A/N: this was supposed to be posted a little bit ago but life got busy and time got away from me. I hope you enjoy either way!

schoolhouse rock

It was an early morning for the Severide family and, for the first time in a long time, it had nothing to do with the newest member of the family. Nico was an unexpected yet welcome addition to the family but while his sleep habits at 6 months old were better than one-year-old Addie's, the days of uninterrupted sleep were few and far between.

The early morning wake-up call couldn't be blamed on Nico or Addie this time. It was all Maya.

No one could blame her. It was an exciting day, one she had been looking forward to all summer: the first day of school.

Kindergarten had been something Maya had been excited about since she learned about it at Pre-K. Since then, every school milestone—Pre-K graduation, Kindergarten registration, back-to-school shopping, meet the teacher—just served to make her more and more excited.

Kelly and Stella were also excited for her, but they felt bad. The transition from one kid to two the year before had been tough on everyone, especially after Addie's dramatic entrance into the world, and it was quite the adjustment for Maya to share her parents' attention. The transition from two to three was an entirely different monster, especially with the age gap between Addie and Nico being only 10 months.

Even though Kelly and Stella both made an extra effort to spend special one-on-one time with Maya and make the most of her summer while dealing with a 3-month-old and a one-year-old, it was still hard, and Kelly and Stella felt guilty.

Maya took everything in stride though–she was ecstatic to be a big sister now to a little sister and a little brother and she loved hanging out with her cousins and friends when her parents had to do something with the babies. That only made Kelly and Stella feel even more guilty.

With all the changes over the past few months, Kelly and Stella wanted to make Maya's first day of kindergarten special. They called Sadie and scheduled her to come over very early that morning to watch Addie and Nico while Kelly and Stella spent time with Maya.

When Sadie arrived, armed with a small gift for Maya, she immediately took Addie from Kelly and took her into the living room to play, allowing him to head to the kitchen to pack Maya's lunch. The previous weekend, he and Stella had taken Maya to the grocery store to get some of her favorite foods to pack in her lunches and school snacks. It wasn't necessary because Maya ate almost anything you gave her, but they wanted her to have some of her favorite things as a little treat.

Lunch packed, Kelly checked Maya's backpack one last time to ensure everything she'd need for the day was inside.

Assured that everything was packed and ready for Maya to take to school, Kelly left Maya's backpack and lunch box on the table by the front door and then headed upstairs to join Stella and Maya. He was surprised to find the 5-year-old still in her pajamas and standing in front of Stella and the two outfits she was holding. Just last night Maya had given them a little fashion show of all of her new back-to-school outfits and she proudly declared she'd already picked what outfit she was going to wear for the first day.

"How are we doing in here?" Kelly asked as he walked into Maya's room.

Maya whirled around to look at him. "Daddy! Come help!"

Kelly smirked and walked further into the room, coming to a stop between Stella and Maya. "What am I helping with?"

"Which outfit?" Maya asked, pointing at the clothes Stella was holding.

Both outfits were cute in his opinion, and he didn't see a huge difference between the two, but he was certain that answer was not what his daughter wanted to hear. So he picked one which turned out to be the wrong one, based on his child's sigh and his wife's groan.

It took a few minutes, but Maya finally decided on the outfit she wanted to wear for her first day. She ended up choosing the shirt and shoes from one outfit and the shorts from the other and Kelly just wondered when his little girl became so opinionated.

Once Maya was dressed and Stella had finished fixing her hair, Kelly and Stella got her ready for some pictures. They posed her by the front door and snapped a few pictures of her with a First Day of Kindergarten sign and without. Sadie even took a few pictures of the three of them together and one of Maya and her siblings before it was time to leave.

With Maya being their firstborn, all of the new Severide family traditions started with her. With their crazy work schedules and dangerous jobs, it was a given that Kelly or Stella or both would miss out on important milestones and moments in their children's lives. Because of that misfortune, they were keen on celebrating every milestone they were there for.

Maya's first day of school was one of those milestones.

After pictures were taken and goodbyes were said, Kelly, Stella, and Maya loaded into the car and headed out. Their first stop of the day was breakfast and they let Maya pick the place. She chose her favorite diner, one the Severide family had frequented over the years.

Breakfast brought excited conversation about the day ahead and with Addie and Nico at home, it gave Kelly and Stella some much-needed alone time with Maya. The excitement and joy were clear on the little girl's face and while most of it stemmed from the anticipation around her first day of school, the sparkle in her bright, blue eyes told Kelly and Stella that this time with just them played a part too.

After breakfast, it was finally time for school. Maya was vibrating with excitement on the short drive and Kelly and Stella were barely able to keep up with her on the walk to her classroom. They stayed with Maya while she put her stuff in her cubby and found her seat.

Maya's teacher, Ms. Hollis, had a 'first day of school' photo area set up and all of the kids wanted to take pictures with their friends or the loved ones that came with them. Maya pulled her parents over to the photo booth as soon as it was free and the three of them took several pictures together, with and without the photo booth props that had been provided.

When the pictures were finished it was clear that the time was coming for the families to leave – Ms. Hollis and her student teacher were settling kids into their seats and getting them started on a worksheet. Kelly and Stella walked Maya to her seat, they each gave her a big hug goodbye and headed out.

If they noticed the tears in each other's eyes on the walk back to the car, they didn't say anything. Kelly just wrapped an arm around Stella's shoulders, she wrapped an arm around his waist, and they hugged each other close.

... ... ...

The next six hours were long.

Addie and Nico provided more than enough distraction, and the pictures they received sporadically throughout the day from Maya's teacher were reassuring, but Kelly and Stella were still counting down the hours until pick-up time.

Thankfully, Sadie was able to come back to watch Addie and Nico so as soon as she showed up, Kelly and Stella headed back to the school to pick up their girl.

… ... ...

Kelly and Stella barely made it through the door of the classroom before Maya was wrapping her arms around them with the biggest smile on her face. She grabbed their hands and pulled them over to her table where everything she'd done that day was laid out.

Maya proudly showed them the work she'd done that day before launching into a (surprisingly detailed) play-by-play of the day.

As they left the school for a celebratory ice cream, Maya continued to talk about the day, all of the friends she made, how happy she was to play with Ella at recess and see Otis in the cafeteria, and most importantly, how excited she was to go back to school the next day.

As Kelly and Stella listened, any residual nerves Kelly and Stella had about Maya starting school went out the window. It was clear Maya already loved school and, whether Addie and Nico shared her excitement when it was their turn for school or not, they hoped their newfound back-to-school traditions would be a treasured experience for years to come.

A/N:I have a plethora of story ideas I want to try and pursue so updates on here and loving you is easy might be more spread out than usual. Sorry!

If these stories pan out, I don't think you'll be disappointed though 😉

((also, since I can update AO3 on my phone, all updates and stories are posted first there!))