Stella lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. It's two in the morning, and she's wide awake. Her mind has been nonstop since Kim and Adam's unexpected visit. She told Kelly last night when he came upstairs to check on her, that she was fine. And she really thought she was, but once she laid down and closed her eyes, she was taken back to her childhood home, a place she hated, a place she rarely ever thinks about. A place she at one time loved, but after her grandmother died, life for her changed drastically. Her grandmother was her protector, her person, her guidance, her strength, the only person who loved her, supported her, and cared about her well-being. No one ever loved her as her grandma did, that is until Kelly came along. She smiles as she looks over and sees her husband sleeping peacefully. She touches his cheek softly, just for a second.
She sighs as she slowly gets out of bed. She goes to the closet and walks inside, turning on the light. And for some reason, she is rummaging around on the top shelf, looking for her box of personal stuff—stuff that she keeps but won't let anyone see. She is unsure why she got the sudden urge to pull the box out. She pulls it down and sits on the closet floor, opening it up. But then it catches her eye—a small, old, tattered red-colored book with a peace sign on the front. It was her grandma's journal.
A sigh escapes her lips. She stares at the book, not sure why she had the urge to get it down; she can't even remember the last time she opened it. She wants to open it, but she doesn't know if she's mentally prepared to go down that road again after hearing that her mom wants her to come to see her, and the thoughts of their last conversation are invading her mind. She opens the book and reads the poem out loud. "My dearest pumpkin, Once upon a time, when I asked God for an angel, he sent me you. You are the beat of my heart. The happiness in my life and the energy of my soul Always remember how much I love you. As you grow older, you will face many obstacles in life. Stay strong, be confident, and just do your best. Don't be afraid to chase your dreams. No matter when the pages of my life come to an end, Know that I love you, and I believe in you. I promise you that even in my death, I will keep you protected from evil. Please keep pushing on and never let anyone break your spirit. I love you, Stella; you will always be my little pumpkin. Love Grandma K."
These words go straight to her heart and choke her up. She is now sitting in her walk-in closet, crying and missing her grandma. She's so lost in her tears and thoughts of her grandma that she doesn't even notice Kelly coming to find her. She feels his thumb wipe away her tears. "Did I wake you?"
"No, I subconsciously reached for you and came up empty. When I sat up, I saw the closet light on, and I came to check on you, my little pumpkin." He teased.
She smiles and blushes; no one knows about that nickname. "That was the nickname my grandma gave me; she said when I was born, my face looked like a little pumpkin. She was the only one allowed to call me that."
"Sorry, I won't call you that again." He told her as he sat down beside her.
"I liked it, so you can call me that; my grandma would have loved you. Did you hear what she wrote to me?"
"I did; it sounds like she loved you a lot."
"She did; she was everything to me; no one loved me or supported me like she did. Well, till you entered my life, sometimes I thought my grandma had a hand in you and I finding each other. She knew you were perfect for me and that you would always love me, take care of me, and support me. And be there for me."
"Always, till death do us part," Kelly tells her as he grabs her hand. "What is that?" He asked, looking at the red book in her hand.
"My grandma's journal; she wrote down recipes, her thoughts and stuff about me, and things she wanted me to remember, poems, all kinds of things."
"That's awesome. Great memories."
Stella nods. "There's this poem in here called Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou." She opens the book, looking for the poem. She starts reading when she finds it. "You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness.
But still, like air, I'll rise." She looked at Kelly and said, "This poem helped me a lot when I was struggling and dealing with..." She trailed off.
Kelly lifted her chin. "Dealing with what?" He asked, he loved that she was telling him about her past, even if it was two in the morning.
She looks at him with such affection and love that she wonders if she should say anything. She knows how emotional he gets when she talks about what Grant did to her. She decides to tell him anyway. "The first time... Grant..." she looks down, not able to look him in the eye. "The first time Grant hit me, I got this book down and read this poem over and over. Every time he made me feel insecure, called me a whore, accused me of cheating, threatened me, whatever it was that he did, I would read this poem."
Kelly brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. She smiles at the simple action. "The day that I finally realized that I couldn't do it anymore and that I needed to leave Grant, I read this poem twenty-seven times. As crazy as it sounds, it was like my grandma was speaking to me through this poem like she gave me the strength I needed to leave him."
"I don't think it's crazy."
She smiles at him. "I'm sorry that I got you sitting in the middle of the closet talking to you about my past at two in the morning." She tells him as she lays her head on his shoulder.
