86. Love At First Sight

Thanks for all the feedback and sorry for letting you wait but here you finally go with the next chapter ;-)

86. Love At First Sight

When Jay came home from work in the evening, Erin was already waiting for him and his wife looked as radiant that it almost made him fall over, a huge smile spreading across his face when his eyes fell on her and he might licked over his lips in anticipation. Her outfit, her wavy hair, the subtle make-up: this was what perfection looked like and it wasn't until a little later that he had the feeling something was off anyway, that something was missing to call this perfection: her famous, dimpled smile that let her eyes sparkle like the brightest diamonds. And it weren't her mood swings that had him worried during their dinner at the Purple Pig, those were non-existent tonight which he was thankful for because he's been faced with them regularly lately. It was the fact that her smile and laugh seemed to be fake, like she had to force herself to it when their conversations were actually as easy as always. Only their usual flirty, teasing and joking banter wasn't on point tonight as she didn't seem to be in the mood for any kind of real joking and teasing and over sharing some dessert to die for, he wondered whether he should ask her what was going on. Eventually he decided not to push her and instead wait for her to tell him, hoping that she would confide in him without that he had to say something.

Once their stomachs were too full for their own goods and they'd paid the cheque, they went for an extensive stroll under the starry sky, all the way from downtown along the lakefront to the planetarium, the city with its enlightened skyline always next to them. It was their favorite walk and brought back a lot of memories from their early days of dating, when they'd strolled here with picnic baskets to eventually have a picnic by the planetarium and watch the sun go down behind the skyscrapers while feeding each other strawberries and chocolate, when they'd come here for secret dates or secret walks, hoping that no one would see them and catch up on their secret relationship.

″Big moving weekends ahead, huh?″ Erin asked casually as they strolled along the lake, their hands intertwined, their winter jackets keeping them warm since the temperatures still were more wintery once the sun was gone and darkness took over.

″So Kim completely moves to Adam this weekend and Rylie moves to Kim's place next weekend, right?″ Jay asked back.

″Yeah, that's the plan,″ she confirmed. ″There's not much to do though. Kim just has some boxes with all kinds of stuff and a couple pieces of furniture she wants to take with and they could need our help with, so it should all be done tomorrow already. And Rylie only has those boxes and some of her old furniture that's in our basement but she wants to paint some walls during the week before she moves in. So all in all it should be a walk in the park.″

″Moving is never a walk in the park,″ Jay chuckled but then got serious again quickly. ″So does this mean you talked to Adam? After...you know?″

″After the way I left yesterday you mean?″ she asked and he nodded in response. ″I wanted to do it last night after the zumba class but then I came home and got distracted,″ she smirked and raised her eyebrow at him, basically blaming him for that. ″And then I wanted to do it this morning but other things came up and so I texted him earlier while you were in the shower and told him I was out of line and that I'm sorry. And as peace offering I offered him our help with the move. He accepted both, my apology and my offer, and said he's glad that you'll be there to help disassemble and assemble the few pieces of furniture while I can talk Kim into cleaning or whatever because they would probably drive each other crazy assembling furniture together.″

″And you didn't bite his head off for telling you to do the housewifely stuff?″ he winked.

″That took a lot of self-control, believe me,″ she laughed but once again it didn't go unnoticed by him that it wasn't her real Erin-laugh.

″Yeah, I bet,″ he grinned, deciding not to mention that he knew something was wrong, and instead pressed a kiss against her temple. ″How do you feel about Rylie moving out?″

″I think I'm okay with it. More or less,″ she admitted.

″Is it more or is it less?″ Jay grinned.

″Probably less,″ she smiled faintly. ″I will miss her. Especially in the evenings. She was great company when you were working late. And she was part of our daily routine, helped where she could, made Luke ready for bed and tucked him in herself most nights, so our family dynamics will change again.″

″Our family dynamics change all the time, I think we should get used to it,″ he winked. ″Luke will most likely move to Rylie's place in May or June and then it's only you, me and Emmy and Crispin for the first time in...geee...forever,″ he laughed, realizing that they've never been really alone in their house ever since they moved in. ″First my brother lived with us, then Luke and Rylie and now we soon have our house just for ourselves for the first time.″

″Yeah,″ she nodded with yet another forced smile. ″Just the four of us.″

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

″This view will never fail to amaze me,″ Erin said after they'd reached the planetarium, the noises of the city only hearable in the distance, the water of Lake Michigan hitting against the seawall.

″It's stunning every single time,″ Jay agreed and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin in the crook of her neck. ″I love you,″ he whispered into her ear.

