The next morning, Matt and Gabby were stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home from their shift. The only sound in the car was the sports talk radio show recapping the previous night in Chicago sports.

"Wins for the Cubs and the Sox last night. Good night for baseball in Chicago. In other sports news…"

Matt reached over and turned the volume down on the radio. He looked over at Gabby, who was staring out the window, lost in her thoughts.

"Gabby?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she responded, slowly turning away from the window and towards Matt.

"Trying to take Herrmann's advice here," Matt said, scratching his head. "I know it was a rough shift. Talk to me. Tell me what's going through your head."

"Louie."

"Me too."

Gabby leaned her head against the back of the headrest, her eyes quickly filling with tears.

"Matt," she said, trying to speak despite the quickly expanding lump in her throat. "He almost lost both of us today."

The beginning of the shift had moved at a boredom-inducing pace. Some shifts were slow. This one was slower than slow.

"One call all day. To an office building with a broken fire alarm. Thrilling," Cruz groaned, absentmindedly flipping through the channels on the common room TV.

"Shut it, Cruz. You're going to jinx us," Herrmann shouted to Cruz.

Matt and Gabby laughed from their spots at the table. It was almost four in the afternoon, there had only been one call all day, and all of the chores around the firehouse had already been completed. Dinner was ready and waiting, as well, thanks to leftover lasagna and salad courtesy of the last watch.

Matt flipped through the pile of paperwork sitting in front of him, decided against making a dent in it, and picked up the sports section of the Chicago Tribune instead. Meanwhile, Gabby was busy shopping online for Louie. The websites for Gap, Gymboree, and Old Navy were all open on her laptop. After filling her shopping cart on the Gap website, she swiveled in her chair to face Matt.

"How many items of clothing with fire trucks on them is too many for Louie?" she asked him.

Matt dropped the newspaper on the table for dramatic effect.

"Is that a serious question?" he asked, feigning shock.

"Good answer," Gabby said. "One pair of fire truck pajamas, two fire truck shirts, and one shirt with a Dalmatian wearing a firefighters' hat."

Matt smiled and leaned towards Gabby's computer to check out Louie's new clothes. As they were busy browsing online for more fire truck themed kids' clothes, Severide sat down across the table from them.

"So when's my move out date?" Kelly asked.

In sync, Matt and Gabby looked up from the laptop, confused by the question.

"What do you mean?" Gabby responded.

"Sev, we've talked about Gabby and Louie moving back to the apartment, but we don't want to kick you out…" Matt added.

"Are you kidding me?" Severide interrupted. "I called a realtor ten minutes after the social worker brought Louie here. I knew you'd come around eventually, Case."

"Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61…"

Duty called before Matt and Gabby had the chance to respond to Severide. Cruz practically jumped out of his chair.

"Hallelujah!" Cruz shouted, a bit too excitedly.

The call that interrupted Severide's conversation with Matt and Gabby was to a school bus accident downtown. It started off as a routine call, and everyone from Truck and Squad worked together to safely get all of the students who were on the bus to safety.

The bus was still fiery, and Matt and Otis worked to stop a small fire by the engine before it got out of hand. Gabby and Mouch were standing on the sidewalk towards the back of the bus, trying to keep the perimeter around the area of the accident clear. Mouch was standing slightly closer to the crowd of students and passersby. He was busy trying to comfort a young girl who was worried that she had left her book report on the bus.

Back near the front of the bus, Matt and Otis were struggling to stop the small fire, and it was quickly getting out of control. Suddenly, the fire took over the front of the bus, and Matt could tell that the whole bus was about to go up in flames.

"Move! Quick!" he shouted to Otis. Matt looked to his left and noticed Gabby standing by the other end of the bus.

"Hey! Watch out!" he yelled, running towards her, throwing his body on top of hers, and dropping to the ground.

Behind them, the bus erupted in flames with a thunderous whoosh, and the crowd that had gathered erupted in a mix of screams, "oohs," and "ahhs."

Matt and Gabby lifted their heads, making eye contact and noticing the shock and fear in each other's eyes.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

"I'm good," Gabby responded, her voice betraying her words.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah…yeah…yes," Gabby said, finally convincing Matt with her last word.

They got back to their feet, heading for the truck. Neither of them willing to admit with words or even a look how close of a call it had been for Gabby.

"Thanks for the jinx, Cruz," Herrmann said, as everyone walked back to the trucks after finally finishing up at the scene of the bus accident.

"Well, that sure wasn't boring," Cruz responded with a wink.

Back in Truck 81, Herrmann, Stella, Otis, and Mouch were joking around, teasing Mouch about Platt's never-ending honey-do list for him. Matt and Gabby sat silently, both staring out the windows, their minds' elsewhere. Herrmann looked towards Gabby, then Matt, and noticed both of their silence and blank expressions.

"First shift as parents," Herrmann said. "How does it feel?"

Gabby shook her head slowly.

"How do you do it, Herrmann?" Gabby asked.

"Do what?" he responded. "Run into burning buildings and buses knowing that I have enough kids to make a basketball team waiting for me at home?"

Gabby nodded.

