Two weeks have passed since their conversation about testifying at Sonny's parole hearing. Stella was still very firm in not going, and Kelly wanted to push her into it but he decided to keep his opinion to himself. He was hopeful that she would change her mind, but she hadn't talked about it since that night. Things between them seemed to be back on track and he didn't want to mess it up by continuing to bring up the parole hearing. But he can tell as the days got closer Stella was becoming more distracted again. He knew her anxiety was going to take over, and all he could do was wait for her to come to him. If she did.

He walked into Casey's house wearing a huge grin.

"Hey man! What brings you by." Casey asked as Kelly walked into the kitchen.

" Nothing really, just thought I would see what you were up to."

" Nothing really, Gabby had a doctor's appointment, so I'm just chilling with my little man, till mommy gets back."

Kelly walked over and smiled at the little boy and his highchair eating a cookie. " You are getting so big." Casey watched Kelly interact with his son, he rubbed his head, and tried to take the cookie from him. " I want one..." Kelly said, as he touched the little boy's cheek.

" You want one what?" Casey asked confusedly.

" I want kids, I want to be a father someday. Maybe two or three." He finally admitted it out loud.

Casey's eyes widened. " Wow! Stella really has changed you huh?"

" She really has." He walked over to the counter. " You know I never really thought about my future I mean career-wise yeah, but not my personal future. And it's crazy this past year has opened my eyes to new possibilities and new adventures things that I never really thought about before like being a dad one day and being a husband one day... soon hopefully."

"Are you thinking about asking Stella to marry you?"

" I am."

" Wow!"

He laughed. " I actually already bought the ring." He tells him as he pulls a little black box out of his pocket. " I've just been trying to think of the right time to propose, and how to do it and where to do it and all that stuff.". I've been carrying it around in my pocket for a week now."

Casey took the black box from him and opened it. "Wow! that's a nice ring." The ring was a 1.5-carat pear-shaped halo engagement ring with a diamond platinum band. " This looks pretty expensive."

" It took a big chunk of my savings, but the way I look at it you can't put a price on love and I know Stella will love it she'll say it's too much and too expensive but she'll love it."

" Yes, she will definitely love it, hell Gabby would probably want me to upgrade her ring after she sees this." Casey jokes.

Kelly laughed. " You can't tell Dawson; she'll tell Stella and ruin the surprise."

" My lips are sealed," Casey said, motioning his lips. " So, are you going to ask her anytime soon?"

" I was thinking about next week, taking her to a little bed and breakfast and asking her there."

" Sounds like a good plan." He takes a sip of his water. " Stella is a great catch."

" Yes, she is."

" So, I guess Stella still hasn't changed her mind about the hearing"

Kelly sighed. " No, she said she's not going. And I'm not forcing her, it's like two days away. And she hasn't said anything else about it."

" But you want her to."

" I do, I know how hard it's going to be opening up old wounds, but I really think she'll regret it. And I'm afraid how it's going to affect her if he does get released. "

Casey could tell it was a touchy subject, so he decided to change the subject. " So have you decided what you're going to say when you do ask her to marry you?"

"I don't know exactly, but I've been thinking about it constantly." He shrugged. " Maybe something like, would you please, with a cherry on top, marry me?" Casey laughed. " Or I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore. I want you to be my fiancé. Will you marry me?"

" I think either one would work."

" I don't know exactly what I'm going to say maybe I won't know until that moment all I know is she's who I want to spend the rest of my life with, she is who I want to be the mother of my children. " He paused, as he thought about Stella. "I know deep down she wants to spend the rest of her life with me too. so, I'm not worried she's going to say no or I'm going to be rejected cuz I know that she loves me. I just want it to be a perfect moment, something she can always look back on and smile. She doesn't have many happy memories, so I want to give her as many as possible."

Casey nods. " Best advice I can give you man, say what's in your heart. Your heart can never fail you. "

"Thanks, man."

Stella pulled into her driveway after a long meeting at the church. She was hoping Kelly was home, she could use a good nap, and napping and Kelly's arms always relaxed her. As she got out of her car, she noticed the girls sitting on her porch.

" Hey! What are you girls doing here?" She asked. " Did we have a meeting today?" She thought she had forgotten.

" No ma'am," LeAnn said. " Stella, we need to talk. It's about Vanessa."

Stella gives them a confused and worried look. " Okay, come inside." She unlocked the door and let the six girls walk inside. These were her girls she was helping overcome the horrible things that had happened to them, she had become so close to all seven of them. " Sit." She tells them as they walk into the living room.

" Is Kelly home?"

" No."

" We wanted to talk to you privately."

