Sophy Medina (SM) and Thomas Olsen (TO)

SM: Our first Valentine’s Day, we got a call in for a big fire.

TO: It was a big fire, yeah. SM: Huge. SM: You got something in your eye. A piece of glass in your—

TO: —I got a piece of glass in my eye, yeah.

SM: And I twisted my back so we both ended up going to the hospital.

TO: Then I kept coming over. I sat in your bed and was like talking to you.

SM: We were wearing big, stinky, heavy gear.

TO: Especially after a fire you’re soaking wet.

SM: Smell so bad, we’re all like sweaty and everyone smells like a foot.

TO: There really wasn’t much romantic about the night…

SM: Yeah the only thing that was romantic was the idea that it was Valentine’s Day and that we still managed to spend it together somehow.

TO: Yeah.

SM: I think it’s cool being with another firefighter. But when we see each other sometimes on a run we can’t kiss.

TO: No we don’t kiss. I just…

SM: I don’t think it would be professional

TO: Yeah, unprofessional.

SM: We have a handshake.

TO: We have a handshake we made up. Yeah, and the guys make fun of us, like, ”What was that?”

SM: I worry about you when you go to work. When I was pregnant I would think about it a lot, like, if something happened to you.

TO: Yeah, just never know. Blindfold yourself and put yourself in an oven—that’s pretty much it. SM: We also have emergency responses—building collapse, terrorist threats. So, you know, I do know what it’s like when you go to work and have a sleepless night. Just like you know what it’s like for me to go to work and have a sleepless night. Has being a parent changed the way you look at work?

TO: I love going to work!

SM: I know you do.

TO: It’s great. But like I want to go home at the end of the day and see Luca. If you asked me when I first got on the job, ”Oh you’re gonna have kids and marry a firefighter?” I’d be like, ”Never.” But if something happened on our block we could take it out.

SM: What, like a fire?

TO: A fire on the block, yeah.

SM: You’re such a nerd.

TO: We’d take it down. You could be my back up.

SM: I would.

TO: [Laughs]