A Spark of Hope (Chicago Fire)

Chapter Nine

I woke up to the soft sounds of someone talking. I opened my eyes, squinting slightly at the light. Severide was standing there, holding Eden and rocking back and forth.

"You're going to love Grace. She's sweet and caring and so incredibly strong," he whispered to the infant.

"You're pretty amazing too," I said quietly.

Severide looked up at me and smiled. He sat next to me on the bed, cradling Eden against his chest.

"It's pretty hot seeing you with a baby," I admitted.

He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Is it now? Maybe we'll have to make a baby then," he teased.

"Careful. Don't make promises you can't keep," I said, kissing him gently.

He just laughed and kissed me back before turning his attention back to Eden. He ran his fingers over her soft, chestnut hair as she smiled.

"I love her little toothless grin," I said, kissing the baby's chubby little toes.

"She's pretty adorable," he said.

We just sat there with Eden for a few more minutes before I got up to change her diaper.

"Should we put her in a clean outfit? This one smells like the hospital," Severide said, holding up the discarded onesie.

"We can just leave her in her diaper for a few minutes until we find one of the onesies Dawson and I bought," I said, strapping on the clean diaper.

When I was finished, I picked Eden up and headed out to the common room. Severide followed behind me, making faces at the infant.

"Dawson, where did we put the onesies that we bought?" I asked.

"I tossed them in the laundry. They should be almost done by now," she said, standing and heading towards the laundry room.

I looked down at Eden and noticed that she had started sucking on her hand.

"Are you hungry, sweet pea?" I asked.

Eden gurgled in response, smiling up at me.

"Who wants to feed her?" I asked.

"I'll do it," Casey said, holding out his arms.

I handed Eden off to him and went to make a bottle. Dawson dressed the baby in a freshly washed lavender onesie while I heated the formula. Once it was the right temperature, I handed the bottle to Matt and watched as he started to feed her.

"How did you know she was hungry?" Mouch asked.

"She was sucking her hand. One of the kids I babysat in high school used to do the same thing when he was hungry," I explained.

While Casey fed Eden, Dawson and I went through the things we had bought. Herrmann and Severide headed out to my car to install the carseat while Dawson and I sorted through the other things.

"Let's just make a pile of everything that can just go straight into your car," she said, setting aside the extra bottles and formula.

"That's a good idea. I want to just give her a bath or something in one of the sinks, so don't put away the soap just yet. She needs one after everything she's been through today," I said.