*At Firehouse 51: Right Outside of Chief's Office*
"Bunch of static." The owner muttered, messing around with his radio and looking up when a knock resounded at the door. "Hey, come on in." He waved, continuing once his Captain and two Lieutenants were fully inside. "Hey, I just want to let the three of you know that Donna is in the red zone, as far as the baby's arrival."
"Hey. That's great, Chief." Kelly grinned, shaking hands with the older man.
"Congratulations." Ana smiled and gave him a quick hug.
"You guys have a name for him yet?" Matt wondered, shaking Chief's hand as well.
"We are keeping that under wraps." He warned, playfully.
"Of course." Matt nodded and the older man let out a warm chuckle in response.
"Just in case I got to get out of here in a hurry, I may not be able to bring a relief fire chief over here fast enough." Chief explained in an apologetic tone.
"Not a problem I got you covered." Ana assured with a shake of her head.
"And we have her covered." Kelly smirked as he and Matt each placed one of their hands on either of her shoulders.
"Thank you." The older man sighed in relief
"You ready to be a dad?" The Squad Lieutenant inquired.
"Nope, not at all." He laughed, nervously, prompting the other three to join in.
"You tell your father yet?" Matt wondered once he calmed down.
"Yeah. He cried so hard, I nearly sent the Orlando fire department over to check on him." Chief joked just as the bell went off overhead. "He's happy."
"Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61-"
The blond suddenly had a mischievous glint in his eye and lunged forwards to tickle the other man.
"See you, dad." He teased as Kelly and Ana mimicked his actions.
"Get out of here!" Chief scolded, lightly, as he fought them off. "Come on! What's wrong with you?"
The trio just rushed out of the small room, giggling like a bunch of schoolgirls.
*On Scene: A Few Minutes Later*
Squad 3 and Truck 81 pulled up in front of a three story building currently being engulfed by flames.
"That's the Carlisle home, and they haven't come out!" A woman cried as Kelly and Ana walked by.
"Any children?" The Squad Lieutenant wondered only for the lady to shake her head in response.
"We'll take the bottom floor!" Matt offered, turning to the resident Elevator Man. "Otis-"
The order was cut short by one of the top windows shattering from the inside.
"Watch out!" Kelly yelled, immediately moving to shield his wife from the falling glass.
"HELP!" A man shouted, appearing where the glass once was and waving his arms about.
"Mouch, swing the ladder!" Ana ordered once her husband had let her go.
"Copy that." He nodded, racing towards the aerial.
"Get me down from here!" The man demanded while Matt continued on his way into the bottom floor of the house.
Mouch eventually got the aerial positioned and Kelly had just climbed up to the top when the man suddenly threw himself onto it. The Squad Lieutenant, in an effort to get out of his way, was left dangling off the side and holding on for dear life.
"KELLY!" Ana shrieked, racing forwards to help him only to find herself held back by Herrmann instead.
"Hey, hey, Captain! Calm down, calm down! Look!" He urged and the brunette obliged, unable to do much else.
The Squad Lieutenant had gotten his foot back up and he hoisted himself back onto the ladder with a grunt. Ana released a huge sigh of relief and Herrmann let her go a few seconds later.
"Severide!" Rick's voice yelled through the radio.
"Yeah!" Came the somewhat strained reply a moment later.
"The wife is still in the bathroom!" He explained, urgently.
"Got it!" Kelly assured and Ana watched as her husband entered through the window with Capp right behind him.
They reappeared about a minute later and began making their way back down, Kelly with the wife in his arms.
"Do you believe this clown?" Herrmann scoffed as Mouch walked over to join both him and the Captain. "Last winter we have a guy literally lay across his entire family to save them, and he can't get out that window fast enough." He shook his head.
The other man mimicked his friend's actions while Ana just shot them both a slight glare. She, of all people, knew that you should never judge a book by its cover.
*In the Common Room: A Little While Later*
"Hey, Mouch, turn it up." Rick called from his spot next to the man on the couch. "Severide, check it out."
Kelly looked up from where he was sitting in between Ana and Otis at the round table to see a news story playing out on the TV. The man he had rescued not even two hours ago was giving an interview.
"I saw she was down, and something inside me was screaming out, 'do something, do something,' you know? So I picked up the heaviest thing I could find, and I threw it through the window, and I yelled out, 'over here, over here!' The fire was out of control at that point, and all I could think of was, 'I have to help my wife.' The smoke was so thick, I was choking on it. And, anyway, I'm thrilled I could help alert those guys and save my wife in time." The man recalled.
"Oh, come on." Otis muttered, standing up and leaning over the back of the couch to get a better view.
