's address and we can pay them a little visit."

"We can't."

"We don't have to tell Maya, mate. It can be a secret, just between us."

"That's not why we can't and yes we would, I won't lie to her, not even about that." Damon exhaled, a long-drawn-out breath and shook his head. "Don't think I haven't thought about it because I have and I would, the only thing stopping me right now is Maya. We can't, because if we do, then we run the risk of leading British Magical Society right back to her and I'm not going to risk it."

"Once she's seventeen?"

Damon's eyes were like chips of ice as he looked at his brother and best friend and gave a decisive nod.

"Narcissa Malfoy was kind enough to provide me their full names and current address and has promised to update me if that information changes. Once Maya is seventeen, the Dursley's are going to have a very bad time."

Damon found it slightly eery how two people who had never much cared for each other could look so similar. The vicious smiles on Enzo and Stefan's face probably matched the one on his though. His brother and his best friend had finally found some common ground it seemed, Damon wasn't about to complain, the more the merrier as far as he was concerned. The Dursley's probably wouldn't view it that way, but oh well.

"Good."

Damon didn't think he'd ever heard Stefan sound that vicious, not even when his humanity had been switched off. He figured changing the subject would be the best option right now, get them out of dangerous territory.

"We bought up her going to therapy, Maya wasn't that keen on the idea so that's a bit of a work in progress. Maggie said Maya will need to want to go if it's going to help her at all."

"Maybe suggest she at least tries a few sessions and if she really doesn't like it, she can stop, with the option to try again in the future if she changes her mind?" Stefan suggested.

Damon nodded, it was a good idea, he'd have to run it by Maggie to see what she thought of it first, but it definitely had potential.

"The Academy has counsellors and therapists on staff for students who need them. Professor Aradia provided me with a list of names and quite a few of them match with the list Maggie gave me. So, if we can get Maya to agree, then we should be able to find someone she's comfortable with."

"Maybe if you tell her that both of us have been to therapy in the past, it will seem less daunting for her."

Enzo glanced out the open doors at his wife. Maggie had helped him a lot, both during and after his time at Augustine, but it hadn't been until he'd gone to therapy that he'd been able to deal with the twelve years he'd spent as a prisoner of the Augustine Society. Maggie had been the one to push him to do it, Damon as well, and they'd both benefited from the experience. He couldn't be sure, but it was probably a safe bet, that if they hadn't gone to therapy, then neither of them would be in good place now.

"You don't have to give her all the details about Augustine, or what they did to us. Just mention that both of us had a bad experience and therapy helped us find healthy ways to handle what we went through."

Enzo had accurately read the reluctant look on Damon's face and understood the cause of it. Augustine had been nothing short of hell, and he had no interest in exposing his goddaughter to the dark and depraved depths that some people would go to, all in the name of scientific advancement. Maya had already been exposed to more than enough of humanity's darkness for one lifetime, Damon wasn't going to add to that, not if he could help it anyway.

"Yeah, maybe."

Stefan, perhaps sensing that Damon would prefer the topic to shift away from past horrors, spoke up.

"So, rules and consequences, chores, and school are sorted".

Stefan ticked each one off on his fingers as he went through the list.

"And therapy is a work in progress. What about a schedule?"

"Bedtime is at half-nine on weeknights, on Friday and Saturday nights it's at ten, light's out ten-thirty at the latest. Breakfast is at half-seven, lunch is at twelve-thirty, and dinner will be between six and seven."

"What about curfew?"

"Will be revisited when Maya is older. It's not necessary at the moment because she'd too young to go anywhere on her own. Once she's at school and making friends, if she wants to go out with any of them, we can discuss that, but I'll be dropping her off and picking her up if she does, so she doesn't need a curfew right now."

"Uh-huh, and when are you going to consider Maya old enough to go out on her own?"

Enzo sniggered at Stefan's wry question; Damon scowled at both of them.

"The agreement was that we'd revisit the subject next year after Maya turns thirteen."

"Right, and what precisely did Maggie threaten you with to get you to agree to that?"

