Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.
a/n: I'm sorry for the lack of update on this story but there,s been so many things going on in my life that it's hard to be able to balance everything. Now I didn't really know in what direction I was going to take this story except for the fact that I wanted it to be a short one so it'll be 8 or 10 chapters in total I'm not sure yet so enjoy this one.
Matt and Abbey woke up later than usual the next morning and as they got ready for the day, Abbey felt like it was too quiet for everyone's off day today. She looked into the boys rooms only to find their beds already made, or probably in Andrew's case, not slept in to begin with. They made breakfast in comfortable silence and then got ready to head over to the 21st district to pick up Logan from lock-up.
"Do you think he's learned his lesson?" Abbey looked at Matt as they drove into town.
"Let's just hope so." He sighed, taking her hand in his. As they parked the truck, Matt noticed that Patterson was there for his own pick up. "Look who's already here."
"Let's go get him." They walked up the stairs of the district together and was greeted by sargent Platt, Patterson waiting as well.
"Hey Dallas. Any chance we can talk before they go get them?"
"Sure." Platt gestured for them to take the office on their right to have a little more privacy, leaving Abbey to chat with Platt. Over the years, they had several encounters and they always got along. Trudy was set to retire in a few short months much to her dismay. About fifteen minutes later, the two guys came walking out of the office, interrupting their girl talk.
"Thanks again for doing this sargent." Matt smiled at the woman.
"You're welcome. We've got to teach these boys some respect." Patterson chuckled at that, Trudy giving him a death glare, effectively quieting him down. After a few minutes, the boys were brought back to their parents, both looking like they hadn't slept all that much during their night inside the walls of 21.
"In here, the two of you." Matt pointed to the office he and Patterson had just vacated moments before, the two boys giving no signs of objection. They stood against the wall giving against the front desk and both Matt and Dallas stood with their arms crossed over their chests.
"I hope the two are listening very carefully because we will not go over this again. Are we clear?" Patterson asked and both boys replied at the same time.
"Yes sir."
"Good." Matt started. "Now we talked with chief Thomas this morning and here's the new terms of the contract. You either take it, or leave it." They both nodded, their ears wide opened.
"Now Chief Thomas has agreed to take you two knuckleheads back but there's just one condition." The boys simply stood there and nodded. "You listen, you work hard and either one of you puts as much as a toe out of line, you'll be out of the academy for good." Matt saw that fear of losing the academy flash in his sons eyes as Patterson told them the news and he knew that he wouldn't need to have farther conversation when they got home.
"Yes sir."
"Good then. We're done here." Both boys left the room and Casey and Patterson shook hands before the two families left seperately to go back home.
Logan stayed deathly quiet in the back seat, Matt stealing glances every now and then. He could see the clogs turning in his son's head about what he and Patterson had told them but he figured that giving him a little bit of space was what was best right now. When they arrived home, Abbey barely had time to kill the engine of the car when Logan got out and made it inside the house.
"What happened?" Chase was quick to question them as they closed the door.
"Where's your brother?"
"In his room, he didn't want to tell me anything. What's going on?"
"He'll tell you when he's ready."
"I'll go talk to him." Abbey left the two alone as she went up the stairs and knocked on her son's door. "Can I come in?" She asked, getting no answer from the other side of the door and when still no answer came, she gently pushed the door open to find Logan sitting at his desk, his head in some papers. "Can we talk?" She leaned against the doorframe. He looked at her and then back to what he was doing. "Come on Logan, talk to me." She walked into his room and leaned against his desk.
"He's always so hard on me." He huffed.
"He's hard on you because he knows what you're capable of."
"But jail ma?" Abbey smirked.
"You're lucky that's all it was but whatever was going on with you and Patterson, I know that's not you. Well it's your temper, just like your dad's and I know you meant well by protecting your brother but I think Chase can take care of himself."
"I don't want to lose the academy." He suddenly confessed.
"Then you know what to do to keep it." He simply nodded and she ran her fingers through his hair. "Lunch is at noon." He smiled up at her and she left, going back down only to discover that Andrew was there with his girlfriend Amanda.
"Hey, I didn't know you were going to be there for lunch."
"I couldn't skip a chance at poking fun at Logan." He snickered.
"Andrew." Abbey abmonished him as Amanda smacked his arm.
"Owe." He complained.
"Be nice with your brother babe." She pressed him. She had witnessed what had happened at Molly's between her boyfriend's brother and his fellow fire academy foe.
"It's always nice to see you Amanda." Abbey smiled at the young girl.
"Thanks for having me Mrs. Casey." She smiled back.
"Come on hun, you can call me Abbey." Amanda blushed lightly. Abbey would tell her every time she would come home to call her by her first name and yet she insisted on using Mrs. Casey. "Can I talk to you Matt?"
"Sure." Abbey pointed in the direction of the living room where they both went to get a little bit more privacy. "What's up babe?" He pulled her to him for a kiss.
"He's scared to lose the academy."
"Good." He was glad that what he had saught out to do had worked.
"You shouldn't be so hard on him Matt. You know he's always looking for your approuval."
"I just want him to be the best version of himself because I know he'll make a hell of a firefighter."
