Here's the last part!
Maya walked into her office with a sigh, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes as she sat down at her desk, picking up the coffee Andy had so nicely left for her.
As she took a big sip, she looked at the pictures on her desk. There was one of her and Carina with their beautiful little boy Andrea Jacob on the day he was born.
It had taken them three tries and one miscarriage, to get pregnant with him. The pregnancy had been interesting, Maya struggling to feel any kind of connection with the human growing in her wife which made her stupidly anxious about her ability to love her son.
She had thrown herself in to all things baby, reading every book she could get her hands on about parenting and bonding, putting together the nursery with Carina's direction, making sure the entire house was baby proofed before he even arrived even though Carina kept reminding her that he would not be mobile for months after he was born. Maya had insisted it was best that it was all done before the baby was born, having to have read in one of her many baby books that the first few months with a baby were brutal and that everything that could be done before should be. Carina had just laughed and let her wife do what she wanted because it seemed to calm her down.
Carina's labor with their precious little boy was long and hard. She spent at least the first five hours of it throwing up with every single contraction which made her feel weak and exhausted before she even got to active labor. She ended up laboring for over 20 hours, nothing they tried seeming to help their stubborn little bambino come.
Eventually, Andrea Jacob Bishop-Deluca made his appearance, and Maya instantly fell in love with him, all the thoughts she had before about not being able to love him gone.
For Carina, however, the experience was much different. She had had a massive hemorrhage when he was born that sent her to the OR for emergency surgery about four hours after she gave birth. It had been absolutely terrifying for Maya but had also given her time with her son to bond.
Carina, after the surgery, was too weak to even hold the baby for almost two full days without help. She had had dreams of breast feeding and spending time bonding with Andrea with Maya in the hospital and all of that was taken away. She had tried to feed him, but her milk supply never came in fully which was frustrating for both her and Andrea who liked to eat, leaving the Italian feeling like she had somehow failed her new baby.
Because of her complications, Carina ended up having to stay in the hospital for 5 long days despite Andrea being ready to go after only two. Maya had said she could stay with the baby, but Carina insisted she take him home, get him out of the hospital. Honestly, Carina just wanted peace and quiet which she knew sounded horrible because she had just given birth to an amazing little boy, but she still felt that way.
Eventually, Carina had come home from the hospital and joined her wife and son who had bonded beautifully. It made Carina feel like such a failure as a mother when she looked down at her little boy and felt nothing but emptiness and sadness.
As an OB, she had seen this in her patients many times and had diagnosed them with post-partum depression. However, in herself, she just didn't want to admit it was a problem so she just kept pushing through.
When Andrea was about a week old, he developed colic which made it all worse. He would scream for hours every day, clearly uncomfortable. They tried switching formulas, but it took two weeks every time they did to see if it worked and it took four different formulas before they got the right one, meaning they had a long few months.
Maya had tried to go back to work about two weeks after Carina came home from the hospital because she was trying to save her time off for once Carina was back at work to avoid having to send Andrea to daycare for a little longer. However, when she got a call about a week into her being back from her wife, the Italian woman sobbing that she just couldn't do it anymore and that she was a terrible mother and that the baby would be better off without her, Maya went back home immediately and stayed there until she could get Carina the help she needed.
Luckily, because of all the reading Maya had done, she recognized what was going on and helped Carina get the help she needed. It was a long few months as Carina started on anti-depressants and pretty intense therapy to help her through, but around the time Andrea was six months old, the Italian finally felt like she had a son who she was truly in love with and not an alien who just demanded so much time and attention.
She had gone back to work when Andrea was about 4 months old which had helped immensely, making her feel human again.
Maya had had to go back around the same time, having used up basically all of her days off, meaning Andrea had to start daycare then too. Leaving their young son in the care of virtual strangers had been very hard for Maya who liked to have control over everything, but Carina and all of the other doctors she knew had assured her that he would be just fine, which of course he was.
For Maya, that time had been impossibly hard, watching her wife struggle in a way she simply didn't understand. However, she was determined to help her through it just like Carina had done for her on so many occasions.
When Andrea was about five months old, Maya had been working when suddenly, she received a text from Carina that contained a picture of Andrea that she had taken when she went to visit him on her lunch break.
