"Rise and shine, sleepy head!" Maya shook her 14-year-old daughter gently, who was still fast asleep wrapped up under the sheets. Lizzie was sleeping at the end of the bed, unbeknownst to the teenager who was still fast asleep.
Maddie stirred slowly and lifted her head slightly off the pillow, "No. I don't want to wake up... and remember what happened," she groaned and threw her head back down onto the pillow.
Maya smiled softly and patted her shoulder gently, "I know that you don't want to but come on, you can't stay in bed all day, even so," she poked her shoulder slightly. "Come on kiddo, up you get," she added.
Maddie groaned and sat up slowly in bed where she looked around confused, "Wait, did I fall asleep at the station," she noted Lizzie curled up asleep at the end of the bed. "And how did Lizzie get here?" she asked.
"You looked peaceful and neither mama nor I wanted to wake you up," Maya explained as Maddie sat on the bed moving to pet her puppy. "Mama thought that if she brought Lizzie here then it might cheer you up as well," she told her.
"Oh. Have you and mama made up now?" Maddie wondered inquisitively.
"Yes, why?" Maya asked as she glanced at her daughter confused.
"Well darn, guess there's my answer to Thai for dinner," Maddie couldn't help but joke.
"Maddie!" Maya scolded.
Although she would not admit it, Maya was the slightest bit relieved that her daughter hadn't entered a depressive phase and was still able to joke at least.
"I'm just kidding," Maddie giggled slightly. "So, is mama here still?" she questioned.
"Mama's had to pop to the hospital and she'll be back in a little bit but in the meantime, how does some breakfast sound?" Maya offered.
"Sure, why not," The younger blonde agreed reluctantly. "Can I bring Lizzie with me?" she asked as she picked up the small dachshund.
"I don't see why not, I'm sure that the rest of the team will fall smitten with Lizzie," Maya agreed with her daughter. "Come on, lets' go find them all," she added.
Maddie reluctantly got off the bed and followed the older blonde into the Beanery where the rest of the team were all eating breakfast and engaging in conversation.
"Hey, look who is finally awake!" Dean spotted the younger blonde walk in with the puppy in her arms.
"Morning, squirt!" Vic exclaimed, from where she sat at the table with a bowl of cereal in front of her.
"Hey, Mad-Dog!" Jack said, holding his hand out to fist bump with the teenage girl which Maddie accepted, giggling slightly when the man made explosion sounds.
"Hey, trouble!" Travis waved over and spotted Lizzie. "Oooh, there's the puppy!" Travis he gushed in excitement. All of the firefighters turned to look at him amusedly. "What? All I'm saying is I'm a dog person," he added.
Maddie couldn't help but laugh, "Do you want to hold her, uncle Trav?" she questioned.
"You bet I do," Travis exclaimed as he walked over to his niece and picked the puppy up out of her arms. "Oh, she's so adorable, all tiny and cute," he continued to gush.
"I didn't realise that you brought the ankle-biter with you," Jack said and glanced in the direction of Lizzie who was lapping up the attention from the rest of the firefighters.
"Her names Lizzie, uncle J!" Maddie reminded him.
"Right, of course, well she's always gonna be known as ankle-biter to me," Jack said as he grinned.
Ben looked over from where he was cooking breakfast, "Hope you're hungry? We're making breakfast, Maddie," he told her.
Maddie nodded slightly, "I could eat I suppose, thanks uncle Ben," she said grateful.
Ben smiled and went back to flipping the bacon, "Alright kid, it shouldn't be too much longer. Joey's out in the lounge, if you want to go and say hi?" he offered.
Maddie nodded and headed through to the lounge where she found the teenage boy.
"Hey Joey," Maddie peered into the room where Joey was on the couch.
Joey glanced up briefly from his phone and smiled, "Oh hey, Maddie. I didn't know that you were still here," he said.
"Yeah, I sort of fell asleep last night," Maddie said as she moved further into the lounge, looking over at the Football table and frowning slightly. "Yesterday was kind of tough," she mumbled to herself.
"Fair enough. Are you okay? You seem a little down," Joey picked up on the teenager's mood.
