**This is a work in progress...I was going to save it...but my new friend Chicago Firestarter convinced me that I should put this out and see what everyone thought. I hope you like it!**

**Chicago Fire-about six years in the future. Kelly Severide has been married to Alyssa for six years and they have identical twin boys, Andy and Jesse, who are 5 ½ and about to start kindergarten.

They live on the far Northwest Side in a quaint little neighborhood that is very popular amongst firefighters and cops, who have to reside within city limits. Their little tree lined street is kind of like a throwback to another era where one knows all their neighbors and the kids all play together.**

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When It All Hits Home

Kelly Severide tucked his sons into bed and turned out the light. He stood in the doorway for a few moments and watched them in the glow of the night light.

"'Night, guys…go to sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow." He said.

"'Night, Daddy…" Andy said sleepily. "I love you."

"I love you, Daddy…" Jesse said, then yawned.

Kelly felt his heart swell.

"Love you too, guys. Sleep tight…"

He closed the door softly and went back down the stairs.

If someone had told him eight years ago that he'd be happily married and the father of twins, he would have asked what they were smoking.

But here he was…going to spend some quality time with his beautiful wife…and his sons were starting kindergarten tomorrow.

He flopped down on the beat up leather couch next to Alyssa. She aimed the remote at the 43" plasma mounted on the opposite wall and turned the TV off.

"You got 'em down?" she asked.

"Yeah, finally." He told her. "They're just excited for tomorrow."

"I'm sure…"

"I wish I didn't have to be on shift."

It killed him that he couldn't take his boys to school on their first day.

"It'll be okay." Alyssa told him with a smile. "You'll be okay. You got to go today…"

That afternoon they had gone to the school to drop off the boys' school supplies and meet the teacher. Kelly couldn't get over how much crap you had to buy…and carry. Two 2"binders, plastic sleeves for said 2" binders, crayons and markers, glue sticks, pencils…Kleenex, paper towels and disinfecting wipes. Not to mention uniforms and lunch accounts. And he had to double everything.

But they had found their desks in the large, sunny classroom and he helped them put their supplies away. The boys had gone to check out the toys and everything…and he slipped his arm around Alyssa's shoulders.

The teacher came over to introduce herself.

"Hi…I'm Andrea Corbett."

She held out her hand.

Kelly took his arm from around his wife and returned the teacher's handshake.

"Kelly Severide…and this is my wife, Alyssa."

Alyssa also shook Miss Corbett's hand.

The teacher smiled.

"Andy and Jesse's parents…" she said to make the connection.

She glanced around the room. She had been told that the boys were identical twins.

"Over by the cars…" Kelly said. "Andy's in the grey shirt, Jesse's in the blue."

"Andy's a bit bigger…" Alyssa added. "And he's usually the leader. Jesse hangs back a little at first, kind of sizes things up…"

Miss Corbett studied the boys. She could see the differences their mother pointed out. She nodded her head with a smile.

"Well, I look forward to getting to know them…and you as well. We really encourage parents to get involved here at St. Pasqual's."

Before Kelly or Alyssa could say anything, the twins ran up to them.

"Dad! They've got a firehouse here!"

They each grabbed one of Kelly's hands and started pulling him over to the toys.

"Whoa! Easy, guys!" He told them. "Say hello to your teacher first."

The twins looked up at the young woman standing beside their mother.

The teacher knelt down and smiled.

"Hi…I'm Miss Corbett."

She stared into big blue eyes.

"Hi…" they said in unison.

Kelly stifled a laugh. He figured by the end of the first week they'd both have a crush on their teacher…if it took that long. Like father, like sons.

"Tell her your names…" he prompted.

"I'm Andy…and he's Jesse."

Jesse just nodded.

"Well, I'm pleased to meet both of you. Why don't you go ahead and check everything out, okay?" Miss Corbett said.

They boys had grabbed their father's hands and started pulling him over to check out the toy firehouse.

Alyssa smiled after her boys…all three of them.

"They're obsessed with firefighters…"she told the teacher. "If you couldn't already guess."

Both boys had fire trucks on their t-shirts.

"My husband's a firefighter…" she added.

The teacher smiled.

They watched Kelly and the boys for a moment more, and then the teacher excused herself to go meet another student.

The alarm went off at seven.

And at 7:01 Kelly and Alyssa were pounced on by the boys.

"Wake up!" Andy said as he shook his father with two hands. "Wake up!"

