Silence.
No kids' giggles and shouts.
No shower water raining down and no hum of the microwave.
Even Cubby was fast asleep on his bed.
Matt walked into the kitchen and hung his keys on their hook. He wasn't accustomed to coming home to a silent house.
It had been a few weeks since he fell two stories fighting a house fire, separated his shoulder, and had to have emergency surgery to repair his lungs. He went to physical therapy for his shoulder multiple times a week but was still a couple of weeks away from being cleared for work.
On this particular day, Gabby was busy with meetings for the 100 Club, and the kids were all at school. Due to his injuries, Matt also couldn't work his second job as a general contractor. He had decided to paint the entire first level of the house in an attempt to prevent further boredom. He had enlisted Gabby's dad, Tom, to help, as he had taken up painting in his retirement. His father-in-law was due to arrive in an hour.
Matt decided that they would start with the main entryway. The main wall of the entryway was covered with framed photographs of Matt and Gabby's family and friends, along with photographs of Chicago's skyline and the city's sports stadiums. Gabby had made it into a gallery wall, and it was one of her favorite parts of the house. She assured Matt that she was already looking forward to rearranging the photographs when he finished painting the wall.
While Matt waited for his father-in-law to arrive, he began to carefully take down the picture frames from the wall. He figured that taking down the frames would be an easy first step in the painting process, but with each one he removed, he was hit with the memory that the picture captured.
He started with the picture frames hung near the top of the wall. The first one that he took down was their first family picture as a family of five. The photograph had been printed in purely black and white. Gabby's mom, Maria, had snapped the picture just hours after Luca was born. Matt, four-year-old Mia, and two-year-old Jake squeezed onto Gabby's hospital bed where she held a sleeping Luca. Mia and Jake had big, cheesy grins on their faces. They were both so excited for their baby brother to arrive. Matt smiled his own big, cheesy grin as he remembered the hours after Luca was born.
Huge smiles lit up Matt and Gabby's faces when they saw Gabby's parents holding Mia and Jake's hands and standing in the doorway. Beside them stood Gabby's brother, Antonio, and Matt's best friend, Kelly. They were overjoyed to see their entire family in one place.
"Come on in and meet your new baby brother," Matt said to his son and daughter. They both let go of their abuelos' hands and walked to their mom's bedside. Mia leaned over Gabby to see her new brother, and Jake stood on his tiptoes and peaked over the edge of the bed.
"This is your new brother, Luca Antonio Casey," Gabby told Mia and Jake. She moved Luca slightly in her arms so that her older children could get a better view of their baby brother. Then, she looked up at her own brother, who had tears in his eyes at the announcement of his new nephew's name.
Matt had tears in his eyes, as well. He helped Mia and Jake climb onto Gabby's bed and looked around the room at his little family.
Mia Shay Casey.
Jacob Kelly Casey.
Luca Antonio Casey.
This was the family Matt and Gabby had dreamed of after they lost their first baby many years ago. Now, finally, finally, they had everything and everyone that they had ever wished for.
Underneath the Casey family picture hung pictures of Mia, Jake, and Luca that had all been taken when they were just a few weeks old. Matt smiled as memories of his babies as much tinier babies flooded his head.
Next to a picture of Chicago's skyline hung a few pictures of Matt and Gabby's Firehouse 51 family. A picture that Gabby had taken of Matt, Kelly, and Shay at a Blackhawks game was beside a picture of Gabby and Shay on Halloween one year. Matt remembered one recent day when he and Gabby had walked down the hall, and Gabby caught a glimpse of the two photographs.
"Who would've thought way back then that our best friends would be the namesakes for two of your kids?" Gabby asked Matt.
"I guess we're just lucky that they both have good names for middle names," Matt said with a smile.
Gabby laughed. "I just wish Shay could meet them. I know she'd love them all and spoil them rotten."
Matt and Gabby were now standing in their family room, which was filled with their kids' impressive collection of toys and one wooden toy box that Matt made before Mia was born. They had both lost count of how many of the toys were gifts from Kelly. He had made it his mission to spoil his honorary niece and nephews as much as he and Shay would together if she was still alive.
"Well, why do you think these kids have so many toys? Kelly spoils them doubly rotten since Shay can't help him out," Matt assured his wife.
She smiled, knowing that her husband was right. While Shay would never be able to meet the Casey kids, her love and spirit surrounded the family through memories, Mia's middle name, and the toys that they all knew were from both Kelly and Shay.
Matt removed more pictures of his family with their extended family and beloved friends.
Mia hugged her cousin Eva on the day of her graduation from Northwestern University.
Matt's sister, Christie, sat on the couch while reading a book to all three kids.
Hermann and Otis posed beside an infant Mia in her car seat, which was on the bar at Molly's.
The kids posed with a cake covered Lincoln Ruzek at his first birthday party.
One Halloween, Stella held baby Jake, dressed as a little firefighter, and Sylvie held two-year-old Mia, dressed as a paramedic.
In the most recent picture, Kelly posed beside all three kids next to Lake Michigan.
Next, Matt took down one of his favorite pictures on the wall. It was a photograph of Matt and Gabby on their wedding day. Like the family picture, this one was also in black and white. Their wedding ceremony and reception were held on a boat that had cruised around the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. In the picture, they posed on the deck of the boat with the Chicago skyline in the background. Gabby wore an immaculate lace dress, and Matt remembered that his tears had started flowing as soon as he saw her at the opposite end of the aisle. Their wedding day had been the best day of Matt's life until the births of each of their children beat it out in a three-way tie for first place.
"I don't know where I would be without you. You are the love of my life, my best friend, and my compass in life. I will love you until the end of time. This I vow to you, today and always," Matt vowed to Gabby, as a tear slid down her cheek.
Trying to hold back further tears, Gabby said her vows. "You make me braver, stronger, and bolder. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. I will love you until the end of time. This I vow to you, today and always."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife! Lieutenant Casey, you may now kiss your bride," Chaplain Orlovsky proclaimed.
After the kiss that began Matt and Gabby's married life, the Chaplain announced them as "Mr. and Mrs. Casey" to their family and friends. It was a perfect day that was everything they had both dreamed that it would be.
Matt took a seat on the floor of the hallway. He hadn't expected the pictures and trip down memory lane to fill him with emotions like they had. He picked up the picture from their wedding day, made a ridiculous face, and took a selfie of him and the framed picture to send to Gabby. Matt knew that she would get a kick out of the selfie during her day of meetings.
He got back up and took down a picture of Gabby, Antonio, and their parents on a vacation many years ago. Just then, Tom Dawson walked through the door.
"Morning, son!" Tom said. He looked at the picture of the Dawson family that Matt was still holding onto. "Now that was a great vacation. There sure are a lot of memories on this wall."
"There sure are. Damn, I'm a lucky man," Matt said to his father-in-law.
"You've got that right, Matthew," Tom said with a smile. "But you won't be so lucky if your wife comes home and sees that we haven't done any painting. Now, let's get started."
Matt laughed, and his father-in-law gave him a pat on the back. Side by side, the two men got to work taking down the rest of the picture frames.
When Matt had arrived home earlier that day, the house had been filled with a unique and unwelcome silence. Now, he realized that the house was always full of the memories that those inside of it had made together. On this day and always, the Casey family's collection of memories could only grow larger and larger. Until the end of time.