"Sarah and I have broken up, well I think we have at least," Maddie explained, although she was slightly confused considering they hadn't actually said it, it's not like they had much chance to talk before Sarah's mom had dragged her away
Was they broken up? Honestly, Maddie didn't have a clue at all.
"You think?" Joey questioned confused.
"It's complicated," Maddie muttered aloud.
Joey nodded his head slowly, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that," he said understandingly.
"Thanks Joey," Maddie mumbled sadly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Joey questioned, putting his phone aside to talk more to the blonde teen.
Maddie exhaled a sigh and sat down on the couch beside him, "It's all her moms' fault. We were happy in our relationship and Sarah's mom just doesn't understand at all, she's really homophobic. Even going as far as to call PD on me if I even contacted her," she explained to him. "I don't know what to do or how to even feel right now," she added.
Joey shook his head in disbelief, "Damn, wow she sounds like a right piece of work," he told her.
"Yeah she really is," Maddie said while she sighed.
"Breakfast is ready. Come and get it while it's hot!" Ben called out from the other room.
"You should probably go and eat," Joey told her.
Maddie nodded in agreement and stood up from the couch, "You not coming to eat?" she asked.
"Nah, I still have to finish my paper. I'll see you later, alright?" Joey questioned.
"Alright. See you later, Joey!" Maddie said as she started to head out.
Joey briefly nodded his head and continued to type on his phone, "See you later, Maddie," he mumbled more focused on his phone.
"So, I am thinking of taking Pru to the Zoo at the weekend. I think she is going to love it," Dean told the team as he chewed his food.
"Oh! That will be so much fun for her," Vic piped in excitedly.
"Yeah, I think that it will be. I can't wait to see her face when she see's the animals," Dean said as he grinned widely while talking about his 2-year-old daughter. "She really has got a thing for monkeys at the moment," he added.
"That's because she has the energy of one of those," Jack stated knowingly. The rest of the team laughed in agreement.
"Well, Miller, I have no doubt that she will excited either way," Maya agreed, side-glancing at her daughter from where she sat and noted that her daughter had barely even touched her breakfast at all.
"Eat your breakfast kiddo," Maya gently nudged her daughter's arm and pointed toward the untouched eggs.
Maddie exhaled a sigh and continued to mess around with her breakfast, "I'm not really that hungry like I thought I was earlier. I'm sorry mom," she mumbled apologetically.
"I know but you need to try and eat a bit at least," Maya encouraged with a slight smile. "Or how about I make you a smoothie instead?" she offered to the young girl.
Maddie instantly scrunched her face up in disgust, "Gross. No thank you!" she was quick to deny.
"A year later and I still can't get you to try one of my smoothies," Maya muttered aloud. "Just try and eat some breakfast, please?" she asked.
"Fine, alright, whatever," Maddie grumbled as she reluctantly stabbed her fork into a piece of bacon.
Maya narrowed her eyebrow at her daughter, "Maybe with a little less attitude," she told her firmly.
Vic glanced at the teenager and frowned, "What's got you so down, squirt?" she questioned.
Maddie continued to stab at her breakfast, "Sarah and I have broken up, no thanks to her mom's crazy ass delusions," she told her aunt.
"Maddie!" Maya scolded her daughter.
"Oh come on mom, it's true!" Maddie groaned at the older blonde. "You know that woman has not liked me since day 1, she's even threatened me with the cops," she told them all.
"What?" Dean asked shocked.
"Yeah, you're right... That woman is crazy," Maya agreed with her daughter a few seconds of thought.
"Right?!" Maddie exclaimed as she threw her hands up in the air. "That woman is a whole bag full of crazy," she mumbled aloud.
"I have been so stubborn," Dean spoke aloud and gained the attention of the team of firefighters, as they all sat in the Beanery making light conversation. "I mean my entire life, I've been stubborn, but especially about the Crisis One program. I've been stubborn and controlling and believing that I can do everything by myself," he continued to say.
"And you've been treating it like an elite club where only very special people get an invitation," Ben interjected amusedly.
