Woah, we're already at Week 13! Thank you for all the love you have shown for this story.

Also thanks to R & Junko who convinced me not to go with the very short version of this chapter when I was having a grouch about being a teacher earlier in the week! Thanks again ladies for listening to me, I owe you both big time.

I can't believe that we've got less than 5 days until the season premiere of Fire, I cannot wait! So looking forward to it all, with another big thanks to R for sending me the latest promo when I couldn't see it here. Hold on to your seats, I think it's going to be a big season :)

~ Week 13 ~

~ Candidate is the size of a Meyer lemon this week ~

Gabby trailed into the house after Matt, watching as he dropped both of their work bags in the nook where they were usually stored. She stifled a yawn as they walked towards the kitchen.

"I am exhausted," she announced. "I didn't know I could possibly ever be this tired," she complained.

"Well you are growing a baby, Baby," he gently teased her, never sure what mood she might be in. She shot him a withering look as she stretched her muscles gently. Well, that retort had been better than Matt had hoped for.

"Okay?" Matt queried as he noticed her dig a thumb into the area just above her hip bone.

"Only ligament pains. It's just uncomfortable," she grimaced slightly, as his hands joined hers pushing in her thumb slightly deeper causing Gabby to moan softly. She shifted herself towards the edge of the kitchen counter, leaning her foreheads onto the cool material.

"That's it? We don't need to go down to Med or call Doctor Peterson?" Matt asked.

"Mattt… I'm fine. Remember I had the conversation with Doctor Peterson the other day when I rang to check about everything that happened with our appointment last week. These are only growing pains, all the muscles and ligaments are stretching to accommodate the baby. Do you not listen? Natalie told you the same thing that first time we went to Med. This is normal Matt," she emphasised.

Matt looked her up and down a few times, almost as if he was trying to scan her to make sure she was telling him the truth.

"Sure?" he confirmed one more time.

Gabby nodded her head as she sat down at the kitchen bench, dropping her head into her hands. "I'll get breakfast in a few minutes," she told him. "Just waiting for the nausea to settle."

A small concerned look formed on Matt's face as he reached into the pantry, intent on finding some food. Sliding the box along the counter allowing her to nibble on some crackers, he rested his hands on her shoulders and peppered the crown of her head with kisses. "Don't worry about breakfast, I can get myself something. Besides I think you might just fall asleep in your cereal anyways," he quipped.

She gave him a sleepy smile as she looked up at him, sometimes she wondered what she had done to deserve his love and support.

"Come on Babe. Let's get you to bed," he ordered as he swept her up into his arms bridal style and started for the stairs. "Hush," he stopped her as she started to protest.

Laughing slightly, she placed her head against his chest being lulled further into a state of sleep by the steady beating of his heart. Matt smiled down at her as he gently placed her on the edge of the bed and began to take off her shoes.

"Case!" she protested quietly. Matt smiled, she must have been nodding off, it wasn't that often that she would call him 'Case' these days, he kind of missed it, it was quite the term of endearment.

"Shh…" he gently told her as he passed over one of his shirts and hoodies for her to sleep in before helping her into bed.

"But breakfast," she protested almost half asleep.

"It's okay Gabby. I can fix myself something to eat, I won't burn the house down. Besides, I know the number for the fire department."

"Come nap with me," she pleaded with him, tugging on his sleeves. Matt chuckled slightly as he gently removed himself from her grasp. Stripping down, he slipped under the covers, pulling Gabby over to his side of the bed finding that she fell asleep within moments.

A few hours later Gabby stretched as she slowly found consciousness, moving her arms out across the bed looking for Matt. When it became apparent she was in bed herself, she brought her hand back to rest on her tummy as she cracked an eyelid open to look at the clock to find that it was past noon. It was very rare for her to sleep that long after a shift, especially since she had managed to get quite a few hours last night too. Easing herself up slowly Gabby was pleased to find that she wasn't dizzy or nauseous. Bless that 12 week mark, hopefully, it would last and this would be the new normal. However, the new normal also seemed to include sleeping half of the day away too.

