Chapter Text
"to the stars and the sky, you'll always be mommy's little guy"
— fawn wood
“I don’t want it, I don’t even like you! I want my dad.”
The little boy stood up and left the dinner table, mumbling his way upstairs to his bedroom. It was possible to hear him slamming the door with an admirable strength coming from a seven-year-old.
Maya stood up, ready to go after her kid, but Carina held her girlfriend's hand before the blonde could walk over three steps.
“Leave him alone, Maya. It’s okay." She said, faking a smile and trying to give a little more confidence.
“I’m sorry about it. I truly thought he would react better.”
“Children are unpredictable. It’s not your fault.”
The firefighter sat down again while rubbing her hand against Carina's. She caressed with her thumb, not having much of an idea how to ease the situation.
Maya took too long to introduce Carina and Tyler to each other, and the young one had found the almost stepmother a stranger since the beginning. And an even longer time to decide it was time to move in together, planning to get married in the near future.
Bishop divorced Tyler's dad almost six years before and met DeLuca in the first few months after the breakup. She needed to go slow, mainly because of the kid, but it had been a long time since she started to introduce the new girlfriend to his life.
It was obvious that the Italian was trying hard not to care about the bad coexistence with Tyler. She understood that the boy was close to his father and didn't like the idea of his mom being with another person – even though he had grown up with them already separated. Also, it was not rare to see Tyler having difficulties making new friends or at least treating people with kindness, and Maya was a hundred percent sure that this kind of attitude came from Jack. He had always been as explosive as Lane, but it took her some time to realize it. When she did, their child was almost two years old.
But it's not like Jack was a present parent. He used to take Tyler from school two Fridays a month to spend those weekends together, and then Maya would take Tyler from school back on Monday. Both parents were still firefighters in SFD, except that Bishop was already battalion chief, and Gibson couldn't even make captain of company 23. When they were both on shifts, Tyler used to stay with Mason, Maya’s little brother, who had the provisional guard in case something happened with the ex-couple.
Maya and Carina finished dinner before thinking of a way to solve the situation. The blonde wouldn't give up on the plans they had made just because of Tyler's stubbornness, but Carina was willing to delay the process, prioritizing the relationship between the two women within themselves and with the kid.
“I think it’s gonna be better if I go back to my apartment.” The brunette said after they finished cleaning the kitchen.
“No, you can stay.”
“He didn’t react as well as we thought, bambina. Let’s wait until he grows up a few years and then we think about it again.”
"No, my love. You stay." She finished drying her hands on her sweatshirt before using them to pull Carina's face in her direction, kissing her for a longer time than usual. "There are some clothes of yours in my closet, but feel free to pick mine if you want to. Go take a shower, rest a bit, and I’m going to have a conversation with Tyler for a couple of minutes. I see you in the bed, okay?”
The Italian woman nodded in agreement, letting a half-hearted smile shows up on her lips. She kissed the other one more time before heading upstairs to the bedroom that was now theirs.
Maya took some seconds to breathe in the kitchen before going the same way. She built a lot of patience as the years passed during motherhood. And even if it wasn’t a planned pregnancy – a little unwanted, as well –, she loved the guy with her whole body and soul, but during that time, she also found space to share this love with Carina.
Tyler’s bedroom door was still closed when Maya walked to the room door. She took one more breath before knocking, without opening it, as she always liked to give him the space and privacy he wanted.
“I’m not gonna apologize to Carina!" screamed from inside, with a voice that sounded like he was crying minutes earlier.
“Can I walk in, Ty?" Maya asked without opening it. "I don’t wanna fight.”
“Yeah”. The mumbling gave the mother the permission she was looking for, so after going in, she didn’t take long to close it behind her. The boy was lying shrunken in his bed, hiding his face in his teddy. Without giving up on her calmness, Maya sat on the end of the mattress, resting her hand on his leg. “Why can’t you and daddy get back together?”
“Ty, look at me,” she asked softening her voice, without wanting to start a bad fight. “Your father and I love you a lot, but we don’t work out as a couple, you get?”
She didn’t get an answer, but the guy finally was looking at his mom.