That picture had made Maya cry and was still one of her most treasured photos because it was the first time Carina had gone to see the baby at the daycare during the day, telling Maya she had actually missed him.
That picture reminded Maya that their little family was going to be ok so on days when being a parent was overwhelming, she would look at that picture and remind herself that they had made it through those dark days at the beginning of Andrea's life and they would make it through whatever was going on then too.
She had looked at that picture a lot over the past week because the past eight or so days had been the most difficult they had had since Andrea's colic had stopped at about four months.
The little boy was now 10 months old and had come down with his first real illness the previous week. He was a daycare kid so he had had plenty of colds that made him extra fussy, but even then, he could usually be soothed with some extra cuddles with Mommy or Mamma.
However, this time, he had come down with the flu and he was beyond miserable. The ironic part was that they had him scheduled to go in for his flu shot the day after he spiked the fever so instead of getting his shot, the baby was diagnosed with the flu.
It had been miserable. Maya and Carina had taken turns staying home with him, trying everything they possibly could to help him feel better. He was truly a miserable mess, throwing up on both of them multiple times, crying and whining for hours on end because he did not understand what was going on with his little body. He had a cough that kept waking him up when he would fall asleep which then made him even more fussy because he was so tired.
Neither Maya nor Carina had gotten much sleep over the past week because the only way Andrea would sleep was if one of them was holding him on their chest. Maya had come home from work one day to find Carina sitting on the shower floor with a sleeping Andrea on her chest.
"He threw up and had the worst blow out I have ever seen," Carina explained as Maya gave her a look, "And then he wouldn't stop crying and it was making him cough more and he was so congested so I got in here, and he finally fell asleep. I tried to turn off the water, but he started to wake up so we have been sitting here for an hour like this. I have never been happier you insisted we have a tankless water heater."
Maya had shaken her head, taken off her clothes, and joined her family in the shower.
Finally, after a full week of being miserable, Andrea had broken his fever two days before, and other than a slight lingering cough, he was fine.
Maya had taken him to daycare this morning even though Carina was off today because the Italian has started feeling crappy the night before, throwing up once before passing out in bed with an obvious fever, the snoring that had kept Maya up half the night an indication of the congestion that was building in her head.
Maya felt bad for her wife and had thought about staying home and helping her, but the blonde had used most of her PTO after Andrea was born to help Carina with her PPD so she decided against it, instead leaving juice, water, and meds on the nightstand along with some crackers and applesauce.
Carina had woken up a little as she left that morning, mumbling something in Italian that Maya knew to mean that she felt like shit and wanted to sleep.
After making sure Carina's phone was within reach in case of emergency, Maya had taken Andrea to daycare, texting Amelia to see if there was any way she could pick the little boy up and keep him overnight so Carina could rest. Amelia had agreed quickly, telling her that if Carina needed anything, to let her know.
Maya herself was feeling pretty exhausted and the headache that had decided to gather in her temples since she dropped her son off at daycare was not helping anything.
She sighed as she stood up, going into her bunk to get changed into her uniform for shift. She was freezing, pulling on her long sleeve under her button up, something she normally only did in the dead of winter, never in early October.
She coughed a little as she headed up to the beanery, wishing her head would quit pounding.
"Alright team," she said, walking into the beanery, "Assignments."
Maya started handing out the assignments for the day before she broke off into a nasty coughing fit that had her almost doubled over by the end.
"Cap, you sound terrible," Travis said as Maya grabbed a tissue, blowing her nose.
"Did you catch what Andrea had?" Andy asked, giving her friend a look.
"I'm fine," Maya insisted, throwing out her tissues before washing her hands.
"You look so fine," Vic said, raising an eyebrow, "Maybe we should call Carina to come get you."
"No," Maya said, shaking her head, "No, she came down with Andrea's flu last night. She needs to rest. I am fine. I'm going down to my office to work on budgets."
Maya went back to her office, her body freezing cold to the point that she grabbed her jacket and pulled it on. She started working on budget reports, but the pen felt heavy in her hand and looking at the words was making her headache worse.
After about an hour of getting nowhere fast, she decided to go lay down in her bunk for a little bit, hoping some rest would help considering she had gotten very little since Andrea got sick. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, not waking up until she felt a hand on her forehead.
