45. Chapter 45

Two days after the ceremony Katherine calls, as promised. “Maya?”

“Mom, where are you? What have you been doing?” It’s evening and Maya has been anxious all afternoon because her mother hadn’t called yet. And she was worried that the woman went back on her word and wasn’t going to call because she had gone back to Lane.

Carina runs her hands over Maya’s stomach, trying to calm her down.

They’d been sitting on the couch watching a movie. Carina could feel the anxiety rolling off of Maya and suggested they sit down together and watch something, as a distraction. She being the consummate caretaker that she is, made Maya sit between her legs, so she could wrap herself around Maya. Knowing that Maya feels most secure when she’s feeling anxious about something when Carina is near. It took three tries before Maya actually sat down and stayed there, but Carina wasn’t going to push her. She listens now as Maya talks with her mother.

The day started off with Maya sleeping in after being awake for nearly forty-eight hours. And then with lazy love making for the remainder of the morning.

“Hello, dear.” Katherine says first, smiling a little at talking to her daughter. “I’m just in the lobby of the hotel that your friend Dean booked me into. I’ve decided to check out.”

Maya inhales deeply. “Where are you going?” Part of her dreads the answer.

“Well, if it’s not too much of an imposition I would like to take Carina up on her offer.” Katherine is nervous about this, but she has nowhere else to go and she doesn’t want to mooch off of Dean forever, even though he told her that she could stay at the hotel for as long as she wanted.

Maya wrinkles up her face. Her mother didn’t even mention her. Does she not think Maya wants her to stay with them as well? Maya wonders if it came off that way originally or that when they talked to her mom at the wedding that Carina did all the talking because Maya wasn’t on board with the idea. She let’s the thoughts go for now.

“We would love to have you, Katherine.” Carina shouts.

Maya hums. “Did you hear that, mom?”

“I did, dear. So, not to be a burden, but could I have someone come pick me up and bring me to your place. It doesn’t have to be you, if you’re busy. A car service or however that works nowadays.” Katherine is using the hotel phone in the lobby. She has no cell phone. She has no money. Nothing but the clothes on her back.

“Send me the address.” Maya gets to her feet, slipping out of Carina’s grasp.

“Uh-“

Maya thinks about it for a minute, realizing her mother has no way of doing that. “Okay. What hotel are you at? I’ll just look it up.”

Her mother tells her, and Maya repeats it out loud a few times to remember it. She paces back and forth in front of the couch waiting to hang up so she can leave.

Carina tries to catch Maya’s wrist as she passes but misses a couple of time and then gives up.

Maya hangs up the phone after she and her mother exchange a few questions and answers. Her thoughts are spinning a mile a minute. “Okay, I need you to clean the apartment.” She turns to Carina.

Carina tilts her head to the side. “Maya.” She grumbles. Maya is being silly. It’s totally unnecessary to clean the apartment. It’s practically spotless. But she does understand Maya’s distress. “There’s nothing to clean, bambina.”

Maya raises an eyebrow. “Change the sheets on our bed.”

Carina smirks. “Oh, maybe that.”

“And pick up any discarded clothes that are in there.” Maya freaks out a little. What is her mother going to think of her apartment, their apartment. She puts a hand on her forehead. “Oh boy.” She pulls in a shaky breath.

Carina comes over and pulls the hand away, replacing it with her lips. “I will clean up. No worries. You go pick up your mamma.”

Maya wraps her arm around Carina’s waist. “Thank you.” She kisses her cheek, sighing a little as she leans against Carina. Carina is so gentle with her and so understanding. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” She presses her lips everywhere on Carina’s face, making the Italian giggle.

“But do you plan to have your mamma in our bedroom?” She grins.

“God, no.” Maya frowns. “It just needs to be- clean.”

Carian chuckles some more. “Te amo, tanto.”

“I love you, Carina.” Maya sighs. “I gotta go.” She slips away from Carina.

She picks up her mother and then brings her to get tested. She tells Katherine that she’ll have to wear a mask until they get the results, but that it shouldn’t be too long because they used the testing procedure that they use at the station every day.

The drive back to the apartment is made mostly in silence. Katherine will comment on something she sees out the window now and then and Maya will just hum in response. Other than that, it’s quiet.

Maya is thankful that when she opens the door, she smells food. Her tense shoulders sag, the muscles in her back releasing at the smell of an Italian home cooked meal. “I’m back.” She calls out.

