Chicago Fire FanFic (English)

Chapter 30

"We're back." Kelly said as they walked in the door. "Hey. And? How did it go?" Stella asked. "Good." Caleb said. "For real? Did it help in that case?" Sylvie asked. Caleb nodded. "Matt and Hayden are out in the garden." Stella said. "Can I?" Caleb asked. "Yeah, sure." Kelly said and Caleb went outside. "The conversation seemed to have done him a lot of good." Sylvie said. "Yes. We got to have another real conversation on the way here." Kelly said. "And what did Daniel say?" Stella asked. "He's been talking to Caleb alone, and of course he can't tell me about that, but he did suggest that I, or we, spend some alone time with Caleb." Kelly said. "To be honest, that's what I thought. I have an idea, too." Stella said. "And which one?" Kelly asked. "The new Jurassic World movie hits theaters next week. What do you think if we go with him?" Stella asked. "You know what, that's a great idea. But maybe not on the premiere day. Maybe we'll go next weekend when he doesn't have a game." Kelly said. "Right, that's still it. But I don't think he's really happy anymore." Stella said. "You might even be right about that. When I picked him up yesterday, he was on the bench with Michael and Jason throughout practice." Kelly said. "Hey. Tell me, what have you guys done with Caleb?" Matt asked, now coming into the kitchen as well. "Why?" Kelly asked. "Well, he's like a different person again. He's playing in the sandbox with Hayden now and he seems to be back to normal in other respects too." Matt said and took a water from the fridge. "I'd rather wait a little longer, but it's nice that he's getting involved with the little ones again." Kelly said. "It might have all been a bit much for him. New home, the pregnancies, 4 new family members, training isn't going as it should and then there's the fact that as the eldest, he naturally has the feeling that he's responsible for the younger ones." Stella said. "Maybe we should start looking around now for a babysitter. Not only would she exonerate Caleb, she would exonerate you as well." Matt said. "Maybe not a bad idea. I mean the rooms are ready. Do you still have the flyers we got?" Kelly asked. "Yes, wait. I'll get them." Stella said. She got the flyers and spread them out on the kitchen table. "Dad, Hayden and I are in the playroom down in the basement." Caleb said. "Okay, have fun." Kelly said. "Is that what you call a miracle cure?" Sylvie asked and smiled. "I suppose so. But I'm still waiting. It can change at any time." Kelly said. "We don't want to talk about that anymore." Stella said. "You're right. We're sorry." Sylvie said. "So, now to this program. How exactly does that work?" Matt asked. "From what I've read we can get in touch with the agency and they'll come over and take a look and if everything is right from their side then we just have to fill out the forms and then we'll be seen on their internal booking website be. With so many children, we are placed in a special program so we have two babysitters." Stella explained. "That sounds good." Matt said. "Yes. It's a really great thing. It's mostly young people between 16 and 25 years old who want to learn a new language and at the same time want to get to know the culture and people." Stella explained. "Have you done this before?" Kelly asked. "I don't, but a high school friend of mine went to France for a year after university and took care of her host family's children there and also went to a language school twice a week to learn French." Stella said. "Do you actually know in advance where the babysitters are coming from or did, we only find out when they arrive?" Kelly asked. "We write a letter online introducing ourselves and the kids. We'll get a letter of introduction as soon as we know who's coming." Stella said. "And who do we have to contact to register?" Matt asked. "Here. The agency is called Babysitting worldwide and here are the contact details." Stella said. "Mommy, I'm hungry." Hayden said, coming into the kitchen. "We'll do something soon. Can you last a few more minutes?" Sylvie asked. "Yeah." Hayden said, running out of the kitchen and crashing into Caleb. "Slowly." Caleb smiled and let him pass. "Are you okay?" Matt asked. "Yeah, I just hit my head." Caleb said, rubbing the back of his head. "Let me see...yeah, that'll make a dent." Sylvie said, getting a pack of frozen peas out of the freezer. "Thanks...What are you guys doing here anyway?" Caleb asked. Stella gave him one of the flyers. "Cool. Do you guys sign up there?" Caleb asked. "Yeah, we thought with so many kids we couldn't ask you to take all the responsibility anymore." Stella said. "You know that program?" Kelly asked. "A little bit. Bailey's older sister is flying to Denmark for a year the week after next." Caleb said. Also, as a babysitter?" Stella asked "Yes, her host family has 3 boys and lives in the middle of Copenhagen." Caleb said and looked at the flyers.

