A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! They're a huge motivator to get chapters up more quickly. and I"m so glad you all are enjoying the story so much.
"Are you sure you'll be okay here alone?" Kelly asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. Tomorrow was his first day back to shift since Gabby had arrived, and he still wasn't sure he felt comfortable leaving her.
"Yes," Gabby insisted, yet again. "I'll be fine, Kelly. Stop worrying."
"Okay," Kelly said reluctantly. "But you'll call me if you need anything, right?"
"Kelly Severide, if you keep it up, I'm going to lock myself in my room until you leave for shift," Gabby threatened jokingly. "I'll be fine. And yes, if anything happens, I'll call you. But nothing's going to happen; I'm fine."
Kelly quietly cracked open the door to Gabby's room and peeked inside. He was getting ready to leave for shift but wanted to check to see that Gabby didn't need anything before he left. She'd gone to bed early the night before, and Kelly hadn't heard anything from her room before he went to bed or this morning when he woke up, so he assumed she was exhausted.
Gabby was still sound asleep, although at some point in the night, her covers had ended up on the floor. Kelly quietly walked over to the bed, picked the covers up off the floor, and gently covered Gabby back up. She stirred but didn't wake up. Kelly stood there for a couple of minutes, watching her, before turning and walking to the bathroom. He opened Gabby's bottle of nausea medication and took out a pill, then walked back to the bedroom and set it on the nightstand next to the glass of water she kept there. He knew she'd be needing it once she woke up in the morning.
Gabby had only been here a few days, but already Kelly could tell how much the pregnancy was taking out of her. Hopefully the worst of the nausea would subside soon, and she'd have a little more energy. He knew how much Gabby hated being sick all of the time and being too tired to do anything. He reached down and brushed her hair out of her face, looking at her once last time before quietly walking out of the room and closing her door behind him.
Gabby stretched and rolled over to look at the clock. Crap. It was already 10am. She hadn't intended to sleep that long; she'd hoped to be awake before Kelly left for shift, but he'd been gone for over an hour now. She reached for her phone but saw the pill sitting next to her water. She smiled gratefully and quickly took it before grabbing her phone and shooting off a quick text.
Kelly's phone vibrated on his desk. He glanced down and saw a text from Gabby had come in.
Good morning. Thanks for the medicine. Sorry I wasn't awake when you left.
Kelly smiled and typed out a response: No problem. You needed the sleep. Feel better? How's the nausea this morning?
A response came in quickly. Yes, much better. Last night was a lot. Nausea isn't bad right now. Haven't had to make a mad dash to the bathroom yet.
Kelly chuckled. Good. I think I should have taken one of your pills, though. Cruz is cooking today.
Gabby laughed out loud as she read Kelly's text. He'd added a puking emoji to the end. She remembered all too well how awful Cruz's cooking was.
Looks like I should have been the one worried about you. Maybe you can sweet talk the guys into stopping for takeout instead?
She waited for a few minutes but didn't receive a response. She got out of bed and padded towards the bathroom, turning on the water in the shower to let it warm up. She checked her phone again. Still no response. They must have gotten a call.
Be careful out there, Gabby typed. Don't do anything stupid.
Kelly laughed as he read Gabby's text a few hours later when they were finally pulling back into the station.
"What's so funny, Lieutenant?" Cruz asked.
"Oh, nothing," Kelly replied.
Cruz, Capp, and Tony exchanged glances. Their lieutenant had been unusually happy this shift and had also been more attached to his phone than normal. They hadn't seen him this happy since before Stella left for Girls On Fire, and his strong attachment to his phone was unusual.
"You gonna tell us what has you in such a good mood, Lieutenant?" Capp prodded.
Kelly grinned. "Nope," he replied before heading to his quarters.
"Hey, stranger."
"Hey yourself," Kelly replied, smiling. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay; the nausea isn't too bad today, actually. I've not thrown up at all yet today. How's shift?"
"This morning was pretty busy. I'm hoping that's not an indication of how the whole shift is going to go," Kelly stated. "But at least it's making it go by fast. And it's keeping the guys from asking too many questions."
"Oh? And why would they be asking questions?"
