Chicago PD 1. Nineteen Damn Years

**Yay! The sequel to **_**Bad Timing **_**is here! I hope you enjoy the first chapter! I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to start writing the sequel – fall has been crazy so far!**

**Note: the sequel picks up right where the epilogue left off…**

Good Timing

Chapter 1

Erin was still confused when Jay called out a name to a strange woman, but her detective mind put the pieces together as she watched the woman's facial expression change from confusion to recognition to surprise.

The woman gasped, and asked, "Jay?"

Jay felt like he was frozen in place next to Erin as the woman darted across the crosswalk and stopped in front of him. Tears came to her eyes as she said, "Oh my God! It's you!" and embraced Jay in a long hug. Erin could sense that Jay's eyes were tearing up too, although he was hesitant to return the hug.

This lady was Elise.

This lady was Jay's sister.

The one who had left Jay stranded in their hometown in Maine nineteen years ago.

The one who had never reached out to him in the nineteen years since she had left.

And by some miracle, here she was, at the _exact same _elementary school on the first day of the school year. _How? _Was the only question Erin could think about.

"It's been a while, Elise," Jay said, with a hint of coldness in his voice.

"Too long," Elise replied, wiping the tears from her eyes, only now turning to acknowledge Erin. "And you are?" she asked.

Displeased by Elise's frankness, Erin replied, "Detective Erin Lindsay. CPD. Your brother, Jay, is my partner."

"Oh, nice to meet you," Elise replied, holding out her hand.

"You as well," Erin replied coldly, shaking Elise's hand as she tried to read this person. But her senses weren't working as well because she was still in shock that Elise, Jay's long lost sister, who he hadn't wanted to find, was living in Chicago and had an elementary school-age child. Crazy.

"Um…," Elise began, "Jay? Do you want to grab coffee or something?"

"Uh, sure," Jay replied, not sure if he was excited to see his sister again or mad because he now wanted the explanation that he never got. He gave Elise a hug goodbye and followed Erin to their car. Elise had suggested a coffee place nearby and they agreed to take separate cars.

Once Erin and Jay were safely inside their car and following Elise to the coffee shop, Erin couldn't contain herself any longer. "That's her?" she blurted out, "That's your sister? Who left you stranded in Maine? Nineteen frickin' years ago?"

"Yep," was all Jay could manage in reply as he stared out the windshield.

"How did you even know it was her? And why the coffee? I thought you hated her for what she did."

"You know when you look at someone and your gut feeling tells you that you know them? Well that's how I felt when I saw her," Jay began, "And her face and eyes. They're unmistakable…but about the past nineteen years, Erin, it's been nineteen damn years. Now that I've run into her for the first time since then, part of me is so angry at her that I could punch her, but another part of me wants an explanation, you know?"

Erin sighed, then replied, "I understand. I'm sorry for being impolite back there, I was just in shock. And surprised."

"It's okay, I get it. You knew how I felt about her, and you probably never expected, like I did, that we would run into her in Chicago – or at an elementary school, of all places," Jay admitted.

Erin exhaled a deep breath as she parked their car outside the chosen coffee shop on S Clark. After she cut the ignition, she grabbed Jay's left hand with both of hers and said, in a serious tone, "Just promise me that you won't jump back into this too fast? Try to take it slow? And not forget what she did?"

Jay kissed Erin and said, "I promise, Erin. I just want to try and get an explanation now that I've seen her for the first time in nearly two decades, okay?"

"Okay," Erin agreed. As she turned on the ignition and watched Jay walk into the coffee shop, she was suddenly overcome with worry.

Jay had been so happy the past decade. Ever since he had decided to move on from Elise leaving him in Maine. But now that she was back, Erin was worried that he would let his emotions overrun his common sense, like when he had jumped at an armed gang member in a warehouse when she was pregnant with Peter. She was happy that they were reunited, she just…she didn't want Elise leaving Jay again.

***Three minutes later***

After both of their coffees had arrived, Jay sat nervously sipping his coffee while Elise used her coffee mug as a hand warmer. After a minute of awkward silence, Elise broke the ice. "So…it's been a while."

"You already said that," Jay retorted, "And it hasn't just been a while, Elise. It's been nineteen years. Nineteen damn years."

"I can explain."

"Then go right ahead. I would love to hear how during the past nineteen years you had not even a single second to spare to try and contact me. You're my sister, Elise, and you still are. I worried for months, years about what had happened to you. And after I joined the military-"

Elise cut him off in surprise. "What? The US military?"

"Would I join any other one?" Jay asked sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant," Elise reassured, "Why did you join?"

"Honestly? Because I wanted to get away from Maine after you had left. Because after you were gone, I didn't see myself as having a future there."

"Are you glad you left Maine?" Elise asked cautiously.

"Now, yes. If I hadn't, none of the good things that have happened for me here would've happened."

"Have you been back to Maine? Since you left for the army?"

Jay sighed and was suddenly saddened as he remembered what had happened to their parents. Elise didn't know, so he had to tell her. "They're dead. Died in a car accident two weeks before I left for the army. They're buried in our hometown in Maine."

Elise started to cry. "Oh my God, Jay. I'm so sorry. Oh my God."

Jay didn't know what to follow up with except for, "So? How's Leo? That was his name right?" He didn't want to mess around…he wanted an explanation that he had waited nineteen years for.

After drying her eyes and recomposing herself, Elise looked at Jay and sighed deeply. "Gone. Haven't heard from him in sixteen years."

"What? What happened? Did he hurt you?" Jay asked.

"No," Elise began, "After we left Maine we went to New York. We both managed to start college while working our respective jobs. He went the fast track on his engineering degree and got his diploma in three years. I was on a four year track, and when I had one year left I found out I was pregnant."

Jay, silenced by shock and surprise, allowed Elise to continue. "I loved him so much that I told him the day I found out, and I thought that he would support me."

Elise paused, looking down at her coffee and then back up again. "Turns out he was a jackass. He left that night and I never heard from him again. When I figured out that he was gone, I was so upset and stressed that I had a miscarriage. I was only eight weeks along." Elise had tears running down her cheeks again as she recounted her past. "But, after I recovered from the miscarriage, I managed to get my accounting degree and took a job offer in Chicago. It paid well and I needed a fresh start.

"Then, five years after I moved to Chicago, I met a guy named Mike at a sports bar. I instantly fell for him – the first time that I'd fallen for someone as fast as I had for Leo. We dated for a year, got married, and I got pregnant again. The girl you saw me saying goodbye to this morning was my daughter, Maddie. She's ten years old."

"Wow, you've certainly come a long way," Jay commented, "Are you still working in accounting?"

"Yes, but only part time. Mike and I both agreed that we needed to be around to raise Maggie."

"That's good. I'm happy that you're aren't still with Leo, actually. Even though I'm sorry he left you," Jay admitted.

"Why?" Elise asked.

"Because I never liked him anyway," Jay replied, smiling for the first time since seeing his sister at the school half an hour earlier.

"But enough about me," Elise suggested, "How are you? I got that you're a cop, thanks to your partner. She was a bit impolite if you ask me."

"She was just as shocked as I was, thank you very much," Jay retorted. "And don't talk dirt about her because she's my wife. And the mother of my son."

Elise did a double take and apologized. "I'm sorry, Jay. I didn't realize. I thought she was just your _work_ partner…and you have a son?"

"Yes," Jay acknowledged, "He's starting Kindergarten today at Cedar Grove. That's why Erin and I were there today."

"Okay," Elise said, "Yeah, Maddie starts fifth grade today. She's one of the younger kids because she was born in August."

"Good for her," Jay replied, suddenly realizing that his patience was running out. And that he needed to head to work. "Well," he continued, standing up, "I've got to get to work. I'm already late."

"Oh, sorry that I kept you. Here…have my business card. I'd like to talk again and maybe introduce you to Mike and Maddie sometime. I'm sure Maddie would love to know that she has an awesome uncle and aunt."

"We'll see," Jay said, forcing a smile, "See you, Elise."

"See ya, Jay," Elise said. As Jay turned to head out the door, she said, "And Jay? I'm sorry. For everything. I really am."

"Sorry isn't gonna cut it. Not for nineteen years of complete radio silence," Jay retorted, turning on his heels and storming out the door.


	2. Common Sense

**Thank you to everyone for your reviews. Y'all made me smile every time a new review popped into my inbox. :) Enjoy this next chapter!**

Chapter 2

Erin groaned as she ended the phone call on her phone.

Jay's cell had gone to voicemail.

For the third time.

She wanted to make sure that he was okay _as well as _that he was still coming to work. She had already been pestered with questions, all of which she had diverted or redirected. She still couldn't believe what had happened, and in the end, it was Jay's secret to share.

Erin and Jay had never told anyone else about his sister, who Erin now at least had a name to put to it. Not even Voight, who had suddenly shown up in front of her desk.

Startled, she put down her phone and asked, as calmly as she could, "What's up, Sarg?"

"My office. Now," he ordered monotonously, walking towards his office door. Erin obediently followed him and shut the door behind her.

"Where's Halstead? And what is going on? You promised you wouldn't be late today."

"Sorry, Voight, we dropped Peter to school, and then Jay started feeling really sick, so I dropped him home before coming in." Erin hated lying to Voight, but she had to resort to it for now. Voight wouldn't understand. He didn't know the whole story. _Or any of it, _Erin corrected herself.

"And I'm supposed to buy that?"

"Yes, you are," Erin replied, trying her best to appear convincing. Apparently it worked, because Voight submitted and said, "Alright. Just try to get ahold of him and let me know how he's doing."

"Sure thing," Erin said, choosing that opportunity to hightail it out of his office. As she headed for her desk, she was about to dial Jay's phone again when a text message popped into her inbox. A message from Jay. _About time, _she thought to herself.

She read the text, heading for the locker room before she was finished reading. _Meet me in the locker room. Need to talk to you. Sorry I didn't reach you earlier. –J_

***Twenty minutes earlier***

As Jay walked the five blocks between the precinct and the coffee shop where he had just left Elise, he was still trying to process everything that she had said.

She had become slightly more selfish, yet more open. She had told him all about the past nineteen years of her life, and yet, hadn't asked about much of Jay's life. Then again, Jay didn't reveal much before he stormed out. He just didn't feel ready to talk about it all yet. His head was still spinning.

His mind was still thinking about everything that had happened after his time in the army, since he had brought it up with Elise. He had spent two full years in deployment after three months of training, with a two month training break in between the two deployments. He had been in Iraq both times and seen a lot of action as well as lost lives. Before he had completed his initial army training in Virginia, he had already been selected to join Special Ops. Unfortunately, while that meant a higher rank, it also meant more danger and more death. Jay was lucky that he hadn't developed PTSD.

Because some of his comrades had.

After his second deployment, which had ended with his platoon running into a field of land mines, he had been debriefed in Germany and stuck on the next plane to the US – a flight that landed in Chicago. After more debriefings in the Windy City, Jay found that he liked the feel of Chicago, and decided to enroll in the Police Academy. He had worked as a uniform, then an undercover cop for the gang unit, and then after getting shot on the job he had gotten to move into Intelligence.

He couldn't believe Elise had not even asked about his journey through his years as a cop. _But you weren't super inclined to share, were you, _Jay thought to himself. He was following the promise he made to Erin: that he wouldn't let his emotions override his common sense. Even right now, he was so thankful for Erin. For everything that she had done for him, including today.

And the day wasn't even half over yet.

As he reached the precinct, he pulled out his phone, and instead of responding to his three missed calls from Erin, he sent her a quick text.

_Meet me in the locker room. Need to talk to you. Sorry I didn't reach you earlier. –J_


	3. Chicago

**Happy Halloween and Happy Friday! Sorry that I've taken so long to update...**

**I've got 2 more chapters written after this and more in the planning stage, so hopefully at Thanksgiving I'll have more time to write more chapters for all you awesome fans!**

**Oh, and please write a review! I love reading each and every one. :D**

Chapter 3

Erin slowly entered the locker room, and as she quietly shut the door and rounded the corner to Jay's locker, she found him sitting on a bench with his head in his hands. His phone was on the bench in front of him facing down, but he had left his jacket on. Erin sat down facing him and took Jay's hands in hers.

"Jay? What happened?" Erin asked cautiously.

Jay suddenly sat straight up, and as he looked down at his and Erin's hands, he said, "God, just…I don't know what to feel."

"That's okay," Erin assured him. "Did she explain at all?"

"Yeah, she did, actually," Jay replied, "Basically she and Leo went to New York, he left her after she got pregnant, and she moved to Chicago a few years later and eventually got married again."

"But wouldn't that make Maddie a teenager?" Erin asked suspiciously, her cop instincts kicking in.

"No, Maddie's ten. She had a miscarriage in New York and got pregnant again after she got married."

"Okay. How did she get to Chicago? Actually, how did you get to Chicago? I feel like I never asked what happened after you finished in Iraq," Erin replied.

"She took a job offer here after college. And as for me…" Jay trailed off.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine," Erin said quickly.

"No it's okay. I should have told you years ago. You're my wife, after all…after I got out of Iraq, my plane back to the US ended in Chicago and I never left. I loved the feel of the place once I got here."

Erin smiled and moved closer to Jay. "You know, I'm glad you stayed. I seriously couldn't imagine having another partner."

Jay smiled, looked at Erin, and replied, "Okay, as much as that makes me feel turned on, it isn't helping the current predicament."

Erin chuckled and said, "Well, thanks."

"Really?"

"What? I was just trying to make you feel better I mean…you have just seen your sister for the first time in nineteen years. And she's married and has a kid too. And she's in Chicago! I know you said this before Peter was born, but maybe you two were meant to meet again."

Jay sighed and said, "You're probably right. I just don't want to let her back in yet."

"I know," Erin replied. "Why don't we talk more tonight? We just got a new case this morning so we should probably head up."

"Sure," Jay replied, standing up and putting his phone in his pocket. Before Erin turned for the door, he pulled her close to him and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Erin said with a small smile. She turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin when Antonio rounded the corner. "Hey, Antonio…" she said, trailing off.

"Hey," Antonio said, clearly tense. "Lindsay, you've got a visitor in the lobby."

"Who?" Erin asked out of curiosity. When Antonio didn't respond, Jay said, "Come on, man. Who is it?"

Antonio sighed, and said, "She said she knows you from a long way back."

As Jay tried to figure out who Antonio was talking about, Erin darted for the door and Jay rushed to catch up to her. He almost ran into her when she suddenly halted in the doorway leading to the side hallway of the lobby. Jay spotted a woman who could have been in her fifties with crazy grey hair and daring blue eyes. She was sporting a canvas bag, owl earrings, jeans and some concert t-shirt.

"Who is she, Erin?" Jay asked.

Erin turned towards Jay and pushed him back a few feet so they were out of the woman's eyeshot. Her eyes were beginning to fill with anger as she said, "I never thought I'd see her again."

"See her again? Why?"

"Jay, she's my mother."


	4. So He Speaks

**Hi All, here is the next chapter! I'm sorry that I haven't been updating as fast as I have in the past, I have just had a lot going on the past couple of weeks, okay? I'm not giving up on this story in any way, I just haven't had a lot of time to write.**

**Enjoy this next chapter - I had a fun time writing this one. :)**

Chapter 4

Jay couldn't believe it when Erin said, "Jay, she's my mother."

Erin's mother.

The one who got drunk and stopped coming home. _Good Lord, _Jay thought silently. "What do you want to do?" he asked cautiously.

"Well, I have to talk to her to make her leave, so you're coming with me," Erin said decisively. Before Jay could protest, Erin dragged him with her into the lobby and stopped when they were in front of her mother.

"Erin, my dear," the older lady said in a sweet tone, reaching to hug Erin. Erin stepped back and said, "Hi, Mom."

"Come on, honey, can I at least give my daughter a hug?" she asked.

"No, mom, I haven't forgotten all that I went through in my childhood," Erin spat. Jay's shoulder felt a tiny prick and he whirled around as Platt made silent arm signals at him. She had thrown a paper plane to get Halstead's attention, and was silently ordering Halstead to shuffle to two women into Commander Perry's office. He nodded, and then said, "Let's take this into the office, okay?"

"So, he speaks," Erin's mom said as she walked into the office. "Why didn't you speak up before?"

"Because Erin had the situation perfectly under control," he replied in an unenthusiastic tone. Erin remained standing since her mother refused to sit down, so he remained standing as well. Erin smiled to herself at Jay's comment about her. He knew her so well.

"You two obviously work together or something. That chemistry between you is very prominent," Erin's mother observed. She turned to Jay and said, "I'm Bunny. Erin's mother."

"Nice to meet you, Bunny," Jay replied, "Jay Halstead. I'm Erin's partner."

"It's a pleasure, Jay," Bunny said monotonously. After almost a minute of awkward silence, Jay said out loud, "I'm going to take a bathroom trip, and I'll be back in a couple of minutes." As soon as he exited the office and shut the door, Platt waved him over. He turned over his shoulder quickly as he walked towards Platt, and was slightly worried that Erin and Bunny appeared to be yelling at each other.

"Erin's mom?" Platt said, loud enough for only Jay to hear.

"Yep," Jay said worriedly. "She only met me two minutes ago and she's already insulted me. Erin's turned into a protective wolf." He paused, then said, "I'm going to the restroom."

"Have fun," Platt joked.

***Back in the office***

"Do you want to sit down, honey?" Bunny asked calmly. Erin silently refused, crossing her arms and resetting her stance. "Well, now we can really talk. Just you and me."

"No," Erin replied monotonously.

"What do you mean no?"

"Don't you realize that you insulted my work partner?" Erin said, her volume increasing.

"He was a little impolite," Bunny said, defending herself.

"So were you!" Erin yelled. "You think you can just waltz back into my life and that we can both be happy and get along. But no. I remember all the times you got drunk or OD'd and I couldn't call 911 because I knew that CPS would take you away from me. You're my mother – someone I'm supposed to be able to look up to. But how could I look up to you when you were drinking and vomiting half the day and you stopped coming home when I was fourteen?!" Tears were now coming to Erin's eyes because of all that she had gone through.

"And you know who saved me?" Erin asked, now going for the full blow, "Voight. He took me in, took care of me, got me clean, and gave me a fresh start. I'm happy with my life right now, and I don't want you coming in only to ruin it."

"Erin," Bunny tried, but to no avail.

"No," Erin cut her off, "I don't want to talk to you anymore. Here's my email," she paused, handing her mother a card from her pocket, "This is how you contact me from now on. Never come to my workplace again." And with that, Erin exited the office and sprinted for the locker room just as all her emotions threatened to spill over beyond her control. As she rounded the corner to where her locker was, she stopped in her tracks when she found Jay leaning against her locker, a concerned look in his eyes.

Without speaking, he brought her into his embrace and she let go of all her tears. He sat her down on the bench next to them and Erin cried into Jay's shoulder until his shirt was wet. As she collected herself and sat up on her own, she looked at her husband shirt and said, "Sorry about that."

"Don't apologize. You obviously needed to let it out," Jay said softly.

"You're right," Erin said through gritted teeth, "I can't believe she would just show up again after all these years. Did all that alcohol give her amnesia? You know what, I don't even care. She wasn't there for me like Voight was, and she could never top you."

Jay smiled and said, "Really?"

"Really," Erin said. She sighed, taking Jay's hand in hers. "How did I ever get so lucky?"

"How did _I _get so lucky?" Jay repeated, kissing Erin and pulling her closer. A few seconds later, Jay held up Erin's right hand with his. "Do you remember when I asked you to marry me? And when we got married in that amazing ceremony with all our friends and Peter?"

"Yeah," Erin said, smiling through her tears.

"In times like this, we have to remember the good times like those. We'll get through this. Trust me."

"I hope so," Erin admitted, hugging Jay tightly as if she never wanted to let go. From the moment they met through to now, she had always felt safe in Jay's embrace. Unfortunately, as she was about to pull her head back and kiss Jay, one of their phones buzzed. Jay found that it was his, and Elise was asking if they could meeting up that night.

"Seriously?" Erin asked, having forgotten about Elise for a little while.

"Don't worry, I'm saying no," Jay replied as he typed into his phone keyboard.

"Why?" Erin asked.

"Because," Jay said, pausing to hit send on his phone, "I need to get Peter from school today, and I want to be there for you tonight. Elise can wait another day."

"Thank you," Erin said.

"Don't mention it," Jay echoed, their eyes and hearts linked as one.