After a quick lunch, Sylvie brought Hayden and Stella, Lydia into bed for a short nap. Caleb went out with Spiky and Filou and Kelly and Matt were doing the dishes. When Stella and Sylvie came back down, they sat down at the table and found out about the registration process. "I think we'll wait until Caleb gets back. That seems a bit more complicated to me than I thought." Sylvie said. "I think you are right. He's a bit more technical than us." Stella said. "But we could take the photos of our house, the rooms and the outside." Matt suggested. "That's a good idea. Come on." Kelly said and got his mobile phone. They took the photos and uploaded them to the laptop. "I'm back." Caleb called. «Shh. Hayden and Lydia are asleep." Stella said. "Oh. Sorry." Caleb said quietly. "Follow me. We need your help." Stella said and went with him into the kitchen. "So, what do you guys need?" Caleb asked. "We could use your help with the online registration." Sylvie said. "What are you guys going to do when I don't live at home anymore?" Caleb asked with a smile. "We'd just lock you up at home. Then you can't go at all." Stella joked. "I wouldn't put it past you." Caleb said. Caleb filled out the registration form, added the pictures and submitted it. The confirmation email came just 2 seconds later. "It's kind of exciting now. I'm especially curious where the babysitters will come from." Caleb said. "The two are mainly there for the little ones. You are only home for dinner 3 days a week anyway and Andrew and Julian can keep themselves busy." Matt said. "It sounds like you don't care about us." Caleb said. "You know what I mean." Matt said. Then Caleb's phone vibrated. Caleb glanced at the display and immediately locked the screen again. "Are you alright?" Kelly asked. Caleb unlocked his phone, opened the chat history and gave it to him. "How long has this been going on?" Kelly asked. "A couple of weeks." Caleb said, getting a water from the fridge. "What's the matter?" Stella asked. Kelly showed them the chat history between Caleb and his mom. "Why didn't you say anything?" Kelly asked. "When..." Caleb said, but Stella cut him off. «Shh. Not so loud. The little ones are still asleep." she said. "That's exactly why I didn't say anything. You were no longer interested in what was going on with me. Every time I wanted to tell you something and one of the little ones spoke up, you suddenly didn't care anymore about my request." Caleb said, grabbed his water and went upstairs to his room. "Sometimes I feel like I've failed as a father." Kelly said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "Kelly. hey you shouldn't even think like that. You're a great father." Stella encouraged him. "Then why can't I see my ex stalking our son?" Kelly asked. "None of us noticed anything. Come talk to him again." Matt said. Kelly nodded and went upstairs. He knocked on Caleb's door and entered. Caleb was sitting on the couch playing a video game. "Hey, do you want to talk?" Kelly asked, sitting down next to his son. "So, you go away after 5 minutes and just leave me?" Caleb asked, rather annoyed. "I promise I'll sit here until you tell me everything that's bothering you." Kelly said. "All right. What do you want to know?" Caleb asked, pausing his game. "How long has this been going on with Mom?" Kelly asked. "A few weeks. She suddenly stopped in the schoolyard one day and wanted me to go with her." Caleb said. "Is that why you're always the last one out of the school building?" Kelly asked. Caleb nodded. "Hey. I know I haven't had that much time for you the last few years. I also talked to Daniel about it and he said that maybe it would do you good if the two of us or even the three of us do something together." Kelly said. "That would be cool." Caleb said. "Stella and I have already discussed this. What do you think if we go to the cinema the week after next and see the new Jurassic Park Movie?" Kelly said. "Just the three of us?" Caleb asked. "Yeah, just the three of us." Kelly smiled. "Can we go to the cabin again?" Caleb asked. "We can do that again sometime." Kelly said. "Soccer practice isn't the same as it used to be, as well." Caleb said. "I overheard something when I picked you up yesterday. What was going on?" Kelly asked. "Do not ask. Ever since we got the new coach, Michael, Jason and I have been on the bench. Even in training, we don't get a chance anymore." Caleb explained. "And why?" Kelly asked. "Honestly. I have no idea. Either he doesn't like us or he just doesn't want to see that we're better than his two sons, who now play in our position." Caleb said. "His sons?" Kelly asked. "Yes, his sons. The two play like they've never seen a ball in their lives. They're scared of tackles, headers, just about anything a soccer player has to do to score a goal." Caleb explained. Kelly stroked through Caleb's hair and kissed the top of his head. "Are you feeling better now?" Kelly asked. "Yes, thanks. It was good to talk about it." Caleb smiled. "Will you promise me that from now on you'll always talk to us if something's bothering you?" Kelly asked and Caleb nodded. "I promise." Caleb said.