Life, Kim has learned, can have a strange sense of humour sometimes.
This, she thinks to herself as her and Hailey stare, open mouthed, speechless, shocked at each other, is definitely one of those times.
"I... What?.. I," Hailey stumbles out, her eyes wide, Kim staring back with equally wide eyes, watching as the blonde tries to process this, tries to process how they even happened—all while wondering herself what the chances of this happening are, that this can only be because life has a strange taste in what's funny.
"This—this isn't right, right? Kim, right?" Hailey almost looks desperate at her, glancing down at the stick in her hand and back up at Kim frantically, her eyes darting as she does so, gliding over the pink positive line like if she doesn't focus on it, it won't be there.
"Well, I kinda hope it is," Kim lets out a dry kind of laugh as she answers, glancing at her own stick, with a matching pink line. "Since we brought these together and I—I want to be pregnant."
The panic lessens briefly in Hailey's eyes, her friend smiling again at Kim's own shock. "Right, yeah. And you want to be pregnant—so no more freaking out, yeah?"
Hailey grabs Kim's hand with her spare one, giving it a supportive squeeze. "No more freaking out, this is good."
Kim smiles back at her friend, the hand holding her stick drifting over her flat stomach. Her earlier worries—about if she can do this, if she could handle being pregnant again—still clinging to her but not making her feel as sick, the joy and excitement at being pregnant, at having Adam's baby in her again, flooding her stronger. She repeats her friend's words in her mind; this is good.
"But like—yours could be right, and mine wrong? Right? Like that could happen? I mean— people get false positives. This, mine, it could be false?" Hailey has gone back to freaking out. Kim places her stick down so that she can run her hands down the blonde's arms, calming her.
"Hailey, breathe. Everything is okay." Kim pauses, letting Hailey breathe in and out before continuing. "It could be a false positive—it could also be real. But it's okay, it's not a crisis if it is real. Have you and Jay discussed kids?"
Hailey smiles momentarily at the mention of her husband, her hand twisting the wedding ring on her finger before answering Kim. "Yeah. I mean, yeah, of course we have. A few times—before we were even together, even. Not that we were planning it together—well, not out loud—"
"Hailey." Kim cuts off her rambling. There's not many times that the blonde rambles, even when she's panicking, she keeps a—seemingly—calm head. But when she does, she can really start to spiral.
"Sorry." Hailey stops, running a hand through her hair, the other still clinging to the stick, almost as if she can't put it down, like the thought is something incredibly out there and impossible.
"What have you discussed? Do you two want kids?" Kim gently probes.
"Yeah. Yeah, we do." Another short-lived smile. "But not—not now. It's still, it's something in the future. And we still weren't fully decided if we'd do it this way, like I always wanted to adopt but I know, I know it's not a walk in the park and we've been talking. I've been wondering if it was just because of the fear of my genes and I. We agreed we'll leave it for a bit, but that's gone out the window."
Hailey pauses, running her hand through her hair again, before groaning. "Kim, tell me, what should I do?"
Kim gently holds both of her hands, closing Hailey's fist around the stick. "You talk to Jay."
That seems to calm the blonde, Hailey getting a soft smile on her face—the face Kim has dubbed her Jay smile. "Yeah. I talk to Jay."
"Okay. Can we leave now—I think if we're any longer Adam might just walk in. You know he has no patience," Kim looks at Hailey's expression carefully, noting every part of it, making sure that her friend is good enough to get through the rest of the day.
"Yeah. Yes." Hailey nods, pulling Kim into a hug. "Thanks, Kim. And congratulations, again. This is really great."
Kim squeezes her back, looking forward to when she might—maybe—be able to say it back to Hailey.
The day had started with Kim throwing up in the toilet. She had been feeling nauseous for a few days, going in waves, and that feeling—that thought that it might be because she's pregnant and not because it's flu season—had been in the back of her mind.
She had tried not to focus on that thought too much, not wanting to go down that path, not when it could just be a bug. Not wanting to give herself hope, only to get it taken from her.
