Title: Family Ties
Chapter 2 – A Surprising Bond
"Earth to Dawson," Brett commented early the next morning as Gabby looked over at her partner Sylvie Brett with a big smile. "Did you sleep at all last night?"
"What's sleep?" Gabby retorted as her partner looked back with a warm smile of her own.
"So…anything planned yet?"
"Matt just proposed last night," Gabby gently groaned as Brett snickered. "We don't want to wait too long. I get it…especially for Caitlin's sake. I want to be a family now."
"Want something traditional?"
"I don't know. I thought I did at one time but now…seems like such a hassle. Dress shopping, reception hall…flowers, cake, guests, menu…I was talking to Sheila at the wedding and hearing all the work she put into the wedding and she's an event planner by trade. I was like…wow that's a lot of work," Gabby's voice trailed off as she cast her gaze outside the window of the ambulance as they headed for their call. "Shay wants to be the best man," she added with a chuckle as Brett looked over and laughed also.
"So is Caitlin excited?"
"Think so. Matt told her first thing this morning he said she was excited but then I sometimes wonder if she remembers what it was like to have her real mom around," Gabby pondered as they reached their destination. But as much as she wanted to ponder that a bit more, duty called and it was time to get her head back in the game.
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"Just ask. You know she's going to say yes," Matt urged Kelly as he stood in the doorway to his small office that same morning; the day after he had asked Gabby to marry him.
"How did Caitlin handle the news?" Kelly inquired as Matt's mind trailed back to the early morning.
'Sweetheart. Do you like when Gabby is here?'
'Yes. Where is she?'
'She's at work right now. I like having her around too and she really likes being here. I uh…I love her and I asked her last night to marry me and come and live with us on a permanent basis. Is that okay?'
'Yes. I like Gabby.'
'Me too. And Grandma does too.'
'When is she coming here daddy?'
'Soon.'
"Don't know the date. That's up to Gabby," Matt shrugged as he looked at his friend in question. "Double wedding?"
"Yeah think the girls will let that happen?" Kelly snickered as Matt shook his head no. The two of them talked a bit longer until there were some reports to complete and Gabby and Sylvie Brett finally returned.
"What's…going on?" Gabby inquired as she neared Matt's office and heard him offer a small curse.
"Hey…" he turned back to her and instantly felt a warm smile play upon his face. "Just this…it's nothing."
"You can tell me," Gabby insisted as Matt looked at her and nodded in resignation. "After all…I'll be Mrs. Casey…soon," she added with a small smile.
"It's…we had started a savings bond for Caitlin when she was born but uh…but it looks like we trusted the wrong advisor."
"Dear Mr. Casey we regret to inform you that…what? Can they do that?"
"Hallie had met with some financial guy in St. Louis but um…I just I let her take care of it and then after she died I just…I know there was paperwork but…but it seems that we trusted the wrong guy and he…mis-invested it. It wasn't that much but it was something and now…now nothing."
Gabby eased herself down onto his desk and then looked at his distressed expression and then took his hand and held it tightly. "We can start saving now."
He looked up at her with an expression of surprise but once again felt himself finding strength in her warm gaze and his face softened and a smile grew. "Great idea. Maybe I should start helping at Molly's?"
"But if I pay you then I'm basically…screwing all of us," she retorted as his brow furrowed.
"I wouldn't mind if you scre…" he started only to be interrupted by the overhead paging system that made her laugh as he shook his head.
The two of them hurried into the hallway and joined the rest of the Firehouse 51 crew as they rushed toward their waiting gear and the waiting trucks.
'Apartment fire. 23 Sprucewood Drive…'
"Dawson?" Brett inquired as Gabby looked over with a small frown. "You okay?"
"Yeah just…you know planning the wedding and all the things that go into it and I'm like…such a big expense."
"Why not elope?"
"Thought about it but it uh…it just kinda cheats friends and family out of sharing it with us. We know it won't be big but even a smaller size…no matter the size it takes planning and money. Just want to be a family already."
"City hall?" Brett suggested.
"Oh yeah that's romantic," Gabby retorted with a small snicker as they reached their destination. As soon as Ambulance 61 came to a stop, both of them put on their game faces, got out of the ambulance and hurried toward the entrance to the building to await anyone who might be needing first aid.
"Dawson! Brett!"
Gabby grabbed one of the boards and hurried toward Otis who helped a young girl who exited the building just as they got there. She started to treat the young girl when she heard Boden call out to Casey and Severide and looked up to see her fiancé rush into the burning building and felt her heart stop for the briefest of seconds but yet to her it seemed like an eternity until she heard his voice crack to life over Boden's phone.
"Chout! Take her to Med!"
"You got it Dawson!"
"Dawson! Need help here!"
She turned to see Herrmann in the entranceway with a woman in his grasp that had started to convulse. "I got this!" She told Brett as she twisted around and darted toward the entrance of the fiery structure just as Matt exited by another way while Kelly and Cruz were still inside on the top floor.
"Fire's hot in there chief."
"We need that ladder up here!" Severide's voice is heard over Boden's radio. "She could flashover at any moment."
Matt looked around to make sure all his team was accounted for but wasn't able to see Gabby. He saw Brett but not his fiancé and that set a mild panic in him in seconds.
"Herrmann! You seen Dawson?"
"Yeah she was…" Herrmann started as he looked back at the building where he thought Gabby had exited but then didn't see her. "I think she went back inside? Heard there might be a kid still in there."
"Dawson!" Boden's voice is heard over the radio as Matt looked at his chief in concern. "Dawson!"
"Chief I'm going in," Matt suggested.
Boden looked up at Severide and Cruz who waited as the ladder neared. "No one else inside."
Come on Gabby…come on!
