I'm so sorry everyone... I'm rushing to get this posted in between my best friend's hens night and wedding. A huge thank you for all the love you have shown to this story.

On to the chapter that I think people have been waiting for... R - big hugs for everything!

Gabby woke later than normal. Rolling onto her side, she couldn't quite shake the fatigue she was feeling, she had managed to get a fair amount of sleep on shift last night and she wasn't going to be questioning it. It was fairly rare for Ambo not to be getting calls all throughout the night, so she was just feeling blessed that nothing had interrupted her sleep. Pushing herself up into a seated position, she looked around at the very empty bunkroom, she let her eyes flick down to the clock on the table beside her bunk. It was already 8 o'clock, she needed to get herself moving, the next watch would be here before she knew it, if they were not here already. But where was everyone?

"She awakes," Brett's voice floated by as she came through the glass doors.

Gabby rubbed her eyes as she threw her legs over the edge of the bed to stand up. "Where is everybody?"

"Third Watch is already in and they are doing a stock of the Ambo, something about not trusting our counting," Brett rolled her eyes. Evidently, they didn't believe that two female EMTs were able to count stock correctly. "And the rest of the house has been out at a fire since the early early hours."

Gabby nodded her head slowly. Brett carefully regarded her, watching her each and every move. "Hey, is everything okay Gabby?" she questioned concerned, as she observed her partner move much slower than she ever normally would.

Raising her eyebrows, the confusion was evident in her voice, "Yeah? Why do you ask?"

"You slept right through the bells. Those bells could raise the dead."

"I'm good, I'm just going to take a shower and get ready to go," she pointed towards the bathroom with a thumb as she attempted to get out of the conversation as fast as she could.

Pausing under the hot water, Gabby thought about what Brett had said. She had never felt so exhausted in her life and whilst earlier in the week she had chalked it up to doing that extra shift with Truck, it had been over a week since then and she shouldn't still be tired. It was like she couldn't get her head off the pillow in the morning and by mid afternoon all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. There was something more going on here, even Matt had mentioned it last week.

Soon she found herself in front of the mirror with a button down shirt, when her hand brushed against her chest and she hissed in pain. Wait, that was different. Her chest felt tender and was aching slightly, more than it normally would during that time of the month. Hold on, Gabby did a double take, that time of the month?! No! Shaking her head, she went to button up her top, only to find that her top was too tight in the chest area to do up properly. Yanking at the material once more, she attempted to try and get the buttons done up. Looking down everything seemed a bit bigger and her bra wasn't fitting as snugly as it normally did, causing the wheels in her mind to start turning. No… she couldn't be. Fear started to course through her, what happened if it ended terribly again?

Stealing a glance into the locker room to find it empty, she slid towards Matt's locker and grabbed out one of his spare t-shirts. Tucking it in, she layered her button down on top of it, without the need to actually do it up.

"Brett!" she called out. "Can you let Casey know that I needed to go. I'm sure he can get a lift with someone," she darted out of the house without letting Brett reply, knowing that she need to make a stop before Matt arrived home.

"Babe?" Matt called out, walking across the hardwood floor towards the couch where Gabby was curled up. He had been out all afternoon on a construction job, and Gabby had left the house on an errand whilst he had caught up on some sleep, so they had missed each other, not really being able to catch each other since last night. Gabby took in the sight of him as he got near to her, how he managed to fit all that work in she would never understand. However, the two physical jobs, being a firefighter and all of those construction jobs certainly had their benefits. Matt's arms were definitely a favourite feature for Gabby at the best of times, so she paused to admire the muscles that defined his arms.

"Hey… how was your day?" she questioned nonchalantly as she took a drink from the water bottle in front of her. He tilted his head to the side before taking the drink bottle for himself. Turning himself to face her on the couch, he took one of her hands into his own. Gabby raised an eyebrow as she flicked off the television.

"Babe," he started seriously. Gabby smirked slightly, "Uh Oh… I know that look on your face, nothing good ever comes from it."

