Chapter Text
Season 4
Stella’s face scrunched up as she snuggled further into her bunk. The clock on the bedside table said it was just past 3:30am, and she wanted to go back to sleep… but she had too pee. The sensation was keeping her up, and it was too long to hope she could make it till morning. Sighing, she got up and quietly padded across the bunk room to the bathroom, trying not to wake anybody.
She didn’t realize that someone was already awake.
A few moments later, she came out of the stall and was washing her hands when a movement out of the corner of her eye made her jump. She half swore under her breath as she rinsed her hands with her eyes on Kelly Severide leaning up against the washroom wall.
“Lieutenant.” She said as she dried her hands and tossed the paper into the garbage. She leaned her hip against the sink and crossed her arms as she looked at him.
“Kidd.” He smiled at her, and she raised a brow.
“Can’t sleep?”
“I’ve got stuff on my mind.” His eyes twinkled and she had to try her best to resist the urge to smile, given she completely got the gist of what was on his mind.
“Oh? That new highrise advanced training session you’re running at the academy keeping you up?” She blinked innocently.
“Nah.” He cocked his head towards the door, signalling her to follow him. She raised a brow when they got to the maintenance closet, and he held the door open for her.
“What?” He looked at her innocently. “Inventory.”
“And just what are we taking inventory of before 4am?”
He smiled again, and his hand came out to grip the edge of her CFD t-shirt, and slowly pulled her towards him. “I got some ideas.” He said as he spun them into the closet, and pulled the door shut behind them.
Season 5
Stella’s face crinkled as her alarm went off and it made the asshole move of doing what it was designed to do and waking her up. Eyes still closed she reached over and hit it to shut it off, and then forced herself to sit up in bed otherwise she was going to fall back asleep and be late for shift. She swung her legs over the side of the bed but couldn’t find the motivation to stand up yet. Okay, so maybe she’d had one too many beers last night. She reached over to the bedside table and picked up her phone. She’d set it to Do Not Disturb, when she’d been in a bar and run into a familiar sometimes hookup, and it had very quickly looked like they were both on the same page for the night. So, maybe it wasn’t just the beer that had her a little disoriented this morning.
She switched her phone over and watched the texts chime in. Otis saying he’d beaten her score at darts at Molly’s. Brett asked what was in a Moscow Mule. Herrmann asked her to take two more closings next week because Cindy wanted date nights. It was the last text that fully woke her up.
KS: You up? Can we talk?
She must have made a sound of confusion, because her sometimes, but also last night, hookup woke.
“Everything okay?” His deep, sleepy voice grumbled from behind her. Fuck, if it wasn’t the second sexiest voice she’d ever heard.
“Yeah, I think so.” She said absently, still thinking about the message from Kelly on her phone.
An arm curled around her middle and gently tugged her back into bed. “Good, then come back here.”
She lost her phone in the tumble back as he pulled her in to spoon her back to his front. She looked around the sheets to reach for her phone, but his wandering hands and lips against her neck got her distracted.
He husked into her ear. “Hey, I gotta secret for you.”
She raised a brow as she could feel his whole body pressed behind her. “Hate to break it to you… but you’re not keeping it much of a secret.”
He chuckled and started kissing her shoulder. “I got no work today.”
“Oh, really?” She smiled, relaxing in his arms.
Her phone chimed and she practically lunged out of his arms to see if it was from Kelly. It wasn’t, but now her mind was back to what could have had him asking to talk to her so late at night. As her brain went into overdrive over what he might have wanted to talk to her about, she felt a kiss on her shoulder.
“Go shower. I’ll make you eggs.” He said as he pulled away and got up from the bed.
She looked away from her phone, and over at him, and managed a smile as she watched him pull on his boxer briefs. “Thanks, Adam.”
“No problem.” He said with a warm smile and walked away.
