CARINA POV
When Evie caught us, I knew that I was going to have to explain something. Maya looked panicked and focused purely on a shelf hanging on our wall, completely ignoring the fact our daughter caught us almost having sex.
"Evie, sometimes when adults show their love they play an adult game that children shouldn't play. Mommy and I was just playing that game" I say in hopes that that stops the conversation.
"Oh okay, do you know where my fire truck is?" Evie says as she looks in her chest of toys. Maya and I share a look of relief that we didn't get any more questions
-
Later that night, Maya left to go into her office in the basement. I decided to leave her as it was Evie's bedtime. Alex had already gone into her room, claiming that she was tired. But as I walked past her room it as pretty obvious she was on call with someone.
"Come on Evie, it's bedtime. Do you want to pick a book so that we can read it together?" I ask.
"Can mommy read to me tonight?" Evie asks as she picks up a book. "We're going to have to ask her Evie, shall we go down and find her" Evie nods and goes to grab my hand. She's gotten confident on the stairs but it seem as she gets more and more tired, they turn into a nearly impossible mission.
As we knock on the door of Maya's office we hear her ask us to come in. "Hi Evie, you look all ready for bedtime" Maya says as she looks away from her computer screens. "Mommy can you read to me?" Evie says as she climbs her way onto Maya's lap. "I guess I can baby. What book have you chosen? Let's see.. Oh, it's 'the world needs more purple people'. Is this a new one?" I ask Evie.
"Yes mommy, I got it at school!" Evie answers in a very happy tone. "Wow, are you comfortable so I can read?" With a nod, Maya starts to read the book animatedly while showing off the pictures. I stand in the doorway taking in the view. A few days ago, this wouldn't have happened. Halfway through the book, we hear light snores.
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MAYA POV
After Evie got carried up to her bed by Carina, I decided to take myself back up the stairs to the kitchen to wait for Carina. Sure enough, Carina came back in looking to make tea. "Bambina, what are you looking at?" Carina asks as she makes her way to me.
"I was just talking to Amelia and Kai about taking Alex and Evie for the weekend coming. I also talked to Bailey about you spending some time off, which she was okay with. I also made plans to go back to that Italian shop you love" I watch as Carina's face lights up more and more as I finish off my plan.
"Bambina, you didn't have to do all of this. I would have just been happy with an evening alone" Carina says with a grin. "Baby, stop it. I messed up recently and we haven't gone on a proper date since we've had Alex. I think it's time"
-
It's finally the weekend, which means no Alex and no Evie. I love them both but right now I want to give attention to the love of my life. The kids have been gone for about an hour and it's been bliss. Sure, we've been keeping tabs and asked both Kai and Amelia to call us if they need us. They left around 9am, which means we now have the whole day to ourselves.
I entered the kitchen to find Carina in front of her glorious coffee machine, I slowly walked behind her before wrapping my arms around her waist. "What are you doing, bella?" Carina says as she melts in my arms. "Baby, we have a full day of love to experience. And I've decided it starts now" I whisper into her ear before leaving a kiss on her neck.
"Bella, what time are we leaving for the shop?" Carina replies while turning in my arms. "In about an hour, I called Antonia." I say as we separate.
"Why did you call Antonia?" Carina asks. "Baby, I just wanted to check in on a few things" Carina looks slightly confused. "Come on babe, let's get ready to go" I say as we both make our way to our bedroom. Going to this shop again will be weird, I'm pretty much in the exact same position I was in then; almost completely wheelchair bound.
-
"Hi Antonia, how have you been?" I ask as we enter the small shop. Carina let's go of my hand as she goes off exploring the shop.
"I've been good. I feel like it's been years since I last saw you. How has everything been? I see you're still with Carina" Antonia answers back with a big grin as she searches for Carina through the shelves of items.
"Yeah it has been years! Everything has been actually pretty good. Carina and I are now married and actually have two daughters. There's Evie who's now 3 and we have adopted a teen called Alex. It's been a few crazy years." I exclaim, as Carina and I share a look.
