Two Hearts A Blaze In Chicago (Chicago Fire/Matt Casey)

Chapter 2 "That's Great, Or Not"

The next morning Casey is up bright and early.
Walking through the garage, he gathers up tools he's going to need to take the walls to Severide's bedroom up to the ceiling.
He puts them in the bed of his truck, gets in, starts up the truck, and backs out of the driveway.
After stopping at a home improvement store for supplies, Casey heads to Severide's.

~~~~~~~

After working for a couple of hours, Casey and Severide take a break for lunch.
Severide has sensed something isn't quite right with Casey, "Hey, is everything alright?" he asks as he sits down on a stool at the kitchen island.
Casey doesn't say anything.
"Is everything alright at home?" Severide asks him.
"Shaylynn and I have decided to try and have another baby," Casey tells him.
"That's great man!" Severide says seeing the look on Casey's face, "Or not."
Casey looks at Severide, "No, it is great but I lied to Shaylynn," he tells Severide.
Severide looks at him confused, "What did you lie about?" he asks.
"Shaylynn said that this would be the last time and asked if I would be happy with what we get. Meaning if the baby is another girl," Casey tells him.
"And you lied about what?" Severide asks still confused.
"I lied saying that yes I would be satisfied," Casey says.
Severide's eyes get big, "Matt, you didn't?"
Casey looks down, "I did. I'd like to have a boy," he says.
"Matt, that's understandable but you know it doesn't work like that," Severide tells him.
"I know," Casey says, "But I never realized how much I want a boy until seeing all the pink and dolls everywhere. Don't get me wrong, I love my girls but I would love a boy to carry on my name."
"But Shaylynn thinks you'll be happy if you have another girl. What happens if she does get pregnant and the baby is a girl? What then?" Severide asks.
"Then I'll love her like I do my other girls," Casey tells him.
Severide shakes his head, "What?" Casey questions.
"I hope your right," Severide tells him, "You get something in your head and then the opposite happens, I hope you can stay true to your word."
Casey glares at him, "Let's get back to work!" he says standing up walking over to where Severide's bedroom is.

~~~~~~~

On the way home, Casey realizes he's missed supper.

Walking through the garage, he walks into the mudroom seeing a trash bag sitting by the door. Walking into the kitchen he notices no one's around when he hears noise coming from the back of the house.
He walks back in that direction to realize the noise is coming from the theater room.
Opening the door he sees that the girls have wet hair indicating that they had their baths and are now curled up in the theater chairs with blankets and stuffed animals watching Frozen.
He closes the door wondering where Shaylynn is.
Not finding her downstairs, he heads up.
Walking into the master bedroom he hears water running. Smiling he starts to quickly get out of his clothes.
He opens the door to the master bathroom and walks in to find Shaylynn with another man.
Shaylynn turns around and sees him, "Matt!" she yells making the man turn around as well.
She quickly runs over to Casey handing him a towel, "What are you doing?" she asks.
"I heard the water running and was going to surprise you," he tells her wrapping the towel around his waist, "What's going on?"
"I had just finished up giving the girls a bath when something broke. I turned off the water main and called a plumber. That's Rick, he was testing the pipes to make sure nothing is leaking," she tells Casey as they walk out of the bathroom.
Shaylynn tries her best not to laugh but a few escape, "Ha, ha!" Casey says to her.
"I bet next time you'll check before getting undressed," she says to him smiling.
Casey picks up his clothes, "I'll go to the hall bathroom and get dressed," he tells her walking out of the bedroom.
Shaylynn's smile gets bigger watching Casey walk out.

~~~~~~

The next day, Shaylynn and Casey take the girls to the mall to get them some new clothes.
Walking behind his three girls, carrying the bags, Casey keeps noticing a man watching them.
Every time they go into a store, he's in there. And when they leave, he seems to leave at the same time.
Sitting at a table, the girls are having a few slushies.
The man is standing behind a pillar watching when suddenly someone grabs him slamming him against the pillar.
"Why are you watching my daughters for?" Shaylynn asks him with a pissed off look on her face and her gun pushed into his stomach.
The man has a terrified look on his face, "Please excuse me! I'm a modeling agent out scouting for new talent," he tells her, "I can show you my card if you let go of me."
Shaylynn lets go of the man but keeps her eyes and gun on him as he takes his wallet out of his pocket.
He gets into it and pulls out a card, handing it to her.
Shaylynn looks at it to see it says Lily's Talent on it with his name, "Mark is it?" she asks.
The man nods, "Why didn't you just walk up to us? Instead of creeping around staring?" Shaylynn asks.
"I saw the gun on your hip and panicked," he tells her.
"Let's go over," Shaylynn tells him.
Shaylynn, with Mark in front of her, start walking over to the table where Casey and the girls are sitting.
"There you are," Casey says standing up seeing that a man is with Shaylynn.
"This is Mark Gon, he was the one following us in and out of the stores," she tells Casey, "He's a modeling agent for Lily's Talent scouting for new talent."
Shaylynn hands the card over to Casey, he takes it from her and looks at it.
"So what are you scouting out?" Casey asks him.
"Your daughters," he tells Casey.
Casey looks at him with a pissed off look, "It's a legit agency," Mark tells him, "The address is on the card. You'll see it's no shady place inside a warehouse or a hotel. Talk it over and stop by tomorrow," he tells them, then looks at Shaylynn, "I wouldn't be surprised if they're interested in you also."
Shaylynn's eyes get big, "Oh no!" she says.
"Just stop by and check it out," Mark tells them, "I've been in your hair long enough. Please stop by."
Mark walks away as Shaylynn sits down at the table, "What do you think?" Casey asks her.
Shaylynn shrugs her shoulders.