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Protective nature came naturally to Maggey, especially since she'd lost the chance to motherhood. It hadn't come as a shock to her that she could never conceive, after all, she expected very little from her luck, but it had hurt. Adoption had never been a viable route either; she'd discovered she wasn't financially secure enough to be considered. So she'd filled the family shaped hole in her heart by devoting her spare time to looking out for anyone younger than herself who she was close to. Luckily, most took a liking to her, which was just as well, considering the familial situations of most of her young acquaintances were less than ideal; in fact, most were pretty terrible.
Perhaps two of the closest to her were Kay Faraday and Sebastian Debeste. The pair were as thick as thieves - quite literally in Kay's case - and though they differed greatly in character, they were both good-natured, and Maggey was delighted to be able to offer them assistance whenever she could. Both had endured pretty rough experiences with their family, but had found each other and established a kind of sibling-like kinship. They shared an apartment in an area of the city a little more wealthy than Maggey's, and both seemed to be on track to valuable professions.
Maggey was due to reconvene with them today; Kay had invited her round, simply stating that they'd both missed her. She'd first met them when Detective Gumshoe had taken her as his date to one of Prosecutor Edgeworth's fancy events, and finding herself out of place she'd naturally gravitated to the two youngest guests. They didn't seem to feel as unsuited to this environment as she did, and readily struck up conversation with her. Since then, they'd kept in touch with Maggey, and met up several times, each more familiar than the last. Unfortunately, Kay had given Maggey a telephone call, and told her that Sebastian had come down with a fever, but insisted that Maggey was still welcome to drop by to see them, which she happily accepted.
Once she and Kay had talked a while, Kay had proposed that Maggey go and check up on Sebastian, just to see his face after all this time if nothing else. She knocked and opened the door to the bedroom, speaking gently.
"Sebastian? How are you feeling?"
He stirred a little at her voice, but didn't turn to face her.
She walked over, stopping beside his bed.
"Oh sweetheart, you look deathly, keep resting, alr-"
His sunken eyes fluttered open, crinkling at the corners with happiness.
"Mom... I knew you'd come back..."
Her heart skipped a beat. What did he say?
His speech was breathy and slurred, each word seemed to exhaust him, not surprising considering his pale, sweaty face and the dark circles under his eyelashes.
"Mami... rydych chi wedi dychwelyd... I knew it... Mom," he whispered.
Maggey couldn't understand most of what Sebastian was saying, but she got the gist. He must have been truly exhausted, he was switching into another language, Welsh perhaps? He had mentioned his mother was from there... he certainly was delirious; he'd told her many times with a heavy heart what he believed happened to his mother, and he genuinely thought she was the same woman.
Being a mother, wasn't that what she'd wanted for so long? What she'd never been able to have? But she couldn't take advantage of this poor boy; his own mother didn't suffer her tragic fate just for Lady Luckless to make a cheap mockery of her by pretending.
"Sebastian? It's me, honey, it's Maggey,"
He didn't seem to process this, and reached out an arm, as if to confirm her tangibility.
"You're really real?" he asked.
How to answer this? She was real, true, but... she wasn't really his mother.
"I... I'm real, yes," she said, her voice weak.
She didn't want to risk upsetting him by persisting with the truth again. Maybe if she left it they could both have some time in their hopeful reverie, and deny the truth by playing mother and son, just for a few moments. There was an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach anyway, it wouldn't fulfil her when guilt was slowly gnawing at her insides.
Sebastian's eyes were beginning to close again, his opening of them seemed like hard labour.
"Mom... roeddwn yn gwybod... I should never have doubted..."
His voice trailed off, his trembling lips still moving to form words.
Maggey couldn't think of anything to say, stifled by his feverish pleas. It would break her heart to tell him his doubt was correctly placed. From what he'd told her, Sebastian knew the chances of his mother still being alive were very, very slim. He considered her dead. His dreadful state had brought out a subconscious side of childlike hope. Did he even know that somewhere deep down he thought his mother was still living? That she'd come back for him? Those weren't really her questions to ask, she supposed. At a loss for words, she took his sweaty palm in hers. His shaky fingers curled around it, and a tired, joyful smile appeared on his face. He drifted back off to sleep in moments, a look of triumph still etched there.
Tears were stinging her eyes. Mom. She'd wanted to be called that for years, why did it have to be under such distressing circumstances? She really couldn't do anything right, can she? The Goddess of Misfortune was once again showing how aptly named she was. Determined not to cry right there and then, she swallowed the rising lump in her throat and inhaled. She'd wait until she got home, at least.
She stayed with Sebastian for almost two hours, his hand interlocked with hers, watching his breathing go up and down. She wasn't his mother, but she could care for him. It couldn't be healthy, she knew, but maybe he deserved a moment to himself with the only family member who cared, even if it was just in his mind.
Two days later, Maggey received a phone call from an unknown number, just as she arrived home from work.
As soon as she picked it up, she recognised the voice.
"Hello, I, uhm... Is this the right number?"
"It is," smiled Maggey wearily. "This is Maggey speaking," asserting the fact he hadn't managed to grasp last time.
"Ah, yes! I, uh, would just like to say thank you, Ms. Byrde. Kay informed me that you came by while I was sick and watched over me. It's funny, actually, after she says you stopped by, I started getting better... now I'm back to full health! Must have been something you did, heh."
"Oh... it was... it was nothing, honey. Just... just take care, alright?"
"Yes, I'll make sure to."
There was an awkward silence as Maggey searched for something, anything to say. Her mind failed her; she couldn't find any footing on the steep walls of her mind. Where could she even start?
He spoke up after a few seconds. "Okay, well, if that's all-"
"Sebastian, wait-" she said, cutting across him. She heard an intake of breath down the line.
"You don't remember... anything?"
"I'm afraid not, Ms. Byrde. I was rather worse for wear."
"Yes, of course... of course," she replied. "You can call me Maggey, you know,"
"Right, certainly. Thank you so much for caring, Maggey."
There was a long pause as she heard him shift awkwardly in his seat.
"You, uh... you remind me a lot of someone," he said, the sadness in his voice audible. She could deduce what he meant quite easily.
"Oh... thank you, darling, that's..."
Maggey was unable to finish her sentence. Tears were welling up in her eyes again; she was unsure why.
"It's a very good thing, I assure you," he promised. "I hope I'll see you again soon, in better health."
"Yes, I... I hope so too. H-Have a nice d-day."
They said their goodbyes, and Maggey could barely hold herself together. Sebastian had compared her to his mother? She was overwhelmed, fairly certain these tears were happy ones. The acknowledgement had come from a strange place of relief on his part, almost like he'd been waiting to have someone treat him like his mother had. As she sat there crying, she thought to herself on the matter. It wouldn't be a quick process, but she hoped some time in the future, there would be a day she didn't regret how her life had played out. A day when she could regard her own story without remorse. Maybe sometimes the most staggering shocks were the ones that made you the happiest. After all, the greatest protagonists were the ones who changed along the way; the greatest arcs were about learning how to overcome challenges.
She could make her story great too.