A Bambina or Bambino of Our Own

Off to Italy

"I think this might be the stupidest idea we have ever had," Carina said, pulling out 10 onesies from the drawer, adding them to the suitcase that was on the twins' bedroom floor.

"It might be," Maya nodded, grabbing a few blankets and adding them to the suitcase, "But it will be good for the girls to meet your family, and we will have Andrew to help us."

"Si," Carina nodded, grabbing out some dresses, "I know."

"Hey," Maya said, looking down on the floor and seeing Rowan and Nora pulling the blankets she had just put in the suitcase out, "What are you two bambinas doing? I just packed those."

Nora smiled as Rowan reached back into the suitcase.

"Ok," Maya said, scooping up the blonde haired little girl, "You cannot undo all the work Mamma and I are doing. How about you two go play in your crib while we pack?"

Maya plopped Rowan in the crib before putting Nora in as well, handing them some books and a few toys that would hopefully keep them busy. That worked for about fifteen minutes before the girls started getting fussy.

"Alright," Carina said, picking up Nora, "Should we go get you two some lunch?"

Each of them picked up a baby, taking them down to the kitchen.

They were leaving for Italy the following day for two weeks with Carina's family. Andrew was going with them. It was going to be close to 20 hours of travel from Seattle to Sicily with two lay overs, something neither woman was looking forward to with two 10 month olds. However, it was important for the girls to meet Carina's family, and this seemed like the easiest time to do it. The girls weren't walking yet so containing them should be easier, but they weren't so little that they were fussy a lot.

After feeding the girls and putting them down for a nap, Maya and Carina continued packing for themselves, managing to get most of that done during the girls two hour afternoon nap. Carina had made lists of what they needed to bring so they wouldn't forget anything which Maya was grateful for because if Carina hadn't, she would have.

Once the babies were awake, Carina finished packing their stuff while Maya played with the girls. By the time they put the girls down that night, they had mostly finished packing and getting ready.

"Are we really doing this?" Maya asked as she worked on packing the diaper bag.

"Si," Carina nodded, packing her own backpack.

They finished with packing around midnight, Carina crawling into bed and falling asleep quickly. For Maya, however, sleep did not come so easily.

The last time they had been in Italy had been the Christmas before they had gotten married, and the trip had been beyond stressful. Carina's family was big and loud and nosy and overwhelming. They all had a million questions for Maya about her life and her family and her work, and after just two days, Maya was on edge, irritable, and beyond anxious.

She ended up having three panic attacks on Christmas Eve, one before they went to Carina's aunt's house and another one in the middle of dinner, both of which she hid from Carina, not wanting to ruin the first Christmas her fiancé had had with her family in three years. However, when the third panic attack came during opening presents, Maya hadn't gotten away from the group before Carina saw the look on her face. Carina was slightly mad that Maya had hidden the earlier attacks from her and quickly got them out of the rest of the evening, claiming jetlag was really doing a number on them which wasn't far from the truth.

Two days after Christmas, they had a service for Carina's father because this was the first time she and Andrea had been back to Italy since he died. That had also been a lot, and by the time they headed home on New Year's Day, both of them were emotionally drained.