Andy grunted as Roberts alarm pulled her out of her deep slumber. "Turn it off." She moaned and rolled to her other side, hoping being 3 inches further away would help her fall back asleep.
Robert turned off his alarm but had no desire to get up yet. Instead he scooped closer to his wife and spooned her. His hand wandered from her waist to her belly where it rested peacefully. "I see someone's already up in there." He smirked and placed some soft kisses on Andy's cheek.
She didn't want to smile, still annoyed she got woken up but she couldn't help it now. "Well your alarm was so loud it woke up everyone." She teased him and put her hand on top of his.
She took a deep breath in and devoured the calm moment. Robert buried his nose deep into her neck and breathed in her scent. "I'm gonna miss you today." He whispered into her ear. "You are the one who made me go on maternity leave at only 7 months." Andy chuckled.
Her finger was tracing along his hand on her stomach. "Yes because I need you both to be safe." If it would have been his choice Andy would have stopped working the moment they found out about her pregnancy but he knew she wouldn't go for it and had to admit it was a little crazy.
For a few months she stayed on aid car and then on desk duty. There had been quite a few arguments over how long she should stay on aid car, how long she should keep working at all. Robert always wanting her to step down as soon as possible while Andy wanted to keep going as long as possible. But after she pushed him quite a bit with how long she could be on aid car she caved in on when to start maternity leave.
"We are, we are as safe as can be so daddy needs to stop worrying so much." She said assuring. "I know I know. But you know I'm not good at that." He sighed. "Oh I know but you gotta get up to work now, the two of us will stay in bed a little longer and then we will make a little trip to the mall with her tía Michelle." She said as she already closed her eyes again. Getting a full nights sleep had been getting harder and pregnancy insomnia was creeping in more and more.
"Alright if Michelle is with you I won't have to worry, I didn't think it was possible but she's even more stubborn than you." He chuckled and kissed her lips before he flipped away the cover and got up.
Andy was asleep again fast as she lay awake for a long time during the night. Robert got ready for shift but before he left he went upstairs to Andy again.
In the door frame he stopped and took in the view of her. She had kicked away the blanket and was only wearing one of his crew necks. Her hair laid wild around her head on the pillow. And while she liked to complain about how big she was getting and how she was all puffy he thought she was only getting prettier every day.
Robert could have stood there for hours and just watch her sleep but duty was calling. He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and one on her growing belly, being careful not to wake her up.
Robert pulled up in front of the station. He was quick to throw his bag into his office so he could join the team for breakfast. The chatter was loud as he approached the beanery.
"Good Morning Captain." Vic said spotting him first as he walked in. "Morning." He said looking around scanning if everyone was here. Even if it was him who urged Andy to start maternity leave he couldn't deny he missed seeing his wife in the group.
"So how was Andy this morning on her first day of maternity leave." Ben asked, trying to hide his smirk. He knew they had a bunch of arguments about this and Robert came to him and complained about it a lot. At one point he even begged him to make Miranda convince Andy but in the end with some advice from Ben Robert was able to convince Andy without Baileys help.
"Actually she seemed fine." Robert said as he was taking a chair to sit down and everyone raised their eyebrows in surprise. "I know-" he chuckled, "doesn't sound much like her but either it's the exhaustion catching up with her or she just made peace with it."
"Definitely must be the exhaustion." Travis said as he sat down a plate of fruit on the table and the rest of the team joined in in agreement.
The door bell brought Andy out of her sleep. She grunted and grabbed Roberts pillow pulling it over her head but the ringing wouldn't stop so she got up to open the door.
"Michelle? What-" she asked confused rubbing her eyes as her cousin already walked past her inside. "We wanted to go to the mall right? To get some clothes? I told ya I have to work in the afternoon but you didn't pick up your phone! Did you sleep until now? Come on prima get dressed." She clapped her hands and shooed her up the stairs following right behind her.
