Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination and the name of the kids.
a/n: Wow. I know I say it every chapter but thanks to everyone who reviewed (or didn't but still read it) and those who follow and favourite it, it means the world to me. I hope you enjoy this next one.
The rest of the day after the open house was used to relax and go to bed early because in the morning, Gabby would have to be at her new apartment to wait for her things to be delivered. Her mother had offered to keep all three kids so she wouldn't have them in her hair while the movers and Antonio were there to help plus she had a few other things to get done. She walked into her new place and immediately opened the windows, letting the soft summer breeze blow through, giving it a different smell. She hadn't needed to paint the walls, satisfied with the ones the previous tenant had picked out. Antonio helped clean the kitchen and pantry so when the movers were gone, they could go to the store and buy most of what was missing. Although the movers were scheduled to be there between eight and five, they arrived at nine and were already gone by the time it was ten. Gabby and Antonio drove to the nearest store and bought everything from dishes to silverware to a large grocery run. Monday was coming around the corner and she had to be ready for her first shift. It was mid afternoon when they came back from the groceries. Gabby was stocking the cupboard and Antonio was taking care of putting dishes and such in the dishwasher so they could be ready to use as soon as they moved in.
"Are you nervous about Monday?" She looked at him from over her shoulder and smiled
"Yes. I haven't practiced in a while and I take care of kids so it makes me nervous times two."
"You'll do great, like you always do. So how did the open house go?"
"It went great, the boys even made friends with twin girls so that's good." She kept putting food away.
"That will make it easier for them, help with the transition." Gabby nodded but her mind was on Matt Casey and their encounter at the school. She kept replaying their introduction in her mind and how she had said that her husband hadn't been able to get away from work in order to be there and she felt bad for lying. Since she had taken Alberto's name, introducing herself with both names had been a second nature. She knew that it was wrong to lie to someone about that but her heart wasn't quite ready to let go but she needed some advice. "You still with me Gabs?" She closed the pantry and turned around, leaning against the door.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Ok so I've been talking with Laura about something and I'm pretty sure you already know about it but I need a little help." She looked down to the ground, scratching an invisible stain with her foot.
"Is it about the stranger at the pier?"
"Matt Casey." She said looking up again. "He's the twin girls dad I was telling you about before."
"So you met him at the school. What's bothering you?" They had the best brother sister relationship anyone could have and that was exactly what she needed right now.
"He asked me if my husband was at work and couldn't free himself to be there with us and I said yes. Am I a totally bad person?" Tears were welling in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.
"You're not a bad person Gabs. I know you and your heart is hurting and you think it's too soon but it's ok to feel something for someone else again."
"I just couldn't bring myself to tell the truth. And he's a single dad and I don't know, maybe I could get to know him. But that would be unfair to Alberto and it's so messed up." The tears that she was trying to stop from falling finally fell, a small sob escaping her lips. Antonio quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a hug.
"Alberto would want you to be happy Gabby." He whispered to her ear, kissing her hair. Her arms were wrapped around his waist and she kept crying in his shirt. "He would want you to live your life again and if this guys, makes you do that, than that's what he would want for you." He held her at arms lengths now and smiled at her. "I know this is confusing and I won't pretend to know how it feels but you'll be ok sis. Just give your head permission to follow your heart." He pulled her to him again and she breathed out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. Gabby eventually pulled herself away from Antonio and they fell in comfortable silence while finishing to set up Gabby's new place. Their mom took the kids over right after dinner and they had looked around, happy with what they found.
Sunday morning, Laura had agreed to look after everyone while Gabby and Antonio went car hunting. She didn't have all that much money put aside for something like that but she couldn't keep taking Antonio's car so they went around town at used dealerships to find her something reliable to get her from A to B. She finally set her eyes on a blue four door Toyota Corolla and even though the price was a bit higher than what she had, Antonio had helped with the rest and she had promised to pay him back once she was settled at Lakeshore. They returned home for lunch to Laura making sandwiches with the boys while Valentina was in her high chair with apple pieces.
"How did it go?" Laura asked over her shoulder.
"Yeah mama, did you find a car?" Luis asked her just the way Laura had done.
"Yes baby, mom has a new car and we are all set for tomorrow.
"Who's going to stay with us? Filippe asked this time.
"Abuela and Abuelo said they'd stay with you this summer when I'm on shift so you guys will get to visit and do tons of cool things this summer until school starts." Gabby started taking plates out for everyone and setting the table, kissing Valentina's forehead as she went. Eva and Diego arrived right when lunch was served and they had a normal family lunch and afternoon before Antonio and Laura left with the kids.