	5. Busted

**I'm sorry to everyone whom I made angry by not updating enough...and here is a little early "Happy Friday" gift from me! I am happy to report that I've got many more chapters in the works, so this story has many chapters to come. :)**

**#CrossoverWeek was great! I just wish Lindsay and Halstead would get together already (but, they are going undercover together at a casino in next week's episode!) [Gasp of excitement]**

**As always, please leave a review. I love reading all of them. :D**

Chapter 5

After sitting in the car for about ten minutes, he looked up from his phone to see his son walking out of the back door from his kindergarten classroom. He hadn't seen his dad yet, but when he did, a big smile crossed his face and he sprinted towards the car. Since Jay was in the pickup line, and it wasn't moving yet, he got out of the car and hugged his son on the sidewalk. "Daddy!" he said happily.

"Hey, bud," Jay said, smiling. He helped Peter into his booster seat in the back of the car and soon they were heading towards home. No sooner had Jay sat down in his seat to turn on the ignition did his son start talking about his first day of school.

"Daddy! It was awesome! I've made a new friend. His name's Alex. He likes trains too! Can he come over to play sometime? Please daddy, please?"

Chuckling as his on finally stopped for breath, Jay replied, "Maybe, Peter. After I meet his parents, maybe he can come over."

"Yay!"

"How's Ms. Carson? Your teacher?"

"She's really nice. She gave me a sticker on my paper today."

"That's great," Jay said, smiling as he looked out of the windshield, "Sounds like your first day was fun then?"

"Yeah!" Peter squealed. However, he then paused and asked, "Where's mommy? I wanna see mommy!"

"She'll meet us at home, okay? She had some work to do."

"Okay," Peter said in a pouty tone. Jay had to stop himself from chuckling again because while Jay and Peter got along amazingly well, Peter had a bond with Erin that was stronger than anything he had ever seen. Jay could already imagine how emotional Erin would be at future school graduations.

Peter continued to talk about his first day of school as Jay pulled the car over on the side of the road in front of their two bedroom condo. Peter unbuckled his own seatbelt, grabbed his backpack, and sprinted for the front door. When he found that he couldn't open the door, he yelled, "Daddy! Open the door!"

Jay paused with his keys in his left hand and said, "Peter, what's the magic word?"

"Please?"

"Please what?"

"Please can you unlock the door?" Peter said with a hint of annoyance.

"Sure," Jay conceded, unlocking the door and allowing Peter to run to his room. Peter met Jay in the kitchen with one of his favorite trains, which he proceeded to roll in circles on the kitchen table. "Daddy, I'm hungry."

"Me too," Jay admitted, realizing that he hadn't eaten anything since that coffee with Elise that morning. He had been so distracted that he'd skipped lunch. "What do you want?"

"Ice cream," Peter said with a smirk. When Jay hesitated, Peter screamed, "Please, daddy, please!"

Jay silently went to the freezer, pulled out Peter's favorite chocolate ice cream, and put the ice cream on the counter next to two spoons and two bowls. "Don't tell mommy, okay?"

"Don't tell mommy," Peter agreed, his eyes now fixed on the ice cream. After Jay had served up, both he and Peter were taking their first bites when Erin walked into the kitchen. "What's going on here? Ice cream?" she asked.

"Uh oh," Peter said out loud, looking between his mom and his ice cream.

"Busted," Jay confessed. When Erin didn't move closer to him, he said, "You want some too?"

"Yes," Erin said with purpose. She pulled out a spoon and bowl for herself and helped herself to some chocolate ice cream. As she was about to take her first bite, Peter said, "Daddy said not to tell mommy."

Erin stopped a laugh and looked at her son, and then turned to her husband as she said, "Really? He did, did he?"

"Yes, he did," Peter said, laughing and giggling as he continued to get chocolate smudged around his mouth. Erin smacked Jay on the arm and said, "You're already teaching our son to keep secrets?"

"It was just a little one, Erin. And he asked for it – I didn't prompt him. Did I, Peter?" Peter nodded "no" in agreement.

"It's okay," Erin conceded, "After all, our son did just finish his first ever day of school!" She ran over to the side of the table where Peter was sitting and started to tickle him. As the room erupted in giggles, a loud knock sounded on the front door.

Erin told Jay to quiet Peter down as she looked through the curtain. It was her mother.

_Dammit, _she thought.

She quietly told Jay, "Take Peter into his room and keep him quiet, okay? It's my mother outside." Jay obeyed, carrying Peter down the hallway to his room. As soon as she heard the bedroom door shut, he unlocked the front door.

"Hi," Erin said, obviously annoyed.

"Hi, Erin, I just thought I'd drop by," her mother said insistently.

"How did you find out where I live? I didn't tell you where I live! In fact, I told you I never wanted to talk to you again! Did you follow me?"

"Yes, I did," Bunny confessed. "You got into a car with some guy I didn't know and I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"Just FYI, that "some guy" was one of my coworkers who agreed to drive me home."

"Ok, then I can come in then," Bunny said assertively. Erin hesitated, then opened the doorway. "Come on in," she said, getting pissed off.

After she slammed the front door shut, she asked, "What the heck, mom?"

"I want you to be at my wedding, Erin. Please," Bunny begged.

"I don't have to listen to you, ok? I already made that perfectly clear."

"What's with all these toys?" Bunny said as she looked around.

"Mom, it's time for you to leave."

"But I haven't finished, Erin-"

"You have finished, Bunny. Now get out!" Erin yelled, on the verge of tears again. Thankfully, Bunny gave Erin her card and obeyed, and after she slammed and locked the front door she hoped that she wouldn't have to answer questions posed by her five-year-old son. She wondered if her mother had been smart enough to figure out that the toys on the floor belonged to a young boy. She hoped her mother hadn't.

When she opened Peter's bedroom door, he and Jay were engaged in a round of go-fish. After she watched them finish, she sent Peter off to play in the living room and Jay asked, "What happened?"

"Tell you later," Erin said bluntly, standing up, sighing, and going off to put on a good face for their son.


	6. Up For It

**Here is the next chapter! Happy Thanksgiving week y'all! I'm sorry that I didn't update on Friday...I was very tired after seeing Mockingjay the previous evening. Anyway, please let me know what you think...and thanks to a reviewer who posted yesterday wondering when I was going to post again. You made me laugh and reading enthusiastic reviews is one of my favorite parts of being a FanFic writer. Thank you.**

Chapter 6

After many more rounds of go-fish and Peter's tantrum over not wanting to take a bath, Jay came into the living room to find his wife curled up on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands. "He's finally asleep," he said.

"Okay," Erin replied, continuing to stare off into space. The hours between when her mom had shown up and now had been hard because she'd had to try to not send weird vibes to Peter. She was not ready to introduce Peter to her mother.

"So," Jay began slowly, sitting down on the couch and pulling Erin into a hug, "I ended up telling Elise that I was married and had a son. And that you were my wife. She basically insulted you to my face."

"How rude of her when she doesn't know a thing," Erin commented, making eye contact with Jay for the first time since he had entered the room and realizing that her comment was a mistake. "I'm sorry, Jay, I didn't mean it that way, I just…my mom insulted you to my face and I'm still mad at her for a lot of things that now include that."

"It's okay…what did you tell your mom?"

"Nothing, but she was probably suspicious when she saw Peter's toys," she replied, signaling with a nod of her head to all the train and robot toys in boxes at the other end of the room. Jay kissed Erin's head and said, "Hard to say. What do you want to do?"

Erin sighed, "No idea…except that I don't want Peter to know about anything yet. Too much at the same time would be too big of a shock for him. And I don't want to introduce new people when he's just started school and he is really happy. Is that okay?"

"I agree, actually," Jay admitted, "Do you want to tell Voight?"

"That my mother's back in town? He won't take lightly to that," Erin said worriedly.

"If we tell him, then he'll know why we might be uptight for a while."

"But if we tell him then he'll make some comment about how we should take time off to protect Peter. Which I don't want to do."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to sit and stare at the ceiling for seven hours while Peter's at school," Erin said in a quiet, firm tone.

"Point taken," Jay conceded, "Should we just break it to him lightly?"

"We don't have a very good track record for breaking things to him lightly, remember?" Erin said with a slight smile, remembering Voight's apparently calm (but actually angry) reaction to Erin and Jay's announcement of their relationship and that Erin was pregnant at the same time. Thank heavens Voight had come to terms with Erin and Jay being happy, otherwise Erin wouldn't even be considering telling Voight about her mother and Jay's sister.

"Okay," Erin said.

"Okay what?" Jay asked.

"We tell Voight about the two people who have suddenly come back into our lives. But we don't, under any circumstances, tell Peter. Not right now. Especially since I still don't trust my mother after all of her relapses."

"If that's what you want to do?" Jay asked.

"That's what I want," Erin echoed, putting her head on Jay's chest, "You and Peter are everything to me and I don't want my mother interfering with that because she has no right to. Peter comes first, and we need to keep him safe."

"Sounds good," Jay said, smiling slightly, "Should we tell Voight about my sister too?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't do any harm to run a background check," Erin said,

"Hey!"

"What?"

"She doesn't need a background check, Erin."

"She might not have told you the whole story."

"It seemed to me she did."

"There's always more to a story, Jay. Just like work. There's always another case."

***The next morning***

"What the heck?" Voight said in disbelief. He couldn't believe that Erin's mother and Jay's sister had run into Erin and Jay in the space of forty-eight hours. He had known about Erin's mother and her alcoholism but had never been told that Jay had a sister.

"Why was your sister never listed as your next-of-kin for emergencies?" Voight asked.

"She left after high school and I had no idea where she went," Jay replied, "Besides, it's not like I need an extra emergency contact now."

"And Erin – your mom? Is she sober again?"

"Supposedly," Erin sighed, "She says she's been clean for seven months but I'm so done trying to make an effort with her only to watch her relapse and detach from me again. That's why I came to you all those years ago. Because she was distant after my dad went to jail."

"Does Peter know about any of this?" Voight asked. Erin had forgiven Voight after his handshake with Jay in the hospital after Peter was born, and since Voight had wanted to spend time with the little boy who made his girl happy, he had earned the nickname Grandpa Hank. He loved Erin and Jay's son, so it was natural for him to be worried.

"He doesn't know a thing. My sister knows that I have a son, but Erin's mom doesn't."

"Well, try to keep it that way. Do you two still want to work?"

"Yes," Jay and Erin replied in unison.

"I thought you both might say that," Voight chuckled, "Keep me posted."

"Will do," Erin replied, opening the door so Jay could leave the office first. After he sat back down at his desk, his phone buzzed and he saw that Elise was calling. "Hello?" he said unenthusiastically after picking up.

"Jay, it's Elise," she said on the other end.

"What's up?" Jay asked, suddenly not feeling in the mood to talk to her, but he stayed on the line anyway.

"Would you and your wife like to meet up for dinner tomorrow night? We could meet at a restaurant so it's a neutral place?"

"One sec," Jay said, waving Erin over. "Dinner tomorrow night with my sister?"

Erin rolled her eyes and said, "I'll come to support you, not for any other reason."

Jay mouthed a _thank you _to Erin before telling Elise, "Sure. Pick a restaurant and send me the address. Seven o'clock sound ok?"

"Sure," Elise replied, "You sure you can't do earlier?"

"Detective hours aren't nine to five," Jay snapped.

"Sorry, Jay," Elise replied, "Seven o'clock it is. I'll book a table and text you the info. Casual wear. I look forward to meeting your wife. Again."

"Bye, Elise," Jay said in a high tone before hanging up and slamming his phone down on his desk. That drew a few shocked reactions from his colleagues, but Erin responded by sending him a text.

_As soon as we can get out of here, I just want some you and me time. You up for it?_

Jay smiled and texted back as he eyed Erin across the aisle, _Oh, I'm up for it all right._


	7. Awkward

**Happy Thanksgiving! And less than a month 'till Christmas! :) Would any of you be interested in a Christmas-themed chapter? Let me know! :)**

**Thank you again for all of your support and reviews - please leave me one - I'll post the next chapter when I get 7 reviews!**

Chapter 7

"Mommy, why am I going to Antonio's?" Peter asked as Erin buckled him into his car seat the next evening.

"Because daddy and I are going out tonight," Erin replied with a smile.

"But I want to stay with you," Peter said, putting on his pouty face and crossing his arms.

"Peter," Erin replied, "You're a big boy now, and sometimes you'll have to spend time with people other than me and daddy. You do it at school, right? Right?" She began to tickle the five year old, who erupted in shrieks and giggles. When he calmed down a little, he said, "Will Diego be there? And Eva?"

"Yes," Erin said with a smile, shutting the door and getting in the driver's seat before Jay could protest. Jay sat down in the passenger seat as Erin headed for Antonio's place. Laura and Antonio had been unable to work things out in the end, and since their divorce Diego and Eva had been alternating weeks with their dad. Antonio always seemed happier when he had his kids with him, and since he had the kids on this particular day, he had agreed to take care of Peter while Erin and Jay went out for dinner.

To meet Jay's sister and brother-in-law.

Peter ran past Antonio at the front door and jumped into Diego's arms at the bottom of the staircase as Erin said hello. Jay stayed in the car because he was getting himself worried about what might happen at dinner.

"What's up with him?" Antonio asked Erin, pointing to Jay in the car.

Erin sighed and replied, "He only just saw his sister again for the first time in nineteen years and we both know that the next two hours are going to be awkward."

"Ah," Antonio said, "That's rough."

"Yeah."

"You don't sound too excited either," Antonio observed.

"I'm going to support him," Erin explained, looking back at Jay in the car, "I've never seen him this nervous about something before…except maybe when I told him that he was going to be a father."

"I can imagine," Antonio acknowledged.

"Thanks, Antonio. Bye," Erin said as she walked back to the car and Antonio shut his front door. Erin drove the restaurant and had to practically drag Jay in the front door because he was being so hesitant.

Elise had apparently picked the restaurant – an old-style burger diner with red and white cushions and booths. Jay spotted Elise in a booth a few feet away, and she stood up with her husband to greet them. "Jay," she said happily, pulling him into a hug. After they separated, she motioned to the guy next to her and said, "This is my husband, Mike."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Jay said politely as he shook Mike's hand. "You as well," Mike replied, "Elise has told me a lot about you."

"All good I hope," Jay replied, trying his best to smile but not fully succeeding. "Elise, Mike, this is my lovely wife, Erin."

"Lovely to meet you, Erin," Elise said with a big smile, shaking Erin's hand. "You both as well," Erin replied as she shook Mike's hand. Elise and Mike then sat down on one side of the booth, and Jay scooted into the window, leaving Erin across from Elise. "I didn't realize that you and Jay were married when we met at the school."

"Yeah, we've been married for over five years," Erin said, trying not to snap that she always wears her wedding ring…even on busts. She then remembered the time she asked Jay if he wanted her to take it off during busts in case it got damaged or something, and Jay replied no because their job brought them together. That had evolved into one of Erin and Jay's very rare PDA's at work, and had been met by whistles and orders to "get a room." Erin smiled as she looked down at her iced tea that had just arrived at the table.

"How long have you two been cops?" Mike asked.

"You worried we've got our badges and gonna arrest you?" Erin joked with a smirk. Jay and Mike both laughed, Elise not taking the comment as lightly. Erin cleared her throat as the laughter died down and said, "I've been in Intelligence for a long time, but Jay has been a cop a long time. We were partnered together when he was brought into Intelligence."

"Wow, so you're still working together?" Elise asked.

Erin stopped herself from rolling her eyes as Jay replied, "Yes."

The polite conversation continued for the next forty minutes as they ordered food, the food arrived, and everyone began to eat. Erin was getting a little bored, but was trying not to show it because Jay was trying to make an effort. Erin decided to ask a couple of questions herself. "Jay tells me you have a daughter? Maddie, right?"

"Right," Elise said with a smile, "She's ten. In the fifth grade."

"Cool," Erin said, "Mike? How long have you lived in Chicago?"

"My whole life, almost," Mike replied after sipping his beer. "I grew up on the north side, went to college in Boston and came back to a job here afterwards. I know Elise and Jay grew up in Maine, but where'd you grow up Erin?"

Jay almost choked on the mouthful of food that he was swallowing because he knew about Erin's complex past and wasn't sure if she was prepared to answer such a question. But he was relieved when his wife, in true Erin style, replied, "I grew up in Chicago too, actually. Moved around a lot though when I was a kid."

"The Windy City is a lovely place, isn't it?" Mike asked Erin.

"For living or for crime?" Erin said with a smirk. Elise got the joke first this time, and as Jay and Mike joined in, Erin finished, "It's a great place. At times as a cop we see some not-so-safe aspects of the city, but I'm glad that we're able to keep our son safe."

"What's your son's name?" Elise asked. "Peter," Erin replied quickly.

"Lovely name. I always wanted a boy actually, but we couldn't have a second kid because my doctor said that it would be too risky after I had Maddie."

This time, Erin nearly spit out a mouthful of burger. She looked at Jay with a_help me _expression on her face, and Jay responded, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, really," Elise replied grabbing Mike's hand, "If you don't have your health, you don't really have anything, right?"

"Right," Erin replied.

***40 minutes later***

As Jay drove with Erin towards Antonio's place to pick up Peter, he broke the awkward silence that he filled their walk to the car and the first two minutes of the drive. "Erin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming with me tonight. You really helped ease the tensions a little," Jay said meaningfully.

"Of course, Jay, I wanted to support you," Erin replied as she stared out of the windshield. "Can I ask you something?"

"Fire away," Jay replied, pulling the car to the curb outside Antonio's condo. Once he cut the ignition and turned to face Erin, he realized that she look nervous as she began to speak.

"Did you ever think about having a second kid? 'Cause I'm now realizing that we never talked about it. We kind of just focused on raising Peter and staying at work."

Jay sighed, grabbed Erin's hand, and replied, "I did think about it when Peter was one or two, thinking how awesome it would be for Peter to have a brother or sister. But I then realized if we had a second kid that you probably wouldn't be able to work in Intelligence anymore, which I know is really important to you. So, I eventually decided to…to count my blessings and be happy with one."

"Really?" Erin said, surprised by the deep air of Jay's response. "Because I thought about it a little too. You know, having a child whose arrival was actually planned. But then I decided that I couldn't because I wouldn't want to take any time away from Peter. You and Peter are everything to me."

"You two are everything to me too," Jay said, smiling. He leaned over and kissed Erin with his hand in her hair. When he pulled away, he said, "After you told me I was going to be a father, part of me thought about how Peter was a sign from the universe that we were meant to be together. I mean, we were having arguments every other day for a few weeks until you started throwing up."

Erin laughed with Jay before replying, "It's weird how things work out sometimes. I don't miss feeling nauseous all the time though."

"I'm sure," Jay acknowledged, "I'll always be thankful for you, Erin. You made me a father, and a really happy one. I hope you know that."

Erin kissed Jay and said, "I'm glad, honestly, because I don't know how I would have done it without you." Erin then looked past Jay to Antonio's front window, and saw a little boy looking out at the car. A taller man, obviously Antonio, was standing behind the boy. "Come on," Erin said, "Let's go get Peter. He's already waiting," Erin said with a smile, reaching for the handle of her car door.

***Inside Antonio's condo***

As a kids TV show episode drew to a close, Peter looked out the front window from his position at the left end of the couch. Antonio looked over at the boy from across the room as Diego and Eva cleared their dinner plates. "You okay, Peter?"

Peter's head whirled around and he replied, "Yeah. I just wanna see mommy and daddy."

"Yeah, they'll be here soon," Antonio reassured him. Peter was the sweetest little boy he had ever met, and still hadn't quite figured out how too hotheads like Erin and Jay could have made as calm a boy as Peter. Then again, they had done a great job raising him so far and Peter was really attached to both of his parents. Antonio just prayed that neither of his parents would ever get hurt, as he was sure Erin and Jay worried, because it wouldn't be for many years that Peter would learn what his parents really did for a living.

Antonio's train of thought was interrupted by Peter jumping off the couch and squealing, "They're back! They're back!" He ran over to the front window and put both of his hands on the glass as he watched his parents sit and talk in the car. "Antonio?"

"Yeah, bud?" Antonio asked, walking over to stand behind the little boy.

"Why aren't they coming? I want them to come," Peter said sadly.

"Peter, your parents are just talking a little. They'll be in soon."

"What are they talking about?"

"No idea," Antonio admitted. Peter continued to stare out the window at his parents in the car, anxiously waiting for them to get out. He wanted to tell his mommy and daddy all about the TV he watched and what Antonio cooked for dinner. And how Eva and Diego were super cool (even though he had already known that before tonight). Luckily, Peter saw his mom getting out of the car and squealed with delight, making a beeline for Antonio's front door.