Gabby crouched on her hands and knees as she looked at the scared little face huddled behind the two chairs as she felt the heat intensifying behind her. "We have to go okay? The building is about to go down. We need to go now. Please don't make me come after you," she stated as she pushed the chairs away and looked at the adorable little face that instantly tugged at her heart strings.
"Come on…the building's on fire and we gotta get out," Gabby entreated the scared little face before her; her mind yelling at her to leave the building – NOW! "I know you're scared but if you don't come out, I'm going to have to come and get you."
"Chief I can't reach Dawson! She's still inside," Matt's anxious request is directed at Boden who instantly responds.
"Dawson! Report!"
A few seconds later she was able to grab the little boy in her arms and hurry toward the entrance of the room, while she heard Severide and Cruz had just narrowly missed being consumed by the flashover fireball.
"Gabby!" Matt shouted as he rushed toward her as she cradled the young boy in her grasp; her arms able to feel how much his little frame shuddered in arms.
"We're okay," she tried to reassure Matt as she looked up at him with a small frown; their eyes locking for a few seconds before reality rushed back in.
"Is he hurt?" Brett questioned as she neared the back of the ambulance while the child clung to her.
"No…he's just scared," Gabby replied as she climbed into the back of the ambulance and then slowly eased herself down onto the bench and looked at the little boy in her grasp. She tried to push him back so that Brett could take a look and make sure that he was indeed okay but he wouldn't let go and looked up with a pleading expression.
"This is my friend Sylvie," Gabby entreated warmly. "She just wants to take a look at you."
"That's a serious death grip he has on you," Herrmann pointed out as Boden neared the back of the ambulance.
"Yeah…he was hiding. It took some convincing to get him to come out to me," Gabby confessed softly as she looked first at Herrmann and then at Matt.
"Take him to Med," Matt suggested as Boden nodded. "He trusts you."
"See you both back at the house," Boden confirmed as he turned and headed back toward the rest of the team.
"I'll see you later," Gabby told Matt as she looked back down at the little boy in her grasp. "Hi honey…I'm Gabby…what's your name?"
She leaned back on the side of the ambulance and held the child close to her, his little racing heart thumping in his chest as he leaned back against her – not wanting to let go. Even when they arrived at Med she had to escort the little boy into one of the rooms and stay with him as Dr. Will Halstead examined him.
"Well…all clear…you're in good shape buddy," Will Halstead reported as he playfully tugged on the little boys foot.
"Yeah…gimme five," Gabby entreated as she held out her hand. But her heart swelled for a few seconds when the little palm slapped hers, making her grin widen even more. But a few seconds later her expression turned serious when he looked up and said…"want my blankie."
"Aww sweetie we don't have your blankie…remember? We had to leave it at your home," she commented as Brett showed up with some even grimmer news.
"Dawson…DCFS is here about the boy."
She gave Brett a nod and then both watched as Dr. Halstead took his leave. "DCFS? I don't understand…did the mother die?"
"I don't know," Brett replied with a huff. "Is he ready to go?"
"Yeah…he is," Gabby answered as she stood up, the young child still in her grasp. She felt his little arms tighten a bit more around her neck as her and Brett slowly headed toward the nursing station in the ER. Okay just….he's not yours so you have to just let him go…she reminded herself.
"Louie was being fostered by Jane Peters. She's not his mother."
Gabby's ears, however, latched onto the first part of that sentence – I know his name. "Now I know your name…Louie," she stated with a warm smile as she looked down at him and his large dark eyes looked up at her. "It's a good name."
"He's not going back there is he?" Brett inquired.
"No…just saw his file," DCFS Agent Kantrell started with a heavy sigh, "neighbors had made complaints and we have been meaning to investigate but with lack of funding and the fact that the agency is a little overwhelmed right now. So now…now we'll take him to a group center and try to find him a new foster family."
Her mind raced and heart ached. She had heard so many horrible stories about children in foster care and how they were abused and mistreated and…and as she started into those warm brown pools she felt something inside her starting to a bit…motherly? Protective? Both? This wasn't her child. She knew nothing about him but still the thought of sending him back to a cold, unloving center…scared her. But what could she do? This wasn't her issue and they had been warned right from day one of training to not make it personal…don't get involved…it's not my business. But right now…that warning just seemed to dissipate.
Gabby clung to Louie a bit longer before she knew she had to let him go. "Come on Louie…" Kantrell started as she gently plucked him from Gabby's grasp and turned to leave. The little boy's scared gaze locked with hers and refused to let go.
You can't do this…you can't let him just go like that…her mind begged as her heart started to ache. "It's going to be okay Louie," she said out loud – mostly for her own sake. But inside she knew it wasn't going to be. As long as he was in view, her mind was somewhat comforted, however, as soon as DCFS rounded the corner and was out of view her mind yelled at her that she had made a terrible mistake.
She looked at Brett and Brett shook her head no.
"No…" Brett started.
"I just want to ask if…why does he have to stay in the center until he's adopted?"
"Dawson…you know why. You're not adopting him."
"But those centers are just so cold and impersonal," Gabby tried to reason as she slowly headed for the entrance of Chicago Med.
"What is Matt going to say?"
"He hates those places too," Gabby shot back as she pushed her way outside into the cool afternoon air. "Agent Kantrell! Can I talk to you a minute?"
Gabby hurried toward the confused agent with the small child in her arms all the while her mind kept asking her two important questions – what are you doing? And what will Matt think if you bring a strange child home?
A/N: okay so b/c I wanted them to be together and work toward getting married, Dawson is a medic when she found Louie and hope that's okay and hey it's AU so I can bend the rules a little hehe but oh dear emotions are running high and you know Alice is at the helm here so not everything will be as it seems hehe. Wanted to toss in a few little flirty moments so would love you to tell me what you thought in your review before you leave and thanks so much!
