Cindy- I agree, this story needs more Stellaride, so there's some coming up. :)
Thank you all again for your reviews, favorites, and follows. You guys are the best.

Chapter 19

Severide slouched on the couch and flipped past commercials, looking for the Cubs game. He glanced toward Sarah's closed bedroom door. She had gone in there to take a nap at Stella's insistence two hours ago. Stella was out at the gym and then said she had to run a couple errands, so it was just Severide with Sarah in the apartment. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to check on her. She had collapsed and been hospitalized yesterday, it didn't seem like overkill to just look in on her. But he also didn't want to invade her privacy.

He flipped through a couple more channels. She had come home from the station that morning and Stella had insisted on making a huge breakfast. Sarah had seemed fine. She had watched some talk show with Stella, chatted with her while they folded laundry, and seemed fine. Sarah's phone had sat silent on the counter all morning.

Severide glanced at the counter as if Sarah's phone would still be there. Why hadn't her boyfriend called? His pregnant girlfriend was in the hospital and he hadn't shown up there, hadn't called Sarah at the firehouse as far as Severide knew, and hadn't bothered to check in with her today.

He tossed the remote down and ran a hand over his hair. He didn't want to overstep his role, whatever that was, but if the guy who was supposed to be taking care of Sarah wasn't stepping up, he would.

He started to get up when Sarah's door opened. Her hair was tousled and her eyes blinked like she was still waking up.

"You get some sleep?" he asked.

She hesitated in the doorway, but gave him a small nod. "Yeah. Thanks."

He nodded. In the awkward silence, the ballgame announcer discussed player stats.

"Your mom was a huge Cubs fan in high school," Severide said. He sighed in relief when Sarah gave him a small smile rather than getting teary at the mention of her mom.

"She still was a huge fan." She took a few steps closer, her smile growing. "She took me to a game for my thirteenth birthday."

"So you're a fan, too?" he asked. "You want to watch the game?"

Sarah took a seat at the opposite end of the couch. Severide handed her the bowl of popcorn.

The silence stretched between them again, but was companionable, broken by their comments on the players at bat.

Severide glanced over at her profile. She looked relaxed, happy. His gut clenched. She looked innocent and too young.

He cleared his throat. "Did your mom…" he coughed. He cleared his throat again. "Did your mom ever talk to you about…dating?" He winced to himself. He didn't want to have this talk. But he couldn't just let her trust some loser who ignored her, wouldn't be there for her or the baby. And then there was the whole issue of Gallo.

Sarah's brow wrinkled and she glanced at him before looking down at her hands. "She didn't really have to. I never dated. She was pretty strict about that after…her own experience."

"So she didn't explain—didn't tell you about…" This was painful. Physically painful. He snuck a glance at his watch and wished Stella would get home.

"It's a little late for a talk about the birds and the bees," Sarah surprised him by saying with a hint of teasing.

"Yeah," he muttered. He drew in a breath and rubbed the back of his neck before trying again. "But it's not just the birds and the bees. Not once you're," he cleared his throat and nodded toward her stomach, hidden under an oversized t-shirt. "It's about how you're treated. The boyfriend who did that needs to step up. He should have been with you at the hospital."

All humor left Sarah and her lips pressed into a tight line. "Sometimes it's not that simple," she said under her breath.

He was messing this up. Where was Stella? How long could a couple errands really take? He decided to change tacks and forget the boyfriend for now. "There's also a problem with too much attention."

Sarah's stony face softened into confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"If Gallo is bothering you, or making you uncomfortable, I'll take care of it."

"Gallo?" Sarah asked. "Blake?"

Hearing her call him by his first name raised all kinds of alarms for Severide.

"You have a boyfriend. And a baby on the way. Gallo shouldn't be flirting with you." More than flirting. It seemed like every time Severide turned around, Gallo was with Sarah. Sitting at the bar at Molly's, with her when she collapsed, in her room in the hospital, making her smile when they said goodbye at 51.

"Flirting with me?" Sarah repeated. She looked worried. "You don't like Gallo?" Her fingers twisted together in her lap.

Was she worried something was wrong with Gallo? She was so timid and skittish, the last thing he wanted was to make her fearful of Gallo. Where the hell was Stella? He tried to choose his words carefully.

"He's a good firefighter. Great at his job. But he's also impulsive and can be reckless. And that's on the job. Who knows how he would treat a girlfriend."

Sarah's jaw tightened and her shoulders stiffened. Was he scaring her that badly? She almost looked angry, but that didn't make sense.

"I just worry that he knows you have a boyfriend, but he still hangs around you. And sometimes seems like he's flirting."