	8. The First Time

**I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in so long - as I'm sure many of you can relate, life has been hectic for me lately.**

**Thank you SO MUCH for all the support for this story and _A Place To Crash - _all of your humorous and sincere comments make me smile and laugh - please keep it up! :)**

Chapter 8

Ever since Voight had gotten Erin into the Intelligence Unit all those years ago, Erin had loved doing her job and helping bring about justice. That being said, there were sometimes days when all Erin wanted to do was go home.

Today was one of those days.

After a slightly awkward dinner with Jay's sister and her husband and a heart-to-heart with Jay about not having a second child the night before, Erin was extremely distracted and was having a hard time finishing her paperwork. Ruzek and Antonio had already left an hour ago, and Atwater and Olinsky were both standing up to file theirs and head out. Little did Erin know that Jay had finished his paperwork before anyone else because he hadn't had much to offer on one of the recent cases – he was just hanging around so he and Erin could go pick up Peter after she was done. Voight had left a couple of hours ago for an errand and had told everyone that he wouldn't be returning until the morning.

Nadia logged off her computer, filed some papers, and left with Atwater and Olinsky, leaving Erin and Jay alone in the Intelligence office. Jay was looking at Facebook on his phone when he heard his wife slam her pen on the table and sigh. He looked up and saw her with her head in her hands. "Erin," he said worriedly, walking over and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Jay, I'm sorry, I'm just so distracted right now," Erin replied, grabbing Jay's hand with one of hers.

"I know, I know," Jay replied, sitting down on Erin's desk. "You almost done?"

"Yeah, I just have to sign all of 'em," Erin replied, putting all her forms into an organized pile and signing each one in the required places. Of all the things being a cop involved, the most annoying and time-consuming part was the paperwork.

After Erin flung her completed paperwork into the file box on the front of her desk and capped her pen, she looked up at Jay. "I've been debating all day whether to call my mother," she confessed.

Jay didn't respond, prompting Erin to continue. "I've been through her sober periods so many times and I'm just done now. She doesn't realize that she can't just waltz back into my life again. She's never fully been there for me since I was little. Not like you."

Jay's eyes became watery at Erin's last sentence and replied, "I know. I'm having a little bit of the same battle with myself about Elise."

"I know," Erin said, "And I'm sorry that I'm like this, I just-"

Jay pulled Erin into his arms as she began to cry. He rubbed her as he told her, "You don't have to apologize. I know the past few weeks have been hard."

"Yeah," Erin said, sniffing and suddenly realizing that she'd cried all over Jay's shirt. "Oops," she said, pulling away to get a tissue.

Jay looked down and chuckled. "It's all good."

"Just put a jacket on," Erin said, checking her watch, "We need to meet Peter at his bus stop."

***Twenty minutes later***

Erin put her jacket in the front closet of their condo and made herself a cup of tea. Jay glugged a glass of water as he was about to go to Peter's bus stop, and saw Erin gazing at her phone.

"If you wanted to meet her…" Jay began cautiously, "Would you want moral support?"

Erin whirled around and said, "As my husband, I would expect your support." She sent her mom a quick text about meeting at a coffee shop in a couple of days. After she sent the text, she threw her phone on their bed so she wouldn't look at it for a couple of hours. When Erin returned from tossing her phone twenty feet, Jay had an eyebrow raised. "What?" she asked like a teenager.

"Nothing. I've just never seen you chuck your phone like that."

"Stop it," Erin said, taking a sip of her tea. "Are you going to go meet Peter or not?"

"Yes, yes, I'm going, Erin," Jay said, putting his glass next to the fridge. He pulled Erin into his arms again and kissed her. When he made eye contact with her, he said, "It's going to be okay. I promise."

"I hope so," Erin said with a sigh. She then proceeded to usher Jay out the door so he could walk the two blocks to Peter's bus stop. He smiled back at her as she stood in the doorway and watched him walk away, thinking about how she started falling for him the first time he smiled.


	9. Okay

**Thank to all you fabulous readers for being so patient while I didn't update for nine days. Sorry - life's been happening lately. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have people who read my FanFiction and make me smile when they leave reviews! **

**This chapter is a little bit more somber, and I'm sorry if it feels like the plot is slowing down...I've got some big plans in the works! As always, please leave a review! :D**

Chapter 9

As Peter unbuckled himself and hopped out of the car, he asked his mom, "Mommy? Why am I going to Gabby's?"

"Because daddy and mommy are going out," Erin responded, Jay already at the front door.

"But I don't want to play barbies," Peter complained.

"You'll be fine," Erin assured Peter as Gabby opened the front door. "Hey, Peter!" she said excitedly, "How's my favorite little boy?"

"Hi," Peter said nervously.

"The place is quiet," Erin observed with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, the girls are both still upstairs getting dressed. It'll be loud pretty soon."

Jay and Erin both chuckled as Peter hugged Erin's leg. Erin pulled Peter off of her leg, gave him a big kiss on the head and said, "We'll be back at lunch time, okay?"

"Okay, mommy," Peter said quietly, finally smiling, which made Erin feel a little better.

"Is that my favorite five year old?" Shay squealed from the hallway. Peter ran past Gabby and into Shay's arms and giggled as she tickled his belly. "Hey guys," Shay said with a smile.

"Hey, Shay," Erin said, "Thank you. Both of you."

"No problem," Shay said, "Besides, Gabby needs me to help corral her two girls and our favorite boy. Kelly and Matt are working on a construction project today."

"Nice," Jay said, "Have fun, Peter."

"Bye!" Peter said with a giggle.

Twenty minutes later, Erin and Jay sat next to each other at a table in the coffee shop they'd picked. Erin was so nervous that she was using her coffee as a hand warmer instead of actually drinking it. As Jay took a big sip, he asked, "You gonna drink that?"

"Please, Jay," Erin snapped. Jay took that as his cue to back off, so they didn't speak until Erin's mom arrived. "Erin," she said happily.

"Hi, mom," Erin said with a strained smile, standing up to greet her mother. Jay followed suit, and reached out his hand after Erin back out of her mother's short embrace. "Jay Halstead. Nice to meet you."

"You as well," Bunny said, not fully meaning it. She sat down on the opposite side of the table as she asked, "How do you two know each other?"

"We're married, mom," Erin snapped. Jay had to stop himself from giving Erin a look of surprise. He had never seen her so tense around anyone before – not even Voight during her pregnancy could top her right now.

Bunny's jaw dropped before she recollected herself and replied, "Oh. And you work together too?"

"Yes, we do," Jay replied with a strained smile of his own. "We've been working together for over seven years."

"Wow, that's a long time," Bunny concluded. "How did you become a cop, Jay?"

"I was in the military for a few years after high school. My flight back from debriefing in Germany landed in Chicago and I never left. I'm glad I didn't," Jay said wholeheartedly, giving Erin an honest look of affection.

"So, Erin, did you take his last name?" Bunny asked suddenly, interrupting the sweet moment. Erin took a sip of coffee and replied, "Yes Mom, I did."

"Do you talk to your father at all? Did you before you got married?" Bunny asked.

"What do you think, mom?" Erin spat in reply. Jay was taking small and frequent sips of coffee to stop himself from saying anything as Erin continued, "I haven't seen him since he was arrested when I was a little girl. I didn't even know what prison he was in, so no, I haven't seen him over two decades. Why are you here in Chicago, mom?"

"I'm getting married and I want another chance with you."

"Mom, I've been through this with you so many times."

"Just please come to the wedding? It would mean a lot to me if you would both be there."

"What about dad? Unless he's dead or you divorced him then you can't marry someone else."

"He divorced me. I was in one of my slumps and I didn't really realize what I'd signed until after I'd signed the papers. But it was better for me and you to be separated from him."

Erin was shocked, having never known about her parents' divorce before now. She stood up and headed for the bathroom, leaving Jay and Bunny alone at the table.

"I don't believe it," Bunny said, "Every time I get clean-"

"That's the problem," Jay snapped, "You said _every time. _You should have gotten clean and stayed clean years ago so you could have been there for her like you should have been. And I'm sorry if I'm being really rude right now, but I love Erin and she's told me a lot about her childhood and how she never wants to relive that."

"I shouldn't be scolded for trying!"

"I'm not saying that, Bunny, I just want you to know that I don't want to watch you hurt Erin again. You hear me?"

Bunny sighed. "I hear you." She said a farewell to Jay, wished him a good day, and exited the coffee shop just as Erin walked out of the bathroom. She sat down next to Jay after her mom had walked out the door and said. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing," Jay replied, staring out the window and taking a sip of coffee.

"Clearly," Erin chuckled, calling his bluff. Jay finally looked at Erin and said, "Look, she started to say how she couldn't believe that you wouldn't let her back in and I snapped. I basically told her that I don't want to see you get hurt by her again because you're my wife and I care about you too much to have to witness that."

Jay was going to say more but was interrupted by Erin passionately kissing him. He put his hands on her back as they kissed for a few more seconds; when Erin leaned back against her chair she looked like, for two pins, she might cry. Jay returned their coffee mugs and held Erin's hand as they walked to the car. As soon as Jay had sat down in the driver's seat and Erin sat next to him, she burst into tears and cried into Jay's chest, Jay hugging her with one hand and rubbing her back with the other.

"I know this is hard, I know," Jay said softly, "But you and I will face it together, okay?"

Erin sniffed as she tried to stop crying and replied, "Okay."


	10. I'm A Mother

**Hi to all of my awesome readers! Thank you for being so patient between my infrequent updates - I am sorry - as you can all relate, life has been hectic for me lately. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)**

**And, of course, please leave a review. I love getting review notifications in my inbox - your reviews make me smile and laugh. Thanks!**

Chapter 10

Erin normally set her alarm clock to wake her up, but most of the time Jay or Peter woke her up before her alarm. On this particular morning, Peter came running in with one of his dinosaur toys growling like a T-rex. Erin helped her son into the bed and he snuggled up next to her after dropped his toy on the floor. "Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Guess what day it is?"

"What?" Erin asked sleepily, her eyes still closed.

"Friday! Which means it almost the weekend! Yay!" Peter squealed, hopping out of the bed, picking up his toy, and running out of the room again. Erin's eyes flew open as she remembered what was also happening today.

Her mother's wedding.

Jay had been woken up by Peter's squealing and rolled over to hug Erin and wish her good morning. He sensed she felt nervous, so he asked, "What's wrong?"

"I just realized my mom's wedding's today," she blurted out, staring at the wall instead of Jay. Surprised, Jay mistakenly replied, "What?"

"What do you mean by that?" Erin spat, whirling around in the bed to face Jay. "What?" she said angrily.

"I just forgot, that's all. Were you planning to go?"

Erin sighed, grabbed Jay's hand, and said, "I don't know. The ceremony's at like 1 or something but Peter has to go to school today. But then my mother wants me to be there and-"

Jay cut her off while stroking her hair. "Erin," he began, "It's your choice whether or not you go. But if you just want to go for the ceremony then I can go with you and we can leave before the reception with the excuse that we have to go pick up our son."

"That's a nice idea, but my mom doesn't know I have a son, remember? And it would have been a nice gesture if my mom had offered to make me maid of honor."

"Would you have accepted?" Jay asked with raised eyebrows.

Erin hesitated, then quietly said, "Probably not. Just to make her feel bad for my childhood.

"Will you go with me just for the service? We can say that we got called to work even though we both have the day off," Erin suggested.

"Why don't we just tell the truth?" Jay asked.

"I don't want to get Peter involved right now, okay?" Erin said, "He's my baby and I want to protect him."

"Alright," Jay conceded, "We'll go for the service and then leave on a supposed work call."

"Okay," Erin agreed, groaning as she got out of bed to make sure that Peter was getting ready for school.

***Later that day***

Jay maneuvered their car into an open parking spot on the street a few blocks from the church and cut the engine. Erin sighed as she looked down at her wedding ring, thinking about how this whole thing was really weird.

"Erin?" Jay asked. "Yeah?" Erin said, no longer in a trance.

"You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Erin said monotonously, stepping out of the car with her coat and purse. As Erin put her badge and gun (with safety on) insider her purse, Jay said, "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Erin retorted, "I want to keep myself safe. No harm in that. Where's yours?"

Jay silently motioned to his right ankle, and Erin nodded in realization. "Creative. Sticking it in your sock, I mean."

"It's more accessible than in a purse," Jay replied, locking the car and heading for the traffic light in front of them. Erin gave him a smack on the shoulder before zipping up her coat. As the two of them waited to cross the street a few minutes later, Jay found himself staring at his beautiful wife.

"You know you look beautiful, right?" Jay said, grabbing Erin's hand and squeezing it as he looked into her eyes.

"Thank you," Erin said, staring straight back.

***One hour later***

Bunny and her new husband had chosen to have a short civil ceremony, which was fine with both Erin and Jay. Jay couldn't bear to sit still any longer with an anxious Erin next to him, while Erin was becoming overwhelmed with awkwardness.

Erin dragged Jay to the bar after the ceremony was over and as they were sipping their drinks, Bunny and her new husband came over. "Erin! Thank you so much for coming!" Bunny said happily, "This is my husband Tommy."

"Very nice to meet you, Tommy," Erin said with a strained smile as she shook Tommy's hand. Jay observed that Erin hadn't even hugged her mother, but then again, he understood why Erin wouldn't want to display that level of affection towards her mother.

"Mom, you remember Jay? Tommy, this is my husband Jay Halstead," Erin introduced after a moment of awkward silence. Luckily, Jay put on a smile and shook Bunny and Tommy's hands. "Very nice to meet you, sir. Congratulations to you both."

"Thank you," Bunny and Tommy replied in (almost) unison. "It means so much to me that you and Jay are here, Erin. Thank you," Bunny added.

Erin silently nodded and took another sip of her drink. Tommy spotted a relative of his across the room at that moment, and as he headed off to say hello, Bunny asked, "Will you stay for the reception?"

"Actually, we might have to get going in a bit because of work," Erin told her mother, going along with the plan she and Jay had made earlier. Unfortunately, Bunny became nosy.

"What work thing? Don't you have the day off?" she asked.

Erin retorted, "Criminals don't work nine to five. Sometimes days off become days that aren't. It happens. Sorry, mom, I hope you have a great honeymoon." Erin grabbed Jay and they were almost to the car when Bunny came out after them. "Erin! Erin!"

"What?" Erin said a little too angrily for the situation.

"Am I a grandmother?" Bunny asked. Jay and Erin both looked at each other and back at Bunny again as she said, "I saw the toys in your apartment."

"Mom, I have to go," Erin pleaded.

"Just answer my question," Bunny pleaded in reply, "Do you have a child? Are you a mother?"

Erin looked back to Jay for help, and he gave her a look that silently told her that it was her call to make. With tears coming to her eyes because she wanted to protect Peter, she replied vaguely.

"Yes, Bunny, I'm a mother."

"Can I meet my grandchild at some point?" Bunny asked, arms crossed.

"I'll think about it," Erin spat, throwing open the car door and slamming it shut after she sat down.


	11. Real Family

**First of all, I'm so sorry that I've taken so long to update. Hopefully when my life gets a little bit less stressful I will have a little more time to write - thank you so much to all of you for sticking with me! I hope you enjoy this update and that it helps you get through your Monday. :)**

**Also, I just want to say that I'm SO EXCITED for the potential of #Linstead in two days! Can't wait!**

Chapter 11

***One month later***

Erin strolled into the office at the Cedar Grove and stopped at one of the receptionist desks. The wall clock behind the desk read 2pm, October 25th.

Peter's 6th birthday.

"Hi, I'm here to pick-up Peter Halstead? I called about thirty minutes ago?"

"Alright," the receptionist, Alice, replied in an enthusiastic tone, "It's his birthday today, right?"

"Yes, it is," Erin replied with a smile, memories of Peter's birth flooding back into her mind.

"I'll just call his teacher and he'll be here in a couple of minutes," Alice replied, reaching for her phone. After dialing a short extensions, she said, "Hi, Ms. Carson, could you please send Peter Halstead to the office ready to go? His mother's here to pick him up. Thanks."

Erin sat down in the office and pulled out her phone. She had an unread text from Jay. _Everything's ready, _it said, _cake included __._

Erin smiled down at her phone and was about to type a reply when the door to the office opened and Peter sprinted towards Erin. "Mommy! Mommy!"

"Hey, buddy," Erin said, giving her son a huge hug before signing him out and walking with him to the car. "Did your classmates like the treats you took in this morning? The brownies?"

"Yeah! Everyone loved them! Daddy is the best baker ever," Peter said, smiling from ear to ear.

As Erin put Peter's backpack and coat into the back of the car and Peter buckled himself in, she asked, "So how does it feel to be six?"

"Awesome! I'm a whole year older! Ten years to go until I can drive a car!"

Erin chuckled and tickled Peter in the stomach. "Only if mommy and daddy say you can and you pass a test."

Peter began to giggle. "Mommy! Stop! Please!" Erin closed Peter's car door and hopped into the driver's seat. Peter was smiling into the mirror as she buckled her seatbelt, so she looked into the mirror and said, "What?"

"Have you gotten me something for my birthday yet?"

"Yes, and it's waiting at mommy and daddy's work," Erin replied, "Do you want to go get it?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Peter yelled in delight. The drive to the district wasn't very long, and Erin led Peter up to Intelligence where everyone was waiting with balloons, cake, and presents. Peter was over the moon.

***One hour later***

After getting various presents from all the members of intelligence, Voight was the last person to give his present to Peter. He had just received a toy fire truck and cop car from his parents that were remote controlled, and Jay managed to get Peter to take his focus away from that gift towards the one in Voight's hand.

"Happy Birthday, Peter," Voight said, handing the small package covered in silver wrapping paper to the little boy.

Peter recited what was on the small card, "To Peter, Love Grandpa Hank." He smiled, "Hank's your first name, right?"

Voight chuckled, "You're right. We just go by last names most of the time."

"But my mommy and daddy have the same last name. How do you not mix them up?"

The entire unit cracked up, Erin and Jay included, as Voight replied, "Your mommy's last name was Lindsay before she married your daddy, but after she married your daddy, she decided to continue using Lindsay at work."

"Lindsay's my middle name," Peter said.

"That's right," Voight said, "Now open your gift, birthday boy."

Peter ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal an official Chicago PD badge. Peter gasped with delight as Voight said, "This was the first badge I got when I graduated from the academy, so it's a little rusty now. I had to get a new one a few years back because I thought I'd lost it. But then when I found it a few months ago, I thought it was time I passed it on."

Peter hugged Voight and said, "Thank you, Grandpa."

"You're welcome, Peter," Voight replied, standing up and allowing Peter to run back to his mom and dad. Erin gave Voight a look of gratefulness and after looking at the badge, she walked over to Voight and gave her adopted dad a hug. "That was lovely. I never thought you'd give that thing up if you found it."

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Erin. And Peter has helped me become a better guy in my old age, just as you have."

"Erin?" Jay yelled.

"Yeah?" she replied, whirling back around.

"Platt says you've got a visitor downstairs."

"Be right back, Peter," Erin told her son, heading downstairs to the lobby.

***In the lobby***

Erin walked down the stairs feeling very happy, but then she felt awkward and angry when she saw her mother standing in Commander Perry's office. She looked at Platt, who gave her a look of sympathy, before Erin headed into the office and shut the door. "Erin," her mother said gratefully.

"I told you not to come by my work, mom. I'm working," Erin snapped.

"Why do you have to get so snappy with me all the time?" Bunny asked, surprised.

"Did it ever occur to you that I looked up to you when I was a kid? And that you let me down and definitely failed miserably as a mother after dad was taken away?"

"Erin, I've said I'm sorry."

After a pause, Erin asked, "How was the honeymoon?"

"Great, thanks. Tommy's family house in Hawaii is absolutely lovely. Beautiful views of the ocean. Now about your child-"

Erin cut Bunny off. "You came here to ask about my child?"

"Yes, Erin, if I have a grandchild I deserve to know them," Bunny argued.

"Bunny, Peter has a really great life right now, and he is happy. What I don't want you to do is meet Peter and start having a negative impact on his life. So no, you're not meeting him yet."

"How old is Peter, Erin?"

Erin sighed, angry at herself for accidentally telling her the name and gender of her child at the same time. She was trying to be protective and had slipped a little in her anger. "He's six," Erin said, "And please don't think that you can waltz into his life like you did mine because I want to protect him. I don't want him getting hurt." And with that, Erin opened the door and stormed out, heading back up to Intelligence to spend time with her real family.