Carina dances out from the bedroom. “Ciao.” She grins and then bites her lip. “Dinner is just about ready.” She walks over towards the door where Katherine and Maya stand. Maya with her hands in her pockets and Katherine with her hands folded together neatly in front of her body. Both of them equally nervous about this endeavor. Carina kisses Maya on the cheek and then leans into Katherine for a quick side hug. “Bambina, will you set the table?” She gives Maya something to do.

Maya nods and heads to her task, happy to have something to do and not just stand there awkwardly.

“I’m glad you are here, Katherine. Maya and I are happy to welcome you into our home.” Carina puts a gentle hand on Katherine’s back and encourages her to step farther into the room.

At the word home, Katherine looks around the room. The apartment isn’t overly large but is spacious enough. There is room in the rooms and nothing seems to crowded or close together like in some smaller apartments. “You have a nice space.”

Carina hums. “I can’t take credit for the apartment.” Her eyes find Maya, the blonde with the dishes at the table. “It’s Maya’s apartment.”

“That reminds me.” Maya says without looking up. “Glenn came by one day while you were gone. He wanted to check in and dropped off the new contract for the next year. We’ll have to get you added to that. He asked about all the stuff in the kitchen.” Glenn, the building manager, has know Maya for many many years. They have good cordial relationship. She has advised him on a number of fire related matters involving the building and he has always been kind to her and thankful for her knowledge and help. But he had also known Maya as someone who lived by herself or had the occasional guest or friend staying for a bit but seeing the ‘new’ setup in Maya’s kitchen, he had questions.

While it had been an issue when she first moved in, the ‘Italian’ kitchen has stayed. And Carina secretly thinks that Maya loves it and doesn’t want it any other way now. That it now brings her a sense of comfort and home the same way it had for Carina when she first moved in and Covid was raging in Italy.

“Bene.” Carina says, acknowledging the words coming from her wife. “Excuse me.” She bows a little at Katherine. “I have to check the oven. But make yourself at home.”

“What are we having?” Maya finishes up with the table and heads into the kitchen. She steps up next to Carina as she pulls the oven door open. “Ooooh, lasagna.” While it’s not her favorite dish, or even her favorite Italian dish that Carina makes; lasagna holds special place in her heart, it has a certain sentimental value.

Maya gets a message and pulls her phone from her pocket and reads it. “Oh, good. Your test is negative, mom. You can ditch the mask now.”

Katherine sighs, relieved.

Carina checks the lasagna and shuts it back in the oven and starts on making up a salad for the trio.

“I can help.” Maya whispers.

Carina shakes her head. “Go sit with your mamma.”

The thought scares Maya. She would rather stay in the safety of Carina’s side. She doesn’t want to say or do the wrong thing in front of her mother now that the woman is in her home. The old fear she had from when she was a kid and living at home comes back. Where she was on edge every day, afraid to say or do the wrong thing in front of Lane.

Carina puts a hand on Maya’s hip. She leans into her wife’s body, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Go.”

Maya huffs and goes to sit at the table. “Have a seat, mom.”

Katherine comes over and sits across from Maya. They sit quietly, avoiding eye contact the entire time. Maya can almost feel her skin crawling. It’s unnerving having her mother’s eyes on her and Carina for some reason. It’s a fear inside Maya. Like, if this doesn’t work out, Katherine will go back to Lane and report everything she witnessed in this apartment. Like Maya’s life and relationship are being scrutinized and analyzed for his benefit. And that doesn’t sit well with Maya. Even if it’s not true.

She watches Carina as she fiddles with the ring on her finger. Maya has never been one to wear rings. Carina wears them all the time, on most of her fingers. But Maya doesn’t. For one thing, they don’t mesh with her career. For a second, Maya never was comfortable with the feel.

Katherine observes Maya’s behavior, she sees the ring, and can tell that Maya is uncomfortable. She doesn’t want to say anything about it though.

Maya sighs when Carina finally brings the food over. Salads, first. She sits down next to Maya, patting the blonde’s thigh with her hand before settling into dinner.

It’s quiet as they start but Katherine has questions. Lots of questions and she can’t hold them in forever. She wants to know about her daughter’s wife.

“So, you girls decided on simple gold bands?”

Carina hums, chewing her salad lettuce.

Maya spins the band around on her finger with her thumb. She’s been doing a lot of that the last couple of days. “Carina didn’t want to spend a lot of money on rings. We don’t even have engagement rings.”

“You make it sound like I make all the decision, bella.” Carina kisses the top of Maya’s head as she passes behind her chair to go get the pan of lasagna now that it’s sat for a few minutes.