" I understand that, but like I told you girls before Kelly is someone you girls can trust too so don't be afraid to talk when he's around. So do you girls want something to drink?"

"No!" They are said together.

"Okay so what is going on with Vanessa?"

"You know Vanessa's court hearing was two days ago?"

"Yeah I'm aware of that, I wanted to go with her, but she said her mom was going to be there and her mom was her support system. "

"Well apparently her stepdad the guy that you know did all that stuff to her. he didn't get no time."

"What do you mean?"

" He's free, he's at Vanessa's house right now, her mom didn't testify against him, her mom testified against her."

Stella's mouth dropped. " What?"

" The whole story was turned around saying Vanessa was crazy and had mental issues, that she came on to her step dad. They even had letters from a social worker, and two teachers saying Vanessa was unstable." LeAnn tells her, as the girls shake their heads.

Michelle stands up. " Her mom told the judge that her stepdad never touched her, all he ever did was try to love her and be a dad to her. And that Vanessa was a liar, and deceitful, they said she stole money from them and hit her mom and was hitting her sister that she was very violent when she didn't get her way. "

Stella's heart broke at the thought of Vanessa sitting in that courtroom listening to all these lies about her and her own mom turned her back against her. " So they said he wasn't guilty?" Stella couldn't believe what she was hearing this man Steve has been raping Vanessa since she was twelve years old and he finally got caught just last year when Vanessa turned sixteen, he was locked up for four months awaiting trial.

"We don't exactly know what happened in the courtroom all we know is what Vanessa said she came by my house right after the verdict and she was a mess Stella, she was crying uncontrollably, she was so fragile and shaking she said that she had to get out of Chicago and not to worry about her. I tried to get her to stay, I told her she could stay with me, my mom will be okay with it, but she said she couldn't be in Chicago."

" Do any of you guys know if she has family out of state? Like aunts, uncles, grandparents?"

" She never talked about any other family members," Michelle said.

" All I know is she lost her dad at ten, her mom married Steve when she was twelve, and she has a little sister. " LeAnn spoke.

"I'm not sure but I think she has an aunt in Florida, I just remember her talking about how she used to go to Florida for the summer before her dad passed to her aunt's house I don't know if her aunt is still alive or is she still lives there."

" Thank you, Kay, that helps a lot." Stella took a deep breath. " Okay listen to me girls thank you for coming to me with this I want you guys to continue to look for her continue to text her call her if you hear from her or someone says something to you about her please don't hesitate to call me anytime night or day. I'm going to call the local hospitals just to see if she's there, I'm going to go check out some shelters. I'm going to talk to Kelly, he knows some people at the police station so he can probably be a tremendous help for us. we will find her we just have to pray that she's okay." Stella tells them all, as she prays that Vanessa is fine, unlike Raven who is still missing.

Stella hugged each girl as they walked out her door. " Stella, can I ask you something?" McKenzie asked after all the girls were out of hearing range.

" Of course, you can ask me anything sweetie."

" I need to talk to you about something personal, but not tonight not right now I'm not exactly able to talk about it right now and I want to do it privately without the other girls it's not that I don't trust them I prefer that it's just you and me."

"Honey you can talk to me anytime day or night you can come by here or you can call me I can meet you somewhere but are you sure you're, okay?"

" I'm okay, I promise."

" Honey we can go somewhere right now if you want and talk."

" I do appreciate the offer, but I'm not ready to talk just yet."

" Okay."

" I promise when I'm ready I'll come to you. I trust you Stella, we all trust you. And we know you will do everything you can to find Vanessa."

" I will you can count on that."

" I just don't understand why they allowed that monster out. I can't believe they allowed him to be free so he can do it again, to some innocent girl. "

" I can't believe it either," Stella said, as she hugged her. " Sometimes I don't understand our justice system."

" Monsters like him deserve to be locked up for life, they don't deserve freedom. "
" I agree," Stella replied as she thought about Sonny being up for parole in two days.

Kelly came home an hour later, to find Stella upstairs packing. " What's going?" She stopped what she was doing and ran to Kelly's arms. " Hey! What is it?" He asked, as he hugged her.

She held him tightly. " I can't let him be free like Steve is, I can't do it. I won't do it. That man deserves to stay locked up."

Kelly was confused. " Baby, what are you talking about."

" McKenzie is right guys like Steve and Sonny should be locked up for life without parole. They don't deserve freedom."

" Okay come here." He tells her as he sits on the bed. Pulling her into his lap. " Take a deep breath, and tell me what's going."

