Author's Note: Hi all! Here is the next chapter! This is based on an episode in Girl Meets World where Maya writes to her father, searching for answers and hopefully to forgive him for leaving her and her mom all those years ago.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cory is teaching his history class, consisting of his two daughters. The topic is 'forgiveness' and he wants them all to write a letter to someone to say they forgive them.
"So is there anyone in your life that you wanna forgive? Change your history." He looks around the class and smiles, "go".
Riley begins furiously writing to her brother, "dear Auggie the murderer," she says aloud through gritted teeth.
Meanwhile, Maya sit there unsure if she should go ahead with who she wants to write her letter to. She knew it was probably time to but forgiving someone for abandoning you was harder than anyone thought.
Cory walks to behind his desk and leans on it, noticing Maya struggling to write something. "Maya?" He calls, "no one in your life you want to forgive?" He questioned, Maya knew who he was hinting at but she didn't follow suit.
"No," she said with a shrug.
Lucas, who sat behind Maya, leaned forward, "don't you think now would be a good time?" He questioned. She looked back at him, he sent her a small smile.
"You and your mom are in a good place," Riley piped up from the desk beside her. Maya looked over at her as she continued, "you're strong Maya. Don't you want to forgive him one day? Why not now?"
Maya sent her a smile before turning back to her own desk and began writing on her paper, Riley turned to the front of the room with a smile of her own. When Maya had finished her short letter, she passed it over to Riley who took it and opened it up.
"Ahem," she began. "Riley, butt out. I am serious. Butt your butt out." The brunette looked over at her friend and smiled, "I forgive you."
Maya looked back at her with a 'seriously' look and rolled her eyes lightly before the pair turned back to completing their assignments.
Cory watched on with a smile of his own, moments like this he knew he made the right decision all those years ago.
—-
The girls are now in Riley's mom's cafe 'Topanga's', they watch on as Topanga attempts to help Katy with the workload.
"Okay one more," Topanga states, after messing up with the previous customer.
Katy turns to look at her after giving the customer his cheesecake, "no more ever." She says with a slight chuckle.
"No, I'm gonna try… that guy, right over there." She says, pointing to the male customer who walked into the cafe.
The blonde woman looks over to the doorway and her smile drops instantly, she looks back at Topanga with a plain expression. "No, I got him."
"Okay, I'll learn from you." Topanga says as they walk over to the customer.
Maya and Riley remain sitting in their version of the bay window in the cafe when Maya speaks up, "you're going to want to watch what happens next very carefully."
Riley laughs, "why, your mother's great at this, Maya. What could happen?" She questions, but a look from Maya makes her second guess herself as her smile drops.
They watch on as Katy approaches the male, "hello sir," she greets quickly, "how are you today?"
"I'm-" he begins but Katy cuts him off.
"You a little hungry, are you? Is that why you've come here? Are you a little hungry? Is that…" She trailed off as he spoke.
"What do you recommend?" He questions, the pair eyeing each other very carefully.
"I recommend the first thing that I can get my hands on," she turns to Topanga, holding out her hand, "give me something."
Topanga stutters, "okay," and rushes over to the previous customer taking his cheesecake. He objected when she said, "you should have said please." Before rushing back over to Katy and the strange man and handed her the plate.
Katy took the cheesecake from the plate and shoved it in his face, "that's what I recommend!" All three girls gasp at the sight.
"You can do that?" Topanga questions, "I didn't know you could do that. I would've loved to do that." She finishes, as Katy walks away from the scene. No doubt to try to calm down.
Riley looks at the scene, "oh my gosh. Is that him? Is he him? Did you do it? Did you do the assignment?" She asks, looking at Maya.
"I wrote something and I mailed it." Maya began slightly worried, "tell me it was a good move." She pleaded.
"It was a bad move." Riley commented.
"Why?" Maya questions, eyes wide.
"Tried it. It doesn't work. They don't apologise. Forgiveness is for jerks." She states, frailing her arms up.
Maya shakes her head, "I'm glad you told me in time." She says, the pair watching on as her mom continues throwing food at the man.
Topanga in the middle, dodges the food. "I don't understand." She begins, "is this guy our millionth customer?" She questions jokingly.
