1. Chapter 1

Hello all! As promised, this is the next installment in the Marina and the Bambine universe. If you didn't read the previous two parts (A Bambina or Bambino of Our Own and We'll Get Through This), you should check them out, but here is what you need to know going into this story: Maya and Carina are married with almost 3 year old twin girls, Elenora Mason (Nora) and Rowan Andrea. Carina was diagnosed with stage 1 cervical cancer about eightish months prior to this story and underwent a hysterectomy and radiation treatments. Andrew Deluca is still alive. If you have any questions as I write this about things that don't make sense, let me know, but I think those are all the big plot points. Now, on with the story!

They decided to wait until Carina's three-month follow-up before they moved forward with their plans to try for another baby. In the car after they had been told Carina was still in remission and that all her tests looked perfect; they called their fertility doctor to set up an appointment to start their journey to baby number three.

The next available appointment was in 4 weeks which was about what they expected. The whole experience was different this time as Maya was the one who was going to be carrying the baby. They also were hoping they would be able to get pregnant using one of the two frozen embryos they had left from their first round, but that if they didn't, that they would try IUI instead because Maya was going to be carrying this time.

Their doctor did tell Maya to go ahead and get some blood drawn though, just to get her levels checked so they could talk about them at the first appointment which the blonde happily did. She was also instructed to start taking a prenatal vitamin to get her body read.

The weeks leading up to the appointment were hectic both with work and with the twins because having two almost three-year-olds was always hectic. The twins were doing amazingly well, both of them in a dance class the daycare offered once a week and loving every minute of it which made Carina incredibly happy because she danced as a kid. They had talked about signing them up for soccer but had decided that with trying to have another baby, their work schedules, and Carina still trying to readjust to her life post-cancer, that it was just not the right time for that.

Carina was doing extremely well, but she still beyond exhausted after working, and she just hadn't built her stamina back up yet. She was getting stronger every day, but she still needed a lot more rest than she did before.

Soon enough, it was time for their appointment at the fertility clinic. They walked in together, hand in hand, Maya going up to the desk and signing in, updating her paperwork before they settled in some chairs in a quiet corner to wait.

"Is it hard being here?" Maya asked, tracing shapes on the back of Carina's hand, knowing that losing her uterus had been one of the hardest things for Carina to deal with mentally.

"A little bit," the Italian said honestly, "It makes me a little bit sad that I will never get to be here for another appointment for myself, that I will never get to have one of our bambini growing inside me, but it also makes me happy. Happy that we have another way to have a baby that cancer didn't get to take from us, happy that I am going to get to see my beautiful wife pregnant with our child, happy that we are going to grow our family. I love you Bambina."

"I love you too," Maya said, leaning up and planting a kiss on her wife's lips, "And I am happy I get to do this for you, for us, for our family."

They sat there for a few minutes, not speaking but just being with each other before Maya's name was called. Maya was weighed and given a brief checkup before being told to change into a gown and wait for the doctor.

"It's nice to be in one of these rooms together for a happy reason again," Maya said, slipping off her pants and underwear after pulling on the gown.

"I agree," Carina nodded.

The two of them had spent so much time in rooms similar to this one during and after her cancer treatment and getting to be in one to think about having a baby was so much better.

"I just have to get an ultrasound today, right?" Maya said, sitting down on the bed, "Just to make sure everything looks ok?"

"I think so," Carina nodded, going over to her side, "And probably a pelvic exam, but you just had your annual appointment so there should be no surprises there. And then we will talk about your bloodwork and about what the next steps are."

"Ok," Maya said, nodding as she held Carina's hand, "I can't believe we are doing this."

"You still want to, right?" Carina asked, knowing Maya had never really wanted to be pregnant and was more than happy that the Italian had been the one to carry the twins.

She knew Maya had said she wanted to, but a small part of Carina was scared she would change her mind.

"Of course I do," Maya said, nodding, "I want another baby and I am more than happy to be the one to carry that baby. Watching you be pregnant with the twins was magical and one of the most incredible thing I ever got to watch, and I am excited to get to experience that myself."

"I love you," Carina smiled, pressing a kiss to her wife's lips.

"I love you too," Maya said, smiling as Carina pulled away.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, Dr. Elizabeth Howard walking in a second later.