"I wanted to keep it small because I wanted to avoid failure, but yesterday, we missed a call, and that was a total, complete failure. I have to do things differently. We have to do things differently. You guys are the greatest minds I know. You're great first responders, and you're all naturally good with people," Dean explained to the firefighters around him.
"Yeah, like, way better than you," Jack piped in.
"So much better than me," Dean said and couldn't help but laugh. "You are. And I-I need help. I need you. All of you. And I'm gonna get better training, I am. And if I'm gonna spend the money to get the lawyers to get the approvals to train any one of us, I want to try and train all of us... If you guys are willing," he explained.
"Willing to change the world with you?" Maya interjected. Dean nodded in agreement.
"I'm in!" Jack was quick to agree.
"I'm in!" Travis added.
Maya smiled amusingly, "Super in," she agreed.
"I was in way before any of y'all were in," Ben told them with a smug grin on his face.
"Oh, it's a competition," Jack said teasingly.
"I'm in," Sullivan agreed.
"Oh!" Vic exclaimed aloud. "Smokey the Bae is in!" she said as the rest of the team laughed.
"Yeah!" Travis cheered aloud.
"Wow!" Ben joined in.
"Yeah," Vic cheered in support. "Okay, so how do we get Seattle FD on board?" she wondered.
"Well, I'm pretty appealing right about now for the Public Relations Department," Sullivan said as he waved his hand up in the air.
There was a lot of agreement with the firefighters. Maya couldn't help but be concerned and wonder where her daughter was since she was quiet.
"Excuse me, guys. I need to go and find my daughter," Maya said concerned before she walked out of the Beanery. "Mads?" she called aloud as she walked through the station.
The sound of grunts where heard as Maya peered her head into the door of the Gym to find her daughter taking her anger out on the punch bag in front of her.
"I didn't think that I would find you in here," Maya moved further into the room and took a stand to watch her daughter lash out her anger. "You might want to take a breather there, kiddo?" she offered a suggestion.
"I'm fine, Mom!" Maddie grunted aloud as she threw her fist in the direction of the punch bag.
Maya moved forward to stand in front of her daughter as a way to try to stop her daughter from throwing any further punches, "No, you're not fine. You're upset. You're my daughter, I know you and I know when you're hurting like you are right now," she paused to look at the distraught look on her daughter's face. "Come on, let's sit and take a break Mads," she added.
Maddie moved out of Maya's way and rounded the punch bag to land her fist at it, her hands were starting to become sore and raw due to the fact that she wasn't wearing any gloves as a type of protection but there was just too much anger right now to even think about that.
"I don't want a break. I'm fine," Maddie stated bluntly.
"Maddie, stop it. I know you're upset but this isn't helping," Maya said firmly as she once again stood in front of her daughter and took a hold of her hands to stop her from advancing any further. Moving both of them away the bag, the older blonde sat her daughter on the bench and then proceeded to sit beside her, "I know that you love her and it's hurting you, it's hurting me to see you like this. I know that you want to get in touch with her and go see her but you can't right now, but all of it will all work out in the end," she reassured her.
"How do you know it will be okay?" Maddie mumbled quietly.
Maya flashed her a smile, "Because I'm your mom and I know these things," she told her.
"It's not fair, Mom!" Maddie exclaimed in anger.
"I know it isn't, kiddo. I know that it's not fair at all but," Maya glanced over in the direction of the punching bag. "Hitting that to take out your anger won't help, especially if you don't wear gloves," she looked down at her daughter's hands and slightly winced. "We should probably get you some ice for those," she said.
"I was angry and needed to lash out," Maddie shrugged her shoulders carelessly.
"Well, I suppose that I should be grateful that it wasn't a wall this time," Maya teased the younger blonde knowingly which Maddie barely blinked in response. "Come on, not even a smile?" she continued to tease.
Maddie let out a huff and shook her head, "I'm not in the mood to smile today mom," she confessed.
"I know," Maya said as she sighed and patted her daughter's shoulder. "Come on then, let's go and get some ice," she said as the mother-daughter duo walked into the beanery as Maya sorted out some ice for her daughter's hand. "Here we go, it'll feel better now with that on," she told her.