“Do you remember Eva?” Tyler nodded without making a sound. “She was fun, wasn’t she?”
“She used to give me cookies every time I was at dad’s.”
“Yes, and the both of you got along well”
“It was different. She wasn’t my stepmom.”
“Said who? She was your dad’s girlfriend, Ty.” Maya hated to have to tell the truth about Jack’s lies and almost destroy Tyler’s fairy tales, but she was really tired of always having to handle the consequences that should fall on her ex-husband’s back. “And Carina is mine”.
After listening, the kid hid his face again, almost starting to cry. Maya noticed that was going far, so she lay next to him, without hugging or even touching the boy. “Do you remember when we watched all ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ movies all at once?” He just whispered a shy ‘yes’ in answer. “Was it fun?”
“Yeah, it was a nice day.”
“And who else was here with us?”
“Carina was.” His short answers were starting to piss Maya off a little, but she needed to stay calm.
“Exactly”
“But I don’t like her, mom!” Tyler turned his body in his mother's direction.
“Why not? I want you to tell me the truth.”
“She doesn’t like me either, since day one. I can be young, but I remember when she didn’t wish me a ‘happy birthday’ when I turned four. And you love her more than you love me.”
“That’s not true, Tyler”
“Of course it is.” He didn’t let Maya finish. “You even let her sleep in your bed during weekdays and won’t let me!”
Things finally started to make sense inside Maya’s head. It was just jealousy. He was just afraid to lose his mom.
“Tyler, you know couples sleep in the same bed, don’t you?” The boy just stared at the roof. “Tyler…”
“I just want you and dad living together again. Everyone in my class lives with both mom and dad. Why can’t I have this too?
“We want you to live in a happy home, my boy. Me and your father, we can’t give you that if we live together. I wasn’t happy with him, bud.”
“And who said you and Carina could give me? Who said you are happy with her? You and daddy spent years together before I was born and were happy.”
“I didn’t love your father, Ty. It’s sad, but it’s true. I am really sorry about this. I tried to love him, I tried for so many years, but it wasn’t going well. I don’t think you remember, you were little, but for a few weeks you even stayed with Uncle Mase until I felt better enough to take care of you when your father went to live in his house.” Those kinds of memories still used to hurt Maya’s heart. She hated to remember all of that and hated more to tell Tyler that kind of thing, but wanted to build a healthy and honest relationship with him. “You know when you’re running in the playground and then you fall and your knee starts to bleed?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Your father used to make me feel that way when we lived together. It was like my whole body was bruised.”
“Does it still hurts? We could use that salve that you gave me last week.”
“Carina is helping me with that, Ty. That’s what I need you to understand.”
“But why her? Couldn't there be another one? Another daddy?”
“Because she is the one I love.”
“But I don’t”
“We don’t need to love the same people.” The silence took place between them while looking at the plastic stars glued on top of the bed. “Do you think it’s wrong?” She asked, feeling a tear take place in her left eye. “Me loving another woman instead of a man?”
“Kinda.”
“Why?”
“A family is made out of a mom and a dad.”
“Said who, Tyler? A lot of kids don’t have a mother, others don’t have a father. Some don’t have either. Who taught you that?”
“Daddy said it’s against God’s nature.” Of course, it was a Jack thing.
“And do you believe in God, first of all?”
“No.”
“So why do you believe it’s wrong? Isn’t love that matters?”
Shutting down again, Tyler held his teddy bear against his chest with a little more strength. He didn’t know who to believe, but Maya’s thought made sense for the boy.
“Does she sleep in your bed because she is afraid of the dark like me?”
Maya couldn’t hold her laugh. She knew Tyler didn’t even believe in that; he had the sense that they used to sleep together because they are a couple, but didn’t seem to accept that in any way.
“I don’t know, bud. Maybe you could ask her.”
“Oh, forget.”
“Isn't it true that when we watch a very sad movie, we cry a lot?
“Like you cried with Toy Story 3?” He asked, making Maya guffaw just like him.
"Exactly. Your dad used to make me cry just like that. I don’t want to make you not love him, he is always gonna be your dad. Carina is not planning to take his place, Tyler.”
