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“Aunt Maya, you’ll never believe what happened today at—” Zola paused her sentence, confused when she didn’t see her Aunt Maya in the living room where she usually was these days. The teenager knew she was here, her aunt rarely left home unless she needed groceries because she wanted to spend as much time with Alessia as possible before her twelve weeks of parental leave were up. “Aunt Maya? Where are you?”
Zola became even more confused when she put her backpack down on one of the chairs, spotting the baby monitor on the island, which only showed Alessia sound asleep in her crib. She made her way down the hall, frowning when she noticed her aunt’s door was closed. She never closed it unless she was changing. While it was possible Alessia had spit up on the blonde, the teenager’s gut was churning. Something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. She knocked quietly on the door to the bedroom, her frown deepening when she didn’t receive a response. “Aunt Maya? Are you in there?”
She tried the doorknob, becoming even more concerned when she realized it was unlocked. Zola opened the door, tilting her head when she saw her aunt sitting on the floor. “Aunt Maya?” she asked tentatively, racing over and dropping to her knees in front of her aunt as she noticed she was hyperventilating.
“Aunt Maya, can you hear me?” Zola inquired, her heart racing in her chest as the firefighters blue eyes were darting every which way. “You’re having a panic attack, it’s ok, I just need you to focus on me. Aunt Maya, it’s me, it’s Zo. Look at me, eyes only on me. No eyes forward, eyes only on me.”
Maya’s hands latched onto Zola’s that were holding her head still in order to get the blonde to meet her eyes. “Good, that’s good. Breathe with me Aunt Maya. Come on, I’ve got you, it’s ok. In, and out. In, and out.”
The firefighter, having recognized her niece’s voice, held onto her arms tight to try and ground herself. She forced herself to focus on the teenager, to follow Zola’s breathing. She could feel herself coming down from the attack. Her heartbeat slowed, the pounding in her ears lessened, and her sight became clearer and clearer until she was fully able to makeout Zola’s concerned face.
Zola breathed a sigh of relief when she successfully managed to coax her aunt down from her panic attack. “Hi,” she said quietly.
“Hi,” Maya said hoarsely, dropping her hands from Zola’s arms to wrap them around her knees. She dropped her head back against her bed, staring up at the ceiling through her glassy eyes as shame and embarrassment coursed through her.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” Zola whispered, moving so she was sitting next to her aunt instead of in front of her, the teenager mimicking her aunt’s position, except she stared straight ahead instead of the ceiling. “I get them too,” she muttered.
The blonde blinked at the admission, though she didn’t move an inch. “You do?”
“I couldn’t go to school for a while because of it,” the girl admitted.
They sat in silence for a while, the only sound that could be heard was Alessia moving around in her crib through the baby monitor and Smokey who had made his way into the bedroom. He laid down next to Maya, and one of her hands immediately dropped to his back, stroking through his thick fur. The motion helped to soothe her. “I got a text from Lane.”
Zola looked at her aunt in shock. “What?”
Maya let out a breathless laugh, shaking her head. “I don’t know how he got my number, but just the thought of him being able to do that made me fearful about what else he could find out. He could find out where my brother lives, where my mom lives, where you and your family live, where my teammates live. Hell, he could figure out where I live and try to get to Carina or Alessia or anyone else I care about to try and hurt me. I began to spiral and before you know it, I was in the midst of a panic attack.”
“Is that a violation against his restraining order? Contacting you?”
“I’m pretty sure it is,” the blonde admitted, still stroking Smokey’s fur to ground herself.
“There should be a way to check online. Where’s your laptop?”
Maya pointed Zola to her backpack that was against the dresser, the girl easily finding it and sitting back down next to her aunt. She mumbled the password quietly, and Zola was quickly able to pull up the King County website on the browser. After a bit of scrolling, she reached the search bar for public records. “Yeah, he’s got a no-contact order as a part of the restraining order. Aunt Maya, you have to call the cops.”
The woman sighed, looking at Zola. “I’m not going to call the cops and waste their time over a silly text. He’s resourceful and probably used a burner cell. It’s just going to be a dead end, Zo.”
She scoffed, shaking her head. “No, I refuse to believe that. Someone gave him your number, and you need to tell the police so they can launch a thorough investigation as to who would have leaked that private information. Besides, what if he didn’t use a burner cell and they actually do trace it back to him? You can’t always assume the worst, Aunt Maya. Sometimes, it’s ok to hope for the best.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Aunt Maya, I’m serious!” she whined.
Maya sighed again, telling the teenager that if it happened again, then she would report it. If it didn’t, then they would never speak of it again. Zola was unhappy about it, but she agreed because if she didn’t, her aunt wouldn’t consider it an option at all.
“Where’s Aunt Carina?”
“She stepped out to get groceries, she wanted to make some Italian dinner tonight but she didn’t have all of the ingredients. She should be back soon. Why? Are you getting sick of me already?”
Zola lightly shoved her aunt as the woman laughed. “No, I just didn’t know where she had gone.”
“Well now you know,” she replied, standing up on wobbly legs as her daughter's cries began to pierce through the air. “It’s feeding time.”
“Can I do it?”
“Sure. Go wash your hands and sit on the couch. Make sure you have something to sit against, it gets tiring if you hold her without something to lean back on,” Maya instructed as she made her way to the nursery while Zola headed to the bathroom to wash up. “Hey sweetheart, don’t cry. Your big cousin is going to feed you soon. It’s alright, Alessia. Mommy’s got you,” the blonde said softly, carrying a crying Alessia out to the living room where Zola was patiently waiting on the couch.
