familiarity

safe space

*three days later*

                 For the last few days, jay had been off work to look after Riley in case she fell ill again, but now it was time for him to go back to work.  He had taken a Covid test which was negative luckily, and Riley was negative too, so that's good.  But he had been putting this day off for so long, today was the day when Riley would have to stay with someone whilst he's at work.   After last time, he feels like he shouldn't be handing her over to someone else, he wishes he could just take her to the district with him, but it's too busy there and she'd most likely contract covid again, he can't risk that. 

                "You ready riles?" He shouted from the bottom of the stairs.  Riley appeared at the top of the stairs with her school bag on her back, "what's in there?" He furrowed his brows.  Riley sighed as she landed at the bottom of the stairs after plodding down them slowly, "my laptop and school stuff, figured maybe Hermann could help me" she shrugged.  Jay smiled, "I'm sure someone'll help you" he nodded and flicked her hair out from underneath the straps.  She smiled and walked out of the front door before he followed suit.

"Are you sure about this?" Jay folded his arms as Kelly walked over to him. The firefighter nodded, "this is a safe space jay, you don't need to worry about anything happening to her. All our Covid tests were negative, nobody has anything she could catch and no members of the general public are allowed inside of the firehouse, this is one of the most secure places. Nothings gonna happen to her" he smiled weakly. Jay nodded, "thanks man. I'm just scared of letting her out of my sight recently, I'm probably just overreacting though" he sighed. Kelly smiled, "I would be too, she went through something really serious, but you're not overreacting at all. And you can trust us, we won't let anything happen" he nodded. Both of them were facing the bullpen where Stella was currently showing Riley what they were making for breakfast.

"Alright, I trust you don't worry. I better get going" jay sighed. Kelly smiled back, "hey riles, I'm heading off" jay smiled. Riley came strolling over to him, "behave for everyone" jay gave her a quick hug. Riley smiled, "always" she hugged him back. Kelly smiled, "you wanna help cook breakfast?" He took over as jay began to leave the firehouse. Riley nodded, "Mmhmm" she hummed with a small smile. Stella looked up, "alright, chef Halstead on the grill" she laughed. Cruz came walking over and peered down to the work space, "whatever you do, don't burn the bacon" he smirked. Riley let out a small giggle, "copy that" she smiled. Everyone loves this kid, it's hard not some.

               After completing breakfast without burning any of it, everyone ate and caught up with the youngest Halstead, they made her feel at home like they usually do.  Hermann scooted over to sit next to her, "whatcha doing kiddie winks?" He smiled.  Everyone around him have him a funny look, "what?" Hermann put his hands out.  Mouch pulled a disgusted face, "never say kiddie winks again" he shook his head and pulled his newspaper up higher.  Hermann rolled his eyes, "pfft" he huffed.  Riley let out an amused chuckle which made them all smile, "so, homework huh?" He looked down at Riley's laptop. 

               "Yeah, I have maths and Spanish left for today" she nodded.  Hermann smiled, "well, I'm a genius when it comes to maths. Spanish... eh not so much" he nodded.  Riley smiled but before she could even ask for help, "I'll help you with Spanish" Cruz perked up.  Stella smiled, "looks like you're set for life kiddo" she winked.  Riley smiled back, Stella is her idol, when she's older she wants to be just like her.  With the help she was receiving from everyone, she completed her homework in two hours and she had the rest of the day to spend with the crew when they were eventually free.  Boden came wandering out into the bullpen, "hey Riley, you bored?" He smiled, she was the only one in there.

                 "Maybe a little" she laughed, most of the firehouse members were out doing their usual jobs like cleaning the rigs and sorting out their gear.  He smiled back, "well I have some old documents that need shredded if you're up for the job?" He nodded.  Riley stood up, "on it" she smiled.  Boden laughed, "c'mon then" he took his fingers out of his belt loops and tilted his head in the direction he was headed.  She smiled back and followed him to the office area where she was shown how to dismantle the papers and shred them so the private information couldn't be seen any longer.  Boden smiled and watched her from his office, he knows that the kid wants to be a firefighter when she's older, and he knows that her names already on the 'girls on fire' list.  She'll make one hell of a firefighter one day.

                 At around 5pm Riley was sat on the couch, she was exhausted, she hadn't really done much all day, but she was exhausted.  She was starting to realise that maybe she was experiencing long Covid, everything she done made her tired.  Kelly walked into the bullpen to see Riley's eyes closing, "hey kiddo, you tired?" He stopped by the couch.  She looked up at him and smiled weakly, "a little" she shrugged.  He nodded, "you can sleep it off in my office, c'mon" he began walking away.  She smiled thankfully and stood up to follow him towards the bunker room.  They made their way past the beds and into Kelly's office, "I'm gonna be working on the rigs outside, but if you need anything just come and find me or Stella okay?" He smiled. 

                 Riley smiled back, "I will, thank you" she nodded.  Kelly smiled, "rest up kid" he winked then closed the door.  She smiled and watched him leave the bunker room through the windows before laying down on the bed in his office.  It really didn't take her long before she fell asleep, and before she knew it, the time had passed and it was 6:45pm.

Riley woke up to see Stella stood in the doorway, "hey hun, you okay?" She smiled. Riley smiled back, "yeah..." she yawned. The firefighter made her way over to the bed and signalled for Riley to scoot over, the kid done as she was told and moved over to let Stella sit down. Stella took her place on the bed so she was more or less laying down, she held her hand out and let Riley lay against her side, "you looking forward to starting girls on fire in a few months?" She smiled. Riley smiled, "yeah, can't wait" she nodded. Stella smiled, "I'm gonna make a firefighter out of you" she rubbed the kids arm. Riley smiled, "please do" she chuckled slightly. Stella laughed too before the pair fell into a light nap, Stella loves this kid, she's precious.

Kelly walked into his office at 7:30pm since jay was here to pick Riley up, but he stopped and smiled when he was greeted with a heartwarming sight too, "kidd..." he whispered. It took him a few tries but he eventually woke the younger girl up instead, "hey, your brothers here..." he smiled. Riley smiled back before accepting his help to get off the bed without waking Stella up. They left Stella to rest since himself and Stella were on double shifts anyways, and made their way out into the bullpen. Jay smiled when he saw Riley, "you been behaving?" He pulled her into his side. Kelly smiled, "she has, she's been no bother" he laughed. Jay smiled, that's what he likes to here...