Maya’s eyes follow Carina as she goes. “I agreed.” She concedes. “I didn’t want anything flashy or gaudy.” She watches Carina get the lasagna from the counter along with a spatula. “Do you want any help?” She feels like she should be in two places at once. Sitting in front of her mother at the table and in the kitchen with Carina helping with the dishes and the food.

Katherine observes their interaction and how comfortable they seem, how at ease they are.

“I do have another ring though.” She looks back at her mom across the table from her. “For work. Inexpensive. For safety purposes. And if they have to cut it off.” She looks down at the table with that comment.

“What’s going on with your job anyway?” Katherine asks. It’s not intentionally to be insensitive but she’s just curious. She mostly doesn’t know anything about Maya’s job or her life as a firefighter.

Maya hears Carina take in a stilted breath. She glances over in Carina’s direction before turning her attention to her mother again. "I don’t know. I expect to hear something tomorrow. Perhaps the next day.”

Carina returns to the table with the main course. “We are trying to be hopeful, right bella?”

Maya only hums.

Carina dishes up the lasagna and sits down again.

“Well, I hope that you get your job back.” Katherine gives a timid smile.

Maya looks down at her plate and rolls her eyes. Her mother knows nothing about what her job is or how difficult it can be. She takes a deep breath and looks back up giving her mother a forced smile.

After dinner, Maya sets her mother up in the guest room as Carina cleans up from dinner. She shows her mom where they keep the towels if she wants to shower. She also shows her where everything is in the bathroom.

“Carina, do we have any extra toothbrushes?” Maya yells.

“Non lo so.” She gets back.

Maya hums. “We’ll go shopping tomorrow. For a toothbrush and like clothes or whatever.” She looks at her mother in the same clothes that she had on at the wedding. “You can borrow some of mine until then.”

“Thanks.” Katherine says meekly.

It’s Carina’s first day back at work. Not a full day, but it will be her first day in almost two months. She’s nervous but excited. She’s excited to see all the familiar faces. She’s happy to be going back to work and helping women with their health and having babies. But she’s nervous. She flutters around the apartment that morning. Maya following after her, watching her get ready.

Maya finally stops her, running her hands from Carina’s shoulders down her chest a little way. “You’ll be fine. You’ll do amazing.”

Carina jiggles nervously in her place. “I know, bambina. I know. It just- It’s been so long.”

“You’ll get back there and into the swing of things and by the end of the day it’ll be like you never left.” Maya leans in and kisses her wife firmly.

Katherine shuffles by behind him, hand shielding her eyes. “Don’t mind me.” She whispers.

Maya groans, embarrassed. Carina chuckles and squeezes Maya’s hip.

Katherine goes to sit in one of the chairs in the living room. “I know. I told you last night that I don’t want to interrupt.”

“Then don’t.” Maya narrows her eyes.

“I have to go or I’m going to be late.” Carina pecks Maya on the cheek and slips away from her.

“When are you done today?” Maya asks. Now that Carina is leaving, she’s worried about what she’s going to do all day with her mother. She can’t go to work. She hasn’t heard from the chief yet. She did say they would go shopping but that won’t take all day.

“I’ll be home a little after four. You want me to pick anything up for dinner?” Carina asks out of courtesy. She knows, though, that they have plenty of food in the apartment after Maya’s little shopping spree the other day.

“No. I’ll make something.” Maya logs that Carina will be gone for a little over six hours. She’s already trying to think about what she, and her mother, are going to do with that time.

Maya uses those six hours to take her mother shopping for clothes to wear. She lent her mother a shirt and some sweatpants, which she think looks totally bizarre on her mother. So, they go shopping. Katherine buys modest outfits.

Which Maya grumbles about. “It’s okay if we spend a little money today.” Maya tries to be kind about it.

“I don’t want to overstep.” Katherine tells her.

Maya doesn’t want to have to play this card. They are equals and money isn’t an issue for her and Carina but- “Listen, my wife is a doctor. They have a pretty good salary. You’re not overstepping anything.”

Katherine nods timidly. “I’ll pay her back.”

Maya rolls her eyes and turns her back to her mother and looks at a few shirts on the rack in front of her. “Good luck trying.” She mumbles under her breath, so her mother doesn’t hear.

Her and her mother are awkward around each other all day. They don’t talk about Lane. Maya mumbles out a thank god when Carina strolls through the door. Carina comes over and greets her with a kiss.

“How was your first day back?” Maya grins, excited to hear about Carina’s day at work.

Carina nods, vigorously. “Molto bene.” She turns to Katherine. “Very good.” She translates.

