Don't we all love when the review function doesn't work properly on this site? Thanks to everyone who reviewed - they really do make my day, especially when I wake up to a heap of them on Saturday morning. I think they have all managed to appear on the site now.

As always thanks to R for editing for me. And this week to both her and Junko for keeping me entertained during my writing process - I'm sure I'll never look at a Ju Ju Be Paci Pod the same ever again. It will become a story one day - I promise!

Hope you all enjoy the latest installment - we're nearly there to telling the fire family... Hopefully! ~Em

Week 12

~ Candidate is almost three inches long now, about the size of a passion fruit ~

"Matt!" hollered Gabby standing at the doorway, handbag over her shoulder and keys dangling from her fingers. They were cutting it fine for their first official antenatal appointment. "Matthew James Casey... I swear I will leave without you. Don't think I won't… And you will miss out on seeing Smudge for the first time," she threatened as she pulled on her shoes and reached for the door handle.

Her hand had already grasped around the handle as Matt came running up from the basement where he had been holed up for most of the morning. Gabby hadn't bothered going down to find him. Matt was normally good at keeping an eye on the time, almost like he had an internal clock. 15 minutes ago he had appeared to make sure that he had the time right for her appointment today, but had soon disappeared again.

"You would never leave me here. I want to see Smudge again," he demanded as he thrust a water bottle into Gabby's empty hand. Gabby smirked at him as she threw the offered drink bottle into her bag before heading out of the door.

"Well, are you coming or not?" she teased over her shoulder.

Matt sat in the hospital's most uncomfortable chairs, it was like they decided to have the uncomfortable chairs as a punishment for some unknown reason. It didn't make sense, of all the places to have uncomfortable chairs, this didn't like the right place. Honestly, the academy lecture hall had more comfortable chairs than here. Matt tried in vain to stay still, having been poked in the leg by Gabby for squirming in his spot only moments before. Gabby was still filling out paperwork as Matt scanned the room. There weren't too many other couples waiting, although all the women waiting were visibly much further along in their pregnancies than Gabby. It was crazy to think that in a few short months she would be like those women.

Doctor Peterson walked by, offering them a smile and a wave. Matt looked over at Gabby who had finally placed the pen down. "Aren't we supposed to be seeing her today?" he questioned.

Gabby nodded, "We're probably seeing the ultrasound technician first… I assume that our appointment will finish up with her," Gabby informed him. Matt nodded slightly before closing his eyes, his hand finding hers and tangling their fingers together resting their entwined hands in her lap. He hadn't been sleeping well during work at the firehouse over the few last shifts. He laughed slightly inwardly at the thought that he would be able to sleep at work at all, in what other profession would able to say that and not get fired for it?

"Gabriela Casey?" a nurse called out. Matt didn't move at the sound of her name. It took Gabby tugging slightly at his hand, "Smudge sighting?" she enticed him. A grin spread over his face whilst his hand came to rest on the small of her back.

Upon entering the small appointment room, Karen their ultrasound tech introduced herself, gesturing to the table.

"So, 12 week appointment?" Karen cheerily asked. Matt had to hide a smile as Gabby made herself comfortable on the table, this woman was over the top happy. And whilst he didn't usually mind cheeriness, she seemed overly fake. But Matt was determined to suck it up and not say anything. "Right, I'm going to do the ultrasound imaging for you today and then you'll be able to go in and see Doctor… Umm…." she fumbled around trying to work out who their doctor was.

"Peterson," supplied Gabby as she played with the hem of her blouse. Wasn't that type of information on her chart, the one that Karen had in her hand? There were doubts starting to run through her mind right about now. There was something not quite right sitting with her, call it a gut feeling.

"Yes Doctor Peterson, she and one of the nurse will then have some further tests for you to go through. Do you have any questions for me?"

"Can we see Smudge now?" Matt asked excitedly. He was like a little boy in a candy store after being told he could have anything he wanted.

Gabby shook her head slightly; she couldn't quite believe how excited he was. She herself, was still trying to get used to the idea that in a few fleeting months she would be a mother. Matt had wanted nothing more than to become a father, a thought that hadn't been far from her mind since she had told him that he was going to be a great father… such a long time ago, that fateful day in the park with the Darden boys. She still didn't quite feel pregnant, yes there were the symptoms… But it still it didn't seem quite real. Yet, here was Matt taking everything in his stride.

"Smudge?" came the tech's confused voice.

