A/N: This chapter is more around Severide and Kidd, as will be the first part of the next chapter, but rest assured, I haven't forgotten about Casey and Brett!Thanks for the reviews, favorites, follows, and for reading! I hope you enjoy chapter 3!

As Foster, Severide, and Kidd were getting ready to head home after sleeping over at Casey and Brett's, Foster brought up having a girls' night after next shift.

"Brett and I have plans after next shift," Matt jumped in.

"We do?" Sylvie asked.

"Yeah, I thought I told you about it, but I must've forgotten. Shouldn't take more than a couple hours, though."

Sylvie shot him a questioning look, but decided to go along with it. "I guess I'll join you guys when we're done," she said.

The friends said their goodbyes. When the door closed behind them, Sylvie turned to her fiance. "What aren't you telling me?" she asked suspiciously.

"Severide asked me if he could take you ring shopping after next shift."

"Oh my gosh," Sylvie gasped. "I don't know if I can do this." She moved to sit on the couch.

Thinking he did something wrong, Matt quickly moved after her, "I'm sorry, Sylvie, I was going to clear it with you, but -"

"No, it's not that," Sylvie rushed to cut him off.

He sat beside her. "Then what is it?" He asked, brows furrowed.

Sylvie closed her eyes and bit her lip. When she looked at him again, she said, "Before I tell you this, you have to promise you're not going to tell a soul."

Matt motioned with his fingers as he said, "Cross my heart. I won't tell anyone."

"Stella's pregnant," Sylvie said quietly. "She hasn't told Severide yet."

"Oh," Matt said. "When did this happen?"

"Stella just told me last night. She didn't even tell Foster. Poor girl's terrified."

"What's she so afraid of?"

"She's afraid Severide's gonna leave her."

"Come on, Severide's crazy for her."

"That's what I told her. When she told me about it last night, I told her just to tell him. But what if she doesn't before next shift? What if I accidentally let it slip to Severide?"

"Everything will work out, babe. Don't worry about it too much."

Next shift rolled around before Sylvie was ready. Matt gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder as they were walking into the firehouse. "It'll work out," he said.

She gave him a small smile before she broke off toward the lockers and he went to his office.

Stella was by the lockers when Brett walked in. "You tell him yet?" she asked.

"Tell who what?" Foster asked, walking in behind Brett.

Sylvie grimaced and mouthed "sorry" to Stella.

Stella shrugged. "You remember when you walked in on me and Brett the other night?"

"Yeah."

"I promise, I wasn't trying to keep some secret from you, Foster," Stella said, then she filled in her friend on the situation, finishing by answering Brett's question, "and I haven't worked up the guts to tell him yet."

"Oh girl, you need that night out even more now. We'll find somewhere that doesn't bank on alcohol to have fun, though."

"I freakin love you guys," Stella said, pulling the other two into a tight hug.

"Brett, you still in after your thing with Casey?"

"Of course I am!" Brett exclaimed.

"What was it that he 'forgot' to tell you anyway?" Stella asked.

"Uhh," Brett hesitated. Why did she have to be such a horrible liar?

Luckily for her, the bells went off, and they ran off to their rigs.

It was a busy day for 51. When shift finally ended, Sylvie went into Matt's office.

"Hey, beautiful," he greeted her.

She scoffed. "Like this? Hardly. I'm disgusting."

"Well I still think you're beautiful."

She sighed and smiled at him. "Such a charmer, you are."

"What's up?"

"Could you tell Severide I'm going to jump through the shower here, then I'll be ready to go? Kidd is in his office right now, otherwise I would."

"Yeah, I'll wait for Foster to distract her."

"You're the greatest."

He pulled her down to kiss her. "I love you."

"Love you, too. Talk to you tonight," she said, and went off to the showers.

Half an hour later, she was clean and dressed. She stopped at her locker then checked her phone. She had a message from Severide saying he would be waiting in his car. She went out to meet him.

"Thanks for doing this, Brett. I really appreciate it."

"I'm glad I can help," she replied, and they drove off. Once they'd been the road for a couple minutes, Sylvie asked, "So, I know you don't have the ring yet, but have you thought about how you're going to ask her?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. I was thinking I'd take her out on a boat, bring along a picnic or something. Just spend the day on the water. Ask her when it felt right."

"She'll love that!"

Severide grinned. "I hope so. We've been together for years. We've been living together for forever. I'm ready to settle down, officially, and spend the rest of our lives together."

"Any kids in that future?" Sylvie asked, testing the waters since it was a natural transition.

"Dunno," Kelly shrugged. "We've talked about it some. There was a time in my life when it was an exciting prospect. It's really hard to picture myself with them at this point, but I guess anything can happen. I don't think I'd be opposed, if it does. Stella would be a great mom." He found a parking spot in a ramp near a series of jewelry stores and the two friends entered.

After they'd found the perfect ring and Severide ordered one in Stella's size, Sylvie asked him to drop her off at home. Matt was pouring over some blueprints when she got inside.

"You're home early," he observed, standing to give her a hug.

She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. "Just decided to stop in and dump my shift gear before I went to meet the girls. I feel like I've barely gotten to see you today."

