Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter for you all. I apologize for the long wait. This chapter is my longest, so I won't keep you long. Happy reading!
"Babe, I'm not bed ridden, I can help you with at least setting up the silverware and food!" Gabby yelled from her spot on the couch, Casey immediately shaking his head even though she couldn't see him. "No baby, you're not touching a thing, I got it all handled for now and Severide, Kidd, and Brett are coming over to take turns helping and sitting with you!" Matt immediately called back out as he was coming back into Gabby's view. "You know me, I can't sit still and do nothing, especially when you're doing all the hard work." "You and our little girl need all the rest you two can get, don't worry about it." Casey said as he continued to move towards her, bending down to plant a soft kiss on Gabby's head, moving all the way down to her stomach as he began talking to their child. "Your mommy is stubborn," Gabby let out a light scoff as she rolled her eyes at Matt as he continued talking to their girl, the scoff soon turning into a huge smile, "she doesn't like to listen to me especially when it requires sitting back and letting daddy take the lead." Casey finished talking to their child before looking back up at Gabby a light smile lighting up his features. The parents to be sharing a sweet moment before separating, Matt had a dinner party to prep for.
Gabby and Matt are having a couple close friends and family over, to share the official news about their baby's gender, as they found out on Thursday they are welcoming a baby girl soon in the next few months. Severide, Kidd, and Brett would be arriving shortly to help Casey out with getting everything ready. Gabby's parents and brother were also coming along with Casey's sister and niece. They wanted a close and intimate dinner with the most important people in their lives to share the news about their little girl.
After some time had passed, Matt seemingly got the rest of the tasks done that he was wanting to do before their friends came to finish helping them.
"Hey guys, thanks for coming early to help us out." Matt greeted Severide, Kidd, and Brett as they walked through the doorway of their front porch, Gabby getting up and walking towards her friends. "Thank you guys so much for helping us set up, Matt won't let me do anything at all, I'm so damn bored." Matt scoffed playfully as Gabby started to hug her friends, everyone letting out a laugh at Gabby's words. "How have you been feeling?" Brett asked as she was the first one to sit with Gabby while Severide and Kidd were helping out Matt with some of the food. "I'm okay I've been having a lot of back and stomach pain, bad headaches," Brett slightly frowning, not being able to imagine the pain despite it being for a good reason, "But other than that I'm feeling great, just eager to have our little baby here with us." Brett flashed her best friend a smile as she finished updating her on how she was doing. The two best friends falling into easy conversation as they continued to fill each other in on what's new in their lives.
"So, what was this exciting news you wanted to share with us?" Ramon was the first person to ask the question everyone was holding onto. "Well," Gabby was the first to speak up out of the couple, "We went for my latest appointment on Thursday and we were able to find out what we're having!" Gabby spoke softly just loud enough for the whole table to hear her, immediate gasps and intrigued faces being seen and heard around the table, everyone excited and ready to find out just what the parents to be were expecting. "So?" Severide questioned, earning laughs from everyone around him. Casey gestured to his wife to take the lead, knowing she wanted to be the one to tell their closest friends and family.
"Okay… we are having a girl!" As soon as those words left Gabby's lips everyone became absolutely overjoyed. "I knew it!" Stella called out, "I told you it was going to be a girl Kelly!" Both Casey and Gabby gave their friend a surprised look. "Oh, did you now?" Gabby asked with a smirk. "She did, I was so convinced it was going to be a boy, but as always she was right." The comment earning loud laughs from everyone there and a proud grin from Stella. "Oh mija, that is so great!" "Your mother and I couldn't be happier for you, you as well Matthew." "Thank you pops." Matt giving his father in law a quick hug. Everyone else got their official congratulations in order showing their pure joy and happiness for the expectant parents to be.
"Well that was fun, I'm so glad they all could make it. Actually being able to tell other people besides each other that we are having a little girl makes it so much more real. Like this is actually happening for us." Gabby spoke as she looked up to her husband, at the man she is so in love with, the man she created this already loved kid of theirs with. "It truly does, sometimes it feels like a fever dream, but no this is real, it's actually happening for us. I just love you so much and our little girl too." The couple sharing an intimate moment completely content in each other's arms, just the two of them after a long day of constant company.
