39. Chapter 39

Maya had just gotten off work and was thankful on days when her back and knees were a little extra sore that she didn't have to run into burning buildings anymore. She had almost ten years as battalion chief under her belt, and she couldn't be happier with life.

Maya and Carina were as in love and sappy as ever, which their two children teased them relentlessly about. Nicco, their oldest, had just earned his master's degree in engineering. While Elena, their baby, had just started her freshman year of college on the east coast.

The only thing Maya wished for was more time with her family. But, now that her kids were growing up and becoming adults, she saw them less and less. She missed the days of cuddling on the couch, watching some movie that she didn't care about, and the kids' extra noise when they bickered or had friends over.

As Maya walked into her home after work, she noticed three pairs of shoes that didn't belong to her or Carina.

"Babe? Who's here?" Maya called out as she tossed off her shoes next to the others.

She saw two heads poking around the corner, smiling at her as she looked up. Nicco and Elena. "My babies! What? How are you both here? You are supposed to be in New York!"

"Hi, Mom," they said as Maya stood frozen, still not believing her children were home.

"No warning, what?" Maya was unable to form actual sentences as her brain became overloaded with good feelings.

"Good! Mamma said you would catch onto it before we could surprise you."

"Carina! You knew about this?" Maya stepped back to admire her children.

They were both growing into themselves. A few years ago, Nicco had, but Elena was only starting her journey.

Nicco looked eerily similar to Andrea; his short curly hair and scruffy beard only added to it. However, he also carried a seriousness about himself and life that always made Carina double-take when she heard his passionate ramblings as a teen. Maya always wished she had gotten to know her brother-in-law enough to pick up on those similarities, but she was happy Carina could find a part of Andrew in their son.

Elena was basically a carbon copy of her Mamma. Her eyes, hair, smile, everything, including her mannerisms, were identical to Carina. When the kids were younger, everyone teased Maya that Elena was her favorite because she resembled her Mamma so much; their accents were the only real difference.

After all, Carina was always the brightest light in her life, what made Maya's world go round. She loved her kids with everything in her, but Carina had always been her number one. So it made sense why Elena gained some of that favoritism.

"Ah, my babies are so big; come here."

Maya reached out and pulled her children in for a tight group hug. Nicco gave her an even tighter squeeze, and the day he finally became stronger than her, fluttered through her mind.

It was the summer before Nicco started his senior year in high school. He spent every day working out and bulking up with the primary goal of showing off his strength to his mom and finally being able to say he was the strongest in the family.

When he could lift more weights than Maya, she conceded, not without a blow to her ego. But Nicco took his win in stride; he took after Maya with his competitive side.

"I always forget how strong you are now," Maya joked as she took a step back.

"How could you forget after I completely destroyed you at your own game?"

"Ha ha," she deadpanned. "I agreed you beat me. But that doesn't mean I don't get surprised."

Maya shifted her attention to her daughter and admired how much she had grown. Elena had only been away at college for a few months, but Maya could already see her independence settling in. For one, she wore two braids instead of the one she used to copy from Carina.

"Hi, baby girl, I've missed you so much." Maya pulled her in for another hug while Nicco joked under his breath that Elena was the favorite child and walked off to the kitchen.

"I missed you too, but we have been doing good at facetiming."

"I know, but I'm still not used to you being gone."

"Mom, we still talk all the time. I come back home to visit every chance I get. Look, here I am visiting, and we aren't even on any special break. "

"I still think you are too far away. You know UW Seattle had a wonderful program that you could have done, and then you could still live at home. You could still transfer; you aren't that far in your degree yet."

"Mamma, she is doing it again," Elena said, still trapped in her mom's arms.

Carina rescued her daughter from Maya's embrace. "Bambina, it is good for Elena to be making these experiences away from home. But, you know, you are lucky she is only on the east coast; she could have done what I did and moved to a new country to start her life."

"Do not give her any ideas, please two and a half thousand miles is far enough."

"Where was all this concern for me when I went to school in New York? I went to the same school. I still live there!" Nicco called from the kitchen.

"We did have this concern, but it was different with you. You were always so ambitious; we knew early on that you would leave us here. But Miss Elena," Maya said, turning back to her daughter, "decided last minute she wanted to be like her brother and go to the same school all the way across the country."

"Yeah, we didn't have the same amount of time to accept our baby was growing up." Carina cupped her daughter's face while she agreed with her wife.

After the initial greeting was over, Maya was finally able to settle into being home. First, she put her work bag in its place by the front door and hung her jacket in the closet. Then, just as she was about to go upstairs to shower, her name was called from the kitchen.

"Maya, there is someone else here to say hi," Carina yelled.

"Who?" she asked, stepping into the next room.

Another pleasant surprise, Amani, Nicco's long time girlfriend, was sitting next to her son at the kitchen island.

"What? All of you came out! Please tell me this is the end of the surprises; I don't think my blood pressure can take anymore," Maya said before pulling Amani into a quick hug. "Why didn't you come say hi with everyone else?"

"I wanted you all to have a moment. But it is very nice seeing the whole DeLuca-Bishop family together again."

"Yeah, when was the last time everyone got together? Babe, do you remember?"

Carina was pulled out of her cooking and scrunched up her nose in thought, "I think Elena's graduation, which was less than a year ago."

Maya shook her head, thinking that couldn't be right. "What about when we moved Elena into her dorm?"

"I wasn't there for that, mom," Nicco spoke up.

"No, not like the actual moving her in, but we all got dinner that same weekend."

Everyone debated who was where and when before agreeing that Elena's graduation was the last time the entire group had seen each other.

