The drive back to the orphanage felt like the worst drive of her life. Mrs. Maleficent didn't speak to her throughout the whole time, but the way the old woman was quietly brewing on the inside made Megan feel dreaded about what there was to come.
Soon they arrived and when they entered the orphanage, Mrs. Maleficent faced the little girl for the first time since they had left the studio.
"You disappointed all of us. Your punishment is no food for today and tomorrow. And you will stay in the 'dark chamber' until I tell you to get out, understood?"
Megan could only nod, feeling the tears in her eyes already. Why did Cameron and Benji and Joel feel so different about what she had done? They said they were proud. Mrs. Maleficent told her she had let everyone down. She didn't understand this. She only knew that she missed Benji and Cameron already and that the next days were going to be horrible.
"But may I go and get my Dog, before I-"
"No!", Mrs. Maleficent interrupted her harshly. "You're going now!"
Megan couldn't stop her tears from falling and hurried to the room every kid hated with a passion. The 'dark chamber' was a room which only had a tiny little window high up the wall and nothing else. There was no electricity in this room and the sun could barely manage to shine through the little window. That's why it was called the 'dark chamber'. Nobody ever cleaned in there so it had gotten filthy over the years. Nevertheless that Mrs. Maleficent was horrifying enough for the children, this room put everything to a new level. Nothing could hurt them in here, but the darkness could be worse than the pain. Some children swore that there were monsters coming and trying to eat you as soon as you fell asleep. Others said there were ghosts haunting this room, ghosts of the children who died during one of their time-outs in there.
Megan had already been in the chamber for a couple of times and only once had she felt something touching her leg in there for a second. But never did something hurt her inside the chamber. So that was not what she was afraid of. Megan was afraid of the dark, especially when she was all alone and also without Dog, the stuffed animal she had left from when her parents were still alive. The dark made her head spin and pulled all bad memories out as if they were a movie playing in front of her. The sounds that came within the darkness were even worse, because she could never find out where they were coming from.
Slowly Megan pulled the door open and the light from the hallway shone into the dirty room. She swallowed hard and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She knew that she was lucky Mrs. Maleficent hadn't beaten her up, so she didn't want to push the old woman by disobeying her orders.
She just stood there in the dark, hoping her eyes would adjust to the small light the last sun rays pushed through the tiny window. Her breathing sounded loud in her ears and she desperately tried to hear if there was something else in this room with her. Just because it never hurt her didn't mean that she wanted something unknown she couldn't see to be with her.
Some minutes passed before she could make out the floor and slowly she walked a few steps and sat down on the ground. She turned around so she was facing the door and hugged her legs close to her body. Tim had adjusted the door so there was no light coming through from the hallway. Staring into the darkness, Megan rested her head on her knees and prayed for Benji and Cameron to come soon. Her stomach growled lightly and silent tears rolled down her face while the evening turned slowly to night.

By the time the show was over for today, Cameron had already found out the address of the orphanage where Megan lived. She wrote down everything on a piece of paper and even sent the address and telephone number to Benji's phone, in case she lost the paper.
She returned into the studio's backstage area as the coaches left the main room. Benji immediately turned towards her and kissed her as soon as he reached her.
"Where's Megan?", he asked and took a look around.
Cameron shook her head lightly.
"I'm sorry, but they already had to leave."
Benji looked at her taken aback. "What? Already? I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to her!", he said, sounding more like a little kid than an adult but Cameron could understand him so well.
"Look, I already got the address and the number. I sent everything to your phone. We are allowed to visit her as long as we give them a call beforehand.", she said and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.
He looked at her and nodded lightly.
"I don't want her to think I reject her now." His voice carried a hint of sadness and Cameron hurried to shake her head.
"She doesn't think that. In fact, she didn't even want to leave without seeing you again. But this Mrs. Maleficent had no time to wait. I think she'd rather wait for you but didn't dare to talk back to that strict woman.", she reassured him.
Benji sighed and nodded. "I think you are right. She knows when to stop asking for something. And the orphanage is her home after all. It still feels weird to know that she won't come back here tomorrow. How was she doing after she left the stage? I couldn't read her facial expressions. She had such an empty view as she hugged me."
Cameron shrugged uncomfortably. "She is a little girl, you know? As soon as she saw me in the audience, she got on my lap and cried. I carried her inside and made her calm down again."
She saw Benji's face fall and hastily added: "I told her again how proud we are of what she did. And she appreciated that and I am sure it made her feel better."
He nodded lightly, pulled his wife close and kissed her again.
Benji couldn't put his finger on it, but something was really bothering him. Even though Megan lived in the orphanage for as long as she could remember, she never talked about it as people would talk about their home. She never talked much about Mrs. Maleficent either and if she did, it was mostly about things the old woman wouldn't allow. He remembered all the sadness in the girl's eyes and he wanted her to be in his arms again.
"Let's call her now.", he said and grabbed Cameron's hand while he pulled his phone out of his pocket with the other hand. Feeling strained he waited for someone to pick up the phone. Cameron stroked his cheek lightly and made him look at her.
"Everything's gonna be alright now. Everything's gonna be alright.", she sang quietly and smiled.
Benji nodded with a small smile now on his lips. But nobody answered the phone.
"Maybe it is too late for them already.", Cameron guessed. "They will probably be eating their dinner now and going to sleep. The head of such a small orphanage probably has to help the staff taking care of the children."
"You are right, as always.", Benji admitted and hoped that it was true.
But why else shouldn't they answer the phone?
They decided to meet up with Joel in a restaurant again and that's how they spent their evening.

