Work Text:
“I’ve eaten too much.” Maya whines from the couch in their apartment, holding a cushion to her stomach.
There is a similar groan of agreement from the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table to Maya, but she doesn’t even have the energy to look over and check on her companion in misery. She wants to curl away from the sparkly Christmas lights and bury herself deep in the cushions until her body feels normal again.
What stops her is the melodic laughter coming from her kitchen.
“You know…” Carina says, as she puts what is left over of tonight’s dinner in a container. “...you two could just stop eating when you are full.” she finishes, as she glances over to where the groaning continued.
Andy manages to push herself up enough on her elbows to have sight of the Italian. “But it tastes sooo good.” she moans before dropping back to the floor.
Carina’s laughter rings out again and Maya finally has enough strength to turn her face in the direction of her friend. “Andy.” the blonde whines. “I think my wife is gonna make me fat.”
“Impossibile.” Carina scolds, followed by the sound of a plastic container being clipped shut. “Although my nonna would have considered me a bad wife if you were too skinny.”
Maya and Andy had been facing each other at the time and both laughed at the Italian’s remark, before complaining and holding their stomachs again.
Andy sighs, while looking at the ceiling. “I never thought I would dread work. I’ve got so much paperwork to catch up on tomorrow.”
“At least none of that paperwork should be found in the freezer.” Maya replies pointedly, watching as Andy spun her face in her direction again with a frown.
“Maya.” Carina calls across in warning. Always prepared to reign her wife in when needed.
The doctor understood Andy’s need to process her divorce and if the documents had to sit in the freezer, then so be it. Her wife, however, struggled with symbolism. Everything should be filed and checked off. Where Andy could shut the door and forget it was there, Maya fixated that legal papers were not being handled correctly.
Carina noticed Maya’s head suddenly pop up from behind the cushion, still balanced on her stomach, and a half smile appeared on her face at the sight. Just a half smile though, as a full smile would let her wife know she found her cute and would then assume she could say what she liked.
“I’m just saying, I have a perfectly good filing system we could use…” she says to Carina, before turning to Andy. “...until you are ready to deal with it. It even has a little lock and key.”
Andy smirked, turning to face the ceiling once more. “No, it’s okay, thanks. They are on ice.” She knew it was eating at her meticulous friend that something was out of order. If Andy was honest, she’s surprised Maya hadn’t just taken them back out of the freezer after she put them in there yesterday and filed them herself.
She suspects Carina has something to do with that.
“Andy, what if…”
“Leave her be, Bambina.” Carina cuts in, walking from the kitchen with her glass of wine. She raises an eyebrow at Maya, as she lifts her wife’s legs briefly to sit down on the couch. The moan Maya makes at being moved has her letting out a little laugh, while she rests her legs back across her lap.
“Yeah, leave me be, Bambina.” Andy mocks, watching the two from her position on the floor.
Suddenly the cushion from Maya’s stomach is hurtling at her and she has no time or energy to move before it collides with her face.
Andy pulls it away to look at Maya in shock, catching the tail end of Carina slapping Maya’s thigh lightly for her action.
The blonde was unphased and continued to squint her eyes at Andy. “Only she gets to call me cute nicknames.” she informs the other firefighter, while pointing in Carina’s direction.
Andy’s shock turns slowly into a grin and she can see Carina hiding her smile behind the back of her hand, looking adoringly at Maya. If she was honest with herself, Andy was a little jealous of what they had. Nothing like going through a divorce by moving in with marital bliss.
“You’ve changed, Bishop.” she scoffs playfully, before using the cushion to prop her head up.
Maya glanced over to Carina at Andy’s words and smiled at her wife, while Carina danced her fingers up and down Maya’s shin.
“What do you have planned for tomorrow, when I'm sulking at 23?” Andy asks, unaware she had pulled them out of their own little world.
“We are toy shopping.” Carina chirped happily.
Andy glances from the brunette to Maya, an almost nostalgic smile on her face. “Toys for Tots?” she asks, already knowing the answer.
