If you love Linseride like I love Linseride, go straight over to Burning Bright by 2NYwLove and read her chapter 39. It's all, you guessed it, Linseride. It is perfect because that's the only way she knows how to write. Enough fangirling.
Thank you to my friends/readers… your comments are funny, sweet, and such a welcome treat. To my 'no account' reviewers, get an account already! Just kidding… thank you to Sossy (Je suis heureux que tu l'aies aime), Guests (glad I brightened your day), Jackie, Natalie, ErinLindsSev, Shaylover, Joy, and ErinSeveride. Those reviews are priceless! Hope you enjoy this one.
"Sergeant, you got a sec," asked Peter Mills shuffling after Voight as both made their way out of Lakeshore, confident Erin was fine and heading home.
Hank turned around, extending a hand to the young firefighter. "Sure," he rasped out. "What's up?"
"Can we go to your car or somewhere more private?"
Mills definitely piqued Voight's interest. "Yes, let's head to the car."
Once inside, Pete was losing a little of the conviction he had just two minutes prior. The curious eyes of the cop were putting some doubt in the fireman. What the hell, he thought, just unload it.
"I'm probably gonna sound like a crazy person, sir," Pete began nervously laughing a little. Voight was all seriousness.
"I think that someone's targeting Severide and this accident may be related," Mills definitely had the cop's attention now. He went on to detail all of it starting with the wet suit. Voight's eyebrows arched particularly high with the mention of the Brett crush.
When he was done, Mills waited for some reaction.
"Don't think you're crazy," Voight said, "but I'm not sure I'm all in."
"I'm not sure I'm all in either, sir."
"I tell ya what. I'm gonna look into this, but you do somethin' for me, Mills," Voight eyeballed the younger man.
"Yes, sir," Pete answered.
"Drop the sir crap." Voight's crackle of laughter could be heard as Mills made his way to his own car.
"Kelly, I can't have caffeine," reminded Erin gently, smiling at the cup of coffee her husband just poured. "Now, all that green tea you try to push on me is good. I'll take one of those," she added.
"I knew that," said Kelly throwing the coffee down the drain.
"You could've had it, babe," said Erin.
"Doesn't seem fair. If you can't, I can't," he said smiling, rubbing her flat stomach for the third or fourth time that morning. He decided he was goin' caffeine free, alcohol free, eatin' right for the whole pregnancy.
He'd talked to Boden about making it to every appointment, at least that was the goal. Realistically, he knew it probably wouldn't happen. There'd be some call that would be hell and he'd miss one or two or more. But the first one was a sure thing. Erin had her appointment with her doctor in three days, and Kelly made sure to be off.
"Remember, I'm gonna be late getting home every night this week, maybe some all-nighters," Erin repeated, having already told Kelly twice.
"You think that's a good idea?" asked Kelly not wanting her to go to work, her dangerous work. Not wanting her to leave the house for that matter.
"Yes, it's a good idea if I want to keep my job. I told you, I'm making headway with that CI. He's a little weasel, but I think he's officially my little weasel." Erin pushed her husband's hand away from her stomach and headed to her boots.
"Can't Cailin get a CI?"
"It's not a pet, Kel. I lucked into this one. He can't be adopted by someone else. He's mine," Erin shoved on one boot, looking at her dejected husband. "We agreed I'd keep working till I can't anymore, right?"
"Yeah," he replied, wishing he'd never agreed to such bullshit. "Maybe you shouldn't go in until your appointment. We make sure the baby's all good."
Erin smiled at the Kellyism "all good."
"I'm making sure the baby is all good. Everything is all good. Now, try to stay calm for nine months, and we'll remain all good," teased Erin lacing up her second boot.
"So when do you think you'll quit workin'?" pressed Kelly, ignoring her comment.
"I don't know. Guess I'll know when I know. It'll be months from now," Erin sighed, letting him know to drop it.
A grunt was his only response. He wasn't happy but decided to stuff it down. Stressing Erin out with arguing wasn't going to help any, he thought. Kelly forced a smile before kissing his wife goodbye, watching her make it all the way to her car.