"I honestly don't care what time it is; anytime you want to talk, I'm here always." He kisses the top of her head. "I am curious to know what made you go down memory lane at two in the morning—is it because of Burgess and Ruzek being here last night?"
She closes her eyes and says, "Pretty much, I couldn't sleep."
"I figured, you want to talk about it?" He asked in a hopeful tone. He respects her privacy, but he's always been curious.
"Kelly, I can't go see her; I can't," she says, looking up at him. "I'm not strong enough to see her. Please don't try to convince me." She begs.
Kelly hates that her beautiful hazelnut eyes are filled with worry and fear. "First off, babe, I would never convince you to do something that I know you feel strongly against; this is your decision and your decision alone. And that's what I told them last night. I know they're going to be back and try to talk you into it, but I'm in your corner. Whatever you decide, I will back you up. But I would also like to point out that you're wrong, Stella; you are stronger than you realize. I might not know what happened between you and your mom, and it's not my business, but don't you ever think you're too weak to face her or face what happened? You are the strongest woman I know. Your strength, your light, and your confidence are just a few things I love about you. If the day ever comes that you do want to go see her, I'll go with you."
" Really?"
"Yes, I'll hold your hand the whole time."
"I love you." She pecks his lips. "We should get some sleep because we aren't going to have the energy to chase our one-year-olds around tomorrow."
Kelly laughs as he stands up and helps his wife up. "Are you going to be able to sleep now?" He asked as they got back into bed.
"As long as I'm in your arms, I'll be fine." She tells him that as he lays down and opens his arms, she kisses his cheek, then lays down beside him, his arms wrapped around her, and she lays her head on his chest. "One day, I promise to tell you about my relationship with my mom. I promise."
Kelly smiles. "Whenever you're ready, I'll be here." He kissed the top of her head and tightened his hold on her. He wanted her to feel safe and loved. He knew she was battling herself with what Burgess and Ruzek said; she feels trapped like she wants to help them get their guy and get the heroin off the streets, but she doesn't want to see or talk to her mom.
" Kelly?"
Her whisper knocks him from his thoughts. " Yeah."
"I can't help but think over and over about Kim and Adam being here, asking for my help. I want to help them, I do. I really do."
He rubs her back. "I know you do, babe."
"I want to get the heroin off the streets and out of all the kid's hands. But I don't know if I could handle seeing her again. I left her and that life I hated so much behind when I was fifteen and made a vow to never go back down that road again. Seeing her and talking to her will only open up old wounds—wounds that I'm not sure I could handle."
Kelly strokes her hair and says, "It probably will open up wounds you haven't thought about in years. As for handling it, I'm not worried."
"You not?" She lifted her head, looking at him.
"No, my wife is a badass; she can handle anything."
Stella rolled her eyes. "You're crazy."
"About you, yes." He pecks her lips. "Stella, you don't have to see her; you don't have to talk to her. I get you want to help the intelligence unit; it's who you are; you want to help whenever you can, and with all the recent OD's, you want to help more to stop this man. But you don't have to; they just have to find another way without your help." He caresses her cheek.
"I want to help; I do. But I can't, Kelly." Her eyes look sorrowful and filled with hopelessness.
"I know, and I understand. Don't stress yourself out over this. You are not obligated to help them; it's your choice. And you told them no, and they are just going to have to accept it."
She lays her head back down on his chest. "I love you." She whispered as she closed her eyes.
"I love you too." He tells her this as he continues to stroke her hair. He knows her mind is racing, and she is still thinking about everything. He wishes he could ease her mind. He smiles when he realizes she's sleeping. He kisses the top of her head. Before closing his eyes.
Stella placed the twins in their high chairs and gave them their apple juice as she fixed them breakfast. Her mind wandered off to her grandma, she smiled as she remembered being in the kitchen with her grandma when she was younger. "Mommy is going to read you guys a poem that your great-grandma used to read to me when I was your age," she tells them as she places their food in front of them. She walks over to the island and grabs her grandma's book. "Let Mommy see if she can find it." She tells them as she flips through the pages. "Here it is," she says excitedly. "The actual name of the poem is Hold my hand, Mommy, but I didn't." She bit her lip for a second. "I didn't have a good mommy like you two do. Well, I think I'm a good mommy. Do you think I'm a good mommy?" She asked hopefully. Benny laughed as he shook his head and ate his banana. Shay just smiled as she threw her cup. She sighs loudly. She was hoping for a nod or them saying Mama, but that didn't happen. "I think I'm a good mommy; I do. I just hope you two think I am. I love you both more than I have ever loved anything in my entire life." She picks up the cup and wipes it off.
