Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Being one out of five kids was exhausting. There were pros and cons that they all had to deal with. Lee Henry, Luke, and Annabelle got new clothes, Lee Henry because he was the oldest, Luke because hand me downs were too worn when they got to him, and Annabelle because she was the only girl. Kenny, Luke, Max, and Annabelle got away with pretty much everything because they didn’t have to set an example (and the only times they did get in trouble usually had more to with a bad call their dad had than anything else). Kenny was unintentionally favoured by their dad more because he has made it very clear he wants to be a firefighter like his dad. Max was favoured by their mom because of his traumatic birth. Kenny, Luke, and Max were closer because Lee Henry was the firstborn and not only had Cindy and Christopher decided to wait a few years before having more kids but also because he had to be the responsible older brother/third parent most of the time, his parents hadn’t intended for that to happen and they felt guilty about it sometimes, but they needed his help and made sure he got at least an hour of free time (this didn’t include homework or chores) a day. Annabelle felt left out frequently because she was the only girl and while she didn’t fit the girly girl mould, she just didn’t share a lot of interests or societal problems with her brothers. So the Hermann’s were their own unique brand of love and chaos, and they were alright with that.

Lee Henry had gotten a part-time job for Friday nights and weekends as a lifeguard. People liked to joke that lifesaving ran in the family, but that wasn’t the case. Lee didn’t want to ever rush into a burning building, he never wanted to let worry and fear linger over his family’s heads day after day. Wondering if every unexpected knock on the door or phone call was a death notice or call to the hospital. He didn’t resent his dad for his career, but it had affected a lot of his life choices. The reason he became a lifeguard was that when he was 10, almost 11, his dad fell through the floor of a burning building.

He remembers the phone ringing, wondering if it was Susan from his granna’s quilting club, or Kraken (Karen) from the PTA. His mom answered with a cheerful hello but when she made no other noise and the room suddenly felt thick, he looked up, and he saw his mom’s face. She had gotten so pale he could see her veins, her eyes were wet and had sunken in, her mouth moving like she was screaming so loud it would shatter windows but nothing was coming out, and then she collapsed. Her knees just gave out underneath her. Lee jumped up to try and keep his mom from falling on the floor. He was too weak to catch her so they landed together on the hardwood together with a thump. She still couldn’t say anything, she started shaking, so Lee grabbed the phone. “-Ms. Hermann? Are you still there? Did you hear me? Your husband fell through the floor of a burning building, he’s on transport to the hospital-”

“In ambulance sixty-one?”

“... I’m sorry who am I speaking to?”

“Lee Henry Hermann, son of Christopher and Cindy Hermann. Is my dad being taken to the hospital in ambulance sixty-one?”

“Yes, but I should really-”

“Which hospital?”

“Lakeshore medical centre, I should really speak to-”

“We’re on our way.” He hung up, remembering the words his dad has said to him a thousand times, ‘if you’re in a dangerous situation do everything you can to stay calm, you can make things worse if you panic’. “Hello, yellow taxi? I need a cab to take five people, one adult and four kids, to Lakeshore medical centre. My Dad got hurt and mom can’t speak.” It was a flurry of running and car seats and firefighter turnout gear that wasn’t his dad’s. That wasn’t cool anymore. That he couldn’t stand to look at or smell. So when no one was looking he got up and, calmly, walked to a closet. He walked inside, closed the door, and let it all out. He cried, muffled his screams with his forearms. He ruthlessly scratched his arms, and hit himself. In the head, chest, thighs, feet. He knew right then, from the look on his mother’s face, from the grimness behind uncle Randy’s eyes, from the tearing feeling in his chest, he could never do it. He could never be a firefighter.

When he returned to the group, his long-sleeved shirt was rolled down and he’d stopped at the bathroom before heading to the cafeteria to make sure he looked okay. He was carrying two plastic bags that were filled to the brim with sandwiches and water bottles. He was spotted by uncle Randy first. “Lee Henry! There you are, what’ve you got there?”