She turned around in his embrace, giving him the same words back. ″I love you more.″ Although it was dark, he could once again see that this wasn't her famous smile, the one with the dimples, the one that reached her eyes. He hasn't seen that all evening.

″Er, are you okay?″ he finally asked what he's been wondering for hours now and couldn't hold back any longer. ″You seem a little...off.″

″Yeah, I'm fine. Very fine actually,″ she said and suddenly those dimples seemed to break through which made him believe her statement. Probably this was a mood-swing-thing after all and her mood even changed in a heartbeat on their date night as well and for whatever reason it's been bad so far and was now suddenly changing. ″It's a beautiful night, Chicago shows off, I'm at our favorite place with my husband and...″ She stopped herself to take a breath as if she soaked in courage, and smiled at him nervously before she looked down at her feet and then at her stomach, her jacket being open allowing her to place her hand directly on it. ″Our baby.″

His mouth dropped open by her words, his eyes widened, his heartbeat picked up its pace and for a moment he had the feeling he couldn't breathe as the air in his lungs was replaced by pure, overwhelming, exaggerating joy. ″What?″ he uttered, assuring himself that he's heard right, that she'd really just said that.

″I'm pregnant,″ she smiled brightly. There they were, the words he's always wanted to hear coming from her mouth accompanied by this dimpled, happy smile, and not thrown at him like last time. The words that made his heart flutter and his stomach turn in the most positive way and filled his body with an incredible amount of joy and happiness.

″We're having another baby?″ he reassured himself, his whole face still telling a story of him not being able to believe it.

″We're having another baby,″ Erin confirmed and within the next second he had her picked up in his arms and swirled her around.

″We're having another baby!″ he called, telling whoever wanted to hear these news of their family growing by another member, and letting her back down he placed a long, gushy kiss on her lips, never wanted them to part again, wanted this moment of bliss to be framed.

Eventually he let her go off his embrace and looked at her stomach in awe, the realization settling that there was Halstead number two growing inside of her, that they'd created another little miracle, and he placed his hand on her stomach protectively, stroking over her flat abdomen with the tips of his fingers to say hi to his baby.

″When did that happen?″ he whispered, resting his forehead against hers as they both gazed down, as Erin lay her hand atop his.

″I don't know exactly but given the dates and everything I think this happened somewhen around the week we went to San Francisco. So I would be around seven weeks. Give or take,″ she smiled.

″Wow,″ he breathed out. ″When did you find out?″

″This morning actually,″ she answered and told him the whole story of finding Emmy and Crispin creating a mess in the bathroom, of her collecting her toiletries which had made her realize she was late, of her trip to the pharmacy with Emmy to buy three different pregnancy tests, of coming home and taking the other two as well after the first had already been clearly positive. ″I already called Dr Hanson's office and scheduled an appointment for Tuesday afternoon.″

″Good, that's good,″ Jay said, still smiling like a Chesire Cat and without a doubt there was nothing that could erase this smile from his lips tonight.

″Once she confirmed it, we can tell Hank and the team and I will step down to do everything that's not dangerous as from Tuesday. Would that be fine with you?″

″Absolutely,″ Jay nodded, remembering exactly what kind of drama this whole telling Hank thing and being on light duty had been last time. But everything's changed for the better and Erin was now reasonable enough to accept the fact that being pregnant and busting drug dealers or other criminals didn't go well with each other. ″I can't believe there's a baby in there again,″ he beamed.

″Yeah, me neither,″ Erin said and suddenly she seemed to be a little more pensive again, which Jay of course recognized.

″Er, you happy about that, right?″ he asked although he actually knew she was. But there was something she was holding back from him and he wanted to figure out about the things that were going on in her mind. ″I mean, that's what we both wanted.″

″I am. I am tremedously happy about that,″ she assured him.

″Then what's going on? Earlier, you seemed off...and even now...,″ he said meaningfully.

″It's stupid,″ she shrugged it off.

″Nothing that's going on in that beautiful head of yours is ever stupid,″ Jay said encouragingly, his voice soft and understanding, and he reached for her hand to squeeze it.

″It's just...,″ she breathed out. ″When I saw those two lines, it suddenly all became real. Until then, it was just something we wanted, an imagination... but now...we're really having a second baby,″ she said and inhaled a deep breath. ″And what happens if I...if I can't love this baby as much as I love Emmy? The moment the midwife placed her on my chest after those 16 hours, or 9 months in fact, I fell in love with her. It was this magic love at first sight thing and I love our girl so so so much that it sometimes scares the crap out of me. So what if I can't share this love with another little person?″ she asked, her eyes looking for comfort in his. ″It wouldn't be fair to Emmy that she suddenly only gets half the love or that the baby never gets as much love as Emmy got and I'm just scared I can't love our second baby as much as our first and...,″ she rambled.

