Matt Casey's nieces and nephew

Chapter 13

The triplets were sitting at the table eating breakfast as Casey paced back in forth in front of them. He wasn't sure how to bring this up, how to explain it or how they would take it. It would be nice to put everything behind them and start over but the past has a way of catching up with you eventually.

"Okay," He sighed and turned to face them, putting his hands on the back of the chair and leaning forward slightly. "It's been ninety days and your mom has completed the program."

They were quiet as they looked at each other. "So, now what?" Ellie asked after a few moments.

"Now, I take her back to California and get her into a longer program and a better rehab facility."

"When?" Jake asked again. "Why California?"

"They have some good ones and for insurance reasons she has to be in the state she was living in or they won't cover it." He sighed. "I'm taking her today, after I drop you guys off. I'll only be gone for the weekend and Severide and Shay are coming over to stay with you guys."

"You're going to miss my game." Jake complained. "It's my first game and I'm starting."

"I know and I'm sorry buddy," Casey nodded. "But I'll see you play next week and Severide will be there."

"Why do you have to go anyway?" He asked. "Why can't she do it herself?"

"I need to know she is actually going to go." Casey hesitated. "And there is some legal stuff I have to work out with her and your Dad."

Grace looked up and made eye contact with Casey. "You're going to see him?"

Casey nodded. "Yeah, I want to see for myself that he is doing what he said."

"They couldn't get us back could they?" Ellie said slowly.

"I don't know." Casey answered honestly. "Maybe, but they won't be able to even try until they are both out of rehab."

"Aren't we old enough to say where we want to live?" Grace asked. "I looked it up and it said we get to choose."

"You get to choose which parent you want to live with if they aren't together."

"But we don't want to live with either of them." Jake said. "And I don't care what the law says, they aren't making me go back to California with them."

"We can't go back there, Uncle Matt." Grace added. "We'll go to court or the police or social services or wherever you go to make sure we don't have to."

"Whoa, just calm down." Casey said. "You're getting ahead of yourselves. Right now I am your guardian and they are in rehab. You aren't going anywhere."

"Temporary guardian," Grace corrected. "How do we make that permanent?"

Casey shook his head. "I don't know. Let's just get through this weekend and maybe I'll have more answers when I get back. You need to get ready for school." Casey nodded towards the door.

Dropping the triplets off at school and saying goodbye was hard for Casey as he knew it caused them some anxiety. It's the reason he asked Severide and Shay to stay with them at his house. He didn't want to move them again or make them think he wasn't coming back. It was only the weekend but they were pretty damaged from their parents and any disappoint from him could be disastrous.

He had to go with Sarah to LA though. His sister needed him, and more importantly, he needed to make sure she followed through on her promises. It was going to be hard for her not to see the triplets . She already hadn't seen them since the accident and now she wouldn't see them for probably another three months. They were still healing and she knew that, but it didn't make it any less easier to hear that your kids don't want to visit you.