The day after finding out the baby was small, Maya spent the entire day in bed, Carina opting to take the day off as well despite Maya's insistence that she got in, the two of them just spending time in bed together, Maya too mentally exhausted to do anything else.
It was so hard for Carina to watch and all she wanted was to pour light and happiness into her wife's soul and make everything ok, but she knew that this was not realistic so instead, she just was present and supported her wife as best as she knew how.
They both made sure the twins knew that Maya was ok but just sad and needing to feel her big feelings for a little while. Rowan and Nora were both very sweet, Nora playing with Maya's hair and Rowan pressing tiny kisses to Maya's bump.
The following day, Maya was still not feeling great, but she was feeling well enough to get out of bed and go to work. Things continued to improve as the week went on, Maya having her appointment with Diane which helped a lot and while Maya was still worried out of her mind about the baby and felt pretty guilty, she was armed with tools to help her at least cope with those feelings when they came up.
A week after their appointment, both Maya and Carina had the day off and had decided to keep the girls home with them for the day, just to enjoy some time as a family. Maya hadn't had a day where she was sick enough to have to stay home in over a week which shocked her when she realized it after Nora asked her if she was going to have to stay in bed all day while they were home.
"Has it really been ten days since I spent the day sick in bed?" Maya asked as she walked into the kitchen with the twins where her wife was making breakfast.
"Si," Carina nodded, "I think it has. You are doing really well lately."
"I didn't think that would ever happen," Maya said as she went over to the fridge, grabbing out an orange, some cottage cheese, and pickles before going to the pantry and getting out some almonds, hating that this was her latest craving but more than willing to eat whatever would keep her stomach semi-settled.
"Tan I have a pickle too?" Rowan asked as Maya sat down.
"Sure," the older blonde said, taking a pickle spear out of the jar, handing it to Rowan.
"Yum," Rowan said, "Gwazie Mommy."
"You're welcome Rowan," Maya said.
"Noa doesn't yike pickles," Rowan said.
"Yeah," Nora nodded, "I don't yike pickles."
"And that's ok," Maya said as she pealed her orange, adding it into her bowl of cottage cheese, "We all don't have to like the same foods."
"Here is your oatmeal bambine," Carina said, setting the bowls down in front of them.
"Gwazie Mamma," they both said.
They had discovered earlier in the week that the smell of oatmeal didn't bother Maya's stomach anymore and while eating it was still off the table, Carina and the girls could eat it with her around. They all ate together, Carina and the twins enjoying their apple cinnamon oatmeal while Maya ate her cottage cheese with oranges and almonds in it using pickle spears to scoop it up.
Once breakfast was over, they decided to get dressed and head to the park, taking advantage of the stars aligning to give them nice weather, a day off as a family, and Maya not feeling miserable. The pregnant woman was still tired and her pelvis was very achy and painful at times, but she was figuring out how to live with that.
She pushed Nora on the swings for a good amount of time while Carina helped Rowan on the triangle monkey bars, the little girl getting very good at hanging on the bar and just holding her body weight up.
"Mommy, yook," Rowan called.
Maya looked over, seeing Rowan holding her body up, elbows bent as she concentrated on holding herself in a half pull up.
"Oh my goodness, Rowan Andrea, look at you," Maya said, walking over to her for a minute, "Good job Patatina."
Rowan dropped after a minute, Carina catching her.
"I'm strong Mommy," Rowan said, smiling at her.
"You are," Maya said as Rowan ran to her, crashing into her legs with a hug, "You are so strong."
"Mommy," Nora called from the swings, "Tome push me pwease."
"Coming," Maya said, taking a step toward the swing when she felt a strange sensation in her abdomen, putting her hand on her belly and feeling it was tight.
"Carina," Maya said, worry coming through in her voice as her wife quickly walked to her side, "Something's wrong."
"Is my baby ok?" Rowan asked.
"What's going on Bambina?" Carina asked, placing her hands on Maya's belly, "Oh. Bambina, are you having any pain?"
"No," Maya said, shaking her head, "It feels weird, but it doesn't hurt. What's wrong? Do we need to go to the hospital?"
"Mommy is going to the hospipal?" Rowan said loudly, "No."
