one step at a time
Maya loved being at the firehouse. Even at ten months old, and having no idea of what happened there, she loved being around her honorary aunts and uncles and she was absolutely fascinated by the big trucks. With two parents as firefighters, the firehouse was like a second home.
It was a gorgeous August afternoon, and second shift had a weekend shift, so Chloe had volunteered to watch Maya overnight while Kelly and Stella were on shift. After Cruz had texted her that things were slow (they'd never use the word quiet on shift), Chloe brought Maya and little Otis to visit 51.
They were in the common room with everyone else; Maya, under the watchful eye of two-year-old Otis, was playing with Tuesday while the adults talked and drank coffee. Kelly walked in, having finished his after-action report from the one and only call they'd had that day and the second Maya realized he was in the room she turned away from Otis and Tuesday, crawling as quick as her little body could carry her to her daddy. Kelly smiled down at her, immediately bending to pick her up. Once she was in his arms, he gave her a kiss on the cheek while she babbled happily.
Stella and the others watched the scene with smiles on their faces. It had been a little over ten months since Kelly became a father and there were sometimes his teammates still couldn't believe the change in him.
"Maya was pulling herself up and standing with Otis earlier," Chloe mentioned. "Has she started walking yet?"
Stella smirked and shook her head. "Not yet. I'm 100% convinced she could if she wanted to, but –"
"Have you seen how fast she crawls? Walking would just slow her down." Mouch threw out there with a smile.
"And with Severide carrying her everywhere, there's really no reason for her to walk anyway." Cruz added with a knowing smirk.
"Hey!" Kelly argued. "She asks to be carried! What am I supposed to do, tell her no?"
"You've gotta learn how at some point babe." Stella stated with a smile.
The two had had this conversation multiple times since Maya had arrived and changed every aspect of their lives. Kelly was a total pushover when it came to Maya. He knew it, Stella knew, Maya knew it, and their friends and family knew it. Kelly knew that if he kept giving in to everything Maya wanted, especially as she got older, it would come back to bite him in the butt, but he had such a hard time saying no to the tiny little human who stole his heart and looked exactly like her momma.
Kelly rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah, yeah."
He gave Maya one more kiss on the cheek before walking over to where Stella was sitting with Brett, Violet, and Chloe.
Fifteen minutes later, Boden entered the room. His eyes immediately found his Squad Lieutenant, who was sitting next to Stella and allowing his ten-month-old to crawl back and forth between the two of them. "Severide?"
When he had the Lieutenant's attention, he continued. "Has Squad used the new harnesses and ropes Headquarters sent over last week?"
Kelly shook his head. "I don't know about first or third shift, but we haven't had to use them on a rescue yet. Why? What's up?"
"Squad 6 reported issues with the harnesses and frayed rope on their last rescue." Boden answered. At the concerned looks he saw on his teams' faces, he continued quickly. "Everyone is fine—no one was injured. But they did report the incident and Headquarters wants all Squads who received new equipment to test them out and see if they have any issues as well. Let's utilize this downtime and get it done before you get another call out."
"You got it Chief," Kelly replied. He stood up from his chair, handed Maya off to Stella, and headed towards the app floor. "Cruz, Capp, Tony, grab your gear and meet me on the apron."
"You got it Lieutenant." Cruz called, getting up to follow Severide out. Capp and Tony were just steps behind him.
Almost immediately after the Squad guys left the common room, little Otis toddled over to his mom. "Mommy, wanna watch daddy."
"Daddy's working bud," Chloe cooed. "I don't know if we can go watch…"
Chloe trailed off, looking over at Stella as if to ask for clarification. Or permission.
Thankfully, Stella smiled and nodded. "You can watch, you'll just have to stay off to the side and away from the action."
"Alright then, let's go watch daddy!" Chloe said with a smile. She stood, grabbing Otis's hand to keep him close.
Stella stood as well, positioning Maya on her hip. "We'll go with you. This little one is always down to see her daddy."
Stella, Chloe, and the kids make their way out of the common room and towards the apron. As they passed 81, Stella grabbed her turnout coat, so Maya had something other than the ground to sit on and a few minutes later, both kids were watching their daddies with as much interest as their little brains could produce.
"Dada!" Maya babbled, pointing at Kelly across the apron.
"That is dada," Stella said with a smile from where she stood close by with Chloe. Maya had a few words in her vocabulary at this point, and 'mama' might've been her first word, but 'dada' was her favorite.
Like several things when it came to Maya and Kelly's relationship, Stella would be jealous if it wasn't so cute.
By the time Squad was finishing up, Boden and the others had made it outside as well. Some had reasons for being out there, like Casey and Boden who were there as the Captain and Chief concerned about potential faulty equipment, and Brett and Violet who were ready to jump in and help if any injuries occurred. The others, well, Stella just assumed they were bored. Quiet shifts, like the one they were in the midst of, usually made them all antsy.
Stella and Chloe were talking with Brett and Violet when Otis suddenly yelled, catching everyone's attention.
"Mommy look!"
Chloe and Stella turned to look at Otis. Their eyes followed to where he was pointing and saw that Maya had crawled off the turnout coat and was now standing.
Everyone watched, in awe, as Maya—looking more determined than either of her parents had ever seen—took her first steps.
Her first few steps were slow and wobbly, and she nearly fell once, but Maya persevered. The further she walked, the steadier her steps got, and she slowly toddled her way towards Kelly.
All the adults around Maya were shocked. They had just talked about how Maya wasn't walking yet and now, not even an hour later, she'd taken several steps already. Kelly and Stella locked eyes across the apron and the two just smiled, shaking their heads. They were surprised, but when it came down to it, they knew they shouldn't really be.
If anyone's kid was going to take their first steps at the firehouse, it was going to be theirs.
When Maya was just a few feet away from Kelly, she stopped and held her arms up, wanting him to pick her up. "Dada!"
Kelly didn't pick her up for once though. He smiled, squatted down, and held his arms towards Maya. "Come here. You can do it."
Maya looked at him with an adorable little pout, one Stella swore she got from him, but she started walking again. She made it the final few feet and practically fell into Kelly's arms.
Kelly wasted no time, wrapping his arms around her and standing up. As he hugged Maya, the others began clapping and cheering, celebrating the milestone Maya just reached.
Stella made her way over to Kelly and Maya, joining in their private little celebration. Matt and Sylvie made their way over as well, along with everyone else who was lucky enough to witness Maya's accomplishment.
This was the second big Maya-milestone to happen at the firehouse. She had kicked for the first time all those months ago and now she had walked. The firehouse was an important place for the entire Severide family.
Kelly and Stella reached their own milestones at 51, growing as individuals and together as a couple, and now their daughter was (literally) following in their footsteps. They were truly living a life beyond their wildest dreams.
A/N: to the guest who said I should do one of the day the shooting/kidnapping happened (what happened, how Stella got the news and reacted) I couldn't message you directly, BUT I've already written this! Chapter 2 of 'we could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen'! It's also the very first time Maya's ever appeared (;
this is going to be the last Maya update for a little bit.
I had always planned to take the month of April off from posting and work on a few other fics and getting some Maya prompts knocked out so I can upload on a more consistent schedule, but I'm going to be starting that "break" a little early.
I won't be gone too long (hopefully) and, knowing me, I'll probably post something before April is over 😂
See y'all soon! Hope you enjoy!