"Smudge," confirmed Gabby, sharing a loving smile with Matt. "It was either that or Candidate…"

"Candidate?!" Karen's voice was even more confused now. She looked hard that the couple in front of herself, they evidently had some unusual names for their unborn child. She had never heard those terms before, who would call their child 'candidate'? Didn't people generally call their child 'peanut' or some endearing term like that?

"When Doctor Peterson first confirmed the pregnancy, Matt over here thought that the baby looked like a smudge. And ever since then its been nicknamed Smudge… Even though Candidate would have been a much better name," she mockingly glared at Matt who held up his hands in mock surrender, laughter in his eyes. Breaking the eye gaze that he held with her a few moments later, he noticed that Karen was still silent.

Looking over he found Karen to have a cross between a confused and almost disapproving look on her face. It was obvious that she was unaware what it was that the Caseys did for a living. "We work for the Chicago Fire Department," Matt filled her in, "And we've both been Candidates, it's what trainee firefighters are called…" he finished.

Gabby knew the look that Karen suddenly proceeded to give Matt, there was a definite change in the air. It was one that she had seen many many times before. She had termed it the 'firefighters groupies' look. Right in front of her, she watched as her ultrasound technician began undressing her husband with her eyes, imagining what was underneath all of the clothing. Whilst Gabby wasn't usually the jealous type, it had happened on the job before. Matt would usually politely brush those type of women off and flash his wedding ring… but today, they were sitting in a cold sterile exam room, waiting to see their baby and here was a woman openly checking him out. Gabby stared at her intently, daggers shooting from her eyes as Matt shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Ah-hem…" Gabby cleared her throat. Karen didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed as she was caught, rather she turned to Gabby, a snooty look on her face, "A firefighter?" she questioned. Gabby nodded and she felt Karen look her up and down. "That is not a safe occupation for a pregnant woman, you should think of the damage you could cause the baby…" she warned, shaking her finger in Gabby's face.

Gabby took a deep breath, trying to push down her anger. 'This woman knows nothing about you, Gabby,' she reminded herself silently. Rather, she plastered a smile on her face, before replying, "Yes, I am aware of those risks and CFD does have a policy in place for pregnant firefighters. However, luckily for me, I had already been working as an EMT for the past few months." Yet, in the back of her mind she filed it away that she would be having a conversation with Doctor Peterson about this woman and requesting to see a different tech for her next appointment. Was this really happening to her? Was her husband being hit on during their appointment? "So…" she continued on, "Could we please move this along?"

Karen gave her a tight lipped smile before launching into her obviously well rehearsed spiel, it sounded like she had swallowed a textbook, "Today when we complete your 12 week appointment we can begin the first part of the genetic screening tests that can be done…"

"Yes," started Gabby, "Matt and I have both discussed what we do want and don't want in terms of genetic screen. We didn't want to have to make a decision here, so we ultimately decided that we're just going the NT scan and then a full blood workup"

"Are you sure about that?" Karen asked condescendingly, "There are many tests that we can be doing today, and considering the high risk of your job Mrs Casey…"

"No, we're sure that that is all we were planning on," interjected Matt, not liking how this appointment was turning out.

Karen nodded and gave him a flirtatious smile, "Ok, Matt… So the NT scan is a non-invasive ultrasound, which helps assess the baby's risk of having complications such as Down Syndrome, other chromosomal abnormalities, and major congenital heart problems. We perform this test by measuring the clear, well translucent space in the tissue at the back of the baby's neck," Karen informed them, more towards Matt than Gabby. As she spoke she roughly yanked at Gabby's shirt, pressing the ultrasound wand deeply into her belly.

Gabby grimaced slightly at the pressure as she looked up at the monitor to see the image of their child coming up. "So baby looks pretty perfect in that department… Well of course the baby does, look at the genes it has," she commented looking over at Matt again.

This caused Gabby to frown, "And the heartbeat?"

"150 beats a minute," Karen grumbled as she turned the screen back towards herself. Gabby turned to face Matt, a confused look upon her face, what had just happened here? Did they only get a fleeting glance of their child?

"I also want to double check your baby's length," Karen kept speaking as she faced the screen. "I just want to confirm baby's age."

Matt cleared his throat with a slightly confused voice commented, "But we were given a due date by Doctor Peterson a few weeks ago at our first appointment."

Karen turned to look at them both, a slight look of disbelief across her face. "Well, I don't know what she might have told you... But..."

"I've been seeing her for a long time," interrupted Gabby. "And my cycle is fairly regular, right down to every 27 days, bleed for 5… Every time."

