Chapter twenty-six
Kelly's and Stella's wedding was coming up soon, and even though everything was starting to get ready, Kelly's stress had not really gone down, so Casey had taken his friend out to just have a day without worrying about any kind of wedding preparation.
Matt was well aware of the state his best friend was in, and after some arguing with Gabby about how long they'd be out, he finally gave in and left the entire day. Gabby on the other hand had just been taking care of Louie, playing and making some drawing. She was so glad to see her son become such a big boy, she was so grateful to see him so happy.
At the end of the afternoon, Gabby was in the bedroom while little Louie was watching some cartoons. She could hear her boy laugh in front of the TV and every so often she made sure that he was still okay.
In the bedroom, to say that it was a mess was an understatement. Gabby had taken out all the dresses that she owned, trying to figure out which one would be the best to wear at the wedding, and for now she had not made up her mind. Also, she was grateful when she heard the front door opening and her son calling out for his daddy. She knew Matt was home and would probably be able to help her with her choice.
After a few minutes, Casey walked in the bedroom, his mouth widened up, shocked to see the mess. "Baby? Did the dresser blew up or something?" he asked.
Gabby turned around to look at him and gave him a guilty look. "I need you…" she whispered as Matt smiled and walked to her, giving his wife a quick kiss.
"Am right here, what's going on?" he asked looking around the room. "You want me to clean this mess?" he wondered caressing her side.
"No! I need you to help me choose the dress I'll wear for the wedding. Because I don't know which one I should wear!" Gabby explained a bit stressed.
"Well, how about you relax a sec, and then show me which you like and then I'll help you" Matt suggested not wanting his girl to be worried and stressed more.
"Okay…" Gabby said leaving the comfort of Matt's arms to go gathered the three dresses she had put aside. "There they are…" she said putting the dresses on the bed.
"Oh… No little black dress?" Matt asked with a smirk. Of everything Gabby could wear, he loved her black dresses, not only because she was sexy as hell in them, but also because it carried so much memories.
"Babe, we are going to a wedding not a funeral, I can't wear a black dress" Gabby replied knowing Matt would be a bit disappointed. She liked teasing Matt, because she knew what kind of effect it had on him.
"I guess you're right…" Matt said a bit disappointed. "I am sure you're going to be stunning whatever you wear" He continued getting a smile from his wife.
"This is why I need you to tell me the one you think will be better" Gabby said pointing at the dresses.
"It doesn't matter" Matt replied getting closer to Gabby standing behind her and putting his hands over her shoulders. He gently bend down to whisper in her ear. "What you wear underneath is what I care about" he said getting a scoff from Gabby who pulled away from him.
"Matt! You're not helping! Get your head out of the gutter!" She said trying to pretend she was upset, but was actually glad to be joking around with her lover. "So which one?" she asked.
"Which one do you want me to choose?" he asked knowing well enough that Gabby didn't actually need help to choose her dress.
"I am asking you, because I don't know which is better? What are you wearing? And Louie?" She asked her mind going so fast Matt didn't even have time to think about any answers.
"Babe, Kelly is wearing a classic suit with a black bow, I don't think I can look better than him" Matt replied with a smirk.
"You're definitely more handsome than Kelly, but anyways… Which suit will you wear?" she asked.
"My dark suit, white shirt, and then probably a black tie. It's pretty classy" He said getting a nod from his girl.
"You're going to look handsome, as usual"
"So about that dress, I like that purple one, you wore it on a date a few months ago" Matt said liking it a lot, and knowing Gabby wore it perfectly.
"You remember?" she asked surprised.
"Definitely! How about you go try it on?" He suggested as Gabby took the dress and ran to the bathroom to put the dress on.
As Gabby was still in the bathroom, Matt sat down on the bed next to the two other dresses when Louie walked in the room timidly with his monkey in his arms. "Daddy?" he called out.
Matt turned around and smiled seeing his boy; "Hey buddy, come here" Matt said. Louie ran to his dad and climbed up on his dad's laps.
