Disclaimer: Characters belong to people who get paid for this. I'm just playing with them.

During their first firehouse meeting of November, Chief Boden reminded everyone at 51 to schedule a physical examination before the new year, so they would all be able to get it done before the end of January.

After the meeting, Matt approached Sylvie, his phone in hand. "I'm calling the doctor's office to schedule my physical before we get called out and I forget. You want to make an appointment together?"

Sylvie nodded and Matt tapped the screen to start the call. They walked toward his office while he tried to find two open appointments together on a day that they didn't work. He was able to get them appointments with different doctors at the same clinic in the same time slot two weeks into January.

When he hung up, he wrote in the appointment on his desk calendar, then turned to his fiance, who was sitting on the cot behind him. She appeared to be deep in thought.

"What's that look for?" Matt asked.

"Did we really just make a date out of a doctor's appointment?"

Matt chuckled. "I guess so," he said.

"Here I thought that was something that only married couples with too many kids did. You know, like Herrmann and Cindy."

"You mean you don't want five kids?" he asked facetiously, moving to sit beside her.

"Darling, I love you, but not that much," Brett answered playfully.

He leaned close and, with a considerably deeper voice, asked, "Then how much do you love me?"

A wave of heat went straight to Sylvie's core. She moved to shut the blinds and locked the door. Pushing him onto his back and crawling on top of him, she purred, "Let me show you."

After shift, Casey and Brett invited over Severide, Kidd, and Foster. It was decided that they would get together for supper and spend the night inside. The five of them were officially celebrating Matt and Sylvie's engagement.

In the two weeks Brett and Casey had been engaged, they hadn't really gotten a start on planning. They were thinking about a date in early October of the following year, but they wanted to select and secure a venue before they set anything in stone.

Matt and Sylvie were ready for company before noon, although they weren't expecting anyone for another few hours. Shortly after noon, the two of them sat down to eat lunch. They'd kept things simple and ordered Chinese takeout.

"You know," Sylvie said, "If someone would have asked me five years ago about my plans for a wedding, I probably would have thought that I would be marrying Antonio and Gabby would have been my maid of honor."

Matt swallowed the mouthful he was working on and smiled sadly. Five years ago, he and Gabby had finally gotten married. He was Alderman. He and Gabby had Louie. "The difference of a few years, yeah?"

Knowing what he was probably thinking about, Sylvie quietly asked, "Have you talked to her since she came back for that fundraiser?"

"No. She left a voicemail the morning she left, but I never returned the call."

"Oh? What did she say?"

"Just that she had fun and if I felt like spending my next furlough in a disaster area, I should call her."

The conversation fizzled out for a few minutes as the two finished their meals.

"Matt," Sylvie said quietly, staring into her now empty carton, "What happens if Gabby comes back?"

Matt sighed. He knew this conversation would come up eventually, but this was still hard. He scooted his chair closer to hers, their knees touching. He took her hands in his. "Sylvie," he said quietly.

She looked up at him, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Sylvie, baby, I love you. Never, ever doubt that, please," Matt choked out the last word.

"But you loved her first," she sniffled. She should be able to keep herself together, but her emotions were flowing freely. She trusted Matt, and they needed to have this conversation, but she was scared and, try as she might, she just couldn't rein it in.

She sobbed harder, and Matt pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. He gave her a minute, rubbing her back and placing small kisses on her neck and cheek until she quieted and her breathing evened out.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, leaning back to look at him. "I shouldn't question you."

His hands slid down her arms to join her hands once more. "You don't need to apologize," he said softly. "We should have talked about this sooner. That's on me." He paused, kissing her forehead. When he met her eyes again, he could still see her worry. "I loved her, but that's in the past. I would never have asked you on a date, Sylvie, let alone to marry me, if I weren't over Gabby. That wouldn't have been fair to anyone, especially not you, and it wouldn't have been right. I could never hurt you like that because you, Sylvie Brett, are my everything. And this thing-" he thumbed the ring on her finger, "- is a promise that I am going to love you - and only you - with everything I've got. Nothing's going to change that."

Sylvie's heart swelled and then she was crying again, but this time from some combination of relief and happiness. She released his hands and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you, Matt."

"I love you, too, Sylvie," he replied.

After holding each other for some time, Sylvie spoke. "Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Can -" she cut herself off. Was she really about to ask this? She took a deep breath and started over, "Can we call Gabby? And, you know, tell her?"

"Is that something that you want to do?"

"I think so," she said carefully, "When she came back, we picked back up like she'd never been gone, and you, well, it sounded like you two parted on good terms."

Matt nodded. "I'd like that," he said.

"If she's cool with it, do you think maybe -" Brett stopped herself again, watching her fiance carefully, "Maybe I could ask her to be a bridesmaid?"

"Whatever you want to do, love. I'm okay with it."

"Should I text her now? Just say to give me a call when she can?"

"Sure," Matt said. They shared a smile and a quick kiss. Realizing they still had to clean up lunch, Matt grabbed the containers and threw them away while Sylvie pulled out her phone to text Gabby.

Shortly before five, a knock sounded on the apartment door. Outside, Severide held two six packs in each hand, Stella was balancing a cake on top of two gallons of ice cream, and Foster was right behind them with three large pizzas.

"Oh my goodness, you three didn't have to bring all this!" Sylvie exclaimed when she opened the door.

Stella came in and placed her load on the table, Severide and Foster close behind her. "What else are friends for? Tonight, we're celebrating you!"

Sylvie smiled at her friends and started getting plates, napkins, and silverware from the kitchen.

After supper, the five gathered in the living room. They pulled out some cards and started up a game of rummy, each going through the beer at a leisurely pace. Around seven, Sylvie finished the last of her first beer, she got up to put the small armful of empty bottles in the kitchen. On her way back to the living room, her phone started buzzing in her pocket. She stopped short of the door out of the kitchen, pulled her phone out and checked the caller ID.

She swiped the screen to answer it. "Disaster must have taken the weekend off," she joked, pulling herself up to sit on the kitchen counter. "I wasn't expecting you to be able to call so soon."

"Oh you know," Dawson replied, "Sometimes it does that. How's life?"

Sylvie could hear the smile in her friend's voice. She hoped they would still be friends after this conversation. "Great!" she said, trying to stay cheery. "How are you?

"I'm good. There are so many awesome people here. I love that I get to do so much, and I love my team."

"And I'm sure they love you," Brett said.

"They're great, but none of them have your flair," Gabby said, her voice subdued. "I miss you, partner."

"I miss you too," Sylvie said. Then, deciding to get the hard part over with, she continued, "Actually, assuming you don't hate me when I tell you, I have an excuse for you to come back and visit."

"Brett, you're one of my best friends. 2,000 miles between us hasn't changed that. What could you possibly -" she stopped suddenly, a realization dawning on her. "Wait," she said, "Sylvie Brett, are you with Matt?"