Matt gave her a small grin, "I've been thinking… Shhh… Hear me out. Baby, I know we made the decision that you would move back to Ambo when we had Louie. But Gabby, firefighting is in your blood Baby. You are an amazing firefighter… Fitzpatrick continues to tell me that every time he sees me, ever since that shift you did for him last week… Even you said that you had had a taste of the firefighting bug again. I want this for you Babe. And I know you can't serve under me anymore, but maybe is it time that we look at this situation again?"

Gabby paused, completely unsure of what it was she was thinking and was going to say. A week ago she would have leapt at the idea, but now there was no way that she could even contemplate the idea. She so badly wanted to blurt out her news, but she couldn't do that to him again, she hadn't meant to do it that way last time and she wasn't going to spoil it again. He deserved more, they deserved more.

Matt watched as Gabby's face contorted, he couldn't read what she was thinking which was very odd. He had been sure that Gabby would have jumped at the chance to get back onto a truck, possibly even engine or at least be ready to talk about it. When they had made the decision over a year ago that she would be going back to Ambo he had always thought that she would one day come back to firefighting. And it hadn't been the right time when Louie had been taken from them. But he was confident that it was right now. "Gabby? Baby?" he prodded gently. Gabby looked up at him, unshed tears in her eyes. "Baby? Come here, I didn't mean to upset you, I just thought…"

"No Matt…" her voice held hope and joy, allowing herself the pleasure of running her warm hands up and down his muscular arms pausing to squeeze his biceps. "Go and have a look on your bedside table in our bedroom… Go," she urged.

Matt looked at her confused for a second and at Gabby's signalling made his way up the stairs. Gabby was only a few steps behind him. Reaching his side of the bed, Matt came to a standstill as his eyes came upon a toy fire truck at was sitting atop the bedside table. Gabby crossed her arms across her belly, wishing that she had thought to bring her phone so she could record what was happening right now. But at the same time, better to live in the moment, she thought to herself.

Turning around slightly to face her, he gave her a small half smile albeit slightly confused at the same time. He wandered towards the small toy, wondering why on earth Gabby would have left a toy on his table. Picking it up he missed the clearly obvious hint that Gabby had left for him. He raised an eyebrow at her, questioning her silently, not understanding what it was that she was trying to tell him.

Gabby looked back at him, her eyes sparkling with joy. She motioned with an outstretched finger for him to look at the truck more closely. "Are you sure you've seen everything on there?" she cheekily asked him.

Turning it over in his hand, he inspected it from all angles. Suddenly it occurred to him that something was attached to the ladder, something that would not normally be there. With shaky hands, Matt slid the long plastic stick off, discarding the toy upon the bed. Gradually a wide grin grew across his face, laughter beginning to bubble out as he took in the two little pink lines that were very evident on the test. "Gabby?" he breathed.

She withdrew another two tests from her back pocket, smiling all the while and showing him that indeed she had taken three pregnancy tests, all of them coming up positive. Matt strode across the few steps it would take him to reach her, taking the tests from her and tossing them over his shoulder. "Are you sure?"

Gabby nodded almost shyly, "As sure as I can be right now. We have an appointment with Doctor Peterson tomorrow…" She opened her mouth to finish her sentence, as Matt without warning pulled her loosely into his embrace and lifted her effortlessly off the ground, mashing their lips together. She could feel his heart hammering as he pulled her flush to him, placing her back onto the ground.

"I can't believe it," he whispered too scared to say anything louder than the quiet level he was currently speaking at for the fear of spoiling the moment, squeezing her much tighter.

"Matt," she gasped, pain shooting through her chest. Matt pulled back suddenly, allowing her to place a hand on her upper chest, just below her neckline. Leading her to the small couch they had in their bedroom, he sat next to her, a leg folded up onto the couch in between them. "Don't worry Matt, it's just that everywhere around here," her hand circled her upper chest area, "it's all just a bit sensitive at the moment," she apologised.

Matt wasn't able to wipe the beaming smile off of his face as he pulled her into a side hug, letting one arm drape over her stomach and the other snaking around her shoulder being careful to avoid her chest. "So this is really happening?"

