Leila's Life (Maya and Carina Fanfic)

Meeting Andrew

A/N: I'm back!!!!!!!!! After a long hiatus!!!! I just started paralegal classes so my goal is to update once a week. I have some Italian dialogue in here; I apologize in advance if I didn't write it correctly (please correct me if necessary; I'm not trying to intentionally insult anyone). 

No POV

Carina was checking on the progress of everything cooking when she heard knocking on the door. She turned down the burners before leaving the kitchen to answer the door.

She opened the door and saw her little brother; she looked at him with a combination of love and slight annoyance.

"Wow! Look who became a housewife..." Andrew said, now Carina became really annoyed. "Oh sta 'zitto Andrea!" she shouted throwing the kitchen towel that was on her shoulder at him; she walks away.

Andrew catches the towel and follows Carina into the apartment. He laughs "I'm sorry...I was only kidding. I know this is a stressful night for you" handing the towel back to Carina. Carina looks lovingly at Andrew before taking the towel back.

"Everything smells amazing" he says. "Thank you...and I'm sorry. I guess I am a little more stressed out than I expected" Carina replies before looking back down at the stove.

"Hey...I understand. From everything you've already told me about Leila, she hasn't had it easy" he says.

Carina looks back up at him, getting tears in her eyes "she's been through hell Andrea...from seeing her sister murdered and almost getting killed herself to going through terrible foster homes..." Carina starts crying.

Andrew grabs Carina's shoulders "Hey...for what it's worth, she's landed with absolutely the right people. I know you and Maya are doing your damndest to give her the best life possible...I haven't even met her yet and I already know I'm gonna love her" "Sniffling thank you Andrea". Andrew pulls Carina in for a hug; which she reciprocates.

After a few moments they pull apart. "Now how are we doing this?" he asks.

"Well, you know she's still extremely terrified of men so don't make any sudden movements toward her. Feel free to ask her questions; she may talk to you, she might not. Maya and I will try to encourage as much as possible" he nods.

They hear a door open; Maya comes out of Leila's bedroom. "Andrew, hi!" "Hi Maya! It's good to see you again" "you too" he replied before they quickly hug. "Leila's still a little nervous so I'm gonna get her once dinners on the table". They nod; "well, why don't you two help me serve" Carina says.

Everyone served themselves some pasta, salad, and bread. Carina put her plate on the table and quickly went back to the kitchen to prepare Leila's plate. Maya and Andrew put their plates on the table, Maya looks at him "ready to meet her?" "Yeah" he says smiling. Maya walked towards Leila's bedroom.

Leila POV

I'm sitting on my bed; I can barely hear everyone talking in the living room. Andrew sounds nice from what I could hear, but I'm still really nervous to meet him.

I don't know if I'll be able to say anything to him...I really want to like him, he's Carina's brother. Knock Knock Knock.

I jump a little at the sound of the door knocking. "Y-yeah?" I ask shakily. The door slowly opens and I'm relieved to see Maya. "Dinner's ready...you ready to meet Andrew sweet girl?" she asks.

I take a deep breath "I guess so". I get up from my bed and walk towards Maya.

Maya puts her hand on my back as I walk out of my bedroom. I see Andrew sitting at the table and Carina putting a plate of food down on the table. I suddenly stop; overcome with anxiety and fear.

I feel Maya squeeze my shoulder. "Shhhhhhh...you're ok angel" she whispers to me and kisses the side of my head.

Carina POV

I got Leila's plate of food and placed it down on the table across from Andrea. Maya and I felt having Leila sitting too close to Andrea would be too much on her; we both wanted this first meeting with Andrea to go well. I look up and see Maya and Leila at the other end of the room. "That's her isn't it?" Andrea whispers to me. I look at him and nod; "Dinner is served bellas!" I call out.

No POV

Maya gently coaxes Leila closer to the table; Leila's eyes are still fixed on Andrew. "Leila, this is Andrew, my brother" Carina says. Leila gives Andrew a quick wave before sitting down at the table; Andrew gives Leila a sympathetic smile. There was a lot of conversation between Maya, Carina, and Andrew during dinner, but Leila remained silent, focusing on the plate of food in front of her.

"So Maya, I imagine you don't get a lot of free time during your shifts" Andrew says. "It depends on the day" Maya says. "Andrea, it's just like working at the hospital; it depends on the emergency" Carina interjects. "We refer to them as calls at the station" Maya says. Maya and Carina look at Leila (who is picking at the scraps on her plate) and then look at each other with a look of helplessness; they both want Leila to try to talk to Andrew, but they don't know how to get a conversation going between them.

"Anyone want dessert? I have some gelato in the freezer" Carina says. "Stracciatella?" Andrew asks excitedly. "Yes; I know it's your favorite. Maya, do you want to start clearing?" Carina gets up from the table and winks at Maya; now Maya understands what's happening. "Absolutely" Maya gets up and clears the dishes. Maya and Carina head into the kitchen.

Leila POV

Dinner was going ok I guess. I've been too nervous to talk to Andrew; not that I don't want to, but I don't know what to say. When Maya and Carina got up from the table I started freaking out, but maybe this is the best time to talk to Andrew. "Stracciatella is your favorite flavor too?" I ask quietly looking up at him.

He looks over at me and smiles, "yeah. Has Carina introduced you to other Italian foods?" "I can't eat her homemade pasta because I have gluten sensitivity, but I can name and recognize over 10 kinds of pasta" I say. "Wow! I don't think I could do that" he says pretending to be surprised; which makes me smile.

"What grade are you in?" he asks. "I'm a sophomore, so 10th grade" I say. "Ah, I remember my 10th grade year...what's your favorite subject?" "I really like history" I said. "That was one of my favorite subjects too" he replies. "Do you have a favorite sport?" he asks. "Not really, but I watch a lot of baseball and football games with Maya".

"Ah! So you're becoming a Mariners and Seahawks fan?" "Kind of..." I think I feel comfortable enough to ask Andrew something. "Can I ask you something?" I ask, still kind of quiet. "Of course you can". "If you and Carina are brother and sister, how come she has an accent and you don't?" He looked a little shocked by my question.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." I look down; Andrew cuts me off. "No, it's ok. Um..." I looked back up at him "when I was about a year or two years old, our parents started having problems. Eventually, they got divorced. And when they did, our Mom took me with her to America; leaving Carina in Italy with our Dad".

"What?!" I was shocked; Carina's mother left her?! "Yeah, Carina was about 10 when that happened" he replied.

No POV

Maya and Carina looked over and saw Leila and Andrew talking. They could see Leila smiling; she seemed to be letting her guard down. "It looks like they're hitting it off" Maya says. "Sighs in relief; I was so afraidthis was going to end badly" Carina replies. 

"Carina, Leila wanted to meetAndrew. She wouldn't have said yes if she wasn't comfortable" Maya says. "Iknow bellina. I just want Andrea to help her see that not all men are going tohurt her; to be another person she can trust" Carina replies. 

"He will. It won'thappen right away, but the more she sees him, the more comfortable she'll be...whydon't we go back to the table before the gelato melts" Maya and Carina walkback to the table with gelato for everyone. As the weeks went by, Leila didbecome more comfortable with Andrew.

This didn't come out the way I wanted, but I have better stuff coming (ideas that I've had for months). 

I think that's enough prequel stuff for Leila so now the story will pick up where "Reunited" left off.