"No," Nora cried, trying to climb out of the swing she was in, "No hospipal. No."
"Hey," Carina said, quickly running over tot eh swing, catching Nora before she fell out of the swing, "Everyone, let's go sit down on the bench ok? Mommy is not going to the hospital."
"What is happening?" Maya asked, biting her lip as they walked over to the bench, Nora crawling into Maya's arms as soon as they sat down.
"You are having Braxton-Hick's contractions," Carina said, picking Rowan up.
"Is it normal for that to happen this early?" Maya asked, feeling panic rising in her chest.
"For some women, they start at 16 weeks," Carina said, "And you are 21 weeks so yes, this is perfectly normal."
"No hospipal?" Nora asked, tears running down her cheeks as she held tightly to Maya.
"No," Carina said, "Mommy is not going to go to the hospital."
"Why did she say it den?" Rowan asked, snuggling into Maya's side.
"Well, Trottolino is growing inside of Mommy's belly right now and sometimes, that makes her feel different things," Carina explained, "And sometimes, those things feel a little bit scary because Mommy really wants Trottolino to be ok. Right now, Mommy's uterus is doing a little bit of exercise to help it get stronger and help her body get ready for when it is time for Trottolino to be born."
"Is My Baby Totoino going to come soon?" Rowan asked as Maya rubbed Nora's back, the little girl calming down some as Carina talked.
"Not yet," Carina said, "Remember our paper chain? We still have a pretty long time to go. It will be close to Halloween before Trottolino is here, but Mommy's body has to spend some time getting ready because having a baby is a big job and it takes lots of muscles."
"But Mommy already has lots of muscles," Rowan said, causing both Maya and Carina to smile.
"I do," Maya nodded, "But the muscles I need to help Trottolino be born are different than the ones that I have now. They have to be more in my abdomen."
"How does Totoino come out?" Rowan asked, looking between her moms.
Maya looked at her wife, unsure of what to say but Carina didn't miss a beat.
"Well, you know how we play with the models in my office?" Carina asked.
"Wif the utus," Rowan said, "and the 'gina and the ladia and the obaries?"
"Si," Carina nodded, "Good remembering. Well, Right now, Trottolino is living in Mommy's uterus, but when they get big, Mommy's cervix will stretch to let Trottolino come out of the uterus through the cervix and out of the vagina to be born."
"Oh," Rowan said, nodding, "Otay. But we have to wait still?"
"Si," Carina said, noticing how red Maya got while she was explaining the process of childbirth to Rowan and Nora who had come out of her hiding place in Maya's shoulder as Carina talked, "We have to wait a pretty long time still. And when it is time for Trottolino to be born, Mommy will go to the hospital to have the baby and I am going to go with her and we will let you two come and visit, but you will both stay at home with Zio Andrea or Zio Travis or Zia Vic because the hospital will be loud and busy and Mommy will be tired because having a baby is hard work, ok?"
"But I don't want you to go to the hospipal," Nora said, shaking her head.
"I know Piccola," Maya said, "But it is important for me and Trottolino to be at the hospital when they are born so that the doctors can check Trottolino over and make sure they are healthy and help me learn how to feed them and make sure that I am healthy too. And I won't be there for very long hopefully. And like Mamma said, you both can come visit and it's not going to be for a while either. And I bet we can plan some fun things that you can do with whoever comes to stay with you while we are in the hospital, ok?"
"Yike build a fort?" Rowan asked.
"Or make tookies?" Nora asked.
"Those are both great ideas," Maya nodded, "We can make a list to give to whoever stays with you of all the things you want to do, ok? And we still have a long time to think about it and plan."
"Do you two have any more questions?" Carina asked, looking at the girls.
"Is it time to do home?" Nora asked.
"I think it's a good time to go home," Maya nodded, feeling pretty tired from their time at the park, "Are you ready Rowan?"
"Si," Rowan said, jumping off the bench, "Yet's go."
They walked home together, Maya holding Nora's hand and Carina holding Rowan's.
When they got home, Maya had to pee before settling on the couch, trying to give her achy pelvis some relief while Carina took a phone call from work. Nora brought her dinosaurs over and sat on the floor by the couch to play while Rowan climbed up on the couch, pulling up Maya's shirt, resting her head on Maya's belly after giving it several kisses.
