Andy's pov
I'd been off work for two days now. Robert had managed to convince his captain to give him some time off, but he had to go back to work today.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay on your own with Gabby?" Robert asked me for the hundredth time this morning.
"Babe. Stop worrying. We'll be fine," I reassured him, and he nodded, finally convinced. Giving me one last kiss, Robert went to the en-suite to get ready for work.
While he was doing that, I just sat in bed, scrolling through my phone. After a few minutes, he was ready, and we went downstairs. Robert insisted on helping me down the stairs, even though I told him I could do it myself.
When we got downstairs, Gabby was already sat on the couch watching cartoons, which is strange because we didn't even hear her get up.
"Morning princess," I said, ruffling her hair as I sat down next to her.
"Morning Drea!" She said, hugging me. It still hurt when she hugged me, but I didn't mention it. Instead I just smiled and let her talk about about the cartoon she was watching.
"Smoothies and breakfast for my two favourite people," Robert shouted from the kitchen, and we both ran in eagerly. At first, I used to tease Robert for how much he likes making smoothies, but now I beg him to make them because they're so good.
We all sat and ate breakfast together, but then Robert had to leave.
"But Daddy I want you to stay with me and Drea," Gabby said and I could tell she was going to get upset.
"I've got to go to work Gabby, I'm sorry. But Drea will be here with you, and I'll be back tomorrow," he said.
"Okayy, bye daddy, love you," she said, hugging him.
"I love you too Gabby, bye," he said, before turning to me.
"If you need anything, just call me or my station," he said and I nodded.
"Okay. See you later," I said.
"See you later," he said, kissing me. If I was honest, I didn't want to stop kissing him, but he had to get to work, plus Gabby was stood right next to us.
When he had left, I turned to Gabby.
"I'm going to go and get ready, then how about we bake some cupcakes?" I suggested.
"Yeah! Can we make chocolate ones?" She asked excitedly.
"Sure! Just give me twenty minutes," I said and she nodded.
I went upstairs to the bedroom and quickly showered and washed my hair. I then got changed into a pair of shorts and a vest top while I dried my hair. When I had done that, I paused.
I stood in front of the mirror and stared at myself. With what I was wearing, I could see a lot more of my skin that the hoodies and joggers I'd been living in the past two days.
The bruises still hadn't faded, and I knew it would be a while until they did.
As I was looking in the mirror, I saw the door being pushed open, and Gabby looking at me.
"Drea, you hurt bad still, aren't you?" She said quietly, seeing my bruises. This was why I had been careful to cover myself except at night, because I didn't want to scare her.
I quickly grabbed one of Robert's hoodies and a pair of my joggers and pulled them on, before sitting on the bed. I patted the space beside me, and Gabby came and sat down.
"Yes Princess, it is pretty bad, but I'm going to be okay," I said, putting an arm around her. She snuggled into my side, and I could tell she was trying to be gentle.
"Does it hurt?" She asked me.
"Yeah, it does. But if I stay at home and rest like the doctors told me to, then eventually it will stop hurting," I explained.
"Mm-kay, that's good," she said.
"Do you want to make those cupcakes now?" I asked, and Gabby jumped up excitedly.
"Yeah please!" She said, but then she calmed down and looked at me. "But you need to rest so you don't hurt," she said.
"I can still bake cupcakes with you, princess. I just can't go to work for a bit, or lift things, that sort of stuff," I explained, and Gabby nodded before running downstairs. I followed her to the kitchen, and we started to get out the ingredients.
While the cupcakes were in the oven, we sat at the table and talked.
"So, what do you want to do once we've made the cupcakes?" I asked.
"Can we draw?" Gabby answered my question with a question.
"Of course!" I said, and then the timer went off on the oven. We decorated them with frosting and sprinkles, and then ate one each. I put the rest of them in a container to eat another time.
Then, I went and got some paper and pens and put them on the table for Gabby to draw with.
"Here you go princess," I said and she thanked me before sitting down and starting to draw. As she was doing that, I sat down and saw that I had a message from Maya.
Maya: Hey, how are you feeling?
At first, I was confused, but then I remembered that Vic had told everyone that I was off sick.
