A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Here's my gift to you, the return of Maya!

my christmas wish

Christmas was Maya's favorite time of year. She loved the colorful lights and decorations that adorned the homes and businesses throughout the city. She loved the music and the sweets and the presents. Most importantly, she loved the traditions around Christmas and how special her parents made it, even when they had to work.

One of Maya's favorite traditions was Santa and anything and everything that involved Santa. The annual picture with Santa, baking cookies to leave for him on Christmas Eve, she loved it all but a new favorite this year was writing letters to Santa. She'd always made Christmas lists of toys and goodies she wanted, either with Sadie or her parents, but since starting Pre-K she'd started insisting on actual letters to Santa.

The past years Maya's lists and letters had usually been full of toys and games. This year's letter had the usual asks but there was also something special on the list, something the 4-year-old had wanted for a long while now.

… … …

With Stella working a shift at Molly's, Kelly had been on bedtime duty that night. He fed her dinner, bathed her, and got her into bed for a bedtime story. She'd gone down easy, as usual, and had gotten a second story out of Kelly but just before sleep pulled her under Maya forced her eyes open to look at Kelly.

"Don't forget 'bout my letter to Santa," Maya mumbled sleepily.

"What letter?"

"Miss Beff helped me write it."

"Miss Beth helped you write a letter to Santa?" Kelly asked and Maya nodded. "That was nice of her."

Burrowing deeper into the pillow, Maya fought to keep her eyes open. "Tan you send it to Santa 'morrow?"

Kelly smiled as sleep slurred Maya's speech. He carded his fingers through her hair. "I will send it to Santa tomorrow," he promised.

Maya gave him a sleepy smile before finally falling asleep. Kelly ran his fingers through her curls a few more times before leaving, flicking on her night light as he left.

It was a few hours later when Kelly remembered Maya's letter. After putting the little girl to bed, he'd gotten distracted by dishes, laundry, cleaning the kitchen and showering. Then Stella got home and the couple talked for a while. It wasn't until Stella went to shower and get ready for bed that Kelly remembered what Maya had asked him.

Kelly grabbed Maya's backpack from the hook by the door. He made quick work of cleaning out her lunch box and repacking it for the next day, tucking it into the refrigerator until the morning. He rifled through Maya's take-home folder, full of artwork and calendars until he found the brightly colored 'Dear Santa' letter.

Reading through the list, Kelly chuckled at a few of the more obscure things on Maya's list like the pet dragon and not one but two real ducks. There were a few more doable gifts listed that Kelly made a mental note to talk to Stella about but it was the last thing on the list that really caught his attention.

With a soft chuckle, Kelly repacked Maya's backpack and returned it to its place by the garage door. He grabbed Maya's Santa list off the counter and made his way to the bedroom where Stella had already tucked herself into their bed and was scrolling on her phone.

She looked up when Kelly walked in. "Everything OK?"

Kelly nodded and walked to his side of the bed. "Just remembered something I promised to do for Maya."

"Oh yeah? What was that?"

"She wanted me to mail Santa the letter she wrote him," Kelly said with a smirk.

Stella's eyes lit up and he handed her the letter. While she read, Kelly stripped his shirt and climbed into bed next to her. He knew when she got to the last line when her amused snorts and giggles stopped.

"She wants a little sibling for Christmas?"

"A little sister specifically," Kelly clarified, turning onto his side to face Stella. He propped himself up on his elbow.. "But a little brother would be okay too."

"I see." Stella said, looking at Kelly, a smirk on her face. "Think we should tell her?"

Kelly smiled and his free hand crept under Stella's top until it came to rest on her belly and the tiniest hint of a baby bump. "We can but she's going to tell everyone she sees. If we tell her we've got to be ready for the rest of the world to know."

Stella huffed out a laugh because it was true; the second Maya knew about the baby she'd tell everyone she saw. That was the reason they'd kept it a secret so far. Stella was still in her first trimester and the only ones who knew were her and Kelly, her doctor, and Boden (and that was purely out of necessity).

While Maya's pregnancy had been a surprise this pregnancy was anything but. Kelly and Stella had started discussing a second baby when Maya was around two years old but it soon became clear that neither they nor Maya was ready to add to their family. It wasn't until after Maya turned three and they got into a good routine with work and Maya starting Pre-K that they broached the baby subject again and agreed to start trying.

