Alan Kent heard a woman scream as he arrived at her home in Colorado Springs. Kent, a firefighter responding to a 911 call, rushed upstairs with his team to the woman’s bedroom with an obstetric kit.
A few minutes later on that February 2004 morning, Kent helped a woman deliver a baby girl. The newborn fell into his arms.
The mother, Stacy Huddle, visited the fire station a few weeks later to introduce Kent to the baby she had named Chloe. She thanked Kent and told him she wanted him to remain a part of her daughter’s life.
Kent loved the idea, and they made a deal: Chloe would celebrate her birthday at the fire station every year. A deal like that could have lasted a year or two; maybe busy lives would get in the way as time went on. But the Huddles and Kent were good for their word: They gathered for all of Chloe’s birthdays, and got together for other milestones, too.
Chloe and Kent now say their relationship is like that of a father and daughter.
Last year, Chloe surprised Kent by returning from college to attend his retirement party. In April, Kent flew to Phoenix to watch Chloe, 22, graduate with a bachelor’s degree in educational studies from Grand Canyon University.
“To watch her grow from when she was delivered to where she is today and see those different stages of her throughout the years has been, you know — it’s probably one of the highlights of my career,” Kent, 62, told The Washington Post.
Kent couldn’t have imagined becoming so close with Chloe back on Feb. 15, 2004, when his fire station’s alarm woke him up near the end of his 24-hour shift to respond to an emergency. A man had reported that his wife, 39 weeks pregnant, was having painful contractions in her bedroom.
Chloe was born about 15 minutes after that call.
“I instinctively knew, my husband too, at that point that we’d made a special connection with someone that was the first person to see and to touch Chloe,” Stacy said, “and to help us in the time that, you know, we needed them.”
After mother and baby arrived safely at the hospital, Kent returned to his Colorado Springs Fire Department station and clocked out, not expecting to see Chloe again.
About two weeks later, Stacy carried Chloe into Kent’s station. Stacy and Chloe returned a year later with lasagna for Chloe’s first birthday.
Chloe seemed intimidated by the fire trucks in 2005, Stacy said, but she soon called Kent “my firefighter.” Chloe waved to Kent’s fire station and yelled “Hi, Mr. Alan” when Stacy drove past the building, and when Chloe spotted a fire truck, she tried to peek into the windows to look for Kent. Stacy took Chloe to the station sometimes to surprise Kent, who smiled upon seeing Chloe.
In addition to her mother and father, Todd, Chloe said she found a second set of parental figures in Kent and his wife, Laura.
“They’ve always been family,” Chloe said. “And they always will be family.”
It wasn’t until kindergarten when Chloe realized how unique her birthday parties were. Her class took a tour of the fire station, and Chloe was surprised her classmates had not seen the kitchen where she ate birthday cake on a large table and the gym where she playfully ran on the elliptical machine with her two older siblings, Maddie and Zac, and Kent’s son, Wyatt. Chloe also enjoyed climbing inside the fire trucks and placing the headsets over her ears.
She had “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical” themed parties as a child and a gold theme for her 15th birthday on the 15th of the month.
In her bedroom, Chloe dedicated a shelf to Kent, including “15” in decorative golden numbers that she brought to her 15th birthday party, a mug from Kent’s station, a toy fire truck and a photo of Kent. Kent, meanwhile, kept drawings in his locker of fire trucks and stations that Chloe made him as a child.
During Chloe’s high school graduation in 2022, Kent said he held back tears, reflecting on Chloe growing from a shy girl to a woman who was comfortable sharing her story with Kent to reporters. Colorado Springs news station KXRM reported on the duo at the time. Regardless of her age, Kent said, Chloe’s “cute” smile will always look the same to him.
The birthday parties paused after Chloe went to college, but a major event was planned for last July: Kent’s retirement party to celebrate his 35 years as a firefighter. Chloe, who was taking summer classes in Phoenix, surprised Kent at his party, and she followed him around the station as Kent introduced her to his colleagues.
Kent returned the favor by flying to Chloe’s college graduation last month. Before she walked across the stage, Chloe recalled, Kent hugged her and said: “I just want you to know I’m really proud of you and that I love you dearly.” He concluded with his typical words of advice for Chloe: “Go kill it.”
While she might not return to the fire station for her birthdays, Chloe said she and Kent will continue to get together. Chloe is planning her wedding for July in Mesa, Arizona, where she intends to have two father and daughter dances — one with her dad and one with Kent.
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