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Random Family

Kelly and Lacey were home alone now, after the celebration at Molly's with the others. These days, since Lacey had become pregnant, when they were laying in bed together Kelly laid a little further down, pushing the fabric of Lacey's shirt up to kiss her still flat stomach. He already adored his daughter and almost feared what was to come, knowing he'd be wrapped around that little girl's finger; just like her mother had him already around hers.

"Did you have fun tonight?" Kelly asked her.

"Mhmm," Lacey nodded sleepily, taking a deep breath as a wave of nausea hit her. She thought that it was unfair that they called it morning sickness. While it did happen mostly when she woke up, there were still times she would randomly get sick throughout the day, not really able to predict it.

"Feelin' ok?" Kelly asked now, inching up now to be closer to her.

"Just regular sick," Lacey promised, resting and letting her eyes drift shut.

"Want me to get you anything?" Kelly offered.

"Mmmm," Lacey shook her head, squeezing her eyes tight now like she was trying to block it out. It didn't work though, as she got out of bed quickly, holding her stomach as she sped off to the bathroom. Kelly got up now to follow her, always feeling bad when she got sick. As he knelt down next to her though, she shook her head.

"I'm fine," Lacey told him, though she threw up again and he rested a hand on her back. "Can you..." She took another deep breath. "Get me some ginger ale please?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Kelly told her, kissing her head before going down the hall to the kitchen to grab her a can of ginger ale from the case he had bought, knowing it always helped when she was sick. When he came back down the hall, Lacey was already back in bed, scrolling on the screen of her phone with a confused look.

"Little late, isn't it?" Kelly asked lightly, setting the ginger ale on her side of the bed.

"Some late night hang up call," Lacey shook her head, setting her phone down and taking the ginger ale gratefully, sipping on it slowly. "Bet it's a wrong number."

"Probably," Kelly agreed, though he wondered if it was from Shay, calling from a random payphone. He figured that was doubtful though, since she would always have her phone. "Is Dawson still coming over tomorrow, for breakfast?" He knew that they were going to plan some kind of intervention for Shay before shift, making her talk to them about what happened and what was going on with her.

"Mhmm," Lacey nodded, curling up under the blankets now, Kelly putting his arm over her waist. "Hopefully we can figure out what to do for Shay."

"I hope so," Kelly agreed, kissing her shoulder. "You want me to stick around?"

"I want you to go see Katie," Lacey told him, his sister contacting him again after she had said she didn't want to get involved with his family. Kelly's sister had offered to come by the house and make lunch, since she was a student at a culinary school in town. She wanted to get to know her brother and figured this was the best way to do it.

The next morning, Kelly was off to see Katie, to make up for missing out on having time with his younger sister. Lacey had been really insistent on him spending time with her, wanting him to get to know her better. Since he hadn't been talking to his dad and never really had much of a relationship with Beth, Katie was the only family in town that he had. Not long after he left, Dawson showed up to talk with Lacey about the situation with Shay, though Lacey kept running off to the bathroom with fits of nausea.

"You could ask your doctor for some zofran," Dawson offered as Lacey sat back down at the table with another can of ginger ale. This was her breakfast while Dawson had actual food. "It helps a lot with nausea."

"I don't want to take anything if I don't have to," Lacey shook her head, hesitant about taking even a tylenol because she didn't know what it would do to her baby. Dawson nodded in agreement.

"Did you guys think of a name yet?" Dawson asked. They were both there for Shay, but it was awkward to bring up the second Dawson got there.

"Maybe Zoe," Lacey told her. Dawson already knew that they were planning on the wedding in July, two months after the baby was due. Lacey had already asked her and Heather to be bridesmaids, waiting on tracking down Shay and solving her problems before asking her to be her maid of honor. Kelly was having Casey and Capp as groomsmen, with Jack and Sean standing in for Andy as best men; his two younger half brothers were going to be ring bearers.

"What are we going to do?" Dawson sighed now, Lacey just shrugging.

"I can't even imagine what she's feeling," Lacey said back, Dawson nodding. "Have you tried talking to her at work?"

"Can't," Dawson told her. "Not since she changed houses last shift."

"She's trying that hard to avoid everyone?" Lacey asked and Dawson nodded. "She's not answering any of my calls."

"Mine either."

"Should we try stopping by her place?" Lacey offered.

"If she'd even let us in," Dawson pointed out.

"Well, you're going to be late for shift," Lacey pointed out to her. "I'll just..." She trailed off as she thought about it. "Go break into her place and make her talk to me."

"Keep me posted?" Dawson asked.

"I'll try to drag her by the house even," Lacey promised.

Lacey went over to Shay's place right away, leaving when Dawson left for shift. At first, Lacey thought she might have tried the wrong key because it didn't even fit in the lock. After she tried each key on the ring though, she knew that Shay must have changed her locks. She planned to go get the super, making up some lie for him to unlock the apartment, when she spotted Shay coming down the hall.

"Hi!" Lacey greeted her.

