Another week and another chapter to update. In relation to my week - I never thought I would be so exhausted to answer questions from prospective parents or have such sore feet from walking them around the school grounds :) Thank you, thank you for all the reviews and conversations that I have had with people about this story. Look we're nearly half-way to meeting Smudge.
Thank you as always to R for absolutely everything x
What a season we've started with, I for one cannot wait to see the next episode!
~ Candidate is now the size of an avocado
"This damn door won't open," Gabby grumbled to Matt as she tried to open their back door. "Matt," she hollered, she tried the door again, frustrated at finding it still locked.
Matt hurried over, his bag slung over his shoulder after locking the truck. He stood a few steps back to watch as Gabby struggled with the door. He had to hold in his laughter however when he noticed that she was trying to get the door open using her car key fob. She stood in front of the door, angrily clicking the fob at the door before turning the handle and becoming frustrated when it didn't open. And then the cycle would begin again. Gabby had been showing more and more signs of pregnancy brain over the last week. Matt had always scoffed at the idea of 'pregnancy brain' especially with someone like Gabby who was had a totally 'Type-A' personality, everything was always in order and everything had its place. It was the only way she managed to run their busy schedules and keep up with everything.
However, he had noticed that her ability to concentrate and pay attention to tasks had been affected. Not that she would ever admit it, but she was getting so forgetful that she had had a few instances where she had forgotten what she was talking about halfway through a sentence. Most noticeably during their last shift when she and Herrmann were talking about inventory at Molly's, and isn't was like someone had interrupted her and her flow of thought, rather she had stopped dead and looked confused. Luckily for her, or rather them, Herrmann had filled in the blanks for her in a way that she hadn't taken offence to. But then again Herrmann was the expert in anything pregnancy-baby related, he may just happen not to stick his foot in his mouth as much at the moment, unlike pretty much everyone else.
Whilst Gabby's concentration had been slightly lacking in most areas of her life, the one place that Matt couldn't fault her was at work. He had been watching her at work, and there hadn't been a time that he would be able to pinpoint when she was distracted. At work, during any given call, she was the same old PIC Dawson that she always had been. There was something instinctive about the way she worked as if there was nothing that would ever be able to pull her off of her work. And for that Matt was appreciative, there were enough concerns about this pregnancy that he harboured already - from the fear of history repeating itself to the danger of Gabby's job, not that he would ever put these fears into words, at least not to her.
A stomp on the back step brought Matt back to reality. "Matt," Gabby whined. Matt's head snapped back up to find Gabby tapping her foot impatiently, gesturing at the door. He smiled slightly as he eased the keys out of her hands.
"Here," he said. "This isn't going to work," he motioned to the key fob, "rather try this one," he finished, putting the key into the lock and turning it with ease.
Gabby's face flushed red as she made her way through the door, following the laughter from her husband.
A sharp rap at the door woke Matt from a light slumber the next morning. He groaned as he woke trying to regain his bearings, glancing down at his watch to find that it was close to lunch time. Casting his mind back, they had had a late night at Molly's the previous night and Gabby had been quite restless during the night. After having the sheets stolen from his side of the bed for the upteenth time, Matt resolved to get up and do some paperwork downstairs. He had gathered some of this said work from the office and settled himself down on the couch with the television on as background noise.
The last thing he remembered was looking up at the wall clock to find that it was already 10am and Gabby still wasn't up and around, well at least not downstairs it seemed. He had been glancing around at all the paperwork that was surrounding him, that had obviously been what had sent him off to the land of nod, heck Matt was yawning again just thinking back about it. The second knock brought Matt to his feet, running a hand through his messy mop as he shuffled towards the door.
"Uncle Matt!" Matt didn't have any time to brace himself for the young blonde whirlwind who came hurtling towards him causing him to stumble back a few steps.
"Violet? Chris?" Matt looked down at his young niece who had wrapped herself around his waist and then back up at his big sister, who had let herself in and closed the front door.
"Uncle Matt… Where is Aunt Gabby? What's for lunch? Is Aunt Gabby cooking? I hope so, she makes the best food," Violet rambled on, all without letting go of her uncle. Matt looked down with a frown on his face.
"Umm…" he stammered, not too sure what was happening in front of him.
"Mom brought her favourite cake for dessert, I guess I can't have that now right?" she continued on.
