Chapter Text
Epilogue
“So, have you decided?”, Maya questioned Carina. The couple was choosing a place for them to spend a much needed vacation, and the blonde left the ball on Carina’s court. After being together for four years since having gotten back together, the couple had visited quite a few places together - cities within the United States, Canada, Mexico, Italy and France. They would usually come to a decision together; nevertheless, this time, Maya left it up for Carina to make a decision, claiming she didn’t really have a specific place in mind she would like to go.
“Yes”, Carina informed her from her place on the table as it was dinner time, “we’re going to Brazil”
“Brazil?”, Maya widened her eyes, the answer surely one she was not expecting, “that’s gonna be fun, we speak no portuguese”
“Olá, tchau, desculpa, por favor, obrigada”, Carina started throwing random words she knew in the language. Up until then, the language factor had not really been a problem as Carina spoke Spanish just well enough for them to get by and not look like tools in Mexico and the woman also spoke fluent French. But portuguese was a brand new and unknown territory.
“That’s all you’re gonna say for 10 days?”, Maya challenged her girlfriend, taking a sip of her drink and raising her eyebrows.
“We still have two months, we’ll figure it out”, Carina said nonchalantly, as if learning a new language was something extremely easy. Maybe for the doctor it was, but Maya struggled too much just to learn Italian, deciding that knowing only one other language was more than enough.
“Brazil? Are you sure?”, Maya questioned again
“Si”, Carina replied with a smile, “I mean, sim”
“You’re insane”, Maya laughed, shaking her head.
As one may know, Brazil is a country - and a very big one. So, after agreeing to actually going there, they still had to figure out where exactly they would be going to. Carina spent hours online searching the cities, the touristic spots, the climate...and the only decision she had made was that making this decision was difficult. It would be impossible to explore all the things the country had to offer in just a 10-day trip. The couple ended up opting for the obvious - going to Rio de Janeiro, the most famous touristic city in the country.
So, there they found themselves, in Rio, at a hotel just in front of its most famous beach. The two women arrived there at around 5 a.m at the local time, deciding to sleep in that morning so they could be well-rested to enjoy the rest of the day.
“What’s the name of this again?”, Maya questioned the waitress, who luckily for both of them knew how to speak English well enough to comply with their requests. It turns out Carina had been too busy at the hospital, causing her to be too tired to even think about dedicating herself to learning another language.
“Caipirinha”, the young woman replied with a smile
“Caipirinha”, Maya tried to imitate, her tongue not being able to roll as it should, “I’ll have another one of this”
“And for you?”, the waitress turned to Carina this time
“I’ll have another one as well”, Carina replied. The taste of the drink was simply amazing,
“Okay”, the waitress wrote down their order, “your food should be ready soon”
Maya and Carina were having lunch at a restaurant the hotel hostess had advised them to go to. He claimed they offered traditional brazilian food, a menu full of national dishes that tasted delicious. It was indeed true. Whatever feijoada was, the combination of it with their beverage made all their taste buds explode, which let them know they were up for a culinary adventure in the country. True, seeing the guy on the table beside theirs cutting the pasta into a million pieces drove Carina insane, but at least brazilians were sane enough not to drink iced coffee, the Italian thought. After paying the bill, they decided to walk around for a while, hand in hand, the thoughts of Grey-Sloan and Station 19 substituted by the new discoveries they were making, one of them being how insanely hot Rio was, especially if compared to Seattle. That’s why they turned on the air-conditioner as soon as they entered their hotel room, Maya taking off her shirt instantly.
“Holy crap, is this place hot”, Maya commented, throwing her shirt on the bed, “I’m gonna take a cold shower”
“How about…”, Carina ran her eyes over her girlfriend’s abdomen, a better idea in her mind as she approached the other woman, “we sweat a bit more?”
“What are you saying, Dr. DeLuca?”, Maya glued their bodies together, her hands resting a little below Carina’s waist
“I prefer to show you”, was what Carina said before connecting their mouths.
-
“What do you want to eat tonight?”, Carina asked. It was around 7 p.m and, after sweating a bit more, they still hadn’t found the strength to get up and shower, opting to stay in bed instead googling somewhere for them to have dinner, another discovery being that Brazilians had dinner later at night like Italians rather than in the early evening like Americans
“You choose”, Maya replied, turning around so that she could face Carina, her hand resting on the woman’s stomach under the sheets and drawing patterns on it
“I was craving some pizza, but apparently Brazilians put ketchup on it and I’m not about to witness people committing this crime”, Carina complained, her eyes still focused on her research on the phone, “also, what is up with this variety of sweet pizzas? I had just made my peace with the american pizza, and here Brazil stands taking it to a whole other level”
“Are all Italians like this or did I end up with the crazy one?”, Maya messed with her girlfriend, but received a glare that could be deadly, “okay, forget I said anything. Bad brazilians with their bad pizza habits”
“You just don’t say anything because your country literally fries butter”, Carina observed, remembering a video she had seen on the internet a while back that made her stomach twist in disgust
“Yeah, I don’t have an excuse for that one”, Maya gave in, “so what are we eating then?”
“Promise you won’t be mad at me?”, Carina turned to Maya after putting her phone down, the firefighter raised her eyebrows in expectation, “I am still tired from the flight, so I thought maybe see what the hotel has to offer and stay in tonight so we can wake up early tomorrow and go to the beach?”
“And I would be mad at you because...?”, Maya asked a bit confused
“Because you can sleep for like 2 minutes and be well-rested and maybe you wanted to go out”, Carina explained, making Maya roll her eyes
“So then I did end up with the crazy one”, Maya uttered, this time receiving a light slap on the arm rather than just a stare, “babe, I am naked in bed at a hotel room that has a view to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world with the love of my life. Why on Earth would I be mad at that?”
“I’m the love of your life?”, Carina asked with a smirk, just to hear Maya say it again
“No, you’re just a random stranger I share my life with and would do basically anything for”, Maya replied, pulling Carina closer and planting a kiss on the base of her neck, “of course you’re the love of my life. Now get up and let’s shower, we stink of sex”
They did shower together, but only after...sweating just a little more. They didn’t really bother with putting clothes on again. Carina ordered some food for them from the hotel while Maya bothered her to order caipirinhas as well, which she ended up doing. The couple ate in the room, admiring the view, enjoying each other’s company, trying to figure out what they would do the day after - they hadn’t really thought everything through before boarding on the plane, having to play it by ear. Thing is, they were sure they would enjoy it either way because what really mattered was being with each other. And, if their first day in Brazil had been so chill, the rings they both had in their bags without the other knowing sure as hell would make this trip more eventful.