Just something that I've been working on since I posted my last CF story. Thanks to ItsWhatIWrite for again listening to me, brainstorming with me and editing for, especially when it comes to the Americanisms. Thanks, R x

Just a side note: The whole story is going to be sweet and fairly fluffy. It was what I was in the mood for after the last story. Enjoy

Gabby smiled slightly as she surveyed what was going on her around her. It was near the end of shift and she could see everyone was winding down, most of the truck crew sitting in the break room. She could see Stella joking around with Otis and Cruz, obviously trying to wind them both up about something, even though Cruz was no longer with Truck he did still spend a fair amount of time with them. Mouch was in his usual position and Herrmann was sitting at the end of the long table doing something similar to her, just observing everything. Jimmy was nowhere to be seen, probably cleaning the showers or some other such job that had been assigned to him. Unfortunately, no one was making breakfast.

She was sure that the rest of Squad Three would be lounging at their table with Severide doing some paperwork, she had noticed that on her walk out from the bunkroom. She was hoping that Brett was doing a stock of the ambo, it had been a busy shift. Casey, however, was nowhere to be found. She was sure that he hadn't been in his office earlier.

Gabby took a breath as she leant against the doorway between the bunkroom and dining room and allowed herself to think back over the last year and what had led her to this point in her life.

Fostering Louie had made her heart swell more than Gabby had thought was possible. She had been so determined to give this young boy a home that she had dove headfirst into it without any regard for anything else in her life. She had almost thrown away her relationship with Matt for the chance to give him a home. So many harsh words were exchanged between them and looking back on that time, Gabby did regret some of the harsh words that were exchanged. In her mind, if Matt wasn't a 100% in, this wasn't going to work. How wrong she found this out to be. There had never been any need to treat Matt the way she did, but she couldn't change the past, nor did she want to. In the end, it had worked out for the best, but it was a place that Gabby didn't ever want to go back to.

Not long after Louie had come into their lives, she had made a few changes both professionally and personally. Neither her temporary accommodation above the Herrmann's garage or Matt's apartment was really cutting it for a real home for their family, therefore, a month or so after Louie joined the Dawson-Casey family she decided that they needed to look for somewhere a touch larger. They had gone back and forth about where they could live, Gabby was adamant that she didn't want to live in a townhouse, it was the one thing that she wasn't willing to compromise on. Matt, on the other hand, wanted something they could grow into, something with a yard, a basement and plenty of room. Whilst he had possibly been a bit hesitant about fostering Louie in the beginning, he had fully embraced the little family they had created.

And it hadn't all been smooth sailing, Gabby and Matt still had problems to work through and trying to juggle fire shifts, Molly's and Matt's alderman duties had taken some time to work out. Luckily for them, Gabby's parents had decided to come back to Chicago from the Dominican to help out the young family. Gabby's mom would come down to their small place to help out when Matt and Gabby were on shift. This led to discussions between the couple over where they were going to buy a house. Gabby was still happy to rent a small place that would be suitable for Louie whilst he was young, but Matt kept arguing that they weren't getting any younger and that he wasn't going anywhere, therefore they should buy a house. The next problem was where to buy, they had seen some lovely houses further north in Ravenswood near Gabby's parents, knowing it would be convenient to have her parents nearby, but then they would be much further away from the firehouse and most of their friends, even Antonio lived closer to the 21st district than his parents. Their other option was to stay close to the firehouse in the Lower South Side, but the only house they could find was five minutes away from the firehouse and didn't have much else going for it. Gabby had argued that whilst they were currently serving at House 51 that might not always be the case and if they were going to spend money then this new house better be their forever home.

