Still trying to recover from the awesomeness that was this week's episode! Two of my Year 9 students were so excited about it this afternoon, all they wanted to do was talk about it rather than hear my Math lesson. It was a long last period today trying to keep them on task.
Thank you for all of your reviews, always a pleasure to read what people are thinking of the story so far. To Chicago Lover - Sorry I can't reply to your review personally, but thank you for your long review and I'm glad that you're enjoying the long chapters. Thank you so much for your kind words.
And of course to R - thank you so much for having such a quick turn around this time - I am so looking forward to your next chapters.
This chapter contains one of my favourite lines yet - let me know what you think it might be. Happy reading ~Em
~ Candidate is now the size of a pear ~
"How do you think Brett and Kidd will take it if I cancel on tonight's girls' night?" Gabby mused from her spot on the lounge down in the family room as she watched Matt restock their drinks cart and fridge downstairs. When Gabby had mentioned that she was having a girls' night with the firehouse girls, Matt had decided that he and Severide were going to get together and watch the game. However, discussions in the house had been overheard and it had somehow turned into Cruz and Otis inviting themselves over for a poker night. At her last count, she believed that her house was being invaded by not only Severide, Cruz and Otis, but also Antonio and Borrelli, possibly even Herrmann - she wasn't too sure how her brother had ended up on the invite list to a fire thing. She was shaking her head at the thought of it, well as long as Matt cleaned up after them she didn't care. That and he needed to keep it downstairs.
"Hmmm?" came the distracted reply.
"I said, do you think the girls would mind if I cancelled on tonight?" she repeated.
"Why?" Matt replied without looking up from the job at hand. Gabby could tell that he was distracted, could hear it in his voice. The poor man, not only was he dealing with his firefighting job, but also his alderman job; he was only halfway through his term and whilst Gabby was pleased he had run and won the job, there was a part of her that would be glad when it was all over. She dearly hoped that he wasn't planning on serving another term, between the 24 hour shifts and any political commitments that he had to attend it felt like he was always busy with something. Last month, in October alone, he had had two city council meetings, not to mention three, no wait four finance meetings, not that he had managed to make it to all of them. She had advised him originally to possibly not join the finance committee, but Matt had heard none of it and there had been talk of him also joining the public safety committee. Gabby was actually tired just thinking about it, but she was grateful that not every meeting was at night, that way Matt wasn't gone every night off.
She on other hand had started to move more of the Molly's responsibilities onto Kidd and Otis, and she was also trying to get Herrmann to ease up. After all, he had a wife and five children at home, it wasn't fair to have him working all hours at Molly's, no matter how much he kept telling everyone that it was fine. Gabby had decided not long after she and Matt had married that she would take on more the paperwork and business side of the work. Rather than being at the bar every other night of the week, she brought home most of the paperwork, all of which had worked in her favour after she fell pregnant since she had struggled to stay awake until late at night. She wasn't opposed to doing a shift or so a week, just not as many as she used to, it was a routine that they had begun to develop when they had first started fostering Louie. And with Smudge on way, this was becoming the new norm.
"Gabs?" Matt prodded after she hadn't spoken for a few moments.
Gabby turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder at Matt, who had made his way over to the couch, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Just not feeling up to seeing anyone," she confessed.
"Gabby Dawson? Not up to seeing people?" he joked. "You never turn down a chance to see your girls…"
"And that Gabby Dawson does not exist at the moment, most likely gone forever... and this Gabriela Casey is busy growing a baby," she replied leaving a hand resting a hand on her stomach.
Matt frowned slightly, she hadn't ever really made a big deal about her name. Truth be told, as much as he loved that she had taken his name, made him swell inside, there was an awful lot of the time when she was just Gabby Dawson to him. It was just muscle memory, so he had been a touch confused at her emphasis on the Casey name. Either way, it had pushed a button somewhere deep down and caused him to stop whatever it was he had planned on doing and he slipped down next to her on the couch.
"Hey, what's going on?" he questioned, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, leaving his fingers resting on her shoulder.
"I'm just too tired to go out and actually have fun with the girls. The effort just isn't worth going to get ready and find something that looks good and everything like that. Plus, they're going to be drinking and all of that and I don't have the energy for keeping up with them, especially with Stella when she's had a few…" Gabby grumbled.
Matt pondered what he could actually tell her. He didn't want to tell her what to do, that would never work, rather he knew it would be better to lead her to a decision that she would make for herself. But at the same time, he didn't want her to spend her entire pregnancy staying at home avoiding people because it was too much effort, that just wasn't Gabby.
