Drops of Jupiter (Chicago Fire/Otis Fanfic)

13. Day on the Job

I pulled my hair into a ponytail as I headed into the main room to join Otis and Joe. My stomach had grown quite a bit in the past five months. Unfortunately, it was going to be the start of me being on light duty until I go on maternity leave. It might driving around and staying near the truck. It was unfortunate but it was what it was. It wasn't my fault Otis got me pregnant.

"Lupe, are you ready?" Joe asked as I walked up.

"Yeah," I replied. "Let's go before we're late."

"You're the one taking so long with everything," Otis said.

"Try doing everything while pregnant," I shot back as we headed for the parking lot. "Besides, you're the one that got me pregnant. Don't try to blame me for your problem."

Both Otis and Joe laughed as we got in the car. I was in the passenger seat as the passenger princess. We were at the firehouse in no time and all went inside. Once we got changed, I went straight to Chief Boden's office to talk about being on light duty.

I stepped into his office. "Is now a good time, Chief?"

"Come on in, Martínez," Chief said. "You're here to talk about your light duty, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. What do you suggest?"

"Like I said in our prior conversation about this, I want you mostly driving and staying by the truck," Chief said. "If we get a crash, don't be doing anything crazy, you understand me?"

I nodded. "Of course. I don't want to do anything that'll put myself and the baby at risk."

"I hope not," Boden set down his glasses. "Have you picked out a name?"

"Otis has some long Russian name picked and I've got some Hispanic names too," I replied. "As you can imagine, we're fighting over it. But I'm sure as we see the baby, we'll know the right one."

"Do you know the gender or are you keeping that a secret?"

"We aren't telling that many but it's a girl." I smiled softly. "Otis is so excited to be a dad to a little girl. He's being so cute about it too."

Boden had a wide grin on his face. "That's great. I hope everything works out for you."

I smiled back, looking down at my lap. "I do too. Otis is going to be a good dad."

"You are too."

I rolled my eyes, chuckling. "If my daughter is anything like me, I'm going to be in a load of trouble. My mom said I'd have a taste of my own medicine once she comes out."

"Yeah, I'm sure you will in some way," Boden said. "I'll let you go. Don't get into any danger during shift."

I nodded. "Of course, Chief. And thank you."

"Just be safe for me," Boden said. "I want to see that baby of yours."

I snorted as I went to the door. "We all do, Chief. But I promise that you'll be one of the first people to hold her once she's born."

"I'll hold that to you," he called after me.

I joined the others in the common room. I got a few comments on how big my stomach was getting. I felt way bigger too. I was usually a skinnier person but that baby was messing with that.

A call came in for a crash just before lunch and we all loaded up. When we arrived on scene, I was designated to do the patient contact until the paramedics came. There were two cars that had t-boned. I talked to the victims, deciding who was needed more medical attention. They both needed to be seen so I called for another ambulance as Brett and Foster came up to the victim I was talking to. After I was done, I helped clean up the scene. I had a weight limit on what I could lift but I did what I could.

Once we were done, I drove us back to the station. After backing the rig in, I began helping with lunch. We were sitting down and eating in no time, laughing and joking around. As I sat there looking around at the group at the table, a feeling of warmth and love began to grow in my heart. These men and women were my family and I didn't know what I would do without them.

Before I knew it, the shift was over and we were all in the locker room. I was slow to packing my bag, lost in thought. I was surprised when Joe came up behind me and scared me by grabbing my sides. I jumped and let out a short scream. He started laughing as Otis joined us.

"Joe!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"

He held up his hands. "I'm just messing around, Guadalupe."

I rolled my eyes at him. He was going to be the death of me one day.

Otis kissed my cheek. "Just ignore him, love. Are you ready to go home?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I am. I'm tired and need a nap after that shift."

As we started for the door, Joe said, "You always say that you're tired."

"Well, I'm also pregnant," I replied. "You try being a first responder while also being pregnant."

Joe chuckled. "That's one thing I'm glad I can't do. How much longer do you have?"

"Like four months," I replied. "I can't wait to be done with this though. Being pregnant is not fun and I'm always feeling sick."

"You could take some furlough," Joe said. "If you have enough time."

I shrugged. "I'm taking maternity leave when I get to eight months. That should last me about four months until I need to find child care."

"I'm taking time off after the baby is born too." Otis took my hand. "I don't want to leave my lovely wife by herself with a newborn."

Joe shook his head as we got to the car. "You two disgust me with your cute relationship."

"You'll find someone someday, Joe," I replied, getting in. "I'm sure of it."