36. This Love Is A Life Back From The Dead

Thanks for the reviews! I hope that you guys like this chapter!

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Two Weeks Later

Kim looked around the precinct with a smile on her face. Given the venue and the complete unwilling decorators the precinct looked amazing. Burgess had some help from Nadia, Gaby Dawson and Antonio's wife Laura for the theme. The usual drab walls of District 21 were covered in black and yellow streamers and balloons and party lanterns. Gender Neutral was a hard theme to come up with but "Baby to Bee" was pretty clever if Burgess had to say so herself.

"The banner is crooked" Burgess sighed walking over to where her boyfriend was standing on a chair trying to hang "What's it Gonna Bee?" baby banner.

"Burgess, if you think you can do better, than you get your cute ass up here and do it" Ruzek sighed.

He didn't know why he even needed to come to the shower. And he especially didn't know why he had to be here. Baby showers were for women, he was only here because he was promised beer. Well, beer and sex.

"You just want me to get up there so you can look up my dress" Burgess said folding her arms over her chest.

"Is there a crime in that?" Ruzek asked looking down at his girlfriend.

"Just fix the banner" Burgess shook her head and ran a hand through her dark hair.

The last two weeks hadn't been touch and go with her and Adam and Kim was just glad they were finally getting past the kiss with Roman and the busted lip that Adam had given Roman in retaliation for the kiss. Adam still waited up for her at night when she was on shift with Roman and somehow he would randomly drive by their patrol car at least a few times a week claiming it was just a "small world".

She didn't know what she was going to have to do to prove to Adam that she loved him and only him. Of course, letting Roman kiss her probably wasn't the smartest move on her part. But she really didn't think that Roman saw her like that and the crow she had to eat by saying Adam Ruzek was right, was bad enough.

Kim walked over to the snack table where Platt was standing.

"What's up Sarge?" Burgess asked.

"I'm just looking for a place to put the cake" Platt said looking around the table at the food spread.

"I'll move the Jello salad" Burgess said reaching down to grab the bowl.

"Good, who the hell made that anyway?" Platt asked setting the cake down.

"Me..." Burgess said looking down at the bowl in her hands.

"Oh...well. Good for you" Platt said with a smile.

Burgess nodded and sat the Jello mold down on the table and pulled the lid off of the cake box as Platt started to walk away.

"Um, Platt?" Burgess called raising an eyebrow as she looked down at the cake.

"What is it Burgess?" Platt asked turning around.

"Does this cake shop by chance make...um...erotic cakes?" Burgess shut the cake box as she turned to look at Sergeant Platt.

"What's the problem?" Platt asked walking up to the table and lifting the lid off of the box. "Oh..."

Burgess nodded in silent agreement "Did you not check it before you left the store?"

"Well, obviously not Burgess. I mean clearly when I went in to pick the cake up I purposely didn't check it because I wanted to bring a penis cake to a baby shower" Platt shut the cake box as Atwater and Olinsky walked past them and into the break room.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Burgess asked.

"Maybe they won't notice" Platt said simply. "I mean, it's not like Erin doesn't know what an ejaculating penis looks like. She is pregnant"

"Could you not" Burgess sighed looking down at the box. "We've got to fix this. I don't want Erin and Jay to look back on today and think, "Oh, today would've been great if it wasn't for the ejaculating dick cake at our child's baby shower"

Platt opened the box back up and looked down at the cake. "Well, we could scrape that off and then we can write "It's MAYBE a boy" on the plate"

Burgess shook her head and looked over her shoulder as Sylvie Brett walked up the stairs with her boyfriend Joe Cruz.

"Hey Sylvie" Burgess called.

Sylvie let go of Joe's hand and sat the gift bag down on the present table as she walked over to Burgess and Platt were standing.

"What's up?" Sylvie asked.

"I need your help" Burgess said.

"With what?" Sylvie asked.

"This" Burgess said lifting the lid off the cake.

"Oh...my" Sylvie covered her mouth with her hand.

"Can you fix this?" Burgess asked.

"Yeah...yeah...Just point me to the kitchen" Sylvie picked up the cake box and she and Burgess walked away as Erin and Jay came up the stairs.

"Surprise" Everyone yelled

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"And this one is from me" Ruzek smiled as he handed Erin the bag.

"Thanks" Erin said pulling the tissue paper out and the dark blue onesie with handcuffs that said "Daddy's Favorite Backup" that he'd seen at Babies R Us.

"Thanks Adam" Erin said as she studied the onesie.