"What are you doing?" Louie asked.
"Mommy is trying on her dress for the wedding" Matt explained as Louie's eyes widened. He was actually excited to see what his mommy would look like.
"She is going to be so pretty!" Louie exclaimed.
"Of course she is! It's mommy, she is always pretty!" Matt replied laughing as Louie nodded.
"Daddy when is the wedding?" Louie asked. He was excited about the event. His parents had explained to him what was happening and that it would be a great day, a really happy day and that this wedding would be different from his parent's wedding so he was excited to discover it.
"It's on the next weekend" Matt replied knowing they still had an entire week before the big day.
"How many days?"
"About 7 days buddy" Matt said as he turned his head hearing the bathroom's door revealing Gabby in her beautiful purple dress. He swallowed hard not knowing what to say, stunned by how beautiful his wife was. Louie looked at his daddy and then at his mommy with a smile but both boys said nothing.
Which wasn't exactly making her comfortable. "Okay… Literally the worst thing you could have said…" she said with a pout looking at the boys.
"We… We literally said nothing!" Matt replied still stunned by her beauty.
"Exactly!" Gabby said pointing at Matt and then looking down at the ground worried she looked ridiculous to wear this at a wedding.
"Gabby, baby… Baby, look at me" Matt said standing up with Louie in his arms getting closer to the woman. "You are stunning. You're so beautiful and hot, trust me, this dress suits you perfectly, you're incredible" he said getting an enthusiastic nod from little Louie who smiled.
"You really think so?" Gabby asked as Louie nodded again.
"Oh yeah completely, I think you're perfect and I think I love you!" Matt said as Gabby got closer to give him a kiss.
"I love you" she replied back.
"What do you think Louie?" Matt asked then.
"You're so pretty mama!" Louie said excited throwing himself to his mommy's neck to hug her.
"Thank you baby, you're both so sweet, and I love you!" Gabby said so grateful for her boys reactions.
"Can we eat now?" Louie asked after a minute, feeling hungry now.
"Well how about you and I go make dinner while mommy take that pretty dress off and clean this room?" Matt suggested earning a knowing look from Gabby.
Matt smirked knowing that Gabby had some cleaning to make, and after giving a kiss to Gabby, he and Louie left the room, ready to make dinner. Also, tomorrow would be the first day back to work for Gabby and she needed to have a good dinner and a great night sleep before going back to a hard day.
The husband was actually grateful that his wife was going back to work. Of course he had a little bit of worries because she still had some headaches and her bruises had not completely healed just yet. But she felt better and she was definitely ready to get back to work, and unfortunately he wouldn't be able to keep her home forever. At least he worked with her and would be able to keep an eye on her even though she hated that. He knew that they had to be professionals and of course they were but they were still a part of him that will always be worried about his wife.
That was who he was and that wouldn't change, and it was for the better of course. Gabby would be back to work and everything would finally be normal again.
Dawson was sitting next to the ambulance, making sure that they had enough supplies if they got called out on a call. Gabby was never the happiest when it came to do the inventory, but this time, being back to work she was actually glad to do it. Also she didn't have such choice because Brett had left her to do so.
Brett had been so excited to get back to the firehouse to talk with Stella about the last small details before the wedding. Also the blond paramedic had taken to heart to organize the best bachelorette party for Stella, which took mostly her entire time and of course even at the firehouse she had to make sure everything was perfect. Dawson understood that, but she would have liked for her partner to actually join her to finish up the inventory.
However, even though she was on her own to do the work, Gabby was glad to have a little bit of calm. Being back to work isn't always easy, even more when the days started with a few tough calls. But coming back to 51, Dawson didn't feel like going inside and talk with everybody or get involved in the preparation of the bachelorette party. Not that she didn't care, but Brett was not leaving much room for other's opinion.
Gabby's head snapped up when someone got closer "Hey you" Matt said sending a smile to his wife.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked surprised to see him here as she thought he was finishing some paperwork in his office.
