A little fluff to balance out the angst of the previous chapters. :) And thanks to Gina for letting me know she needed some conversation between Kelly and Sarah. This chapter is entirely for you. :)

Chapter 34

Sarah made it through two weeks of baby-sitters. Not baby-sitters for the baby. For herself. When Kelly had said he didn't want her left alone, she hadn't realized he was going to take it so seriously. Thankfully, she hadn't had to endure any more shifts at the firehouse, running into Blake. It twisted her heart beyond what she thought she could survive. To see him and avoid him was too much.

"You about ready?"

Sarah looked up at Kelly's words. She frowned. "Kelly, I can drive myself to the doctor. You don't have to come with me."

Kelly didn't react in anger or frustration, something that still managed to surprise Sarah. He answered just as calmly as he did every time she questioned the need for constant protection.

"As long as Leo's around, I do," he said. He went to get his keys off the counter. "Do you want to stop anywhere on the way home? A drive through? Pick up some take out?"

Sarah sighed. What she really wanted was to be off bedrest, but there wasn't anything Kelly could do about that so she didn't mention it. "Whatever you and Stella want sounds good to me," she answered.

Outside, Kelly held open the door to his muscle car for her, making sure she lowered herself into the seat without problem before closing the door for her. He got in the driver's side and started the engine with a roar.

Her car still wasn't in the lot. It had been towed after her accident, but Kelly hadn't told her where. Just not to worry, he was taking care of it. Whatever that meant. Sarah could only imagine how much the repairs cost and what she would owe Kelly after it was ready to drive again.

"You ok?" Kelly asked, glancing over at her.

Sarah let her lip go from between her teeth where she had been chewing it. "Just thinking," she said.

Kelly pulled out into the midday traffic, heading toward Med. "You want to talk about it?" he asked.

Sarah automatically shook her head. The silence that settled between them wasn't as awkward as it had been even a month earlier. But it wasn't exactly comfortable. She was thankful when he flipped the radio on.

Things only got more awkward when they arrived at Med. Sarah led the way to the women's health clinic, Kelly following behind.

She went to the desk to check in while Kelly took a seat. In the quiet of the waiting room, with its muted colors of lavender and yellow, she heard magazine pages rustling and looked over to see Kelly flipping through the pages of a pregnancy magazine.

She really wished Stella hadn't had one of her Girls On Fire classes today.

Kelly looked up when she took the chair next to him. She glanced down to see his magazine opened to a page about bathing an infant. "You got all this stuff?" he asked, angling the magazine towards her.

Sarah looked at the infant bath tub, the hooded towel, the recommended soap and lotion, and a myriad of other supplies. She shook her head, feeling slightly overwhelmed at the sheer number of things the magazine suggested were needed. She met Kelly's eyes and saw a flash of doubt that mirrored her own in his eyes.

Then he gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll figure it out."

Before she could respond, the nurse was calling her back. Sarah wanted to tell Kelly to put the magazine down and stop looking at all the things he thought he should be helping her to figure out.

Instead, she silently followed the nurse back to the exam room.

#

Kelly had no idea babies required so much equipment. He was pretty sure it was more gear than the Squad truck carried. The back page of the magazine had an "essentials list" for first time parents. Kelly had carefully ripped it out, ignoring the look the receptionist gave him, folding it and tucking it into his jacket pocket.

He was on his feet as soon as Sarah came out from the back rooms, ready to be done with the receptionist who glared at him with suspicion, even before he tore something from one of the outdated magazines.

"Everything good?" he asked, not sure if it was his place to be asking her for details about her appointment.

She nodded and he didn't expect more than that. As they rode the elevator downstairs in silence, he wondered how naturally reserved Sarah was and how much was because he was practically a stranger to her. His own daughter.

"This is for you," Sarah surprised him, breaking the silence. She held out a black and white picture. Just like the last ultrasound picture he had seen, this one had surprising detail, but he wasn't prepared for how much clearer the baby was now.

"I mean, if you want it," Sarah caught herself, pulling the picture back, misreading his silence as he studied the picture.

"Yeah. Of course," he said, no doubt in his mind that he would take whatever Sarah offered. He took the picture she offered him and studied it more closely. For a split second, he thought he saw a hint of Chanda in the profile. "It looks like your mom," he said, then stopped, not sure if he should have said that to Sarah.

