A/N: This chapter originally had a Gabby/Casey scene in it, but it got cut when I was editing because it didn't seem to fit. It does, however, have a Casey/Severide scene, so enjoy! I always loved their friendship on the show, so I knew when I was writing this story that I didn't want to ruin that. (A jealous Casey does make an appearance in a Dawseride story that is still a work in progress, so if you do want to see that side of him, stay tuned and sign up for author alerts! I don't know yet when it will be done, but it's coming along nicely.)
The next day Gabby was busy in the kitchen preparing Christmas dinner while nervously looking out the window. It had started to snow the night before and hadn't stopped since. "I hope everyone can make it here," she told Antonio, who was helping her in the kitchen.
"It's Chicago; it'll be fine," he reassured her. "They'll be here." No sooner had he said that than his phone buzzed on the counter. He picked it up, quickly reading the message he'd received. "Atwater can't make it. A case jumped off for Intelligence and they're all working the holiday."
"You miss it, don't you?" Gabby asked him, noticing the wistful expression on his face.
Antonio shrugged. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't, but that part of my life is over now. If I'd stayed here, I either would have ended up dead or in jail. And then I wouldn't be getting ready to meet my niece."
Gabby smiled at her brother. He'd worked hard to rebuild his life when he'd first gotten to Puerto Rico, and she was proud of him. She knew how hard it had been for him to leave the job he loved.
"Everything smells amazing," Kelly told them, walking into the kitchen. He kissed Gabby's forehead. "I just heard from Capp and Tony; they're not going to be able to make it today," he told her apologetically. "Some of Squad 3 called out today with the flu, so they were called in for relief."
Gabby sighed. "Atwater won't be here, either. Looks like it's just going to be the three of us and Brett and Casey." She turned to Antonio. "Looks like you're going to be stuck with two couples tonight; sorry."
"It's all good," Antonio replied. "I'm just glad it worked out for me to be here for Christmas."
Two hours later Brett and Casey had arrived, and they were all sitting down to eat. "Thanks for having us; everything looks delicious," Brett told Gabby.
"Of course! We wouldn't know what to do with all of this food if you two hadn't been able to make it," Gabby replied.
Kelly looked around the table as everyone ate. They were an interesting group for sure, given the history between Casey and Gabby and Brett and Antonio, but he was thankful to have a table full of friends and family this Christmas. Had you asked him a year ago how he would be spending Christmas, he would have said that he'd been spending it with Stella, hopefully as a married couple. So much had changed since then, but he regretted none of it.
Once they'd finished dinner, Kelly and Brett began to clear the table, sending Gabby to the living room with orders to sit back and relax. Antonio stepped into the guest room to FaceTime with Ava and Diego, and Casey was on the phone with the Darden boys.
Gabby sighed as she laid her head back against the back of the couch. Days like today were hard. They should have been celebrating this Christmas with the excitement and anticipation of their baby girl's impending arrival. It helped having guests to distract her from thinking about it.
"You okay?" Casey asked, walking into the living room at just that moment.
"I'm fine; just thinking, that's all," Gabby replied. "How are the boys?"
"They're great; they're really enjoying their time with their grandparents," Case replied. He glanced towards the kitchen, ensuring that Brett was out of ear shot, before adding, "Don't tell Brett, but this visit is actually a test run to see how they do back in Chicago. If it continues to go well, then it's likely that the three of us will move back here once the school year finishes."
"That's great, Casey!" Gabby exclaimed. "Brett will be thrilled if that happens. I know she misses you. Will you come back to 51?"
"If there's a spot for me; if not, I'll find somewhere else in the CFD," Casey shrugged. "What about you? Do you think you'll ever return to the CFD? And what about Puerto Rico?"
"Puerto Rico was what I needed at the time," Gabby answered. "But now I think that chapter in my life is over. I need something that will allow me to be here in Chicago, not halfway around the world in a disaster zone. As far as returning to the CFD, Boden actually offered me a job on 61."
"I'm assuming you're taking it? Brett's going to be thrilled," Casey told her.
Gabby nodded. "I haven't told Boden yet, so I was waiting to tell her until I talked to him."
Kelly and Brett walked in from the kitchen then. "Casey, you guys might want to get going if you're going to make it home tonight. It's getting pretty bad out there," Kelly informed his friend.
Gabby gave both Brett and Casey hugs. "I'm glad you guys were able to make it," she told them.
"Thanks for having us," Brett told her. "I wish we didn't have to leave so soon."
Once they'd closed the door behind their friends, Kelly sat on the couch, pulling Gabby into his lap. "Merry Christmas, Gabriella," he whispered before kissing her.