Katherine nods, impressed. “You know Italian, Maya?” She’s heard Carina say a number of things last night and this morning that she doesn’t understand and assumes are in Italian.

Maya hums. “Yes and no. I know what Carina has taught me.” She smirks. At first it was all body parts and sex stuff. “I understand small words and phrases. Little stuff that we use every day. But I couldn’t speak it. I couldn’t understand a full conversation or a rant.” She smiles at Carina at the last word.

Carina throws a hand in the air. “Si, si, I’m very dramatic.” She kisses Maya again and then moves to the bedroom to change out of her work clothes.

“What do you want for dinner, my love?” Maya calls. She doesn’t get a response right away.

Carina comes out of the bedroom a few seconds later, pulling a shirt over her head. “What are you making?” She raises an eyebrow. Maya said she would cook.

Maya her head to the side. She said she would cook. “I took some chicken from the freezer to thaw. So, I need to use that today or tomorrow. So, something with chicken?”

“Meravigliosa.”  Carina goes to the kitchen. She looks at the chicken in the sink and then runs herself a glass of water from the tap.

Over dinner that night, Katherine asks what kind of doctor Carina is.

Maya turns as red as a fire truck. Katherine questions Maya about it. “Are you embarrassed, dear? That your wife is a doctor?”

She is embarrassed because she knows Carina and how she could say something inappropriate in front of her mother and not think anything of it.

Carina rubs her hand up and down Maya’s leg. “I won’t say anything about my study.” She promises.

“What study?” Katherine asks and Maya wishes a hole would open up in the floor and swallow her up.

“I’m an OB/GYN.” Carina fills in.

Katherine’s face lights up. “Fascinating.”

Carina hums and smirks. “Maya thinks so too.” That earns her a glare from her wife.

Katherine had noticed an interesting painting in the hallway. “That explains the artwork in the hallway.”

“You should see what’s in the bedroom.” Maya mumbles into her glass of water.

She can’t believe Maya just said that, especially after initially being embarrassed to tell Katherine the details of the study. “Maya.”

“What? You are usually very proud of your vagina art.”

Maya is right. Carina is. “But I didn’t expect to discuss it with your mother. Over dinner.” Maya shrugs. “Did you want some wine, Katherine?” Carina asks as she pushes her chair back to get up to go to the kitchen. Their dinner was very good but now Carina would like a glass of wine to settle down with in the living room after their meal.

Katherine is a little surprised by the offer. No one ever asks her what she wants. Wine or otherwise. She doesn’t really drink. She thinks about her husband and how he usually has a beer or two or three every night after dinner. “I’m not really a drinker but maybe I can have splash.”

Carina pours herself and Maya each a glass and just a splash for Katherine.

They all sit in the living room chatting. Carina and Maya on the couch. Carina with her arm around Maya’s shoulders. Katherine asks about their relationship. All she knows is that she met Carina that one time at the spaghetti dinner. “I thought you were very lovely that day.” Katherine smiles. “And you wanted to look out for my little Maya.”

“I’m not little, mom.” Maya frowns.

Carina presses a kiss to Maya’s temple. “You’re a little little.” She teases her wife.

Maya scoffs. “You are hardly taller than me.”

Carina presses her nose to the side of Maya’s head. “You’re more compact.” She flicks her tongue out and laps at the tip of Maya’s ear.

Maya shrugs her shoulders up around her head.

The wine loosens Maya up. They have more than one glass. And Maya has more than one glass than Carina. That anxiety she has felt around her mother and her watchful eye is gone for the moment. And when she’s loose, her hands have a mind of their own. And sometimes so does her tongue. “You’re so pretty. I’m so lucky that you married me.” Maya tucks Carina’s hair behind her ear. “Even your ears are pretty.” She runs her finger around Carina’s ear.

Carina shivers. “That tickles, bambina.”

They drink their wine, and they fill Katherine in on the ups and downs of their relationship. Not all the grueling details, obviously, but the main events. An overview. The lead up to the wedding. How they got engaged and Carina’s subsequent time in Italy.

Katherine asks about the hospital she worked at, and Carina fills her in on what she did there. Maya mostly stays quiet, nestled in Carina’s side. Her left hand around her wine glass, her right on Carina’s leg or knee, always touching her somewhere.

“So is Covid real?” Katherine asks.

Carina stiffens up. Maya looks up to check Carina’s face. It’s straight, showing no obvious emotion but Maya can feel the emotion locked up in Carina’s stiff muscles.

“Why would you ask that?” Carina says carefully.