Karen nodded, placing the doppler down wanting to ensure that they had all the correct information, her information. "At the dating scan, the baby is measured and we can confirm your due date. But before that, your due date is calculated by counting 280 days from the first day of your last period. However, the scanning date is generally considered to be more accurate."

Gabby turned to face Matt, watching as he opened his mouth, obviously intent on correcting their tech that Doctor Peterson had done a scan and he was fairly confident that she was correct. Gabby gave him a hard stare making him sit up and close his mouth. Karen smiled and turned back to the screen, clicking the round ball in the middle of the console, capturing pictures as she went.

"Up until 12 weeks of pregnancy, all babies grow at the same rate, so irrespective of whether you as their parents are tall or short, at this time baby will be the same size as other at this stage of development. So I'm measuring crown to rump… Based on these measurements, I would quite confidently say you're 11 weeks and 5 days," she finished, wiping the gel off of Gabby's stomach, packing up the machine.

Matt stared at her, was that it. He couldn't quite believe how fast it had all gone. It was like that they had an only had a split second glimpse of their child. "Is that it?" he questioned.

Karen nodded curtly, "That's it for now. I'll see you both at your 16 week check up. The nurse will be in to see you for some further testing soon," she spoke as she left the room. Passing the incoming nurse, she lowered her voice, "Hot firefighter!" she breathed, just loud enough for Gabby to hear. April's eyes widened as she entered the room, shocked at what had been mentioned to her. How unprofessional could this tech be?

"Gabby?" April spoke up as she fully entered the room, taking in the pair, Gabby still laid out on the bed, top not yet entirely pulled down yet.

"April… What are you doing here?" she questioned, surprised to see the ER nurse standing in the exam room.

"Extra shifts mean extra money, and I could do with the extra cash… Let's get you down from that table…" she advised. "Did anyone explain to you what was going to happen today?" April watched carefully as both Matt and Gabby shook their heads. Gently April laid her hand over Gabby's arm, giving it a tight squeeze, after the comment that the tech had made on her way out, April could see that Gabby was shaken up somewhat. "Hey, Matt… Why don't we organise to see Doctor Peterson first and then we can do these tests later. I can even come into Doctor Peterson's office and do it all in there if you'd like."

Matt nodded as he helped Gabby off the table, "I think that might be for the best," he confirmed.

Doctor Peterson walked into her office to find an extremely shell shocked pair of adults waiting for her. "I know that seeing your child for the first time is a shock, but I think you two might win the prize for the most extreme reaction," she joked as she took her seat behind the desk. Matt was only able to open his mouth, not able to actually form words, just letting his jaw become slack.

Gabby looked her doctor straight in the eyes, thinking very carefully about what it was she wanted to say. "Doctor Peterson… Clara," her voice low. The smile disappeared from the doctor's face as she straighten her back, wondering what is was that was causing this reaction from Gabby. "I know that we can't choose everyone that we run into in our lives… But if I ever have to see that technician again, I swear to god I will slap that smile off of her face," Gabby almost growled. Clara screwed her face in contemplation, she had known the young mother who sat in front of her with a determined look on her face, for a long time now. And she knew that this was more than just pregnancy hormone speaking, something had evidently gone wrong during their appointment, badly wrong.

"Who? What happened?" were the only words that came out of her mouth.

"Matt will tell you that I'm not the type to be that jealous. Being married to a firefighter, being part of the company myself… I know how women can react to firefighters. However, I am not at all comfortable when the person who is about to perform our ultrasound starts to undress my husband with her eyes, before informing me that firefighting was not an appropriate job for a woman, let alone a pregnant woman. She basically told me that I was an unfit mother and was putting my unborn baby at risk," Gabby emphatically told her. Matt nodded along at her side.

"Karen?" questioned Doctor Peterson. Scribbling a note at the confirmation from Gabby and Matt. "It would be unprofessional of me to make any comment about my colleagues, however, please accept an apology on behalf of the Chicago Medical Centre for the way you were treated. I will make sure that you will be seeing a different technician for the rest of your pregnancy Gabby," she assured the Caseys. "On a more pleasant note, you were able to see your baby. That..." she stopped suddenly at the shaking of Matt's head. She pursed her lips, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"We got the briefest glimpse of Smudge," confirmed Matt, "before she swung the screen around and we didn't see anything," he lamented.

Clara shook her head as she passed Gabby a bottle of water that sat behind her desk, "Here, drink this Gabby. I'll go find a machine. You finish that and try and get yourself as comfortable as you can on the table. Matt, you'll get to see your baby," she enforced as she strode purposefully out of the room.