She looked after him as he went, and for a moment she was drawn away from the man on her phone, to the man who was in her home. Yes, she and Adam had fun, and their hookups were good, really good, but they also got each other. They got what it was like to be wrapped up in someone who wasn’t always wrapped up in you. She looked down at the phone but didn’t text Kelly back. She got up and headed for the shower.
“Coffee would be nice too!” She hollered.
“So would an invite to the shower!” He called back.
“No one’s stopping you!” She said, smiling as she heard his footsteps quickly heading towards her bathroom, and knowing she probably wasn’t going to get coffee or eggs now.
Season 6
Stella exited the firehouse a few metres behind Kelly, and she raised an appreciative brow as she checked him out while he walked to his car. She was a great fan of his muscled chest and arms, but the man had an amazing ass too. Okay, so pretty much every blessed inch of him was hot. The corner of her mouth edged up into a smile as she thought about getting him back to the loft and having him. It’s all she’d been able to think about since she got his text 38 seconds after shift ended, “Let’s go home”. It wasn’t anywhere near the dirtiest text she’d ever gotten, but it definitely got her going.
She was just about to break into a jog to catch up to him when she heard her name called from behind her.
“Stella!” Brett called out, and Stella spun around to see her and Gabby walking towards her from the house.
“Girls’ breakfast! Come on! Lets go!” Sylvie said with a little dance.
“Ahh…?” Stella glanced over her shoulder to see that Kelly had reached his car, and scrambled to come up with an excuse to get out of brunch and get onto Kelly. “I would love to, but Kelly and I carpooled here, so he’s my ride…” She oversold and finished with a shrug.
Sylvie was unfazed. “Stella, we know there are bottomless mimosas at brunch! We’re all going to Uber.”
Stella ignored the way Gabby was trying to hide a chuckle.
“It’s just that… We were going to do this thing when we got home…”
“What thing?” Brett asked, confused.
“Yeah, Stella, what thing?” Gabby asked with a knowing smirk and a raised brow.
Stella blinked as she tried to make her brain work faster.
“Motorcycle repair.”
“Motorcycle repair?” Gabby looked at Stella as if she was disappointed in Stella’s lack of quick thinking.
“I didn’t know you rode?” Brett asked confused.
Stella opened her mouth, but Gabby spoke first.
“Oh, she’s riding a lot more lately.” Gabby blinked innocently at Stella and smiled when her friend scowled at her.
“Hey, Stella?!” Kelly yelled from the driver’s side of his car, and they all looked over. He didn’t say anything more, but Stella noted the way his eyes opened a little wider for a second before he nodded in his car’s direction, urging her to hurry up. She bit her lip, and took a quick breath, smoothing out her face before turning back towards her friends.
“Okay, so rain check on brunch…” Stella said as she started backing away. “But you two have fun!”
And then she turned and skip/ran towards Kelly’s waiting car.
Brett waved as she watched them drive away. “They’re sleeping together, aren’t they?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Season 7
Stella lay in her bed, awake but not moving yet, because she had nowhere to go. She had 51, and taken on more shifts at Molly’s, she’d upped her gym routine, and started jogging again… and still she had a crap ton of time on her hands. She hadn’t realized how much time she’d dedicated to Severide, not just being with him, but thinking about him, and now she was trying not to think about him, but downtime wasn’t helping.
“What happened?” Her brain kept going over and over her relationship with Kelly, and how she thought she’d done everything right. They were friends, and then were friends who started sleeping together. And then he called her his girlfriend.
“Wherever you are, is where I want to be.”
“All I think about is you.”
But more than even his words, it was how he used to look at her. She’d seen it, more than a few times. In the last few weeks, he’s looked less like he was happy to see her, and more like he was bracing himself for whatever she was going to say. Stella cleared her throat as she felt it thicken and blinked the tears from her eyes. She rolled over onto her back, and brought her arm up, covering her face with the crook of her arm. Again, she fought down the lump in her throat. She’d hated the way he’d started to look at her whenever she approached him. Like he dreaded her talking to her or what she was going to say. A tear did escape, and she angrily rubbed her arm into her face to wipe it away.
