^^ Leo and Anna above, age 7 and 4
The Bishop family was getting ready for a fun day at the park when they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
"I'll get it," Carina said, leaving the blonde with their two children, Leo and Anna, both of whom were getting dressed.
Maya heard Carina open the door and greet their guest. Then, she heard his voice. The voice of her father, Lane, who she had not heard from since she was sixteen years old. She and her father always had a strained relationship, seeing as he abused Maya and her little brother Mason.
Looking at her two children, Maya made a parental decision and guided them to the closet in their playroom, at the back of the apartment. Three years after Maya and Carina had gotten married, Carina asked Maya if they could have children. Although Maya was opposed to the idea at first, she finally warmed up to it after babysitting Andy's son, Antonio, numerous times. The two had decided that they would take turns having children and have between two and three.
Maya decided to go first since she wanted to "get it over with." It turned out to be a great experience for her, but she swore that she would never do it again. Luckily, they were blessed with a beautiful baby boy, who they named Leonardo Alfonso Bishop. Leo was born a complete replica of Maya, mimicking her blonde hair, bright blue eyes, personality, and even Maya's love for running.
When Leo was two, they decided to have another child. Carina gave birth to Annabella Felice Bishop, who in turn, took after Carina. She was born with Carina's brown hair and big brown eyes. Both mothers were ecstatic to have a son and a daughter that each took after them, respectively, and Carina spoke Italian with both of them.
"Okay, Leo, Anna... I want you two to stay in here until Mama or I come get you, si? Or until you don't hear the man at the door," Maya instructed her six and four year old.
"Is everything okay Mommy?" Anna asked as she gripped her brother's hand tightly. The two of them had always been close, and have never fought, except for the occasional fighting when they were exhausted. This made Maya and Carina happy, since they also had such great bonds with their brothers.
Maya nodded with a smile at the two. "Stay here. Remember what I said. Not until Mama or I come back," she said before closing the closet and the door to the playroom before walking down the hallway and preparing what she would say to her father.
"Lane, hello," she said as she mustered a fake smile and stood next to Carina, who sighed quietly when her wife came. Truth be told, she was scared of Maya's father, but then again, who would not be. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, dyke. I want you to come home now. I live in Tacoma and I came all the way out here to take you with me," he spat angrily. "Jenny and I found you the perfect guy to set you straight."
Lane always disapproved of Maya's sexuality. He thought it made her "weak," but what he did not know was that it was her greatest strength. Maya came out to her mother, Katherine, when she was sixteen. Lane overhead and wanted to send Maya to conversion therapy. He was arrested for child abuse that evening, thanks to Andy's dad, Pruitt, and went to serve a jail sentence for twenty years.
Jenny is his new girlfriend. She is a super religious Catholic from the south, who agrees with Lane's views against homosexuals. When she found out that his daughter is bisexual, she agreed to help him find suitors for Maya. Their list was long and strenuous, but they finally found one that would be a perfect match for the blonde.
"No, Lane. You don't get to show up in my house and demand that I go with you. I'm an adult, and I can make my own choices," she said sternly, buth without faltering.
After minutes of arguing, he nodded, turned on his heel and left, leaving Maya and Carina speechless.
"Are you okay, bella?" Carina asked her wife, who had almost been forced to leave her family because of her psychopathic father.
Maya shrugged as she leaned into Carina's tall figure. "I just wish he wasn't so... like this."
"Si, bella, I understand. Mi dispiace (I'm sorry)."
Maya had been learning Italian ever since she and Carina got together, so she was glad to be half-fluent and understand everything Carina said to her and their children.
"Non è colpa tua, Carina. È solo crudele (It's not your fault, Carina. He's just cruel)," Maya replied. "Non preoccupiamoci più per lui. Al Parco (Let's not worry about him anymore. To the park)?"
Carina nodded in agreement. "Al Parco (to the park)."
The mothers linked arms and walked back into the playroom, but being quiet so the kids would not hear them. Maya walked over to the closet and swung it open, revealing Leo and Anna, who were cuddled up together.
