A\N: I was so touched by how much positive response there was to my first chapter, thank you all so much. Since this story is slightly A\U I decided to play around with the ages of Antonio's children Eva and Diego. I'm a big Dawson sibling fan and I liked Antonio and his wife Laura together. You'll see the extended Dawson family in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own NBC or Chicago Fire

Spoilers: None

Warnings: None

Chapter 2

The summer weather was making the Chicago Medical ER busier than ever. Gabby had worked two shifts plus overtime. She wanted to go home and sleep but knew she still needed to pick up her kids and make dinner. She was starting to worry about it when Matt texted her offering to help. She knew he'd had a rough week as well but was so tired she would take all the help she could get.

She picked up the kids from her parents and drove to her apartment where Matt was waiting near the front door. She parked in her parking spot as usual, and Thomas got himself out of his car seat in record time and he was already running as soon as Gabby opened the back door.

"Matt! I miss you!" Thomas went running into his arms, "I made a fire truck picture! I told Diego you're my new friend!" He began talking a mile minute.

"Thomas, calm down, "Gabby who was carrying Sophia approached the two, "Tommy tell Matt who Diego is."

"My cousin, he's five." Thomas held out five fingers, "Eva's eight." He put up eight fingers."

"Antonio's kids, he's working a big case, and his wife Laura just opened a new bakery," Gabby explained to Matt, "My parents have been looking after all four kids some days. Eva's the only one in school all day. Diego goes to pre-kindergarten twice a week.

"If I'm off and not busy I can watch your kids," Matt offered as they walked into the elevator and Tommy pressed the button for the seventh floor, "That would give your parents a break. Especially now that school's almost out for the summer."

"That's a nice offer, thank you." Gabby didn't know what to say. Her parents watched the kids for free and even though she was pretty sure Matt wasn't looking for money she wouldn't feel right asking him to look after her kids, he was already doing a lot to help her out.

Walking into the apartment Matt could get a little idea of how bust her life was. On the floor were toys that hadn't been put away and laundry in baskets yet to be folded. He couldn't even imagine how tired she was. She could have easily gotten her kids something quick for dinner, but she was taking the time to make individual pizzas with them. That was the sign of a great mother, one who was rightfully protective of her children. Matt knew it would take a while until she fully trusted him to look after them.

Matt watched Thomas and Sophia start playing with toys in the living room, but he decided to step into the kitchen to follow Gabby, "I don't mind helping you out," He told her as she began getting out the necessary ingredients to make the mini pizzas."

"I know," Gabby answered, "And I really appreciate the offer but you're already helping me with the house. I can't pay you properly for that. I don't want to take any favours because of our situation."

"You told me you were a good cook. If you can give me some cooking lessons every once in a while, I'd consider that a fair deal."

"That doesn't seem fair," Gabby turned around to look at him briefly.

Matt laughed, "You haven't seen my cooking yet."

Gabby let out a little laugh herself and was going to respond when Sophia came into the kitchen crying.

"Mama!" Sophia cried as she made her way over to Gabby.

"Oh no," Matt got down on his knees and looked at Sophia "What happened?" Sophia babbled something that Matt couldn't understand but he thought he heard Sophia mention her brother. He held out his arms and she hugged him tightly. He easily stood up with Sophia still in his arms.

"You're very good with children," Gabby told Matt as she saw Sophia now content in Matt's arms. "I can see how much you like them. I know you'll keep Thomas and Sophia safe. So, you have a deal. Want to try to supervise them in the living room we'll I get everything in here organized?"

Matt smiled and nodded his head. He carried Sophia back into the living room and sat down on the floor. Sophia got out of his arms and went to find a baby doll and an outfit. She returned and held out an outfit.

"Matt," Sophia came back to him and held out the doll and the outfit.

"Oh, does baby need to be changed?" Matt asked he waited a few seconds for a response, but Sophia just looked up at him. He knew she could talk but didn't know how many words she knew. He put the outfit she had given him on the baby doll and handed it back. She then sat comfortably in his lap with the doll.

"Matt, watch this!" Thomas climbed up on the couch and started jumping up and down.

"Thomas," Matt looked at the four-year-old, "I'm pretty sure Mommy wouldn't like that. You could get hurt. You don't want to go to the ER?"

"Yeah!" Thomas grinned, "Thar's where Mommy works! I like it!"

Matt didn't know what to say after that, he hadn't realized Thomas was so smart. He made a note to ask his friend and colleague Christopher Herman about childcare tips. He had four children ranging in age from four to eleven.

"Thomas, jumping on the couch isn't safe." Matt lifted Sophia off his lap placed her on the floor and picked up Thomas. He put Thomas on the ground and Thomas looked up at him and frowned.

