31. Chapter 31

Maya walks into the bedroom with two cups of coffee. She’s getting better at the espresso after Gabriella gave her some tips in a text message, she sent the blonde a few days after she left. It was odd, at first, receiving a message from her girlfriend’s best friend. Maya still isn’t sure how she feels about them being best friend knowing what their past is. But, she’ll have to live with it. They had exchanged a few messages. Gabriella to check on how Carina was and Maya to thank Gabriella for coming which lead to the message with the tips about espresso.

“Are you coming back to bed or just bringing me my morning coffee and leaving?” Carina reaches out her hand towards Maya. The past few days have been great, well, not great because she is grieving her brother. But being able to wake up every morning in bed with Maya and be in no rush to be off to work. That was great.

“Here’s your coffee. And I’m getting back in bed.” Maya rounds the bed.

Carina takes a sip of her espresso and moans. “So much better.”

Maya chuckles. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It is.” Carina leans over and presses a kiss to Maya’s cheek.

“What do you want to do today?”

“I don’t want to be stuck inside all day.” Carina tilts her head back against the headboard. They’ve been inside a lot. “But I also don’t want to leave this bed.”

“Well, you can’t have it both ways sweetheart.” Maya takes a sip of her espresso. She starts scrolling through her phone.

Carina turns onto her side and runs her foot up the outside of Maya’s leg. Maya looks away from her phone and raises an eyebrow. She lifts her cup to her lips and takes another drink as she eyes Carina, wondering what she’s up to.

“Do you have any sexual fantasies?” Carina husks.

Maya starts coughing and choking on her espresso.

Carina giggles. “Are you okay?”

Maya puts a hand on her chest and tries to get her breathing back to normal. “Where did that come from?”

Carina shrugs. “I don’t know. I was just wondering.”

Maya hums.

“So do you?” Carina wants an answer.

“What kind of fantasies?” Maya tries to skirt around the question. “Do you?” She thinks if she flips this around, she can get out of answering it.

Carina tilts her chin up at Maya. “I asked you first.”

That technique isn’t going to work. Maya rolls her eyes. “Nothing in particular. Or out of the ordinary. Not that there’s anything ordinary. Ugh. No.” She knows it probably makes her boring in Carina’s eyes. She’s sure Carina has seen and done just about everything in bed. She is the Orgasm Doctor, after all. So maybe this conversation was bound to happen at some point. “I don’t want to be tied up or anything like that.”

“Oh, no. Not that. I was thinking more like toys.”

“Oh.” Maya mulls it over. “I don’t know.” She takes another sip of her coffee. “Why? Do you? Have fantasies?”

“Si.” Carina grins.

“Like?”

Carina gets a little nervous and usually she doesn’t get nervous talking about sex stuff. She looks down, away from Maya’s eyes. “Maya, do have a cock?”

“W-what?”

“I want to ride your cock.”

Maya has to swallow down the lump that has formed in her throat. She eyes Carina carefully. It’s not the craziest idea but it’s not what Maya expected. She didn’t know what to expect really. She sets her cup of espresso down on the nightstand carefully.

Carina watches her. “So? Do you?”

“I, uh, do not.”

Carina’s grin grows. “Oh, this could be fun.” She thinks of all the possibilities.

“I don’t like that look on your face.” Maya folds her arms across her chest. “What are you thinking?”

“We could go shopping?”

“Like to a store?” Maya voice gets higher than she would like it to be.

Carina shrugs. “Online. If you’re more comfortable with that.”

“Online, please.” Maya grumbles.

Carina kisses her quickly and runs out of the room to get Maya’s laptop from the coffee table. She’s back in a flash.

“Someone’s excited.”

“Aren’t you?”

Maya shrugs. “Well, not really. I’ve never-“

“You’ll be alright. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” Carina sits back down and opens up the computer.

They spend over an hour looking at options before making a decision.

Maya is self conscious and worries all of a sudden that she isn’t fulfilling Carina sexually. “Does this mean you want to go back to men?” She voices her concerns.

“Cosa? No.” Carina sees how Maya can get the wrong idea here. “No. No. No. No. No.” She takes Maya’s face in her hands. “No, bambina. No. not at all.” Maya just stares blankly at her. “Do you hear me?”