"Hello," she said, smiling as she shook both of their hands, "I see we have switched things up this time. Any reason in particular?"

"Si," Carina nodded as Maya held her hand tightly, "I got diagnosed with cervical cancer back in February and as part of my treatment, I had a hysterectomy. I'm good now, had my three month follow up post-treatment about a month ago, and everything looks good, but I obviously can't carry a baby anymore."

"So I decided it was my turn to do it," Maya said, smiling at her wife.

"Wow," Dr. Howard said, "I saw that you two had canceled your appointment back in March, but I didn't know that was going on. I'm so sorry you guys had to go through that."

"We made it through," Maya said, squeezing Carina's hand, "And now we are feeling ready to grow our family again."

"Well, let's see if we can make that happen," Dr. Howard said, "Maya, I am going to do a quick pelvic and then an abdominal ultrasound if that's ok?"

"Sounds good," Maya nodded, knowing what this was like because she had gone with Carina during her appointments when they were trying to get pregnant with the twins.

The exam went well, and while it was mildly uncomfortable for Maya, Carina held her hand the entire time.

"Ok," Dr. Howard said as she finished the physical exam, "Everything looks good. I don't see any concerns there. I am going to let you change while I go grab your lab work results and then we can talk about where we are at, ok?"

"Sounds good," Maya nodded, sitting back up.

Within the next hour, they went through Maya's lab work which was excellent. Her iron levels were boarder line low so Dr. Howard wanted her to add an extra iron supplement to her prenatal vitamin in order to help with that.

They then began discussing the next steps.

It was decided that when Maya started her period in about two days, she would start taking estrogen and do a trial run of the drugs to see how her body responded and make sure they had it right for the frozen embryo transfer. They also decided that as long as all of those results were normal, they would plan to do the transfer at the end of November.

By the time they left, Maya and Carina were both feeling very nervous but also very excited.

True to her normal cycle, Maya's period started two days after their appointment and with it, she started taking her estrogen pills. It made her mildly worried because of how miserable she had been during the initial round of IVF when she had had her eggs collected, but this time was much better.

Two weeks after she started the estrogen pills, Carina also started giving her progesterone injections which was uncomfortable, but not terrible. Maya made it through the whole trial cycle pretty well, though by the end of it, she wasn't feeling great and was struggling with some nausea, but Dr. Howard told her they would adjust that medication a little bit for the actual cycle to see if that helped.

Everything looked good though, and they were given to all clear to try for the transfer the following month. They had decided not to tell anyone that they were trying for another baby yet, just in case something happened, but with how excited they both were, it was hard to keep it to themselves.

The following month, once Maya's period started, she was back on her FET protocol, diligently taking her pills and then letting Carina give her her shots.

The actual transfer ended up being on Thanksgiving which made things slightly complicated because they had plans to get together with their station family that day. Maya was insistent that she would be fine to go to Thanksgiving because the procedure was relatively straightforward and didn't require more than just a simple visit to get the embryo injected. Carina wasn't totally sure that was the best idea, not because Maya would need to be on any kind of strict bed rest physcially, but more so because the Italian knew how anxious her wife was going into this transfer and wanted to make sure she was taken care of properly.

They went back and forth on what they were going to do for the entire week leading up to the transfer, but eventually, they decided that they would go to Thanksgiving but not stay for very long.

Maya tossed and turned all night the night before, her anxiety all over the place. Carina had tried to stay up with her, offering her comfort and calm, but the Italian ended up falling asleep around 2 am.

Maya slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake her wife up again because she knew that Carina's body was still trying to recover from the toll radiation had taken on it and while pretty much everything else was back to normal, Carina's body still needed a lot more sleep than it used to.

The blonde went downstairs, making herself some tea in hopes that maybe it would help her calm down before going to the couch, curling up with a blanket and just scrolling through her phone. She knew that being on her phone probably wasn't the best idea in the middle of the night, but it seemed like a much better idea than just sitting there with her anxiety about what was going to happen.

She desperately wanted it to work because they only had two embryos left and if this one didn't take, they had one chance left before they had to have a pretty serious conversation about how they wanted to expand their family.

