Hey there,
Am back with a new chapter, I hope you'll like it, let me know what you think, and also if you have any request about what you'd like to see, let me know as well so I can write some interesting storyline!
Thank you for your nice reviews as always it means the world to me!
I am going to post a new Dawsey AU in the following days if you'd like to read something new!
Have a great day! Stay safe!
-A
Chapter eighteen
Casey walked inside the silent apartment, he put his wallet and keys on the desk, and walked to the kitchen, with his arms full with groceries.
He was surprised to find Gabby, standing there, looking inside the fridge. "Good morning beautiful !" he exclaimed making his wife jumped.
She turned around to look at him, with a smile on her face. "Hey, I didn't hear you come in" she said.
"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked walking to her after putting the groceries on the kitchen island and playing a gentle kiss to her forehead.
"I wanted breakfast"she replied with a grin, knowing Matt didn't want her to be up and walking around.
"You go back to bed I'll make you some breakfast" he suggested, caressing her shoulder getting a roll of eyes from his wife. "Don't roll your eyes babe, you know what the doctor said about you being home" he said knowing too well how his girl was about staying calm and resting.
"Get some rest, don't move too much, delegate" she answered with a sigh. She had been allowed to go home after a last check up from her doctor. He had asked her to take it easy, to make sure she was surrounded, and helped. Which Matt had taken at heart, wanting to be here for his girl, and make sure she wouldn't do too much and feel better and good as new as soon as possible.
"Exactly, now go!" he ordered with a grin.
Gabby crossed her arms, giving him a challenging look ready to fight him. She didn't want Matt to keep bubble wrapping her, not that she didn't like it, but she also wanted Matt to start relaxing. She knew he was still feeling so guilty and responsible for everything that had happened. He was trying to play it off and wasn't really mentioning anything, but Gabby could feel how Matt felt.
"Are you really going to stand there?" Matt asked then, seeing that his girl wouldn't be moving.
"Yep" she answered with a smile.
Matt rolled his eyes but walked to her, and in a second pulled her in his arms bridal style. "If you're not moving, then am moving you" he mumbled, as Gabby laughed, putting her arms around his neck and letting her husband lead her back to their bedroom.
The firefighter put his girl on the bed, and sat on the side of the bed. "Give me 10 minutes and I'll bring you some breakfast" he said gently planting a small kiss to Gabby's forehead.
Matt was about to stand back up when Gabby grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him back to her. "Stay just a bit longer" she suggested, pulling Matt in a loving kiss. She smiled in the kiss, so grateful to finally have her husband back, finally being home, and together as a family.
"Wow, I almost forgot how amazing your kisses are..." Matt whispered after pulling away from his beautiful wife, caressing her cheek, incredibly grateful for her. Gabby chuckled and gently smacked his shoulder.
"You're an idiot you know that?" she said laughing.
"But you love me anyways! And I love you" he replied, earning a genuine smile from his girl.
"I do love you" she shot back, biting her lip, a bit nervous at what she wanted to say next. "How would you feel about staying with me, we have an hour and a half before Louie wakes up" she said getting a smile from Matt.
"I can stay for sure" he said gently as Gabby pulled her hands under his shirt, smiling at the feeling of his warm skin under her finger. Matt and Gabby both smiled, but pretty quickly Matt pulled back a bit, letting Gabby's hands fall from his chest. She looked at him confused at his sudden behavior, a bit hurt by him pulling away.
"Did I do something wrong?" she wondered worried he wasn't feeling up for that or something.
Matt shook his head, looking down for a second, before looking back up to his wife "Of course not babe, you didn't do anything wrong" he replied not wanting her to feel bad.
"Then why are you pulling away?" she asked with a bit of a cold tone.
"Am just trying to look out for you Gabby, you're still recovering, you don't need more stress" Matt explained.
"Sex isn't stressful Matt! Not doing anything is!" she exclaimed getting annoyed by her husband's sudden change of demeanor.
"I... Baby, you know that your doctor recommend for you to take a bit more time before having any kind of activity and-"
"He was talking about work, sports, heavy lifting! Not sex! I definitely can have sex, he just said not to get me pregnant until my kidney function comes back to normal!" she shot back.
"Babe put yourself in my shoes..."
"Put yourself in mine! We've been away from each other for weeks, we haven't been able to see each other, we were planning on trying for a baby, and we had to stop. I've been in the hospital and now that we are finally both home, healthy, and okay, you don't want me anymore?! I mean, I thought that after all this time we'd have some normalcy now, but no sex policy isn't normal for us!" Gabby said, standing up from the bed, starting to walk toward the bathroom, to get away from her husband.
