Marina Oneshot Book

Beautiful Life

^^ Ellie and Lola

      Becoming a mother has always been a lifetime dream for Doctor Carina DeLuca, which is why she became an OB/GYN in the first place. She loves children and always wished to have them, especially with her wife of now five years, Captain Maya Bishop. After they got married, Carina and Maya had a long discussion about kids in their future and agreed to start the process after being married for three years.

With Maya being reluctant about becoming a mother in the first place, they decided that Carina would carry the child, but they would use Maya's eggs for the embryo. They also wanted someone that they knew well, to be their sperm donor, which is why they decided to go with Travis, one of Maya's firefighters and friends. The three of them began the process and got the embryos created and met with their doctor about what to do next. She suggested that they start right away with inseminations, so they did one that day.

Within the next month, Carina was pregnant with their first child. Both she and Maya were ecstatic and were thrilled to become parents. They had already created a gender neutral nursery in their apartment for the baby and started buying toys and books. It looked like a great pregnancy so far, until Carina woke Maya up in the middle of the night during her second month because she was bleeding.

They rushed to the hospital, where they found out that they had miscarried. Carina was devastated, but knew that miscarriages were not uncommon in first time mothers, so the couple held their heads high and walked back into the hospital two months later for another insemination.

Two months later and the pregnancy ended just like the first one. A year and eight miscarriages later, Carina gets pregnant again. This time, both women are wary about the outcome and sit on pins and needles just waiting for something bad to happen.

At Carina's twenty week ultrasound to check the baby's progress, the doctor was unable to find a heartbeat. The baby was showing no signs of life, and was stillborn. She was born that day, weighing only fourteen ounces with small strands of blonde hair and a mix of green and blue eyes. Maya and Carina named her Thea Grace Bishop, which means "Gift of God."

After Thea's funeral, Carina and Maya decided to stop trying to have a baby for a few months. At least until they were ready to try again. They both took time off of work to grieve their daughter and stayed inside their apartment for a few days, not even wanting their friends to come see them.

"Come on, guys, it's been four months. Just let us in, please," Andy Hererra, Maya's best friend, pleaded from the hallway of the apartment building. She was standing outside with Vic, Travis, Teddy, and Andrew, not wanting to bust the door in unless they had to.

Maya was lying on the sofa, numb, while Carina was sitting in the shower, claiming that anything else would make her cry if it was too soft. Maya sighed, before slowly getting up and moving to the front door. She was still wearing her grey sweatpants and oversized sweater from the University of Washington. She opened the door, revealing her grieving self to her and Carina's best friends and family.

"Hey, M," Andy said softly as she pulled her best friend into a tight hug, letting Maya rest the weight of her body on her.

They entered the apartment and walked into the living room, each sitting on the two separate sofas.

"Where's Carina?" Andrew asked, looking around for his annoying older sister. "È ancora seduta sotto la doccia (Is she still sitting in the shower)?"

Maya nodded, understanding what he said as she had learned Italian five years ago and was now almost fluent. "Sì, le piace lì. Dice che non è troppo morbido, o almeno non abbastanza da farla piangere (Yes, she likes it there. Says it's not too soft, or at least not soft enough to make her cry)."