“Zo, do you want to hold her while I prepare her bottle?” Maya asked quite loudly so she could be heard over Alessia’s shrieking.
Zola agreed, and after making sure the teen was properly supporting her, the firefighter rushed to the kitchen to make Alessia’s bottle. She had already taken it out of the fridge shortly before her niece had arrived, so she just mixed it up, and satisfied it was warm enough, brought it out to the teen. She watched the two of them with an adoring expression, Zola quietly telling Alessia about her day at school as the baby eagerly drank her milk, looking up at the teen with her blue eyes open wide.
Maya took a picture to send to Meredith, the general surgeon instantly replying with heart emojis and a quick thank you to Maya for allowing Zola to come over to grab her book. She texted back, letting the other woman know it wasn’t a problem.
“Aunt Maya?”
“Hmm?”
The teeanger bit her lip, her eyes never straying from her little cousin as she quietly spoke up. “I know you and Aunt Carina might need a babysitter for Alessia, so I was wondering if maybe I could do it? You don’t have to pay me or anything, I just thought I would ask.”
The firefighter stared at her niece, a smile playing on her lips as she nodded, not that Zola could see since she was looking at Alessia. “I would have to talk to Aunt Carina, but I don’t see why that would be a problem. It saves us the hassle of having to hire a stranger to watch her, plus Smokey trusts you so that’s two birds with one stone.”
At the mention of his name, the black dog stood up from his bed, wagging his tail as he tilted his head at his owner.
“Really?” Zola asked, finally looking up from Alessia to her aunt.
“Of course. You’re thirteen Zo, and you’re a very responsible thirteen-year-old. I don’t know if there’s anyone I would trust more to watch Alessia.”
A shy grin came across Zola’s face at her aunt’s praise. “Thank you.”
“We should be the ones thanking you. Aunt Carina and I will definitely be paying you, and if you try to argue, I will give it to Olive who will spend it on whatever you want the next time you guys hangout.”
The teenager nodded. She was over the moon excited that she was going to be able to babysit her new little cousin.
“And Zo?”
“Yeah?”
“If you want, we can start with some trial runs, like for half an hour or an hour.”
Zola shook her head. “I don’t need to, I’ve watched Scout before when he was a baby like Alessia.”
“Alright then. We probably won’t need you to babysit until Aunt Carina starts going back to work. She goes back two weeks after I do because she used up some of her vacation days to spend a bit more time with Alessia,” Maya stated.
“Ok,” she said softly, taking the empty bottle away from her cousin and moving her so she was resting against her shoulder. Zola patted her back a few times, both of them chuckling when Alessia let out a tiny burp.
“You’re a natural,” the blonde said, making Zola grateful for her dark skin as it hid her blush.
“Thanks,” she said shyly, rubbing Alessia’s back.
Smokey leapt up from the bed, whining in excitement as he approached the front door, looking quite eager.
“I’m guessing Aunt Carina is home?”
Maya chuckled. “Yes, she is.”
The furry dog jumped on Carina, almost causing the brunette to drop the three bags of groceries she was carrying. “Maya, get your dog away from me before I seriously hurt him.”
“Smokey, come here boy,” the firefighter said, dropping to her knees as Smokey bounded over to her. “Good boy, you’re such a good boy.”
Carina sighed and kicked off her heels, carrying the groceries to the kitchen as Maya kept ahold of the dog. “Zola, I didn’t think you were coming over today,” she said, smiling softly at the sight of her daughter laying in her eldest niece’s arms.
“I came by to grab my book, but I can’t resist Alessia cuddles, she’s just so cute,” Zola gushed, figuring it was her Aunt Maya’s place to tell Aunt Carina about her panic attack and not hers.
“Si, she is,” the brunette nodded, coming over to take a seat next to the two of them on the couch.
“Zola asked if she could be our babysitter,” Maya informed her wife after greeting her with a chaste kiss on the lips.
“She did? You did?”
“Yeah,” the teenager replied quietly.
“I think that’s un’idea fantastica,” Carina said.
“I told her it most likely wouldn’t happen until we were both back at work.”
The OB nodded. “Si, and it would mean less time at the hospital daycare.”
“I didn’t even think about that,” said Maya as she came back to the living room.
Zola frowned when she caught sight of the time. “I have to get home, Mom needs me to watch Ellis while she gets Bailey to baseball practice.”
“Come on, I’ll drive you,” the blonde said, standing up from the couch.
“Bye Aunt Carina, bye Alessia,” Zola said as she let her aunt take her little cousin out of her arms.
“Ciao Zola,” Carina said.
The teenager grabbed her backpack from the kitchen chair, and her book which had been left on the counter for her before she got her shoes on. The two of them walked to the car together, Zola hopping into the passenger seat as Maya started the car. A comfortable silence encompassed the two of them as the radio played softly in the background. About fifteen minutes later, Maya pulled into the Grey-Shepherd driveway.
“Are you going to tell Aunt Carina? I don’t want to lie to her.”
Maya sighed, but nodded. “Yeah, I’m gonna tell her. I wouldn’t be able to hide this from her anyways.”
“Ok, I love you Aunt Maya,” Zola said, leaning over the console to hug her aunt.
“I love you too Zo,” she said, smiling as the teen slung her backpack over her shoulder and got out of the car.
“We’re here for you, no matter what. You’re not alone,” Zola said, a look of understanding written on her face.
“I know,” Maya said, waving to the teen one last time before she shut the door. Once she saw Zola had made it inside the house, she pulled out and began the drive home, a loving smile overcoming her face at the thought of her home now including their daughter.