“But she’s gonna sleep where he used to.”
“You also sleep there a lot of times. You didn’t become your own father because of that.”
The little one tried to think of any other possible reason to go against the idea of living with the Italian, but he was really out of ideas.
“Ty, you have the right to not like her. I am just asking you to be polite and to not mistreat her. I want you to be friends, but if you don’t like her enough to do it, at least don’t scream at her. I know it’s hard to understand, but Carina loves you too, bud. And she’s not trying to replace me or your dad, she just wants to be a part of our family. That doesn’t mean you have to love her as you love me, but you have to respect her and give her a chance. Do we have a deal?”
Tyler stayed quiet for a moment, thinking over his mother’s words. Finally, he spoke up. “Okay, I’ll try.”
Maya smiled, relieved that her son was willing to give Carina a chance. “So try your best, okay? That’s all I ask. She makes me feel so many good things, and I love her. I don’t wanna lose either of you. And if you ever have any questions or concerns, you know you can always talk to me, right?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“That’s my boy. It’s time to sleep, right? Have you brushed your teeth yet?”
“Not yet, no.”
“So go there and I’ll set up your bed.”
Tyler was still a bit stressed but followed his mother’s orders. He went to the bathroom to get ready while Maya was changing his blankets and pillowcase since it was humid because of his tears.
“I love you a lot, okay? Don’t forget that. Never.” Maya insisted when kissed him on the forehead.
“I love you too…” said in a down tone, but the oldest chose to interpret that as just sleepy.
She closed the door as always and went on her way to Carina. The Italian was sitting in the bed leaning against the wall behind it while she waited for Maya, who took a heavy breath after closing the bedroom door.
“This kid is going to make me crazy by the end of the year.” She commented with a small laugh walking to the bed, where she sat to take off her shoes.
“How did it go? You two talked for a while.” Carina left the book on her nightstand, directing her attention to her girlfriend.
“He misses Jack, so he wants us to get back together and all that stuff. I think he feels threatened by you, that’s why he is jealous.”
“I didn’t want to cause this disagreement between you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You don’t need to worry. I just wanted you two to get along.”
“This little guy is gonna adore me someday, you’ll see. I’m good with kids.”
“I think you’re good with the Bishops, actually. Even my brother likes you” Now in the bathroom, Maya washed her face and changed into her pajamas before going to bed.
“Conquering him was easy in comparison to the little you .” Maya laughed loud at the nickname. “What? You two are identical!”
“Thank God. Imagine spending nine months with a fetus in my stomach and then it comes out with Jack’s face?”
Carina also laughed, trying to not take Maya’s words seriously – not that it wasn’t true. She found it funny how similar they both looked, physically and in their personalities.
After Maya was ready to get under the blankets, Carina extended her arms in the blonde’s direction and had to take Maya jumping to her, making both of them laugh again.
“You’re an incredible mother, Maya. And an awesome girlfriend too. I know you’re gonna find a way to reconcile both, and if you need me, I’ll always be here to support you or even if you need to go slower with us. We can take a step back if you think it’s the best to do. Don’t demand so much from you, amore mio.”
Maya just dovetailed herself in Carina’s neck curve and sighed, enjoying the hug for a moment. She didn’t want to let any of the relationships affect the other – but it was kinda impossible. She knew Tyler didn’t like her girlfriend because of jealousy, it wasn’t anything in addition to this, so wasn’t sure if she should give up on her relationship with Carina just to satisfy the boy.
They both talked for a couple more minutes about other things before Maya falls in her sleep over Carina without even realizing it. The caress the Italian was giving beneath Maya’s hair gave her the calmness she was needing the most at that moment.
•
“Where is my mom?” Tyler got close to Carina, squeezing his hands in the backpack shoulder straps after getting out of the bus.
“On a call.”
“And why did you come to get me? When that happens, Uncle Mase gets me to his home.”
“Your mother asked. I don’t know what happened.”
“You gonna stay at home with me until she comes back?”
“Tyler, haven’t you and your mom already talked about it?”
The boy fastened a couple steps, getting far from the Italian. He knew she lived there now, but still acted like she was just a frequent visitor.