"Thanks, Mom," Maddie said gratefully.
Maya smiled and kissed the top of her daughter's head, "It's okay. Just as least the next time that you want to hit the punching bag, at least remember to use gloves," she told her teasingly as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. "Oh, I wonder who that could be," she paused as she pulled the phone out of her pocket. "It's your mama, she's just arrived downstairs," she explained.
"I want to go and see her," Maddie said as they walked out of the beanery and downstairs into the barn.
"Go ahead downstairs. I have to join the team first and then I'll come to join you both soon enough," Maya promised her daughter, sending her one more kiss on the top of her head as Maddie headed outside while she joined the team in the barn.
"Everything okay?" Jack asked concerned when he saw Maya's facial expression.
"Maddie's pretty upset right now. I don't know how to make things better," Maya confessed her feelings to the team.
"Poor kid. That's gotta be rough what happened," Dean said as he exhaled a sigh.
Maya nodded in agreement, "Hopefully this is something that can be fixed," she said.
"Alright, listen up!" Beckett called out getting the team's attention but Maya's mind was elsewhere, how distraught how her daughter was feeling right now and how she and Carina were making progress on the discussion of more kids. Changes were happening throughout.
"Hello, mama," Maddie ran over to the Italian woman and straight into her arms for a well-needed hug.
"Hi, Bambina," Carina was quick to offer comfort to her daughter, taking a look at her hands and gasping in shock. "What did you do to your hands?" she asked.
"I got angry and took my anger out on the punching bag... Without any gloves," Maddie explained to the brunette.
"Oh Bambina," Carina said as she sighed.
"All of my feelings are so built up and I didn't know how to cope with them," Maddie continued to explain as she held onto the brunette woman who comforted her. "I want to text her but I don't think that would be a good idea," she added.
Carina shook her head in disagreement, "I don't think it would be wise to do that. I know you want to text her but that would just add more sparks to the fire," she said.
Maddie couldn't help but snort slightly, "I think that you mean fuel to the fire mama," she said.
"Right," Carina said as she nodded in agreement with her daughter. "Listen, Bambina, as much as I don't like what she said at all, and my temper did get the better of me but unfortunately her mom has her own selfish beliefs and Sarah is still a child, so she has to go with her mom's rules. I know that you are upset but it's for the best right now that you don't contact her, do you get what I mean?" she questioned softly.
Maddie exhaled a sigh and nodded, "I get what mean mama," she said.
Carina smiled sadly and ran her fingers through her daughters' blonde hair, "I know that you're upset by this but you just have to give it time," she said comfortingly. "Besides that, did you have a good morning with your mom and the team anyways?" she asked.
"It was good. Thank you for bringing Lizzie here as well, she's upstairs and happy," Maddie said as peered up at Carina and smiled. "Did you have fun at the hospital?" she asked.
"Well, considering that it is work... There were a few interesting cases that I helped on," Carina chuckled as she looked over and saw that Station 23's engine had pulled in. "There's somebody that might be able to cheer you up Bambina," she pointed over to where Andy was getting out.
Maddie smiled faintly as she saw the familiar brunette woman.
The team of station 19 walked out of the barn and joined everyone outside.
Andy looked over to where the 19 were, "We're trying this thing again?" she called out.
"Yeah!" Ben cheered.
"I'm not in the mood to be out here. Can't I just back inside and be miserable there?" Maddie questioned.
Carina smiled and wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulder, "Come on, Bambina! Try and cheer up for this at least, please?" she asked.
Maddie grumbled slightly, "Fine," she mumbled.
"Your mom is heading over this way now," Carina said as she spotted her wife. "Hello, Bella!" she greeted her wife, peppering a kiss on her lips.
"Hey, beautiful!" Maya smiled and embraced her wife in her arms as she smiled at her daughter who still looked distraught. "Hey, kiddo," she ruffled her hair.
Maya inwardly groaned and pushed her mom's hand away, "Do I really have to be outside? I'm not in the mood to be happy," she mumbled.