Downstairs she found Matt sitting out on the deck looking intently at something.

"What do you have there Babe?" she asked approaching him.

Matt stopped, turned and reached up to kiss her. "Afternoon sleeping beauty," he whispered whilst leaning his forehead against her. "Package came from the photographers," he told her, pulling her into his lap.

Gabby's face lit up, stretching over to take a sip of Matt's cold drink before reaching for the package. Antonio had given them a gift voucher for some professional photos last Christmas with the hope that they could all get some new photos of the complete Dawson family. Once he had found out about his pending niece/nephew he had organised for them to get some photos now, some later in the pregnancy and then some newborn photos too, to say he was excited was an understatement. Adriana had decided that they might get some photos done for their house with the grandchildren too, Eva was especially excited about this! Gabby had loved the idea, there were so many blank walls around this house, all ready to be filled with photos. So Matt and Gabby had gone out to meet the photographer a week or so ago, who had obviously rushed the photos to them. She had rung Gabby the day after the shoot to rave about how well they had turned out and promised to get them to the Caseys as soon as possible.

"Canvas?" Gabby questioned.

"Downstairs in the family room... on the carpet," confirmed Matt.

Gabby gathered up all the photos and the book that had come, intent on going downstairs. "Coming?" she threw over her shoulder.

Shaking his head slightly he called after her, "I wasn't finished looking at them," he grumbled as he chased her down the stairs. Gabby came to a screeching halt as she saw a canvas leant up against the coffee table, her hand coming up to cover her mouth holding a sob in.

"Hey, hey," Matt comforted, taking the photos from her and helping her to sit down. "What's the matter?"

"That photo is perfect Matt," she told him, her eyes never leaving the photo. "I want it for the nursery…"

When she had first spoken to Janine, their photographer, she had been asked about herself and Matt; who they were as a couple and what they did for a living. Janine had been excited to find out that they both worked for the CFD and requested that they bring their work gear as well as some informal clothes. The photo that had been blown up for the canvas featured both Matt and Gabby in their bunker pants; Gabby in her paramedic shirt, PIC bars on display with the suspenders hanging by her legs, him with his lieutenant shirt on, suspenders hooked over his shoulders. Matt was stood behind her arms wrapped her in his hands holding a pair of baby bunker boots in front of her tummy, both with wide grins adorning their faces. "You know that Mama will try and steal this when she sees it!" Gabby joked.

Gabby didn't waste any time plonking herself down onto the couch, pulling the book into her lap. Matt joined her, allowing her to start flicking through the book of proofs Janine had sent along with quite a few samples featuring them in their fire gear. Included was a note telling them it had been a lovely afternoon meeting them and taking photos and informing them that there were more photos to come but enjoy these photos to start with.

"It's really happening, isn't it?" she whispered.

"Hmm?" Matt questioned as he held her closer still.

"This baby… It's really happening…." her voice started to crack. If Matt was honest, he had somewhat been expecting this, if it was what he thought it was. Wisely he thought about it and decided to keep quiet. This conversation would play out better if he just let her take her time and open up by herself. Silently he began to rub her arms, letting her know that it was okay, whatever it was.

After a few moments silence, Gabby opened her mouth, her voice still shaky, "After we had the miscarriage - I was scared, I was worried that this would never happen for us. And I would be lying if I said I have abandoned those fears entirely. I feel like the miscarriage is a shadow that will probably hang over my entire pregnancy…" she took a shaky breath before continuing, "...but I'm starting to feel a little better each day. I feel like I've been maintaining my distance as best I can but after that ultrasound last week and seeing those little feet kicking, I can no longer hold back. It's my baby in there and I'm filled with hopes and dreams and fears. Matt… It's going to be okay, isn't it?" she questioned as Matt began to run his fingers lightly up and down her arm.

"Gabby... Baby... it is going to be okay. Smudge is going to be here before we can blink - remember what I've told you, I've got us. I'll hold us together until you're here with me, there's more than enough love to cover us both. It's okay to be scared. It doesn't make you any less of a parent. I know how much you already love Smudge."