"Violet?" Christie started, pulling her daughter back slightly. "Hi Matt," she greeted, giving her brother a quick hug. "Thanks for the invite to lunch, feels like quite a while since we've had time to get together…"
"Errr…" Matt continued to stammer. "Violet - Aunt Gabby isn't ready yet, so did you want to head downstairs into the family room? I think the movie that we were watching together last time is still down there. Do you want some help with that?"
"Uncle Matttt, I know how to work the tv," she threw over her shoulder as she bounded down the stairs.
"So Chris? What brings you here?" Matt questioned. "Not that I don't enjoy seeing you and Violet, I just wasn't expecting you."
Christie raised her eyebrows slightly at Matt. "Gabby invited us to lunch last week… She didn't tell you?"
Matt shot her a similarly confused look as he thought back over the last week, trying to work out if Gabby had mentioned anything about the family lunch. How could he have forgotten this? He glanced back and motioned for Christie to follow him into the kitchen in an attempt to find out if he had missed something. He came to a stop in front of their chalkboard to find some of their latest photos missing - there was no ultrasound or photos from their photo shoot with Janine a few weeks ago. Only last week had she sent them the final bunch of photos. He was sure that they were pinned up yesterday, his eyes couldn't have been playing tricks on him! And in any case, why would those photos go missing? Matt furrowed his brow before glancing up and down the board to see if there was any mention of this unexpected lunch guest. But there was nothing; a note about the girls night Gabby was having next week, a reminder to ring Antonio about dinner and generally make sure he was still alive, a groceries list, yet nothing about the Caseys coming to lunch.
Grumbling slightly Matt turned to fully face his sister, "Sorry Chris, I had no idea that you guys were coming for lunch… Not that it's a problem," he hurried to add as he saw Christie open her mouth to interrupt and likely excuse herself. "Nah, it's honestly ok. If you want to make yourself comfortable," he started as he took the cake that Christie was still holding on to placing it on the counter. "I'm just going to find Gabby. Sorry, it's just been a bit of a morning. Plus a couple of crazy shifts at the firehouse and no one has been sleeping well. Figured I would let her sleep it. Sorry about this," he apologised trying to cover for the real reason why Gabby was still upstairs.
Christie waved him off, "Don't worry about it… We can always do this another day if you and Gabby aren't up for it."
Matt gave her a confident look, "No, no, you're here already. I'm sure that it just slipped my mind. Gabby is always telling me things, but if she doesn't write it down then I will gonna forget it. Go - make yourself comfortable and I'll go get my wife," he smiled as he set off towards the stairs.
"Gabs? Baby?" he called, making his way up towards the master bedroom.
"Matt?" her voice drifted back towards him, quickly meeting him at the threshold of their bedroom. To Matt's surprise, she was pretty much dressed for the day. Recently he had learnt that if Gabby had a late night and then slept in the next day, she tended to end up having a fairly lazy day where she would spend the day in her yoga pants and one of his shirts. Their house had never looked so clean, both the Caseys liked having order in their lives, it was a hangover from their professions. But when Gabby had these types of days she enjoyed cleaning up.
However today, she had on a flowing dress and hair loose around her shoulders. There was a light covering of makeup on her face and a smile graced her face was as wide as Matt had remembered seeing in a while. Matt couldn't help himself, he had to take her into his arms and push her slightly back against the wall as he began to kiss her feverishly.
A few moments later, he pulled back to rest his forehead against hers, trying to catch his breath. "Good morning," she whispered.
"So," he started, leaving his arm around her waist, "did you maybe forget to tell me about a lunch you had organised?"
"Hmmm?" Gabby questioned, easing herself out of his grasp and sitting down on the edge of the bed to think about it. "Not that I particularly remember… But that look on your face Matt, tells me that I forgot something…"
"Christie and Violet are downstairs, something about you organising lunch?"
Gabby let her head fall forward into her hands as she gave the floor a kick. "I can't believe that I forgot about lunch… What am I going to do? Lunch isn't organised and I don't know what I can do for them. We can't send them home, but what are we going to feed them? And what is Christie going to think about this?"
"Hey, hey…" Matt knelt down in front of her taking her hands into his, "Slow down Gabs, what was that?"
"I haven't organised lunch… What is Christie going to think of me? I can't believe I forgot that they were coming to lunch," she looked up somewhat. Matt shook his head slightly, reaching up to brush her hair that had fallen forward back behind her ears.
"It's okay… We can work something out. I know there's plenty of food in the house, they aren't going to starve. Why did you invite them? ...Not that I mind you inviting my family over, it's just not up on the calendar or anything…" he mused.