At the precinct, Voight was equally concerned but better at hiding it and playing the supportive but not overprotective role. He'd already called an emergency meeting with IU, minus his favorite detective, telling them that nothing would happened to Erin during this "delicate time." Cally snorted with the use of the word delicate and Erin in the same sentence. That hadn't gone over well.
"Callahan, I'm gonna rely on you to an extent you haven't been used. You up for it?" Voight asked gruffly, knowing any female UC assignments were going straight to the blonde, do not pass Erin and do not collect $200.
"Of course," Cailin responded, a seriousness matching Voight's.
"We all have Lindsay's back. Got it?" he asked the team, eyes scanning each of his cops' faces. He stopped at Jay, who nodded in response. Voight knew that Halstead would do anything for Erin. Hanging on to him had been the right move.
"And not one damn word of this to Erin."
The only comment had been Olinsky muttering something about Papa Hank under his breath.
Now, Hank was looking at his young detective, the girl he saved from the streets when she was just fifteen. The dirty faced, hungry, drugged out girl that was his now his best cop. The girl that was having a baby. He cleared his throat in an effort to clear his head, a moistness in his eyes that did nothing but piss him off.
"About time you strolled in here, mama," Olinsky teased as Erin flung her purse on her desk.
"Are we ready to get some drugs out of college kids' hands or are we pickin' dish patterns?" asked Voight to the roomful of cops looking at Erin.
"I'm havin' a baby, Hank, not getting married. Did that already," Lindsay retorted, calling Cally over to talk CI's and how to handle the jittery Caleb.
"Slips my mind. Wasn't invited," Voight grumbled before heading to his office with Alvin, slamming the door.
The calls were non-stop, no time for baby thoughts or worry about a cop at work. Kelly was too busy with his own job.
"What the hell?" he muttered as squad rolled up to the collapsed building. When they heard the call out, they hadn't realized collapsed meant truly collapsed. There was a roof on the street and remnants of what makes a three story building in a pile underneath.
"Please tell me no one's in there," Severide said, hopping out to meet Boden at the curb. Casey already at Chief's side.
The screaming neighbors and cries from onlookers said people were in that heap.
"Let's get our hands dirty," Boden commanded. "Trucks are too risky. They could be anywhere."
Shovels, picks, and halligans were in gloved hands. Kelly didn't carry anything, wanting to see how far he'd get in pulling off pieces with Mills at his side. They worked in tandem, all the guys pairing up.
"You got a flag planted on this spot?" asked Jeff Clarke, his house rolling in to join the fun.
"Hey," Kelly said, "took your sweet time gettin' here." Severide was glad to see his buddy, hoping some more units would be called in soon. Time was ticking on the people below.
"You know it's slow, but every once in a while we gotta show our faces to clean up your mess." Clarke dug in, working in perfect sync with his former house. They heard cheers as a woman was pulled from deep within the tomb that was once a building.
Jeff saw the stress on his former lieutenant's face, knew it was brought on by more than a frantic rush to save lives. Severide barely cracked a smile when a woman was brought into the light of day by Cruz and Hermann. He just kept digging.
"You okay?" asked Clarke, stopping for a second, forcing his friend to stop.
"Yeah," answered Kelly. "I'm good."
Jeff knew the last time Severide had been at a collapsed building it had been a bombed out disaster, and the fireman was under it. Clarke couldn't imagine the waiting, the thinking you were done for… had to be weighing on his buddy now.
"What?" asked Kelly noticing the other lieutenant studying him, Mills staring at him now too. "You both gonna just sit on your hands?"
Clarke laughed grabbing a heavy wooden beam Severide was struggling with. There'd be no admitting anything on this run.
Jeff's smile was gone when the three men heard a whimper from directly below them.
"A baby?" breathed out Mills, puffing from the exertion.
"Don't know," answered Kelly, working faster, flinging stuff to the side.
"I don't think so," Jeff added, matching Severide's pace.
They had their answer in a couple of minutes, a black snout poking its way through two pieces of wood. A black lab mix was whining uncontrollably now, sensing freedom was just two hands away. Clarke reached in yanking the dog out, depositing it in Severide's arms before he could refuse. The dog began licking the fireman's neck furiously, bathing him in a sheen of dog saliva.