"I just want you to know, I told him not to get it" Burgess said leaning over from where she was writing out what Erin had gotten and from who to make thank you cards easier.

"What if it's a girl?" Olinsky asked.

"Al, I've already taken care of it" Ruzek said handing Erin a smaller bag.

Erin reached into the small bag and pulled out a small white crocheted headband with a large dark blue flower on it. Erin smiled and ran her fingers over the flower. "Thank you, Ruzek"

Adam nodded "You're welcome. See Kim...I told you she'd like it"

"I think that's everything" Kim said looking over at the empty table. Erin had spent the last 30 minutes opening presents and Kim did one last check to make sure that was the last one.

"Can we eat now?" Adam asked.

Erin shook her head at Adam and nodded "Yes, everyone can eat now"

"Finally" Ruzek said getting up from his chair and walking over to the food table as a line started to form behind him.

"Adam, how about you let Erin go first?" Burgess said.

Erin looked up and caught Voight's gaze as he walked into his office. "He can go ahead. I can wait"

Erin stood up from the rocking chair that she was sitting in a gift from Alvin Olinsky and his wife. Erin walked through the party and over to Hank's office and leaned against the door frame.

"Are you going to come out and join the party?" Erin asked.

"In a few minutes. I just had some stuff I wanted to finish up in here" Voight said looking at some paperwork on his desk.

"What's that?" Erin asked looking at the wrapped box with a bow on it sitting in the corner.

"It's nothing" Voight said not looking up from the paperwork.

"Is it for me?" Erin asked.

"Erin can we not do this now?" Voight asked. "Yes, it's for you. But I think you have plenty enough for the baby"

"Can I at least see it?" Erin asked stepping into Hank's office.

Hank sighed as he looked at Erin and moved his rolling chair to grab the medium sized box. He lifted it up and sat it on the desk as Erin walked the rest of the way over to him.

"It's not much. But at least it's something" Voight said.

"I'm sure it's great" Erin said with a smile as she pulled the bow and the wrapping paper off of the box. Once she'd finished she took the lid off of the box and saw an envelope laying on the tissue paper with her name written across the middle of it.

"Read the letter first" Voight cleared his throat.

"Ok" Erin reached down and grabbed the envelope. The writing looked famiiar but she couldn't place it until she opened the envelope and pulled the hand written letter out and she knew as soon as she saw it, that it was from Camille.

Erin's gaze went from the letter to Hank's face. "What is..."

Hank walked around his desk and pulled a seat out for Erin and gestured for her to take a seat.

"When Camille got sick, there was so much that she was upset she was going to miss, so one night she and I were talking and she said she wanted to do something important for each milestone in your and Justin's lives. The earrings were what she wanted you to have on your wedding day" Voight explained as he sat against the edge of his desk.

Erin nodded as she unfolded the letter and began to read.

Erin,

Where do I even begin? If you're reading this, it means that you've become a mommy. Congratulations sweetheart, there's no greater gift or greater love than that of a mother. I wish I could be there to meet this precious piece of you and the man that you love. I can only imagine how beautiful that this baby is going to be. I know that you're scared and that's understandable my girl. Just know that you're going to be ok. You have so many wonderful qualities, Erin. I've watched you take care of Justin when I couldn't. Sometimes I lay in bed after a hard day of chemo and I hear you two laughing down the hall and it brings me so much peace. You have such a capacity to love Erin. Even after everything life has thrown at you, you somehow brush if off and go on. I can only imagine the man you've decided to share your life with. I hope that he's strong but gentle, stubborn but compliant, loyal and understanding, protective but challenging. I hope that he multiplies your joy and shares your sorrows. I wish so badly I could have met the man who stole your heart, the father of what I can only imagine is going to be the most beautiful baby ever born. I'll always be with you, Erin. I just want you to know how proud I am of you, you're amazing sweetheart. And what a pleasure it was to get to have you in my life. I'm always going to watch over you and your precious family. You're going to be an amazing mother. Shower that sweet baby with all the love and kisses you can give.

All My Love,

Camille

Erin wiped a tear that had slid down her cheek as she pulled the box down from the desk and onto her lap and pulled back the tissue paper to reveal a quilt.

Hank cleared his throat before he spoke. "Camille made it. Justin has one and now you have yours. It's made from some of your old clothes a memory quilt is what she called it"

"It's perfect" Erin whispered running her hands over the quilt. "I love it"

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Two Months Later

"This is going to be interesting" Ruzek said as he parked the car and looked over in the passenger seat at Erin. "I've never been to one of these before"

Erin looked out the window of Adam's car and over to the building where her child birth class was. Jay usually came with her to this, but tonight he was working an undercover sting with Olinsky and unable to go. Not wanting her to go alone Ruzek instantly volunteered when he heard that Erin would be going solo to her class.

