Let Me Carry You (Carry You Home)

27: A Weekend Getaway

Motherhood was still something that Maya and Carina were getting used to. It was exhausting, thrilling, lovely and heartwarming, and despite the fact that they didn't have legal custody of either of their girls yet, as technically they were fosters, both women knew that Sarah and Lucia were a part of their family. They were their daughters.

Of course, there were still issues that came up every now and then, but both women loved being moms. It filled them with warmth. They were still working on communication and teaching Lucia how to read. Lucia's situation was a challenging one, as she could not speak in sentences or tell them what she needed, as she only knew a handful of words. But, with each day they learned new things, and overcame obstacles as a unit.

As well, they had their doctor's appointment for Lucia yesterday, which had been dramatic. Lucia was deeply distrusting of adults, given her past (most of which neither Maya or Carina knew the extent of), so this doctor's appointment, which was necessary, had not been a pleasant one.

Through all the tears and screaming, Cormac Hayes was gentle as he measured her weight and height, gave her vaccinations, and a general health checkup. Maya had been on the verge of tears for the entire duration of the appointment, her heart shattered for Lucia. The doctor's visit caused a lot of stress on Lucia; so much so that Maya couldn't put Lucia down for over an hour afterward. The only consolation to Maya was how Lucia trusted and clung to her, Lucia giving a grip that nearly choked Maya, but with a little bit of subtle loosening, all was good. Maya walked around Grey-Sloan with her youngest in her arms, heading up to Carina's office so that Lucia could be even more reassured.

Carina provided more assurance, and after ten minutes of singing to Lucia while Maya bounced her up and down, Lucia was asleep. Maya made her way down to her car, where she ever so carefully, transferred Lucia into her booster seat. Yet another heart wrenching aspect of Lucia's situation; she was so small and malnourished that she didn't fit the requirements for a child's booster seat, but a toddler one, despite being five years old. Maya buckled her up, praying that she didn't wake.

Luckily, Lucia didn't. After gathering all her things and then balancing Lucia in her arms, Maya made her way inside. As Maya carried her sleeping girl towards her room, she paused, listening to Lucia's small breaths. If she focused, she could hear the barest resemblance of snores. It was such an unfamiliar feeling to have a child asleep on her, but by god, was it ever fulfilling. Just like Sarah did, Lucia learned to trust Maya and Carina. And the girls clung to them.

Maya settled on her bed, reading as Lucia slept in her arms. Sarah was still in school, so Maya sent her a text asking how her day was going. Things with Sarah were also going well, and after the recent events where Sarah had been attacked at school by bullies, both moms were that much more concerned.

A notification pulled her from her thoughts.

Sarah <3: It's going pretty well. We're learning about ancient civilizations in history, and I'm super excited! Art class was also fun, and science was interesting. I've got some fun facts to share when I get home!

Their little nerd. Maya chuckled, typing out a response before she was hit with an idea. She and Carina had been speculating about going away, but then they'd met Sarah and everything had changed. Now that Lucia was more settled, and life had calmed down, resuming that suggestion but with the four of them was a real possibility.

After replying to Sarah, Maya opened her text conversation with her girlfriend, and drafted a message.

My love <3: Hey, remember how we were going to go on a vacation, like six months ago? What if we went this weekend, the four of us?