“Some food and water, I figured we’d all need something to eat and drink, we might be here a while after all.”

“Yeah... Hey, I heard that you helped get everyone here, and you’ve been really calm and level-headed throughout this whole thing. You’ve done really well, why don’t you sit down and we’ll keep you company til we hear some news about your dad? Severide can pass around the grub, okay?” Severide made his way over to the oldest Hermann child and gave him a proud smile. “I for one, am not even remotely surprised that you’re so calm. Your old man is a firefighter, remaining calm in stressful situations and helping others is in your blood. Should we be expecting another Hermann at 51?” Lee felt his heart sink into his gut, but thankfully Boden called for all the members of 51 to have a talk in one section of the ER before Lee could answer.

Lee took one last walk around the pool, to make sure he hadn’t missed any puddles or items when cleaning the deck while the last of the stragglers got out of the pool and the stands when he heard a loud crack. He whipped his head around and found a teen about his age lying on the floor at the bottom of the stands. He rushed over and methodically went over his injuries, calling out orders to the other lifeguards and people around him. He and Kylie got the guy on their backboard and his neck stabilized. The paramedics arrived quickly. “Lee Henry?”

“Hey Brett, so we have a teenage male, unsure of age or name, with a head laceration, possible neck trauma, and loss of consciousness. He fell off the stands and hasn’t so much as opened his eyes, one of the other lifeguards went through the change rooms to see if there was anyone waiting for him but they couldn’t find anyone. I noticed him come in a couple of hours ago, but he didn’t socialize with or appear to have come with anyone. He just came in and sat down at the top.”

“Alright, well you did a good job, we’ve got it from here.”

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The next morning he was met by his dad, smiling from ear to ear. ”There's my boy.” Christopher began patting Lee Henry on the back. ”Brett said you were amazing, guess you'll be joining me at 51 pretty soon, huh? And tonight we are going to celebrate, the entire firehouse is coming over and we're gonna do a pot luck.”

Lee Henry couldn't get a word in edgewise, just sighed as his dad walked away, over the moon. Lee Henry finished getting ready under the concerned eyes of his mother, who had witnessed the tension in his shoulders and fine line his lips went into. ”Are you okay, honey?”

”Yeah, I'm great. I'll see you after work.” He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek, grabbed his duffle and headed for the station.

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Lee felt his stomach sink when he recognized the extra cars cluttering the street in from of his house. He rolled his shoulders back at the sound of heavy laughter coming from inside, knowing it was better just to face it head-on. He was met with the smell of various kinds of foods, and was met with the sound of rowdy firefighters. ”Hey Herm, the guest of honour had finally arrived. Lee Henry, come over here!”

”Hey guys.” Lee spent the next two hours, after working a 10-hour shift of a labour intensive job, bearing everyone’s comments about the ’next generation of Hermann firefighters’, and constantly being pulled away from the food table! Donna made paella and his mom made brownies! He just wanted to eat!

He was tired, hungry, and emotionally worn out when uncle Kelly pulled him aside. ”Hey, Lee, I didn't want to say this to your dad before you, but I made a couple calls, and was able to get you a spot at the academy for next fall if you want it. It'll be great-”

”I don't want to be a firefighter.”

”What?”

”I haven't since I was ten.”

”Lee, you don't have to-”

”I... It's just a personal choice.”

”But your dad... He thinks you want to be a firefighter.”

”He never lets me get a word in, just rambles until he has to leave for shift or Molly's.”

”What do you want to be then?”

”A doctor.”

”Ha, you’re a healer not a smokeater, huh?”

”Don’t laugh, you'll need someone to fix up your self-destructive ass when you fall through a floor in a burning house.” Lee just couldn't take it anymore, his emotions had boiled over, so he’d snapped. And now he needed to leave so that he didn't have to watch his uncle put all the dots together right in front of him.

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He was hungry and in need of comfort. Both from food and people. So when Kylie jogged out of his house after him, he was grateful. They caught the el downtown and went to Bartolli’s, a favourite restaurant of the Hermann’s. ”You were pretty loud, when you were talking to Kelly, just so you know.”

