It was the small things that got to Erin most. The absence of Kelly's toothbrush in the bathroom, the way the lid on the milk wasn't screwed on crooked, the remote on the coffee table instead of between the couch cushions, all things Erin had become accustomed to. His plane wouldn't have even have landed yet and she was already finding it hard to live without him. Shay woke up from her nap in a great mood, ready to refine her new ability to walk and cheer up her mother. Erin was getting ready to take Shay to the park when she remembered that she really ought to contact Cindy. Putting off their walk she packed some of Kelly's biscuits and made the short trip over to the Herrmann's house.
"ERIN!" Josie yelled when she pulled open the door.
"Hey Josie, is your mummy home?" Erin enquired as she followed Josie into the house.
"She's in the kitchen!" Josie answered before running off to wrestle her princess doll from her little brother.
"Erin, I thought I heard someone knocking" Cindy said as she shook her head and continued kneading dough on the bench.
"Josie let me in" Erin explained placing the container of biscuits on the bench before lowering Shay to the ground.
"She invited the postman in the other day too" Cindy said with a laugh.
"Well that's nice of her" Erin replied watching as Cindy divided the dough into portions.
"It was interesting. Anyway, what's going on?" Cindy questioned looking from the container of biscuits to Erin.
"Well I need to talk to you about this week and I thought it might help if I bribed you with biscuits" Erin answered honestly.
"Chris mentioned that the squad were flying out, everyone's pulling extra shifts to cover them. Including me! Not that a day with Shay is anything like a shift" Cindy assured.
"Are you sure? It's not as if you don't already have your hands full" Erin asked knowing biscuits weren't particularly helpful.
"I'm certain, it's the least I can do when you're off keeping us all safe" Cindy answered ignoring Erin's protesting shrug.
"Well we don't have a case at the moment so unless something big comes in I should be done by three" Erin said, deflecting the attention away from herself.
"Dropping her off at the district saves you the trip, and we're already driving past so it's no issue. It'll just be five days instead of three, too easy" Cindy said.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you, she started walking this morning" Erin announced when she realised she'd skipped the most important news.
"Really? Gosh she's getting so big" Cindy replied as she washed her hands.
"Shay, do you want to show Cindy you can walk?" Erin asked, Shay had been playing with Erin's shoe laces but at the mention of her name she looked up and smiled. Erin lifted her onto her feet and Cindy rounded the kitchen bench to get a better view. With a confident smile Shay took a few steps using her arms like a tightrope walker to balance. As soon as she received the praise she desired she sat down and crawled to the toy car she had spotted on the floor.
"That's great, makes life more interesting though" Cindy laughed remembering each one of her children's first steps. "Oh, did Kelly get to see it?" She asked with a gasp.
"Yeah" Erin mumbled thinking back to the precious moment in the airport.
"I'm sorry, it must be hard without him. How long is he gone?" Cindy asked hoping to remind Erin that he'd be back soon enough.
"Ten days" Erin answered.
"Well with all the relief crews flying in it could be sooner, from what I've seen on the news it doesn't look like there's much left to burn" Cindy said as she gave Erin a supportive pat on the shoulder.
"Yeah, maybe" Erin nodded, she knew Cindy was trying to help.
"You've got a three day weekend, what are you going to do?"
"I don't have anything planned but I'm sure I'll find something to do around the house"
"Okay, I've got to get going but feel free to drop around if you're feeling lonely" Cindy said putting the dough in the fridge then moving through to the lounge room to sort out Kenny and Josie.
"Of course, thanks" Erin said as she collected Shay then started making her way to the front door.
Every second on the plane meant he was getting further and further from Erin and Shay. Trying desperately to take his mind off his family he tried to join in the card game the rest of the squad were playing, spread across three rows of seats it was particularly difficult to keep track.
"Severide, your turn again" Newhouse said as he gave Kelly a shove.
"Right, sorry" Kelly said snapping back into reality. He managed to finish the game then shoved on some headphones and lay back for a while. The in-flight entertainment system was playing a comedy Kelly had seen before, it was better than dwelling on how much he wanted to turn the plane around.