"Well, I have Cindy," Herrmann continued. "And only one of us is stupid enough to run into burning buildings as a career."

Matt turned around to face Gabby. They made eye contact, acknowledging that they were both stupid enough to do just that.

Everyone at 51 had just enough time to scarf down their dinner of leftover lasagna and salad before the bells went off once again. On the apparatus floor, everyone quickly pulled on their gear and hopped into their respective trucks and rigs.

Before Gabby hopped into Truck 81 she turned to Matt. "Remember, we have a kid waiting for us at home."

Matt nodded. "I'll keep my badge off the wall if you'll do the same."

Gabby nodded as she settled into her seat in the truck, but she was still anxious from the last call. Louie was waiting for her. And she knew he would be excited to see Matt, too, after they had bonded so quickly. She couldn't imagine Cindy or Herrmann having to explain to Louie that something bad had happened to either one of them.

Otis parked the truck in front of a hotel with flames shooting out of the third story windows.

"That's the McGarvey. One of the oldest hotels in Chicago. Wonder what happened," Mouch said, as everyone surveyed the scene and jumped out of the truck.

Luckily, the almost 100 year old hotel still had modern fire alarms and all of the guests and employees seemed to be accounted for and safe. Except one.

"My mother!" shouted a woman who appeared to be in her mid-forties. She pulled on Matt's turnout coat as he walked towards her. "I think she's still inside! My daughter and I went shopping, and she stayed back to rest. I can't find her!"

"We're on it, ma'am," Matt assured the woman, as he and Severide raced inside the building.

The woman nodded slowly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Before Gabby joined the others to control the crowd and extinguish the fire, she turned to the woman.

"What's your name, ma'am?" Gabby asked.

"I'm…I'm G-Greta," the woman stammered amidst sobs. "My mother and my daughter and I are in town for a girls' weekend. I just can't believe…"

"Greta, listen to me," Gabby said. "Lieutenants Casey and Severide and the guys on the rescue squad are some of the best firefighters in Chicago. Your mom is going to be fine."

Less than five minutes later, the smoke from the fire was turning ominously black.

"Casey! Severide!" Boden shouted into the radio. "The smoke's turning black. Get out of there!"

Just then, Greta's mother ran to her from across the street.

"Greta! I'm right here!"

The mother, daughter, and granddaughter hugged and cried. Greta remembered reading the name on the back of Gabby's turnout coat and called to her.

"Dawson! Firefighter Dawson! I found my mom!"

Gabby smiled and waved to the newly reunited family, then ran to Boden.

"Chief, the woman found her mother. Where are Casey and Severide?" Gabby asked.

"I'm right here," Severide said. "And Case is right behind me."

Severide, Boden, and Gabby all turned around, but Matt was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, come on, Matt," Severide sighed.

"Casey! Call out!" Boden called into the radio.

Gabby stood with tears in her eyes waiting for Matt's response. She felt like she was back at the apartment building where Matt had collapsed to the ground after saving a baby. Back then, they had just started dating and hadn't even told anyone at 51 yet. Now, they were starting a family together and had so much more at stake.

A loud crash came from inside the hotel and Gabby's jaw instinctively dropped. Her hand flew up to cover her gaping mouth.

"I'm going back in!" Severide shouted, running towards the collapsing building despite Boden yelling at him to do otherwise.

Before Severide could run inside the building, Matt finally huffed and puffed his way out of the hotel. When he was a safe distance away, he dropped his hands to his knees and tried to catch his breath.

Gabby, Severide, Boden, and Brett all ran towards him.

"The…steps…collapsed. Severide was already out…my radio stopped working. I'm…I'm fine," Matt said, as Gabby clutched onto his coat and Brett checked his vital signs.

As they finally worked their way back to the trucks, Gabby turned to Matt.

"Don't scare me like that," she said, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"I just want to get home to Louie," Matt said. "This has been one hell of a shift."

Gabby nodded in agreement. "Amen to that."

Back in Matt's silver truck, they were finally on their way home to Louie. Unfortunately, they were stopped at yet another red light.

"Babe, Gabby said," turning back towards Matt. "After that hellish shift…I just think that we have some big decisions to make."

"That's fair," he agreed. "Let's start with the apartment. You still want to move back?"

Gabby nodded. "Of course I do. We should ask Severide when he could move into his new place. I don't want Louie to get too settled at Herrmann's and then move in again."

"Agreed," Matt said. "I'll text Severide when we get home."

Gabby smiled. "While we're making big decisions…Matt, I don't think I can stay on 81. Herrmann told us yesterday that he has Cindy and only one of them is stupid enough to run into burning buildings. Well, we're both that stupid. But we can't be with Louie waiting for us to come home. And of course, I would never ask you to step down…"

"Baby, I get it. I really do," Matt started. "But you've worked so hard. I can…I…I was offered a position teaching a few days at the academy. I could take on less shifts and be home with Louie when I'm not teaching."

"Offered to teach at the academy?" Gabby asked. "You didn't…"

"I know, I know. Babe, I didn't tell you because I wasn't even considering it until now. But now it makes sense."

"Matt, I love you for offering that, but I have a better plan…"