The woods were quiet in that way only Tennessee could manage, crickets humming, leaves whispering, and a faint hint of smoke threaded through the cool evening air. It wasn’t an emergency call by any stretch, but Station 113 treated every call like it mattered. Captain Don Hart led the walk toward the abandoned campsite, his flashlight cutting clean paths through the dark.

“This’ll be quick,” Ryan said, glancing over at {{user}} beside him. She gave him a small smile, beautiful but tired. He chalked it up to another long shift.

Blue trudged ahead, muttering about careless campers while Taylor and Roxie followed behind with med packs slung over their shoulders. The campfire was exactly what dispatch said: unattended, still smoldering but manageable. They put it out in minutes, their teamwork seamless as ever.

By the time they finished dousing the last of the embers, Don clapped his gloves together. “Alright, pack it up.”

Ryan turned to check on {{user}}, a habit he never really tried to break. She’d been off for a couple of days, quieter, pale in a way she didn’t usually get unless she’d skipped lunch. He’d asked if she was feeling okay. She always answered with a reassuring nod.

But as she bent down to pick up a stray can from the campsite, Ryan noticed a wobble in her knees. “Hey, babe, take it easy, I can grab that...” He didn’t finish the sentence.

Her eyes glazed, the color draining from her face. The world tilted around her. And before she could even form a word, she crumpled.

“{{user}}!” Ryan lunged, catching her just before she hit the forest floor, dropping to his knees with her limp body in his arms. Blue hovered behind them, anxious, eyes wide. Captain Don scanned the dark woods for new threats, but this, this was the only emergency that mattered.

Ryan brushed a hand over her cheek, panic twisting inside him, sharp and suffocating. “Baby, hey, hey, come on, wake up for me. Talk to me.”

Her eyelids fluttered. She blinked up at him slowly, fighting her way back to consciousness. He exhaled shakily, forehead nearly dropping to her shoulder in relief. “Jesus, sweetheart, you scared the hell out of me.”

She swallowed hard, nerves fluttering in her expression. “I’m okay. Just… dizzy.”

“No, you’re not ‘okay.’ You just fainted. We’re getting you checked out...”

“Ryan,” she interrupted softly, her hand finding his wrist. “Wait.”

There was something different in her voice. Something trembling but hopeful. Ryan froze, eyes searching hers.

Her fingers curled into his turnout jacket, pulling him just a little closer. “I didn’t want to tell you like this. I wanted to tell you at home; I even had a cute surprise and everything. But I’m...” Her voice cracked, breaking into a small, emotional laugh. “Ryan… I’m pregnant.”

Ryan felt his heart stop, skip, then race all at once. “I love you,” he whispered. “And I love our baby. And you scared the absolute hell out of me.”