"Wha…?" she said, opening her eyes, "Andy? What are you doing?"
"Well, I was worried about you because you came down here almost four hours ago, and you haven't come out since," the lieutenant said as Maya started coughing, "And I knocked, but you didn't answer so I came to check on you. Maya, you need to go home. You look and sound like shit. Go home, get into bed with your equally sick wife, and get some real rest. You are no good to us like this."
"I used up so much of my time when Andrea was a newborn," Maya rasped out, pulling the blanket from her bunk closer as her body shivered, "I need to save what I have left in case something happens again."
"Maya, this is the time to use a sick day, or several," Andy said, "You care barely move. Go home, please?"
"I…fine," Maya said, coughing again, knowing her friend was right.
"Good," Andy said, a little surprised that had worked, "Now, what do you need from me? I've got the station until you get back, but do you guys need groceries or anything?"
"Can you take Andrea tomorrow?" Maya asked, slowly standing up, every muscle in her body protesting, "Amelia's got him tonight so could you pick him up from her? I don't think either of us are going to be up for chasing him around tomorrow."
"Of course," Andy nodded, "I can swing by and get some stuff for him tomorrow and drop off some soup for you two."
"Thanks," Maya said, not even bothering to change out of her uniform, feeling too exhausted, "I…um…I don't remember what I was going to say."
"Go home," Andy said, chuckling a little, "And text me if you need anything. Feel better."
"Thanks," Maya said, coughing as she left the station.
She got in her car, taking a deep breath. They used to live within walking distance from the station, but ever since they bought their house, it was now a good ten-minute drive to the station and the hospital.
Maya somehow managed to get home, almost falling asleep in the car in the driveway before forcing her tired body out and into the house. She slipped out of her shoes, starting to pull off her clothes as she made her way to the bedroom, a hot flash suddenly overwhelming her.
She pulled out some pajamas, setting them on the side of the bed for when she inevitably got cold again before climbing in next to her wife.
"Maya?" Carina said, waking up as she felt the bed shift.
"Hey," the blonde said, offering a weak smile.
"What are you doing home?" Carina asked, coughing a little, "Is it tomorrow already?"
"No. It's still today. It seems you are not the only one Andrea loved enough to share his sickness with," Maya said, blowing her nose, "I tried to work, but I feel like I got run over by an engine."
"So you came home?" Carina said, eyes wide.
"Yeah," Maya nodded, "Being at work is not going to help me feel better."
"Wow," Carina said, smiling a little, "I never thought I would see the day that Maya Bishop came home from work when she was sick."
"That's Maya Bishop-Deluca to you," the blonde said, coughing before she shivered a little, grabbing her sweatshirt, "God, this bug is awful. If this is how Andrea felt, I cannot blame him for how fussy he was."
"Lo so," Carina nodded, "This is awful. Wait, where is Andrea?"
"Relax," Maya said as Carina sat up, groaning as her head spun, "He is at daycare with all his friends, and then tonight Amelia is taking him and then tomorrow Andy is taking him so we can rest."
"Oh," Carina said, laying down again, cuddling closer to her wife, "Good because the thought of having to keep the bambino out of trouble sounds miserable right now."
"Agreed," Maya nodded, rubbing Carina's back a little, "Are you feeling any better than last night?"
"Well, I have not thrown up again," Carina said, "Though my stomach is pretty unhappy the other way this morning. But no, if anything, I feel worse."
"I'm sorry," Maya said, pressing a kiss to Carina's forehead.
"You know, the first time I ever dragged you back home when you were sick, I never thought we would ever be here," Carina said as they both got comfortable, "Curled up in bed together, you having come home from work sick all on your own, sick with an illness our bambino gave to us."
"I never did either," Maya said, shaking her head a little, "But if I am going to do this, I am glad it is you I am doing it with."
"Si," Carina nodded, "I am always glad when you come home to me, Bambina. Always."
And with that, they both drifted off into fever induced sleep, thinking of how grateful they were for the little family they had built together.
And that is the end. What did you think? Also, who else is excited for Station 19/Grey's Anatomy to finally come back tonight?! I cannot wait! Thanks for reading!