The next morning Gabby cleaned around the apartment picking up the things she had left out the afternoon before. Today Matt was coming home with her and she was nervous about it. She had breakfast after cleaning and was making sure everything was in its place in the guest bedroom. Her stomach churned and she ran out to the hallway bathroom where she threw up. Normally her morning sickness would be ending soon as she was nearing the second trimester but since she started having it late she knew it would most likely go on. Gabby knew Matt would catch on to it and she still didn't know if she should tell him. She brushed her teeth once she was done and changed into better clothes to head to the hospital.
When she got there, Matt was sitting in the waiting room talking to a little girl, well more like listening to her babble away. He noticed her and Gabby knew he said something to the little girl because she took of running to her mom. "For a second I thought you had forgotten all about me." He smiled and stood up.
"I'm sorry. I was cleaning the apartment and making sure your room was ready." Gabby glanced over at the little girl who was looking at them with curious eyes. "I see you made a new friend."
"Oh yeah, Emily. I was sitting down with my head back and suddenly something bumps into my leg. I looked down and she was on the floor looking up at me. She's such a cute kid. I didn't understand much of what she was saying since it was all babbles. Though I'm sure she was probably going on about how I should be more careful of where I put my legs. I'm sure according to her it was my fault that she fell, but hey I'm not about to argue with a little girl."
Gabby laughed at Matt's words and wondered what he would be like with their baby. "You made a smart decision in not arguing with her. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, i've got everything I need and already signed my papers."
Gabby nodded and began walking out to her car, Matt following behind her. She was going to offer to take Matt out for breakfast but when she glanced over at him he looked tired and decided to go straight home instead. She was partly glad because she wasn't feeling so good either and wanted to try and take a nap. She parked in her usual spot in front of the steps to the door and gently nudged Matt who had fallen asleep.
"Hey, we're here." She spoke softly. They both stepped out of the car and walked into the apartment. Gabby saw Matt freeze as soon as he stepped in and became worried. "Matt? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, just got a little dizzy for a second." He reassured.
"The doctor gave you some medicine for that right? You should take some and get some rest."
Matt waved a hand Gabby. "I'm fine. I've gotten enough rest at the hospital and I took some medicine before leaving."
"Matt-"
"Gabby, I'm fine." He growled and she frowned at the tone of his voice.
Matt sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just everyone's been on me the past two days and there's only so much I can't take.
"It's okay. I completely understand how you feel. I swear I start going crazy whenever someone asks how I'm feeling the second time." She placed her purse and keys on the front table and walked to the kitchen. "Do you want some coffee or breakfast?" She offered, taking out the dishes from the sink and drying them.
"No, thank you. Uh, can you show me the way to my room please?"
Gabby set down the dish she was drying and motion for him to follow. "This is your room. I already put your clothes in the dresser and hung some of it in the closet. Feel free to move anything you want around. There's a closet across from you which has extra blankets, sheets, and towels. The door next to the closet is the bathroom and under the sink there's extra toiletries for you to use. My room is the one at the end of the hallway, if you need anything feel free to come wake me."
Matt nodded, taking in the information and looking around the room. "Okay, thanks. When do you go back to work?"
"I go back tomorrow. I've been cleared to work as long as I continue taking my medication. You could come with me in the morning if you'd like. I'm sure all the guys would be glad to see you and it might help with getting your memory back."
"Do you know if I will still be able to be a lieutenant once I get my memory back?" Matt asked, not sure why he cared so much about it.
"Of course. You'd probably have to retake the exam as well as the physical exam once your memory is back, but I'm more than sure you'd still be able to continue as lieutenant." Gabby reassured.
"Am I a good lieutenant?"
Gabby laughed. "Are you kidding me? You are the best lieutenant in the entire CFD. The things you've done are amazing. Your men look up to you. I mean the reason you're in this situation right now is because you risked your life saving a baby. You told Herrmann to leave and get out while you stayed behind. You're an amazing firefighter and lieutenant, Matt."
There was hope and relief shining in Matt's eyes and Gabby could see the doubt in him leaving. "Is the baby alive?"
"Yeah, all thanks to you. They got discharged today as well. There's a chance they might come to the firehouse to see you."
"Okay, I think I'll go with you tomorrow morning." Matt decided.