"Wow, that sounds like you both have definitely developed your relationship. I feel like nothing has happened in my life, I've been in and out of relationships but nothing is working so I've decided to just stick with my dog." Antonia states while laughing, we join in too. "I don't want to sound rude but why are you still in a wheelchair? I thought you were recovering." Antonia says which causes me to sigh deeply. "Yeah I did recover, I am back in recovery now for a different injury. I went to a big fire and because I'm now a chief, I stayed outside while commanding my teams. A freak thing happened where I got hit with some metal in my lower back and injured my shoulder badly. So, while my lower back heals, it's either being in a wheelchair or on bedrest for four months." As I speak Carina comes up towards me and grabs my hand.
"Jeez that's fucked up. Did anyone else get injured?" She asks.
"Not many people did get injured, surprisingly my injury was one of the worst" I mutter while looking down at my hands.
"I'm really sorry to hear that Maya. I hope you heal quickly. I did want to say that the usual basket of favourites is here behind the till for free. I've added some new things to the shelves so have a look around. Enjoy!" Antonia says with a grin.
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CARINA POV
We've been looking around Antonia's shop for about an hour. I don't think I'll ever get over the feeling of home here. I still need to take Andrea here one day. Antonia has added more wine and pretty much anything Italian has been added to the shop. I think I could spend all day here. While in my thoughts, I start to feel a hand start to go up the inside of my legs.
"Bella, what are you doing?" I ask Maya as I turn around, Maya just smirks and winks before wheeling away to the front of the shop.
I look for a while longer and grab the new things I want. It doesn't take long for Antonia to bag all of the items and hand us the basket with our favourites in. I can't wait to introduce some of this to the girls.
AMELIA POV
Maya called earlier in the week to ask if we could look after their girls for a night. Of course, it was a yes, Kai and I honestly are just seeing it as a practice trial. It's not as if I've never been around children, I lived with Mer for way too long and dealt with her children. Kai hasn't had the same experiences; they were always a bit against children. I don't really know what's changed but I think having some time alone with little Evie and Alex, it might help them come to terms with what they could want.
As soon as we got home, it was clear that Alex would spend all of her time with Kai. They've become quite the duo, especially since Kai has been showing Alex new things. Evie straight away asked to build a fort which of course was going to happen. So, I grabbed all of the blankets and all of the pillows. It turns out, being very short really doesn't bode well with trying to build a fort.
KAI POV
I've been showing Alex the ropes to what I do as a job. I used to be more of a practicing doctor but for a few years, I've really stuck to research. My currently research is to do with Alzheimer's disease, and it feels like we will never get anywhere with it. Truth be told, that when Alex spent a few hours in our lab, she got really interested. And again, when Maya was at that big fire, I took her back to the lab where I taught her more things. It was a good distraction for her.
"How did you even come up with the idea to do this research?" Alex asked me.
"Well, I got asked to join this research paper by David Hamilton. I'd worked for him for a few years and because of him, I met Amelia and Meredith It wasn't my idea but I liked it anyway." I answered back. One thing with Alex, is that when I talk, she really concentrates and takes in everything I say and do.
"Have you decided what you'd want to do at college? Are you still waiting a year?" I asked her and she immediately sighed. It's been a big conversation between the two of us for quite a while now.
"I do want to go into writing. I love to read and writing is super soothing. I just don't want to go to college and turn my love of writing to a hate. I know it sounds stupid, but I just don't know if getting an education in something, is going to make me love it more or less" She says while fiddling with a brain model I have in my office.
"You know, I didn't really know what I wanted to do as a kid. Yeah I was good at science but like you, I didn't know if I'd want to continue going up the educational levels to do it. In the end, it just seemed like the right thing and now I wouldn't change that" I say while taking the model out of her hands. "Look kid, you know that whatever you do, you've got all of our support. College doesn't mean that you will become successful, look at Maya. She never went to college and she's a chief of fire. The only thing that will help you succeed, is yourself. Don't put too much pressure on it, okay?" I see a nod as I finish.