She’d really thought that he wanted to be with her. That they were good together.
She’d really thought she’d done everything right. Slowing them down. Wanting them to actually date. Wanting to be there for him. Wanting him to communicate with her. Wanting him.
She still wanted him. She still-
Stella was startled out of her thoughts by a banging at her door. She lay still, thinking it was Herrmann trying to get her to come out and join the family for breakfast. She hoped that if she didn’t say anything he’d figure she was sleeping, give up, and go away.
Then she heard the key in the lock and pulled her arm away from her face just in time to see Sylvie and Emily burst into her apartment.
“What are you doing here? How did you get in?” Her face went from surprise to a scowl. “Did Herrmann give you a key? That’s a violation of tenant rights.”
“Oh, no.” Emily said with wide eyed innocence. “Herrmann did NOT give us a key and tell us to come up and check on you, and maybe delete Wrecking Ball from your phone because his whole family now know all the words, and would really like to stop singing it under their breath every time you play it…”
“So, come on, girlie! Get up! We’re going to breakfast!” Sylvie chirped.
Stella pulled the blanket up over her head.
Foster jumped on her a couple of times. “You know we’re not going away until you say yes, right?!”
“Fine!” Stella laughed. “I’ll get ready.” She got up and headed to the bathroom.
After the bathroom door shut, the two friends looked at each other. Sylvie had been there from the start, since Stella came to 51, since she shared the story of Kelly letting himself into her apartment, since they had fallen in love. The romantic in her had really wanted them to work out, but she hated what she’d seen this relationship put Stella through. Maybe their communication styles were just too different and they weren’t meant to be?
She was jarred out of her thoughts by Wrecking Ball suddenly playing, and her eyes shot to the bathroom door. “Wasn’t me!” Stella yelled as if she read Brett’s mind.
Brett looked over and Foster looked at her guiltily. “Sorry, it’s been stuck in my head since Herrmann mentioned in this morning.”
Sylvie shut her eyes and opened and closed her fists for a moment but said nothing.
Season 8
Kelly lay on his back in bed, Stella curled to his side, her head on his shoulder as he gently stroked his fingers along her hair. He felt her stir and she hugged him a little tighter before she opened her eyes. He was already looking at her, her chin came up and their gazes met. He leaned in and she stretched up to share a lingering kiss.
“Morning, roomie.” She said with a smile, her voice husky with sleep, and she stretched away from him, before snuggling back into his warm body.
He put on a fake grumpy face. “Roomie? I feel like that’s a downgrade.”
“Well, that’s fair since I’ve had to lower my standards to move in here. It’s a good thing I love you.” She pretended to be huffy.
Kelly’s eyes widened. “Are you really comparing the loft to Herrmann’s apartment?”
“I am.” She said saucily tapping a finger against his chest.
He shifted and propped himself up on an elbow to look down at her. “And the loft is the downgrade?”
“Look, I had my own bed-“She started to debate.
“You were here most nights.” And then he gave her his best Severide smile. “And you seem to like sharing our bed.”
“It has its perks. I won’t lie.” She conceded, not being able to fully hide a smile when she caught ‘our bed’. “I didn’t have to share a bathroom with two guys.”
“We’re low maintenance.”
“Beard hair, Kelly, beard hair.” She chuckled as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“Well, then, I’m just glad you said yes.”
“Don’t worry, Kelly.” She heaved a sigh as if put upon. “I had feeling you were going to ask me to live with you, so I’ve been mentally preparing.”
“Oh, really?” He quirked a brow, laying back against the pillows and putting his hands behind his head.
She looked at him from over her shoulder. “Well, you talked about our kids and grandkids, so…”
“We can make kids without living together.” He said, and smiled as she scoffed at him as she turned back around.
