She sat feet dangling in the water as she watched Kelly swim laps in the hotel pool while she read her book. She couldn't feel the water unless she stuck her hand in the heated water but that didn't matter. She looked normal, felt normal if for only a second.
Kelly pops up for air and goes back down. She returns to her trashy book.
When she looks up again after a few pages she notices a svelte Indian woman wearing a red one piece that fit her every curve. The woman watches Kelly intently as he moves through the water. Liv gets it after all she'd just gotten caught up looking at him all strength and unlikely grace as he glides through the water. The woman walks toward her and the first thing that strikes Liv is that those boobs weren't gifted by God. The coal dark eyes and pretty lashes were though.
"May I sit with you?" she asked and Liv shrugs feeling suddenly very chaste in her paisley print tankini.
When Kelly surfaces the woman kicks water at him playfully. "Kelly Severide!"
"Anna." His tone implies shock at seeing the woman and she know it's someone from his storied past.
They have been married a day and a half and one of his conquests pops out of the woodwork. She watches and waits to see what Kelly will do.
"I'm in town for a conference. We should have dinner or something." She knew what or something implicated.
"I can't." he said without any emotion. He swam toward Liv as through Anna was shark infested waters. Good boy. "I'm married, this is my wife Olivia." He smiles and pats Liv's thigh and his wedding band catches Anna's eye.
Anna looks a bit sick as she stares at Liv. Then she eyes the chair behind Liv and just like that the normal girl feeling is gone. "Huh, never thought you'd marry a charity fuck." She said nonchalantly and Kelly's bright smile fades just a bit he hadn't been looking for approval but general kindness would be nice.
"I didn't because that was you. "He retorts his smile turning razor sharp. No one spits hate at his girl no matter how hot the sex had been. He'd been a bit high it probably wasn't as great as he'd remembered.
Anna gets up and hurry's off. He wraps an arm around Liv's waist. "Put down the Kindle Baby. I'm gonna pull you in." she sets it aside with care.
"I don't want to get my hair wet I just paid a shit ton for some funky treatment to increase shine." She complains as he pulled her in
"April and Jackson screw yet?" He asked towing them out to the center of the pool.
"No, that was a Grey's fanfic and now I'm reading a totally filthy book by Jami Aldean." She runs her hands up and down his arms.
"How filthy?" he kissed her and she's not sure if it's because Anna might still be watching or just because he wants too but it's the kind of kiss she feels in her bones. "We're not having sex in the pool Kelly." She whispers against his lips and wraps her arms around his neck kissing him back. He lifts her up a little still kissing her. He flops backward pulling her under with him.
Seconds later they come up sputtering. "Kissing underwater is not as easy as it looks in the movies." Kelly coughs.
"No shit Honey, I have chlorine in my sinus cavity." He kisses her shoulder in an attempt to distract her. "You gonna tell me the story of red swim suited very jealous Anna or should I just mow her down in practice for the rest of Chicago's feminine population?" She eyes the woman glaring at her a final time before leaving.
"Drug rep, I screwed around with on occasion she helped me out of a meds jam with my neck that's all casual meaningless sex. And it's not all of the female population you forgot to discount the lesbians." He gives her a shit eating grin.
She shoves at him laughingly but he hangs on tight. "It never stops with you! I feel like a prude next you."
"What's your number?" He asked honestly curious.
"Truth? Just four."
"We're in water is this where you leave me in the water to freeze to death like Jack at the end of Titanic?" he asked carrying forward one of their long running jokes.
"What for drawing French whores or being one?" she retorted teasingly. "There was totally room for two people on that door! Bitch was being greedy."
"Well I'm not French!" he points out.
"The whore thing?"
"That I'll cop too! "He allows.
"If there's another one of your booty calls roaming this hotel then I can and will kill you and make it look like natural causes I'm a doctor no one will ever know it was me."
"Get your own door mother fucker mighta worked too!" he retorted.
"I'm just saying, you have a shit ton of exes at least 5 follow me on Instagram to ogle you."
"Really which ones?" he asked.
"I will rip your McFireballs off." She answered smiling and pecked him on the lips.
/-/-/-
"Leslie come here babe. This is cute." Vivi reads Liv's Facebook/Instagram post. "I look up to check on my husband who thought the hot rock massage was a waste of money he could microwave gravel and rub me down to find this."
She hits play on the vid. He sleeps snoring loudly. "Kelly…" Liv whispers. "Yup won that one." She continues. The video stops on Liv's happy face.
-/-/-/-
"I don't wanna go back to work." She pulled the covers over their heads.
