Chief Casey Season 2: Balancing Work, Family and Friendships

February 11, 2022

A Couple Hours Later (4 AM) in the living room:
Gabby's POV: As I made my way downstairs after waking up alone in bed, I was confused when I saw Matt sleeping on the couch rather than in bed. Walking over to him, I  thought about laying down on his chest and cuddling up to him. I had this feeling that he just wanted to snuggle for a bit. Either that or he needed to talk to me about something without the kids being in the room. Grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around me, I went to walk up to him and then laid down on his chest. Feeling me lay down, Matt automatically wrapped his arm around me.

"Hey, what are you doing down here? All the kids are upstairs in our room." I then laid my head down while feeling his lips on my forehead. "I could ask you the same thing Matt, something up?" Matt shook his head. "No, I just had enough of being kicked and almost falling out of the bed a couple times." I sighed when he said that. "Sorry. How long have you been down here?" Matt then went to rub his eyes and checked the time. "Maybe 3 hours. Matteo was up at 11, 12 and 1 to go to the washroom. You slept right through it." I sighed when he said that.

"Matt, you are going to wreck your back by sleeping down here." Matt nodded and agreed. "I would gladly wreck my back if it meant that you get a good night's sleep. You need it Gabby." I sighed and understood that he was just trying to be nice but...I couldn't let him always do this for me. "Matt, come back upstairs with me okay? I want you in bed with us. You can't wreck your back because you are chief. That involves a lot of standing and stuff. Plus, Matteo is going to want to play with you today at some point when he feels better."

Matt sighed and understood as he went to kiss my forehead. "Listen, how about you get up and then we can go upstairs again? I am not getting changed out of my PJs though because that would involve us turning the lights on and waking all the kids up." I nodded and agreed. "I was going to wake the babies up anyways. I can feed them and maybe then they can sleep in." Matt smiled and agreed with me when I said that. "You pump some milk already or do you have to do it yourself?" I bit my lip. "I think I have a couple in the fridge ready for feedings."

Getting up, I went to walk away to the kitchen so that I could check. Meanwhile, Matt got up and stretched a bit before coming to join me in the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I saw there was a couple bottles that I made. Might have to make more and not just later but now, looking down at my shirt...I saw I was leaking. That means that either I have to wake up the kids and feed them or I can pump some more bottles. "Matt, I am going to have to pump a bit okay? I am leaking." Matt then nodded and agreed as he went to grab my pump from the cupboard. "Want a snack?"

Sighing as I turned to look at him, I nodded. "And a bunch of water. Makes the milk come out faster. Can you do that for me while I go sit in the living room? Just make sure you are quiet so that you don't wake up the kids. It might be hard to put Matteo to sleep again if he wakes up." Matt agreed with me and sighed. "Can we talk about what we said we could talk about while we are down here?" I thought about it and nodded. "Get me a water, I am going to go get set up in the living room and then we can talk about that stuff." Matt agreed and nodded before walking over to me. "Hey, look at me quickly."

Turning to look at him, I then went to grab his back. "Whatever we decide to do about Matteo, I promise that everything is going to be okay." I sighed when he said that. "Matt, it's going to change everything. It means I am not going to be able to work. I can't with 3 kids...especially not when one of them is a special needs kids. Can you really say that your salary will be enough?" Matt then looked at me and nodded. "Because you are forgetting about our extra income we get every week from Molly's. I can put that money into our savings instead of college for now."

I thought about it and agreed. "Okay. But listen, I am going to go pump. Just come cuddle up to me with a water. Then, when we are done...we are going back upstairs okay?" Matt smiled and agreed with me as I grabbed my pump before walking away to the living room. Meanwhile, Matt got me some water before joining me in the living room.