A Bambina or Bambino of Our Own

Safe Surrender

It was the middle of the night during a relatively quiet shift. They had a few small calls during the day, but none since they got back to the station around 9, meaning everyone was sleeping, or almost everyone.

Maya was wide awake in her office, working on paperwork. She struggled with insomnia when she was completely relaxed and at home wrapped in Carina's arms, and she genuinely couldn't remember the last time she slept on shift when she wasn't fighting some illness. She looked over the file she had just finished, soft music playing in her office.

Just as she turned to grab a binder off her shelf, she heard a knock on her office door.

"Come in?" she called, confused and slightly worried as to why anyone in their right mind would be awake at 3 am.

She thought her whole team was asleep. She got up, opening the door and instead of finding someone from her team, she looked down, seeing a box filled with blankets.

She bent down, moving one of the blankets and revealing a very tiny, very new baby. Maya immediately scooped the baby up into her arms as it started to cry.

"Shhh," Maya said, holding the baby close as she swayed a little.

The tiny human settled in her arms almost instantly. Maya went to her desk, still rocking the baby a little as she called child services.

"Hello," a voice on the other end of the phone said, "Seattle Department of Children and Family Services."

"Hi," Maya said, "This is Captain Maya Bishop at Fire Station 19. We just had a safe surrender baby dropped off."

"Alright," the woman on the other end said, clearly typing, "Do you have an approximate age and gender of the baby?"

"It's new," Maya said, cradling the phone on her ear as she moved the blanket around the baby, to get a better look "The umbilical stump is still attached and looks fairly fresh. I'd say no more than 4 days old. And it's a girl. She seems pretty small, but her color is good and she's acting like a newborn."

"Alright," the woman said, "Well, it has been a very busy night. I will put you on the list, but it will probably be at least 6 hours before someone can come down there. Is that alright?"

"Yeah," Maya said, sighing, "Just as soon as they can."

Maya hung up, looking down at the tiny baby in her arms. She wasn't good with babies. She avoided ones this small at all costs, but for now, this baby was 100% her responsibility unless she woke someone else up, but on a night they were actually getting sleep, she was nit going to do that.

She went out to the barn, grabbing a med kit and giving the baby a quick exam. It appeared the newborn was healthy.

Maya then went up to the beanery, grabbing a premixed bottle of formula they kept for these occasions, heating it in some warm water. She sat at the table, feeding the clearly hungry little girl.

Once the baby had eaten and been burped, Maya headed back down to her office. She wasn't totally sure what to do. The child in her arms was wide awake and staring at her.

"So, you have insomnia too?" Maya said, smiling down at the baby, "I'm sorry. It really is the worst. What can I do for you?"

The baby just blinked at Maya.

"Alright," the blonde said, raising an eyebrow, "Well, I am going to work on more paperwork."

Maya kept working, shifting the little warm bundle in her arms every few minutes. After about an hour, the baby started crying.