Kelly was leaning against the doorway, "Well, I speak for both of them." She looks over at him with a raised eyebrow. "You are the best, the most awesome mommy in the entire world, and they love you too." He walks into the room. "Right guys, mommy is the best mommy ever, huh?" Benny's smile grows as Kelly gets closer, and he claps his hands. Which makes Shay clap her hands, and laugh. "See, they agree with Daddy."
Stella shakes her head. "Morning babe." She says this as he gets closer to her.
"Good morning to you, beautiful." He wraps her in his embrace. And kisses her softly. "You are the best mommy and wife I know."
"And you are the best daddy and husband, and I love you."
"I love you more." He tells her before kissing her again. "So do we get to hear this poem?"
She smiles. "Yes, I was just getting ready to read it to them." She walks back over and stands in front of the twins as Kelly pours himself some coffee."Okay, angels, here is the poem my grandma used to read to me. She called it Hold My Hand, Granny. Because mommy didn't have a mommy to care for her or love her like you two do. So I'm going to read it the way it's supposed to be read, " She looks back at Kelly, who was sipping his coffee. He winks at her, and she takes a deep breath.
"Hold my hand mommy, and show me the way. So that I can go out in the big world one day. Teach me the basics, and then let me learn. Should I ever get stuck, I will know where to turn. Cheer me up, mommy. When I'm feeling blue. I can always rely on a kind word from you. Dry my tears, Mommy when I'm feeling sad. Let me know it's ok, and I won't feel so bad. Show me the sunshine, and then set me free to be the brilliant person that you raised me to be." Her voice cracked towards the end, and she cried as memories of her grandma reading the poem to her came rushing back.
Kelly walked over to her but stopped as she started to speak to the twins. "I promise you both I will be the best mommy I can be, and I will love you, protect you, and always be there for you." She wiped her eyes and then grabbed Shay's right hand and then Benny's left hand. "I love you both more than anything, and I always will. You guys are my whole world. I might make mistakes along the way, but I will never give up. You guys will be my top priority; you will always come first, I promise." She kisses Shay's cheek. "I love you, baby girl." She then kisses Benny's cheek. "And I love you, my sweet baby boy."
Kelly smiles as he watches her talk to their twins. Part of him worries that her past is messing with her mind. And he's afraid of the damage it could do. The sound of the doorbell knocked him from his thoughts. "I'll get it." He tells her as he kisses the side of her head before walking out of the room.
Stella cleans up the twins and takes the empty plates from them. "Good morning, Grandma's Angels," Jennifer said, walking into the kitchen. Stella smiled as Jennifer kissed the kids. "Hey, Bob!" She's says as Bob and Kelly walk into the kitchen.
"Morning Stella," Bob says before turning his attention to the little ones.
"Did you guys have any plans today with the kids?" Jennifer asked.
Kelly and Stella shrug. "Not really, why?"
"Bob's granddaughter's birthday party is this afternoon. And we thought we would take the twins; they will get to play with other kids around their ages."
Kelly looked at Stella. "Are you sure you want to take them to Springfield?"
"Yes, I can handle my grandbabies, Stella."
"I didn't mean it like that; I do know you can handle them." She sighs. "I think they would have a blast, so yes, you can take them. Thank you for thinking of them."
"Of course, they're grandma angels," Jennifer said as she rubbed their heads.
"Jennifer, thank you."
"For what?"
Stella walked over to her. "For being an awesome grandma, for loving my babies and being there for them. They are lucky to have you." She hugged her tightly.
Jennifer was a bit taken by surprise. "Stella, you don't have to thank me; it's what Grandma's do." She pulls back. "I love my grandbabies, and I love being their grandma."
"And they love that you are their only grandma. You are the only grandma they need." Stella said as she picked Shay up. "Let's go change you guys, so you can spend the day with the best grandma in the world." Jennifer smiled, picked Benny up, and followed Stella out of the room.
Later that day, Kelly was out back with the puppies, while Stella looked through her grandma's journal. She was so focused on reading it that when the doorbell rang, she jumped out of her chair like she saw a spider. She walks to the door, and her smile fades as she sees Haley Upton standing there.