"Merry Christmas, Kelly," Gabby replied, resting her head against his.
The couple sat like that for several minutes, neither of them saying a word, both lost in their own thoughts, before Gabby spoke again. "Tomorrow would have been 34 weeks."
"I know," Kelly replied softly. "I think about her all the time. I wonder which one of us she would have looked more like, if she would have had your brown eyes, and if she would have inherited my stubbornness."
"Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if I'd gotten an abortion when I first found out I was pregnant," Gabby admitted. "It would have saved us both a lot of pain."
"If you had, we wouldn't be sitting here today," Kelly told her. "I wouldn't have you. So I'm glad for the time that we had with her."
"I still want to be a mom, Kelly," Gabby confessed. "Not anytime soon, of course. But someday, once we've had some time to heal, I want to have a baby."
They hadn't discussed whether or not they would have kids, but the doctor had informed them that it was perfectly safe for Gabby to get pregnant again. "I'd like that," Kelly told her, kissing the top of her head.
They both jumped when they heard a knock on the door. "Antonio must be back already," Gabby remarked as she got up to answer the door. Antonio had left before Casey and Brett to head over to the 21st Precinct. He'd wanted a chance to say hi to all of the intelligence team.
When she opened the door, Gabby was surprised to see Casey and Brett standing there. "We got a couple of blocks from here before it turned into whiteout conditions," Casey explained. "It was safer us to turn around and come back than it was for us to continue to Sylvie's place."
"Sorry; I know you weren't exactly expecting to have a houseful of guests tonight," Brett apologized.
"It's okay," Gabby assured her, stepping to the side so that they could come in as Kelly walked up behind her. "Come on, let's go get the guest room ready for you guys. Antonio slept in it last night, so it needs fresh sheets."
Both women went to bed early, pleading tiredness, so Kelly grabbed himself and Casey some beers from the fridge.
"You two seem happy," Casey remarked as Kelly handed him a beer before taking a seat in the nearby armchair.
"It hasn't been easy," Kelly replied, "but I think we're finally starting to find some normalcy. I've honestly never been happier."
"I'm happy for you two; I really am," Casey told him truthfully. He chuckled. "You know, when you and Gabby were working to help Bria, I was jealous of you."
"What?" Kelly exclaimed, laughing. "Is that why you were so difficult to work with during that time?"
"Yes," Casey replied. "I'm not proud of it, but it's true. You two just seemed to click and you worked so well together. You were willing to be there to support her and help her without hesitation in a way that I wasn't. She was comfortable going to you about it but wasn't even talking to me about it." He shrugged. "You two just work in a way that she and I never did."
"I want to ask her to marry me," Kelly said suddenly, "but I'm terrified. I'm terrified that I'm rushing things, and that she'll say no. I'm terrified that she won't want to marry me; what if she doesn't want to get married again? I mean, she's not even told me that she loves me yet. And then there's everything we've been through. Sometimes it felt like our relationship was barely hanging by a thread. It's better now, but still; how do I know if we're ready?" Kelly paused for a moment then chuckled at the irony of the situation. "And I can't believe I'm talking to you about asking your ex-wife to marry me."
"It is pretty ironic, isn't it?" Casey said, laughing along with him. "Honestly, Kelly, the best advice I can give you when it comes to Gabby is to remember that behind that tough façade is a woman who just wants to be loved for who she is. She's strong, but she's also vulnerable. She loves like she does everything else: she throws herself into it and gives it everything she's got."
"She wants to be a firefighter again. Did she tell you that?" Kelly asked.
Casey shook his head. "No, but it doesn't surprise me."
"We got into an argument about it yesterday," Kelly admitted.
Casey laughed. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me," he replied. "Let me guess: you told her you didn't want her to do it because it's too dangerous, and she reminded you of all the times you've gotten hurt and then brought up the fact that you were one of her instructors in the academy?"
Kelly looked at his friend, his eyes wide. "How did you know that? That's exactly what she did!"
Casey shook his head, smiling. "Are you forgetting that she and I were together for six years? We had more than our fair share of fights in that time."
Kelly laughed. "I know; I was there for some of them."
The two friends talked for a while longer before they both decided to call it a night. Kelly quietly walked into his and Gabby's room, not wanting to wake her. He stood by her side of the bed for a moment, watching her sleep. She was beautiful, and she was his. As he stood there, he thought about what Casey had told him at the hospital about why he and Gabby hadn't worked out, and he vowed to himself that he would always love every single strong, independent, stubborn, and headstrong part of her, and that he would never take any of that for granted.