"Mommy, are you still scared?" the little blonde asked as Maya rubbed her back gently.
"What?" Maya said, confused.
"Mamma said that sometimes when fings feel different with Totoino, you get scared," Rowan said, "Are you still scared?"
"Oh," Maya said, "Yeah, I am a little bit. I am always a little bit worried about you and your sister and Mamma and Trottolino."
"Why?" Rowan asked.
"Because I love you all so much and when I can't see you, it makes me a little bit worried," Maya said, "Just like you feel when I am in the hospital. But I know you are ok. I worry about Trottolino because they are still so tiny and growing and I want them to keep growing and getting stronger, but sometimes, when things feel different, I worry something is wrong. I know that they are ok, but sometimes, I still feel scared."
"It's ok Mommy," Rowan said, moving from her place on Maya's belly up to give her a hug.
"Thank you Patatina," Maya said, hugging her back.
"What's going on?" Carina asked as she walked back into the room.
"Mommy was a yittle scared," Rowan said, "So I gave her a hug."
"We were talking about what happened at the park," Maya said as Rowan moved back to her bump, this time talking a little bit to the baby while Carina sat down on the couch next to her wife, careful not to disturb Nora who was deeply immersed in her dinosaurs, "And how I was a little bit scared when I had the Braxton-Hicks contraction and that sometimes, I am scared but that it's ok to feel scared."
"I see," Carina nodded as she wrapped an arm around her wife, "Are you feeling scared right now?"
"Not so much, no," Maya said, shaking her head, "I mean, I am always worried, but scared, no."
"Good," Carina said, pressing a kiss to her temple as the four of them just enjoyed this quiet family time together, extremely grateful that they were able to have these moments where everyone was happy, feeling ok, and content with how crazy life had been lately.
Over the next week, things continued to go pretty well. They had another appointment with Dr. Johnson when Maya was 22 weeks pregnant to get more measurements taken and check on the baby. Dr. Johnson confirmed that Maya's belly was still measuring small, as was the baby, but they were now only about 9 days behind which was a reassuring sign.
Maya hadn't had any days where she was really sick for a while and so at that appointment, Dr. Johnson decided to have Maya try not wearing the Zofran pump and just take all of her antiemetics orally to see if maybe they could get her off the pump.
Both Maya and Carina were nervous about this plan, but they decided to try it, knowing that it would be easier if Maya didn't constantly have the little machine attached to her body. The first 48 hours off the pump had gone well and Maya was hopeful that things were actually getting better, her appetite not great and the normal nausea still swirling in her stomach all the time and the unfortunate new addition to her symptoms of heartburn after she ate, but it wasn't horrible.
However, right at the 48-hour mark, while Maya was, unfortunately, at work, all of that changed and she got really sick. Vic ended up brining her home because she was too sick to even sit upright to drive. It had taken another 48 hours and a lot of fluids via her PICC line and talks about going to the hospital, but they managed to get her vomiting back under control and promptly decided that it was too early to wean off the Zofran pump.
Luckily, because they had an idea of why she was so sick and how to fix it at home, Maya avoided another hospital stay which was good for all of them. It had been incredibly stressful for the entire family, but both girls did better than Maya and Carina were expecting and didn't regress too much with their anxiety. It helped that Maya made sure to let the girls come in and be with her when they were home even when she was feeling too sick to even sit up.
About a week after that incident, she had another day where she was really not feeling well again and ended up stuck in bed yet again. This one felt so much harder than when they had tried to get her off her meds because it came out of nowhere and didn't have a reason and made her worry about a hospital admission yet again.
However, she managed to avoid that, keeping down her dinner the night before as well as fluids.
The morning had not gone quite as smoothly and she had gotten sick before work again, but she insisted she was alright enough to work despite Carina's protests. She had promised that if she got sick again, she would come home, but she was feeling alright enough that she was pretty confident she would be able to stay at work.
She was sitting at her desk trying to get through the files she had fallen behind on during the past two weeks when she heard someone knocking on her door.
"Come in," she called, not looking up from the approval form from Station 88 for three new hoses.
