Post by adrini on Oct 4, 2013 9:37:43 GMT -5
Star City Herald
Meeting Miss Mia
Bernie Jones
It came as a great surprise to me after my first installment that there was a surge of interest in Miss Mia Daerden Queen. Looking back it occurs to me that it was foreseeable. Everyone loves a happy ending, and her arrival at Queen Manor was a happy event long overdue.
Mia was born in Gateway City to Sarah and Jonathan Daerden. Her father was one of the cities finest, and well on his way to becoming a detective when he chose a different path. As a child he saw his mother beaten by his father and instead of the office position, he volunteered to take a more active role in dealing with the ever present issue of domestic abuse.
It was on an investigation some years later that he was shot and killed by an irate abuser for this reason. Sarah, from what Mia remembers, faded after her husband's death and focused entirely on taking care of her young daughter. It was sometime later that she met and began a relationship with Charles Gaynor. Gaynor was a serial abuser and militant extremist, but was able to present himself in such a way that Sarah grew attached and even believed he would be a good father. Convinced of this she agreed to move with Mia to his property in Alabama to make a new life there.
Once there it seems that Gaynor's true character really came out. Official records show abuse that lasted for the five years she lived on the compound. Her only mission during that time was to keep Mia safe from the same abuse, and while she lived she was successful. Sadly this did not continue after her untimely death.
After her death, which was ruled an 'accident' at first, the abuse shifted quickly to Mia. The details are sealed in a lawsuit, but when the girl first arrived she was treated for a myriad of external and internal injuries obtained over the last two years.
The Queens neither know nor want to know how the resident "Team Arrow" got the information they did, but they are eternally grateful. Mrs. Queen's mother was Sarah's sister. Mrs. Lance being passed herself, spookily on the same day Sarah died, Dinah was Mia's last close relative. They were sent a file with evidence of bloodlines, and a record of Mia's history. Shortly after they were given Mia herself, with a file of evidence of the prior circumstance.
They moved quickly to have Sarah's death investigated, as well as to have Gaynor and a number of others arrested. Gaynor and the others were charged in with murder in the first and the Queens are suing the state for negligence in Mia's handling after Sarah's death, as Gaynor both got custody and was a known abuser in the state.
In the present day Mia's life has entirely changed. Officially adopted by her cousin and her husband she lives in the manor largely having the life of a typical teenager. She has befriended Thea and the two spend most of the day playing video games, playing in the gardens and doing chores. All of her needs are more then met, and her education and future are being seen to. After the original estrangement between Sarah and the older Dinah it it worthwhile to note that Mia has taken to Mrs. Queen as a mother figure and the two are rarely separated for long. Oliver and the rest of the family keep an understandable eye out for situations that might trigger reactions, but with therapy and a stable, loving home Mia seems to be bouncing back the way only kids can.
It has been a long and painful road for many in the family, but Miss Mia might bear the greatest of the scars. However as I write this I remember a moment from our last visit, yet another family game night. Mr. Queen was correct when he told me his wife is the superior cook. It was later in the evening and Cissie and Thea had crashed on the sofa while the adults talked and caught up. Mia, forgoing the sofa, was instead curled into Mrs. Queen's side. Without even having to think Mrs. Queen wrapped an arm around the girl, while her husband got up and grabbed a blanket to keep her warm. I have rarely seen a person more happy.
Meeting Miss Mia
Bernie Jones
It came as a great surprise to me after my first installment that there was a surge of interest in Miss Mia Daerden Queen. Looking back it occurs to me that it was foreseeable. Everyone loves a happy ending, and her arrival at Queen Manor was a happy event long overdue.
Mia was born in Gateway City to Sarah and Jonathan Daerden. Her father was one of the cities finest, and well on his way to becoming a detective when he chose a different path. As a child he saw his mother beaten by his father and instead of the office position, he volunteered to take a more active role in dealing with the ever present issue of domestic abuse.
It was on an investigation some years later that he was shot and killed by an irate abuser for this reason. Sarah, from what Mia remembers, faded after her husband's death and focused entirely on taking care of her young daughter. It was sometime later that she met and began a relationship with Charles Gaynor. Gaynor was a serial abuser and militant extremist, but was able to present himself in such a way that Sarah grew attached and even believed he would be a good father. Convinced of this she agreed to move with Mia to his property in Alabama to make a new life there.
Once there it seems that Gaynor's true character really came out. Official records show abuse that lasted for the five years she lived on the compound. Her only mission during that time was to keep Mia safe from the same abuse, and while she lived she was successful. Sadly this did not continue after her untimely death.
After her death, which was ruled an 'accident' at first, the abuse shifted quickly to Mia. The details are sealed in a lawsuit, but when the girl first arrived she was treated for a myriad of external and internal injuries obtained over the last two years.
The Queens neither know nor want to know how the resident "Team Arrow" got the information they did, but they are eternally grateful. Mrs. Queen's mother was Sarah's sister. Mrs. Lance being passed herself, spookily on the same day Sarah died, Dinah was Mia's last close relative. They were sent a file with evidence of bloodlines, and a record of Mia's history. Shortly after they were given Mia herself, with a file of evidence of the prior circumstance.
They moved quickly to have Sarah's death investigated, as well as to have Gaynor and a number of others arrested. Gaynor and the others were charged in with murder in the first and the Queens are suing the state for negligence in Mia's handling after Sarah's death, as Gaynor both got custody and was a known abuser in the state.
In the present day Mia's life has entirely changed. Officially adopted by her cousin and her husband she lives in the manor largely having the life of a typical teenager. She has befriended Thea and the two spend most of the day playing video games, playing in the gardens and doing chores. All of her needs are more then met, and her education and future are being seen to. After the original estrangement between Sarah and the older Dinah it it worthwhile to note that Mia has taken to Mrs. Queen as a mother figure and the two are rarely separated for long. Oliver and the rest of the family keep an understandable eye out for situations that might trigger reactions, but with therapy and a stable, loving home Mia seems to be bouncing back the way only kids can.
It has been a long and painful road for many in the family, but Miss Mia might bear the greatest of the scars. However as I write this I remember a moment from our last visit, yet another family game night. Mr. Queen was correct when he told me his wife is the superior cook. It was later in the evening and Cissie and Thea had crashed on the sofa while the adults talked and caught up. Mia, forgoing the sofa, was instead curled into Mrs. Queen's side. Without even having to think Mrs. Queen wrapped an arm around the girl, while her husband got up and grabbed a blanket to keep her warm. I have rarely seen a person more happy.