DeLuca let him go in front, but not more than a couple feet. She had a day off that afternoon, so all she needed to do was make sure her stepson wouldn’t set the house on fire. Nothing complicated to a thirty-and-so woman who always got along with children, right? Wrong.
Carina was already getting familiarized with his routine, after all, was living with Maya and Tyler for two weeks already, so she knew he needed to shower and do his homework before watching tv or turning on his game console. But Tyler thought differently because Maya’s absent.
When they got home, Tyler ran upstairs to leave his bag and. without even changing clothes, he went back to the living room.
“You have a deal with your mother, don’t you?” Carina could watch him from the kitchen.
“I don’t see her around here. Do you?” He was already turning the videogame on before sitting on the ground. “And you’re not my babysitter.”
“Definitely not.” Walked to the other room and sat next to the boy, who went some inches to the other side. “It’s not with me that your mom is gonna be mad at, you know that, right?”
“Mommy doesn’t care if I play a little.”
“But she doesn’t like when you play before your shower and homework. Am I wrong?” The boy just mumbled something. “Did your mom tell you about my little brother?”
“The only thing I know about you is that your name is Carina, you’re a doctor and date my mom. Oh, and you didn’t wish me a happy birthday when I turned four. And there’s a chance you’re afraid of the dark, but it's just a thought.”
“My brother is called Andrea.”
“Andrea? Isn’t it a female name? Aunt Andy is Andrea.”
“Not in Italy.”
“You’re Italian?” He turned his sight to the woman for a second.
“You never noticed my accent?”
“I just thought you had a lisp.”
“Tyler!” Bishop started to laugh but still had his attention directed to the game. “My brother was five years younger than me, so I used to take care of him when our parents weren't at home. He used to like spending time with me.”
“You don’t need to take care of me. I don’t have an older sister.”
“I’m not here for it.”
“So for what?”
“Your mother already told you that.”
He stood up rolling his eyes to turn off the television before running to his bedroom. Carina took a time before standing up. She put away his game control, also going to the bedroom after it.
They just saw each other some hours later. When the woman went to the kitchen again, to start making the dinner, Tyler also showed up and, in a very awkward silence, he helped set the table. Sitting down in front of each other, they left a plate ready at the end of the table in case Maya came in time for dinner. And were silent. Tyler didn’t answer any of Carina’s questions and comments and was eating a piece of cake when heard the door opening, knowing that it was his mother.
“Hey, Tigger!” Carina could hear her girlfriend’s voice that, at the same time sounded tired, seemed to be glad to come home one more time. “I missed you, bud.”
They were talking about something while walking back to the kitchen. Maya was still with the white shirt, even if it had already some unbuttoned points and the tie was loose.
“Hi, my love.” The firefighter gave Carina a short kiss, who was already putting the places in the washing machine. “Already got dinner, so?”
“Yes, but I made you a plate. Did everything go right at the call?”
“Nothing far from usual. I just had a lot of paperwork to do after it. And here?”
“As I expected. At least he didn’t play the whole afternoon,”
“I guess you did better than me, then.”
They had that short conversation while Tyler was setting the videogame to play with his mom, without paying any attention to any of the two.
“Did he obey?”
“What’s your guess?” Carina answered in an ironic tone, laughing in a low tone.
“I’m sorry. I swear I have no idea why he is so stubborn about not liking you.”
“Don’t worry, bambina. I know it’s not your fault.” She gave Maya a half smile, really not blaming her.
Maya got closer, resting her hands on Carina’s waist for a short kiss. It had been a hard day for both, but at least some good part of that tiredness used to go away between some kisses and cuddles.
While talking in whispers, sometimes mixing words with pecks, Bishop felt her hand be pulled from her girlfriend’s body in an impulse and already knew it was Tyler.
“Mommy, come play!”
“Ty, did you shower today? Because I am sure you were in this exact shirt when I left you at school this morning.”
The eyesight he launched at Carina was the angriest that it could be from a second elementary school-grade kid. He dropped Maya’s wrist before running up the stairs, probably going to his room.