Gabby shrugged slightly and brushed her hand over her bump, "We need to tell them about the baby. And when better to tell them than over a meal?" It clicked into place for Matt, that's why there had been no photos on the chalkboard. So it had obviously only just slipped her mind last night.
"Come on then," Matt stood and held his hand out to help her up.
"Hi Christie," Gabby came down the stairs to hug her sister in law.
"Gabs," she smiled, return the hug. Pulling back slightly, Christie wore the 'Casey' smirk as she looked back and forth from her brother to his wife.
Matt had a slightly confused look on his face as he stared at her. Tilting his head slightly with a half smile he questioned, "What?"
"Something you want to tell me little brother?" she asked with a cheeky grin on her face. Still met with confused looks, Christie turned back around to the fridge and swiped a photo off. Gabby had forgotten to take one very important photo off the fridge and now Matt had thrust in his face a photo, one that showed both of them in their uniforms including turnout coats, Gabby's coat had been pulled open and brushed back with Matt's hands resting on her still flat belly.
Matt gurgled, not able to form any words, rather he just looked at Gabby who was also too shell-shocked to say anything. She had been sure she had picked up every piece of evidence around the house, she hadn't been sure how they were even going to tell them, but it certainly wasn't like this. She just stood there, mouth slightly open staring at the Casey siblings.
"Well?" Christie questioned, excitement bubbling through her voice. "Well… Say something Matt…"
"Yeah… Umm… about that…" Matt couldn't believe how lost for words he was. They have done this three times before, how hard was it to string the words together? Especially with his own sister.
"Matthew!" Christie laughed as she pulled her little brother in for a tight hug, "That is wonderful news, I'm so happy for you… It's been a long time coming." Matt pulled back slightly and gave her his standard confused-questioning look. "Oh please Matt, you have wanted kids for years. And everyone knows that you and Gabby are going to be great parents… And you!"
Christie turned, letting go of Matt to face Gabby. She stretched out an arm, allowing Gabby to come to her. "Look at you, you are glowing. If I didn't know before you came down the stairs, I probably would now. You look radiant Gabby," she truthfully told Gabby as she hugged her again.
Gabby waved her off, "Just big you mean?" she joked as she pulled back to look down at herself. Christie scoffed as Gabby tugged at her dress pulling it tight to show off a slight bump. "As if anyone can miss that!"
"As if anyone can notice it, you're looking great! ...So I want all of the news, when did you find out? How many weeks are you? How are you feeling?"
"Chris!" Matt admonished, tugging on her to separate her from his wife. Christie on her part did look sheepish. Gabby just laughed it off.
"It's okay, let me get lunch sorted and I'll tell you all about it. Matt, can you put all the photos back on the board, since the cat's out of the bag? They are in the top drawer of the office desk," she directed. As he wandered off, Christie offered to help get lunch ready. "...Oh, I have to admit I might have forgotten that I invited you both over for lunch… It's not funny Christie," Gabby told her as she started to laugh.
"Sorry, pregnancy brain, I remember that well," Christie comforted her.
"Speaking of that, where is my little munchkin?"
"I'm here Aunt Gabby and I'm not that little," a voice came from behind her. Gabby felt a smile spread across her face as she turned to face her newest niece. She missed seeing Eva and sometimes seeing Violet made it hurt a little less. She understood that Antonio and Laura hadn't had an easy divorce, but it was a little more than hurtful that the rest of the Dawsons didn't get to see Eva and Diego on a more regular basis. And she knew that Matt loved Violet so much. Opening her arms up, Gabby moved to hug Violet. "What's for lunch Aunt Gabby?"
"You're still our little munchkin Violet… And lunch… Hmmm… I'm not sure munchkin. How do chimichurris sound?" Gabby questioned as she looked at what she had in the fridge to offer their guests.
Violet hmmed and scrunched her nose slightly, "What's that?" She was not too sure that she would like anything that sounded that odd.
"They are street burgers that are topped with cabbage and a sweet sauce made with ketchup and mayonnaise," joined in Matt. Violet regarded him for a moment or two before nodding.
"What do you have there Uncle Matt?" she bounded over to him. Matt and Gabby exchanged a glance before Gabby nodded at him encouragingly. He hadn't been prepared himself for the possibility that he was going to have to tell her about the baby, it hadn't even crossed his mind about it at all. If Matt had thought he was stuck earlier with Christie, that was nothing compared to what he was supposed to do with Violet. He gave a slight chuckle to himself, sometimes he forgot how old she actually was, she was no longer that young little girl he always pictured, and she would be in high school before he could blink. Drawing a sharp breath, he plastered a smile on his face. "Can I help with whatever you need to do?" she bounced next to him.