Maya scrolled through Instagram and her email, answering a few emails she hadn't gotten to the day before.

She then decided to go into the kitchen and pack snacks and other things for the twins for during the transfer appointment. They had gone back and forth on what they were going to do with the twins during this appointment because they didn't want to tell people they were trying.

Maya had said she could just go by herself, but Carina was having none of it.

They eventually decided to just bring their double stroller and the iPads they usually only used for traveling and just hope for the best. It wasn't ideal, but it would work.

Once that was done, Maya went back to the couch, deciding to try to fall asleep again.

Finally, around 6, after the time she would normally get up to run, she fell asleep.

Less than an hour and a half later, she was woken up by a little body jumping on her.

"Mommy," Rowan said, "Why you sleepin' here?"

"Hey Patatina," Maya said sleepily, hearing Carina whisper yelling Rowan's name as she came down the stairs.

"Rowan, I told you not to wake up Mommy," Carina sighed, "Sorry Bambina."

"It's ok," Maya said, sitting up a little bit, "What time is it?"

"It's a little after 7," Carina said, sitting down next to her wife, "What time did you fall asleep?"

"Sometime after 6," Maya said, leaning her head on Carina's shoulder, "My brain just wouldn't turn off."

"Oh Bambina," Carina sighed, "I'm sorry. I should have stayed up with you. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's ok," Maya said, "I got a lot of emails done. You need your sleep."

"So do you," Carina said, rubbing Maya's back, "Maybe we should just cancel on Thanksgiving, tell everyone we are sick or something."

"No," Maya said, "No, we should still go. I'll be fine and I'll sleep tonight."

"Ok," Carina said, "But we aren't staying very long."

"Fine," Maya compromised, "Now, this transfer is in like an hour and a half so we need to get going."

The whole family got ready to go, Carina making French toast for everyone, knowing it was Maya's favorite, though the blonde struggled to even get down half a piece with how anxious she was.

"I'll make it again tomorrow," Carina said as she watched Maya pick at her breakfast, going and wrapping her arms around her wife, "We can celebrate the transfer being done."

"Sorry I'm so anxious," Maya said, melting into Carina's arms.

"Bambina, there is a chance that our entire lives are going to change today," Carina said, "I am also pretty anxious. It is perfectly normal to have these feelings. I was a mess before all of our transfers, remember?"

"Yeah," Maya nodded, "I guess you're right."

"I am right here with you through all of this, ok?" Carina said.

Maya nodded, just savoring Carina's arms around her body a little while longer before they went back to getting ready for the day. They got out the door on time, Carina reaching over and grabbing Maya's hand as the blonde drove, rubbing calming circles on it.

"Thanks," Maya said, smiling at her wife.

They got to the office which was predictably very empty because regular appointments were not scheduled on this day. Pretty much as soon as they walked in, they were taken back to a room.

"Are these your daughters?" the receptionist, Emily, who brought them back asked.

"Yes," Carina nodded, "This is Rowan, and this is Nora. They will be three January 1st."

"Hi Rowan, hi Nora," the nurse said, smiling at them, "Would you guys like me to watch them during the procedure?"

"Would you?" Maya asked, "That would be so helpful."

"Of course," Emily nodded, "I am here for a few hours to answer phones and make sure the very few patients we have coming in are taken care of. They can come hang out behind the desk with me."

"Rowan, Nora, can you go with Miss Emily to play while Mommy and Mamma have our appointment?" Carina asked, looking at the twins.

"Si," Nora nodded.

"Otay," Rowan nodded.

"Good," Maya said as she and Carina both gave the twins hugs and kisses.

"Here are their iPads," Carina said, "If they get out of hand, there are some shows on them. And if they are really having a hard time, I can come out with them."

"I will," Emily nodded, "But I'm sure they'll be fine. I'll let Dr. Howard know you are ready."

"Thank you," Carina said as the nurse left, "Ok Bambina, you have to take off your pants and underwear and then here is the paper sheet."

"I can't believe this day is finally here," Maya said, biting her lip as she took the clothes off her lower half.

"I know," Carina said, helping Maya sit down on the table, covering her with the paper blanket, "Are you still feeling ok?"