He sighed. ”I figured. I texted my mom before we got to the station, told her where we were going, mostly to avoid her worrying, but I fully expect someone to show up.”

”It does seem like something anyone at 51 would do, they are very involved in each other's lives.”

”Hey, you've been dealing with this for a few months, I've been dealing with it my whole life.” Their conversation flowed freely, mixed with milkshakes and deep-dish pizza.

”Do you know what you want to do when you get out of high school?”

”Definitely something that helps people, but I don't think I want to be a firefighter either. Kelly and Stella worry about me just going to school, I can't imagine how they'd feel if I was running into burning buildings! They'd probably only be okay with it if I was at 51 with them, and while I love them, I don't love them that much. I think something in law.”

”The only issue for us is how to pay for all that.”

“We could join the military, but that does kinda defeat the purpose of not being firefighters...”

“Lee Henry? Kylie?”

“Detective Upton and Halstead, hi.”

“What are you two doing here? I thought that 51 was celebrating a big save you made.”

“Yeah, but it just ended up being a firefighter thing, you know how it goes, especially because apparently, you guys do the same thing.”

“Yeah, we do...”

“Well,” Halstead gave a smirk and a nod, “you two enjoy your pizza.”

“Thanks,” Kylie piped up, having not spoken much with the detectives, “and you two have fun on your date.” Lee and Kylie turned to go back to their meal, but noticed the frozen body language and panicked expressions of the two adults. They looked at each other, concerned, before Lee decided to bite the bullet. “Uh, guys? Are you okay? Should we call the other Halstead?”

“We’re not dating.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“... Yesssssss.”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

“Have a nice night kids.” Upstead (what they were to be referred to as according to his mom) turned and bolted out of the restaurant, blushes and pizza in tow. “I really hope that they sort out their feelings, it’s getting a little exhausting and I don’t even spend that much time around them!”

“Amen to that.”

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When Lee returned home it was late, and only the porch and living room lights were on. He entered the quiet house alone, having dropped Kylie off at her apartment before returning home himself. He locked the door, turned off the porch light, and went straight to the living room knowing that it was better to face his dead head-on than beat around the bush. “Dad.”

“Lee Henry.”

“We need to talk.”

“Apparently we do.”

“I don’t want to be a firefighter.”

“Well, I heard that pretty loud and clear. It was too loud to miss. You know I just don’t understand-”

“October 10th, 2012.”

“Excuse me?”

“You and uncle Matt fell through the floor of a burning house. Your ADSU went off cause the fall knocked you unconscious. I’ve heard Gabby say that that was one of the scariest days of her life. And I remembered you comforted her when she visited you in the hospital. But you didn’t comfort me-”

“Lee-”

“No. Let me speak for once. I was ten years old. And I had to call the cab company, and get everyone in the car, and keep everyone together, and make sure everyone was eating, and check-in with the nurses about your condition, and get school stuff organized for Luke, Max, and Annabelle, and make all the meals for a week, and get Granna and Grandad on an earlier flight back to Chicago, and manage your medication because mom was too stressed to. Your voice was ringing through my head the entire time, ‘if you’re in a dangerous situation do everything you can to stay calm, you can make things worse if you panic’. All that I was told that miserable week was that I was destined to be a firefighter like you. But I was just listening to you, and I realized that being a firefighter was the absolute last thing I want to be when I get older. I had always known in the back of my mind that your job was dangerous, but it didn’t hit me until that day, not even when uncle Andy died. I just... I had my blinders ripped off, and I can’t ignore the terror I feel every time you leave for work. And I see mom and the others feel it too now that there have been more close calls, and I can’t do it. I want you to know that I don’t resent you for it in any way, but I can’t do that to my friends and family. I can’t let the people in my life feel like they’re saying goodbye to me every time I go to work. And I’ve tried to tell you, but I can never get a word in.”