Voight demanded his team get busy on the DePaul drug problem, but he was ensconced in another matter altogether. He had his best forensic guy all over Kelly's car, scrutinizing every nut, bolt, wire, part of the old girl Severide admitted was dead and gone. The phone call telling him it was the brakes wasn't totally unexpected. The part about it being foul play, definitely tampered with brakes was unanticipated. Damn, if Mills might not be right, he thought wondering who this Harrison character was. He screamed at Olinsky to get his jacket; they were goin' on a field trip.
Two nights later, Kelly was in a hard sleep when Erin made it home for a reunion with her fireman. She thought she was getting in early, only eleven. But there was her husband in bed, the sound of his soft snores saying it'd been a rough shift. She watched him sleep, thinking about how she could read his sleep sounds and know just what kind of day he'd had. She thought about moms who said they knew what the cries of their babies meant, deciphering the "I'm hungry" from the "I'm wet." Maybe she would be okay at this whole mom thing.
She slipped in next to him, wrapping one arm across his chest. Kelly barely stirred at her touch. Erin let her eyes close, drifting off to the sounds of his breathing, thinking about the appointment waiting for them in the morning.
Voight and Alvin found enough evidence in Harrison's apartment to put the guy away for a long time. The place was a study in what not to do if you wanna get away with a crime. He even had pictures of Kelly on a bulletin board like a scene from some stalker movie.
"You've gotta be shittin' me," commented Voight, stopping to stare at one that included Erin. He resisted the urge to rip them all down.
"Hey, come take a look at this," Olinsky called from a night stand, pulling the drawer open wider.
All the tools of sabotage were deposited in the drawer, a one stop conviction paradise. There was a box cutter, several dirty wrenches, wire cutters, even a picture of Kelly in his car.
"We're not dealin' with a rocket scientist here," commented Alvin, closing the drawer. "You wanna call it in?"
"Not yet."
Olinsky gave the area a quick scan, everything was back in place.
"This asshole almost killed Severide, could've killed Erin," Voight mused as the cops got back in Hank's car. "Can't believe Mills was right. He picked the wrong profession, should've gone the PD route."
"We can put a little pressure on him. He'd be good on the team, especially if Halstead ends up not working out."
"We got bigger fish to fry tonight," Voight said driving off before Harrison returned. "You ready to heat that oil?" he asked his partner. Olinsky's serious face said he was.
"We ain't seein' the baby?" asked Kelly as the doctor was saying her goodbyes. Erin nudged him hard in the side. "Ow. What?"
"We'll do a dating sonogram on the next visit," Dr. Hirota explained.
"We're dating a what?"
"It's a sonogram to get a better idea of the due date," the doctor clarified, exchanging a look with Erin.
"When's the next appointment?" Kelly asked, ready to see the baby tomorrow, maybe day after.
"I'll have you come back at 10 weeks…" Hirota answered.
"And we'll do that dating thing?"
"Yes, we'll do that dating thing," laughed the doctor who'd known Erin for years, never figuring her for a married and pregnant kind of girl. They'd talked men but not in the context of settling down with one forever.
As the couple left the doctor's office, Kelly was on his phone, looking at the calendar calculating shifts to see if he needed to take another day.
"You treating me to lunch?" Erin suggested as one of Kelly's hands left his phone heading straight to her stomach.
"Still don't feel anything," he commented, not answering her.
"It's the size of a peanut, Kelly. You're not going to feel anything for a while," Erin tried to let him down gently.
They ate gyros at a nearby Greek place with Kelly insisting that he and Erin ditch their usual fries as a side instead settling on a salad. Erin would normally take exception to the whole dictating what she ate thing, but the way Severide "suggested" they have salad to accompany their sandwiches by patting her stomach and saying the baby wanted leafy green stuff was too cute.
His untethered enthusiasm was a comfort to the detective who had doubts daily about her ability to be a mother to a plant let alone a baby. The fact that he even used the words "leafy green stuff" cracked her up. He's gotta be reading some book, she thought. Reading some damn book before I was even pregnant. Yes, too cute, she thought letting herself be happy for once as she shoved a forkful of salad into her mouth.