"I just wanted to check on you. I can do that right?" he asked with a grin sitting next to Gabby. "Isn't Brett helping you?" he asked a bit confused as to why his wife's partner was not helping her.
"She had to go inside" Gabby explained looking at the charts in her hands, making sure nothing was missing.
"But she could be helping you babe" Matt said not wanting to get too upset, but also a bit angry that Brett had left Gabby to do all the job.
"Nah I don't mind, she asked if I wanted help, I said I was fine" Gabby explained noticing a bit of a dry tone in Matt's voice.
"Well… You two work together as a team, she should be here helping you" Matt continued looking at the stack of gauze still waiting on the apparatus floor to be stocked on the ambulance.
"She is the PIC Matt, she runs the thing" Gabby said rolling her eyes.
"We both know that you are-" Matt was not able to finish his sentence as Gabby put a finger in front of his lips, preventing him to say any more.
"Whatever you are going to say, don't… I love you for thinking that, but please don't mention it" She said knowing what Matt wanted to say. They had had the conversation a few times already.
After leaving truck, Gabby had decided to get back on ambulance 61. Brett was PIC at the time and Dawson never asked for this place back, but Matt believed that Gabby deserved her job back. She had worked hard and a lot to be a paramedic, probably the best of Chicago, she was brilliant and caring. And of course, she was talented. She loved her job and she deserved to lead. To Matt, she should have gotten her spot back the moment she decided to get back on ambo. But Gabby didn't want to fight it. Brett was a good paramedic, and she was a good leader.
They had had a few problems, because Gabby had tried to take over a few times, sometimes thinking faster than Brett and taking the lead on some calls which had created a bit of "Jealousy" coming from the blond woman. They were drifting a bit apart. Mostly because they also lived different lives, but more and more because of the job.
Sometimes even, Gabby felt like Brett was creating a bit of competition between them. Gabby had told Matt about it a few times and he had been pissed off but never actually said anything. But he didn't like how things were between the two women.
"Why don't you ask Boden for the lead?" Matt asked after a moment.
"Matt, I am not like this. Brett is the PIC, and that's fine by me, we don't see eye to eye on some things but that's okay… We are drifting apart. I mean… I am married, I have a child, my life is pretty amazing the way it is. Brett is still trying to figure out her relationship with my brother. And I love them together, but it's not like we can share much now you know" the paramedic said with a small smile.
Matt nodded understanding what she meant and what she felt. But she looked disappointed and he didn't like to see her like this. "Are you sad?" he asked gently.
"Not sad… It's just… Well we are different, and we've changed unfortunately we are not really in the same… We're just not as close as before, but that's okay" Gabby said. "Now how about, you help me?" she said changing the subject, earning from Matt to raise his eyebrows.
"Okay what can I do for you?" he asked as Gabby pointed at the box on the floor.
"Because you're a strong firefighter, would you mind putting this box in the rig?" She asked and Matt complied without saying a thing.
They were both glad to be spending some time together, and have a little moment without being called out.
"So, what's the plan for Stella's bachelorette party?" Matt asked sitting back in his previous spot.
"I actually don't really know… Brett is in charge of that as well. I think it might be a spa day in some kind of park or something with renting a cabin…" Gabby explained not really knowing.
"Well it's great… Isn't it?" Matt asked.
"Yeah of course. But… When I asked if renting was necessary, Brett kinda snapped, saying that I didn't have to come if I didn't want to…" Gabby replied a bit disappointed in her friend.
"Why would she say that?" Matt asked getting upset once more.
"I just… If we're going to a cabin that means an entire day without being home and then a night away, plus the entire next day to clean everything up and come home, which makes it too long… I mean with Louie and you being with Kelly for his party it bothers me to leave him with Bonnie for so long…" Gabby said.