“I tend to do that apparently. Look, I’ll admit there’s a part of me that’s always wanted you kids to follow in my footsteps, but that is a very small part of me. I am actually really happy that you don’t want to be a firefighter because I know that I don’t have the strength to worry about you or any of the others day after day. It takes a special breed of people to do that, and I don’t come from it. If you want to be a doc, that’s great. I know that you’re more than capable and I’m really proud of you for being able to recognize that. I’m also really sorry. That you had to be so brave so young. Need you to know that I love you, that I am so proud of you, and that I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you as much as I should have been.” Lee had never, ever, seen his dad cry. Christopher Hermann was always strong and firm. But here he was crying in front of his eldest son, exposing all of his vulnerable emotions to him. Cindy found them forty minutes later full-on bawling and clinging to each other as though their lives depended on it. Finally making peace with each other.

Chapter Text

Annabelle has a date. With a boy. Granted, she was twelve, and so was the boy who asked her to go with him to the winter dance which would be taking place during school hours with chaperones, but that did not make Christopher feel better. What made it worse was that she hadn’t even told him or Cindy, they had to find out when Kylie came over to see her instead of Lee. Hell, even Lee knew about this boy apparently, so Christopher and Cindy were sitting in their bedroom, completely bewildered, and a little sad that their daughter felt like she couldn’t talk to them about dating and love and sex. Annabelle had gotten the sex talk from school and her mom, she still shuddered when she thought of either, but now her parents were wondering if they needed to go over things again now that she was going ‘out’ with a boy. Were twelve-year-olds even having sex? They were only in middle school.

Annabelle and Kylie were in the room she shared with Max, going through her clothes. “Do I need to go shopping? I don’t think I have anything good enough. Oh god, what if I look like-”

“Okay, no. Deep breath, calm down. You are very pretty and have very pretty clothes. We’ll find something. I know that the first anything in a relationship is a little nerve-wracking, so just control your breathing and take everything one step at a time. I know that this feels like the biggest deal in the world right now, but you’re twelve, Belle. There is going to be so much time in life for relationships, good and bad, so you don’t need to worry about pushing as much stereotypical perfection as you can into the year before summer ends, okay? Life will and does extend beyond this dance, it’s okay to feel excited but your existence and reality as you know it doesn’t hinge on this dance. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good, now, dress, skirt, or pants?”

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After settling on a flowy dress adorned with purple flowers and low wedges, Kylie managed to talk Annabelle out of makeup. “Just letting you ladies know that dinner will be ready in half an hour.”

“Great, thanks, dad.”

“So, uh, how are things going up here?”

“... Things have been going well, Kylie was just helping me get some things ready for tomorrow.”

“Right, for the dance. That you’re going to with a date.”

“Yeah...”

“Mr. Hermann, would you mind if we got some privacy? Girl stuff, you know?”

“Uh, yeah, sure, sure, I guess. And you can call me Christopher, if you want, Kylie.”

“Okay, I will.” The awkwardness in the room was palpable, Christopher was changing his weight from foot to foot, clearly looking for a reason to stay. “Dad.”

“Alright, alright, I’m going.” He twisted around and exited the room, his heart fracturing a little. He knew that this would happen eventually, he just hadn’t been prepared for it, and he thought that Cindy would be in the loop. Instead it was Kylie, Severide and Kidd’s foster daughter, and Lee Henry’s crush. “Dad,”

“Yeah, Lee Henry? What’s up?”

“She’ll be fine. I know that you worry, but she knows how to handle herself and I’ve met Alex, nothing bad is gonna happen.”

“How come you knew about all of this before I did?”

“Easy, you don’t understand emojis.”

“Are you saying I’m old?!”

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Annabelle wasn’t out of her room by the time Cindy had to drive Christopher to the station. Something that deeply disappointed them both. “Okay, Belle, they’re gone.”

“Thanks, Max.”

“No problem. You look really pretty today.”

“Thanks.”

“Come on, mom made muffins and Lee said we need to get going.”

“Is he going early to meet Kylie in the library again?”

“Yeah. Could he be any more obvious?”