"Just be mature" Erin said looking over at Adam.

"I'm always mature" Ruzek said. "Do they usually have snacks at this shindig?"

"Adam" Erin sighed and got out of the car.

Ruzek quickly followed Erin and the two walked into the building back to where the class was being held.

Ruzek took a glance around at the tables and charts that were around the room. "No snacks" Ruzek thought and he smiled when he saw Kelly and Brittany Severide in the corner.

"Erin look who it is" Ruzek said nudging Erin's arm. "It's Kelly"

Erin nodded "I see who it is"

"Damn, no disrespect to Brittany but she's a lot bigger than you" Ruzek whispered.

"Stop" Erin shook her head and looked at Ruzek.

"I said no disrespect" Ruzek whispered.

"She's having twins" Erin whispered back.

"Twins?" Ruzek looked over at Kelly and Brittany and nodded. "That makes since. Just think, that could've been you"

Erin shook her head "No thanks, I'm good with one in me. I don't know how Brittany handles two"

"She still wears heels, too?" Ruzek said looking down at Brittany's feet. "You didn't even wear heels when you weren't pregnant. God, Erin you're lacking in the pregnancy style department. You're really uncool"

Erin tilted her head to the side as she looked at Adam "Thanks Ruzek, I so need lessons from you on how to be cool"

Adam shook his head as looked over at Erin. "You know. Your due date is coming up soon. You sure Dr. Backus is familiar with how to deliver a baby that's half human...half pure evil"

Erin ignored Adam's comment and found her usual spot on the floor and unrolled her yoga mat before taking a seat. Adam walked up and sat down next to her as Kelly and Brittany came and sat next to Adam.

"What's up, Kelly? Long time no see brother" Adam said shaking Kelly's hand as he helped Brittany roll out her yoga mat and helped her down to sit.

"Just busy working man, how are things with you?" Kelly asked.

"Not bad. I hear you're having twins" Ruzek said as he looked past Kelly to Brittany.

"Yeah, boy and a girl" Kelly answered with pride as he reached over and placed a hand on Brittany's stomach.

"Damn Severide, when you do something you do it" Ruzek said with a laugh.

Adam and Kelly continued to make small talk for the next few minutes until the birthing instructor came in and stood in front of the class.

"Welcome everyone, I see some first time members and a few old faces. My name is Connie Stewart and I'm a certified childbirth educator. Does anybody have any questions?" Ms. Connie asked as she looked around the room.

Adam looked around the room at all the serious faces and raised his hand in the air. "I have one"

"Yes sir?" Ms. Connie and the rest of the class turned their heads toward Adam.

"How are babies made?" Adam asked.

Ruzek realized his joke had fell on a tough crowd when nobody laughed. Ms. Connie looked like she was at a loss for words.

"Well..um...I think you know the answer to that one" Ms. Connie said as she turned away from the class to the table behind her.

"It was a joke" Ruzek said looking over at Kelly. "I know where babies come from"

Kelly looked over at Ruzek and nodded before turning his attention back to the instructor.

"This" Ms. Connie said holding up a chart "Is a cross-section of a non pregnant woman"

"Gross" Ruzek said turning his nose up.

"Does anybody know what this is called?" Ms. Connie asked pointing towards an area at the bottom of the chart.

"The uterus" Kelly answered.

"Good Job" Ms. Connie praised as she gave Kelly a nod.

"Good Job" Ruzek mimicked under his breath only to receive a slap on the arm from Erin.

"Ok, does anybody know what the opening to the uterus is called?" Ms. Connie asked looking around the room.

"The vagina" Ruzek said.

"Um...no" Ms. Connie said.

"The cervix" another girl answered.

"Exactly" Ms. Connie said. "Now, and what is the path..."

"The vagina" Ruzek said again.

"Thank you..." Ms. Connie said as she turned away to place the chart back on the table.

"Is that your favorite word?" Erin asked narrowing her eyes at Ruzek.

"I just knew I'd eventually get the answer right" Ruzek shrugged his shoulders.

"We call the area the birth canal" Ms. Connie turned back to address the class holding a skeleton mold of a pelvis and a pear.

"Here is your uterus when you're not pregnant" Ms. Connie started.

