Chapter Text
27 May 2023
Year 1 - Paper.
"I can't believe it's been a year already." She whispered against his mouth. "It was such a magical day." Her sigh was nostalgic and happy.
Happier than she had been for what seemed like a long time.
Her husband was home, they were lying in their bed, and Mouch was going to be o.k.
"It was special......eventually!" He smiled, remembering the shock of learning that they didn't have a venue for their wedding......and then Casey saving the day by securing a boat and finally Stella walking towards him on Boden's arm. His breath had caught somewhere around his heart when he first saw her after having spent an hour with her circumventing around behind him so that he didn't see her dress. And when he had...
He had never told her that he had just wanted to cry huge sappy tears as she stopped in front of him overwhelmed by how beautiful she looked but more than that just by her, promising to light up all his tomorrows.
Kelly brushed his lips against hers gently.
"I love you....." It was that simple for him.
He pressed another kiss against her lips, licking her lower lip, smiling softly. "And I got you a gift."
" I thought we decided we wouldn't do gifts and just spend all day together. Anyway, you coming home was more than gift enough."
Stella pulled back from him slightly and traced his features with one finger. He had got back to Chicago two days ago, and finally, all of the separation was behind them.
They had done a 360 and gone straight to Med as soon as they had got home to check on Mouch learning that he was experiencing sudden internal bleeding and rushed into an O.R so instead of a romantic reunion they had sat with her head on his shoulder with the rest of shift 2 and Trudy until finally after hours Doctor Marcel had come out with a tired smile to tell them that Mouch was going to be o.k.
Kelly took her hand and kissed it.
"I know... but I saw something when I was in Alabama... and thought it was perfect......." pushing her down suddenly, he rolled on top of her, pinning her to the bed."Unless you don't want it?"
He looked down at her with a mischevious grin, sleepy blue eyes dancing.
Stella frowned, dropping her lower lip in a pout. " That's mean!... You can't tease me on our anniversary! "
She couldn't stop drinking him in, still not quite believing that he was back.
Kelly laughed out loud. "No, I guess I shouldn't." He rolled off her, climbing out of bed and going out of the room, coming back a few minutes later.
He stood in front of her and held out his hand to her, a small velvet box in it. Stella had been indulging herself, eyeballing his naked body with a lewd grin but now surprised, sat up and looked down at his open hand with wide eyes. Kelly wasn't a man who made grand gestures often, but when he did, it was all the more special. Whatever was in the box, she already knew it was going to be quite something.
"Open it." He coaxed, so Stella took it and snapped open the lid and gasped softly.
There was a beautiful silver heart locket sitting in the box. Carefully lifting it out, she held it reverently in the palm of her hand.
"Oh babe, it's gorgeous." She whispered. It really was beautiful, delicate, small and a perfect heart.
"Open it." Kelly prompted again, and Stella looked at him inquisitively before opening the locket. Inside, there was a tiny piece of folded paper.
"What's this?" She asked, intrigued.
"The first anniversary is "paper, " so I thought this would be perfect. Being away from you....Made me think I wanted you to have this always near your heart..." Kelly explained, watching her intently as she unfolded the paper.
For a long moment, Stella said nothing after reading the tiny hand written note in her husbands writing. And then, when she lifted her head, Kelly saw tears flooding her eyes. She held her arms out to him and then flung them around him, burying her head in his neck.
"You thought of this all by yourself?!"
"Yes, I did.... but It wasn't meant to make you cry!" He laughed, getting back into the bed and pinning her down.
"I love it! You are the most amazing husband, and I love you so so much!" Stella sobbed, raining kisses on him, and Kelly started to laugh in between them.
She pulled back from and held the note to her heart. " Say it." Her thick dark lashes were wet, her eyes solemn, the masses of her hair a riot of curls framing her face and shoulders.
Kelly leant over her, staring into her deep brown eyes.
"You've got this, Stella Kidd. " He whispered, and every bone in Stella's body melted.
