Wow what a week it has been - I've just started back for the last term of the school year here and the week as just flown by. And then there was that small thing of the Fire Season Premiere! Oh my, what a season opener it was - I honestly think we're in for an interesting season. The family thing does look good on Dawsey, and I can't go past that family without mentioning a certain lieutenant's arms! And I have to ask, when did Otis become so mature? It's such a nice development to see in his character.
Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to review! And to R, who I believe had a laugh when she first edited this. Hope you enjoy! ~Em
~ Week 14 ~
~ Candidate is the size of a nectarine ~
Gabby rustled through some papers that were scattered across the desk in their office. Whilst her paperwork for Molly's was nicely stacked and organised within a drawer that she called her own, there were piles of papers all around from the academy, their firehouse, Matt's reports and alderman work… left, right and centre, all scattered around.
She took a deep breath thumbing through yet another stack of CFD paper, searching for the letter from the Academy about the seminar that part of the senior leadership team from 51 was required to attend, she couldn't remember what it was she needed to wear. She wracked her brain to think of another time that this had been done, usually someone from the quieter houses was invited, which meant 'ordered', to meet the candidates. But it seemed like CFD headquarters were intent on rotating these types of jobs around all of the houses. The problem was it now meant that when Firehouse 51 was drafted in for the orientation day, it would have to be the off-day officers that were meant to go. And somehow Second Watch had drawn the short straw, and whilst it wasn't the norm for the PIC to be involved, it seemed that it was becoming more and more common for the firefighter candidates to be EMT-Paramedic trained. Therefore, all officers were deemed important enough to be 'invited'.
When Boden had called them together two weeks ago, Gabby had complained about having to attend for most of the shift. Honestly, they had all complained about it, none of them all that keen on giving up their precious day off for something that was CFD related… Well, at least not something that was going to be a long day. Gabby, whilst normally would not have complained, she just didn't think she'd be able to handle a whole day at the academy, not in a stuffy hall, standing on her feet all day, growing a baby and all. She just wouldn't be able to cope and this had caused everyone at Firehouse 51 to cop an earful about how she didn't want to go. Both of the lieutenants were always ready to give back to the academy, but in the middle of a very warm fall, having to get dressed in their white shirts, stand around in a lecture theatre for a long time just didn't seem appealing. Matt had joked that he was going to send Herrmann in his place since he too was a lieutenant. Plus, these type of days seemed like all of the instructors were going to be doing the talking and everything that was needed, and they, the officers, usually just stood around looking pretty. Well, at least, that's what Gabby had thought when she was a candidate, back in the day.
Either way, they wouldn't be going anywhere if she couldn't find the paperwork that Matt had put down somewhere. She was so sure that they needed to have separate offices, there was no way she was sharing with Matt anymore. She really only used it for Molly's paperwork, but Matt seemed to be struggling to keep anything in order, and she was fed up. Stomping her feet slightly, she pulled herself up from her seated position, gathering up all the random pieces of paper from the desktop intent on removing them. As she stormed out of the office, she wondered if Matt was in the basement… if that was the case, would she be able to just throw the paper down the stairs? As annoyed as she was at the very moment, she knew that wouldn't be a good idea at all. In the end, it would likely be her that picked everything up.
She came to a stand still in the foyer slash open space just outside of their office, Gabby still wasn't sure what they could possibly do with this area of the house. When they had first looked at their house, the realtor had suggested a piano, apparently, both of the two owners previously had kept a piano in that empty area. Matt had been quite taken with that particular idea, whilst Gabby had openly laughed. What were they going to do with a piano? In her mind, it was just one more object that would collect dust, one that she would end up cleaning. But Matt hadn't let go of the idea... not just yet.
"Matt?" she raised her voice, not sure of where in the house he had disappeared to. She hadn't seen him since he had left for a shower, whilst she had made her way downstairs in search of breakfast.
A few moments later, Matt appeared with his white shirt still unbuttoned a smirk plastered on his face, her breath hitched slightly. Within moments it, however, dialled up her anger even more. This pregnancy was having no effect on him at all, whilst here she was hormones surging around her body, and it frustrated her. Over the last week or so, she had definitely had a surge in her energy levels, she was feeling healthy and ready to tackle anything head on. Busy days on the Ambo were once again much more pleasurable, she could get through a shift without needing to fall asleep as soon as they arrived back at the house. But her emotions were still up and down, all over the place. Plus there was the issue of not completely fitting into some of her clothes. And he was standing in front of her in his white shirt, that blasted white shirt.
