Thank you to those who read and review! Special thanks to blackberry959 and jh126 for ALWAYS leaving feedback. jh126, your nickname for daddy Royce is great - I'm using it. Wish we could have a viewing party next season, a little wine, yummy snacks, yummy Severide, haha.

Yes, every chapter is outlined, so it's coming fast. Hope you like!


To say Kelly wasn't expecting that answer would be a huge understatement. He'd gotten just about whatever he wanted from any woman he'd seen, dated, and more.

When he'd proposed that one other time, to the first Renee, her reaction was epic. She'd almost hyperventilated. Kelly had been so sure they were forever. The way she acted, totally in love. For him it wasn't an act. Man, taken a long time to get over that one.

His face was utter disappointment, shock... He had nothing to say.

"Kelly, I wish you would have given me some warning. Jesus, what were you thinking? I just came back three days ago!" Renee was happy Kelly had taken the leap to fatherhood, but this, this was a leap off a cliff.

"Renee, I just wanna do this right, for once in my life. We should be married when the baby gets here."

"God, Kelly. If you'd come to Madrid, said you made a mistake, wanted to be with me after all... You don't know how many times I hoped for that. A phone call. Hell, I would've settled for a text telling me you couldn't live without me." Renee was crying now.

"Renee, I'm sorry. Let me make it right, the way it's supposed to be." Kelly could feel he was fighting a losing battle.

"When you marry someone, it's because of love AND because you can't imagine life without that person. You could live without me, Kelly. That's why you let me go. I can't marry you now because you think it's the right thing to do." Renee was sobbing now and Kelly had to do something to calm her down.

He didn't know what to say. She was right.

"Renee, I am sorry," he repeated. "I wish I could go back..."

"We can't Kelly, so let's go forward, okay." Renee was gaining her composure.

She knew her parents couldn't stay in there forever. She was surprised her dad hadn't come storming out kicking ass and taking names.

Kelly hugged her so tight wishing they could just stay like that forever. The thought of going back in and facing the Royce's sounded like hell.

What was he supposed to say? Just kidding? Not thinking everything through, story of his life. Take a breath, you can do this. No choice.

"Makin' a run for it, out of the question?" he asked.

Renee laughed trying to will herself to face her parents.

Kelly grabbed her hand and led her back in.

"I got this," he said knowing Renee didn't need this. He would take care of it, fix it. Take care of her, his baby...forever.

He walked in, smile on his face, pulling out Renee's chair for her.

"Renee, let's go," said Mr. Royce before Kelly was even seated.

"I'm ordering dessert. Renee, I know you want some," said Mrs. Royce with a quick pat on Kelly's hand. "Kelly, how about you?"

"I'm game," Kelly replied silently thanking Renee's mom.

"What're we splitting?" asked Renee also thanking God for giving her such a wonderful mom.

"Are we going to pretend that what just happened didn't occur?" demanded Mr. Royce.

"Yes, dear," said Mrs. Royce with a smile. "And don't be an ass."

With that Mr. Royce, shut his mouth for the rest of the night silently fuming. Dessert was bearable in a large part due to Renee's mom. Thankfully, dinner came to an end.

Kelly said his goodbyes and headed back to his place. He hoped Shay wouldn't be home. He knew it was selfish, but he honestly didn't have it in him tonight. He knew they had to talk again, just not tonight.

As he walked in, he could hear her tunes blasting from her room. He exhaled deeply and headed up the stairs.

He knocked loudly on her door. No answer. He turned the knob and found Shay on her bed, iPad in her hands. She turned off her music.

"What?" she asked.

Kelly walked to her bed and sat next to her. Shay could read that look on Kelly's face. She pushed herself up a little straighter and reached for Kelly.

"What happened? Is the baby okay?" Shay's love for her best friend kicked in. Anger gone, at least for one night. She knew he needed her.

"Baby's good. It's me." Kelly buried his head in Shay's lap. The full three days came pouring out. He hadn't rested, or come down from the prison standoff, now hit with a new baby, tonight total rejection. Kelly was wound so tight he felt like he was coming undone. He broke... with Shay stroking his back gently telling him everything would be alright.