“Uncle Mason doesn’t snitch me!” He screamed from the other floor.
When Maya tried to follow him, Carina caught her hand again, not wanting to continue that fight.
“Let him go, bella.”
“No, Carina! I can’t just let him walk unpunished every time he mistreats you.”
After dropping Carina’s hand, Maya followed the same route as her kid, finally finding him in his room. He was in front of his drawers trying to find some clean pajamas.
“We had a deal, Tyler.” The older Bishop was already closing the door.
“You promised to play with me after school, mom…” His voice was low and weak and looked like he was holding his crying.
“I’m sorry, but they needed me on a call. I came back as fast as I could. And you should’ve showered as soon as you came home from class.”
“I just wanted to play for a bit.” He dropped the pair of clothes he was holding on the floor, raising his voice.
“Don’t scream, Tyler.”
“I’m sick of it, mom!”
“So do I! For the last two weeks you have barely talked to me, don’t comply with your part of our agreements, and even treat Carina a little better so she doesn’t feel bad.”
“I don’t care about her. I just want my mother back. My mom.”
“Tyler, Carina is a part of the family now. I’m sorry if you don’t like her, but she likes you and I’m sure she wants nothing but the best for you.”
“You prefer her over me, mom.”
“This is not true.”
“So why do you want her here knowing I don’t like her?”
“Not everything is gonna be your way, Tyler.”
Maya sat on the bed, trying to be the same height as him. She didn't like the idea of being taller when the boy needed to raise his head to look at her. It made the impression that Tyler felt inferior.
“Ty, come here” asked, stretching her arms in his direction. Tyler just put his hands over hers. “I love you. And I love Carina too. It is two different kinds of love. And I’m not asking you to be best friends, I just don’t want you to be disrespectful. You already understood that there’s nothing wrong with the way I love her, but I don’t get why you still are so resistant.”
“I just don’t like her.”
“Why not?” Maya pulled the kid closer, sitting him on her leg. “She likes you.”
“You use her to replace my daddy and want me to do the same.”
“No, Tigger. I don’t want you to think that Carina is here to take your father's place. I would love it if you saw her as your mom too, but she’s not dad.”
He laid his head on Maya’s shoulder, still kinda angry. Crossing his arms on his stomach, the older tried to hug him for some more minutes.
“Can I sleep at dad’s today?”
“Your dad is at the station, bud. Not today. But I can call him and you could talk. Is it fine for you?”
“Can you take me to nineteen, so? I really wanted to see him.”
“Can Carina come with us?” Maya would take Tyler there anyways but saw there a chance to maybe show Tyler that Carina wasn’t gonna take Jack’s place.
The boy stood thinking for a couple seconds. He wasn’t gonna be around them, after all, would be with Jack and the other firefighters. Maya and Carina would probably spend that time talking with someone in the kitchen or the reception, without keeping an eye on him all the time. They knew he was safe there.
“Yeah. But just if you promise you not gonna watch me every second.”
“Deal. But you need to take a shower first. Oh, and just one more thing. Carina didn’t snitch on you, I truly noticed because of your clothes.”
He rolled his eyes while running away to his clothes on the ground again. Tyler just took them to the drawer and chose another piece to go to 19 before going to the bathroom. Maya waited until she heard the shower turning on before going to search for Carina.
“Hey, I’m gonna take Ty to the Station. Wanna come?” She questioned placing her arms behind Carina’s shoulder while leaning front up as the woman was on the sofa.
“He’s gonna be mad. It’s better if I stay.” Carina turned her head a little to kiss Maya on the cheek, without forgetting to place her hands on the blonde’s arms.
“He said if we don’t guard him all the time, he is fine with you coming.”
“Is Vic on shift today?” Maya just nodded. “So I’m going.”
As both women were still dressed, just waiting for the boy to show up ready to go. A couple minutes passed of them talking between, again, whispers and kisses.
“Ew. Let's go.” Carina couldn’t hold her laugh at her stepson’s reaction as soon as he saw them.
They got up to go as Tyler already got his shoes on. The two decided to go in Carina’s car, once Maya wanted to keep an eye on her son on the road.