Later, back in their hotel room, Benji stepped out of the shower and put the towel around his hips after he dried himself off.
"And you are really sure about this?", he asked his wife, although his heart was screaming at him to go through with it whatever she would say.
"Yes, absolutely.", Cameron said. She was already laying in bed, snuggled into the warm blanket. "She is such a wonderful little girl and she would fit in with us perfectly. I mean, look at the way she always wanted to be near you. And if she couldn't, she came up to me. I never saw her sitting on Joel's lap once, did you?"
He shrugged and walked up to her, smiling down at his wife.
"So, tomorrow we are gonna see her again and tell this evil fairy that we are her new parents?"
"Evil fairy?", Cameron giggled. "Where did that come from?"
Benji laughed. "Maleficent is the name of the evil fairy, isn't it?"
Cameron looked at her husband and shook her head smiling. "We will do this. Tomorrow."
"Alright.", Benji said.
His beautiful wife was laying in front of him. Her blonde hair was spread on the pillow behind her and he could see one of her long legs lurking out from under the blanket. His eyes roamed over her and as she met his gaze, he could feel a familiar sensation rising up in his body. He smiled at her and dropped his towel.
"But tonight it's just you and me."
And with that he got under the blanket with his beautiful wife and kissed her passionately.

The next morning came and Benji and Cameron were up early, already had breakfast and were still trying to make the clocks work faster. They had called the orphanage and scheduled a visit to 11:00am. It was now around 9ish and Benji couldn't stand it anymore.
"Let's just go already.", he said and took Cameron's hand and kissed her knuckles lightly.
The woman smiled at her husband, feeling the same urge to be with their little girl as he did. Their little girl. That is what she had called Megan in her mind for quite a few days now. They had told Mrs. Maleficent, who was on the phone when they called the orphanage, that they thought about adopting Megan and the old woman didn't seem to be averse to the idea. Of course there were still some things to get done. They needed to prepare a room for Megan, they had to get toys and clothes for her and Megan should be able to decide what she wanted to get as well. They also had to do the whole bureaucracy stuff. Signing papers and more papers and there was also a test to come. Someone from the youth welfare office would visit Benji and Cameron to make sure they were the right kind of parents for Megan. That was what Cameron was afraid of the most. Their friends would see them as very nice open minded people, who loved their pets and had well paid jobs and a lot of money. Those orphanage people might only see four dogs, a cat and a tattooed man with a wife even older than himself. Looking at Benji, she felt all the love she had for him and couldn't help but smile, in opposite of her thoughts. But they would go through this together. Like they always did since they met and fell in love. And they would fight for Megan, Cameron was sure about it. There wasn't a fight that Benji Madden couldn't win if he wanted to.

Benji normally was a careful driver, but he wasn't taking his time now and Cameron actually had to calm him down once when the red light wouldn't turn green.
Finally they arrived at the orphanage, about an hour too early, and rang the bell at the huge front door. It was a double sided door and it looked really old. Not like in 'growing old gracefully', but more like in 'almost dead already'. The couple held each other's hands and waited in silence. Impatiently Benji rang the bell again and finally they could hear someone behind the door, opening it.
"Hello, my name is Benjamin Madden and this is my wife, Cameron Diaz.", Benji said hastily and Cameron squeezed his hand lightly to make him slow down. "We have an appointment with Mrs. Maleficent and we came to visit one of the orphans, her name is Megan Fraser.", he said, trying his hardest not to talk too fast.
"Welcome", the man who opened the door said. "My name is Tim and I am the janitor of this institute. I'll show you the way to Mrs. Maleficent's office.", he said friendly and led them inside.
The big double sided door opened up to a rather short hallway and there was a smaller door which Tim opened up for them. Behind that door they saw a big hall with tables and chairs placed neatly in order.
"This is our dining hall.", Tim explained and Benji and Cameron nodded.
All the way through the big hall was a long hallway awaiting them.
Tim pointed to various kinds of doors, but didn't open any of them.
"These are the lavatories, one for the boys, one for the girls and a smaller one for the staff and visitors. The dormitories are right here, again boys and girls are separated. Mrs. Maleficent has her private quarters down this hallway and I don't live here."
He pointed down another smaller hallway. Three doors were to be seen there. One was Mrs. Maleficent's bedroom, another one her living-room. The last door was the 'dark chamber', but Tim didn't tell them any of this.
"The kitchen is hidden behind the dining hall and we also have some smaller rooms for the children to play in.", Tim went on talking and then stopped in front of a door. He knocked against it and waited, but nobody answered.
"This is Mrs. Maleficent's office.", he explained and then looked up and down the hallway. "But I guess she isn't here right now. She's probably helping Megan to get ready for her visitors.", he smiled at the both of them. "While we are waiting, would you like a cup of coffee in the dining hall?"