"Is there anything I can get you?" The flight attendant asked as she approached, making eye contact with Kelly alone.
"Uh, no thanks" He replied taking off the headphones.
"Are you sure? The Pilot says we're supposed to give you guys anything you want" She said as she leaned further forward, guaranteeing him a good view of her cleavage. With a highly suggestive smile she lay a hand on his shoulder.
"Certain" He snapped, she recoiled hastily with a disapproving look then rushed off down the aisle.
"Rude" Newhouse said, punctuating it with his elbow.
"Well she wasn't just offering peanuts and I'm not interested" Kelly defended.
"You don't say!" Newhouse replied.
"Shut up" Kelly groaned.
"Look none of us want to be here" Newhouse reminded.
"What's the problem? You wanna swap seats so she asks you next time?" Kelly demanded though he knew it was a low blow.
"No, just be nice. She has no way of knowing you've got a family" Newhouse said before putting his own headphones on and ignoring the look Kelly gave him. Thankfully it wasn't long before the plane landed and they bustled through the airport. Once they'd collected their luggage they piled into a minivan for the two hour drive to the nearest fire command outpost. Again the squad guys started up a game of cards, this time Kelly sat out, using calling Erin as an excuse. Though they both desperately wanted to stay on the phone forever they kept it brief agreeing to speak again soon. Kelly relaxed and looked out the window.
"Hey Severide you planning on proposing anytime soon?" Capp asked all of a sudden.
"What?" He asked, he hadn't been following the conversation so the mention of his name followed by such a presumptuous question shocked him.
"I just need to know how much I can afford to lose in this" Capp answered.
"Are you guys betting on me marrying Erin?" He questioned still not sure he was following.
"Yeah we've been betting on when you'll propose, I have to say this trip is conveniently timed" Capp said with a smile.
"Really, when have you bet?" Kelly asked.
"I'm not that stupid" Capp laughed.
"Seriously though you're wasting your money she'd never agree" Kelly affirmed.
"Or you're just too scared to ask" Newhouse suggested.
"There would be no point in asking, she wouldn't say yes. Anyway who are you to talk?" Kelly said firmly hoping it was the end of the conversation. The fact that he was their superior didn't seem to stop them from speaking their minds, usually he liked the way rank was irrelevant.
"That is the point though, you don't know for sure until you ask. Women love that" Their driver added.
"He's right man" Newhouse agreed.
"Just get on with playing and leave me and Erin out of it" Kelly said before turning to look out the window. Kelly suddenly had a lot to think about.
The weekend was over in no time. Kelly got stuck into work, as long as the sun was up he was out trying to contain the blaze. Erin on the other hand quickly ran out of things to do around the house and resorted to binge watching a crime drama. They spoke as often as his work permitted. Shay had started calling the phone Dada and got excited whenever it rang. Erin had started to realise that she was wasting perfectly good time with Shay but lacked the motivation to do much more than join in her stacking and sorting game. Returning to work was a welcome relief. The unit didn't get a case until Wednesday but filled their free time by pitching in on a series of narcotics raids. Voight was particularly lenient and made sure Erin was always free to go as soon as Shay was dropped off. Erin formulated an afternoon routine with Shay that involved stopping by a local park to feed the ducks. Shay's feeding strategy was to simply throw bread at anything that moved, thankfully the ducks were used to it. Shay would then sleep in the car on the way home ready to play for the rest of the afternoon. Erin had discovered Shay's love for puzzles so they worked together to order the large colourful pieces then take them apart in half the time. When they'd exhausted their supply of puzzles they would prepare dinner, wait for Kelly to call then after speaking to her dad Shay would have her bath and go to bed. Erin would settle in to bed and prepare to do it all again the next day.
Just a little calm before the storm, thanks for reading - tomorrow will be better I promise, I ran out of time today :/
I just need to give you a little heads up that not only do I have an assignment due soon but I will also be going away on holidays for a week (starting the 19th). I will hopefully have plenty of time to write but I'm not sure if I'll have a reliable internet connection - I'll do my best but you'll just have to be patient :D
