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In the middle of the barn and firetruck tour, the little blonde boy stares at his mom's chest and asks curiously, "Mommy, why does your uniform say L T Bishop?"
The blonde firefighter adjusts the little blond on her hips and looks down on her name tag. "Oh, it means Lieutenant Bishop, baby."
Bishop? Deluca-Bishop?
The little blonde boy thinks for a second before throwing more questions,
"Why aunties and uncles call you Bishop and call mama Deluca, but sometimes they call both of you Deluca-Bishop? You call mama Mrs. Deluca-Bishop sometimes."
Judge by Liam's question and his look, Maya knows that her son's attention to the firetruck has already disappeared. She closes the door of the firetruck and walks around the barn, holding Liam on her hip.
"Well, my family name is Bishop. Mama's family name is Deluca. Our friends are used to calling us by our family names."
"And then mama and I got married. People can change their family name to their partner's family name or hyphenate their family names after marriage. Like Deluca-Bishop."
"My name! And mommy and mama's." Liam says excitedly and Maya nods in agreement. " Yes, our name."
"Mama and I are equal in the relationship. We decided to hyphenate our family names. However, changing our last names means a lot of paperwork, and we're independent in our professional areas, so we still use our original family names," the blonde firefighter continues explaining to her son.
A cute frown appears on Liam's face, showing how hard he is trying to understand what his mom is saying.
Something doesn't seem right to him.
"But mama's white coat says Deluca-Bishop." he says with confusion.
The blonde firefighter chuckles at her son's frowning eyebrows. He's one of the cutest little creatures in the world. Maya wanna bites his chubby cheeks sometimes.
"The hospital gave mama a new white coat two years ago. Her old one with Deluca on it is in her locker now."
"Mommy, you don't have new uniform?" the little blonde boy says.
Maya decides to sit down at the back of fire engine since she has a hunch that her son has more questions waiting to be answered.
"I do. SFD gave me new uniform every year, but not name tags. They only give us new name tags when we apply."
"You don't want Deluca-Bishop?" Liam asks, his lips curling into a small pout. His curiosity is gone and replaced by confusion and sadness.
"What?! No, no...." This question catches the blonde firefighter off guard. Maya immediately shakes her head and sighs.
She's too surprised to hear her son asking if she does not want to be Deluca-Bishop, and she doesn't know where to start.
"Of course I am Deluca-Bishop. I just didn't apply. I was busy at dealing with some stuffs when mama and I just got married. And since we both agreed to keep using our last names, I didn't bother to get new name tags after all these years." Maya says softly to her little boy.
Liam's next question surprises her again.
"Are you busy now then?" the little boy asks.
Is Liam asking if she is busy because he wants her to deal with this long-overdue thing?
Why does he want Maya to change her name tag so badly?
"What's the matter, my baby Liam? Why are you so insistent that I change my name tag, hmm?" she gently taps Liam's button nose, which is so similar to Carina's.
Maya couldn't help but chuckle at her son's persistence. She has no idea why her son is asking her to do this, and she's curious about what's going on in his little brain.
She can see her wife and herself in Liam. He's a smart little boy with temper and attitude.
No one can change his mind once he wants something.
And it drives Maya and Carina crazy sometimes.
So when Liam asked if she's too busy to get a new name tag now, she wonders the reason behind it.
The little blonde boy looks at his mommy into her eyes and says seriously,
"I love you, mommy. I don't want you're not my mommy."
He wraps his arms around his mom's neck and buries his face into the crook of her neck, being clingy to her.
Oh...
Liam thinks that Maya is his mommy only when she is Deluca-Bishop, and that she's not his mommy while she's just Bishop.
The blonde firefighter finally figure out what's going on in Liam's little mind.
It's really cute and melts Maya's heart into a puddle.
"Awww... I love you too, baby. You're my son no matter what's on my name tag."
She hugs her little boy tightly and presses a firm kiss on his head, telling him how much she loves him.
"You know what? Let's go find tia, so mommy can ask tia to get me new name tags, yeah?" she whispers and leaves another kiss on his head.
