Work Text:
Dana Evans wasn’t easily taken by surprise. In all her years of being head charge nurse she had seen many things and people come in and out of her ED, and she thought at this stage in her career she’d seen it all.
But seeing Jack Abbot walk through the ED doors, his sunglasses perched on his nose, his backpack slung over one shoulder and a sage green duffle bag hitched on his other shoulder. One hand holding a tray of coffees, and the other holding a travel bassinet with a baby tucked in amongst a swaddle of blankets.
Dana’s jaw dropped, her body perking up as her eyes raced between the baby carrier and the the calm and collected frame of the night shift attending approaching her, “What the fuck is going on?”
Jack snorted quietly, moving around the hub to stand next to her as he gently lifted the carrier to rest on the counter in front of them, placing the tray of coffees in front of Dana as he slipped the bags off his shoulders and placed them at his feet.
“Good afternoon to you too, Dana.”
Dana glanced down at the baby swaddled in blankets, and could just make out a tousle of black curls and a thumb wedged into a small mouth, “That’s a baby.”
“I’m aware,” Jack reached down and grabbed one of the coffees from the tray and handed her one as he grabbed his own, “Coffee for my work wife.”
Dana took it slowly as she turned her gaze back to Jack who took a sip from his cup, her eyes narrowing, “Whose baby did you steal?”
Jack turned back to her, playing clueless, “…mine?”
Dana blanched, punching him in the arm, “Since when?”
“Since I was there when she was made.” He murmured into his drink.
“Who is this precious angel?” Luckily for him a whispered squeal appeared from beside them as the buzzing form of Emma Nolan appeared, her braids around her face bouncing in excitement as she peered into the baby carrier.
“This,” Jack leant down to gently lift the hood back a bit to reveal the baby laying asleep below them, “Is Maya.”
“Oh she’s gorgeous.” Emma cooed over Maya, taking in the deliciously chubby cheeks of the baby asleep in the carrier.
Princess and Perlah had slowly come over with a small crowd of staff at the sound of excited but hushed squealing in the middle of the usually serious ED.
“Jack Abbot, stop mucking around and tell me what’s going on. Who is this baby and why is she here?” Dana spluttered in disbelief.
Jack sighed, his head tipping back as he took the last moment of peace he would get for the rest of his shift. Maybe even for the rest of the month.
“Well, when two people love each other very much-“
“Shut up!” She punched his arm.
“Ow!” Jack recoiled, “Ok, ok!”
He rubbed his arm, “Fine. Dana, meet my daughter, Maya. She’s just hit six months now, and since I got called in to cover an earlier shift, our usual babysitter wasn’t available so she’s just gonna have to hang around here until her mum can come pick her up after work.”
Dana’s eyebrows raised, “Her mother?!”
Jack tried to keep his smirk to himself, this was just too much fun. They’d deliberated on when the best time would be to break the news at work about the newest addition to the Nightcrawlers (pun to be intended when Maya could crawl), but he couldn’t have imagined it could be this delicious to hold out information. Is this how Princess and Perlah felt all the time?
Before he could come up with a retort, a little whimper made itself known from the carrier below, and Jack leaned in to place a calming hand on his little girl’s stomach, giving her a small rub to calm her down.
“You’re a father?” A disbelieving Santos had come up to the desk to look at him in shock.
“Yes.” He stated matter-of-factly as his hand continued to rub the infant to calm her down.
“Do we know the mother?” Princess inquired with a sly look, practically feasting on Jack with her eyes at the prospect of new gossip.
Maya let out an unhappy squeal and Jack gave her a soothing click of his tongue as he leaned down, slowly unbuckling the whimpering girl as her little hands reached up to him desperately.
“I know sweetheart, I know. You’re unhappy.” He murmured to her quietly as he gently lifted her out of the carrier, fully acknowledging he was powerless against even the glimpse of a cry from his baby girl. He placed her gently against his shoulder, one hand cupping her lower body that was covered in blankets and the other hand starting to rub soothing circles against her little back.
He could hear a small coo from his coworkers as they got their first glance at his little girl, her tired head resting against his shoulder as she hiccuped through her tears and grasped at his scrub top.
“Oh she’s just precious.” Perlah came forward to wave her fingers at Maya who peered back at her apprehensively, her little face still scrunched in unhappiness, but her eyes darted towards Emma who also appeared over Perlah’s shoulder to give the baby a big smile.
He continued to rub the little girl’s back as he turned back to Dana, “Her mother should be here by 5:30pm, but I figured since you were all desperate for a cover for Robby, my favourite ladies at work wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on Maya until then?”
A small smile started to come over Dana as she looked back at Jack Abbot. The man who’d seemingly transformed from the broken, widowed, trauma-ridden shell of a man only a few years ago to the calm, loving father that stood before her. And she had a small inkling of who might’ve been responsible for that change.