Gabby smiled. "Alright. Shift starts at 8 so we'll leave around 7:30. I'm not feeling so good this morning so I'm going to take a nap. Feel free to explore around the apartment. If you get hungry you can make yourself something or eat whatever is in the pantry."
"Thank you. I hope you feel better."
Gabby took off to her room and changed into more comfortable clothes. She sat down on the bed and took out the picture from her last ultrasound. "I hope your dad gets his memories back soon. I can't wait to tell him about you. I'm glad I'm not completely alone in this and that I have you as well as all your other uncles and aunts." She set the picture aside and laid down comfortably in the bed and fell asleep.
Matt knew Gabby had fallen asleep because he couldn't hear any noises coming from her room. He stepped out from his room and looked at the pictures that were hung on the wall. There were a lot of pictures with people from work and some that he assumed were Gabby's family. He continued on to the living room and as he looked around the apartment, he found that there was a lot he liked about it. He certainly would've chosen this apartment if he were looking for one. Matt thought it was weird but shrugged it off as him and Gabby having the same taste.
He walked back to his room, shutting the door quietly so he wouldn't wake Gabby and looked at his turn out gear. The jacket had some burns and instinctively touched his neck, surprised he hadn't been burned. He checked the pockets to see if he found anything and to his surprise he found a phone. Matt was glad it didn't have a password but also thought wasn't good thing considering he worked with a bunch of guys who loved to play pranks. He went through his messages and found the last person he had texted was Kelly, apparently they were planning a weekend getaway. Gabby's name was found underneath Kelly's and was surprised because he didn't think they were that close. However, when he clicked on her name, he saw that there weren't many texts between them. Most of them were asking if any of them wanted to go out for breakfast and others about how their days were going.
When he clicked on his call log, there he found that he and Gabby called each other a lot. He assumed the reason they called each other more was because one of them didn't like texting as much, but he was also curious why they did it so much if they were just coworkers. Matt set his phone aside and laid his gear on a chair in the corner of the room. He then looked at the clothes that Kelly had brought and was happy with what he had chosen. In the closet, he smiled as he noticed that Gabby had separated all of his work uniforms from his normal clothes. After he was done exploring around his room and the apartment he decided to catch some sleep since there was nothing to do.
It was around two when Gabby woke up. She placed a hand on her stomach and groaned as she felt a wave a nausea roll through her. "Come on, sweetheart, you know I hate throwing up." When it went away, she took a deep breath and sat up to go to the bathroom. She couldn't hear any noise in the apartment and when she stepped out she saw Matt's door was closed so she assumed he was sleeping. She was glad he was because despite him saying he wasn't tired she knew he was.
She walked to the kitchen and began making breakfast for the both of them. Gabby was glad she had managed to actually finish making breakfast without having to run to the bathroom to throw up. At around 2:30 Matt stepped out of his room and walked to the kitchen.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Gabby teased. "You can have a seat at the dining table. What do you want to drink with breakfast?"
"I'll have some orange juice if you have some, please." Matt said as he sat down.
Gabby poured them both orange juice and brought it to the table as well as their plates. They ate in silence but it wasn't uncomfortable. Both of them were still half asleep from their nap. As soon as Gabby had finished eating, she was up and running to her bathroom. Clearly the baby had waited until she had finished eating so she could throw it all back up. When she walked out Matt was looking at her with a worried look, she knew she must look pale and her hands were shaking. She rinsed her glass of orange juice and poured herself some water.
"Are you alright?" Matt asked, concerned.
"Yeah, im okay." Gabby reassured. Matt didn't seem to believe her but he let the subject go.
They both cleaned up around the kitchen and then went out for a walk. Their walk took longer than expected because they ended up walking into nearby shops and played around in them. Almost getting the cops called on them. For dinner they had ordered pizza and watched a movie.
The next morning Gabby was once again glued to the toilet puking her guts out. When she finally felt like she could get up she began her usual morning routine. Once changed into her uniform she stepped out of her room and was surprised when she found Matt was already waiting for her with two travel mugs in his hand. He handed one to her and smiled.
"Tea for you and coffee for me. I heard you being sick again and I thought tea would help settle your stomach." He said.