"Hey," Travis said, coming into the office, "We ordered pizza for lunch and I wanted to come see if maybe you wanted a slice?"
"Trav, I couldn't even keep toast down this morning," Maya said, "I don't think pizza is a good idea."
"Isn't the baby half Italian?" Travis asked, "Maybe pizza will be the thing they like."
"I doubt it," Maya said, taking another sip of her electrolyte drink, "I think I'm gonna pass."
"Come on," he said, "Just try one little piece. I promised Carina I would get you to eat something today and Probie can't do grocery shopping properly so we have no food we normally do that you can eat which will be fixed later today, I promise, but for now, we are out. Pizza's even from Giovanni's so it's Dr. Bishop-Deluca approved which maybe means it will be baby Bishop-Deluca approved. I can even bring it to you in here so if it doesn't go well, you don't have to deal with it in the beanery."
"Fine," Maya sighed, thinking that pizza actually didn't sound completely terrible at the moment which was odd, "But please don't make it anything with a bunch of toppings. Just plain cheese or maybe veggie if you got it this time. No meat though. That has not stayed down one time since this started. I'm half convinced I am growing a tiny vegetarian in here."
"Alright," Travis nodded, "I'll go get you a piece. Do you want some more of your drink too?"
"I think I'm good," Maya said, picking up her water bottle, shaking it a little, "Yeah. I'm good. Thank you."
Travis left, coming back a few minutes later with a plate of pizza.
"Ok, so you might not be super happy but apparently, everyone was super hungry and we only had one kind left," Travis said, walking in.
"Is it that stupid pizza with three kinds of meat?" Maya groaned, knowing Dean always ordered that one if he had the chance.
"No," Travis said, "I mean, there is also meat lovers left, but I knew you wouldn't want that. So it turns out it's not from Giovanni's because they were having a problem with their ovens today so we got it from Tomato Pie and someone ordered a pineapple and tomato one. I can run to the store and get you something else, but I know fruit has been something that has been ok sometimes so I thought maybe this would be ok?"
"I normally hate that kind of pizza," Maya said, "But it doesn't sound terrible right now. I'll try it."
"Really?" Travis said, pretty surprised, "Ok. Here you go."
"Thanks," Maya said, looking at the pizza.
She was so confused because this pizza always made her feel mildly nauseous, but right now, it looked delicious. Food didn't often look good to her these days, so she decided to take advantage of this moment and enjoy the pizza, even if she was 90% sure it wouldn't stay down. She took a bite, moaning in delight as the taste of the pizza hit her tastebuds.
"I take it you like it?" Travis asked, still standing in the doorway.
"It's so good," Maya said as she swallowed the bite, "Like, maybe one of the best things I have tasted in the past five and a half months."
Travis just laughed a little as she took another bite, pulling out his phone and taking a picture of her.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Maya asked, looking at him.
"Sending your wife a picture of you eating something," Travis said, "I know she would appreciate it."
"You cannot send her that," Maya said, shaking her head, "She can never know I ate this kind of pizza. She would probably divorce me and then I would be alone and I can't do this alone."
Maya was in tears at the end of the sentence.
"Woah, ok." Travis said, holding out his phone, "Here. You can delete it. I promise I won't send it to your wife."
"I don't even know why I'm crying," Maya said as she wiped at her eyes in frustration, "I hate this."
"Maya, you are almost 6 months pregnant," Travis said, "I'm pretty sure it's normal to be emotional."
"I know," Maya said, wiping at her eyes again, "I understand it, I just don't like it."
"What don't you like?" Carina asked, walking in the door, seeing Maya still trying to get her tears to stop, "Travis, what did you do?"
"Nothing," he said, holding his hands up, "I'm just trying to help."
"He was," Maya said, wiping her eyes as she stood up, "But then I started thinking about what would happen if you left me and I had to do all of this alone and...I don't know."
"Why would I leave you Bambina?" Carina said, walking over to her wife as Travis slipped out of the room, giving the two of them some space.
"Because I was eating pizza with pineapple on it," Maya said as Carina wrapped her in a hug. "What?" Carina said, looking at her wife, "You hate pineapple on pizza."