	12. Promise Me

**Okay...so I haven't updated in like 3 months. I want to say that I'm really sorry for keeping all of you waiting for so long when you have all been such faithful readers comment-ers, and followers. I hope that you didn't give up on me - you'll be happy to know that I have more chapters in the works!**

**I will be focusing on this story for next few months and once I have written a lot more for this story, I will keep writing for _A Place To Crash _(I have three more chapters that I will be uploading for that story over the next couple of weeks and then there will be another long break on that one until I've written on this one for a while). Please feel free to leave any comments you may have.**

Chapter 12

***Four days later***

Jay walked Peter to his bus stop a couple of blocks away from the house on a warm fall morning. The rising sun cast a long shadow over all the trees lining the sidewalk, forming a show form of a fence. Peter was running a few strides ahead of his father since they were close to his bus stop and he'd just spotted one of his friends. Jay smiled and greeted the other parents waiting, but after a couple of minutes, Peter said, "Daddy?"

"Yeah?" Jay asked, leaning down so he was at his son's eye level.

"Where's Cam?" Peter asked.

Jay sighed before saying, "His dad's sick, Peter, so he won't be in school for a while."

"You're never gonna get sick, right daddy?"

"Of course not," Jay replied, trying to reassure Peter.

"And you're never gonna leave me?"

"What's bringing this on, buddy?" Jay asked, concerned.

"Some of the teachers yesterday said that one of their daddies was gone," Peter said, "Promise me that you'll never leave, daddy?"

Jay held out his pinkie and said, "Pinkie promise, Peter. I promise." Peter smiled and hugged Jay and when his bus pulled up, he hopped on the bus and waved out the window as the bus drove away, Jay silently praying that his job would allow him to hold that promise.

***Six hours later***

The entire Intelligence unit, plus Burgess and Roman, stood outside of an old building on the outskirts of town while Voight gave instructions for the breach. Erin and Jay's job was to breach the back entrance and clear the back hallway while the rest of the team breached the front. They nodded to each other as they grabbed their weapons and headed around the back. As soon as Voight gave the order to breach the back, Jay thrust the door open and covered Lindsay as she checked the various offices down the hallway. She and Jay yelled "Clear!" back and forth as they cleared various rooms, and as Erin ducked into the last office on the left side and reached for her radio, she heard two gunshots from another office. After she heard someone scurry out the back door, she ran across the hallway and found Jay bleeding out on the floor.

Erin screamed as she leaned over Jay and removed his bulletproof vest. One of the bullets had hit his vest, but the other had missed and gone in above his collarbone. "No, no, no!" Erin screamed. As she put pressure on his wounds and begged Jay to stay conscious, all while trying to stop herself from crying, she yelled into her radio.

"Intelligence to Main, we have an officer down and need an ambo at 61 South Holbrook NOW! Suspect exited the back of the building and is most likely fleeing on foot. All area patrols be advised." She paused to catch her breath before yelling, "Help! Jay's been shot!"

"God, that hurts," Jay moaned.

"Jay, stay with me, stay with me please!" Erin pleaded, tears falling down her face.

"I love you…and Peter…so…so…much," Jay said, his breathing slowing, "I'm…sorry…Erin."

"NO! Jay, you stay with me, don't do this to me! Don't do this to Peter!" Erin screamed as she heard footsteps coming around the corner. Jay passed out as Antonio rounded the corner and stopped in the doorway.

"Ambo's on its way," he said quickly, his heart breaking at sight of Erin crying over Jay, who was unconscious in a pool of his own blood. He took off his brown scarf and gave it to Erin to press the wound just above Jay's collar bone. The second wound had barely broken the skin, but Jay was losing a lot of blood.

"He still has a pulse, and he's breathing," Erin said monotonously, sniffing multiple times in an attempt to stop crying. "What am I going to tell Peter?" Erin said, sobbing more.

"I'll get him in a little bit and take him to 51, okay?" Antonio said. Erin nodded in acceptance, and Antonio added, "Don't worry, Erin. He's still alive." Luckily, Erin's tears seemed to slow as two paramedics came rushing into the room after getting directions from Ruzek and Atwater and loaded Jay into the ambo. Erin rode alone as the rest of the Intelligence unit wrapped up the bust.

Thirty seconds away from Lakeshore, Jay's heart rate started slowing. "He's crashing!" the paramedic yelled, Erin unable to stop herself from crying more. She was holding Jay's hand and silently begged him to stay alive. They shocked him with the AED as they pulled up outside the hospital. They had gotten his heart rate up again, and the doctors and Erin wheeled the gurney into the ER and down the hallway to the operating theater. At the OR doors, one of the doctors stopped Erin, leaving her in the waiting room unable to do anything else to help Jay.

Alone, she slumped down onto the floor next the doors as tears continued to stream down her face. She was about to put her head in her hands when she saw that both of her hands were covered in blood…Jay's blood. She put her arms around her legs and cried with her head against her thighs, fearing the worst.


	13. Later

Chapter 13

Erin only lifted her face up when she heard muffled sounds next to her and found Voight sitting down next to her. He didn't say a word for a few seconds, just looking at Erin's face waiting for her to say something.

When she only sniffed a few times in an attempt to stop crying, Voight wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back as she cried into his chest. The rest of the unit, except Antonio, silently joined Voight and Erin in the waiting room, but didn't say a word as they knew that Erin just needed to let it out right now. A few of them were amazed that Erin was being emotional in a public place because she was usually very composed. But she had been the one find Jay bleeding out on the warehouse floor – like Jay had found Erin unconscious with a gun to her head so many years ago. Voight almost grimaced at the irony as Erin pulled away, saw that the rest of the unit had arrived, and said, "I'm going to go wash my hands." She stood up slowly and headed for the restroom with her head down, wiping her tear-stained face as she went.

Once Erin was out of earshot, everyone gathered in a circle around Voight as he stood up from the wall. They all looked at with a _what do we do _look, and Voight replied, "Just be there for her and Peter. Support is what she needs right now." Everyone nodded in agreement; Olinsky volunteered to pick up some coffee and food for Erin, Ruzek and Atwater headed back to the district to follow up on leads for who could have shot Jay, and Voight designated himself as Erin's supporter in the waiting room for however long Jay was going to be in surgery.

***Twenty minutes later, at Peter's bus stop***

Peter hopped off the school bus after saying goodbye to a few of his friends. The kids who also got off at his stop walked over to their respective parents and started walking or driving away, but he couldn't see his mom or dad. He was about to start walking worriedly towards his house when he saw Antonio on the street corner.

"Hey Peter," Antonio said with a strained smile.

"Hi Uncle Antonio," Peter said, "Where's my mommy and daddy?"

"They're both busy with work right now, so they told me to pick you up and take you to the firehouse, okay?"

"But I want my mommy," Peter said, starting to feel upset.

"Peter," Antonio said, leaning down so his face was at Peter's level, holding both of his arms so Peter couldn't suddenly take off. "I promise that you will get to see your mommy later, but for right now I need to take you to Uncle Matt and Aunty Gabby."

"Okay," Peter replied sadly, following Antonio to the back row of the car. Antonio buckled Peter into the car seat that he'd grabbed from Erin and Jay's car (which was still at the warehouse, but Atwater and Ruzek were going to drive it back later), and headed for the firehouse.

***At the firehouse***

Brett and Shay were restocking the ambo and Dawson was keeping them company when Dawson spotted her brother walking up the driveway with Peter.

"Who's that with Antonio?" Brett asked.

"That's Peter, Erin and Jay's son," Gabby said, not taking her eyes off Antonio, who seemed to be feeling emotional. "He didn't call me so something's up. I'll be back in a bit."

"You want me to tag along?" Shay asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Gabby replied with a small smile. Shay and Gabby met Antonio and Peter just inside the front door.

"Hey Aunty Gabby," Peter said.

"Hey Peter, how are you? You wanna go hang out with Shay and Brett for a bit?"

"Can they help me with my math?" Peter asked.

"I'm sure we can work that out," Shay said with a smile, walking Peter out of earshot to the ambo as Antonio mouthed a _thank you _to Shay.

"Antonio, what's up? I'm glad we weren't on a call," Gabby inquired.

Antonio pulled Gabby aside and said, "We were on a bust a couple of hours ago and long story short, Jay got shot when he and Erin were clearing part of the building. He's currently in emergency surgery."

Gabby's face fell. "Oh my God," she said quietly, "How's Erin? Is that why you brought Peter here?"

"Yeah, if it's okay we just need you guys to watch him for a few hours – just until Jay's out of surgery and stable. I told Erin I would bring Peter here. She's really not in a good place right now."

"Let them know that Peter can stay as long as they need," Gabby said, immediately wanting to help out her friend. "I remember how I felt when Matt was in a similar situation all those years ago – I was so scared I couldn't think about anything else. But we didn't have our daughters then…give me a call when there's any updates?"

"Of course," Antonio assured her. "Thank you so much."

"No problem. Anything for my friend and my brother," Gabby smiled, giving her brother a hug. Antonio yelled goodbye to Peter as he left the firehouse, and just as Gabby returned to Shay and Brett in the ambo, Peter started crying and saying that he wanted his mommy. Shay pulled him up onto her lap and gave him a hug and said, "I know Peter, I know. Sometimes my little boy is sad when he doesn't have his mommy but you will see her very soon. Okay?"

"But they always pick me up from the bus!" Peter sobbed.

"I know, I know…" Shay said quietly. "I promise you that everything is going to be okay," Shay said, knowing that Peter needed to be comforted right now and he could find out about his daddy later. Her comforting words worked – five minutes later Peter was feeling up to finishing his math homework, and was making Shay, Gabby, and Brett laugh.


	14. I Love You

**Hi all! Happy Friday, and I hope you all have a great Easter! Thank you so so much for helping me reach 200,000 FanFiction hits in the last year - it means so much to me that all of you like what I'm writing. :D Enjoy this chapter and I'll probably have the next chapter up on Easter or on Monday! :D**

Chapter 14

***Four hours later***

Ever since she had recomposed herself and washed Jay's blood off her hands and face, she had spent most of her time in the waiting room either consuming whatever food had been given to her, scrolling through random things on her phone to distract herself, or closing her eyes against Voight's shoulder. Her heart was beating so fast out of fear that she hadn't been able to fall asleep at all, but she was thankful for the company of her peers and that 51 was watching Peter.

Ruzek and Atwater had had no luck on leads related to the guy who shot Jay, so they had arrived about 30 minutes ago to drop off Erin's car and join the somber crowd. One of the nurses had come out a couple of hours ago, but all she had been able to tell the team was that Jay was still alive – Erin hadn't been sure whether to be relieved or to be even more worried that the nurse hadn't told her anything else. The suspense was driving her crazy and she just wanted it to be over.

She knew that Jay would much rather be on that operating table than her, but she felt the same – they both loved each other so much and Erin couldn't bear to stifle the thought of losing him. And just as she felt like she could burst into tears all over again, Dr. Arata entered the waiting room as he was removing his scrubs from surgery.

Everyone in the room stood up and Erin practically jumped to her feet and walked towards the surgeon. The entire room was silent for a few seconds before Dr. Arata spoke.

"It was touch and go for a while because Mr. Halstead had lost a lot of blood prior to arriving here, but we successfully removed the bullet and got him stable again. He'll have to stay in for a least a few days to recover and get more blood transfusions, but I don't see why he won't make a full recovery."

Erin gasped and tears of relief came to her eyes as she hugged Voight and cried a bit more into his arms. "Can we see him?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, he's in room 421, but only two visitors at a time please. He should be waking up soon."

Erin grabbed her purse and sprinted down the hall towards room 421, Voight and the rest of the unit walking slowly after her. Once she entered the room and pulled the curtains back, she almost started crying again.

Jay was hooked up to multiple monitors, had a ton of gauze over his chest and collarbone area, had a nebula hooked up to an oxygen machine, and had two IVs – one for meds and one for blood transfusions, most likely. Erin pulled up a chair and sat down on the left side of Jay's bed. She hoped that he would wake up soon and put her out of this misery.

"Can we come in?" Voight asked for the unit, all of whom were standing in the doorway. Erin looked up and nodded silently, holding onto Jay's hand and just looking at his face.

Everyone in the unit came and wished Jay well and headed home for the night – even Burgess and Roman paid a visit. Platt stopped by after Voight had left with a milkshake and fries for Erin, something that she was very grateful for. Once she was alone with Jay, she looked at his heart monitor and back down at his face and began to speak quietly.

"God, Jay, I hope you wake up soon. I miss you so much and I don't want to be this blubbering girl much longer. But I care about you so much and so many of things that I feel for you I've never felt before, and I love you. I always will.

"I remember when I found out I was pregnant and we were both freaking out in the living room of my apartment at like twelve in the morning, but then you took me in your arms and promised me that you would be there for me and our baby…oh my God, you don't know how much it meant to me to hear you say those words that night. I was so scared that I was going to be a bad mother and I was scared about what was going to happen with us. But you calmed all my fears, Jay. You helped me become a better person and an amazing mother to Peter, and you're the best father that Peter could ever have.

"Tonight brought back the faint memories I have of waking up in the hospital after getting knocked out during that one warehouse bust. We hadn't told anyone that I was pregnant yet and you rushed back into that warehouse to save me. You told me later that you were scared out of your mind when I was in a hospital bed, and that's what tonight has been like – except reversed. And I never want to feel this afraid of losing you again." Erin laid her head on Jay's hospital bed near his right hand and hip, and after sniffing a few times, she heard, "You're not getting rid of me that easy."

Erin jerked her head up and say a Jay with his eyes open. "You…you're…you're awake," Erin stuttered, almost unable to contain her relief, "God, you had me scared out of my mind."

"Sorry," Jay said quietly, "That bullet, you know."

"I know," Erin replied, reaching for Jay's other hand so she was holding both of them. "I was so scared that you were gone…after you said that you loved Peter and I."

"I was scared too…but I figured I might as well say it in case it went differently," Jay replied, turning his next to face her a little better. "I love you, Erin."

"I love you too, Jay. Always," Erin said, standing up to kiss him lightly, "And as much as I want to stay I need to go get Peter from 51. He doesn't know yet. Do you need me to get you anything?"

"Just a couple of blankets? And another kiss," Jay added, smiling a little.

"How could I refuse?" Erin joked, walking back over and kissing Jay a little harder this time. After she left and returned with the blankets, she gave Jay a third kiss and left the hospital to pick up their son, who was either asleep or wondering where on earth his parents were.


	15. The Best Dad Ever

**Hi Everyone! I'm super excited to watch PD tonight (I'm probably going to start watching after I upload this!). This is a really long chapter so I hope you enjoy it and the next chapter will be posted sometime this coming weekend. Thank you so much for all of your reviews on the last chapter**

Chapter 15

***One hour later, back in Jay's hospital room***

It had taken Erin a few tries to explain Jay's condition to Peter in the car ride over from the hospital because he was quite tired and she didn't want to be too blunt and scare him. When Peter was born, Erin and Jay had agreed that they would do all they could to protect Peter from the reality of their jobs until he was old enough to understand - he was just getting a little introduction to what could happen to cops at the age of six.

"Mommy, is daddy gonna be okay?" Peter asked tentatively as Erin lifted him up out of the car.

As Erin shut the car door and locked the car, she looked at her son and said, "He's gonna be just fine, he's just going to need some help from us for a while, okay?"

"Okay," Peter said. Erin carried Peter all the way through the hospital until they reached the nurse's desk that supervised the group of rooms that included Jay's.

"Hi, I know visiting hours are probably over by now, but my husband is Jay Halstead and my son really wants to see his dad," Erin said in a diplomatic but slightly forceful tone.

The nurse looked at Erin and Peter and said, "Your husband was the cop who got shot earlier today?"

"Yeah," Erin said quickly.

"Go ahead. Take as long as you need, okay?" The nurse said with a smile.

"Thank you," Erin replied, grabbing Peter's hand as they started to walk towards Jay's room, "Have there been any changes while I was gone?"

"No, apart from an increase in pain medication," the nurse said. Erin chuckled and Peter stopped when they reached Jay's door. The curtain was pulled over so Peter couldn't see Jay yet. "Mommy, where's daddy?"

At the sound of his son's voice, Jay turned his head towards the doorway and said, "Peter? Is that you?"

Erin pulled the curtain back and as soon as Peter saw that the person lying in the hospital bed was his daddy, he yelled, "Daddy!" and ran over to the bed. Erin helped Peter up onto the bed so he was sitting on his dad's lap and Erin asked, "Is he hurting you? I can get him to move." As she walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down, Jay replied, "No, he's fine here. And I don't think we'd be successful in moving him anyway."

Erin smiled and said, "Look at you. Conscious for less than two hours and already getting your snark back."

Jay laughed as Peter said, "Daddy what happened? What are all these beeping things?"

"Peter, I got hurt really bad so when I went to the doctor he decided that I had to stay here for a while," Jay replied.

"But you're gonna get better right? And come home soon?" Peter asked.

"Of course I am, buddy," Jay replied, "I promised you I wouldn't leave, right? Right?"

"Yeah, you did," Peter said with a smile. After another hour of chatting and a couple more visits from nurses to check Jay's bandaging and vitals, Peter was asleep against Jay's chest and Jay was almost asleep too. "Jay," Erin said quietly as she lifted Peter into her arms.

"Going home?" Jay asked, his eyes half closed.

"Yeah, Peter should sleep in his own bed, but I know he loved being able to see you."

"I enjoyed seeing him too, I'm just glad I made it," Jay said, lightly squeezing Erin's forearm because he couldn't reach her hand, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Erin said. Before she reached the door, she stopped, turned, and said, "You said something about promising Peter that you wouldn't leave?"

Jay smiled and said, "At the bus stop this morning he made me promise that I wouldn't leave him. It's hard to believe that that happened this morning - today feels like it's been two weeks long."

"I feel you," Erin said, "Can I just say that you're the best daddy ever?"

"What can I say? I'm married to the best mom ever," Jay said with a smile.

***One month later***

"Jay. Jay. Jay!" Erin said, her volume escalating to a shout.

Jay whirled around. "What?"

"You okay? You zoned out for a second there," Erin said, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, I'm just super nervous," Jay confessed, looking down at the cotton ball that was covering the inside of his right elbow, where he'd had blood drawn half an hour ago. He and Erin were at the doctor's office waiting to hear if he was cleared to go back to work full time. He had been on desk duty the past week, but he wanted to get back to doing busts, even though the last one he'd participated in almost killed him.

_And you want your partner back, _his subconscious added, _and you haven't been intimate with Erin since before you got shot._

Jay blinked, trying to push those thoughts away, and looked over at Erin, who was sitting in one of the chairs next to the exam table. As she began to read something on her phone, Jay silently looked at his wife. She looked tired – exhausted, really. Since Jay had been shot and he'd ended up in the hospital a month ago, Erin had had to juggle all of Jay's medical appointments until he was allowed to drive again nine days ago along with all of Peter's commitments and his school hours _and _working full time at the district. She had taken a couple of afternoons off the past few weeks, but he could tell that she needed some sleep. Peter had been a little scared at the thought of seeing Jay in the hospital for the first time, but once Jay reminded him that he was still his daddy, Peter grew to be okay with the idea and helped Erin out as much as he could…and as much as Erin would let him. He was so thankful that the unit and 51 had rallied around Peter, Erin, and himself during his recovery, but now he was ready to get back to work.

His thoughts were interrupted by the exam room door opening and his doctor reentering the room with some papers on a clipboard. Erin quickly put her phone away and stood up so she was standing next to Jay and holding his hand. He knew that she wanted him back at work full time as much as he wanted to be back because she missed him so much. She was grateful that he hadn't had any major recovery setbacks after her emotional breakdown the day he was shot.

The doctor cleared his throat but hesitated, so Jay asked, "Well? Am I cleared?"

The doctor sighed, then smiled and said, "Yes, you're cleared. Your bloodwork came back fine. I just need you to sign off on these papers and you can start full duty tomorrow."

"Yes!" Jay yelled and hugged Erin, who had a huge grin on her face as well. Erin stepped back to grab her bag while Jay signed off the paperwork and got his copies from the doctor, and as soon as they reached their car, Jay pulled Erin behind the truck next to their car and gave her a passionate kiss, pressing her up against the side of the car. When he pulled away, keeping his face only inches from hers, he said, "Thank you."

