A\N: Hi! I'm so sorry for the extended wait for this chapter. I had a little writer's block plus a pretty busy summer. I know this is a shorter chapter than usual but I'm still dealing with a little writer's block.I promise to try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can and make it a bit longer. In the next chapter something happens that might end Gabby and Matt's relationship before it even behgins.

A\N 2: Since this is a A\U story and Gabby is a nurse I changed a little bit of who owns\run Molly's bar. Also, I haven't watched Chicago Fire in a few years so the characters in my story are based on the first few seasons of the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Spoilers: None

Warnings: None

Chapter 8

Gabby parked her car on the street near Molly's Bar and then took a deep breath. She could feel her heart beating a little faster and she was sweating. She couldn't remember when she had been this nervous about a date. Realizing she was going on an actual date with Matt made her feel a little guilty, but she was more certain now he'd want her to move on. Her late husband's parents had returned to California just yesterday after spending a week in Chicago. While they were visiting Tommy had told his grandparents all about Matt. He said he was Mommy's new friend. Before Gabby could explain, her in-laws told her they were happy she was moving on. They apologized for what they said after the funeral and told her they knew some part of her would always love their son. They said they were sure he'd be happy for her, especially of the kids loved him so much.

Walking into Molly's bar she saw a lot of familiar faces. The bar was owned by some police officers and firefighters from the district so it had become a first responder bar. There were also usually some doctors or nurses and even a few lawyers from the state attorney's office. Gabby saw Matt sitting at a table surrounded by people. Something she had learned about Matt was that he was a people person and seemed to be in the middle of the action.

When Matt saw Gabby he excused himself and walked over to her, and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Hey, did Tommy and Sophia settle down okay at Antonio and Laura's house?"

"Yeah," Gabby nodded, "Good guess about where they are," She looked a little confused.

Matt laughed, "Detective Halstead mentioned it to me," He easily offered her an explanation. Before Matt could say more Leslie Shay bounded from out of behind the bar.

"Gabby!" She grinned happily, "Casey said you were coming tonight. We need to catch up. I haven't seen you recently.

Gabby smiled at her new friend, "Maybe later, Matt and I actually just started dating and we were hoping for a drink together first."

"You find a table and I'll have someone bring you drinks," Leslie Shay told them smiling.

Matt led Gabby to a relatively quiet table at the back of the bar. Once they were both sitting he said, "I'm not complaining but I thought you wanted our relationship to go slow. Telling Leslie Shay means the entire bar knows we're dating."

Gabby took his hands, "I know. My in-laws said they're happy I'm happy and moving on. They said they see how happy Tommy and Sophia are too and that's all they want. It was a much better visit than I was expecting. I was going to tell you tonight I wanted to make our relationship official. I told Antonio and Laura and my parents already," She added.

Matt leaned across the table and kissed her. The rest of the date went well and Gabby found herself getting more and more relaxed as the date went on. She and Matt were in their second game of darts when her cell phone rang and Antonio's name flashed across the screen.

Gabby managed to reach her phone just before it stopped ringing. When she was finished with her phone call she turned to look at Matt. "I'm sorry, Antonio said Tommy threw up and had a slight fever. He's been crying and wanting me. I'm going to go and pick him up."

"I'll come," Matt told her. "I can tuck Sophia back in at your apartment and watch her while you look after Tommy.

"Are you sure?" Gabby asked, "I don't know if you've ever been around a sick child but it's not easy to look after them. Tommy gets attached to me and doesn't want me to leave his side. Sohia will probably be sick too by tomorrow. She'll be crying and cranky."

"I'm sure," Matt told her, "I was going to watch them anyways the next few days while you're working. He told some of his friends what happened and paid Shay for their drinks before leading Gabby out of the bar.

"Matt," Gabby turned to look at him, "You know how much I appreciate your help, and Tommy and Sophia love you but I'm not sure…."

"Gabby," Matt took her hands, he was pretty sure he knew why she was nervous, "I can't promise what will happen in the future between us. I can promise I'll always be in your kid's lives if you let me. I won't stop seeing them if we ever break up."

Gabby smiled and nodded her head, "Do you remember how to get to Antonio and Laura's house?