"I know," Maya said, "I normally do, but Travis was trying to get me to eat because he told you he would and the team had pizza and the only kind that was left that wasn't covered in meat was pineapple and tomato and you know fruit is something that my body usually does ok with and it sounded so good so I ate it and I liked it, but I won't eat it anymore because I don't want you to leave me."
"Ok, Bambina, calmati," Carina said, guiding her over to the couch, rubbing her back as they sat down, "First of all, I would never leave you because of something you eat, ever, but especially while you are pregnant. You used to get me cottage cheese and let me mix it hot chocolate and never said anything and I wasn't even sick like you have been. If pizza with tomato and pineapple sounds good to you, you can have it every single day for every meal for the next four months. I won't join you in eating it, but I will pick it up for you and feed it to you if you need me to, ok?"
"Ok," Maya nodded, burying her face in Carina's chest as the Italian rubbed her back.
Carina just held her for a minute before Maya sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Better?" Carina asked, handing her a tissue.
"Much better," Maya nodded, "Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," Carina said, "Now, is your pizza on your desk?"
"Yeah," Maya nodded, leaning on her wife.
"Do you want some more of it?" Carina asked, wrapping an arm around her wife.
"Maybe," Maya said, "It shockingly has been in my stomach for fifteen minutes and I don't feel like I am going to puke which feels like a victory, but I don't want to push it too much."
"I don't want you to either," Carina said, getting up, grabbing her wife's plate and drink, brining it over to the couch, "But if you are still feeling up to it, here it is."
Maya looked at the pizza, taking a deep breath before picking up the pizza and taking another bite.
"I hate how much I love this," Maya said, looking at her wife, "But it is so good."
"I am so happy to see you eating something besides the 7 things you have been eating for the last few months," Carina said, smiling, "I mean, I am slightly doubting that Trottolino has any Italian genes, but seeing you enjoy food is something I didn't realize I was missing as much as I think I was."
"What are you doing here?" Maya asked, "I thought you had work."
"I had a patient cancel last minute," Carina said, "And I don't have another patient scheduled until 1:30 so I thought I would come by and see how you were feeling today."
"I am ok," Maya said, "I mean, I ate actual food and don't feel sick yet which is weird. My pelvis has been pretty sore today too and Trottolino has been very busy moving around for the past hour or so which is still weird. They are currently having a little bit of a party in there."
"Can I?" Carina asked, holding out her hands.
"Of course," Maya said, letting Carina lift her work shirt, the blonde having just recently had to stop wearing her normal button up in favor of an SFD t-shirt because her baby bump was finally becoming a bit more pronounced.
She still looked much smaller than the 23 weeks she actually was. Carina gently laid her hands on her wife's belly, smiling as she felt the tiny movements. She had been so happy every time she felt the tiny flutters under her hands and could honestly do it all day if Maya and the baby let her.
"They are really busy," Carina said, feeling another little punch, "Just like their mommy."
"Just like their mommy was," Maya said, setting her plate with half-eaten pizza aside, deciding she was done, "But now, they have taken all of my energy and I have none."
"It will get better," Carina said, knowing how hard it was for Maya to not be allowed to run right now.
"I'm so tired," Maya said, yawning as she leaned back against the couch.
"I have an hour before I have to be back at the hospital," Carina said, looking at the clock, "Let's go lay down in your bunk for a little bit."
"I can't lay down," Maya said, shaking her head, "I just ate and I have no desire to battle reflux right now."
That was something she had learned the hard way over the past few weeks. If she laid down within an hour of eating, the acid reflux would kick in and make her miserable.
"Right," Carina nodded, "Well, I think I have a fix for that."
Carina got up, closing the blinds in Maya' office that looked out over the barn, turning off the lights before coming back over to the couch.
"Can you get up for just a second Bambina?" Carina asked, reaching out her hands, helping her wife stand up.
"What are you doing?" Maya asked as Carina sat down, stretching her legs down the length of the couch before gesturing for Maya to sit.
The blonde positioned herself in Carina's lap, the Italian reclining them a little bit before she wrapped her arms around her wife, resting her hands on Maya's still exposed belly.
"Just rest Bambina," Carina said, pressing a kiss to her wife's cheek, "I'm right here."
