A/N: Welcome to "Pains and Preparations!" Yes, I know the title is painfully (haha) close to "Plans and Promises," but alliteration is cool and I'm bad at titles (and jokes).
Anyway, thanks for being here, and feel free to let me know what you think!
The first shift after the Casey wedding, Severide sat in his office, doing paperwork. He was glad to have an excuse to not be in the common room today. Brett and Casey had taken a week off to finish unpacking, since they'd been living out of boxes for close to a month. The two couples had only moved into the townhouses two weeks ago, but they'd both gotten packed over the course of the month prior to the move, and inevitably had packed some items they still needed. With the wedding preparations, the newlyweds simply hadn't had time to really settle in.
Rafferty had come in to cover Brett, so Foster should be having a good day, albeit rather busy to this point, and Captain Eric Jayne from third shift was in for Casey. He was a great guy. He'd been with the CFD for 35 years and had his sights set on a battalion chief position someday. Then there was the new guy, Jacobsen, a floater barely out of his candidacy who was covering Stella, who - now at 21 weeks - was no longer allowed on active duty. Maybe he was an okay guy, but the fact that he wasn't Stella had Kelly a little more than annoyed. He was a constant reminder that, for the next 6 months, counting her maternity leave, Stella could only work at Molly's. Kelly was glad Stella was off active duty so they could keep their unborn daughter safe, but he was really going to miss her being right there after a rough call.
He glanced at the clock. It would be time for supper soon - assuming they didn't ret called out again. They'd had back to back calls this morning, then only a break long enough to scrub down their gear before a call that lasted through lunch into early afternoon. He groaned and went back to his paperwork. He really should have just taken this week off with his friends. Work sucked without them.
Stella was already awake, scrolling through her phone when he got home the next morning. She looked up when he walked through the door.
He stripped off his jacket and kicked off his boots, putting them in their rightful spots before walking over to his wife and planting a kiss on her forehead.
"How was work?"
"It's gonna be a long six months without you there." He sat down beside her. "How was your night?"
"Uneventful. Matt and Sylvie had me over for lunch. I worked Molly's last night, then woke up early this morning. I'm only just starting to get the baby bump and I have to pee all the time. I'm afraid of how bad it's going to get in the next few months."
He shrugged. This was his first time having a pregnant partner. "Has she been moving around at all?"
Stella nodded. "A little bit."
Kelly leaned down and kissed her stomach. "Hi Baby Girl," he said, then looking back to his wife, "Do you think she can hear us?"
"Dr. Cameron says she should be able to. It's amazing how much Baby Girl can do in there."
He smiled at her, placing a hand on her abdomen and rubbing his thumb back and forth.
"Kelly?" she asked after a beat.
"Yeah?"
"Should we start talking about names?"
"Sure," he replied. "Did you have any in mind?"
She shook her head. "Nothing that really sticks out. I hadn't really started looking. I really only know what I wouldn't name her based off of really nasty people."
He raised his brows.
"You know, like if she were a boy, we probably wouldn't be naming her after Gorsch."
He chuckled. Gorsch would never be missed among the members at 51. Deciding to press his luck, he started to ask carefully, "How would you feel - and feel free to say no -"
"Anna?" she cut him off, assuming that's where he was going with that question.
"Shay," he corrected.
Well, she thought, that's better than an old girlfriend. "Shay Severide," she said, trying it out, "I like the idea. I'm not sure I like how that sounds."
"No," he agreed.
"Shaylyn, maybe?"
He shook his head. "Wouldn't that still get shortened to 'Shay'?"
"Yeah, you're right," she groaned, shifting to stand. "I gotta use the restroom. We'll talk more on this when I come back."
While she was gone, he grabbed a pen, a piece of paper, and his tablet and searched for a baby name website. He found a list of the top 1000 names for baby girls and began scrolling through from the bottom up, immediately discounting names of or names close to people they already knew. When Stella came back, he had only gotten from 1000 to 950, so he just went back down to the bottom.
She rested her head on his shoulder, looking at the screen. "Got enough to choose from there?"
"Gotta start somewhere." He shrugged lightly. "If you see one you like, I have a paper. We can write it down."
Stella nodded and started scrolling slowly. "What even are some of these? Like why would you name your child 'Heavenly?'"
"Or Phoenix?"
"Margo isn't bad, but Margo Severide -" she lifted her head and the two shared a look of mild disgust. Finding three names that went together well was going to be a challenge.
"Kaelyn?" he asked.
She tried it out in her head, thinking about it for a minute. "Write it down. We can always cross it out later."
He nodded and scribbled it on the paper.
"Hadleigh?" she asked.
"Oh hell, no," he replied quickly.
"What? I thought it was cute," she pouted.
"Two words for you," he said, looking her dead in the eye. "Arsonist. Firefighter."
"Before my time?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, well that's out. Lillianna?"
He shook his head. "Too long. And too close to other people we knew. Celia?"
She scrunched up her nose. "Like the tiny little hairs that catch the dirt when you breathe?"
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Who knew selecting a name would be so much work? He'd have to warn Casey to get a jump on it.
When they got to 500, their eyes were tired and they were getting hungry. There were about 10 names written down, but nothing that they were absolutely loving. They decided to take a break from it. They'd come back for the other 500 another time. They just didn't know how soon that would be.