“Sure, cowboy.”
“What the hell is going on here?” The annoyed voice of Robby interrupted the group of spectators cooing over the small hiccuping child cradled against the night attending’s shoulder, but Robby pulled up short at the sight.
“Jack, thanks for coming in early.” Robby stiffly spoke, his eyes avidly avoiding looking at the small child as he crossed his arms.
Jack continued to sway gently, his hand still rubbing on Maya’s back, “No problem.”
The small group that had gathered around the hub glanced between the two men, who had once been the joint unit at the helm of this ED. It was an open secret that the two men had had a massive blow out a few years back, and the rumour mill had been active for weeks about the shouting match heard from the rooftop as the two men laid into each other.
Since that fateful night, the two of them had remained civil in the workplace, but it was clear that their relationship would never be the same as it was before.
And looking at Jack’s steady calmness as he leaned right into the father role was something that clearly irked Robby, who could barely look at the man holding what was now Jack’s whole world in his arms.
“Alright well that’s enough people, show’s over. Santos, can you grab Whittaker and update Dr Abbot here with a handover, so I can get out of here?” Robby avoided Jack’s eye contact as he ushered his doctor’s back to work.
Jack sighed, still rubbing circles in Maya’s back as he watched the man he’d once considered his best friend lumber away. After everything had gone down when he’d confronted Robby about his explosive behaviour that continued after his sabbatical, he knew that his relationship with Robby had changed monumentally. But Jack had been adamant that Robby needed help, and he couldn’t stand by and watch him take everyone down with him. Especially what he’d done and said to her. To Mohan.
But surprisingly that hadn’t been the final breaking point for Robby. It wasn’t when he’d told Robby that he started seeing her that severed their relationship, nor when he said he wanted to propose. Jack had theorised that Robby could even deal with the fact that they’d moved in together, and he’d hoped deep down that maybe Robby seeing how far Jack had come in his own healing journey, might inspire Robby to advance in his journey.
But the final tipping point that had severed whatever was left of his relationship with Robby was when he’d told Robby she was pregnant. That he was going to be a father.
It was like Jack had physically assaulted Robby, the way that Robby had completely withdrawn from Jack entirely. Robby couldn’t seem to look at the man he’d once considered his best friend, as if looking at him was a visceral reminder of everything he could’ve had in his life. Of everything that Jack had overcome to achieve something that could be considered happiness, despite everything they’d been through.
And that was something Jack had to come to terms with, that he couldn’t help a man that didn’t want to be helped.
Dana sighed beside him as they both watched Robby slink away to hide, “He’s still not speaking to you?”
Jack breathed a deep breath out, “No. I don’t think he will. Not anymore. Not with-” His voice trailed off as he motioned down to his daughter.
Dana nodded solemnly before turning to look at Jack frowning at Robby’s retreat, his hand still rubbing circles on the now quiet Maya’s back, “That’s on him Jack. I don’t know everything that went down, but if I know Robby, this is a hole he needs to get himself out of. Leave him to do his handover. Meanwhile, you have your own hand over you need to do.”
Jack glanced at Dana, seeing her looking at Maya expectedly with wiggling fingers, and his face lit up as he broke out of his morose thoughts, “We do.”
Jack gently pulled Maya off his shoulder and held her in front of his face, “Isn’t that right, baby? Are you ready to stay with Auntie Dana?”
Maya’s chubby cheeks broke out into a toothy grin seeing her father smiling up at her, and he couldn’t resist by blowing a small raspberry onto her cheek as she giggled at the feeling. He pulled back only to feel her little hands grabbing onto his nose and he snorted.
“Alright my little Maya-Papaya, Daddy’s gotta go to work but you be good for Auntie Dana, ok?” He peppered her cheeks with a few more little kisses, delighting in the sounds of her tinkling giggles, before turning to Dana who’s fingers were waving at the little girl who matched her smile.
“Come here, Angel,” Dana let out a little squeal herself as she scooped Maya out of his grasp, lifting her high above her head as the little girl delighted in the sensation, “You’re going to forget all about your Daddy now that Auntie Dana and Auntie Emma have got you.”
Jack rolled his eyes, “Dana, if you need anything-“
She waved him off as she swayed with Maya against her chest, whose little fingers had already latched onto her necklace, “Get out of here, we’ll be fine. I’ll only corrupt her a little bit.”
Jack smirked, before leaning forward to place a small kiss on the top of Maya’s head and another on Dana’s temple, “You’re the best.”
“And don’t I know it!” She called out after him as he stooped to put the carrier and the duffle bag under the hub desk, before grabbing his backpack and moving to the staff lounge.
Dana pulled Maya off her chest so she could get a look at the little girl in her arms. Maya blinked back up at her, her deep brown eyes peering as Dana gently readjusted the hair clip keeping the loose, black curls off her chubby face. Dana’s fingers softly trailed the little girl’s cheeks, and a small smile crept onto the older woman’s face.
