Chapter 21
Kelly and Alyssa waited on pins and needles for Judge Trumbell to make his decision. The very thought of having to send Lexi off with Brenda Hillford to 26th and Cal even once...was sickening.
And summer with four kids was stressful...even with everyone pitching in. The great thing about most of the family living within about eight blocks of one another meant there was never a shortage of playmates...or grown-up support.
Joey and EmmaLynn had gotten their house on Boyle...not quite two blocks down from Kelly and Alyssa...Nicky and Kathy...and Jimmy. But even more family members had moved into the neighborhood.
EmmaLynn's parents had moved down from Minneapolis when her dad retired...and they took over the apartment the Boungiovanni's had just left. And perhaps the biggest shock...Nadine and Tony Sr. had decided to sell the house they'd lived in for over fifty years and move into an apartment...the three bedroom in Rich Allen's building where Nicky and Kathy had lived while their house was being renovated!
Ever since Nadine had finally realized she needed to let her children live their own lives she'd been trying to get back in their good graces. It was easier with some than with others. Jimmy had never really had a beef with her...and Nicky wasn't the confrontational type. He might grumble to his brothers or to Kelly, but he never told Nadine where to get off as far as her attitudes regarding his choices for his life and his family.
No...the real work was between Tony Jr., Mark, Joey...and Alyssa and Kelly.
After Kelly had gotten hurt, Nadine had come to the hospital and extended an olive branch, so to speak. And when he came home she had pitched in to help with cooking and childcare so Alyssa could focus her attention on Kelly. She started to go to things at the kids' school...Andy and Jesse's games...Maggie's dance recital. And she dusted off her sewing machine to make Maggie and Lexi little matching dresses...just like she used to make Alyssa's clothes when she was a child.
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But all the distractions couldn't keep them from stressing over Judge Trumbell's ruling...and it came down right around the time Alyssa was making plans for Lexi's first birthday.
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Greg Zvonecek came by one evening early in August...about three weeks after their meeting in the judge's chambers. The family had just finished dinner and Mills herded the kids outside to walk around the neighborhood to try and find the ice cream truck so Kelly and Alyssa could have some time to talk to the attorney.
The three sat down at the table and Kelly pulled his wife as close as he could. He could feel her trembling with anticipation over what this man was about to tell them.
"So?" he asked. "Did you hear anything?"
Greg nodded...and he couldn't keep the smile from his face.
"Judge Trumbell denied Jaclyn Fisher's petition. "
He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"The fact that the judge called me himself is nothing short of amazing..." Greg said. "But I wanted to make sure I got this right...so I wrote it down."
He unfolded the paper...and glanced down at the chicken scratch he called handwriting.
"County Jail is no place to take a baby...and any mother that cared about her child would never consider taking her into such an untenable environment..."
It probably hadn't escaped the judge's attention that there had been another altercation...this time in the men's section...where two rival gang members had gotten into a fight and one had shanked the other with a toothbrush filed into a deadly weapon.
"Ms. Fisher should be grateful that the Severides have generously offered to provide photographs and progress reports to her. And Mr. Frankel is dead wrong when he says they're biased against Ms. Fisher...they're putting Lexi's safety and well-being first...which is what any parent would do."
The attorney folded the paper in half, then in half again...and returned it to the inside pocket of his jacket.
Kelly and Alyssa both breathed a sigh of relief.
But Greg wasn't through yet.
"And another interesting piece of information...I heard through the grapevine that her case was assigned to Judge Harrison's court. Harvey Frankel would be wise to take a deal...because Judge Harrison has a reputation. She has a special place in her heart for children...and child killers don't fare well in her courtroom."
"What kind of deal could that woman possibly make?" Alyssa asked...a hard edge creeping into her voice.
"Twenty-five to life would be my guess..." Greg answered. "Trust me...if Judge Harrison has anything to do with it...the only way Jaclyn Fisher's getting out of jail is in a pine box."
That was a huge relief.
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The day of Lexi's party arrived...and everyone was vibrating with excitement. Everyone except the birthday girl.
Kelly was curious to see what she'd do when everybody arrived. And when she had a mountain of presents to open.
