A/N: This chapter changed some from how I'd originally written it. I don't post my stories until I'm done with them, but I read all of your comments about wanting to see how Casey and Firehouse 51 react to the news of the pregnancy, so I went back and edited this chapter to add that in, and I actually like it better than the original. I hope you enjoy it!

"So, Dawson and Severide, huh? I didn't see that one coming," Cruz remarked as he sat down to eat.

"They didn't say they were together," Mouch stated. "They're just raising their kid together."

"Yeah, but still...just the fact that they're having a kid together is crazy enough," Cruz insisted. "And the fact that it happened in New York when the whole purpose of his trip there was to see Kidd? It's just weird; that's all I'm saying."

Gallo snorted. "I can't believe he slept with Casey's ex-wife. I mean, he's supposed to be Casey's best friend and then he goes and does that? I sure wouldn't be his best friend anymore if that happened to me."

"That's enough!" Herrmann exclaimed, standing up and smacking the table loudly. "Casey and Gabby have been divorced for several years now, and Casey's moved on; why shouldn't Gabby? Besides, you heard Severide; it's not like they intended for it to happen."

"But what about Kidd? She and Severide were barely broken up before he slept with her!" Gallo argued. "How is that fair to her?"

"Look, Gallo, I know you're loyal to your lieutenants, but it's really none of your business," Herrmann retorted. "If Severide and Dawson say they didn't mean for it to happen, I believe them. It's not any of our business how or why it happened. What matters is that they both seem happy."

"Severide hasn't stopped smiling since Gabby showed up in Chicago," Capp stated. "I was wondering what was going on with him."

"As long as Severide and Dawson are happy, it doesn't really matter what we think," Cruz admitted. "I was just surprised, that's all."

"I mean, I can't say I ever would have put the two of them together," Mouch spoke up, "but I'm happy for them. Dawson deserves this; they both do. Those two have experienced more pain and heartbreak in their lives than anyone should. They deserve for something good to happen to them."

Brett slipped away from the table as the discussion continued. The whole conversation made her incredibly uncomfortable. She didn't really feel like she had the right to have an opinion on the situation considering she was dating Matt. Honestly, the whole thing just felt weird; Gabby was her former best friend and Matt's ex-wife, and Kelly was Matt's best friend, but after Gabby had left, Brett had considered Stella to be her best friend. Knowing that her boyfriend's ex-wife was pregnant with his best friend who had, until recently, been engaged to her best friend, brought mixed emotions. On one hand, she was incredibly happy for Gabby and Kelly; they both seemed happy, and she knew how much Gabby wanted to be a mom. But on the other hand, she couldn't deny it was an unusual situation.

Brett was relieved to find that the bunk room was empty as she climbed onto her bunk and pulled out her phone. She was dreading the call she was about to make, but she knew she needed to make it.

"Sylvie! I thought you were on shift today. Is everything okay?"

Brett sighed. She'd been half hoping that Casey wouldn't answer so that she could put off this conversation. "No. I mean, yes, everything's fine," she quickly corrected herself, not wanting Matt to think something bad had happened.

"What's wrong?"

Sylvie should have known that Matt would see right through her. She thought for a moment, trying to decided how to break the news to him, before blurting out, "Gabby's pregnant, and Severide's the father." As soon as she said it, she immediately regretted it. She should have thought this through more before calling him. She held her breath, waiting for Matt to respond.

"Umm...wow."

"I'm sorry," Sylvie apologized. "I shouldn't have blurted that out; I just didn't know how to tell you."

"I didn't even know they were together. I know you mentioned that Gabby was in town and had stopped by the other day, but you didn't say anything about them being together."

"That's because they're not," Sylvie replied. "At least, I don't think they are...they made it sound like they aren't."

"Now I'm really confused."

"I guess they ran into each other when Severide was in New York; they both got drunk and slept together, and Gabby ended up pregnant. She and Severide are planning to raise the baby together, but I don't think they're actually dating or anything," Brett explained.

