Chief Casey Season 2: Balancing Work, Family and Friendships

Chapter 191

Matt's POV: After spending the past 20 minutes getting ready, I came back downstairs to see that Gabby just finished with the pancakes when she saw me. "You decided to get dressed?" I nodded. "Thought maybe we could take the kids to the park with my mom and Christie. They must want to play with their grandkids/her nephew a bit." Gabby smiled when I said that. "That sounds great. But, didn't we talk about going skating?" I then thought about it and nodded. "You think what I'm thinking?" Gabby smiled and agreed. "Me and you go skating while they watch the kids for us at the park right by the skating rink." I then laughed. "You are not skating babe."

Gabby then looked at me and crossed her arms. "Last time I checked, tonight was the night where you would get your birthday fun. You still want it or am I going to have to punish you?" I then laughed and smiled at her while pushing her against the counter. "Who said that I didn't find this fun?" I then brought her against my chest before bending down to kiss her softly. Putting her hands on my back, Gabby then went to kiss me when we heard a knock on the door. "No...not now." Gabby laughed. "Grab some pancakes. I will get the door." I nodded and agreed. "Matteo, pancake time." Matteo then smiled as he came to the kitchen to join me.

Meanwhile, Gabby walked over to the door so she could open it. That's when she saw Antonio and Sylvie. "We come with breakfast!" Gabby then laughed. "We already have some ready. I made Matt pancakes." I smiled as I looked at Antonio. "And just to let you know, my mom and sister are on their way to spend the day with us." Antonio nodded and agreed. "Care to have more company?" I then sighed and bit my lip. "Uhm, I am leaving it up to Gabby. I mean, I am probably going to spend most of my time talking to my niece Violet since she's coming."

Gabby then turned to look at me. "Wait, aren't they coming between 11 and 11:30?" I then thought and it. "Right, it's only 9:30 right now." Gabby laughed and smiled at Antonio. "Listen, you guys come in okay? We can hang out until then. And then we can swap out you guys for his family." Antonio smiled and nodded as he walked in with Theo. Meanwhile, Sylvie walked in with little Hannah. "How are you doing 4 days after giving birth Sylvie?" Sylvie then smiled as she went to sit on the couch. "Sorry I didn't hug you. Like you said, 4 days." I then agreed while looking at the food. Hugging Antonio as he walked over, I smiled. "Gabby, can you grab me 2 and get us set up. I am going to say hi to Sylvie."

Gabby nodded and agreed as she made her way to the kitchen. Meanwhile, I walked over to the kitchen to see Sylvie. "Hey, how are you doing?" Sylvie then put Hannah on the couch before getting up and going to hug me. "Happy early birthday Chief." I then sighed. "Sylvie, it's never going to be Chief for you okay? You are my sister-in-law. You can always call me Matt. We are family." Sylvie smiled when I said that and nodded. "Sounds great." She then went to sit down again and smiled. "Oh, just an FYI...no work talk today or until you are done maternity leave. Sorry but, I already deal enough with it. I have to do it later when the kids are naping."

Gabby then looked at me. "You mean when your family is going to be here?" I then sighed. "Fine, I'll do it tomorrow. It's just forms related to Cordova being at the house right now." Sylvie then looked at me. "Cordova, as in Jake Cordova?" I nodded. "Yeah, he's working there right now since Hermann's son got injured. I am just glad that the CFD isn't changing their mind about the candidate sponsorship program I am trying to get formally approved by the board." Antonio then looked at me and smiled. "You are really enjoying being a fire chief aren't you?" I sighed and bit my lip. "It has it's ups and downs."

Gabby then looked at me before going to sit at the table. "Matt, come sit with me and have breakfast. Antonio, you guys can sit in the living room while we talk." Antonio smiled and nodded. "We already ate." She agreed and smiled while I walked over to her. "Matt, what's wrong at work? What are the ups and down?" I then sighed. "Not being home as much is the bad part. The good part is that I am now my own boss while I am at the firehouse. Still have to respond to HQ. By the way Sylvie, if you are coming back...I want you to do your recertification before you come back okay?"