Taking a deep breath, Gabby thought about what she needed to tell Matt. "Well we don't know for sure, but all of the signs are there Baby… The fatigue, the sore breasts, the constant need to pee… And I don't know Matt, it just feels right. It's different to last time, but I think I just know. Something is different, a good different," she told him. What she didn't tell him was that somewhere deep she was still scared of it going all wrong, but since she had seen the last test she had allowed herself to start to hope for their future.

"So what is next?" he questioned, watching intently as she rolled up her sleeve to show up a slight bruise where blood had been drawn.

"I've been into to Med, rang April all panicked. She told me to toughen up and get my arse down there," she chuckled slightly thinking about how the young nurse had ordered her to come in, "So now she's got my history, taken some extra notes and will have sent them across to my OB/GYN. I've had a pre-appointment blood test that will confirm the pregnancy, you just never know, these home tests can produce false positives. And for peace of mind, I need to know, a 100% sure. April also managed to swing us an appointment with Doctor Peterson on really short notice too. So tomorrow morning, 10 o'clock and we should get a glimpse of our little one," she finished, tears in her eyes.

Matt glanced down at her and placed a kiss on her head, grateful for whatever or whoever had allowed their dreams to finally come true. Finally, things were looking up for them.

The next day found Matt and Gabby at her OB/GYN's office, they hadn't made it to this point last time around and it was evident in both of their body languages. Both were excited about what could be in their future, yet at the same time, the miscarriage was at the forefront of their minds. The wait at Doctor Peterson's office was a relatively quiet one, however, Matt wasn't able to stop bouncing his knee as he sat waiting in the uncomfortable chair.

"You know the ER has much comfier chairs," he grumbled as he shifted in his chair the tenth time that minute.

Gabby laid a hand on his nervous knee, "Would you prefer to be there?" Watching him open his mouth, she cut him off, "Matt, it's going to be okay. I need you to be okay…. It's got to be okay," she finished in a whisper. Matt looked over at her, pulling her into a tight side hug, running his fingers over her wedding rings.

"It is going to be okay Gabby… Everything is going to be fine," he whispered against the side of her head, giving her a kiss as he finished. "How did we get this appointment so fast anyway?"

"Rang April yesterday and got her to call in a favour, came in for a blood test yesterday which will confirm what I think we already know," Matt furrowed his brow trying to think when she would have even had time leave the house. Gabby gave him a knowing smile, "I came into Med yesterday whilst you had a nap after shift and then by the time I got home you had left for that construction gig… Matt, I told you all of this yesterday," she sighed.

Matt looked apologetic, "Sorry, I can't seem to concentrate at the moment."

"Gabriela Casey?"

Without dropping her hand Matt pulled Gabby up and towards the nurse. He could feel the slight shake in her step the closer they got to Doctor Peterson's office. As the nurse left them waiting in the office, Matt pulled Gabby into his lap in an attempt to calm her nerves. Gabby buried her head into the crook of Matt's neck enjoying the feeling of Matt's warm hand along her back. She squeezed her eyes shut hoping to hold the tears in, she wasn't too sure whether she could face hearing any negative news. With that her breathing became erratic.

"Babe," he whispered, gaining her attention "Try to stop thinking about the 'what ifs.' Try and focus on the positives. Breathe… Slowly… In and out... Baby, it's our time. Let's think to the future and everything that it holds. It's about us Gabs."

Both the Caseys were so involved in their own little world, focused on nothing else but each other that they didn't hear Doctor Peterson enter her own office. Clara Peterson was a few years older than Gabby and had been her doctor for a number of years now. Whilst she hadn't attended to Gabby during the ectopic episode, she knew all about it and was determined that this visit was going to be as painless emotionally on Gabby as she could possibly make it.

"You should listen to your husband Gabriela," her soft voice piped up. Gabby whipped her head up, shocked that her doctor had managed to come in without being noticed.

"Dr Peterson…" Gabby stammered as she attempted to unwrap herself from Matt. The doctor only smiled gently at them, taking a seat as she rounded her table.

