Chapter 12

They never heard another word...so Kelly and Alyssa both reluctantly assumed that they hadn't passed Mrs. Hillford's scrutiny. She said it wasn't a test...but that's exactly what it was.

Oh well...hopefully Lexi would go to a good family. A family that wanted her...that was in it for the right reasons.

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But the Severides had plenty to keep them busy.

Despite a few initial reservations...Andy and Jesse appeared in the season finale of Chicago Fire in a big way. They were playing the brothers who got trapped while exploring a construction site.

Morgan had written the story...and once it was agreed that the twins would do the parts, he tweaked things even more to match their individual personalities. Andy was the one who fell in a hole...and Jesse went in to try to help him.

The boys weren't nervous at all...filming the scene down in the hole that was supposed to be a dug out basement. Kelly ,Casey, Mills and Clarke had gone down first and checked everything...making sure that the structure was, in fact, stable. They even shored up the walls a bit more for extra precaution.

Kelly was surprised that Jesse was actually more into it than Andy. Andy was kind of like a bull in a china shop...just like his old man. He didn't get subtlety...he didn't necessarily understand the feel the director was going for. He was like...say the lines...say 'em right...okay, time to move on.

Jesse went about it in his usual more thoughtful manner. He listened to what the director said...he listened to Morgan...and he tried to do what they said. They told him to imagine things being this way and that...and how would he act if...

But mostly it was just them and Morgan...and the boys were comfortable with him. He was patient as ever with them...and when Kelly watched the dailies with Morgan and the director he was pretty sure they got what they were hoping for.

And the checks the boys received made nice deposits into their bank accounts.

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Then it was time for Trevor's Baptism.

It was a different feeling...being the godparent.

Alyssa cradled Baby Trevor in her arms throughout the ceremony...and Kelly stood beside her, with his arm around her, looking down at his little nephew.

The little boy looked up at him...and again, Kelly was struck by the thick, dark hair and the big brown eyes. Trevor was always looking around...taking everything in. You could almost see the wheels spinning as he seemed to be trying to understand what was going on around him.

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As his godparents, Alyssa and Kelly were throwing the party.

The family gathered back at the Severide house. As usual, the crowd was almost more than the house could hold. Besides Alyssa's whole family, and Emma Lynn's parents having come from Minnesota, there neighbors and friends of Joey and Emma Lynn were there...as well as a few folks from Station 51.

Kelly came up from the basement where the men were congregated around the pool table to grab another beef sandwich when his phone started going off.

He dug it out of his pocket on the third ring. The number wasn't familiar...but it was a 224 area code. It was local.

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"Hello?"

"Lieutenant Severide?" a woman's voice asked.

The voice wasn't familiar either.

"Yeah...who's this?"

"This is Brenda Hillford from DCFS."

The social worker for Lexi's case.

What the hell was she doing calling on a Sunday?

"What can I do for you?" Kelly asked.

He went to the front door and opened it to step outside and get away from the noise of the party.

"Is this a bad time?" Mrs. Hillford asked.

"We're having a party for my nephew's Christening."

"Well, I'll be brief." she said.

Brenda Hillford paused for a moment.

"You've been approved as Lexi's temporary foster parents."

"What?! You're kidding..."

Kelly was stunned...all this time...almost two months...and not a word. And now suddenly they were approved?

"I'd like to bring Lexi tomorrow afternoon. Does that give you enough time?"

"Yeah...I guess..." Kelly stammered.

He just couldn't wrap his head around it...this was big news.

"Very well, then." Mrs. Hillford said. "I'll be there tomorrow after noon."

She ended the call...and Kelly just stared at his phone in disbelief.

He put the phone back in his pocket and went to find Alyssa.

She was gonna freak out...

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He went directly to the kitchen where Alyssa was starting to put up the leftover food so she could start putting out the desserts.

Kelly took her by the arm and led her into the laundry room so they could have a few moments of privacy.

"I just got a call from the social worker." he said. "We're getting Lexi!"

"What?!"

Lyssa couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"All this time? And not even a word? And suddenly we're getting her? Just like that?" she asked.

"It's crazy..." Kelly agreed. "But the lady's bringing her tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow?" Alyssa gasped. "We don't have anything ready! We don't have diapers...formula...the crib's not set up..."

"We'll get it together..." he said, trying to calm her.

He laid his hands on her arms and rubbed them up and down.

"I'll make a run to the store..."

"But we've got a house full of people..." she protested. "Did they even tell you how big she is? So we know what size diapers to get? Did they say what kind of formula she needs? What foods is she on?"

Kelly hadn't even thought to ask any of that stuff.

He took a breath and let it out slowly.

"I'll get a couple different sizes...and a couple different formulas. We'll just take stuff back once we know which ones we need." he told her. "I know it's a lot...but we'll make it work."

He held out his arms and Alyssa stepped into them. He could feel the tension in her body and he began to rub gentle patterns across her back...just like she did for him when the situation was reversed.

"Shhh..." he told her softly. "It's gonna be okay. We'll get it together."

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A few minutes later they came out from the laundry room...and Alyssa was more or less in one piece.

But Kelly didn't understand all the work involved...all the preparations that needed to happen. The same way he never understood why she used to pack enough stuff to go on a two week vacation every time they went somewhere with the twins. They had more than one argument about how he could throw on fifty pounds of gear and be out the door in under a minute...and she took two hours to get the boys ready to go to a picnic or a birthday party.

She knew he felt strongly about taking Lexi after Jaclyn Fisher was arrested. He felt like he somehow owed it to the little boy...Mason. And Lyssa loved him for it. Kelly had such a big heart...and even if he came off as hard and tough...she knew how deeply it cut him when he realized he couldn't save everyone.

