"Casey, I need a big favor," mumbled Kelly into his phone still trying to rub the bleariness out of his eyes. His head felt like exploding from the inside out and he still wasn't sure if he called the right person - Matt or his dad. It had been a toss up but he didn't think he could face any of his dad's questions and "told you so attitude."
"Severide. What's up?" asked Casey playing dumb while Shay was fiercely mouthing the words, "Where is he?"
"Yeah, hang tight. I'll be right there." Casey turned to Shay's questioning look and answered, "He's in jail."
"What the hell? Is he okay? Let's go get him!" Shay said heading out the door.
"Whoa. I'M going to get him. If you show up, he's going to run. I know him. You need to let me go get him, alone."
Shay started to disagree but realized there was truth in Casey's words. Kelly would have surely hung up if he knew Leslie was there. He would run if she showed up. That damn look in his eyes when he saw her with Clarice and the baby.
"Go." Shay pushed Casey out the door. "Text me and tell me everything is okay and he's alright, okay?"
"I will because everything is okay and I'm sure he's fine." Casey smiled and headed off to bail out his friend. It wasn't the first time, but hopefully this would be the last.
Kelly's head hung straight down as he sat on a chair in the police station waiting area. The officers weren't charging him with anything. "Haha. We figured he just needed a place to sleep it off. He kept saying some girl's name, hahaha, always about a girl, right?"
"Thanks a lot officer. The CFD appreciates it." Casey looked at the sad state of his friend and knew he had his work cut out for him. "You look like shit. Please tell me the other guy is at least dead." Casey was smiling at his friend to hide his worry.
"I don't know what the other guy even looks like. Can we get the hell out of here and go back to your place?" Kelly rose slowly really feeling it in his ribs. His left eye wouldn't open all the way and his cheek was throbbing. He was sure Casey was putting it lightly when he said he looked like shit. Casey pulled out of the station and stole a glance at his friend.
"What's wrong with your place?" Casey wasn't admitting any knowledge yet, not until the truck was rolling at least 40mph, no chance of Kelly jumping out.
"I am one stupid son of a bitch."
"Truer words have never been spoken." Casey laughed and was glad to see Kelly break a small smile. "Shay is sick about what happened. It is not at all what you..."
"You asshole! You know what happened and you're just now saying something. I should have called my dad." Kelly was reaching for the door, but they were comfortably at 42mph.
"Things are not what you think!" Casey was yelling now. "As USUAL, you have it all wrong! As usual you don't think that there is any possibility that you are wrong! But this time you are going to keep your ass in that seat and listen to me!" The yelling was not Casey's style and it had its intended effect. Kelly sat in silence.
"Nothing is going on between Shay and Clarice! Nothing, nada! Get that through your thick skull!" Softening his tone a little, he tried to get through to his friend. "I know that what you saw must have hurt. I can't imagine. But you need to really think about this. What did you see?"
"I saw a beautiful family portrait that I had no business in. I saw Shay looking so happy with Wesley in her arms..."
"Okay, stop right there! Yes, Shay happy with a baby in her arms. That makes sense. Clarice texted her over and over, then shows up at your apartment, dumping the baby in her arms, with her usual Clarice routine." Casey glanced at Kelly to see if he could get a read on his thoughts. "Honestly, Kelly! Do you really think that if Shay was going to cheat on you she would invite the person to YOUR apartment?"
Silence. Casey could see the wheels turning. Now to bring it home.
"And when did you become such a puss?" Casey kept his eyes straight ahead as he delivered this last question.
"Excuse me?!" Kelly could feel his face flush with anger.
"When does Severide run? Ever? I can't believe you didn't kick Clarice out, or yell at Shay and kick her out, but just leave? Not a word? No fight?" Casey was shaking his head in mock disbelief.
"You're right."
"Wait, did I just hear you admit you were wrong?" Casey knew he had won and was smiling now. He could send that text to Shay.
"Don't be a dick about it. I think I was too afraid to find out that Shay didn't want me after all. That she figured out she could do a lot better. It was easier to run. You're right." Kelly hadn't said those words in a long, long time. They didn't hurt as much as he thought they would.
Shay had cleaned and re-cleaned every bathroom in the apartment. She vacuumed, dusted, and was in the process of cleaning out the fridge when she heard the door to the apartment open. Afraid to find only Casey entering, she peeked around the fridge door and let out the breath she was holding.
"Kel! Oh my God! Your face! Are you okay?" Shay's apprehension was gone as she headed straight for her beaten and bruised man.
"I'm sorry. I should have stayed. I should have heard you out. I'm an ass." Kelly stated flatly holding Shay and squeezing so tight she could barely breath. It felt good to feel her soft hair on his face, see those beautiful eyes looking up at him.
"Shut up! You are not apologizing. I am the one that needs to apologize. Kelly, I am so sorry that I didn't tell you when Clarice texted me. I didn't want you to worry. You have nothing to worry about with me, ever. " Shay loved this man entirely and wanted him to feel that love. She wanted him to believe that he deserved that love. She didn't know if that would ever happen, but she would do everything she could to prove it to him.
Shay didn't mention the terrible scene Kelly walked into when he saw Clarice and baby Wesley with her and the hurt it must have caused him. That was for later when they were alone.