Kelly could hear the laughter in Gabby's voice and rolled his eyes. She'd told him that he wouldn't be able to fool everyone at 51 for long. "They want to know why I'm in a good mood. It's almost like they think I'm always in a bad mood," he replied grumpily.
"Says the person that went from spending every night at Molly's to not being there in over a week."
"Okay, so they have a point," Kelly admitted. "I've been able to ignore them for now, but I don't know how long that will last, especially if they start getting the others to join-" Kelly was cut off by the tones going off, calling out all four vehicles. "Gotta go. I'll check in later," he promised before hanging up.
Three hours later, they finally pulled back into the firehouse. "Hey, Cruz, I thought you were cooking today!" Mouch called from where he stood next to the firetruck.
"I am," Cruz responded, walking towards the older man.
"Then why does whatever's cooking in there actually smell good?" Mouch asked.
Puzzled, Cruz walked into the common area before calling over his shoulder, "There's food, but there's no one here."
Kelly, who had just taken a seat at the squad table, got up and jogged into the common area to see what Cruz was talking about. He was right; there were pans of food on the counter, but there was no one in sight.
The rest of the guys were already swarming the food, dishing up pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and corn, all of which smelled amazing. "If you're going to eat, you might want to get some food now, Severide," Herrmann called. "This isn't going to last long the way everyone's piling up their plates."
"In a minute," replied Kelly distractedly. He pulled out his phone and texted Gabby. Where are you? And did you have anything to do with the fact that food mysteriously showed up at the firehouse?
He waited but didn't get a reply. He debated whether or not to call her, not wanting to wake her up if she was sleeping, but also wanting to make sure she was okay. He'd just decided to call her when a text came through.
All it said was "bathroom."
Kelly sighed. "Real specific, Gabby," he muttered, but headed for the firehouse bathroom, hoping he was wrong, and she hadn't done what he was suspecting she'd done.
"Gabby?" he called as he walked in. The only response he got was the noise of someone throwing up in one of the stalls. He quickly grabbed some paper towels and made his way toward the stall the noise was coming from.
"Hey," he murmured softly as he opened the stall door to reveal Gabby leaning over the toilet. He pulled her hair out of the way, crouching down beside her and handing her the paper towels.
"Sorry," Gabby whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "I was feeling better, and thought I'd surprise you all with food while you were gone and leave before everyone was back, but…" she trailed off, motioning towards the toilet. "The smells got the best of me."
Kelly shook his head. "I swear, you're the most stubborn person I know."
Gabby smiled. "No, I'm pretty sure that's you. You're the one always doing stupid stuff and getting yourself in trouble."
Kelly groaned. "If our kid is half as stubborn as both of us, we're going to be in trouble," he griped.
He and Gabby stayed on the floor in the stall a little longer to ensure that Gabby was done getting sick before he helped her up and walked out of the bathroom with her. "Boden's office is probably the safest place for you right now," he told her. "It's far enough from the kitchen that the smells probably haven't reached there. And that will give everyone else enough time to get food so we can sneak you back out while they're distracted."
"I was thinking…what if I don't sneak out? It would be kind of nice to see everyone again. I mean, we'll need to figure out what to tell them about why I'm here, but I'm sure we can come up with something," Gabby suggested.
"If that's what you want to do," Kelly replied, smiling. He felt better having her at the firehouse and knowing that she was okay, and he knew everyone would be excited to see her again. He knocked on the open door to Boden's office when they reached it. "Chief?"
Boden looked up from the paperwork on his desk, a huge grin breaking across his face when he saw Gabby. "Gabby!" he exclaimed, standing up and walking around his desk to give her a hug. "Good to see you again. Welcome back to Chicago."
Gabby smiled and hugged him back. "Thanks, Chief." She'd missed the older man probably more than anyone else from Chicago. He'd been a father figure in her life during her time at the firehouse.
Boden pulled back and looked Gabby up and down. "Look at you; you're positively glowing," he proclaimed, causing Gabby to blush.
"Thanks, Chief," Gabby responded. "I think you're mistaking the flush of nausea for a glow, though," she laughed. "I don't feel like I'm glowing."
