family dynamics and surprises

Children's birthday parties are usually family friendly with an extravaganza of decorations, delicious snacks, fun activities, and screaming kids high on a sugar rush. This specific birthday party transpired into a nightmare due to a little gory outcome of pinning the tail on the donkey. The 118 firefighters parked at the address of the dispatch call and guided into the backyard by a young boy, the son of the wounded woman.

"I was jumping on the trampoline and the springs flew off." The visible frightened son told Bobby as they were making their way to his mom.

Bobby, Eddie, and Hen reached the woman currently pinned by the springs to the door of the shed.

"And it almost killed me." The mother faintly said.

The Fire Captain checked the other side of the door. "All right let's see what we got. Looks like she's pinned to the wall in two places." He stated, analyzing the situation. "All right let's go! Let's go!"

Eddie and Hen started working on the woman. "Ma'am, don't move." Hen advised. "With you moving could cause that spring to shift and that would not be good."

"With it traveling at top speed, it put a hole right through her hand and her torso." Eddie looked into the wounds.

Josephine, along with the other firefighters met the trio once rolling up with a stretcher.

"Is she going to be okay?" The worrisome son asked the firefighters.

Sophie stepped in to comfort him. "Give us some space and we're going to take care of your mom, we promise." She gently escorted him back to not become a distraction as they worked.

"Can you move your fingers?" Eddie asked.

Wincing, the woman nodded. "I think so."

"Good. Means the spring likely missed the tendon. No nerve damages."

She sighed in relief, "Oh, thank God. It's my selfie hand."

"Pulse is slightly elevated but BP's normal. Miraculously, she's stable." Hen declared, moving the stethoscope on the woman's back. "Getting bilateral breath sounds. Spring likely didn't puncture her lungs, but it's probably millimeters away from her spine. I can pack the wound, but I don't know how to detach her from the barn."

"We don't. Transport her with it, donkey and all." Bobby simply said. "Where's Buck?" He noticed the absence of the blond firefighter.

Josephine knitted her brows alongside the Fire Captain, searching for her boyfriend. Spotted, Buck gathered an audience of children showing off the saw in his possession.

"Buck! We need that saw." She shouted out for him. Startled by her voice, he paved his way out carefully carrying the tool.

"You went really hard-core with this party design." Hen commented.

"It's my job. Literally I run a mommy blog. I spent months planning this thing, trying to make it perfect, and my kid hates me for it." The mother rambled to the paramedic.

Bobby disagreed, "He doesn't hate you. He's just 12. He'll get over it."

"Feels like not matter what I do, it's wrong."

Buck tilted his head, "You did a great job constructing the shed. Really quality work." He complimented her.

"It's from a kit. I didn't even pick it out. A sponsor sent it."

"Well, at least you have help taking it down." Eddie enlightened.

Buck saw through the hinges from the door for the team to transfer the mommy blogger and door onto the stretcher. Once succeeding, the team had to get creative to figure out how to transport the civilian to the hospital since she was unlikely to fit in the back of the ambulance.

Indeed, they found a way.

Eddie and Buck sat on top of the ladder truck keeping the woman on the door stabilizing on their journey to the hospital.

Josephine let out an amused laugh when she received a text from Vanessa. The mommy blogger who they helped at the dispatch call went viral as she and the 118 had made a guest appearance on her livestream. Hen circled the couch where the brunette resided with a bowl of chips in her hands.

"What are you laughing about?" Hen sat next to her, offering the chips in the bowl.

She accepted and dipped her hand for the snack. "Vanessa sent me the viral clip of the mommy blogger we saved. Nothing like our ten seconds of fame." She played the video for Hen while plopping a chip into her mouth.

"The son and mother seemed ecstatic at the news when we dropped them off."

Josephine hummed in agreement, "Despite the pain that mom had to endure, she won her son's favor at the end of the birthday party." She highlighted.

"Speaking of birthdays, yours is coming up this weekend." Hen nudged her with a slight smirk. "Anything planned on the special occasion?"

"I don't think I'm doing anything big this year. Other than the fact the predicament we're living in. Just favorite takeout and a night in."

Of course, Josephine knew she wasn't going to get that. Her family loves to celebrate such as Hen to go all out. It is a sweet gesture and meaningful to celebrate their loved ones. At most it'll be an intimate gathering orchestrated by someone.

"I'm sure there's a group chat between my mom, Vanessa, and abuela putting something together."

Hen quirked her eyebrow, "You and Buck aren't planning anything together?"

"Mmm...not really. I already assured him nor want to weigh down any pressure on him. This past year and the last has felt like whiplash." Josephine answered honestly. Hen gave a short nod of understanding. "If it'll make you feel better, I suppose we can do something."

"I can compromise with that." Hen uttered as a heartfelt laugh erupted when Josephine rested her head upon her shoulder, batting her lashes dramatically.

In the kitchen on the second floor of the 118 firehouse, Josephine, Buck, and Eddie surrounded the new father on his first day back. Chimney was eager to showcase the many pictures of his daughter which had taken over his camera roll to his colleagues.

"That's the first time she smiled." He beamed brightly, swiping the following picture.