"Well, now that Kelly has admitted he is an ass and was actually wrong, I feel that my work here is done." Casey winked at Shay as she led him to the door.
"Casey, thank you. We'll get this guy all straightened out eventually," Shay whispered in Casey's ear.
"You're such an optimist," Casey laughed. Kelly could hear his two friends laughing and had a suspicion it was at his expense. It felt good, like everything was as it should be.
Shay grabbed an ice pack and gently placed it on Kelly's swollen eye as he sat on the couch.
"Kelly," she began knowing that much more needed to be said, but he interrupted her before she could say another word.
"No. You don't need to say one more thing about this. I want to say something. Seeing you with Wesley hurt. It hurt because I wasn't a part of that. It also hurt because I saw the look in your eyes. You want a baby. You were honest with me from the very beginning." Kelly pulled Shay on his lap. She was straddling him and looking directly into his face.
"I didn't want to say yes at first because I thought it was some knee jerk reaction to Clarice leaving. To be honest, some desire of yours to have something that wouldn't leave. Then I didn't want to have a baby with you if we weren't together as a family, if you and I were not together as a couple. I've loved you for so long." Kelly was struggling to find the exact words he needed to tell her.
"Then I was a wreck after baby Isabelle died. I didn't feel like I could bring a baby into this world. The risks were too high." Shay's tears were making Kelly's eyes fill as well. He had to get this out.
"Shay, I was afraid. I Am afraid. I have never had so much that I was so scared of losing. Does that make any sense at all?" Kelly's face was wet with a mix of Shay's tears and his own. He wasn't in his comfort zone revealing so much but he knew that Shay deserved some explanation. He said he wanted to have a baby with her at Isabelle's funeral and then no mention of it again... until now.
Shay nodded her head and waited for her man to continue.
"Casey called me a puss today and I agreed with him. I am going to man up right now and tell you the truth. I want to have a baby with you, spend the rest of my life with you and our family, and I want us to start on that plan tonight." There. He said it.
Shay hoped those were the words that were making their way to the surface. Finally, they came. Her huge smile was all Kelly needed to see. His ribs were making it difficult to pick her up and carry her to his room. She squirmed out of his arms landing on her feet and quickly headed upstairs.
"You don't have to sweep me off my feet tonight," Shay teased. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really the sweep me up kind of gal. But I will let you find another way to man up in a few minutes."
"Count on it." Bruised ribs and battered face, Kelly was up to the challenge. With a ridiculously wide grin on his face, he started slow. He slowly kissed Shay's hair and moved down to her lips, lingering on them, giving them the attention they deserved.
His mouth hovered over her breasts teasing her but not touching. She moaned softly and he began a light trail of kisses from one breast to the other. Shay felt every nerve alive with desire, her insides on fire.
Kelly's hand gently stroked her upper thigh going deeper and stronger with each sound that Shay made. Her heart was pounding faster with a desire so deep she could think of nothing but what he was doing to her, completely in this moment, nothing else mattered. She shuddered uncontrollably when he entered her at last. She couldn't have waited another minute. His skin was pressed against hers, no separation, bodies intertwined in one. Shay spasmed as she climaxed and heard his name come from her mouth. She felt a sweet release and was completely his, every fiber of her being.
She snuggled her head into the cup of his neck and smiled. He was smiling too. Makeup sex had never been better. And this wasn't just makeup sex, it was make "something" sex. The beautiful couple began their quest to make a baby.
"Everyone! Meeting in the front in ten minutes! Mandatory!" barked Chief Boden leaving no mistake that he was pissed. He felt like he was the main hall monitor in a hormone enraged high school giving d-halls for PDA (public displays of affection). He was putting an end to this bullshit right now.
"I don't know what has given many of you in here the mistaken idea that this is a couple's retreat, but we are Firehouse 51, in the business of putting out fires and saving lives. There will be no more kissing, hugging and whatever the hell else is going on in here any more. If you have a problem with that, let me know right now so that I can come up with a remedy. Any questions? Good, now get back to work. Do your jobs!" Boden turned on his heels, headed straight back to his office and slammed his door.
"Severide, you hear that?" asked Mouch smiling broadly without lifting his face out of his newspaper.
"First off, screw you! Secondly, I think Chief was talking about Dawson and her boy toy. They think if they go outside, we suddenly lose our ability to see and we don't SEE them." Kelly was laughing, looking at Shay as she mouthed the words "shut up."
"First off, screw you, Severide! Kissing Shay, slapping her ass, hugging her. And that was all BEFORE you even started your relationship!" Dawson was speaking with fire in her voice but playfulness in her eyes. The men were laughing waiting to see what Kelly's comeback would be.
"Hey! That's enough," Casey jumped in awkwardly. "Chief's right. We need to get back to what we do." Silence, no one moving.
"Just because you're not getting any!" Kelly was roaring now as he threw an empty water bottle at Casey's head missing wildly. Laughter erupted again, Casey joining in this time.
Shay had no way of knowing that while all this was going on there was something going on inside her. A mass of cells was forming, forming a very distinctive set of genetic code, a part of her and a part of Kelly. No, it would be another five weeks before she would begin to think of taking a pregnancy test, or mentioning the possibility to Kelly, or calling Dawson excitedly. Another five weeks before the words, "We're having a baby," would come pouring out of Kelly's mouth to match the tears pouring out of his eyes.