"Let's stay inside the honeymoon cocoon forever." She whines.
"Nice idea, but you have tiny lives to save. I have flames to fight, besides what would eat and there's a high likelihood I would Dutch oven you while cocooned."
"Well that moment is ruined!"
"C'mere."
"No you're going to fart on me or belch or something." She backs away.
"I'm not! I swear, just come here." He said laugh and pulling her to him.
He kissed her. "We have a few hours till check out."
"Again!"
"Anytime, all the time, hell any time you offer I'm up for the job."
"You know I love a good dirty pun."
-/-/-/-/-
They begrudgingly check out of the hotel and return to reality Kelly opens the front door and they're hit with the sounds of breathy moans and soft curses.
"Nuh uh, nope I can't'!" Liv turns and is halfway down the ramp before he can blink. "I cannot hear my sister having sex! I draw the line we've got to move."
"We have sex with them in the house all the time!" Kelly plays devil's advocate.
"Not loud sex we don't, I barely breathe…"
"Vivi saw me naked!"
"And I said we needed to move!"
"Okay, I gotcha baby." He disappears inside. He shouts. "Just call me when you're done Shay!" he exits the apartment with his laptop. "Let's go surf for apartments and drink girly coffee."
-/-/-/-
Kelly wakes her up the next morning. "I have a present for you." He hands a medium sized box. Wrapped in brown paper with pink writing a pink flouncy ribbon with a sparking silver heart attached. "Ok so I may have let Vivi wrap it as I will with every gift I give you from now on, be careful unwrapping it apparently the paper has our vows written on it and the bow is actually a scarf you wanted forever ago." She unwraps it so carefully it takes her ten minutes and then she folds the paper in a neat square.
"Yup the OCD is a familial condition Shay." He shouts to his roommate and best friend.
"If I could, I'd kick you. Stop ruining my present buzz." She opens the box and folded neatly inside is a new lab coat. Stitched on the breast just above the pocket in rainbow thread is Dr. Olivia Severide M.D.
"How'd you get this so fast? I love it!" She kissed him. "Thank you!"
"I planned ahead. Dig in the pockets there's something else." She checks the pockets and finds the rose gold love knot ring he'd given her for Valentine's Day. "I know you lost it in the collapse and now that I definitely feel the meaning behind it I wanted to replace it."
"Kelly…"
"Hey, I can give just cause I love you presents can't I?"
"Yes, I love you too!" She kissed him again "Ready to attack the day Husband?"
He smiled. "You know it wife."
-/-/-/-/-
She pulls up to the firehouse. "Can you help me pin my rings to the inside of my scrub top?"
"Yeah. He leans across the console she takes the rings off and hands them too him along with a safety pin. "There you go, they're safe." She looks over his shoulder.
"We have an audience Kell." He glances back and Jones is staring them down.
"Girl better tread carefully with me. She's been warned." They watch her walk toward the truck.
"Oh joy she's feeling social again." Liv quipped.
He rolls down the window. "What do you want Jones?" he barks.
"To speak to your wife sir, I'd like to apologize for my earlier behavior." She replied quietly seemingly cowed.
"Go ahead." Kelly permits.
"The things I said were uncalled for and wrong I'm sorry in an attempt to fit in with my co-workers I took things to way too far and I apologize sincerely."
"Apology accepted, for future reference insulting any one of your supervisors or coworkers significant others doesn't win you friends and only serves to make you seem short sighted petty and generally ignorant. We both know what you honestly wanted but sleeping with the people you work with never turns out the way you want trust me. Also, it wasn't smart to make an enemy of Kelly because he understands the mountain you'll have to climb because people think you're an entitled fire brat instead of the second generation fire woman you want to be. The glaringly obvious difference between you and Kelly? You actually believe you are entitled. Knock that chip off your shoulder before you kill someone I love." She stares her down smiling when Jones slings off to lick her wounds.
"Too much?" she asks.
"Nah, she deserved a good shot of honesty." He leans across the console and kisses her. "Love you. Have a good day." And he's out of the car.
"Back at you! Be careful." She shouts out the window as he walks off.
-/-/-/-
The first call of the day is totally horrific. He'd love nothing more than to go home to Livvy, When Shay brings over the little girl's panda bear he jumps at the chance to go with Casey to the hospital. "Shay which hospital are they at?" he asks.
"Comer Children's go hug your wife. It's written all over your face Dude." She returned as she climbed back into the rig.
