Butterfly Effect

32: Pride and Prejudice

Maya's Pov

Having a wife that was almost nine months pregnant, being in the process of adopting my beautiful daughter and being a fire captain was really starting to take away all of my energy, but even if I was constantly tired, I wouldn't have changed anything about my life.
It was my greatest pride...
All of my life, my dad had taught me that only winning and being the best could have made him proud of me, made me proud of myself... I knew at that moment though, looking at my favorite picture of Hailee and Carina, that there were so many things that made me prouder than that stupid gold medal.
"Hey Bishop, are you okay? You look like hell" a voice arrived from the door, taking me out of my train of thoughts.
"Jeez Andy, thank you for that..." I answered sarcastically, knowing that she was completely right. There was so much going on for me and my family that I didn't actually remember the last time that I had a full night of sleep. Not that I had many of those anyway...
"Sorry, but seriously, you look like a truck just ran over you... There is something wrong?" my best friend asked, sitting in front of my desk.
"No, everything is perfect..." I started "It's just the adoption process that's a mess... Lia is Carina's kid, so our lawyer said that it would be easier to do a... I don't even know what it's called... Reunification? Reunion? Between Carina and Hailee because she was never adopted but only put in the foster system, and then to do a step-parent adoption for me...".
"Is it a bad thing?" Andy asked, confused by the excessive amount of terms that even I had trouble understanding.
"It's not a bad thing, but it's not what Carina and I want, so it's becoming a bit more complicated..." I explained "Everything is just a mess right now. This is a hassle, then there's Carina's pregnancy, being captain, the fact that I'm not able to sleep well lately and Diane's appointments every week. I'm losing my sanity, Andy".
"Okay... You're gonna go crazy if you keep going like this... Just take a deep breath for a second" she suggested, taking one with me "We can work on one thing at the time, you don't need to constantly worry over every single detail of your life".
"Uhm... The lawyer is working on Lia's adoption, so I can worry about it when we actually have a court date..." I started, noticing the smile on my friend's face.
"I... Carina will be coming here in a bit, so we can go home together, and our son will arrive when he's ready, so I shouldn't worry too much about that..." I continued, seeing my wife enter the station's doors.
"If you need help here you can always ask me, Mai. Whatever you need, I'll be there for you, but I know that you got this. If someone got this, that someone is Maya fucking Bishop" she said, bringing a smile to my lips.
Andy always knew what to say to make me feel better...
"It's Deluca-Bishop now..." I corrected her and she laughed with me.
At that moment, Carina knocked on my office's door, opening it after a few seconds. She was stunning. Yeah, she just had a simple pair of gray sweatpants and my oversize t-shirt from the Olympics and her face was tired because of the pregnancy and the long shift at the hospital, but I've never seen anyone as perfect as her...
"Hi Carina" I said with a big smile on my face "Is it already time to go home?".
"Hi Andy, hi Bella" she answered "And yes, your shift ended ten minutes ago and I thought that we could walk home together. I know that you haven't been running, but I can't do that with you at the moment...".
"It's okay... A walk with you sounds perfect right now".
I stood up from my chair, I changed out of the uniform and I quickly said goodbye to my best friend, holding my wife's hand as we walked out of the station.
It was a sunny afternoon, and while we were walking on the sidewalk with our fingers intertwined, I breathed in the soft summer breeze, enjoying the delicate rays of sun on my skin.
"My love, how was your day?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.
"It was long but calm. Your son decided to kick me in the ribs a few times, and I had some contractions here and there..." she answered, starting to talk about the c-section that she had to do that morning, but my mind got stuck on one single word.
"Contractions!? What... What are we doing here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital?" I stopped us, looking with worried eyes at her face in search of any sign of discomfort. She didn't have any...
"Bella, it's okay. Me and Rowan are okay. They were Braxton-hicks. He is still comfortable there, okay?" she reassured me with a smile.
"Are you... Are you sure?" I asked, still anxious about it.
"Si Bella, sono sicura (Yes Bella, I'm sure)" she answered calmly "I even asked Jo to check on him".
With that we started again to walk back home, passing in front of a park. While we were walking slowly toward home, a guy with blonde curls bumped into Carina and I wasn't happy about it. He didn't even stop to see if she was okay...
"Hey, look where you're going!" I yelled and when he turned around to face us my heart stopped.
"Maya?" he asked surprised.
"Mason?".
"Wait what? Mason!?" Carina repeated, just as shocked as me.
"It's been a while sis..." he said jokingly "How's dad? Are you still his pride, right?".
His tone was cold, almost angry, and I didn't even know what to say or do, so I looked helplessly at Carina, asking for help with my eyes.
"Mase, I don't talk to Lane anymore" I tried to speak and he scoffed right in front of me.
"Yeah right, you are his little gold medalist... I'm not a fool, Maya" he spatted out venomous words. His voice was enough to make me shiver and get closer to Carina, looking for comfort.
"Look, you don't know her anymore... You haven't for a while now, so you don't know what you're talking about" my wife stepped in, noticing that I didn't have the strength to speak.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't talking to you but to my sister. Who is she, Maya? Another hook up? Does she know that you're going to kick her out tomorrow morning?" His words were bitter, and for the first time in my life I couldn't stop myself from saying what was in my mind.
He was insulting Carina, and that was the worst thing in the world for me. He could have said whatever the hell he wanted about me, but he was not going to talk shit about my wife in front of me.
"She's my wife, Mason, and I won't tolerate you saying anything bad about her. Are we clear?" I said "Now, I'm sorry, but I have to go home to our daughter...".
I turned around, ready to walk away with my wife, when his voice stopped me again, saying the worst possible thing.
"I bet you're just like Lane was... I bet you'll be disappointed when she doesn't come home with a shiny gold medal around her neck... Are you going to do the same with the second one or they'll be left in the shadow of their 'perfect sister' like I was? Huh? I wonder why your wife is still next to you... What are you doing to her? Gaslighting her to stay or beating her up like dad did to mom?". Those words broke something inside of me, and a couple of tears started to roll down my cheeks.
"Look Mason, you don't know me and I don't know you, but I won't let you insult my wife. She's always talked about you with nothing but love and affection, but right now I can only see an awful person that talks shit about people he doesn't even know..." Carina said, taking my hand and squeezing it.
"I would love to say that it was lovely to finally meet you, but I don't lie to someone's face... So, Goodbye" she concluded her speech, starting to walk home, holding onto my hand for dear life.
She was pissed. Pissed at my brother for his words, but mostly pissed at my dad for breaking me and Mason all throughout our childhood.
When we were almost at home, she stopped me, noticing my sad expression and she gently grabbed my face. She looked at me with love, staring directly into my soul with those gorgeous hazel eyes, always so sweet and gentle.
"You are nothing like him..." she simply said, kissing me calmly on that sidewalk.
It was a simple kiss, sweet and delicate, but it managed to repair the cracks of my heart...
When she looked at me with pure love, I simply said: "Thank you", before taking her hand and continuing our walk home.