"Wow," Matt replied, sighing heavily as he leaned back in his chair. He'd been surprised to see Sylvie's name flash on his screen, as it wasn't often that she had time to call him while on shift, but it had been a pleasant surprise. The last thing he'd expected to hear from her was this, however. Gabby was pregnant with Kelly's baby? He still wasn't sure he quite believed it, but he knew Sylvie would never lie to him about something like this.

"Matt? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Matt replied quickly. "Just…surprised, that's all. I…Gabby…it's just…do you know how she's doing?"

Brett quickly filled him in on what Gabby had told him earlier, and Matt felt his heart drop. The minute Brett had told him that Gabby was pregnant, his mind instantly had gone to her aneurysm and the risk that came with pregnancy, but he'd hoped that maybe he'd been wrong. While it would validate all the fears that he'd had, all of the arguments that came about because of it that had ultimately led to his and Gabby's divorce, he'd still hoped that he'd been wrong, and that Gabby's life wouldn't be at risk because of pregnancy.

"Thanks for letting me know, Sylvie. I appreciate it," Matt told his girlfriend. "I'll call you later. I love you." He felt bad about ending their conversation so quickly and abruptly, knowing that Sylvie was likely feeling conflicted about this as well given her friendship with Stella, but he needed time to think and process the news. Gabby was pregnant. The baby was Kelly's. Kelly, his best friend, was having a baby with his ex-wife.

Matt wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the news. He was shocked, of course, and concerned for Gabby's health, but beyond that, he just felt confusion. Why would his best friend sleep with his ex-wife? He couldn't wrap his mind around it. Kelly and Gabby had always been good friends, but that had been because of him and because of Shay. At least, that's what he'd always thought. He'd never pictured the two of them together as anything more than just friends. But now they were having a baby together.

He was surprised to realize that the news didn't bother him the way he'd expected it to. He and Gabby were over; they were in the past now. He no longer had any claim to her, but he'd still expected to feel some sense of anger or betrayal at the fact that Kelly had slept with her, but it just wasn't there. He was shocked, of course, but he was also…happy? Relieved? He couldn't exactly put a name to the feeling just yet.

Three days later, Kelly was back on shift and had just picked up his phone to check in on Gabby when the tones went off.

Truck 81, Squad 3, Engine 51, Ambulance 61, Battalion 25. Building fire. 322 E Illinois

Kelly's heart dropped when they pulled up to the address dispatch had given. It was a movie theater, one of the largest in the city. To make matters worse, it was right next to a bowling alley, and it was a Saturday afternoon in the middle of January, which meant both places would be packed. Smoke was already pouring out of the theater. He jumped out of the squad as it was still rolling to a stop and jogged over to Boden for instructions.

"Dispatch, this is Battalion 25; send out a second and third alarm," Boden said into his mic before turning to Kelly and the other lieutenants. "Pelham, take Truck and search the east side of the building. Severide, you and your squad take the west. Herrmann, take Ritter and start evacuating the bowling alley next door," Boden ordered.

"Got it, Chief," replied Kelly, who then jogged back to the Squad. "We've got the west side. Come on, let's move!" Kelly shouted.

Gabby was watching a movie when she saw a breaking new notification pop up on her phone about a fire at a movie theater. She felt her breath catch in her throat, and she quickly switched the tv to a local news channel.

"We're live on scene at a fire at the AMC River East 21," a reporter stated off screen as the image of the movie theater engulfed in smoke filled the screen. "Firefighters are already hard at work on scene, but we're told one of their main concerns right now is the bowling alley next door…"

Gabby tuned it out as she searched the video of the scene, trying to see who was on scene. Her heart dropped when she saw Truck 81 and Battalion 25, knowing that meant that Squad 3 was also on scene. She picked up her phone and quickly dialed Cindy's number.

"Gabby, I know; I'm watching, too."

"Cindy-" Gabby's voice broke.

"It's a lot harder watching from home, isn't it? Gabby, you know even better than I do that they know what they're doing. They'll be fine."

