The fire station is decorated in a dinosaur theme for the twins' birthday party. The girls are working on putting up last minute decorations and getting the food out on the table. Jo walks in carrying a huge bunch of balloons.

"I come baring balloons."

"Thank you so much!"

Maddie takes the balloons and sets them up next to the photo wall.

"What can I do?" Jo asks.

"Can you get the carrots from the kitchen?"

"Sure."

Jo puts her purse down in a chair and heads towards the stairs. Maddie stops her before she gets there.

"Hey. Evan told me about what happened."

Jo sighs. "Of course he did."

"It really meant a lot to me and Howie that Buck traded shifts with him so he could be there for Wes and Theo's birthday today."

"It should have meant a lot to him to be there for our child's ultrasound, but I guess not."

"He didn't miss it on purpose."

Jo shakes her head. "It doesn't matter, because he did."

"He feels terrible about it."

"I'm sure he does," Jo scoffs. "But your kids' dad got to be there for their birthdays, and that's what matters," she says sarcastically.

"Please don't be like that."

Maddie reaches for Jo's arm, but she backs away.

"I better get the carrots."

Jo turns to go up the steps. As she's about to go up, Wes and Theo come down, followed by Chimney and Buck.

"Auntie Jo!" Wes calls.

"It's the birthday boys!"

The boys run to her and give her a big hug.

"Happy birthday! You're a whole two fingers now!"

"We got shoes," Theo points out.

They both stomp their feet to show off their new light up shoes.

"Those are so cool!"

"I think momma wanted a picture of you with your balloons," Chimney tells the boys.

The boys run over to Maddie. Chimney gives her a sympathetic smile as she walks past him. She doesn't make eye contact with Buck as she goes to the steps, but he follows her anyway. Bobby, Athena, and Eddie are in the kitchen gathering the food when Jo and Buck come up the stairs. They notice the tension between them and decide to grab the food and go downstairs to give them some space.

"Jo, please talk to me," Evan begs.

"I have nothing to say."

She keeps her back to him as she gets the carrots out of the fridge.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I worked instead of taking the day off, but it was for-"

Jo quickly turns around and cuts him off. "If one more person tells me that it was for the boys and it meant a lot to them, I'm going to lose my mind. They're two! They don't notice who's there and who isn't. And if Chimney wanted the boys' birthday off, then he should have requested the day off a month in advance like you did."

"I know."

"If you weren't there for this, then what else are you going to miss, Evan? Can I count on you to be there when I give birth, or are you going to lose track of time and ignore your phone calls then, too?"

"I think you're over exaggerating a bit."

"I don't. I know you love your job, but what about us? Where do we fit in all of this?"

She doesn't give him time to answer. "When we got together, I knew what I was getting into, and I was okay with it. But it isn't just you and I anymore. She didn't sign up for this life," she says, putting her hand over her belly. "Every morning when you leave for work, I never know if you'll come home. I don't want to be a widow, and I don't want our daughter to grow up without a parent like I did."

"My job has never bothered you before."

"Yes it has!" Jo shouts exasperatedly. "But I let it go because I knew how much it meant to you. You run into burning buildings for heaven's sake! You repel over mountains and the sides of buildings. It's stupid!"

Evan crosses his arms defensively. "We're talking about dangerous jobs now? Because I think yours is way more dangerous than mine. But that's not a conversation you want to have, is it?"

Jo shoots daggers at him silently.

"What do you want from me, Jo?"

"I want you to stop making promises you know you can't keep. I don't want to live like this anymore."

"Do you want me to quit? Because I'll quit. Whatever will make you happy, babe," he says with a fake smile.

Jo's lip quivers for a moment before she sucks up her tears.

She picks up the bag of carrots. "Your sister needed carrots. We don't want to keep her waiting."

With the bag of carrots in hand, Jo walks down the steps to a very quiet birthday party. When she gets to the bottom, the chatter starts back up.

"Let's cut the cake!" Maddie suggests.

Everyone gathers around the boys and starts singing "Happy Birthday." Jo and Buck watch from opposite sides of the room. Bobby gives Jo a comforting squeeze on the shoulder as tears fill her eyes.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Everyone is cleaning up after the party. Jo is sitting off to the side watching with the boys in her lap. They're passed out after coming off a sugar rush. Chimney notices and comes over to them.

"Auntie Jo has the magic touch."

"Or I just happened to be holding them when they came off their sugar high."