Kim had rationalised it, even the throwing up. It was a minute amount, nothing compared to when she was pregnant the first time. Adam had a food related bug the other day, so this could just be that, Kim had told herself. Things tend to hit her a bit slower, after all.
And then there's that Sylvie has a stomach bug—one that's kept her in bed all week, texting Kim often to complain when Matt is on shift. And Kim had hung out with Sylvie the day before she fell ill. This, Kim told herself, is probably just it affecting her, now, too.
This day was the first time she threw up, and so was the first time she told Adam she's been feeling nauseous. His reaction was exactly how she predicted it would be.
He had lifted an eyebrow, pausing as he sipped his coffee. "Are you... Do you think..?"
Adam had asked it very casually, his expression neutral. Like her, he was unable to say the words, finish the sentence, neither one of them wanting to voice the possibility, not wanting to voice it in case it's not, not wanting the hurt associated with false hope.
"I don't know. It's probably a bug." Kim had answered and he had hummed in response. A part of her wished that she wouldn't tell him this, that she wouldn't be having this conversation with him when it's just a thought and not even, really, much of a possibility.
But communication is important, a lesson she had learnt many times before—that in the long run, it does more than doesn't. And it's not good for her, for herself, to keep these thoughts locked up only in her brain. Especially when having more kids is something they want.
It's not like they're actively trying. Kim's only just come off birth control, and the doctor warned them it takes a while for her body to adjust. They had even been using condoms, occasionally, as it makes the clean up easier in their busy lives.
That had been all they had said to each other, then, needing to get Makayla ready and to school, before heading to work themselves. But it was only a few hours later, when another wave of nausea had washed over her while Adam and her were in the break room that she had stopped them making the coffee, grabbing at Adam's arm.
"I should get a test." Kim had told him, murmuring, but her urgency clear. She knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else until she knew if she was or not, the thoughts in her mind almost distracting her.
"Okay. Now? We can say we're going to see a CI?" Adam immediately got his game face on, and that's when she had started to panic. About what if she is pregnant, about if she's ready to be pregnant again, about if she can handle it.
Suddenly, the thought of simply peeing on a stick seemed impossible.
Hailey had entered the break room, then, and had took on look at Kim's panicked expression and Adam trying to calm her to know that something was up. It only took one look between her and Adam, after Hailey asked if she was okay, for them to fill in Hailey, needing another voice to help them through this.
"Hey, calm down." Hailey had said in that way of hers. "It'll be okay and there's no point panicking until you know—and here. If it's too much to pee alone, I'll take one with you. Moral support."
It was an insane idea, Adam staring at Hailey incredulously. But it clicked in Kim's brain, and she found herself saying yes before she knew what she was doing.
They had used the CI lie instead, telling Voight they were going to see one of Hailey's. Kim had watched as Hailey tried not to focus on Jay's eyes following them out the bullpen, not wanting to let him know there was anything more to it—good, considering.
The journey there and back was filled with Kim's nervous ramblings to Hailey, as she voiced her fears and worries about this, the blonde just listening patiently and giving her comfort and support when she needed it.
They had taken the tests in the district ladies room, Adam waiting outside—probably shooing away anyone else. Which, Kim had thought, probably means Trudy will have a theory to her being pregnant before the day is up.
"It'll be alright, Kim." Hailey had reassured her as they waited those long two minutes. Hailey had gotten out her phone, had set a timer for them and even though Kim could see the seconds counting down, it felt like eternity.
"I can't. Can you look at it?" Kim had asked after the minutes were up, unable to look at the stick, feeling quite like her heart was in her throat. Hailey had rolled her eyes good-naturedly, before telling Kim that she will.
The excited yelp that left Hailey's mouth almost instantly after told Kim all she needed to know and Kim turned the stick to look at it herself, and seeing that amazing pink line.
"I'm pregnant! Hailey, I'm pregnant!" Kim couldn't help her own excitement, throwing her arms around the blonde, squeezing her into a hug.
"Oomph," Hailey clearly hadn't been prepared for that, lifting her arms weirdly at the sudden brunette weight barrelled into her and that's when Kim saw it.