"But wouldn't it be better to see the girls now, sooner rather than later? Not that I'm an expert, but I'm sure neither of us is going to feel like seeing anyone that much when Smudge arrives…" Gabby raised her eyebrows at him, since when did Matt know so much about everything, she had the distinct feeling that she was being pushed in a certain direction. "I know that you probably don't feel like it right now…"
"Oh you know, do you?" came the sarcastic reply.
"Right… So you might not feel like going out right now, but once you do you'll probably be glad you made the effort…" Matt tried to find a way out of the situation he had currently found himself in, knowing that if he wasn't careful Gabby was likely to blow at him.
Gabby scrutinised him for a moment or two, just letting him sweat for a minute. She knew exactly what was going through his head, "Open mouth, remove the foot, Matt." He looked at her sheepishly before he leant forward to capture her lips. "Yes, that works too," she breathed hard trying to catch her breath after he pulled back.
"What if I call Sev and we move poker night to his place. You and the girls can do something here? C'mon Gabs, you mentioned something about Brett and wanting to talk to her outside of the house. Digging for something right?" He stopped at Gabby shaking her head at him moving poker night, it was his turn to have it at their place. They had the biggest place by far and yet they still hadn't hosted the fire family for anything over the time that they had lived in this house.
"Something isn't right with that girl… There's a mask going on at certain points of the work day. I think it's more than just me leaving ambo in the coming months, but that's what she is telling me it is."
"So," Matt interrupted. "Don't you want to work out what is really going on with her?"
Gabby shook her head at him, "Look at you, anything to either get me out of the house or at least out of your hair." She continued to eye him for a second, studying the subtle movements he was making. "Wait… No, it's not that at all, you just want gossip," she accused.
Matt tried in vain to fob her off, but in all honesty, he was worried about what was going to happen in the house. A few years ago the house had gone through so many changes, it had been stable with Gabby and Shay for many years. So when Shay died the following years had seen much movement, not only on Ambo but within the entire house. So knowing that Gabby would be making a move off of Ambo in the next few months, he knew how important it would be to find out how Brett was feeling about it. She would be the most affected, and he was really hoping that it would be a smooth transition.
"How about we both stay here then?" he tried again, still trying to steer her off the topic of him wanting to gossip. "I can have the boys upstairs, we can use the dining room… Leave you girls to lounge down here," Matt compromised.
"Uhh," Gabby raised her eyebrows, "How about you boys play down here and we stay up there? Down here, you have the alcohol, restroom and plenty of space. Plus if the boys need to crash, there's a bedroom here…"
"You mean if Kidd and Sev need to crash here," he joked. "You know it's going to be them!" Gabby hummed at him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of being right, but still agreeing with him. "So I'll finish up down here and the upper level is all yours."
"How much time do we have before people turn up?" Gabby questioned as she scooted over to him, crawling into his lap. Matt gave her a slight smirk, his eyes darting around looking at what else he needed to do. Letting the smirk turn into a full blown grin he dipped down to kiss her. Adjusting herself in his arms she deepened the kiss, moaning slightly, enjoying the feeling of his arms wrapping around herself, pulling her tight. Her hands slipped underneath his shirt to rack her nails over his back muscles, digging them into his warm taut skin slightly, whilst he cradled her face in his hands.
Groaning against her lips softly, Matt gathered her up in his arms and almost effortless stood up without breaking their kiss. Gabby pulled back, breathless, trying to catch her breath, "How did you..?"
"Firefighter Baby!" he whispered in her ear huskily. Gabby allowed herself a moment to admire her husband's body, those arms of his were amazing. Wrapping her arms around his shoulder, she started to play with the short hair at the nape of his neck. Everything was feeling amplified due to the pregnancy, and right now there was only one thing on her mind.
She wasted no time attacking his lips as he took a step forward, "I can... think of... I do... believe there… is something... else we could... be doing... right now..." she murmured against his lips in between kisses. Matt gave a deep throaty chuckle as he started towards their room.
"Who's ready to party all night?" Stella shouted as Gabby opened the door to reveal her and Sylvie waiting to head out on the town. Craning slightly she could also make out Severide hanging about with a case of beer in his hand. "Umm Dawson, clothes?"
