It is something that is forged through adversity and sealed with trust. So one shouldn’t be surprised if these men and women are closely-knit within their communities.
But a team of firefighters at Rancho Cucamonga Fire District took this brotherhood to a whole new level.
The Californian fire department welcomed the newest and probably the littlest members of the family.
As for the fathers in the ranks, they’ve trusted the man beside them during life-threatening situations. Now, they’re going to trust them in changing diapers.
The fire department didn’t just welcome one baby into their ranks. And no, they didn’t welcome just two, or three.
They welcomed nine adorable babies.
And all of them have weeks or just days in between them.
It’s an entire batch of firefighting babies that were all born in a span of just four months.
At this point, it’s safe to assume that these kids are going to be childhood-turned-lifetime friends.
According to the station’s spokesperson, it was purely coincidental.
“It was not planned. It was just a coincidence, but everybody’s happy it worked out so we could all experience this together,” Gabrielle Costello told PEOPLE.
“Everybody was really surprised,” Costello added. “But they were really excited to have them all so close together too, so they could all grow up alongside each other with their dads at the department.”
The news came in segments.
She said that the fathers learned of the pregnancies one after the other.
Costello’s baby Charlotte was actually the 8th one of the batch. And when they realized what they have, the mothers suggested the family celebrate the births with a photo shoot.
They organized a firefighter-themed pictorial for the children.
In a Facebook post shared by the department, they mentioned that the babies were born between the months of March and July.
“We were all curious as to how it would go because there’s naps and feedings and diapers,” Costello tells PEOPLE about the photoshoot. “But, surprisingly, it went really well. The babies only had a few breakdowns and a few spit-ups. But it actually turned out good and we were all really happy.”
For these dads, firefighting won’t be the only thing they’ll learn together.
They had seven girls and two boys.
They even have a photo where their dads’ gear is arranged in a circle and the babies lying on their respective jackets.