Everyone else had gathered around the TV at this point as well and Joe just crossed his arms and laughed in disbelief.
"And this was the scene earlier where the Chicago Fire Department arrived just in time to save Veronica Carlisle, but not quickly enough to save the house." The news anchor took over. "Compelling story, Glenn. Glad there's still some local heroes this time of year. In other news. . ."
"Oh, compelling story, Glenn. Sir, could you tell us exactly what happened?" Otis prompted in a mocking tone of voice before turning to Joe and miming holding out a microphone to him.
"Oh, of course, Dwight. Well, um, my house was on fire, and I nearly wet myself, so I barreled out of a window, nearly killing a fireman, while leaving my poor wife to die." The Truck Driver replied in a high-pitched nasally voice.
"Oh!" The Elevator Man rolled his eyes and mimed tossing the microphone over his shoulder.
Kelly grinned and looked down, wrapping arm around his wife who couldn't help but laugh at their antics.
"We should call the station and tell our side of the story." Mouch suggested.
"Who cares? Let the guy say what he wants." The Lieutenant shrugged.
*At the Squad Table: A Few Hours Later*
"For the last time, edges first." Kelly scolded as he, Ana, and the rest of Squad 3 got to work on the jigsaw puzzle set out before them.
"Too easy." Capp smirked, immediately reaching for the middle of the pile.
Ana shook her head with a small smile only for it to fall as she looked up and caught sight of Rick glaring at something over her shoulder.
"Oh, will you look at this?" He muttered, making everyone turn to see that the man Kelly had saved earlier was walking towards them.
"Is that the husband?" Capp asked in disbelief.
"Yeah." Rick nodded, quietly.
The Lieutenant just glanced back at them with a slight glare before standing up from his chair.
"Can I help you?" He wondered.
"Uh, I think so. I was told you were the firefighters who rescued me and my wife." The man explained.
"Yeah, we were there." Kelly confirmed, stealing a quick look at his wife.
"Yeah, well, I just wanted to say thank you. I don't know if you saw the news, but they're telling people I was some sort of hero, which I know is the exact opposite of what I am." He shook his head.
"Uh. . ." The Lieutenant trailed off, unsure of how to respond. "Okay?"
"I'm Fred Carlisle. My wife's Veronica." The man introduced, holding out a hand which Kelly shook on pure instinct alone. "She's still in I.C.U., but the doctors tell me there's hope. Well, again, thank you." The firefighter waved it off like it was nothing and he turned to leave, only to hesitate. "I see the way you guys are looking at me. I know what you must be thinking. So I want you guys to know." He pulled up his shirt to reveal that his entire abdomen was covered in burn scars. "When I was 16, I was in the garage with my old man, and this kiln we had in there exploded. All I remember is waking up in the burn unit. Spent the next eight months in the ICU. So, when that fire broke out this morning. . . I panicked. I just- I panicked."
"Hey, man, you don't have to explain yourself to us." Kelly assured.
"I know, but I felt- I felt- I don't know what I felt." Frank sighed. "Thanks for hearing me out."
"Yeah, no worries." The Lieutenant shook his hand again. "And we're all pulling for your wife." He watched him go before turning back to his crew. "Walk a mile, men. Walk a mile."
As Kelly proceeded to walk into the Firehouse, Ana couldn't help but frown at Frank's retreating figure. There was something. . . off about him but the brunette just couldn't put her finger on it. She merely stood up and followed after her husband.
*Sometime Near the End of Shift*
Kelly and Ana were walking down the main hallway outside the Common Room when Matt suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Sev." The blond called, grabbing the couple's attention but also making it clear that whatever he had to say was directed mostly at the other man. "Plans after shift?"
"Uh, home, rest." The Squad Lieutenant shrugged, wrapping a gentle arm around the brunette.
"Nope, you and me. Good old-fashioned Chicago bar crawl." Matt grinned.
"I can't do it, man. I'm barely dried out from the last month or so." Kelly pointed out with a sheepish smile.
"Fine." His Truck Counterpart conceded. "One drink, and we'll head home."
"Come on." The Squad Lieutenant tilted his head in a skeptical motion.
"I'm serious." The blond insisted.
"One drink?" Kelly repeated in disbelief.
"That's all I'm asking." Matt nodded.
"Have fun you two." Ana sing-songed with a knowing look, gently nudging her husband's arm away before walking past them.
The two men just watched her go before locking eyes and smirking at each other boyishly.
*In the Restroom: During the Beginning of Next Shift*
"Here's what I remember from the other night." Matt began as he walked in to find Kelly and Ana washing their hands. "Okay, I don't remember anything." He admitted, sheepishly.