Gabby looked down at what she was wearing - it consisted of yoga pants and one of Matt's old CFD shirts. She was in that in between stage of not needing maternity clothes, but at the same time not fitting into her own regular clothing. She was just wearing a larger size uniform now, that's all the department was able to provide her with for the moment. But since she had made the decision to stay in she hadn't really seen the need to be getting dressed up. Plus the clothes she would normally have worn out with the girls didn't fit her so well anymore. Yet both girls were dressed for a night on the town.
"Yeah, not really up for the whole night out thing! I just can't carry my sorry butt out for it… I did try and call," she defended. "Not my problem if you're too loved up to answer!"
Severide laughed as he carefully pushed past. "She's got a point Stel."
"How did it get to my sex life so fast?" Stella questioned as she followed Gabby and Sylvie into the kitchen.
"Everything's about your sex life Stella Kidd," threw Gabby over her shoulder. "So ladies, drinks and food in there?" Gabby pointed through to the living room, "The boys are playing poker downstairs… Now I'm sure you've both got a change of clothes in the car… C'mon. Go grab something comfy and meet me in there."
Stella gave a mock groan, shook her head at Gabby's smiling face and huffed. "Come on mermaid, let's do this!" she spoke as she grabbed Sylvie's hand and dragged her towards the front door.
Gabby smiled, perks of being a first responder, they seemed to carry a change of clothes in the car - just in case.
A short while later the three girls had curled up on the couches that sat in the Casey's living room, Gabby with her juice, Stella a beer and Sylvie with a white wine, empty plates sat scattered around the coffee table.
"You know Dawson," Stella drawled. "This wasn't a bad idea… You know, the pregnant one has good ones every now and then…"
"Yeah, we can actually talk," Sylvie commented, "without the need to shout over all the music."
"Or fending off men for Brett!" quipped Stella. Gabby stopped momentarily as she watched the young paramedic's face fall. Something didn't seem quite right here.
"Hey, mermaid - what is going on with you in that department? We haven't heard about anyone new recently," Gabby asked.
"I just can't find the right person and it's just getting me down I guess," she started, knowing that the girls were around her, she just needed, to be honest. "You know what it's like - everyone thinks that it's easy 'Hey, you're around all of these hot guys all the time, it must be easy to find someone.' And that's all I seemed to hear when I went back to visit my parents a few months ago. Yeah, sure, there are women who have met their perfect match, dated flawlessly, gotten married, made several babies and lived happily ever after. It happens, it really does. Look at the two of you…"
"You Miss Brett, you know hard it was for Matt and I… There was no dating flawlessly, there was messy dating and plenty of problems. Hell, I could probably even blame the job for that huge breakup," Gabby insisted.
"But you found your way back together… And then there's you and Severide," she turned her attention towards Stella.
Stella held her hands up in defence, "Whoa, don't look at me. My marriage ended in divorce... And Kelly."
"That wasn't the job, that was the crazy man you married," Gabby interjected laughing along with the others. "Sylvie, our job isn't an easy one and dating is complicated. It takes a special man to date a first responder. It's likely why Matt and I work, no it's not only because he's special Stella," Gabby quickly told her, watching Stella open her mouth, likely to make some stupid comment. "One of the reasons we work is that we understand each other's job. We work together and understand what the other goes through."
Sylvie took a deep breath, thinking about whether she really wanted to say what she was feeling, would it just be easier to let the girls tease her. But it was all cutting her deep, in a way that she hadn't ever thought it would. But as she watched as Gabby somewhat absent mindedly caressed her belly, she felt another wave of jealousy course through her and she couldn't hold back what she thought. "And then it's the fact that Miss Brett," Sylvie complained with an emphasis on the Miss. "Nothing ever seems to be coming together. Yeah, I've got this fantastic job, great friends and a life in Chicago, but when will it be my time?" she questioned gesturing at Gabby who quickly removed her hand, bring it down to rest in her lap. "Look, it's really nothing," she brushed off, looking down into her wine glass.
Gabby frowned, she had had no idea that Sylvie ever felt like that. Sylvie had been on dates and although it hadn't always worked well, she had seemed to pick herself back up and just be her normal cheery self. Gabby was beginning to think that she had missed the mark on being a good friend.
Leaning over, she grasped tightly onto Sylvie's cold hand. "No don't brush it off as nothing. Sylvie - you never said anything… What is it you're really feeling? Don't just fob me off again."