“You never told me you had a Porsche,” Tyler said looking around after being put on the backseat, really surprised with it. Carina used to leave the car in the garage and Maya left on the street since sometimes Maya needed to go on calls during the night and didn’t want to have to ask Carina to take her car first, so Tyler really never noticed the brand.
“You never asked, Tyler.” Carina looked through the rearview, holding a smile.
They spent the rest of the way in silence, but that time, it was a comfortable one. As soon as the car was parked, the little one waited for his mother before going up the stairs that gave them access to the place. The three of them moved up together and, as soon as Tyler waved through the glass door, Travis showed up to open it.
“Uncle Trav!” He jumped in the man’s arms, hugging the firefighter’s neck.
“I missed you, my mascot!” Even if Tyler was too old for that, Travis put the boy on the receptionist's desk. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in bed by this time?”
“I came to see my dad. Mommy said he was on shift today so I couldn’t sleep at his house.”
“Do you know where your dad is?” The boy nodded a “no”. “He’s in the kitchen with Uncle Ben and Uncle Theo. You wanna go there?”
Having Tyler agree, Montgomery looked at Maya as if he asked permission to take the grandson upstairs, receiving a nod in response. He let the boy go on his back and went in the stair direction, running up there.
Vic showed up as soon as she heard the mess they were making. It had been a long time since Hughes saw them for the last time, so as she saw the Little Bishop, she already knew Maya and Carina were around.
“The Chief and the First Lady!” Finally getting in the hall, Vic hugged Carina. “And to be clear, you are the chief. What are you doing around here this time?” The firefighter also hugged the battalion chief.
“Tyler wanted to see Jack.” Maya pulled three chairs from the reception to them.
“How is ‘the three of you living together’ thing going?”
“Perfectly!” Carina said with irony. “He is not going to like me, I already gave up.”
“But it has been a long time since you two met, hasn’t it?”
“I introduced them when he was around three. He is seven now.” Bishop still looked a little blue remembering that, but couldn’t force the kid to love DeLuca.
“Is the coexistence good, at least?” Said with a sad tone, really upset about knowing.
“It’s reasonable. Could be way worse.”
Noticing it was a depressing subject, the women chose to change the direction of the conversation. They were entertained by talking about what was happening in their respective routines, once it was cool to work in three different places and still see each other during shifts, and so on.
The time flew and, as foresaw by the end of summer, it started to rain a little harder than usual. Vic and Ben were called to an accident that needed the AidCar, so taking the chance to go outside only once, Maya ran to the car to take an umbrella, having a way to take Carina and Tyler out of there without being wet.
“Hm, hi. Where's Bishop?” Jack was walking down the stairs carefully, holding the kid asleep on his shoulder.
“Went grab an umbrella in the car.”
“Right. He fell asleep just now, but it’s late. I think it’d be better if he went home.”
“Sure, when Maya comes back we would already go.”
Carina and Jack knew about the existence of each other, but outside their chaotic routines when the firefighter sometimes had to leave patients at the hospital where the ob-gyn worked, they never met. Even with the five-year relationship between Bishop and DeLuca, they never had a chance – or the wish by Jack’s side – to meet.
Gibson calmly walked side to side, waiting for the ex-wife to come back while Tyler was clinging to his neck. The Italian, in another way, put her coat on and rearranged the chairs back to their position.
“Shit” Jack murmured when he heard the siren say he’d had to go. “Can you have him until Maya comes back?”
“Yeah, no problems.” Except for the fact that there was a problem, but the man needed to go. It looked like Tyler was in a heavy sleep, so maybe he wouldn’t even know.
“Thank you.” He gave the kid to Carina, kissing him on top of his head. “It was a pleasure to meet you, DeLuca.”
“Likewise."
He smiled once more after getting out of the Italian's eyesight. In almost synchrony, Maya showed up in the hall. She was kinda wet, but nothing that worried them. And, with a smile, she was estranged and marveled at that scene.
“He slept in Jack’s arms and they needed to leave for a call.”