"Hey, Stella!"
"I already told Burgess and Ruzek no, and my answer is still no. I'm not changing my mind." She didn't mean to be so rude, but she knew exactly why she was here.
"Hold up," Haley said before she closed the door on her. "Look, I just wanted to stop by and say hi and give the twins a gift." She tells her, holding up two gift bags.
Stella eyed her skeptically for a moment. " Seriously? Do I have moron written across my forehead?"
"Umm. No."
"That's right, but here you are standing in my doorway, trying to play me like I'm some damn fool who doesn't know the game you are playing. Well, newsflash, I'm not a fool; I know exactly why you're here." She crossed her arms over herself. "And it pisses me off that you thought it would be okay to use my kids as some lame excuse to come inside my house in hopes of convincing me to change my mind; I wasn't born yesterday, Haley, and I don't appreciate being harassed either. I'm not helping your team out; I'm sorry."
"I'm not harassing you, and I'm not here with a lame excuse; I did buy the twins a gift a couple of days ago, and I have no idea that Burgess and Ruzek were here. I honestly don't know what is going on, Stella."
"I can't believe you're standing here lying to my face." She trailed off as an Atwater pulled in. "You've got to be kidding me."
"What is going on?" Kelly asked as he approached the front door. He heard the last part of their conversation when he came in the back door.
"Just like we predicted." Stella turns and says, "Burgess and Ruzek told Upton I refused to help with their uncover operation, and Upton decided she would just casually stop by pretending that she brought our kids' birthday gifts and hopes that I would be persuaded into helping them. But the twist is..." She continues as she looks at Upton. "Upton is playing like she has no idea what the hell I'm talking about, and I was so close to believing her, but then looked who showed up." She pointed to a very confused Atwater. "Her partner just casually stopped by at the same time too. Hmm. Coincidence, I think not."
Kelly looked at all three of them. "Babe, first calm down." He tells his wife as he wraps his arm around her waist. "Look, guys, we are not trying to be hateful or rude. But I told Burgess and Ruzek last night that Stella said no, and I was going to stand by my wife's decision, so it's a waste of your time. I'm not going to let you guys harass her or make her feel guilty for not wanting to help you guys. We both get why this case is so important; we understand completely how badly you guys want to catch this guy, but Stella can't do what you guys want her to do." He looks at his wife. "She wants to help; she was up all night battling herself with what to do, and she decided it's not a road she can go back down again. And I support her." Stella gave him a small smile.
"Can I say something first?" Atwater asked the couple. Who just gave him a go-ahead look? "First, I didn't know Haley was here; yes, I was asked to stop by here this morning on my way to work. But as far as Haley goes, I didn't think she was back in town yet. Voight told me to stop by; I didn't want to, but unfortunately, he's my boss, and I couldn't say no. I mean, I could have, but that would have been a whole bunch of bullshit, and I don't have time to deal with his bullshit."
Stella looks at Haley. "You just stopped by to drop off gifts for our babies?"
" Yeah."
"I am so sorry for assuming...
"Hey, it's fine." Haley interrupted her. "I have no idea what my team has been up to the last two weeks. Jay and I went on a much-needed honeymoon, and we just got back late last night. Jay is at home, still in bed. I brought these gifts at a gift shop in Atlanta, and I just wanted to drop them off this morning."
Stella shakes her head in embarrassment. "Again, I apologize. Why don't you both come in?" She steps aside as Upton and Atwater walk inside.
"Look, Stella, I get where you're coming from, and I'm not trying to guilt you or force you to do something you don't want to do. I'm not that guy; Voight is."
"We know," Kelly tells him as he looks at Stella.
"Please take a seat. Can I get you guys some coffee or something?"
"I'm good," Haley tells her.
"I could use a cup if it's not too much trouble," Atwater said.
"No trouble at all." Stella gives them a small smile before walking out of the room.
Kelly sighed as he watched his wife walk away. "What is going on? Why do you guys need Stella's help?" Haley asked Atwater.
"I'm going to let you two discuss that, and I'm going to go check on my wife," Kelly tells them before he walks out of the room.
Stella was leaning up against the wall; her eyes were closed. Kelly stood in front of her and put his hands on her waist.
Her eyes are open. "I just needed a moment." She tells him sweetly.
"I know." He tells her as he leans forward, resting his head on hers. "I love you."