But Sarah's smile reassured him. "That's what I thought," she said.

Kelly looked down at the picture again. "Thanks," he said. Sarah gave him the smile that was growing familiar to him.

The elevator dinged and Kelly put the picture in his pocket with the list of baby supplies as the door opened.

"You think of anywhere you want to stop on the way home?" he asked.

Sarah hesitated, but answered. "Could we stop at Molly's?"

Kelly felt his eyebrows go up.

"I know it's not open yet, but Hermann should be there setting up for the night. I need to talk to him."

She looked like she was bracing herself for Kelly to refuse and that's ultimately what kept him from saying anything more, other than to say that would be fine.

Kelly couldn't imagine what she had to talk to Hermann about. But he hadn't missed the way she and Hermann had their heads together in deep conversation when she had spent the day at 51. He wasn't sure he wanted to know if Hermann had a new scheme to bring Sarah into.

Thankfully there was a Cubs game on the radio to cover the silence until they made it to Molly's.

Hermann had the door unlocked, most likely waiting for a delivery, and Kelly walked through it with Sarah.

Hermann looked up from the glasses he had lined up on the counter. "Sarah!" he called out, a welcoming smile splitting his face. "Severide, hey! What brings the two of you out?"

Sarah approached the bar, her own expression relaxing into a comfortable smile. Kelly tried not to feel a hint of jealousy at her obvious ease with Hermann. He reminded himself she and Hermann had put in a lot of hours behind the bar together.

"I wanted to talk to you about your offer," Sarah's quiet voice carried in the empty bar.

Hermann glanced at Kelly, but turned his attention back to Sarah. "Yeah?"

"It, um, it sounds…yeah. If you're still willing, I'd like to."

"Aw, that's great, kid," Hermann said. "Cindy's gonna be thrilled."

"What offer?" Kelly couldn't hold it back anymore.

Sarah exchanged a look with Hermann, but turned back to Kelly. She licked her lips and took a step toward him. "Hermann…and Cindy…they offered to rent me their garage apartment," she said, then visibly braced herself for his response.

It was the sight of her steeling herself for his reaction that had Kelly holding back any response.

"I'll let you two talk," Hermann said. He gave Sarah a pat on the shoulder before ducking back into the kitchen.

"You're moving out?" Kelly asked. He had just found out he had a daughter and now she was leaving. It was the only thought that kept circling in his head.

"I can't stay with you and Stella forever," Sarah said softly.

Kelly wanted to yell at her that yes, she could. But he held that back.

"Cindy is home most days, so you don't have to worry about me being all on my own. And Leo won't know where I am. And…I need to get my feet under me." Even as Sarah said the words, she looked like she doubted she could do it. It mobilized Kelly.

"You'll do great. We don't want you to go, but…you're something, Sarah. Your mom would be proud of you. I'm proud of you."

She blinked quickly and he could see the glint of tears in her eyes. He doubted he should say anything more. But he needed her to know.

"I just—it's just that I worry about you. About Leo and what he already did to you, that it will be worse next time if he finds you. I don't…" He wasn't used to long speeches, especially not ones that lodged a rock of emotion in his chest. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you. If I failed at protecting you."

Sarah's lashes glistened and she blinked more rapidly. Then she was moving toward him, and tentatively wrapped her arms around him.

It caught Kelly so off-guard he didn't respond at first. Then he hugged her back, closing his eyes and wishing he wasn't figuring things out with his daughter just as she was moving out.

Sarah stepped back and wiped at her eyes, sniffling a little. "You know I'll still see you, right?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"And you can help me figure out how to give the baby a bath," she said with a small smile pulling at her lips.

Kelly laughed.

"You're a good dad, Kelly," Sarah said, her smile growing serious. "You're going to be a really good grandpa."

The knot of emotion in his chest warmed at her words before everything in him jolted.

"Grandpa?" he echoed. The word conjured up visions of old men in cardigans, with pipes and glasses. Not him. Not a guy who drove a muscle car, smoked cigars, and ran into burning buildings.

He looked at Sarah, saw hints of himself in her. Once in awhile he even saw a little of his mom or Benny. She wasn't what he had expected, but she was here and she was his daughter. He didn't know what he was doing, but she was sticking around. And he had no intention of going anywhere.

Somehow he was becoming a grandpa before he fully wrapped his mind around being a dad.

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