"Of course, Jay," Erin replied, "Just promise me that you scare me like that ever again because I don't think I'd be able to handle another emotional breakdown like I did that day."

Jay gave her another kiss for an answer, and after a few seconds Erin's phone vibrated in her bag. She pulled it out to find a text from Voight. _How'd Jay's appointment go?_

"It's from Voight," Erin said monotonously, unhappy that Voight had interrupted one of her and Jay's first passionate moments in a month.

"Hey," Jay said, putting his hand under her chin and turning her face up to his, "What do you say we have some time to ourselves after Peter goes to bed tonight? You did take the afternoon off and my doctor did say I can start tomorrow."

With a raised eyebrow, Erin replied, "I'd like that."

About six hours later, after celebrating Jay's imminent return to work at home with Peter and lots of pizza and ice cream, Jay came down to the kitchen after Peter had fallen asleep to find all the lights dimmed, all the dishes put away. _She was efficient, _Jay said to himself, not being able to help the smile that was creeping onto his face as he tiptoed up the stairs to his and Erin's room. He quietly shut the door and just as he was about the turn off the lights, Erin beat him to it and pulled him towards her and kissed him hard. Within minutes Jay was on top of Erin on their bed, the desire that both of them had built up over the past month spilling over.

***The next day***

"Hey, Sarg, how much longer do you think we're going to be here?"

"What did you just say? Halstead, you just got back to work," Voight replied sternly.

"It's Peter's parent visit day this afternoon and we both promised him that we would go," Erin said, "And we would hate to tell him that his Grandpa Hank got in the way of his parents coming to his school." Erin knew that playing the _Grandpa Hank _card would hit Voight's soft spot, and it worked.

"Fine, you two can head off now as long as you come back tonight or early tomorrow morning to wrap up your paperwork. We were just about finished up here anyway," Voight conceded, eliciting a pair of "Yes!" from Erin and Jay as they headed for their car. As they pulled away, Antonio, Atwater, Ruzek, and Olinsky came out to reload their cars to head back to the precinct. Olinsky walked up to Voight and said sarcastically, "You're too nice. To Jay especially…and he just got cleared for work again."

"He's made Erin happier than I could have ever imagined she would be, so don't criticize my motives," Voight replied with a smirk, proceeding to turn around and bark out orders for what people were to do with the rest of their shift.

Thirty minutes later Jay and Erin parked their car on the street next to Peter's school, threw their bulletproof vests and guns in the trunk, made sure their badges were secure, and rushed for the school lobby. Luckily they weren't the last parents to arrive, and they signed in, got name tags, and headed for Peter's classroom. Peter's teacher introduced herself when they reached the classroom door, and she pointed to where Peter was sitting at his desk and talking to the boy next to him.

As soon as Peter saw his parents walking over, his eyes lit up and he ran over to hug them both. "Mommy! Daddy! You came!" he said with delight.

"Yep, it was a little close but we made it," Erin said happily, letting Peter pull her over to where some spare chairs were leaning against the back wall. By the time Erin and Jay had sat down and chatted with Peter and some of his classmates' parents for a few minutes, the teacher quieted everyone down and began to speak from the front of the classroom.

"Good afternoon parents, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to come to your child's classroom today. I must tell you that everyone has been so excited all day waiting for you to come so they could share something things about you with the class. We will go in alphabetical order by last name, and we will ask each kindergartner to introduce their visitors and where they work; other students will also be allowed to ask a few questions. Let's begin!"

When the teacher said, "Peter Halstead," Peter immediately jumped out of his seat and pulled Erin and Jay to the front of the room. They sat down in the three chairs next to the teacher and Peter began to speak.

"This is my mommy and this is my daddy. They're both police officers," Peter said with a smile. Both Erin and Jay smiled as one of the parents asked, "How did you two meet?"

"We were paired up in a detective unit many years ago…and the rest is history," Erin said quickly.

"I'm also a retired Army Ranger," Jay added.

"So you've been working for the police force a long time?" Peter's teacher asked.

"Yep," Erin replied, "We've both been there for almost fifteen years, but I've been in our detective unit longer than Jay has." Jay chuckled at Erin's last words, remembering a conversation the two of them had in the first month they were partners. _I've been on the job longer, _he'd said. _I've been in this unit longer, _she'd retorted. And there went any chances of Jay driving their car…until Erin had gotten pregnant, that is.

"Any other questions for Peter and his mom and dad?" Peter's teacher asked. No one replied, and Erin and Jay could see a few of the parents cringing from the realization that one of their kid's classmates had two cops for parents. "Don't worry, we're not here to arrest anyone," Jay joked, causing most of the parents to laugh, calming the atmosphere.

About an hour later, after all the other kids' parents had come to the front and everyone had completed a small art project, Erin and Jay walked with Peter to their car. As Peter ran off ahead of them, Erin said, "I didn't expect you to say that you're a retired Army Ranger."

"I wasn't either," Jay admitted, "But when I saw parents cringing at the fact that we're both cops, I figured it would be a good way to connect with more people."

"I love you so much," Erin said with a smile.

"I know, I love you too," Jay said with a smirk, reaching for his car keys after Peter yelled to his daddy to unlock the backseat.


	16. Alcohol On Her Breath

**Hi everyone, I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a few weeks - things have been so crazy lately (although I can't complain about the weather getting warmer where I live!) I hope you enjoy this chapter...and please don't be mad at me for the ending! I have a big twist coming up in a couple of chapters. :D**

**Also - I'm super excited for the Fire-SVU-PD crossover this week! After watching the most recent trailer I'm worried that Erin's going to get kidnapped and that's why Jay's freaking out in the trailer...feel free to leave your thoughts on this chapter and/or the crossover in your reviews? Who do you think's going to die on PD this week?**

Chapter 16

***One week later***

Erin pulled her car into the lot at the precinct around 9am wishing that she had taken Jay up on his offer to make her coffee that morning. She was feeling very tired and hormonal and part of her had wanted to take a sick day and stay at home – but she never liked taking sick days because then she would end up staring at the ceiling for hours and wishing that she'd gone into work. So, here she was.

She grabbed her phone and jacket and locked the car as she entered the bullpen through the back door. Jay and Mouse were talking something over in the tech room, Atwater was looking on, and it appeared that everyone else was upstairs. When the door slammed shut behind Erin, all three guys turned around and as Atwater and Mouse said hello to her, Jay turned around and gave her a big smile. He seemed really happy, but she couldn't blame him – he was much happier since he had been cleared to go back to work. And since he was happier, so was she.

"What are you guys working on?" Erin said, strolling over the to the tech room door, "Normally tech tasks don't require three brains."

Atwater and Mouse chuckled as Jay replied, "Working on a wiretap for this business guy who might be involved in the heroin business. One of his escorts was found dead this morning and had heroin in her system. Mouse doing the programming and Atwater was grabbing the equipment."

"And you were doing what, exactly?" Erin teased, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Just coming down to tell them that the bloodwork on the escort had come back," Jay said, unable to hide his smirk.

"And socialize, yeah, I get it, guys need to talk," Erin retorted, eliciting laughs from all three guys in the room. She and Jay exchanged winks as she left the room to head up to the desk area. After saying hello to Olinsky, Antonio, Ruzek, and Voight, she poured herself a much-needed cup of coffee and sat down at her desk to finish the paperwork that she had put off last night. Voight came out right then to brief her on what was happening and they were interrupted by Nadia. "Excuse me, Detective Lindsay?"

"Yes, Nadia?" Erin replied.

"Platt just called and said you've got a visitor in the lobby. She didn't say a name though, only that it seemed urgent," Nadia replied.

"Ok, thanks," Erin said to Nadia. She stood up and said, "Be right back."

When she came down the stairs and made eye contact with Platt, she pointed to the bench outside the Commander's office and found a worried-looking middle-aged man sitting there.

Johnny.

"Johnny?" she asked hesitantly, slowly walking over to her mom's husband.

"Erin, thank God," he said, standing up to meet her. "I'm so sorry to come to your work like this, but I didn't really have another choice."

"What's wrong? Did something happen to Bunny?" Erin asked, fearing the worst.

"She didn't come home last night," Johnny blurted out, "She texted me saying she was leaving work at the bar around six and never showed up. I drove around half the night looking for her but I had no luck. I'm worried something happened and she…well…"

"Relapsed," Erin finished, realizing that they were both thinking the same thing. She put her head in her hands as Johnny said, "I'm so sorry Erin, I didn't want to pull you into this – I didn't know who else to come to."

"Say no more, I know why you came," Erin said, putting a hand up to stop him talking. "As much I want to say that this hasn't happened before, it has," she admitted. "Does she still work at the Rusty Bull?"

"Yeah, her manager's name is Bucky," Johnny confirmed. As Erin pulled out her phone, Johnny said, "I already tried calling her manager and the other bartender who was on shift with her. Neither of them have heard from her."

"Okay," Erin said, "Come with me. We're going to go see if our tech guy can ping her phone and figure out where she is."

"What if that doesn't work?" Johnny asked as Erin motioned for him to follower her towards the back hallway.

"Then we'll figure out something else when we get there," Erin spat, feeling torn between intense anger and sadness.

***Twelve hours later, at Bunny and Johnny's apartment***

"Want a beer? I just bought a six-pack yesterday morning."

"No thanks, I'd rather be sober right now."

"Totally understandable. I wasn't planning on having one either, but I just thought I'd offer."

"That's nice of you," Erin replied somberly as she paced around the small living room.

It was almost 9:30pm, twelve hours since Johnny had come to the precinct to tell Erin that her mother had gone off the radar. Mouse hadn't been able to track Bunny's phone – it must have died or been turned off. Erin had sent Johnny home around 11 am with instructions to call her if Bunny showed up at her place and not to let her leave at all costs. As Erin and Jay had been around town following up on leads during the afternoon, Erin had been distracted and worried so Jay had done most of the talking. Voight had sent Erin and Jay home at 3pm because they had to get Peter from school anyway and Erin wasn't going to be productive while she was worrying about her mother.

Erin and Jay played a few video games with Peter, ate dinner, watched a movie, gave him a bath, and put him to bed by 8:15 and Johnny had called about 8:30 to ask Erin if she wanted to come over and wait for Bunny to return to their place because she was bound to at some point. Erin had reluctantly agreed, and Jay had given her a sympathetic smile and a hug when she'd walked out the door. As much as she had wanted Jay to come with her, Peter always came first, so Jay had stayed back with Peter.

"Your husband is a really nice guy," Johnny said, sitting down on the couch next to Erin with a large sigh. "How long have you two been married?"

"Almost six years," Erin said, smiling a little, "I can't believe it's been that long – time has flown by since Peter came into our lives." Johnny's face fell, and Erin remembered that Johnny hadn't met Peter because Erin hadn't let Bunny meet Peter. "Johnny, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like…"

"Don't mention it, I know you haven't let Bunny meet him yet," Johnny said politely.

Erin pulled out her phone and showed Johnny her desktop background – a picture of her, Jay, and Peter on a park bench, all smiles. "He's adorable," Johnny said with a smile.

"Thank you," Erin said, smiling at the picture. Voight had taken it a couple of months ago when they had all gone for a walk together in the park. Johnny and Erin didn't speak to each other anymore and silence filled the room for the next ten or so minutes…and then they heard the sound of someone trying (and somewhat failing) to get their key in the lock on the front door.

Erin and Johnny stood up at the same time, worried glances being exchanged. As soon as the front door swung open and Bunny stumbled in to the apartment, Erin and Johnny's worst fears were confirmed – Bunny had alcohol on her breath.

Erin's mom had relapsed.

Again.

***Forty minutes later***

Erin had yelled at her drunk mother for ten minutes straight before apologizing to Johnny and storming out to her car to drive home. When she came in the front door and slammed the door a little too hard, Jay came speeding down the stairs and walked up to her with a worried expression.

Erin looked straight into Jay's eyes and as the tears came, Jay embraced her and she cried into his arms in the foyer of their home. She cried for Johnny and for herself because Bunny had broken her promises. Again.


	17. Two Months Ago

**Hey everyone! Thank you for being so patient while it took me so long to update - the past few weeks have been really crazy for me academically. The good news is, those crazy weeks are over, which means for time to write! :) I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review!**

**Mini TV finale rant: I'm really shocked that Lindsay decided to quit CPD in the finale...like WHAT? I feel like Bunny's getting into her head too much and now she's pushing Voight AND Jay away which is not good. I hope that they can both help her recover and come back to work in season 3 this fall (and that Linstead will have another chance :P).**

Chapter 17

***Two months later***

Erin and Jay strolled into the Intelligence Office to find an interesting sight: every single member of the unit surrounding Atwater, who was standing in front of the coffee maker.

"What's going on in here?" Erin said. Once she saw that Atwater was looking at the back of the coffee machine and that there was no coffee in the pot, Erin groaned and said, "Don't tell me that the machine's broken."

"Looks like it," Atwater announced, eliciting a collective groan from the rest of the unit, "I'll phone management and see if they can get us a new one."

"Thanks Atwater," Voight replied, "Everyone back to their desks. Last time I checked I didn't see any paperwork on my desk from the case we wrapped up yesterday. Chop chop!"

Everyone made their way to their desks and as Jay sat down across the aisle from Erin, he couldn't help thinking that Erin looked like a train wreck – nor could he blame her for being.

Johnny had been seeking constant help from them in trying to keep Bunny in rehab for as long as possible after she had walked out twice in the first month; Peter had a couple of issues with some kids in his class but that had gotten straightened out pretty quickly after Erin had talked to his teacher; she hadn't been sleeping well because she was thinking about her mother and Peter half the time.

His thoughts were interrupted by a stress ball hitting in the side of the head. He picked up the ball and said, "What?"

"Dude, you need to be paying attention," Ruzek said with a laugh, "You've been staring at your wife for the past thirty seconds."

Everyone in the unit chuckled as Jay said, "Can't help it when my wife is the most amazing woman ever." Jay then smiled at Erin, whose eyes lit up when he made the comment about her. He proceeded to throw Ruzek's stress ball back towards Ruzek and then turned around to focus on what Voight had put on the board – photos of two young women and one young man.

"Okay, new case, so paperwork's gonna have to wait," Voight began, "These three college students were found dead in an abandoned house this morning, and Narcotics said that there was a lot of drugs and alcohol on the property when someone called it in. This is the location of the house," Voight paused, putting a printed map up on the board, "It's two blocks from the southern edge of U-Chicago."

"Looks like a college party gone wrong," Jay hypothesized, "Are they all enrolled students at U-Chicago?"

"Maddie and Jason are," Voight said, pointing to the boy and the blond-haired girl in the adjacent picture, "But this brunette is a scholar studying at U-Chicago originally from Barcelona. From what statements have been gathered, she was staying in Maddie's dorm and the two girls got along very well."

"Toxicology reports back yet?" Erin asked.

"No," Voight said, "Because the bodies were only found two hours ago, toxicology reports for all three of them won't be available till later today. So while we are waiting for those to come back, I want all of you going in pairs to question relatives and friends of these girls and this guy. I also want to know who was throwing that party and if anyone on that street saw anything suspicious happening last night."

"Got it, Sarg," Antonio said, eliciting an echo from the rest of the group as they paired up to leave. Jay and Erin volunteered to break the news to Maddie's roommate at U-Chicago.

***Thirty minutes later***

"Oh my God, I can't believe she's…she's…she's dead!" Monica, Maddie's roommate, said between sobs, "She was such a sweet person. She didn't deserve this."

"We're very sorry," Erin said sympathetically. She was sitting next to Monica on Monica's bed while Jay quietly searched through some of Maddie's belongings. "How long have you two been rooming together? Was Maddie have any problems with anyone? Was she dating?"

"We've been rooming together since the start of the year," Monica said, wiping her face with a tissue. "But god, her boyfriend was crazy. She started doing drugs because of him."

"Who was her boyfriend?" Jay asked, sitting down in a desk chair across from Erin and Monica.

"Jason," Monica replied, "Jason Vaskowitz."

"This Jason?" Jay asked, holding up a picture of the boy whose body had been found with Maddie's and the scholar that morning.

"Yeah," Monica nodded, "He's dead too, isn't he?"

"Sadly, yes," Erin said slowly.

"I knew something was wrong when she wasn't here this morning," Monica said, "But she was also really friendly with that girl from Barcelona…Lucille. She wasn't in her room this morning either. I know because my friend rooms with her."

"This Lucille?" Jay asked again, pulling up the picture of the scholar whose body had been found earlier.

"Yeah," Monica confirmed, "I can't believe all three of them are dead!"

"When did Lucille arrive?" Erin asked, opening up her phone calendar as she waited for a response.

"Two months ago yesterday, I think," Monica said. Erin nodded and flipped back two months and one day and saw something on her calendar that she had forgotten entirely about. She was due to have her period two months ago.

"Uhh," Erin stuttered.

"What?" Monica asked.

"Oh nothing, just thank you so much for your help. Do you know what drug Jason was into, by any chance?"

Monica sniffed a few times and said, "Meth."

***Five minutes later, in Erin and Jay's car***

"What happened in there? You okay?" Jay asked Erin as she got into the driver's seat and he got in next to her.

"What? I'm fine," Erin lied, putting the keys into the ignition. "Can you call Voight and tell him that we got a positive ID on all three victims? And we need to make sure that those toxicology reports checks for meth."

"Dialing right now," Jay said, putting the phone to his ear. As Jay spoke to Voight for a little bit, Erin's mind drifted back to what she had seen on her calendar – her monthly reminder for her period. She had completely not noticed that she was two months late and she was now freaking out.

Jay hung up the phone and said, "Voight said that everyone seems to be making progress and toxicology reports are going to be in within the hour, so he sounded pleased."

"I'm sure," Erin replied, putting the car into drive, "I would guess that he wants us to finish all of our paperwork today rather than putting if off again."

***One hour later, at the precinct***

"Okay guys, toxicology reports say that all three died from meth poisoning," Erin said, flipping through the pages as her eyes were getting watery. She felt so bad for Lucille and Maddie because it wasn't at all their fault – turns out Jason was to blame because he purchased the bad meth. Cases like this always made her a little upset and/or angry.

"Good work everyone, just finish up your paperwork and then you can head home," Voight announced, "Erin, my office."

Jay and Erin exchanged nervous looks as Erin stood up and walked towards the doorway of Voight's office. "Do I need to close the door?" Erin asked cautiously.

"No need, just wanted to tell you to go home early. You can catch up on your paperwork tomorrow."

"Hank-"

"No buts," Voight cut Erin off, "You've been tired all day and you deserve a free evening after the past couple of months." Erin had filled Voight in on everything that had happened after he had figured out that she wasn't fully focused, and right now Erin didn't have the energy to argue with him.

"Okay, thanks," Erin said, trying to smile, "I'll head off and run a couple of errands before Peter gets out of school."

"Take care, kid," Voight said, "See you tomorrow."

Erin told Jay that she was heading out early and that she would see him at home after he finished his paperwork.


	18. Positive

**I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weekend! Just started watching BBC's "Call the Midwife" and I am definitely addicted right now (trying to deal with the pain related to the "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago PD" cliffhangers...); anyway, here's an update for all of you awesome readers and reviewers (thank you so much for your comments - keep them coming!); let me know what you think about the end of this chapter :D**

Chapter 18

***Later that day, at Erin and Jay's house***

"Mommy can I have some ice cream?" Peter asked hopefully.

"Did you finish all of your carrots?" Erin asked in return, looking up from the dishes she was putting in the dishwasher; she was cleaning up from cooking and had left Jay's dinner on the counter with plastic wrap over it. She had already finished eating and wanted to get a jumpstart on cleaning to keep her mind off the plastic bag that she had walked out of the drugstore with before picking Peter up from school. It was still sitting in her handbag in the hallway because Peter had been full of energy, hungry, and a little unenthusiastic about doing his homework (she had had to bribe him with video games to get him to finish).

"Yes, mommy, I finished them. See?" Peter replied, holding up his empty plate so Erin could see and knocking a few crumbs onto the table in the process.

"You did. Good boy, Peter," Erin said, smiling.

"Can I have ice cream now?" Peter asked bluntly.

"What's the magic word?" Erin asked, one eyebrow raised at her six-year-old son, who was clearly developing an attitude like his father.

"Please…" Peter said, drawing out the word as if he just really wanted the ice cream and was getting annoyed with the "work" it was taking to get it.

"Alright. You can pick out one of the two ice cream bar flavors from the freezer," Erin agreed.