-/-/-/-
He finds her sitting at the nurses' station putting info into a file and using the phone. "Just put me on the line with the transplant coordinator for the transfer please. Yeah well I'd appreciate it please; being that time is literally racing against tissue death and all that. Fine I don't care if I have to take damn kidney to Idaho myself and for the last time my name is Dr. Severide!" she slams the phone down. She pulls off the polka dotted surgical cap and lays her head down. "No one that stupid should be given power." She mutters to herself making him smile. He reaches forward and squeezes the back of her neck. She swats at his hand while turning ready to attack.
"Jesus Kelly!" she curses drawing a breath.
"Nice reflexes babe. Good reaction time."
"What are you doin' here?" he undid her seat belt and released the knee block. He picked her up and held her in a hug. "I needed one of these so I thought I'd come get one."
She hugged him back and breathed in the spicy scent of his aftershave. "You okay?"
"Bad call."
"The Brooker call Shay said it was sad." She murmurs into his shoulder.
"That's one word for it. Heartbreaking is another. What's wrong with your day Doc Livvy?" he hitches her up with one arm and cups her cheek in his hand.
"No saves all losses today a nine year old boy accidently shot his six year old sister. I helped harvest her organs today and now? Now the person meant to pick up a kidney never showed so I will go deliver it. I'll be home late. I'm sorry baby."
"Don't apologize for doing your job Liv." He brushed the hair escaping her bun behind her ear.
"Don't drop me. That'll only make my day embarrassing as well as shitty." He laughs and leans into kiss her.
"This is what I needed." He said lowly. "Just one minute with you."
"Severide! The jet is ready for you." Kelly turns with her in his arms and belatedly realizes they're speaking to Liv. "Oh you meant my wife." He smirks proudly.
"Put me down I gotta go." He settles back in the chair. "I love you! That's mostly what I came to say, so I love you fly safe."
-"I love you. Stay safe, I need one less thing to worry over today."
"I'll give it my best shot Livvy."
She kisses him a final time waves to Casey and leaves.
She reminds me of Hallie sometimes. She's perfectly happy to run herself into the ground to save someone.
-/-/
Once in the air she texts him.
His phone buzzes and he picks it up and reads. "Kelly, I'm bored you wanna house hunt?"
"How'll we do that with you thirty thousand feet in the air?" he retorts smartly chuckling to himself.
"Via text I book marked some Zillow links on your phone last night. PS Do not remind me how high in the air I am I hate flying."
"Learning new things about the wifey, every day."
On the plane Liv's face contorts into disgust as she types. "Wifey? It's just like boo. Just don't you aren't Usher. Link 1 thoughts?" there's a pause as he looks.
"It's in the ghetto and is a dump."
"I thought it was a fixer upper and was cheap."
"There is fixer upper and then there's crack den dumpy. No my baby, just no."
Link 2?"
"It's far from work and that kitchen is fugly. Fixable but fugly. It's a maybe."
"Third links the charm?" she tries hopefully.
"Are you fucking out of your mind Olivia? Its one point five million dollars. We ain't poor but we ain't that rich."
"But I love it. It's my dream house."
"I get it baby it's a beautiful home but we can't not yet anyway. Maybe it's a dream we work toward?"
"Okay. I'm wearing the sad face just so you know."
"It was the in house library that set your little doctoral heart a flutter wasn't it." He answers adding a winky face.
"Ya know your girl Severide. Love you."
"Love you more."
"The town house has promise." He texted back.
"The kids' rooms would be tiny and it's still pretty high."
"The kids are nonexistent and proverbial at this point Livvy. I've saved enough from the whole Renée non baby thing that we'd be able to put a chunk down, wanna check it out?"
"Sure that and the maybe house? Sweet Jesus what is it with this town and those horrendous awnings on everything!"
"Haha! You noticed that too huh?" he texts back as Shay walks up.
"What ya doin?" Shay inquired tilting her head to see the text.
"Keeping Liv company." The alarm goes off.
"Got a call brb." He texted back.
-/-
The next morning she honks the horn as he's talking to Jones. "That's my ride and my wife. See ya Jones."
He gets in the passenger side. And Shay gets in the back. "Hey y'all."
"Hey baby, you ever get a good save you never texted back." He leans over planting a kiss on her cheek.
"I delivered the kidney to its current owner and flew back just in time to stop a toddler from over dosing on Tylenol. Now, I'm here."
"And what have you eaten today?" Shay asked knowing doctors had less time to eat than they did.
"A granola bar, three grapes and a slice of someone else's pizza."
"Livvy!" Kelly admonishes.