Eddie furrowed, "You sure that's a smile? That's the same face Buck makes when he's gassy." He teasingly poked at his best friend.

"I will take that as a compliment cause it just means she looks like her uncle Buck." Buck said in a prideful tone.

Josephine rolled her eyes, "Probably not the best expression to be compared to." She humored.

Meanwhile, Chimney remained mesmerized by his phone. "God, I love her so much. I don't even feel like the same person anymore. Is that weird?" He confided in them.

Bobby approached the group, sliding a mug to Chimney and Eddie. "What's that saying that having a kid is like walking around with your heart outside your body?"

"Okay, that's weirder and morbid."

"Just means it's a whole different kind of love." Bobby clarified.

Josephine narrowed at Chimney, "How's Maddie doing? First solo shift with the baby." She sipped from her own mug.

"Babies plural. She's pulling double duty, Albert and Jee-Yun." Chimney corrected the brunette.

Buck interjected, "Offer still stands, you know. He can come back to my place." He recommended taking the weight off his friend and sister while adjusting to parenthood.

Chimney shook his head, "He needs round the clock care. He can't be on his own for a while 24 hours. With the new schedule, one of us is always home."

"You and Maddie are working opposite schedules? When do you actually see each other?" Eddie questioned.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet." Chimney shrugged. They agreed to just see how it all plays out and hope for the best with a full house and new schedules.

Buck perked at the appearance of Hen arriving at the top of the staircase. "Oh uh, she-she's coming." He whispered to the group.

They pretended not to see the paramedic strolling towards them and changing the subject. Recently, Hen and Karen had said goodbye to Nia because Nia's mother was approved to have custody. It struck the couple who fell in love with the child they've been fostering and decided to adopt her. A wound like that is tough to heal from. And everyone at the firehouse didn't want to be insensitive, especially Chimney.

He cleared his throat, "So, uh yeah...the doctor said Albert's physical therapy is going great."

"Welcome back!" Hen exclaimed in an elated tone, carrying a box of cake.

"Hey! I was just filling them in on Albert's recovery."

She surveyed the dull room that wasn't decorated where she presumed would be to welcome her best friend back. "I am disappointed in you guys. Where's the banner? Where's the balloons? This is not how we do when somebody comes back to work." She frowned at the group of firefighters.

Chimney waved it off, "I said it was okay. I don't need that kind of stuff. Not when uh..."

"No, no, no, no, no. We celebrate every good moment when we can. Let me see these baby pictures." Hen didn't want to dimmer her best friend's happiness because of what happened with Nia. She's seen how much Chimney grew while working together and was elated to see him reach this milestone in life.

"Okay." He smiled and pulled out his phone.

Hen leaned in, gasping out. "Oh my god, she's so big already."

Chimney nodded in agreement, "Yeah, they grow up fast."

"Whew! Bet you can't beat my score, Diaz!"

Buck taunted the brunette after scoring a new high score on the pinball machine. Usually, the two best friends find themselves in competition with themselves during their free time at the firehouse. Chimney continued to fond over his daughter with Hen while Bobby and Josephine were cooking lunch in the kitchen area.

Eddie clicked his tongue, moving towards the machine where the blond stood. "Don't jinx it like last time, Buck."

"Okay, that doesn't count because I was distracted." Buck argued, resting his hands on his hips.

"Distracted by Josie for just existing?" He cocked his brow, unconvinced.

Buck lowered his head briefly then looked at Eddie. "Sorry for being in love and mesmerized by her beauty." He sat on the stool. Both men glanced back at Josephine in the kitchen talking to Bobby as they prepped the food.

Eddie pressed start to begin his round of the game, eyes were focused. "By the way, any plans for her birthday? It's this weekend, right?"

"Yeah, this weekend." Buck peered over his shoulder once again. He continued, "She was adamant about staying in, picking up food from her favorite restaurant, and watching a movie. Didn't want to make me feel pressured."

As flattered as she would be content with his company on her special day, he wanted to celebrate her regardless. He had already been planning with Josephine's family for the past month. There wasn't any doubt that Josephine would be aware her family were likely to plan a birthday celebration for her. Yet, he may have something in his sleeve to surprise her.

"But I'm sure you do have something planned." Eddie smirked.

"Indeed, I do."

First responders have witnessed variations of family dynamics at dispatch calls. The 118 firefighters stumbled upon an interesting family dynamic in the late evening. The call center received two calls from the same address of different reports. One being an injury, and the other being a presumed burglar at the house. The presumed burglar turned out to be the son of the older couple living in the house. The mother cried out for her son grunting in pain on the ground as Hen and Chimney got to the scene.

"Got a compound tib-fib fracture to the right leg. It's pretty nasty. Got some bone hanging out." Hen told the man. "Sir, can you feel when I do this?" She began applying pressure onto his leg.

The man howled in pain, "Oh god, yeah."

"Good. Then his pedal pulse is strong, which means he's still got blood flowing."

"PERRLA response is good. Pupils are equal and reactive. All right sir, I'm gonna give you something to help with the paint, but you have to try and stay still. After a fall like that we can't rule out spinal injury." Chimney entailed, pushing the man's head back to ground as he attempted to raise his head once again.

