Archive of Our Own

Maya hated Valentine’s Day. Everyone knew that. She didn’t see the point. If anything it was a marketing ploy to get people to buy sappy cards, crappy chocolates, and flowers that were going to die in a week. The only upside was that it was extremely easy to find a willing, lonely participant for her to bring home. Not that finding someone was ever a problem for her. Valentine’s Day just wasn’t worth the hype in her opinion.

But then, she met Carina.

As soon as she laid eyes on the woman in the bar, it was like her entire world shifted on its axis. She was finally able to allow herself to love and be loved. Now, she understood why everyone loved Valentine’s Day so much. She was all for spoiling Carina everyday, but it was nice to have an excuse to do it for an entire day.

However, therein lies the problem. Maya isn’t exactly one for big gestures or feelings, that’s more of Carina’s thing. Her work with Diane was starting to help her allow herself to be more vulnerable and open, but it was still hard. Due to this, in years past, she had never really done much for Carina on Valentine’s Day aside from giving her a card and taking her out to a restaurant. Followed by their own “special” activities of course.

She wanted this year to be different. Which is why she took the entire day off to prepare. Another thing that was very unlike her. But after almost losing Carina, taking a personal day to make her feel loved and special was a no-brainer. She looked around the apartment nervously as she looked at everything that she had done. Granted, she had probably gone overboard, but if anyone deserved it, it was Carina. She almost laughed as she took everything in. If someone would have told her a few years ago that she’d be doing all of this for her wife, she would never have believed it. Yet here she is.

The table was set with Carina’s favorite pasta dish. She had opted for ordering the food instead of cooking it, not wanting a repeat of the food poisoning escapade. There were five different vases with flowers scattered around their apartment - she couldn’t decide which Carina would like best. And, of course, there were quite a few gifts.

Maya smiled at how everything had come together before going into their bedroom to change. She had chosen a new outfit that Carina had never seen before. It was a low cut, white button up that she paired with some dark blue - and very tight - dress pants. It showed just enough that it was going to drive Carina crazy. After all, what’s the fun of dressing up if there’s no element of teasing to it?

She walked back into their living room, unsure of where to wait. Carina was due to be home any minute now. She had texted around ten minutes ago that she was leaving the hospital so Maya knew she couldn’t be far. She walked around once more making sure that everything was perfectly ready and in place before turning on some soft Italian music and sitting on a barstool with a glass of wine.

It was only around two minutes later when she heard the sound of a key in the door. She stood up, two wine glasses in hand, and went to greet her wife.

“Maya?” Carina looked around with shock on her face as she set her things down. “What is all of this?” Maya placed a quick kiss on her lips as she handed her the wine. She felt her body grow warm as she saw Carina’s eyes track her body, taking in her outfit choice.

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Maya simply smiled, in awe of how her wife could still look so gorgeous even after a ten hour shift.

“Since when do you plan surprises for Valentine’s Day? Or at all?” Carina’s tone was teasing, but Maya couldn’t help but to feel slightly guilty. Carina was right, she wasn’t one to do things like this.

“Since now. I know that, in the past, I’ve never been one for big gestures to show you how much I truly love and cherish you, but I want to start. Valentine’s Day seemed as good of an opportunity as any.” Maya walked them further into the apartment, allowing Carina to see everything. While this was for Carina, Maya selfishly wanted to show off how perfectly everything was placed and how much work she had put into it.

“This is incredible.” Carina met Maya’s lips in a soft kiss. “Thank you, Bambina.”

“You deserve the world, my love. But this is the best I could do on such short notice.”

“It’s perfect.” Carina took Maya’s wine glass from her and brought her hands up to cradle Maya’s face. She guided their lips together in a passionate kiss. If this was the kind of reaction that planning surprises got her, she was going to start doing it a lot more often. Maya moaned into the kiss, relishing in the feeling of Carina’s lips against her own, her hands on the small of Carina’s back pulling her closer. It was only when she felt Carina’s tongue trace her bottom lip that she reluctantly pulled away, electing a whimper from Carina.

“As much as I would love to do that right now, dinner is going to get cold. We’ll have plenty of time for that later.” Carina grimaced slightly at the mention of dinner. “And before you say anything, I didn’t cook it. I ordered it.”