″Er,″ Jay said calmingly. ″I don't think you have to divide your love between Emmy and the baby or cut down your love for Emmy so you're able to love the baby. Your heart will grow and grow and grow and make room for all the love for both kids. You will love this baby as much as you love Emmy without having to cut anything down because as much as your heart might seem full now, you will see that it can still get fuller once this little bean is here.″

And once again, his choice of words paired with his understanding, caring, calming attitude made her believe every word, made her calm down though not fully convinced her yet. ″Okay,″ she whispered and smiled faintly.

″And your heart grew for Luke as well, didn't it?″

This was something she hasn't thought about so far but he was right, she loved Luke with all her heart. ″Yeah. Yeah I guess it did,″ she smiled a little brighter now. ″It will be an adjustment for all of us. But we will make it work.″

″Of course we will,″ Jay assured her before the genuine smile broke through again on his face. ″Oh my God we're really having another baby,″ he chuckled slightly.

″Yes, we are.″

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When Jay woke up on the following morning without any alarm interrupting his sleep, he discovered that his wife was already awake and staring at him with sleepy eyes and this special grin surrounding her lips and for a second he wondered whether all of last nights happenings had just been one wonderful dream.

″Good morning, beauitful,″ he yawned and stretched his limbs.

″Good morning,″ she said with a smile.

″Morning sickness or why are you up already?″ he asked as he rolled over and pressed a proper good-morning kiss against her lips.

″So far I've been lucky and don't have to fight with morning sickness at all. But with Emmy it only started late as well, so I won't cheer too soon,″ she laughed lightly. ″I just couldn't sleep anymore. I've been sleeping so bad lately and I can't help but think it comes from the pregnancy. Which is weird because with Emmy I was tired all the time during the first trimester, you remember? Me being such a sleepyhead long before I found out I was pregnant?″

″I remember,″ Jay winked. ″So there's no morning sickness and you're not tired but battle insomnia...maybe this means we're having a boy instead of a girl,″ he concluded with the brightest of smiles.

″Yeah,″ she smiled just as bright. ″Maybe.″

Jay pulled the sheets back and then pulled her shirt, that was his of course, up, so her bare stomach was revealed and he changed his position so he could kiss the part of her body that currently provided their baby a home. ″Hey baby,″ he whispered against her skin, his tickling breath making her giggle. ″Are you a boy or a girl?″

Erin placed her hand on his neck and ran his fingers through his hair. ″I guess we have to wait a couple more weeks until we find out, babe.″

″I know,″ he chuckled. ″I guess it's a little too late to influence the baby now.″ He kissed her stomach once more and then changed his position again so the next thing he could kiss were her perfectly curved lips.

″Yup, influencing won't help. It's already settled,″ she winked. ″But I told you to tell your little friends about the XX and XY thing.″

″I had a very serious conversation with them, no worries,″ he joked.

″Well, then we'll soon see whether they listened to you,″ Erin smiled all innocent which Jay answered with leaning in and giving her a lingering kiss.

″Mama,″ Emmy's voice resounded from the baby monitor to interrupt their little moment and make sure those kisses didn't turn into something else.

″I go and get her,″ she said and untangled her feet from the sheets, pulling her shirt down as she got up.

″I can go,″ Jay suggested.

″She said mama, not dada, so no thanks,″ Erin grinned sweetly. When for once her daughter asked for her and not for her daddy, she would go and be the first person Emilia saw this morning.

″You should probably take it easy and not carry her...″

″Jay,″ she said and turned around to face him, her expression a mix of being annoyed and amused, which actually captured her well-known mood swings perfectly. ″I've been carrying her for 14 months now which means I also carried her within the last few weeks while I was already pregnant. So please do me a favor and do not bubble-wrap me, okay?″

″Okay,″ he answered, telling his inner protective urge to calm down because carrying a 20 pound toddler probably wasn't that big of a deal, especially since there were billions of pregnant mothers that already had a toddler to take care of. ″But you will not carry any heavy boxes or any other heavy things today and next week.″

″Yeah,″ she nodded, knowing that this would make him feel easier and would probably be smart anyway. ″We can talk about that.″

With Emmy on her hip she returned to the bedroom not even two minutes later, their 14 month-old being an absolute sunshine but at the same time a bundle of energy which made Saturday morning cuddles pretty difficult because Emmy rather wanted to climb over her parents's legs than lying down next to them. This girl was surely always on the move to discover the world.

