A Bambina or Bambino of Our Own

One Starting One Ending

Their maternity leaves were overlapping for two days. Maya had gone back to work for two days after Carina started feeling better, working late both days as she got ready to go on leave.

She was still planning on doing a little work when she had time, but that was going to be minimal because she wanted to spend as much time as she could with the girls and Carina when she wasn't working.

As the day arrived for her to go on leave, however, Maya found herself getting more and more anxious about what would happen. She knew everything would be fine, but because she had just earned this promotion, she worried about being judged by others, worried about letting her boss down, and worried about what would happen in her absence.

On her last day in her office, Andy came in as she was working long after she should have gone home.

"Why are you still here?" her best friend asked, sitting down.

"I'm just trying to make sure I have all my files in order," Maya said, shrugging.

"You're having a hard time with this, aren't you?" Andy asked, "Going on leave I mean."

"I'm excited about the time I am going to get with Nora and Rowan," Maya said with a sigh, "But leaving all of this... I don't know... Do I sound like a bad mom because I'm having second thoughts about being off for 3 months? That I'm kinda starting to dread just being the babies 24/7?"

"No," Andy said, shaking her head, "You are allowed to love your kids and your job. And it's a change, a big one for the next few months."

Maya nodded, putting another file on her shelf.

"I promise to keep you in the loop with everything happening here," Andy said as Maya put one last binder on her shelf, "Now, come on, your desk is immaculate, your files are away. Go home. It's almost midnight. I'm sure Carina is waiting for you."

"Yeah," Maya said, "I texted her and told her it was going to be late tonight. Hopefully, she and the girls are all asleep when I get home. Why are you up?"

"Couldn't sleep," Andy said, shrugging, "Robert and I were going over adoption paperwork before shift today, and it's all a lot."

Robert and Andy had finally decided that they were going to adopt to grow their family which would let Andy keep working instead of going through another pregnancy. Also, for as much as Andy wanted another baby, her pregnancy with Luca had been rough on her body, ending up with her on bed rest for the last two months of being pregnant so not going through that again seemed like a good idea.

"How is it going?" Maya asked as she packed her bag.

"We're in the middle of background checks right now," Andy said, "Which means we are going to have to explain Robert's arrest from during the pandemic which our lawyer insists won't be an issue because he wasn't officially charged, but it's still nerve racking. And his trial here and his addiction which hopefully won't be an issue. It shouldn't according to Washington rules. I mean, he's been clean for almost five years and he goes to AA and does everything he's supposed to."

"Well, if there's anything you need, let me know," Maya said, "I was there during that whole thing, and I still can't believe what happened."

Andy nodded, not particularly enjoying thinking back to that time in their lives.

"Actually, I was going to ask, could you write a letter for us," Andy said as Maya stood there, "Like a letter of recommendation basically, just saying we would be good parents. I can send you the official thing."

"Of course," Maya said, nodding, knowing she knew Robert and Andy better than just about anyone, "I would be happy to. Any kid would be lucky to have you two as parents, and Luca as a brother. He's so sweet with the girls."