"Mommy!" Thomas yelled as loudly as possible.

Gabby walked into the room and looked at her son, "Thomas Alexander, you do not scream like that unless you're hurt."

"I don't like Matt!" Thomas frowned, "He's not a nice friend."

"Oh," Gabby looked apologetically at Matt and then addressed her son, "Tommy Matt is an adult, he wants you to have fun and stay safe. "You need to listen to him just like you listen to Mommy and Uncle Antonio and Auntie Laura. Remember Matt's a firefighter so he knows how to keep you safe, Mommy needs help sometimes and Matt's here helping. Can you be a big boy and understand?"

Thomas looked at his mother for a few minutes and finally nodded his head, "Oaky Mommy I'll help Matt."

"Good, first thing you can do is help clean up your toys." Gabby told him, "Then you and Sophia need to wash your hands. Maybe Matt can set a timer to help you clean up," She saw Matt getting out his cell phone as she walked back into the kitchen."

With a little help and prompting Matt helped Thomas and Sophia clean up the living room. They were excited to wash their hands as they both wanted to make the pizzas for dinner.

Once in the kitchen, Matt saw Gabby had set out everything the kids needed to make the pizzas on the counter so they could be relatively independent. He figured Tommy had made them before when he got a chair from the table and dragged it over to the counter and then climbed up.

"Alright Sophia looks like we can help each other," Matt lifted Sophia and placed her on the counter. Sophia started clapping her hands.

"Are you sure Matt? Sophia hasn't made these before, I can help her, and you can help Tommy."

"No Mommy, please help me?" Thomas asked.

"It's okay Gabby," Matt assured her as he put Sophia's apron on her. "Sophia probably knows more about cooking than I do." He laughed.

"Okay," Gabby nodded and started helping Thomas make his pizzas. As she watched her son work she smiled sadly as she thought about her late husband Michael. His favourite food was pizza. He loved store-bought pizza, but he also loved fresh homemade pizza. He was the one who taught her how to make pizza. When Thomas had been old enough to help make a homemade pizza, he had been so happy. There were pictures in a box that Gabby had put away, the memories still too fresh. She did however want her children to know something their father did. That was why she decided to start slowly on the homemade pizza tradition.

Gabby was pulled from her memories when Thomas told her he had finished making the pizzas. She looked them over and helped spread the tomato sauce a little more. She also added some green peppers much to Thomas', objection. She turned to see how Matt and Sophia were doing when she saw Sophia had made a mess of the tomato sauce, it was all over the counter, all over herself and all over Matt.

"Sophia!" Gabby rushed over and attempted to clean her daughter, "Matt, I'm so sorry I should have..." She trailed off as she saw that Matt didn't seem annoyed at all. He was smiling.

"That's okay," Matt took the towel and used it to clean off Sophia, "We had fun doing tomato sauce painting right sweetie?" He asked Sophia who giggled and then hugged him. "I did manage to make some of the pizzas as well." He explained, "I can clean up the counters or the kitchen if you want." He offered.

"If you could clean the counters, I'd appreciate that. You don't know where everything goes in the kitchen yet. I'll clean up later," She explained as he put the trays with the mini pizzas in the oven. "Come on my tomato sauce girl," Gabby made sure the oven was properly set and then took Sophia in her arms, "Let's get you all cleaned up."

Matt started cleaning the counter and he turned to see Thomas playing with magnets on the fridge. He was using the letters and sounding out different words as he played. Matt smiled as he watched and thought of an activity to do after he finished cleaning.

"M-O-M" Thomas slowly sounded out the word as he put the magnets next to each other "Mom. He said more confidently his smile growing, "I spelled Mom!"

Matt stopped cleaning and lifted Thomas into his arms, "You're right, I'm so happy and Mommy's going to be so proud." He hugged the little boy, "As soon as Mommy and Sophia come back, we'll show them."

"Yay!" Thomas smiled as Matt placed him back on the ground and he continued playing with the magnets.

As Gabby got Sophia cleaned up and into fresh clothes, she realized how nice it was to have an extra set of adult hands around to help. If Matt hadn't been able to watch Thomas cleaning up Sophia would have been that much harder. In the year she'd been a single mother she almost forgot how much easier it was with two adults.

The longer she spent with Matt the more she realized how attractive he was. She wasn't worried that much though as she knew he understood they had to be just friends. She couldn't imagine ever falling in love with another man, she was still in love with her late husband.

"Mama, ready," Sophia, now all cleaned up in fresh clothes walked towards the door of her bedroom.

"Yes, let's go see what Tommy and Matt are up to," Gabby picked her daughter up and carried her out of the bedroom.

TBC

A\N: Thank you for reading and please review the chapter.