Andy: Not great tbh, but a bit better than before. Robert had to go back to work today so it's just me and Gabby.
Maya: What are you two doing then?
Andy: We made chocolate cupcakes and now Gabby's drawing.
Maya: Aww
"Drea I've finished, do you like it?" Gabby said about fifteen minutes later and I looked over to look at it.
"It's me, you and Daddy in front of one of the fire engines from one of your stations," she told me and I smiled. It was adorable.
"It's amazing princess," I said, smiling.
"Thank you," she said. I took her drawing, and pinned it on the fridge, between a picture of Gabby and Robert before I met them, and a picture of the three of us a few months back. For the rest of the day, Gabby and I watched cartoons, drew pictures, played games and did pretty much anything we could think of.
Hours later, it was her bed time.
"Come on, let's go and get you ready for bed," I said, standing up and holding out my hand for her to take.
"No, I don't want to. I want to stay up with you," Gabby muttered, staying where she was sat on the couch.
"I'm going to bed soon too, just after I've tucked you in. How about I tell you a bedtime story?" I suggested, hoping that would persuade her.
"I don't wanna go to bed. I'm scared Drea," she muttered and I sat back down next to her. I put my arm around her shoulder and moved her so she was sat on my lap.
"What are you scared of princess?" I asked softly, and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
"That you or daddy are going to die at work. You already got hurt and I don't want either of you to get hurt again," Gabby said, in between sobs. It broke my heart to see her so scared and so upset, especially when I know that there is no way I can promise that what she's scared of won't happen. Robert and I do a dangerous job, and there's a very high risk that we might go into a fire and not come out of it.
"Oh, come here Princess," I said, pulling her closer to me. I held her as tight as I could without hurting either of us, because I didn't know what to say to reassure her. "Gabby, I can't promise you that nothing will happen to me or your daddy, because it wouldn't be fair of me to lie to you. But what I can promise is that both of us, and our teams, will always do everything we can to make sure that we stay safe," I said, and she looked up at me. As I was talking, she had calmed down a bit, and she wasn't crying as much anymore. "How about you sleep with me tonight?" I suggested, and she nodded.
We went upstairs and I helped Gabby change into her pyjamas, before changing into mine.
Then, I grabbed her blanket and teddy and bought them into Robert's room. We both went into the en-suite to clean our teeth and wash our face, and then we got into bed.
"Goodnight princess," I said.
"Night Drea," she said, rolling over so she was hugging me. She was asleep within minutes, and it only took me a few more to fall asleep too.
Robert's pov
I was finally off shift, and I was driving home. It had been a busy shift, we had gotten three big calls, plus a few kitchen fires. I was glad to be going back home to Andy and Gabby.
I was thinking about asking Andy to move in with me. We've nearly been dating a year, but I didn't know if it was too soon. I know that I would love her to move in, and so would Gabby. I just hope that Andy will say yes. She's basically living with us this week, and even before she stayed over almost every night, this would just make it official.
When I got home, all of the lights were out, so I assumed they were still asleep. I opened the door and took off my coat and shoes, and hung my bag on the stairs. Being as quiet as I could, I headed upstairs. First I peeked into Gabby's room, but I was surprised to see her bed empty.
Then, I made my way to my bedroom. Slowly, I pushed the door open, hoping it wouldn't creak. When I stepped inside, I saw the cutest thing. Andy and Gabby were both fast asleep, with Gabby resting her head on Andy's shoulder. Andy had her head resting on top of Gabby's, and she had her arms around her.
Smiling, I took my phone out of my pocket and took a quick photo. Then I quietly got changed and slid into bed next to them. As I laid down, Andy started to stir.
"Hey, it's me, you can go back to sleep," I whispered, and she turned her head to face me, being careful not to wake Gabby.
"We missed you," she said sleepily and I kissed her lips softly.
"I missed you both two," I whispered.
"What time is it?" Andy asked, noticing the sun streaming in through the curtains.
"About half nine," I told her.
"Wow we slept in, I wasn't expecting that," she said, and we both laughed quietly.
We laid in silence until Gabby woke up, and then we all got up and had breakfast. Because Andy was supposed to be resting, we just sat on the couch and watched movies for most of the day. Yet every second of it was perfect.