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Annabelle was jittery all day. This wasn’t just her first date, this was the first time she was going to publicly acknowledge that she might be a lesbian. She was only twelve, almost thirteen, so she wasn’t going to label herself definitively just yet. Her classmates were relatively progressive, so were her parents, but there were still bad seeds and hidden doubts. Her dress was soft and she was doing everything she could to resist bunching her hands up in the cotton skirt, or run her hands through her styled hair. She chewed her lip, tasting the grape chapstick on her lips. The words of her science teacher fell on deaf ears. When the bell rang she jumped out of her seat, she fumbled, embarrassed, for a moment before she realized that most of the class was acting the same way. The only thing left between her and the dance now, was lunch. Her stomach was so coiled and heavy from nerves that she didn’t think she’d be able to eat. She didn’t feel like just sitting with her friends either, they didn’t know who she was going with and Annabelle knew that they’d know something was wrong with her the second she made eye contact. So she decided to sit by herself at the small old desk in the back corner of the library. The usual smell of musty books, old wood, and 80’s carpet weren’t the only ones to greet her. She was also met with sweat and spices. “Hey Belle.”

“Hey Lee... What are you doing here?”

“I know that you’re nervous, and I know that when you get nervous you feel like you shouldn’t eat, but you only ate half a muffin this morning. So Kylie and I thought we’d bring you your favourite takeout.”

“Curry?”

“Of course.”

“I love you guys.”

“We know. You don’t have to be nervous Belle, I’ve met Alex. She’s sweet and very obviously has a crush on you. Just take a deep breath, okay? Everything is gonna go well. Just take a deep breath and eat your food, we don’t need you fainting while you’re on your first date with ‘the most beautiful girl to have ever existed’ now do we?”

“Hey! I told you that in confidence!”

“Lee stop teasing your sister.”

“But-”

“Ha! You heard Kylie, your girlfriend says you can’t tease me about mine.” Annabelle stuck her tongue out and began to eat, secretly delighted in how red Lee’s face turned.

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Annabelle was still wracked with nerves but she felt better after eating with Lee and Kylie. Partly because her brother was right and she did need to just eat something, and partly because Kylie helped fix her hair and dress before they returned to their high school a block away. Annabelle walked into the darkened gymnasium. The decorations were cliche, a little tacky, and visibly worn, probably used year after year. She waited in the far right corner, where she and Alex had agreed to meet. As cheesy as it sounded, she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Alex. Alex looked beautiful. Annabelle had thought about this moment, she thought she’d fumble, be awkward and stutter. Instead, she felt confident for the first time that week. When Alex got close enough Annabelle smiled and wrapped her arms around a shy Alex and kissed her on the cheek. “You look amazing.”

“You too, Belle, wanna dance?” Annabelle nodded enthusiastically as High Hopes started to blare through the old glitchy speakers. But neither Annabelle nor Alex cared, they jumped and danced and twirled, the skirts from their dresses swishing around them, never unclasping their hands. Smiling and panting they broke off to the side after dancing nonstop for forty minutes. They walked over to the water fountain jovially with their pinkies intertwined. The cool water helped control their hot faces as they talked about their mutual love of the Percy Jackson series when- boom. There was a small explosion below them and everyone was knocked off their feet. Alex and Annabelle’s eyes met, horror and fear building inside of them was interrupted by the fire alarms going off. Annabelle jumped up, face heard and eyes calculated. “Go out the fire doors and call the fire department when you get outside.”

“Belle, you can’t stay-”

“Go Alex, and don’t look back or stop for anything!” Annabelle shoved the other girl towards the door before moving back into the gym to direct an evacuation. She gave orders with a commanding voice and firm stance. She began directing her panicked peers, to prevent trampling, outside through the gym’s fire two doors and through the doors outside of the gym on each end of the hall all of which lead outside. Though the doors at the end of the hall each lead into a small alcove/entryway lined with windows that had the doors that actually lead outside. Annabelle darted in and out of the bathrooms quickly, to make sure there weren’t any stragglers. She knew she was smart to do that when she found three boys from her math class huddled together on the floor. “Get up! We need to evacuate the building!” A couple of the boys scrambled to get up but one had to be dragged to his feet by Annabelle and hauled out the door by her as she led the boys to one of the gym’s fire doors because the door to the exit they’d been closest to was really hot which meant the fire was near. Just as she was about to test the temperature of the door with the back of her hand, uncle Matt burst in, with Gallo and auntie Stella behind him. “Stella take Annabelle and the boys straight to 61. I’ll radio Hermann and let him know she’s safe.” He turned to her and levelled her with his ‘Disappointed Captain America’ face, “you are in so much trouble.”