″Where do you wanna go, young lady?″ Jay laughed and grabbed her when she tried to crawl over Erin's legs, swirled her through the air to settle her between them again. ″You know Em, there's something mommy and daddy have to tell you. Although you might not understand it,″ Jay told his daughter because he wanted to tell the world about these news but they had to wait until Tuesday until they would share it with anyone. ″Let's take a look at mommy's tummy,″ he said and pulled Erin's shirt up again.

″It soon won't look like this anymore,″ Erin commented with a sigh, imaginging how soon her abs would disappear and skin would stretch again as their baby grew bigger every day.

″Mommy's right. It soon won't look like this anymore,″ Jay said to Emmy and kissed her hair. ″Because there's a baby in there, princess. Your little brother or little sister is growing in mommy's tummy, just like you did once.″ Speaking it out loud was certainly one of the best feelings in the world. ″You wanna say hi?″

He guided her little hand to Erin's stomach and helped Emmy to stroke over it and this moment was as special, it touched Erin deeply. ″Say hi baby,″ Jay said. ″Hi little brother or sister.″

″Hi,″ Emmy babbled. Their baby was saying hi to their baby and no matter that Emilia had no clue what was really going on, this thought brought tears to Erin's eyes.

″Can you give the baby a kiss?″ Jay asked and he was equally touched by this sweet moment. ″Like this, look.″ He leaned down and kissed Erin's stomach.

″Do we want to kiss the baby together?″ He changed Emmy's position, held her differently so he could help her kiss Erin's non-existent baby bump and they actually made this work, Emilia and Jay both kissing her stomach.

Now some tears of joy and emotion were falling from Erin's eyes and crying has never felt as good.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Compared to Erin's and Jay's move from the city to the suburbs, Kim's move to Adam's place was seriously a walk in the park and the two men had all the furniture disassembled, transported and assembled in no time while Kim and Erin unpacked the boxes and started to give Adam's bachelor apartment a certain female touch by adding some simple decor. Not too much though because no one wanted them to start off their adventure of living together by some argument about making his apartment some girly place. This had to be done step by step, over a certain period of time so Adam could get used to a woman living with him now. Meanwhile Emmy made sure to create just the right amount of additional mess by spreading her toys, that Erin and Jay had brought in a huge bag, all over the living room.

It was in the late afternoon, as soon as most of the things seemed to be done, when Adam had the sudden idea that he needed a new flatscreen with sound-system, one like Jay had in his man-cave, and the two men decided to make a trip to the next store. It was easy to say that Kim wasn't a fan of this at all but considering the options she had, she quickly told her boyfriend that he was allowed to buy a new flatscreen in case she was allowed to use more decor.

Adam agreed somewhat teeth-gnashingly, the wish for a new flatscreen being bigger than his concerns of Kim turning his apartment in some decor paradise, and while Jay and Adam made a trip to some big store, Erin and Kim decided to make a trip to the next Ikea to buy some more decor stuff and since Rylie would move into her new place next week, they picked her and Luke up from Beverly so these two could join them on their shopping trip, which of course turned into a chaos with Luke wanting basically everything and Emmy running around and grabbing everything within reach but throwing a tantrum when being put in the cart.

Those were the moments when Erin wondered why on Earth they'd decided for a second child when their first one already had the potential to drive them up the walls. But it was too late to reconsider that choice now anyway and thinking about the little bean that was growing inside of her unbeknownst to the people around her, her heart skipped a beat and her mood changed from being bugged about Emmy's behavior to being happy about those little miracles they've been blessed with.

By the time they came back from their shopping trip, the TV and the new sound system were already on their designated places and when Kim eyed the thing skeptically, Adam told her how they didn't have to go to the theater now anymore because this new TV and the sound system had all the features they needed for perfect movie nights. It weren't the kind of benefits that had the ability to convince her as this was one reason less to not go out for date nights.

What definitely lightened the mood though was the fact that the guys had bought and built up all of those things in literal light speed – of course, boys would be boys – while the women's trip had taken forever and they'd therefore had the time to cook dinner – fettucine alfredo - which was urgently needed since both, Emmy and Luke, were quite cranky and Rylie's, Erin's and Kim's stomachs were also growling as loud that the neighbors could probably hear it.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

″Look at this little angel,″ Jay said when he walked into the nursery in the evening, Erin sitting in the rocking chair with Emilia in her lap, her daughter's face resting against her chest as she slowly drifted to slumber.