"Gabby, we can make love once you're totally fine. We are in no rush, like you said, we are home now, together, we can start planning for the future, and once you're better, getting back to work and all we can start trying for a baby" Matt said walking after her.
"I don't want to have sex just to make a baby! I want to make love because I love you and want to be with you! Is that so hard for you to understand?" she asked, turning to look at Matt waiting for his answer, but was stopped by a tiny shy voice, coming from the side of the bed.
"Are you fighting?"
Matt turned around to see his little boy, in his pjs, his monkey in one arm, the other rubbing his eyes. "Hey champ" Matt said smiling, walking to his boy. "You're up early"
"You woke me up, because you are fighting" Louie mumbled, yawning.
Gabby sighed, and walked to the boys, putting a kiss to Louie's forehead. "Am sorry baby, we were not fighting, we were just talking a bit louder than usual, am sorry you woke up" she apologized.
"Talking loud is fighting. I don't like when you and daddy fight" Louie said. Both parents shared a look, knowing he was right, they had been fighting, and they shouldn't. It was a disagreement, and Gabby was disappointed, but they shouldn't be fighting, not in the morning, not now that they were finally reunited.
"So... How about you and mommy get back to bed while I make breakfast?" Matt suggested, getting a small nod from Louie. Gabby nodded as well, knowing they would continue their conversation later. The young mother got back in bed, while Matt put Louie down next to her. They looked at Louie getting comfy next to his mommy before Matt left the room to get started on breakfast.
Matt had been in the kitchen for the last 20 minutes, getting the most perfect breakfast for his family. He wanted to apologize for what had happened with Gabby, and he also wanted to make up for lost time with Louie and his wife.
They had been spending so much time away for each other, and they needed to get back to their normal, and even if he was still feeling guilty, he knew he needed to let go of this feeling, and finally put this behind him, to be able to fully enjoy his loved ones.
"Hey" Matt heard jumping a bit at the sudden sound. He turned around to find Gabby standing in the kitchen's doorframe.
"Hey!" Matt replied with a smile, happy to see a smile on his girl's face. "You're smiling" he said gently.
"Yeah, so are you" she replied, coming a bit closer.
"When I see you, I am always smiling" he said gently.
"Am sorry for earlier" she whispered then.
Matt smiled and took her hands in his. "Am the one who should apologize, I didn't want to fight about this, I just thought I was doing the right thing, I didn't want you to take it personally. I mean... I do want to make love to you, I really really do, and not just to get you pregnant of course... Am sorry if I acted like a jerk, I just really worry about your health, and I don't want anything to come and put you in any kind of danger." Matt explained.
Gabby nodded understanding what her husband was saying. She smiled and put her arms around his neck, caressing the base of his hair. "You are such an amazing and caring man, and I love you for that, I really do, but you worry too much"
"I worry because I don't want anything to happen to you again because of me"
"Baby, what happened with me isn't your fault, you're not responsible, and I am okay now, and soon I'll be good as new, and back to work, so please stop blaming yourself okay?" She said caressing his hair. "Oh and please go shave that face of yours, you look like a 50 years old man!" she laughed.
"Oh you like my beard! " Matt exclaimed rubbing his face. "I kinda like it, I think it's pretty sexy" he said getting a smirk from Gabby.
"You are sexy, I like your beard for sure, but I love your beautiful naked face" she said with a smile, letting her hands run down Matt's body, caressing his chest. "I love you" she whispered.
Matt smiled and gently pulled her closer, planting a deep kiss to her lips. He let out a groan, feeling his need for his girl grow. He pulled back a little. "Okay, I need to take a cold shower now" he mumbled.
Gabby pulled away from him, laughing. "We can get in the shower right now if you want!" she joked.
"Very funny!" Matt shot back at his wife, as she walked back to the bedroom to go get Louie for breakfast.
Gabby got back a minute later with a very awake Louie who shot the biggest smile to his father. "What's for breakfast?" he asked excited.
Matt smiled pointed at the table, which was full of food. Pancakes, toasts, Juices, smoothies, eggs, tea and coffee...
"Matt, you're feeding an army or something?" Gabby asked shocked to see so much food on the table.
"No, it's for the three of us" Matt replied, helping Louie to sit on his chair.