"I mean, I am exhausted," Maya said, "And slightly nauseous, though that is probably lack of sleep and nerves and maybe the progesterone shots. How long do I have to do those?"

"We will have to ask Dr. Howard," Carina said, stroking Maya's hair as the blonde laid her head on her shoulder, "I think I did them for like 8 weeks with the twins, remember?"

"Yeah," Maya nodded, "Kinda. Honestly, I only really remember being so scared that you were going to lose them for the first 12 weeks."

"Same," Carina nodded, holding her a little tighter, "Hopefully, we won't have to do that again."

Maya nodded, wrapping both her arms around Carina, the two of them just providing the comfort they both needed in that moment.

About a minute later, there was a knock on the door, Dr. Howard coming in.

"Alright," she said as a nurse came in with her to help her with the supplies, "Are we ready for this?"

"I think so," Maya nodded, biting her lip.

"Si," Carina nodded.

"Alright, well, let's not wait," the doctor said, "Maya, if you can lay down and then we will get your feet up in the stirrups and get this going."

Carina helped Maya lay down, holding her hand tightly as Dr. Howard got everything ready.

"Ok Maya, we are going to get the ultrasound set up and then we are going to start the transfer, ok?" Dr. Howard said, pulling on her gloves.

"Yeah," Maya nodded as the nurse pulled up Maya's shirt a little, getting the ultrasound in place.

"Ok," the nurse nodded, "I've got it."

"Ready Maya?" Dr. Howard asked, picking up the catheter containing the embryo.

"Ready," Maya nodded, holding tightly to Carina's hand as they both watched the screen, seeing the catheter tip enter the picture.

"And here is the transfer," Dr. Howard said, "Now I am going to take the catheter out and then just double check that we got it out."

Both the nurse and Dr. Howard went over to a magnifying glass, putting the catheter under it.

"Looks good," Dr. Howard said, "Now, you know the drill. I want you to just lay here for half an hour and then you are good to go."

"Thank you," Maya said, nodding.

"I'll see you in about thirty minutes," Dr. Howard said, walking out of the room.

"How do you feel now Bambina?" Carina asked, stroking Maya's hair.

"About the same as I did before," Maya sighed, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Carina shrugged, "I am nervous for you to go through this, and also nervous that it will be like trying to get pregnant with the twins and take more than one transfer. But I know we don't have any control over that so I am trying very hard not to be too worried."

"What are we going to do if this one doesn't work and the next one doesn't work?" Maya asked, biting her lip.

"Let's not think about that right now," Carina said, shaking her head, "We have no control over that and if it happens, we will figure it out."

"We only get two chances at this," Maya said, "There is only one embryo left after this one and what if they don't work and…"

"Bambina, hey, no," Carina said, knowing that Maya was about to have a panic attack, "I know it is scary, but we don't know what is going to happen and freaking out about it is not going to help anything. Let's just take it one day at a time, ok? Right now, you are pregnant until proven otherwise so let's focus on that, yeah?"

Maya nodded, trying to calm herself down. Carina knew that Maya was anxious enough as it was about this transfer and the added not sleeping the night before was only making everything worse. Carina just stroked her hair gently, kissing her cheek and whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

"I love you," Maya said randomly after a little while, "I'm glad you are the one I get to do this with."

"Me too Bambina," Carina smiled, giving Maya a quick kiss, "I love you too."

The rest of the time passed slowly, Maya clearly fighting her exhaustion as her eyes started to slip closed.

"You can sleep Bambina," Carina said quietly.

"I'm ok," Maya mumbled sleepily, "I'm just resting my eyes."

Carina sighed, shaking her head as she continued to stroke Maya's hair. Dr. Howard came back in after thirty minutes.

"Alright," she said as Maya opened her eyes, "Are you still feeling ok?"

"Yeah," Maya nodded, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.

"Ok," Dr. Howard said, "Then you are free to go. Remember, no intense physical activity for the next couple of days, including intercourse. I know you are a runner, but I want you to skip that for the next three days. You can pick up the girls, but nothing heavier than that? And let your wife pamper you a little, ok?"

"Did you put her up to saying that?" Maya asked, looking at Carina.

"No," Carina said, shaking her head, "Don't you remember her saying that to you when I was in your position?"