Stella wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. " My girls from my therapy group the one that I mentor all showed up tonight to tell me that Vanessa's stepdad is out he was found not guilty two days ago, he raped Vanessa since she was twelve years old Kelly even let his friends molest her, and her mother knew what was going on. But because her mother didn't want to be alone, she allowed it to continue, until she was sixteen when Vanessa finally got the courage to talk to somebody. He was locked up for four months, I told her when he went to trial, he would get what he deserves," She cries. " But he didn't, he's out, he's out there where he can do it again, Vanessa's got a little sister. It makes me so sick, and so pissed off. That they allowed that man to walk free "
Kelly wiped her tears away, his heartbreaking for her and for Vanessa he never knew what any of Stella's girls had gone through, she always told him it was confidential and he never asked.

" Vanessa is missing."

" Missing what do you mean?"

" The girls think she ran away, after the trial they said she was a mess and said she had to get out of Chicago."

" You want me to call Trudy, Mouch's wife. She will help us out."

" Please... " she cries. " We have to find her Kelly. I can't let anything happen to her, any of them they are my girls, I promise to protect them and be there for them. I already failed Raven. "

" Baby, you didn't fail her. You can't blame yourself for her runaway. She was battling demons that no fourteen-year-old should have to battle. You did everything you could for her. "

Stella cried as she thought about Raven and Vanessa. " They didn't deserve what they went through, life has been terrible to them. I couldn't save Raven, but I have to save Vanessa."

"Babe, the police are still looking for Raven, and we just have to pray that she is somewhere safe and she will be found."

Raven was one of the second girls Stella met when she started her group. Raven was sweet, creative, and a dreamer. But her uncle and his friends took advantage of her and killed what spirit she had left. Her uncle got custody of her when her parents died when she was nine, at first her uncle was a nice loving caring man, who did whatever he could to make Raven happy, but when she was eleven, he lost his job and started drinking. And that's when the abuse started, she was twelve when he came home one-night drunk and changed her entire world. He forced himself on her, and after that night it became an every night occurrence. He locked her in the basement and used her for his sexual pleasure. He even let his friends have a turn with her. And when she would fight them or bite them, they burned her with cigarettes. She had been in that basement for months when one of her teachers started showing up at the house questioning her whereabouts. It was then that the teacher realized something was off about the uncle, so she got the police involved. A few days later the police broke down his door in search of Raven and found her beat and bloody in the basement. Her uncle got life in prison with no parole. Raven was free and taken in by a foster family. She came to Stella's group a week later but was so disconnected from everything and everyone. Stella could tell she had been through a lot and she slowly started opening up to Stella, but one day about nine months ago she just disappeared, no one knew where she was, the foster family said she left a note saying she had run away. The police marked her as a runaway, occasionally Stella would Google her name just to see if anything came up, but nothing. She even hired a private investigator, but he came up empty too.

" I can't lose Vanessa too Kelly.."

Kelly hated seeing her so broken. " I will call Trudy right now."

" I called the hospital, and went to a few shelters but I didn't see her. I showed a picture of her around the shelter but no one recognized her. She's not responding to messages or answering her phone. I'm so worried Kelly."

" I know baby, we will find her. I'll get the guys from 51 to make up some flyers and we will post them everywhere and I'll have them help us look for her. We will find her I promise you."

Stella sighed and touched his cheek softly. " You have such a good heart, that's why I love you so much."

" I'll do anything for you Stella, you are my heart. " He kisses her softly. " First thing tomorrow we will start looking."

"Thank you."

He held her close." You don't have to thank me."

" Do you think Casey and Gabby would take charge of looking for her for me, because I need to go to New York and I want you with me."

" New York?"

" Yes, New York, Sonny's parole hearing is the day after tomorrow. I need to do my part to keep him locked up, I called the lawyer and told her I'll be there, I booked us a flight for tomorrow night. His parole hearing is at 3:30. " She swallowed hard. " So will you come with me?"

Kelly was relieved, he figured what happened with Vanessa had changed her mind, and he was grateful for that. Not that Vanessa is missing, but that her situation opened Stella's eyes. " Yes, I will, and I will hold your hand through it all."

New York City is a beautiful city, especially in the winter. Most of Stella's memories were horrible and traumatic. But one good memory she has was ice skating with Stacy and Devin, it was her first date with Devin, and it was snowing lightly. Christmas time in New York seemed magical, it was her first Christmas without her mom, but thanks to her new friends it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. " I used to love ice skating." She says, as she stops and watches the people skate.

" I didn't know you ice-staked."

" Yeah, I used to be good at it."

" I bet you're still good at it."

