A/N: Hi friends! Happy Thanksgiving! I had something different planned for this chapter, even had it fully outlined, but I couldn't get it to work out the way I wanted to. Motivation to write anything has been non-existent and right when it comes back, I get sick and slammed at work. Go figure.

Anyways, I wanted to post something and while this isn't as long as the updates I normally post, I hope you enjoy it all the same!

family

Coffee in hand, Stella leaned against the doorframe and smiled at the scene in front of her. The summer sky was clear and blue, and the mid-morning sun shone brightly down on the lush grass and reflected off the pond. It was a beautiful August day but what caught her attention was the sight of Kelly chasing their toddler around the yard. Their sweet, spunky little girl with Stella's curls and Kelly's eyes laughed loudly as she ran, her giggles turning to joyous shrieks as Kelly caught her and began tickling her. Stella's smile grew at the sound as she moved her free hand down to her belly, her second pregnancy finally making an appearance.

The past three years had been a whirlwind. Not long after returning from Alabama, dragging Kelly with her, Stella found out she was pregnant. Then Mouch was medically retired, his spot at 51 being filled by floaters until Kylie graduated from the Fire Academy and earned the spot. Brett and Casey got engaged and headed back to Oregon together, leaving Violet to take over the reins as PIC. As Stella's pregnancy progressed, she moved from Truck to Ambo until she went on maternity leave.

Baby Severide's arrival was a welcomed affair, a moment of peace and happiness after a year of craziness and change. Of course, with both Kelly and Stella out in the immediate aftermath of baby Severide's arrival, that meant more change at 51—floaters coming in to fill the temporarily empty spots on Squad and Ambo—but eventually, Kelly and Stella returned to their Lieutenant spots and Violet found a permanent partner to ride with her on Ambo.

There had been injuries and close calls, promotions and commendations, retirements and new arrivals. A lot had happened over the course of just a few years, but Stella was proud of how her team at 51 had handled everything in stride. Because despite it all, they were more than just a team. They were a family.

And family, Stella learned as her own family continued to grow, was more important than anything.

As Stella watched her husband and daughter play, she found herself thinking back to a conversation she and Kelly had years ago. Chicago was in the throes of a contagious outbreak and 51 had just finished a call for a fire in one of the bio labs at Central Chicago University. Kelly had found her after their decontamination shower and he was annoyingly calm about the situation; the disease they were up against was deadly, had already claimed several victims with more to follow and no cure in sight, and the Squad Lieutenant was smiling and cracking jokes. Stella had rolled her eyes, knowing that's how her (then) boyfriend dealt with some of the terrible things they see every day but it was a comment he made about their future that stopped Stella in her tracks.

"It's not how I'm gonna go," Kelly said, alluding to death by contagious pathogen.

"Yeah? You know that for certain?" Stella asked. At Kelly's nod, she continued. "All right, how are you gonna go?"

"An old man, in bed, with our kids and grandkids and you surrounding me," Kelly answered, no hesitation or fear in his voice.

Kelly's words, his plans for their future, warmed her heart that day. They continued to do so throughout the years because with every high and low of their relationship, Kelly's plans for their future never wavered. Stella thought of that day, those words, often…even more so since their daughter arrived and the plans for their future had taken root.

"Mommy!" A sweet little voice yelled, pulling Stella out of her thoughts. "Tom pway!"

Stella smiled and sat her coffee before joining her family in the grass to play. Change was constant, but so was the love of family.

And Stella loved her family fiercely.