After dinner, Gabby washed Valentina and gave her some milk while taking care of the boys. She got everyone to brush their teeth and got them ready for bed. She tucked Valentina in her princess bed first, the little girl had been so excited the previous evening when her mom had shown her the room that was hers. The walls were a light shade of pink, being a girls room previously as well and her furniture was white. Then she tucked the twins in their beds, their room had a firetruck themed wall paper strip a little under the hight of the ceiling and the wall that their bed were on was firetruck red and the three other ones were a light beige. It was a nursery before but it was perfect for her kids and she was thankful for the extra time not painting had given her. She retreated to her bedroom and took a shower. She let the warm water wash away the nervousness that she was starting to feel about tomorrow. She was going to send her youngest daughter to daycare for the first time in her small life and she was starting a new job at Lakeshore hospital, everything finally hitting her. Tomorrow would be the start of another kind of normal.
The next morning, Gabby was up at five. She stayed in bed a few minutes, her eyes glued to the ceiling. "Normal." She mumbled, running a hand on the empty side of her bed, where Alberto should have been. "I miss you." She whispered to no one and got up to get dressed in scrubs, putting an extra pair in a gym bag incase she needed it. She washed her face to try to wake up a little bit more and removed her wedding rings that she placed on her desk to put some moisturizing creme. Once she was done and was about to slip them back on her finger, she stopped. She thought about her talk with Antonio on Saturday and her rapid heartbeat was going against everything she thought but one thing Antonio had said stuck with her. Alberto would want you to be happy. Give your head permission to follow your heart. She placed the rings back on her desk and removed the gold pendant that was around her neck and close to her heart ever since her husband had died. She unclasped it and slid both rings on the chain before re-clasping it and sliding it back around her neck, the new weight foreign to her. "I'll always love you but I have to start living again." She said up to the sky and wiped the few tears that had fallen on her cheeks before going to eat and get breakfast ready for Valentina before going to wake her up. She had packed a small backpack with things she would need during the day at daycare. Her mother arrived around six and Gabby went to get Valentina. This new hour to wake up was also new for her, being used to wake up when her body had enough sleep but she was smiling, making Gabby happy too.
"Let's go see Abuela." She walked back in the kitchen where her mother was pouring herself a cup of coffee. She put Valentina in her high chair and gave her cereal that she clumsily ate herself, making a rather large mess, making both mother and grandmother laugh. Once she was done, Gabby got her ready to leave and put on her coat before picking her up in her arms.
"Thanks for doing this for me mom." She smiled down at her.
"I like spending time with them. Good luck today." She eyes landed on Gabby's naked ring finger. "You took them off." It was a statement rather than a question.
"I know it's soon mom but I need to keep moving forward."
"Oh sweetie, it's not too soon. He would want you to be happy. Your father and I want you to be happy." She stood up and took her daughter in her arms, her grand daughter oblivious to it all.
"Thanks mom." She kissed her mother's cheek and thanked her again before grabbing her bags and leaving, making her way to the daycare first. Valentina left her without so much of a fuss, being happy to see friends and toys. She drove to the hospital and parked before going in to find her new boss and her new unit. She went upstairs to periatrics and went to the nurses station, presenting myself and asking for the head nurse. I waited a few minutes before she came.
"Hello Gabriella, I'm Nathalie." She shook the hand that her held out to her. "I'll show you around to the locker room and the break room before we get you started."
"Thanks." They moved around the unit where Nathalie showed her where everything was before they returned to the front desk, Nathalie having been paged for a phone call.
"It won't be long." She whispered, Gabby nodding as she took the phone call. She hung up a few seconds later. "I have some bad new for you. They need you to work the ER shift today."
"I haven't done ER in ten years." Gabby was suddenly more nervous than she was before.
"You'll be fine." Nathalie smiled softly at her. Gabby made her way down with the instructions Nathalie gave her and reporter to the ER front desk.
"I'm Gabriella Dawson, I was told to report here." She had already decided that at work she would go by her maiden name to make it easier for everyone.
"Ah yes, Gabriella. There's a firefighter in trauma 3 with second degree burns to his right flank, I need you to take care of him." A file was shoved in her hands and was given a small push in the back towards the trauma bay. Gabby quickly looked at the file, not really reading it too much because she was being put on the spot on her first day.
"Lieutenant Casey, let's look at those burns." She looked up as she entered 3 and brown met blue. Gabby was speechless.
a/n: runs and hides. I know that everyone was looking forward to another interaction between Matt and Gabby but as I was writing this chapter and seeing the words pile up, I felt the need to break it down in two.
I can't pretend to know what loosing a spouse feels like but I know what losing a parents feels like and you can't just brush off the grieving process as if nothing happened, especially with three young kids so that's why I had to stop it here otherwise the chapter would have been entirely too long. I hope you enjoyed it anyway and you'll take a few minutes to leave a review, it's always welcome and I love your opinions. - Sarra