"Yay!" Peter screamed in delight, running over to the freezer to deliberate over whether he wanted a chocolate or vanilla ice cream bar.

"Do I get to have one too, mom?" Jay asked with a smirk as he entered the kitchen, dropping his keys, wallet, and phone in the bowl at the edge of the counter. Erin tried to smile and mask her tiredness and worriedness, but she realized she may have failed at that when Jay's face fell for a split second.

"If you eat all of your carrots, then sure," Erin said, pointing to Jay's pasta and carrots that was sitting on the counter behind her.

"Okay," Jay agreed, peeling the plastic wrap off of the plate, grabbing cutlery and sitting down at the table next to Peter. He could tell that something was off with Erin, he just didn't know what. "Does Peter need a bath tonight?"

"Yes," Erin replied as she poured hot water into the pan she'd used to cook the pasta.

"Peter?" Jay said to get his son's attention, "After I finish my food and you finish your ice cream, I'm going to take you upstairs for your bath, okay?"

"But you gave me a bath last time. I want mommy," Peter protested.

"Peter, mommy's tired tonight and she needs to rest, just like you need to rest after you take a bath," Jay replied in between two mouthfuls of pasta. Erin suddenly ran out of the kitchen and Jay heard noises in the bathroom, so he told Peter to stay in the kitchen and ran after Erin. He found Erin after she had just thrown up in the toilet. "Erin," Jay said quietly.

"Just go take care of Peter, we can talk later," Erin said quickly, flushing the toilet and standing up to pull her hair back and wipe her hands and mouth. When Jay didn't move from where he was standing in the doorway, she appreciated that he was concerned, but she just needed a few minutes to herself. "Jay, please take Peter up to his bath."

"Of course, babe," Jay said, giving Erin a quick kiss, "I'll take him to have his bath and put him to bed and finish the dishes. Go ahead and lie down, okay?"

"Okay, thank you," Erin said, thankful that Jay was so understanding. She closed the bathroom door as she dried her face so Peter wouldn't see her looking pale as he walked by with Jay to go upstairs a couple of minutes later, and once she heard Peter and Jay on the stairs, she walked out of the bathroom, grabbed the plastic bag from her handbag, and headed upstairs to her and Jay's bedroom.

***About an hour later***

"Goodnight daddy," Peter said quietly as he lied down in bed, his dad turning off his lamp and turning on his nightlight.

"'Night Peter, love you," Jay replied softly, giving his son a kiss on the forehead and pulling his quilt up to his shoulders. Peter clutched his toy dragon to his chest and turned over to go the sleep, and Jay quietly left the room, pulling the door to so it was only open a few inches. He went back downstairs to finish cleaning up the kitchen area, did the hand washing, put the dishwasher on, and checked that all the appliances were off and turned off all the downstairs lights. He hadn't see Erin since he had walked in on her throwing up in the bathroom and was really worried about her.

He walked into their bedroom to find only a bedside lamp on, but the bathroom door was closed and Jay could see the light of the bathroom shining under the small gap between the door and the floor. Jay knocked lightly and said, "Erin? What's wrong? Talk to me."

Erin, who had been sitting on the floor in the bathroom for the past half hour, stared at the three sticks on the edge of the bathtub once more. It had taken her twenty minutes to convince herself to take the three pregnancy tests she'd bought at the drugstore, and after the results had shown up she'd just been sitting on the floor feeling slightly nauseous and unsure of what to do.

After Jay asked her a third time to open the door, she stood up slowly and opened the door. Jay immediately entered and put his hands in hers and said, "What's wrong? Have you been up here all this time? Are you sick?"

"Not sick, but I feel like I might throw up again," Erin replied slowly, sighing after she finished talking.

"What do you mean? Does this have something to do with you stuttering while we were questioning Maddie's roommate this morning? What did you see or remember?"

"I'm late," Erin said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Jay said quickly…but then a few seconds later he realized what Erin was _really _talking about. "What? By how long? You have been under a lot of stress lately, so that could have offset it, right?"

"I'm two months late, Jay," Erin spat. Something clicked in Jay's head and he asked, "Are you…" trailing off, not being able to finish what he was thinking.

Erin pulled Jay closer to her as she stepped back, the three sticks coming into Jay's view.

"I bought three in case two came out with contradictory results," Erin said quickly, "And they're all positive."


	19. Unplanned

**Hi Everyone! Here's a new update for all of of you :) I hope you like this chapter - I had a lot of fun writing this one.**

**As always, please take the time to leave a review, I love reading all of them; any thoughts on whether the baby should be a boy or a girl?**

Chapter 19

Awkward silence filled the bathroom and eventually Erin said, "Jay, please say something. Jay!"

"Sorry, just, wow," Jay stuttered, unsure of what to say because his brain processing seemed to have slowed to the rate of a centipede.

"I know," Erin said, "I'm pregnant."

"We're gonna have another baby," Jay said, smiling at Erin. When he realized that Erin had tears in her eyes, he face fell and he said, "Erin, what's wrong?"

"I'm just scared," Erin confessed. "This was totally unplanned and I should have been more careful…God, do you know how much I've been drinking the past two months? I could have hurt the baby already! What if something is wrong?" Tears were streaming down Erin's face and Jay took a deep breath and put his hands on Erin's shoulders.

"Hey, Erin, look at me," Jay said softly. When she did, he continued, "I should have been more careful too, and I'm sure the baby is going to be fine. Everything is going to be okay, alright? And hey, I don't think Peter will object to having a baby brother or sister."

Erin smiled a little and said, "Yeah, I'm sure he won't, it's just the age different will be, like, six-and-a-half years."

"Don't worry about that…Peter will just have to help babysit for a few years when he's a teenager," Jay said, smiling a bit more now.

"I just worry about how he'll react," Erin said, reaching over to pick up the three sticks and chuck them in the trash, "I mean, he's used to being an only child and the center of attention, which he won't be after this baby arrives."

"He'll be okay, I promise," Jay assured Erin. Silence filled the room for a few seconds until Erin said, "Do you remember that conversation we had in the car way back when? We had just had dinner with Elise and her husband-"

"Crap, Elise," Jay interrupted, "I haven't talked to her in weeks."

"Jay, let me finish."

"Sorry, sorry, carry on."

"The subject of having kids had come up at dinner and I asked you whether you had ever wanted a second kid," Erin continued, sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, "And you told me that while you wanted it, you knew that I wanted to continue working in Intelligence."

"I remember," Jay replied, sitting down next to Erin.

"Promise me something," Erin said.

"Anything, babe," Jay replied.

"Promise that even though we will soon have two kids, we will work it out so we can still both work and…"

"And what?"

"And that you'll always be there. I don't want to risk losing you again."

Jay gave Erin a big kiss and then replied, "Erin, you don't need to worry. We will work it out and I will always be there for you, for Peter, and whoever this little person turns out to be." He put a hand on Erin's stomach as he said the last part of his sentence, and Erin laughed.

"What?" Jay asked, still smiling a little.

"I was just thinking about the last time we talked about having a baby and how that seems so long ago. And now look at us…we're married and about to become parents again."

"I was so scared…I just hope that your hormones aren't as bad this time."

"Shut up," Erin smirked, giving Jay a fake punch in the shoulder, "My hormones weren't that bad."

"Really?"

"Just stop."

"And what if I don't?"

"Then you'll be sleeping on the couch for the next six months."

***Two days later, at the doctor's office***

The morning after Erin and Jay had talked in the bathroom about what the future would hold now that Erin was pregnant again, they'd made an appointment at the doctor's just to make sure that everything was okay. They had gone in straight after dropping Peter to school, saying that they had a personal matter to take care of before coming into work. By Voight's tone on the phone when Erin had called him the previous morning he didn't seem to be buying the excuse, but had let them off anyway, knowing that Erin would probably explain eventually.

As Erin sat on the exam table with Jay standing next to her, both anxiously waiting for the doctor to come in, Jay asked, "How are you feeling? I heard you get up in the middle of the night last night."

"Yeah, I threw up again. Joys of morning sickness," Erin groaned, hoping that she wouldn't have another nausea spell later in the day while she was at work. She hated having morning sickness and couldn't wait until the end of the first trimester when it was supposed to start wearing off.

"It'll be okay, it'll wear off," Jay assured her.

"Yeah, I hope so," Erin sighed, just as the door opened and Dr. Anderson walked in.

"Hi Erin, Jay," she said, greeting both of them, "How are you feeling today?"

"Nervous, I guess," Erin said.

"So it says here that you're two months late and you took three at-home pregnancy tests, correct? And that they all came out positive?"

"Yep," Erin replied.

"Have you been experiencing any discomfort? Headaches? Nausea? Vomiting?"

"Nausea for sure," Erin replied, "And I've thrown up a few times."

"Okay," the doctor replied, putting her clipboard down. "Let's see what's going on, shall we?"

Erin lifted her shirt up and Dr. Anderson spread some cold jelly on her stomach. After turning the monitor on, Dr. Anderson placed the ultrasound stick on Erin's belly and after a few seconds the screen lit up, Erin holding her breath and clutching Jay's hand.

Within a few seconds a strong heartbeat filled the room and Erin said, "Oh my God."

"Congratulations," Dr. Anderson said with a smile. "It looks like you're about two months along, so we won't be able to run tests or determine the gender for three more months, but everything looks great from what I can see. Heartbeat is normal as well."

"Thank heavens," Erin said, "I was hoping that everything was going to be okay."

"Ditto," Jay said quietly, the full impact of the fact that they were having another baby finally hitting him. Dr. Anderson started to load up the window to print a picture of the ultrasound when Erin said, "Could you please print two copies?"

"Of course," Dr. Anderson said with a smile, typing a few more things into the computer before handing the two pictures to Erin and Jay. "I'd like to see you in a month, okay? You can make an appointment with me at the front desk."

"Will do," Erin said as she slowly got off the exam table, "Thanks."

"No problem, you take care Erin," Dr. Anderson said as she left the room. After the door shut, Erin and Jay were alone again.

Erin sighed as she picked up her back and Jay looked at her silently, his eyes full of a mixture between love, concern, and worry. "Oh my God, Jay, what are we going to do? We didn't even plan this!"

"Hey, hey," Jay said, moving to stand in front of Erin, "Peter wasn't planned either, and he turned out to be the second best thing that's ever happened to me, this little baby being the third best thing." As he talked about the baby he put his left hand on Erin's flat stomach. Erin looked down at his hand on her stomach, smiled, and said, "Oh yeah? And what was the best thing that's ever happened to you?"

"You, Erin."

Erin felt tears coming to her eyes as she leaned up to kiss Jay. _Oh God, here come the pregnancy hormones again, _Erin thought to herself. "Jay, I'm scared."

"I'm scared too, but everything's going to be fine. I promise."

"I hope so," Erin said, "I sure hope so."


	20. Out With It

**You read right - we're at Chapter 20! Yay! Thank you to all of you awesome readers and reviewers for your kind words and support. I hope you all will enjoy this chapter, but please let me know what you think! :)**

Chapter 20

***Two days later, in the Intelligence office at the district***

After a relatively simple bust in the morning, things had been pretty slow for the unit, so Voight had ordered everyone to finish up their paperwork before they headed home. It was Friday, so everyone wanted to get home early, but nobody wanted to make Voight angry either, so everyone started working through their paperwork in between intermittent coffee refills.

Atwater and Ruzek were the first to finish, and Ruzek left to wait for Burgess at Molly's and Atwater headed home to have dinner with some of his relatives. Antonio finished next, followed by Olinsky, and the two walked down the stairs together with the intention of meeting Ruzek to have a few drinks. By 4 pm, only Erin, Jay, and Voight were still working at their desks.

Since Peter had gone to a friend's house right after school, Erin and Jay had a couple of extra hours to themselves; however, Jay hadn't finished his paperwork yet because his mind was constantly wondering with thoughts about the baby, and Erin hadn't finished hers because her mind was filled with thoughts about being pregnant again and silent prayers that she wouldn't feel like she had to vomit like she had in the middle of the previous night and before they'd come into work.

Voight sat in his office looking at Erin, Jay, and then back to Erin. Ever since they'd been late to work two days ago because of a "personal matter," they'd both been acting skittish around him; Jay was definitely less focused on his paperwork than usual, and Erin hadn't drunk any coffee in the last two days – which was so unlike her because she always drank coffee at some point during the work day.

After he went back to his own paperwork, Jay put his signature on the last of his paperwork and tossed them in the box on the corner of his desk. "Almost done?" Jay asked Erin.

"Yeah, just finishing this page," Erin said, not taking her eyes off of what she was writing.

"Take your time," Jay said, smiling sweetly. Erin silently looked up, smiled back, and finished writing her final few sentences a few minutes later. As she tossed her paperwork in her box and both she and Jay stood up to leave, they were both about to walk towards the stairs when Voight said behind them, "Alright, out with it."

Erin and Jay both turned around with trying-to-look-confused looks on their faces. Erin said, "What?"

"Out with it," Voight repeated, leaning against the door frame of his office. When Jay and Erin both gave him weird looks, he sighed and said, "You've both been acting weird for the past two days, and neither of you have taken this long to finish paperwork in a long time."

"We've got a lot going on, Hank," Erin said.

"Care to elaborate?" Voight asked.

Erin turned to Jay and made eye contact with him, silently asking, _do we tell him now? _As always, Jay was a gentleman, and gave her a look in reply that said, _your call, Erin._

"Fine, we'll tell you, but you have to promise not to spill the beans," Erin said, walking towards Voight. Jay followed and grabbed Erin's hand as she said, "I'm pregnant."

Voight was silent for a moment, and then chuckled and said, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Really? Of all the things you could say, that's what you go with? 'You've got to be kidding me?'?" Erin said with a raised eyebrow.

"We went to the doctor on Wednesday morning and that's when we found out for sure," Jay explained quickly.

"Uh, well...is everything okay? With the baby, I mean," Voight asked, gesturing to Erin's stomach area.

"Yeah, the doctor said that everything's fine, they won't be able to run tests for a few months though," Erin said, "I'm two months along."

"Then in a few years time you'll have a little Jay or a little Erin running around," Voight said, his mouth breaking into a smile. "Congrats both of you. I'm really happy for you both."

"Thank you," Erin said, embracing Voight in a hug. Voight firmly shook hands with Jay and said, "Promise you'll reach out if you need anything?"

"Promise," Jay replied.

"Ditto," Erin seconded, "But I don't want to tell anyone else until I'm out of the first trimester. And I want to stay on full duty for now."

"Agreed," Voight replied, "And I am capable of not spilling the beans, as you put it. And Erin?"

"Yeah?" Erin asked, crossing her arms.

"I'll let you stay on full duty for now, but know that desk duty is coming."

"Can't wait," Erin replied sarcastically. Jay chuckled and wrapped his arm around Erin's waist, giving her a kiss on the head. "We should probably get Peter."

"Yes go ahead. Have a nice weekend and take it easy, Erin," Voight said.

"I'll try," Erin said.

Then, for the second time this afternoon, Voight yelled after Erin and Jay, "Both of you Halsteads."

"What?" Erin and Jay both said at the time, turning their heads.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" Voight asked.

After Erin said, "Girl!" and Jay said, "Boy!" simultaneously, Erin looked at Jay with a look that flat out said, _seriously?_

***Four hours later, at Jay and Erin's house***

"Goodnight, mommy," Peter said softly.

"Night, Peter. I love you," Erin said, kissing her son on the head.

"Love you too," Peter replied, already close to falling asleep. Erin switched on his nightlight and pulled the door to, proceeding to walk quietly down the hall to the master bedroom. When she went in, she didn't see Jay until he emerged from behind the door and picked her up in his arms and kissed her passionately. He slammed the door shut with his foot, causing Erin to pull back and give him a stern look.

"Peter isn't asleep yet! Could you have been a bit quieter?"

"Sorry babe," Jay said, leaning in to kiss her again. After a few seconds, Erin pulled back and looked at Jay silently. "What?" Jay whispered.

"When do you think we should tell Peter? I feel like we should wait a little while but I don't know exactly how long?"

"How about we wait until it feels like the right time? Sometime in the second trimester? We'll figure it out, Erin," Jay assured her.

"I'm just worried that he's going to be mad," Erin said.

"Erin, Peter will adjust. He'll be fine." They stood silently in each other's arms for a little while until Jay said, "I still can't believe it. That we're gonna have another baby."

"I still can't believe it – even after hearing its heartbeat," Erin admitted, "And I also wonder how I ever go so lucky to have you in my life."

"I've wondered the same thing," Jay said with a smile, "But I'm thankful every day that you're my girl."


	21. End of Discussion

**Thank you to all of you for being so patient during my extremely long hiatus - I had a very hectic summer and did not have time to write...but the great news is that I am back in a routine and am now writing again! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always, please leave a review (I love reading all of them in my inbox!). Thanks!**

Chapter 21

***Two weeks later***

Erin's phone alarm went off on her nightstand at 7:00am and she groaned before opening her eyes and reaching to turn the alarm off. Jay shifted on his side of the bed and leaned over to face Erin. "Morning," he said quietly.

"Morning," Erin replied, lying back down and putting one of her hands on her stomach. She was about two-and-a-half months along now, and her intermittent nausea had kept her in the bathroom half the night. She knew that Jay hadn't slept well either because she'd woken him up when she had to sprint into the bathroom just after midnight.

"How are you feeling?" Jay asked softly, grasping Erin's free hand with his.

"Like crap," Erin said bluntly, "Men are so lucky that they don't have to go through pregnancy and everything associated with that. And childbirth. They just donate half of their DNA and they're done."

"I understand where you're coming from," Jay replied cautiously, not knowing what to say in order to not set off Erin's hormones before they'd even gotten out of bed.

"Not really, but I appreciate what you're trying to say," Erin said with a sigh, "I just hate feeling like this."

"Just a few more weeks, right?"

"Hopefully," Erin said. As she sat up and got slowly out of bed, she continued, "I'm going to wake Peter and get him dressed. Can you start making breakfast?"

"Sure," Jay said, getting out of bed on the other side and walking over to his wife, who was standing still and looking at her clothes in the closet. "What?" Jay asked, concerned.

"I'm going to have to see if I can find my old maternity clothes…I won't be able to fit into my favorite outfits in a few months."

Jay couldn't think of anything to say in reply, so he walked up behind Erin and gave her a big hug, kissing her on the neck and putting his hands on her stomach.

"Jay, I'm scared," Erin said quietly.

"Of what?"

"After what happened when I went into labor last time I just don't want something to go wrong…what if something goes wrong?"

"Erin," Jay said, turning Erin around so she was facing him, "I'm sure everything is going to be fine. If something does end up happening then we will get through it together, okay? I'm scared too, but we can only hope for the best…and that it's another boy."

"Shut up, it's going to be a girl," Erin said, pushing Jay away a little so she could figure out what she was going to wear, "I don't want two little Jays running around and driving me crazy when you're not here."

"And you think I want a little Erin running around driving me crazy when you're not here?"

"Whatever you want to think," Erin said, "But I want a girl."

***A few hours later, at a warehouse on the west side***

After everyone had parked their cars and assembled in a circle outside the warehouse where they would be doing a bust for a potential drug and money stash, Voight gave directions to everyone in the unit, including Burgess and Roman, who were on the way over in their patrol car.

"Okay, our intel says that the drugs are hidden somewhere on the second floor and the money is probably on the top floor. There might be a couple of people inside – apprehend them if you find them and bring 'em out. Burgess and Roman," he paused, turning slightly to speak into his radio, "I want you stationed around back in case anyone tries to make a run for it. Atwater and I will head to the second floor to find the drugs. Ruzek and Olinsky, clear the first floor and then come up to the second to look for the drugs. The rest of you, head to the top floor and find the cash."

Jay, Erin, and Antonio all exchanged smirks at each other as they slowly walked towards the front door. Atwater smashed the door in and everyone filed inside, with Ruzek and Olinsky heading farther into the ground floor while everyone else headed for the stairs. Voight and Atwater exited the stairs on the second floor, shooting a couple of gang bangers who were most likely guarding the path to the drugs. Halfway to the third floor, Erin suddenly began to feel light headed and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Jay immediately stopped and after Antonio realized that he was the only one still moving on, he stopped too.

"Erin, you okay?" Antonio asked just before Jay could.

"Yeah, just feeling light-headed is all," Erin said, "I just needed to catch my breath. Let's go."