Gabby felt herself tear up and began cursing inwardly at her hormones because she should not be tearing up for this. "Thank you. You ready to go?"
"Yeah, are you not going to eat anything?"
"No, we can have breakfast at the firehouse."
They both walked out to Gabby's car and headed to the firehouse. As they were walking up the driveway Kelly noticed them and walked to them. He hugged Gabby and patted Matt on the back.
"Hey, im surprised he tagged along with you."
"Yeah, I was worried he would eat all my food so I brought him here to keep an eye on him."
An offended look appeared on Matt's face and both Gabby and Kelly bursted out laughing.
"You guys are no longer my friends. I'm going inside to my friends who won't make fun of me." Matt joked and took off to go inside.
"How is he doing?" Kelly asked when they recovered from their laughing session.
"So far he's doing well. I'm not sure how much he actually slept since his door was shut and Matt is a quiet person. We went out for some time yesterday and he seemed to have fun. I just don't know how long it'll be till he starts asking questions about why I'm throwing up a lot. It should go away soon but you know everyone's different."
Kelly bit his lip and Gabby knew what he was about to say. "You're going to have to tell him if your morning sickness doesn't go away anytime soon or gets worse, Gabby. I know you want him to remember soon so you can tell him. But he needs to know you're pregnant in case anything happens to you he knows at least what's going on."
Tears filled Gabby's eyes and she swallowed roughly. "I know, Kelly. If my morning sickness doesn't go away and he starts asking questions i'll tell him."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Kelly smiled gently at her. "Come on, go inside and have some breakfast."
Gabby nodded and went inside, greeting the guys at the squad table. Once inside she found Matt sitting with the guys laughing while they ate breakfast. For a second Gabby felt like everything was back to normal, but deep down she knew it would be awhile. She grabbed a plate for herself and served herself some breakfast and took a seat next to Shay who was sitting at the end of the table.
"Hey, babe, how are you doing?" Shay asked as Gabby dug into her food.
"Everything's fine so far. Except for the fact that it won't be long before Matt begins asking what's wrong with me. I had to throw up this morning and he was already asking if everything was okay."
Shay cooed. "Aw, even without his memories our dear lieutenant still worries about you. I saw you and Severide talking earlier."
"Yeah, I was telling him that. He said I needed to tell Casey if he starts asking questions in case anything happens." Gabby told Shay.
"That's smart. Ugh, I'm so glad to have you back, Dawson. I didn't even spend a whole shift with Chout and I was already wanting to die."
They spend the morning eating their breakfast with no calls interrupting them for the first time in awhile. Usually they would be relieved but they knew it also meant there was a chance a major accident would happen at some point in the afternoon.
Matt watched as Gabby took of running to where the bathrooms were and he walked over to where Shay and Severide were standing.
"Hey, you both seem close to Gabby and I know it's probably none of my business but does she by any chance have an eating disorder?" He asked.
Shay and Severide shared a look which thankfully went unnoticed by Matt. "Why do you say that?" Severide eventually asked.
"It's just, she runs off to the bathroom after she eats and she comes back pale and her hands shaking."
"Don't worry, Gabby doesn't have an eating disorder, I've seen how much my girl can eat yet still be able to keep her amazing body shape without having to do anything like that. It's probably just the medicine reacting to what she eats, but i'll talk to her." Shay reassured before taking off to the bathrooms. Gabby was already walking out and rinsing her mouth when Shay walked in.
"What's up?" Gabby asked when she finished.
"You gotta tell Casey soon. He thought you had an eating disorder because you throw up after you eat."
Gabby's eyes widened. "Sometimes I think Matt chose the wrong career path and should've been a detective instead. I have an appointment in two weeks for my twelve week check up, i'll tell him then so he knows."
"You better."
The klaxon rung calling for ambo and both Gabby and Shay took off running outside, Gabby missing the worried look Matt sent her way.
"Hey sweetheart, what's wrong?" Gabby asked the little who standing on the doorstep crying.
"It's my mommy!" The little girl cried, pointing back at the door.
"Can you show me where your mommy is?" Gabby asked again and followed the little girl into the living room to where the woman was on the floor unconscious. Her and Shay immediately began checking her and the only thing that came up was low blood pressure. They placed her in the ambulance and transported her to Chicago Med.