"Baby it's OK I can figure something out and make sure to take care of Louie the day before the wedding while you get back home. This way you can enjoy a girl's day without worrying about Louie" Matt said wanting for Gabby to feel comfortable about going away without worrying about their son.
"Are you sure?
"Of course baby, I am his dad, I am here when you're not that's the point of having two amazing parents."
"Okay, thank you, you're the best" Dawson said hugging Casey.
"Oh I know that!" Matt said back kissing her forehead as they stayed like this for a moment.
"I love you" Gabby whispered in Matt's ear as he held her a bit tighter.
"I love you too" Matt said pulling back and caressing her face. "Do you want me to talk to Brett?" He proposed.
"No it's okay, we will figure it out, don't worry" she replied not wanting him to get involved. "Although I wouldn't be against another kiss" she said with a grin. Matt bend down but before they could kiss the bell went off.
"Damn bells" he mumbled as he stood up and helped Gabby closed the ambulance's doors.
"We can pick this up after I promise" she said seeing Brett run to the rig.
Matt smiled and winked at his wife looking at her getting into the rig and driving away to the call.
In the ambulance, going back to 51 after the call, the girls were silent. It was not awkward or anything, but it wasn't perfect either. They were tensed, or at least something was a bit off.
Normally Dawson wouldn't address it, thinking that everything would end up okay, but she also knew, from some issues in the past, with Casey for example, that not addressing problems could actually make things a lot worse…
She valued her relationship with Brett a lot, and even though they were not on the same page right now, she liked to think things would get better.
"So were you able to finally choose what we're doing for Stella's bachelorette party?" Gabby asked breaking the silence.
Brett was surprised to hear her friend's voice, she turned her head quickly to look at Dawson in the passenger sit before looking back at the road. "Well Stella is excited about going to that cabin so we're doing the spa day at the Lake Carol and then going to the cabin"
"Yeah that's great" Gabby said feeling a bit of tension there.
"If you don't come that's okay though" Brett said back. Gabby looked at her partner a bit hurt by her words.
"No no, I'll be there. I figured something with Casey to make sure Louie wouldn't be alone for too long" Gabby explained.
"You know that I love Louie, but sometimes it's not funny to actually have to do everything taking him into consideration" Brett mumbled getting from Dawson to shift in her sit, not understanding the hostility coming from the blond.
"Brett, of course Louie is to take into consideration. He is my son, of course I have to put him first" Gabby replied a bit upset by how Brett was suddenly so mean. Gabby didn't like when people said bad things about Louie and she also didn't like when she had to justify the things she had to do with her son.
"Yeah I know that. Also don't take it wrong but ever since you got Louie, it's been so hard to be around you" Brett said her eyes still focused on the road.
"What does that even mean?"
"It's not like you've been caring much about anything other than Louie lately…" Brett continued.
"Well of course it's normal, Louie is a little boy he needs attention. I don't even understand what's the problem here? My job as a mother is the most important thing and of course it's coming first!" Gabby shot back getting angry by the seconds. "If the way I live my life doesn't please you I am sorry, but It's not going to change. I have a family, and it's the most important thing to me, and I am sorry if I haven't been there as much recently but it's been pretty crazy around here as well for me!"
"I know that, but it's been crazy in my life as well. And it's not like you care much. It looks like it at least" Brett said, disappointment in her voice.
"Sylvie, of course I care about what's going on in your life, and I'm sorry if I haven't been that involved in your life but I had my own problems I'm sorry"
"I wish you could be here more to help me with your brother" Sylvie explained. The situation between her and Antonio was never the best they were good together everybody knew that but they also had some issues, most of them coming from Antonio. He is a good man a good father and a good boyfriend, but he also has so many responsibilities that pass before everything else and maybe Sylvie is a little bit needy. Maybe too much for Antonio's liking.
"You know I don't want get involved between you two, and I don't think it's my place to do so…"
"Why not?"
