Happily Ever After

31: Pregnancy Club

Sarah was driven back to her house for another family dinner, she stuck her head out the window, letting out one last cheer. This would be a day that she would remember for the rest of her life.

———

A month had passed since the soccer tournament, and the summer was flying by so quickly.

Maya had made some minor renovations to their backyard, starting by adding in four homemade garden boxes for Carina's flowers, fruits and fresh vegetables. They had to place chicken wire around the boxes, as the squirrels were attempting to steal the growing plants.

Sometimes, they could hear the Italian cursing the squirrels under her breath.

With the money Sarah earned from her part time work at the station, she bought a bird feeder for the backyard, as well as a bird bath.

Their backyard quickly became a nature reserve; birds of all types would come and eat from their feeder, and would wash themselves and drink from the bath.

Moose was the only one who objected to the purchase, standing at the windows and chattering as birds of all types and colours. They had to keep an extra close eye on him, as the black cat was itching to hunt and no one wanted to be there when Moose caught something.

Bird watching then became a family hobby; they named the birds, would call each other when certain ones made their presence, and Maya decided to run to the store after work to purchase a bird watching manual and binoculars.

"Mamma! Clifford and Ruby here!" Sarah would call, and Carina would drop whatever she was doing and run to the kitchen window to find the birds. These birds were the family favourite; the male and female cardinal, fittingly named Clifford (after the big red dog, as per Lucia's insistence), and Ruby, after the red gemstone.

"Ciao, signor uccello. Guarda la tua bella moglie," Carina would say with a little smile on her face. Sarah could watch them forever. The way they chirped and ate side by side, calling to one another. Maya would watch with mesmerized eyes, drawn to the devotion that the two birds had for one another. Even in smaller things, beauty and love were everywhere.

"I can't see, Mamma! Up, please!" Lucia whined, tugging on the Italian's arm.
"Here we go, bambina. Look at the uccelli," Carina cooed, pointing to them.
"Pretty birdies," Lucia said with a smile.
"Uccelli?" Sarah tried, testing the Italian word on her tongue.
"Si, bambina. Uccelli," Carina replied, her face glowing with joy.

——— 

As well, Carina had begun teaching the family more Italian. They started off simple; names, places, greetings...

It took time, but soon Lucia would answer small questions in Italian, enjoying learning it as a project. She liked speaking just like her mamma did. When Gabriella would call, Lucia would answer the phone in Italian, her chest puffed up with pride.

Meanwhile, Sarah took to it as she did everything else; obsessing over it until she felt it was perfect. She would ask Carina questions about her accent, and if she was pronouncing things like a native Italian would.

"You are so much like your mother. Bambina, your accent is good, stop worrying," Carina would reply with a chuckle.

Maya was studying more than Carina knew. She took the lessons with the girls, but during a workout or any free time at the station, she would practice. The blonde knew this was important to her wife, so she devoted herself fully to learning Italian. Vic would catch her using language apps such as Duolingo.

"What are you doing?" Vic asked as she walked into Maya's office as the blonde was repeating an Italian phrase into her phone.

Maya held up a finger, and then with her eyes closed and face screwed up in conversation, replied to the young firefighter. "Sto... praticando l'italiano... così posso... parlare con mia moglie... nella sua lingua," she replied, and Vic flashed her a thumbs up.
"I didn't understand any of that but go you!"
"I'm practicing Italian ... so I can speak to my wife in her own language," Maya explained, her cheeks heated up, displaying a light flush at being caught.