"You have too much energy this early in the morning." Andy grunted. "Well now you know how Robert feels about you when you are not pregnant." She chuckled knowing very well Andy was usually like her that way. "Damn I need to give him more credit for putting up with that." She mumbled.
They chatted while Andy got ready and Michelle sat on the end of the bed. Soon they headed to the mall and their first stop was a coffee shop, mainly for Andy to get some breakfast. Afterwards they headed to the baby store. Over the months Andy and Robert had gotten most of the things they needed but you could never have enough baby clothes and Michelle insisted on picking some out.
„Okay but this-„ Michelle held up a little onesie with a chicken on it, „is reeeally cute." she said making a puppy face. „Con un pollo?" Andy shook her head. „Come on what's with you and those chickens?" Andy laughed and continued looking through the onesies. "They are cute." Michelle shrugged but hung it back.
"Okay but this one!!" She said excited and held up another onesie. It was purple and had an octopus on it in a darker purple. "That is pretty adorable." Andy agreed and immediately imagined her little girl wearing it, sleeping in Roberts arm.
"Captain, any word on what's going on downtown?" Jack asked as he peeked his head into Roberts office. "Why? What's going on?" He asked confused. His stomach started turning involuntarily as worry started to creep up inside of him. He had been buried in work this morning and hadn't heard of anything unusual taking place.
"Uhm, not entirely sure but we had the news on and there are quite a few fires at uhm... public places, seemed a little odd to us." Jack filled him in. "I- I'll make some calls Gibson." Robert said and already picked up the phone. Jack nodded and slipped back out the door.
"Sir, Yea uhm I'm calling about the - fires downtown... anything I should know about?" He asked and tried not to sound too distracted as he quickly typed a message to Andy. 'Hey, you good?' He nervously tapped his fingers on his deck listening while also keeping his eyes on his phone waiting for a reply.
"We have reason to believe there's an arsonist or multiple on the loose. We've had several incidents in the downtown area today starting early at 8am. We are working together with P.D. but no lead so far. Get your team ready on standby, the stations here are busy and we might need to call you down." Robert sighed hearing the news and scratched his head.
"Okay, will do. Thank you Sir." He answered and hung up. In the same moment his phone chimed with a new message. 'We are good Daddy ' he smiled at the message. He loved hearing it or in this case read it because he couldn't wait to be a dad.
‚There's trouble downtown please stay safe and go home' he texted back.
‚Trouble?'
‚Fires in public places, in A LOT of places'
‚Uhh okey. I guess we will pay and head home.'
Relieved he put his phone into his pocket and called together the team. He briefed them on what was going on and before he could even finish they were called to yet another fire downtown. Everyone was running and getting ready but when the alarm gave the address, Robert froze in place. „Engine 19, Ladder 19, Aid-car 19 Fire at Westlake center, 400 Pine street."
„Captain?" Vic asked confused seeing him just standing there. Even with half of his gear on suddenly it felt like the air around him became ice cold and the air froze in his lungs. „Robert?" Vic asked again grabbing his arm and finally getting his attention.
„Andy is at that mall. I told her to go home but like 10 minutes ago, she-„ he started but Vic quickly interrupted his rambling. „I'm sure she was already out and save okay? Sent her a text or call while we are on our way. Will take us around 30 minutes anyways." of course Vic now worried too but there wasn't much else they could do now.
The drive felt endless long and each time she didn't pick up time went even slower. He had sent her and also Michelle way too many messages but neither would reply, neither would pick up the phone. It was quiet in the engine, no one dared to say anything.
Robert was fidgeting with his leg and constantly rubbing over his head, and while he knew it wouldn't be faster he felt an urge to jump out and run. He tried not to allow himself to think about what could happen, it was probably Chaos, maybe they lost their phones, there was probably a simple answer to all of this.
As they got closer Robert tried to get himself together and get into captain mode. „Okey listen up. Multiple stations have been called but everyone had quite a trip here so the fire has been burning for at least 30 minutes. We have to work quick and stay safe. It will be chaos so make sure you don't get separated." Robert started and already paired everyone up so they would be faster to jump into the work. With no help there for such a long time they were expecting deaths.
