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It had taken months of persuasion, but between Maya and all three of their children, Carina had relented and agreed to a family camping trip. She’d set her own criteria though - only 2 nights, and there had to be real toilets and showers on site. Thankfully, Maya knew an ideal site for them to go to - one she’d actually taken Liam and Andrea to before.
They’d arrived the previous day and Maya and the two eldest children had set up the tent, while Carina had taken Gianna to paddle in the nearby stream - their little water baby (who was now 4) desperate to get in there. From where they’d played she could see the pitch, and it had been pretty impressive how fast the tent had gone up.
Maya had taken the older kids camping a few times - particularly since Gianna’s birth, as it gave them some time away from their chaotic younger sibling. However the last time they’d been, Andrea had asked if they could all go - and that was where the family trip idea had begun.
Reluctant was definitely an understatement as to how Carina took the idea, but now she was here she had to admit some of the charm was enjoyable. Watching her baby girl splashing in the water where there was no road noise to disturb the tranquil nature of the surroundings - yeah, that bit she liked.
But now it was day 2, and sleeping in the countryside was extremely different. It was cold, there were strange noises, and Carina was sure some of them were animals she wouldn’t want to come across in the dark.
She hadn’t slept much, and sleepy Carina made for grumpy Carina. She put on a positive face for the kids, but had expressed her unhappiness to Maya multiple times - much to her wife’s amusement.
Day 2 involved a hike, and a swim at a water hole half way around. All three of their children were extremely energetic and excited, including Gianna who managed surprisingly well on her little legs. By the time they’d got back to the camp and had dinner, Carina was exhausted.
“You get into bed my love, I’ll just go and wash the hot chocolate mugs out,” Maya had kissed her gently before disappearing off.
Carina got into the sleeping bag that was lying on top of their inflatable bed - one of her other compromises - and lay down. She really was so tired that there was actually hope of sleeping better - at least she would once Maya returned to keep her warm.
But she’d only been in bed 5 minutes when there was a cry from one of the other pods - Andrea. Carina sighed, scrambling to get back out of the sleeping bag - there was no reasonable way of doing that - and went over, unzipping the pod that Andrea and Gianna were sharing. “Hey angioletta,” she whispered, not wanting to wake a still sleeping 4-year-old. “Stai bene?”
“Mi fa male la pancia [my tummy hurts],” Andrea replied, her voice sounding pained.
At that point, Maya returned to the tent. “Everything okay?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“We have a poorly tummy,” Carina replied. “Is the bucket out there?”
Maya nodded, finding the empty bucket lined with a plastic bag and handing it over. She joined her at the pod entrance, kneeling down beside her wife who was stroking Andrea’s hair now. “Do you feel sick?”
Except their daughter didn’t need to answer, because her body answered for her, and Maya was suddenly very grateful for that bucket. “Oh baby,” she shuffled forward a little so she could also reach her, rubbing circles on her back as she threw up again.
After it settled down, Andrea immediately threw herself into her mamma’s grasp, crying into her chest. Maya and Carina shared a look asking the same question - how on earth did you handle a sick child in a tent? But they also answered the question together without speaking.
“Mommy?” The noise had woken Gianna, unsurprisingly. She rubbed her eyes, assessing the situation. “Is Drea bleurgh?”
There was something quite adorable about how she asked that, and Maya would probably dwell more on that another time. “Drea’s feeling a little sick baby, she’ll be okay. She’s going to go and sleep on the big bed with mamma and I’ll be in here with you - is that okay?”
Andrea generally gravitated to Carina when she was ill. It wasn’t anything against Maya, and she took no offence to it, it was just how she was. A lot of that was down to her often wanting to converse in Italian when she was poorly - something Maya was still not quite good enough at, despite her best efforts.
“Mommy Gianna sleepover! Yay!”
That was definitely one way to look at it, and she did chuckle a little at her excitement. “Is that okay with you Drea? Do you still feel sick?”
“Sono stanca,” she replied. Maya knew that one.
“Okay baby, you go to bed with mamma. The bucket will be there if you need it, and mamma will call me if either of you need me too, va bene?” She slipped in a little bit of Italian for her.
That was accepted, and Carina helped her through into their pod. “You’ll be okay bambina?”
“I’ve slept in worse places,” Maya replied with a gentle smile. “But say if you need anything - I mean it.”
Carina nodded, and they both went to their respective sleeping places.
It lasted about an hour. Andrea had fallen asleep against her, and Carina had managed to drop off too, but she was awoken by a cry - and this time a different one, which was immediately followed by the calming voice of her wife.
Oh.
They no longer had one sick child in a tent. They had two.
Carina was considering trying to remove herself from underneath her daughter when Andrea also woke up. She looked confused and groggy for a second before suddenly sitting up and Carina knew exactly what was coming. She grabbed the bucket just in time and rubbed Andrea's back as she threw up again. “Stai bene angioletta, sono qui. [It's okay angel, I'm here.]”
Eventually the sickness stopped and Drea, exhausted from it all, flopped backwards into Carina's arms. “Mamma non mi piace [I don't like it].”
“Lo so [I know],” she comforted her, but the cries from the adjacent pod were getting louder.
Andrea had clearly registered the noise also. “Is Gianna sick too?”
The switch to English caught her off guard for a moment, but Carina nodded. “I think so. Mommy is with her,” she rubbed Andrea's arm gently. “I think I should go and see if mommy is okay,” she started but Andrea gripped onto her tighter. “I won't be far, I'll leave the door unzipped so you can see me, sì?.”
She encouraged Drea to lie down, “try and get some more sleep,” she told her, kissing her forehead and managing to release herself from her daughter's grip.
Carina unzipped the pod door and went over to where Maya was sitting holding Gianna who was curled up sobbing into her lap, the washing up bowl having become the backup bucket on the floor beside them. “I think we have a bit of a situation.”
“Sì, Drea was just sick again,” she told Maya.
She could see Maya was considering their options, looking around the tent with her thoughtful face on. If there was one thing Maya was good at, it was creating an emergency plan, and Carina trusted her completely.
A few moments later her wife looked up at her. “I think we need to clear out the living space and move the beds in there. That way we can both be with the girls.”
As usual, Maya was absolutely right. It would allow them to work together.
Carina immediately started moving things around as quietly as she could, getting enough things into their pod to be able to move their bed (only slightly disturbing Andrea) into the large centre area. At some point she'd tease Maya about being reluctant to get a bigger tent, but not just now.
Everything else moved into their pod after that, allowing space for the other two single beds, which Maya managed to move out while Gianna continued to cling to her. They lined all 3 beds up, essentially making one large sleeping space, and Maya lay down with Gianna who essentially lay on top of her, her sobs now having settled into sniffles as she tired out. Andrea had shuffled over to lie next to her mommy, leaving space for Carina to go in next to her.
And she was about to, but she'd barely started to crouch down when Liam unzipped his pod behind her.
Liam could sleep through anything. She hadn't at all been concerned about waking him up, which meant that this only meant one thing. “Mamma?”
She turned around, and Liam looked both confused and very pale - which was saying something, given he usually looked pretty pale anyway. “Does your tummy hurt cucciolo?” He nodded. “Alright then, you'd better come and join the cuddle party - your sisters are sick too. We've got beds, sick buckets, and plenty of hugs to make it better.”
And suddenly all 5 of them were lying together, the kids all as close to their moms as possible. Maya gave her an apologetic look, because she knew Carina was on edge about the camping as it was, but in response she simply shook her head. It wasn't Maya's fault after all - and at least she wasn't cold now.