"I guess we'll have to make up to each other when you get home," he whispered, brushing his lips against her ear.

Sylvie hummed appreciatively. "I'd better go before Kidd and Foster think I forgot about them," she said.

He gave her one last kiss. She grabbed her keys and purse and went to meet Kidd and Foster.

"There she is!" Stella exclaimed when Sylvie walked into the coffee shop.

Sylvie smiled and waved at her friends. She put her order in at the counter and paid. She gratefully took the large cup from the barista and sat by her friends. "Hey, guys," she greeted.

"Brett, back me up on this," Stella said. She leaned in closer to her friend and lowered her voice. "You see that girl over there?" Stella flicked her eyes toward a fair-skinned brunette in a window booth who appeared to be engrossed in a book. "Foster hasn't been able to stop looking at her. Tell her she should just go say hi already!"

Brett took in the woman. She was petite. Her short, brown hair was parted far to the side. She had grey eyes and some light freckles. "Oh my goodness," Brett said. "Foster, she's adorable. You have to go introduce yourself."

Emily rolled her eyes at her friends. "Fine, but only because I know you two won't let me leave until I do." She got up and moved toward the booth. She could feel her friends' eyes on her back, but she tried to ignore it.

Having seen movement close to her, the other woman looked up. Her eyes got wide and she bit her lower lip. Quickly grabbing her bookmark to keep her spot, she returned her attention to Emily.

Foster spoke first. "H-hi," she said. "I, I, uh." She didn't know what to say. "I'm Emily."

"Hi," the other woman said. She had a soft voice. "I'm Skylar. My friends call me Skye."

"I just saw that you were reading Jodi Picoult," Foster said. "She's good."

"Yeah, one of my favorites," Skye replied. "I like how she keeps switching the POV. Keeps it interesting."

Foster gestured at the booth seat opposite Skye. "Mind if I -"

"Uh, yeah, please," Skye said, and Emily sat.

Foster glanced back at her friends. They gave her huge smiles and a thumbs up.

Skye followed her gaze. "Friends of yours?"

"Yeah. On the left is Stella, then Sylvie on the right."

There was a small break in the conversation. "So," Skye said, "Emily. What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a paramedic. How about you?"

"I teach preschool."

"Full moons, am I right?" Foster joked.

Skye smiled shyly. "Yeah. I imagine you see more," she paused, thinking of how to phrase it, "interesting situations in your line of work."

Foster nodded. "There's some crazy people out there."

There was another pause in their conversation. Skye pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her purse, writing something quickly, then sliding it toward Emily. "Here," she said, "this is my number. I should let you get back to your friends, but I'd love to get to know you better."

Emily smiled. "You got another one of those in there?" she asked, referring to the paper.

Skye rustled around in her purse, then slid another piece of paper to Emily.

Foster thanked her, then scribbled down her name and number. "It was really good to meet you, Skye," she said, handing her back the piece of paper.

"The pleasure's all mine," Skye replied, thanking Emily as she turned back to her book.

When Foster got back to her friends' table, she said, "I'm hungry. Let's find somewhere to eat."

The three decided on a Mexican restaurant down the street. During supper, Foster filled them in on Skye. Then, they talked a little about some ideas for Sylvie and Matt's wedding.

The waiter came with their bill. Foster took it, and the three got ready to go.

"Wait," Sylvie said. "Stella, when are you going to tell Severide about the baby?"

"Yeah, girl, you need to tell him soon," Foster chimed in.

Stella rubbed her forehead. "I know," she sighed. "I just don't know how to go about it."

"Stop overthinking, friend," Sylvie offered.

"We know this isn't easy, but that man loves you," Foster encouraged.

"He's not going to leave you," Sylvie said. "That's just the hormones talking."

Stella steeled herself, sitting more upright. "You two are right," she conceded. "I'll tell him as soon as I get home."

"Atta girl!" Foster said, patting her on the back.

The three walked out. Brett gave Stella a ride home, since she lived closer to her than Foster.

"You know, Brett," Stella joked on the way home, "You and Casey should get busy, then our babies could grow up together. If you get a start on it now, you're probably only six weeks behind."

"Funny," Sylvie replied. "Matt and I definitely want kids, but we want to get the wedding out of the way first. One thing at a time, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Worth a shot, though." Stella flashed a smile, then she sat quietly, staring out the window. "I've gotta be real with you, Brett," she said finally, "I can run into burning buildings without a single thought. That doesn't scare me at all, but this," she put a hand on her lower abdomen, "terrifies me."

Sylvie pulled into the parking lot behind Severide and Kidd's apartment. Once she had the car in park, she put a hand on Stella's shoulder. "That just means you care," she said. "Stella, you're going to be a great mom. You've got an incredible man by your side, you'll have all of 51 behind you, and you know Cindy is probably going to make it her personal mission to come help you through the first few months."

Stella smiled and leaned across the console to hug her friend. "What would I do without you?"

Sylvie gave her a gentle squeeze. "I'll keep my phone on me. Let me know how it goes," she said. "You've got this."

"Thanks, Brett." Stella said, then she took a deep breath and got out of the car.

Brett watched until Stella got inside, then pulled away, heading for home.