"Maybe," Maya said, thinking back, "I was fully planning on spoiling you anyway so I probably missed that part."

"I tell all my patients that," Dr. Howard said, chuckling, "This is a lot of stress for your body and you need to let someone else take care of you a little bit. Now, I will see you back in two weeks for a blood test, but if you have any concerns between now and then, feel free to call. And remember, no pregnancy tests ok? You do not need to freak yourself out with those."

"Ok," Maya nodded, "Is it still ok for us to go to Thanksgiving with my team this afternoon?"

"Yes," Dr. Howard said, "But no crazy lifting or anything like that? Just relax. I want you taking it easy for the next few days."

"I will make sure she does," Carina said, nodding at their doctor, "Thank you."

"Of course," Dr. Howard said, "I'll go tell Emily know that you guys are done. She is going to be very sad the twins are leaving."

"Thank you Dr. Howard," Maya said, "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," Dr. Howard said as she left the room.

Carina helped Maya get her underwear and pants back on before they headed out to the waiting room. They found Rowan and Nora playing hide and seek with Emily.

"Mommy," Rowan said, running over to them, "Mamma. We playing hide-a-seat."

"You are?" Maya said, picking her up, "Did you have fun?"

"Si," Nora said, running over as well, Carina picking her up.

"They were great," Emily said, going and grabbing the stroller, "We went on a tour of the office and they really liked the models of the uteruses and the fetal development. They kept talking about Mamma when they were playing with them. They also seemed to actually know the parts they were playing with or at least that's what it sounded like they were saying."

"They play with them in my office," Carina said as she set Nora into the stroller, "I am an OB/GYN at Grey Sloan and I have a lot of those in my office."

"And Carina teaches them all the names of everything," Maya said, looking at her wife.

"What, it is not like they are dirty words," Carina shrugged, "It is good for kids to know proper terms for everything."

"I know," Maya said, shaking her head, "It's still weird that they know more anatomical terms than most adults and they aren't even three."

"No, it is sad that adults don't know them," Carina corrected.

"You're right," Emily said, jumping in, "It always surprises me how much we have to explain to patients who come in."

"I guess," Maya nodded, knowing Carina was right as she yawned a little bit.

"Ok, let's get you home so maybe you can nap before we have to be at Ben and Miranda's," Carina said.

"Do I need to do anything?" Maya asked, looking at Emily.

"Oh, let's get you scheduled for your two week follow up," Emily said, "So two weeks from today is December 9th. Do you have any preference on time?"

"Car, do you work that day?" Maya asked, looking at her wife.

"I do not," Carina said, looking at her schedule.

"Let's do it in the morning," Maya said, "I have a meeting with my captains at 12 so I want it done before that so I'm not distracted the whole time."

"Ok," Emily said, "How does 9 am sound?"

"Perfect," Maya said, looking at Carina who nodded in agreement.

"Ok," Emily said, "Then you are all set. We will see you in two weeks."

"Thanks again for watching the twins," Carina said, smiling at her.

"Of course," Emily said, "It was fun."

"Nora, Rowan, can you say bye?" Maya said, looking at the toddlers.

"Bye Em'ly," Nora said.

"Ciao," Rowan said, waving.

"Bye guys," Emily said as the family left.

"Bambina, is there anything I can get you on our way home?" Carina asked as they loaded the girls into the car.

"I doubt anything's open," Maya said, bucking Rowan's car seat.

"I guess that's probably true," Carina said, closing Nora's door, "But still, is there anything?"

"No," Maya shaking her head, "Let's just go home."

"I'm driving," Carina said, holding out her hand for the keys.

"Car, I'm fine," Maya said, "I can drive."

"I know you can," Carina said, "But remember what Dr. Howard said? I am supposed to pamper you so let me drive, ok?"

"Fine," Maya said, handing Carina the keys as the Italian pulled her in for a hug.

"I love you," Carina said, pressing a kiss into the top of Maya's head.

"I love you too," Maya said, smiling at her wife as she pulled away a little bit.

They drove home, the twins chatting away in the back seat about their time playing with Emily, Maya and Carina responding every so often. When they got home, they got the twins out of the car and back into the house.