In the end, they had found a fixer up in Lincoln Park, that had been a slightly further commute to work than Gabby had originally wanted, but she had fallen in love with it anyway. Luckily for them, it was a foreclosure or there would have been no way they could have been able to afford the house at all. It was also much larger than she had ever imagined with 5 bedrooms on a fenced double lot, but it had been at the right price for them and Matt just couldn't pass it up. It had needed a fair amount of work which Matt had gladly taken on and within a couple of months they had it to a point where they could live in it comfortably. They now had a deck for entertaining their friends and a grassed back yard for Louie to run around and play in. The construction side of Matt had always wanted crown molding, which this place had all throughout. But it was the kitchen that had sold Gabby on the house, in the end, she had spent so much time as a child learning how to cook with her mother and she too wanted to pass on those skills to their children. Upon viewing the house, the elder Dawsons had joked that if Matt and Gabby didn't buy the place they would, if only for the kitchen.

Gabby had also decided to make a shift in her professional life. There had been a time in her life when she thought that there was nothing more she could love than running into a burning building. But then she had Louie at home to consider, he needed them to come home at the end of every shift, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure that happened. After some open and honest discussions with Matt, they decided together that may be the best place for her at the moment was to be back on Ambo. They were still on shift together, home at the same time, able to spend as much time as they could parenting Louie, watching him grow, enjoying the family that they were creating. Plus, parenting a child together would mean that Matt might not always be making the right decisions with a clear head regarding Gabby.

But it had all come crashing down a few months later when Louie's maternal grandparents had come back into the picture. They hadn't been around when Louie had entered the foster system and were unaware that his mother had given up her rights to Louie. But here they were, back in Chicago, wanting to reconnect with their grandson. Gabby had initially been very suspicious of their intentions, but there was nothing she or Matt could do, Gabby was only fostering and had no rights to Louie. If a blood relative wanted to take him in she would have to step aside. Matt had done everything he could using his alderman status to try and come to a different conclusion where he and Gabby could adopt and keep Louie, but it was to no avail.

The only comforting ending to the whole situation was that Gabby had been able to spend some with the grandparents who had actually made the time to get to know Gabby and Matt. They spent time at the Casey's house with Louie learning his routine, slowly easing themselves into Louie's life. As much as they both wanted to be Louie's primary caregivers they understood the hold that Louie had on Gabby and knew that it would do no good for anyone involved if they simply came in and took him away. For all of that though Louie would be moving out of Chicago with his grandparents. They wanted to start a new life with him, and a fresh start out of Chicago was the right move for them even if it broke Gabby's heart. Six months after she had started fostering Louie, almost to the day, Gabby had to give him up.

What followed had been a heartbreak that was almost too much for the young couple to take. Matt had closed up the upper floor of their house, not being able to bear walking around Louie's room that he and Louie had spent hours decorating together. Gabby threw herself into work again, spending more and more time at Molly's and picking up the odd shift on Truck 81 for another watch, she had even spent a few nights at Brett's just so she didn't need to walk into an empty house. Ultimately a month or so later Matt had to force himself to look at the situation that they were in, knowing that they could just as easily fall back into a dark place and tear their relationship apart again unless they both committed themselves and did something to fix what was happening.

And it had taken time for them to cope with yet another loss. The hole in the heart that Gabby had after losing a baby was only getting larger. However, Matt was determined to ensure that they were able to come out the other side together, Gabby had spent the better part of a week sobbing herself to sleep every night. Not really knowing what to say, Matt held her tight allowing her to express what she was feeling, Gabby would lament the loss of her baby, mourn the loss of Louie and generally wonder what she had done in life to have been dealt such a hand.

But day by day things had improved for Gabby. She had considered coming back to Truck or even a shift to Engine, however, decided that there had been enough change in her life for the time being and believed that the best place for her would be Ambo. It was something that they would reassess a little later down the track, they had both decided.

The next hurdle that they had to overcome was what they were going to do about working together problem. It was always going to be the problem once they got married, it was pretty likely that they shouldn't be working together. As Boden had said, "It is prohibited for a married couple to serve on the same truck." And Gabby knew that Boden had turned a blind eye to her serving under Casey in the first place, but if they were married, sharing the same name there would be no hiding it. However, Matt knew after a few weeks after Louie had been torn from their lives that he wanted her as his wife.

