Here We Go Again

Part 8

"That's a good idea," Maya said, nodding, "And maybe we make some kind of count down or something for them, like a paper chain or a sticker chart or something so they can see how many days until the baby comes."

Neither of them said it, but they also wanted to wait to tell the twins because if, for some reason, something happened, explaining that to two three-year-olds would be confusing.

"Do you think Nora will be excited about the baby?" Maya asked, relaxing a little more as Carina traced shapes on her stomach, "I know Rowan will because she told me she wanted a baby, but Nora isn't really into babies."

"I'm sure she will be excited," Carina said, "She might not be as excited as Rowan, but she will love the baby. Did you like Mason when he was born?"

"I think so," Maya said, "You would have to ask my mom though. I know you loved Andrew."

"Si," Carina nodded, "But I was also six when he was born and had a lot more understanding what was going on."

"I guess that's true," Maya said, nodding.

They had talked about how many years they wanted between their kids, or at least between trying, and they had decided that two and a half or three years would be idea, but that couldn't happen because of Carina's cancer. However, having the twins be almost 4 when this baby came didn't seem like too big of an age gap.

The two of them sat there together for a while, just chatting and enjoying each other's company before going up to bed, both of them falling asleep that night with their hands on Maya's stomach, thinking about the baby that was growing there.

The next week, things were up and down emotionally for the Bishop-Delucas. Maya had started having a few more early pregnancy symptoms that she found to be as annoying as they were comforting because according to her wife and everything she read on the internet, it meant her hormones were still increasing. She was way more tired than normal, had some nausea that was getting pretty bad and had led to her throwing up more than once, and the one which she found to be the weirdest was nasal congestion. She had initially thought it was just from the cold they had had, but when she complained about it to Carina, she told her it was another pregnancy symptom.

Maya had also had a few more small bouts of dizziness, only really when she stood up too fast so she was careful about changing positions and Carina had told her she wasn't allowed to run outside alone because she was worried something might happen.

Maya tried hard not to let her fears about losing the baby take over, but there were days when it would all but cripple her. That mostly happened on days when she wasn't working because at work, she was often too busy with post-inspection paperwork and meetings to even think much about it, but when she was home, her mind would wander and she would start to worry that something was wrong with the baby. She tried to channel those worries into productive things like cleaning out their office which they rarely used to make space for the nursery they would need for the baby or spending time doing things with the twins.

Carina was feeling similarly, though for her, work often brought the feelings up more than being at home did, especially when she saw a pregnant woman come for a first ultrasound and leave with the devastating news that they were no longer pregnant.

It had never been easy for her to deliver that news to any patient and since having her own expertise, it got even worse, but now that Maya was pregnant and in the waiting period between getting the positive test and getting a good ultrasound, she was struggling to not see her wife in every single one of her patients.

She knew it wasn't healthy and wasn't good for her or her patients and she actively tried to separate her personal and professional life, but there were still times it was hard. Usually, she was able to do it in the moment while she was with the patients, but in her office or on her drive home, it would sometimes hit her.