"And you must be Matt, who I hear so much about…" she greeted, holding her hand out towards Matt. Smiling Matt grasped her hand, shaking it firmly. "So Mrs Casey," Clara remarked, trying to keep the conversation light. "I read here that you had three positive home pregnancy tests and I hear congratulations are in order."

Gabby stopped short of whatever she was going to say. It was like the air had been knocked out of her, even though all of those home pregnancy tests were positives, she always knew that there was a possibility that she might be not be. She had steeled her nerves for that possibility, so when she heard the confirmation, she couldn't quite believe it. "Are you… are you sure?"

Gentle laughter filled the room, "Yes I'm sure. Your blood test indicated high hormone markers, your hCG levels are well over 25 units. Gabby, you are pregnant," she finished with a smile.

Matt allowed himself to smile and a slight laugh left his mouth as he gathered Gabby up in a hug. He pulled back slightly to press a searing quick kiss to her mouth, before yanking her back into a bone crushing hug. "See, everything's coming up Casey!"

Clara cleared her throat behind them, Gabby pulled away slightly turning to face her doctor, unshed tears glistening. "But… is everything okay? I mean Dr Halstead did explain after the last pregnancy that there was a higher chance of something going wrong the next time," she finished as she felt Matt's strong hand clasp over her knee as a source of comfort.

Nodding, Dr Peterson scanned over her notes. "Well looking over your notes that April Sexton made yesterday I'd say that you're about 7 weeks gone, so that's perfect timing for your dating scan… If you want to get into this lovely gown, we'll do some measurements and then we'll do a scan to see what's going on in there," she motioned to a curtain that would allow Gabby to change into the hospital issued gown, well what passed for a gown. "So anything else that's bothering you at the moment Gabby?"

"Just the utter exhaustion that I'm constantly feeling," Gabby called out from behind the curtain.

"Common symptom for the first trimester," apologised Clara. "There's a huge amount of energy that goes into building a life-support system for your baby, so you're going to be tired. Listen to your body, rest up anytime that you need to, don't try and do everything. And eat often, it is suggested a six meal a day diet generally seems to be helpful too. So rather than three main meals a day, have six smaller meals to help with your energy levels."

"So dating scan?" questioned Matt as they were led toward the exam area that Clara had set up in her office.

"It's the scan that we do from anywhere between 7 and 12 weeks gestation, commonly called a dating scan. We do it for so many reasons but the most common is to confirm pregnancy and to check that the embryo is viable and 'everything's ok'," she commented as she fiddled with the scales and made notes before motioning for Gabby to scoot over to the bed.

"And those reasons include?" Matt continued to probe, most concerned that something might happen. Gabby laid a comforting hand on his forearm, causing him to look over at her.

"Hey… Babe. Clara's being doing this a long time. And I've been seeing her for many years, she knows what she's doing. Now sit on that stool there, hold my hand and shut up," she commanded.

"It's ok Gabby. I get questions all the time, and it's actually refreshing to be getting them from Dad instead. We do a dating scan to confirm the presence of one or more embryos and gestational sacs. Also to assess the gestational age, I know that Gabby has fairly regular cycles so I'm confident in saying that we're looking at around seven weeks. We also do the scan to confirm the presence of a heartbeat and to check the size of the embryo and ensure the baby is the right size for gestational age. I also want to do a general check of the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries. It's all standard practice. Also bearing in mind that you have suffered from an ectopic pregnancy before I want to ensure that the embryo has implanted within the uterus and it is not an ectopic pregnancy occurring again."

Matt nodded slowly, rubbing his thumb over the back of Gabby's hand taking in all the information that was being presented to them. "It's going to be information overload for the next nine months isn't it?"

"Well not quite nine months babe," Gabby teased him. "More like seven months."