Maya nods but she’s still lost in her head. “Am I not doing something right? Am I doing something wrong?”

“No. There’s nothing wrong. I absolutely love and thoroughly enjoy our sex life.” Carina sets the computer aside and climbs into Maya’s lap. “Look, we don’t have to change anything if you don’t want. I just thought something different might be nice. Fun. This is me saying I am so comfortable and feel so safe with you that I want us to try different things, but we won’t if you aren’t comfortable with that.”

Maya breathes a sigh of relief. “It’s not that I’m opposed to the idea. I just-“

“It’s new.”

“It’s new. I think I need to wrap my head around it. Think about it. Ya know.”

Carina kisses her forehead. “You and your brain. I know. I’ll leave it totally up to you. No pressure. Okay?”

“Okay.” Maya wraps her arms around Carina and pulls her to her chest. “I like the idea of something different though.”

“Good.” Carina runs her fingers through Maya’s hair. “Would you like to hear more about my fantasy?”

“That wasn’t all?”

Carina shakes her head. She puts her hands on Maya’s shoulders and sits up. “There’s the first part. That I told you about. I want to sit in your lap, like this, and ride your cock. Then I want you to flip us over, I lay on my stomach, and you fuck me from behind.”

Maya closes her eyes. “Jesus.” She whispers.

“And then I want to roll over with you on top of me and we make slow passionate love where both of your hands are free to hold me and touch me. I want to feel you cum with your cock inside me. I want to cum with you. Without fumbling hands or legs or anything else.”

“That sounds amazing.” Maya moans.

“I want to get to that point. We aren’t going to be there right away.”

“I fucking love you. Let’s do it.” That was all the convincing Maya needed. She’ll do just about anything to feel closer and more connected to Carina.

Carina laughs. “You’re halfway gone. Aren’t you?”

“I’m fucking soaked. So yeah.”

“Should I keep going?” Carina reaches down and slips her hand into Maya’s briefs. They both moan at the feeling.

“Y-yes.” Maya stutters out.

Carina runs her fingers through Maya’s folds, teasing her entrance. She leans forward and whispers in Maya’s ear. “I want you to wear your cock in your pants. Maybe in your uniform pants even. When you come home from work? After a long exhausting day. And you’ll sit down on the couch, and I’ll come over and undo your pants, pulling your cock out, stroking you, before bending down and sucking you off.”

Maya bucks her hips. “Keep going.” She groans, her fingers digging into the skin at Carina’s hips.

Carina slips two fingers into Maya. “I’ll pull my panties off and rub myself on your cock.” She moves her fingers to a steady rhythm inside Maya. “Getting you soaked with my juices.”

Maya squirms, looking for her release. It’s so close. She just needs a little more.

Carina tilts her hand, thrusting deeper into Maya.

Maya moans, close.

“And then I’ll slowly lower myself down onto your cock until I’m taking your full length.”

“Carina.” Maya moans, her orgasm exploding within. “Ohhh.” She moans out as Carina presses her thumb to Maya’s clit, intensifying her orgasm. She grinds herself up into Carina’s hand, riding over the waves of pleasure.

Maya rests her forehead on Carina’s shoulder as her whole body tingles. “I can’t feel my legs.”

“That good, huh?”

“Amazing.” Maya presses a kiss to Carina’s shoulder and focuses on breathing properly again.

Carina runs her hands up and down Maya’s back softly.

“You’re trouble.” Maya says once her breathing evens out again.

Carina laughs and tilts Maya’s head up with a finger under her chin. She leans in for a slow kiss.

“Dirty, sexy, trouble.” Maya mumbles. She reaches for the bottom of Carina’s tank top. “Take this off.” She removes the item herself, revealing pert breasts. Maya takes one into her mouth, humming.

Carina tips her head back, closing her eyes, lost in the feeling of Maya sucking on her nipple. So lost that she doesn’t realize Maya is moving, until she is being spun around and flipped onto her back. Her eyes snap open as she grins up at Maya. “It’s so sexy when you do that.” She reaches up and squeezes Maya’s strong biceps.