"You sure?" Jay asked Erin. As Erin nodded in reply, Antonio yelled, "Get down!" as shots began to come down from the top of the staircase. Jay dove on top of Erin to protect her as Antonio covered both of them, and as soon as the shots stopped the three exchanged quick glances and stormed up the stairs, ready to shoot. After shooting a few more gangbangers on the third floor and checking multiple rooms, they handcuffed two men in the room at the end of the hallway who were guarding a huge pile of cash. Once they could take a deep breath, Jay radioed, "Suspects in custody and cash located," Erin leaned back against the wall and suddenly had to sit down.

Jay went over to her but Erin waved him away and said, "I'm fine," just as Voight and Ruzek raced into the room. He saw Erin on the floor and said, "You okay?"

"I'm fine, just got a little light-headed," Erin said as she got herself up and put her gun in her holster. After extra officers had been called to the scene to take all the apprehended suspects to central processing, the whole unit packed up and headed back to the station. When Jay realized that Erin really wasn't feeling good, he sped back to the station and dropped her at the back rollup before going around to park. When he walked inside and went to find Erin, he found her in the bathroom, having just thrown up.

***Ten minutes later***

After Jay had helped Erin clean herself up in the bathroom, they were walking back into the bullpen when Voight walked out of his office and said, "Lindsay, my office. Now."

Erin and Jay exchanged nervous looks before Erin walked into Voight's office and shut the door, Jay sitting down at his desk to do some paperwork.

"What's up?" Erin asked Voight, who was seated behind his desk with his arms across his chest. Erin knew that meant one of two things: he was about to ask her something, or he was about to give her an order she wasn't going to like. Turns out it was the latter.

"I don't want you on busts from here on out, for the sake of you and your baby," Voight said.

"Hank-" Erin tried to speak, but Voight cut her off.

"I know you love your job and all this, but I need to keep you safe for the rest of the pregnancy. You said you were feeling light-headed earlier, and I don't want something happening to you or the baby because you pushed yourself on a bust."

"So you're just overriding the fact that I can make my own choices."

"Right now I'm speaking as your Sargent, and I'm saying no more busts. End of discussion."

"Great, thanks Sargent," Erin said in an angry tone, flinging Voight's door open and heading straight for the locker room. Jay, going on gut feeling, followed down to the locker room and found her sitting on a bench with her back against the wall. He sat down in front of her on the bench and said, "Erin? What'd he say?"

"Ugh," Erin grunted, opening her eyes and sitting up so she was no longer leaning against the wall, "He banned me from going on any more busts because I felt light-headed today and I'm pissed because now I basically can't do my job to full capacity for at least a year from now."

"I know it may not seem like it right now, but it's probably a good thing. He's doing it because he cares about you and the baby."

"And not about my sanity? You're supporting him?" Erin said, clearly on edge.

"Because he cares about you like you're his daughter," Jay said, "I'm sorry if you're angry that I'm supporting his decision."

"I'm not angry at you or him, I'm just angry that I'm going to have to stop working soon, you know? It just sucks."

"I understand," Jay said, grabbing her hands and squeezing them. "Is there anything I can do to help you? You look like you need to go home and rest."

"I'm really craving ice cream right now," Erin said bluntly, "And if you're a nice husband and take me out now to get some, then I'll let you off the hook for trying to boss me around and telling me that I need to rest."

"Sounds good," Jay replied, but what he was really thinking was, _Oh God, her hormones are definitely off the charts. _


	22. Fever

**Hope everyone's having a great week! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! As always, please read and review - I love reading all of your reviews when they come into my inbox!**

Chapter 22

***A few days later, at the district***

"Lindsay, you want some coffee? You're normally the first to get some," Antonio said as he walked past Lindsay's desk, where she was engrossed in paperwork.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," Erin said, without looking up. She was feeling a little stressed because she had a ton of paperwork to finish that had carried over from yesterday and since she'd had to leave early to pick Peter up from school, she was behind. Antonio quietly accepted her answer and walked back to his desk, and Erin looked across the aisle at Jay's empty desk, remembering that he should be in any minute because he was walking Peter to the bus stop first. She felt so emotional and almost like she could throw up at any second, hence she had moved her garbage can to the inside edge of her desk in case she couldn't make it to the bathroom in time.

A few more minutes passed and as those who were present continued to work on paperwork, Jay and Ruzek walked up the stairs together and Erin looked up to find Jay carrying two coffee cups and a small bag from Trophy – one of the best cupcake places in town.

"That's what took you so long?" Antonio said with a laugh. "Do we get one of those treats?"

"Nope," Jay said, making a bee line for Erin's desk, "There's only one cupcake in here and it's for Erin." He placed the smaller coffee cup on Erin's desk beside the Trophy bag.

Erin smiled and said, "Decaf?"

"You bet," Jay said with a wink, "Look in the bag."

"Okay," Erin said, suddenly feeling giddy. She reached into the bag and pulled out a small envelope and a little box with a red velvet cupcake in it. "My favorite! Thanks babe," She said, standing up to give him a hug. As Jay sat down across the aisle from her and sipped his coffee, Erin opened the small envelope to find a note.

_Erin – Peter told me this morning that it might be a good idea to get you a cupcake, so this is partly from him too. I know the past few weeks have been stressful, but I promise that everything will be okay. Enjoy your cupcake – it was the last one in the case this morning. _

_ Love, J &amp; P xxx_

Erin smiled, made a heart with her hands to Jay across the aisle, and was just about to open the cupcake box when Voight sprinted up the stairs, Atwater in tow.

"Everyone suit up and be ready to roll out in five. Hostage situation going down on Wacker and 28th and Commander wants us to head down there and sort things out. Mouse is gonna meet us there with a mobile surveillance unit."

Everyone started heading for the locker room as Voight finished talking, and out of instinct Erin began to head that direction as Voight said, "Erin, I want you to stay here and answer any calls we get."

"Hank-"

"Erin, no buts. I told you three days ago. No more busts until further notice."

"Don't you need someone to cover for Olinsky? I could just stay with Mouse in the van," Erin argued.

"Erin, I stand by what I said. Enjoy your cupcake," Voight said. Erin groaned and stormed back to her desk while Voight and Jay exchanged looks. Erin's phone rang. Seeing that it was the office at Peter's school, she sighed and tried to calm herself before answering. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Halstead? This is Ms. Lanning calling from Cedar Grove Elementary. You are Peter Halstead's mother, correct?"

"Yes," Erin said, leaning over her desk, "Is Peter okay?"

"His teacher just brought him to the nurse's office and he has a fever of 101 – could you please come and pick him up?"

Erin internally groaned and thought, _great, I'm feeling on edge and now I have a sick child, _but instead replied, "Yes, I can come and get him. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Thank you, Mrs. Halstead. See you soon." Erin ended the call, grabbed the coffee and the cupcake and headed for the locker room. She suddenly felt nauseous as she headed down the stairs towards the locker room, but luckily it passed and she found everyone suiting up next to their lockers as she flung hers open to get her purse and keys. Jay gave her a weird look and said, "What are you doing?"

"Was Peter okay this morning?"

"A little quiet, but other than that he was fine, yeah. Why?"

"I just got a phone call that Peter has a fever of 101 and I have to go pick him up," Erin said bluntly, sending vibes to Jay and everyone else in the room that she was on edge. "Have fun doing a bust." She slammed her locker shut as Jay said, "Do you want me to go get him?"

"No, I'll go since I'm not allowed on busts anyway," Erin said, storming out of the locker room. Everyone looked at Jay as if to say _what happened just now? _And Jay said, "She's just under a lot of stress right now. She'll be okay." _I hope so, _he thought in his head.

***At Peter's school***

Erin quickly parked her car and walked into the school and then the office area. She would have sprinted in if she didn't want to risk throwing up all over the school's carpet.

Once she reached the secretary's desk, Erin said, "Hi, I'm Erin Halstead and I got a call saying that Peter has a fever of 101?"

"Yes, he's back in the nurse's station," the lady replied, "If you just sign him out here then you can take him home."

"Ok, thanks," Erin said, quickly signing the sign-out sheet and heading back to the nurse's station. She found Peter lying on one of the beds and looking very hot and uncomfortable. The nurse whirled around in her chair and said, "Hi, are you Peter's mother?"

"I am," Erin said, "Hey, Peter, how are you feeling?"

"My tummy hurts and I feel hot," Peter said quietly. Erin could just tell by his voice that he wasn't feeling good.

"I'm sorry, buddy, let's get you home, okay?" Erin asked, helping Peter to sit up.

"Okay," Peter said quietly, holding Erin's hand tight as they headed out to the car. Peter probably had stomach flu, which she hoped wouldn't pass to her and the baby.

***That evening, at Erin and Jay's house***

"Mommy, I still don't feel good," Peter groaned as Erin helped him lie down in bed.

"I know, Peter, but getting some sleep will help," Erin replied, "Do you want any more water?"

"No," Peter said, waving his hand in an attempt to push Erin's hand and the water cup away. She had convinced Peter to eat a few basic crackers and drink some water earlier in the day, but now he was just tired and not feeling good, and Erin wanted him to sleep so she could too.

While she had been taking care of Peter, she had thought about her conversations with Voight and Jay that morning and how she was a little big inconsiderate with her attitude considering all that they were doing for her. She had planned to call both of them when she had a spare moment, but naturally, she hadn't had one since she'd brought Peter home.

"Mommy, I don't wanna sleep," Peter complained, "When I'm on my back I don't feel good."

"Lie on your side and that should help a little," Erin suggested, and when Peter did so, he grasped his dragon toy and asked, "Can you read me a story? The dragon one?"

"Sure," Erin said, pulling Peter's favorite bedtime story out of the bookcase near his bed. After ten minutes of reading the story, Peter was a lot calmer and he seemed to be feeling more comfortable. "Goodnight, Peter," Erin said quietly, turning off his bedroom light and turning on his nightlight.

"Night, mommy," Peter said quietly, turning over to his other side as Erin left the room. She went downstairs to unstack the dishwasher and clean up from making her dinner and realized that she'd never had a chance to eat the cupcake that Jay had bought her that morning. After cleaning up the kitchen and finding that her clock read 9pm and Jay still wasn't home, she called and left a voicemail on his answer machine and took a bite of the cupcake. It tasted really good, especially after the long day she'd had. She held a little toast of water to herself for getting through the day with only throwing up once.

After she'd consumed about half of the cupcake, she heard the front door open and Jay came in to the kitchen looking very dirty and tired. "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't pick up, I was already driving back."

"It's okay," Erin said quietly.

"How's Peter?" he asked, "Has his fever gone down?"

"A little," Erin replied, "I just managed to get him to go to sleep and I'm now eating the cupcake that you bought me, like, twelve hours ago…" Erin suddenly started crying and leaned on the kitchen counter. Jay immediately walked over and pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back for a few minutes. "I'm sorry," Erin said between muffled sobs, "For being angry this morning. I'm just an emotional wreck and Peter being sick doesn't help."

"You don't have to apologize," Jay said quietly, "Thank you for taking care of Peter today. I'm sorry for making you more angry in the locker room, I just want you and our baby to be safe."

"I want the baby to be here already, but I've got like six months to go," Erin said, "At least I've only thrown up once today."

"Well," Jay said, pouring himself a glass of water and turning around to face Erin, "Here's to getting through another day." They clinked glasses and chatted for an hour before going to bed, and Erin finished her cupcake (but Jay stole a mouthful).


	23. Big Brother

**Hi Everyone, and Happy Sunday! Hope it's as sunny where all of you live as it is where I am right now. :) Thank you SO much for helping me achieve a record high for visitors and hits this month (and it's only the 20th - let's keep it going!). I'll probably upload the next chapter on Tuesday or Wednesday. Enjoy, and always, please read and review - I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! :P**

Chapter 23

***Three weeks later***

Erin was just coming to when Peter suddenly jumped up on the bed and yelled, "Mommy! Mommy, wake up! It's pancake day!"

"Hey Peter," Erin said in a slightly croaky voice, smiling as her little boy lay down next to her with his head on the end of her pillow. As she wondered how he got up so easily, Jay came into her line of vision on the other side of the bed with a cheeky smirk on his face.

"You two are partners in crime," Erin said, causing Jay to laugh as he sat down on the bed and ensuing a question from Peter.

"What does that mean?"

"Partners in crime?" Erin repeated, waiting for Peter to clarify, and when he nodded in reply, she continued, "That's a phrase for when two people get along so well that they like to cause trouble for others or make others laugh."

"So me and daddy are partners in crime?" Peter said with a smile.

"Definitely," Erin said with a smile. "Are those pancakes I smell?"

"Yes, and we want you to come eat them!" Peter squealed happily.

"Hmm, let me see, does someone I know really like pancakes?" Erin asked out loud, looking around the room as she sat up in bed.

"Me! Me! I love pancakes!" Peter squealed again, proceeding to wave his arms around in the air around him. Erin gasped when she made eye contact with Peter, pulled him close to her and proceeded to tickle his abdomen as she said, "Oh yes, this little guy loves pancakes." Peter erupted in a fit of giggles and Erin was laughing until she realized that Peter was smiling up at her and his face was right next to her belly. She realized that she was almost showing, and she made eye contact with Jay. "Jay? Can you come here?"

"Sure," Jay replied slowly, on catching on to Erin's train of thought after Erin pointed to her belly. "Uh, yeah, Peter, can you sit up please?"

"What did I do?" Peter said, suddenly worried.

"You've done nothing wrong, buddy," Erin said, "Your dad and I just have something we want to tell you."

"How would you feel about have a baby brother or sister?" Jay asked, without missing a beat. Peter took a few seconds to process, then asked, "Where is it?"

"It's in mommy's tummy, right here," Erin said as she put her hand on her belly. "And you'll get to meet her in about six months."

"Or him," Jay said. When Erin glared at him, he replied, "It might be a boy."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Peter asked.

"We don't know yet, but we will know soon," Erin explained.

"Do I get to hold it when it comes?" Peter asked.

"Of course," Erin said, "Because you're going to be the best big brother the world has ever seen, right?"

"Yeah! I'm going to be a big brother like some of my friends are! It's going to be awesome!" Peter said, cheering. Both Erin and Jay were so happy that Peter was happy, but then they both felt awkward when Peter's next question was, "But how did it get in there?"

"In where?" Erin asked.

"In your tummy," Peter continued.

"Well, when two people love each and want to be a mommy and daddy," Erin began slowly, "they at a certain point decide that they want to have a baby."

"Do you kiss?" Peter said.

"Yes," Jay said slowly.

"Ugh," Peter said, "Can I go eat pancakes now?"

"Of course, mommy and baby want some pancakes too," Erin said, suddenly realizing how hungry she was. After Peter ran out of the bedroom ahead of both of his parents, Jay and Erin stopped before the door and looked at each other.

"Well, that was awkward," Jay said quietly.

"Oh, just wait until he hits puberty and then the questions will really start coming," Erin replied with a serious look on her face.

"What?" Jay asked with a what-did-I-do expression on his face now.

"Admit it."

"Admit what?" Jay asked, with a what-have-I-done-now expression.

"That high school boys think a lot about sex," Erin said with a smirk.

"Um, well, maybe a little," Jay admitted.

"Point made," Erin said, walking out of the room to head for the stairs.

***That evening***

"Have a great time guys!" Erin yelled from the kitchen as Peter and Jay were getting shoes on at the front door.

"Thanks mommy!" Peter said happily. He was dressed in a kids-size Blackhawks jersey that Uncle Ruzek and Aunt Kim had given him for his fifth birthday, along with a matching hat that Jay had given him last Christmas. Jay was dressed in a similar outfit, although with a Blackhawks scarf instead of a hat.

"Jay, please make sure he stays close to you," Erin said, "And don't forget earplugs for him!"

"Already in my pocket!" Jay replied, "Have fun with the girls!"

"Thanks!" Erin replied. Jay had planned to take Peter to this Blackhawks game for quite a few weeks now, so Erin had arranged to have a girls night in with Gabby, Shay, and Burgess to watch the hockey game. She also belatedly realized that she'd be more comfortable watching the game on her own couch. As she turned on the TV and scrolled through the channels to find the right one, her doorbell rang. After quickly selecting the channel, she walked over, opened the door, and was met by her three very happy friends and whatever was in their shopping bags.

"Hey girl, how's it going?" Shay said enthusiastically, walking through the doorway and giving Erin a big hug. After Burgess and Gabby had also given her hugs, the four women moved to the kitchen to decide what to eat and drink. Shay pulled out a bottle of sparkling wine as well as a bottle of white wine and asked, "Erin, what should we start with?"

"Uh…," Erin stuttered, "I'm not going to be drinking for a while."

"You on some diet or something?" Gabby asked, "Or are you sick?"

"Are you really okay?" Burgess asked, "Because Voight banned you from busts and never fully explained why."

Erin suddenly wasn't sure what to say, and since these were her three closest friends, she decided to tell them. "I'm pregnant again."

"What?!" Shay yelled in a high-pitched tone. "You're having another baby?"

"Yeah, I'm about three months along," Erin said, a big smile now appearing on her face.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you two!" Gabby said, "Does Peter know yet?"

"We actually told him this morning," Erin said, chuckling at the memory of the conversation the three of them had had.

"What? Did he ask an awkward question?" Burgess asked.

"He asked how the baby had gotten in my stomach and Jay and I both stumbled to answer appropriately." After Erin finished talking the other three women erupted in laughs, and Erin said, "Stop! He's only six years old! I can't exactly tell him how it really works just yet."

"True, true, I have that coming for me in ten years as well," Shay said, thinking of her little boy.

"Congratulations, Erin, that's so exciting!" Gabby said wholeheartedly. "You'll let us know when you find out the gender, right?"

"Of course I will," Erin said reassuringly, "But I really want it to be a girl and Jay wants another boy." All three women smiled, since they knew how much Jay loved Peter.

"And, in celebration of your baby and your sobriety, while the mac-and-cheese is heating up, I think we should all eat some of this Neapolitan ice cream while watching the beginning of the hockey game," Gabby announced, to the high approval of everyone in the room. Throughout the night, they toasted with four glasses of water, and Erin felt completely at ease for the first time in a long time.


	24. She's Gone

**Hi Everyone! Happy Sunday! Here's another new chapter for all of you - if you keep being the amazing readers you are and keep reviewing and increasing my hit count, I might upload the next chapter before the end of the month! :) As always, enjoy!**

Chapter 24

***The following Friday, at the district***

Jay and Erin walked into the district lobby with Peter in tow, and Platt yelled from the counter, "Is that my favorite officer-in-training?"

Peter turned, smiled, and replied, "Hello Platt." Since he was still working on his pronunciation, "Platt" came out sounding more like "Plaff," but everyone just accepted it anyway because he was an adorable six-year-old kid.

"Hello to you too, Peter," Platt replied, as the three Halsteads came closer to the desk and Jay lifted Peter up so he was at Platt's eye level, "No school today?"

"Nope, so I get to come to work with mommy and daddy!" he squealed happily.

"Well, mister, do me a favor and make sure that the unit has a fun Friday then, will ya?" Platt asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You got it," Peter said back with a smile and a laugh.

"Alright buddy, let's get upstairs before Voight gets mad at us for being late," Jay said, picking Peter up off the counter and following Erin up the stairs. Once they reached the unit, Antonio laughed and said, "I didn't know it was bring-your-kid-to-work-day."

"I granted an exception for today since Peter's got a day off school," Voight said, "Which everyone should be happy about because you all get to spend today catching up on two weeks-worth of paperwork." This elicited groans from the rest of the unit as Jay and Erin reached their desks and Jay put Peter down on the floor.

"Hey Peter, where do you want to sit and do some coloring?" Erin asked sweetly.

Without missing a beat, Peter smiled and said, "I wanna sit in Grandpa Hank's office." Hank chuckled as Jay asked, "That was quick."

"Grandpa Hank has candy!" Peter said with a laugh, causing Erin to frown at Hank. "Have you been feeding my son sugar whenever he's been at your house?"

"Yes he has!" Peter squealed, now in a fit of giggles.

"Hank!" Erin said.

"I only give some to him occasionally," Hank said, trying to contain another laugh.

"Occasionally?" Jay said, with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe a little more often than that, but you guys have paperwork, so just relax and leave it to me. Come on, Peter," Voight said quickly, reaching down to grab Peter's hand. Erin and Jay both exchanged eye rolls at how Peter totally had Voight wrapped around his finger, and sat down to begin paperwork.