Josephine brought out the stretcher with Buck's assistance while Eddie and Bobby were standing on the sidelines of the scene.

The wife snapped her head at her husband. "This is all your fault."

"I wasn't the one climbing up the trail like some two-bit cat burglar." Her husband commented, staring down at his son.

Connor, the young man shot a look at his father. "Cause you kicked me out. It was either sneaking or sleeping in my car."

"You have plenty of other options like I don't know? Get a job. Pay rent."

"You don't need rent. You're rich." His son retorted.

His father scoffed, "It's called hard work paying off."

Exhausted from the dispute, Trish pestered her husband. "Would you stop being so hard on him. He's just going through a quarter life crisis."

"That's a load of—"

"It's a real thing." Buck interrupted the family arguing with each other. He raised his hand, "I've been there."

Disregarding Buck's comment, the husband flickered his eyes onto his wife. "You need to stop enabling him. You want to be the good cop, so you always make me the bad cop. I'm sick of it." He complained.

"Can't you both be good cops?" Chimney compromised.

"No."

"No."

"No."

Josephine, Eddie, and Buck responded in unison. Chimney shot them a pointed look before retreating his attention onto Conard.

"Let's get him on the backboard." Hen ordered.

"Does this tough stuff actually work or does it just make your kid hate you." Chimney whispered to Hen.

Hen shrugged, "Some kids need discipline."

"Not too much." Buck said.

Eddie shot him an intrigued look. "Curious to know what your definition of "too much discipline" is."

"All right, one two three."

As Conard was being rolled towards the ambulance, Athena arrived at the son.

"Officer! I'd like you to arrest this man." The father demanded Athena.

Josephine was bewildered by the father. "You want her to arrest your son?"

"They're related?" Athena darted at the brunette.

"We have a restraining order against him. He wouldn't leave. He was taking us for everything we got. I had to do something. Are you gonna arrest him?"

"You might want to check this out first." Bobby garnered his wife and everyone's attention. He flashed his flashlight at the wall. "Looks like the bolts have been snapped. Real clean breaks, that's why the kid fell down. Any idea how that happened?" His gaze landed on the husband.

The husband quipped innocently, "Nope. No idea."

"You were up there a few days ago repairing it." Trish recalled.

Athena interrogated the man. "What kind of repairs?"

"Um just uh some basic stuff."

"It was fine the last time I broke in." Connor pipped from the stretcher.

His father exclaimed, pointing at his son. "See! That's what I'm talking about! He's been breaking in for weeks! He needed to be taught a lesson." The emphasis of his last remark appeared to clear up the picture of the situation.

"Are you saying that you knew your son was using the trellis, ad you cut it intentionally to cause bodily harm?"

Gasping in disbelief, Trish stared at her husband. "To your own flesh and blood?"

"You've coddled him too long, Trish. You need to decide whose side you're on."

The tables have turned for the husband watching his wife join their son in the back of ambulance while he was escorted in handcuffs to the back of Athena's car for his crime.

"How long do I have to keep this blindfold on?"

Buck stifled a chuckle at his impatient girlfriend in the passenger seat. They were driving to a secret destination with her wearing a blindfold. "Just a little bit longer, I promise." He brought her hand to his lips to kiss the back of her hand.

Josephine slumped in her seat, "I told you there's no need to do something to impress me on my birthday." She reminded.

"Well, I'm not trying to impress you since I won your heart. Although, I did take note with this birthday plan." Buck elicited a smirk. Josephine would roll her eyes though pointless being blindfolded.

The morning, she woke up for her birthday, she was greeted with breakfast cooked by her boyfriend along with a bouquet of flowers. They spent time in bed before informing her to get dress for a little surprise destination that he had in stored for her.

When the Jeep came to a start, Buck escaped the driver's seat to open the door and guide Josephine out of the vehicle. He directed her body and then removed the blindfold from her face.

"A hot air balloon ride?"

Josephine whipped her head at her boyfriend in amusement.

"Yes, it'll be only us and the worker who remembers us from last time." Buck waved at the man standing by the hot air balloon. He happily waved back with a grin. He reverted his gaze at Josephine. "We'll have some peace and quiet while looking over the city on this sunny day. The day you joined me on the hot air balloon ride is a memory I treasure to this day. One of the moments where I felt grateful for you and our friendship. And today, I get to experience this again with someone I truly love." He grasped for both of her hands.

She blushed as her heart warmed at the gesture. "You're such a sap, you know that."

The corners of Buck's mouth tugged upward. He nodded, "Which I don't mind embracing when it comes to you." He leaned in, pressing a loving kiss upon her lips.

"Happy birthday, Josie."

-Unedited. Thought to throw in some sweet moments for Josie and Buck before drama coming up. Very determined to finish the season by next week. So, you'll be in for a treat as you all deserve for being so dedicated! Hope you like it! Tell me what you think! Don't forget to vote and comment! Stay tuned!-

WRITTEN: 2/27/24

PUBLISHED: 2/27/24