Second Chances: Our Life Together

Dream Chapter Six

Hello Readers, and welcome to another set of chapters: I hope you enjoyed yesterday's chapters, and (consequentially) I hope that you also enjoy today's chapters as well. However, I have decided that (before we jump into today's chapters), I am going to start the day by giving you a quick round of dream chapters that I just thought of. I hope you enjoy them.

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Dream Chapter Six: New Year's Eve 2021
Part One: A Beach Day with Our Best Friends
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December 31, 2020 – Puerto Rico Beach
The father couldn't help but smile as he found himself walking down the beach with his 16-month-old son Matteo ahead of their family beach day, a day that was going to include him taking a nice swim with both his wife, and their son; but only after a bit of surfing while Matteo has a bit of a snack to make sure that he has enough energy for their beach day. "Slow down Matteo, we don't want mama to get too far behind us." Snickering a bit as her husband said that, Gabby proceeded to make a comment that was surely going to put her husband in his place. "Yes, because mama was the one who agreed to go to the beach so early this morning; especially after daddy wanted to fly home yesterday rather than in a couple days, when mama wanted to so that she could spend New Year's Eve with her friends." Turning his head to face his wife when she said that, Matt smiled due to the fact that he knew it was true; but, at the same time, he had a surprise for his wife.

A surprise that he knew that she was going to love, as it was the explanation as to why she didn't see Stella much while they were in Chicago for Christmas; and it wasn't due to the fact that she and Severide were at his cabin in Northern Illinois. (Which made him think, why did he reserve a place to stay in when he could've just asked Severide to use his after their home burned down)? Whatever, that's in the past, and this is their present; the present that they're now living both together and with the sone of their dream, Matteo Andrew Casey. (Andrew, of course, being in honor of his late best friend Andrew Darden). And yes, he is well aware of the fact that Matteo is a Hispanic name, while Andrew is a more Anglo-Saxon name. But, it was a compromise. Originally, Gabby wanted to do "Matteo Andres" (which would've been the Hispanic version of Andy's name, and his name). But, that was not what Matt wanted. Rather, he wanted Andrew to remain as is.

And she agreed, based on the reason why Matt wanted that. The entire reason why they were using the middle name "Andrew" was to honor his late best friend Andrew Darden. So, Matt wanted his name to stay as similar to his late best friend's name as possible; so they agreed to do a mixed-heritage name, which is what they will do for all of their kid's names. And they will do it in the same order. They will start with a Hispanic given name, and then they will have an Anglo-Saxon middle name. But those decisions were easy to make, others were not. And those decisions can be made at a later date, as today was a day to have fun as a family. Well, as fun as they can have while being safe; yes, safe. We are talking about that especially when it comes to the health of their family. With COVID-19 now being a problem around the world, people are required to isolate prior to travelling around the world. And that was why they didn't see Kelly and Stella yet.

They didn't see them in Chicago, as they were instead isolating here in Puerto Rico over the holidays. And Matt really appreciated that due to the fact that he and Gabby have a young, 16-month-old son. With him in the picture, it meant that they had to take a bunch of extra precautions to keep him safe during the pandemic. And that included Kelly and Stella coming early (and being away from their families on Christmas) so that they could ring in 2021 with their best friends. But hey, at least they got a chance to see their other friends (and former co-workers) while they were visiting family in Chicago. Now, to be clear, they did see them from a distance; as this was once again, what they needed to do for health reasons. Still, it their former co-workers' faces were filled with pure joy when they got to see Matteo for the first time since he was born; that was due to the fact that they didn't travel last year for his first Christmas, as he was only a 4-month-old baby.