“Yep.” Maya nods, positioning herself so she was on her side but propped up on her elbow, while matching Andy’s smile. “Beckett has left me to organise it.”
They both knew it was common practice for the Captain to organise the event. It was something Captain Herrera took pride in doing every year, which is why Andy felt a small wave of sadness sweep over her.
“You and my dad used to come back with so much.” she chuckles at Maya, then turns to Carina to explain. “It became a running joke that no one but Maya and my dad would get a look in. We tried but he would shut it down and call for Bishop. He would just make us empty the donation bins instead. We never knew or understood why because we were convinced you two blew the station’s charity budget every year.” she finishes, smiling at her friend.
Carina sat listening with a smile. She rarely got to hear these types of things about her wife.
Maya, however, became a bit contemplative at the story, with her eyes cast on her hands.
“He found out I had never been to a toy store.” she lightly replies, before meeting Andy’s eye again. “My first year at the station, he asked for my opinion on toy selection from a catalogue and I just stared at him like he lost his mind.” Maya laughs, glancing quickly at her wife then back to Andy. “So I told him he might want to get one of you to help because my family didn’t do toys. We did practical things for Christmas, you know. Running shoes, new track gear, that type of thing. I got so jealous one year because my mom had managed to get Mason some paint and a sketchbook but he didn't get to keep them. My dad had taken them off him by the new year.”
Carina closed her eyes for a prolonged moment, then glanced at Andy, who was now sitting up and leaning back against the wall.
“Your dad told me to put my coat on, as we would only know a really good toy if we saw it for ourselves. So each year he would ask me what I would recommend and I would say ‘we would only really know if we saw them for ourselves, Captain’.” Maya finished with a heartened smile, glancing back up to Andy, trying to not notice her eyes had watered. “Your dad was one of a kind.”
Andy smiled and nodded, looking down at her hands in her lap, while Carina was squeezing Maya’s knee. It had Maya turning her head and catching her wife’s eye. She could see she was upset with elements of the story, so she reached over and covered Carina’s hand with her own. Maya was aware of Carina’s own history with Christmas. In the DeLuca household, they made the most of a difficult situation. In the Bishop’s, you remained quiet and waited for the day to end.
“I think…” Andy says, breaking the silence that had fallen between them and the non-verbal conversation happening across from her. “...when you two have your baby…” Carina and Maya smile at each other before turning to Andy again. “...I’m gonna have to take them to the toy store.”
“Only if they are good.” Carina instructs with a pointed finger, making Maya laugh.
“...and have your sleeping habits.” Andy adds, pointing back at the Italian, who grinned in reply.
“Hey…” Maya draws out, offended.
“She has a point, Bambina. I can’t have two of you with so much energy in the morning.” Carina pouts at her wife, taking a mouthful of her wine before leaning over to put it on the table.
“I thought you liked my energy in the morning.” Maya returns suggestively.
“Okay, ewww.” Andy remarks, causing Carina to laugh at the other brunette, while Maya pretended her friend wasn’t even there. “...but seriously, Maya, the baby needs to be a sleeper.”
The blonde chuckles in amusement and looks over to Andy again. “I actually was a sleeper, so my mom says. Then training kicked in and early mornings before school became prime time for running. It’s colder, easier than midday heat and quieter so you can just …go.” she says almost wistfully. “When I actually started showing a talent, it became early mornings whether I was at school or on a break. I wasn’t allowed to be late up anymore. I would be wasting valuable time, according to my dad and I came to understand that.” she finished with a shrug.
“So no sleeping in at all?” Andy questioned lightly with an exaggerated grimace, already knowing the answer.
“No.” Maya laughed bitterly with a shake of her head. “There was one time, I had won a track meet the day before, so thought having a rest day the morning after would be a given.” she explains, glancing between the other two women, seeing small nods in agreement. “I’m woken up that morning with a bowl of water being poured over my head. Couldn't bring myself to go through that again, so made sure I was up before scheduled."
“Maya.” Carina softly says, her head tilting as she observes her wife.