Gabby gave a slight chuckle as she unscrewed the bottle top. "Didn't I just have to drink an ocean of water for the last scan?" she joked, making her way over to the table. Matt laughed as she wiggled on the spot, "You would think over the many years that they have been making these beds, they might have tried making them more comfortable," she commented as she inched the hem of her long shirt upwards.

Matt's eyes darkened as her top moved to expose part of her stomach, his hand coming to rest of the skin caressing it gently. Smiling slightly, he brought his hand down towards her face, brushing his lips against hers. Gabby's eyes widen slightly, "Mattt," she warned, knowing that it wouldn't be long before their doctor would enter the room again. Matt ignored her, his right fingers trailing down her cheek towards her jaw, her mouth opening to protest again.

Matt shook his head slightly, effectively stopping her. Rather he crashed his lips onto hers, allowing his lower hand to push the material of her top further up and pressing the palm of his hand along her belly, moving his thumb to caress the skin underneath it. His other hand moved to tangle itself into her curls as her own hand went the nape of his neck, tugging gently on the roots of his blonde hair. Suddenly Gabby was running her tongue over his bottom lip, demanding more, Matt consented, his kisses becoming deeper as Gabby tried to pull him closer.

A laugh and clearing of the same throat brought them out their self-absorption with each other. Matt went bright red as he fumbled around himself looking for a stool to sit down on. Gabby locked eyes with Clara and bit back a laugh. She knew that they were going get caught in a compromising situation, but right now she didn't care, she had needed that kiss after the first part of their appointment. She made the move to lower her shirt as Doctor Peterson reached them, putting her hand out to stop Gabby.

"I'm going to need that up anyway," she told them as she readied herself with the machine. Pulling at Gabby's yoga pants, she tucked a towel in, to protect them from the gel. "Warning… Cold," she advised as the gel caused Gabby to shiver slightly.

Clara watched for a moment or two at the screen, moving the ultrasound probe, trying to find the spot she was looking for. Once the image had spluttered onto the screen, she turned to look at the expectant parents. Gabby and Matt both had their eyes glued to the monitor, drinking in the sight of their child. Matt sniffed slightly, bring the hand that he had clasped earlier up to his lips, kissing it soundlessly.

Weeks ago, when Doctor Peterson had done the first ultrasound their little Smudge was nothing more than just that… just a smudge. Now 12 weeks in, their little Candidate actually looked like a baby. Matt felt a tear well in his eyes, it was suddenly real, his heart swelling with love for his wife and unborn child. All of this time waiting, and now finally seeing the image of his baby, it hit him. He was going to be a father; he had wanted this for years. For a few years, he and Gabby had wanted this… And now it was really going to be a dream come true. Here, right in front of him, this ultrasound was letting him see his little Smudge moving around, with legs kicking and arms flailing. It was all happening inside of Gabby, even if she couldn't feel those movements, and suddenly Matt couldn't wait to feel those movements for himself.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" he whispered, almost to himself. The young doctor watched as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, never once his eyes leaving the screen. Gabby herself, reached out her hand towards the screen, biting her bottom lip. Her hand was nearly at the screen when she paused looking at her doctor for permission. Beaming from ear to ear, Gabby traced the outline of her baby's face, tears running down her face.

Turning to face her husband, "It's really happening Babe…" she confirmed, squeezing his hand.

"Looks like Smudge is having his/her own little dance party in there too," Doctor Peterson announced, pointing at the screen. And they could all see it, Baby Casey was extremely active. Matt and Gabby watched captivated, watching as their little Smudge wriggle around and used their little legs to push off the side of Gabby's uterus… Generally, Smudge was just all over the place.

Moving the probe again, "It looks like we have our work cut out for us!" she continued, "especially if this keeps up for your entire pregnancy Gabby. He or she looks like a handful," she teased.

Gabby grinned, "Must take after their father!"

Matt looked at the two women with a look of mock indignation, "I feel like I should be insulted, but there is nothing you can say that is going to bring me down from this high… Doctor Peterson, Karen said something about a dating scan and a due date?"

Doctor Peterson nodded in confirmation, "Normally at the 12 week scan, you would have that dating scan, for most couples that is their first scan. However, we did that dating scan earlier, which is quite normal considering Gabby's past history… Now if I can get Baby Casey to calm down a bit I can get the scans and measurements I want… But I'm getting quite a few funnier pictures along the way, I'll stick them on the drive for you," she informed them, putting Matt's mind at ease. "Well I must say Gabby, this baby definitely has the Dawson genes, she won't calm down," she teased.

