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𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲: 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

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Maddie had a hunch.

As she continued to paint on the canvas, she couldn't help but feel a bundle of emotions. She had called in sick that day because her headache was too much to handle that JJ's Tiger Balm couldn't work it's magic. Luckily, her boss was more than understanding. The architect turned away from her work for awhile to focus her attention on the different shades of blue splayed out in front of her.

She loved and missed painting.

Right now, Maddie wasn't sure what or who she was trying to bring to life in her canvas. Usually, she would paint buildings and landscapes. Painting portraits of people usually happened when she had vivid dreams of them.

She stirred the paintbrush in her hand, hoping that the shades of blue──steel & baby blue──would make a color that resembled her husband's eyes.

"What are you doing inside my head, huh?" Maddie joked to herself and the portrait in front of her that seemed like a younger version of Kelly only with her brown skin tone.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

She was startled by the slam of the door and booming voices.

As the voices continued to argue, Maddie recognized that they belonged to the lieutenants of Firehouse 51. Grumbling, she slipped out of bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She stood by the stairs where she had a perfect view of the two men arguing from below.

"Did you even check his story?" Matt pressed, glaring at his friend.

Kelly rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't check his story!" He fired back, "I take him by his word."

"There it is! The Gospel according to Severide."

"You know what, Casey? Go screw yourse──"

"Hey!" Maddie yelled, a scowl on her face. "Would you two just shut up?! It's one in the morning for Christ's sake!"

Matt rubbed his face, embarrassed. "Sorry, Maddie. It won't happen again."

"It better not. Matt, go to your room. You're still welcome here. And you," Maddie narrowed her eyes at her husband, "Wash up before you get in bed. You owe me cuddles for waking me up at this hour."

In under twenty minutes, Kelly had joined his wife on their bed──wrapping his arms around her frame and snuggling her closer to him like it was basic instinct.

He pressed a kiss on the top of her head and asked, "Are you still throwing up? Is your head okay?"

Maddie hummed, breathing in the scent of his body wash. "No more vomit from Sylvie's organic juice and my headache is at a three now. And, I used your Mahogany Woods Body Wash. Excellent choice."

"Good, good." He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder and laughed softly, "Wouldn't it be crazy if you were pregnant though?"

"Kelly. . ." She said, timidly with her heart pounding rapidly. "What if I am?"

"What? Maddie, don't joke arou──"

"I'm not joking, Kelly." She said, her mind wandering back to their first argument as a married couple. She turned her body to face him, "What if I was? I'm vomiting. I'm feeling a little nauseous. I can smell everything and I'm two days late."

"You want to take a test?"

"Just to be sure."

"I'll buy some later."

True to his word, Kelly came back to the apartment with three pregnancy tests in hand around seven with Maddie flipping pancakes and steaming coffee already in his mug. Matt had gone out because he had an errand with his construction business so the married couple had the place all to themselves.

They sat by the foot of their bed, knees bouncing in anticipation. Kelly's phone beeped signaling that their wait was over. With shaky fingers, Maddie unwrapped the tissue paper that contained the tests and two red lines appeared on each of the them.

Oh. My. Go──

"Wow." Kelly puffed out. He laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, "You're pregnant, huh? We're going to be parents?"

"It seems so."

"Maddie, I'm a little scared."

She followed suit but laid on her side instead with an arm propping her head up. Maddie's fingers lovingly stroked his hair. "Kelly, Kelly, Kelly." She cooed, "I'm scared too──terrified probably. But, you know what makes me feel like this isn't going to be so bad? I have you by my side──my strong husband, my hero, my friend."

"What if I'll be as horrible as my dad?"

Even if Maddie hadn't met the infamous Benny Severide, she had heard stories of him from her husband or from Chief Boden. Since Kelly always had a smile on his face and he looked at her with such loving gaze, she often forgot that he grew up with a broken family──a single mother and a deadbeat dad.

It wasn't like Kelly didn't often think about his future with Maddie. They were married for almost a year now (exactly ten months, five weeks, and two days, but who's counting right?) and children was where they were headed eventually but the probability of being a horrible father just seemed so much realer now with the three positive pregnancy tests.

Maddie sighed and confessed. "I'm scared of becoming like my mom. She was just too. . .controlling. God, I don't want to be a tiger parent."

The couple now laid on their backs. Maddie's hands were folded on her stomach with some sort of disbelief that a life was growing inside it and Kelly's were splayed on his side, inching closer like he wanted to put his hand on top of hers too. A child had stemmed from their love and they were going to watch it grow and learn and maybe encounter a few bumps ahead.

Maddie's inner monologue was going a thousand miles per minute: What should I eat? What should I not eat? Am I getting fatter already? Will my husband think I was ugly if I looked like a whale? How many times would I need to pee?

"Okay." He said, his voice pulling her out of her train of thought. "So, we're going to be parents."

"Yes, mahal (love), we've already established that."

"Smart-ass." He joked, "Let's. . .let's just take this month by month, yeah?"

"Actually, it's forty weeks."

"What? Why is it measured in weeks? Isn't pregnancy in like nine months?"

"It beats me. It's what the Internet says."

"Okay, so we'll take this week by week until he or she comes out. And schedule an appointment with an OB this afternoon."

"That sounds like a plan. And, Kelly?" He met her eyes, "When we become parents──holy shit that sounds so weird but okay──can you call me out?"

"Call you out?"

"Yeah. . .you know, when I become a pain in the ass."

Kelly snorted and pinched her nose. "Oh, Maddie. You always are."

In retaliation, Maddie shoved him and spat, her tone full of love. "Jerk."

"I love you."

"Well, I guess I love you too."

AUTHOR'S NOTE
sylvie's parents
are going to be
paRENTS !!!!