This is based around a suggestion from a guest reviewer. A slight twist on what they were looking for, so I hope it's ok! Enjoy
Clowns
It was the day of the annual CFD picnic, and everyone was excited to enjoy the day outside together in the sun before the bitter Chicago winter hit them. The fact that there was an all you could eat BBQ also helped sweeten the deal.
While everyone was excited for it, there was no one more excited than Jack and Elliot. They loved the picnic. There was so much to do and they got to hang out with firehouse 51 who were basically their idols.
"It's going to be so cool mom!" Jack exclaimed as he walked with his family towards the picnic. "There's a bouncy castle, a magic show—"
"Oh! And the obstacle course. Jack and I have been practicing our sprints, we've got this in the bag!" Elliot added excitedly.
Sylvie laughed, "You sure do boys" she said as she looked over at Matt who was smiling just as widely at his boys' excitement.
"Don't worry Annie" Jack said as he stopped at looked at his sister who was sleeping soundly in her baby carrier that Matt has strapped to his chest. "You can join team unstoppable next year. Oo, Uncle Sev!" Jack shouted when he saw his uncle and darted towards him with Elliot close behind.
"Hey boys!" Severide greeted as he scooped them up in his arms.
"Are you going to watch us on the obstacle course this year?!" Elliot asked.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world" he told them with a little laugh before setting them down. The boys ran off to help Emily with the bean bag toss – after all these years she still hadn't managed to perfect it.
"Annie couldn't hack the excitement, huh?" Severide asked as he peered in at the 7-month-old baby against Matt's chest.
"The boys woke her up accidentally last night because they were so excited about this picnic. Couldn't get her back over" Matt explained. It was safe to say he and Sylvie were beyond tried right now.
"I reckon they'll wear themselves out with all this excitement so it can be an early night for you both." Severide encouraged before patting Matt on the arm and walking over to the others.
"I appreciate Severide's optimism but once the boys clock on that there's a sweetie cart we are done for." Sylvie said with a pout.
"Oh yeah…" Matt grumbled.
"Mom, mom!" Jack shouted. "You have to come see this, come on!"
"What is it?" Sylvie asked as she tried to see what Jack was so excited about, but couldn't past the crowd of people.
Matt, however, could see it clear as day. His face fell and he gulped and reached an arm out to stop Sylvie walking forward. "I don't think you want to go over there babe…"
Sylvie eyed Matt curiously, "… why not? Jack wants me to."
"And he'll forgive you for not going…" Matt reasoned as he tried to turn his wife away.
Sylvie let out a laugh, "Matt… what are you doing?!" she asked as she dug her heels into the ground.
"Sylvie—"
Sylvie turned around and stormed forward with Matt quickly on her tail. When she realised what Jack was so excited about she stopped abruptly where she stood and gulped, causing Matt to almost trip over her.
"Sylvie… it's ok. It won't hurt you."
"It's uh – it's fine. It's totally fine." Sylvie mumbled. "I uh – Annie could probably do with a diaper change—" she began. She tried to turn around by Matt stopped her.
"Sylvie, I think it's time you faced your fear." Matt encouraged. "It's just a clown."
Sylvie turned around and looked at the clown her sons were animatedly engaging with. "You remember the killer clown phase of 2016?"
"… yes, but they weren't actually killer clowns, it was just people dressing up as clowns—"
"Not to mention IT—"
"Not real—"
"Oh god, I can't." Sylvie said as she tried to run away, but Matt quickly stopped her again.
"No running away. Remember last year when Jack was afraid of the dark? You made sure he gathered all the facts about the dark, you encouraged him to confront the dark and he's not afraid anymore. He realises that there is nothing to fear – you need to take your own advice. You need to face your fear of clowns in the same way, a little bit of exposure therapy could work wonders."
"What facts? They're evil and set out to scare children." Sylvie protested. "I mean, look at them!" she said as they looked over at the clown. "They paint their faces to constantly appear like they are smiling and happy, it hides their true emotions, it's a total distortion and it's creepy." She reasoned. "Actually kind of sad when you think about…"
"Exactly!" Matt said, thinking that was progress. I mean, it wasn't ideal that she was feeling sorry for them, but for her purposes it was better that than being afraid. "Look at them – they're not here to hurt people. They're hear to entertain and while they're maybe not the most entertaining acts in the world – that's all they're trying to do."
"Mom, dad, come on! He's got some super cool tricks!" Elliot now encouraged as Sylvie took a deep breath and held her head high.
"Ok. Let's go confront some clowns." She said with determination in her voice as she powered forward towards the scene.
"Momma, look!" Elliot said excitedly as he grabbed Sylvie's hand and pulled her closer to the clown. She soon felt Matt's hand on her shoulder, and it was all the comfort she needed.
The clown lifted out some balloons and started to fashion various shapes out of them. The boys were in awe. Who knew you could do that with a balloon without it popping?!
Sylvie subtly turned to Matt, "They better not ask for a clown for their birthday…" she mumbled as Matt chuckled.
POP.
The balloon the clown was working on burst causing everyone to jump slightly. Matt looked down at Annie and saw her little face scrunch up.
"Oh no…"
Suddenly, her screams filled the park as Matt closed his eyes with a big sigh while Sylvie grimaced.
"… I hate clowns." Matt concluded before walking away, gently bouncing his daughter to calm her down.
Sylvie looked back at the clown who gave her a creepy smile and a wave. She shivered involuntarily before turning and walking away.
"Yeah. Me too."