"Sure Violet," he told her as they walked towards the chalkboard. "Aunt Gabby wants some photos back up here and you know that I'm not good at making things look good. Did you want to sort these out for me?" he questioned.
"Sure Uncle Matt," she held her hands out. "Anywhere Aunt Gabby?"
Gabby nodded, trying to keep a neutral face when she had figured out what Matt was trying to do. Leaving Violet to it, the three adults took a step back, watching to see how long it would take Violet to work out what was going on. "So Aunt Gabs," she started before she even looked down at the photos she held, "When are you and Uncle Matt going to give me a cousin?"
Matt gave her a bit of a shocked look, where had that come from? She definitely had the Casey spunk, very few people had ever asked them when they were planning on starting a family. After all the events that they had been through, no one had been game to ask them, everyone just skirted around the issue of kids with them for the fear of upsetting one of them. So he had to share a smile with Gabby when his outspoken niece asked them that question. "Oh, we're not too sure yet kiddo," he answered her, slipping his arm around Gabby's waist, giving it a quick squeeze.
Violet nodded at them, before turning back to her job of sorting out the photos. Starting slowly, she didn't take too much notice of the photos she was putting up. However, when she got to the ultrasound, she slowly turned toward the adults in the room. "Uncle Matt?" she started slowly, watching as both her uncle and aunt gave her an enormous grin.
"How does in about six months for a new cousin sound munchkin?" Gabby asked, laughter dancing in her eyes. Violet's eyes widened as she let the photos fall to the ground and rushed towards the expectant couple. Christie tutted slightly as she made her way over to pick up the photos that were fluttering to the ground. Her face too broke out in a grin as she looked through the photos of her little brother and sister in law.
Matt looked up over Violet's head, who had flung her arms around both himself and Gabby and was currently resting her head against Gabby's little belly, a mere pudge. There was going to be no end to her questions throughout lunch Matt had predicted. He locked eyes with Christie who had held up a photo with the candidate baby shirt, 'Love this one little brother,' she mouthed. Matt smirked slightly as he held them both a little tighter.
"So Gabby how are you feeling?" Christie asked as the girls settled themselves on the couch downstairs after a long lunch. Matt had been right, Violet had had so many questions for him and Christie had been no better if he was honest. She had received the lion's share of the questioning Casey genes, whereas Matt was much more reserved. The two adults had placed themselves further away from Violet who had occupied herself with another DVD.
Gabby smiled before replying, "It's going well," she nodded. "The nausea that was there for a few weeks, it's gone, except for … I've been having these weird feelings, almost like an unsettled stomach for the past week. I can't pinpoint if it's nausea or heartburn or something else entirely. It's just unpleasant like I've eaten something not quite right. But it comes and goes, here in the morning, not around by the afternoon… So I'm not complaining. Oh, and the whole other thing would have to be pregnancy brain," Gabby laughed. "I can not believe that I forgot to tell Matt that you were coming for lunch!"
"Oh that's nothing, when I was expecting Violet, I went to Walmart for groceries. On my way home I noticed my wedding ring was missing. I freaked out. Did a U-turn and went back to Walmart. I went and spoke to management and they had ALL of their available employees searching for my ring. I had a posse of people searching the parking lot. I made a police report and notified my insurance agent. It was HOT outside and stuff was melting in my car. After an hour or so I went home–defeated, I think I sobbed the whole way home. By the time I got home I was wiped out and I crashed on the couch. Jim finally came home that night and I told him what had happened. I cried again whilst he went up to take a shower. When he came back down he asked for my hand and "asked for my hand in marriage again" and put MY ring back on my finger! I had apparently taken it off to wash my hands, which I never do! And I left it beside my bathroom sink. I had never been so mortified in my life," Christie finished up, laughter bubbling from her.
"I would never have believed that pregnancy brain was even a thing, Laura my ex-sister in law never seemed to display any symptoms of it at all, in either of her pregnancies. She just appeared so put together during the whole thing. So you can imagine my shock and horror when I've forgotten even the most basic things. Matt is lucky that we have food at work because I have forgotten lunch so many times on our days off... So what other exciting stories have you got to share?"
