Ok, so I know I said it would be a while before I got around to another update, but then I remembered I wrote this like a month ago and it was ready to go, so enjoy!
They decided not to make any plans with anyone for Christmas. By that point, Carina was 38 weeks pregnant, and the girls could literally come at any time. They didn't want to make plans because they didn't want to have to cancel them last minute.
Also, Carina was to a point that she was extremely uncomfortable all the time. Her back ached from all the extra baby weight, her feet and ankles often were swollen and sore by the afternoon, she wasn't sleeping more than an hour at a time, breathing was getting harder as the girls grew, and her heartburn was to the point that she thought she was going to throw up at least twice a day.
She was also having Braxton-Hicks contractions often, but when she went for her appointment on December 22, she wasn't even one centimeter dilated so the contractions were for practice and nothing more.
She had officially gone on maternity leave on Christmas Eve, and somehow, Maya had managed to get Christmas Day off this year, so their plan was to spend a quiet day together unless the girls decided to show up.
"I am officially done working until after these bambinas are born," Carina said, walking through the door at 7 pm on Christmas Eve.
"Welcome home," Maya said, smiling as she walked up to her wife, wrapping her arms around her and kissing her deeply.
"It smells good in here," Carina said, pulling away, "What are you cooking?"
"I just made some simple soup," Maya said, shrugging, "Hopefully, it won't make the heartburn worse. I was going to make lasagna because I know it's Deluca family tradition, but I know tomatoes are really not agreeing with you these days so I thought I would make that after the girls are born instead so you could enjoy it."
"Thank you Bella," Carina said, "You are always so thoughtful."
"I try," Maya said, shrugging, "Now, go change into something more comfortable, while I finish dinner, and then we can curl up and watch all those cheesy Christmas movies you love."
Carina nodded, going upstairs to their room while Maya went back into the kitchen. The pregnant woman smiled when she saw a gift on the bed that said "open me on Christmas Eve" on the tag.
"Maya," Carina called downstairs, "Am I supposed to open this?"
The next thing Carina heard was footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Oh, yeah," Maya said, nodding, "I forgot. Go ahead."
Carina opened the package, finding a new pair of pajamas in the box, along with a box of Carina's favorite tea and her favorite Christmas movie on DVD.
"So Andy was telling me the other day that they get Luca a Christmas Eve box every year and they give him pajamas, and a Christmas book, and a Christmas movie and a special snack, and I thought it might be fun to do with Piccola and Patatina, and I had pajamas and a book for them this year, but clearly they are enjoying a relaxing Christmas Eve without us so I thought I would spoil you a little this year instead, and start it with them next year," Maya said, biting on her lip, not sure what Carina would think.
"Oh Bambina," Carina said, tears filling her eyes which she 100% blamed on the hormones of late pregnancy, "I love that idea."
Carina knew that Christmas had never been something Maya enjoyed before they were together, and watching her be excited about the holiday made Carina's heart soar.
The traditions in the Bishop house on Christmas were not at all something Maya looked forward to as a kid. While her friends were eating special breakfasts and opening presents, she was out on the track with her dad, running laps because no one else was there on Christmas morning so it was the perfect time to train according to Lane.
They also never got presents that weren't clothes or shoes because that would only discourage them from training which would make them lazy losers. Maya hated Christmas because 100% of the time, there was an epic screaming match between her parents, and more years than not, this meant that Maya had to run extra because her mom would stop arguing, meaning Lane needed somewhere to put his rage, and for whatever reason, that place was always her.
Once she became a firefighter, she always worked on Christmas, allowing her coworkers with families and children to spend the day with them.
The first Christmas she and Carina were together was in the middle of a pandemic, and both of them worked that day because it was all hands on deck. However, Carina had insisted on decorating the apartment, something Maya had never done in her entire life because what was the point.
Carina loved Christmas because before her mom and Andrea moved to the States, it was a time that her mom would teach her how to bake, and she and Andrea would help decorate cookies, and put up the tree, and dance around to holiday music.
Once her parents split, Christmas was the time of year Carina was sent to the US to be with her mom and brother which made it the only two weeks of solace she got often. They would go ice skating and bake Italian desserts for the neighbors and attend candle light Mass which was the one time Carina enjoyed church. Christmas was filled with the happiest memories Carina had of her mom, and after she died, it felt like a part of her was still there at the holidays.
Having the apartment full of Christmas things was overwhelming to Maya, and she had snapped at Carina within two days. Carina had looked incredibly hurt when Maya called the apartment a Christmas explosion that hurt her eyes.
Maya had stopped, taken a few deep breaths, and finally talked to Carina about why she felt the way she did about Christmas. The Italian woman had listened patiently, telling Maya she understood where she was coming from, but also explaining why Christmas was so important to her. Tears were shed by both of them, but they ended up compromising, Carina agreeing to keep all but a few Maya-approved decorations out of the bedroom while Maya agreed she could put up as much as she wanted in the living room.