As Casey walked the path from his office to the common room, the Captain came to grab a bite to eat and coffee after hours of countless paperwork. The past couple nights have been super rough on Gabby and he's been up with her constantly during the night because of stomach cramps or bad headaches or literally any other second trimester symptom he could think of. Because of this he's been downright tired, the husband wishing for nothing more than for his wife to feel better. He knew the pain was for a good reason and he knows it will all be worth it in the end when they have their beautiful little girl in their arms, but he couldn't help but feel bad that she had to endure all of this. He knew all he could do was be there for her and to be with her at all times when he wasn't working, hoping her symptoms would lighten up soon. As he arrived into the kitchen to make a new pot of coffee after getting his own cup, he grabbed a little snack from the cabinets and sat down at the end of the table with most of truck and Severide.
"Hey man, you okay? You seem… out of it." Severide said, causing Casey to look up from the table. "I'm fine, Gabby just has been up most of the last few nights. So I've been up with her and it's been rough." Casey spoke quietly wanting to keep the conversation as quiet as possible for being in a common room full of people. "I'm so sorry to hear that man, I hope it starts to become easier for her soon." "Yeah me too, I tried to get her to take the next shift off but she refused. I think she feels bad about doing that to them when they are already stretched thin with this Baker case and she just got back from her time off after the attack the other day, so she doesn't want to take time off. She'll also be going on maternity leave at 27 weeks." Matt rambled out his response just before taking another sip of his coffee. Severide looked on sadly at his friend, but before he could answer the bells went off for all companies to respond to a structure fire.
Gabby made her way back to her cubicle after her lunch break, the mom to be getting settled back into her desk getting out her files so she could go through a possible lead they got on Charles. Before her break when Gabby was interviewing one of Baker's childhood friends who he was still in frequent contact with, the man provided evidence of a strange conversation he had with Charles just last week. The friend not thinking much of it until he got called into OFI to be interviewed. So Gabby was seeing if that could bring them any closer to being able to take him down. Gabby huffed out a light breath as she listened to the ten minute conversation, getting nowhere yet, but she just had to remind herself of some wise words she once got from Commander Duffy during her first shift at OFI a few years back, "pace yourself" Gabby continued to intently listen in on the conversation hoping something useful would come out of it.
As Gabby walked into her apartment after a long day of work, she kicked her shoes off and put her purse away. After taking her coat off she went into the kitchen to make herself a sandwich since she hasn't eaten since lunch at 3:00. After she made her sandwich she took a seat at the kitchen table and began to eat her late dinner. After she cleaned up, she loaded the dishwasher since Casey wouldn't be home until the morning. Gabby didn't have any laundry or anything to load so she decided to call her husband before she went to bed hoping he wasn't out on a call. "Hey babe." Gabby greeted as her husband answered the phone. "Hey, how was shift?" Matt asked her. "It was okay. Long and boring, how about you?" "It's okay, I feel like we have non-stop calls, but other than that everything is good." Before Gabby could respond, a dull pain hit her lower back, Casey not missing her reaction to it. "You okay baby?" "Yeah, all good. Just had a stomach cramp, I'm fine. I think I'm going to go get some sleep, I hope you have an easy rest of shift. I love you." "Alright baby, I love you too. See ya." They said their final goodbyes just before Gabby ended the call.
Gabby got up from her seat at the kitchen table and made her way to the bathroom right outside their bedroom to take off her makeup, after doing this she made her way to the bedroom for her pajamas. She settled on her CFD shirt from the 2012 firehouse barbeque and a pair of black pajama shorts. She unfolded the covers from the bed she shared with her husband, choosing to sleep on his side for the night because it was warm and she wished he was here with her tonight.
Matt slung his shift bag onto his shoulder as he grabbed his keys, shutting off the car before heading into his and Gabby's apartment complex. After a long 24 hour shift all he wanted was the woman he loved in his arms, enjoying a relaxing day before she had to work the next morning. As he made his way to their floor he slowly grabbed his key out from his pocket and quietly unlocked the door not wanting to wake up Gabby if she was still sleeping. Once he got it unlocked he shut the door behind him and locked back up.