"It will pass eventually. And I'm not your chief anymore; It's Wallace to you," he instructed, leaning back against his desk, and motioning for her to take a seat in the chair in front of his desk. "Unless you want to come back and be a paramedic here at 51; I have a feeling we'll be losing Brett soon." He paused before adding, "What are your plans now that you're back in Chicago? Are you back for good?"
Gabby felt Kelly's eyes on her, waiting for her answer. "I'm still trying to figure that out, honestly," she confessed as she sat down. "Kelly and I still have a lot of things to talk about. I think it's safe to say that my time working on the ground in disaster areas is done, but there's an opportunity to do some other work for the organization I work with."
Kelly frowned. He knew exactly what Gabby was referring to when she mentioned: the fundraising position that Angela had been pushing her to do. He also knew that was definitely not something Gabby wanted to do. He made a mental note to discuss it with her later.
"If you ever want to come back, just say the word. I'll do whatever I can to help you find a spot. If there's nothing open here at 51, I'm sure I could find you something elsewhere in the district," Boden assured her.
"Thanks, Chief," Gabby replied. She glanced at Kelly, "I think I'm ready to go see everyone now," she told him.
Kelly nodded, standing up and following her into the hallway after she'd told Boden goodbye. "Common room or squad table?" he asked, knowing no matter which location she chose, everyone would inevitably find their way there once they heard the commotion.
"Squad table," Gabby replied. "Less smells out there."
Kelly nodded and led the way out to the apparatus bay where Tony, Capp, and Cruz sat at the squad table. "I found the source of the food," he announced, causing all three of them to look up.
"Dawson!" Cruz exclaimed, jumping up and rushing over to hug her, followed closely by Capp and Tony. "What are you doing here? When did you get into Chicago? How long are you here for?"
Gabby laughed. She was about to reply when Mouch poked his head out the doors to see what all the commotion was.
"Dawson!" he exclaimed before calling back over his shoulder, "Dawson's here!"
Gabby was quickly surrounded by her former coworkers. Herrmann, of course, pushed his way to the front, pulling her into a hug. "Good to see you, kid," he told her. "We've missed you around here."
Before long, everyone was asking her the same questions that Cruz had just asked. "I've been in town about a week now," Gabby informed them. "I got in last Monday. I'm not sure how long I'm staying for yet; I'm still figuring that out, but I'll be around for a few months, at least."
"Are you not doing your relief work anymore?" Herrmann questioned.
"No, not exactly, at least. I'm still doing some fundraising for the organization, but I'm not working out in the field anymore," Gabby replied.
"Does that mean we'll be seeing more of you around here?" Mouch asked.
Gabby smiled. "Yes, I'll stop in as much as I can," she promised.
"You should come to Molly's tomorrow night," Herrmann insisted. "It'd be good to have you around there again."
Gabby quickly tried to think of an excuse but failed. Thankfully, Kelly came to her rescue.
"Give her some space, Herrmann," Kelly teased his fellow lieutenant. "She just got into town a week ago. I'm sure she'll be by when she's ready."
Gabby flashed him a grateful smile. "I'll be by soon, Herrmann," she promised. "Not tomorrow night, but soon. Right now, though, I need to get going. It was great to see you all again."
"I'll walk you out," Kelly said quickly, wanting to jump on it before anyone else had the chance.
As Kelly walked Gabby out, he felt multiple pairs of eyes on them. "I think I'm going to have some questions to answer when I get back," he told her. "My visits to Molly stopped the same day you arrived, then I take a couple of shifts off, and come back in, according to Cruz, 'such a good mood.' Someone's eventually going to put the pieces together."
"What are you going to tell them?" Gabby asked, feeling bad about putting Kelly in this position.
Kelly shrugged. "I have no idea. But I'll figure out something."
"We're going to have to tell them soon, aren't we?" Gabby asked, although it was more of a statement than a question. "They're going to get more suspicious the longer I'm in town, especially if they keep seeing us together."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Kelly admitted. While he was excited about the baby and wanted to tell everyone he was going to be a dad, he wasn't sure how they would react. Casey was still a beloved person at the firehouse, and even though Casey and Gabby had been divorced for several years, he was concerned that some people might still have issues with it.