The next year, once vaccines had been distributed, and the world felt a little less like the walls were falling in on them, Carina had suggested they start some of their own traditions. She taught Maya how to make her mom's traditional Italian cookies and Maya took Carina to a Christmas light show that she had found thanks to Andy and Vic.
The following year, they were engaged and spent Christmas in Italy. That year had been beyond stressful for both Maya and Carina because it was the first time Maya met any of Carina's family, except her brother, in person. The pandemic had made traveling so tricky, causing them to put off traveling to Carina's home country. After several mental breakdowns from both of them, they agreed on the plane ride home that they would never again spend the holidays in Italy, deciding some other time of year would be better because Carina's family was enough without the extra stress of a holiday.
They had managed to keep up a few traditions the following year, but an unfortunate five alarm fire at a set of buildings that included a birthing center had them both working the entirety of Christmas day and Christmas eve.
Last year, Carina had been pregnant at Christmas time, and pretty miserable because of it. Then, they lost the baby and that felt like the end of Christmas.
This year, they had both been expecting to have two newborns on Christmas morning, but unless the girls got moving, they would be spending a quiet Christmas with just the two of them.
"Go change," Maya said, planting a gentle kiss on Carina's lips, "I'll have dinner ready when you're done."
Carina nodded as Maya left the room. Carina put on the pajamas Maya had gotten her before heading downstairs. She was exhausted and sat down on the couch. Maya brought two bowls of soup over to the couch.
"Would you like me to make you some tea?" Maya asked, handing Carina her food.
"Not yet," Carina said, shaking her head, "Come sit."
"Let me put the movie in first," Maya said, going over to their DVD player and putting in It's a Wonderful Life before sitting down next to her wife.
They spent the rest of the night on the couch, Carina dozing on Maya's shoulder after a while, exhausted from her pregnancy and her last day of work.
Maya sat there, rubbing her wife's back, thinking that she didn't even know it was possible to be as happy as she felt right now for most of her life and looking forward to all the Christmases to come that they were going to get to spend with their daughters.
Christmas came and went, and the twins were still happily in Carina's belly, much to her chagrin. She knew that inside was the best place for the girls, but she was now 39 weeks pregnant with two humans who really enjoyed punching and kicking her in both the lungs and the bladder, making breathing difficult and causing her to pee her pants on more than one occasion. She knew that at this point, the babies would be just fine if they came, and she was hoping they would decide to do it soon.
She had another doctor's appointment on the 29th and was told that the girls were still happy and not attempting to escape yet, although both of them were now head down which meant Carina would hopefully be able to have the natural birth she wanted.
Maya was starting to drive her up the wall with all her worrying, and Carina could not have been happier that Maya had a shift on December 30th that she was going to work because the girls still showed no signs that they were ready to be evicted from their cozy home in their mamma's belly. It was Maya's last shift before her official promotion and Carina was happy her wife was going to be able to be there with her team one last time before everything changed.
Carina spent the bulk of that day resting, missing Maya's massaging hands on her back and feet because even though her wife was making her crazy, she still enjoyed the time they had together.
She went to bed early, absolutely exhausted, and much to her surprise, she fell asleep quickly and managed to stay that way for several hours.
Around 3 am, she woke up from a dead sleep to a pain in her stomach. She sat up, rubbing her tight belly. She had been having Braxton hicks contractions for close to three months at this point, and this didn't feel any different, so she got out of bed, using the bathroom before going to grab herself something to drink. She was now wide awake so she sat down on the couch, watching some late night TV.
Every fifteen or so minutes, her stomach would tighten, and after about two hours, Carina started to time exactly how long these contractions were lasting. She realized over the next two hours that they had gone from being 15 minutes apart to 13 to 11 and they were getting more intense. She realized, much to her relief, that finally, finally, she was in labor.
However, with the contractions still pretty far apart and only lasting about 45 seconds, she knew she had time. Maya had the car, which also conveniently had their hospital bag in it. She decided to take a shower and then walk the five blocks to the station to meet Maya at the end of her shift which was in about an hour at this point.
Once she was clean, she filled her favorite water bottle, pulling on her only shoes that still fit along with her winter jacket before heading to the station. She stopped once for a contraction, timing it carefully, before continuing on.
She arrived at a quiet station, letting herself into Maya's office. She was grateful that Maya had decided she like having alternative seating options and always had an exercise ball in the corner of her office.
Carina bounced on the ball, keeping track of her contractions which were now about 9 minutes apart and lasting close to a full minute. She knew if Maya didn't get back soon that she was going to have to walk to the hospital because she did not plan on giving birth in the fire station.
However, about an hour after Carina got to the station, she heard the engines pulling back in. Maya walked in 5 minutes later, startled to see her wife there.