“It’s okay. Do you mind taking him to the car? He already snuggled on you.” Maya asked with a shy smile. It was obvious that she could take her kid out of Carina’s arms and he wouldn’t wake up, but Maya saw there an opportunity to maybe approach the two of them.
Maya held the umbrella to them and decided to go in the backseat so she could let the kid lay on her leg, and, with luck, he wouldn’t wake up until the next morning. Even though, the women continued talking for the whole trip, kinda relieved about how the day ended.
The firefighter took Tyler to his bedroom as soon as they got home without waking him up. But, when she tried to change his clothes to more comfortable ones, he woke up. At least he went to brush his teeth and then went back to bed.
Without worrying about him getting asleep again, Maya went to shower after Carina, finally getting the chance to change clothes since she left the house after lunch. While waiting for her girlfriend in bed, the doctor decided to review some medical records from some cases she was working on. Even if she was focused on all that stuff, she still noticed when saw the door open some inches.
“Tyler? Is everything okay?” Asked while closing the laptop.
“Is my mom still in the shower?” He questioned knowing the answer because of the noise. Of course, she was. He just didn’t know how to approach the topic he wanted.
“Yes, yes. But she probably won’t take more than a couple more minutes. Do you need anything?”
“I can’t go back to sleep.”
“Does your mother let you sleep in her bed when that happens?”
“Sometimes, but usually not.” Just then Carina noticed that the stepson was pinching his nails against his palms.
“Do you want me to do something warm for you to drink?” She was already getting out of bed but didn’t get close. Tyler nodded, withholding.
“I think there’s something in my room.”
“Can I go see it?” He agreed and just then Carina got close to open the door some more inches.
They both went to the boy’s room, where all the possible lights were on. He sat on the middle of the bed hugging his knees and a teddy while Carina tried to look as if she was searching for something.
“There’s nothing here, Ty. It's safe.”
“You sure?” DeLuca confirmed after closing his closet door.
“Not one single monster is here to pull your foot.”
“Okay, then.” He nodded before crawling to the upside, getting under his blankets.
“Good night. If you need anything, we’re right there.”
“Carina?” The woman was already leaving the room after turning off the lights, leaving just the corridor one on, but she stopped when heard her name. “I’m sorry for earlier. I shouldn’t have screamed at you.”
“Thank you, Tyler.” She gave him a little smile, just closing some inches of the door to go back to her room.
This time, Maya was the one waiting. Bishop was sitting on the edge of the bed putting on some socks. She was quite confused by Carina’s absence and why she heard Tyler’s voice during the shower.
"What happened?"
"You made a really cute kid," she frowned her nose, going back to her side of the bed.
"I think I missed some chapters," Maya said, laughing even if she was in doubt, really not understanding what happened. Carina waited until Maya laid down to explain.
"He thought there was something in his room and as he said you usually don’t let him sleep in here, I went searching for a monster in his place and said everything was safe. And then he apologized about the scream this evening."
"You know he was lying about being afraid just to take the courage to say he's sorry, right?"
"I know." Maya pulled her closer after turning off the lights. "But he's way too cute for me to be angry at. I can’t stay mad with little you."
"Don't let him know this," Carina smirked while cuddling between Maya's arms while the blonde was still talking, pressing her nose against the Italian's hair. "I'm glad you at least are tolerating each other."
“Yeah, me too.”
•
For the first time, Maya and Carina would spend the Christmas holidays together. In the years before, Jack used to take the holiday shift, and Tyler stayed with Maya and Mason during those days. They never complained about it, for the record. It was already a tradition to watch as many movies as possible, sleep in the living room, and then take Tyler to his bed so he could wake up in his bedroom in the following morning. But that year, Jack would stay with the kid, and Mason would travel with some friends from college, so it happened to be the first Christmas night when the couple could be alone.
Jack got Tyler on the 23rd night so they would really spend the whole holiday together, and Little Bishop would just go back to his mother's house on the 26th morning, having a short video call with him during the 25th morning to wish him a Merry Christmas.
Seeing that they would have the whole house to themselves, Maya and Carina enjoyed it to the maximum. Bishop didn't even plan to celebrate Christmas that year since she just did it for her kid and wasn't even a Catholic person, but DeLuca looked like someone who enjoyed those kinds of holidays and ended up convincing Bishop to do something.
