Firehouse Baby - station 19 kid

3

A month passed by, and Vera settled in happily with the crew at Station 19. Andy's papers to foster Vera had been sent in, and now she had the anxious wait to see if she got accepted.

Pruitt had agreed that it was a good ides for her to foster Vera, feeling as though he had made a connection to her that day in his office.

The team had been juggling taking desk duty to look after Vera, and, if none if them could, she would go to daycare at the hospital, where she would spend most of the day with Ellis and Meredith.

"Hey there, little bug!" Vic cooed as Vera walked into beanery with Ben, Daisy tusked in her elbow. Vera was quick to let go of his hand, running towards her, arms open. Vic scooped her up into her arms, holding her close.

"Vic! I have p'aydate wif Ellie!" Vera told her excitedly.

"You're having a playdate with Ellis? That's so exciting, Ver!" Vic replied, matching her excitement. Vera nodded, and, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Andy in the corner of the room.

Wriggling to be put down, she ran over to Andy, wrapping her arms tightly around the older Latina's legs.

Andy looked down in surprise, having not seen or heard Vera enter. Her smile brightened when she saw Vera, and she crouched down to her level.

"I heard you're having a playdate with Ellis later." Andy said, pulling Vera's top down a little. The little girl nodded excitedly, and began to tell Andy what Ellis had told her they were going to do.

Maya came up the stairs a little while later, and Vera had been moved over to the table, where she was standing on a chair so that she could see onto the table, Daisy slumped over on the table.

"Um, Ben and Andy, can I speak to you two for a moment?" She said, glancing between the two. There was a look on her face that the two couldn't place, so they agreed, standing up and making their way over.

"Cariño, go see Vic please. I'll be back in a second." Andy said before she left, and Vera nodded, climbing down carefully from the chair and running over to Vic, who welcomed her warmly.

"What's up?" Andy asked, joining Maya and Ben.

"Um, there's no easy way to put this..." Maya said trailing off.

"What is it?" Ben asked.

"Um, Vera's mom's here." Maya finally said.

"What?" Andy said seriously, crossing her arms, "Her mom hasn't tried to make contact for months, and now she wants to?"

"I-I don't know, but she wants to talk to whoever's looking after her daughter, which is one or both of you." Maya informed them a little nervously. She didn't want to admit it, but she had become a little attached to the little Latina.

"Right, um..." Andy said, rubbing the crease between her eyebrows with one hand, "I'll go talk to her. Um, Ben, keep Vera up here, I don't want her to see mom. Okay, yeah."

Andy walked off, leaving Ben and Maya to their own devices. She could hear the giggles of Vera echo down the staircase, and she had to smile.

She entered the reception area, and her eyes fell on a woman who looked like an older version of the little Latina she loved so much.

"I take it that you are the woman who is looking after my daughter?" She asked. Andy nodded. She didn't like this woman.

"Yes. No. It's... it's complicated." Andy stammered out.

"Right. Well, I just came to inform you that I am terminating my parental rights to... her." She practically spat 'her', and Andy just wanted her to leave.