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It turned out a summer party was a helluva lot easier than a winter one. Being able to spill out into the yard was great...you didn't have to climb over ten people to get to things...and the noise level was a lot more tolerable.
Mills was presiding over half a dozen grills with Station 51's Candidate lending an assist. The ribs were cooking on the big gas grill...the chicken and burgers were going on Jimmy's...and brats, sausages and hot dogs were cooking on the old propane grill and a couple of charcoal burning ones hastily picked up from the hardware store.
Inside all five burners on the stove were going...huge pots boiled corn on the cob...and there were pans of pasta salad, potato salad and Cole slaw in both the upstairs and the downstairs fridge.
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Kelly watched the preparations as Lyssa, her mom, and her sisters-in-law moved like an army to get food on the table for seventy people give or take a few. He frowned when he noticed how much Alyssa was favoring her right arm.
She still hadn't gotten it checked out...and he was beyond frustrated with her. She had a million excuses about why she hadn't made the appointment. Things were too busy...the store...something with the kids.
He made up his mind to give her an ultimatum. Either she make the appointment this week or he was gonna do it for her.
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He was about to go take over what Alyssa was doing when Morgan Craddock came up from the man cave.
Hollywood had just gotten back to town. Immediately after "Chicago Fire" wrapped he had taken off for eight weeks to Vancouver to film a movie...it was a leading role...the biggest thing he'd done yet. He was working with some A-List people and it was all thanks to the attention he'd gotten from "Chicago Fire".
"Hey, Lieutenant...great party. As usual..."
Morgan had been a regular guest since Andy and Jesse were about seven...when they threatened not to play with him any more if he didn't come to their birthday.
Kelly turned around...distracted from his mission.
"Thanks." he said.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Morgan asked.
Kelly looked back at his wife...then at his friend.
"Yeah...sure." he answered. "What'd ya need?"
Morgan cocked his head in the direction of the front door, indicating that he wanted to step outside. Kelly shot one more glance at Lyssa before he followed Hollywood out to the front porch.
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Once the door was closed behind them, Hollywood took a deep breath.
"What's up?" Kelly asked.
"Did I ever tell you Shaina's grandfather was a pastor?"
Severide shrugged.
"I don't think so...why?"
"Well...he's really upset about the baby..." Morgan continued.
Shaina was about six months pregnant with her and Morgan's first child. They had met when she signed on to play paramedic Rebecca Morton on "Chicago Fire" in season two. Morgan had actually created the character and written the initial story arc about a paramedic who transfers in to the fictional Station 12 in an attempt to avoid a controlling ex-husband who refuses to accept that their relationship is over. She a Morgan's character developed an "on-the-job" flirtation that turned into a full scale romance...and in the past season's finale, after "Lieutenant Whitlock" was slightly injured rescuing two boys from a cave in...her character revealed that she was pregnant with his child.
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Kelly shrugged again. Where was Hollywood going with this?"
"Okay..."
"And Shaina's real close with her grandparents...and she doesn't want to upset him...so...she wants to get married. Before the baby comes."
"So you're gettin' married? That's great. Congratulations." Kelly said as he slapped his friend on the back.
"We've been talking about it..." Morgan said. "But we were gonna do a big wedding after the baby got here."
He ran his hand through his hair...something he did when he was anxious, Kelly had noticed.
What did he have to be nervous about?
"Just spit it out, Man..." Severide told him.
"So, Shaina doesn't want to upset her grandpa...so we're getting married Labor Day weekend."
"That's like...less than two weeks away."
"I know...and I know it's short notice..." Morgan went on. "But I want you and Alyssa and the kids to be there. I want you to be my best man."
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Kelly just about did a double take. He wasn't sure he'd heard right.
"You want me...to be your best man?" he asked. "What about your brothers?"
Morgan was the eldest of four boys. It seemed logical that he'd ask one of them to stand up for him.
"I been thinkin' about it..." Morgan said. "And honestly...and I know this sounds really lame...but all the stuff that's happened in the past few years...the show, meeting Shaina and everything. Bottom line is...if you hadn't spent the kinda time you did...so I could do it right...none of this would've happened."
Kelly was still reeling.