"Don't let me sleep too long," Maya mumbled, "I am still trying to catch up on paperwork form last week."
"Shhhh," Carina said, moving one of her hands off Maya's belly and bringing it up to play with her hair, "Just sleep Bambina. I've got you."
Maya didn't even try to fight her sleep, allowing her eyes to close, exhaustion much stronger than her stubbornness. Once she was sure Maya was asleep, Carina grabbed her phone, texting Andy, asking her to keep everyone out of Maya's office for the next hour because the battalion chief was sleeping.
Carina traced shapes on her wife's stomach, absolutely in love with the tiny bump that was slowly growing. It felt like such a victory at this point and it even seemed like, despite how much sickness Maya had been battling in the last week, that her bump had popped a little and was bigger. Carina didn't know if it was just her hopeful wishing, but it seemed like Maya's clothes were a bit more snug and that the bump was just growing a little faster than it had been before.
"I am going to need you to help Mommy keeps that pizza down," Carina said quietly as she rubbed Maya's bump, "I like having her home and so do your sisters and if she keeps getting sick, she won't be able to stay at home because she didn't keep her lunch yesterday or her breakfast this morning. If you have been trying to tell us that pineapple tomato pizza is what you want to eat, we will happily give it to you every day if Mommy can just not be so sick anymore."
Carina felt a little kick from the baby, smiling as she kept her hand pressed to that area.
"Ti voglio bene Trottolino," Carina said as she felt another kick.
Carina just sat there for about half an hour before the alarm in the station went off, calling the engine and startling her wife awake.
"It's ok," Carina said, wrapping her arms around her wife, "It's not for you."
"How long did I sleep?" Maya asked, rubbing her eyes as she shifted a little bit, pelvis aching under her.
"About half an hour," Carina said, "Not long. Trottolino and I were having important discussions."
"About what?" Maya asked, rubbing her eyes as she leaned back against Carina again.
"About them helping you not feel so sick," Carina said, "We have this conversation regularly because I am trying to teach them about taking care of their mommy."
"I think they might actually be listening to you today," Maya said, resting her hand on her bump, "I don't feel crazy nauseous right now and normally by this point, I would have already lost my lunch."
"Good," Carina said, smiling, "Can I get you anything?"
"Do you have to leave yet?" Maya asked, looking at her wife.
"I still have about fifteen minutes," Carina shrugged.
"Can we just stay right here?" Maya asked, "I mean, I know I need to get my work done, but just a few more minutes?"
"Bambina, I would stay here all day if you asked me to, you know that" Carina said, pressing a kiss to Maya's cheek, "Being here for you and our babies is the most important thing to me."
"I wish we could stay here all day," Maya said, cuddling back against her wife, "Hey, does my bump seem bigger to you because it feels a little bigger to me and I had to get a bigger shirt to wear today but I couldn't tell if it was just because having tight clothes on was bothering me or if they actually were too tight."
"I was thinking the same thing when you were sleeping," Carina said, "I think you have popped."
"Really?" Maya said, "Do you think that means Trottolino is growing bigger?"
"It might," Carina said, "But Bambina, I think you are just growing a little baby. Like Dr. Johnson said last time, they are not getting any further behind in their growth and have even caught up a little bit, but they are probably just going to be little. And there is nothing wrong with that. Nora and Rowan are not giants, although Rowan does have a good two inches on Nora at this point. This baby might just be smaller. Or, maybe once they are born, they will get really tall. We have no way to know, but they are doing well and not continuing to get smaller so that is all that is important."
"I know," Maya said, nodding, "I keep trying to remember that. It's just hard sometimes."
"I know," Carina said, resting her hands on Maya's bump, "I'm sorry it has been so hard. You are doing such a good job for our Trottolino. I am so proud of you. I love you so much."
"I love you too," Maya said, twisting around and pressing a kiss to her wife's lips. They sat there in silence for a little bit before Carina's phone buzzed.
"Do you have to go?" Maya asked as Carina picked up her phone.
"No," the Italian said, "At least not yet, "It was just an email...oh."
"What?" Maya asked as she sat up, moving a little, "Is everything ok?"
"Si," Carina nodded, "It was just a reminder that I have my one year follow up appointment next week."