It was one of those moments that happened often between them ever since they had first met, when everything around them disappeared. He got lost in the eyes that never wavered in their love for him. And she drowned in the blue seas that were equally comitted and in that moment, something connected between them in the deepest part of their beings, a certainty that there would only ever be each other for them.
Kelly carefully placed the piece of paper back inside the heart and clasped the locket around her neck, loving the way the heart sat above her breasts, kissing the heart to seal his love inside it.
Then his lips moved to the skin around it as if he wanted to stamp his love on every other part of her.
Stella cupped his face in her hands. How was it possible to love someone this much?
Their lips met, and the kiss became instantly more needy. Her body adjusted on the bed to better accommodate him, the whispy piece of black silk she had worn to bed sliding up her thighs in erotic abandon. His hands grabbed her fingers, entwining them with his above her head. Neither of them wanted to wait or engage in indulgent foreplay an urgency about them that was familiar.
Stella stared into his eyes, and he instinctively knew what she wanted. Their eyes remained together as he slid inside her, the sound of their breathing heavy in the silence of the room, but it only spoke of what the other was feeling. Kelly rolled her over without separating from her so that she was on top of him and pushed her beautiful dark hair to one side.
"I love you, Stella." His whisper sounded like worship.
Her eyes glistened with moisture like they aways did when their lovemaking was this deep, when their feelings for each other transcended just sex.
It was always good between them and maybe on a day like today sentiment had turned it into a more cerebral connection aswell because the sound of their own blood rushing around their heads sounded louder, the feeling of skin on skin felt more sensitive.
Stella moved on top of him, her blood humming. Their voracious sexual apetite for each other was something that had always connected them. They genuinely were made to love each other, and even in their dark times of separation, their physical attraction and craving for this would always bring them back.
Stella arched her neck, her nails curling into his hands, crying out as her muscles quivered around him, at the same time as he came inside her. Pulling her head down, he kissed her then, deeply, intimately and possessively, reminding himself and her of another reason he should have come home earlier.
For a long time afterwards, Stella stayed lying on top of him, listening to his heartbeat slowly return to normal, his hand stroking down her spine just totally content to lie there forever.
"I got you a gift too." She confessed a little shyly.
"You did?"
"I did..... It's not grand like yours.....its just something I put together... something that signifies paper..."
Leaning over the side of the bed, she pulled something from under the bed and came back up with a package wrapped in black paper. Handing it to an intrigued Kelly, she cosied up next to him and watched him tear away the paper to reveal a book. It was hardback and thick, the cover a faded gold.
"The Anniversary Journal?" Kelly read out, looking at her in confusion.
"Your turn to open."
Flipping it open, he looked at the familiar handwriting, reading it out aloud....
'To the absolute love of my life... My husband, Kelly Severide.
Every year on our anniversary I will give you this journal and each year it will continue our journey, written by me for you, the story of us, year by year of our marriage, small snippets from me that recall our highs and even the lows so that when we are old you will always have this, to look back at.... our years together, and despite everything that may happen, to always remember how we are the luckiest couple in Chicago....
With all my love, always..... Stella.❤️'
He looked at her, not knowing quite what to say... a lump in his throat.
And then turned the page.
"Kelly, the simple truth is that you're magic to me. When I'm at my lowest, you lift me up, and you never leave my side. You are the goodest of men. Yes, we're taking a huge, crazy leap into the unknown, but we're doing it together. And when I need to hear it, you'll tell me, 'You got this, Stella Kidd.' And I'll know everything will be okay because it always is when I'm with you. I love you with everything I got, Kelly Severide, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Stella, I decided a long time ago that if I was going to be with you, I needed to be worthy of you-which seemed impossible. How do I become worthy of someone brave enough to show who they are inside and out? What makes me this better person I keep hearing about is you. You keep me from locking things up. Instead, you made sure you really knew me. And by some miracle, you still love me. Stella, I might never be worthy of you, but I promise to spend the rest of my life trying. I love you."
Kelly ran a finger over their wedding vows. Even now, his stomach flipped. He could recite every single word like it was engraved on his heart, and he carried each with him wherever he went.
He smiled again as he turned the page........