"Mm-hmm." The Squad Lieutenant grinned, letting the moment play out before eventually taking pity on his Truck counterpart. "You had to plug your phone in. We went to Chloe's apartment near the bar, you passed out on the couch. . . and I didn't."
Ana let out a little snort at that and shook her head.
"So, you and Chloe. . .?" The blond trailed off, needing to be absolutely sure.
"Uh, yeah." Kelly chuckled at the shocked look on his face and moved to throw away his wet paper towels. "What did- what did you think?"
"I didn't know what to think!" Matt's voice shot up a couple octaves while Ana copied her husband's actions a second later.
"Well, when I woke up, you were still sawing logs on the couch. So I just took off." The Squad Lieutenant recalled.
"Oh, thank God." His Truck Counterpart groaned in relief and dropped his head into his hands.
The Captain's eyes suddenly widened in amusement and disbelief.
"Oh, Matty, you didn't think you-?" She cut off, abruptly, unable to hold back the giggle that had bubbled up in her throat.
"I-" He shook his head, causing Kelly to let out a laugh of his own.
"So much for me drying out." He teased, lightly hitting him on the shoulder as he walked by.
"Yep." Matt nodded, unable to do anything else but agree with the other man.
Ana was about to follow after the Squad Lieutenant but stopped next to her best friend for a moment, wanting to deliver a few parting words of her own.
"Matty, you of all people should know what I really mean when I use the phrase 'have fun' in any relation to my husband." She smirked, playfully punching his arm before leaving the room.
The blond just hung his head and snorted, softly.
*A Few Hours Later*
"Kelly, Ana." Chief called, stopping them walking out onto Apparatus Floor with Tony. "Fire from last shift. City's looking to condemn the structure, want us to take a look."
"Of course, we'll head right over." The Captain smiled
"Thanks." The older man nodded, warmly.
*Back at the Three Story Building*
"I'd slap the red 'X' on it if it were up to me." Capp chuckled as he poked yet another hole in the ceiling with his halligan.
"You guys hear anything more from the wife?" Kelly wondered, making Ana look up at him in slight concern.
There were several different reasons why he would ask that question and the brunette didn't like most of them.
"No, she's still in the burn unit." Rick shook his head, following after the Captain and the Lieutenant as the began making their way out into the hallway. "You guys know Dr. Kendra over there? She sometimes keeps me posted on things."
Ana's concern was quickly washed away, leaving a knowing smirk in its place.
"Yeah, we know her. She's a lesbian." Kelly revealed, glancing back at him a slight confusion.
"Interesting." He chuckled.
"All right, yeah, this place is done, let's get-" The Lieutenant suddenly paused, doing a double take and walking into another room.
"Uh oh, I know that look." Ana muttered, following him step for step as her concern came back at full force.
"What?" Rick wondered, utterly confused.
"Fire started here, and here. And there." Kelly frowned, shining his flashlight on each corner of the room. "Three different places at the same time."
"That son of a bitch." The Captain's eyes widened in horror, seeing exactly what her husband saw and putting the pieces together just as fast. "I knew I sensed something off about him when he came to the house last shift."
"Call OFI and the CPD, will ya?" The Lieutenant ordered, glancing at Rick over his shoulder with barely concealed fury in his eyes.
"On it." He nodded, racing out of the room.
Kelly shifted closer to his wife and wrapped a tense arm around her, immediately feeling any dark and intrusive thoughts leaving his mind. Ana just rested her head on his shoulder in response.
*Back at Firehouse 51: In the Bullpen*
Kelly and Ana had been wandering around the halls when suddenly their Battalion Chief's voice could be heard booming throughout the building.
"CAN I HAVE SOME HELP UP IN HERE!?"
They rushed in followed by Matt who sprinted down from the other hallway and they found Chief crouched down on the floor next to Donna who was clutching at her belly and groaning in pain.
"Breathe, breathe. Look at me, breathe, breathe." The older man soothed, looking up at the trio with wild eyes. "She's going into labor, where are our paramedics?"
"Not here." Was all Ana could say.
Peter and Sylvie had went out on a call earlier and still hadn't returned. The brunette was worried to say the least but there were bigger problems at the moment.
"Where's Dawson?" Chief demanded, immediately switching to the next best alternative.
"Went home sick." Matt blurted out just as the rest of Squad 3 rushed in behind them.
Donna cried out in pain and keeled forward before anything else could be said.
"Oh, okay, I'm here! I'm right here, baby." The older man murmured, soothingly.
"Uh, uh, Squad, everyone, let's help her, let's go. Let's go, help him carry her." Kelly ordered, jumping right into action.
"Get her to the rig." Ana commanded, knowing it was their best shot.