Katherine looks down, knowing she didn’t say the correct thing. “Lane says that it’s all made up to get people to follow along with what the government wants them to do. To control people. Not that it’s not real, but that it’s not serious. That most people would get over it like they would a cold.”

“It’s a very serious virus. And the more we are finding out about it, the more serious it appears to be. It is true that most, not all, healthy people can recover if they get Covid; but it’s becoming increasingly clear that there are long lasting impacts for many. Long Covid. With symptoms that won’t go away and may never. Debilitating brain fog. The inability to breath properly or regularly. All sort of cardiovascular problems. Neurological. Chronic fatigue. Stuff that will change your life forever. Even if you don’t have all that; the initial acute Covid can be very serious. It’s killed far more people than it should have because people won’t listen to healthcare and doctors and scientists on prevention. A vaccine is coming, but that takes time. So yes, it’s very real and very serious and very deadly.”

Maya slips her arm behind Carina’s back, between her and the couch. Her hand wrapping around her waist. Maya knows the trauma that Carina has seen and gone through in treating and watching patients die from this virus. She wants to take that pain away from her and not let it poison Carina’s wonderful soul, but she knows her wife is forever changed because of it. Carina went into medicine to help people, yes. She went into Gynecology and Obstetrics to help women and mothers. Not to treat patients with a virus. The blonde presses a quick kiss to Carina’s cheek. “I love you.” She whispers.

Katherine wipes a few tears from the corners of her eyes. Carina’s words about the pandemic and the effects of Covid really getting to her. She didn’t completely believe what Lane told her, but she didn’t have any other perspective to base her opinion and thoughts on the virus off of. She would sit in the living room in the evening crocheting while Lane watched Fox News. She had just taken what was being said for what it was.

Also, she can see how the virus has affected Carina and even Maya. How they huddle together in their own little cocoon of personal safety. She sees how Maya supports Carina with this and how Carina has supported Maya with her demotion over recent days.

More than anything, Katherine feels a sense of relief. Relief that Maya seems to be, well, not Lane. That was her fear for the longest time. For years and years, he was molding his daughter to be an exact copy of himself. And somehow, Maya isn’t. Katherine wonders if it’s because of Maya’s job, or because of Carina, or even because of Lane himself.

“Maya.” Katherine whispers, getting the pairs attention.

Carina closes her eyes and rest her head on Maya’s shoulder.

Maya hums and looks over at her mother in the chair across from them.

“I’m so happy you aren’t like your father.”

Maya jolts. They’ve avoided this topic thus far. Maya knew it would come up at some point though. So, why not now.

“And I’m so happy that you seem happy.”

Maya smiles softly at that. Even though the time since there wedding has been full of uncertainty, Maya is happy. She’s so happy it’s hard for her to believe. “Thanks, mom.” She whispers.

“I’m going to head to the bedroom.” Katherine excuses herself to give them some privacy.

“Goodnight, Katherine.” Carina mumbles.

“Goodnight, Carina. Goodnight, Maya.” She gives them a nod.

“Are you okay?” Maya asks as soon as the door to her guest bedroom clicks shut.

Carina lifts her head from Maya’s shoulder. She reaches up, setting to fingers against Maya’s jaw, kissing her. “I am.” She sighs sadly. “With you, I’ll always be okay, even if I’m not.”

Maya doesn’t like the sound of that. “Carina?”

“Shhhh.” Carina whispers. “I love you, bambina. Let’s go to bed.”

Maya wants to say something about it being early yet, but she knows not to. She knows Carina needs to. She needs to go to bed and likely just laying in bed with Maya. And something in Maya feels the same. In their room, in bed, they can shut out the world and everything that’s happening in it.

Maya finally hears from the chief. She is suspended for two weeks from the day she stormed his office. And then can return to the station in the role of lieutenant. She gets confirmation that Gibson is captain for now, but that the chief is looking to fill the position on a permanent basis until her investigation concludes.

So apparently Jack isn’t going to be the next captain of the station. It’s not that Maya doesn’t think he could do it, but she doesn’t think he could do it consistently enough. And that he’s probably better suited to be a lieutenant. Something about his organizational skills and paperwork skills are lacking.

The chief also says there will be a full investigation into the incident and Maya will get the results of that when it’s concluded. She wants to ask if when the investigation is complete, she will get her captaincy back, but holds her tongue. She knows she’s already in enough hot water with the man.

She hangs her head and runs her hand over her face at the news.