"No!" Katy calls out in anger, continuously throwing bread rolls at him.
The lawyer looks over at the man, "sir, why are you okay with this?" She asks. Watching as he cleans some of the cheesecake from his face.
"I kind of expected it." He answers, jolting as another bread roll hits him.
Topanga then looks back over at Katy, "Katy, who is this guy?" She asks the question that was dying to be answered.
Katy looks at the pair but can't bring herself to answer. The anger, betrayal of him leaving still there. It had never truly left.
Maya at this moment decides to stand up and walk over to the man. He smiled at her and greeted her, "hi, Maya."
She sadly smiled, "hi dad." She replied. Topanga looked between Maya and Katy as everything fit into place. Yet ironically only she and Katy knew the truth; this man was not Maya's biological father, nor was he ever a father to her.
A moment of silence passes until Riley decides to stand up and walk over to Maya and her father, "hi," she greets with a smile, "I'm Riley, I've heard a lot about you." She trails off with an awkward smile.
Kermit smiles, "hi Riley. You a good friend of Maya's?" He asks.
Riley scoffs, "I'm sorry and please don't take this the wrong way, but what?" Kermit looks slightly confused until Maya speaks up.
"Riley is my best friend." She began with a sad smile, "but you wouldn't know much about her… or me." She looked down at the ground.
Kermit looked over at Riley with a smile, "thank you for being Maya's best friend."
The younger brunette smiles and links her arm with Maya's, "it's easy because Maya's great. She's the best person I know."
"Then I'm happy she found you."
Riley smiles before leaning closer to Maya, "I was picturing a monster. He doesn't seem like a monster. He seems like frosty the snow-guy." Maya looks over at Riley with a confused look.
Katy looks over at her ex-husband, "what are you doing here, Kermit?"
"I was invited." He replied, pulling out a letter.
"What?" Katy questioned, confused.
The adults all appear confused so Riley decides to explain, "this is my dad's fault," she begins as she steps forward, walking over to her mom.
Topanga looks at her wide eyed, "your father had an idea?" She questions.
"Uh-huh." Riley responded.
Her mom looks over at Kermit, "I apologise immediately, your food is on the house."
Kermit stands up, "oh that's very nice of you because I wouldn't have been able to afford all of this." He looks at himself covered in cheesecake, "may I please borrow a towel? And your sink?"
Topanga nodded with a smile and led him to the customer toilets, handing him a towel as he went in.
While he was in the bathroom, Maya and Riley went to sit down on their 'hangout' spot while Katy and Topanga waited by the counter.
This gave Topanga an opportunity to talk to Katy, whether she wanted to or not. She would make her feelings clear.
"What does this mean for Cory?" Topanga questioned, Katy looked over at her daughter sighing in relief when she realised they couldn't hear them.
"Please keep your voice down," she began before shaking her head, "this doesn't change anything. We're sticking to what we agreed all those years ago."
"But don't you think now is as good a time as any to tell Maya the truth? Doesn't she deserve that at the very least?" Topanga questioned.
Katy opened her mouth to speak when Kermit reappeared, smiling at his ex-wife as he placed his towel down and went over to his daughter and her best friend.
"You said you were going out for a walk and you'd be back in an hour," the older blonde began as she walked over to her ex husband, he turned to face her. "You're nine years late."
He smiled at her, "thank you, Katy."
She appeared confused, "for what?"
"I know that in those nine years, you protected me with, Maya. You never once sold me out."
Katy put her hands on her hips, "yeah, well a girl should think well of her father."
With a final smile to the blonde, he turns towards his daughter, "I was real happy to get your letter, Maya. And that you got a friend like Riley." He said, nodding to the brunette sitting beside her.
"This girl here is more of a father to me than you." Maya replied, placing her hand on Riley's leg.
"Yeah," Riley began, pulling Maya into a side hug, "I raised Maya since she was a pup." Kermit smiled at the pair.
"Looks like you did a bang-up job."
A moment of silence passes when Maya decides to ask what she's always wanted to know, "so… you left," she began, "why were mom and I not good enough?" She questioned, gesturing to her mom.
"No, no, no, Maya," Katy began with a chuckle, "that was a long time ago. We're over it." She turns back to her ex husband, "why were we not good enough?!" She angrily said, hitting his arm at each word.