“Please.” She said, not looking back at him as she pulled his t-shirt from yesterday over her head. “I know you, Kelly Severide. When we have kids, you aren’t going to want to miss a minute.”
Kelly watched her walk out of their room, and he heard her greet Casey, and started talking about Mouch and Trudy’s dinner Truck-stop potluck. He needed a minute, not for the first time, he was taken aback by how she knew him, and thought of him. Kelly wanted to be a dad, and she was right, he didn’t want to miss a minute of it, but what was choking him up right now was her complete faith in him being a good father.
Season 9
She woke up, and before she even opened her eyes, she knew he was there. They’d been together so long at this point, she knew the sound of his breath. The way their bed dipped under his weight, slanting her slightly closer to him. The heat of him close to her.
He hadn’t been there when she went to bed, and she’d tried, really tried to wait up for him. He’d said he had, “a thing”, and told her not to wait up, but she’d stayed on the couch most of the night. Casey had come home around 10pm, and they’d talked for a while. She could see it in his eyes; that he was asking her if she was okay. She hadn’t engaged, because she didn’t know what was going on with Kelly, and didn’t want to bring Casey into it if she didn’t have to. He’d headed to bed, and she’d pulled up another episode of Vanderpump Rules to make herself feel better about her own life at the moment. Kelly was most definitely not a Vanderpump guy, even if maybe she’d heard he used to be.
Around 2am, she’d gotten up and headed to bed. She’d thought it would be hell trying to get to sleep, but she was out as soon as her head hit her pillow. But he’s here now… and her hair is pinned under his shoulder. Blindly reaching back she manages to gently tug it free before carefully rolling over. She pressed the palms of her hands to the warm, bare skin of his back, and leaned in to place a kiss between his shoulder blades. She felt him shiver under her touch and smiled against his skin. One of her hands slid down from his back, running along his side, and then drifting slowly over his tight stomach. She smiled again as she heard his breathing pick up, and before her hand could move lower, he’s turning around and pulling her into his arms. Before she can say anything his month claims hers. Claims. She is overwhelmed with the need to claim him and be claimed by him, because the distance of the last few days had been killing her.
So this morning, still without words, that’s what they did.
Season 10
Kelly stretched at the same time he reached for her. He groaned when he realized the bed was not only empty, but it wasn’t even their bed. His mind went back to last night, at exactly 11:56pm, when she was under him in their bed, both of them breathless and, quite frankly, giddy over it being the night before their wedding. That was until she glanced over at the clock and her face went full Lieutenant Kidd on him.
“Get out.”
He glanced down at her, and quirked a brow and a sexy smirk. “I am out.”
She rolled her eyes, and clarified. “Of this room. Get out of this room.”
He leaned down to run wet kisses along her neck, making her breathless again, as he move to whisper in her ear. “If this is a performance review, Lieutenant, I can try harder.”
Her eyes had rolled back in her head, but she snapped herself out of her Kelly haze. “Nice try! Out!” And she shoved him off of her catching him with enough surprise that she was able to slip out of the bed and storm over to the door, holding it open for him.
“The groom shouldn’t see the bride before the wedding. You have three minutes to get that sweet butt of yours out of here, Kelly Severide!”
She had her serious face on, and a raised brow that brooked no room for argument. He sighed, got of bed and walked to stand in front of her.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but… you’re more superstitious than Herrmann.” He said before leaning in and kissing her again, his hand finding her hip and squeezing it. “I’ll see you at the alter, Stella Kidd.”
Lying in their guest bed this morning, he smiled thinking about the happy look she’d had on her face when he’d pulled away.
“Kelly?” He heard his bride call from the what sounded like the main part of the loft.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you dare come out of that bathroom!” She shouted and then he heard her run to the bathroom.
Not for the first time he thought about how much she made him laugh. How much he loved her. Today was going to be a good day.