"Well, there was this one time I remember that I bawled like a baby because I couldn't find matching socks. Can you imagine? The sob fest lasted so long that I was late for work. Jim tried to let me wear his socks and then I cried even harder because they weren't MY socks. Look I understand that pregnancy brain is not a medically proven phenomenon, but anyone who has ever been pregnant or lived with a pregnant woman knows it's very, very real. My explanation has always been that the normal blood flow to my brain is being hijacked by my uterus," retold Christie. Gabby smiled hearing these stories, it made her feel just a bit more normal, it wasn't just her that seemed to forget everything. But just one more thing to add to the 'yah pregnant' list.
"I've heard other women say that they have two brains in their body but they've never been so dumb… something about competing for resources and your baby always wins!" Gabby added, this laughter was what she needed today. She had been feeling terrible about everything that had happened over the last week or so about forgetting things left, right and centre.
Matt came down the stairs to see what was happening, and took one look at Gabby's face and smiled. Surveying the scene down in their family room, it warmed his heart as it was nice that he and Christie had finally been able to move on from the simply amicable interactions and were finally able to interact like a family and really enjoy their time together, developing a real sibling relationship - one that Matt had always wanted. It had taken a short while for Gabby to become friends with Christie. Family was important to Gabby, as it was to the entire Dawson family, but as he and Christie weren't as close as the other siblings it had made it harder for the girls too. But here they were chatting and laughing away, yet there was something in Gabby's face, in her eyes that Matt had noticed, it told him that there was something that she needed to get off of her chest.
"Violet," Matt called out, "How does some ice-cream sound? Be just you and me… What do you say? Spend some time with your old Uncle Matt?" Violet looked over at her mother waiting for permission before tearing up the stairs, waiting for Matt to join her. "You two want anything?" On the shake of both heads, he bent down to kiss the top of Gabby's head before following after the young girl.
"So really, how is it all? Is my little brother looking after you?" Christie questioned. Gabby looked her in the eyes, finding comfort in the Casey blues, anyone could tell they were family. Their eyes were so similar, as were their expressions.
"He's been perfect like you said he's wanted this for so long," she admitted. "And it's all going okay. But it's stressful, just the whole work thing… Is that a horrible thing to say?" Watching Christie shake her head, Gabby continued. "I love my job and I love the family that comes along with the firehouse - and I get that life still goes on, it's the working full-time, between the firehouse and Molly's and keeping the home going, not to mention making sure Matt's all up to date with his alderman commitments. Plus I know that I'm not the first person to have a baby, and there are so many more people out there doing it so much tougher than me."
Christie turned to face Gabby as she tucked her foot up and under herself. "You can't think like that Gabby… It's okay to feel what you're feeling. Don't compare yourself to what others might be going through or feel that you aren't allowed to feel what you do. You're dealing with challenging pregnancy hormones and whilst I'd like to think that Matt is helping out in every way he can, you still manage to work 24 hour shifts at a time, which is pretty amazing when you think about it. Apart from work, what is it?"
Gabby gave her an incredulous look, "How did you? ...Never mind, the Casey mind works in weird and wonderful ways. It's just as much as I want this, I'm just stressed about all those big changes that are coming up… What happens with money? How will this change my relationship with Matt? Am I going to be a good mother? Probably not, considering the doubts I'm already having. Matt has just got this whole thing under control already and here I am, freaking out," she grumbled.
"Having worries does not make you a bad mother Gabby… And I'm sure Matt is having the same thoughts as you, he just hasn't said anything yet. Every parent does, I did. But keep it in perspective Gabby - you and Matt are expecting a baby, that's a pretty wonderful experience. Yes it's life changing, and it's very hard to worry about the things that are out of your control - but the stress isn't good for your health or the baby's either. Try and find some time to relax, something that is just for you, I don't know… Read a book or watch TV, just put your feet up and tune out the rest of the world. Just try and keep everything in perspective. Remember you're not alone in this either."
Gabby gave her a tight smile as she reached over to hug Christie. These were the days that she missed having Laura around, having her Mama back in Chicago was a godsend, but she missed her ex-sister in law. But it seemed to her that Christie was filling the job well.
In the back of Christie's mind was to remember to give Matt a heads up about this - it was important that they were there for each other during this time, and she knew that is was all going to work itself out.
~ She can make a fist and even suck her thumb. She's also listening to your voice, thanks to tiny bones forming in her ears ~
Hope you enjoyed this week's update. Let me know what you think ~Em