The Little Pink Firehouse
Matt Casey closed the door to his quarters and headed toward the common room the grab a cup of coffee. On his way he passed by fellow Lieutenant Kelly Severide's quarters...
Severide sat in a chair at the desk...his paperwork spread all across the top...staring into space.
"Hey..." Casey said, wrapping his knuckles on the door. "Earth to Severide...come in..."
"Huh? What?"
"I said...'Come in, Severide'...Casey answered. "What's with you? You've been off in your own world all day."
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Kelly sighed and tossed his pen across the desk.
"I screwed up." he said. "I screwed up...big time."
Suddenly concerned, Casey stepped into the tiny room and leaned against the wall.
"What'd you do?" he asked. "Is it somethin' with Alyssa?"
That would make sense...if Severide was having marital problems...he'd certainly be distraught.
But Kelly shook his head.
"It's not Lyssa...it's Lexi."
"How do you screw up with a two year old?" Casey asked. "Especially Lexi...you give her cookies...ice cream...and all's right in the world."
Severide picked up the pen he'd tossed across the desk and threw it at Casey.
Casey dodged the flying missile...
"No...seriously." he said. "How do you screw up with Lexi?"
Severide looked up at Casey...and Matt saw that his friend was really serious.
"You know her birthday's comin' up soon..." he began.
"Yeah..." Casey said hesitantly...not liking where this was going already.
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Then Kelly suddenly backtracked.
"So anyway...yesterday...Andy and Jesse were off with Vargas...and Lyssa took Maggie to get her hair cut." he said. "And Lexi and me were playing in the back room."
"Okay..."
So far nothing out of the ordinary.
"And you know how she takes that pink fire truck everywhere now?" Kelly went on.
"Yeah..." Casey said. "I still can't believe you actually found that thing."
"Well...just goes to show...you can find anything on EBay." Severide told him. "So anyway...we were playin' with the firehouse you made for the boys...and Lexi took all the trucks out and parked her pink one in there. Then she gets this funny look on her face and the next thing I know she's runnin' over to get the markers...and she wants to color the firehouse pink."
"To match the truck..." Casey deadpanned. "Makes perfect sense."
Kelly shot his buddy a look.
"Well, I wasn't about to let her..." he said. "And she started crying."
"Oh course she did."
And Matt knew what was coming next.
Kelly couldn't stand to see his girls cry...any of them. And two out of three had already figured out how to capitalize on that...and Maggie and Lexi both played him like a violin.
"She was just...bawling...and it was terrible...and so I..."
"And so you what?" Casey asked.
Severide looked away.
"That's when I screwed up." he said.
Matt heaved a big sigh.
"Let's hear it..."
"I told her Daddy would get her a pink firehouse." Kelly told him.
"Then you better get busy lookin' on EBay." Casey said.
"You still have the plans for the one you made for Andy and Jesse? Right?"
"Yeah..."
Severide pushed his chair back, stood up, and got to the real question.
"So can you do it?" he asked. "Can you make her a pink firehouse?"
"When?"
"For her birthday...make her a firehouse...and the trucks...and the firefighters..."
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Casey looked at Severide like he'd lost his mind. He surely had...
"It took me over two years to make that!" he sputtered incredulously. "And Lexi's birthday's in less than a month!"
"I can help you!" Kelly said. "We can get the other guys to pitch in..."
He wiped his hand down his face.
"C'mon...Matt...I'm kinda desperate here." he said. "It's an emergency."
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Before Matt could answer...
"Engine 51...Truck 81...Ambulance 61...Squad 3...structure fire ..."
The two lieutenants took off for the apparatus room.
"No..." Casey said, referring to the call. "That's an emergency."
In response, Kelly smacked Casey upside the head as he passed him by.
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Turned out to be a medium deal...and when the team got back to 51 Severide renewed his campaign to get Lexi her pink firehouse and get himself out of the dog house.
"I'm telling you...it's impossible!" Matt said. "There's no way!"
"And I said I'd help you!" Kelly told him. "It doesn't have to be as detailed as the boys...just as long as it's the right color...she won't know the difference!"
Casey heaved a massive sigh.
If this was gonna happen...it was gonna take a hell of a lot more than just him.
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He pulled his grey t-shirt over his head...then banged on the door of his locker with the palm of his hand.
"Hey!" Matt called out. "Hey! Guys!...and...ladies..."
The chatter in the locker room died down...and everyone turned to see what the Lieutenant had to say.
"Severide's got a little project...and he's gonna need a lot of help." Casey began.
