Marina Oneshot Book

Marry You

"What do you think about getting married?" Maya asked one evening as she and her girlfriend of two years were eating dinner in the kitchen. She had been wanting to propose to Carina for a few months now, but they never actually talked about marriage, so she decided to wait awhile.

    Carina looked at Maya like she had just been brought back from the dead. "I don't believe in it," she stated flatly, making Maya furrow her eyebrow in confusion. "My parents had an ugly marriage which led to a nasty divorce. I don't want our kids to go through that."

    Now, it was Maya who was speechless. "Who said anything about kids?"

    "I did. I want at least two kids."

    "I-I can't be a mom, Carina. My father was awful to me. I can't have a child be inflicted with that pain," Maya defended strongly.

    "If we get married, Maya, that'll lead to kids. That's what everyone does when they get married."

    "Not me, sorry. Like I said, I can't let anyone have me for a mom. I'll be terrible."

    Carina scoffed slightly. "How would you know? You run away whenever a surrendered baby comes to the station, all except that one little boy a few years ago. You were so good with him and even gave him one of the station's stuffed animals."

    "That's different and you know it," Maya said. "I was just doing my job and waiting until the social worker came to pick him up."

    "You would be such an amazing mother, Maya, but you're too scared to keep the past in the past and just move forward."

    Maya stood up from the table to clear her dishes. "I have put the past in the past, Carina. All I'm saying is that I don't feel comfortable having children," she said angrily before softening her facial expressions. "At least not right away."

    "I guess I can think about marriage."

    "So you guys are still arguing about marriage and kids?" Andy Herrera, Maya's best friend and most faithful lieutenant at the fire station asked three months after Maya and Carina's argument.

    Maya rolled her eyes as she sat down at her desk, allowing Andy to sit in one of the chairs in her office. "Sort of. We haven't talked about it since the initial argument."

    "But you're still together?"

    "Still together, just... with differing opinions on certain topics."

    "How's that working for you?" Andy asked, watching Maya's movements very carefully. "Any feelings you need to get off your chest?"

    Maya laughed softly. "Nope, not really. I'm okay. I know where she stands and she knows where I stand. It's working for us, at least right now it is."

    "Cap!" Someone said from the hallway by the front door of the station. "Come here, please!"

    Maya ran out of her office, to find her other friend Vic standing there, watching a little girl walking around. She did not look a day over ten and she looked traumatised.

    "She just walked in, hasn't said anything," Vic explained, giving Maya time to figure out how to approach the little girl.

    She cautiously walked to the young child, who turned around and just stared at Maya. "Hey, sweetie. My name is Maya, I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to know your name and how old you are."

    The girl looked between the floor and Maya, unsure of what to say. She finally settled on, "I'm Mac and I'm twelve."

    "Good, good," Maya said as she put a reassuring hand on Mac's back, rubbing it gently, and catching the eyes of her friends. "Why did you come to the fire station, Mac?"