Maya grins, devilishly. “How about when I do this?” She starts kissing down Carina’s torso. She reaches the elastic band on her underwear, licking across it. Her fingers hook into the sides. She kisses her way down Carina’s right thigh as she pulls the underwear down tanned legs. She removes the item and then looks up to find Carina staring down at her. “Is that a yes?”

Carina licks her lips and nods. “S-s-si.”

Maya laughs. “Good.” She puts her hands on Carina’s knees, spreading her legs. “How about this?”

Carina rolls her eyes. “Dio mio, Maya, stop talking and just do it already.”

Maya laughs. “Okay, no more teasing.” She gets in position, lapping her tongue through Carina’s folds as Carina moans out Maya’s name and broken sentences in Italian until she is coming undone.

“Okay, I’m ready to go. Are you?” Maya calls out. She’s anxious about today. And it has nothing to do with her own life. Well, in a way it does. Carina is going back to work today for the first time since Andrew’s death. While Maya had taken one week off of work, Carina took two.

The plan was that they were going to stop somewhere for breakfast and then Carina was going to bring Maya to work and then head to the hospital.

“Y-yeah.” Carina doesn’t feel like she’s one hundred percent ready for this, but she also knows that she never will be. It’s just one of those things you have to do. Just rip the band aid off.

Maya moseys into the bedroom. “Let’s go hot doctor lady.” She tries to keep the mood light.

Carina grins. She knows what Maya is doing but she totally loves and appreciates it.

They get to the restaurant and are seated six feet from any other table. It’s a little odd. Neither of them have been to a restaurant and had a meal since before the pandemic started. They have been in a café or coffee shop or two, but this is a little different than those times.

Maya can almost feel the anxiety wafting off of Carina. She reaches across the table with both hands. Carina is busy looking at the menu. “Dammi -uh, your hands.” Maya says nervously.

Carina looks over at Maya at that. “Did you just-?”

“Dammi is give me, right?”

“Si.” Carina grins. She puts down the menu and puts her hands in Maya’s.

“I know you’re anxious about today.” Maya runs her thumbs over Carina’s knuckles. “I know that. But you can do it. You’ve got this. Just- I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to help you. But I want to.” Maya sighs, frustrated. “If you need to talk or need something else just call me. Don’t hesitate. Don’t wait until it gets too overwhelming. Okay?”

Carina bites her lip. “Maya. Maya, thank you.”

Maya shakes her head. “Don’t thank me. If I don’t answers my phone or my office phone, call the reception desk at the station. I’ll have Vic working reception today. She can let you know where I am, or if I’m on a phone call, or an actual emergency call. Tell her you need to talk to me and she will let me know and I we call you back as soon as I can.”

Carina takes a deep breath. She doesn’t know if what Maya says is going to help but just knowing that Maya is trying to help and make herself available means everything. “Okay.”

“Great.” She squeezes Carina’s hands before letting them go. “Now, where’s our waiter, I’m starving.”

The day starts out well. Carina has appointments with clients all morning. Appointments that got rescheduled or pushed back or couldn’t be picked up by the other OB’s while she was off work.

Carina has her lunch break and can’t help but think about Andrea as she sits alone at a table in the cafeteria. She wonders about Amelia, and then Meredith, and then Teddy. The last she heard Meredith was still in the hospital, still had Covid or Covid complications. Teddy and Andrea were the ones who were running Meredith’s Covid care. And then Teddy was in on the surgery that they did to try to save Andrea. So, she wonders on what’s happening with all that.

Part of her wishes everyone at this hospital wasn’t tied together and interconnected. It would make grieving Andrea’s death easier.

The afternoon isn’t as busy for Carina. She’s mostly going over charts and catching up on her patients that have been seen by other doctors in her absence.

It’s not until she gets a page, that she has to go down to the ER to look at a pregnant woman that was just brought in, that things change.

Carina looks around, trying to spot the woman.

“Dr. DeLuca, in here.” Helm calls her into the trauma room.

Carina starts to walk over but stops in the doorway. It’s the same room Andrea was in. Everything about that day comes rushing back.

“Carina.” Owen gets her attention.

She moves into the room. “What do we have?” Trying to focus, keep her mind present.