“If you come out of that bedroom, Kelly Severide, I’ll kill you!”
Season 11
The sun was barely coming in the widows of the loft when they finally walked through the door of their home, and they were feeling light years different than how they’d felt when they’d come home, changed, and then headed to the cabin. She walked in first, but he kept his hand gripping the bottom of her shirt. Stella turned, watching him shut the door, and then taking his hand in hers.
“We need to shower.” She told him, tugging him along with her, and he wordlessly let her. She felt sweaty and dirty, and just wanted to wash the last few hours off their skin.
They showered together, and walked to their bedroom, their bodies draped in their towels, and then the towels were discarded as they climbed into bed and wrapped their arms around each other. They lay is silence for a long time, just breathing each other in, and holding on to the other’s warm, alive, body. As Kelly stroked her hair back from her face, his eye was caught by the wedding dress hanging behind her. She turned her head and followed his gaze, and then pulled his face back to hers, kissing him.
“We’re okay.” She whispered to him. She knew he was churning. Kelly rarely got scared, but she’d seen him scared tonight, and it hadn’t been for himself, he’d been scared for her. He looked away from her, but, if possible, held her tighter.
Time ticked on, and she felt him relax in her arms.
“You know I’m never going to the cabin again, right?”
“Yeah, I figured.”
Season 12?
Stella didn’t know what woke her up, but she rolled over, already reaching for her husband. The sleepy fog cleared from her head as her hand was met with cool sheets instead of his warm form.
“Kelly?” She called out, and was about to get up when she heard the loft door open. Glancing over at the clock she was surprised to see that it was just past 5am and he was coming in from somewhere.
She fell back into bed, and yelled to him. “If you have donuts you may have earned yourself a reward.”
He came into the bedroom and sat down on the edge, his hip touching hers, and held up a large paper bag and shook it. He had a huge smile on his face, and she raised a brow, not being able to help but smile back.
“That doesn’t sound like donuts.”
Still smiling he handed her the bag, and she looked inside, her eyes going wide.
“How many pregnancy tests did you buy?!” She was flabbergasted. There had to have been at least a dozen tests in the bag.
“I know you, Stella Kidd.” He chuckled. “You wouldn’t believe one test. So, I got multiple brands, top of the line to budget. Lines and digital. You name it, it’s in there.”
“I think you’re jumping the gun here.” She cautioned.
“You had your IUD taken out a few weeks ago.” He pointed out.
“Uh huh.”
“And we’ve been having sex.”
“God, I hope that was you.” She teased.
“Funny.” He commented, but stayed on track. “You said you were late.”
“By, like, a couple of days.” She rolled her eyes.
He picked up the bag and shook it at her with a giant grin.
“Fine, but don’t get your hopes up.” She told him, because that was exactly what she was trying not to do. When she was late, she’d been elated, but she tramped it down, because she was used to working for everything, and this couldn’t have just… happened.
She took the tests, making him wait outside the bathroom door. She let him in as she laid the tests out on the vanity, and set the timer on her phone. He sat down on the floor and then held out a hand to her. She took it and came to sit down between his legs, laying back against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Her hands came up and clutched his wrists, and she felt him lean in to press a kiss to her temple. She’d known for years that he wanted to have kids with her, and it was what she wanted too. When she’d brought him home, it hadn’t been the time, they’d needed to work out what had happened and why, but as the months passed and they came back to each other, they’d started really walking about kids.
Which had led them to where they were now.
Waiting.
Her phone chimed, and he lifted one arm off of her to grab one of the tests.
Positive.
She turned in his arms, coming up onto her knees between his legs, and kissing him, grabbing another test, and kissing him again. Another positive test, another kiss, until they had five positive pregnancy tests scattered around them, and were deep into a clutching make out session. Finally they pulled back and looked at each other, each to happy, but also loving seeing how happy the other one was.
“We’re having a baby.”
“We’re having a baby.”