“The- uh- the doors to exit the building near the track, they have a door to the basement in the same alcove as the second doors that actually lead outside. We were gonna leave that way cause it’s closer but the doors were hot, we didn’t stick around to see if there was smoke.” Her voice was quiet and she hung her head in shame for a moment before following Stella and the boys to ambulance 61. Auntie Sylvie met her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, ask how she was feeling no doubt, but was interrupted by her father wrapping her in a bear hug. “Damnit Annabelle Sarah Hermann! What were you thinking?! Why on earth would you stay in the building?! You should have evacuated with the others-” Hermann cut himself off, tensing and slowly turning to level each of the boys she’d rescued with a glare. “Is one of them Alex? Did you stay in a building you knew was dangerous because of a boy?!”

“What? No, dad, okay first of all, I stayed only long enough to make sure no one was hiding in the bathrooms. You’ve told us a thousand times that people think it’s a good idea to hide in there when it’s really not. Second... Alex is a girl. She, uh, I actually can’t see her... I made her leave first, but I don’t see her- what if-”

“Hey, hey, hey, we’ll- uh, we’ll find her.” Hermann helped her find Alex, she was sitting with a bunch of students on the track field and tackled Annabelle when she came into sight. Their hugging on the ground was interrupted by the principal announcing that everyone was being taken to the hospital because the small explosion came from a meth lab in the basement of the school, and everyone needed treatment from exposure to the chemicals, both from the explosion and from vapours that were created during the process and had been around long-term and explained the increase in asthma attacks at the school. While the staff was arranging for the bus to come transport the students and for the parents to meet everyone at Gaffney, Hermann signed Annabelle out and had her ride with Engine 51 to the hospital. “So... You’re gay?”

“I don’t know, I mean I am really young, but I definitely feel some romantic attraction towards girls... Is that okay?”

“Of course! I admittedly don’t know much about discovering sexualities, but I do know that it’s completely normal. I just, I’d like for you to know that your mom and I love you no matter what and that this won’t change anything.”

“Thanks dad. I love you guys too.”

“... So... Alex seemed nice, when are you gonna invite her over for dinner to meet the family?”

“Ugh dad!”

Chapter Text

When Christopher got home from work, three out of five kids ran to hug him. They clamoured over one another for his attention. That was the first red flag, because if he was being honest with himself, they’d all grown out of their ‘I missed you so much dad’ phases. They got a little worried when things were bad, but they were all convinced that they were grown up enough that they didn’t need him anymore. Then they tried to stop him from going upstairs. Red flag number two. When he turned to look at his children Annabelle suddenly appeared from upstairs and gave her cutest puppy-dog eyes. Red flag number three. “Alright, where’s Lee Henry and what are all of you hiding?” Their meshed voices and excuses were interrupted by a ball of brown fur and the oldest Hermann offspring chasing after it.

“What the hell?!”

Lee Henry appeared in front of his dad with a cat in his arms. “Dad-”

“No.”

“But-”

“Absolutely not. I don’t want any pets in this house.” He met all of his children’s eyes with a stern gaze but could see fire burning behind each pair- this wasn’t something he could just order his way out of. This was going to be a war.

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Hermann had to admit, his kids were clever. Too clever. Annoyingly clever. Not only had they come up with a well-drafted plan to take care of the cat, but they had already been doing so. For two months, apparently. In the back of his mind he was slightly worried about how good his kids were at hiding things from him and wondered if there was anything else he should know about, but he had to focus on making sure Cindy wasn’t blinded by cuteness otherwise they would definitely end up with a cat.