Stella found out she was pregnant at the end of October, just after Maya turned four. Once the pregnancy had been confirmed and everything looked good, they told Boden so he could start looking for someone to fill in on Truck once Stella had to step down. The plan had always been for Kelly and Stella to announce the pregnancy at the New Years Eve party Herrmann was hosting at Molly's. By then, Stella would be in her second trimester and all of their closest friends would be with them.

But, Stella would hit the second trimester mark just before Christmas ... and Maya did ask for a sibling, which is huge progress compared to how the little girl had previously felt about babies.

"Maybe we should tell her," Stella remarked. One of her hands joined Kelly's on her belly. "Break the news and get her used to the idea while she's still excited."

Kelly laughed. "Not to mention it's a present we know she'll like and we don't even have to buy anything."

Stella smacked his arm but smiled. Kelly grabbed her hand and pulled her close, repositioning them in bed so they were both lying down. "Maya's going to be thrilled and when the excitement wears off because the baby's crying or trying to take her toys or she has to share our attention, she's still going to love being a big sister."

"She's going to be the best big sister," Stella hummed in agreement.

… … …

Christmas morning was a festive affair at the Severide household. Jennifer, Katie, and Lucas had joined them again this year, filling the house with love, excitement, and holiday spirit.

Before the adults could even pour a cup of coffee, Maya had woken them up with yells of "Santa came! Santa came!" and pleas for everyone to hurry up so they could open presents. Stella corralled Maya into the living room with the rest of the adults while Kelly got the coffee started. By the time he made it into the living room with coffee (and a hot chocolate for Maya), all of the presents had been passed out and Maya was chomping at the bit to start unwrapping.

It didn't take long at all for the living room to go from clean and orderly to a warzone of ribbons and wrapping paper. Kelly had already unboxed one of Maya's new toys and the little girl had managed to convince her uncle Lucas to open another one for her.

Everyone was happy and smiling; it was the perfect way to start Christmas. Well, it was almost perfect. There was still one present left.

As Kelly picked up the scraps of wrapping paper around the tree he found one last present that had been missed (i.e. hidden by Kelly and Stella the night before and purposely not passed out with the others).

"What's this?" Kelly asked, bending to pick up the present. "Looks like we missed a present."

He handed the present to Stella, who read the tag with exaggerated presentation. "To Maya from Santa!"

Maya gasped, her already bright eyes shining even brighter. She ran over to her parents and plopped down in front of them. Stella handed her the present and she eagerly ripped the paper off and opened the box. She ooohed at the sweatshirt in the box and ran her fingers over the embroidered words and flowers. "Pwetty!"

"Do you know what it says?" Stella asked, smile on her face. When Maya shook her head, Stella continued. "It says 'Big Sister'."

There were shocked gasps and excited squeals from everyone in the room but the best ones came from Maya. She knew what the phrase big sister meant, she'd seen Javi become Otis's big brother and, more recently, she'd seen Ella Halstead become a big sister.

"I getting a baby sister?" Maya screeched, looking at her parents with a huge smile.

"Well, it might be a baby brother," Kelly said with a smile. "Do you want to see a picture?"

Maya nodded excitedly, her curls bouncing loose from the ponytail Stella had put her hair in. Stella pulled out their most recent set of ultrasound photos and showed them to the group. She pointed out as many things to Maya as she could and answered all of the questions the little girl had as best (and as age-appropriate) as she could.

While Maya was distracted with the ultrasound photos, Jennifer, Katie, and Lucas stepped forward to wrap Kelly and Stella in congratulatory hugs. Jennifer was over the moon for another grand baby and Katie and Lucas were excited for a new niece or nephew to spoil.

A few hours later, after the living room had been cleaned up and breakfast had been eaten, a picture of Maya in her big sister sweatshirt and holding the ultrasound pictures made its way into the 51 group chat. The congratulations and excitement from their teammates rivaled that of Jennifer, Katie, and Lucas'.

Christmases had been special since Maya's arrival but this Christmas had been the best one yet, all because of a Santa list.