Maya gets more frustrated with each day that passes as her mother stays with them. She runs every morning and afternoon just to get out of the house. She vents to Carina about her and how Maya feels like Katherine is in her back pocket all the time. Like she’s always watching and Maya doesn’t feel like she can breathe properly.

“Are you sure you’re not just projecting your feelings towards your father on your mamma?” Carina asks sagely.

Maya wrinkles up her face and hates that Carina knows her so well. She flops down onto the bed with a dramatic huff. “Yes.” She rolls her eyes at herself.

Carina sits down next to Maya and rubs her hand over her back. “Bambina, what do you want to do about it?” She can see it’s clearly effecting Maya.

“She has to go.” She hates the words that come out of her mouth.

Carina frowns. She’s quite liked Katherine staying with them.

“Not right now. But eventually. She can’t stay here forever. I don’t want to put a time limit on it but if we could expedite it somehow.” Maya shrugs, feeling pathetic that she wants to kick her mother out.

The Italian tilts her head to the side, appraising Maya.

“Don’t look at me like that. I know I sound awful.”

A smile tugs at Carina’s lips. She kisses Maya quickly. “You do.”

Maya rolls her eyes. “She’s infringing on my freedom. I can’t even have sex with my wife without feeling weird about it.”

Carina chuckles.

“I moved out of their house for a reason.” Maya shrugs. “For more than one reason. But now if feel like I’m back there again. Like I just got back from London, and everything feels suffocating. Can we, like, rent her an apartment?”

She can see that Maya is really struggling here. She wraps her arms around the blonde, pulling her against her chest. “Maybe. But we can’t just kick her out. I want her to feel like she has our support.”

“She does.” Maya whines.

“Yes, but it might not seem like it if you approach her like you just approached me and say you have go.”

“But she’s driving me crazy. I need to go back to work. She always wants to like hang out and do stuff.” Maya whines.

“She just wants to have a relationship with you. I know you don’t know what that looks like or feels like, but you know what?” Maya shakes her head. “She probably doesn’t either. But she’s trying Maya. You need to try too.”

“I am. It’s just-” Maya groans and lays her head on Carina’s shoulder. “Hard.”

“Let her get a job. She’s working on that, right?”

“Yeah. We spent the day going around filling out applications. She doesn’t have-“ Maya frowns. “-very many skills. It’s like she’s stuck in the nineties or something. She doesn’t know how to use a smart phone. I gave her my phone to call a few places and she looked at it like it was going to explode in her hand.”

“So, you can show her, teach her. You can bond over that, maybe.” Carina offers. “That way she can be more independent and not have to rely on you or us.”

Maya hums. She didn’t think of it like that. She knows Carina is right. “Tell me about your day.”

“Dio mio, I had a delivery as soon as I got in. And then a mamma had to have an emergency c-section. It was busy. There were two more laboring mothers in the afternoon, neither of which were very far along, so I’ll see if you are still there in the morning. One was a patient of mine but she is okay if I’m not there for the delivery. But I will try to be if it’s tomorrow. I have office hours tomorrow though.”

Maya hums. She like hearing about all the crazy things that happen at Carina’s job. Just like Carina enjoys hearing about all the crazy stories that the firefighter comes home with.

“Do you like her?”

“Who?”

Maya sighs dramatically. “My mom.”

Carina giggles. “I do. She is shy and timid. I can see now where you get your sometimes shyness from.”

“I’m not shy.”

Carina hums. “Sometimes shy. You can be, bella.” Maya rolls her eyes. “With me. Only with me.”

Maya concedes. There are so many things that only Carina sees. She’s not going to argue with that.

“But your mamma is good. She needs our patience. She needs time. We will sit down and talk with her about the future and put a plan in place. Si?”

“Yeah.” Maya nuzzles her nose against Carina’s neck. “Thank you for being so wonderful with all this.”

“Of course, bambina.” Carina pulls Maya tight to her chest. “Now what’s this about you being uncomfortable about sex with you mamma around?” She teases.

Maya groans. “Stop.”

“I will not.” She runs her hand over the back of Maya’s head. “Sex is perfectly natural. I’m sure your mamma knows that. She had you.”

“You’re making this worse.” Maya wraps her arm around Carina. “Don’t make me think about my parents having sex.”

Carina chuckles. “We are not your parents.”

“Thank god. I don’t know what their sex life was like but thinking back it was probably non-existent. Or like only on special occasions. Like birthdays, anniversary. Obligatory in a way, perhaps. It never felt like they were in love or loved each other. I think for a long time that’s just how it was. That’s all I saw growing up, ya know. It’s probably why I didn’t think I would get married for a while. I didn’t want to end up like that. If I just had one night stands, they would never turn into something sour.”