"Ok, we have to be at Warren and Bailey's at 2 and it is only 10:30 so why don't you go change into your pajamas and get some rest?" Carina said as she took Rowan's jacket to hang up.

"Don't you still have to bake your crostatas?" Maya asked, "I'll watch the twins so you can do that."

"Bambina, you need to rest," Carina said walking over to her wife, "You didn't sleep at all last night, and you worked late the night before. Rest is always important, but especially now."

Carina took her hands, slipping them under Maya's shirt, resting them on her flat, toned stomach, careful not to press too hard on Maya's bruises from her injections. As soon as she did this, Maya felt tears well up in her eyes, suddenly overcome by emotions.

"Our bambino might be growing in there right now," Carina said as Maya rested her hands over her wife's, "And they need you to take care of yourself, ok?"

Maya nodded as Carina leaned down and kissed her gently before moving her hands to brush the tears off her wife's cheeks.

"Good," Carina said, "Now, go rest. The twins can help me with the crostata. Please go try to sleep."

Maya nodded, heading toward the stairs.

"Mommy," Nora said, looking at her as she walked past the playroom door, "Gonna play?"

"I'm gonna go take a nap right now," Maya said, smiling at the toddler.

"Me too," Nora said, running over to her side.

"No," Carina said, walking over to her, "Mommy is going to take a nap all by herself. You two can come help me in the kitchen if you want."

"Otay," Nora said, nodding, "Are we makin tookies?"

"No, crostata," Carina said, taking the toddler's hand, "We have to go to Aunt Miranda and Uncle Ben's today for Thanksgiving."

Maya smiled as she watched her three favorite girls head toward the kitchen as she went upstairs. She was still pretty anxious, but she was also beyond exhausted. She found one of Carina's old t-shirts that she loved, pulling on a pair of loose shorts, looking at her body as she did so. She had tiny bruises on her stomach from the progesterone injections she had been getting for the past five days, knowing it was only going to get worse as she continued with the shots.

She stopped and looked in their full-length mirror, lifting the shirt again and putting a hand on her stomach, thinking about what it would be like if this transfer worked, how her body was going to change over the next few weeks and months. She couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of a baby growing inside of her. She also was a little bit scared to get her hopes up too high, especially after their experience of trying to get pregnant with the twins.

She put the thought of it out of her head, telling herself there was nothing she could do besides try to take care of herself until they found out if the embryo took. She climbed into bed, grabbing Carina's pillow, and cuddling with it, something she did any time her wife was working overnight.

Napping was not something Maya Bishop ever did, even when she would work a 24 hours shift and not sleep the whole night, she would just come home and push through the exhaustion until it was a reasonable time to go to bed. That has slowly changed once she met Carina, the Italian all but forcing her to take better care of her body.

It has started after Carina had moved in and their schedules had started to sync up at work. Carina would work night shifts and come home exhausted, begging Maya to get into bed and hold her while she slept. At first, Maya thought it was just because Carina was struggling so much with the pandemic so she always obliged. The first time, Maya had laid there awake for close to two hours before falling asleep next to her girlfriend, but the longer it went on, the faster Maya started falling asleep.

It was over a year later, after they got married, that Carina finally admitted that her main goal when asking Maya to cuddle her was because she wanted the blonde to be getting enough sleep, especially during the pandemic to keep her healthy. Since then, Maya had gotten better about napping especially after a long shift, but it was still pretty rare that she would nap any other time unless she was sick. There were also a few times when Carina was going through her treatments earlier in the year that Maya would curl up in bed with her because the Italian was desperate for comfort and closeness when she wasn't feeling well and often Maya would fall asleep for a little while because she was also not sleeping well during that time.

Maya inhaled Carina's scent from her pillow, sighing as she allowed her exhausted eyes to start to close, moving one hand down to her stomach, just resting it there as she fell asleep, dreaming about what might be coming in their future.

What did you think? Do you think this transfer worked? I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soonish. I have it at least partly written, though it isn't done so who knows how long it will take. I have a busy few weeks coming up with school, but I will try to get it done. As you all know, I tend to write more when I am avoiding my school responsibilities. Thank you all for reading! Let me know what you think!

Also, if you want, follow me on twitter: musicgirl1120. I'm still trying to figure that platform out, but I want to use it for updates on my writing I think.