"What are you doing here?" Shay asked her.

"Uh..." Lacey didn't know what to say as Shay unlocked the door. Even if she didn't seem like she wanted Lacey there, she did leave the door open and Lacey walked in behind her. Observing the apartment, Lacey noticed some of her things were missing.

"What happened in here?" Lacey asked.

"Oh," Shay said in surprise, setting her bag on the counter. "I, um, gave this girl I was seeing a key. Uh..." She shrugged. "Guess you can figure out how that went." She pulled out a bottle of liquor.

"Shay, it's noon," Lacey said worriedly.

"I don't really want a lecture Lacey," Shay told her. "Oh, but you're not allowed to be around alcohol right?"

"Shay," Lacey sighed, setting her hands on the counter, standing on the other side from Shay. "Kelly was just worried-"

"Whoa!" Shay cut her off, looking at her left ring finger. "You're engaged?"

"Um-"

"And no one told me?!" Shay asked.

"Bet no one told you about Cruz and Zoya either," Lacey said lightly but Shay didn't seem as amused.

"How could you guys keep me out of the loop on this?" Shay asked.

"It happened yesterday," Lacey told her. "And you're the one not answering anyone's calls!" Shay was quiet now, not pouring her drink yet. "Shay, I am so sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Shay asked, tearing up a bit now.

"I have no idea how to be there for you," Lacey asked. "I haven't really even tried, none of us have. But you have to let us know how to help. You can't just...disappear on everyone."

"You all seem to be doing just fine without me," Shay told her.

"Ok, well I'm about to be completely selfish here," Lacey said back. "I need you. And my baby needs it's godmother." She shook her head. "You don't even want to know some of the names Kelly was trying to pick out for her. I mean...wow." Shay was trying not to smile, but one cracked on her face. "And neither of us has ever really had to take care of a baby before. And, oh my God, I love her but please don't make me have Heather as my maid of honor. Please, please, please." Shay bit her lip. "What's been going on with you?"

"I just..." Shay said, blinking back tears. "After it happened, I felt like I couldn't do anything. Like I messed everything up." She shook her head. "Then, I kept messing up everything with you guys..." A few stray tears slipped out of her eyes. "I felt like I...didn't belong anywhere or-"

"Hey!" Lacey stopped her quickly, rushing around the corner to hug her. "You are part of the most randomly put together family I think has ever existed." Shay laughed a little, wiping at her eyes. "And we love you so much."

"I love you guys too," Shay hugged Lacey again.

"Well, I bet it takes at least another shift to get you transferred back," Lacey said, as if Shay didn't have another option but to transfer back. "Do you wanna catch me up on everything that's been going on with you?"

"Only if you promise to catch me up back," Shay told her.

The next morning after shift, Shay and Lacey went to meet Kelly, Casey, and Dawson for breakfast. Shay apologized for blowing them all off, but they all had understood and were just glad that she was ok, promising they were there for her if she needed to talk still. Before breakfast, Kelly had stopped to drop off some of Katie's stuff after she had cooked lunch for the firehouse the day before. When he had gone there, her mom was talking about Katie's graduation she couldn't make because her and Katie's step-dad had to go to their other daughters' volleyball tournament.

"Hey, guys," Kelly said as they were finishing their food. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"What's up?"

"Katie's graduation is tonight," Kelly started to explain.

"Wait, who's Katie?" Shay asked curiously, with Lacey not mentioning that part as she had been focused mostly on Shay.

"Oh, my sister," Kelly explained.

"I missed everything!" Shay exclaimed.

"Mhmm," Kelly nodded. "Anyway, she doesn't have anyone to go so, I wanted to have a party for her at Molly's. And I wanted you guys all to come."

"Aw, Kelly, that's really sweet," Dawson told him.

"Definitely," Shay agreed. "I can't wait to meet her."

While everyone set up for the party at Molly's, Kelly and Lacey went to the graduation ceremony. They were running a little late, so they snuck in quietly and sat in the back, unseen by Katie. They were calling names, everyone getting cheers from the people that were there for them. Katie didn't seem happy to be sitting there, waiting for her name to get called and having no one to cheer for her. She was happily surprised though when her name got called and Kelly and Lacey were both standing up and clapping for her.

After the ceremony, Kelly and Lacey took Katie to Molly's for her surprise party. Lacey was so excited to meet Katie, since Kelly didn't have siblings, at least none close to their age. They talked the whole way there, and Kelly was happy that they were getting along so well. Lacey had even invited Katie to go with her, Shay, and Dawson the next weekend to shop for bridesmaid dresses; even if she wasn't in the wedding, Lacey still wanted her to feel part of things. Katie was happy, feeling closer to her new found brother. She hadn't expected this at all, even more shocked when it turned out they were throwing a party for her at the bar.

"Thank you so much you guys," Katie was telling Kelly, Lacey, and Shay during the party. "This really means so much to me."

"Well, welcome to our random family," Shay smiled, clinking glasses with her, making Katie and Lacey both smile.

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