Hearing his mom is going to make his request happens, Liam raises his head from Maya's neck quickly and smiles brightly, pointing in the direction of the beanery where his tia and mama are.
"Andiamo, mommy!"
————
"Captain." the blonde firefighter says, interrupting the conversation between her wife and her boss.
"Tia!" the blonde boy calls out excitedly.
Andy, who is talking about their family recipes with Carina, raises an eyebrow at the title Maya called her.
There is no call, and it's a quiet and peaceful day, not to mention their shift is going to end in one hour, so she can't figure out why her friend called her captain.
"Hola, osito. (Hello, little bear.)" Andy stands up from the chair and picks up the little blonde boy who opens his arms to her. Then she turns to her best friend and asks, "Do you need something, lieutenant?"
Carina looks between Andy and Maya, sensing that something is off from Andy's voice and confused look.
Her wife looks strangely formal, like she's pretending to be.
The blonde firefighter clear her throat, "Actually, it's our probie asking for something."
Liam asking for something? From Andy?
Now Carina and Andy share a glance, both getting more and more confused.
What could Liam ask from Andy...about their work? Firefighting?
"Oh!"
Andy looks at the innocent boy and clears her throat, putting on her captain voice, playing along with Maya.
"Well, what can I do for you then, probie?"
"Tia, mommy needs new name tags. She's Deluca-Bishop, not Bishop." Liam replies with a serious look, which Carina would say is a copy of Maya's straight face.
"Oh! You're asking for new name tags for your mommy?" Andy is surprised and amused by Liam's request. This is getting interesting.
"Si." the little blonde boy nods firmly. Totally Maya's copy version.
"Can you tell me why?" Andy sees the similarity too. She tries not to laugh, but her smile is getting wider.
"Mama has a new white coat. She's Dr. Deluca-Bishop. Mommy has a new uniform but no new name tag. She's not Deluca-Bishop. I want mommy to be Deluca-Bishop like me." Liam says seriously.
The blonde firefighter, who's been watching this adorable conversation between her son and her captain, decides it's time to step in and explains more to her friend and wife.
"He saw my name tag and asked why people call me and Carina by our family names sometimes. I told him that I didn't apply for new name tags after we got married. He probably thinks that I'm not his mommy when I'm just Bishop, not Deluca-Bishop."
The reason warms the grownup's hearts, "Awww... Tia will get your mommy a new name tag soon, OK?"
The little blonde still keep his serious look on, nodding to his tia, "OK."
Not only does her name tag need to be changed. The blonde firefighter reminds her friend and captain, "My turnout and helmet need to be changed too."
"Of course," Andy says and smiles at Liam. "Don't worry, osito. Tia will even make sure that the aunties and uncles call your mommy Deluca-Bishop from now on."
The Italian doctor stands from the chair and walks to her wife, wrapping her arms around her shoulder, teasing with a smirk. "You're finally mine, huh?"
Carina has never complained about Maya's name still being Bishop. She changed her last name on her white coat just because everyone at Grey-Sloan knows that she's married. And the employee database has been updated since the wives applied for daycare for their kids.
Changing their last name is a small thing, but it does feel different for the wives. A sense of fulfillment.
"I've always been yours, Mrs. Deluca-Bishop." Maya automatically places her hands on her wife's waist.
The Italian caresses her wife's soft cheek with her thumb, staring at her lips intensely. "I mean, fewer fireflies would hit on my wife after seeing your name tag and knowing you're already taken."
The slight jealousy from her wife makes the blonde firefighter laugh, "Changing my name tags or not, they don't stand any chance anyway." She closes the gap between their lips and they share a short, sweet kiss.
"Your moms are so disgustingly in love, osito (little bear)," the latina scrunches up her nose, teasing her best friend while holding Liam. They both watch the wives.
"Mama says it's beautiful."
Despite his tia teasing his moms for showing too much affection, the little blonde boy smiles brightly, replying to his Tia because he does think so.
His godson is right. It's beautiful to see people showing love to their loved ones. She recalls the journey of her best friend and the Italian.
They've come a long way and got through all the difficult problems to stay together and happy.
She's happy for her best friend from the bottom of her heart.
"Yeah, it is beautiful." Andy says.