Antonio then turned to look at me. "Matt! She just gave birth to our daughter. Can you please not push her to come back right away?" I nodded and understood. "Sorry. Just ideas get into my head and I say them out loud." Gabby laughed. "You sure that I am the only one who has no filter/OCD in this marriage?" I then went to grab her hand and smiled when she said that. "We are both very compulsive and spontaneous people. That's what makes us work. Being spontaneous and keeping it fresh. Especially in the bedroom." Gabby laughed when I said the last part when Antonio glared at me. "Dude!"

I then turned to look at her. "Oh shut up Antonio. We are just talking about how we sneak in some hot make out sessions while Matteo is still awake at night or before he wakes up in the morning." Antonio nodded and agreed with me. "Sorry. Just remember to be careful. You guys have already said you don't want 4 kids." Gabby nodded and agreed. "He can't have kids Antonio. He's already had his Vasectomy." Antonio nodded and agreed. "I have to schedule mine still." Sylvie then turned to look at him. "Excuse me? You said you booked it."

Antonio then bit his lip and looked at her. "Antonio! We are not having a 3rd kid. No offence guys and I have nothing against people who have 3 kids. It's just different for us. My husband is a cop. I can't raise 3 kids on my own!" Gabby nodded and agreed with her. "Hey Sylvie, relax. I completely get it. It's why Matt is taking precautions to stay safe at work. He knows I can't raise the kids without him. And may I remind you Antonio that this is not your first time having this conversation with one of your wives! Remember the scare of 2007? And then the scare of 2011?" 

I then turned to look at Antonio. "Wait, so you almost had 6 kids?" Antonio sighed and nodded. "Let's just say that I am not ready to go through that again. I promise, we are done being intimate until I have my vasectomy." Sylvie nodded and agreed. Meanwhile, I turned to look at him. "A word of advice....do not use Will Halstead to get your vasectomy." Antonio then looked at me. "He the one who 'performed' your vasectomy?" I nodded and went to take a bite of my pancakes. "Anyways, he's in Seattle now. Working with Meredith Grey." 

Everybody nodded when I said that and smiled. "Now, onto other topics. What are your plans today again?" I smiled. "My mom, sister and niece are coming over. We saw my mom yesterday but...we haven't seen my sister and niece since my ceremony I think. That right Gabby?" Gabby nodded and agreed with me when I said that. "Yeah, sounds right." I smiled when she said that and nodded. "So, they are coming over around 11:30-11:45. We might put the kids down for some naps around 10 then so they aren't cranky for them."

Gabby smiled when I said that and liked the idea. "That sounds like the plan. Maybe then I Can take a shower...alone!" I smiled when she said that. "Gabby, relax. I am not getting changed out of this outfit I have on. I like it for seeing my mom. Anyways, this just so happens to be the shirt that she bought me for Christmas." Gabby then looked at me. "You sure I didn't buy that for you?" I then shook my head. "Gabby, I sold most of my witner clothes when we moved to Puerto Rico. My mom bought it for me when we were moving back to Chicago. Said it was a gift."

Gabby nodded and agreed. "I am just glad that we didn't see all of our winter clothes. Speaking of which, I need to buy some more clothes for the kids. We doing it online or are you taking me to the mall sometime?" I then thought about it and smiled. "We can go to the mall. Then, I can stop at Dick's Sporting Goods. I need some new running shoes for the gym. Puerto Rico ruined them." Gabby smiled and nodded. "You should also buy workout equipment when you get a chance because there is no way you are going to the gym anytime soon." Antonio then looked at me. "I recommend a Bowflex Treadclimber."

Me and Gabby both looked at him when he said that. "What the hell is that?" Antonio laughed. "It's a treadmill, eliptical and stepper combined." Antonio then went to walk over to me, opening a video on his phone. "Here, this is what it is." I then went to grab it and looked at it. "Interesting. Now, is it hard to turn on and safe?" Antonio was confused when I said that. "Is it safe around Matteo?" Antonio then understood. "Right, of course it is." I then sighed and looked at Gabby. "We'll look into it. I'll see if Gabby would use it too. But this is a conversation for us alone."

Gabby then looked at me confused. "Why?" I then sighed. "We agreed that any large purchases would be made together. We agreed the limit on alone purchases is $250 or $500 for jewelry. I am positive that machine is over $1000." Gabby nodded and agreed with me. "Right, that makes sense. We can talk about it sometime when the kids are asleep.  Now, you guys eat up so that we can sit together for a bit before Christie gets here." We all nodded when Gabby said that, ready to talk for a bit.