She smiles softly at him. "I love you too." They stood like that for a few minutes. She then sighed. "We should get back in there."
" Okay." He kisses her forehead softly. " Anything you want them to leave just tell me, and I will make them leave."
" Thank you." She hugged him for a moment before pulling away.
She pours the coffee into two cups and walks slowly back into the living room, but stops just before she enters the room. She listens to Haley and Atwater's conversation.
"Okay, let's say Stella does agree to this. How do you guys know this woman isn't lying? She could tell you guys she has evidence to put this son of a bitch away for life, but in reality, she doesn't. She could be using you guys just to see if you guys can convince her daughter to come see her. Did you ever think about that?"
Atwater shrugs. "I don't know whether to believe this woman or not. She did run with him a lot back in the day, and she is very well known in the drug world. Voight thinks she's straight up; I'm kind of on the fence though."
"You should be," Stella said, walking back into the room. "She is a pathological liar." She handled Atwater his coffee. "She has about seven different personalities too, she is what they call a natural born liar."
Upton and Atwater look up at her apologeticly. "Don't look at me like that; I don't need your sympathy. I don't know if she is lying about what she knows; I'm just saying there's a chance she is; she lies about everything; she was an excellent liar back in the day, and I'm pretty sure she has changed her ways."
"So you don't think she knows this Bo guy?" Upton asks.
"I don't know; she was hooked on drugs; drugs were her life, she loved drugs more than me, you name it, she did it. She sold it, she made it; she at one time had her own drug lab; it was in our house." She sat down on Kelly's lap. "There were so many people coming in and out of our house all hours of the night. She used to take me on her drug runs and make me take drugs into the homes of people she didn't want to deal with."
"How old were you?"
" Eleven..." She shakes her head. "Mother of the year, huh?" She laughs sarcastically. "Sending your eleven-year-old daughter into druggie houses where creepy perverted eyes gawked at her and tried to take advantage of her, after the second guy grabbed me, she brought me a taser, told me to hand them the bag, get the money, and taser their asses if they touched me."
Kelly rubbed her back smoothly as she talked about her mom.
"When I was twelve or thirteen, her boyfriend would take me to different places, and I would swap drugs for money. And he would pat my head and give me five dollars for every drop I made. One time, I went into this old house. It looked like no one lived there, but there was this man inside waiting for me. I walked inside, and he took the bag, and then he shut the door and grabbed me. I was screaming. He hit me hard, threw me on this old-smelling mattress, and sat on me. He was saying he was going to make me feel really good. He started unbuttoning his pants. Then there was this loud bang; we both jumped; everything happened so fast, I heard a gunshot, and then the man fell to the floor. I looked up, and..." she trailed off like she saw a ghost.
"Baby" Kelly looked at her as she stared off into the distance. " Hey! Are you okay?"
Upton and Atwater looked at her concernedly.
"What was that guy's name again?" She asked, looking at Atwater.
"Bo Finicky"
"Did he go by the name Bo Bo, Big Bo, or Daddy Bo?"
Atwater nodded slowly. "According to a lot of people we talked to, his nickname was Big Bo, and a few called him Daddy Bo and Bo Bo."
Stella got up from Kelly's lap and walked over to the window. Kelly watched her closely, as did Upton and Atwater. "I know him—the guy you want to lock away. I know him... "
"You do?" Upton spoke up as all eyes stayed on Stella. " How?"
"He was my..." She can't believe she didn't recognize the name last night. "He was my mom's boyfriend; I was his drug carrier; he's the one that shot the man who grabbed me in that house. He used to burn."Her voice starts to crack. "I can't talk about this; I'm sorry." She tells them before running out of the room.
Kelly got up and watched her run upstairs.
"Sorry, Kelly, we didn't mean to upset her; we are going to go," Upton said as she pulled Atwater up.
"Yeah, man, I'm sorry. I was only following orders."
"I get that; I know how Voight is." Kelly rubbed his head. "She is struggling with this; I think it's best to quit coming by. She needs time to process all this; it's becoming too much for her."
"We get that."
"I will try my hardest to convince Voight to back off. It's not going to be an easy thing to do. " Atwater shook his head. "That man goes psycho when he doesn't get what he wants or if things don't go his way."
Upton nods. "Maybe if we all talk to him, you know Burgess, Ruzek, you, Jay, and me. He might consider standing down, at least for now."