Arriving at the scene everyone jumped into action while Robert and the other captains at the scene were figuring out a plan as the battalion chief was on another call already and another hadn't arrived yet.
„ROBERT." he heard a familiar voice shouting, he looked around and finally saw her. Michelle was trying to make her way to him but was held back by P.D. „Michelle, Are you okay? Where is Andy?" he asked when he realized she wasn't with Michelle. „I'm okay but Andy, we were on our way out but everyone was panicking and we got separated, I don't know where she is Robert! I can't find her!" she rambled in panic.
Robert just left her standing there, he grabbed a firefighter from another station and made his way inside. He knew they were shopping for baby stuff so at least he had an idea in which area he had to search for her.
Inside the mall it was chaos, Firefighters roaming around, most on search and rescue, debris on the floor, flames shooting up, thick smoke. They kept searching. From far away he could see someone crawling along a wall. Seemed like the person had some idea of what he or she was doing.
Getting closer he heard the loud coughs and the closer he got the clearer he could see the person until he was close enough and could finally see that it was actually Andy. "ANDY"Robert shouted and was quickly by her side.
"Andy! I got you. I got you. I will get you out. You're okay. You are fine." He assured her. Andy didn't get any words out between the coughing but she didn't have to He could see it in her eyes, She was terrified.
Robert quickly took of his masks and put it on her. And while under most circumstances she would have stopped him, she didn't this time, didn't have it in her. He scooped her up and started to find his way out. Andy was covered in soot, a burn on her arm and her leg and one on her belly.
Robert tried his best to stay calm as he still had to make it outside and get her help but the burns, her coughs, his worry was through the roof. He finally stepped out of the building and some firefighters rushed over a gurney that he laid down Andy on.
The paramedics quickly put her on oxygen, placed an IV and hooked her up to monitors before loading her up. Robert didn't even remember or care what was going on with the fire anymore, he wasn't leaving her side. He held her hand as tight as he could.
„Robert I-„ Andy said with a raspy quiet voice. „Hey hey, it's okay, don't try to talk. It's fine, you'll be fine." He assured her caressing her hand. Andy's eyes wandered to her belly, that she was having her free hand at, and back to Robert hoping he'd understand.
"The baby will be fine too, you will both be fine okay?" He kissed her hand but wasn't sure how convincing he was with tears in his eyes. And while she nodded he could see water began to collect at the bottom lid of her eye and her lips began to tremble before tears started rolling down her cheeks.
"I tried - to get out... you - you need to know - that I tried to get out." Andy whispered between sobs. "I know you did Andy, it's gonna be okay." He moved some hair out of her face and kissed her forehead.
The ride to the hospital felt too long and while she was stable Robert became increasingly restless until they finally made it. She got rushed in and Robert was made to wait outside. The last thing he heard was something about a fetal heart monitor.
He broke down right there in the waiting room, sobbing uncontrollably he stumbled to a chair and sat down. Robert buried his head in his hands and just sobbed. He couldn't care what else was going on, who else was there, who could see him.
It was him who made her go on maternity leave now, to keep her safe but now she was here. If she would have been at the station like she wanted too she would be fine right now, their little girl would be fine right now.
"Robert." Ben said as he put his hand on his friends shoulder. Robert recognized bens voice but he didn't look up, he didn't want to face anyone. "Robert, Miranda is here." Ben tried again. His voice made Roberts stomach turn, he knew that voice, he had heard it too often. Slowly Robert lifted his head and looked at Miranda. "Just tell me." He begged her with a thin voice.
"First off, for now both are stable. They are in the ICU so we can monitor both closely. We dressed the burns with Vaseline and hope we can avoid antibiotics for the fetus. Andy is getting oxygen for the smoken inhalation. She had some contractions so we are trying to stop them to give your baby as much time as we can. There's not much else we can do right now but wait, only time will tell." Miranda filled him in.