Stella smiled at him. " New York is wonderful at Christmas time. It's so pretty, so magical. I used to want to get married here."

" Really?" Kelly asked as he looked around the park.

" Yep, I think this is the perfect romance place, to get married, tell someone you love them, or even ask someone to spend the rest of their live with you."

Kelly eyed her for a moment, he wondered if now was the perfect time. He had the ring in his pocket because he never knew when the perfect time was going to arrive. He looked around at the people skating and walking around holding hands and laughing. Maybe it is the perfect time. " Stella, do you think about the future?"

She turned around and looked at him. " I do a lot more now than I used to. "

" What exactly do you see when you think about your future?"

She bit her lip, as she thought about it. " Well, I see myself living in Chicago and still doing more community work, and opening up more community centers. Maybe going back to school and getting my business degree, getting a dog, or cat, or maybe both." She laughed. " And you, I see you in my future. "

"Good, because I want to be a part of your future."

" I love you Kelly Severide, and I can't wait to see what our future holds for us."

Kelly cups her face. " I love you Stella Kidd, more than any words could describe. " He stares into her eyes; her glistening brown eyes hold some much love and affection for him. He looks around where they are standing, the snow is lightly falling, and Christmas music playing in the background. He reached into his pocket and with a hopeful heart he hit one knee.

Stella's eyes widen, her mouth open as she stares at him. " Oh my God!" She exclaimed as he pulled out the little black box.

He watches as her eyes fill with tears, everyone around them is staring at them. He knows that they are in New York to attend Sonny's parole hearing, and he never thought this would be how he proposed. But she looked so beautiful with the snowflakes in her hair, that his heart told him now was the right time. " Stella, this past year has been the best year of my life. And I never thought I would be the type of man to want a wife. But then you happened...

" Yes!" she said loudly interrupting his speech.

Kelly smiled. " You didn't let me finish." He laughed.

" Sorry."

" Stella I promise...

"Yes, baby yes a thousand times yes." She said in an overly excited tone. Interrupting him again.

Kelly couldn't help but love how excited she was. " Baby, you didn't even let me ask." His smile lit up his whole face.

" Kelly, I don't need the big speech, you have shown me countless times how much you love me. I know that you love me and I know that I love you and I know that whatever comes our way, as long as we are together everything will be okay, I know that you will always protect me, support me, believe in me, and you'll always be there for me, we would love me through anything. So yes, Kelly Severide, I will marry you. "

Kelly felt like he was on top of the world, as he slipped the ring on her finger. He stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist, and swung her around as strangers clapped, whistled and cheered. " You have no idea how happy you just made me."

" I do, believe me I do." She tells him as she wraps her legs around his waist. Then kisses him, she cups his face to deepen the kiss. Both not caring that they have a sea of people watching them and recording them. In that moment only the two of them existed, as they celebrated their love. The sound on Stella's phone, interrupted their celebration.

" What is that?" Kelly asked, as Stella pulled her phone out. Noticing the joyful expression, she has seconds ago disappeared.

" I set an alarm to remind me about Sonny's hearing. It's three o'clock, I told the lawyer we would meet her at three fifteen. "

" Baby, you got this." He tells her as he puts her down. " You are stronger than you think, I promise you everything will work out. "

She laid her head on his shoulder, as he tightened his hold on her. She was actually surprised with herself, getting on the plane was nothing. She survived the plane without once thinking about Sonny, she thought once they landed in New York she would have a mental breakdown but she didn't, they drove to the hotel they checked in. They ordered room service, watched an old movie Kelly gave her a relaxing massage and they made love. she slept the whole night through Vanessa was the only thing on her mind. She awoke the next morning to a beautiful snow-covered City and wanted to go explore. So she and Kelly spent the morning walking around some of her favorite places ate breakfast at her favorite Cafe did some shopping, then she brought him to where she used to skate, and not once did her mind wander off to the real reason, she was in the city again. But now after the most wonderful moment of her life, reality hit her.

" Baby." Kelly's worried tone knocked her out of her thoughts. "You can do this; I know you can."

She smiled, as he whispered those words of encouragement in her ear. " I know I can, but I'm not mentally prepared to see him, Kelly. "

He kissed the top of her head. " I know babe, I can't even imagine what you are feeling right now. Hell, I'm worried about what I'm going to do when I see him for the first time."

" Nothing." She tells him as she pulls back and looks at him. " He's not worth it Kelly, so when we get in there, keep your eyes on me. He doesn't even deserve to be looked at."

"The same goes for you, keep your eyes on me. And repeat to yourself I got this, because you do Stella Kidd you got this."

" I'm so glad I have you." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Please don't ever leave me."