Atwater gives her an, Are you kidding me look. "We can try, but I don't see it happening."
"I would appreciate it, if you guys at least tried; just give her a moment to breathe."
"We will do what we can, man."
"That's all I ask." Kelly shook Atwater's hands and then walked them to the door once they were gone. He went to check on his wife.
Stella was sitting on the bed, writing in a notepad. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." She tells him, giving him an I'm sorry look. "Things I forgot about started to pop into my head, and then I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I needed to get out of that room."
Kelly climbed into the bed and sat beside her. "I get that." He looks down at the notepad. "What are you doing?"
She sighed. "Making a Pro and Con List"
Kelly picked up the notepad. And read it "The Pros and cons of helping the intelligence unit. Pros: getting a big drug deal off the streets, saving lives, and taking drugs out of kids hands. The cons: seeing my mom, remembering things I don't want to remember, nightmares, it could mess up my life, reliving my past trauma, feeling trapped, going back down that dark road again. Feeling worthless, used, and unloved." Kelly quit reading and looked over at her.
She gave him a sympathetic look. "It's how she made me feel... And I'm afraid those feelings will come back."
"I won't let them; I would never let you feel worthless, used, or unloved... You are loved more than you realize, not just by me, who loves you more than anyone has or will ever love you." He wrapped her up in his arms. "So many people love you and respect you; look at your girls on fire girls; you are their hero; they look up to you; I look up to you; you are my hero; you are my world; we have built an amazing life together, and it's only going to get better."
She snuggled up in his arms—her happy place, her safe place. She laid her head on his chest. "I lied downstairs, I didn't want to tell them that Bo wasn't just my mom's boyfriend, Bo was my stepdad; he and my mom got married when I was thirteen. I blocked him out of my mind years ago. You know that scar on my shoulder that you asked about when we first got together?"
"Yeah, you said you got it in a fire."
She looks up at him. "I lied; Bo burned me with his cigarette because I refused to do a dropoff for him one day; the other burns on my knees are from his cigarettes too; He burned me when I didn't do something the correct way, or if I refused, " Her tears started falling. Kelly wiped her tears away. "I hated that man, he used to lock me in my bedroom, when he was beating up my mom. "
" Did he ever hit you?"
" No, he never laid a hand on me. It's strange he seemed very protective of me, after he burned me with his cigarette he would immediately apologize. Promise to never do it again, of course he did it again, he did it five times, the last time he burned me I was fourteen, and I screamed I hate you and ran to my room. He came to my room that night and apologized, like he always did, and he said he was sorry and he would never do anything to hurt me again, and he didn't. He never burned me again."
Kelly strokes her hair. " So, things between you guys got better?"
" No, he still beat my mom like crazy, and locked me in my room. Sometimes for days, without food. But he didn't physically hurt me. "
"Why would he lock you in your room?" He was starting to understand why she blocked her past out.
" When they had their drug parties, are his friends were over. He had some creepy friends and he used to say he didn't trust them with me. Which I was relieved that he cared enough to protect me from them... Unlike my mom... she wanted me..." She closed her eyes, and started crying again, as she remembered something else.
"Hey!" Kelly spoke as he adjusted her to look at him. " You don't have to talk about it, relax, clear your mind." he caresses her face. " Look at me baby."
She opened her watery brown eyes giving him a hopelessness look. " You don't have to tell me anything else. If it's to painful let's leave it in the past. "
" I want to tell you Kelly, I want you to know everything including the stuff I don't want to talk about, it's all going to start coming back and I need you to promise me that you will be patient with me and love me even on my darkest days, because I need to do this."
Kelly wasn't sure what she was talking about. " Don't you ever worry I won't love you, I love you Stella no matter what you tell me, or what you do. I will love you on your good days, your bad days, your sad days, your dark days, everyday Stella Severide, there will never be a day I don't love you. Don't ever question my love for you. " He cups her face. "Our love will conquer anything, our love will always outweigh the bad days. "
" I'm so happy I have you in my corner, I couldn't do this life without you."
" Me either baby. " he kisses her tenderly.
" I have to do this Kelly, and having you beside me holding my hand will give me the strength and courage to do what I have to do. " Kelly gave her a confused and slightly surprised look. He thinks he knows what she's talking about, and he surprised she's come to this decision. " Even though my cons outweighed my pros, I've decided just now actually. I'm going to go see my mom, tomorrow. Well, correction we are going to go see her tomorrow."