"Sylvie, you're my friend but Antonio is my brother and I don't want to take sides I don't want to be in between you two because I think you are both stupid and I think that you should get your act together but it's not my place to interfere between the two of you. This is something you need to figure out together as a couple or whatever you are…" Gabby tried to explain wanting her partner to understand her point of view.
"You know how much I love him, and I think we could be great together but there's also… There's always something pulling us apart and maybe it's not meant to be for us"
"you and my brother are great together I believe that genuinely but I also believe that you have a lot to figure out to be able to be together. And you know it's not my place to actually say anything your relationship is not toxic but it's not healthy either you need to work on things but I can't help you with that. I told you before I take a lot of advice from my brother but dating advice things are not the best. He's an idiot and you know that but he's been through a lot but he's a good man"
"yeah I guess we'll see where we're going"
Gabriela noted looking back at her friend one more time as they fell back into some silence not really wanting to talk anymore both of them feeling a bit uncomfortable but also taken inside their own heads. They were both disappointed about how their relationship was now they could figure it out but for now Brett probably needed to fix our relationship with Antonio and Gabby had other stuff to think about.
A while after the girls got back at the fire house Gabby was in the bathroom cleaning out her face and brushing her teeth as she was getting ready to go to bed hoping that the bell wouldn't go off anytime soon because she felt a bit tired of her day.
She was glad to have a little bit of a moment on her own once more knowing that she would probably be joined by her husband in a few minutes but she was glad to be here and being unbothered.
Searching inside her toiletry bag she stopped when she realized that something wasn't right. She suddenly noticed that she should be having her period right now and that she couldn't remember the last time it happened. And in a split second she started freaking out not sure what it meant or if it meant what she thought it meant. A few times already the sooner you had happened and obviously it had ended up into some tears and disappointment and she didn't want that again.
But of course a little part of her wanted to believe that maybe it was there a time that maybe it could be no the time for them to grow their family. She was a bit worried of course but she was excited.
Going through her bag she was hoping to find a pregnancy test but unfortunately, she had none. Of course, the biggest part of her was thinking that maybe here was not the best place to find out whether or not she was pregnant and obviously it was something that needed to be special to her and to Matt. But she was also a bit stressed and needed to find out as fast as possible.
Suddenly her head snapped up when Casey came in the room a huge smile plastered all over his face. "Hey you! I was hoping you'd be there" he said getting closer and coming to stand behind her running his hands over her shoulders.
"Well I was here getting ready for bed" she replied trying to contain her worries and excitement to yourself.
"Do you want to join me in my office?" Matthew knew that it was not the most professional thing to do but he liked it when Gabby joined him at night so they could sleep together. They were used to sleep without each other because of all the time they spent at the fire House. Most of the time they couldn't sleep together in the same bed but neither one of them really liked the idea of sleeping alone and liked it better when they share the same bed. So sometime Gabby made an exception and crawled in bed with her husband knowing that nobody would make any comments on that.
"Is it reasonable for me to sleep with you tonight?" She has with a grin.
"Well as the lieutenant I would probably say that we're crossing the line but as your husband I would say that having you by my side means a better night and a better night means more aware on the day and on the job"
"Don't play like that you know I'm scared for you every time you go on calls even more when you don't sleep much" Gabby said knowing he was messing with her but also a bit worried because over the year that they have been together Matt had had his share of incident and injuries and she didn't like to think that he could be tired doing his job and get hurt.
"I am sorry baby I was just messing around. But I would really like it if you could join me and sleep with me I like to cuddle and have you near me." Matt whispered in her ear living a small kiss in her smooth neck.
Gabby smiled enjoying the feelings of Matt's lips against and sighed out of pure joy. "I am so happy to have you" she whispered.
"You'll always have me" he replied Matt squeezing her a little more.
"Good, because there's something I need to tell you…" she said then turning around to face her husband as her smile slightly left her face.
"Okay what did you do?" he asked with a little smirk.
"I am late…" she mumbled keeping her seriousness not really wanting to joke with Matt, and needing for him to know where her head's at.
