Experiment 6: Visitor

The doorbell rang and before Leia could take a step towards the door, Zero's voice came through the house speaker. "Visitor detected. It's Maria."

Leia froze confuse for a moment. "Maria?"
Before she could ask further, Zero opened the door. "Come in," The AI said.

Maria stepped into the house, a gentle smile on her face while holding a small bag of desserts.
"Good evening, Leia," Maria greeted softly. "I thought I'd visit and bring some sweets. I hope I'm not intruding."

Leia stared at her stunned. "I.. I don't think we ever met before?"

"Maria!" An excited voice come from the living room.
Leia blinked as the small girl ran past her with Piz wagging his robotic tail energetically, jumping behind her and barking excitedly circling Maria.

"Hello, Eve. Hello, Piz. It's nice to see you both again."

Leia standing there, speechless. "Wait.... You know here?"

Eve turned, with her blank expression. "Maria comes by the window sometimes."
"The window?"' Leia turned suspiciously at Zero. "And you didn't think that suspicious?"

Zero respond. "I monitored their interactions all the time. Maria is harmless." Zero added. "And. I was the one that invited her to come."

Leia battered her head toward the wall.

"Your welcome by the way." Zero said.

"Zero! You can't just invite people into my house!"

"But Maria is a good person, I promised that she wouldn't do anything bad." Eve interrupted.
"You made me sounds like I ever did..." Maria said with an awkward smile.

"Wait, I didn't mean that. It just... I never had any visitor before so this surprised me.. A lot." Leia said with more gentle tone.

Maria chuckled lightly. "I just thought it might be nice to formally say hello. And I brought desserts to share."

Leia took a deep breath, glancing at Zero with narrowed eyes then turning back to Maria with a welcoming smile. "Thank you, would you like to come in for some tea?"

As Leia and Zero on the kitchen preparing the tea, Leia peeked out, watching Eve rare bright expression when talking to with another adult other than her.

Zero's voice chimed in at Leia. "See? Social interaction successful."
Leia rolled her eyes. "Next time, warn me before you play matchmaker, Zero."

From the living room, Maria was gently patting Piz while Eve proudly ranting about a cartoon she watched on TV.

Leia, Eve and Maria sit around the table with tea cups and plates of various desserts on. Eve sit beside Leia, happily eating on a slice of cheesecake while her small legs swinging under the chair.
Leia sipped her tea, she stole a glance at Maria who sit across from them with a serene expression as she also sip her tea.

"So," Leia started, clearing her throat, "You're Maria, right? The neighbor?"

Maria nodded. "Yes, Maria Vale. I live just next door. I've seen you a few times coming and going, but we never got the chance to talk until now."
Leia let an awkward smile. "Well.... Thank you for the desserts. It's really good."

Maria smiled gently. "I'm glad you like it. I bake when I have free time."

"True, she made me cookies before and Piz likes them too." Eve piped up between bites her voice lively.
Leia raised an eyebrow looking at Eve. "Cookies? When is that?"

Maria chuckle softly. "I left some cookies at the window once. I wasn't sure if she'd like it, but Zero assured me they'd be appreciated."

Leia shot glare at Zero.
"What?" Zero said.

They continued with their tea when Leia suddenly got curious. "So, Maria, what do you do for living?" Leia asked.

Maria put her teacup down gently. "I am a freelance artist. I created things only human can do that AI couldn't replicated in this modern world we live."
"That's amazing." Leia said.

"Thank you," Maria replied then she gaze toward Eve. "And it also lets me watch over the neighborhood. I saw Eve and Piz sometimes. They're both really lively."

After a moment, Maria glanced between Leia and Eve. She is now the one with curiosity although she feel the hesitation, she finally spoke up.
"Forgive me if this is too forward," Maria began. "But I had always you lived alone, Leia. And now, there's Eve."

Leia nearly choked on her tea as her brain scrambled.

Maria continued, her tone genuinely curious. "Is she.... Your daughter?"

"Well," Leia started nervously. "You see, it's um.... Complicated."

Zero then suddenly chimed in from the corner. "Oh, yes, very complicated. You wouldn't believe the paperwork." He explained like Eve was from adoption.

Maria blinked slowly. "I see, so it's a personal matter."
Leia nodded quickly. "Exactly! Personal, yeah."

Eve, now munching on a cookie, clearly unbothered by the topic but decided to chimed in.
"Leia takes a good care of me," She said simply, her voice soft.

Maria smiled warmly. "That's wonderful to hear. She seems like a good mother."