"Carina, what's going on?" Maya asked, setting her paperwork down.
"It's time," Carina said, smiling as she kept bouncing.
"Time for what?" Maya asked, confused.
"Time for Piccola and Patatina," Carina said, another contraction hitting her right then.
Maya ran to her, holding Carina's hand as she breathed through the pain.
"What are you doing here?" Maya asked, eyes wide with panic, "Shouldn't you be at the hospital? How long has this been going on? We need to go!"
"Maya," Carina said, evening her breathing after the contraction, "Calm down. The contractions started at 3 am. They are still 8 minutes apart. You need to go shower and then we can go."
"3 am," Maya said, "Car, why didn't you call me? I would have come home."
"Because we have time," Carina said, "Go shower and we can go."
"We can just go now," Maya said, clearly starting to panic a little.
"No," Carina said, taking both of Maya's hands in hers as she continued to bounce on the ball, "You stink, and there is no reason to rush to the hospital. Go shower, get on some clothes, and we can go. Your office is not a bad place to labor in."
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"Hey Maya…," Andy said, walking in and stopping when she saw Carina, "What's going on?"
"Carina's in labor," Maya said, looking at her friend, "And she doesn't want to go to the hospital."
"I did not say that," Carina said, shaking her head, "I said I want you to go shower and then we can go."
"She's right Maya," Andy said, nodding, "Go get cleaned up. Trust me, you are going to want to. Robert came to the hospital straight from a call when I had Luca, and having to smell the smoke off him made me want to throw up the entire time I was in labor. If it will make you feel better, I will stay here with Carina."
"Fine," Maya said, "I'll be back in 5, 10 minutes tops."
"I will be fine," Carina said, smiling, "Go. I will be right here when you get back."
Maya gave Carina a quick kiss before running up to the showers.
"How are you feeling?" Andy asked, sitting down in one of Maya's chairs, "How far apart are the contractions?"
"I am feeling alright for now," Carina said, nodding, "The pain is not too bad. My contractions are still about 9 minutes apart."
Just then, another contraction started, Andy going behind Carina as the doctor tried to breath. The lieutenant knelt down, putting her hands on Carina's back, applying pressure. As the contraction eased, Andy stood up.
"That felt amazing," Carina said, taking a sip from her water bottle, "You need to show Maya how to do that before we leave."
"Sounds good," Andy said, nodding, "You are really a champion. I was screaming so much the whole time until they gave me an epidural."
"I am trying to avoid that," Carina said, bouncing again, "The epidural. As long as the girls are in a good position, I want to deliver them without medication."
"You are planning on pushing two babies out without pain meds?" Andy said, jaw dropping, "Damn Carina, I knew you were a badass, but that is crazy."
"Well, I have natural pain relief I plan to use," Carina said, shrugging, "You know I researched using masturbation for pain relief right?"
"And now I am much less interested in your birth plan," Andy said, laughing a little, "Can I get you anything? Something to drink? A snack? A cool cloth?"
"I am good," Carina said, moving from bouncing to standing, needing to walk around.
However, as she took a step, there was a gush of fluid.
"I think my waters just broke," Carina said, looking down at her wet leggings and the growing puddle under her.
"That's ok," Andy said, guiding Carina away from the wetness on the floor, "Do you have any extra clothes in Maya's bunk?"
"Maybe," Carina said, nodding, "If I do, they would be in the top drawer on the left."
Andy went into the bunk, coming up empty handed.
"We have extra pairs of sweats upstairs," Andy said, "They are stretchy and will at least get you to the hospital in something dry."
Just as Andy was about to go grab the fresh clothes for Carina, Maya walked in.
"What's going on?" she asked, "Why are you all wet?"
"My waters broke," Carina said, pointing to the puddle, "Sorry."
"We need to go to the hospital," Maya insisted, starting at her wife.
"I am gonna go grab her a change of pants," Andy said, "You get packed up."
Maya frantically packed her bag as Andy ran upstairs. Andy reappeared less than a minute later with some pants, handing them to Carina. Maya took her into her bunk, helping her change.
As they walked out, there was another knock on the door.
"Hey, Cap, you coming to the New Year's party to…what's going on?" Vic asked, confused at the sight in front of her.
"Carina's in labor," Maya said, "We aren't gonna make the party tonight."
"Yeah, obviously," Vic said, nodding as she went to Carina's other side, helping her out of the office as Andy grabbed her best friend's bag, following them.
Just as they were about to go out to the car, another contraction started and Carina stopped, grabbing onto the front desk.
"Just breathe Babe," Maya said, replacing Carina's hand that was digging into her back with her own, gently massaging the area that seemed to be causing her the most discomfort.
"They are getting closer together," Carina said, slightly out of breath, "That was only 8 minutes since the last one."