"Wake up, Mommy!" Jesse added…slightly less insistent.

Alyssa sat up slowly and pulled Jesse into her lap. She knew what was coming next…

Kelly flipped over and captured his tormentor, bringing him down to the bed and pinning him with one arm. He pulled Andy close and proceeded to pretend to snore…loudly.

"Daddy!" Andy hollered as he wiggled desperately to get free.

Kelly picked his head up and blinked his eyes like he was just waking up.

"Huh? Did somebody say something?" he asked.

"Daddy!"

"Andy! What are you doing here?"

The routine never varied…and Andy fell for it hook, line and sinker every time.

Kelly then proceeded to tickle his son and the little boy squealed with laughter.

Alyssa got up, taking Jesse with her.

"Okay, you two…let's get moving."

The tickle war stopped.

"Okay, Mommy…" Andy said.

He jumped off the bed and ran to his room, Jesse hot on his heels.

Alyssa started to follow them when she was caught from behind. She turned around to face her husband.

"Morning…" Kelly's voice was husky and Alyssa could see the fire in his eyes as he leaned down to capture her lips in a passionate, all-consuming kiss.

"Morning…" Alyssa whispered breathlessly when they parted for some much needed oxygen.

He pulled her close and she listened for a minute to the beating of his heart.

Even after all they had gone through and six years of marriage she marveled again at how wonderful her life was…with this gorgeous man who was her husband.

Squeals drifted in from down the hallway.

She sighed.

"I'd better get in there…before Andy tries to get Jesse to wear his underwear outside his clothes again…"

Kelly laughed at the memory.

"It was only that one time…" he said.

"Two times…" Alyssa corrected him.

She turned to go supervise the boys.

"Don't use up all the hot water, Severide!" she called back over her shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am!" he called back.

Like he ever took too long in the shower…

Well, unless they were showering together…

Kelly got the boys breakfast while Alyssa showered and got ready.

He set a plate of toast down in the center of the table and sat down to pour himself a bowl of corn flakes. The boys were already eating their Rice Krispies.

Andy put his ear close to his bowl to hear the 'Snap, Crackle, Pop' and Jesse was about to do the same.

"Hey…less playin', more eating."

Andy picked up his spoon and Kelly handed him a triangle of toast. He did the same for Jesse.

"You guys have fun today, okay? You can tell me all about it when I talk to you later."

"Can we Skype?" Andy asked.

"Yeah." Jesse echoed.

"We'll see…" Kelly answered. "It all depends…"

"On whether or not you get a call…" the boys said in unison.

He walked into the common room to get a cup of coffee and glanced at the clock…Alyssa had dropped the boys off already.

He crossed the room to his 'usual' spot and straddled a chair. He was contemplating his coffee as the others started drifting in.

Shay and Dawson shared a look as they noticed Severide lost in his thoughts. They approached him…

"Earth to Kelly…come in, Lieutenant Severide." Leslie said a hint of sing-song in her voice.

"You're awfully thoughtful for nine a.m." Dawson observed.

Kelly just looked at the two paramedics…but before he could tell them to mind their own business, Casey pulled out the chair next to him.

"Leave him alone…" Casey told the women. "It's a big day today."

Kelly shot him a look of gratitude.

The ladies looked at one another…

"C'mon, Shay…don't tell me you forgot our godsons' first day of kindergarten?" Casey said in mock dismay.

"Oh…yeah!" Leslie smacked her palm to her forehead. She looked at Kelly with new understanding. "How are you holding up?"

Kelly just shrugged.

"It sucks that I have to miss it."

"They'll do fine." Casey said. "Andy'll be running the place by the end of the week.

Then the bells went off.

"Engine 51, Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61…multi vehicle accident, corner of Cicero and Irving Park.

"Great…Six Corners." Dawson muttered under her breath.

"Let the games begin…" Casey said as they headed out.

Later that evening Severide sat in his quarters with the laptop open. Moments later, Andy and Jesse appeared on the screen.

He could tell they'd had a great day…what with the way they were bouncing up and down.

"Daddy! It was so fun!" Andy said.

"Yeah!" Jesse cut in. "We played with the firehouse and the trucks! And we did the puzzles faster than anybody else!"

"And for lunch we had nuggets and mac 'n cheese!" Andy interrupted.

"And we had pretzels for snack! Everybody got their own bag!" Jesse said.