"Yeah," Matt nodded.

Matt could hear Sophia crying as he reached the front door of Antonio and Laura's house, something he knew wasn't good. He had gotten to the house only a few minutes before Gabby but waited for her to join him at the door before ringing the doorbell.

Laura answered looking completely overwhelmed and holding a screaming Sophia who was fighting to get away from her.

Matt took Sophia into his arms, checked her forehead for a fever and held her as he tried to soothe her, "Where's baby?" He asked which made Sophia cry even louder.

Laura looked at him and frowned slightly, "Her baby is in the wash, she threw up shortly after Tommy did. Eva and Diego are sick too. Tommy is upstairs in Diego's room, he's finally asleep. You can go and get him but please don't wake Diego up.

"Thank you for looking after my kids as well as yours," She gave her sister-in-law a quick hug, "We can come back tomorrow to get the toys," She told her, "It'll be a hard night but Sophia and Tommy will both manage. Where's Antonio?"

"He's still cleaning up the basement, we set up tents for the kids to sleep in down there,"

"I can go and help him clean up," Gabby offered.

"No, just get Sophia and Tommy home. I know they're both not feeling well. Diego and Eva are both sleeping so I'll go downstairs and help him.

Gabby nodded and walked up the stairs to the second floor to Diego's bedroom. She returned a few minutes later carrying a very sleepy and grumpy Tommy.

Matt helped Gabby get both kids into her car and then followed her back to her apartment. Once inside Matt could see what Gabby meant about the children acting differently when they're sick. Tommy didn't want Gabby to leave his bedside when he was sleeping and Sophia wouldn't sleep without her baby dolls. She had a fever and was exhausted but she just wouldn't sleep. Matt decided to make a bed out of the couch in the living room and spend the night with her there. To try and keep her quiet he repeatedly put on episodes of her favourite TV Show on Gabby's iPad. When morning came Matt was pretty sure nobody in the apartment had gotten much sleep the previous night.

When Tommy woke up his fever had increased and Gabby brought him into the living room and laid him down on the couch. She turned on the TV and looked at Matt who looked as exhausted as she did.

"Thank you for staying last night, you didn't have to do that; I've managed both of them sick before."

"I know you have," Matt told her, "And I'm sure you did a great job. You are an amazing mother. I can help you now though. You have mentioned it's much easier with two adults."

Gabby was too tired to argue, "I'm going to take Sophia's temperature and then get both of them some medication. Neither of them likes taking medication, so that will probably be another challenge.

"Matt," Sophia cried interrupting the adult's conversation, "Come," She mumbled sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.

Matt sat back down beside Sophia and lifted her into his arms, "After they've had medication I'll go and get their things from Antonio and Laura's house. After that, I can stay or.."

"Stay please?" Gabby asked him, "I have a night shift tonight and I'm going to need a nap today. We can take turns staying up with them. Or you can go back to your house to sleep and then come back later.

Once Matt dropped off the kid's clothes and toys from Antonio and Laura's house, he returned to his house to try to get some sleep. He found though that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't sleep. He was too worried about Tommy and Sophia, he even called Gabby to ask them how they were doing.

By late afternoon the next day both Tommy and Sophia were feeling a little better. Matt had them sitting up on the couch playing with toys when Gabby came back from grocery shopping. "I called Tommy's new school and told them he would;t be able to go to the pre-Kindergarten orientation," She told Matt as he helped her unload the groceries from the bag.

"My friend at Firehouse Eighry said he'd switch shifts with me. I can stay tonight with Tommy and Sophia again while you're at work tonight."

"Thank you," Gabby said with a sigh of relief, "I didn't know you could switch shifts to work at a different firehouse."

"It's never ideal because you need to be able to trust who you're working with," Matt explained, "But I know your parents are on vacation and Eva and Diego are also sick. This way you don't need to use up another one of your holiday dates."

"Thank you," Gabby said as she gave Matt a quick kiss, she looked over at the couch and saw both Tommy and Sophia had fallen asleep on the couch. "Let's put them to bed and then we can try to have a short romantic dinner before I leave for work," She chuckled.

TBC

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