"I was taking vital organs on plane rides and saving babies I didn't have time for food. I wanna just go pee and go to bed."
"Honey you haven't peed? Since when? It's not good for you to hold it." Kelly said knowing her body reacts differently to any physical stressor.
"I didn't think you could hold it?" Shay asked.
"I can I just… sometimes you can't so you need assurances. And I peed at like ten o'clock last night if you must know." She finished side glancing at Kelly.
"See you guys really are in love you can talk about bodily functions. Viv blushes every time she has to drop a deuce at my house."
"Probably because my nickname is Deuce Shay." Liv grinned
"Deuce?" Shay's face screws up.
"Deuce as in I'm the second child."
=/-/-/-
"Hey!" she poked Kelly's chest. "I liked Mom's always kiss goodnight rule."
He kissed her. "Goodnight I love you." He laughs shaking his head at her.
He pulls her into his body. "You make a great little spoon." He falls asleep with his nose in her flowery scented hair and her head resting on his arm. It'll be numb when he wakes up but that's fine with him.
-/-/-/-
He wakes to Shay poking him in the shoulder. "I couldn't sleep so I found you a house."
"Stalker much." He mutters looking at her through sleep bleary eyes.
"It's awesome! Get up." He groans but knows better than to leave Shay to her own devices.
He gets up and lets Liv sleep.
-/-/-/-
Liv comes awake with Kelly lying on top of her. "Ready to attack the day Babe?"
"No ready to go back to sleep. He kissed her neck. "Get off of me, Kelly Severide." She said with steel in her voice.
Steel Kelly completely ignores. "I found us a house." He kisses her cheek she hears a thud. "Ouch! Damn it Shay! Shay found it."
"She kicked you didn't she? Good! Because I want to too! Get off me!" she grumbled.
"If I get off of you and go get you Starbuck's will you love me again and get in a better mood?" Kelly bargains grinning down at her.
"Mood improvement only if you include an overpriced cookie and I love you anyway but I still want coffee. Espresso double shot."
"It'll give you the trots." He said getting up.
"Nice Kell real classy." She threw a pillow at him but missed.
-/-/-/-
When Kelly returns she's sitting on the couch in Chevron print lounge pants and an off the shoulder "Fire Wife" tee shirt with a badge symbol in the center. Her hair is twisted and clamped to the back of her head.
She looks good in that not even trying way that only she can pull off.
"Are you in a better mood my love? "He asked.
"I wasn't in a bad one. I just wasn't awake." She takes the coffee he offers.
She looks up as he stands over her. "Let's save the house we think we'll like best for last that way, we will know we don't want the-"He kisses her. She makes oomph noise like he's knocked the air from her.
"Good mornin' Babe." He plopped down beside her.
"Morning."
"That cookie was truly overpriced so enjoy it."
"Want a bite?" she waves the cookie in front of him.
"Oh I want a bite but not of that."
"Kelly! You get more perverted with time!"
"Oh but I can back it up."
"You're just lucky I love you." She bit into the cookie.
"That I am."
"New house means rooms to have sex in. Just sayin' Livvy."
"So you wanna christen every room?" he just wiggles his eyebrows at her and sips his coffee.
"Bathroom tile is cold."
"You can be on top." He said dead seriously. She laughs uproariously in that bubbly way he loves.
-/-/-/-
The first house has no handicap access. The second one the doors are too narrow to fit through. The third is too small.
"I hate this feeling. Like the world forever fights against me."
"We have one house left Baby, don't get discouraged."
"It's hard not too Kelly. I can't bounce down the stairs in an arctic winter. If the doors are too narrow I can't get in or once I'm in I can't get out." She stared pensively out the window she's propped up on.
"Liv, I don't care if I have to build from the ground up so we can have the home we want and it fits you, I'll do it."
"Baby that's sweet but expensive and illogical."
He shrugged. "I'd do it anyway. Look no stairs." He said as they pulled up to the next town house the one Shay had found.
"I can actually go in this time." She said dryly.
"Chin up buttercup we got this."
"We do?" she shook her head and stifled the urge to laugh at him.
She shot her Mom a text. "Limit the Dad-Kelly time. He's starting to talk like Daddy."
They walk in and greet the overly perky realtor named Sam. The first floor is a huge cherry wood built in library and office.
"Nice Shay she'll never leave." He mutters.
"What?"
"Nothing you like it baby?"
"A lot actually."
Doctor and fire fighter, she loves this I care about fire exits and the elevators." He directed to Sam.
"The Elevator is housed in a previous coat closet is brand new and contains the emergency phone system. Would you like to see the next floor?"