"I don't know what to say...yeah...I'll do it. I'll talk to Alyssa..."
"I know it's short notice on furlough time..."
"I'll trade a couple shifts. There's a couple favors I can call in."
He reached out and clasped Morgan's hand to pull him into a "man-hug".
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The rest of the day just flew by.
After everyone had had their fill of food...and the leftovers were ready to haul down to the fire house...they got ready to serve the cake.
They'd already discovered long ago that cupcakes were the way to go when you had a crowd like this. Everybody liked different things...so there were about five different kinds...and the big, pink jumbo cupcake with the number one candle for the birthday girl.
And where Maggie may have figured out that her birthday was all about her, that realization didn't really translate over to her baby sister.
All week long they'd tried to practice singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candle...and every night Maggie got in there to "show Lexi how to do it!".
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Lexi looked so cute...her little red and white gingham sundress...with what hair she had caught up in a red and white bow...little white sandals because she was ready to start walking any minute now. Her blue eyes sparkled as Kelly held her over her cupcake as everybody sang to her.
But as the last note faded...
"Blow out the candle Lexi!" Kelly told her, as he leaned down with the baby in his arms. "C'mon...blow..."
Then the candle was out.
Maggie had sneaked in under his arm and done it herself.
"Maggie!" Andy said. "You're supposed to let Lexi do it!"
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Kelly handed Lexi to Alyssa and then scooped Maggie into his arms. He carried his daughter into the house and straight up the stairs to her room.
This was uncharted territory...him punishing her...but they had gone over this again and again all week long.
"What'd we talk about, Maggie Grace?" he asked sternly, as he plopped her on the bed. "Who's birthday party is this? Yours...or Lexi's?"
"Lexi's..." Maggie whispered.
"So who's supposed to blow out the candle?"
"Lexi..." Maggie whispered again.
"That's right."
Kelly knelt down in front of the little girl...his little Princess.
"When it's your birthday, you get to blow out the candle...and open all the presents and have everybody clap for you..." he said. "But today's Lexi's day...and you need to let her have a turn. That's part of being a big sister. You understand?"
Maggie nodded...just a little...and looked up at him, big teal blue eyes swimming with tears.
It tore his at his heart...and he forced himself not to pick her up and hug her...not yet.
"Okay...we're gonna sit for three minutes...and then we can go back to the party."
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Three minutes was what he and Lyssa had agreed on for time-out...just do the kids' ages...but three minutes seemed like an eternity when Maggie was whimpering and sniffling.
Finally...it was over and he scooped his Baby Girl into his arms again.
"Hey..." he said quietly, as he gently lifted her chin with one finger. "Daddy loves you...you know that, right?"
Maggie nodded. And snuggled against his neck.
It was hard being a big girl sometimes.
Kelly took her into the bathroom and wiped her face with a damp cloth before he carried Maggie back down the stairs to the party.
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Later that night, after everyone had gone and the kids were in bed...and the house more or less put back to rights Kelly came up behind Alyssa as she turned back the covers on their bed.
He leaned down and gently wrapped her in his strong embrace and she leaned back against his chest.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Tired..." she answered.
"You know what I'm gonna say next..." he told her softly.
"I know..."
He slowly turned her to face him.
"Morgan asked me somethin' today..." he said. "He and Shaina are gettin' married. And he wants us to be there."
"When?"
"Labor Day weekend...at Shaina's grandparents' farm...in Kentucky."
Alyssa looked up in a hurry.
"But that's like...ten days away." she said incredulously. "How are we supposed to pull that off?"
Kelly pushed her hair back from her face.
"I don't know...I can switch a couple shifts with the guys on Red watch. He owes me a favor."
"So you're gonna be pullin' double shifts?"
He nodded reluctantly. He knew this was gonna be a huge load on Alyssa...and now he wasn't gonna be around to help her.
But Hollywood was his friend...and this was important to him. He'd asked Kelly to be his best man even though he had three brothers to choose from. That meant something.
"I know it's a lot, Lyssa." he whispered. "Let's just go to bed...and we can figure everything out in the morning..."
Alyssa melted against his chest.
"I know..." he whispered again. "I know. I love you..."