He held his hands up in defence, "ah, I think you know that wasn't it." Katy stared him down before turning away from him, not being able to deal with anything else he was saying.
"Ha," Riley piped up from besides Maya," you know…" she stood up slowly, "I should really go anywhere but here." She was about to walk away when Maya held her back.
"Nope!" Maya announced, "you're gonna stay here with me." She sat Riley back down, "you're my family."
Those words made Topanga and Katy look over at each other, Maya didn't know how true those three little words were. But Katy was intent on neither girl ever finding out they were sisters.
Maya then looked over at her father, "oh, how's your other family?" Kermit smiled awkwardly.
"Everyone is fine." He replied, continuously still trying to hold a smile.
Topanga suddenly began walking towards them all, "Riley, do you care to explain to me your father's idea here?" She questioned, sitting down opposite the teenage girls.
"Our assignment was to forgive somebody." Riley stated.
Topanga appeared confused, "what does that have to do-"
Riley cut her off, "it changes our history." Topanga's eyes lit up.
"Oh," she said in realisation, "that's pretty good." She finished with a smile.
"So, Maya wrote to him and he showed up." Riley gestured to the older man.
Katy looked over at her daughter with furrowed brows, "to forgive him?" She clarified.
Maya nodded, "yeah, that was the assignment." She paused, "but I haven't decided if I'm going to pass or fail." She finished, looking over at her father.
"Maya, whatever you decide, thank you for reaching out to me." Kermit smiled.
Riley let out a slight chuckle, "y'know this would be so much easier for me if he was a monster." She said, leaning towards Maya.
Maya ignored the comment and smiled as she stood up, coming face to face with her father. "Do you remember that night the thunder shook the apartment? I was five and I thought the lightning was so bright, I thought the world was on fire."
Kermit looked confused, "why bring this up?" He stuttered.
His daughter ignored him and continued, "I'm all under my covers, crying and you come flying into the room and peek under the covers and decide to make it a game." She paused smiling at him, "we were in Alaska, looking for gold. And you said the lightning was the Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis."
"Is this the reason the only thing you know is the Aurora Borealis?" Riley piped in but again Maya looked at her but ignored her jokingly.
She turned back to her father, "you made that entire night an adventure, until the storm passed. And I woke up the next morning and it was a sunny day. Don't you remember that?" She questioned.
Kermit shakes his head, "no, Maya. I don't."
Maya sadly smiled, "that's because it never happened. The storm happened… but you didn't." She broke contact with him and looked over at her mom, "mom…" she began, as she walked over to her, "it was mom that came in."
Katy nodded while stuffing her face with cheesecake, she was a stress eater afterall.
"She made it Alaska, and I wasn't scared at all." Maya placed a hand on her mothers shoulder.
Katy let out a small chuckle, "I was petrified. Greatest performance of my life." Maya nodded along with a smile.
"Where were you?" Riley questioned, Maya had never told her this story before.
Kermit looked over at his daughter's best friend, "I wasn't home." He answered.
Riley shrugged, "how could you not be home?"
"Because kids bite teddy bears' faces off," Maya answered, walking back over to them all, "friends ruin movies and fathers leave. You know, sometimes you can let it go, sometimes you can't." Maya sadly smiled as she walked closer to the door, "your dad was wrong about this one, Riley." She said before leaving the cafe.
"Riley." Topanga called, nodding towards the door. She knew what Maya needed in that moment was her best friend.
The brunette replied, "yeah," before getting up and heading out after her.
—-
The girls are now back in school the following day, in their history class with Cory as their teacher.
He had just finished listening to Lucas and Zay explain why they couldn't forgive Farkle for ruining their movies.
"Well I'm sure some of you had a better experience." He said, walking to the front of his desk.
"Forgiveness doesn't work, Dad." Riley answered. Cory looked over at his daughter. "I forgave Auggie and he didn't thank me."
"Riley, did you really forgive Auggie?" He questioned, perching on his desk.
"No!" Riley exclaimed.
Cory smiled before looking over at his blonde daughter, he took a breath. "Maya, did you forgive your father?"
Maya shook her head, "no."
