After Shift - Chicago Fire Fanfiction

33.) Family

"I'm gonna kill him." Kelly muttered as he made his way through the firehouse.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Who are you going to kill?" Stella asked, stopping him by placing a hand on his chest.

"Your son."

"Oh yeah? Which one?"

"The little one."

"What happened? CJ never does anything bad."

"Today he did. I gotta go to his school."

"I'll come, too."

"No, I got this. Truck's short a man anyway with Mouch sick today. I'll text you."

"Okay, go easy on him, love you."

"Love you too."

Kelly talked to Boden and got the rest of shift off, free to deal with his son and not rush back to work.

"What the hell, Calvin?" Kelly asked CJ the second he saw him in the office at his school with a black eye.

"You should see the other guy." CJ said, trying to lighten the mood but receiving a glare from Kelly.

"Mr. Severide, Calvin's behavior will not be tolerated. He is suspended for 3 days." The principal said.

"Three day suspension? For fighting? That's a bit much, don't you thing?" Kelly said, even if he was mad at his son, he'd still stick up for him no matter what.

"I'm sorry, it's our policy. If I break it for you, I'd have to break it for everyone."

"It shouldn't be a policy at all, break it. Fights are all different, you can't just have one set punishment for all fighting."

"Fights are all different?" The principal scoffed, CJ watching as his dad got heated.

"Yeah, they are! Sometimes kids fight over dumb reasons, sometimes one kid talks crap on another kid's family, sometimes one kid steals another kid's lunch money, and, hell, sometimes kids just act out for attention!"

"I'm sorry, you'll have to take that up with the superintendent. For now, CJ is suspended for 3 days."

Kelly sighed and shook his head before motioning for CJ to follow him as the pair left the school. The ride home was silent until Kelly killed the engine in the driveway.

"Someone said something about our family, didn't they?" Kelly asked, receiving a nod.

"Michael said girls can't be firefighters and my mom should just go make him a sandwich. I was gonna let it go, but he kept saying it so I punched him at recess."

"I agree, that makes me mad, too. But you can't punch people who make you mad. I'm disappointed in you."

CJ has tears on his cheeks as he tried to muster the courage to ask his next question. "Do-do you still love me?"

"Hey, you don't ever have ask that. Of course I do. I always have and I always will! It doesn't matter what you do, how many fights you get in, how many times I have to yell at you, no matter how many times you prank me and mom with fake lottery tickets, I love you. And I will always love you."

CJ sniffed and wiped the tears off his face. "I love you too, Dad."

"Our family, we won't ever stop loving each other, ya know? We can fight, yell at each other, go through hell and back together, but at the end of the day, we're family. And family is always there for each other, on our best and worst days." Kelly told him, meaning each and every word. He'd always be there for his family and he knew they'd always be there for him.