A/N: Thanks everyone for being here! I sincerely appreciate the support! I don't know about anyone else, but I am BROKE after last night's episode. There's definitely a chapter being written presently that is a direct result of that, but that's all I'll say in case you haven't seen it yet. Anyway, here's the next installment of "Pains and Promises." I hope you all enjoy and, as always, please feel free to drop a review or send me a message. =)

02 June 2022

Barely fifteen minutes after Matt and Kelly left for the firehouse, Sylvie and Stella met out front. They were going grocery shopping this morning, hoping to avoid the worst of the crowds, then they had plans for lunch.

Their plan to always go together had been working well since they started it a month ago. Fewer strangers approached Stella to give her unsolicited advice and stories. Those who did were much more considerate, usually young moms with at least one under-2-year-old in tow. More times than not, when Stella and Sylvie were approached by this demographic, they had been debating something relevant to food, and a young mom nearby would offer her opinion.

This morning, on the drive through the city, the two were telling each other about their latest prenatal visits, though Sylvie hadn't had one for a month. At 28 weeks, she was high on the second trimester. Her only complaint was that people, her parents included, couldn't seem to understand that she and Matt didn't want to know the gender of their baby until it was born. As such, no, they didn't have a name, either. Although, at Kelly's advice, Matt had gotten the ball rolling early on that front. They had a list of 30 or so names - some for a boy, some for a girl, and some that could go either way. They hoped to narrow it down a lot more before the baby was born, but they still had 14 weeks if all went well.

Daily walks to and through the park were the highlight of her days, followed by whatever she cooked up for lunch. She had been cooking so much that her mom suggested buying a small chest freezer and preparing some casseroles in advance.

Sylvie's mom had never had kids of her own due to PCOS, but she was the first one there with homemade food for every family with a new baby in Fowlerton. The farm kept her busy, but she always made time to be there for the new moms whose moms couldn't - or wouldn't - be there for them, to swing by every day to help with household tasks or just giving the new mama some time away from their baby to take care of themselves.

Sylvie thought the chest freezer was a great idea and had proposed it to Matt, who also liked the idea. However, only halfway through the second trimester, Sylvie was careful not to stockpile too much. They didn't want it getting freezer burned.

Matt's construction business was picking back up with the nicer weather, so he was gone a lot. To keep herself from going stir crazy, Sylvie found a variety of odd jobs. Many times, this was helping an elderly person or someone with physical limitations with cooking or house or yard work. Maybe, she thought, being a stay-at-home mom won't be too bad.

Stella, who was still putting in a lot of hours at Molly's (which her ankles were less happy about by the day), was glad her friend was able to stay busy. She was, however, taken aback that Sylvie had decided not to go back to work. After thinking about it, though, she fully supported it. It would be a lot easier for her to go back to work if she were leaving her baby with Sylvie, rather than some stranger.

Rafferty had picked up nearly all of Sylvie's shifts since March. While she and Foster weren't exactly friends, they were professional and worked well as a team. The academy was sending out another wave of candidates at the end of June, and one of them would be given a shot riding on 61. Foster's promotion to PIC became official as of last shift.

Stella joked that, maybe, she should move over to ambo and let 81 get the new candidate, but she loved being a firefighter more than almost anything else.

At 34 weeks, she and Kelly had finally figured out a name for their baby girl. They'd just had another prenatal visit on Monday. Dr. Cameron said everything looked good, that the baby was developing well. Two weeks prior, she had told them to expect Braxton-Hicks - or "practice contractions" beginning soon. Stella thought she might have felt a couple before Dr. Cameron told them this, but she'd definitely had some since.

"Speaking of," Stella winced, "There's another one."

Sylvie found a spot in the large parking lot and pulled in. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure, only a bit worse than a period cramp."

"Do you still want to do this?" Sylvie asked, referring to the store. Stella might be a tough cookie, but Sylvie also knew her friend had worse period cramps than the average woman. If the Braxton-Hicks were worse than that, they were starting to get pretty painful.

"We're already here, it's not that bad. Let's just take it slow."

Sylvie raised her brows, but decided not to argue. The whole time moving slowly through the store, she could tell her friend was hurting.

Stella clenched her jaw and pushed through the sporadic pain. By the time they were to the checkout, though, she was exhausted and beyond uncomfortable.

Once all their groceries were in their reusable bags (green for the Caseys, blue for Stellaride) in the cart, Sylvie put an arm around her friend to help her walk out to the car.

"So how long have you two been together?" asked the store employee designated for helping customers load their supplies into their cars.

Stella shot the 20-somethings kid a look, but Sylvie answered them politely, "We've been friends for a decade."

"That's so cute," the oblivious employee gushed as the trio arrived at Stella's jeep. "When did you know you were meant to be together?"

"Oh, no, we're not married. - Well, we are - just not to each other." Sylvie replied as she unlocked the vehicle, helping Stella get in the passenger side before opening the hatch to load the back. The two quickly emptied the bags from the cart, and Sylvie got back in the jeep.

Stella had her arms wrapped around herself, head leaned back against the headrest with her eyes closed. She was taking slow, controlled breaths. The contractions had finally ceased, but the pain lingered. Her muscles were more tired than she was.

When they got back home half an hour later, Sylvie put away her groceries then went to help Stella finish putting away hers.

Stella, who was finally back to what had become her normal pace, reheated some leftovers for lunch and divided them in half.

After the two had cleaned up lunch dishes, Stella went upstairs for a nap, and Sylvie went home for the same. As soon as she got there, she changed into her nightgown for comfort's sake and crawled into bed for a little more sleep.

She woke up around supper time and started a load of laundry. She ate some supper while she was waiting for it to wash, then hung it on the dying rack once it had finished.

It dried before she wanted to go to bed, so she folded it and put it away, texting Matt intermittently. They didn't talk a lot while he was at work, but he always made sure to send her a message every so often to check up on her and let her know he was okay. It helped both of them, knowing all was well.

Sylvie sent him one last text before settling into bed. She stayed awake long enough to read his response, and a soft smile appeared on her face as she drifted off to sleep.