"Yes." Liv answers for them both.
The next floor is one large space containing the kitchen, living and dining rooms. A gas fire place is housed on one wall. They can stand on either end of the room and still see and hear each other, "I like it." Kelly admits
They tour the next floor.
"The bedrooms are good sized but there's a door that leads to the outside deck and a bathroom in the other. It's accident waiting to happen with kids." Liv said.
"I can fix it so those doors lock or can't be accessed Livvy."
""How long have you been married?" Sam inquires smiling.
"Six days she plans ahead." Kelly answers.
"And I have 11 siblings four of whom are under eleven."
They stand outside on the curb.
"I like it, I could see us there. I just- you don't seem enthused Kelly. If you don't want to move that's fine but I'm not going to have a family with Shay I'm having one with you or nobody."
"It's not that, it's real now. Like that's our house."
"Getting married wasn't real?" Her brows furrow.
"That was the first time it felt real. You didn't hear me that's our house."
"It is?"
"If you want it to be." He smiled grabbing her hand pulling her to him
She affixed her chair to standing and kissed him laughingly. They stood on the side walk making out.
-/-/-/-
After they get the keys and Kelly tosses a giggling Olivia over his shoulder to carry her over the threshold they stand silently in the ground floor.
Then a honk emanates from the moving van outside. "That's the girls." Liv said.
They go and unload boxes. Kelly is exiting the house to grab another load when He runs into Liv carrying boxes stacked high in her lap. "How are you seeing where to go?"
"I'm not. Help a girl out."
He grabbed the top three. "Where to?"
"Elevator this is kitchen stuff." He nestles the boxes in around her and sends her up.
On the second floor she drags boxes from the elevator and stacks them all neatly. "Sending you more up Baby." Kelly shouts.
"Okay! I can see the other moving vans furniture is here!"
Liv stands in the landing of the second floor and watches as their home is flooded by Kelly's entire squad. Casey, Gabi and Chief Bowden. Next in rolls Owen and his wife Lindsey, Liam and Lang. Erin trails in talking to Grady. Vivi closes the door.
"Hey! Let me in! V, I mean it!" Shay growls.
They laugh as Shay comes in and shoots Viv a look of irritation.
"Where do you want us? You're the boss Babe." Kelly said. He stood on the bottom step.
"I want to un pack stuff! Mama said no breakables though." Grady said.
"Look at me when you talk Bubs." Liv said gently.
"Sorry. It's more people than I expected."
"I know. It's okay, look at me? Good. I thought I could use your organizing magic in my library."
"Kelly needs to put your desk where I tell him."
"Alright." Kelly said smiling. Kelly squeezes his shoulder and Grady shrugs him off. "Right no touching."
"Guys on furniture girls on boxes?"
"Works for me." Kelly said.
"You drop my white couch in that mud outside? It's the dog house Kelly."
"You've been married a week and the lady's already threating you with the dog house?"
"I bought that couch with my first check as a doctor so yeah I am Mills."
"And it's not a threat." Kelly adds.
-/-/-/-
Liv and Erin are putting the pot rack up over the island as Bon Jovi blares out of Erin's IPod. "We're going to die trying to hang this fucker yet again."
"Look at it this was we're in a house full of rescue firemen and paramedics they'll save us."
"True and you are helping this time in your standy chair. Can you raise it a smidge higher. "Erin said standing a step ladder drill in hand. She drills her side into place. Then she moves around to Liv's side. "What is she doing here?" Erin asked and they both know who the she being referred to is Owen's wife Lindsey.
"She is here because I can't very well tell my sister in law she can't come to my house because the woman my brother sometimes screws might be there." She answered lowly through gritted. "You got it?" the irritation rolling off her tone makes it so Erin knows she's not speaking only about the rack they are hanging.
"Yeah." She replied, tired of the game Owen keeps playing at.
"Good." Liv moves to sit again leaving Erin to the rack she rolls over to the cabinets to put up dishes.
Livvy Honey?" Kelly said bounding up the stairs and swinging into the kitchen. There's tenseness to the silence surrounding the women and his original question stalls in his mouth to be replaced with "Is everything okay?"
Liv looks at him and the breath sighs out of her. "We're fine. You needed something?"
"Yeah where do you want the entertainment center?"
"Babe…"
"Nope you're showing me because I know you. You'll just go around behind me redoing shit that I don't really care about. I'm saving you time." He offers his hand and she takes it allowing him to tug her along behind him.