″She wasn't that much of an angel today,″ Erin sighed. ″Seriously, those tantrums are supposed to start around 20 months and we're six months away from that. If that means she won't have them then, I'm okay with it but if not...″

″She was an early walker so she's probably an early tantrum thrower as well,″ Jay laughed slightly and knelt down next to them, Crispin lying down instantly as well so Jay didn't forget to pet him and give him some well-deserved attention.

″These days she really is a handful...but it would never change how much I love her,″ she said and peered down at her daughter with the love only a mother could have on her face. ″What were we thinking adding another one? Were we drunk when we decided that? Or high? Or out of our minds?″ she laughed and shook her head, trying to be careful to not wake up Emmy again.

″I don't know, you tell me,″ Jay winked.

″I think I was definitely out of my mind...but in a good way,″ she smiled back at her husband. ″I'm excited for this journey and for everything that comes with it. Tantrums, tears, this pure kind of love...whatever our munchkins throw at us. Although it won't always be easy.″

″There will be rough days and nights with having two under two but as long as we have each other, we'll make it work. And just for moments like this right now or the one this morning it's all worth it,″ he smiled at his wife and she nodded in agreement before she leaned down to kiss Emmy's head with her full brown-blonde hair that they could soon pull into a tiny ponytail or two pigtails.

″So worth it.″

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Jay was more than thankful that their day at work on Monday didn't include any busts or anything else that could be considered dangerous before the evening, when Erin would long be home, safe and sound on their couch. In the forenoon, they'd gotten a new case but so far all they could do was putting some pieces together and prepare for tonight's undercover operation. Erin had to admit that she was glad as well because she would've needed quite the white lie why she couldn't come along since she didn't want to risk anything this time but also didn't want to tell anyone just yet. Sharing those big news had to wait one more day until they knew how far along she was and when their new family member would join them.

″Aren't you off the clock already?″ Adam asked Erin in the early evening when he joined her in the break room to look for anything eatable and make himself a cup of coffee that would bring him through the night.

″Uhm,″ Erin mumbled, swallowing down the piece of chocolate bar she had in her mouth. ″I am,″ she confirmed. ″But our fridge at home is basically empty and I was hungry,″ she said, showing him the chocolate bar in her hand.

″Didn't I see you eating one of those fifteen minutes ago?″ Adam frowned, eyeing the half-eaten chocolate bar.

″This is my third,″ Erin answered casually, honestly, and took another bite from that unhealthy snack that she unfortunately craved for.

″What, are you pregnant?″ Adam joked and chuckled heartily.

For a second, Erin didn't know what to say, which was a very rare circumstance and since she usually always had something to say, she unfortunately wasn't one for pokerfaces. But she tried her best to hide her shock that Adam had unintenionally just figured out that she was pregnant. It stayed with an unsuccessful try though.

″What? No,″ she shook her head and when Adam's smile grew bigger by her lie, she knew that her reaction to his question had been too long, too revealing.

″Oh my God you are!″ Adam exclaimed which earned him a death clare from Erin and he actually interpreted it right and lowered his voice. ″You are totally pregnant,″ he murmured.

″So what? You've been hiding that engagement ring in the drawer of your desk for weeks now,″ she said quietly but emphatically, playing out the trumpcard she hasn't thought she would ever need, and now his facial expression was as shocked as hers had been a minute ago.

″What? How do you know?″ he uttered.

″Oh come on Adam, there's a reason why I'm a detective and you're not. I've seen you putting it in there weeks ago and caught you opening the drawer and looking at it from time to time. You getting cold feet again?″

″Just shut up,″ he mumbled under his breath.

″No, you shut up,″ she hissed.

″Fine,″ he agreed.

″Good.″

″Hey, what's going on here?″ Antonio suddenly asked as he joined them in the break room.

″Nothing,″ Adam and Erin answered simultaneously without looking at each other.

″Okay,″ Antonio said, a frown on his forehead when he looked from Erin to Adam but then he apparently decided to leave it at that. ″We gotta prepare for the undercover gig,″ he said to Adam. ″And what are you even still doing here?″ he asked Erin.

″Just had a chocolate bar because I'll need that when I now go grocery shopping with Luke and Emmy,″ she sighed.

