Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination and Abbey and the three kids.
a/n: Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I hope you will like this one.
Five months later
Abbey woke up one morning and looked at her phone, seeing if there was anything on it from Andrew. Logan and Chanse were finally graduating from the academy today and her heart was filled with love and pride for her youngest sons, who had decided to follow in their father and older brother's footsteps. They were having a party at Molly's with the rest of their 51 family and the whole graduating class. Andrew had promised to make sure that everything was ready at the bar because she had been busy keeping the boys away from the place the night before. She swung her feet out from under the warm covers where Matt was still sleeping soudly. They had had a hard shift and he was exhausted so she quietly grabbed her robe and walked down the stairs to the kitchen to start a fresh pot of coffee and make breakfast for everyone. What she wasn't expecting was the aroma that was coming out of the kitchen. Matt was asleep and she doubted that the twins were up already so that left only one real option and she smiled when she made it to the kitchen.
"Hey baby, what are you doing here already?" She sat down as Andrew gave her a hot mug of coffee.
"We had a long shift, I figured that you guys could make with a good breakfast before another big day." Abbey chuckled.
"You had a big shift too if I recall correctly."
"I'm fine mom." He brushed his fingers across the stitches that were gracing his left eyebrow. "It's just a scratch."
"Like father like son." She whispered more to herself.
"I heard that." Abbey turned around to find Matt leaning against the doorway.
"I'm only stating a fact." They had talked breifly about it the night before but they both knew Andrew was a great firefighter and both his parents were proud of him. Things were going great between him and Amanda, so much so that he had already proposed to her, not even a whole year since they had started dating.
"She does have point dad."
"You do know she was aiming at you too right?"
"Yeah but it's ok. I've always looked up to you dad and for her to say that I'm just like you that who am I to complain?" Matt had nothing else to add to that so he simply smiled as Andrew put a plate in front of both of his parents, making his own breakfast and more, knowing the twins would probably grace them with their presences soon. As if they knew they were being spoken about, both of them made an appearance from the basement, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
"Long night?" Matt asked with a chuckle, knowing exactly what had happened.
"Short night." Logan grumbled, letting himself fall into a chair.
"Uncle Kelly steered us in the right direction." Chase added, holding his head in his hands.
"And let me guess. Uncle Kelly tagged along?" Abbey got up from her chair.
"You got that right." Logan smirked, remembering how completely trashed all three of them had been just a few hours before.
"He put us in a cab at four."
"Serves you both right to party with Kelly Severide." Abbey placed two big glasses of water and two ibuprophens each in front of the twins.
"Thanks mom." Chase downed both pills together and finished his glass.
"Next time, take those before you go to bed." She turned around to fill them two cups of black coffee. They needed to be sober and presentable for their graduating ceremony later on in the day. "So what time do you guys have to be there today?" She gave them the cups and sat back down to finish her breakfast with her family.
"Four so we can get changed in our dress blues and be ready for five." Chase put a piece of bacon in his mouth.
"You guys nervous?"
"Still too drunk to be nervous ma." Logan said, making everyone laugh.
"Alright, eat up and go get showered you knuckleheads." Andrew got up and put his plate in the dishwasher. "I'll see you guys tonight mom." He kissed his mom's cheek.
"You're leaving already?" Andrew came around a lot but somehow, Abbey still missed having him around.
"Yeah. I told Amanda I'd catch her before she went to class."
"Alright. Tell her I said hi." She patted his arm.
"I will. See you later." He turned around, leaving all four of them alone again.
Abbey and Matt were at Molly's, it was about three and severel of the guys from 51 were there, including Shay and Brett, who were putting the finishing touches to the decorations in the bar.
"So graduation day huh?" Shay smiled from the ladder she was on neer the bar.
"Graduation day. Where did time go?" Abbey sighed, wiping some clean glasses dry.
"Away." Gabby chuckled.
"Tell me about it, grandma." All the girls laughed, Kelly and Matt snickering with a beer in hand.
"Too soon." Lily had just recently told her parents that she and Scott were expecting and it was still all brand new.
"Now we'll have a whole new generation running around at 51." Brett commented from where she was putting up a congratulations banner with Otis.
"You guys will probably be next." Severide goaded them on next to Matt, bumping his shoulder.
"Maybe. They are engaged after all."
"Don't say that." Abbey slapped him with the dish towel she had on her shoulder, making him laugh."
"What? They're in love and their engaged. You know how that's like." They smiled at each other, remembering a time that was already so far away.