Gabby laughed slightly as she leant her head down on his shoulder. "Our journey is just beginning and it's going to get weird and wonderful. After all this heartache and healing we are on the road to having a baby and it's meant to be a joyful time… And it's going to be. It's time to start telling our other family…"

Gabby sniffed slightly as she picked up another pile of photos, giving Matt a small smile. Matt grinned widely, placing a kiss on her temple and picking up a small photo from the pile, smiling as he thought that maybe he could send this one to Christie. He knew for sure that Violet would be excited to have a baby cousin, it had been much too long since he had seen them. Whilst they saw a fair amount of the Dawson family, the Casey family get togethers were somewhat few and far between.

"Matt?" Gabby started looking up from the photos that she was looking through. "I think I know how we can tell the house," a smirk on her face. Matt raised an eyebrow, pondering what his wife possibly had in mind. Gabby had been so adamant that they weren't going to tell the rest of the house until she had passed her 12 week mark, but Matt hadn't heard any ideas from her about how that was actually going to occur.

"We can place a heap of these photos around the house before next shift, letting everyone find them," she told him excitedly, pushing some of the photos around on the coffee table in front of them, looking for the perfect photo to go onto the fridge.

Chuckling Matt pulled her in for a kiss, running his hands up and down her back before tangling them in her hair. Gabby moaned slightly as she melted deeper into the kiss.

"Take that means you think that it's a good idea," she breathed as she pulled back. His answer was another kiss.

Two days later Matt and Gabby found themselves at the house much earlier than they normally would have arrived. Gabby had their photos in a case, grasped tightly to her chest waiting for Matt to rap on Boden's closed office door. She was thanking her lucky stars that Connie hadn't started for the day yet. The last thing she needed was Connie to find out what was happening before they had a chance to announce it themselves… Again!

Looking up to find both Caseys in front of himself, Boden wondered what this was about today. Judging by the smile on Dawson's face, it evidently wasn't a bad thing. "What is it now?" he questioned, "More than one kid?"

Dawson's eyes widened in horror. "Chief! Don't even joke about that," she admonished.

Boden shrugged slightly at Casey, giving Dawson a questioning look, waiting for them to continue. Casey gave Dawson a sideways look, knowing that she was in the driver's seat.

"So Chief..." Dawson took a deep breath before finding Casey's hand, squeezing it in the hopes of finding strength. She couldn't quite figure out what was causing her nervousness, Boden had been happy for both of them. "Chief," she started again, "We wanted permission to put some photos around the house."

Boden raised an eyebrow, pushing himself back further into his seat. "Photos?" he repeated, clearly not completely understanding what it was that they wanted to do. There were photos all over the house. He himself had photos in his office and knew that Casey had a wedding photo in his quarters. They even had a wall devoted to photos of the Firehouse 51 family. Boden stared back at Dawson, a thoughtful hand placed over his chin.

"What Dawson is asking Chief, is that we have some new photos and she wants to let everyone in on our little secret," Casey filled their confused boss in.

"Do I get to see them before I agree to this scheme of yours Dawson?" he questioned. Casey smiled before pulling the photos from Dawson's firm grip and passing them over to Boden.

A wide smile grew over the older man's face as he flicked through the numerous photos of the couple.

"I believe that these photos will be a welcome addition to the family. It is will be a wonderful way to let them in on your news," he complimented. Pausing at one particular photo, he glanced up at the expectant couple. "Donna would love to see this photo," he commented.

Dawson smiled, a nervous laugh leaving her body. "I'll be sure to show it to her next time I see her Chief," Dawson promised. "I want that one in Casey's office," she finished, picking up the photo in question. It was one of the few photos of the two of them without their fire gear on that she had even brought in.

Boden smiled in return, wishing them well as they exited his office.

"Conference room?" Casey questioned.

Dawson nodded, before taking a beat. "Actually," she started with a shake of her head. "I'm taking this and putting it where it belongs," she informed him with a dazzling smile, it was going to be a good day! She selected the photo that she had promised to show Donna, and handed the rest off to Casey. He reached out to stop her, trying to peer at the photo she had removed.