Gabby slowly came to consciousness as she heard what sounded like her husband walking in from shift. "Matt?" Gabby called out from the edge of the bed as she was getting up to go greet him. "I'm here, sorry did I wake you?" Matt asked as he looked over her features, seeing her tired brown eyes looking back at him. "It's okay, I was sleeping pretty lightly." A look of guilt flashed in Matt's eyes as he took in her slow words. "Rough night?" "No, not really just a long work day is all." "Wanna talk about it?" "Not really, I thought we had a lead on Charles, but turns out it was just nothing, again." Gabby spoke almost defeated, Matt knew how badly she wanted to catch him after what he did to her. Matt would be lying if he said he didn't feel the same way. He wanted them to get the bastard who hurt his wife and has been tormenting different families and couples for years, burning their houses down and ruining their lives. He came very close to ruining their lives as well and the thought of him made Matt's blood boil. "I'm sorry baby, I know how bad you want to get him after what he did to you." 'It's not just about what he did to me, it's all these fires he's started and lives he's managed to ruin." She pretty much snapped, Matt' eyes widening slightly at her tone. "That's not what I meant, I'm just saying." Matt responded, leaning in to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "I know what you meant, I'm sorry." Gabby responded back quickly, a frown forming on Matt's face. Without another word Gabby closed the gap between her and Matt wrapping her arms around his back and burying her face into his shoulder. The couple taking in each other after their crazy shifts.
A couple days have passed and it's now time for Gabby to go back to work after three days off. After she finished her shower she got dressed, Gabby tucking in her white shirt and securing her belt. After she did that she put on some mascara because she has been up since 5:00 am, waking up extra early with a headache. Her husband was already on shift so he made a fresh pot of coffee for her before he left, Gabby exiting their bedroom to make her to-go cup and head out the door. She grabbed her keys and purse, then headed out.
As Otis parked the rig in it's rightful spot, Casey waited for the truck to come to a complete stop before opening the door and jumping down from his seat. He took off his turn out gear and after putting it in it's regular compartment, he headed inside to get some dinner.
"So Captain," Casey looked up at the man talking to him, "How's Dawson doing?" Hermann spoke from his spot at the table. "She's alright, she's been back at work for a couple weeks now so I think she's pretty much healed and back to normal." Casey answered the older man with a small smile forming over his lips. "That's great to hear Captain tell her I said hi, Cindy's been wanting to come over and talk to her, catch up some. If that's something she would like." Hermann responded as Casey took another bite of his pasta. "I'll talk to her, but I'm sure she would love that. I don't let her do much around the house anyways so she's usually bored." Casey spoke with a wide grin, Hermann laughing. "Speaking of Gabby though, I'm going to call her, see how she's doing, excuse me." Hermann nodded back at the Captain. Casey got up from his seat at the table and grabbed his plate before he walked off so he could clean up after himself.
Back at the apartment, Gabby walked in from shift. As she took in the atmosphere, she set her bag down on the table and took her coat off her body and her purse off her right shoulder. She made her way into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat after her long day at work, until a stabbing pain filled her entire stomach, Gabby's right hand instantly touching her stomach, as her left immediately grabbed for the corner of the countertop. As she tried to brace herself with all the strength she could, her legs were starting to give out, Gabby instantly seeing stars as she slowly started to lose consciousness. She looked around to see if she could reach her phone. It seemed reachable, just as she grabbed a hold of her phone she slammed into the kitchen tile, but not without hitting her head first on the way down. As she made horrifying contact with the ground her phone fell to the floor beside her. Just as her phone fell to the ground it started ringing, the name across the screen showed: Matt Casey.
As Casey was walking out of the firehouse, he grabbed his phone from his coat pocket and decided to try Gabby again as she didn't answer him earlier when he called during dinner. She didn't answer the first time so he tried one more time, but it just went straight to voicemail again. Letting out a frustrated breath, he opted to send her a quick message letting her know he'd be home in less than 10 minutes.
Matt continued down the sidewalk until he got to where his truck was parked, he unlocked the car with his keys and then threw his shift bag on the passenger seat.
When Matt pulled into his and Gabby's parking garage, he shut off his car and proceeded to throw his shift bag onto his right shoulder as he locked his truck before walking into his building. He got out his keys to unlock the apartment, he slowly and quietly opened the door just incase Gabby was resting. The Captain still unaware of what exactly he'd be walking in on.
"Gabby, I'm home," Casey called out once he realized the door was open to their bedroom and she wasn't sleeping on the couch, "Gabby?" Casey tried again. He looked around for a second clear confusion evident on his face as she was nowhere to be found. Until he walked further into the kitchen and almost slipped on something. What he saw with his own eyes was the last thing he'd ever have expected to accidentally step in. Blood. As panic crept into his system Casey turned the corner and the sight he found in front of him was the most horrific thing he had ever seen.
"Gabby…"
I am sorry! For those of you who saw my tweet about this story having a stressful cliffhanger, I bet this wasn't at all what you were expecting was it? I'll try to get this next chapter out for you in a week so you're not stuck waiting around for too long! That's all I have for you, I'll see you next time! Please leave a review.