"That sounds great, guys!" Kelly said with a huge smile. "I knew you'd have fun…"

"And we went on the playground! And I ran faster than all the other boys!" Andy was still going.

"I ran fast too!" Jesse interrupted his brother indignantly.

"But I was faster!"

"Only by one step!"

"Okay…no fighting." Kelly warned.

But just then the bells went off again.

"I gotta go guys. Love you!"

"Be safe, Daddy!" they called out right before Kelly ran out.

Friday morning St. Pasqual's conducted their first fire drill of the year.

Severide stood outside the exit nearest his sons' classroom with Mills. Chief watched the front and Casey and Hermann monitored the other two sides of the building.

The alarm sounded and kids began pouring out all the exits. Severide kept one eye on the stopwatch and the other peeled for his boys.

The kindergarteners emerged, and big surprise, Andy was leading the pack. He was also one of the few not covering his ears.

But Kelly scanned the line. Where was Jesse?

A minute later, as Miss Corbett was counting her kids again; Jesse emerged tugging a little girl with red pigtails by the arm. The little girl was covering her ears and huge, uncontrollable tears rolled down her face.

Once the last kid had exited Kelly hit the button on the stopwatch.

"All clear on the north side, Chief." He said into the radio. "Two minutes, sixteen seconds."

"Copy that…" Boden's voice cracked over the radio.

He started over to the kindergarteners.

"Dad!" Andy shouted as he ran over to Kelly.

He crashed into his father and wrapped his arms around Kelly's waist.

"Hey, Buddy! Great job!"

"Did you see me? I wasn't even scared!" Andy chattered excitedly.

"That's 'cause you knew just what to do…"

Kelly put his arm around his son and steered him over to where Miss Corbett was trying desperately to quiet the little girl who was still sobbing hysterically.

Jesse stood next to her, patting the little girl's back.

"Don't cry, Vivvie…" he said. "It's all done now."

"Jess…" Kelly called to him.

"Dad!"

Jesse ran over to his father and his brother.

"What happened?" Kelly knelt down so he was at Jesse's eye level.

"Vivvie got scared. We lined up and we started to go, and she ran back and hid under the table. I had to pull her out!"

Kelly didn't know what to say…he was proud of his son…but at the same time, what he did was incredibly dangerous.

He wiped his hand down his face, then stood up and walked over to the teacher and the rest of the class, who had gathered around the crying little girl.

Miss Corbett looked up.

"Mr. Severide…" she started.

She knew what had just happened was inexcusable.

Kelly just held up his hand.

"Can I talk to her?"

The chief gave the 'all clear' and the classes began to file back into the school.

"I'll bring her in in a minute." Kelly told Miss Corbett.

The teacher nodded.

Andy and Jesse hung back with their dad.

Kelly knelt down in front of the little girl.

"Hey, Mills…" he said "you got a handkerchief?"

Mills pulled a red bandana handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Kelly who dried the little girl's face and held up the bandana so she could blow her nose.

"Better?" he asked.

The little girl nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Vivvie…" she said softly.

"My name's Lieutenant Severide. I'm Andy and Jesse's dad." He told her. "What happened, just now?"

"I got scared…" Vivvie whispered.

Kelly nodded with understanding.

"I know it can be scary…" he said gently. "But the important thing is to just keep moving and get out as fast as you can."

"But it's so loud!"

The little girl's breathing sped up again and she started to panic…

"It is loud." Kelly agreed. "But you need to cover your ears just like you did and stay with your class. If you wait too long, in a real fire you might not be able to get out. And if you hide, the firemen might not be able to find you."

"I'll help you, Vivvie." Jesse piped up. "You just cover up your ears and I'll pull you out like just now…"

"Or I will…" Andy cut in, not to be outdone by his brother.

"See…your friends'll help you. Just remember, even if you're scared…keep moving." Kelly told her. "C'mon…let's go back to your class…"

He and Mills ushered the kids back to the kindergarten room. Once they had delivered the children the firefighters stepped back to watch as the kids got back to whatever they were doing.

Kelly folded his arms across his chest. He couldn't get enough of watching his boys…

"Hey, Lieutenant…" Mills tapped him on the shoulder. "We should probably get going."

Kelly nodded and reluctantly backed out the door.

Mills watched his mentor…the obvious pride he had in his boys…the way they idolized him. He couldn't help but hope he'd be so lucky some day.