Erin watches as Liam, Lang, and Owen file past her with dining room chairs raised over their heads.
"Hey Erin where does she want these?" Owen asks.
"Around the table boy genius."
"We're bringing that up in pieces. What crawled up your butt detective?" he asked walking over and leaning on the island where she's hanging pots above his head.
"You're a no go zone." She toys with idea of dropping the sauce pan in her hand on his head.
"Since when has that stopped you?"
"We're guests in your sister's house and your wife is downstairs."
"We're just conversing." He said all innocence that grates on her nerves.
"It never stops at just that. There's a reason we don't talk."
Because you are afraid of feeling anything for anyone who's not in your select chosen few." She stares down at him dumbfounded for a solid minute.
"No, I don't fear shit. Loving you makes me stupid there's a difference."
"So you do love me?" the smack to his head is hard and unexpected. "Damn it Liv!" Erin has the nerve to smile.
"Your wife's downstairs stop being an asshole." Liv reprimands.
"If you even think about hitting her back I'll knock you on your ass." Kelly warns.
"I'm not going to hit her!" He points to Erin "She has a gun."
"I'd use it too."
"Oh fuck off both of you. I'm not hitting my sister for checking me I deserved it."
-/-/-/-/-
: All of the big moving done they all sit around the living room eating pizza and drinking beer. The conversations and laughter overlap but something's missing. Liv sits stock still in Kelly's lap. "Guys, where's Grady?"
Grady!" Every woman in the house screams and goes in the direction the last left him.
"Vivi! Livvy! I'm still in the library!"
"Bug you can stop I'll finish." Liv said.
"No, I'm alphabetizing and organizing by genre in conjunction with the height you can reach from your chair! I want to finish my project."
"I didn't even know what conjunction meant at his age." Kelly whispered to her. "Come get some pizza little man!" he said louder.
Grady runs up the stairs and grabs his pizza. "I'm taking your chair to double check my height measurements. He gets in the chair. He rolls to the elevator.
"Grady." Liv called
"I'll hug you later when no one can see. Bye."
"I was going to say thank you."
"Welcome."
"I'll hug you now." Kelly offers.
"He's not affectionate. Its part of the autism he'll hug you but only sparingly and god help you if you try to kiss him and you're not our mother." Owen provides.
"The measurements?" Casey asked.
"Did them in his head. Grade is freakishly smart." Liv answered.
-./-/-
After everyone leaves Liv is putting up knick knacks and hanging things as Kelly locks up the house and walks around the house in his boxers.
"Cute husband!" Liv shouted down to him.
"Pretty Wife!" he retorted.
"I need your help hanging something."
"Okay! Why are there random pots of boiling hot wax everywhere?"
"It's scentsy didn't you live with a lesbian?"
"I did but she's not the girliest of lesbians. What is scentsy and what am I hanging?"
"It's a wickless candle and I want this sign there." She points to the wall on the stairway. "Stairs are an issue for me." She hands him a hammer and nail.
"Those things are fires waiting to happen. Turn them off at night or when you aren't here. I love you and all but I'd rather not rescue you again!" he hammers a nail into the spot she'd picked on the wall.
"Yes Daddy." She quipped.
"That's creepy. Please don't. You know I typically hate firefighter kitschy shit but this is sweet."
The black wooden sign with red and writing reads in this firefighter's home we always: Put family first. Give hugs and kisses, say I love you. Listen for tones work hard and play harder. Kiss goodbye, help others, say please and thank you, check in after every call. Pray, love our firefighter.
"It was a house warming gift from Viv and Shay. I thought if I hung some stuff up it'd feel like home."
"It feels odd without them not gonna lie." He admits.
"You've never lived alone have you Kelly?"
"Not for any real amount of time."
"Honey, do you need to call Shay to say goodnight?" She jokes playfully.
"Oh bite me."
"I just might." She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him.
He picks her up and carries her upstairs. "Man, I love you."
"Your boxers are tacky but I love you too."
"That bothering you?" he asked.
"Well they are factually incorrect you list to the left. The pointy fingers should be flip flopped." The right leg has a finger pointing up and it reads "The man" on the left leg the finger points to his junk. It reads "The legend"
"I don't list anywhere." He laughs.
-/-/-/-
"One room down. Seventeen left to go." He said rolling off of Liv.
Liv just laughed. "These cloud print sheets? We're changing them tomorrow." He said.
"I couldn't find my non wintry ones and these are what I could find."
"Can ask you a question Livvy? Do you think I'm always looking to save someone or that it is tied to my self-worth?" he turns on his side and looks at her. They lay on their sides look at each other.