"True. And he's doing great on Squad, probably going to take Severide's place soon."
"Hey." Kelly looked up from his beer, his smirk already gone. "No Casey will be lieutenant of Squad 3 until I'm out of comission."
"Which should be pretty soon." Mills laughed from his side of the bar. Kelly simply waived them off with his hand and returned to his beer.
When they got home a little later to change, both Chase and Logan were already gone to the academy.
"It's quiet isn't it?" Abbey sighed as they made it to their room to shower and change.
"Well maybe Severide is right. Maybe we'll hear little feet running around here soon." He pulled her to him and kissed her gently.
"I guess he's right."
"It'll just be more Casey's to deal with." He laughed.
"God help us then." She kissed him. Abbey pushed him towards the bed, making him fall on his back with her on top of him. "How much time do we have?"
"Enough." He pulled her closer to him and clothes were the first thing to go.
Logan sat in front of his locker at the academy, his dress blues hanging from a hanger, staring him in the face.
"We finally made it." He turned to look at the person standing, leaning against a post.
"And we managed not to kill each other." He smiled at Patterson who chuckled.
"Yeah. You're parents are going to be there? And where's Chase?"
"They wouldn't miss it and he's already downstairs."
"And why aren't you dressed yet?"
"I have a lot on my mind."
"Head of the class and you have a lot on your mind?" It was true that the three of them were graduating with top grades but something else was eating at him.
"Family stuff." He sighed.
"Afraid you won't live up to the name?"
"Something like that." He turned to look at the clothes hanging on his locker. Logan had worked really hard after the incident at Molly's and his night behind bars. He had kept his head down and done the work, just as his father had asked and it had paid off but somewhere in the pit of himself, he was still afraid of letting his parents down.
"I highly doubt that. Now get your lazy ass up and get dressed." He walked behind him and patted him on the back. Logan stayed a little while longer before getting changed in his clothes and joining the rest of his class.
Matt and Abbey were seated in the middle of the room, most of 51 around them. They were chatting amongst themselves, the noise level rising as they did but around five, the crowd quieted down as Chief Thomas made his appearance on the stage where he made an opening address about what the CFD was all about. Abbey could see the twins from where she was sitting,a feeling of pride running through her as chief Thomas spoke of honour and the desire to save people.
"I've seen a large number of green firefighters but I've witnessed, in this group, some with heads as hard as their predecessors but with the most heart I've seen in a long while."
A few other members of the CFD spoke before they started calling out the names of the graduates and as the C's started, people from 51 were starting to be more animated and when Chase was called on stage, 51 exploded in cheers, followed by Logan, who got the same treatment. Towards the end of the line was Patterson and even with what had happened at Molly's, he and the twins had gotten close following the incident so when his name was called, hoots and hollers were heard from the crowd from both 51 and his family. There was a few last speeches before the evening ended and everyone made their way towards Molly's for an evening of celebration.
The twins were the last ones to come in with the rest of their class, the whole bar errupting in cheers. The first round for the grads was on the house and then a beer followed the next, everyone of the kids getting more drunk with every hour but it was their big day and they had every right to celebrate it. The old generation was mostly against the bar, enjoying the sight of the next generation having the kind of fun that they used to have back in the day andMatt had Abbey wrapped in his arm.
"They finally made it." He kissed her temple.
"Yes they did. I'm proud of them."
"So am I." they kissed and he released his hold on her, climbing on a stool and then onto the bar, gaining everyone's attention.
"I'd like to congratulate everyone from this year's graduating class on the accomplishment of going through the CFD." Everyone cheered and whistles could be heard loudly coming from Severide. "When I decided to go into this noble and brave profession of firefighting a few decades ago, it was to save lives and make a difference. What I wasn't expecting was to pass on my passion not only to my oldest son but also to my two youngest ones who are graduating tonight. Just remember this: The people who we save don't care what crest that is on the side of our companies." He shared a glance with Mills at the end of the bar. "Do your jobs and save as many people as you can. There's nothing more rewarding in the world."
"Alright old man, enough with the speeches." A slightly drunk Severide called at Casey. "Welcome to the CFD and good luck to the next generation of smoke eaters. Next round is on me." He clamored loudly, everyone cheering.
The party went well into the night, the old partying with the new and everyone enjoying each other, hopes, dreams and worries for what was on the horizon, the farthest thing from their minds.
a/n: Alright so I'm sorry this has taken so long to write but there was a small part that I wasn't able to write and I finally did. There is only one more chapter to this story so as always, please take a few seconds to review, I always like to know what you guys think.