A smile radiated across his face as he took in the photo that he knew was likely going to end up sitting on his office desk. After Hallie, it had been a number of years until he had been able even to think about putting another one in its spot. The top right hand corner of his desk had been empty until he had finally put a wedding photo down only a few months ago. So it was with overwhelming joy he watched Dawson saunter off down the hall towards his office with a photo of the two of them, showing his large hands placed protectively over where his child was growing. As much as Casey loved all of the photos that they had worn their fire gear, it was nice to have a reminder of their everyday life in his office. It also sent him a very real reminder that he had to be extra safe on shift - there was something very special waiting for him at home.

Soon the Caseys had set themselves up in the conference room, eight photos spread out on the table, both trying to decide where they could place them. They had picked the biggest photos that Janine had sent to them so they couldn't be missed. Gabby knew that at least one or two of them would end up on the walls surround the house, add to the history of Firehouse 51, and another would end up in their lockers with Matt having already earmarking the one he wanted for his locker - it had to be the boots.

"We could just put them all on the side of the truck," announced Matt after several moments of thinking about it.

"What about ambo?" Gabby argued back.

"Everyone would see them on the truck, though."

"It's not all about Truck though, I've got my uniform on too!"

"Yes," commented Matt as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "And you look sexy," he whispered into her ear. "Although this uniform of yours is starting to look a bit snug."

Gabby tried to whip around but found Matt's hold too tight, "I see what you did there Casey. Immobilise me and make a crack about me getting fat."

"Not fat babe," placing a kiss on her neck. "Sexy," he reinforced, trailing further kisses down her neck, nipping at her collarbone.

"Matt, we need to sort this out." Matt groaned as he reluctantly released her.

"What about we put them on the truck, ambo and then in the common areas in the house. If we stay in here, we can let the guys find us in here," he proposed.

Gabby nodded as they set to work. "I call boots on Herrmann's locker, he will get a kick out of that…" she trailed off.

Slowly the members of Firehouse 51 made their way into work ready for another 24 hours together.

Herrmann paused at the door of Truck 81 as something caught his eye. "Whoa!" Turning around somewhat, he found Kidd and Severide walking in together. "Hey lovebirds, any idea what this is about?" he asked brandishing the photo that showed two sets of legs wearing turnout gear with bunker boots on along with a baby set of boots.

Kidd raised an eyebrow expectantly at Severide. He only shook his head at them shrugging slightly, Severide was not what anyone would call a perceptive person in relation to anything other than firefighting.

"Maybe it's Kedder on First Watch, he and his missus having been planning another one," he theorised.

"Can't be," Kidd returned, "Whoever they are they have two sets of bunker boots…. You don't think?" she became excited, agitated but excited.

"Who?" Severide replied, obviously unaware who she was talking about. Herrmann scoffed at him.

"What's everyone looking at?" Brett asked coming onto the apparatus floor. She squealed slightly as she saw the photo. "Aww cute," she exclaimed as Otis and Cruz walked in behind her. Moving forward towards the ambo she saw something flapping on the door where Shay's name lay.

"There's another one," she pointed. This photo was similar to the last one, but this time, it was someone with station boots, a woman wearing red high heels along with those same baby boots. "Those seem familiar," she mused as she removed the photo.

"They look similar to a pair that I have," Kidd told her as she looked over Brett's shoulder. "Or a pair that had, I loaned them to Dawson ages ago and never got them back."

"Can't be," Brett commented, trying not to get her hopes up, desperately attempting to stop the impending smile.

As they entered the locker room, they were greeted with three more photos. On Herrmann's locker was a photo of a turnout coat on the ground, a helmet and baby boots placed on it, on closer inspection the turnout coat was Casey's.

"Son of a gun," whispered Herrmann. "I called it," he shouted to everyone around him.

"What?" asked Severide, still not clued in.

"Photo on your locker," Herrmann pointed out.