"Late?" Matt asked a bit confused. Once again his brain was slow and not making the connections.
"Yes, late as in late… Late" She insisted as Matt's mouth opened by surprised finally realizing what message she was actually trying to give him.
"Oh… Late… As in… So do you think that you might be? That you might be pregnant?" he asked a smile reappearing over his face.
"I don't know what I think… I mean I'm late so I could be it but I'm not sure" she replied not giving much emotion which was making Matt a bit confused not to see any smile on her face.
"Are you not happy?" He asked worried that his wife was not happy about potentially being pregnant.
"Babe we've been down this road so many times and every time we've been disappointed I don't want this time to feel different if it's not, I don't want to get excited if it's to end up disappointed" she explained getting a nod from Matt. They were both well aware that they had tried a few times to get pregnant and ever since they began nothing happened and they were more disappointed than happy about their entire situation. But it also bothered Matt to see that his wife wasn't fully happy about it.
Obviously he knew that she was happy or that she would be happy once the test is positive but he knew that she wasn't letting yourself get into that place right now. She was trying to protect herself and protect her heart from anymore heartaches. They were both hopeful people, and they were both hoping for the best but when it came to pregnancy Gabby tend to be very negative and she couldn't help it. Although Casey wished that he could take her fears and disappointment away but he knew that those would go away the moment she'd find out she was pregnant.
"But maybe this time will be different… maybe this is our time now" he said, his voice holding so much hope for the future.
"I really wanted to be our time, I really want us to have a baby but I don't want to get our hopes up again I don't want to disappoint you again" she said wanting to look down but Matt prevented her from doing that, bending down to give her a gentle kiss.
He pulled away after a few seconds, a tender look on his face. "Baby you could never disappoint me I'm so proud of you, of the woman that you are, the mother that you are the wife that you are. Gabby, making a baby takes time and it's easier for some people, but will get there or maybe we are now maybe this is the moment that we've been waiting for…"
"I just want it so bad"
"So do I… did you…. Did you take a test?" Matt asked caressing her face.
"I don't have one I wanted to but I don't have any here" Gabby replied with a sigh.
"Well… I could ask the guys to go on a quick run and get one for you" Matt suggested wanting to make sure that his wife knew that he was with her in this.
"Baby I love you for that but don't make the guy leave the fire house just to get a pregnancy test" Gabby said with a small laugh knowing that Matt just wanted to help. She loved him for being such a caring man. He was very much involved in this and she knew that.
"Well it's a good reason to actually leave the firehouse. I can go and get you one and then will know"
"I don't think that we should find out here. Good or bad I think I'd rather be home in our personal space… Because well… If it's negative, I'm going to cry probably a lot and if it's positive I might be crying as well and then I might want to celebrate with you…"
"OK then tomorrow before getting home to Louie we are going to buy a few pregnancy tests and then will head home and you'll go take the tests"
"Are you not worried that it's going to be a negative again?" she asked as Matt shook his head cracking a smile.
"It could also be positive" he simply said.
"I don't think it is"
Matt shook his head again, and put his hands over her shoulders, smiling down at her. "What if it is? What if you're wrong? "
"I think I could be maybe five weeks pregnant I don't know" Gabby was definitely confused and lost and not sure about anything much.
"Does that mean it could be a pregnancy created by a releasing the tension of the day after your incident?" Matt asked with a smirk.
"I think it could be that... Yes… Good job" she replied wanting to lighten the mood.
"I am excited. And this one is going to be positive and we're going to be happy about it it's going to be great I'm sure of it baby
"OK I guess I can be positive just like you are. But I don't think I'm going be able to sleep tonight I'm just so excited to find out"
"Well I don't mind having you in my office beautiful lady" Matt said.
"I guess we can make an exception for the night" gabby finally said gathering her stuff and walking after mad as they head to his office for the night. Both holding so much hope for the next news to come and hopefully would be a good one. And hopefully for once it would be a good thing, they would be happy and it would last, hopefully…