"And we didn't forgive Farkle. Ow". Farkle muttered under his breath, as Zay threw a paper ball at him.
Cory smiled, "well it sounds to me like forgiveness is harder than it looks."
Maya smiled amusingly, "I tried. Made it real clear. Want to hear it?" She asked her teacher.
Cory looked at her with surprise but answered, "if you're alright with it." He listened closely to her every word, knowing this was going to hurt him.
The blonde took a breath, "in school, I'm learning about forgiveness. What you did makes me have a lot of angry feelings inside of me. I don't want to be angry anymore." She sighed, "why did you leave? Did I do something? Make me understand what I did. Your daughter, Maya." She looked up at Cory when she finished.
Lucas reached over and rubbed her shoulder, his way of comforting her. He knew she needed it. Maya inhaled a sharp breath when he did that. They'd never been very touchy with the other.
"Did he help you to understand what happened?" Cory questioned.
"No." Maya responded.
"Why not?" Cory asked with furrowed brows.
She shrugged, "I guess I never gave him the chance to explain." She trailed off.
Their teacher looked over at his other daughter, "Riley, why did Auggie bite your bear's face off?"
"I don't know."
"Why not?"
"I never asked him…" Riley replied, realisation dawning over her.
Cory looked over at the boys, "Lucas? Zay?"
Lucas looked confused before turning to Farkle, "Farkle, why do you tell us the end of the movies?"
"Because you're good at everything you do," he then looked over at Zay, "you got that class-clown thing going. All I've got is my mind, so I try to impress you with it any way I can." He finished with a small smile.
"Better minds know that sometimes to really forgive someone, it helps to understand them first. It gives the other person a chance to be heard too." Cory said to the class.
Maya smiled in annoyance, "why can't you admit that you're wrong about this?"
Cory looked at his daughter, "because forgiveness is one of our finest qualities as human beings, Maya." They shared a small moment before he turned back to the rest of the class.
"You have to understand each other before you can even begin to know what comes next. Go understand each other. See what happens. Your assignment hasn't even begun until you do." He turned around back towards his desk while everyone looked around at each other.
—-
The following day Maya and Riley are in 'Topaga's cafe' with Auggie sitting on Riley's lap. She finally forgave him for biting her bears face off.
"My dad couldn't get out here fast enough. I mean he's halfway home by now." Maya looked over at Riley, "forgiveness doesn't work for everybody."
Kermit suddenly walks into the cafe and everyone turns to look at him. He jokingly holds his arms up and looks over at his ex wife. "I am not hungry so please don't throw anything at me."
Maya turns to the familiar voice and slowly stands up from the couch, "I-I thought you left." She stuttered out.
"I did, I did," Kermit began as he walked over to his daughter, "I was in the car on the way back. And I looked at this thing again," he holds the letter, "and it says you don't want to be angry anymore."
Kermit looks around at everyone, "I know what you all are to Maya and thank you. I just need to borrow her for a second. If it's okay?" He asks Maya and Katy.
Maya looks over at her mom who doesn't say anything, she didn't have to. Maya needed answers and he was the only one who could give her them.
She turned back to her father and then headed out the door to the outside sitting area, her dad followed. They walked over to the table and Kermit held the chair out for his daughter before sitting down opposite her.
Maya could feel her heart racing a million times a minute. She hadn't felt this nervous since she was a kid.
He begins shaking his head, "this wasn't you, Maya. This was all me. I couldn't provide comfort for you in a lightning storm. And I was no good for you on a sunny day, either. I blew every paycheck instead of providing food for the refrigerator." He paused for a second, "and when you know you're not good for people, you start not showing up. And then you don't show up enough times, it begins to feel like leaving…" he took a breath, "until you do."
Maya looks at him teary eyed, she never allowed herself to be seen as vulnerable but she couldn't help it.
"You're there for your new family, aren't you? What did they do that I didn't do?" She asks, voice thick with emotion.
Kermit sadly smiles and shakes his head, "you never did anything, Maya. You were just a little girl. I was who I was and there is nothing you did or could have done." He swallows thickly.
"I just- I wasn't ready for you." The sentence broke Maya's heart. "Or anyone…" he then sadly smiles, "but I think I've changed. These people believe that I am capable of something. They don't know who I was… they believe in who I am now."