"Baby, you do realize we are not going to eat all this!" Gabby said sitting next to her son.
"You need to eat and drink Gabs, and am taking care of you both, you guys have to eat more, and I made a lot to eat but am sure you'll like it" Matt said proud, knowing they needed to eat.
Gabby rolled her eyes but finally gave in and took some pancakes, giving some to Louie as well. They hate in relative silence, making sure Louie was eating enough. Matt smiled so happy to share this nice moment as a family. He took the smoothie and served Gabby who gave him a death glare.
"What?" he asked surprised.
"I already drank my coffee and some water, I think I don't need more liquids baby" she explained. Matt was very focused on her drinking and eating enough, now that she was home, Matt really wanted to be the one taking care of his girl but also had taken very seriously Gabby's health issues and really wanted her to eat enough.
"Just a smoothie and some more pancakes" he said filling her glass.
"You know am not pregnant yet" she mumbled with a smirk knowing that most pregnant women had some cravings and were eating a lot.
"I know" Matt chuckled.
Louie looked up at them his mouth full of pancakes "It-Yummy!" he said after swallowing. Matt and Gabby smiled ready to enjoy this day as much as possible. They wouldn't be fighting anymore, they just wanted to enjoy being together.
Later, Matt and Louie were playing in the living room, listening to some music. Louie was so happy that his daddy was home now. He really missed him and wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, which was an absolute delight for Matt.
The two boys were doing a puzzle, with some jungle animals on it, which made Louie so happy. The little boy looked at the puzzle, trying to comprehend everything. "Daddy, why does a giraffe have such a looooong neck?" he asked pointing at the giraffe.
"It's actually a great question... Am not really sure buddy" Matt answered. "I guess they can eat the leaves in the trees" he continued earning a satisfied nod from his son.
"I like the elephant better!" Louie exclaimed, making his father chuckled. Louie was definitely a cute and smart little boy.
Matt looked up, to see his beautiful wife, standing in the doorframe of the bedroom, wearing a beautiful white and blue dress, her hair was down, she had little make up, but she was beautiful.
"Wow, you're stunning" Matt said with a whistle, impressed to see how gorgeous she was. "I knew marrying you was the best thing I ever did in my life" he continued, speechless by her beauty, and definitely feeling grateful for her.
"You look pretty mama!" Louie exclaimed looking at his beautiful mother but quickly going back to his puzzle.
"Thank you boys!" She replied smiling. Matt quickly stood up and went to kiss her.
"You're beautiful, but you know you didn't have to put this, just some sweater and leggings would have been okay baby" Matt said. He was grateful she had put such a beautiful dress, but he didn't want his wife to feel like she needed to wear such a nice thing while staying home.
"I know, and I would have, but... I invited a couple of people. I know I didn't tell you, but I figure we could celebrate your birthday today with our friends and family..." she explained timidly hoping Matt wouldn't get upset, as she didn't tell him about it.
"Oh... Baby, you know I didn't care about my birthday, we don't have to celebrate it" Matt said caressing her cheek. "We don't even have much to eat, and I don't want you to do anything" Matt continued.
"I know, and I asked everybody to bring something to eat, my mom even said she would make a bit more so we can have some leftovers... It would mean a lot if we could just celebrate your birthday..."
Matt smiled and nodded knowing that even though his wife needed to get some rest and take it easy, he didn't marry the easiest woman, and his wife would never really take it easy anyways. "I guess if you don't have to do anything we can have a nice moment"
Gabby smiled excited "Amazing! It's going to be great!" she exclaimed.
Matt chuckled, he knew it was important for Gabby, and of course birthdays were never a big deal to him, but being with this woman, he knew that was something he would have to deal with for his greatest pleasure. And he knew Gabby was the only one excited about this, Louie was as well.
"Can I ask you something though?" Gabby asked then getting serious again.
"Sure! Everything okay?" Matt asked seeing the nervousness on his girl's face.
"About your speech tomorrow... Do you really think quitting is the right thing to do?" she asked.
"I am grateful for doing this job you know, I am grateful for what it brought me, and for what it brought to us. Without this job we wouldn't probably have Louie. Running for alderman, it was very important to us both, it really brought us closer together, and I'm so grateful for you for standing by me and believing in me and fighting beside me, and showing me that I was able to do it. I am very grateful for what came with this job, but it also put us, as a couple in a wrong place. Working with Susan was the biggest mistake because I almost lost you, because i was so focused on this alderman thing that I could see how important getting Louie was to you, I was just thinking about myself and then we got Louie and everything went smoothly until I stood up for what I thought was right and it almost cost your life and health, as well as Louie's... I'm not going to play with this anymore, you both are too important to me, and I want to focus on my family. I've spent enough time trying to help other people, it's time for me to focus on the two persons I love the most." Matt said meaning his words.
