The best is yet to come

I've got everything I need

"Are we ever gonna meet Lane?" She asked keeping her sight focused on the blonde as she closed a drawer.

The glass that Maya was handing to her brother slipped in the passage, smashing on the ground.

"Dammit." Maya spoke loudly, earning a glare from Carina who gestured to the little babies on the other side of the room.

"Sorry. Sorry." She spoke twice.

Leslie swallowed loudly and turned to look at her italian mother mouthing an 'I'm sorry' and giving her a half smile.

"Why do you ask that?" Mason questioned, kneeling to help Maya pick the pieces. "Is it becoming kind of our thing now? To pick pieces of broken glass from the ground?" He asked his sister when he remembered they had done it when Mason first came to the station not long ago.

"I was just wondering. Mom never speaks about him. Not that I want you to." Leslie gestured to her mother shaking her head. "But I mean...are you sure that he doesn't want to have anything to do with either one of you and not even meet any of us?" She pointed to her siblings.

"I don't think so bambina. You know the story right?" Carina told her daughter hoping the answer would be enough, sensing Maya's tension even a few steps far from her.

"i don't think so either. Plus I actually kind of...don't want to?" Mason shrugged looking at his niece.

Leslie nodded, fully aware of the Bishop family history. She thought if she would want to ever meet her father again, maybe in a few years.
Their family wasn't clearly conventional, abusive fathers, passed away mothers, long forgotten and refound siblings, dead siblings. Their history could turn into a family drama kind of sitcom or reality show.
Somehow different broken people had found each other, in a way or another, to form a whole that nothing could ever break.

- December 13th 2024 -

"I've got something for you." Leslie spoke while walking out of the station with Treena.

The girl turned towards her friend, giving her a shy smile and taking a step forward to be closer to her.
Leslie cleared her voice and brought in front the hands she was holding behind her back.

"You got me a white box!" Treena faked enthusiasm, making the older girl burst out laughing.

"I actually did, thought you might like it." The firefighter played along, making Treena laugh as well. "No seriously. Open it." She reached forward so that she could take the box and open it.

"Oh Les." Treena pulled a smartphone out of the box turning it around to give a look. "You don't have to do this, why?" She looked deeply into Leslie's green eyes hoping that the girl would give her a fair explenation.

They had developed a bond in the past two months, for sure. But Treena wasn't much aware of the reason her friend would gift her with that device.
She had been speaking with Mason about Leslie a lot lately, her being his niece was something the man hadn't aknowledged yet.
They both felt some kind of connection for one another, but a connection that neither of them could put a name to yet.

Treena tried to come to the station almost every shift of A-team, spending time chatting and joking. Leslie had also let her try the pole once, but her fear for heights didn't actually let her do that ever again.
She felt good, with Leslie and with everyone else, like Mason and her finally had a family, a village.

"Why not? You don't have one." Leslie explained, well aware that the answer wouldn't be enough. She knew that she had to tell her sooner or later.