Unravelling the Middle

Chapter 1

I patiently wait for everyone in front of me to finish hugging and congratulating Maddi on her graduation. "...don't you go party too hard tonight. You are my kitchen assistant tomorrow, remember?" Maddi and I both roll our eyes at Lara's maternal tone. I throw my head back when Lara falls into a lecture about adult responsibilities, now that our youngest member is no longer a high school senior.

Good grief, she missed one shift at Lara's restaurant because her flight was late, and all of the sudden she's an irresponsible teenager. Maddi looks around for someone to save her from this conversation and I quickly turn my head. There is no way this kid is dragging me into this. I spot a blonde's head in the midst of the large crowd and stand up straighter for a better look. A tingling sensation kickstarts my heart when I think I see her again before she disappears into a sea of faces.

I lift myself onto my toes to see if my eyes are deceiving me. They have to be missing the sight of my wife as much as the rest of me, since we haven't been apart once since my return from LA. No, I guess it's just wishful thinking that Maya snuck away from Grey Sloan to be here for Maddi today. I know I dropped her off for her check-up appointment and watched her walk into Bailey's office before leaving.

We were planning on coming to Maddi's graduation ceremony first, but then she got sick again last night. She still wanted to stick to our original plan, but I'm no longer comfortable taking chances with her health. What if the McDougal woman managed to poison something else in our apartment? We went shopping a few days ago – she could have paid someone to follow us. Or she could have gotten into our water supply, or the air conditioning in our cars.

There are just too many unknown risks after what happened, and the uncertainty would have driven me up the walls by now. No, rather get surety over her wellbeing now, than being blindsided again later. My only issue with today is how bad I am at resisting my wife's heartfelt pleas. She looked at me with those baby blue eyes, clear of any clouds and demons, and I just found myself nodding to whatever the hell she was saying.

It wasn't until I was halfway here that I realized I agreed to represent the Deluca-Bishops here today, while she got all her tests done. She had that sly chuckle in her voice when I called her to complain about how she tricked me. But her argument was that I'd be sitting in the waiting room the whole time anyway, so I might as well be useful where I'm actually needed. Damn her and her rational mind, and my weakness whenever she whispers my name like that.

If I give my heart even one moment to make my decisions, it will surely do whatever our soulmate asks. No fight, no debate. Merda, if my younger self can see how helplessly in love I am, she'll never let me live it down. "Earth to Carina..." Lara touches my shoulder to indicate that it's my turn. She points to the rest of our group off to the side. "Come join us if you're not in too much of a hurry to get back to Bish." I thank her with a hug but decline the invitation, nonetheless.

She waves at us and promises to tell the rest of our friends that I'm sitting the rest of the day out. "Hey, sweetheart." Maddi can't wait for Lara to disappear around the corner, so she can fling herself into my arms for a crushing hug. "Oh my gosh, thank you so much for giving her a reason to stop talking. I love her to death, but once she gets going, she just won't stop. Between her and Molly, my dad doesn't even have to discipline me anymore.

I chuckle in her ear while rubbing my arms up and down her back. "Well, Maya already had dibs on the cool aunt, so they had to take what was left." She snorts at my way of thinking before shaking her head in the crook of my neck. "You can all be my cool aunts if some of you will just stop trying to mother me. My sisters are driving me up the walls too. I already miss LA. Although, I think living with Dr. King and Dr. Freedman is going to be just as bad. She's scary."