This might have been a prompt a while ago, not sure, but enjoy!
It was the middle of the night during a relatively quiet shift. They had a few small calls during the day, but none since they got back to the station around 9, meaning everyone was sleeping, or almost everyone.
Maya was wide awake in her office, working on paperwork. She struggled with insomnia when she was completely relaxed and at home wrapped in Carina's arms, and she genuinely couldn't remember the last time she slept on shift when she wasn't fighting some illness. She looked over the file she had just finished, soft music playing in her office.
Just as she turned to grab a binder off her shelf, she heard a knock on her office door.
"Come in?" she called, confused and slightly worried as to why anyone in their right mind would be awake at 3 am.
She thought her whole team was asleep. She got up, opening the door and instead of finding someone from her team, she looked down, seeing a box filled with blankets.
She bent down, moving one of the blankets and revealing a very tiny, very new baby. Maya immediately scooped the baby up into her arms as it started to cry.
"Shhh," Maya said, holding the baby close as she swayed a little.
The tiny human settled in her arms almost instantly. Maya went to her desk, still rocking the baby a little as she called child services.
"Hello," a voice on the other end of the phone said, "Seattle Department of Children and Family Services."
"Hi," Maya said, "This is Captain Maya Bishop at Fire Station 19. We just had a safe surrender baby dropped off."
"Alright," the woman on the other end said, clearly typing, "Do you have an approximate age and gender of the baby?"
"It's new," Maya said, cradling the phone on her ear as she moved the blanket around the baby, to get a better look "The umbilical stump is still attached and looks fairly fresh. I'd say no more than 4 days old. And it's a girl. She seems pretty small, but her color is good and she's acting like a newborn."
"Alright," the woman said, "Well, it has been a very busy night. I will put you on the list, but it will probably be at least 6 hours before someone can come down there. Is that alright?"
"Yeah," Maya said, sighing, "Just as soon as they can."
Maya hung up, looking down at the tiny baby in her arms. She wasn't good with babies. She avoided ones this small at all costs, but for now, this baby was 100% her responsibility unless she woke someone else up, but on a night they were actually getting sleep, she was nit going to do that.
She went out to the barn, grabbing a med kit and giving the baby a quick exam. It appeared the newborn was healthy.
Maya then went up to the beanery, grabbing a premixed bottle of formula they kept for these occasions, heating it in some warm water. She sat at the table, feeding the clearly hungry little girl.
Once the baby had eaten and been burped, Maya headed back down to her office. She wasn't totally sure what to do. The child in her arms was wide awake and staring at her.
"So, you have insomnia too?" Maya said, smiling down at the baby, "I'm sorry. It really is the worst. What can I do for you?"
The baby just blinked at Maya.
"Alright," the blonde said, raising an eyebrow, "Well, I am going to work on more paperwork."
Maya kept working, shifting the little warm bundle in her arms every few minutes. After about an hour, the baby started crying.
"Damn it," Maya said, realizing the baby needed a diaper change, "Alright. Let's do this."
Maya had a little experience with diapers thanks to Amelia's now almost three year old son Scout who she and Carina watched from time to time. Quickly, the blonde changed the diaper, the baby crying the entire time.
"It's ok," Maya said, scooping the red faced infant into her arms, "That's done."
The baby continued to cry and Maya got up, pacing the floor, bouncing the tiny baby a little.
"Hey, you don't need to do this," Maya said, rubbing the baby's back, "Just go to sleep. I'm sure you're tired."
The baby continued to fuss. Maya racked her brain, trying to remember what little she knew about babies.
Suddenly, she got an idea. She had gone to visit Carina one day at work and had found her wife in the NICU, holding a small baby on her chest, skin to skin.
Apparently, the baby had been abandoned and was struggling in the NICU. Carina had some connection to the little boy, maybe because the baby's mother abandoned him just like her own mother had done when she was young.
One of the nurses had offered to let Carina do kangaroo care with the baby and it had worked wonders, helping to stabilize his oxygen within minutes. It had something to do with feeling safe and connected that Maya couldn't quite remember.
Maya knew this little girl wasn't sick, but also that she had been through a lot in the past few hours so the fire captain sat down in her chair, carefully maneuvering the baby so she was on her chest, covered in the blanket she had been left with. The baby calmed quickly, eyes drooping closed within five minutes.
Maya smiled, surprised at how natural it felt to have this little girl sleeping on her. She had been so against having babies for most of her life because of her own childhood. She and Carina had talked a little about it too, early in their relationship, and the Italian had the same thoughts, babies were not in her future.
However, as they had started spending more and more time with Carina's friend's kids, little Pru, and Andy and Robert's son Luca who was now nearing a year old, Maya found herself thinking that maybe it wasn't all bad, maybe it would be possible to have a kid and not utterly fuck them up the way both she and Carina had been as young children.
Now that they had been happily married for almost six months, Maya found herself thinking about babies more than she ever though she would, seriously thinking she might want one of her own.
The fire captain realized that now, with a sleeping baby on her chest, there was no way she could continue working. She grabbed her phone, seeing it was already nearing 5 am. Maya leaned back into her chair, just relaxing. She never really fell asleep, but she just sat there, feeling her entire body relax as the baby rubbed her head against her chest.
The two of them spent the next hour cuddled up before the little girl decided she was hungry again. She started rooting around, looking for milk.