"See! After all these years, bambina, how do you still not believe what I say? I know things." Carina said, dramatically pointing to her head.

After another round of greetings and tellings of old stories, Maya excused herself for a quick shower before having a big family dinner that she missed doing every night.

As she stepped out of her room, Maya was surprised to see Nicco waiting by the door. "Hey, what's up?" she asked, noticing the nervousness radiating off of him.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, actually with Mamma too."

"Carina, babe, can you come here real quick?" Maya called out to her wife, worried about what Nicco had to share. Carina yelled back she was busy, but Maya didn't let it go. "Please, it's important."

Carina quickly found her wife and son standing outside her room and gave them both a strange look. "Che succede?" she asked, mostly looking to he son, who looked a bit pale.

"Nothing bad. I wanted to tell both of you at the same time, but I have been thinking about proposing to Amani."

"What that is-" Maya stopped her wife from being too loud, placing her hand over her mouth. "Amazing!" Carina finished in a whisper once Maya's hand was gone.

"Yeah?" Nicco asked, looking at Maya.

"Yes, that is amazing," Maya said, calming his nerves. "We have been wondering if it would happen for a while. We can tell how happy you two are together."

"When are you asking?" Carina quickly probed, followed by many other questions.

Nicco didn't have many answers other than wanting to spend the rest of his life with his girlfriend, and he was almost certain she felt the same way.

"Well, whatever you do, I'm sure she will love it because the love you share is already so clear. I am so happy you found your person," Maya said, pulling Nicco into a tight embrace that Carina joined in on.

"I had good examples of what a good relationship looks like. I don't know if Amani and I are on your level yet, but I hope we get a fraction of that eventually." With everything off his chest, Nicco had the biggest smile plastered on his face that Maya or Carina had ever seen. "I would be the luckiest man alive if I get a sliver of what you moms have."

Maya started crying as Carina held the hug together.

"I didn't mean to make her cry." Nicco looked wide-eyed at his Mamma. "That was supposed to be a compliment."

"I know it was," Maya said between sniffles. "I just-" she had to pause to take a breath. "I never thought I would have something as wonderful as this life. I never thought I would fall in love and have it be this meaningful, so for you to say-" Maya got choked up again and let go of her son to let Carina fully hold her. "Sorry, these kinds of things really get to me, and I am perimenopausal now, which only makes things worse. You didn't need the details. Thank you. I really appreciate what you said, and I hope you and Amani get to start a new chapter of your lives together that is fulfilling and full of love soon."

"Thank you, Mom. Sorry that your hormones are all messed up, and I made you cry."

"We are both really happy for you," Carina said with tears in her own eyes.

With Maya, Carina, and Nicco missing for so long, Elena got curious about where everyone went. "Why are you all crying in the hall."

"You know my damn hormones are all out of wack," Maya said. "Is dinner ready?"

"Almost; I just have to finish the salad. Elena, can you help me?"

Before she could object or question anyone else, Elena was being dragged back to the kitchen. Just as Nicco was about to follow, Maya stopped him.

"Do you have a ring yet?"

"No, I just started thinking about proposing. I wanted to talk to you and Mamma about it before I did anything."

Maya gave her son a soft smile. Ever since he was little, he always checked in with her and Carina about every decision he made. As he got older and more independent, he came to them less and less, but if there was something big happening in his life, they were still the first people he ran things by.

"I have something for you then."

Maya nodded towards her room and led him to her closet. Then, on a self hidden by Carina's clothes and tucked into the back corner, Maya pulled out an old jewelry box Nicco assumed had followed Carina from Italy.

She pulled out a smaller box containing a gold band that matched the one she was wearing.

"I want you to have this."

"Mom, I can't take your ring. You love your ring!"

"Shh, this house is not soundproof. And this isn't my actual ring. Well, it was for a few years when mine was lost, but it still carries all the same love and superpowers as mine. It's a good luck charm for your new life with Amani to be as healthy and loving as the time I've spent with your Mamma."

Nicco took the gold after hearing it wasn't the ring his mom cherished with her entire being. "I forgot, you used to always talk about this thing's superpowers. Are you sure you want me to have it?"

"Yes, Mamma and I already talked about it. A few times actually, once as a joke when we found my real ring, and then again when we saw a real potential with you and Amani. I've just been waiting for the right time to give it to you."

"I am surprised it's going to me and not your favorite," Nicco teased.

Maya rolled her eyes, almost ready to take everything back. "Maybe I should just save it for her instead."

"Sorry, sorry, I'll gladly take it. Thank you."

"I am so happy for you, Cocco," Nicco scrunched his nose hearing his childhood nickname. "What, you used to demand we only called you that. Niccolo was for when you were getting into trouble, Nicco was for normal, and Cocco was reserved for the most special moments, like now."

"Fine, I will accept it since you have shown me I am secretly your favorite."

"I have no favorites," Maya insisted.

"You so do, Mamma!"

"That doesn't count. She is my wife!"

"Which makes Elena your favorite by default. She is just another version of Mamma."

"I do not have favorites; remember that. The day you were born was the best day of my life and changed it forever. You taught me so much about myself that I never would have believed in. You taught me all the layers and nuances deep inside me and changed my perspective of motherhood," Maya said sincerely before giving her son a cheeky smile. "But I have no favorites."

Carina knocked on the closet door, interrupting their little moment, "Dinner is ready. Oh, sorry, I should have known you were doing that now."

"It's okay; we were just finishing up." Maya hugged her son one last time before following Carina back to the kitchen.

"How did it go?" she asked along the way.

"Good, and now with my magical ring, things will just keep getting better for him."

"You are such a dork."