No Ordinary Love...What Comes Next?

Julia

S12 EP4 The Little Things

Suggested/ Requested by Em.❤️

Stella has a day with Julia....

Yep... The Stellaride baby wagon is rolling...😉

♡♡♡♡♡

Stella dropped the magazine on the counter. 'Is your biological clock ticking down?'
Great! Just what she needed to see in the Cosmo magazine she'd grabbed from the gas station last night, when in exactly twenty minutes' time, Sylvie would arrive. Yes, in exactly twenty, because it was Sylvie, and Sylvie was never late. And she'd be handing over Julia to Stella for a whole 24 hours.
Was Stella nervous? Hell, yeah, she was! As much as she thought she was pretty comfortable with kids, she had never looked after a baby overnight! But that's not what she'd told Sylvie when the P.I.C had been stressing two days ago that her babysitter had to go out of town on an emergency visit to see her sick mom.

"Why don't I take care of her? I have a furlough day, seeing as my husband keeps skipping town, I've barely used any days for months." Stella made a face because despite the daily calls and messages from him, she was missing Kelly like hell. But that was hardly breaking news. The only surprise was that even after the last year, she still wasn't used to him being away.

"Seriously?! "Sylvie's eyes blew wide. "Oh Stella, you'd be saving my life! With wedding planning and leaving 51 soon, I have no furlough days left."

"Yeah, of course! I'd love to spend some quality time with Julia before that cutie goes to Portland." Stella meant it. Julia was a complete doll, and seeing her at the firehouse had given a surprisingly hard jolt to her already awakening maternal instincts. And now she couldn't seem to push them back down.

" She can be a real handful at mealtimes, but otherwise, she's a dream baby! I promise she'll sleep through the night...." The relief on Sylvie's face was enough to convince Stella that even if Julia screamed the Loft down for the whole twenty-four hours, there was no way she could not help her friend out.

"Trust me, having Julia for company will save me from spending the day lying on the couch missing Kelly and eating chocolate!"

But now, she was checking everything around the Loft for the third time this morning. No choking hazards. Nothing Julia could put in her mouth inadvertently. Protectors on the corner of furniture. She had cleaned the apartment twice since yesterday, put absolutely everything within reach of Julia's tiny fingers in cupboards, or on shelves that even Kelly would have difficulty reaching. She had even gone out and bought three children's books for bedtime story time, spending a stupidly long time in the book store, not able to stop herself from giving envious sidelong glances to the dozens of parents who were in the store with their toddlers, choosing story books.

As expected, Sylvie was outside the building at exactly 0700. Stella met her at the car to help bring up a travel crib and feeding chair.

"Hey, beautiful." Stella cooed to the wide-eyed, smiling little girl as Sylvie handed her over. "Look at you, sweetie! A bunny jacket!"

"I couldn't resist buying it when I spotted it." Sylvie confessed unashamedly proud of her daughter's pink fur jacket and the hood with ears, putting a couple of bags of Julia's things on the counter. "Everything she will need is in there, diapers, changes of clothes, food, formula.."

"Oh, I bought some of that...." Stella said, pointing to the can on the counter.
Sylvie stared in surprise. "You did? Stella, you didn't have to do that! I try to have a bag always packed with essentials in case I forget anything, but I still worry that I have!"

"I was in the store, so I got some...."
Stella dismissed, not telling her that she'd also bought some diapers, diaper rash cream, wipes, cloths, and a cute teddy pacifier. Just in case!