″Ouh, yeah,″ Antonio grimaced and laughed. ″Good luck with that.″

″Thanks, I'll certainly need it,″ she laughed as well, throwing Adam another warning glance as she left the room just to make sure that he would actually keep his mouth shut.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Their undercover operation already solved their case, which suited Erin and Jay perfectly because instead of leaving the bullpen around 2.30pm on the following day to go home, Erin told Hank that she'd just gotten a call from a CI that she now wanted to meet as it had sounded important, telling him that she would take Jay with her as backup. When in fact, they had one very special appointment at her OB's practice. She never felt good with lying to Hank but this little white lie was necessary and the team only having to handle the aftermath of the case was as perfect that they didn't need to create another reason why Jay had to leave the bullpen for an hour while he was still on the clock. Because there was no way he would miss this first appointment, of seeing their baby for the first time.

″Erin, Jay, it's nice to see you again,″ Dr Hanson greeted them with a big smile when she stepped into the examination room and found the couple sitting by the desk. ″So I heard you're having another one?″

″That's at least what the three tests said that I took on Friday,″ Erin, who was already wearing the gown, smiled nervously, suddenly thinking about the possibility of all three tests being wrong and them celebrating something for the last few days that wasn't actually there.

″Any other symptoms?″

″Insomnia, mood swings and I crave chocolate like crazy. It's completely different than it was with Emmy,″ she shrugged.

″One could assume that pregnancies are similar but they are all different,″ her doctor smiled. ″Let's take a look then.″

They moved to the examination table, Erin putting her feet in the stirrups and her OB warning her about the upcoming uncomfortable feeling. Jay reached for her hand and she squeezed it a little tighter when the transvaginal wand entered her, a quiet wince escaping from her lips and in this moment, the thought of giving birth again in a couple of months terrified her.

″Here we go,″ Dr Hanson said and turned the wand a little, Erin not being able to look at the screen because she was scared her eyes would find nothing.

″Congratulations, there it is.″ There they were, the words of confirmation that they were having another baby. For real. That they'd created another little person during a night of making love a couple of weeks back. That she was carrying another baby under her heart. That they would soon welcome another family member that was half her and half Jay. ″And we can even see the heartbeat already.″

Erin slowly turned her head to the screen and the moment her eyes fell on the black-and-white picture of a fastly beating heart surrounded by what couldn't clearly be indentified as a baby yet, she fell in love. There was not much to be seen and she and Jay could never make out the baby that was growing in there but yet, it was love at first sight and she knew in that moment, that it was possible to love another baby as much as she loved Emmy because she already felt an overwhelming amount of love only from seeing their baby's teeny tiny heart. Jay had been right, her heart was able to grow bigger and fuller and in this moment, she knew exactly what it felt like.

″This is one of the moments that doesn't lose its magic even when repeated,″ Jay said all amazed, his eyes glassy, a huge smile plastered on his lips as he stared at the screen in awe.

″It is, isn't it?″ Dr Hanson smiled at the expecting couple. ″Everything looks perfectly fine and the heartbeat is a healthy 131.″

″How old is the little bean?″ Erin asked, her voice a little raspier than usual, her eyes sparkling suspiciously, just like Jay's.

″You're meassuring 7 weeks and 5 days,″ she told them after a moment and typed something in her computer. ″Which makes your due date 22 November.″

″22 November,″ Erin echoed. 11/22, she liked that date. Even though she knew that the chances of their baby being born on its due date were just 4%.

″Wait, that's Thanksgiving, isn't it?″ Jay laughed.

″Is it?″ Erin asked but she was sure that her nerdy husband knew the date of Thanksgiving 2018 although it was still months away.

″Yes, it is,″ Dr Hanson confirmed and printed out a couple of photos.

″So we might get a Thanksgiving baby,″ he smirked.

″Yeah well, in case this kiddo is anything like Emmy it probably won't come before December,″ Erin laughed.

Dr Hanson carefully removed the wand and Erin changed back into her normal clothes before they all settled at the desk again to go over a few instructions and questions.

″Well, you know the drill Erin, no caffeine or similar stuff,″ the doctor said.

″Oh dang, I really missed that decaf stuff,″ Erin laughed slightly. 14 months later and here she was again, having to survive the mornings without her beloved dose of caffeine.

″Did you?″ Jay joked, raising an eyebrow at her.

″Like hell,″ she joked back.

″Then you'll be glad to drink that for the next seven months,″ Dr Hanson winked. ″I'll give you some prenatal vitamins and other than that we'll see us at your 14-weeks appointment. But you can of course always come or call in case you have questions or something doesn't feel right.″

″Okay,″ Erin nodded. ″There's just one question I have. Or two actually.″

″Go ahead.″

″I can carry my daughter, right?″

″Yes you can,″ the older woman confirmed. ″This is something you do every day, it's part of your routine, so it's not a new kind of movement or exertion and you should be totally fine of carrying her as long as you feel okay with it.″

″Good,″ Erin smiled in relief. She didn't know what she would've done if her doctor had told her that she wasn't allowed to carry Emilia. ″And there's this zumba class I'm attending and really enjoy. Would it be fine to keep doing that?″

″You know, whatever is good for the mother is good for the baby. So as long as your body gives you the right signals, I don't see a reason to stop anytime soon. Just avoid jumping and hard stepping,″ Dr Hanson explained, giving Erin another answer she'd wanted to hear.