"Woah," Maya said, looking at her wife, "Already?"
"Si," Carina nodded, still starting at her phone, "I can't believe it has been an entire year."
"How are you feeling about that?" Maya asked, taking her wife's hand into her own.
"Non lo so," Carina said, "Happy and nervous and anxious. I am glad that if this scan is clear, I get to wait 6 months before another scan, but I am worried that it won't be clear. I mean, there is no reason it won't be, but still..."
"It's going to be ok," Maya said, "And if anything happens, we will figure it out. I'm right here for you."
Carina nodded, leaning her head on her wife's shoulder as Maya ran her hand up and down her back. They just sat there for a little bit until Maya shifted a little bit.
"Are you ok?" Carina asked, picking up her head. "Yeah," Maya said, wincing a little bit.
"Bambina?" Carina said.
"I need to pee," Maya said, "Like pretty bad actually. Sorry."
"Go," Carina said, laughing, "I am going to have to leave soon. Do you need anything before I go?"
"Um, actually, can you see if there's any more of that pizza?" Maya asked as she carefully stood up, letting her head catch up and trying not to think about how badly her pelvis was aching at the moment, "I am weirdly craving it and I think I'm hungry?"
"Ok," Carina nodded, "Go to the bathroom. I will go get you some pizza."
Carina wandered into the beanery, finding it unusually quiet. She opened the fridge, completely comfortable in the station. She found the pizza box, pulling it out just as Vic walked into the beanery.
"Hey Carina," Vic said, "Oh, I'm pretty sure we only have pineapple and tomato left. Sorry."
"That is actually perfect," Carina said, opening the box and putting a slice on a place.
"What are you and what have you done with Carina?" Vic asked.
"It's not for me," Carina said, popping the pizza in the microwave, "But my wife is craving this right now and it isn't making her feel sick and so I am getting it for her."
"Maya hates pizza with pineapple," Vic said, "I mean, she has taste buds after all."
"Si," Carina nodded, laughing, "But pregnancy does crazy things to your body, taste buds included. And this is what is keeping food in her body right now so that is all that matters."
"That's a good point," Vic nodded.
Just then, the alarm went off calling the aid car and ladder truck, Vic waving goodbye as she ran out of the beanery. Carina grabbed out a glass, filling it with some lemonade to bring to her wife before grabbing her plate as well and heading back to the battalion chief's office. Maya was sitting at her desk, files out in front of her again.
"Here you go Bambina," Carina said, setting the plate and cup down.
"Thank you," Maya said, getting up, "Do you have to go?"
"Si," Carina nodded, "I will see you at home tonight?"
"Yep," Maya nodded, "Thank you for stopping by."
"Sempre Bambina," Carina said, pressing a kiss to her lips, "I will never say no to the chance to see my beautiful wife."
"I love you," Maya said, smiling as she felt the baby kick a little, "And Trottolino wants you to know they do too."
"I love you too Trottolino," Carina said, crouching down and pressing a kiss to Maya's belly, "Take good care of Mommy and help her not feel sick anymore, ok?"
Maya smiled as she looked down at her wife, feeling tears in her eyes as she watched her wife interact with their youngest child.
"And I love you too Bambina," Carina said, standing back up, pressing a kiss to her wife's lips, "Call me if you need me?"
"I will," Maya nodded, "Now, go be amazing and save some moms and babies."
"Ciao Bambina," Carina said, smiling at her wife as she gave her one more kiss before leaving the station.
When Carina had come to the station, she had been pretty worried about what condition she would find her wife in after how sick she had been that morning and this little midday visit had calmed a lot of those fears and made her feel like she and Maya would both make it through their respective workdays without issue. It wasn't often she was able to make it over to the station in the middle of the day, but today especially, Carina was incredibly grateful she had been able to.
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What did you think? Thank you all so much for your patience with my slow updates lately. The past two weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind with school, but other than a few odds and ends, I am now done with this semester!! I am going to try to update more frequently for the next few weeks, through with the holidays coming up, it is probably going to get a little tricky around then because of family stuff. Anyways, I already have the next chapter at least half planned so hopefully I will get it written soon. Thank you all so much for reading, commenting, and voting. You all are amazing.
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