“That makes perfect sense, bambina.”

Maya shifts, crawling into Carina’s lap. “So far this is so much better than I ever could have imagined. Being married.”

Carina laughs. “We’ve been married like ten days.”

“I know.” Maya smiles, looking into those impossible warm brown eyes. “And it’s been so awful on the outside but so wonderful on the inside, with you.” The conflicting emotions that Maya has been feeling the last week or so probably doesn’t help how she feels about her mother and her living with them. But she knows that nothing lasts forever. Things will change and they will all move on to the next thing in their lives. Hopefully. She’d hate to be stuck in this period in time forever. Even though she has Carina everything else isn’t great.

Carina slips her hands up the inside of Maya’s t-shirt, against her back. “I love you, bambina. I’m here with you. With your mamma. You got this.” She encourages. “Everything will work itself out.”

“I love you so much.” Maya closes her eyes and rests her forehead against Carina’s. “Did your parents ever love each other?”

Carina hums out a sad note. “They did. But things changed after Andrea was born. They always had this undercurrent. You could feel it. They would fight and yell and scream. They fought hard but then they would always make up just as hard. Probably not a good example for kids to see but-“ Carina shrugs. “It was his bipolar. He’d be yelling and screaming about something. And then the next day he would bring my mamma flowers and chocolates and kisses. And then more than kisses after Andrea and I went to bed.” Her hands find Maya’s waist. “It was that way until the end. And then it was over. I think she didn’t want to live with that anymore. I know she didn’t.”

“Your mamma was very brave.” Maya pulls her head back, finding Carina sitting there with her eyes closed still. “My mom couldn’t do that.”

Carina wraps her arms around Maya and lays her head on her shoulder. “But she did. Now. It just took time. It just took courage that she didn’t have. It took you showing up at the front door and telling your father how it was going to be, how you were going to live, and that you were getting married. She saw your courage and that gave her some of her own.”

Maya hadn’t thought of it that way. She had thought that her mom had just followed her out of the house because she wanted to see Maya and to perhaps see her get married. “Please, let’s make sure that we never turn into our parents.”

“Let’s do that.” Carina agrees.

Katherine is in the guest bedroom ‘playing’ with the new phone that Maya and Carina got for her. Carina takes the opportunity to sit Maya down.

Maya is sitting on her laptop at the table.

“Can we talk?” Carina asks.

Maya eyes shoot up from the screen across the table to her wife. “What- what did I do wrong?”

Carina chuckles. “Nothing bambina.” She purses her lips and shakes her head. “Can you come sit down with me?” She nods over to the couch.

Maya nods and gets up. “Maybe don’t use those words.”

“Mi spiace.”

“It freaked me out for a second. Can we talk? Usually when someone says that it means bad things.” She’s not criticizing, she’s just letting Carina know that it made her uneasy. She meets Carina at the end of the couch, taking her hand. “But what do you want to discuss?”

They sit. Carina sits with one leg tucked under the other, facing Maya. Maya sits more conventionally on the couch, facing forward, both feet on the floor. Carina plays with Maya’s fingers in her hands. “I’ve only known you as Captain Maya Bishop.”

Maya nods and takes a deep breath. “I know. I’m sorry I’m not captain anymore.” She didn’t want to bring it up, but she knows there a is different connotation now that she’s not captain anymore.

“No, bambina.” Carina licks her lips. “It’s not that. I don’t care what your title is. I love you just the same.”

Maya takes a deep breath. She doesn’t know if she believes Carina’s words. She knows she doesn’t love herself the same anymore.

“You will be Lieutenant Maya Bishop now. And I- uh-“ She’s nervous to talk about this. “As your wife now- want to know what the differences are going to be. In you day to day activity.”

“Oh.”

“What are your responsibilities now on scene?” Carina wants to know the risks and dangers that will be present now.

“Well.” Maya thinks it over. She hadn’t put a lot of thought into how things will change. She was a lieutenant once, and she will just have to fall back into that role. It won’t be hard to be a lieutenant again. It might be hard for her, however, to not want to command a scene as a captain.

“It’s more hands on. Which is just as exciting, but I actually get to do something. To help with my own hands. Running point, making sure everything is going according to plan inside on a search and rescue. Or inside a fire, keeping tabs on everything, reporting what is happening to the captain. Helping with a rescue, getting my hands dirty, as they say. Using the tools. My axe.” Maya grins with pride. “Have I ever shown you my axe?”