“Thank God.” They both laughed, moving over to the table. Maya pulled out Carina’s chair for her before moving to sit in her own seat.

They kept their conversation light during dinner. Mostly Carina sharing birth stories from the day and Maya detailing some of the planning that she had done. As they finished, Carina went to move her dishes into the sink.

“Just leave them. I’ll get them later.” Maya shocked even herself with this statement. She always wanted things cleaned as soon as they were done with them. But today, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my wife?” Carina looked at her with a small smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Someone who wants to show her incredible, sexy, perfect wife her gifts so that she can take her into their bedroom for a night of mindblowing sex.” Carina’s breath hitched at her words causing Maya to smirk. She loved the effect that she had on Carina, even just with her words.

“Well then why are we just standing here?” Carina walked into Maya’s space and leaned down to lightly bite her earlobe. “I have a few ideas on how to thank you,” she whispered. Carina turned on her heel, starting towards the living room leaving a stunned Maya behind. It took a beat for Maya’s brain to start functioning enough to follow her wife. She grabbed the presents and set them on the coffee table as she moved to sit next to Carina on the couch.

“Here,” Maya said, handing her a small bag. “Open this one first.” This one was a small gold bracelet with three hearts linked in the middle. “For me, you, and our future little one.”

“Bambina,” Carina breathed out. “I love it.” She leaned in to kiss Maya before holding her wrist out to allow Maya to put it on her. “Perfetto.”

“Okay,” Maya took a deep breath before handing her the next one. “This one next.” She was pretty nervous for this one, not knowing how Carina was going to react. She was scrolling through her photos one day after a tough therapy session and found a picture that she had taken of Carina and Andrew. She honestly didn’t even know she had it, and she was certain Carina had never seen it before. She decided to frame it and give it to Carina now. Carina gasped as soon as she saw what it was, looking up at Maya with tears in her eyes.

“Where did you get this?” Her tone wasn’t accusatory, just curious.

“I found it in my camera roll. I didn’t even know I had taken it.” The photo was perfect. Both Carina and Andrew were mid laugh. They both looked so happy and carefree.

“This is amazing. Thank you,” Carina took a shaky breath. Maya couldn’t help but to lean in and kiss her. Carina sunk into the kiss and moved her hands to frame Maya’s face.

“Last one,” Maya announced as she pulled back. She handed Carina a bag not being able to hide her wide smile. This was her favorite one by far.

“Wait, my turn first.” As much as Maya wanted Carina to open her last gift, she just couldn’t say no to the adorable and excited look on her face.

“Alright,” Maya kissed Carina softly. Carina handed her a small package wrapped in blue paper tied in a pale yellow bow. “Well I think you win for best looking packaging.” Carina smacked her arm lightly as she laughed.

“Just open it.”

“Okay, okay.” Maya unwrapped the box and opened it to reveal a silver necklace with a bar connecting the chain.

“Turn it over,” Carina informed her. She looked at the inside of the bar and saw that there was an inscription. l'amore della mia vita. The inscription brought tears to her eyes. Knowing that Carina still felt like this after all that they’d been through meant the word.

“It’s perfect.” Maya gave Carina a soft, but firm kiss. “My turn now.” Carina picked the bag up from where she had placed it on the table.

“Maya,” Carina smiled brightly as she pulled out the two items. There were two onesies in the bag that she had specially made. The first one had a design that resembled Maya’s turnouts, but the last name on the back read “Deluca-Bishop.” The second one had an Italian flag in the shape of a heart and read “Piccolo.”

“I know that you aren’t pregnant yet and I know that I’ve been iffy in the past about kids, but I hope this shows you that I’m all in.”

“Maya, these are adorable. Thank you so much. For all of this.”

“You’re welcome, my love.” Maya leaned towards Carina for a short kiss, but Carina seemed to have other plans. She deepened it as soon as their lips met, sliding her tongue into Maya’s open mouth and threading her fingers into Maya’s hair. Maya moaned as Carina shifted, causing her knee to apply pressure to Maya’s center. Carina pulled back from the kiss, her cheeks flushed and eyes dark with arousal.

“Bedroom?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Maya smirked.

Yep. She definitely got the hype about Valentine’s Day now.