Drops of Jupiter (Chicago Fire/Otis Fanfic)

14. Special Delivery

I pulled my hair into a ponytail as we rushed out the door. We were running late as we kept forgetting several things. I had to waddle quickly out of the door as I was eight months pregnant. I had been on very light duty and could really only drive as well as run the pumps. Plus, it was my last shift before I went on maternity leave. I just had to survive that last shift.

The three of us made it into the locker room a couple of minutes before the shift started. I put my bag into the locker and headed to the meeting room for the first briefing of the day. I sat in the front, sipping my water as Chief Boden gave his briefing.

"And make sure to go easy on Guadalupe, as this is her last shift with us before going on maternity leave," Chief Boden finished.

Everyone clapped and congratulated me.

"I'm going to miss you guys," I said once everyone was done. "But I want to get this over with so don't be calling me because you miss me or broke something."

"We're just going to miss you a lot," Casey said. "You're one of our best firefighters."

"And a good face to look at in this group of guys," Severide said.

Everyone chuckled.

"I'll miss you guys too," I said. "Just don't break anything and leave it for me to fix it once I'm back. Or else I'll stick a baby on you."

"Bring her around the station," Boden said. "We always welcome new firefighters here and we want to introduce the new candidate to everyone."

I smiled a little. "Yes, of course. I'll make sure that the new candidate gets the training of a lifetime one the first day."

After the briefing, we went about our business. I started checking the compartments on the rig, making sure everything was in working order and in its spot. I was about halfway through when I got a strong and sharp pain in my stomach. I bent over with one hand holding my stomach. I gasped as another wave of pain hit me.

Foster came around the corner and noticed me. "Guadalupe, are you okay?"

My pants suddenly got wet and I looked up at her. "My water just broke."

The next couple of minutes were a flurry of activity. Everyone was notified and I was put into the ambulance. Otis got into the back with us and grabbed my hand. The pain was coming and going as Brett sped to the hospital while Foster was running checks on me. In what felt like hours that went by, we arrived at the hospital. I was brought into a room and a doctor along with several nurses came in.

Several hours went by and the pain was unbearable. I was holding onto Otis's hand almost the entire time. I didn't want to let go but I knew that the harder I griped it, the more pain I was giving him. It was absolutely horrible, giving birth. I never knew why I let Otis get me pregnant in the first place.

Finally, after eight hours, my daughter joined us. She was taken away for a few minutes to get checked out before getting returned. She was absolutely beautiful with a head full of black hair and beautiful brown eyes. She was quiet, looking around with wide eyes. 

"Do you have a name yet?" The nurse asked.

I gently brushed her hair with my thumb. "Ximena Jomana Zvonecek."

The nurse asked a couple more questions before the doctor came in.

Otis looked at the doctor. "Is she okay? Is everything okay?"

"Your daughter is healthy and is at a very healthy weight," the doctor replied. "However, we did noticed that she may be hard of hearing or deaf. She was showing signs on not hearing when we did our screening. We will have to check again before you leave but it is something to note."

I was looking at her the entire time. She hadn't looked towards anyone who had spoken at all since she was placed in my arms. "That's okay though. We can work with our little girl being deaf or hard of hearing."

"Of course, I understand," the doctor said. "I wasn't in the room when you decided on the name. May I ask what it is?"

"Ximena." I looked up at him. "Just thought of a question. If she is deaf, we have some time before she's capable of talking - or signing, that is, right?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes. That will give you time to learn sign language and teach it to her. We can offer resources to help you, though we'll have to double check if she is deaf."

Otis and I nodded.

"Now, if you have any questions, you can ask me or the nurses," the doctor said. "I'll be stopping in every so often to check in on you. Have a nice day and rest easy."

The doctor and the nurse left, leaving Otis and I alone. We spent some time alone together, enjoying as much time with our daughter as we could. After about a half an hour, Otis left to get the rest of the people that had been on shift with us. Apparently, they had been in the waiting room for almost the entire time with the exception of a few calls. 

A few minutes later, the whole shift walked in the front door. Ximena was greeted by everybody. As they were saying hello to her, I noticed she wasn't really reacting to sound as much as she was reacting to people moving around. Maybe she was deaf, though that didn't stop me from loving her as much as I did. That was my beautiful daughter and I loved her very much. She may have been only a couple hours old but there wasn't a thing I wouldn't do for her.