Sylvie bowed her head, willing the tears away. She had tried so hard to push down the jealousy that had once again appeared. Two weeks ago, she remembered sitting in the back of the Ambo, almost ready to speak her mind about what she felt, never mind the consequences. Yet here she was, scared of what Gabby might say to her if she truly spoke about what she thought, and what Stella would think of her, with her petty jealousy. What was it that she wanted from Gabby's life, was it the happiness of a family and a husband? Or was it something more specifically hers that she craved? Stella moved backwards slightly, knowing that this was between the two paramedics. Whilst she had been taken into their little friendship circle, she wasn't kidding herself that it wasn't going to take more time for Brett to open up with her there.
Gabby for her part, squeezed Sylvie's fingers offering what little support that she could. "Whatever it is Sylvie, we're here for you," she earnestly spoke. Brett looked up at her, tears pooling in her wide blue eyes. But how could Gabby understand… It just wouldn't be right to say to your best friend that you are jealous of her life, especially when it had been a hard and long road to even arrive at where she was now.
"And if it was a case that I could just find someone on the job and that be it, then one of my relationships should have worked out," Brett grumbled, taking a sip of her third wine an hour or so later.
"And those were with?" Stella prodded, not having heard about the string of men that Sylvie had been with since she had moved to Chicago.
"Well," Gabby jumped in, grinning at the blonde, "Who has there been… There was Cruz, that lasted a while, then there was Otis who had a crush on you for months - Matt laughed about that for at least a week. There was also Severide," Gabby laughed as Stella's mouth dropped open slightly.
"Oh no, Stella honestly, nothing happened."
"Yeah, just he would have married her if she had actually gone to Vegas with him," joked Gabby. "And then there was that police officer, what was his name? Umm… Sean Roman… Actually, Sylvie, there have been a lot of first responders in there…" Gabby joked as she reached over to hug the paramedic who had gone slightly red. "You know I love you."
"There was more… wasn't there?" Stella questioned, staring her right in the eye. Sylvie minutely shook her head, not willing to give up any more information. "C'mon girl, you can't hold out on us now…" she kept prodding,
"Theremighthavebeenjimmy," mumbled Sylvie averting her eyes.
"Sorry?" Stella kept on with her.
"There might have been something with Jimmy."
"Jimmy? As in Borelli?" screeched Stella.
"Keep it down," hissed Sylvie. "Nothing actually happened… I just may have seen him in the laundry room just before Stella started with us, you remember when they transferred him off of Truck? And I may have mentioned how sorry I was to see him leaving, and that I had a big 'thing' for him, had one since he first arrived at 51," she muttered
"I'm sorry what?" Gabby questioned, eyes wide open. She could hardly believe her ears, how had this happened right under her nose and she had completely missed it?
"In my defence," Sylvie protested, "I was in a bad place, Chilli had been fired and then there was that douche of a paramedic partner that I had and to top it all off Jimmy was leaving. It was just a heat of the moment thing… I never thought I was going to have to keep working with him. And then nothing ever came of it. Told him I wanted to pretend it never happened," she confessed. "I just had to work with him."
"Ever consider him again?" Stella asked, curious to see what the answer might hold.
"Oh no… No, no, no, no! The last thing our house needs is yet another in-station romance. Man, how often to they work? Present company excluded," she clarified. "As hard as it is to find someone, better someone out of the whole CFD," she emphatically clarified.
"You know there is a heap of problems when guys start dating us first responders," started Gabby, "We could write a book on it… Things that you have to understand to date a female first responder," she laughed.
"Oh, I can start that one," Stella responded. "We know that men are manly, but whoever dates us has to learn that you do not have to be "manlier" than we are. Man, can this be complicated? Tread lightly men! It all comes back to we work in a man's world and because of that, we have had to adapt accordingly to that. Men struggle with this so much. You know what we're like girls? We're that tom-boy who everyone knew growing up, and now we're 'her' all grown up."
Sylvie took another sip of her wine, "Or you know that 'look' you get when you want to carry everything on your own," she started. The girls around her nodded.
"Hey, I'm all for it at the moment," Gabby interjected. "But it drives me mad how Matt always needs to carry my work bag in for me… Like hey, I can carry 60 pounds of fire gear, but he still insists on carrying everything for me."
"Hey, if you can teach Kelly some of that… that would be great. You know, just sometimes. I spend every day proving how tough, how competent, how determined, how capable and how in control I can be. But just a touch of chivalry would be nice," Stella included.
