One Night Stand

Chapter 5

Six months later...

Nicole was spending the afternoon with her nephew Tyler. By far this was her favorite thing about living in Chicago. She currently lived in Rachel's basement which wasn't as depressing for her as it may sound. Another thing she enjoyed was that her grandparents only lived a couple blocks away. She may have issues with her father but she loved his mom and stepdad.
When she moved five months ago she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. She was considering a career change but her sister and their grandpa, a retired fire chief with CFD, convinced her to stick with firefighting for a little while to see if a change in scenery helped. It took a month for all the paperwork to go through and for the last three months Nicole had been a floater. She filled in when a house needed someone on truck or a paramedic, she refused to work any shifts on squad and so far that had worked out alright. For the moment she was content with floating and knew changing careers would have been a mistake. She didn't feel ready to have a permanent assignment yet because she was content to keep people at arms length and when you were part of a house you couldn't help but get close to those you risk your lives with daily.
A few days after her grandpa called her Nicole was able to make it over to her grandparents house. Once she was seated at the kitchen table with a plate of her grandma's chicken bacon parmesan penne her grandpa said he. had a big favor to ask. He had been talking with an old friend who was a battalion chief he greatly respected and he had a spot on truck in his house that needed filled.
"Nic, this is a good opportunity." He said. "It would be a permanent assignment. You'd be part of a regular crew again."
"I get that grandpa but I don't know if I'm ready for that yet." Nicole admitted, her wounds still felt too fresh.
Her grandpa got serious, "I understand Nicole, really I do. But no offense you're a lifer. You need a house to put down roots in, not this floater business."
Nicole thought for a moment, looking at her plate then turned her eyes to her grandpa. The look on his face was very telling, "I thought you were retired grandpa."
He suddenly looked confused, "I am, why would you question that?"
Nicole laughed then replied, "Because me going to this house is already a done deal, isn't it?"
Bullshit was not his style so his answer was straight forward, "Yes, it is."
"Grandpa!!" Nicole said, clearly annoyed. "I don't want preferential treatment because of who I'm related to."
He replied quickly, "Well tough shit young lady. You've got your assignment so you'll have to make the best of it, end of discussion."
"Yes sir!" Nicole said with heavy sarcasm. She didn't like this at all.
Her grandpa's eyes softened quickly, "I'm sorry, that was too harsh. Sometimes I forget I'm talking to a head strong Davin woman." He said with a kind smile. "But seriously Nicole, I'm just trying to help. You haven't been yourself since you moved here. I think this house will help you heal a little and move past what you've been through."
    "I'm not gonna forget just because I'm part of a crew again." Nicole replied defensively.
    "That's not what I said Nic." Her grandpa replied calmly. "We never forget those we've lost especially when they are so close to us, trust me. I know it's easy for you to float from house to house because you don't have time to get attached to those you work with and that's okay for a while but I know you are a firefighter to your bones girl, not a part timer. I also know you don't think you're ready to take this leap on your own so yes I used some connections to get you this permanent assignment. All I ask is that you give it four shifts. If after that you want out I'll do what I can to get you reassigned."
    "Why four?" Nicole asked, her anger had lessened tremendously.
    He shrugged, "I know you're a damn good firefighter but you know how guys on the job can be when it comes to a woman joining their house."
    Nicole nodded, it was a fact of life she had dealt with every time she had entered a new house in Milwaukee. It hadn't been as bad in Chicago so far but she had only been a temporary fill in, this assignment would be different. "So four shifts should be enough time for me to prove I'm not a hopeless female?"
"That was what I was thinking." He agreed. "Though you won't have to do much to prove yourself to your new battalion chief, but from what I've been told there may be a couple guys on your shift who will need some convincing."
"Nothing new to me." Nicole said with a shrug then looked down at her plate. "I may need to nuke this for a minute."
Her grandma swooped in and grabbed the plate, "I've got it hun. And in my humble opinion I think you should give this new assignment a real chance. Your sister and I know some of the people in the house you're going to and we agree you'll feel right home in no time."
    Nicole laughed and asked, "Am I the last to know about everything?"
    "Well your grandpa wanted some advice on how to approach the subject with you and as usual he didn't listen to me or Rachel." Her grandma said giving her husband a look. "But never mind that dear, this will be a good change for you just wait and see."
    Nicole shrugged, "All I can do is give it a try."