"Move!" Chief yelled, looping an arm around his wife's back and helping her out of the chair while everyone else scrambled around to help.
*In the Squad Truck: A Few Minutes Later*
With the sirens flashing and the horn blaring, Tony took a sharp right and regretted it immediately as he found himself stuck in a small traffic jam caused by road construction. And, of course, there wasn't a worker in sight.
"Tony, get us moving." Ana hissed the moment she felt the rig come to a stop.
"There's nowhere to go, Captain." He ground out in frustration.
"Oh, my God! OH, MY GOD!" Donna yelled, grabbing at her husband in pain.
"What is it?" Chief urged.
"Oh, the baby's coming." She screeched.
"What?" He asked in disbelief, not quite able to process the situation fast enough.
"The baby is coming!" Donna glared at him, voice jumping up a few octaves as another contraction hit. "The baby's coming!"
"Okay, lay her down." Chief instructed, gently easing his wife onto the floor with help from the other firefighters. "Okay, okay, okay. Come on, baby. Lay back down."
"You ever done this before, Chief?" Kelly inquired as Capp appeared with a blanket in hand.
"More times than I can count. Just never with my own son." He joked, grabbing the blanket and covering Donna's lower extremities with it.
"Do you want me to. . ." The Lieutenant trailed off, gesturing vaguely.
The older man understood his intention very clearly and so did Ana, who likely would've swatted him on the shoulder had it not been for their current situation.
"Not a chance in Hell." Chief spat, pausing to glare at him before turning back to the task at hand.
"Okay, wait, wait, wait, Wallace." Donna whimpered. "Wallace."
"I'm right here. I'm right here. This old dinosaur knows what he's doing, I promise you. Anyway, what's better than to bring little Terrance in the world than from a CFD squad truck?" Chief grinned, softly.
"Okay." She conceded.
"Okay? Lie back down. Just breathe." The older man soothed as Donna let her head fall back into Ana's awaiting lap while Kelly and Rick each grabbed ahold of one of the pregnant woman's shoulders. "Okay, baby, I can see the crown. He's coming. He's crowning. Okay? I'm gonna need you to push."
"No, I can't do this!" She groaned, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.
"Yes, you can, yes, you can." Chief promised.
"No, no-" Donna shook her head.
"Look at me, look at me. It's just you and me. Okay? It's just you and me. You can do this." He promised. "Come on. Okay. Now, and. . . push!" Donna yelled out in agony and bared down, pushing harder than she's ever had in her life. "Yes! You're doing great. You're doing great. Doing so good." The older man assured. "I'm just gonna need one more little push, one more little push. Okay?"
"Okay." She panted out, sitting up again and working with everything she had while all the firefighters yelled for her to push.
Not even a second later, the sounds of a newborn baby filled the Truck.
"Oh, my God! He's out, baby, he's out! I got a little boy. I got a little boy!" Chief cheered, tearing up as he held his son for the first time.
He grabbed a nearby turnout coat and swaddled the baby in it before passing him off to Donna. Everyone else just grinned at the little family in joy and relief.
*At the Hospital: A Little While Later*
The rig pulled up alongside the emergency entrance and was met by several nurses and doctors wheeling a gurney over. The firefighters of Squad 3 set to work helping Donna out of the Truck while their Battalion Chief hopped out with his son held tightly in his arms.
"I don't want to let him go." He sniffled as one of the nurses approached him.
"It's okay." She smiled, taking the infant and cooing at him in a soft voice. "Hi." Her expression instantly fell not a moment later. "Doctor, the baby's turning blue."
"What's going on?" Chief demanded, instantly on high alert.
"Wallace?" Donna called, worried now too.
"Respiratory distress. Meconium aspiration." The doctor diagnosed, urgently, and following after the nurse as she began racing towards the hospital with Little Baby Terrance Boden in her arms.
"What's going on?" The older man repeated, angrily, moving to rush after them.
"Lungs aren't absorbing oxygen." She yelled back as by way of explanation.
"Wallace, what's going on?" Donna cried and Chief paused for a moment to reassure her before full on running after his son.
"Talk to me! You talk to me, now!" He snarled, disappearing in the hospital.
"No! What's happening?" The previously pregnant woman groaned out as she was wheeled in as well.
Kelly wrapped an arm around Ana who had brought a hand up to her mouth in horror.
"They have to be all right. I didn't get a bad feeling." The brunette murmured, not knowing whether she was trying to reassure her husband or herself. "Please let them be okay."
The Lieutenant just rubbed his wife's back comfortingly and pressed a gentle kiss to temple, not knowing what else to do.
A/N I hope you all enjoyed! Till next time.
~Princess <3