"That looks like a pear to me" Adam said.

Ms. Connie nodded. "Well...it is...but this is a simulation of a uterus"

Ruzek nodded "Oh, cause I was going to say. My pappy used to eat a lot of uterus's then"

"Adam" Erin said shaking her head.

"Now this" Ms. Connie said as she turned around and held up a watermelon. "Is what your uterus looks like when you're full term"

"I used to drill holes in those and fill them with vodka" Ruzek said "You ever do that, Kelly?"

Kelly laughed and looked over at Adam. "Yes"

Ms. Connie turned and pulled up a backpack "Would anybody like to wear the empathy belly for the remainder of the class?"

"I'll do it" Adam said holding his hand up.

Ms. Connie sighed and walked over towards Adam as Ruzek stood up.

Adam slipped the backpack on backwards and stood around for a few seconds getting the feel of it. "This isn't that bad. Erin I don't know what you complain about all the time"

Adam went to sit back down but the awkwardness and weight of the back pack made it difficult to do so.

"Does anybody know how many centimeters you need your cervix to open up to before you can deliver?" Ms. Connie asked.

"Ten" Kelly said.

"Good job" Ms. Connie praised as she looked at Kelly.

"How do you know all this?" Ruzek asked looking over at Kelly.

"I read a lot" Kelly answered.

"Is that cause you're a teacher's pet?" Ruzek asked the class as Kelly blushed.

"Adam" Erin said narrowing her eyes at him.

"What?" Ruzek shrugged his shoulders "They said ask questions"

"Not stupid ones" Erin said scooting away from him.

"Ok" Ms. Connie said "So after you're fully dilated you enter the next stage of labor which is the actual delivery"

Ms. Connie held up a baby doll and a knitted sock with the bottom cut off. She placed the baby doll's head in the sock. "So as you have a contraction you're going to push to get the baby out"

As Ms. Connie explained she pushed the baby doll's head through the sock.

"I don't know what the hell's happening" Ruzek said shaking his head.

Kelly sighed and pointed to Ms. Connie. "Your vagina has to open so the baby can come out..."

Ruzek nodded "I have trouble getting my vagina open"

"You don't have trouble getting your mouth open" Erin mumbled under her breath.

"That's what Kim says too. Maybe I should just start thinking of it as my face vagina" Ruzek sighed.

The sound of Kelly's laughter filled the room as Brittany nudged his arm to get him to stop laughing.

"You may find that your doctor will aid in delivery by massaging the perineum" Ms. Connie explained.

"For real?" Ruzek asked.

"Yes" Ms. Connie said.

"Did you know that you could do that, Erin" Ruzek asked.

"No...I didn't" Erin said.

"Well, you can. All you need is some olive oil and an anus...or as Burgess cause it "The no way in Hell" zone" Ruzek nudged Erin's shoulder.

Erin shook her head and got up from the floor and walked out of the classroom. Adam sighed and stood up to follow her.

"She's been kind of emotional lately" Ruzek offered to the class as he felt a classroom full of eyes burning into him.

Adam walked out of the building and saw Erin sitting on the bench.

"Erin..." Adam offered as walked over to the bench and sat down.

"Just leave me alone" Erin said. "I thought you'd actually take this serious. I mean what the hell was that in there? You weren't even acting like yourself"

Ruzek sighed and wrapped his arm around Erin "I'm sorry"

Erin shook her head "Forget it. Just take me home. I wish Jay didn't have to work tonight. At least he takes this serious"

Ruzek looked towards the building and squeezed Erin's shoulder "Erin, really, I'm sorry. I guess I try to distance myself from uncomfortable situations. Honestly, I was just trying to make you laugh. I know how worried you are about having this baby. I just thought that you could use a laugh. I know that having a baby is serious, but sometimes you have to treat things with a sense of humor. That's just how I get through things in life. I am truly sorry if I hurt your feelings or embarrassed you. I think the world of you and Jay and I hope that when Kim and I get married, that we have it as together as you and Jay have in this past year"

Erin looked over at Adam and gave him a slight smile "You mean that?"

Adam nodded "Yeah, of course. I mean, this kid..." Ruzek reached his hand down and placed it on Erin's stomach. "Is so lucky. He or she is going to know love every single day of their life. And I am just excited to see what's going to come"

"Thank you" Erin said. "And you're right. I should take things with more of a sense of humor. It's just scary"

Adam nodded "It's going to be ok. Are you ready to go back into class? I think they were getting ready to watch a birth video. So that should end any sexual urge that I have ever in life"

Erin nodded and laughed "Yeah, let's go"

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Six Weeks Later.

