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Casey entered his home after a long shift and with only one desire, to spend each of the next 48 hours with his wife and children. He was surprised, however, to find his home plunged into a profound silence. While he was usually greeted by laughter or sometimes crying, this time he could only hear the hands of the clock in the hallway.
Curious, he climbed the steps of the oak staircase, his footsteps echoing in the entrance. He noticed a feigned artificial glow under the door to his bedroom and carefully opened the door. He laughed softly at the image in front of him. Sylvie was in what appeared to be a deep sleep with Margot, their three-year-old daughter, herself asleep on top of her mother, her little arm encircling her mother's waist and her head resting in the hollow of Sylvie's neck. Blonde hair as far as the eye could see, without anyone knowing if it belonged to Margot or Sylvie. Bun-bun, Margot's powder pink rabbit, was of course part of the show, Margot holding it firmly in her chubby little hand and unconsciously scratching it regularly, a habit she has had since she was very young.
On the other side of the bed, on Matt's side, Julie was sitting comfortably with several pillows behind her back and was drawing in what Matt could guess was her notebook with princess drawings. At 5 years old, she was experiencing her Disney princess fever, just like her mom did 30 odd years ago. When Matt moved and the floor made a little squeak, Julie looked up, her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders, and gave her father her biggest smile.
"Daddy, you're back," she whispered, jumping out of bed lightly so as not to wake her mother and sister.
"Hey baby, I missed you" Matt replied as he lifted her into his arms. Kissing his daughter tenderly on her cheek, he was struck by the smell of the citrus shampoo that he loves so much, the smell of his little girls, the most soothing smell ever.
"The baby cried most of the night and mommy couldn't fall asleep until a few hours ago. Margot went back to sleep when we came to see if mommy could make us something to eat," Julie explained calmly to her dad while playing with the collar of his shirt.
"I'm sorry pumpkin, were you able to sleep or did the baby get in the way too?" asked Matt as he pushed the curls out of Julie's face. Their third child was only a month and a half old and still wasn't sleeping through the night, leaving Sylvie tired and always looking for a few moments to rest, which seemed to be the case right now.
"I was able to sleep when mom went downstairs with the baby" Julie assured as she smiled at her father and looked at him with her big blue eyes, identical to her mother’s, and in which Matt could drown.
"Good. Why don't we let Mom and Margot sleep? We can start making breakfast, I thought I'd make chocolate pancakes, your favorite" Matt didn't need to say much more, his daughters were always up for pancakes, especially chocolate ones "While you go put your coloring away in your room, I'll go see if your brother is still sleeping".
He put Julie down and she quickly went to her parents' room to get her notebook and markers that were still on the bed. As his daughter's quick footsteps echoed through the house, Matt opened the door across from his bedroom, walked over to the white crib positioned to his right and saw that his baby was not asleep as he thought he would be but wide awake, with his little arms and legs flailing.
"Hey buddy, hey Tommy, you're awake, you should be asleep with all the mess you apparently made last night" Matt said softly and tenderly to his son while caressing his little belly, feeling the soft fabric of his little onesie under his palm.
At this moment he felt two hands delicately encircling his waist and a light kiss being deposited at the back of his neck "This child is tireless. We thought that it could not be worse than what we lived with Margot, we were mistaken" laughed Sylvie.
"You can go back to bed if you want, I'll take care of the kids" answered Matt while turning over and taking Sylvie in his arms. He kissed her, something he had been dying to do for 24 hours, and gently bumped her nose with his.
His quiet moment with his wife was however rapidly interrupted as quick footsteps came closer to them, and the door, which until then had been left ajar so that the light wouldn't wake up Tommy in case he was still asleep, was pushed open with fervor and a little voice shouted enthusiastically, « Daddyyyyyyy is home ». Margot threw herself at her father and clung to his legs.
"Hush, you'll wake up the baby," said Julie in a serious voice from where she stood in the doorway. She had heard that phrase so many times from adults, both when her sister was a baby and now with the arrival of her little brother.
"He's already awake and he definitely needs to be changed," Sylvie asserted as she meticulously lifted her little boy, checking to see if his diaper was full or not. "You take care of breakfast and I'll take care of Tommy?" asked Sylvie.
"Okay, how about breakfast, and then a cartoon in bed ? » Matt suggested, he could see that Sylvie was still tired and after last night she deserved to have some peace and quiet, which cartoons always seemed to provide in their house.
"Perfect" Sylvie retorted before walking towards the changing table and humming softly "You are my sunshine" to her baby, a song that became the official lullaby in the Casey household after Julie was born five years ago.
"Come on daddy, we're going to make pancakes," Margot announced, pulling on her father's right arm and letting out little grunts when her efforts weren't rewarded and she saw that her father didn't even move a millimeter. He laughed and surprised her by nimbly lifting her up and swinging her over his right shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Julie and Margot laughed at his nonsense and Julie followed her father who was still carrying Margot to the kitchen to finally make those famous pancakes.
An hour later Matt and his little girls were back in Sylvie and Matt’s bedroom, the girls climbing the bed impatiently and starting to rearrange all of the pillows to get comfortable. Sylvie soon followed them into the room, and handed the baby to her husband knowing that after his shift he wanted all the baby snuggles he could get.
Sylvie reclaimed her place in her bed and her girls soon sat on either side of her and snuggled into their mom. Meanwhile Matt was next to his girls, almost lying down, his head raised only by two pillows, his legs crossed at the ankles, and his hand gently resting on the back of his baby, who had fallen immediately back to sleep to the sound of his father's heartbeat.
« So what are we watching girls ? » He asked turning his head on the left. He was met by almost three identical set of eyes, and three bright smiles before his oldest daughter merely replied « Mulan Daddy » while his youngest nodded her head in approval and Sylvie let out a laugh and kissed both of her daughters’ head.
« Well, Mulan it is ». They watched it only a few days ago when Kelly and Stella came to the Casey house with their 2 year old daughter Lisa but he didn’t care, he knew his daughters adored Mulan, Pocahontas and Brave. They truly loved bad ass, brave and strong women, but it was to be expected with their mom being Sylvie Brett and their godmother being Stella Kidd.
Less than 10 minutes in and his girls, the three of them, where already singing, Julie and Margot singing just as beautifully as their mom, and he felt such a profound state of peace. This life, this family, it was everything to him. For a long time he thought that he would never experience this level of happiness, that he would never find the partner that he always wanted, that he would never be a dad.
Sometimes, in the middle of the day and the quiet of his quarters, or late at night he would have a moment and thought that it was just a dream but it wasn’t. He was a husband, he found the very best partner, his best friend, his last love. He was a dad, a girls dad and a boy dad, and those three kids just filled him with the deepest love.
Casey just sat there, listening to his girls beautiful voices while they were singing and laughing, and feeling his little baby’s body moving under his hand in rhythm with his breathing. He gently placed a kiss on his son’s head and when he raised his head, he turned it and saw Sylvie watching her boys with utter love before starting to debate with her girls about her favorite song in Mulan. It was clear that this Casey boy would never lack love from his mom, his sisters but also his dad.
Five years ago, Matt thought that he would lose everything, he stood in Chicago Med’s white waiting room while the love of his life was fighting for her life and their baby’s life after a man violently attacked her during a call. After the incertitude, the fear of losing Sylvie and their baby, these moments with his family were the thing that Matt cherished the most. After the hardships and the terror he was however really here with his three favorite girls, his favorite boy, and Veronicat lying next to the bed and keeping the guard.
It wasn’t a dream. Life was really good for the Caseys.