Roberts chest was burning, his heart was aching, anger was boiling up inside of him but he tried to keep it inside. "The team is waiting outside, I wasn't sure if you..." Ben trailed off noticing Robert was lost in his own thoughts. "I'll sent Travis in he got you some clothes so you can get out of these turnouts." Ben said and Robert gave him a little nod. "You can see her after you changed." Miranda said and gave him an empathetic smile before she left.
"Hey, Uhm I got your clothes." Travis said softly as he approached Robert. "They will both be okey." He tried to comfort him but Robert jumped out of his seat. "YOU DONT KNOW THAT. YOU DONT KNOW, THEY COULD DIE I COULD LOSE THEM BOTH AND ITS ALL MY FAULT. I SHOULDN'T HAVE MADE HER GO ON MATERNITY LEAVE. ITS ALL MY FAULT." Robert shouted through the waiting room and drew all eyes on him but he didn't notice.
His entire body clenched up and he needed a release, he started punching against the wall leaving a hole in it before Travis could push him back. "Travis it's all my fault. If they die it's on me. I killed them." He started sobbing. Travis pulled him into a tight hug and held him while Robert let it all out.
They stood like that in the middle of the waiting room for a while, until Robert had no tears left. "Listen-" Travis said making sure Robert was looking at him, "none of this is your fault. We still don't know who started all those fires. You couldn't know this was going to happen. It was right for Andy to go on maternity leave. You didn't set that mall on fire, you didn't hurt them, you saved them, you got them out okay?"
Robert nodded slightly, hearing those words felt good but he couldn't shake this guilt completely. "I- i'm gonna go change." He stuttered and his voice sounded tired. Robert took the bag Travis brought him. "Travis... thank you." Robert breathed. "Always." Travis smiled and went back to the rest of the team.
Robert changed and Miranda took him to see Andy. He sat down next to her bed. In this moment he was glad Andy was asleep, he wanted to be strong for her so she didn't need to see his puffy red eyes or his bruised knuckles even if he couldn't hide it forever.
The beeping of the monitors brought him comfort, Knowing both of his girls hearts were beating. He took Andy's hand in his and his other hand found a place on her belly, making sure he stayed a away from the burn and from the monitors attached to her belly.
He sat like that for a while before he noticed Andy's eyes slowly opening. "Hey." He said smiling at her. "She... is she still...?" She asked muffled through the oxygen mask. "There, that monitor, it's her heart beat. She's strong like her mommy." He said and his eyes got teary again.
"I'm sorry Robert, I didn't mean for this to happen. I- we just, we were just at the mall."Andy mumbled. Robert stroke over her head. "I know, it's not your fault, it was out of our hands okay." He said.
"Bailey said Michelle is fine." Andy said but stating it more as a question. She knew sometimes the truth gets bend in a situation like this. "She is, she was outside with 19, I think they all went home now though." He answered hesitant.
"It's okay, she's okay." She said slowly and closed her eyes. Robert didn't say anything else, he knew she needed to rest and hopefully when she was asleep she could find some peace. The worry about their little girl must be driving her insane like it did him.
"Hey, visiting time is over it's time for you to head home." Bailey whispered peaking her head inside. Robert was about to protest loudly but stayed silent to not wake Andy up. He got up from his seat and went outside to Bailey.
"I'm not leaving them! I can't leave them!" He insisted and Bailey sighed. "I knew you were gonna be trouble." She rolled her eyes. "Theres an on-call room at the end of the hall you can sleep there, but the nurses will keep an eye on you and there's no sneaking your way back into your wife's room." She said fierce.
He rolled around in the little bunk bed for hours. His nerves kept him wide awake so he decided to get up and go for a little walk. Of course his feet took him right to Andy's room. Knowing the nurses would throw him out anyways he just stood in front of her room looking through the glass.
