oh darling, don't you ever grow up

The Burgess-Ruzek wedding was a long-awaited affair. The two Intelligence officers had a long (and tumultuous at times) road to get to this point, but everyone was beyond happy they'd finally gotten to this point.

All of Intelligence, most of the 21st precinct, Gaffney staff and nearly all of 51 and their families were among the other family members and friends gathered in the reception hall. The Severides were seated at a table with the Caseys and the Cruzs. Next to them, the Halsteads shared a table with Mouch and Trudy and Herrmann and Cindy.

Adam, Kim and their wedding party (which consisted of Kim's sister, niece, a now pre-teen Makayla, Adam's dad and Kevin) had been introduced to the crowd of friends and loved ones and everyone had found their tables for dinner.

Kim and Adam had their first dance, and they each had a special dance with Makayla, then all the other couples at the reception joined them on the dance floor. After that, the dance floor was opened to everyone, the music upbeat and exciting enough to get people dancing for a while before the happy couple cut the cake.

Maya loved weddings for the sole purpose of getting to eat cake. The fact that being at wedding usually meant she'd be surrounded by some of her favorite people was just an added bonus. She also loved dancing and the sugar rush she got from the wedding cake meant she wanted to be bustin' a move on the dance floor.

Kelly and Stella took turns dancing with Maya on the dance floor, but the almost four year old had far more energy than they did. Eventually, Makayla found Maya and offered to stay with her on the dance floor (Zoe was there as well, volunteering to keep an eye on them both). Kelly and Stella took her up on the offer since Kim and Adam were making their way around the room to talk to their guests and they wanted to say hi.

After the bride and groom had finished greeting their guests, the DJ rounded up Kim and all of the single ladies on the dance floor for the bouquet toss. Kelly paid the tradition no mind, choosing to instead focus on his conversation with his wife. He had assumed that Maya and Makayla had gotten off the dance floor for the bouquet toss, but a loud chorus of awws and laughs brought his attention to the dance floor and he realized his assumption was wrong. Because there was his three-year-old, his little girl, holding the bouquet Kim had just tossed.

"Oh hell no," Kelly said. Anybody else probably would've missed the panic in his voice, but Stella and the ones who knew him best could hear it plain as day. The group around him saw what he was looking at and smiled, a few even laughed.

Kelly turned to his wife, gesturing in Maya's general direction. "She's already growing up too fast, there's no way she's getting married next."

Stella smiled and rolled her eyes playfully at her husband's dramatics. She put a comforting hand on his arm. "Babe, she's three."

"Almost four," Kelly stated, as if that meant she'd be heading off to college the next day.

"Come on Lieutenant," Joe said with a smile.

"I don't know Cruz," Jay said, teasingly. "Four's pretty old. We very well could be at Maya's wedding next."

The group of police officers and fire fighters around Kelly all laughed, but he didn't find Jay's joke funny at all.

"Laugh it up Halstead," Kelly said, a smirk coming to his lips. "Maya might be a little older than Ella, but who's to say she won't get married first?"

The smile instantly fell off Jay's face, and his eyes went wide. He immediately looked down at his own daughter, who'd fallen asleep in Hailey's lap. "Nope, absolutely not. Ella's not dating until she's 30, maybe not even then."

Jay's tone was definitive. He even crossed his arms over his chest for good measure. That only made the others laugh harder.

"Mhm," Kelly said. His smirk had turned into a full-blown smile. "That's what I thought."

As the single ladies cleared for the garter toss, Makayla led Maya off the dance floor and over to the table her parents were standing. Maya had a smile on her face nearly as big as the bouquet she held in her hands. When she was just a few feet away, Maya took off running as fast as she could.

"Mama, daddy, look!" Maya called as she reached them. She held the flowers up. "Pwetty flowers!"

Stella glanced over at Kelly, who still looked a little wide-eyed, and gave his hand a comforting squeeze before turning her attention back to Maya. She smiled at her daughter. "Those are very pretty flowers. Did you catch Aunt Kim's bouquet?"

Maya nodded excitedly, her once nicely styled curls now loose and wild. She turned to face Kelly. "Daddy look! I caughted the bookay!"

Kelly coughed, choking on the drink he'd just taken. He heard snorts and giggles from the others at the table and he threw them a glare which only made them laugh more. Kelly turned his attention to Maya. "I see that! Good job baby."

Kelly bent down and grabbed Maya, picking her up and hugging her close. "Let's go see if Aunt Kim wants her flowers back, ok?"

Maya nodded and Kelly carried her away.

Stella smiled after the two most important people in her life. She would've been happy to just watch them forever, but a question from Chloe captured her attention.

"He's really changed since becoming a dad, hasn't he?" Chloe asked softly. She knew the transformation a person went through once they became a parent, but she'd heard from Joe multiple times over the last four years just how much the Squad lieutenant had changed.

"Oh yeah, he's a total softy now," Stella answered with a laugh as she sat back down at their table. "Not that he'd ever admit it of course. Maya's had him wrapped around her finger since the day she was born. When we went to his sister's wedding last fall, I think he cried more at Maya walking down the aisle as the flower girl than he did his own sister."

Stella and Chloe shared a laugh.

"He loves you both so much," Chloe said with a smile.

Stella smiled, the love she felt for her husband and daughter evident on her face. "I love him too, both of them. More than anything."

Before either of them could say anything else, Maya came running back to Stella, Kelly close behind her. Stella picked Maya up and sat her in her lap. It was only then that she noticed Maya had a flower in her hand. "What's that baby?"

"Daddy gave me flower!" Maya exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. "Daddy only boy who give me flowers."

Stella snorted (she'd deny it if asked) and looked up at her husband, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right, daddy is the only boy ever allowed to give you flowers." Kelly said with a smile. He placed a kiss on the top of both Stella's and Maya's head before sitting down next to Stella.

Stella shook her head, playfully exasperated. When she found out she was pregnant, all she wanted was for her future son or daughter to have a better relationship with their parents than she and Kelly had with theirs. Three years in and that had already been accomplished.

Stella hugged Maya close knowing that her little girl would always be fiercely loved and protected.

A/N: I have another WIP I was planning on posting first, but inspiration from this one hit hard and I just had to write it!

There won't be regular updates here, as it's more of a dumping ground for thoughts and random inspos, but I'll update when I can.

shoutout to Lady_RhaeSnow on tumblr for letting me borrow Ella Halstead for a fic ;)

got any prompts or ideas for Maya? find me on tumblr girlinlotsoffandoms!