"Okay, I knew I would get tired easily now that I'm pregnant, but I didn't think I'd get this tired." Gabby breathed out once the patient was taken from them.
Shay laughed. "You still have a long way to go, Dawson, because I'm not letting you leave any sooner than you have to and then have to be paired with Chout. Then I will seriously tell Severide to run me over with his truck."
Both paramedics drove back to the firehouse and began writing their reports. Gabby finished writing hers and went to look for Matt. When she didn't find him in the common room she went to his office, well technically Herrmann's office, and found him sitting at the desk looking through old reports. She smiled fondly when she noticed the frown he always had on his face when reading reports and knocked on the door.
"Watcha doing?" She asked once Matt let her in.
Matt shut the file he had on the desk closed and looked at her. "I got bored after a while and Herrmann said I should come check out my office. I will say, for a man who doesn't like taking pictures I have a lot of pictures hanging in my office."
Gabby laughed and remembered the ones she had to take down. "Well, we have our ways of convincing you to be in the pictures. I saw you were reading through old files?"
"Yeah, the binders of the reports are just sitting there and I got curious. Some of these incidents are funny and could've been avoided and others are so bad that I don't see how I was able to just go home to a lonely apartment knowing what we had gone through earlier." Matt said, a solemn look on his face.
Gabby sat down on the bed and Matt turned to face her. "That's why we usually meet up at Molly's when we got through a rough call."
"What's Molly's?" Matt asked.
"Right, it's a bar owned by me, Herrmann and Otis. It's small but it fit well in the neighborhood. Usually we have people from our shift and some from Med and the 21st district come down and have drinks but we also get people from around the neighborhood. If we ever get a rough call we all meet up there and talk about our day to try and get our mind away from the rough call we had that day."
"This Molly's bar sounds very cozy, seems like everyone who goes there is like a family." Matt pointed out.
"Yeah, it is. I work there when I have morning shifts and it's nice to see families or friends get together and share a beer and talk about how they've been doing." Gabby said, a fond smile on her face. "Well, I'll let you get back to reading through your reports. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me for anything. If at some point you want to go home, let me know okay?"
Matt nodded. "Okay. Thanks for bringing me with you. I think I would've gotten pretty lonely at your apartment and gotten lost if I had decided to go out."
Gabby chuckled. "It's good I brought you then."
The rest of their shift went by smooth. There weren't many calls which was unusual for a house as busy as 51. Gabby and Matt left to the apartment and had some breakfast before getting some sleep. Later that afternoon they went to Matt's apartment to pick out some things he wanted before going to have dinner at a small diner.
Two weeks later, Matt still hadn't remembered anything and Gabby was now sitting in the waiting room with Shay waiting to be called for her twelve week check up.
"Where did you tell Casey you were going this morning?" Shay asked curiously.
Gabby sighed. "I told him I was going to the doctors to get my blood pressure checked and make sure everything was fine from when I fainted. He really wanted to come with me but I convinced him not to."
"How do you know he isn't going to take a cab to Chicago Med and ask for you?" Shay questioned.
Gabby froze for a second and cursed at herself for not thinking of that possibility. "I didn't think of that actually." She admitted.
"Gabriela Dawson." A nurse called out, Gabby and Shay stood up and followed her where Gabby got her vitals and measurements taken. Afterwards they were taken to a room where they would wait for the doctor to come in. Luckily it didn't take her long enough.
"Good morning, Ms. Dawson, I'm Dr. Rose." She greeted. "How are you doing today?"
"Good morning, I'm doing great. My morning sickness is still relatively the same. It's not getting better but it's not getting worse." Gabby told her doctor and then pointed to Shay. "This is my friend Leslie Shay, she wanted to accompany me today."
"It's not to meet you Ms. Shay." Dr. Rose greeted and shook Shay's hand. She then looked through her notes and nodded. "Alright, well your blood pressure looks good, that's what I was concerned about. I heard about what happened to lieutenant Casey, is he okay?"
Gabby sighed. "Physically he is fine, but he suffered a severe head injury and lost his memories. He's currently living with me to see if it'll help him remember."
"I'm sorry to hear that, I can't imagine what you are going through, especially while you're pregnant. On another note, are you ready to take a look at your baby?"