“Thirty-two year old woman, thirty-two weeks pregnant, blunt force trauma to the head.” Amelia fills in. “We need to get her up to CT, but I need you to check on the baby first.”

Carina tries to put Andrea out of her mind as she works on the patient. She does an ultrasound and doesn’t see anything that indicates there is anything wrong with the baby. The fetal heart monitor shows that the baby isn’t in any distress. “You’re good to go.”

“Let’s go.” Owen calls out. Everyone rushes out of the room with the patient, leaving Carina standing there, alone.

She tries to breathe through the sadness and anxiety that is bubbling up. She looks around the room. It’s eerily like it was the day Andrea was here. Just like when they moved him out to go to surgery. The only difference right now is that Maya isn’t here to hold her.

Carina’s legs are shaky, her heart beating faster than it should be, her eyes watery. It’s like it’s happening all over again. She can picture it all again. Andrea laying on the bed, gasping for air, moaning in pain. The frantic frenzy going on around her and Maya. The arms around her waist. Except they aren’t. She looks down at her midsection.

A nurse Carina doesn’t know or recognize comes into the room to clean it up and get it back in order for the next trauma that will inevitably come in. That’s all this room is. A revolving door of trauma. Someone is brought in. They are worked on. The doctors determine what’s wrong and they go for surgery or scans or both and try to fix it. If they can’t fix it, this is the last room that person is ever in alive.

“Are you okay?” The nurse asks.

Carina turns her head, staring over at the woman. They just stare at each other for a moment before Carina shakes her head and hurries out of the room.

There are only a few hours left of her shift, but she can’t continue. She knows she can’t. Her head is a mess now. Carina goes to her office and gathers her things before walking out of the hospital. She knows it’s probably not a good idea to drive home so she starts walking.

Carina pulls the front door open. She vaguely knows this isn’t her home but maybe it’s starting to be, in a way.

“Carina, hey.” Vic calls out as soon as the Italian steps through the door. She knows something is up when Carina doesn’t smile like she usually does and greet her in return. She sits up a little straighter in her desk chair. The vacant stare that she sees from Carina, the arms wrapped around herself have Vic glancing over at the captain’s office. Maya had mentioned something to Vic at the start of the day about Carina calling and letting her know right away. She hadn’t asked questions but had agreed.

Maya is just over a few steps away in her office. Vic notices that Carina doesn’t make a move to go over there. She needs to intervene when she notices something is off with the doctor.

“MAYA!” Vic yells and gets out of her chair, rounding the desk. She puts a hand on Carina’s shoulder.

The office door opens, and Maya comes flying out. She stands right in front of Carina.

“She just walked in.” Vic supplies.

Maya searches Carina’s eyes for clues as to what is happening. “What happened? What’s wrong? You’re supposed to be working.” She checks her watch to make sure she is correct on that last part. She is. There’s just under two hours left of Carina’s shift.

“Andrea.” Carina mumbles.

Maya heart sinks. “Okay, come on.” She leads Carina into her office with a gentle hand on her lower back. “Thanks, Vic.” Maya calls over her shoulder.

As soon as Maya closes the office door, Carina turns to her and wraps her arms around Maya, burying her face against Maya’s shoulder.

“Okay. Okay.” Maya wraps Carina up in her arms. “Let’s go in here.” She moves them over to the bunk. “Sit.” They sit on the edge of the bed. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Carina shakes her head. The sad look in her eyes, on her face, tears Maya up inside. “Okay.” Maya pulls Carina against her side. Carina lays her head on Maya’s shoulder.

After many minutes of silence, Carina finds the words. “There was a pregnant woman that came in. They needed me to check on the baby. Except that she was in the room they had Andrea in.”

Maya lets out a long sigh. “Maybe you shouldn’t do consults in the pit for a while.” She suggests.

Carina nods. That’s probably a good idea. She’ll have to talk to Owen and Dr. Bailey about it.

“I just left. I had to leave. I didn’t even tell anyone.” She feels bad about it now that she’s at the fire station.

“Okay. It’s okay.” Maya is going to have to call the hospital.

