the house that built me
"Maya? Where are you?"
Stella stood quietly in the middle of the loft, listening for any sound the hiding toddler might make. Sure enough, after a few beats of silence, Stella heard a muffled giggle from the living room. One of the few still-empty boxes in the living area shifted a little and Stella smiled. She quietly crept over to the box and waited.
Seconds later, a curly little head slowly creeped out of the box. When Maya didn't see her mom, she poked her head fully out of the box. That's when Stella made her move.
"Boo!" Stella called out, a smile on her face.
Maya screeched then started laughing hysterically. Stella laughed as well and lifted Maya out of the box. "What are you doing silly girl?"
"It's moving day mama!" Maya answered, a playful but serious tone to her voice. She pointed to the box her mom had just pulled her out of. "I helping pack."
Stella looked in the box and saw that the almost four-year-old had thrown her blanket, favorite teddy bear, and a handful of books into the box. She smiled. "I see that! But we're not moving until tomorrow….and we're definitely not packing you in a box." Stella finished, tickling the little girl's belly.
Maya was still laughing when Stella sat her back on the ground. "Why don't you bring the rest of your books out and put them in the box, huh?"
Maya nodded and ran off towards her room, eager to help with the packing.
Alone again, Stella looked around the loft. The walls were bare, surfaces and shelves were empty, and boxes were everywhere. It had been a long time coming, but the Severides were finally moving.
It was a bittersweet decision. The loft held so many memories for their family. It's the place where Kelly and Stella transitioned from roommates to boyfriend and girlfriend. It's the place where they celebrated their engagement and found their way back together after Stella went MIA. It was the place where they got ready for their wedding and the place they brought their daughter home from the hospital to. Be it holidays, birthdays, milestones or celebrations…the DNA of the Severide family had been etched into the walls of apartment 702. The loft had served them well, but it was time to say goodbye.
Maya was getting older and more active, and Kelly and Stella had also come to the agreement that they were ready to start trying for another baby. They needed more space; somewhere with a yard and plenty of room for their growing family.
The move had happened sooner than expected. Stella wasn't even pregnant yet and they had just started talking about moving when they found the house. It needed a little bit of work and some updates, but the bones were good. It was in a nice neighborhood, the yard was a nice size, and there were plenty of bedrooms, bathrooms, and living space to grow their family and host their friends for years to come. It was perfect.
They got it for a steal, able to negotiate the price down because of the work that was needed. Maya loved it, staking claim to the room she wanted, and Casey offered his contracting experience for the fix-up process. He and Kelly were going to take their time fixing the house up since there were still 6 months left on their lease at the loft.
Then their building caught on fire.
The damage was minimal, and the side with their loft was completely unscathed, but the landlord gave them the option to break their lease early. After discussing the repair timeline with Matt, Kelly and Stella decided to end their lease at the end of the next month.
Forever thankful for the family they had at Firehouse 51, their teammates had all volunteered to help with the home repairs and packing, and the once daunting month and a half timeline flew by.
The house was finished and the loft was mostly packed. Kelly and Stella had been slowly moving things over to the house the past few days—lesser used household items or newly purchased furniture—but the time had come for the rest of their belongings to make the move to the new home.
This was their last night in the loft.
Stella's stroll down memory lane was interrupted by Maya's return to the living room, her little arms holding far more books than they could handle. More books ended up on the floor than in the box. Stella just smiled, shook her head, and helped Maya pick them up and stack them in the box. They made a few more trips back into Maya's room to pack up the last of her things, leaving only the necessities she needed for the night and the following morning.
They were taping the box shut when Kelly arrived back home. He'd been working at the new house, assembling furniture and clearing out empty boxes for tomorrow's move, and stopped to pick up dinner on his way home.
The family ate dinner picnic style in the living room, their tables, chairs and other furniture having already been moved to the new house, sold, or donated. Kelly and Stella couldn't wait to get their furniture back, but Maya was loving all the temporary arrangements.