So when he walked in with what she interpreted as a smug grin plastered on his face, she wasn't in a good spot and just flew off the handle slightly.
"Really?" she questioned, looking at him. Without even waiting for an answer, she took the pile of papers, mostly belonging to Matt, and threw them up in the air, watching momentarily as they rained over him.
Matt was stunned, not too sure what it was that had caused this 'small' outburst. So stunned that he didn't even notice that Gabby had stormed out. Bending over, he started to gather up the fallen papers finding that yes, they were mostly his. Thinking seriously for a moment, Matt realised that he had been severely lax about his filing and organisation. No one could ever call Lieutenant Casey out on his paperwork, however recently Matt's mind had been filled with so many other things, much more pleasant things. This had meant Matt would come home from political events or meetings and simply throw bits of paper into the office. He had kept meaning to come in and clear up after himself, but it had never happened. Pushing them hastily into a pile, he placed them all into the in tray on the desk. Turning on his heels, he made his way upstairs in search of the likely weepy Gabby. This pregnancy had done a number on her emotions, but he was still going to enjoy every single moment that was coming his way.
Matt had to dodge quickly, as an object came flying out of her closet. Watching as several objects quickly followed, Matt had to try and restrain himself from allowing a smirk to cross his face. 'And so it begins,' he thought to himself, wisely deciding to keep that comment to himself. Sensibly he decided to finish doing his buttons up before poking his head around the door of the closet, he had seen Gabby eying him like a piece of meat earlier. Any other time and he wouldn't have minded one little bit, the increase in energy levels that she was experiencing had seemingly included an increase in desire. Unfortunately, they were due at the academy in just under an hour and he knew that Severide would never let him forget it if they were late.
"Gabs?" he started tentatively, his eyes darting around to see if he could locate the crazy one. However, this time, he wasn't able to move fast enough before her white shirt came hurtling towards his face. A mere second later he felt a slight pain stinging his left cheek, picking up Gabby's white shirt to find a drop of blood near Gabby's nameplate. Matt couldn't quite believe it, she had actually thrown the article of clothing that she needed to put on at him, and he was sure that she wouldn't be able to cover up the blood stain that he had managed to inflict on the poor shirt. There just wasn't enough time. They really did need to leave soon.
"Gabs?" he tried again, this time actually receiving the attention of his wife. And whilst before he had been at the receiving end of her eyes, it was now his turn to rake his eyes up and down her figure. There wasn't a bump at all visible, he couldn't wait for when her body would start to grow and he was able to feel movement, there was something primal stirring inside of him at that thought. She still wasn't quite dressed; she was obviously still looking for something. She had her work pants on, however, they were sitting a little lower on her hips then she normally would, as well as missing a belt. In addition to that, she still wasn't wearing her CFD shirt, rather she was waltzing around with a tank top on. Matt kind of understood, it was still in the mid-80s as they were coming to the end of summer, beginning of fall. But it wasn't normal for Gabby not to be ready.
Gabby huffed as she let herself out of the closet, tugging at her pants. Matt threw a hand around her bare shoulder, pulling her in for a hug, letting his fingers ghost down her bare arm, smiling as she shivered slightly. As his fingers made their ways down her arm, he slid them under her tank top, feeling the firm mass underneath his fingers.
"Matt," whined Gabby. "I can't go… There's nothing to wear, I don't fit into anything," she complained. Matt raised his eyebrows and took a step back from her to look down at the non-existent bump that she wasn't sporting.
"Gabs, Smudge isn't big enough yet. You can't even tell that you're pregnant. No bump there at all," he tried to comfort.
However, Gabby wasn't having any of it, pulling at the top that was tucked into her pants. "See?" she questioned pointing down at her belly. Matt stared for a moment, nothing was obvious to him, yes her waistline had definitely become thicker, but there was no way he would be saying that to her. Thicker waistline, not a bump… it was barely a swell.
"All I see is my gorgeous wife," he honestly told her, taking her into his arms, resting his chest on her back. Twisting them both slightly, he glanced in the mirror, hooking his chin over her shoulder. "Yes Gabriela, your body has started to change, but you are not fat…"
"FAT?" Gabby screeched, as she tried to pull away. She hadn't ever said anything about being fat, more that she was only feeling uncomfortable and was struggling to work out what to wear.