"Mama! Mommy!" Anna shrieked as she stood up and ran into Carina's arms.
"Is everything okay, Mommy?" Leo asked as he hugged Maya.
Carina smiled as she watched them interact. It always made her heart swell. Maya was so scared that she would turn out to be exactly like her father, but she is the best parent a child could ever have.
"Al parco, figli miei (To the park, my children)?" Maya asked them and they all shouted in agreement.
Everything was looking up for the Bishop family. They had not heard from Lane in two months and had just celebrated Leo's seventh birthday. Maya ended up crying and expressing that she did not want him to grow up because he is her little boy, which caused the guests to laugh, especially Andy.
She had met Maya at the fire academy and they toughed it out together, rising in the ranks and working at the same fire station for years. When Andy met Sullivan, he was their boss, but took a special interest in Andy. They married six months later and were expecting their first child the month after their wedding. Andy gave birth to Antonio Pruitt Sullivan and he is now ten years old.
She then gave birth to their daughter, Lucia Maya Sullivan three years later. When Leo was born, he and Lucia bonded instantaneously. They were completely and utterly inseparable, making Maya and Andy happy that their children got along so well. So when Mateo Roberto Sullivan was born a few months before Anna, they tested their theory again. Sure enough, Mateo and Anna also became inseparable.
That morning, Carina was called in to help a young mother with her twins. This was a patient that Carina always loved seeing for checkups. Charlotte Patrick. They had met when Charlotte first found out she was pregnant and Carina had been helping her throughout the rest of her pregnancy. She went into labour just a few hours ago, leaving Maya with the kids since Carina was called in.
"Mommy?" Anna asked as she walked into Maya and Carina's bedroom while still rubbing her eyes. "Where's Mama?"
Maya adjusted herself on the bed so she could see better and took a glance at the clock. 7:09AM. Well, seven is better than five. "Mama went to go help someone with her babies. Come here," she said and Anna obliged, crawling into the empty space next to her mother.
Leo joined them a few minutes later and Maya was surrounded by her children, something she had hoped to do more in the mornings. Luckily, Maya was not on call today as she had requested the day off to spend it with her family. They ate breakfast and were playing together in the playroom when the doorbell to their apartment rang.
"Mommy, who is that?" Leo asked as Anna snuggled into Maya's embrace. Maya frowned, knowing that her friends were at work and Carina had a key for later when she came home. Trying not to gasp, she thought she knew who it was, and it was not good news.
"Leo, Anna... I need you to hide in the closet again," she said as she opened the closet. Leo walked in and opened his arms for his sister, who sat next to him and held his hand. "Don't come out until you hear the front door close, or until I come back. Understood?" She asked, silently praying that they would listen.
Leo nodded. "Yes Mommy," he said. "Mommy?"
"Yes, bello?"
"Is it someone bad?"
Maya's heart tore in pieces. She and Carina decided not to tell the kids about Maya's father and just told them that he had died when Maya was young. It saved them from explaining the abuse and homophobia.
"It could be. That's why I need you to stay here," she replied after a few seconds, being interrupted by the doorbell again. "I love you."
Leo and Anna mumbled "I love you" back before Maya shut the closet door and walked out of the room, closing the door to the playroom as well.
Preparing herself for who was outside, she set her phone on the coffee table and opened the door, revealing Lane, who looked extremely upset.
"Maya! There you are!" He exclaimed with open arms, making Maya freak out internally. There has got to be a motive for him to be here. "I almost thought you died since I haven't heard from you in two months. You were supposed to come to Tacoma and meet George."
"Not happening, Lane. Ever," she said sternly, holding her ground.
"I don't know why you can't just listen to your father, you bitch," he spat and Maya rolled her eyes. She was used to the name-calling and the evilness from him. "I've found you the perfect man to marry and you should be grateful that I'm taking you away from this... fairytale life that you think is gold."
Maya sighed, crossing her arms. "This is not a fairytale, Lane, this is reality. And I like it here. Besides, I'm an adult. You can't force me anywhere against my own will."