Andy was fast asleep and he just stood there watching her, checking the monitors, seeing both his girls were doing good he felt the exhaustion take over him. After a little while he went back to the on-call room and fell asleep fast.
"Sir,-" a nurse said and Robert was wide awake immediately, "I'm sorry to wake you up, your wife is in labour again." Roberts eyes went big and his body tensed up again. It was too early, his little girl was only 28weeks, she needed more time. He followed the nurse back to Andy's room.
"Hey I'm here babe." Robert said hurrying to Andy's side who was grunting as another contraction hit. "It's too early, it's too early, she's too small, she needs more time." She whimpered. "It's going to be okay, they'll stop the contractions." He assured her just as Carina walked in.
"Hey guys, the nurses already started you on a trip to stop the contractions but it doesn't seem to work so far so I'll just check how far along you are." She explained to them before examining Andy. Robert held Andy's hand in between his.
"Okay, I'm sorry guys we will have to do a c-section immediately. You are too far along and a natural birth will be too exhausting for you right now." Carina called nurses and before they knew it they were in an OR about to become parents. Robert was sitting next to Andy's head caressing he cheeks and holding her hand.
Andy couldn't hold back her tears and they were silently running down her face. "Why do bad things keep happening to us? I'm so tired of it Robert. If she... if she doesn't make it I don't... I can't... I can't go on." Andy sobbed through her tears.
"Don't say that Andy, she will be okay. I just know it." He tried to calm her but his voice was shaky with a lump in his throat. Robert kept caressing her in an attempt to calm her but he felt like it didn't have much affect.
"She's out." Carina said. Robert stood up to see her while Andy thought her heart stopped and she didn't dare to breath until she heard a cry. But she was soon released when her baby girl started crying and so did Andy. "She's beautiful, she looks just like you." Robert said with tears in his eyes.
"I want to see her, I need to see her." Andy whimpered. "I'm sorry she needs to get checked out right away and go to the nicu." Carina said apologetic. "Can Robert go with her?" Andy asked hopeful. "No, I'm sorry." Carina said, feeling their pain and fear. She finished the c-section and Andy was brought to a room.
They still hadn't gotten an update so she sent Robert to get one. The wait was killing her. She was nervously playing with her fingers as a nurse opened the door and came in followed by Robert with their baby girl wrapped in a blanket in his arms. Andy's tears started flowing immediately as relieve washed over her. "The doctors said she's perfectly healthy. It's a miracle. She's a little miracle." Robert said emotionally and placed her in Andy's arm before he sat down next to her in the bed.
"Hey Sofia, I'm your mommy. I am so happy that you are alright. I know we had quite some hours and this is definitely not how we planned to welcome you into this world but we are gonna be fine." Andy said softly, caressing her daughters cheek.
"She's beautiful." She said and looked up to Robert. "Just like her mommy. I'm so proud of you Andy." He gave her a short kiss, he wanted to pour all his love in a long kiss but it wouldn't do her oxygen levels that were still too low any good.
"You're about to fall asleep aren't you?" Robert chuckled a little noticing how Andy struggled to keep her eyes open. "No, no I'm fine. I just wanna hold her." She said but in reality she was exhausted and in pain. The smoke inhalation and the burns were enough already and now a c-section, her body needed rest.
"Come on, I'll hold her, you can sleep. We will stay right here." He promised. Andy sighed a little but handed Sofía to Robert. Andy leaned against his shoulder and kept her eyes on her little baby but her eyes got heavier and she knew she would fall asleep soon.
"Sofía, you are one lucky girl. You got the best mom you could ask for. She will do whatever she has to for you, she is incredibly strong and resilient and she's beautiful inside and out. Really, you couldn't do any better." Robert whispered to his daughter.
Andy's eyes were closed by now but a smile formed on her face as she heard those words. Somehow in the end everything was okay. Life was cruel to them again but her and her baby girl came out strong anyways. They were now a family of three and she knew Robert would always save them.