"I think you can't do what we do and not see that the whole world needs saving. Is it tied to your worth never?" She takes his hand.
"That meds jam I mentioned? It was more than a jam baby. I was borderline addicted because I couldn't accept that my body had to give in and that I might not ever again get to be what I am. If it's not tied to me why'd I do that?"
"Kelly where's this coming from?"
"The guy I told you about Bloom he made a crack. I went to check on him when I picked up the pizzas it just rang a little too true."
"Kelly you had only your job at the time. I understand why you'd cling to it. I'm the same that way. What we do matters to us. Always will but when the time comes we'll weigh what's best for us and do that right? That is why you stopped right?"
"I stopped because Shay kicked me in the ass."
"Remind me to thank her." She squeezed his hand.
"I don't even take Tylenol now babe. You know I saw your influence on me yesterday when I heard Mrs. Brooker was suing I got it. I understood. When people lose their everything they need a place to shove the pain. Everyone else is offended. Not me, I'd of sued the Killian Arena owners in heart beat if I thought it'd do any good. I was so pissed and scared when you got hurt? I'd of done anything to fix it."
"I'm still here." She kissed him. "Now which one of us is going to turn out the lights?"
"I'll do it. I need to pee anyway." He goes to the bathroom and turns off the scentsy after washing his hands. He burns his wrist on the wax bowl fucking ow, fucking everywhere!" he muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing Baby."
-/-/-/=
Olivia and Viv have been painting the second floor in every spare moment. So Kelly isn't surprised to find her sitting in the middle of scaffolding stenciling a wall.
"Baby have you seen my black dress suit and shirt?"" he stands on the stairs in his running gear.
"Still at the cleaners from the wedding." She answers not looking away from what she's painting.
"We got married three weeks ago Livvy!" he gripes.
"And the cleaner is on the north side, I've been busy getting our house together."
He rolled his eyes. "Painting parties with your sister are so important. Just so you know it looks like a circus tent in here! "She twists to glare at him.
"I asked your opinion and you shrugged and said whatever babe." She said imitating him.
"I don't talk like that and would you stop twisting before you fall off that thing! When will you learn you can't do everything just because you tell yourself that you can?"
"Excuse me! Just as soon as you learn you're a spoiled bitch and the world doesn't always revolve around the omnipotent Kelly Severide." She almost shouts.
She tosses down her paintbrush. "I can do anything I fucking good and goddamn well please even if it takes me five extra steps right now I'm perfectly happy to remind you that your spare suit is the closet and your ties are in the third drawer and because you pissed me off I'm not stopping my project to make your breakfast. You have four fully functional and capable limbs do it your fucking self." She points at him.
She hears him knocking around upstairs but doesn't move he takes the stairs two a time all the way down when door slams resoundingly she waits for him to turn around come back in and kiss her goodbye.
The car starts and then pulls away the tears crowding her eyes and blurring the words on the wall drip down her cheeks.
After most of her crying is over her mother calls. "It's your mother, mommy's on the phone pick up-"the minion voice rings out of her phone.
"Hey Mama."
"You finish it Ollie?"
"Almost, just the smoke and burns left." She sniffles.
"You okay? You were so excited to do this for him and you sound tired."
"He hates the entire room. I forgot his suit on an important day, it wasn't intentional honest. We fought." Her voice becoming small as another crying jag revs up.
"How bad?"
"He left without two words to me." The tears start again.
"I feel like shit Mom."
"When Viv comes over with the kitchen paint I want you to stop what you're doing and go get ice cream."
-/-/-/-
They all stand around the quiet locker room in their suits.
"Severide, you look like you ate a lemon what's up?" Mills asked.
"Got in a fight with Liv."
"What'd you do?" Casey asked.
"Why's it gotta be me?"
"Buddy its always you, just accept it." Hermann said.
"So what'd you do?" Cruz asks again.
"I said our living room looked a circus tent and may have called her lazy in a veiled manner then I told her she couldn't do something." All of them look at him like he's dumber than dirt.
"Please take this in the manner its intended sir. Because as the only woman in the room I feel the need to speak for all women. You're a dumb ass." Jones replied.
"She called me omnipotent I don't even know what it means!" he adds totally beside himself.
"It means god like, all powerful but in the context she was most likely using it means this asshole thinks he's center of the universe." Mouch answered.
-/-/-/-
Sitting in on the deposition is heart wrenching enough but to know he'd left the house without telling Liv he loved her made it that much worse. For the first time in just shy of a year no less. Once it's over he's on a mission to get home.
