Come Fly Away With Me

Italian Homecoming

"Signore e signori, stiamo iniziano la nostra discesa..."
Carina put her book down and looked over at Maya and Liam who were both sound asleep, Maya leaning against the window with Liam secured in the hammock she made around her neck and under her arm. Carina smiled and pulled her phone out of her bag, taking a picture of them before she laid a hand gently on Maya's thigh and rubbed it.
"Bambina, we are here."
Maya grunted but didn't open her eyes, instead just putting her hand out and waiting for Carina to grab ahold of it. Against her chest, Liam flutter inhaled before exhaling a contented breath. Interlacing her fingers with Maya's, Carina leaned back and closed her eyes as the plane made its way down and bumped twice before slowing and taxiing toward the gate. As the plane came to a stop, Maya opened her eyes and looked down at Liam before looking over at Carina.
"I can't believe you finally brought me to Italy. I'm not going to lie, I'm excited."
Carina smiled, leaned over and kissed Maya, holding her face for a moment and staring into her eyes.
"I can't wait to show you around Bambina. Ora dai andiamo."

As they exited the terminal, Maya's face scrunched up in confusion.
"I thought Katie said she'd be here waiting to pick us up."
"Bambina, something you should remember is that in Italy, time doesn't always move at the same speed as the rest of the world."
Maya turned toward Carina to respond just as two men approached.
"Maya?"
"Uhh, yes, can I help you?"
"Please come with us."
They motioned to a black SUV and moved to grab the luggage as Maya stepped between her and Carina.
"Whoa, hang on, just who the hell are you?"
"We're your pick up service. Please just get in the SUV."
As one of the men moved past Maya his jacket opened slightly and Maya saw the gun attached to his belt. She felt a slight panic rise in her chest but then realized that neither one of them looked Italian. Clearing her throat, Maya asked a question.
"How's the weather in Hawaii?"
The dark haired guy turned and looked at her.
"Perfect for surfing. Now can we please get you all to the SUV?"
Maya looked at Carina and nodded, placing her hard on the small of her wife's back and guiding her and Liam toward the SUV. They piled in and Carina buckled Liam into the car seat before buckling in herself. Maya got in last and was buckling her own seatbelt as the SUV pulled away from the curb and headed out of the airport. The dark haired guy turned around and looked at them as they entered traffic.
"Sorry for the rush but Whistler wanted you out of the airport as quickly as possible. My name is Kai and that's Jessie."
Jessie kept his eyes on the road but waved as Kai continued.
"Doctor Deluca-Bishop, we swept the villa and cleared your family members so they will be able to get in. But Whistler said that Maya might have more names for us. We are going to need those so we can clear them as well."
"Of course, but please, call me Carina."
Kai smiled and nodded as his phone rang and he answered it.
"Yes we have them...no...yeah Lucy I know...ok, tell Whistler we-"
There was a sudden BANG and Jessie gripped the wheel as the SUV pulled hard to the right. Carina grabbed Maya's hand as Jessie brought the SUV to a stop and Kai finished his phone call.
"No it's fine, we blew a tire...yeah, we'll get it changed and be there shortly."
Both men got out and moved to the back. Maya looked at Carina and nodded.
"It's ok, it's just a blowout but I don't want you to live in fear every time something happens though so tell me now if you want to go back home and that's what we'll do."
Carina took a deep breath and stared into Maya's eyes.
"You're serious aren't you?"
"I am babe. I will cancel everything and we will go back to Seattle to live as normal a life as we can. Say the word and it's done."
Carina felt the tears building in her eyes as she leaned over and kissed Maya.
"Grazie amore mio, you are incredible and I love you. But no, we will do this and we will be fine. I'll be ok, I just want to get to the villa and see my family. I want them to meet you and our son. And I want to cheer you on because you are amazing."

The SUV turned onto the gravel road and Maya looked out the front windshield as a traditional Italian villa came into view. She turned to Carina, eyes wide as her wife smiled and nodded.
"This is your family's house?"
"Si, it was my nonna's and the family still stays here. Maya, listen to me, I have a few Zio's and Zia's that do not approve of-"
The SUV barely came to a stop when Maya's door flew open and a group of ten or so people began yelling in Italian, smiles on their faces as they practically dragged Maya out of the vehicle. Carina unbuckled Liam and held onto him as she climbed down and was surrounded by family, all of whom began talking over each other and hugging Carina. Maya smiled and nodded, the onslaught of Italian overwhelming her to the point where she couldn't keep up. She watched in amazement as Carina seemed to be answering every question at once with ease. Before she knew it, the group had managed to swarm her to the edge of their circle and Maya found herself standing near two women and two men who were staring at her, frowns clearly visible on their faces. One of the women stepped forward and wiggled a finger at Maya.
"E suppongo che tu sia la donna con cui viv Carina?"
Maya smiled and nodded as she held out her hand.
"Si, sono la moglie di Carina. E un piaciere conoscerti."
"Basta! E vergognoso come vivi e non lo riconosciamo!"
Maya blinked and just stood her ground for a moment before squaring her shoulders and replying.
"Questo e un tuo diritto mo non determini la felicita di Carina. Mi piace la amo e non vado da nessuna parti. Puoi accettarlo o possiamo evitarci a vicenda. La tua selta."
The older woman squinted her eyes and stared at Maya before snorting and turning her attention to Carina who had been standing silently behind Maya for the exchange.
"E un'audace Carina. Ma ne parleremo piu tardi. Benedizioni a tuo figlio."
And with that, the group of them turned and walked away, speaking quickly to each other as they disappeared behind the side gate. Maya turned around, her cheeks red, and looked at her wife.
"I'm sorry, but I just couldn't-"
Carina grabbed Maya by the back of the neck and kissed her deeply as her cousins began cheering behind them. She pulled away when Liam began patting their cheeks and spitting raspberries.
"I love you Maya. That was fantastico."
Maya just smiled in response as Carina kissed her again.

Carina was conversing with two of her cousins and gesturing to Liam as Maya finished her makeup in the bathroom. She came into their suite and stood smiling, waiting for her wife to finish giving instructions. She cleared her throat and stepped up, sliding her hand onto Carina's lower back.
"Babe, we need to go. Katie is waiting and wants to introduce us to Lucy."
Carina nodded and blew kisses as she allowed Maya to guide her toward the door. Once outside their suite, Maya looked around before turning to her wife and making a sweeping gesture.
"Ok, I'm officially lost, you need to get us to where we need to go."
Carina's eyes sparkled as she pulled Maya into a small alcove and pressed her against the wall.
"Bambina, do you know how badly I want to vaffanculo right now? Do we really have to go meet Kate or do we have some time?"
Before Maya could answer, Carina's mouth was on hers, her tongue deeply probing. Maya felt herself melting against the wall as she returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around Carina's waist before pulling away again.
"You are insatiable my love, but we do have to go meet Katie. However nothing says we have to spend the entire night chit chatting with her and her girlfriend."
Carina's eyes crinkled as she kissed Maya once more before backing away and taking her hand.
"Andiamo. The sooner we get through this, the sooner we can-"
"Ahhh, don't finish that line. I want to keep the anticipation alive in my head."
They both smiled as Carina led them down toward the gardens.