when the clock strikes twelve

It was a peaceful New Years Eve in the Severide household, as it had been in the few years since Maya entered the world. Since her arrival into the world, her parents traded raucous nights at Molly's (when Stella wasn't working behind the bar) for peaceful nights in with the family. Holidays and celebrations were kept small while Maya was a baby but as she got older and bigger, she loved having parties and attending parties with her parents—especially if her aunts, uncles, and cousins were going to be there.

Now that Maya was three, and much more independent, Kelly and Stella felt more comfortable having larger gatherings and celebrations at the loft. In the last year alone, they'd hosted their friends from the firehouse and Med and Intelligence for Friendsgiving, a Christmas party, and now, New Year's Eve.

Maya had somehow learned about the New Year's Eve tradition of watching the ball drop in Times Square and was now obsessed with the idea. The three-year-old, who had never stayed awake past 10:00 pm but had inherited both of her parents' stubbornness, was now bound and determined to stay up until midnight to witness it.

"Is it time for the ball dwop mommy?"

"Not yet, baby." Stella answered, amused. From the moment she woke up that morning Maya had been asking about the ball drop.

Maya sighed. "How much yonger?"

"Well, it's almost time for lunch now and the ball doesn't drop until midnight, so you've got about 12 more hours."

"How yong is dat?"

"About 8 of your princess movies"

Maya's little eyes grew wide. "Dats a yong time."

"It is a long time," Stella said with a smile. "You sure you want to try and stay up till midnight? It's gonna be way past your bedtime."

"I gonna do it! I gonna stay up til da ball dwops."

Stella chuckled at the sheer determination in her daughter's voice. "OK, but we're gonna have to make sure you get a good nap in today so you can stay up tonight."

Maya nodded, her little curls bouncing with the movement. Stella smiled and moved the three-year-old over to the table, getting her situated with her lunch. Maya ate happily, talking with Stella about how excited she was about the party. The toddler loved getting to see all of her friends and aunts and uncles and eat all the yummy snacks, but this time would be even more special.

Once lunch was finished, Maya started to grow sleepy. Stella carried her to bed and tucked her in, hoping the toddler would get a good, long nap in before the late night ahead of them.

… … …

Maya was still asleep almost three hours later when Kelly returned to the loft, arms loaded down with grocery bags. He saw Stella sitting alone in the living room and quietly made his way into the kitchen. "She still sleeping?"

Sella nodded as she joined him, helping him unload the food and supplies for tonight. "Yep. It's been almost 3 hours since she went down. She's very serious about staying up 'til midnight so I told her she had to take a good nap so she'd be rested enough."

Kelly chuckled. "You know she got that determination from you, right?"

"My determination and your stubbornness," Stella amended, playfully rolling her eyes. "God help us when she's older."

"You love it," Kelly joked, putting away the last few items and wrapping his arms around Stella. "Our little girl is strong and fierce, tough, determined as hell, but also incredibly passionate and caring…just like her mom."

Stella melted at Kelly's words, moving one of her hands to his cheek. "She gets all of that from you too; all of that and her habit of climbing and jumping off of stuff."

Kelly snorted and mumbled a playful yeah, yeah, yeah before capturing Stella's lips in a kiss.

… … …

It wasn't surprising to anyone that, despite the four-hour nap she took and the copious amounts of sugar she ate, Maya was crashing. Hard.

What was surprising was how long she'd lasted.

It was fifteen minutes to midnight and the toddler was still awake. The other children, even the older ones like Javi and Makayla, had long since fallen asleep but not Maya. Granted she was fighting a fierce battle against her heavy eyelids and resting her head on her dad's shoulder as he held her, but she was still awake—no doubt by sheer determination alone.

The adults were amazed, though her stubbornness came as no surprise given who her parents were. The impressiveness at Maya's feat soon turned to sadness as it was clear the little girl was overly tired. As the night went on Maya grew fussier and clingier, wanting to only be held by Kelly as midnight drew closer.

In an attempt to get the girl to give in and go to sleep, conversation was kept quiet and the NYE footage on the TV was replaced by the local news. Kelly even tried taking her into a different room but that didn't work either; it only made her fussing worse.

"No daddy," she whined. "Ball."

Kelly rubbed her back. "You're tired baby, you need to sleep."

"Noooooo!"

"Ok, ok," Kelly sighed.

Maya's return to the living room proved their attempts to get her asleep had been futile, so they decided to just give in. They turned the ball drop footage back on and ramped up the conversation again.

With a minute before midnight, Stella and Brett passed out drinks and refilled glasses, making sure everyone had something to toast in the new year with—Stella even refilled Maya's sippy cup and gave it to her.

10, 9, 8, 7…

Everyone gathered around the TV as the countdown continued.

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. "Happy New Year!"

The cheers rang out throughout the loft as everyone raised their glasses and shared kisses with their partners.

Kelly and Stella each gave Maya a kiss after sharing a kiss themselves.

"You did it baby girl," Stella informed, rubbing the sleepy little girl's back. "You made it to midnight."

Maya gave her mom a sleepy smile before laying her head back down on Kelly's shoulder and giving in to sleep, making her parents chuckle.

The party wrapped up shortly after that, everyone ready to get themselves and their sleeping kiddos home. Maya transitioned into her bed without stirring and Kelly and Stella put away anything that couldn't wait until later that morning before they climbed into their own bed. If the day's adventure taught them anything, it was that the new year would be even better than the last.

A/N: HAPPY 2023 FRIENDS!

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the continued love for Maya! Your support alone has been the only thing keeping me going at times because WOW was 2022 a year.

I'm still getting unpacked and settled, so the next update might be a minute, but there are so many adventures planned for Maya this next year.