"Yeah," Severide replied. "It's a photo of coats. What of it? Who takes photos of coats?"

"Look closer Severide," Mouch told him as he reached around Severide to pull the photo off. The couple in the photo were sitting with turnout coats draped over their knees; one read Lieutenant Casey, the second EMS-PIC Casey and lastly the hands were holding out a baby shirt with the CFD logo and candidate printed on.

With each passing beat, the crew at Firehouse 51 allowed themselves to become more excited for their friends and expanding fire family. It had been a long time coming.

"Yeah and look at what is on Casey's locker," Cruz announced. This one showed Matt's back to the camera, grey shirt on with bunker trousers on along with those bright red suspenders. Gabby was standing facing him, face hidden by Matt's body, her arms dangling over his shoulders holding onto those now familiar boots.

"You think they're trying to tell us something?" Otis pondered, staring intently at the image.

"Ya think?" Herrmann commented as Kidd took off towards the bunk room in search of the couple

"Hey guys, breakfast is up," Borelli called as he walked into the locker room. "And this was on the fridge," he finished holding onto yet another photo. Brett snatched the photo out of Jimmy's hands. "Oh... this one is the most adorable yet," she sighed showing the group the photo of the Caseys in uniform, Matt behind Gabby whose turnout coat was pulled up and brushed back. Matt's hands were snaked under her coat and resting on her still flat belly. "I think I want to keep this one, it's perfect," she sighed.

"Where are the Caseys?" Mouch questioned

"Not in the bunk room or in Casey's quarters," Kidd announced as she walked back towards the group. "But I did find this sonogram taped to the Lieutenant's door… With a note attached announcing the new candidate Casey arriving in April," excitement evident in her voice.

Before anyone else had time to react Boden's deep voice was heard echoing through the house reminding them of roll call. The crew jumped to it getting ready for the day, most of them being caught up with the mystery that Casey and Dawson had left for them. Herrmann gathered up all the photos to hand back to the expectant parents when they finally found them.

In the conference room, Casey and Dawson heard their workmates and friends barrel their ways towards them and noticed Boden slip silently in before everyone else, giving them a tight smile.

Dawson braced herself against Casey, waiting for the oncoming storm. "You ready," he whispered as he tightened his hands around her waist.

Dawson gave him a weak smile. "It's now or never," she answered.

Before she knew it Brett and Kidd had pulled her from Casey's grasp, congratulating her.

"I knew it…. I knew it!" shouted Kidd. "You totally blew me off a few weeks ago when I called you out on it. You little…" Kidd finished with a smirk.

"Yeah, well you know," Dawson comforted, a similar expression on her face. Kidd gave her a mocking glare, before snatching the sonogram back out of Herrmann's grip, having been the one who had collected all the photos up.

"This one is going on the wall," she called over her shoulder, waving the image on her way out of the room.

Looking over at Casey from the hug she found herself still in, she saw the boys surrounding him, Severide clapping him on the shoulder before making his way over toward her.

Severide grabbed her in for a quick hug dropping a kiss on her head. "Congrats Dawson. This is awesome news," he genuinely told her. Dawson smiled, Severide had changed so much over the last year, she wondered how much of it was Kidd, how much of it was Severide just maturing or maybe it was just everything falling into place for him. He was finally in a good spot in his life and Dawson was happy for him.

"Thanks, Kel."

Turning slightly, she found herself face to face with Herrmann, tears in his eyes, his arms spread open for her.

"Remember…. I told you, it's your time Gabby," whispered Herrmann as he drew Dawson into a hug. "It's your time."

~ His vocal cords are beginning to develop, and his ankle joints have matured and the toes have separated ~

There we go, the house finally knows - Let me know what you think! At the moment, we're sailing along with them, which is a nice change :)

If you want to have a sticky beak at the house I use as the Casey house and some of the inspiration that I used for their photo shoot - head over to my profile page and follow the link to my story Pinterest page. There I have photos from Week 3, 9 & 13. Plus I'm sure that I will keep adding to my boards as the story unfolds