"She?" Gabby questioned quietly, a little spark of hope igniting in her, not that she would ever say that to Matt. To the world, when they asked, she was hoping for a healthy baby and nothing more.

"No, no, no," Clara corrected herself, "It's much too early to tell that yet, I tend to jump for pronoun to pronoun…" she finished whilst she fiddled with a button. Seconds later, a series of images were being printed out. "Here," she handed over a few to Matt, "First photos for the album… On that note, I am going to confirm that you are 11 weeks and 6 days, which puts your due date at April 15th, which is pretty much what you were told a few weeks ago. Although, only around five percent of babies actually arrive on their expected due date," she cautioned.

"Easter baby," Gabby smiled. "It will be a double blessing for the family," she commented, "Mama and Papá will be excited for that." She ignored the date that she had been given by Karen earlier, she trusted Clara implicated.

"And for that heartbeat we couldn't hear at 7 weeks," Clara advised, flicking a switch to turn on the speakers. A loud, fast thud thud filled the room, immediately causing tears to well in both parents' eyes.

"It's so fast," commented Gabby, bring up her thumb to wipe away the tears that had been forming throughout the appointment. "So much faster than any I hear normally…"

"160 beats per minute, that's quite normal. Baby's heart is supposed to be beating rapidly. It's going to be around twice as fast as your own heart rate. And that," she pointed out, "that there, is baby's heartbeat," she smiled.

Gabby smiled wider than she thought possible as the screen flicked from 3D to 4D. "Oh my," she breathed, she couldn't believe what she was seeing, it was absolutely surreal. "And Casey genes too," she laughed. Smudge looked like he was striking a pose with one arm over his head, and the other thumb in his mouth, causing her heart to skip a beat. "That dance pose looks very familiar," she teased Matt.

Matt threw a glance in her general direction, "That is just plain weird," he announced, "Amazing, but weird," he shook his head.

"Yes, that's the general consensus among many of the expectant fathers," Doctor Peterson contributed as she powered the machine down and wiped the gel away. "We just have a few more tests that I need to run Gabby… I'm going to get April Sexton in to draw some blood.

"Blood test?" questioned Matt, his protective nature taking over.

She nodded her head slowly, "It's all routine Matt… I need for Gabby to have a full blood count; we need to keep an eye on how it's all travelling. Plus, it will be tested to screen for several conditions and to check Gabby's blood group." Taking in Matt's confused look, she pushed on, "Most importantly we need to check whether you're rhesus positive or negative. If you happen to be negative and baby is positive, your body may produce antibodies against your baby's blood. It's not fatal, we would just have to administer certain medications… But let's not cross that bridge if or when we get to it, she advised. Pausing to think for a minute, she reached behind herself for the blood pressure cuff. "With that in mind, I just want to take a baseline blood pressure measurement too… Your blood pressure should be a slight bit lower during the first part of your pregnancy," she told them, as the machine began it's reading. Frowning again, "It's a little higher than I would like Gabby, but I'm thinking today's earlier appointment may have had an effect on it. Nevertheless, it will be something I want to keep an eye on."

Gabby reached blindly out for Matt's hand, squeezing it as a source of comfort. Matt's concerned eyes travelled over her body, bring his other hand up to the crown of her head and pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Gabby, I know it's hard, but I don't want you to stress. It's only going to push that blood pressure higher. Other than that, I would like to check how you're travelling, check your weight and the like. All up I would say you're going to gain anywhere between 25 to 25 pounds over the entire 40 weeks. Breaking that down, I would hope to see you experiencing a steady weight gain of around 1.5 - 2 pounds a week. But I'll be back soon for all of that."

Matt helped Gabby into an upright sitting position, "I can't believe this is really happening," he confessed, his fingers running over one of the images he held. "I know we saw Smudge a few weeks ago, but I can't believe how fast he is growing."

"He?" questioned Gabby an eyebrow raised as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

"He," confirmed Matt, "I just know… And now I've got confirmation he actually exists, actual physical evidence… It's amazing Babe," he told her, brushing his lips over her clothed belly. Gabby closed her eyes and let the happiness wash over her. "Yes, baby. Mommy and Daddy can't wait to see more of you," Matt whispered against her belly, his heart filled with joy and love.

~ Fingernails, toenails, and bones are forming, and a fine layer of hair covers most of her body ~