"Babe," he soothed, trailing kissing down her shoulder. Gabby twisted in his embrace to capture Matt's lips, moaning at the contact. The best thing about her second trimester so far was the return of her energy and the almost insatiable feelings she was having towards her husband. Feeling his hands moving through her hair, massaging her scalp, Gabby took that as her cue to start unbuttoning his white shirt. Making quick work of the buttons, she pushed it off of his shoulders, pulling away to watch as it falls to the floor. Taking control, she pushed Matt back towards the bed. "Gabs," he groaned. "We can't do this. We need to be at the academy in half an hour. I'm good, but I'm not that good," he teased.
Gabby grumbled as she pulled back, "Tickets on yourself Matthew," she retorted tussling his blonde hair. "I'm not coming to the academy anymore," she firmly told him, bending over to pick up his white shirt and tossing it to him.
"And why not? It's not like Boden gave us a choice," he replied, fiddling with his badge which had seemed to dislodge itself on the trip to the floor.
"I've been looking for the memo from the Academy about today and the dress standards… that would be much easier if you keep your desk tidy," she glared in his direction. "Nevermind, it was on the fridge. Here I was thinking that as a PIC I might be able to get away with my station wear, but it clearly states Charlie uniform," she complained. Matt looked at her, just one eyebrow cocked, Gabby wasn't making any sense at all. Clearly, she still had her dress shirt, a white one that she would be required to wear as a Paramedic in Charge, one of them had hit him in the face not that long ago. Gabby huffed again, was Matt that oblivious? Honestly, the man was a lieutenant with the Chicago Fire Department and had worked his fair share of arson investigations or at least helped out with them, so it's not like he couldn't see things that were right in front of his face.
Gabby swiped up the offending shirt from the floor, glaring at it whilst doing so. She was so frustrated over the whole situation that she didn't even notice Matt's blood that had been spilt on it. Sliding it over her shoulder, she slowly began to do up the buttons. The first few at the bottom were fine, however, around her tummy, it started to become tighter and problematic. And by the time she reached just below her chest, the buttons began to strain. She was unable to even get the small buttons done up around the widest part of her body, sniffing audibly she threw her hands down by her side, finally letting her emotions get the better of herself.
"I just wanted to see if I could wear my house uniform," she sniffed. "I've been able to get a slightly bigger top for work and I thought I might be able to get away with that at the academy… But no… White dress shirt that is short sleeved. If I was still a firefighter I might have been lucky, that dress uniform is a little bigger. What am I going to do Matt?"
Matt paused for a moment, regarding the situation… It was going to be a white shirt in this situation whether she was a firefighter or paramedic. It was only her dress uniform that she had changed when she had changed positions, but he wasn't going to bring that up. "It's too hot for a sweater," he pondered, thinking that would be a way around needing to completely do up her shirt. Rather he had to think outside the square. Gabby screwed up her face at even the thought of having to put a sweater on in this heat, not to mention that as a pregnant person she was feeling a few degrees warmer than everyone else. Without saying a word, Matt disappeared into his own closet.
Gabby regarded him for a short second, before walking over to sit on the edge of the bed, her mind racing to think of what she was going to do.
"I think you might need to order a new dress uniform," Matt voiced, breaking her out of her inner thoughts. Looking up, she found Matt holding out a coat hanger with a white shirt upon it. She gave him a puzzled look. "This was my first dress shirt," he explained. "I was definitely a fair bit smaller back then… It's still going to be big on you, but at least it's going to fit better than your shirt," he commented.
She looked at him as if there was something seriously wrong with him before taking the proffered item. Shaking her head slightly she pulled the shirt on and attempted to button it up, all the while thinking it wasn't going to work. After fiddling with the shirt for a while, Gabby finally looked down, trying to work out what was going on, this just wasn't working for her. Matt had to gulp down a laugh as he watched on, Gabby still hadn't caught on that his shirt buttoned up in reverse of her own.
Taking pity on her, he gently pushed her hands away from the shirt, himself making quick work of the buttons. Turning her around to look in the mirror, he smiled. "See, this could work," he encouraged as Gabby pursed her lips. But she still wasn't convinced, his shirt was still too large. "All we need to do is find a way to pull it in a bit and then once it's tucked in, no one is going to notice."
"Everyone is going to notice Matt!" she complained. However, she pulled at the material around the sides of the shirt, realising that she just needed a way to dart the shirt in. Looking through her bedside drawer, she managed to find some safety pins and undid a few of the middle buttons on Matt's shirt. Pulling the material from the inside, Gabby was able to gather the excess material and pin it in on both sides. She took some time trying not to prick herself with a pin, trying not to rip the shirt or make it look lopsided. She found that pulling from the inside it was seemingly working well.