Casey knew that the minute they got engaged and then married it would be all over for them working together and in some ways, he wasn't really wanting to change the status quo. But on the other hand, he had wanted nothing more than to make her his wife. Then he was running out of hands. He enjoyed working with her and if he was correct in his assumptions she wouldn't be in Firehouse 51 forever. They hadn't talked about adding more children to the family after Louie, but he did assume that more kids would someday be part of the picture. Matt had savoured every moment he could whilst he watched Gabby and Louie playing in the backyard, he could almost picture another few younger children running around with them. And he didn't want that image to fade.

Everything had suddenly fallen into place for Matt, just like he had told her at Mouch and Trudy's wedding; 'maybe it's even crazier that we're not married.' Matt knew what he wanted and he knew that he had to make this change, third time lucky he thought. So he had her original engagement ring reworked slightly, so it was still 'Gabby' but something new to signify their new beginning.

After a particularly hard shift at the firehouse, Gabby had dragged her weary body into Matt's truck, closing her eyes whilst waiting for Matt to finish up the last of his reports. She was so tired that she hadn't even heard Matt get in. He sidled over to her and huskily spoke into her ear, "Marry me," whilst pressing a black box into her hand. Matt still said it was one of the few times that he had ever rendered her speechless.

She simply gave him her raised eyebrow-glare, which only intensified when she found that the box was empty. He had refused to speak anymore about it until that evening when they went down to Navy Pier. There as they watched the lights dance around them had he spoken up, holding her close, tucked into his side.

"Gabby... I know that we haven't had the easiest of times. We've had a few blessings and also some challenges, but we've come through it all, together. Now when I look at my future, all I see is you. And I know I need you by my side. I know that you, only you, will be able to help me as we take on challenges. With you, I can take on anything. With you, I won't make those stupid decisions because you won't let me. With you, I look forward to the future. With you, I can see myself stepping out to every alderman event with you. I want you by my side for each and every work or political event. With you, I see our children running around. With you, I see perfection. With you, I see my world beginning and ending. With you, I see everything. Gabriela Dawson, will you… will you be my wife?"

It would be easier, simpler if she took up a different job at a different house. Yet going to a different company would likely mean being at a slower house, that being after 51 could be 'boring' for lack of a better word, it was just all so confusing for her. The other option was for her to stay at Firehouse 51 but transfer to First or Third Watch. There were a few problems with that: one she was fairly sure that Third Watch's lieutenant wasn't her biggest fan. She tried not to take it personally, he just seemed old school and wasn't comfortable with female firefighters. Secondly, she wouldn't see Matt, fire houses functioned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They would see each other for a whole 24 hours out of 72 swings, that wouldn't be a relationship or any type of life together.

So in the end, here she was married to the love of her life, turning down an offer from Boden to place her on Engine 51. She was content working as Ambo 61's PIC. It had allowed her to continue working with Matt and seeing the people who mattered the most to her apart from her family, her fire family. How Boden had managed to keep them at the same house was still a mystery to her, but she wasn't questioning it at all. She gave a small smile as she looked down at her wedding ring, still shiny like it was brand new after three months of marriage. Bring her hand up to her chest, her fingers brushed over her engagement ring that was hidden beneath her clothes, hanging on a chain as per the CFD policy of only having one finger ring authorised.

Really the only thing that even made it noticeable to people was the fact that both of them had CASEY on their turnout coats, not that it was even that noticeable. And whilst Gabby was always going to be Dawson in this house, it didn't stop her having Casey emblazed onto all of her uniforms, most prominently on the rear of her coat. The only other thing was the wedding rings, but that didn't signify their personal togetherness, they could have been married to anyone as far as the general population was concerned. Just after they had become engaged again Herrmann had spent a vast amount of time teasing Gabby about how she was going to doing everything lop-sided now as her engagement ring was pulling her off balance. But even all the teasing had died down after a while as the whole house had been wanting this to happen for a long time now, only wanting happiness for the couple.