They left the office a few minutes later, after scheduling their next appointment for mid-May, and leaving the building, the first thing Jay did was pressing a long, gushy kiss against Erin's lips, his arms wrapping around her frame, the birds chirping like crazy around them as if they shared this moment of joy with them.

″November can't come soon enough,″ he said, this genuine smile still on his face.

″Even though this is the second time, I still can't believe this tiny bean will grow into a perfect little human,″ Erin answered, gazing at the prints of the sonogram all fascinated. ″And you know what, doing the math it seems like San Francisco really was the place where this happened.″

″San Francisco,″ Jay echoed, remembering the night when massaging her shoulders after walking more than 10 miles that day had turned into making love. Had this been the night? Or had it been the next night, when they'd made love in that cozy cabin they'd stayed at while visiting Teddy. ″So to honor the place where the baby was conceived, we should probably name it Francisco in case it's a boy,″ he grinned dorkily.

She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head slightly, Jay's favorite smirk covering her face. ″This might be the best idea you've ever head.″

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When they returned to the bullpen, after stopping by some baby store for a minute to get something they needed for the big reveal, Hank was already waiting for them and only now Erin remembered that she'd told him to meet a CI and that he expected her to come back with important intel or a new case.

″You got something from that CI?″ Hank asked as soon as Erin and Jay reached the top of the stairs, everyone else looking at them expectantly as well, everyone hungry for a new case.

″Uhm...yeah, actually...″ Erin stammered, exchanging a short glance with Jay. ″Do you have a minute?″ she asked motioning her head to his office.

″Yeah,″ he nodded with a frown and guided them to his office, closing the door behind them as soon as they were in.

″So, what did they say?″ Hank asked expectantly as he settled behind his desk.

″Well, not much,″ Erin breathed out, feeling a little nervous out of a sudden.

″You were gone for over an hour...″ Hank noticed, his frown deepening.

″We weren't actually meeting a CI,″ she told him and hints of anger seemed to appear on his face. ″We had something important to do and then stopped by some store to buy Emmy a new and very special shirt.″

″You two went shopping while you were on the clock?!″ Hank exclaimed in disbelief. He's witnessed a lot of things during his career but this was definitely a first.

″More or less,″ Erin nodded. ″You wanna see what we bought her?″ She asked and placed the plastic bag with the shirt on his desk, his face still telling that he was anything but amused.

″Erin, your kid has too many clothes already and I can't believe what you guys just did-″

″Hank,″ Jay interrupted him, sensing that his wife could need some support and now was the time to step up. ″Why don't you just take a look inside the bag before things turn a little heated here? You might understand then,″ he said meaningfully and all calm.

″Fine,″ Hank grunted and grabbed the bag to take the light purple, long-sleeved shirt out of it to read the message that was printed on front of it in huge, black letters accompanied by a red heart.

″Big sister,″ Hank read aloud. ″Since when is she older than Luke or does Crispin count as younger sibl-,″ he interrupted himself and Erin and Jay had to give their all not to start laughing because for one of Chicago's best cops he really was slow on the uptake.

″Wait,″ he said and set the piece of fabric down on his desk as he looked from Erin to Jay to find the confirmation in their eyes. ″You trying to tell me...?″ he concluded without speaking it out loud and a rare smile tugged in the corners of his lips. Erin and Jay having another baby so soon after Emilia was for sure one of the very last things he'd seen coming.

″Yes,″ Erin confirmed with a bright smile and placed her hand on her abdomen while Jay reached for the print of the sonogram in the back pocket of his jeans.

″May we introduce: Halstead number two, our planned child,″ Jay grinned like a Chesire Cat once more and handed his father-in-law the print that pictured their second baby.

″Almost eight weeks old and joining us this coming Thanksgiving,″ Erin smiled as her father-figure studied the picture of his fourth grandchild in amazement.

″So your CI was your OB, huh?″ Hank asked her.

″Yep,″ Erin nodded.

″Wow, this really is a surprise,″ he said and got up from his chair to pull her into a hug. ″Congratulations kiddo.″

″Thank you.″

″I guess this means you want to work the desk from now on,″ he grinned as he cupped her cheek with his hand.