Before long, she was in a shirt that resembled something that she might be able to get away at the academy for the day. Yes, the sleeves were a little longer than she would have liked, and yes it was a fair bit baggier than her normal shirt, but she would deal with it. Tucking her shirt in, she pulled some of the shirt out away from her body, hoping to draw attention away from her belly.
"See I told you it would work," Matt smirked as he tossed her her own white shirt allowing her a chance to remove her badge and name plate. Leaning down to kiss her, he removed the badge from her hands allowing himself the chance to pin it on. To him it was almost like a victory. His brow furrowed in confusion however when he saw the Dawson name plate that she wore.
"Matt, don't," she pleaded, noticing his eyes fixating on the plate. "Just for today, when we go to the academy I need to be PIC Dawson. I don't need questions and I don't want to flaunt our marriage. You know that we're lucky that we can work together… Let's just be Lieutenant Casey and PIC Dawson, just for this one day," she begged.
Gabby had struggled with this decision for a while now. It might not have been since the moment they had been told about this seminar, but fairly soon afterwards. She had actually come home and searched for her whites, in all of the time she had been married to Matt there had been no cause for her to wear either her Class A or B uniforms. And that evening when Matt had gone out for a professional networking dinner, she had found the small box that held all of her metal pieces for the many different uniforms she owned. It hadn't been her intention to look for her Dawson name badge, but once it had caught her eye it had started her thinking. Obviously, she wouldn't ever be able to serve under Matt on Truck 81, honestly, if she thought about it, she wasn't sure that she could understand how it was that she was even able to stay at House 51.
As she had run her fingers over her name plate she had decided that it would be in her best interests to wear it to the seminar. It was nothing against Matt, she was proud to have his name and for their unborn child to be a Casey, Gabby was very traditional in that sense; no Dawson-Casey or Casey-Dawson for this little family. And everyone knew how news flew around the department, she didn't need to give anyone at the academy a chance to look at her sideways, not to mention she just was not ready to tell the Paramedic Chief about her pregnancy just yet. Realistically she did still have a few more weeks before she had to tell him.
She watched as Matt struggled internally for a beat. There was nothing more he enjoyed than making sure that everyone knew she was his girl. Ever professional at work, but all of their belongings were labelled Casey, and he was struggling to understand why this was important to her. But she wasn't having a good day with her uniform and the fact that he had left the office in a mess, best to give her this one.
"Honestly Casey and Casey, what time do you call this?" Severide questioned from his position leaning up against the wall that led into the academy seminar hall that was going to be hosting the meeting today. He had obviously been waiting for them to arrive.
"What too afraid to go in by yourself Severide?" Gabby questioned as they dragged their feet up the stairs. "Big Squad lieutenant like yourself?" she teased.
Severide scoffed slightly as he pushed himself off the wall. "Ready for the day from hell?" he asked.
Matt shook his head slightly at the two in front of him. "Hey, what is written on those walls? What is it they teach us in here? It only takes one shift to change a life… You both know that this could be that day for some of these candidates," he mock scolded them. Whilst he wasn't that keen on being here either, giving up a precious day off, he also knew that it was important for these new candidates to see people they could aspire to be. Not just the white shirters - the higher rankers. But rather them, still officers with a rank, yet something that was quite attainable to them if they were willing to work hard. And Matt knew that there were more and more firefighters who were going to EMT trained, and to have a PIC from a busy house was going to give them an insight into the importance for all of the different rigs needing to work together. Not to mention that this would also give any female candidates, either paramedic or firefighter someone to look up to. Here was Gabby, a PIC and former firefighter leading the way for anyone to follow in her footsteps. Matt shook his head at them before stalking off towards the door.
Gabby watched as he sauntered off. She hadn't ever seen him so worked up about anything like that recently. They all knew how much they owed the academy, that was never in question. But no one liked giving up a day to spend in a lecture hall. She quickened her pace to reach Matt before he reached the doors.
"Hey," she grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him away from the door. "We know how important today is, for the candidates and to everyone in the fire department. You know Severide is just being himself. No one would willingly put their hand up for this gig though Babe," she told him as she ran a finger down his cheek.
Matt gave her a small smile before glancing hurriedly around to make sure that they were in an empty hall, well emptyish hall, before leaning down to give her a quick kiss. "Do you know how sexy you are in my uniform?" he whispered into her ear making her blush.
"Keep it in your pants Case," Severide teased as he finally reached them. "Come on, let's get this over with," he commented leading the way into the hall.