Much to her parent's relief, Maya had handled all the changes and the move incredibly well. She'd always been a very go-with-the-flow little girl but Kelly and Stella had worried about how Maya would handle the move and leaving the only home she'd ever known. So far at least, all those worries were for nothing because Maya was more excited about the new house than they were. From the moment she saw the house and picked out her room she'd been talking non-stop about how she wanted her room decorated, what games she wanted to play in the backyard, and when she could have her next sleepover with Ella and Otis.
Although it would be a while before they hosted a sleepover for 3 energetic little kids, Kelly and Stella appreciated Maya's enthusiasm. It was making the entire process that much easier.
Once dinner was finished and cleaned up, Kelly and Stella helped Maya pack the last few items in her room. They got everything ready for the next day and the three settled into bed, Maya sleeping in the bedroom with her parents since her bed had already been moved to the new house.
It was an earlier bedtime than normal, the city of Chicago still lively outside their windows, but moving day was tomorrow. The start of their newest adventure was tomorrow. Another beginning to forever started tomorrow, and they couldn't wait.
… … …
Morning came quickly and the craziness of moving started the minute their feet hit the floor. Stella dropped Maya off at the Halstead's house, Hailey having volunteered to take the toddler for the day. It was a weight off Kelly and Stella's shoulders—they could get things done quickly without having to worry about Maya getting caught underfoot and Maya could have a fun day playing with Ella.
After dropping Maya off, Stella headed to the new house to meet Brett, Chloe, and Cindy Herrmann. They were going to be cleaning, unpacking, and organizing while Kelly and the guys brought the rest of the stuff over from the loft.
It was a long day, filled with several trips to and from the loft, but with the help of their friends and teammates, they were able to finish just after noon. Kelly and Stella treated their friends to lunch and drinks as a thank you and they started trickling out soon after, leaving Kelly and Stella alone.
There were still some boxes to unpack and walls and rooms to decorate, but the house already felt like home.
It wasn't long after their friends left that Kelly and Stella left, heading back to the loft one last time.
They had cleaned as they packed, and the landlord was having it professionally cleaned after they turned in their keys, but there were a few things they wanted to tidy up now that the boxes were gone.
The couple made quick work of the last bit of cleaning and Kelly took the final bag of trash out to the dumpster, leaving Stella alone in the loft.
Stella had never seen the loft empty before. When she first moved in as Kelly's roommate, he'd already been living there for a while.
It was…. weird to see a place with so many memories and history empty. Stella walked slowly through the space. She ran her hand over the counter on the island, the place where many meals had been prepped and cooked. She moved from the kitchen to the open space where their living room had been, the place they'd hosted parties and celebrated holidays with their family and friends. Stella visited the bedrooms next, hers and Kelly's first, then the second bedroom that had once been hers then Matt's, and finally Maya's.
She was making her way back into the loft's main area when Kelly arrived. Stella had stilled, looking out at the loft and the city of Chicago through the large windows. Kelly walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
"You OK?" he asked.
Stella nodded. "It's weird to see this place so empty."
"I know," Kelly agreed, quietly. He took a look around the loft. Apart from Matt and Gabby's place, the loft was the first place he lived after losing Shay. It was with him through an embarrassing number of hookups, losing Anna and his dad, and best of all, marrying Stella and welcoming Maya into the world. "There's a lot of memories here."
Stella hummed in agreement.
They both stood in silence for a minute, replaying everything that had happened within the four walls of the loft. The good, the bad, the happy, the sad, the sleepless nights, the early mornings, all molded and sculpted them into the people they were today.
The loft might not be their home anymore but it would always hold a special place in their hearts. They were better people because of their time spent in the loft.
After another minute to silently say their goodbyes, Stella turned to Kelly with a smile. "Let's get our kid and go home."
"Yeah," Kelly agreed, leaning forward to kiss Stella. When he pulled back, he gave Stella a smile. "Let's go home."
Stella smiled back. Home. She liked the sound of that.