*BOOM*
The latest crash of thunder from the storm raged on overhead had Maya curled up in her bed, under the covers with her hands covering her ears. She hated thunder storms like this. Sure the sound of rain was soothing to listen to and watching the lightening flash across the sky from a distance was fun, but when it was right on top of them the thunder sounded like a cannon going off right next to ear and it terrified her. Her ears would ring at the sound as she trembled, hidden in her blankets, and it would seem like the ringing had only just stopped before the next crash of thunder went off.
Letting out a whimper of fear as the next boom of thunder went off overhead and her room was lit up by the lightening Maya gave up on covering her ears in favour of pulling her blankets closer. It was the middle of the night and she knew she was supposed to be asleep, but the storm was just too scary. Slipping out of bed, her blanket trailing behind her, she all but raced for her door and down the hall to the bedroom closest to hers. She knocked on it, wrapping her blanket tighter around her as she waited the agonizing few second for her mother Athenodora to call out that she can come in.
Maya enters the room hesitantly, shuffling forward enough so that she can shut the door behind her. She's terrified and desperately wants one of her moms or uncles to hold her, but at the same time she's never bothered them at night before. She's not sure how they'll react and she's never been scared enough to find out if it was okay or not. If she was with her dad he would have come to her, already knowing that storms like this were too much for her and would have carried her back to his room with the bigger bed so he could tuck her into his side. But if she was with her human mom Renee, she would have stayed by herself in her room. Her human mom had always said that after her's and Bella's bedtime was Mommy time and they weren't to bother her unless they were seriously hurt or dying. And the one time Maya had sought her out when she woke from a nightmare scared and upset, her mom had been grouchy and unhappy.
So Maya stayed by the door and clutched her blanket tight in her fist as she worried about how her new mom and uncle would react.
"What's wrong Gattina?" Athenodora asked softly as she slowly got up from her messy bed and began to make her ways towards Maya.
Her new mom didn't sound upset and her uncle Caius, who was hastily pulling on a shirt as he came out of their closet, didn't look upset either. Deciding that they were probably more like her dad than her human mom, Maya began to slowly shuffle closer.
"The storm. It's –"
*BOOM*
Lightening lit up the room as Maya shrieked in fear and flung herself into her mom's arms as her hands covered her ears in a desperate attempt to shut out the sound. Athenodora wasted no time in scooping her daughter up into her arms and speeding back to the bed so that she could curl around the small girl while she whispered words of comfort and stroked her hair.
Caius also joined them on the bed after he grabbed her blanket that had fallen to the ground and tucked it around her. "Is my piccolo scared of a little lightening?" he teased gently.
Maya shook her head. "It's the thunder" she whimpered, tears in her eyes. "It's too loud."
That comment wiped any trace of amusement off his face as he wrapped his own arms around the girl carefully. He looked up to meet his wife's eyes and they shared a look of worry. It had been centuries since they had been turned and grown used to their heightened senses. Meaning that neither of them really remembered what it had felt like to be overwhelmed by them so they couldn't imagine how bad it was for Maya who was still a child with no idea how to manage it all.
"Let's move to the library" Caius suggested quietly. "Its deeper in the castle and less noisy."
Athenodora nodded her agreement and Caius was quick to sweep Maya up into his arms and speed to the room. His wife followed moments later with more blankets and few pillows so that Maya would be comfortable on one of the couches. She quickly made up the "bed" and Caius gently laid her down in it, moving so that he was seated on the floor where she could see him, her hand still tightly held in his.
"What's going on?" Marcus asked, standing from where he had been seated in front of the fire with a book and making his way over.
"The thunder is hurting her ears" Athenodora explained in a whisper, not wanting to disturb the quiet conversation that Maya and her husband were having that was mainly just him reassuring her that she was okay and he wasn't going anywhere.
Marcus frowned. "I'll speak to Aro now and ensure that first thing tomorrow we can start soundproofing her room so that this won't be an issue again."
He sped out of the room and Athenodora moved back over to the couch so that she could take a seat on the edge and stroke her daughter's hair. "Marcus has gone to speak with Aro. We'll fix your room so that the thunder isn't too loud for you anymore Gattina."
Maya didn't say anything in response as she was growing sleepy now that she wasn't so scared, but her other hand came up hold her mom's as she began to drift off.
When she woke the next morning it was to find all three of her uncles and both her moms seated in various locations around her with books open on their laps, all of them having come to sit by her during the night in case she woke up sacred again. The moment they noticed she was awake her uncle Aro was quick to assure her that the problem was already being looked into and would be fixed before the next storm.