Work Text:
It was a hot summer day in the city of Chicago, the first of Kelly Severide’s current 48 hours off, and he winced as he stumbled out of the loft bedroom and into the bright living room of the apartment he shared with his wife, Truck captain Stella Kidd, and daughter, a precocious 13 year old who reminded him way too much of himself some days. He was thankfully greeted with a cup of strongly brewed coffee, taking a sip before burying his nose in his wife’s curls, the dark brown just recently becoming threaded through with silver.
He liked to joke that he was married to his very own silver vixen, enjoying the fact that he could make her blush even after all these years together.
A quick kiss - and the corresponding noises of disgust coming from the breakfast bar - later, Kelly was leaning against the granite counter, watching the two most important women in his life with their heads bent over a fashion magazine that had slowly taken over the coffee table. He looked around the apartment, flashing back to the minimalist apartment he had maintained as a single man. Even when Stella had moved in, not much had changed in the cavernous space.
It was only when Lila had been born, a surprise 4 years into their marriage, that it had begun to change. Honestly, even his exposure to the Hermann household hadn’t made him realize just how much paraphernalia and chaos a single child could bring to a man’s life.
His coffee almost done, he was debating what he could scrounge up for an early afternoon breakfast when Lila slid from the counter barstool. Any thoughts of food screeched to a halt as the conversation changed to Lila wheedling for twenty bucks.
His daughter, his baby girl, was dressed.. was… Her tall, thin frame that had begun to develop into the voluptuousness of her heritage was clad in a white tank top and a denim miniskirt that ended way too many inches above her knee.
“What are you wearing??” The gruff demand was met with a raised eyebrow from his wife and a slack, open jaw from his daughter.
“Uh, clothes?” Lila looked over at her mom, bronzed skin gleaming in the sun. She hadn’t really dressed up, knowing she was just going to sweat through anything she wore, but she’d thought she looked decent.
“Those aren’t clothes,” he scoffed, stepping away from the counter and trying to herd her towards her bedroom.
“Dad!” Lila twisted, beseeching eyes glancing towards her mom. The older woman had always been her ally against the over-protectiveness of the man in their family. “Mom!”
“That is not appropriate!” Kelly insisted, wondering if picking his daughter up and tossing her over his shoulder was too much. It would be a lot quicker to get her where she needed to be. His ruminations were stopped by a graceful hand closing in on his wrist, familiar calluses on his wife’s otherwise soft skin.
Stella laughed, extricating their daughter from Kelly’s grip and pressing forty bucks into her hand. “Have fun!” she called as she tightened her grip on her husband, stopping Kelly from following their daughter out the door.
“I’ll be back by 6!” Lila promised, making good on her freedom.
“She -” Kelly turned to stare at his wife, bright eyes glaring as she laughed.
“Is dressed perfectly fine for a 13 year old going out with her friends,” Stella finished with a chuckle. “She’s going out with some of the girls from school. Mall walking, too much food at the food court, and maybe a movie. You know, typical teenage girl stuff.” Stella waved a negligent hand. She knew that Kelly had used Jay Halstead to vet Lila’s friends and their families as soon as they’d met them. She also knew that, as the daughter of first responders, Lila was way too level-headed to get into trouble by being stupid.
“She is not! Do you know what 13 year old boys will be doing??”
Stella raised an eyebrow.
“I was a 13 year old boy,” he stressed, glancing at the front door again. He desperately wanted to go get his daughter and drag her back upstairs. It’d be a good day if they all just stayed in their PJs and watched Disney movies like they used to, right??
“I know what they’re thinking! Not just the 13 year olds either. The 16 year olds… even the 20 year olds! I was all of them and let me tell you, you do not want thoughts like that being based on Lila!”
“She’ll be fine,” Stella soothed him. “She can take care of herself… and she knows she can call for help if she needs it.”
“That’s not the point! I know what guys’ll be thinking when they look at her dressed like that!”
Stella shook her head and pulled Kelly’s unresisting body further into the apartment. He followed almost meekly, still glaring at the door their daughter had disappeared through. “She’ll be fine,” she said again, pushing him to sit on the counter stool she had vacated a few minutes ago. In no time at all, a plate that held eggs, toast and fresh fruit was placed in front of him.
Kelly ate distractedly, eyes on the open magazine in front of him. It was open to the Top 10 Things Celebrities Keep in Their Purses and he wondered when his innocent little girl started caring about makeup and all that grown-up stuff.
The plate was empty when Stella sidled up to her husband, ducking under one of his arms to press against his side. “You know,” she murmured, trailing one finger up his bare arm, “it’s been a while since we’ve had the place to ourselves.”
His arm tightened around her slim, strong body automatically, pulling her even closer. “It has,” he muttered, still staring at the magazine.
“Kelly.” The soft but sternly spoken name made him finally look in his wife’s direction. “Lila’s going to be fine. She’ll call if she needs us.” She waited a beat until he finally nodded reluctantly, knowing that he wasn’t going to win this small argument. Not until he has all his facts lined up, at least, which was becoming more problematic the longer his wife was in his arms.
It had been a long and eventful 24 hour shift at the firehouse, one that hadn’t led to much downtime at all.
“In the meantime… we have this big, lonely apartment all to ourselves…” She smirked as she stepped away from him and he frowned. She could feel the weight of his gaze as she collected his breakfast plate and stashed it in the sink before making her way back to their bedroom. “I really could use a couple more hours in bed…”
Her bright laughter echoed against the exposed brick walls as Kelly caught up with her and snatched her up, tossing her on their bed before following.