"But in this book that we're writing for my future man..." stopped Sylvie. "I want them to know that I'm not some little princess. The sheer thought of doing something perceived as a 'man task' for me just because they need to feel better about themselves and 'prove' themselves… No, thank you very much… So what else are we including this handbook?" she laughed. She wasn't sure what it was, but this conversation was definitely helping her feel a bit better about her situation. Perhaps it was knowing some of the ways that her job affected her life was actually a blessing. These were the little things that were changing her life.
"What you girls gossiping about?" floated across Severide's voice, nosing in on the conversation as he made his way across the floor to the trio.
"Kelly!" Stella screeched. "How much of that did you hear?"
"And what is it that you even need Severide?" questioned Gabby. "Didn't Matt take everything down there?"
"Wow!" Severide took a step back from the glares from all three women. "Grabbing some snacks," he mentioned whilst swiping Stella's beer to take a swig. Stella only shook her head waiting for it back. "Anddd I'm going again," he motioned back downstairs with a thumb before placing a quick hard kiss on Stella's lips.
"That is the next entry in your book," Stella commented as she watched her partner saunter down the stairs. "We have guy friends and LOTS of them. Your future man needs to understand that we live with them, eat with them, sleep in the same house as them, we have their back and they have ours. We are a team and a family. That's hard for any man. Even if Grant was unhinged, he was always going to struggle with all the guys I worked with."
"And it's not only at the house," included Gabby. "We see a lot of them. They are our brothers, partners, fathers and best friends."
"Even our husbands," quipped Stella
Gabby gave her a look, "Especially at Firehouse 51, we are together for 24 hours a shift and then again in our off time. We laugh, cry and experience mind blowing things together. Whoever steals your heart Sylvie, they are gonna have to be secure and trusting or the relationship isn't going to make it," Gabby honestly told her.
"Oh and as a paramedic… I don't want to be anyone's mommy… No offence Gabs."
"No offence, I refuse to be my husband's mommy… This little one here," she commented pointing at her belly.
"That's another matter, right?" Sylvie supplied as she brushed a hand over the swell. Little by little she was making peace with the jealousy that had been overtaking her entire being over the last few weeks.
Stella, on the other hand, had no desire to be anyone's mommy, but that was something that she was intent on keeping to herself. There was no need to change the mood of the conversation. Each time they had a girls night, it would be one of their turns to be honest and this time it would be Sylvie, and Stella had decided that she wasn't doing anything to interject over the top of all of the things that Sylvie needed to get off her chest. But for a moment, she allowed her mind to wander, what would it be like? She knew that she would adore the new Casey baby and that was about it, it just wasn't something that she could see in her future. Firefighting - that was her future.
"And, forgot about being needy," Stella said, trying to shake the thoughts from her head. 'Just keep moving Stella' she told herself.
"Needy?" Sylvie questioned confused. Stella wasn't making any sense at all.
"You know the type, the one who gets anxious and stressed when you don't reply to their text messages within in two minutes, they aren't the right one for you. If their perfect girl is the type who calls, texts, snapchats,"
"Snapchat?" Gabby laughed. "Seriously?"
Stella ignored her and kept going, "FB updates her every move, thought and breath? The girl who will answer your text, call or IM the moment you send it? Then they won't be the right one for any first responder. I remembered needing to tell Grant that he might not get a reply for hours or an entire day."
Gabby nodded along, "Even though Antonio is a detective, when I first started at 51 after coming from a much quieter house on the other side of the city it was a shock. We're the house that the calls tend to be coming in back to back, I had to tell him there is a priority system we have in place – Pee, Eat, Chart, Pee again then maybe you'll get a short response… He'd get all cranky that I hadn't responded to him... And he is my brother… Speaking of needing to pee," Gabby moved off to relieve herself, grumbling as she went.
"What is it really?" Stella questioned as Gabby disappeared from sight. "It's more than what you're saying girl, I can see it."
"Is it wrong to be jealous of Gabby?" whispered Sylvie. Stella's eyebrows raised up so high that Brett thought they might hit her hairline. After a moment or two, she hung her head in embarrassment, sniffing quietly. Stella sidled up next to the blonde woman and carefully removed the glass from her hands, before wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Why?"
"I know it hasn't been easy for her. But I look at her, and I look around this house… And I want it… Heck, I even look at Casey and don't get me wrong I feel incredibly stupid for saying this… But I watched them at roll call the other week, and the way that he looks at her, the way that he holds her close. The excitement in his eyes and voice when anyone brings up their baby. Just knowing that she has him to come home to…" she trailed off almost speaking to herself, looking up at one of the many wedding photos that were hung in this house.