Stefan joined in With Enzo's laughter. Damon was filled with regret for ever introducing them, it had been fine when they didn't really get on with each other, but now they were teaming up against him and that was no fair.

"Laugh it up all you want, but do you really think New York City is safe for a twelve-year-old to be walking around alone? At night? Just the thought of anything happening to Maya…"

They both sobered swiftly, clearly neither of them liked the thought of it either.

"You're right Damon, twelve is much too young for Maya to be out alone at any time of day, especially in New York City."

"Thirteen's too young as well, I'll talk to Maggie."

Damon felt relieved that they had finally agreed with him, but he doubted that Enzo's words would have any effect on Maggie. She had already told Damon what she thought about the situation. She had insisted that hanging out with friends was a healthy and normal part of being a teenager that Maya deserved to enjoy. She had acknowledged that there should be some rules and Maya should be aware of the potential dangers of living in a big city and how to deal with them. She had said that they should prepare Maya for going out, not keep her locked up and sheltered from the world, no matter how much they wanted to protect her.

"What's the plan for the rest of the summer?"

"Tomorrow, we're going shopping for Maya's bedroom, at the very least she needs a desk and a bookshelf."

"More shopping?"

"This is stuff Maya needs!" Damon replied defensively. "Maggie agrees that a desk will give Maya a place to do homework without her feeling like she is in the way. And a bookshelf in her room for her schoolbooks and any personal books she wants to get, will help encourage her. Plus, making the room feel more like it's hers and less like a guest room will help her settle in better."

Stefan sighed but accepted Damon's words with a nod, both of them ignoring Enzo who was shaking with silent laughter.

"Friday is when I meet with Professor Aradia to enrol Maya at the Academy. The testing will also be on Friday morning and Maya's class schedule should be confirmed by Monday afternoon. Maya seemed to be interested in art when we toured the school so I'm planning to take her to the Met on Saturday, and I thought I'd take her to Central Park on Sunday."

"Are you planning to take her out every day between now and when school starts?"

"No, this weekend and next weekend and possibly also the following Saturday, I will be taking Maya on trips around New York, like normal parents do with their kids."

"Maggie and I are joining them at the park on Sunday, Maggie thinks Maya might like the zoo." Enzo added. "I'm sure you would be welcome to join, just try not to be as much of a stick in the mud as you usually are."

Stefan rolled his eyes at Enzo but didn't say anything else.

"As long as her classes have been confirmed I'll be taking her to get everything she needs for school on Tuesday. Once Maya has her schoolbooks will add study hours to her schedule, and make a plan for anything she might need tutoring in. The rest of the summer is pretty flexible and depends on how things go with the Academy and if we can persuade Maya to give therapy a try."

Maya and Maggie returned from the terrace, looking happy and energetic. Maya's face was a bit flushed from the workout, but her smile was bright and genuine. It was a rare sight that warmed their hearts.

"Did you enjoy it?"

Maggie gave Maya a supportive nod and smile.

"She did great."

"It was fun."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Don't forget what Garruk said. You should do the exercises three times a week. They will make you stronger and healthier."

Maya nodded eagerly.

"I will, I swear."

Maggie's smile was soft and warm as she looked at Maya, who was brimming with excitement.

"Maggie said I could get my hair cut, if I wanted to."

Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want to?"

"Yes." Maya's response took Damon aback with how quickly it was given. "My Aun… Petunia made me keep my hair long because she said it was more ladylike and made it easier to tame."

"But you don't like it?" Damon guessed shrewdly.

Maya shook her head.

"Well, we can definitely book you an appointment for you to get it cut." Damon glanced over at Maggie who nodded.

"I can get you an appointment at the same place I go to if you'd like, they'd be able to help you pick out a style you'd like, there very good and very professional."

Maya's smile turned shy.

"Thank you."

"No problem sweetie."

It made Damon happy to see Maya becoming more comfortable with him and expressing her wishes. Even though a haircut was a minor thing, it was still a sign of progress.