Doctor Peterson smiled along before continuing her conversation. "We could get a sonographer in, but if you're both happy I am able to perform this for you…" Watching the expectant parents nodded she went on, "ideally the best time to assess the gestational age in the first trimester is between 7-10 weeks of pregnancy. This is the period of time which provides the most accurate assessment. Generally, ultrasounds which are performed in the first trimester are within 3-5 days of being accurate in terms of assessing gestational age. There are two ways of having a seven-week ultrasound, either transabdominally or transvaginally…"

"I think I know what you're about to tell me," winced Gabby. Clara patted her leg and nodded. "Well this sounds like fun, guess I better get used to this," Gabby spoke sarcastically.

"On the bright side Gabby, you don't need to have a full bladder for this ultrasound," Clara commented as she started the scan. Gabby winced as she felt the cramp-like pains shudder through her abdomen. Matt squeezed her hand excitedly as the screen to the right of Gabby's head spluttered to life showing up an alien-like blob.

"And that would be your baby," Clara pointed out the embryo that would develop into their child.

"That's our Smudge," Matt told her, squeezing and kissing the back of Gabby's hand.

Gabby turned to him, tears beginning to fall from her eyes, "Matt, you can't call our baby Smudge," she chided, as she moved slightly in discomfort. "Plus it looks more like a kidney bean," twisting her head trying to make out something.

"But… Look Smudge. Back me up Doctor Peterson, it looks like a smudge," begged Matt.

"He's got a point Gabby. Don't know that I've heard too many people describe their child that way…"

Gabby turned back towards the screen, much of the pain forgotten as she clapped eyes on the ultrasound image. "And everything is okay?" she asked breathlessly as the image changed on the screen.

"It seems to be… Ovaries seem all okay, embryo seems to have implanted well. Sorry Gabby…" she commented watching the pain flicker over Gabby's face as she moved the probe. "Looking at the measurements, you're measuring right on seven weeks, two days. And that there, that's the heartbeat, just under 108 beats a minute. Everything is right on track Gabby," she reassured the couple.

"It's just amazing…. I can't believe that this little smudge is our baby," mused Matt.

"Can we… Can we hear that heartbeat?" questioned Gabby, tearing up again.

Clara shook her head, "Next time," she promised. Matt leant over Gabby to catch the tears as they fell with the pad of his thumb before placing a kiss to her forehead. As Clara finished the exam, Matt helped Gabby back into a seated position.

"It's all looking very good Gabby, unless something changes I don't think I'll need to see you until your 12 week mark, when we can do another ultrasound, yes an abdominal one just so we can check that everything is developing okay and I will want to do some screening then too. Nothing to worry about, it's all routine," she paused to flick through her calendar on her desk, "I'd estimate your due date to be 15th April next year. Pen it in somewhere...I'll leave you two to have a moment to yourselves. Let me see if I can make you that appointment and put some of these photos on a hard drive for you and then you're good to go," she informed them before attempting to exiting the room.

"Hold on Doctor Peterson," Matt called out. "Gabby did a shift on Truck last week and was caught in a fire. There was a fair amount of smoke inhalation," worry was evident in his voice and on his face.

"Well that's a first, I've been asked about women who have had a drink whilst being unknowingly pregnant, but never about smoke," she smiled. "Whilst I'm not suggesting that you go storming into buildings at the moment, so far everything looks ok. I can't make any promises, but I'm not too concerned for the moment. It's not ideal, but you can't change anything Gabby, so I don't want you worrying about this. And if you're still on Ambo I'm happy for you to continue working for the time being, we can reassess that as the pregnancy progresses, but no truck or firefighting. I'll get a written clearance for you and mail it out too," she threw over her shoulder, exiting for a second time

"I can't believe that this is real," Gabby commented as she got changed.

"Believe it baby," Matt told her as she came back to him. "It's our time now, you…" he kissed her, "me, and the baby," as he lay a hand over her still flat stomach. "Just you, me and Smudge," he repeated resting his forehead against hers, Gabby's hand coming up to massage the back of his neck, feeling the hair at the base of his nape stand up. A moment passed before she pressed herself closer to his muscled body, reaching up to press her lips onto his.

Eeep! Let me know what you think. Hope you all enjoyed it

~Em