"Come on, Mads, it'll be good for you to be out here with everyone else," Maya motioned to all the firefighters around them. "And then once we've done that, we'll head home and maybe we can watch some of those dumb superhero films that you like?" she suggested.
"No thanks, Mom. I'd rather be on my own," Maddie admitted to her two moms.
"Not wanting to watch one of those films? Okay, something is definitely wrong," Maya frowned and shared a worried glance with Carina just as the sprinklers were turned on and she let out a squeal.
"Ahh!" Maddie shrieked as she suddenly got soaked by water which she wasn't expecting at all, she looked at both her moms' who were embracing one another, laughing and kissing under the water.
"Why can't I have that?" Maddie thought to herself sadly, wishing that she had Sarah by her side right now.
Taken by complete surprise when somebody sneaks up behind her, Maddie lets out a sudden squeal as the unfamiliar person spins her around.
"Ahh! P-Put me down," Maddie cried aloud.
"Relax Mija it's just me," Andy couldn't help but laugh.
Maddie wiggled in the brunette's grasp, "Tia Andy, put me down!" she shouted aloud.
"N-Never," Andy said as she laughed and continued to spin the teen around.
Maya and Carina turned their direction from where they were watching Joey and his foster siblings to look at their daughter who actually looked happy and giggling as Andy had her in her arms and spun her around despite her objections.
"Looks like Andy cheered her up," Carina noted aloud to her wife who beamed a smile at her wife.
Maya smiled and peered up to kiss her wife in agreement, "I think that she has," she said and breathed a sigh of relief.
The teenager couldn't help but laugh despite the upset that she felt, she wrapped her arms tightly around the brunette woman but it seemed that all of the emotions seemed to come in one whirlwind, one minute she was happy and the next, the flood gates were opened.
Holding onto Andy tightly, Maddie openly sobbed into the older woman's arms.
"Mija?" Andy glanced at her niece confused. "Are you okay?" she asked concerned.
Sharing a look with both Maya and Carina, Maya nods knowingly and smiled sympathetically at her daughter. The brunette was already making a note to have this conversation with her niece later on.
"Alright, everybody. Now that we've all cooled off, we got a new truck. Let's bring her home," Sullivan called aloud and moved to touch the metal with his hands. "And she's not hot, so... Alright, everybody. Let's go," he encouraged everyone to head towards the truck and start pushing.
"You heard what Sullivan said," Andy said as she took a hold of Maddie's hand, gently nudging her towards the truck as they both joined everyone else in pushing it towards the barn.
"Alright, I gotta admit that was somewhat fun," Maddie said as she smiled faintly.
"Even if you are now drenched," Carina chuckled.
"See? I told you that you would enjoy it!" Maya exclaimed as she ruffled her daughter's now soaking wet hair.
Andy smiled and looked at her niece, "Hey, Mija. Are you okay?" she asked concerned.
"Sarah and I-- I think that we're broken up," Maddie explained quietly as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Andy frowned slightly, "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?" she questioned.
"Sarah's mom turned up at the station, and well she was pretty harsh with her words, and now I'm not allowed to see her," Maddie explained as she hung her head low upset.
"What? That is crazy!" Andy exclaimed taken back.
Maddie nodded in agreement, "I know. I don't know what to do or how to feel Tia," she admitted.
"Oh, Mija," Andy said as she sighed and wrapped her arms around her to comfort her. "It'll be okay. Don't you worry," she reassured her.
Carina and Maya held hands with one another and smiled at their daughter, "Ready to go home now, Bambina?" she wondered.
"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess... You know to return home to where all of Sarah's stuff is and that's a reminder. Great, can't wait. I'm gonna go and get Lizzie," Maddie said as she sighed and slumped off up the stairs.
Maya looked at her wife worried, "What are we going to do? I can't stand to see her this upset. It's killing me," she admitted.
"I don't know, Bella but we will figure it out though," Carina reassured her wife and held her hand comfortingly. "Our girl will be okay, no matter what," she added.
•
Another update,
This is pretty much a filler chapter before we get to the heavier chapters...
Right now, I have COVID but I feel up to writing today and well, this is the result.
So, I hope it's okay... Let me know what you guys think!