Happily Ever After

2: Honeymoon

"We got so lucky," Carina whispered as she kissed Maya.

Leaving Italy was hard, but leaving their bambine was the hardest part. Since they'd adopted Sarah and fostered Lucia, the two moms had never been away from their daughters for more than a day.

Being away from them for more than a week would be challenging for both parties.

"We leave today," Carina whispered early that morning. Lucia had insisted on sleeping with them that night, so Sarah had joined in. The little blonde's grip on Carina's pyjama shirt was still iron-clad.

Carina adjusted her body and rubbed her youngest's back as she breathed softly, her entire body wrapped around her mamma.

"How are you feeling about that?" Maya responded quietly.

"I'm excited... but I'm going to miss them," Carina whispered sadly as she stroked a sleeping Sarah's curls out of her face, the teen mumbling as she threw her arm around her mom.

"I know you will. But we'll talk to them every day, okay? They'll be safe," Maya reassured softly. Carina nodded, and held her bambine tighter before they had to wake up.

———

As it always would, leaving the bambine was very hard. The girls would be staying with Vic, Travis, Emmett and Theo, who agreed to temporarily move into the Bishop-DeLuca house to make things easier for the kids.

But, in the meantime things were not smooth sailing. It didn't help that Carina and Maya were already anxious about it, let alone when the tears began.

"Noooo! Mommy, mamma! Come back!" Lucia bawled, attempting to wriggle out of Dean's arms. 

Carina quickly turned around to wipe away her own tears before gathering the courage to speak. "Bambina, we're coming back very soon-"

"Noooo, take me with you!" Lucia begged, the tears falling quickly.

"Lucia Grace, listen to me. Mommy and I will be gone for one week. We're not leaving forever, I promise. We love you and your sister too much to do that," Carina reminded before taking a shaky breath. Sarah had wrapped her arms around her mamma, both were tearing up due to the anxiety of the day.

The blonde knelt down, gently cupping her youngest's face, wiping away Lucia's tears. "Sometimes in life we have to do hard things. This is one of them, okay? I promise, we will talk to you both every day. But I need you to do something for me," Maya explained.

"F-Favour?" Lucia stuttered, sniffling. 

"Can you be a brave girl for me?" Maya asked gently as she wiped away the fresh stream of Lucia's tears.

"I-I can b-be a brave girl," Lucia replied as she hiccuped, and Maya nodded, wrapping her arm around her daughter.

"You are, Lu. I promise, we will talk to you every night. We'll be home before you know it, okay?" Maya reminded gently.

"O-Okay, mommy," Lucia agreed before wrapping her body around Carina, who rocked her back and forth to ease the little girl's cries, murmuring softly in Italian.

"Come here, my Sarah girl," Maya insisted, opening her arms. Sarah wrapped her arms tightly around her mom, her tears beginning to flow. "I'm going to miss you," she sniffed, her eyes watering dangerously.

"I'll miss you more. You be brave too, okay? Promise me you'll ask your aunts and uncles for help if you need it," Maya requested softly, brushing away a fallen tear from her daughter's freckled cheek.