Chimney laughs and pulls a chair up to sit across from her. "I can't believe they're already two. What a crazy two years it's been."

"They're sweet boys. You guys did good," Jo says with a smile.

"They used to fit in the palm of my hand, and now look at them."

Chimney looks over his boys for a moment, reminiscing over the past two years. Then he looks up at Jo.

"Jo, I want to apologize."

She shakes her head. "No, Chimney, this wasn't your fault."

"It was. He was supposed to be off and he traded with me."

Jo shrugs. He isn't wrong.

"I'm not mad at you, though."

"But you're mad at him?"

"Well..." Jo shrugs.

"He meant well."

"I feel like he doesn't care about me, or her." She looks down at her belly.

"He cares more about you than anything in the world."

"Then why wasn't he there? If he cared then he would have done everything he could to keep his promise."

"You know as well as I do that this job makes it hard to plan anything. But we do our best."

Tears fill Jo's eyes. "I've been that girl, Chimney. The girl whose mom doesn't show up for the Mother's Day brunch because she had to work late, or the girl who is forgotten at the pickup line and has to wait at the school until 6 pm because her mom got called to a car crash. I've had to watch my mom die in a fire and bury her. I don't want that for my daughter. I don't want her to feel that pain like I did."

"Have you told Buck that?"

Jo shakes her head. "I can't. Every time I try to talk about it I get emotional and become a b word. Stupid hormones."

"Having a baby is a strange time for any relationship. I definitely had a few times where I considered packing it up and finding a normal, dependable job. But then I decided that I wanted to do a job that my kids would be proud of me for. I know I'm going to miss a lot, but I'm going to do everything I can to be there for what I can be. We've had to open Christmas presents the day after. We took them trick or treating the day before. Granted they didn't get much candy, but we went."

Chimney gets serious again. "Were you proud of your mom?"

Jo nods. "Really proud."

"She is going to be proud of her daddy, and you," Chimney motions to Jo's belly. "As long as you make the most of the time you are guaranteed, that's what matters. Do your best."

They smile at each other as Maddie joins them.

"They are out." Maddie adoringly looks at her sleeping boys.

"They finally crashed." Chimney replies.

"It couldn't possibly be from all the candy uncle Buck gave them, could it?" Maddie asks, looking behind Jo.

"I didn't give them that much."

Jo turns around, realizing that Buck was listening to hers and Chimney's entire conversation. She turns back around and looks at Chimney, shooting daggers at him. He initiated the conversation knowing he was back there. He holds his hands up in defense.

"We're almost done cleaning and then we can take them home," Maddie says.

"Why don't you go ahead and take them?" Jo asks. "I've just been sitting here while you've been doing all the cleaning. I can finish up."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Take them home, put them down for a nap, have a glass of wine. I've got it."

"I'll help her," Buck offers.

"Thank you, Jo."

Maddie and Chimney both take a sleeping boy. As they leave, Buck sits down across from Jo.

"How much of that did you hear?" Jo asks.

"All of it."

Jo sits back with a sigh. Buck takes her hands in his.

"Jo, I'm sorry that I made you feel like I didn't care. I care about you more than anything, way more than this job. Sometimes I get caught up in it all and I get so focused on the job that that's all I can think about. But I didn't miss the ultrasound because I didn't care. I'll never forgive myself for missing it. I really wanted to see it."

Jo softens. "I'm sorry I told you we were having a girl like that."

"I don't blame you." Buck rubs her hands. "I hope she's just like you."

Jo scoffs. "No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. You're going to be an amazing mom. I know you're reacting like this because you want to protect our daughter, and I get it. I'm going to miss a lot, and I can't change that."

She shrugs. "The fact is, I am going to miss just as much as you. You have every right to yell at me like I yelled at you."

"But I'm not going to. This is something that we are going to have to figure out day by day. But, if you want me to quit I will. I wouldn't hesitate to quit if it meant making you happy."

"That wouldn't make me happy. Losing my mom was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through, and I pray that I never have to experience that again. But whenever anyone asks me about her, I become the proudest daughter, and I can't wait to tell them about all the amazing things she did. Our kids are going to have awesome parents, and we're going to make them proud. And like Chimney said, we're going to do our best and make the most of the time we do get."

"I like that." He leans in and gives Jo a kiss. "Let's go clean up. Then maybe I can talk Bobby into letting me leave early."

Buck takes her hand and helps her up, pulling her into a hug.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...