"Severide, go home and apologize. So you will live in a circus tent but the important thing? Is you're happy in it." Hermann said.
He nods to Hermann hurrying to his car.
-/-/-/-
When he pulls in Liv sits in Shay's truck with Vivi music blaring out of the windows. She looks at him but says nothing. He goes inside to find Shay. When he gets to the living room what he sees painted above the couch makes him stop dead in his tracks.
There amongst the faux scorch marks and smoke stains is the fireman's prayer. He knows because he'd memorized it as a child to say for his father.
Below it on notebook paper taped to the wall. "I hope you like your wedding gift. If it's too kitschy paint over it, I just wanted to show you I love all parts of you even the parts that scare me and might steal you from me one day.-Liv
"You feel like shit yet?" Shay asked coming from the kitchen. She has blue gray paint on her cheek.
He nods. He clears his throat uncomfortable with how much he wants to cry. "That's the most thoughtful gift I've ever been given."
"Grayne women are good like that."
"I insulted it. It's red so it stands out right?"
"Bingo."
"Are they out there planning ways to kill me?"
"They're eating ice cream and listening to dashboard confessional. Give her a minute, you made her cry. Just be glad your mother in law sent Viv and not Erin." Shay replied.
"She'd shoot me."
"In the crotch."
-/-/-/-
"You should probably go make up with him. Because you love him and well let's face it, you'll never get another piece of ass that fine again."
"ViviAnne!" she swats her sisters arm disapprovingly.
"Gay, not blind Deuce."
"Let's listen to Stolen one more time then I'll bite the bullet."
-/-/-
"She seems fine now." Kelly watches them through the front window. They're singing and chair dancing along.
"That was because V wouldn't let her pout. "Shay answers from behind him.
"They're crazy. Cute but crazy."
-/ -/-
"Okay Thanks for the ice cream and the sisterly pick me up." She said once they're unloaded.
"Welcome, Imma get my broad and roll out."
"Stop spend so much time with Lang it's bad for your brain cells, hand me the god forsaken suit please."
-/-/-
"They're coming act natural." Kelly said quickly moving away from the window.
"She's your wife you aren't a peeping Tom."
-/-/-/-
"Leslie-Oh you're down stairs. We're leaving, love you sis."
"Ditto Viv."
-/-/-
They sit and stand in silence for a bit after the girls leave. "Your suit." She hands him the suit still in its dry cleaners bag. "Sorry I've been so distracted and single minded about things, it's just I never thought this…" she gestured between them. "Was ever going to happen."
"What us? Baby I told you I'm not going anywhere." He shoved off the wall and moved closer.
"I never thought I'd get married Kelly because no matter how much you tell yourself you're not? The world it makes me feel broken. Like I can't have normal things and this I wanted this more than anything. I had this vision for my life and its finally becoming what I've worked toward. If I am obsessive about paint and the house I really am sorry. I just wanted to do something nice for you and I messed it up. I know today was important and you were nervous I'm-"
He cuts her off. "Don't say you're sorry Olivia. You have no reason to be, I was being a selfish ass. I can wear whatever is in my closet you're not my maid I can do laundry and cook my own breakfast."
"I like taking care of you." She admits softly.
"Nope, I'm supposed to take care of and protect you. I promised your Dad that I would but it was never my intention to make you feel broken. Seeing you sitting sky high on the scaffolding makes my heart jump into my throat and please be careful came out totally different and all wrong." He grabs her hand and holds it.
"You still hate the living room."
"No, I don't I promise you I love it. I just saw tiny pieces not the whole picture. You took something I mentioned one time in passing and made it a part of our home. No one's ever given me such a thoughtful and heartfelt gift before."
"Stand up. Please?" he asked.
She slid the chair to stand position. "I love you." He held her face in his hands. "I didn't say that today and it screwed with my whole day." He kissed her deeply and she pulled on his tie to bring him closer and kiss him back, he laughs into her kiss. "It'll never happen again." He kissed her forehead. "I will always tell you that you're loved and say goodbye. Mrs. Brooker didn't get one and her whole heart's broken. It reminded me how lucky I was."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, want help with the kitchen?"
"Nope but if you wanna wash the paint out of my hair…" she hints.
"Oh I'm there trust woman. Trust that."
AN: Viv and Shay's wedding gift and Kelly's boxers can be found on Pinterest. The fireman's creed/prayer is real just google it. I own nothing but the plot and my characters. Thank you for all the reviews and favorites and follows. Please keep em' coming if you like it.