Erin walked into the precinct and covered her mouth as she yawned. Today was her last day of work before she went on maternity leave. There was still a lot to be done before baby Halstead could make his or her arrival but things were slowly falling into place. She'd washed all the baby clothes and sanitized all the bottles while Jay and Hank had put the baby's crib together last night. She had to admit that she was proud that they'd managed to get it put together without fighting...at least not too much.

Erin took a seat next to Platt at the front desk and grimaced as she felt a slight twinge of pain radiate in her lower back.

"You're late" Platt said not looking up from her paperwork.

"No, it's 8am exactly" Erin said looking at the clock.

"And what's my motto?" Platt asked.

"If you're ten minutes early, then you're already late" Erin rolled her eyes as she spoke.

Platt looked at Erin and nodded "As long as you know the motto. That alone makes you smarter than your husband"

A delivery man walked in carrying a large vase of red roses and a small vase with a single orchid. "I have a delivery for an Erin Halstead and a Trudy Platt"

"I'm Trudy Platt" Trudy said as she reached for the vase of roses.

"These aren't yours" The delivery man said pulling the vase away. "This is yours" he said handing Platt the orchid.

"These are for Mrs. Halstead" The delivery man said setting the vase down in front of Erin as she stood up.

"Thank you" Erin said reaching for her purse to tip the delivery man.

"No need for a tip ma'am. It's been taken care of" The delivery man said as looked away from Erin and he stood and looked at Platt.

"You're serious?" Platt asked looking at the orchid in her hands. "Here's a tip. Don't stand up in a canoe. Now get the hell out of here"

The delivery man mumbled under his breath and walked away and out of the precinct.

"Who is that from?" Erin asked looking at Platt's orchid.

"It's from, Randy. If you need to know my business" Platt said looking at the card.

"What's it say?" Erin asked pulling the card out of her roses.

"Happy Valentine's Day...Mooch" Platt read.

"That's nice" Erin said opening the small envelope her card was in and she read it before putting it away.

"What's yours say?" Platt asked.

"Oh...the same" Erin said.

"Let me see it" Platt said holding her hand out.

"No...it just says Happy Valentine's Day" Erin said as she placed the card on the table and Trudy grabbed it before Erin could react.

Platt opened the envelope and pulled the small card out.

Erin,

I just wanted to tell you that I love you even more today than yesterday. Happy Valentine's Day. baby.

Jay

Platt sat the card down and looked at the orchid sitting on the table. "Big deal. I got an orchid. That takes some thought. Anybody can get roses"

"I think the orchid is beautiful" Erin said.

Platt watched as Voight walked down the stairs with Nadia and over to the desk where she and Erin were sitting. "As much as I don't want to do this, Platt. I need you and Nadia to take one of the patrol cars and go out and pick up a file from our CI"

"I can go without Nadia" Platt said.

"You need someone with you" Voight said.

"Then me and Erin will go" Platt said.

"I can cover the desk for an hour" Nadia assured looking at Voight.

"Whatever, just go get the paperwork from the CI and come back" Voight said turning on his foot and walking back up the steps.

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"That was easier than I thought it would be" Platt said as she drove down the road.

"It was just picking up paperwork" Erin said looking out the window.

"Well, I kind of expected some kind of drama" Platt said.

As if on cue the car started to sputter and die as Platt pulled off the road.

"What's wrong?" Erin asked.

"I don't know" Platt said as she tried to turn the engine over and nothing happened.

"Do you have cell service?" Erin asked looking down at her phone.

"I left my phone at work" Platt said as she tried to turn the engine over again.

"I don't have any service. Does the radio work? Maybe we can radio for assistance" Erin suggested.

Platt reached down and tried to fumble with the radio. "Nope...nothing"

Erin looked around at her surroundings. She and Platt were in the middle of nowhere. No homes, no cars, nothing.

"Well, someone will come by. We're just going to have to wait it out" Platt said leaning back in her seat.

Erin nodded and she groaned and leaned forward as the pain she'd felt in her lower back all morning radiated it's way around her abdomen and down to her pelvis.

"You ok?" Platt asked.

Erin shook her head as she took a breath and looked over at Platt.

"I think I'm in labor"

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Please Review!

Also, do you guys have any ideas for a Burgess and Ruzek proposal. It's coming up soon and I don't really have an idea of how he should do it. If you guys have an idea for one, just drop it in a comment or even a PM!