Maya half smiles and shrugs, glancing at Andy who was pushing herself against the wall with a frown on her face. “It was odd actually, thinking back. He told me my bed would be too uncomfortable to go back to sleep anyway, and for the next couple of nights I wondered if that would be the new morning alarm. I didn’t want to be dealing with that and not being at least comfortable when I did get to sleep, you know.” There's a pause as she recalls where her thoughts were back then. “So getting up before him just became a habit after that.”
“I could still take him.” Andy comments flexing her arm muscle, remembering the discussion she and Maya had on the DeLuca-Bishop’s wedding day. It had the effect she wanted, as she saw a smile break out across her friend's lips.
Carina was different. She seemed lost in her thoughts and only half listening to what was now being said. Andy couldn’t blame the woman. It was difficult enough for her to hear, she couldn’t imagine how this evening’s revelations were landing with the doctor. What she didn’t think Carina had yet realised is that Maya was telling them this because she felt comfortable, she felt safe. Andy knew that if it wasn’t for Carina, Maya would never have come to realise that what she went through growing up wasn’t normal. Shouldn’t be explained away with excuses or acceptance of the goal outweighing the journey.
Maya may have an Olympic gold medal but really at what cost.
“Wouldn’t be worth the effort, Herrera.” Maya replies, giving Carina’s hand another squeeze, also noticing the Italian had zoned out. She does eventually lift her eyes and softly smiles in answer to the blonde.
“Well the offer is there.” Andy shrugs, before covering her mouth as she yawns.
“Think you need to head to bed.” Maya laughs, slowly moving to sit up so she doesn’t accidentally kick Carina in the process. She sits back against the brunette, who brings her arm from the back of the couch and rests it over Maya’s shoulders. “..and I need a shower.” she sighs, as Carina places a kiss on her temple.
“Now that you can move again.” Carina grins against her hairline.
“Yes.” Maya smiles back. “You really do need to stop feeding me like that.” she comments with a smirk.
Carina pulls back and raises her eyebrow. “You could just stop putting it in your mouth.”
“Impossibile.” Maya parrots her wife, just missing the pronunciation, causing both Carina and Andy to laugh. “It’s the attempt that counts, right?” she asks earnestly.
“You two make me sick.” Andy mocks good naturedly.
“Spiacente.” Carina replies with a smile, whereas Maya rolls her eyes and stands up with a small groan.
“What she said.” she remarks to Andy, before turning to Carina and grinning at her. She lent forward and placed a sweet but leading kiss to her wife’s lips. “Don’t take too long, you’ll miss the best part.” is whispered, while keeping hold of Carina’s smiling face.
Andy fake coughs, making Maya frown, still staring into soft brown eyes. “I don’t know why she is still here.” she says to Carina but clearly intended for Andy.
“Because you love me, I’m very much homeless and it’s Christmas.” Andy reels off, as Maya pulls away from Carina and moves around the couch.
“Go to bed, Hererra.” she calls back, as she gets to the kitchen.
“Yes, Mom.” Andy responds with a little salute, being met with the sound of the closing door. She turned to look at Carina, who had her eyes trained in the direction Maya had just left. “You okay?”
“Oddio, I’ve never hated anyone so much that I have yet to meet.” Carina answers, as she turns to face Andy again and draws her mouth down thinking about Lane Bishop and his butterfly effect of destruction throughout his family's lives. “When I do, I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.”
“No.” the firefighter states firmly, standing up from the floor and putting the cushion back on the couch. “Let’s hope that never happens because it would mean he is back in her life and yours. Neither of you need that.”
Carina glances back where Maya had disappeared to and hums softly in acknowledgement.
“Come on, you.” Andy interrupts her thoughts, as she collects Carina’s wine glass to take to the kitchen. “Time to pack this all away for the night. I have to supervise children who play with fire in the morning ….and you have a shopping trip to prepare for.”
Carina could hear the amusement in Andy’s voice and her eyebrows draw together. “How bad will it be?” she asks, standing from the couch and starting to turn some of the lights out. When she only hears laughter, Carina stops what she is doing and glances over to find Andy looking at her over her shoulder.
“How much space do you have in your Porsche again?”