"I know that but back off just a little bit maybe?" She gave him a cheeky smile.
"Fine. So what's for lunch?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." She smacked him on the arm and pulled away, disappearing around the corner
"Help me in the kitchen Amanda?" She left all the boys together, no doubt the subject of conversation being the twin's latest adventures. She took a few quiet moments with his eldest son's girlfriend when she could, enjoying the girl talk through all the testosterone the Casey household had to offer. She looked into the next room to make sure the boys were out of earshot. "How's it going with Andrew? Is he treating you alright?" She looked at the young woman next to her, a deep blush creeping across her cheeks.
"He's really sweet to me." She handed Abbey what she asked for and the two talked some more while they cooked, Abbey glad that her son was being such a great man.
Once dinner was ready, both girls put the guys to work to set the table and everyoe was called to chow, all four of her boys happy with what was served, making both girls laugh because one thing was clear, the easiest way to the Casey's hearts was through their stomach.
"Alright boys. Mom make lunch, we do the dishes." The girls helped with clearing the dishes but all three boys didn't object to the chore of cleaning everything up. Matt and Abbey had raised the boys to always help out and be kind to women and food time wasn't an exception. Amanda and Andrew left shortly after, going to spend the day at her place with her younger sister while Abbey and Matt made their way to the couch, Abbey linking her legs with Matt's on the coffee table.
"Ok so is anyone going to tell me what happened this morning?" Chase asked as the four of them were in the living room.
"I think that's up to your brother to tell you that." The twins looked at each other and Logan pointed his head in the direction of the stairs, chosing to talk about this in his room instead of out in the open.
"Good job dad." Abbey whispered as the boys disappeared up the stairs, leaving both parents for some time alone, the two simply chosing to cuddle on the couch.
The boys were up the final stair when they walked into Logan's room and he closed the door behind them both.
"Alright, drop the cryptic. What happened in there last night?" Chase questionned his twin, taking a seat on his bed and leaning his elbows on his legs, ready to listen to what his brother had to say.
"I barely slept. All I could think about is what kind of mess I put myself into and the impossible situation I put dad in by being so hot headed."
"And why were you so pissed when you got back home? What did dad tell you in the car?"
"It wasn't in the car, it was at the 21st. Dad and Patterson were both there and they gave us a new deal."
"What new deal? English please Logan come on." Chase was tired of word games, he just wanted to know the truth.
"Chief Thomas gave us one last shot. Dad says I put one toe out of line and I'm out for good, so is Patterson if he does anything too."
"That's tough man. What are you going to do?"
"What I have to do. I can't lose the academy Chase, it's all I got." He sat against his desk, his arms crossed on his chest.
"Than we'll just have to work together to keep your nose clean. No one I'm graduating from the Fire Academy on my own." They smiled at each other and shared their secret handshake.
For the rest of the day, both Chase and Logan stayed cooped up in Logan's room, books opened all over the place. Chase was helping Logan to catch up on what he had missed, making sure he was on top of everything and certainly not give them any excuse to kick him out of the academy. They all had dinner together and right after, Logan hid away in his room again with his books, making sure he knew everything by heart so he could be ready to go back to the academy first thing in the morning.
Abbey and Matt stayed in the living room with a glass of wine well into the evening, enjoying each other's compagny. When the house became quiet, they locked everything up and retreated to their room, tomorrow's early shift forcing them to go to bed. They stopped at Logan's room where the door was slightly ajar and looked in to find him asleep in his bed with books all around him, one opened on his chest. Abbey tried to stay quiet and picked up a few books before Logan woke up, wondering what time it was.
"Time for bed son, you have to wake up early for the academy in the morning."
"I'm ready." He answered grogilly, obviously barely awake.
"Get a good night's sleep first." She stacked his books on his desk and left again, spending a few moments with Matt before they both fell asleep as well, shift getting closer by the minute.
The next morning, Matt was woken up by some noise in the kitchen and looked at his alarm clock. There was still thirty minutes worth of sleep left but he made it down the stairs to check for what was making all that noise. He made it to the kitchen to find Logan getting his breakfast ready and some coffee going.
"What are you doing? You're going to wake up the whole neighbourhood." He leaned against the kitchen doorframe.
"I thought I'd get an early start this morning." He looked back at his dad, who looked like he hadn't slept very well the previous night. "You ok dad?" Logan asked worried.
"Feeling under the weather, no big deal. Why don't you go back to bed a little bit longer?"
"Can't dad, I don't want to be late for the first day back." He grabbed a toast in between his teeth with a to-go mug of coffee and he patted his father on the back before he left the house, quiet coming over it once more. Matt made it back to his own bed where Abbey was still asleep, oblivious to what had happened downstairs just now. He looked at his wife and fell back asleep even if it was just for a little bit. He knew his boys would be ok and that they would do great, it was all that mattered to him.
A/n: So Logan got it handed to him straight and his fear of losing the academy kicked his butt to do the right thing but let's see if he can keep his head in the game and stay there.
Once again I'm sorry for the delay in updating but I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please take a few minutes to review before you go, you're thoughts are always apreciated. - Sarra