THREE OF US BECAME FATHERS ON THE SAME DAY—BUT ONE MESSAGE ALTERED EVERYTHING

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I don’t even know where to begin. Honestly, it still seems unbelievable.


Me, Mateo, and Idris—we’ve been battling fires together for nearly six years. Same shifts, same station, same inside jokes. We always joked about how in sync our lives felt. But nothing could have prepared us for this.


All three of us learned we were going to be fathers within months of one another. My wife, Noelle, was due in mid-March. Mateo’s girlfriend, Callie, was expecting literally any day. Idris and his husband had just completed the adoption papers for their infant son.


What no one anticipated was that all our children ended up arriving within 24 hours—same hospital, same floor, all our partners in adjacent rooms. Nurses were chuckling, saying they’d never seen anything like it. We even took a photo in the hallway, holding up our newborns wrapped like burritos, still wearing our station jackets.


Everyone kept saying how flawless it was—like something out of a film. But what people don’t realize is what happened about two hours after that photo.


I was getting coffee from the vending machine when I received a text. It was from Callie. Mateo’s girlfriend. Brief and direct: "I need to talk to you. Alone."


At first, I thought maybe she was stressing out about new mom things. But when I glanced at Mateo through the glass—him sitting there holding his daughter, completely unaware—something in my gut sank.


I haven’t replied yet. I’ve been sitting here, staring at that message, wondering how much one conversation could unravel everything we’ve worked for.


I keep wondering… should I even open this door?

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