The door opened then, and Stella came in with her gym bag and reusable grocery bags. Finally.

She smiled brightly at the sight of the two of them on the couch together. Then looked between them, and her smile fell into worry.

"What are you two doing?" she asked slowly.

"Kelly is telling me how terrible Blake is," Sarah said tightly.

Stella slid her eyes to Kelly. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, incredulous.

Kelly looked from his angry daughter to a clearly annoyed girlfriend. He still couldn't figure out what he had said wrong. What he had done wrong? Shouldn't he be protecting his daughter? Making sure she wasn't being used by the guys around her?

"You decide to have a heart to heart with your daughter, and that's what you talk to her about?" Stella shook her head, her lips thinning in disapproval.

Sarah had been sitting silently, stiffly, her own anger radiating toward him, but she finally turned to him. "Kelly, Blake is a good guy. The last thing he would do is use me." Her voice grew louder. "Blake has—"

Stella dropped her bags and quickly stepped towards Sarah, her own voice loud as she cut her off. "I think we should take a breather," she said, raising her eyebrows at Sarah. "Let's go for a walk." She ushered Sarah off the couch and toward the door. She tossed back a promise they wouldn't be gone long over her shoulder to Severide.

Kelly watched the door close behind the two women and sank back on the couch, not sure what had happened and where he had gone wrong.

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"Slow down," Stella said, putting a hand on Sarah's arm. She had never seen the girl so upset. "You don't want to overdo it."

"He thinks Blake is using me!" Sarah said, not slowing her angry stride. "As if Blake is getting anything out of this relationship. As if I'm not the one who's using him." And then her voice was choked with tears. "I need to tell Kelly. He can't think Blake is some—some—loser. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Stella still doubted Gallo's judgment after he had gotten Sarah pregnant pretty much the second they had met, but she didn't say anything. Too late for that now, and it wouldn't do anything to help Sarah. Instead she schooled her face into something encouraging. "I don't think telling him when you're this upset is the way to do it."

Sarah kept walking, arms swinging as she strode down the sidewalk. But as Stella's words hung in the air, Sarah slowed.

"Calm down. Get some space," Stella encouraged. "And then at least one of you can be rational when you tell Kelly about you and Blake." She didn't tell Sarah that she was worried not-rational was a huge underestimation of Kelly's reaction. "Kelly has really grown to like you and he feels protective of you." That much was true, at least. "It will go better if he sees you're not defensive about you and Blake."

Sarah nodded slowly.

Stella fished her keys out of her pocket. "Go see Blake. Calm down. And you can talk to Kelly after the CFD picnic tomorrow. How does that sound?"

Sarah's cheeks were still pink with anger and for a second, Stella worried Sarah was going to insist on storming back into the apartment and telling Kelly everything about her and Blake. But she finally took the keys Stella offered.

Sarah impulsively reached out and gave Stella a hug. "Thanks Stella," she said.

Surprised, Stella squeezed the younger girl. "Anytime."

She watched Sarah go to her SUV in the parking lot and drive off to Gallo's before turning back to the apartment building. Heaving a sigh, she went back in to face Kelly.

The Cubs game was still on, but Kelly wasn't watching it. He looked up when Stella came in and looked behind her.

"She went to her boyfriend's place," Stella explained. She saw the way Kelly's jaw tightened, the way his eyes narrowed. Yeah, telling Sarah to wait until things cooled down was definitely the right move.

"She deserves better than whoever this guy is," Kelly started.

"Kelly, I swear, you are going to blow this whole thing up."

"If me telling her the truth about this guy makes him take off, then he's not worth it."

Stella stood in front of him. She shook her head. "I don't mean that. I mean your relationship with Sarah. You're going to blow up your chance to be in her life. To be her dad."

He didn't answer right away. He looked away and she saw him fighting for control. "I don't want her to go through what her mom went through. What I put her through," Kelly finally said, his voice strained. "Trying to raise a baby on her own. Alone. Struggling. She deserves better." His jaw worked. "Her mom deserved better."

Stella softened at his words. She sank down on the couch next to him. "Hey," she said softly. When he didn't look at her, she reached out to gently turn his face toward her. Holding his face between her palms, she waited until he looked her in the eye. "You would have been there if you had known. And you're here now. You're here for Sarah and she knows that. That's what counts."

He didn't answer and Stella could see the guilt ran deeper than she had realized.

She pressed a kiss to his forehead. "You're a good man, Kelly Severide. And you're figuring out how to be a good dad." Her thumbs stroked his cheeks. "I'm proud of you."

Kelly reached up and clasped her wrists with his hands. She dropped her forehead against his. "Sarah isn't alone. She's not going to be raising this baby on her own. She's got us."

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