"Oh, I can," he scowled. "And I will."
Suddenly, he reached behind his back and pulled out a dagger and a gun, making Maya take a step back. Shit, she thought, He's going to kill me.
"Lane... What are you doing?" She asked.
"What do you think, dyke? You think I'm gonna let you live your little reality since you're not coming with me?" He growled as he pointed the gun at Maya's head. "You're not good enough to be killed quickly," he said as he aimed at Maya's leg and shot her. When she started falling, he took the knife and stabbed it in her stomach.
"Have fun in hell, dyke," he said with a smirk before slamming the front door of the apartment and walking away and leaving Maya to lie on the floor of her apartment in her own blood.
"Leo... What was that?" Anna asked after they heard a loud noise. She was still too young to understand, but Leo knew what that was: a gun. He just wondered who pulled the trigger and if his mother was okay or not.
He turned to his little sister, who had started crying. "I think that was a bad man, Anna. Come on, we have to go see if Mommy's okay," he said as he slid the closet door open and stood up.
"Mommy said to wait until she came back."
"Or until the door shut, Anna," he said, reaching his hand out for her. She took it and the two cautiously walked out of the playroom and down the hallway to the front door.
As they got closer, Leo could smell something bad, but he was not sure what it was at first. Then they heard it, their mother's voice. It was faint, and fading faster and faster.
"MOMMY!" Anna shouted as she let go of Leo's hand and ran to her mother, still lying in a pool of her own blood, but lots of it.
"C-Call... 9-1-1, Leo," she choked out before coughing.
Leo nodded and found Maya's phone on the coffee table, picking it up. "H-Hi?... P-Please come... My Mommy is bleeding... S-She was shot in the leg... And stabbed in the stomach... I don't know who did it, but I need you to come.... Her name is Maya... Maya Bishop, she's a firefighter... T-Thank you..."
"Good b-boy, L-Leo," Maya said weakly. "N-Now... I... N-need you... t-to get... some towels... to slow... th-the b-bleeding," she finished, with shaky breaths.
Leo nodded before running into the bathroom and grabbing all the towels he could fit in his arms and running back to Maya. She told him what to do, and he listened intently before applying pressure to both wounds.
"A-Anna... I need you to hold this one," he said as he pointed to Maya's leg, which he had wrapped tightly. Anna nodded as she let go of Maya's somewhat limp hand and held pressure on her leg like her brother told her to.
"Leo... I need you to call Zia Andy and Zio Andrea, okay? You n-need... to tell them... w-what happened... I'm gonna f-fall asleep... soon. T-Tell them... that... t-they have to meet... us at Grey Sloan..."
"That's where Zio Andrea works, right?" Leo asked as he dialed up Andy's number first.
Maya nodded. "D-Don't freak o-out... w-when I f-fall... asleep," she said as her eyelids closed.
"Zia, aiuto!... La mamma sta sanguinando e stiamo aspettando che l'ambulanza la porti a Grey Sloan... Puoi venire presto per favore (Auntie, help! Mommy is bleeding and we are waiting for the ambulance to take us to Grey Sloan. Can you come quick please)?"
He sighed after hanging up, knowing that Andy would be on her way as fast as possible. He looked over at Anna, who was still holding pressure on the leg. "Anna, I need you to hold pressure on Mommy's stomach. See the towels? I need you to press down on those," he told her and she nodded.
"Zio Andrea!... La mamma sta venendo al Grey Sloan, puoi esserci?... È stata colpita alla gamba e accoltellata allo stomaco... Anna sta tenendo la pressione sullo stomaco adesso, e io ho avvolto la gamba di mamma piuttosto stretta... La mamma è al lavoro per aiutare qualcuno in travaglio, quindi non è qui (Uncle Andrea! Mommy is coming to Grey Sloan, can you be there? She was shot in the leg and stabbed in the stomach. Anna's holding pressure on the stomach now, and I wrapped up Mommy's leg pretty tight. Mama is at work helping someone in labor, so she's not here)."
