Dawsey: Starting a Family Part 2

Chapter 216

Matt's POV: As we arrived at the church where Boden's funeral was going to take place, I held Gabby's hand and gave her my arm. I knew she was emotional since she saw Boden as a second father...heck, I saw him as my father so this was hard. But that's why me being Chief felt so right. It was me following in my "father's" footsteps. That's when I saw Donna. "Gabby, over here." Gabby then saw who I was motioning to. She nodded and agreed with me when Grissom stopped us. "Casey." I then sighed and looked at him. "Commissioner, can you give us a moment? I need to go speak to Donna first please." He then looked at her and nodded. "Right." I then went to shake his hand. "I promise, I will talk to you right before. Just tell the firehouse discreetly please. We don't need to make a big deal of it when we're mourning this loss."

Grissom agreed and nodded when I said that. "I am going to tell Donna though." He agreed and smiled. "Go ahead. And I will tell everybody starting with..." I then shook my head. "Severide already knows." He agreed and then went to walk away to tell the rest of the firehouse. Meanwhile, me and Gabby walked over to Donna. "Donna." Donna then turned to look at me and then went to wipe her tears. "Matt." I then went to hug her and then sighed. "He is going to be missed. Believe me, I already miss him. Him not knowing our kids is going to be devastating. Just know though...Firehouse 51 is always going to be there for you." Donna then sighed. "Let's just hope that your new chief agrees with that statement." I then smiled at her.

"Donna, I don't want you to have to be happy for me but...I want you to know that if you ever need help from Firehouse 51, me and my crews will respond. You remember how I spoke to Boden right before he died?" Donna nodded. "He asked me to take his place. He asked me to be his successor as Battalion Chief at Firehouse 51. So Donna, believe me when I say this...we are always going to be there for you. And you can be sure of that because I'm the one telling you." Donna smiled when I said that. "Is it wrong to say congratulations?" I then shook my head. "Boden would've wanted this. I am just sorry he never got to see it happen." Donna nodded and agreed with me. "By the way Gabby, half way." Gabby then smiled and agreed. "Listen, we will talk later." I nodded. "We are having a reception at Firehouse 51. I expect you there."

Donna nodded and agreed. "I will be." I then went to grab Gabby's hand and walked away to go see Hermann. He was crying and I decided to give him a hug. "Here Hermann, come here." Hermann then turned to look at me and went to hug me. "How are you doing?" Hermann then sighed. "I am not that good. I am still grieving. I just hope our new chief is understanding." I nodded when he said that. Grabbing his hand, I smiled at him. "Yes, he is...and he is going to make sure that you go home safe to your family every night." Hermann then looked at me. "How do you know that...you don't even know who it is." I then smiled at him. "It's not official yet. But, I am going to be the new Chief at Firehouse 51." Cindy smiled when I said that. "Congrats Matt."

I smiled when she said that. "Oh, by the way...I have to show you something. I keep forgetting to give this to you over text Hermann." Going to grab my phone, I went to find a picture of Louie. However, Gabby was confused. "What are you doing?" I then smiled at her and showed our first family picture when the judge made our adoption official. We also took a picture of Louie with his newest name written on a paper. "Oh, you want to give her an update." I nodded and smiled before going to text the picture to Hermann. Grabbing his phone, he went to open it and smiled when he saw it was Louie. "Oh god, he's grown." Cindy then nodded as she went to look at him. "He's adorable. Does he understand you being Chief yet?" I then shook my head. "Not really."

That's when Mouch walked over to Hermann. "Mind if me and Trudy sit with you guys?" Hermann then turned to look at Mouch and nodded before hugging him. "Just curious, are we doing pall bearing or is that not happening? Also, we are doing a post-funeral reception at the firehouse. I am going to order some pizza or something from Molly's. The house is closed today because of the funeral. The trucks are here anyways." We all nodded and agreed. "Yet, he didn't want a full CFD funeral." I smiled and agreed. "That's why I'm in a suit. But listen, can you guys maybe sit with us? I would like the firehouse to sit together." That's when I heard Jay and Erin walk over to us. "Mind if we sit with you guys? We decided to come. We asked Voight for the day off." I nodded and agreed with him. "How's the pregnancy going?"

Erin then smiled. "We are at 6 weeks now. So, that's good." Gabby then smiled at her. Cindy then looked at Gabby. "How far along are you now Gabby? And when are you giving birth?" Gabby then smiled. "I am 15 weeks along. I am giving birth at 32 weeks." Erin was confused when I said that. "Hold on, why 32? They say normally 38 weeks." Gabby sighed and then looked at her. "It's because it's triplets. You go at 35 weeks if it's twins...32 if it's triplets." I nodded when she said that before going to rub her back. "Just relax okay babe? I do not need to worry about you going into pre-term labor when I start my job this week." Jay then looked at me. "What job?" I then smiled at him. "I've been asked to take over at Firehouse 51." Jay smiled when I said that.

"Now listen, if you guys don't mind...I need to go talk to Commissioner Grissom and see if he wants to give Donna the flag or if he would rather I give her the flag as the new Chief." Gabby then went to stop me. "Matt, can you do me a favor and just be my husband today? I know you are excited now about your job but...I am going to need you with me to get through this." I then turned to look at her and then went to put my hand on her stomach.

"Right, of course Gabby. I promise with the exception of the eulogy. I am still giving it like I was asked to do so, and because I am the new Chief." Gabby nodded and agreed with me when I said that. "Of course." Smiling at her, I went to bring her close and kissed her softly. "C'mon, let's go inside the church. Then, we can sit down and just relax. I promise, I am going to stay by your side for the entire funeral. However, we are not going to the burial. That's too much. We can get the house ready."

That's when I heard Antonio walk up to us. "I think that's the best course of action for you Gabby." Gabby then turned to look at her brother, shocked he was here. That was until she saw who was on his arm that day...my sister.