Happily Ever After

37: Birth

There was a beat of silence before they spoke again. "Forever," Maya said as she closed her eyes. "Always," Carina replied as she felt herself fall asleep.

———

They had finally reached the nine month mark.

Carina's cravings and emotions were as strong as they ever were. In other news, the Latina had been deemed healthy enough to return home, which meant a lot of very cute moments with little Rafael. One morning, when he laughed for the first time in Andy's arms, Carina began bawling.

As always; it nearly gave Maya a heart attack, and she soothed her wife. "I'm here, babe..." Maya cooed as she held Carina tightly in her arms, the Italian burying her face in the blonde's shoulder as her hormones continued to run wild.

The Italian was nearing her 'maternity leave', which was just several weeks to recover from giving birth. She noticed that she was more exhausted than usual which meant that when she finally slept, it was a deep sleep.

Carina had crawled into bed after a long delivery shift, barely changed out of her scrubs and into her pyjamas before flopping on the bed, instantly falling asleep.

The next morning, Maya woke up to find Carina on top of her, sprawled out on the bed, with her limbs in every which way. The blonde figured it was the dancer in her that allowed Carina's body to be in such odd positions. The Italian's right leg hung off the bed, while her left was between Maya's legs. Carina's torso was on top of Maya's, one arm across Maya's neck and the other falling off the bed. Carina's hair was in every direction, mostly in Maya's face.

The Italian's face was inches from Maya's, her mouth hanging open. Steady and deep breaths were coming from it, tickling Maya's face gently. Essentially, Maya was pinned. Luckily, Andy had taken the girls to school, so there was no rush.

"Carina," Maya whispered, but Carina continued to snore quietly, so deeply asleep that her wife's whispers did nothing to wake her.

The blonde giggled quietly, watching her wife sleep. This was impossibly peaceful for her, watching the rising and falling of Carina's chest, the way her eyelids fluttered with vivid dreams, and how her beautiful mouth hung open, snores escaping it.

Maya unearthed one of her hands to gently stroke her wife's cheek.

The Italian smiled in her sleep, mumbling something about "her Maya" before resuming her snores. Maya felt so lucky to have someone like Carina and have the most amazing soulmate that it felt like her heart would explode.

Needing to pee, she wriggled out from underneath Carina, gently repositioning her wife so that the Italian would not be sore later.

"Morning you," Andy greeted with a grin. Raffie was strapped to her chest, his little head visible. Maya stretched and yawned, giving her friend a side hug before going to see her nephew. "Hey baby boy," Maya cooed. Just like Carina, Rafael was asleep, so the blonde's words went unnoticed.

"I checked on you two this morning. It was pretty cute," Andy chuckled as she poured Maya a coffee. The blonde accepted the cup and drank the glorious caffeine, blushing as she smiled.

"She was dead to the world. It was pretty sweet," Maya said, and Andy nodded.

"You two are so adorable that it's gross," the Latina said, and almost as if on cue, Rafael threw up on her chest.

"Speaking of," Maya laughed as she handed her friend a paper towel. Andy groaned as she handed Raffie to Maya, so she could clean up her chest.

Carina walked out into the kitchen, her luscious hair a tangled mess and her face puffy with sleep. She yawned and as she saw her wife with her nephew, bouncing him up and down, she burst into tears.