"Yeah I guess, it's just hard to know what I should do. It's like this thing that's expected of me. It's like the next step in life that I should take. I need to think more about it. How are you feeling with the whole wanting kids thing?" Alex asks me
"Yeah it is totally up to you what you want to do. Kids is still a big thing. I want kids but I don't know what age. Babies confuse me and freak me out, and little kids are so creative and I don't have that brain. I mean when I'm with Evie, I literally don't know what I'm doing and just wait for Amelia to come back so I can distance myself. But I know Amelia wants a family, and maybe having that family with her could change how I feel around kids. We've started researching different things, and I know that she thinks I'm sacrificing what I want in life so that she can have a family. I hate that she thinks that way, I just need to prove to her that I want a family"
"Have you ever thought of just getting a dog? You could get a fostering license so that you can always return the kid if they get too much" Alex replies in a pained laugh.
MAYA POV
"Is there such thing as tapping out of sex.. I think I'm broken" I say between pants. I don't think I need to explain what has happened.
"Bella, you started it" Carina says laughing before kissing my cheek and getting up. "How can you still walk? I don't think I can move from this position for like the next month" I mutter while blushing as I spot her taking in my body.
"I'm getting a drink bambina; do you want one?" Carina says and waits for my response which is a silent nod. Looking at the clock, it's now 6pm! We came back from the Italian shop around 2pm... 4 hours isn't bad for us.
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ALEX POV
Last night went by pretty quickly. I can see how much Amelia wants kids and I can see that Kai wants to want kids. It's a bit of a weird situation, I'm sure of it. Amelia spent all of her time with the little one while Kai and I just talked and talked and they even let me have a glass of whiskey... it turns out whiskey should be used as a form of torture, I'm sure of it.
We're just arriving back at the house and I can't wait to get back in. This house is now my home and Evie is now my sister. A few years ago, that would never have happened.
-
As we entered the house using my key, we walked into the kitchen where we saw Maya and Carina in a tight embrace just swaying to their song. They looked so in their world, Amelia and Kai just smiled and winked before quietly closing the door and leaving us. "Mommy" Evie shouted as she ran and grabbed hold of Mom's legs. Mom has been getting pretty good at standing and she doesn't need to be in her wheelchair anymore, it's back to getting the muscle mass she lost again.
"Hi baby, I didn't know you guys were back. How was it?" Mom said as she split away from her embrace and lifted Evie onto the kitchen counter.
"It was so good. Aunty Amelia asked if I could be her practice baby, I don't know what she means and I'm not a baby! Oh, and Aly went with Kai and came back from the office gagging. I thought she was ill but she only had a drink she didn't like.... oh, she told me not to tell you, sorry" Evie rattles off as I start to blush more and more.
"Oh, is that right? I think Aunty Amelia wants a family and I think she wants to look after you to make sure she can have look after a child too" Maya says.
"I can help her mommy! We played with the toys and we watched movies, and we eat dinner, and I got to sleep in my own room!" Evie shouted causing Mom and Mama to share a smile.
"Wow, it sounds like you had a very good time! I think you're a little tired, why don't you go with mama to have a nap?" Mom says as she puts Evie on the floor and prompts Carina to leave.
"So, what drink did Kai let you have? I'm guessing if you gagged it would be a harsh drink, so whiskey?" Mom knowingly asked. There's no point to her asking really, she already knows.
"I know I shouldn't drink and it was only one glass. If all alcohol tastes like that, I don't think I'll ever drink again" I mumble
"Al, it's okay. Kai asked me yesterday when they picked you guys up if it would be okay. As long as you only drink when there is a member of the bro group, I don't really care. Now let's come up with a plan so that mama doesn't find out that I'm encouraging this" Mom says while smiling and hugging me.