Kelly was so exhausted and emotionally spent, he passed out right there on Shay's bed. She stretched him out on one side, covered him up, kissed his forehead, then headed to his room.

The next morning, she woke him up early. He came down to the kitchen and Shay handed him a cup of coffee.

"You okay?" she asked.

He told her about how great the two days had been. All leading up to the dinner with Renee's parents. How he decided to ask her to marry him, how she said no.

"What the hell, Kelly," Shay repeated Renee's words. "You thought proposing after a couple of days was a good idea? And THIS is why you need to talk to me before you make any big moves in your life."

She had a point, thought Kelly.

"I wanted to do the right thing."

"Kelly, you are. You're taking care of your baby. You're going to be there." Shay couldn't believe he'd asked for Mr. Royce's blessing. What universe was he living in?

The pair had to save the rest of the conversation for the car. They were both going in today.

Kelly felt better about one thing, They would be alright. Friendship would survive, a little worse for wear, but still kicking.

Shay ended up telling him about Casey, what Dawson found at his place.

"I don't mean to dump more shit on your overflowing plate, but I thought you should know." said Shay not sure if she did the right thing.

"No, I'm glad you told me. I've gotta fit in some time with Matt. I had no idea."

"None of us did. You have so much going on, Kelly." Shay knew he wouldn't have much time for anything but Renee and the baby. That was the way it had to be.

At the station, Kelly sought out Casey. He found him on the bag, going at it with a vengeance.

"Hey, got a minute?" Kelly asked his friend.

"Yeah, what's up?" Casey quit hitting and grabbed a towel. He motioned to a couple of chairs.

"I need your help." Kelly knew that the two times in his life when he'd experienced loss, real loss, it helped when he was doing something for other people. When he could forget about his own pain long enough to help someone else.

Kelly opened up and told Casey about Renee coming back, the baby, even the marriage proposal. He wasn't sure if he should tell it all. It would surely remind Casey of what he lost with Hallie, but he knew the honest truth was the only way to get his friend to bite.

Casey's eyes were enormous by the end.

"Kelly, congratulations!" Casey got up and gave Kelly a handshake which was quickly pulled into a hug. "You're going to be a dad!"

"Yes, but now to the help part. I got two left thumbs and all that baby furniture comin' in tomorrow looks like a damn engineering project." Kelly could put that crib together in the dark. He'd just put Wesley's together less than five months ago.

"Yeah, I'll do it. I look forward to it! When do you want me over?"

"Wednesday, if you can swing it," said Kelly with a certain desperation in his voice.

"I'll be there. Oh, and what made you think a marriage proposal was a good idea? You know you gotta talk to Shay before you do anything like that."

"She said the same thing. She also said a few other things."

The two laughed as they made their way to the common room. Shay gave Kelly a "thank you" look. Impossible to stay mad at him, she thought. Impossible.

Casey headed to the showers and Dawson headed straight for Kelly.

"Severide, you are a damn miracle worker. I don't know how you did that, but thank you." She hugged Kelly awkwardly as Shay snorted from a nearby table.

"Get a room!" yelled Mouch from behind his paper.

"Jealous!" yelled Kelly back.

"I asked Matt to help with all the baby furniture," explained Kelly.

"What are you talking about? What baby furniture?" Dawson was at a loss.

Kelly couldn't believe Shay hadn't told her work wife about his baby. He'd assumed she'd bitched about what a dumb ass he was, how he had let her down... Leslie Shay, you do surprise me, he thought.

Kelly texted Renee throughout the day. He laid out his Casey plans and she thought it was a great idea.

Kelly told her about Hallie during their first shopping day. She had been so sad and concerned, Kelly knew she would be such a good mother. Anyone who could feel that deeply had the stuff that makes a great mom.

Renee was also thinking about what an awesome dad Kelly was going to be. He could love, not just women, but his friends too. She'd seen it with Vargas, with Shay, now with Casey. Yeah, he had the right stuff.

The day turned out to be a slow one. Ambulance needed twice and that was it. Kelly slept as much as he could, spending his waking moments with Shay or Casey. It was going to be a long three days.