"I don't have what you are looking for," Maya said, looking down at the baby, "But I will go get you some."
Maya moved the baby, rebuttoning her shirt before going up to the beanery. It was still early, and no one else was up. Maya grabbed a bottle, warming it a little. As it was getting warm, Maya changed the baby's diaper again, quickly flicking on the coffee maker before grabbing the bottle, popping it in the restless baby's mouth. She grabbed a cup of coffee before heading back to her office.
Once the baby had finished eating, and Maya changed another diaper because she needed it, the little girl started fussing again.
"Alright," Maya said, sitting down, "Fine. I will hold you how you want."
Maya settle the baby back against her chest. Maya grabbed her phone as the tiny human on her chest let out a little sigh as she nuzzled against the fire captain. Maya smiled, going on Instagram and just scrolling because what else was she supposed to do with a newborn asleep in her shirt.
About an hour after the baby fell asleep, there was a knock on her door.
"Come in," she called softly, not wanting to wake the baby.
"Buongiorno Bella," Carina said, walking in with two cups of coffee and a bag that almost assuredly contained breakfast sandwiches, "What is going on? What are you holding?"
"A baby," Maya said, moving the blanket a little to reveal the tiny baby on her chest, "We got a safe surrender last night and no one could come get her so I've been hanging with her since about 3 am."
"She is so little," Carina said, walking over to Maya, setting the items she brought on the desk, looking at the baby who was sleeping on Maya, "Do you know how old she is?"
"Umbilical stump is fresh," Maya said, "Not more than a few days."
"How did she end up in your shirt?" Carina asked, noticing the position.
"She was crying," Maya said, "And I couldn't calm her down, but then I remember you doing this with the baby in the NICU, and she settled almost instantly."
"She must really like you," Carina said, smiling as she watched Maya look down at the baby.
Maya shrugged, looking back at Carina. Before they could say anything else, there was another knock at the door.
"Hey Cap," Andy said before seeing the scene before her, "Whoa, what is going on in here? Where did the baby come from?"
"Safe surrender," Maya said, "In the middle of the night. I'm just waiting for the social worker."
"This is the cutest thing I have seen in a long time," Andy said, grabbing her phone, "You three would make the cutest little family."
"Andy," Maya complained as her lieutenant snapped a picture, "Did you need something or did you just come down here to bother me?"
"Just coming to tell you breakfast was ready," Andy said, smiling as she looked at the picture, "But it seems like you have that covered. You three really do look cute together. I'm just throwing it out there, Luca would love a playmate."
"Goodbye lieutenant," Maya said as Andy walked out the door, laughing a little.
"You really are good with her," Carina said, gesturing to the sleeping baby, "And you do look cute together."
"I've been thinking," Maya said as Carina pulled out the breakfast sandwiches, "Not just last night with this baby, but for a while now, about having kids. And I know you said you didn't want to and I know I did too, but I don't know. I don't think it's the worst idea in the world anymore. Actually, I think it's the opposite of that, and I totally understand if you don't want to, but I just think…"
"I have been thinking about it too," Carina said, stopping Maya's ramblings, "And I think I have changed my mind."
"Really?" Maya said, looking at Carina, "You really think we could have a baby?"
"I think that we could," Carina said, nodding, "Bailey once said that when two people have so much love that they cannot contain it between the two of them, that is when they have a baby, and Maya, I love you so much."
"I love you too," Maya said, feeling a small tear prick the corner of her eye, "But what about everything you were afraid of?"
"Well, I think we have both shown each other that we are not our parents," Carina said, brushing a piece of hair off Maya's face, "And I am still afraid of passing on my genetics, but there are ways around that. We could adopt or use an egg donor or use your eggs."
"You have been thinking about this a lot," Maya said, smiling.
"Si," Carina said, biting her lip, "Since before the wedding."
"Me too," Maya said, nodding, "I think since seeing Andy with Luca. I don't know. Are we really going to do this? Have a baby I mean?"
"I want to," Carina said, bending down to kiss Maya.
"Good," Maya said, pulling back a little, "Because I want to too."
Maya kissed Carina again, and then there was another knock at the door.
"Come in," Maya called as Carina pulled away.
"Hello," a woman said, walking in, "My name is Felicity James from Department of Children and Family Services. I got a call about a safe surrender last night."
"Yes," Maya said, carefully moving the baby out of her shirt, "Here she is. She was having a hard time calming down so I did some skin to skin."
"Good thinking," Felicity said as Maya handed her the baby, "Wow. She is really small."
"I fed her about two hours ago," Maya said, looking at the baby who was stirring in the social worker's arms, "She has mostly just been sleeping. I checked her out, and she seems healthy."
"Good," Felicity said, "Well, I have a foster home who has been waiting for a baby just like this one, so I am going to go call them. Did she have anything with her when she was dropped off?"
"Just this box," Maya said, handing the small box the baby had been in to the social worker.
"Thank you for taking care of her all night," Felicity said, "It seems like she really liked you."
"She was sweet," Maya said, nodding as the woman and baby left the fire house.
Maya then turned back to Carina.
"I can't believe we are actually going to try to have one of those," Maya said, walking over to her wife and hugging her.
"Si," Carina said, hugging Maya back, "A bambino or bambina of our own."
Originally, this was going to be the only chapter, but then I started writing more, so now this is the story of how Maya and Carina become moms.