The slamming of a locker door and the subsequent slamming of hand into said locker brought Gabby out of her little daydream and around the corner into the locker room. There she found her husband holding onto his hand and proceeding to give the locker a kick.

"Hey… You might not realise it, but that's my locker you're laying into," she teased him in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Even if it does say Casey, it happens to be my locker."

Casey spun around to find the source of the voice, his face like thunder.

"Leave it, Dawson," he growled.

Gabby actually backed up slightly, something had obviously happened whilst he had been missing. It wasn't at all him to be calling her Dawson in that tone of voice. She was still respectful that he was a lieutenant, calling him Casey rather than Matt at work. It was their way of an attempt at keeping their professional and personal lives disconnected. Nonetheless, she was in a separate chain of command, she did not need to answer to him, they were part of the same leadership team.

"What's going on Matt?"

"Leave it," he growled

"Don't give me that shit. You don't get to pull that card on me."

"I do here. I'm your boss."

Gabby slid towards him, "You do not get to say that to me. I don't damn well care where we are Matthew Casey," she menacing said in a low voice. "And for your information you are not my boss!"

"Fine, you really want to know?!"

"YES!" she bellowed

"HEY!" Severide's voice invaded their 'discussion', "Maybe take it elsewhere…. Later," he emphasised.

"Look," Matt started as the bells went calling for Ambo to respond to a person down. He sighed, "We'll talk about it after shift. I'm going to take the rest of shift off and deal with some alderman work."

Gabby furrowed her eyebrows at him. This wasn't like Matt, something must have happened for him to let his alderman work interfere with his lieutenant's job.

"Fine," she huffed, giving Matt's locker a kick on her way out. Here was to payback.

Matt groaned as he looked at all of the paperwork sitting on his desk. He just couldn't believe that had a forgotten about voting on the latest bill surrounding the contract work on the city buildings. He had spent so much time working gathering information, getting ready to make a difference. And then he had completely missed the voting. He slammed the file back onto the desk as he heard the front door open and close.

"Matt?" her voice floated through the house.

"Office," came the reply.

He looked up as he heard Gabby sigh as she walked through the door, still in her uniform.

He raised his eyebrows at her, silently asking about the uniform.

"Long second half of the shift," she answered wearily. "Matt," she whined. "Is it really that hard to put your wet boots away when you come through the door?" she complained as she gave the boots a kick. "We have a mud room for a reason. Perfectly named by the way."

Matt raised his eyebrows before reaching out for her, pulling her into his lap.

"Gabby," he started as he placed a kiss to her temple. "I am sorry."

"Matt you can't do that at work. You can't treat me like I'm your candidate, it doesn't work like that. We need to work as the truck lieutenant and PIC when we're on shift. You aren't my boss, we're equals or near enough too. But here I'm your wife. Talk to me," she coaxed.

He would only bury his face into the crook of her neck, peppering the exposed skin with small kisses.

"Matttt…. Come on, not helping!"

Matt threw his head back groaning. "Babe you're killing me here," he teased.

"Then talk to me…"

"I missed that voting on the city construction job. After everything, all the time we spent looking into it, all the paperwork, everything. All I had to do was submit an absent vote and I couldn't even remember to do that," he complained.

"Hey, hey… Look at me," she enticed, placing a kiss on his cheek as she made herself more comfortable in his lap.

"There wasn't a clear winner on any offer. We need to vote again."

"So you'll vote next time."

"But…"

"No buts Matt. This ward couldn't have asked for a better alderman. Babe, you're only human, you're allowed to make mistakes. Place the letter and vote on the fridge and I'll mail it for you."

Matt gave a deep chuckle. "What did I do to deserve you, Gabriela Casey?"

"I'm sure you could find some way to show your appreciation," Gabby teased.

Gabby couldn't help but smile and then giggle as Matt swept her up in his arms and proceeded towards the bedroom, giving the bedroom door a kick shut.