At 51, Shay decided Kelly would announce his big news himself. The situation at the precinct had gone down very differently with Voight broadcasting it at his hastily called clandestine meeting. Now, Leslie was barely able to contain her excitement. She was going to be an aunt, the best aunt to Kelly's baby, and she wanted the world to know.
She headed straight back to the ambo avoiding eye contact with everyone just so her mouth wouldn't involuntarily blab the news. Kelly better hurry the hell up and get in, she thought. He'd wanted to wait to pronounce himself Daddy Severide after the doctor's visit, something he'd read in that book Shay'd given him. It was a miracle no one at PD had blabbed, not even Antonio to Gabby. Leslie guessed the Voight threat held a weight no one at 51 could imagine.
"What's up? You need some help?" asked Brett, jumping into the back, shuffling through supplies.
"Nothing. Just wanna keep busy," Shay struggled, keeping her tone even, wiping down the side window for the third time.
"I did not sleep well," Sylvie commented, looking up at her partner as if to say "don't you want to know why?"
"Oh, really?" Shay managed, trying to focus on the blonde's words and banish all baby thoughts till Kelly got in.
"Yeah, Harrison hasn't called me in two days. He calls me about every two hours and now two whole days."
"I thought you were getting rid of him. This is good news, right?"
"I guess. It's just weird. It feels sort of wrong," admitted Sylvie feeling a sense of relief mixed with worry.
"Okay, Kelly's pregnant," Shay gushed unable to hold the secret for one second longer.
"What?"
"Kelly and Erin. They're pregnant!" yelled Leslie, hopping out of the ambo so she could jump up and down.
Brett just stared at her partner shrugging her shoulders wondering when the conversation moved from her to Severide baby making.
Shay didn't have to hold the news in at all. Unbeknownst to her, half the house already knew. Kelly called Casey first who told Gabby, then he phoned the Hermann's who'd been talking about a garage sale to get rid of baby stuff for months. Now, the long married couple was paying an impromptu visit to the soon-to-be parents.
Hermann and Cindy unloaded all the baby gear they could fit in their minivan and Casey's truck. Cindy was ecstatic that she'd never be using any of it again, so proud of her man for finally getting the snip, snip he gifted her with.
"I am so happy for you two," she enthused, grabbing Kelly's arm, hooking it through her own.
"Cindy, we can't thank you enough for all this. You're savin' us a bundle," said Kelly, adding a little wink for his favorite fellow firefighter's wife.
"Oh, it's nothing," replied Cindy, a slight flush covering her cheeks.
"Okay, you two," reprimanded Hermann, adding his own wink toward Erin.
"Now honey, don't get jealous," teased Cindy moving to her husband's side giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "You know we're just friends."
Casey'd been working on assembling a changing table in the spare bedroom, smiling at the way Kelly worked Cindy. Some things would never change, he thought, laughing softly.
"You need any help?" asked Kelly joining his friend.
"From you?" laughed Matt. "If Erin wants to come in and help, I'll take that."
"So everything okay with us? With the news?" Kelly blurted out. Shay's hyper excitement at the possibility of a pregnancy was wearin' on just about everyone's nerves. Had to be drivin' Casey crazy.
"I'm seriously so happy for you two," said Matt, getting up to take a beer Kelly brought in. "Honestly, so happy," Casey added taking several gulps.
"Just with our last talk, I don't know, felt kinda…"
"If you say wrong, I'm gonna get Erin in here to rip you a new one," laughed Matt. He was happy for his friend, tinged with a little jealousy of course. But happy? Yes.
"Quick question for you…" Casey asked. "Is Erin getting you firearm trained?"
"What?" Kelly thought they were talkin' about babies, not guns.
"Yeah." Casey took a long swig of beer. "If you have a girl that looks like Erin, you better get that shotgun ready, bud." Matt finished his beer, patting his friend on the back.
The happy look on Severide's face was replaced with a scowl. "I kinda hate you a little right now," muttered Kelly, entertaining the thought of a little Erin running around. He couldn't help but think of a string of little Serveride's running after her.
So, Harrison is bad (no shocker) but what is Grandpa Hank going to do? Kelly all cute and sweet is my personal favorite – hope you enjoyed it.