"Sylvie… The lieutenant… he's… he's off limits... and she's a friend… And..." Stella cautiously started, not sure which way to take this new piece of information that had fallen into her lap. What was it that she wanted from life? The guy or the type of man?
"No!" Sylvie was quick to retort. "Not Casey personally, just the idea of a special person to come home to. Look you don't need to tell me how hard their road has been. But have you seen them together? Nothing comes before Gabby in his eyes, nothing is too much. And now they have this precious gift… And I hate that I'm even thinking it, but I'm insanely jealous of them…"
"Syl - it's not about the end goal. You can't rush to it, it's the journey that takes us to that goal that makes our life."
"I know. And I don't know where this has all come from, but I can't help what I'm feeling…"
"You need to talk to Gabby, or this is going to eat you alive Sylvie. You can't help what you feel. And I know that it's not something that you can help or hide. Look, I don't get it, but Gabby won't hate you… Talk to Gabs about it…"
"Talk to Gabby about what?" drifted along said voice.
"Oh," Stella scrambled to think of what to fill the gap with, knowing that she wouldn't be asking if she had heard more of the conversation. That just wasn't Gabby's style, she'd tackle it head on. "Talk to Gabby about the medic stories and how you guys share them all the time… Like all the time."
Gabby scrutinised the two ladies in front of her for a moment before taking a seat opposite them, deciding that whatever it really might have been that they were talking about, Sylvie would come out with it sooner or later. No point pushing now. "Yeah, the guy in your life needs to be used to you talking about work all the time. Plus, they need an iron stomach. We need our guys to be someone we can lean on, so they need to be able to take any of our stories - like that one about having to amputate the guy's leg after that storage unit fell on him, or getting caught in a rotary mower? There are blood and bones and everything else."
She took a deep breath thinking back to earlier in her career before she had arrived at 51, "There was this one guy a few years ago… I think men are very attracted to the strong, confident, independent women of both of our fields, that is until they get deeper into the relationship. So then there was this pivotal point in our very short relationship where suddenly he wanted me to become well, more of a girly-girl. He actually thought that I was going to change into some submissive/subservient girl for him. Well, let me tell you he was in for an uphill battle."
"And it will be the same with you, Sylvie," added Stella. "You're strong and independent, don't ever apologise for that."
Sylvie thought about it for a moment, "I know that life's not like any romance novel that I love to read, but I just wish that it would happen… When will it be my time?"
"What I'm about to say isn't going to help you right now chickie," Gabby started as she moved over to sit on the other side of Sylvie. "But when you find the right person, it's just going to be right. You'll find the perfect fit, a guy who will walk right next to you and support you. He'll understand us and the job. Because of the deep bond we share, we will put our lives on the line to protect each other, it comes from the situations we share. It's like no other job in the world. Our shifts can hold anything when we step onto the apparatus floor at the start of a day... anything might and can happen. A day that might include life changing incidents, with every chance that we will watch someone take their last shaky breath or even their first breath ever."
"We know that life is short," Stella mentioned. "And as a consequence, once we let someone into our lives emotionally, it becomes a very close bond with them."
"And that's hard to do," Gabby told her, pulling her close for a hug. "It will come, Sylvie. Don't give up on love. I know that there is someone out there for you, the right someone. And when you meet him, you'll just know it. But enjoy the ride it will take you on."
Gabby sighed as sat down on the couch to watch Kidd disappear down the stairs to find Severide after the Caseys had farewelled the rest of their friends. Matt had been correct in his earlier prediction in that Severide and Kidd had crashed downstairs, Gabby had thought of just making it their room. Chuckling to herself slightly, she looked up to find Matt standing behind her. "Bed?" he questioned.
"I'll just clean up here," she commented gesturing at glasses that lay empty on the coffee table in front of them.
"Leave them," he whispered as he carefully leant down to pick her up bridal style and started towards the other set of stairs.
Gabby gave him a slight smile as she leant her head against his strong chest, "I could get used to this, you carrying me around everywhere," she told him as she took in his scent.
"Get used to it Baby… I'd do it forever," he told her, placing him gently on the bed. "I love having you in my arms," he continued pulling her closer, before dipping his head down level to her belly, "I'll protect you and Smudge with everything I have. And I can't wait to have you in my arms either."
~ He has hiccupped before, but this is the first time you might feel it ~
So I'm at the end of my bank of chapters - So I'm trying to stay ahead about a week or so of the actual posted chapter. Wish me luck, hopefully, I'll still be able to post once a week.