"But what if they're not?" whispered Gabby. "I know how quickly things can go wrong."

"You'll drive yourself crazy worrying about the what if's, Gabby. I know; I did that when Herrmann first became a firefighter. You can't do that, Gabby. You just have to believe that everything will be okay, and if it isn't, you deal with it when it happens."

Gabby nodded. "Thanks, Cindy," she told the older woman before hanging up.

"Fire department! Call out!" yelled Kelly as he entered yet another screen. He motioned for Cruz to take one side while he took the other. The smoke was thicker now, making it almost impossible to see, and it was getting hot inside.

"Kelly, report!" Boden ordered over the radio

"It's getting bad in here, Chief!" Kelly replied. "We can hardly see anything. We're almost done. On our last screen now. What's the status on the bowling alley?"

"We're holding the fire back right now, but I'm not sure how much longer that's going to last. Wrap it up in there as soon as you can.

"Copy that, Chief," Kelly acknowledged.

"Fire department, call out!" he heard Cruz yell from the other side of the room. "I don't see anyone, Severide!"

"Okay, head on out. I'm right behind you," Kelly instructed.

"Severide, Cruz, get out! The bowling alley is on fire. Evacuate now!"

"On our way out, Chief!" Kelly responded. He'd just turned to leave when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Cruz, I think I've got someone!" he called as he headed to check it out. "Head on out; I'll be right behind you." He then keyed his radio, "Hey Chief, I think I see someone. Checking it out and then I'll be out."

"Make it fast, Kelly. I don't like the looks of this fire."

Kelly reached the victim, a teenage girl, just as he heard a rumbling sound on the other side of the wall. "Miss, are you hurt?" he asked the girl, who was curled in a ball on the floor.

"My ankle; someone stepped on it," she coughed. "I think it's broken."

"What's your name?" Kelly asked as he checked the girl's ankle. It was definitely broken; there was no way she was walking out of here.

"Sarah," the girl replied.

"Okay, Sarah, we need to get out of here. I'm going to pick you up on the count of three, and then we're going to get out of there together, okay?"

Sarah nodded, and Kelly started counting, "One, two, three." He picked her up, and she screamed as her foot brushed the seat. "I know, Sarah. It's okay. We're getting out of here."

"Severide! Get out now!" Boden's voice shouted over the radio.

Kelly had just made it to the hallway when he heard what sounded like an explosion on the other side of the wall. He looked over his shoulder and saw the wall starting to crumble. "Hang on, Sarah!" he instructed the girl as he broke into a jog. He'd almost made it to the end of the hallway when he heard a crack above him. He immediately dropped to the ground, covering Sarah with his body, as the ceiling crashed down on top of him.

Gabby gasped as she watched the ceiling of the movie theater collapse on tv. "Please don't let anyone be in there," she murmured.

Her phone dinged, and she pulled her eyes away from the tv just long enough to read the text from Cindy. Hold on, it read. This is the hard part: waiting to hear that everyone made it out.

Gabby quickly typed out a reply. I don't know how you've done this for so many years.

"Severide, report!" Boden shouted into the radio. Cruz, Capp, and Tony stood next to him, their eyes glued to the building, watching for any signs of movement. "Severide, report!" Boden repeated. "Come on, Kelly," he muttered under his breath.

"Chief?" Cruz asked, his voice shaky. "The fire's out in the theater; let us go in, please!"

Boden shook his head. "We need to get that bowling alley extinguished before anyone goes near that rubble," he replied, his tone making it clear that this wasn't up for discussion.

Brett stood by the ambulance with Violet. Due to how quickly both buildings had been evacuated, there had been far fewer injuries than anticipated something that Brett was thankful for, as she wasn't sure she'd be able to focus on treating anyone right now. All she could think about was Gabby. While she wasn't sure what Gabby and Severide were exactly, Severide was the father of Gabby's baby, and she couldn't imagine how hard it would be for Gabby to lose him. She was also worried about the stress of the situation and how it would affect Gabby's aneurysm.