Leia startled by the word mother, still not used to being called one.

"So how long has Eve been with you?" Maria asked.

Leia hesitated but Zero suddenly dived in with an answer. "43 days, 12 hours and 37 minutes. Bit who's counting?"

"Interesting," Maria said, sipping her tea again. "You must've been very busy balancing work and caring for her. That's quite admirable."

Eve, still beside Leia reached out and gently tugged on Leia's sleeve. "Leia is the best." She said, looking up with her bright, shine eyes.

The tea session continued. Maria with her calm and gentle presence, seemed to naturally take on the role of the mindful guest, offering pleasant conversation. Surprisingly, she was a nurturing figure and easy to be around.

Eve, sitting beside Leia was happily nibbling on cookies, her face mess with crumbs.
Maria noticing this, leaned over with a soft chuckle and gently wiped Eve's cheek with her napkin.
"There you go," Maria said, smiling sweetly. 

Eve blinked at Maria in surprised but she didn't pull away, her face usually blank, softened for a moment and she look at Maria with appreciation. "Thank you, Maria."

Maria smiled. "You're very welcome."

Leia couldn't help but notice the ease with how Maria interacted with Eve, it so natural.

Feeling a small pang of something she couldn't quite place. It wasn't jealousy. More like a strange sense of being out of place. Not to mentioned that Eve and Maria had been talking many times before when she leaved for work. She knew Maria was just being kind.

Maria continued to look after Eve, offering her another cookie and even brushing off the crumbs on her shirt. Leia observed quietly, unsure what to think.

"You are really good with kids," Leia said, trying to ease the awkwardness she was feeling.
Maria smiled. "I've always liked to look after others." She looked at Eve fondly. "And Eve is such a sweet child. It's easy to take care of her."

Eve give in a blank expression even with the comfort within Maria's presence but her gaze drifted to Leia.
Leia smiled back at Maria but before she could say anything, Eve piped up. "I like Maria, but..."

Maria paused, waiting for Eve to continue.

"I still like Leia the most!" She said proudly.

Leia's heart skipped a beat. She looked at Eve with surprise.
Maria gave an understanding nod.
"Of course you do," Maria said with a gentle laugh, giving Leia a glance. "Leia is your special person, isn't she?"

Eve nodded earnestly.

Leia smile deepened and she felt a sense of relief wash over her. Even though Maria was kind and did everything with such a a grace. It was Leia who held Eve's trust first. It was Leia who was there, always. It was Leia that always support her. It was Leia that encouraged her. It was Leia that sacrificed her biggest experiment for Eve sake to experience real live as human not as a lab experiment. It was Leia that never gave up on her no matter what.

Maria took a stepped outside then turned back at Leia before leaving with a casual smile. "Oh, Leia, I don't think I ever asked but. What is your full name, I just realized I don't actually know your surname."

Leia froze. "Uh... That's not really important, is it?"

Eve tilted her head, also curious. "What's your last name, Leia?"

Leia laughed awkwardly looking at Zero to back her up when she finally need him. "Zero, a little help here..."

There was a long pause before Zero's voice came. "Sorry, busy running something in the house. Good luck with  this one."
Leia's eye twitched. "Traitor."

Maria chuckled softly, amused by Leia's reaction. "Come on, it can't be that bad?"
"It can." Leia blurted out.

"Now I really want to know." Eve said.
"Same." Maria continued.
Both of them looking at Leia with their even more curious now.

Leia sighed. "Fine... But I want to say that it doesn't really suit me, so this is embarrassing."

Maria chuckled. "Don't worry, we won't laugh."
Eve simply stared, waiting.

Leia leaned in slightly and whispered her surname just loud enough for them to hear.

Maria's eyes widened in surprised. "That is a.... Beautiful name!"
Eve, however, was deep in thought, muttering to herself. "It sounds like music."
"Really?" Maria added. "To me it sounds like something from a fantasy."

Then Zero finally decided to broke the moment. "Or the irony of how chaotic her life is."

They all laughing excepted Leia that got left embarrassed.

Maria waved cheerfully as she walked back to her house. "It's a lovely name, really!"
As the door clicked shut and Maria waved goodbye, Leia leaned against the doorframe, her cheeks still flushed with embarrassment.

After a long moment of silence, Eve looked up at Leia, her eyes wide with her innocent curiosity. Still thinking over the name she had just heard.

Eve smiled, her voice warm. "I think it's a nice name."
Leia sighed, looking down at Eve feeling the tension ease and she reached out to ruffle Eve's hair. "Thank you."