He looked at his girl, whose eyes were full of tears. She was so touched by what he said. She knew he would put his family first, and he knew nothing would come before them, but it was nice to hear him say it. She was so glad he was putting her first. Obviously she never doubt that's what he would do, but hearing this filled her with so much love and respect for the man in front of her.
She pulled her husband in a loving hug, pressing her head to his chest, so happy to have such an amazing husband to share her life with. "I love you so much, and I am so glad you're my husband" she whispered, for only Matt to hear.
"I love you too" he whispered back, kissing the top of her head, a holding her a bit more tightly.
The young man smiled as he pulled away. "So I guess I should get ready, put something a little more appropriate than a boxer and a dirty t-shirt" he said making his girl laughed.
"Yeah, put some jeans and a nice shirt, you know how much I love that!"
Matt nodded. Louie stood up and walked to them, patting his daddy's leg. "I want to put a shirt too daddy!" He exclaimed.
"Oh yeah you do?" Matt asked rubbing the little boy's head.
"Yeah! I'll go get ready!" He said excited running back to his bedroom under the look of his parents.
Later, everybody was here, friends from 51 and family. Matt was with Severide and Antonio, getting the barbecue ready outside, while Gabby was inside with her mother and mother-in-law getting everything ready for lunch.
In the meantime, Louie was playing with his aunts in the living room, proud to show his puzzle.
"How is he doing?" Camila asked to her daughter, pointing at the little boy.
"He is doing so great! He is so happy to have his daddy back. They have been playing a lot, and spending some time together. Matt is been an angel, taking care of Louie to make sure I get the rest I need, they are both so sweet!" Gabby said smiling.
"And how are you and Matt?" Camila asked then, knowing they had put the baby talk aside for a while, during the entire time they went through.
"We are doing good, we are still trying to navigate everything. Matt doesn't want to rush anything, and he really wants to make sure everything is okay with me, which is sweet of him, but a bit nerve wrecking as well..." Gabby explained seeing a gentle smile appeared over her mother's face.
Nancy, who had been silent, smiled as well "My son has become such a teddy bear, he's got a soft side" she whispered laughing, getting a nod of agreement from Gabby.
"He sure does. But don't say that too loud. You should see him when it's just us and Louie, he really was meant to be a dad, he is amazing with Louie" Gabby explained.
"Are you guys going to give us more grand children?" Camila asked, getting an excited nod from Nancy and a gasp from her daughter.
"Mom! Shhh!" Gabby exclaimed looking around hoping nobody was able to hear them.
"What?! It's not a big secret that you and Matt have been thinking about getting pregnant!" Camila exclaimed making her daughter blush.
"Mom, please keep it down! We are not trying yet, and we didn't plan to say anything until we actually are pregnant so please... Don't say anything" Gabby pleaded.
Nancy and Camila smiled, both happy to see their children so in love and ready to expend their family. They couldn't wait to have another baby to love and cherish, but they also knew they needed to give Matt and Gabby the time they needed. Even more because of Gabby's past issues with pregnancy and of course because of her recent health problems that needed to be dealt with before they tried for a baby.
"If you and Matt ever need some alone time, we can babysit Louie honey" Nancy said.
Gabby rolled her eyes, blushing a bit, not really wanting her mother and mother-in-law to get involved into the baby making process. Of course, trying for a baby takes some time and with Louie finding alone time could be tricky, but she also couldn't be happier to have Louie home with them. She didn't take that for granted and she also kept in mind that bringing another child in the family would be a big change for Louie. She didn't want him to feel left aside, or scared that they would give him up.
"I appreciate that, but for now we are fine" she finally said after a moment.
"Gabby you know we just want to help" Nancy said hoping her son's wife wasn't getting mad.
"No of course i know, I get it! It's just... We are not trying for now, we need some time before that, and it's not a light decision to take ya know?" She finished. The two older women understanding and respecting what she meant. They were both supportive of Gabby and Matt and would help them for whatever they needed to.