He failed.

They ended up with a cat.

He snooped and found out Kylie kept a stash of clothes in Lee Henry’s dresser.

He really needed a drink.

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“Good morning!”

“Your smile’s blinding me Brett, cool it will ya?”

“Hey, Hermann.” He nodded apologetically in Brett’s direction after Casey’s sharp voice cut through the air. He should have known better, honestly. He shouldn’t have snapped at Brett at all, let alone when Casey was around. Severide chuckled at Casey’s defensive behaviour before his eyes settled back onto the grumpy man who’s been mumbling under his breath and rubbing his face since shift started. “So, what’s up your ass, Hermann?”

“The kids brought home a cat.”

“Ginger, right?” Hermann stared blankly at Kidd, unsurprised and annoyed. “Of course you would know about this, you know, a heads up woulda been nice.” Stella held her hands up in her defense, “don’t look at me, they suckered me into it. You know how cute that cat is, right?”

“I don’t care if it’s cute, it costs me more money and it shits in a box! I mean, how weird is that?”

“Okay, first of all, I know for a fact that your horde of children have been paying for it and will continue to pay for it, second, would you prefer it crap on the floor? And third, we all do our business in what are essentially porcelain chairs. It’s not that weird, Hermann, and your kids are responsible. You’ll come around.”

“No, I will not.”

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Hermann got home from shift exhausted. He’d had time to shower after shift before heading home thankfully, but it didn’t change that they’d spent hours at a house fire with an unfortunate death toll. Both parents and the family dog. What he really needed was a hug and fatty-carb-loaded food. Instead, he found Milo curled up on his favourite chair. He let out an aggravated sigh and lumbered into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Milo took that as a sign that he was going to be fed, apparently. He brushed against Hermann’s leg mewling, looking at him with big round, dismally adorable, eyes. “What? I’m not going to feed you, y’know.”

“Mew.”

“You’re not my cat.”

“Meeeew.”

“No. Now go away.” But Milo didn’t go away, and Hermann did feed him. But it was only to get him to shut up. Definitely not because Milo looked up and him with big, adorable eyes... Nope. Not. At. All.

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It became something of a routine, come home, feed Milo, feed himself, go take a nap. Cindy was always teasing him about it, and Lee Henry had loudly proclaimed “I knew you’d come around!”

“I didn’t come around, I just didn’t want him meowing at me when I’m trying to sleep after spending the past twenty-four hours, y’know fighting fires.” Everyone had rolled their eyes at him, he’d always thrown that phrase around as a joke of sorts for longer than all of his kids had been alive. But it didn’t stop at being fed. Milo started following him around the house, jumping on his lap the second he sat down anywhere, curling up on his feet at the dinner table, and had even started sleeping in his bed, right between him and Cindy. And at first, Hermann was grump and mumbling about it, but he eventually sighed and just accepted it... In front of his family. When they weren’t around, though, it was a completely different story. Hermann had discovered that Milo’s favourite place to be pet was the front of his neck, he preferred food with chicken as opposed to fish, and that he absolutely loved to be brushed. When no one was around Hermann would coo at Milo in a high pitched voice and brush him with the metal pronged cat brush he favoured... Yeah, no one could ever know that he loved Milo. Ever.

But he was found out. By everyone. Kenny had forgotten his english book so he’d come back just a couple minutes after he and his siblings had left the house for school and found his dad on his hands and knees petting Milo, brushing his exposed stomach, and baby talking at him. So naturally, he pulled his phone out and started recording. “Who’s the furriest kitty? You are, you are- Kenny. Hi. You are here, not on your way to school... And you have your phone out.”

“Yup. Aaand I already sent it.”

“... To who?”

“Oh, just Lee Henry, Luke, Max, Annabelle, mom...”

“Okay, at least it’s not-”

“And auntie Sylvie.”

“Crud.”

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He almost called out sick, but thought better of it. It wouldn’t be that bad, he was a lieutenant, after all.

