A/N: New chapter! Hope you enjoy this one. It is quite a fast-moving chapter so I hope it does make sense to you. Once again, don't be afraid to let me know your thoughts- I love reading them x

The three firefighters stayed up till late talking all things baby, work and, of course, Robert.No matter how many times Andy wanted to stop talking about him, Vic and Maya would always bring him back up.

So, when it came time to leave in the morning, Andy tried her hardest not to wake either of them up. They had all crashed in the front room; Andy took refuge on the sofa, Maya in the armchair and Vic was sprawled out on the rug. Thankfully, Andy managed to locate her phone and purse and walked out of the apartment without waking the two women, avoiding any possible further questions about her and Robert.

After getting an Uber to the hospital, Andy swiftly made her way to her daughter's bedside. She only had one night away from her daughter but she felt like she had changed so much; her skin had more colour in it and her hair had darkened to a deeper shade of brunette. Andy yearned to hold Valentina but gently stroking her skin was the only form of contact that she could provide at the time.

"Ah, Ms Herrera." Doctor Hayes announced as he walked into the room.

"Andy, please."

"Andy" Hayes nodded, "We've been monitoring Valentina for a few days now and the ECMO machine seems to be working. So much so, that we want to operate as early as tomorrow. We think she's ready so as long as you are, I can book theatre."

"Are you sure she's ready? She's only a week old."

"Yes."

"Okay then, tomorrow it is."

"Perfect. I'll go and book that now." Hayes spoke before walking back out of the room.

"You hear that little one? You're one step closer to coming home." Andy smiled as she admired her daughter.

Shortly after, Robert had joined the two of them. He had just finished work and rather than heading home like usual, he dropped by the hospital knowing that was where Andy most likely was.

"Hey. How you are feeling?" He asked as he wrapped Andy into a hug.

"Tired. Maya and Vic didn't let me sleep until 2 in the morning. Plus, a night on the couch didn't help." She spoke as she arched her back trying to work out the knot that had formed overnight.

"Well, we can go home together tonight. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you last night."

"No, it's okay. You can't take much more time off work. Though that reminds me. This little one is having her surgery tomorrow, so we can go home as a family of three soon."

"That's sudden."

"Doctor Hayes doesn't see the need to wait considering she's been stable for a while now." Andy noted.

By the next morning, Doctor Hayes had taken Valentina o the operating theatre to fix her hernia. Andy and Robert were guided to the relatives' room by one of the nurses to wait. Five minutes in and Robert had taken to bopping his right leg up and down, trying to calm his nerves, whereas Andy had taken to pacing up and down the room, trying to calm hers. It was going to be a long and anxious wait for both.

Two hours later and the parents could finally breathe. Doctor Hayes had informed them that Valentina had made it through the surgery without any complications and he was happy with her post-op stats. The parents made their way to their daughter's bedside and sat with her for the remainder of the visiting hours. Nurses had come and gone to check on her vitals and thankfully everything was looking good.

By the time Robert and Andy needed to leave, their daughter was improving by the second. Doctor Hayes even noted how surprised he was to see her bounce back so quickly from surgery. The parents made it back home in a silence vehicle; neither of them wanted to leave their daughter but hospital policy required them to go, so they were feeling a little sad.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Robert asked as he headed straight for the kitchen after entering the house.

"No" Andy spoke but then her stomach rumbled, "On second thoughts, I will have something."

"Chicken soup?"

"Sure." Andy replied solemnly.

Robert couldn't help but notice the demeanour in her voice: "Hey, our baby is fine. She's recovering well and soon enough she will be with us here." He spoke as he pulled Andy into an embrace.

"I know. I just want her here now, though. It feels weird being surrounded by all this baby stuff without a baby here." Andy said, her voice muffled by her face being so close to Robert's chest.

"Well, whilst she's not here we should probably take advantage of being able to eat a meal in peace." Robert stated as Andy's stomach rumbled for the second time. He let go of her and headed back into the kitchen to prepare all the ingredients for his famous chicken soup that he knew Andy loved so much. This was the life for him and he only hoped that he could make it more permanent with Andy soon.