“You are just a gorgeous little cherub, aren’t you? Everyone else might not have picked up who your mamma is, but I would know those doe eyes and curls anywhere.” Dana murmured.
She’d been shocked to see Jack walk through the ED with a baby in his hands, almost a little hurt that she’d not known about this monumental change in his life until now. But it all made sense now: Jack seemingly more at peace than he ever had been before, his unexpected period of leave a few months back, the way he hadn’t picked up extra shifts in over a year, the way he hadn’t stood on the roof’s edge for just as long. For the way his relationship with Robby had deteriorated at about the time he found out he was having a baby.
And for that she couldn’t blame Jack for keeping it to themselves, because she was sure that the fall out of his friendship with Robby and the prospect of becoming a parent after everything he’d been through was enough to handle. And she was sure the reaction of their coworkers when Maya’s mother walked through the door would be an explanation enough of why they’d held out from revealing it to the rest of their coworkers, although she had a sneaky suspicion the night shift crew already knew.
Maya frowned a little at her words, and Dana let out a chortle, “Oh but that’s an Abbot frown if ever I saw one. You’re gonna be a handful for your Daddy, aren’t ya?”
Maya continued to frown as she grasped the small cross on Dana’s necklace and tried to bring it up to her mouth but Dana pulled her fingers away.
“Come on, precious. Let’s see what Daddy’s packed for you.”
—-
Thankfully the rest of the day shift seemed to pass with relative ease, and the young girl was entertained with the endless rotation of faces that beamed down at her as she sat perched on whoever’s lap she was dragged onto.
Everyone working the shift seemed to get a moment to caretake the infant: Emma playing with her hair and fixing her hair clip, Princess and Perlah continuing their Tagalog gossip including the little girl who merely peered up at them where she sat on the desk with amusement, sitting perched on Santos’ lap as she wrapped up some charting and sang to her softly as Maya slobbered all over her stethoscope.
Jack also made appearances, each time Maya spotted him she would squeal loudly and practically jump out of the hands to be scooped up and peppered with more kisses. He briefly took her to the staff lounge to change her diaper, but was called into a trauma before he could feed her and swiftly deposited her in Dana’s waiting arms, who delighted in walking the halls as she fed her a bottle.
It was unspoken from all of them that if any administrative staff made an appearance that they would hide the small girl from view, especially because they were already short staffed as it was and Jack was doing the team a massive favour. But it also brought a levity to this ED that they hadn’t seen the likes of since Baby Jane Doe made the ED her home briefly. And Maya was one of their own, and was the reason Jack Abbot could barely hold back his smile during his whole shift.
It was approaching 5:45pm now, the sun starting to set slowly outside as the board quieted down after the mid-afternoon bustle. It would no doubt spike up again, but for now the day shifters could breathe a sigh of relief and start to catch up from the charting they’d accumulated throughout the day.
Maya was currently strapped to Dana, the little girl had fallen asleep during the last hour as she dozed against the head charge nurse’s chest. Dana had navigated around curious onlookers as they whispered and tried to peek at the bundle of pink with her head laying on her chest.
Dana had managed to get a lot of inventory and stocktake done in the store rooms, and had ended up doing some charting with Emma whilst Maya slept. But she noticed the infant had roused from sleep now, and was blinking up at Dana sleepily, and Dana continued her teaching.
“So when you track their symptoms here,” Dana shifted to point at the chart and intermittently answered the babbling of the little girl, “You need to write down what medications and actions you administered in this section- yes Maya! You are so correct- and then get the lead doctor on the case to sign off on it.”
Emma nodded along with the instructions, and the two women didn’t notice the slightly frazzled woman in green scrubs scanning her eyes around the ED until she spotted Dana.
Samira Mohan rushed up to the nurses hub, slightly out of breath from racing from Presby to get here as she ran a hand through her frizzy curls, a small smile growing on her face as she saw the tender sight of Dana Evans gently talking to her daughter as she taught the younger nurse at the same time. Samira placed her hands on the counter, a relieved smile sneaking on her face as she looked at her daughter’s hands clenching in Dana’s top.
“Dana,” Samira breathed out and Dana’s eyes snapped up with mirth towards her, aware of Emma’s shocked gaze at seeing their former coworker standing in front of them, “I believe you have something for me.”
At the sound of her voice, little Maya started to twist against Dana’s chest, recognising her mother’s voice near her. Her wiggling and whining made Dana chuckle, and she slowly stood up and reached around to unclasp the baby carrier from around her chest.
Samira moved around the desk, her eyes on her wriggling child as Maya’s face broke out in a chubby smile, her fingers reaching towards her mother as she whined.
Samira merely laughed, and gave her a wide smile as scooped her up out of Dana’s arms, her face opening up as her voice pitched up, “En chellam, Ammāku oru ummā kudu.”
