Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination and. The kids names.

a/n: WOW! Twenty reviews for my last chapter and five from twitter, I'm truly blessed. Again, I'm going to apologize ffor falling off the grid these past few weeks and doing a poor job at updating this story and all my other ones but I promise I have a good excuse haha. I have been working crazy hours (at all three of my jobs) since going back after my maternity leave and I have been sick (alone with both my kids) so that's why I haven't been able to post a new chapter for this fic but I hope you will enjoy this latest effort.


It was as if time stoood completely still. Matt and Hallie were face to face fo the first time in almost five years. He suddenly dropped his arm from around Gabby's shoulder and dropped it to his side. He couldn't understand what she was suddenly doing here. She had left them without even one word and now she was standing on his front porch.

"Daddy, who is this?" Emma's voice finally cut through the heavy silence that had suddenly come over everyone. Matt looked down in her direction, realising that he wasn't alone.

Matt opened and closed his mouth a few times before he could even form some words.

"She's a friend." He just couldn't bring himself to tell his daughters that standing in front of them was their mother. That she was the one person that should have been there to guide them in life, the one person that had abandonned them was back.

Gabby felt the wind knocked out of her lungs. The moment Matt stopped his step, she knew that standing in front of them was Hallie, the twins mother. His tighter grip around her shoulder was mostly from shock and then it simply came down to rest to his side. The boys and Valentina were confused as to what was happening around them, this entire situation was strange for them. They stood closer to both Emma and Grace, their little hands holding to each other. Then Gabby's attention was brought back to Emma's voice. She asked a question without knowing that its answer could change her whole life but she wasn't expecting Matt's answer. She suddenly took his hand in hers as a sign of comfort, showing him that she was there for him and what he did next surprised her too. He squeezed her hand a little bit tighter.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her again as she walked down the stairs.

"I came to see you." She simply said, a smile gracing her features.

"I think that you should leave."

"Don't be like that." Those words had Matt fuming.

"You don't get to tell me how to be. I want you to leave please." During the whole time, they couldn't keep their eyes off of each other. Matt didn't want to cause a scene in front of his house and hoped that she would get the hint that this wasn't the right time to hash this out. He didn't want his daughters to find out about their mom this way, specially after all that time.

"Ok." Hallie said, defeated and walked past the seven of them, making eye contact with Matt and throwing an evil glance towards Gabby. Once Matt was sure that Hallie's car was around the corner, he let go of the breath that he was holding.

"Come on girls, let's go inside." He finally found his voice again. The girls did as they were told, the boys following closely behind them, Gabby guiding Valentina inside as well, Matt taking the rear. Gabby helped them all go into the basement where she knew all the toys were, Matt taking the direction of the kitchen. She knew she needed to give him some time to process what had just transpired outside. Once she was sure all the kids were settled downstairs and that she gave her instructions, she went back upstairs to find Matt pacing, running both hands though his hair nervously. She waited, leaning against the cabinets, for him to acknowledge her. It took him more than five minutes to finally look up and blue eyes met brown and Gabby smiled softly.

"What's going through your head?" It was a simple enough question but he didn't know what to think.

"Why now?" Was all he could offer at this exact moment

"I don't know." Deep down, Gabby had fears of her own with Hallie being back. Did she just want to spend time with her daughters or would she want to be in Matt's life again too. She was trying to be supportive because she would give anything to have Alberto back in the kids life but she also knew what her heart wanted and that was Matt. Until this moment, she hadn't realised that she wanted to have it all with him. The only problem was that she wasn't the main concern of Hallie's sudden appearance. Matt had talked to her about the girls questionning why their mother had left, not wanting them and that broke her heart more than anything else.

"Do you want to have her back in your lives?" She knew she was pushing him to think about it but it was important for him to give it some thought.

"What answer do you want to hear from me?" He was upset and she could hear it in his slightly elevated tone.

"I just want you to tell me how you're feeling about this."

"She left us Gabby. That's how i'm feeling about this. " One day, she woke and decided that she didn't want this, that she didn't want us anymore. How am I supposed to explain to Emma and Grace that their mother didn't want them anymore, that she didn't want to have what could have been a great life with us?"

"I think you should talk to her first." She ventured farther in the kitchen, putting her own fears at bay and thinking about what was best for the girls.

"And tell her what?"

"How you feel. We haven't known each other very long but I know you keep things in and I'm pretty sure you never really talked to anyone about how it made you feel back then, not even with Severide." It was true that he hadn't really confided in anyone about how he felt when he found the note with Hallie's handwriting, telling him she was leaving them and subsequently when he recieved the sole custody papers with her signature at the bottom of them.