Several hours later, after a lunch of takeout pizza and many interruptions from Peter, paperwork had been finished and everyone was packing up before going to Molly's to get drinks. Jay and Erin stood up in front of Voight's office door as Jay said, "Hey guys, before you leave, we have an announcement we want to make." Erin grabbed Peter and had him stand in front of her as he said, "Can I say it? Can I say it?"

"Sure you can," Erin said, smiling down at Peter.

"What's up, guys?" Atwater asked.

"I'm gonna be a big brother!" Peter squealed happily. After everyone had processed what Peter had said and started smiling and cheering, Olinsky said, "You two are having another baby?"

"We sure are," Erin said happily, grasping Jay's hand with her hand that wasn't holding Peter in place, "I'm just past the three month mark."

"Well, congratulations, that's awesome," Antonio said, coming up to hug Erin and give Jay a hug and a pat on the back. Everyone followed with a "Here, here!" and more hugs and congratulations. Then, Ruzek said, "Oh! That's why you haven't been going on busts, huh, Lindsay?"

"Shut up, Ruzek," Erin said, "Wasn't that obvious?"

"I'm going to apologize on his behalf for that comment," Burgess said as she fake-punched her husband in the shoulder.

"Sometimes I still can't believe that you two got married," Olinsky joked, causing Ruzek to frown at his partner and say, "Thanks a lot, man, for that."

"You're welcome," Olinsky said, chuckling.

"So, Erin, I guess you won't be joining us at Molly's then?" Burgess asked.

"That's right," Erin said. "We are going to go home, eat more pizza, and have a relaxing evening."

"Or as relaxing as an evening can be with a hyper six-year-old," Jay joked.

"I can hear you!" Peter yelled as he looked up at his dad. "Sorry bud, you're just too cute sometimes."

"I'm not cute!" Peter said, frowning, "I'm not a girl."

"Adorable," Antonio said, "But if you don't mind, I'm going to duck out. Have a good night, y'all."

"Jay," Voight said from his office, "Platt just called from downstairs and said that there's a woman downstairs asking for you. She says her name is Elise."

"Uh," Jay said, trying to find words, "Did she say why she was here?"

"No, but Platt said she's pretty distraught."

"Okay, I'll go see what's going on. Be right back, Erin."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Erin asked, concerned.

"No, I'll go down on my own," Jay said quietly, heading for the stairs.

"Who's Elise?" Peter asked his mom. Erin paused, looked up at everyone still in the room, and sighed and said, "One of daddy's relatives."

"Why don't I know her?"

"Well…," Erin trailed off, unsure of how to finish as everyone looked shocked, "He hasn't known her for a long time either, baby."

Meanwhile, Jay quickly went down the stairs and to the lobby, where Platt made eye contact with him and pointed to a slumped figure sitting on the bench in front of the Commander's office.

"Elise?" Jay said cautiously. Almost instantly, Elise's head came up, and Jay instantly got worried because her face was filled with worry and it looked like she'd been crying.

"Oh my God, Jay, I'm so sorry we haven't talked in weeks, but I don't know what else to do!" she said in between sobs as Jay embraced her.

"Elise, what's going on? What do you mean you don't know what else to do?"

Elise pulled away, looked straight at her younger brother, and said, "I don't know where Maddie is."

"Your daughter? What are you talking about?" Jay said, almost not believing what he was hearing.

"I was supposed to pick her up from after-school care today because I had the afternoon shift at work," Elise said in between sniffles, "But when I showed up, they said that Maddie had never checked in after school. She's gone, Jay. She's gone."


	25. Leads

**Happy Wednesday everyone - who's excited for the new PD episode tonight?! I hope we get a few more Linstead scenes :D**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter - I promise that's everything's going to get better eventually! Please read and review, and enjoy!**

Chapter 25

"She's gone, Jay. Can you help me find her? My husband's called all of her friends as well and no one knows where she is!" Elise started crying into Jay's chest. Jay was as shocked at seeing her as he was at Maddie being taken. He would probably be in her condition if Peter had been taken, but he was suddenly beginning to feel angry at whoever had done this. He put pressure on Elise's shoulders so he could look her in the eye.

"Okay, listen to me, my unit is gonna find her, and she's gonna be okay," Jay said, trying his best to calm Elise.

"Is there anything else I should do? What am I supposed to do while you all look for her?" Elise asked.

"You're going to come upstairs with me and sit in the break room while we start looking into possible leads, okay? We'll figure this out."

"Okay," Elise said quietly. Jay held Elise as they walked back up the stairs to Intelligence. When Jay and Elise reached the top of the stairs, Jay said, "Sorry guys, your day isn't over quite yet."

"This is Elise?" Voight said, "Your older sister?"

"Yeah," Jay said, "Her daughter Maddie's been kidnapped and she's asked me, us, to help find her. So will you please help?"

"Of course," Antonio said, "Hi, Elise, I'm Detective Dawson. Let me take you to the break room, okay?"

"Okay," Elise said, looking back at Jay before following Antonio down to the break room. He approached Erin, who was standing in Voight's office doorway to make sure Peter stayed inside. "Both Halsteads, my office," Voight said quietly. After Erin and Jay were inside, Voight shut the door and declared, "I'm happy to help your sister, Jay, but your two are too close to this so I don't want either of you working this."

"You've got to be kidding me! She's my sister," Jay said.

"I understand that, but I don't want you getting so emotionally involved that you make a mistake. So you're both off the case, end of discussion. I'll put out the Amber Alert right now."

"Hank," Erin said, "Why doesn't Jay take Peter home and I can stay and talk to Elise? I'd be happy to help with that."

"Okay," Voight said, "You okay with that, Jay?"

"Fine," Jay said, "But promise me that you'll do everything you can?"

"I promise," Voight said, "We'll update you if they find anything."

"Alright. See you later, Erin," Jay said, giving Erin a quick kiss, "Come on, Peter, time to go home for dinner."

"Yay! Can you make mac-and-cheese, daddy? Please, daddy, please?" Peter asked happily.

"Since you asked so nicely, yes I will," Jay said, trying his best to put on a good front for his son. "Erin, you're sure you'll be okay?"

"You mean with me being pregnant?" Erin said with a raised eyebrow. "I'll be fine, I'll see you both later, okay?"

"Okay, love you," Jay said.

"Love you too," Erin said, and headed for the break room after leaving Voight's office. Voight gave the rest of the unit a briefing based on the info that Mouse had managed to pull in the five minutes since Elise had come upstairs while Erin sat down across from Elise.

"It's Erin, right? I remember when we had dinner," Elise said.

"That's right," Erin said with a small smile, "Can I get you anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water?"

"Some water would be great, please," Elise said quickly.

"Alright," Erin said, and after coming back to the table with two bottles of water, she asked, "Could you tell me a little bit about what happened today? When was the last time you saw Maddie?"

"Yeah, okay," Elise, taking a deep breath, "The last time I saw her was when I dropped her off at school this morning. I watched her walk into the school building right before I drove off. I told her that I'd pick her up from after school care because I was working the afternoon shift today. So, I drove to her school around an hour ago to pick her up, and they said she never checked in after school. I talked to a couple of her friends but no one had seen her since the end of school. I can't call her because her phone's off."

The last part of Elise's explanation made Erin stop writing notes, and she looked up and asked, "What's Maddie's phone number?"

"Let me look it up real fast, it's kind of sad I can't remember it myself," Elise said, pulling out her phone and scrolling through her contacts. "Here it is…310-435-8974."

"Thanks," Erin said, "This helps a lot. I'll be back in just a sec, okay?"

"Okay," Elise said, "Erin?"

"Jay headed home, right? With your son?"

"Yeah, our boss didn't want him working this case because you two are siblings," Erin said softly.

"Okay, but your son's doing okay?"

"Yeah, he's doing well, thank you," Erin said, "And I'm sure once we find Maddie, she'll be doing just great as well." Erin left the break room and shut the door. Everyone was around Mouse and the white board as he taped up pictures of Elise and Maddie and an aerial map of the elementary school campus. "I can't believe it," Erin said, "Peter wasn't at school today because it was a day off for the kindergartners. Good lord."

"So the rest of the school had class today when Peter was off?"

"Yeah, something about the kindergarten teachers getting an extra planning day," Erin said quickly. "Anyway, here's what I got from Elise. She last saw Maddie this morning when he took her to school, and told Maddie that she'd pick her up from after school care, only to show up and find out that Maddie never checked in and no one's seen her since the end of school." While she gave everyone a few seconds the digest, she turned to Mouse and said, "Elise said that she tried calling Maddie's cell but that it's either dead or off. This is the number, can you try to ping it?"

"On it," Mouse said, running off to the basement with the piece of paper Erin had given him.

"Alright, next step, try to get ahold of someone in the administration. Even though it's Friday, hopefully someone's still in the office. And reach out to anyone you know around the school and call a few of the other kid's families in Maddie's class. See if anyone saw anything suspicious. Let's get to work!"

As Voight headed back to his office and everyone else returned to their desks, Erin sat back down in the break room with Elise and said, "I'm going to call the school office to see if anyone's still there, see if I can get official confirmation that Maddie was in school today."

"Well, you already have the number," Elise said, "Today was one of those off days for the kindergartners, wasn't it? So Peter wasn't in school?"

"That's right," Erin replied as she hit "dial" on the contact page for the Cedar Grove Office. After a few rings, Erin heaved a sigh of relief when someone picked up.

"Cedar Grove Elementary, this is Anne, how can I help you today?" Anne asked.

"Hi Anne, this is Detective Halstead from Chicago PD," Erin said bluntly, "I'm wondering if I could get some attendance information for Maddie…" she trailed off as she looked at Elise, not being able to remember Maddie's last name.

"Maddie Delanie," Elise clarified.

"Maddie Delanie," Erin repeated, mouthing a 'thank you' to Elise as Anne said, "What's the reason?"

"We're investigating her abduction," Erin said quickly.

"Oh, good lord, I'm so sorry," Anne said, "Let me pull up her records for you, just give me one sec."

"Thank you," Erin said. After a short pause, Anne said, "Okay, Maddie Delanie was marked as present at 9 this morning and after her lunch recess, so she would most likely have been here the whole day."

"Most likely?" Erin asked.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if there's any way I can confirm that anyone saw her at the end of the day unless you find someone who saw her. I'm sorry, but I can't help much more."

"That's alright, I appreciate the info on the records though," Erin said. "Wait, Anne, does the school have security cameras?"

"Yes, there are a couple, but I'll have to put you through to the district security office if you want to gain access to those."

"Okay, could you give me the number for the district security office?"

"Sure, it's 310-819-0042."

"Ok, thanks, goodnight Anne," Erin said, hanging up.

"Did you find out anything?" Elise asked.

"She was present in class after her lunch recess, but since teachers don't take attendance at a later point there's no way to confirm that she was there the whole day."

"But someone would surely have noticed?" Elise asked.

"Which is why I'm positive that she was there the entire day," Erin said. "I'm going to go talk to one of the guys in the unit and I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Alright," Elise said, "And Erin?"

"Thank you for what you're doing. All of you," Elise said gratefully.

"It's what we do," Erin said, smiling a little before she exited the room. As she moved to the front of the room, she announced, "Any progress yet?"

"Not yet, unfortunately," Voight said from behind her. "Anything from the school?"

"Apparently she was present when attendance was taken after her lunch recess, but since Elise got no calls, she must have been present until the end of the school day. I'm going to give the number for the security office to Mouse so he can see if he can gain access to any security footage from the campus."

"Alright," Voight said, "Well Mouse is coming up right now, so you won't have to go too far. Mouse, what have you got?"

"Well, unfortunately whoever has Maddie's phone has either smashed it or yanked out the SIM card because I can't locate a signal," Mouse replied with a slightly depressing tone. A couple of people sighed as they looked to their boss for the next step. When Voight saw that everyone was looking at him, he said, "Alright, everyone, keep doing what you're doing, I'll talk to Platt about getting some food, and Elise's husband will be here in a little bit, just FYI. Mouse, take the number Erin has and try to get some security footage that will be useful." Erin's phone began to ring and she said, "It's Jay, I should take it."

"Go ahead," Voight said, and Erin went out into the stairwell as she hit "Answer."

"Hey," Erin said.

"Hey, how's it going so far?"

"Not well, unfortunately. Mouse can't track Maddie's phone and no one's got any leads yet. We're waiting on Mouse to get security footage but we don't have anything else yet."

"Oh God," Jay said, "Well, keep me posted, I'm about to take our little monkey to the bathtub. How are you both doing?"

"We're both doing okay, although I haven't been thinking about baby #2 very much since Elise showed up," Erin admitted as she put her hand on her stomach and looked down at her belly, noticing that she was almost showing. "I feel terrible for her – I would probably be in a worse state if it was me."

"Thank you for being there. Just keep doing everything you can, okay?"

"You know I will," Erin said, "Talk to you later."

"Sounds good, love you Erin," Jay said.

"Love you too, Jay. Bye," Erin replied, hanging up as she headed back towards the unit and the case.


	26. Scared Out Of My Mind

**Hi Everyone I hope you're having a great week! Here's a little treat for all of you awesome readers (I will try to update again on Sunday or Monday but I have a packed schedule through then...). As always, please read and review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm excited for the new PD episode tonight too. :D**

Chapter 26

A few hours later, after Mouse had noticed on the security footage that Maddie had gotten into a car in the pickup line that looked identical to her mother's, Erin had sent Elise and her husband home for the night and Erin had gone home to rest while the rest of the unit kept looking into the plates on the car and if any cameras picked up the car. As Erin and Jay were talking in their living room a frantic knocking at their front door made Erin jump, almost spilling her decaf coffee.

"Who do you think that is?"

"Don't know," Jay said. He got up off the couch and after looking through his peephole, he suddenly got worried – Elise and her husband were outside the door.

Jay opened the door and said, "Elise, what's wrong!"

"Oh, Jay, we were going to bring this to the station, but your house is on the way so we wanted to see what you thought of it," Elise said quickly.

"Thought of what?" Jay asked, not sure where his sister was going.

"This," Elise said, "Mike found it in the mailbox soon after we got back to our house. It's signed from Leo?"

"Leo?" Jay said, eyebrows raised, "You mean _Leo _Leo?"

"That's all I can assume," Elise said, "I think he knows where Maddie is."

"You think who knows where who is?" Erin asked, joining the conversation at the front door. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to the letter that Elise had just put in Jay's hand.

"A letter from someone who has apparently been stalking me, if it's the same Leo," Elise said.

"Leo? From New York?" Erin said.

"I think so," Elise said worriedly.

"What does the note say, Jay?" Erin asked, now really concerned.

"See for yourself," Jay said, handing the note to Erin. Her stomach dropped as she finished what was written on it.

_Hey Elise, glad to see you're doing well. Say hi to your brother for me. –Leo_

***Two hours later***

After Jay had called and told Voight about the letter, he and Erin had agreed that Elise and Mike would stay with Erin at Erin and Jay's place and Jay would go into the station to help since he knew more about Leo than Erin did. Since Erin didn't want to wake Peter, she was sitting in the front room with Elise and Mike trying to make a little bit of conversation.

"Can I get either of you anything to drink? Or to eat?" Erin offered.

"Thank you but I'm alright," Mike replied, "Elise, honey, would you like anything?"

"No thanks," Elise said, "I just want my daughter back!" she spat, suddenly realizing that she'd used an impolite tone and said, "I'm sorry, Erin, I'm just so scared…what if they don't find her in time?"

"The unit is full of great detectives, your brother included. They're going to find her, I promise."

"Aren't cops not supposed to make promises?" Elise asked.

"I know my fellow detectives," Erin replied, "Unfortunately all we can do right now is sit tight and wait for Jay to give us an update. As if my magic, Erin's phone started buzzing on the coffee table and Jay's name flashed up on the caller ID.

"Thank heavens," Erin said, picking up the phone and quickly hitting 'answer.' "Jay, have got anything?"

"Yeah, after we had Leo's name to go off of, we looked back at the drug guy that I busted a couple of weeks back…turns out he was one of Leo's lieutenants," Jay said.

"Wait, are you saying that Leo's involved in a Chicago drug gang?" Erin said, shocked.

"And high up at that," Jay said, "Mouse just nailed down a location on the car and we're rolling out now. I'll call you after."

"Jay, promise me you'll be safe. I'm scared cause I'm not there to watch your back," Erin said.

"I promise. I'll call you later, babe. Love you," Jay said as he was walking down the stairs to the locker room.

"Love you too," Erin said, sighing as she hung up and looked up at Elise and Mike.

"And?" Mike said anxiously.

"They're heading to a potential location right now," Erin said.

"But you said something about Leo and a drug gang? Is that true?" Elise said with a horrified expression. "What will they do to Maddie?"

"All I can say right now is that Leo is high up in one of the Chicago drug gangs, and Jay might have busted one of his lieutenants a few weeks ago," Erin replied.

"Oh my God," Elise said, "I had no idea."

"Neither did we until now," Erin said, "But Jay should be calling me with another update soon."

"Okay," Mike said, "Elise, babe, that's progress, right?"

"I know," Elise reluctantly admitted, "I'm just scared out of my mind."

***Two hours later***

Elise and Mike rushed into the 21st district lobby, and after Jay buzzed them upstairs he took them straight to the break room, where the door was currently shut and the blinds drawn. When Jay opened the door, Elise and Mike both squealed with joy as Maddie got up from the couch where she'd been sitting with Antonio and ran into her mother's arms. Many sets of tears began to stream down faces, but they were all happy tears because everyone had been reunited.

"So did you catch any of Leo's lieutenants?" Erin asked Jay over the phone.

"Not yet but we've already started looking, believe me," Jay replied, "We've got everyone looking into the lieutenants except Voight and Antonio are interrogating Leo right now."

"Did you stick Antonio in there to make sure that Voight doesn't beat Leo to pieces?" Erin asked.

"Not really…this case struck a chord with Antonio too so he wanted to be in there with Hank," Jay replied.

"Understood," Erin said, "You listening in at all?"

"Yeah I'm in the viewing room right now, if I put you on speaker then you can listen too?"

"Okay, just give me a second to plug in headphones," Erin said, fumbling around one of the drawers in the kitchen. Once she'd plugged them in and put the earbuds in her ears, she said, "Okay, go ahead."

Jay put the call on speaker just as Voight was asking Leo, "Why Maddie? Out of all the kids in Chicago?"

"Well I think it's pretty obvious," Leo said, slumping down in his chair, where he was sitting with handcuffs strapped tightly on his wrists, "Elise and I dated for a while during and after high school. Then I found out she was pregnant, and I left."

"Why'd you leave your pregnant girlfriend?"

"Because back then I wanted nothing to do with kids," Leo spat, "I was scared. Then a few years later my engineering career went down the drain fast and I had a friend who was high up in one of the drug gangs in NYC. He vouched for me to get in over there, and I made some money there until there was a falling out."

"What kind of falling out?" Antonio asked.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"The kind where you wanted out or someone else wanted out?" Antonio asked.

As Voight crossed his arms and continued to stare at Leo, he said, "Why do you want to know? Haven't I been arrested on kidnapping charges?"

"You'll also be charged with drug charges, thanks to one of your lieutenants," Antonio said.

"Ah, see that's where it gets interesting," Leo said, "That guy that you busted remembered the name of the cop who put him in handcuffs and when he said the name was Jay Halstead, I nearly did a double take. So, I figured if Elise's little brother was in Chicago, that Elise might be too…even though Elise chose me over him after high school."

"Stop with the storytelling, get to the point please," Voight snapped.

"Well, I reached out to a few friends of mine, since being high up in a drug gang, I have quite a few," Leo said a little too arrogantly, "And they told me that Elise had remarried and had a kid named Maddie. So, I decided to pay a visit to Maddie's school yesterday to have a little fun."

"You call kidnapping a ten-year-old girl a little fun?" Antonio said, realizing that he was now really angry with this guy and would have to try and not lose his cool.

"I thought Maddie was my kid at first," Leo said, "And I wanted to meet her because she was my flesh and blood. But then when we pulled up at an elementary school I realized that Maddie was too young to be my kid, and it just made me angry that my kid seemingly hadn't made it into the world and that Elise had moved on with somebody else."

Voight and Antonio looked at each with _yep this guy's gone nuts _looks and Leo asked, "Do either of you actually know what happened to my kid? Did it die or something?"

"Elise had a miscarriage," Antonio spat, "Because she was under so much stress after you left her with nothing. And I think that's all we need from you, Leo. You can rest in jail tonight knowing that you'll probably never be outside of a cell for the rest of your life."


End file.

Chicago PD, Drama, Romance