"Who are you?" Maya asks, searching his eyes.
Her father smiles, "I found a job. And I've managed to keep it. I came back to tell you that I am grateful for what you wrote. And I am sorry for what I did.I'm glad you're okay."
Maya sniffs, trying to hold back the tears. "You found a job?" She asks rhetorically.
Kermit smiles and nods, "I did."
"Your job was to stay." Maya weakly says. She sniffs once again before sadly smiling, "thank you for telling me your side." She lets out a sad laugh, "my teacher thinks that if I forgive you, it'll bring me peace. And he's usually right about these things but I don't see how he's right about this one… and I can't." She takes a breath, "your job was to stay. You don't think I had it in me to allow my father to grow?"
He swallows thickly as her words sink in. He knew he inflicted pain on her, he never meant to hurt her. But knowing how she truly felt, that was what cut deeper than anything else.
"I'm happy I wrote to you, and heard what you had to say, and it makes me feel better knowing I had nothing to do with what you did. I always thought this was my fault somehow, but it's not. I didn't do anything." She finishes with a sad smile to herself.
Maya sniffs one more time before standing up, ready for this to be the last time she'd see her father.
"I'm sorry," he calls, "I wasn't there" He smiled with tears in his eyes, "you-you turned out great."
Maya is in thought for a moment, "wow." She whispered.
"What?"
"I've been angry for so long… I'm not angry anymore." She moved around for a second before looking back at the man she once called 'dad', "thank you for coming. I hope you get home okay." Maya said before heading back into the cafe to see her true family.
Maya allows tears to fall as she enters the cafe, her mom waiting by the door to comfort her. She wrapped one arm around her shoulders as they walked together towards her teacher.
She looks at him, "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I failed." Her voice still thick with emotion. "I know you wanted me to forgive him, but I didn't, I couldn't do it. You were wrong about this one Mr Matthews."
Cory took a deep breath, the sight of his daughter crying hurt him more than he could bare. And knowing he could've tried to prevent this pain on her all those years ago cut deeper. "I never expected that, Maya. That kind of forgiveness, it doesn't come so easy. But life is a long time and I hope you get there someday. But that was never what I was looking for right now."
Maya looked down at the ground, more tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked back up at her teacher, "what did you want from me?"
"Maya," he began, "did you forgive yourself?" It took a moment for her to realise what he meant and when she did, she cried even harder and walked towards him, arms wrapped around his torso. Cory allowed himself to hug her back, he would hold onto her for as long as she needed. Even if he couldn't be her father in the way he wanted, he'd settle for moments like this.
—-
That evening Cory and Topanga settled on the couch, after their long day. Riley and Auggie had long gone to bed.
"How do you feel about today?" Topanga asked her husband, he tore his attention away from their television and looked over at her.
"How do you mean?"
"About Maya… about Kermit." Cory sighed, sitting up and looking away from his wife, "I know there's a part of you that wanted nothing more than to tell Maya the truth."
Cory nodded and looked back at her, "I did. I still do, every single day." He rubbed his chin, "but today, Maya didn't need me telling her something that was going to change her life. She needed to forgive herself first."
Topanga leaned closer to him, "and now she has?" She questioned.
He let out a breath before shaking his head, "I won't tell her, or be the one to tell her. If somehow the secret comes out in years to come, I know Maya will be okay." He sadly smiles at his wife, "but there's a high possibility Maya will never find out… and I'm okay with that."
Topanga searches his eyes, "are you sure you're okay with that? Your daughter never knowing your her father? The only father figure in her life."
Cory hesitates for a moment, "it doesn't matter if I'm okay with it… all that matters to me is you, Riley, Auggie and Maya." They share a smile, "you four are all I need… and I know Maya knows that… whether she knows I'm her father or not," he shakes his head, "I don't care. So long as she knows she's just as important to me as Riley and Auggie… that's enough for me."
Topanga smiles as she takes hold of her husband's hand, "let's go to bed." She reached over to switch the television off and they walked hand-in-hand together towards their bedroom.
Thank you for reading! I wanted to cover this part as Maya does meet her 'biological' father and I feel like Topanga and Cory would both have something to say about that.