"Alright," Maya said, offering Carina her arm as Vic got on the other side and Andy grabbed Maya's bag, "Let's go."
Within fifteen minutes, they were at Grey Sloan and Carina was being taken to her floor, but this time, instead of being the doctor, she was going to be the laboring mom for the first time.
"Alright, Carina," their OB, Danielle said, coming in, "Let me do a check and we will have a better idea of what's going to happen."
Carina nodded, moving so Danielle could examine her.
"So you are about 4 centimeters," Danielle said, pulling off her glove, "I want to grab a quick ultrasound to see how these two are doing."
At Carina's last appointment, both girls were head down which was good.
"It looks like the ladies have stayed in their perfect positions," Danielle said, "So I am comfortable letting you proceed with a vagina birth as planned. It will have to be in the OR, as you know, but unless they drastically change their positions, you are good to go."
"Grazie," Carina said, nodding as Danielle left.
"We are going to meet the girls today," Maya said, smiling at Carina, "We are going to be moms."
"Si," Carina said, body tensing as another contraction started.
For the next eight hours, Carina labored relatively peacefully. She and Maya walked around the labor and delivery floor, all the doctors and nurses excited for her.
Carina progressed to 6 centimeters, but then, her labor stalled. She tried everything to get it started again naturally, including convincing Maya to give her an orgasm, but nothing worked and after two hours and two rounds of sex, she still wasn't progressing at all.
Danielle finally stepped in and told Carina she needed meds to start labor again because the longer the babies were in with her waters broke, the higher the chance of infection.
Carina knew she was right and relented. After a small amount of medication, and a few more hours, Carina was fully dilated at 11:30 pm.
"Alright, Carina," Danielle said, "We are going to move you to the OR, and then it's time for these little girls to be born."
Carina nodded, holding Maya's hand as her contractions came back to back, barely having a minute between them to recover.
"It hurts," Carina said, breathing shaky as she panted.
"I know," Maya said, dabbing Carina's head with a wet cloth, "You've got this babe."
"I don't know why I tell moms to masturbate to get through this," Carina said, back arching, "That sounds awful right now."
Maya chuckled a little as she tried her best to make Carina comfortable.
By 11:45, they were in the OR and Carina was getting ready to push.
"Just a few more minutes, and we get to meet these babies," Maya said, nodding, "You've got this babe."
Carina nodded, getting ready to push. After fifteen minutes of pushing, Carina was spent, having been laboring for close to 21 hours at this point.
"Get behind me," Carina begged Maya, her entire body feeling like it was being ripped in half.
Maya quickly climbed into bed behind her wife, holding her body up.
"Come on Babe," Maya said, "You can do this."
"One more push and the first baby will be here," Danielle said, "Come on Carina. You can do it."
Carina screamed, pushing as hard as she could.
"She's here," Danielle said, making sure the baby was breathing before putting her on Carina's chest, a nurse immediately wiping her off a little, "12:04 am."
"She's here," Carina said, bursting into tears, "Oh, Maya, she is perfect. Look at her."
"I see her babe," Maya said, tears streaming down her own cheeks as she looked down at their beautiful daughter who was screaming on Carina's chest.
Just then, another contraction started, Carina feeling her entire body tense.
"Alright," Danielle said, "Jen, can you take the baby? Carina, it's time to push again."
Ten minutes later, Carina pushed their second daughter out.
"Oh my goodness," Carina said, looking at the baby.
"She is so perfect," Maya said, putting her hand on the baby's back, "They both are."
"We have two babies," Carina said, tears running down her cheeks.
"Look at the time," Maya said, "They were both born after midnight. They are our New Year's babies."
Carina smiled, leaning back and kissing her wife before both of them went back to staring at their newborn daughter.
Maya got out of the bed after the nurses took the second baby, Carina still have two placentas to deliver which were much easier than the two babies and insisted Maya go check on the babies.
"Here is your oldest," one of the nurses said as Maya walked over to the warmers where the babies were, "She is a healthy 7 lbs. 8 oz. 20 inches long."
"She's perfect," Maya said, putting her finger into her daughter's hand, tiny fingers closing around it immediately as the baby looked around.
"Hi," Maya said, tears filling her eyes, "I'm Mommy. I love you so much Piccola."
Maya spent another minute with her before going to the next warmer. Unlike her quiet sister, their younger daughter was screaming.
"Her lungs are obviously healthy," one of the nurses said, laughing a little, "She is 7 lbs. 2 oz. 19 inches long."
"They are so perfect," Maya said, putting a hand on the squirmy baby, calming her a little, "Hi Patatina. It's ok. I know this is a lot, but you are ok."
Ten minutes later, the babies were back on Carina's chest, the doctor exhausted but beyond happy as she was wheeled back to recovery with her girls.
And they are here! Names to come in the next chapter! This time, it probably really will be a while before I have time to update this story because of school, but I will try my best.