″Yes, that's exactly what this means,″ she smiled.

″Alright, all the paperwork is yours then,″ Hank laughed and then pulled Jay, who was already reaching out for a firm handshake, into a short hug as well.

″Congrats Jay,″ he told him. ″I had no idea you guys were planning on another one.″

″Well, we didn't tell anyone about that,″ Jay grinned. ″And it happened quite fast.″

″Spare me the details,″ Hank grunted, Erin and Jay just exchanging a smirking glance and trying not to laugh out loud by Hank's facial expression and the thought which pictures they'd probably just planted in his head. But it was the truth, she'd ended up being pregnant on her second cycle after being off the pill, so it had really happened faster than they'd thought.

They quickly discussed how to tell the team, Hank suggesting to pull through with the CI idea and so the three of them left the office together and gathered around the board.

″Alright, Erin and Jay got something for us,″ he called with his trademark voice that immediately got all the attention.

″There's something we just found out...″ Jay said in a tone that meant business and scrawled Coming Thanksgiving 2018 on the board in his not-so-nice handwriting.

″Some information we wanted to share with you,″ Erin played along and pinned the pictures of the sonogram under Jay's text, the pictures of their baby they'd fallen in love with at first sight an hour ago.

″What's that?″ Kevin asked from his desk, the pictures as small as they all couldn't really see it.

″Come here and take a look,″ Erin said. ″This is the suspect that will change our life this coming Thanksgiving.″

This cryptic statement had everyone curious and they left their comfortable chairs to join them on the board to take a look at the pictures and figure out what kind of weird information Jay and Erin had gotten from the CI.

″Is this what I think it is?″ Antonio was the first to see what kind of picture they'd just pinned there.

″I don't know what you think it is,″ Erin winked, ″but because you should know what it is, I can answer your question with yes.″

″Must be the most innocent suspect that was ever pinned on this board,″ Antonio laughed.

″Yeah, we'll see about its innocence once it's here,″ Jay laughed.

″Congrats guys, these are surely great news,″ Antonio smiled and was the first to pull them into hugs.

″I can't believe it,″ Mouse smiled and shook his head slightly. ″Congrats bro,″ he hugged his best friend and gave him a pat on the back and then also hugged Erin.

″I have to admit, I'm more than thankful that we now have someone who's doing all the paperwork for us again,″ Kevin smirked and pulled Erin in one of his famous teddy-bear hugs. ″Congrats Linds.″

″You wish that I do all of that for you now,″ Erin laughed. ″For now I will still do interrogations and notifications and whatever else isn't considered dangerous. So you can keep your paperwork all for yourself.″

″Too bad,″ he winked and went on to hug Jay.

″Congrats kiddos,″ Al said, as always not being one of many words but a rare smile telling them that he was happy for them, and hugged them both, even leaving a kiss on Erin's forehead.

″Well done buddy,″ Adam chuckled as he pulled Jay into a hug to congratulate him.

″And congrats Linds,″ he finally said, being the last to hug her. ″I will surely miss our Friday-night partnership.″

″Yeah, I have to admit we were quite the team,″ Erin smiled as Adam wrapped his arms around her.

″So now that your secret is out, what about mine?″ Adam whispered into her ear ever so quiet that she had trouble to understand him.

″I have no idea what you're talking about,″ she whispered back and ending the embrace, she threw him a little wink that he answered with an appreciative nod.

″Hey Erin,″ Antonio grinned once everyone was done with hugging and congratulating. ″Does this mean the mystery about your terrible mood swings is solved as well?″

″Yep,″ Erin chuckled and placed her hand on her stomach. ″And guess what, I'm not the one to blame,″ she laughed with the most innocent expression on her face.

″So you're blaming the baby? Nice move, Linds,″ Adam chuckled.

″I blame the hormones that come with having a baby growing inside of me,″ Erin winked. ″But now knowing where they come from, I might be able to control them better.″

″Cheers to that,″ Kevin laughed, returning from the break room with a couple of water bottles in his hands. ″I think we should toast to that but since we're all still on the clock and since we're a solidary group of people here,″ he winked at Erin, ″we all drink some delicious water today,″ he grinned and handed everyone a cooled bottle.

″To Erin and Jay and Halstead number two...″ Antonio said and raised his bottle.

″And to the journey that lies ahead for this family,″ Hank said, looking at every of his team members.

This family. Everyone of these incredible people would somehow be involved in the journey those next months and years would be, as uncles, grandpas, babysitters, supporters and friends. Just like they've been in the last few years as well...

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, please leave a review and let me know what you think ;-)