"And what about what we have? Don't you care that she's back?"

"I do care Matt but if I could have Alberto back in their lives, just for one second, I would take that chance."

"Alberto didn't choose to leave you Gabby, she did. They were so small and so vulnerable and she left them." He was still pacing along the length of his kitchen, his thoughts all in a jumble in his mind.

"And you took great care of them. I know you love these girls with all your heart and I know that you want what is best for them, you always have." She walked a bit farther in the kitchen, metting Matt half way, her hands coming to rest on his cheeks. His eyes were watering out of frustration from this situation. He didn't know how to feel about this and he certainly didn't know how to explain it to both Grace and Emma.

"What do I do now?" He was hoping to have some kind of guidance to clear his thoughs but Gabby wouldn't be the one to do that right now.

"I don't know Matt. That's something you need to figure out by yourself." She leaned into him and kissed his cheek. "It's been a long day. I'll take the kids and go, give you and the girls some time."

"You don't have to go." He desperately needed someone close to him.

"I think I do." She pulled away from him and headed towards the basement, Matt in tow. She got the boys prepared and they headed outside, Matt helping her with the kids as usual. He went back inside, the girls now back up from the basement, both sitting on the floor with toys between them.

"Are you ok daddy?" Emma got up to hug her dad.

"I'm am going to be ok."

"Who was that woman daddy? She was pretty."

"She is a friend." He repeated what he had told them the first time. He really didn't know how to explain it to them and was afraid that if he did tell them the truth, that their little minds would want nothing more than to have her back in their lives but he was the adult and he had to make the tough decisions, with their wellbeing in mind.

"Why did you make her go away then daddy?" Grace questionned from the floor, where she was lying on her stomach, a puzzle in front of her.

Matt wasn't expecting to get this kind of question but then again, his girls were always very perceptive. "I haven't seen her in a long time and she wasn't always a very nice friend.

"Are you going to see her again?" She kept questionning.

"I don't think so baby girl." He lied easily. "Now come on, it's time for bed." He got up from the couch and Grace put her puzzle away before they all went upstairs to get ready for bed. He helped them brush their teeth and settle them into bed before reading them a story before he closed the door half way and went back down, a million different thoughts going through his head. He peared into his fridge before settling on a beer and sitting on his couch, alone, a soft glow from the street lamps casting inwards,hostage to his thoughts.


Gabby drove back to her place, replaying everything that had happened tonight. Once she made it back home, she got the kids ready for bed and took some time to rethink about everything. From the feelings that went through her when she first laid eyes on Hallie, standing at the top of Matt's stairs, hoping to find him home. A part of her was jealous of the woman standing in front of her. She was beautiful, no doubt. A beauty she had passed onto her daughters. Then a wave of anger came through her. She couldn't believe how a woman could abandon the best man she had met since Alberto and two increadibly adorable and very well mannered little girls. And at last, the feeling of belonging and contentment she was feeling being a part of that family. She truly wanted everything with Matt and something inside of her wanted to protect him from it. She picked up her phone and pressed on speed dial.

"Antonio, I need your help." She spoke into the phone when her brother answered on the first ring.


Hallie forcefully closed the door to the hotel room she was occupying, dropping her keys on the front table. She had found a cheap but spacious hotel close to her and Matt's old place. It had taken her a lot of time to come to the realization that she had messed up by giving her daughters up in the first place. She had gone through the pregnancy, hoping that it would change something in her and that she would come to love the twins she was carrying but the deep depression that she had found herself in after giving birth had clouded her judgement, telling her she didn't want that life, that she didn't want to be defined by her kids so she left them, giving away her rights as a mother, giving Matt sole custody of the kids.

She thought that coming back and claiming what was hers would be easy but when she stood at the top of those steps, the sight of Matt smiling with another woman, it suddenly angered her. They were acting like the perfect family and she hated the other woman for it. Matt had always been loyal to a fault and she knew that he hadn't changed in the past five years. She knew that she'd have to talk to him again and she hoped that she would be able to sweet talk her way out of it. She showered and got ready for bed, an idea forming in her mind.


a/n: Ok so I thought I'd get rid of Hallie quickly but while writing this chapter, an idea formed in my mind so I'll just roll with it. I promise I won't let it go on for too long but it will be there for at least two more chapters. I really hope that you liked this chapter and please take a few minutes to review it before you go, I love hearing what you guys thing about it and I promise I'll do my best to update more often, or at least on a more regular basis. See you next chapter and I will get to updating other stories too when work is a little less crazy. - Sarra