Carina quirks an eyebrow. “No, bambina.”

“You have to see it sometime.” Maya grins excitedly.

“Okay.” Carina smiles a crooked little half smile at Maya.

“Organizing the crew, making sure lines get set up and on the fire as quickly as possible, running the hose.” Maya is trying to think of what else.

“So, it’s more dangerous than being captain?”

Maya hums. She turns the body towards Carina putting her free left hand on Carina’s knee. “Yes.” She’s not going to lie to Carina. “It is. We go into a burning building. Or a collapsed building. We direct traffic around a car accident or hang from the end of the ladder to rescue a kitten from a tree.”

“Do you really rescue kittens?”

Maya nods. “Yeah. Not very often but it happens.”

This is what Carina had thought and Maya is only reinforcing the fear and worry inside Carina about her being a lieutenant again. “I know you are very capable and good at your job, and I shouldn’t worry but I’m going to. A little noise in the back of my head telling me continually that there is a risk there that something could go wrong.”

Maya shrugs. “Things do happen but Carina, I’m not going to let anything happen to me if I can help it.”

“That’s not very reassuring.” Carina gives her a little pout.

It dawns on Maya just how difficult this might be to manage. She’s never been in this position. All of a sudden, she has been bumped down to lieutenant and is now married. She realizes that some things are going to have to change. She is going to have to set up a will so that if something does happen, everything will go to Carina. It’s not an easy thing to think about.

“I just wanted to talk to you and find out. Be prepared.” Carina shrugs at Maya’s silence.

“No.” She reaches up and puts her hand on Carina’s cheek. “It’s okay. I know. I get it. This is new, different. For both of us. I would love to be able to tell you that everything will be okay but that’s not realistic. I do understand your fear and concern. But hopefully this won’t last too long, and I’ll be a boring old captain again.”

Carina sighs. “Vieni qua.” She needs Maya closer.

Maya scoots over, pulling Carina’s leg over hers. “I love you, Carina.” She sets her hands on Carina’s waist.

Carina wraps her arms around Maya, pulling her into an embrace. “I love you, bambina.”

She shows up early and heads to the beanery and makes breakfast for everyone on her crew. Travis and Vic walk in first.

“Hey, Cap.” Travis says and then grimaces. He gets an elbow in the ribs from Vic. He groans and looks over at Vic with wide eyes.

“How’s the wifey?” Vic says.

Maya rolls her eyes at the pair. “She’s great. Back to work. Everything’s great.” It’s a complete and utter lie. Maya feels weird and out of place right now. The name plate on her shirt feels all wrong. The fact that she’s making her team breakfast also feels wrong. She has to remind herself that it’s not her team anymore.

Everyone comes in and sits down and eats. No one says anything about her demotion. No one says anything about Andy being gone. She’s sure they all talked about that before she got back, before now. It’s quiet, save for a few compliments on her cooking. She knows they want to tease. She wishes they would. Say something about how her cooking has improved since last time she was lieutenant or how Carina has improved her cooking. But they don’t.

Jack comes barreling up the stairs. “Oh, good. You’re here.”

“All here and accounted for Gibson.” Vic salutes him.

Jack rolls his eyes at Vic. “I meant Bishop. I need your help.”

“Me?” Maya points at herself.

“Yeah. There’s this stupid computer program and it’s gone haywire, and I don’t know how to fix it. And I don’t want to call someone cuz then it’ll seem like I don’t know what I’m doing.” He rubs his hand over the back of his neck.

“Can I finish my breakfast?”

Jack nods, aggressively. “Yeah, sure. Of course.”

So, Maya spends half of the morning in the captain’s office. She didn’t think she would find herself back here so soon. She fixes the computer and then helps Jack sort through some of the paperwork he has on his desk. “You’re falling behind, man.”

“I know. It’s just this stupid computer. And you know how good I am with paperwork. How did you ever do everything?”

“It was easy.” Maya shrugs. “It takes a fair amount of organization.”

“Maybe you should do this.” Jack frowns, his hands on his hips.

“Well-“ Maya looks around the room. It’s weird being on the other side of the desk now. She would love to. “-I don’t think the chief would like that.”

Jack nods. “Right.”

“I probably shouldn’t ever be in here.”

Jack pulls a face, tilting his had to the side dramatically. “I don’t know if that’s true. It’s just an office.”

“You know what I mean, Gibson. I’m happy to help if you have any questions, but I can’t do the work for you.”

“Right.” Jack nods again. “Got it.”