Burnin' Love (1)

Maternity Leave

♣️Season 2, Episode 1♣️

Nicole sighs, "Chief, with all due respect, I think that I know when I need to step back."

Boden gives a huff, "Nicole, you are eight months pregnant. You are going to need to step back soon. I'm not saying you can't do your job-"

"Ambulance 61, Truck 81, Squad 3, Battalion Chief 25."

"Can we talk about this when we get back from this call? I'll talk it over with Dawson and Shay and see how they feel as my partners," Nicole says, standing up and heading to the apparatus floor.

"Don't you want to talk to Casey as well?" Boden asks as he walks with her.

Nicole snorts, "No. I already know what he thinks. That I should've backed away when I hit the third trimester."

♣️♣️♣️♣️

Sitting in the passenger seat of the ambo, Nicole asks them their opinion on her leave, "So? Do you think after this shift I should take a step back?"

Gabby and Shay share a look before Shay nods, "Yes. You obviously don't have to stop coming to the house and you could maybe help Connie in the bullpen but going out on calls is pushing it at this point."

"Yeah," Gabby nods from the back, "Besides, how comfortable would you be staying at home for 24 hour shifts by yourself? Come to the firehouse and that way, someone would always be around and you wouldn't have to stop your normal routine."

Nicole sighs, before giving in smiling at them, "Fine. You can tell Boden and Matt that you succedded in getting me to agree to step back. But there is no way I am staying home alone while Matt's on a 24 hour shift. Too many horror scenes have we pulled up to for me to feel comfortable with that."

Shay snorts, "Please. If Matt leaves you at home, we'll pull up in the rig and bring you to the firehouse. Or out on calls just to get back at him."

The trio laugh before settling down and moving onto Shay, "How's the apartment hunt going?"

"Oh, you know, better than telling Kelly I didn't think Renee's due date added up," Shay shares.

Nicole laughs, "Yeah, that couldn't have gone well."

Gabby cautiously asks, "And this had nothing to do with you and a baby and her and a baby?"

Shay let's out a giant sigh, "I'm passed all that, alright? Besides, Nicole agreed with me that the dates didn't add up."

"I did. I wasn't gonna bring it up to Kelly all willy-nilly like that, though."

"Why not? You love helping make sure nothing upsets your brother," Shay groans.

"That was before I really came to terms with being a mother," Nicole shares, "I know I am not going to be able to control everything with this baby, so I need to start learning how to deal with that. First step, don't tell my brother that something he's dreamed his whole life for isn't gonna come true because his baby momma is lying to him."

Shay mumbles, "I feel like that is the perfect time to step in."

Pulling up to the house, Nicole gets out and stands next to the rig, grabbing the jump bag as Gabby goes closer to the house. Suddenly, the house explodes.