Stella shut the apartment door behind her. She called out, "Kelly?"

He popped up from where he'd been lying on the couch. "Over here," he said, and sat up to make room for her.

She sat beside him and took his hands in hers. "Kelly, I gotta tell you something."

He gave her hands a gentle squeeze, encouraging her to go on.

"I'm pregnant." Stella bit her lip.

"You're kidding," Severide replied, studying his girlfriend, sure this was some sort of joke. When she started tearing up and shook her head, he knew two things. First: she'd been serious and he just royally screwed up, and second: he needed to make up ground. Fast. Unfortunately for him, words weren't his strong suit, and they were failing him even worse right now. His head was reeling.

She retracted her hands from his and wrapped them around herself. "I'm sorry, Kelly, I know that this isn't something we were planning for, but I can't back out of this, and I'm not going to. If you want me to - to move out, I'll understand, and we'll make things work at work," she trailed off, looking up at Kelly for the first time in five minutes. He was staring at her, opening his mouth like he was going to say something, only to snap it back shut a second later. Open. Shut. Open. Shut. "For the love of God, Kelly, please say something."

Severide sighed and ran his hands over his face. He chastized himself, Pull yourself together, idiot. Your girl needs you and you're too wrapped up in your own damn thoughts.

Stella, interpreting Severide's silence for disapproval, stood. "I- I guess I'll find somewhere else to sleep tonight." She turned to walk away.

Severide stood and grabbed for her hand, catching her by the wrist. "No," he choked out. "Stay."

She turned to face him, tears in her eyes, still waiting for some sort of assurance.

Swallowing hard, he whispered, "I'm not going anywhere." He pulled her close and enveloped her in a tight embrace. She succumbed to her tears and cried on his shoulder. He kept a tight hold on her, gently swaying until she had calmed.

Later that night, they were lying in bed, spooned against each other, Kelly with his hand splayed across Stella's abdomen.

She put her hand over his. "I'm sorry for earlier," she said, rolling to face him. "I was so afraid of how you were going to react. I didn't want to lose you."

"I'm sorry, too," he replied, sitting upright. She followed suit, and he took her hands in his. "You know my history, Stella. One girl after another. And then there's you." He gave her a small smile. "If I'm being honest, I haven't thought about being a dad since before Shay died. That's closer to ten years ago now than it's not. Even then, that wouldn't have been the same. It would have been my genes, my kid, but Shay and I - we were just best friends. It would have been her and some other woman raising the kid. Now - it's mine, it's ours. It's a lot to take in."

"We're gonna figure this out." Stella squeezed his hands. "You're gonna be a great dad, Kelly."

He smiled at her. "I, uh, I had a plan for this, but I need you to know I'm serious about this," he said. "Brett and Casey didn't have plans after work today."

Stella tilted her head, giving him a questioning look. What did Brett and Casey have to do with this?

"I asked Brett to come with me to go ring shopping." Looking her in the eye, he said, "I love you. I know where I'd be without you, and that's a place I never want to be again. I don't have the ring yet, but I'm going to ask anyway. Stella, will you marry me?"

"Oh, Kelly," she said, tearing up again. Was the WHOLE pregnancy going to make her keep being this freaking emotional? "I can't think of anything I'd rather do."

He chuckled. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes, of course!" she replied, leaning in to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you too," he murmured against her lips, wrapping his arms around her and leaning both of them back onto the bed so he could show her just how much he meant it.

Brett woke up early the next morning and grabbed her phone off of the night stand. She got up and started a pot of coffee. She checked her phone as the coffee began to trickle into the pot. There still weren't any messages or missed calls from Kidd. She hoped that meant everything went well. Once enough coffee was brewed, she filled her mug and went to sit in the dining room. She grabbed her journal from the stack of things they kept on the table and wrote in it until Matt joined her half an hour later.

She finished her thought, then closed the notebook and put it back on the stack. "Have you heard from Severide?"

"Not since we talked right after shift yesterday, why?"

"Stella said she was going to share the big news with him when I dropped her off. I told her to let me know how it went, but haven't heard anything."

"If neither of us has heard anything, it's probably fine."

"That's what I was hoping."

Matt set his mug down on the table. "Can I get a proper good morning now?" he joked.

Sylvie blushed. "Sorry," she said, standing to give him a hug. "Good morning."

He smiled and kissed her. "You know, that's what I love about you, Sylvie Brett."

"What? That I totally forget about you because my mind is too busy elsewhere?"

"No. You care about people. You're a little extra like that," he replied, winking at her. "Kidd was probably your first thought this morning, wasn't she?"