He rested his forehead against hers. " I'm not going anywhere."

Stella felt the knots in her stomach turning, standing out in the hallway waiting to be called in. " Stella remember what I said, just be truthful with them. Tell them why you feel Sonny doesn't deserve to be free. And you don't have to look at him, you can focus your attention anywhere in the room. You don't have to talk to him, and he is not allowed to talk to you."

" Well, that's good." Kelly chimed in as he rubbed Stella's back.

" But." Nacey Stella's lawyer said. " Sonny wants to apologize to you and try to make you see he changed."

" Bullshit." Stella blurted out.

" There are three women here who are testifying against his parole. the first woman spoke this morning you are the second woman and there's a third woman which I did not know about the third woman until about 3 hours ago."

" I'm not the only one wanting to keep him locked up."

" Nope, there's a lot of people wanting to keep that monster locked up. But I need to warn you, even though listening to what the first woman said this morning and the gruesome details of what he did to her, and whatever you go in there and say, and whatever the third woman says. There is still a slight chance that he will get out."

" Seriously?" Stella yelled.

" That's fucking ridiculous."

" Look guys it pisses me off too, I have been doing this for over 20 years and it's a case of knowing how to play the board. In a situation like this you win some, you lose some. Sometimes these board members want to believe that everyone can change they believe that just because they were locked up for 10 15 20 years that they saw the light and deserve a second chance all three of these members are firm believers and second chances I just want to warn you guys."

" So basically, you're telling me I wasted my time coming to New York because whatever I say they're not even going to consider it they're not considering what the first woman said or what the next woman will say they're just going to listen to what Sonny has to say how fair is that."

" It's fucking bullshit that's what it is Kelly said in a frustrating tone.

" I am on your side guys I totally agree with you I don't agree with half the decisions these guys make. I bust my ass to prove these guys our guilty and don't deserve to breathe fresh air again. "

" I can't believe this shit."

" Hey, let's calm down you haven't even gone in there yet, so just take a deep breath and like I said go in there and tell them why he shouldn't be free tell them whatever the hell you want to tell them. Be completely honest with them and if it gets too emotional or if it becomes too much for you just walk out, I will totally understand."

"I can handle the emotions I just want him locked up so I'm going to stay in there until I say everything that I want to say."

Kelly kissed the top of her head. " You got this." He whispers in her ear, as the doors open and they are motioned to come in.

Stella was a lot less nervous than she thought she was going to be walking into that room, she held Kelly's hand tight and looked straight ahead at the three board members who are staring at her even their intense gaze didn't make her nervous she was on a mission a mission that she was going to make sure got accomplished. The mission was to keep Sonny locked up, so he couldn't hurt any other innocent woman out there.

" Good afternoon." The woman in the middle said as Stella stood in front of them.

" Afternoon." She said, as her stomach started doing flip flops, she was getting nauseated.

" My name is Michelle Kibble the man to my right is John Jones and the man to my left is Martin Michaels. We are the three board members who will decide if Sonny Johnson will be paroled next week or not. You must be Stella Kidd."

" Yes ma'am," Stella said as she squeezed Kelly's hand.

" You all can take a seat," Michelle tells them as Kelly, Stella, and Nancy sit in the brown chairs in front of the board.

" Miss Kidd we are going to let you decide on how you want to proceed as you probably noticed Sonny is not in this room, we learned that it's comfortable for victims to say what's on their mind without their accuser being in the room but some victims prefer the accuser to be in the room because they want them to know what they did to them. So, Stella, the choice is yours."

Stella looked at Kelly, who gave her an encouraging smile. She swallowed hard. " It honestly doesn't matter if he's in the room or not I have no problem Stating why I feel he should be locked up in front of him, he knows what he did I don't have to relive the details of what he did to me, Because he already knows what he did and I'm pretty sure that you guys have my folder from the first court date 12 years ago so I will not be reliving the gruesome details of what was done to me by him."

" Okay." Michelle looked behind her, giving the office a nod.

Stella squeezed Kelly's hand tighter than she intended to as the door opened and Sonny was in the room. His head was shaved and he was very skinny, you can see his bones he looked really old. She felt like she was going to be sick so she closed her eyes. And Kelly took this opportunity to whisper in her ear "You got this Stella kid." The relief that washed over her at that moment was indescribable this is why she loves this man so much she opened her eyes gave Kelly a quick glance and said "thank you" she then turned her attention back to the board Sonny was now sitting in a chair about 3 ft away from her but she wasn't going to let his creepy presents stop her for what she came here to do.

" Alright, Miss Kidd the floor is yours."