Gabby leant up against the wall at the back of the hallway in between the two 51 lieutenants taking in the scene in front of herself. Matt thought back to the time so many years ago that he and Severide were in this exact same position. There weren't too many times that he had been back in this position, the academy class didn't run yearly, that's how he and Severide had ended up in the same group. He watched as the recruits slowly filed into the room, starting to fill the seats from the front of the hall. Every so often there would be one who would think about moving towards the back, generally those recruits were younger. Obviously, many of them had taken one look at Sev's stern face and thought better of it and had simply taken the next available seat.
Matt thought about his time at the academy, he remembered the nervous energy that had filled him at the first seminar that he had attended, one that could be sensed in the room today. The whole room had been enveloped in a high-strung silence, everyone was really thinking that they were not allowed to talk, a stark contrast to what it would be like in six months. People were still very unsure about each other and didn't know anyone so chatter was at a minimum. He looked over startled as Severide stretched over and kicked him in the foot. He gave his fellow lieutenant a confused look.
Severide pointed out a young guy and lady who were seated not too far from the trio, but intently talking to each other. Matt raised his eyebrows. "Do you think she might be able to stop twirling her hair around her finger when one of the instructors comes in?" Gabby hissed.
"Dawson," Severide replied. "You were one of those girls… In my class, might I add," he finished with a glint in his eyes.
Gabby glared at him, "You mean I was in your class and I happened to be a female," she clarified. "I was nothing like that," she finished jerking a finger in the direction of the hair twirling recruit.
"No… You were too busy making eyes at the truck lieutenant over there," he teased. Matt laughed slightly as he discreetly moved to tap her on the behind.
Before Gabby was able to open her mouth, the door swung open. In filed a number of Academy Instructors with Chief Tiberg taking to the podium. Gabby raised her eyebrows questioningly at Matt, what was he doing here? Usually, it was the Dean of Students making this opening speech. She was so deep in thought that she missed the beginning of the welcome from Tiberg.
"...When you start in a few weeks, you will be spending your first days learning to climb a ladder properly, running up stairs and doing push-ups. In about a year, after graduation from the academy and a probationary period, most of you will become full-fledged firefighters," he started, scanning the audience, his eyes finally falling to the 51 members at the back of the crowd. These three were shining examples of the Chicago Fire Department Academy, he wondered how many of the people sitting in front of him today would become the next leaders of the CFD. At the back, he knew that Kelly Severide had the skills and ability to become part of the Exempt Rank Members, however, he wasn't as likely to be politically suited to one of those positions as Matthew Casey would be. Severide might have the raw instinct, but Casey's experience in the Chicago political world would stand him in good stead to move up the ranks.
"Not everyone here will make it. Either here at the Academy or during your probation period. But all we, as instructors and experienced firefighters, ask you to do today is listen to what you are being told today. Listen, find out if this is actually going to be the right job for you. Some of you may listen, chat to our firefighters and paramedics and then leave - and that's fine. Not everyone in the world can do this, and that's why it's such a great job. And on that note - we have many of the instructors here who you will be learning from, please acknowledge them," he stated as he led them in a round of applause.
"And following with tradition, during these seminars we invite current serving members of a local firehouse to be here. Today we welcome a number of the officers from Firehouse 51; Lieutenant Severide, Lieutenant Casey and Paramedic in Charge Dawson." Dawson smiled slightly, Tiberg could never remember that she had changed her name, this had worked out quite well for her. "Firehouse 51 is one of our busiest firehouses in Chicago and has a Squad rig, lead by Lieutenant Severide. These members along with some of our firefighters will be around to answer any questions that you may have about your new career later today. Make sure you pick their brains since they are on the front line every shift… Especially Paramedic Dawson, it is becoming more common for you to be EMS trained."
Before long the three members at the rear tuned out Tiberg's long, long speech. Soon Gabby wasn't too sure how much longer that she would be able to stay standing up, just as Matt tugged on her sleeve and nodded at the door. All the instructors were being dismissed, allowing them time to get some refreshments.
Severide, Matt and Gabby decided to walk towards the lobby with their coffees, trying to escape from the other instructors, none of them really wanting to make small talk with anyone else. Well, Matt and Kelly were drinking coffee, Gabby, however, wasn't able to find any decaf so had to settle for a juice. Severide looked at Gabby strangely for a few moments, trying to work out what was different about her.
"Dawson?" he called out, his fingers reaching out to grasp onto her white shirt. "Is that Casey's shirt?" he asked cheekily.
~ All of her internal organs formed during the first trimester ~