Live in The Moment (#2 in Fawson Series)(Sequel to Memories)

Chapter 15: Downtime

It had been 10 weeks since Chase's accident. Surprisingly, even with Chase not being at the firehouse to brighten their shifts, the past 10 weeks had flown by. Heidi had been stuck with a few floaters, some good, some bad, but for the last 6 weeks, Maliya Glick had been filling on an ambo 67 and it was a good fit. She got on well with everyone at 51 and knew where her place was. She was happy to help out but ultimately, she was looking forward to going traveling during some furlough once Chase was back at work. Everyone at the firehouse had been getting on with their day to day lives. Chase was doing well with his physiotherapy and it wouldn't be long until he was back where he belonged. Although the past few months had gone by quickly, for Antonio and Olivia, time had dragged. Antonio had been slammed with back to back cases alongside some pretty big court cases which meant he hadn't had much time off. That combined with Olivia's work schedule meant they hadn't spent much quality time together. That was until today. Antonio finally had a week off after sacrificing most of his days off recently for court and Olivia was between shifts meaning they could finally spend some quality time together. Having spent the morning sleeping in and just cuddling, the couple had ventured out into the city to have some lunch and do some shopping.

"Did we really need 3 new sets of bed sheets?" Antonio laughed as they strolled down the street, headed back to the car.

"Yes. I may have accidentally stained one set when washing them the other week and these were on sale." Olivia shrugged.

"And the 3 bags of clothes?" Antonio raised an eyebrow.

"I impulsively cleared a bunch of clothes the other day whilst talking to Chase which gave me a reason to go shopping." Olivia grinned.

"And the stuff in the third bag was what you suggested." She added with a smirk.

"Hmm and I can't wait to see you in them." He smiled, leaning over to kiss her.

"Hmm, I bet." She smirked. Olivia went to say something when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket, juggling the two bags she was carrying as she tried not to drop her phone.

"Oo, it's Chase!" She said happily, handing Antonio one of the bags she was carrying so she could answer the phone.

"Hey." She greeted him.

"How'd it go?" She added quickly after. She knew Chase was at his medical clearance appointment so she was hoping for some good news.

"Cleared for full active duties once I feel ready to go back." Chase told her happily.

"Yayyyy! That's great news!" Hearing and seeing his wife's reaction, Antonio knew that it was good news.

"Anyways, I gotta go, I'm meeting Heidi for lunch and I'm late, but I'll see you at Molly's later, right?" Chase asked her.

"Yes, we'll be there. See you tonight." Olivia nodded before they said their goodbyes and hung up.

"Cleared for full active duties." Olivia told her husband.

"I need to call Herrmann...we were talking last week and said we'll throw a party once he gets cleared." Olivia explained as they continued towards the car.

"Oo, and Heidi." She added, plans popping into her head.

"Shit, I need to go get some bits."

"How about I take these to the car and I'll meet you there?" Antonio suggested, not sure they could carry much more.

"Good idea. I won't be long." Olivia agreed. She handed over her bags to her husband and kissed him goodbye before she walked off towards the party store that was down the street.

A few hours later, Olivia and Antonio were at Molly's with Herrmann, Kidd, Severide and Casey. They were helping her set up some decorations to celebrate Chase's good news.

"How's that? Is it straight?" Olivia asked no-one in particular as she stood on the bar to hang a banner up.

"Little higher." Casey told her. Olivia adjusted it and Casey nodded so she pinned it in place. She made Antonio, who was sitting at the bar sorting out some snacks into different bowls, laugh as she leant on his shoulders and used him to stablise herself as she jumped down.

"Okay, balloons done, banners done, snacks done. That's everything." Olivia said happily, mentally checking off her checklist.

"And we have just enough time to go home and shower before we need to head back." She added, noticing the time. Unlike the others, they had come straight from shopping so still needed to go home and get changed before the surprise party. Chase and Heidi would be arriving just after 8:30 as they were at the cinema. Heidi knew what was going on but Chase had no idea.

"Right, we'll see you in a bit." Olivia and Antonio said goodbye to the others before they headed home to shower and get changed. Once they were at home, the first thing Olivia did was jump in the shower so she had time to dry and style her hair.

"What about this one?" Olivia asked her husband, showing him yet another outfit as she couldn't decide what to wear.

"Looks great." Antonio smiled.

"This outfit it is." Olivia nodded as she laid her outfit out on the chair by her dresser. She squealed as Antonio grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her closer to him.

"Ya know, we still have quite a bit of time before we have to leave..." He smirked suggestively. As they had showered in separate bathrooms, they had gotten ready a lot quicker than planned.

"Hmm, we do." Olivia grinned, turning around in her husband's arms to face him. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"As long...as...we're...not...late." She said between kisses.

"I'll be quick." Antonio kissed her. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Shhsh."

Just over an hour later, Antonio and Olivia made it back to Molly's with about 20 ish minutes to spare.

"Heidi messaged, they're leaving the cinema now so they shouldn't be long." Olivia announced to everyone.

"Gallo and Ridder are on look out." Casey stated. Olivia and Antonio chatted to Cindy and Casey whilst they waited for the guest of honour to arrive.

"They're here!!" Gallo called out to everyone. Herrmann switched off the music and everyone went quiet.

"Surprise!!" Everyone shouted as Heidi and Chase walked into the bar.

"What the-" Chase was in shock. He looked at Liv who was standing there grinning.

"Surprise bestie!" She said happily, walking over to give him a hug.

"How on earth did you pull this off?"

"Well, it wasn't easy given I only had a couple of hours to sort it out." Olivia laughed, considering she had only found out about him being cleared for full active duties a few hours ago.

"But as soon as I found out, I called Herrmann and then went shopping." Olivia grinned.

"Thank you." Chase hugged his friend again.

"And thank you." He thanked Antonio with a fist bump.

"So, when are you back?" Olivia asked her friend.

"I still have a few things to get signed off on and I still have my week of furlough away with this one so I'll be back next month." Chase explained, taking Heidi's hand in his when he mentioned their week of furlough. They had planned this trip at the start of the year and now it was finally happening.

"Well we can't wait to have you back kid." Herrmann said happily. Everyone agreed.

"Well, in the meantime then...let's partyyyyyyy!" Olivia cheered before the music was turned up.