Hailey's own stick.
Hailey's own stick, with her own pink line.
"Hailey!" Kim gasped before she can stop it, squeaking out her friend's name. Hailey pulled back from the hug, frowning at Kim.
"What?"
"Your..." Kim couldn't finish the sentence, instead she pointed at the stick and watched as Hailey looked down at it, watching the comprehension and then shock over take her face.
It's a few days later, and Kim is sitting in Molly's. Sylvie has gotten over her bug and immediately organised a girl's night out. Not that Kim or Hailey will be drinking—a shame, since Sylvie had told them that she and Stella had some exciting news.
The day after the found out, Hailey had come into work and whispered into Kim's ear that everything was okay. That her and Jay decided that this is unexpected but welcome, and they had a doctor's appointment to confirm it.
Very little people know yet. Kim has been to the doctor, the doctor confirming she is ten weeks along. They told Kevin almost immediately, Trudy—as Kim guessed—had yet again figured it out and of course Hailey knows, alongside Jay.
They told Voight, just so Kim could explain why she doesn't want to go out in the field—can't, really, her pregnancy being somewhat of a high risk—although she's waiting until Monday to officially disclose.
This weekend Adam and her have plans to tell Makayla, something she's quite excited too, knowing how much her daughter wants to be a big sister, having been begging them for a baby for months—well, that or a puppy.
Hailey and Jay have only told, obviously her and Adam, and Will. They're waiting until after today—the day of their doctor's appointment—before disclosing and Kim and Hailey had a conversation about announcing it to their mutual friends, deciding it might be nice to do it together. Of course, it depends on how along Hailey is.
"Hey," Hailey slips into the booth next to her and Kim smiles in greeting to her friend.
"Hey. How did the appointment go?" Kim asks, knowing once Sylvie and Stella gets here they won't be able to discuss the pregnancies.
"Great," Hailey practically beams. "We heard the heartbeat! Jay cried."
Kim laughs slightly. "So did Adam. I mean, so did I, but I cry at everything."
At that, Hailey laughs too. "Kim, so does Adam. Not like you—but I wouldn't say he's not a crier. Jay—I've seen him cry, but, man, it was. It just hit me, this is the father of my baby. And it made me more happy then I think the heartbeat did. We were both raised by a men who never be seen crying but our baby isn't going to have that. It was...it was wonderful."
"I'm so happy for you. Congratulations," Kim pulls her into a hug before quickly adding on, checking to see if Sylvie and Stella had arrived yet. "So come on, quick. How far along are you?"
At that, Hailey excitedly grabs her arms. "Yes! How could I forget! Kim, you'll never guess—I'm also ten weeks along!"
Life, Kim thinks again, really does have a strange sense of humour.
A thought she once again thinks when Stella and Sylvie arrive and they make their announcement.
"We're pregnant. Both of us." They announce and Kim's mouth drops open, and she realises they all ordered water instead of alcohol. She barely knows how to process this, Hailey squeezing her hand in shock under the table, but before she can, they're dropping the next bombshell.
"Stella found out about a week or so ago, I found out earlier this week when I kept throwing up. We're both around ten weeks," Sylvie continues.
"No fucking way." The words drop out of Hailey's mouth, and judging by the way she gasps, holding her hands across her mouth, Kim guesses she didn't mean them too. Kim tries to calm her down, widening her eyes at the blonde, but the other two catch on to that there's something going on.
Kim sighs, after Hailey gives her the go ahead. "Hailey and I—we're also pregnant. Ten weeks."
Life has a strange sense of humour.
Kim doesn't think there's any mutual acquaintance in their lives who doesn't somewhat doubt that the four couples didn't plan this. If Kim wasn't living through it, she'd scarcely believe it herself. Especially when they narrowed it down and are pretty sure all four pregnancies are the result of a faulty condom—condoms taken from Kelly's infamous bathroom supply.