"Yes, please." Gabby nodded eagerly.
Dr. Rose smiled back and grabbed the bottle of gel and gave it a shake. "Alright, Ms. Dawson, if you can please lay back for me." Gabby shivered at the coldness of the gel, despite knowing it was cold she always shivered when it was applied. It felt like an eternity passed before the sound of a loud heartbeat echoed off the walls of the small room. She felt her eyes water as she looked at her and Matt's baby. More tears made their way down her cheeks as she suddenly longed for Matt to be there with her sharing this moment.
"Your baby is very healthy. Everything seems to be fine. Now, I can try to see if I can get a good look to find out the gender, do you want to know?" Dr. Rose asked, handing Gabby a tissue when she noticed the tears.
"Thank you and yes, please."
Dr. Rose moved the wand around a little and then smiled. "Congratulations, it looks like you're having a baby girl." A watery smile grew on Gabby's face and thoughts of a little girl toddling after Matt and being a complete daddy's girl instantly filled her mind. "Because it is a little early, I could be wrong but I'm pretty confident that you're having a baby girl. However we can confirm that at your next check up. Would you like me to print off some pictures?"
"Yes, please." Gabby said, wiping off the gel from her stomach with a wet wipe and taking a seat next to Shay. "I'm having a little girl, Shay."
"I'm so happy for you, Gabs." Shay pulled her in for a hug. "So, are you going to tell, Matt?"
Gabby took a deep breath. "I think I am. I really want to wait until he remembers but a pregnancy isn't something I can hide for so long."
After Dr. Rose gave Gabby the photos, her and Shay left. Gabby dropped Shay off at her apartment before driving back home. When she parked outside, she waited a few minutes in her car, wanting to wait a few minutes to convince herself that she could tell Matt about the baby. She cried a little knowing that she wasn't going to get the reaction Matt would have at knowing he was going to be a father to the baby that they both created. Finally, she took a few deep breaths and stepped out of her car and entered her apartment.
Matt was sitting in the living room watching a rerun of the last hockey game when she walked in. He instantly muted the tv and stood up and made his way towards her.
"How was your doctor's appointment?" He asked, a concerned look on his face.
Gabby cleared her throat. "It was good. Everything turned out just fine. Um, there's something I need to tell you."
Matt frowned. "Sure, what is it?"
"I didn't exactly tell you the truth this morning." Gabby saw the frown on his face grow and quickly continued. "I did have a doctor's appointment, you can ask Shay if you want, but I didn't go just to get my blood pressure checked. I'm uh, pregnant, and I went for my twelve week scan today."
The frown on Matt's face stayed put for a few seconds before a small smile grew on his face. He opened his arms and Gabby took the invitation for a hug. She willed herself not to cry as she felt his arms around her for the first time since the accident.
"Congratulations, Gabby. I'm so happy for you." Matt said once he pulled away. "I do have one question, where's the father of your baby? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I'm just curious."
Gabby's breath hitched, caught off guard by the question. She should've known he would ask about the father. "Um, you don't need to worry about him. It's just going to be me and the baby."
Matt shook his head. "It's going to be you, the baby, your family, and your friends, including me. And since I'm living with you, from now on you're going to let me handle most of the work alright?"
"Matt, you don't have to do that. I'm pregnant, not disabled, I can still do everything I always do." Gabby protested.
"I don't have to, but I want to." A thoughtful look crossed Matt's face. "That's why you were in the hospital when I was there too, wasn't it?"
Gabby chuckled. "Yeah, the pregnancy caused my blood pressure to rise, especially since I was going through a rough time."
"I knew it. Do you know what you're having yet?" Matt asked, motioning for Gabby to follow him to the living room where they sat down.
"My doctor said she's pretty sure I'm having a girl, but because it's still a little early she could be wrong."
"Oh no, I can already picture a little dawson running around the firehouse telling the guys they're wrong about something." Matt laughed.
"You think you're funny don't you? Well I'd like to see how you handle a little dawson bossing you around because she claims she's the lieutenant and not you." Gabby joked.
She was glad that Matt hadn't reacted badly at knowing she was pregnant. She knew he was going to be helping her every way he could despite her arguing against it. They spent the rest of the morning talking about the baby and Matt listening to what Gabby had in mind for the nursery.