With all the lights turned off except for the tree flasher and television, they both rested on the couch. They were lying, but Carina was on top of Maya’s body while the blonde played with the other’s hair. Even with just silk robes, the heater was enough to keep them warm. On the center table, the bottle of wine already under the middle of it left a certain perfume in the room. Watching Interstellar, the brunette was almost falling asleep when the bell rang.
“We don’t need to go. It’s probably a chore or something.” Maya held Carina with some more strength, without letting her leave. “Go back to sleep, my love.”
By then, it was past 11pm and it wasn’t usual to have someone looking for any of them if it wasn’t a work thing, so Maya got curious about who could be. It happened to the ring again some moments later, before even Carina fell asleep.
“I’ll go see. Don’t worry.” She gave a kiss on Maya's chin before getting up, walking to the door while tying the robe knot. The door was locked but, in just a couple of seconds, Carina opened it. “Hey.”
“Hi, Carina.” Tyler hugged his father’s waist, saying goodbye. Passing through Carina, he did the same before running to the living room looking for his mom.
“What happened?” She looked to see the boy jumping on Maya’s arms before getting her attention back to the other firefighter.
“He missed her and said he doesn’t wanna break their Christmas tradition, so he asked me to get him here.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Did we mess up your plans?” he asked, looking doubtful and causing Carina to laugh.
“Don’t worry, we didn’t have anything that couldn’t wait.”
“Okay then.” The man looked a bit sad, but Carina chose to ignore it. “Here are the things he brought and the present I bought. He hasn't opened it yet, but maybe he’ll like it.”
“Okay, I'll leave it with the others, but we'll make sure to tell him it's from you, okay?”
“Yeah, sure. Well, I think it’s better if I go now. Merry Christmas, Carina.”
“Happy Christmas, Jack.”
She waited until he entered the car to close the front door and go upstairs to leave the bag in Tyler’s room, hiding the present box he had bought with the others. Carina then went to put some clothes on, since wearing just a robe wasn't the best option at that time. When she returned to the other room, she saw Maya and Tyler with bowls full of popcorn, searching for a good movie to watch.
“Carina, come here!” the little Bishop yelled when Carina was already in the kitchen.
“I’m here,” she answered, leaning on the couch.
“Mommy wants to watch the fourth movie of Home Alone, but the first one is so much better! Which one do you prefer?”
“I’ve never watched either of those, actually.”
“We watched the first one last year, Tigger. Let’s watch the fourth one this time.”
“But the first one is cooler!”
Maya turned her head up until she could look at her girlfriend, who was making a lot of effort not to laugh at their silly discussion. She ended up giving in to Tyler’s wish once the boy started to argue that Carina should watch them in order. After setting everything up, Maya said she needed to go to the toilet before starting, but all she needed was to put clothes on.
The Italian closed the wine bottle and went back to the couch, waiting for Maya, just like Tyler was. He dropped his sneakers next to the armchair and got some blankets from the corridor closet, leaving one for his mother and one for Carina. The oldest Bishop sat between them, wanting to prevent any possible awkwardness, but as predicted, Tyler fell asleep before the first forty minutes.
They left Tyler resting for some moments before Maya tucked him in bed. After this, Maya took the dirty dishes to the sink since they would take care of it just in the morning and Carina tried to find a nice arrangement for the presents under the tree.
Neither of them slept a good night that day, maybe because of the anxiety, but at least spent the time talking about silly things and catching up on the cuddle. While feeling Carina playing with her fingers against Maya’s back, the firefighter realized she made a good call by insisting to Carina go live with them. She again got convinced that they were meant to be, even with Tyler’s stubbornness.
The coexistence was getting better day after day since the night at the station months earlier, and Maya started to think that maybe the kid wasn’t that asleep when Jack needed to leave and left him in Carina’s arms. Maybe he knew he was getting hold of his stepmom and chose to stay there. Maybe he finally noticed that Carina’s arms could also be comfy and safe for him.
And, finally, both of them were building the family they have always dreamed of.