“Not your cat my ass, Hermann!”

He walked into the common room to see Cruz, Kidd, Casey, Severide, and Boden all crowded around Cruz’s laptop bemusedly watching the footage.

“Crud.”

Chapter Text

To the surprise of actually no one but Kylie, Lee Henry asked her out on a date after months of the pair denying the chemistry between the two of them. The news spread through the firehouse faster than any other piece of gossip had in years. Most thought it was cute, Stella and Hermann thought it was about time, Kelly was the only skeptic. The reason why was fairly obvious; the ex-player was afraid of his daughter being played. It didn't matter that Kelly had watched Lee Henry grow up, he was still a hormonal teenage boy, and Kelly knew all too well what teenage boys were capable of.

The night of the date was upon them much faster than Kelly would have liked. Stella, Sylvie, and Violet were helping an eager Kylie get ready while Kelly was prepping a little 'surprise' for Lee Henry at the kitchen table. Now, Kelly didn't have any guns to clean in front of him and no one in Intelligence would let him borrow any unfortunately, so he was instead cleaning Benny's old axe collection. After his father had passed and Kelly had been put in charge of the estate there hadn't been much he'd wanted to keep. Old files were given to OFI, furniture from everywhere but the cabin was donated, and his various old collections were sold, donated, or thrown out as necessary. The only collection that had actually caught Kelly's interest was of axes. From various fire departments, cities, and states. Benny's interest in axes would've been concerning had he not been a firefighter. 

He was sharpening the third out of seventeen when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" 

"Hi Kelly, do you know if Kylie's ready?"

"Kelly is that Lee Henry? Tell him that she'll be ready in five minutes!"

"I won't have to, he just heard you bellow it across the loft!" He chuckled for a minute, able to see Stella's eye roll and smirk vividly, despite the brick wall between them. Lee Henry sitting across from him brought his focus back to the task at hand; scaring the crap out of this little bastard. Before Kelly could pull an ominous expression to his face or start to make vague threats while continuing to sharpen his axes, Lee Henry grabbed the second sharpening stone, an axe, and started to... Make small talk while sharpening an axe. This little punk was completely ignoring his attempts to threaten him! "... The donut shop Kylie works at just got some new flavours and she brought some over last week, I'm pretty sure that Kenny's addicted to blue cotton candy donuts now which is hilarious because his tongue's always blue-"

"Are you seriously talking about donuts right now?"

"Well, I hardly thought that you'd want to listen to me talk about how excited I am to be going out on a date with your daughter, but sure, I could talk about that instead."

"Are you out of your?!-"

"Lee!"

"Hey, Kylie, wow- you uh- you look beautiful." She did, she really did. The detailed orange dress suited her well, the white cardigan and brown flats she wore with it complimented it even more, and he did feel proud, knowing that she chose those clothes herself because he and Stella had earned her trust. He still wasn't happy she was dating, though. 

"Thank- why are you and Kelly holding axes?"

"Oh, I don't know actually. He was sharpening them when I got here, and I figured I'd help until you were ready. We can get going now, though."

"Have her back by ten." Kelly's gruff voice stole the attention of everyone in the room, the older women rolled their eyes as Stella wrapped an arm around her sulking fiancé, "what Kelly means is, Kylie's curfew is 11:30 and that while we hope you have fun we want you to be responsible, and that he's sorry he tried to intimidate you with tools that can also be used as weapons, even though that backfired."

"That's what he was trying to do? I thought he was just making sure the axes were sharp, I help my dad with that all the time." Kelly's scowl only deepened as his fiancée, friends, daughter, and her date, laughed at him. He turned to glare and the teenage boy who was holding his daughter's hand, trying to burn a hole through him with his mind, as they laughed themselves out the door.

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"Kelly, are you still staring at the door? It's only been half an hour!"

"Stella, do you have any idea what they could be doing in half an hour? Never mind the extra time you gave them by extending her curfew?"

"Oh, if the teenage Kelly Severide could watch you now, oh how the tables have turned."