Finally, his off days had arrived. He drove Shay back to their place, showered quickly, then headed over to Renee's. They were going to try dinner with her parents again, this time at her apartment.

Kelly got there early to help cook and to find out what was going on with Renee's mom and dad these past three days.

Renee told him how her mom was completely won over, but her dad was being more stubborn. Kelly was sure Daddy Roycebucks was never going to come around, but he kept that to himself.

"Don't worry. You need to stay stress free. Your dad loves you." Kelly reassured.

Renee just laughed doubtfully at the "stress free" comment.

Dinner was much better the second time around. Kelly and Mr. Royce found a bit of common ground talking about boats. Turns out Renee's dad was a yacht enthusiast and couldn't help but respond to Kelly when the conversation turned to their shared love.

Kelly knew what he was talking about and was genuinely impressed with the pictures of the Royce vessel. No one else knew one thing about his "other" baby, so Mr. Royce was enjoying Kelly's knowledge and enthusiasm.

"Maybe you can join Renee the next time she comes to Santa Barbara. I'll take you out, if you want." Mr. Royce didn't want to sound too eager, but his wife's pleased look wasn't unnoticed by him. He told himself this was a way to get himself out of the doghouse, not an actual olive branch to her daughter's baby daddy.

"Sure, Mr. Royce. That'd be great!" Kelly was thrilled. Not with all the boat talk, but with the thawing out of Renee's dad.

Renee had bought an apple pie from their favorite bakery for dessert.

"This is to die for!" she said as she began slicing the work of art.

"You sure you wanna let us have any? You ARE eating for two," teased Kelly.

"Shut up. Oh, crap! I forgot the ice cream."

"I'll go," said Kelly grabbing his keys.

"No, Kelly we don't need any. This looks great," said Mrs. Royce.

"Dad? I know you love your a la mode!" Renee went over to hug her dad.

He gave a sad look and Kelly laughed. Okay, this guy was related to Renee after all.

"That settles it. I'll be right back." Kelly headed to the door.

"Wait I'm coming. Do you mind? We'll be right back." Renee was still hugging her dad.

"Just hurry. I can't guarantee that we won't start on this," said her mom eyeballing the pie.

Renee kissed her mom on the cheek and grabbed Kelly's hand as he led them out.

"Kelly! Oooh, I'm a happy girl!" Renee's smile stretched across her face. "I told you!"

"Calm down. I know, it's a good start." Kelly was smiling too. Hard to deny that he was maybe cracking old Royce after all.

"My mom already loves you! You are going to have my dad eating out of your hand when we go to California."

"Okay, you're scaring me now. You're mom loves me, huh?" Kelly teased. What a great night, he thought.

"Now you calm down," laughed Renee.

"Maybe she wants her own marriage propos..." Kelly was laughing so hard, he could barely get the words out.

Renee was so happy. She couldn't remember laughing this hard since...when? Couldn't remember a time.

She looked up to glance at Kelly and saw it half a second before Kelly felt it.

The truck hit Kelly's side with such force, it tossed his Camaro like a toy. The car flew a good twenty feet and then began to roll finally landing against a building, right side up.

Renee tried opening her eyes, confused, not knowing what was going on. She heard some sound, moaning. She tried forcing her eyes open, but they were so tightly closed. Her whole body was flinching, a tight ball, her neck and shoulders in excruciating pain.

Renee looked down at her stomach, her baby. She touched all around and found no blood. Her face was wet, tears only, no blood. She heard the horrible sound again, like some animal, and looked over at Kelly.

Her brain couldn't take in what she saw. Kelly's head was slumped forward. He wasn't moving at all. She looked at the stream of blood coming from his head. It was dripping from his cheek, the one closest to the window, the one she couldn't see.

Drip, drip, drip. She could hear the sound of his blood. She saw the car kind of wrapped into his left side. She couldn't see his leg, his arm, his shoulder...his whole left side was one with his car.

Renee didn't know she was in shock. She didn't know that help had already arrived and the EMTs were checking her vitals. She didn't know where that sound was coming from. She would have been horrified to realize it was coming from her and not Kelly.

The father of her baby wasn't making a sound...no, Kelly was silent. Completely still and silent.