Contains Spoilers for “Chicago Fire” Season 13, Episode 12

Fans get to learn a whole lot about Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo of “True Detective”) in “Relief Cut,” and much of it is brand-new information. Even though she’s long been one of the best main characters on “Chicago Fire,” her past has been somewhat obscured. We knew she lost her parents at the tender age of 12 – which resulted in her leaning on illicit substances and her terrible marriage to the violent and abusive Grant Smith (Guy Burnet). But now audiences get to know what drives her attitude toward motherhood, thanks to an appearance by her cousin – and some assiduous digging from her hubby Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney). Now they have a way forward to family life, and it may bring great joy to their lives.

What did we learn about Stella’s childhood? How has that shaped her as a person, and as a partner to Kelly? And where do these revelations leave Kelly and Stella after the episode’s over? Here’s all of the psychological depth “Relief Cut” gave Stella.

Stella’s childhood fully explained
During “Relief Cut,” Stella’s older cousin, Cole Williams (Richard Blackmon), comes to town. The cousins’ connection is initially strained: It turns out they haven’t talked since she got serious with Kelly, and her cousin assumed that was Kelly’s idea. When it’s revealed that it wasn’t, they reconcile. Kelly takes Cole out to Molly’s to talk, and there he learns a whole lot about his bride that he never knew before.

It seems that Stella found herself caring for her younger cousin, Noah, soon after he was born because her Aunt Laverne was suffering from severe post-partum depression. She was only around 13 at the time, and that was in the wake of the recent death of both parents. Forced to grow up early, the pressure eventually got to her and resulted in her drug use and her time with Grant. “She tried to be tough, but there was a lot of hurt there,” Cole observes to Kelly. This is a big window into Stella’s behavior for him, and a huge explanation as to why she’s been so reluctant to become a parent herself.

How Stella’s childhood shaped her adult life
Stella’s boundless toughness on the squad and in the trenches is easily explained by her childhood lived in service to her cousins. She was taught early that resiliency was an important value, and she has continued to apply that to her life — sometimes to her detriment, when she pushes herself past her natural limits as a firefighter, or when she spreads herself too thin between work, supporting her Girls on Fire charity, and maintaining her marriage to Kelly.

But the very fact that she created Girls on Fire goes to show how much she cares about being a mentor to younger women — thus the revelation about why being pregnant isn’t something she thinks she wants to do, but adopting a child is. One can easily imagine her adopting an older child with Kelly, someone who would benefit from her mentoring experience.

How Stella’s childhood shaped her relationship with Kelly
Whenever Stella and Kelly get into some form of conflict, Stella’s master gesture is avoidance. Just like her long stay in Boston, which features her dodging his calls and going underground, she would rather avoid an issue when something is wrong. And yet when she’s really concerned about someone — as she was when Kelly disappeared for months after he became a part of the ATF’s task force for an undercover investigation. Instead of letting him brood in secrecy, Stella chases Kelly down and demands that he account for what he’s been up to.

The end result is a marriage that needs a whole lot of work in the communication department — but also one that thrives when they do manage to talk. It’s getting to that point that’s sometimes troublesome for them — and sometimes results in the juiciest storylines “Chicago Fire” has ever had. There’s a reason why “Chicago Fire” has never pulled the plug on Stella and Kelly.

Where she and Kelly go from here
It looks like a Stellaride baby is officially on the way in Season 13. They’re finally heading to parenthood after months of trying to figure things out. While Kelly said he wanted kids, Stella has expressed reluctance toward being pregnant – and the notion of having kids right now, in the middle of some serious career moves, sounds like the opposite of a good idea to her. The subject had been dropped — but Stella takes it up again in “Relief Cut.”

Confessing she wants to have his child, she adds that she just doesn’t want to go through traditional childbirth — she wants to adopt a family instead of giving birth to one. In short: To give a kid the kind of start in life her Aunt Laverne gave her, minus the post partum depression, which explains why Stella wants nothing to do with having kids biologically. Thankfully, it looks like they’re going to avoid a huge Season 13 Stellaride mistake and have them be honest with each other about their desire to have kids. Time will tell if they have a successful adoption story.