They sit there for a while in silence. Maya goes over everything in her head. She wonders if this is going to keep happening or if this is a one time thing for Carina. She knows she would avoid a place if it gave her triggering memories of a bad situation. That’s kind of difficult to do when you work in that place though.

“How’d you get here?”

“I walked.”

Maya hums. “Do you want me to bring you home?”

Carina shakes her head and wraps her arms around Maya. “Can I stay here? Tonight. With you.”

Maya frowns. That would be against the rules, and she knows she can’t afford to break any rules now. After with what happened with Sullivan and Miller and the police. The department has extra watchful eyes on Maya and her team right now. Though, she knows that nobody on her team would rat her out about Carina staying here overnight.

“Let me go talk to Andy and Gibson.” Maya presses a kiss to Carina’s temple and stands up to go find her lieutenants.

Carina sits there, on the edge of the bed, head hung low. She feels like a failure. She feels like she should have just sucked it up and finished out her workday. She’s going to have to go back to the hospital tomorrow, she’s going to have to go back to work. What happens then?

Maya is right. She’s going to have to talk to Owen and Dr. Bailey about not working in the pit for a while. She puts that thought aside and stands up. She goes over to the table and looks over all of Maya’s personal effects. There’s really not much. A picture of her and Mason from when they were kids. A photo Carina has never seen before. Maya looks about ten or eleven years old in the photo. Mason even younger. They both have seemingly happy smiles on their faces. Carina shakes her head, wondering where it all went wrong for them.

She moves along to the picture of the fire family that sits next to the photo of Maya and Mason. She smiles at it. Carina wonders when it was taken and what the occasion was. Perhaps a few years ago because Pruitt is in the photo and there’s a guy in a police uniform too that Maya has mentioned as Ryan.

There is one more picture propped up there. It’s a photo of herself. Carina reaches out and lifts the photo to get a closer look at it. It’s nothing spectacular in Carina’s opinion. She doesn’t even remember the photo being taken. Carina is just sitting on a park bench, her side profile, a smile as she looks off into the distance. Something strikes her though, looking at the photo. The posture of the woman in the photo, the ease with which she sits there, the content and tranquil everything about her, and the happy smooth smile on her face. Carina didn’t realize she looked that happy. Sure, she feels happy, but to see it in a photo is a whole other dimension.

She puts the photo back and looks around the rest of the tiny room. Some of Maya’s clothes are in a little open faced closet thing in the corner. She goes over and pulls on a hoodie over her scrub top. It’s not until now that she realizes that she didn’t even change before she left the hospital. Carina puts her hands in the pockets and pulls the hoodie tight around her.

Maya finds Carina sitting on the bed again when she comes back. She’d wonder if Carina even moved since she left but knows she has because the Italian is wearing her hoodie.

“Andy is going to take charge if we have any calls. But she said you have to eat dinner with all of us if she is going to fill in for me.” Maya smirks.

Carina closes her eyes. It feels good to be wanted. That Maya’s fire family wants her around and doesn’t just brush her aside as some silly woman that keeps showing up at the station. They actually want her to be around. They might even care about her and her well being.

“You okay?”

“I’m good. I’m better. I just needed to get away from the hospital.”

“About that- I called the hospital. I spoke to- I don’t know who- someone that works with, for Dr. Bailey.” As Captain, Maya has Miranda’s contact information at the hospital in case something were to happen with Ben. It comes in conveniently right now. “I let them know what happened. Where you were. She said she will let the appropriate people know that you had an emergency and had to leave.”

Carina sighs. “It wasn’t an emergency.”

“I know. But they don’t need to know that.” Maya reaches out her hand. “Come on, dinner’s almost ready.”

They climb the stairs hand in hand.

“Hey, guys.” Carina says timidly to the crew as they sit around the table.

Maya has threatened them all not to bring up Andrew or why Carina is here when she should be at work.

There is a chorus of ‘hey, Carina’ from the bunch.

Travis gets up, giving up his seat. “Cap, you and Dr. DeLuca can sit here.” She references his seat and the open one that was next to him.

“Thanks, Montgomery.” Maya tugs on Carina’s hand. “Let’s get something to eat before we sit down.”

“What are we having?”

“Chili.” Maya says.