Outside Matt was still in front of the grill, watching the meat. Antonio was by his side, talking with Severide. They were talking about the latest Hawks game. Which Matt hadn't been able to follow much. And they were making fun of him. "You know spending all your time in bed with Dawson isn't the best call if you want to be aware of what's happening in the hockey world." Severide teased.
Matt looked at his friend, unimpressed. "You don't know what you're talking about, and if you were in my position, with a wife and a kid you would probably worry more about them than some stupid game! But you don't have that do you?" Matt shot back taking a sip of his bear.
"I am in a very serious relationship!" Severide said pretending to be hurt.
"Are you going to marry Stella?" Matt asked seriously. Kelly looked at his friend and put his hand over Matt's forehead.
"Do you have a fever?!" Kelly said laughing, making both Antonio and Casey laughed as well. "No seriously... I've been thinking about it, but you know me, am not really the marriage kind of guy, but I guess I don't want to be with any other woman in my life, I think Stella is the one"
"What are you waiting for then?" Matt asked smiling.
"Say the guy who asked his girl to marry him like three or four times"
Matt rolled his eyes "First of all I proposed twice! And second of all, our wedding was a spur of the moment thing and was definitely the best freaking day of my life! I didn't have to ask her anything, we just knew!" Matt exclaimed, ready to show the world how much he loved his wife.
"Okay, fair enough... I guess I need to learn from the best..." Severide said knowing his best friend would give him advice. He would probably pop a question someday soon. "And what about your girl? How is she doing?" Kelly asked then.
"She is better, she is upset at me because am trying to look after her, but she knows it's for her own good, we just can't wait for things to get back to normal" Matt exclaimed, as Antonio nodded knowing everything had been so hard for them.
"She said you were planning on stepping down as alderman" Antonio mentioned then.
"Yeah, am giving a speech tomorrow. Bye politics, it's not for me anyways" Matt said feeling relieved at the idea of not being surrounded by so many bad people. His main focus was his family, and being an alderman was putting them all in terrible situations.
"It's good to hear man, am sure Gabby is relieved about that" Kelly said.
"I guess she wouldn't mind if I decided to continue but I don't want to, I want to focus on things I am actually good at, you know? And I want to focus more on Gabby and Louie"
Antonio smiled, glad to hear this from his brother-in-law. "My sister is lucky to have you, and I guess you have a lot of courage for staying with this crazy girl" he joked laughing.
"She is not that terrible you know, but I love her, and I love every little things about her, am so grateful for her, she really is my miracle" Matt said sincerely, love shinning inside his blue eyes.
The boys were interrupted by Gabby who walked out, with Louie in her arms, both smiling "Sorry to interrupt you guys but Louie really wants to give his presents to his daddy" She exclaimed as the little boy nodded excited, is eyes all lit up as if it was is birthday.
"Is that right Louie?" Matt asked smiling at is beautiful family.
"YES!" Louie yelled excited.
The adults laughed at Louie's excitement. They were all so glad to see the little boy so happy, and so careless about everything. That was exactly what they wanted for this little boy.
After the party, Matt and Gabby were cuddling on the couch, watching some cheesy movie. The day had been amazing. Having their friends and family over had been great. They had been able to enjoy so nice moments, without worrying about anything else anymore, they were slowly starting to get back to their old lives, and it was very important for Gabby to celebrate Matt's birthday.
"Thank you for today, I had a great time" Matt whispered kissing Gabby's forehead.
Gabby smiled, her head still resting over Matt's chest. "Am glad you had a great time, I really wanted to have a nice moment with everybody!" She said gently.
"Louie's picture frame was the cutest thing I've ever seen"Matt said.
"He was so excited to make it and give it to you" Gabby explained with a grin.
"It's so weird… Last year it was just us, and we were just a normal couple you know… Going through our stuffs, and trying to navigate everything with grieving our baby, and with work, and then the run for alderman, and now look at us…. We are married, we have a kid, and maybe will have another one soon, am just so happy" he said lovingly running his hand in Gabby's back in small pattern.
"It's been a crazy year for sure, but am so happy, and I love you so much" Gabby whispered looking up at Matt who put a gentle smile to her lips. "Also I had a nice present for you, and it involved very sexy lingerie but you said no sex period. So I guess I'll just have to keep it to myself" She said with a smirk making Matt groaned.
"You're so terrible!" He exclaimed feeling so frustrated, but knowing she was just trying to push his limits.
"Come on let's go to bed" She suggested standing up pulling Matt with her, ready to enjoy a good night sleep.