Megan closed her eyes as the water hit her. Strands of her now wet hair were hanging in her face but they didn't bother her much. The water was warm and the feeling of it running over her naked skin was soothing, helping her realize that she got out of the 'dark chamber' after one night already. Mrs. Maleficent, who stood with a bar of soap in her hand far enough away from the shower so the water couldn't hit her, had told her that she would be having visitors today who might want to adopt her. Everyone knew what this meant: a new family, a new home, a new life. Megan was really excited, because she hoped that it would be Benji and Cameron who had come to take her away.
The water stopped and the bar of soap got pushed into her hands. Megan hurried to get herself clean, dropping the bar of soap in the process.
"You are so clumsy.", Mrs. Maleficent scolded her and the little girl bit her lip in shame, picking up the soap and continuing to wash her body.
She remembered Benji telling her not to bite her lip or she might hurt herself and she hastily opened her mouth lightly so her teeth lost the contact to her lip.
"Now hurry up. We don't have much time left."
Megan was so used to the sharp tone of the old woman's voice that she didn't even flinch as she cleaned herself after a fashion. Mrs. Maleficent put some shampoo into the little girl's hair and massaged it roughly into her scalp. Megan's eyes were pressed close as hard as she could and she tried to hold her breath as the shampoo and water mix ran over her face. Luckily it was over soon and a towel got wrapped around her.
"Hurry!", Mrs. Maleficent said again and left the shower area of the lavatory, leaving Megan to herself once again. Hastily the little girl dried herself off and tried to put the towel around her head but failed miserably. Sighing she just rubbed the towel through her hair and put it aside, hanging it over the heating to dry. The door was thrown shut and the old woman approached the little girl again, carrying the same dress Megan wore to her 'Blind Audition'. Within minutes the old woman managed to get the girl properly dried, dressed and even combed her hair and blow dried it.
"Now you are ready. Finally." Mrs. Maleficent pushed Megan out of the lavatory and then pulled her close once again, her cold eyes burning into the girl's hopeful ones.
"Don't mess this up. They seemed eager to meet you again."
Megan nodded and a smile spread across her face. Meet her again? This must be Benji and Cameron!

All the other kids were outside to play and so the inside of the orphanage was filled with silence. You could hear faint voices coming out of the dining hall and that is where they were going to. Megan's heart beat fast and she clenched her fists into the cloth of the dress, wishing so bad that everything would be alright now. The few meters to the dining hall felt like miles and then finally they reached their destination. The door was already open and as Megan stepped through it she could see them. A man and a woman were sitting with their backs towards her. It didn't even take her a second to recognize them.
"BENJI!", she screamed and started running.

They were talking to the janitor now for quite some time when he heard someone screaming his name. Turning around, he saw the little girl running towards him. He barely had time to get out of his chair as she was already jumping into his arms. He held her tight, turning around in a small circle because of the force with which she threw herself against him, but never letting her go. His face was buried in the lose strands of her hair while her forehead was glued to his shoulder. They didn't say anything, they only held onto each other as for dear life. Everyone else turned quiet watching the two reunite.
"I missed you", Benji whispered and Megan just nodded her head lightly, rearranging her grip on him and holding him even tighter.
The harsh clearing of a throat brought him back to reality and he caught Mrs. Maleficent's eyes. She nodded her head and he nodded back, not willing to let go of Megan ever again. The little girl felt the same and only slowly pulled her head out of the warmth of his shoulder. Her fists stayed clenched into the cloth of his shirt. Benji looked at the little girl and kissed her forehead, bringing a smile to Megan's face. After he smiled back at her, he turned around to face Mrs. Maleficent and reached his right hand out for her to shake, holding up Megan with his left arm.
"Mrs. Maleficent, I guess we haven't met yet. I'm Benjamin Madden. We talked on the phone earlier this morning. This is my wife Cameron Diaz and we..." He stopped. Somehow it didn't feel right to talk about the adoption without considering Megan's wants.
"Excuse me for a second", he told Mrs. Maleficent and then looked back at Megan.
"I am so glad to see you and I am sorry I couldn't talk to you yesterday after the show.", Benji told her and the little girl nodded lightly, her face slowly turning into a frown by the mentioning of yesterday.
"But that is not the reason why we are here.", Benji went on, rearranging her in his arms. "Cameron and I talked about this a lot and we both really like you. We came here to ask if you want us to be your new family.", he said, using his words very carefully to not overload the little girl with any pressure.
"Are you going to be my Daddy?", the little girl asked, her heart feeling like it was about to burst out of her chest.
Benji nodded and a huge smile spread across Megan's face.
"Yes, I do!", she said cheering and pulled Benji into another hug.
"You do?", Benji asked chuckling lightly.
"I do want you to be my new family!", Megan added and spotted Cameron still sitting in her chair. "Cameron?", she asked and let go of Benji with one hand to reach out to the woman.
Cameron got up immediately and wrapped her arms around her husband and the little girl, feeling a tiny arm wrapping around her shoulders as far as it would reach.