“Yeah, Miller makes a mean chili.” Jack adds.

Maya leans into Carina’s side as they approach the stove. “That’s the only thing he knows how to make.”

Carina smiles a little. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Well, that and baby food. Though I can’t actually say cuz I haven’t tried anything that Pru eats.”

“I heard that.” Dean swoops in and grabs a few more slices of garlic bread from the cooking sheet on top of the stove.

Maya ignores him. She puts a hand on Carina’s back. “Here are the bowls.” She points to the cabinet with the bowls in them. “And the spoons are in the drawer to the right of the sink.” Maya opens the door to the cabinet and gets down one bowl and sets it on the counter and then grabs another. “How much do you want?” Maya grabs the serving spoon in one hand. The hand that was on Carina’s back comes around to hold the bowl.

Carina reaches up, putting her hand on the back of Maya’s neck, massaging the skin there. Her caring, considerate girlfriend making sure she is okay, making sure she is fed properly, making her feel welcomed and loved and not silly for showing up at the station unannounced and in a panic. “I can do it myself.” Carina whispers in her ear as she leans against Maya a little, craving closeness.

Maya rolls her eyes. “If you insist.” There’s a playful tone to her voice.

They are completely lost in their own world. No idea that behind them everyone is watching their interaction in silence.

Maya gets a helping of chili for herself and sets a slice of garlic bread on top of the bowl. She steps to the side a little to let Carina at the pot on the stovetop.

Carina scoops some chili into her bowl. She takes two pieces of garlic bread. “Okay.”

“I’ll grab spoons.” Maya puts a hand on Carina’s elbow for just a second. “Go sit down.”

Carina does as she’s told. She sits in the chair Travis vacated. She looks around at the crew. No one is talking. It’s a little weird. She wonders if it’s her that makes it weird. She tucks into her bowl of food trying to ignore the weird vibe in the room.

“So, Jack.” Travis starts trying to save the room from awkwardness. “How is that kid you brought to the hospital yesterday? Did you get any updates? I know the parents were very grateful to you.”

Jack scoffs. “You mean the kid that puked all over me.”

“GUYS.” Maya yells as she gets to the table. “No gross talk at the table while we are eating. We have a guest.” She nods in Carina’s direction and sits down.

Carina chuckles a little. “I think you forget-“ She reaches over and rubs her hand up and down Maya’s thigh. “-I am a doctor. I work at a hospital.” She addresses the table. “You can talk about gross stuff. I don’t mind. We talk about gross stuff at the hospital all the time when we are eating.”

Jack takes that as a clue to answer the question. “No, I haven’t gotten an update. That kid was really sick though. I don’t know why his parents did bring him the doctor sooner. They waited until he was so sick they had to call an ambulance.”

“Covid.” Dean mumbles.

“Oooh.” Jack nods. “Right.”

“People are so apprehensive about Covid that they are putting off routine doctor’s appointments, not going to the hospital when they are sick or in pain. Just, in general, trying to avoid catching Covid. Which I don’t blame them. I don’t want to catch Covid. I mean, it’s just awful. I’ve had patients putting off care. Not as much anymore but at the beginning. Which lead to complications. Which lead to death. Not only am I dealing with Covid deaths; I’m dealing with women dying from pregnancy complications that shouldn’t be. I’ve never had a patient die until all of this. It’s just so hard. On everyone.” Carina vents. It’s not necessarily aimed at anyone, or Jack, but he is the one who brought it up.

The room is silent after that.

“She’s right.” Ben tries to add in. “Let’s try not to judge anyone for the decisions they are making during this pandemic. Obviously, you shouldn’t go out and murder someone over a roll of toilet paper, but everyone is stressed.” He thinks he’s adding to the conversation, agreeing with Carina, having a discussion.

Except Maya knows it’s doing more harm than good when she sees Carina tuck her chin to her chest. She puts her hand on top of Carina’s that is still on her leg, holding it, giving it a squeeze. “Let’s talk about something else than fucking awful Covid.”

The conversation goes to Mariners baseball and Maya is thankful for that. She looks over and waits until Carina meets her eyes. Maya nods. Carina sends her a thankful smile and a nod to let Maya know that she’s alright.