The paramedics arrived a few minutes later, with Andy racing into the apartment behind them.
"Leo! Anna!" She cried out and the two ran over to her, leaving room for the paramedics to take their mother. "I'm so proud of you guys. Let's go to the hospital now, okay?"
Andy drove them in her car, following the ambulance as quickly as she could. When they got to the rig, the best doctors at Grey Sloan were waiting for them. Doctor Owen Hunt, Doctor Amelia Shepherd, Doctor Maggie Pierce, Doctor Atticus Lincoln, Doctor Meredith Grey and Doctor Andrew DeLuca were all there.
"What do we have?" Owen asked the paramedics as they loaded Maya out. Andy, Leo, and Anna were waiting by the ambulance. Andrew spotted them immediately and ran over to them, holding both of them tightly in his arms.
"Maya Bishop. Stab wound to the stomach and shot wound to the right leg. Lost a lot of blood, but both wounds were pressurized, thanks to this little guy."
"Okay, let's get her to Trauma room 1," Owen instructed.
The doctors were quick to jump into action while Andrew took Andy and the kids into an empty exam room to ask them about what had happened.
"Do you know what happened, bello?" He asked as he sat Leo on his lap and Andy was holding Anna.
"We were in the playroom together with Mommy. Mama had left to help Charlotte with her twins. The doorbell rang and Mommy seemed scared. She told us to hide in the closet and not come out until she came back or the front door closed again. It was quiet for awhile and then we heard a gunshot, followed by the front door slamming. That's when we came out and found her."
"Did she talk to you at all?" Andy asked, still holding Anna, who had buried her face into Andy's neck.
Leo nodded. "Si, she did. She told me what to do while we waited for the ambulance and then her eyes closed."
"She went unconscious," Andrew finished as he held Leo. He always knew that Leo was insanely smart, but today's actions proved that even more, as he followed Maya's every instruction and was able to slow her bleeding. "I'm so proud of you, bello. You too, bella," he said as he watched Anna. She still had her face buried in Andy's neck.
"Oh! I miei figli (Oh! My children)!" Carina exclaimed as she came running into the exam room. She had finally delivered Charlotte's twin girls and was able to see what the big commotion was.
Anna was the first to spot Carina and she lept out of Andy's arms and ran to her Mama, who picked her up and held her tight. Leo smiled at Carina, hugging her as well.
"Hey, Carina. Have you heard anything?" Andy asked, standing up to stretch her legs and arms. "Nobody's told us anything yet."
Carina shook her head as she continued embracing her children. "Ho sentito cos'è successo. State entrambi bene (I heard what happened. Are you both alright)?"
"Sì, mamma, stiamo bene. Sono solo preoccupato per la mamma (Yes, Mama, we're okay. Just worried about mommy)," Leo replied shyly. Taking after Maya so much, Leo never wanted Carina to feel left out either. But they all knew that his bond with Maya was something that could not be severed.
"Don't worry, bello, she'll be alright."
Sure enough, Meredith and Owen paged Andrew and told him to bring the family to a hospital room. They followed, with Carina carrying Anna in her arms and holding Leo's hand. In the hallway where the room was, they found all of Maya's doctors standing there.
"Is she OK?" Carina asked, trying not to think the worst.
Meredith smiled softly. "See for yourself."
Carina nodded and opened the door, finding Maya lying on the bed hooked up to wires. There was a cast on her leg and her stomach was bandaged, and she was beginning to wake up slowly.
"C-Carina?"
"Mommy! You're OK!" Leo said happily as he ran forward and went to hold Maya's hand. "I-I did everything you said, but you still fell asleep!"
Maya squeezed his hand, smiling. "Y-You did... w-wonderful, Leo. I'm so... so proud of you."
"So, Maya will have to stay here overnight, but she can go home tomorrow. You've got quite the trooper here," Meredith announced, making the kids shout excitedly.
Maya chuckled softly. "Looks like I have more battle scars now."