Kelly and Stella are self explanatory. They hadn't used them in a while, but Stella was changing birth control and so they did. Matt and Sylvie a little bit less, but still less incredulous. Matt doesn't live with Kelly and Stella anymore, but the guestroom—now a nursery—was still open to them any time, the boys having slight separation issues. And apparently when they did this, they'd just use Kelly's supply.
Jay and Hailey had apparently ran out, and they hadn't gotten more before Stella and Kelly hosted a night at theirs and Jay had apparently thought grabbing a handful from the supply would be a good idea. Hailey almost questioned her choice in man then, not that Kim could judge her.
Because on that same night, Adam and her were getting a little too flirty and when they realised they were feeling a little loud than they can be, with Makayla sleeping at home, they, in their wisdom, decided why not do it in Adam's jeep.
And they didn't have any protection, naturally, on them so Adam had grabbed a condom for Kelly's supply.
And thus, all four pregnancies were made.
There are benefits, however, Kim would happily admit. Voight, maybe not, depending he's down two members and another two when there's doctor appointments. And with them being due around the same time, they'll be a month he's down all four, give and take. The unit—especially Kevin—might also not, especially on the days her and Hailey's hormones and cravings and hated smells conflicted.
But there are benefits. Having your three close friends going through the same things is nice, especially when they could see if a symptom or something is usual—especially when one of the friends is a paramedic and the other's brother in law is a doctor.
It also makes it more fun, all of them—the men included—having a light hearted race about who's bump shows first, who kicks and moves first and so forth. It made the pregnancies that little bit more fun, even when it was miserable, even when doubts and anxieties about the upcoming parenthood loomed.
The biggest race, especially as the pregnancies drew closer to the end, was the competition and bets who will go into labour first, who will have their baby before the other.
But, of course, life has a strange sense of humour so, naturally, they all went into labour on the same day.
Stella had technically started the night before, her contractions beginning then. They were far and few in between so she was advised just to wait.
Kim's had started earlier that morning. She had been woken up at the crack of dawn with back pain. Nothing too unusual at this stage of the pregnancy, but as Adam was helping Makayla pack her lunch for school, Kim's waters had broke.
When Adam and her had gotten to the hospital, about to update the group chat, they had passed Stella and Kelly and the high five they had shared had raised some nurses eyebrows.
Childbirth being the thing that it is, they didn't look at the group chat after that. Kim's contractions were starting to come more frequently, and Adam had left the room to holler at the doctor—only to run into Will. Will, who raised his eyebrow at Adam, and asked if he was here for Hailey and Jay.
Because the one thing Voight joked better not happen, that he can't be down four members, plus a fifth and the desk sergeant as they were determined to meet Kim and Adam's second daughter as soon as possible, had happened and Hailey had gone into labour around midday.
Flora Leslie Severide is born first, at seven point six pounds. Her godparents had plans to meet her first, but they had got laid up with their own new arrival so the man who had been like a father to both her parents and his wife met her first.
Alice Trudy Burgess Ruzek is born second, at eight point seven pounds, a weight that got her father nearly cursed at. Her older sister was the first to meet her, shortly followed by their grandmother Trudy and godfather Kevin.
If you were to ask Kim who's kid would come next, she would've guessed the Halstead's son, but it wasn't. Sylvie had gone into labour later than the others, but had a much faster labour, her daughter being determined to be born quickly, apparently.
And so, Estelle Kelly Casey is born third, at nearly seven pounds. Met first by her honorary grandfather, Mouch, already at the hospital to be with his wife and her godparents, with her cousin Flora sleeping, having been in the world a little longer.
And finally, Nikolas Patrick Halstead made his arrival, last but the biggest at nine pounds, met by his uncle and godfather first, but shortly followed by uncle Kevin, his godmother Kim and uncle Adam still occupied with his cousin.
Life has a strange sense of humour sometimes but—as Kevin joked—at least they can all split birthday costs with each other and not have to worry about their various aunts and uncles not being able to make it.
Not to mention how it made finding the balance between being new parents and having a social life easier.
And eventually, people stopped looking at them as if they planned this. That is, of course, until Sylvie and Hailey had their second kids—Andrew Casey and Theodore Halstead—at the same time, too.