Brett smiled sheepishly. "Right after coffee."

"That's my girl," he said, giving her another kiss, then went to make breakfast.

Sylvie checked her phone again and sighed. A watched pot doesn't boil, Sylvie, she told herself. She went to use the restroom then set the table and refilled her coffee. By then, Matt had the eggs, bacon, and toast ready.

After breakfast, she let herself check her phone again. There was a message there, but it wasn't from Kidd.

Matt saw Sylvie frowning at her phone. "Something wrong?"

"Less wrong for us than for some," she replied softly. Seeing his confused expression, she explained, "Gabby texted. There was another bad earthquake."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, but she says she won't be able to come back any time soon."

"I'm glad she's not hurt, at least."

"I guess we'll just have to get married without her," Sylvie said. "It's probably less weird like this, anyway."

Matt shrugged, then nodded. "I didn't want to say anything," he admitted. "I'm just glad that our relationship didn't hurt your friendship."

"You're a good man, Casey," Brett said, moving to give him a hug. Then, gesturing at the dishes, she said, "Let's take care of these."

"As you wish," Matt replied, picking up his plate and following Sylvie to the kitchen.

Later that day, there was a knock on their door. Sylvie went to answer it, since Matt was busy with some blueprints for a small construction job. Stella and Severide were there. Sylvie welcomed them in, letting Matt know he should come join them.

"Sorry I never texted you last night," Kidd said, pulling Sylvie aside while the guys exchanged greetings.

"I take it everything went okay?"

Stella nodded.

"What brings you two here?" Matt asked.

"What? Can't we just have a friendly surprise visit?" Severide joked.

"Kelly," Kidd chastized. "We wanted to talk to you before shift, Captain."

"Ah, official business, then. What can I do for you?" Casey asked as the four of them took seats around the living room.

"I'm sure Brett told you," Kidd said, shooting her friend an accusatory look, "Kelly and I are expecting."

"She did," Casey confirmed, as Brett smiled sheepishly, "Let us be the first to congratulate the two of you."

Severide and Kidd smiled their thanks. "Casey, we wanted to tell you since Stella doesn't want to move off of truck until she has to-"

"But," Kidd took over from Kelly, "we didn't want to tell Boden or the others until we're past the first trimester, at least."

Casey nodded knowingly. "I can appreciate that," he said, a twinge of sadness in his voice. "Kidd, you let me know if you ever feel like you can't do something. We'll keep you around as long as we can."

She thanked him. Severide shared the news of his semi-impromptu proposal and asked Brett and Casey if they would be witnesses for them the following weekend.

"You just needed an excuse to beat me to the altar, didn't you, Severide?" Casey jested.

"Hey," Severide replied, raising his hands defensively, "We've been together longer than you and Brett. It's only right."

"Does that mean you're expecting us to start popping kids behind you?" Casey fired back. Then, turning to his fiance, "How do you feel about that, babe?"

Stella and Sylvie were both snickering at the friendly banter between their men. "Oh, we talked about it, already," Sylvie replied.

"But your girl is a fun hater. Said she wanted to get married first," Stella chimed in.

"You heard it, Severide," Matt said, shrugging, "I can't argue with my girl."

The friends shared a laugh, then chatted for a little longer before Severide and Kidd decided to head home.

"Can we talk about the wedding?" Matt asked when they sat down for supper that night.

"Sure," Sylvie replied through a mouthful of food. "What's up?"

"Originally, we were waiting for Gabby to let us know when she was coming back to set a date, but now that she can't make it, I thought maybe we could move forward with this?"

"Of course! Do you think Herrmann will let us have it at Molly's?"

"Oh yeah. That won't be a problem. How does March sound?"

"Early or late March?"

"Early?"

"That would give us a little over three months to get everything done," Sylvie said.

"That's enough time, don't you think?" Matt asked. "If we keep it simple?"

"Definitely," she agreed. "I'll have enough time to find a dress, we won't really need much for decorations, and maybe the weather will be starting to be nice."

The couple shared a smile and soon finished their meal. Dishes were cleaned and put away, then they went to take a shower.

Matt got back into the bedroom first and was in the process of pulling on a pair of boxer briefs when Sylvie came in.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she asked, pressing her bare form against his.

"I was going to put on pajamas, but you appear to have different ideas," he replied, letting the underwear drop to the floor.

"With all this wedding talk, I was thinking we could practice what we're going to do after we're officially married."

Needing no more convincing, Matt scooped her up, and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bed.