Maya squealed as she pressed her open, slobbering mouth against her mothers cheek, her little hands coming up to weave themselves in Samira’s hair.
“Ow, gentle fingers kanna.” Samira gently extracted Maya’s hands from her hair and pulled her back to place an enthusiastic kiss against her little cheek.
Samira propped Maya on her hip as she babbled away, her scrubs already now covered in Maya’s baby slobber, and turned towards the two women in front of them, “Thanks so much for watching her, I hope she wasn’t too grumpy being napless?”
Dana waved her off as she slowly folded the baby carrier and placed it on the table, “She was an absolute angel, you’ve got a future doctor on your hands there Mohan. Or is it Abbot?”
Samira smiled at her shrewdly, noting that Emma next to them was clearly trying to process all the information in front of her with a confused frown, including the ring adorning her left hand, “It’s Mohan-Abbot actually.”
Dana nodded with a smile, “Atta girl.”
“You-you’re Maya’s mum?” Emma blurted out.
Samira chuckled as she wiped away some of the slobber on her child’s face with her blanket, “I would hope so, I didn’t go through twelve hours of labour for nothing.”
“Well she’s just gorgeous Mohan,” Dana leaned forward to fix Maya’s top at the back, “Of course you two would produce the cutest baby on earth.”
Samira smiled down at Maya proudly, giving the little girl a squeeze as Maya let out a giggle, “I might be biased but I think you’re right.”
“Did someone say the cutest baby on earth?” A loud voice broke through the ED and they turned to see Jack emerge from the trauma bay, quickly shedding the medical gown and gloves that were covered in mystery substances. He hastily grabbed some hand sanitiser and scrubbed his hands before moving towards them.
His eyes looked fondly at his two girls as he approached, a small smile reserved just for his wife and daughter coming over his face, “Hey there, beautiful.”
Samira smirked, “Hello there, handsome.”
He leaned forward to place a tender kiss against her lips, and unbeknownst to them the entire ED seemed to freeze in shock seeing the night shift attending and their former coworker embracing in the middle of the floor.
But their loving moment was broken by the incessant whine of the girl tucked between them, her little hands coming up to grab them faces and push them away.
Jack broke out into a chuckle and pulled away to see his daughter frowning up at him, “Oh ho, is someone getting jealous?”
Maya was currently going through a stage where she couldn’t handle her parents kissing in front of her, clearly not accustomed to the attention of her parents being away from her. She was lucky she was the light of their lives, and Jack and Samira smirked at each other over her head.
They needed to pay the Maya-tax.
Without hesitation, they both leaned down to kiss on both of her cheeks, peppering her until Maya squealed at them and squirmed away from them both.
Samira laughed, “So exactly how little sleep has missy had since she had her midday nap?”
Jack glanced at Dana, “Probably around three hours plus anything that she got strapped to Dana?”
Samira sighed, hitching Maya up further onto her hip and looking down at her, “What’re we going to do with you?”
And as if on cue, the little girl gave a big yawn and tucked her head against her mother’s shoulder.
Samira looked back up at Jack, “Well that’s the answer, getting this one to bed.”
Jack tilted his head as he looked at her fondly, “You both should get some rest. There’s a batch of pesto pasta in the fridge, and I’ve put some breast milk to defrost in there too.”
Samira smiled up at him as she rocked her body side to side, “Sounds perfect, my boobs are about to burst so I should get going. You ok here?”
Jack hesitated for a moment, before placing a hand on her shoulder and leaning in to kiss her temple, “We’ll be ok, but I’ll tell you more once I get home.”
Samira frowned in worry at his words but nodded slowly, “Ok.”
Jack moved around the desk to retrieve the duffle bag and baby carrier, and turned briefly to Dana, “Have I got five to walk her to the car?”
Dana waved him off, “Shen is due any second now, take ten and get your family safely on the road.”
Jack smiled at her gratefully before shouldering the duffle bag, “Thanks Dana.”
Samira snorted as they moved away, Jack ushering his small family towards the exit, “You know John and Parker are going to be furious that the newest Nightcrawler team member actually worked a day shift first-”
Dana watched the trio slowly trail out of the ED. She leant on the desk of the nurses hub, her arms crossing as she shook her head in disbelief, before realising that half the ED was also watching the family exit. All their faces were a mix of disbelief and enrapture at the sight of their usually reserved night shift attending smiling down at his wife and daughter.
“What’re you all looking at, this ain’t a circus people! Back to work!” She yelled out and watched everyone scramble back into work.
Dana huffed as she turned back towards where Princess and Perlah were looking at her expectedly, “Well, did anyone still have ‘Mohan and Abbot hook up’ or ‘Abbot has a secret family’ board? If so, they’ve won the absolute-fucking lottery.”