He cast a glance over at Kelly...who was a little uncomfortable with being put on the spot.
But if it got the job done...oh, well.
"So...tomorrow afternoon...my place...and the beer and pizza's on Severide!"
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So the team was assembled in Casey's garage workshop...and that's when Casey broke the news.
"So Lexi's got a birthday coming up in about three weeks...and apparently...she wants a pink firehouse.
"A what?" Hermann asked, certain he had misheard. "A pink firehouse?"
"You gotta be kidding..." Cruz said. "Those two word don't even belong in the same sentence!"
There was some grumbling all around...
"Guys!" Severide broke in. "Guys...c'mon...this is my baby here...and..."
"Her Daddy promised her a pink firehouse." Casey finished. "And if we can't deliver..."
"The Lieutenant's gonna be movin' in to our firehouse..." Clarke said. "Permanently."
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Casey got out the plans...and assigned everyone their tasks.
"Okay...Me, Severide, Clarke, and Chief'll cut. Hermann, Mills, Capp...and Vargas. You guys sand. Jose...there's masks over on the self. Mouch...Otis...you two prime the pieces. And Shay and Dawson...you two can work out the colors and make a run to Home Depot. Put it on the account for "Matt Casey Construction".
"I'll pay you back...for everything..." Kelly said.
"Oh, you bet you will..." Casey told him with a grin..."And I'll be eatin' at your house for the next month!"
Fair enough.
The guys were never gonna let him live this one down...Severide thought to himself.
But as long as his little Lexi was happy...that's all that mattered.
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It took almost two weeks...the whole team working assembly line style. Severide hadn't realized how many little pieces there were...the two story, three room firehouse...five little trucks...beds for the bunk room...tables for the common room...and a replica of his ugly green recliner...which in this firehouse was gonna be a pale, butter yellow.
Casey got on the horn with the doll maker he had found...and thank God the guy was still in business. So now they had a twelve-girl crew...all decked out in pink bunker gear.
"You're lucky that kid 'a yours is so damn cute, Lieutenant..." Hermann had told him. "'Cause this..."
He held up his paintbrush dipped in pink paint.
"This..." he said. "Is a sacrilege."
And Severide privately agreed with him.
He was never gonna live this down.
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But they had got it together...and Casey arrived early on the day of the Birthday/Adoption party in order to hide everything in the garage.
The party was in full swing...and Kelly hoped that some disgruntled neighbors didn't decide to call the cops. They had over a hundred people mingling between the Severide's yard and Lyssa's brother Jimmy's place right next door.
Kyle Riordan...their old neighbor...slapped Kelly on the back and asked about shuttle service back to his car...five blocks away.
As he looked around the yard(s)...Kelly still couldn't get over how many people they had. All the family and friends...the whole family from the house...Hermann's wife and kids...Mills' mom and sister.
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Alyssa came up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist.
Kelly shifted around and brought her to his side, slinging one arm around her tiny shoulders.
"How you holdin' up, Babe?" he asked as he leaned down to give her a kiss.
"I was about to ask you the same question." she said with a smile...that special smile that was only for him. "This is insane...I didn't even know we knew this many people!"
"Hey...my "family" is only eleven people." he teased. "At least fifty of these folks are yours..."
"Yeah..." she teased right back. "You hate having five "brothers"...especially during playoff season!"
Kelly just chuckled.
In the dozen years he and Lyssa had been married he'd really gotten sucked into the whole big crazy Italian family...and he got along great with all five of Alyssa's older brothers. It was a little overwhelming sometimes, having grown up an only child...but now he wouldn't have it any other way.
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"We better get dessert on the table..." Alyssa said. "I didn't spend three solid days baking for nothing..."
"Yeah...and it's almost time for the big unveiling." Kelly said.
He couldn't wait to see their baby's face.
Casey, Mills, Clarke, Otis, Cruz and Hermann slipped into the garage and carried out the special present...
Kelly squatted down beside Lexi and whispered in her little ear.
"Look what Uncle Matt's bringin' for you, Baby..."
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She looked up as Casey and Mills set it down in front of her. Her eyes went wide as the rest of her uncle's set the little trucks down around her very own...
Lexi was jumping up and down...clapping her little hands...squealing with pure delight.
"Pink fi-haus!" she cried. "I gots a pink fi-haus!"
Kelly couldn't help but smile a huge, huge smile! This was exactly the reaction he was hoping for!
Then Lexi turned to her big brother Andy.
"Mine!" she said. "Mine fi-haus!"
Andy backed away silently with his hands in the air.
This was one firefighter thing he wanted absolutely no part of.