That's why she agreed to do this. But she still had her reservations.

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Joey came into the kitchen just as they emerged from their conversation.

He was so happy...he had never imagined that he'd have a wife and a family of his own...and now here he was...a father of four.

It never would have happened if he hadn't had his brothers and his baby sister in his corner. And he had come looking for Alyssa and Kelly to thank them again for doing this...for making this party for his son.

"Hey...I just wanted to..."

Joey stopped when he saw the look on his sister's face.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Alyssa nodded.

"What's goin' on?" he asked.

Kelly looked at his brother-in-law...then at his wife...then back at Joe.

"We just found out..." he said. "That we're gonna be foster parents. The social worker from DCFS called about the little girl we applied to take in."

The whole family knew about Lexi...and about Mason and what had happened. And all of them were just sickened at the thought of what Jaclyn Fisher had done. They knew that Kelly and Alyssa wanted to help...and they were all behind them a hundred percent.

"That's great!" Joey said.

"They're bringing her tomorrow..." Alyssa said, still shell-shocked by the news

"Wow...that's not a lot of lead time."

Lyssa nodded...glad someone understood.

"We got a lot of work to do." Joey said with a decisive nod of his head.

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Kelly wasn't surprised by Joey's reaction. That was the way the Boungiovanni's did everything.

Joe had been the one to make the announcement...and of course everyone wanted to know what they could do to help.

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Alyssa sat down and made a list of things to get at Target...diapers, wipes, formula, bottles...baby food, pacifiers.

Shay went along with Kelly to make sure he got everything.

The two friends slowly trolled the aisles filling carts with supplies and clothes.

Maggie still wore baby sizes for the most part...and they had saved a few things...but mostly for sentimental reasons rather than practicality.

"So what sizes are we supposed to get?" Shay asked.

Kelly shrugged.

"I don't know. Alyssa said most kids wear six months ahead of their age. Maggie's just so tiny..."

Shay nodded...

"That makes sense... so Lexi's how old?"

"Eight months now." he said.

"So twelve to eighteen months..." Leslie said.

She began picking basics...onsies, socks...sleepers.

Then she saw something else...

"Oh...look!"

She held up a little outfit...pink leggings and a yellow and white polka dotted jacket.

"This is adorable!" she said. "Look...it's even got a little shirt!"

Leslie added it to the pile that was growing steadily in the cart. And then she turned back to the rack with a look of longing in her eyes.

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Kelly watched his best friend...he'd known her for over twenty years...and back before he had met Alyssa she had been the one constant in his life. She was the one who never let him down. Sometimes they didn't agree...but he could always count on her to tell him the truth and to never sugar coat things.

"Did you..." he started...not sure if this was the right time or place for this conversation..."ever think about having kids? I mean..."

He kind of gestured in her general direction.

"Did I ever think about getting pregnant?" she asked. "Sure...I thought about it lots of times."

"So why didn't you? I mean...there's all kinds of ways you could..."

"I thought about getting artificially inseminated." Shay said softly. "I looked through about a couple hundred on-line profiles..."

"And?"

"And it seemed like ordering take-out. I'll take one...six feet tall...no more than two hundred pounds...above average IQ...blue eyes..."

Leslie looked up at Kelly.

"It was all so impersonal. And I wanted someone who at least had an interest in how the kid grew up."

"You would have had me...and all the guys at the house..."

"I know. The baby would have twenty "uncles"...but it's not the same. And you can't trust what someone puts in an on-line profile. I wanted someone strong...someone with honor...integrity...someone who cares about other people...someone brave...and at the end of the day...there's really only one man who fit the bill."

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They finished their shopping and loaded the mountain of purchases into the car. Besides all the clothes and the diapers and the formula...they had to buy another car seat, double stroller...bottles...nursery water. All things Kelly had forgotten about.

Good thing he had Shay along for the ride.

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There were still a ton of people at the house when they got home. But everyone was working.

Connor, Aiden, Garrett and Dylan helped Kelly unload the car. Alyssa's sister-in-law, Sherri, was washing down the mattress for the crib and the changing table. Kathy was washing down the high chair, and Alyssa's mom was taking crib linens and the bumper pad out of the dryer.

Emma Lynn and Alyssa's nieces Samantha and Nicole were going through the clothes Alyssa had been planning to take down to the store...seeing if anything might work for Lexi.

Upstairs, Joey and Marc were putting together the crib Kelly and Matt had taken apart just a few months before and setting it up in Kelly and Alyssa's room. Andy and Jesse were handing them the tools...and occasionally, the uncles let them tighten the screws.

Declan was in the living room reassembling "Baby Jail"...the port-a-crib they kept set up in there.

Savannah had Maggie and Ainsley in Maggie's room and she was reading them stories to keep them out of everyone's way.

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Slowly but surely...it all got done and once the family had left and the kids were tucked in bed Kelly and Alyssa went to their room.

It was surreal to see the crib and the changing table set up in there.

That wasn't what they had planned to do originally...but Alyssa decided that Lexi needed to bond with them and they could ease her into Maggie's room later. And besides, she reasoned, that way Maggie wouldn't feel like she was being displaced. She could ease into being a big sister gradually.

Alyssa ran her hand over the newly re-assembled crib and straightened an imaginary wrinkle in the blanket folded over the railing.

Kelly came up behind her.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

"Yeah..." she replied. "Are you?"

Kelly shook his head.

"Nope...not at all." he said.

He turned Alyssa around to face him and took her in his arms.

"This is the right thing. I was sure of it before...but tonight...the way the whole family jumped in to help. They're all behind us...we've got Shay...Casey...and all the rest of the team. I know we're doing the right thing."