“Montgomery, when you’re finished can you swap with Hughes so she can eat.” Maya orders.

“Sure thing, Cap.”

Carina thinks it’s interesting to see the crew now. Now, they all respect and listen to everything that their Captain says. Carina never witnessed it when that wasn’t the case, but she heard about it from Maya. It’s good to see that Maya has gotten the respect from them that she so desperate wanted at one point.

Maya removes her hand from the top of Carina’s so she can eat. She looks around at her team and is grateful that she has all of them as her team. As her family. That they don’t have a problem with Carina being here with them. That they are open to her joining their silly little family.

“What time is first pitch?” Dean asks Jack.

“7:05, I think.”

“I’ll race you.” Dean takes off running over to the lounge room with the recliners. Jack runs after him knowing he’s already been beat. They wrestle over the tv remote, even though they both would be turning the baseball game on.

“They’re silly.”

“Yep.” Maya nods.

Vic comes in and gets some food and sits across from Maya. She’s happy to see that Carina has come out of whatever stupor she was in when she arrived. “What are they arguing about?”

“Not arguing.” Maya says and takes another bite of her chili.

Carina finishes for Maya. “Grappling over the television starter.”

“Remote.” Maya whispers.

“Remote.” Carina grins.

Vic smiles at the pair. She thinks they are absolutely adorable together. She’s never seen Maya this content in her entire time knowing her. So that says something in itself. But to have Maya willingly bring someone in to ‘hang out’ at the station is another thing. Vic eats quickly so she can get back to the front desk.

It's Vic that sees them reenter the captain’s office about an hour later. The crew had to go to a call just as dinner was wrapping up. Maya, since Andy was taking over for this call, stayed behind. She said she’d do the dishes, put everything away.

So that’s what Carina and Maya did. Cleaning the table, putting the dishes in the dishwasher, putting the leftover chili in the fridge for later for when the crew returned and would likely be hungry again. Carina commented that they must go through a lot of food. Maya told her that they usually went to the grocery store everyday or every other day. Lots of hungry mouths to feed.

“Night, Vic.” Maya mumbles.

Vic nods at the pair as the go into the office. She’s not shocked, in the lest, to see that Carina isn’t going home. She knows that Carina’s brother died. Everyone does, but she doesn’t know what the Italian has gone through today specifically to lead her here this evening.

“Do you mind if I do some paperwork?” Maya asks. She doesn’t really want to tell Carina that when she’s at the station for an overnight she doesn’t usually sleep much. She’s either out on a call or doing administrative stuff until midnight. She’ll lay down after that, but not much restful sleep is had.

Carina takes that as Maya wanting to be alone. She second guesses being here. “Should I go?” She looks over at the office door. “I’m just going to go. I don’t belong here.” She takes a step towards the door.

Except Maya won’t let her out of their handhold. “Yes, you do. You belong here. If dinner didn’t convince you, I’m saying it right now. I got you. We’ve got you. We are a family here. A sometimes deranged, often dysfunctional, family here. Those guys-“ Maya points in the direction of the beanery. “-they’ve got your back too. With Andrew. Jack and Ben, they- they did everything they could. Dean wanted to go after the traffickers, but I wouldn’t let him. Andy stayed here when I left. She was acting captain when I took off work. They all did those things for you. For Andrew. For those kids. For me, but as far as I’m concerned, most importantly, for you.”

Carina falls into Maya’s arms and cries against her shoulder. It means so much for Maya to say all that. Andrea was her family here in Seattle, now he’s gone. For Maya to say that she has a family in this station is almost more than Carina can handle right now. It’s hard to be so raw and open lately but with Maya, Carina feels completely safe in her vulnerability.

Maya runs her hand up and down Carina’s back, holding onto her tight around the waist with her other arm. “Hey.” She tries to get Carina to look at her. Maya puts a hand on the back of Carina’s head. “Hey, Carina. Let’s go lay down. I won’t do any paperwork tonight.”

Carina nods against her shoulder before sniffling. She lifts her head and finds Maya’s eyes. Maya smiles her just for Carina smile. “I love you.”

Carina closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I love you too, Maya.”